Books

Finished Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman today, and, as many books I read recently, it was awesome. It’s the tale of Richard Mayhew who gets stuck in London Below, a basically twisted through time and space copy of London situated below the Old City divided up in baronies and fiefdoms tied to old underground stations.

One evening, as Richard and his fiancé Jessica are on their way to a restaurant, they come across a young woman lying on the street, bleeding. It is Door, fled from London Below, the only survivor of the murder of her family. Richard decides to help her, against Jessica’s wishes who breaks off the engagement. Richard takes Door home to help her. Once there, Mr Croup and Mr Vandemar ring the bell, they’re looking for Door. Richard denies her being there and when C&V barge in and look through the apartment, she is indeed not there.

After Croup and Vandemar leave, Door comes back and the next day, with help from Marquis de Carabas, they return to London Below. Richard goes with them for a bit before he returns above ground. He then finds that people don’t really see him anymore. At his work they don’t recognise him, his apartment is being shown to another couple and Jessica also doesn’t recognise him.

He manages to get back Below and finds Door and the Marquis again. They then set of on a quest of sorts together after they hire Hunter as their bodyguard. Richard goes along because there’s nothing else he can do and this may be the only way for him to go back. Door comes to find out who killed her family, the Marquis helps to settle a debt to Door’s family while Hunter goes with them to so she can eventually slay the Beast of London.

The book is a very entertaining and grips you from just a few pages in. The world building of London Below is excellent, a perfect mix of (semi-)standard fantasy city and weird, twisted modern day London. Richard makes a good main character who doesn’t know what he’s getting himself into but stumbles on nonetheless because it’s the only thing he can do. Door is wonderfully charming and the Marquis… He’s intriguing from the beginning and he sets you on the wrong foot on multiple occasions. I found Hunter less fleshed out but she doesn’t speak a lot either, she more or less just is, at least  until near the end of the book. The final plot twist then, was not unexpected but felt a bit off.

2009 (so far)
01. Sarah Monette & Elizabeth Bear – A Companion to Wolves
02. P. Nowee – Arendsoog. Vogelvrij {Eagle-Eye Outlaw} [Dutch]
03. Maggie Tallerman – Understanding Syntax (translated into Dutch and edited for Dutch students by Jan-Wouter Zwart) [Dutch] [school]
04. Hanneke Houtkoop & Tom Koole – Taal in Actie. Hoe Mensen Communiceren met Taal {Language in Action. How People Communicate with Language} [Dutch] [school]
05. Erica van Boven & Gillis Dorleijn – Literair Mechaniek. Inleiding tot de Analyse van Verhalen en Gedichten. {Literary Mechanics. Introduction to the Analysis of Stories and Poetry.} [Dutch] [school]

06. Star Trek: DS9 – Relaunch 1-5 – Twist of Faith (S.D. Perry, David Weddle & Jeffrey Lang, Keith R.A. DeCandido)
07. Esther Verhoef – Alles te Verliezen {Everything to Loose} [Dutch] [School]
08. Orson Scott Card – Ender’s Game [re-read, it’s been years 🙂]
09. Robert J. Sawyer – Hominids
10. Neil Gaiman – Neverwhere

One of my literature classes deals with current literature and examines various trends in Dutch literature. One of those trends is that well-written thrillers are more often seen as literature and also get marketed as ‘literary thriller’. So for a class on that particular subject in two weeks we had to read one of these literary thrillers. It was Esther Verhoef‘s Alles te Verliezen (Everything to Loose). Since this is not a genre I generally enjoy, I bought the book second hand. It arrived yesterday and I started reading it around 1 pm today. It’s now 4pm and I finished the book about half an hour ago. I’ve already put the book back up for sale.

I think that says enough about what I think about it. It’s not a bad book in itself, it’s just very much not my genre and not my style of book. I also found the pace to be on the slow side and the way the descriptions were done to be of the ‘look how nicely I can describe the surroundings’ variety. It felt as if she really wanted to rub it in how well-to-do her main characters were and how lovely the house and grounds and the stable and so on. I know it was part of the story, to emphasize all that Claire stands to loose, but it felt stilted.

The ending was kinda expected but the actual climax evoked an ‘oh, come on!’ reaction.

Edit: I just realised, maybe I should say a few words more about the actual plot? Well, here goes. Main character is Claire, married to rich realtor Harald and mother of their two young children. They’re rich, they live in a big house with lots of space around, stable, horse, you know, the works. Claire’s basically perfect: a stay at home mom, volunteer at the kids’ school, and excellent at entertaining her husband’s business associates when he throws a party. Claire however, has a shady past which came to an end when her lover in that period was sent to jail. Now, ten years later, he’s out and has come back to make trouble.

2009 (so far)
01. Sarah Monette & Elizabeth Bear – A Companion to Wolves
02. P. Nowee – Arendsoog. Vogelvrij {Eagle-Eye Outlaw} [Dutch]
03. Maggie Tallerman – Understanding Syntax (translated into Dutch and edited for Dutch students by Jan-Wouter Zwart) [Dutch] [school]
04. Hanneke Houtkoop & Tom Koole – Taal in Actie. Hoe Mensen Communiceren met Taal {Language in Action. How People Communicate with Language} [Dutch] [school]
05. Erica van Boven & Gillis Dorleijn – Literair Mechaniek. Inleiding tot de Analyse van Verhalen en Gedichten. {Literary Mechanics. Introduction to the Analysis of Stories and Poetry.} [Dutch] [school]

06. Star Trek: DS9 – Relaunch 1-5 – Twist of Faith (S.D. Perry, David Weddle & Jeffrey Lang, Keith R.A. DeCandido)
07. Esther Verhoef – Alles te Verliezen {Everything to Loose} [Dutch] [School]

Twist of Faith is an omnibus collecting four Star Trek tie-in novels and a novella that continue the story of Deep Space 9 and its crew. In short: I loved this book. I’d wanted to read the beginnings of the DS9 relaunch for ages now and this omnibus edition was the perfect solution (as opposed to buying all the books separately).
The stories were all very well put together, giving attention (and a very good voice) to those regulars that were left behind on the station (or from elsewhere in the ST verse) at the end of the series while skillfully introducing new characters to round out the crew.
The books take place over the course of about a month, three months after the end of the tv series. This was also my only complaint about the books, since so much happens in all of them, it kinda feels like overload to have it take place all in one month. Although this could have been caused by reading all the books in a row without pause.

The first book starts with the station being attacked by Jem’Hadar after three months of relative peace and quiet. The station is still undergoing repairs and not at all equipped to deal with attack. Fortunately, they manage to survive, although not without casualties. Thus begins the search for how and why the Jem’Hadar attacked. Intertwined with this is Jake’s story as he tries to deal with his father’s disappearance and a mysterious prophecy he is given. The third strand is the murder investigation of a Bajoran Vedek who gave Jake the prophecy. The Jem’Hadar and murder strands are brought to a close by the second book. Jake’s story isn’t done yet, however, and he sets out to find his dad.

The third book is a Bashir-centered one where he, together with a few friends from DS9, goes off on a mission for section 31 to stop another genetically enhanced human. I found this one the weakest of the books, the solution seemed to be too easy. It felt a bit sudden.

The fourth book is a Gateways book, telling a story about the Iconian gateways that suddenly open throughout the galaxy. Here it just so happens that one of those gateways connects the Delta Quadrant with the orbit of a Beta Quadrant planet. A Malon waste freighter stumbles upon the gateway and decides to dump it’s toxic waste into it. The waste threatens the planet on the Beta Quadrant side and a massive evacuation needs to be undertaken to save the people. Against the backdrop of this evacuation a way is being sought to close the gateways while Quark gets in over his head trying to negotiate the buying of the gateways for the Orions.

The fifth story tells the tale of Kira who gets lost in a gateway at the end of the fourth book. It is a lovely story about Bajor’s past and offers insights into Kira’s mind.

All in all, it was a ride I enjoyed immensely and I can’t wait to continue the relauch series with the Mission Gamma books and Rising Son where we will finally learn (among other things) what happened to Jake.

2009 (so far)
01. Sarah Monette & Elizabeth Bear – A Companion to Wolves
02. P. Nowee – Arendsoog. Vogelvrij {Eagle-Eye Outlaw} [Dutch]
03. Maggie Tallerman – Understanding Syntax (translated into Dutch and edited for Dutch students by Jan-Wouter Zwart) [Dutch] [school]
04. Hanneke Houtkoop & Tom Koole – Taal in Actie. Hoe Mensen Communiceren met Taal {Language in Action. How People Communicate with Language} [Dutch] [school]
05. Erica van Boven & Gillis Dorleijn – Literair Mechaniek. Inleiding tot de Analyse van Verhalen en Gedichten. {Literary Mechanics. Introduction to the Analysis of Stories and Poetry.} [Dutch] [school]

06. Star Trek: DS9 – Relaunch 1-5 – Twist of Faith (S.D. Perry, David Weddle & Jeffrey Lang, Keith R.A. DeCandido)

And so we reach 2009. For the rest of the year, I plan to post a list every first few days of the month (starting February) listing the books read so far. I might, in between, post when I’ve read something I enjoyed very much or hated (which is unlikely) or I just feel like I have something to say about.

Not much now, I’ve only read one book so far (mostly to blame on the fact that it’s exam period and I spend most of my time studying/reading school stuff). The book I’ve read is A Companion to Wolves by Sarah Monette and Elizabeth Bear. I bought this late last year as a result of starting to read Bear’s blog halfway through 2008. Then, on my Birthday in September I got a book gift card. I took to the bookstore and went to look for books by Bear and found Dust and Blood & Iron. I read the back cover and was intrigued by both of them so brought them home. I’ve finished Dust and I absolutely LOVE it. It immediately made its way on to the list of favourite books (where it joined, among others, Dan Simmons’  Hyperion/Endymion series and Keith R.A. DeCandido’s Articles of the Federation) and I can’t wait for its sequel, Chill, to get published.
I’ve started Blood & Iron after that but so far it has failed to really pull me in. I don’t quite know why, normally it’s a type of book I like. I blame it on a somewhat busy schedule in the last few months which didn’t give me the uninterrupted time to really dive into a novel. I’ll take it up again after the exam period when I can give it at least an hour at a time so i can see if the schedule’s to blame or the book.

Anyway, getting back on track, after I’d finished Dust, I knew I had to have more Bear. The description of A Companion to Wolves intrigued me, so I bought it and it ended up on the shelf until a few days ago. A post on Bear’s blog about the sequel tot ACtW inspired me to grab it as my next book and once I started, I couldn’t put it down, it was that AWESOME.

The story takes place in this Norse-based culture where Wolfcarls, men who bond together with a wolf, protect the villages from trolls. In return, when a she-wolf has a litter, they choose a number of boys from the villages to join them and eventually bond with the new pups.
This happens to the main character of the book, Njall. Njall is the oldest son of a jarl and destined to follow in his father’s footsteps and lead the villages. Until the wolfcarls knock on their door. Njall is fascinated by the wolf accompanying the wolfcarl and decides to join them. This is only the start of his new life in which he does not only find new friends and bonds with a wolf of his own, but in which he also learns that life is not as black and white as he grew up believing. Things are not always what they seem.

I love the fact that it uses Norse mythology, history and culture as a base, I’ve always been a mythology/history nut so… 😀 I also love the fact that they obviously researched their stuff. The names, culture, behaviour (of men and wolves)… The attention given to the trolls and elves to make them both fit the mythology/culture and keep them different from those generic fantasy trolls and elves… It all created such an interwoven whole that sucked me right in and kept me there. Like Dust, ACtW made its way onto my favourites list and I can hardly wait for the sequel. Too bad that still needs to be written, although the fact that the first two lines have been done is hopeful 😀

2009 (so far)
01. Sarah Monette & Elizabeth Bear – A Companion to Wolves