Books We Love (Or Not)

Those of you lovely readers who’ve checked out my website know that I’m an enormous fan of Marion Zimmer Bradley (The Mists of Avalon, The Firebrand, the lush and lovely Darkover books, which are absolute classics in the fantasy genre.) Sadly, MZB passed away a few years ago, after publishing an enormous volume of work. I have SO missed her, and have read those gorgeous Darkover books until they’re dog-eared and peeling.

Imagine my utter delight to find this reissue of her very first ever published novel (originally released in 1961), and then to find that it’s an early snapshot of what would BECOME the world of Darkover. And that, nearly fifty years after it was written, the story is still so utterly readable, compelling, absorbing, relevant. All I can say is that if you’re an MZB fan like I am, and you’ve missed her work, you are in for a delicious treat! It’s a nice short read at 204 pages, and would have been compelling even at twice the length. LOTS of action, culture clash, sensuality, psychic powers, and just plain good writing. Do yourself the enormous favor of reading this one, which will take you all of four hours. You won’t regret it!

Xenia is delighted to report that she has spent her entire weekend happily buried in this book! I do like so much this marvelously imagined series, an alternate history with fantasy elements which takes a look at what the Napoleonic wars might have been like—-with dragons!

A brilliant cross between Jane Austen and Anne McCaffrey, THRONE OF JADE is the continuing epic of British naval captain William Laurence and his extraordinary Chinese Celestial dragon Temeraire. In the first book of the series, HIS MAJESTY’S DRAGON, the pair unexpectedly bonded when Laurence’s ship rescued the dragon’s egg from Napoleon’s clutches on the verge of hatching. In this sequel, the outraged Chinese demand the rare dragon’s return, but Temeraire will only oblige if Laurence is permitted to accompany him to China. During their long ocean voyage and subsequent adventures in Canton and Peking, the machinations of Imperial political factions result in several increasingly bold assassination attempts against Laurence. Temeraire and his beloved companion must find out who wants Laurence dead, and find a way to persuade the Chinese Emperor that this foreign barbarian and his rare Celestial dragon belong together.

While submerging myself in this delightful read, I paid particular attention to the author’s voice–which does indeed have strong overtones of Jane Austen, and it’s marvelous to me that a series written in this style can achieve such broad commercial success. Both main characters are highly appealing, and the affectionate bond between them is powerfully endearing. Once again, the original, well-researched and executed scenes of naval warfare with dragons steal the show. Think what the movie “Master and Commander” would have looked like, if crossed with The Dragons of Pern! There is a great deal to praise in these heartening novels.

I would recommend this series to lovers of Jane Austen, military (particularly naval) history, fans of Anne McCaffrey and other complex, dragon-inhabited fantasy worlds. These books are a completely unique reading experience! In this reader’s humble opinion, you won’t find any other stories out there which are even remotely like them.

This book is written in the style of “high fantasy,” which can be described as epic in scope, exploring the universal themes of light vs. darkness, order vs. chaos, and is serious and rather romantic in tone (in the melancholy, brooding, pre-Raphaelite sense of the word). For more on high fantasy, check out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_fantasy

I read the first three novellas (each about 100 pages long) in this well-known series about albino sorcerer Elric of Melnibone, the solitary and scholarly emperor of a dying people. Tormented and cursed to bear a Chaos-born sword called Stormbringer that drinks souls, the sensitive and intellectual Elric wanders the world in search of salvation. This is one of the fantasy classics, with anti-hero Elric in the role of Eternal Champion: cynical, brooding, alone. I read on Wikipedia that he was written to be the utter antithesis of Conan the Barbarian—-which he definitely is.

These stories are written as grouped novellas with a loose chronology. Although the poetic, mythic style tends to keep one somewhat at a distance (and makes Elric a bit unsympathetic at times, throwing his occasional cruelty and caprice into high relief), the stories and character are beautifully written, otherworldly, and Elric’s various god-cursed adventures and eternal striving for self-acceptance are highly imaginative. His romantic adventures are also rather poignant. I wonder if I am the only female reader out there who found this guy to be irresistably hot!!!

His sword particularly fascinated me, calling to mind the soul-drinking sword of my death aspected black-mage assassin character from my long-vanished Dragonquest role-playing days in college. The sword pulls Elric into murder and mayhem, drinks souls and flares into black fire when it kills, giving the wielder unusual strength. In fact, this sword gave me many ideas for a sword that may feature in my next dark Tudor writing project (more on that at the appropriate time…) In the end, I found I was reading this book for inspiration.

I’d recommend this one for fantasy readers who like dark heroes and epic, poetic prose. It’s a bit more intellectual that the fast-paced sword-and-sorcery romps you might be thinking about, but the bite-sized novellas make for brisk reading. And it’s considered to be very much a classic within the genre.

This time travel story takes place in England during the Black Death of 1348. Once again, the Complete Idiot’s Ultimate Reading List has struck solid gold! When I read the last page of THE DOOMSDAY BOOK, I put the book down and thought blankly at the author, “Jesus Christ, lady. You’ve written one hell of a book.” And she HAS.

This is the story of a female history student in near-future Oxford who plans to a trip through time to 1320 for a temporary research project. When an influenza epidemic sweeps through Oxford and strikes the technical staff who are helping her, an unprecedented “slippage” occurs, and Kivrin winds up in England during the Black Plague of 1348. Viewed as a saint when she’s seen “coming through”, Kivrin becomes a symbol of hope and grace to the beleaguered medieval family that shelters her. But, as the deadly plague sweeps medieval England and an influenza epidemic of unknown origin decimates present-day Oxford, time is running out for everyone—-both in the future and the past–and Kivrin’s temporary “research project” risks becoming both permanent and fatal.

I don’t feel I’ve done the book justice with this slipshod summary. Why did I love it so much, aside from absolutely dead-good writing? Meticulous research shows in the unusual and surprising details of daily life in medieval England seen through Kivrin’s modern eyes, and the story revolves around an intriguing and fresh take on the mechanism of time travel (picture dusty English professors, riven by academic and bureaucratic rivalries, fluttering around a time machine). In both the past and future narratives, which are presented in parallel, the story hums with exquisite tension on every page, and the plot is driven by a cast of diverse and highly sympathetic characters who struggle to rescue Kivrin from the past as everyone around them in both timelines drops like flies.

This was that rare book, a time travel/historical novel that I liked as well as I like Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander books, which is saying quite a lot. I’d recommend this one to fans of Gabaldon’s well-known Scottish time travel series, to fans of medieval history, time travel and bio thrillers, and to anyone who’s looking for an absolutely riveting read. There’s no sex or romance, no strong language, but some tasteful yet horrifying descriptions of how an epidemic decimates a population. Really–do yourself a huge favor, and read this book!

Set on a primitive, post-apocalyptic Earth, this is the story of an exiled smith’s apprentice and a renegade female shaman who journey together across a hostile land to retrieve knowledge from an ancient repository (actually a primitive computer system that survived the apocalpyse). As it turns out, the system is not unguarded, and this knowledge can either save or destroy them.

Andre Norton is a recognized grand-dame of science fiction, often recommended, and I sat down to read her for the first time with this book–approaching it as one would approach a classic work of literature.

Norton’s sparse prose, lively imagination and brisk pacing made this book an easy read, although to a 21st century reader the book felt a tiny bit “old-fashioned” in its technique. (The story was told in the hero/smith’s point-of-view only, and it’s a short read by today’s fantasy/sci fi standards.) This was a stand-alone story, and I am told that in order to truly know the writer, it’s necessary to read at least the start of her Witch World, Time Traders, and/or Solar Queen series, for which she’s best known.

However, I just picked up Solar Queen from the library, and will blog about that one soon!