The Blue Fox by Sjon

Read: 10 December, 2009

In 19th century Iceland, a priest hunts for a mythical blue fox and a girl with Down's Syndrome is mourned by her admirer. These two seemingly unrelated stories interweave into a poetic whole.

It's an enchanting tale, a modern myth, that might have worked nearly as well in verse. The story is short, easily read in an hour or two, and interesting lyrical look into Iceland's recent past.

Spirit by J.P. Hightman

Read: 15 January, 2010

Tess and Tobias Goodraven haven't been normal since being orphaned in a fire as children. Since then, they have sought to contact the 'Other Side.' When they heard that a notoriously haunted ghost town close to Salem was being re-opened to the public for a winter festival, they couldn't resist exploring the power of the three witches who never truly died. But what they find is far more dangerous than any hauntings they've encountered before.

The dust jacket of my edition says that Hightman is a screenwriter - and it shows. The novel is completely visual, as though no other sense mattered. There is little consideration for style and the timing of scares, which would work just fine in Hollywood but falls flat in print. Characters are one-dimensional. What little personality exists is told to the reader - their actions and speech rarely matching the image the narrator tries to impose. In the end, the twist was utterly predictable, made all the worse for Hightman's lack of trust in his readers as he repeats it, over and over again, in every conceivable way lest we should fail to catch his cleverness.

To say one positive thing about Spirit, the mechanics of the writing are all correct - making the book bearable if not enjoyable.

Gaius Ruso Mystery #1: Medicus by Ruth Downie

Read: 15 June, 2009

Ruso has just bought a slave. He didn't mean to, of course, but her master was treating her so roughly and she looked half-dead. Her arm is shattered and he doubts that she will live much longer, but still he bought her. Meanwhile, a woman's body has been found and ,whether he likes it or not, Ruso must solve the mystery of her murder.

It is difficult to call Medicus a detective novel because Ruso really doesn't do any investigating. Mostly, he just fumbles around in the dark, hopelessly inept in every area other than medicine, until the culprit is so unnerved by Ruso's questions that he reveals himself. Those clues that Ruso does take credit for tend to be uncovered by his slave, Tilla, or openly confided to him. This bumbling detective style makes Medicus a delightfully whimsical and ironically funny story. It's a novel only a Brit could have written.

I'm really not sure what attracts me so much to Medicus, but something certainly does. I couldn't put it down and I ordered the next book in the series within minutes of finishing the last page. I loved that while the setting was so exotic, the issues dealt with in the novel are completely relevant today.