The Poisons of Caux #1: The Hollow Bettle by Susannah Appelbaum

Read: 14 March, 2012

Apotheopathy - or healing - has been illegal in Caux since the deadly King Nightshade took the throne. Ivy Manx's uncle is one of the few apotheopaths still practising in secret. But when he goes missing, Ivy sets out on a adventure to find her lost uncle and to fulfil a mysterious and hidden prophecy about a Noble Child.

I picked The Hollow Bettle up on a whim. I'm trying to build a collection of good children's books to build my son's interest in reading, and this one has very appealing illustrations and seemed to have an interesting concept. Blind buying is always something of a gamble, and I'm generally so lucky that it stands to reason that I was about due for a dud.

Appelbaum's writing style aims for whimsy, but often opts for lyricism over sense. Her writing is littered with throwaway lines that sound lovely (if a little purple), but don't fit in with the text around them. For example, when Rowan tells Ivy to kick at the Outrider, we are told that "it was fortunate for Ivy that Rowan's advice was excellent." But what was excellent about it? Ivy kicks and it fails to free her from the Outrider.

I also noticed several occasions where Appelbaum chose the wrong words - often words that sound very similar to the right ones, or perhaps indicate a case of thesaurusitis (choosing a synonym without fully understanding the particular connotations of the new word). To be fair, the problem does lessen as the book goes on, perhaps as the author starts to find her groove, but it's enough of a problem that I would have considerable reservations giving The Hollow Bettle to children lest they build their vocabulary incorrectly.

The story itself suffered from similar problems. There's no question that the world Appelbaum constructs is interesting, but it seems that she was more interested in showcasing that world than in actually telling her story. As a result, each adventure adds little to the story or to the reader's understanding of the characters. Rather, the episodes feel disjointed, and Ivy moves from one to the next in fits and starts.

The illustrations are beautiful, and filled with details and life that are so lacking in the narrative.

A Song of Ice and Fire #3: A Storm of Swords by George R. R. Martin

Read: 28 February, 2012

I really can't summarize the book without giving away what's happened in the previous works of the series, but let's just say that it's more of the same. Stuff is bad, it's getting worse, and everyone is too focused on their own concerns to see the bigger picture.

It's incredible that Martin is keeping me at the edge of my seat through the audio equivalent of 3,000+ pages, and leaves me craving more. Even more incredible is that he is able to keep hitting air circulation devices with human waste without it ever feeling forced or giving me anxiety fatigue. It's become a running joke in our household - D will ask how the book is going and I will say: "Everything's gone to hell!" To which my dear gentleman friend replies: "Isn't that what you said last time?"

In Storm of Swords, Jaime Lannister is given a POV and quickly earns his way into my good graces. Martin has done an amazing job at creating convincingly grey characters, and allowing for multiple interpretations of the same events. By giving the reader insight into Jaime's motivations, Martin shows us a man who wishes to honour his vows, and who was willing to break them and sacrifice his reputation to protect the innocent.

Tyrion Lannister is still one of my favourite characters, and we see quite a bit of his development in this book, but there's something that's been bothering me. From the start, he is played as "the clever one." Jaime is a great fighter, Cersei is beautiful, and Tyrion is clever. Yet from the start, he's never struck me as especially smart. He's borderline witty, although he seems to simply subscribe to the buckshot school of wit (make as many japes as possible and hope that some of them land). And, quite frankly, his mocking jokes are frequently ill-timed and just get him into trouble.

I've read a couple reviews mentioning Sansa Stark and how weak and annoying she is. She's no Arya, certainly, but is she really so weak? Arya and Brienne of Tarth are both aberrations in Westeros, and not really an option for females. Sansa is the more realistic of the three. She is a woman and she is acting within the female sphere to survive. Far from being some passive little china doll, I found her to have incredible strength and an active agent in her own right whenever she sees the opportunity. Consider, for example, how she uses Ser Dontos Hollard to escape King's Landing, or how she tries to escape Joffrey by marrying Willas Tyrell. She's afraid, to be sure, but so is Arya. The difference is that Arya survives by using her sword while Sansa survives by using her courtesies. Personally, I admire Sansa's strength, all the more because she carves out her survival in the "woman's domain" (historically speaking) rather than pushing herself into the "man's sphere" as Arya does.

One final note, I am "reading" this via audio book (because it's a hands-free way to stave off boredom while nursing) and it needs to be said that Roy Dotrice is amazing. He makes the characters come to life by giving each a different voice. It was hard for me at first because it shaped my perception of the characters - something that I like the written medium without - but it's grown on me. And Dotrice's range is truly impressive.

A Song of Ice and Fire #2: A Clash of Kings by George R. R. Martin

Read: 6 February, 2012

Picking up where Game of Thrones left off, Clash of Kings jumps right into the action. The series reads like a unified whole, separated only to appear less daunting to potential readers (and to prevent back injury, I suppose), so it was hard not to take up book 3 immediately after finishing. I think that says a lot about the quality of this series - 2,000 pages and I'm still hungering for more!

All the plotlines from Game of Thrones are still present, and this next instalment adds more. So by the final page of Clash of Kings there are enough plots and subplots to fill several series. Certainly, the Daenerys, John Snow, and Iron Thrones lines could all easily have been separated. But it speaks to Martin's expertise that he's able to balance all three (including their respective subplots) and interweave them enough that they enhance each other rather than detract. The subplots are sufficiently connected to the main plots to make the world feel even more alive and to heighten suspense without becoming overwhelming.

Game of Thrones had very little magic. That was great for me because I have a lot of trouble getting into stories that are heavy in magic. But although there's quite a bit more in Clash of Kings, I was already so engrossed in the story and the world by the time it was introduced in earnest that I didn't find it jarring.

What's impressed me most about the series so far is how alive the world feels. There are thousands of background characters, and each is given enough detail to seem real, to feel like they could have their own stories to tell. The setting, too, is filled with history. I don't think I've ever read a book - even contemporary fiction - where the world seemed so populated.

I'm still fairly early on in the series, but it has really impressed me and is shaping up to be my favourite fantasy story, if not one of my favourite stories in general. The audio book makes the length far more manageable, which is great if you're reading time is limited, so there's really no excuse not to give it a try!

A Song of Ice and Fire #1: A Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin

Read: 6 January, 2012

Ever since HBO decided to put paper to screen, I've been hearing a lot about Game of Thrones. I'm not really "into" fantasy, in the sense that I don't know how to find the good stuff and most of what I just pick up off the shelves (or read over someone's shoulder on the bus) is truly quite awful. I've functionally given up while maintaining a dim hope for every new book I come across.

Boy, am I ever glad that I've kept an open mind!

Game of Thrones is extremely well written. The language flows and I was never ripped from the story by poor phrasing. Character development was very well done, with the characters at the end of the novel being quite different from the beginning but with no break in continuity. Secondary characters are given details that make them feel alive, making the fictional world feel alive and populated.

Of course, the book is long, very long, and longer still if the sequels are counted (and if you've committed to reading all of Game of Thrones, you've committed to the whole series because there's a mighty cliffhanger at the end of the book), but I can't think of anything that might have been cut out without hurting the story. Even action and battle scenes are kept to a minimum, with the focus quite clearly on the characters.

I also noted that the author clearly has a solid understanding of the medieval period, which further helped make the setting come alive.

I listened to Game of Thrones on AudioBook, read by Roy Dotrice. The reader was very good and used emphasis and voices effectively, so it was quite easy to follow along. The downside to listening to an AudioBook version is that the reader's voice and the characters' voice get confused, so it taints my perception of the characters.

I really enjoyed Game of Thrones and couldn't put it down. It's a substantial time investment and fairly complex, but it's well worth it.

Flatland by Edwin Abbott

Read: 30 November, 2011

A. Square, an inhabitant of the two-dimensional Flatland, is taken on a journey of Lineland, Spaceland, and Pointland, during which he learns to transcend many of his assumptions about the universe and the natural order.

There are two parts to the Flatland narrative. The first reads like your standard (albeit clever - clever enough to fool several contemporary reviewers) social commentary, while the second tries to illustrate the failings of perspective and how trapped we are in comprehending only our own and lower dimensions. But as with any excellent writer, the division is never quite so clear and the second part provides a very interesting lens for the first.

I knew going in that I would enjoy Flatland; I'd heard enough about it for that. I'm glad to say that I was not disappointed. This is an excellent and readable novel that is one part social commentary, one part math, and one part Crusoe adventure!

I highly recommend the Broadview edition of the text. As always, the notes, introduction, and additional materials are both interesting and informative.

I, Robot by Isaac Asimov

Read: 2005

I read I, Robot shortly after seeing the Will Smith movie. I liked the movie, but I had no specific plans to read the book until I was assigned it in my Science Fiction class.

The first thing that struck me is that the book is absolutely nothing like the movie (or perhaps that should be the other way around...). Other than the title and the presence of robots, the two could not be any more different.

The book is divided into a series of short stories, each taking place at a point in time along robots' "evolution" into sentience. Recurring characters tie these little vignettes together, so the reader gets a sense of growth and change.

I've also read Foundation and I found the similarities between it and I, Robot to be quite strong. In both cases, the narrative has a distant feel, like the reader is only allowed glimpses of the characters as they go about their lives. None of the stories in I, Robot are complete; they begin in the middle of people's lives and they end the same way, without the tidy encasing covers that we find in most books. This gives a sense of emotional detachment - the reader is allowed to watch but never to enter or to participate.

It's a strange style that I've only seen in Asimov stories. I've found it quite enjoyable, though perhaps only because of its rarity. It does add a sense of realism to the stories, making characters feel like entire people with rich lives that the reader isn't privy to outside of the constraints of the story.

I very much enjoyed I, Robot. I found it to be thought-provoking, interesting, entertaining, and well-written. The ethical issues raised are important as our technology becomes ever more powerful, so I would urge anyone and everyone to read this book.

Ice Land by Betsy Tobin

Read: 26 December, 2011

It's the end of the world. Christianity is growing in Iceland, threatening the power of the old gods, and the land itself seems to be in revolt. Meanwhile, two star-crossed lovers fight against the feud that divides their two families against a landscape that is both real and mythical.

There are two stories being told in Ice Land, that of Fulla and her growing love for Vili. Theirs is a Romeo and Juliet story, their families feuding, perpetually seeking revenge on each other in a never ending cycle. Meanwhile, we have Freya's quest for a magical necklace that has the power to end the apocalypse, preventing the destruction of the world.

I enjoyed the story, or at least I feel like I should have. Despite a fairly standard outline, Tobin does manage to take her two stories in a fairly unique direction. In particular, I enjoyed the way that she tried to mingle the real world with the world of mythology, making the one seem plausible and the other magical.

But maybe I just read the book at the wrong time. I found that I simply couldn't lose myself in the story and I rushed to finish towards the end. I do suspect that the problem was with me, though, since I can't think of anything that could have turned me off.

I Am Legend by Richard Matheson

Read: 12 August, 2011

Robert Neville is alone, completely alone in a world overrun by vampires.He is alive, but he can't figure out why he bothers.

I enjoyed the recent movie with Will Smith - mostly because I read into it far more than any of its creators intended. When I talk about the movie with others, it's like we saw entirely different movies. Mine was a subtle commentary on racism, or perhaps our relationship with the mentally ill. My movie featured a brilliantly executed unreliable narrator and one of the best ironic endings I've ever seen. What other people saw was yet another mindless monster flick.

I Am Legend the novel is everything I saw into the movie, only better.

Neville is a fantastic character. He's going nuts, making stupid mistakes, and drinking himself silly. But it's never frustrating, and I never felt that I just wanted him to shut up and get on with things. That's because Matheson has perfect timing, he never allows Neville to wallow for too long.

The sense of isolation and loneliness is palpable. As I was reading, I could really feel Neville's despair. This makes the story creepy and even terrifying without ever resorting to monster-in-the-closet gimmicks. Quite the opposite - the vampires' inability to wake during the day give Neville the advantage. He can scavenge safely during the day and then simply wait out the night in his house-come-fortress. The vampires are never the source of terror, the loneliness is.

This was one of the best, most perfectly executed books that I've read in a very long time. I highly recommend it for any fans of science fiction, distopian fantasy, post-apocalyptic fiction, and horror fiction.

NOTE: The copy I was reading was a first printing and had a truly creepy portrait of a young Matheson emerging from the shadows on the back. Yikes!

Dracula by Bram Stoker

Read: 7 February, 2010

I took a course during my university career on Science Fiction and Fantasy, taught by a heavily accented Ukrainian woman with very little qualification in the subject other than personal interest. The class structure was very informal. We had a reading list, but the syllabus included notes for each book where watching the movie would be a suitable alternative. Dracula was one such book, although the syllabus stipulated that only one version would be acceptable.

This was the same year that I was taking Victorian Literature and Colonial Literature, both courses assigning full length novels on a bi-weekly basis. I read so much that I got eye-fatigue and had to wear glasses for the rest of the year. I read so much that one of the professors (the Victorian Lit one) apologized to my mother at graduation. If I could lessen me reading load by one book, all the better.

I'm glad that I took advantage of the movie option because  I was so harried by schoolwork at the time that I was reading far too superficially - skimming to intake just enough for the tests but not enough for enjoyment. So I was able to approach the book a few years later with a clean impression and all the time chance and nature give us.

I didn't realize from the movie or pop culture that the book is written entirely in letter, news articles, and diary entries. In the story, this style is explained when one of the main characters collects all the story's fragments from the other characters and compiles them chronologically (so that they can examine and compare what they know so far about the story's baddy). It's done wonderfully, adding a sense of realism to the story.

The epistolary style is rarely done well. With the more usual narrative style, characterization is easier to fudge. But when characters are given their own voices, it suddenly becomes much more obvious if the author fails to give them unique personalities - or, just as bad, tries to differentiate them with the use of cheap gimmicks. But Bram Stoker pulls it off perfectly, making Dracula the single best example of the multiple narrator style that I've ever seen.

I really can't emphasize how much I enjoyed this book. It's brilliantly written, the plot is interesting, the characters have depth, the suspense is maintained, and there's an actual ending (something of a rarity among those easily-distracted Victorians). Other than a few points of plot, it's really nothing like any of the pop culture we're all familiar with.

The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov

Read: June, 2004

The devil has arrived in Moscow, and he's there to wreak havoc. Meanwhile, a writer obsesses over Pontius Pilate while a young woman obsesses over him.

I read Master and Margarita for a course I was taking in university, and it was one of my favourite books of the whole year. I found the obsession with Pontius Pilate to be rather contagious. I was taking another course on the New Testament, so I was able to get it out of my system by writing a rather lengthy essay on him.

This was all a couple years ago, so my memory of the book is a little hazy, but I remember finding it very funny and interesting, mixed in with that depressingly lethargic outlook on life, society, and government so common to Russian writing.

Night Watch #2: The Day Watch by Sergei Lukyanenko

Read: 19 December, 2010

During a battle with a powerful witch, Day Watch witch Alisa is drained of all her power. She is sent to a children's summer camp to work as a councillor while she recovers and, there, falls in love with a young man. Everything seems to be going well until her powers start to return and she realizes that her lover is a witch with the Night Watch!

In Night Watch, we got to see how the Others on the side of the light operate. Now, we get a glimpse into their enemy organization, the Day Watch.

This was a great addition to the series! I really enjoyed how the Dark Others were presented. They aren't evil, per se, they are just approaching life and relationships differently. In fact, I think that many people would agree with their individualistic philosophy. Lukyanenko did a great job of making the two sides distinct, with thoughts and motives that are diametrically opposed, while at the same time making them eerily similar. I think it's a mark of a master writer to be able to convincingly write about a feud between two enemies while convincing the reader that both are entirely justified.

As with Night Watch, the book is composed of several short stories that don't seem to have a whole lot to do with each other. But by the end, it becomes apparent that each has actually been building up towards a particular climax, that every seemingly unrelated event has actually been part of the leaders' strategies. Again, it's truly impressive how Lukyanenko is able to pull this off without it ever feeling contrived. The climactic reveals are truly revealing, and not in a cheaty way.

The setting is wonderful. It's a magical world laid over our own modern day one, and this is done very creatively. But most impressive is how very Russian the magic system is! There is little natural limit to what the witches can do, something that would be a recipe for Mary Sues in the hands of most other authors. But here, the use of magic is restricted by a complex hierarchical bureaucracy. It's like something straight out of Brazil!

And, as a fan of Russian music, I've been having a great time trying to match up the translated lyrics with the original songs.

The Princess Bride by William Goldman

Read: 6 April, 2010

True love is incredibly rare, but Buttercup and Westley have found it. When Westley is killed by the Dread Pirate Roberts, Buttercup agrees to marry Prince Humperdink. She's kidnapped just before her wedding, and is followed by a mysterious stranger. Who is he? Has he come to rescue her?

This was a fantastic book. I was pretty sure it would be after knowing and loving the movie for many years, but there was so much more to the novel form. The movie follows the story of Buttercup and Westley pretty accurately, but that's only half the book. The other half describes the narrator's relationship with S. Morgenstern's novel, the way it impacted his relationship with his father and with himself, and the way he hopes it will impact his relationship with his son.

The Buttercup portions of the novel are greatly entertaining for readers of all ages. The adventure is exciting and fast-paced, and it never takes itself too seriously. But the addition of the narrator's story is what promotes The Princess Bride from great novel to masterpiece. The novel could pass for a treatise on the value of books and literacy, and for the deeply personal and emotional ties we can have to our books.

Choose to read this superficially and be entertained. Or, choose to read it deeply and be challenged. Goldman pulls both facets off with rare skill. This book should be on everyone's reading list!

Sand Daughter by Sarah Bryant

Read: 3 December, 2009

Part historical fiction and part fantasy, Sand Daughter is the story of Khalidah, born of a Djinn mother and a Bedu father.

I had just picked it up without knowing what it was about, and the first portion read like a standard historical fiction, so I was taken rather by surprise when the story veered off into fantasy territory. That's not to say that it was unpleasant. Bryant managed to combine the two in a way that worked, inserting magic into real history while still keeping a good hold on the novel's verisimilitude.

The storytelling was quite good, making the book very readable. This is always a plus, especially in longer works!

Another aspect that I quite enjoyed was the inclusion of a homosexual romance as one of the subplots. It's lovely to see homosexuality dropped into a story without it being the story, normalizing it as just another possible pairing, undeserving of freakshow attention.

I enjoyed this novel quite a bit. There are aspects of the history that I could argue with, but that seems unimportant in the face of a good story. Recommended for fans of both historical fiction and fantasy, but not for purists in either genre.

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.

Night Watch #1: The Night Watch by Sergei Lukyanenko

Read: 12 May, 2009

Anton Gorodetski is an Other, a person with magical abilities. In his world, Others come in two types: those who belong to the Light and those who belong to the Dark. These two sides are in a sort of cold war against each other, each polices the other and ensures that neither breaks the terms of their uneasy truce.

Night Watch is arranged in three parts, each an independent story in which Anton must solve a mystery and encounter the Dark Ones. The great twist of the third story is, of course, that the events of all three are actually all related, part of a great plot, and Anton must make an impossible choice that could either save the world or destroy it.

The novel is unmistakably Russian. The magic system, not to mention the model of the truce between the two factions of Others, is ruled primarily by bureaucracy. The sense of humour, too, is fundamentally Russian - as are the character personalities, the descriptions, and even Anton's final decision at the climax of the novel. All are so adorably Russian.

The bureaucracy makes the magic system interesting. While the magic system itself could allow for limitless power (something generally considered a no-no in the Fantasy genre), the bureaucracy keeps the amount of power any one individual can hold in check. It's a very unique (and uniquely Russian) solution to a common problem in Fantasy stories.

I found Night Watch to be a delightful novel. It was funny, it was interesting, it was suspenseful, clever, and so very very Russian (can I say this enough?). I highly recommend it for fans of the Fantasy genre (especially the subgenre of Urban Fantasy), as well as any Russia-aficionados.

Discworld #12: Witches Abroad by Terry Pratchett

Read: 26 April, 2009

A beautiful young servant girl is destined to marry a handsome prince, thanks to her fairy godmother. The ball has been arranged, the gown made, and everything prepared so that Ella can meet her prince charming and live happily ever after.

But there's a catch. Three witches have come to put a stop to this fairy tale and make sure that Ella never marries the prince. Ella couldn't be happier!

Terry Pratchett's twelfth Discworld novel returns to Bad Ass and to the adventures of Granny Weatherwax, Nanny Ogg, and Magrat.

There isn't much to be said about this novel that can't be said for pretty much any of the other Discworld books. As usually, Pratchett his hilariously funny. I love Granny and Nanny and how they play off each other. The inversion of the classic fairy tale is quite clever as well.

But this isn't just about fairy tales. A large portion of the novel could better be called a mock-travel narrative, which was very interesting.

Specimen Days by Michael Cunningham

Read: 6 May, 2009

There was a tall pile of them on the sale table, just $4.99 each. I'd never heard of the title, or the author of that matter, but I had my allowance in hand. This was why I had come - to experiment, to sample the books no one else had wanted. $4.99 is nothing, really, especially for a hardcover. So I grabbed a pile of books, anything that looks interesting. I blew my entire allowance. It doesn't really matter. If just one or two of these books turn out to be gems, they will have enough value for the entire pile.

I'm not sure why I picked this one. I don't think I even bothered to read the jacket. The cover is interesting and it says "by the author of The Hours." Hadn't I heard that title before? I was sure it was a movie I had seen, maybe even liked.

I've been chewing my way through the pile of books I've bought in that way, but months went by before I got to this one. In the meantime, the bookstore marked it down to $2, and then only $1. The pile, sans my copy, never seemed to get any smaller. For whatever reason, this is a novel that has failed to catch the public's eye.

But I like the cover. I like the dandelion parachute ball, green and glowing. I would see it on my shelf and try to imagine what the story could be about. With a name like Specimen Days, it could be just about anything. Horror, maybe? I think I confused The Hours with The Others.

I had just finished Witches Abroad. Discworld novels are safe; I know what to expect when I crack the spine onto the first page. I was ready for something different, unexpected, adventurous.

So I picked the glowing green dandelion parachute ball with the black background. Why not?

Specimen Days is not a novel, no matter what the cover says. Specimen Days is a meditation, a thought experiment. It glides through experiences like a breeze, offering no explanations and no resolutions. To call itself a novel, it experiences the world through three characters: the child, the woman, and the man. Each of these receives a chapter, an age, and a genre. The book is at once historical fiction, detective story, and science fiction. Somehow, the whole is held together by an experience of Walt Whitman. I won't try to explain - I can't. You'll just have to read it for yourself.

I'm not surprised that Specimen Days can now be purchased for only $1 on the book's sale table. It isn't bad, it's just so experimental, different, and genre-defying. It's an experience of beauty and thought that can be both marvellous and uncomfortable. It isn't a casual read.

That being said, it was a wonderful experience and I feel enriched for having been seduced by that glowing green parachute ball. Read it, give it a chance, and let yourself experience the touch of the literary numinous.

Bridei Chronicles #1: The Dark Mirror by Juliet Marillier

Read: 5 April, 2009

As a small child, Bridei was given to the powerful Priteni druid Broichan for his education. It soon becomes clear that Broichan has a destiny in mind for his young ward, a destiny that Bridei has no choice but to accept. But the moon goddess seems to have plans of her own as, one Midwinter's Eve, she sends him a very peculiar baby girl whom Broichan immediately perceives as a threat.

I'm finding it extremely difficult to write this review. The Dark Mirror is by no means a bad book, nor is it a good one. I can think of nothing that Marillier did wrong, yet I can think of nothing that she did very well. This is the epitome of average (though, to be fair, my standards can be very harsh). I can only think to say that the novel seemed very slow-paced, but I can think of no scene that could have been cut. The fat is far too well spread.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this novel, but I can think of very little that was memorable. In that sense, I will recommend it as filler, something to read on a rainy afternoon. This is a book that can be put down without much of a struggle when the phone rings.

The Greener Shore by Morgan Llywelyn

Read: 17 March, 2009

In this sequel to Druids, Ainvar escapes from a Roman-ruled Gaul to the shores of Hibernia. Once there, he must learn the ways of Eriu, a strange woman who speaks to him from the Otherworld. As he forges a place for himself and his large family among the Gaels, he manages to tread on the toes of some locals. Unfortunately, his druidic powers have deserted him since the battle of Alesia, leaving him vulnerable. Meanwhile, Cormiac Ru must find the long-lost Maia, whom he believes himself destined to marry despite the fact that she was stolen and sold into Roman slavery as an infant.

POSITIVE: Llywelyn's writing style has not much changed in the years between Druids and Greener Shore. This new novel has most of the same strengths and flaws as its predecessors. While this can certainly be a negative (it would have been nice to see the author correct what had held Druids back from being a great novel), I found it a positive - if only because Greener Shore didn't suffer from the all-too-common sequel-itis. This was not a novel released hurriedly in the hopes that it would ride its predecessor's laurels.

As in Druids, the beginning was rather painful, but the story soon picked up. I managed to fly through two-hundred pages in just a few hours.

NEGATIVES: There didn't seem to be much direction to the novel. Druids had the creation of the Gaulish federation and the defeat of Caesar, but Greener Shore lacked any kind of similar goal. Rather, the plot ambled along until it reached an epiphany, but this was done in a rather lack-luster way. Had the epiphany been very good, or had the journey been dotted with thought-provoking insight, this would have been fine. Unfortunately, Greener Shore lacked both. Those many sayings peppering the novel that were clearly meant to be "deep" were rather quite obvious and common to most books that seek depth. Those little surprising, funny, and interesting sayings that sometimes found their way into Druids were lacking here.

I also found exposition of what had happened in the previous novel to be rather heavy-handed. I wish Llywelyn had either sought to make Greener Shore a stand-alone part of a saga, or a straight sequel of Druids. Instead, she gave it a completely different feel (which is a completely waffly term, I know - but it's the best I can come up with) while constantly bogging it down with "as you know, Martha" moments where characters narrate the events of the first novel to characters who had been present! I raised a similar complaint when I read Druids. Llywelyn spends far too much time on exposition and simply does not seem to trust her readers.

The Greener Shore is only a sequel of Druids in the sense that it involves many of the same characters and takes place after the events of the early book. Yes, that sounds like the definition of a sequel, but Greener Shore is an entirely different book with a completely different story to tell. Change the names and strike out the cumbersome "in the last episode" passages and it would function perfectly as an independent novel. Those wanting more Druids will be disappointed. Those wanting more Llywelyn will not.

P.S.: If anyone can tell me why Ainvar keeps refering to Ireland by its Roman name instead of the name the Gaels use, please explain it to me. I would have assumed that he would eager to accept just about anything other than the Roman designation. All I can think is that it was supposed to have some sort of symbolic significance when, at the end, he talks about remembering Eriu, but it just doesn't make sense to me.

Discworld #13: Small Gods by Terry Pratchett

Read: 23 February, 2009

Things just can't seem to go right for Brutha, Novice to the Great God Om. First a tortoise starts talking to him, then the head of the Inquisition notices that he exists, and that's just the start! Terry Pratchett delivers yet another wacky, zany, hilariously funny, and delightfully philosophical episode in the Discworld Series.

POSITIVE: Funny. Really funny. Laugh out loud while in public and make others think you're adled funny. In Small Gods, Pratchett's focus is on religion - monotheistic religion in particular. He handles his topic with great care, so that it is irreverent and funny, and yet somehow manages never to come off as insulting. The morals and philosophies of the story are also a treat and the ending, in particular, is absolutely perfect in every way.

NEGATIVES: None. Pratchett frequently falls a little short on his plots and endings, but this book is a shining exception. I don't get to say this often, but I think that this novel might just be perfect in every way.

Overall, this is a fabulous book and a joy to read from start to finish. I think that Atheists and scientists would most enjoy this read. Fundamentalists and religious conservatives may see themselves too accurately reflected and dislike the book as a result. Even so, I think that a good sense of humour will make this book an enjoyable read regardless of your religious beliefs.