Looking Back on September, Looking Forward to October

There is more than a hint of autumn in the air as we reach the end of September, and some of the trees are beginning to turn.

September was the first of my themed months - and my theme was one of a historical nature. Here are the reviews I managed:

1) Mistress of Rome by Kate Quinn
2) The White Queen by Philippa Gregory
3) Dissolution by C J Sansom

Only three books in the historical theme, but what occurred to me immediately was the fact that this theme covers an astonishing period - I read novels dealing with ancient Rome, the War of the Roses and the dissolution of the monasteries under Henry VIII. I can definitely see myself doing another historical themed month, because I have the other Shardlake novels on my TBR pile, and I didn't even touch such authors as Simon Scarrow and Elizabeth Chadwick. Look out for another soon!

You were also spoilt with the following reviews:

4) Kiss Heaven Goodbye by Tasmina Perry
5) Unholy Ghosts by Stacia Kane
6) Wicked Appetite by Janet Evanovich
7) Unholy Magic by Stacia Kane
8) The Harlequin's Dance by Tom Arden
9) City of Ghosts by Stacia Kane

A few days back I put it to my readers to pick the theme for October and the votes have been counted. In October I shall be concentrating on mostly Quercus books! I can't promise I won't read/review other books, but the majority will be Quercus titles. I hope you stick around!

Happy reading x

Spooks With Spooks

Department 1 - Office of the Prime Minister
Department 2 - Cabinet Office
Department 3 - Home Office
Department 4 - Foreign & Commonwealth Office
Department 5 - Ministry of Defence
Department 6 - British Army
Department 7 - Royal Navy
Department 8 - Her Majesty's Diplomatic Service
Department 9 - Her Majesty's Treasury
Department 10 - Department for Transport
Department 11 - Attorney General's Office
Department 12 - Ministry of Justice
Department 13 - Military Intelligence MI5
Department 14 - Secret Intelligence Service
Department 15 - Royal Air Force
Department 16 - Northern Ireland Office
Department 17 - Scotland Office
Department 18 - Wales Office
Department 19 - CLASSIFIED

Find a top secret briefing concerning DEPARTMENT 19 on My Favourite Books later today.

Proceed with caution!

Dissolution by C. J. Sansom

It is 1537, a time of revolution that sees the greatest changes in England since 1066. Henry VIII has proclaimed himself Supreme Head of the Church. The country is waking up to savage new laws, rigged trials and the greatest network of informers it has ever seen. And under the orders of Thomas Cromwell, a team of commissioners is sent throughout the country to investigate the monasteries. There can only be one outcome: dissolution.

But on the Sussex coast, at the monastery of Scarnsea, events have spiralled out of control. Cromwell's commissioner, Robin Singleton, has been found dead, his head severed from his body. His horrific murder is accompanied by equally sinister acts of sacrilege.

Matthew Shardlake, lawyer and long-time supporter of Reform, has been sent by Cromwell to uncover the truth behind the dark happenings at Scarnsea. But investigation soon forces Shardlake to question everything that he hears, and everything that he intrinsically believes...

I have had my eye on the Shardlake novels for a little while, beginning with Dissolution - I greatly enjoy historical novels that do more than simply chronicle the events of the time, and murder mystery seemed to fit the bill! Having turned the first page, I found myself instantly caught up in the tale about Matthew Shardlake, gripped by the tight plot and realistic characters.

Sansom writes both lyrically and tautly, with few missteps. The descriptions of the monastery, and Shardlake being trapped within while on the hunt for a killer as snow spirals down outside, felt claustrophobic. Sansom increased the tension and the feeling of terror as the tale unfolded - every character was a source of suspicion, and I was constantly on the hunt for whodunnit.

I loved the way that the historical details were added to the story, woven around the main thrust of the plot. Discussions about Machiavelli, who had just published his novel; marvelling over the double entry being employed by the monks as a new initiative; the new nursing techniques. Sansom made it a joy to find these little gems, which were not the focus of the book, as I have found in other historical novels.

Sansom's characterisation was also very effective - Matthew Shardlake, in particular, is a very realistic character that I empathised with greatly. He is compassionate and clever, but also has many foibles. He sometimes speaks too sharply, and his self-esteem is non-existent. Most of the monks were given three dimensional personalities, with only a couple suffering from weak characterisation.

One flaw I did find (with both characterisation/dialogue) was that many of the characters spoke in a similar fashion with little to differentiate them, which made it hard to follow who was saying what in a conversation that lasted a few pages and where Sansom did not say explicitly who was talking.

I also found Sansom a little too knowing at times, with some of the concepts or thoughts he put into his character's dialogue: "But I fear without the universal church to bind us together, a day will come in this land when even belief in God will be gone. Money alone will be worshipped, and the nation, of course."

C. J. Sansom has brought to life an extremely turbulent period in English history, showcasing the politics and the fear experienced by the common people as they came to terms with the new laws. This is an incredibly strong novel, with an entertaining mystery to be solved by vibrant and realistic characters. I thoroughly enjoyed it and will definitely be picking up more novels about Matthew Shardlake.

To review...? Or not to review?

Okay, folks, it is navel gazing time again here on Floor to Ceiling Books!

Well, actually, it is time to ask a few questions of those bloggers I read regularly to find out their opinions on the subject.

The subject today is: Reviewing!

I would welcome input from all quarters on this one, just to find out how, where, when reviewing takes place.

My questions are:

1) When do you review a book? Immediately, during, after a few days...? (this question was shamelessly stolen from Friday's Book Blogger Hop: I read a few responses and it intrigued me enough to think about a few more questions in the same vein).

2) Do you review every book that you read? What prompts you not to review a book? Do you feel the obligation to review all advance copies you receive?

3) How do you do your reviewing? Making notes as you read or just sitting down and jotting down thoughts and feelings once the whole thing is read?

I think that's enough!

On my part, here are my answers?

1) I always review a book immediately on finishing it, although I am having the thought that perhaps I ought to let the novel percolate for a little while before spilling all my reactions on paper. Sometimes those initial reactions are the most truthful, but other times, without putting distance between myself and the book, I can sometimes be overly effusive or a tad harsh, which I think I wouldn't if I waited.

2) At the moment I am reviewing every book I read. It makes Floor to Ceiling Books a little unfocused in terms of genre at times, I will admit, but I started this blog as a way of recording what I read and what I thought about the book so, under those principles, I am sticking to reviewing everything - good and bad. Having to give a negative review would never stop me from reviewing, but I know others will not post up a review if they hated a book.

3) Sometimes I will dash around the house looking for pen and paper to jot down an immediate reaction to something in a book; I will fold the corner of pages with pertinent quotes; but most often my reviewing is a gush of thoughts and ideas once the whole book is read. This means that sometimes I end up missing things that had occurred during the read, which can be frustrating, but mostly works.

Now...what about you?

October Theme?

In August I decided to begin doing themed months, picked by you, the reader. I will offer you three options and the option that receives the most votes will be the theme for the following month.

In September (although you wouldn't have believed it!) I did an historical fiction themed month. I say this because a surprising amount of other reviews also appeared on my blog, although these had been scheduled from before my decision to move to themed months. I hope you have been enjoying those reviews of novels with an historical bent!

Now, we are moving rapidly towards October and it is time to pick a new theme. I know that a number of blogs around the blogosphere are choosing to go with a horror/paranormal theme for the month of October, thanks to Halloween. Rather than follow the crowd I have picked three themes that hopefully avoid this!

1) Chick Lit (who wouldn't want to plough through some books with pink, sparkly covers in the dark month of October?)

2) Black Library novels (alright, war in the far future might be dark enough for October!)

3) Books published by Quercus (I received a number of books from this lovely publishing house, and would like to celebrate the diverse novels they're currently bringing out).

So, there you have it! Which do you want to see for October?

City of Ghosts by Stacia Kane

City of Ghosts is the third book about Chess Putnam, as she goes through the business of debunking hauntings. In this novel Chess is drawn into a Black Squad (government department) investigation, bound to silence about her doings. She struggles to work through the meagre clues of the case as danger tightens around her, throwing everyone she cares about into the gravest peril.

I’ll say straight out that I adore this series, but I find that most series tend to have a weaker book. In my opinion, City of Ghosts is that book for Downside Ghosts.

I still greatly love all of the encounters between Chess and Terrible, which are heartbreaking and blisteringly sexy by turn. However, the whole plot dealing with Lauren from the Black Squad and their investigation seems unnecessarily complicated. We have not only the Lamanu kicking up trouble again (after encountering them in the first novel of the series), but also bodies in the street, psychopomps going mad, and a strange character called Mcguinness creeping into the frame.

To handle all of those plot elements in a tale that also seeks to provide a conclusion to very difficult personal relationships is a step too far, in my opinion, and the novel feels too rushed.

Chess’ drug use also takes a massive back seat in City of Ghosts. We’ve seen her dependency increase, especially in the second novel where she found herself blackmailed thanks to the amount she was taking. But here we only see one real instance where it is key to the storyline. I feel like Kane wavered a little in how far to take this element.

With all that said, City of Ghosts is still a superior example of urban fantasy. Kane’s worldbuilding is without peer in this genre, presenting us with the Church and psychopomps, and then the scary Downside where Chess makes her life. The food, the markets, the characters all come to startling life.

I’m thrilled that Stacia Kane is writing further books in the Downside series. The adventures of Chess are deeply satisfying, leaving you feeling real emotion about the heroine. Hopefully we won’t have to wait too long to read more — I will be at the front of the queue.

Horr... I mean, Fantasycon 2010

On the weekend of Friday September 17th to Sunday September 19th I attended Fantasycon 2010 at the Brittania Hotel in Nottingham.

I like Nottingham. I have fond memories because of attending plentiful tournaments at Warhammer World. I've spent many hours in various bars around the city centre, and found myself at Rock City too many times to count. Nottingham is fairly seedy after dark, the town centre is all over the place and it is too full of students (which I can now say as an old fart!), but I do enjoy going there.

The Brittania Hotel lived up to the image of Nottingham - past its best, too busy for its own good and yet somehow fun to mock gently. My room wasn't too bad (the bed was ace!), although the shower required quantum mechanics to get it both working and producing hot water. Some people told horror stories about their rooms, but anyone who has attended work conferences will have stayed in worse!

Earlier this year I attended the Saturday of Eastercon and had muchos fun. Pretty much on my return home I booked into Fantasycon 2010 and have looked forward to it all year.

First the good: seeing all my great, great friends. These are people I have been chatting to almost daily since I started blogging, and it is amazing to be able to waffle on in real life. So I say a big hello and thank you to: Adam (@ghostfinder) and his wife Sandra, Adrian (@Figures), Liz and Mark (@LizUK and @Gergaroth), Kai (@kaisavage), Paul and his wife Nadine (@PabloCheeseCake), Sharon (@DFReview), Adele (@Hagelrat). You should totally follow all these people on Twitter!

It was also enormously cool meeting some fabulous new folk, like soon-to-be-published author Will Hill *waves*

And I love, love, love being able to meet people in the industry: a shout out to Gavin Smith, James Barclay, Peter F Hamilton, Dave from Abaddon, Lee and Marc from Angry Robot, Juliet E McKenna (seriously, this lady is just the coolest and tells very humorous tales!), Mike Shevdon, Chloe from Tor and Gillian from Gollancz, Alasdair Stuart (he says lovely things about me!) - gosh, and many many more!

Seriously, if I haven't mentioned your name above, then it isn't through malicious intent, it is my crappy memory and far too much alcohol!

A strange highlight was hanging in the dealer's room near the pulp table, crying with laughter over titles and illustrations. Look out for a pulp fiction week soon enough *grin* Who wouldn't want to read a book called 'Space Tug', with a tagline that begins: 'A thrilling tale of work...' Seriously, this is scintillating stuff!

I attended two panels - the one on How Not To Be Published was entertaining enough, albeit a little unfocused, and I came out feeling no envy for all my friends who are trying to get published; it all sounds so incredibly exhausting! You guys write the books and I'll just keep reading them, m'kay? The interview between Peter F Hamilton and Alasdair Stuart was incredibly good - pertinent questions and very candid and thoughtful replies.

Other than that I spent my time in the bar and thoroughly enjoyed myself!

The bad: You've seen my blog post title, and you've probably seen the complaints elsewhere. For the premier fantasy event in the UK, it felt a little too much like Horrorcon Reprised. I acknowledge that the organisers are supported heavily by horror writers, and that a lot of the attendees appreciate this, but I would have liked a great deal more fantasy for my buck. James Barclay, Mark Charan Newton and Juliet E McKenna were virtually the only authorial representatives of a genre that includes a great many more authors. Where were they all? Where were the fantasy representatives in the Fantasy Awards? Where were the fantasy book launches? Why was the dealer's room light on tables by the major publishing houses?

This isn't BAD, just bad, if you see what I mean. I still loved the event and had a blast, but it just didn't seem to be FANTASYCON! Maybe the move to Brighton in 2011 will stir things up a little bit? Either way, I'll still be going *grin*

Finally, have some pictures of the books I hauled home! Apologies for the random books in the background...

First up, here are the books generously given to me by Sharon:



Here are the books I was given free and *ahem* liberated from the banquet room:



Here are the Angry Robot titles I received in preparation for a future themed month:



Here are the few books I actually brought:



And here is a simply awesome picture of the pulp fiction I decided must be mine! Look at the titles! Look at the pictures!



If you get the opportunity to go next year, then take it - I'll see you there!

Challenge FAIL - The Harlequin's Dance by Tom Arden

Ejland, northernmost kingdom of El-Orok, has been torn apart by civil war. The true king, Ejard Red, has been betrayed by the treacherous Archduke of Irion; after a long siege, the king has been captured and his throne seized by his twin brother, Ejard Blue.

In the village of Irion the crippled boy known as Jemany Vexing, bastard son of the beautiful but frail Lady Elabeth, lives in the dilapidated castle with his dying mother and his frustrated and fanatical Aunt Umbecca. Ela - seduced, it is believed, by a common soldier during the siege - is a social outcast, while her dashing brother Tor is a traitor, wanted for crimes against the false king.

Unable to walk, Jem is condemned to a wretched half-life, until he meets a mysterious dwarf...and with his new strength comes a new friendship, with the wild girl Catayane. The Archduke's grandson and the daughter of a blind hermit discover that their love holds the secret to incredible mystical powers.

As the horrors of the Bluejacket regime begin, so Jem becomes aware of his greater destiny, for his is the quest to find and reunite the five crystals of The Orokon. But he is not the only seeker: the evil sorcerer Toth-Vexrah has his own plans and will let no one stand in his way.

The Harlequin's Dance is a quiet book, which has similarities with Gormenghast in terms of setting and social commentary. Arden uses an 18th Century setting, rather unusually, in this, the first of five novels in The Orokon sequence. This enables him to bring in concepts such as novels, muskets and other technological advances that add a different feel to the book in comparison to traditional fantasy.

Also unlike traditional fantasy, although this novel is on the surface a quest for five crystals, in The Harlequin's Dance, Jem doesn't even set out on his quest - or know about it - until the last few pages.

This is a very different style of fantasy, with a fair amount to recommend it. Arden writes with gentle humour, biting satire and ghoulish horror at key moments. The characterisation is sharp and the villains are truly monstrous.

So why do I count this a fail in my book challenge? Probably more because it wasn't my style of book than because it was bad, I would guess, but I do think Arden's novel does have some large flaws.

One of these flaws is the prologue, which details the legend of the god Orok, his five children, and the crystals he bequeaths to each. We saw the crystals scattered, heard the familiar trope that in a time of great adversity the crystals would be brought back together by an unlikely hero, and prepared ourselves for a mighty quest story. And then... nothing happens at all for the course of approximately 430 pages out of 441 pages concerning this quest. It's as though the prologue was attached to the wrong book - instead The Harlequin's Dance was a sort of fantasy version of Tess of the d'Urbervilles. If the prologue hadn't been included I feel as though I might have enjoyed the novel more - as it was I spent most of the time waiting for the "real" story to start instead of appreciating the slow unwinding of Jem's life.

Another flaw is that, even accounting for the naturally slow pace as Arden introduces his character and sets the scene, The Harlequin's Dance is *nothing* but set up. You recall in that summary above hearing about the evil sorcerer? Well, he makes nary an appearance in this novel at all.

The characterisation is excellent, as I mentioned, but this doesn't help when roughly four fifths of the characters are despicable and worthy of disdain and/or hatred. Maybe Arden wrote them a little *too* well, but I didn't actually want to spent much time with them - and Poltiss was by far the worst offender (a character who grows from a boy that murders cats with his own hands to a rapist and murderer - not pleasant at all).

My last point concerns some of the, frankly, disgusting passages that Arden included - I don't know if they're in the novel to shock or to really emphasise the hideousness of the villains, but they sickened and jarred me out of the story to the point that I dreaded what he would say next. Passages such as:

"He rucked up his nightshirt, taking aim at the chamber-pot. The acrid spurtings missed their target, spreading instead in a steaming pool across the patterned rug."

and:

"Polty was so starving that he fell upon the gruel like a ravening beast, slurping and guzzling and scooping with his hands. He lolled back, almost grateful, only wishing there had been more. For a time, until the foul mixture had worked through his guts, and a fresh load of squelching liquid filled his breeches."

disgusted me. If they were in isolation I would probably have been able to cope, but there were many more situations like this.

In summary, I would class this as definitely NOT a diamond waiting to be discovered. It was slow, tiresome and misconstrued by the cover blurb, with only a few redeeming features. I am distinctly unlikely to pick up the second volume, which constitutes an extreme fail when considering the first novel of a five book sequence. Disappointing.

Have any of you read this novel? Would you dispute my review? Did you find more to enjoy?

Unholy Magic by Stacia Kane

In Stacia Kane’s second DOWNSIDE GHOSTS novel, Unholy Magic, Chess Putnam is pulled between two cases: the official Church investigation of the possible haunting of a celebrity, and the serial murders of prostitutes in Downside. She soon discovers that there is a dangerous sort of magic at work, and is forced to walk a fine line trying to balance all the elements of her life and work.

“Self-destruction was one thing, but she was turning into a one-woman wrecking ball.” In this book Chess is falling into an appalling addiction, but tries to convince herself that she is still merely a user. Her drug use compels her to keep visiting Lex, even though she knows she has to finish things with him to become a true part of Terrible’s life.

I found Unholy Magic desperately hard to read — at the same time as I wanted to shake Chess and try to force her to find help, I also wanted to sob with her as her life came crashing down around her. There was one particular graveyard scene between Chess, Lex and Terrible that I almost had to skip past, it was so powerfully written and haunting.

Kane succeeds admirably in writing a completely believable relationship between Chess and Terrible. It whispers into life as they begin trusting each other against all the odds, and grows as Chess realises that Terrible is much, much more than just the enforcer of drug lord Bump. This is not a relationship based on looks or immediate attraction; it grows and develops in an entirely realistic manner. Everything else in this novel takes second place to what is occurring between Chess and Terrible.

Which is a shame, because the plot is unpredictable and gripping, pitting Chess against an extremely chilling magic user. After reading certain scenes in Unholy Magic, I almost wanted to leave the light on at night!

I did have a slight problem with the middle part of Unholy Magic, where the storyline seems to skip along a little in places and doesn’t flow. This does coincide with the part of the novel where Chess’ drug addiction grows and threatens to consume her, so I put it down to the increasing disorientation of the main character, rather than a downturn in the quality of Kane’s work. It can, however, be confusing to read and follow.

Stacia Kane is writing a series that transcends the urban fantasy genre and should be read more widely. Her prose is excellent, characterisation and dialogue superb. This novel is bleaker and darker than the first, with a climax that leaves me longing to read City of Ghosts. I can’t recommend the DOWNSIDE GHOSTS highly enough.

Dying? Or Diversification...?

Alright, this is going to be a short post, but I am hoping it might generate some discussion.

At Fantasycon this afternoon I listened to a talk with Peter F Hamilton, who was asked his opinion on whether science fiction is actually dying.

His response is that it is not so much dying as diversification. Alright, "space science fiction" is becoming rather a lost art, with Hamilton and Alastair Reynolds two of those who are pushing it forwards. However, science fiction is embracing as diverse authors in terms of subject as Chris Wooding, Ian McDonald and Tony Ballantyne. All science fiction authors; all writing very different types of science fiction.



What struck me is that the same could be said for fantasy. Epic fantasy in its traditional form is fading. We no longer see the Tolkien clones. Instead fantasy has been diversifying for many years. Have we ever said that fantasy is dying? Or have we reached out to all those authors writing fantasy - from China Mieville, to Joe Abercrombie, to Brandon Sanderson - and included them under the same banner.

Why is it that science fiction is said to be dying (by some) but fantasy doesn't receive the same criticism, when both genres are merely following the same path of allowing different aspects of SF/F to be included?

Please discuss!