3 months seem to have been stolen from me by the infamous Time Thief as i finally (re)turned to my blog today. I decided that the best way to get this done is to actually begin, and so here I am. Family, work, Netflix (more or less in this order) took up my 3 months and now as I try to recall everything that I read I am having a hard time.
So before I start, here is a glimpse of my reading pile by my bedside - more a memory aid for me for the future.
As I mentioned in my September post I worked through three books in October - Slade House by David Mitchell, Heart Goes Last by Margaret Atwood and Sorcerer to the crown by Zen Cho. I preferred the books in the same order that I have listed them.
Slade House - what can I say? David Mitchell can't seem to do anything wrong according to me! My only complaint was that this book was too short and not scary enough. After having read Cloud Atlas, Thousand Autumns, Bone Clocks, I wanted more pages, more visitors to the mysterious Slade House, more portals, more scary stuff and more of Marinus.
Heart Goes Last is another dystopian world view by the prolific Margaret Atwood. After the collapse of the world economy, people live in cars eking out a living in whatever way they can. So when the Positron project promises clean sheets, comfortable beds and full time employment why would anyone pass up on this opportunity! The only catch is that your year is spent in two distinct periods like a modern day King Vikramaditya. You have full employment for 6 months, and then you spend 6 months in a prison within the community - not the type of prisons you see in Hollywood movies, more the type you might see in Scandinavia. As with all Atwood novels there is a lot of dark humor, and weird science (most of which is already real in some shape or form). A fast read, not as fantastic as the MadAddam trilogy, still enjoyable.
Sorcerer to the Crown was the most talked about book among fantasy fans and its release was highly anticipated. England is facing a magical crisis as some kind of squabble with the fairies has led to a reduction in magic. Politically England is also dealing with France (non-magically) and the kingdom of Janda Baik (magically). It is also the time when women are not allowed to practice magic openly and are usually sent to a finishing school of sorts so they learn how to control their "unfortunate" magical abilities. Not a great time for the Sorcerer Royal to die and have his adopted black son Zacharias succeed him to the post. How does Zacharais deal with all these issues? He has a bit of a help from Prunella Gentleman - also dark skinned, and a rebel who wants to escape her finishing school and actually practice magic. Feminist fantasy novel, still it didn't manage to ensnare me. Maybe the hype was a bit too much and raised my expectations too high for Ms.Cho to jump over.
November and December I spent with Game of Thrones and Clash of Kings and am about 1/3rd done with Storm of Swords. I am officially now a fan, completely hooked by the plot and following the fates of all the different clans and dragons. Very medieval so needless to say there is a lot of death, murder, rape, war, and even incest, but there are enough strong women characters to keep me interested and the plot is just amazing! I don't think I will be able to watch the HBO series though as some things are best left to words than to pictures. I am now taking a break from the books and reading a couple of Wodehouses just for a change.
Also read Corsairs for OBOC- Qatar by Abdulaziz-Al-Mahmoud. Set in early 19th century in the Arabian peninsula, it is a great piece of historical fiction. Britain is trying to get control of the waters around the peninsula as it is an important trade route from India, so as usual they enter into many shifting alliances. Wahabbism is also gaining popularity in the region and Britain wants to use the pirate Erhama Bin Jaber to help them achieve their strategic aims while forming an alliance with Oman, Persia and Egypt. Erhama is his own man and refuses to join the English and only wants to pursue his personal vendetta. Erhama's son strikes an unlikely friendship with an English Major who is the custodian of a priceless sword to be used to seal the deal with Egypt. A very well written book and is a must-read for anyone trying to understand the geopolitics of the Arabian Peninsula. Although it is fiction, there are lessons here that could apply even today as politics makes strange bedfellows.
These are the only books I recall having read in the past 3 months. I have more to write about other things (especially the unprecedented floods in Chennai and my short visit back home), but that requires more thought. Today I just wanted to get started with blogging and free myself from the captivity of the time thief.
So before I start, here is a glimpse of my reading pile by my bedside - more a memory aid for me for the future.
As I mentioned in my September post I worked through three books in October - Slade House by David Mitchell, Heart Goes Last by Margaret Atwood and Sorcerer to the crown by Zen Cho. I preferred the books in the same order that I have listed them.
Slade House - what can I say? David Mitchell can't seem to do anything wrong according to me! My only complaint was that this book was too short and not scary enough. After having read Cloud Atlas, Thousand Autumns, Bone Clocks, I wanted more pages, more visitors to the mysterious Slade House, more portals, more scary stuff and more of Marinus.
Heart Goes Last is another dystopian world view by the prolific Margaret Atwood. After the collapse of the world economy, people live in cars eking out a living in whatever way they can. So when the Positron project promises clean sheets, comfortable beds and full time employment why would anyone pass up on this opportunity! The only catch is that your year is spent in two distinct periods like a modern day King Vikramaditya. You have full employment for 6 months, and then you spend 6 months in a prison within the community - not the type of prisons you see in Hollywood movies, more the type you might see in Scandinavia. As with all Atwood novels there is a lot of dark humor, and weird science (most of which is already real in some shape or form). A fast read, not as fantastic as the MadAddam trilogy, still enjoyable.
Sorcerer to the Crown was the most talked about book among fantasy fans and its release was highly anticipated. England is facing a magical crisis as some kind of squabble with the fairies has led to a reduction in magic. Politically England is also dealing with France (non-magically) and the kingdom of Janda Baik (magically). It is also the time when women are not allowed to practice magic openly and are usually sent to a finishing school of sorts so they learn how to control their "unfortunate" magical abilities. Not a great time for the Sorcerer Royal to die and have his adopted black son Zacharias succeed him to the post. How does Zacharais deal with all these issues? He has a bit of a help from Prunella Gentleman - also dark skinned, and a rebel who wants to escape her finishing school and actually practice magic. Feminist fantasy novel, still it didn't manage to ensnare me. Maybe the hype was a bit too much and raised my expectations too high for Ms.Cho to jump over.
November and December I spent with Game of Thrones and Clash of Kings and am about 1/3rd done with Storm of Swords. I am officially now a fan, completely hooked by the plot and following the fates of all the different clans and dragons. Very medieval so needless to say there is a lot of death, murder, rape, war, and even incest, but there are enough strong women characters to keep me interested and the plot is just amazing! I don't think I will be able to watch the HBO series though as some things are best left to words than to pictures. I am now taking a break from the books and reading a couple of Wodehouses just for a change.
Also read Corsairs for OBOC- Qatar by Abdulaziz-Al-Mahmoud. Set in early 19th century in the Arabian peninsula, it is a great piece of historical fiction. Britain is trying to get control of the waters around the peninsula as it is an important trade route from India, so as usual they enter into many shifting alliances. Wahabbism is also gaining popularity in the region and Britain wants to use the pirate Erhama Bin Jaber to help them achieve their strategic aims while forming an alliance with Oman, Persia and Egypt. Erhama is his own man and refuses to join the English and only wants to pursue his personal vendetta. Erhama's son strikes an unlikely friendship with an English Major who is the custodian of a priceless sword to be used to seal the deal with Egypt. A very well written book and is a must-read for anyone trying to understand the geopolitics of the Arabian Peninsula. Although it is fiction, there are lessons here that could apply even today as politics makes strange bedfellows.
These are the only books I recall having read in the past 3 months. I have more to write about other things (especially the unprecedented floods in Chennai and my short visit back home), but that requires more thought. Today I just wanted to get started with blogging and free myself from the captivity of the time thief.
