strange and random happenstance

The Last Days of New Paris by China Miéville
Published by: Del Rey
Publication Date: August 9th, 2016
Format: Hardcover, 224 Pages
Rating: ★ 1/2★
To Buy

In 1941 at the Villa Air-Bel in Marseilles Aleister Crowley's disciple Jack Parsons channels the objective chance of the refugee Surrealists living their into a device that Jack hopes he can use against the Nazis. He had originally planned to travel to Prague and raise the golem, but travel to that city is impossible and he thinks that this new plan will work. Only he doesn't have a chance to try it out as the device is stolen and taken to Paris where it explodes. What comes to be known as the S-Bomb detonates at Les Deux Magots changing the face of Paris. Soon Surrealist paintings, sculptures, drawings, even ideas, the very dreams of the movement have come alive and are walking the streets of Paris. The manifs destroy all in their path except for those who are aligned with the beliefs of their creators. La Main à plume before the S-Bomb was a collective created by friends of André Breton that distributed their published manifestos, but now, with the advent of the manifs, they are the leaders of the resistance in Paris. Main à plume IS the resistance! The Nazis do not take kindly to the manifs and Main à plume. Their control of Paris wavers and the battle limps on. When the S-Bomb was detonated Thibaut was only fifteen years old. Shortly thereafter when the Nazis rounded up and killed his family he saw his first manif. As an acolyte to the ideals of Surrealism he was in awe. Now he is twenty-four and disillusioned by the war. He has worked his way up in the ranks of Main à plume, but devastating losses have been too much for him. He plans to get out. Even if it kills him. And that's when he meets Sam. She claims to be a photographer who has entered Paris to document "The Last Days of New Paris" and she wants to see it all. She has ulterior motives, and it might involve the exquisite corpse he's travelling with. But Thibaut realizes, even if she does he wants her ersatz book to exist. Even if he has to write it himself. Though Thibaut is troubled. When he met Sam she was being attacked by manifs that the Nazis seemed to control. That has always been the Nazis goal, their own manifs. But they have never succeeded. With the help of Alesch, the traitor-priest, and Mengele, the Nazis first raised demons from the very pits of hell to have creatures capable and competent enough to take on the manifs. Now they might have created a hybrid. Something so dangerous that the very denizens of hell have sent someone to stop it. Can Thibaut save this dreamlike Paris that is his home from the enemy, or will it fall to the ultimate Nazis weapon?

This book makes me feel sad and stupid. Sad because I remember when I first read this book my friend Sarah was in Paris and I was talking to her about it. I thought she'd enjoy it because she was walking in the footsteps of Thibaut and she could have my copy when she returned home because at the time I never planned to read it again. She died in July of 2020. She was only thirty-two. Stupid because instead of providing us context China Miéville just namedrops, but not logically, he does it in the way Mark Z. Danielewski does in House of Leaves, just lists and lists of names, both people and places. I should not need an episode of Drunk History and a miniseries about Varian Fry I just happened to watch on Netflix to actually understand anything of what is happening. Almost all of his characters are real people but how is the reader to know this? What makes it a thousand times worse is that I'm not a neophyte. I have a degree in art, albeit not in art history, but I took five art history courses and three of those specifically covered this period in art and I was just lost. So who exactly is this book written for? Not for those ignorant of Surrealism, because they'd be totally lost. Not for those familiar with Surrealism, because they'd be totally lost as well. So did he just write this book for himself? With the occasional pretentious art history professor at some painfully small liberal arts college thinking it's genius because of that one trip they took to Paris thirty years before and they've made it their entire identity. Because that's all I've got. And there could have been something here, some alchemical combination of Jasper Fforde and R.W. Chambers if only the world had been expanded and explained. For example let's take what an exquisite corpse is. Everyone has played this game even if they never knew it by name. I remember doing it in first grade so obviously my teacher wasn't going to mention it's rather grotesque nomenclature. As MoMA states, it's a "game in which each participant takes turns writing or drawing on a sheet of paper, folding it to conceal his or her contribution, and then passing it to the next player for a further contribution. The game gained popularity in artistic circles during the 1920s when it was adopted as a technique by artists of the Surrealist movement to generate collaborative compositions." This is information vitale to the plot of the book but it's only badly explained by Surrealist Simone Kahn in the footnotes and not explained at all in the story. I mean, explain just one thing Miéville, just one! And for the love of all that is holy, stop going all meta! YOU did not need to be in this book! In fact, my recommendation is to just go watch Strange Angel on Paramount+ and Transatlantic on Netflix and never read this book. It was really a waste to read it a second time.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: China Mieville, Exquisite Corpse, For the Love of Book Clubs, Jack Parsons, Jasper Fforde, Manifs, Nazis, Paris, R.W. Chambers, S-Bomb, Strange Angel, Surrealism, The Last Days of New Paris, Transatlantic, WWII

Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone by Benjamin Stevenson
Published by: Mariner Books
Publication Date: January 17th, 2023
Format: Kindle, 384 Pages
Rating: ★★
To Buy (different edition than one reviewed)

In a family of killers a reunion at a remote sky resort might not be the best idea. But that is exactly what is about to happen. Ernest could have warned them. Afterall he writes books on how to write murder mysteries, particularly those that adhere to the commandments laid out by Golden Age writers like Agatha Christie. But no one's been talking to him for the last three years because three years previously Ernest Cunningham broke the cardinal rule of the family, he talked to the police. His brother Michael ended up in prison for a murder Ernest saw him commit. Their mother hasn't forgiven Ernest for this. Now on the eve of Michael's release the family has gathered in a place they could well be stranded in, if the right conditions happen. Which of course they will. Because his tale is a tale of killers. Ernest's mother, his father, his step-father, his step-sister, his brother, his sister-in-law, his aunt, his wife, and yes, even Ernest himself, are all killers and when killers gather death is on the table. The first body is found the next day. Thankfully it isn't a member of the family. Yet. But that doesn't exactly rule them out. Though his step-sister, Sofia, a doctor, is quick to point out the death is odd. Very odd. As in, it has all the hallmarks of a serial killer going by the moniker of the Black Tongue. And it looks like the corpse, which they've nicknamed Green Boots, might be his latest victim. Could one of his family be not just a killer but a serial killer? And could they now be trapped up on the mountain with them? Of course is the answer that Ernest should have expected. At least Michael couldn't possibly be the killer as he was still in prison when the murder occured. But Michael was lying. He got out a day early because he's been having an affair with Ernest's soon to be ex-wife. And, actually, Ernest has to give his brother a little credit for breaking up an almost completely dead marriage from inside prison. That's if their affair didn't start earlier... Because the truth is this family isn't exactly one for the truth. They keep their cards close and only show them when they have no other options. Their secrets could literally kill them as the snow closes in and Ernest realizes that he's been focusing on the wrong thing. He's been too enamoured with playing detective. He's been in love with being the lead of one of those books he outlines for others to imitate. He should have paid better attention. He should have realized why his family has the rule about the police. He should have realized a lot of things. Hopefully it's not to late for him.

The title of this book is purposely misleading. The way the reveal is set up the title is imperative for the misdirection, for the misunderstanding that has led to the situation Ernest Cunningham has found himself in. And yet the title does a disservice to the book. When you start reading a story and are told from the very beginning that everyone is a killer you instantly have no vested interest in their survival. All these people killed someone so why should I care if they get killed? Of course Benjamin Stevenson plays with the concept of what is a killer throughout the book trying to give you a deeper understanding of the characters, but it's too little too late. I care not for all these relatives, I care not for Ernest, they can literally all die for all I care, and, well, a few of them do. I wanted to like this book more it's just that I didn't. Ernest has a unique voice, but it's not a narrative voice that flows. The writing in this book is clunky. I kept thinking of other authors who have a similar writing style, Lisa Lutz sprang quickly to mind, as did Jasper Fforde and Lemony Snicket. They all have their own unique voice and singularly original style that Benjamin Stevenson attempted to do here, but their work is polished, precise, you don't find yourself rereading a sentence five times over just to see if you drew the correct meaning from it. And that's what frustrated me so much with this book, here's someone actually bothering in this day and age to adhere to the standards of Golden Age mysteries and fair play instead of infuriating the reader with impossible reveals, unreliable narrators, or endings that just didn't make sense, and I couldn't be bothered. If I didn't have a pathological need to finish every book I start combined with this being a read for my book club, I honestly don't know if I would have finished it. There is such unrealized potential. This book is now the start of a series, which should surprise no one, nor should the fact it already has a deal with HBO. All I can hope for is that going forward, in both mediums, the characters, and minimally Ernest, should be someone we can root for. Someone we can get behind. Because writing can be polished, characters can evolve, but starting on such unsound footing makes me hesitant to continue on the journey ahead. I hear Ernest is going on a train ride. I do wonder if I'll join him. Someday.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Benjamin Stevenson, Ernest Cunningham, Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone, Fair Play, For the Love of Book Clubs, Golden Age of Detection, HBO, Jasper Fforde, Lemony Snicket, Lisa Lutz, Serial Killer

Baring A Christmas Carol, Great Expectations is probably Charles Dickens most adapted story. Pip growing up and becoming disillusioned with the world has played out time and time again. And I have never really liked a single one of them. Pip, whether played by actors I love like Ioan Gruffudd or those I respect like Michael York, has always struck me as a prissy prig. He's holier than thou and thinks he has some divine right to the life he's been given. In my opinion the world would have been a lot better off without Pip in it. So how did Steven Knight trick me into watching another adaptation other than being Steven Knight? Matt Berry. That's right folks, I watched this entire adaptation just to see Matt Berry's backside. I didn't know I'd get to see his backside, it was just an amusing bonus. Though even if I hadn't tuned in for Matt Berry I would have been sad to have missed this adaptation because it is the best "adaptation" of Great Expectations ever. The quotes are there because while much was made in the press about Matt Berry's backside being supported by the text, the truth of the matter is Steven Knight kind of threw the text out the window. Of the three "stages" of Pip's life the first one is the only one to actually remain true in this telling, after that it's a free for all. And I for one am here for it! Miss Havisham obviously holding a quartet captive in her house since her wedding day so she can have mood music wherever she wants? While I'm only positing that that is how they're there, I am so here for this that I can't tell you how much I loved it. The fact that Miss Havisham gets to live AND give Pip a parting shot worthy of any eighties action star? Oh yes, more of this, this is the Miss Havisham of Jasper Fforde! Lord Larys leaving the Red Keep to disgustingly sniff snuff? I didn't know Matthew Needham was so comically gifted! But above all what makes this entire adaptation work is that Steven Knight was obviously sick of waiting around on Tom Hardy to make season two of Taboo, AKA the best television series that has ever been created, and decided to make his version of Great Expectations into Taboo 2.0. This is literally Taboo minus Tim Hardy with a veneer of Dickens and Matt Berry. In fact, can someone check to see if Jaggers is wearing Tom Hardy's coat from Taboo? Because I have my suspicions. And specking of Jaggers, he really is the star of this adaptation, and that's saying something because David Suchet has also played this role. Jaggers brings to the fore all the issues that Steven Knight finds the 19th century plagued with that he obsessively explores; slavery, inequality, maritime law, and revenge. This might ostensibly be Pip's story, but Jaggers is the star. But the biggest question at the end of the day is how does Steven Knight make maritime law interesting? Because I assure you he does.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Adaptation, And the Emmy Goes To, Charles Dickens, David Suchet, Great Expectations, Ioan Gruffudd, Jaggers, Jasper Fforde, Maritime Law, Matt Berry, Matthew Needham, Michael York, Steven Knight, Taboo, Tom Hardy

Unlike some of the other authors featured during Regency Magic I didn't have a serendipitous series of events that led to me discovering H.G. Parry. Instead it was fairly straightforward if you're a book blogger. So NetGalley is a website that lets "book advocates," such as reviewers and bloggers, request digital galleys of upcoming publications. My morning routine every day is to check my email and then check NetGalley. Because you never really know what's going to show up when and one of the reasons I started my blog was to get books by my favorite authors before anyone else. Small goal, but it was achieved. One day in 2019 I was looking through the new titles and one caught my eye, The Unlikely Escape of Uriah Heap. The description sounded very Ffordian so I hit request and according to my records on June 12th, 2019 I was approved. I mean who doesn't want to read a book with more than one Mr. Darcy? Though it was a book published a year later by H.G. Parry, A Declaration of the Rights of Magicians, that was even more up my alley. Because it was "technically" Regency Magic. I say technically because it's more Regency adjacent as H.G. pointed out to me in our recent email exchange. But I will counter that they do have a Regency crisis, it's just averted for the moment, and everything that's happening feeds into the Regency. And of course, because I wanted to read this book more than anything I was denied. There was some weeping and wailing but I recovered and they did approve me for the sequel, A Radical Act of Free Magic, so that was some cold comfort. But the thing that is so interesting to me is that H.G.'s writing, especially in her Shadow Histories, is so densely Dickensian and Uriah Heep is Dickens's creation. I just feel that H.G. really knows what she's doing. Her writing is so put together and thorough. Plus she's cranking out doorstop sized books at the rate of one a year, which, well, my hat is off to her. And now that my hat is off, let me cordially welcome her to my blog. 

Question: When did you first discover Jane Austen?

Answer: It was Northanger Abbey at my first year of university. I'd never studied her in high school and I think I was expecting something romantic, so I was knocked sideways by how absurdly funny and clever it was. That opening paragraph is still one of the wittiest I've ever read.

Question: What do you think Jane Austen would think of her impact with so many literary offshoots, from parody to pastiche?

Answer: Oh, I think she'd love it! And also mock most of them mercilessly! But her first published book was gloriously intertextual and had great fun with The Mysteries of Udolpho, so she'd get it.

Question: Where do you get your inspiration from?

Answer: Usually, from reading history and famous novels, and then seeing what happens if certain kinds of magic is added - what can it be used to illuminate, or explore, or cast in a different light? I love books that are in conversation with other books.

Question: What makes the early 19th century mesh so well with magic?

Answer: I'm not sure I can answer this: the Shadow Histories are mostly the Revolutionary Wars, so I barely got to the 19th century. I think in general though there's a really interesting overlap between historical fiction and fantasy because there's an equally interesting overlap between the way we think about history and the way we think about secondary world fantasy - both take place in worlds that are in some ways very similar and in others very different to our own. Magic gives us a way of exploring history at a remove, as it does the present day. And the turn of the 19th century was a fascinating and dramatic time, where so many choices were being made that shaped our present day for better or worse.

Question: The world building and system of magic varies greatly in the regency fantasy genre, how did you go about creating yours?

Answer: In the Shadow Histories, magic is innate in certain people, but the right to use it is jealously guarded by the aristocracy - so when the tide begins to turn toward revolution, magic is a right that is being fought for along with other freedoms. I wanted it to be a way of thinking about power - who has it, who wields it, what compromises we make to get it, how we use it to fight for a better world, and all those complicated questions that the French Revolution made a matter of life or death.

Question: If you had to choose between writing only period literature or only fantasy literature, which would win?

Answer: I've written fantasy books set in the present day and I've never written historical fiction without magic, so it would have to be fantasy. But I'd find a way to cheat somehow! My contemporary fantasy had five Mr. Darcys, so...

Question: Be honest, have you ever dressed up in Regency clothes just to pretend for a moment you are in the past?

Answer: Ha! I'm definitely better in the present day. The closest I came was at the Jane Austen Centre in Bath, where we were all allowed to try on dresses and shawls and bonnets. I was very excited, but then I just sort of looked like Jemima Puddleduck.

Biography:
H.G. Parry is the author of  The Unlikely Escape of Uriah Heep, The Shadow Histories duology, and The Magician's Daughter. Her short fiction has appeared in Intergalactic Medicine Show, Daily Science Fiction, and small press anthologies, and she holds a PhD in English Literature from Victoria University of Wellington. She currently lives in a book-infested flat on the Kāpiti Coast in New Zealand, which she shares with her sister and an increasing menagerie of small animals.

H.G.'s Social Media:
Website
Instagram
Twitter
Goodreads

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: A Declaration of the Rights of Magicians, A Radical Act of Free Magic, Dickensian, H.G. Parry, Jasper Fforde, Netgalley, Northanger Abbey, Regency Magic, The Shadow Histories, The Unlikely Escape of Uriah Heep

Emma by Jane Austen
Published by: Max Press
Publication Date: 1815
Format: Hardcover, 240 Pages
Rating: ★★★★★
To Buy (different edition than one reviewed)

Emma Woodhouse is the center of her world. Looked upon by all in her small community as the perfect woman, the doting daughter, the charitable neighbor, the ideal future wife. Yet little do they realize that she is the spider at the center of a web thinking everyone is there for her amusement. They are mere playthings to her and she has just lost her most favorite toy. Her governess Miss Taylor has married and become Mrs. Weston, thus constricting Emma's household to just her and her father and the occasional visits from Mr. Knightly. Therefore, despite Mr. Knightly's stern warnings, Emma finds herself a new favorite to play with. And what better game than matchmaking? Harriet Smith is a nobody, her parents having given her away. Emma has fanciful notions of whom Harriet's parents could be and therefore eschews Harriet marrying the kind farmer Robert Martin and sets Harriet on the path to conjugal bliss with the vicar Mr. Elton. But Mr. Elton is a social climber and fancies that he is worthy of Emma's hand. Once aware of her mistake you'd think that Emma would have taken the hint and stopped her matchmaking, but she soldiers on. Mr. Weston's son, Frank Churchill, soon arrives on the scene to pay his respects to his new mother, and while first marked out for Emma, Emma soon thinks that happy is the man who changes Emma for Harriet. In all her ploys Emma never really sees that she is being callous and her jokes are at the expense of others, such as the poor Miss Bates and her niece Jane Fairfax, and have real world consequences. She lives in a bubble that desperately needs to be burst, and no matter how hard Mr. Knightly tries he can't seem to get through to Emma. In fact it's her favorite new toy, Harriet, who wields the needle and pops the bubble, opening Emma's eyes while also taking the shine off herself. Will Emma be able to fix what her childish games have wrought? Or will she lose her happily ever after?

There are things I can't help but question on every reading of Emma... mainly the Mr. Knightly/Emma age gap. I totally agree with Andrew Davies that having a man sixteen years older than you saying he first loved you when you were thirteen is more than a little icky. If Mr. Knightly had just refrained from saying that and a few other choice lines he wouldn't have come across as the Humbert Humbert of his day. Because really, when you think of it, a sixteen year age difference isn't that creepy. In fact there's far more than sixteen years between Marianne Dashwood and Colonel Brandon, and there's eighteen between me and Colin Firth, not that I've counted that often... But what I found interesting this time is that this creep factor wasn't so much there for me anymore. Perhaps it's because I have found far bigger creeps in this book, I'm sorry Frank Churchill, you're an irredeemable psychopath. Or perhaps it's because I see why Emma falls for Mr. Knightly. It's not his superiority above all others, it's the fact that Emma has Daddy issues. Serious Daddy issues. Issues that lead her to basically marry her "other" father. Are we to blame Mr. Knightly for taking advantage of the situation and forming Emma into the perfect woman? Or should we just say Emma needs therapy? My vote is for therapy. In fact, while Jasper Fforde perfectly parodied a group therapy session in the Thursday Next books for the characters of Wuthering Heights, I think the residents of Highbury need some counseling too. Emma for her Daddy issues, Mr. Knightly for grooming. And then look to Emma's treatment of Harriet. She bullies her, ghosts her, and then badmouths her. Oh, and Frank Churchill, he will need his own breakout session. Who flirts with other women in front of their fiance? Sure, she's a secret fiance, but still, how could Jane take that? Of all Austen's books Emma is the one I sometimes just can't deal with.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Colin Firth, Emma, Emma Woodhouse, Frank Churchill, Harriet Smith, Highbury, Humbert Humbert, Jane Austen, Jasper Fforde, Mr. Elton, Mr. Knightly, Psychopath, Regency Romp, Therapy, Thursday Next, Wuthering Heights

There are only a handful of miniseries that I allow to be categorized as my favorites. They are sheer perfection and I return to them again and again because I love them so much. Wives and Daughters starring Keeley Hawes, Pride and Prejudice starring Colin Firth, The Forsyte Saga starring Damian Lewis, and a dozen more, these aren't just seminal to me, they made me who I am. As did Jane Eyre. This adaptation of Jane Eyre starring Toby Stephens and Ruth Wilson will forever be the best adaptation of a Bronte book. Period. I came to Jane Eyre's story by such a roundabout route, watching different adaptations over the years on cable while never picking up the book. Ironically my first literary experience of the world created by Charlotte was actually in Jasper Fforde's book The Eyre Affair. I first learned to love Edward Rochester as filtered through another author after first experiencing him through countless adaptations. After all this data from so many different mediums I finally went to the source and fell in love with the book. Here's a fact about me that I promise is relevant to this discussion of Jane Eyre. Before I fell in love with books I loved movies. In fact I remember one TA in college asking why I was studying art and not films. I really didn't have an answer for him, other than I had nebulous thoughts that while I was going to continue making art forever films were more just a form of entertainment for me and I had no interest in really making them. Criticizing them yes... But that's a different career path and actually kind of what I do on this blog... Where I was going with this is that for a long time books needed to be adapted for me to reach their "final iteration." This is actually a hotly debated subject, because books as books are their final form and they don't need a movie or miniseries to make them more real. But there was the old me and the new me and the old me needed to see Jane Eyre on screen. And there was Rochester on screen. THERE HE WAS! It wasn't Maggie Smith's son, it was Rochester. Even the scene where he first meets Jane on that rainy road as I first saw it in my mind in The Eyre Affair was exactly how I pictured it. Now I'm not saying that a perfect adaptation is only perfect for finding one moment and making it exactly as I saw it, I'm just saying, seeing my vision on screen for even a second made me sit up and pay attention and fall in love with this adaptation irrevocably.       

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Adaptation, Brontes, Charlotte Bronte, Fifty Years a Masterpiece, Films, Jane Eyre, Jasper Fforde, Maggie Smith, Miniseries, Pride and Prejudice, Ruth Wilson, The Eyre Affair, Toby Stephens, Wives and Daughters

A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik
Published by: Del Rey
Publication Date: September 29th, 2020
Format: Hardcover, 336 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"From the New York Times bestselling author of Uprooted and Spinning Silver comes the story of an unwilling dark sorceress who is destined to rewrite the rules of magic.

"The dark school of magic I’ve been waiting for." Katherine Arden, author of Winternight Trilogy

I decided that Orion Lake needed to die after the second time he saved my life.

Everyone loves Orion Lake. Everyone else, that is. Far as I’m concerned, he can keep his flashy combat magic to himself. I’m not joining his pack of adoring fans.

I don’t need help surviving the Scholomance, even if they do. Forget the hordes of monsters and cursed artifacts, I’m probably the most dangerous thing in the place. Just give me a chance and I’ll level mountains and kill untold millions, make myself the dark queen of the world.

At least, that’s what the world expects me to do. Most of the other students in here would be delighted if Orion killed me like one more evil thing that’s crawled out of the drains. Sometimes I think they want me to turn into the evil witch they assume I am. The school itself certainly does.

But the Scholomance isn’t getting what it wants from me. And neither is Orion Lake. I may not be anyone’s idea of the shining hero, but I’m going to make it out of this place alive, and I’m not going to slaughter thousands to do it, either.

Although I’m giving serious consideration to just one.

With flawless mastery, Naomi Novik creates a heroine for the ages - a character so sharply realized and so richly nuanced that she will live on in hearts and minds for generations to come."

Dark magic here I come!

The Low, Low Woods by Carmen Maria Machado and Dani
Published by: DC Comics
Publication Date: September 29th, 2020
Format: Hardcover, 3160 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"From New York Times bestselling author Carmen Maria Machado (Her Body And Other Parties, In The Dream House) comes a story so horrifying you won't dare to forget!

When your memories are stolen, what would you give to remember? Follow El and Vee as they search for answers to the questions everyone else forgot.

Shudder-to-Think, Pennsylvania, is plagued by a mysterious illness that eats away at the memories of those affected by it. El and Octavia are two best friends who find themselves the newest victims of this disease after waking up in a movie theater with no memory of the past few hours.

As El and Vee dive deeper into the mystery behind their lost memories, they realize the stories of their town hold more dark truth than they could've imagined. It's up to El and Vee to keep their town from falling apart...to keep the world safe from Shudder-to-Think's monsters."

Collects issues # 1-6."

A wonderfully creepy entry into the Hill House catalog with a coming of age mystery with interesting time jumps that make you wonder if you're in Shudder-to-Think and losing your memories as well.

The Constant Rabbit by Jasper Fforde
Published by: Viking
Publication Date: September 29th, 2020
Format: Hardcover, 320 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A new stand-alone novel from the New York Times bestselling author of Early Riser and the Thursday Next series.

England, 2022. There are 1.2 million human-size rabbits living in the UK. They can walk, talk, drive cars, and they like to read Voltaire, the result of an Inexplicable Anthropomorphizing Event fifty-five years before.

A family of rabbits is about to move into Much Hemlock, a cozy little village in Middle England where life revolves around summer fetes, jam making, gossipy corner stores, and the oh-so-important Best Kept Village awards.

No sooner have the rabbits arrived than the villagers decide they must depart, citing their propensity to burrow and breed, and their shameless levels of veganism. But Mrs Constance Rabbit is made of sterner stuff, and her and her family decide they are to stay. Unusually, their neighbors--longtime resident Peter Knox and his daughter, Pippa - decide to stand with them . . . and soon discover that you can be a friend to rabbits or humans, but not both.

With a blossoming romance, acute cultural differences, enforced rehoming to a MegaWarren in Wales, and the full power of the ruling United Kingdom Anti-Rabbit Party against them, Peter and Pippa are about to question everything they had ever thought about their friends, their nation, and their species.

An inimitable blend of satire, fantasy, and thriller, The Constant Rabbit is the latest dazzlingly original foray into Jasper Fforde's ever-astonishing creative genius."

The thing I love about Jasper Fforde books is they sound bonkers but somehow they're actually very relatable. And the best thing about The Constant Rabbit? I'm getting a signed copy as a birthday present from my friend Marie! 

The Midnight Library by Matt Haig
Published by: Viking
Publication Date: September 29th, 2020
Format: Hardcover, 304 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"'Between life and death there is a library, and within that library, the shelves go on forever. Every book provides a chance to try another life you could have lived. To see how things would be if you had made other choices...Would you have done anything different, if you had the chance to undo your regrets?'

A dazzling novel about all the choices that go into a life well lived, from the internationally bestselling author of Reasons to Stay Alive and How To Stop Time.

Somewhere out beyond the edge of the universe there is a library that contains an infinite number of books, each one the story of another reality. One tells the story of your life as it is, along with another book for the other life you could have lived if you had made a different choice at any point in your life. While we all wonder how our lives might have been, what if you had the chance to go to the library and see for yourself? Would any of these other lives truly be better?

In The Midnight Library, Matt Haig's enchanting new novel, Nora Seed finds herself faced with this decision. Faced with the possibility of changing her life for a new one, following a different career, undoing old breakups, realizing her dreams of becoming a glaciologist; she must search within herself as she travels through the Midnight Library to decide what is truly fulfilling in life, and what makes it worth living in the first place."

Libraries are magic. This library is even more magical.

Battle Ground by Jim Butcher
Published by: Ace
Publication Date: September 29th, 2020
Format: Hardcover, 432 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"THINGS ARE ABOUT TO GET SERIOUS FOR HARRY DRESDEN, CHICAGO’S ONLY PROFESSIONAL WIZARD, in the next entry in the #1 New York Times bestselling Dresden Files.

Harry has faced terrible odds before. He has a long history of fighting enemies above his weight class. The Red Court of vampires. The fallen angels of the Order of the Blackened Denarius. The Outsiders.

But this time it’s different. A being more powerful and dangerous on an order of magnitude beyond what the world has seen in a millennium is coming. And she’s bringing an army. The Last Titan has declared war on the city of Chicago, and has come to subjugate humanity, obliterating any who stand in her way.

Harry’s mission is simple but impossible: Save the city by killing a Titan. And the attempt will change Harry’s life, Chicago, and the mortal world forever."

Remember earlier this year when it had been AGES since there was a new Dresden Files book? Well here's another one two months since the last one! 

The Nesting by C.J. Cooke
Published by: Berkley
Publication Date: September 29th, 2020
Format: Paperback, 368 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The woods are creeping in on a nanny and two young girls in this chilling modern Gothic thriller.

Architect Tom Faraday is determined to finish the high-concept, environmentally friendly home he’s building in Norway - in the same place where he lost his wife, Aurelia, to suicide. It was their dream house, and he wants to honor her with it.

Lexi Ellis takes a job as his nanny and immediately falls in love with his two young daughters, especially Gaia. But something feels off in the isolated house nestled in the forest along the fjord. Lexi sees mysterious muddy footprints inside the home. Aurelia’s diary appears in Lexi’s room one day. And Gaia keeps telling her about seeing the terrifying Sad Lady....

Soon Lexi suspects that Aurelia didn’t kill herself and that they are all in danger from something far more sinister lurking around them."

GOTHIC! GOTHIC! GOTHIC! Say it like Animal from the Muppets!

A Pretty Deceit by Anna Lee Huber
Published by: Kensington
Publication Date: September 29th, 2020
Format: Paperback, 304 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"In the aftermath of the Great War, the line between friend and foe may be hard to discern, even for indomitable former Secret Service agent Verity Kent, in award-winning author Anna Lee Huber’s thrilling mystery series.

Peacetime has brought little respite for Verity Kent. Intrigue still abounds, even within her own family. As a favor to her father, Verity agrees to visit his sister in Wiltshire. Her once prosperous aunt has fallen on difficult times and is considering selling their estate. But there are strange goings-on at the manor, including missing servants, possible heirloom forgeries, and suspicious rumors - all leading to the discovery of a dead body on the grounds.

While Verity and her husband, Sidney, investigate this new mystery, they are also on the trail of an old adversary - the shadowy and lethal Lord Ardmore. At every turn, the suspected traitor seems to be one step ahead of them. And even when their dear friend Max, the Earl of Ryde, stumbles upon a code hidden among his late father’s effects that may reveal the truth about Ardmore, Verity wonders if they are really the hunters - or the hunted..."

Yes, interwar intrigue and goings-on at a manor house! Squee! 

Murder at Queen's Landing by Andrea Penrose
Published by: Kensington
Publication Date: September 29th, 2020
Format: Hardcover, 304 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The murder of a shipping clerk...the strange disappearance of trusted friends...rumors of corruption within the powerful East India Company...all add up to a dark mystery entangling Lady Charlotte Sloane and the Earl of Wrexford in a dangerous web of secrets and lies that will call into question how much they really know about the people they hold dear - and about each other...

When Lady Cordelia, a brilliant mathematician, and her brother, Lord Woodbridge, disappear from London, rumors swirl concerning fraudulent bank loans and a secret consortium engaged in an illicit - and highly profitable - trading scheme that threatens the entire British economy. The incriminating evidence mounts, but for Charlotte and Wrexford, it’s a question of loyalty and friendship. And so they begin a new investigation to clear the siblings’ names, uncover their whereabouts, and unravel the truth behind the whispers.

As they delve into the murky world of banking and international arbitrage, Charlotte and Wrexford also struggle to navigate their increasingly complex feelings for each other. But the clock is ticking - a cunning mastermind has emerged...along with some unexpected allies - and Charlotte and Wrexford must race to prevent disasters both economic and personal as they are forced into a dangerous match of wits in an attempt to beat the enemy at his own game."

Here for East India Company corruption! 

A Natural History of Fairies by Emily Hawkins and Jessica Roux
Published by: Frances Lincoln Children's Books
Publication Date: September 29th, 2020
Format: Hardcover, 64 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"This enchantingly illustrated natural history of fairies, compiled in the 1920s by the botanist Professor Elsie Arbour for her niece, is now unveiled for readers of today. Featuring a gold foil-embossed cloth cover, a ribbon marker, and sprayed gold edges, this gorgeous volume is filled with colorful sketches and precise notes detailing the secret life of fairies and their important role in the natural world.

Inside, you will discover the wide and wonderful array of different species of fairies around the globe and explore where and how they live. Delight in this hidden world as you learn all about:

• The anatomy of a fairy (Land-based fairies have individual, separated toes, just as humans do. However, many species of water fairies have webbed feet.) 
• The life cycle of a fairy (When walking in the heather, be careful of the tiny flutterpillar of the Wicklow Fairy, decked out in greens and purples.) 
• Clever fairy camouflage (Reed fairies living in wetlands usually wear striped clothes to hide among the tall reeds.) 
• Fairies around the world (Meet the Lily Hopper of sub-Saharan Africa, the Queen Fairy of New Guinea, the Penguin Fairy of the Antarctic, and many more.) 
• Fairy habitats (Fairies make their homes in all types of places: woodlands, jungles, deserts, the Poles, and even human homes.)

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Andrea Penrose, Anna Lee Huber, C.J. Cooke, Carmen Maria Machado, Dani, Emily Hawkins, Faries, Gothic, Jasper Fforde, Jessica Roux, Jim Butcher, Libraries, Matt Haig, Muppets, Naomi Novik, Presents, The Dresden Files

Shades of Grey: The Road to High Saffron by Jasper Fforde
Published by: Viking
Book Provided by Viking
Publication Date: December 29th, 2009
Format: Hardcover, 390 Pages
Rating: ★★★★★
To Buy

Edward Russett lives in a very organized and hierarchical society. What color you can see is everything, creating color castes, from the regal purples to the proletarian greys. Eddie is a red living in a green world. Eddie has upset the balance of good behavior and polity by playing a prank on a purple, Bertie Magenta, son of Jade-under-Lime's purple prefect. But he also has dangerous notions on how to improve queuing. To atone for his errors in judgement and gain some humility he is being sent to the fringes of polite society to conduct a pointless chair census. His father, a Swatchman, who is, for all intents and purposes, a doctor, is accompanying him to East Carmine, to fill in for their recently deceased Swatchman, Robin Ochre. Little does Eddie realize what is about to happen to him could change everything. At a stop over at Vermillion, Eddie fails to see the last rabbit, but helps his dad save a grey illegally wrongspotting as a purple and is accosted by a girl with a very retrousse nose who is unaccountably rude and in danger of being sent to reboot to learn some manners. Eddie can't help being intrigued.

Arriving in East Carmine, a town where nothing interesting happens, a new Swatchman and his son sure cause a lot of excitement. From Eddie's new best friend, the shyster Tommo, trying to place him in the marriage market, to the prefects demanding respect and Eddie's return ticket to Jade-under-Lime, to a Lincoln swatch illegal drugs market, to suspicions of the old Swatchman being murdered, to the mysterious naked man who lives in their house that no one can openly admit to seeing, to the new surly maid, who happens to be Jane, the girl with the retrousse nose, Eddie's arrival has caused an avalanche of excitement to this small border town. But will Eddie, with his unwelcome queuing suggestions, be able to stay out of trouble? Can he avoid the everyday dangers of lightning, man-eating Yatveo plants, and swans, while staying on the right side of Tommo and the yellow prefect's son Courtland Gamboge? Plus what if he decides to abandon his half promise to the bitchy princess Constance Oxblood back home and make a go of it with Jane? That's if Jane, or the ill fated trip to High Saffron, doesn't kill him first...

Shades of Grey, the first book in a proposed series from Jasper Fforde, the author of the Thursday Next and Nursery Crime Series, is a cult favorite where ten years on fans of the book are still clamoring for more adventures from Brunswick and deMauve. From the man whose worldbuilding gave us a land where characters in books police their own plots, we are treated to another inventive story, this time centering on color. If you strip away all the color theory and color related aspects, you are left with a very basic, but solid, post apocalyptic, post something that happened world, akin to the best dystopian novels, the likes of Orwell's 1984. An evil, unseen government is trying to keep their people in line by separation, isolation, ignorance, and strict rules enforced by fear, even if the rules are more geared toward maintaining politeness than anything else. Enter plucky and likable Eddie, who has notions above his station and falls for a girl who hates his guts all the while butting heads with the local authorities and asking a few too many questions.

While the book is standing on firm dystopian soil, it's all the colorful bits of tosh that Fforde scatters throughout the narrative that makes this book easily one of my favorites. Of course, being in the arts, I could have a bias for color theory based jokes, but even with just a simple grasp of color gleaned from your box of Crayola's as a kid will make this book that much more multilayered and enjoyable. The color jokes run the gamut from the dictator's, I mean leader's name being Munsell, the creator of the first workable and adapted color theory with the naming of hue, value, and chroma, to the test for the character's color placement, the Ishihara, being the test for color blindness in our world. But it's not just these, or the jokes of color pipes being upgraded from RGB to CMYK, sure to send any graphic designer into fits of hysterical laughter, but the way Fforde seamlessly integrates them into the plot and has color as the lynch pin of this society. Yet how did humans evolve so that they can only see specific color frequencies allowing this hierarchical society to form?

Because the thing is, color doesn't actually exist. I know this is a hard thing to grasp, especially if you start thinking about additive color when mixing paint. But the truth is that how we see color and how light works with subtractive color, where all colors combined equal white not black, gets you closer to understanding that everything we see is a product of our minds. Our minds interpret color and tell us what to see. Therefore what happened to these peoples minds that they can only see certain frequencies? Are their frequencies somehow jammed? There are only a few hints, one being that pupils aren't able to dilate anymore, always being a pinprick and making seeing in the dark impossible. The second is that when shown certain color swatches the brain starts to reconfigure, as if it's a computer. So did the evil overlords rewire human brains in order to exert control? Or did evolution take a weird and quirky step sideways. Every time I read this book I learn so much more but conversely end up with so many more questions.

But, as with any post apocalyptic society or even parallel society, it's the mystery of how our world devolved and became this world. Trying to work out exactly how things changed, and not just the physical changes, but other more significant ones. Like how did swans become large and such a danger? Why is there such a fear of lightning? Who knew rhododendrons would be such a threat? Also the little jokes where we know what things were, but that they have morphed into something totally different, like the titles of the mandatory musical theater adaptations being slightly off kilter... "Red Side Story" anyone? Or how they assume the RISK board game is not only a map of how the earth was, but of the color distribution of the inhabitants. Then of course you encounter the deeper mysteries of the plot that keep you reading late into the night. What really happened to Robin Ochre? What does reboot really entail? Because if someone told me they were sending me on the night train to Emerald City I know I'd be nervous.

Picking up this book again ten years after it was published I was still obsessed with the emotions facing Eddie when he learned what Mildew really is all while hoping that his spork loophole will solve the lack of spoons once and for all. And while there's a part of me that holds this book in a special place in my heart, it was the first unsolicited book that showed up on my doorstep after starting my blog, I re-read it with a critical eye. Fforde can sometimes get so caught up in his little jokes and Easter eggs, ones written for his own amusement, it's possible for the reader to feel alienated from the text; creating an unease that they are probably only catching ten percent of what is actually going on. Yet for me Shades of Grey is different. It works on so many different levels that even if you feel occasionally a little lost it's just another layer of the onion to discover when you next read it. Of course, I'm still desperate for any more information on Eddie's world. I want all the answers... but sometimes we are left wanting, just as Eddie and Jane were after their Ishiharas.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Colortocracy, Dystopian, East Carmine, Edward Russett, Ishihara, Jasper Fforde, Mildew, Munsell, National Color, Shades of Grey, Swatchman, Ten Years, The Last Rabbit, The Road to High Saffron, Thursday Next, Yatveo

Thrawn: Treason by Timothy Zahn
Published by: Del Rey
Publication Date: July 23rd, 2019
Format: Hardcover, 352 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Grand Admiral Thrawn faces the ultimate test of his loyalty to the Empire in this epic Star Wars novel from bestselling author Timothy Zahn.

“If I were to serve the Empire, you would command my allegiance.”

Such was the promise Grand Admiral Thrawn made to Emperor Palpatine at their first meeting. Since then, Thrawn has been one of the Empire’s most effective instruments, pursuing its enemies to the very edges of the known galaxy. But as keen a weapon as Thrawn has become, the Emperor dreams of something far more destructive.

Now, as Thrawn’s TIE defender program is halted in favor of Director Krennic’s secret Death Star project, he realizes that the balance of power in the Empire is measured by more than just military acumen or tactical efficiency. Even the greatest intellect can hardly compete with the power to annihilate entire planets.

As Thrawn works to secure his place in the Imperial hierarchy, his former protégé Eli Vanto returns with a dire warning about Thrawn’s homeworld. Thrawn’s mastery of strategy must guide him through an impossible choice: duty to the Chiss Ascendancy, or fealty to the Empire he has sworn to serve. Even if the right choice means committing treason."

Timothy Zahn, you and Thrawn are why I'm a reader. Thank you from little budding bookworm Elizabeth circa 1991. 

The Unlikely Escape of Uriah Heep by H.G. Parry
Published by: Redhook
Publication Date: July 23rd, 2019
Format: Hardcover, 464 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The ultimate book-lover's fantasy, featuring a young scholar with the power to bring literary characters into the world, for fans of The Magicians, Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore, and The Invisible Library.

For his entire life, Charley Sutherland has concealed a magical ability he can't quite control: he can bring characters from books into the real world. His older brother, Rob - a young lawyer with a normal house, a normal fiancee, and an utterly normal life - hopes that this strange family secret will disappear with disuse, and he will be discharged from his life's duty of protecting Charley and the real world from each other. But then, literary characters start causing trouble in their city, making threats about destroying the world...and for once, it isn't Charley's doing.

There's someone else who shares his powers. It's up to Charley and a reluctant Rob to stop them, before these characters tear apart the fabric of reality."

And also throw in a strong dash of Jasper Fforde. 

Fledgling by Molly Harper
Published by: NYLA
Publication Date: July 23rd, 2019
Format: Kindle, 267 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Days away from completing her first year at Miss Castwell’s Institute for the Magical Instruction of Young Ladies, Changeling-born Sarah Smith might just get away with posing as an upper-class Guardian girl named Cassandra Reed.

But strange visions of a Lightbourne destroyed by Miss Morton’s revenant army keep Sarah from enjoying her achievement. Plus, the Mother Book, Sarah’s one secret advantage and the ultimate entrée in Guardian society, suddenly stops revealing itself to her...putting her in a precarious position with the Guild. On top of all that, her former lady’s maid left Miss Castwell’s, and the new hire is, well, taking some getting used to.

If it weren’t for her two best friends, Alicia McCray and Ivy Cowel, who will do anything to protect her secret, Sarah doesn’t know if she’ll make it another year. When the three girls take summer holiday with Alicia’s family (chaperoned by an exacting and very disapproving Mrs. McCray), a relaxing vacation in Scotland is the last thing they’ll find.

Mrs. Winter is thrilled that Sarah is spending time with the influential McCray family, but Sarah can’t help but feel that her real purpose is to find other Changeling children like her, and free them to realize their own magic. Can she find genuine satisfaction in her accomplishments when she knows there are others like her out there who need her help? Will the three girls uncover the deeply-held secrets they’re looking for in the mysterious mountains of Scotland? Will the Mother Book finally start talking to her again? And will Sarah come to understand the importance of her connection with Ivy and Alicia, and the true nature of her own power...before it’s too late?"

More magical schools is what makes me happy! 

The Marriage Clock by Zara Raheem
Published by: William Morrow Paperbacks
Publication Date: July 23rd, 2019
Format: Paperback, 368 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"To Leila Abid’s traditional Indian parents, finding a husband is as easy as match, meet, marry. Yes, she wants to marry, but after 26 years of singledom, even Leila is starting to get nervous. And to make matters worse, her parents are panicking, the neighbors are talking, and she’s wondering, are her expectations just too high?

But for Leila, a marriage of arrangement clashes with her lifelong dreams of a Bollywood romance, where real love happens before marriage, not the other way around. So she decides it’s time to stop dreaming and start dating.

It’s an impossible mission of satisfying her parents’ expectations, while also fulfilling her own western ideals of love. But after a series of speed dates, blind dates, online dates and even ambush dates, the sparks just don’t fly! Now, with the marriage clock ticking, and her 3-month deadline looming in the horizon, Leila must face the consequences of what might happen if she doesn’t find "the one…""

The perfect beech read for this summer.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Fledgling, H.G. Parry, Jasper Fforde, Molly Harper, Star Wars, The Marriage Clock, The Unlikely Escape of Uriah Heep, Thrawn, Thrawn Treason, Timothy Zhan, Tuesday Tomorrow, Zara Raheem

Shades of Grey: The Road to High Saffron by Jasper Fforde
Published by: Viking
Book Provided by Viking
Publication Date: December 29th, 2009
Format: Hardcover, 390 Pages
Rating: ★★★★★
To Buy

Edward Russett lives in a very organized and hierarchical society. What color you can see is everything, creating color castes, from the regal purples to the proletarian greys. Eddie is a red living in a green world. Eddie has upset the balance of good behavior and polity by playing a prank on a purple, Bertie Magenta, son of Jade-under-Lime's purple prefect. But he also has dangerous notions on how to improve queuing. To atone for his errors in judgement and gain some humility he is being sent to the fringes of polite society to conduct a pointless chair census. His father, a Swatchman, who is, for all intents and purposes, a doctor, is accompanying him to East Carmine, to fill in for their recently deceased Swatchman, Robin Ochre. Little does Eddie realize what is about to happen to him could change everything. At a stop over at Vermillion, Eddie fails to see the last rabbit, but helps his dad save a grey illegally wrongspotting as a purple and is accosted by a girl with a very retrousse nose who is unaccountably rude and in danger of being sent to reboot to learn some manners. Eddie can't help being intrigued.

Arriving in East Carmine, a town where nothing interesting happens, a new Swatchman and his son sure cause a lot of excitement. From Eddie's new best friend, the shyster Tommo, trying to place him in the marriage market, to the prefects demanding respect and Eddie's return ticket to Jade-under-Lime, to a Lincoln swatch illegal drugs market, to suspicions of the old Swatchman being murdered, to the mysterious naked man who lives in their house that no one can openly admit to seeing, to the new surly maid, who happens to be Jane, the girl with the retrousse nose, Eddie's arrival has caused an avalanche of excitement to this small border town. But will Eddie, with his unwelcome queuing suggestions, be able to stay out of trouble? Can he avoid the everyday dangers of lightning, man-eating Yatveo plants, and swans, while staying on the right side of Tommo and the yellow prefect's son Courtland Gamboge? Plus what if he decides to abandon his half promise to the bitchy princess Constance Oxblood back home and make a go of it with Jane? That's if she, or the ill fated trip to High Saffron, doesn't kill him first...

Shades of Grey, the first book in a proposed series from Jasper Fforde, the author of the Thursday Next and Nursery Crime Series, is a cult favorite where ten years on fans of the book are still clamoring for more adventures from Brunswick and deMauve. From the man whose worldbuilding gave us a land where characters in books police their own plots, we are treated to another inventive story, this time centering on color. If you strip away all the color theory and color related aspects, you are left with a very basic, but solid, post apocalyptic, post something that happened world, akin to the best dystopian novels, the likes of Orwell's 1984. An evil, unseen government is trying to keep their people in line by separation, isolation, ignorance, and strict rules enforced by fear, even if the rules are more geared toward maintaining politeness than anything else. Enter plucky and likable Eddie, who has notions above his station and falls for a girl who hates his guts all the while butting heads with the local authorities and asking a few too many questions.

While the book is standing on firm dystopian soil, it's all the colorful bits of tosh that Fforde scatters throughout the narrative that makes this book easily one of my favorites. Of course, being in the arts, I could have a bias for color theory based jokes, but even with just a simple grasp of color gleaned from your box of Crayola's as a kid will make this book that much more multilayered and enjoyable. The color jokes run the gamut from the dictator's, I mean leader's, name being Munsell, the creator of the first workable and adapted color theory with the naming of hue, value, and chroma, to the test for the character's color placement, the Ishihara, being the test for color blindness in our world. But it's not just these, or the jokes of color pipes being upgraded from RGB to CMYK, sure to send any graphic designer into fits of hysterical laughter, but the way Fforde seamlessly integrates them into the plot and has color as the lynch pin of this society. Yet how did humans evolve so that they can only see specific color frequencies allowing this hierarchical society to form?

Because the thing is, color doesn't actually exist. I know this is a hard thing to grasp, especially if you start thinking about additive color when mixing paint. But the truth is that how we see color and how light works with subtractive color, where all colors combined equal white not black, gets you closer to understanding that everything we see is a product of our minds. Our minds interpret color and tell us what to see. Therefore what happened to these peoples minds that they can only see certain frequencies? Are their frequencies somehow jammed? There are only a few hints, one being that pupils aren't able to dilate anymore, always being a pinprick and making seeing in the dark impossible. The second is that when shown certain color swatches the brain starts to reconfigure, as if it's a computer. So did the evil overlords rewire human brains in order to exert control? Or did evolution take a weird and quirky step sideways. Every time I read this book I learn so much more but conversely end up with so many more questions.

But, as with any post apocalyptic society or even parallel society, it's the mystery of how our world devolved and became this world. Trying to work out exactly how things changed, and not just the physical changes, but other more significant ones. Like how did swans become large and such a danger? Why is there such a fear of lightning? Who knew rhododendrons would be such a threat? Also the little jokes where we know what things were, but that they have morphed into something totally different, like the titles of the mandatory musical theater adaptations being slightly off kilter... "Red Side Story" anyone? Or how they assume the RISK board game is not only a map of how the earth was, but of the color distribution of the inhabitants. Then of course you encounter the deeper mysteries of the plot that keep you reading late into the night. What really happened to Robin Ochre? What does reboot really entail? Because if someone told me they were sending me on the night train to Emerald City I know I'd be nervous.

Picking up this book again ten years after it was published I was still obsessed with the emotions facing Eddie when he learned what Mildew really is all while hoping that his spork loophole will solve the lack of spoons once and for all. And while there's a part of me that holds this book in a special place in my heart, it was the first unsolicited book that showed up on my doorstep after starting my blog, I re-read it with a critical eye. Fforde can sometimes get so caught up in his little jokes and Easter eggs, ones written for his own amusement, it's possible for the reader to feel alienated from the text; creating an unease that they are probably only catching ten percent of what is actually going on. Yet for me Shades of Grey is different. It works on so many different levels that even if you feel occasionally a little lost it's just another layer of the onion to discover when you next read it. Of course, I'm still desperate for any more information on Eddie's world. I want all the answers... but sometimes we are left wanting, just as Eddie and Jane were after their Ishiharas.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Colortocracy, Dystopian, East Carmine, Edward Russett, Ishihara, Jasper Fforde, Mildew, Munsell, National Color, Shades of Grey, Swatchman, Ten Years, The Last Rabbit, The Road to High Saffron, Thursday Next, Yatveo

The Revenant Express by George Mann
Published by: Tor Books
Publication Date: February 12th, 2019
Format: Hardcover, 240 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The grand adventure continues in George Mann's Newbury and Hobbes steampunk mystery series, as a Victorian special agent races across a continent to save his beloved's life on board The Revenant Express.

Sir Maurice Newbury is bereft as his trusty assistant Veronica Hobbes lies dying with a wounded heart. Newbury and Veronica's sister Amelia must take a sleeper train across Europe to St. Petersberg to claim a clockwork heart that Newbury has commissioned from Faberge to save Veronica from a life trapped in limbo.

No sooner do they take off then sinister goings-on start to plague the train, and it is discovered that an old villain, thought dead, is also on board and seeking revenge. Can Newbury and Amelia defeat him and get the clockwork organ back to the Fixer in time to save Veronica? And can they do so without Newbury going so far into the dark side of occult magic that he can never return?

Meanwhile, Sir Charles Bainbridge is the only one of their team left in London to struggle with a case involving a series of horrific crimes. Someone is kidnapping prominent men and infecting them with the Revenant plague, leaving them chained in various locations around the city. But why?

It's a rousing chase to save both London and Veronica. Will these brave detectives be up to the task?"

FINALLY! With the way George jumps around in his storytelling we knew Veronica would survive... but it's been AGONY to find out how. Thankfully The Revenant Express has arrived at the station. 

Felicity Carrol and the Perilous Pursuit by Patricia Marcantonio
Published by: Crooked Lane Books
Publication Date: February 12th, 2019
Format: Hardcover, 320 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Amidst the heraldry of Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee celebrations, a string of brutal murders rocks Britain's upper crust - and could threaten the realm itself - in the spellbinding debut of Patricia Marcantonio's Felicity Carrol mysteries.

Felicity Carrol is interested in everything - except being a proper young matron of Victorian society. Brilliant and resourceful, Felicity took refuge in science and education after her mother died and her father abandoned her to servants. Now, all he wants is for her to marry into a family of status and money.

Felicity has other ambitions - but her plans shudder to a halt when her mentor is murdered at the British Museum and his priceless manuscript of King Arthur lore is stolen. Tapping into her photographic memory and the latest in the burgeoning field of forensic detection, Felicity launches an investigation. Handsome Scotland Yard Inspector Jackson Davies is also on the case, and finds Felicity as meddlesome as she is intelligent. But when more nobles are murdered and their King Arthur relics stolen, Felicity must journey on her own into the dark underworld of antiquity theft, where she uncovers a motive far more nefarious than simple profit.

As the killer sets his sights on a new victim - a charismatic duke who has captured Felicity’s imagination - the stakes rise to impossible heights. It’s a case that could shake the kingdom in Patricia Marcantonio’s series debut, Felicity Carrol and the Perilous Pursuit."

This sounds like a wonderful little cozy whodunit!

The Victory Garden by Rhys Bowen
Published by: Lake Union Publishing
Publication Date: February 12th, 2019
Format: Hardcover, 353 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"From the bestselling author of The Tuscan Child comes a beautiful and heart-rending novel of a woman’s love and sacrifice during the First World War.

As the Great War continues to take its toll, headstrong twenty-one-year-old Emily Bryce is determined to contribute to the war effort. She is convinced by a cheeky and handsome Australian pilot that she can do more, and it is not long before she falls in love with him and accepts his proposal of marriage.

When he is sent back to the front, Emily volunteers as a “land girl,” tending to the neglected grounds of a large Devonshire estate. It’s here that Emily discovers the long-forgotten journals of a medicine woman who devoted her life to her herbal garden. The journals inspire Emily, and in the wake of devastating news, they are her saving grace. Emily’s lover has not only died a hero but has left her terrified—and with child. Since no one knows that Emily was never married, she adopts the charade of a war widow.

As Emily learns more about the volatile power of healing with herbs, the found journals will bring her to the brink of disaster, but may open a path to her destiny."

Land girls in Devonshire? Oh yes! 

The Hunting Party by Lucy Foley
Published by: William Morrow
Publication Date: February 12th, 2019
Format: Hardcover, 336 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Everyone's invited... everyone's a suspect...

For fans of Ruth Ware and Tana French, a shivery, atmospheric, page-turning novel of psychological suspense in the tradition of Agatha Christie, in which a group of old college friends are snowed in at a hunting lodge...and murder and mayhem ensue.

All of them are friends. One of them is a killer.

During the languid days of the Christmas break, a group of thirtysomething friends from Oxford meet to welcome in the New Year together, a tradition they began as students ten years ago. For this vacation, they’ve chosen an idyllic and isolated estate in the Scottish Highlands—the perfect place to get away and unwind by themselves.

They arrive on December 30th, just before a historic blizzard seals the lodge off from the outside world.

Two days later, on New Year’s Day, one of them is dead.

The trip began innocently enough: admiring the stunning if foreboding scenery, champagne in front of a crackling fire, and reminiscences about the past. But after a decade, the weight of secret resentments has grown too heavy for the group’s tenuous nostalgia to bear. Amid the boisterous revelry of New Year’s Eve, the cord holding them together snaps.

Now one of them is dead . . . and another of them did it.

Keep your friends close, the old adage goes. But just how close is too close?"

With all the buzz around this book I have literally had it preordered since day one. Plus it looks like another winter storm is on the way, so perhaps this week I'll just stay in a devour it!

Careless Love by Peter Robinson
Published by: William Morrow
Publication Date: February 12th, 2019
Format: Hardcover, 320 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"His fans include Stephen King, Michael Connelly, Tess Gerritsen, Ian Rankin, and Louise Penney. He has won acclaim and numerous international prizes and awards, including the Edgar. Now, Peter Robinson, one of the world’s greatest suspense writers, returns with a powerful mystery in which his legendary Detective Superintendent Alan Banks must solve two perplexing crimes.

Two suspicious deaths challenge DS Alan Banks and his crack investigative team.

A young local student’s body is found in an abandoned car on a lonely country road. The death looks like suicide, but there are too many open questions for Banks and his team to rule out foul play. The victim didn’t own a car. She didn’t even drive. How did she get there? Where—and when—did she die? Did someone move her, and if so, why?

A man in his sixties is found dead in a gully up on the wild moorland. He is wearing an expensive suit and carrying no identification. Post mortem findings indicate that he died from injuries sustained during a fall. Was it an accident—did he slip and fall? Or was he pushed? Why was he up there? And why are there no signs of a vehicle near where he fell?

As the inconsistencies multiply and the mysteries surrounding these two cases proliferate, a source close to Annie reveals a piece of information that shocks the team and impacts the investigations. An old enemy has returned in a new guise—a nefarious foe who will stop at nothing, not even murder, to get what he wants.

With the stakes raised, the hunt is on. But will Banks be able to find the evidence to stop him in time?"

New DCI Banks! WHAT! WHAT!

Early Riser by Jasper Fforde
Published by: Viking
Publication Date: February 12th, 2019
Format: Hardcover, 416 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The new standalone novel from bestselling author Jasper Fforde.

Every Winter, the human population hibernates.

During those bitterly cold four months, the nation is a snow-draped landscape of desolate loneliness, devoid of human activity.

Well, not quite.

Your name is Charlie Worthing and it's your first season with the Winter Consuls, the committed but mildly unhinged group of misfits who are responsible for ensuring the hibernatory safe passage of the sleeping masses.

You are investigating an outbreak of viral dreams which you dismiss as nonsense; nothing more than a quirky artefact borne of the sleeping mind.

When the dreams start to kill people, it's unsettling.

When you get the dreams too, it's weird.

When they start to come true, you begin to doubt your sanity.

But teasing truth from the Winter is never easy: You have to avoid the Villains and their penchant for murder, kidnapping, and stamp collecting, ensure you aren't eaten by Nightwalkers, whose thirst for human flesh can only be satisfied by comfort food, and sidestep the increasingly less-than-mythical WinterVolk.

But so long as you remember to wrap up warmly, you'll be fine."

Jasper Fforde, in my mind, excels at standalones that have a hint of the apocalypse, so Early Riser is RIGHT up my alley. Terminal Uprising by Jim C. Hines
Published by: DAW
Publication Date: February 12th, 2019
Format: Hardcover, 336 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Human civilization didn’t just fall. It was pushed.

The Krakau came to Earth in the year 2104. By 2105, humanity had been reduced to shambling, feral monsters. In the Krakau’s defense, it was an accident, and a century later, they did come back and try to fix us. Sort of.

It’s been four months since Marion “Mops” Adamopoulos learned the truth of that accident. Four months since she and her team of hygiene and sanitation specialists stole the EMCS Pufferfish and stopped a bioterrorism attack against the Krakau homeworld. Four months since she set out to find proof of what really happened on Earth all those years ago.

Between trying to protect their secrets and fighting the xenocidal Prodryans, who’ve been escalating their war against everyone who isn’t Prodryan, the Krakau have their tentacles full.

Mops’ mission changes when she learns of a secret Krakau laboratory on Earth. A small group under command of Fleet Admiral Belle-Bonne Sage is working to create a new weapon, one that could bring victory over the Prodryans … or drown the galaxy in chaos.

To discover the truth, Mops and her rogue cleaning crew will have to do the one thing she fears most: return to Earth, a world overrun by feral apes, wild dogs, savage humans, and worse. (After all, the planet hasn’t been cleaned in a century and a half!) What Mops finds in the filthy ruins of humanity could change everything, assuming she survives long enough to share it.

Perhaps humanity isn’t as dead as the galaxy thought."

Speaking of apocalypse... 

The Beast's Heart by Leife Shallcross
Published by: Ace
Publication Date: February 12th, 2019
Format: Paperback, 416 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A luxuriously magical retelling of Beauty and the Beast set in seventeenth-century France - and told from the point of view of the Beast himself.

I am neither monster nor man - yet I am both.

I am the Beast.

He is a broken, wild thing, his heart’s nature exposed by his beastly form. Long ago cursed with a wretched existence, the Beast prowls the dusty hallways of his ruined château with only magical, unseen servants to keep him company - until a weary traveler disturbs his isolation.

Bewitched by the man’s dreams of his beautiful daughter, the Beast devises a plan to lure her to the château. There, Isabeau courageously exchanges her father’s life for her own and agrees to remain with the Beast for a year. But even as their time together weaves its own spell, the Beast finds winning Isabeau’s love is only the first impossible step in breaking free from the curse..."

I am a sucker for any Beauty and the Beast retelling. 

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Beauty and the Beast, DCI Banks, Early Riser, Felicity Carrol, George Mann, Jasper Fforde, Jim C. Hines, Newbury and Hobbes, Peter Robinson, Rhys Bowen, The Hunting Party, The Revenant Express, The Victory Garden

Rebecca's Tale by Sally Beauman
Published by: HarperCollins e-books
Publication Date: 2000
Format: Kindle, 466 Pages
Rating: ★
To Buy

Colonel Julyan has always wondered if he did wrong by Rebecca. He was her only real friend when she was the mistress of Manderley and he never looked too closely at the verdict of suicide once it was revealed she was dying of cancer. Could her husband, Maxim, have killed her in a jealous rage without ever realizing she was using him to end her life? Ever since that day in London, before Manderley burnt to the ground, the Colonel has had questions and has never searched for the answers. Almost twenty years have passed, Maxim is now dead, but the sensational tales of Rebecca de Winter and Manderley are still dredged up by the press every few years. There are even a few books circulating about. But the Colonel thinks that he has put the past behind him. That is until Terence Gray appears asking questions and giving the Colonel nightmares. The Colonel has always kept his suspicions close to his chest. Never even telling his daughter about his misgivings. But his health is failing and perhaps the last thing he needs to do before he dies is settle his score with Rebecca and that might just begin with letting Terence Gray in. Because Terence knows that the Colonel holds all the cards, the village gossips have given him tons of hearsay, but he needs the truth. He needs the truth about Rebecca, because it might just be his truth as well.

For years I have staunchly refused to read Rebecca's Tale. Having had a bad experience reading Susan Hill's Mrs. de Winter I swore off all books that were prequels, sequels, or retellings of Rebecca vowing to cling only to the words of the great Daphne Du Maurier. And then I waivered. Why did I waiver? Why couldn't I have been steadfast? Why couldn't I have found some other something, anything, to fill this last day of Du Maurier December instead of forcing myself to slog through this book? Because Rebecca's Tale is way longer than you'd think, the almost 500 pages are set in eight point font if you buy the book and then return it to Amazon realizing your eyes can't take eight point font and instead read it on your Kindle. But my main problem is the hubris to think that you can write a sequel to Rebecca and even use Daphne Du Maurier's famous opening line slightly tweaked as if you had the genius to come up with it on your own? Oh Sally Beauman, shame, shame, shame. There's a reason there are so few reimaginings of Rebecca versus the work of Jane Austen. Everyone else knew better! Everyone knows not to randomly take plot points from other characters and make then apply to Rebecca. Everyone knows not to purposefully defecate on a classic with reinterpreting every little thing and hating on that which Du Maurier held dear. Everyone but you that is.

Yet if this book is any indication of Sally Beauman's ability as a writer she's just not that good. She doesn't go in for subtly or nuance, instead using a blunt instrument to hammer home every point a thousand times over. While Du Maurier might have lacked nuance in her earlier writing or some of her dramatic reveals, she was unparalleled in using the nuance of language to covey her story. So Beauman couldn't have been a worse choice to carry on Du Maurier's legacy, a writer like her isn't humble enough to understand there are some things you just can't improve on. Instead she used heavy-handed narration. Repeating ad nauseum that a narrator has a bias, thus casting aspersions on Du Maurier's own writing! As for her own? She shows bias by making Colonel Julyan a misogynist who doesn't get the irony of his repeatedly telling Terence to beware bias. Remember bias, nudge, nudge, wink, wink, and here's a bat over your head if you haven't grasped the concept of unreliable narrators. But with all the heavy-handed foreshadowing you might just have missed the neon warning sign of bias. Between all the "no inkling then of the revelations that were to come today" and "I...wasn’t to understand its significance for several days" or "and it was then that she gave me information that would prove crucial, though I didn’t realize that immediately" you might have started a drinking game to pass the time and passed out in the process.

As for what drives Rebecca's Tale? There really aren't unanswered questions or loose ends to tie up from Du Maurier's story so the majority of this book is laboriously rehashing the details of Rebecca over and over and over. Big reveals being things we already knew but these characters didn't, like Rebecca's inability to have children. Did we need two hundred pages leading up to this reveal that shocked Terence to his core? NO! Because Du Maurier had done and dusted it before. What loose ends Du Maurier did leave are not answered here at all. Because the only wise move Sally Beauman makes is to know that she is ill equipped to answer those things which are better left unanswered. So we have a book with hundreds of pages devoted to revealing that what we knew and then when she does start to diverge, when she does start to create her own story she decides to purposefully leave everything open-ended. Excuse me? So this book is basically the characters from Rebecca analyzing their own story and then coming to no solid conclusions? But not in a fun Jasper Ffordian way, in a horrible, stodgy, dissertation sort of way? Why would anyone want to write this book let alone read it? Sally Beauman purposefully not filling in the blanks from Maxim's father's will to what really happened with Rebecca and her father filled me with such rage that I almost threw my Kindle across the room until I remembered it wasn't the Kindle's fault. It was Sally Beauman's.

Though by far the most frustrating section of this book is when we finally read "Rebecca's Tale." Here's the first person narration of Rebecca we've been waiting for all along and boy does it disappoint. Because ironically, the characters searching for answers we already knew at least had a bit of mystery, a bit of a forward momentum. Here Rebecca elliptically lays everything out. And while she omits a lot it's too straightforward. There's no way to connect to the story. There's no element of the hunt anymore so these revelations don't feel earned by the writer or the reader. Plus the misogynistic tone of Colonel Julyan starts to spill into Rebecca's own story. If I didn't know for a fact that Sally Beauman is a women I'd say she was a man who really hates women. Maybe she's just a woman who hates other women? Because how else can I account for the victim blaming which oozes off these pages? Rebecca was raped as a seven year old child in France by a fourteen year old boy. She isn't just blamed by her mother and all the locals, Max blames her and even starts to identify with her rapist. What. The. Fuck? If this was a gimmick to tar Maxim, it doesn't work, instead it tars the author. She comes across as someone who wouldn't support the #MeToo movement and in fact might go on television and claim he sexual assault was all her fault. Yes, Du Maurier did write a story about the destruction of a strong willed woman. But she would not have written her ever as a victim.

The biggest problem though with Rebecca's Tale is that while Sally Beauman obviously knows her Du Maurier she doesn't understand it. She can throw out as many hints to her life and work from J.M. Barrie to The Birds, but she doesn't understand the true underpinnings of Rebecca. Instead she tries to force a statement about women and marriage and subservience that doesn't connect to her source material at all. Rebecca had it's roots in Jane Eyre, and both stories deal with the roles women have in society and what that means. Yet both the second Mrs. de Winter and Jane in the end are the ones with power. They love and care for their husbands but they are in complete and total control. By entering a state of wedded bliss they didn't give up their power they eventually found it. Therefore to have Colonel Julyan's daughter throw away her past as a caretaker and deny herself marriage for freedom shows just how ignorant Sally Beauman is, she doesn't understand the power shifts. The whole point of Du Maurier's book is that women can have power in traditional roles that you wouldn't think would give them power. As much as I have mixed feelings over Jean Rhys's Wide Sargasso Sea at least she understood her source material. She GOT Jane Eyre and therefore made a classic in her own right. She understood women and power and wasn't about distorting the original but about giving it an even deeper meaning instead of victim blaming and sweeping the ashes under the carpet.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 3 comments  

Labels: #MeToo, Daphne Du Maurier, Du Maurier December, J.M. Barrie, Jane Eyre, Jasper Fforde, Jean Rhys, Kindle, Mrs. de Winter, Rebecca, Rebecca's Tale, Sally Beauman, Sequels, Susan Hill, The Birds, Wide Sargasso Sea