Sword and Citadel

Sword and Citadel by Gene Wolfe, 411 pages

Sword and Citadel collects the third and fourth novels in Gene Wolfe's landmark The Book of the New Sun series, the centerpiece of his Solar Cycle.  The Sword of the Lictor finds Severian plying his trade as a Torturer in the cliff city of Thrax, his life stable again for the first time since leaving the Citadel.  Needless to say, this cannot and does not last, and events - and his own conscience - conspire to force Severian to become a fugitive.  The Citadel of the Autarch begins where The Sword of the Lictor ends, and carries Severian into new, unknown lands and dangers as well as back to more familiar but, as it turns out, equally mysterious territory.

For all the high concepts and plot twists, Sword and Citadel is fairly straightforward - neither novel has the hallucinatory, disorienting quality of The Claw of the Conciliator.  Old characters and settings return, often in surprising forms, but the revelations never seem forced or arbitrary.  No character, however, surprises as much as Severian himself.  The Book of the New Sun, taken as a whole, is a masterful performance of literary sleight of hand which subverts, inverts, possibly perverts but just as possibly converts readers' expectations.

Shadow and Claw

Shadow and Claw by Gene Wolfe, 413 pages

Shadow and Claw is an omnibus edition collecting the first two volumes of Wolfe's Book of the New Sun series - The Shadow of the Torturer and The Claw of the Conciliator.  They are ostensibly manuscripts from the far future authored by one Severian, a journeyman of the Torturers' Guild disgraced after allowing a victim to kill herself before the prescribed torture was complete.  Exiled into a world he knows hardly better than we do, Severian comes into the possession of a gem called "The Claw of the Conciliator" with miraculous but unpredictable powers, which may or may not be tied to the fading of the Old Sun and the prophesied coming of the New.

Not only does Wolfe manage to create memorable characters, he creates characters who are capable of surprising the reader without seeming to be cheating.  Indeed, throughout the entire book Wolfe seems to be playing an elaborate game with the expectations of his readers.  The Book of the New Sun can be read and enjoyed as a combination of science fiction and fantasy in the tradition of Jack Vance, but it also contains an invitation to put together the pieces of a larger puzzle, the pieces of which have the ambiguous borders of memories, dreams, and symbols.

Stephanie Plum Series books 9-19

To the Nines, Ten Big Ones, Elven on Top, Twelve Sharp, Lean Mean Thirteen, Fearless Fourteen, Finger Lickin’ Fifteen, Sizzling Sixteen, Smokin’ Seventeen, Explosive Eighteen, and Notorious Nineteen by Janet Evanovich (11 books, 3494 pages)

These books represent volumes nine through nineteen of the Stephane Plum Mystery series by Janet Evanovich.

So, as you can probably tell, I am quickly blowing through this mystery series. It helps that all of the books are light, quick reads with little bits of humor thrown in. If you don’t know about this series, it follows the life of Stephanie Plum, who might be one of the most klutzy, yet still somehow successful bounty hunters in the world. Though she certainly is living the motto “if at first you don’t succeed…” To complicate her life even further, she is so hopelessly stuck in a love triangle, that even she has no idea who to choose. Add in the explosions, dead bodies and comic relief and you get nice easy read.

The only problem I have with the series is its repetitiveness. It seems that once Evanovich found the right “formula” to consistently sell books and make the bestseller list, she just repeats it over and over again. Every book will have the following; dinner with the parents, at least one destroyed car, Stephanie and Lulu getting knocked over by an escaping fugitive, lots and lots of eating and food, and Ranger coming to Stephanie’s rescue. Don’t get me wrong the formula works, but I would love to see this series expand beyond this.

If you need something that passes the time and does not require too much focus or deep thinking you can certainly give this series a try, but I would recommend starting at the beginning.

Six Gun Tarot and Shotgun Arcana

The Six-Gun Tarot and Shotgun Arcana by R.S. Belcher, 762 pages

Beyond the pitiless 40-Mile Desert lies Golgotha, a cattle town that hides more than its share of unnatural secrets. Some say the Sheriff he is a dead man whose time has not yet come. His deputy is kin to coyotes. The mayor guards a hoard of mythical treasures. A banker's wife belongs to a secret order of assassins. And a shady saloon owner, whose fingers are in everyone's business, may know more about the town's true origins than he's letting on. A haven for the blessed and the damned, Golgotha has known many strange events.

This is Belcher's debut series, and so far it is coming along into what will hopefully become an interesting series. While the first book was little slow, and focused a little to much on getting characters introduced it easily mad up for it towards the end. With most of the character introduction done in the first book the second book was able to explore some of the characters a bit deeper. Overall this could become a good supernatural western series that I look forward to reading.

Immortal Empires books 1 and 2

God Save the Queen and The Queen is Dead by Kate Locke, 351 and 337 pages

These are the first two books in Locke’s Immortal Empire series. The series takes place in a semi modern day London with some key differences. The first being that Queen Victoria is a vampire with vampires as the ruling class. And secondly that there are werewolves and goblins.

The story follows a woman named Xandra a member of the Royal Guard and sworn to protect the nobility. But when her sister disappears everything starts to come apart. What follows is a journey that forces her to reexamine her deepest principles and beliefs. There is also a supernatural love story.

 Despite this series being somewhat corny and at times predictable I still found myself enjoying it. With multiple layers of story intertwining together in explosive ways(literally in some cases) the story was never dull and seemed to end faster that I would expect for 300+ page novel. I think people that enjoy supernatural romance novels would also enjoy this series, even with the romance taking the back seat.

Gardens of the Moon

Gardens of the Moon by Steven Erikson, 666 pages

Gardens of the Moon is the first book in the Malazan Book of the Fallen series. The series was recommended to me by NoveList while searching for other epic series similar to George R. R. Martin's Song of Ice and Fire. Having read it I can see the similarities. Both take place in a medieval time periods sinking into chaos. Both have very large scale battles in which the details are graphically described. Both have gods and magic, though the Malazan series has them more prevalently.

So far I have enjoyed the series, though Erikson has a tendency to skimp on characters initial backstory and let it emerge as the characters develop. While this is a more accurate portrayal of real life, it can lead to some confusion at times.

Lost in a Good Book

Thursday Next in Lost in a Good Book by Jasper Fforde, 399 pages


This is the second book in the Thursday Next series. If you can take everything I said about the first book and then add dialogue taking place through footnotes, lots of time travel, the Cheshire Cat, famous literary characters, and lots of coincidences and you would get this book.

I absolutely loved reading it and though Thursday is the star of the book I love the appearance of the Cheshire Cat. I always was a fan of his double speaking and sarcastic attitude and it really shows up here. The story is getting more convoluted as it goes but also brings about enough silliness to make you not care.

Since this series is getting better as it goes, I look forward to reading the rest of the series. Though if it keeps going at its current pace, its going to be nothing but puns by the final book!

Eyre Affair

The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde, 374 pages

This book, and the Thursday Next series it belongs to was recommended by Kara K. The setting is a somewhat futuristic society in which fiction has become the centerpiece of the culture. There are also extinct species brought back to life, werewolves and other supernatural beings, time travel, and more puns, oddities and hilarity then deserves to be in one book.

The book is silly to the point where you are rolling your eyes at the puns and jokes but just crazy enough that it is acceptable. While it did not have me laughing out loud I did have to stifle some chuckles. Despite the length of the book I managed to finish it in one day. Not because I wanted to, but because I couldn't put it down. If you can handle the silliness I would recommend this book to anyone and everyone, especially if you work around books.

En Route

En Route by Joris-Karl Huysmans, translated by C Kegan Paul, 463 pages

This is Huysman's sequel to La Bas, continuing the story of the semi-autobiographical protagonist Durtal.  Horrified by the events which formed the climax of La Bas, Durtal turns to the Church for spiritual succor, only to find himself repelled both by the mediocrity of the faithful and his own base appetites.  He drifts through an exploration of the churches of Paris, but it is only during a retreat at a Trappist monastery that he is forced to wrestle with his demons.

This is not an ordinary novel - there are no external conflicts or dramatic events (even La Bas had the affair between Durtal and Madame Chantelouve).  The conflict is entirely internal, within Durtal's mind and soul.  The author's Puginesque aestheticism and obsession with the "pure spirit of the Middle Ages" is also sometimes off-putting.  En Route is, however, for those who appreciate its subtleties, an arresting story of grace and redemption.

The Days of Anna Madrigal

The Days of Anna Madrigal, Armistad Maupin, 270 pages


         The Days of Anna Madrigal is the ninth and final installment of Armistead Maupin's Tales of the City Series, which began in 1978.  Even if you have not read the aforementioned series before, this is still a lively book with a lot to offer the reader.  Maupin initially published Tales of the City in serialized form in The San Fransico Chronicle, one of the first examples of gay characters viewed as equals to their straight counterparts of its kind.
       This is a fast read that is humorous and endearing for the reader.  I would have to say that its target audience is probably for readers over the age of thirty, but still entertaining to say the least.