A Life Spent Reading

This is the first Scandinavian novel I’ve read since Smila’s Sense of Snow (which was superb) a decade or two back, and I have to say that I should probably read more. Stieg Larsson has concocted a slow-starting but ultimately very satisfying novel.

There are some oddities here for a reader who has been raised on get-to-it-do-it-and-tie-it-up American offerings. For one thing, it takes a hundred pages or so to set everything up. For another, the main mystery is resolved a good 150 pages before the end of the book…and yet the plot has enough threads and steam left in it to carry you the rest of the way without any problem at all. Stylistically there isn’t really anything to say one way or another – Larsson (in translation, at least) tells his story with a minimum of theatrics, but there is enough detail provided to keep things engaging.

One particular aspect stood out: I very much liked the way that Salander was more than able to physically hold her own against the men in the book. Too often writers try to make their female characters tough and it just seems implausible, if not downright silly. But Salander’s scrapes against men (and there are a few; the original Swedish title was Men Who Hate Women) come across as very believable. I can think of several movie directors who could learn something here.

As with any book that was written in a language other than English, the quality of translation is a question. In this case, Reg Keeland has done a good job, although there are some interesting (well, if you’re into linguistics) usages here and there. The English is really neither British nor American, but a sort of far-north amalgam that had me smiling at times. But the meaning is always clear and the peculiarities never really get in the way; rather they lend a little bit of extra exoticness to the book, and I count them as a plus.

Summary: Not for the GiveItToMeNow crowd, but for anyone else The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is definitely recommended. I’ll be reading the sequels.

This is the sequel to Nalini’s debut single title, Slave to Sensation, which BTW was excellent. I was fortunate enough to get an ARC.

Blurb:

Go deeper into the world of the Psy and the changelings, where a gifted woman sees passion in her future — a passion that is absolutely forbidden by her kind…

Used to cold silence, Faith NightStar is suddenly being tormented by dark visions of blood and murder. A bad sign for anyone, but worse for Faith, an F-Psy with the highly sought after ability to predict the future. Then the visions show her something even more dangerous — aching need…exquisite pleasure. But so powerful is her sight, so fragile the state of her mind, that the very emotions she yearns to embrace could be the end of her.

Changeling Vaughn D’Angelo can take either man or jaguar form, but it is his animal side that is overwhelmingly drawn to Faith. The jaguar’s instinct is to claim this woman it finds so utterly fascinating and the man has no argument. But while Vaughn craves sensation and hungers to pleasure Faith in every way, desire is a danger that could snap the last threads of her sanity. And there are Psy who need Faith’s sight for their own purposes. They must keep her silenced — and keep her from Vaughn…

What worked for me:

Prose reads easily and seamlessly. And lovable characters (except for the yucky Council people) made it a joy to read and get to know more about them.

Faith was an intriguing character (more so than Vaughn) and I was really rooting for her from the first page. I also like the little surprise with her family and the mystery of the NetMind.

Furthermore, Nalini really knows how to handle the couple and characters from the previous book so that they don’t overwhelm the current couple. You get just enough glimpse of Sascha and Lucas to make you feel reassured in their happiness, nothing more.

What didn’t work so well for me:

These are really minor points, but I figured I should be more balanced in my review instead of going rah-rah-rah a la Klausner.

1. I thought the ending dragged a bit with a couple of minor scenes that I didn’t think really added to the conflict or anything, but that was okay since I was very reluctant to see the story end.
2. One thing I really didn’t like is the way the killer subplot was resolved. I was hoping for something more dramatic. (Okay I like violence in my books, the evil twisted kind done to the bad guys.) But still, Faith and Vaughn got to make their point to the Council with the serial killer. And Nalini leaves you with enough clues to let you know what that dark swarmy thing really is, which in neat.

Overall: A-. What are you waiting for? Go pre-order your copy now!

Jack M. Bickham studied with Dwight Swain and wrote several very good how-to books on creative writing. Some people dislike Bickham because his advice can be a bit dense, but that doesn’t mean he gives terrible advice.

He tells you that it may take a while before you finally understand some concepts and ideas. Of course. But most people will chalk that up to them being too difficult to understand. I find that as I grow as a writer those concepts, etc. seem to make more sense. It’s like having that “a-ha” moment.

Back to the book — It has a series of short articles on what not to do. At the same time Bickham tells you how to do something right. Some may find his advice old-fashioned, but I think it’s worth listening to.

I got a copy of this book since it’s the Jan selection for DearAuthor book club.

Blurb:

For two thousand years, Lilith wrought vengeance upon the evil and the damned, gathering souls for her father’s armies Below and proving her fealty to her Underworld liege. Bound by a bargain with the devil and forbidden to feel pleasure, she draws upon her dark powers and serpentine grace to lead men into temptation. That is, until she faces her greatest temptation — Heaven’s own Sir Hugh Castleford…

Once a knight and now a Guardian, Hugh spent centuries battling demons — and the cursed, blood-drinking nosferatu. His purpose has always been to thwart the demon Lilith, even as he battles his treacherous hunger for her. But when a deadly alliance unleashes a threat to both humans and Guardians in modern-day San Francisco, angel and demon must fight together against unholy evil — and against a desire that has been too long denied…

Who will be the first to succumb?

What worked for me:

World building. It’s superbly done. Also Lilith is a fun character and totally unapologetic about many naughty things she’s done.

Hugh balanced Lilith very well although I thought his contemporary self (Fallen version) not as interesting as the Guardian version. But then maybe it’s just me.

Demons who live in our world as senators, law enforcement agents, etc. That was very cool. And I liked the whole thing about Carthage. Yes…salt is neato! Love them Romans.

Spoiler alert: Finally Hugh & Lilith getting together at the end! Yay! I really wanted them to be happy together so I was thrilled, especially since it looks like paranormal romance label doesn’t guarantee HEA these days.

What didn’t work so well for me:

Pacing & setting / descriptions — a bit uneven, especially because there was very little description. I know, it’s funny because I don’t normally care for detailed descriptions, but since it’s a new strange world Brook is building, I would’ve loved to be able to see it. And it’s same for the contemporary SF setting she used for the second part of the novel. I really didn’t get any sense of the place. It could’ve taken place in NYC and I don’t think it would’ve made any difference.

Lucifer — He didn’t come across as a worthy arch-villain. The torture stuff he did was…I don’t know…just kinda blah. The frozen soul thing didn’t strike me as being horrific, and unfortunately, Lucifer felt like a caricature to me. And because I didn’t find him fascinating or particularly evil / sinister (the way I did with Hannibal Lecter or Zatar or James Moriarty), I never felt that Lilith and Hugh were in any danger. I actually found his archenemy demon more interesting, and I’m not sure if that’s what Brook intended.

Finally — I don’t think that the cover conveys the tone of the book. If it weren’t for DearAuthor, I don’t think I would’ve picked this one up based on the cover.

Overall: Good. Very solid for a debut novel. I think it’s definitely worth reading for any paranormal romance fans.

This is the first book in the Gardella Vampire Chronicles. I bought it since the cover looks cool and the story sounded intriguing and I felt like reading a paranormal romance novel.

Blurb:

In every generation, a Gardella is called to accept the family legacy of vampire slaying, and this time, Victoria Gardella Grantworth is chosen, on the eve of her debut, to carry the stake. But as she moves between the crush of ballrooms and dangerous, moonlit streets, Victoria’s heart is torn between London’s most eligible bachelor, the Marquess of Rockley, and her enigmatic ally, Sebastian Vioget. And when she comes face to face with the most powerful vampire in history, Victoria must ultimately make the choice between duty and love.

What worked for me:

Pacing was good. It only took me about two days to finish this book. The secondary characters were interesting, although I didn’t care for the scenes with just Victoria’s mother and her friends.

The new twist (Buffy meets Pride & Prejudice) worked for me, and it presented some extra challenges for Victoria since a woman back then had to follow certain rules, etc. And the conflict hinted (see the blurb above) about Victoria’s duty as a slayer and longing for Rockley was interesting. I wished that the book was more focused about that than other miscellaneous stuff.

What didn’t work so well for me:

I found it rather unbelievable that Victoria’s maid knew so much about vampire slayers, etc. Also it was just weird that Victoria was impatient to be a vampire slayer without thinking about what it could mean to her normal life (like finding a husband, getting pregnant, etc.). She seemed very impetuous and thoughtless. It appears to me that she won some major battles because she was lucky not because she was resourceful and clever. For example, in one scene she was distracted by a handsome guy (Sebastian), then got attacked by a bunch of vamps and fainted (or something like that), but Max managed to rescue her because the vamps hadn’t taken her to the queen vamp. That whole thing just rang false. Why attack Victoria if not to kill or take her to the queen vamp?

And Lilith! It seems like a very popular name for a lot of bad girls in paranormal romance novels. But it’s getting old real fast. Demon Angel — Lilith. The Circle Trilogy — Lilith. And it goes on and on. I mean…I know something like Jennifer might not be suitable, but can we please get some other name? Now all the Liliths I’ve read about are just blending in my brain. And I’m comparing them…like so-and-so’s Lilith’s not as mean as the Lilith from so-and-so’s book.

And research — something just jerked me out of the story was the musicale. On p. 77, Gleason writes:

The seventh piece out of ten. More than half done. But…she looked closer at the list. There were four movements to each of the last three selections, instead of three.

Then it is revealed that the last piece on the program in Mozart’s Piano Concerto in Dm. That would be his Piano Concerto #20, which has three movements — Allegro, Romanze, and Allegro assai rondo. (And there’s no way that you can count cadenza as its own movement although Beethoven wrote one for the piece and was later added to the first movement.) This made me wonder if it was the author who was ignorant or if it was Victoria.

(BTW — strictly speaking Bach didn’t write piano concertos, at least if we’re talking about J.S. Bach, the most famous one out of the family. He wrote concertos for the harpsichord, which are played on the piano these days and inaccurately called piano concertos.)

Finally — the ending. (this is spoiler) Phillip’s death totally ruined the book for me because I was expecting HEA. Or at least a promise or a continuation of V&P’s quest for their own HEA. In Lilith Saintcrow’s Dante Valentine series, I was okay with the death twist because it wasn’t marketed as romance, but this book was labeled as paranormal romance. And I was totally upset about that. And again, I felt that it was Victoria’s fault that Phillip died, which made me like her less.

Overall: It was somewhat uneven and the ending didn’t work for me at all. But I think that some may really enjoy it.