A review of books I read in Jan, 2015
1.Tales of Dunk n Egg by George RR Martin (The Hedge Knight, The Sworn Sword, The Mystery Knight) –
Got the books several months ago but had the time to read only last month. Thanks to the unplanned vacations eh. The books deal with a hedge knight Ser Duncan the Tall aka Dunk and a mysterious lad Egg. But the real story is about the Targaryen dynasty and the Blackfyre rebellion. These novellas are pretty good fillers for ASOIAF. Lord knows George RR Martin isn't going to release his 6th book any time soon. 4/5
2. The Importance of Being Earnest – Oscar Wilde is excellent at wit! There must be around 100 quotable quotes in this little 80 page book. 4/5
3. American Gods by Neil Gaiman –
This book has so many Gods that I had trouble identifying at least half of them. But this link here was an excellent companion while reading Gaiman's book. American Gods is about a character Shadow and his travels across America after meeting a mysterious stranger Mr. Wednesday (know how the day got its name?). During his travels he comes across a lot of Gods who were initially brought to America by several migrants but who are forgotten now, in place of New Gods. A fascinating read, albeit a bit lengthy. For those who're interested, here’s an ebook for Myths of the Norsemen: From the Eddas and Sagas. 3.5/5
4. The Black Company trilogy aka Books of the North by Glen Cook –
(The Black Company, Shadows Linger, The White Rose)
The start of the series is freaking confusing so let me post a brief synopsis for those who are interested to take this up. The Black Company is a group of mercenaries and they’re the last free company from Khatovar. The story starts with the Company situated at Beryl in the service of the Syndic. They get an offer to work for a mysterious stranger but the Captain of the Black Company refuses to break their current contract. After a mysterious attack one night by forvalaka (leopard sorts), the Syndic dies which frees the Company from their contract. They switch over to provide their services to the stranger, who turns out to be someone called Soulcatcher. A few hundred years ago, the Empire was ruled by an evil Dominator and his wife Lady. They took 10 of the most evil into their service and these are called Ten Who Were Taken. But the evil was ended when The White Rose defeated Dominator and his clan but her powers were not enough to kill them all. With the help of powerful sorcerers, The White Rose buried Lady, Dominator and the Ten with enough spells which prevented their escape for several decades. But the evil never stops trying eh. A sorcerer named Bomanz wanted to make contact with this bunch but a mistake in his spells released the Lady, who released the Ten but kept her husband Dominator buried.
And this Soulcatcher is one of the Ten Who Were Taken. Others include Limper, Stormbringer, Nightcrawler, Shapeshifter, The Hanged Man, etc etc. The Black Company don’t break their contracts come what may. So they start to serve the Lady in her fight against The Rebel. The entire series is narrated by Croaker who is part physician and part Annalist. Goblin, Silent and One-Eye are the sorcerers while the Captain is in command of the company with a Lieutenant under him. Raven is from the clergy at Opal who lost most of his lands and titles thanks to Limper. After he joins the Black Company he plays a major part in the series. The first book has a lot of fights, battles and wars going on between the Lady and Rebel. Just like in every other fantasy series, there is a prophecy that The White Rose will come and save the world from evil. The second book deals with Dominator trying to escape his spells and come out to cause chaos. While the first book is pretty fast paced reading, the second one is a bit flat for the initial half as there’s not a single fight. Makes up for it with a biiig fight in the end between Dominator and others though. And as the title says, the third part of the book is about the savior White Rose.
Major problem with the series is that there is no map provided with the books. But this map here should be enough. The series has 7 more books :o
Series rating: 4/5. The second book was on course for 3/5 but the final chapters were pretty good.
5. Er Ist Wieder Da aka Look Who’s Back by Timur Vermes –
I heard that there were a lot of protests in Germany regarding the popularity of this satirical novel on Adolf Hitler. I think we are living in dangerous times if the speech is sanctioned and the artistic spirit is curtailed. This book does not promote Nazism. This book does not incite violence or hatred. This book does not make you fall in love with Hitler. This book mocks Hitler and his policies incessantly. For Timur Vermes, Hitler is not just a hate figure but someone to be ridiculed and mocked for his ideas and views. He achieves this by bringing Hitler back to life in Berlin and making him a TV show personality where Hitler freely airs his (real life) views bringing laughter to everyone. If there is still any doubt about his intentions, one has to only read Hitler’s acceptance speech after he wins the prestigious tv award. The following passage is in the initial pages (after Hitler wakes up in a Berlin park he notices a few kids playing football)
I expect my needs did not appear sufficiently pressing to the Hitler Youths, who looked as if they wanted to resume their game of association football. The tallest of the lads now turned to his friends, allowing me to read his name, which his mother had sewn onto a brightly coloured jersey.
“Hitler Youth Ronaldo, which way to the street?”
And then it continued to make me laugh. 4/5
6. Good Omens: Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman –
I never read any Terry Pratchett before so I didn't have high expectations. Thought the book was pretty good though the sarcasm levels came down alarmingly low in the middle pages. The conversations between Aziraphale and Crowley along with the guest appearance of Mary Loquacious make up for it though. Description for the Dog: Satanical hellhound and cat-worrier. This still makes me fall off my chair. 4/5
7. The Murder on the Links by Agatha Christie – a good murder mystery or two after a long time. Loved it. 4/5
8. Poirot Investigates by Agatha Christie – half of the stories are crap, what with Poirot getting secret inside information fooling the readers. At least the other half's pretty good. 3/5
9. Very Good, Jeeves! by PG Wodehouse – Very good, Wodehouse. Excellent collection of short stories. 4.5/5
1.Tales of Dunk n Egg by George RR Martin (The Hedge Knight, The Sworn Sword, The Mystery Knight) –
Got the books several months ago but had the time to read only last month. Thanks to the unplanned vacations eh. The books deal with a hedge knight Ser Duncan the Tall aka Dunk and a mysterious lad Egg. But the real story is about the Targaryen dynasty and the Blackfyre rebellion. These novellas are pretty good fillers for ASOIAF. Lord knows George RR Martin isn't going to release his 6th book any time soon. 4/5
2. The Importance of Being Earnest – Oscar Wilde is excellent at wit! There must be around 100 quotable quotes in this little 80 page book. 4/5
3. American Gods by Neil Gaiman –
This book has so many Gods that I had trouble identifying at least half of them. But this link here was an excellent companion while reading Gaiman's book. American Gods is about a character Shadow and his travels across America after meeting a mysterious stranger Mr. Wednesday (know how the day got its name?). During his travels he comes across a lot of Gods who were initially brought to America by several migrants but who are forgotten now, in place of New Gods. A fascinating read, albeit a bit lengthy. For those who're interested, here’s an ebook for Myths of the Norsemen: From the Eddas and Sagas. 3.5/5
4. The Black Company trilogy aka Books of the North by Glen Cook –
(The Black Company, Shadows Linger, The White Rose)
The start of the series is freaking confusing so let me post a brief synopsis for those who are interested to take this up. The Black Company is a group of mercenaries and they’re the last free company from Khatovar. The story starts with the Company situated at Beryl in the service of the Syndic. They get an offer to work for a mysterious stranger but the Captain of the Black Company refuses to break their current contract. After a mysterious attack one night by forvalaka (leopard sorts), the Syndic dies which frees the Company from their contract. They switch over to provide their services to the stranger, who turns out to be someone called Soulcatcher. A few hundred years ago, the Empire was ruled by an evil Dominator and his wife Lady. They took 10 of the most evil into their service and these are called Ten Who Were Taken. But the evil was ended when The White Rose defeated Dominator and his clan but her powers were not enough to kill them all. With the help of powerful sorcerers, The White Rose buried Lady, Dominator and the Ten with enough spells which prevented their escape for several decades. But the evil never stops trying eh. A sorcerer named Bomanz wanted to make contact with this bunch but a mistake in his spells released the Lady, who released the Ten but kept her husband Dominator buried.
And this Soulcatcher is one of the Ten Who Were Taken. Others include Limper, Stormbringer, Nightcrawler, Shapeshifter, The Hanged Man, etc etc. The Black Company don’t break their contracts come what may. So they start to serve the Lady in her fight against The Rebel. The entire series is narrated by Croaker who is part physician and part Annalist. Goblin, Silent and One-Eye are the sorcerers while the Captain is in command of the company with a Lieutenant under him. Raven is from the clergy at Opal who lost most of his lands and titles thanks to Limper. After he joins the Black Company he plays a major part in the series. The first book has a lot of fights, battles and wars going on between the Lady and Rebel. Just like in every other fantasy series, there is a prophecy that The White Rose will come and save the world from evil. The second book deals with Dominator trying to escape his spells and come out to cause chaos. While the first book is pretty fast paced reading, the second one is a bit flat for the initial half as there’s not a single fight. Makes up for it with a biiig fight in the end between Dominator and others though. And as the title says, the third part of the book is about the savior White Rose.
Major problem with the series is that there is no map provided with the books. But this map here should be enough. The series has 7 more books :o
Series rating: 4/5. The second book was on course for 3/5 but the final chapters were pretty good.
5. Er Ist Wieder Da aka Look Who’s Back by Timur Vermes –
I heard that there were a lot of protests in Germany regarding the popularity of this satirical novel on Adolf Hitler. I think we are living in dangerous times if the speech is sanctioned and the artistic spirit is curtailed. This book does not promote Nazism. This book does not incite violence or hatred. This book does not make you fall in love with Hitler. This book mocks Hitler and his policies incessantly. For Timur Vermes, Hitler is not just a hate figure but someone to be ridiculed and mocked for his ideas and views. He achieves this by bringing Hitler back to life in Berlin and making him a TV show personality where Hitler freely airs his (real life) views bringing laughter to everyone. If there is still any doubt about his intentions, one has to only read Hitler’s acceptance speech after he wins the prestigious tv award. The following passage is in the initial pages (after Hitler wakes up in a Berlin park he notices a few kids playing football)
I expect my needs did not appear sufficiently pressing to the Hitler Youths, who looked as if they wanted to resume their game of association football. The tallest of the lads now turned to his friends, allowing me to read his name, which his mother had sewn onto a brightly coloured jersey.
“Hitler Youth Ronaldo, which way to the street?”
And then it continued to make me laugh. 4/5
6. Good Omens: Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman –
I never read any Terry Pratchett before so I didn't have high expectations. Thought the book was pretty good though the sarcasm levels came down alarmingly low in the middle pages. The conversations between Aziraphale and Crowley along with the guest appearance of Mary Loquacious make up for it though. Description for the Dog: Satanical hellhound and cat-worrier. This still makes me fall off my chair. 4/5
7. The Murder on the Links by Agatha Christie – a good murder mystery or two after a long time. Loved it. 4/5
8. Poirot Investigates by Agatha Christie – half of the stories are crap, what with Poirot getting secret inside information fooling the readers. At least the other half's pretty good. 3/5
9. Very Good, Jeeves! by PG Wodehouse – Very good, Wodehouse. Excellent collection of short stories. 4.5/5
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