Well, having finally almost caught up with myself (I can see my bum wobbling away in the distance, just need to sprint for a little while longer) I thought I might burble briefly about three jolly fine books.
A Madness of Angels by Kate Griffin
Good grief, this book is amazing. It’s the one I chose to break my ‘fiction fast’, and if anything was going to persuade me that quitting reading fiction (just because I ought to be reading Stuff What Is Good For Me and not escaping into Other Stuff) was a bad idea, this was the book to do it.
Matthew Swift was killed two years ago. Now, he emerges from the telephone line, naked and confused. It just so happens he is a sorcerer, living in a London riddled with magic that can be used by those with the power and the knowledge. And as he tries to pick up the pieces of his old life and come to terms with his survival, he discovers that there are evil forces at work that he must fight. This is a fast-paced story, full of action and ideas and strange beings. I needed to keep my wits about me and read slowly to make sure every sentence sunk in, but it was more than worth the effort.
Kate Griffin has written several young adult fantasy novels (as Catherine Webb), and I think this is evident in the exuberance of her language. For example, I loved this line:
… the “Cave of Wonders, Mysteries and Miracles”, advertised by a small wooden sign swinging above an open door through which the overwhelming smell of cheap incense and musty carpets hit the nose like it wanted a pillow fight.
The scattering of frivolous similes and metaphors like these doesn’t detract from the atmosphere at all. The themes of the novel are very dark – betrayal, evil, selfish desires – and the violence level is quite graphic. For me, the occasional giggle served to highlight Swift’s struggle to deal with the horrors besetting him and still remain human (or nearly human).
Interestingly the reviews on Amazon aren’t great. And to some extent I agree with some of the comments – the ending is predictable, there are ideas that might be considered derivative… but I think Griffin’s wonderful writing style and the helter-skelter nature of the plot more than make up for these drawbacks. She made me think, which is all too rare these days (read that how you will!).
The text is very dense, it’s not a quick read. That is a Good Thing, it means you can stay in Swift’s world for days. I’m only sorry to have reached the end of the book… but… hallelujah… a sequel is due out later this year!
Rollback by Robert J Sawyer
I listened to this in the car – unabridged, of course. Sawyer’s style is perfect entertainment for drivers. He unfolds the story slowly, almost too slowly at some points, and lets you digest what you’re hearing before moving on to the next plot point.
The story itself is fascinating. A radio message was received from Sigma Draconis nearly 40 years before the start, this was deciphered by Sarah Halifax, a response was sent, and a second message from the Dracons has just been received. Sarah is now 87 years old, so when a rich entrepreneur offers to fund prohibitively expensive ‘rollback’ (rejuvenation) treatment so she can continue to converse with her Draconian penpals, she accepts on condition that her husband Don receives the treatment too. Unfortunately, the rollback procedure is still experimental, and it only works for Don, not for Sarah. The central theme of the novel is the effect on Don of this seeming disaster, but interwoven around that we learn about the Dracon messages.
Although the psychological implications of rollback are interesting, I did find myself getting frustrated with Don. Thinking back, I suspect I found it hard to identify with him because significant chunks of the story involved Don ruminating on how hard done by he was. Poor bloke wasn’t able to claim senior citizen discount on public transport any more… Still, for the most part I enjoyed thinking through the implications of being in such a situation.
More interesting were the philosophical discussions between Sarah and Don – basically she’s a brainbox and he’s clever but not quite that good, so she has to explain stuff to him. This is the sort of trick my writing teachers would have a fit about if I did it, but somehow Sawyer manages to pull it off. Rather than coming across as a lecture to the reader thinly disguised as a piece of dialogue, it sounded to me like a genuine discussion between two intelligent people with different sets of knowledge and different views, one that I could almost join in.
I would have been more taken with the book if I’d been able to care about Don, and also I was disappointed not to find out a bit more about the Dracons. That’s just me though. Amazon reviewers liked this book a lot. I would say yes, read it, but don’t expect it to be truly brilliant. I’ve read other books by Sawyer that I like better, for example Calculating God (which is reviewed less favourably on Amazon!).
I wonder if it made a difference that I listened to the book rather than reading it.
Dragon Slippers: This is What an Abusive Relationship Looks Like by Rosalind B Penfold
This is a graphic novel telling the story of a woman’s experience of domestic abuse. One of my teachers recommended it, so I flicked through it in Page 45, but decided it wasn’t for me, I normally avoid the ‘Tragic Life Stories’ sections of bookshops like the latest pandemic, and on a cursory reading this book seemed to belong there. However, the teacher brought it in to class last night, so I grudgingly agreed to borrow it. And discovered it’s actually rather good!
The story is very simply told, using rudimentary artwork. Despite this (probably because of it actually) the book clearly shows the stark horror of the situation and the frightening ease with which it develops. Thankfully it also shows how she escaped from her abuser – I don’t think I could have coped with that not being resolved. And it captures the heartbreak of having to leave his children behind, who she has come to love dearly, and suspects are also being abused in one way or another.
The simplicity of the format brilliantly underlines the ease with which women (and men) can get sucked into destructive relationships and be manipulated into contributing to their own subjugation. Why doesn’t she just leave him? Well, it’s not as simple as that… but in the end it has to be…
I don’t know enough about the subject of domestic abuse to be able to say whether this book is a true reflection of the way it works, but at the same time, having read it, I feel like I know a lot more about it.
The Old Bat 