Genre: Historical horror/fantasy.
The tag line for this book goes - 'She loved her country. She hated zombies.' Based on this tag line I expected to get a 19th century, Buffy the vampire slayer book.
The book is not a 19th century, Buffy the vampire slayer. Nor is it a romance novel as some might believe, reading the blurb on the back of the book.
The book focuses on the time period just before Victoria's coronation to a few years after that. One might expect a 19th century Royal court to have various intrigues. In this book those intrigues involve Demons, Zombies, werewolves and such.
The book is well written with the author trying a fair bit, to humanise and build up the characters. For the most part he succeeds. The plot line in the book is functional and simplistic. There are no complex twist and turns here. There are a few sub-plots and surprises that keep it interesting though. The pace of the book is very brisk with events happening at a rapid pace. The book contains a lot of gore. I liked the gore in the book and thought it fit in well with the tone of the book. But a fair warning, if you don't like gore, you will find it gratuitous.
Quimby a side character in this book, ends up stealing the show. And that is the most severe failing of this book, since Victoria's character does not end up dominating the book, as one might expect of the title character.
All in all this is a light fun read as long as you don't mind the gore.
Rating: 4 / 5, Recommended
Showing posts with label 4 star fiction books. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 4 star fiction books. Show all posts
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
Book review: Fabulous harbours by Michael Moorcock
Genre: Short stories/Novella/Novelettes in a Fantasy setting.
Fabulous harbours is a sequel to Blood, the introduction however states that Fabulous harbours does not continue any story lines or such and hence reading Blood is not required. I have not read Blood and I concur it is not required to read Fabulous harbour.
The book starts at a languid pace and continues throughout the book. This is mainly because the book is narrated as a recounting of events that have occured in the past. The book is a collection of short stories/novella/novelettes. These are set across various timeline and dimensions, and Moorcock writes these in different literary styles to suite the story's setting. The styles are varied but blend together well and do not jar.
I found myself warming to the stories and Moorcock's style as the book progressed. A large part of this was realising that there is no one tale (epic or not) to be had from this book, rather I just enjoyed each story and the varied style and pace.
Rating: 4/5, Great as long as you are open to short stories.
Fabulous harbours is a sequel to Blood, the introduction however states that Fabulous harbours does not continue any story lines or such and hence reading Blood is not required. I have not read Blood and I concur it is not required to read Fabulous harbour.
The book starts at a languid pace and continues throughout the book. This is mainly because the book is narrated as a recounting of events that have occured in the past. The book is a collection of short stories/novella/novelettes. These are set across various timeline and dimensions, and Moorcock writes these in different literary styles to suite the story's setting. The styles are varied but blend together well and do not jar.
I found myself warming to the stories and Moorcock's style as the book progressed. A large part of this was realising that there is no one tale (epic or not) to be had from this book, rather I just enjoyed each story and the varied style and pace.
Rating: 4/5, Great as long as you are open to short stories.
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Book review: Titan by Ben Bova
Genre: Science fiction set in the near future.
Set in the near future (2095), the characters in this book are on a massive colony ship Goddard, that has made orbit around Saturn. Contained in this habitat are 10,000 misfits, people who are considered too risky to be kept on earth for political or social reasons. The pacing of the book is brisk and there are plenty of characters. Ben Bova does a great job of building up the characters without overwhelming the reader.
There are multiple story arcs in book with the major focus being on a malfunctioning probe on Saturn's icy moon Titan, a upcoming election and search for life in Saturn's rings. There are plenty of other dramas among the various characters in the book. The science and the descriptions thereof are interesting and cause the narrative to have a believable ring to it.
It is not necessary to read any of the other books in the series to enjoy this one, only reason to do so is if you want some continuity.
Rating:4/5, Recommended.
Set in the near future (2095), the characters in this book are on a massive colony ship Goddard, that has made orbit around Saturn. Contained in this habitat are 10,000 misfits, people who are considered too risky to be kept on earth for political or social reasons. The pacing of the book is brisk and there are plenty of characters. Ben Bova does a great job of building up the characters without overwhelming the reader.
There are multiple story arcs in book with the major focus being on a malfunctioning probe on Saturn's icy moon Titan, a upcoming election and search for life in Saturn's rings. There are plenty of other dramas among the various characters in the book. The science and the descriptions thereof are interesting and cause the narrative to have a believable ring to it.
It is not necessary to read any of the other books in the series to enjoy this one, only reason to do so is if you want some continuity.
Rating:4/5, Recommended.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)