Showing posts with label reading. Show all posts
Showing posts with label reading. Show all posts
Sunday, June 10, 2012
You are probably going to want to read this book...
A Discovery of Witches was one of my favorite reads of 2011 and I was anxious to continue the adventures of Matthew and Diana, the star-crossed vampire and witch, in Shadow of Night. Luckily, Deborah Harkness does not disappoint. The second book in the All Souls trilogy is not a "stand-alone" read. If you haven't read A Discovery of Witches, you should probably go out and find a copy right now. Read it, love it, and then come back and read this review.
The story picks up right where it left off, with Matthew and Diana traveling back to Elizabethan England to try and unravel the mysteries of Ashmole 782, an ancient alchemical manuscript that holds the secrets to Diana's unusual magical powers and possibly the entire supernatural world. (Seriously. You read the first book, right?) Since Matthew was already living in this time, the couple kind of slide right into his 1590's life. Matthew went by the last name of Roydon and was a member of the infamous and mysterious School of Night along with actual historical figures like Walter Raleigh, Christopher Marlowe, and Lord Henry Percy, the Earl of Northumberland. As Matthew and Diana seek out Ashmole, as well as a witch to help her learn to harness her magic, they find themselves entwined in the supernatural and alchemical underworlds of the English Renaissance. As the book progresses, we also delve deeper into Matthew's past and learn more about the suave, mysterious vampire and his illustrious family.
Here's the cool thing: a lot of the book's details are based on actual history. Many of the characters we meet were real people including: the aforementioned School of Night members, John Dee, Edward Kelley, and even a cameo appearance by William Shakespeare. It should be noted that Harkness is a historian and professor of history at USC, so the historical characters and details are spot on, especially in the area of alchemy which is one of her areas of expertise. Obviously she takes liberties with the details and storytelling -- it is a fiction book after all. Unless Kit Marlowe has been confirmed as a daemon and no one told me... Now, admittedly, I am a bit of a history buff and have a fair amount of prior knowledge about this time period, so Harkness didn't have to work to hard to win me over. Even readers without the history bug will be fine because the author seamlessly weaves these details into the story -- a cornerstone of good historical fiction.
Looking for a supplement to Diana Gabaldon's Outlander series? Wanting a slightly more intelligent, well-written vampire romance? Just a fan of historical fiction in general? Shadow of Night is probably the book you are looking for. After I finished Shadow of Night, I wanted to go back and reread A Discovery of Witches just to keep the characters and the story fresh and tie all of pieces from both stories together. I was very excited to be chosen to receive an ARC of Shadow of Night from NetGalley. The book's general U.S. release date is July 10, 2012. I would highly recommend picking it up from your local library or bookseller as soon as you can. Just be prepared for the long wait for book three.
Sunday, April 3, 2011
The Librarian Reads!
I find it highly amusing when people tell me they would love to be a librarian because "then I could just sit around and read all day!". Ah, how I wish that was what my job entailed! Librarians have almost zero time to read while working, and since I have a 5-year old at home, mommy reading time is sometimes kind of scarce there too. When I do read, I tend to read in spurts. I can go a couple of weeks, maybe even a whole month without reading an entire book and then bam! -- I read several back to back. I just finished one of those episodes. This time all of the books I read were really different from each other but equally great and a couple of them have lingered in my mind since I finished reading them. I love when books do that...
The first book I read in my little marathon was The Distant Hours by Kate Morton. I picked it up on a whim because it sounded interesting, but also not like what I normally read. All of the reviews I read prior to opening the book called it a throwback to the "great Gothic novels" and honestly that genre has never really been my cup of tea. I decided to give it a shot anyway though, and was pleasantly surprised to become almost immediately hooked.
The book starts out in the early 1990's when we meet the main character Edith "Edie" Burchill. Edie lives in London and holds what I find to be the "literary cliche career" of working at a publishing house. (Come on, you know I'm right on this one.) Edie has just broken up with her live-in boyfriend, and has a tolerable but not particularly good or close relationship with her parents (particularly her mother). Then a long-lost letter arrives at her parents' house, and Edie discovers there is a whole different side to her mother than she ever imagined. Although she had never before talked about it, as a child, Edie's mother was sent to the countryside during the London bombings in World War II. Now this in and of itself was not so shocking because it was a pretty common occurrence at the time, but where she was sent was the clincher -- Milderhurst Castle. Milderhurst Castle was home to twin sisters Persephone "Percy" and Seraphina "Saffy" Blythe and their younger sister Juniper. Coincidentally, (or is it?) the castle is also the setting of Edie's favorite childhood story "The True History of the Mud Man", which was written by the sisters' father Raymond Blythe. This is where the Gothic element starts to bubble to the surface.
Edie discovers that Percy, Saffy, and Juniper are all still alive and still living in the castle. She soon gets drawn into the lives of these women and the mysteries surrounding their pasts. What happened in this castle? How was Edie's mother involved and why has she never mentioned it before? Where does the mud man story fit into it all? Kate Morton does an excellent job of weaving this tale together. Morton flashes back to the 1940's, and a couple of times even earlier, to fill in the back story. Some people find this technique hard to follow, but I thought the time changes here were really quite effortless. The pacing of the story was a little slow in the middle, but by the end she had wrapped up nearly every plot twist and unanswered question I had. Was I totally happy with how everything turned out? No, but then again being called a "Gothic novel throwback" doesn't really give off that sunshine and puppy dog vibe to begin with.
The book kept me thinking about the Blythe sisters for days after I finished reading it. The sisters and their commitment to each other and their family was haunting. It really resonated with me and raised several questions; What would you do for the people you love? How much is too much to sacrifice in the name of family? Is there such a thing as too much sacrifice? I also thought that the dynamics of the relationship between Edie and her mother were interesting. You mean our parents were people with lives before they were our parents? There might be things that they haven't told us about themselves? There were some scenes in the book that were a little corny, and a couple of plot points that were pretty predictable, but all in all The Distant Hours was a satisfying read. Springtime is right around the corner (supposedly) and this would be the perfect book to curl up with during a long afternoon thunderstorm.
I was going to write a bit about A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness as well, but this post is getting kind of long and I need to go to bed. Tomorrow maybe? We'll see how it goes. :)
The first book I read in my little marathon was The Distant Hours by Kate Morton. I picked it up on a whim because it sounded interesting, but also not like what I normally read. All of the reviews I read prior to opening the book called it a throwback to the "great Gothic novels" and honestly that genre has never really been my cup of tea. I decided to give it a shot anyway though, and was pleasantly surprised to become almost immediately hooked.
The book starts out in the early 1990's when we meet the main character Edith "Edie" Burchill. Edie lives in London and holds what I find to be the "literary cliche career" of working at a publishing house. (Come on, you know I'm right on this one.) Edie has just broken up with her live-in boyfriend, and has a tolerable but not particularly good or close relationship with her parents (particularly her mother). Then a long-lost letter arrives at her parents' house, and Edie discovers there is a whole different side to her mother than she ever imagined. Although she had never before talked about it, as a child, Edie's mother was sent to the countryside during the London bombings in World War II. Now this in and of itself was not so shocking because it was a pretty common occurrence at the time, but where she was sent was the clincher -- Milderhurst Castle. Milderhurst Castle was home to twin sisters Persephone "Percy" and Seraphina "Saffy" Blythe and their younger sister Juniper. Coincidentally, (or is it?) the castle is also the setting of Edie's favorite childhood story "The True History of the Mud Man", which was written by the sisters' father Raymond Blythe. This is where the Gothic element starts to bubble to the surface.
Edie discovers that Percy, Saffy, and Juniper are all still alive and still living in the castle. She soon gets drawn into the lives of these women and the mysteries surrounding their pasts. What happened in this castle? How was Edie's mother involved and why has she never mentioned it before? Where does the mud man story fit into it all? Kate Morton does an excellent job of weaving this tale together. Morton flashes back to the 1940's, and a couple of times even earlier, to fill in the back story. Some people find this technique hard to follow, but I thought the time changes here were really quite effortless. The pacing of the story was a little slow in the middle, but by the end she had wrapped up nearly every plot twist and unanswered question I had. Was I totally happy with how everything turned out? No, but then again being called a "Gothic novel throwback" doesn't really give off that sunshine and puppy dog vibe to begin with.
The book kept me thinking about the Blythe sisters for days after I finished reading it. The sisters and their commitment to each other and their family was haunting. It really resonated with me and raised several questions; What would you do for the people you love? How much is too much to sacrifice in the name of family? Is there such a thing as too much sacrifice? I also thought that the dynamics of the relationship between Edie and her mother were interesting. You mean our parents were people with lives before they were our parents? There might be things that they haven't told us about themselves? There were some scenes in the book that were a little corny, and a couple of plot points that were pretty predictable, but all in all The Distant Hours was a satisfying read. Springtime is right around the corner (supposedly) and this would be the perfect book to curl up with during a long afternoon thunderstorm.
I was going to write a bit about A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness as well, but this post is getting kind of long and I need to go to bed. Tomorrow maybe? We'll see how it goes. :)
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