Book #18 - 'The Godless' by Ben Peek

Started - 11/04/16

Finished - 14/04/16

I've been looking forward to this one for a long time but it's not quite what I expected.

The writing is a rich lush intoxicant, there is plenty of flow and tastes of the exotic that I love in fantasy when so many books rely on more staid or uniform environments and cultures. The langue at times however is muddied, there are lines I had to re-read a few times before I understood them and this is not helped by the overt philosophical feel of the book. This could have been a strength if the balance between plot and philosophical thought had been right, but as it is sometimes it over powers.

That's not to say I didn't enjoy it. I did. As I've said there is the exotic in this book that puts me in mind of Amanda Dowum's 'The Drowning City', there are great ideas, exploration, myths, rich history, wonderful characters, magic, whole worlds waiting to be expanded upon AND so many intertwining stories so by and large I really liked it. With so many excellent set pieces I would have love this book to be illustrated like old expeditions; there is a lot of colour and live in there that feels very refreshing.

I am really looking forward to its sequel and seeing where he's going to go with it.

 

Book #17 - 'Railsea' by China Mieville

Started - 29/03/16

Finished - 11/04/16

New job again so I've been terminally busy.....

I'm a big fan of China Mieville, though Embassy Town almost killed me, and this was no exception. Railsea has hints of Moby Dick and Treasure Island but a huge percentage of the weird, inventive and intoxicating imagination Mieville is known for. I really can't fault this one. He's become the master of the anticlimactic which was unforgivable in The Scar but here works wonderfully because by the time you reach the end you're loving the adventure, the characters, the failed nature of obsession. He's managed to capture that sense of the labour behind a expedition so you feel as wrung out as the characters.

The writing can take a little time to get used to, but he loves playing with language and you do get used to it. In fact once you are used to it it gives the book a great feel of age, like you're reading a real account of adventures from the days of grand voyages.

The only time I was less enchanted with this book was the aside chapters, someone's a few paragraphs sometimes a few pages. At first they were interesting but towards the end they felt too indulgent and unnecessary. It's a tiny criticism.

Again there are places hinted at that I wished he'd touched on BUT for once he addresses that himself in the final chapters and it actually works to lessen my annoyance, and when I think about it including every little scrape of the Rail Sea in this story would have been detrimental. Though I do hope he returns to them at some point. I want to know more!

Wonderful book. Couldn't recommend it more.