Love in the Time of Britannia
Title: THE DEVIL YOU KNOW
Author: Mike Carey
Read Date: 5 October 2008
A sort of noir detective novel, only the detective is an exorcist trying to solve a murder and send the victim’s spirit off to the other world. And he has to contend with one of hell’s most powerful demons, who has possessed his best friend, as well as a succubus sent to kill him. The writing is great, if a bit too clever sometimes, and I loved it.
Posted 9 June 2009, 10:45 pm
Title: THE LIVES OF ENGLISH RAKES
Author: Fergus Linnane
Read Date: 29 November 2008
If you like nonfiction about the Regency and other English historical periods, this is a great book for you. The author compiles information from a variety of letters, diaries, and contemporary secondary sources, and puts together a compelling narrative of rakes, courtesans, and sexual misconduct throughout the Restoration, the Georgian period, the Regency, and the Edwardian period. Must read for people interested in how people lived (and misbehaved) in the British upper classes.
Posted 9 June 2009, 10:41 pm
Title: THE GRAVEYARD BOOK
Author: Neil Gaiman
Read Date: 27 December 2008
Neil Gaiman is a master storyteller, creating inventive and highly imaginative worlds. THE GRAVEYARD BOOK was fantastic for its worldbuilding, even if I usually prefer for my protagonists to be a bit older. I cried at the end, which is a good litmus test for books that I love.
Posted 9 June 2009, 10:39 pm
Title: THE BELL AT SEALEY HEAD
Author: Patricia A. McKillip
Read Date: 31 December 2008
I think this was the best book I read all year. It’s not a bona fide romance (although there’s a sweet love story between a shy innkeeper and a bookish heiress). But I think I love fantasy for the same reason I love romance — the opportunity for world-building, for creating unique and larger-than-life characters, and the guarantee that, even if endings aren’t happy, they are at least recognizable as endings. McKillip’s writing was gorgeous, and I loved the story.
Posted 9 June 2009, 10:37 pm
Title: VISCIOUS CIRCLE
Author: Mike Carey
Read Date: 1 January 2009
This is the follow up to THE DEVIL YOU KNOW. I thought it was good, but didn’t enjoy it quite as much as the first book; I thought the threads were a bit harder to follow and wasn’t as satisfied with the character development. But it was fun, albeit violent and a bit too clever for its own good. Wait for it to come out in paperback, but it’s worth a read if you like hard-boiled detective fiction.
Posted 9 June 2009, 10:34 pm
