tag:bookwormtrail.blog.co.uk,2009-11-11:/I'm always reading a book and I'll be using this blog to chart my progress through the books that I read through the year. It'll be less stale than a simple listing and more interesting than a short review. I'll be giving my thoughts on the books I read, as I read them. I hope you will join in on this interactive book club.MokoFeed2009-11-11T22:36:09+01:00tag:bookwormtrail.blog.co.uk,2009-01-04:/2009/01/04/bookworm-trails-5322956/knanshon2009-01-04T23:39:51+01:002009-01-04T23:39:51+01:00 <p>I've finally created the next stage in the evolution of this blog, that I mentioned several months ago as an idea. The idea has come to fruition via the power of Ning (.com)...</p> <p><a href="http://bookwormtrails.ning.com/"><a href="http://bookwormtrails.ning.com/">http://bookwormtrails.ning.com/</a></a></p> <p>The new site is called Bookworm Trails. It's a site for keeping your own reading journal and checking out what others are reading and what they thought of books you are considering.</p> <p>I've begun to add some old posts from my old reading blog to get it started and have started a discussion about public libraries -- should we use them or buy books to support our favourite authours?</p> <p>It is my hope that eventually members will form reading groups and hold chat sessions, but for now it's a great way of keeping track of what you read through the years.</p> <p>Come on over and join in! </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://bookwormtrail.blog.co.uk/2009/01/04/bookworm-trails-5322956/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>tag:bookwormtrail.blog.co.uk,2008-12-19:/2008/12/19/the-iron-tree-by-cecila-dart-thornton-5247646/knanshon2008-12-19T21:47:39+01:002008-12-21T09:50:09+01:00 <p><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Iron-Tree-Crowthistle-Chronicles/dp/1405047119/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1229719153&sr=8-1" title="51PlwILKCrL__SS500_"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/063/3080063_0066b376d4_m.jpg" alt="51PlwILKCrL__SS500_" vspace="5" hspace="5"></a></p> <blockquote><p>“What greater thing is there for two human souls than to feel that they are joined... to strengthen each other... to be at one with each other in silent unspeakable memories." - George Eliot</p></blockquote> <p>Book Details</p> <p><strong>Title</strong>: The Iron Tree<br> <strong>Tag-line</strong>: Book One of the Crowthistle Chronicles<br> <strong>Genre/Category</strong>: Fantasy<br> <strong>Type</strong>: Paperback<br> <strong>Authour</strong>: Cecila Dart-Thornton<br> <strong>Publisher</strong>: Pan-Macmillan (this edition) UK,Australia,NZ / Tor - US,Canada<br> <strong>ISBN</strong>: 0-330-43301-6</p> <p>Reading Details</p> <p>Started Reading: 19th December 2008<br> Finished Reading: <i>In Progress</i></p> <p>Comments</p> <p>I've decided that it makes more sense to review the book after I've read it rather than give comments or views early on in the book.</p> <p>I've reserved the second and third books in Raymond E. Feist's Conclave of Shadows series at my local library. While I wait for those to be returned I thought I'd try a female fantasy author and compare styles, theme, and character. I notice that as I write and study the art of writing, the way I read is changing. Luckily I still get absorbed into the story, but my critical eye is always there.</p> <p>Review</p> <p>Check back soon. </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://bookwormtrail.blog.co.uk/2008/12/19/the-iron-tree-by-cecila-dart-thornton-5247646/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>tag:bookwormtrail.blog.co.uk,2008-12-18:/2008/12/18/talon-of-the-silver-hawk-by-raymond-e-feist-5242711/knanshon2008-12-18T20:23:08+01:002008-12-18T20:24:14+01:00 <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/n29177/3077654" title="n29177"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/654/3077654_e476b2017f_m.jpg" alt="n29177" vspace="5" hspace="5"></a></p> <blockquote><p>“Never does the human soul appear so strong as when it foregoes revenge and dares to forgive an injury” - Edwin Hubble</p></blockquote> <p>Book Details</p> <p><strong>Title</strong>: Talon of the Silver Hawk<br> <strong>Tag-line</strong>: Book One of the Conclave of Shadows<br> <strong>Genre/Category</strong>: Fantasy<br> <strong>Type</strong>: Paperback<br> <strong>Authour</strong>: Raymond E. Feist<br> <strong>Publisher</strong>: Voyager<br> <strong>ISBN</strong>: 0-00-716185-9</p> <p>Reading Details</p> <p>Started Reading: 10th December 2008<br> Finished Reading: 18th December 2008</p> <p>Comments</p> <p>I couldn't resist the lure of a good fantasy story that I could get stuck into. It was so nice to want to read a book all the time, during breakfast and lunchbreaks, as well as my usual bedtime. I zipped through it and loved every minute. </p> <p>I still have not finished the POL POT book, and may not, it is very long and detailed and the type-face is too small to make it an enjoyable read.</p> <p>I choose Talon because I really enjoyed Raymond E. Feist's style and stories in the Legends II anthology, this book in particular because it was the only "first book in a series" on the shelves in my local library. The book is a complete tale in itself, nicely book-ended by a revenge story. We see great character growth in the main character, who I can't really say is the protagonist as it's the masters of the Conclave of Shadows (the good guys) who really drive Talon (the main character) forward. Saying that, he is highly motivated to pursue The Conclave's enemies for his own reasons. Talon does learn self-control, but is completely without mercy.</p> <p>I'll definitely be looking for more in the series. </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://bookwormtrail.blog.co.uk/2008/12/18/talon-of-the-silver-hawk-by-raymond-e-feist-5242711/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>tag:bookwormtrail.blog.co.uk,2008-12-04:/2008/12/04/i-want-you-to-know-that-everything-i-did-i-5164331/knanshon2008-12-04T21:16:58+01:002008-12-19T21:50:12+01:00 <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/polpot/3041353" title="polpot"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/353/3041353_b5c2d06631_s.jpg" alt="polpot" vspace="5" hspace="5"></a></p> <blockquote><p>“I want you to know that everything I did, I did for my country.” - Saloth Sar</p></blockquote> <p>Book Details</p> <p><strong>Title</strong>: POL POT<br> <strong>Tag-line</strong>: The History of a Nightmare<br> <strong>Genre/Category</strong>: Biography<br> <strong>Type</strong>: Paperback<br> <strong>Authour</strong>: Philip Short<br> <strong>Publisher</strong>: John Murray<br> <strong>ISBN</strong>: 0-7195-6569-3</p> <p>Reading Details</p> <p>Started Reading: 23rd November 2008<br> Finished Reading: Aborted on the 19th December 2008</p> <p>Comments</p> <p>Thought this was a piece of important recent history I should know about and learn from, and also might make an interesting case study for the motivations of a villain.</p> <p>Slow-going for those, like me, without any prior knowledge, but soon becomes quite gripping. </p> <p>Very well written.</p> <p>Review</p> <p>I've stopped reading this book because it is too long, and I only wanted an overview of Pol Pot's life and what lead to the horrifying events in Cambodia. It was a little like diving into the deep end, and I don't have enough time to read that much material at the moment. What I did read of the book was interesting and well-written. </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://bookwormtrail.blog.co.uk/2008/12/04/i-want-you-to-know-that-everything-i-did-i-5164331/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>tag:bookwormtrail.blog.co.uk,2008-11-21:/2008/11/21/scriptgenerator-c-r-tm-by-philippe-vasset-5077378/knanshon2008-11-21T23:02:37+01:002008-12-04T21:04:47+01:00 <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/scriptgen/3006023" title="scriptgen"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/023/3006023_846d5fadfb_s.jpg" alt="scriptgen" vspace="5" hspace="5"></a></p> <blockquote><p>"A commodity appears at first sight an extremely obvious, trivial thing. But its analysis brings out that it is a very strange thing, abounding in metaphysical subtleties and theological niceties." - Karl Marx</p></blockquote> <p>Book Details</p> <p><strong>Title</strong>: ScriptGenerator(C)(R)TM<br> <strong>Tag-line</strong>: 'A darkly entertaining and disturbingly prescient novel' - A.L. Kennedy<br> <strong>Genre/Category</strong>: Fiction<br> <strong>Type</strong>: Novel (100 pages)<br> <strong>Authour</strong>: Philippe Vasset (trans. Jane Metter)<br> <strong>Publisher</strong>: Serpent's Tail<br> <strong>ISBN</strong>: 1-85242-862-7</p> <p>Reading Details</p> <p>Started Reading: 20th November 2008<br> Finished Reading: 22nd November 2008<br> Comments</p> <p>I was initially drawn to the title of and cover of this book because of the way I am currently devouring how-to-write books, podcasts and the Dramatica theory of story (which comes with software.) How ironic that it turned out to be a novel exploring the ultimate end of what is beginning with Dramatica (<a href="http://www.dramatica.com">www.dramatica.com</a>) : the dying out of "creatives" and the turning of story into a commodity, to be mined, processed, packaged and sold like any other. </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://bookwormtrail.blog.co.uk/2008/11/21/scriptgenerator-c-r-tm-by-philippe-vasset-5077378/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>tag:bookwormtrail.blog.co.uk,2008-11-21:/2008/11/21/the-enchanter-by-vladimir-nabokov-5077349/knanshon2008-11-21T22:54:12+01:002008-11-21T22:54:12+01:00 <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/enchanter/3006007" title="enchanter"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/007/3006007_e736a94d29_s.jpg" alt="enchanter" vspace="5" hspace="5"></a></p> <blockquote><p>"Revelation can be more perilous than Revolution" - Vladimir Nabokov</p></blockquote> <p>Book Details</p> <p><strong>Title</strong>: The Enchanter<br> <strong>Tag-line</strong>: 'A little masterpiece' - Martin Amis<br> <strong>Genre/Category</strong>: Fiction<br> <strong>Type</strong>: Novelette<br> <strong>Authour</strong>: Vladimir Nabokov<br> <strong>Publisher</strong>: Picador<br> <strong>ISBN</strong>: 0-330-30070-9</p> <p>Reading Details</p> <p>Started Reading: 18th November 2008<br> Finished Reading: 19th November 2008</p> <p>Comments</p> <p>Quite a gap for me between putting down one book and picking up another, for various reasons I haven't read for a week or two. That's not to say that I haven't listened to an awful lot of factual and fiction podcasts. Still, it was good to find a book that gripped me and made me want to read it again, albeit a very short one.</p> <p>This book, I gather, was once lost and then found again, so perhaps it is not as well known as it would have been. Also, it is a precursor to Nabokov's famous <i>Lolita</i> which will always overshadow this shorter work, translated from the Russian by Vladimir's son, Dmitri.</p> <p>The writing is superb, there is a fascinating attention to detail and the descriptions are vivid. It was interesting for me to see how Nabokov wrote a protagonist who is definitely not a hero, nor morally good in any way whatsoever, but whom I was still fascinated by right up to the fantastic climax, when his world just falls apart over a matter of minutes. There is such vivid imagery at the end, I could almost see it. </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://bookwormtrail.blog.co.uk/2008/11/21/the-enchanter-by-vladimir-nabokov-5077349/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>tag:bookwormtrail.blog.co.uk,2008-10-23:/2008/10/23/random-acts-of-heroic-love-bydanny-scheinmann-4920118/knanshon2008-10-23T21:14:22+02:002008-11-21T09:32:08+01:00 <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/random/2926660" title="random"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/660/2926660_cd0a0d9045_s.jpg" alt="random" vspace="5" hspace="5"></a></p> <blockquote><p>"Nurture your mind with great thoughts; to believe in the heroic makes heroes" - Benjamin Disraeli</p></blockquote> <p>Book Details</p> <p><strong>Title</strong>: Random Acts of Heroic Love </p> <p><strong>Tag-line</strong>: Two tales of love / Two stories of loss / One great emotional journey<br> <strong>Genre/Category</strong>: Fiction<br> <strong>Type</strong>: Novel</p> <p><strong>Authour</strong>: Danny Scheinmann</p> <p><strong>Publisher</strong>: Black Swan</p> <p><strong>ISBN</strong>: 978-0-552-77514-4</p> <p>Reading Details</p> <p>Started Reading: 23rd October 2008</p> <p>Finished Reading: Abandoned reading around 1st Nov</p> <p>Comments</p> <p>Something a little different for a change. I've been leant this paperback, and since I couldn't find the book I wanted at the library -- Sun Tzu's Art of War -- I decided to read this instead. From the back of the book blurb it appears to be constructed from two main story threads, one set in 1917, and another in 1992. It's a debut novel and looks interesting. I'll let you know how I get on.</p> <p>* * *</p> <p>This book really put me off by being two stories in one and each having jarringly different POVs. I didn't like the present-tense prose either. It's probably my conditioned failing rather than anything inherently wrong with the book. Lots of people liked it on the Amazon reviews.</p> <p> <small> <a href="http://bookwormtrail.blog.co.uk/2008/10/23/random-acts-of-heroic-love-bydanny-scheinmann-4920118/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>tag:bookwormtrail.blog.co.uk,2008-10-15:/2008/10/15/methuselah-s-children-by-robert-a-heinlein-4878098/knanshon2008-10-15T22:46:50+02:002008-10-23T06:52:24+02:00 <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/heinlein_small/2898361" title="Heinlein_small"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/361/2898361_701c665d26_m.jpg" alt="Heinlein_small" vspace="5" hspace="5"></a></p> <blockquote><p>"Envy is the ulcer of the soul" - Socrates</p></blockquote> <p>Book Details</p> <p><strong>Title</strong>: Methuselah's Children</p> <p><strong>Tag-line</strong>: 'Heinlein <i>define</i> modern science fiction.' Frederik Pohl</p> <p><strong>Genre/Category</strong>: Science Fiction</p> <p><strong>Type</strong>: Novel</p> <p><strong>Authour</strong>: Robert A. Heinlein</p> <p><strong>Publisher</strong>: Hale</p> <p><strong>ISBN</strong>: 0-7090-6799-2<br> Reading Details</p> <p>Started Reading: 15th October 2008</p> <p>Finished Reading: 22nd October 2008<br> Comments</p> <p>The shock. The horror. Another sentence fragment. I didn't finish Legends II before I ran out of reservations at the library. It was good, but I read it slowly. The reason is perhaps that I didn't experience the page-turning desire I usually do for a single piece of longer fiction. Another reason is that I have been listening to an awful lot of podcast audio fiction. I may well also be a little bit fantasy-fatigued after reading so much in a strange run whilst also attempting a large fantasy novel of my own (which is all but finished now).</p> <p>Granted, science-fiction isn't that much of a leap out of the fantasy section, it's still speculative fiction, but I've heard so much about Robert A. Heinlein recently -- in a </p> <p>... I've just spent ages trying wrack my brains and google for the word I want to use here. It's a strange one ... watch this space ...</p> <p>... kind of way. (That is, once I heard his name once it kept cropping up). Anyway, now that I'm reading a short novel I hope it'll grip me enough to want to ingest my stories in a more traditional manner. </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://bookwormtrail.blog.co.uk/2008/10/15/methuselah-s-children-by-robert-a-heinlein-4878098/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>tag:bookwormtrail.blog.co.uk,2008-08-10:/2008/08/10/legends-ii-edited-by-robert-silverberg-4568533/knanshon2008-08-10T21:02:27+02:002008-10-15T22:10:01+02:00 <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/legendsii/2723165" title="legendsII"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/165/2723165_694211dbdb_m.jpg" alt="legendsII" vspace="5" hspace="5"></a></p> <blockquote><p>"The reason why the universe is eternal is that it does not live for itself; it gives life to others as it transforms" - Lao Tzu</p></blockquote> <p>Book Details</p> <p><strong>Title</strong>: Legends II</p> <p><strong>Tag-line</strong>: Eleven new works by the masters of modern fantasy</p> <p><strong>Genre/Category</strong>: Fantasy</p> <p><strong>Type</strong>: Short Fiction Anthology</p> <p><strong>Editor</strong>: Robert Silverberg</p> <p><strong>Contributors</strong>: Robin Hobb, George R R Martin, Orson Scott Card, Diana Gabaldon, Robert Silverberg, Tad Williams, Anne McCaffery, Raymond E Feist, Elizabeth Haydon, Neil Gaiman, Terry Brooks</p> <p><strong>Publisher</strong>: Voyager</p> <p><strong>ISBN</strong>: 0-00-715435-6</p> <p>Reading Details</p> <p>Started Reading: 9th August 2008</p> <p>Finished Reading: 15th October 2008</p> <p>Comments</p> <p>What do you think of the new format? I've decided to include as many useful and interesting pieces of information as possible. I'm thinking about what kind of information I would like to have to hand when I look back on my year's reading. One of the most interesting things to me personally is to have a photo of the actual copy I read, so I've stopped using amazon to find book covers photos and started taking my own. It even shows my bookmark poking out of the top. I hope that little details like this will bring the experience of reading the book back to me more vividly when I read back on these posts in years to come. The sense of nostalgia will also be greater.</p> <p>Initial comments for this book will go here. Subsequent thoughts will be added as actual blog comments. The first comment should usually be: Why did you choose to read this book? It was a simple choice this time. I enjoyed the previous book, Legends, so much that when I saw a big, fat copy of Legends II on the shelf of my local library I just had to snap it up. My library has a shelf set aside for selections made by the librarians within a genre that they are highlighting that month. This month it's Fanstasy -- my favourite. In many ways that shelf is like this book. Someone has selected books that represent a wide range of recommended reads. The advantage of a short story anthology is that it takes much less time to discover the worlds, stories, writing style, and voice of each of these authours. </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://bookwormtrail.blog.co.uk/2008/08/10/legends-ii-edited-by-robert-silverberg-4568533/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>tag:bookwormtrail.blog.co.uk,2008-07-27:/2008/07/27/legends-edited-by-robert-silverberg-4505070/knanshon2008-07-27T10:38:11+02:002008-07-27T10:57:18+02:00 <p><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/975/2689975_8add2e48b2_s.jpg" alt="519YNQQ640L__SS500_" vspace="5" hspace="5"></p> <blockquote><p> "Great things are not done by impulse, but by a series of small things brought together." - Vincent van Gogh </p></blockquote> <p>Tasters</p> <p>An excellent introduction to the shining lights in the fantasy genre. I've read some of the authours, specifically Robert Silverberg, and was aware of the other authours' names. I've wanted to read all their work but embarking on a new fantasy epic is a daunting prospect, which if you've read my older posts on Robin Hobb's Farseer Trilogy, you'll know what I mean. So far this is turning out to be a thoroughly enjoyable read. I'd forgetten how much I enjoy short stories and it's so nice to have fantasy stories that don't take several months to get through. After reading Stephen King's contribution I think it might be time to return to the Dark Tower quest. I read the first two after a reading Dreamcatcher and needed a break, but reading this reminded me how much a I love King's prose. I've posted a link up in the top-right hand corner of this blog to a new fantasy short-fiction magazine starting this autumn.</p> <p>Who's in it?</p> <p>Funnily enough the cover art image above is almost exactly the same as the copy I have on loan from my <a href="http://bookwormtrail.blog.co.uk/2008/02/26/free_books_why_you_should_use_your_local~3783194">local public library</a> with the exception that the titles of the stories in the anthology have been replaced by the names of their authours, which is the thing that attracted my to the book.</p> <p class="center"> Stephen King<br> Terry Goodkind<br> Orson Scott Card<br> Robert Silverberg<br> Ursula K. LeGuin<br> Raymond E. Feist </p> <p>Legends indeed. </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://bookwormtrail.blog.co.uk/2008/07/27/legends-edited-by-robert-silverberg-4505070/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>tag:bookwormtrail.blog.co.uk,2008-06-29:/2008/06/29/title-4379605/knanshon2008-06-29T11:50:56+02:002008-06-29T20:51:41+02:00 <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/master5magics/2624737" title="master5magics"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/737/2624737_cfa7c416ab_m.jpg" alt="master5magics" vspace="5" hspace="5"></a></p> <blockquote><p>“Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back, always ineffectiveness. Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation), there is one elementary truth the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, the providence moves too. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one's favor all manner of unforeseen incidents, meetings and material assistance, which no man could have dreamt would have come his way.”<br> - William Hutchinson Murray </p></blockquote> <p>New format</p> <p>I've decided to change the format of these posts. The main purpose of this blog is to keep a record of what I'm reading. Most of my writing energy is going into my first novel at the moment, but I still think that this blog is a useful and valid project. So I'll be posting an image of the cover, still keep the loosely-related quotations, and write little else beyond a brief description of what drew me to the book (perhaps).</p> <p>The Master of the Five Magics</p> <p><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Master_of_the_Five_Magics"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Master_of_the_Five_Magics">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Master_of_the_Five_Magics</a></a></p> <p>I've tried to read all sorts of books since finishing the Farseer Trilogy, and I was determined to read outside of the Fantasy "genre". However, after much struggling through the likes of Marian Keyes and Ernest Hemingway (eclectic, me?) I found a copy of the Master of the Five Magics. I'd been looking for it in libraries and on Amazon for ages. I read the books a child and it captivated me. It contains an interesting, scientific explanation of various magical systems that appeals to my logical mind. After much searching I happened upon it at a local park Summer Fayre recently, and get this, I actually gasped in amazement when I saw it there. 20p. A bargain.</p> <p>One quick note: It's amazing how much the reader brings to a book. While "Master of the Five Magics" contains some elements I remember, the whole tone and character of the book seems completely different to me now, about fifteen years or so after I last read it.</p> <p> <small> <a href="http://bookwormtrail.blog.co.uk/2008/06/29/title-4379605/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>tag:bookwormtrail.blog.co.uk,2008-04-17:/2008/04/17/audio-fiction-stories-for-sore-eyes-4059232/knanshon2008-04-17T22:22:13+02:002008-04-17T22:33:25+02:00 <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/ipod/2475945" title="ipod"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/945/2475945_d85089714a_m.jpg" alt="ipod" vspace="5" hspace="5"></a><br> Photo Courtesy of <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/faustom/" title="ipod">Fausto Milletari</a></p> <blockquote><p>“I like to listen. I have learned a great deal from listening carefully. Most people never listen.” - Ernest Hemingway</p></blockquote> <p>Audio Books</p> <p>I have decided to include audio-fiction on the trail too, whether that be full-length novels or short fiction, it should form part of my "reading" list. Does it qualify as reading material? Well, I suspect many of the same mental-muscles are exercised and it's all story, which is the main thing. What sold me is that Stephen King listed audio-books in his own reading list in his book On Writing. </p> <p>The Birth of the Trail</p> <p>That list is what made me realise that I had no idea what books I have read. A few stand out in my mind but I must have read hundreds of books surely? How many do I get through in an average year? What mixture of genre and literary fiction is there? Is it mostly fantasy? These questions are why I started my bookworm trail. A reading list is personally interesting to me, and it may be interesting to others. It may even be useful when someone asks me to recommend a book to them or if I can't remember who wrote that great book I remember reading when I decide I want to try another by the same authour.</p> <p>The Future of the Trail</p> <p>I've had an idea how to make the trail useful to others. If all goes well on the blog I may well investigate putting together a different kind of website, one that allows people to subscribe and keep their own reading journals. These could be public or private, perhaps the information could be used to cross-reference different opinions and thoughts. Just an idea.</p> <p>More Slime</p> <p>So, you may expect to see more posts from my as I begin to include audio books to the trail. I listen to a lot of short fiction podcasts such as <a href="http://www.podcastle.org">www.podcastle.org</a> and <a href="http://escapepod.org/">Escape Pod</a>, plus I am working my way through <a href="http://www.scottsigler.com">Scott Sigler's</a> back-catalog of novels right now with plan's to listen to more <a href="http://www.murlafferty.com">Mur Lafferty</a> and <a href="http://jchutchins.net/">J.C.Hutchins</a> stories. I seem to have no trouble being involved in multiple stories at once. My reading and listening times are clearly defined: I listen to and from work and whilst doing chores around the house, I read at night before bed and at lunchtimes when work is not too busy. I'm going to try something different though. For audio work I'll only post after I have listened to the whole thing. I think this will work better given the serial/episodic nature of podcast novels. </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://bookwormtrail.blog.co.uk/2008/04/17/audio-fiction-stories-for-sore-eyes-4059232/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>tag:bookwormtrail.blog.co.uk,2008-04-06:/2008/04/06/assassin-s-quest-book-three-of-the-farse-4005127/knanshon2008-04-06T22:19:20+02:002008-04-06T22:19:20+02:00 <p><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/omeed_safaee_rad_photography/" title="dragonsword"><img src="http://data3.blog.de/media/113/2454113_a9a2f00579_m.jpeg" alt="dragonsword" vspace="5" hspace="5"></a><br> Photo Courtesy of <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/omeed_safaee_rad_photography/" title="dragonsword">Omeed Safee Rad</a></p> <blockquote><p>“An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind.” - Mahatma Gandhi</p></blockquote> <p>I Should Be Writing</p> <p>In the words of <a href="http://isbw.murlafferty.com/">Mur Lafferty</a> "I should be writing". It's been a few days since I started the third book in Robin Hobb's Farseer Trilogy but I've only just got around to posting to the bookworm's trail because I've been busy finishing the outline to my first serious attempt at a novel. I say serious attempt but that's not to say my first two attempts weren't serious at the time. Now, with the help of books, podcasts and articles (most notably <a href="http://www.stormwolf.com">Michael A. Stackpole</a>'s "The Secrets") I feel I'm really on track to finally becoming a novelist. I have so much world creation, character work and ideas that I might even be looking at a trilogy of my own.</p> <p>Back to the book</p> <p>While reading I'll be posting any thoughts or ideas about this book to the comments for this post as usual, as I have them. Also as usual I'll talk more about the last book in this initial post. I don't wait until I've finished a book before posting about it, this blog is definitely not supposed to be a book-review blog, more a record of my reading life.</p> <p>The Wit through the Skill</p> <p>One moment in the previous book, Royal Assassin, had me racing off to a friend at work who had read it to splurge how much it rocked. Fitz was in big trouble, Justin was using the Skill inexpertly to probe Fitz's mind. He was in danger of being killed. Then the Wit-bonded wolf, Nighteyes "jumped" through the Skill link and attacked Justin in a thrilling mental biting and slashing of tooth and claw. If that doesn't make sense, read the book. I'm looking forward to more (and more) of the same in Assassin's Quest.</p> <p>Young Fitz</p> <p>The ending of the previous book was excellent, a real dark moment akin to the ending of The Empire Strikes Back. Everything went to hell-in-a-hand-basket. What will happen next? Let's hope Fitz finally grows up and learns to make some tough, adult decisions by the end of the third book, if not before, otherwise I see no hope. I'm also looking forward to finding out about Verity and the Elderlings. The picture of a dragon on the cover of my edition may prove to be connected to that. I can't wait to find out. </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://bookwormtrail.blog.co.uk/2008/04/06/assassin-s-quest-book-three-of-the-farse-4005127/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>tag:bookwormtrail.blog.co.uk,2008-03-10:/2008/03/10/royal-assassin-book-two-of-the-farseer-t-3852474/knanshon2008-03-10T22:40:08+01:002008-03-11T14:24:49+01:00 <p><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/willpridham/" title="wolf"><img src="http://data3.blog.de/media/262/2398262_b58f1220bb_m.jpg" alt="wolf" vspace="5" hspace="5"></a><br> Photo Courtesy of <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/willpridham/">Will Pridham</a></p> <blockquote><p>“Anybody can write a three-volume novel. It merely requires a complete ignorance of both life and literature.” - Oscar Wilde</p></blockquote> <blockquote><p>“This is not a novel to be tossed aside lightly. It should be thrown with great force.” - Dorothy Parker</p></blockquote> <p> Misleading Quotations</p> <p>Happily neither of these quotations apply to the second book in the Farseer Trilogy, which I can say with authority (having read the first) is at least one-third excellent. Judging from how the second one, Royal Assassin, is going I fully expect this trend to continue through to the end of the series.</p> <p> Literature vs. Entertainment</p> <p>I chose the first quotation because I am often struck by the general disdain shown by some who denounce any work that is not deemed 'literature' or a literary novel to be somehow less worthy of one's attention. This is absolute bullcrap. Literary novels have their place, and I've read a few, but I the whole experience of reading one is completely different from settling in with a popular novel. Okay, so if I want to be intellectually challenged or provoked into philosophising about the state of the nation fine, but most of the time I'm quite happy to just be entertained. I'd even go so far as to say that the primary goal of <i>any</i> novel, popular or literary, is to entertain through storytelling. All other considerations, grandness of theme, style and genre are all secondary. When I first started writing I had high-brow aspirations, now I just want to entertain. This is because I realised that I had to enjoy what I was writing otherwise there was no point to it and all all likelyhood no-one would ever want to read it. I'm a fantasy-fan and proud of it.</p> <p>So, What About Book One?</p> <p> I loved the last book, the climax was so exciting and the denouement tied everything up very nicely in a succinct single chapter, which is the best way to do it in my opinion.<br><u><strong>Spoiler Alert!</strong></u> If you haven't read Assassin's Apprentice then I'm just about to give away some things about the ending so skip to the next section now!<br>Everything in AA was wrapped up nicely and the characterisations were realistic and heartfelt. I really cared about the people, especially FitzChivalary and Verity, the King-In-Waiting (Fitz's uncle). I now hate Verity's younger half-brother Regal (in a good way) but he is not just a wooden villian or stock antagonist, his opposition to both Fitz and Verity grows realistically and is born out of a desire for power but, not only that. He also has a sense of injustice, he believes that he should be king. As Verity's half-brother, they share only a father, King Shrewd. It seems that Regal's late mother had a lot to do with his plotting against Verity, Fitz and anyone else of the Farseer line who stands in his way. After comprising Fitz on a visit to a nearby court, by revealing him as an assassin, he goes on to accuse him of murder and poison him. When we rejoin Fitz in Book Two, little time has passed and he is still suffering the long-term ill-effects of the poison. </p> <p>The Wit & The Skill</p> <p> It seems to the reader that Fitz is naturally adept at both the Skill and the Wit, the only two forms of magic really explored in the books so far, although other magicks have been mentioned. The only trouble is that Fitz does not seems to believe in himself. He knows he is strong with The Wit but tries not to indulge because of the social taboo's associated with sharing the minds of beasts. The Skill and The Wit seem to be two sides of the same coin, one lets one into the human mind, giving the ability to telepathically alter perceptions and emotions (unlimited by distance), the other is a similar link that allows one to perceive the minds of beasts. To Fitz, The Wit is just another sense, like hearing or smell, one that he likewise can't switch off. These two forms of magic are refreshingly original and have much potential. I have an expectation that Fitz may be the one to bring The Wit into the mainstream and dispell all the old taboos, which I believe would be a positive arc for the world that Robin Hobb has so artfully created. </p> <p>Fantasy Brick</p> <p> So perhaps you're wondering why I chose that second quote. Well, even in the paperback form I'm reading, Royal Assassin could cause some serious damage if thrown across a room. At 752 pages it's quite a bit longer than the first book. This is a <u>good thing</u> because no-one wants a good book to end. </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://bookwormtrail.blog.co.uk/2008/03/10/royal-assassin-book-two-of-the-farseer-t-3852474/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>tag:bookwormtrail.blog.co.uk,2008-02-28:/2008/02/28/assassin-s-apprentice-book-one-of-the-fa-3790764/knanshon2008-02-28T01:28:44+01:002008-02-28T09:11:40+01:00 <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/assassin/2373127" title="assassin"><img src="http://data3.blog.de/media/127/2373127_d68beb465e_m.jpg" alt="assassin" vspace="5" hspace="5"></a><br> Image Courtesy of <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/22794140@N06/2196381820/">Hooded Villain</a></p> <blockquote><p>“Prolonged, indiscriminate reviewing of books is a quite exceptionally thankless, irritating and exhausting job. It not only involves praising trash but constantly inventing reactions towards books about which one has no spontaneous feeling whatever.” – George Orwell</p></blockquote> <p>Not Another Book Review Blog</p> <p> This blog is not an amateur book review site, if you want one of the many good reviews of this book look no further than <a href="http://www.sfsite.com/04a/ques30.htm">here</a>. I'm not out to try and make money by getting in bed with Amazon or whatever and the only reason Google AdSense is on this page is because I'm hosted on blog.co.uk, I don't make a penny (not that I would with no readership anyway). I'd like to move this blog onto my own site one day and remove all the ads, but let's see how this goes first. This blog is different, it is a place where I can record my reading life, a process that evolves and continues every day. I’ll be posting thoughts and ideas I get from the books I read, how they have influenced my own writing or simply how much I like or dislike a particular passage, chapter, character or plot-point and why. I’ll quite often mention books that are behind me in the trail, before this blog began, but I’ll never link out to one I haven’t read. So, without further ado, let the book trail begin. </p> <p>Robin Hobb</p> <p> I’ve never read a <a href="http://www.robinhobb.com/schedule.html">Robin Hobb</a> book before but often noticed the name on the shelf. I didn’t realise until recently that Robin is a woman, real name Megan Lindholm. Both names evoke a sense of celtic myth, witchcraft and fantasy to me (great). So I finally decided to read my first Robin Hobb book: “Assassin’s Apprentice”, Book One of The Farseer trilogy (no link yet, I’m only a third of the way through). I actually went in to get Book One of The Liveship Traders trilogy, on a recommendation from a friend, but they only had Book Two in stock at my local library when I went there and Book One of Farseer was right there on the shelf next to it. Aren’t libraries great? I mean that non-sarcastically of course. </p> <p>My Kind Of Fantasy</p> <p> You gotta love Lord of the Rings (read three times, you don't need a link surely) and the classic trilogy now seems to be classed as “high fantasy”, which I take to mean anything with elves in. In fact LOTR no doubt defined high fantasy (although not fantasy itself - The King of Elfland's Daughter and Beowulf precede it by a long way, both are ahead on the trail). But I see the fantasy genre lying across a broad spectrum with high fantasy (magic, battles, elves, orcs) at one end and a book like Ursula LeGuin’s <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Voices-Annals-Western-Shore-Ursula/dp/0152056785">Voices</a> (is it really magic or is it all psychological?) at the other. Assassin's Apprentice sits somewhere at the Voices end of that spectrum and I feel comfortable there at the moment. Don’t get me wrong, I love elves (especially if they’re a bit different as in <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Well-Darkness-Sovereign-Stone-Trilogy/dp/0061020575">Well of Darkness</a>, Book One of The Sovereign Stone trilogy by Margaret Weis & Tracy Hickman) and dragons (<a href="http://www.alagaesia.com/">Eragon, Eldest</a> by <a href="http://www.alagaesia.com/christopherpaolini.htm">Christopher Paolini</a> – how does someone so young do it!?) but there is more of a tendency for that end of the spectrum to be very formulaic or worse, a Lord of the Rings wannabe, and nothing can beat LOTR on its own ground in my opinion. I must say that none of the books I’ve mentioned so far are either trope-ridden fantasy-bricks or pretenders to Tolkien’s throne. </p> <p>A Skillful Weaver of Magic</p> <p> Almost all fantasy books have some kind of magic system in there somewhere. The development of magic in Eldest is utterly fascinating and is scarily along similar lines to the system of magic I’m developing for my own novel (and I thought I was being original). Magic in Assassin’s Apprentice is there but it's in the background and so far it is being introduced into the story in a very subtle and understated way. A simple mention of “The Skill” and “The Wit” is all you get in the first couple of chapters followed soon after by unintentional demonstrations of each by the main protagonist, Fitz, a young boy with royal heritage. The real magic in any book is how the authour can bring a character to life and Hobb is skilled indeed at characterisation. I really felt strong emotion when the young Fitz’s magical connection with his best friend, a young puppy called Nosy, was savagely severed by Fitz’s guardian, Burrich, to save Fitz from going down the path of The Wit. To show such an animal lover as Burrich killing a young pup means that the Wit must be very dangerous, and I have expectations of a disaster to come as Fitz seems to still dabble in it now and then. </p> <p>The Trope of Inheritance</p> <p> Now one of the things I dislike in a fantasy plot is a main character, usually a farm-boy in a distant village, eventually finding out that he’s the long-lost son of the King. Done well this can be great (the original LOTR character, Aragorn, does not find out – he has always known, it is the reader who is in the dark initially but not for long). Used as a simple plot device it is shallow. Hobb tells you right off the bat that Fitz is the bastard child of the King-in-Waiting (Fitz – get it?), no mystery, no self-discovery near the climax, it’s an integral and intentional part of the story. It works well and is not a tired plot device. In fact, I can safely extend that to the whole book, which is refreshingly original throughout. </p> <p>Brisingr</p> <p> While finding the links for this blog post I only just found out the release date and title for the third Eragon book (Book Three of the Inheritance Trilogy), so excited! Guess I'll have to wait for it to appear in my library though. Maybe it's one of those rare books I'll buy. </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://bookwormtrail.blog.co.uk/2008/02/28/assassin-s-apprentice-book-one-of-the-fa-3790764/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>tag:bookwormtrail.blog.co.uk,2008-02-26:/2008/02/26/free_books_why_you_should_use_your_local~3783194/knanshon2008-02-26T15:04:03+01:002008-02-28T09:08:58+01:00 <p><a href="http://www.blog.co.uk/media/photo/brighton_library/2369173" title="brighton_library"><img src="http://data3.blog.de/media/173/2369173_5b32b9bd0a_m.jpg" alt="brighton_library" vspace="5" hspace="5"></a><br> <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/61798879@N00/2242463344/in/set-72157594501071130/">Image courtesy of Mark Wordy</a></p> <blockquote><p>“The library connects us with the insight and knowledge, painfully extracted from Nature, of the greatest minds that ever were, with the best teachers, drawn from the entire planet and from all our history, to instruct us without tiring, and to inspire us to make our own contribution to the collective knowledge of the human species. I think the health of our civilization, the depth of our awareness about the underpinnings of our culture and our concern for the future can all be tested by how well we support our libraries.” - Carl Sagan, Cosmos </p></blockquote> <p> My own book trail often starts at my local public library. I am lucky enough to work five minutes from <a href="http://www.citylibraries.info/libraries/jubilee.asp">my own, fantastic city library</a> and you’ll often see me there at lunchtimes, relaxing in the peaceful atmosphere while my colleagues rush around outside in cafe's and shopping malls. I can’t imagine someone who professes to love books, as I do, not also being in love with libraries. Yet many of my reading peers eschew the library in favour of buying books on Amazon or from a local big-chain bookshop (stroke coffeeshop). Don’t get me wrong, I love to delve into the treasures that a bookshop can offer, and the pleasing aroma of coffee blends well with the smell of all those bright, shiny new books with their unbent spines. The scent of a library is another thing altogether. It evokes memories of childhood and a feeling of being on the cusp of something big, new and wonderful. Online or high-street bookshops offer an unparalleled range of books. Not so at your local library, but a lot of skilled people put a lot of hard work into offering a smaller, yet still diverse range of books and other materials to the public. It’s a public service that we must support and in this age of capitalism it is a wonderful thing. </p> <p>Free Books, Free Space</p> <p> A library offers so much more than a public lending service that is free at the point of use. The public library is an example of one of our most precious and shrinking assets; public space. Unlike town-squares or parks, the library is somewhere any free citizen can go at any time, out of the elements and once there tap into a wealth of materials, which can expand her horizons or simply entertain. </p> <p>Why You Shouldn’t Feel Bad</p> <p> What’s more you are already paying for this service through your taxes. But what about the authours? Much of what I wanted to say about the economics of libraries and how libraries work in tandem with the publishing industry has already been discussed here: <a href="http://freakonomics.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/07/10/if-public-libraries-didnt-exist-could-you-start-one-today/"><i>If Public Libraries Didn't Exist</i></a>. In short, without libraries the literary world would be a shallower place and people who make their living from the book industry would be worse off than if libraries didn’t exist. </p> <p>The One I Want’s On-Loan</p> <p> Now I’ve already mentioned that the sheer range of books you can buy from a bookshop outclasses the library. I read a lot of books in the fantasy genre and, in case you didn’t know, many fantasy books come in series; trilogies or longer. Many is the time I have been reading the blurb on the back of a library book, like the look of it and decide that it will be my next read when I discover on my way to the checkout-machine that it’s Book Two of The-Wizards-of-Indeterminate-Skill series and Book One is on loan. Nevermind I say, my local library has a great reservation system, in these days of on-demand products and services does it really hurt to wait a couple of weeks? So, what to read in the meantime? That’s what’s great about libraries: they don't exist to sell you books. In a bookshop, books are arranged by category. Category is similar to genre but not the same, a discussion for another post, but category is all about the business of selling. This means that if you go to a bookshop to look for a fantasy novel and don’t find it you’re likely to choose another fantasy novel instead, that is assuming you have the wads of disposible income that always seem to elude me. </p> <p>A to Z, and Everything In-between</p> <p> The fiction section in a library is always arranged in A-Z by authour, no categories, and only a little coloured sticker on the spine to tell you the broad genre. I have been exposed to many great books I would otherwise not have read if it weren’t for browsing between the books I’m looking for. The last book I read is a case in point: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/King-Must-Die-Novel/dp/0394751043">Mary Renault’s <i>The King Must Die</i></a>, an how-it-could-have-happened retelling of the Greek myth of Theseus. This fantastic first-person book from the POV of Theseus reads like a 21st-century fantasy novel and yet I discovered about halfway through that it was first published in 1958. What a find, I foresee more of her on the booktrail ahead. </p> <p>It’s Not All Smelling Of Roses</p> <p> As far as book-condition goes, what you get at a library is a well-thumbed book that has been handled by who-knows-how-many dirty, sticky, smelly hands. At least, that’s one of the reason’s I get from others as to why they don't like libraries. I think a well-used book has a certain charm, the more broken the spine is, the more popular it’s likely to be, it can also be fun trying to identify that old stain that pops out and surprises you on page 189, or the shopping list someone used as a bookmark that fell out on page 207. I think that nowadays there is a tendency to over-react about hygiene and the war against the germ. In all my years of borrowing books I’ve never so much as caught a cold from an old book. Well, not as far as I know anyway. Perhaps I should look that up in the reference section. </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://bookwormtrail.blog.co.uk/2008/02/26/free_books_why_you_should_use_your_local~3783194/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>