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Review : The Bookman by Lavie Tidhar
Posted on 31. Dec, 2009 by nikbutler in Books, blog
The punkgenre has a new term, BookPunk. The Bookman pokes at the fat and waddled body of steampunk with its walking cane and leaves it on the roadside with its fresh take on Victorian London without loosing any steam on its way.
The Bookman takes a little of Verne and a little more of Gaimen and wraps the story of Orphan into a tale of personal discovery , romance and action across London Hospitals, Pirate Ships and secret lost islands. Lizard Kings rule as a social elite and books explode in the face of their owners and The Bookman chases and is pursued by the Orphan. Orphan , his name as well as his status, is Poet living in a London that feels like it may have been created in collaboration between Jasper Fforde and Neil Gaiman every character fills the page with their own vices and histories. The Bookman is a masked Terrorist whose actions motivate Orphan and take the adventure on sea bound adventures more reminiscent of Jules Verne. There much in the story that reflects familiar concepts and characters which feel most natural as Orphan encounters them and the pacing of the adventure left me turning pages ( well pressing page turn ) and enjoying the voyage.
The Bookman by Lavie Tidhar is available from Amazon and is published by Angry Robot Books
Thanks for reading..
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REVIEW: Servant Of the Underworld by Aliette De Bodard
Posted on 29. Dec, 2009 by nikbutler in Books, blog
Forensic science and methodical investigation are not the first things to spring to mind when you consider the Aztec Empire, though with all those human sacrifices and heart ripping ceremonies I am guessing their priests would eventually have taken some intersting in how bodies stop functioning.
In Servant of the Underworld Aliette De Bodard creates Axayactl the Aztec answer to William of Baskerville or possibly Grissom of Vegas. A priest responsible for ensuring the safe and proper journey of the recently departed into the realm of death who becomes involved in solving the murder of a temple priestess. Magic and Gods become tools of forensic divination and there is no easy get out in the plot here. As the world created feels integral to the story and pushes the detective progress of the main character into mysteries and responsibilities as Gods endeavor to shift their own power and bargains are struck to appease or abate.
The mystical Aztec setting had every opportunity to become a tongue twisting and convoluted mish mash of vowels and golden thingies. Fortunately none of this occurs as day to day temple life and the duties of its citizens are described you can feel the richness of this bloody empire without once tripping over some unpronounceable God or location.
This is Book 1 in a trilogy and I am eager to get my hands on the next book when it is released.
Servant of the Underworld is available from Amazon and is published by Angry Robot Books
Thanks for Reading.
Popularity: 2% [?]
