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<i>Mean Streets</i> is one of the best anthologies I've read in a while. It only has four different pieces in it, but they're all novellas, and all by strong, experienced writers. I don't think any of them are here riding on someone else's name on the book cover.
Jim Butcher's "Warrior," the first piece, is very good. It follows Harry and the Carpenter family after they experienced some major changes in the last Dresden novel. I could have stood a little more Molly, but Harry and Michael were the focus characters and they worked out some things that really needed to be dealt with. I'm glad I read this before the next Dresden novel, because I feel there's important character development. I seriously recommend this book to all Dresden fans.
I haven't read any of Simon R. Green's novels, though I've heard of the Nightside series and thought about picking one up. If "The Difference a Day Makes" is typical, though, I may not bother. He is a good writer, so I'm not sure what it is that bothered me so much. I know that something framed as one of the nastiest things people could choose to do in this piece isn't even in my top 10, but I feel there's something else that I just can't quite articulate yet.
I've read all three of Kat Richardson's Greywalker novels and enjoyed them enough that I plan to keep reading. "The Third Death of the Little Clay Dog" is my favorite piece of her work, hands down. There's more light, somehow, and that's important to me.
"Noah's Orphans" is my first exposure to Thomas E. Sniegoski, as far as I can recall. It was an interesting piece. I found myself wondering about Remy Chandler's past, about how the character has developed. If there are novels featuring that character, I may give them a read. In any case, it brought up some interesting questions about faith and obedience. I think it would have been more personally relevant to me about 20 years ago, though.
Jim Butcher's "Warrior," the first piece, is very good. It follows Harry and the Carpenter family after they experienced some major changes in the last Dresden novel. I could have stood a little more Molly, but Harry and Michael were the focus characters and they worked out some things that really needed to be dealt with. I'm glad I read this before the next Dresden novel, because I feel there's important character development. I seriously recommend this book to all Dresden fans.
I haven't read any of Simon R. Green's novels, though I've heard of the Nightside series and thought about picking one up. If "The Difference a Day Makes" is typical, though, I may not bother. He is a good writer, so I'm not sure what it is that bothered me so much. I know that something framed as one of the nastiest things people could choose to do in this piece isn't even in my top 10, but I feel there's something else that I just can't quite articulate yet.
I've read all three of Kat Richardson's Greywalker novels and enjoyed them enough that I plan to keep reading. "The Third Death of the Little Clay Dog" is my favorite piece of her work, hands down. There's more light, somehow, and that's important to me.
"Noah's Orphans" is my first exposure to Thomas E. Sniegoski, as far as I can recall. It was an interesting piece. I found myself wondering about Remy Chandler's past, about how the character has developed. If there are novels featuring that character, I may give them a read. In any case, it brought up some interesting questions about faith and obedience. I think it would have been more personally relevant to me about 20 years ago, though.
Rural Fictions, Urban Realities: A Geography of Gilded Age American Literature
Book
The diminishment of rural life at the hands of urbanization, for many, defines the years between the...
Shadows of the Wind
8.6
Rate It
Book
The international literary sensation, about a boy's quest through the secrets and shadows of postwar...
ArecRain (8 KP) rated The Most Wicked of Sins (Seven Deadly Sins, #2) in Books
Jan 18, 2018
While there was nothing about this book that made it special and I found the "Seven Deadly Sins" theme cliche, it was a pleasure to read. This is the kind of romance novel that makes you sigh with happiness when you finish the last page, the type of novel that is truly a delight to fans of romance. The couple doesn't argue the entire time. In fact, the only arguing was the female protagonist's, Ivy's, arguing with herself and her emotions. This is quite refreshing among the endless stream of novels where the couples are always butting heads and arguing to the point that I want to rip my hair out.
The only problem I had was Ivy's behavior. I have read so many historical novels where the women act as free as the women today. It's irritating. If those women really acted that way, then they would be complete outcasts of society no matter what their status or money. I am also sure that the menfolk would simply not allow such behavior.
The male protagonist, Dominic Sheridan, stole my heart away. He was sweet and endearing to Ivy, that it grabbed my heart strings. At first, it was amusing to watch the two's playful banter, and then watch how their behavior changed so subtly when the two began to fall in love. It was cute.
I actually liked the light-hearted feel of this novel so much, I rented the other two currently published.
The only problem I had was Ivy's behavior. I have read so many historical novels where the women act as free as the women today. It's irritating. If those women really acted that way, then they would be complete outcasts of society no matter what their status or money. I am also sure that the menfolk would simply not allow such behavior.
The male protagonist, Dominic Sheridan, stole my heart away. He was sweet and endearing to Ivy, that it grabbed my heart strings. At first, it was amusing to watch the two's playful banter, and then watch how their behavior changed so subtly when the two began to fall in love. It was cute.
I actually liked the light-hearted feel of this novel so much, I rented the other two currently published.
David McK (3562 KP) rated The Last Hero (Discworld, #27; Rincewind #7) in Books
Jan 28, 2019
<i>Fable (noun): a story about supernatural or extraordinary persons or incidents; legend: the fables of gods and heroes.
[from http://dictionary.reference.com]</i>;
This short story by Terry Pratchett ticks all those boxes with the blurb on my edition reading:
"He's been a legend in his own lifetime.
He can remember the great days of high adventure.
He can remember when a hero didn't have to worry about fences and lawyers and civilisation.
He can remember when people didn't tell you off for killing dragons.
But he can't alwyas remember, these days, where he put his teeth ...
He's not really happy about that bit.
.... He's going to climb the highest mountain in the Discworld and meet his gods. He doesn't like the way they let men grow old and die ... "
What ensues is, by the standards of Discworld novels, perhaps a return to the earlier novels that featured the gods (and Cohen the Barbarian) more prominently than the more recent. Also involved prominently in this story are the Wiz(z)ard Rincewind, Captain Carrot and Leonard of Quirm, with that latter character given more of a role than in the few previous he has been in (excepting, maybe, Jingo).
This is also unusual in that it is an illustrated story: whereas I've always found illustrations to be inferior to imagination when it comes to visualising events and characters, it does add an extra layer to this story - particularly where it concerns Leonard's creations.
[from http://dictionary.reference.com]</i>;
This short story by Terry Pratchett ticks all those boxes with the blurb on my edition reading:
"He's been a legend in his own lifetime.
He can remember the great days of high adventure.
He can remember when a hero didn't have to worry about fences and lawyers and civilisation.
He can remember when people didn't tell you off for killing dragons.
But he can't alwyas remember, these days, where he put his teeth ...
He's not really happy about that bit.
.... He's going to climb the highest mountain in the Discworld and meet his gods. He doesn't like the way they let men grow old and die ... "
What ensues is, by the standards of Discworld novels, perhaps a return to the earlier novels that featured the gods (and Cohen the Barbarian) more prominently than the more recent. Also involved prominently in this story are the Wiz(z)ard Rincewind, Captain Carrot and Leonard of Quirm, with that latter character given more of a role than in the few previous he has been in (excepting, maybe, Jingo).
This is also unusual in that it is an illustrated story: whereas I've always found illustrations to be inferior to imagination when it comes to visualising events and characters, it does add an extra layer to this story - particularly where it concerns Leonard's creations.
Deborah (162 KP) rated Master and God in Books
Dec 21, 2018
Lindsey Davis' latest offering isn't a new Falco, but it isn't all bad news, because I thought it was a really good read! The Master & God of the title is, of course, the emperor Domitian, son of Vespasian and brother of Titus, so readers of the Falco novels will already be in familiar territory.... Domitian isn't the main narrative character in the novel though, so in some ways it's not really 'about' him. The story centres around a soldier and a hairdresser and imperial freedwoman, and it is their story and the story of the times they live through.
The book I read just before this was Kate Quinn's Daughters of Rome, which covers the Year of the Four Emperors, concluding with the accession of Vespasian, so in many ways this linked in nicely from an historical point of view. What I noticed almost straight away though, was how much better Davis' writing is; Rome and the characters really came alive for me in a way they never quite managed in Quinn's work.
Davis' sense of humour is still very much apparent, thought it doesn't come across quite so keenly as in the Falco novels; I think this may be because Falco is in the first person while Master & God is told in the third person, utilising more than one character point of view - including Musca the Fly, that I see several people have commented on!
The book I read just before this was Kate Quinn's Daughters of Rome, which covers the Year of the Four Emperors, concluding with the accession of Vespasian, so in many ways this linked in nicely from an historical point of view. What I noticed almost straight away though, was how much better Davis' writing is; Rome and the characters really came alive for me in a way they never quite managed in Quinn's work.
Davis' sense of humour is still very much apparent, thought it doesn't come across quite so keenly as in the Falco novels; I think this may be because Falco is in the first person while Master & God is told in the third person, utilising more than one character point of view - including Musca the Fly, that I see several people have commented on!
J.M. Coetzee: Two Screenplays: Waiting for the Barbarians and in the Heart of the Country
J.M. Coetzee and Hermann Wittenberg
Book
J.M. Coetzee's screenplay versions of In the Heart of the Country and Waiting for the Barbarians are...
Cormac McCarthy and the Signs of Sacrament: Literature, Theology, and the Moral of Stories
Book
Although scholars have widely acknowledged the prevalence of religious reference in the work of...
Silence: Picador Classic
Shusaku Endo and Martin Scorsese
Book
With an introduction by Martin Scorsese, director of the film starring Andrew Garfield and Adam...
Thieves Fall Out
Book
Gore Vidal was one of America's greatest and most controversial writers. The author of twenty-three...