Behind in book logging yet again. Let’s knock out a few today, shall we?
13. A Swiftly Tilting Planet by Madeleine L’Engle. It’s funny, back in the day I think this was my favourite of the “Time” trilogy. But weirdly enough, it may now be my least favourite of the “Time” trilogy, which don’t get me wrong, still means it’s head and shoulders above most other books out there. Re-reading this was a delight as always, even though the “world-saving-we-must-stop-the-nuclear-threat-of-power-mad-dictator” plot is a bit ludicrous. But as always, L’Engle’s prose is beautiful and the stories she tells are simply wonderful so I don’t really care that much that the frame story is a detractor from the whole. Charles Wallace “going within” people from the past in order to change the “Might-Have-Beens” to alter a grim likely future?? This is almost crazier than the mitochondria book! But the funky frame story allows L’Engle to tell lots of mini-stories, which is what I really enjoyed reading growing up! A time when the earth was more peaceful and more young. A time when roses burned bright and yet brother still fought against brother. A time of religious hypocrisy and rank legalism set against those who worshiped in Spirit and in truth. And then of course the last two stories, where L’Engle’s storytelling truly shines. Chuck & Beezie and Grandma and yellows and greens and stars above and fireflies beneath – oh what poetry shines in this section! Then the finale of Matthew and Bran and Zillah and the star-crossed lovers that must unite to preserve the future of this world. Beautiful. Of course we have Charles Wallace and Gaudior (the unicorn!) gallivanting around in between (and some lovely sequences – early ice-melting Earth and unicorn hatching grounds!) and Meg and Ananda the dog. (That joy without which the universe would cease to be…) I wish I could adequately describe this book, but I really cannot. It is a lovely book and well worth reading. (And re-reading, as I have read it so many times over the years). This book has never ceased to bring me joy.
14. Promised Land by Brian Stableford. Book 3 of Hooded Swan series! Another delightful book in this series. Once again, Grainger the star-pilot is placed in a tight spot and given a task that may seem easy at the outset…but oh no, it’s really not. This book has delightfully alien aliens and a very puzzling mystery to solve. I enjoyed the whole rollicking ride and was satisfied by the conclusion. Gotta say, for some reason, Stableford’s sci-fi is really hitting the spot for me right now. Leading to…
15. The Paradise Game by Brian Stableford. Book 4! Another totally satisfactory sci-fi romp. Set on a planet that seems almost too perfect to be true…which means of course there’s some dark deadly secret about to be discovered. I did really appreciate the plot of this one (massive star-crossing corporation tries to tame and conquer a world – profit! – but when it discovers what seems to be indigenous peoples, a protest group swoops in (and somewhat naively) idealistically battles for the future of that world) and love how Stableford doesn’t make any of these people or groups the “good guys” but exposes the evils and flaws of all of them…as he unwraps another fascinating eco-system on an alien world. Stableford really does like writing about xeno-biology and exploring weird scientific concepts and I highly approve. Need more of this in my sci-fi. Also in other news, Grainger continues to be awesome.
16. Scott Pilgrim, Vol 4: Scott Pilgrim Gets It Together by Bryan Lee O’Malley. Still heartily enjoying this series. And this book is one where – finally, as hinted to in title – Scott Pilgrim at least begins to get it together. He actually gets a job in this one! (washing dishes, true…but it’s a start) And he is communicating his feelings to Ramona! And…he has to deal with lots of other stuff, too, which I shall not get into at the moment. I also for some reason really appreciate the Lisa Miller character (friend from high school) and how her presence in Scott’s life reflects his past while also showing his growth as a person. Probably the Lisa/Scott interactions were my favourite parts of the book. As always, this book has lots of quirky, fun moments and some really heartfelt lines buried in the midst of all the comic craziness. I’m much looking forward to reading Vol 5.
17. The Age of Miracles by Karen Thompson Walker. So! This book was recommended to me by Aunt Bev, as we both enjoy a good dystopian, slightly post-apocalyptic novel. She warned me this one was depressing, and indeed it was. I want to say I like it – indeed, I read it in two days! – and I did like it…but it was still one I probably won’t revisit. The driver for the whole plot was utterly fascinating – what would happen if the earth’s rotation started to…slow? Well, based on my reading this book, it would be utterly horrifying. But this catastrophe and its effects were far more interesting than most of the majority of the book. Part of my ambivalence towards this book was probably due to the first-person narrative. In general, first-person is incredibly hard to write well…and while Walker gave it her all, it still didn’t really work for me. Also, probably didn’t help that it was the perspective of an 11/12 year old girl…which I guess is fine? But still, just didn’t really grab me. This story was really more the story of a young girl beginning to grow up and discovering more about herself, her parents and her neighbors and friends. Some of the characters were well drawn, but overall I really did not connect with anyone and the prose was merely serviceable. Still, had a few lovely lines (“the universal grief that underlies all…”) and it was fascinating pondering the effects of such a weird cataclysm. Just disappointed that we never did find out the reason for it!! Alas.
Now that I’ve written far too much about my books, I shall be off. Peace and love, dear friends.
