Fantasy/SF Book Reviews
Incubus Dreams by Laurell K. Hamilton
Berkley, September, 2004Hardcover, 658 pages
ISBN: 0425198243
Ordering information:
Amazon.com
Anita Blake returns in this sexy, violent and slightly kinky
entry into the bestselling series. Anita's powers as a
necromancer and vampire hunter have continued to grow, but as
her powers grow so does the ardeur, which is becoming quite
inconvenient, to say the least. Since her powers are based on sex magic
(much to Anita's intense annoyance)
and she lives with a houseful of men, well, you get the picture. When
she's not otherwise occupied with her vampire consort, Master of the City
Jean-Claude, wereleopard king Micah, or her ex-boyfriend the werewolf
Richard, Anita is called into help investigate
a series of murders committed by a group of vampires. As she sorts out
her increasingly complicated personal life, she also goes up against a
rogue Master Vampire who may be strong for her. But Anita is
no shy, retiring flower, and she's ready to rumble.
There must be quite a bit of Laurell K. Hamilton in the strong-willied Anita Blake. Hamilton is not one to bow to the wishes of the mainstream. In a recent interview she explained the high sensuality quotient in the series: "In my books, the reason the eroticism is so high is that people in the publishing industry were disturbed by erotic content. Not for its own sake, but because I was a woman writing from a first-person woman's point of view. Had I been a man, they would have been okay with it. The erotic content has risen because they told me it shouldn't only because I am a woman writing about a woman. It's what my grandmother calls being contrary." It is that contrariness that makes Ms. Hamilton such a compelling writer. Her imagination, passion and love for her characters shine through on every page. A unique and powerful heroine and the the macabre atmosphere make for a gripping story with characters you certainly won't find anywhere else. And that's what makes this series so addictive.
Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke
Bloomsbury, September, 2004Hardcover, 800 pages
ISBN: 1582344167
Ordering information:
Amazon.com
"Some years ago there was in the city of York a society of magicians.
They met upon the third Wednesday of every month and read each other
long, dull papers upon the history of English magic." So begins
Susanna Clarke's truly amazing novel, Jonathan Strange
and Mr. Norrell, which is part comedy of manners, part
fantasy, part alternate history SF, part historical novel,
and part drawing room farce. It is not surprising that the
publisher is Bloomsbury; British publishers
are much more likely to take a look at a mixed-genre novel
(See, The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fford, for example.) American
publishers tend to like their genres sorted into tidy boxes.
In any event, it is a wonder and a joy that such a book made its way into
the mainstream.
In 1806 alternative history England, magic is accepted as real, although since the disappearance of the Raven King, no one really practices magic. Mostly, it is a theoretical study of the craft in which the magicians engage -- that is, except for the exceedingly vain and eccentric recluse, Mr. Norrell, of whom it was later said, "He hardly ever spoke of magic, and when he did it was like a history lesson and no one could bear to listen to him." When Mr. Norrell reveals to the world that he can, indeed, actually do magic (he makes the statues in York Cathedral come to life, whereupon they began to sing, talk and occasionally berate the audience) he becomes the toast of the ton and the delight of the government, which is busy waging war against the much-reviled French. Norrell eventually agrees to take on as his apprentice the handsome and talented magician, Jonathan Strange, who is of great assistance to General Wellington in the Napoleonic Wars. But the younger assistant chafes at Norrell's restrictions, and sets out to single-handedly recreate the Golden Age of English magic with the help of a one very selfish, naughty Faerie who has his own agenda.
Written with a dry, very British sense of humor, the narrator delivers the history with an intimate, confiding, tongue in cheek tone which works very well indeed. One buys into the fictive dream and, after about 30 pages or so, historical fact and fiction have merged. In fact, Ms. Clarke's world is so vividly-imagined that it seems quite real. This impression is reinforced by the numerous, droll, detailed footnotes which assist those who have forgotten some of the more arcane or obscure magical historical tidbits.
The book has been called Harry Potter for adults, and in the fact that it deals with magic and has a sly humor behind the prose, that is somewhat true. But Ms. Clarke's entertaining style and worldview call to mind more the work of Neil Gaiman and P.G. Wodehouse than of J.K. Rowling. Ms. Clarke's words are accompanied by the marvelous pen and ink drawings of Portia Rosenberg. Susanna Clarke has produced an immense book, both in sheer heft and in terms of literary value. It is an extraordinary achievement.
--Claire E. White
Wormwood by G.P. Taylor
Putnam, September, 2004Hardcover, 259 pages
ISBN: 0399242570
Ordering information:
Amazon.com
In 1756 London, panic descends on the streets as the world somehow
stops spinning correctly on its axis and a comet called Wormwood
streaks towards the earth. Doctor Sabian Blake came into possession
of a mysterious book called Nemorensis, which foretells that the comet will
bring death and destruction. Abram Richards (the archangel Raphael
who helped Thomas and
Kate in Shadowmancer) appears on the scene and tells Sabian that he is
Sabian's angel. Sabian's 14 year-old maid, Agetta, who has a bit of a
problem with stealing, finds
out that her father is keeping a fallen angel captive in the attic of his pub.
Agetta meets Lady Flamberg, a very strange woman who is more than she appears to be.
It will all come down to Agetta: after she steals the Nemorensis, who will
she deliver it to -- the angel or the woman? Her decisions could decide the fate of the
world.
This sequel to Shadowmancer is marketed as a young adult title, but the adult themes, theological exposition, and complicated plot really should place this title firmly in the adult fantasy section of the bookstore. G.P. Taylor presents us with an unusual and interesting cast of characters, and the charismatic Raphael is much more in evidence in this book than he was in Shadowmancer. Taylor's dark, sometimes caustic humor is much in evidence. Darkly atmospheric, at times quite violent, other times a bit too talky, with more than a touch of fascinating horror, Wormwood will thrill fans of Shadowmancer.
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