Time of Contempt and Baptism of Fire

Author: Andrzej Sapkowski 

Translator: Danusia Stok
Series: The Witcher parts 2 and 3

Year published: 1995 in Polish, 2013 in English. 1996 in Polish. 2014 in English.

Pages: 352 and 352

Time It Took To Read: A day each

I didn't read Baptism of Fire in Spanish...I just couldn't find an English translation cover.

I love this series. It is a bit different, a lot awesome, and doesn't BORE. But I am fed up with Gollancz. They're taking forever to translate it (with no plans to translate the last books of the series), and the translation is roundly criticised by those who've read it in original Polish. I can't read Polish, but this series is  a damn good reason to learn. The idea that I can't finish the series because Gollancz are doing such shit translations (apparently that's the root of the publishing problems) PISSES ME OFF! 

Anyway, Geralt the Witcher has care of Ciri, who may or may not be the most important person alive in the world at that point. He is sharing her care, and protecting her with his long time love Yennefer, a sorceress of insane power. And war is brewing.

If you've played The Witcher, read the books. If you like fantasy novels, read the books. If you want to read something written with a bit more bite than your average elves/dwarves/humans saga, read the books. Just please give Gollancz a good reason to translate the last few.

Book count: 28/50

The White Princess

Author:  Philippa Gregory

Year published: 2013
Series: The Cousins War 5

Pages: 560

Time It Took To Read: A day

This is the book I bought to baptise my new Kindle. I've wanted one for a while, but not been able to justify the expense. Then I got a first in one of my uni modules, and got one, so it is dubbed The Kindle of Reward. 

Anyway, I've read all four preceding books and this one is about Princess Elizabeth of York who married Henry VII after he acceded the throne, and she was the mother of Henry VIII. Their marriage was made for political reasons, to unite the factions of York and Lancaster after the War of the Roses, but Henry VII should have been Elizabeth's mortal enemy, moreso if she really had been having an affair with her uncle Richard III. Instead, their marriage historically seems to have been a success. 

So, the book opens on the defeated York faction waiting to be summoned to court for the proposed betrothal of Elizabeth and Henry. This eventually happens, there's gratuitous and rather unnecessary rape, magic, childbirth, women being sidelined, Margaret Beaufort being every bit The Boss that she seems to have historically been, and an abrupt ending, to make way for Margaret Pole's story, which is coming out later this year.

I love historical fiction, I really do, but sometimes Philippa Gregory's gets a bit cloyingly similar. Oh I hate him! Oh I love him! Oh I'm pregnant! Oh someone I love is dead and I'm powerless to stop it! Every single book. I keep buying them, keep reading them, but I'd love something meatier. 

Book Count: 26/50

London Under

Author:  Peter Ackroyd

Year published: 2011
Pages: 208

Time It Took To Read: A few days

I decided to read this off the back of the Aaronovitch books, because the idea of London existing in layers fascinates me. I've had this book ages, and just not read it. I'm not the biggest fan of Peter Ackroyd. He drifts around all over the shop, and it can be really hard to keep track of his argument. However, he does know what he's talking about, and his London: Autobiography is a tour de force.

This book is not so good. It's too short, for a start, and too superficial. There's no real analysis, no sense of depth - metaphorical or literal! I enjoyed it, but it could have been so much more. This is more like a brief introduction than a decent history.

Book count: 25/50

Moon Over Soho and Whispers Under Ground

Author:  Ben Aaronovitch

Year published: 2011 and 2012
Series: Rivers of London 2 and 3

Pages: 384 and 400

Time It Took To Read: I read them both over two days, to the cost of all else

I think I have a new love. These books combine everything I loved about the Frost series, back in the old days, with everything I love about the Dresden Files, and even Harry Potter. I am holding off buying the next one, because if I pass my exams, I'm getting a Kindle and these are the sort of books I want on Kindle. 

In Moon Over Soho, something is killing off musicians after gigs. And Peter's dad is a musician. Also, a woman with vagina dentata (look it up, it's grim, and also not real...) is on the loose. I read this with a growing sense of irritation at how OBVIOUS everything seemed, and then it wasn't remotely obvious at the end. 
In Whispers Under Ground, a rich American kid dies on an underground platform. This leads to a trail of art, pottery, Covent Garden and festive London disruption. 

If you like detective novels or magic these are a must-read. To be honest, even if you're not mad keen, go find them. They're warm, realistic and funny, and they're sometime sickening. 

Book count: 24/50

Rivers of London

Author:  Ben Aaronovitch

Year published: 2011
Series: Rivers of London 1

Pages: 432

Time It Took To Read: A few days, could've been quicker if I hadn't taken my time

Imagine if Harry Potter didn't go to Hogwarts, and 12 years later, he was working for the police when someone said 'yer a wizard, Harry'. That's how I described the pretext of this book to my sister. I don't think I can improve it.

Peter Grant is a fairly rubbish Met copper, who just before he finishes his preliminary training, has a chat to a ghost at a crime scene. From there, his career path wildly deviates from the path he wasn't really looking forward to. Not only is something possessing people to commit awful crimes, there's gang warfare breaking out between the rivers. No spoilers.

I loved it. I don't even want to write a proper review because I want to go and start the second one right now. I SAVOURED this book. I read it slowly (not one for reading things slowly, me), I thought about it, re-read bits if I didn't 'get' them the first time. London is lovingly, perfectly described, and the people are believable and solid. Except when they're ghosts, and then they're just malevolent. 

It's perfect for those who like their supernatural fiction to be actually believable, and not too romantic. 

I'm also reading The Odyssey at the moment. Which is quite the different tack. 

Book count: 22/50

Stormbird

Author:  Conn Iggulden

Year published: 2013
Series: War of the Roses, books 1
Pages: 512

Time It Took To Read: A couple of days

You may have sensed a theme in my recent reading. Historical fiction (plus some fantasy), are really the only fiction books I like. And recently, I've been reading buckets of them. I am AGGRIEVED that once again, I have started a series of books that isn't even close to being finished yet. Truly, this makes me cross. My patience is thin, but I only need to wait for September for the next one.

So, the Wars of the Roses. A horrible, bloody struggle between the descendants of Edward III, which ended up in Henry VII - who had the weakest claim to the throne - taking the crown after the Battle of Bosworth Field. This series takes a rather different view of the political machinations that led to it (notably the surrendering of French land in exchange for a French bride), using an invented spymaster as the go-between amongst the factions, plotting and trying to keep the increasingly unwell Henry VI on the throne. There are bloody battles, people die without warning (shadows of A Song of Ice and Fire with this), and it's fascinating. There is real grit.

Most of the historical fiction I read of this period is framed in the eyes of women, and their historical powerlessness.  Much as I love a bit of romantic historical fiction (Alison Weir/Philippa Gregor), women do tend to lack nuance - either weak innocents, or megalomaniac monsters. This book, however, I loved because Margaret d'Anjou is amazing. She cries a lot, but she holds the power of the throne for her incapacitated husband. She's frightened, but doesn't show it. She takes the initiative. 

The historical notes at the end are lengthy, because Mr Iggulden (GREAT NAME) has taken a lot of liberties with the time scale, but I don't mind that. The only thing I have against this book is that I have to wait for more of them. 

Happy news! If I pass my exams, I'm buying myself a Kindle. Until then, I have about 20 books I've garnered and not read yet. BOOKS! THERE WILL ONLY BE BOOKS!

Book count: 21/50

The Constant Princess and The Boleyn Inheritance

Author:  Philippa Gregory

Year published: 2005 and 2006
Series: The Tudors, books 1 and 3 (chronologically)

Pages: 490 and 528

Time It Took To Read: A day each

I read The Other Boleyn YEARS ago, which was Philippa Gregory's first Tudor novel (although the second, chronologically) and decided to read these as something light while revising. Which was a mistake, because these books are bloody addictive. They're not in the same ballpark as Mantel, but still enjoyable, and interesting. 

The Constant Princess covers the life of Katherine of Aragon, my favourite wife of Henry VIII. It tells the story of her first years in England, and her first marriage as well as her second. Katherine, if you didn't know, was married first to Henry's older brother, Arthur. That was his grounds for trying to divorce her years later when she didn't give him a healthy son. God was punishing him for shagging his brother's wife. Except that the Bible actually states you SHOULD shag your brother's widow if he dies heirless. But that's by the by: the crux is that Katherine claimed her first marriage was never consummated, and since Arthur died not long after their marriage, nobody could prove it either way. This book attempts to explain why she stood her ground over the virginity/divorce matter, and also portrays her as a young woman instead of the fat, barren, old hag that hangs in the background of other Tudor fiction as though she was always that way. The glaring historical inaccuracies are annoying if you know your Tudor onions, but it's still a good read.

The Boleyn Inheritance springs forward thirty years to the fourth and fifth marriages of Henry VIII. Anne of Cleves was divorced because of non-consummation, Katherine Howard was beheaded for sleeping with other men. The book speaks through Jane Rochford, who was the sister in law of Anne Boleyn, and narrowly escaped with her head after that due to giving evidence against both Anne and her husband George. She then returned to court, as Anne of Cleves lady in waiting and Katherine Howard's after her. She was complicit in Katherine Howard's adultery, and lost her head for it. That's the historical element: the book weaves a tale of Jane Rochford being an instrument of the Duke of Norfolk, and either really foolish or really evil. I enjoyed this one, as these wives of Henry VIII tend to get overlooked as ugly and slutty, when they were somewhat more complex than that.

Now...I have finished my exams (OH THANK GOD) and reading can commence once more! I have a pile of unread books like you wouldn't believe...

Book count: 20/50