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dustydigger
Posted 2014-11-17 1:29 PM (#8886 - in reply to #6198)
Subject: Re: The Pick and Mix Challenge.		Quote Reply



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Location: UK		Garth Nix - Sabriel. I very much enjoyed this rather dark toned YA book,which made few compromises for its younger audience.The young heroine,Sabriel,faces dreadful magic ccreatures,as well as experiencing sorrow,fear,and self doubt The world building is interesting,with an intriguing take on death,where through the gates of the dead a river runs,taking the spirits of the dead through increasingly frightening and dangerous Gates of Death,till through the ninth gate they go into oblivion.Sabriel has magic powers to return spirits back to the world but not from the final gate.Her father,a mage has been captured by an evil sorcerer,and Sabriel endeavours to save him,while trying to prevent the sorcerer bringing an army of terrifying creatures through the gates to take over the world.
The magic elements are well handled in a fresh way in the context of the story,the rituals seeming credible yet eerie There is a very slight romance element which never slows down the storyThe heroine is well drawn,,vulnerable but brave,never whining as so many young YA heroines do(possibly because of the male author!).There's lots of tension,rollercoaster action,and well depicted settings that seem solid and real amid the magic so the obligatory journey in such books seemed realistic. Very enjoyable indeed,with some frissons along the way,and interesting characters,including a cat that is very malevolent when released from a spell! Excellent

H P Lovecraft - The Dunwich Horror. Ah,good old H P Lovecraft. I have just finished the anthology The Dunwich Horror and other stories Typical HPL grandiloquent prose,half seen horrors in the dark which came aeons ago from the outer reaches of the galaxy to lurk about in the bowels of the earth. Or learned gentleman who studied esoteric magic from ancient terrible books like the Necronomicon,and have cause to regret it when the creatures they summoned forth drag themselves up the stairs to the garret to devour them. Or young men are possessed by evil demons,and have to be dispatched by their friends who then end up in mental homes.Or strange creatures from the subterranean depths ,or beneath the sea mate with humans to produce horrid deformed offspring.Then there are the description of ancient houses,echoing underground passages where monsters lurk. Yes,standard LPH,terror at its finest,or awesome with overarching tales of timescales beyond human understanding. The tales are often leisurely in pace,slowly ratcheting up unease and tension till the final awful end for the protagonist either leads to his death,or a lifetime of fear and nightmares. Good stuff!.

Gregory Benford - Timescape. Afraid I found this a rather dry and pedestrian book. The science went over my head completely,(since I dont know a tachyon from a taco! )the characters werent very attractive,and the book fizzled out with the dismal 1998 of the original timeline going from bad to worse,though in the alternate 1970s created by John F Kennedy's survival,Gordon Bernstein at least gets some credit for his discoveries.Altogether too downbeat for my tastes,I'm afraid. It was very accurate about the scientific methods and difficulties of getting new ideas accepted. You wonder at times how there is ANY new scientific progress because of academic jealousy and backbiting. This book won numerous awards,and is on any best SF lists,but did little for me.It is of course a product of its times,written at the end of the 70s,when the whole of society seemed on its last legs.Because of the accurate scientific research side,and the ideas expressed,(however vaguely and obscurely),I'll give it 3 starsbut it ust isnt my kind of book.Read for my Killer Bs challenge. Out of Bear,Brin and Benford I have to say I enjoyed Brin the mos treading Startide Rising and also The Uplift Warboth engaging fun.



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