No-Nonsense Reviews: The Left Hand Of God by Paul Hoffman

Thomas Cale is an acolyte at the Sanctuary of the Redeemers, a horrific place where students are instructed in both religion and warfare under the worst conditions imaginable.  Cale suffers more than most in the hands of the Redeemers and when he without thinking commits a crime to save a life, he also seizes the chance to escape, taking along two of his fellow students and a terrified young woman.  Except the world outside the massive walls is more difficult and complicated than he’d expected...

Pros+ Likeable main character+ Easy, enjoyable writing style+ Occasional bursts of laugh-out-loud humour

Cons- More writing than story--could easily have been shorter- Repetition of information and phrases- Middle section drags with parts that don’t seem to add to the story- Occasionally things happen that don’t appear to have a point (although they might be important in a later book)- Ends very abruptly

To be honest I finished this book a while ago, but I’ve been putting off finishing this review because the book itself left me feeling so conflicted.  The three main boys are likeable, including Cale himself who, no matter what he did everyone seemed to end up hating him, as is the sole main female, Reba, but I did have issue with how very perfect she was. Despite that she’s raised to be so, she’s more beautiful and curvier than all around her, much nicer to talk to, all the men she meets love her to the intense frustration of the women around her, and she can get away with saying what she wants no matter the situation.  She should be irritating to high heaven, but I found myself liking her.

There was far too much middle for me (the paperback is 500 pages long) and introduced characters that were either pointless or appeared superfluous who, I assume, will become important in another book.  The large-scale battle felt sterile and full of people I didn’t much care about, although the more close-combat scenes with Cale had a far greater sense of immediacy, as well as a better sense that not everything would go according to plan.

I have absolutely no idea what to make of the religious angle, although to a certain degree it seems the staple “Christianity is evil” trope, but I think I’d need to read the next book to see if it comes to make more sense in light of the ending.

The writing style is easy and pleasant (not that I’d call it simple at all), a little too wordy in places but with a great sense of humour, which is part of my disappointment.  The ending came like an unexpected blow to the back of the head and I’ll probably buy the next book at some point (it’s not high on my list of priorities, admittedly), but I do hope the next one is more tightly plotted and contains more relevant characters and scenes... or at least explains some of the ones in this.

• The Left Hand of God at Goodreads

City Photos & The Spaces In Your Head

I have a secret (okay, not-so-secret now) love of those little places in cities that look... not like cities.  That aren’t easily recognisable as the cities they belong to.  That could belong anywhere, or nowhere, or only in the spaces in your head.  (I have a lot of those.)

It’s the non-recognisable spaces that are my focus here.  These pictures are all of Nottingham, but excepting the ones taken in obvious places--three on the Market Square, one at the top of Maid Marian Way--I don’t think you can tell.  My friends who live in the city couldn’t recognise some of the places and I, who don’t live in the city, completely failed to explain where I was when I took them.  (“It was, uh, well, over there,” pointing vaguely at the pub wall, “and then I went up there and round there and... why are you looking at me like that?”)

What I wanted was a reference board of images, a reminder of all those little places that could be anywhere, for when I’m writing.  It’ll take a while to build it up--I’m only in Nottingham once a month--and the next time I’m there I’ll head off in a different direction, see where my feet take me and explore more of the city I’ve been visiting for over ten years and spent a couple of months living in but know nothing about.

And then not only will I have photos for my ‘project’, I’ll have had some of the exercise I’m lacking in too!  Maybe I should get into the city more often...

Why do I want anonymous city photos anyway?  The world I write is an alternate reality where elves are real and came out of the forests a few hundred years ago and many still live there.  As a result, forests are much broader in that world, far less likely to be chopped down to make way for more and more new houses as senior elves work on planning committees.  And so cities aren’t going to be the same either.  I’ve only mentioned two by name: London and Bristol; London for obvious reasons, but Bristol because apparently the only place where it’s illegal to have sex in proximity to a car is under it. (I also learned about obscure road laws regarding parking on country lanes.  Not something that I needed for my theory test, but then I don’t think they intend to teach you about parking up for impromptu sex...)

Therefore, a glorified reference sheet of just how anonymous cities can look is ideal for me.  And what better than to use than a city I see all the time without really seeing?  These are the ones I've got already, and I’m looking forward to getting out and about to find more of these little (and not-so-little) places...

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No-Nonsense Reviews: Retribution Falls by Chris Wooding

Darian Frey is the feckless captain of the Ketty Jay, living day-to-day unburdened by such little things as morals, skittering from one failed enterprise to another--an existence no longer viable when his life goes belly-up and he becomes the most wanted man in the civilised world, dragging his loose crew of desperate individuals and the occasional fugitive with him...

Pros
+ Likeable characters
+ Enjoyable, engaging plot
+ Incredibly difficult to put down
+ Nice 'extras' at the end of the book

YMMV
+/- Pitches you in at the deep end (this depends on whether or not you like this kind of thing)

Cons
- Occasionally prone to repetition
- One moment of something that felt a lot like a deus ex machina, even though it technically wasn’t (confusing, I know)

In short, I couldn’t put the book down.  The chapters are short enough to be snaffled in quiet moments and usually end on enough of a cliffhanger that not reading the next one is difficult.  I did have to check if there were any books before it as I did feel like I was missing something, but over a very short space of time the feeling ceased and I was just as desperate to find out what happened to the people as I was to discover the plot.  I became very attached to the characters, even Frey who I’d have been happy to slap now and again--something I’m sure was intended and his development into a genuinely likeable man was enjoyable--and even for the one whose awful past was revealed, I felt nothing but genuine sorrow for him.

In fact, the only major downside I can see is that I didn’t realise it was the first in a series when I bought it and now I’m forced to buy the next one.  Forced, I say.  I was bereft when I finished this.

• Retribution Falls at Goodreads

What I'm Reading, or, Why Can't I Put This Damn Book Down?

I’m reading Retribution Falls by Chris Wooding right now.  I picked it up on Saturday on the basis of the cover art, the interesting font used for the title, the blurb on the back and, most importantly, because on standing in the middle of the Science Fiction and Fantasy section and reading the first page, the writing style and I got along just fine.

It’s also very difficult to put down, with bite-size chapters just perfect for reading in spare quiet moments and intriguing characters I want to find out more about.

And honestly, that’s the aspect of the novel I’m finding the most interesting.  A lot of advice given to authors, particularly in Wired For Story: The Writer’s Guide To Using Brain Science (there is more title, I'm just not using all of it; I'm sure you can find it from that), focuses on how the author should be upfront with information about the characters.  The theory is that if you, the reader, know everything about them from the beginning, then you’re rooting for whatever the problem is to be solved.

Retribution Falls apparently didn’t get this memo, but I’m loving it all the more for it.  Right now I don’t know why Frey is so irritated by the youthful picture of him on his wanted posters, or quite what’s wrong with Jez, or what Crake is running from.  There are nudges and hints, little prods, but there’s no clear picture spread out for me.  If Wooding was following the previous advice about laying out everything on a plate, would I be so interested in continuing reading?  Possibly, because it’s written with a very nice style.  But would I have this intense, burning curiosity, this need to find out what happened to the characters just as much as I want to find out why Frey’s job went so wrong?  Probably not.  If I’m honest, it wouldn’t have such a hold over me as it does if I knew all these things already.  As it is I’m just as desperate to find out more about these people I’ve been thrown in the deep end alongside as I am to follow the plot.

It’s an interesting reminder that for all that the advice might seem good, maybe sometimes it’s also a good idea to kick it out and write what feels right instead, what lures a reader in and then inescapably hooks them until being separated from your half-finished story makes them feel empty and impatient.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a book I need to get back to.

Not Just A Blank Mind, A Blank Blog

I have a confession to make.

I have no idea what to blog about.

I’ve read that blogging for fiction writers is supposedly a lot tougher than it is for non-fiction writers, because those lucky non-fiction writers can share scientific studies, related articles and so on, whereas we less-than-fortunate fiction writers are a little doomed in that regard.  I mean, as a contemporary fantasy writer, what can I share with you?  How to make elven alcohol?  (Okay, in that one aspect I probably can.  We make our own alcohol in this house.)  The difference in height and ageing between ljusalfa and dokkalfa?  Or just how offensive it is to call a dokkalfa ‘svartalfa’?

If I’m not careful I could easily start talking--okay, possibly ranting--about PC and Xbox games instead, since I spend a chunk of my life hammering the buttons on my Xbox controller and swearing abuse at whichever character is proving hard to deal with.  I’m not a particularly unbiased reviewer though (and I’m starting to suspect few are), so I don’t think I have a career in that ahead of me.

I could talk about what I’m reading.  That I could manage, even if, much like the games I play, I’m not exactly unbiased.

So I’m spoiled for choice and finding my options narrowing at the same time.  Any suggestions?