Book Reviews for November

Not much reading done this month, as I was busy with Oireachtas. I still got some reading in though, mostly fantasy books. I've been in a 'light reading' sort of mood. Here we go then:

The Naming, by Alison Croggon
This is a very entertaining book. It reads as though Croggon subconsciously absorbed all her favorite fantasy novels and then regurgitated them into one plotline unknowingly. This should irritate me, but instead it amuses me a lot. The characters are fun at least, even though there's actual dialogue and events clearly ripped from other, far superior works: I recognized The Lord of the Rings and The Tombs of Atuan easily, and then shades of others. Another thing to giggle at is how very often characters seem to drink alcohol. Anyway, despite all the story's very evident faults, I enjoyed it and want to read the rest of the series now. Hopefully Croggon emphasizes her own originality more later on?

1602, by Neil Gaiman
A graphic novel reimagining of Marvel superheroes as men and women living in . . . 1602 AD. The premise alone makes me happy, and the writing is superb. I'd probably enjoy it more if I knew more about all the superheroes featured, but even as I am it's great. The art's pretty good. Overall it's fun but not going onto my favorite books list.

The Pirate's Son, by Geraldine McCaughrean
I can't even remember much about this book, which shows you how poorly written it was. Not worth your time.

The Time Machine, by HG Wells
This is the first Wells book I've ever read, and I enjoyed it a lot. It's pretty short, which surprised me . . . Wells' explanation of how the time machine works was brilliant in its simplicity, I really liked that. Also his portrayal of the future was very thought-provoking and entertaining. I liked the ending too. If you like science fiction I'd recommend this.

Book of the Month:

Prospero's Children, by Jan Siegel

This is an excellent fantasy novel. Siegel is an author who understands the power of words; the novel reads like poetry. The characters are strongly and fully developed and the storyline is fully engrossing and unfolds beautifully. The pacing is perfect, there's nail-biting tension and intense emotion. It also has a distinctly British flavor, which I love. There's mysterious characters, a dark old gothic mansion, time travel, and more. The story did let me down severely towards the end, but the main plot remained sound, so overall it was definitely one of the best fantasy books I've ever read. Highly recommended.