Even better, I actually really enjoyed all of them except two, which is way higher than my usual ratio, yay. Also, some of these books--like Cormac McCarthy's The Road and William Goldman's The Princess Bride are tomes I've been wanting to read for a long time, so it's especially satisfying to say I have read them (and enjoyed them) at last.
So here you go, my reviews for the NINE books I read in September. I wish I knew how many pages that was.
Catching Fire, by Suzanne Collins
I thought this was a satisfying followup to The Hunger Games (which was, you may recall, my previous Book of the Month); it had plenty of twists and turns, the story got deftly darker, and the stakes were raised without feeling too contrived. Also, there were some surprisingly horrific moments, which helped keep it from feeling like a retread of the first book. While some plot points were painfully obvious to me, others were not. Pacing still whipped past, and I still can't decide if I like that or not. It does make me wonder, however, whether I might actually like the films even better than the books (GASP) because the pacing seems a bit more attuned to cinema. We'll see next year, I guess!
Marvel Civil War: Iron Man
I thought this was good and solid but it didn't have as good a storyline as the other comics. On the plus side, however, the character dynamics were far more interesting, and since I love anything dealing with character dynamics that is a big plus. Also I think this had the best artwork of the lot, I read it super slow because I had to savor and examine every page. Great stuff.
The Shadow of the Torturer, by Gene Wolfe
I finished this early in September and I thought it was for sure my book of the month. As it turns out, it wasn't, but it is a highly recommended read anyway. I am pretty sure this book influenced "Name of the Wind" heavily; that's not a bad thing, just interesting. Its first-person voice is FAR superior to Kvothe's, though and the world and its characters are all really interesting and engaging. It's a pretty dark story and can be a bit confusing at times, but overall it's pretty good. I might check out the rest of the trilogy.
The Sable Quean, by Brian Jacques
I've been feeling nostalgic for Redwall and when I heard there's a character named Globby in this one I just had to read it. Alas, although the book began fine it quickly unravelled to the point where it felt like the entire plot and its contents were just inferior rip-offs of what Jacques wrote in earlier (and excellent) books: the lone badger maid, the dibbuns getting kidnapped and enslaved, underground tunnels with water and carnivorous blind fish, an island surrounded by pike, an over-dramatic female who is part of a traveling troupe, double-crossing villainesses--I could go on and on. The plot really fell apart in the second half, becoming completely random and nonsensical. If the above elements sound interesting, please read "Marlfox", "Martin the Warrior", or "Pearls of Lutra", but don't bother with this one. Not even Globby could save it.
The Road, by Cormac McCarthy
This was the second book I was absolutely sure I was going to name Book of the Month, but I ultimately chose another by the slimmest of slim margins. This book is incredible. It's beautiful and heartrending and haunting and riveting and terrifying all at once. McCarthy's use of language is simply wonderful; his descriptions are succinct and yet so well-written that they are far more effective than sensationalism would have been. The characters--I felt I knew them so well basically as soon as I met them, and I cared about them instantly. That's talent, folks. And though there are disturbing and even horrific parts ultimately the end is somehow uplifting. I can't really describe this book well enough, just trust that it was fantastic and basically moved me to tears numerous times.
The Princess Bride, by William Goldman
I love the movie. I can quote it back to front. I consider it, in fact, to be one of the most perfect films ever made; I wouldn't change a thing about it. So I was a bit nervous about reading the source novel. That being said, I ultimately ended up enjoying this book quite a lot; it's funny and smartly written. The best parts for me were the interactions between Fezzick and Inigo and being able to read their backstories. I don't think it would have been half as enjoyable without watching the film first though, because the actors are really what made the characters come to life and gave them the dimensionality and charisma that makes me care about them, really; some of them, like Buttercup, are so ridiculous in the book I cannot care about them. So I am glad I read the book, but the film version still remains by far my favorite.
Heir to the Empire, by Timothy Zahn
A solid, very enjoyable "Star Wars" novel and definitely better than the entire prequel film trilogy put together. Everyone is completely in character, the plot is engaging and well-paced, the dialogue is so perfect I can clearly hear it spoken by the actors from the films, and it's actually pretty sophisticated plot-wise. Best of all, it captures the mood of the first "Star Wars" films really well, fun but dangerous and exuberant all at once. I'm definitely going to read the rest of this trilogy.
Mockingjay, by Suzanne Collins
This is a difficult book to grade. Overall it was a bit too remorselessly dark and down, in my opinion, and it's certainly brutal; no longer can this series be called a children's series, if ever it was. Also, a lot of characters change drastically very quickly which can be a bit startling; the ending almost felt like . . . 1984 if it had a happy ending (stupid analogy, I know, I can't really explain it any better though). The emotional payoff is not quite what the reader wants, but I respect Collins for that. There are lots of things that happen that I had thought even from book one "Oh, that'd be cool if she did that" but never thought would happen because they were just too dark. AND THEN SHE DID THEM in this book. So that kind of delighted me, haha. Anyway, I thought it was a brave finale and if not as well-executed as "Ptolemy's Gate", well, that's all right because nothing is. It is a fitting ending to the series.
Gentleman Captain, by JD Davies
Let me just say that when the blurb on the back of your book is more interesting, exciting, and suspenseful than the actual story inside your book you should know you have problems. The author is apparently a historian who crossed over into novel writing and you can tell because the characters are all lifeless and dull and immediately forgettable and he manages to make even sea battles, assassination plots, and mutinous crews boring, but he spends pages and pages talking about history, awkwardly, in the first-person voice of his insipid main character. This is basically a waste of what might have been a good plot; don't bother with it.
Assassin's Apprentice, by Robin Hobb
The last book I read this month is also my favorite. What a breath of fresh air! This is absolutely the best fantasy I have read in a long time; it is essentially perfect in my opinion. I kept expecting it to derail at any moment with a sort of superstitious trepidation and by the end I was so delighted I was probably grinning like a fool at the pages as I turned them. It's beautifully written, is filled with engaging characters I cared about, has a wonderful protagonist who tells the story in first person masterfully, has really creepy villainry, fantastic politics, complexity, tragedy, beauty, mystery, and a totally unexpected twist towards the end that had me literally with my jaw dropped open completely caught unawares. That never happens. Best of all, perhaps, is the entire lack of objectionable content; thank gracious a fantasy novel with no gratuitous sexual content, or, indeed, any sexual content at all. It relies entirely upon the strength of the characters and the story and emerges triumphant. I am definitely hunting down the sequel to this, I can't wait. HIGHLY recommended.
So that's it, folks! Have you read any of these books before, and if so, how do your thoughts on them compare with mine? I'm off to get back to my reading now; I have 13 books borrowed from the library, if you'll believe it. Also, I'm currently in the middle of planning my next NaNoWriMo novel; November's only about three weeks away, after all.
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