“Blood Faerie,” by India Drummond

FM's ratings:

          1. Premise 8
          2. Prose 7
          3. Plot 7
          4. Characters 8
          5. Overall 7

Comments (optional - but try to keep it under 3000 words!)

Drummond capitalizes on the attractiveness of the supernatural suspense genre, particularly the idea of faeries (and druids) being able to secretly blend into human society to some degree.  But the premise of this book goes beyond that and paints a reasonably compelling picture of what the underlying “Fae” culture might look like.  Personally, I liked the book quite a bit, but would hesitate to recommend it to those who don’t find the genre all that interesting.  There are 5 sequels to this one, and I might get to some of them – just not in a big hurry to do so. 



Here’s the June line-up! 

“Broken Skin,” by Stuart MacBride [6-4]

“Queen of the Night,” by J. A. Jance [6-11]

“The Blithedale Romance,” by Nathaniel Hawthorne [6-18]

“Murder, with Peacocks,” by Donna Andrews [6-25]

(As always, if there are any books you’d like to recommend for next month, please do so.  Also, if you have already read one on our previous lists, you are invited to send your ratings and or comments for that book!)

“Un Lun Dun,” by China Mieville

FM's ratings:

1.      Premise 8

2.      Prose 7

3.      Plot 8

4.      Characters 7

5.      Overall 8

Comments (optional - but try to keep it under 3000 words!)

I can recommend this book mostly due to its uniqueness and amazing colorfulness.  The premise is certainly original, even though the story-line strongly reflects the approaches of other authors who have written “for children” books.  The cover mentions similarities to “The Wizard of Oz” and “Alice in Wonderland,” and I would agree that these comparisons are accurate.  The author acknowledges an indebtedness to Clive Barker (see the “Abarat” books) and C. S. Lewis (see the “Narnia” books), in a short afterward.  All these works share an aspect that adult readers might chafe at: a rapid-fire but rather random-seeming sequence of fantastic events designed to “hold the interest” of a young reader.  This one is not as gratuitous as many of the others, but one does occasionally wonder if all the clap-trap is necessary.  I know this begs the question of why an adult would read a work aimed at children to begin with.  My only defense is to say that I am often very pleasantly surprised by such books.  Mieville’s book definitely has its plusses.  And it certainly makes me curious to read the adult-oriented works by him.  I would just hope that the prose will be a little more sophisticated, and that the dialog isn’t peppered with the “trailer-trash” slang that Mieville is apparently reflecting from today’s British youth.  That was this book’s biggest drawback.

Here’s the June line-up! 

“Broken Skin,” by Stuart MacBride [6-4]

“Queen of the Night,” by J. A. Jance [6-11]

“The Blithedale Romance,” by Nathaniel Hawthorne [6-18]

“Murder, with Peacocks,” by Donna Andrews [6-25]

(As always, if there are any books you’d like to recommend for next month, please do so.  Also, if you have already read one on our previous lists, you are invited to send your ratings and or comments for that book!)

“Deliver Us from Evil,” by David Baldacci

FM's ratings:

1.      Premise 9

2.      Prose 7

3.      Plot 9

4.      Characters 8

5.      Overall 8

Comments (optional - but try to keep it under 3000 words!)

There is a sameness to this sub-genre (“Thrillers” is the usual, more or less accurate label) that makes it wear a little thin for me.  The protagonist, a “Jack Reacher” type, falls just short of super-hero status, while the “villain” falls just short of The Joker in his ability to get away with almost anything until the climax.  Oh, and there is almost always a love interest between the male protagonist and the female protagonist.  These stories do tend to have unexpected plot twists, which manages to keep them unpredictable enough not to become formulaic; but that preponderance of plot twists itself can become cliché in an odd way.  I guess this predictability is true of pretty much any genre, but maybe I’m just not used to this one yet.  It certainly has a loyal following.  The premise here of having two organizations going after the bad guy, each unaware of the other, is superbly treated.  This is my first Baldacci book, so I don’t know yet how much he varies his plots, but this one is fun.  Low marks for prose, which occasionally visits James-Patterson-Land in its triteness and tendency for clichés; not bad, but just enough to chafe.  I do have my next Baldacci book already on my to-be-read shelf, and hope to get to it soon!

“The Edible Woman,” by Margaret Atwood

FM's ratings:

          1. Premise 7
          2. Prose 9
          3. Plot 8
          4. Characters 8
          5. Overall 8

Comments (optional - but try to keep it under 3000 words!)

Prose goes a long way with me, and few do it better than Margaret Atwood.  This is a great example of taking a rather weak premise and making a fine work out of it.  As Atwood’s novels go, it is a relatively short one.  I think her shorter works are her best (“The Handmaid’s Tale” is a prime example) because her longer works tend to explore her characters’ pasts way, way too thoroughly.  I have referred to this in the past, with Atwood’s novels, John Irving’s novels, and others, as “character-driven” novels.  Well, this novel is also very much a character-driven novel, but without the tedious over-development of the characters, so I enjoyed it much more.  It’s also a ‘50’s/‘60’s novel and, as such, it depicts a sort of odd glorification of irrational behavior that was common in the popular literature of the time.  (See Updike, Salinger, Kerouac et. al.)  The metaphorical connection with the protagonist’s eating disorders and her doubts about her upcoming marriage is fascinating, especially in that it is revealed so gradually that it doesn’t really manifest completely until the last few pages.  This was her first novel, though she had previously had books of poetry published.  I think it is one of her best.