Booklog 51/2017 - Paul Cornell: A Long Day in Lychford - Lychford #3

Lizzy, Judith and  Autumn are the three resident witches of Lychford, a sleepy Gloucestershire town. In the wake of Brexit, Autumn is questioning her place in Lychford because of her skin colour, while Judith is struggling to keep herself together and pass on her knowledge to Lizzy and Autumn before it's too late. When people start to go missing, our trio discover that they are being pulled across boundaries. There's political trouble at home and trouble in the world of faerie, too. Each woman is on her own to rescue a particular group of strayed humans. Cornell manages to bring real world concerns into the magical world and the wave of anti-foreigner sentiment affects Lychford, too. A thoroughly enjoyable read, if a little uncomfortable at times as the three women's sentiments are laid bare.

George RR Martin (Ed) and others: Mississippi Roll - A Wild Cards Book

I hadn’t read any Wild Cards books before, but the blurb on this said it was a good jumping in point for new readers, so here goes. It’s the story of Mississippi riverboat, the Natchez in the not too far distant future, but a future in which humanity has been changed forever by a plague which either kills or turns the survivors into Wild cards – jokers or aces. Each affliction might be different. Aces tend to be the ones with superpowers whereas jokers might have not much in the way of talent, but a fox’s ears and tail or maybe half of them has turned into a fish. You get the idea. Edited by George RR Martin, the writers are Stephen Leigh, David D. Levine, John Jos. Miller, Kevin Andrew Murphy, Cherie Priest, and Carrie Vaughn. Each writer takes a a particular character and sees them through their part in the story. So… the story. The central characters in this ensemble piece are Steam Wilbur, the ghost of the builder and forst captain of the Natchez, and the Natchez herself. Steaming up the river with an illicit cargo of illegal joker immigrants, followed by a vindictive immigration officer and the Natchez’s current owner whose stated intent is to anchor her in port and strip out her boilers, turning he into a casino, but in reality has much darker plans. Without the boat’s steam, Steam Wilbur loses any means of acting upon the world (and he can’t leave the boat). So this is the story of how the ensemble cast fights a triple threat to Wilbur, the boar and the immigrants. I thoroughly enjoyed this and now I can’t decide whether to wait for the next one or whether to go back and start reading from the beginning.

Rod Duncan: The Bullet Catcher’s Daughter - The Fall of the Gas-Lit Empire #1

Elizabeth Barnabus is two people, herself and her twin brother, the private detective. She’s employed to seek out a missing aristocrat in a steampunky world. I’m a sucker for cross-dressing ladies competing in a man’s world. There’s a touch of romance, but the mystery drives the plot. The world is fascinating, if slightly skewed. Looking forward to reading the rest.

BTW, I love the cover.

Booklog 54/2017 - Jennifer Ashley: The Madness of Lord Ian Mackenzie - Mackenzie and McBrides #1

A historical romance (Victorian) with a difference. The hero is on a spectrum, protected by his place in society and his older brothers. His youth was spent in an asylum, thanks to his father, but he’s out now that his father has gone. He likes Ming pottery and beautiful women and is quite single-minded when he sets his sights on something.. Beth Ackerley is a young widow who wants no more drama in her life. She’s inherited money and would like to determine her own life now, thankyouverymuch. And then along comes Ian.

BTW, hideous generic cover.

Booklog 55/2017 - Lisa Shearin: Ruins and Revenge - A Raine Benares World #9

This picks up where Treasure and Treason left of on a cliffhanger (which I hate). Raine isn’t the centre of this pair of books. The main characters are Tam Nathratch, handsome Goblin enforcer and recovering dark magician, and Raine’s cousin Phaelan, a pirate captain with a healthy dislike of magic and a penchant for blowing things up. Tam, Phaelan and their team of combat mages must get to the Heart of Nidaar before the bad guys, the Khrynsani Goblins do or it’s the end of the world. Lisa Shearin writes good repartee, and though I’m missing Raine and her problems, I’ve enjoyed an outing with Tam and Phaelan 

Booklog 56/2017 - Jodi Taylor: The Long and the Short of It - Chronicles of St Mary’s #9

This collects together all the short stories (thus far) from the Chronicles of St Mary’s, which if you haven’t read them, go back and start from the beginning. I’ll wait. Done it? Good. Now you know about the time travelling disaster-magnets who comprise St Mary’s historians and their support teams, especially Max our (usually) main viewpoint character. (I particularly love reading about Markham in security.) I’d read (and reviewed) all but one of these before because I buy anything from Jodi Taylor on sight, but I was happy to buy it for the new story, which has since been published as an individual short, but it’s good to have all the short stories together in one place and if you haven’t read any of them yet, it’s a bargain.

Booklog 57/2017 - Jodi Taylor: A Perfect Storm - Chronicles of St Mary’s #8.5

A new short story which is a riot of dangerous manuscripts and an egotistical film director. This proves that the staff of St Marys can get into trouble without actually time travelling anywhere. Leon, Guthrie and Markham are back, but on the sick list, while Peterson is still bereft. Despite the traumatic events, Ms Taylor manages to lighten the mood and start all the readers on the road to recovery after the devastating events in the last full length book. Professor Rhapson decides to recreate Hannibal’s methods of splitting rocks to impress a boorish film producer who might be persuaded to hand out a lucrative research contract. Professor Rhapson and exploding rocks. What could possibly go wrong?

Booklog 58/2017 - Lois McMaster Bujold: Penric’s Fox – Penric #3

No, I didn’t read these out of order, Ms Bujold has filled in a gap in Pen’s storyline with a novella detailing events that happened before Penric’s Mission. Anything from LMB is buy on sight as far as I’m concerned and if I can’t get another Vorkosigan book, I’ll settle for a novella from the world of the Five Gods.

Booklog 59/2017 - C.E. Murphy: Bewitching Benedict – Lovelorn Lads #1

A straight Regency historical from an author I usually associate with urban or historical fantasy. I love Catie Murphy’s writing so was very pleased to read this. Benedict Fairburn stands to inherit his great-aunt’s fortune, but only if he marries. He doesn’t need the money and he’s inclined to let it go to the default inheritor, an orphanage, but his family are pushing every winsome spinster at him. He only has eyes for one, but sadly he once unwittingly insulted Claire Dalton past bearing and it’s going to take a lot to gain her forgiveness. A neat story, much enjoyed.

Booklog 60/2017 - Jodi Taylor: White Silence

Jodie Taylor is a buy-on-sight author, so though this is not one of her St Mary’s books I was eager to grab it. This is a supernatural thriller, number #1 in a new series. Elizabeth sees emotions as colour, but she doesn’t quite know what else she is or what she can do, so she’s happy being a boring housewife with a kind husband, but when she’s widowed unexpectedly she ends up a virtual prisoner (for her own good) in the ‘private hospital’ where he worked as a security guard, and there she meets a fellow patient who seems to know more than she does about her plight. The ending wasn’t quite resolved, but…yay!... it looks like this is the start of a series. Roll on the next one.

Booklog 61/2017 - Indrek Hargla: Apothecary Melchior and the Mystery of St Olaf’s Church

This was recommended to me because it’s set in Tallinn, which is where I went this summer to research the Baltic countries for a book I’m working on. It’s two hundred years before my time period, but It’s great for atmosphere and background. The pace is a little slow, or should I say, measured, but the mystery is solved in the end. The person who recommended it did warn me that it wasn’t the best translation, but I could forgive the slightly pedestrian prose because of the background with the merchants, the Hanseatic League and Lubeck Law. One thing that did puzzle me was that Tallinn was referred to as Tallinn but its old name was Reval. Was that a translation thing or have I misunderstood my history? Melchior is the town apothecary turned sleuth and he’s coopted when a important personage is killed on the Toompea, and pretty soon it seems as though the town has a serial killer on its hands.

Booklog 62/2017 - Patricia Briggs: Silence Fallen – Mercy Thompson #10

I love Mercy Thompson books, about a Coyote shapeshifter married to an alpha werewolf.so I grab them as soon as they are published. Yes, Mercy’s in trouble again. This time attacked, injured and captured by a scheming vampire, possibly the most powerful vamp in the world, and carried off to Europe, so we have some of the story from Mercy’s point of view and some from her mate, Adam, head of the Columbia basin pack. Adam needs a team – vamps and werewolves - to get Mercy back, so they head off to Europe. In the meantime mercy is busy rescuing herself while trying not to start a war between Vamps and Werewolves. All good stuff.

Booklog 63 - 65/2017 - Andre Norton's Gryphon Sequence

Andre Norton: The Crystal Gryphon - Witch World Series 2 – High Hallack 5
This is a re-read of a book read and enjoyed many years ago. It’s sometimes a mistake to go back, but though it’s of its time, this stood up pretty wall. Kerovan, born with hooves instead of feet and with amber-coloured eyes, is his father’s heir, but he’s raised away from the castle, and by the time he’s ready to inherit invaders from over the sea, the Hounds of Alizon, have turned his homeland into a battleground. His proxy marriage to Joisan all but forgotten, he becomes a scout. Joisan in her turn, has nothing of her husband except for hids gift, a tiny globe which encases a perfect miniature gryphon. Told by the pair in alternating chapters we see the war unfold and each of them do their duty before finally coming together.

 

Gryphon in Glory - Witch World Series 2 – High Hallack 6

Another re-read. Like an idiot Kerovan leaves Joisan behind and heads off into the Waste, but she’s having none of it, and before long she’s packed up and trailing behind, having adventures of her own, meeting up with Elys and Jervon along the way (characters I’m sure I’ve met in other High Hallack novels). This begins the move from the dales to Arvon and we meet the Wereriders for the first time. It’s hard to get all of Norton’s stories in the right order because they weren’t written chronologically and I’m sure Norton herself sometimes had characters meeting who couldn’t possibly have co-existed.

 
Andre Norton & AC Crispin: Gryphon’s Eyrie - Witch World Series 2 – High Hallack 7

Another re-read. Kerovan and Joisan have been travelling together for three years. He is drawn towards the mountains, she ends up following doggedly even though she’s rather stay with what looks like a tribe on Native Americans who seem to have found their way into the Witch World. They do, eventually find a home. Not as riveting or exciting as the previous two Gryphon books. I’m always a little wary of co-authored books. How much of it is actually Andre Norton’s fingers on the keyboard?

Booklog 66/2017 - 66. Lois McMaster Bujold: The Prisoner of Limnos – Penric and Desdemona #6

The sequel novella to Mira’s Last Dance. Penric is in love with the widow Nickys whom he has brought safely out of Cedonia with her brother, the general, so when Nicky’s mother is imprisoned as a lure for the general it’s Penric and Nickys who venture back to Cedonia to save her. Nickys is attracted to Pen, but not sure she wants to marry his demon, Desdemona as well.

Booklog 67/2017 - Stephanie Burgis: Snowspelled - The Harwood Spellbook #1

In 19^th century Angland, only gentlemen practise magic while the ladies get on with running the country. Cassandra Harwood became the country’s first female magician. Everything was splendid. She was engaged to the love of her life… and then it all fell apart. Now Cassandra must never perform magic again and she’s estranged from her love. Still in recovery she’s trapped at a country house party—snowed in—and worse still, her ex is there. It might have all passed with nothing more than a few hurt feelings, but Cassandra makes a promise she might not be able to keep, and if she fails there’s a vindictive elf who will make sure she pays for it. I really enjoyed this. At novella length is a quick read, but it sets the scene for sequels.

Booklog 68/2017 - Adrian Tchaikovsky: Ironclads

A military SF novella in which Sgt Ted Regan and a small crew of ne’er do wells are selected to go behind enemy lines when a scion – one of the heavily armoured, nearly invulnerable sons of the elite families – goes missing in the Nordic war. Five complex characters are quickly and effectively drawn. As usual the grunts have minimal equipment and support. Not for them the battle-suits, though they do get a drone tech, Cormoran, who is easily as tough as the boys. As they move behind enemy lines they have two main worries: the enemy and the Finns. This isn’t just shoot-em-up (though there’s a fair bit of that) it’s a commentary on Brexit, global warming and the corporate powers that gain from war. Excellent!

Movie of the Week: Thor Ragnarok

Marvel has done it again - delivered a mixture of fast action, high stakes, stunning visuals, charismatic actors and belly laughs in all the right places. Chris Hemsworth has great comic timing and Tom Hiddleston is one of the best loved villains - though, in this case, he's not the big bad. Cate Blanchette is Hela, a forgotten half sibling and goddess of death, who decides that Asgard is hers as soon as Odin dies.

Meanwhile Thor crash-lands on a garbage planet, gets a haircut (pity) and is forced into the arena where he discovers that his opponent is 'a friend from work', yes, the big green guy himself. mayhem ensues.

Eventually Thor, Hulk and Loki go up against Hela and Fenris the wolf in a no-holds-barred finale.

Well worth seeing. One of this year's better movies.

Movie of the Week: Murder on the Orient Express

A star-studded but ultimately bland remake of the classic story. Kenneth Brannagh somehow didn't convince as Poirot. His ridiculous moustache seemed to be wearing him and in some scenes it took on a life of its own.

The five-star cast was largely wasted. Johnny Depp, Judi Dench, Derek Jacobi and Michelle Pfeiffer all had roles that were little more than cameos, though it was nice to see daisy Ridley not carrying a light sabre.

Instantly forgettable.

Movie of the Week: Paddington 2

Awww... a very good-hearted film. Paddington is happily settled in with the Brown family and has made friends in the neighbourhood with his cheery disposition. When he goes in search of an ideal present for Aunt Lucy's hundredth birthday he finds a pop-up book in Mr Gruber's antique shop and starts to save up for it. But it's no ordinary book, ir contains clues to a hidden fortune and soon the dastardly Phoenix Buchanan (Hugh Grant) is out to get the book and the treasure. Poor Paddington is in the wring place at the wring time and is accused of burglary and sent to prison where his sunny smile faces its toughest challenge yet. Expect marmalade, a jailbreak, a daring rescue and even more marmalade. Lovely!

Movie of the Week: Justice League

This had some terrible reviews, so I wasn't expecting much, which meant I was pleasantly surprised. OK, it wasn't Guardians of the Galaxy or  The Avengers, but it was watchable if you didn't think too hard. I like Ben Afflek's Batman (and, of course Jeremy Irons as Alfred). Gal Gadot was underused after such a stunning turn in Woner Woman, but she did her best with what she was given. Zack Snyder was supplemented by some Joss Whedon script-doctoring, and there were one or two good quips, but Snyder/Whedon is not a good pairing. Their styles don't match. I would guess that half the audience wanted a 100% Snyder movie and the other half wanted 100% Whedon (me included).