Booklog 63/2021: Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman: Good Omens

I'm glad I saw the TV version of this before reading it, because now the voices of Crowley and Aziraphale are firmly stuck in my head and they make me smile. An angel (Aziraphale) and a demon (Crowley) have been opposite numbers, resident on Earth since… well… in the beginning. They long ago passed the hating-each-other phase and reached the getting-on-rather-better-than-their-own-particular-departments-would- like phase. They're also very fond of Earth and of their lifestyle. So when the antichrist is born and the apocalypse is nigh, the not-quite-demonic demon and the slightly-less-than-angelic angel team up to see what can be done about it. Utterly charming.

 

 

 

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Booklog 64/2021: Gaie Sebold: Bad Gods Babylon Steel #1

Caveat, this was originally published as Babylon Steel. I loved it then and I love it now.. I have to go and re-read Ms Sebold's other books: Shanghai Sparrow and Dangerous Gifts (another Babylon Steel novel).

Babylon Steel is a high-class brothel keeper in Scalentine, a place with many portals to other planes and a mixed population of humans and other races, furred, scaled and magical.. She's a tough cookie, revelling in sex and always ready for a fight. She's gathered about her a family of sorts: her cook, her guards and her prostitutes, plus there's a police chief she can rely on for a good game of chess. She prides herself on running the best brothel in town, but she's not having a good week. Her taxes are way overdue and she's not sure she can pay the bill. The Vessels of Purity, a strict religious order (of men) are protesting against brothels.

When the mysterious (and very attractive) Darask Fain offers her a job finding a missing girl, Babylon decides to take it, but there are complications.  Neither Fain nor the missing girl are quite what they seem, but neither is Babylon, and Babylon's secret past is about to catch up with her. Babylon's past and present are told in alternating chapters, beautifully timed so that they both come together at exactly the right moment. Babylon has a thing about young girls being taken advantage of and what she'll do to help goes beyond money.

This book has a great cast of characters and there's never a dull moment. Babylon has the knack of making friends and her contacts across the city are introduced both as characters and as part of the world-building. From lizard men and four-breasted hermaphrodites to Police Chief Bitternut who's a were… but a were what… this is fascinating glimpse into the world of Scalentine as Twomoon approaches - a massive conjunction that echoes across all the planes of existence.

Booklog 65/2021: Mary Jo Putney: Once a Laird – Rogues Redeemed #6

I read an earlier book from the Rogues Redeemed series. though I'd forgotten it until there was a crossover of characters towards the end of the book. This is set in the years shortly after Waterloo, so maybe 1820ish. Kai Ramsay, the designated heir, comes home to Thorsay (a fictional archipelago based on Orkney) when he receives news that his grandfather, the laird, is fading fast. He's been away from the islands for 12 years, having adventures (and possibly being a British spy) around Constantinople. Dutifully he returns home, arriving just in time to say goodbye to his grandfather who has been ably assisted in his declining years by Signy Matheson, the younger sister of Kai's long-dead fiancee. Granddad tells Kai to marry Signy, and the stage is set. The two fall in love slowly (after resolving a few issues), and Signy, full of common sense, helps Kai to take up the lairdship. There are financial difficulties and a bit of a problem with Kai's rich cousin, but to be honest there's not much tension in the first half of the book. Oh, someone takes a pot-shot at Kai. but it doesn't seem to be of much significance and it's not followed up. It's a sweet love story but without a lot of highs and lows. Kai is interested in antiquities and there's interest there. Eventually the other 'Redeemed Rogues' from pervious books, all make an appearance to give the book a good ending. Though there isn't much of a plot this is oddly charming with interesting main characters.