Booklog 33/2022: Lavie Tidhar: The Escapement

The Stranger rides across a surreal landscape/dreamscape, the Escapement, in search of a magical flower that will save the life of his son. In a parallel world, a man sits by the hospital bed of a comatose child on life support. Occasionally the Stranger is catapulted into that unbearably sad world… or is it the other way around? The title is double edged. The Escapement is not just a world in which the Stranger can take refuge, but an escapement is a mechanism which regulates clockwork, and indeed the clock is ticking as the search for the flower is hijacked by events taking place in a Western style setting. Expect clowns and gunfights. This novel manages to be both lyrical and downright weird while heading for, perhaps, the most fitting conclusion

Booklog 34/2022: Brandon Sanderson: Dawnshard – Stormlight Archive Novella

I like Sanderson’s writing generally, but I haven’t read any of the Stormlight Archive before. This (supposed) novella’s write-up said that it had characters who had been minor (overshadowed) characters in previous books, taking centre stage, so I figured it might be a good way to sample this world. Sadly, it isn’t, or at least I didn’t get on all that well with it. There were a lot of unexplained words and concepts that were not particularly easy to get via context. However I persevered and reached the end. It’s difficult to judge length when you read on a Kindle, but this felt like a novel, not a novella. OK, the book itself… The main character in this story is a paraplegic ship owner, Rysn, sent to investigate the mysterious island of Akinah, together with her ailing pet Chiri-Chiri, last of the larkins, and Lopen the one-armed windrunner. No ship has ever returned from the island. It’s Rysn’s job to find out what’s going on.

Booklog 35/2022: Sophia Holloway: Kingscastle

Captain William Hawksmoor, a half-pay Captain in the Royal Navy, currently without a command is surprised to find that, despite being the youngest son of a youngest son, he’s inherited an estate (Kingscastle) and a title (Marquis of Athelney). The only stipulation is that he should marry before the trustees can release the estate funds to him. So far, so Regency romance. What makes this a bit different is that much of it is told from William’s point of view and concentrates on him learning how to be a Marquis, seeing a tailor, acquiring a valet, when for the last fifteen years he’s needed nothing but his naval uniform. But William rises to the occasion. He has to cope with a vicious aunt (living in the estate’s dower house) and a monstrous flood, but he has allies (who are involved in a sub-plot romance). Lady Willoughby Hawksmoor, the harridan aunt, is determined that William should marry her timid daughter, but William realises that his aunt’s paid companion, Eleanor Burgess, is more to his liking. It all works out the way you might expect, but the journey is interesting. This is a very ‘clean’ romance, don’t expect sexual romps as in Bridgerton.