CBR2 Book 56: "The Book of A Thousand Days" by Shannon Hale

Publisher: Bloomsbury
Page count: 320 pages
Rating: 4 stars
Date begun: June 7th, 2010
Date finished: June 8th, 2010

The Book of a Thousand Days is a retelling of the Grimm fairytale Maid Maleen, set in a world inspired by medieval Mongolia. Dashti is a young maid who is bricked into a tower with the Lady Saren, who is being punished by her father because she refused to marry the suitor he picked for her, Lord Khasar. Lady Saren has to stay in the tower for seven years, or until she relents. There is food placed in the basement for them, and ample provisions, but no door or windows in the tower, only a small hatch for disposing of their waste.

Dashti keeps a journal of their days in the tower, Lady Saren cannot even read or write. She is timid and sullen and eats far too much. While Dashti at first is amazed at the amount of food they have, it quickly becomes clear that with the rats in the basement and the quantities Lady Saren eats, they will never survive for a full seven years. Both of Lady Saren's suitors show up outside the tower, the cruel Lord Khasar to taunt and threaten them, and the kind Khan Tegus, who has never actually seen Lady Saren, only corresponded with her in letters. Saren is too scared to talk to either man, and makes Dashti do it for her. Tegus helps the women by giving them a cat, who manages to keep the rat population down, while Khasar throws fire into their hatch and nearly kills them.

After about two and a half years, their food has nearly run out, and Dashti realizes that they must try to escape, or they will starve to death. Since the rats have loosened the mortar in the basement, they managed to remove enough bricks to escape, and discover that everything around them, including the city Lady Saren's father ruled, has been razed to the ground by Khasar. They seek shelter in the neighboring country, ruled by Khan Tegus, and get work in the kitchen as scullery maids. Khan Tegus believes the Lady Saren is dead, and is set to marry another, to cement his alliance against the evil Khasar, who is determined to conquer all the countries in the area.

Unlike in the original fairytale, where the noble maiden herself is the smart and resourceful one, the heroine of the tale here is the servant. Lady Saren is weak, and scared, and fairly useless throughout the story, and makes Dasthi do everything for her, including talking to her suitors. As the story progresses, it becomes clear that she was never treated well by her family, and may be a bit simple, but she was still frustratingly whiny, and I wanted someone to slap some sense into her several times throughout the book. Dasthi was raised on the plains, and is a "mucker", a kind of healer who can sing away aches, pains and even help with injuries. When a friend of Khan Tegus is hurt, she is called in to help, and once it's discovered that she can read and write, she is promoted from scullery maid to scribe, and gets to spend much more time around Tegus, who she has fallen helplessly in love with.

Khan Tegus is nice, and honourable and everything the prince in a fairytale should be. He feels guilty that he couldn't do more to save the Lady Saren, who he believes died when Khasar destroyed her father's kingdom. He does not love his betrothed, but will marry her for the sake of his people, to strenghten their forces against the evil man threatening them. Lord Khasar is a cruel and evil man, and a very convincing villain. Lady Saren finally tells Dashti why she is so scared of him, and why she refused to marry him, and it suddenly does not seem so implausible that someone would choose seven years of imprisonment in a light-less tower rather than marry him. Obviously, this secret is what is needed to defeat him as well, and Dasthi not only saves her mistress and her beloved Khan, but the kingdom and everyone in it.

The Book of a Thousand Days was a lovely, little story, with a very sensible and brave heroine. After travelling in Mongolia last summer, it was a lovely surprise to me that this book was set in an are so obviously modeled on it, something I had no knowledge of when I bought the book. The different customs and traditions added an exotic element to the story, which made it even better. I highly recommend the book to anyone who likes fairy tales.

Not dead, just lazy

I couldn't help but notice, when I logged onto the blog today, that I have not posted anything since the beginning of June. It may seem as if I haven't read anything at all in the last month, but anyone who's ever met me knows that I would actually have to be dead to stop reading. I've read lots, as a matter of fact. Having counted, I read 13 books, and re-read one in June, I just haven't blogged about them.

At first I was busy finishing the year at my school, and clearing out my desk and getting ready to move to a new work place in August. Then my husband and I went to Dublin on holiday, and once I fell out of the habit of blogging every book, it was so very easy to not start up again. I was very determined that I was NOT going to stop blogging just because I completed the Cannonball Challenge for this year. Hence there will be rather a lot of posts coming, with reviews of many of the books I read in June. For those of you who actually still check this blog occasionally, and possibly even follow it. Now, won't that be exciting?

My big plans for this summer are to learn to drive (have had one lesson so far - very scary - and I suspect it's going to take many lessons and rather a lot of money before I have my license), and read even more than I did last summer. I'm currently spending a lot of time watching my husband play Red Dead Redemption, which is also fun. I will also endeavour to keep blogging, a bit more regularly for the rest of the summer.

CBR2 Book 55: "His at Night" by Sherry Thomas

Publisher: Bantam
Page count: 432 pages
Rating: 4.5 stars
Date begun: June 3rd, 2010
Date finished: June 3rd, 2010

Miss Elissandre Edgerton is a truly desperate woman. Living isolated from the world, she has to devote her life to the care of her bedridden aunt, constantly terrorised by her uncle. The one time she tried to leave, guilt brought her back within the day, and her aunt's situation greatly worsened. The only thing she has as a comfort is a travelogue describing the island of Capri, her uncle has purged the house of all other English language books. She needs to get herself and her aunt away, but sees no way of ever escaping.

Lord Vere is a man of few words, but society in general believes him to be a half-witted idiot who can and will prattle on for ages about the most inconsequential of subjects. This cover serves him well as an agent of the Crown. It also keeps the matchmaking mamas of the ton away, even though he is extremely wealthy and very handsome. Elissandre's uncle, Edmund Douglas, is suspected of selling artificial diamonds. Vere and his agents create an excuse to stay at his house when he is away, and for the first time in years, Elissandre sees a slim chance at escape.

Three days later she has managed to get caught in a compromising situation with Lord Vere (who was only trying to prevent his younger brother from being lured into said situation) and they need to be married as soon as possible. She successfully removes herself and her aunt from her uncle's oppression, but her joy is short-lived. Lord Vere believes her to be a duplicitous, manipulative social climber and detests her, and as soon as her uncle discovers what she has done, he threatens both her and her new husband with grave harm, if his wife is not returned to him swiftly.

I read a lot of lighthearted, humorous romances, which chiefly divert and entertain - they are excellent comfort reads. Sherry Thomas does not write fluffy romance. Several of her books deal with estranged couples, full of resentment towards each other, learning to see the other in a new light and rediscovering the love they once had for one another.

Elissandre and Vere both have deeply troubled pasts, and a lot more emotional baggage than your run of the mill romance protagonist. While it seemed like a brilliant idea to Vere to play the idiot to cover up his covert activities, twelve years of hiding his true self from everyone but a select few, is taking its toll. He is nearly constantly playing a role, hiding his brilliant mind from all who care for him, including his beloved younger brother.

Elissandre has been forced by her uncle's cruel whims to always play the cheerful, dutiful and grateful niece, she has an arsenal of brilliant smiles to hide her inner despair, always with the knowledge that the outside world never suspects what a monster her uncle is. To escape his clutches, she is willing to do almost anything, even marry complete stranger who she believes to be an oafish moron, who clearly detests her for entrapping him. The couple's slow realization that the person they married is not what he or she appears to be, and their discovery of what they can be for the other, is beautiful.

Romances frequently have some form of antagonist, who creates problems for the couple, and slow their progress to the Happily Ever After. His at Night has a true villain, and features some scenes of pure, shocking violence very unusual for the genre. There are scenes of real menace throughout the book, and it is not difficult to understand Elissandre's profound terror of her uncle.

There is also a minor subplot in the book featuring Lord Frederick, Vere's younger brother. Sherry Thomas introduced him in her first novel, Private Arrangements, where he lost in love to Lord Tremaine. In His at Night he finally gets a Happily Ever After of his own. After four novels, Sherry Thomas is now one of the authors whose books I will not only buy, but pre-order.

CBR2 Book 54: "Ten Things I Love About You" by Julia Quinn

Publisher: Piatkus Books
Page count: 384 pages
Rating: 5 stars
Date begun: May 26th, 2010
Date finished: May 26th, 2010

WARNING! CONTAINS MINOR SPOILERS!

The Earl of Newbury needs to father an heir as soon as possible, or the nephew he hates, Mr Sebastian Grey, will inherit the title and accompanying fortune. He needs a fertile woman of good family, and Miss Annabel Winslow, eldest of eight children, is rumoured to be so fertile the birds sing when she's near. While her aunt was fortunate enough to marry a Duke, Annabel's mother did not make as favourable a match, and the Winslows face poverty if she does not find a wealthy husband. Her wealthy grandmother has offered to sponsor her for a season, and now her most ardent suitor appears to be the Earl of Newbury. While Newbury may have been considered a great catch in her grandmother's day, Annabel is not very enthusiastic about the idea of marrying him.

Mr Sebastian Grey is not actually that bothered about inheriting his uncle's title (although the money would be nice). As he is in a state of limbo with regards to his social status, he is invited everywhere - after all, he may be a wealthy Earl one day. Of course, if his uncle does remarry and produce an heir, he is an ex-army officer of indeterminate income - not as eligible a catch for the young ladies. That he has a rather substantial source of income is something he'd rather not reveal, as his deep, dark secret is that he is the writer of a series of wildly popular Gothic novels under a female pseudonym.

Due to a series of unfortunate coincidences, Sebastian and his uncle are suddenly rivals for the hand of Miss Annabel. The more time Sebastian spends in Annabel's company, the more taken by her he becomes. And with every moment spent in Sebastian's company, the prospect of marrying Lord Newbury, even to save her family from poverty, becomes less and less desirable to Annabel. Should she follow her heart and doom her family, or marry sensibly, and be miserable for the rest of the Earl of Newbury's life (as her grandmother points out, he will almost certainly die before Annabel does)?

Ten Things I Love About You is a much more enjoyable read than The Secret Diaries of Miss Miranda Cheever, and much more like Julia Quinn's other novels. It features a lovely heroine and a very likable hero, and the reveal that Sebastian was the author of the lurid Gothic romances that played a central part in What Happens in London filled me with delight. The central couple in What Happens in London, Sir Harry and Lady Olivia also feature in this novel, and it also seems to set up Sir Harry's younger brother, as well as Annabel's cousin Louisa for romances of their own in the future.

The only thing that didn't really work for me in the book, was the "villain", so to speak. There is no good reason for Lord Newbury's hatred of Sebastian, we are given no explanation except spite as why he is so loath to have Sebastian inherit. He is very one-dimensional and feels out of place in what is otherwise a very fun and fluffy read.

CBR2 Book 53: "Magic Bleeds" by Ilona Andrews

Publisher: Ace
Page count: 384 pages
Rating: 5 stars
Date begun: May 25th, 2010
Date finished: May 25th, 2010

WARNING! CONTAINS SPOILERS!

Kate Daniels is an ex-mercenary, living in an alternate version of Atlanta where many of the buildings are crumbling, and technology cannot always be relied on, as fairly frequently, waves of magic sweep in and take everything over. When magic is high, technology doesn't work, so things like firearms, cars, phones and other useful things are useless. You have to have weapons like swords and daggers, and ride a horse or walk. Kate deals with supernatural problems that tend to be to tricky for other people to handle, and generally tries to avoid emotional involvement or close ties to anyone or anything. This is necessitated by her upbringing, and the knowledge that once her father finds her, he will do everything in his power to kill her and anyone she ever cared about.

In the course of the last three books, her resolve to stay hard and unattached has been broken several times. She now works with her best friend, is considered a close friend to several members of the Pack (Atlanta's huge shape-shifting community - not just werewolves here, but pretty much any flavour of shape-shifter you can imagine), has an adopted niece, and in this book she even acquires a dog. There is also Curran, her sometime nemesis, who she has amazing romantic tension with. Curran is the Beast Lord of Atlanta, the leader of the Pack, and as such has heavy responsibilities and strong protective instincts, that clash rather a lot with Kate's independence.

In Magic Bleeds, Kate's relationship to Curran is rather frosty, due to a monumental misunderstanding on both sides. There is a powerful supernatural menace in the city, infecting powerful humans or supernaturals with infectious plagues and taking over their bodies which she has to stop. This turns out to be much more difficult than expected, partially because the being causing the havoc is related to her by blood. Having spent her entire life hiding her powers and abilities, she is now closer to bringing notice to herself than ever before.

As readers of my blog have no doubt noticed, I read a lot of paranormal fantasy. A whole lot of it. Almost all of it first-person narrated by women who to a larger or lesser extent are strong-willed, independent, smart, funny, and kick ass. Of all these heroines, Kate Daniels is my favourite. Hers is not the series I've been reading the longest (that honour is probably held by Sookie Stackhouse - heroine of Charlaine Harris' Southern Vampire/True Blood novels). As a matter of fact, it's only a year and a bit since I first discovered Ilona Andrews (who are actually a husband and wife team writing under her name) and Magic Bites, the first Kate Daniels novel. I have been waiting with bated breath for the fourth novel in the series, however, since I finished reading book 3, Magic Strikes, in early April 2009.

A lot more about Kate's past and parentage is revealed in this book. Once again, there are mythological beings, not just taken from well-known Western mythology. More of both Kate and Curran's personalities are revealed, and the reason why they act the way they do. This is probably the funniest Kate Daniels novel so far, and I laughed out loud several times while reading it. While books 2 and 3 were quite dark and gritty, this one had moments of pure joy and playfulness, nicely balanced with impressive action scenes or emotional exposition.

So to say that my expectations for this novel were high is an understatement. Book 3 ended on a cliffhanger. As an avid follower of Ilona and Gordon Andrews' blog, I knew that quite a lot of important things were going to happen in this novel, and according to their website, Kate would be losing a lot and dealing with some difficult things. So I was naturally anxious, because my emotional investment in this series is bordering on the unhealthy. To my great relief, the book was just as satisfying as I'd hoped. I would also say that the website lied a bit, because I think Kate gained far more than she lost, and is in a much stronger and better position to deal with any future threats. Magic Bleeds gave me a comforting sense of closure, and means that I can patiently wait for the release of Bayou Moon, the second book in the On the Edge series, and Kate 5 sometime next year.

CBR2 Book 52: "The Dying Days" by Lance Parkin

Publisher: London Bridge (Mm)
Page count: 256 pages
Rating: 3.5 stars
Date begun: May 21st, 2010
Date finished: May 21st, 2010


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Doctor Who is the longest running science fiction show in the world. The British show ran for 26 seasons from 1963 until it got cancelled in 1989. The Doctor, a time travelling alien (a Time Lord) from the planet Gallifrey, travels though space and time, experiencing adventures and righting wrongs all over the Universe (but strangely seems to spend most of the time in his televised adventures on Earth). His time machine/space ship looks like a 1950s blue police box, and is quite a lot bigger on the inside than on the outside. He has had a variety of companions through the years, mostly humanoid, although the majority seem to be young women of varying degrees of hotness.

When the Doctor dies, he regenerates into a new body. This means that when the first actor playing the Doctor needed to be replaced, they were able to keep the show going without any major changes. So far, eleven different actors have played the part of the Doctor, and while they are different ages, have different appearances and personalities, they are all aspects of the same character. This is probably one of the things that makes the show just so brilliant, and likely why it’s managed to stay on the air and quite so immensely popular for so long.

After its cancellation in 1989, it was off the air for a total of 17 years, with the exception of a pretty dreadful attempt of the BBC and Fox to re-launch the show with a TV movie in 1996, starring Paul McGann as the Eight Doctor. This attempt failed spectacularly. In 2005, BBC brought the show back again, starring Christopher Eccleston as the Ninth Doctor and Billie Piper as his companion, and this time it did not fail. It’s been one of the biggest television successes since the return, and over ten million watched the end of the hugely popular Tenth Doctor (the lovely David Tennant)’s era on New Year’s Day this year.

As well as the TV show, there have always been novels published about the Doctor’s adventures as well. While the show was on the air, these were usually novelizations of the television episodes, but once the show was off the air, the novels was the only way the fans could get new adventures. From 1991, a series of books was launched, the Virgin New Adventures, which served for a lot of fans as a continuation of the TV series, starring the Seventh Doctor (Sylvester McCoy). Only one novel featured the Eight Doctor, who on telly has otherwise only appeared in the aforementioned dreadful TV movie. He does, however, feature as the Doctor in several series of audio dramas and later got his own series of novels published by the BBC.

But The Dying Days by Lance Parkin is the one Virgin New Adventures novel the Eight Doctor got. The Doctor’s companion is Professor Bernice “Benny” Summerfield, an archaeologist from the 26^th Century, who first appeared in the Virgin New Adventures, but later in a series of novels and audio adventures of her own.

The book is clearly set shortly after his regeneration from the Seventh Doctor (shown in the TV movie), as Benny is expecting to meet a short, older man, and is surprised when he turns out to be younger, quite a bit taller, a lot more handsome and dressed in a Victorian velvet frock coat. She doesn’t have long to come to terms with the change before she and the Doctor witness a helicopter crash close by, and have to run to see if they can be of assistance.

Soon Benny and the Doctor have to try to stop Ice Warriors from taking over Britain with the help of sinister government officials – and despite it being a very action-packed adventure with an enormous space ship hovering over London and a potential army of Ice Warriors – there are never more than two Ice Warriors “on screen” at the same time. This is a direct response from the author to TV movie producer Philip Segal, who claimed that the reason the TV movie didn’t feature any monsters was because the budget wouldn’t stretch to more than two monster costumes, and “you can’t show an invasion story with only two creatures on screen at the same time”. Lance Parkin proves him very wrong, and if my husband hadn’t pointed this plot point out to me, I doubt I would even have realized that there aren’t hordes of Ice Warriors present in some of the scenes.

Fairly early after starting the Cannonball Read in November, I promised my husband that one of the books I would read would be a Doctor Who novel. Since he is the biggest Doctor Who fan I know, he has watched nearly every existing episode of the show, listened to most of the audio dramas, and read many of the novels. He promised me he would find one that I would enjoy, and as he knows I’m quite a fan of the Eight Doctor from the audio stories I’ve heard with him, and was very disappointed with the TV movie – he figured this would serve as a much worthier introduction to the Eight Doctor than the failed TV pilot.

I’m not even vaguely as big a fan of the show as my husband is, but I have greatly enjoyed BBC’s relaunch since 2005, and also watched and liked a selection of stories with pretty much all of the former Doctors. I’ve also listened to quite a few of the audio stories, but I’d never read one of the book, figuring they were a bit too much like licensed fanfic. Having seen quite a bit of the classic series helped when I read the book, as it does refer to quite a few of the Doctor’s previous adventures and companions. I do not, however, think that someone who had only seen the new show, or who didn’t know a lot of the back-story of the Doctor, would have any trouble picking up this book and enjoying it. If you’ve never heard of the show, it may not be the best introduction, but as a casual fan of Doctor Who it was a fun read. 

CBR2 Book 51: "The Secret Diaries of Miss Miranda Cheever" by Julia Quinn

Publisher: Piatkus Books
Page count: 320 pages
Rating: 2 stars
Date begun: May 19th, 2010
Date finished: May 20th, 2010

WARNING! CONTAINS SPOILERS!

Miss Miranda Cheever, daughter of an absent-minded baronet, has loved her best friend's older brother since she was ten years old. Now she is nineteen, and he is recently widowed. As Miranda's father tends to forget that she even exists (she is not some dusty Greek tome he can translate), she has practically been raised alongside her best friend, Lady Olivia Bevelstoke (heroine of Julia Quinn's What Happens in London - a delightful book). That the Viscount Turner therefore sees her more as a sister than as a potential love interest seems nearly inevitable.

Nigel Bevelstoke, Viscount Turner, does not mourn his recently deceased wife. She died when riding to meet her lover, pregnant with another man's child. Turner married when he was young (20) and optimistic, and has had all his illusions about love shattered. He is angry and bitter and determined never to marry again, no matter how vexing his mother may find this idea. But when his sister decides that it would be a brilliant idea for Miranda to marry their brother, so she and Miranda can always be sisters, he finds himself very upset by the idea.

I really love most of Julia Quinn's books, and had actually avoided The Secret Diaries of Miss Miranda Cheever for a long time, as I know a lot of her fans are not too fond of it. I have now discovered why. While many of Julia Quinn's books feature spirited and sensible heroines and really attractive and intelligent heroes, amazingly witty and sparkling dialogues and really satisfying romances - this book, while still quite sweet, had too many things that annoyed me.

First of all, I can accept that Turner had trouble with trusting women because his first wife was an unfaithful beeyatch, but suddenly kissing your sister's best friend just because you're drunk and upset, and she's there - not cool. He seems to get carried away and jumping her multiple times, and swears he will avoid her in future, just to end up seducing her at a house party, shortly after she has blurted out that she has loved him for a decade. They end up getting married, and while he soon discovers that he didn't really hate marriage - just marriage to his former shrew of a viscountess. This doesn't mean that he can actually tell his pretty awesome wife that he loves her. Not until she nearly dies at the end is he able to get over his broody hangups to realize that he doesn't want to lose her.

Miranda is a pretty likable heroine, but can be annoying too. I get that she loved Turner, but letting herself get seduced and knocked up was not what such a supposedly sensible and pragmatic heroine would do. Especially after she has commented negatively on the judgment of another acquaintance who had to get married after getting seduced. She then decides that since Turner clearly doesn't love her, she does not want to marry him, and conveniently miscarries the baby she's carrying. She seems completely unfazed by losing a baby, even though it is explained that her mother had a history of miscarrying and that's the reason Miranda is an only child. When she ends up marrying Turner after all, I do understand her frustration that he is completely unable to appreciate what he has, and the fact that he can't get over his first wife's faithlessness.

Turner's callousness was definitely the biggest problem for me. After he seduces Miranda, he goes away to visit a friend, and stays away for six weeks, without sending her so much as a note. Miranda has to deal with realizing she's pregnant and try to figure out how to avoid a scandal all on her own. I never really understood why in the world he was worthy of being loved by Miranda for so long, and though she could probably have done better married to the younger brother, who also seemed taken with her. Turner is clearly the worst hero Julia Quinn has created, and since I love so many of her other books, and they usually never fail to entertain me, the disappointment of this book, even having lowered my expectations due to the varying reviews, was all the greater. I'm hoping that Ten Things I Love About You, which is out in a few days' time is more up to her usual quality.