Andy Graham Author

Author of dark fiction and fantasy, dystopia, horror.

Reviews

The Book of the Ancestor by Mark Lawrence

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I’ve never made any secret of my admiration of Mark Lawrence as an author. Neither have I hidden the fact that Red Sister is one of my favourite books.

Then I read Grey Sister.

I devoured it in just over a day. It takes everything that is good about Red Sister:

  • the ebb and flow of drama that builds relentlessly
  • the imagination
  • sublime prose (and that opening line…)
  • the insights into human nature
  • the people — brilliantly flawed and utterly human
  • a plot that both twists and turns as it winds itself around you and won’t let go
  • an attention to detail that doesn’t overwhelm the story
  • the intelligence behind it all

and somehow improves on it.

Grey Sister gives us characters like –

Joeli Namsis – a villain in the mould of Dolores Umbridge, so much worse than any imaginary monsters because her petty vindictiveness is so relatable.

Abbess Glass – a woman surrounded by super humans who has her own power: an uncanny ability to read people and think through consequences.

Nona Grey – a complicated girl centred by two opposites: rage and friendship.

There are sacrifices – both the noble ones of people dying for their friends and the ignoble ones of those hiding behind others’ deaths.

As good as Red Sister is, its grey sister is better.

The word ‘unputdownable’ is over used. This is one of those books that deserves it.

Bound is a short story set between Grey and Holy Sister. It’s short. It’s twisty. It’s good. And features a nice twist on that opening line from Red Sister.

What of Holy Sister?

Holy Sister doesn’t have the pace of Grey Sister but packs its own punch as the tragedies mount. There is more than the vague glory of death here, characters change, they grow, they learn respect and love. But, unusually for a Mark Lawrence book, I had a few small issues with this one.

SPOILER ALERT!!!

 

I’d have preferred the story be given chronologically rather than split between two time lines. Some of the tension was leeched from the ‘ice’ timeline knowing that Nona is in the ‘siege’ timeline. You could argue that her presence in the latter half of the book was a given, but it turned the overriding question from ‘will she survive?’ into ‘how will she survive?’

I’d also rather have had Abbess Glass present for at least some of the book. Her absence worked for the story, especially the ‘reveal’ of Abbess Wheel. But, given how important she was in the previous books, I wanted her final moments on the page rather than in Nona’s memory. (Yes. I know that’s almost the same thing.)

And, being pedantic, I’d rather have had a few more commas. There were some sentences when the flow of the story stuttered as I had to reread what had just happened to who(m).

 

SPOILER ALERT OVER!!!

I feel a little churlish pointing these things out as the book is great. It reminded me of the finale of Emperor of Thorns (the technology left behind by a previous civilisation) and The Wheel of Osheim (the relentless carnage of the final siege). Holy Sister builds on its predecessors and rounds out the series nicely.

To sum up…

Red Sister is one of the few books I’ve read more than once. It will be one of the few that I will read more than twice. Along with the sequels.

Buy the books.

Beg, borrow or barter for some free time.

Read them.

Repeat.

The Rise of Sigurd series by Giles Kristian

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After last week’s mini-review of The Raven Saga, it’s only logical that I follow up with Giles Kristian’s follow up/ prequel to that series: The Rise of Sigurd.

The books were written after Raven but are set before them (Sigurd is already a jarl by the time the Raven books come around.) They chart the rise of Sigurd from a younger son fighting for recognition, through the betrayal of his family, to him becoming a respected jarl.

Essentially the books follow the same pattern as Raven: vikings with a heart of gold (Mainly. Some are nasty b*st*rds.) plunder and loot their way through one country after another. Most survive. Most of their enemies don’t.

It’s gory. (Again). It’s imaginative. Sigurd is a likeable character full of ‘low cunning’. He is surrounded by a varied band of characters, each one different to the next. Once more, an honourable mention goes to Svein the Red. Despite his brutality, he has a simple/ honest approach to life which makes him a nice foil to Sigurd’s ‘Loki-cunning’. It also sets Svein up for some good observational humour.

The world and its people’s lives are authentic and evocative. The details that give that realism aren’t rammed down the readers’ throats but are woven into the story well. There are no information dumps that read like a Wikipedia page

There is a lot of action and the series gives a nice back story to the characters present in Raven. (Those that survive, obviously…)

The writing style is much smoother than Raven. Stands to reason, I guess, but there is a noticeable jump in quality: the prose, the descriptions of nature in the vein of Bernard Cornwell, the action scenes. They are all much more developed and contain hints of the writing that Kristian produces in his superb Arthurian tales (Lancelot and Camelot.) Part of me wishes I had read Sigurd before Raven as it allows for a chronological unfolding of events. That said, given the evolution of the writing style, it may have been a little jarring to have done so.

Gotta love the covers!

I don’t have many criticisms (I like Kristian’s books), but there are a few things that came up.

MINI-SPOILER ALERT!

 

Valgerd. I have no problem with shield-maidens. Women fought in history. It’s a fact, if you don’t like it, go read a book. My issue with Valgerd is what happened with Sigurd, especially given her previous relationship. It felt crowbarred in, almost as if someone said ‘this book needs some romantic tension’. I think the story would have been better had Sigurd admired Valgerd from afar and never got the chance to lay with her. (Or ‘swive’ her. There’s a lot of ‘swiving’ in the books.)

 

MINI-SPOILER ALERT OVER!

Secondly, the action. It’s relentless. A change of pace would have been good. Essentially Sigurd and his crew go somewhere, get into trouble and either trick or fight their way out of it. They may get treasure. They may get women. They may get nothing. Rinse and repeat for three books. It’s a harsh assessment but that was the way it felt after having read Raven and then Sigurd.

On that note, the sting is taken out of many of the fight scenes because I know who survived having read Raven. There’s not much the author can do about that, I know. That, in itself, is enough of a reason to read Sigurd first.

All in all, though. I liked the series. If you want a book about vikings who don’t wear horned helmets, if you don’t mind gore and violence, if you want a book that is well-researched but doesn’t use facts as a substitute for a plot, if you like dark humour and fast-paced books, these are for you.

Just watch out for the blood.

I Am Legend by Richard Matheson

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My review in a nutshell: a slow classic that didn’t always work for me.

Want that with more feeling?

Here we go…

  • It’s a great take on the vampire story, I particularly liked the cause of vampirism and the ponderous steps Robert Neville makes to working that out.
  • It’s clever.
  • It’s descriptive. (Too much so in some places.)
  • I liked the contrast between hunter and hunted – a much more acute problem than many vampire books because Neville is alone.
  • Ben Cortman is a nice touch.
  • The scene where Neville realises his watch has stopped really got me going.
  • The dog! Did you have to do that? That was brutal.

But apart from those moments, much of the first part of the book just seemed to pootle along.

Then Ruth arrives.

I don’t want to give anything away so won’t say much about her. But from this point on, the book picks up considerably. And that was what was lacking for me for much of the story: a second character.

Neville’s wife and daughter and a huge part of his life but only in memory. Ben Cortman doesn’t really count as a companion. I was missing the dynamics of more than one person on the page. Ruth gives the book, and Neville, what they needed.

Her presence also sets up nicely for the end – the new reason for Neville being hunted and what happens to him. It was a great twist that I didn’t see coming and leads up nicely to the last sentence of the story.

All in all, I Am Legend is a good, measured read but I feel it could have done with Ruth appearing earlier to balance out Neville’s solitary existence. I realise that evoking a feeling of loneliness was probably one of the aims of the book, but the lack of a companion, and some of the overly precise descriptions of what he was doing, took the warmth out of the novel

I’d still recommend it. After all, it’s a classic.

Camelot by Giles Kristian

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After reading Lancelot, I had high hopes for Camelot. But did it live up to the high standards of its father?

Short answer – yes, just.

Long answer below.

The book is set about a decade after the final battle that ends Lancelot/ Lancelot. It features many of the same people, has the same prose that is just the right side of purple, and has the same biting action sequences. It chronicles the life of Lancelot’s son as he is ripped from the sanctuary of a secluded monastery and thrust into a world full of blood, rage and love.*

There is a depth and colour to the world which is vivid and meticulous but occasionally overwhelming. (In Lancelot there were too many trees; in Camelot, birds. They were everywhere. Stands to reason given a lot of action was in a marsh but even so…)

There are parallels to its predecessor: a love interest, a quest (a cauldron this time, not a sword), a boy coming of age.

There is tragedy, senseless loss, depictions of the brutal life of those times, moments of loyalty and devious trickery (Take a bow, Merlin.)

There is the same vast array of characters and places with unsayable names.

(Another shout out to the proofreaders who must have been put through the red-line wringer by their spellcheck machinery.)

All in all, it is a worthy follow up to its predecessor. (In his Author’s Notes, Giles Kristian calls it a companion novel rather than a sequel.)

But, it falls just short of the high standards of Lancelot. This doesn’t make it a bad book. Not by any means. It is worth reading, preferably directly after Lancelot so the events of that book which are referenced in Camelot are still fresh. If there are so many parallels between the two, why is there a discrepancy?

At first, I thought it was the action sequences. They are good, but are a shade slower, not quite as bright. I wondered if that was deliberately done to reflect the age of many of the warriors. But ultimately, they are not the reason this book is not quite the equal of its father.

It’s the protagonist.

Another stunning cover.

Lancelot burned. You could feel it in him from the moment he stepped onto the page. Though his devotion to his hawk, his adoration of Pelleas and his rivalry with Melwas. To his love for Arthur and, of course, Guinevere, who consumed his dreams and days and, ultimately, his life and death. Lancelot’s ferocious personality drove the book forwards to its bloody conclusion. He was a lord of war and a lord of the page.

Galahad was forever in his father’s shadow. Arguably, he makes a longer, harder journey that his father: from his time as a monk to his role as a fearsome warrior on the vulnerable right-hand side of the shield-wall. But he didn’t have the passionate depths of his father and that, I think, is where the book doesn’t shine as much.

That said, I’ll repeat myself:

Camelot. Is. Not. A. Bad. Book.

But Lancelot is better.

Buy both. Read both. You’ll enjoy them.

*I don’t see the point of giving you a blow by blow account of the plot. Read the book if you want that. Mr Kristian tells the story much better than I do…

Lancelot by Giles Kristian

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A great book and a novel twist on the Arthurian legend.

The story stretches from Lancelot’s torrid early childhood, through the relative safety of his early teens and a blossoming love that will shape his life, to his role as ‘lord of war’ and his part in both Arthur’s and Briton’s fate. Underlying the whole book is the unchanging devotion of a young boy.

There’s no need to summarise the plot more than that, you can read the book for that. So, what did I think?

• The prose is beautiful.
• The battles and duels are excruciatingly good.
• The ‘training montage’ of his childhood and his relationship with his mentor are very well done. (In particular what Lancelot does for the man at the end of Pelleas’s life.)
• The background, myths, history and omens are woven into the text exceedingly well.
• Similarly, the technical elements of the world are present but don’t dominate.
• There is a huge cast of well-rounded characters to love, hate and mourn.
• There is frustrated love and impotent rage; vengeance, sacrifice and betrayal.
• Some people get their comeuppance, others, maddeningly, do not. Still more remain devious and obtuse throughout.

All in all, I liked it a lot.

A stunning cover.

That said, there are a few minor issues.

The first is the pace. It ranges from blindingly fast in some sections to slow in others. Some ebb and flow is good, but the contrast is occasionally too much.

One reason for this is the prose – as stunning as it is, it can take up too much space e.g. when describing nature. Up to a point, a tree is a tree. Move on.

Also relating to the pace is the sentence structure. On the whole, it is used well and varies considerably. From punchy fragments. To longer sentences that have minimum punctuation and stretch on and on and on but are difficult to follow until the next full stop heaves into sight.

One last gripe – the section just past the halfway mark. It felt as if people were being moved around for the final, relentless push to the last battle. Lancelot’s childhood is a little guilty of this prolonged scene setting, too. I didn’t mind this as much. Why? Because, it seethes with the bubbling emotions between the teenagers on an island which I’m not even going to attempt to spell.

(Shout out to the proofreader, by the way. Keeping track of the spellings of the names in the book cannot have been easy.)

I want to stress, though, that these gripes are minor. Once all the characters have been built and shuffled into place, when Lancelot’s old enemies unite with his new ones, and Guinevere reenters his life, the book builds relentlessly to one inescapable conclusion: ruin.

All in all, Lancelot is dauntingly good.

I’ve already pre-ordered the next in the series and have an eye on the rest of the author’s novels.

Not to mention all the books mentioned in the back matter…

*sigh*

Too many books, too little time.

#thestruggleisreal

The Whisper Man by Alex North

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I don’t generally read crime fiction but I took a chance on The Whisper Man because it came highly recommended. Without giving away too much, it combines elements of The Sixth Sense and The Silence of the Lambs, throws in a young boy and his father, and then puts them dead centre of every parent’s worst nightmare.

Did I enjoy it?

Essentially, yes. The opening 25% (Yes, I read ebooks) was genuinely chilling, to the point that I wondered if I’d be better reading it at day rather than last thing at night.

The last 15% or so is also an incredibly quick read as everything comes to a head.

But the middle section felt flat. Maybe it was because the opening and ending were so good, but the story seemed to lose its way. There were too many points-of-view and one co-incidence too many. All of a sudden there were a host of characters and revelations. The big reveals about the parents (and grandparent) I found a little hard to accept e.g. who they are and where they lived. The identity of the son’s imaginary friend was a nice touch and his supernatural abilities were explained at the end. But, initially, I couldn’t work out if this book was a creepy crime thriller or whether there was something more unreal to it.

That said, the author gets a lot into a relatively short space and does it well. (Bear in mind I’m not a regular reader of this genre so am not aware of the tropes and cliches.) There are copycat killings, complex family relationships that have a myriad of consequences (both good and evil), regret and hopes, and some implied moments of horror that happen ‘off-screen’ that are gruesome to imagine. All in all – worth it.

Just make sure you lock your doors and windows at night while you read it. Especially if you have kids.

It’s a stunning cover, especially when you look at it close up.