“Fiddle-de-dee’s not English.”

Starcross: A Stirring Tale of British Vim upon the Seas of Space and Time! by Philip Reeve
Illustrated by David Wyatt
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC (2007)
380 pages

Oh, this left me giggling almost the whole way. Maybe it’s because the last few books I had read before it were so serious, and it was a relief to read about the more light-hearted adventures of Art and Myrtle. I loved the narrative here as much as I loved it in Larklight, and that’s saying something because stuff in the first person often rubs me the wrong way.

My copy had three lines of titles (Starcross or The Coming of the Moobs! or Our Adventures in the Fourth Dimension — A Stirring Tale of British Vim upon the Seas of Space and Time!) and I had grinned just looking at those. What other narrator could be as droll as Art? And who else would ever use the word “amanuensis” on a title page of a book? I love the title pages and the ads on the inside covers and the chapter titles — I spent a lot of time on both Larklight and Starcross studying those inside covers and the illustrations and having a laugh over them.

As for the story itself, I enjoyed Starcross better than Larklight, though I think the story was stronger in Larklight. In this instalment, we find Art and Myrtle and their mother visiting the hotel Starcross, where strange things are happening. Some old friends make a reappearance . . . and disappear in forms you won’t expect them in. The family vacation ends up with Art and Myrtle having to save the universe. (Again.)

The patriotism and the Victorian sensibilities were absurd and relevant and fun at the same time. I love Myrtle best when she forgets to be “sensible”, and her decision at the end made me cheer. I spent some time reading this book sputtering at Jack. Pirate or not, you better learn how to treat a your lady, young man! And I wonder how Art could be so smart and yet so dense when it comes to Jack/Myrtle. The footnote about how Jack must be using How to Write Love Letters: A Guide for the Perplexed to prop a wobbly table sent me choking with laughter. The joys of being young.

There will be a sequel to this, obviously. I have reliable sources saying that the sequel, Mothstorm, will be out this year. One does not leave his readers gaping at a pirate’s behaviour towards his lady friend, when said lady friend has declared Ambitions of her own. How could you leave us with such a cliffhanger, Mr Reeve!

Queens’ Play by Dorothy Dunnett
Vintage (1997) (First published 1964)
432 pages

This is the second book in Dorothy Dunnett’s Lymond Chronicles. To put things simply (and to avoid any spoilers whatsoever for this or the first book), let’s just say that in this instalment, Francis Crawford of Lymond goes to France.

Uh.

Now I’m stuck. I want to keep these things spoiler-free, but at the same time I just want to flail about. Let’s mention the first line then, since everyone does. It goes: “She wanted Crawford of Lymond.” (And I thought, with an exasperated huff, startling the person standing beside me in the bookstore, who doesn’t?, and I just know that anyone who had enjoyed the first book was thinking the same thing.) But then you notice who it is who wants Lymond and for what, and you can’t help but feel sorry for poor old Tom Erskine, who just happens to be there at the moment. I like Tom Erskine. And his wife Margaret. Come to think of it, what this particular book lacks is strong primary female characters. Thankfully this is remedied most wonderfully in the following books.

Whatever I said about this first book still applies here: there are still shenanigans (though I can’t quite remember if the Spanish make any appearances here — perhaps not — but we definitely have the Irish) and impersonations and court intrigue and people quoting stuff, but for some reason this was easier to read than The Game of Kings. Perhaps it’s because I know what to expect, and was able to simply ignore the quotes and the French phrases and the many people named Janet and Margaret and Mary and all the lords and ladies with titles that were pretty much indistinguishable to me and Lymond’s theatrics. Not that his theatrics are necessarily a bad thing — it was just that his behaviour left me confounded for most of the time in the first book. And his self-destructive tendencies. And this strange, strange behaviour of expecting no one would ever understand him and this habit of never asking for help.

The ending of this book didn’t quite pack a punch as The Game of Kings did, and I think this is the last book you’d be able to finish without desperately wanting the next book in the series. Finishing the next book, The Disorderly Knights, without Pawn in Frankincense in hand would just be pure torture.

Also! There are elephants in this book!

Ah, I give up with the no-spoilers policy. Continue with caution!

Continue reading Queens’ Play by Dorothy Dunnett »

Black Powder War by Naomi Novik
Del Rey (2006)
400 pages (?)

I have a text document always open on my computer. I jot things down in that file, and this includes quick impressions of some of the books I read. For Black Powder War, there’s this line: Granby! Hearts for Granby!

Um.

As you may have guessed, I really like John Granby — putting aside Will Laurence and Temeraire, I think Granby certainly got the best deal when it comes to Novik and characterisation — she has done a splendid job with his character development. And I loved this book — I think the series gets better and better with each instalment, and this one takes us to so many different places and I enjoyed reading about the differences between each culture. (Is it wrong that when I think of this book, certain images from it gets mixed with Dorothy Dunnett’s Pawn in Frankincense, thanks to the latter’s glittering Istanbul and the introduction to a myriad of cultures? The books are not really comparable, and aside from the fact that some scenes take place at similar locations there’s no real similarity. I suppose this just means I should write these things sooner instead of stalling and mixing things up.)

Well. In short: Laurence and Temeraire journey overland from China to the Ottoman Empire!

This instalment has more action than the previous two. I find this exciting! And politics, of course, and people dying, which sort of makes me curdle inside, but that’s what happens when you read a book set in a middle of a war, I suppose. Temeraire’s grown into himself, and his care for Laurence would warm anyone’s heart, yet he still has that naivety that just makes you laugh. And he really cares for his crew. Good old Temeraire.

Novik does have this love affair going on with colons and semicolons, though. Some of the sentences got rather long and unwieldy and made me a bit cross-eyed trying to locate the start of the sentence and connecting it with the end. It doesn’t detract much, though it would have made easier reading if the sentences were shortened.

And because I want to talk about details, the rest of this entry contains spoilers!

Continue reading Black Powder War by Naomi Novik »

Throne of Jade by Naomi Novik
Del Rey (2006)
432 pages

The problem with trying to write these things for books in a series is the immediate need for me to put everything under a cut a declare everything below as a spoiler. Seriously. I because I don’t want people to be spoiled about what happens in the first book, Temeraire/His Majesty’s Dragon, and it leaves me wondering just how much I should mention about the next book to save everyone from grief.

In short: Laurence and Temeraire go to China!

For the long version, I’ll just spoiler-cut the whole thing, because spoilers are not cool.

Continue reading Throne of Jade by Naomi Novik »

The Penderwicks: A Summer Tale of Four Sisters, Two Rabbits, and a Very Interesting Boy by Jeanne Birdsall
David Fickling Books (2006)
234 pages

This is such a sweet, charming story. I didn’t expect to love it as much as I did. I picked it up at the bookstore on a whim — I liked the cover and the subtitle: A Summer Tale of Four Sisters, Two Rabbits, and a Very Interesting Boy and I was surprised by how much I was delighted by the whole whole story.

It follows the story of the Penderwick sisters, who are in Arundel with their widowed father, and the dog Hound, for the summer holidays. Rosalind is the eldest and pretty much the mother figure, practical and responsible; Skye is hot-tempered and stubborn; Jane is dreamy and is always writing, or reciting out loud what she will write; and Batty, the youngest, shy and innocent and never goes anywhere without her butterfly wings and Hound, the dog.

The girls meet Jeffrey and his controlling mother and befriend the boy, and he becomes an accomplice of sorts in their adventures. Here they’ll have to deal with first crushes, horrid mothers, secret meetings and soccer games. One scene I won’t be able to forget: Batty and the bull (”nice horsie”) — that was exhilarating and funny (and honestly a bit scary too). There are problems to be solved and lessons to be learned, and all in great fun. And it’s pretty much true to life: disobeying your parents (sometimes!), trying to run away from home, hijinks of all sorts, keeping secrets, and quiet days together. It reminded me of my childhood a lot, this book, and all the fun I had with my siblings.

A lot of gentle humour is scattered throughout the book: I love their father, and how he handles his daughters (and Jeffrey, too, when it comes to that). Some parts were poignant and sad, and each time Rosalind dotes on Batty (she’s twelve and Batty is four), I’m always touched. I have about the same age gap with my youngest sister. I don’t think I could have had Rosalind’s patience at that age. It leaves me a bit sad when I think that she has had to grow up a bit faster than the other girls her age, after losing her mother just a few weeks after Batty was born.

Batty is adorable without being annoying. I am so glad she speaks in full sentences! Not, I suppose, very true to life, but in any other way, she’s very much a shy four-year-old, peeking at strangers from behind Hound or Rosalind all the time. I love all four of the girls, really, and their father and Hound and Jeffrey.

The writing’s solid, the characters are real, and the whole book was one wonderful ride. I’m glad to know that we’ll see more of the Penderwicks: The Penderwicks on Gardam Street is coming out in April. Now that’s something to look forward to. :)