7 januari 2016
Viking Booty #2
Etiketter:
Böcker,
Hangout,
Viking Booty
25 december 2015
Viking Booty Hangout #1
Etiketter:
Böcker,
Hangout,
Viking Booty
13 oktober 2015
Bokrecension: Thomas Day & Olivier Ledroit - Wika och Oberons raseri
Artwork: 5 stars
Story: 3
stars
Overall: 4
stars
This french
comic book was quite an experience. It's medieval folk tales and Shakespearian
plays reshaped into a modern steampunk epic, mixed with some Norse mythology
and drawn with anime-like excessiveness. The artwork is absolutely gorgeous
(Seriously, look it up!) but the story delivers some disappointingly cliché
elements. It tells the story of young Wika who, as a child, survives the
slaughter of her parents Grimm and Titania. As a young adult Wika starts
discovering her fairy powers and begins a journey of revenge, which will lead
her to the evil prince Oberon. The experienced fantasy reader might not be
attracted to the classical tropes used here (lost princess raised as a poor
orphan, etc.) but who knows what twists and turns are left to discover in the
series, it is just getting started, after all. And I would whole heartedly
recommend it based on the artwork alone (Have you googled the artwork yet? Then
do so! What are you waiting for?!).
Etiketter:
Böcker,
Comics,
Fantasy,
Olivier Ledroit,
Recension,
Thomas Day
6 oktober 2015
Bokrecension: Naomi Novik - Uprooted
In Uprooted
Novik paints a rich fairy tale landscape, breaking the tradition of some tropes
and embracing others. In it we meet the girls Agnieszka and Kasia, best friends
born in the village of Dvernik in a country named Polnya, a fantastical and
slightly twisted depiction of historical Poland. Every ten years Dvernik has to
sacrifice a young maiden to a dragon in return for his protection from a dark,
corrupted wood. In some parts a very recognizable premise which this book shapes
to its own purposes and creates a dragon which is not a dragon, but a man. An
ageless wizard. Everyone expect him to choose the beautiful Kasia as his
servant, but instead chooses awkward, earthly would-be-witch Agnieszka. Little
does she knows the role she will play in stopping the crawling borders of the
wood, and the intricate traps within traps the wood will set for her as
revenge.
Uprooted
reminded me slightly of Jeff Vandermeer’s Annihilation with the
dreamlike/nightmarish description the wood. But while Annihilation is a book of
the new weird sub-genre, depicting the search for a scientific explanation for
the change that has happened to Area X, Uprooted is more a tale of the old
weird, fondly taking inspiration from European folk lore and firmly rooting its
horror in the realm of magic and fantasy.
This was a
greatly enjoyable book; engaging, quick and easy to read. It’s a fairy tale
portraying real characters with real motivations. No one in this novel is truly
evil, but very human with human flaws and making human mistakes. They each have
their own agendas, but the things that drive them are things you can understand
and sometimes sympathise with. Maybe even cry when you learn of the tragedies
that lies behind it all.
And yet I
do not give this book a full five stars because, while entertaining, it failed
to really “wow” me. The world didn’t stay with me the times I put the book down,
however much I enjoyed it while reading. I didn’t go through my day pondering
it’s riddles. This may, of course, not have been the book’s intention to begin
with, but I did expect it’s setting to awe me more than it ended up doing.
Betyg:
Betyg:
Etiketter:
Fantasy,
Naomi Novik,
Recension
1 oktober 2015
Bokrecension: Linnea Sinclair - An Accidental Goddess
Review
after re-reading 2015:
In this
book we meet Captain Gillaine Davré – a military adviser for the Khalaran
Confederation who has a liking for pub-crawling. We also meet the Kiasidira; a
great sorceress from a legendary people called the Raheirans. As it happens, these two are one and the same,
though not necessarily friends. Gillaine wants to be “just Gillie”, but possesses
powers that she never asked for. Powers that make her feel isolated even among
her own people.
When an
accident flings her, and her sentient crystalship Simon, three hundred years
into the future she sees a chance to have people look at her and just see her.
Not a captain, not a sorceress, just a person. She sees a chance to develop
normal relationships with people, most especially with one Admiral Mack Rynan.
But things are not quite so easy, because three hundred years ago she saved the
Khalaran people, and in the centuries since they have made her into a deity, the
titular accidental Goddess. When an old enemy re-emerges Gillie has to decide
if she’s willing to destroy in order to save; destroy an integral part of her
adoptive people’s culture in order to face their adversary as her true,
sorceress self.
An Accidental
Goddess is a science fiction romance, with some elements that are arguably
fantasy, and it’s a balanced blend of all those things. It’s a good science
fiction story, atmospherically reminding me of Babylon 5, with culture clashes
and space battles in and around the space station Cirrus One. It’s also a good
romance novel, where Gillie and Mack are believable characters, their
relationship moves forward with realistic bumps along the way. There are sex
scenes in here, but they are well integrated, tasteful and not the main focus
of the story (a mistake made by many authors who try to write science fiction
romance, but end up writing science fiction erotica instead).
It’s
debatable if a religion such the Khalarans belief in their Lady Kiasidira would
have developed in span of just three hundred years, but I know too little of
actual religion history to speak with any authority.
I love this
book. It’s not perfect, but it ticked off so many of my favourite feel-good
elements that I can do nothing but adore it. If you are a romance reader, I say
give it a try. If you are a science fiction reader, I’d also say give this a
try. It’s fun and easy, but also thought-provoking and action filled.
Original review from 2014:
When I
started reading this I expected it to be a good romance, and it was, but this
was also a surprisingly good science fiction novel. I got some Babylon 5-vibes
from the atmosphere and setting (and I love me some B5!), and I also really
liked the theme about how people's perception and memory of your actions will
change with time after your death (or disappearance and subsequent
time-travelling, as the case might be). For our main character, Gillaine Davré,
that has resulted in an unexpected Goddesshood. I'm not entirely convinced a
religion, such as it is in the book, would have developed in a timespan of
merely three hundred years, but it is an interesting idea nonetheless.
Furthermore, I would have liked it if the author explored the cultural
ramifications of Gillaine's reappearance more than she did, but I still feel
the futuristic elements are sufficiently thought-provoking to appeal not only
to romance genre fans, but also to a majority of science fiction fans. There
were some sex scenes in the book, as is to be expected of a romance, but they
were well integrated in the story and none were overly graphic or alienating to
non-romance readers. Overall this is a very enjoyable book with likeable
characters, exciting action scenes and some sweet moments in-between.
Betyg:
Betyg:
Etiketter:
Linnea Sinclair,
Recension,
Science Fiction
26 september 2015
Bloggen återupplivas
Ja, som titeln antyder så kommer bloggen bli aktiv igen. Planen är att fortsätta ungefär som jag började, men med vissa nya grejer. Bland annat så har jag börjat recensera böcker på Goodreads, och istället för att översätta dem därifrån till svenska, så lär jag nog lägga upp samma text både här och där. Det blir enklast så och jag är lat. Bloggen blir alltså i praktiken tvåspråkig. Jag tänker inte följa något schema vad gäller blogginlägg, utan skriver när jag känner för det och har tiden över. Det blir lite mer spontant och roligt på det viset.
Inom det närmaste så kommer jag lägga upp några äldre bokrecensioner från Goodreads, samt troligtvis berätta om ett och annat biobesök.
Stay tuned!
Inom det närmaste så kommer jag lägga upp några äldre bokrecensioner från Goodreads, samt troligtvis berätta om ett och annat biobesök.
Stay tuned!
25 november 2013
TARDIS repareras
Under den mest olägliga av olägliga tider så bestämde sig min laptop för att sjunga på sista versen och den lilla antydan till planering jag lyckas åstadkomma åkte ju självklart ut genom fönstret. Nu har jag en ny datormaskin i knäet, men inte hunnit skriva något för denna måndag. Dessutom har jag en gaziljon inlämningsuppgifter i skolan, så bloggande - hur roligt det än är - får dock en underordnad plats i priolistan. Jag kommer skriva inlägg de närmaste två månaderna, men kommer troligtvis inte ha tid att göra det varje vecka. Ni får helt enkelt ha lite överseende med det, och ivrigt vänta på tider då jag faktiskt har möjlighet att utveckla den här sidan så som jag vill.
In other news, jag var och såg Hunger Games: Catching Fire på bio. Den var bra. 'Nuff said. :P
Och om ni har tråkigt under dödtiderna för den här bloggen, så kan ni ju lägga några timmar på att lyssna på Noah "Spoony" Antwilers Counter Monkey-avsnitt på YouTube där han nördar D&D för fullt.
Enjoy!
In other news, jag var och såg Hunger Games: Catching Fire på bio. Den var bra. 'Nuff said. :P
Och om ni har tråkigt under dödtiderna för den här bloggen, så kan ni ju lägga några timmar på att lyssna på Noah "Spoony" Antwilers Counter Monkey-avsnitt på YouTube där han nördar D&D för fullt.
Enjoy!
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