tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5962038445331643782024-03-14T11:46:11.947+09:00this is how she fight startkamohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10785763841038321633noreply@blogger.comBlogger585125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-596203844533164378.post-21272143222473741142018-05-04T07:00:00.000+09:002018-05-04T07:00:12.820+09:00Amberlough<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivSbxa8Is2RKcPRhQ5MAipbF1yVyjOkegBppNl8kQuuR-XGgOt2KAqA_mHanLlXDToeSJLtCbQyLuEOOB_P604qQACnotTVMlF3GoFQ30VZJuB_O-PIS9cT0zUAv3EtCiDrYABP9T5iKzO/s1600/amberlough.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="686" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivSbxa8Is2RKcPRhQ5MAipbF1yVyjOkegBppNl8kQuuR-XGgOt2KAqA_mHanLlXDToeSJLtCbQyLuEOOB_P604qQACnotTVMlF3GoFQ30VZJuB_O-PIS9cT0zUAv3EtCiDrYABP9T5iKzO/s320/amberlough.jpg" width="219"></a><span lang="EN-US"><a href="https://us.macmillan.com/books/9780765383815">Lara Elena Donnelly, 2017</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">(March 2018)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US">A spy and a love story in three acts, of which
the middle one is excellent, the first is an excessively detailed infodump, and
the third is a little too bleak for its own good. All this adds up to a good
book that needs, but repays (but then reclaims), quite a bit of patience. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US">Amberlough City is the capital of the
self-named region that surrounds it, one of the four semi-autonomous states of the
federation of Gedda. It’s a playground for what, in our world at least, we might
label Jazz Age hedonism, and we explore it through the eyes of Cordelia Lehane,
a burlesque dancer, Aristide Makricosta, her part-time MC and a full-time
smuggler, and Cyril DePaul, his lover and a spy. Over the course of the first
act it’s revealed that the far-right Ospie party is rising to power in one of Amberlough’s
sister-states, and Cyril is dispatched in order to subvert their planned theft
of the election. It goes wrong in a way I’m still not entirely sure about. In
fact I’m not entirely sure about a lot of things, exactly, but it all (eventually)
clicks into place when you realize that the Ospies are the Nazis and Gedda is a
simplified version of 1920s Europe. The middle section of the book takes us on
a rollicking gallop through a city in the throes of occupation, and it closes
in a frankly distressing manner as the noose tightens around our three leads
and all that they love.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br></div>
</div>
<a href="http://fightstart.blogspot.com/2018/05/amberlough.html#more">Read more »</a>kamohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10785763841038321633noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-596203844533164378.post-63650781991023334282018-04-30T07:00:00.000+09:002018-04-30T07:00:08.837+09:00Raven Stratagem<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggTNBcheRFcnfLdByEgbgi2bxgfFTVbQ-jczsBYMcAnq1cGKG2KInHfujhRNu-dUekxTK3LoPNnVbOqjHOfdcx8mKG9OrEo3SmLtTCYxFdrg740gmpUfAbupFGboR3L0FFl5yr93oP9GLL/s1600/ravenstratagem.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="525" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggTNBcheRFcnfLdByEgbgi2bxgfFTVbQ-jczsBYMcAnq1cGKG2KInHfujhRNu-dUekxTK3LoPNnVbOqjHOfdcx8mKG9OrEo3SmLtTCYxFdrg740gmpUfAbupFGboR3L0FFl5yr93oP9GLL/s320/ravenstratagem.jpg" width="210" /></a><span lang="EN-US"><a href="http://rebellionstore.com/products/raven_stratagem">Yoon Ha Lee, 2017</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">(February 2018)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US">Less “Wow!” shock-of-the-old than its
<a href="https://fightstart.blogspot.jp/2017/02/ninefox-gambit.html">predecessor</a>, but a better story. Somehow manages to avoid Middle Volume
Syndrome, giving a whole, self-contained narrative while still holding back
enough juice for the final installment. Lee’s only getting better as a writer,
and the best news is that <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Revenant Gun</i>
comes out very soon indeed.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<br />kamohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10785763841038321633noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-596203844533164378.post-22902435636529893582018-04-27T07:00:00.000+09:002018-04-27T07:00:01.915+09:00Things We Lost in the Fire / Things We Found During the Autopsy<a href="http://portobellobooks.com/things-we-lost-in-the-fire">Mariana Enriquez, 2016 [Megan McDowell, 2017]</a><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><a href="https://www.blaft.com/products/things-we-found-during-the-autopsy">Kuzhali Manickavel, 2014</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">(February 2018)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgce7uvCq7fAn4YxOZOZxTDs-eP9BecIOHPO-UVwj5ak5q-0v19zFFqz8JJ_HQsAECz4AzWq7WUSSyO7DPg34XuqV-E0GzWURxlcnZG7Uowe-jbPy0wAMbcaHWbPAJJTjWBtJaTe9oarQBG/s1600/thingswelostinthefire.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="368" data-original-width="230" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgce7uvCq7fAn4YxOZOZxTDs-eP9BecIOHPO-UVwj5ak5q-0v19zFFqz8JJ_HQsAECz4AzWq7WUSSyO7DPg34XuqV-E0GzWURxlcnZG7Uowe-jbPy0wAMbcaHWbPAJJTjWBtJaTe9oarQBG/s320/thingswelostinthefire.jpg" width="200" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwL6rNbGmSCrlkhz0rwemof8wVJLQ90xjsGvt8UDlzlX_MPC6YWgH0evlVk50fjfc6QkVn1UC6O-70Z9rsySxUkXBfZQSBjgMp4TjgIl1OpEvBZbSrmEBpdaygDFjrWzl1r2cQ7Yai32eZ/s1600/thingswefoundduringtheautopsy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="475" data-original-width="308" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwL6rNbGmSCrlkhz0rwemof8wVJLQ90xjsGvt8UDlzlX_MPC6YWgH0evlVk50fjfc6QkVn1UC6O-70Z9rsySxUkXBfZQSBjgMp4TjgIl1OpEvBZbSrmEBpdaygDFjrWzl1r2cQ7Yai32eZ/s320/thingswefoundduringtheautopsy.jpg" width="207" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US">I must confess I read these books simply
for the story implied by the juxtaposition of their titles. This was unfair, as
both short story collections are, in their own very different ways, very good
indeed. The Enriquez is a slice of Argentinian weird noir, with an off-kilter, vaguely
supernatural vibe that reads like Shirley Jackson’s edgier younger sister,
while I literally cried laughing at the Manickavel. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Things We Found During the Autopsy</i> is a breathtaking collection of
short, powerful, and often violently funny stories. Driven, urgent stories,
though I was often unsure as to whether they were driven by satire or just
sheer rage.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><i>The Gentoo penguins will be confused
and angry that you have accused them of slavery and invading the Caribbean …
thus signalling the beginning of great violence.</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<br />kamohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10785763841038321633noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-596203844533164378.post-50177725070196481182018-04-23T07:00:00.000+09:002018-04-23T07:00:06.608+09:00The Call of Cthulhu<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0Vf6oJtyZ2pBz0jPz-ag7ndA4Tenuqol9hBKw1cDhhutWsfSIh2gE2NXBBF-mqH-TV_mXstHmlnoNr5fat45TwOWgB9l2b_j-dLW7u4Mq81eWG2t5b74t9q6TgrnGyxEVahmCFmhLIs7t/s1600/callofcthulhu.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="650" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0Vf6oJtyZ2pBz0jPz-ag7ndA4Tenuqol9hBKw1cDhhutWsfSIh2gE2NXBBF-mqH-TV_mXstHmlnoNr5fat45TwOWgB9l2b_j-dLW7u4Mq81eWG2t5b74t9q6TgrnGyxEVahmCFmhLIs7t/s320/callofcthulhu.jpg" width="208" /></a><span lang="EN-US"><a href="https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/57432/the-call-of-cthulhu-and-other-weird-stories/">and Other Weird Stories</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">H.P. Lovecraft 1920-36 [1999]<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">(February 2018)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">So that’s what all the fuss is about. Huh.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />kamohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10785763841038321633noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-596203844533164378.post-41804644295589871752018-04-21T07:00:00.000+09:002018-04-21T08:59:43.792+09:00Facing the Bridge<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4RrCciv8sTx6Ebm2Y7jvxwx1-1_h-bDi_SYl_45uym3k4TEOIE966jTtvUNqXRidv2SdZoNXChJDaLPfw9Ua99shAr1LpoFHhOicYSZZkcEm9fP55bRrm0Y6y_Ufk_X8KHWiNobVd58Wq/s1600/facingthebridge.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="286" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4RrCciv8sTx6Ebm2Y7jvxwx1-1_h-bDi_SYl_45uym3k4TEOIE966jTtvUNqXRidv2SdZoNXChJDaLPfw9Ua99shAr1LpoFHhOicYSZZkcEm9fP55bRrm0Y6y_Ufk_X8KHWiNobVd58Wq/s320/facingthebridge.jpg" width="228"></a><span lang="EN-US"><a href="https://www.ndbooks.com/book/facing-the-bridge/">Yoko Tawada, 1993-2000 </a></span><br>
<span lang="EN-US"><a href="https://www.ndbooks.com/book/facing-the-bridge/">[Margaret Mitsutani, 2007]</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">(January 2018)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US">After my first experience reading Tawada
was something of a qualified success, I decided to try again with this older collection
of three longish short stories. In summary, it confirms what I think I already
knew—she’s an intriguing writer, and one worth engaging with, but not one I’ll
ever really love. There’s just a little too much distance in her work, too much
detachment to engage on that more emotional level. To be fair though, that’s
probably deliberate.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US">Unlike <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><a href="http://strangehorizons.com/non-fiction/memoirs-of-a-polar-bear-by-yoko-tawada-translated-by-susan-bernofsky/">Memoirs of a Polar Bear</a></i>, the stories here have been translated into English straight
from their original Japanese, rather than passing through German on the way.
Germany still features prominently in the first tale, though, as it splices the
life of (the real-life) <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anton_Wilhelm_Amo">Anton Wilhelm Amo</a> with the experiences of (the
fictional) Tamao, a Japanese exchange student studying in Leipzig. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br></div>
</div>
<a href="http://fightstart.blogspot.com/2018/04/facing-bridge.html#more">Read more »</a>kamohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10785763841038321633noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-596203844533164378.post-11680733496196406892018-04-16T07:00:00.000+09:002018-04-16T07:00:05.036+09:00A Man of Shadows<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcdtVlEL7VhEoIPE1n67NXOjEuN6DRfPMNe1tCk-ixKXnlaJkU1IbUtL8bZjulESo5kbE7o4kMJWqrETOTOV3ppzpchoVfOZYDzZQh70VgNfiTvsPQbv_4RzujiczqFCbsj2zFFFcGFnPD/s1600/AManOfShadows_144dpi.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1117" data-original-width="737" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcdtVlEL7VhEoIPE1n67NXOjEuN6DRfPMNe1tCk-ixKXnlaJkU1IbUtL8bZjulESo5kbE7o4kMJWqrETOTOV3ppzpchoVfOZYDzZQh70VgNfiTvsPQbv_4RzujiczqFCbsj2zFFFcGFnPD/s320/AManOfShadows_144dpi.jpg" width="211" /></a><span lang="EN-US"><a href="https://www.angryrobotbooks.com/shop/sf/a-man-of-shadows/">Jeff Noon, 2017</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">(January 2018)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US">Nocturnal noirish nonsense with Noon. I
still remain enamoured of the Noon of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Pollen</i>
and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Vurt</i> I read in my late-teens, the
dislocation of the familiar that seemed so startling when one first encounters
it, which means I can forgive him <a href="https://fightstart.blogspot.jp/2013/01/channel-sk1n.html">a lot</a>. I do find myself agreeing with this
Strange Horizons <a href="http://strangehorizons.com/non-fiction/reviews/a-man-of-shadows-by-jeff-noon/">review</a>, however, in that the atmosphere is brilliant, but I’m
not quite sure what the point of the rest of it is. I’ll still be buying the
sequel, though.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />kamohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10785763841038321633noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-596203844533164378.post-68084818991563834602018-04-13T07:00:00.000+09:002018-04-13T07:00:11.311+09:00The Stone Sky<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKNknyR4Pr7YlgsIrScxolhcVBtjM_IiQeiJLXGIUT5hjasRzhvsLqPKiF7A3IKtHO-q_Qcmh5016gz18A_oxTktR22RLqOWZ1VY70BqvE9xUQ2DICoO5GAXYLrZPvDN5pn9ALigS0nezE/s1600/stonesky.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="330" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKNknyR4Pr7YlgsIrScxolhcVBtjM_IiQeiJLXGIUT5hjasRzhvsLqPKiF7A3IKtHO-q_Qcmh5016gz18A_oxTktR22RLqOWZ1VY70BqvE9xUQ2DICoO5GAXYLrZPvDN5pn9ALigS0nezE/s320/stonesky.jpg" width="211" /></a><span lang="EN-US"><a href="https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/n-k-jemisin/the-stone-sky/9780316229258/">N. K. Jemisin, 2017</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">(January 2018)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US">Wrapping up another trilogy as the New Year
dawns. (Dawned). I think don’t think it’s an understatement to say that Jemisin’s
<a href="https://fightstart.blogspot.jp/search/label/rock%20on">Broken Earth</a> will eventually come to be seen as significant as Gibson’s <a href="https://fightstart.blogspot.jp/search/label/sprawl">Sprawl</a>.
While not perhaps the strongest entry of the series (it lacks <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Fifth Season’s</i> tripartite trickery
and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Obelisk Gate’s</i> almost claustrophobic
development of character) it’s nonetheless an excellent climax for an
outstanding series. I’ve read a fair number of SFnal three-parters over the
last few years, but this is easily the best of the decade, and I can’t see
anything coming close to challenging it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
kamohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10785763841038321633noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-596203844533164378.post-49194436387035118462018-04-09T07:00:00.000+09:002018-04-09T07:00:02.361+09:00Mona Lisa Overdrive<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguEE579zYMwd2be6bitExIZc44wDhmLLr1LyQpmgAvNVB1mOer7BewzG_MEiAnq3zTqFsBSYmygH7st-_wFcxOP2CLKXH4vJrreJvvaWQ9nlARAU6Daqh0HLSwVds6thpsY5MezxgfLDnt/s1600/monalisaoverdrive.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="265" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguEE579zYMwd2be6bitExIZc44wDhmLLr1LyQpmgAvNVB1mOer7BewzG_MEiAnq3zTqFsBSYmygH7st-_wFcxOP2CLKXH4vJrreJvvaWQ9nlARAU6Daqh0HLSwVds6thpsY5MezxgfLDnt/s320/monalisaoverdrive.jpg" width="212" /></a><span lang="EN-US"><a href="http://harpervoyagerbooks.co.uk/book/mona-lisa-overdrive/">William Gibson, 1988</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">(January 2018)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US">The last of the <a href="https://fightstart.blogspot.jp/search/label/sprawl">Sprawl</a> trilogy and,
ironically, a rather contained affair. Though I am writing this a couple of
months after reading, and my memory isn’t what it was. It all takes place in a derelict
factory and the wider fields of cyberspace, which I suppose is the point—the
disconnect between the physical and the virtual.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US">It’s not one of Gibson’s stronger works, to
be honest. All the loose ends seem to get wrapped up rather too neatly, to the
point where the reappearance of certain characters seems to verge on fan
service. Which reminds me that Molly Millions plays a significant part and
that, actually, quite a lot of stuff happens in London and other cities so my
opening line was touch unfair. Still and all, it does eventually boil down to a
guy on a gurney wired into the matrix, so I wasn’t all wrong.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
kamohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10785763841038321633noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-596203844533164378.post-66024021308995256592018-04-07T07:00:00.000+09:002018-04-07T08:08:37.419+09:00Infomocracy<div class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCMKOpKQye7soo_ZMdIXcF_rLeX93ZKXjBrmPyWAg9hifDPtjvB-8P-QrN1hjezTG5oVuNELc4xw2CsEhMV5QyDtXDEdcmmSbrNZInWZK9zxp63rdqrlkymupSjn37hmQE74EASsiNOqTZ/s1600/infomocracy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="657" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCMKOpKQye7soo_ZMdIXcF_rLeX93ZKXjBrmPyWAg9hifDPtjvB-8P-QrN1hjezTG5oVuNELc4xw2CsEhMV5QyDtXDEdcmmSbrNZInWZK9zxp63rdqrlkymupSjn37hmQE74EASsiNOqTZ/s320/infomocracy.jpg" width="210"></a><a href="https://publishing.tor.com/infomocracy-malkaolder/9780765385154/">Malka Older, 2016</a><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
(December 2017)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
The first of Malka Older’s Centenal Cycle, the
last of which comes out this summer. Given all the other trilogies I’ve still
to catch up on, starting a new one seems like a bit of a leap of faith, but I’m
very glad I did. The “relate it to what the reader knows” tagline would be something
like “<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Snow Crash</i> meets <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The West Wing,</i>” in that Older takes the
almost throw-away concept of micropolities from Stevenson’s book and then
explores that through the slightly melodramatic viewpoints of young political
operatives working behind the scenes. The two main PoV characters are Ken, a
fixer for the broadly progressive Policy1st party, and Mishima, a security
chief for Information.<o:p></o:p></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
Following a worldwide conflict of some sort (Isn't
it always?), the world's governance has been reconfigured into a kind of global
first past the post system. Each constituency is an even 100,000 people, which
obviously mans that they're packed very tight in urban areas and cover large
swathes of wilderness. In major cities the laws thus change from block to block,
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">à</span>
la <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Snow Crash</i>. There are global
elections once every decade, and campaign for the third such is in full swing.
These are policed by Information, which is essentially Google with its own
police force, and the closest thing this world has to a global bureaucracy. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
</div><a href="http://fightstart.blogspot.com/2018/04/infomocracy.html#more">Read more »</a>kamohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10785763841038321633noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-596203844533164378.post-49800374072485625462018-02-28T07:00:00.000+09:002018-02-28T07:00:12.644+09:00Amatka<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCKovDrwsjsHGjK9ikgqK8LnzcosjKzW08bJzq8JrNI1d0ze4iX5i3YnE6GtsQVO8Ff5bZTsL-Y5uvO5CrQHw24cCl4-f3cwblu_5-_M0eyFJWB14Q32vxF1Gx0uiva86ObsigcvOrrn7U/s1600/amatka.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="292" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCKovDrwsjsHGjK9ikgqK8LnzcosjKzW08bJzq8JrNI1d0ze4iX5i3YnE6GtsQVO8Ff5bZTsL-Y5uvO5CrQHw24cCl4-f3cwblu_5-_M0eyFJWB14Q32vxF1Gx0uiva86ObsigcvOrrn7U/s320/amatka.jpg" width="207" /></a><a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/546226/amatka-by-karin-tidbeck/9781101973950/">Karin Tidbeck, 2012 [2017]</a><br />
(August 2017)<br />
<br />
Reviewed, after much delay, over at <a href="http://strangehorizons.com/non-fiction/reviews/amatka-by-karin-tidbeck/">Strange Horizons</a>.kamohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10785763841038321633noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-596203844533164378.post-58367395250496847712018-02-24T07:00:00.000+09:002018-02-24T07:00:08.453+09:00Crossfire<div class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYCWBylSgCLHu36zn58cW7V_60FN_SaS95VMzsYfOvYbCLM4Xq0J7ojg41W9QKUlqPnRtN7vrIoHec_cLihgN6NyH0Go6uw5o5WUvBGO11_DFYiVA7r6IX-pNFrJ3f9NwuPwkUBil59015/s1600/crossfire.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="499" data-original-width="337" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYCWBylSgCLHu36zn58cW7V_60FN_SaS95VMzsYfOvYbCLM4Xq0J7ojg41W9QKUlqPnRtN7vrIoHec_cLihgN6NyH0Go6uw5o5WUvBGO11_DFYiVA7r6IX-pNFrJ3f9NwuPwkUBil59015/s320/crossfire.jpg" width="216" /></a><a href="https://books.google.co.jp/books/about/Crossfire.html?id=GqxuPwAACAAJ&redir_esc=y">Miyuki Miyabe, 1998</a> [Deborah Stuhr Iwabuchi and
Anna Husson Isozaki, 2005]</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
(December 2017)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
I'm branching out! (Slowly.) I've a <a href="http://www.sfintranslation.com/?p=3795">guest review</a> of this over at Rachel Cordasco's excellent <a href="http://www.sfintranslation.com/">SF in Translation</a> site. It was an interesting, if often flawed, read. The book. Not the site, which is excellent. Did I mention that?</div>
kamohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10785763841038321633noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-596203844533164378.post-29779106017002747062018-01-05T07:00:00.000+09:002018-01-05T07:00:02.575+09:00The Book of Dust<div class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgA0GmLmcwovf8K-UYwaqeXnKDmy7OQKWiB55sWvWfcuvhHkawRuOksoSI0x9yHKErBn3_TMZuWiZLk8-nQV2vBKoQwsJDSReAgm3IrAClGznfSPTl5d4LA0G3DBLWxxKYnTKcDzDdvW69O/s1600/book-of-dust-uk.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1037" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgA0GmLmcwovf8K-UYwaqeXnKDmy7OQKWiB55sWvWfcuvhHkawRuOksoSI0x9yHKErBn3_TMZuWiZLk8-nQV2vBKoQwsJDSReAgm3IrAClGznfSPTl5d4LA0G3DBLWxxKYnTKcDzDdvW69O/s320/book-of-dust-uk.jpg" width="207"></a><a href="https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/1005201/la-belle-sauvage-the-book-of-dust-volume-one/">Volume 1: La Belle Sauvage</a><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
Phillip Pullman, 2017<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
(December 2017)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<i>His Dark
Materials</i> will forever hold a very special place in my heart. I read the
first two instalments in paperback just before <i>The Amber Spyglass</i> was released, so was able to take in the whole
sweep of the trilogy in pretty much a single dose. More poignantly, I read that
final volume just after I'd decided to come to Japan for the first time, and to
try to make my relationship with my then girlfriend work long distance.* You'll
understand why the dénouement to Will and Lyra's story hit particularly hard. I
love the books with a passion, and have recommended them to countless people
since, but will probably never reread them.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<br></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
So <i>The Book
of Dust</i> is all very exciting, finally giving me a full length opportunity
to get back into Lyra's world.** And what a world. Biblical floods, Homeric
journeys, and a notable episode in Wallingford, a small town in Oxfordshire I
know fairly well because my grandparents used to live nearby. When I lived in
London I visited them fairly regularly, and the journey that makes up the
second part of <i>The Book of Dust</i> reads
like my old rail itinerary in reverse. Nostalgia smacking me in the face every
which way. Is it possible to separate that out from my experience of reading
this book? Or even necessary or desirable? Clearly not. I therefore have nothing witty or
insightful to say about this book except that, while you can't cross the same
river twice, it's good to be home.</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
<br></div>
<a href="http://fightstart.blogspot.com/2018/01/the-book-of-dust.html#more">Read more »</a>kamohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10785763841038321633noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-596203844533164378.post-61402755611874720272017-12-24T07:00:00.000+09:002017-12-24T07:00:46.906+09:00A Christmas Carol<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><a href="https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/180245/a-christmas-carol-and-other-christmas-writings/9780141195858/">and Other Christmas Writings</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiy1jHwUUbRWlbN8RNTGRuNv9mOO8B5eKsLADM-hD0zYLc071TxsMmxeuiuqnS5fAkS68A-rHi8oOInRYACDhiheIyZ8MLTqnLktQhD_dzdJqn1-WaDkkOZ0qQKM4BoZMnzfNtuISPdtHHo/s1600/christmascarol.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="662" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiy1jHwUUbRWlbN8RNTGRuNv9mOO8B5eKsLADM-hD0zYLc071TxsMmxeuiuqnS5fAkS68A-rHi8oOInRYACDhiheIyZ8MLTqnLktQhD_dzdJqn1-WaDkkOZ0qQKM4BoZMnzfNtuISPdtHHo/s320/christmascarol.jpg" width="211"></a><span lang="EN-US">Charles Dickens, 1835-1854<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">(December 2017)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"> </span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US">Every year I mean to read this book at
Christmas, and every year I forget until about December 29<sup>th</sup>, at
which point the moment has rather passed. I finally got the pitifully small
affair that represents my act together this year, and it was in no way worth
the wait.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"> </span> </div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US">He’s not subtle as a writer, is he?
Soporific at points, certainly (though this is as much about the influence of
the passage of time on prose style as Dickens’s writing itself), but never
afraid to assert and reassert and rereassert the Moral of the Story until the
reader has been bludgeoned into shame-faced coma of ethical contrition. The
most notably thing about reading <i>A
Christmas Carol</i>—having obviously been exposed to adaptations of it in
various other media for as long as I can remember—was how Scrooge has basically
repented of all his sins by the midway point of the visit of the Ghost of
Christmas Past, yet we’ve still got two-and-a-half more apparitions’ worth of spectral
hectoring to go.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br></div>
</div>
<a href="http://fightstart.blogspot.com/2017/12/a-christmas-carol.html#more">Read more »</a>kamohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10785763841038321633noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-596203844533164378.post-4018532890577766062017-12-15T07:00:00.000+09:002017-12-15T07:00:39.481+09:00Spring Garden / Ms Ice Sandwich<div class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst">
<a href="https://www.pushkinpress.com/product/spring-garden/">Tomoka Shibasaki, 2014 [Polly Barton, 2017]</a><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<a href="https://www.pushkinpress.com/product/ms-ice-sandwich/">Mieko Kawakami, 2013 [Louise Heal Kawai, 2017]</a><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
(December 2017)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRKa59g_T-lXADr6RQTLGiPv4u8Avn8Dg2PtsaVMTAxyGJNYS5AcPca-RWhKyoa7akzocFCGj2lBsk2jXeocXW299nWoF0F0W3Rdhbyj0WwOVeOR16cNZ483CTDUiuUAJ2GIBzKTPBgYt_/s1600/msice.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1043" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRKa59g_T-lXADr6RQTLGiPv4u8Avn8Dg2PtsaVMTAxyGJNYS5AcPca-RWhKyoa7akzocFCGj2lBsk2jXeocXW299nWoF0F0W3Rdhbyj0WwOVeOR16cNZ483CTDUiuUAJ2GIBzKTPBgYt_/s320/msice.jpeg" width="208"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcYYQ0QmaYodMNCvQbm2jGB1g2fUO5oX1QJ30zAUQhq4W7vewDPOyXksnPzZmNmcBDXLKVrVR0Dp_oqLkD0yUHHZ97cwtYCEEK9SfDJNGzXtPj4sV2xSf9uB51On1BwzeBSxdWxhD6zXvx/s1600/springgarden.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1032" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcYYQ0QmaYodMNCvQbm2jGB1g2fUO5oX1QJ30zAUQhq4W7vewDPOyXksnPzZmNmcBDXLKVrVR0Dp_oqLkD0yUHHZ97cwtYCEEK9SfDJNGzXtPj4sV2xSf9uB51On1BwzeBSxdWxhD6zXvx/s320/springgarden.jpeg" style="cursor: move;" width="206"></a></div>
<br>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<o:p><br></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
Another couple of books from Pushkin Press's
lovely Japanese Novella series.</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<o:p><br></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<a href="http://fightstart.blogspot.com/2017/12/spring-garden-ms-ice-sandwich.html#more">Read more »</a>kamohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10785763841038321633noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-596203844533164378.post-61014134082153801612017-12-01T07:00:00.000+09:002017-12-01T07:00:05.860+09:00Swann’s Way<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/314674/swanns-way-by-marcel-proust/9780143124696/">Marcel Proust, 1913 [Lydia Davis, 2002]</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">November 2017 <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhR9tHcm8eBYk971hrXWND4zMkJhL6dILK2FYrfmYi-dVSVvgzI2QzEb68ZyJT8rF8kjEukSabMCoWYLH3c4Ang2tDYod6WmdNIM4uJKSpGjKVszEoyrujFtrDqkItM7wcm_zd11h2luZEl/s1600/swannsway.tif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1020" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhR9tHcm8eBYk971hrXWND4zMkJhL6dILK2FYrfmYi-dVSVvgzI2QzEb68ZyJT8rF8kjEukSabMCoWYLH3c4Ang2tDYod6WmdNIM4uJKSpGjKVszEoyrujFtrDqkItM7wcm_zd11h2luZEl/s320/swannsway.tif" width="203"></a></div>
<br>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US">OK then. Yes. What to say about this, apart
from that the very act of reading it is something of an exercise in <a href="https://fightstart.blogspot.jp/2013/10/a-tale-for-time-being.html">eating my own words</a>?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br></div>
</div>
<a href="http://fightstart.blogspot.com/2017/12/swanns-way.html#more">Read more »</a>kamohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10785763841038321633noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-596203844533164378.post-55046690397073874802017-11-22T07:00:00.000+09:002017-11-22T07:00:03.013+09:00Bookmark Six<div class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-DwO8atFxqJOH_bFYMsZVyJ0ssvogG4Hc7BRpmnhKkTuoaei2NZRrYtdTP8VW6H6ciBZNYMAonu8IVO_yzOTn8XUmrE9RPU8oVGDnRl1JBbOSSLy7ubk8ZxHgx2j8hhDfcvLqkELBtdK_/s1600/bookmarksix.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="966" data-original-width="1600" height="193" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-DwO8atFxqJOH_bFYMsZVyJ0ssvogG4Hc7BRpmnhKkTuoaei2NZRrYtdTP8VW6H6ciBZNYMAonu8IVO_yzOTn8XUmrE9RPU8oVGDnRl1JBbOSSLy7ubk8ZxHgx2j8hhDfcvLqkELBtdK_/s320/bookmarksix.jpg" width="320"></a></div>
<br></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst">
<span style="text-align: justify;">Having made a sort of peace with the state of the
world (or, at the very least, having developed better coping mechanisms for
dealing with the Ongoing Shitshow), I was able to read something that approached
a decent number of books this year.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<o:p></o:p></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br></div>
</div>
<a href="http://fightstart.blogspot.com/2017/11/bookmark-six.html#more">Read more »</a>kamohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10785763841038321633noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-596203844533164378.post-75897250706230754842017-11-20T07:00:00.000+09:002017-11-20T07:00:09.822+09:00Agents of Empire<div class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst">
<a href="https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/257166/agents-of-empire/9780141978376/">Knights, Corsairs, Jesuits and Spies in the Sixteenth-Century Mediterranean World</a><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
Noel Malcom, 2015<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
(November 2017)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<o:p> </o:p> </div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6OBd_PQP-01GQ1G4TOAggZnlqo8cREK6-eful0EcawdeZOpHipmIRuuaqMyv-1mi3JoVkLQuu7dQdkHk4wd_epgvZhriAjdXBqiYzBm5i_T0-VpTypz59bWMfmDZV9GtHQgOh7bJZ4Lz7/s1600/agentsof+empire.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="705" data-original-width="461" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6OBd_PQP-01GQ1G4TOAggZnlqo8cREK6-eful0EcawdeZOpHipmIRuuaqMyv-1mi3JoVkLQuu7dQdkHk4wd_epgvZhriAjdXBqiYzBm5i_T0-VpTypz59bWMfmDZV9GtHQgOh7bJZ4Lz7/s320/agentsof+empire.png" width="208" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
A fascinating book. Takes as its premise the
interconnected stores of a family of minor Albanian nobility, and follows them
through their various trials and tribulations in Venice, the Balkans, and
Istanbul in the late 1500s. Slightly ponderous writing, but not overbearingly
so, and every so often contains gems such as this: "…the chronicler Ureche
would have nothing good to say about Aron. His main passions, allegedly, were
'pillage, debauchery, gambling and bagpipe-players.'" Thorough, enlightening,
and on occasion surprisingly funny.<o:p></o:p><br />
<br /></div>
kamohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10785763841038321633noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-596203844533164378.post-37974682350411616632017-11-17T07:00:00.000+09:002017-11-17T07:00:21.266+09:00Never Let Me Go<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><a href="https://www.faber.co.uk/9780571258093-never-let-me-go.html">Kazuo Ishiguro, 2005</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">(November 2017)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzLDEyE9Lb7jQduvvHiOBF8Qvl9QoYD5sitSdGDhs42XvTual6I5bWVue9XfD_Hw9mDr2v9EVpGEqQMmjR1wmiGWGf_p32MpJAH63UGwcJM4LgWJmNjAITcJMFvt7i9cp2rnu3MNNd1Y22/s1600/neverletmego.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="512" data-original-width="325" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzLDEyE9Lb7jQduvvHiOBF8Qvl9QoYD5sitSdGDhs42XvTual6I5bWVue9XfD_Hw9mDr2v9EVpGEqQMmjR1wmiGWGf_p32MpJAH63UGwcJM4LgWJmNjAITcJMFvt7i9cp2rnu3MNNd1Y22/s320/neverletmego.jpg" width="203"></a></div>
<br>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US">Gyah. What a singularly frustrating book.
What, to be more specific, a singularly frustrating narrator. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br></div>
</div>
<a href="http://fightstart.blogspot.com/2017/11/never-let-me-go.html#more">Read more »</a>kamohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10785763841038321633noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-596203844533164378.post-37067187598911286182017-11-10T07:00:00.000+09:002017-11-10T07:00:01.699+09:00Within the Sanctuary of Wings<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><a href="https://us.macmillan.com/withinthesanctuaryofwings/mariebrennan/9780765377654/">Marie Brennan, 2017 </a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">(October 2017)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPKLcoqFdYVYyJydPt-QqVNqYva8E9C6yHrQIeDK6QkHiYJ32KtCFBwXYa6KGRy59esLlaJ_Beq-91xnhm23mkLHuDUvkweVF8ShSSBDwZWQJSnaZu9BNvsjoZ8qj9KqBouariMO5ymnEs/s1600/sanctuaryofwings.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="662" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPKLcoqFdYVYyJydPt-QqVNqYva8E9C6yHrQIeDK6QkHiYJ32KtCFBwXYa6KGRy59esLlaJ_Beq-91xnhm23mkLHuDUvkweVF8ShSSBDwZWQJSnaZu9BNvsjoZ8qj9KqBouariMO5ymnEs/s320/sanctuaryofwings.jpg" width="211"></a></div>
<br>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US">And so the Lady Trent books reach a
suitably rousing conclusion. Suitable in that while great affairs of state and
nation are settled with no little help from our protagonist, for most of the
book not very much seems to happen at all. It’s Shangri-La with scurvy, in a
nutshell.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br></div>
</div>
<a href="http://fightstart.blogspot.com/2017/11/within-sanctuary-of-wings.html#more">Read more »</a>kamohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10785763841038321633noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-596203844533164378.post-3827609382521158782017-11-08T07:00:00.000+09:002017-11-08T07:00:08.360+09:00The Remains of the Day<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><a href="https://www.faber.co.uk/9780571258246-the-remains-of-the-day.html">Kazuo Ishiguro, 1989</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">(October 2017)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpZqxgVnKRHehTBRiA7F1gYdnJpD3kcKxxTRjnjSJhdfHhmSd9g6VjHD_VaG56-RU-mHJXzK51MiNbP27tUCVfoR6Rc-4BM6E4Wu1hccDNMp9PwCwG40KTDITuagpuWZVcR1x4rgmy1E-3/s1600/remainsoftheday.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="463" data-original-width="300" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpZqxgVnKRHehTBRiA7F1gYdnJpD3kcKxxTRjnjSJhdfHhmSd9g6VjHD_VaG56-RU-mHJXzK51MiNbP27tUCVfoR6Rc-4BM6E4Wu1hccDNMp9PwCwG40KTDITuagpuWZVcR1x4rgmy1E-3/s320/remainsoftheday.jpg" width="207"></a></div>
<br>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US">Reread this for a thing. I wasn’t going to
write too much about it here, as this isn’t the thing (yet), but I find that I have
thoughts that are not so directly connected to the thing and so here we are.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br></div>
</div>
<a href="http://fightstart.blogspot.com/2017/11/the-remains-of-day.html#more">Read more »</a>kamohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10785763841038321633noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-596203844533164378.post-18055400943361699902017-10-27T07:00:00.000+09:002017-10-27T07:00:07.545+09:00Money Shot<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><a href="http://www.hardcasecrime.com/books_bios.cgi?title=Money%20Shot">Christa Faust, 2008</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">(October 2017)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"> </span> </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXIX7mtl_5F0fYVCcV5S4WKlAY8NMjgFP_HLIb42URKmRNiTkVjwmjC_ZPDPgaE-DDNzZ03XU8o3LuisaF-sIlY26m6ChJghGg26_cHfPNRguSgqbqJY7GQLukttVHXPdlwyIakW-WVoOH/s1600/moneyshot.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="310" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXIX7mtl_5F0fYVCcV5S4WKlAY8NMjgFP_HLIb42URKmRNiTkVjwmjC_ZPDPgaE-DDNzZ03XU8o3LuisaF-sIlY26m6ChJghGg26_cHfPNRguSgqbqJY7GQLukttVHXPdlwyIakW-WVoOH/s320/moneyshot.jpg" width="198"></a></div>
<br>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US">I love the unabashed pulpiness of the Hard
Case Crime covers, even if I’d never actually read one prior to this. It
certainly lives up (down?) to its billing.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br></div>
</div>
<a href="http://fightstart.blogspot.com/2017/10/money-shot.html#more">Read more »</a>kamohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10785763841038321633noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-596203844533164378.post-9214270197557099122017-10-25T07:00:00.000+09:002017-10-25T07:00:01.527+09:00Call for the Dead<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><a href="https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/182715/call-for-the-dead/9780141972244/">John le Carré, 1961</a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">(October 2017)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrYtmNmDAb2YvSmC9JGyslRWGS80yHw-jGJM8jvhJexBIkY90HpNqNpmaBDK3xWXWqR_tjcxzz2x2onGBmUpGndWs09ZEuWPfvA82rNZY2V_vWw3oeXd3ZXkP6t1S8Vqr3Spt08HQaxBSe/s1600/callforthedead.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="706" data-original-width="460" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrYtmNmDAb2YvSmC9JGyslRWGS80yHw-jGJM8jvhJexBIkY90HpNqNpmaBDK3xWXWqR_tjcxzz2x2onGBmUpGndWs09ZEuWPfvA82rNZY2V_vWw3oeXd3ZXkP6t1S8Vqr3Spt08HQaxBSe/s320/callforthedead.png" width="208" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US">I’d not read any le Carré before, so I was pleasantly
surprised by how much I enjoyed this. A satisfyingly unthrilling thriller about
downbeat spies in 1960’s suburbia. An amateur dramatics society plays a
significant role. A supporting character keeps bees. The main character spends
much of the time in bed. The espionage equivalent of a cosy catastrophe, which
is exactly what I needed on a four-hour train ride through rural Japan in the
pissing rain.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
<br />kamohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10785763841038321633noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-596203844533164378.post-43641249239384053152017-10-21T07:00:00.000+09:002017-10-21T07:00:07.196+09:00The Prey of Gods<a href="https://www.harpercollins.com/9780062493033/the-prey-of-gods">Nicky Drayden, 2017</a><br />
(July 2017)<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieErA8C4P8dfmR_j8SmuZHsc67GcGGQj2CfWGcHEFpng3vhVXM7JR3A-zaZFTxYVs2lQv0_9ORBVqOhjg2Uif1BNG-HljoyoqaX-_7zlAjc-LBvaGG21tc_MFv5_Rm3kazq0BsXnwtH-Zi/s1600/prey_of_gods.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="664" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieErA8C4P8dfmR_j8SmuZHsc67GcGGQj2CfWGcHEFpng3vhVXM7JR3A-zaZFTxYVs2lQv0_9ORBVqOhjg2Uif1BNG-HljoyoqaX-_7zlAjc-LBvaGG21tc_MFv5_Rm3kazq0BsXnwtH-Zi/s320/prey_of_gods.jpg" width="212" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
Reviewed over at <a href="http://strangehorizons.com/non-fiction/the-prey-of-gods-by-nicky-drayden/">Strange Horizons</a>. Fun, in a kind of slapdash, puppyish way.<br />
<br />kamohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10785763841038321633noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-596203844533164378.post-55609026627200672522017-10-20T07:00:00.000+09:002017-10-20T07:00:06.905+09:00Nowhere to Be Found<div class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst">
<a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00OV403X0/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1">Bae Suah, 1998 [Sora Kim Russell, 2015]</a><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
(October 2017)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<o:p> </o:p> </div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNPSkoyP1SXg8i1A7LKVT8NnVMoJDD7Kkz37gAwuE02krFv_xV3OG7u8lADSb7aIGj-AdBzyTuPMLW8p6vWBQHONtzcMZuNVHduz-5Pjwgc2pFjDYCoqxvBwEgBRaU3OBRVO83VAVspQLo/s1600/nowheretobefound.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="499" data-original-width="357" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNPSkoyP1SXg8i1A7LKVT8NnVMoJDD7Kkz37gAwuE02krFv_xV3OG7u8lADSb7aIGj-AdBzyTuPMLW8p6vWBQHONtzcMZuNVHduz-5Pjwgc2pFjDYCoqxvBwEgBRaU3OBRVO83VAVspQLo/s320/nowheretobefound.jpg" width="228"></a></div>
<br>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
A book so slim that even calling it a novella
might be pushing it; I finished it in under an hour. It’s good; interesting in
that kind of unanchored, dissociative way that seems to be becoming something
of a trend for female East Asian writers in translation.<o:p></o:p></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<a href="http://fightstart.blogspot.com/2017/10/nowhere-to-be-found.html#more">Read more »</a>kamohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10785763841038321633noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-596203844533164378.post-24034495553260669312017-10-18T07:00:00.000+09:002017-10-18T07:00:03.529+09:00Four Roads Cross<div class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst">
<a href="https://us.macmillan.com/fourroadscross/maxgladstone/9780765379429/">Max Gladstone, 2016</a><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
(October 2017)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeKIweUOafA770EL5olKCVadvyDjj9khgi2Zp5fxc0dt3JakqTtmdQnkGQ8sGxEzXXZhGzzk4MYpBjtZQ0KlRwmVCNHttFPTzduR__XMFG5CLyX8ig6sXGyPXe2J8NzAX5878tcliqmlwb/s1600/FourRoadsCross_cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1106" data-original-width="740" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeKIweUOafA770EL5olKCVadvyDjj9khgi2Zp5fxc0dt3JakqTtmdQnkGQ8sGxEzXXZhGzzk4MYpBjtZQ0KlRwmVCNHttFPTzduR__XMFG5CLyX8ig6sXGyPXe2J8NzAX5878tcliqmlwb/s320/FourRoadsCross_cover.jpg" width="214"></a></div>
<br>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<br></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
The culmination of the first round (Series?
Season?) of the Craft Sequence. I've finally learned not to bounce out of one
of these books straight into another, so <i>Ruin
of Angels</i> will have to wait, despite the lure of the brand new shiny-shiny.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<o:p></o:p><br>
<a href="http://fightstart.blogspot.com/2017/10/four-roads-cross.html#more">Read more »</a>kamohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10785763841038321633noreply@blogger.com0