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Katharine's August Books
Sep. 7th, 2018 08:05 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
katharhinoWe have moved and sold another house this summer, plus I'm starting homeschooling with my kids... in short, just not reading at high volume right now.
Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine, Gail Honeyman - First-person tale about a woman with some form of PTSD/deep trauma who has constructed a series of defense mechanisms in order to navigate her life successfully. These get challenged by a series of events involving a co-worker and a man she sees having a heart attack on the street. As others have said, this book definitely bears some similarities to The Rosie Project in that it employs an unreliable narrator who stands as an outside observer to "normal" social life, and there is some humor in the way Eleanor reacts to her surroundings. But this novel is more than merely a copycat with a female protagonist. It's more serious than Rosie Project and more plotty and twisty, with a great deal of tragedy under the humor. Very well-written and convinced me although I was a little skeptical at the start because of how similar it seemed to other books with the unreliable narrator trope. I really appreciated the ending and how subtly it was managed. There is a throw-away reference to Jane Eyre in the middle that somewhat pulled me out of the flow of the story because then I was on alert to see this as a retelling, which it isn't. I think the mentions were just a literary in-joke that maybe could have been integrated better. Other than that, the pacing was great. [4.5/5]
His Majesty's Dragon (Temeraire series #1), Naomi Novik - After I really enjoyed reading this author's stand-alone fantasy Uprooted last month, I thought I would give her Temeraire series a try. Full disclosure: I was extra motivated by the fact that Austen/Temeraire fanfiction crossovers exist. Temeraire is an alternate history that takes place during the Napoleonic wars except intelligent, speaking dragons are used by both armies as weapons of aerial assault. The story follows naval captain Will Laurence who accidentally bonds with a newly hatched dragon and ends up being hastily trained to join the ranks of the aviators (dragon riders). The background and world building of this alt history is so rich and well integrated with real history and literature of the time, it's very believable even if technically fantasy. The author has constructed not only a method whereby armies use dragons, but a whole subculture for the air corps and dragon-human relations of the various countries involved. The writing is excellent and accurate. The novel is a bit slow-moving but it's immersive. I haven't decided, however, if I should continue with the rest of the series, because it's long and that kind of epic storytelling tends to lose me half way. It's also more plot-driven than character-driven. That is, although the characters are well drawn, especially the individual dragon personalities and how they relate to their human handlers, it's a book more focused on sweeping movement than character growth. I did enjoy it, enough that maybe I should just let it stand alone rather than getting frustrated by continuing with the series (which, from reading reviews, is more of the same). If I do continue, I might wait a bit rather than plunging into the next book. [4/5]
Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine, Gail Honeyman - First-person tale about a woman with some form of PTSD/deep trauma who has constructed a series of defense mechanisms in order to navigate her life successfully. These get challenged by a series of events involving a co-worker and a man she sees having a heart attack on the street. As others have said, this book definitely bears some similarities to The Rosie Project in that it employs an unreliable narrator who stands as an outside observer to "normal" social life, and there is some humor in the way Eleanor reacts to her surroundings. But this novel is more than merely a copycat with a female protagonist. It's more serious than Rosie Project and more plotty and twisty, with a great deal of tragedy under the humor. Very well-written and convinced me although I was a little skeptical at the start because of how similar it seemed to other books with the unreliable narrator trope. I really appreciated the ending and how subtly it was managed. There is a throw-away reference to Jane Eyre in the middle that somewhat pulled me out of the flow of the story because then I was on alert to see this as a retelling, which it isn't. I think the mentions were just a literary in-joke that maybe could have been integrated better. Other than that, the pacing was great. [4.5/5]
His Majesty's Dragon (Temeraire series #1), Naomi Novik - After I really enjoyed reading this author's stand-alone fantasy Uprooted last month, I thought I would give her Temeraire series a try. Full disclosure: I was extra motivated by the fact that Austen/Temeraire fanfiction crossovers exist. Temeraire is an alternate history that takes place during the Napoleonic wars except intelligent, speaking dragons are used by both armies as weapons of aerial assault. The story follows naval captain Will Laurence who accidentally bonds with a newly hatched dragon and ends up being hastily trained to join the ranks of the aviators (dragon riders). The background and world building of this alt history is so rich and well integrated with real history and literature of the time, it's very believable even if technically fantasy. The author has constructed not only a method whereby armies use dragons, but a whole subculture for the air corps and dragon-human relations of the various countries involved. The writing is excellent and accurate. The novel is a bit slow-moving but it's immersive. I haven't decided, however, if I should continue with the rest of the series, because it's long and that kind of epic storytelling tends to lose me half way. It's also more plot-driven than character-driven. That is, although the characters are well drawn, especially the individual dragon personalities and how they relate to their human handlers, it's a book more focused on sweeping movement than character growth. I did enjoy it, enough that maybe I should just let it stand alone rather than getting frustrated by continuing with the series (which, from reading reviews, is more of the same). If I do continue, I might wait a bit rather than plunging into the next book. [4/5]
