Category: General

Across The Nightingale Floor
by Lian Hearn

Synopsis
An orphan, Takeo, is adopted by a nobleman and trained in the mysterious practices of The Tribe. Using his talents he save’s his ‘Uncle’ from an assasination attempt but is ultimately unable to protect him from a second murderous plot.

Revenge and a love story round out this feudal Japanese flavored fantasy.

Review
A friend of mine felt that this book and the whole series had been over-hyped, that it was ok, but nothing special. I cannot speak for the hype, since I am pretty sure I bought and read this before it was published in the US, but I would say it was something special.

Makes a great blend of characterization, plot, and fantastic worldbuilding. The writing is crisp and poetic without being unreadable.

Recommendation
I bought this book at a Whitcoulls’s in Queensland, NZ at the end of a two week vacation. I was drawn to the title.

The subtle inclusion of magic and the feudal asian-style setting are quite a refreshing difference from the typical hack and slash and dragon fantasy I cut my teeth on.

Go get it.

Enjoy!

The Alchemist
by Paulo Coelho

Synopsis
Santiago, a Spanish shepard boy, has a recurring dream about treasure near the Pyramids. After consulting a gypsy dream interpreter he decides to sell his sheep and travel to Egypt.

Along the way he meets a king in disguise, gets delayed for a year selling crystal, meets an Englishman and, finally, the alchemist before arriving at the Pyramids.

Review
Despite its fantastical sounding title and the straightforward plot, this short novel has captured lots of attention in its 10 years of publication.

I have read a few other books that were translated from the original text and been disappointed. Often, too much of the culture comes across in the writing and you spend as much time reading as you doing figuring it out. Not so with this book. For me it read just like it was created in English.

Its starts off plain and remains spartan throughout. The descriptions are specific enough to move you from one setting to the next without fleshing out every little detail that the reader’s mind can fill in easily enough. The dialogue carries the plot forward so you do not feel like you have stumbled into a neighborly chat about groceries and the weather. But the real plot here is in the mind and choices of the shepard.

As the boy travels to Egypt, he responds to events with internal questions. He is constantly evaluating his progress to determine if he has ‘gone far enough’.

The introspection on the part of the boy easily parallels the kinds of questions, concerns, and responses that the reader will have to his adventure. And thus, we also feel like we have made the physical and spiritual journey he makes.

Since this is mainly allegorical, with the shepard ending up in a series of challenging, but not ham-fisted, dioramas, at times his motivation seems to be more author driven than character driven. This may be more a product of including too much realism than a lack of good character design. Sometimes its just not reasonable to expect a character to plow through a plot like they know yhey are in a book.

Recommendation
This short (160 pages) novel would be a great read for a snowed in Saturday afternoon or over a couple evenings with a bit of something warm to drink.

Surprisingly, I was able to enjoy it on the plane to and from Texas for Thanksgiving.

Enjoy!