You don't want to know Jack...

Title: The Jekyll Revelation by Robert Masello
Publisher: 47 North 477 pp
Genre: mystery, thriller fiction, historical, science fiction, fantasy
4 stars
Author:
Robert Masello is an award-winning journalist, TV writer, and a bestselling author. A recent thriller, The Einstein Prophecy was # 1 in the Kindle store. Previous books include Blood and Ice, The Medusa Amulet and the Romanov Cross. He has authored two popular studies of the Occult as well as books on writing. TV credits include "Charmed," "Sliders," Early Edition," and "Poltergeist: the Legacy." He studied writing at Princeton University under Robert Stone and Geoffrey Wolff. This is my first exposure to him, chosen from netgalley for my obsession with all things literary Scotland.
Story line:
This book has two alternating storylines: in the present storyline are we introduced to Rafael (Rafe) Salazar, an environmental scientist, who discovers an old green steamer trunk with a flask and a journal that was written by Robert Louis Stevenson, so his past alternates with the present. In August 1888, as the stage play of “The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” was taking London by storm, Jack the Ripper, perhaps the most notorious serial killer in history, struck for the first time. In reality RLS briefly was considered a suspect.
Masello weaves the different threads of action, gothic horror, history, science and science fiction together in a story that grabs your attention from the very beginning. It's more pulp fiction than I normally read, but it's a great action 'film'. I enjoyed the RLS journal entries more than the present day story which included methheads, rednecks, violence and clueless male egos. Perhaps it was also that the women are superficial. Having read several biographies of Fanny Stevenson, Maesello doesn't portray her well either. But, suspend reality for a day and enjoy the suspense.
Read on:
If you are a fan of Dan Brown, Lee Child, Douglas Preston
Quotes:
Opening paragraph
25th of November, 1894 From: Robert Louis Stevenson, Vailima House, Samoa To: W.E. Henley, 18 Maybury Road, Old Woking, Surrey, England Dear Henley—What I must tell you now, I tell you with dread. It has happened again. What we thought—what we prayed—we had left behind us in the back alleys and darkened doorways of Whitechapel has, I fear, awakened from its awful slumber. It has struck again, right here, in what I had foolishly thought might be Paradise. And I have been the unwitting agent of its malevolence.
As a Field Officer with the Environmental Sciences Service, he had seen the canyon in all kinds of conditions, but he had never seen it this bad.
tall one with the scruffy gray beard; Alfie was built like a fire hydrant (and was just about as bright.)
Ever since he was a boy, Rafe had talked to animals; his little sister, Lucy, after seeing the movie of the same name, had called him Dr. Doolittle.
“Tell Stoker he doesn’t need to send any more emissaries. I’m sane as the Archbishop of Canterbury.”
In his hands, he held the journal, but with a kind of reverence now, that he had not initially felt. He hadn’t known at first whose initials they were—RLS—nor had he known who Louis, or Fanny, was. But then he’d read and deciphered more of the text, put it all together, and discovered that the author of the book was none other than Robert Louis Stevenson. The man whose books, like Treasure Island and Kidnapped and The Master of Ballantrae, he’d devoured as a boy.

Reading the book was slow-going—the ink had faded almost to the point of disappearing here and there, and he had to turn the pages with great care or they would shred and fall away from the binding. Stevenson’s handwriting was very peculiar, too—angular and slanted, with a lot of what looked like hasty pen marks, swipes and blottings. Rafe had read all the entries from the Belvedere clinic in Switzerland and he had been especially moved by the author’s attempts to protect the wolf he called Lord Grey from the cruelties of Yannick. On that score, he felt a real allegiance with Stevenson.
What I did not feel, and this was what astonished me even then, even in what should have been an utterly terrifying moment, was fear. I felt instead a burst of exhilaration, coupled with a sensation of freedom and power. I was not the scribbler Robert Louis Stevenson—I was the wolf Lord Grey.
“English gardens,” she said. “All weeds and no flowers.”

What he held in his hands—the seared covers and a handful of dust—was all he had to show for the last words of Robert Louis Stevenson. 


Received as an ARC ebook from Netgalley.

Ancient forests

Title: The Trees by Ali Shaw
Publisher: Bloomsbury 2016 496pp

Genre: fantasy, dystopian, fiction, English literature,

4.5+ stars

Author:

Ali Shaw graduated from Lancaster University with a degree in English literature. He has worked as a bookseller and at the Bodleian library, Oxford. His first book The Girl With the Glass Feet won the Desmond Elliott Prize and was shortlisted for the Costa First Novel and longlisted for the Guardian First Novel.

Story line:

When a review says: The Trees does for trees what Hitchcock did for birds. You've been warned. (Irish Times) you are compelled to read this. Especially if the author is Shaw. His writing is amazing, evocative, enthralling and quite unsettling at times. The rich poetic descriptions reveal a multilayered story with self discovery, friendships, survival, justice, folklore and fairytale fantastical elements. The magic is both light and dark. I loved his surprising first book, The Girl with Glass Feet. Shaw's books deserve a much wider audience for the clever mastery of language alone. Add the original characters and you have yourself a new author to follow.

What would you do if giant ancient forests were created overnight, destroying civilization as you know it? How would you adapt? This book is quite thought provoking, as well as haunting. I found the questions of what is wild, and how do humans relate to and abuse the environment even more important to have recognized and discussed now. There is great character development in these unlikely protagonists as they go in search of their loved ones and learn to cope with the new normal. Their actions have consequences, but we find hope in the strangest places. And the journey is ultimately what is important. It's rather epic. I loved that the forester was going to have all the answers.

Highly recommend. This book will remain long after you finish, and also make for an interesting book club discussion.

Read On:

Of Bees and Mist (Erick Setiawan), The Winter's Tale(Mark Helprin), Perdita (Hilary Scharper), The Snow Child (Eowyn Ivey), Gossip from the Forest (Sara Maitland), Uprooted (Naomi Novik) or if you like Neil Gaiman, Gregory Maguire

Quotes:

The forest burst full-grown out of the earth, in booming upper-cuts of trees and bludgeoning branches. It rammed through roads and houses alike, shattering bricks and exploding glass. It sounded like a thousand trains derailing at once, squeallings and jarrings and bucklings all lost beneath the thunderclaps of broken concrete and the cacophony of a billion hissing leaves. Up surged the tree trunks, up in a storm of foliage and lashing twigs that spread and spread and then, at a great height, stopped.

In a blink of an eye, the world had changed, There came an elastic aftershock of creaks and groans and then, softly softly chinking shower of rubbled cement. Branches stilled amid the wreckage they had made. Leaves calmed and trunks stood serene. Where, not a minute before, a suburb had lain, there was no only woodland standing among ruins ….”



Title: The Trees by Ali Shaw
Publisher: Bloomsbury 2016 496pp

Genre: fantasy, dystopian, fiction, English literature,

4.5+ stars

Author:

Ali Shaw graduated from Lancaster University with a degree in English literature. He has worked as a bookseller and at the Bodleian library, Oxford. His first book The Girl With the Glass Feet won the Desmond Elliott Prize and was shortlisted for the Costa First Novel and longlisted for the Guardian First Novel.

Story line:

When a review says: The Trees does for trees what Hitchcock did for birds. You've been warned. (Irish Times) you are compelled to read this. Especially if the author is Shaw. His writing is amazing, evocative, enthralling and quite unsettling at times. The rich poetic descriptions reveal a multilayered story with self discovery, friendships, survival, justice, folklore and fairytale fantastical elements. The magic is both light and dark. I loved his surprising first book, The Girl with Glass Feet. Shaw's books deserve a much wider audience for the clever mastery of language alone. Add the original characters and you have yourself a new author to follow.

What would you do if giant ancient forests were created overnight, destroying civilization as you know it? How would you adapt? This book is quite thought provoking, as well as haunting. I found the questions of what is wild, and how do humans relate to and abuse the environment even more important to have recognized and discussed now. There is great character development in these unlikely protagonists as they go in search of their loved ones and learn to cope with the new normal. Their actions have consequences, but we find hope in the strangest places. And the journey is ultimately what is important. It's rather epic. I loved that the forester was going to have all the answers.

Highly recommend. This book will remain long after you finish, and also make for an interesting book club discussion.

Read On:

Of Bees and Mist (Erick Setiawan), The Winter's Tale(Mark Helprin), Perdita (Hilary Scharper), The Snow Child (Eowyn Ivey), Gossip from the Forest (Sara Maitland), Uprooted (Naomi Novik) or if you like Neil Gaiman, Gregory Maguire

Quotes:

The forest burst full-grown out of the earth, in booming upper-cuts of trees and bludgeoning branches. It rammed through roads and houses alike, shattering bricks and exploding glass. It sounded like a thousand trains derailing at once, squeallings and jarrings and bucklings all lost beneath the thunderclaps of broken concrete and the cacophony of a billion hissing leaves. Up surged the tree trunks, up in a storm of foliage and lashing twigs that spread and spread and then, at a great height, stopped.

In a blink of an eye, the world had changed, There came an elastic aftershock of creaks and groans and then, softly softly chinking shower of rubbled cement. Branches stilled amid the wreckage they had made. Leaves calmed and trunks stood serene. Where, not a minute before, a suburb had lain, there was no only woodland standing among ruins ….”

Get thee to the Library!

Title:  The Invisible Library by Genevieve Cogman
Publisher:  Roc Penguin
Genre: mystery, time travel, science fiction, steam punk, fantasy, fiction
4 stars
Author:
This is the debut fantasy novel of the English writer Genevieve Cogman.  The series continues with Masked City due out September, Burning Page December 2016; the fourth and fifth are already in progress. She has an MSc in statistics with Medical Applications and works for the NHS. It's obvious her early reading included Tolkien, Conan Doyle and Pratchett.
Story line:
Irene Winters is a professional spy (junior agent and immortal) for The Library, a shadowy organisation in between worlds which preserves (collects) unique fiction from all realities, alternate worlds. She and her new assistant Kai step into an alternative Victorian London to retrieve a dangerous book/manuscript by Grimm, currently owned by a bibliophile vampire. She is a spunky, loyal, smart heroine, raised in the Library system (both her parents still work there). From her first book retrieval I was captivated and loved her wicked sense of humour as well as her joy in reading.  It's a dangerous job on so many levels.
This is a fast, easy read that is clever, fascinating, exciting and imaginative. There are dirigibles, fae, vampires, dragons, werewolves, and Sherlock (aka the dashing Peregrine Vale, 15th Earl of Leeds). It is rather an eclectic mix of magic, Victorian mundane, steampunk tech and literary humor which makes you easily suspend reality.  Initially I thought it was a YA novel with fast pace, simplistic story and technology, but i suspect it is more that it feels like a series. Strong world building, with detailed descriptions, interesting and numerous characters, convoluted twists with a short timeline (taking place in several days), will also make the next two novels easier. It would have also helped if I'd had read the appendix on agent handbook first. The mysterious library, a character in itself, balances the worlds between fae (chaos) and dragons (order) and gives humans a chance. I'm glad the sequels are coming out this year and will definitely pick them up. Especially as Irene is heading back to Victorian London, Kai gets kidnapped by fae, and...!
Read on
If you liked Samantha Shannon The Mime Order, Lisa Unger Ink and Bone,  Shadow scale, Gail Carriger Parasol Protectorate or Jasper Fforyde's Thursday Next series
If you are a fan of Dr Who
Cogman highly recommends Ben Aaronovitch Rivers of London 2011 (which I need to find).
Quotes:
...but one of the Library’s mottos was borrowed directly from the great military thinker Clausewitz: no strategy ever survived contact with the enemy. Or, in the vernacular, Things Will Go Wrong. Be Prepared.
“Open to the Library,” she said, giving the word Library its full value in the Language, and felt the tattoo scrawled across her back shift and writhe as the link was established.
She just wanted—had always wanted—a good book to read.
It was about finding unique works of fiction and saving them in a place out of time and space.
But when she’d signed up for eternity, she hadn’t quite expected to spend most of it revising vocabulary lists.
He had the sort of beauty that instantly shifted him from a possible romance object to an absolute impossibility.
For the moment, we’ll have to assume he understands that we know all.” “All?” “We are the Library,” Coppelia pointed out.“What we don’t know, we research. Now tell me the rest.”
Librarian in Residence was a post of some responsibility.
Or possibly possessiveness was a characteristic of draconic affection. They were supposed to be hoarders, after all. Not so different from Librarians.
The known worlds are ranged on a spectrum from order to chaos.
The purpose of the Library is to preserve humanity from either absolute reality or absolute unreality.
.

Received as an ARC ebook from Netgalley,

Keep the lights on

Title: The Bookseller by C Robert Cales
Publisher: Amazon Digital Services, ScaryBob Productions, 435 pp
Genre: horror, mystery/thriller, adventure, fantasy
4 Stars ****
Author: This is the author's second novel, after Devil Glass, and while they are stand alone, he is at work on a third which will form a trilogy. He has the technical and writing skill to produce quality self publication. This was the first of his work that I read, and not my genre but as that New Years resolution exhorted us to read something new, I went with it.  In fact it was the title that caught my eye, Bookseller, but it also takes place in Boston. What's not to like? Well, keep the lights on!
Story line: George  Saunders and his lovely wife Elizabeth have owned a rare book store on Boston Commons for over 30 years. It's now 2004 and life has been good. You are lulled into the charming characters and neighborhood, although something lurking is not unsuspected with the opening guillotine prologue. So with a sense of trepidation I continued; it really isn't pleasant when bad things happen to people you care about. But by then the ride is galloping along into a fantastical story. Not everyone survives, how could they in the presence of such evil? But there are twists and misdirections and grit and adventure which keep the pages turning to a satisfactory conclusion. You travel from Paris to London to the USA and further adventures. Note there are some very dark sequences, disturbing scenes and bad language.
Read on:
If you like Stephen King or John Connolly.
Quotes:
1794 August Paris....he thought of the journey ahead; the journey always came to pass, eventually. The temporary agony of death and the tiresome process of yet another childhood were the prices he paid for iimmortality.
He recognized early that diversity in his friendships could broaden his horizons, like diversity in his reading material.
My love of literature apparently has nothing to do with my ability to pen a tale.

Read as an ARC from Netgalley

Soaring Fantasy

Title: Shadow Scale by Rachel Hartman
Publisher: Random House March 2015
587pp with glossary and list of characters, maps
Genre: YA, Science fantasy, science fiction, fantasy, sequel
5 Stars *****
Author: Rachel Hartman won several awards for her debut novel Seraphina, including the William C Morris YA Debut Award, and Cybils Award for YA Fantasy. Seraphina quickly became a best seller, indie favourite and had many starred reviews. Her world building is fantastic, her plots clever, her story intricate and the characters unique and fascinating. Her love of music shines.
Story line: this is the sequel to Seraphina, and it must be read first.  Seraphina, half dragon half human, searches for other of her ilk  who can help end the war in the kingdom of Goredd. After reading the concise lovely prologue which introduced the previous story, I reread it anyway, remembering her magical prose and vivid descriptions. How dragons can seem real / normal is fabulous. Nothing about this story disappointed me. I wasn't expecting where it went, rereading and savoring just amplified my enjoyment. Once to inhale, once to savor :-)
While Seraphina was about finding herself, Shadow Scale is about the journey, finding her place in the world, understanding herself and comprehending the choices we all make.  Seraphina interacts with many people, the larger complex cast is colourful and complicates the story.
I loved the foreshadowing in both the first book and the history prologue. I liked that this wasn't a conventional romance, but that was also not unexpected given the ending of the first book. Their relationships are more private/subtle and much appreciated. Life isn't full of answers, perhaps we don't even have the right questions. We don't always have to live by the rules of others.
A few months have lapsed between books, although we have been granted an historical overview (read prologue carefully). I also like that this is a sequel and isn't spawning a dozen more to anticipate. The author is returning to this fantastically created world with another pair of books, and I hope it is with some of the other notable characters. Although any story with an older Seraphina (and her Uncle) would be most welcome.
There are excellent themes on how relationships work; the greater good, motivation and choices; exploration of cultures and peoples; how maturing affects our perceptions.  I enjoyed her exploration of a saint based religion, and how secret books create ignorant society.
I loved the ending. This is a brilliant captivating tale: Well told with rich settings and heartbreaking characters. I won't forget them.
Read on:
Kirsten Cashore Graceling, Bitterblue etc
Anne McCaffrey Dragonsong
Naomi Novik's Temeraire series, but also new Uprooted.
And look for her next books in Goredd.
Opening sentence:
I returned to myself.
I rubbed by eyes, forgetting that the left was bruised and the pain snapped the world into focus.
Quotes:
Lars distracted him with bagpipes.
I wasn't thirsty, but any trace of kindness in my dragon uncle was a thing to encourage.
Lars is designing new war machines.
Mud, on the other hand, is infinite. 
Herself seemed a terrible place to be; I still wished I could have saved her from it.
All the trials of a day may be endured if you know there's such a sky at the end of it.
I saw that my assumptions had blinded me...
The thing itself plus nothing equals everything.
Never beyond repair good heart.
This was going to take all my courage, and I needed a little more music to get there.

I confess I started my Netgalley copy, reverted to hardback Seraphina, discovered I had purchased an Ebook as I couldn't wait for this (before I was approved by Netgalley), and didn't know if I would be at a bookstore. AND actually read it as a hardback personal copy when it was placed on the shelf in Barnes and Noble a day before publication. So, I didn't highlight many quotes, as I never mark first editions. Random pages always found a memorable quotable sentence.

Read as an ARC from Netgalley

Happy WORLD Book Day (UK)

Title: Seeker by Arwen Elys Dayton
Publisher Delacorte Press, Random Huse
450 pp
Genre: YA, fantasy, science fiction, modern medieval, series
3.5 to 4(-) Stars ****
Author:
Dayton is the author of Sovereign's Hold and Resurrection (Amazon best sellers). It was in my TBR pile, requested from Netgalley as it looked fascinating (great cover), is a genre I like (YA, strong female fantasy, while I am waiting for more Cashore or Hartman) and features Scotland! Then I saw the NYTimes advert and advanced it.
Story line:
Teen (distant) cousins Quin Kincaid and Shinobu MacBain, with friend (love interest) John Hart, are undergoing Seeker training in remote Scotland to follow their ancestors in the battle against evil, tales of glory and honor, death to tyranny and the search for truth. (Just a tad melodramatic, perhaps not for older/ teen audience). John fails his test, but Quin and Shinobu are severely traumatized and disillusioned by their first mission. They recognized their fathers as ruthless, rigid Seekers but aren't prepared for life as an assassin. It will be interesting to see if their world is a better place with that job.
Chapters focus on different characters, with an overall narrator, which gives this story many nuanced layers. There is substantial character growth within this novel. But also bad choices (drugs, guilt). There are sword play/ training (proper Claymores) and prophecy and television.  The story, while satisfactory, is incomplete, foreshadowing the next book. I look forword to Maud's increasing role, the young Dread who is something of a guardian to the Seekers.
The action of this book is focused primarily on remote Scotland, Hong Kong, and London, via time travel, portals using ancient tool the athame (a stone dagger that takes the individual to specific coordinates). To complicate things John wants the athame that was stolen and dishonored his family; he seeks revenge.
This has relevant themes for YA:  choices, life in many guises (love, joy, family, deception, tragedy, work), sense of discovery, good role models, confidence, and growing up with all its associated confusion, hormones, polarity. There are also elements of survivalism.  I would call this well written (for teens), but it is NOT fast paced fantasy - more of there is a journey that will have adventures and heartbreak, discovery, greed, betrayal, and love, with knowns and unknowns. The slower pace gives some credence to the enormity and complexity of life. There is so much going on, so much unanswered throughout the book. Pay attention to detail. I expect revelations in  future books, but even more questions; wait if you need instant gratification. (This is where there might be some valid comparison with GoT. The sequel, Traveler, is expected out Spring 2016.) There are elements of steam punk, fantasy, science fiction, romance and and historical mystery.  There are interesting subplots and well developed secondary characters. For research Dayton traveled to ruins and castles in Scotland for a very recognizable feel, and  Hong Kong, which contrasts to a futuristic feel.
I am glad I missed the hype on this novel, compared to the Hunger Games and Divergent series. If I had read some of the reviews I might not have started this book, and wonder if we read the same one! (I was surprised my library doesn't have this author.)
Read on:
Kristin Cashore series, Rachel Hartman Seraphina (soon to be released Shadow Scale!), Samantha Shannon, Bone Season and The Mime Order (older YA)
Laini Taylor Daughter of Smoke and Bone
Quotes:
A "live" fight was no easy task. But if she did well, she was minutes away from her father's approval, from joining her ancestors in the noble duties of a Seeker.
There was only the fight; consequences didn't exist.
I want you to be the John I knew before. The one who wanted to do honorable things. To help people.
He was about to tell her things she didn't want to hear.
We believe the athame ends up with whom it belongs. Do we not?
Great minds are not what's wanted, only good hearts. Good hearts choose wisely.
You've sunk as far low as you can go when a healer wants you gone.

Read as an ARC from Netgalley

2059 and counting...

The Mime Order Samantha Shannon
Publisher:  Bloomsbury (January 27, 2015)
528 pp
3.5 stars (3 for the first half, 4 for the latter half)
Genre: YA series, science fiction, dark fantasy, paranormal, urban fantasy, romance; now also known as New Adult (half YA//adult, graphic, violent)
Sequel to The Bone Season
Author:
Samantha Shannon is a British novelist, recently graduated from Oxford University (read English language and literature at St Anne's). Her first novel, The Bone Season, (2013/14) was well received, published as one of expected seven series. She is an interesting young writer with a vivid imagination and the ability to translate this into riveting reading. If you don't like cliff hangers, wait until the series is more advanced. Each book picks up right where the other left off. Read the charts, maps and glossary first to familiarize yourself with her terminology. They must be read in order.
Novel:
London in 2059 is governed by Scion, a security force that uses Oxford as a prison (Sheol 1). The heroine, 19 year old Paige Mahoney(#40) is an intelligent, impetuous,  clairvoyant (dreamwalker) who works in Seven Dials within the criminal underbelly, as people with unnatural gifts are targeted (and have been since 1859, hence 20 Bone Seasons). It's a fairly simplistic plot, although the characters are complex and complicated by her world building/foundation.
Her keeper there, the Warden (Arcturus) provided mysterious, initial tension, and indeed I was waiting for him to appear in the second novel where they have escaped the prison and are hunted. The action promptly picks up with his arrival (halfway through!). He balances Paige, having age and experience to her youth and instability.  While he challenges her, she provides the hope he has lost. Romantic tension will be resolved eventually, but is an important story element.
Paige remains a fighter, and is strong and resourceful, a strong female lead, with a lot to learn. She returned to her old Mime boss (Jaxon Hall), who is slowly revealed to be quite a vile human, yet he is protecting Paige. While using her of course. The first half of the book reflects youth with indecision and inaction, although that can also be prudent while fact collecting. Steeped in politics, personal agendas, dickinsonian / penny dreadful details I became frustrated with where the story was going.  Then it galloped right along, with twists and turns to yet another cliff. I am not sure I would reread this when the next installment appears. I do want to know what happens to the characters, but 5 more years? I was lucky to have recently read The Bone Season in the library, and delighted to be chosen to review this book. I loved her command of language, her creative world building (rotmonger, thaumaturge, Gutterlings), her nods to the old order (EA Poe, title, plus Raven - member of Guard Extraordinary, from the ravens of the Tower of London). I am still very impatiently waiting for Patrick Rothfuss to provide us with his trilogy. If you haven't read that, drop everything else.

Read on:
If you like Christopher Paolini, Trudi Canavan's Black Magicians trilogy, Richelle Mead's Gameboards of the Gods, and the Shadow and Bone series by Leigh Bardugo
NPR quoted a UK source which stated her as the next JK Rowling, but I don't think there is much similarity. I liked it better than the Hunger Games.

Quotes:
Opening: "It's rare that a story begins at the beginning. In the grand scheme of things, I really turned up at the beginning of they end of this one."
"Hope is the lifeblood of revolution, without it we are nothing but ash, waiting for the wind to take us."
Rephaite- pl. Rephraim. A biologically immortal, humanoid inhabitant of the Netherworld. ...known to feed on the aura of clairvoyant humans.

Read as an ARC from Netgalley - thank you!

Library and Bookstore Magic
I have fallen under another book spell. The Magicians series by Lev Grossman has been on my radar for a few years. This summer I picked up a hardback of Magicians Land (2014) to go with The Magicians King (2011) which I had also found in my beloved Friends' bookstore a year before. As I couldn't start mid series, I put myself on the ebook waiting list of the library. It arrived!
I am not even 100 pages into the book The Magicians (2009) and I know I will be absorbed and lose several days consuming this series. I was absolutely delighted with the writing, the characters, the mystery and finally, the magic. Actually it's all magic!

The Magicians won the 2010 Alex award, given to ten adult fiction books appealing to young adults, and the 2011 John W. Campbell award for best new writer. (NB finding this award list has given me a whole new set of authors as I found many favourites including Naomi Novik, Mary Doria Russell, Gail Carriger, Scott Lynch. GRR Martin won in 1973, currently held by Sofia Samatar.) Grossman has been a journalist, essayist, writer for numerous magazines. "I wrote fiction for 17 years before I found out I was a fantasy novelist." (I loved his interview with Neil Gaiman.) The Magicians was labelled "Harry Potter for adults" but it is much better than that. Briefly, it is a contemporary dark fantasy series about Quentin Coldwater and other extremely gifted people who are admitted to Brakesbills, a secret private college of Magic on the Hudson River.

Don't expect Harry Potter. These are intellectually gifted, relatively normal teenagers, self absorbed, bored, insecure, and unprepared. I found it a bit hard to believe that Fillory (Narnia) could be so intensely important to a college bound student. It is an eclectic group of complex students, each dealing with his or her issues, reality and magic. While it is an original tale, there are a few universal truths about understanding the ramifications of your actions. There is a dour realism to this magic and you don't have the benefits of special effects. Magic has to be learned, like Latin. It is taxing and has consequences. The graphic sex, drugs, violence and swearing (with alcohol, cliques, depression) put this firmly in an adult series. I would have edited out at least half the swearing.

Interesting, complicated thoughts and discussion:
You have to grow up to be happy. You certainly need to live.
How to interact with people who are just as bright as you are, or indeed smarter, for the first time in your life. And the rest of your life.
Not necessarily fantasy as I can relate to most of these people.
If I had read some of the reviews, I suspect I would not have started this series. (Disaffected twenty somethings as a sequel to disaffected teens)
Magic might be the tools left behind after the inverse was created.
Reading a series to completion was worth waiting for.
You never know what magic awaits in the Bookstore or Library!

Quotes:
“He who completes a quest does not merely find something. He becomes something.”
“That was the thing about the world: it wasn't that things were harder than you thought they were going to be, it was that they were hard in ways that you didn't expect.”
“It didn’t matter where you were, if you were in a room full of books you were at least halfway home.”
― Lev Grossman, The Magician's Land
"Magic: it's what happened when the mind met the world, and the mind won for a change."
― Lev Grossman, The Magician King
“In a way fighting was just like using magic. You said the words, and they altered the universe. By merely speaking you could create damage and pain, cause tears to fall, drive people away, make yourself feel better, make your life worse.”
"The truth doesn't always make a good story does it?"
― Lev Grossman, The Magicians

Recommend the audio book read by Mark Bramhall.
4 stars, entire series

Read on 
To China Mieville, Donna Tartt, Douglas Coupland
Jo Walton (Among Others, 2011) and Peter Straub (Shadowlands, 1980)

Farseer Rabbit Hole

How did I never read Robin Hobb? Recently I fell down the Farseer rabbit hole and disappeared for several days, because once I understood this was a continuation, I had to read ALL of those books. GRR Martin recommended, and I agree.
I was thumbing through the NetGalley ARCs and was drawn to this cover. Knowing none of the prehistory I was immediately cast into this well written, thought provoking story. I often wondered what a rich and varied past led this intricate man to this point in his life. To discover there was a trilogy was like discovering Terry Pratchett for the first time. I am not sorry I started at the end, with Fitz a grown man as the early tales have a lot of teen angst and messy life choices (sometimes I think girls are just smarter!).  I can't wait to read the next two installments because yes, there are cliff hangers. She loves these characters.

Robin Hobb is the second pen name for Margaret Astrid Lindholm Ogden (also Megan Lindholm). (If your in London in August she will be sharing a stage, in conversation with GRR Martin!) She has been writing tremendous, imaginative, award winning science fiction and fantasy for over twenty years. In addition to the Farseer trilogy, there are the Liveship  Traders trilogy and the Rain Wilds chronicles. She has a wonderful imagination and clear, detailed writing which captures your attention. There is action, drama, torment, love, family, dragons, magic, and new worlds to explore. I have warned you that you will lose a few days reading!

Fitz (FitzChivalry) is a royal bastard, former King's assassin now living a quieter life as Tom Badgerlock, with the love of his life Molly. But Tom/Fitz has the Wit, the dangerous ability to touch minds. His previous world collides with his new life and the adventure begins anew. I was delighted with the addition of his new daughter, watching her character develop and slowly reveal secrets.  She is definitely her father's daughter.  There is a rich cast with diverse characters, more so with the history of the earlier trilogy. Concepts of loyalty and honour, steadfast love and friendship bonds, good and evil provide counterpoint. Not every battle is won, but they are bravely fought (or not with wisdom). And you discover what matters in life. The story is well paced, richly detailed, multi-layered and full of developing characters. This promises to be a satisfying and unforgettable serious fantasy series.

If you like Patrick Rothfuss, Naomi Novik, Kristin Cashore, GRR Martin, Terry Goodkind: You will love this series. Her early work is especially suitable for teenagers (YA). There's still a lot of summer reading left!
Received as a NetGalley ARC
4.5 stars
Not a full fifth star because I like stories in series that are complete in themselves. People often read slower as they get to the end of a book because they don't want the fantastic story to end. I felt it couldn't end. And no doubt I have to wait until the end of the trilogy. I had not read Hobb before but she is now on my favourite list.

BookScapes

Seraphina (2012) This is a marvelous debut YA science fiction/fantasy novel by Rachel Hartman which has received numerous awards including:
Winner of the 2013 YALSA Morris Award for Best YA Debut Novel
Finalist for the 2012 Governor General’s Literary Award (Canada)
Short-listed for the Kitschies’ Golden Tentacle Award (UK)
Long-listed for the Carnegie Medal (UK)

If you thought there was nothing new to say about dragons, here is a beautifully intricately, crafted new kingdom, Goredd, where humans and dragons have tentatively, coexisted for nearly 4 decades. Dragons attend court in human shape as ambassadors, and are noted for their rational, mathematical minds which makes them attractive to universities as scholars and teachers. As the treaty’s anniversary draws near, tensions increase when a member of the royal family is murdered in suspiciously draconian fashion.

Seraphina Dombegh fears both humans and dragons. An unusually gifted court musician, she is drawn into the investigation, partnering with the captain of the Queens Guard, the perceptive Prince Lucian Kiggs. While they uncover a sinister plot to destroy the peace, Seraphina must protect her own secret, the reason for her musical gift. For Phina is half dragon and half human and totally unforgettable.

This heroine’s struggle, coming of age, is one readers will remember long after they’ve closed the book. The original world (new dragonlore), fun, fascinating and complex characters also demand the sequel to be written soon! I was captivated by the story, entranced by the beautiful, evocative writing. It was a pleasure to reread sections – a delight to return to highlighted passages (thank you kindle for the ease of nondestructive highlighting!). I found myself wishing I had had this book as a teenager with its strong characters, depth of story, creative thinking and interesting example.

There is a wonderful glossary of terms and a cast of characters (examples:)
Binou – breton bagpipes
Aurochs - extinct European cattle wild
Quine – 4 sheets of parchment (medieval paper)
Saarantrai - Dragons in human form

The main character is Seraphina Dombagh, often called Phina
Claude is her father and human
Orma is mentor and uncle and dragon
Prince Lucian Kiggs – is Princess Laurel’s bastard, and fiance to Princess Glisselda
Kiggs is also Captain of the Queen’s Guards
Viridius is the court composer

Quotes:
Most of these quotes are from the first half of the book: the pages flew and I was so absorbed in the story I didn’t interrupt it with anything. Magic quickly overtakes the reader.

Dragons have no souls and must wear a bell in human form unless they are scholars. They have silver blood, no beards, a peculiar smell not normally detected by humans. ...They have sulphurous breath.

The Music…was the answer to a question I had never asked, the way to fill the dread emptiness into which I had been born.

Superstitious fakery or not, the psalter’s message was clear: the truth may not be told. Here is an acceptable lie.

My love of music eventually lured me from the safety of my father’s house, propelling me into the city and the royal court…I did not understand that I carried loneliness before me on a plate, and that music would be the light, illuminating me from behind.

They needed heaven’s peace. I knew little of Saints, but I knew about sorrow and about music as sorrow’s surest balm. That was comfort I could give. There are melodies that speak as eloquently as words, that flow logically and inevitably from a single, pure emotion.

Her Uncle Orma had…the scholar’s exemption from the bell, so few people ever realised he was a dragon. He had his quirks certainly: he never laughed; he had little comprehension of fashion, manners, or art; he had a taste for difficult mathematics and fabrics that didn’t itch.

“…dispensing with any greeting. Dragons never see the point.”

I barely noticed loneliness anymore; it was my normal condition by necessity if not by nature.

I was half lawyer; I always noticed the loopholes.

It was good to see a dragon’s teeth. A dragon with his mouth closed was far more likely to be working up a flame. That seemed completely obvious.

Under the white winter sky the dragons looked rusty, a disappointing color for so fabled a species, but I soon realised their shades were subtle. The right slant of sunlight brought out an irridescent sheen in their scales; they shimmered with rich underhues, from purple to gold.

I had practicing to do, a book on Zibou sinus-song I’d been dying to read.

The borderlands of madness used to have much sterner signage around them than they do now.

Speculus, the longest night of the year, as the saying goes: when the days lengthen, the cold strengthens.

Once I had ceased to be terrified, I was awed….pipes fitted in neat rows, making a palisade fortress of chanters; it looked like the unnatural offspring of a bagpipe and a …. A dragon.

There was no music on the stand; surely no music had yet been written for this monstrosity. Was this cacophony his own composition? I suspected it was. It was brilliant, the way a thunderstorm across the moors or a raging torrent is brilliant insofar as a force of nature may be said to have genius. (the megaharmonium – or organ!)

He released the last chord like a boulder off a trebuchet (medieval catapult)

We were friends; he just didn’t know it yet. He had a nose like a compass needle; it pointed with purpose.

Viridius planned to rehearse us within an inch of our lives.

There is danger in humanity. Do not lose yourself to the wet brain. Tempted by the chemical intoxication of emotion, dragons forget what they are.

I’d had more than my share of beautiful today. Tomorrow I’d give some back, restore and replenish the world.

4.5 stars (5 if the sequel comes soon!)
Read as an ebook from the Library, must purchase for my own library (done!).

Read on:If you liked Graceling, Bitterblue by Kristin Cashore, you will love this.
If you like the dragons of Eragon (Christopher Paolini), His Majesty’s Dragons (Naomi Novik).