As an existing fan of Gail Carriger's work, I was expecting to like this novel a lot. I don't think I was quite expecting to like it THIS much.
Rue is As an existing fan of Gail Carriger's work, I was expecting to like this novel a lot. I don't think I was quite expecting to like it THIS much.
Rue is a very different creature to her mother, in a later time and a more relaxed era, and the tone of the novel very much follows suit - ruder, cheekier, almost bawdy (I'm pretty certain Alexia would not have stood for a device that ejaculated sticky white fluid at climactic moments, no matter how useful). There's less whimsy, as Rue's mischievous practicality gets to work, and the back-and-forth bickering between Rue and the other main characters moves the narrative swiftly between dramatic set-pieces of just the right mix of dramatic and absurd. The novel also builds significantly on previous books; many major (and some minor) characters make appearances and previous plot points from both series are referred to or expanded upon (in some cases, dramatically expanded upon). Prudence, however, is much more clearly set up as part of a series - while at the end of Soulless there was a satisfying resolution and a romantic payoff, in Prudence there are a number of teasers for secrets yet to come, as well as a clear sense at the end that although they might have solved their immediate problem the real trouble is only just beginning. Not to mention it seems that Rue's love life is going to be far less smooth than her mothers, or even Sophronia's was.
All in all, though a lot of the joy to be had from this book stems from knowing the previous series, I also think it has a lot to offer a new reader, and I would highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys snickering quietly to themselves while plotting the relative romantic trajectories of various characters....more
Reading H is for Hawk was, not very ceremoniously, like being hit with something.
It's a very complicated book to describe to someone. It's non-fictionReading H is for Hawk was, not very ceremoniously, like being hit with something.
It's a very complicated book to describe to someone. It's non-fiction, technically both memoir and biography, but narrative and lyrical - it deals in feelings and impressions and the weaving of tales rather than dry facts and recitations. It's a book about grief, and a book about healing, a book about a man, and another man, and a hawk. Mostly it was a book about a woman caught between these three things and struggling with herself in the process. Partially, it was a book about memory, and building the self, and battling the self, and becoming one with nature, and realising that you could not become one with nature no matter how much you might wish to. It's a book about how many things can come together in one moment, and create something else. It's a book about a woman called Helen who, in the wake of her father's death, decides to train a goshawk. It's also a book about T.H.White, or at least a small part of his life. It's a book - more than anything else - about loss, and about connections.
I doubt I'll read a more powerful, moving or elegantly written book this year. ...more
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