The First Person Narrator…
I used to hate books that were all I I I. Many seemed to be an excuse for lazy writing to me. And some still are, but I no longer turn away the second I see that the story is being told by an “I”, because they can be quite wonderful, in a good author’s hands.
Published in Beneath Ceaseless Skies ; Issue #225, May 11, 2017 This is a wonderful story. I actually don’t want to say anything at all about it, because I think not knowing any details is best. So that’s all I’m going to say. Just read it, you won’t be disappointed.
First published by Uncanny A Magazine of Science Fiction and Fantasy in May 2017. Finley has just been bitten by a vampire. Now he has to deal with becoming a vampire himself, and an unregistered one at that. He certainly didn’t ask to be turned, and most definitely never filled out the proper paperwork. Plus […]
Told from a variety of point of views, and interspersed with flashbacks this book starts off with an affair that turns into an alleged rape. Sophie is married to James, the man accused in this case. Kate is the prosecuting barrister. One believes him guilty and will do everything to secure a conviction. The other […]
Inheritance trilogy ; 1 Okay, so I’m behind the times with this. And yes, I’ve heard so many people talk about N.K. Jemisin in such a positive light that I really should have read her earlier. And y’all were totally right, I loved this book. The blurb makes it sound like a fairly generic epic […]
I added this book to my unwieldy Mount TBR because of Smart Bitches description of it as a stunningly different fantasy that mixes Crimson Peak with Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell. And then I saw that wonderful cover and had to read it. It’s just wonderful. Unfortunately I just never really clicked with this novel. […]
Based on the true story of Grace Marks, an infamous murderer in Canada in the 1840’s, Atwood’s book uses different narrators to tell the story, as well as interspersing the story with extracts from other works. From poems, fiction, newspapers of the time, and other sources. Although this is based on the real story, Atwood has, of course, fictionalised a great deal of the novel.
The two narrators are Grace herself, who tells her story in the first person, past tense, and Simon Jordan, the doctor investigating her claims of insanity or innocence. His parts are told by a third person narrator, and are in the present tense.
The Murderbot Diaries ; 2 The whole time I was reading this book1 I kept telling myself to slow down. It is short, only 159 pages((not that I’d know that apart from the fact that goodreads tell me I read the ebook because pr-orders and instant gratification are the way of the now! )) so […]
Sherlock Holmes ; 4 or 7, depending on how you are counting. This is the fourth and final of the novels by Doyle. In it Holmes and Watson head to Birlstone Manor to investigate a murder, having been first warned that Moriarty may be involved. There is much deducing and eventually Holmes has the case […]
translated by Diane Oatley Bees are pretty cool insects. They are also pretty damn important. Insects in general are essential to the world we know, so maybe think twice before spraying those insecticides and getting rid of all the dandelions in your lawn. We need insects1 so we should be paying more attention to their […]
I picked this book up on impulse. I had finished a book the day before and hadn’t yet decided what to read when lunchtime came around. I scanned the library shelves and this was the only one that seemed to appeal, mainly I think, because of the cover. It’s pretty awesome looking. I had seen […]
You know the story of the little mermaid, well, imagine if the reverse were to happen. A human who wishes to become a mermaid. Only not a mermaid, but an atargati, a species of intelligent deep sea dwelling beings whom humans know very little about. Dr. Cadence Mbella is studying them, she is the world’s […]
I started reading this book because my book club chose it. I don’t think that I would have picked it up based on the blurb. And at first I thought that I wouldn’t like it at all. I found Eleanor irritating and annoying, and the way she was written didn’t make me interested in finding […]