Fantasy
The Lyonesse trilogy by Jack Vance
My final verdict upon my second reading is that I like the trilogy enough but I don’t really love it, hence why I couldn’t remember much about it. But I think a younger me probably did enjoy how whimsical the whole trilogy is (it does contain dark themes like war, plotting etc but a lot of character actions appear driven by nothing other than their whims, that’s what I meant by whimsical).
Among the three books, book 2 is definitely the darkest whereas I find book 1 and 3 relatively light-hearted. And Madouc in book 3 really grew on me with her impish ways.
Atomic by C. Gockel
I finally had enough with mystery short stories and thought I would try a fantasy short story. And I’ve been kinda curious about Norse myth ever since A Gathering of Ravens. This short is okay but again, I am not enticed to read a full novel from the author. It’s my thing with novellas and short stories- I never quite have a connection to this story form.
Historical Fiction
The Last Kingdom by Bernard Cornwell
I am on a whim to read historical fiction and Bernard Cornwell was mentioned by a now deceased Internet friend so I picked it up. I did Google it at first and found that it’s a long standing series with more than 10 books and I’ve decided to read up to book 3 since the first three books connect up seamlessly in terms of chronological order but book 4 is set 5 years after book 3.
I like book 1 so far and even though the fictional protagonist Uhtred is very much driven by external events, it is enough that he at the same time has a clear internal stake. And before this book, I didn’t know that Vikings were actually Danish raiders. Definitely will pick up book 2 that directly continues Uhtred’s story.
Mystery
A Purple Place for Dying by John D MacDonald
If you love a plot centric mystery, this is a series for you. My library didn’t have the first book of the series so all I could get out of the character from book 3 was that this is a sleuth with personal demons. But that doesn’t matter to me that much because my energy is just absorbed into getting through the case.
The Gypsy by Agatha Christie (BBC radio production)
I’m looking for a short read to tie me over until my NZ trip and I didn’t realise that this was just a short story that’s half an hour long. And it’s actually not quite a mystery story. Those with me a while now would know that I’m not really much of a short story reader and I’m not sure what to say about this other than that it’s okay. And I mean that in a completely neutral way.
The £199 Adventure by Agatha Christie (BBC radio production)
I was going to listen to a Miss Marple audiobook but there was a connection failure on my library website so I switched to this without realising that it’s just a short story (or maybe I missed it on the description on the web catalogue, I was always more interested in the blurb anyway). Overall, a nice enough short story with the big twist at the end.
The Adventure of the Italian Nobleman by Agatha Christie
I decided to take a break from audiobooks but still ran into yet another short story starring Poirot. Another solid short.
The Mirror Cracked from Side to Side by Agatha Christie (BBC radio production)
This is still a very enjoyable listen even though my experience has been marred by the fact that for unknown reason my local library always throws in an error half way during a particular section so I had to listen to each section over a break (and there are only 2 sections). Nevertheless, I would say this is a Miss Marple story up to par with its usual standard.
Pros and Cons by Janet Evanovich and Lee Goldberg
It’s less than a week before I board a plane to New Zealand so I’m still in short fiction mode. But after so many Agatha Christie, I thought I would change author and that’s when I remembered Janet Evanovich and her Stephanie Plum series. While I’m done with that particular series (I stuck with it to more than ten, I think, but I’m not sure that Stephanie has really caught on with me), I do like the characters in her spinoff Plum series (the ones not with numbers in titles but with Plum in the title) that does not star Stephanie Plum. So I picked this up. It’s okay for a short but nothing that really stands out. Even with a cliffhanger ending, I’m not dying to read the next book.
Bond Ambition by Gemma Halliday and Jennifer Fischetto
I’m on a whim for female sleuths so I picked this short story up as there’s only three days before I will be in New Zealand. It’s an okay short and, except for Miss Marple, the slightly old lady sleuth in this series is a fresh change from the other younger female sleuths in contemporary mysteries.
The Mistletoe Mystery by Caroline Dunford
Still on a female sleuth mood and this time it’s a mystery with a supernatural angle. Okay but nothing outstanding about it.
Madukka the River Serpent by Julie Janson
This book is actually an eye opener. I didn’t know we have environmental issues, corruption and life threatening racism so close at home here in Australia- I’ve always thought that was an issue exclusive to China, India and developing countries. I also found it refreshing that it’s written from an Aboriginal point of view with a frank attitude towards British colonialism (I mean, there are probably other work out there that delve into this topic but I’m reading this as a mystery and what I like about this book is that the Aboriginal angle just seamlessly fit into the story).
A Sight for Sore Eyes by Ruth Rendell
I had intended to read book 2 of the Last Kingdom series back to back with book 1 but I ended up as number 2 on a queue for the electronic copy so I switched to mystery. This is just from a random browse of the end of the library electronic catalogue. Too early to speak much about it really as it alternates between the male and female protagonist but the main crime is yet to appear. Or actually, I’m not sure whether the main story will be the love story between the two. I guess I shall wait and discover that. More on this book in Sep.
Moonlake's Fiction Space 