Any Moment Called Now

The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



Stories told within stories are always tricky but in my opinion Rothfuss manages it right. We get Kvothe, the main character, tell the story of his life but at the same time we also get the feeling that even if he thinks he's at the end of his journey that's not really the case.

Kvothe is exceptional in a way that only heroes in fantasy novels can be but he's not especially heroic, at least not in the beginning. Rothfuss manages to reflect the egoism of early youth rather well in my opinion.

My only gripe is that the female characters feel a bit stereotypical, we have the wild love interest, the nerdy girl, the caretaker and the fey strange girl and so far they haven't gotten much more characteristics than that. Would it have been too much to ask to have one of his friends being a girl? Without it being a guy friend with boobs?

All in all it is an enjoyable tale, better than average in all ways except the female characters, and I will read the next one.



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Yesterday I sat down with a few of the other members of the bookclub EMK and had beers (well, cola for me as I'm on anti-biotics) and a few hours of constantly flowing geeky talk about everything from books though games and to TV-series and movies. Awesome way to spend time if I say so myself. I came away with two new (to me) books and a few more recommendations.

My goodreads thingie up there is not exactly correct, I'm actually finished with The Name of the Wind and almost finished with M.E Patterson's Devil's Hand. The latter is the book we are reading for the book club and thus I won't say more about it besides that it has to do with demons, poker, Las Vegas and the end of the world. Could easily have been a Supernatural episode. I'll post a review later.

It would seem my urge to read has returned, at least at bit, as I knew it would. Having swinging interests is a bit of a bother but at least I know it always swings back. Right now I can't wait to start on Eld (Fire) the sequel to Circle (Cirkeln) that I wrote about here. And after that Tricked and then, and then... too many books, too little time.

So remember how I said one of the books I was looking forward to in the future was John Scalzi's Red Shirts? And that there was an excerpt on tor.com? Well, I finally got off my shapely behind and read said excerpt and now I only have one question: Is it june 5th yet? Because it's good, very good.

Considering the title the book is about just what you might think it is about, those unfortunate souls who get eaten, pulverized, infected, melted, defenestrated or killed in whichever dreadful way the writers could dream up that week on Star Trek, especially the Original Series. Of course, in the book the names are cleverly changed but easily recognizable as a closer look is taken at how things went on behind the scenes.

Scalzi does humor well, as is very obvious in Agent to the Stars for example, and from the first 5 chapters it seems he's still got it. I for one is going to pre-order and if you like Star Trek and other old sci-fi series, or know enough about them to know what a redshirt is, you should to.

So several of my favorite authors are coming out with new books and maybe those will be the kick in the pants I need to start reading more. But, if not I can at least talk about them here.

First off and already released is Elisabeth Bear with Range of Ghosts. An epic fantasy centering around the eastern cultures instead of the traditional western clones. I do like my fantasy and this sounds promising.
Secondly we move from fantasy to Sci-fi, the awesome John Scalzi (seriously, you should follow him on twitter - he's great!) is coming out with a book called Red Shirts and honestly that's about what I know about it besides that you can read a preview over on Tor.com (or you're supposed to anyway, I can't find it now.) also it comes ou June 5th.
Finally we come to urban fantasy, Kevin Hearne is a few weeks away From releasing the fourth book about his Iron Druid Atticus O'Sullivan - Tricked. I can't wait to read more about Atticus and his hound Oberon, so far the series have been a lovely mix of myths and modern pop-cultural references and I hope that continues!

So, three books to look forward to, as if my to-read list wasn't overflowing already.

A year that begins with order book can't be an entirely awful one. At least that's what I belive, which is why I just sent off an order to bookdepository.

A bit of fantasy, a bit of comic and then horror and mystery. Kind of like a perfectly mixed drink.To be honest the Batman comic is mainly for 'dreas but I am pretty sure I'll get around to reading it sooner or later as well.

Carrie is one of those King-classics I haven't read yet and as for the Griffiths book I have fallen helplessly for Ruth Galloway and her friends. As so many of my fellow bloggers I've realized there's something about Ruth and The Wash that just won't let go.

That's about that right now. Now... what to read while I wait for these to arrive? *ponders*

I know this is a book blog but it's my book blog and since this is at least remotely literately related I say it goes. It works wonderfully with my Autumnal Horror Theme as well because I've played horror games and watched horror games being played and this is actually among the scarier. So, what am I talking about in this horridly roundabout way? Well Alice: Madness Returns of course.

Alice and the Cheshire Cat, gothic (and creepy) version

Take the classic story about Alice who follows the rabbit and falls into Wonderland and add some gothic themes, horror and mindtwisters, mix it with some traditional platform action and presdo, one creepy game with awesome costumes and scary monsters with dollfaces and also deadly foes with oversized forks.

It is well known that I suck at platform games but this I can manage because when I fall down, and I do - frequently - I won't get knocked back too far and there are ways to save oneself from falling too. And the fighting is similar, it's not easy but you won't get punished too severely if you make a mistake and die. So it fits me.

I'm not even done with the first chapter yet but so far I am loving it. And I have to know how it ends, always a good motivator for both books and games.

On the reading side I am now on George R R Martin's steamboat vampire tale and I am delighted at the classic way he is handling the bloodsuckers.

I've also decided what my next themes here on the blog will be. Some hints: Winter is coming and Steam Springs Eternal.

Låt den rätte komma in by John Ajvide Lindqvist
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I know I said I would write in Swedish about Swedish books but as this one has been something of an international success, at least the movie, I will take it in English because really, any fan of writing that creeps under your skin, clings to your back as a child sized nighttime monster and sticks in your chest like a pole through the heart needs to be read.

I don’t know why it’s taken me so long to read this, it might be a side-effect of my dislike for Swedish movies or maybe something left over from when I was that scared pre-teen girl. In any case I am kind of glad I did because now the setting of this book is just a metro trip away and that makes it just a bit more real. A bit more scary.

One interesting part is that if you were to take out the supernatural elements of this story I wouldn’t touch it with a ten foot pole. It would be wallowing in real life and misery and that really isn’t my cup of tea. Unless there are vampires apparently. Because the clever addition of a classical monster in a very untraditional guise makes the misery stand out so much more, makes my heart ache for Oscar and the others. Makes it a better book in my point of view.

Maybe it’s different when you grew up in the same world, in the same country. I remember the 80’s in Sweden; I remember many of the things mentioned in passing. If someone who didn’t grow up in the same environment read this book they probably won’t get the same experience. But they on the other hand will get the faint exoticism I get when reading books set in England or USA. In the end I think a good book is worth to read regardless. And this is a very good book.


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