Hello everyone! I'm going to start by saying, quite frankly, that mystery and horror isn't usually my thing. Yes, I enjoy a detective story once in a while - a bit of Sherlock Holmes, or an Agatha Christie's Poirot, or 'The Moonstone' by Wilkie Collins - and I remember I used to love the 'Mariella Mystery' books by Kate Pankhurst when I was younger, but...at the end of the day, it's not really my cup of tea. That's why I was so surprised when I really liked this book. I was looking on the Story Museum website - it's a fantastic museum in Oxford celebrating children's stories....here's the link: https://www.storymuseum.org.uk/ - and I read that there was going to be a visit from an author I'd never heard of before, come to talk about her newest book. This must've been ages ago...maybe a year or two? Anyway, I remember looking on it and I couldn't make the talk, but I scribbled down the name to look up later: Frances Hardinge. A few months later, I brought some of her books, and popped them on the 'To-read-whenever-I-get-a-moment's-peace' pile...and that's where many of them stayed for a long while. However, I picked up 'Fly by Night' and skimmed through the blurb, thinking, 'OK, so this isn't my normally my first choice, but let's give it a go.' I was fully prepared to give up half way through if it didn't catch my interest from the start. I was delighted with the Prelude, with the widowed historian Quilliam Mye talking to his baby daughter. He was looking at her and realised with embarrassment that he needed to talk to her. He said, almost to himself, ' "Well, I suppose if you are to be of any use to me, then I had better start putting sense into your head before foolishness can blot the page." ' I thought that had a wonderful balance of humour and awkwardness, which brought Mye's nervousness out brilliantly, and captivated me from the start. He goes on to tell his daughter the story of the world they live in, a historical recount he feels secure in relating, and we begin to get a feeling that this is a distorted, twisted version of our own world, a familiar yet imaginative interweaving of things we know and things we believe. The characters were instantly struck and you felt as though you knew them already, and the strange, distorted world of the setting - with its dark myths and vaguely historical turmoil - comes alive from the beginning, as the forefront of the book's plot. I also loved the disclaimer at the end of the book, too, where the author had written: 'This is not a historical novel. It is a yarn. Although the Realm is based roughly on England at the start of the eighteenth century, I have taken appalling liberties with historical authenticity and, when I felt like it, the laws of physics.' I think that's pure genius. It didn't take me long to read, and I don't think that I could really describe to anyone the events in the book, but the feeling of it stayed with me: that murderous, secretive, furtive world, with the intrigues and culture wonderfully creative and somehow a little known, as if you has seen some of those things before. It had what all good mystery stories do: an atmosphere. So, overall, this wasn't my favourite genre, and I wasn't overly keen on the book at first glance, but I really did find an author - a style - a world - which I really enjoyed. I think I'm going to read the second one - 'Twilight Robbery' - and I think I can say, once again quite frankly, that I really have discovered a book which I enjoy, but which I wouldn't necessarily have read, if I hadn't swallowed my prejudices and given it a go. But that's enough from me - what about you? What have you read? Was it scary, creepy, mysterious, spooky? Have you given a new type of book a go? I don't know about you, but I'm looking forward to fantasy books next week!
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AuthorHi, I love reading all kinds of books. Here, we can talk about different types of books we're reading and recommend reads to each other. Maybe share with us your reading 'ideal meal' or one of your favourite books. Archives
August 2020
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