SHORT REVIEWS OF 16 FANTASY/SCIENCE FICTION NOVELS

For 3 1/2 months this spring/summer I was without internet or television. I had not realized previously that I spent (wasted?) so much time on electronic diversions. I suddenly found I had several hours more each day to amuse myself. I have always read every day, but without an alternative I read EVEN MORE. At the end of May, I finally got my books out of storage, where they had been for almost 4 years, so I began selecting from my own collection and re-reading. (Why keep a book if not to read it again?) I kept a list of the books I read (46) these three summer months and now I intend to write several groups of short reviews, mainly for my own benefit.

This first group I read right after I moved in and unpacked. Moving is a tense and busy time, so I was prompted to read escapist literature.

THE LITTLE COUNTRY by CHARLES de LINT (1991) Second reading
A mysterious book with magical powers is at the center of the conflict between a young female folk musician and a rich psychic. She has it and he wants it. Meanwhile, a witch shrinks a young girl into the size of a mouse. Adventure ensues. This is all rather predictable and the book reads at a Young Adult level. This is one I will put in a box to take to sell at Half-Price.


LITTLE, BIG by JOHN CROWLEY (1981) Fourth reading
This is one of my favorite escapist reads. It's about the strange Drinkwater family, who believe that they have a Destiny which involves the world of Faerie, and when I read about it, I absolutely believe it, too. This is a must-read for anyone who is at all capable of suspension of disbelief.


THE FOLK OF THE AIR by PETER S. BEAGLE (1977) Second reading
Another book about Faerie. I looked on my bookshelves for Beagle's best book, The Last Unicorn, but I must have lent it to someone. This one is a bit less immersive, but it is better than most of a similar vein. You are asked to believe that some of the people who participate in Live Role Play re-enactments actually have the magical powers they pretend to display. I almost believed, but not quite.


MYTHAGO WOOD by ROBERT HOLDSTOCK (1984) Third reading
LAVANDYSS by ROBERT HOLDSTOCK (1988) Third reading
Two brothers enter a magical wood where the mythical creatures of our collective unconscious come to life. I really liked these the first time I read them, less the second time, and this time I found many faults. The books do have a fairly original premise, so they are interesting as a one-off read for fans of fantasy.


THE PRYDAIN CHRONICLES by LLOYD ALEXANDER (5 short novels)(1964-66) Second reading
These are actually children's book (about middle school level). I think I intended them for my grandchildren and failed to pass them on. They follow Taran, an assistant pig keeper, from youth through maturity. He lives in a magical land and joins in the fight against the evil wizard Arawn, joined by a princess, a dwarf, a bard, and a man/beast helper (similar to Gollum of Lord of the Rings fame). The story is loosely adapted from Welsh mythology. I would highly recommend these for ages 10-14.


TITUS GROAN by MERVIN PEAKE(1946) Second reading
GORMENGHAST by MERVIN PEAKE(1950) Second reading
I love words and the way they can be put together to create an atmosphere and mood; Mervin Peake offers a veritable feast. He writes with a painter's eye, and his created world of Gormenghast Castle is visual to the mind's eye to the extent that I have even dreamed of it. His characters do Dickens one better; they are exaggerated and sometimes grotesque, but they are real. The story is suspenseful. The villain is deliciously evil. The hero is flawed, but learns from his experiences. The third volume of the Gormenghast series, Titus Alone, was written while Peake was suffering from diminished mental facility due to Parkenson's. I have not yet had the courage to read it, because I don't think I could bear the anguish of the dimming of his powers.


ROCANNON'S WORLD by URSULA LeGUIN(1966) Second reading
PLANET OF EXILE by URSULA LeGUIN(1966) Second reading
CITY OF ILLUSIONS by URSULA LeGUIN(1967) Second reading
These three shortish novels are bound together in a volume called Three Hainish Novels. They are not, however, three parts of one story, but three distinct plots all taking place in the imagined Hainish universe. The first one, Rocannon's World, takes place when the planet is first being studied by the League of All Worlds. Rocannon is an ethnologist who goes on a quest across the planet to alert the League of All Worlds to a threat from an invading species. In Planet of Exile, on another Hainish planet, indigenous humanoid natives and settlers from Earth live an uneasy separate existence until drawn together by looming danger. As in Game of Thrones, Winter Is Coming! The third volume, City of Illusions, takes place several centuries later, back on Earth, where a descendant of a character in Planet of Exile arrives with no memory of his past. His quest to learn his identity and then to overcome the Earth's new masters, the Shing, form the plot. These are LeGuin's first novels and are not as accomplished as her later efforts, but they are better-than-average science fiction/fantasy.


THE CHILD GARDEN by GEOFF RYMAN (1989) Second reading
In a world of the future, life-spans have been halved, global warming threatens, people are genetically engineered for their jobs, and children are instantly educated through the introduction of viruses. Milena, the central character, is immune to the viruses and has to learn everything the old-fashioned way. She falls in love with a genetically engineered female who looks like a polar bear. And so it goes. This book contains too much and thus loses any focus. This one will go to Half-Price.