Mammoth Book of Celtic Myths & Legends

by Peter Berresford Ellis, 3 stars

I’ve always loved a bit of mythology but have until now always been drawn to the Greek and the Norse, so it was high time I read a little about the myths that were formed in my own country. Being both mammoth and full of re-tellings of Celtic myths and legends, this one lived up to its title’s promise.

Split into sections covering the different Celtic regions – Ireland, Manx, Scottish, Welsh, Cornish and Brittany – each came with a preface explaining the historical context in which these tales should be placed, something I greatly appreciated. Prompted by the prefaces, it became easier to see how these tales had been shaped and influenced by the landscapes in which these storytellers lived, as well as how they started to change with the influence of Christianity (and the pens of contemporary Christian authorities as they sought to alter or suppress the beliefs native to whatever land they’d ‘converted’).

I enjoyed reintroductions to some of the beings I’ve encountered in modern paranormal stories – such as the Tuatha De Danann and the Fomorrii (thanks to Harry Dresden), early versions of stories I’ve come to know through fairytales (Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty to name two) and, in my own favourite section (the Cornish, being in my part of the world), the Bukkys and piskies that can waylay unwary travellers.

If I had hoped to get a little more on the deities of the Celtic regions, I was to be ever so slightly disappointed, but in all this was a good introduction to a fascinating subject.

 

Skin Game, by Jim Butcher

4 stars

Not many series, especially those set in the paranormal realm, manage to get 15 books in without showing signs of bloat, slump, or the author no longer feeling any enthusiasm for their creation (as in the case of the terminal decline of the Sookie Stackhouse books). As tall as he is, Skin Game sees Harry Dresden still standing head and shoulders above his contemporaries as we tear through the latest breakneck instalment in the continued development of my favourite wizard-for-hire.

Following the events of Cold Days Harry has spent a long time recovering on his island with just Mab, Demonreach itself, and the parasite that's soon due to burst from his head to keep him company. But not for long, as Mab has loaned Harry out for a job - a particularly awkward one, seeing as Harry will be working for one of his nemeses, the bastardly Denarian Nicodemus Archleone. Archleone has assembled a motley crew of supernatural types (including a not very friendly Yeti) for the heist of the century - he doesn't want to break into any old vault but one belonging to Hades, down in the Underworld.

Butcher yet again does a great job in raising the stakes for Harry while at the same time avoiding one of the more common missteps in the supernatural; while Harry is no longer just a wizard-for-hire but also a Warden of the White Council and Winter Knight, that doesn't mean that he's now nigh invincible and possessing every power imaginable (*cough* Anita Blake *cough*). Instead each new job has brought a different set of responsibilities, a new set of restrictions, and a new set of challenges (especially in the case of negotiating the moral pitfalls of being the Winter Knight).

Keeping us in touch with the human world are the friends Harry calls in to help - good old Murphy who's always got his back, Michael Carpenter, getting a last hurrah as a Knight of the Cross while also raising Harry's cute-as-a-button daughter Maggie (whose moments, along with Mouse, made it a little hard to swallow past the lump in my throat) and, most effectively, Waldo Butters who proves that you don't have to be the smartest, the strongest, or the most fearless to be a total hero. 

While I may have missed not having Toot, Thomas or Bob (except in a small but great cameo), these were minor niggles easily cancelled out by my glee at Harry's new habit of shouting 'Parkour!' every time he moves (as someone who shouts similar at minor movements like getting off the sofa, I wholeheartedly approve) with my biggest niggle being that I'm now up to date with the series, and am going to have to actually wait for the next to be written. Dagnammit!

Street Magic, by Caitlin Kittredge

1 star

I've been casting about for a new paranormal series to start chomping my way through, but if Street Magic accomplished anything, it was to prove that Black London is not going to be that series. Set in a London in which the walls between this world and the shadow-world that runs parallel are very thin, children are going missing. And tough female cop Pete Caldecott is going to need the help of street-mage Jack Winter, who supposedly died in front of her 12 years ago, to get them back...

Some books, like Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere, dream up a shadowy parallel London that is wonderful and strange while still feeling plausible and recognisably London. Street Magic is not one of those books. Aside from a few mentions of place names and some mangled Brit-speak we could have been anywhere, parallel London - the Black - was a good idea that we then barely bothered with, and our main characters, Pete and Jack, were probably supposed to be charming assholes but unfortunately forgot to show any charm.

We know that Pete is a tough cop because she's always threatening to put her boot up someone's arse, being bitchy when it's not called for, and thinking nothing of indulging in a little breaking and entering or a spot of police brutality. Her detective work is based mostly around arching an eyebrow - it's certainly not based on anything like, I don't know, piecing together evidence or asking any pertinent questions (despite having apparently seen Jack die, it takes her 3/4 of the book to ask why the hell he's not dead, wonder why everyone keeps calling him a crow-mage, or what the hell that means anyway) and she seemed to forget all about the missing children for long stretches of time in favour of thinking about or looking at Jack instead.

The wildly off-putting Jack is a really crap version of Constantine who seems to have learnt to speak English solely through listening to Buffy The Vampire Slayer's Spike and, as well as having no redeeming features whatsoever, is responsible for some of the more unsuccessful attempts at being British (you won't find many of us who use 'fuck all' or 'bugger all' as exclamations - they're instead swearier ways of saying 'nothing', i.e: 

And as for all the magic, I've still no idea what gives Jack such super bloody special status amongst mages, how much of the magic worked, or why sorcerers are so supposedly badass when they can be easily vanquished, again and again, by someone with no clue as to how to fight them, as instead of building a plausible world or magic system we'd settled instead for pulling random plot points and magic rules from out of someone's ass.

To top it all off, with long stretches of nothing happening other than two unlikeable people bitching at one another and any action that did occur quickly becoming repetitive, what should have been a little piece of brain candy took forever to slog through. I won't be wasting any more precious reading time in this world.

Reaper Man, by Terry Pratchett

4 stars

All things must die, but what about Death itself?

In Reaper Man we find out, as Death is given an expiration date and sods off to get a bit of living in. Finding work on the farm of Miss Flitsworth, Death becomes Bill Door and finds that, like many more before him, when his time comes he really doesn’t want to go. 

Unfortunately for the residents of Ankh-Morpork and in particular one Windle Poons, recently deceased wizard, Death’s absence has left too much life-force knocking about with some strange consequences, including the popping into existence of little snow-globes. Not such a bad problem on the face of it, but wait until they hatch…

Continuing the Discworld trend of books starring Death being better than the others (save for the City Watch – and bumping into Sergeant Colon guarding a bridge from theft made me miss those guys) there were quite a few little treats in this entry, including Mrs Cake the medium (but more of a small), a shy banshee who can’t face wailing at people so instead slips notes under their doors, the Death of Rats, and a little shout-out to the Scott Expedition’s Lawrence Oates (“I’m just going outside and may be some time”) that made my lip unexpectedly wobble...

...Reaper Man now ranks fairly highly amongst my favourite Discworld books to date.

More Death, please!

Eric, by Terry Pratchett

4 stars

I'm either getting my mojo back or there's something in the air, as I've picked up the next Discworld book starring Rincewind to find myself not only unirritated but positively enjoying him. 

I know, I'm surprised too.

In Faust Eric, Rincewind is accidentally summoned by a teenage demonologist who'd like three wishes granted. Although Rincewind is definitely not a demon he's still bound by the summoning, and so (to Rincewind's surprise) a click of his fingers soon sees him taking a trip around the Discworld as he sees to Eric's wishes - to be ruler of the world, to meet the world's most beautiful woman, and to live forever. As happens with most wish-granting, they don't quite turn out the way Eric expects and he and Rincewind are soon being prepared for sacrifice, popping in to the Tsortean (Trojan) War to discover that, while pleasant, the classics may have exaggerated Elenor's (Helen of Troy's) beauty somewhat, and then having a quick chat with the creator as the Discworld is brought into being, before finding themselves in hell.

Very quick and very amusing, this was a really fun read that sped by in no time at all, and one that's proven I no longer need wrinkle my nose whenever picking up a Rincewind book.

Imajica, by Clive Barker

2 stars

Earth as we know it is only one of five parallel worlds, or Dominions, and is the only one that remains unaware of the others’ existence. Attempts made in the past to Reconcile these Dominions have been disastrous, leading to a secret society being founded to keep the traces of magic from our world. But the time has come for the Reconciliation to be attempted once more…

With some books, timing can be everything. Imajica, a huge book full of extraordinary worlds and beings, an epic plot, and sensuous prose with a leaning towards the philosophical and mystical, should have been read in long stretches where there was little else demanding my time. Instead I read it in 10 minute snatches wherever I could grab them, usually with constant interruptions, over the course of a fortnight. Due to this, each time I picked it up it would then take me a while to get back into it again, only to find my attention wandering as I waded through the detailed writing and heavy themes (and I wasn’t always helped by the vague confusion and instinct that most of the characters seemed to operate under).

Now that I’ve finished the book I can look back and admire the scope of what I’ve read, but the benefit of hindsight hasn’t quite managed to cancel out my actual reading experience. This, and a smidge too much mysticism for my tastes, has dragged its score down from a potential 4 to a distracted 2.

Cold Days, by Jim Butcher

3.5 stars

No longer mostly dead thanks to the combined efforts of Mab and Demonreach, Harry's back in the material world in time to save it, again.

Now Mab's Winter Knight thanks to the deal he made back in Changes, his first mission is an ugly one - going after Mab's own daughter. But Maeve's a slippery customer, and may have some compelling reasons up her sleeve (I guess that would be her Wizard's Sleeve, as she spends the book mostly naked)  for Harry to take out Mab instead.

To make things even simpler, he has an awesomely deadly new assistant for his mission (the Cat Sith) who isn't best pleased to be serving him, and most of the Winter Court is out for his blood. Oh, and Demonreach is about to blow, which doesn't bode well for the world considering that the island's purpose is to serve as a demonic Oz - a maximum security prison for the most nightmarish beasties to have ever been unleashed on the world.

Bursting to the seams with action, sometimes I felt there was a little too much this time around, with wave after wave of assault sometimes disorienting me and making me forget just who was after Harry now and why it was important.

I was also a little nonplussed by his friends reactions to his reappearance in their lives. Considering how fucked up we found them all in Ghost Story, and the hoops they made him jump through to prove his really was Harry, I was expecting a bigger reaction than the collective shrug that came from everyone bar Thomas and Mouse.

And finally in my list of niggles, whilst I'm aware that Harry has always been a bit of a dick when it comes to women, I am really not keen on the new, rapey Harry that's been wrought by the mantle of Winter, nor the reactions of the ladies he'd quite like to rape (or the fact that women everywhere are constantly either oozing sex or defined by the lack of sex they ooze). Harry is, in fact, getting dangerously close to me wanting everyone to punch him in the throat.  With the set-up for the next book that came at the book's climax, it's a situation that will probably only get worse as he works out the dynamics of his relationship with the new Winter Lady.

Still, I do love the fantastic flourishes we get whenever dealing with the fae, and with Toot still around and managing to not want to rape everyone he meets, there's still someone at least for me to wholeheartedly throw my support behind. 

But Harry - consider yourself warned...

Ghost Story, by Jim Butcher

3.5 stars

After being a good girl and reading a classic it's time for my reward, which naturally means more Harry Dresden. Be warned - if you haven't yet read Changes it's time to click away, as here be spoilers...

Things have changed a lot for Harry since Changes...for one thing, he's dead. But, being Harry, that doesn't mean his troubles are anywhere near over and before he's been in the Inbetween for five minutes he's been sent on a mission - to solve his own murder and protect his friends. Lacking a body, Harry finds he's also somewhat lacking in mojo but that's not about to stop him. Even if that means risking dying. Again.

While some things have changed in the Dresden universe - as well as Harry being dead there is now a new, formidable group called the Fomors who are filling the vacuum left by the annihilation of the Red Court, and virtually no-one that Harry left behind is in a good place - thankfully the excitement hasn't diminished for me thanks to all of the usual twists, turns and heart-racing action scenes (including an awesome ghostly version of the D-Day landings). This one also included some more quietly touching moments that must have made the room dusty because I totally wasn't crying, I swear...

The only down side for me was the ending, and the reason that Harry's body was never found. While it's not really much of a down side (I'm glad that it can only mean a return to a state that will allow for a continuation of the storyline I was so invested in before death intervened), it's also made everything I've just read a little redundant.

Still, it's not enough to keep me from diving straight into Cold Days.

Side Jobs, by Jim Butcher

3 stars

I've just realised that I've spent a month and a half reading nothing but Dresden. I'm turning into a bookier version of Superhans...

A few short side jobs from the case files of Harry Dresden, taking place from before Storm Front all the way up until after Changes (which you should definitely read first, as Aftermath deals with the, um, aftermath of a pretty huge plot development from that book), this was a fun diversion but didn’t make me feel anything near the brain-shrieking levels of glee that the series has been delivering lately.

My favourites were easily It’s My Birthday Too (as Harry attempts to give Thomas a birthday present, interrupts a game of vampire LARP and has to hit some bad guys with those gravity anvils that I love so much) and Backup (in which Thomas runs around trying to help Harry without him realising, and lets us in on the Oblivion War) although I swear I’m not a Thomas fangirl (my heart belongs to Toot). Our opener, A Restoration of Faith, was also notable in that it showed the germ of what would later come while also demonstrating just how much Butcher has improved over the years.

Not as much of a must-read as the series itself, but a pleasant way to spend a few days if jonesing for a quick fix of Harry. And on that note, it's probably time for a self-imposed intervention before I turn into Gollum.

Changes, by Jim Butcher

5 stars

Holy shit. Those stakes? Just got well and truly raised.

When Harry's ex-lover Susan Rodriguez calls, his world changes overnight. Finding himself in a truly desperate situation, he's forced to make hard choice after hard choice after hard choice...and still the best outcome he can hope for is bleak. I can't say any more than that without dropping a ton of spoilers but trust me, it's a doozy.

While not exactly the most fun entry in the series to date, this probably made it all the more effective for me and besides, just because Harry was having the worst time of his life it didn't mean there weren't moments that nearly made my head explode with glee. Including that cliffhanger, although that also had a dash of...

(and this, even though I'd known something like that might be coming thanks to a couple of hints in Bombshells)

I keep telling myself I'll read something else for a little while. But like any addict, I also keep telling myself, 'just one more...'

Turn Coat, by Jim Butcher

4 stars

I’m continuing my tear through the Dresden Files, and the latest to be devoured was Turn Coat.

As far as Wardens go, Morgan has always been something of a dick. But one capable of murdering a Senior Council member? Harry doesn’t think so, and uncovering the real killer could also help to expose the existence of what Harry’s been calling the Black Council. Trouble is, as far as the people after Morgan go, the Council is the least scary…

While this entry was missing the holy swords and Merlin hints that really tickle my excitement buds, this entry still builds brilliantly upon and hints at a bigger mythology to be discovered (Demonreach!! And Ebenezar’s journal entries. Oh, the possibilities…) as well as starring a particularly dashing appearance by my favourite, Toot.

Ending on something of a bittersweet note, I don’t think I can stop here. While marvelling at the fact that this is the 11th book in the series and that I’m more addicted than ever, I need to get my ass over to the Kindle store and download Changes!

Small Favor, by Jim Butcher

5 stars

I don't seem able to stop reading Harry Dresden lately. Partly because I've managed to accidentally spoil a few upcoming events for myself and want to get up to date so that I'm back in the dark again, but mostly because I'm finding each book more exciting than the last and can't wait to read on.

Small Favor is no exception, as Mab taps Harry for one of the favours he owes her and sends him on the trail of Marcone, recently disappeared by the Denarians (whose last appearance meant all kinds of Hell for Harry). She'd quite like him to be her Winter Knight too, but for now that's an offer that Harry can refuse (although it's sure to soon bite him in the ass). As his luck would have it, as well as going up against some of the worst foes he's encountered yet, Summer wants a piece of him too (though he's not sure why) and have awesomely sent some Gruffs to deal with him. As well as loving the bad-ass Billy-Goats, I get a little shiver of excitement every time we start touching on Harry playing Merlin (not The Merlin, but the Merlin) and so, for me, this instalment was extra shivery. Other things tickling my glee spot this time around were:

• Bob proving to be a book-yeller, just like me.
• Toot. Any time Toot is involved I go to my happy place, but particularly when he's pulling a Full Metal Jacket and letting slip about 'Za-Lord's Guard.
• Murphy's McAnally's showdown. I think I may have a wee girl-crush on Murph, who doesn't need to accept a sword to kick ass.
• Goodness gracious, great fists of Soulfire.
• Wagner, baby.

Most series start well and go downhill from there but that isn't the case with Harry Dresden. I'm trying really, really hard not to immediately go and splurge on the next book, but can already feel my willpower wavering...

White Night, by Jim Butcher

4 stars

Seeing as the last entry was so much fun I decided to hang waiting a while and jump straight in to the next instalment of Harry and his amazing friends.

Another fun, light entry that still manages to raise quite a few stakes, this time around someone is killing low-level magic practitioners in Chicago. Worse still, it's looking as though that person might be Thomas.

With Harry's being a Warden meaning people are now more afraid of him than want his help, and with him relying on Lash (who now even has her own nickname) more and more than he'd ever have allowed before, he barely seems to have noticed the small changes that have taken place in his personality. Others have though...

With only one small misfire (the New Mexico thing, which I initially thought must have meant there was side story that I'd missed that contained all the important information, but which turned out to be waiting for a flashback halfway through the book) the twists and turns are as enjoyable as ever, and I love how Butcher manages to work in other characters that we've met along the way, as in the bullet-flinging alliance with Gentleman Johnny.

I enjoyed it so much, in fact, that I'm more tempted than ever to give up reading anything else for the moment in favour of ploughing through the remaining Harry's instead.

Proven Guilty, by Jim Butcher

4 stars

So, it turns out I only needed to have read one more in the series to meet the protege I was spoiled for in Dangerous Women.  

With the White Council's numbers somewhat thinned thanks to the war with the Red Court, Harry has become a Warden and been tasked to ferret out the casters of the black magic that's been taking place in Chicago. Meanwhile, Michael's teenage daughter, Molly, has found herself mixed up in a situation where movie monsters are manifesting and messing up everyone around them - something that might not be entirely unconnected to the aforementioned black magic.

I'm really enjoying how this world continues to grow and found this instalment to be a particularly fun one that didn't stress me out anywhere near as much as some of the previous entries. That fun was tested for a particular moment in the book...

...but thankfully it's starting to seem that there's way more to some of Harry's companions than meets the eye.

When it comes to his love life, I have to admit that I'm way more invested in whether I'm right in looking forward to Murphy getting the spare holy sword than whether she'll end up snogging Harry, but that's a minor quibble in a series that I'm still eating up with a spoon and wanting more of.

The Bartimaeus Trilogy, by Jonathan Stroud

I actually read this trilogy a few years ago, but as many of my friends are always looking for fantasy recommendations, it seemed time to talk about The Bartimaeus Trilogy. 

A series for young adults, don't let that put you off. Packing in far more humour, action and emotion that many books for adults, I loved virtually every second of this fantastic series, and especially adored the titular Bartimaeus,a rather sarcastic djinni who rather quickly became one of my all-time favourite characters.

Interested? Then read on for my reviews...

The Amulet of Samarkand - 5 stars

Elevated from a 4 to a 5 through the use of sarcastic footnotes and the snarky attitude of Bartimaeus, one of my new favourite book characters. 

Nathaniel is a young magician's apprentice who, after summoning a djinni (the aforementioned Bartimaeus) to enact a boyish revenge on Simon Lovelace (a powerful magician), is drawn into a conspiracy against the Government from which he'll need all the help Bartimaeus can reluctantly provide in order to stay alive.

Told from the alternating viewpoints of our two main characters, both have strong voices and those concerning Nathaniel help to ensure you empathise with the kid following his stingy upbringing at the hands of Underwood, his master, even when some of his behaviour is brattish. I liked that this was included, as he wasn't just the perfect hero but a (relatively) normal kid trying to make his place in the world. The parts from Bartimaeus' point of view are laugh out loud funny, and I loved all of his sardonic asides regarding other demons, events and human behaviour. It's this element which helps makes this the kind of book that you could easily pick up and re-read numerous times.


The Golem's Eye - 4 stars

A couple of years have passed since the events of The Amulet of Samarkand and Nathaniel has risen quickly through the ranks at Westminster, as well as growing to be considerably more of an arrogant, ambitious, selfish and snobby clot (much to Bartimaeus's disgust, and mine).

As a part of the Internal Affairs division of the Government, Nathaniel is charged with bringing down the Resistance (opposing the rule of the corrupt magicians, though a rather small scale operation). To make matters worse, a Golem is raging through London...

I enjoyed the development of the more unsavoury elements of Nathaniel's character, which was quite fitting considering his company at Westminster, even while cursing him and hoping he got knocked down a peg or two, and relished the expansion of the character of Kitty who gave us the commoners' perspective of life under the magicians' rule, as well as providing us with a human to root for.

However, once again the show is well and truly stolen by Bartimaeus (he would be pleased to know!) I'm itching to know how the final part of the story will unfold and hope that he and Kitty will become friends, teach Nathaniel the error of his ways, and see off the prigs in the Government!


Ptolemy's Gate - 5 stars

Excuse me a moment, I have something in my eye...

In an extremely well earned pay-off to the Bartimaeus trilogy, everything is wrapped up beautifully in this final instalment weaving in elements from the preceding volumes and finishing with an affecting act of heroism.

When we begin, Bartimaeus has been serving Nathaniel ceaselessly for a couple of years and, as such, is in a sorry state, whilst Nathaniel grows increasingly disillusioned with his life and position and Kitty has been working on a project of her own. Soon, all three must work together to battle a new, terrifying threat to London and the rest of humanity.

We get far more of Bartimaeus in this than in The Golem's Eye, which in my mind is only ever a good thing, and the humour employed is enough to stop any emotional moments tipping into sentimentality - towards the end I frequently laughed while nursing a large lump in my throat.

I loved the progression of the characters; Nathaniel's disillusionment doesn't feel forced in any way, and the deepening relationships also provide some surprisingly touching moments (particularly in the case of Bartimaeus and, well, anyone).

Thrilling, funny and heroic, I recommend this trilogy to fantasy fans of all ages.

Since I read the above, a new entry has been published in the Bartimaeus series - a prequel to the series set in Jerusalem at the time of King Solomon...don't worry, I read that one for you too.

The Ring of Solomon - 4 stars

Ah, Bartimaeus. How I'd missed you with your smart mouth and sarcastic footnotes. It's good to have you back.

My favourite djinn was always telling whoever would listen about what great feats he'd pulled off and events he'd taken part in. Luckily for us, we now get to read about those too as we catch up with him in Jerusalem, bound to one of King Solomon's magicians. And soon up to his essence in all manner of trouble.

As laugh out loud funny as he's ever been, I loved every minute of being back in Bartimaeus' company. While there was the odd slight lull whenever we weren't with him it wasn't enough to stop me from savouring every second, and not wanting it to finish.

If anyone is taking count, I vote for more Bartimaeus in my reading future. Make it happen, Stroud!