Reading Challenge - 40 to 44

40 - The Third by Ricardo Pinto
The Third God is the last book of the Stone Dance of the Chameleon, a much anticipated ending to the series. Although the wait for this third book has been long, it was worth it.

I loved reading this series, but, like it usually happens with good things, I'm sad that it came to an end. Different from most fantasy I've read, it evokes a vivid imagery every time I think about it. Not a fast or light read, but an immensely enjoyable one. I will probably do a re-read of the entire series in a near future.

[Full Review]

(4.5/5)

41 - Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen
Now, this one was just boring.

I found the characters to have little depth, and the plot was hardly novel. Despite this, the characters (or at least Marianne) do evolve a bit to reach the unsurprising ending: they all make good marriages (makes me wonder if there is more to life than that).

Final opinion: watch the movies/mini-series and you'll be more entertained than with the book.

On another note, I'm not sure what Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters is about (I suppose there will be sea monsters in it, but after my experience with Pride and Prejudice and Zombies I am in no rush to find out), but if anyone wants to make a remake of this book in which little Margaret turns out to be an evil murderess possessed by the devil, killing everyone on revenge because they spend the entire book ignoring her, I'll read it. Because I'm not entirely sure why there was a need for a third sister if she is to be forgotten during most of the book.

(3/5)


42 - The Painted Man by Peter V. Brett

The Painted Man is hardly ground-breaking fantasy, but it has nice concepts and the action packed plot means it's an easy and fast read, and enjoyable enough. I will read the next one in the series, because I want to know what happens next, not because I loved this first book.

[Full Review]

(3.5/5)


43 - Perdido Street Station by China Miéville
Perdido Street Station comes highly recommended on the steampunk genre, and is the winner of various awards. I haven't read much of steampunk (if you consider Wells' The Time Machine steampunk, then that's all I've read), so I decided to give the genre a try. And I can say this will not be my last book (either on the genre or by China Miéville).

[Full Review]

(4.5/5)


44 - Brother Grimm by Craig Russell
Detective novels are not my thing, I like Fantasy and Science Fiction and weird stuff far better. I picked Brother Grimm because of its fairy tales connection, and didn't care that it was the second book on a series.

I liked the book well enough, a bit like CSI, but more focused on the detective part than on collecting the forensics. It is a fast read, and enjoyable. There is plenty of action and twisted murders, but there is still room for more deep musings about the significance of Fairy Tales, and especially of the Brothers Grimm task of collecting all the fairy tales through Germany, in a way of collecting the essence of the German People.

The one thing I have to point out is that there seemed to be much repetition of the characters descriptions (time and time again referring “the two Sex-Crime SoKo members, Petra Maas and Hans Rödger” as such every time they appear, especially when they didn't provide much to action. They were there but didn't do much).

I might read the first novel of the series if it comes my way.

(4/5)

The Painted Man by Peter V. Brett

The Painted Man
The Painted Man is set on a world filled with demons that rise every night to hunt and terrorise humans. The only protections humans have against the demons are the sunlight and the defensive wards of old. The offensive wards, the ones that allowed humans to fight back, are long lost, and everyone hides behind warded walls after dark, hoping they will hold through the night.

But there are some that refuse to cower to the monsters of the night and will fight back, and among those are Arlen, Leesha and Rojer.

Fast paced, and full of action, like a lot of the fantasy written nowadays, it feels a bit like a role playing game, and anyone who has been around them will identify Brett's demons as elementals. The concept of painted wards is nice, and although not done very much in fantasy, is not new either. Being a novel filled with action means that the characters are not developed to their full extent, which is a bit sad, because there is potential for a lot more.

Even so, the characters are likeable enough, both the major ones as some of the supporting cast. Much of the focus is given to Arlen, the Painted Man, which makes sense (the book is named after him, after all), but I felt that Leesha and Rojer were only there because they were meant to meet him, and that most of their actions will always be a result of Arlen's actions or expectations. I would love to see these two characters better explored. There is also the potential love triangle forming, one that I'm not sure which side I rooting for (How can I choose between a tattooed man and a red-head one?) or even if I'm interested enough by it.

There were some things that irked me in this book. One was the characters' fixation with breasts. The allusion to “bosoms” and “paps” was made enough times to make me wonder if breasts have any magical property. Other was the rapid recovery of a raped girl, that only four days after the tragic incident, is ready to a roll in the mud with another man (and one that she hasn't known long).

The different nations on The Painted Man are, like in many fantasy works, inspired on our real world, as well as fantasy clichés, which usually leads to stereotyping. This is specially truth with the Krasians, the desert people. Open Diana Wynne Jones' Tough Guide to Fantasyland, on the Desert Nomads entry, and you'll have a very close description of the Krasians (only Krasians aren't nomads).

The Painted Man is hardly ground-breaking fantasy, but it has nice concepts and the action packed plot means it's an easy and fast read, and enjoyable enough. I will read the next one in the series, because I want to know what happens next, not because I loved this first book.

(3.5/5)