Philosophy, parallel lives, infinite universes.
Recommended by LBM and devoured in a day.
Not quite Sliding Doors, not quite Life After Life – but I think if you enjoyed those you’ll enjoy this.
Author page: The Midnight Library – Matt Haig
A man, Piranesi, lives alone in a House of Halls, oceans below and clouds above. The Other visits him twice a week. There are fifteen human skeletons, living birds, fish and molluscs. A strange world indeed. With hints of CS Lewis.
Publisher page: Piranesi – Susanna Clarke
The Alex Verus series comes to a close. Pretty much all fighting, which I never find that interesting although it makes perfect sense for the plot as the battle lines have built up over the 10 books: Light vs Dark mages, Drakh vs everyone, Light Anne vs Dark Anne vs Marid-possessing Anne, Mages and Keepers vs Marids and Ifrits, Jinns and Janns.
At least Luna and Hermes the blink fox stay with us to the end. I miss Arachne – I kept hoping she’d return somehow from somewhere, or Elsewhere. I thought Starbreeze the air elemental might make an appearance too, but no.
Author page: Risen – Benedict Jacka
The third and final instalment of Robin Hobb’s Soldier Son trilogy takes Nevare into the magical world and mindset of the Specks as Soldier’s Boy takes control of their shared body, and then back to Gernia and out of the Great One’s body.
Everything wraps up fast and furiously at the end, and that left me wondering if there might have been another book in there, especially with the somewhat irritating ending. I cannot see that working out well for Amzil at all. She’s been a strangely thin character for me, and usually I find Robin Hobb’s women much more three dimensional. I’m also intrigued by the map in each book which shows far more places than are touched on throughout the trilogy.
Author page: Renegade’s Magic – Robin Hobb
Ah, good to be back reading Robin Hobb. 830 pages devoured in 2 days. The sign of a good book and the first page turner fiction I’ve read for ages. (Coronation Everest was very good though!)
I’d been swayed by the reviews saying this trilogy isn’t as good as the Assassin series.
It’s different, but still an engrossing world with developing characters – even if it’s a little too obvious in its Native American mysticism / European settlement; at least, that’s the world it feels like it mirrors to me. And it reads to me like a more adult world too.
I’ve still got the third and final book to go. Although I am over 100 pages in already…
Publisher page: Forest Mage – Robin Hobb