The Ruby Knight

Title: The Ruby Knight by David Eddings
Genre: Fiction, Fantasy
Rating: 4/5

Summary from Random House: Ehlanda, Queen of Elenia, has been poisoned. A deep enchantment sustains her life, but it will end soon. Then Sparhawk, Knight of the Queen's Champion, learns where to get to cure for the poison. He and his companions set forth on a dangerous quest to find the antidote before the queen should perish and the peace ends...

Book Two of The Elenium, The Ruby Knight picks up from where The Diamond Throne left off and is very much the middle book of a fantasy trilogy. It's fast-paced and action-filled but the plot doesn't develop too much. Mostly Sparhawk and his entourage travel the continent trying to locate the Bhelliom so that they might heal Queen Ehlana and stop Annias. The big revelation of the book involves Flute, but it's not hard to guess if you've been paying attention. Still, the dialogue is fun and my interest in the characters' well-being kept me reading. I'd definitely recommend The Ruby Knight to any fantasy lover, though I'd suggest reading The Diamond Throne first.

Over the Moon

Title: Over the Moon by Angela Knight, MaryJanice Davidson, Virginia Kantra and Sunny
Genre: Fiction, Paranormal Romance, Short Stories
Rating: 3/5

From the back cover: "Three beloved bestselling superstars and one exciting new voice in paranormal romance come together in an anthology of startling seduction.
"Experience the lure of the moon..."

Over the Moon was a decent book overall, I didn't hate it but I also didn't love it. The first story, "Moon Dance" by Angela Knight was good. I liked her writing style though I found the whole daughter running away from overbearing father to the protection of the strong newcomer a little cliched. "Between the Mountain and the Moon" by Virginia Kantra was also good and I'm pretty sure its a sequel to another short story I've already read. I found the main character a little annoying and oblivious at points but I was rooting for her in the end. I was surprised when I realised that I liked "Driftwood" by MaryJanice Davidson. I've read a book by her before and wasn't quite sold on her style. Frankly I'm still not, but I found her main characters hilarious and endearing and I would definitely read a book that focuses on them. The last story in the book, "Mona Lisa Three" by Sunny, didn't work for me at all. Truthfully, it read like a poor imitation of Laurell K. Hamilton's writing, and it seems to fall more under the "erotica" genre than paranormal romance. I did enjoy some of the secondary characters though. In the end, Over the Moon is a book that I'd suggest borrowing from the library or a friend if you like one of the authors but don't spend your money on it.

Camelot's Honour

Title: Camelot's Honour by Sarah Zettel
Genre: Fiction, Fantasy, Historical, Romance
Rating: 4/5

Though set in the time of King Arthur and the Round Table, Camelot's Honour focuses on a young Welsh midwife and one of the lesser known Knights, with only a brief passage featuring Arthur and Merlin. The midwife, Elen, goes out one night to deal with a difficult birth only to return to find her family slain by a local chieftain who is loyal to Morgaine. Captured by the chieftain, she vows revenge, but it is only through the aid of young Sir Geraint that she may achieve it.

I've read books dealing with King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table before, however, they were all focused on the better known knights and had a very masculine feel to them, so I was understandably worried about reading a book with a female protagonist. Surprisingly I liked the character of Elen from the start. She was very passionate and kind-hearted but when Urien killed her family she quickly showed her backbone and her desire for justice. However I did find her too easily swayed at points.

I also rather enjoyed the addition of faerie to the book. The stories of King Arthur that I've read in the past always involved magic but never of this sort. It brings to mind Spenser's The Faerie Queene and Shakespeare's Oberon and Titania, which are personal favourites. Moreover the glimpses we get of the fae folk help weave the story together from beginning to end. I really enjoyed Camelot's Honour and I'd love to read another in the same series as soon as I figure out her North American publisher.

Artist creates incredible pieces of art from old books

I have a new book to review shortly but in the meanwhile I wanted to share something very cool. Su Blackwell, an artist in London, England, takes second hand books that have been sitting on the shelf for years and turns them into paper models. She waits to be inspired by the books themselves, and I think that her model from Lewis Carroll's Through the Looking Glass is just amazing. And according to the article, she never cuts up first editions or rare books.

Check out the Telegraph.co.uk website for the full article and a pictures of her work.

Or check out the video with her from scmp.com

Swallowing Darkness

Title: Swallowing Darkness by Laurell K. Hamilton
Genre: Fiction, Fantasy, Gothic, Romance
Rating: 4/5

Swallowing Darkness, the seventh book in Laurell K. Hamilton's Merry Gentry series, picks up just after A Lick of Frost left off. Merry, now pregnant with twins, has been raped by her uncle, who claims that her bodyguards are a threat to her and her children, which he claims as his own. On top of that, there are those that will go to great lengths to keep her off the throne of the Unseelie Court. However, Merry is willing to do whatever it takes to protect her children and her lovers.

I really enjoyed Swallowing Darkness. It seems like the series may be returning to its roots and giving more attention to the plot rather than to the many and various ways in which Merry can couple with her guards, as in some of the more recent books in the series. Although I still think Hamilton took the easy way out in deciding the parentage of Merry's children, I do find that it emphasizes the fantastical elements of the series. More importantly I was caught up in the intrigue and found myself waiting for each new twist. The book rounded up several of the storylines and with its beautiful ending, would have been a good place to finish the series. However, there are a few things that have yet to be dealt with and I hope that Hamilton deals with them as nicely in Divine Misdemeanors, which will be released in December 2009. There's a good chance I might reread Swallowing Darkness at some point in the future and I think this might be the book to bring back some of the readers who gave up the series when it became too graphic.

Tipping the Velvet

Title: Tipping the Velvet by Sarah Waters
Genre: Fiction, Historical
Rating: 3/5

Synopsis from www.sarahwaters.com:
A saucy, sensuous and multi-layered historical romance, Tipping the Velvet follows the glittering career of Nan King - oyster girl turned music-hall star turned rent boy turned East End 'tom'.

I thought Tipping the Velvet by Sarah Waters was a good book, although I found Nancy to be rather annoying at points. She seemed to always make the wrong decision and it got a little unbelievable near the end. Everything was about her pleasure and her happiness with little thought as to how it might affect others. I suppose it was necessary though, to emphasize her emotional growth. However, I found the secondary characters; Florence and Ralph, Mrs M and Gracie; to be very interesting.

Overall, I found it to be a very good historical novel. I admit that I don't know too much about that time period in England but I really felt that Sarah Waters did a good job with it. The fear felt by the 'toms' is very believable and I have no trouble imaging a women's club devoted to Sappho. I had trouble with some of the slang though and at times wished for a cheat sheet at the back of the book. I really loved the look at the music halls of the time too, and think its rather interesting that the different classes would frequent different halls rather than just having separate sections to sit in. While I don't know that I'd ever read Tipping the Velvet again, I'm definitely going to give some of her other titles a try.

The Jane Austen Book Club

Title: The Jane Austen Book Club by Karen Joy Fowler
Genre: Fiction
Rating: 4/5

Six Californians (five women and one man) turn to Jane Austen to bring them together and help them deal with the obstacles that pop up in their lives over the course of six months.

I picked up The Jane Austen Book Club after it had been recommended to me by several friends. Apparently it was my kind of book. And I did really enjoy it. It is admittedly a very simple read though some of the Austen references will likely be lost on someone unfamiliar with her work. I really liked how Fowler split the book into sections instead of just continuing the narrative unstopped. Each section is devoted to a month, book and the character hosting the meeting that month. For example, Chapter One was March "in which we gather at Jocelyn's to discuss Emma." Interspersed with the book discussions, Fowler feeds the reader background information on the characters, how they met and important events that shaped the people they became. And by switching back and forth between the discussion and the character development, you never tire of either.

The characters are interesting, though I wish Fowler had spent more time developing them. There is so much hinted at that we never get to see, like Bernadette's many other husbands. The book's also a little deceptive in its appearance, the novel itself is only about 3/4 of the book, the rest is additional material like summaries of Austen's six books and suggested book club questions. I did really like the section in which Jane's friends and families comment on her books. Apparently her mother liked Pride & Prejudice better than Mansfield Park.

The Jane Austen Book Club is definitely a book I'll recommend to friends and something I think I'll give another read through some time in the future, probably the next time I read Pride & Prejudice. I also want to give Karen Joy Fowler's other works a try.