Strange Ambition

Bevity: this month we have a very "interminable" book.

Sixer: Used hyperbolically, but yes. 14 days in and over 670 pages to go yet. I think, between us, we've yet to reach the two hundred page mark.

Bevity: It's pretty sad. Our predicament – not the book. The book is fascinating.

Sixer: And, as if to give homage to our blog title, it's full of footnotes. We're talking, of course, about Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell.

Bevity: It's really a book lovers' book. The first few chapters are all about books.  

Sixer: I love the description of all the old men sitting around studying magic and making it boring as, well, history.

Bevity: That was in the first line. I love how you can tell a lot about a book by its first line. Never judge a book by its cover, but always by its first line.

Sixer: So say we all.

Just Jones

Totally Spoiler-Free Review of Dark Lord of Derkholm

To be completely spoiler free I won't even tell you the basic premise. Because I walked past this book for years, refusing to buy it, ashamed that Diana Wynne Jones could turn out a generic evil-overlord-slaying-adventure novel. But I was dead wrong. It is perfectly Jones in every way. The concept is totally original, but based off twisting a familiar concept into something absolutely nobody else could have thought of. The world is detailed, rich, and very real. Every character arc, though perhaps does not run perfectly, ends in the perfect spot. She has wonderful characters in incredible variety, and characters in any creature you can think of. Literally. It started to look a bit spotty near the end when the plot stretched into places it didn't seem necessary to go, but then in the very end, in one large beautifully orchestrated round up, she ties off every storyline and plot line and character arc in a neat little bow, with just a sprinkle of sugar on top.

Conclusion: It was excellent. It seemed a bit clunky in places but ended up making perfect sense in the end. It will probably improve on rereading, and it's definitely worth it.

(After having spent the last seven hours reading Dark Lord of Derkholm, I have realized that there is no way I can write a review that could cover all it's awesomeness in the amount of time I have remaining, so the rest will come tomorrow.)