Book Review: Dissolution; CJ Sansom

Title: Dissolution
Author: CJ Sansom
Type: Fiction
Genre: Historical Thriller
Number of pages: 387
Link: @ Barnes & Noble.
Rating: 34/50; 68% – D.

From the back:
The year is 1537 and England is divided between those faithful to the Catholic Church and those loyal to the king and the newly established Church of England. When a royal commissioner is murdered in the monastery of Scarnsea on the south coast of England, Thomas Cromwell, Henry VIII’s feared vicar general, summons fellow reformer Matthew Shardlake to lead the inquiry. Shardlake and his young protege, Mark Poer, uncover evidence of sexual misconduct, embezzlement, and treason, but when two other murders are committed, they must move quickly to prevent the killer from striking again.

Plot:
To be completely honest, I was really excited to read this book. Tudor England is, maybe, not the most original of subject lines but it is a period in history that really fascinates me. But was I a little disappointed? Yes. It has glowing reviews. It was supposedly a spectacular crime novel. I didn’t see that. But Sansom did manage to incorporate some originality–I liked the reformation spin on things, and while I was a little disappointed that there wasn’t more “Court” in the novel, I got used to it.

The setting was a dreary monastery in a dreary town by a boring little sea or something like that, with apparently huge bells in the belfry and some seriously weird monks. It is set in the year following Jane Seymour’s death (who, for those of you who don’t follow your history, was Henry’s third wife– preceded by Anne Boleyn and Katherine of Aragon before her). There is a lot of talk about Anne Boleyn’s beheading and such, so it might be necessary to at least know a little of what went on or it might be easy to get lost.

There were a lot of religious elements, which to be honest surprised me a little. I know it shouldn’t, considering the subject matter, but I got a little lost somewhere around the offices in the monastery. I know a little about Catholicism, but not really enough to make it through all that without being a little confused. I did enjoy the fact that Sansom made the holy relics in the novel a little more mystical–the prominent one here was the hand of one of the men crucified with Christ–suggesting right up until close to the end that it might have the powers the monks believed it did. I was a little disappointed at the suggestion that it was a hoax, because right up until then I had a hard time telling whether Sansom sympathized with the reformists or the papists.

As far as the ‘mystery’ part is concerned, I didn’t see anything worth noting. Any other mystery would have kept me just as entertained and the ‘culprit’ part was extremely easy to see through. I was seriously disappointed in that part. There wasn’t anything original or innovative. It was like reading Sherlock Holmes, only with a big codpiece. God forbid.
Total points: 15/20.

Characters:
To be completely blunt, the characters in this novel were forgettable and I didn’t like most of them. The monks are just monks, they have their offices and their names and they kind of jumble together and that sucks. I am absolutely not a Matthew Shardlake fan; he was just a cranky old man who justified his whining because “omggggggggggggg I am a hunchback *siiiiiiiiigh*”. Yes, okay, we got that on the second page or so. You don’t like people to see your hump. Understandable. Maybe something like mentioning it once every forty or eighty pages would have been okay–we got it every other page, maybe.

His assistant Mark was a sex-depraved little jerk. I did feel sorry for him at times, but I mostly just kind of wished he’d fall into a bog or something.

The only monks I could remember were Brother Guy, who ran the infirmary, and Brother Gabriel the pervert. I felt sorry for Brother Guy at times too, he got a lot of crap (mostly brought about by Mark) about being black, which again, I understood the first forty times. And I’ve never even met a monk, but I’m afraid that if I ever do I am going to remember Brother Gabriel, the gay monk who spied through peepholes and masturbated. Not even kidding.

The rest of the monks? Ehh. I had a hard time remembering them. There was a girl. I didn’t like her. The late Queen’s cousin was funny, but I don’t think he was supposed to be comic relief, so I kind of feel bad for laughing at him.

There was a lot of sodomy. Talk about sodomy and hidden corridors for sodomy and accusations of sodomy and whispers of sodomy…. Sodomy does not bother me (to each his own) but again, it was one of those things that was just driven into the ground…

If anything killed this novel it was the characters. A little bit more effort could have gone into making them likable or something.
Total Points: 5/10.

Readability:
This book seemed like it took me a long time to get through given the fact that it’s so thin, but I’m sure it’s because I had other things going on at the same time. It was a little slow in the beginning and I had a hard time picking up the storyline.

I did like the fact that all of the Latin had a translation–mostly because of the Reformation thing, but it was a crafty way to work it in. I can read some Latin, but it’s not like I just sit around and read it for fun, so I feel a little rusty. Also, the whole Catholic element was a little difficult, but again, only because I don’t personally know that much about Catholicism or offices within a monastery.

I think I learned a few new words. Sacrist and Carthusian, maybe, which I’ll never use, but there you go.

There weren’t any glaring grammar or spelling errors. The creative ways of swearing were a little much. “God’s hands! God’s wounds! God’s bones!” I kept expecting to turn the page and see “God’s buttocks!” which, regardless of personal religion, would have made me put the book right down.
Total Points: 7/10.

Re-readability:
I will, probably, end up reading this book again–if for nothing else than to see if I can figure anything else out about the characters. They’re still dull.
Or maybe if I just want to read about a LOT of sodomy.
Total Points: 3/5.

Anything Else:
–Would I recommend this book to a friend?: Probably, if they’re into Tudor history.
–Do I want to see a sequel or a series from this book? Am I going to look for more material by this author?: Since the cover says ‘introducing Matthew Shardlake,’ I’d imagine there will be more material to follow. I might pick it up, I might not. It depends on whether or not I’m bored by then or if he plans on going through all of the Tudor period in history.
–Would I like to see fan media for this novel?: Not really. I don’t see how there could be.
–Is it worth paying the cover price? (on the back of the book): $14.00 (I’m assuming US). No, it isn’t. I’m not trying to be mean, but… I would not have paid that much money for it.
–Other impressions/things to note: I really did enjoy the historical aspect of this book. I didn’t put it anywhere else because that’s nerdy, but it was nice to see that it was written by a historian who obviously did put a lot of research into the period before going out on a limb and writing a book about it. Also, I was stupidly glad to see that Anne Boleyn, at least in the book, was falsely accused and hanged, because she’s my personal favorite of all Henry’s wives. But that’s just me.
Total Points: 4/5.

Book Review: Sophie’s World; Jostein Gaarder

Title: Sophie’s World
Author: Jostein Gaarder
Type: Fiction
Genre: History/Mystery
Number of pages: 513, + an index.
Link: @ Barnes & Noble.
Rating: 36/50 – 72% – C.

From the back:
One day Sophie comes home from school to find two questions in her mail: Who are you? and Where does the world come from?
Before she knows it, she is enrolled in a correspondence course, covering Socrates to Sartre and beyond, with a mysterious philosopher. But Sophie is receiving a separate batch of equally unusual letters. Who is Hilde? And why does her mail keep turning up in Sophie’s world?
To unravel this riddle, Sophie must make use of the philosophy she is learning. But the truth is far more complicated than she could have imagined…

Also, apparently this book was made into a movie in Norway.

Plot:
With the exception of the philosophy portion of the book, it was… innovative. And maybe I mean that in a good way, but maybe I don’t. I’m not even sure yet. The plotline itself was interesting, and original, I’ll give it that. But by the same token, it was so buried in philosophy that the actual plot of the story was kind of hard to find.

I can’t complain about the content of the philosophical portions; they seem to be (from what I remember from class) fairly accurate. I didn’t appreciate that the whole first 1/3 of the book was dedicated to Greek philosophers and scholars, and the author seemed to gloss over some of my personal favorites (Nietzsche was mentioned twice, and never really explained). I don’t know if that was because he felt like the book was getting too thick or if the plotline got in the way, but it made the whole novel seem a little biased toward ancient philosophy and against the more modern stuff.

Aside from that, I actually found it a little dry. I already knew most of the philosophy portions because I’d already taken a class, but I did kind of want to know what happened in the end, so I kept reading despite getting repeatedly annoyed at the twists the plotline was taking. It did make me think, though, which I suppose is the whole point of the novel.

I suppose for a person who knows little or nothing about philosophy, who also enjoys a little bit of mystery, this is probably a good choice to read. But if you have no interest in philosophy, forget it. It’s what the novel’s centered around. It’s probably an excellent book for a Philosophy 101 course (or the equivalent), if the professor had enough time to go through and teach the ideas along with the reading.
Total points: 13/20.

Characters:
The actual characters in the novel aren’t so abundant that they’re impossible to remember, and they’re mentioned enough times that they’re not easy to forget, either. I only forgot who Sherekan was (the cat), and I figure that’s probably a pretty good sign. Sophie Amundsen (the main character–kind of) was typical 14 going-on-15 until she starts studying philosophy, which actually makes her rather interesting and amusing. I found Joanna to be a little dull–I have no idea why they were friends, to be honest–at least until the end of the novel, or Sophie’s garden party. But by that point, the whole plotline is running rampant and it’s kind of hard to hate any of Sophie’s friends.

On the other hand, I found that I really didn’t like Hilde, and that’s sad. It wasn’t her fault, but I think the main difference between her and Sophie really irritated me. (I don’t want to give away any main plot points, what little there are.)

There weren’t any real ‘villains’ (the only person I’d classify as a villain turned out to be a good guy, kind of), but I did actually feel things for the characters, especially when they were doing something outside of the philosophy course. I have read that Sophie’s mother is supposed to be comic relief, and if that’s true, she fails miserably. Out of everyone, she was the most forgettable. At times, I almost felt bad for her for being so two-dimensional and dull, but everyone else was kind of fun to read about.
Total Points: 8/10.

Readability:
The only difficulty I had reading this book was the fact that I don’t really know too much about Norway, or Norse myths, or the language at all. The only parts where the language comes into play is with the names, and I could just guess on how to pronounce those. There weren’t any glaring grammar issues (I’d be disappointed if there were), and it was very well-translated. I didn’t even realize I was reading a translated novel until the author started mentioning Norway and I thought to check. That part, at least, was very well handled.

The philosophical portions, while accurate, were boring and kind of hard to read. I realize this is a personal fault (I’ve already mentioned that it’s mostly review) and that someone else might find it absolutely fascinating. The philosophers I hadn’t heard of were easier to read about.

It also felt, just a little, like the author might have been pushing his personal ‘favorite’ philosophical point of view on the readers. I prefer to go through all of the movements and choose for myself, and that was annoying. I felt like I didn’t have a choice. I’m willing to give credit where credit is due (yes, we owe a lot to Socrates; yes, he had some valid points), but it’s altogether too optimistic for me and the fact that the more cynical aspects of philosophy were glossed over irritated the hell out of me.
Total Points: 8/10.

Re-readability:
I’m not sure if I could not read this book again–but to be honest, I don’t want to. Not right away. Maybe sit and think about it, or look something up every once in a while, but this book feels like it was meant to be read and then immediately re-read, and I don’t have any desire to do that.
Total Points: 3/5.

Anything Else:
–Would I recommend this book to a friend?: Probably not. None of my friends are interested in this kind of thing, and they’d probably think I was nuts (or sadistic) if I handed this off to them.
–Do I want to see a sequel or a series from this book? Am I going to look for more material by this author?: I kind of do, actually, want to see a sequel. It ended well, but a little sad, and I would have preferred something a little happier. I don’t see myself actively looking for any of Mr. Gaarder’s other books.
–Would I like to see fan media for this novel?: Believe it or not, I am interested in seeing how the movie came out. Unfortunately, it’s only available in Norwegian and German, so that might have to wait a bit.
–Is it worth paying the cover price? (on the back of the book): ($7.99 US/ $10.99 Canada) I got this book as a gift, but if I’d seen it on the shelf I would have probably picked it up for myself. And I probably would have been twice as pissed off if I’d spent my own money on it. So yes, if you’re seriously interested in philosophy, or if you’ve taken an intro course and it confused you, it’s probably worth the money. If you’re not interested in philosophy or you’ve done well in an intro course, then it’s probably not for you.
–Other impressions/things to note: The beginning is incredibly dull. It’s easier to get through once the first couple of chapters have passed. I actually got interested around the time Sophie got the video of Alberto in ancient Greece, because I wanted to know how the hell he’d managed that.
Total Points: 4/5.

Book Review: The Reading Group; Elizabeth Noble

Title: The Reading Group
Author: Elizabeth Noble
Type: Fiction
Genre: Chick Lit.
Number of pages: 429
Link: @amazon.com
Rating: 42/50; 84% – B.

From the back:
The Reading Group follows the trials and tribulations of a group of women who meet regularly to read and discuss books. Over the course of a year, each of these women becomes intertwined, both in the books they read and within one another’s lives.
Inspired by a shared desire for conversation, a good book and a glass of wine-Clare, Harriet, Nicole, Polly, and Susan undergo startling revelations and transformations despite their differences in background, age and respective dilemmas.
What starts as a reading group gradually evolves into a forum where the women may express their views through the books they read and grow to become increasingly more open as the bonds of friendship cement.

Plot:
As far as original storyline goes, I can’t comment on that beyond saying it was something I, personally, had never read before. It had a few of the general, run-of-the-mill chick lit elements, but for the most part, this book was enjoyable and innovative.

The setting was in Britain, and while there weren’t many place descriptions (aside from characters’ homes), it was handled in such a way that it could have been going on anywhere, at any time. If I had to be pressured into naming anything specific, I’d say somewhere in Surrey because that is where the author lives, according to the blurb in the front.

This book seems very realistic to me; each character has their own problems and deals with them in very plausible ways. They’re not always the right way, but if I were in a similar situation, I could see myself reacting in a similar manner.
Total points: 15/20.

Characters:
The main characters in this book–the women in the reading group–were extremely likeable and realistic to me. I could see them actually existing somewhere. Their husbands and children were all varying, unique, and had their own places in the storyline. They were portrayed in such a way that I could identify with all of them on some level, feeling their pain, but enjoy the feeling of having a birds-eye view into their lives and have the luxury of seeing things in them that they didn’t see in each other. I could see Polly reacting to her daughter’s crisis and feel her consciously thinking “I don’t want to be like my mother,” but at the same time, I could see just how much like her mother she was.

There weren’t really any villains in this book; the problems they faced were all personal. But that didn’t make it any less heartbreaking when Nicole found her husband cheating for the eightieth time or when Cressida revealed that the father of her baby wasn’t really Joe.

The only problem I had with the characters in this book was that once Clare left the reading group, she was only mentioned in passing. The storyline didn’t focus on her anymore, and I was really looking forward to her forming friendships with other people in the group. Out of the five original members, she was the only one who didn’t have a best friend there with her. I kept wanting her to walk back in, to come out of her shell a little, and that was a disappointment.
Total Points: 9/10.

Readability:
The only problem I had while reading this book was that it was so British. There were a lot of phrases that, while in English and easy enough to understand after a second or so, aren’t really in use in the US. But I can’t say that’s really a disadvantage or a problem, since the author has never lived in the US. It was just an interesting cultural sidetrack for me.

There were no glaringly obvious grammar or spelling errors. It was largely conversational, more or less like any normal person would use while thinking or speaking with friends.
Total Points: 10/10.

Re-readability:
I would reread this book. Not immediately, but maybe in a few months, or earlier if I’m looking for something easy and quick to get through that I know I enjoyed the first time and will probably enjoy the second time.
I inhaled this book, so I have no doubt I’d find something new to focus on in the storyline if I chose to reread it.
Total Points: 5/5.

Anything Else:
–Would I recommend this book to a friend?: Yes, especially if they were looking for something they could read quickly and easily without having to remember a whole bunch of facts.
–Do I want to see a sequel or a series from this book? Am I going to look for more material by this author?: I don’t think a sequel would be right for this novel. It left off at a fitting place–things weren’t perfect, but they were headed that way–and I think writing a sequel would ruin the imperfect simplicity of this one. But I would and probably will look for something else by the same author.
–Would I like to see fan media for this novel?: Considering its genre, it really isn’t made for fan media, so I wouldn’t really like to see any.
–Is it worth paying the cover price? (on the back of the book): ($14.95 US) I got this book at a bargain price, and I can’t say that I would have bought it otherwise. Books are expensive, and usually I won’t spend $15.00 on something I don’t know for sure that I would enjoy. I’d recommend checking this out of a library or picking it up used.
–Other impressions/things to note: none.
Total Points: 3/5.

Book Review: A Rush of Wings; Adrian Phoenix

Title: A Rush of Wings
Author: Adrian Phoenix
Type: Fiction
Genre: Horror
Number of pages: 399
Link: @ amazon.com
Rating: 30/50; 60% – D.

From the back of the book:
HIS NAME IS DANTE.
Dark. Talented. Beautiful. Star of the rock band Inferno. Rumored owner of the hot New Orleans nightspot Club Hell. Born of the Blood, then broken by an evil beyond imagination.
HIS PAST IS A MYSTERY.
F.B.I. Special Agent Heather Wallace has been tracking a sadistic serial murderer known as the Cross Country Killer, and the trail has led her to New Orleans, Club Hell, and Dante. But the dangerously attractive musician not only resists her investigation, he claims to be “nightkind”: in other words, a vampire. Digging into his past for answers reveals little. A juvenile record a mile long. No social security number. No known birth date. In and out of foster homes for most of his life before being taken in by a man named Lucien DeNoir, who appears to guard mysteries of his own.
HIS FUTURE IS CHAOS.
What Heather does know about Dante is that something links him to the killer — and she’s pretty sure that link makes him the CCK’s next target. Heather must unravel the truth about this sensual, complicated, vulnerable young man — who, she begins to believe, may indeed be a vampire — in order to finally bring a killer to justice. But Dante’s past holds a shocking, dangerous secret, and once it is revealed not even Heather will be able to protect him from his destiny….

Plot:
It sounds intriguing, fast-paced and dark. But as far as originality goes, I found it to be a little lacking. New Orleans? Yawn. It seems like every vampire novel nowadays isn’t considered “authentic” unless it mentions (1) Romania, or (2) New Orleans. It’s been done. A million times, in fact. The plot wasn’t really what it was cracked up to be; as I read, I found myself turning pages more for the romance subplot (that was still a little unoriginal). It’s like a she-Bond meets I-don’t-know-what. And I’m sorry, but Cross-Country Killer? Why not something with a little more flair? What about “Travelin’ Tommy” or “Roamin’ Roy”? That would have at least made me smile.

In addition to being kind of dull and regurgitated (and 400 pages long) there weren’t really any decent descriptions of the characters in the novel, and there were a lot of characters. Every character had his or her own sub-agenda and it made the plotline jump around worse than a kangaroo on speed. I found myself turning back to reread a couple of pages more than once. They all came together–kind of–in the end, but it was hasty and a little contrived, and maybe even a little out-of-character.

The mystery aspect was a little lacking. Several times throughout the novel, Heather mentioned her family and I got the feeling they were dead, but I can’t be sure. Dante’s past eventually came to light, but the readers weren’t privy to the “worst” parts. It made that whole part of the storyline–the main characters’ tortured pasts–seem a little like filler material as opposed to something that actually advanced the plotline.

On the upside, there were a few original aspects. I’m talking about Lucien De Noir here. It’s completely obvious who Lucien is, and introducing that individual into a vampire novel isn’t that original, but the spin she puts on the character is, at least, different. Also, I liked the idea of the Nightkind living among the humans, although I wish they had chosen a more creative way to hide themselves other than vampires-pretending to be Goth-pretending to be vampires.
Total points: 13/20.

Characters:
I really thought I’d like Heather, the FBI agent. I generally like strong female characters, but she was strong to the point of being stupid. All she talked about through the entire book was how she had to protect Dante, who didn’t want, need, or ask for her protection. Even after she found out (and believed) that he was a vampire, she still insisted on protecting him. Admirable, but wasted. She got into more trouble because of her insistance to stick her nose in where it wasn’t wanted and even more ironic, she had to keep being saved. And I never thought I’d find myself typing this, but I found her sense of “justice” to be contrived and hypocritical. And OVERDONE. I just wanted to scream at her–lay off.
Dante, the vampire, was unexpectedly adorable, though. As a vampire, he was lacking, and his “fuck you” attitude was both annoying and cute, but he had me won over from the scene in Heather’s car where he was trying to stay awake. And I felt bad for him, actually–the poor boy was annoyed from every angle.
I’ve already said what I think about Lucien. Obvious, but intriguing.
As far as the other characters go–I can’t even remember their names as I’m typing this. They were around in abundance. Some had two or three names. None of them had character descriptions. They were everywhere. Mortal. Vampire. Fallen. More than one. And Inferno’s fanboys–whoever they were. Whatever point they had.
Total Points: 6/10.

Readability:
It was an easy book to get through, if you can pay careful attention to detail–hanging on every word and making good use of the glossary in the back. The grammar and sentence structure was fine, with no major mistakes, but this novel’s biggest readability problem was that it used an overabundance of Cajun French and Welsh. Yeah, there was a glossary in the back, but constantly having to flip back and forth between the glossary and the actual novel made the storyline difficult to get into. I could see the necessity and the authenticity in single words used sparingly to enhance the characterization, but long phrases in Cajun were unnecessary and annoying. Just say it in English; everybody gets that they’re Cajun. It’s thrown on us in every other paragraph. On top of that, they’re in Louisiana. We get it. It’s hard to forget.
Also, because it might offend some, this book gets a little heavy on the blaspheming around the middle and end. It doesn’t bother me personally, but it’s worth a mention.
Total Points: 6/10.

Re-readability:
To be completely honest, I can’t see myself rereading this book. At least not for a few years. It’s not one that I want to pick up immediately and read through again, and I do that a lot. I’ll probably sit this one on a shelf and let it collect dust. Maybe I’ll read it again once before tossing it into a box bound for the used bookstore.
Total Points: 2/5.

Anything Else:
–Would I recommend this book to a friend?: Yes, but not because it’s an excellent book that I think people would benefit from reading. For amusement, or just to pass time–yes.
–Do I want to see a sequel or a series from this book? Am I going to look for more material by this author?: The characters weren’t engaging enough for me to look for a sequel or a series. I’m not going to actively look for anything else by this author, but if I find one and there’s nothing better to read, then I might. If I thought the next novel would be a step up from this one, then I’d be more inclined.
–Would I like to see fan media for this novel?: I’m not going to go actively looking for it.
–Is it worth paying the cover price? (on the back of the book): $15.00 US/$17.50 Canada – nope. Maybe at a used bookstore or at a library, but I wouldn’t pay that much for it.
–Other impressions/things to note: nothing
Total Points: 3/5.