Kushiel's Heliotropes

I've been getting Dictionary.com's Word of the Day emails for a long time. Sometimes I read them; sometimes I don't. Today's word?...

Heliotrope

1. A light tint of purple; reddish lavender.
2. Any hairy plant belonging to the genus Heliotropium, of the borage family, as H. arborescens, cultivated for its small, fragrant purple flowers.
3. Any of various other plants, as the valerian or the winter heliotrope.
4. Any plant that turns toward the sun.

Now you probably know I'm a Jacqueline Carey nerd. In her books, Heliotrope is one of the 13 Houses of the Court of Night-Blooming Flowers. Adapts of the Night Court are Servants of Naamah, a goddess, and are known as the most skilled prostitutes in the land. Heliotrope's house canon is devotion and love; their motto, "Thou, and no other." Naturally, I wondered what their flower looked like. When I googled it, I found a marque (a tattoo given to adapts of the Night Court when once they've completed their service) of a Heliotrope flower, created by Elegaer. I wasn't too fond of it, but I found she'd created others. Most are brilliant, and I've posted a couple below.

Fantasy Pin-Ups

So it turns out that Patrick Rothfuss is producing a calender for 2013.

Every month will portray a different female character from a big-name fantasy author, and all proceeds go to charity. Sounds awesome, right? Especially when you look at the authors involved: there's Jacqueline Carey, Neil Gaiman, Terry Pratchett, Geogre R.R. Martin... The only one I don't particularly care for out of the 12 is Jim Butcher, but 11 out of 12 ain't bad.

The catch is that this is meant to be a literary pin-up calender, heavy on the pin-up. Look right for the cover, or here for some images from last year's version. It's nasty. I've got nothing against sex and sexuality, but this is objectification, plain and simple.

The images of the characters haven't been released yet, and I admit to being curious about the final product. I particularly want to see how Phedre (from Jacqueline Carey's Kushiel's Legacy Series) will be portrayed. But based off last year's attempt, odds are I'll end up disappointed.

Book Review: Angelmaker by Nick Harkaway

When The Gone Away World was released in 2008, I fell in love with it. I bought the paperback at least twice. (Once for a friend). I then abandoned all my books in twelve or so boxes in my parents’ garage and fled to China. Now I have the Kindle version, and I love it just as much. How could I not? It involves ninjas and an apocalypse, among other delightful things. But I am not reviewing The Gone Away World. I am reviewing the book that Harkaway followed it up with: Angelmaker.


Angelmaker is the story of the not-so-young Joe Spork, an unassuming clockmaker in his mid 30s. His father was a notorious gangster; his mother, a nun. One day a monk pokes around his store, and Spork is questioned by shady government officials about machinery that might have belonged to his grandfather. Now factor in an octogenarian superspy with a vicious pug, and a French super-scientist who creates clockwork bees… and things only get weirder from here.

Needless to say, I was rather excited when the novel finally downloaded onto my Kindle. This excitement lasted for about the first 20% of the book. Then disappointment started to set in. This book didn’t grip me like his first, and its wordiness kept jarring me out of the narrative. Seriously. Who talks like this?

Buggeration! The worm shall eat them up like a garment, Joe, and the moth shall eat them up like wool, but your righteousness shall be from generation to generation. The Bible, that is, and I've always fancied the Lord was particularly thinking of revenuers and debt collectors.

Polly Mercer, ‘The Bold Receptionist,’ also bothered me. On meeting Joe, she promptly takes him home, fucks him, and then puts herself in considerable danger on the off-chance that she loves him. It makes no sense. At this point in the novel, she is portrayed as an impossibly sexual and competent woman. Why doesn’t she have a lover already? And why on earth would she desire a hapless, gawking man she’s barely met? (Answer: because he’s the hero, and all heroes’ need a sexy sidekick for the final showdown.)

At this point, I moped about on the interwebs and considered re-reading Harkaway’s debut to cheer myself up. Instead I read some other reviews. They were all uniformly positive, and said particularly nice things about the last 100 pages. Diligent reader that I am, I decided to give the book another chance. I’m glad I did. It turns into another ridiculous, over-large adventure, with gangsters battling despots dreaming of apotheosis, and hijinks galore. Harkaway gets bonus points for including lesbians, and his disdainful attitude towards the necessities of government.

All in all, a very enjoyable read. It has flaws, but it’s a decent read. Check out some other reviews if you’re not convinced (for example, here and here and here) and then grab a copy of the book. Odds are you won’t regret it.

The Lake in Naamah's Kiss

I love Jacqeline Carey's writing. I am a complete and utter raving fangirl. Her Naamah series is not my favourite – although I liked Kiss better than Curse and Blessing - but her storytelling is still a damn sight better than a lot of other books on the market.

So here is an excerpt from Naamah's Kiss. Be warned that although this book came out in 2009 (so you really should have read it already!) this quote is from the last 10% of the novel. It describes a landscape rather than crucial action, but remains rather spoilery. Read at your peril!

We had gained the lake. True to the dragon’s vision, it reflected the snow-capped peak of White Jade Mountain in its depths. The water was very pure and clear and still. In the unaltered daylight, it would have been a translucent shade of green. The reflected mountain barely wavered on the surface of the waters, suggesting a placid, enduring eternity. Even in the twilight, it was a beautiful sight, a sight I could have gazed at for a thousand years.

The point of this post? This book is set in Carey’s fabulous alternative Earth. A lot of the tale unspools in China (or Ch'in, as she calls it). In interviews, Carey said she travelled around 中国 with her girlfriend to get a feel for the country, and the lake above was inspired by a real place. When I asked her on Facebook about it, she named Black Dragon Pool in Lijiang, Yunnan, although apparently the topography was "reimagined [...] somewhat for the purposes of the book." Beautiful. I know where I'm going for my next holiday!

Here’s to geeky book trivia.