The Daughter of Doctor Moreau by Silvia Moreno-Garcia (Review)

The Daughter of Doctor Moreau by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

Blurb

Carlota Moreau: a young woman, growing up in a distant and luxuriant estate, safe from the conflict and strife of the Yucatán peninsula. The only daughter of either a genius, or a madman.

Montgomery Laughton: a melancholic overseer with a tragic past and a propensity for alcohol. An outcast who assists Dr. Moreau with his scientific experiments, which are financed by the Lizaldes, owners of magnificent haciendas and plentiful coffers.

The hybrids: the fruits of the Doctor’s labor, destined to blindly obey their creator and remain in the shadows. A motley group of part human, part animal monstrosities.

All of them living in a perfectly balanced and static world, which is jolted by the abrupt arrival of Eduardo Lizalde, the charming and careless son of Doctor Moreau’s patron, who will unwittingly begin a dangerous chain reaction.

For Moreau keeps secrets, Carlota has questions, and in the sweltering heat of the jungle, passions may ignite.

Review

Why did I take so long to read this book? This book sat on my TBR for so long and I really can’t tell you why because I am yet to find a book by Moreno-Garcia that I haven’t loved. It took me quite a long time to finish this book but that was because this thing called work kept getting in the way of my precious reading time.

This book is a really clever take on the H. G. Wells story called The Island of Doctor Moreau. I loved this refreshing new take on a classic and I thoroughly enjoyed the feminist twist that Moreno-Garcia included.

I really enjoyed how this book was told between Carlota’s and Montgomery’s perspectives but that was also one thing that slightly let this book down for me because some chapters I found too repetitive. Carlota was a very interesting and unconventional character who was both beguiling and annoying at the same time. It was very hard to make her out at times but all became clear as the story continued.

Montgomery was a very sad character who had many demons lurking that were created by his extremely tragic back story. The man had hardly known a moment of happiness or peace in his life but to me he was a fascinating character who really added to the story. He was loyal, he was sensitive, he was kind and understanding and cared for others but he was also brash and hard with a temper.

This book was very much a slow burner for me but I didn’t mind that as it just added to the feeling of suspense. This book was a great historical fiction read with a sci-fi twist that really felt like a classic sci-fi story just like Wells. Moreno-Garcia did brilliantly at keeping the original feeling of a Wells sci-fi novel but with a modern edge and I loved it. I give this book 4 out of 5 Dragons.

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About the author

Silvia Moreno-Garcia is the author of several novels, including Mexican Gothic, Gods of Jade and Shadow and The Daughter of Doctor Moreau. She has also edited a number of anthologies, including the World Fantasy Award-winning She Walks in Shadows (a.k.a. Cthulhu’s Daughters). Mexican by birth, Canadian by inclination.

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The Shadow Rising by Robert Jordan (Review)

The Shadow Rising by Robert Jordan

Blurb

The seals of Shayol Ghul are weak now, and the Dark One reaches out. The Shadow is rising to cover humankind.

In Tar Valon, Min sees portents of hideous doom. Will the White Tower itself be broken?

In the Two Rivers, the Whitecloaks ride in pursuit of a man with golden eyes, and in pursuit of the Dragon Reborn.

In Cantorin, among the Sea Folk, High Lady Suroth plans the return of the Seanchan armies to the mainland.

In the Stone of Tear, the Lord Dragon considers his next move. It will be something no one expects, not the Black Ajah, not Tairen nobles, not Aes Sedai, not Egwene or Elayne or Nynaeve.

Against the Shadow rising stands the Dragon Reborn…..

Review

This was a reread for me but I will be honest I had forgotten a great deal and I definitely think I enjoyed this book more on the second read. At times I could not put this book down.

Perrin has always been my favourite character in the series and I loved the fact we got so much more of Perrin in this book and Perrin on his own without Rand all the time. I also loved how we ended up back in the Two Rivers and got to meet people from the first book again and see their characters develop further. Perrin’s chapters were definitely the chapters I couldn’t put down and flew through.

My least favourite character in the series so far is Mat. Mat has got to be one of the most annoying characters I have ever come across in a book series. I keep hoping he will improve and become less annoying. I have many books to read to see whether a less annoying Mat will ever happen.

I would have really liked to have seen a bit more of Egwene in this book but once she met the wise ones she kind of disappeared from the story and just became a background character. Thankfully, we got to see plenty of Nynaeve and Elayne in this book as I always love Nynaeve’s spirit and stubbornness. They had plenty of dangerous adventures of their own.

Rand is definitely growing up in this book. He accepts who he is and his destiny and he starts to plan and work out exactly what he needs to do to fulfil his destiny. I really enjoyed seeing this side of Rand and I liked how he integrated in with Aiel.

I absolutely loved this book but I am glad I decided to read it alongside other books. At being just over 1000 pages long it was a long slog at times and I needed some light relief. I give this book 5 out of 5 Dragons.

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Purchase Links

Bookshop.org | Foyles | Waterstones | WH Smith

About the author

James Oliver Rigney Jr. (1948-2007) was an American author of epic fantasy who wrote under the pen name Robert Jordan. Jordan also wrote historical fiction under the name of Reagan O’Neal, a western as Jackson O’Reilly, and dance criticism as Chang Lung.

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Them Old Bones by Astor Y Teller (Review)

Them Old Bones by Astor Y Teller

Blurb

Behind a veil of treachery and haunted bones, a dragon curse is about to set the world ablaze… Dragons didn’t exist until recently. Neither did traitors, until Miriam Huckerpucker started nosing around in The Vault where she and the other undeads are holed up, when they are not out in the countryside picking up haunted bones, which is what they do for an unliving. For Miriam, who has been in the game for a while, with a refined skill set in magic spelling and swordy gymnastics and mourning classes, the hard part is not bone picking but catching homing pigeons which like all living beings don’t fancy the undead at all. When no pigeons arrive from the undead expedition to barbarian lands, where the first known dragon’s bones lay waiting, Miriam suspects a traitor is messing about with the pigeon post. Mustering someone who is literally dying to get a new occupation and also getting an undead dog into the bargain, her investigations unravel a sinister plot far bigger than The Vault.

Review

Firstly, a massive thank you to Astor Y Teller for gifting me this wonderful book in exchange for an honest review.

I’m not sure what I was expecting when I started reading this book but I was definitely not expecting this wonderful world Teller has created. The book follows Miriam Huckerpucker who is a bone collector for The Vault. She is also an undead with an unusual skill set of swordy gymnastics and magic spelling. She also overthinks things and has a suspicious mind.

On one of her adventures Miriam meets Crazyjones who is a farmer and the adorable Tenderloin who is his dog but things are not as they seem. This meeting is a fantastically funny introduction to the book and introduces these wonderful characters to the reader. There is no messing about with this book and you are thrust straight into the storyline which I loved.

I loved Teller’s writing style and imagination and I flew through this book and laughed constantly. The names of the characters are hilarious and are excellent descriptions for the characters. I also love the world that Teller has created and I can’t wait to learn more about The Vault and the undead. I’m also fascinated by the bones and really hope we learn more about it all. I’m also hoping to see a lot more of Tenderloin as he is very cute (yes he is my favourite character). I loved this book and can’t wait to read the next one. This is a definite 5 out of 5 Dragons from me.

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About the author

Everybody makes a story about themselves. Here is my take:

I started out

1) as a kid telling myself stories using my imagination, then

2) growing up to tell stories to others as a gamemaster (which I still do), then

3) getting sucked most unwilling into occult stuff (the flip side of quantum physics?), escaping that to

4) hesitantly get an education in programming, then

5) surviving dull years surrounded by the machines that go ping and keeping the weekends occupied by reading and being artful and conjuring exhaustion for the work week, then

6) saying enough is enough and submitting myself to another long streak of education, this time in art, where I started out painting (and still do) but graduated in spontaneous storytelling (or bearing witness to my imaginary worlds if you want a fancy way of saying it) then

7) start writing down these stories instead of telling them to an audience, ending up like

1) the kid I began as, telling myself stories using my imagination…

…which is the nation I prefer to be in (after doing my stint of travelling abroad) and where I go by the name of Astor Y Teller.

The rest of me can be gleaned from the books and if not, it’s not worth telling.

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World of Wonders by Aimee Nezhukumatathil (Review)

World of Wonders: In Praise of Fireflies, Whale Sharks, and Other Astonishments by Aimee Nezhukumatathil

Blurb

From beloved, award-winning poet Aimee Nezhukumatathil comes a debut work of nonfiction–a collection of essays about the natural world, and the way its inhabitants can teach, support, and inspire us.

As a child, Nezhukumatathil called many places home: the grounds of a Kansas mental institution, where her Filipina mother was a doctor; the open skies and tall mountains of Arizona, where she hiked with her Indian father; and the chillier climes of western New York and Ohio. But no matter where she was transplanted–no matter how awkward the fit or forbidding the landscape–she was able to turn to our world’s fierce and funny creatures for guidance.

“What the peacock can do,” she tells us, “is remind you of a home you will run away from and run back to all your life.” The axolotl teaches us to smile, even in the face of unkindness; the touch-me-not plant shows us how to shake off unwanted advances; the narwhal demonstrates how to survive in hostile environments. Even in the strange and the unlovely, Nezhukumatathil finds beauty and kinship. For it is this way with wonder: it requires that we are curious enough to look past the distractions in order to fully appreciate the world’s gifts.

Warm, lyrical, and gorgeously illustrated by Fumi Nakamura, World of Wonders is a book of sustenance and joy.

Review

I received this book for Christmas from my niece and nephew and it really intrigued me especially the amazing illustrations.

I really enjoyed the concept of this book. Each chapter is about an animal or plant from this world and how that animal or plant has influenced Nezhukumatathil’s life. Each chapter contains information about the plant or animal and this was definitely my favourite part as I learnt so much that I didn’t know before. I loved the chapter on Axolotls but I also found it very sad as I didn’t realise just what horrific things are done to these small creatures.

You learn a lot about Nezhukumatathil’s life in this book. How hard her childhood was with all the moves for her parents’ jobs and because of her ethnicity. We learn how she met her husband and the birth of her children.

The reason this book didn’t get the full 5 Dragons from me and only 4 was because certain scenes rather upset me, the bit with octopus hunting was one. I also found at times that Nezhukumatathil was rather showing off with everything she has done in her life and some links that she was creating between the natural world and her childhood were rather tenuous at times. Overall, though, I loved this book and the illustrations really helped the book.

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Purchase Links

Bookshop.org | Foyles | Waterstones

About the author

Nezhukumatathil (1974) is an American poet and essayist. She is professor of English in the University of Mississippi. She is married to the writer Dustin Parsons. They live in Oxford, Mississippi with their two sons.

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The Midnight Folk by John Masefield (Review)

The Midnight Folk by John Masefield

Blurb

Talking paintings and animals help Kay in his attempt to outwit the witches and locate his great-grandfather’s buried treasure.

Review

I have read the Kay Harker books in completely the wrong order but I am kind of glad I did. I absolutely love The Box of Delights and think it is a wonderful book filled with magic and fantastic characters. However, if I had read The Midnight Folk first I doubt I would have bothered to read The Box of Delights afterwards.

I really struggled with this book as it was just such a jumble of characters and plot lines. I understand that Masefield was going along the lines of a dreamlike structure but it just lacked the refinement of The Box of Delights. The Box of Delights had structure but this book had no structure that I could tell. This book also has no chapters so it is one long story with divides. The Box of Delights had chapters with relevant chapter headings and it really helped give structure to the story.

Kay is an orphan but we aren’t told why but it is clear that he hasn’t had an easy childhood so far. Yes he has a big house and a fab garden to run around in but his governess is not a nice woman and the maid Ellen who looks after him tells him terrifying tales which would give any child nightmares. What Kay needs is someone to love him and make him feel safe.

I will be honest I didn’t like Kay very much in this book. I found him rather annoying and not very loyal to his friends. He knew his friends were in danger but his attitude was very much ‘oh I can’t help otherwise I will be late for breakfast or tea, if you are still in trouble I will help you later’.

I really struggled with this book and almost gave up several times with it. I certainly wouldn’t inflict this book on a child or read it again which is a shame as The Box of Delights is so good. Overall, I give this book 2 Dragons out of 5.

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Purchase Links

Bookshop.org | Harper Collins | Waterstones | WH Smith

About the author

John Masefield (1878-1967) was an English poet and writer, and Poet Laureate from 1930 until 1967.

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The Other Queen by Philippa Gregory (Review)

The Other Queen by Philippa Gregory

Blurb

Two women competing for a man’s heart. Two queens fighting to the death for dominance. The untold story of Mary Queen of Scots.

Fleeing rebels in Scotland on Queen Elizabeth’s false promise of sanctuary, Mary Queen of Scots finds herself imprisoned as the “guest” of George Talbot Earl of Shrewsbury and his indomitable wife, Bess of Hardwick. Soon the newly married couple’s home becomes the centre of intrigue and rebellion against Elizabeth, and their loyalty to each other and to their sovereign comes into question. If Mary succeeds in seducing the earl into her own web of treason, or if the great spymaster William Cecil links them to the growing conspiracy to free Mary from her illegal imprisonment, they will all face the headsman. Using new research and her passion for historical accuracy, Gregory places the doomed queen into a completely new tale of suspense, passion, and political intrigue.

Review

I have always been a massive fan of Philippa Gregory’s books although I will be honest I find them a bit more gossipy if that is the correct word than say an historical fiction book by Alison Weir. I started this book before Christmas but because of how busy I was and one thing and another I took a break from reading it and then picked it back up last week.

I will be honest this book was a hard slog for me and I mean a hard slog. I just could not gel with the format. The book is told from the perspectives of Mary Queen of Scots, Bess of Hardwick and George Talbot Earl of Shrewsbury. Each chapter is told from one of their opinions but the chapters are extremely short and so I could never seem to get fully into each chapter.

We will never know what these three characters were truly like as all that is left is historical evidence but I found Gregory’s interpretation an interesting one, especially of Bess. One of my favourite houses to visit is Hardwick and I admire Bess. She was a powerful woman who in this day and age would have been a successful business woman who people would hopefully respect and admire. However, in Tudor times Bess is hampered by being a woman, by marrying George she signs over everything she owns to him and this leaves her in constant danger of losing it all. However, Gregory portrays her as money obsessed and almost a bean counter but I really don’t think that is what she was like. She was a strong woman who wanted her independence and the right to be a successful land and property owner without being judged by the men in the world. I couldn’t help but feel devastated for her as events unfurled.

George was exactly as I always imagined him whether that is a fair assessment or not I can’t say but Gregory in my opinion got him down perfectly. I’ve read so many differing opinions of Mary Queen of Scots and I can see the side Gregory decided to portray but I must admit she was annoying. I’ve never come across a character who kept contradicting herself so much.

Overall, this book was like ploughing through treacle and not like Gregory’s other books I have read. I just did not like the format and could never seem to get into the book. I give this book 3 out of 5 Dragons.

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Purchase Links

Bookshop.org | Harper Collins | Waterstones | WH Smith

About the author

Philippa Gregory is one of the world’s foremost historical novelists. She wrote her first ever novel, Wideacre, when she was completing her PhD in eighteenth-century literature and it sold worldwide, heralding a new era for historical fiction.

Her flair for blending history and imagination developed into a signature style and Philippa went on to write many bestselling novels, including The Other Boleyn Girl and The White Queen.

Now a recognised authority on women’s history, Philippa graduated from the University of Sussex and received a PhD from the University of Edinburgh, where she is a Regent and was made Alumna of the Year in 2009. She holds honorary degrees from Teesside University and the University of Sussex. She is a fellow of the Universities of Sussex and Cardiff and an honorary research fellow at Birkbeck University of London.

Philippa is a member of the Society of Authors and in 2016, was presented with the Outstanding Contribution to Historical Fiction Award by the Historical Writers’ Association. In 2018, she was awarded an Honorary Platinum Award by Nielsen for achieving significant lifetime sales across her entire book output.

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The Earl and the Pharaoh by The Countess of Carnarvon (Review)

The Earl and the Pharaoh by The Countess of Carnarvon

Blurb

Bestselling author Lady Fiona Carnarvon tells the thrilling behind-the-scenes story of the discovery of the tomb of Tutankhamun on its centennial, and explores the unparalleled life of family ancestor George Herbert–the famed Egyptologist, world-traveler, and 5th Earl of Carnarvon behind it–whose country house, Highclere Castle, is the setting of the beloved series Downton Abbey.

In November 1922, the world was mesmerised by news of an astonishing historical find in Egypt’s legendary Valley of Kings: the discovery of the tomb of the Egyptian Pharaoh Tutankhamun. George Herbert, himself a famed amateur Egyptologist and noted antiquities collector, financed the expedition and excavation headed by lead archaeologist Howard Carter, and accompanied him inside this sacred space that had remained untouched for centuries.

Inside the tomb, the explorers found King Tut’s sarcophagus and a treasure trove of astonishing artefacts: chariots and model boats, board games and paintings, a coffin made of pure gold. But these objects were more than just beautifully crafted works of art; they shed new light on Tutankhamun world and this fabled period of history, and changed our understanding of how the ancient Egyptians had lived–transforming overnight what had been formed through centuries of history and myth.

Drawing on Highclere Castle’s archives, Lady Fiona Carnarvon pays homage to her ancestor on the 100th anniversary of this extraordinary event. In vivid and dramatic detail, she brings into focus the larger-than-life characters and lustrous settings–as well as those twists of luck and tragedies that shaped Herbert’s life. Across the early 1900s, Highclere saw no less drama than the fictional Downton Abbey, with early tragedies for the Earl and love affairs, as well highs of exorbitant wealth and trials of punishing debt. But above all there was adventure. While Herbert first went to Egypt for his health, this mysterious, romantic land would become a second home; the beloved place where he funnelled his attentions over a period of decades, never quite realising how great the fruits of his labours would prove.

Review

I was so excited to get this book and I literally started reading it as soon as I received it for Christmas. I was not disappointed. It was so good to be back reading a book by The Countess of Carnarvon, she just has a way with words and telling family history.

This book is a comprehensive history of the life of the 5th Earl of Carnarvon including of course his great discovery with Howard Carter of Tutankhamun. The book also offered so much more history which I found really interesting.

One of the sections I thoroughly enjoyed was the section during the First World War. I learnt so much from these chapters. The plight of the wounded soldiers in the war and what they had to go through was harrowing but what was most shocking was how unprepared the British government was for the amount of wounded. Learning about what Almina did during the war was also really interesting.

It was also really interesting to see how the super rich lived in Lord Carnarvon’s time, even though quite often Carnarvon couldn’t really afford these extravagances. His obsession with cars and his motoring offences were highly amusing as was his interest in planes.

Carnarvon was an interesting character who had a passion for history but wasn’t just some treasure hunter. He wanted his finds recorded and treasured for posterity. He also wanted everyone to get along and was a perfect diplomat with everyone, always calming the arguments and trying to find solutions.

I absolutely loved this book and can’t wait to read more books by The Countess of Carnarvon. I give this book 5 out of 5 Dragons. A perfect first read for 2024!

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Purchase Links

Bookshop.org | Harper Collins | Waterstones | WH Smith

About the author

A former auditor for Coopers & Lybrand, Lady Carnarvon is the wife of George Herbert, 8th Earl of Carnarvon. Today, she manages affairs at Highclere Castle, home of the worldwide television drama Downton Abbey, including overseeing its grounds and gardens and many special events such as the Egyptian Exhibition in the cellars of the Castle.

Fascinated by Highclere’s history, Lady Carnarvon has written four books. The first two are about the 5th Earl of Carnarvon, who discovered King Tutankhamun’s tomb with Howard Carter in 1922. Her latest are New York Times Bestseller Lady Almina and the Real Downton Abbey: The Lost Legacy of Highclere, and Lady Catherine and the Real Downton Abbey.