As I mentioned in my Clockwork Angel review, I had problems getting into City of Bones. I have now read it all, or rather listened on Audible, and I have to say my initial reactions have not really altered much. What I liked The worldbuilding. This, for me, is the highlight of the book, and probably what will keep my coming back for more. Clare has done an excellent job in defining her world and the history and beings in it. I loved hearing about the Nephalim, the Moon’s Children and Night’s Children and look forward to hearing more about them. The pacing. This was something I thought worked better than in Clockwork Angel. The plot setup was done efficiently and well, and the narrative tension was well maintained. It’s amazing how well the old trusted and true “good guys need to prevent the bad guys from getting their hands on the McGuffin” works! However, it does depend on the execution though, and I felt Clare did this excellently. The importance of this particular McGuffin, the Mortal Cup, was clearly defined as were the consequences of its falling into the wrong hands. What I didn’t like The main characters….
As I mentioned in my Clockwork Angel review, I had problems getting into City of Bones. I have now read it all, or rather listened on Audible, and I have to say my initial reactions have not really altered much. What I liked The worldbuilding. This, for me, is the highlight of the book, and probably what will keep my coming back for more. Clare has done an excellent job in defining her world and the history and beings in it. I loved hearing about the Nephalim, the Moon’s Children and Night’s Children and look forward to hearing more about them. The pacing. This was something I thought worked better than in Clockwork Angel. The plot setup was done efficiently and well, and the narrative tension was well maintained. It’s amazing how well the old trusted and true “good guys need to prevent the bad guys from getting their hands on the McGuffin” works! However, it does depend on the execution though, and I felt Clare did this excellently. The importance of this particular McGuffin, the Mortal Cup, was clearly defined as were the consequences of its falling into the wrong hands. What I didn’t like The main characters….
It certainly isn’t a good week to be a bookworm in Quebec. Canada’s Globe and Mail is reporting that Quebec’s legislature has opened a hearing on pricing for new books. Being discussed is the question of whether or not to prevent the price of new books being discounted by more than 10% for the first nine months after release. The stated intention behind this is to protect the smaller bookstores, especially smaller Francophone ones, from the big hitters such as Amazon and Walmart. Now, while I can appreciate the sentiment, I’m really not certain that keeping book prices high is really going to help anyone. Smaller bookstores are never going to be able to compete with Amazon on price, so perhaps the government should concentrate on supporting them other ways. For example subsidising author signings in the province, sponsoring book groups, or subsidising the cost of Quebecois francophone books. Most Quebec produced books are still noticeably more expensive than their English counterparts. This week I have been working nightshift. As my job is very reactive – sitting around waiting on servers burping, not many human callers – I find it’s a perfect time to enjoy some audiobooks. The books help to keep…
Codex Born by Jim C Hines is the sequel to Libriomancer which tells of Isaac Vainio, a libriomancer with the power to access magic from within books. If you have not read Libriomancer, I would strongly suggest you start there. While it is not impossible to enjoy the story without having read the first book, it builds upon concepts, characters and events detailed in Libriomancer. Codex Born continues Isaac’s story and develops what we know of libriomancy. Feel free to check out my thoughts on Libriomancer. What I liked Lena’s backstory. We learn much, much more about Lena Greenwood through brief snippets before each chapter. For me, this was one of the most beautifully written and touching parts of the books as she learns to come to terms with her nature and the accommodations she has to make to achieve a little freedom. The visual imagery. Hines has a real talent for describing scenes that had me flat out giggling like a schoolgirl with the picture it evoked in my mind. An example was “She appeared to be holding off a small swarm of bugs with a drinking straw and a yo-yo.” I’m snickering even now at that mental image….
It certainly isn’t a good week to be a bookworm in Quebec. Canada’s Globe and Mail is reporting that Quebec’s legislature has opened a hearing on pricing for new books. Being discussed is the question of whether or not to prevent the price of new books being discounted by more than 10% for the first nine months after release. The stated intention behind this is to protect the smaller bookstores, especially smaller Francophone ones, from the big hitters such as Amazon and Walmart. Now, while I can appreciate the sentiment, I’m really not certain that keeping book prices high is really going to help anyone. Smaller bookstores are never going to be able to compete with Amazon on price, so perhaps the government should concentrate on supporting them other ways. For example subsidising author signings in the province, sponsoring book groups, or subsidising the cost of Quebecois francophone books. Most Quebec produced books are still noticeably more expensive than their English counterparts. This week I have been working nightshift. As my job is very reactive – sitting around waiting on servers burping, not many human callers – I find it’s a perfect time to enjoy some audiobooks. The books help to keep…
Some months ago a friend recommended Cassandra Clare’s Mortal Instruments series to me. I picked up City of Bones, the first book, from Audible, and found it hard to get past the first few chapters. In all fairness, that might have been due to the fact that it was the book I selected to listen to at the gym, and for various reasons (my lack of willpower mainly) I didn’t go as often as I should have. It’s also true that City of Bones didn’t grab my attention immediately. I will probably try again before the movie comes out. Clockwork Angel is the first in Clare’s Infernal Devices series, which is a prequel to the Mortal Instruments set many years earlier in Victorian London. Unlike Mortal Instruments, Clockwork Angel hooked me immediately from the Audible preview, so much so that I immediately invested in the entire trilogy in Kindle and Audible formats – Whispersync for Voice is available on these titles. This is partly due to Jennifer Ehle’s excellent narration, and also that I found it easier to connect with Tessa than Mortal Instruments’ Clary. What I liked The setting/worldbuilding. Clare evokes Victorian London with a twist beautifully. I also really…
Some months ago a friend recommended Cassandra Clare’s Mortal Instruments series to me. I picked up City of Bones, the first book, from Audible, and found it hard to get past the first few chapters. In all fairness, that might have been due to the fact that it was the book I selected to listen to at the gym, and for various reasons (my lack of willpower mainly) I didn’t go as often as I should have. It’s also true that City of Bones didn’t grab my attention immediately. I will probably try again before the movie comes out. Clockwork Angel is the first in Clare’s Infernal Devices series, which is a prequel to the Mortal Instruments set many years earlier in Victorian London. Unlike Mortal Instruments, Clockwork Angel hooked me immediately from the Audible preview, so much so that I immediately invested in the entire trilogy in Kindle and Audible formats – Whispersync for Voice is available on these titles. This is partly due to Jennifer Ehle’s excellent narration, and also that I found it easier to connect with Tessa than Mortal Instruments’ Clary. What I liked The setting/worldbuilding. Clare evokes Victorian London with a twist beautifully. I also really…
Codex Born by Jim C Hines is the sequel to Libriomancer which tells of Isaac Vainio, a libriomancer with the power to access magic from within books. If you have not read Libriomancer, I would strongly suggest you start there. While it is not impossible to enjoy the story without having read the first book, it builds upon concepts, characters and events detailed in Libriomancer. Codex Born continues Isaac’s story and develops what we know of libriomancy. Feel free to check out my thoughts on Libriomancer. What I liked Lena’s backstory. We learn much, much more about Lena Greenwood through brief snippets before each chapter. For me, this was one of the most beautifully written and touching parts of the books as she learns to come to terms with her nature and the accommodations she has to make to achieve a little freedom. The visual imagery. Hines has a real talent for describing scenes that had me flat out giggling like a schoolgirl with the picture it evoked in my mind. An example was “She appeared to be holding off a small swarm of bugs with a drinking straw and a yo-yo.” I’m snickering even now at that mental image….
Codex Born by Jim C Hines is the sequel to Libriomancer which tells of Isaac Vainio, a libriomancer with the power to access magic from within books. If you have not read Libriomancer, I would strongly suggest you start there. While it is not impossible to enjoy the story without having read the first book, it builds upon concepts, characters and events detailed in Libriomancer. Codex Born continues Isaac’s story and develops what we know of libriomancy. Feel free to check out my thoughts on Libriomancer. What I liked Lena’s backstory. We learn much, much more about Lena Greenwood through brief snippets before each chapter. For me, this was one of the most beautifully written and touching parts of the books as she learns to come to terms with her nature and the accommodations she has to make to achieve a little freedom. The visual imagery. Hines has a real talent for describing scenes that had me flat out giggling like a schoolgirl with the picture it evoked in my mind. An example was “She appeared to be holding off a small swarm of bugs with a drinking straw and a yo-yo.” I’m snickering even now at that mental image….
This evening when I went to download my latest Audible read to my Canadian Kindle Fire, I got a big surprise. A message popped up advising me that I could now listen to and shop for audiobooks natively from my Kindle Fire and that I should uninstall the Audible app. I did so and found that my audiobook played in a new, integrated player. I also noticed that individual Audible audiobooks now appear in my carousel and can be added individually to the Favourites drawer rather than just the Audible app itself. Being a Kindle, of course they’re trying to sell you things, and I see that when I view an audiobook in the carousel, I now get recommendations for other audiobooks. Searching the Kindle is now integrated with my Audible library. Searching for an audiobook will find it in your Audible library ready for downloading. It seems that they’re not quite there yet with the integration though. Audiobooks doesn’t appear in the top menu bar, and clicking on one of the audiobook recommendations doesn’t take you anywhere yet. Clicking on Shop still only shows three options available to Canadians: Books, Games and Apps. At this point Audible books are…