sambora's reviews
314 reviews

Iron Council by China Miéville

dark inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.25

I wish I liked this more. The writing is undoubtedly superb, but I simply wasn't engaged by the plot or story at all, and the characters (while interesting) didn't really stir much in me, unlike the cast from the first book in the trilogy.
I have a feeling this will be one that is quickly forgotten, which means - if I'm ever feeling up for it, I can attempt a reread and try to capture what I so evidently missed this time through.

The Prince by Niccolò Machiavelli

informative inspiring sad

3.75

The Prince is an interesting and consise glimpse into the mentality of one who puts their own power and social stature before all else.
Whilst I don't agree with a great many things Machiavelli proposes in this volume, it's safe to say that there is still some wisdom to be found therein.

"The only good, sure, lasting forms of defence are those based on yourself and your own strength."

Ibid by H.P. Lovecraft

funny reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? N/A
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

2.25

A short story that tells of a man called Ibidus - who's death is just the beginning of his journey and legacy.
Lovecraft's writes of how this man's skull moves around the world - traded, stolen and gifted through the highs and lows of our historic societies.

Not a scary story, in fact there were a couple of truly witty moments, and a joke or two that played somewhat like a Monty Python sketch.

Not what I expected, but it was different and interesting. I am glad it was short.

The Dunwich Horror and Others by H.P. Lovecraft

challenging dark mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

It's easy to say The Dunwich Horror is "dark and atmospheric" - that is somewhat the norm with these stories.
But this one... This one was also full of twisted academia, spiritual existentialism, small town fear-mongering and the overt threat of unbridled cosmic-barbarism.
Most of the stories of Lovecraft's I've read so far have only contained one (or maybe two) of these aforementioned traits at once - but here, seeing and experiencing them all together, utilised in an ugly, fetid and unsettlingly put-together story made for a recipe that Lovecraft, and his fear of the unknown, well and truly dominated.

"The Old Ones were, the Old Ones are, and the Old Ones shall be. Not in the spaces we know, but between them. They walk serene and primal, undimensioned and to us unseen.
Yog-Sothoth knows the gate."

In my journey through the complete works, at this point, this is probably one of my favourite works of Lovecraft's so far.
I know I haven't yet read some of his best known stuff, and I'm aware this may change, but my lord did I enjoy this.

The Tunnel Under the World by Frederik Pohl

mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.25

Probably not the place to start with Pohl. I liked it, but it didn't wow me.
I'll definitely be reading his longer and better known works at some point though.

The Shadow of the Torturer by Gene Wolfe

adventurous challenging dark mysterious reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

I loved this book the way Severian loves every woman he meets - I may not understand it all yet, some answers are yet to be forthcoming, and rereads are undoubtedly where Gene Wolfe will shine the brightest, but this first entry was an unblemished pleasure to puzzle my way through.

Suttree by Cormac McCarthy

challenging dark reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

Ok... Suttree. I'm conflicted on this one. Where to begin?

The writing? Immaculate, beautiful and heartbreaking.
I know it's a given at this point. This man's prose is some of the best I've ever encountered.
Thematically it was very strong. His imagery was spot-on. His character voice and language was excellent, as usual.

The length? Phew. At almost 600 pages, this wasn't easy going.
I think McCarthy learned later in his career that making the reader spend so much time vicariously wading through an unending underbelly of sadness, misery and depression made for a relatively hard sell.
It was brutally real, and it hurt at times. The characters were perpetually trapped in their own sad loops of life, mixing with the wrong people, making bad decisions, unable to pull themselves out of the gutter, or at least otherwise inextricably finding it again when they do manage to temporarily pull away... It was brilliant, but it really didn't need to be as drawn out as it was.
It made me feel pretty fucking down at times, if I'm honest. Picking it up became difficult because I knew that things weren't going to have improved for our characters. They, the characters, didn't want to be there and it made me not want to be there either.
I personally think entire segments could be cut out without effecting the plot, character or message of the book.
Maybe this is just me though. I am aware this is probably a taste thing, as most art tends to be.

I can see this being one of McCarthy's less... dramatic stories. It is more mundane and grounded. And it works well, for what it is. There is humour here too, which is not found too often in his catalogue from what I've seen thus far.

Overall, as an experience, reading Suttree unfortunately became a bit of a chore for me.
Whilst it does many things well, it is far from my favourite of McCarthy's books I've read.

Alien Clay by Adrian Tchaikovsky

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

Imagine if Jeff Vandermeer's Annihilation and Ursula K Le Guin's The Word For World is Forest had a baby.
That's pretty damn close to what we got here with Alien Clay, and I adored it.

I'll admit it took me a little while to get with the first-person perspective, it felt a little clunky and unnecessary at first, but it ended up working brilliantly and it had completely grown on me by the quarter way mark.

This is a book about divergent evolution, symbiotic relationships in nature, revolution and uprising and yet at the same time becoming a part of the machine in which you live your life.
It's full to the brim with Tchaikovsky-isms, with a liberal dose of body horror and all sorts of creepy alien insects and creatures.

Tchaikovsky... well, the man is a genius. A rockstar. This book fantastic.
Thank you Pan Mac for the proof. What an joy it's been.

The Descendant by H.P. Lovecraft

dark mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

"He became a dreamer who found life tame and unsatisfying; a searcher for strange realms and relationships once familiar, yet lying nowhere in the visible regions of earth."

What a good short story to jump back into Lovecraft's work with after all these years.
Very fitting indeed. 

A Woman in the Polar Night by Christiane Ritter

adventurous hopeful inspiring reflective medium-paced

4.5