books

[julesjones]

After a month or two of reading being like wading through glue, unable to handle anything but fluffy manga and even that an effort, I felt a sudden urge to read two nights ago. Not just to read, but to read a specific book. I finished "Unnatural Death" this lunchtime, and with the momentum still up, went looking for something else. I grabbed desperance's Dead of Light, which had been sitting around along with everything else I bought at Westercon -- and have just finished it.

Oh wow.

Something more coherent in the way of comment may be forthcoming later.

Comments

[desperance.livejournal.com]

Uh, that would be Dead of Light, I think...? (If I'd written a Speedo, it would have to be Speed of Night, to be consistent punwise...)

Glad you liked it. Are you sorted for the sequel, Light Errant, or shall I send you one?

[silly-swordsman.livejournal.com]

And after that you'll write Knight Fantastic? Um... where can I find these, anyway? In the UK?

[desperance.livejournal.com]

If you can't find 'em out in the world, you can still get 'em from me - I've got a few copies of 'Dead of Light' in hardback, 'Light Errant' in both hard and paper covers, £10/£5 respectively. There are paperbacks of DoL on Abebooks and on Amazon, if you don't mind secondhand.

And actually, it has long been the case that the so-far-unwritten vol 3 is called 'Night Fantastic'. Damn your eyes, sir...!

[silly-swordsman.livejournal.com]

Amazon.co.uk only have them second hand, and I'm a bit picky - if I can get a shiny new hardback I prefer that (a lingering effect of once having bought a second hand copy of Auel's Mammoth Hunters with rather suspicious-looking stains on the pages of the hot sections...)

Okay, the reviews I've found look promising, and a wow from Jules is worth a lot, but the Outremer series seem quite interesting, too. Which should I go for, do you think?

I mean, I just have to buy something now that I've rumbled your naming scheme, right?

[julesjones]

I liked Outremer a lot, as you may have gathered -- but it is really one novel split into 3 or 6 volumes depending on which edition you get, and very much character-driven.

Dead of Light is a good deal more compact, and thus faster-paced. The publisher describes it as horror; I felt that it was more dark fantasy with a mystery/thriller plot. But it's got the same "could get drunk on the language" aspect that I mentioned with Outremer.

I'm off to the optometrist's this morning and then have some work to do, but I'll try to write a review later today.

[desperance.livejournal.com]

Is a tricky one. With Outremer, you're in for the long haul: three fat paperbacks in the UK editions, high historical fantasy, no compromise. Horses and everything (tho' it's more with the camels, actually).

'Dead of Light' you could treat as a one-off, if you didn't like it, and it's a swift contemporary read, with puns and all sorts. (Actually Outremer has puns too, but they're buried. Tell you later.)

On the other hand, the copies I have of DoL, while hardback, are not shiny nor new; the book's twelve years old and my house is damp & dusty. They show their age. My copies of Outremer, meanwhile, are only paperback, but pristine.

If you want to take this further, if I haven't put you off entirely, the shopping page on my website - http://www.chazbrenchley.co.uk/buying.php - is the easiest way to do it, if you're okay paying through PayPal (you don't need an account - credit/debit cards are fine).

[silly-swordsman.livejournal.com]

If I survived Janny Wurts' Mistwraith extended series (7 books) more or less sane, the long haul holds no terrors for me. And I'm very interested in the Crusade period too (well, European history from migration era to early renaissance). So that's sold.

As are the two Macallan HBs.

And I think you owe Jules a coffee/drink/beer/muffin for selling you so well. ;-)

[julesjones]

I read Light Errant yesterday. In one sitting...

Not quite the same "oh wow" reaction, but only because it's a sequel and I went in already knowing the world. Thoroughly enjoyed it -- while the first book works as a standalone, what Ben does at the end of the book clearly implies changes in his world, and in the second book Chaz picks up on that and shows what happened next.

[desperance.livejournal.com]

Order received, and thank you. Books will be in the post, soonest (with a little extra something, just because...).

And I already owe Jules more even than you mention. One of these days...

[julesjones]

Just remember I'm a supertaster...
By the way, is that Lindisfarne in drag in the second Light book?

[julesjones]

Sorry - I loved the pun, but I was *very* tired yesterday...