By Johannes on June 7, 2010 | Rating: 
The Fantasy book of the month for June 2010 is “Griffin’s Castle” by Jenny Nimmo (first published in 1994).
Content
Dinah hopes the new home provided by Gomer Gwynne will be a fresh start for her and her mother. She dreams it is a castle, imagines bedrooms with four poster beds, a drawing room with a glittering chandelier, exquisitely decorated for Christmas. But Gomer has given them a crumbling house, with no central heating, faulty electricity — a condemned building. He sees Dinah as a little girl, wants to get her out of the way to take her mother out drinking and dining. Alone, angry, Dinah has no idea of the force she can unleash. From the castle in the city, a stone lioness leaps off the wall and comes to Dinah’s garden, followed by a bear, followed by a wolf. The savage animals protect the house, protect Dinah, but at a price…
About the book
Jenny Nimmo is from Windsor, but lives in Wales nowadays. Her first book was published in 1974, and she has written almost two dozen books since then. She has her own website with lots of information.
Where to get the book
You can get it at every book shop and of course at Amazon (look out for deals on the marketplace) in several paperback editions (e.g. Mammoth 1995, Egmont Books 2002) and at least one hardcover edition (Orchard Books 2007). If you buy the book at Waterstone’s in Cardiff (2a The Hayes), they’ll give a 10% discount if you mention the reading group and have a Waterstone’s loyalty card.
Other suggested books
This month’s long list was:
- “The Steel Remains” by Richard Morgan
- “Reave the Just and Other Tales” by Stephen Donaldson
- “Summer Castle” by ??? (“Summers at Castle Auburn” by Sharon Shinn???)
The short list for this month consisted of these books:
- “Waking Dream” by Rhiannon Lassiter
- “Griffin’s Castle” by Jenny Nimmo
- “Best Served Cold” by Joe Abercrombie
Posted in Book of the Month
By Johannes on May 6, 2010 | Rating:
The Science-Fiction book of the month for May 2010 is “Crooked Little Vein” by Warren Ellis (first published in 2007).
Content
Michael McGill, a burned-out private eye, is hired by a corrupt White House Chief of Staff to find a second “secret” United States Constitution, which had been lost in a whorehouse by Richard Nixon. What follows is a scavenger hunt across America, exposing its seedier side along the way. McGill is joined by surreal college student side-kick, Trix, who is writing a thesis on sexual fetishes. (quote from Wikipedia, licensed under CC-BY-SA, list of authors)
About the book
Wikipedia has some information about the author and the book. Warren Ellis is known as a comic book writer. “Crooked Little Vein” is his first novel.
Where to get the book
You can get it at every book shop and of course at Amazon (look out for deals on the marketplace) in at least one paperback and one hardcover editions. If you buy the book at Waterstone’s in Cardiff (2a The Hayes), they’ll give a 10% discount if you mention the reading group and have a Waterstone’s loyalty card.
Other suggested books
The short list for this month was:
- “Crooked Little Vein” by Warren Ellis
- “The Prefect” by Alastair Reynolds
- “Only Forward” by Michael Marshall Smith
Posted in Book of the Month
By Johannes on March 21, 2010 | Rating:
The Science-Fiction book of the month for March 2010 is “River of Gods” by Ian McDonald (first published in 2004).
Content
August 15th, 2047. Happy Hundredth Birthday, India… On the eve of Mother India’s hundredth birthday, ten people are doing ten very different things. In the next few weeks, all these people will be swept together to decide the fate of the nation. From gangsters to government advisors, from superstitious street-boys to scientists to computer-generated soap stars, “River of Gods” shows a civilization in flux — a river of gods.
About the book
Wikipedia has some information about the author and the book. “River of Gods” has been nominated for the Arthur C. Clarke Award and the Hugo Award (both Best Novel 2005) and won the Best Novel Award from the British Science Fiction Association in 2004.
Where to get the book
You can get it at every book shop and of course at Amazon (look out for deals on the marketplace) in several paperback and hardcover editions. If you buy the book at Waterstone’s in Cardiff (2a The Hayes), they’ll give a 10% discount if you mention the reading group and have a Waterstone’s loyalty card.
Other suggested books
This month’ longlist was:
- “Manifest Destiny” by ???
- “2010: Odyssey Two” by Arthur C. Clarke
- “And Another Thing…” by Eoin Colfer
The short list for this month was:
- “Red Mars” by Kim Stanley Robinson
- “Fahrenheit 451″ by Ray Bradbury
- “River Of Gods” by Ian McDonald
Posted in Book of the Month
By Johannes on February 5, 2010 | Rating:
The Fantasy book of the month for February 2010 is “The Minotaur Takes A Cigarette Break” by Steven Sherrill (first published in 2000).
Content
Five thousand years on… and the Minotaur, or M as he is known to his colleagues, is working as a line chef at Grub’s Rib in Carolina, keeping to himself, keeping his horns down, trying in vain to put his past behind him. He leads an ordered lifestyle in a shabby trailer park where he tinkers with cars, writes and re-writes to-do lists and observes the haphazard goings on around him. Outwardly controlled, M tries to hide his emotional turmoil as he is transported deeper into the human world of deceit, confusion and need.
About the book
Steven Sherrill is an Associate Professor of English and Integrative Arts at Pennsylvania State University. “The Minotaur…” is his first novel, he has written two more since then. You can find more information at his website, including 14 class-room-style questions about the book. That’s the first time an author has helped our discussion with providing questions, as far as I know. 
Where to get the book
You can get it at every book shop and of course at Amazon (look out for deals on the marketplace) in at least one paperback and one hardcover edition. If you buy the book at Waterstone’s in Cardiff (2a The Hayes), they’ll give a 10% discount if you mention the reading group and have a Waterstone’s loyalty card.
Other suggested books
The short list for this month was:
- “The Minotaur Takes A Cigarette Break” by Steven Sherrill
- “Magician” by Raymond E. Feist
- [a third book whose name escapes me right now]
Posted in Book of the Month | Tagged Fantasy
By Johannes on December 14, 2009
It’s December, so we’re reading a classic: The book of the month for December 2009 is “The War of the Worlds” by H.G. Wells (first published in 1898).
Content
The night after a shooting star is seen streaking through the sky from Mars, a cylinder is discovered on Horsell Common in London. At first, naïve locals approach the cylinder armed just with a white flag – only to be quickly killed by an all-destroying heat-ray, as terrifying tentacled invaders emerge. Soon the whole of human civilisation is under threat, as powerful Martians build gigantic killing machines, destroy all in their path with black gas and burning rays, and feast on the warm blood of trapped, still-living human prey. The forces of the Earth, however, may prove harder to beat than they at first appear…
About the book
Wikipedia has some information about the author and the book. Be sure not to accidentally buy “The War of the Worlds, Plus Blood, Guts And Zombies”, or discussions in January might get confusing.
Where to get the book
You can get it at Amazon (look out for deals on the marketplace) in several different paperback and hardcover editions (e.g. Penguin Classics, 2005) and in more or less every other book shop. If you buy it at Waterstone’s in Cardiff (2a The Hayes), they’ll give a 10% discount if you mention the reading group and have a Waterstone’s loyalty card.
Posted in Book of the Month
By Johannes on November 18, 2009
“A Mage Of None Magic” by A. Christopher Drown, Tyrannosaurus Press (Zachary, LA, USA), 2009, ca. 274 pages, cover art by A. Christopher Drown
Content
Folklore tells how magic came to be when evil gods shattered the fabled gem known as the Heart of the Sisters. Those same stories speak of the Heart being healed and unleashing a power that will bring the end of humankind.
While travelling to begin his magical studies, young apprentice Niel suddenly finds himself at the centre of the Heart’s terrifying legend. Caught in a whirlwind of events that fractures the foundation of everything he’s believed, Niel learns his role in the world may be far more important than he ever could have imagined, or ever would have wished.
A Mage of None Magic begins an extraordinary adventure into a perilous land where autocratic magicians manipulate an idle aristocracy, where common academia struggles for validation, and where after ages of disregard the mythical refuses to be ignored any longer.
The author
A. Christopher Drown is a native of Brunswick, Maine, who currently lives in Tennessee just outside of Memphis. He has published several short stories as well as a collection of poetry, and is also an award-winning graphic designer. A Mage of None Magic is his first novel.
You can read excerpts of the book on its website. The author has also kindly sent us a signed review copy of the book which we’ll pass around at the next meeting. Feel free to add reviews as comments on this page or on Amazon.
Links
Website of the book
Website of the author
Tyrannosaurus Press
Posted in Other Books
The Science-Fiction book of the month for July 2010 is “The Caves of Steel” by Isaac Asimov (first published in 1954).
The Fantasy book of the month for April 2010 is “Black Juice” by Margo Lanagan (first published in 2004).
The Science-Fiction book of the month for January 2010 is “The Left Hand of Darkness” by Ursula K. Le Guin (first published in 1969).
The Fantasy book of the month for November 2009 is “The Historian” by Elizabeth Kostova (first published in 2005).
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