Andrea: DNF - I had read the first book in the series a long time ago (with some reading group, maybe this one). I remember finding the setting, situation and characters quite fascinating, but not thinking too much of the writing or mystery. However, I liked the first book enough that I took out the second one in the series (“Fever Season”) and thought I’d read it before I read this one (the fifth) to have a little more understanding of the story and main character. But, I couldn’t stand “Fever Season.” It was totally grim and disgusting with details of the fever epidemic, and the characters were basically uninteresting and unreal. I couldn’t keep all of them straight--but I really didn’t care. The plot was also uninteresting, and I couldn’t follow a lot of the patois and historical references. So I gave up after about 75 pages and started on “Die Upon a Kiss.” It didn’t have the disgusting fever stuff, but it was otherwise worse than “Fever Season.” I really got lost in all of the references to and italicized quotes from operas (or maybe Shakespeare) and the array of characters was dizzying. For example, there were repeated references to the “Widow Redfern.” She was in the second book in the series and, as far as I had gotten, was the chief suspect in the murder of her husband, which was being blamed on a runaway slave January was helping. But none of the stuff I knew about her from the second book was consistent with her presentation in the fifth book. So I assume she had changed somewhere in the course of the second book or maybe was important in the third and fourth books. Whatever, having her name just thrown out repeatedly in the fifth book without any context--and seemingly with no role in the plot, such as it was--was baffling. Anyway, I cared even less for the characters in this book, and I gave up in disgust when January improbably and stupidly got stuck in a basement of a burned deserted house with three other characters who were not behaving consistently and shouldn’t have been there either. And, to make matters worse, January starts debating Italian nationalism with two of the characters, talking about stuff I didn’t know anything about or anything I cared about.
Linda - G - It was better than "A Free Man of Color" which the group had read previously. The character of Benjamin seemed very stiff and was a bit too good to be believed. The book was way too long and had way too much in it. The author included every by of history she knew. Linda is not that interested in opera so that held no appeal. The mystery was fair enough and it did kind of make sense. She felt mixed about the period. Linda may not read more by this author.
LJ - DNF - It is never a good sign which you keep checking to see how close you are to the end of a book. For me, the end didn’t come soon enough and I finally gave up. I don’t mind a book with a lot of characters if they are distinguishable and come to life. These characters never did. I knew what they looked like physically, but had no real sense of them and what made them who they were. Even with Benjamin, while he was the most interesting of the characters, I’m not compelled to read more about him. There was some very clever dialogue. I particularly liked the line about beautiful music not necessarily coming from a beautiful soul. The sense of time and place was strong. I love books set in New Orleans. I’ve not been back post-Katrina, but one of its appeals is the sense of timelessness it has. I enjoyed “walking” down streets I remember with the characters knowing they look about the same as they did in the story. While the author talks about bigotry and racism of the time, it felt more educational than involving. She had a tendency to reiterate information, seemingly not trusting the reader to having picked it up the first time or now remembering it. As for the plot—what was the plot? I kept waiting to feel that sense of “ah, this is where we’re going” and never did. When we finally get to the real plot, it is as though it is another story entirely. Ms. Humbly falls victim to the occasional use of portents, which I despise. It seems to take a long time for anything to happen. Unless one has a love of music, particularly opera, I believe readers could find the plot ponderous, and that’s not really where the story goes anyway. This is my second try at Hambly and, I am confidant, my last.
Folly - Standalone - Laurie R. King
Andrea - - I read this book a long time ago which I realized pretty early on, but I couldn’t remember what happened so I kept reading. But, I really didn’t enjoy reading it very much and found the main character to be tedious. I kept waiting for something more interesting to happen, but it didn’t. I like Laurie King a lot (though some of the Mary Russell’s were pretty bad), but I wouldn’t keep reading her on the basis of this book.
Linda - - Remembered reading this before and liking it but couldn't find her review.
LJ - Ex - This was a re-read for me and I found it as good the second time. Rae is a powerful character. In spite of her problems and past, you feel her strength and admire her self-awareness. Since the story is told in first-person, you have a real feel for her emotions and fears. There is an interesting assortment of supporting character, including dead great-uncle Desmond, who are interesting in themselves but also act as a foil for Rae in demonstrating her determination. I loved King’s attention to detail and powers of description. Even if you’ve never worked with wood, anyone with a craft they love and recognition for the importance of the tools of that craft, will appreciate the descriptions of the wood her awareness of her tools. The mystery isn’t a traditional one. There is the present day mystery of who, if anyone, is after Rae and the secondary mystery of Desmond, who came to the island with his own need to recover from shell shock after WWI. Folly is a wonderful, emotional story and my favorite of anything King has written thus far.
The Thirteenth Tale - Standalone - Diane Setterfield
Andrea - - Best of the three, but also not really a mystery; more of a gothic or a romance. I found the story improbable and, again, really didn’t care. However, I liked the main character more than in the other books and found the old lady to be interesting. I also liked the writing style. Still, I don’t think I’d read another by this author.
LJ - Ex - Ms. Setterfield begins her writing career with a completely mesmerizing, although not altogether pleasant, story within a story within a story. The top story is Margaret’s narrative. It is lyrical and speaks to the heart of those of us who love books. There is the story of Angelfield which is grim and rather unpleasant. There is third story which is sad but is one of survival. I both read the book and listened to the audiobook. The book is wonderfully written; the audiobook narration adds a richness and deeper emotion to the story and left me crying with its ending. This book won’t be to everyone’s taste, probably best for those of us who love gothics. It will definitely be on my 2007 top reads list.
Andrea: DNF - I had read the first book in the series a long time ago (with some reading group, maybe this one). I remember finding the setting, situation and characters quite fascinating, but not thinking too much of the writing or mystery. However, I liked the first book enough that I took out the second one in the series (“Fever Season”) and thought I’d read it before I read this one (the fifth) to have a little more understanding of the story and main character. But, I couldn’t stand “Fever Season.” It was totally grim and disgusting with details of the fever epidemic, and the characters were basically uninteresting and unreal. I couldn’t keep all of them straight--but I really didn’t care. The plot was also uninteresting, and I couldn’t follow a lot of the patois and historical references. So I gave up after about 75 pages and started on “Die Upon a Kiss.” It didn’t have the disgusting fever stuff, but it was otherwise worse than “Fever Season.” I really got lost in all of the references to and italicized quotes from operas (or maybe Shakespeare) and the array of characters was dizzying. For example, there were repeated references to the “Widow Redfern.” She was in the second book in the series and, as far as I had gotten, was the chief suspect in the murder of her husband, which was being blamed on a runaway slave January was helping. But none of the stuff I knew about her from the second book was consistent with her presentation in the fifth book. So I assume she had changed somewhere in the course of the second book or maybe was important in the third and fourth books. Whatever, having her name just thrown out repeatedly in the fifth book without any context--and seemingly with no role in the plot, such as it was--was baffling. Anyway, I cared even less for the characters in this book, and I gave up in disgust when January improbably and stupidly got stuck in a basement of a burned deserted house with three other characters who were not behaving consistently and shouldn’t have been there either. And, to make matters worse, January starts debating Italian nationalism with two of the characters, talking about stuff I didn’t know anything about or anything I cared about.
Linda - G - It was better than "A Free Man of Color" which the group had read previously. The character of Benjamin seemed very stiff and was a bit too good to be believed. The book was way too long and had way too much in it. The author included every by of history she knew. Linda is not that interested in opera so that held no appeal. The mystery was fair enough and it did kind of make sense. She felt mixed about the period. Linda may not read more by this author.
LJ - DNF - It is never a good sign which you keep checking to see how close you are to the end of a book. For me, the end didn’t come soon enough and I finally gave up. I don’t mind a book with a lot of characters if they are distinguishable and come to life. These characters never did. I knew what they looked like physically, but had no real sense of them and what made them who they were. Even with Benjamin, while he was the most interesting of the characters, I’m not compelled to read more about him. There was some very clever dialogue. I particularly liked the line about beautiful music not necessarily coming from a beautiful soul. The sense of time and place was strong. I love books set in New Orleans. I’ve not been back post-Katrina, but one of its appeals is the sense of timelessness it has. I enjoyed “walking” down streets I remember with the characters knowing they look about the same as they did in the story. While the author talks about bigotry and racism of the time, it felt more educational than involving. She had a tendency to reiterate information, seemingly not trusting the reader to having picked it up the first time or now remembering it. As for the plot—what was the plot? I kept waiting to feel that sense of “ah, this is where we’re going” and never did. When we finally get to the real plot, it is as though it is another story entirely. Ms. Humbly falls victim to the occasional use of portents, which I despise. It seems to take a long time for anything to happen. Unless one has a love of music, particularly opera, I believe readers could find the plot ponderous, and that’s not really where the story goes anyway. This is my second try at Hambly and, I am confidant, my last.
Folly - Standalone - Laurie R. King
Andrea - - I read this book a long time ago which I realized pretty early on, but I couldn’t remember what happened so I kept reading. But, I really didn’t enjoy reading it very much and found the main character to be tedious. I kept waiting for something more interesting to happen, but it didn’t. I like Laurie King a lot (though some of the Mary Russell’s were pretty bad), but I wouldn’t keep reading her on the basis of this book.
Linda - - Remembered reading this before and liking it but couldn't find her review.
LJ - Ex - This was a re-read for me and I found it as good the second time. Rae is a powerful character. In spite of her problems and past, you feel her strength and admire her self-awareness. Since the story is told in first-person, you have a real feel for her emotions and fears. There is an interesting assortment of supporting character, including dead great-uncle Desmond, who are interesting in themselves but also act as a foil for Rae in demonstrating her determination. I loved King’s attention to detail and powers of description. Even if you’ve never worked with wood, anyone with a craft they love and recognition for the importance of the tools of that craft, will appreciate the descriptions of the wood her awareness of her tools. The mystery isn’t a traditional one. There is the present day mystery of who, if anyone, is after Rae and the secondary mystery of Desmond, who came to the island with his own need to recover from shell shock after WWI. Folly is a wonderful, emotional story and my favorite of anything King has written thus far.
The Thirteenth Tale - Standalone - Diane Setterfield
Andrea - - Best of the three, but also not really a mystery; more of a gothic or a romance. I found the story improbable and, again, really didn’t care. However, I liked the main character more than in the other books and found the old lady to be interesting. I also liked the writing style. Still, I don’t think I’d read another by this author.
LJ - Ex - Ms. Setterfield begins her writing career with a completely mesmerizing, although not altogether pleasant, story within a story within a story. The top story is Margaret’s narrative. It is lyrical and speaks to the heart of those of us who love books. There is the story of Angelfield which is grim and rather unpleasant. There is third story which is sad but is one of survival. I both read the book and listened to the audiobook. The book is wonderfully written; the audiobook narration adds a richness and deeper emotion to the story and left me crying with its ending. This book won’t be to everyone’s taste, probably best for those of us who love gothics. It will definitely be on my 2007 top reads list.