Tag Archives: Down the Rabbit Hole

There’s No Place Like Here by Cecelia Ahern

Irish Literature 2 Comments

Synopsis: When a missing persons investigator goes missing herself, she discovers a world where the lost can be found–but can she find her way back home? Review: There’s No Place Like Here is the second book by Cecelia Ahern, author of the immensely popular PS, I Love You, which I have not read. I picked up an ARC of this book at Book Expo, but put off reading it because I was anticipating something light and fluffy and not worth my time. I was certainly…

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The Fair Folk edited by Marvin Kaye

American Literature 1 Comment

Synopsis: An anthology of short stories about elves. Review: The Fair Folk was put together in 2005 by the Science Fiction Book Club, and consists of stories written about elves and their kin from some luminaries in the field. I enjoyed each one immensely, differing as they do in style and tone. “UOUS” by Tanith Lee takes the familiar “three wishes” story and turns it on its head. An unhappy Cinderalla-esque young woman calls out three wishes, conjuring a fairy who is more than happy…

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Dreamsongs (Volume 1) by George RR Martin

American Literature 1 Comment

Synopsis: The first of two anthologies featuring short stories by George RR Martin, ranging from fantasy to science fiction to horror to genre hybrids. Review: I am one of those readers who had never heard of George RR Martin before encountering A Game of Thrones, book one in his Song of Ice and Fire series. What I did not know is that Martin has had a prolific career as a short story writer, primarily in the genre of science fiction. Dreamsongs Volume 1 includes some…

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The Summer Tree by Guy Gavriel Kay (The Fionavar Tapestry, Book One)

Canadian Literature 14 Comments

Synopsis: Five Toronto college students are pulled into an alternate world where they discover their true destinies at the outset of a war that could affect all worlds, including their own. Review: Yep, another hard-to-synopsize epic fantasy book. The Summer Tree by Guy Gavriel Kay employs one of the standard fantasy templates–ordinary people drawn into an extraordinary world–making the book “execution dependent.” That means that Kay has to work twice as hard to make the story feel fresh and exciting.

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Sunless by Gerard Donovan

American Literature

Synopsis: Bereft and aimless, an ex-meth head signs up to test a new drug promising to cure anxiety of all kinds. Review: I picked up Sunless because it promised a Chuck Pahlaniuk-esque satirical romp through all the woes of our modern age, dressed up in off-kilter post-apocalyptic trappings and with an addictive prose style. Instead, I suffered through a lazily written, incoherently plotted, almost aggressively aimless stylistic exercise that I had to force myself to finish reading. Thankfully it’s not very long, so I could…

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Breathing Water by T. Greenwood

American Literature

Synopsis: After learning of the death of her abusive ex-boyfriend, a woman returns to the home by the lake she once loved to build a new life and exorcise old ghosts. Review: I am a very big fan of T. Greenwood’s second novel, Nearer than the Sky, and I have no excuse for why it took me so long to read Breathing Water, her debut. Simply put, Greenwood is a beautiful prose stylist who isn’t afraid to explore dark and scary places with characters who…

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The Manticore by Robertson Davies

Canadian Literature 4 Comments

Synopsis: The son of a wealthy industrialist enters Jungian therapy to discover why he feels that his life is at a point of crisis. Review: In The Manticore, Robertson Davies continues the story he began in his masterful Fifth Business, turning his acute eye for the majesty of the quotidian on David, the son of Boy Staunton, a prominent figure in the first book. David feels himself to be a stunted man, and hopes that rigorous Jungian psychoanalysis will yield revelations enabling him to shake…

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The Raw Shark Texts by Steven Hall

British Literature 4 Comments

Synopsis: A young man with severe amnesia comes to realize that he is being stalked by a conceptual shark (which is much, much scarier than you might think). Review: What surprised me most about The Raw Shark Texts was how fast it moved. For all its high-minded metaphysical aims and experimental underpinnings, the book has the pacing of an airport thriller or Stephen King horror book. There were some sequences in this book, such as protagonist Second Eric’s Sanderson encounter with Nobody, that were are…

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The House Next Door by Anne Rivers Siddons

American Literature 9 Comments

Synopsis: A new house in a suburban Atlanta neighborhood spells disaster for all its inhabitants. Review: It’s awfully hard to be frightened when you’re sitting on a rooftop deck in West Hollywood, letting the setting sun dry your bathing suit after discovering that you can float like a cork in the saltwater pool.

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