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What I have been reading
I have continued reading Anders Fager; Jag såg henne idag i receptionen (I Saw Her Today At the Reception) and En man av stil och smak (A Man of Wealth and Taste). If Samlade Svenska kulter was a collection of short stories, these two are novels, part of a trilogy. It’s set in the same universe though and several of the character’s comes back. The third novel comes later this year and then there will a last collection of short stories. And Fager’s world building is fantastic and the main reason I love these books so much. He continues to merge Lovecraft’s mythology with (mostly) contemporary Sweden. For me it adds a frisson that the Stockholm he describes is the one I live and breath in- I guess it would be seen as exotic for other people.
The first book focus on Cornelia Karlsson, daughter of a pop singer on her way down. When Cornelia is eleven her mother kills herself and when Cornelia find the body she first hears the voice of The Whispering Man. She is, he says, his vessel for being made corporeal. Most of the books follows Cornelia as she grows up, tries to evade the will of The Whispering Man and, finally, deciding to fight him. Because it’s a god who wants her, and not a nice one either. The main character in the second book is Ce-O, Cornelia’s sometime boyfriend and wannabe wizard and the plot both overlap Jag såg henne idag i receptionen as well as continue it.
The books are called novels, but it’s a bit of a mis-nomer. I would rather say that they are collections of short stories too, where most of the stories in the first books is told from Cornelia’s POV and most of them from Ce-O’s in the second one. And their stories are mostly told chronologically. But we also have a number of stories which are connected, but with other character’s. Most of them are about Fredman, the immortal man who featured so heavily in Samlade Svenska kulter and quite a few of them goes back in time to tell his background story. I love those bits, Fredman is my favourite character, but they also break up the narrative, which makes the books feel a bit disjointed. I don’t mind that so much, actually, but I can imagine it would feel like it breaks the momentum.
The horror quota is rather uneven- again something I don’t mind, and also about different kind of horror. The first story about Cornelia may be about a girl who is haunted by an evil spirit. But it may also be a story about a little girl who has a mental breakdown when she finds her mother dead. And there is a story set in the 17th story which is horrible in a whole other way- it’s war and you don’t need anything supernatural to enhance how scary that is. Also, I forgot to mention when I talked about Svenska kulter, Fager isn’t only diverse when it comes to gender, age and ethnicity, he is also diverse when it comes to sexuality. Kudos for that. Anyway, En man av stil och smak ends with a real cliffhanger and I want the next book NOW.
Penric’s Demon by Lois McMaster Bujold. It’s a re-read and I enjoyed it as much as the first time. It’s a novella set in her Five Gods universe and though I highly recommend the other books, this novella is set apart from them as timeline and characters goes and I think you can very well read this one without reading the other’s. Penric is a young man who contracts a very female demon by accident and deals with it in rather unconventional ways. There will be another novella about Penric and his demon soon-ish and I look forward to that.
Breakdown by Jonathan Kellerman. He is one of those authors I always read when a new books comes and usually feel a bit disappointed with, but still haven’t grow so delusional I quit reading them. I liked the beginning of this one. A woman is found murdered and her son, who Kellerman’s usual hero Alex Delaware treated five years previously, is missing. Only no one seems to have seen the kid for years. It ended up with his favourite trope though; awful secrets and murder in degenerate family, going back generation. Not his worst book, definitely not the best.
The Zig Zag Girl by Elly Griffiths. I really enjoy Griffiths books about Ruth Galloway, and I enjoyed this book too. I understand that it’s the first in a series too, set in Brighton in the 1950’s. Dual heroes, a young police and a scene wizard who are friends. In this books the murder victims are killed in ways which mimics magic tricks. The characters are sympathetic and the description of the waning vau-de-ville scene is interesting. I understand the author is actually drawing on the life of a grandfather for those bits. The murder mystery was not spectacular- I guessed the murdered after reading one third of the book. But then I usually do. I will definitly red the second book eventually.
The first book focus on Cornelia Karlsson, daughter of a pop singer on her way down. When Cornelia is eleven her mother kills herself and when Cornelia find the body she first hears the voice of The Whispering Man. She is, he says, his vessel for being made corporeal. Most of the books follows Cornelia as she grows up, tries to evade the will of The Whispering Man and, finally, deciding to fight him. Because it’s a god who wants her, and not a nice one either. The main character in the second book is Ce-O, Cornelia’s sometime boyfriend and wannabe wizard and the plot both overlap Jag såg henne idag i receptionen as well as continue it.
The books are called novels, but it’s a bit of a mis-nomer. I would rather say that they are collections of short stories too, where most of the stories in the first books is told from Cornelia’s POV and most of them from Ce-O’s in the second one. And their stories are mostly told chronologically. But we also have a number of stories which are connected, but with other character’s. Most of them are about Fredman, the immortal man who featured so heavily in Samlade Svenska kulter and quite a few of them goes back in time to tell his background story. I love those bits, Fredman is my favourite character, but they also break up the narrative, which makes the books feel a bit disjointed. I don’t mind that so much, actually, but I can imagine it would feel like it breaks the momentum.
The horror quota is rather uneven- again something I don’t mind, and also about different kind of horror. The first story about Cornelia may be about a girl who is haunted by an evil spirit. But it may also be a story about a little girl who has a mental breakdown when she finds her mother dead. And there is a story set in the 17th story which is horrible in a whole other way- it’s war and you don’t need anything supernatural to enhance how scary that is. Also, I forgot to mention when I talked about Svenska kulter, Fager isn’t only diverse when it comes to gender, age and ethnicity, he is also diverse when it comes to sexuality. Kudos for that. Anyway, En man av stil och smak ends with a real cliffhanger and I want the next book NOW.
Penric’s Demon by Lois McMaster Bujold. It’s a re-read and I enjoyed it as much as the first time. It’s a novella set in her Five Gods universe and though I highly recommend the other books, this novella is set apart from them as timeline and characters goes and I think you can very well read this one without reading the other’s. Penric is a young man who contracts a very female demon by accident and deals with it in rather unconventional ways. There will be another novella about Penric and his demon soon-ish and I look forward to that.
Breakdown by Jonathan Kellerman. He is one of those authors I always read when a new books comes and usually feel a bit disappointed with, but still haven’t grow so delusional I quit reading them. I liked the beginning of this one. A woman is found murdered and her son, who Kellerman’s usual hero Alex Delaware treated five years previously, is missing. Only no one seems to have seen the kid for years. It ended up with his favourite trope though; awful secrets and murder in degenerate family, going back generation. Not his worst book, definitely not the best.
The Zig Zag Girl by Elly Griffiths. I really enjoy Griffiths books about Ruth Galloway, and I enjoyed this book too. I understand that it’s the first in a series too, set in Brighton in the 1950’s. Dual heroes, a young police and a scene wizard who are friends. In this books the murder victims are killed in ways which mimics magic tricks. The characters are sympathetic and the description of the waning vau-de-ville scene is interesting. I understand the author is actually drawing on the life of a grandfather for those bits. The murder mystery was not spectacular- I guessed the murdered after reading one third of the book. But then I usually do. I will definitly red the second book eventually.
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The Zig Zag Girl looks interesting.
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I also looked up Bujold, and found a ton of titles from the Vorkosigan Saga. Have you read those/are they any good?
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https://www.facebook.com/svenskakulter/posts/167181106766305
Ah, Bujold. The short answer is “OMG yes!” The long is that she’s one of my favourite authors ever and the Vorkosigan saga is excellent. The premises is a future where humans (no aliens in Bujold) has spread all over the universe and built a number of civilisation, all with their own cultures. In many ways she takes an idea and runs with is, seeing how it would develop on different planets. For example, the ability to genetically alter humans lead to hermaphrodites with equal rights on hyper-civilized Beta Colony, but custom-made sex slaves on Jackson’s Whole where money is the only law. Most of the books features Miles Vorkosigan who is born on Barrayar, an extremely patriarchal world which only just recently stopped killing babies with perceived mutations. And Miles is born handicapped; abnormally short and with extremely fragile bones. He is also a hyperactive genius, making him both a charming and exasperating hero.
He is the main character in most books, in the first he is seventeen, in the last (so far) late 30’s. So there is an internal chronology even if Bujold makes sure you can read the books out of order. I think they are worth reading in chronological order, though. The first two Shard of Honor and Barrayar is about Miles’ mother Cordelia who is from Beta Colony and marries a man from Barrayar. It’s something of a cultural collision, not so much with Miles’ father Aral, but the whole planet… The first book is Bujold’s debut book and a bit choppy at times, but still good. Her writing only gets better after that.
Apart from her knack of making up different cultures, she can write characters like no one else. Just about every person you meet are interesting. Miles and his parents. Miles cousin that-idiot-Ivan and his mother Lady Alys. His clone-brother Mark and his foster brother Emperor Gregor- I could happily read a book with any of those as the protagonist, and they are only examples. The books also varies when it comes to genre and encompass space opera, murder mysteries and romances.
And I babble. Sorry. But yes, I think they are well worth reading!
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If you want to have a taste, the first short story in Svenska kulter, “The Furies From Borås is available as a pdf on his FB-page. Ordinary teenage girls who likes dancing and fashion and makeup and sacrificing young boys to nameless horrors. (Borås is widely known as Sweden’s most boring city)
https://www.facebook.com/svenskakulter/posts/167181106766305
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I'm one of those people who loves the Cthulhu mythos so I definitely have an appreciation for Lovecraft and Lovecraft-ian things.
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The Sharing Knives books aren't a bad series- if you like Romances. I don't and I found the focus on the big love story rather tedious. But she is still a good writer and if you like Romances, then I'm sure they are worth reading.
The Spirit Ring is one of her early books and you can tell she hasn't quite found herself, but I still think it's an above average fantasy. :)
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You do give very interesting recommendations though! If only I had energy to read them. :-P
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