Once more, I read deep (deep, deep) into the night and the wee sma's to finish a book by morning, and a review by evening.
I think the bags are starting to show. Full night of sleep, tonight.
The Talisman Ring is (you guessed it) another Georgette Heyer. Sorry. I love her writing and I found a huge stash at my secondhand bookshop, so I intend to read and review them all.
This Heyer is not just a straight romance! It's a murder mystery, and a crashing good one, too. We fall straight into a marriage-of-convenience-betrothal to satisfy the rich-lord-and-crotchety-family-head-on-his-deathbed (which is the closest thing to Oh The Cliche I will accuse Heyer of) and from this improvident start improves rapidly. There's smuggling, shooting, kissing, hiding-from-policemen and- best of all- a murder pinned on an innocent man.
There's no shocking twist- the Real Killer is fairly obvious from about three chapters in, but pinning it on him, ah, therein lies the rub. It's hugely entertaining watching the characters twisting themselves into the most unusual situations, hoping for a clue, a sign, anything to prove that the Real Killer is who they think he is.
Once more (or even, as per usual) there are multiple couples pairing off, although quite honestly I was wondering if the second (or even first? Hrm...) couple were ever going to get their act together and 'fess up. The first (second?) couple you see from, oh, the first meeting. Bam. Love-at-first-shadowy-glance, captured by her smile, you know the stuff. Nevertheless, they're adorable. Ludovic could double for Man-Creature (in my head). Never mind that Man-Creature has a distinctly swarthy complexion and waist length black hair and Ludovic has a blonde crop. This is my imagination, and my blog! If you change the colouring, Heyer describes Ludo much the same way as I'd describe Man-Creature. So ner.
I've tagged this under "Really Odd Names" but I think it really should be under "Really Awesome Names" as we have a Tristram, Ludovic, Basil, Sylvester and a Eustacie. In fact, the only Really Normal Names are Joseph, Sarah and Hugh.
Five R.A.N's in one book! Whoo! I love a good interesting name. Sod all the John's and Charles's. Meh. Give me a Sir Tristram Shield in his battered, old fashioned tricorne any day.
The who-dunnit climax is simply thrilling. I read it with bated breath, and little regard for the sleeping toddler with her feet in my back, letting my light illuminate the room and not just the page. I'm not going to tell you what happens though. I've said it before, I want you to read the bloody book, not act like you have.
This brings me quickly to three more very salient points.
1) I write 98% of this blog on my ipad. This curtails the length of my posts because typing on it is something of a penance I perform for the sin of dropping a stein of coffee on my old laptop. I can steal Man-Creature's Lenovo from time to time, but he has a "thing" about cups of liquid being anywhere near it. Can't think why. (Obviously I've borrowed it for this novella.)
2) I know. I don't write proper "reviews" with a synopsis and in-depth analysis. I do this for fun, not to re-enact high school. So sorry. If you don't like it, move along.
3) If you want me to read anything in particular, comment. If you're from Russia, comment (that's about 80% of my readership) and if you're from Australia, comment too. You're about 15% of readers.
I think the bags are starting to show. Full night of sleep, tonight.
The Talisman Ring is (you guessed it) another Georgette Heyer. Sorry. I love her writing and I found a huge stash at my secondhand bookshop, so I intend to read and review them all.
This Heyer is not just a straight romance! It's a murder mystery, and a crashing good one, too. We fall straight into a marriage-of-convenience-betrothal to satisfy the rich-lord-and-crotchety-family-head-on-his-deathbed (which is the closest thing to Oh The Cliche I will accuse Heyer of) and from this improvident start improves rapidly. There's smuggling, shooting, kissing, hiding-from-policemen and- best of all- a murder pinned on an innocent man.
There's no shocking twist- the Real Killer is fairly obvious from about three chapters in, but pinning it on him, ah, therein lies the rub. It's hugely entertaining watching the characters twisting themselves into the most unusual situations, hoping for a clue, a sign, anything to prove that the Real Killer is who they think he is.
Once more (or even, as per usual) there are multiple couples pairing off, although quite honestly I was wondering if the second (or even first? Hrm...) couple were ever going to get their act together and 'fess up. The first (second?) couple you see from, oh, the first meeting. Bam. Love-at-first-shadowy-glance, captured by her smile, you know the stuff. Nevertheless, they're adorable. Ludovic could double for Man-Creature (in my head). Never mind that Man-Creature has a distinctly swarthy complexion and waist length black hair and Ludovic has a blonde crop. This is my imagination, and my blog! If you change the colouring, Heyer describes Ludo much the same way as I'd describe Man-Creature. So ner.
I've tagged this under "Really Odd Names" but I think it really should be under "Really Awesome Names" as we have a Tristram, Ludovic, Basil, Sylvester and a Eustacie. In fact, the only Really Normal Names are Joseph, Sarah and Hugh.
Five R.A.N's in one book! Whoo! I love a good interesting name. Sod all the John's and Charles's. Meh. Give me a Sir Tristram Shield in his battered, old fashioned tricorne any day.
The who-dunnit climax is simply thrilling. I read it with bated breath, and little regard for the sleeping toddler with her feet in my back, letting my light illuminate the room and not just the page. I'm not going to tell you what happens though. I've said it before, I want you to read the bloody book, not act like you have.
This brings me quickly to three more very salient points.
1) I write 98% of this blog on my ipad. This curtails the length of my posts because typing on it is something of a penance I perform for the sin of dropping a stein of coffee on my old laptop. I can steal Man-Creature's Lenovo from time to time, but he has a "thing" about cups of liquid being anywhere near it. Can't think why. (Obviously I've borrowed it for this novella.)
2) I know. I don't write proper "reviews" with a synopsis and in-depth analysis. I do this for fun, not to re-enact high school. So sorry. If you don't like it, move along.
3) If you want me to read anything in particular, comment. If you're from Russia, comment (that's about 80% of my readership) and if you're from Australia, comment too. You're about 15% of readers.
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