My Random Rants

There was a great quote by China Mieville when Kraken came out. It went something like “Part of the appeal of the fantastic is taking ridiculous ideas very seriously and pretending they're not absurd.” and Bitter Seeds by Ian Tregillis is one of those which is based on the completely absurd notion about what would happen if Germany had X Men and Britain had Warlocks during the World War. It is an absurd notion brought to life because  Ian Tregillis treats it very seriously and fleshes out the novel with a great deal of though. I know I made the reference to X Men earlier but this is a war novel more than anything else and its a cracking good read.  I found it hard to believe that this is Tregillis's first novel. I particularly enjoyed the Ravens in the interludes and the way they were weaved through the story. I was hooked from start to finish. The characters are well written and their arcs are structured so that everyone seems to be doing the righ...

What a piece of work In the night garden turned out to be. A sultan boy walks into a garden, finds a strange girl who tells him a tale and what a tale it turns out to be. Stories lead to stories and weave into each other forming an impossible loop all to be resolved by the end. It seems everyone you encounter in this book has a story to tell and even more surprisingly all of them are great ones. Of course there is a part two out there and after a long time I am glad that there is one.  It also has illustrations, not many but just enough to tease your imagination and help you keep a tab on myriad number of creatures that come and go as they share their stories. The number of cultures and myths that are present and linked is mind boggling. Of course its only later that I realized this. While reading I was totally engrossed. I think I read the entire work in around 2 sittings in 2 days even though I was desperately tired after getting back from work. You can buy the ...