BR; Clockwork Angel - Cassandra Clare

Magic is dangerous - but love is more dangerous still... When sixteen-year-old Tessa Gray arrives in England during the reign of Queen Victoria, something terrifying is waiting for her in London's Downworld, where vampires, warlocks and other supernatural folk stalk the gaslit streets. Friendless and hunted, Tessa seeks refuge with the Shadowhunters, a band of warriors dedicated to ridding the world of demons. Drawn ever deeper into their world, she finds herself fascinated by - and torn between - two best friends, and quickly realizes that love may be the most dangerous magic of all.

(photo to come soon)

I haven't read the Mortal Instruments' series yet, and decided to instead start with 'The Infernal Devices', the prequel to the series. Firstly I must say. the setting was really appealing to me - rainy, Victorian London, this was very atmospheric. I really think Clare made the right choice regarding the time period of this story. It allowed the characters to have much more depth.
Tessa is a great example of this. Her character fighting against the courtesys and morals of her upbringing, to become a fighter and to become equal to men. This book is very much about female empowerment, and is full of strong feminine characters. Charlotte and Henrys relationship is also a good use of characters breaking away from their stereotypes. Charlotte is the one who is incharge of the organisation, whilst her husband is more than happy to step back and entertain himself. Their relationship would obviously be considered backwards in everyday Victorian Society, and even other characters in the order have a problem with the way Henry presents himself.
This book also has elements fantasy and steampunk. The role of the automatons was very cleverly used, and it helped emphasize the humanity of the other characters. Humanity being a theme that reaccurs throughout the book. Specifically revolving around Tessas' character who is struggeling to maintain her humaity, and is fighting against this label of 'Warlock'. The book was left on a good cliff-hanger for the next one, due out in November, and I for one will definatley be reading it. As I hope there is a lot more development for Tessa and Wills' relationship...something I feel was lacking in 'Clockwork Angel'. It was obvious that Clare was trying to make Will as solitary and mysterious as she could, but I think there should have been a stronger connection established between these two characters. We don't know much about Will at all, except that he does indeed have a gentle side, but only when it comes to 'Jeb' who he greatly cares about. Pretty much everything about him is still a mystery, which i think will bring many readers back to the next book.
Overall this was a good interesting read. I didn't feel overwhelmed with the fantasy element, yet everything remained well explained. The characters were interesting and relatable. Clares' writing style had a very natural feel to it, with a good amount of description but again not overwheming the reader. I would give this book a 7.5/10, but definatley recommend it is read, as I feel the follow up book, will bring better things.

BR; The Magic Cottage - James Herbert

The last James Herbert book I read was 'The Secret of Crickley Hall', which left me hiding under my duvet, and quaking in my slipper boots, at two in the morning. So I had very high expectations for this book.
Firstly I'm unsure on whether I liked the fact the novel was written with hindsight - I think perhaps this spoiled some of the tension that should have occured naturally. The thing that struck me most to start with was the writing style. It is written to the reaser, not FOR the reader. It was so different from 'Crickley Hall' it took some time to adjust. The writing style also narrowed our own opinions, looking through the eyes of a biased man throughout.
But once I got used to it, I allowed myself to be sucked in by the changing moods and atmospheres. Herebert created these very well, allowing a great deal of empathy. He used alot of imagrey and vivid description, which really set every scene. I was impressed by Herberts ability to create a serene, magical atmosphere - I thought it may have been out of his comfort zone, but he was surprisingly good at it. The words and feelings were beautiful.
After reading his other work, I couldn't help but compare them. And this book was so....slow... nothing happened. Only very mild spikes of action were envoloped in this perfect world. And that action that did take place was not at all dramatic. I don't feel I developed a connection with the characters at all...I had no qualms over whether they lived or died. We were forced to focus so much on 'Graymere' as a place and it's energy, I just didn't get that character bond I always look for.
I give this book a 6/10. It was definatley not Herberts best work, by far. And knowing that probably lowered this score another point. I expected much more...plain and simple.

BR; Goddess Of Legend - PC Cast

Isabel, a world-weary photojournalist, is grounded back home in Oklahoma, when her car plummets off a bridge into a lake. Struggling on the edge between life and death, she's miraculously saved by the Water Goddess, but with one tiny caveat: Isabel must travel to another time to seduce the legendary Lancelot du Lac away from Queen Guinevere. Simple. After all, the handsome knight is a dream for any woman in any century. Unfortunately Isabel is the one who's seduced - by the soulful eyes of the wise and soft-spoken King Arthur. But for Isabel, a deal is a deal. Now, the King watches as fate takes from him the mysterious beauty he has come to worship, knowing all too well that any interference on his part could destroy the kingdom he loves.
This is the first book I've read of PC Casts' Summoning Series', and I must say it was a pleasant surprise. 99% of the book is set in Camelot, where our leading lady is sent back in time, to save Arthur and Merlin. Although she's supposed to be around the age of forty, Isabel was a very relatable character, this could be due to the easy-going nature with which the book was written. Despite the use of historical, old-age language, it still felt like reading any other modern day fiction...because our main characters thought patterns, were told in our language as she was from our present day. However the language barrier between Isabel and the rest of Camelot caused some rather funny moments (GOOSE POLE!)
This book was very wordy, almost entirley dialogue. Very little action occured, and that which did was very far apart - although to Casts' credit the book never got boring, and she kept us engrossed using emotion and relationshiops.
King Arthurs physical description waws very appealing... but, and this may have been Casts' intention, he came across as way too perfect, practically flawless. This could have been the authors way of saying that as a modern day woman you have to travel back in time to find a decent man. Arthur did have some bad points, but these were mainly related to his time period. His way of thinking was different to Isabels which caused a few arguments.
As a contrast to Isables mature character, we were given Gwyn, who came across as a fickle teenager. She really annoyed me, playing the incompitent fool. But it made me appreciate Isabels demeanor more.
Now...Usually I would complain that the heroine accepted time travel and magic, goddesses and quests, way too quickly and that that is really unrealistic. But in yet another clever move, Cast put her character on the other side of death, making anything seem possible to our heroine, and she became more acceptant.

I would give this book a 7/10. It was really interesting, a great example of using historical context, and generally a book on female empowerment, which usually earns a few more points ;)

Come back Internet...

So, unfortunatley my laptop broke...like really broke. So I haven't been able to update my recent book reviews. But now the home computer's set up properly, I should manage to get a few up this week.

Including; The Magic Cottage by James Herbert, and Goddess of Legend by PC. Cast.

My book collection has grown once more, giving me even more to read. The other day I purchased 'Clockwork Angel' by Cassandra Marr, and 'Valiant' by Holly Black. Although my reading list is growing, the time I have to read is dropping, now I'm employed. But I'll do my best to review as often as I can.