![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Civility and Swearing
Nov. 22nd, 2019 08:56 pmThe book I didn't quite get to on reading retreat was Rules of Civility by Amor Towles. A Gentleman In Moscow is probably my favourite book I've read so far this year, so I was interested to read his previous one, and I really enjoyed it. It's a very different animal, but extremely well written. It follows Katey Kontent through a year of living in New York in the late 1930s. She's a great protagonist with a very distinctive voice and a vivacious character - Towles does an excellent job of evoking a 20-something woman finding her way in the world. He also paints a vivid picture of New York in the late 1930s, with a varied cast of characters and lots of ups and downs. Overall, though, it's fairly light and airy, in the best possible way. It's a bit scattershot in places, and relies heavily on chance encounters - Katey randomly runs into significant people at least six or seven times throughout the novel. But that's at least partially the point - that random encounters can alter the course of your life and it's up to you to make the most of them. Here's to more books from this excellent author.
As a complete contrast (in style and content but very definitely not in quality) I also finished the audiobook of Call Down The Hawk by Maggie Stiefvater today. A whole new Raven Cycle trilogy??? This is the best news I've heard in a while. And Will Patton remains the narrator - there's a visceral quality to his voice that makes me lose focus on the world around me and miss my stop on the train. He's perfect for a Ronan-centric book too. The book has multiple storylines, picking up after the end of The Raven King. I was so excited to get more in this world that I found it a bit difficult to get into the story, but it rapidly swept me away. I'm glad that only a few of the characters from the previous series are featured and that there's a whole new cast of characters to find out about. I really enjoyed getting to know Declan more and for him to presented more sympathetically. The putative bad guys are also awesome - Stiefvater is always good at writing layered and nuanced bad guys, and certainly doesn't disappoint with the Moderators. Lots of fascinating new information about how the world works, lots of tension and heartbreak, incredibly high stakes and emotional rollercoaster-ing. I don't remember there being as much swearing in the Raven Cycle - maybe I'm misremembering, or maybe it's just because there's more Ronan. Anyway, can't wait to carry on with this story. Loved it.
As a complete contrast (in style and content but very definitely not in quality) I also finished the audiobook of Call Down The Hawk by Maggie Stiefvater today. A whole new Raven Cycle trilogy??? This is the best news I've heard in a while. And Will Patton remains the narrator - there's a visceral quality to his voice that makes me lose focus on the world around me and miss my stop on the train. He's perfect for a Ronan-centric book too. The book has multiple storylines, picking up after the end of The Raven King. I was so excited to get more in this world that I found it a bit difficult to get into the story, but it rapidly swept me away. I'm glad that only a few of the characters from the previous series are featured and that there's a whole new cast of characters to find out about. I really enjoyed getting to know Declan more and for him to presented more sympathetically. The putative bad guys are also awesome - Stiefvater is always good at writing layered and nuanced bad guys, and certainly doesn't disappoint with the Moderators. Lots of fascinating new information about how the world works, lots of tension and heartbreak, incredibly high stakes and emotional rollercoaster-ing. I don't remember there being as much swearing in the Raven Cycle - maybe I'm misremembering, or maybe it's just because there's more Ronan. Anyway, can't wait to carry on with this story. Loved it.
