And so A Song of Ice and Fire series continues with the third installment, A Storm of Swords. I finished this book in late August / early September and—without going bit by bit through the novel—let’s just say I enjoyed it. It was a strong book and, page count alone, it is about 200 pages longer than A Clash of Kings.

Of the five contenders for power, one is dead, another in disfavor, and still the wars rage as violently as ever, as alliances are made and broken.

Joffrey, of House Lannister, sits on the Iron Throne, the uneasy ruler of the land of the Seven Kingdoms. His most bitter rival and Uncle, Lord Stannis, stands defeated and disgraced, the victim of the jealous sorceress who holds him in her evil thrall. But young Robb, of House Stark, still rules the North from the fortress of Riverrun. Robb plots against his despised Lannister enemies, even as they hold his sister Sansa hostage at King’s Landing, the seat of the Iron Throne. Meanwhile, making her way across a blood-drenched continent is the exiled queen, Daenerys, mistress of the only three dragons still left in the world. . . .

But as opposing forces maneuver for the final titanic showdown, an army of barbaric wildlings arrives from the outermost line of civilization. In their vanguard is a horde of mythical Others–a supernatural army of the living dead whose animated corpses are unstoppable. As the future of the land hangs in the balance, no one will rest until the Seven Kingdoms have exploded in a veritable storm of swords. . .

From the publisher, Bantam, a division of Random House of Canada

In short, here are some of my thoughts — SPOILER ALERT!

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These book reviews have been lingering for a while, so I figured I’d smoosh them together and call it a post.

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens

I’m embarrassed to admit that I read this nearly a year ago during last winter (2010). I had just gotten the Sony eReader and tried downloading some free books from Gutenberg.org… well you all know how that ended.

But technological/syncing issues aside, I didn’t really enjoy the experience of reading on an eReader. Therefore, my low opinion of A Christmas Carol is probably coloured by the fact that I did not enjoy the experience of reading eBooks.

I found the book to be tedious, slow and while reading I was annoyed that I couldn’t lie on my side (auto-rotate). The ebook did have illustrations, but it just wasn’t the same as pencil sketches on paper, and I found it frustrating to figure how far into the book I actually was. Honestly, “104 of 379 pages” means very little to my non-mathematical brain, especially when the novel is only supposed to be 200 printed pages.

I believe I will have to pick up a physical, print copy of A Christmas Carol and try again… perhaps this winter season.

Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi

Persepolis is a graphic memoir by Iranian author Marjane Satrapi, translated from French. The comic series follow the story of  Satrapi’s childhood, teenage years and coming-of-age within (and without) her family during the Islamic Revolution. She struggles with figuring out her place within the political upheaval and making sense of the world around her.

My friend Eka was running a book club this summer and they had recently read either the first English volume or the second at university, so they decided to read the entire story and discuss it over coffee in June of this year.

While a bit long-winded, I did enjoy the graphic novel and feel that it is an important story to tell, and I am glad Satrapi published this graphic memoir. Satrapi has also published another graphic novel about the issue of sex, sexuality and gender within the Iranian community, and I think this would also be an interesting read.

A Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams

Further embarrassingly, I can’t even remember when I read the first two volumes of the trilogy. Suffice to say it was aaaages ago, and haven’t read the third, fourth or the fifth part yet. However, I loveloveloved the film and perhaps one day I will return and finish reading the series.

From what I remember of the book series, I really enjoyed Douglas Adams’ wit, but my interest started to wain as the series got more and more obscure. I may chalk this up to my preference of fantasy over science fiction. I am also a huge fan of Marvin the Paranoid Android and feel there was never enough Marvin.

“I am Moth, a girl from the lowest part of Chrystie Street, born to a slum-house mystic and the man who broke her heart.” So begins The Virgin Cure, a novel set in the tenements of lower Manhattan in the year 1871.

As a young child, Moth’s father smiled, tipped his hat and walked away from her forever. The summer she turned twelve, her mother sold her as a servant to a wealthy woman, with no intention of ever seeing her again. These betrayals lead Moth to the wild, murky world of the Bowery, filled with house-thieves, pickpockets, beggars, sideshow freaks and prostitutes, where eventually she meets Miss Everett, the owner of a brothel simply known as “The Infant School.” Miss Everett caters to gentlemen who pay dearly for companions who are “willing and clean,” and the most desirable of them all are young virgins like Moth.

Through the friendship of Dr. Sadie, a female physician, Moth learns to question and observe the world around her, where her new friends are falling prey to the myth of the “virgin cure”–that deflowering a “fresh maid” can heal the incurable and tainted. She knows the law will not protect her, that polite society ignores her, and still she dreams of answering to no one but herself. There’s a high price for such independence, though, and no one knows that better than a girl from Chrystie Street.

From the publisher, Knopf Canada

The Virgin Cure is Moth’s story but narrated by Dr. Sadie after-the-fact and Dr. Sadie occasionally includes notes in the margin regarding current customs or beliefs. Dr. Sadie is based Ami McKay’s own great-great-grandmother (Dr. Sarah Fonda Mackintosh) who was one of the first graduates of The Women’s Medical College of the New York Infirmary for Indigent Women and Children. McKay was researching her family history—trying to find out more about Dr. Mackintosh—when she encountered the stories of children living on the streets of New York’s Lower East Side, and the “lady doctors” who were committed to treating them.

McKay’s depiction of strong-willed female protagonists draws me to her writing. Even when the character seems to have little control over her fate, she never betrays her true self. This attribute was evident in The Birth House—contender for Canada Reads 2011–and part of the reason I really enjoyed it. McKay brings that strength of character to both Moth and Dr. Sadie in different ways.

The pace of the novel is meandering, but not directionless, and I felt drawn to Moth and her story. There is something about the seedy depths of New York, the deviant nature of an 1800s brothel, and the allure of a story based on truths such as the “virgin cure”. I will definitely be passing this novel along to my friends and family to read—similar to what I did with The Birth House.

The Virgin Cure will be on sale on Tuesday, October 25, 2011. Thanks to the publisher, Knopf Canada (an imprint of Random House of Canada) for sending me an advanced reader’s copy.

The Night Wanderer: A Native Gothic Novel by Drew Hayden Taylor is a YA coming-of-age story based in the late 90s on a fictional First Nations reserve in Ontario.

A sleepy native reserve. A troubled teen girl. A vampire returns home.

Nothing ever happens on the Otter Lake reservation. But when 16-year-old Tiffany discovers her father is renting out her room, she’s deeply upset. Sure, their guest is polite and keeps to himself, but he’s also a little creepy.

Little do Tiffany, her father, or even her astute Granny Ruth suspect the truth. The mysterious Pierre L’Errant is actually a vampire, returning to his tribal home after centuries spent in Europe. But Tiffany has other things on her mind: her new boyfriend is acting weird, disputes with her father are escalating, and her estranged mother is starting a new life with somebody else.

Fed up and heartsick, Tiffany threatens drastic measures and flees into the bush. There, in the midnight woods, a chilling encounter with L’Errant changes everything … for both of them.

From the publisher, Annick Press

After examining this novel very closely in my English Lit class, I’m a little apathetic about blogging a review. It’s difficult to change from the ‘critical literary analysis’ mindframe to a personal book review for my blog.

When I was reading the book, prior to lecture and tutorial, I kept scoffing at the text because it’s almost over-simplified for the audience. On the surface, the novel seems trivial and not a true “gothic” novel. At times I felt it was merely piggybacking on the supernatural romance genre that has taken off after Twilight.

However, the simplification of the situations and the language makes it a prime example for class study. I would definitely recommend a grade 6 or 7 class (age 11-12) to study this in conjunction with First Nations relations in Canada. Taylor deals with aspects of both teen and first nations culture regarding alcohol, smoking, race, suicide, relationships and drugs.

I wouldn’t recommend this to most adults, but I think Taylor introduces the topics in a way that fosters discussion and questioning of cultural norms. He also provides an interesting commentary on embracing your heritage and culture, and not forgetting where you came from.

Drew Hayden Taylor was approached by Annick Press to develop a novel for teens. He “has been directing documentaries, most notably Redskins, Tricksters and Puppy Stew, produced by the National Film Board of Canada” which inspired The Night Wanderer.

Patrick deWitt is being credited with “reinventing the Western genre”, however The Sisters Brothers didn’t really feel like a traditional Western to me. In fact, it didn’t have to take place in a Western setting at all—the horses, the guns, the journey were all just details surrounding the intriguing life of Eli and Charlie Sisters.

Narrated through the eyes of Eli—the heavyset, younger brother—the Sisters brothers are hired guns. They’re notorious killers and feared throughout the States—especially Charlie’s gun-slinging.

Hermann Kermit Warm is going to die. Eli and Charlie Sisters can be counted on for that. Though Eli has never shared his brother’s penchant for whiskey and killing, he’s never known anything else. On the road to Warm’s gold-mining claim outside San Francisco — and from the back of his long-suffering one-eyed horse — Eli struggles to make sense of his life without abandoning the job he’s sworn to do.

DeWitt spins a violent, lustful, hung-over and humorous odyssey through the underworld of the 1850s frontier. Doffing his hat to the classic Western, he then transforms it into a comic tour-de-force with an unforgettable narrative voice that captures all the absurdity, melancholy, and grit of the West — and of these two brothers, bound to each other by blood and scars and love.

From the publisher, House of Anansi Press

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