The Demon's Lexicon by Sarah Rees Brennon
Jul. 28th, 2009 10:51 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
vickyduckyI bought this completely on impulse when I saw it marked down to £2 in Asda a couple of weeks ago, purely because of the price and that I'd seen a couple of positive write-ups on lj. Oh I am so glad I did because it is WONDERFUL.
It occurred to me about half-way through that she is/was maya who wrote Underwater Light. I could be completely wrong about that, though. I know this is next door to heresy, and I'll never write anything nearly as good, but I was never a fan of UL. Demon's Lexicon is a hundred million times better.
To begin with, it was such a lovely surprise to discover it is set in England, and after having recently read Dan Brown (only myself to blame, I know) written by someone who has actually been here and spoken to English people. Not that I have anything against American settings, but I'd assumed that this too would be set in the US, all the urban fantasy I've read (admittedly not much) has been so far, and it was great to have a more immediately familiar setting. The writing was a pleasure to read, I scarfed it down in a long weekend even allowing for spending time with my family and seeing HBP. The characters were engaging and the family dynamic and plot intriguing, and unfolded coherently. I never, for even a single moment, guessed the twist at the end. Loved it all, can't wait for the sequel. Although why is everything a trilogy these days? Is it simply that publishers like three book deals?
My one snipe, and it is petty, is that having comments from your mates, even if they are authors, on the cover is kind of damning with faint praise. It just highlights that you haven't lots of positive reviews to quote from. It's like your mum saying you are beautiful.
It occurred to me about half-way through that she is/was maya who wrote Underwater Light. I could be completely wrong about that, though. I know this is next door to heresy, and I'll never write anything nearly as good, but I was never a fan of UL. Demon's Lexicon is a hundred million times better.
To begin with, it was such a lovely surprise to discover it is set in England, and after having recently read Dan Brown (only myself to blame, I know) written by someone who has actually been here and spoken to English people. Not that I have anything against American settings, but I'd assumed that this too would be set in the US, all the urban fantasy I've read (admittedly not much) has been so far, and it was great to have a more immediately familiar setting. The writing was a pleasure to read, I scarfed it down in a long weekend even allowing for spending time with my family and seeing HBP. The characters were engaging and the family dynamic and plot intriguing, and unfolded coherently. I never, for even a single moment, guessed the twist at the end. Loved it all, can't wait for the sequel. Although why is everything a trilogy these days? Is it simply that publishers like three book deals?
My one snipe, and it is petty, is that having comments from your mates, even if they are authors, on the cover is kind of damning with faint praise. It just highlights that you haven't lots of positive reviews to quote from. It's like your mum saying you are beautiful.
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Date: 2009-07-31 03:33 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-07-31 08:26 pm (UTC)