Reading again

This afternoon I felt wobbly, weak and cold, so I retreated to bed, with a couple of books.

First there was AK. I picked this one up because Peter Dickinson is Robin McKinley‘s husband and I wanted to know more about his writing. I didn’t regret it, even though in some ways it’s a depressing novel – it’s about war and poverty and is bleak in some ways. But it’s not gory or scary (or I didn’t think it was anyway) and it is very well written – plausible to my way of thinking, though having never been a child soldier, I can’t really vouch for its authenticity. There’s an excerpt on his website, if you wish to partake.

And then, Woman on the Edge of Time. I’m sure someone has mentioned this one before – Helen, Alison? Jan maybe? Whoever it was, thanks for the mention, as that was what sprang to mind when I saw it in the library so I grabbed it and brought it home. I’m really glad I did, it’s an excellent read, and maybe I’m getting more optimistic in my old age ;), but I didn’t find it nearly as depressing as I’ve found similar books before. It reminds me of some Sheri S Tepper, though tbh, I thought the writing was far better – there’s no waffly bits, no wasted words. It also reminded me of Starhawk, particularly The Five Sacred Things, not sure whether I’ve reviewed that on here before, if not, I will have to. Anyway, I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Big got an Ursula Le Guin, Gifts, out of the library, looking forward to stealing that off her too 😀