The book Thief by Markus Zusak

A tale narrated by death himself about a young girl caught up in the turmoil of Hitler's Germany. This is a heart warming fable of human kindness and human spirit in the face of unimaginable evil. An interesting aspect of this tale is that neither the protagonist Liesel nor her step parents are Jewish so this story tells a different side of the Nazi terror than we normally read about. While this is a strength of the novel it is also an aspect I feel a bit uncomfortable about.  This s a made up story with a contrived ending. There were so many real human tragedies in that period it seems almost inappropriate to be inventing new ones for the sake of a novel. Nevertheless it is an excellent read that will tug on your heartstrings. My wife and I are determined to see the film when it comes to our local cinemas next week.

Shadowgod by Michael Cobley

The forces of good wrested a city back from the evil shadow kings but their overall situation is still very precarious. Just about the only thing in their favour is that the Shadow Kings who each contain part of the evil God seem to have no desire to reunite and instead are bickering among themselves.

This middle book in Cobley's Shadow Kings trilogy took me a long time to read. I struggled through the first half because there were so many confusing characters and plot threads. However about half way in it all clicked for me and I started to enjoy the book a lot more. The finale was a bit rushed in my opinion but overall I enjoyed it enough to convince me to look for the final book of the trilogy.

I cannot guess what the final book will bring however because book two has already tied up a lot of plot threads.

Shadow Kings by Michael Cobley

 A former Empire lies in ruins having been over run by barbarian hordes and the evil magic wielding acolytes that drive them on. This is no mere invasion however as the hordes have all but rooted out the entire religious and magical underpinnings of the old regime. The human strife is just a cover for a war between supernatural beings. A small band of rebel warriors and mages cling to some hope of restoring the Empire but what hope can they have when even their god is thoroughly outmatched.

I believe this was Cobley's first novel but it shows no lack of confidence and is very enjoyable. I did get confused at times because the author crams a lot of characters and their respective plot threads into one novel. Cobley's later Humanities Fire saga was even more confusing in this respect so it looks like this is a trait the author has no intention of outgrowing.

The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle

This 1968 tale of a unicorn's quest to find out what happened to all the rest of her kind has become a classic of fantasy literature. It took me a few chapters to get into but I found that it gets better as it progresses and the end is decidedly clever. I have no idea whether the simple fable is supposed to have deeper meanings but I found it a short and enjoyable read regardless.

The 13th Valley by John M. Del Vecchio

Intriguing Vietnam War novel by an author who was actually there. This tells a tale of a battle hardened unit of American infantry who fought their way into the jungle to root out an entrenched NVA base.  While the book includes some of the usual Vietnam tropes of self obsessed first world soldiers struggling to come to grips with life and death in the jungles of the third world it also has a lot more than that. These "Boonie Rats" are a highly educated group of young men who ponder about big questions in life,  philosophy and politics. At times all the introspection makes the book heavy going but there is real combat action in there too. Overall a worthy read.

The Last Ringbearer by Kiril Eskov translated by Ysrael Markov

"The Last Ringbearer" by Kiril Eskov takes a very interesting counter view to the original Lord of the Rings Saga. In Eskov's novel Sauron and Mordor were the good guys embarking on the early stages of industrial revolution in a land previously dominated by magic. Gandalf is a reactionary zealot who incites a genocidal war in order to annihilate Mordor before they grow powerful enough to upset the status quo. In Eskov's work the Lord of the Rings trilogy that we are familiar with is a white washed version of events published by the victors to cover up their atrocities. 

Sadly the work is not authorised by the Tolkien estate and is almost certainly in breach of copyright. Don't expect a commercial English translation any time soon. Markov's English translation is available for download as a non commercial e-book so I guess it falls into the legally murky waters of fan fiction or derivative works. 

Overall I have to say it was an excellent and engaging read that is worth reading as a piece of fantasy in its own right. It is a proto steam punk tale where haughty elves are trying to subjugate  human  ingenuity in order to prevent an industrial age from ever happening. Markov's English translation is rather excellent. The translated flows naturally without clumsiness or awkward phrasing.

 Eskov's story owes very little to Tolkien and nor do any of his main characters nor even his mythology. He has borrowed the names of background figures (like Gandalf and Aragorn) but they are very different people in this book than in Tolkien. The greatest plagiarism is  geography because Eskov's places and landscapes are those of Tolkien's Middle Earth. To be honest it is almost a pity that Eskov borrowed from Tolkien at all because the novel deserves to be read in its own right. Now unfortunately it does means that in the Western world with our rigid interpretation of copyright Eskov's rather good novel will remain an illicit pleasure for several decades to come. 

The Lord of The Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien

This is a high fantasy tale about a magic ring and the motley crew of adventurers who must destroy the ring in order to save the world. It is well enough written but if you want surprises then look further afield for it appears as if Tolkien has borrowed from just about every modern fantasy author. If you have read any fantasy written in the last fifty years then you have seen all this before. Elves? Check. Dwarves? Check. Wizards? Check. Magic Rings? Check. Wise old Wizard? Check. Boy from humble origins who turns out to be the only person who can save the universe? Check. Valiant knights in shining armour and black black villains? Check.

It is a pity really because it actually is a rather good book.

(On a more serious note - I had to re-reading this classic trilogy because of a very interesting online course I am taking which explores the links between book, film and video game interpretations of Tolkien's masterpiece): https://class.coursera.org/onlinegames-001/class