Pleasant reading:
- Mr Rosenblum’s List, by Natasha Solomons, has a cover prefiguring a novel of the sensibility of The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society. And so it proves to be. After WWII, German refugee Jack Rosenblum begins compiling a list, his all-encompassing guide to assimilating in Britain. Battling prejudice and his past-obsessed wife, he risks all to make his mark in the English countryside. Solomons writes generously and quietly, building up a character-based story that holds its amusing charm throughout. But the central characters, whilst engaging, fail to grip, and this debut stays stuck in its smooth groove. 2½ stars.
- Gene Wolfe sits near the top of my science fiction firmament – his multi-volume New Sun, Long Sun and Short Sun series are amongst the most brilliant genre examples I’ve read. But in recent years his works have grown less compelling. Having skipped the last few, I felt I should read his latest, The Sorcerer’s House, and I’m most glad I did, though my overall assessment remains unchanged. In this outing, Wolfe is nothing if not ambitious. He tells this fantasy tale, the story of a likeable rogue squatting in a house that gradually reveals hidden aspects and weird occupants, through letters. Such a dangerous technique, the epistolary one, but Wolfe carries it off with aplomb and a savagely humorous style that requires constant reader attention. The plot itself unwinds into a standard fantasy trope but I loved the constant oblique twists. The end result is a quirky, fun read that never graduates to anything more serious, held back by the breezy mood. 2½ stars.