The House Gun by Nadine Gordimer

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The House Gun by Nadine Gordimer 

Rating: enjoyed very much and would recommend. 

 I would call this Literary Fiction with a capital "L" and capital "F". It took me about 5 months to finish reading. This wasn't because it wasn't interesting or wasn't well written. On the contrary, I can see why Gordimer got a Nobel prize for literature. Rather, it is because the story requires you to read every word and I would get reader fatigue and have to switch to something else for a while. Gordimer was an amazing writer and I frequently found myself pausing to marvel at the way she could put words together. The story is pretty simple. Duncan Lindgard, a young architect, has shot and killed Carl, a former gay lover, who he found having sex with his live-in companion. Duncan confesses to committing the murder but can't claim heat of passion since a day passed between observing the tryst and the shooting. His father, Harald, a successful businessman, and mother Claudia, a physician, hire a high powered black barrister, Hamilton Motsamai to represent him. I really liked the character of Motsamai and could see him featuring in courtroom dramas. 

This could be the plot for a John Grisham type of courtroom drama. but Gordimer looks at the action through the lens of post-apartheid South Africa. The Lindgards, father, mother, and son, white and successful in their professions, have to put themselves in the hands of a black man to save Duncan: the death penalty is still on the books. 

 Gordimer does a deep look at every aspect of the events: the changes in the social order, South Africa in the grips of the transition following apartheid; what it means to take a human life; a family that had existed without really inderstanding each other; what in Duncan's upbringing positioned him to commit such a crime; and violence in South Africa and the — perceived necessary— presence of a house gun in the first place. Honestly, for me, the book calls for a second reading; I'm sure I missed a lot of the nuances in the observations of Gordimer's omniscient narrator. I also want to savor Gordimer's use of language. 

 I would be very interested in hearing from South Africans about this book: am I close to being on the mark in my reaction and perceptions? This probably wasn't the best book to start with for someone new to Gordimer and an outsider too boot but it where I started and I don't regret it. I'll probably read July's People or The Pickup next or maybe her short stories since those I can dip in and out as the mood arises.

Keywords: South Africa, South African fiction, crime fiction, post-apartheid fiction

Blood Magic, a six book series by JT Lawrence and MJ Krause

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Blood Magic, a 6 book series by JT Lawrence and MJ Krause

Rating: enjoyed and recommend

Genre: the title and cover give it away but this is an action adventure urban fantasy series.

Audience: based on a sample of one (me) I'd say this series is appropriate for ages 15 and up.

This aren't the sort of book I typically read and can't remember the last one I picked up; I think werewolves were involved. Anyway, Amazon thought I would like it because I get everything Lawrence publishes (adoring fan of the When Tomorrow Calls trilogy and love her short stories). I don't know anything about MJ Krause but I've come to understand that he created the world of these books and then other authors set stories in that world. I put off downloading the books because, as I wrote above, urban fantasy isn't something I go for. But I found myself in need of a reading sorbet and jumped in with the 6 volume set.

Now, on the Kindle you get all 6 books in one file so it is basically one long book. The authors were fiendlishly clever and end each of the first five books on a cliffhanger. If you are a weak-willed reader like me, you find yourself thinking "well I'll just start the next book to see what happens next". And then the next book ends on a cliff-hanger and, well, if the word binge comes to mind you know what happened to me.

The books are set in a version of Johannesburg, South Africa where magic, trolls, orcs, dwarves, elves, and goblins exist unknown to the non-magical public. There is a unit within the Scorpions dedicated investigating paranormal crimes. If you are not from South Africa, the Scorpions (now disbanded) were an independent multidisciplinary agency that investigated and prosecuted organised crime and corruption. 

The narrator of the story is Jacqueline Denna Knight (aka Jax), a  crossbow and wand wielding wizard/private investigator (she finds things) who likes nothing more than dusting vampires. She aids the Scopions —specifically her best friend Morgan who heads up this unit within the Scorpions — when tricky cases come up. She gets pulled into such a case when bodies start to accumulate and, at the same time, can't resist taking on other cases — a girl has to  make ends meet somehow. In quick order, she finds herself trying to find out whose is stacking up bodies around town, in the middle of an orc gang war, finding mystical objects, and rying to avoid being killed by a vampire faction that seem sto have taken a violent dislike to her.

The authors do an excellent job of adding layers in each succeeding book building to the climactic 6th book. Because this is a first person narrative, we are seeing everything through Jax's eyes and what she sees may not be true and I like the way the authors use this to keep the reader a little off balance.

I hate to use the review cliche "breakneck" but this series really does move at a breakneck page. All the action takes place in about two weeks. This is part of why I found myself binging, the action in unrelenting.

Jax is good, strong, resourceful, female protagonist whose major fault is to act first, think of consequences later which can, in a good way, frustrate the reader who wants to give her a good shake. It also propells the story. One thing that amused me is that Jax adheres to the private investigator trope of getting beat up and knocked out,— a lot.

Speaking of tropes, Lawrence give us an interesting and fun working of the urban fantasy world — good, evil, quest, characteristics of the inhabitants, etc. One of the authors really likes food because there are quite a few detailed and mouth-watering descriptoins of meals. They made me want to find a dwarf tavern.

The Blood Magic series is a fun and very fast-paced read. I thoroughly enjoyed it and eagerly anticipate the next series of 6 books,  The Cursebreaker, which will be set in the same universe but with different characters. I can't say that I have been completely pulled into the whole urban fantasy genre but this world created by Krause and interpreted by Lawrence has me hooked.

If I've piqued your interest in this series, I recommend the boxed set. Trust me, you'll be very annoyed with yourself when you get to the end of a book and don't have the next one waiting.

Keywords: South Africa fiction, urban fantasy