Book review: Once Upon a Time in the North

https://flic.kr/p/2scUv5B 

By Philip "Dark" Pullman. Given to me, or acquired by me, at Mother's at Christmas. Lightweight, but fun. An offshoot, providing Lee Scoresby and Iorek Byrnison's backstory. Finished in Rouen.

Lee is the laconic hero, better with guns and thinking than you'd guess from his exterior. Iorek and he do a thing people never do in books but it is excellent: IB says his name, and LS subtly mispronounces it, as you'd expect, instead of just getting an unfamiliar name right.

I could do without the capitalism-is-evil schtick, but then again PS's theology in HDMI was pretty ropey if you looked closely, which you weren't supposed to.

Getting a ton of polar bear into a balloon seems implausible.

Book review: The Grain Kings

Another one from childhood, along with Pavane. I still remember the cover. I also recall not really understanding it as a child - well, a teenager - and I don't really think I understand it now, even with the weight of experience heavy on my shoulders.

This review gives it three stars, and provides a handy summary of the stories, together with reactions to them that I largely agree with. Or this one.

Unlike Pavane, there's no linking these stories together, and that is a lack. Perhaps they are better regarded as pictures; perhaps this one star review that concludes "I really didn't enjoy reading this, but it has stayed with me and I think back on the stories a lot. I am enjoying thinking back on them far more than I enjoyed them at the time" is the best.