The Saturday Morning Post (No. 104)

 

This week we once again return to a maybe London of 1883, Lapis Lazuli house in St Crispin's, and it young owner, Emma M Lion. I at least, eagerly. 

My reviewer criteria. I like light, entertaining novels. I like smaller scale stories rather than epics. I like character focused novels featuring pleasant characters, with a minimum number of unpleasant ones. I greatly value clever and witty writing. I like first person, or close third person narratives. I dislike a lot of "head jumping" between POVs and flashbacks. I want a story, not a puzzle. While I am not opposed to violence, I dislike gore for the sake of gore. I find long and elaborate fight, action, and battle sequences tedious. Plot holes and things that happen for the convenience of the author annoy me. And I fear I'm a born critic in that I don't mind pointing out what I don't like in a story. However, I lay no claim to be the final arbitrator of style and taste, you need to decide for yourself what you like or dislike in a book.

Your opinions are always welcome. Comment below. 

The Unselected Journals of Emma M Lion Vol. 3  by Beth Brower    A

As the title suggests, these books are written as a series of journal entries, each book covering just two months. And as such, they cover a variety of events as they turn up. And while it may be possible that Beth Brower has in mind, a beginning, middle, and end for her story, (And according to her blog, she does) it is not evident in these books. Which is just one of their many charms. 

However charming, this is a collection of incidents and characters who come and go, so that the very seemingly random nature of these books makes it impossible for me to say much, if anything about what's going on in them. I suppose others, likely on Goodreads, have attempted to do so, and if you're really curious, you can give them a look. But for me, the great charm of these books is that they are written without (apparent) intent to be a novel. I charge anyone to find where the first act ends and transitions into the second, or the third, or identifying the climax and falling action. This is not to say that they are without structure, it is just that there are so many threads to the plots woven through these books, that they remain in something of a quantum state - everything is so undecided, yet to be determined. Like real life.

All of the other key features that I greatly favor in my reading are present in these books. They feature a pleasant and interesting main character in Emma. Her growing friendships play key roles in the story. Friendships are always something I enjoy in the books I read. And of course, style. Like all of my favorite books, these books are written in a clever, witty, and understated style that manages to keep even the must unlikely things and events somehow seem totally believable, always grounded in the coherent reality that the author builds into the story. And yet, at the same time, it is riddled with all sorts of little mysteries - in both the setting, and in many of the characters as well, that keep me reading them way too fast.

The Unselected Journals of Emma M Lion Vol 4  By Beth Brower   A

I'm not going to bother reviewing individual books. This one continues to be wonderful. Read them.

According to Beth Brower, she does have a plan for all the books, though as I said above it is not evident. One of the reasons for it not being evident, is that her plan is to cover three to four years of Emma's life, with each installment recounting just two months of it Thus it should take 18 to 24 volumes to finish the story she is planning to write. With only 8 books released so far, I don't expect to live to see the series completed. But, you know, I really don't want these books to reach some sort of ending. I don't want all the little mysteries solved, all the characters and their pasts revealed. It's the journey, not the destination that I'm enjoying.

I will wrap up the final four volumes and see if I have anything more to say, after giving you a break, time to go out, sign on for a free month of Kindle Unlimited, and read them for yourself. You'll thank me.