 |
| Closing on 52 |
July saw large gaps in reading fiction, as I was either working through RPGs or running RPGs and then a burst of reading at the end of the month. My fiction reading had a very East German feel as I ploughed through David Young's Stasi series.
 |
| Stasi State aka A Darker State |
Stasi State (Karin Müller #3) (David Young)
The third Karin Müller book dives even darker as Karin and her team investigate a teenage book who is found dead in a river on the border with Poland. The Stasi are more obstructive than ever (and seem to be in conflict internally) and the investigation ends progressing unofficially. This didn't make pleasant reading as it brought out prejudices against LGBTQ people within the state despite their official acceptance.
I was initially confused as I bought this as 'A Darker State' and it was renamed 'Stasi State' subsequently to align with the rest of the series.
Stasi 77 (Karin Müller #4)
The fourth of the Karin Müller series, this story finds her team investigating murders that tie back to the end of the Second World War. It fills in the backstory of several of the supporting characters. Overall I enjoyed this; the tension between the Stasi and the Kripo has a different motivation to usual, and I enjoyed the story much more as it explored how people left behind their past in the Nazi regime.
Marvel 1602 (Neil Gaiman)
An impulse purchase after hearing it being discussed on the Fictoplasm podcast. Although I've enjoyed the MCU, I've never been a massive comics fan(*), so I suspect that there may be Easter eggs in this that I'm missing.
Neil Gaiman tells an interesting tale of a multiverse where heroes manifest 300 years earlier than they do in the main Marvel timeline, and they become embroiled in the conflict between Elizabethan England and the Catholic European mainland. Under all this turmoil, a threat has emerged that threatens reality. I enjoyed this and would happily read more in this setting.
Neil Gaiman tells an interesting tale of a multiverse where heroes manifest 300 years earlier than they do in the main Marvel timeline, and they become embroiled in the conflict between Elizabethan England and the Catholic European mainland. Under all this turmoil, a threat has emerged that threatens reality. I enjoyed this and would happily read more in this setting.
Stasi Winter (David Young)
The fifth of the Karin Müller books sees her team put into an impossible situation when they are sent to investigate a murder during a brutal winter on the Baltic coast of East Germany. The situation accelerates rapidly out of her control, and the inherent tensions in her team come to the surface after the revelations of previous novels.
Hansel & Gretel (Neil Gaiman)
A starkly but evocatively illustrated take on the Hansel and Gretel story penned by Neil Gaiman. I enjoyed this.
The Stasi Game (David Young)
The final (for now) Karin Müller story sees her drawn into a murder investigation in Dresden which uncovers links back to the firebombing of the city during the Second World War. Demoted after the outcome previous story, she is increasingly disillusioned with the way that the DDR is being run. Tensions raise between the Stasi and MI6 as Müller's team become pawns between the intelligence agencies. I enjoyed this but there are elements in the final denouement that didn't seem to make any sense. Fortunately, they don't undermine the story and could be written off to someone taking an irrational emotional judgement at the last moment.
A Study in Emerald (Neil Gaiman)
A clever twist on Sherlock Holmes combined with Lovecraftian mythos.8 August 2021
No comments:
Post a Comment