Jasmyn (Gollancz S.F. S.) [Paperback]

Whilst I wasn't the biggest of fans for Alex's first novel the second is more character driven than the original although yet again the tale is based on deep psychological as well as emotional stress that she really does delve into very well.

Written from the first person point of view we really get to know the protagonista as she tries to overcome the events that have happened prior to the tales opening. Its well written, it has moments of pure emotional conflict, however, I do feel that the character really didn't appeal to me as she didn't feel fully formed, more a 2d cut out than a fully formed 3d woman. That said a definite improvement over her first novel but she still has a way to go for me. That said however there is a beautiful descriptiveness as well as classical fantasy additions within these pages and definitely will make me pick up her third novel if its come on as much as this from her original offering.

While I had a number of issues with Alex Bell's debut offering, The Ninth Circle, I did think it showed some promise - enough to make me pick up her new novel, Jasmyn, to see whether the negative aspects of the first book had been improved on.

I was disappointed to find that all of the problems and flaws that marred the first novel are all present and correct in Jasmyn. Worse, they're even more prominent and intrusive than the first time around. The result is a book that becomes more infuriating and ridiculous with each chapter.

One day, without warning, Jasmyn's husband died of an aneurysm. Since then, everything has been different. Wrapped up in her grief, Jasmyn is trapped in a world without colour, without flavour - without Liam. But even through the haze of misery she begins to notice strange events. Even with Liam gone, things are not as they should be, and eventually Jasmyn begins to explore the mysteries that have sprung up after her husband's death . . . and follow their trail back into the events of his life. But the mysteries are deeper than Jasmyn expects, and are leading her in unexpected directions - into fairytales filled with swans, castles and bones; into a tale of a murder committed by a lake and a vicious battle between brothers; into a story of a lost past, and a stolen love. She's entering a magical story. Jasmyn's story.

There's so much wrong with this novel that I hardly know where to start.

The characterisation is probably the biggest offender. Jasmyn herself is actually a well-realised protagonist, and for the first third of the novel Bell does a decent job of fleshing her out and inspiring the reader's sympathy for her. As the novel progressed, I found my sympathy in increasingly short supply, until it vanished altogether and I started hoping that the (unintentionally) comical villain would actually put a bullet in her brain to put her out of her misery.

The main problem is Jasmyn's relationship with Ben, who she doesn't like but really wants to. Ben treats her like dirt, so Jasmyn gets angry with him. Then he is a little more nice to her, and she decides that he's quite pleasant after all. Then treats her like dirt again, and she thinks he's horrible again. This leads to endless monologues - How could I have thought Ben could ever be nice? Liam told me not to trust him! How could I be so stupid! I really thought I'd seen a different side of him, and, and, and...he was so rude to me! Yawn. This sort of monologue appears over and over again. By the end of the novel I was convinced that Jasmyn must have been a robot or something, because she seemed utterly incapable of actually learning from her past experiences.

The other characters are a pretty dull bunch. Jaxon, the antagonist of the piece, comes across as an shallow, incompetent James Bond villain who - despite apparently being an excellent marksman - somehow manages to miss a shot at point-blank range. Ben is - with good reason - a moody, irritable bastard, but his constant pattern of irritation/lash-out/apologise/irritation/lash-out/apologise becomes tedious (though not as tedious as Jasmyn's reaction to this treatment).

The characters' dull personalities pale when compared to their actions and motivations, some of which are so ludicrous that they seriously undermine the book's credibility. For example, the notion that a scientist would readily accept someone's claim of the existence of a magic swan - without any proof - and accompany said person on a trip to catch one, is utterly ridiculous. There are frequent instances like the one above that made me want to throw the book into a corner. I don't know about you, but if five black, dead swans fell from the sky at a funeral, I wouldn't just say "Oh, how strange" and then waltz off to the car without giving it any more thought (which is what happens).

The plot is no better - strip away the Bavarian folklore element (which frustratingly isn't used nearly as well as it could have been) and it essentially boils down to a weak thriller. The central premise gives the novel a decent foundation, but the subsequent plot veers from monotonous to ridiculous, with a generous side-helping of deus ex machina. In short, it has more holes than a Swiss cheese that's been shot by a firing squad. For example, after being told time and time again that the item our heroine is hunting for would have been hidden somewhere within easy reach but out of the public eye, the item turns out to be concealed in a location that is full of tourists and not accessible between 5 pm and 10 am. Hmm.

Another problem is Bell's insistence on using certain locations that, while being atmospheric, are totally illogical in relation to the plot - the artifact's location is a good example of this, as it was clearly chosen because of the possibilities that it offered the story, rather than because it made any sort of sense. The most glaring example is the inclusion of the Ice Palace, which totally defies logic. The paper-thin explanations Bell offers to explain the inclusion of these settings completely fails to convince.

There's not much positive to say about the prose. It's passable, nothing more. Despite the whimsical, fairytale settings in the novel, there's a distinct lack of atmosphere in the writing and the descriptive prose is pretty underwhelming. The book is crying out for more of a lyrical flourish, some haunting, dreamy language...but it just doesn't happen. Still, at least Bell has reigned in her obsessive use of italics.

Positive elements are thin on the ground. I suppose Bell deserves some credit in that - despite all its faults - I kept reading the novel because I wanted to find out the reason for Liam and Ben's fall-out (although the eventual revelation was another tick in the column marked 'unconvincing'). Other than that, well...the cover's quite nice.

Verdict: I hoped for good things from Jasmyn, but was sorely disappointed and sadly this is easily the worst book I've read this year. Somewhere in this unconvincing mishmash is a decent story - I don't doubt that Bell has got some interesting ideas. But there was just far too much wrong with this novel for me to enjoy it - weak and unconvincing characters, a plot that is simply unbelievable (for the wrong reasons) and constant dull monologues. Put simply, it's a few hours of my life I won't get back.

My first book by Alex Bell.

This novel gets off to a really good start - straight into the plot concerning the loss of a woman's husband who dies suddenly of an aneurysm. It's his funeral, and from that moment, strange and inexplicable things begin to happen!
This is written so fluently and flows like running water. I found the description of the grief experienced by Jasmyn immensely accurate, and anyone who has ever lost anyone close will be at one with this!
The chapters are nice and short which I always prefer, and I always find the type by 'Gollancz' very readable and easy on the eye.

I was amazed reading another Review that said the Reader had given up just twenty pages in; they said the plot made no sense - well this was the mystery as far as I could see and only kept me reading further! Also; I was 'hooked' long before I'd reached page twenty - at the point where the dead black swans began to fall from the sky at Liam's funeral! (enough to keep everyone interested I would have thought!)

However; I did think that the name of the main character was a bad choice for the title of the book, as this conjures up stories by those famous romantic novelists such as Georgette Heyer and Barbara Cartland - nothing wrong with those of course, it's just that novels with girls names often mislead people (particularly men) into thinking they are about to read a load of romantic 'slush'. Whilst romance is featured here in this story, this kicks off with what can only be described as a great 'mystery' - that eventually ends up as a fully blown fantasy novel! There's enough fantasy and mystery elements here to keep even the guys happy I would have thought.

As the story progresses though, I found it got more and more less credible - but then that was only at first when I believed what I was reading was merely a 'mystery' novel - not a fantasy one. When this became clear it helped enormously in my accepting many of the events. I have to say that due to this, it was one of the most 'bizarre' books I have ever read, and so if you're looking for something 'different', then this will be for you!

On a more critical note; some of the mysteries went on a bit too long before making any form of sense with any kind of 'explanations' at times for my liking, and the word 'for' was over-used where other words could have been chosen, such as 'because'. This did become a bit irritating after a while.

I did not care much for the ending to the story or the last few chapters either. From around chapter twenty-three: 'Ice Palace', it was at about this point I thought the story for me - though getting more exciting for others, could have ended. I felt everything had been explained - more or less, and felt the Writer become a little out of her depth when she attempts to compose a fast-paced action-packed climax to what had already been a great and gripping story without it, and therefore did not need in my opinion.