Once again, Fforde has provided a totally insane and totally fun adventure. I hadn't read this one before, although it was on my bookshelf, so I'm notOnce again, Fforde has provided a totally insane and totally fun adventure. I hadn't read this one before, although it was on my bookshelf, so I'm not sure why I hadn't read it. I wish I had done so sooner - although since I didn't I got to enjoy it now. I listened to most of this as an audiobook (which makes footnotes interesting), but after I got the book out to check one chapter that I'd found a little confusing to listen to, I found myself alternating between both media. Today, I just wanted to get to the end, picked up the book and finished it.
Thursday remains a brilliant character and well-written narrator and she tells the story of her adventures in the Book World with great aplomb. I'm not the sort to laugh out loud (or not much anyway) but I certainly found myself giggling upon occasion.
Fforde's Book World is a well crafted place, complete with its own rules, regulations and police force. The Well of Lost Plots is a particularly clever creation, full of books in progress and a whole infrastructure to support this. I'm sure any would-be writer can relate to the character's fears for their future if their book fails to find a publisher and be fascinated by the development of a generic chracter (all of which attend a school called St. Tabula-Rasa's). The way all the book characters have full and complicated lives outside the times their books are being read and the way various characters, especially those from out of print books, turn up in other people's books is a delight. The Well of Lost Plots is full of puns, literary illusions (many of which I'm sure I missed since I was never an English major) and a very wicked sort of humour. If you like those sorts of things, you'll love this book. If you don't, you'll hate it.
I suspect part of the reason I didn't originally read this is that I was afraid my lack of reading in the classics would make me miss too much. I haven't found that to be a problem and I was surprised that I "got" more than I would have expected to. It's not all about "literature" either - there was a great scene in a rough bar down in one of the Well's sublevels that was a direct rip-off of the cantina scene in Star Wars, right down to the ratty human speaking in an unfamiliar dialect (in this case, courier bold). I also loved Thursday's near-fatal trip into an Enid Blyton novel, that proves things aren't all sunshine and smiles in even the most apparently innocuous book.
I'll be moving right on to Thursday's next adventure, Something Rotten, and hoping the fact none of my school English teachers ever chose to have the class study Hamlet won't hinder my enjoyment. Eventually, I'll also be reading Fforde's Nursery Crime series (after I finish this series of course), which was set up as a sub-plot in this book.
The Well of Lost Plots Thursday Next, Book 3 Audiobook 9/10...more
It's been a long time since I read the first book in this series, Dragon Bones, and sadly (as is often the case with me) I didn't remember a lot of thIt's been a long time since I read the first book in this series, Dragon Bones, and sadly (as is often the case with me) I didn't remember a lot of the details. Fortunately, the absolute basics were there. Ward, who has been pretending to be a simpleton to protect himself from his father's wrath, must prove his sanity and capabilities when he inherits. He also has to save a dragon, break a curse and defeat invaders.
Equally fortunately, Briggs makes a point to remind the reader of all the important points, rerevealing them progressively throughout the text rather than dropping everything on the reader in one big infodump. While by the end I still didn't remember every detail of Dragon Bones, I had recovered all the information I needed to enjoy and understand this book. There were moments when I was worried that wouldn't be the case, so let me assure any potential reader that it is safe to trust the author.
Dragon Bones was told by Ward in the first person POV and Dragon Blood starts off with a different character. Tisala's escape from King Jakoven's torturer is told in standard third person POV, the chapter headed with her name. I wasn't sure if the book would continue that way, but by the second chapter, which is titled with Ward's name, we go back to his first person. Chapters are told through whichever eyes Briggs requires to tell the tale, but only Ward uses first person storytelling. This could have been confusing, but I had no trouble with it at all and enjoyed the variety. All the same, it is unusual and readers may like to be warned.
Ward has troubles aplenty in this story, most of them to be laid at Jakoven's door and Briggs doesn't pull her punches when the tale gets a bit nasty. The section where Ward is taken into the king's custody (under the pretext of determining if he really is healthy in mind as well as body and therefore fit to rule Hurog), he is placed in the king's custom-built insane asylum and tortured by the king's pet mages in an attempt to break him. I temporarily stopped reading at this point because it was very far from nice, light reading, but Briggs hasn't failed me yet and I took a deep breath and went back to the book.
Ward defeats the king's machinations beautifully - with some needed help - and the story carries onto into more comfortable territory, featuring such mild things as rebellion, war and assasination! Ward remains a most appealing character in all things we see him do, from fighting for his sanity to fighting for his home and the regard of the woman he has chosen. I was sorry to leave him at the end and would be delighted if Briggs goes back to his world one day.
The minor characters were also a pleasure to read, especially Tisala and Oreg.
Tisala is a strong and capable woman who has had her faith in herself tested but refuses to let it beat her. Ward's understanding that she is a woman he must let stand beside him rather than behind him is exactly what she needs, even if she takes a while to face up to it, and their gentle romance is a pleasure to read.
Oreg was my other favourite character, and while I have a feeling he may have annoyed me at times in Dragon Bones, here I thoroughly enjoyed his presence in the story. He could still be arrogant and potentially annoying, but I guess when you're an ancient dragon who can also appear as a young man, a bit of arrogance is understandable. I loved Ward's frustration as Oreg kept letting people know about him, despite it being meant to be a big secret. This culminated in him appearing as a dragon in front of a hall full of Ward's leigemen in a beautifully written and most dramatic scene.
The climax of the story happens rather abruptly, which was appropriate but a little frustrating. Sure, the immediate problem has been solved, Ward has once again channeled the power of the dragons of Hurog and saved the day, but I would have liked to have seen the fallout of what happened there. There's a kingdom to put back together and a new world order to build and we don't know how that's going to happen.
I've just finished Briggs' latest novel, Iron Kissed, and while the story is completely different, I got the same feeling there - that while it was a dramatic place to stop, the rebuilding of the situation still had to happen and I wanted to see how that worked out. But I've also read others of her books and I don't remember feeling like that, so it isn't a regular occurance.
To stick with the dragons for a moment, as I did read this for a dragon challenge, the brief little scene where Ward rides into the hills for a moment of peace and sees a juvenile dragon in the wild, showing the dragons are rebuilding their own place in Hurog just as Ward is rebuilding the Keep, was a lovely moment.
I will most definitely be reading more of Briggs' fantasy backlist while I wait for her next new urban fantasy novel.
Dragon Bones Patricia Briggs Ward of Hurog, Book 2 8/10...more
I picked this one up on Swap Club and for a book that was going to cost me a couple of points, something of which I currently have plenty, I thought II picked this one up on Swap Club and for a book that was going to cost me a couple of points, something of which I currently have plenty, I thought I'd give it a go. While I don't consider myself a Jane Austen fangirl, I've enjoyed what I've read and seen of hers and I have to admit that yes, Colin Firth's Mr Darcy in the BBC adaption of Pride and Prejudice did leave an impression on me (so did Jennifer Ehle's Elizabeth, but for completely different reasons and that's not relevant to this review anyway).
The book starts off well, first as we get to ride along on another of Emily's disasterous dates and then join her in the bookshop she manages and met her flaky friend. Is the flaky friend a requirement of chick lit type books? As I haven't read more that two or three I wouldn't know. And what about the use of present tense? That's something I really don't like, although it isn't a deal-breaker for me over whether I read the book. Usually I'll stop noticing it after a while and carry on reading, which was the case with Me and Mr Darcy.
Emily's trip to England also starts well, as she finds that as her friend (I'm blanking on her name and I've loaned the book to a friend) was right and everyone else on the tour is an elderly lady - except for Spike, the journalist out to write a story about what women find so attractive about Mr Darcy.
Unfortunately, once the book gets to about the halfway point, Potter's grasp on the characterisation seems to start falling apart. I think the problem is that all the various character traits that Austen handled with such brilliance and subtlety are just too strident in Potter's hands. Emily stops being appealing and, as she starts meeting Mr Darcy and jumping to all the wrong conclusions about Spike, simply turns into a bitch. Once the story progresses a little futher and she begins to find less to like about Darcy and more to like about Spike, Darcy turns from a prideful man into an (excuse the language) arrogant a**hole.
And as for Spike, Emily's reactions to him show a man of such total differences from beginning to end, that I don't believe it could really have been the same man, not even considering that he is always described through Emily's eyes and therefore her prejudices. When Emily doesn't like him, he's totally awful. He's pot-bellied and rude and totally impossible. When she begins to learn the truth and find he's not so bad, suddenly he's firmly muscled and attractive and too close to perfect for how he was described before. Sorry, but while I could buy the changes in Austen's Darcy, I can't buy them in Spike. Or in Emily for that matter.
There's also the possible identity of the tour guide, which I think was meant to be clever but just seemed silly to me.
I was skimming by the time I reached 2/3 through, but the text of Spike's article at the end was very well done and saved the end of the novel for me.
However, because this didn't work for me, I don't think means it won't work for everyone who reads it. If it sounds like your kind of book, give it a try. It's certainly not all bad and has some very nice moments, mostly at the beginning.
The first I heard about this book was online buzz likening the characters to Buffy and Spike from Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I wasn't sure if I wanted The first I heard about this book was online buzz likening the characters to Buffy and Spike from Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I wasn't sure if I wanted to read such a book, since I loved both Spike and Buffy and didn't really feel the need to read a rip-off of the characters in a published novel. That's what tie-in books and fan fiction are for (and although I haven't the time or inclination to read either of those now I have done so in the past).
More recently I read several very glowing reviews of Halfway to the Grave on blogs I like and, more importantly, where I trust the opinions of the reviewers. None of them made a particular point about Buffy and Spike clones and I decided maybe this was a book I should try after all. Happily, the book is available as an ebook and so I went shopping, downloaded it and transferred it across to my PDA. Then I started reading.
Let's clear up the Spike and Buffy thing first. I feel that any similarities are superficial; Cat kills vampires and Bones is a blonde vampire with an English accent and an attitude. This may possibly be a deliberate nod to the TV show, but Frost is not writing about Buffy and Spike, she's writing about Cat and Bones.
Cat Crawford is half vampire; her mother was raped by a vampire and she was the result. Largely to please her mother, Cat has been hunting the undead since she was sixteen. Not suprisingly, she has a lot of issues when it comes to vampires. She is forced to face these when she tries taking on a Master vampire and instead finds herself pledged to train and hunt with him.
Slowly, Cat is forced to see that while some (maybe even most) vampires are evil, not all of them are. Ruthless and dangerous perhaps, but not actually evil. The developing partnership between Cat and Bones, filled with issues and setbacks progresses beautifully. Cat is caught between what she has been brought up to believe and what all her instincts are telling her about Bones. Add in the fact that she's desperate not to disappoint the mother she loves and there's a whole lot of conflict going on.
There were moments when I wished I could shake Cat and tell her to cut this guy a little slack, but that was more frustration because I knew he was the hero and able to be trusted that because I felt the author was going overboard with Cat's vampire issues. They were reasonable and well explained, but I felt so sorry for Bones, obviously hurt but Cat's frequent drawing back, than because I felt Cat was acting out of character.
Bones is a strong and appealing hero, but as I look back over the book, I find myself remembering Cat more. Of course, that fact this is written in the first person with Cat as the narrator may have something to do with that. I enjoyed their scenes together and their first love scene managed to be both sweet and hot which is a combination it can be difficult to pull off.
The plot grows more and more complex as the book progresses until, by the end, Cat finds herself in a situation it appears she will have no chance of escaping. The solution that turns up could be considered a little bit too pat, but it is certainly going to make the next book more interesting. For reader who want a happy ending for Cat and Bones, I trust Frost to give us one but be aware it isn't in this book. This is the first book in a series that is more urban fantasy than paranormal romance and it ends, not in a bad place, but with the main protagonists apart.
They'll be back together - and dealing with the fallout of Cat's self-sacrificing decision at the end of this novel - in the sequel, One Foot in the Grave, due out at the end of April. I'll be buying it.
Halfway to the Grave Night Huntress, Book 1 8/10...more
Thursday is back from the Book World, accompanied by her two year old son Friday and her cousin Eddie (aka Hamlet, Prince of Denmark). Old foe YorrickThursday is back from the Book World, accompanied by her two year old son Friday and her cousin Eddie (aka Hamlet, Prince of Denmark). Old foe Yorrick Kane is plotting to take over the country, Goliath is up to something major and her husband Landen is still eradicated.
Like Fforde's previous Thursday Next books, this is a wild and crazy ride through, well, pretty much anything he feels like throwing into the mix. Once again, I loved the book and devoured it at great speed. There's little I can say to capture the delightful craziness of this series beyond "read it!", and action I whole-heartedly recommend.
Like my (in the end, incorrect) rationale for not reading The Well of Lost Plots, I was worried that never having read, studied or seen Hamlet (I know, that makes me a philistine) I would get lost, but once again Fforde walks an excellent balance between literary in-jokes and staying within a range the average reader can understand. I might not have ever explored Hamlet in detail, but I know the basic plot and characters and that was quite enough to follow the goings on in Something Rotten.
The book was filled with silly moments and a few favourites included the encounter between Napoleon and Wellington clones in the forests of Wales, the very idea of croquet as a "superbowl" (or in this case "superhoop") sport and the solution to beating Yorrick Kane, as undertaken by the Cheshire Cat, was brilliant.
My only complaint is that I felt Landen's un-eradication was a bit of a let-down as it didn't result so much from Thursday's actions as from the very unreliable Goliath actually doing what they promised, something I wouldn't personally trust them to do.
All the same, this was another great read and while still working my way through it I had already put the next Thursday Next book on reserve at the library.
Something Rotten Thursday Next, Book 4 Jasper Fforde 9/10...more
We've had a werewolf book with Mercy and a vampire book with Mercy; this one is about the Fae. It opens with Mercy's mentor and former boss - and fae We've had a werewolf book with Mercy and a vampire book with Mercy; this one is about the Fae. It opens with Mercy's mentor and former boss - and fae - Zee asking her to check out a murder at the fae reservation. He hopes her coyote nose may pick up something the fae themselves have missed. The idea of the fae on a reservation and the dichotomy between the façade they present and the truth they were hiding was beautifully shown. Mercy, of course, sees more than she is supposed to do and almost gets herself in a lot of trouble as a result. Her steps into the Otherworld are beautiful and I hope we get to visit here again in a later book.
Mercy does indeed identify the murderer, but that's the beginning of the story, not the end. When Zee and other fae go to confront the murderer they find him already dead and Zee ends up arrested for the murder.
From there, Mercy quickly finds herself caught up in high fae politics - not at all a comfortable place to be, haunted by a mystical walking stick that seems to have taken a liking to her and also forced to accept that it is time to choose between Adam, her neighbour and local werewolf alpha to whom she is attracted and Sam, her first love who has reappeared in her life.
I was happy with Mercy's decision and the thought processes that brought her there. (It helped she picked the one I wanted her to, but I would have been happy with either of them really.) I've seen some readers comment that they thought it all happened a bit too fast, but that still worked for me. It was like her coming to a realisation that had been there all along but she hadn't been ready to accept, rather than a new decision. It seemed right to me and I look forward to seeing how her relationships with both men progress as the series progresses.
The villain of the piece was well thought out and I felt realistically described. I had some suspicions about his identity and when I was proved right felt satisfied that my suspicions had been correct.
There's an unpleasant scene near the end that I've heard complaints about, but again I felt it worked properly within the context of the book. It certainly wouldn't have been in character for the villain not to attempt this and for all that the result was unpleasant, I think the book is stronger for it. (I'm trying not to give any spoilers here, which will make the rest of my comments unfortunately vague and only understandable if you've read the book. Sorry about that.)
The aftermath was beautifully done, especially Mercy's retreat and Adam's reactions. The way Ben stepped in to give his alpha a talking to (not an easy thing for a werewolf to do) and also reveal the pain of his own past was beautiful. Ben has not been an easy character to like - deliberately I am sure - and here at last we see some of his deeper layers and the why of the way he is. I hope he will continue to feature in the series as I suddenly find myself wanting to know all about him.
I was a bit unsettled by the ending, as I felt Mercy wasn't ready for the step she had decided to take and things were likely to go badly. I hoped the next book would pick up where this one left off to show what happened next. I've since learned that this is indeed the case - Briggs has started writing it, hooray! - and that makes me much happier with how thing novel finished. It wasn't really a cliffhanger, but it did leave things up in the air, but I feel I understand now and I can live with it better.
This series continues to be great and Briggs has cemented her place in my auto-buy list.
Iron Kissed Mercy Thompson, Book 3 Patricia Briggs 9/10...more
After thoroughly enjoying Fforde's Thursday Next book, and having been told that the events of The Big Over Easy take place in some of the locations uAfter thoroughly enjoying Fforde's Thursday Next book, and having been told that the events of The Big Over Easy take place in some of the locations used in The Well of Lost Plots I decided to make this my next Fforde book. I got the audio from the library, started listening and continued to alternate between the audio and the book itself.
This is indeed the book being proposed at the end of The Well of Lost Plots, but I never felt it was made clear if I, as the reader, was supposed to be reading it in my "real" universe, Thursday's universe or the universe established in the book itself. This left me a bit confused to begin with, and unfortunately that never really cleared up.
I didn't dislike this book, but I didn't like it nearly as much as the Thursday Next books. There's a certain witty sense to the Thursday books, but this was just too over the top for me. Fforde has tried to toss in too much - as many nursery rhymes and fairy tales as he can think of, whether they are needed or not. I also felt that this determined cleverness was to the detriment of the characterisation, meaning I never really cared about any of the characters. Jack was just "nice" without having any real depth, while Mary was really somewhat unpleasant. And why he needed to throw aliens into the mix as well, I really have no idea.
I was also frustrated with the way Fforde set up the solution of the mystery. Sure, the clues were all there, but every time it was announced that the murder had been solved, suddenly there was a new situation, new clues and it hadn't been after all. Each progressive solution got sillier and more complicated and by the end I found I didn't really care.
All the same, I kept reading. I did want to know how it ended and I did enjoy the read. Perhaps the book didn't stand a chance because I read it in the midst of the Thursday books, which I just love. But basically, there was just too much going on here and it ended up very messy.
An okay book, but I'm going back to Thursday now.
The Big Over Easy Nursery Crime, Book 1 Jasper Fforde 7/10...more
I might sound from this review that I didn't like Whiskey and Water. That's not true. I loved this book; maybe not quite as much as the preceding voluI might sound from this review that I didn't like Whiskey and Water. That's not true. I loved this book; maybe not quite as much as the preceding volume, Blood and Iron, but still lots.
But here's the thing. Elizabeth Bear doesn't write a simple, straightforward tale where event A leads to event B which leads to event C and so on. Instead, she takes you on a magical, lyrical, strange and fantastic trip into a complicated and convoluted world where nothing is ever exactly as it seems and the author rarely lets you have anything for free.
The writing is beautiful - I think of it as poetry in prose - but I found myself never 100% sure what was going on. All the same, I didn't particularly care. These books are about the journey more than they are about the destination. It may also be that since I have never really "got" poetry (I have come to suspect my brain doesn't work that way), I have the same problem here. Or is poetry also about the words and the journey rather than A goes to B goes to C? It's not something I have a lot of experience with.
The words Bear uses and the ways she puts them together are beautiful. In the end I only wrote down one quote from the book, but she weaves words into beautiful images. I am not a visual reader, I gather the feeling of a book from the words themselves and these words are beautiful. As an example, this is a sentence that really spoke to me. The imagery and the way the words are put together are lovely.
The loneliness was an ache in her breast, a hollowness like a scooped-out heart, a gasping stillness that echoed when she listened into it.
So while I have to admit that I didn't understand everything in this book and I'm `kind of vague on a lot of character motivation or the exact progression of the plot, I found reading it a delight. I know where the characters are at the end of the book compared to where they were at the beginning and I want to read more about them. You kind of pick up the story by osmosis rather than following a clear plotline.
Maybe the bottom line is that Bear is very smart and I'm kind of dumb. I don't care. These books are beautiful and I'm going to keep reading them. (Although, if anyone wants to send me a quick synopsis to help me with the plotline, I wouldn't complain. I'm also very interested to read some of Bear's science fiction, to see how she writes that and if it is similar or different to her so lyrical fantasy.
I've already pre-ordered the next two Promethean Age books, these two set back in the sixteenth century, and I'm looking forward to getting to read them.
Whiskey and Water Novels of the Promethean Age, Book 2 Elizabeth Bear 9/10...more
I've loved Robin McKinley's writing ever since I first read The Blue Sword many years ago when it first came out. (Although I admit I haven't managed I've loved Robin McKinley's writing ever since I first read The Blue Sword many years ago when it first came out. (Although I admit I haven't managed to read Sunshine yet.) I was sorry not to see anything new from her in recent years and felt a certain connection (totally one-sided of course) when I read her livejournal and discovered she has ME like me. I saw Dragonhaven reviewed by another participant in the Here be Dragons challenge and decided to try it myself. Luckily it was in at the library and I had it in time to take on holiday with me.
I'll start with a small negative and move on to what I liked. The tone of this book won't suit everyone. It is written in Jake's POV and in his voice. That means long, rambling, sometimes confusing teenage boy sentences that occasionally run on and on and on. It's a memoir really, but written by a young enough author to not yet have a great sophistication of style. That means there's a lot of description and discussion and not a lot of dialogue. It took me a chapter or two to get used to, but I found myself enjoying it once I got into the flow of it.
I liked Jake; he grew up in a certain isolation and lost his mother young and this means he has a slightly skewed vision of the world, but I like it - and him - all the same. His adventures are well described as are his reactions to them. It's all rather rambling, but everything is there and the pacing is solid. He describes himself as being rather "out of it" at the time he "adopts" the dragonet and this is also well shown within the text. He is indeed not quite in a solid headspace and probably wouldn't have done what he did if he had been, making this an important part of the story.
Ms McKinley's dragons are lovely. Well described and well realised. Lois, the dragonet Jake rescues, is totally ugly, but cute with it, and her growth and development are well followed. Jake has some rambling discourses on dragon intelligence - whether they have it and what form it might take - early in the book which sets up well his experiences when he makes contact with the adult dragons.
Happily, the dragons are intelligent, if not in the same way humans are, and Jake manages to get across their attempts to communicate without words while using words, something that is always a difficult feat.
This is not a perfect book - I didn't love it the way I do Beauty or her Damar books - but it is a good, solid read and I'm glad I decided to pick it up. I also find myself wondering if Jake's somewhat tangential storytelling comes from Ms McKinley's experience with ME (and I acknowledge I'm totally reaching here). I have real trouble with seeing the "big picture" and getting a good, linear feel of things which I attribute to my own ME and Jake's rambling memoir reminded me of what I might write if I tried to write a book (or perhaps even how these book reviews come out). Probably there's no connection at all, but the similarity did strike me.
I got about half way through this before giving up because I wasn't enjoying it. The characterisation of Elizabeth and Darcy starts off okay, but as tI got about half way through this before giving up because I wasn't enjoying it. The characterisation of Elizabeth and Darcy starts off okay, but as the story takes a turn into the supernatural, so does the characterisation, especially of Elizabeth who takes this all in her stride, begins to fail. To me, the supernatural doesn't belong with these characters and the story soon failed for me. I skipped to the end, but didn't really care.
Pride and Prescience, Or a Truth Universally Acknowledged Mr and Mrs Darcy Mysteries, Book 1 Carrie Bebris DNF...more
First Among Sequels - Jasper Fforde Thursday Next, Book 5; 10/10 Thursday Next is back after 14 years (her time, not ours). She and Landen are happily mFirst Among Sequels - Jasper Fforde Thursday Next, Book 5; 10/10 Thursday Next is back after 14 years (her time, not ours). She and Landen are happily married with three (or is it two) children and it's time for son Friday to join the Chronoguard. However, he seems more interested in being a typical teenager. I loved this latest outing with Thursday and all ther various secondary characters. It was crazy, it was silly, it was clever and everything a Thursday Next book should be. Goliath are up to their old tricks, Mycroft's ghost is haunting the garage (although sadly Mycroft has left us in the intervening years) and Thursday is trying to deal with two versions of herself in the Bookworld, neither of which bears any particular resemblance to her. Wonderful, wonderful fun....more
Enchanting the Lady - Kathryne Kennedy DNF This was a paranormal romance with a good idea - a nobility that is tested for magical talent in order to retEnchanting the Lady - Kathryne Kennedy DNF This was a paranormal romance with a good idea - a nobility that is tested for magical talent in order to retain position and shapeshifters - but it simply failed. There was no depth, like a pretty illusion on top of a fundamentally flawed underlying structure. I'm sorry I wasted my time....more
REREAD: 22 March 2020 - 25 March 2020 (10/10) Wonderful comfort reading in a time of stress (lockdown during 2020 Covid19 pandemic). Just what I neededREREAD: 22 March 2020 - 25 March 2020 (10/10) Wonderful comfort reading in a time of stress (lockdown during 2020 Covid19 pandemic). Just what I needed. My reading goal is self care right now, so I'm not worrying about reviews, jut enjoying my books.
The Blue Sword - Robin McKinley Damar, Book 1; 10/10 Having had two DNFs that were holiday reading, I found myself in something of a bind as I'd used by the books I'd brought with me. I looked through what I had on my PDA and decided to reread The Blue Sword. I loved this delightful coming-of-age tale in the times I've read it before and I loved it all over again this time. I'm so glad this is what I picked. I've always loved Harry Crewe and joining her journey as she discovers the Hill blood she carries and finds her way in a foreign culture that feels so right was wonderful. This book has recently been rereleased in both print and ebook format; if you've never read it go out and find a copy now!...more
Mine to Possess - Nalini Singh Psy/Changeling, Book 4; 9/10 Another great entry in this wonderful series by Nalini Singh. After having three Psy/ChangelMine to Possess - Nalini Singh Psy/Changeling, Book 4; 9/10 Another great entry in this wonderful series by Nalini Singh. After having three Psy/Changeling pairs in the previous book, this time the heroine is human, finally adding the last of the three races in this universe to the mix. Also different from the previous books, this time the hero and heroine have a history that completely colours their interactions now they have met up again. Subplots concerning the continuing disintergration of Psy society also continue making this a stronger, deeper story than if it focused solely on the couple. Singh manages a beautiful balance between the fantsy plot and the romanace development where neither overshadows the other, making this book and the others in the series a delight to read....more
The Last Twilight - Marjorie M. Liu Dirk and Steele, Book Book 7; 9/10
I really like this series. It's not simple - there are all sorts of complicated cThe Last Twilight - Marjorie M. Liu Dirk and Steele, Book Book 7; 9/10
I really like this series. It's not simple - there are all sorts of complicated characters we've met but don't have enough information about to understand who or what they are, there's a twisty world and over-all plot that is still only being hinted at seven books in and the darkness can certainly be dark - but for each individual novel there are also wonderful, strong characters and a solid story and developing relationship.
In this case, the hero is Amiri who can change shape into a large cat (I can't remember which one right now, please let me know). We met him Shadow Touch where he was a prisoner of the evil Consortium. Having been rescued he has joined Dirk and Steele and finds himself assigned to protect a doctor investigating a possible Ebola outbreak in Africa. Not keen to return to the continent of his birth and capture, he goes anyway and soon finds himself on the run and falling for Rikki. Rikki herself is another strong Liu heroine with her own past and scars (both literal and figurative) who finds great strength in herself and her growing relationship with Amiri as both must face their pasts to survive in the present.
I have to say that I found Amiri a very sexy character and I think that while it was mostly Liu's writing, the shadowy figure on the cover was a definite influencing factor as well. Lucky Rikki. I also really want to find out just what Rictor is and what he's up to and involved in. He's probably Liu's most mysterious character and she keeps tossing him into the story, surely to tease her audience....more
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