Reading List Update: #86-90
Dec. 6th, 2007 11:06 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jedibuttercupI took four books with me to Austin. I came back with five. *grin* I don't know if I'll make 100 by the end of the year, but I'm giving it my best shot.
86. The Lodge of the Lynx by Katherine Kurtz and Deborah Turner Harris. Paperback, 426pp. 2nd of the Adept series. Reread. More Sir Adam Sinclair, as he pits his noble, Good magical circle against an ex-Nazi Evil wizard and his group of magical hangers-on. Kurtz' worlds are very textured, and her magical rituals almost like worship; they feel almost ethereal when placed side-by-side with the Dresden Files. Very black and white, with heavy Catholic/Freemason influences. Well written, and interesting, but-- they don't appeal to me as much as they used to.
87. Storm Front by Jim Butcher. Paperback, 322pp. First of the Dresden Files series. Reread. Yes, already; it was #33 this year, too. Very interesting to go back to the beginning, after gulping down the whole series and then watching the TV version. I'd forgotten how open early Harry was; he's much more like his TV incarnation than I remembered, personality-wise, despite their very different personal histories. I could hear Paul Blackthorne's voice in my head as I read. And good Lord, I'd forgotten how intense Marcone was, right from the beginning.
88. Fool Moon by Jim Butcher. Paperback, 342pp. 2nd of the Dresden Files series. Reread (see #40). On second read, it's a lot more plain that this book, and its predecessor, were very much setting-the-scene books; they establish Harry's suicidal do-the-right-thing streak and sketch in the world around him, but it's definitely rising action; testing of the waters before the full-bore action of Grave Peril. Also-- kind of interesting to note that before Thomas, before Michael, before the Leanansidhe, before McCoy, before Susan-- before Jim gave us any of Harry's other personal entanglements-- there were Murphy and Marcone. Representative of the two poles of Harry's character, I wonder?
89. Captain's Fury by Jim Butcher. Hardback, 451pp. 4th of the Codex Alera. I saw this on the shelf in Austin airport three days before its official release and couldn't resist. All I can say is-- wow. I can't, off-hand, remember a single male fantasy/epic author who does a better job of not only foreshadowing and action sequences, but also the emotional payoffs as the big reveals start falling. The main characters are heroes, yes, and affect events on a heroic scale; but they're very real on a personal level in a way many fantasy heroes aren't, and I WANT THE NEXT BOOK, NOW.
90. Grave Peril by Jim Butcher. Paperback, 378pp. 3rd of the Dresden Files series. Reread (see #42). And here we have the introductions of Thomas and the Carpenters, and the beginning of the War. You can tell, on second read, that this is where Jim went, "Wow, if these books are going to keep selling, I'd better start layering on more groundwork, pronto," because this is where the series really kicks it into gear. Harry had it tough in the first two, but this is where he truly starts getting the dross beat out of him. Liked it even more on second read-through; it's like an early Shyamalan movie-- some of the events in it are a lot more interesting in light of what happens later on.
I bet you can guess what six books are up next...
~
86. The Lodge of the Lynx by Katherine Kurtz and Deborah Turner Harris. Paperback, 426pp. 2nd of the Adept series. Reread. More Sir Adam Sinclair, as he pits his noble, Good magical circle against an ex-Nazi Evil wizard and his group of magical hangers-on. Kurtz' worlds are very textured, and her magical rituals almost like worship; they feel almost ethereal when placed side-by-side with the Dresden Files. Very black and white, with heavy Catholic/Freemason influences. Well written, and interesting, but-- they don't appeal to me as much as they used to.
87. Storm Front by Jim Butcher. Paperback, 322pp. First of the Dresden Files series. Reread. Yes, already; it was #33 this year, too. Very interesting to go back to the beginning, after gulping down the whole series and then watching the TV version. I'd forgotten how open early Harry was; he's much more like his TV incarnation than I remembered, personality-wise, despite their very different personal histories. I could hear Paul Blackthorne's voice in my head as I read. And good Lord, I'd forgotten how intense Marcone was, right from the beginning.
88. Fool Moon by Jim Butcher. Paperback, 342pp. 2nd of the Dresden Files series. Reread (see #40). On second read, it's a lot more plain that this book, and its predecessor, were very much setting-the-scene books; they establish Harry's suicidal do-the-right-thing streak and sketch in the world around him, but it's definitely rising action; testing of the waters before the full-bore action of Grave Peril. Also-- kind of interesting to note that before Thomas, before Michael, before the Leanansidhe, before McCoy, before Susan-- before Jim gave us any of Harry's other personal entanglements-- there were Murphy and Marcone. Representative of the two poles of Harry's character, I wonder?
89. Captain's Fury by Jim Butcher. Hardback, 451pp. 4th of the Codex Alera. I saw this on the shelf in Austin airport three days before its official release and couldn't resist. All I can say is-- wow. I can't, off-hand, remember a single male fantasy/epic author who does a better job of not only foreshadowing and action sequences, but also the emotional payoffs as the big reveals start falling. The main characters are heroes, yes, and affect events on a heroic scale; but they're very real on a personal level in a way many fantasy heroes aren't, and I WANT THE NEXT BOOK, NOW.
90. Grave Peril by Jim Butcher. Paperback, 378pp. 3rd of the Dresden Files series. Reread (see #42). And here we have the introductions of Thomas and the Carpenters, and the beginning of the War. You can tell, on second read, that this is where Jim went, "Wow, if these books are going to keep selling, I'd better start layering on more groundwork, pronto," because this is where the series really kicks it into gear. Harry had it tough in the first two, but this is where he truly starts getting the dross beat out of him. Liked it even more on second read-through; it's like an early Shyamalan movie-- some of the events in it are a lot more interesting in light of what happens later on.
I bet you can guess what six books are up next...
~
