Reading List Update: # 61 - 65

[jedibuttercup]

Five books in this batch: one near-future scifi, one epic fantasy, one motivational non-fiction book, and two Victorian-era historical fantasy.

61. Brother to Dragons, Companion to Owls by Jane Lindskold. Paperback, 287pp. I read this book fourteen years ago at school, and it's haunted me ever since; I actually squealed when I picked it up in Powell's and realized what I was holding. Not everyone's cup of tea, I'm sure, but unique and absorbing. For one thing, it's written in first person present tense-- and actually manages to pull that off. It allows a sense of immediacy that's really appropriate for the distorted way Sarah reacts to the world around her. The truth behind her supposed "craziness" makes for an interesting mystery, and the characters are all very three-dimensional. A definite keeper.

62. The Gilded Chain by Dave Duncan. Paperback, 396pp. 1st of The King's Blades. Follows a lucky, and gifted, swordsman from his earliest days as a raw recruit to his retirement as a teacher of others, fifty or more years later. A very good example of the swords-and-sorcery genre. The magically enhanced swordsmen known as King's Blades are compelled to serve their wards until death. The star of this story, Durendal, suffers through a binding to a traitorous ward; a war; a five year goosechase to a far-off land that earns him promotions but also enemies; and various other complications in a long and intriguing career full of adventure, magic, honor, duty, and betrayal. I just might have to pick up more of this series.

63. You Can't Send a Duck to Eagle School by Mac Anderson. Hardback, 123pp. A cute little motivational leadership-type book from the shelves of one of the trainers at work. It's all about hiring the right people from the job from the start; aka, you can train a nice person to be more skilled, but just try getting a crotchety skilled person to be nicer! A quick, thoughtful, common-sensical read.

64. Phoenix and Ashes by Mercedes Lackey. Paperback, 468pp. 3rd of the Elemental Masters. Basically, a variation of the Cinderella story set in Victorian England. Much better than Book 2's version of Sleeping Beauty. I was completely absorbed by the story. The texture added by the events of World War II was stronger here than in the others of this series, and anchored the more fantastical elements very well. There was only one tiny deus ex machina-- why TF were the elementals bothering to train the heroine themselves in the first place? Oh, and Reggie Fenyx made for a rather weak "Prince"! But compared to other recent examples of Lackey's work, this was brilliant.

65. The Wizard of London by Mercedes Lackey. Paperback, 377pp. 4th of the Elemental Masters. Not nearly as good as P&A. Part of that may be that I'm unfamiliar with the "Snow Queen" fairy tale that this one is based on. But part of it is also that (a) the titular character doesn't even appear until page 145; (b) the girls whose adventures are actually central to the story spend a lot of time involved in minor short-story-esque adventures not related to the main plot, in which they are accompanied by sentient telepathic birds, one of whom I could have accepted easily enough but the second of which stretches the suspension of disbelief to a winceworthy degree; and (c) when the titular character actually does resolve the main plot at the end, it's painfully abrupt and does not even allow him to get the girl! Agh. Irritatingly unsatisfying.

Next book: Reserved for the Cat, by Mercedes Lackey. It's Book 5 of the Elemental Masters, and the question is-- will it be as good as books 1 and 3, or as disappointing as 2 and 4? Time will tell.
~

Comments

[farononstarwolf.livejournal.com]

I seem to remember liking Reserved for the Cat, but I only read it once.

Have you read Jane Lindskold's "Firekeeper" series? (Through Wolf's Eyes is the first one in the series.)

[jedibuttercup]

I actually picked up "Through Wolf's Eyes" on my last trip to Powell's. I never go for those "raised by animals" storylines in general, but after rereading "Brothers to Dragons, Companion to Owls" I'm willing to give the rest of her work the chance to wow me, too. =)

[farononstarwolf.livejournal.com]

I think that she handled it really well--this is, of course, the memory of the last time that I read it all the way through, which was about three or four years ago.

I'll have to look to see if any of the local libraries have "Brothers to Dragons, Companion to Owls".

[tygermama.livejournal.com]

Have you ever read "Child of a Rainless Year" by Jane Lindskold? It's my favourite of all hers I've read so far, and I can't explain it without spoiling the plot.

[jedibuttercup]

I haven't yet; I picked up "Through Wolf's Eyes" as the next thing to try from her oeuvre. Next time at Powell's I'll see if I can find that one, too. =)

[kerravonsen]

I'm baffled as to why so many people love Mercedes Lackey: I gave up on her a long time ago. Perhaps if I had first read her work when I was 10, I might have a nostalgic love of it, but as it is... she destroys the "sense of wonder" in the fantastic.

[jedibuttercup]

She's pretty hit or miss from me. I read a good chunk of the Valdemar universe, and enjoyed some of them-- the Arrows trilogy, the Winds trilogy, the Vows of Honor books, and Take a Thief-- but the others in the 'verse contain too many High Drama elements for me to want to reread them.

I keep collecting some of her other work beause I'm a total sucker for fairy tale adaptions, and some of hers are good. The first of the Five Hundred Kingdoms books, for example, and the first and third of the Elemental Masters. And the others had promise-- before she completely fumbled their plots. *sigh*

On 63

[anabels.livejournal.com]

This or something like it should be complusory reading for all hiring managers! Especially ones hiring help desk personnel they expect me to train!

[trinfaneb.livejournal.com]

If a sure fire way to tell if a person is "nice" is ever found, I'm sure the jerks will complain that they are being discriminated against :)