Reading List: #27-38
Mar. 24th, 2010 03:19 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jedibuttercupTwenty-nine more days, twelve more books. Wow. I guess taking up reading at lunch again-- not to mention waking up early enough on the weekends now to give me a couple of hours of curling up with a novel and a cup of coffee before going anywhere-- has really boosted my pagecount quota. At this rate, I'll pass up last year's entire total before the first half of 2010 is over.
Anyway: Five young adult fantasy, one epic fantasy, one non-fiction, one military sci-fi, one Star Trek, one Star Wars, and two historically set monster mashups in this lot.
27. So You Want to Be a Wizard by Diane Duane. Paperback, 370pp. 1st of the Young Wizards series. I was just telling someone the other day that I'd pretty much skipped over the entire "young adult" category as a kid, due to despising being "talked down to"; I went from Dr. Seuss to CS Lewis to Tolkien by age 8, with only minor detours for Trixie Belden and Laura Ingalls Wilder and Robert Louis Stevenson. I wish someone had given me stories like this, or like Inkheart, back then; I adored this. While the language of the story is fairly clear and simple, the ideas are significant, and the characters very three dimensional; it's a very rich world, and I want to look up the rest of the series this year, too.
28. The Titan's Curse by Rick Riordan. Paperback, 312pp. 3rd of Percy Jackson and the Olympians.
29. The Battle of the Labyrinth by Rick Riordan. Paperback, 361pp. 4th of Percy Jackson and the Olympians.
30. The Last Olympian by Rick Riordan. Hardback, 381pp. 5th of Percy Jackson and the Olympians.
31. The Demigod Files by Rick Riordan. Hardback, 160pp. Part of Percy Jackson and the Olympians.
In contrast to Diane Duane's novel, these were not very deep; it reminds me of a recent post by![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
hradzka about what types of canon tend to spawn huge fandoms. Worlds that are extremely complex and satisfying in and of themselves (re: #27) tend to create much smaller numbers of ficcish offspring than the ones with more broadly sketched characters against a more paint-by-numbers world (like PJO), as there's a lot more room for the imagination to play in the latter. I guess it's like a vending machine dessert after a delicious gourmet meal? I like both, but I do admit they're not on the same playing field. Anyway! I enjoyed the stories, and the way the characters developed, and plan to reread again after the upcoming Month of Dresden in order to write more in this world. Percy is just darned likeable, the cast of secondary characters reasonably interesting, the Greek framework refreshing, and the ending wrapped up in Disney-worthy fashion; I smiled as I turned the last page of "The Last Olympian".
32. Wolf Hunting by Jane Lindskold. Paperback, 591pp. 5th of the Firekeeper series. Once again, the author sent Firekeeper, Blind Seer and Derian off someplace entirely new. I enjoyed the continuing character development, and the deeper exploration of magic as it works in Firekeeper's world was welcome, but I was a bit disappointed that so many of the the secondary cast I loved from the beginning of the series were once again completely ignored and left behind. Ah, well. I still liked it well enough to pick up the last of the series, though I may wait awhile to read it.
33. Claws That Catch by John Ringo and Travis S. Taylor. Paperback, 487pp. 4th of Looking Glass series. This series is military scifi on crack, I swear; hard scifi mixed with miliary hoo-rah with a heavy seasoning of fanboy ridiculousness. There are some really great ideas mixed in that I hardly ever see explored in science fiction worlds that make total sense, and some likeable characters, but on the other hand.... well, for example, there are sequences in this one where the interactions of chaos-producing fields temporarily turn the main characters into anime-inspired versions of themselves. I ate it up like candy, but it wouldn't be to everyone's taste.
34. The Gods of the Greeks by Karl Karenyi. Paperback nonfiction, 304pp. Dry as a freaking bone, with a side order of innuendo; I didn't know it was possible to make the murderous backstabby sexhappy soap-opera lives of the Greek gods sound boring, but this book manages it. I bought it for PJO background research, but I made the mistake of picking a tome with an "academic" approach rather than one that actually, you know, told the tales. If you want analysis on the origins and variations of all the stories, how the various iterations compare, which other countries' myths they connect to, and how everything comes back to the penis in the end, this book would be the perfect source, but it wasn't what I was looking for. It doesn't even include the stories of the gods' heroic children!
35. Mansfield Park and Mummies by Jane Austen and Vera Nazarian. Paperback, 555pp. Up there with P&P&Z in terms of delightful integration of the monster menace with the original story. One gets the sense here that most of the characters are either too polite, or caught up in mid-drama, to "notice" the mayhem, rather than callously self-absorbed as in the offputting whiplash of a book that was S&S&SM. The various monster influences are well-integrated into the existing characters, expanding on rather than rewriting their natures in most cases (though the werewolf bits were a bit much at times), and resolved well amid the events of the original storyline. And how much do I love Fanny Price? Even more after this particular adaptation. If you liked the original MP, this is well worth the purchase price.
36. The Romulan Way by Diane Duane. TOS #35. Paperback, 254pp. Reread. I'd put off picking this up again last year because I remembered being disappointed at the lack of Kirk in it as a teenager. Wow, was I blind or what? This is a brilliant book despite the absence of Enterprise, full of excellent characterization and fascinating Romulan worldbuilding and an awesomely competent Bones outside his usual medical setting. I'm glad I reread it before attempting my next Star Trek story, and I hope to read the next two of Duane's Rihannsu books sometime in April.
37. Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter by Seth Grahame-Smith. Hardback, 336pp. I'd have to check out an actual bio of AL again to get a good handle on how much of this was paint-by-numbers and how much original material before giving it unqualified praise; but I'd currently award it a thumbs up. Not as fun as P&P&Z, but then again, unlike that one, this isn't parodic at all; the author took a relatively ridiculous-sounding premise and made a serious, fairly believable story out of it. Very rooted in its period setting, and aside from the repeated dream sequences (which I found annoying) and the insufficiently explored abruptness of the saw-that-twist-coming ending, I enjoyed it very much.
38. Allegiance by Timothy Zahn. SW:OT. Paperback, 400pp. This is set between "A New Hope" and "Empire Strikes Back", so I wasn't expecting much in the way of character development of the main group. I was right; though there was some noodling on Han's internal transition from ex-Imperial smuggler toward full-on rebel that I appreciated. Fortunately, the "main" storyline follows a small group of stormtroopers instead, who fall out with their superiors during the Imperial crackdowns in the wake of Yavin IV. In the course of fighting injustice and unravelling a nasty plot they cross paths several times with Our Crew and (of course) Zahn's famous OC and future wife of Luke, Mara Jade. She's eighteen here and still convinced the Emperor's the best thing since sliced bread; I like her, but I'm aware that mileage varies greatly in the fandom. Lots of nice tiny character moments for Leia, Vader, and a few other familiar faces, but it's the good Imperial soldiers who shine most in this tale, and I liked that about it.
Next up: I'm currently picking my way through Myths of the Ancient Greeks for research purposes between chapters of Storm Front-- it's time to reread the Dresden Files series again. *rubbing hands together* Can't wait for April 8.
~
Anyway: Five young adult fantasy, one epic fantasy, one non-fiction, one military sci-fi, one Star Trek, one Star Wars, and two historically set monster mashups in this lot.
27. So You Want to Be a Wizard by Diane Duane. Paperback, 370pp. 1st of the Young Wizards series. I was just telling someone the other day that I'd pretty much skipped over the entire "young adult" category as a kid, due to despising being "talked down to"; I went from Dr. Seuss to CS Lewis to Tolkien by age 8, with only minor detours for Trixie Belden and Laura Ingalls Wilder and Robert Louis Stevenson. I wish someone had given me stories like this, or like Inkheart, back then; I adored this. While the language of the story is fairly clear and simple, the ideas are significant, and the characters very three dimensional; it's a very rich world, and I want to look up the rest of the series this year, too.
28. The Titan's Curse by Rick Riordan. Paperback, 312pp. 3rd of Percy Jackson and the Olympians.
29. The Battle of the Labyrinth by Rick Riordan. Paperback, 361pp. 4th of Percy Jackson and the Olympians.
30. The Last Olympian by Rick Riordan. Hardback, 381pp. 5th of Percy Jackson and the Olympians.
31. The Demigod Files by Rick Riordan. Hardback, 160pp. Part of Percy Jackson and the Olympians.
In contrast to Diane Duane's novel, these were not very deep; it reminds me of a recent post by
hradzka about what types of canon tend to spawn huge fandoms. Worlds that are extremely complex and satisfying in and of themselves (re: #27) tend to create much smaller numbers of ficcish offspring than the ones with more broadly sketched characters against a more paint-by-numbers world (like PJO), as there's a lot more room for the imagination to play in the latter. I guess it's like a vending machine dessert after a delicious gourmet meal? I like both, but I do admit they're not on the same playing field. Anyway! I enjoyed the stories, and the way the characters developed, and plan to reread again after the upcoming Month of Dresden in order to write more in this world. Percy is just darned likeable, the cast of secondary characters reasonably interesting, the Greek framework refreshing, and the ending wrapped up in Disney-worthy fashion; I smiled as I turned the last page of "The Last Olympian".32. Wolf Hunting by Jane Lindskold. Paperback, 591pp. 5th of the Firekeeper series. Once again, the author sent Firekeeper, Blind Seer and Derian off someplace entirely new. I enjoyed the continuing character development, and the deeper exploration of magic as it works in Firekeeper's world was welcome, but I was a bit disappointed that so many of the the secondary cast I loved from the beginning of the series were once again completely ignored and left behind. Ah, well. I still liked it well enough to pick up the last of the series, though I may wait awhile to read it.
33. Claws That Catch by John Ringo and Travis S. Taylor. Paperback, 487pp. 4th of Looking Glass series. This series is military scifi on crack, I swear; hard scifi mixed with miliary hoo-rah with a heavy seasoning of fanboy ridiculousness. There are some really great ideas mixed in that I hardly ever see explored in science fiction worlds that make total sense, and some likeable characters, but on the other hand.... well, for example, there are sequences in this one where the interactions of chaos-producing fields temporarily turn the main characters into anime-inspired versions of themselves. I ate it up like candy, but it wouldn't be to everyone's taste.
34. The Gods of the Greeks by Karl Karenyi. Paperback nonfiction, 304pp. Dry as a freaking bone, with a side order of innuendo; I didn't know it was possible to make the murderous backstabby sexhappy soap-opera lives of the Greek gods sound boring, but this book manages it. I bought it for PJO background research, but I made the mistake of picking a tome with an "academic" approach rather than one that actually, you know, told the tales. If you want analysis on the origins and variations of all the stories, how the various iterations compare, which other countries' myths they connect to, and how everything comes back to the penis in the end, this book would be the perfect source, but it wasn't what I was looking for. It doesn't even include the stories of the gods' heroic children!
35. Mansfield Park and Mummies by Jane Austen and Vera Nazarian. Paperback, 555pp. Up there with P&P&Z in terms of delightful integration of the monster menace with the original story. One gets the sense here that most of the characters are either too polite, or caught up in mid-drama, to "notice" the mayhem, rather than callously self-absorbed as in the offputting whiplash of a book that was S&S&SM. The various monster influences are well-integrated into the existing characters, expanding on rather than rewriting their natures in most cases (though the werewolf bits were a bit much at times), and resolved well amid the events of the original storyline. And how much do I love Fanny Price? Even more after this particular adaptation. If you liked the original MP, this is well worth the purchase price.
36. The Romulan Way by Diane Duane. TOS #35. Paperback, 254pp. Reread. I'd put off picking this up again last year because I remembered being disappointed at the lack of Kirk in it as a teenager. Wow, was I blind or what? This is a brilliant book despite the absence of Enterprise, full of excellent characterization and fascinating Romulan worldbuilding and an awesomely competent Bones outside his usual medical setting. I'm glad I reread it before attempting my next Star Trek story, and I hope to read the next two of Duane's Rihannsu books sometime in April.
37. Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter by Seth Grahame-Smith. Hardback, 336pp. I'd have to check out an actual bio of AL again to get a good handle on how much of this was paint-by-numbers and how much original material before giving it unqualified praise; but I'd currently award it a thumbs up. Not as fun as P&P&Z, but then again, unlike that one, this isn't parodic at all; the author took a relatively ridiculous-sounding premise and made a serious, fairly believable story out of it. Very rooted in its period setting, and aside from the repeated dream sequences (which I found annoying) and the insufficiently explored abruptness of the saw-that-twist-coming ending, I enjoyed it very much.
38. Allegiance by Timothy Zahn. SW:OT. Paperback, 400pp. This is set between "A New Hope" and "Empire Strikes Back", so I wasn't expecting much in the way of character development of the main group. I was right; though there was some noodling on Han's internal transition from ex-Imperial smuggler toward full-on rebel that I appreciated. Fortunately, the "main" storyline follows a small group of stormtroopers instead, who fall out with their superiors during the Imperial crackdowns in the wake of Yavin IV. In the course of fighting injustice and unravelling a nasty plot they cross paths several times with Our Crew and (of course) Zahn's famous OC and future wife of Luke, Mara Jade. She's eighteen here and still convinced the Emperor's the best thing since sliced bread; I like her, but I'm aware that mileage varies greatly in the fandom. Lots of nice tiny character moments for Leia, Vader, and a few other familiar faces, but it's the good Imperial soldiers who shine most in this tale, and I liked that about it.
Next up: I'm currently picking my way through Myths of the Ancient Greeks for research purposes between chapters of Storm Front-- it's time to reread the Dresden Files series again. *rubbing hands together* Can't wait for April 8.
~
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2010-03-24 10:24 pm (UTC)Anyway... yay! New Dresden! :D
no subject
Date: 2010-03-24 10:31 pm (UTC)I'm also enjoying the Percy Jackson books, and now, apparently, I have to read MP&M. Oh dear... :)
no subject
Date: 2010-03-24 11:12 pm (UTC)Hmmm. I was also reading Lewis and Tolkien by age 8, and Dickens at 9, but I was also reading Nancy Drew and The Three Investigators during that time. And I stuck in YA for a long while, because I found the fantasy there to be much more interesting than some of the stuff I tried in the "grownup" section. (I still like Anne McCaffery's YA Pern books better than the rest.)
no subject
Date: 2010-03-25 12:59 am (UTC)I'm an awed fan of her Star Trek novels - "Spock's World" and "Wounded Sky" in particular are phenomenal. Her Rihannsu series of Trek novels are quite good, too, although the latter ones are 1) broken up oddly and 2) hard to find. "The Bloodwing Voyages" compiles the first 4 books into one, thankfully. If you can't track down the last one ("The Empty Chair") send me a note & I'll loan our copy to you.
Raymond Feist's Midkemia series was quite good, if you want quite a few long reads. "Mistress of the Empire" is marvelous, although you need to read the other books first, as it's the last time-wise.
no subject
Date: 2010-03-25 12:59 am (UTC)Speaking of Diane Duane's Young Wizard series, have you read "The Book of Night with Moon" and "To Visit the Queen"? Those are pretty fabulous, too. And they would make such a great crossover with the Dresden Files with Mister as a lead character...
no subject
Date: 2010-03-25 04:46 am (UTC)And Allegiance! The Hand of Justice! Young Mara Jade! Hijinks Galore!
Seriously, you can probably tell I like the book a lot, for the reasons you gave and because Zahn delivers a classic action/adventure/intrigue tale while peeling back the facade of the empire to the people underneath.
Oh, btw, have you read Zahn's original novel Angelmass? It's agreat blend of classic Asmov style sci-fi, adventure, likeable characters and a couple of really clever ideas.
no subject
Date: 2010-03-25 06:29 am (UTC)Had you Robert Graves' Greek Mythology at hand, because that's really a good take on the myths, though in two hefty volumes. For the poetic and simpler side, there's D'aulaire's book of Greek Myths, with lovely drawings.
no subject
Date: 2010-03-27 02:18 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-03-27 02:20 am (UTC)PJO was fun; it gives me Ideas, like HP did. The first Young Wizard book.... I just wanted to bask in. I plan to pick up the others as I have the time and opportunity. I can't believe no one ever handed me a copy before this!
no subject
Date: 2010-03-27 02:31 am (UTC)It's kind of fun sampling it now, though. Any other recommendations? =)
no subject
Date: 2010-03-27 02:37 am (UTC)"The Wounded Sky" is one of those books that seriously transcends its genre; it's more a meditation on character than an actual adventure, but oh, so much love. I've never forgotten it, not since the first time I read it as a teenager. The Rihannsu books I didn't appreciate quite as much back then as I do now, but I agree; they're also excellent. I plan to pick the series back up when I'm finished rereading the Dresden Files series. I appreciate the offer of the loan; but I hope to be able to track the fifth one down when I visit Powells next month. =)
no subject
Date: 2010-03-27 02:40 am (UTC)No, I haven't read those; "So You Want To Be a Wizard" is the first of her YA books I've ever picked up. I need to track the next few down at Powells, myself. =)
no subject
Date: 2010-03-27 02:43 am (UTC)I've never really picked up any of his original stuff, but one of these days I ought to, huh? Thanks for the rec.
no subject
Date: 2010-03-27 02:46 am (UTC)*googles* ... Ah, I see; she wrote in the later generations. I stuck pretty closely to the Kirkverse. I'm really, really not surprised at your ranking, though, even without having touched them. =)
Re: the Greek myths; I was initially after something shortish but comprehensive for background info, and I was in a Borders with a few bucks and no internet access to check the titles, so.... Yeah. Not the best idea I ever had. If I need more research material, I'll keep those recs in mind.
no subject
Date: 2010-03-27 05:20 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-03-27 02:08 pm (UTC)Oh, so totally! The final battle just absolutely kills me every time, with worry and happiness and awe at the sheer level of writing. And then the last scene in Timeheart? "Go and find out?" sob
One of these days, I am going to be at the same con as Diane Duane. I am. If I have to fly to the UK again!
no subject
Date: 2010-03-31 10:23 pm (UTC)I love re-reading Duane's "Rihannsu" novels every few years, and The Romulan Way is an essential link between My Enemy, My Ally and the latter books, even though Ael and her Bloodwing don't really get to strut their stuff until nearly the end.
Esther, wherever you are, I apologize.
Date: 2010-04-21 06:27 pm (UTC)Re: Esther, wherever you are, I apologize.
Date: 2010-04-22 04:23 am (UTC)Spock Enslaved is a classic of this genre. Now I have to come up with a term for it: Purple prose?
Date: 2010-04-22 05:55 am (UTC)