Reading List: #39-68
Jun. 19th, 2010 11:08 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jedibuttercupIt's been about eighty-seven days-- and thirty books-- since I last posted one of these. As predicted, I am, in fact, already ahead of last year's entire total with half a year to go. =)
(What I am not is finished with the Dresden Files reread; everyone's D: reactions to Changes, even without spoilers, have had me dragging my feet.)
So, numbered in the order I finished them, here are: five modern fantasy, two graphic novels, four Regency-era, one non-fiction, six epic fantasy, two Star Wars, three Star Trek, two thrillers, two Young Adult, and three space opera.
39. Storm Front by Jim Butcher. Paperback, 322pp. 1st of the Dresden Files. Reread.
40. Fool Moon by Jim Butcher. Paperback, 342pp. 2nd of the Dresden Files. Reread.
42. Grave Peril by Jim Butcher. Paperback, 378pp. 3rd of the Dresden Files. Reread.
43. Summer Knight by Jim Butcher. Paperback, 371pp. 4th of the Dresden Files. Reread.
68. Death Masks by Jim Butcher. Paperback, 374pp. 5th of the Dresden Files. Reread.
This is something like my fourth reread of the series, and I take away more from it every time. I keep forgetting how comparatively ignorant and innocent Harry was when the series started; he knew nothing about the differences in the Vampire courts until Michael told him about them in GP, for example, nor the intricacies of the Faerie Courts before Bob told him about them in SK despite having the Leanansidhe for a godmother, and the magical murder in SF is such a shock to him it makes him sick. (He gets hard quick, doesn't he?)
There's also the fact that Marcone is at the root of, like, every other plot in the early part of the series, even ones that by later implication must have been instigated or amplified by Black Council activity-- the Bad Dudes apparently had their eye on him and his role of authority in the city even earlier than they started treating Harry as a credible opponent, which is kind of interesting. But more importantly-- I also keep forgetting that before DM, before Harry's encounters with Nicodemus and Shiro, he was something of a loose cannon in that he never thought about why he did what he did. He was more running away from what he feared he could become than striving for an actual ideal.
I'd be fascinated to read an AU of what the DF-verse might have been like if Harry hadn't acquired that level of self-examination just in time to firm up his resistance to Lasciel. *shiver* I'd also kinda, really like to write a story crossing the DM character Anna Valmont into Leverage, as one of Tara Cole's previous aliases. *ponder*
41. Retreat by Joss Whedon & etc. Graphic novel, 144pp. B:tVS s8:v6. OMGWTF. I-- no. I just-- argh. I can't even articulate my response to this series; I keep buying it only for the train-wreck factor. Not. My. Canon.
44. Dawn of the Dreadfuls by Steve Hockensmith. Paperback, 287pp. Prequel to P&P&Z. Not quite as Austen-y as P&P&Z itself, but it doesn't suffer much for that. I could have done without the various romantic subplots revolving around Lizzy, since it was 100% obvious none of them would catch her with Darcy still in her future, but aside from a few moments of eye-roll I really enjoyed the characterizations in this. It also fills in some of the worldbuilding gaps that were glossed over in the other book, firming up the logical framework for such a bizarre alternate universe.
45. Myths of the Ancient Greeks by Richard P. Martin. Paperback nonfiction, 368pp. I read this one out of curiosity slash research after seeing the PJO movie and the new Clash of the Titans flick. Interesting stuff; the Greek deities were a generally capricious lot, and not many of their Heroes had a chance to be happy in their lives. Definitely more readable than the other book on the subject I picked up; I've already used a few bits of info from this one in PJO crossovers, and will probably use it as a resource in future as well.
46. A Mighty Fortress by David Weber. Hardback, 720pp. 4th of Safehold series. *sigh* What to say about this one? The action and larger worldbuilding plot continued to intrigue me, but the people are starting to lose my interest. Firstly, due to the main characters spreading out to pursue individual threads of action, there's an extreme amount of "As You Know, Bob" syndrome going on. More show and less tell would have helped. Also, the polarized black/white nature of Weber's characterizations is beginning to pall, just as it did by the fourth book of the last series of his I tried to read (Honor Herrington). Further, Weber did some things with the Merlin character in this book that rang disappointingly false with previous characterization. I may continue reading these, but I won't be keeping them anymore.
47. Luke Skywalker and the Shadows of Mindor by Matthew Stover. SW:OT. Paperback, 366pp.
52. Death Troopers by Joe Schreiber. SW:OT. Hardback, 234pp.
Both of these books are set back in the "classic" Star Wars era that I prefer; the first one set a little bit after the movies and the second one just before them.
The first one's about Luke's promotion to General, and deals a lot with his guilt over all the people that have died at least in part due to his actions since he left Tatooine, mixed with a lot of typical Star Wars action. I could have done without the framing device, but I enjoyed the rest of the tale. All of the main characters got their share of moments to shine, and the antagonist was as creepy as advertised. (I'd wondered what had happened to the Hands who weren't Mara). Not as good as a Zahn tale, but fun. I hope they go back to fill in more intraseries moments like this in future, instead of continuing on in the 40-years-later segments (which I doubt I'll ever read).
The second one is, and I'm not joking here, the Star Wars answer to the Zombie AU craze. Only, not AU; it makes an effort at fitting into what passes for canon in the 'verse, and mostly succeeds. Han and Chewie are the only main characters who have much of a presence in it, having been captured by the Empire at some point just prior to their stop on Tattooine and therefore getting caught up in the Vader-ordered bio-project that gets out of hand to cause the mess; and there's plenty of typical zombie-movie ick and creepiness and extreme deathcount going on. I was pretty entertained, but it's probably not to everyone's taste.
48 & 49. Swordhunt and Honor Blade by Diane Duane. ST:TOS #95 & 96. Paperback, 256pp + 220pp. My main complaint with these is that they were too short and their plotting rather incomplete. Neither will count as a favorite novel due to those factors, but Duane's characterization and grasp of Rihannsu culture are always excellent, and I love this subseries in general. I need to pick up the next one now to finish off the storyline.
56. Star Trek: Nero by Mike Johnson, Tim Jones, and David Messina. Graphic novel, 104pp. Tie-in. Fills in some of the blanks as to why Nero wasn't seen or heard from for 25 years after the destruction of the Kelvin, and what led to the destruction of the Klingon armada that Uhura picks up a message about in the STXI movie. Some parts of it were still a little unconvincing, but it makes more sense than the complete lack of explanation we got on-screen.
57. Unspoken Truth by Margaret Wander Bonanno. ST:TOS. Paperback, 386pp. OK. So, I have a soft spot for Saavik. And I really got into her struggle to reconcile her (unwanted) past and the demands it was making on her in this storyline with the (wanted) obligations of her present, and how she resolved the conflict. However, it seemed to completely ignore a great deal of what we were told about Saavik's past in The Pandora Principle, specifically about the conditions of her early childhood and the mother figure Spock met in that one, and that threw me. I'm not sure how much of this I'll be able to integrate into my personal view of her, due to that factor.
50. Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict by Laurie Viera Rigler. Paperback, 288pp. I've been revisiting a lot of Austen-verse lately, and some of its hangers-on are definitely less rereadable than others. This one was well enough written within its framework, but left me disappointed. It's about an Austen-obsessed modern girl with awful self-inflicted relationship luck who "wakes up" in the body of a random woman in Regency England. The levels of realism early on are refreshing as she runs up against limitations inherent to that time that don't match her expectations, but it gets squidgier as it goes along, with a high handwavium factor, dubious relationship and sexuality elements, and an unsatisfying resolution as she just "fades out" without ever getting home, leaving the previously unknown real personality occupying the body again and dealing with the situation left for her (fortunately, a positive one).
51. Angelmass by Timothy Zahn. Paperback, 531pp. A space opera full of interesting characters and interesting science with an interesting premise. I'm not sure why I didn't feel it was a keeper? I really liked the street kid and the inept scholar-spy and their separate and intersecting plot-elements, and I liked that there was real ambiguity about whether either empire involved was actually evil, and the "angel" question was intriguing. But some parts of the larger arc seemed formulaic and tonally reminiscent of Zahn's Star Wars work, I think, which kept me from fully engaging with it.
53. Impact by Douglas Preston. Hardback, 364pp. I've been disappointed by Preston & Child's joint work for awhile as they've lately been obsessed by a main character I cannot identify with, but when writing alone Preston's got a real gift for writing accessible thrillers. (I've loved all of them but Blasphemy, which I avoided for thematic reasons.) This one's no exception. There are three main threads of the storyline, following three quite different main characters, all with action and peril elements, and they all intersect by the end for an intriguing resolution. The sciency bits are explained well enough to keep the plot moving without bogging down in detail. Overall: fast paced fun.
54. Terminal Freeze by Lincoln Child. Hardback, 320pp. The other half of the Preston & Child duo is a lot more formulaic when writing alone. This was another fast-paced read, but it felt like an arctic-set retread of Relic, a very predictably-unfolding creature feature from the native peoples' ignored warning at the beginning through the horror elements as people start to go inexplicably missing to the gory chase-and-try-to-escape scenes until the small group of weakly-written survivors (whose names and details I forgot as soon as the book was closed) finally make it to safety. I got some transient enjoyment out of it, but it's not a keeper.
55. Thieves Like Us by Stephen Cole. Hardback, 350pp. This one's from the British Young Adult Literature category, and kind of reminded me of a cross between the Leverage TV series and the supernatural elements of the recent Mummy movies, starring a bunch of criminally inclined European teenagers with a mysterious patron who have made their own family together and face some serious obstacles in pursuit of their latest client's object of interest. A fairly quick, enjoyable read; I wouldn't mind picking up a sequel. (Or writing a fic crossing it into Parker's backstory!)
58. Irons in the Fire by Juliet E. McKenna. Paperback, 621pp. 1st of the Lescari Revolution.
59. Blood in the Water by Juliet E. McKenna. Paperback, 672pp. 2nd of the Lescari Revolution.
I enjoyed the first book of this series more than the second, mostly due to the decreased focus on the characters I liked best as the storyline progressed, but I'll probably hang onto them long enough to at least read the third when it comes out. The basic sketch is that there's a particular country, broken into six dukedoms, that's been at civil war for hundreds of years. The dukes don't want to stop, because the system benefits them as is, plus if any of them ever actually win they can set up as king; but the populace are pretty down-trodden. So some exiles arrange some funding and decide to conquer the whole place themselves to stop all the killing and taxing and misery. This goes... not quite as well as they had hoped, obviously; though they are slowly accomplishing their goals, it's taking a toll on all of them, and their enemies aren't all idiots. Intriguing if you're a worldbuilding fan, but kind of wordy and wearing otherwise.
60. The Red Pyramid by Rick Riordan. Hardback, 516pp. 1st of the Kane Chronicles. This is the new series by the author of the Percy Jackson and the Olympian series, starring a pair of mixed-race siblings that find out they are descended from the Pharoahs and have magical gifts they need to learn how to control, while caught up in a race against time to save the world from a malevolent Egyptian deity. Just like PJO, they're virtually on their own for most of it, stripped of an adult support structure by various plot-factors; and just like the later PJO books, it's a fun, decently well-characterized young-adult-level read. I'll probably collect these, too.
61. Sharpe's Gold by Bernard Cornwell. Paperback, 248pp. Part of a series. This is the third of the Sharpe books I've read; and I still enjoy every word of them. They're very immersive; the characters engaging, the world detailed and realistic, and the plots full of quick-moving action. I noticed more of the differences in this one between the British TV movie version and the book, particularly with Teresa's storyline; I think I like the book version better, though the televised plot is certainly "cleaner"!
62. Magic Casement by Dave Duncan. Paperback, 307pp. 1st of A Man of His Word.
63. Faery Lands Forlorn by Dave Duncan. Paperback, 335pp. 2nd of A Man of His Word.
64. Perilous Seas by Dave Duncan. Paperback, 336pp. 3rd of A Man of His Word.
65. Emperor and Clown by Dave Duncan. Paperback, 469pp. 4th of A Man of His Word.
This series apparently came out in the early '90's while I was in high school, and in some ways the age of it shows; it's got that whole "a different race for each fantasy country" thing going on, for example, that was popular with Eddings et. al. at the time. But aside from that, Duncan's propensity for really unique worldbuilding and storylines once again struck gold, with a nice, twisty quest plot with lots of scenery changes both civilized and not that built to a quite satisfactory resolution. I could hardly put these down; I read them all at a gulp over a weekend, and I'll remember the main characters for a long, long time (despite the fact that I wanted to slap the princess for being, well, a typical self-centered teenaged girl for much of the plot!) Quality fantasy writing, this.
66. Gallows Thief by Bernard Cornwell. Paperback, 293pp. I picked this up because it's a standalone by the writer of the Sharpe series, set in the same time period, about a former army officer back in England and down on his luck who takes up a temporary investigative job looking into the possible innocence of a young man sentenced to hang for murder. A very engaging main character, detailed and sometimes gritty scene-setting, and an interesting investigative/action plot sucked me right in; it's something like a cross between Sharpe and Jane Austen's work with a pre-Sherlock-Holmes type theme. Four out of four stars from me.
67. Grand Central Arena by Ryk E. Spoor. Paperback, 671pp. This space opera started off with a bang but kind of fell flat by the end. A group of interesting characters initiate humanity's first attempt at faster-than-light travel, and find themselves in a really strange new world with rules they don't yet understand. The exploration and action and alien encounters are all fun; the problem is that the author never really bothers to answer half the questions raised by the existence of the place they're exploring, and far too many of the things that happen to the characters are way too convenient. And then there's the repeated references to external stories (one main character is modelled after Mark C. Duquesne, for example) that the reader may not be familiar with. Not to mention the way the story just ends without really ending. Maybe this is meant to stir interest in a series? If so, it missed the mark with me.
Next up: The rest of the Dresden Files, mixed in with others from my to-read stack. The Children of Kings, maybe?
~
(What I am not is finished with the Dresden Files reread; everyone's D: reactions to Changes, even without spoilers, have had me dragging my feet.)
So, numbered in the order I finished them, here are: five modern fantasy, two graphic novels, four Regency-era, one non-fiction, six epic fantasy, two Star Wars, three Star Trek, two thrillers, two Young Adult, and three space opera.
39. Storm Front by Jim Butcher. Paperback, 322pp. 1st of the Dresden Files. Reread.
40. Fool Moon by Jim Butcher. Paperback, 342pp. 2nd of the Dresden Files. Reread.
42. Grave Peril by Jim Butcher. Paperback, 378pp. 3rd of the Dresden Files. Reread.
43. Summer Knight by Jim Butcher. Paperback, 371pp. 4th of the Dresden Files. Reread.
68. Death Masks by Jim Butcher. Paperback, 374pp. 5th of the Dresden Files. Reread.
This is something like my fourth reread of the series, and I take away more from it every time. I keep forgetting how comparatively ignorant and innocent Harry was when the series started; he knew nothing about the differences in the Vampire courts until Michael told him about them in GP, for example, nor the intricacies of the Faerie Courts before Bob told him about them in SK despite having the Leanansidhe for a godmother, and the magical murder in SF is such a shock to him it makes him sick. (He gets hard quick, doesn't he?)
There's also the fact that Marcone is at the root of, like, every other plot in the early part of the series, even ones that by later implication must have been instigated or amplified by Black Council activity-- the Bad Dudes apparently had their eye on him and his role of authority in the city even earlier than they started treating Harry as a credible opponent, which is kind of interesting. But more importantly-- I also keep forgetting that before DM, before Harry's encounters with Nicodemus and Shiro, he was something of a loose cannon in that he never thought about why he did what he did. He was more running away from what he feared he could become than striving for an actual ideal.
I'd be fascinated to read an AU of what the DF-verse might have been like if Harry hadn't acquired that level of self-examination just in time to firm up his resistance to Lasciel. *shiver* I'd also kinda, really like to write a story crossing the DM character Anna Valmont into Leverage, as one of Tara Cole's previous aliases. *ponder*
41. Retreat by Joss Whedon & etc. Graphic novel, 144pp. B:tVS s8:v6. OMGWTF. I-- no. I just-- argh. I can't even articulate my response to this series; I keep buying it only for the train-wreck factor. Not. My. Canon.
44. Dawn of the Dreadfuls by Steve Hockensmith. Paperback, 287pp. Prequel to P&P&Z. Not quite as Austen-y as P&P&Z itself, but it doesn't suffer much for that. I could have done without the various romantic subplots revolving around Lizzy, since it was 100% obvious none of them would catch her with Darcy still in her future, but aside from a few moments of eye-roll I really enjoyed the characterizations in this. It also fills in some of the worldbuilding gaps that were glossed over in the other book, firming up the logical framework for such a bizarre alternate universe.
45. Myths of the Ancient Greeks by Richard P. Martin. Paperback nonfiction, 368pp. I read this one out of curiosity slash research after seeing the PJO movie and the new Clash of the Titans flick. Interesting stuff; the Greek deities were a generally capricious lot, and not many of their Heroes had a chance to be happy in their lives. Definitely more readable than the other book on the subject I picked up; I've already used a few bits of info from this one in PJO crossovers, and will probably use it as a resource in future as well.
46. A Mighty Fortress by David Weber. Hardback, 720pp. 4th of Safehold series. *sigh* What to say about this one? The action and larger worldbuilding plot continued to intrigue me, but the people are starting to lose my interest. Firstly, due to the main characters spreading out to pursue individual threads of action, there's an extreme amount of "As You Know, Bob" syndrome going on. More show and less tell would have helped. Also, the polarized black/white nature of Weber's characterizations is beginning to pall, just as it did by the fourth book of the last series of his I tried to read (Honor Herrington). Further, Weber did some things with the Merlin character in this book that rang disappointingly false with previous characterization. I may continue reading these, but I won't be keeping them anymore.
47. Luke Skywalker and the Shadows of Mindor by Matthew Stover. SW:OT. Paperback, 366pp.
52. Death Troopers by Joe Schreiber. SW:OT. Hardback, 234pp.
Both of these books are set back in the "classic" Star Wars era that I prefer; the first one set a little bit after the movies and the second one just before them.
The first one's about Luke's promotion to General, and deals a lot with his guilt over all the people that have died at least in part due to his actions since he left Tatooine, mixed with a lot of typical Star Wars action. I could have done without the framing device, but I enjoyed the rest of the tale. All of the main characters got their share of moments to shine, and the antagonist was as creepy as advertised. (I'd wondered what had happened to the Hands who weren't Mara). Not as good as a Zahn tale, but fun. I hope they go back to fill in more intraseries moments like this in future, instead of continuing on in the 40-years-later segments (which I doubt I'll ever read).
The second one is, and I'm not joking here, the Star Wars answer to the Zombie AU craze. Only, not AU; it makes an effort at fitting into what passes for canon in the 'verse, and mostly succeeds. Han and Chewie are the only main characters who have much of a presence in it, having been captured by the Empire at some point just prior to their stop on Tattooine and therefore getting caught up in the Vader-ordered bio-project that gets out of hand to cause the mess; and there's plenty of typical zombie-movie ick and creepiness and extreme deathcount going on. I was pretty entertained, but it's probably not to everyone's taste.
48 & 49. Swordhunt and Honor Blade by Diane Duane. ST:TOS #95 & 96. Paperback, 256pp + 220pp. My main complaint with these is that they were too short and their plotting rather incomplete. Neither will count as a favorite novel due to those factors, but Duane's characterization and grasp of Rihannsu culture are always excellent, and I love this subseries in general. I need to pick up the next one now to finish off the storyline.
56. Star Trek: Nero by Mike Johnson, Tim Jones, and David Messina. Graphic novel, 104pp. Tie-in. Fills in some of the blanks as to why Nero wasn't seen or heard from for 25 years after the destruction of the Kelvin, and what led to the destruction of the Klingon armada that Uhura picks up a message about in the STXI movie. Some parts of it were still a little unconvincing, but it makes more sense than the complete lack of explanation we got on-screen.
57. Unspoken Truth by Margaret Wander Bonanno. ST:TOS. Paperback, 386pp. OK. So, I have a soft spot for Saavik. And I really got into her struggle to reconcile her (unwanted) past and the demands it was making on her in this storyline with the (wanted) obligations of her present, and how she resolved the conflict. However, it seemed to completely ignore a great deal of what we were told about Saavik's past in The Pandora Principle, specifically about the conditions of her early childhood and the mother figure Spock met in that one, and that threw me. I'm not sure how much of this I'll be able to integrate into my personal view of her, due to that factor.
50. Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict by Laurie Viera Rigler. Paperback, 288pp. I've been revisiting a lot of Austen-verse lately, and some of its hangers-on are definitely less rereadable than others. This one was well enough written within its framework, but left me disappointed. It's about an Austen-obsessed modern girl with awful self-inflicted relationship luck who "wakes up" in the body of a random woman in Regency England. The levels of realism early on are refreshing as she runs up against limitations inherent to that time that don't match her expectations, but it gets squidgier as it goes along, with a high handwavium factor, dubious relationship and sexuality elements, and an unsatisfying resolution as she just "fades out" without ever getting home, leaving the previously unknown real personality occupying the body again and dealing with the situation left for her (fortunately, a positive one).
51. Angelmass by Timothy Zahn. Paperback, 531pp. A space opera full of interesting characters and interesting science with an interesting premise. I'm not sure why I didn't feel it was a keeper? I really liked the street kid and the inept scholar-spy and their separate and intersecting plot-elements, and I liked that there was real ambiguity about whether either empire involved was actually evil, and the "angel" question was intriguing. But some parts of the larger arc seemed formulaic and tonally reminiscent of Zahn's Star Wars work, I think, which kept me from fully engaging with it.
53. Impact by Douglas Preston. Hardback, 364pp. I've been disappointed by Preston & Child's joint work for awhile as they've lately been obsessed by a main character I cannot identify with, but when writing alone Preston's got a real gift for writing accessible thrillers. (I've loved all of them but Blasphemy, which I avoided for thematic reasons.) This one's no exception. There are three main threads of the storyline, following three quite different main characters, all with action and peril elements, and they all intersect by the end for an intriguing resolution. The sciency bits are explained well enough to keep the plot moving without bogging down in detail. Overall: fast paced fun.
54. Terminal Freeze by Lincoln Child. Hardback, 320pp. The other half of the Preston & Child duo is a lot more formulaic when writing alone. This was another fast-paced read, but it felt like an arctic-set retread of Relic, a very predictably-unfolding creature feature from the native peoples' ignored warning at the beginning through the horror elements as people start to go inexplicably missing to the gory chase-and-try-to-escape scenes until the small group of weakly-written survivors (whose names and details I forgot as soon as the book was closed) finally make it to safety. I got some transient enjoyment out of it, but it's not a keeper.
55. Thieves Like Us by Stephen Cole. Hardback, 350pp. This one's from the British Young Adult Literature category, and kind of reminded me of a cross between the Leverage TV series and the supernatural elements of the recent Mummy movies, starring a bunch of criminally inclined European teenagers with a mysterious patron who have made their own family together and face some serious obstacles in pursuit of their latest client's object of interest. A fairly quick, enjoyable read; I wouldn't mind picking up a sequel. (Or writing a fic crossing it into Parker's backstory!)
58. Irons in the Fire by Juliet E. McKenna. Paperback, 621pp. 1st of the Lescari Revolution.
59. Blood in the Water by Juliet E. McKenna. Paperback, 672pp. 2nd of the Lescari Revolution.
I enjoyed the first book of this series more than the second, mostly due to the decreased focus on the characters I liked best as the storyline progressed, but I'll probably hang onto them long enough to at least read the third when it comes out. The basic sketch is that there's a particular country, broken into six dukedoms, that's been at civil war for hundreds of years. The dukes don't want to stop, because the system benefits them as is, plus if any of them ever actually win they can set up as king; but the populace are pretty down-trodden. So some exiles arrange some funding and decide to conquer the whole place themselves to stop all the killing and taxing and misery. This goes... not quite as well as they had hoped, obviously; though they are slowly accomplishing their goals, it's taking a toll on all of them, and their enemies aren't all idiots. Intriguing if you're a worldbuilding fan, but kind of wordy and wearing otherwise.
60. The Red Pyramid by Rick Riordan. Hardback, 516pp. 1st of the Kane Chronicles. This is the new series by the author of the Percy Jackson and the Olympian series, starring a pair of mixed-race siblings that find out they are descended from the Pharoahs and have magical gifts they need to learn how to control, while caught up in a race against time to save the world from a malevolent Egyptian deity. Just like PJO, they're virtually on their own for most of it, stripped of an adult support structure by various plot-factors; and just like the later PJO books, it's a fun, decently well-characterized young-adult-level read. I'll probably collect these, too.
61. Sharpe's Gold by Bernard Cornwell. Paperback, 248pp. Part of a series. This is the third of the Sharpe books I've read; and I still enjoy every word of them. They're very immersive; the characters engaging, the world detailed and realistic, and the plots full of quick-moving action. I noticed more of the differences in this one between the British TV movie version and the book, particularly with Teresa's storyline; I think I like the book version better, though the televised plot is certainly "cleaner"!
62. Magic Casement by Dave Duncan. Paperback, 307pp. 1st of A Man of His Word.
63. Faery Lands Forlorn by Dave Duncan. Paperback, 335pp. 2nd of A Man of His Word.
64. Perilous Seas by Dave Duncan. Paperback, 336pp. 3rd of A Man of His Word.
65. Emperor and Clown by Dave Duncan. Paperback, 469pp. 4th of A Man of His Word.
This series apparently came out in the early '90's while I was in high school, and in some ways the age of it shows; it's got that whole "a different race for each fantasy country" thing going on, for example, that was popular with Eddings et. al. at the time. But aside from that, Duncan's propensity for really unique worldbuilding and storylines once again struck gold, with a nice, twisty quest plot with lots of scenery changes both civilized and not that built to a quite satisfactory resolution. I could hardly put these down; I read them all at a gulp over a weekend, and I'll remember the main characters for a long, long time (despite the fact that I wanted to slap the princess for being, well, a typical self-centered teenaged girl for much of the plot!) Quality fantasy writing, this.
66. Gallows Thief by Bernard Cornwell. Paperback, 293pp. I picked this up because it's a standalone by the writer of the Sharpe series, set in the same time period, about a former army officer back in England and down on his luck who takes up a temporary investigative job looking into the possible innocence of a young man sentenced to hang for murder. A very engaging main character, detailed and sometimes gritty scene-setting, and an interesting investigative/action plot sucked me right in; it's something like a cross between Sharpe and Jane Austen's work with a pre-Sherlock-Holmes type theme. Four out of four stars from me.
67. Grand Central Arena by Ryk E. Spoor. Paperback, 671pp. This space opera started off with a bang but kind of fell flat by the end. A group of interesting characters initiate humanity's first attempt at faster-than-light travel, and find themselves in a really strange new world with rules they don't yet understand. The exploration and action and alien encounters are all fun; the problem is that the author never really bothers to answer half the questions raised by the existence of the place they're exploring, and far too many of the things that happen to the characters are way too convenient. And then there's the repeated references to external stories (one main character is modelled after Mark C. Duquesne, for example) that the reader may not be familiar with. Not to mention the way the story just ends without really ending. Maybe this is meant to stir interest in a series? If so, it missed the mark with me.
Next up: The rest of the Dresden Files, mixed in with others from my to-read stack. The Children of Kings, maybe?
~
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no subject
Date: 2010-06-20 07:10 am (UTC)Death Troopers, just no. A personal thing against zombies, vampires, etc. *and I like horror, too* I realize it lets me out of many well-thought-of series such as Buffy and Twilight, but oh well. I'm not sure why, but the blue-ghostie elements in SW things are fine, though, and I liked Callista's weird fate and some boyfriend of hers (?) ending up with a new body.
Can never get enough of Cornwell --- damn, he's got everything down to a science, characterization, action, the historical sweep --- I want to be reincarnated as him.
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Date: 2010-06-25 05:27 pm (UTC)Is it the mere existence of zombies, or the romanticism/realism level of them in most pop fiction that gets to you? If it's the latter, you might be interested in World War Z; it's unique among literature I've read in that genre in that it didn't require any suspension of disbelief. *shivers*
I've been buying the Sharpe books one at a time and far apart to prolong the enjoyment, but I might have to start picking up others of his work in the interim, after this. =) Any you'd specifically recommend?
Have been away a few days ...
Date: 2010-06-27 03:28 am (UTC)Is it the mere existence of zombies, or the romanticism/realism level of them in most pop fiction that gets to you?
Zombies, vampires and demons don't move me because they are too gruesome, and not subtle like ghosts are. I also have religious objections to those sorts of stories. For a sheer chill, I can't think of anything better than Jackson's Legend of Hill House and its movie *the 60s one*. It's earthbound fear and completely enthralling. Brr. It's also not bloody, and I shrink from blood and stuff, leaning more to the psychological terrors. I guess SW is the setting I enjoy most; I tried to like Firefly and watched its movie, yet it didn't inspire any fannish devotion. It was well done, and in the 'dirty, realistic' sci-fi mode that is so enjoyable *like, they need money and their ship doesn't work right, unlike the Star Trek's fairly clean universe*; just didn't click with it for some reason. Also, there are only so many hours in the day and Spouse's health has taken a downswing, which eats into my time and energy. I like to escape to the GFFA, whether on TFN, ffn or LJ or starwars.com. And for the funny, there's georgettesworld.com.
Thanks for the rec for World War Z.
Cornwell's Saxon Stories are well-done, too, and personally, my Danish heritage makes me ogle his depictions of Viking life. It's a much shorter series than Sharpe *sigh, Sean Bean, hunka hunka burnin love*
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Date: 2010-06-20 02:50 pm (UTC)Gave up on Weber a while ago. Love the action and 'verses he creates, but the characterization is always, always the same. I used to adore Honor Harrington but I haven't been able to keep reading the series.
I also haven't wanted to keep up with the Star Wars EU. I never finished the NJO—partly because of some repeat writers who just weren't very good, but mostly because it started feeling not like Star Wars to me. I'm glad to hear they're setting books back in the OT-era; might check out some of those out.
It's been forever since I read Duane's ST novels but remember that she was great at alien culture and mentalities. Used to have a copy of The Wounded Sky that I read over and over.
Definitely making a note of some of these titles. I need new authors!
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Date: 2010-06-25 05:43 pm (UTC)By the fourth, he seriously hits his stride; SK was where I fell in love with Butcher's work. I wouldn't normally recommend this with a series, but if you want to know whether you'll like the Dresden Files overall? Check out Summer Knight first. It's a much more decent snapshot of what the rest of the series is like than Storm Front, and there's relatively little required knowledge from previous books that early in the series, all of which IIRC is explained sufficiently in-text.
Re: Star Wars EU -- By the time the NJO came out I was seriously depressed by the lives of the main characters; I prefer them younger and still filled with hope that they've actually made the galaxy better. I'm not touching anything set after that with a ten-foot pole, but I still love the movie-era stuff.
Re: Duane -- Yes; exactly. The Wounded Sky stuck in my head forever as "that one with the glass spider, where they get to see each other's true selves"; I was delighted to read it again this year when I unearthed my high school Star Trek book collection.
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Date: 2010-06-27 03:32 am (UTC)