jedibuttercup

Nine weeks, two days, and another twenty-one books since my previous update. I'm really burning up the pages this year; I'll pass 100 in another month or so. I won't reach 150, but 125? Maybe.

Numbered in the order I finished them, here are: 13 modern-era fiction (11 fantasy, two scifi), three Regency-era (two fantasy, one romance), two epic fantasy, one Star Trek, and one graphic novel.

69. The Legions of Fire by David Drake. Hardback, 367pp. 1st of the Books of the Elements. This is Drake's new series; I totally adore his Mundy & Leary space opera series, and I'm fond of fantasy series drawn from non-medieval-European mythologies, so I gave this a chance. It's-- well written, but feels a little-- distant so far? It's set in the Roman era, and the supernatural setup in it isn't the usual, but I'm not particularly in love with any of the characters. I'll probably give it one more book before I give it a thumbs-up or -down.

70. Moon Called by Patricia Briggs. Paperback, 288pp. 1st Mercy Thompson novel.
74. Blood Bound by Patricia Briggs. Paperback, 292pp. 2nd Mercy Thompson novel.
79. Iron Kissed by Patricia Briggs. Paperback, 287pp. 3rd Mercy Thompson novel.
86. Bone Crossed by Patricia Briggs. Paperback, 287pp. 4th Mercy Thompson novel.

I've sampled several modern-supernatural-AU series, and I don't like many of the popular ones. The ridiculous elements of Southern Vampire (aka True Blood) series put me off that one in book one; the sexual fixation of the Anita Blake series drove me away by the end of book six; and the Drama factor of the Nightshade series had me rolling my eyes by the end of the first chapter. Don't even talk to me about Twilight-- I barely made it through the first one without burning the pages-- and I was never the slightest bit interested in Anne Rice's vampire series. I think the Dresden Files, and Charlaine Harris' Harper Connelly books, are the only ones that have kept my attention in the long run.

So when I say I liked this series? You know where I'm coming from. Mercy's got a teeeeny bit of the usual mary-sueism in the genre going on, in that she's a unique supernatural critter with special abilities she doesn't entirely understand and lots of other supernatural powers interested in her; and she's also got the whole several-awesome-men, which-do-I-pick romantic situation plaguing her in the first three books. Um; and there's a chapter at the end of book three that should come with its own warning for the triggery, if you get my drift. But the world is a rich one, Mercy's characterization lifts her above most of the cliches, and the mythological tweaks and the inclusion of the fae as reservation-bound folk in Modern America take it out of the standard werewolves-and-vampires bracket. She's not uberpowerful; and while she's got a moral compass, she doesn't set out to Solve Things like Dresden does, she just handles what drops in her lap as best she can. As she's stubborn as all get out, she generally succeeds at least as much on her own as with help of Male Rescue (even in the aforementioned needs-warning scene). The romantic triangle even resolves in a satisfactory manner in the fourth book. I'm definitely interested in seeing more of her adventures.

71. Blood Rites by Jim Butcher. Paperback, 372pp. 6th of the Dresden Files. Reread.
75. Dead Beat by Jim Butcher. Paperback, 424pp. 7th of the Dresden Files. Reread.
80. Proven Guilty by Jim Butcher. Paperback, 479pp. 8th of the Dresden Files. Reread.
81. White Night by Jim Butcher. Hardback, 404pp. 9th of the Dresden Files. Reread.
82. Small Favor by Jim Butcher. Hardback, 420pp. 10th of the Dresden Files. Reread.
83. Turn Coat by Jim Butcher. Hardback, 418pp. 11th of the Dresden Files. Reread.
84. Changes by Jim Butcher. Hardback, 438pp. 12th of the Dresden Files.

Butcher likes to say that "Changes" is the turning point of his series; but the tonal shift really starts a few books earlier, in "White Night", as he ramps up to that big pivot point. (And whoo, boy; is it a pivot point). The world around Harry gets darker and darker, and he makes more an more ethically dubious in-the-moment decisions in pursuit of greater goals. His determined self-isolation also backfires on him as much as it helps him; I get frustrated with his blockheadedness at points.

The characterization just keeps getting more interesting and complex, though, not only for Harry but the secondary cast; and even in the darkest stretches there are bursts of awesome humor. Sue, the dinosaur zombie from "Dead Beat", remains my all-time favorite fun action moment in the series; but the were moments of shouted laughter in all of these, not least the running-with-Mouse bit from "Changes". And every kick-in-the-gut revelation as the series progresses can easily be traced back to seeds laid in earlier stories; I love those kinds of intricate plots, where nothing comes out of nowhere and it all makes sense in retrospect.

That said-- I have kind of a sick feeling in my stomach after reading "Changes", and not just because of Harry's limbo state at the end of it. Let's see, to keep this on a vague not-too-spoilerly level... I didn't like the planned casual-sex hookup, due both to timing and because I felt it cheapened the characters involved. I didn't like Harry's major power-up in the book, both because the particular circumstance that led to him taking it up felt a little contrived and because it'll lay too many blocks across his future paths. And while it was nice to get a spotlight on another portion of his family tree, too much of it is still in the shade: not least how the Thomas situation relates. Strangely, though, the scorched-earth-ness didn't bother me; the groundwork for where he'll go from there was pretty well laid. I just hope the rest of the series doesn't extend that to 90% of the world, as in his Alera series-- the deathcount there was a bit numbing.

72. Banners in the Wind by Juliet E. McKenna. Paperback, 579pp. 3rd of the Lescari Revolution. Now that the series is done... I think overall I liked it? But as I said for the first two in the series in my last post, it's "intriguing if you're a worldbuilding fan, but kind of wordy and wearing otherwise." The action's all very spread out and split up and politically rooted, and the characters we see most often are generally always frustrated or upset about something, so it's hard to fall in love with any one of them. But the unusual depth of realism in the country-building setup and the curiosity as to how it could possibly end well (which it does) kept me reading to the end.

73. A State of Disobedience by Tom Kratman. Paperback, 435pp. Every once in a while, I pick up a piece of ultra-right-wing near-future SF as a palate-cleanser. I wouldn't call this a good book; the anti-liberal fear-mongering fairly leaps off the page. The problems such stories present, though-- in this case, a fundamentalists-vs-government situation which escalates into Texas-vs-America-- are always interesting to me. If you can ignore the obvious political allusions, it's even fun to cheer the Righteous Heroes Who Defy The Enemy And Carry The Day Against All Odds, with bonus Alamo-style Martyrs to rally the flag around. But I wouldn't recommend it, and I doubt I'll ever reread it, either.

76. To Ride Hell's Chasm by Janny Wurts. Paperback, 692pp. This, on the other hand. This was one hell of a book. It spans less than a week in world-time; but it's so vividly and richly detailed, the characters so three-dimensional and involving, I could not put it down. This book's epic fantasy hero requires no capital letters to emphasize his nature and accomplishments. He overcomes prejudice and some truly evil enemies to rescue the princess against all odds, and eventually achieves his goals-- including a happy ending of his own; and though some of the "good" secondary characters' paths take them against the hero from time to time, their stories are all engaging, too.

77. Queen Victoria: Demon Hunter by A. E. Moorat. Paperback, 374pp. *snicker* Not as good as "Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter", but better than "Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters", in my opinion. If you're a fan of the classic/monster mashup genre at all, this is fun, though not one I'll reread again. It also has the benefit of an original storyline, rather than an "add monsters to Jane Austen/other famous author" setup, for what that's worth.

78. Tongues of Serpents by Naomi Novik. Hardback, 274pp. 6th of the Temeraire series. Can I just draw hearts all around this series? I still very fond of Lawrence and Temeraire; and while I get tired of losing most of the secondary cast each book as he tours the world, the secondary cast that do stick around and the new characters are all well-drawn and interesting; and the descriptive detail is amazingly immersive. I hope Book 7 returns to the war, though; Australia made a fascinating detour, but the glimpses provided of ongoing outside Plot make me itch to get back to the action.

85. Live Free or Die by John Ringo. Hardback, 402pp. 1st of Troy Rising. I know. I know. But when he's on his game, he's very good; and this was a fun, quick-reading example of "one man empire-building" after Earth is contacted by aliens way above our technology level. A smart guy down on his luck figures out what the friendly aliens want to trade, then figures out a way to do an end-run around the first group of unfriendly aliens, and starts building Earth's technology level up. There's a lot of humor in it; and less skeeviness this time-- mostly because the main character's too busy to date. I'll keep up with this series, I think.

87. Children of Kings by Dave Stern. ST:TOS. Paperback, 401pp. I thought I'd like this one more than I did, because hey: all about Pike's tenure on Enterprise, with Number One and Spock and Boyce vs. Orions and Klingons. But I found it kind of bland and hard to engage with, and several plot threads weren't resolved properly. The background on Boyce and the bits about the old Orion Empire were interesting, though.

88. Captain Wentworth's Diary by Amanda Grange. Paperback, 287pp. Jane Austen's "Persuasion" from Frederick Wentworth's point of view. No real surprises; it was an enjoyable read, but it was demonstrably an "other side of the story" novel, rather having a point of its own to make. I'll reread the original, but probably not this one.

89. Serenity Vol 2: Better Days by Joss Whedon, Brett Matthews & Will Conrad. Graphic novel, 80pp. Cute. Set between the series and the other graphic novel, as they have the hover mule already but Book and Inara are still aboard. Some interesting characterization notes on Zoe and Mal's war history; but Jayne's the character who shines most in this.

Next up: Trying to read "Einstein's Bridge", but it's very hard SF, and the going's a bit slow. I also finally got my hands on the first volume of "Sorcery and Cecilia", so I'll probably alternate chapters with the other to reward myself. *grin*
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