Tag Archives: recent reads

RECENT READS: A Catch-Up Post

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I’ve actually been reading, which is wonderful and amazing. I haven’t, however, been doing a very good job of blogging about it, so a quick rundown:

ULTIMATE COMICS THOR: Pretty good graphic novel more or less setting up the history of the Ultimates Thor to be in line with the history of the Marvel Movie Universe Thor. Worth reading, if you like that kind of thing.

CAST IN CHAOS: 8th, I think, in Michelle Sagara’s Chronicles of Elantra. Hands down my favorite of the series so far, which is saying something, because I pretty much love the books. Wonderful wonderful stuff with a nameless faceless evil that isn’t quite what it appears to be. Really good.

Kathy Reichs: DEATH DU JOUR and MONDAY MOURNING. These are the books the TV show “Bones” is ever, ever so loosely based on. The main character is much more appealing in the books, but the books are quite a lot grimmer than the show. I’d read more if I was stuck in an airport and needed something reliable from the shelves to tide me over, but not my very favorite books ever.

Dick Francis: SHATTERED and SMOKESCREEN. The man can do no wrong. Thank goodness he wrote 40 or so novels: I still have 30+ to read!

Recent Reads: THE ISLAND OF DOCTOR MOREAU

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I’m afraid that, like with FRANKENSTEIN, my reaction to THE ISLAND OF DOCTOR MOREAU is “Thank God I’ve read that now, because now I never have to read it again.”

The two books have more in common than I expected, which is silly, since I know what they’re both about. MOREAU is much more bearable as a read, because the protagonist isn’t nearly as sniveling as Frankenstein is, but the descriptions of pain and vivisection did not make me all that happy.

One aspect I did enjoy about both books (and indeed about A PRINCESS OF MARS, which I liked *far* more than either FRANKENSTEIN or MOREAU) is the utter flat-out no-explanation-required pulp science. The categorical statement of This Is How It is (best done in PRINCESS OF MARS, where John Carter absolutely blithely says, “…and over the next weeks I too developed my telepathic abilities,” which are then taken as writ), particularly with those statements flying rabidly in the face of science as we know it, and probably science as we knew it then, too.

*That* is the aspect of pulp fiction–that and the outrageous descriptions–that most draws me to it. I would love to be able to tell a pulp fiction story just that way, though I wonder if you could even get away with it in the modern era. I’d love to try. I don’t think it would be easy to do. I…well. *Can* it be done in a book written today? What if the book is set in the 1890s/1920s/1940s? Would a modern audience forgive it, in a modern book, or do they demand explanations? This is really a question of some interest to me, even if I’m not certain I’ve got the skill set to make it work anyway.

Recent Reads: MATCHBOX GIRLS

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One of the things about being a writer is people sometimes ask that you blurb their books. Sometimes they’re total strangers. Sometimes they’re people you’ve known for fifteen years. Being asked by someone you’ve known forever is far more alarming than a stranger asking you, because both parties are painfully aware that it’s not just a professional relationship riding on the request. It’s a presumption on friendship, and the potential outcome of not liking the book is considerably more agonizing than it is with someone you’ve never met.

Furthermore, if you’re me, you’re miles behind on your TBR list already, and have so many writing projects going that you’ve put a moratorium on blurbing books at all until sometime after April.

This was the scenario when Chrysoula Tzavelas emailed to ask if I might consider reading her debut novel, MATCHBOX GIRLS, for a blurb. She knew it, too, and the email she sent asking if I’d read the book had a considerable air of “I’m doing this because I promised my publisher I would at least try, and I feel I should humor her” about it. So she was rather astonished when I said I would try to make time to read it, and honestly, if I hadn’t known Soula for fifteen+ years I wouldn’t have said I’d even try. I started reading MATCHBOX GIRLS with the general assumption that I would like it (because I don’t go into a book assuming I *won’t* like it, that would be silly) combined with a certain trepidation because oh god, what if I *didn’t* like it?

Fifteen minutes later, I posted a grumpy update on Twitter: I am two chapters into @chrysouladreams‘s MATCHBOX GIRLS, and I REALLY WANT to keep reading instead of going to stupid work!

I went to work anyway, because I had to, but two nights later I stayed up well past my bedtime reading it, because I couldn’t stand not knowing how it ended for a whole ‘nother day.

Chrysoula’s written a wonderful urban fantasy novel with a sympathetic, depression-suffering protagonist who can barely keep the cat fed, nevermind take on more serious duties, who suddenly finds herself the guardian and protector of twin 4-year-old girls whose usual guardian has disappeared under Mysterious Circumstances. It is a complete delight. The relationships are tremendously well developed, deep and realistic without any of them being romantic. The *descriptions* are incredible. (I weep in despair.) And there are charming, unexpected twists and character developments that make it a good read all the way through to the end. It’s well worth it.

Now. MATCHBOX GIRLS is coming out through a small press. In order to help offset the costs of production, they’re running a Kickstarter campaign where you can get not only the print edition of the book, but also extra goodies. This is the Internet & crowdfunding at some of its finest: it’s essentially a pre-order with bonus material for pre-ordering. How can you not love that?

Also, far be it from me to use a “oh YEAH? well my MOM LOVED IT, so THERE!” pitch to sell a book, but, well, my Dad’s halfway through reading MATCHBOX GIRLS–and he doesn’t turn his nose up at fantasy, but it’s not his first reading choice either–and he’s loving it. So there. :)

Recent Reads: HEAT WAVE

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The preposterously silly HEAT WAVE, by Richard Castle, is precisely what you think it will be. Rick Castle, if you don’t know, is the crime novelist played by Nathan Fillion on the TV show “Castle”. HEAT WAVE stars Nikki Heat, the character Castle has based on Kate Beckett, the “real life” police detective he’s following around and studying for his next series. You get the idea. :)

There are two splendid things about this book. One is that it reads very much like an episode of Castle, with very similar interactions between the characters, who are all obviously (and deliberately obviously) based on the TV show characters.

The other utterly great thing, though, is that HEAT WAVE is *exactly* the kind of book that Richard Castle the character would write. Everything about it is exactly what you’d expect from Castle, which I think takes a rather deft (ghost-writing) hand. I’ll have to read the next one, because that was just pure silly fun. :)

Recent Reads: The Crossroads Trilogy

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(This post was written over the course of a few weeks.)

I read Kate Elliott’s SPIRIT GATE a few years ago when it first came out, and have had the sequels sitting on my shelf for over a year, unread because (as I may have mentioned previously) being a full-time writer (and Mommy!) really cuts into your reading time. So I wanted to re-read SPIRIT GATE before tackling the other two, ’cause I barely remembered what had happened in it.

I liked it even better the second time through, which seems to be something of a trend for me and epic fantasy. I suspect I read too fast to appreciate all the nuances and story developments the first time through, and that I catch them more solidly the second time, even if it’s been a long time since I’ve read it.

What I particularly noted this time through was Kate’s descriptive abilities. I honestly have no idea how she does it, even when I’m sitting there reading and trying to analyze it. Someday in my copious free time I’m going to have to try my hand at real epic fantasy, and go beg her for help. :) Anyway, as usual with Kate’s work, it’s a great solid book of good characters, alarming encounters, desperate measures and inevitable conclusions. If you like epic fantasy and haven’t read it, do. :)

SHADOW GATE: The second book in the Crossroads trilogy is stronger than the first, I think, and that’s even with enjoying the first very much. I’ve been friends with Kate a while now and it’s really interesting to see what she talks about in her blog posts being reflected in her stories–things I wouldn’t necessarily have noticed actively on my own. There’s a *lot* of (not just women, but very often women) playing the hand they’re dealt, no matter how dreadful that hand might be, and it’s making for astonishingly good characterization. As a reader I completely understand where each of the characters is coming from (even if I don’t necessarily like the character very much), and that’s pure gold both from a reader’s and a writer’s perspective.

Also, holy crap, someone I totally didn’t expect to died and I’m still a bit O.O over it. Actually, two people, though the second one I probably should have seen coming because it’s going to totally cause everything to go to hell (and also probably maneuver a major character into the position that appeared to be inevitable when I began reading the trilogy. But maybe not, so I’m all eager to find out!), whereas the first one is sheerly “BUT HEY WAIT NO I LIKED THAT ONE WAIT STOP ACK!” O.O

Cannot. Wait. To read the third book! Eee!

TRAITORS’ GATE: The inevitable totally failed to happen, and something else obvious and yet completely surprising happened instead. This is the strongest book of the trilogy, and it ends beautifully, although my instant reaction was NEXT BOOK PLEASE AGGHGLGL! Somewhere in the last third of the book, when it became clear what had been going to happen all along even though I had utterly, completely not seen it coming, I started panicking: how were they going to get out of this? And then: Oh, crap, they’re not AGHGLGLGH NEXT BOOK PLEASE! Furthermore, it became increasingly apparent that Kate Elliott has subscribed to the GRRM School of Epic Fantasy*, where nobody is safe, and I really had no idea who was going to come out of it alive, which was terrific. I love that palpable sense of distress as a reader, watching the tragic inevitabilities unfold and wondering how it’ll affect the characters. And there are highs to meet the lows, love stories that are not romantic or which break the rules of the societies the characters come from, so it’s a beautiful, satisfying ending to a whacking big epic fantasy.

Looking back at the trilogy, it’s…it’s epic fantasy on a personal scale. I mean, epic fantasy has to be or you’d just be listening to someone narrate “And then this happened, then this happened, then that happened.” But the Crossroads Trilogy dives into the hearts and stories of individuals in a way I’ve rarely encountered. One set of major characters, the reeves, who fly with giant eagles, can literally see it all from above, but despite that, the story is very much told from the ground level. There are battles, but at most we get glimpses of them from an eagle-eye view; mostly we see them from the points of view of soldiers and slaves, from people who have lost everything to the war and from those who, having lost everything, are willing to sacrifice the last thing they have to end or profit from: themselves.

The pacing is therefore…not, perhaps, what one would expect from epic fantasy. There are tangents, stories told not precisely because they drive the main thrust of the books, but because they reflect the world as a whole, and how it’s being changed, and how the people in it are being changed, and the choices they have to make and live with. If I had written this (nevermind Kate Elliott’s descriptive abilities, which far outshine my own), it wouldn’t have delved into so many characters so deeply, telling their stories alongside the main thread. It wouldn’t have really occurred to me to do that, even though I’ve enjoyed other writers who’ve done the same kinds of things. The worldbuilding here is astonishing and deep, and I would happily, happily spend many more books in the Hundreds. Hell, despite its problems, I’d be pretty happy to spend some real time in the Hundreds, and I feel like I’d even have a fair grasp of the customs and behaviors expected of me, which is quite something for a purely fantasy world.

*She may have subscribed to this a long time ago. I’m afraid it’s been so long since I’ve read Jaran or the King’s Dog books that I simply can’t remember anymore. :)

Recent Reads: the catch-up post

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I fell off the Recent Reads posts wagon, although less badly than I might have hoped (which means I’m not reading all that much, sadly). So a quick catch-up post:

HIDDEN STEEL, Doranna Durgin : Seriously, if you’ve got an e-reader or don’t mind reading books on the computer screen, do yourself a favor and go buy it. I charged through it in an afternoon, when I have rarely read a book in a week, much less a day, these past couple years. It was a really fun read. Action-adventure romance, written for the defunct Harlequin Bombshell line (like my Cate Dermody/Strongbox Chronicles), and just top-notch storytelling all the way through. Terrific characters, *great* descriptions (I weep with despair), just, yeah. Go forth, read.

FRANKENSTEIN, Mary Shelley : Oh my lord, what a slog. I don’t think I’ve ever read a duller book with a less sympa…no, I’ve read two with a less sympathetic protagonist, but one of them was more interesting up to the point I stopped reading it. Anyway. God. At least that’s done with and I don’t have to do it again. o.O (I’ve got DRACULA up next. This doesn’t fill me with confidence, really…)

DISCOUNT ARMAGEDDON, Seanan Mcguire : One of the perks of this job is getting to read early copies of books. Seanan’s DISCOUNT ARMAGEDDON was great fun, and you should read it when it comes out. :)

KINGDOM OF THE GRAIL, Judith Tarr : Judy remains one of the most amazing writers I’ve ever read. KotG was poignant, breath-taking, broad in scope and intimate in detail, just as I would expect a Judith Tarr novel to be. I really love her books. Check out what she’s got available for your e-readers!

EMMA, Jane Austen : I read EMMA on my mobile phone. I don’t think it’s actually a great book for reading on something with that small a screen, particularly when I haven’t read it since I was about 12. I suspect the mobile is better for more recent re-reads. Anyway, aside from that, although Emma’s not enormously easy to sympathize with, I did enjoy it. But I *particularly* enjoyed imagining what Jane Austen would think of her books being read on tiny mobile devices, 200 Years After. :)

GALILEO’S DREAM, Kim Stanley Robinson : I really thought I’d written about this, but apparently not. This was one of the most difficult books I’ve ever read, and not as worth it (to me) as others of KSR’s books. However, it had some utterly, utterly beautiful ideas in it, the one which most caught me being the idea that our dreams are in fact glimpses into another timeline; places we would have gone if we had made different choices. Only expressed far more elegantly, and worth the hard read just for that.

Recent Reads: Dick Francis

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I’ve recently read–well, quite a few, actually, but in the past couple weeks–two more Dick Francis novels, DRIVING FORCE and BREAK IN.

I can hardly believe I only started reading Francis’s novels this year. They’re utterly amazing, every single one of them I’ve read a master class in Doin’ It Rite. Some are better than others (TO THE HILT and HOT MONEY have been my favorites so far), but there’s always at least one line–and it’s usually just one line–that completely unfolds a character for the reader, tells you everything you need to know. That’s an incredible skill. I weep with despair. :)

Recent Reads: THE BIG BOOST

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I bought an e-reader specifically so I could read this book.

Seriously, I spent about $215, plus the other twenty bucks for the books, so I could read THE BIG BOOST. This is perhaps an indication of how much I wanted to read it.

I must have read Daniel Keys Moran’s THE LAST DANCER the year it came out, 1993. That means I’ve been waiting pretty close to two decades to read the next book in the series. I re-read the first three books in the series and then forbade myself to read TBB until I’d finished at least 2 of the 3 work projects I needed to do, and in fact finished all of them, wrapping up with a 2200 word short story that I wrote entirely today so I could Read. This. Book.

THE BIG BOOST is dedicated “to everybody who waited.”

That affected me more than it should have, probably, but there you have it. I’ve been waiting a long time, and had in February of this year posted a sad little thing saying that I had finally accepted that there were in fact never going to be any more Continuing Time novels. And, unbelievably, after eighteen years of hanging on and hoping and finally giving up…six weeks later there was one.

It wasn’t worth the wait in the sense of “this is the most mind-blowing piece of fiction I have ever read and my life will never be the same.” Probably no book is worth a twenty year wait in those terms. However, in terms of “I am deeply glad to have gotten to read this” and “yes, by God, I still love these characters intensely”, it was absolutely worth reading, and therefore was evidently worth the wait.

It picks up three and a half years after THE LAST DANCER, and is a Trent story, and heavily features at least one character I should have, but didn’t, expect–and holy crap, what a great storyline that character had, too. So did the main antagonist, which is–

–this is one of the things I love about DKM’s writing, see. I understand his characters, whether they’re nominally good or bad. Very few of them are actual bad guys, even if our heroes are presented as pretty unquestionably the good guys (who, er, you know, steal things and telepathically change peoples’ memories and things). Most of them are people dedicated to different end games, and that puts them at odds with one another, at war with each other in fact, and as a result some of them spend a great deal of time trying to kill others of them. But it’s almost impossible to see Trent’s main antagonist, Mohammad Vance, as an evil or bad man. He’s a very good soldier, and Trent is a real pain in the ass, and it’s very easy to see Vance’s viewpoint. To sympathize with him even though his goals, as presented by the entire voice of the books, are pretty much the wrong ones.

A writer who can do that (nevermind, as I said earlier, can make me want to read entire books about an otherwise totally unknown character simply by a single mention of her name) is a hell of a storyteller, and twenty years from the last book all I am is damned, damned glad that there’s a new one.

DKM very sensibly left an author’s note saying he had no predicted publication date for the second book of the AI Wars, but I can absolutely promise I’m going to buy it the minute it’s available, because after twenty years, after re-reading stories I wasn’t sure would hold up to my twenty-something-self’s fondness for them, I can say without reservation that I. Love. These. Books.

Go on. Treat yourself. Buy the Continuing Time omnibus. And an e-reader, if you need one. :)

Recent Reads: A PRINCESS OF MARS

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I’ve just finished A PRINCESS OF MARS, which is almost entirely enjoyable*, but baha, the things Burroughs got away with hundred years ago (o.O) that I cannot imagine doing in today’s fiction: “Over the next week I too developed my telepathic powers.” That’s it. Not mentioned again for jillions of pages, and then only in passing. Eventually becomes more of a plot point, and is even mentioned as “strange powers”, but still. Bahahah. :)

Similarly, there was a lot of lingering description over the wonders of Mars, but a major fight–one that would have been recounted at some length today–is relegated to almost literally “And my friend dispatched the bad guy handily.” Also totally off-screen, the much-built-up reunion between a parent and child who have never known each other. But overall highly enjoyable. I must download more of them. Yay Project Gutenberg!

*It’s Dejah Thoris’s perpetually small hands that just killed me. I don’t mind her being Utterly Perfect In All Ways, since John Carter is too, but OMG the small hands. Save me from the small hands! And the Sudden Deep Passion of Looooooove was a little much too, but hey, it’s pulp fiction. :)

Recent Reads: The Last Dancer

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THE LAST DANCER is the third Continuing Time novel by Daniel Keys Moran, and now that I’ve caught up I’m not allowed to read the new CT novel until I’ve gotten at least two and ideally three of my work projects out of the way. *snivel*

My main recollection about TLD was people muttering about how passive the main character is. On re-reading, they’re right, but they’re also kind of not. She reacts, it’s true, rather than being proactive, but c’mon, how many of us do that? Yeah, that’s what I thought. Most of us. And she appears, by the end, to be taking things into her own hands, so if that’s the case then she has in fact learned something, changed as a person, and that’s what I tend to ask for in a book, so.

But what has *really* struck me about re-reading it and the other two books is how very much one story they all are. I mean, DKM always said the Continuing Time was a 33 book sequence, and I’m inclined to believe him. These first three books just weave in and out of one another, telling different parts of different characters’ stories. This makes me all the more eager to read the fourth book.

Eventually. When I get my work done. *snivel* :)