Academ's Fury / Jim Butcher

 

3 out of 5 stars

I enjoyed the first book of this series, probably because it was a new fantasy world to figure out. Somehow this second book was less exciting. Oh, lots of stuff happened, but it loses its savour when the main characters never make a wrong decision. And they figure things out much too quickly and easily. The Marat have known about the parasitic vord for generations, but all of a sudden Bernard and Amara figure out how they work and how to kill them within hours of their first engagement. It doesn't give the Maray much credit despite the fact that they are otherwise depicted as intelligent.

It's not just the adults—Tavi is so uber-responsible and ulta-moral that he is downright unbelievable. A kid in his teens facing down ambassadors, military leaders, and even chiding the First Lord. Plus he is apparently acting incompetent to hide his secret duties from his friends and classmates. He is just too perfect, able to take on whatever comes his way and triumph.

What mystifies me is that the Harry Dresden series predates Codex Alera, and Harry is far from a perfect character. It's not like Butcher doesn't know how to craft a realistically flawed protagonist. Dresden was interesting, even when his some of his attitudes drove me nuts. Tavi gets self righteous and kinda boring pretty much immediately. This harks back to the early days of fantasy, on par with works like Edding's Belgariad or Feist's Riftwar Saga, much less morally ambiguous than we are used to now.

The redeeming features are the relationships. Bernard, as a powerful furycrafter, is expected to produce as many children as possible. Amara, we are led to believe, has been wounded and is now unable to conceive. But they are so besotted with one another that I had to cheer for them. And of course there's Tavi and his Marat gal, Kitai. She'll educate him in many ways! Three cheers for Kitai!

Book number 471 of my Science Fiction and Fantasy Reading Project

A Feast for Crows / George R.R. Martin

 

4 out of 5 stars

I can see why this is not the favourite volume of A Song of Ice and Fire. Very, very little Jon Snow. No Daenarys. No Tyrion. However, it still rates pretty highly for me because I am interested in Arya, Sansa, and Brienne. Yes, I missed Tyrion, but I do not look forward to all the Daenarys I will have to put up within the next book! And I am reluctantly coming to be rather fond of Jaime Lannister.

This is a very dark and violent world, which I can usually handle, but there were a couple of scenes here that I quickly skipped over. I didn't need the gory details. Can I dare hope that there will be less of that in A Dance with Dragons? I won't hold my breath. I will read that last-published volume and be done. I don't expect GRRM to ever write that last book. I think the tv series killed any lingering desire of his to write it. However, if I'm proven wrong, that would be a pleasant surprise.

I do look forward to getting more time with Jon and Tyrion, plus hearing how things go for Queen Cersei. She has embroiled herself in quite the situation! Couldn't happen to a better person. She should have studied her father's methods a little better. Had no one ever told her to keep her friends close and her enemies closer? Sending all the schemers away from her court just gives them more license to plot and plan. Then there's the old saying about catching more flies with honey than with vinegar. She kept treating her allies with rudeness and scorn, but still expected their loyalty. How can one person, so highly placed, be so clueless?

It will be some time before I tackle Dance, but I shall look forward to it.

Book number 470 of my Science Fiction and Fantasy Reading Project

Eclipse of the Moon / Jessie Mihalik

 

3.7 out of 5 stars

This book came available at the library much sooner than I thought it might. This event was both good and bad. I'm trying to clear the decks before a book bingo game and instead I am unwilling to return this book and get it again later. Nope! It's bad enough that I will have to wait until next year to read the third book in this series. So, I was excited to get my paws on it, but it's messing with my deck-clearing mission.

So my complaint about book one was the rapid pace of the romance in it. But Torran and Tavi took their time compared to Kee and Varro. As the novel opens, Kee is trying to find a way to get some physical distance from Varro, convinced that he finds her annoying rather than attractive. She explains her desire to stay on the space station Bastion to Tavi, giving three motivations: get her emotions regarding Varro under control, do some indepth research, and to hang around the fringes of a prestigious fashion show. But it turns out that Varro feels the need to protect her and insists on getting to stay on the station too. Of course she finds him lurking and a lot of the book revolves around their struggle to figure out what their relationship actually is.

But it's not all about the romance. We also meet a snooty fashion designer, one of her security staff, and a Valovian royal, all at the fashion event. Kee gets recruited by the designer to model one of her dresses at a party and things really get going from there! There are evil traitors (human and Valovian), shadowy military bases, unforeseen technology, and complicated capers galore.

This fictional universe is really growing on me, yet another reason that I would like the romances to stretch out a bit. More books. Please, Ms. Mihalik, more books.

The Gift of Fear / Gavin de Becker

 

4 out of 5 stars

This was a re-read for me, purchased back at a time in my life when I was dealing with 4 or 5 creepy men who seemed to think that I owed them attention. It was quite surprising to them when I determined that I owed them nothing and acted accordingly. Thankfully most of them weren't very energetic stalkers and they weren't dreadfully intelligent, so they were easily outwitted and avoided. This author provided the good advice that kept me from getting embroiled in messy situations.

One of his most useful piece of advice is the simple statement that “No" is a complete sentence. You aren't required to explain yourself. Do not negotiate. If you give in to negotiation, you have given him control. And believe me, these situations are 99% about control. There may be sexual overtones, but it's not about sex. It's about a person who hasn't had much success in life and doesn't accept responsibility for their own shortcomings. The potential for violence is real. And the second great suggestion: avoidance is preferable to extrication. Better to avoid a bad situation than to try to get out of it.

Fear is a gift your body gives you. There's no reason to worry about something that isn't happening. If you feel real fear, you should follow your intuition/gut feelings. Turn around, get away, escape. Too many of us worry about things that will never happen, but try to talk ourselves out of real fear when we feel it. Don't let yourself be controlled by the need to be nice or polite. Get the hell away as rudely as necessary!

This was published in 1997 and some details seem sadly dated now. A new edition with advice on social media would be very helpful. Fortunately human psychology doesn't change much and the basic bones still apply. Now I am not one who normally recommends Oprah books, but I really think that every woman in North America should read this one and pay close attention. Men who have women in their lives that they care about (girlfriends, wives, mothers, daughters, nieces, etc.) could benefit from reading it too, to see what life is like for the other gender and to support us in our attempt to keep ourselves safe (and to learn not to hassle us about it).

Okay, getting off my soapbox now. Rant over.

Old Man's War / John Scalzi

 

4 out of 5 stars

As I read this novel, I couldn't help but think of Starship Troopers. When I read the acknowledgements at the end, I realized that was an accurate reading. This book is quite different from what Scalzi writes today to my way of thinking, but that makes sense considering that this is his first novel published by a commercial publisher. As a beginning novelist, you write what you think will sell. The trademark Scalzi sense of humour is already there, as is the inclusiveness that marks his fiction.

War is not a subject that I would have expected John Scalzi to tackle, especially just going out into the universe to blast aliens. I guess his main character does make the switch from pacifist to elderly army recruit, which seemed kind of odd to me, I must confess. But it is necessary for the plotline that he wants to pursue, so I shrugged it off and kept reading. The “ambassadorial" mission to the Consu seemed to be the most true to the author's values. We must do something that makes no sense, but we'll do it to the best of our abilities and get the information we need. In many ways, this book seems like an updated 21st century version of Armor, Ender's Game, The Forever War, and Starship Troopers all combined. The competition among species made me think of David Brin's Uplift series as well.

I liked it well enough that I may add subsequent volumes in the series to my SFF Reading Project.

Book Number 469 of my Science Fiction and Fantasy Reading Project

North and South / Elizabeth Gaskell

 

4 out of 5 stars

The (Mostly) Dead Writers Society Author in Residence program 2022

I am delighted to have made Elizabeth Gaskell's acquaintance. This was an interesting study in English culture during a time of change. The Industrial Revolution is in full swing, bringing with it tension between unions, workers, and management. Class values are also shifting, as men like John Thornton could become wealthy and successful without belonging to the aristocratic class. Women like Margaret Hale are betwixt and between, largely constrained by family and cultural expectations, but maybe not willing to marry as those families would choose. She is neither aristocratic nor working class, neither fish nor fowl.

Margaret is a young woman when we meet her, but she carries heavy loads. When she rejoins her parents at the parsonage, it seems like she becomes responsible for regulating everyone's emotions. Dissatisfied mother must be protected and cajoled along. Her weak father has decided to give up his living and move the family to the industrial North. He hasn't the guts to tell his wife, downloading that responsibility to his daughter. She also shoulders the burden of packing, arranging the move, finding a home to rent, and getting her parents settled. Her brother got into trouble in the Navy and will be hung if he returns to his home country. He dares to visit when their mother is on her deathbed and Margaret must ensure that he remains safe from prying eyes.

Margaret loses so many people so quickly! She quarrels with John Thornton because neither of them can see things from the other's point of view. There are the deaths of her parents, then the godfather who has stepped in to shield her. She ends up back where she started, living with her aunt and cousin, but feeling uneasy about it this time.

The novel deals with issues that women still deal with: the expectation that they will bear the emotional burdens and help all her family members feel better about themselves; trying to find a spouse who wants you for yourself, not your looks or your money; how to run your own life despite family members/men who think they know better; having more limited options because you are female.

Ruby Fever / Ilona Andrews

 

4 out of 5 stars

This morning found me driving to my local bookstore to snag a copy of Ruby Fever. I checked their website yesterday and sure enough, they had done a soft release and there were two copies available. I checked again early this morning and the inventory was reduced to one. Which is why I drove several kilometres and lurked outside the store until the door was unlocked.

I'm ever so glad I went to the effort. After doing my appointed tasks for the day, I settled in to read the conclusion of Catalina's story. So well plotted! The action was nonstop and the loose story threads were neatly woven into the ending. Arkan's forces keep on coming, Catalina must stretch herself yet again, and all the generations, in-laws, and out-laws must cooperate to survive.

Many of the relationships get sorted out too. Bern and Runa are headed for marriage, things seem to be going well for Penelope, and we just need to sort the two youngest Baylors. Arabella certainly has some options, which I hope the Andrews will write eventually. Leon needs to meet his match too. Surely the authors have something in mind—Leon needs balance.

Happy sigh! I have no doubt that I will read it again soon.

Anansi Boys / Neil Gaiman

 

4 out of 5 stars

I suppose there are some ties between this book and American Gods, but they are pretty tenuous. If I'd never read the first book, I would still have liked this second book just as much. Unlike so much of Gaiman's work, I found this novel to be both comprehensible and not excessively dark. I liked Fat Charlie Nancy and was offended on his behalf by his brother Spider's treatment of him. But it turns out that Charles can take care of himself when he quits rejecting his heritage.

Sibling rivalry can be intense, but sometimes it's yourself that you are competing with. A lot of us have a hard time being kind to ourselves and believing in our own worth. Spider and Fat Charlie are symbiotic. Charlie teaches Spider to care about someone besides himself and Spider gives Charlie a reason to sing his own song. I loved how things worked out at the end.

I also have to say how much I enjoyed the villain of the piece, Grahame Coates, who is always referred to by both names. A swindler, head of a Ponzi scheme, absolutely (absatively in Grahame Coates speak) devoid of conscience, and, it turns out, pretty lacking in imagination.

It wasn't that people liked Grahame Coats, or that they trusted him. Even the people he represented thought he was a weasel. But they believed that he was their weasel, and in that they were wrong. He was his own weasel.

Watching him come undone is one of the great pleasures of this novel.

Book Number 468 of my Science Fiction and Fantasy Reading Project

Rosemary and Rue / Seanan McGuire

 

4 out of 5 stars

2022 Re-Read

It's hot, I'm at low ebb, and I need a shot of reading fun. Having recently finished rereading the Jane Yellowrock series, I needed a new rereading project. I've acquired most of the October Daye series over the years but have never revisited it, so it's time to rectify that!

I have always loved these books for the Fae world that Seanan McGuire has created. This first novel sets up that world, introducing the reader to some of the rules of Fairie and some of the characters who have become regulars. I had forgotten how weak October was in the beginning, barely able to conceal her fae features from humans and experiencing distress at sunrise. But right from the very start, she is accidentally assembling her circle of supporters. I had completely forgotten her first meeting with Quentin and only vaguely remembered the initial interview with the Luidaeg.

Just the ticket as I wait for the newest installment, Be the Serpent, to be published.

Appointment with Death / Agatha Christie

 

4 out of 5 stars

Appointment with Agatha August 2022

Dame Agatha really relished thinking up unpleasant characters to fill up her novels. This one gives us Mrs. Boynton, a nasty, sadistic lump of a woman who enjoys tormenting her own family. Christie also glories in describing the listless, the weak, and the incompetent. This seems to characterize the entire younger generation of the Boynton family. Yet it seems likely that either one of them or all of them have conspired to murder the old woman. Has the worm turned?

One of M. Poirot's acquaintances asks him early in the novel if bodies tend to show up wherever he goes and he allows that it happens more frequently than he would prefer. By having him travel, Christie avoids creating another little vortex of death like Chipping Cleghorn of Miss Marple fame. (And leading to books like Your Guide to Not Getting Murdered in a Quaint English Village by Maureen Johnson). Christie was a devoted traveler and used her personal experience to provide wonderful settings for her fiction. I've always wondered why Hercule Poirot would travel to these environs, however, where his shoes will get scratched and all of his possessions will become dusty!

As usual, I completely missed all the relevant clues and allowed myself to be distracted by all the emotional drama in the story. As M. Poirot points out, this is all revealed by the psychology of both murderer and victim. I'm getting used to being wrong, indeed I think I would have been disappointed had I come to the correct conclusion. I marvel at how many ways there are to distract and deflect in such brief novels. As usual, Christie manages to deftly pour so much into such economic prose.

World War Z / Max Brooks

 

4 out of 5 stars

Zombies don't feature prominently in my reading life. Why, I'm not sure. You would think that someone who adores vampires would like zombies, too, wouldn't you? I find them creepier for some reason, perhaps because they can't be reasoned with. I mean, zombies and vampires are both animated corpses, but you can talk with a vampire and make a deal. No relationship is possible with a zombie.

This is an interesting book because of its structure: a series of “eye witness accounts,” arranged chronologically through the war and from all around the world. Living in pandemic times as we do, it is easy to identify lots of the behaviours demonstrated here. It's a clear eyed commentary about our seeming human inability to get along with one another and to cooperate. The situation has to be very extreme to overcome our long-held prejudices and bigotries. It might have felt choppy, but the consistency of the interviewer keeps things on track. I could identify with him. There's also a fundamental reorganization of work life. Executives, consultants, motion picture makers, and their ilk are suddenly worthless and new and/or undocumented immigrants who can fix things and know valuable skills are now on the top of the heap. It's a shock to the system for those who used to run things.

There were some particularly well realized entries, I thought. I particularly enjoyed the Japanese submarine crew who finagled their families onto the submarine and hid out at sea, dodging their own government as well as zombies. Then there were the dog trainers and their canine partners. True devotion to duty and each other. The female resupply pilot who goes down in zombie territory and makes it out with support from a woman on her radio (was she real?).

Much more enjoyable than I expected. Poor Iceland, here's hoping they got stabilized eventually!

Book Number 467 of my Science Fiction and Fantasy Reading Project

True Dead / Faith Hunter

 

4 out of 5 stars

Jane, Jane, Jane. You aren't alone anymore. It is a difficult transition for our Dark Queen. It takes a brush with death to make her realize that the well being of all New Orleans depends on her continued existence. She must remove herself from the frontlines and let others protect her and her dependents. Like most ultra-independent people, she resists this arrangement until she gets that dose of reality. Plus she is still struggling with transformation between forms, not having much control and not being able to maintain human form for very long.

And it seems that her Beast form has inspired some xenophobic and bigoted reactions in a certain segment of vampire society. They don't know the real Jane. But those that get to know her, like Thema and Kojo, end up pledging themselves to her service. Everyone who knows her realizes her feelings of loyalty to her people, her desire to protect those who are under her care, her lack of ego, and her fairness.

Jane tortures herself a lot with guilt. I was pleased when she stops in at a church and has a little chat with the preacher there, who tells her, “You also did great things for this city. Reined in the feral vampires that once preyed on the homeless. Forced them to do better by their own blood servants. Forbade the creation of new blood slaves. Don't think, Jane Yellowrock, that your contributions have gone unnoticed by the Almighty. They haven't gone unnoticed by us either.” Being responsible is a heavy load. It's not easy being the one in charge, at least if you care about those in your organization. If you don't care, it's no big deal.

There are some startling developments in this installment. Jane acquires an ultra-competent personal secretary/dresser/bodyguard, a character that I quite like. Koun has become her champion and executioner, one of her most devoted scions. She has finally bonded with Ayatas Firewind, her Cherokee brother. Some significant people disappear (Sabina, Derek) and others reappear. By the end, Jane and her circle finally figure out who is pulling the strings of the enemy forces.

The next book comes out in September and I can hardly wait.

The Marlow Murder Club / Robert Thorogood

 

4 out of 5 stars

I have to be honest, I went into this book with a very skeptical attitude. After all, I have read The Thursday Murder Club and I loved it. It seemed to me that this book would be merely an inferior clone, written simply to cash in on the success of the earlier book. I have no way of knowing where Thorogood got his inspiration from, but I have to say that I enjoyed this novel every bit as much as TTMC.

It is obvious that Thorogood, like Richard Osman, was surrounded by strong, loving women. He mentions them in his acknowledgements. Both authors portrayed older women as strong, smart, and capable. Maybe a bit too brave for their own good. They're not too perfect, they have failings: a little too much to drink, a tendency to fight with family members, or an unhealthy fixation on being a perfect wife. But I loved all three women for both their strengths and their weaknesses. Some of the antics that the author wrote for them were a bit over the top (the shredded paper caper), but that could be forgiven.

I note that there are plans for a second installment of Marlow and I have to say that I shall look forward to it. I hope my library will be acquiring it. What a conversion I've had from skeptic to enthusiast!

Wyrd Sisters / Terry Pratchett

 

3.75 out of 5 stars

An early Discworld novel, written before Terry Pratchett had hit his stride I think. It's good, don't get me wrong, but I liked its predecessor, Equal Rites, a bit more. His later Tiffany Aching series is even better to my way of thinking, being more focused and the author just generally being more experienced.

Nevertheless, there is a lot to enjoy here, especially if you are a Shakespeare fan. Macbeth enthusiasts will be particularly rewarded, as Pratchett plays with lines from the Scottish play. While entertaining us with his version of Macbeth, he manages to comment on desirable traits in a national leader and the nature of leadership in general.

Granny Weatherwax in later Discworld novels is more sophisticated than she appears in these early volumes. Here, she seems baffled by the concept of actors and theatre, something that I didn't care for. People have been telling and acting out tales around the fire for millennia and I can't recall hearing of anyone who didn't understand it. It didn't strike me as Pratchett's kindest treatment of a character, but he couldn't have known at this early point that she would become a regular character (and a beloved one).

I'm so glad that my friends got me reading these books, they are delightful. Now that I've overcome my compulsion to read the series in numerical order, I am free to enjoy Discworld on my own terms. That is a wonderful thing.

The Confusion / Neal Stephenson

 

3.25 stars?

I found this second volume of the trilogy more engaging than the first, but I'm still underwhelmed. Stephenson indulges in so much detail. He has obviously done a pile of research and is determined that the reader knows about it. At least this volume spent more page time on my preferred characters, Eliza and Jack.

This is a real round-the-world tour, as Jack Shaftoe and his Cabal go to places as diverse as Egypt, India, the Philippines, China, Japan, and Mexico. Circumstances are never easy for Jack and he is forever having to plot and plan his way out of one scrape or another. Eliza doesn't get everything her own way either. She deals with financial schemes with élan, but must deal with smallpox, raise several children (one of whom is abducted), and convince the men around her that they should follow her advice. They are both the worse for wear when they see one another again briefly.

I had to interlibrary loan this and will have to do the same with the third volume. It will have to wait a while, but I foolishly hope to get to it before the end of the year.

Book Number 466 of my Science Fiction and Fantasy Reading Project