Cynara's troika thread!

...by which I mean simply the third.

Books listed in this thread:

Ceremony in Death by J. D. Robb
The Uncommon Reader by Alan Bennett
Betrayer of Worlds by Niven and Lerner
Lost on Planet China by J. Maarten Troost
Hunt the Moon by Karen Chance
Treachery in Death by J. D. Robb
Touch the Dark and Embrace the Night by Karen Chance
Among Others by Jo Walton
The Amulet of Samarkand by Jonathan Stroud
Finding Serenity: Anti-Heroes, Lost Shepherds and Space Hookers in Joss Whedon's Firefly, ed. Jane Espenson
Room by Emma Donoghue
Galadria by Miguel L. De Leon
The Ape who Guards the Balance by Elizabeth Peters
Forewords and Afterwords by W. H. Auden
Midnight's Daughter, by Karen Chance
A Game of Thrones and A Clash of Kings by George R. R. Martin
Psychiatric Tales by Darryl Cunningham
Kill Shakespeare written by Conor McCreery
A Disease of Language by Alan Moore
Promethea, Vol. 1, Promethea, Vol. 2, Promethea, Vol. 3, Promethea, Vol. 4, Promethea, Vol. 5 by Alan Moore
Alan Moore's Light of Thy Countenance by Alan Moore
A Clash of Kings, A Storm of Swords, and A Feast for Crows by George R. R. Martin
Batman: The Killing Joke by Alan Moore
Across the Universe: The DC Universe Stories of Alan Moore, by Alan Moore
War for the Oaks by Emma Bull
The Beekeeper's Apprentice by Laurie R. King
O Jerusalem by Laurie R. King
Alice, Let's Eat by Calvin Trillin
Death's Mistress by Karen Chance
The Night Wanderer by Drew Hayden Taylor
The Dawn of the Colour Photograph: Albert Kahn's Archives of the Planet by David Okuefuna
Deja Dead by Cathy Reichs
Lord of Scoundrels by Loretta Chase
Secret Language of the Tarot by Ruth Ann and Wald Amberstone
Retromania: Pop Culture's Addiction to its Own Past by Simon Reynolds

Books listed in Thread #2:

Marvel 1602 by Neil Gaiman
Marvel 1602: New World/Fantastick Four by Pak and David
Marvel 1602: Spider Man by Jeff Parker and Ramon Rosanas
Northlanders Book 1; Sven the Returned by Brian Wood
Anno Dracula by Kim Newman
Make me a Woman by Vanessa Davis
Kiss of the Highlander by Karen Marie Moning
Outlander by Diana Gabaldon
Indulgence in Death, J. D. Robb
Northlanders Book 2; The Cross and the Hammer, by Brian Wood
At Millenium's End: Essays on the Work of Kurt Vonnegut
The Princess Bride by William Goldman
Rewired by Larry D. Rosen
Mortal Engines by Philip Reeve
The Lost Books of the Odyssey, by Zachary Mason
My Jesus Year by Benyamin Cohen
The Dark Highlander by Karen Marie Moning
The Exile: An Outlander Graphic Novel, by Diana Gabaldon
Good Omens: The Accurate and Nice Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch by Gaiman and Pratchett
Be Different: Adventures of a Free-Range Aspergian with Practical Advice for Aspergians, Misfits, Families & Teachers by John Elder Robison
Predator's Gold by Philip Reeve
The Evil Garden by Edward Gorey
Kushiel's Dart by Jacqueline Carey
Infernal Devices by Philip Reeve
Macbeth by William Shakespeare
Grandville by Bryan Talbot
The Making of Pride and Prejudice by Susie Conklin
Possession in Death, by J. D. Robb
Soulless, Changeless, and Blameless by Gail Carriger
Naked in Death by J. D. Robb
Glory in Death by J. D. Robb
The Fry Chronicles by Stephen Fry
Immortal in Death by J. D. Robb
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas by Hunter S. Thompson
Rapture in Death by J. D. Robb
The Unlikely Disciple by Kevin Roose
The Seeress of Kell by David Eddings
Fleet of Worlds by Larry Niven and Lerner (?)
The Tenderness of Wolves by Stef Penney
Juggler of Worlds and Destroyer of Worlds by Niven and Lerner

Books listed in Thread #1:

The Girl who Played with Fire by Stieg Larsson
Girl who Kicked the Hornet's Nest by Stieg Larsson
Ex Libris: Confessions of a Common Reader by Anne Fadiman
Shadowfever by Karen Marie Moning
Possession by A. S. Byatt
Changes by Jim Butcher
Lord of Scoundrels by Loretta Chase
Kick-Ass by Mark Millar
Cleopatra: A Life by Stacy Schiff
First Rider's Call by Kristen Britain
The High King's Tomb by Kristen Britain
In Defence of History by Richard J. Evans
The Eyre Affair By Jasper Fforde
Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain
An Assembly Such as This, Duty and Desire, and These Three Remain by Pamela Aidan
Missing in Death and Fantasy in Death by J. D. Robb
The Road to Civil War, Civil War: X-Men, Civil War: Iron Man, and Civil War: Front Lines, Book 2 (Marvel)

Right, time to get this going properly.

#71



Ceremony in Death from the indefatigable J. D. Robb, also known as Nora Roberts.

I can forgive this book its cartoon Satanists for the juicy subplots around Eve's personal life. Like it or not, she's starting to open up a bit, and I find watching her with Peabody and Feeney riveting. Feeney coulda groveled longer, though.

#72



The Uncommon Reader by Alan Bennett

This slender little fiction-slash-pensée on reading is an amusing and cozy read. The only thing that keeps it from being totally delightful is the self-conscious way Bennett's themes sometimes obtrude into his plot. He's writing about reading as a private activity - even an antisocial one. Also, about reading as a democratic pastime, the perception of the "duty" to read, and perhaps about the sterility of passive reading. The only problem is that I noticed him writing about them, and every once in a while I'd think "yes, the Queen really is a natural character to use; she really throws these themes into sharp relief. Hmmmm."

Still, it is amusing and cozy, I agree with much that it has to say, and I can recommend it happily. I've passed it along to my mother.

#73



Betrayer of Worlds by Larry Niven and Edward M. Lerner

Is this a cheap way to get Louis Wu and Nessus working together before the discovery of Ringworld? Yes. Yes, it is. Do I care? Not entirely.

Louis has always been my favourite human Niven character, with Ausfeller now second and the rest of them dropping far behind. His agile mind, sense of humour, and genuine emotions put him head and shoulders above the rest. Louis is recognizably himself here, strengths and weaknesses intact, so that's good enough for me. I'm glad I didn't miss this one.

While I could have taken the ending as a completion of this 'prequel' series (not an apt description, but there we go), it's the penultimate volume. The last book Fate of Worlds was just submitted to the publisher and will likely be coming out in mid-2012, as per Lerner's blog. I'm in, though presumably they won't find a way to shoehorn Louis into this one, too.

#74



Lost on Planet China: One Man's Attempt to Understand the World's Most Mystifying Nation, or How He Became Comfortable Eating Live Squid, by J. Maarten Troost

A competently written off-the-beaten-track, here's-the-real-story (or as he puts it, "no f-ing sunsets") account of a trip around China. His willingness to poke fun at himself is charming, and the book is funny. It's obvious he didn't fall in love with the country, but he's trying hard to show both sides of the story. I'm chiefly interested because a friend of mine is taking a school group there in a couple of weeks; she has an interesting time ahead of her, I think.

Starring your new thread. We read so much in common.

Thanks! We do share a lot of cool books.

You know, I thought The Tale of Genji was going to be my 75th book, and that thought gave me a little posh blush of satisfaction. However, I see my aspirational reading is doomed; Karen Chance's Hunt the Moon is out today, so it's going to be sexy warmages and vampires, not elegant Japanese couplets about reeds, moonlight, and the constancy of the pines.

Found you again, Cynara!

Bonjour!

Hi Cynara --

I found your thread because you mention Hunt the Moon -- I got it early (last week) and it's a hoot. I wrote a brief review over on my thread (no spoilers) but if you've read the other Cassie book, you know it'll be great.

It looks as though we read some of the same stuff -- J.D. Robb, Gail Carriger, Laurie R. King, etc. I looks like I liked Possession much more than you did; it's one of my favorite books.

I'm looking forward to your thoughts on Hunt the Moon. Enjoy!

Hi, Dejah! It looks like it's going to be a good one; I think they're getting better, really. Any idea how long she's planning to make the Cassandra Palmer series? Have you tried the Dorina Basarab series?

I think I'll likely read Possession again, and I imagine I'll enjoy it more the second time. It's always nice to meet another MPM fan, too. I also see you've started the Dresden Files; I think they get much better later on.

I just noticed that there's a new Laurie R. King coming out in September (pirates?), and another LTer told me that the ARC is up on Early Reviewer, if you're in the US.

Hey Cynara --

I have read the Dorina books -- I'll read just about anything Karen Chance can get published!

As for the Dresden Files, read the first 2 or 3 several years ago and they just weren't doing anything for me so I quit. I tried again about a year ago with the same results. I keep thinkg I really should like them...on the other hand, I absolutely love his Codex Alera series. Have you read them?

I'd heard about Pirate King and have requested it via Early Reviewers. Maybe I'll get lucky....

Have you read any Ilona Andrews? She has two series: Kate Daniels (Magic Bites etc) and The Edge (On The Edge, Bayou Moon). If you haven't come across them , you may want to give them a try.

#75 (Ding!)



Hunt the Moon by Karen Chance

First off, the cover. Man, I don't like it. If I try to look at it from a purely aesthetic point of view, I suppose the colours are pretty - and I suppose Cassie might actually look like that blonde on the cover, though I'd like to think she doesn't - but she does spend practically the whole of every book covered in sweat, blood, broken glass, mud, and macerated construction materials. Agent double-oh-eyeshadow there doesn't look like she's cracked a nail, let alone broken a sweat. I suppose grime-covered heroines don't sell books, but dammit, at least make her look tough. Give her some pants, it looks cold out there.

I like this series; I'm rather fascinated by the romantic angles, and sometimes Chance brings out a cool bit of world-building or a wonderful character. This book isn't a major departure for the series, so if you like the previous ones, come on in.

Please note that SOME moderate-plus SPOILERS follow, not big ruin-the-whole-thing ones, but you might think of steering clear if you're reading it.

In Hunt the Moon, there's some sort of evil-beings-trying-to-kill Cassie plot, which I favoured with even less of my attention than usual. I'm sure I'll get more of it on the reread, but I get lost in Chance's big set-piece action scenes. I can't keep track of who is doing what to whom or why. There are some interesting developments re. Cassie's parentage, and I'm curious to see how it works out.

There are also some minor advancements on the Cassie-relationship front, and Chance did a decent job of showing me what the hell Cassie sees in Mirçea - he can be such a paternalistic jerk (which everyone keeps excusing on the grounds that he's an old-fashioned boy, as 500-yr old vampires tend to be) that I need to be reminded why our heroine is still kinda dating him. There was, however, much more focus on Pritkin. Yay! Ahem.

(Edit: in this book, Cassie dimly, and after some soul-searching, realises that she and Pritkin have... well.. some sort of... thing... in the air between them. Something Mirçea probably wouldn't like. At this point, her readers look up from the book and glance at each other, startled. We have known this since the second book. She the last one to figure this out, apparently.)

The ending is a blatant setup for the next book, but it grows naturally out of the characters' backstory and the decisions they made; it isn't a where-the-hell-did-that-come-from-damn-you ending (I'm looking at you, Gail Carriger.) All I can say is - John, I hope you like having your ass rescued.

END SPOILERS.

Congrats on reaching the magic number! :D

>13 Dejah_Thoris:
Thanks for the recommendations! I'm looking her up now.

>15 MickyFine:
Thank you!

Congrats on reaching the 75 book mark!

Thanks, Stasia and Roni! Everyone must bow to me now, and address me as Lectrix.

By the way, you both have great animal photos in your profiles. That owl! That fuzzy belly!

Congrats!

Yeah for 75 books read!

I've lost a favourite author today; Patrick Leigh Fermor, writer, soldier, traveller, and lover of life has died. I beg your indulgence for my reposting of this capsule obit from the Washington Post:

"Patrick Leigh Fermor, who may have been the greatest travel writer of the 20th century, has died at the age of 96. He was one of those intrepid British adventurers of a bygone age who could recite the odes of Horace from memory, sleep in a barn one night and dance with royalty the next.

When he was 18, Mr. Leigh Fermor walked across Europe, and when I say that, I mean exactly that: He walked on his own two feet from England to Turkey. He chronicled this remarkable journey in a book written many years later, “A Time of Gifts.”

During World War II, Mr. Leigh Fermor was part of the British special operations forces and managed to kidnap the German general who was in charge of the occupied island of Crete. Mr. Leigh Fermor conversed with Greek shepherds, using the ancient Greek he had learned in school. He lived with a Romanian princess at her estate in Moldavia. He wrote many books, all with a brilliantly original prose, and was by any standards a remarkable man."

I highly, highly recommend A Time of Gifts and A Time to Keep Silence for lovers of travel and non-fiction. The former opened up a new world for me - Europe of the thirties, experienced from its roadsides. I hear the final volume of that trilogy exists in draft, and will be published. I discovered Fermor through Anthony Lane's wonderful profile in the New Yorker - http://www.newyorker.com/archive/2006/05/22/060522fa_fact_lane (click on the double-page spread at the bottom for the full text, in rather fine print).

Thanks for sharing your heartfelt recommendation of the works of Patrick Leigh Fermor – they sound wonderful. It looks as though my library has three of his books (including A Time of Gifts) and a book of correspondence between him and Deborah, Duchess of Devonshire. She was one of the Mitford sisters, who have long fascinated me. Thanks for pointing me in his direction.

Ah! I had that on hold at the library, but failed to grab it in time. I don't know much about the Mitfords, but I do plan to read that book.

I have never read any of Leigh Fermor's books unfortunately. My local library does not have any. I have had his A Time of Gifts on my PBS wishlist since I signed up with them.

Congrats on reaching 75!

Thanks, tymfos!

#76



Treachery in Death by J. D. Robb

I'm feeling a bit out of order with this series; frustrated by being person #10,427 on the hold list for this volume at my local library, I initiated a reread of the series from book one. Ceremony, near the top of the thread, is number five, and this one is number thirty-two.

This is a really good one. The past few books and novellas have been hampered by some placidity in the subplots and a lack of tension in the mysteries; this one isn't strongly different in tone, but the inexorable accumulation of evidence, some emotionally charged conversations, and Dallas' friction with her antagonist bring this one up to par with the best in the series.

(And where, you may ask, is The Tale of Genji? It is due back later than this book, and I'm sticking to that excuse. I'm sure it has nothing to do with my mild frustration at keeping track of the cast of characters and my growing annoyance at Genji's monstrous complacency and selfishness.)

#27: I loved that entry in the series! I enjoyed it so much I went back a day after my initial read of the book and read it again.

My recent read of Hunt the Moon has led me back to a reread of the series. Here are vol. 1 and 3; I haven't been able to get my paws on #2 yet.


#77 & 78





Touch the Dark and Embrace the Night by Karen Chance

This series started off as a well-what-else-am-I-going-to-do-tonight loan from a friend, and has turned into a must-read. If I'm to be honest, it's more of a must-read-immediately-hey-maybe-Indigo-shelved-it-a-day-early-why-don't-I-go-check. It isn't flawless, but it's damn fun, and I absolutely have to know what's happening next.

The intro volume was an interesting reread, as it reminded me of all kinds of worldbuilding details I'd forgotten in the year or so since I read it. I enjoyed it considerably, allowing for the near-absence of my future favourite character.

Then, groan whine gasp, I couldn't get a hold of volume two, having originally borrowed it from that friend. I hate reading out of order, but I couldn't wait. Yes, I know that's a bit pitiful. I skipped to #3.

Embrace the Night, on the other hand, has lots of banter and 'splosions and Terrible Sexy Compulsions and drastic character development. It's great. The plot is a snarl of time-travel paradoxes and things I refuse to put brain power into following, but I don't care one bit. It's fairly easy to keep track of what side everyone is on and, generally, what they want out of the situation.

Anyway, it's a good reread. I'm soothing my terrible jones for the next book while getting some fresh insights into the foreshadowing. I'm finding them more consistently interesting on my reread, and I find that I like the protagonist much more than on my first reading. Cassie is actually quite tough, and I like her no-nonsense integrity.

I just received the first book from PBS the other day. I am glad to see you are enjoying your re-reads! Too bad about book 2 though.

A Time of Gifts? Yay! I hope you enjoy it, and I'll be curious to see what you think.

I thought Touch the Dark is the first one? Am I mistaken about that? It is the book I received from PBS.

Ah, we're talking about different series. Yes, Touch the Dark is the first Cassie Palmer book. I hope you enjoy it!

I'm leaving a job, at a place that has been a little like home. I don't know what I'm doing next. From "Good Night," by Wilhelm Müller:

The time of departure is not mine to choose; I must find my way alone in
this darkness. With the shadow of the moon at my side, I search for traces of
wildlife in the white snow.
Why should I linger and give them reason to send me away? Let stray hounds
howl outside their master's house. Love likes to wander from one to another,
as if God willed it so.

>29 Cynara:

I reread all the Cassie books in anticipation of Hunt the Moon coming out. I wonder how long it will be before I break down and read them again....

>34 Cynara:

I'm sorry leaving your job is causing you such unhappiness. I hope things work out well.

#34: I hope you find a job that is just as good for you and to you, Cynara. I know how hard it can be to leave a job that has been a little like home.

#79



Among Others by Jo Walton

I suppose it's obvious from the above that I've been a bit discomposed lately. I've been feeling oddly... young. Maybe it's all the upheaval, but I've been feeling like I did in my early twenties. It's refreshing, though angsty. I'm dealing with it as I always used to - lots of loud shouty music and relentless reading. I hardly came up for air during my Karen Chance reread, as my bemused better half could tell you.

It's serendipitous, then, that Among Others should fall into my lap just now. Its heroine, Mori, is also throwing herself into books, books, books - partly because her reality is corrosive to her spirit, partly because she's a citizen of the book. I felt a prickle every time she named and discussed a book I knew and cherished at her age. As a younger child, I believed in fairies (due to an Irish family friend who provided physical proof). I almost believed in magic. Most importantly, I used books to escape and to build myself into the person I wanted to be. Like Mori, I was a citizen of Middle Earth, of Narnia, of Pern, of Sherlock Holmes' London, of Dune, of Known Space. I still am, or I wouldn't be on LT.

The book, presented as Mori's diary, weaves together her notes on her reading, her difficult daily life, and a thread of low-fantasy. Mor's voice is the truest (and least sentimental) teenaged girl voice I can recall reading. Her acerbity, perceptiveness, and tersely acknowledged vulnerability is the writing voice I would have loved to have as a teenager. It's certainly how I felt a great deal of the time. I know I wasn't as toughly independent as her, though I wanted, desperately, to be that way.

I wouldn't call Among Others plot-driven; in fact, as the last pages thinned under my fingers I was concerned because I didn't see a narrative or emotional climax coming. One does come, though it doesn't have an epic buildup. It was cathartic, and I admit I cried - not once, but twice in the space of a couple of pages. I was identifying so hard by the time I put the book down that I actually expected myself to have Mori's sore leg when I stood up.

#37: Wow! Talk about getting wrapped up in a book. What an experience for you!

Beautiful review.

>37 Cynara: I had an experience like that when reading The Daughter of the Forest. I kept expecting that I wasn't allowed to speak.

Oooh, I read that last year. I can see how it could have that effect. While I was also strongly affected, a good chunk of my emotion was anger at her damn brothers at at the whole "women can only do heroic things through painful self-sacrifice" thing, not to mention the feminist implications of silence.... Still, I might go on to the second book some day. Do you recommend it?

>38 alcottacre:, 39
Thanks, guys. Sometimes it's the right book at the right time, you know? I'm putting this one on my wishlist, and looking up one of her others.

By the way, did anyone get the title? I didn't. Among Others?

>41 Cynara: I haven't read the second book. The first didn't do it for me.

It's on my not-entirely-ruled-out list, but then, I'm notoriously softhearted about that kind of thing. I did rant at the book lender for about five minutes on its ideological implications (and it would have been a great messy post like my review of Outlander if I'd been on 75-ers at that point), but... I could still continue it... some day? Perhaps not.

I've been neglectful lately, and now I must catch up.

#DNF
The Tale of Genji by Murasaki Shikibu

This is the book I thought would be my #75, but despite the moderate length of the selection I was reading, I kept finding other books to read.

As exciting as the idea of reading a 900-yr old Japanese novel of court society sounded, I couldn't enjoy it much. The tale, while elegantly told, is episodic and cryptic. It was difficult to keep characters straight, and important events are frequently elided from the story, only becoming plain later - if you're equal to stitching together some oblique references.

My real problem, however, is Genji himself. He's shallow and selfish, and I can't give a toss about him. No-one ever dares to give him a talking-to because he's accomplished and the emperor's son, but he's a jerk.

Maybe another translation, another year?

#80



The Amulet of Samarkand by Jonathan Stroud

Stroud has given us a mildly dystopian fantasy world of classical summoning magic; you know, The Lesser Key of Solomon, summoning devils to find buried treasure and peeking at girls in the shower, pentagrams and binding spells, etc. etc. While the magic system isn't exciting, it does have a feeling of solidity and consistency to it.

It's his characters that are a bit out of the ordinary - self-interested and spiky, with only a few shreds of conscience or kindness. Combined with the strongly hierarchical social system, there's not much here to love. While the most common sin of fantasy fiction may be its coziness, you wouldn't want to cuddle up with Stroud's Amulet.

I think the quality of the series depends on the next book. If he can get me involved strongly with the characters, I'll love it. If not.....

#81



Finding Serenity: Anti-Heroes, Lost Shepherds and Space Hookers in Joss Whedon's Firefly, ed. Jane Espenson

The essays here are a mix of the academic, fluffy, contentious, humourous, and fanwanky. Overall, it's worthwhile for fans, but don't be afraid to skim.

What do you do when you read a bad, bad book, and have to review it for Early Reviewers?

It may seem to me that a book is trite, boring, and clunky - that it was dashed off as the most cynical kind of Harry Potter ripoff - that its paucity of imagination, fire, and human feeling is almost criminal - that the hero's few individualising features (a boomerang and a passion for chocolates) are weirdly arbitrary - that, in short, this is the kind of book I would rather eat than recommend to any carbon-based life form - but who am I to say?

It could be that this violently bad book was the product of many cold mornings of furious, solitary creativity snatched from family and work responsibilities. Perhaps these characters are written in the author's mind in lines of fire. In the passion of creation, they may have seemed virtual Minervas of brain-born wisdom and beauty, living in a universe of terrible glory, violence, and compassion. Maybe monkeys will fly out of my butt.

But you get my point? When so blatant a stinker crosses one's path, and when one is honour-bound to review it - and moreover, when one is the only one who seems to hate the dammned thing, what is one to do?

#82



Room, by Emma Donoghue

(Forehead smack.) I almost forgot this somehow. I read it in an evening, and don't have a ton to add to others' reviews; it's good, and it's unusual, and you probably won't be disappointed if you pick it up.

I think you have to be honest in how you reacted to the book. It's your duty both to other readers and to LT and indirectly to the author and publisher. I've certainly given less than stellar reviews to several ER books. And I've been in the minority several of those times as well. The good thing about LT is that you can look in reviewers' libraries to see what their tastes in general are and so have a context for their response to the book.

Yeah, I think The Amulet of Samarkand will probably depend of the next book. I read it for the sole reason that the main character has the same name I have. Seriously, that's the only reason why.

I've also heard about Room. I think it sounds absolutely creepy, but I've heard for the most part good things about it.

Agreed re. Samarkand; if Stroud eventually makes either character significantly sympathetic (in a way that's consistent with the first book), then it'll be all the more poignant. I'm not really expecting that, but I'm curious enough to continue with the series, eventually.

I think at the beginning of this year I reviewed the thrid book. I don't remember what is was called. Oh yes, Ptolemy's Gate. I'm not going to say anything anymore, because it'll probably ruin the series, but it's pretty much a cutthroat battle between all of the characters from here on out.

47: I'm in the middle of kind of a "Serenity" fest, so I'll look for Finding Serenity. It looks interesting. Thanks for the "heads up!"

Karen O.

It was! Such a diverse collection won't please everyone all the time, but all the LT reviewers have found something to enjoy - many of them different from my favourites.

I'm in the first 10% of Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell, and I'm beginning to see why it has provoked such strong and opposed reactions. So far, it's a very accomplished early-Victorian pastiche - i.e., not for everybody. Some of us can see the spelling "chuse" for "choose" and think "my, how authentic", and some of us fly into a blind rage. I'm with the former group, but I'm not going to tell the latter they're wrong.

I do wonder how Clarke is going to sustain this over one thousand closely-printed pages without losing me, too. It's set close in time to Jane Austen's books, but the style doesn't resemble her clear, ironic voice; in fact, it's closer to Dickens in its gentlemanly pages of third-person chatter. I can imagine that people more impatient than I am with early-19th-ce fussiness and manners might be bored and agitated by now.

We're also missing, as of page 57, a charismatic protagonist. Mr. Norrell has shown up, but I'm dispirited at the thought of spending the next 944 pages in his company. Mr. Segundus seems nice enough, but he's been kept at arm's length so far - in fact, we haven't gone very far into anyone's head. I'm hoping for the appearance of Jonathan Strange.

p.s. Where are all the women?

p.p.s. There is some good writing; I have hopes.

I read Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell earlier this year and really enjoyed it. Jonathan Strange is far more of a charismatic protagonist than Mr Norrell but he doesn't show up until 200 (or maybe 300?) pages in. There are also some very strong female characters who will make their appearances at some point, although the book definitely has a larger male population. Hope you keep carrying on. :)

Good to hear! The reviewers seem to have love it (as good as Tolkein froth froth faint), and it's definitely unusual, so I am going to give it a fair shake.

Thanks to you, I heard about the existence of The Making of Pride and Prejudice in early May and promptly requested it on PaperBackSwap, as I love that production! I got a copy yesterday and promptly read it--loved all the pictures.

Hey! Cool. I'm glad you liked it!

#DNF



Galadria by Miguel L. De Leon

What do you get when you type "Galadria" into Google?

"Did you mean: Galadriel?"

Oh, honey, if only.

While I'm sorry to dislike a book by someone with the wonderful name of Miguel L. De Leon, I'm afraid that day has come. Galadria is derivative and charmless. I'm assuming this is an advance unedited copy, so I won't rag on it for the constant misuse of words. I read the first third and skimmed the rest so I could review it with a clear conscience.

The protagonist, Peter, is a teenaged boy who has always felt different from everyone else. He hates his stepmother and her boring house and cooking, and he feels little connection to his defeated father. Peter reacts violently when a friend of his mother says something mean about his real mother (shades of Harry Potter, though Harry's reaction was unintentional; Peter just throws his boomerang around her store, breaking things) and is sent away to live with his aunt.

This first section is overdone. Peter comes across as pouty and entitled (I mean, dude, if you don't like her food, learn to cook) as well as borderline violent. The last name "Twickeypoo" is twee. No-one's cat is named Pukey.

His aunt lives in a huge pretty mansion with friendly servants who give him lots of nice food (which is described at great length), give him a beautiful room with lots of chocolates, etc. etc. must I go on here? There's a zoo. There's lots of tapestries and a heavy-handed hint of danger. Suffice it to say that Peter finds out about a wonderful inheritance and must prove himself worthy of it.

Hundreds of YA and fantasy novels have been written with more or less this plot, but De Leon (man, I love that name) has dropped the ball here. I don't feel any magic, any intellectual spark, or any warmth towards the characters.

Whew. I've been dreading reviewing that for days. Now, let's get on with it.

#83



Elizabeth Peters, The Ape Who Guards the Balance

This was a read-aloud for my husband and I, and a reread for the umpteenth time for me. I really love this series, but reading them aloud with someone has made me realise that there's a bit of a dry spot here in the series. This book is a bit overlong, and there isn't any tension to the mystery. There is a relationship development later in the book that adds some real interest.

#83



Forewords and Afterwords by W. H. Auden

Done! This was my traditional Christmas Eve book from my mother, and I've been picking at it since then. I finally gave myself permission to skim essays about books I hadn't read, which made it much more enjoyable. I've loved Auden's poetry since I was about thirteen, but I hadn't read much of his prose until now.

There are some real gems here. Auden's essays on Wilde, Houseman, Kipling, Wagner, Poe, Pope, Cavafy, and Caroll are all highlights for me (the Wagner is even very funny), and some of the lines have been familiar to me out of context for years: "From the beginning Wilde performed his life and continued to do so even after fate had taken the plot out of his hands."

There are also essays that pointed me towards interesting books; The Art of Eating by M. F. K. Fisher is intriguing (and his way of referring to her as "Mrs. Fisher" throughout the essay is so period, and so characteristic of him). I'm also very curious about Henry Mayhew's research among the London poor of the 19th century; London Labour and the London Poor is the volume mentioned, and Auden makes it sound absolutely riveting.

Auden's Freudian bias pops up sometimes. I mean, is it really true that when a man becomes a chef, he's imitating women's breastfeeding, but if a woman becomes a chef, it's because she's establishing that her worth doesn't rely on her ability to breastfeed? What, Wystan? Really?

Then, there are the times he feels himself qualified to make sweeping statements - for example, about the characters and motivations of all gay men everywhere. He says that it is "very rare for a homosexual to remain faithful to one person for long" because they can't have children, and lack that common interest. This is, frankly, just plain wrong from where I'm sitting, but then Auden had his own troubles with Chester Kallman, etc. Earlier in that same essay he writes that "few, if any homosexuals can honestly boast that their sex-life has been happy." I can imagine that in mid-centry America, a time of rampant hatred of gay men and women, when homosexuality was considered among the mainstream population to be truly depraved, this was more true than I can imagine.

And, if his essays tend to have a magesterial tone and to betray some personal quirks, well, so much the better. They're interesting, illuminating, and no-one else could have written them.

I've also touched on a couple of books; All Passion Spent is overdue at the library, and with two abortive starts, I think I need to let it wait until another year. The first couple of chapters are quite dense with character introductions, and I despaired of getting them all straight in time.

Recently, Warren Ellis mentioned Bug Jack Barron as a major influence on his masterpiece Transmetropolitan. I'm a huge Transmet fan, so I picked it up from the library. I didn't like it enough to finish it (my suspicions about its flaws were borne out by the Lt reviews), but I'm glad I picked it up. It's one of a kind, and it has the outrageousness and some of the charisma of Transmet's hero, though less of the heart and spine.

Now it's summer, I'm funemployed for at least a month, I have a lounge chair on the balcony (thank you, mother-in-law), and I'm going to read whatever I damn well please. It's about time for a big thumping fantasy epic. I've only read the Song of Ice and Fire once, and as well as the frickin' amazing HBO series I just watched, there's actually a new book to read. I think I've just planned my next few days.

#84



Midnight's Daughter by Karen Chance

Whoops! I forgot to include this one earlier. This is a reread for me. I really like Dorina Basarab; how often do you find a real... well, melee heroine? One whose special powers aren't woo-woo shit (as Eve Dallas would say) like sensing people's feelings, reading their minds, seeing the future, controlling elements, etc. - but punching. Punching, and being able to take a punch. Yes, Dory likes punching things, and she can take as many punches as any of the supernatural guys. If you'll pardon a cliché, she kicks ass and takes names, and not while wearing a miniskirt, either. I like this girl.

Hey Cynara –

I loved the opening to your review of Galadria – guess I won’t be reading that one.

I’ve been a fan of Elizabeth Peters / Amelia Peabody for a long time. I have to confess, though, that I don’t like all the later books as much as the earlier ones. One big advantage of rereading is being able to skim sections with impunity…not so easy aloud.

The Auden essay book sounds interesting. Isn’t it a great feeling when you finish something that’s taken you a while?

I’m a Dorina fan, too; she does indeed kick ass. I’m just sorry it’ll be 2012 before we see the next book from Karen Chance.

I’m incredibly behind on reviews for my thread. Maybe I’ll make some progress today. You’ve inspired me!

Cool! I enjoy reviewing; if I start feeling overwhelmed, I just need to give myself permission to write whatever I want at whatever length feels right. This time I felt bad about reviewing Galadria, and it was holding me up. I'll enjoy reading your thread!

#85



Ten days later, here I am with Game of Thrones done! Man, it really didn't feel like it took that much time.

This is my second time reading it - this particular reading is sandwiched, as for many people, between watching the frickin' amazing HBO adaptation and re-reading the rest of the series, capped by the new book, A Dance With Dragons.

I'm amazed by how word-for-word and scene-for-scene the series was. Yes, they did some cutting, but whoever did the screen adaptation had a peerless ear for the "good parts" and kept them intact. In fact, it surprises me that, not only did HBO make a wonderful adaptation of a wonderful book, it's wonderful in the same way as the book. It's the texture of the setting, Martin's faultless ear for names*, and the lovely acting moments that distinguish both the series and the book.

This second reading was a very different experience for me than the first. One of the book's faults is the gigantic infodump of names and titles that hits you every few chapters. Coming off an earlier rereading and the series, I was actually able to keep 98% of the characters straight in my head. With that out of the way, I was able to concentrate on the texture of Martin's writing; the way he balances the personal and the political so deftly and communicates radically different points of view (an eight-year-old-boy; a careworn lord; a cynical, urbane dwarf) so convincingly and in such clear prose.

Sometimes I wonder why I like this series so much; as you may have heard, it can be pretty miserable. I can only point to Martin's writing and characterization. I find his characters so interesting that I am even willing to watch my favourites suffer. He also does a fair job of leavening the doom and pain with Tyrion's astringent chapters -- even if bad things happen to the Starks, at least the Lannisters are hurting too, and Tyrion's still funny about it.

Some reviewers have difficulty with the book because, unlike most fantasy, Martin's 'good' and 'bad' characters are difficult to pin down (Joffrey is really the only unredeemable character). Almost everyone else is convincingly human, though they aren't modern westerners in fancy dress. All the characters we like do not necessarily like each other, and the characters you hate in this book may well reveal their humanity in the next. Except for Joff. He's a little shit.

Off to the next book! I recall being dreadfully bored with Stannis Baratheon, despite his resounding name, so wish me luck.

*I find my brain muttering them like I have a song stuck in my head: "Robert Baratheon, the first of his name; Stannis Baratheon; Eddard Stark; Winterfell; Lord Walder Frey of the Twins; Lady Catelyn Tulley."

Whew! Somehow I managed to get 25 posts behind, but I am now caught up again.

Lovely to see you around!

Thanks!

My, my, I have been neglectful.

#86



A Clash of Kings by George R. R. Martin

A mixed lot, compared to the first book. Some of the storylines don't actually have that much happen - sometimes it feels like Martin is getting involved in worldbuilding and character-building and losing sight of moving his plot along. It's his gift as a writer that, while you're reading, you're as interested in it as he is. It's only when you finish the book that you realize that some writers would have dispatched most of Danaerys' plot in a single chapter. I was dreading Davos' chapters, which I remembered as being quite dreary, but they were better and fewer than I had remembered. On to the next!

#87



Psychiatric Tales by Darryl Cunningham

Starkly written and illustrated stories of working as a psychiatric nurse. I think the book is stronger when it illuminates conditions through specific anecdotes, as opposed to Cunningham's more general discussions. A bit depressing.

#DNF



Kill Shakespeare, written by Conor McCreery

An adventure comic which tries a Fables-style take on Shakespeare; mix a bunch of characters together from the different plays, and give them a common story. Honestly, it feels like a cynical attempt to court the school market (or the concerned parent market) with a mechanical appeals-to-boys approach to the bard: swordfights, graphic novel, irreverence, mix, serve chilled. Then, hope the English departments pay attention. My dad gave it a try, and couldn't get more than halfway. I couldn't get halfway. I mean, can we do better than Hamlet as a bland action hero and Lady Macbeth as a busty evil vixen? How can you remove the weird from Richard III? The art by Andy Belanger is competent, and the colours by Ian Herring are rich, if conservative.

#88



A Disease of Language by Alan Moore

This book contains a couple of graphic adaptations of Moore's writing and spoken-word performances by his From Hell Collaborator Eddie Campbell. While it is all very dense and Alan Moore-y (variegated occult psychogeographic mumblings) there is interesting, poetic work here, and Campbell does his best to make it tick. I also enjoyed the interview in the back, with comments on Promethea and Lost Girls.

#89-93






Promethea, (all volumes) by Alan Moore

Another reread of this wonderful series; I won't pretend I was thrilled on my initial read when the books derailed from the mystic/superhero track they were launched upon, and ran off on a weirdly didactic trip through the kabbalistic tree of life - but the art is possibly the most beautiful I've seen in a comic, and I love the concept of Promethea. There's one moment in the second volume that brings me to tears every time I read it. The character of Promethea/Sophie sustains my interest in the series (though not everyone's), and I'm academically interested in Moore's magic, so I like the Crowley in-jokes. This series is a favourite of mine.

#77: I wish my local library had those books! I am jealous :)

I'm not sure if my library system has them - it's surprisingly good on graphic novels, so it probably does. I think Moore had a wonderful idea for a superhero character, though: half girl, half story - "I am the holy splendour of the imagination." I get chills, I tell you, chills.

"I am the holy splendour of the imagination."

THAT is beautiful.

Maybe you should give Promethea a try, then. It's a wonderful concept.

#79: My local library system is terrible about graphic novels. I was able to get two of Moore's through that source, but they were the only two of his available.

#94



Light of Thy Countenance by Alan Moore

Another adaptation of a Moore-rant into a graphic novel of sorts. Alan Moore does not like television, and tells us at some poetic length exactly why not.

#83: Yet another Moore book which I wished my local library carried. *sigh*

#95



A Storm of Swords by George R. R. Martin

Did I complain that not much happened in the last book? Well, Martin is moving things along at a fair clip in this one. My sympathies keep getting more complicated, things mostly keep getting more dreadful (except for one honest-to-god act of altruism which I had totally forgotten), but I'm starting to get inured to the tragedy, and of course I can't put it down for a moment. I have become a machine for doing needlework and reading George R. R. Martin. It's just as well I have some employment coming up, or I'd be forced to admit how truly useless I am when left to my own devices.

#84; I don't think you're missing a ton here; it's not bad, but it's very very short and rather predicatable.

#96



A Feast for Crows by George R. R. Martin

Super-fast review time!

Just as compulsive as the first three, with some wonderfully vile acts and one or two that are... well, one hesitates to say "chivalrous" in a Martin novel, but here I am considering it. Martin knows to give us just enough hope to string us along for another book of heart-breaking. Waiting on the next one at the library!

#97



Batman: The Killing Joke by George R. R. Martin

This title had come up often enough that I felt I should look it up - and then I learned that it was by Alan Moore, a favourite of mine who rarely touches the spandex side of things.

This is an odd, short story. It's characteristically dark, and I've been told that this book's tone and its depiction of the Joker were major influences on the Batman comics of the 90s. It's very well written and illustrated; not as electric as I bet it was in '88, but it's held up well. I can also see why some readers are still mad at the almost casual assault on Barbara Gordon; yes, her story ended up going really cool places, but did she really need to be SPOILERS (shot in the spine, stripped naked, subjected to a porny photo shoot by the Joker, and paralyzed just so Gordon could have a character moment?) END SPOILERS?

#98



Across the Universe: The DC Universe Stories of Alan Moore by Alan Moore

Mixed nuts; ranges from the obscure, dated, and frankly rather laboured (a story about The Vigilante) to the odd (Swamp Thing/Superman crossover? Really?) to the really quite good (some whimsical shorts about alien Green Lanterns). For fans only, I'd say.

#99



War for the Oaks by Emma Bull

Started out brilliantly - I sighed happily and commented to my friend that, at last, I felt like I was in good hands with a new author. The book doesn't get worse, exactly, but it doesn't quite live up to its promise. I'd give it 3.5 stars instead of my initial heady hopes of four or upwards. I like the heroine, I love her 80s wardrobe, I love that the book isn't ashamed to be set outside of New York, I liked the hero very much initially, but he stayed a bit... vague... for me. I would have appreciated more detail, and a stronger sense of his character.

Perhaps I'm spoiled by series like the Fever books and the Dresden Files, which have a much more vivid fae element, but are obviously indebted to this volume. I think further books would have addressed some of the things I felt were missing here. On the other hand, it's almost a retro feeling - one book? No TV series? No movie tie-in?

#100 and #101





The Beekeeper's Apprentice and O Jerusalem by Laurie R. King

I picked up Beekeeper's as a comfort read; I'd been reading Justice Hall aloud with a friend on vacation, and I had a job interview coming up. Clearly, a time for Mary Russell. Then, of course, I had to go on to O Jerusalem.

NB: I post the cover I wish I had instead of the cover I do have for the latter.

#102



Alice, Let's Eat by Calvin Trillin

A charming and often hilarious book of essays on Trillin's eating habits and obsessions. Never have the culinary opportunities of Kansas City received such loving hagiography by a resident of New York City. Better read in a couple of sittings, I think.

#103



Death's Mistress by Karen Chance

The sequel to my #84 above, and a better book I think. Perhaps not quite as convulsingly hilarious as I found it on my first read, but still a damn good paranormal. God, I find Dory refreshing; physically and mentally tough, and her mental hangups are realistic instead of neurotic. Competent, and and generally doesn't act like an idiot. Dumb title for a book, though.

#104



The Night Wanderer by Drew Hayden Taylor

This was a loan from my father, who thought I might like to use it in a class some day. I don't know. It's a fairly basic troubled-Anishnabe-teen story bolted to a fairly basic paranormal story. There is a little twist at the end, but our heroine Tiffany's life never came alive for me; there's her nurturing, wise, Anishnabe-speaking grandmother, her troubled single dad, her problems with her white boyfriend, her dislike of school - it just never gelled into anything beyond a teen-book-of-the-week for me, despite the reserve setting. She's not very charismatic or interesting, and I get that she's having a rough week, but all she does is whine.

I am a huge fan of the Russell/Holmes series. I am glad to see another one. I just finished Pirate King. Have you read it yet? It is very different from the previous books in the series, but good fun. I would say it is more farce than anything.

No, I haven't read it yet! I'm curious about the change in tone, as you put it. The series has had several tones over the years, and I wonder how I'll feel about this one.

I will be curious to see what you think of it when you have a chance to read it.

#105



The Dawn of the Colour Photograph: Albert Kahn's Archives of the Planet by David Okuefuna

I came across this book through the blog www.howtobearetronaut.com; here are some of the pictures that got me interested:

http://www.howtobearetronaut.com/2010/03/fleet-street-london-155pm-on-a-sunny-su...

http://www.howtobearetronaut.com/2010/02/england-1913-in-colour/

In the early 20th century, during World War I and thereabouts, Albert Kahn's photographers went out over the globe, taking pictures of landscapes and, most of all, of people going about their everyday lives: at home, on the street, at work, and at war. The pictures tend to be posed, due to the long exposure times necessary, but they're still a vivid window into earlier lives and times.

What makes them particularly appealing is that they were shot with an early colour film. There's something about seeing the green of the grass along the edge of a foxhole that pushes History right into your face; these people weren't grey-and-sepia abstractions, they were people, and that one on the left looks a little like your cousin Mike.

Then, there's the sheer range of places and people photographed: here's my list of tags: read 2011, history, photography, Morocco, Persia, Iran, Egypt, France, Japan, America, Africa, Ireland, Germany, Macedonia, Belgium, England, Mongolia, Ceylon, Sri Lanka, India, Vietnam, Cambodia, Jordan, Syria, Iraq, Algeria, Luxor, Cairo, Aswan, Tunisia, Palestine, China, Turkey, Bulgaria, Greece, Bosnia, Serbia, Canada, Montreal, Brazil, Vancouver, Calgary, New York, Switzerland, Spain, Italy, Holland, Sweden, Norway, London, Oxford, 20th century, World War I, social history .

#106



Déja Dead by Kathy Reichs

I think this one was recommended to me by the SantaThing crowd last December, and I was decided by my husband's "Bones" habit. I realised after that TV's Dr. Brennan is based more on Kathy Reichs (!) than on her character; in fact, Tempe Brennan-from-the-books is far less glamorous and more real than her TV counterpart.

That said, I enjoyed it well enough, particularly the Montreal setting. As I came to one particularly gruesome incident, I did realise that I'd read this years before. I may well look up later books in the series, though I found the tone of this one a bit grim. Tempe is alone here, in a rough spot in her life. I hope in later books she makes a few friends.

#107



Lord of Scoundrels by Loretta Chase

I am rather surprised to see this in my list for this year; I could swear it had been longer since I picked it up. My overall impression is similar to my first reading. The first hundred pages are masterful, the next hundred pages are excellent, the next fifty are a bit slow, and the last hundred are fine, but they feel like an odd diversion from my main interest: our two protagonists. I can't remember who said it, but someone wrote that a love affair is "an egotism of two": while I like having a strong supporting cast in a romance, our third character definitely makes a crowd here. The unfortunate effect is that the chemistry between our leads goes kaput, and the last few pages are anticlimactic.

However, the first 250 pages are so very good on average, than I'm sure I'll return to this book again.

p.s. Desperate cover. Who the hell is that supposed to be? Totally the wrong mood for the book, too.

#108



The Secret Language of the Tarot by Ruth Ann and Wald Amberstone

Like many readers, I have a taste for the esoteric, and I love iconography and symbol systems. I had been thumbing through my new Rider-Waite deck and wondering why half the cards seemed to have a castle in the background, when it occurred to me that I might be able to research this. This book approaches tarot by analyzing symbols that crop up multiple times throughout the deck, so I was very excited to come across it in my library catalogue.

It's written more for the spiritual seeker than the grubby symbol-collector, so I did skip the meditations and some of the more general introductions, but I appreciated their research into Kaballah and alchemy, as well as some familiarity with Waite's Golden Dawn milieu. There were also glimpses into some of the numerological significances of the minor arcana.

That said, I would have enjoyed more of that kind of information, and less of the more general discussion of what (for example) clouds mean to us. I can come up with six or eight possibilities as quickly as the next English major, but I don't know as much about the gnostic tidbits of the last century, so I might look for a book that covers similar information in greater depth.

I did like the images of the R-W cards that illustrated each symbol, removing the necessity of hauling out your deck and sorting through it each time you tackle a new symbol.

The book seems to have been adapted from a tarot symbolism course the couple has taught; it seemed a bit odd that the greetings to the class were preserved in the text. The book bid me "hello" and "welcome to our class" several times each chapter.

I have a feeling I've forgotten a couple of books in here, but I'll add them as I remember

#109



Retromania: Pop Culture's Addiction to its Own Past by Simon Reynolds

I found this recommended on Warren Ellis' blog; I think I'm glad I read it, though it left me with a temporary doom-and-gloom feeling about popular music. Reynolds's contentends that (practically) all pop music since the 60s is a desperate rehash of the decades that come before it - that artists have been mulching rock'n'roll down into a fine paste of irony and derivation. Yeah, kinda.

Reynolds is most interesting when he gets off on a sidebar (and I don't mean the actual sidebars in the text, which I found distracting. I don't think the book's structure was so tight that they couldn't have been incorporated into the main text). I enjoyed his discussions of record collecting and the Northern Soul scene, for example.

On the other hand, the interesting passages were hard to find among the sheer accumulation of detail. Page after mournful page describing how each 'new' thing was simply a reworking of an older style. I agree with him in many cases, but I don't share his feeling of gloom. So what if punk was inspired by earlier, stripped-down rock'n'roll? It still produced some great music. Sometimes he gets so wrapped up in proving that a new style was a reinvention of an earlier sound that the music's quality doesn't count for anything.

I would also have appreciated more discussion of rap, hip-hop and R&B; while it's only natural that Reynolds should gravitate towards his preferred genres, and while he does discuss soul, funk, and (to a lesser extent) reggae in detail, I thought we drifted into white middle-class ground for the '90s and '00s.

While I agree that the inventiveness of white western pop music has stalled in the last few decades (including the time when I was in high school), I think this book was too long for Reynolds' ideas. Eventually, the piling-up of detail made me feel rebellious about his conclusions. While I also wish that pop music would get a real Next Big Thing, a dose of inventiveness and strange, I started to feel that Reynolds was prizing the new over the good.

Sounds like an interesting read and that title is just fantastic. But I think I'll skip it because I'd probably just get irritated with the argument, as valid as it might be. :)

Yeah - the first bit was exciting and funny, as he listed all the reissues, recreations, repackagings, and reunion tours. He says something like "what if the future of music is paying sixty dollars to attend a track-by-track performance of the album you loved in freshman year?"

New thread here!