Janny's Reading Journeys 2015

First reads of this year are:

Cruises with Kathleen - a non fiction sailing account by thriller author Robert Hamilton. Lightly entertaining with a layer of irresistible snark. Sailors are inevitably have a touch of snob, and given the follies of bad choices creating spectacular mishaps under sail, this one is good for smiles and laughs for poking fun at the foibles of the nautically inclined.

A Play of Shadow by Julie E. Czerneda is waiting for my free time - in hardback, which I love best - nothing so sweet as a solid REAL book.

Our neighborhood book club read for this month will be any title we wish to pick by Tim Dorsey - twisted tales that take place in Florida, with a totally loonie set of protagonists. Somewhat like Carl Hiassen's work, but Serge (the 'hero') is an unregenerate sociopath off his meds - who hates and inventively destroys idiots - with a pothead hippie side kick - if you are in the mood very black humor, these reads are in a class by themselves.

My gold star marks your thread, Janny. A good year to you.

I love the hardbacks too--one great reason for getting as much reading matter as I can from the library.

My stars to you too, Janny.

Sometimes I feel like I'm surrounded by Serges so I look forward to reading about yours.

Dropping my star here, and agreeing that good, solid hard back books are a joy to hold and read. Looking forward to another year of excellent books.

I have one of Tim Dorsey's books on the tbr shelves. Not the first of the series but I'm guessing it won't really matter with the reading order in this case. The black humour sounds right up my street.

> I really, really must read A turn of light this year. Knowing that the sequel is available should give me the push I need, I hope.

Looking forward to following your reading year.

>6 Sakerfalcon: snap!

Welcome here - desk read is a re-read, The Silmarillion - the desk read is a volume I can pick up and put down/between work and daydreams, that won't suck me in to the point of distraction, but act as a refresher between scenes.

Definitely I am getting a whole lot more out of this in a second pass, at this stage of life and living. Last read in my early twenties, and I was too impatiently young to fully appreciate the nuances in the master work that it is.

Sounds a lot like my "car books" that I keep - interesting enough that if I'm stuck in traffic or in a waiting room unexpectedly I have something interesting, but not sooo interesting that I have to keep reading and finish it off. After long experimentation, I have learned that my own "car books" really need to be books I've read before, and preferably ones that I've read many many times. The Hobbit and The Horse and His Boy are in our cars, and I've got a tatty old Anne of Green Gables stashed in my day bag. It's nice to have a familiar world to dip into when you've got a spare minute to be distracted.

Car books? OMG. That would mess me up bigtime/cause huge annoyances for the driver behind me. I'd get too absorbed, even with an older title I'd read before, in traffic.

As a desk book, I can read a quick chapter (Silmarillion has lots of page breaks/short chapters) and not be tempted to go further, but setting a books down midparagraph if a jam moved on - I'd mess up! grin. When I read it is a total disconnect from THIS world, I'd probably get shot by a road rager.

Comes to that - having a book and multitasking - You're a better 'man' than I Gunga Din!

I always seem to do this in clumps.

Not in any particular order, my latest reads (those worth mentioning) have been:

Element of Fire - Martha Wells - her first novel, one I'd meant to catch up on, and delightfully fun - if you like Dumas, she's created a wonderful court intrigue under a very scary threat. Once it got rolling, I loved it.

I finally got the paperback of The Goblin Emperor - no way will I pay more for an e book than a paperback. Had to see if this one lived up to the buzz. A sweet story, but I do confess, for political intrigue stories, nobody beats C. J. Cherryh - who manages to capture the kind protagonist, but keep the teeth in the threats, even if nobody dies. Goblin Emperor was a nice, light, engaging read. Interesting to see what happens given (I think?) it's on the Hugo ballot.

Tracker by C. J. Cherryh - starts another trilogy in her Foreigner series, and again, once it got moving, she delivers a nicely staged finale, with a three way crisis - I expect that this new trilogy will build from here, and reliably ratchet the tension.

Best read/most stand out - Lamentation by Ken Scholes, first in the Psalms of Isaac series. I loved this. Brisk paced, had multiple character POVS, all well developed and charmingly portrayed. It's a very original and deep view of a very far future after a new civilization has taken hold after an apocalypse. There is a lovely smattering of psychological depth and insight - not too weighty, but enough to sharpen the impact of the story - and a hugely unpredictable tapestry of events that is all interconnected - in startling reveals - I've started the sequel, and it's building extremely well - not a slow burn book at all, but it has the development of ideas and reveals that don't follow conventional courses. Don't let the fact this is an under recognized series defer checking it out.

I also finished A Play of Shadows - in which Julie E. Czerneda digs much deeper into the interface between the world, and the strangeness of the magical Verge. Like Goblin Emperor, reach for this one for a happier, optimistic read with characters driven by kindness and family.

Canticle, the next book in the Psalms of Isaac is my current read, with quite a few books I've meant to pick up and finally have (some continuing series, some to acquaint me with authors I've not read, yet) held in waiting.

>11 JannyWurts: I'm really looking forward to Tracker! But I still have Peacemaker to read first... Very excited that the kyo appear to be coming back. Considering a re-read of Foreigner through Explorer too because it's been aaages since I read those.

Oh, I think you'd mentioned Patricia Kennealy-Morrison's Keltiad books before? I saw that she has a new collection of Keltiad stories out, Tales of Spiral Castle, and that she's planning two more books to finish the series.

I adored The element of fire - such a pleasant surprise to discover that the evil Queen of Air and Darkness (so described by the cover blurb) was actually a heroine

And I've just started The goblin emperor and love it so far.

Thanks on the notice for the Keltiad books. I'm pretty swamped with TBR's the pile's a little dangerously tippy. Nice to know the author is still writing, so I've ticked your notice in memory.

Martha Wells always writes a balanced cast of characters, IMO. Loved her work since I stumbed on Death of the Necromancer, chased down the rest, never disappointed.

I think given all the buzz I expected far too much of Goblin Emperor. I am not a fan of crapsack world fiction, or ruthless outlook in general, and the trend towards viciousness and postapocalyptic works doesn't balance.....there are few books that span the gamut from dark to bright - books that waffle along in the middle or tip to either extreme feels faked to me. The current trend to equate 'realistic' with 'cynicism' or books that treat hope as the pursuit of the witless or the blindly stupid suggest a philosophy that has stopped questioning its own facetious limitations. Responding to threat with invention requires a certain resilient belief in a character's capacity to drive their own destiny. The path may twist and turn, and not always, even, go forward - but to replace striving with unilateral rage - or unilateral kindness - it's a one faceted outlook. I've never met a one faceted individual yet, in my life - identities change with circumstance.

I enjoyed the read, I enjoyed Maia, but when I got to the finish, the book left me with this hollow feeling - the idea was great, but the substance was thin. I'm trying to explain: there were no 'mistakes' - no 'regrets' no collateral events - nothing to challenge the character's tenets, no moment of soul search or truth where he had to decide what row to hoe. The uncertainty and the inexperience were inwardly reflected, but there was no outward impact. That gave the story a sort of soap bubble feel, like a dream. I always felt one step removed from the consequences.

As an escape read the story functions quite well. As the 'antidote to grimdark' I expected more depths and light - a wider spectrum where the bright casts the dark into sharper focus. It's hard to put my thoughts into words, here.

But for a character who introspected constant uncertainty, ignorance, and inexperience, I never really felt AFRAID for him. His opponents are not sharply drawn enough, to really ever feel like a threat. And the unexpectedness of his actions at first - may have thrown his opposition into disarray - but I never saw that. And surely a smart thinking opponent would have laid traps/maneuvered to use his good qualities to trip him. I never felt the chess match, nor did I feel the character had to rise to the moment - win or lose. So the story, in hindsight, did not have the graphic sharpness, or the amplitude, to have scored a huge impression.

I expected too much: a book that was going to stick with me, like a Kay, or a Hambly, or a McKillip....what emerged (for me) was a nice read, but forgettable - the layering and complexity was all fancy words and dry description of factions, I failed to LIVE in that world's tapestry, but only skimmed over the surface. The emotional bang was not explosive, and I'd be taxed to recall any one of the conflicts between the shifting alliances in the court.

Not like Cherryh, who draws her factions so keenly - you feel the emotional knot and you ride the wave of the mob's driven motivations. For a court intrigue in a very old, established world - the 'at stake' fabric seemed hazy.

Your mileage may vary - I can be a taskmistress...I'd recommend this title, certainly, as a good book for relaxation. No quibbles with that.

I had expected a more passionate portrayal, is all.

Janny, I love your review above! Nice to read of some carefully thought reasons why a book might not make the "its a good one" lists. I agree that as real life is complex with its nuances seldom do we encounter people who are starkly one way or the other. I can't think of one instance of a person with whom I've interacted being totally evil, or totally virtuous.

Recently, my little community's HOA experienced a person who assumed a leadership position and without much collaboration or even discussion proceeded to make some decisions with large impact, and mostly financially disastrous impact. Even though many discussions of how terrible this person's leadership was, or how stupid this person's choices were, and how disgusted we felt about the turn of events, I never felt that she was totally evil, or criminal. I do believe she was trying her best to do what she thought was best. She just did not believe that collaboration with experienced people was indicated. She did resign when the rest of the Board finally rebelled and reversed one of her decisions which cost the largest amount of money and hopefully the HOA will be able to recoup some of what she had already spent. In the end, the community rallied to some degree and things are definitely better. But no one person was totally a hero, nor a villain.

I did pick up The Goblin Emperor when it was being trumpeted and may read it still. I'll be interested in seeing how I enjoy it. I have too many TBRs also and am trying very hard to focus my efforts at acquisition on the public library system. In that method I impose deadlines upon myself however it does not make the stacks* of TBRs any smaller.

*boxes in storage

I agree with you about The Goblin Emperor. I enjoyed reading it and looked forward to picking it up again, but all the way through I thought of it as a mild Cherryh book. I thought Addison did a great job of making characters likable or not without wasting time with their histories; I never once wished she would "get on with it".

Nice to hear you appreciated my ramblings. I'll be interested to see what you make of this title, too.

Yes, the book was very readable. I did keep expecting the tension to ratchet. Never really didn't feel 'safe.' But as the touted antidote to grimdark, I guess that's the big deal.

>15 JannyWurts: I very much enjoyed The goblin emperor even though I have to agree with many of your criticisms. I was able to excuse the lack of effective plotting by Maia's antagonists as a consequence of them underestimating him, believing that he would be easy to unseat due to his mixed blood, his lack of experience and the fact that his popular father despised and barely acknowledged him. I didn't think they took him seriously as a threat and therefore didn't put much effort into their schemes. The major quibble I had with the story was that the Emperor and ALL his heirs were travelling together on the same airship. Even in a fantasy world I don't think that would have been likely to happen; it was clearly the author finding a way to get rid of them all conveniently. However, unlike you, I did find myself drawn into the world and living in it, and I wanted to cheer when Maia overcame each obstacle or won somebody to his side. I can see this becoming a comfort read for me, for those times when I don't want to worry about characters I like. Sometimes I need a book like that.

I appreciate your comments here, Sakerfalcon, and my applause, always, for comfort reads - they are wonderful oases when life gets too stressful.

It's always interesting when opinions differ - individuality is totally the spice of life, and when I read something heavily touted and my own reaction differs, it is a welcome chance to dig deep and introspect as to why.

I agree: Maia's kindness and definitely tripped up his opposition, and threw them into disarray.

Where that fell down for me was: once, boy, not twice.
Perhaps because I grew up with older brothers and inventive younger siblings. You could throw them into tactical confusion with an approach: ONCE. Twice would backfire - they'd have regrouped and thought around it. So i think, given that rambunctiousness in my background - I expected the game to shift course...and the naive one faceted approach to trip up Maia/and open a threat that forced growth. Not away from his kind nature - I just expected he'd have to get a little more inventively unpredictable, keeping his principles.

Definitely did not (would not!) want a read like War of the Roses or GoT. Wanted a real sea change in this story. I kept waiting for the other shoe to drop, given we know the faction trying to seize power did, in fact, play dirty. While I love a Disney movie as much as the next person, I did not EXPECT it here.

If I'd picked this up expecting YA plotting, I'd not have been taken off guard/would not have been kicked in the Wrong Expectations nuggets. I expected a read with a kind protagonist, and a story with backbone - not interior monologue of uncertainty set in a court that - would have been? - more sophisticated, more worldly, far more assured, clever and assured of itself. There wasn't much sleight of hand, here. The villains felt like paper cutouts: all scary mask, no substance.

And for me (in turn) this colored my credibility when it came to Maia.

I think it is lovely the story is enjoying such widespread success and admiration - The bleak stuff has taken altogether too much of the center stage spotlight in the genre. I expected way too much - something to upset the trend that would blow me away, even break new ground.

It isn't that I didn't like the book - I expected brilliance/the naive unprepared kind natured protag who is forced to grow - not dark - but more brilliant, still, and find himself by staying true to the roots of his nature. I was not anticipating a light weight read at all.

Am trying to make sense of my feelings, given the wide ranging reception of this book. Not knocking it for what it is, but questioning what it isn't.

The lead up buzz did not prepare me for the 'oversimplified' aspects, is all. I have a lot of keepers that are comfort reads that, if analyzed, are downright silly. I've seen those same titles quite shredded, here, by other readers, who raised pretty valid points. But what made me love those particular stories was the premise that excellence can be EARNED....it scratched a deep longing, I suppose - in that, in our world, excellence can be achieved with hard work, but it does not always lead to the happy outcome. Genius developed is not always rewarded - in fact, it can lead the curve to far to be recognized at all. And so can a constant effort at kindness - not lead to the expected outcome.

We've all skinned our knees on those sorts of expectations, and slammed into the downers we expected to be uppers.

NOT all power is corrupt. True power can abstain, rather take the choice to be exercised.

But given the plot behind that airship crash, and the great, deep age and the divisions in Addison's fantasy court setting - I expected a lot more maneuvering. The power players in general came across as weak. I kept waiting for the other shoe to drop, there/and for Maia to be shoved into a fork in the path, where it took true, down deep, grit and courage to maintain the tenets of his character, and invention to survive in the face of a far more experienced setting. I got to the end, and I just missed that resounding conflict of truth, where the character had to choose in the face of greatest uncertainty. And choose, become responsible, with a little more than pages of internal monologue.

I enjoyed The Goblin Emperor, but I read it before it had any hype. I didn't expect a lot and was pleasantly surprised. Also, much love for The Element of Fire and City of Bones by Martha Wells, too.

>11 JannyWurts: I have finished Tracker. I am now thinking of Tracker as a mild Goblin Emperor, and, Janny, I have a certain appreciation for your comment "once it got moving". Cherryh is a master of mulling ;)

Great book cover - her books always have great covers. I'd like to have tea with Mani.

I could wish for more characters as brilliant as Mani.

Time for another catch up.

Since last round, I've read the first two in Ken Scholes Psalms of Isaak series, Lamentation and Canticle. This is a very condensed, fairly fast moving post-post apocalyptic tale with a fun range of characters, some rather original magic, and a pretty intense thread of philosophy. It began with (literally) a big bang for a world changer, and the destruction of a city that was walled off to preserve knowledge - old knowledge in particular - with an order surrounding its preservation. Figure a readably simplified concept of Anathem, only the worst happens, and it is destroyed from within. The subsequent stories pursue the question of which faction (of many) had their finger in - and seeks to find who - or what - is responsible. And the question is not simple. What I liked about the book: likeable characters, a fairly complex political web, and the full balance - the nice and the pretty and the ethical characters offset by some whoppingly horrifying goings on. And at the center of the story, an intelligent automation who cries, and can feel remorse. If you like your fantasy different, with the few cookie cutter tropes mixed in with some original thinking, not done at the expense of entertainment, I'd say go for it. This author was well received, literarily, but hasn't a wide enough following.

I finally strapped in and finished Ricardo Pinto's last two books of his Stone Dance of the Chameleon trilogy, The Standing Dead and The Third God. This is not in any way light reading, its huge, it's a brick with extreme detail and slow motion focus pacing. As a finished work, it is mighty - due to the underlying concepts, and a built world so layered, so beautiful, so horrifying, so anciently complete, it is a monument in the field. If you liked E. R. Eddison, the level of description and the otherworldly beauty is all here. If you liked the totally off the wall imagination of Steven Erikson's Malazan Book of the Fallen some of the ending battles in the last book were as wildly off the wall - picture towers, castles, really, with flame throwers, strapped atop IMMENSE saurians, drawn with such earth shaking detail you are there. These books have a lot of the unconventional: relationships, in rainbow, different roles and hierarchies that don't fall across sexual lines, but run down to alterations in fundamental biology. An ecology, and massively worked out, layered world society, with every sort of inequity, and a prehistoric world with an ancient, overlapped array of civilizations - and you have something so utterly unique, it's off the pale, and under the radar. This is not the standard hero's journey - but the evolution of a provincially raised high caste aristocrat - son of a father who was 'exiled' - then compelled to rejoin the main stream of a intricately stratified court society. Young, inexperienced, and already an original thinker not destined to fit in the mold, the first book shows the stratified view, top downwards, and the first stir of questioning. Where this series builds power is in the contrasts, as the main character and companion/lover 'fall' outside of the pale of their experience - into all the other levels and layers, taking with them, and so breaking, all of their blinded assumptions, and what happens when their doings are unleashed on world impact. The final volume - if you can stomach the horrors along the way, and the mass murders and body count as a confllct undreamed of heats up - the finale is extremely powerful. I was put off, many times, by the delivery, but I have to say this work is amazing in its own right, and I'm glad I finished it out. Do this when you're girded for grim dark, but - expect a prehistoric backdrop and an Aztec like surreal panorama that is dazzling for the scope of its imagined (and decadent) beauty. The reverse at the end is quite stunning, and if you are girded for the distance, worth the trip. I took several years to re-tackle this after vol I - it is intense and unforgettable.

Lighter fare: I continued with Sebastian de Castell's sequel, Knight's Shadow. The hard switch from Pinto to a story that flits along in bursts of shallow dialogue and cynical repartee was a 2 x 4 in the face, but I managed. The first part SEEMED to lag, as a result - fast action and gooey sentiment pasted over cynical repartee salted with ideals - put me off just a touch. May have been my frame of mind, may have been, the book took awhile to get going, certainly take my mileage with a grain of salt. This book loves to villify the grasping inhumanity of the privileged, offset by the disorganized even scatterbrained resistance of the village/peasant class. If you liked the first book, which was sorta fantasy three musketeers, this one is just as fun but with a less idealistic twist - the characters fail, the ideals don't work, and the regroup at the end resets the stage on new ground. This story too things deeper in a thoughtful way, no matter the superficial, glib handling.

I read a small press author's first novel, and was so unimpressed, it doesn't merit a mention.

I read a self published book, picked up by Sarah Chorn of the Bookworm Blues blog - and her glowing review made me give it a whirl. The Unbound Man by Matt Karlov is extremely well done, compact, multi-character, well written and superbly polished. It moves straight along, the cast of characters sketched in quickly and well, with all of their flaws and obsessive passions. The author does a great job of flipping your first impressions, and challenging misleading surface appearances. The shifting play of alliances and politics is deftly done. There is a solid, level mix of male and female characters, not drawn to stereotypes. Watch for this writer, he's very good - in some places, for me - too good.There are several scenes where murders occur, from inside the tight viewpoint of the perpetrator that were uncomfortable, chilling, so matter of fact in detail, I flinched. Skipped those passages, frankly, as a little too creepy for me. This may seem odd, given I could hack it through Pinto's work....the difference, for me, was in Pinto's long shot view, the main character's close up anguish, self questioning, and his horrified humanity and compassion moved me. The cold shot doing in Karlov's work just scared the bejaysus out of me. I have never been fond of murder mysteries, or police proceedurals trying to analyze cold blooded killing via autopsy and detailed evidence taken from the corpse...the cold remove required to kill serially does not fascinate me, it just plain gives me the creeps. No fault of the author's, he did his job exactly as planned. I liked his conclusion and his take on the way ethic matters, and his ability to handle the slippery slope of the voice of the inner conscience, and how he handled his story in this respect was not gratuitous. If you want a book off the beaten by a self published writer who HAS done the work, take note, this guy has my applause.

Not sure where I am turning, next, there are several books I set aside, unfinished, with bookmarks left in, quite likely I may chip away and finish them, given the work load on my plate, (the last details of novel in progress) and the season, with mowing. I also have proofing as Stormwarden goes into e book format for reprint. And paintings to complete, before DragonCon.

I have been so run off my feet busy, no time to update, but I've done a bit of reading, so here we go.

I finally finished Winds of Khalakhovo by Brad Breaulieu - if you like Russian flavored fantasy with unusual magic, air windships and a lot of floating between realities, and are prepared to feel cold (a lot of winter in this one!) go for it. This was not a fast read, for me, although it had a varied cast of characters and action to spare.

Finished a very forgettable title by an author I'd not tried that I won't mention, here - basically a book angled for a different sort of reader.

I began Killing Moon by N. K. Jemison - it's on my kindle and again, not going to be a fast read for me. (musing to self: could The Kindle be the reason? I seem to finish up print books far more readily, hmmmm).

While letting this one simmer, I ran through (very quickly) four very new, very YA, extremely dystopian, titles to peer through the keyhole of an area of reading I don't usually pursue. This had somewhat mixed results.

The first was Tabaa Sahir's Ember in the Ashes, written with a taut style, burning verve, and great characters. While the ending came with a rush that sort of tripped over itself a little, the read was brilliantly engaging, so much, that I could overlook the somewhat 'contrived' dystopia that has burst onto the pop reading culture with Hunger Games and Divergent. The characters here were so brilliantly well drawn and the style so taut, I found it a riveting read. Worth the trip.

Next, I stepped into The Vagrant by Peter Newman. This is a dark, dark book, dystopian as it gets. The writing is very graphic and the depiction of the state of the world, extremely grim. Two points of lovely originality: the protagonist does not speak, and he is guarding an infant through a journey across a world where dog eat dog is a mild euphemism. Humanity being tainted by aggressive aliens, against a really wrecked world backdrop - and the main character as seen through companions picked up enroute, who have greater or lesser ethic to them - kept the reading engaging, even if the nature of the story was nightmarish, straight up grim. Again, the ending seemed to trip over itself a little, I second guessed a few major points. One wishes these books took just a little more time in the endgame portions to flesh out and solidify the finales - it's as if the ideas are poured on so fast and furious, by the time they reach denouement, they feel a tad stretched. It's the rushed delivery, more than the concept, that caused my suspension of disbelief to waver.

I read another book in this line up, title not mentioned - it fell far short of the first two, both in the writing and in the character execution - and with those factors pushing into yet another YA dystopia with again, a highly regimented society laid over top - the book was just dull.

The last one, Hunter by Mercedes Lackey succeeded very well, even though some of the dystopian bits ran along similar lines - the lead character was interesting, very very human, and her pragmatic outlook won me over. The premise was also more original: some sort of apocalyptic event unleashes the otherworldly beings of myth and legend against humankind - and the Hunter's job is to fight them. The pace never lagged, and the finish satisfied.

I am currently reading Prince of Fools by Mark Lawrence - about 3/4ths of the way through, and have Vellum by Hal Duncan on deck, with Kiling Moon still chugging along in the background.

The current trend of very short books wore on me a little, so I did a re-read of Stephen Donaldson's Mordant's Need as a low key desk read.

I'll be looking to add Uprooted, but the price needs to come down, or I'll need to try for a library copy - mucho car repairs, with more to go, bust tractor, twice again, bust AC in the studio, bust solar hot water, bust water system - have chewed a major hole in the budget. Hate so much when all this sort of stuff piles up at once.

Janny, so sorry about the cascade of household bustings. Shoot! That is no fun, and certain a time eater.

Thanks for reading and review a handful of YA dystopian books. I'm kinda interested and I am glad to have you identify at least some of the bum ones.

Here's hoping for a quieter fall on the household front, and more good readings! I think I'll go looking for Hunter and Ember in the Ashes.

Ugh, so annoying when everything breaks at once, not to mention the strain on one's budget. Hope the repairs hold it all together for a good long time now.

I've had the Ricardo Pinto trilogy on my tbr pile for a while now. Your review is encouraging me to move them up the pile.

I found that The killing moon took me a few attempts to get into - I was intrigued by the worldbuilding but the characters didn't really capture my interest. However, once I got past the first few chapters I ended up enjoying the book, and found the sequel far more engaging. I'll be interested in your thoughts once you finish.

Ember in the Ashes is in my TBR pile. Glad to see it being well loved by so many different readers that I respect.

I also very much enjoyed The Killing Moon, but I am a sucker for interesting worldbuilding, and I find that I don't really need vibrant characters as long as the world around them is interesting and thought-provoking.

Uprooted is very much worth a trip to the library. I hope all of the breaking is over with, and you can start catching back up again. Expensive repairs always seem to happen in floods.

Finished Prince of Fools which had brilliantly faceted characters; not as grim as Mark Lawrence's Prince of Thorns, so perhaps a better book to start with for a protagonist that's not a sociopath.

I am still plugging away at Killing Moon.

For an airplane read, I gave Krista Ball's Spirit Caller series books 1-3, which tie together as a novel in three parts. What a fun read! The very lively cast of characters made this book a delight, and the splendid descriptions of life in Newfoundland made it memorable. If you like a heroine that's every which way but loose (movie title borrowed because it fits) who has issues, and an equally feisty 93 year old lady, with a romance twist, I really recommend this little paranormal. I don't read in this genre, generally, but this book was an upbeat blast.

I can never keep this topic up with my reading list - particularly when stuff gets too busy around here (travel to conventions, finish of a particularly difficult draft, return of my mother from her summer away, now that she needs more care/mounted search and rescue training, and also, camera trap work to monitor FL wildlife, whew!) Time to catch up the thread before the new year, so here goes.

I read the sequel to Krista's Spirit Caller, Mystery Night which took the story for a startling turn, once it wound up.

Next up, I read Ash and Silver by Carol Berg - definitely a favorite author, and the title did not disappoint. This author always sticks her endings with panache, something I find altogether too rare lately - she combines inventive characters with unpredictable twists in a lovely way. The only maddening thing was waiting for the book's release date - so many reviewers had early copies and were talking loudly, it was a pain and a half to avoid spoilers. And definitely a spoiler would kill a Berg book prematurely. I highly recommend this duology, and it's parallel story, her Lighthouse Duet as among my favorite reads of the past few years.

A birthday gift certificate allowed me to splurge on books and catch up on some title's I'd held in reserve due to cash flow.

I gobbled up Tower of Thorns, the second Blackthorn and Grim book by Juliet Marillier - refreshing to have a grumpy heroine for a change! The story was good but I admit to liking the first book just a little better. Marillier never disappoints, so the increment is by a hairsbreadth.

Twice and Future Caesar by R. M. Meluch was a blast - the latest in her Tours of the Merrimack series. I love this series - it is punchy, witty, fast moving, has brilliant characterization, and there is no other space opera quite like it. If you enjoy brilliance, humor, terse style and fun and unexpected wit mixed with military action on a fighting battle ship in space - it's a blast. Beats me why this author is so underrepresented - the barbed with and the zany cast make for a great read. I always look forward to each installment - and the fact she plays with string theory, time travel, and parallel realities as part of her SF makes NOTHING predictable in the least - every time things look to slacken, she shuffles the deck in a startling new direction. READ THESE they are a blast, and the female characters are brilliant.

Labyrinth of Flame wraps up Courtney Schafer's debut trilogy in a great way. The first book Whitefire Crossing was total taut suspense and brilliantly done. The second, The Tainted City did not disappoint, and after the crash of her first publisher, the kickstarted finale volume really pushed the author to go the second mile. A lovely fantasy with superb pacing and lots of scary magic - I can't for the life of me imagine this author won't be going someplace if her career keeps up at this pace. I don't lightly recommend titles - read this, said without reservation.

An odd beat out, I read The Valdemar Companion - more on this later.

Non fiction for this month - - Wild Cats of the World by Luke Hunter - a comprehensive book on the world's 38 Cat species - written by a longtime biologist. Not only the pretty breathtaking pictures - but for a thorough text adding in biological facts, status of the species, threats to continued survival, diet, reproduction - the works. It's a wonderful book - feast for the eyes and satisfies a thirst for knowledge. I got this book for the sheer love of the animals, learned a ton of facts - and also gleaned more information to help me set my trap camera to record our native threatened wildlife in Florida.

Other non fiction, Empyrean the art of Stephen Hickman by artist Stephen Hickman - totally brilliant - lush - amazing. I've followed Stephen's career for years and his work is utterly dazzling. Includes his distinctive style in both SF and Fantasy - if you know the covers of Brust's books, you've enjoyed Hickman's dragons. A definite winner.

Before the new year, I may or may not finish up Juliet Marillier's The Caller, and I also have a Myke Cole title on standby, as well as The Possibility Dogs, written by a woman who did canine search and rescue, and who turned from that to saving rescue dogs for retraining as service animals.