Walking in Circles Before Lying Down
by Merrill Markoe
This one I read after Toni's insistent recommendation. She read it and loved it, mainly because it's about a woman who starts hearing her dogs talk to her, and Toni and I have been doing the talking for our dog -- and our other pets -- all of his life. And after reading this, I wish Charlie would just drop the act and talk to me himself. I'd like to hear what he has to say about those squirrels in our yard. And his explanation for trying to eat cat poop, as he was doing this morning. Nasty little dog.
This was a wonderful book. The writing was good, the characters were outstanding, and I enjoyed the plot. The main character, Dawn, is terrible at romance. She's been through two marriages and divorces, both because she jumped in too deep, too fast; her only lasting and positive relationship is with her dogs, first an adopted Newfoundland named Swentzle and then a pit bull puppy named Chuck. She has a psychotic family, between her father the rockabilly guitarist who is trying to be a player in his 60's, her mother the egotist with her newest invention of the Every Holiday Tree (I loved that Dawn's mother took credit for being the first to describe coffee in wine terms -- bold, nutty, exciting, that sort of crap), and her sister the up-and-coming Life Coach, and Dawn herself has no particular career goals. She is trying to write a book, and in the meantime is just trying to get her life in order. Which is when, in the middle of another emotional crisis -- when her newest boyfriend, Paxton, dumps her -- her dog Chuck starts talking to her.
The dogs -- since every other dog Dawn meets starts talking to her after Chuck does -- are depicted perfectly. They have the instinctive wisdom of animals, and the total inability to understand human society that anyone who owns a dog knows they all share. One of the best parts of the book is when Chuck decides to use his instincts to find Dawn a suitable mate, since Chuck and Paxton don't get along. Chuck takes her to the dog park and starts sniffing men, muttering "Asshole . . . moron . . . asshole . . . asshole" as he passes by each one, and recommending men to her regardless of human morals: first a five-year-old (since Chuck himself has had pleasant romantic encounters with one-year-olds, and so doesn't see Dawn's problem with this kid), then a married man there with his family, then an 80-year-old before he finally settles on a gourmet butcher who . . . poses a whole new problem for Dawn once she gets to know him a little bit better. It was hilarious, and felt very true to life; I think dogs would have the same issues with the reasons people find for accepting and rejecting love.
The story ends well, with the right reconciliations and the right alienations, and with a good resolution to a very scary part when Chuck runs away. It was a fun book to read, very well written, and clearly written by someone who shares my love of and respect for animals, which was just icing on the cake.
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Book #93
A Kiss of Shadows
by Laurell K. Hamilton
Now that I've read all the Anita Blake books -- and gotten into some amusing arguments about their literary merits and dangerous influence on impressionable youth -- I figured it was time to move on to Merry Gentry.
The final grade for this first book would be somewhere in the B- range, I think. I liked it, overall; I like the fey and the Courts and the way they are depicted. I like the fey society (as a concept, not as something I'd personally like to be a part of -- what a bunch of nutballs) and their morals and values. I don't think a whole hell of a lot of Merry herself, as of yet, but I don't think there has been enough development of her character.
That was probably the biggest problem I had with the book. It starts out too fast, with only the briefest of expositions before it goes into the action. And since the action is a sex scene, it felt too much like the book deserved all the disapprobation and criticism of Hamilton's plotting that I have been hearing in my little debates. The book doesn't deserve the rage it gets, any more than the Anita Blake books do -- but I think it was a serious mistake to fall into the cliche so soon in the series, like Hamilton was living down to all of her detractors' expectations. It also bothered me that the main character wasn't better developed, because it left me with little to contradict the accusations that Merry is just Anita with redder hair: they are physically similar, and Merry wears the same sorts of things and does the same sorts of things, using sex as a weapon. Of course, the characters have totally different personalities and motivations and reasons for doing what they do, as became clear over the course of the book -- but she should have made that clear from the get-go, and she didn't. It meant that I was annoyed by the first scene, rather than intrigued.
Being intrigued came later. I loved the hand of flesh and how it was used; I love the major conflict and how it was set up and immediately complicated by the Queen's insanity. I didn't like that Galen, the clearest romantic interest, was taken out of contention and left out of contention by what seemed a somewhat lame plot device -- he healed but not in the most important way, and we have no explanation as to why that is -- because it felt like a cheap way to increase the romantic tension. I also hated the name The Abyss of Despair. Wouldn't The Abyss kind of say it all? Do you really need "Despair" in the name? Other than that, I liked everything: I liked the Guards, I loved the goblins even though they horrified me, I liked that Merry's best friend had turned to her enemy out of desperation, I liked the Queen enormously. I'm a little less fond of Merry working as a private detective, but I'll wait to see what cases she gets before I'll pass judgment on that. I absolutely loved the complication of the paparazzi; I thought that was a fantastic idea, and I look forward to watching Merry deal with it.
So I liked it enough to keep going, because other than some stumbles out of the starting block, it showed all of Hamilton's strengths: fantastic imagination, wonderful world-building, excellent descriptive detail.
by Laurell K. Hamilton
Now that I've read all the Anita Blake books -- and gotten into some amusing arguments about their literary merits and dangerous influence on impressionable youth -- I figured it was time to move on to Merry Gentry.
The final grade for this first book would be somewhere in the B- range, I think. I liked it, overall; I like the fey and the Courts and the way they are depicted. I like the fey society (as a concept, not as something I'd personally like to be a part of -- what a bunch of nutballs) and their morals and values. I don't think a whole hell of a lot of Merry herself, as of yet, but I don't think there has been enough development of her character.
That was probably the biggest problem I had with the book. It starts out too fast, with only the briefest of expositions before it goes into the action. And since the action is a sex scene, it felt too much like the book deserved all the disapprobation and criticism of Hamilton's plotting that I have been hearing in my little debates. The book doesn't deserve the rage it gets, any more than the Anita Blake books do -- but I think it was a serious mistake to fall into the cliche so soon in the series, like Hamilton was living down to all of her detractors' expectations. It also bothered me that the main character wasn't better developed, because it left me with little to contradict the accusations that Merry is just Anita with redder hair: they are physically similar, and Merry wears the same sorts of things and does the same sorts of things, using sex as a weapon. Of course, the characters have totally different personalities and motivations and reasons for doing what they do, as became clear over the course of the book -- but she should have made that clear from the get-go, and she didn't. It meant that I was annoyed by the first scene, rather than intrigued.
Being intrigued came later. I loved the hand of flesh and how it was used; I love the major conflict and how it was set up and immediately complicated by the Queen's insanity. I didn't like that Galen, the clearest romantic interest, was taken out of contention and left out of contention by what seemed a somewhat lame plot device -- he healed but not in the most important way, and we have no explanation as to why that is -- because it felt like a cheap way to increase the romantic tension. I also hated the name The Abyss of Despair. Wouldn't The Abyss kind of say it all? Do you really need "Despair" in the name? Other than that, I liked everything: I liked the Guards, I loved the goblins even though they horrified me, I liked that Merry's best friend had turned to her enemy out of desperation, I liked the Queen enormously. I'm a little less fond of Merry working as a private detective, but I'll wait to see what cases she gets before I'll pass judgment on that. I absolutely loved the complication of the paparazzi; I thought that was a fantastic idea, and I look forward to watching Merry deal with it.
So I liked it enough to keep going, because other than some stumbles out of the starting block, it showed all of Hamilton's strengths: fantastic imagination, wonderful world-building, excellent descriptive detail.
Book #92
Fer-de-Lance
by Rex Stout
So we were organizing our books, taking some old favorites that we want to keep but aren't interested in reading right now off the shelves and putting them into storage in boxes. We were also entering them into our computer database, because we're just that nerdy when it comes to our books. And we had to enter in 40 or so Rex Stout books, because the first mystery writer I really liked was Rex Stout (Not counting Arthur Conan Doyle, that is) and because Logo's used to have all these old copies of the books for 50 cents or so. And I realized that, even though I've held onto these for fifteen years, I haven't read them since the first time through, way back when in Santa Cruz. So I decided I should take a look back, make sure they are as fun as I remembered them. And what better place to start than with the very first Nero Wolfe mystery, Fer-de-Lance?
Bad news: it wasn't that good. Nero's laziness and indifference were less amusing than I remembered, and though I liked the other characters involved in the mystery, the witnesses and the suspects and the culprits, the mystery itself wasn't terribly entertaining. Now, the thing I did like about the mystery was that it felt realistic, for the most part; the means of death was a little esoteric, but the reasons for the death were perfectly normal, nothing like pretending to be a ghost so you can work an old gold mine -- and you would have gotten away with it if it weren't for those meddling kids! But while the realism was nice, it didn't make for a whole lot of mystery. And I think that's the usual way with these books, as I recall; they aren't so much about figuring out a dastardly plot as they are about finding evidence and getting people to talk. So they're actually closer to police procedurals, which I'm not terribly interested in any more.
On top of that, the final resolution in this one was a little too deus ex machina; one of the witnesses has all of the necessary evidence in a handy little envelope. The way they got it was amusing, because she had taken a bribe to keep her mouth shut and absolutely refused to change her mind, so they had to fake a robbery, pretending to be the guy who had paid her off originally, saying he was taking his money back because she had talked to Nero Wolfe. She hadn't, so her little tiny brain was outraged -- so she spilled the beans. I liked that, I just didn't like that she had all the beans in a neat little package. And the worst part of all? Archie got on my nerves. I remember him being the best part of these books, but he came off in this one as way too antsy, always impatient for the action to start, always annoyed that Wolfe isn't out there chasing down bad guys. Plus he was racist -- quite definitely racist.
So I think I will try one more of my Wolfe books, and if I don't like that one a whole lot more than I liked this one, then it may be time to give my Rex Stout books away. At least that will give us a whole lot more room in the storage box.
by Rex Stout
So we were organizing our books, taking some old favorites that we want to keep but aren't interested in reading right now off the shelves and putting them into storage in boxes. We were also entering them into our computer database, because we're just that nerdy when it comes to our books. And we had to enter in 40 or so Rex Stout books, because the first mystery writer I really liked was Rex Stout (Not counting Arthur Conan Doyle, that is) and because Logo's used to have all these old copies of the books for 50 cents or so. And I realized that, even though I've held onto these for fifteen years, I haven't read them since the first time through, way back when in Santa Cruz. So I decided I should take a look back, make sure they are as fun as I remembered them. And what better place to start than with the very first Nero Wolfe mystery, Fer-de-Lance?
Bad news: it wasn't that good. Nero's laziness and indifference were less amusing than I remembered, and though I liked the other characters involved in the mystery, the witnesses and the suspects and the culprits, the mystery itself wasn't terribly entertaining. Now, the thing I did like about the mystery was that it felt realistic, for the most part; the means of death was a little esoteric, but the reasons for the death were perfectly normal, nothing like pretending to be a ghost so you can work an old gold mine -- and you would have gotten away with it if it weren't for those meddling kids! But while the realism was nice, it didn't make for a whole lot of mystery. And I think that's the usual way with these books, as I recall; they aren't so much about figuring out a dastardly plot as they are about finding evidence and getting people to talk. So they're actually closer to police procedurals, which I'm not terribly interested in any more.
On top of that, the final resolution in this one was a little too deus ex machina; one of the witnesses has all of the necessary evidence in a handy little envelope. The way they got it was amusing, because she had taken a bribe to keep her mouth shut and absolutely refused to change her mind, so they had to fake a robbery, pretending to be the guy who had paid her off originally, saying he was taking his money back because she had talked to Nero Wolfe. She hadn't, so her little tiny brain was outraged -- so she spilled the beans. I liked that, I just didn't like that she had all the beans in a neat little package. And the worst part of all? Archie got on my nerves. I remember him being the best part of these books, but he came off in this one as way too antsy, always impatient for the action to start, always annoyed that Wolfe isn't out there chasing down bad guys. Plus he was racist -- quite definitely racist.
So I think I will try one more of my Wolfe books, and if I don't like that one a whole lot more than I liked this one, then it may be time to give my Rex Stout books away. At least that will give us a whole lot more room in the storage box.
Sunday, November 16, 2008
Book #91
Academ's Fury
by Jim Butcher
The second installment in Jim Butcher's epic fantasy series was, if it is possible, even more exciting and even more complicated -- and thus even more impressive -- than the first. Furies of Calderon set up the world, and spent much of its length doing that; Academ's Fury follows a taut, thrilling storyline all the way through, keeping up the suspense for over 500 pages. But because Jim Butcher is a truly talented and capable writer, it is never tiring or tiresome; I never lost interest in it, and I had as much trouble putting this down as I do with the Dresden books, which are some of my favorites. This series is well on the way to making the Best list, too.
The story picks up largely where the last one left off, though two years have gone by; the two years have taken care of the recovery from the first book's chaos and devastation, and now all of the characters are established in their new roles -- Bernard as the Count Calderon, Isana as the Holder of Bernard's former steadholt, Tavi as a student and secret Cursor candidate in the capital. This book picks up just as the fit hits the shan, as the old joke goes. I particularly liked that this book continues the redefinition of the villains from the first book: just as Furies moved the Marat from evil, bloodthirsty savages to real people with different ways, so this book moves the traitor Cursor Fidelias and the Aquitaines to -- well, not good guys, but they are no longer the arch-nemeses. The book also moves Isana into a less heroic role, but it does it without taking anything away from her character or altering her basic personality, which is just impressive.
That role goes to the Vord, the insectile race that was formerly trapped in the Wax Forest and which Tavi freed unknowingly during his race with Kitai in Furies -- thus continuing a recurrent theme in Butcher's books, the law of unintended consequences (For every action, there is one result that you expect, and two you could never have dreamed of), e.g., Harry picking up the blackened Denarius to save it from Michael's child in the Dresden Files. The vord are nasty things, highly adaptable and extremely dangerous, combining the fighting force of giant scorpion/spider insects with the insidious horror of mind-controlling bugs a la "Night of the Creeps." The best part about the vord is that they are true villains: they are just as smart as the heroes, and for every time the heroes get a step on the vord, the vord get a step on the heroes, and terrible things happen as a result. In addition to the vord, there are political intrigues as several of the nobles of Calderon try to supplant Gaius Sextus as First Lord and Tavi and friends try to stop them; this has something of the feel of a manufactured plot device, as it removes the most powerful of Tavi's allies from the scene and leaves the others vulnerable, but it is done in a perfectly reasonable way, so it isn't bad or silly. There is also a great bully, who is shown to be the genuine threat such a bully would be, rather than the cardboard cutout that so often appears in novels that have young people being bullied at school -- he's closer to Draco Malfoy than Scott Farkas from "A Christmas Story," though I must say I love that movie dearly.
There is also the Canim, the warlike dog people who made brief appearances in the first book; they are not actually the villain of this piece, acting more as allies and fellow victims, but there is a wonderful moment when the Canim ambassador, who has been helping Tavi against a common foe, turns and tells Tavi why he is helping despite still being the enemy of the humans. He says, in essence, that he plans to destroy the entire human race himself, and have fun doing it -- but he'll do it with honor, and without letting his own people be made complicit in underhanded tactics. It's a great speech, the kind of thing I've come to expect and appreciate from Butcher's writing.
The last third of the book is a constant cliffhanger, going back and forth between two very deadly, very well-written and exciting fights; this was when the book was hardest to put down. The first book was much the same, with an enormous and complicated, but still exciting, climactic fight sequence; I'm just hoping that this is part of all of the books, as I can't think of another author that can do huge fights in quite the way Butcher can. I love it, and I loved this book.
by Jim Butcher
The second installment in Jim Butcher's epic fantasy series was, if it is possible, even more exciting and even more complicated -- and thus even more impressive -- than the first. Furies of Calderon set up the world, and spent much of its length doing that; Academ's Fury follows a taut, thrilling storyline all the way through, keeping up the suspense for over 500 pages. But because Jim Butcher is a truly talented and capable writer, it is never tiring or tiresome; I never lost interest in it, and I had as much trouble putting this down as I do with the Dresden books, which are some of my favorites. This series is well on the way to making the Best list, too.
The story picks up largely where the last one left off, though two years have gone by; the two years have taken care of the recovery from the first book's chaos and devastation, and now all of the characters are established in their new roles -- Bernard as the Count Calderon, Isana as the Holder of Bernard's former steadholt, Tavi as a student and secret Cursor candidate in the capital. This book picks up just as the fit hits the shan, as the old joke goes. I particularly liked that this book continues the redefinition of the villains from the first book: just as Furies moved the Marat from evil, bloodthirsty savages to real people with different ways, so this book moves the traitor Cursor Fidelias and the Aquitaines to -- well, not good guys, but they are no longer the arch-nemeses. The book also moves Isana into a less heroic role, but it does it without taking anything away from her character or altering her basic personality, which is just impressive.
That role goes to the Vord, the insectile race that was formerly trapped in the Wax Forest and which Tavi freed unknowingly during his race with Kitai in Furies -- thus continuing a recurrent theme in Butcher's books, the law of unintended consequences (For every action, there is one result that you expect, and two you could never have dreamed of), e.g., Harry picking up the blackened Denarius to save it from Michael's child in the Dresden Files. The vord are nasty things, highly adaptable and extremely dangerous, combining the fighting force of giant scorpion/spider insects with the insidious horror of mind-controlling bugs a la "Night of the Creeps." The best part about the vord is that they are true villains: they are just as smart as the heroes, and for every time the heroes get a step on the vord, the vord get a step on the heroes, and terrible things happen as a result. In addition to the vord, there are political intrigues as several of the nobles of Calderon try to supplant Gaius Sextus as First Lord and Tavi and friends try to stop them; this has something of the feel of a manufactured plot device, as it removes the most powerful of Tavi's allies from the scene and leaves the others vulnerable, but it is done in a perfectly reasonable way, so it isn't bad or silly. There is also a great bully, who is shown to be the genuine threat such a bully would be, rather than the cardboard cutout that so often appears in novels that have young people being bullied at school -- he's closer to Draco Malfoy than Scott Farkas from "A Christmas Story," though I must say I love that movie dearly.
There is also the Canim, the warlike dog people who made brief appearances in the first book; they are not actually the villain of this piece, acting more as allies and fellow victims, but there is a wonderful moment when the Canim ambassador, who has been helping Tavi against a common foe, turns and tells Tavi why he is helping despite still being the enemy of the humans. He says, in essence, that he plans to destroy the entire human race himself, and have fun doing it -- but he'll do it with honor, and without letting his own people be made complicit in underhanded tactics. It's a great speech, the kind of thing I've come to expect and appreciate from Butcher's writing.
The last third of the book is a constant cliffhanger, going back and forth between two very deadly, very well-written and exciting fights; this was when the book was hardest to put down. The first book was much the same, with an enormous and complicated, but still exciting, climactic fight sequence; I'm just hoping that this is part of all of the books, as I can't think of another author that can do huge fights in quite the way Butcher can. I love it, and I loved this book.
Book #90
The BFG
by Roald Dahl
I've never read a Roald Dahl book, though I've admired the man's imagination and storytelling for years. So when I saw this one at a library sale, I grabbed it, and after I spent a full week reading a 650 page Stephen King tome, I thought it would be nice to read something short and fun.
It was: this is a great story, and I read it in a day. I love the way the Big Friendly Giant talks, and the way he and Sophie become friends, and how they conquer the big mean giants, and how they get to eat snozzcumbers forever while the BFG finally gets tasty food. But the best part of this is the idea that dreams are living things, that make sounds -- albeit the sounds are so quiet that only the BFG's enormous ears can detect them -- and that a big friendly giant collects those dreams and brings them to little kids. That was excellent. I'm very happy I read this, and I may need to go looking for more Roald Dahl.
by Roald Dahl
I've never read a Roald Dahl book, though I've admired the man's imagination and storytelling for years. So when I saw this one at a library sale, I grabbed it, and after I spent a full week reading a 650 page Stephen King tome, I thought it would be nice to read something short and fun.
It was: this is a great story, and I read it in a day. I love the way the Big Friendly Giant talks, and the way he and Sophie become friends, and how they conquer the big mean giants, and how they get to eat snozzcumbers forever while the BFG finally gets tasty food. But the best part of this is the idea that dreams are living things, that make sounds -- albeit the sounds are so quiet that only the BFG's enormous ears can detect them -- and that a big friendly giant collects those dreams and brings them to little kids. That was excellent. I'm very happy I read this, and I may need to go looking for more Roald Dahl.
Book #89
Wizard and Glass
by Stephen King
Another reread, as I pursue my goal of going back through the Dark Tower series; unfortunately, as my TBR shelf got so weighted down with books that it actually collapsed while I was reading this, I decided that maybe I should focus on reading new books, instead of re-reads. A resolution that lasted about a week -- now I'm re-reading the first Nero Wolfe mystery. But that's for a good cause. Honest.
Anyway, Wizard and Glass is the slowest book in the series and was the hardest for me to read the first two times through this point in the books; it still was this time around. It just takes far too long to resolve the conflict and get back on the road; I understand the need to show the young Roland so we can understand more of his character, and I absolutely wanted that, but maybe he could have cut the story in Mejis short and gone on to another adventure from Roland's youth. Maybe the one when Cuthbert and/or Alain died, since that is a mystery that gets hinted at, but never resolved in 7 books.
On the other hand, I did enjoy this book much more this time than the other times I have read it. For some reason I was more able to appreciate the romance between Roland and Susan; I'd say I may have become more romantic in the last few years, but I'm not sure that's possible. Maybe I've become old and jaded, and reading about young love makes me reminisce. Nah, it's not that either; I just enjoyed the slower, more reflective elements more this time around because I already know how the story ends, so I'm not quite as desperate to get through the series as before. This makes me look forward to reading the Outlander books and the Wheel of Time once they actually wrap up. And once I have cut my TBR pile down to, say, fifty books or so -- y'know, in 2012 -- I'll come back and finish this series, and enjoy the next three books more, as well.
by Stephen King
Another reread, as I pursue my goal of going back through the Dark Tower series; unfortunately, as my TBR shelf got so weighted down with books that it actually collapsed while I was reading this, I decided that maybe I should focus on reading new books, instead of re-reads. A resolution that lasted about a week -- now I'm re-reading the first Nero Wolfe mystery. But that's for a good cause. Honest.
Anyway, Wizard and Glass is the slowest book in the series and was the hardest for me to read the first two times through this point in the books; it still was this time around. It just takes far too long to resolve the conflict and get back on the road; I understand the need to show the young Roland so we can understand more of his character, and I absolutely wanted that, but maybe he could have cut the story in Mejis short and gone on to another adventure from Roland's youth. Maybe the one when Cuthbert and/or Alain died, since that is a mystery that gets hinted at, but never resolved in 7 books.
On the other hand, I did enjoy this book much more this time than the other times I have read it. For some reason I was more able to appreciate the romance between Roland and Susan; I'd say I may have become more romantic in the last few years, but I'm not sure that's possible. Maybe I've become old and jaded, and reading about young love makes me reminisce. Nah, it's not that either; I just enjoyed the slower, more reflective elements more this time around because I already know how the story ends, so I'm not quite as desperate to get through the series as before. This makes me look forward to reading the Outlander books and the Wheel of Time once they actually wrap up. And once I have cut my TBR pile down to, say, fifty books or so -- y'know, in 2012 -- I'll come back and finish this series, and enjoy the next three books more, as well.
Saturday, November 1, 2008
Book #88 -- new record!
Iron Kissed
by Patricia Briggs
And the reason I read Blood Bound, of course, was so that I would remember enough of the prior events when I read Iron Kissed, the "new" one (Actually it's been on the shelf for most of a year). Since these are shortish books -- I love that I see under 300 pages as a shortish book and my students see anything over 10 pages as way too long to read -- I went straight from one to the other, breaking my usual pattern; but that's what patterns are for, isn't it?
This was a good one, better than Blood Bound. Because the key supernaturals in this one live up to their hype, unlike the mostly-likable evil vampires in Blood Bound. The Fae are mostly insular and private, wanting to keep their secrets and using their magic and an inhuman ruthlessness to accomplish that. But since humans now know about Fae, there's no way the Fae can live quietly enough to keep humans from sticking their noses into Fae business, because that's what humans do: when we discover a new animal, we need to observe and record it. When we find a new star, we need to map it, name it, and figure out its composition, color, strength, age, height, weight, and hair color. When we find a new element, we have to mix it up with other things to see if it'll explode. And, because our fascination with newness and our insatiable curiosity are results of our fear of the unknown, we also tend to form hate groups opposing the very things we have discovered. Like people who think of the snowy owl as an enemy, because it represents the conservationist movement. I mean: they actually hate a fluffy little owl. Along with the bleeding-heart liberals who protect it, but still.
So this one focuses on a string of Fae murders. Mercy is brought in to help investigate, because she has both a coyote's powerful nose and a human's mind and memory, and so she is an excellent scent tracker -- which makes sense. I also liked the comment that there are not many Fae who could do the same, because that was a gift mostly given to the beast-like Fae, most of whom are gone. Mercy figures out the culprit, and Zee and Uncle Mike, the two Council members who brought Mercy in, go to take care of the problem -- only to find the problem's already been taken care of, because the murderer's been beheaded. Uncle Mike vanishes, but Zee is left to take the fall for the murder of the murderer, and the Gray Lords, who have that wonderfully pragmatic and evil policy of sacrificing any individual in order to protect the group, want Zee to die in prison just after he confesses: an open-and-shut case.
But Mercy won't let it go. She investigates, and pokes her nose in, and fights for Zee even when Zee doesn't want her fighting for him -- Zee accepts the Gray Lord's absurd policy (Absurd because the line becomes ever more blurry over time: you sacrifice one person to save the lives of many, and then sacrifice two people to save the lives of five -- and then one to save one? Or you sacrifice one to save lives, then one to save homes, then one to save Christmas presents, and then one to save -- what, lawn ornaments? At some point you lose what you're trying to save.) and is willing to die for the Fae. Though I notice he didn't kill himself as the Gray Lords would surely have preferred.
And, of course, Mercy gets to the bottom of it. One of the greatest strengths of these books is in the climactic action sequences: the fight with Littleton and the hunt for Littleton's creator in Blood Bound, and the last few chapters in this one. They are a great strength because Briggs doesn't overdo it; as well as she writes an action scene, the character is not action oriented; she's a mechanic with a kinda screwed-up love life involving her neighbor and her roommate (I was also glad to see that resolve in this one, and now I'm eager to see where it goes from here). Mercy wouldn't be in the thick of things all day every day, and so she isn't; this book starts out with her watching Queen of the Damned with Warren and Kyle. But the final fight in this one was fantastic, both in terms of how Mercy wins, and also how Mercy suffers at the hands of the villain. And, of course, the resolution was fantastic, as well. And we also got to meet some seriously scary Fae, and Zee with his cloak off, which was super-sweet. It was a great book, and I will be reading more of these.
Oh, and as a side note: I have now read more books than I read in all of last year. Woot!
by Patricia Briggs
And the reason I read Blood Bound, of course, was so that I would remember enough of the prior events when I read Iron Kissed, the "new" one (Actually it's been on the shelf for most of a year). Since these are shortish books -- I love that I see under 300 pages as a shortish book and my students see anything over 10 pages as way too long to read -- I went straight from one to the other, breaking my usual pattern; but that's what patterns are for, isn't it?
This was a good one, better than Blood Bound. Because the key supernaturals in this one live up to their hype, unlike the mostly-likable evil vampires in Blood Bound. The Fae are mostly insular and private, wanting to keep their secrets and using their magic and an inhuman ruthlessness to accomplish that. But since humans now know about Fae, there's no way the Fae can live quietly enough to keep humans from sticking their noses into Fae business, because that's what humans do: when we discover a new animal, we need to observe and record it. When we find a new star, we need to map it, name it, and figure out its composition, color, strength, age, height, weight, and hair color. When we find a new element, we have to mix it up with other things to see if it'll explode. And, because our fascination with newness and our insatiable curiosity are results of our fear of the unknown, we also tend to form hate groups opposing the very things we have discovered. Like people who think of the snowy owl as an enemy, because it represents the conservationist movement. I mean: they actually hate a fluffy little owl. Along with the bleeding-heart liberals who protect it, but still.
So this one focuses on a string of Fae murders. Mercy is brought in to help investigate, because she has both a coyote's powerful nose and a human's mind and memory, and so she is an excellent scent tracker -- which makes sense. I also liked the comment that there are not many Fae who could do the same, because that was a gift mostly given to the beast-like Fae, most of whom are gone. Mercy figures out the culprit, and Zee and Uncle Mike, the two Council members who brought Mercy in, go to take care of the problem -- only to find the problem's already been taken care of, because the murderer's been beheaded. Uncle Mike vanishes, but Zee is left to take the fall for the murder of the murderer, and the Gray Lords, who have that wonderfully pragmatic and evil policy of sacrificing any individual in order to protect the group, want Zee to die in prison just after he confesses: an open-and-shut case.
But Mercy won't let it go. She investigates, and pokes her nose in, and fights for Zee even when Zee doesn't want her fighting for him -- Zee accepts the Gray Lord's absurd policy (Absurd because the line becomes ever more blurry over time: you sacrifice one person to save the lives of many, and then sacrifice two people to save the lives of five -- and then one to save one? Or you sacrifice one to save lives, then one to save homes, then one to save Christmas presents, and then one to save -- what, lawn ornaments? At some point you lose what you're trying to save.) and is willing to die for the Fae. Though I notice he didn't kill himself as the Gray Lords would surely have preferred.
And, of course, Mercy gets to the bottom of it. One of the greatest strengths of these books is in the climactic action sequences: the fight with Littleton and the hunt for Littleton's creator in Blood Bound, and the last few chapters in this one. They are a great strength because Briggs doesn't overdo it; as well as she writes an action scene, the character is not action oriented; she's a mechanic with a kinda screwed-up love life involving her neighbor and her roommate (I was also glad to see that resolve in this one, and now I'm eager to see where it goes from here). Mercy wouldn't be in the thick of things all day every day, and so she isn't; this book starts out with her watching Queen of the Damned with Warren and Kyle. But the final fight in this one was fantastic, both in terms of how Mercy wins, and also how Mercy suffers at the hands of the villain. And, of course, the resolution was fantastic, as well. And we also got to meet some seriously scary Fae, and Zee with his cloak off, which was super-sweet. It was a great book, and I will be reading more of these.
Oh, and as a side note: I have now read more books than I read in all of last year. Woot!
Book #87
Blood Bound
by Patricia Briggs
Here comes the shortest review of the year, since this is a re-read of a book I read only last year.
I like the Mercy Thompson books, though I remember liking the first one better than this; Briggs does a wonderful job of world-building here, particularly with the society of the werewolves, and Mercy's a great character -- the underhanded sneaky one in a world of serious power-brokers. I also like that she's a mechanic who lives in a single-wide, and that she has apparently no ability to deal with romance. But in this book, it focuses on the vampires, and in particular on a demon-possessed vampire, and the vampires don't work as well. It's like Briggs wanted to make them evil, but she couldn't help but write them sympathetically; almost as if she chose people she liked as the mental models for some of the vampires. So while the vamps are certainly intimidating and alien, particularly the bad guy, Littleton, they're also pretty okay folks. Stefan painted his van like the Scooby Doo Mystery Wagon. Wulfe, the Wizard, is freaky and all, but he turns out to be a good guy. As nasty as the Mistress can be -- and was, in the first book -- she takes Mercy's side in this one, and comes off as much more human and likable. The whole seethe (and I like "kiss" better) are not the blood-soaked villains they are portrayed as, which is odd since Briggs is the one who portrayed them as the consummate evil.
But I like the chair of truth, and the way Mercy takes advantage of the vampire's weakness to take these guys out, and Littleton, at least, was extremely scary -- I love the part when he's hiding under the floorboards, and Mercy shoots him, and he pushes the bloody bullets back through the holes. That's a great image. And to be sure, part of the problem I had with this book was that I've been spoiled, a bit, in reading the Anita Blake books, which have absolutely the best depiction of vampires that I've ever read, so these end up paling in comparison despite having their own strengths. It was still a good book, and I enjoyed it.
by Patricia Briggs
Here comes the shortest review of the year, since this is a re-read of a book I read only last year.
I like the Mercy Thompson books, though I remember liking the first one better than this; Briggs does a wonderful job of world-building here, particularly with the society of the werewolves, and Mercy's a great character -- the underhanded sneaky one in a world of serious power-brokers. I also like that she's a mechanic who lives in a single-wide, and that she has apparently no ability to deal with romance. But in this book, it focuses on the vampires, and in particular on a demon-possessed vampire, and the vampires don't work as well. It's like Briggs wanted to make them evil, but she couldn't help but write them sympathetically; almost as if she chose people she liked as the mental models for some of the vampires. So while the vamps are certainly intimidating and alien, particularly the bad guy, Littleton, they're also pretty okay folks. Stefan painted his van like the Scooby Doo Mystery Wagon. Wulfe, the Wizard, is freaky and all, but he turns out to be a good guy. As nasty as the Mistress can be -- and was, in the first book -- she takes Mercy's side in this one, and comes off as much more human and likable. The whole seethe (and I like "kiss" better) are not the blood-soaked villains they are portrayed as, which is odd since Briggs is the one who portrayed them as the consummate evil.
But I like the chair of truth, and the way Mercy takes advantage of the vampire's weakness to take these guys out, and Littleton, at least, was extremely scary -- I love the part when he's hiding under the floorboards, and Mercy shoots him, and he pushes the bloody bullets back through the holes. That's a great image. And to be sure, part of the problem I had with this book was that I've been spoiled, a bit, in reading the Anita Blake books, which have absolutely the best depiction of vampires that I've ever read, so these end up paling in comparison despite having their own strengths. It was still a good book, and I enjoyed it.
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