Wednesday, December 23, 2009

Book Releases: January 2010

  1. The Keepers of Sulbreth (The Futhark Chronicles) by Susan Gourley - January 1, 2010
  2. Heart of Darkness by Gena Showalter, Maggie Shayne, and Susan Krinard - January 1, 2010
  3. Monster Republic: The Divinity Project by Ben Horton - January 1, 2010
  4. Kitty's House of Horrors (Kitty Norville, Book 7) by Carrie Vaughn - Jan 4, 2010
  5. Sympathy for the Devil by Justin Gustainis - January 4, 2010
  6. The Domino Pattern by Timothy Zahn - January 5, 2010
  7. Doppelgangster (Esther Diamond Novel) by Laura Resnick - January 5, 2010
  8. Catalyst: A Tale of the Barque Cats by Anne McCaffrey and Elizabeth Ann Scarborough - January 5, 2010
  9. Bone Magic (Sisters of the Moon) by Yasmine Galenorn - January 5, 2010
  10. Realms of the Dead: A Forgotten Realms Anthology by Susan Morris, R.A. Salvatore, Ed Greenwood, and Richard Baker - January 5, 2010
  11. Arms-Commander (Saga of Recluce) by L. E. Modesitt Jr. - January 5, 2010
  12. Firespell: A Novel of the Dark Elite by Chloe Neill - January 5, 2010
  13. A Tapestry of Spells (The Nine Kingdoms, Book 4) by Lynn Kurland - January 5, 2010
  14. Inked by Karen Chance, Marjorie M. Liu, Yasmine Galenorn, and Eileen Wilks - January 5, 2010
  15. Brain Thief by Alexander Jablokov - January 5, 2010
  16. Bad Blood (Blood Coven) by Mari Mancusi - January 5, 2010
  17. Hastur Lord: A Novel of Darkover by Marion Zimmer Bradley and Deborah J. Ross - January 5, 2010
  18. Blood Cross (Jane Yellowrock, Book 2) by Faith Hunter - January 5, 2010
  19. DarkShip Thieves by Sarah A. Hoyt January 5, 2010
  20. Wicked Enchantment by Anya Bast - January 5, 2010
  21. The Many Deaths of the Black Company by Glen Cook – January 5, 2010
  22. The Spirit Lens: A Novel of the Collegia Magica by Carol Berg – January 5, 2010
  23. The Good, the Bad, and the Uncanny (Nightside) by Simon Green - January 5, 2010
  24. Starbound by Joe Haldeman - January 5, 2010
  25. Brooklyn Knight by C. J. Henderson - Jan 5, 2010
  26. Through Stone and Sea: A Novel of the Noble Dead by Barb Hendee and J.C. Hendee January 5, 2010
  27. Blood Alchemy (Bad Tuesdays) by Benjamin J. Myers - January 7, 2010
  28. Wild Hunt by Margaret Ronald - January 12, 2010
  29. The Kiesha'ra of the Den of Shadows by Amelia Atwater-Rhodes – January, 12 2010
  30. Sleepless: A Novel by Charlie Huston - January 12, 2010
  31. Undead Much by Stacey Jay - January 21, 2010
  32. Spider's Bite: An Elemental Assassin Book by Jennifer Estep – January 26, 2010
  33. Unperfect Souls (Connor Grey, Book 4) by Mark Del Franco - January 26, 2010
  34. Shadow Blade by Seressia Glass – January 26, 2010
  35. Prince of Storms (Entire and the Rose) by Kay Kenyon - January 26, 2010
  36. Blood in the Water (Chronicles of the Lescari Revolution) by Juliet E. McKenna - January 26, 2010
  37. Hardcore (Combat-K) by Andy Remic - January 26, 2010
  38. Superhumans: Meteorite Strike by A.G. Taylor - January 29, 2010


Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Imager's Challenge by L. E. Modesitt



Synopsis: Imager’s Challenge takes up immediately after the conclusion of Imager. Still recovering from injuries received in foiling the plots of the Ferran envoy, Rhenn is preparing to take up his new duties as imager liaison to the Civic Patrol of L’Excelsis. No sooner has he assumed his new position than he discovers two things. First, the Commander of the Civic Patrol doesn’t want a liaison from the infamous Collegium, and soon has Rhenn patrolling the streets of the worst district in the city. Second, Rhenn receives formal notice that one of the High Holders, the father of a man Rhenn partly blinded in self-defense, has declared his intention to destroy Rhenn and his family.


Rhenn’s only allies are the family of the girl he loves, successful merchants with underworld connections. In the end, Rhenn must literally stand off against gang lords, naval marines, Tiempran terrorist priests, the most powerful High Holder in all of Solidar, and his own Collegium—and find a way to prevail without making further enemies and endangering those he loves.

Warning: Spoilers

Imager’s Challenge is the second book in this series. It doesn’t move as quickly as many other fantasy novels, but I don’t mind. I have read almost all of Modesitt’s Recluce stories so much of the progression wasn’t a surprise. But for all that, I liked it very much.

I expected Rhenn to kill his enemies. Mind, I didn’t expect him to kill the High Holder by destroying the building he was standing on. I thought he wouldn’t be quite that drastic because that kind of thing could get other Holders and/or their children killed and that would have put in the middle of aa feud (maybe even multiple feuds!) yet again. It didn’t; the imagers somehow managed to work that to their advantage – after telling Rhenn repeatedly he must do nothing that led directly back to the imagers! But I wasn’t surprised when he did and I knew High Holder’s daughter would inherit the holding. I knew that was going to happen since they danced.

What I like best about this series is the magic system. It is unusual. Being able to imagine things into being, well, it just sounds so good. It works, too, because there are limits on what can be imagined and how. Nothing comes from nothing, after all, and everything has a cost, even if it is just in energy.

What I disliked about Imager’s Challenge is that Rhenn spends a lot of time complaining. Complaining that the imagers won’t help him and aren’t interested in what he knows if he has no proof, proof he has no way of getting. I get it and and I get that its not fair. But it got old half way through the book.

Book: B-


Saturday, December 19, 2009

Divine Misdemeanors by Laurell K. Hamilton

Book Description: You may know me best as Meredith Nic Essus, princess of faerie. Or perhaps as Merry Gentry, Los Angeles private eye. In the fey and mortal realms alike, my life is the stuff of royal intrigue and celebrity drama. Among my own, I have confronted horrendous enemies, endured my noble kin’s treachery and malevolence, and honored my duty to conceive a royal heir—all for the right to claim the throne. But I turned my back on court and crown, choosing exile in the human world—and in the arms of my beloved Frost and Darkness.


While I may have rejected the monarchy, I cannot abandon my people. Someone is killing the fey, which has left the LAPD baffled and my guardsmen and me deeply disturbed. My kind are not easily captured or killed. At least not by mortals. I must get to the bottom of these horrendous murders, even if that means going up against Gilda, the Fairy Godmother, my rival for fey loyalties in Los Angeles.

But even stranger things are happening. Mortals I once healed with magic are suddenly performing miracles, a shocking phenomenon wreaking havoc on human/faerie relations. Though I am innocent, dark suspicions of banned magical activities swirl around me.


I thought I’d left the blood and politics behind in my own turbulent realm. I had dreamed of an idyllic life in sunny L.A. with my beloved ones beside me. But it becomes time to wake up and realize that evil knows no borders, and that nobody lives forever—even if they’re magical.

Warning: Spoilers

Divine Misdemeanors opens with a murder scene, but this book isn’t about the murders. Not really. I am not sure what it is about. There is plenty of stuff about her relationships, lots of sex, a few power plays and a few hints that not all is well in her aunt’s court.

That is not to say I didn’t like this book, I did, I liked the relationship aspect and there were a few things I wasn’t expecting. One of those things was that Barinthus is possibly gay or bi and in love Merry’s father. He didn’t deny it. I was stunned because I wasn’t expecting that. It explains why he won’t go to bed with her. The other reason would be he doesn’t want to sleep with his friend’s daughter. Both are good reasons. This particular facet of Barinthus wasn’t important to the story; what was important was his disapproval of her rejecting the faeiry crown to save Frost.

I am not really sure what part of Divine Misdemeanors I liked best. There are lots of really great scenes. I think it may be the sex scene with Rhys by the sea. But he is my favorite of the men and one who isn’t on stage enough. He gets a sithen of his very own in that. We didn’t see it and I wanted to.

This book has one glaring weakness and that’s the mystery. It is not much of one, and despite being a private detective, Merry doesn’t do any investigating. She goes to murder scenes, gives her opinion, gets trapped by reporters and that’s it. Okay, so with reporters following her around like rabid dogs she couldn’t do much anyway. But the murderer falls into her lap. She doesn’t have to do anything to find out who he is. Then there was the finale – capturing the killer. That part was good, but I am still stuck on how she didn’t have to do anything to find out who he was. It started with a murder scene and ended with the killer, but there was very little of the mystery in between. There were all her guards and her relationships with them, but after the first chapter I was expecting a bit more in the way of mystery. This would have been perfect with it. Longer, too, but I wouldn’t have minded that.

Grade: B-



Wednesday, December 2, 2009

Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead


Synopsis: St. Vladimir’s Academy isn’t just any boarding school—it’s a hidden place where vampires are educated in the ways of magic and half-human teens train to protect them. Rose Hathaway is a Dhampir, a bodyguard for her best friend Lissa, a Moroi Vampire Princess. They’ve been on the run, but now they’re being dragged back to St. Vladimir’s—the very place where they’re most in danger. . .

Rose and Lissa become enmeshed in forbidden romance, the Academy’s ruthless social scene, and unspeakable nighttime rituals. But they must be careful lest the Strigoi—the world’s fiercest and most dangerous vampires—make Lissa one of them forever.



Vampire Academy was an excellent read. The main characters are in high school and there are a lot of the usual problems everyone has in high school: mean teachers, crushes, the popular crowd. This is a YA novel, and while I am not overly familiar with the genre, this was darker than I was expecting. More sexual, too. Rose nearly has sex (due to magic!) to her older mentor and has feelings for him besides. He is 7 years too old for her. Though if she were a year older, it would be legal and the age difference a mere 6 years.

The world is fascinating – vampires who specialize in a single element, dhampir who are the bastard children of vampires, their mistresses and their bodyguards. Dhampirs need at least one vampire parent, usually the father, and in order to preserve their race, they guard the vampires. It seems to me this cycle is not especially healthy, but it works and there is certainly plenty of room for drama.

My favorite scene in this series comes at the end. Their friend, the daughter of the one who was causing all the damage, betrays them and becomes a strigoi, the sort of vampire out of horror movies to please her father. Dhampirs are sworn to kill them. She took Rose by surprise, but she was a friend of sorts and Rose hesitated when it came to killing her.

By the end of the book Rose realized that if Lissa becomes a strigoi, she would be safe from her own magic. It makes me wonder.

Grade: B



Kindred in Death by J.D. Robb



Synopsis: When the newly promoted captain of the NYPSD and his wife return a day early from their vacation, they were looking forward to spending time with their bright and vivacious sixteen-year-old daughter who had stayed behind.


Not even their worst nightmares could have prepared them for the crime scene that awaited them instead. Brutally murdered in her bedroom, Deena's body showed signs of trauma that horrified even the toughest of cops; including our own Lieutenant Eve Dallas, who was specifically requested by the captain to investigate.


When the evidence starts to pile up, Dallas and her team think they are about to arrest their perpetrator; little do they know yet that someone has gone to great lengths to tease and taunt them by using a variety of identities. Overconfidence can lead to careless mistakes. But for Dallas, one mistake might be all she needs to bring justice.

Kindred in Death was good, just like all the other In Death books. It was a fast, easy read. She gets the case while she is not working and not on call. But she takes the case anyway, because it was a cop’s daughter that got killed and because all cops’ families run a certain amount of risk. More than families of people with less risky jobs.

Colombia’s President, Peach, was great. She’s like Eve in a lot of ways. She was more cooperative than I was expecting and I expected her and Eve to butt heads. They really didn’t.

One thing puzzled me and that’s the use of the word unsub. It was capitalized: UNSUB. The In Death books have never used it before. It means Unknown Subject. I haven’t read any other mysteries that use it, but I don’t read many mysteries so I can’t say if it’s becoming more common. The first time I heard this word was in Criminal Minds and reading it here was just odd.

Other than that, it was good. Eve had a few shaky moments when she first the girl and knew she had been raped. It brought back memories, but she put them aside and later realized the rape didn’t shake her as much it might have before. It was good. She’s getting over the childhood abuse and that’s good for her. But it means less emotional drama. Her relationship with Roark was smooth too, no drama there and I must to admit to hoping for some. It won’t last; they are bound to butt heads over something.

My favorite scene in this whole part was when she was examining Deena’s body and I am not entirely sure why. It was vivid and when I think of this book, that’s the first scene to come to mind.

Grade: B-


Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Writer’s Corner: John Gardner, The Art of Fiction, First Chapter


Chapter One: Aesthetic Law and Artistic Mystery

In this first chapter Gardner begins be declaring the beginning the writer wants rules on how to write, but there are none. There are principles that the beginning writer needs to know and a few warnings. But no hard and fast rules. He says once you begin to believe there are certain things you cannot and should not do in fiction, your intuition becomes paralyzed. He says art needs to be judged on its own merits, by its own laws, and if a work violates its own laws or if they are weak, the work will fail.

As an example, he says a general principle is that all the questions raised by a work must answered for it to be satisfactory and if it doesn’t, that’s a loose end. Like all principles, this is generally true, but may be broken on occasion. Such as when we never really know if Achilles really loves Briseus or just thinks of her as his rightful prize. Or how Hamlet becomes decisive with his enemies and less decisive with everything else.

After all that he says that the first and last writer is that there are no real rules for fiction. There might be formulas for easily published fiction. There are common mistakes (such as following formulas?) and things writers need to think about, but no rules.

He says the beginning writer needs mastery, not rules. In particular, mastery of breaking rules (that don’t exist!). He says that the value of any work has to do with the writer’s character and personality. I find that odd, because I am not reading the writer when I read something but the work itself. Personally, when I read something, I would rather know nothing about the writer until after I finish and sometimes even then I don’t care to know anything about the writer. Then he implies personality and character are the writer’s instincts, knowledge of art and the world. It isn’t. One is craft, the other is how the writer is and the two are only tenuously connected. A writer can be greedy, generous, kind, ruthless and it doesn’t affect the writer’s craft. The writer’s attitudes and experiences will undoubtedly slant the work toward one thing or another, but that’s not the same thing as craft either.

He also says one needs a certain mastery in order to read well, to know if something is boring, juvenile and simple minded. I find this mildly offensive. If something is boring, it is boring and no matter how much you read, a boring book is going to stay boring (unless your tastes change, but if they do, than other previously interesting books can become boring). It’s a matter of taste. As for the rest – there are stories that were positively fascinating when I was younger and that I can hardly read now. But that’s because it is easier to see the flaws now and also because I am not the same person I was when 14. I don’t call that mastery.


Heart Change by Robin D. Owens

Book Description: Signet D'Marigold's lonely life is shaken when a prophet reveals she is a catalyst for change. But to accept her new life-and the charge of the noble child Avellana-means embracing a danger that may be fatal for them both. Especially when Signet's attraction to her new bodyguard signals a secret enemy sworn to destroy them.


Warning: Spoilers

Heart Change begins with Signet depressed enough to consider suicide. She’s depressed because all her friends have left her, she has no purpose in life and she doesn’t know what her flair is. Flair, in these books, is her magical specialization. All that changes in the first few pages. Her flair is lets her adjust other peoples’ flair. It is an odd one and a type of flair no one has ever heard of before.


The hero and love interest in this story is, Cratag, the bodyguard. A bodyguard as the love interest isn’t odd. But Heart Change is the first book in this series to have a commoner main character. More, he has a strong body, strong weapons skills, but weak flair and in this world flair is the ultimate arbiter of strength. So he is not the hero I expected but excellent all the same. He is described quite often as a “rock.” If Signet is going to make a habit of getting caught up in other’s passages and flair, a rock to hold on to would be a good thing. As a side note, neither one of them made a heart gift for each other. The hero didn’t because he doesn’t have enough flair to go through even one passage; she didn’t because she barely sensed him in her own passages, probably because he has so little flair.

The most interesting scene had nothing to do with the main romance. Maybe that’s sad. Cratag’s student and a brother of sorts married and the wedding was just chock full of drama. Only her side of the family was there and she had terrible, ugly things to say to him afterward (things that rang in his head and made him decide he was wasn’t good for Signet). It was a really bad (or a really good one in that a good story is bound to come out of it) beginning for a marriage and I hope this will be the next story.

Grade: B-



Fool’s Errand by Robin Hobb


Book Description: For fifteen years FitzChivalry Farseer has lived in self-imposed exile, assumed to be dead by almost all who once cared about him. But that is about to change when destiny seeks him once again. Prince Dutiful, the young heir to the Farseer throne, has vanished and FitzChivalry, possessed of magical skills both royal and profane, is the only one who can retrieve him in time for his betrothal ceremony--thus sparing the Six Duchies profound political embarrassment...or worse. But even Fitz does not suspect the web of treachery that awaits him or how his loyalties to his Queen, his partner, and those who share his magic will be tested to the breaking point.
Warning: Spoilers

Fool’s Errand is the first of The Tawny Man Trilogy. It takes place after the Farseer trilogy and the Liveship books. The events of both are referred to in the book, but it should be possible to read it without having read those first.

Fool’s Errand begins with Fitz and Nighteyes settled in a cottage and raising his foster son. Starling visits often; they are lovers. The Fool and Chade both try to convince him to come back, but he refuses. When Fitz does go back, it is because Prince Dutiful has disappeared before his engagement and Chade needs him to go find the prince. He does, but not before the prince is thoroughly disillusioned about the nature of his new Witted companion and friends both.

The saddest part was when Nighteyes died. I never really thought he would. I kept thinking, somehow he will be saved. Someone will come along who can save him. No one did. I can’t really question the writer’s decision to kill Nighteyes because it makes sense in the story. But it was very hard to read and I needed a break after.

The best part was the reunion with the Fool. The Fool’s skin turned golden where it was white before and that’s damn odd. He changed, become someone else, changed his name, his clothes, everything. But he was still the Fool.

The ending was good, too. Despite being the first in a trilogy, it was a satisfying ending in and of itself. There was no cliffhanger. Not that it matters. All three books are out so even if there was a cliffhanger, it is easy enough to get a hold of the second and third book.

Grade: B


Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Myths: Siren


The Fisherman and the Siren by Lord Leighton FredricAccording to www.askoxford.com, siren is defined as: noun (1) a device that makes a loud prolonged signal or warning sound. (2) Greek Mythology each of a number of women or winged creatures whose singing lured unwary sailors on to rocks. (3) a woman who is considered to be alluring but also dangerous.
ORIGIN: originally denoting an imaginary type of snake: from Greek Seiren.
I did not know before reading this that that word siren originally had something to do with snakes. Maybe dangerously seductive woman were considered snake-like?

In any case, Greek mythology would have as women who sang so beautifully they dazzled sailors into crashing into rocks and dying. Odysseus so longed to hear their song that he plugged his sailors ears so they could not hear the siren’s song, had himself tied to his ship, and sailed his ship past the sirens. These women are sometimes depicted as mermaids, sometimes half-woman, half-bird, or just a very sexy woman.

In the Anita Blake books by Laurell K Hamilton, the siren is a type of mermaid that is feared by other merfolk. Unlike other mermaids, sirens have the ardeur. The ardeur is a power that some vampires (and Anita Blake!!) have to inspire sexual passion in others, the ability to feed off sex and that can result in a nearly insatiably sexual appetite. Personally, I thought this was a nice use of the myth. They are mermaids and they can certainly lure men to their death with it. Her sirens don’t sing, but the result is the same.

The Arcane Society series of Jayne Ann Krentz/Jayne Castle/Amanda Quick also has a type of siren. In this case, sirens are human, musically gifted women who can hit the high “money notes” such as D’s, E, F’s and the occasional G. Notes so high and pure, the siren could lure and kill with them, just as in the siren of myth. No mermaids, of course, but the Arcane Society books doesn’t run to paranormal creatures.

Incidentally, a siren is also a type of eel that has external gills. Who knew sirens were real? Though it is probably not all that enchanting.


Monday, October 26, 2009

Rosemary and Rue by Seanan McGuire



From the backcover:

The world of Faerie never disappeared: it merely went into hiding, continuing to exist parallel to our own. Secrecy is the key to Faerie's survival—but no secret can be kept forever, and when the fae and mortal worlds collide, changelings are born. Half-human, half-fae, outsiders from birth, these second-class children of Faerie spend their lives fighting for the respect of their immortal relations. Or, in the case of October "Toby" Daye, rejecting it completely. After getting burned by both sides of her heritage, Toby has denied the fae world, retreating into a "normal" life. Unfortunately for her, Faerie has other ideas.

The murder of Countess Evening Winterrose, one of the secret regents of the San Francisco Bay Area, pulls Toby back into the fae world. Unable to resist Evening's dying curse, which binds her to investigate, Toby is forced to resume her old position as knight errant to the Duke of Shadowed Hills and begin renewing old alliances that may prove her only hope of solving the mystery...before the curse catches up with her.
Rosemary and Rue is the first in the October Daye novels. October “Toby” Daye is the main character. It starts with the her reflecting on her job, and her husband and children. I was surprised, because I can’t remember the last time I read something where an urban fantasy protagonist had a husband or children to worry about. More, she had a normal child and husband, people with no magic or any worrisome powers of their; people she could not share the parts of her life that dealt with magic and the fae.

She lost them in first few pages. She loses quite a few years of her life as well. I thought this part of the story; how and why she lost it all and how she reacted to it heart wrenching. In the middle of that, a dying countess curses October with finding the murder or die trying.

Rosemary and Rue is fast paced and full of action, just what I like best. There is a hint of romance, but not much of it, and I suspect it will be many more books before the romance flowers into something tangible. October spends a lot of time being injured; her magic is weaker than a lot of the other characters and she has to be careful how she spends it.

I can’t decide what part I liked best, there are so many good parts. Probably the scene that stands out in my mind is when she came back to her lord, the Duke of the Shadowed Hills. She expected he would hate her and he doesn’t and her relief and homecoming are fantastic. So is the duke’s daughter; she is the only who reacted as October expected and I expected the girl will be more of a major character in future books. In fact, I anticipate in some future book October and the daughter will fight to the death. It won’t be the next one, I don’t think, but somewhere down the line.

Grade: A-


Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Writer’s Corner: John Gardner, The Art of Fiction, Preface



I have just started this book. It is supposed to be good and helpful. I hope it is! Anyway, as I finish each chapter (or section, depending on how far I get each week) I will post my thoughts on it.

In the preface, Gardner writes that this book is for the serious writer and not for writers of “nurse books or thrillers or porno or the cheaper sort of sci-fi”. I guess writers who write those types of books are not serious writers. I will admit, I have never heard of nurse books and I don’t know what they are. I also not quite sure what he means by the cheaper sort of science fiction and how to tell it apart from more expensive science fiction. I mean, I know what I like in science fiction, but who is to say that’s what he means? I am familiar with the other type of books – thrillers, porno.

In fact, those are the genres I know the best. Science fiction, fantasy and romance, not necessarily in that order. That’s what I like to read and that’s what I like to write as well. So I guess this book is not meant for me, huh? No matter! I will read it anyway. And if I am disappointed, I guess it will be my own fault for continuing to read after he states so clearly this book is not meant for me.


Monday, October 12, 2009

Sandman Slim by Richard Kadrey


From the writer's website: Supernatural fantasy has a new antihero.Life sucks, and then you die. Or, if you’re James Stark, you spend eleven years in Hell as a hitman before finally escaping, only to land back in the hell-on-earth that is Los Angeles.

Now Stark’s back, and ready for revenge. And absolution, and maybe even love. But Stark discovers that the road to absolution and revenge is much longer than you’d expect, and both Heaven and Hell have their own ideas for his future. Resurrection sucks. Saving the world is worse.

Darkly twisted, irreverent, and completely hilarious, Sandman Slim is the breakthrough novel by an acclaimed author.


Richard Kadrey is a new writer for me, though he has other novels out. Sandman Slim is urban fantasy, but one involving demons and hell and heaven and angels instead of the near obligatory vampire and werewolves. Not that demons and angels don’t show up with some regularity in urban fantasy. ;)

Sandman Slim is a quick, enjoyable read. The main character’s voice is strong and consistent. He is an assassin, but a remarkably sympathetic one. He starts off wanting revenge because his old coven sacrificed him and sent him to hell. In the end, he saves the world. He does get his revenge along the way.

Despite all that, there are a few things I didn’t like about Sandman Slim. In the beginning (and a few other places), I found the dialog to be less than convincing. It wasn’t the high level of curse words, though some of that as well because sometimes I got the feeling the curses were there just to show how tough the characters were. But something was just off in a lot of the dialog. Not all of them, but a few here and there.

The other thing I didn’t like all that much was that towards the end the scenes felt disjointed. Like one scene ended, the other began and it felt like they were not connected even though I knew they were. If that makes sense.

The thing that stands out the most for me is the imagery he uses. A lot of the way he describes things is just hilarious.

Grade: C+


Sunday, September 27, 2009

Twilight By Stephenie Meyer



Interested by all the hoopla surrounding Twilight, I wondered if I should read it. I could read the book or watch the move, but I wasn’t going to do both. Movies rarely live up to the book, but they are usually good on their own terms. In anycase, I never read a book and watch the movie. Up until that point, I hadn’t read Twilight because I felt it would be just another paranormal romance, but without the sex.

The book started out well – the opening scene about her mother and her reasons for moving. It made me think she had a terrible mother. I suppose she did.

But than she started school, met Edward and the book slowed down to a crawl. To be fair, Twilight didn’t begin with a bang. I was okay with that. But the middle was just plain romance and a lot of cuddling. Even under the best situations, I am not a big fan of plain old romance. I rarely read it; I usually only read romantic suspense. The more usual type of romance is usually is too sweet for me. Despite the vampires (sparkling vampires at that) the middle of Twilight was no different. It was very hard to get past it. The only reason I did read it was because of all the damn hoopla and me trying to figure out what was so great about it.

Bella plays the damsel of distress frequently. There were times when I didn’t entirely buy it. There was that situation with the boys while in town and Edward rescuing her in his car. All I could think was, this is an excuse for Edward to rescue her.

The ending saves Twilight. It goes from 0 to 60 I was left staring at the page. See, if it had been like that the whole time I would understand why people are so crazy about it. As it is, I really don’t.

Grade: C+



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