Reading Log, 2007

Just a quick memory entry with the goal of doing a more thorough "Recently Read" log for 2007 with a brief reaction for everything I read, instead of trying to do a lengthier review for everything and failing. :)

December, 2007
Sanctuary - Lynn Abbey
Novel designed to reboot the "Thieve's World" franchise.  It's been a long time since I read the Thieve's World books, and I was pretty tired of them by the time the series ended... but I quite enjoyed this chance to revisit Sanctuary, and I'm sorry to see that the new anthologies seem to have died again after two books.  Abbey moves the universe ahead by several decades, and much of this book is devoted to filling in the gaps between the timelines.  There are plenty of references to many of Sanctuary's most famous denizens  (Illyria, Tempus, Ischade, Hakiem) but all of them are past-tense as a dying Molin Torchholder looks back on how Sanctuary got where it is in the "present".  Since I was never super-fond of any of these characters,  I found this to be just the right touch of nostalgia, but what caught my interest was the present-tense story of a young stonemason named Cauvin who Molin chooses as his successor in guiding the city back to better times.  I'd have liked to see more of Cauvin's story, and wish Lynn Abbey had just stuck to writing standalone books for the series instead of trying to reboot the franchise...

Orvis - H.M. Hoover
Quick intermediate-level sci-fi read.  Nothing exceptional, but a nice palate-cleanser between longer reads.

( Read more... )