(no subject)

[niko]

Just instantiating my 2010 reading log, since I finally finished my first read of the year.  I don't usually have the energy for full-blown reviews, but I always feel the urge to at least log a sentence or two of thoughts when I finish a book.  My reading pace was at kind of a crawl in 2009.  Hopefully this year will be better.  :)

January, 2010
Midnight Tides - Steven Erikson
I'm running behind (this is book 5 of a 10 book series), but I have to say, I'm really very, very impressed with these books.  The scope alone... He has these *huge* casts of characters roaming all over these mammoth, multi-sided conflicts, and while there are certainly some stumbles, the books mostly manage to be extremely readable and entertaining.  The sheer extravagance of the books - especially some of the more macabre battle scenes that give us carnage on a ridiculously mammoth scale - should be offputting for me, but it somehow *works* for this series.  And yet, the smaller scale is fine, too.  The cast in this volume included some of my favorite characters yet.  Here's hoping manages to keep up the quality and tie everything together in the second half.

February, 2010
The List of Seven - Mark Frost
This was a re-read.  It seemed like a good time to revisit it, with the upswing in Sherlock Holmes discussions around due to the new movie.   The premise of the book is that Arthur Conan Doyle based the character of Holmes on a real person, Jack Sparks.  In the book, Doyle gets caught up in some supernatural intrigue and winds up playing Watson to Sparks' Holmes, chasing after an occult organization bent on bringing a supernatural evil into the world.  It's a fun romp, with entertaining characters, though the plot's a bit thinner than I'd remembered. 

The Innamorati - Midori Snyder
Excellent book.  It was a Mythopoeic Award winner, which always guarantees a unique setting/atmosphere.  This one is set in a version of Italy, and weaves concepts and themes of the commedia dell'arte into the story in a way that left me feeling like I actually have some familiarity with that style of theater, when I didn't before.  The story itself has a nice "fairy-tale"-ish quality to it that I always like but can't explain - it's like... the plot itself is fairly simple/straightforward, but something about the language and/or the structure of the story gives it a timeless quality, like it's been around forever, not just written in the last decade.  Patricia McKillip does that a lot.

March, 2010
The Crimson Goddess - Catherine Cooke
Nice conclusion to an enjoyable trilogy.  Some interesting twists at the end that gave a better wrap-up than I think I expected.

April, 2010
The Born Queen - Greg Keyes
Last book in a series.  It's been a pleasant enough read, and some fun world-building, but this book and the last one just felt really rushed... something was missing that I needed to really feel "fulfilled" with the read, but I can't place what it is.

Turning the Storm - Naomi Kritzer




 
 

Comments

[dj-aida.livejournal.com]

This sounds like something I would like. Also, you mentioned it is extravagant and yet you liked it - what about John Varley's Gaea trilogy? Titan, Wizard and Demon, all fabulous, with great characters, both male and female (and... something else!).

If you feel like it, you could read a post of mine (http://dj-aida.livejournal.com/16853.html) which has an excerpt from the second book.



And, here's a Titanide:

psaltery (http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/76419411/) by ~Ophiuchi (http://ophiuchi.deviantart.com/) on deviant (http://www.deviantart.com)ART (http://www.deviantart.com)

Isn't he lovely? And yes, it's a he. :)

[nikojen.livejournal.com]

Pretty! :) That orange-with-yellow-highlights always appeals to me, for some reason.

Are these books sci-fi or fantasy? I don't think I've ever looked at John Varley before because he seemed like a sci-fi writer...? I've always been a fantasy-girl, mostly.

[dj-aida.livejournal.com]

Well, they're... both, I think. More fantasy as the books go on. He usually writes hard SF, from what I heard, but these books are unique.

And Titanides are all kinds of awesome! Their color patterns are crazy (you've got all sorts of combinations, including an orange-green zebra and whatnot), and in addition to that they dye their fur and hair, and wear beads and jewelry.

All of them can get pregnant and breastfeed their kids, and want to do it all the time. :) Their language is song, and their names are musical keys plus the manner of their conception - Tambura (Sharped Lydian Trio) Rock'n'Roll, and they're incredibly artistic.

[nikojen.livejournal.com]

Ah, I see, one of those overlappy sort of things. Makes sense.

Thanks for the rec. I'll have to check it out.