I've wrapped up three books in relatively short order lately and thought I'd put down a few thoughts. I splurged on a few authors that I've been hoarding for a rainy day, then followed up with a quickie Andromeda tie-in novel.
Son of Avonar by Carol Berg
Carol Berg's Rai-Kirah series was one of my absolute favorites of the last couple years, so I've been pacing myself in getting around to her other books. I have one standalone and her whole next trilogy on my to-be-read shelf. I opted to save the standalone and get cracking on the trilogy for this read.
To be honest, I was a bit disappointed. The concept is good enough, but felt a bit recycled from the first series (damaged protagonist saddled with protecting an even more flawed charge on a quest related to forgotten and forbidden magical heritages). There's nothing wrong with using a similar theme more than once, of course (if there was, the fantasy genre wouldn't exist), but something just felt lacking this time around. There were lengthy flashbacks which, in retrospect, contain necessary info. about the main character and the people she knew before the beginning of the story, but at the time, they just hurt the flow of the present story for me and didn't help me really connect with the main character any more than I already had.
That being said, I did enjoy the book. I especially liked the device of having the main character dealing with a person that she can't communicate with for much of the book. I expected the dilemma to be resolved quickly, so it was a pleasant surprise that the characters had to deal with it for a large chunk of the book.
Which, oddly enough, brings me to the second of the two authors.
The Wizard Hunters by Martha Wells
I first read Martha Wells at about the same time as Carol Berg, I love her work about the same, and I *also* have a standalone and a trilogy from her on my to-be-read shelf. (Actually book 3 of the trilogy is yet to be released). Again, I decided to get into the trilogy. And, oddly enough, this book ALSO features protagonists who can't understand each other's languages for much of the book. Funny. :)
Anyway, I think I enjoyed The Wizard Hunters a bit more. Wells is an author I count among a small group who work within a traditional fantasy structure, but branch out with regards to setting. The Wizard Hunters is set partially in a fantasy analogue of a World War II-era London, complete with dirigibles, pistols, Blitz-like bombing runs, etc. I really enjoy the opportunity to deal with characters who have a different frame of reference from the usual medieval take on the world, and this book is interesting because it actually mixes these more modern characters with a group of characters from a more traditional, non-industrial fantasy world, and the differences in viewpoints between the two worlds provides for some good conflict.
But I think the thing that really shines in the book is the characters. Wells works a lot more warmth and humor and general likeability into her characters than most fantasy authors I read these days. Characters who've grown up together have shared jokes and shared histories that add depth and realism to the relationships. Strangers who are thrust together get irritated or amused by the quirks of another civilization. It's the use of little emotions like that - irritation, mild amusement, etc. - that really give a sense of humanity to the characters. I love it. :)
Through the Looking Glass by Josepha Sherman
I've never been a tie-in reader. The inherent "nothing can change" credo of a tie-in book has always turned me off, since I felt like there couldn't be any serious depth to the story if I couldn't believe that the characters could change or grow or die or whatever. I was convinced otherwise with KRAD and Ethlie's books, and even Waystation's more typical adventure provided some good character work with Dylan discovering another dark secret from Commonwealth days, among other things. So, the verdict on this fourth Drom book?
Meh. It's a serviceable standalone episode of the series, I guess, but if this was the first Drom book I'd read, nothing here would've changed my mind about the relative worth of tie-in novels.
The Basic Gist: A space anomaly causes Dylan to get switched with a series of AU Dylan's. Weirdness ensues as Dylan experiences various versions of Andromeda and the real crew deals with various versions of Dylan.
The problem here is that the book doesn't really make much use out of the Drom universe. Dylan and Beka are in character enough, but the rest of the crew barely show up with more than exposition comments on either side of the spatial anomaly.
In addition, the alt-Andromeda's Dylan encounters are so generic that they could've been used in any captain-switching episode of any space series with only minor adjustments. Even the AU's set in dimensions where the Commonwealth never fell feel like generic, high concept AU universes...not something that came out of the actual history of the show. I'd have much rather the author take ONE serious AU and do a really good job exploring the differences and similarities in that one place rather than giving short shrift to a bunch of quickie versions. As it stands, the end result of the book for me is a big "So What?"
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