Book 37 & 39

Number 37 and 39 (in reading order) are a duology-Through a Glass Darkly and Now Face to Face by Karleen Koen. The books are about Barbara, and her early life, from a young unmarried women to a widow during the mid 1700 in England.

These books are moderately trashy-well researched in terms of the history, but Barbara's life itself is full of scandal and tragedy. The story is engrossing, and Barbara herself is a great character-full of life and spirit, she tries so hard to not hurt anyone and life her life with honor, but doesn't always meet her own expectations. 

Through a Glass Darkly and Now Face to Face

Karleen Koen

na/16/38

Book 36

Book 36 was Tangled Webs by Anne Bishop. This is one of three books that just came out that I have been looking forward to greatly. 

This is a continuation of the Black Jewels series I reread in the beginning of the year, and takes the form of a mystery story. The book was solid-not as great as the original trilogy, but not disappointing by any means. This book explores further the complicated rules of the society that Bishop created in her original novels. For example, this books shows how those with magic relate to those without, which really wasn't covered in the other books. I consider that a good thing, since it would have been an unneeded subplot (and I really dislike those). A good book, and a must read for those who read the original trilogy.

Tangled Webs 

Anne Bishop

1/14/36

Books 31-35

Books 31-35 are the Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon. The books are: Outlander, Voyager, Drums of Autumn, The Fiery Cross and A Breath of Snow and Ashes (I always skip the second book, Dragonfly in Amber, since I don't like it as much as the rest). Basic plot-Claire, a young women in post WWII England accidentally travels back in time to 1740s Scotland, where she mets and marries the love of her life, Jamie. The rest of the books deal with Claire and Jamie's trails and travails.

These books are seriously dense-they are roughly 800 pages a pop, and a lot of info and events are crammed into them. They are also notoriously difficult to categorize, as they are partially romance novel, partly historical fiction, part alternate history and part Sci Fi/Fantasy. Overall, it's a solid series-they are hits and misses here and there, mainly with unnecessary subplots. The books can also be a bit tiring-our heroine has many adventures, and after a while it's just too much to take in. The book excels in wonderful settings and fully realized characters-you can see Claire and Jamie's growth as characters quite clearly, and others develop believably as well. It's just there are so many!

Outlander, Voyager, Drums of Autumn, The Fiery Cross & 

A Breath of Snow and Ashes

Diana Gabaldon

na/13/35

 

Book 30

Book 30 was Lincoln's Dreams by Connie Willis. I first started reading Connie Willis last year-I started with Passage, which was incredible. I don't think Lincoln's Dreams was quite incredible, but it was still quite good.

Lincoln's Dreams is about a researcher, Jeff,  who works with a novelist who writes books set during the Civil War. Through a friend, Jeff is connected to a young woman who seems to be having the same dream's Robert E Lee did during the Civil War. Between the two of them, they try to find out what the dreams mean, and why she is having them. 

The book was pretty short, just 228 pages, but quite dense. It read very quickly, with a great deal of action. By the time of the final dream reveal, you are halfway to guessing what they mean. The characterizations are very good-even minor characters have personality.  I would definitely recommend the book, but with the warning that it might make you a bit paranoid about your own dreams.

Lincoln's Dreams

Connie Willis

1/8/30

Book 29

Almost caught up on write ups! Yay!

Book 29 was Dragonhaven by Robin McKinley. A teenage boy ends up adopting a dragonlet by mistake, and the novel follows his struggles to raise her and keep her safe from the outside world.

This was an excellent book. The dragon concepts used in it were fresh and novel-with so many fantasy novels about dragons out there, it's always nice to get a book with a new variety of characteristics for them. The book also captured the feeling of being a young person becoming a "mom" very nicely. The world was quite nice-the setting for the story was a remote dragon preserve, and the feelings of isolation and the "us vs them" mentality of the preservers vs the outside world was well done.  This was truly worth reading.

Dragonhaven

Robin McKinley

1/7/29

Book 28

Book 28 was the Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield. The book is about a young women who is chosen to write the biography of a notoriously private, famous and elderly writer.

The book was enjoyable-it maintained some decent suspense throughout the whole book, until the mystery of the "thirteenth tale" was revealed. The idea of twins and siblings in general was explored in the book, as was the concept of family and the truth. Overall the book was strong, with a few spots were the plot slowed down a bit. By the time the mystery was revealed, I was half way to solving it myself. I do think I have been reading too many books with romantic sub plots-I kept expecting a romance plot line to develop, and it never did.

The Thirteenth Tale

Diane Setterfield

01/06/28

Book 27

Book 27 was General Winston's Daughter by Sharon Shinn. It's was a YA novel, and quite similar to The Blue Sword by Robin McKinley. This is a good thing, since I like the Blue Sword a great deal.

The novel is loosely based on/set in the empire period of English history. The main character, Averie, is going to join her father in Chiarrin, an Middle Eastern style country that is in the process of being taken over by the country she is from. Her father is in charge of the take over, and the story follows her experiences there.

While short, the novel packed in a lot of topics and storylines, but never felt over stuffed. Averie grows up quite a bit throughout the course of the novel, and learns who she really is and what she wants from life. The romance part of the story is pretty tame, but still touching and believable. Averie is a fun character, and the secondaries were nicely fleshed out as well. My only complaint is that the Chiarrin's resistance to the take over could have been expanded upon more, as well as the avaricious nature of Averie's home country. I was able to make a lot of connections between the story and the British empire building of the late nineteenth century, but I think for the book's sake it would have been better to have a bit more historical context in terms of the book's world.

General Winston's Daughter

Sharon Shinn

1/5/27

Book 26

Book 26 was Spellbinder, by Melanie Rawn. Rawn is one of my favorite authors-I consider her a "reliable", an author who's new book I will buy in hardcover since I know it's 90% likely I will enjoy the book. And with this one, I did.

Spellbinder is a departure for Rawn-it's a paranormal romance, when she normally writes epic fantasy. This was probably one of the best paranormals I have ever read. The magic system made sense, no one was over powered (a big failing in a lot of paranormals), and the romance wasn't forced or unrealistic. 

The story follows Holly, a writer and a spellbinder-a spellbinder is a witch who's blood means that any spell cast using it will work. She ends up getting together with a cop, Evan, who is her first real boyfriend in years. They end up battling an evil coven, and all is well in the end. 

Spellbinder

Melanie Rawn

1/4/26

Book 25

Book 25 was Whitethorn Woods by Maeve Binchy. I really enjoyed it. The book was set up as a series of short stories all revolving around the central theme of a small Irish town. The stories flowed together very smoothly-it was a bit like playing 7 degrees of separation. Though the sections about each character were pretty small, you still got a true feel for each person in the book. 

Whitethorn Woods

Maeve Binchy

1/3/25

Books 21, 22, 23 & 24

Another combined write up! Yay! 

This time it was a reread of the Light series by Marion Zimmer Bradley. It consists of four books-Ghostlight, Witchlight, Gravelight and Heartlight. The books are loosely connected-they all share common characters, and the final book is a decades stretching view of world the books take place in from the view of a character who is mentioned often, but never really seen in the first three books.

Rereading these, I remembered how much I enjoyed them. They are set in the modern world, with magic. The stories flow smoothly, and I love the fact that the characters from book to book change, but you still get updates and see characters from prior books. It's a nice touch, especially since I am one of those people who always wonder what happens to a character after the book ends. 

My only issue with the books is occasionally the narration feels a bit disconnected, like the narrator isn't really a part of what is going on, even though they always are. This is a bit noticeable in Ghostlight, but very annoying in Heartlight.

Ghostlight, Witchlight, Gravelight and Heartlight

Marion Zimmer Bradley

na/24/24

Books 19 & 20

I decided to write a combined review of books 19 and 20. They are Phoenix & Ashes and Reserved for the Cat, both by Mercedes Lackey (I was really bitter after the 3 depressing books) and from her Elemental Masters series. Lackey's Elemental Masters books are some of my favorites-they are all based on retellings of fairy tales, and are set during the Late Victorian/Edwardian time period.  The pretty much hit all the points I look for in a book-female protagonist, historical setting, workable magic system, and fairy tale rewrites.

Phoenix & Ashes is my favorite books of the series-it's a retelling of Cinderella set during WWI. It's pretty much perfect to me. A good main character who you want to triumph, an appealing love interest, and villian that is clever. The books explores the class system in England, a women's place in the world, and the topic of war. All ends well, and I am a happy kitten.

Reserved for the Cat is the most recent book in the series, and is based on Puss in Boots. It follows a former ballerina's rise to prima donna of a music hall, and the cat that helps her. The most unusual thing about the book is the sympathetic look it takes upon women who wished to be courtesans in that time period-it shows why a pretty woman without options for a decent marriage or job would want to go that route, and manages to do so without being preachy or raunchy. As usual, all ends well, and it feature a talking cat. I love talking cats in books. I think talking cats may actually be better than pirates or ninjas.

Phoenix and Ashes

Mercedes Lackey

1/19/19

Reserved for the Cat

Mercedes Lackey

1/20/20

Book 18

Book 18 was The Phoenix Unchained by Mercedes Lackey and James Mallory. It's a new series set in the same world as her Obsidian Trilogy. It's a basic fantasy world-elves, magic, etc..

I tend to find Mercedes Lackey books comforting. They are reliable for me-always decent at the very least, with relatable and likable characters, solid world building and uncomplicated plots. This one was no exception-the two main characters set out on a coming of age adventure and meet challenges along the way. 

The greatest strength of the story is the friendship between the two main characters (Tiercel and Harrier). The depiction of their relationship is great-they have little arguments and disagreements, get annoyed with each other. It feels like they are real, and their friendship certainly read as though it is. Other than that, they book is a bit lackluster-it's a set up book, and ended a bit too soon-at only 398 pages (hardcover), they didn't really get anywhere with the bulk of the story (it's a trilogy!). Another 100 pages or so would have been nice. 

The Phoenix Unchained

Mercedes Lackey and James Mallory

1/18/18

Book 17

Book 17 was the Tea Rose, by Jennifer Donnelly. It's a romance novel with pretensions, meaning it's got an actually plot that isn't all romance and there isn't a cute ending.

The basic plot is girl grows up in Victorian White Chapel, London. Through various schemes ends up with her own company and gets together with true love after much struggle and hardship. After rereading this, I realized what I didn't really like about it the first time-it's just too much. The character has run ins with Jack the Ripper, Nellie Bly and other historical figures of the late Victorian era. I really like the parts about the main character (Fiona) making her way in the world, but the drops ins were too much. It just never felt believable, although Fiona and other characters were likable. 

The Tea Rose

Jennifer Donnelly

1/17/17

Book 16

Sorry it's been so long between updates, but I am finding this a more difficult project that I thought. I much prefer to grab up my next book as soon as I finish one-so stopping for a write up hasn't been working very well. 

After the last three depressing books, I went through a re-reading fit that just finished today. Book 16 was The Scent of Magic, by Andre Norton. It's a quick, light read; it helped end the depression of the last three books.

The book is set in a random fantasy land, and tells the adventure of Willadene, a young herbalist who is gifted with "the nose". "The nose" gives Willadene the ability to smell out things, like evil and magic. She gets involved with palace intrigues, and things turn out well for all in the end. I enjoy the book for the simplicity of the story-no crazy subplots or useless characters. The handful of characters are all well thought out and believeably written. I also love the descriptions of working in a herbalists' shop-it sounds so fun, and it's rare to see a profession described in a fantasy novel. 

The Scent of Magic

Andre Norton

1/16/16