what I read this September
YA Science Fiction and Fantasy
The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan. After I read the first chapter, I could not put this down. Mary is a girl living in a little claustrophobic village. She wants to marry her best friend's fiance, she wants her mother to stop mourning her father, and perhaps most of all, she yearns to see the ocean. But Mary never, ever will, because the only thing keeping her alive is the fence around the village. Because the other side of the fence...are the ravening hordes of the undead.
A tale of exploration, of identity, secrets, of recognizing love and family. And, of course, zombies.
The Keeper of the Isis Light by Monica Hughes. fter her parents died in a freak storm, Olwen has grown up alone on the alien world of Isis. She spends her days roaming the planet she considers her own. The only person she speaks to is the Guardian of Isis. But at last, colonists are coming to Isis.
This book feels very dated. The style of writing, the gender norms, the tech, all felt very golden-age scifi. Additionally, the OMG PLOT TWISTs are excrutiatingly obvious. Once they're out of the way, the story improves. Overall, I did quite like this story. Although Olwen is almost excessively feminine in some ways, she is also incredibly physically courageous (fans of Cashore's Graceling will appreciate her) and self-sufficient. And most of all, I love the basic message of this book: that being yourself and free is worth more than romance or even companionship.
Seaward by Susan Cooper. Cally pushes herself through a mirror to escape an endless, unearthly voice. Westerly escapes his pursuers through a hidden doorway. They each find themselves in another world, where magic and thought have power beyond their imagining. This is very much a coming of age adventure story, full of chases and near-escapes, but it is told in such beautiful language that I found myself re-reading the descriptions of the countryside.
Brightly Woven by Alexandra Bracken. A traveling magician buys Syndelle from her family in exchange for bringing rain to their desert. At first, Syndelle can't imagine why the cantankerous and drunken Wayland North would want her as a traveling companion, but she soon realizes her worth lies in her ability to fix his magic cloaks. The world building, characters, and plot are all interesting, but patchy. I found parts totally enthralling, and then other chapters just dragged. Everything seems rushed--the revelations about North's curse, the development of North and Syndelle's relationship, hell, an entire duel with a dragon takes place off-page. North is a great character--sort of a combination of Howl from Howl's Moving Castle and Mr. Darcy--but we don't spend enough time with him or watching Syndelle interact with him to understand their relationship. I think a more disciplined writer or a better editor could have made this story truly special.
Never Trust a Dead Man by Vivian Vande Velde. First Selwyn's crush refuses to marry him--and then he's accused of murder! But luckily for Selwyn, he's saved from a slow death by a crotchety old witch. In exchange for years of service to her, she helps him disguise himself to find out who really murdered Farold. And with his disguise firmly in place, Selwyn is discovering some uncomfortable truths about people he thought he knew well...
VVV has a talent for showing us the world through a character's eyes, only to slowly reveal how deeply wrong their assumptions were. She used this to great effect in User Unfriendly, but it works less well here, simply because she takes less time to do it. I don't think VVV earns the plot twists she uses--the reveal with the witch, for instance, was telegraphed from the start but didn't feel probable (even though it is one of my favorite tropes). If I'd spent more time inside Selwyn's head, or if there had been more scenes of interaction between the characters, I would be all over this book. As it is, it seems like a pale imitation of VVV's excellent Dragon's Bait.
A Wizard of Mars by Diane Duane. The wizards' battle against entropy and chaos continues in this, the ninth book of Diane Duane's "So You Want to Be a Wizard" series. Kit and Nita are part of the wizarding expedition that accidentally wakes up the long-sleeping Martians. Kit is entranced by them, but all is not well--they are a warlike people, and plan to colonize Earth!
My summary makes it sound a lot more interesting than it actually is. There are far too many characters and not much plot. The vast majority of this novel is just wizards standing around deciding what to do, explaining what's happening, or rehashing what just happened. For a story about the revival of the Martians, this is surprisingly boring.
SF and Fantasy for adults
Flirt by Laurell K Hamilton. Why did I do this to myself? Why return to Anita Blake, when all she does is annoy and frustrate me?
Because I am a fool.
But as foolish as I am, at least I didn't write a novel in which all the male characters tell Anita how hot and desirable and wonderful she is for an entire chapter. Is there a plot? Sure, but it's solved in about two minutes. Truthfully, there are so many problems with this story that it’s hard to know what to complain about most.
-The pages upon pages of descriptions of each man’s hair, eyes, muscles, and dreadful clothing choices?
-The chapter in which nothing happens except Anita and her waiter flirting with each other?
-The way the reader is repeatedly reminded that every single other female character is stupider, meaner, and less pretty than Anita?
-How every single time Anita does anything, all the male characters comment on how amazing and astounding it is?
-How Anita Blake uses magic to take away someone’s free will for the rest of his life? And then has sex with him? And then has a long discussion with her other boyfriends about whether she should “keep” him, while the poor dude listens and weeps? And then all her boyfriends comfort her about how hard it must have been on her?
-Or ooh, how ‘bout how we’re supposed to think Anita is oh-so-moral because she refuses to raise zombies that someone wants to have sex with, but then she raises an army of zombies and forces them to kill and eat people? Including their own family members?
This series better end with someone chopping her head off, because at this point Anita Blake is actively evil.
Not Less Than Gods by Kage Baker. Years ago, Kage Baker began the Company series, which followed near-immortal time-traveling cyborgs in their adventures throughout human history. Yes, they were as much fun as they sound--and exhibited an excellent grasp of history and a gift for tragedy, as well.
This book, not so much. It's a prequel to Mendoza in Hollywood, but is best read after The Children of the Company. The problem with this book is the cheeky, irreverant humor is missing, and the sense of impending doom is gone. And even by the end, I didn't have much idea of the characters' personalities. Edward himself is a fascinating man, but this book provides no new insights to him. The plot itself is episodic, with no narrative tension--Edward is told to go places and do things, and he goes and does them without much, if any, problems. I never felt worried about whether his mission would succeed or not, because I never got a good idea of what it was, or why it mattered. Overall, this was a disappointment, and only worthwhile if you really need more Company in your life.
Treason's Shore by Sherwood Smith. The last of the Inda series. Years ago, Inda was exiled from his homeland and made a new life for himself as the infamous pirate Elgar the Fox. But when he heard of his former home's invasion by the Venn, he returned. The Venn were turned back, but not for long. They, and their mind-controlled king, are going a'viking once more. And once again, only Inda can stop them.
I feel conflicted about this book. On the one hand, Smith continues to split up her narrative far more than she needs to. Constantly switching from one person to the next stalls the narrative tension. On the other, it's a gutsy move to spend more than half of the final volume of a series on the POVs of the main characters' enemies. And Smith has more than enough tension to go around: unrequited love, mind control, magicians double-crossing each other constantly, internecine court drama, pirate battles, training a new generation, ambushes, affairs, reinforcing the infrastructure of a kingdom, breaking down gender barriers, naval battles...There's no derth of plot. Astoundingly, there's still plenty of characterization, of both old characters and new. Inda is more damaged and oblivious than in previous volumes, which annoyed me but felt believable, given what he's gone through. And the new characters are fantastic: I particularly loved the viking captain's hawk-nosed wife.
Smith showcases both the uses and the limits of diplomacy. Her battle scenes are chaotic but understandable. The domestic lives she imagined for her characters helps keep the narrative grounded and believable. And the world building is just top notch.
I think these books would reward rereading--Smith has so much story to tell that I'm sure I missed out on plot points, moments of characterization, and world-building as I raced through. I'm glad I read this series; I just wish there was more!
Gwenhwyfar: The White Spirit by Mercedes Lackey. Lackey has been writing Mary-Sues in fantasy crack-fic for decades now, so this book came as a surprise to me. She's clearly put in research into early Celtic life and tales--her Gwenhwyfar serves mead and ale with her own hands in a great hall filled with dog shit. This is probably the best book she's ever written--certainly it's the most controlled. But still, sadly disappointing. If you tackle Arthurian legend after centuries of people messing with it, you'd better have something new and interesting to say. Lackey definitely doesn't, but it's not a complete failure as a book. The world felt possible, and neither the "Old Ways" nor the "White Christ" felt demonized (a common pitfall of the Arthurian tales). Most of the story is about Gwen becoming a warrior--she doesn't even meet Arthur until 3/4ths of the way into the novel. I'd ordinarily really enjoy this feminist twist on what makes Gwen important--that it's her skills, rather than her marriage--except that what Gwen is involved in is pretty boring. Even the training montage doesn't have the same vitality as, say, in Arrows of the Queen. By controlling the worst of her Mary-Sue-creating tendencies, Lackey has removed a lot of the fun in her writing style.
Which is not to say that Lackey has learned to write reasonable characters. Her Gwen is perfect in a very well-worn way: she's beautiful, but doesn't pay attention to clothes or makeup! she's more gifted with magic than anyone else! she's the best rider and scout in the army! the fey do as she bids, and come when she calls! she still looks 16 in her late twenties! (Lackey emphasizes how preternaturally young Gwen looks, in nearly every chapter. Why is this important?) She's an unbelievable character, but less so than the Evil Characters. Why do people do mean things? Because they are Evil! From the very moment they are born, they are Evil. Constantly, irredeamably, in every possible situation, Evil. Arthur's kingdom falls not because the Saxons are invading, or because he didn't leave a good infrastructure in place, or because he was a bad king--but instead, because a character is Evil and so does all sorts of Evil things. (In case you weren't sure he was Evil, he rapes the main character repeatedly. I am so, so, so over rape-as-marker-of-evil in fantasy novels.) It's frustrating!
This is better than Lackey's usual fare, but isn't anything special. If you're looking for Arthurian legends with a strong female heroine, I highly recommend Jo Walton's The King's Peace instead.
Non-Fiction
Born to Rule by Julia Gelardi. The history of five of Queen Victoria's granddaughters. Alexandra, the shy and proud queen of Russia; Marie, the dramatic and empathic queen of Romania; Victoria Eugenie, who introduced hemophilia into the heirs of Spain; Maud, the bourgeoisie queen of Norway; and Sophie, who was so maligned as the sister to the hated Kaiser Wilhelm II that she lost her throne in Greece. The book doesn't have much focus, nor does it have a thesis; it's merely a collection of biographies that wouldn't stand alone on their own. Frustratingly, Gelardi switches from one queen to the next in a matter of paragraphs, making it hard to get a feel for each of their personalities. Still, Gelardi has a clear grasp of history and uses quotes from the queens' correspondence to good effect. I came away with a slightly better understanding of each queen and a much better feel for European history after WWI.
The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan. After I read the first chapter, I could not put this down. Mary is a girl living in a little claustrophobic village. She wants to marry her best friend's fiance, she wants her mother to stop mourning her father, and perhaps most of all, she yearns to see the ocean. But Mary never, ever will, because the only thing keeping her alive is the fence around the village. Because the other side of the fence...are the ravening hordes of the undead.
A tale of exploration, of identity, secrets, of recognizing love and family. And, of course, zombies.
The Keeper of the Isis Light by Monica Hughes. fter her parents died in a freak storm, Olwen has grown up alone on the alien world of Isis. She spends her days roaming the planet she considers her own. The only person she speaks to is the Guardian of Isis. But at last, colonists are coming to Isis.
This book feels very dated. The style of writing, the gender norms, the tech, all felt very golden-age scifi. Additionally, the OMG PLOT TWISTs are excrutiatingly obvious. Once they're out of the way, the story improves. Overall, I did quite like this story. Although Olwen is almost excessively feminine in some ways, she is also incredibly physically courageous (fans of Cashore's Graceling will appreciate her) and self-sufficient. And most of all, I love the basic message of this book: that being yourself and free is worth more than romance or even companionship.
Seaward by Susan Cooper. Cally pushes herself through a mirror to escape an endless, unearthly voice. Westerly escapes his pursuers through a hidden doorway. They each find themselves in another world, where magic and thought have power beyond their imagining. This is very much a coming of age adventure story, full of chases and near-escapes, but it is told in such beautiful language that I found myself re-reading the descriptions of the countryside.
Brightly Woven by Alexandra Bracken. A traveling magician buys Syndelle from her family in exchange for bringing rain to their desert. At first, Syndelle can't imagine why the cantankerous and drunken Wayland North would want her as a traveling companion, but she soon realizes her worth lies in her ability to fix his magic cloaks. The world building, characters, and plot are all interesting, but patchy. I found parts totally enthralling, and then other chapters just dragged. Everything seems rushed--the revelations about North's curse, the development of North and Syndelle's relationship, hell, an entire duel with a dragon takes place off-page. North is a great character--sort of a combination of Howl from Howl's Moving Castle and Mr. Darcy--but we don't spend enough time with him or watching Syndelle interact with him to understand their relationship. I think a more disciplined writer or a better editor could have made this story truly special.
Never Trust a Dead Man by Vivian Vande Velde. First Selwyn's crush refuses to marry him--and then he's accused of murder! But luckily for Selwyn, he's saved from a slow death by a crotchety old witch. In exchange for years of service to her, she helps him disguise himself to find out who really murdered Farold. And with his disguise firmly in place, Selwyn is discovering some uncomfortable truths about people he thought he knew well...
VVV has a talent for showing us the world through a character's eyes, only to slowly reveal how deeply wrong their assumptions were. She used this to great effect in User Unfriendly, but it works less well here, simply because she takes less time to do it. I don't think VVV earns the plot twists she uses--the reveal with the witch, for instance, was telegraphed from the start but didn't feel probable (even though it is one of my favorite tropes). If I'd spent more time inside Selwyn's head, or if there had been more scenes of interaction between the characters, I would be all over this book. As it is, it seems like a pale imitation of VVV's excellent Dragon's Bait.
A Wizard of Mars by Diane Duane. The wizards' battle against entropy and chaos continues in this, the ninth book of Diane Duane's "So You Want to Be a Wizard" series. Kit and Nita are part of the wizarding expedition that accidentally wakes up the long-sleeping Martians. Kit is entranced by them, but all is not well--they are a warlike people, and plan to colonize Earth!
My summary makes it sound a lot more interesting than it actually is. There are far too many characters and not much plot. The vast majority of this novel is just wizards standing around deciding what to do, explaining what's happening, or rehashing what just happened. For a story about the revival of the Martians, this is surprisingly boring.
SF and Fantasy for adults
Flirt by Laurell K Hamilton. Why did I do this to myself? Why return to Anita Blake, when all she does is annoy and frustrate me?
Because I am a fool.
But as foolish as I am, at least I didn't write a novel in which all the male characters tell Anita how hot and desirable and wonderful she is for an entire chapter. Is there a plot? Sure, but it's solved in about two minutes. Truthfully, there are so many problems with this story that it’s hard to know what to complain about most.
-The pages upon pages of descriptions of each man’s hair, eyes, muscles, and dreadful clothing choices?
-The chapter in which nothing happens except Anita and her waiter flirting with each other?
-The way the reader is repeatedly reminded that every single other female character is stupider, meaner, and less pretty than Anita?
-How every single time Anita does anything, all the male characters comment on how amazing and astounding it is?
-How Anita Blake uses magic to take away someone’s free will for the rest of his life? And then has sex with him? And then has a long discussion with her other boyfriends about whether she should “keep” him, while the poor dude listens and weeps? And then all her boyfriends comfort her about how hard it must have been on her?
-Or ooh, how ‘bout how we’re supposed to think Anita is oh-so-moral because she refuses to raise zombies that someone wants to have sex with, but then she raises an army of zombies and forces them to kill and eat people? Including their own family members?
This series better end with someone chopping her head off, because at this point Anita Blake is actively evil.
Not Less Than Gods by Kage Baker. Years ago, Kage Baker began the Company series, which followed near-immortal time-traveling cyborgs in their adventures throughout human history. Yes, they were as much fun as they sound--and exhibited an excellent grasp of history and a gift for tragedy, as well.
This book, not so much. It's a prequel to Mendoza in Hollywood, but is best read after The Children of the Company. The problem with this book is the cheeky, irreverant humor is missing, and the sense of impending doom is gone. And even by the end, I didn't have much idea of the characters' personalities. Edward himself is a fascinating man, but this book provides no new insights to him. The plot itself is episodic, with no narrative tension--Edward is told to go places and do things, and he goes and does them without much, if any, problems. I never felt worried about whether his mission would succeed or not, because I never got a good idea of what it was, or why it mattered. Overall, this was a disappointment, and only worthwhile if you really need more Company in your life.
Treason's Shore by Sherwood Smith. The last of the Inda series. Years ago, Inda was exiled from his homeland and made a new life for himself as the infamous pirate Elgar the Fox. But when he heard of his former home's invasion by the Venn, he returned. The Venn were turned back, but not for long. They, and their mind-controlled king, are going a'viking once more. And once again, only Inda can stop them.
I feel conflicted about this book. On the one hand, Smith continues to split up her narrative far more than she needs to. Constantly switching from one person to the next stalls the narrative tension. On the other, it's a gutsy move to spend more than half of the final volume of a series on the POVs of the main characters' enemies. And Smith has more than enough tension to go around: unrequited love, mind control, magicians double-crossing each other constantly, internecine court drama, pirate battles, training a new generation, ambushes, affairs, reinforcing the infrastructure of a kingdom, breaking down gender barriers, naval battles...There's no derth of plot. Astoundingly, there's still plenty of characterization, of both old characters and new. Inda is more damaged and oblivious than in previous volumes, which annoyed me but felt believable, given what he's gone through. And the new characters are fantastic: I particularly loved the viking captain's hawk-nosed wife.
Smith showcases both the uses and the limits of diplomacy. Her battle scenes are chaotic but understandable. The domestic lives she imagined for her characters helps keep the narrative grounded and believable. And the world building is just top notch.
I think these books would reward rereading--Smith has so much story to tell that I'm sure I missed out on plot points, moments of characterization, and world-building as I raced through. I'm glad I read this series; I just wish there was more!
Gwenhwyfar: The White Spirit by Mercedes Lackey. Lackey has been writing Mary-Sues in fantasy crack-fic for decades now, so this book came as a surprise to me. She's clearly put in research into early Celtic life and tales--her Gwenhwyfar serves mead and ale with her own hands in a great hall filled with dog shit. This is probably the best book she's ever written--certainly it's the most controlled. But still, sadly disappointing. If you tackle Arthurian legend after centuries of people messing with it, you'd better have something new and interesting to say. Lackey definitely doesn't, but it's not a complete failure as a book. The world felt possible, and neither the "Old Ways" nor the "White Christ" felt demonized (a common pitfall of the Arthurian tales). Most of the story is about Gwen becoming a warrior--she doesn't even meet Arthur until 3/4ths of the way into the novel. I'd ordinarily really enjoy this feminist twist on what makes Gwen important--that it's her skills, rather than her marriage--except that what Gwen is involved in is pretty boring. Even the training montage doesn't have the same vitality as, say, in Arrows of the Queen. By controlling the worst of her Mary-Sue-creating tendencies, Lackey has removed a lot of the fun in her writing style.
Which is not to say that Lackey has learned to write reasonable characters. Her Gwen is perfect in a very well-worn way: she's beautiful, but doesn't pay attention to clothes or makeup! she's more gifted with magic than anyone else! she's the best rider and scout in the army! the fey do as she bids, and come when she calls! she still looks 16 in her late twenties! (Lackey emphasizes how preternaturally young Gwen looks, in nearly every chapter. Why is this important?) She's an unbelievable character, but less so than the Evil Characters. Why do people do mean things? Because they are Evil! From the very moment they are born, they are Evil. Constantly, irredeamably, in every possible situation, Evil. Arthur's kingdom falls not because the Saxons are invading, or because he didn't leave a good infrastructure in place, or because he was a bad king--but instead, because a character is Evil and so does all sorts of Evil things. (In case you weren't sure he was Evil, he rapes the main character repeatedly. I am so, so, so over rape-as-marker-of-evil in fantasy novels.) It's frustrating!
This is better than Lackey's usual fare, but isn't anything special. If you're looking for Arthurian legends with a strong female heroine, I highly recommend Jo Walton's The King's Peace instead.
Non-Fiction
Born to Rule by Julia Gelardi. The history of five of Queen Victoria's granddaughters. Alexandra, the shy and proud queen of Russia; Marie, the dramatic and empathic queen of Romania; Victoria Eugenie, who introduced hemophilia into the heirs of Spain; Maud, the bourgeoisie queen of Norway; and Sophie, who was so maligned as the sister to the hated Kaiser Wilhelm II that she lost her throne in Greece. The book doesn't have much focus, nor does it have a thesis; it's merely a collection of biographies that wouldn't stand alone on their own. Frustratingly, Gelardi switches from one queen to the next in a matter of paragraphs, making it hard to get a feel for each of their personalities. Still, Gelardi has a clear grasp of history and uses quotes from the queens' correspondence to good effect. I came away with a slightly better understanding of each queen and a much better feel for European history after WWI.