Books...
What I've just finished reading:
Anno Dracula - Kim Newman I finally finished the fucker! Sadly it didn't improve and was ultimately something of a disappointment. It was a great premise, and introduced lots of other Victorian literary stalwarts to the playpen, the writing craft was decent and then... didn't go anywhere, at all. It just felt like "Ooh, let me show you my shiny shiny worldbuilding!" and then there was no story to back it up. I guess it was supposed to be some kind of detective yarn, but we learned who the killer was in the first couple of chapters and, while that can be a good structure for a crime book, we didn't really spend enough time with the murderer to make it work in that way, so it was basically just a whodunnit with zero dramatic tension. A shame.
The Honor of the Queen, The Short Victorious War - David Weber More Honorverse! :) I am basically just finding these books terrifically good fun and eminently readable and enjoyable, even if there are issues with the writing (I'm detecting significantly fewer infodumps though!) Basically I like Honor and it's not her fault her author is a bit rubbish at some things. Also OMG I cannot wait to finish the series and get stuck into the Vorkosiverse crossovers (Yep, I'm officially fannish!)
Sparta Unchained - John Buchanan Oh lord, the best thing I can say about this is that it was free and only about 12 pages long. Another interesting premise (Sparta and Athens persist as separate states, Sparta is shunned due to their continued slave trade and is just about to compete in their first Olympics on the condition that they include a slave on their team) and it is super slashy but, wow, I think I could do a better job of writing this. Basically it was a sampler for a longer piece, so no plot resolution or anything, and the author couldn't keep the spelling of the main character's name consistent for even twelve pages. Yikes.
Exodus - Paul Antony Jones It's February (woohoo, no... wait) and therefore time to borrow another book! I thought I would read Extinction Point pt. 2 to take a bit of a break from Honor, but it turned out to be a much shorter break than expected because I whistled through this in a single breathless sitting at the weekend. The writing is a lot tighter in the second book, if still far from perfect but damn this dude can tell a good story. Or, I don't know if it's even a good story he's telling but he's tellin it well. It was a bit like my experience of reading The Da Vinci Code (this is better though!) in that I was absolutely sucked in while reading it but afterwards was all "WTF did I just read, what a load of preposterous tosh." (Like, if you are struggling in subzero weather conditions and enter a completely unheated motel where the power has been off for several days, it's still going to be bloody cold in there and you won't be going about your business as normal - alas I speak from bitter(ly cold) experience.) Still, I was entirely willing to suspend my disbelief while reading and will absolutely be checking out part 3 when it's released in April.
What I'm reading now:
Field of Dishonor - David Weber Honor Honor Honor. Treecats. Yay!
Unnatural Creatures - Still working on it!
Is it just me? - Miranda Hart I started on this because I wanted something bitty to read in small chunks (No the short stories were just not bitty enough, apparently). It fits that bill marvellously, and thus far reads rather like an episode of Miranda, and since I enjoy Miranda (Yes, I am ridiculously middle class and also quite like Waitrose) that's working OK for me.
Somewhat bizarrely, since Weber has made so much of Honor being super tall, clumsy, hulking, awkwardly unappealing, etc., I can't help picturing her as Miranda, which is not really the look he was going for, as it turns out. Oh well.
What I'm reading next:
Other than the collected works of David Weber, I have no idea. I've got a couple of books coming from Good Reads giveaways which no doubt I will get to work on pretty quickly once they arrive.
I am expecting to be thoroughly distracted by the Olympics over the next couple of weeks, which I am ridiculously excited about (There is a moderately high chance of squeeful posts ahead), much to the bemusement of my coworkers who think I am bizarre for booking time off to watch it. What else am I going to use my holiday for? (watching cycling and gymnastics instead, obvs.)