I finally finished Larry McMurtry's The Streets of Laredo, the final volume in the Lonesome Dove saga (though the second one written).  It's a grim, harsh story that doesn't so much end as stops.  Much of it feels like linked character studies rather than a coherent narrative, but McMurtry still pulls a good story out of it.  But it is grim. And ( Read more... )

Two posts in the same week?  Unheard of!  But, I finished another book and thought I'd mention it.

Kitty's Greatest Hits by Carrie Vaughn collects fourteen short stories (thirteen and a novella, really) set in Vaughn's world of Kitty the Werewolf.  The stories bounce around in time and location, focusing on a number of major and minor characters ( Read more... )

I still live.  I still read.  I seldom post here anymore, except to keep track of my reading list.

The Alchemist in the Shadows is the second in Pierre Pevel's excellent "Cardinal's Blades" series.  In the first volume, we met the titular Blades, a secret cadre of swashbuckling operatives in Richelieu's Paris.  In this, the stakes are increased ( Read more... )

I never post here anymore.  The last update of Firefox broke the LJ client I used, which means I pretty much have to update on the website now, which is a lot less convenient.

So, since about the only thing I still use this for is to keep track of my reading, I might as well update that list:

Emma Bull, Territory
Tabor Evans, Longarm and the Doomed ( Read more... )

Lately, I've accumulated a big pile (virtual and real) of books in various stages of "read." So, of course, the next book I've finished this year did nothing to reduce its size ( Read more... )

Last night, I finished Thief's Covenant, the latest novel from Ari Marmell (mouseferatu)  Marketed as Young Adult Fantasy, I found nothing juvenile about it at all.  Adrienne Satti, orphaned as a child rises from street urchin to a society debutante (trust me, in the book it makes perfect sense), only to find herself back on the streets, a thief calling ( Read more... )

But, at least I still use it for that.

Two more entries, neither of which I am particularly proud of.  First up Ed Greenwood's Spellfire, a D&D tie-in novel from 1988, featuring Mr. Greenwood's greatest contribution to the world of fantasy gaming, The Forgotten Realms.  Spellfire is, in all honesty, not a very good book.  The characters are ( Read more... )

(While I don't suppose I really need to add a disclaimer on books I review, I think it's worth mentioning that I am an above-entry level supporter of the Kickstarter project that spawned it.  I'm a big believer in the project and predisposed to like it.  Also, virtually every author in the collection is either a friend or a friend of a friend.  So ( Read more... )

I'm off today, which allowed me to lie-in and finish another book. Tricknomancy is another self-published eBook from Michael Stackpole. This one is more of an Urban Fantasy Noir thing. Patrick "Trick" Molloy is a bouncer at a strip club. He used to be a cop until he got framed for bribery and busted off the force. He's also a powerful magical ( Read more... )

Or, more precisely, old books finally finished.

First up, the final fourth of Marion Harmon's Villains, Inc., his follow-up to Wearing the Cape.  As with the previous book, the world-building is generally better than the plot, which is, in turn, more interesting than the main character.  It is pretty good world-building, though I felt it ended ( Read more... )