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Decent, but not her best peanut13171 May 13 2008, 03:20:50 UTC
I love Patricia Briggs. When she was an unknown midlist author I would buy two copies of her books new just to make sure she kept writing.

That said, I think her urban fantasy are her weakest books. Still decent, but for me, they don't have "that magic." Someday, when you have time, please give her other books a try. The Dragon duology is quite good and Hob's Bargain has some charmingly whimsical moments. Steal the Dragon has lots of swashbuckling. Aw heck, read them all!!

Confession: I'm really tired of UF so was dismayed when I first heard Briggs had jumped on the bandwagon. That said, I find her Mercy series refreshingly readable for UF.

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Re: Decent, but not her best _ocelott_ May 13 2008, 04:35:24 UTC
Oooh, someone else who's read more of Briggs than just the Mercy books! I have to admit, the Raven duology is still my favourite of her books. I think they're what cemented her on my "must read" list.

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Re: Decent, but not her best calico_reaction May 13 2008, 12:10:39 UTC
I haven't read her other stuff, but I was curious to see how it compared. I know some of her older books are getting released with newer, shinier covers. :)

Curious, what UF authors do you enjoy?

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Re: Decent, but not her best peanut13171 May 14 2008, 02:00:12 UTC
The only one I would recommend is A. Lee Martinez's Gil's All Fright Diner. I was drawn to the idea of a balding, bot-bellied vampire as a hero and love interest. I found it humorous. I generally hate to recommend anything funny cuz senses of humor are so... finicky (particular? can't think of the right word).

IMO, most UF's don't do anything original with the idea of werewolves and vamps, so the author's voice has to really attract me or it won't work for me.

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Re: Decent, but not her best peanut13171 May 14 2008, 02:02:45 UTC
Sorry, that was me. My computer logged me out.

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Re: Decent, but not her best calico_reaction May 14 2008, 02:06:41 UTC
Voice, definitely, and also how the author handles those cliches. Does she/he keep doing the same old thing, or is she injecting the cliche with her own flavor and style? Character, too, means a lot, but in the case of UF, which is almost ALWAYS told in the first person, voice, character and style really are all the same thing.

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Re: Decent, but not her best peanut13171 May 15 2008, 02:00:42 UTC
Just thought of another one I liked (besides Martinez's All Fright Diner): Scott Westerfeld's Peeps. I enjoyed Westerfeld's fresh take on the reason for vampirism. And the even-numbered chapters about parasites are fascinating in an icky way.

I've only recently discovered Westerfeld and I plan to work my through his backlist.

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