Reading roundup
43. Moving Targets and Other Tales of Valdemar (ed. by Mercedes Lackey) -- what this book is, actually, is published and author-blessed fanfic for Valdemar. Weirdly, A Companion to Wolves left me wanting to (re)read some Valdemar stories, and I came across this book in the library and gave it a shot. It's... not very good, but some of the stories are enjoyable, at least.
"Moving Targets" by Mercedes Lackey and Larry Dixon (her husband) -- I don't even know. This is, basically, an episode of Scooby-Doo set in Valdemar. I'm not saying this as a metaphor, either, that's really what it is. There are four Hearld-Trainees on their first circuit: a mechanically inclined handsome blond boy, named Rod; a red-headed girl who thinks the best of everyone and is very nice, named Laurel (Daphne the nymph turned into a laurel tree, of course); a short, dark-haired girl who is a nerd, named Alma; and a tall, slouchy boy named Arville (I didn't know this, but apparently Shaggy's real name is Norville), who picks up a sorta-talking canine companion, a kyree. They ride around in a ridiculously painted wagon with a long-suffering Herald to keep an eye on them. They solve a mystery that seems like it could be supernatural but is just a crotchety old man trying to drive off the villagers for his own gain. And, yes, it does feature the line, "And I would've gotten away with it, too, if it hadn't been for you meddling Heralds." So, I don't even know. The conceit was fun for a while, the pastiche or whatever was well done, but this wasn't actually a story.
"An Unexpected Guest" by Nancy Asire -- this is apparently a "how they met" prequel about the parents of another character (an OC?) that appears in a different Valdemar-set story by this author. It read like middling fanfic and didn't engage my interest.
"The Power of Three" by Brenda Cooper -- a Healer-trainee twin and a Bard-trainee twin get forcibly separated by their masters, but are most powerful when they reunite, blah blah. Pretty well written, actually, and I love twin-centered stories, but this was pretty bland.
"What Fire Is" by Janni Lee Simner -- the first story in this collection that I thought was actually good. It's about children with power having to hide it from the preists of the Sunlord. I actually won't spoil this one, except to say it's rather dark and yet not desolate, and I liked the descriptive writing.
"Dreams of Mountain Clover" by Michey Zucker Reichart -- this is one of those stories with a clueless protagonist who is supposed to be sympathetic, and they just don't work for me. It read like an episode of a cartoon, the kind that would have one of the characters come on at the end to deliver the moral of the story. Pass.
"The Cheat" by Richard Lee Byers -- I actually didn't recognize the setting here but enjoyed the story, which is a mystery set around two fencing masters. So, I enjoyed the story, but totally missed any connection to Valdemar.
"A Dream Deferred" by Kristin M Schwengel -- an older woman helps rescue a kyree's cubs. It was OK, and I did like the fact that it featured an unusual protagonist, but really nothing special, and I forgot about it as soon as I read it.
"The Sword Dancer" by Michael Z. Williamson -- another story where I didn't recognize the setting as related to Valdemar. I liked this story less than the other one for which this was the case, because the writing, which was supposed to have local flavor, I guess, just felt labored to me. The dialogue in particular felt stilted.
"Broken Bones" by Stephanie D. Shaver -- another story I actually liked. It's told in a non-linear fashion, with a framing narrative that has a twist to it, and the plot is less cliche than that of many others in this collection, and the characters are well done.
"Live On" by Tanya Huff -- another pretty good story, and one I enjoyed at least partly because I like stories about old people. The crotchety old Herald is well done, and you pretty much know what's coming, and the ending is a bit tugging-on-the-heartstrings by poignant for all that it's a bit emotionally manipulative.
"Passage at Arms" by Rosemary Edghill -- a young Herald-Trainee worried about not being a nice enough person to be a Herald. There's very little to this story, but, while not interesting, it was not annoying either, and the protagonist was fairly pleasant.
"Heart, Home, and Hearth" by Sarah A. Hoyt and Kate Paulk -- another setting I didn't recognize, but the story itself was not bad at all, even without it.
"Haven's Own" by Fiona Patton -- a story about Haven's guard. It was OK, and there's even a twist or two in it, but let's just say Discworld it ain't.
"Widdershins" by Judith Tarr -- there's actual magic in this one, and a rusty Herald and a cocky Herald-Trainee who don't get along. It was OK, and the magical secret is pretty interesting, actually, but, again, nothing special.
So, "What Fire Is" and "Broken Bones" were the stories I actually enjoyed, "Live On" was another one I liked pretty well, and then "Moving Targets" was fun in a boggly sort of way. Not terribly satsified with this collection overall.
44. Christopher Moore, Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal -- so, naturally, I've heard of this book for ages and wanted to read it for quite a while, but was a bit skeptical that I'd like it, because I thought You Suck was fun but not good enough that I could envision the author pulling off something like Lamb. Let's just say I was very pleasantly surprised! Because Lamb managed to be hilarious and poignant and even profound, and that's a pretty difficult combination to pull off. I'm very glad I read it, and I think my parents would enjoy it, even, and maybe even B.
My favorite parts were definitely the ones in/around Judea -- the first part is probably the strongest, and I also liked "Lamb" a lot (when Joshua returns from his travels in the east and starts the ministry). I liked them staying with Balthazar OK, because I liked Balthasar himself, but the Buddhism interlude and the one in India got progressively less fun for me (it seemed like they were also less fun for Moore, since they got progressively shorter. Of course, the very last part, "Passion", is very dark, and you know it's going to be "OK", for a given value of OK, but Biff doesn't, and it's difficult to enjoy that. Also, the closer you get to the end, the more the book seems to speed up. I had this feeling that there wasn't enough room left to cover everything that needed to be covered -- I wonder if that's intentional, because it worked really well, I thought, with the mood of those last parts of the book.
I liked Biff a lot more than I'd been expecting to -- he is a fun narrator, but also not nearly as much of an asshole as I'd imagined based on what I'd read about Lamb -- his relationship with Joshua is quite touching, as is his relationship with Maggie (and I was glad they got a happy ending in the present times), and even the more incidental relationships are not as annoying as I thought they might be. And the things he incidentally invents along the way -- like lattes or sarcasm -- were pretty amusing (although the sarcasm running gag got a bit old).
My favorite character -- because I'm always attracted to bit players -- was Justus the Roman Centurion. He basically had me at "Go home. All of you. By order of Gaius Justus Gallicus, under-commander of the Sixth Legion, commander of the Third and Fourth Centuries, under authority of Emperor Tiberius and the Roman Empire, you are all commanded to go home and perpetrate no weird shit until I have gotten well drunk and had several days to sleep it off." I'd been afraid he'd end up being a bad guy, so I was releived when he actually tried to help Biff and Joshua in the end. I also liked Maggie's brother, Simon/Lazarus. A couple of quotes:
"It's hard for me, a Jew, to stay in the moment. Without the past, where is the guilt? And without the future, where is the dread? And without guilt and dread, who am I?"
The one that made me laugh the hardest is this exchange (which Moore says in the Afterword was the first scene he'd written):
"Okay. Earth to the meek. Here we go. Blessed are the peacemakers, the mourners, and that's it."
"How many is that?"
"Seven."
"Not enough. We need one more. How about the dumbfucks?"
"No, Josh, not the dumbfucks. You've done enough for the dumbfucks. Nathaniel, Thomas--"
"Blessed are the dumbfucks for they, uh -- I don't know -- they shall never be disappointed."
"No, I'm drawin the line at dumbfucks. Come on, Josh, why can't we have any powerful guys on our team? Why do we have to have the meek, and the poor, the oppressed, and the pissed on? Why can't we, for once, have blessed are the big powerful rich guys with swords?"
"Because they don't need us."
"Okay, but no 'Blessed are the dumbfucks.'"
"Who then?"
"Sluts?"
"No."
"How about the wankers? I can think of five or six disciples that would be really blessed."
"No wankers. I've got it: Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake. "
"Okay, better. What are you going to give them?"
"A fruit basket."
"You can't give the meek the whole earth and these guys a fruit basket."
"Give them the Kingdom of Heaven."
"The poor in spirit got that."
"Everybody gets some."
"Okay then, 'share the Kingdom of Heaven.'" I wrote it down.
"We could give the fruit basket to the dumbfucks."
"NO DIMBFUCKS!"
I don't get where people see the Joshua/Biff slashiness -- but then, I never got where people saw the Frodo/Sam, either... Biff/Raziel slash is clearly where it's at! I mean, Biff keeps remarking about how handsome the angel is, and asks him about genitals. What further proof do you need?
Also, I read the Afterword, and noticed a couple of interesting things. First, Moore says he was inspired to write this book by the Pontius Pilate storyline in Master i Margarita. Which is very, very different from Lamb, obviously, but that's kind of neat to know. Also, he talked about doing in situ research in Israel but not in any of the other places, which may well explain why the parts of the book set in Judea feel more interesting and real.
Anyway, I definitely recommend this one, assuming I'm not the last person in the universe to read it.
45. Ysabeau Wilce, Flora's Dare -- these books are adorable! I don't think I loved this one as much as I loved Flora's first outing -- probably because there was a bit less Buck in it. I adore Buck, but I liked it a whole lot. I liked the fact that Flora's life doesn't magically get all wonderful just because her father is sober and less crazy now -- I like how there are downsides to his stability, like the fact that he is a total martinet about housework ("Poppy sober was almost as bad as Poppy drunk, only in an entirely different way. Drunk Poppy was a lunatic. Sober Poppy was a tyrant. A martinet. What in the Army they call a whip.". I continue to like Flora's relationship with her parents a lot, and the way Hotspur starts smiling dangerously and touching his gun when the Warlord tries to grop Flora at the ball, or Flora getting all defensive on her mother's behalf when she realizes Tiny Doom is Azota: "But she couldn't compare to Mamma, who is a hundred times more beautiful, and braver and stronger, too. Clearly the Butcher had somehow ensorcelled Poppy [...] Otherwise, his preferring the Butcher over Mamma just didn't make any sense." I actually liked Flora herself more in this one, too, and I think the periodic language weirdness ("Ayah so") bothered me less in this one -- I don't think there's less of it, but maybe I'm more used to the setting.
Speaking of the setting, it finally dawned on me that Califa is an alternative reality San Francisco -- the street names finally got to be so I couldn't just ascribe it to coincidence. Which make me love this world even more! There should be more fantasy San Franciscos around! Speaking of which, I like the fact that earthquakes are part of the plot (with a fantastical explanation). I must shamefacedly admit that I kind of dug Flora's budding "romance" with Lord Axacaya. I mean, I did think it likely that he was playing her the whole time, but... look, I kind of ship Petyr/Sansa, too, so, you know. Anyway, I found him more interesting than Udo, although Udo, of course, is amusing, and both his friendship and his romance with Flora is both sweetly and amusingly done (and includes mentions of condoms, which you don't see in YA fantasy very often :P).
And, of course, there's plot. There was a lot that happened in this book -- but a lot of it seems a setup for the next one. Of course, Flora finds out that she is a Hathraatha (or however you spell it without the "thorn") and that tiny Doom/Butcher Breakspeare/Azota is her biological mother. I was not exactly surprised by the reveal, but I am curious what comes of it. (I'm also still wondering -- so Hotspur is Fyrdraaca, and Buck is too? Are they cousins or something? Not that it really matters, but I've been wondering for two books now.) And then there's Idden's defection and the nationalism/revolution that seems to be building in Califa. I'm assuming Flora's story is meant to be a trilogy, in which case that's a lot of plot ends to wrap up in the next book. (And, of course, what about the first Flora -- is she still alive?) Of course, if it's a longer series, I won't say now, because I love this setting and like these characters a lot. And I'm excited about Buck and Hotspur having another baby!
Anyway, I'm definitely looking forward to the next installment!
46. T.A. Pratt, Spell Games -- this is the second book in the Marla Mason series that I read (plus a short story), and it's the fourth one in the series overall. I don't know if he is getting better at writing them or I'm getting used to reading them, but I liked this one a lot more than Poison Sleep. Maybe because it wasn't so Marla-centric, come to think of it. Or because while she was there, she wasn't playing up her tough bitch from hell persona, but was actually kind of vulnerable and having fun, because her brother was around.
I liked the grifter brother. I would've even liked the fact that he turned out to have been playing her all along, except that's what had happened with Joshua, her lover, in the previous one I'd read. But, still, this betrayal was actually much better done, I thought. I've been intrigued by Rondeau from the first book, so it was good to see some more character development for him here, however painful. I also liked the messenger guy, because he was snarky and unimpressed and had nothing to lose. The mycomancer -- mushroom magic as an idea is pretty cool! -- even though it reminds me rather a lot of the mold powers Zealand acquires in Poison Sleep. I liked the appearances by all the other sorcerers of Fellport, especially Viscarro the lich, and especially when he is trying to send Marla secret messages to show that he is under someone else's control.
I liked B well enough -- though, having skipped Dead Reign, I wasn't sure why he was suddenly so important to Marla, so the ending felt a little weird to me. But, uh, what's up with killing off every prominent gay character? Zealand in Poison Sleep, who, OK, was at least nominally a bad guy at first. Now B, although he doesn't seem to be dead entirely for good, or at least Marla isn't resigned to him being so. (Also, this is kind of random, but Tim Pratt is writing these as T.A.Pratt and his About the Author says "T.A.Pratt lives in Oakland, California with partner H.L.Shaw and their son" and in acknowledgements he thanks "my loving spouse, H.L.Shaw" -- which, the initials and "partner" and "spouse" -- not something you see very often with heterosexual couples, which they apparently are, at least if Google is to be believed. And everybody else in Acknowledgement is called out by name. I'm just a little puzzled, and not that I'm going to ascribe any motives, but it's a bit odd.)
There are some amusing quotes:
[After Marla and Jason talk about their childhood and B explains his parents kicked him out of the house for being gay.]
"Fuck all y'all," Rondeau said. "Parents? I grew up in an alley, eating out of trash cans."
"All right, Rondeau wins," Marla said. "That's why I never play fucked-up family with him. He's always got some story about how his only friend was a dead cat, and it tops everybody."
"I wish I'd had a dead cat for a friend," Rondeau said. "I had to make do with a dead rat."
There were others, too, but I didn't bookmark them, I guess...
Anyway, I'm starting to like this series more, enough to maybe look up at least the third book, instead of waiting for the library tide to just wash it to me. And I just hope Marla doesn't spend the next book moping about her brother or B or whatever. It doesn't seem like she will, from the ending of this one, so that's good.
51. T.A.Pratt, Dead Reign (book 2) -- liked this one, too (and want to go back and find book #1 in the series, which is now the only one I haven't read). This one is more gag-intensive than the other ones -- the Walking Death hijinks, including discovering Marla's vibrator, the Bay Witch being weird, Rondeau the revolutionary, and the Ayres and John Wilkes Booth duo. I continue to like the way Pratt writes villains -- even as a prick, the Walking Death is a little sympathetic, as is the mad, unnatural Sitting Death. Ayres the crotchety necromancer is amusing (and I was way entertained by the fact that, having been cured of his Cotard delusion in life, he refuses to believe he is dead even when he is actually dead. I even kind of liked the reanimated mummy of John Wilkes Booth, which is not something I expected, you can be sure (but his personal hell was somewhat of a letdown). I think maybe the reason I like his villains so much is that these books are the literary equivalent of National Treasure, so I would expect the villains to be one-dimensional and teeth-gnashingly awful, and they're actually not.
These characters are starting to grow on me. I've always had a fondness for Viscarro, who reminds me of Walder Frey, I think. Rondeau is fun, B is very likeable, I liked the cameo by the old sorcerer dude in SF (and the shoutout to Emperor Norton), and the other ensemble characters are nice, too. Marla herself has grown on me -- I especially liked her decision to take over hell -- except in her introspective moments. So, her visit to the underworld was not very interesting to me, except for the averted expectations with Somerset. Also, there's this one scene where she talks with Pelham about what she wants in life, and it feels so incredibly tacked on. Like, it comes out completely out of nowhere. I'm still not sure what it was there for, even. Also, I'm not all too pleased about her being queen of the underworld to be at this point. Also, the whole business with carving a better Death with the sword was... I know it's supposed to be questionable, what she wanted to keep doing with the sword, but what she did with Death seems to be presented as a purely good act, and I'm bothered by that. I did like how she handled the cloak!
(Oh, another plot-wise quibble -- I didn't buy Death's motivation for not simply killing Marla and her successors until they wised up and handed over the dagger. He says it's because it would be boring, but since we learn later he is not just messing around, he really needs the dagger, I don't see him going for slow and elaborate over blunt but reliable just for the sake of cruel amusement.)
Quotes:
Marla, consoling Pelham after he freaks out at the airport: "It's okay. I hate crowds, too. I don't ever like to be in a group that's bigger than I can incapacitate single-handedly if they get possessed by a malign intelligence. You know. Contingencies."
B, on the Bay Area sorcerous scene: "The sorcerers in Marin are all either snooty or hippies, and neither one appeals to me. The South Bay is all half-crazy technomancers living in gutted buildings that used to be dot-com headquarters before the crash."
It also occurred to me, on reading this one, that it would be kind of cool to see a crossover between this and the Dresden Files. Marla and Harry have similar approaches to problem-solving, similar fierce protectiveness for their cities and disregard for the establishment, and similarly troubled backgrounds. They'd have a lot to talk about, I bet!
Also, um. I was kind of getting Rondeau/Walking Death vibes for a couple of pages there. Oh, fandom... XP
47. Patricia McKillip, The Bell at Sealey Head -- McKillip's books are a little bit hit-or-miss with me. I uniformly enjoy the way she writes, but the plots and characters sometimes resonate and sometimes really don't. This one I liked, even though none of her books are the kinds that stick with me and leave me wanting more.
I liked the quiet town setting. I liked the bookish innkeeper who reads to his blind father. The young woman who writes stories was nice, too, but I liked her younger siblings betters -- they seemed to have more color, and I liked her father, too. The bespelled world in the other Aislinn house is pretty cool -- it reads like an OCD nightmare -- and the set-up and resolution are fittingly fairy-tale like, I never did warm up to Ysabo. I did like the fact that the various infatuations, except for the central couple of Judd and Gwyneth, were left unresolved.
I don't have much more to say about it, I find. McKillip's books, for me, are like pretty dreams -- they seem magical and bathed in otherworldly light while they last, but are hard to hold on to or make sense of once they're done. I did like this quote:
Gwyneth to Judd: "I'll help you with the awkward parts, like getting into the house; you can have the heroics. The ones I don't want, that is."
48. The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror, 2008 (edited by Ellen Datlow, Kelly Link, and Gavin Grant) -- when I read "year's best" collections, I generally expect to be underwhelmed by some of the selected stories, so I was pleasantly surprised when I liked or really liked pretty much every fantasy story in this collection. Horror, on the other hand -- I just don't get horror. Like, either I'm just bored by the story, or I like the story fine until I get to the end of it, and then I'm like, what was the point of this? But overall, I really enjoyed this book.
"The Cambist and Lord Iron: A Fairy Tale of Economics" by Daniel Abraham -- expected to be bored by this one after another economics-slanted fantasy story I read (which i can't remember/find now), but I really liked it. The economics -- money-changing and adjacent pursuits -- were sciency and not social, which I loved. The twist in the middle was very nicely done, I thought -- felt very fairy-tale like but not totally obvious. The ending I was a bit less thrilled with than the rest of the story, but even that I liked, especially the way the very last bit harkens back to the beginning. Lovely little story, in short!
"Vampires in the Lemon Grove" by Karen Russel -- I read a short story collection by her before, and I liked this one less than the overall impression from the collection. Maybe it's that my favorite stories there were the Florida Keys informed ones, where the single setting makes them grown on each other. I did like this one just fine! I liked all the little details, and was sad about the ending, and it was a really nice story -- I think I would've been quite impressed if I weren't already familiar with the author. Favorite line: "Love has infected me with the muscular superstition that one body can do the work of another."
"Holiday" by M.Rickert -- creepy little story about a guy (survivor of childhood abuse) being haunted by the ghost of JonBennet Ramsey (although she is never named, probably at least partly to avoid libel) and other (presumably murdered) children. So not my cup of tea at all, but well written and does what it sets out to, packs a couple of punches in spite of its very short length. And is creepy.
"Hum Drum" by Gary McMahon -- see, I don't get horror. This was pretty well written, and had this nice bit of pseudo-history in background, but I just don't get why it makes a story. *sigh*
"Splitfoot" by Paul Walther -- see above. The setup was pretty cool, the characters were fairly engaging in various mostly repellent ways, but the horrible/fantastic? BORING. And didn't add up to anything for me.
"The House of Mechanical Pain" by Chaz Brenchley -- the second one of more than a few stories with abused children in this collection. In this case, it's a fucked up family haunted by the ghost of a girl from a previous generation of said fucked-up family. Really liked the narration, dialogue, the way the action unfolded. This looks to be labeled a horror story, but I actually liked it OK, which suggests to me that it is actually fantasy :P
"The Last Worders" by Karen Joy Fowler -- I liked this one when I first read it, but I guess it wasn't too memorable. I did like the narration, by one of a pair of teenage twins, and the generally magical realism feel of San Miguel and its vanishing river and such.
"The Monsters of Heaven" by Nathan Ballingrud -- another story where a child is in peril behind the scenes (in this case, the protagonist's son is kidnapped). Also, there are weird aliens/angels/things. It's a horror story, so the resolution didn't do anything for me, but the initial setup was quite well done and quite painful.
"The Fiddler of Bayou Teche" by Delia Sherman -- I love pseudo-folktales, and this one is unusual in that it casts a trickster type as an antagonist, looking at him after his great feat of beating the devil. The narration of this one is fun, although the local colour in it was laid on a little too strong for my taste in places. Still, a very fun and engaging read.
"Mr Poo-poo" by Reggie Oliver -- horror story, fairly nice narration, no point as far as I'm concerned. Next.
"Winter's Wife" by Elizabeth Hand I read already, here
"The Tenth Muse" by William Browning Spencer -- a horror story I actually enjoyed! maybe because it featured writers.
"The Drowned Life" by Jeffrey Ford -- the first fantasy story in this collection I didn't like. The conceit is cute, and some of the imagery/scenes are striking, but it didn't add up to much for me. Although I did find the ending kind of... cute.
"The Swing" by Don Tumasonis -- another horror story that didn't do much for me. The writing was good, it felt like it was trying to do Lolita in places, maybe, but, you know, I don't get the point of horror.
"The Forest" by Laird Barron -- see above. This one didn't even interest me too much. felt too long.
"Fragrant Goddess" by Paul Park -- I'm actually not sure how fantastic this really is, but it was an enjoyable story while it lasted (it's pretty short), and the revelation about the protagonist is neatly done (or not done). I did keep being distracted by the fact that Ferson is just not a Russian last name.
"Up the Fire Road" by Eileen Gunn -- so this is what published crack looks like! Fun published crack, but, you know, bisexual sasquatch on the Maury show XD. The dual/arguing narration between Andrea and Christy are a lot of fun to read, and it's in general such a fun little story. I like crack!
"The Gray Boy's Work" by M.T.Anderson -- I'm a bit conflicted about this story. There are things I really like about it -- the angels with their blindfold and fangs that they keep trading between themselves, the father's description of war -- and things I don't like -- the way the father and mother don't have names, and chunks of the narration -- but I'm not sure you could have one without the other. So, I don't know, I like what it's trying to do, I guess, but not so much the result.
"The Merchant and the Alchemist's Gate" by Ted Chiang -- it's not "Story of Your Life", but I did like it quite a lot. I like the "Arabian Nights" narration. I like the nested stories, and how they're not as independent as it looks they're going to be at first. I like the pre-medieval time machine thing. I like the whole thing, really, and it's neat how different it is from the other Ted Chiang stories I've read.
"Valentine. July Heat Wave." by Joyce Carol Oates -- a horror story I thought was actually cool! You see where it's going from rather far off, but that only enhanced it for me. Daryll the "narrator" is pretty insufferable (as he is meant to be), and I spent the whole time wanting to throttle him, but the story is quite well done. I still wouldn't read it on purpose, but at least I could see the point.
"A Thing Forbidden" by Donald Mead -- an odd little tale (horror) taking off from the story of the Donner Party. I enjoyed the California setting right before/as gold was being discovered at Sutter's Mill. The fantastic plot itself is a bit more theologically charged than I like, with God and the Devil and stuff, but it made me want to read a longer story in this setting, with these characters. I was intrigued, I guess, and won over by the place.
"A Reversal of Fortune" by Holly Black -- another really fun story, wherein a teenage girl challenges the devil to an eating contest. All the things I like about Holly Black's writing, in a tight little package. Favorite line: "'Five-second rule,' Nikki said. 'If it's in the devil for less than five seconds, it's still good.'"
"Rats" by Veronica Schanoes -- very dark twist on Sleeping Beauty. There are all these beyond-fourth-wall narrative asides, which would normally irritate me, and I don't think they do much here, but the story overall still works quite well.
"A Perfect and Unmappable Grace" by Jack M. Haringa -- I'm... not really sure what's going on in this story, beyond Jewish gangsters. It's a horror story, so maybe it's OK that I don't see the point.
"The Boulder" by Lucy Kemnitzer -- I like the story itself (especially the reference to the Saga of Burnt Njal), but the narration felt awkward, and I don't see what not giving the archeologist a name and referring to everyone by epithets added to the story.
"The Hill" by Tanith Lee -- a horror story where the horror is not fantastic but explained, mystery style. The horrror still isn't very interesting to me, but I liked the mystery aspect, and I really liked the old maid librarian protagonist who narrates this story.
"The Ape Man" by Alexander MacBride -- sucha weird little story, barely over a page and quite insane and making a crazy kind of sense. I liked it! I think it might be one of the most original in this collection.
"The Hide" by Liz Williams -- this seems to have been selected by the fantasy side AND the horror side, but I don't see it as anything other than horror, and pretty boring besides. Yeah, it's atmospheric and stuff, maybe. Boring!
"England and Nowhere" by Tim Nickels -- another horror story I didn't much like. Or get, really, I fear.
"Sir Hereward and Mister Fitz Go To War Again" by Garth Nix -- this is actually the first thing I've read by Garth Nix that I honestly enjoyed! And I enjoyed this one quite a lot -- the contrast between apparently standard fantasy setting and some telling details, the animated puppet, the various twists. I came to like Sir Hereward, too.
"Toother" by Terry Dowling -- another horror story, but as with "The Hill", the mystery aspect provides some point for me to latch on to. This was quite... gruesome, but well done. Favorite lines:
"But why? Why me?"
"The usual reason. Chance. Purest hazard. you were on hand."
"Then pick someone else!"
"From someone else's viewpoint I did."
"Closet Dreams" by Lisa Tuttle -- another child victim story. Cleverly told, pretty harrowing.
"The Evolution of Trickster Stories Among the Dogs of North Park After the Change" by Kij Johnson -- I like short stories told in unusual ways, and this one qualifies -- each section features an "epigraph" of said dog trickster story. I liked the trickster stories better than the rest of the story, actually, but you do need the framing narrative to properly appreciate them. Could've done with less moralizing, thought it was well done; liked the bittersweet-but-mostly-happy ending.
I'm not going to write individually about the poems, because as I've said elsewhere I read poetry and fantasy in different ways and they don't mix for me. I couldn't see why a lot of those poems were in a fantasy collection, anyway. One of such was "The Seven Devils of Central California" by Catherine M. Valenta -- it's a really cool longer poem.
Lots of stories, so favorites are hard to pick, but let me try:
"The Cambist and Lord Iron"
"The Merchant and the Alchemist's Gate"
"A Reversal of Fortune"
"Sir Hereward and Mister Fitz Go to War Again"
"Evolution of Trickster Stories"
and "Ape Man" and "Rats" despite stylistic tics for the originality of them
49. Jim Butcher, Welcome to the Jungle (Dresden Files comic book, art by Ardian Syaf) -- this was a lot of fun! It was pretty short -- the story itself, I mean -- but the narration and dialogue and everything felt a lot like a real DF book (down to Harry's women issues), and the art was very pretty! Harry looked right on. Murphy looked a bit different than I envisioned, but not wrong. Bob was pretty awesome, the side characters were pretty cool, too. I don't think I want to read the comic books, because, well, I know the stories already, but I would definitely grab them at the library to see what the characters look like. I'm especially curious about Marcone, Molly, Ramirez, Thomas and Lara, Kincaid and Ivy -- though it'll be quite awhile before we get anywhere near some of those. Also, in the concept sketch pages in the back, it's mentioned that Harry is in his mid-20's when the series starts and Murphy is in her early 30's. It makes sense for Murphy to be no younger than that, given her rank, but I guess I didn't realize until now she was actually older than Harry. That's pretty cool!
50. Norton Juster, The Phantom Tollbooth -- this was part of aome's birthday present to me, and I just now climbed out from under a stack of library books to read it. I enjoyed it a whole lot! It's actually very reminiscent of books I loved as a kid -- Alya, Klyaksich i Bukva Ya, and those books by Leskov (I think) about adventures in math-land. In general, I love stories where real-world people get to visit kingdoms of abstract concepts. Or kingdoms of abstract concepts in general, see my Epicalculus. So, this was right up my alley. And I loved all the puns. I loved the names (especially Faintly Macabre and the Terrible Trivium. I think if I'd first read it as a kid, I wouldn't have noticed the slight moralizing/educational tone, which did bug me a tiny little bit when I read it now. The enjoyment definitely overwhelmed it, but you have kids books which are just pure glee -- Seuss, Sachar, Silverstein's poems -- and this felt like it had a bit of a Message, which I tend not to like. It didn't bother me much here at all -- I thoroughly enjoyed it and plan to foist it on L as soon as I can, 'cos I think she'll get a kick out of it, too. I would've just preferred to have read it as a kid, when I wouldn't have even noticed it, I think.
52. Charlaine Harris, Living Dead in Dallas -- I was skeptical about these, because neither vampires nor the South nor romantic entanglements are my thing, until slowfox started reading them. Well, that, and all the people fantasy-casting the blond vampire from True Blood as Jaime in ASOIAF, and KT, my high school friend, mentioning that he's been watching True Blood. So, I decided to give it a shot. The library didn't have the first book, so I started with the second -- which may have actually been a good thing, as I'm still pretty ambivalent about it, and I think the first one would've been worse.
I didn't like the book much at first. Sookie didn't grab me as a protagonist, though she has grown on me over the course of what she does and learns in the book. Small town charm didn't capture me particularly, and that's still true, but I don't actually dislike any of these people, and am slightly intrigued by Sam the were-collie. I find Bill uninteresting and creepy. I generally find vampires to be uninteresting and creepy, and Bill just doesn't deliver anything to get beyond that impression.
Actually, I found the whole relationship between Sookie and Bill pretty distasteful. I'm not quite sure yet whether that's a bug or meant to be a feature -- I guess I could see it developing both ways. Sookie seems to be with him purely because he is the first man she encountered whose mind she couldn't read/emotions she couldn't sense. That is understandable, but seems like pretty flimsy basis for a relationship, you know? And he is kind of a douche. The jealousy thing, the possessiveness, and there are a couple of sex scenes between them that skirt too clouse to dub-con for my taste in a relationship with such an imbalance of power*. (Yes, vampires. And I can accept that Bill would act this way. The thing that bugs me is that Sookie doesn't seem to mind it.) Bill obviously cares about her, but not, it seems, in a healthy way. (I know, vampires. Not meant to be healthy. But she calls him her boyfriend, and treats him as such, and as a boyfriend, he is a bit of a creep.) There's also this whole infantilization thing going on that bugs me, especially since it seems Sookie is bought into it -- asking him what she should wear, enjoying it when he carries her around, it's a little weird. Again, as somebody who doesn't have much of a support system and was orphaned young, I could see how that would appeal. And if it's meant to be creepy and unhealthy, OK then! I'm not going to say "bring it on" because I don't want to read about it, but at least I wouldn't have a problem with it. But I'm not sure yet what it is supposed to be.
So, yeah, I had some issues with this book, but the reason I kept reading -- and will probably keep on reading the series -- is Eric. I have a thing for charismatic assholes, OK? Powerful charismatic assholes -- double-check. And while my usual type are dark-haired, dark-eyed Mediterranean types, there is a mysterious special exemption for strapping Viking lads, which Eric falls under. I find his interaction with Sookie far more interesting than Sookie and Bill's, and the tension in that triangle -- especially the tension between Eric and Bill -- especially interesting. Probably because Eric and Bill are way closer to being equals than Sookie and either of them. And at least Eric is a fun, unapologetic jerk, and seems to have far more of a sense of humour than Bill.
I liked the main plot -- the vampire kidnapping, Godric, the Fellowship of the Sun -- pretty well once it got kicked off. I liked how Sookie handled herself, especially in returning to bear witness for Godric meeting the dawn. That, I think, was really the point when I started respecting her as a protagonist. But she is still pretty foreign to me -- not just the relationship stuff she is willing to put up with, but the degree to which she fusses over her appearance, and the way she grins when agitated -- if Sookie were a real person, I think I'd be very unlikely to hang out with her.
The library has a bunch more of these, though I'm not sure they're in order and I'm not sure how much that matters. I'll check out another couple at least.
*Imbalance of power -- I think I was talking about this with etrangere a little while ago, in relation to Jayne/River (which I don't ship). I'm OK with train-wrecky relationships, I even like them. And there are power imbalance relationships that I like, and then there are ones where it's a total squick. And I think I've finally figured out the difference. The imbalance of power relationships that appeal to me are the ones where the power imbalance is not permanent. I'm OK with teacher/student sort of stuff (meaning mostly mentor rather than an actual formal school teacher), because the student won't be a student forever. Rivals -- powerful lord/wizard/etc and an up-an-comer trying to topple him, say -- is kind of a kink, because there's the possibility of an upset of power. (So, like, I think the reason Littlefinger/Sansa doesn't squick me is the idea that Sansa will one day have learned enough about him to use his weaknesses against him and tip the balance of power.) Situations where the two have different and matched powers over each other I also like. But situations like this, where one person has all the power, and the imbalance is something inherent to them as people or to the relationship between them, it doesn't work for me.
"Moving Targets" by Mercedes Lackey and Larry Dixon (her husband) -- I don't even know. This is, basically, an episode of Scooby-Doo set in Valdemar. I'm not saying this as a metaphor, either, that's really what it is. There are four Hearld-Trainees on their first circuit: a mechanically inclined handsome blond boy, named Rod; a red-headed girl who thinks the best of everyone and is very nice, named Laurel (Daphne the nymph turned into a laurel tree, of course); a short, dark-haired girl who is a nerd, named Alma; and a tall, slouchy boy named Arville (I didn't know this, but apparently Shaggy's real name is Norville), who picks up a sorta-talking canine companion, a kyree. They ride around in a ridiculously painted wagon with a long-suffering Herald to keep an eye on them. They solve a mystery that seems like it could be supernatural but is just a crotchety old man trying to drive off the villagers for his own gain. And, yes, it does feature the line, "And I would've gotten away with it, too, if it hadn't been for you meddling Heralds." So, I don't even know. The conceit was fun for a while, the pastiche or whatever was well done, but this wasn't actually a story.
"An Unexpected Guest" by Nancy Asire -- this is apparently a "how they met" prequel about the parents of another character (an OC?) that appears in a different Valdemar-set story by this author. It read like middling fanfic and didn't engage my interest.
"The Power of Three" by Brenda Cooper -- a Healer-trainee twin and a Bard-trainee twin get forcibly separated by their masters, but are most powerful when they reunite, blah blah. Pretty well written, actually, and I love twin-centered stories, but this was pretty bland.
"What Fire Is" by Janni Lee Simner -- the first story in this collection that I thought was actually good. It's about children with power having to hide it from the preists of the Sunlord. I actually won't spoil this one, except to say it's rather dark and yet not desolate, and I liked the descriptive writing.
"Dreams of Mountain Clover" by Michey Zucker Reichart -- this is one of those stories with a clueless protagonist who is supposed to be sympathetic, and they just don't work for me. It read like an episode of a cartoon, the kind that would have one of the characters come on at the end to deliver the moral of the story. Pass.
"The Cheat" by Richard Lee Byers -- I actually didn't recognize the setting here but enjoyed the story, which is a mystery set around two fencing masters. So, I enjoyed the story, but totally missed any connection to Valdemar.
"A Dream Deferred" by Kristin M Schwengel -- an older woman helps rescue a kyree's cubs. It was OK, and I did like the fact that it featured an unusual protagonist, but really nothing special, and I forgot about it as soon as I read it.
"The Sword Dancer" by Michael Z. Williamson -- another story where I didn't recognize the setting as related to Valdemar. I liked this story less than the other one for which this was the case, because the writing, which was supposed to have local flavor, I guess, just felt labored to me. The dialogue in particular felt stilted.
"Broken Bones" by Stephanie D. Shaver -- another story I actually liked. It's told in a non-linear fashion, with a framing narrative that has a twist to it, and the plot is less cliche than that of many others in this collection, and the characters are well done.
"Live On" by Tanya Huff -- another pretty good story, and one I enjoyed at least partly because I like stories about old people. The crotchety old Herald is well done, and you pretty much know what's coming, and the ending is a bit tugging-on-the-heartstrings by poignant for all that it's a bit emotionally manipulative.
"Passage at Arms" by Rosemary Edghill -- a young Herald-Trainee worried about not being a nice enough person to be a Herald. There's very little to this story, but, while not interesting, it was not annoying either, and the protagonist was fairly pleasant.
"Heart, Home, and Hearth" by Sarah A. Hoyt and Kate Paulk -- another setting I didn't recognize, but the story itself was not bad at all, even without it.
"Haven's Own" by Fiona Patton -- a story about Haven's guard. It was OK, and there's even a twist or two in it, but let's just say Discworld it ain't.
"Widdershins" by Judith Tarr -- there's actual magic in this one, and a rusty Herald and a cocky Herald-Trainee who don't get along. It was OK, and the magical secret is pretty interesting, actually, but, again, nothing special.
So, "What Fire Is" and "Broken Bones" were the stories I actually enjoyed, "Live On" was another one I liked pretty well, and then "Moving Targets" was fun in a boggly sort of way. Not terribly satsified with this collection overall.
44. Christopher Moore, Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal -- so, naturally, I've heard of this book for ages and wanted to read it for quite a while, but was a bit skeptical that I'd like it, because I thought You Suck was fun but not good enough that I could envision the author pulling off something like Lamb. Let's just say I was very pleasantly surprised! Because Lamb managed to be hilarious and poignant and even profound, and that's a pretty difficult combination to pull off. I'm very glad I read it, and I think my parents would enjoy it, even, and maybe even B.
My favorite parts were definitely the ones in/around Judea -- the first part is probably the strongest, and I also liked "Lamb" a lot (when Joshua returns from his travels in the east and starts the ministry). I liked them staying with Balthazar OK, because I liked Balthasar himself, but the Buddhism interlude and the one in India got progressively less fun for me (it seemed like they were also less fun for Moore, since they got progressively shorter. Of course, the very last part, "Passion", is very dark, and you know it's going to be "OK", for a given value of OK, but Biff doesn't, and it's difficult to enjoy that. Also, the closer you get to the end, the more the book seems to speed up. I had this feeling that there wasn't enough room left to cover everything that needed to be covered -- I wonder if that's intentional, because it worked really well, I thought, with the mood of those last parts of the book.
I liked Biff a lot more than I'd been expecting to -- he is a fun narrator, but also not nearly as much of an asshole as I'd imagined based on what I'd read about Lamb -- his relationship with Joshua is quite touching, as is his relationship with Maggie (and I was glad they got a happy ending in the present times), and even the more incidental relationships are not as annoying as I thought they might be. And the things he incidentally invents along the way -- like lattes or sarcasm -- were pretty amusing (although the sarcasm running gag got a bit old).
My favorite character -- because I'm always attracted to bit players -- was Justus the Roman Centurion. He basically had me at "Go home. All of you. By order of Gaius Justus Gallicus, under-commander of the Sixth Legion, commander of the Third and Fourth Centuries, under authority of Emperor Tiberius and the Roman Empire, you are all commanded to go home and perpetrate no weird shit until I have gotten well drunk and had several days to sleep it off." I'd been afraid he'd end up being a bad guy, so I was releived when he actually tried to help Biff and Joshua in the end. I also liked Maggie's brother, Simon/Lazarus. A couple of quotes:
"It's hard for me, a Jew, to stay in the moment. Without the past, where is the guilt? And without the future, where is the dread? And without guilt and dread, who am I?"
The one that made me laugh the hardest is this exchange (which Moore says in the Afterword was the first scene he'd written):
"Okay. Earth to the meek. Here we go. Blessed are the peacemakers, the mourners, and that's it."
"How many is that?"
"Seven."
"Not enough. We need one more. How about the dumbfucks?"
"No, Josh, not the dumbfucks. You've done enough for the dumbfucks. Nathaniel, Thomas--"
"Blessed are the dumbfucks for they, uh -- I don't know -- they shall never be disappointed."
"No, I'm drawin the line at dumbfucks. Come on, Josh, why can't we have any powerful guys on our team? Why do we have to have the meek, and the poor, the oppressed, and the pissed on? Why can't we, for once, have blessed are the big powerful rich guys with swords?"
"Because they don't need us."
"Okay, but no 'Blessed are the dumbfucks.'"
"Who then?"
"Sluts?"
"No."
"How about the wankers? I can think of five or six disciples that would be really blessed."
"No wankers. I've got it: Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake. "
"Okay, better. What are you going to give them?"
"A fruit basket."
"You can't give the meek the whole earth and these guys a fruit basket."
"Give them the Kingdom of Heaven."
"The poor in spirit got that."
"Everybody gets some."
"Okay then, 'share the Kingdom of Heaven.'" I wrote it down.
"We could give the fruit basket to the dumbfucks."
"NO DIMBFUCKS!"
I don't get where people see the Joshua/Biff slashiness -- but then, I never got where people saw the Frodo/Sam, either... Biff/Raziel slash is clearly where it's at! I mean, Biff keeps remarking about how handsome the angel is, and asks him about genitals. What further proof do you need?
Also, I read the Afterword, and noticed a couple of interesting things. First, Moore says he was inspired to write this book by the Pontius Pilate storyline in Master i Margarita. Which is very, very different from Lamb, obviously, but that's kind of neat to know. Also, he talked about doing in situ research in Israel but not in any of the other places, which may well explain why the parts of the book set in Judea feel more interesting and real.
Anyway, I definitely recommend this one, assuming I'm not the last person in the universe to read it.
45. Ysabeau Wilce, Flora's Dare -- these books are adorable! I don't think I loved this one as much as I loved Flora's first outing -- probably because there was a bit less Buck in it. I adore Buck, but I liked it a whole lot. I liked the fact that Flora's life doesn't magically get all wonderful just because her father is sober and less crazy now -- I like how there are downsides to his stability, like the fact that he is a total martinet about housework ("Poppy sober was almost as bad as Poppy drunk, only in an entirely different way. Drunk Poppy was a lunatic. Sober Poppy was a tyrant. A martinet. What in the Army they call a whip.". I continue to like Flora's relationship with her parents a lot, and the way Hotspur starts smiling dangerously and touching his gun when the Warlord tries to grop Flora at the ball, or Flora getting all defensive on her mother's behalf when she realizes Tiny Doom is Azota: "But she couldn't compare to Mamma, who is a hundred times more beautiful, and braver and stronger, too. Clearly the Butcher had somehow ensorcelled Poppy [...] Otherwise, his preferring the Butcher over Mamma just didn't make any sense." I actually liked Flora herself more in this one, too, and I think the periodic language weirdness ("Ayah so") bothered me less in this one -- I don't think there's less of it, but maybe I'm more used to the setting.
Speaking of the setting, it finally dawned on me that Califa is an alternative reality San Francisco -- the street names finally got to be so I couldn't just ascribe it to coincidence. Which make me love this world even more! There should be more fantasy San Franciscos around! Speaking of which, I like the fact that earthquakes are part of the plot (with a fantastical explanation). I must shamefacedly admit that I kind of dug Flora's budding "romance" with Lord Axacaya. I mean, I did think it likely that he was playing her the whole time, but... look, I kind of ship Petyr/Sansa, too, so, you know. Anyway, I found him more interesting than Udo, although Udo, of course, is amusing, and both his friendship and his romance with Flora is both sweetly and amusingly done (and includes mentions of condoms, which you don't see in YA fantasy very often :P).
And, of course, there's plot. There was a lot that happened in this book -- but a lot of it seems a setup for the next one. Of course, Flora finds out that she is a Hathraatha (or however you spell it without the "thorn") and that tiny Doom/Butcher Breakspeare/Azota is her biological mother. I was not exactly surprised by the reveal, but I am curious what comes of it. (I'm also still wondering -- so Hotspur is Fyrdraaca, and Buck is too? Are they cousins or something? Not that it really matters, but I've been wondering for two books now.) And then there's Idden's defection and the nationalism/revolution that seems to be building in Califa. I'm assuming Flora's story is meant to be a trilogy, in which case that's a lot of plot ends to wrap up in the next book. (And, of course, what about the first Flora -- is she still alive?) Of course, if it's a longer series, I won't say now, because I love this setting and like these characters a lot. And I'm excited about Buck and Hotspur having another baby!
Anyway, I'm definitely looking forward to the next installment!
46. T.A. Pratt, Spell Games -- this is the second book in the Marla Mason series that I read (plus a short story), and it's the fourth one in the series overall. I don't know if he is getting better at writing them or I'm getting used to reading them, but I liked this one a lot more than Poison Sleep. Maybe because it wasn't so Marla-centric, come to think of it. Or because while she was there, she wasn't playing up her tough bitch from hell persona, but was actually kind of vulnerable and having fun, because her brother was around.
I liked the grifter brother. I would've even liked the fact that he turned out to have been playing her all along, except that's what had happened with Joshua, her lover, in the previous one I'd read. But, still, this betrayal was actually much better done, I thought. I've been intrigued by Rondeau from the first book, so it was good to see some more character development for him here, however painful. I also liked the messenger guy, because he was snarky and unimpressed and had nothing to lose. The mycomancer -- mushroom magic as an idea is pretty cool! -- even though it reminds me rather a lot of the mold powers Zealand acquires in Poison Sleep. I liked the appearances by all the other sorcerers of Fellport, especially Viscarro the lich, and especially when he is trying to send Marla secret messages to show that he is under someone else's control.
I liked B well enough -- though, having skipped Dead Reign, I wasn't sure why he was suddenly so important to Marla, so the ending felt a little weird to me. But, uh, what's up with killing off every prominent gay character? Zealand in Poison Sleep, who, OK, was at least nominally a bad guy at first. Now B, although he doesn't seem to be dead entirely for good, or at least Marla isn't resigned to him being so. (Also, this is kind of random, but Tim Pratt is writing these as T.A.Pratt and his About the Author says "T.A.Pratt lives in Oakland, California with partner H.L.Shaw and their son" and in acknowledgements he thanks "my loving spouse, H.L.Shaw" -- which, the initials and "partner" and "spouse" -- not something you see very often with heterosexual couples, which they apparently are, at least if Google is to be believed. And everybody else in Acknowledgement is called out by name. I'm just a little puzzled, and not that I'm going to ascribe any motives, but it's a bit odd.)
There are some amusing quotes:
[After Marla and Jason talk about their childhood and B explains his parents kicked him out of the house for being gay.]
"Fuck all y'all," Rondeau said. "Parents? I grew up in an alley, eating out of trash cans."
"All right, Rondeau wins," Marla said. "That's why I never play fucked-up family with him. He's always got some story about how his only friend was a dead cat, and it tops everybody."
"I wish I'd had a dead cat for a friend," Rondeau said. "I had to make do with a dead rat."
There were others, too, but I didn't bookmark them, I guess...
Anyway, I'm starting to like this series more, enough to maybe look up at least the third book, instead of waiting for the library tide to just wash it to me. And I just hope Marla doesn't spend the next book moping about her brother or B or whatever. It doesn't seem like she will, from the ending of this one, so that's good.
51. T.A.Pratt, Dead Reign (book 2) -- liked this one, too (and want to go back and find book #1 in the series, which is now the only one I haven't read). This one is more gag-intensive than the other ones -- the Walking Death hijinks, including discovering Marla's vibrator, the Bay Witch being weird, Rondeau the revolutionary, and the Ayres and John Wilkes Booth duo. I continue to like the way Pratt writes villains -- even as a prick, the Walking Death is a little sympathetic, as is the mad, unnatural Sitting Death. Ayres the crotchety necromancer is amusing (and I was way entertained by the fact that, having been cured of his Cotard delusion in life, he refuses to believe he is dead even when he is actually dead. I even kind of liked the reanimated mummy of John Wilkes Booth, which is not something I expected, you can be sure (but his personal hell was somewhat of a letdown). I think maybe the reason I like his villains so much is that these books are the literary equivalent of National Treasure, so I would expect the villains to be one-dimensional and teeth-gnashingly awful, and they're actually not.
These characters are starting to grow on me. I've always had a fondness for Viscarro, who reminds me of Walder Frey, I think. Rondeau is fun, B is very likeable, I liked the cameo by the old sorcerer dude in SF (and the shoutout to Emperor Norton), and the other ensemble characters are nice, too. Marla herself has grown on me -- I especially liked her decision to take over hell -- except in her introspective moments. So, her visit to the underworld was not very interesting to me, except for the averted expectations with Somerset. Also, there's this one scene where she talks with Pelham about what she wants in life, and it feels so incredibly tacked on. Like, it comes out completely out of nowhere. I'm still not sure what it was there for, even. Also, I'm not all too pleased about her being queen of the underworld to be at this point. Also, the whole business with carving a better Death with the sword was... I know it's supposed to be questionable, what she wanted to keep doing with the sword, but what she did with Death seems to be presented as a purely good act, and I'm bothered by that. I did like how she handled the cloak!
(Oh, another plot-wise quibble -- I didn't buy Death's motivation for not simply killing Marla and her successors until they wised up and handed over the dagger. He says it's because it would be boring, but since we learn later he is not just messing around, he really needs the dagger, I don't see him going for slow and elaborate over blunt but reliable just for the sake of cruel amusement.)
Quotes:
Marla, consoling Pelham after he freaks out at the airport: "It's okay. I hate crowds, too. I don't ever like to be in a group that's bigger than I can incapacitate single-handedly if they get possessed by a malign intelligence. You know. Contingencies."
B, on the Bay Area sorcerous scene: "The sorcerers in Marin are all either snooty or hippies, and neither one appeals to me. The South Bay is all half-crazy technomancers living in gutted buildings that used to be dot-com headquarters before the crash."
It also occurred to me, on reading this one, that it would be kind of cool to see a crossover between this and the Dresden Files. Marla and Harry have similar approaches to problem-solving, similar fierce protectiveness for their cities and disregard for the establishment, and similarly troubled backgrounds. They'd have a lot to talk about, I bet!
Also, um. I was kind of getting Rondeau/Walking Death vibes for a couple of pages there. Oh, fandom... XP
47. Patricia McKillip, The Bell at Sealey Head -- McKillip's books are a little bit hit-or-miss with me. I uniformly enjoy the way she writes, but the plots and characters sometimes resonate and sometimes really don't. This one I liked, even though none of her books are the kinds that stick with me and leave me wanting more.
I liked the quiet town setting. I liked the bookish innkeeper who reads to his blind father. The young woman who writes stories was nice, too, but I liked her younger siblings betters -- they seemed to have more color, and I liked her father, too. The bespelled world in the other Aislinn house is pretty cool -- it reads like an OCD nightmare -- and the set-up and resolution are fittingly fairy-tale like, I never did warm up to Ysabo. I did like the fact that the various infatuations, except for the central couple of Judd and Gwyneth, were left unresolved.
I don't have much more to say about it, I find. McKillip's books, for me, are like pretty dreams -- they seem magical and bathed in otherworldly light while they last, but are hard to hold on to or make sense of once they're done. I did like this quote:
Gwyneth to Judd: "I'll help you with the awkward parts, like getting into the house; you can have the heroics. The ones I don't want, that is."
48. The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror, 2008 (edited by Ellen Datlow, Kelly Link, and Gavin Grant) -- when I read "year's best" collections, I generally expect to be underwhelmed by some of the selected stories, so I was pleasantly surprised when I liked or really liked pretty much every fantasy story in this collection. Horror, on the other hand -- I just don't get horror. Like, either I'm just bored by the story, or I like the story fine until I get to the end of it, and then I'm like, what was the point of this? But overall, I really enjoyed this book.
"The Cambist and Lord Iron: A Fairy Tale of Economics" by Daniel Abraham -- expected to be bored by this one after another economics-slanted fantasy story I read (which i can't remember/find now), but I really liked it. The economics -- money-changing and adjacent pursuits -- were sciency and not social, which I loved. The twist in the middle was very nicely done, I thought -- felt very fairy-tale like but not totally obvious. The ending I was a bit less thrilled with than the rest of the story, but even that I liked, especially the way the very last bit harkens back to the beginning. Lovely little story, in short!
"Vampires in the Lemon Grove" by Karen Russel -- I read a short story collection by her before, and I liked this one less than the overall impression from the collection. Maybe it's that my favorite stories there were the Florida Keys informed ones, where the single setting makes them grown on each other. I did like this one just fine! I liked all the little details, and was sad about the ending, and it was a really nice story -- I think I would've been quite impressed if I weren't already familiar with the author. Favorite line: "Love has infected me with the muscular superstition that one body can do the work of another."
"Holiday" by M.Rickert -- creepy little story about a guy (survivor of childhood abuse) being haunted by the ghost of JonBennet Ramsey (although she is never named, probably at least partly to avoid libel) and other (presumably murdered) children. So not my cup of tea at all, but well written and does what it sets out to, packs a couple of punches in spite of its very short length. And is creepy.
"Hum Drum" by Gary McMahon -- see, I don't get horror. This was pretty well written, and had this nice bit of pseudo-history in background, but I just don't get why it makes a story. *sigh*
"Splitfoot" by Paul Walther -- see above. The setup was pretty cool, the characters were fairly engaging in various mostly repellent ways, but the horrible/fantastic? BORING. And didn't add up to anything for me.
"The House of Mechanical Pain" by Chaz Brenchley -- the second one of more than a few stories with abused children in this collection. In this case, it's a fucked up family haunted by the ghost of a girl from a previous generation of said fucked-up family. Really liked the narration, dialogue, the way the action unfolded. This looks to be labeled a horror story, but I actually liked it OK, which suggests to me that it is actually fantasy :P
"The Last Worders" by Karen Joy Fowler -- I liked this one when I first read it, but I guess it wasn't too memorable. I did like the narration, by one of a pair of teenage twins, and the generally magical realism feel of San Miguel and its vanishing river and such.
"The Monsters of Heaven" by Nathan Ballingrud -- another story where a child is in peril behind the scenes (in this case, the protagonist's son is kidnapped). Also, there are weird aliens/angels/things. It's a horror story, so the resolution didn't do anything for me, but the initial setup was quite well done and quite painful.
"The Fiddler of Bayou Teche" by Delia Sherman -- I love pseudo-folktales, and this one is unusual in that it casts a trickster type as an antagonist, looking at him after his great feat of beating the devil. The narration of this one is fun, although the local colour in it was laid on a little too strong for my taste in places. Still, a very fun and engaging read.
"Mr Poo-poo" by Reggie Oliver -- horror story, fairly nice narration, no point as far as I'm concerned. Next.
"Winter's Wife" by Elizabeth Hand I read already, here
"The Tenth Muse" by William Browning Spencer -- a horror story I actually enjoyed! maybe because it featured writers.
"The Drowned Life" by Jeffrey Ford -- the first fantasy story in this collection I didn't like. The conceit is cute, and some of the imagery/scenes are striking, but it didn't add up to much for me. Although I did find the ending kind of... cute.
"The Swing" by Don Tumasonis -- another horror story that didn't do much for me. The writing was good, it felt like it was trying to do Lolita in places, maybe, but, you know, I don't get the point of horror.
"The Forest" by Laird Barron -- see above. This one didn't even interest me too much. felt too long.
"Fragrant Goddess" by Paul Park -- I'm actually not sure how fantastic this really is, but it was an enjoyable story while it lasted (it's pretty short), and the revelation about the protagonist is neatly done (or not done). I did keep being distracted by the fact that Ferson is just not a Russian last name.
"Up the Fire Road" by Eileen Gunn -- so this is what published crack looks like! Fun published crack, but, you know, bisexual sasquatch on the Maury show XD. The dual/arguing narration between Andrea and Christy are a lot of fun to read, and it's in general such a fun little story. I like crack!
"The Gray Boy's Work" by M.T.Anderson -- I'm a bit conflicted about this story. There are things I really like about it -- the angels with their blindfold and fangs that they keep trading between themselves, the father's description of war -- and things I don't like -- the way the father and mother don't have names, and chunks of the narration -- but I'm not sure you could have one without the other. So, I don't know, I like what it's trying to do, I guess, but not so much the result.
"The Merchant and the Alchemist's Gate" by Ted Chiang -- it's not "Story of Your Life", but I did like it quite a lot. I like the "Arabian Nights" narration. I like the nested stories, and how they're not as independent as it looks they're going to be at first. I like the pre-medieval time machine thing. I like the whole thing, really, and it's neat how different it is from the other Ted Chiang stories I've read.
"Valentine. July Heat Wave." by Joyce Carol Oates -- a horror story I thought was actually cool! You see where it's going from rather far off, but that only enhanced it for me. Daryll the "narrator" is pretty insufferable (as he is meant to be), and I spent the whole time wanting to throttle him, but the story is quite well done. I still wouldn't read it on purpose, but at least I could see the point.
"A Thing Forbidden" by Donald Mead -- an odd little tale (horror) taking off from the story of the Donner Party. I enjoyed the California setting right before/as gold was being discovered at Sutter's Mill. The fantastic plot itself is a bit more theologically charged than I like, with God and the Devil and stuff, but it made me want to read a longer story in this setting, with these characters. I was intrigued, I guess, and won over by the place.
"A Reversal of Fortune" by Holly Black -- another really fun story, wherein a teenage girl challenges the devil to an eating contest. All the things I like about Holly Black's writing, in a tight little package. Favorite line: "'Five-second rule,' Nikki said. 'If it's in the devil for less than five seconds, it's still good.'"
"Rats" by Veronica Schanoes -- very dark twist on Sleeping Beauty. There are all these beyond-fourth-wall narrative asides, which would normally irritate me, and I don't think they do much here, but the story overall still works quite well.
"A Perfect and Unmappable Grace" by Jack M. Haringa -- I'm... not really sure what's going on in this story, beyond Jewish gangsters. It's a horror story, so maybe it's OK that I don't see the point.
"The Boulder" by Lucy Kemnitzer -- I like the story itself (especially the reference to the Saga of Burnt Njal), but the narration felt awkward, and I don't see what not giving the archeologist a name and referring to everyone by epithets added to the story.
"The Hill" by Tanith Lee -- a horror story where the horror is not fantastic but explained, mystery style. The horrror still isn't very interesting to me, but I liked the mystery aspect, and I really liked the old maid librarian protagonist who narrates this story.
"The Ape Man" by Alexander MacBride -- sucha weird little story, barely over a page and quite insane and making a crazy kind of sense. I liked it! I think it might be one of the most original in this collection.
"The Hide" by Liz Williams -- this seems to have been selected by the fantasy side AND the horror side, but I don't see it as anything other than horror, and pretty boring besides. Yeah, it's atmospheric and stuff, maybe. Boring!
"England and Nowhere" by Tim Nickels -- another horror story I didn't much like. Or get, really, I fear.
"Sir Hereward and Mister Fitz Go To War Again" by Garth Nix -- this is actually the first thing I've read by Garth Nix that I honestly enjoyed! And I enjoyed this one quite a lot -- the contrast between apparently standard fantasy setting and some telling details, the animated puppet, the various twists. I came to like Sir Hereward, too.
"Toother" by Terry Dowling -- another horror story, but as with "The Hill", the mystery aspect provides some point for me to latch on to. This was quite... gruesome, but well done. Favorite lines:
"But why? Why me?"
"The usual reason. Chance. Purest hazard. you were on hand."
"Then pick someone else!"
"From someone else's viewpoint I did."
"Closet Dreams" by Lisa Tuttle -- another child victim story. Cleverly told, pretty harrowing.
"The Evolution of Trickster Stories Among the Dogs of North Park After the Change" by Kij Johnson -- I like short stories told in unusual ways, and this one qualifies -- each section features an "epigraph" of said dog trickster story. I liked the trickster stories better than the rest of the story, actually, but you do need the framing narrative to properly appreciate them. Could've done with less moralizing, thought it was well done; liked the bittersweet-but-mostly-happy ending.
I'm not going to write individually about the poems, because as I've said elsewhere I read poetry and fantasy in different ways and they don't mix for me. I couldn't see why a lot of those poems were in a fantasy collection, anyway. One of such was "The Seven Devils of Central California" by Catherine M. Valenta -- it's a really cool longer poem.
Lots of stories, so favorites are hard to pick, but let me try:
"The Cambist and Lord Iron"
"The Merchant and the Alchemist's Gate"
"A Reversal of Fortune"
"Sir Hereward and Mister Fitz Go to War Again"
"Evolution of Trickster Stories"
and "Ape Man" and "Rats" despite stylistic tics for the originality of them
49. Jim Butcher, Welcome to the Jungle (Dresden Files comic book, art by Ardian Syaf) -- this was a lot of fun! It was pretty short -- the story itself, I mean -- but the narration and dialogue and everything felt a lot like a real DF book (down to Harry's women issues), and the art was very pretty! Harry looked right on. Murphy looked a bit different than I envisioned, but not wrong. Bob was pretty awesome, the side characters were pretty cool, too. I don't think I want to read the comic books, because, well, I know the stories already, but I would definitely grab them at the library to see what the characters look like. I'm especially curious about Marcone, Molly, Ramirez, Thomas and Lara, Kincaid and Ivy -- though it'll be quite awhile before we get anywhere near some of those. Also, in the concept sketch pages in the back, it's mentioned that Harry is in his mid-20's when the series starts and Murphy is in her early 30's. It makes sense for Murphy to be no younger than that, given her rank, but I guess I didn't realize until now she was actually older than Harry. That's pretty cool!
50. Norton Juster, The Phantom Tollbooth -- this was part of aome's birthday present to me, and I just now climbed out from under a stack of library books to read it. I enjoyed it a whole lot! It's actually very reminiscent of books I loved as a kid -- Alya, Klyaksich i Bukva Ya, and those books by Leskov (I think) about adventures in math-land. In general, I love stories where real-world people get to visit kingdoms of abstract concepts. Or kingdoms of abstract concepts in general, see my Epicalculus. So, this was right up my alley. And I loved all the puns. I loved the names (especially Faintly Macabre and the Terrible Trivium. I think if I'd first read it as a kid, I wouldn't have noticed the slight moralizing/educational tone, which did bug me a tiny little bit when I read it now. The enjoyment definitely overwhelmed it, but you have kids books which are just pure glee -- Seuss, Sachar, Silverstein's poems -- and this felt like it had a bit of a Message, which I tend not to like. It didn't bother me much here at all -- I thoroughly enjoyed it and plan to foist it on L as soon as I can, 'cos I think she'll get a kick out of it, too. I would've just preferred to have read it as a kid, when I wouldn't have even noticed it, I think.
52. Charlaine Harris, Living Dead in Dallas -- I was skeptical about these, because neither vampires nor the South nor romantic entanglements are my thing, until slowfox started reading them. Well, that, and all the people fantasy-casting the blond vampire from True Blood as Jaime in ASOIAF, and KT, my high school friend, mentioning that he's been watching True Blood. So, I decided to give it a shot. The library didn't have the first book, so I started with the second -- which may have actually been a good thing, as I'm still pretty ambivalent about it, and I think the first one would've been worse.
I didn't like the book much at first. Sookie didn't grab me as a protagonist, though she has grown on me over the course of what she does and learns in the book. Small town charm didn't capture me particularly, and that's still true, but I don't actually dislike any of these people, and am slightly intrigued by Sam the were-collie. I find Bill uninteresting and creepy. I generally find vampires to be uninteresting and creepy, and Bill just doesn't deliver anything to get beyond that impression.
Actually, I found the whole relationship between Sookie and Bill pretty distasteful. I'm not quite sure yet whether that's a bug or meant to be a feature -- I guess I could see it developing both ways. Sookie seems to be with him purely because he is the first man she encountered whose mind she couldn't read/emotions she couldn't sense. That is understandable, but seems like pretty flimsy basis for a relationship, you know? And he is kind of a douche. The jealousy thing, the possessiveness, and there are a couple of sex scenes between them that skirt too clouse to dub-con for my taste in a relationship with such an imbalance of power*. (Yes, vampires. And I can accept that Bill would act this way. The thing that bugs me is that Sookie doesn't seem to mind it.) Bill obviously cares about her, but not, it seems, in a healthy way. (I know, vampires. Not meant to be healthy. But she calls him her boyfriend, and treats him as such, and as a boyfriend, he is a bit of a creep.) There's also this whole infantilization thing going on that bugs me, especially since it seems Sookie is bought into it -- asking him what she should wear, enjoying it when he carries her around, it's a little weird. Again, as somebody who doesn't have much of a support system and was orphaned young, I could see how that would appeal. And if it's meant to be creepy and unhealthy, OK then! I'm not going to say "bring it on" because I don't want to read about it, but at least I wouldn't have a problem with it. But I'm not sure yet what it is supposed to be.
So, yeah, I had some issues with this book, but the reason I kept reading -- and will probably keep on reading the series -- is Eric. I have a thing for charismatic assholes, OK? Powerful charismatic assholes -- double-check. And while my usual type are dark-haired, dark-eyed Mediterranean types, there is a mysterious special exemption for strapping Viking lads, which Eric falls under. I find his interaction with Sookie far more interesting than Sookie and Bill's, and the tension in that triangle -- especially the tension between Eric and Bill -- especially interesting. Probably because Eric and Bill are way closer to being equals than Sookie and either of them. And at least Eric is a fun, unapologetic jerk, and seems to have far more of a sense of humour than Bill.
I liked the main plot -- the vampire kidnapping, Godric, the Fellowship of the Sun -- pretty well once it got kicked off. I liked how Sookie handled herself, especially in returning to bear witness for Godric meeting the dawn. That, I think, was really the point when I started respecting her as a protagonist. But she is still pretty foreign to me -- not just the relationship stuff she is willing to put up with, but the degree to which she fusses over her appearance, and the way she grins when agitated -- if Sookie were a real person, I think I'd be very unlikely to hang out with her.
The library has a bunch more of these, though I'm not sure they're in order and I'm not sure how much that matters. I'll check out another couple at least.
*Imbalance of power -- I think I was talking about this with etrangere a little while ago, in relation to Jayne/River (which I don't ship). I'm OK with train-wrecky relationships, I even like them. And there are power imbalance relationships that I like, and then there are ones where it's a total squick. And I think I've finally figured out the difference. The imbalance of power relationships that appeal to me are the ones where the power imbalance is not permanent. I'm OK with teacher/student sort of stuff (meaning mostly mentor rather than an actual formal school teacher), because the student won't be a student forever. Rivals -- powerful lord/wizard/etc and an up-an-comer trying to topple him, say -- is kind of a kink, because there's the possibility of an upset of power. (So, like, I think the reason Littlefinger/Sansa doesn't squick me is the idea that Sansa will one day have learned enough about him to use his weaknesses against him and tip the balance of power.) Situations where the two have different and matched powers over each other I also like. But situations like this, where one person has all the power, and the imbalance is something inherent to them as people or to the relationship between them, it doesn't work for me.