Reading Roundup
53. Avi, Poppy -- this is a children's book that L read and then passed on to me, because it was about mice and she figured I'd like it. I did enjoy it, although not as much as L. Mostly I liked the pictures of the mice -- they were quite adorable. As for the writing, Poppy is a likeable heroine, smart yet fallible, her relatives are flawed yet sympathetic, and even the villain, Mr Ocax is sort of sympathetic, because we do get his POV briefly and know he is not so much mwahahaha evil as old and afraid. So, I was actually kind of saddened by his death, and I asked L if she felt sorry for him at all, and she said she did a little but not really, because he was so mean. I found Ereth the porcupine and his constant grump and his "potty" mouth (we're talking a children's book, so no actual bad words or anything) a bit grating. L is eager to read the rest of the series, while I would just as happily pass, unless she really wants me to. I might look at the pictures, though.
54. Kim Harrison, Dead Witch Walking -- yeah, OK, I wish I'd started the series with this one. :P It's generally true that I often like fantasy series more the more I read of them (to a point, anyway), but I think a large part of the reason that I liked this one a lot more than Outlaw Demon Wails is that this is the real beginning of the series, and a lot of my complaints -- both voiced and unrealized until now -- about that book are not present here. I felt Rachel was a bit too special in ODW -- she certainly isn't here. She is just a good runner, frustrated by her lack of advancement. Nothing special about her yet, except that she clearly has witchy potential. Jenks, who felt like fairly one-note comic relief in ODW gets plenty of comic relief type scenes here, too, but they are balanced out by the serious scenes, like when he is comparing scars with Nick, or when Rachel realizes the real survivor drive behind pixy bravado, or when he, badly hurt, starts spouting poetry. I like him a lot better here than I did in ODW. I like Ivy a lot better too, since she spent this book more focused on controlling herself and kicking ass in her anal-retentive glory rather than, essentially, moping after Rachel. Ivy apparently kicks ass! And I like the general dynamic between Ivy and Rachel here, and especially the scene where Ivy is mad at Rachel is Rachel is all clueless husband in trying to figure out why
I continue to be very intrigued by Trent. Obviously, I know the big mystery of what he is, and also the connection between him and Rachel's father, which is briefly hinted at towards the end. So, I continue to be intrigued by him, and Rachel checking out his ass and rating it at 9.5 out of 10 even made me wonder if I'm supposed to be shipping them. But entering her in the rat fights kind of nixed that with me. Even if they've gotten to a stalemate of mutual sort-of-respect, the fact that the relationship largely started out with him trying to break her, explicitly -- yeah, no. I'm also dismayed to have seen how Rachel's acquaintance with Kisten kicked off. I have a feeling I will be hard to sell on this relationship, whenever that comes about. I do like Nick kind of a lot, and am trying to remember if I know what happened to him between now and ODW. If it's going to be a new potential love interest every book, even a low keyed one, I suspect I'm going to find that rather annoying. I like Captain Edden of the FIB quite a lot, and Keasley (who I also know who he is).
I liked the heist-y/mystery sort of plot, and planting the seeds of some of the longer term mysteries and major themes. Many of the bits of humour didn't work that great for me, but they weren't grating, merely not all that amusing. And I like the worldbuilding (still), and appreciated a bit more explanation of the whole earth vs ley line vs demons etc. thing, even though I'd picked up enough along the way not to be confused in ODW.
I'm glad I have the next two books on hand. :)
55. Kim Harrison, The Good, the Bad, and the Undead
56. Kim Harrison, Every Which Way but Dead -- I'm writing this after having finished both, so I think I'll write about them together. Still liking the series a lot. Funnily enough, what I said about not being able to ship Rachel/Trent anymore? Yeah, totally not true. And Kisten actually did grow on me as a love interest for Rachel, partly because of the submissive vamp angle (kind of cute, if over the top) and partly because his willingness to admit he screwed up and that Rachel is the stronger one (in #3) made me actually respect him, and partly because the sort of love triangle between Rachel, Kisten, and Ivy is pretty interesting, and Kisten having to wear caps when he is with Rachel I actually find kind of hot. Although I do find a vampire who is that much of a good guy/pacifist yet has no problem being Piscary's scion a bit hard to accept. And I still rolled my eyes at the tropes that are apparently requisite in vampire/human relationships, such as him picking out her wardrobe and carrying her around. Pfft. Anyway! Also, I was amused by the thought of Piscary shipping Rachel/Trent, too.
#2: The whole plot with Piscari was not all that interesting to me, though the Master vamp running a pizza parlor was a cute idea. Also, I thought it took Rachel waaay too long to figure out that the demon was behind the attacks, given the nature of death. I guess I can cut her some slack for not paying too much attention to what the demon who attacked her was saying, but still. I found Glenn pretty boring (far prefer his dad), and I was sad to see the thing with Nick disintegrate, although I do think it did so for a very valid reason. I quite liked Nick by this point (especially the scene between him and Rachel after he knocks out Ivy after she vamps out and offers to make Rachel her scion). At first I was iffy on the revelation that Trent had been the kid Rachel had thrown into a tree in camp, but I kind of like it now (and his explanation for being a jerk at that age). The other thing I find interesting about the revelation for Rachel in this book (clumsily foreshadowed as it was by Nick's conversation with Rachel's mother) is that realizing that illegal biodragus have saved her life she doesn't think, "Huh, maybe biodrugs shouldn't be illegal" but rather, "OMG, I'm a monster!" because the fear of biodrugs is so firmly internalized. I mean, I find it silly, but also neat, from a world-building perspective. I found the aftermath of Ivy's bloodrape really harrowing and well done, including her not knowing whether she was still living or a true undead, for all that I'm generally pretty blase with regard to vampires.
#3: Mmm, Trent-heavy book. I mean, I was spoiled for what he was since I read ODW first, but I still think it took them way too long to figure it out. But once they had, it became a good deal less annoying. I greatly enjoyed the Trent vs Stanley part of the plot (something about frenemies growing up together -- maybe they give me a Merlin and Luke vibe? Not nearly as cute, though). And I thought the resolution with Stanley was quite fitting, too. I enjoyed meeting Ivy's family, and though it was a bit over-the-top, Ivy's father's speech to Erica on the dangers of teenage pregnancy shadow-making was pretty hilarious, as was Erica in general. I'm looking forward to seeing more of her. I do like Rachel's interaction with Al, especially stuff like this:
"What do you want?"
"What do you want--master," Al prompted. [...]
"I want you to get the hell out of my kitchen."
(Yeah, I liked it in Harry Potter, too :P.)
I also liked Ceri (in small doses). I wondered a little at how quickly she seemed to recover, but her patched together dignity and lingering brittleness were nice.
One of the things I most enjoy about these books is the little details of worldbuilding, like the "risen again announcements" in the paper for the vamps, and the legal implications of a were pack, stuff like that.
I definitely want to continue reading the series, and am looking forward to reading the next ones: Fistful of Charms and For A Few Demons More (especially the one with Trent's disrupted wedding.
57. Greg van Eekhout (gregvaneekhout), Norse Code -- I first heard about the author (and this book, which I think is his first?) via RaceFail (in a good context!), and the premise sounded intriguing, and then matociquala reviewed it, and the premise still sounded intriguing, so I snatched up the book as soon as I saw it. Having read it -- the premise was really intriguing! Said premise being, valkyries recruiting einherjaar in the modern world to prepare for the coming Ragnarok, with Norse gods doing stuff. I really enjoyed Hermod, the As protagonist, because he's sort of a ne'er-do-well god and quite entertaining at it. I liked Grimnir the einherjaar, too, and Kathy's sister Lilly as a take-charge sort of dead person in Hel, and the interlude narration of Hugin and Munin, which is quite well done. The other characters didn't do as much for me, and while Baldur's betrayal was an interesting twist and an interesting reason behind it, I had a hard time buying it. Also, I enjoyed the plot a lot more while it was in our world/Midgard vs Hel or traveling along Yggdrasil. And I wasn't overly impressed with the resolution, although there really isn't a good way to resolve Ragnarok. I did enjoy this particular take on the relationship between Loki and his wife (though not, actually, this Loki himself. But I have higher standards when it comes to Loki, as my favorite.) There are some really funny moments, in narration and dialogue, and just the general feel of the book. So, enjoyed it a lot, but feel like I could've enjoyed it even more with a slightly different path. Would definitely read more books by this author.
58. Joe Abercrombie, Before They Are Hanged -- you know what, this is starting to grow on me. I was relatively unenthused by the first one, but decided to stick with it (also because etrangere had good things to say about the trilogy), and I did like this one a lot more. As in, it almost didn't annoy me at all, go figure. Part of it, I think, is that I know what to expect. Partly it's that the annoying characters *are* getting a bit more sympathetic, especially Jezal, who goes from a spoiled brat to a considerably less spoiled somewhat less bratty young man. And Ferro displays actual human feeling, in her own way. Sort of. And Glokta is marginally less self-involved. And I do continue to like Logen and West. And there's, like, actual plot in this one.
Speaking of plot, I have to say, I did not see the twist at the end coming (the Seed not being there/having been switched), though I should have, probably, and I like that twist. I also like Glokta being beholden to the bank. I still think the whole Eater thing is... meh, but, whatever.
I liked the developing "relationship" between Logen and Ferro, especially world's most awkward sex between them (god, that scene was hilarious), and the scene where she stands up for him ("Some of you are a lot less use than you think you are. And some of you keep a lot of secrets, then fall asleep at bad times and leave the rest of us stranded in the middle of nowhere. So he's a killer. So fucking what? Suited you well enough when the killing needed doing.") as well as the indications that Logen is more than just a simple barbarian trying to survive in the way he analyses the group. Oh, and also this exchange between Logen and Ferro:
"That's it. By the fucking dead, that's it. I'm done. I'm not moving another stride."
"We need to make some distance while we still have light."
"You call this light? Are you fucking crazy?"
"You know I am. Let's go, pink."
"Alright, damnit! Alright!"
[...]
"What did I do? What did I do back there?"
"You got us through."
"I meant--"
"You got us through. That's all."
I like the growing (or more apparent) tension between Bayaz and his apprentice. I liked the tenuous relationships between Glokta and Eider (the Magister) , and him and Vitari, and the conversation between him and the ambassador from Gurkul. Threetrees really grew on me in this book, just in time to die heroically (I might have misted up during the funeral scene), though I continue to be bored by the other Northmen. And I do continue to like West a lot -- he is still my favorite -- though I did do a sort of mental double-take when he pushed Ladisla off the cliff. A thought occurred to me at some point -- I think some of the reasons I like West are some of the same reasons I like Galeni so much in the Vorkosiverse books. There's quite a lot of similarity there, from massive, though different, Daddy Issues to the drive that comes from being competent but second class in the military organization (common and from the provinces for West, Komarran and non-Vor for Galeni) to their berserker tendencies (Duv seems to be in much better control of his, but then, we don't get his POV. Maybe he has a permanent headache, too).
One thing I did like a lot about the first book is that the non-Union cultures are not monolithic. I still like it. I like how the Northmen think of the "easterners, from out past the Crinna" as savages and weirdos, and how the Gurkish and the natives of Dagoska hate each other, and more things like that.
I am quite curious to see how it all ends.
59. Kristine Kathryn Rusch, Duplicate Effort -- eh. I like this series OK, but mostly for the human/alien culture clashes, and this was the first of the books I read that didn't have any of that, just all-human conflict with some clone stuff in. Which is OK, but not as interesting. Also, either it was worse in this book or I just noticed it more because I was less engrossed by the subject matter, but the writing is really kind of clunky, lots of short declarative sentences, just, not elegance. I do like Talia, Miles's newly aquired clone-daughter, and the female investigator seemed intriguing, but none of the others feel like characters, just sort of actors doing things. Looks like I was underwhelmed by the previous installment I read, too. I wonder if the series is getting weaker, or I'm just losing interest in it...
60. Michelle Sagara, Cast in Fury -- the Leontine book, which was interesting, because I always did find the bits of Leontine culture we could see quite fascinating. In general this series feels like it's moving away from the initial impression it gave me: not!Elves, humaniform Dragons, winged dudes, lions who walk on hind legs, and several supposedly amusing humans -- together, they fight crime! -- towards a deeper exploration of the races, which is pretty cool. So. The premise of this one, according to the blurb, seemed laughable -- Kaylin helping put on a play -- but the play aspect actually worked pretty well (there was some slightly ponderous meta about art, but not too much of it), and I ended up kind of liking the volatile playwright, who is played not only for laughs. And there's actually a much deeper Leontine plot, which was quite cool. I like Marcus's wives, especially the Matriarch, and the way she refers to the others as her wives (in general, the structure and laws of the Pridlea were well done). I enjoyed the relatively cameo appearances by Nightshade and Tiamaris (especially working together), and the Dragon-slaying blade which get probably the nicest bit of description: "Meliannos blazed in the evening sky. And Kaylin understood then why someone would name their weapon." I continue to really like Sanabalis, especially when he (genuinely) utters lines like: "It goes against my better judgement [...] But I admit I have a mild reluctance to kill you all. Ybelline's wonerfulness I've heard enough about, and the whole thing between Kaylin and Severn -- I really wish it would either go somewhere or stop being set up, because the status quo is rather boring to me, and not worth dwelling on. Also, the writing continue to be frustrating. It's not clean -- there are all these parentheticals and asides and bits of stream-of-consciousness and attempts at clever phrases for Kaylin, but it just gets in the way of the action and/or emotion most of the time, instead of adding flavor, which is what I think it's supposed to be doing? It's not bad enough to seriously interfere with my enjoyment of the books, but it's just annoying. Still, I'm always excited to see a new book from this series, because I do enjoy the worldbuilding and a few of the characters, Barrani and Dragon mostly. I see the next title -- Cast in Silence -- is out already. I should keep an eye out for it (although from reading the Amazon customer reviews, I'm not sure that I will like that one as much, since it seems to have a lot of the things that I don't like about this series in it (although it does seem to have more Tiamaris, which, yay).
Currently reading: Bloodhound by Tamora Pierce (but not sure if I'll finish it before year's end or not). Enjoying it, though!
54. Kim Harrison, Dead Witch Walking -- yeah, OK, I wish I'd started the series with this one. :P It's generally true that I often like fantasy series more the more I read of them (to a point, anyway), but I think a large part of the reason that I liked this one a lot more than Outlaw Demon Wails is that this is the real beginning of the series, and a lot of my complaints -- both voiced and unrealized until now -- about that book are not present here. I felt Rachel was a bit too special in ODW -- she certainly isn't here. She is just a good runner, frustrated by her lack of advancement. Nothing special about her yet, except that she clearly has witchy potential. Jenks, who felt like fairly one-note comic relief in ODW gets plenty of comic relief type scenes here, too, but they are balanced out by the serious scenes, like when he is comparing scars with Nick, or when Rachel realizes the real survivor drive behind pixy bravado, or when he, badly hurt, starts spouting poetry. I like him a lot better here than I did in ODW. I like Ivy a lot better too, since she spent this book more focused on controlling herself and kicking ass in her anal-retentive glory rather than, essentially, moping after Rachel. Ivy apparently kicks ass! And I like the general dynamic between Ivy and Rachel here, and especially the scene where Ivy is mad at Rachel is Rachel is all clueless husband in trying to figure out why
I continue to be very intrigued by Trent. Obviously, I know the big mystery of what he is, and also the connection between him and Rachel's father, which is briefly hinted at towards the end. So, I continue to be intrigued by him, and Rachel checking out his ass and rating it at 9.5 out of 10 even made me wonder if I'm supposed to be shipping them. But entering her in the rat fights kind of nixed that with me. Even if they've gotten to a stalemate of mutual sort-of-respect, the fact that the relationship largely started out with him trying to break her, explicitly -- yeah, no. I'm also dismayed to have seen how Rachel's acquaintance with Kisten kicked off. I have a feeling I will be hard to sell on this relationship, whenever that comes about. I do like Nick kind of a lot, and am trying to remember if I know what happened to him between now and ODW. If it's going to be a new potential love interest every book, even a low keyed one, I suspect I'm going to find that rather annoying. I like Captain Edden of the FIB quite a lot, and Keasley (who I also know who he is).
I liked the heist-y/mystery sort of plot, and planting the seeds of some of the longer term mysteries and major themes. Many of the bits of humour didn't work that great for me, but they weren't grating, merely not all that amusing. And I like the worldbuilding (still), and appreciated a bit more explanation of the whole earth vs ley line vs demons etc. thing, even though I'd picked up enough along the way not to be confused in ODW.
I'm glad I have the next two books on hand. :)
55. Kim Harrison, The Good, the Bad, and the Undead
56. Kim Harrison, Every Which Way but Dead -- I'm writing this after having finished both, so I think I'll write about them together. Still liking the series a lot. Funnily enough, what I said about not being able to ship Rachel/Trent anymore? Yeah, totally not true. And Kisten actually did grow on me as a love interest for Rachel, partly because of the submissive vamp angle (kind of cute, if over the top) and partly because his willingness to admit he screwed up and that Rachel is the stronger one (in #3) made me actually respect him, and partly because the sort of love triangle between Rachel, Kisten, and Ivy is pretty interesting, and Kisten having to wear caps when he is with Rachel I actually find kind of hot. Although I do find a vampire who is that much of a good guy/pacifist yet has no problem being Piscary's scion a bit hard to accept. And I still rolled my eyes at the tropes that are apparently requisite in vampire/human relationships, such as him picking out her wardrobe and carrying her around. Pfft. Anyway! Also, I was amused by the thought of Piscary shipping Rachel/Trent, too.
#2: The whole plot with Piscari was not all that interesting to me, though the Master vamp running a pizza parlor was a cute idea. Also, I thought it took Rachel waaay too long to figure out that the demon was behind the attacks, given the nature of death. I guess I can cut her some slack for not paying too much attention to what the demon who attacked her was saying, but still. I found Glenn pretty boring (far prefer his dad), and I was sad to see the thing with Nick disintegrate, although I do think it did so for a very valid reason. I quite liked Nick by this point (especially the scene between him and Rachel after he knocks out Ivy after she vamps out and offers to make Rachel her scion). At first I was iffy on the revelation that Trent had been the kid Rachel had thrown into a tree in camp, but I kind of like it now (and his explanation for being a jerk at that age). The other thing I find interesting about the revelation for Rachel in this book (clumsily foreshadowed as it was by Nick's conversation with Rachel's mother) is that realizing that illegal biodragus have saved her life she doesn't think, "Huh, maybe biodrugs shouldn't be illegal" but rather, "OMG, I'm a monster!" because the fear of biodrugs is so firmly internalized. I mean, I find it silly, but also neat, from a world-building perspective. I found the aftermath of Ivy's bloodrape really harrowing and well done, including her not knowing whether she was still living or a true undead, for all that I'm generally pretty blase with regard to vampires.
#3: Mmm, Trent-heavy book. I mean, I was spoiled for what he was since I read ODW first, but I still think it took them way too long to figure it out. But once they had, it became a good deal less annoying. I greatly enjoyed the Trent vs Stanley part of the plot (something about frenemies growing up together -- maybe they give me a Merlin and Luke vibe? Not nearly as cute, though). And I thought the resolution with Stanley was quite fitting, too. I enjoyed meeting Ivy's family, and though it was a bit over-the-top, Ivy's father's speech to Erica on the dangers of teenage pregnancy shadow-making was pretty hilarious, as was Erica in general. I'm looking forward to seeing more of her. I do like Rachel's interaction with Al, especially stuff like this:
"What do you want?"
"What do you want--master," Al prompted. [...]
"I want you to get the hell out of my kitchen."
(Yeah, I liked it in Harry Potter, too :P.)
I also liked Ceri (in small doses). I wondered a little at how quickly she seemed to recover, but her patched together dignity and lingering brittleness were nice.
One of the things I most enjoy about these books is the little details of worldbuilding, like the "risen again announcements" in the paper for the vamps, and the legal implications of a were pack, stuff like that.
I definitely want to continue reading the series, and am looking forward to reading the next ones: Fistful of Charms and For A Few Demons More (especially the one with Trent's disrupted wedding.
57. Greg van Eekhout (gregvaneekhout), Norse Code -- I first heard about the author (and this book, which I think is his first?) via RaceFail (in a good context!), and the premise sounded intriguing, and then matociquala reviewed it, and the premise still sounded intriguing, so I snatched up the book as soon as I saw it. Having read it -- the premise was really intriguing! Said premise being, valkyries recruiting einherjaar in the modern world to prepare for the coming Ragnarok, with Norse gods doing stuff. I really enjoyed Hermod, the As protagonist, because he's sort of a ne'er-do-well god and quite entertaining at it. I liked Grimnir the einherjaar, too, and Kathy's sister Lilly as a take-charge sort of dead person in Hel, and the interlude narration of Hugin and Munin, which is quite well done. The other characters didn't do as much for me, and while Baldur's betrayal was an interesting twist and an interesting reason behind it, I had a hard time buying it. Also, I enjoyed the plot a lot more while it was in our world/Midgard vs Hel or traveling along Yggdrasil. And I wasn't overly impressed with the resolution, although there really isn't a good way to resolve Ragnarok. I did enjoy this particular take on the relationship between Loki and his wife (though not, actually, this Loki himself. But I have higher standards when it comes to Loki, as my favorite.) There are some really funny moments, in narration and dialogue, and just the general feel of the book. So, enjoyed it a lot, but feel like I could've enjoyed it even more with a slightly different path. Would definitely read more books by this author.
58. Joe Abercrombie, Before They Are Hanged -- you know what, this is starting to grow on me. I was relatively unenthused by the first one, but decided to stick with it (also because etrangere had good things to say about the trilogy), and I did like this one a lot more. As in, it almost didn't annoy me at all, go figure. Part of it, I think, is that I know what to expect. Partly it's that the annoying characters *are* getting a bit more sympathetic, especially Jezal, who goes from a spoiled brat to a considerably less spoiled somewhat less bratty young man. And Ferro displays actual human feeling, in her own way. Sort of. And Glokta is marginally less self-involved. And I do continue to like Logen and West. And there's, like, actual plot in this one.
Speaking of plot, I have to say, I did not see the twist at the end coming (the Seed not being there/having been switched), though I should have, probably, and I like that twist. I also like Glokta being beholden to the bank. I still think the whole Eater thing is... meh, but, whatever.
I liked the developing "relationship" between Logen and Ferro, especially world's most awkward sex between them (god, that scene was hilarious), and the scene where she stands up for him ("Some of you are a lot less use than you think you are. And some of you keep a lot of secrets, then fall asleep at bad times and leave the rest of us stranded in the middle of nowhere. So he's a killer. So fucking what? Suited you well enough when the killing needed doing.") as well as the indications that Logen is more than just a simple barbarian trying to survive in the way he analyses the group. Oh, and also this exchange between Logen and Ferro:
"That's it. By the fucking dead, that's it. I'm done. I'm not moving another stride."
"We need to make some distance while we still have light."
"You call this light? Are you fucking crazy?"
"You know I am. Let's go, pink."
"Alright, damnit! Alright!"
[...]
"What did I do? What did I do back there?"
"You got us through."
"I meant--"
"You got us through. That's all."
I like the growing (or more apparent) tension between Bayaz and his apprentice. I liked the tenuous relationships between Glokta and Eider (the Magister) , and him and Vitari, and the conversation between him and the ambassador from Gurkul. Threetrees really grew on me in this book, just in time to die heroically (I might have misted up during the funeral scene), though I continue to be bored by the other Northmen. And I do continue to like West a lot -- he is still my favorite -- though I did do a sort of mental double-take when he pushed Ladisla off the cliff. A thought occurred to me at some point -- I think some of the reasons I like West are some of the same reasons I like Galeni so much in the Vorkosiverse books. There's quite a lot of similarity there, from massive, though different, Daddy Issues to the drive that comes from being competent but second class in the military organization (common and from the provinces for West, Komarran and non-Vor for Galeni) to their berserker tendencies (Duv seems to be in much better control of his, but then, we don't get his POV. Maybe he has a permanent headache, too).
One thing I did like a lot about the first book is that the non-Union cultures are not monolithic. I still like it. I like how the Northmen think of the "easterners, from out past the Crinna" as savages and weirdos, and how the Gurkish and the natives of Dagoska hate each other, and more things like that.
I am quite curious to see how it all ends.
59. Kristine Kathryn Rusch, Duplicate Effort -- eh. I like this series OK, but mostly for the human/alien culture clashes, and this was the first of the books I read that didn't have any of that, just all-human conflict with some clone stuff in. Which is OK, but not as interesting. Also, either it was worse in this book or I just noticed it more because I was less engrossed by the subject matter, but the writing is really kind of clunky, lots of short declarative sentences, just, not elegance. I do like Talia, Miles's newly aquired clone-daughter, and the female investigator seemed intriguing, but none of the others feel like characters, just sort of actors doing things. Looks like I was underwhelmed by the previous installment I read, too. I wonder if the series is getting weaker, or I'm just losing interest in it...
60. Michelle Sagara, Cast in Fury -- the Leontine book, which was interesting, because I always did find the bits of Leontine culture we could see quite fascinating. In general this series feels like it's moving away from the initial impression it gave me: not!Elves, humaniform Dragons, winged dudes, lions who walk on hind legs, and several supposedly amusing humans -- together, they fight crime! -- towards a deeper exploration of the races, which is pretty cool. So. The premise of this one, according to the blurb, seemed laughable -- Kaylin helping put on a play -- but the play aspect actually worked pretty well (there was some slightly ponderous meta about art, but not too much of it), and I ended up kind of liking the volatile playwright, who is played not only for laughs. And there's actually a much deeper Leontine plot, which was quite cool. I like Marcus's wives, especially the Matriarch, and the way she refers to the others as her wives (in general, the structure and laws of the Pridlea were well done). I enjoyed the relatively cameo appearances by Nightshade and Tiamaris (especially working together), and the Dragon-slaying blade which get probably the nicest bit of description: "Meliannos blazed in the evening sky. And Kaylin understood then why someone would name their weapon." I continue to really like Sanabalis, especially when he (genuinely) utters lines like: "It goes against my better judgement [...] But I admit I have a mild reluctance to kill you all. Ybelline's wonerfulness I've heard enough about, and the whole thing between Kaylin and Severn -- I really wish it would either go somewhere or stop being set up, because the status quo is rather boring to me, and not worth dwelling on. Also, the writing continue to be frustrating. It's not clean -- there are all these parentheticals and asides and bits of stream-of-consciousness and attempts at clever phrases for Kaylin, but it just gets in the way of the action and/or emotion most of the time, instead of adding flavor, which is what I think it's supposed to be doing? It's not bad enough to seriously interfere with my enjoyment of the books, but it's just annoying. Still, I'm always excited to see a new book from this series, because I do enjoy the worldbuilding and a few of the characters, Barrani and Dragon mostly. I see the next title -- Cast in Silence -- is out already. I should keep an eye out for it (although from reading the Amazon customer reviews, I'm not sure that I will like that one as much, since it seems to have a lot of the things that I don't like about this series in it (although it does seem to have more Tiamaris, which, yay).
Currently reading: Bloodhound by Tamora Pierce (but not sure if I'll finish it before year's end or not). Enjoying it, though!