effluvia

Mar 26, 2009 21:54

Eons ago (well, sometime before 2004), I was at a Worldcon (that's the World Science Fiction Convention to you mundanes) and someone handed me a free book. This happens frequently at Worldcon, which is one of the many things to love about it.

Anyway, I had never heard of the author, but I read a few pages and it failed to grab me so I set it aside.

Years went by, and then a week or two ago I was looking for something to read while I waited impatiently for the fifth naominovik book to arrive, so I picked up the aforementioned free book again. This time I got farther into it, and managed to plow through the whole thing. The book, by the way, is The Ill-Made Mute by Cecilia Dart Thornton.

You know, sometimes you read a book that's so well-written that you don't even mind that the story itself is not really all that interesting or original. Conversely, sometimes a story can be so gripping that you can overlook writing that's maybe not the best.

And then there are those times when neither of those apply, and yet, you keep reading. Why? Who knows?

This is not a bad book. The story is somewhat cliched but with a few interesting twists. But man oh man, if there isn't a word for the scifi-fantasy version of purple prose, we'll have to invent one just for Cecilia Dart-Thornton. Oy.

Try this excerpt on for size:Here where the sun never shone, a bone-coldness permeated -- the intense frigidity of stone that had never quickened to the touch of the day-star. Yet even though the river flowed somewhere high above, no dampness reached out clammy fingers or slid weeping down the walls. The air was not dank or musty or tinged with the odors of subterranean centuries -- soil, stone, roots, pale, soft-bodied things that hid from light -- instead it was as sweet as the free and blowing airs of the upper world, which carried the scnet of flowers and leaves and the subtle freshness of clear skies.
Oy. Or this:"Fair device!" he exclaimed, his eyes alighting upon the container of blueberries. "This horn is wrought more cunningly than any I have seen." He picked it up, turning it in his hands. Berries scattered like beads of lapis lazuli. "Its aspect is antique," he murmured to himself, "yet it is as unblemished as if newly made. Such curious and exquisite craftsmanship! Methinks this is some family heirloom, perhaps fashioned during the Era of Glory."
I say again OY. And the entire book is like that -- nearly 500 pages (hardcover) of that kind of language. It's unbelievable really. It started to take on a kind of morbid fascination, as I kept wondering whether she could really keep it up throughout the entire book. And indeed, she could.

And then the dang book ended without wrapping up the whole plot! I knew it was the first of a trilogy, but sheesh.

So now I find myself in the interesting position of wanting to know what happens, but not wanting to actually READ the other books. I wonder if I can just read the Amazon reviews and learn enough to satisfy my curiosity. heh.

In related news, my "read in 2009" tag on LibraryThing now contains fifteen books. Go me! :)

Also, completely randomly, here's a muffin recipe that I sort of invented tonight.
1 cup flour
1/2 cup quick-cooking oats
2/3 cup packed brown sugar
1 tsp salt
2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
2 tbsp oil
2 tbsp applesauce
3/4 cup milk or water

Preheat oven to 400. Mix together dry ingredients. Add wet ingredients and stir quickly until just incorporated. Fill muffin tins and bake 20-25 minutes. Makes 10-12 muffins in my tins.

reading, what i did today, books, minutiae, 2009recipes

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