Books read, late November.

[mrissa]

Elizabeth Bear (matociquala), Range of Ghosts. Discussed elsewhere.

Erin Bow, Plain Kate. I'm still not sure what I think of this one. Bow does several things with magic being trade or exchange, but the weight of the exchanges...comes out feeling pretty off to me in several regards. For a system that casts magic as gifts given and received, this is a

Comments

[diatryma]

When I started A Free Man of Color, I felt something relax in my brain. One paragraph in, and I knew I could trust Hambly with words. I'm taking the books in small pieces, but I will eventually get to them all.

[oursin]

The first several Elizabeth Georges were good, but there is a point at which I thought the series went off badly. Unfortunately the titles haven't stuck in my mind.

[takumashii]

I always feel replying to reviews is awkward, but you are one of the people I most trust to have interesting and thoughtful things to say about books, and I just got one saying "This might have been a good book if someone else had written it," so: thank you. Truly.

-Emily Horner

[mrissa]

Oh gosh, that's you? I had not associated this lj with a surname!

[vcmw]

The Horner book sounds great, and it looks like my library has it checked in - so thanks!

[tool_of_satan]

Jack Vance, The Dying Earth and The Eyes of the Overworld. These are the first two in an omnibus of this world. I found them vividly written and filled with loathsome people.

Yes. I would not necessarily recommend finishing the omnbibus, as in my opinion the other two books have even more loathsome characters and less interesting writing. (Cugel's Saga of course stars the same character as The Eyes of the Overworld, but he is significantly worse in the later book.)

These days when I want to read something like this I read Matt Hughes, who writes deliberately Dying Earth-esque books that don't make me want to take a shower afterwards. Admittedly, they are still light on female characters.

[elsmi]

Yes, this. I found the short stories weird and completely compelling in small doses, but I wish I'd just skipped the novels. My memory is of there being nothing there, with occasional exceptions where it managed to rise to achieve obnoxiousness.

[mrissa]

Yes. I read Matt Hughes, too, and the person who gave me the Vance is now also a pretty big Hughes fan and has lent me more.