Some books of february
Butcher, Jim
Changes
Bit of a tour-de-force book - and damn you, Mr. Butcher, damn you and your cliffhanger.
George R.R. Martin
A Game of Thrones
So, I basically got around to reading this because the tv series is going to start soon, and I tend to try to read the books first, and what do you know, it's good. Very good. I mean, I read a couple of those Dunk & Egg short stories and wasn't impressed, which is probably why I didn't get around to reading this series years ago, but this is fun. My favourite character so far is Tyrion Lannister - who is kind of like a fantasy Miles Vorkosigan, just one who had the bad luck to be born into an evil family with a father who would really have deserved to be called the Butcher of Komarr or someplace more medieval and less planetary, but, you know.
China Mieville
Kraken
Oh, this is fun - mystical doomsday cults running around all over London, an ancient Egyptian spirit leading the familiars' union in a strike, a specialist police team conjuring up police spirits, and our poor hero has to find out who stole a giant squid from the museum he works at to prevent the end of the world. Well, the wrong end of the world. It's a bit like Neverwhere, only not - Neverwhere on drugs, maybe?
Alan Moore
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: The Black Dossier
First you read it. Then, if you're me, you track down the relevant annotations page and read the whole thing again. And then you'll probably still feel like you're missing stuff, but still. By the way, is it just me having developed some sort of over-sensitivity or is Moore's stuff getting more and more sex-fixated these days?
Michelle Sagara
Cast in Silence
This series is getting better - admittedly, part of my initial annoyance might have had to do with it presenting itself as high police fantasy, like Tamora Pierce's books about Beka Copper, which it really isn't, no matter how much the heroine is a local cop. Still, it finally seems to be rolling plotwise - though truth be told, I'm beginning to be irritated with how long it takes the books to get around to presenting the Dragon Court and the Emperor - considering how much they talk about them and how ominious it all is, I'm afraid the actual appearance is doomed to be a let down.
Dorothy L. Sayers
Strong Poison, Five Red Herrings, Have His Carcase, Hangman's Holiday, Murder Must Advertise, The Nine Tailors, Gaudy Night, Busman's Honeymoon, In the Teeth of the Evidence.
No, I don't like Lord Peter Wimsey and Harriet Vane at all. Whatever gave you that idea. It's not like I read the Wimsey Papers and like I'm going to read those authorised sequals or anything...
Also, while Montague Egg will probably be a favourite, then most of the non-series short stories are quite good. The Leopard Lady gave me strong Stephen King associations, actually, and The Cyprian Cat made me kind of sad for the poor cat-lady.
Total books and comics read this month: 32. (Jep, still unemployed - though hopeful *quickly knocks on wood, 7-9-13*)
Currently reading: Ogier Ghislain de Busbecq: Turkish Letters