Reading
Despite the writing and far too much work, I've been doing a lot of reading. I finished two books in the last two days! Not sure what I'll pick up next, but these were both very good.
I don't have much to say about the end, other than ow and now I should really reread to see what I pick up the second time around, because I don't know what he's planning with Lesley. I spent the second book appreciating the way he handled her scenes while building up a slow store of resentment at the way I thought he was writing her out of the action, and then the end happened and all was forgiven. I'm taking her arc on trust and very curious to see where it's going. Peter misses so much when it comes to the people around him, which isn't something protagonists are often allowed to do; I don't think he has a clue what's going on, either.
Despite his insistence that he doesn't stand a chance against the Faceless Man, Peter's done a pretty darn good job holding his own in the last couple of books, and I anticipate that he'll be the key factor in finally taking him out--he is, after all, the protagonist. Possibly it'll come down to Lesley in the end. I'm very curious to see how that turns out.
That said, I hope Aaronovitch delivers on the much-hinted-at showdown between the Faceless Man and "Thomas 'Oh sorry, was that your Tiger Tank?' Nightingale" at some point, because the altercation between him and Varvara Sidorovna was brilliant. It can be hard for prose to convey convincing and compelling magical battles. This one felt cinematic in the best possible way--I'll have another order, please.
Fly by Night, Frances Hardinge (no spoilers)
I picked this up thanks to a rec from
troisroyaumes, and I'm very glad I did. Hardinge builds a fascinating, though interestingly not fantastic in the genre sense of the term, world and populates it with unlikely characters and events that are nevertheless absolutely convincing. In the US, this seems to be marketed as Middle Grade (ages 10+ according to Amazon, grades 5-9 according to the library review, which just edges on Young Adult). It's long, complicated, and quite dark in places, but I question that intended audience mostly because the themes aren't Middle Grade at all, the way I tend to think of them. Which is not to say I wouldn't have enjoyed it at the protagonist's age (she's twelve for most of the book), but that I think US marketing strategies are--interesting--and this reads very differently from, say, the Artemis Fowl series, which was also imported to the US and fits rather better into the Middle Grade stamp. I'm tempted to compare this to Megan Whalen Turner's books in some ways.
comments at http://pendrecarc.dreamwidth.org/166327.html. Feel free to comment wherever you prefer.
I don't have much to say about the end, other than ow and now I should really reread to see what I pick up the second time around, because I don't know what he's planning with Lesley. I spent the second book appreciating the way he handled her scenes while building up a slow store of resentment at the way I thought he was writing her out of the action, and then the end happened and all was forgiven. I'm taking her arc on trust and very curious to see where it's going. Peter misses so much when it comes to the people around him, which isn't something protagonists are often allowed to do; I don't think he has a clue what's going on, either.
Despite his insistence that he doesn't stand a chance against the Faceless Man, Peter's done a pretty darn good job holding his own in the last couple of books, and I anticipate that he'll be the key factor in finally taking him out--he is, after all, the protagonist. Possibly it'll come down to Lesley in the end. I'm very curious to see how that turns out.
That said, I hope Aaronovitch delivers on the much-hinted-at showdown between the Faceless Man and "Thomas 'Oh sorry, was that your Tiger Tank?' Nightingale" at some point, because the altercation between him and Varvara Sidorovna was brilliant. It can be hard for prose to convey convincing and compelling magical battles. This one felt cinematic in the best possible way--I'll have another order, please.
Fly by Night, Frances Hardinge (no spoilers)
I picked this up thanks to a rec from
troisroyaumes, and I'm very glad I did. Hardinge builds a fascinating, though interestingly not fantastic in the genre sense of the term, world and populates it with unlikely characters and events that are nevertheless absolutely convincing. In the US, this seems to be marketed as Middle Grade (ages 10+ according to Amazon, grades 5-9 according to the library review, which just edges on Young Adult). It's long, complicated, and quite dark in places, but I question that intended audience mostly because the themes aren't Middle Grade at all, the way I tend to think of them. Which is not to say I wouldn't have enjoyed it at the protagonist's age (she's twelve for most of the book), but that I think US marketing strategies are--interesting--and this reads very differently from, say, the Artemis Fowl series, which was also imported to the US and fits rather better into the Middle Grade stamp. I'm tempted to compare this to Megan Whalen Turner's books in some ways.
comments at http://pendrecarc.dreamwidth.org/166327.html. Feel free to comment wherever you prefer.