Books: A Beautiful Friendship
David Weber has moved the very successful "Honorverse" one step back in history and one step down the bookshelves, to present the story of young frontier-settler Stephanie Harrington and her discovery of the sentient race that she names "treecats" as a YA book. A Beautiful Friendship melds and expands on two previous Weber short stories, one about Stephanie bonding to Climbs Swiftly (soon named "Lionheart" by the humans) and the other about Scott MacDallan and his treecat buddy Swift Striker, I mean "Fisher."
This is a sweet, one-level book that goes through the three stages of new friendship rather quickly. The curiosity and first meeting are well-explored, as are the reservations about contact from the treecat perspective. The first test of friendship and the danger that brings them together are a bit hasty through the action sequence, but not too bad. The alternating gloss-over and deep dives about human politics and personal interactions in the second half made for a bumpy and uneven reading experience for me. I admit to flipping past some sections only to have to go back because suddenly the plot reappeared.
This is definitely a YA book for the younger emotions and advanced readers. It has adventure and excitement - treecats and hang gliding! - and none of those stupid romance issues that adult books drag around for no good reasons. ::grin::
And I'm on page 136 of Mastiff now. It's time for bed.
-- New-to-me books read in 2011 (as opposed to re-reads) --
January
Little Dee vol 2
Little Dee vol 3
Unusual Suspects
Harvest Moon
The Black Stallion (yes, I know, I should have read it with Black Beauty)
Ravens in the Library: Magic in the Bard's Name, with a pre-finished commentary here
The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms
Fang Bangers: An Erotic Anthology of Fangs, Claws, Sex and Love
Must Love Hellhounds
Truthseeker
February
Dark and Stormy Knights
Tortall and Other Lands
River Marked (2/28 - it arrived a day early)
March
Questionable Content, vol 1
How to Flirt with a Naked Werewolf
Lifeblood
Magic Bites
Skinwalker, A Jane Yellowrock Novel
Running with the Pack
Magic Burns
Blood Cross
April
"Skyblaze" Adventures in the Liaden Universe #17
Kings of the North
Goblin Tales
Do Not Sniff the Bees, Two Lumps book 6
Magic Strikes
Magic Bleeds
Mercy Blade
The Initiate Brother
May
Angelology
City of Pearl
An Artificial Night
Late Eclipses
June
After Hours: Tales from Ur-Bar
Magic Slays
Ghost Ship (e-ARC)
Warbreaker
July
Quarter Share
Half Share
Full Share
"Intelligent Design" (short story in the Liaden Universe, published online at Baen)
Heroes in Training
Serenity: Better Days
Serenity: Those Left Behind
Serenity: The Shepherd's Tale
Tiger's Curse
Calamities of Nature, vol 1
Troubled Waters
Wolfsbane and Mistletoe
In Fury Born
August
Naked City
Unnatural Issue
Home Improvement: Undead Edition
Summers at Castle Auburn
"Kin Ties" (short story in the Liaden Universe, found here)
Flying Blind
Archangel
Hunger Games
The Shape-Changer's Wife
A Matter of Magic
September
One Salt Sea
"Guaranteed Delivery" (short story of the Liaden Universe, found here)
Wayfinder
Double Share as an audiobook from PodioBooks.Com
Cast in Ruin
October
Captain's Share (as an audio book)
Land of Painted Caves
Owner's Share (as an audio book)
Beauty and the Werewolf
A Beautiful Friendship
-- Books abandoned rather than completed in 2011 --
February
Sing the Four Quarters, by Tanya Huff
August
Fuzzy Nation, by John Scalzi
October
Gamestorming (gave it to a co-worker)
-- Books Still in Progress --
These are books that I haven't totally given up on, I've just... put them aside... for now.
The Brand Within
If You Don't Have Big Breasts, Put Ribbons on Your Pigtails
Swords and Dark Magic
Battlestations
Wise Man's Fear
Down These Strange Streets
This is a sweet, one-level book that goes through the three stages of new friendship rather quickly. The curiosity and first meeting are well-explored, as are the reservations about contact from the treecat perspective. The first test of friendship and the danger that brings them together are a bit hasty through the action sequence, but not too bad. The alternating gloss-over and deep dives about human politics and personal interactions in the second half made for a bumpy and uneven reading experience for me. I admit to flipping past some sections only to have to go back because suddenly the plot reappeared.
This is definitely a YA book for the younger emotions and advanced readers. It has adventure and excitement - treecats and hang gliding! - and none of those stupid romance issues that adult books drag around for no good reasons. ::grin::
And I'm on page 136 of Mastiff now. It's time for bed.
-- New-to-me books read in 2011 (as opposed to re-reads) --
January
Little Dee vol 2
Little Dee vol 3
Unusual Suspects
Harvest Moon
The Black Stallion (yes, I know, I should have read it with Black Beauty)
Ravens in the Library: Magic in the Bard's Name, with a pre-finished commentary here
The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms
Fang Bangers: An Erotic Anthology of Fangs, Claws, Sex and Love
Must Love Hellhounds
Truthseeker
February
Dark and Stormy Knights
Tortall and Other Lands
River Marked (2/28 - it arrived a day early)
March
Questionable Content, vol 1
How to Flirt with a Naked Werewolf
Lifeblood
Magic Bites
Skinwalker, A Jane Yellowrock Novel
Running with the Pack
Magic Burns
Blood Cross
April
"Skyblaze" Adventures in the Liaden Universe #17
Kings of the North
Goblin Tales
Do Not Sniff the Bees, Two Lumps book 6
Magic Strikes
Magic Bleeds
Mercy Blade
The Initiate Brother
May
Angelology
City of Pearl
An Artificial Night
Late Eclipses
June
After Hours: Tales from Ur-Bar
Magic Slays
Ghost Ship (e-ARC)
Warbreaker
July
Quarter Share
Half Share
Full Share
"Intelligent Design" (short story in the Liaden Universe, published online at Baen)
Heroes in Training
Serenity: Better Days
Serenity: Those Left Behind
Serenity: The Shepherd's Tale
Tiger's Curse
Calamities of Nature, vol 1
Troubled Waters
Wolfsbane and Mistletoe
In Fury Born
August
Naked City
Unnatural Issue
Home Improvement: Undead Edition
Summers at Castle Auburn
"Kin Ties" (short story in the Liaden Universe, found here)
Flying Blind
Archangel
Hunger Games
The Shape-Changer's Wife
A Matter of Magic
September
One Salt Sea
"Guaranteed Delivery" (short story of the Liaden Universe, found here)
Wayfinder
Double Share as an audiobook from PodioBooks.Com
Cast in Ruin
October
Captain's Share (as an audio book)
Land of Painted Caves
Owner's Share (as an audio book)
Beauty and the Werewolf
A Beautiful Friendship
-- Books abandoned rather than completed in 2011 --
February
Sing the Four Quarters, by Tanya Huff
August
Fuzzy Nation, by John Scalzi
October
Gamestorming (gave it to a co-worker)
-- Books Still in Progress --
These are books that I haven't totally given up on, I've just... put them aside... for now.
The Brand Within
If You Don't Have Big Breasts, Put Ribbons on Your Pigtails
Swords and Dark Magic
Battlestations
Wise Man's Fear
Down These Strange Streets