Reviews, and offer
Hanukah drabble offer: Comment here with one of my fandoms and a prompt and I will try to do at least one drabble a day during Hanukah, which begins Dec. 4. If I am ambitious enough I may try to have one that stands as the shamash and continues eight nights. I do not, however, promise nine on the last night! (Fandoms: Buffy, Chuck, Firefly, Heroes, Nip/Tuck, Smallville, Supernatural, X-Files, or anything else you think I know and might be willing to try.) ETA: Prompts need not have a holiday/Jewish theme, and drabbles may not either.
Michael Marshall Smith, The Servants: Mark, a young boy dragged from London to a out-of-season seaside resort, resents his new location and, more, his new stepfather, who’s changing his mother in all sorts of unpleasant ways. But all isn’t as it seems, in his family or in their house; the downstairs tenant leads him into a strange netherworld that also seems to be falling apart. Smith’s portrayal of Mark’s resentment and resistance to unhappy facts is brutally honest, viscerally real, and never condescending. If anything, I thought the fantasy aspects of the story were a little pat, but I still enjoyed the ride.
Sarah Monette, The Bone Key: A series of stories about Kyle Murchison Booth, a bookish museum worker who keeps getting dragged into murderous occult situations. I want more Mildmay and Felix. This is much more Lovecraftian horror than her other work, and it’s diverting enough, but - well, it’s supposed to feel formal, I guess, somewhere between Wharton and Lovecraft with rigid social conventions encountering the unspeakable. You’ll probably like the stories if you like her other work or if you like Lovecraft done by people who can write, but I felt the clever author at work, whereas with Felix & Mildmay I get caught up in the characters and worldbuilding. Bonus points for Booth’s privately unapologetic sexuality, which is pivotal to some of the plots and irrelevant to others, just as it ought to be.
Lawrence Block, Hit Parade: A series of stories about Keller the hitman, in which Keller reassesses what he wants from life (mostly, stamp collecting). Despite Keller’s moments of making human connections and some updating of Keller’s life to deal with post-9/11 security and anxiety, his amoral nature is never really in doubt. The very last story, in which Keller encounters what is clearly Watership Down as mutated by a litigation-averse editor, is the most chilling because it stands as implicit commentary on the kind of people who’d happily read about Keller: What, it asks, are you doing enjoying this monster?
Harlan Coben, Promise Me: Myron Bolitar, the star of previous Coben novels, returns with an impulsive promise to two young girls of his acquaintance: If they’re ever in need of a ride from a non-drunk driver, they can call him anytime, anywhere, no questions asked. Unfortunately, one does, and immediately thereafter disappears. The resulting investigation connects to an earlier disappearance and puts Myron in six kinds of danger. The plot relies heavily on coincidence and on Myron’s effortless ability to call on people from all walks of life, but no more so than other thrillers of this type, and it moves briskly.
Firefly: The Official Companion, vol. 2: Still good fanservice, though they were scraping the bottom of the spaceship for some of the extras. Gorgeous photos; cast interviews fawning over the fans; and scripts for the remaining filmed episodes, but nothing unfilmed. There are mentions of a few possible storylines that the writers were kicking around, but not much detail - and nothing on Book’s backstory, sadly. Well worth it for the pretty.
Michael Marshall Smith, The Servants: Mark, a young boy dragged from London to a out-of-season seaside resort, resents his new location and, more, his new stepfather, who’s changing his mother in all sorts of unpleasant ways. But all isn’t as it seems, in his family or in their house; the downstairs tenant leads him into a strange netherworld that also seems to be falling apart. Smith’s portrayal of Mark’s resentment and resistance to unhappy facts is brutally honest, viscerally real, and never condescending. If anything, I thought the fantasy aspects of the story were a little pat, but I still enjoyed the ride.
Sarah Monette, The Bone Key: A series of stories about Kyle Murchison Booth, a bookish museum worker who keeps getting dragged into murderous occult situations. I want more Mildmay and Felix. This is much more Lovecraftian horror than her other work, and it’s diverting enough, but - well, it’s supposed to feel formal, I guess, somewhere between Wharton and Lovecraft with rigid social conventions encountering the unspeakable. You’ll probably like the stories if you like her other work or if you like Lovecraft done by people who can write, but I felt the clever author at work, whereas with Felix & Mildmay I get caught up in the characters and worldbuilding. Bonus points for Booth’s privately unapologetic sexuality, which is pivotal to some of the plots and irrelevant to others, just as it ought to be.
Lawrence Block, Hit Parade: A series of stories about Keller the hitman, in which Keller reassesses what he wants from life (mostly, stamp collecting). Despite Keller’s moments of making human connections and some updating of Keller’s life to deal with post-9/11 security and anxiety, his amoral nature is never really in doubt. The very last story, in which Keller encounters what is clearly Watership Down as mutated by a litigation-averse editor, is the most chilling because it stands as implicit commentary on the kind of people who’d happily read about Keller: What, it asks, are you doing enjoying this monster?
Harlan Coben, Promise Me: Myron Bolitar, the star of previous Coben novels, returns with an impulsive promise to two young girls of his acquaintance: If they’re ever in need of a ride from a non-drunk driver, they can call him anytime, anywhere, no questions asked. Unfortunately, one does, and immediately thereafter disappears. The resulting investigation connects to an earlier disappearance and puts Myron in six kinds of danger. The plot relies heavily on coincidence and on Myron’s effortless ability to call on people from all walks of life, but no more so than other thrillers of this type, and it moves briskly.
Firefly: The Official Companion, vol. 2: Still good fanservice, though they were scraping the bottom of the spaceship for some of the extras. Gorgeous photos; cast interviews fawning over the fans; and scripts for the remaining filmed episodes, but nothing unfilmed. There are mentions of a few possible storylines that the writers were kicking around, but not much detail - and nothing on Book’s backstory, sadly. Well worth it for the pretty.