Friday rambling
I've been bored with all the music I play lately. Which is highly uncool. Today, however, I had the urge to play "Take me home, country roads" twice. Yay!
Also today, undoubtedly because I'm going out of town for a week, I've been contacted by 2 recruiters, 1 HR person (in response to a resume), and a band that's seeking a singer for whom I auditioned in July. Additionally, the Chipotle by my favorite library has been demoted to a B rating, and I have no clue when that happened because today was the first time in ages I've used the front door (I like the side-door, generally, so I can start by washing my hands in the ladies' room before ordering).
And, of course, I went to the library. Quick rundown of books.
1.5 stars out of 5: Rolling Thunder by J. Varley. Yep. The fact that he named the main character Podkayne is pretty much the only reason I haven't given this book less than 1 star. Mostly, Podkayne was a Mary-Sue . . . written by a man (so she was more obsessed with her breast size than she was by her exotic eye-color; she did, however, manage to be strong, tall, blonde, and an amazing musician, so we'll forgive the lack of purple eyes). Also, there was really no plot. This was deeply disappointing on many levels, not least of them being the sad lack-of-taste exhibited by book-jacket quote-guy Cory Doctorow, famous scriptwriter for old-school British sci-fi TV.
3 swords out of 5: The Book of Mordred by Vivian Vanvelde. I admit it. I've got a thing for Mordred. Mordred and Loki are the awesome, talented, nice guys who are hated by those they love for reasons they cannot alter and, after being beaten down too many times, rise up. Loki acts out; Mordred stages a coup for the good of all Britons. Their failures to rise above and change the system are very sad. Someday, I'm going to write a novel from the POV of Loki's therapist. Anyway, The Book of Mordred was more about the young girl he helps (saving her from certain death at age 5, protecting her from villagers in her preteens, and then sending her off to Avalon in his place) than about Mordred. So, probably a better book that I'm calling it, but not enough Mordred for me. I felt cheated. When's the sequel to Clegg's Mordred: Bastard Son coming out? Even if liking it does convince Amazon.com that I want to read horrible gay romance novels, I'm dying for my next Mordred installment.
3.5 space defense ships out of 5: Victory Conditions by Elizabeth Moon. Book 5 of 5 in the Vatta space-opera is not as strong as the rest, but it does tie-up all the loose ends and finish off everything. Really, the book is fairly lackluster, but I liked books 2 and 3 so much that I was just looking for closure here. For those who don't remember, this series starts out as a YA coming-of-age-r for our heroine (Kylara Vatta) who has been thrown out of the Space Defense Force Academy for being gullibly nice, ends up on one of her family's trading ships (they're a big merchant family), and then becomes the merchant ship's captain when everyone more useful dies (sabotage). There are space pirates and mercenary hordes, and Kylara rises to the challenges, becoming more than a YA heroine and growing into her role as fleet commander, after detouring through "privateer" and "trading ship".
Also today, undoubtedly because I'm going out of town for a week, I've been contacted by 2 recruiters, 1 HR person (in response to a resume), and a band that's seeking a singer for whom I auditioned in July. Additionally, the Chipotle by my favorite library has been demoted to a B rating, and I have no clue when that happened because today was the first time in ages I've used the front door (I like the side-door, generally, so I can start by washing my hands in the ladies' room before ordering).
And, of course, I went to the library. Quick rundown of books.
1.5 stars out of 5: Rolling Thunder by J. Varley. Yep. The fact that he named the main character Podkayne is pretty much the only reason I haven't given this book less than 1 star. Mostly, Podkayne was a Mary-Sue . . . written by a man (so she was more obsessed with her breast size than she was by her exotic eye-color; she did, however, manage to be strong, tall, blonde, and an amazing musician, so we'll forgive the lack of purple eyes). Also, there was really no plot. This was deeply disappointing on many levels, not least of them being the sad lack-of-taste exhibited by book-jacket quote-guy Cory Doctorow, famous scriptwriter for old-school British sci-fi TV.
3 swords out of 5: The Book of Mordred by Vivian Vanvelde. I admit it. I've got a thing for Mordred. Mordred and Loki are the awesome, talented, nice guys who are hated by those they love for reasons they cannot alter and, after being beaten down too many times, rise up. Loki acts out; Mordred stages a coup for the good of all Britons. Their failures to rise above and change the system are very sad. Someday, I'm going to write a novel from the POV of Loki's therapist. Anyway, The Book of Mordred was more about the young girl he helps (saving her from certain death at age 5, protecting her from villagers in her preteens, and then sending her off to Avalon in his place) than about Mordred. So, probably a better book that I'm calling it, but not enough Mordred for me. I felt cheated. When's the sequel to Clegg's Mordred: Bastard Son coming out? Even if liking it does convince Amazon.com that I want to read horrible gay romance novels, I'm dying for my next Mordred installment.
3.5 space defense ships out of 5: Victory Conditions by Elizabeth Moon. Book 5 of 5 in the Vatta space-opera is not as strong as the rest, but it does tie-up all the loose ends and finish off everything. Really, the book is fairly lackluster, but I liked books 2 and 3 so much that I was just looking for closure here. For those who don't remember, this series starts out as a YA coming-of-age-r for our heroine (Kylara Vatta) who has been thrown out of the Space Defense Force Academy for being gullibly nice, ends up on one of her family's trading ships (they're a big merchant family), and then becomes the merchant ship's captain when everyone more useful dies (sabotage). There are space pirates and mercenary hordes, and Kylara rises to the challenges, becoming more than a YA heroine and growing into her role as fleet commander, after detouring through "privateer" and "trading ship".