bookish again!
Pam Rosenthal
This author does erotic historical romance. Actually, I've only read one book by her (Almost A Gentleman) and she's also the exception to my personal rule of "don't touch Regency/Victorian historicals" because she wrote a strong heroine. Despite the "erotica" title, though, it's not so much constant sexage as much as sensual romance at "opportune times"... I read this review once of a different author whose characters went at it like bunnies like, in the middle of a run for their lives, just because the "ache was too great". Not the case here.
Jean M. Auel, Earth's Children series
The Clan of the Cave Bear
The Valley of Horses
The Mammoth Hunters
The Plains of Passage
The Shelters of Stone
Okay, a word of caution here. I did enjoy this series, until the sixth book at least, but it's very tedious and I should specify that this is for hardcore history fans. This details the coexistence of the Neanderthals and the Cro-Magnons in the Paleolithic era, right at the cusp of the Neanderthal extinction.
Book one starts off with Ayla, an "Other" found by a Neanderthal clan that is fleeing the rubble of their ruined cavern. She's been marked by a mountain tiger, I believe, and is thus somewhat held in awe by these men, and yet rejected because she's different. She grows up loved by her adoptive mother, however, who is the Clan Chief's sister, and so she lives in relative peace for a while. I say relative, though, but she's raped by her "half"-brother at one point, and so on. In book two, her adoptive mother dies, and she's ousted from the clan after the Chief's death, left to wander as a "ghost" to them since she did them wrong somehow (I forget the specifics). She finds a valley where she finds a foal and a baby mountain tiger whose mother died in a rubble, I believe (sense a theme?). Then at one point she meets Jondalar, an "Other" like her, and the remainder of the book is spent with her learning to speak and to communicate, and sharing her ancient Neanderthal knowledge with him.
I'll spare you the rest of the synopsis, but yeah. It's fascinating, I'll admit. But my caution is this: Auel spends pages upon pages describing in minute detail the medicine Ayla learns and shares, and landscape, and so on. I learned to sort of read diagonally with this author, but it did get to be too much at one point. I'm done with this author, but I do rec her, since it does teach you so much about prehistory and the racism that must have taken place in those days, and so so so much more.
Edward Rutherfurd
I've only read The Princes of Ireland from Rutherfurd, but he's churned out an impressive array of historical books with impressive research: The Rebels of Ireland (a prequel of sorts to Princes), London, Sarum, The Forest, Russka, and now New York. I'll admit, though, this is another case of the Jean M. Auel, though on a lesser scale.
Princes tells the ancient history of Ireland, from the High Kings of Tara to the druid priests, to Saint Patrick and the Christianisation of Ireland, and the coming of the Vikings, right up until the Reformation. This is all told in short chronicles with different casts of characters, obviously, but it's very well told. Probably my favourite story was the first, the tragic story about Conall and Deirdre whose love is doomed because of his spiritual obligations. I wish I could thwack him on the head, seriously, but that is the most passionately told story of them all, imo. It's obvious a man wrote these stories ;P
Gena Showalter, Lords of the Underworld
The Darkest Fire (Geryon) (ebook only)
The Darkest Night (Maddox)
The Darkest Kiss (Lucien)
The Darkest Pleasure (Reyes)
The Darkest Prison (Atlas) (ebook only)
The Darkest Whisper (Sabin)
The Darkest Angel (Lysander) (ebook only)
The Darkest Passion (Aeron)
The Darkest Lie (Gideon)
Right. The LotU series will probably not be to everyone's taste, but for someone who enjoys JR Ward's band of "brother"/warriors, this could sate you while waiting for Ward to deliver her next book. I won't say I'm a fan of grandest proportions, but I enjoy the stories, even though I wouldn't re-read them over and over like I do Ward's ;) So let's describe this series, shall we?
The Lords of the Underworld are a band of immortal Greek warriors who fought for the king of gods. Insulted that they were not chosen to guard Pandora's box, the warriors decided to teach the gods a lesson and stole and opened it, setting the demons inside free and consequently losing the box in the mad fray. Ergo, the evils can't be returned inside, and so their punishment is to carry the demons inside of them. Violence, Disease, Death, Pain, Wrath, Promiscuity, Doubt, Lies, Disaster etc. are now inside the warriors forever and act as a sort of second personality. They all struggle against the demon inside.
The warriors now live with their curses up on a hill in Budapest castle. They keep to themselves for fear of wrecking havoc upon the humans. Their enemies are the Hunters, a band of human warriors out to kill all the perceived evil in the world - the lords being their main target.
The characters are intriguing, and the action and plot are fine. I think what I have a problem with is the mythological inaccuracy: Pandora was not a warrior like she is perceived to have been in the books. And that's just the beginning. Like the Dark-Hunters of Sherrilyn Kenyon, I rarely get into stuff that's completely inspired by mythology, but totally wrong. I don't hate this series, though, but it's just not my favourite ever. On the other hand, I do hate Sherrilyn Kenyon's writing, though not just because of the mythology issue (imho she writes like a ten year-old).
Dan Brown
The Da Vinci Code
Angels & Demons
Digital Fortress
Deception Point
The Lost Symbol
Right. You know I love suspense, right? Well, breaking codes is right up there! I know, I know, there's such a huge hype surrounding Brown and some people don't respect instantly-famous people, but... write a mystery like him and maybe I'll give credence to your belief that "hype creates shit". Ahem. The only one I haven't read yet is Deception Point, but I bought it to my sister for Christmas so it won't be long till I get to read it :)
Scott Westerfeld
Oooh, I have tons of Westerfeld ebooks on my puter but seeing as I don't like reading on the screen it may take me a while to crack them all. Anyway, but I did read Pretties this summer (book 2 of the Uglies series) and all of his stuff seems really fascinating. I think I was drawn to the Uglies world because of the "racism" involved and the absolute need for physical perfection in modern day that could turn into really horrific dimensions like the books suggest. A definite rec. In fact, I'm willing to bet that all his work is reccable. Not to mention that the writing tips on his blog are very inspiring :) A Neil Gaiman-like type in that respect.
Maria V. Snyder, Study series
Poison Study
Magic Study
Fire Study
I was recced this series by two lj friends who assured me that despite its being a young adult series, it was quite good. And it is! At least, from what I've read (Poison and half of Magic). Here's a synopsis of book one:
"Choose: a quick death or slow poison. About to be executed for murder, Yelena is offered a reprieve. She'll eat the best meals, have rooms in the palace, and risk assassination by anyone trying to kill the Commander of Ixia. And so Yelena chooses to become a food taster. But the chief of security, leaving nothing to chance, deliberately feeds her Butterfly's Dust, and only by appearing for her daily antidote will she delay an agonizing death from the poison. As Yelena tries to escape her dilemma, disasters keep mounting. Rebels plot to seize Ixia and she develops magical powers she can't control. Her life’s at stake again and choices must be made. But this time the outcomes aren’t so clear!"
From beginning to end, the book is engrossing. I actually lent my copy to the secretary where I worked this summer and she also devoured it in, like, one weekend. So yeah, mystery lovers, thou shalt (probably) love.
Kathleen Givens, Highland series
On a Highland Shore
Rivals for the Crown
Scottish historical set in the 13th century, this series tells of how the MacGannon clan (Kilgannon series, which I have not read) was founded in 1263, when Alexander III of Scotland and King Haakon of Norway were haggling over the ownership of the Hebrides and led to Viking raids on the western shore. In Rivals, the next generation is caught up in the turmoil that Scotland is plunged into after the death of King Alexander’s only heir, Margaret, the Maid of Norway, who died on the journey to claim her throne. Both books are poignant, and absolutely not light-hearted. There is war, as I mentioned, and friends torn apart, and religious disputes, and tragedies, and of course a few triumphs just so it's not all so gloomy :) I truly enjoyed this gift from my sister, though again I recommend for history fans and especially Scottish history fans.
Aaaaand, I think that's it. For now :)