Latest reading
I've noticed that I usually don't have that much energy to post a lot while I have workdays - maybe some short random stuff - but then when I'm free from work, I suddenly start spamming my f-list, since I finally have time and energy to catch up on things. And make lengthier posts, like this one on my latest reading:
30. Justina Robson: Keeping It Real
31. Justina Robson: Selling Out
34. Justina Robson: Going Under
Justina Robson's Quantum Gravity books are fast-paced and fun books set in the near future where the Quantum Bomb of 2015 changed everything. Our world is now closely connected to several other realms, most of whom have more magic than this world has ever had.
The main protagonist, Lila Black, lost most of her body in a mission in Faerie, but was rebuilt into a cyborg. She is still very much trying to come to terms with her new half-robotic, half-AI body, and with what happened to her.
So when her first mission turns out to be a bodyguard for an elven rocker, you can say she is not too pleased with the job. But Zal turns out to be nothing like she imagined. And when he is kidnapped, she must follow the trail back into Faerie in order to save him.
The second and third books follow the story right from where the previous book left. In books two, she travels to Demonia, the world of demons (which is nothing like Hell), and in book three the group's journey takes them to Otopia, the world of the fae.
In the background of all the action is a bigger mystery of what exactly was the Quantum Bomb and what is happening to the connected worlds now. Lila's new form turns out not to be a bit more mysterious, and things aren't of course helped at all by the agency's suspicious nature which makes them doubt anything and anybody and try to do their best to control Lila.
The second book felt a bit clunky at times, with too much metaphysical pondering and character introspection, but the story picked up again in book three.I very much liked these books and am already looking forward to the fourth book, Chasing the Dragon, which should come out in Autumn.
32. Martine Leavitt: Keturah and Lord Death
This books is a fairy-talesque love story, where a village girl gets lost in the woods and bargains with Lord Death for more time, so that she can find her true love before she must die. It is also a story of a close-knit village, of prejudice and friendship. I think I might have liked it a bit more if I were younger, but now it felt a bit light after the Robson books. A light, fast sweet snack, you could say. Still, very nice.
33. Julia Quinn: Mr. Cavendish, I Presume
Mr. Cavendish, I Presume is a companion book to Quinn's The Lost Duke of Wyndham, telling the events from another point of view. As an experiment, it sounds interesting, but the end result doesn't quite work.
I like Quinn's writing a lot, but there is a lot of repetition from the other book and Thomas and Amelia's romance and Thomas's struggling with the changes in his position (avoiding spoilers) aren't enough to carry the book on itself. It would probably have been to just write on book and include both love stories in it rather than separate them into two books.
35. Fay Weldon: Life Force
This novel tells about a group of friends whose fates and relationships are all tangled together. Especially the women, who all seem to have at some point or another have fallen under the spell of Leslie Beck. There is friendship, resentment, jealousy, and disappointment. It was an okay read, even though I didn't really like the book that much.
30. Justina Robson: Keeping It Real
31. Justina Robson: Selling Out
34. Justina Robson: Going Under
Justina Robson's Quantum Gravity books are fast-paced and fun books set in the near future where the Quantum Bomb of 2015 changed everything. Our world is now closely connected to several other realms, most of whom have more magic than this world has ever had.
The main protagonist, Lila Black, lost most of her body in a mission in Faerie, but was rebuilt into a cyborg. She is still very much trying to come to terms with her new half-robotic, half-AI body, and with what happened to her.
So when her first mission turns out to be a bodyguard for an elven rocker, you can say she is not too pleased with the job. But Zal turns out to be nothing like she imagined. And when he is kidnapped, she must follow the trail back into Faerie in order to save him.
The second and third books follow the story right from where the previous book left. In books two, she travels to Demonia, the world of demons (which is nothing like Hell), and in book three the group's journey takes them to Otopia, the world of the fae.
In the background of all the action is a bigger mystery of what exactly was the Quantum Bomb and what is happening to the connected worlds now. Lila's new form turns out not to be a bit more mysterious, and things aren't of course helped at all by the agency's suspicious nature which makes them doubt anything and anybody and try to do their best to control Lila.
The second book felt a bit clunky at times, with too much metaphysical pondering and character introspection, but the story picked up again in book three.I very much liked these books and am already looking forward to the fourth book, Chasing the Dragon, which should come out in Autumn.
32. Martine Leavitt: Keturah and Lord Death
This books is a fairy-talesque love story, where a village girl gets lost in the woods and bargains with Lord Death for more time, so that she can find her true love before she must die. It is also a story of a close-knit village, of prejudice and friendship. I think I might have liked it a bit more if I were younger, but now it felt a bit light after the Robson books. A light, fast sweet snack, you could say. Still, very nice.
33. Julia Quinn: Mr. Cavendish, I Presume
Mr. Cavendish, I Presume is a companion book to Quinn's The Lost Duke of Wyndham, telling the events from another point of view. As an experiment, it sounds interesting, but the end result doesn't quite work.
I like Quinn's writing a lot, but there is a lot of repetition from the other book and Thomas and Amelia's romance and Thomas's struggling with the changes in his position (avoiding spoilers) aren't enough to carry the book on itself. It would probably have been to just write on book and include both love stories in it rather than separate them into two books.
35. Fay Weldon: Life Force
This novel tells about a group of friends whose fates and relationships are all tangled together. Especially the women, who all seem to have at some point or another have fallen under the spell of Leslie Beck. There is friendship, resentment, jealousy, and disappointment. It was an okay read, even though I didn't really like the book that much.