Reading roundup

[hamsterwoman]

53. The Way of the Wizard, edited by John Joseph Adams -- pretty good collection. One of the things I was impressed by is the mix of famous and new-to-me names, the number of female authors in the anthology (just a little less than half), and the number of non-Caucasian names (still a distinct minority, but more than one normally sees).

Comments

[claireobscure]

Ooooh, thank you for the info on the Weetzie book - I loved, loved, loved those books so much and would love to read all-grown-up Weetzie's adventures. ♥

[hamsterwoman]

I would love to hear what you think about it if you end up reading! And happy to have brought its existence to your attention (I had no idea she'd written a sequel about grown-up Weetzie, either. It didn't feel like a YA book, so I guess it wouldn't really be shelved with YA, which are the only places I've ever seen her books...)

[lobolita]

I want to read Naamah's Blessing, but I don't want to buy the hardcover, argh. It doesn't fit in with the rest of my books ;-) I will have to wait I guess, if only I knew how long... (I'm trying very hard not to look at your spoilers, I love spoilers though, so I guess at one point I will cave in!!!)

[hamsterwoman]

It was pretty enjoyable! I liked it best of the three Moirin books (though I definitely wouldn't buy it in hardcover :)

[lunasariel]

This was a pretty cool piece of Magicians canon
Oooh, this collection has Magicians stuff in it? I remember seeing his name on the cover while browsing, but I guess I thought it wasn't related to his Magians-verse. Now I have to go pick this up! (Of course, I might actually want to read The Magician King first...XD)

I didn't know Libba Bray had written anything beyond the Gemma Doyle trilogy! I didn't read your review, since I'll probably read it myself, but I'm interested to see how she handles a more modern tone.

overall the whole thing seemed to build up to this climax that was supposed to be full of horror and just sort of fizzled to me
Yeah, that's one of the reasons I haven't really been keeping up with Simon R. Green. Great secondary characters, great buildups, *great* ideas...but not much to show for it, in the end.

[hamsterwoman]

I still need to read The Magician King, too. I thought "Endgame" worked just fine without having read it, though possibly there's added richness I'm missing and just don't know about it :P

I have read some of Libba Bray's modern-set short stories in anthologies (Zombies vs Unicorns, maybe? and Geektastic), and I kind of like her "modern" voice more than her pseudo-Victorian one (though I do enjoy the Gemma Doyle books in their own right). The book was rather weird, and it took a while to grow on me, and ended up going in a direction I genuinely didn't expect that yet made perfect sense. I found it quite powerful in its own way, sort of as a slow build, and I would be very curious in seeing what you think of it if you do read it, because I wanted to talk to someone about it when I finished it, and I don't know anyone who's read it XD

Yeah, that's one of the reasons I haven't really been keeping up with Simon R. Green.Oh, so that's a typical thing he does? Bummer... I read the short story of his in the first anthology and liked it

[lunasariel]

I thought "Endgame" worked just fine without having read it, though possibly there's added richness I'm missing and just don't know about it :P
Yay! I guess that means that it can be read without fear of spoilers, so it's on my to-do list. ^.^

But if that's representative of how he writes, maybe I better quit while I'm ahead.
Eh, it's entirely possible that I'm being unfair. I've only read his Nightside books, and I found the infodumps to be a bit heavy handed, and the main character was something of a Harry Dresden knockoff, as well as a bit of a Gary-Stu, topped off with a dose of New Powers As The Plot Demands, but A) I'm picky about my urban fantasy, and B) the Nightside books are pretty well-regarded in general. So I wouldn't say give up on him entirely!

[hamsterwoman]

Nightside was what I was considering giving a shot... I don't mind a Harry Dresden knockoff as long as it's a competent one, but I also have plenty of stuff to read, so I'm in no hurry to embark on a series by an author I'm iffy about... Hmmm...

[lyssa027]

I liked Necklace of Kisses, and I always disliked Cherokee, I've always loved Weetzie and Witch Baby though

[hamsterwoman]

Yeah, Weetzie and Witch Baby were cool (though I thought the whole Angel Juan storyline got too prosletyze-y) but I could never work up much interest in Cherokee.