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What were you expecting?

fantasy

Sword and Pen by Rachel Caine

January 11, 2021 by Zannah Leave a Comment

Started: 1/3/21
Finished: 1/11/21

Last in the Great Library series. It ends well, but there’s a magical element that feels…not shoehorned in exactly, but maybe not as well-developed as everything else. These books have a lot going on, and I think the series could have ended without it. BUT I liked them very much, and I’m planning to read some of the author’s other stuff.

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Posted in: What I've Been Reading Tagged: ebook, fantasy, library, The Great Library series

Tooth and Claw by Jo Walton

January 2, 2021 by Zannah Leave a Comment

Started: 12/27/20
Finished: 1/2/21

NOT what I expected. I mean, the book cover says straight out it’s a Victorian/Regency novel but with dragons, and it would be ridiculous to expect dragons to behave exactly like humans even with that premise, but a couple of things still took me by surprise. Good surprise, if these two genres are your thing (and they are mine).

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Posted in: What I've Been Reading Tagged: dragons, fantasy, physical

Smoke and Iron by Rachel Caine

December 25, 2020 by Zannah Leave a Comment

Started: 12/19/20
Finished: 12/25/20

Book 4 in the Great Library series.  The stakes keep getting higher.  No, the stakes have always been the same.  The tension is ratcheting up.

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Posted in: What I've Been Reading Tagged: ebook, fantasy, library, The Great Library series

Ash and Quill by Rachel Caine

December 14, 2020 by Zannah Leave a Comment

Started: 12/9/20
Finished: 12/14/20

Book 3 in the Great Library series.  How will our rebels overcome evil in this installment?  I’m not telling.  You’ll have to read it.

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Posted in: What I've Been Reading Tagged: ebook, fantasy, library, The Great Library series

Paper and Fire by Rachel Caine

December 5, 2020 by Zannah Leave a Comment

Started: 12/2/20
Finished: 12/5/20

Second in the Great Library series, still good stuff.

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Posted in: What I've Been Reading Tagged: ebook, fantasy, library, The Great Library series

Ink and Bone by Rachel Caine

November 17, 2020 by Zannah Leave a Comment

Started: 11/14/20
Finished: 11/17/20

This is the first book in the Great Library series, and it came highly recommended.  I’ve been burned (heh) by that before, so I didn’t have particularly high hopes, especially when I realized that our main characters were all teenagers (sigh), but what a wonderful surprise this one turned out to be!  It starts out with one premise, immediately makes you rethink it, and then gradually gives you a whole different perspective, and I loved it.

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Posted in: What I've Been Reading Tagged: ebook, fantasy, library, The Great Library series

St. Lucy’s Home for Girls Raised by Wolves: Stories by Karen Russell

November 14, 2020 by Zannah Leave a Comment

Started: 11/14/20
Gave up: 11/14/20

I read the first short story in this collection and started the second, and no, thank you.  These are not for me.  A little too graphic, a little to uncomfortable, a little too “I’m not sure what happened here”, and I decided to move on.

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Posted in: What I've Been Reading Tagged: collection, ebook, fantasy, gave up, library

The Raven Tower by Ann Leckie

November 13, 2020 by Zannah Leave a Comment

Started: 11/1/20
Finished: 11/13/20

This book marks the first time I’ve been disappointed by an Ann Leckie book.  The style is different, but interesting-different, not off-putting, so that was fine, but I finished this book over a month ago and I cannot remember the ending.  I remember the reveal, but I don’t know what happens to the characters.  So…I suppose that’s saying something about how I feel about this book.

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Posted in: What I've Been Reading Tagged: ebook, fantasy, gods, standalone

Abhorsen by Garth Nix

November 1, 2020 by Zannah Leave a Comment

Started: 10/29/20
Finished: 11/1/20

Third book in the Abhorsen series, combines all the characters and picks up immediately after the second book.  Good ending to the first trilogy.

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Posted in: What I've Been Reading Tagged: Abhorsen series, death, ebook, fantasy, library

Lirael by Garth Nix

October 29, 2020 by Zannah Leave a Comment

Started: 10/24/20
Finished: 10/29/20

Second book in the Abhorsen series, with a better main character than the first book and a companion who’s much more fun.

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Posted in: What I've Been Reading Tagged: Abhorsen series, death, ebook, fantasy, library

Sabriel by Garth Nix

October 24, 2020 by Zannah Leave a Comment

Started: 10/15/20
Finished: 10/24/20

I found this slow to start, but it eventually grabbed me, and when I finished it, I jumped straight into the second book.

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Posted in: What I've Been Reading Tagged: Abhorsen series, death, ebook, fantasy, library

Gods of Jade and Shadow by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

September 19, 2020 by Zannah Leave a Comment

Started: 9/18/20
Gave up: 9/19/20

I gave up on this one, but not through any fault of its own.  I just wasn’t in the mood. It’s set in early 20th century Mexico, and maybe it’s fantasy and maybe it’s magical realism (which I generally do NOT like), but there are gods and bargains and LOTS of discussions of towns and their histories, and yeah.  Not in the mood.  It has really good reviews, so I feel bad about giving up, but not that bad.

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Posted in: What I've Been Reading Tagged: ebook, fantasy, gave up, gods, library, magical realism

The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow

September 18, 2020 by Zannah 2 Comments

Started: 9/9/20
Finished: 9/18/20

I was really looking forward to this one – it was nominated for a Hugo this year, I loved the short story she was nominated for last year, and I liked the short story she was nominated for this year.  The book didn’t start well for me.  It was interesting, and the premise is interesting, but the writing felt…amateurish.  It got better (I think), but the book within a book thing took too long to pay off.  I did eventually get hooked, but I found myself thinking about giving up on it a couple of times.  If I had read it between the ages of 10 and 18, maybe, I probably would have loved it.

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Posted in: What I've Been Reading Tagged: ebook, fantasy, Hugo nominee, library

The Belles by Dhonielle Clayton

August 30, 2020 by Zannah Leave a Comment

Started: 8/28/20
Gave up: 8/30/20

It feels familiar at the beginning, and I wasn’t in the mood for another same-old story, but I’d heard good things about it and the premise is fascinating, so I kept going. Then there were hints of something really dark and awful going on that the heroine is going to find out, and okay, I’m interested, but she doesn’t follow up!  Or she’s more interested in the same-old!  Are you kidding me?  And then I found out that it’s the first in a series, so I’m not even going to find everything out by the end of the book, and you know, I’m making up my mind to quit reading as I’m typing this.

Yup, I just read a few more pages and then skimmed a few more and NOTHING IS HAPPENING.  Next!

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Posted in: What I've Been Reading Tagged: ebook, fantasy, gave up, library, magic, The Belles, YA

Harrow the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir

August 22, 2020 by Zannah Leave a Comment

Started: 8/15/20
Finished: 8/22/20

I wanted to love this book because I loved the one before it, but I was SO confused by it.  It seemed to be rewriting the first book in flashback, with different characters and different events, and while that does get explained, it was confusing, not gripping.  And then at around 70%, it got 1000 times more fun for me, for reasons I will not explain because spoilers, but that wasn’t enough. And then it ended, and what?  I don’t know what happened.  I don’t understand the world this series is set in.  I love the character of Gideon from the first book, and I really feel for Harrow in both books, and I WILL read the third book because I just have to know, but I was disappointed not to love this one as much as the first.

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Posted in: What I've Been Reading Tagged: ancient tech, ebook, fantasy, library, magic, SF, space, The Locked Tomb

Tam Lin by Pamela Dean

August 14, 2020 by Zannah Leave a Comment

Started: 8/9/20
Finished: 8/14/20

I don’t know how to talk about this one without spoilers.  First, several authors and reviewers I trust LOVE this book.  I know the story of Tam Lin because I’ve read two other adaptations of it (Rose and Rot by Kat Howard, which I really enjoyed, and Fire and Hemlock by Diana Wynne Jones, which, according to these same authors and reviewers, should also have been a life-changing experience – it was not).  Since I knew the story already, I was looking for clues early and pretty sure I was seeing them, but OH MY GOD this story took forEVER to get to the point, and then it rushed through EVERYthing right at the end.  And left a lot of questions.  NOT lifechanging for me.  Maybe if I’d read it at a younger age…or maybe not.

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Posted in: What I've Been Reading Tagged: ebook, fairy, fantasy, library

Dark Light by Jodi Taylor

July 29, 2020 by Zannah Leave a Comment

Started: 7/26/20
Finished: 7/29/20

SO DISAPPOINTING.  I mean, it was enjoyable enough, but I was expecting a completely different story since this is supposed to be a sequel to the White Silence AND it picks up right after the other ended.  It went in completely different directions (more than once!) and seemed to have nothing to do with the plot of the first book (which had not been resolved), and when it did pick up the plot of the first book (sort of), it resolved unsatisfactorily.  Meh.  Also, the writing felt more amateurish than the first book and both books felt like that compared to her other books.  I don’t understand how that could be, but there it is.

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Posted in: What I've Been Reading Tagged: ebook, fantasy, supernatural

White Silence by Jodi Taylor

July 26, 2020 by Zannah Leave a Comment

Started: 7/23/20
Finished: 7/26/20

This book, or at least parts of it, scared both Corey and Mel, so I went into it gingerly.  If it was dark outside and I thought it was going in a scary direction, I put it down until the next day.  Maybe that’s why the parts that scared them didn’t scare me.  Regardless, I liked it.  Weird sinister things kept happening to the character, and I REALLY wanted to know what was going on.  Super glad there was a second book.

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Posted in: What I've Been Reading Tagged: ebook, fantasy, supernatural

Never Yawn Under a Banyan Tree by Nibedita Sen

July 23, 2020 by Zannah Leave a Comment

Started: 7/23/20
Finished: 7/23/20

I LOVED this story.  I had just read several heavier stories, some horror, and then I found this, and it’s funny, it’s light, and it’s lovely.  Here’s a link:

Never Yawn Under a Banyan Tree

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Posted in: What I've Been Reading Tagged: fantasy, ghost, Hugo packet, short story

Leviathan Sings to Me in the Deep by Nibedita Sen

July 23, 2020 by Zannah Leave a Comment

Started: 7/22/20
Finished: 7/23/20

I don’t think I can say I liked this story (about a whaling ship and its crew), but I keep remembering parts of it randomly.  It won’t leave me alone.

Leviathan Sings to Me in the Deep

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Posted in: What I've Been Reading Tagged: ebook, fantasy, historical, Hugo packet, short story
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