magic

Fire and Hemlock by Diana Wynne Jones

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Started: 8/12/19
Finished: 8/18/19

Another book that was good but one I don’t know if I liked.  It’s a coming of age story, but the framing device was a little confusing…and then I was totally engrossed in the story, and the framing device sort of starts to make sense near the end (most of the story is within the frame, so it doesn’t matter in the moment), but then the very end made NO sense to me.  The book includes an essay by the author about the themes and inspirations, and I can tell you I missed all of that. It did make everything make more sense, and I don’t mean to say that the book didn’t make sense (except for the end, which was confusing), and now I’m not making sense, so I’ll end by saying that this book could be taught in a literature course and the students would get a lot out of it.

Creatures of Will and Temper by Molly Tanzer

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Started: 8/4/19
Finished: 8/12/19

A gender-swapped take on The Picture of Dorian Gray, but with magic (okay, like explicit magic).  And demons.  And sword-fighting!  I didn’t love it.  It was slow to start, and the two main characters were pretty annoying (they got better), and the demon plot took FOREVER to roll, and the two main characters got the same information from different sources, but the information was identical, and WE, the lucky readers, got to read about it both time, and okay, maybe I didn’t like it, either.  I mean, I didn’t hate it.  But I probably won’t read the sequel.

The Tale of the Three Beautiful Raptor Sisters, and the Prince Who Was Made of Meat by Brooke Bolander

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Started: 7/24/19
Finished: 7/25/19

I loved the voice of the narrator in this short story.  Same author as the sad elephant novella, but I would never have guessed that.  I feel like the plot is given away in the title, and I’m okay with that.

Trail of Lightning by Rebecca Roanhorse

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Started: 6/1/19
Finished: 6/7/19

I’ve been meaning to read this one for a year, and then it got nominated for a Hugo and I got it in the voter’s packet, so yay for me!  It’s a story about monsters and monsterslayers in a post-apocalyptic US, set on a Navajo reservation, and it’s pretty great.

The Mislaid Magician Or Ten Years After by Patricia C. Wrede and Caroline Stevermer

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Started: 5/4/19
Finished: 5/7/19

The third Cecelia and Kate book was the 2nd best.  Told in letters like the first one, although we get Thomas and James’ POVs, too, which is fun.  Best, though, is what happened to the mislaid magician in the title.  Fun, light, ridiculous, and fun.  (Did I mention it was fun?)

The Dark Days Deceit by Alison Goodman

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Started: 3/13/19
Finished: 3/16/19

Last in the Lady Helen series, we move the action to Bath and OH the drama and the men fighting over Lady Helen (even though she’s betrothed!) and the SECRETS and the clothes and poor Darby, and oh yes, fighting the big bad nasty demon-types.  And I knew it, I KNEW it, and I’m not going to tell you what I knew because spoilers, but it’s nice to be right.

This was fun. I’m bummed there’s no more.

The Dark Days Pact by Alison Goodman

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Started: 3/10/19
Finished: 3/13/19

Second in the Lady Helen series, we move the action to Brighton and Lady Helen has to dress like a man (gasp) and keep secrets from the duke who wants to marry her while also trying not to be attracted to the earl who may have murdered his wife (but clearly did not).  Also, there’s magic and power and killing nasty demon-types.

The Dark Days Club by Alison Goodman

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Started: 3/6/19
Finished: 3/9/19

This is the first in a trilogy about a Regency period noblewoman with parents who died scandal-ridden, who, as she turns 18 and starts her first season in London, finds out she’s got this supernatural power to fight nasty demon-types, and she might just have to save the world (but not in book 1).  And of course, her mentor is a smoldering earl accused of murdering his wife.  Such fun!

The Iron Dragon’s Daughter by Michael Swanwick

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Started: 2/5/19
Gave up: 2/7/19

This could have been (and might be, to a different reader) an interesting story about belonging and ownership of self and taking action to control your life, but it felt like several stories all muddled together.  It starts in a factory with child labor, but it leaves there quickly (and abruptly), with no sign any of that will be revisited.  Then it switches to a school, with great details about tiny things that appear to have nothing to do with the plot (but they’re neat).  In both settings so far, there are off-hand crude comments involving sexualizing young girls that I found really disturbing.  We’re following one main character, but I have no idea what she’s going to do or even what she wants to do.  I gave it up.

Three Parts Dead by Max Gladstone

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Started: 1/23/19
Gave up: 1/25/19

This is the first book in the Craft Sequence.  I wanted to like it, but I couldn’t get into the story.  I didn’t find the characters particularly interesting, and the pacing was odd, so I wasn’t feeling involved.  I gave up after a couple of days of avoidance.