King's Dragon - Kate Elliott

King's Dragon by Kate Elliott
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I really loved this book. It was one of those rare ones that I took my time to savor without thinking about what I was going to be reading next. As with many books that I've loved, it's hard to explain why. I really just love Kate Elliott's writing. Her world is so vivid and real, with a deep sense of history and of hidden things that will be revealed. At the same time, she also makes me care about and fear for the characters so effortlessly, and because of the characters, the world feels very immediate rather than overwhelmingly epic.

I honestly had no idea where the story was headed for much of the time - this isn't a quest-type fantasy with a stated goal. It takes place in an alternate medieval kingdom teeming with heresy, hypocrisy, treachery, and violence. Kingdom politics and inhuman coastal raiders. Ancient magic, forbidden knowledge, reverence for learning, true piety, and evil sorcery. The feeling of the world is amazingly real with both awe and danger. I loved the sense of place. This was really great historical fantasy, both recognizable and foreign to our own medieval time.

Some people might find the plot slow, but I didn't find it dull. I enjoyed both of the main viewpoints. Two young, unrelated characters find themselves caught in the middle of affairs they don't understand. Both start out in very humble circumstances and have much to learn and sometimes much to suffer. Although they are important to events, they are not instantly transformed into saviors of the world. They have their parts to play, but they don't grow too far beyond themselves and their beginnings. I am really looking forward to seeing where this is going and what they grow into, and to having more of the world revealed. I have six more books to savor, and I plan to take my time.

I highly recommend this to fans of both historical fiction and fantasy - it's a fantastic blend of both.

Mort - Terry Pratchett

Mort by Terry Pratchett
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

So Terry Pratchett is definitely witty and clever, and I do enjoy his asides when I forget I'm searching for a story in the midst of it. The thing is, each of the three Discworld books I've completed so far took me some effort to get into in spite of appreciating the humor. Because the characters remain caricatures as the humor takes center stage. And I actually find it kind of boring.

It's not until late in each book that I started to be interested in what was actually happening. And the characters never quite made it out of caricature status. So I think that I can enjoy Pratchett's humor on a certain level, but I'm always a bit bored until the plot and characters actually start moving and doing something. Once that happens, I end up liking the books overall, and look forward to reading another one - only to be bored at first, wondering why I enjoyed the ones I read before.

And I leave you with that rambling attempt to understand how I both do and don't enjoy the books in this series, and will most likely continue to have this ambivalent experience for several more books in the future just because they end up being fun and clever in the end. They are a bit of a stretch for me, comfort-wise, and not what I would decide to read when I want to be completely absorbed in a book. But I still like them. I think.

Paragon Walk - Anne Perry

Paragon Walk by Anne Perry
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This was another good historical mystery from Anne Perry. There was plenty of dirt to uncover in the lives of all the characters, and it kept me guessing all the way through. I was convinced I had it right up until the very end, and I didn't! But everything fit once I knew all the pieces. The ending was just a little abrupt - I could have done with even just a paragraph or two more to wind it down.

The Paper Magician - Charlie N. Holmberg

The Paper Magician by Charlie N. Holmberg
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The paper magic was really fun, but literally half the book is spent in someone's memories, which started to drag, and didn't seem to serve much of a purpose besides fostering a one-sided infatuation that I didn't care for much.

Then there's the blood magician threat, which an entire force of magicians and police have been fighting - but Ceony doesn't even get questioned seriously about what happened?

Towards the end, I also began to notice an increase in modern concepts and American words and phrases, when this is supposed to be set in London around the turn of the 20th Century. Needless to say, I found it jarring and irritating.

So it sounds like I didn't like this much. But I liked it well enough. The concept of paper magic was really interesting, and I enjoyed all the details of folding. It just had some distracting aspects and was not as developed as I like. I can see why some people are calling it YA even though Ceony is 18 and out of school. There's something too simple about it to be adult. I was hoping for it to be more than it was, that's all. I think I will probably still pick up the sequel at some point.

Dirty Magic - Jaye Wells

Dirty Magic by Jaye Wells
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I really enjoyed this! It's Urban Fantasy, with more emphasis on the 'Urban.' Kate is a cop in a run-down city that has a drug problem (I mean magic potion problem). People are addicted to illegal potions that eventually alter you from the inside out - or kill you - and a new killer potion has hit the streets. Kate has insider knowledge from her past to help the FBI (I mean MEA) find out who put it there.

For much of the book, this is very much a police procedural. Kate is a cop who is constrained by procedures, and actually follows orders even when she doesn't want to. Well, mostly. I thought that was refreshing. Often you get these tough heroines who flaunt the rules because rules don't apply to them. I immediately respected Kate because she tried really hard to work within constraints. I liked her and her sense of honor, even though she's so blind and stubborn about magic. She is carrying around a boat load of guilt from her dirty potion-cooking days, and she has to deal with that mess during the investigation. I can't wait to see how she changes in the next book. There's definitely room for growth.

I also liked several of the supporting characters - this wasn't a one-person show. I'm looking forward to getting to know them all more. And hoping to see more potion cooking! Aside from the opening scene, magic only really makes an appearance in the last third of the book, which is the exact point at which I could no longer put it down. With some twists I didn't see coming and some nail-biting scenes, I was completely satisfied with the mystery-suspense aspect of this. Especially as solving the mystery revealed more complexity that only makes me hope the sequel lives up to my expectations.

The Secret History of the Pink Carnation - Lauren Willig

The Secret History of the Pink Carnation by Lauren Willig
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

If you go into this expecting historical fiction with Napoleonic spy action, you’re likely to be disappointed. I was expecting more of a historical mystery / spy adventure, but soon caught on and was able to adjust and enjoy it for what it is. And what it is, is a fairly typical fluffy Regency Romance, except that it’s set in the French court and does have a dose of spies to make it more interesting. Confirming its status as a Romance series is the fact that the main characters change in each book.

It's also very light on historical accuracy, but that didn't stop me from having fun reading it. It's purposely silly and far-fetched, and I do enjoy silly. So instead of being horrified at the liberties taken with the time period, I found it mostly fun.

There were times when I found it a bit long-winded, though. And I still could have done with less of the romance, especially the sex scenes. I always feel that those scenes are out of place in a Regency novel - they drag something too modern into the historical setting.

There’s also a second story-line set in the present day about a woman who is researching the Pink Carnation for her dissertation. It looks like it will span the sequels as she discovers more about the past. It also looks like there will be a romance in her future. I thought the framing story was OK, but could have done without it. It made the book longer, and I'm not sure I liked being pulled out of the other story for this one. But I think it might grow on me as the series progresses. We’ll see.

I do intend to continue reading when I’m in the mood for something silly, light and fluffy, with a bit of derring-do in the court of Napoleon.

The Iron Wyrm Affair - Lilith Saintcrow

The Iron Wyrm Affair by Lilith Saintcrow
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I did not like the writing style of this at all. It was choppy and jumped all over the place. The changing POVs were confusing because I couldn't always tell at first that they had changed, and the world-building was basically non-existent. I feel like I missed an entire book that actually explained the world, the magic, and all the terms that were randomly thrown at me throughout.

There were many scenes that I had to go back and re-read because I realized that I had no idea what I had just read. They were garbled and confused, and re-reading didn't always help. That's when I started to skim. I skimmed until I found explanations and scenes that I could actually understand. And I skimmed until I had enough of a sense of the story that I was half-way interested in what was going to happen, and then I managed to care enough to finish the book (while still skimming the confusing parts!).

The thing is, I think there's a good story in there somewhere. I had to dig really hard to find it, and it was obscured by choppy and chaotic scenes. But it was enough in the end for me to give this two stars instead of one, if only because I'm a sucker for historical fantasy / steampunk settings like this.

Be Buried in the Rain - Barbara Michaels

Be Buried in the Rain by Barbara Michaels

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



I really enjoyed this Gothic suspense novel. I was afraid it might be cheesy, especially since it was published in the 1980s, but it wasn't. I also didn't know what I would think of a Gothic novel set in contemporary Virginia, but the old manor house, its occupants, and the surrounding woods were broken down, overgrown, and eerie enough for a mystery of old bones.

The atmosphere was all you could wish for in this kind of book. It reminded me of Susanna Kearsley without the dual time periods, except this was more creepy (I think it was the bones). It was creepy enough to disturb me in the dark the last couple of nights - not that that's saying much, since I am easily affected by such things and avoid horror like the plague.

Also, I really enjoyed the dog.

I'll definitely be reading more of this author's work. I'm glad to see there's plenty to choose from.

Temple of a Thousand Faces - John Shors

Temple of a Thousand Faces by John Shors

My rating: 2 of 5 stars



Temple of a Thousand Faces wasn't bad, it just wasn't for me. I'm sure it was quite realistic about the fates of a conquered people in Cambodia in the 12th Century. Based on the title, that's not the story I was expecting. I somehow thought it was going to be about something besides conquering, pillaging, raping and slaughtering. It was really much darker and more desperate than I like, as the story was told from the perspectives of several different people who were affected by the pillaging, raping and slaughtering. Oh, don't forget torture. That was in there, too.

The POV characters range from the Khmer prince and one of his wives to a lowly fisherman and his family, one of whom is almost blind as well as smart and brave, and possibly my favorite character. Also included is one of the officers of the Chams (the invaders) who is a decent fellow, increasingly sickened by his king's actions. Finally, there is a young woman who is enslaved by the Chams at her wedding - what an awful fate.

I liked all of these characters, and feared for them. That's why I kept reading in spite of the violence, which I actually found boring. (Blah blah, slaughter 500 hundred men to teach a lesson, blah blah blah.) I needed to know that they ended up well, an outcome that was not guaranteed. Unless you know this part of history, which I didn't.

The conquering king was one of those vile characters without a shred of goodness to him. His assassin was another. If it hadn't ended how it did for those two, this review would have a 1 star rating. But the ending was at least vindicating, and thankfully (for me) it was a happy ending for most of the characters involved.