Review: Divided Allegiance

Divided Allegiance by Elizabeth Moon

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



Elizabeth Moon does a great job at character development in this series. She takes a sheepfarmer's daughter from being completely naive and ignorant of the world outside her village and realistically broadens her worldview and her understanding of herself and her purpose. The first book in the trilogy felt limited because it was - Paks only grew so far in those years in the mercenary company. It's in this second book that she really starts to come into her own.

Divided Allegiance still seems to wander somewhat randomly in the beginning because Paks is wandering randomly, trying to find a new place. As the book progresses, though, she starts to make her own decisions about the type of fighter she wants to be and to learn when to trust and when not to. Her adventures are captivating and formative, and we see the world more clearly - and the magic. If you missed magic in the first book, you won't be disappointed in this one.

Paks experiences some wonderful high moments in this book, but she also loses tragically. The last part of this is truly heartbreaking and the ending is hopeless. What a twist! I thought I knew where it was all headed, heroic-fantasy-style, and it suddenly took a completely different turn. I loved it, even with the sadness and darkness I felt. I just had to know what happened to Paks and continued reading book 3 without pause.



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Review: Murder on Black Friday

Murder on Black Friday by P.B. Ryan

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



The Nell Sweeney series has really grown on me. Each book has been better than the last. In this one, there are two deaths related to Black Friday, the day the price of gold crashed in 1869. Will performed the autopsies and enlists Nell to help him investigate the supposed suicides. There are plenty of people with motives to kill and secrets to cover up. I didn't figure it all out before the end, and it's always pleasant to be surprised.

Will and Nell's relationship is so full of impossibility and longing you could cut the tension with a knife. It's achingly sweet and frustrating at the same time. You can feel their love (not lust) without hope, and of course that's the story that makes me want to continue reading the series. This had just the right mix of mystery to relationship development. Recommended to anyone who likes a mix of historical mystery and sweet romance.



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Review: Once a Princess

Once a Princess by Sherwood Smith

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



Once a Princess had its fun moments, especially the parts relating to the pirate and crew. Sherwood Smith writes appealing heroes, and they're what keep me reading since the heroines tend to be frustrating (I've read two of her duologies now).

Aside from the pirate story line, it was just ok. It starts out in our world, but the main story is in another world that has magic. Once in the other world, the heroine continues to talk like an American and to make references to American culture - this is maybe natural for a two-world story, but I just like my fantasy to be less connected to the real world and these references kept intruding.

I also thought this was going to be YA, given the ridiculous cover (I only managed to get past the cover by the book being free). But it's not - the main character is a grad student, mid-twenties. She doesn't really feel that mature to me, even though she is very independent. Too independent, to the point of stubbornness at times. I felt like she should have been willing to accept more help since she was tossed into a world she only knew as a small child. It could have been more interesting if she developed relationships with those she met instead of refusing to trust anyone.

I'm sure this review is making you want to run out and buy this right away! I do have to say that there's something about Smith's writing that keeps me interested even when I'm silently objecting to the things that bother me. I wanted to finish the story and bought the sequel right away (but I also feel the two books should have been one). So I guess I liked it well enough, and it kept me entertained for a weekend, but it's not a high quality gem that I'll treasure forever.



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The Siren Depths - Martha Wells

The Siren Depths by Martha Wells

My rating: 5 of 5 stars



The Siren Depths answers some questions that I had hoped to learn about in the second book and the Fell also return as a threat. Most importantly, though, Moon finally figures out his place among the Raksura.

This is great high fantasy. The stakes are still not world-wide, even though they are higher in this book than the previous ones. But they are high for the characters and the Raksura Courts, and the world remains vivid and exotic - a world to get lost in.

I love the details on interactions between Courts, the political intrigue and cultural nuances, and the attempts to communicate cross-culturally with groundlings. It feels very real with these different cultures that are full of misunderstanding and opposing perspectives. It's not a black and white world, and it's completely absorbing. I thoroughly enjoyed the experience of reading this novel. This is going down as one of my favorite series. The story wraps up everything it needs to, but I can't help hoping there will be another book about the Raksura someday. I'll miss this world.

Review: Shaman's Crossing

Shaman's Crossing by Robin Hobb

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



Robin Hobb is one of my favorite Fantasy authors. She not only provides detailed worlds and characters with wondrous magic, but characters that I can feel. She is one of the few authors that have actually made me cry. It's an activity that is extremely rare for me in real life, and I tend to avoid weepy books or movies because they just make me feel manipulated. But that was not the case with Hobb - the emotion she pulled out of me was much more real.

All of this to say, I've loved each of the books in the Farseer and Liveship Trader worlds that I've read so far, but the Soldier Son trilogy is completely different. The tone, the feel of the world, the setup of the characters - it all feels foreign. It took me a while to warm up to it. This first book felt quite dry until near the end when I started to see some of the world's magic. And I definitely had less empathy for the characters, as if I was watching more from a distance than in Hobb's other series.

I'm saying all this to warn you not to go into this series expecting something 'like' Hobb's other books. If you don't go in with that expectation, I believe it stands on its own merit. I enjoyed each book of the trilogy more than the one before it, and once I got to the third book I was completely drawn into this world. It took me longer to get there, but once I did, I was impressed yet again. It went on my favorites shelf with the others.



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Review: The Serpent Sea

The Serpent Sea by Martha Wells

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



In the Books of the Raksura, Martha Wells has created a lush world with imaginative cultures and fascinating species. The culture of the shape-shifting Raksura is so foreign and detailed, but she makes it extremely accessible to the reader. It's such a pleasure to read.

It becomes more clear in the Serpent Sea that this is not epic fantasy. The focus is not on a grand scale, but on the fate of a single, struggling clan in a large, indifferent world. We get glimpses of that world, but mainly we learn about the Indigo Cloud clan and their fight to survive.

The Fell are not present in this book, as the clan has escaped to a colony location that their ancestors abandoned years earlier. The descriptions of their new home at the top of a giant tree are beautiful. I feel like I've been there. I feel like I want to live there!

Now it is time to rebuild the clan and to connect with other Raksura - and to do what is needed to make the colony tree a viable home again. This has its share of danger and intense moments while Moon and his companions are on a mission away from the Court, and I felt the danger almost personally because I've come to care about these characters and their individual fates.

It took me a little while to figure out what this was going to be about, and it moved a bit slowly in the beginning, so I didn't feel it was as amazing as the first book. Still a favorite though.



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Review: The Viscount and the Witch

The Viscount and the Witch by Michael J. Sullivan

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



This is a very short story about Hadrian and Royce in the early days of Riyria. Just a teaser, really. A large chunk of the ebook contains the first chapters of Riyria Revelations, so it was shorter than I expected. That said, it's always fun to read more of this team, even when it's just a single scene.



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