Saturday, September 24, 2011

Futuristic Steampunk Zombie Romance

All it's missing are fallen angels and perhaps a generation ship. But, there are sequels coming, so I continue to hope.

Okay. You may well be asking how a book can be both futuristic and steampunk and it's sort of convoluted how it got there, but 'Dearly, Departed' by Lia Habel is, yes, a futuristic steampunk zombie romance novel for young adults.Briefly, the world as we know it has come to an end and the surviving North Americans have settled in Central America and latched on to the Victorian era as a model for their new society. Hence, futuristic steampunk. And, because the market isn't yet glutted, this is a zombie novel. And, in the best Romeo and Juliet tradition, it features an impossible romance between a society miss and a zombie soldier. Apparently, Ms. Habel wrote this book as a joke, and with that many elements thrown into the mix, I can believe it. For all of that, though, it actually works pretty well. Except for the names. There's a character named Vespertine Mink, for heaven's sake. Vespertine Mink. There's a Dr. Samedi. And the heroine is named Nora Dearly. Dearly? And, please, to all authors of YA, stop naming your heroines Nora(h)! It's not unique. At least Vespertine hasn't been used so much as to become cliche. And, for gods' sake, if you must use Nora(h), please stop making her a petite brunette.

Okay. Enough of my anti-Nora(h) rant. It just feels like every other YA paranormal has a heroine named Nora(h) and I'd like to see a little more originality in naming, but not to the extreme of Vespertine Mink.

Anyway, before I got distracted by the name issue, I commented that this book actually worked pretty well for all the mish-mash of elements involved. It was, however, too long, at close to 500 pages. And there were multiple character POVs, which could occasionally get confusing.But, the multiple plot threads were nicely developed and played out to satisfying conclusions. The relationships between the characters were believable and unfolded naturally over the course of the book. And, though this is apparently the start of a series, it had an ending that made it work well as a single volume. I probably won't seek out future installments, but I don't regret taking the time to read this one.

Friday, September 23, 2011

Not the Sequel I Expected

But, quite satisfying, nonetheless.

As soon as I set down Jade Lee's 'Wicked Surrender', I had to know what happened to Kit. I mean, all of the central characters believed him to be dead and there was a big funeral scene and then you get an epilogue that tells you that Kit is actually on a ship at sea somewhere. Say what? And Kit was not exactly the most mature and self-reliant of fellows and there was no way in Hell that he was going to survive and, yet, he's set up to be the hero of the next book. I had no idea how, or if, Lee could make this work.

And, you know, she kinda didn't. I mean, the book works quite well on its own, but I had a really hard time believing that the Kit from the first book, no matter what he had gone through in the intervening seven years, would become the Kit from this book. The spoiled, privileged child of the first book just never seemed to have it in him to become the mature, tortured man of this one. The Kit of 'Surrender' was more likely to have given up and, consciously or not, allowed himself to be killed.

But, as I said, this novel works well on its own, especially if the reader can view this Kit as an entirely separate being than the Kit of 'Surrender'. Maddy is an engaging heroine with a lot of crap going on in her life, but she still finds bits and pieces of happiness where she can. She serves as companion to her younger cousin, Rose, who is the most flighty, silly, and possibly intellectually challenged flibbertigibbet ever put to paper. Honestly, she was the most unrealistic character in the book and was almost enough to ruin the whole story for me. And, naturally, her stupidity almost ruined everything for everyone. There was lots of villainous behavior by several different secondary characters, but no big ominous threat hanging over anyone's head. The villainy was, instead, of a fairly everyday variety and stemmed from selfishness and not deep-seated evil, which was fairly refreshing. There was lots of drama and darkness and angst, but also lots of humor and healing and, in the end, happiness.

I really, really hope that Ms. Lee doesn't decide to write a book with Rose as the heroine. She's just too annoying and idiotic to ever make a respectable heroine.

Thursday, September 22, 2011

Voodoo and Nuns

Sadly, not in the same book.

'Black Heart Loa' by Adrian Phoenix is the second book in a new UF series and I think, surprisingly, that I enjoyed it more than the first, although it did get a little busy. There were times when I felt there was just too much going on, but, once the various plot threads started to interweave themselves into a single narrative, it fairly galloped along. Ms. Phoenix's world is built on a combination of voodoo and Celtic folklore, which is an interesting combination and one that really works for me. Unfortunately, the relationships between the characters are such that it would be difficult for a new reader to jump in with book two and know who was what to whom and how and why.

I recently read Tess Gerritsen's 'The Silent Girl' and realized that I really liked the Rizzoli & Isles novels, but that there were several I hadn't read. I dug 'The Sinner' out of my towering stack of "I'll get around to that someday" books. This was one of the earlier novels in the series and it was interesting to see the seeds of elements that would bear fruit in later books (hello, Father Brophy). Gerritsen has allowed her protagonists to grow and change a lot over the course of the series and has made sure that Rizzoli and Isles were always as interesting as the cases they were investigating. And, this one was quite interesting, involving, as it did, nuns and lepers. Oh, and one of the nuns had had a baby, which always adds an element of either interest or squick, depending on your sensibilities. I, personally, lean toward interest--or. perhaps, morbid fascination.

'Sorry' by Zoran Drvenkar was interesting. I wasn't particularly keen on the prose, nor on the shifting POV, and the characters never really engaged me, but I liked the concept and the twisty-turny path the narrative took. It was, ultimately, worth the time spent reading, but I'm glad I didn't pay the hardcover cover price for it.

And, that's me. All caught up now. I can get back to one or two books per post, rather than these weird group things I've been doing. And to try to never dig myself this big of a hole again.

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Back to "Normal"

Of course, in the time it's taken me to write my update posts, I've now got eight more books that I've read and need to blather on about. I'll be doing them in two batches and be caught up again a lot sooner than that last lapse. I mean, eight is a hell of a lot better than 57, so this shouldn't take any time at all.

I'll start with the Romance novels, since that'll knock off four.

'The Edge of Impropriety' by Pam Rosenthal features a heroine who is an author, so it appealed to me right away. The hero is an antiquarian, so that got me even more interested. The book was smart and engaging and full of awesome dialogue and had a young child--well, a twelve-year-old girl--who was as smart and confident as her elders, but not in an annoyingly precocious way, which was such a refreshing change from how children are usually portrayed in these sorts of novels. The hero and heroine are also older (she's thirty-six and he's in his forties, at a guess) than one normally sees, and I love to see that. It means they both have pasts and that makes them interesting as characters. Pam Rosenthal is definitely an author I'm looking forward to seeing more from.

'Wicked Surrender' by Jade Lee was also quite excellent and I'm glad I already have 'Wicked Seduction' on my TBR pile. The heroine here is an actress who wants nothing more than the security of marriage. She becomes engaged to a young man whose family naturally deems her a most unsuitable wife. Even before the betrothal, said family sets plans in motion to separate the two. Of course, the plans backfire and the family member they elect  to seduce her away ends up falling for her, so they end up related to her anyway. There was an interesting twist that set up, and made me anxious to read, 'Wicked Seduction'. Maybe I'll do that tonight.

'Nearly a Lady' by Alissa Johnson, sadly, didn't quite match up to the quality of those two novels. Perhaps if I had read it first, I would have enjoyed it more. Unfortunately, the heroine just came across as very young. She was supposed to be twenty-five, but there were times when she spoke and acted like a child. She was supposed to be naive and sheltered, having grown up all-but-alone in the Scottish countryside, but even with her limited social interaction, I would have expected her to be more mature. Unfortunately, once I started viewing her as little more than a child, the whole book became kind of squicky.

'His Mistress by Christmas' by Victoria Alexander was witty and charming and featured another pair of very grown up protagonists. It also has an element of farce to it, in that there's a marriage that isn't quite and two families who descend on our hero and heroine for Christmas and endless attempts to keep the truth from everyone, who, of course, all find out anyway.

I could also spend some time on Terry Pratchett's 'Snuff', since it had a lot of elements often found in historical romances--decamping to one's country house, a mama with a passel of unmarried daughters, a neighborhood bluestocking who upsets the village's ideas of propriety--but it also had gnomes and crime and a thrilling fight on board a boat on an out-of-control river and Sir Terry's usual insights into human nature in the guise of lighthearted fantasy. So, hey, I guess I have told you about it without really meaning to. Which means I've killed five of eight and only have three to go 'til I'm completely and totally caught up. Not bad.

Monday, September 19, 2011

Olio

This is the final of the big catch up posts and then it's back to semi-regular postings.

To refresh your memory (and mine), here's the list of the titles that were neither Romance nor Kids, with commentary:

'All Men of Genius' by Lev AC Rosen--a smart and engaging steampunkish mash-up of Shakespeare and Oscar Wilde, which sounds like it would be impossible to pull off, but Rosen made it work.

'Awakenings' by Edward Lazellari
'The Potter's Field' by Andrea Camellari--The most recent installment in one of my favorite mystery series. Excellent, as always.

'One Grave at a Time' by Jeanine Frost
'Ink Flamingos' by Karen E. Olson
'Magic Slays' by Ilona Andrews
'Eye of the Tempest' by Nicole Peeler--All four also installments in series that I love.

'Cut to the Quick' and 'A Broken Vessel' by Kate Ross--19th Century set mysteries that appeal to both the historical romance and mystery lover in me. Ms.Ross only published three (or maybe it was four) titles in the series before she died and they've been unavailable for quite a while. Thankfully, Felony & Mayhem are bringing them all back into print. I highly recommend giving them a try.

'Hexed' and 'Hammered' by Kevin Hearne--This might very well be my new favorite Urban Fantasy series. The first three titles were pubbed back-to-back, all leading up to a climactic battle with the Norse gods. I can't wait to see where the series goes now that its whole world has changed.

'A Fire Upon the Deep' and 'Children of the Sky' by Vernor Vinge--I re-read 'Fire' in preparation for 'Children'. This is the kind of smart, intense Science Fiction that I don't read often, but always enjoy when I do. These are the kinds of books that I read in stages because my brain needs a break every now and again. So very, very, very good. With everything that happened in 'Children', though, I just hope another sequel isn't  as long in the making as this first one was.

'Damned' by Chuck Palahniuk--The most enjoyable Palahniuk I've read in years.

'The Sacred Band' by David Anthony Durham--The final installment in an epic fantasy trilogy that I recommend most highly.

'Been There, Done That' by Carol Snow

'Ganymede' by Cherie Priest--The third of Ms. Priest's "Clockwork Century" novels. Each successive novel has built upon the mythology established in the first while telling a story that could stand alone. I would recommend reading the series in order to watch the subtle weaving and layering of characters and stories to build toward what promises to be an explosive series conclusion.

'Aloha From Hell' by Richard Kadrey--The third and final (?) Sandman Slim novel and the perfect way to tie the story up. In fact, it couldn't have ended any other way.

'Lost Memory of Skin' by Russell Banks--There's an iguana on the cover, but the iguana dies early in the book, and quite brutally, which pissed me off and kind of summed up the whole reading experience. It's brutal and a bit heartbreaking and if it doesn't piss you off at least once, you aren't paying attention. Though, honestly, I would probably have appreciated it much more were I in possession of a Y chromosome.

And, hey, now I'm all caught up and can get back to some kind of semi-regular posting schedule. Yay, me!

Friday, September 16, 2011

The Kids Books (Catching Up, part two)

And, here's the list I'll be choosing from today:

'Enthralled' edited by Melissa Marr and Kelley Armstrong
'The Predicteds' by Christine Seifert
'Between the Sea & Sky' by Jaclyn Dolamore
'The Scorpio Races' by Maggie Stiefvater
'The Unwanteds' by Lisa McMann
'Abarat: Absolute Midnight' by Clive Barker
'Anna and the French Kiss' by Stephanie Perkins
'The Death Cure' by James Dashner
'The Apothecary' by Maile Meloy
'The Infernals' by John Connolly
'Fox & Phoenix' by Beth Bernobich
'Liesl & Po' by Lauren Oliver
'Variant' by Robison Wells
'Eve' by Anna Carey
'Au Revoir, Crazy European Chick' by Joe Schreiber
'Icefall' by Matthew J. Kirby
Here's the thing: I don't finish books I don't like (or find spectacularly ridiculous, which explains 'Modelland'). So, it's not like any of these were a waste of time. But, a few were a bit more than that, so those are probably the ones I should single out.

Maggie Stiefvater's 'The Scorpio Races' might actually be my favorite book on this list, though Stephanie Perkins's 'Anna & the French Kiss' runs a close second. Both are good teen romances, though that's where any similarity ends. 'The Scorpio Races' uses, as its inspiration, the myth of the water horse (man-eating horses from the sea) and is set on a small, isolated, and poverty-stricken island where the races are pretty much the only attraction for mainlanders. 'Anna and the French Kiss' is set at a boarding school for American teens in Paris and there isn't a single killer horse in sight. Both books are smart and emotionally honest and very worth curling up with.

'Abarat: Absolute Midnight' and 'The Death Cure' are the third volumes in their respective series and shouldn't be read unless you've read the first two volumes. Barker continues to create a fascinating and magical world full of danger and adventure and fascinating characters. Dashner's 'The Maze Runner' was one of the most compelling dystopian YAs I've read. Unfortunately, though the next two volumes were good, they just didn't "wow" me like that first novel.

'Variant' had a really interesting twist, which of course I'm not going to tell you about, but it kept me thinking about it for a long time after I finished reading.

I seem to be reading a lot of books recently that are set in Asian and Nordic worlds, some fictionalized, some historical. 'Fox and Phoenix' is set in a Chinese-inspired  futuristic world where magic is real. It's full of allusions to folk and fairy tales, but also has a healthy dose of intrigue and court politics. 'Icefall' is set in a realistic historical Norse land and has, in Solveig, a strong and admirable narrator/protagonist. 

Those are the best, or at least most interesting to me, of a good bunch.

Next time, I'll cover the rest of the catch-up lists and then, I hope, I'll get back to (and stick to) a more regular posting schedule.

Thursday, September 15, 2011

The Romance Novels, a Catch Up Post

I've already said I'm not going to write about every book that I read during my "fallow" period, but I will re-list all of the Romance novels, mostly so I have a convenient list to pick from.

'Ripe for Scandal' by Isobel Carr
'Ten Ways to Be Adored When Landing a Lord' by Sarah MacLean
'The Seduction of His Wife' by Tiffany Clare
'Cloudy With a Chance of Marriage' by Kieran Kramer
'Millie's Fling', 'An Offer You Can't Refuse', and 'Miranda's Big Mistake' by Jill Mansell
The Surrender of Lady Jane' by Marissa Day
'Venetia' by Georgette Heyer
'Viscount Breckenridge to the Rescue' and 'In Pursuit of Eliza Cynster' by Stephanie Laurens
The Goblin King' by Shona Husk
'Utterly Charming' by Kristine Grayson
'Dangerous Lord, Innocent Governess' by Christine Merrill
'Lady Sophie's Christmas Wish' by Grace Burrowes
'Flawless' by Carrie Lofty
'The Seduction of Scandal' by Cathy Maxwell
'One Night in London' by Caroline Linden
'The Rose Garden' by Susanna Kearsley
'Always a Temptress' by Eileen Dryer
'The Dragon & the Pearl' by Jeannie Lin

So, 21 of 57--more than a third, but less than a half. But, of those 21, what stood out? How to choose? I'm just going to go with my gut. If I have something to relate, then that book gets picked. And, just because a book doesn't get more than a listing doesn't mean it isn't worthwhile. With only a couple of exceptions (at least one of which I'll detail), I quite enjoyed the time I spent with each of these novels, I just don't necessarily have much to say.

'Cloudy With a Chance of Marriage' is Kieran Kramer's third book and I loved the first, but was disappointed by the second. Happily, this third book had all the wit and charm that I found so endearing about the first. Thank goodness. Now I don't have to relegate her to the "One Hit Wonder" list.

I love Jill Mansell like chocolate. I had a little mini-binge of some of her older titles because I needed some comfort food reading. I don't really have anything meaningful to say, just wanted to show some love for a favorite author.

Same for the Laurens books. The first two titles in a new trilogy are exactly what I wanted and expected from Ms. Laurens. And, now, I'm waiting impatiently for volume three.

'The Goblin King' by Shona Husk is one of the disappointments from the list. I wanted it to blow me away. Instead, and maybe this was just me, it read like thinly-disguised 'Labyrinth' fanfic. And, once I had that notion in my head, I couldn't shake it. It may be brilliant, but I couldn't get past my initial impression to enjoy (or not) the book on its own merits.

'Utterly Charming' by Kristine Grayson was quite enjoyable, but I had a hard time with some of her geography. Her heroine worked in downtown Portland, Oregon and her office had a view of the Columbia. If someone figures out the logistics of that, please let me know. It's been a couple of weeks since I finished the book, and that one detail is still nagging at me.

'Lady Sophie's Christmas Wish' is another absolutely gorgeous book by Grace Burrowes. Only three books into her career and she's already keeper shelf-worthy. Seriously, if you haven't discovered her yet, go read 'The Heir' and 'The Soldier'. However, you may want to hold off on 'Lady Sophie' until after 'The Virtuoso' is released in November, since the events in 'The Virtuoso' occur before those in 'Lady Sophie'. Of course, I didn't do it that way, and it certainly didn't lessen my anticipation for 'The Virtuoso' one whit. I'm so thrilled that there are four more sisters, so at least four more books.

'Flawless' was a completely unexpected surprise. It's an estranged husband and wife tale that starts in New York at the end of the 19th Century (I want to say 1893, but don't quote me on that) at the reading of a will. None of which is terribly unique. Where this book really surprised me was that it quickly moved from New York to the diamond mines of Kimberly in southern Africa. And it never, not once, shied away from the racial and economic disparities that were part of that time and place (and still exist to this day). It could've had a crap plot and characters (which it very much didn't) and I would have kept reading just for the unique setting. I hope the next two books in the series take us places equally unexpected.

Susanna Kearsley writes beautiful stories of time travel and romance, with contemporary women who find themselves slipping back into the past, usually around the time of some doomed-to-fail rebellion against the English throne. They're lovely and charming and dreamy and romantic and should be read in a comfy chair in front of a fire, preferably with a cup of tea or a tumbler of whisky. 'The Rose Garden' didn't quite captivate me the way 'The Winter Sea' did, but I still really, really, really liked it.

Jeannie Lin's 'Butterfly Swords' was one of my favorite Romance novels last year. 'The Dragon & the Pearl' is kind of a sequel, in that the "villain" of the previous book is the hero of this one, which is the sort of thing that can only work if it's handled just right, which Ms. Lin does. Part of the appeal of these books for me is that they're set in China in the 9th Century, which is a very unique and intriguing setting for Romance novels. But, they also have quite strong, capable, intelligent heroines and well-developed love stories. I did feel that the ending to this one was a little too convenient, but that's a minor quibble about an otherwise engrossing story.

Well, there's that done, then. Next up: Kids' books.

The Catch-Up List, Part Deux

No thoughts on anything yet, just the next half of the list of what I've read since I last had my act together enough to update properly. Then I can start picking a few titles to give brief little bits of info about.

'The Surrender of Lady Jane' by Marissa Day
'The Sacred Band' by David Anthony Durham
'Been There, Done That' by Carol Snow
'Venetia' by Georgette Heyer
'The Death Cure' by James Dashner
'Viscount Breckenridge to the Rescue' and 'In Pursuit of Eliza Cynster' by Stephanie Laurens
'The Goblin King' by Shona Husk
'Utterly Charming' by Kristine Grayson
'Dangerous Lord, Innocent Governess' by Christine Merrill
'Ganymede' by Cherie Priest
'The Apothecary' by Maile Meloy
'Lady Sophie's Christmas Wish' by Grace Burrowes
'Flawless' by Carrie Lofty
'The Infernals' by John Connolly
'The Seduction of Scandal' by Cathy Maxwell
'One Night in London' by Caroline Linden
'Fox & Phoenix' by Beth Bernobich
'Aloha From Hell' by Richard Kadrey
'The Rose Garden' by Susanna Kearsley
'Liesl & Po' by Lauren Oliver
'Variant' by Robison Wells
'Always a Temptress' by Eileen Dryer
'The Dragon & the Pearl' by Jeannie Lin
'Eve' by Anna Carey
'Children of the Sky' by Vernor Vinge
'Au Revoir, Crazy European Chick' by Joe Schreiber
'Lost Memory of Skin' by Russell Banks
'Icefall' by Matthew J. Kirby

So, there's another 29. Added with yesterday's list, that's a total of 57 books to update, which is fairly daunting and why I am reserving the right to leave some out. For my next post, I'll tackle the Romance novels, which should knock out between a third and a half of the lists. Then, maybe, Young Adult and Middle Reader, which should probably account for another third. And, then, finally, whatever's left over. Then, I hope, I can get back to some kind of semi-regular posting groove and not get myself into a pickle like this again.

Wednesday, September 14, 2011

I Need to be More Diligent

Because this is what happens when I neglect updating for a while. I wind up with a monster list of books and can't bring myself to do much more than just, well, list them. And, this is only a partial list. There are about thirty more titles I need to add, but I can only face so much at one time. Over the next few days (really. I swear.) I'll add the second part of the list and some thoughts on those titles that really stood out for me, for good or ill. For now, though, the list:

'Ripe for Scandal' by Isobel Carr
'Enthralled' Melissa Marr & Kelley Armstrong, eds.
'All Men of Genius' by Lev AC Rosen
'The Predicteds' by Christine Seifert
'Awakenings' by Edward Lazalleri
'Between the Sea & Sky' by Jaclyn Dolamore
'The Scorpio Races' Maggie Stiefvater
'The Unwanteds' by Lisa McMann
'Abarat: Absolute Midnight' by Clive Barker
'The Potter's Field' by Andrea Camilleri
'One Grave at a Time' by Jeanine Frost
'Ten Ways to Be Adored When Landing a Lord' by Sarah MacLean
'Ink Flamingos' by Karen E. Olson
'Cut to the Quick' and 'A Broken Vessel' by Kate Ross
'Eye of the Tempest' by Nicole Peeler
'Domestic Violets' by Matthew Norman
'Hexed' and 'Hammered' by Kevin Hearne
'Magic Slays' by Ilona Andrews
'The Seduction of His Wife' by Tiffany Clare
'Cloudy With a Chance of Marriage' by Kieran Kramer
'Millie's Fling', 'An Offer You Can't Refuse', and 'Miranda's Big Mistake' by Jill Mansell
'A Fire Upon the Deep' by Vernor Vinge
'Damned' Chuck Palahniuk
'Anna & the French Kiss' by Stephanie Perkins

So, yeah. That's nearly thirty. You can't really expect me to go into detail about all of them. But, I'll do my best. Just not right now. Tonight, maybe. No later than tomorrow.

Really. I mean it this time. Promise.