World War Z by Max Brooks

World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War by Max Brooks
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I can't believe I'm reading a zombie book. It's all Calico Reaction's fault.

Wow, I really don't know what to say about this book.

It's a good book, but it's so different from what I usually read that I feel like I don't have any context for commenting on it.

I'll say up front that I am not a zombie person. They just don't appeal to me. So you won't get me to watch zombie movies (although I have seen 28 Days or whatever the first one was called) and you generally won't get me to read zombie books.

The two I have tried (and liked) were this one and Mira Grant's Feed. And both, I have felt count as zombie books for people who don't like zombies. In both, the focus is not on blood, guts and gore and killing as many zombies as you can, but one what effect a zombie plague has on people and society and how people adapt and change to meet this new challenge. They are about science and psychology more than gore. This is something I find I do like.

In World War Z, this is in fact quite a bit of zombie killing, but by structuring the narrative as Brooks has done - make it a transcription of first hand reports after the fact - adds a distance that allows me to take on the facts without having to be traumatized by the gory details. The book almost reads as non-fiction (which I assume was the author's intention) but with a touch of the personal.

I really enjoy the scientific puzzle of apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic books and this book gave me that. I never did find out what caused the virus, but I got to see how it developed, how it was dealt with and even a touch of the effect it has had on people a decade later.

That really did work for me.

I can't say that I "loved" this book in a "rave and squee about it" kind of way, but I certainly didn't dislike it either. That implies my reaction of sort of "meh" but it wasn't that either. This was a very satisfying book for me, even if I'm usually a character reader and this book was lacking in characterisation.

As I said at the beginning, it's a very different style of book from my usual as I find it hard to vocalise my reaction.

Satisfying sounds like damning it with faint praise, which isn't what I mean to do at all. I recommend the book, and while I can easily describe its basic ideas and conceits, I don't know how to describe my reaction to it. So go and try it for yourself. I do think it's worth it.

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DarkShip Thieves by Sarah A. Hoyt

DarkShip Thieves by Sarah A. Hoyt

My rating: 4 of 5 stars (8/10)
Read: 3-3-11 to 8-3-11

This book ended up being a bit up and down, but overall I really liked it.

It stared off well, then seemed to slow a bit (although not in a bad way) when Athena got to Eden. At that point, I could see it turning into SF Romance, and while I don't mind that at all, it wasn't exactly what I had been expecting.

But I was wrong. While the romance is there, it's nicely done and not dwelled upon on its own account too much. Instead, the SF plot begins to build up, tying in a lot of threads that I had thought were only background world-building, into a generally satisfying whole.

I did especially enjoy the parts back on Earth where Thena began to put all the pieces together and work out what was really going on. I did think she was a little slow on the uptake, as I'd worked out the basics (although I admit, not the specifics) back when she was on Eden, but I can also kind of see how they were pieces her back brain probably didn't want to put together, so I'll forgive it.

However, after all that excellent third quarter or more, it all seemed to resolve very easily and suddenly. I was reading the ebook and keeping a mild eye on my progress through the book. I had seen that part three started at something like chapter 46, with another 6 or 7 chapters to go to get to the end. That meant I was very surprised to find I was at over 90% of the book when I was still in the early 40s, chapter wise and in the middle of the action on Earth. I was wondering how Ms Hoyt was going to tie everything up and get them rescued and home again in the short space left.

Very quickly, turned out to be the answer. Suddenly escape becomes easy, the villain is dealt with with surprising speed (and really, very little action on the part of the main protagonists) and they're off home, to end on an ironic note, rather than a satisfying one.

Yes, finishing with the same officious controller was clever, but I wanted to see the family's reaction to having them back, and Doc Bartholomeu's response to all they had learned. Not to mention, whatever the heck is happening back on Earth and where the other Mules might have gone.

If this is the beginning of a series, hopefully I'll still learn those things, but for a standalone, the ending didn't work for me.

All the same, I really enjoyed myself reading this one. I loved the world Ms Hoyt created (and in a way, I'm not sure why) and the characters (well, I had a love/hate relationship with Thena, but I loved Kit and I want to see how they both live beyond the parental legacies they were given). I'll happily read more books by her, but next time, I really would like a more satisfying ending please.

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Under Heaven by Guy Gavriel Kay

Under Heaven by Guy Gavriel Kay

My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Read: 29-10-10 to 20-12-10

I'm not quite sure what I think of this book.

I liked it, but it wasn't prefect. The prose was beautiful and so was the setting. But something about it just didn't seem to flow properly for me. It was beautifully put together, but it seemed to be lacking narrative flow.

All the different points of view sometimes worked and sometimes didn't. Some of the characters are introduced and never seen again. I wouldn't have understood the shifts of first person POV if I hadn't heard a podcast with the author, explaining it.

(All the first person POV is for female characters, because in such times they had to be powerfully in the moment to have an impact on the world.)

I've still given this a high rating, because it's a beautiful book and I really enjoyed reading it, but it isn't perfect and I find myself left with a slightly puzzled feeling.

I read this with a book group and about half of the commenters loved it and half were disappointed. I find myself somewhere in the middle, and it is clear different readers have very different responses, so read it for yourself and see what you think.

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Seabiscuit by Laura Hillenbrand

Seabiscuit: An American Legend by Laura Hillenbrand

My rating: 4 of 5 stars (8/10)
Read: 16-9-10 to 14-11-10

A friend lent me this book, and while I've been reading it very slowly, I've also been thoroughly enjoying it.

Hillenbrand made her subject come alive and I found myself cheering for this ungainly little racehorse too - and racing is not something that interests me at all.

So don't let a lack of interest in horse racing keep you from a great book filled with wonderful characters.

I was also interested to read the book knowing Hillenbrand suffers from severe CFS. I am so impressed that she managed to write this while often house-bound. In the interview at the back, she mentions sometimes needing to just close her eyes and write with her eyes closed. While I don't suffer the awful vertigo she does, I could totally relate to that.

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Indulgence in Death by J. D. Robb

Indulgence in Death by J.D. Robb
Eve and Roarke, Book 38
My rating: 4 of 5 stars (8/10)
Read: 8-11-10 to 9-11-10

I really enjoyed this one. I always enjoy a new book about Eve and Roarke and this one didn't let me down. It has an interesting - if particularly twisted - mystery and Eve faces it in her usual fashion.

I've heard some people complain that they don't enjoy the interactions between Eve and Roarke as much now their marriage is settling down (they celebrate their 2nd wedding anniversary in this book). I'm quite the opposite. Books are so often about people getting together and the drama and conflict involved in that (there's got to be drama and conflict for a story after all). I'm loving seeing the developing, calming relationship that is growing between two such tempestuous people. To have a good marriage - and Eve and Roarke certainly do - they can't stay in conflict. So the conflict is coming from outside now and it is their solid relationship that stands against it.

This very fact was used to great effect in this book, and how Eve exploited someone's outside view of their marriage compared to the reality of it made for a satisfying conclusion to the mystery.

Although, that said, if I have any particular issue with Nora Roberts' books, it is that I often feel they sometimes end about a chapter too soon. If the main issue of the book is resolved, she often stops it at that point. While I don't want the end of a book to meander on, I'd like a little more finish than she sometimes gives me, and I feel this book suffered from that.

I can't really go into more details without spoilers, which I don't want to do, but I felt it wouldn't have hurt to see at least one more police interview at the end, and maybe finish on the up note of a planned barbeque with friends that was constanly mentioned throughout the book but forgotten right at the end.

It's a minor complaint, but has left me feeling a little disappointed at the end, after having had a great adventure.

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Fledgling by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller

Theo Waitley has lived all her young life on Delgado, a Safe World that is home to one of the galaxy's premier institutions of higher learning. Both Theo's mother, Kamele, and Kamele's onagrata Jen Sar Kiladi, are professors at the university, and they all live comfortably together, just like they have all of Theo's life, in Jen Sar's house at the outskirts of town.

Suddenly, though, Theo's life changes. Kamele leaves Jen Sar and moves herself and Theo back into faculty housing, which is not what Theo is used to. Once settled back inside the Wall, Kamele becomes embroiled in faculty politics, and is appointed sub-chair of her department. Meanwhile Theo, who has a notation in her file indicating she is "physically challenged", has a series of misadventures, including pulling her best friend down on the belt-ride to class, and hurting a team mate during a scavage game.

With notes piling up in her file, Theo only wants to go "home" to the house in the suburbs, and have everything just liked it used to be.

Then, Kamele uncovers evidence of possible dishonest scholarship inside of her department. In order to clear the department, she and a team of senior professors must go off-world to perform a forensic document search. Theo hopes this will mean that she'll be left in the care of the man she calls "Father", Professor Kiladi, and is horrified to learn that Kamele means to bring Theo with her!

A lovely return to the Liaden universe and a long break. Theo is a delightful protagonist and I enjoyed watching her grow.
It took me a little while to get back into the swing of thing, but once I did the book was a delight.

It did feel a little unfinished though. The overall mystery was never properly put to rest. Sure, a satisfying conclusion was reached, but the reader was left to figure out a lot of the details by inference rather that because it was written into the book.

A couple of characters got away and we still don't know the exact why of what was being done. I hope these things are concluded in the next book. (I have a copy of Saltation and will be starting it an a day or two.) But even if it isn't, I won't be very unhappy.

I really enjoyed Fledgling and it has confirmed my desire to reread the entire Liaden series, as I've only read it all once. I'm quite, quite sure these are books that only grow richer with rereading.

Fledgling
Sharon Lee and Steve Miller 
Liaden Universe®, Book 12 (in my own personal reading order)
8/10
Read: 11-5-10 to 18-5-10

Liaden Universe® (in my own personal reading order)

1. Local Custom
2. Scout’s Progress (Goodreads link)
3. Mouse and Dragon (Goodreads link)
4. Conflict of Honors (Goodreads link)
5. Agent of Change (Goodreads link)
6. Carpe Diem (Goodreads link)
7. Plan B (Goodreads link)
8. I Dare (Goodreads link)
9. Crystal Soldier (Goodreads link)
10. Crystal Dragon (Goodreads link)
11. Balance of Trade (Goodreads link) 
12. Fledgling
13. Saltation (Goodreads link)
14. Liaden Unibus I (Goodreads link)
15. Liaden Unibus II (Goodreads link)
16. Ghost Ship (due 2011)

The Tender Leaves by Essie Summers

Maria was curious about the father she had never known, so it was luck when Mrs. Jensen offered to pay her fare to New Zealand for looking after her. Maria could have done without Mrs. Jensen's disapproving nephew, Struan, or could she?

I don't know that this is the first romance I ever read, but it's certainly one of the early ones. I know I was attracted to it because it was set in New Zealand and written by a New Zealand author. Such things are easier to find these days, but weren't so much back when I was a teenager. I went on to read other Essie Summer books, again because they were set in New Zealand, but this one always remained my favourite.

So when I saw it for sale used a month or two back, I bought it, mostly for nostalgia's sake. I had no idea if it would stand the test of time or not, but I remembered it with pleasure so I decided to take the chance.

I've been very tired this last week and wanted a simple, gentle read, so I decided it was time for The Tender Leaves.

I'm pleased to say that it does stand up on a reread. I was enchanted by it all over again and enjoyed a book that featured my own country and indeed, a lifestyle that reminded me of what I know of my mother's childhood.

The book has a copyright date of 1980, but really the feel of it is more like something out of the sixties. My mother grew up on a New Zealand farm very like Heronshaw (although in the South Island and not in Hawkes Bay as in the book) and the feel of life fits more with her teens and twenties than mine. For example, the characters take a boat back to New Zealand from England for one thing, and that would have been more likely in the late sixties (indeed my parents did exactly that) than in the eighties. Plane travel was already the done thing by then and taking a cruise ship would have been a luxury few could afford.

The book is explicitly set in about 1980 as Johanna mentions the Napier earthquake (1931) as being half a century ago, but I still can't shake the feeling that the lifestyle it describes was fading by then. But I don't care in the least as it adds to the feel of the book, which is what I love about it.

My only other complaint is that Maria seems to be fairly dumb about figuring out some of the clues put before her. But I honestly don't know if that's because she is, or because this time I already knew the answers and what the clues really pointed towards. I think this is a book where a first read is a different experience than a reread because of this, but that's okay as the reader can enjoy both. It's a gentle mystery that resolves into a trope a rather like (I'm not sure what that says about me) but one that really can't be given away without changing the experience of the book, so I'm going to shut up about it now.

If you'd like a gentle, old fashioned and sweet romance, this is a book that provides it beautifully. And if you read it long ago, I can assure you that it stands up very nicely to a reread.

The Tender Leaves
Essie Summers 
8/10
Read: 18-5-10 to 22-5-10

The Fire King by Marjorie M. Liu

Long ago, shape-shifters were plentiful, soaring through the sky as crows, racing across African veldts as cheetahs, raging furious as dragons atop the Himalayas. Like gods, they reigned supreme. But even gods have laws, and those laws, when broken, destroy.

Zoufalství. Epätoivo. Asa. Three words in three very different languages, and yet Soria understands. Like all members of Dirk & Steele, she has a gift, and hers is communication. When she is chosen to learn the dead language of a shape-shifter resurrected after thousands of years of icy sleep, she discovers a warrior consumed with fury.

Strong as a lion, quick as a serpent—Karr is his name, and in his day he was king. But he is a son of strife, a creature of tragedy. As fire consumed all he loved, so death was to be his atonement. Now, against his will, he has awoken. Zoufalství. Epätoivo. Asa. In English, the word is despair. But Soria knows the words for love.

I haven't been in the mood for romance lately, or at least, not the genre version, but I wanted something different as a break from The Curse of the Mistwraith and this is the one that caught my eye.
I've been reading Marjorie M. Liu's Dirk and Steele series from the beginning, but I was starting to lose track of what had gone before and who was who, so I didn't immediately buy this one when it came out. Then I discovered that it, and all the previous books, were finally available as ebooks. That pretty much made the decision for me, I purchased it and (surprise, surprise) it immediately sat in the TBR list as my books usually do.

It had a lot of good reviews when it came out, so I was rather looking forward to reading it.

I'm very glad I did. This was an excellent addition to the series. There wasn't too much baggage from earlier books, meaning I could get on with enjoying the story here without worrying too much about what had happened before. There was one recurring character that I don't remember much about (Robert), but since I know he's still a mystery to everyone else, it didn't matter at all that he was also a mystery to me. All the same, I hope he gets his own book one day and we finally find out what his story is.

I loved Soria and Karr. Both were well-rounded with good, solid back stories and it was lovely seeing them get to know each other. Their interaction was lovely.

I really liked the way Karr walked most easily in his chimera shape rather than staying in human form - something that fitted with his history as well as his personality - and the way Soria took that in her stride and accepted it as part of him. So often with shape shifter stories the shifter spends most of his/her time in human form and the animal shape is only used in particular or extraordinary circumstances. Karr was equally human, lion and dragon and he embraced all of them rather than trying to fit the human norm. Of course, that was easier when he was originally alive and it will be interesting to see what happens in the future now he wants to live in the modern world with Soria.

I also particularly liked that Liu chose to make what had happened when Soria lost her arm not be something paranormal. So often in a paranormal book, everything ends up tying back to the character's abilities and the plot of the book. Here, this is not the case, and it was a refreshing change. What happened to her had a huge effect on her and was a major factor in why she ended up in the place she did with Karr and therefore was every important, but I really liked that it was separate from anything to do with Dirk and Steele.

We saw progress for Eddie, who suffered a major, um, "setback" in the earlier book, The Last Twilight. While I don't remember all the details of that, we were given enough for this story, which was all that was needed. It will be interesting to see what we learn about him next - and if Evie sticks around.

Eddie and his choices at the end of the book act as a stark contrast to what Roland does (or rather doesn't do) both in this book and earlier when Soria was hurt. He doesn't come across particularly well here, but I suspect there is more to things than we have learned so far. I will be interested to see if Roland ends up getting a book of his own and what we will discover then. He's certainly not past the point of no return, but he's got some work to do to beat his own demons. I rather think I'd like to see him do it. But he sure owes Soria for past behaviour.

It was also a nice touch that, while his is clearly a romance, it actually contains no explicit sex. While I have nothing at all against a good sex scene, it can be annoying when over-the-top attraction, lust and sex take over from the story. If I have to choose, I'll take a good
story over a sex scene any day. In The Fire King, Liu focuses on the story and the development of the relationship between Soria and Karr, rather than just lust. That's a win in my book.

The existence of the chimera also answers an interesting question about the shapeshifters in this universe that, I must admit, I had never thought to ask. But it's a good one, and I'm glad Liu brought it into the series. It will be interesting to see what happens between the shifters and the chimera in the future.

I'm really glad I did stick with this series. This was an excellent story with really enjoyable characters and I find myself really looking forward to the next one.

The Fire King
Marjorie M. Liu 
Dirk and Steele, Book 9
8/10
Read: 22-7-10 to 26-7-10

Dirk and Steele

1. Tiger Eye (Goodreads link)
2. Shadow Touch (Goodreads link)
3. The Red Heart of Jade (Goodreads link)
4. A Dream of Stone and Shadow in Dark Dreamers (Goodreads link)
5. Eye of Heaven (Goodreads link)
6. Soul Song
7. The Last Twilight
8. The Wild Road (Goodreads link)
9. The Fire King

Doubleblind by Ann Aguirre

From Goodreads:

It’s not easy to tread lightly
wearing steel-toed boots.

Sirantha Jax isn’t known for diplomatic finesse. As a “Jumper” who navigates ships through grimspace, she’s used to kicking ass first and taking names later—much later. Not exactly the obvious
choice to sell the Conglomerate to the Ithtorians, a people whose opinions of humans are as hard as their exoskeletons.

And Ithiss-Tor council meetings aren’t the only place where
Ambassador Jax needs to maneuver carefully. Her lover, March,
is frozen in permanent “kill” mode, and his hair-trigger threatens to sabotage the talks—not to mention their relationship.

But Jax won’t give up on the man or the mission. With the Outskirts beleaguered by raiders, pirates, and the flesh-eating Morgut, an alliance with Ithiss-Tor may be humanity’s only hope.

Which has Jax wondering why a notorious troublemaker like her was given the job…

I’ve had this one since it was published at the end of last September, but somehow it took me until now to get to it. (Thank you, Carl, for your Sci-Fi Experience, which focussed me on getting some long-waiting science fiction read in the first months of the year.)

It was way back in October 2008 that I read Wanderlust, the previous book in the series, so it had been a long time since I’d been hanging out with Jax and friends. To be honest, I couldn’t remember all that much of the storyline. I knew they’d been running around the Clan planet and that things had gone wrong with March and he was now both dangerous and pretty much emotionless. Oh yeah, and that Jax was supposed to be going to Vel’s planet as an ambassador. But that was pretty much all.

All that meant I was a bit nervous about how easy or hard it might be to get back into the series, especially since it is written in first person present test, and it tends to take me a little bit of time to adjust to it.

I was happily surprised by how easily I slipped back into Jax’s company and her world. I actually remembered enough to get by, even if I was missing some particular details.

A lot was made, in the blurb and at the beginning of the book, of the fact that Jax isn’t the kind of person to be an ambassador. She’s loud, brash and far from diplomatic. The thing is, I didn’t feel this was fair. Sure, the Jax we met at the beginning of Grimspace was all those things. But Jax has been through a lot since then and she’s learned a lot and grown a lot. She’s much better suited for the mission than anyone might think. And those who expect her to fail are likely to be quite surprised.

Sure, this book is about the diplomatic mission and how it progresses. Jax and her companions don’t dare let on just how desperate they are for this alliance to go through, and it soon becomes clear that there are two factions on Ithiss-Tor, each of which has pretty much already made up its mind already on how they are going to vote. The result is important and the reader is never going to be fully distracted from that by the other themes of the book, but those themes are very important too.

Because even more than being about the alliance, I found this book to be about Jax, her growth and especially her relationships with her friends. She comes to Ithiss-Tor unsure about how her relationship with Vel stands here on his home planet and learns a lot about herself, and even more about him, his past and his relationship to his own species.

An even stronger indication of how much Jax has changed is shown in her determination not to give up on Marsh. Traumatised by what he felt he had to do in the last book, he’s seriously psychologically damaged and has withdrawn inside himself. The old Jax would most likely have considered him too much work and cut him loose. The Jax we know now is willing and able to acknowledge that she loves him and isn’t prepared to let him go. She has no idea how to heal him, but she’s determined to try. And I thought Aguirre’s solution to the problem was brilliant. There was no way Jax was going to be able to repeat what Mair had originally done for March, and instead she comes to her own, wild and unexpected answer.

I had been a little concerned that the ending of the book might become sort of squashed as both the emotional and dramatic stories came to their conclusions, but I shouldn’t have worried. Aguirre wrapped things up nicely and effectively, with events flowing from plot point to plot point and I particularly liked the final rescue and resolution.

Then, on the last page, it all went to hell. Of course. All ready for the next book.

Happily, Ann Aguirre has announced that her publisher has bought the next (and last) two Jax books, meaning she will be able to finish up the story as she planned. Personally, I’d rather have a story with a beginning, middle and end, whether that is over one book or several, so I’m delighted with this news as the story will reach an organic end, rather than just rambling on and on.

And to finish, look at the beautiful cover for the fourth book, Killbox, which will be published this September.

Doubleblind
Ann Aguirre 
Sirantha Jax, Book 3
8/10
Read: 2-2-10 to 11-2-10

Sirantha Jax

1. Grimspace (Goodreads link)
2. Wanderlust
3. Doubleblind
4. Killbox (Goodreads link: Due September 2010) 
5. Aftermath (forthcoming)
6. Endgame (forthcoming)

The Ask and the Answer by Patrick Ness

From Goodreads.com:

We were in the square, in the square where I'd run, holding her, carrying her, telling her to stay alive, stay alive till we got safe, till we got to Haven so I could save her - But there weren't no safety, no safety at all, there was just him and his men...

Fleeing before a relentless army, Todd has carried a desperately wounded Viola right into the hands of their worst enemy, Mayor Prentiss. Immediately separated from Viola and imprisoned, Todd is forced to learn the ways of the Mayor's new order. But what secrets are hiding just outside of town? And where is Viola? Is she even still alive? And who are the mysterious Answer? And then, one day, the bombs begin to explode...

"The Ask and the Answer" is a tense, shocking and deeply moving novel of resistance under the most extreme pressure. This is the second title in the "Chaos Walking" trilogy.

I finished this book way back at the beginning of February, and it is only now, at the beginning of March, that I am finally starting to write about it. And that is largely because I haven’t been able to nail down what I want to say about it.

There has been all sorts of enthusiasm about this book, and the one before it, The Knife of Never Letting Go. I read The Knife of Never Letting Go in two days and was very impressed by it. I then rushed out and bought a copy of this one because I didn’t want to wait for as long as it might take me to get to the top of the library hold queue. I started reading it eagerly, and then I started to struggle. In contrast to the first book in the series, it took me twelve days to read this one and I could never decide if I liked it or not.

The thing is, this is a good book. The people who have said so are right. But I didn’t find it a nice book. Nice may not be the right word, as that seems to suggest something sweet and light, which this most definitely is not, but I can’t think of what the word I want actually is.

This is a good book. It raises important issues and tells a complicated story. But I didn’t enjoy reading it. And now, a month later, I’m still not sure if I liked it or not.

The pace is a lot slower than The Knife of Never Letting Go, which gives Ness the time to explore the issues he’s raising in the book. And boy oh boy, they are serious issues. He’s introducing things like fascism and terrorism and the rights and wrongs of both. There’s torture and terror and moral pitfalls everywhere. And as well written as it was, I didn’t enjoy reading about those things.

And then there was the Mayor. Really, I think he’s the crux of my issue with the book. I absolutely hated the Mayor. I detested him and I despised him. And I don’t mean that I hated the character because he was badly written; rather he was so well created and depicted that I hated the person in the pages as if he was a real person.

He had an absolutely clear insight into the hearts of all the other characters and he used that to manipulate them to the end of the world and back. It was just horrible. He separated Todd and Viola and then made them do exactly what he wanted – not through force or even fear (although there was a lot of fear) but by manipulating their very best characteristics to twist them into following his agenda without knowing they were doing it. It was heartbreaking to watch them trying so very hard to look out for each other and do the right thing and constantly have it turn back on them. By the cliffhanger at the end of the book (yes, there’s a cliffhanger but I’m not going to give away any of the details), the Mayor has achieved the result he has been working for all along (I totally don’t understand why that’s what he wants, but maybe it will become clear in the last book) and Todd and Viola are left in the same position they were in at the end of the last book. Or perhaps a worse position, as this time they’ve been vital in his achieving his ends, all while trying to oppose him.

It’s just awful and I was left aching for them both.

And it’s not just the psyches of Todd and Viola that he understands. It turns out he’s manipulated pretty much the entire population of the planet to do what he wants and I hated reading it. But I still had to keep on going.

I really, really, really want the Mayor to come to a very nasty and very sticky end.

So here I am, left not knowing what I thought of this book. It was good. It was very good. But I don’t know if I liked it. And I find myself eager to read the last book (thank goodness for library suggestions-to-buy) but not sure why about that either. Except that I want something awful to happen to the Mayor, and given the punches Ness has refused to pull so far, I find myself very afraid that may not happen. But I really hope it does.

You’ll have to decide for yourself if you want to read this. I really find myself unable to make a judgement call either way. Like I said, it’s good, but I didn’t really enjoy it. I guess you have to decide what your reasons are for choosing to read any particular book. If it’s to have fun along the way, this probably isn’t the right book. But if you want to be drawn into a fascinating world and challenged every step of the way, then maybe it is.

The Ask and the Answer
Patrick Ness
Chaos Walking, Book 2
8/10
Read: 21-1-10 to 2-2-10

Chaos Walking

1. The Knife of Never Letting Go
2. The Ask and the Answer
3. Monsters of Men (Goodreads link: Due for release 3-5-10)

The Compass Rose by Gail Dayton

From Goodreads.com:

The legends of the Godstruck were just that -- legends.

Until, in an attempt to defend her people, Captain Kallista Varyl called on the One for aid and was granted abilities such as no one had seen in centuries.

Now Kallista has been charged with a new destiny as one of the most powerful women in the land -- but her power is useless if it cannot be controlled.

Mastering her "Godstruck" abilities is the first step. The next, learning that she cannot unlock the secrets of the Compass Rose and defeat her nation's enemy alone. And finally she must stop a demon-possessed king . . .

Originally published in 2005, The Compass Rose was one of the early books in Harlequin's Luna range. The idea was to publish fantasy novels with a light touch of romance and I rather enjoyed the early days of the line, including this one. Its sequel, The Barbed rose, came out a year later and I enjoyed that one too. Unfortunately, at that point Luna dropped the trilogy. The final book, The Eternal Rose, wasn't published until late 2007 when Juno picked it up.

That means that I bought and devoured the first two, but had a longer than expected wait for the third. And for some reason I can not now remember (probably just that I didn't get around to it) I never read that third book. I always wanted to, but as more time went by and my memories of the first ones grew vaguer and vaguer (and reading paper books got harder and harder for me) it just became too big a job and I didn't finish the trilogy.

Recently, all three books were rereleased as ebooks. Hooray! I bought them on the spot (yet more books I have in paper and electronic versions) and decided to reread the first two before finally tackling the third.

So how was the reread?

I enjoyed discovering the world again. I remember the basics, but there was so much detail I had forgotten that it was almost like a new read.

Dayton's matriarchal society surprised me a few times as I'd forgotten how dominant it was. I found myself feeling outraged on behalf of the male characters, which interested me as they are treated no worse (and often better) that any woman in a standard patriarchal-focused fantasy. And I accept that because I'm so used to it. But this switch kept suprising me. And yet, I don't think Dayton did it at all for shock value, but because that was part of the tale she had to tell.

The main things I had remembered was the enemy Kallista was fighting and the Adaran social custom of binding several people (up to twelve) into a form of group marriage. That is a major part of the story, again not for shock value, but because a group of people find themselves bound together not really by choice but at the will of the Goddess. They then have to learn how to live together, how to care for each other and how to love each other.

There is a lot of focus on choice in this book. On how much choice individuals really have and what exactly it might mean. I found this a little ironic (in a good way) as all the main characters made a huge choice at the beginning to open themselves up to the will of the Goddess and then fought desperately to avoid that little choices that were demanded by that freely given big one.

The heroine, Kallista, is especially guilty of this. She basically says "Your will be done" early in the book and then stubbornly fights the consequences of that until right at the end of the book, when she realises what she's doing and opens herself up again. Kallista is an appealing character, which made this stubbornness frustrating rather than annoying, but I did occasionally find myself wishing she'd just get over it and get on with things. All the same, her reasons are logical (at least to her) and it is something she needs to work through.

The other members of her bound family, or ilian, are four males and another woman, making for a total of six. They are all well drawn, although having so many main characters does require careful sharing of on-page time for each of the secondary five on Dayton's part. On the whole she does it well. I feel like I know all of Kallista's ilian and I certainly want things to work out for all of them.

The villain in this novel is, in many ways, rather small and easily defeated. The book is about the main six characters and how they learn to cope with their destiny and each other. The "baddies" will be showing up in more detail in the second book as I recall, and I have no idea about the last book as I know very little about it. This is clearly a "setup" book, with the main plot threads coming in its sequels. This is not a complaint, as it is instead a lovely character novel which also clearly establishes the plot conflict to come.

I am looking foward to reread The Barbed Rose and finally getting to The Eternal Rose.

The Compass Rose
Gail Dayton
The One Rose, Book 1
8/10
Read: 1-1-10 to 5-1-10

The One Rose

1. The Compass Rose
2. The Barbed Rose (Goodreads link)
3. The Eternal Rose (Goodreads link)

Ties of Power – Julie E. Czerneda

After enjoying reading A Thousand Words for Stranger last month, I bought the second book in the series, Ties of Power. Usually it takes me much longer than this to get to a sequel, but I’ve been in the mood for SF lately, so I picked it up and read it this month.

At the end of A Thousand Words for Stranger, Sira and Morgan went into partially voluntary exile to avoid the further machinations of the Clan Council as they seek to control Sira’s enormous power. While on the planet Pocular, Sira is attacked, presumably by a member of the Clan. While Morgan, goaded by Sira’s rage, goes in pursuit of the perpetrators, Sira takes refuge with a group of Drapsk, members of a little known and secretive species. Sira finds herself caught up in the Drapsk’s Festival Contest and learns that there are other races that know of the M’hir, a place that is more complicated and strange than the Clan have ever imagined.

Rather like A Thousand Words for Stranger, I felt myself somewhat tossed in the deep end at the beginning of this book. I couldn’t figure out just what was going on or how anything related to anything else and was worried about my enjoyment of the story. Happily, things started to straighten out fairly quickly, and while Czerneda kept me guessing, I felt less and less in the dark as the book continued.

The layout of the story is the same as in the previous book, with first person POV chapters from Sira and “interludes” in between her chapters with third person POV depicting the action happening to other characters. This allows Czerneda to stick with Sira’s thought processes (always interesting as she still hasn’t fully integrated her two personalities yet) and adventures, while still letting the wider story be told. Since she split up her main characters for most of the book this was a necessity, as there is no way she could have told the entire tale from Sira’s POV without losing much of the story. However, with 61 chapters and almost as many interludes, this made for short reading sections, which aren’t really my favourite way to read.

The mystery of the Drapsk and its slow reveal was, well, slow, but still very interesting. As a biologist, Czerneda excels at creating alien races (even if, not being a visual reader, I couldn’t quite picture what most of them looked like) and the Drapsk were well done. As a species that communicates by olfactory messages (although they can vocalise in the common ComSpeak as well), their “com system” on their space ships consists of moving air currents and they have a tendency to curl into little balls (I imagined little feathery hedgehogs at this point) when over-stressed. Sadly, their technology isn’t as well realised as their biology, but whether this is limited by the imagination of the author or the fact it is all viewed through Sira’s eyes remains a mystery.

Sira and Morgan’s relationship is kind of stalled over the course of the book. Firstly, Sira remains afraid that her power could hurt or possibly even kill Morgan, so while she drills him relentlessly in defence, she also refuses any further physical or emotional closeness. Secondly, they are apart for most of the book, although desperately missing each other. Ironically, it is Sira’s self-growth through her time with the Drapsk that provides the solution rather than further development and interaction between the two of them, sure proof this is a science-fiction novel where the relationship is important but not primary.

The situation with the Clan reaches an end-point at the end of this novel, I assume leaving the next book open for Sira to work on the problem of escalating Clan power (something for which she may now have an explanation) and their potential extinction.

I found this an easier book to read than A Thousand Words for Stranger (although I liked Stranger a bit more than this one) and I suspect that is because the complicated biological and genetic issues of the Clan, which are a fundamental part of the story, have been explained already and it is lesser description of the Drapsk that takes centre stage in this novel. Certainly, I didn’t find myself needing to mark up copious passages of text as I did with the previous novel.

A solid continuation of the series, Ties of Power is a good social/biological SF read (machinery and technology is all drawn with much broader strokes and is less important). If that appeals and you liked A Thousand Words for Stranger, then I recommend continuing the series. I don’t know quite when I’ll get to it (having just signed up for a fantasy challenge so I’ll be focussing on that for a while) but I’ll definitely be getting the last book in the trilogy. I’ll probably eventually get to the prequel trilogy as well.

Ties of Power
Julie E. Czerneda
Trade Pact, Book 2
8/10

Qualifies for: 100+ Reading Challenge, eBook Reading Challenge

Trade Pact:

1. A Thousand Words for Stranger
2. Ties of Power
3. To Trade the Stars

Mothstorm – Philip Reeve

I was disappointed to see that our library didn’t have Philip Reeve’s third Larklight book. However, I’ve quickly learned that there’s a solution to that problem; ask the library to purchase it. Happily for me, they did and I embarked on Mothstorm with enthusiasm.

There’s a strange grey cloud out in the vicinity of Uranus, oops sorry, Georgium Sidius (who would be so uncouth as to call it anything else?) and the British Space Navy is worried. Art Mumby’s mother, formerly the Shaper in charge of starting life in our solar system, takes a hand and whisks the family and others out to see what is happening. They soon find themselves caught up in yet another nefarious plan to take over the solar system.  It is up to Art, his sister Myrtle, ex-space pirate Jack Havoc and Mrs Mumby to save the day once again.

I found Mothstorm a lot more fun than Starcross, possibly because it has such a better villain. Mrs Mumby’s no-longer-so-secret former identity comes to the fore as we learn more about shapers and what they are and are not supposed to do. Art and Myrtle become separated once again, meaning we get narration from both siblings. Myrtle’s attempts to be an author are amusing, Art’s footnotes even more so.

Really, this is more of the same from Reeve, but it’s delightful and fun more of the same, so who cares? It’s certainly better than Starcross and I recommend it for a fun, quick read. I thoroughly enjoyed myself reading it and I find myself sorry to know there are no more books in the series for me to read. Hopefully there will be eventually.

Mothstorm
Philip Reeve
Larklight, Book 3
8/10

Qualifies for: 100+ Reading Challenge, Support Your Local Library Reading Challenge

Larklight:

1. Larklight
2. Starcross
3. Mothstorm

The Secret Diaries of Miss Miranda Cheever – Julia Quinn

I first read this book back in 2007, not long after it was published. Lately, I found myself feeling like giving it a reread. I had good memories of it as a light, fun book and after The Eye of Night – an excellent book but one that took a bit of work – that’s exactly what I was wanting.

Miranda Cheever has been in love with her best friend Olivia’s older brother, Turner, since she was ten. Now, at almost twenty, she and Olivia are off to London for their first season, Turner is a bitter widower since his cheating wife died in a riding accident while going to meet her lover, and really, the scene is perfectly set for romance.

I’ve just reread by original review of The Secret Diaries of Miss Miranda Cheever, and I find that my reaction this time was pretty much the same. I’ve given the book the same grade and enjoyed Quinn’s sparkling romance without needing to take it too seriously.

Miranda is a most engaging heroine, not exactly pretty but striking, the quiet one who stands beside her conventionally beautiful friend who has all the admirers, and watches. She steadies Olivia’s more thoughtless nature and for that her friendship is especially welcomed by Olivia’s rich and titled family. But, as Miranda points out firmly at one point:

“Don’t confuse levelheaded with meek, Turner. They’re not the same thing at all. And I am certainly not meek.”

Miranda is a strong and steadfast heroine, but not a fiery one. And this makes her all the more appealing. She has been in love with Turner for a long time, and if she still sometimes tries to tell herself it is only a schoolgirl infatuation – usually when Turner is being particularly annoying – she knows that isn’t the case. She loves him, and he doesn’t see her as anything beyond his little sister’s little friend.

Of course, this is a romance novel, and as the book progresses and Turner and Miranda find themselves spending more time together, he does indeed begin to notice her. They make mistakes, Turner does some dumb things, but they are married before the book’s end and in love by the last pages, winning a deserved happy ending.

Neither is ever too stupid, which is a relief as that can be particularly annoying. As Miranda says at one point. “I’m not an idiot” and indeed, she is never an idiot. Turner comes closer, but it is in character and appropriate within the set up of the story line. It takes him a long time to realise and accept that he does indeed love Miranda, but after his experience with his wife, it is understandable and it works. Turner might be bitter, but it never makes him mean; he thinks he’s lost all kindness but at bottom he’s a man with a good heart and that fact remains, which makes him much easier to like than some “heroes” in romance, who have less reason to be bitter and angry than he does.

All in all, this was exactly the book I wanted to read. It’s light, it’s fun and the characters are nice people to hang out with for a while.

I never found Olivia a particularly intriguing character, but her showdown with Turner over Miranda is wonderful and I think it is more that the book doesn’t focus on her than anything else. Julia Quinn’s next book is Olivia’s story and while I was a bit lukewarm about reading it, having just reread The Secret Diaries of Miss Miranda Cheever I find myself much more inclined to find out what happens to Olivia.

The Secret Diaries of Miss Miranda Cheever
Julia Quinn
8/10

Qualifies for: 100+ Reading Challenge, eBook Reading Challenge, Romance Reading Challenge

Shades of Dark by Linnea Sinclair

I really enjoyed Linnea Sinclair’s first book about Chaz Bergren and her growing relationship with Gabriel Sullivan (not to mention her involvement with political intrigue, ex-husbands, monster breeding programmes and difficult family relationships). So when I heard there was a direct sequel coming out that would continue Chaz and Sully’s adventures I was delighted. But then the reviews started coming out. They were pretty much uniformly positive, but most talked about it being a dark book and about Sully making bad choices and stupid decisions. My book fear (where I worry desperately about the characters and/or how much reading about what happens to them is going to stress me) came rising up and I kept finding excuses not to face up to reading the book. But the third related book (not about Chaz and Sully, but about Chaz’s ex-husband Philip) is due out in a couple of weeks and the random number generator picked Shades of Dark for me, so I figured it was time to take the plunge and read it.

Chaz and Sully have escaped after destroying the Jukor breeding lab on Marker, but they know there is another lab out there on a ship. While trying to track it down, they find themselves caught up in high politics. Chaz’s brother Thad, who helped them on Marker, is arrested by the conspirators behind the Jukor labs (and more) as bait to draw out the fugitives. Whether he co-operates or has his mind scanned, his knowledge that Sullivan is a hated telepath or Kyi-Ragkiril is sure to be discovered. Chaz and Sully have to deal with the reactions of their crew to this news, the discovery of traitors in that same crew, not to mention the potential fall of the Empire itself (along with the arrival of Chaz’s ex-husband, Philip) and the intrusion of an alien Storloth Kyi-Ragkiril onto their ship. The latter, Del, can train Sully, whose power is growing at a rate he can’t control, but his mentorship comes with oaths, traditions and complications that will strain Chaz and Sully’s relationship to breaking point.

For once, my fears about a book proved to be true. By its end, this was a disturbing book. A very good disturbing book, but a disturbing book all the same. Sinclair doesn’t ever choose to take the easy way out and she explores the adage that power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely with a clear and unwavering gaze. Sully needs to come to terms with what he is, but as the only human Kyi-Ragkiril that he knows about, he has no guidelines except for scanty research about Storloth Kyi-Ragkirils. When Del enters the scene, he thinks he’s found a tutor and mentor, but the very things that make him human are not things Del, as a Storloth, sees as necessary or important. Chaz sees Sully changing and has to come to decide for herself how much of this is a good thing and how much, if any, is a bad thing.

Sully does indeed make some very bad and stupid choices, and Chaz’s responses are strong, brave and sometimes heart-breaking. I’m still processing exactly what happened and both Chaz and Sully’s choices. I’m not 100% clear how much of what happened was freely Sully’s choice and how much was Del manipulating him. Even if Del influenced things, the power inside Sully is a hungry, demanding thing and he must, as the story progresses, discover if he can stand up to it or if it will devour him too.

Chaz does not love blindly, and this makes her a strong and brave character that the reader can only admire.  She’s fantastic as she walks her own path through the minefield of her relationship with Sully, further confused as it is by the presences of Del and Philip. She knows where her moral boundaries lie and she will stick to them despite what it costs her – and who can’t love a woman who’s prepared to shoot her lover because he’s crossing a line he shouldn’t cross and it’s the only way to get through to him?

Sully is lost and confused and his pain is heart-breaking, but at the same time both he and Chaz know, and Sinclair doesn’t let the reader forget, that we are still responsible for our actions and we must take the consequences for what we do. We must fight to stay human and in touch with those things that are the best in humanity. Sully tries and, in the end, he stumbles, but still he tries. And always, always he loves Chaz with all that he is.

There’s a lot more plot in this book as the Empire disintegrates and the Jukor breeding lab is found – and it’s very good plot that weaves neatly though the focus on Sully and Chaz’s relationship and Sully’s growing power in the Kyi and what responsibilities that does or doesn’t place upon him. But at bottom this book is an study of love, as it seeks to explore its limits and its limitlessness. Sully says frequently to Chaz that all that he is is hers. But sometimes we have to draw lines in the sand, and where Chaz chooses to draw hers and how much she loves despite that make for a painful and uplifting conclusion to the book.

The ending is downbeat, yet beautiful in its own way. It’s painful, but it’s right. These people and their situation and experiences could only end here. And despite everything, the reader can still believe in their happy ending. It might not be happy right now, and it might be totally different from what they (or we) originally imagined, but there’s a rightness to their relationship that nothing has yet destroyed and we can believe nothing will.

Like I said way back at the beginning of this review, this is a disturbing book. It’s disturbing because, through Sully, we are forced to face some of the darker shades to human nature – and we don’t have a hero who can automatically be assumed to stand strong against them, because real people often fail and if Sully is anything, he is very real, despite his great power. So it’s disturbing, but it is also very good. If you have book fear like me, don’t let it stop you. This is a book worth reading, and there’s a love here that is strong and true yet real in its complications and its pain. Trust in Linnea Sinclair; she’s taken on a hard challenge here and she’s succeeded.

All the same, I’m hoping the next book, Hope’s Folly, won’t be so hard on its readers. I can’t take books like this all the time.

Shades of Dark
Linnea Sinclair
Dock 5, Book 2
8/10

Qualifies for: 100+ Reading Challenge, eBook Reading Challenge, Romance Reading Challenge

Dock Five:

1. Gabriel's Ghost
2. Shades of Dark
3. Hope's Folly (to be published 24th February, 2009)

Secrets of a Summer Night by Lisa Kleypas

Lisa Kleypas is very well recommended around the romance community. There’s a friendly competition between many readers to decide which of two of her heroes is the best. One of the candidates turns up in book 3 of her Wallflowers series. Being me, if I was going to read it, I had to start at the beginning of the series, so I bought Secrets of a Summer Night a while ago and the random number generator picked it for me just at the time when a romance felt like just the break from other books that I needed.

Annabelle is running out of time. She’s at the end of her fourth season and she still hasn’t found a husband. Her family is well born but poor and this fact has stopped anyone from offering her anything so respectable as marriage – although there have been indications men are willing to offer her something less respectable. At balls, she finds herself a wallflower, sitting on the sidelines along with three other young women who, like her, are never asked to dance. The four of them, Annabelle, two American sisters Lillian and Daisy, and the shy Evie, form an alliance, planning to help each other find husbands. One man who has shown interest in Annabelle (but not in marriage) is Simon Hunt. He’s a self-made man, a butcher’s son who is grudgingly welcomed into society due to his wealth. But Annabelle is looking for a peer, not a commoner. All the same, she keeps coming into contact with Simon and slowly, finds herself developing an interest in him despite her plans.

I can see why Kleypas is well regarded. She tells a good story with great characters and she can take standard romance tropes and either take them in a new direction or tell them with a vigour and freshness that makes you forget you’re reading something you’ve seen in other books.

Her characters shine. Annabelle and the other wallflowers are a delight to read and their interaction is lovely. Personally, I’m not one for romances that focus so tightly on the hero and heroine that there’s no room for other interactions. In real life, that’s unhealthy, and while I acknowledge that generally romances have little to do with real life, I still like some authenticity if possible. Kleypas provides that here. The chapter that includes the flow of letters around the four women is delightful. Equally fun to read is the frequent banter between Annabelle and Simon. Neither is willing to bend, or not at first anyway, and their fencing in clever and witty.

As feelings between them develop, that banter continues, but there is an underlying concern for each other as well. Simon’s care for Annabelle when she is sick – and his uncompromising determination to help her himself – is a delight to read. This is a romance after all, and seeing the tough alpha hero showing his softer side for the heroine is a large part of the fantasy. A fantasy Kleypas writes with skill.

I readily admit this is a personal thing, but the frequent romance trope of a virginal heroine who has several blistering orgasms the first time she has sex drives me totally batty. I know it’s another kind of fantasy, but unlike the caring alpha hero, this one really doesn’t work for me. So I particularly noticed when Annabelle, while not having a bad experience, didn’t feel heaven and earth moving either. Thank you Ms Kleypas; that alone raised you high on my list of romance authors to read again.

Annabelle isn’t perfect in any way, but she came into her own during her honeymoon and as I read I looked at how much of the book there was left to go and found myself worrying. Clearly, with that many words left, something had to go wrong and things were coming together so nicely. Again, Kleypas impressed me. True, there is a misunderstanding between Annabelle and Simon, but it is a small and reasonable one that is reasonably worked out with time and experience, not something big, unrealistic and at bottom, stupid. The end of the book is a rounded resolution rather than high adventure and it worked beautifully for me. The problems are solved – or at least to the point that is reasonable within context – and the end comes neatly.

Another difference between this book and many historicals is that it is set a little later, in the mid 1800’s. This allows Kleypas to study the fading power of the gentry and the rise of the new industrialists. Simon is one of the latter and Annabelle, initially believing in the superiority of the former and looking for a husband among them, comes to see that there’s a new way coming. In the end, it is Simon and that future that she chooses to embrace and while the gentry look down on her for it, she comes to understand that she’s the one who has made the most forward thinking choice. And of course, she’s found her happily ever after, and that’s a huge part of why people (me included) read romance.

This change in Annabelle’s thinking is neatly described in this exchange with her brother Jeremy:

“Don’t be so severe on her, Annabelle. It wasn’t so long ago that you had the same disdain for those on the lower rungs.”

“I did not! I…” Annabelle had paused with a ferocious scowl, then sighed. “You’re right, I did. Though now I can’t see why. There’s no dishonor in work is there? Certainly it’s more admirable than idleness.”

Jeremy had continued to smile. “You’ve changed,” was his only comment, and Annabelle had replied ruefully.

“Perhaps that’s not a bad thing.”

I was impressed by my first historical by Lisa Kleypas and I strongly suspect I’ll be reading more. I wasn’t hugely won over by my first Kelypas novel, which was the contemporary Sugar Daddy, but Secrets of a Summer Night was very much more my kind of book. I think it was a case of one subgenre (historicals) being more my thing that the other (contemporaries) because Lisa Kleypas is an excellent author and one to which I’m sure I’ll be returning.

Secrets of a Summer Night
Lisa Kleypas
Wallflowers, Book 1
8/10

Qualifies for: 100+ Reading Challenge, eBook Reading Challenge, Romance Reading Challenge

Wallflowers:

1. Secrets of a Summer Night
2. It Happened One Autumn
3. Devil in Winter
4. Scandal in Spring
5. A Wallflower Christmas

Soul Deep by Lora Leigh

ePublisher Ellora's Cave coined a new word when it began publishing its particular brand of romance: romantica. It means a romance story with explicit sexual encounters that still focuses more on the romance than the sex and doesn't really fall into the class of erotica. In all honesty, I'm not sure if it's a true division between two genres or a way to make erotica more palatable to the general reading public. I haven't really read anything officially classed as the latter, so I can't compare.

Ellora's Cave certainly isn't the only epublisher (or print publisher for that matter) that publishes these kinds of books, but they have the trademark on the word and they publish Lora Leigh. And Lora Leigh definitely falls into the definition of romance with explicit sex. The romance is lovely and the sex scenes are well written, but don't pick up this book if you don't want details and blunt words and terminology.

A friend introduced me to Leigh's Breeds series a year or two ago and I enjoyed the concept and outer storyline as much as the individual romance. (I suppose that reads kind of like someone claiming to read Playboy for the articles, but I promise, it really is true.) That general concept is that a group of corrupt and highly-placed individuals created a new race of humans by mixing human DNA with that of wolves or big cats. The resulting "specimens" were badly treated and have recently broken free. Their creators were killed, captured or have gone to ground and the Breeds are now trying to find a safe place for themselves in the world, hounded on all sides by curious people, human supremacists and the remainder of the Council who created them.

Each book I've read so far features a couple who find themselves mated, a biological imperative they can't resist (which is what leads to all the sex), and have to figure their way through this difficult way to start a relationship. Leigh does a very good job of exploring the idea of biology versus emotion as each couple tries to figure out what part of their attraction is biological and what part is truly about learning to love the other person. The plotlines are a little repetitive if you pare them down to the basics, I admit, but Leigh manages to create individual characters than make the books different and each one enjoyable.

After Soul Deep in the Breed chronology, she was picked up by New York publisher, Berkley, and that's pretty much where I originally stalled on reading the series, when she suddenly moved to the stories of two characters we had never heard of before and apparently dropped the over-arcing story of the progress of the Breeds in building a community. A little later, still publishing with Berkley, she went back to the initial group of characters. At that point, I was interested again. But being me, I still felt the need to read all the books and in the correct order. So I went back to the beginning and reread my Ellora's Cave books. I now have a short story and one Berkley novel to reread and I'm up to the new books.

Goodness, what a lot of preliminary information before I even get to talking about the book itself!

Soul Deep pairs human Amanda Marion with Coyote Breed Kiowa. Amanda's father has just become President and an important vote is about to occur on a law that will essentially give the Breeds the right to police their own and take the law into their own hands when they are threatened. Worried that if anything happens to Amanda, President Marion may not vote for Breed Law as expected, Kiowa has been asked to keep an eye on Amanda as a backup to her normal security. Unsurprisingly, her security is compromised and she is kidnapped. Kiowa resuces her and suddenly finds himself responsible for the President's daughter and not daring to return her until the hole in her security is found and plugged. Kissing her to keep her quiet, he sets their mating in motion and from there, everything goes to hell.

He and Amanda end up at the Breed compound, trying to figure out how to relate to each other (outside sex; they've got the sex party pretty much all worked out) and find out if they have a relationship outside the bedroom. Amanda desperately wants to know she might have loved Kiowa regardless of the mating process, while he, already sure that he was falling for her long before he kissed her, is determined not to let her go. Soul Deep is a short book (coming in between 45K and 70K words) so there's a lot of story, romance (and sex of course) to fit into a small number of pages. Leigh does it well, and while it requires the frequent romance novel requirement of suspending disbelief to accept that a couple can fall in love forever in a few days (something I accept is possible but don't believe is usual in real life), and this is an enjoyable story with a satisfying conclusion.

I never know where to tell someone interested in the Breed series to start reading. Each book is complete and this one could easily be read by someone who hasn't read any of the others, but there are a number of secondary characters who it helps to have met already in the previous books. If you don't mind explicit sex, I suggest trying Tempting the Beast from Ellora's Cave. If you'd rather have it toned down a little (but still hot), try either the short story in Hot Spell or Megan's Mark from Berkley. Or, if this one sounds interesting, start here. It'll work out fine.

Soul Deep
Lora Leigh
The Breeds, Book 5 (Coyote Breeds, Book 1)
8/10

Qualifies for: 100+ Reading Challenge, eBook Reading Challenge, Romance Reading Challenge

In the Forests of Serre by Patricia A. McKillip

I fell in love with Patricia McKillip's writing many years ago when, as a teenager, I discovered her Riddle-Master trilogy in the library. From there, I pretty much read all her books as they came out. McKillip's writing is beautiful; it's lyrical, poetical, full of fantastic imagery and amazing ideas. But it also is never simple. Mostly, that simply enhances the story, but sometimes I find it opaque as well and I'm left confused. It's the former far more than the latter, but after failing to finish The Tower at Stony Wood, I left off buying her books for a while. Then last year, I heard a podcast of McKillip reading the beginning of her new book, The Bell at Sealy Head and was entraced all over again. When it was published and I read it, I just loved it and it was one of my 10/10 reads for 2008. At the time, I had some credit with Fictionwise, so in my enthusiasm, I went and splurged on two of the books I had skipped, In the Forests of Serre and Alphabet of Thorn.

When I found that Lenneth was holding a Patricia McKillip Reading Challenge for 2009, I pretty much immediately signed up, planning to read those two books I had on the TBR list and perhaps have another go at reading The Tower at Stony Wood. (I still haven't decided what I'll read for the third book in the challenge as I'm also tempted to reread some of my favourites.) Within the first week of January, the random number generator threw up In the Forests of Serre for me.

McKillip's books do not have simple linear plots, and this one is no exception to that. The reader starts off meeting a wide array of characters - Ronan, Prince of Serre, still grieving the loss of his beloved wife and child while his father demands he wed again; Sidonie, Princess of Dacia who is chosen to be his bride in spite of her own wishes; Euan, a scribe in Dacia who is selected to transcribe the writings of the wizard, Unciel, who went away and fought a terrible monster he cannot bear to mention and nearly died as a result; Gyre, the wizard always desperate for more magic who Unciel chooses to escort Sidonie to Serre. There are others as well, including Ronan's parents, the entrancing firebird that lives in the forests of Serre and the witch, Brume, who sets the events of the story in motion.

In the opening pages, Ronan rides down and kills one of Brume's white hens and she curses him to remain lost in the forest until he finds her again. Sidonie arrives to find her bridegroom missing and Gyre sees a chance to take something he wants. But this is too simple a summation to indicate the depth of the story and the intricate way in which everyone's stories are woven together to make a bright, magical whole. Each of the major characters encounters Brume and each is changed by meeting her. We learn about hearts and one's heart's desire and what is needed to be whole.

It's a beautiful story, but I admit that I found myself struggling a little at first as I tried to keep up with all the characters and threads of the story. About halfway through it all begins to come together and the power of McKillip's story-telling shines through. Once I got to that point, I couldn't stop reading and had to keep going and going, stealing time whenever I could to get to the end. Looking back, I see a glittering tapestry telling a bright tale and I am even more entranced by the story now, with the whole of it in my head and a day gone by to let it all sink in.

I tried reading McKillip's Od Magic last year and gave up because there seemed to be too many characters and too many plot threads. After my experience with In the Forests of Serre, I think I'm going to need to give Od Magic another go. I suspect the same thing is likely to occur and it all weaves together beautifully at the end. Looking back at what I wrote last year, I see that I did try to read Od Magic at a time when I was struggling to read much of anything, so I suspect it wasn't a good time to attempt McKillip.

It's a long time love affair, the one I have with Patricia McKillip, and I feel no need to attempt to escape from her spell. I love her writing, I love her characters and her stories. In the Forests of Serre was no exception and I'm looking forward to reading more of her books as the year progresses. The challenge is to read three, but I rather suspect I may have read more than that by the time the end of the year rolls around.

In the Forests of Serre
Patricia A. McKillip
8/10

Qualifies for: 100+ Reading Challenge, eBook Reading Challenge, Patricia A. McKillip Reading Challenge

Greenwitch by Susan Cooper

Greenwitch, the third in Susan Cooper's The Dark is Rising sequence, is just a little book. I don't know how many pages the paper version runs to, but as an audiobook it was only four and a half hours long. I actually started it last year, but stalled when Christmas got in the way, so I started it again earlier this week (mostly so I could include it in my 2009 challenges I admit). I finished it in a few days, something that is most unusual for me with an audiobook.

Greenwitch begins with the theft of the grail the Drew children found in Over Sea, Under Stone. Merriman quickly recruits them to try to recover it and they return to Trewissick, soon finding themselves joined by Will Stanton and Captain Toms, the owner of the Grey House where they stayed the summer before. This is really Jane's story, with her brothers and Will as the supporting cast, further supported by Merriman and Captain Toms.

She is invited to witness the making of the Greenwitch, a massive creation of wood and stones that the women of the village make through the night once a year. At daybreak, the Greenwitch is tipped over the cliff into the sea. Jane is told that she is welcome to make a wish on the Greenwitch, like the other women of Trewissick. Impulsively, instead of wishing something for herself, Jane wishes for the Greenwitch to be happy, a wish that will have major consequences.

Meanwhile, Simon and Barney have an encounter with an agent of the Dark, who has the grail and is trying to recover the manuscript that came with it and ended up at the bottom of the sea at the end of Over Sea, Under Stone. But it is the Greenwich who has claimed the cannister holding the manuscript and who recovers it will be a major factor in the current balance between the Light and the Dark.

This is Jane's story and she shines here. She is the quieter, more thoughtful one compared to her brothers, but in this case those are the attributes that are needed to reach the Greenwitch and persuade it to give up its "secret". The end scene, with Will, on the rocks, is lovely and it is only the thoughtful girl and the Old One in the guise of a boy that would think to give the Greenwitch a new treasure to protect. It would never occur to Simon or Barney, and that most likely is why this is not "their" book. They took centre stage in Over Sea, Under Stone and now it is Jane's turn.

Alex Jennings is an excellent narrator and it was a pleasure to listen to him reader Susan Cooper's lyrical prose. She can shift easily between lively interaction between the characters and evocative descriptions of the location or magical events. The Wild Magic is prevalent again in this book and it is beautifully described and beautifully narrated.

I'm thoroughly enjoying my reread of this series and I look forward to The Grey King, although I'm going to be listening to Magician's Gambit next. I figure that alternating between the lyrical and thoughtful Dark is Rising books and the light and fun Belgariad books should be a nice balance.

Greenwitch
Susan Cooper
The Dark is Rising, Book 3
8/10

Qualifies for: 100+ Reading Challenge

Thirteen Orphans by Jane Lindskold

The first of Jane Lindskold's books I read was Brother to Dragons, Companion to Owls, which, as best as I can recall, a friend loaned to me. I was attracted by the title and entranced by the strange, quirky story within. (One of my goals for this year is to reread the book; I hope I love it as much on a reread many years later.) From then on, I kept an eye out for Lindskold's books. Some I passed on, some I loved (Changer and Legends Walking particularly and I wish she'd write more in that universe) while others were so-so for me. When she started her Firekeeper saga with Through Wolf's Eyes I was right there. I only managed to read two books in the six book series; not because they were bad but because they were dense, detailed epic fantasy with tiny print on the page and I couldn't get my CFS-brain to process them easily.

Lindskold wrapped up the Firekeeper books in 2007 and last November saw the publication of Thirteen Orphans, the first in her new series, Breaking the Wall. This is a contemporary-set fantasy with its inspiration in Mahjong and Chinese culture. Several generations ago, twelve magical advisors and their child emperor (the Thirteen Orphans) were exiled from a world evocatively known as the Lands Born from Smoke and Sacrifice. Now, their descendants live in modern day America, some aware of their heritage and others not. As the story begins, Brenda Morris, nineteen year old heir apparent to her father, the Rat, travels with him to meet the emperor's descendant and, unbeknown to her, learn about her heritage for the first time.

But something goes wrong, and the man they have come to visit is first missing and then strangely changed. Shortly after, the same thing happens to Brenda's father - all his memories of his life and heritage as the Rat are stolen and he no longer remembers any of that part of his life. Brenda finds herself working with Pearl Bright, the Tiger of the Thirteen Orphans, and the three others whose memories have not been stolen. Although not the Rat herself, Brenda finds herself able to access some of the Rat's abilities and the five remaining Orphans work to discover and stop their enemies and return the memories of the rest of the group.

This was a very good story with a fascinating premise. I know what Mahjong is and, years ago, I played it a few times, but it isn't something I know very much about. This didn't particularly matter as so long as I knew roughly what the tiles looked like, Lindskold filled in as much detail as required for the story. The link between the game (which is used as a mnemonic for magic more than for magic itself) and magic and culture was neatly worked out and I enjoyed it very much.

I also like the characters. I think we probably get to know Brenda and Pearl best of all the main characters and I liked them both. Brenda is young and unsure, always aware she is not actually the Rat but only his heir while the others are the full holders of their power. Possibly falling in love with an enemy isn't an addition she needs, but doesn't seem able to help, the painful irony compounded by the fact the man has lost his memory in the same manner as the lost Thirteen Orphans and she is most probably falling for an illusion anyway. But Brenda rises above it all, holds her own with her companions and manages to make the right decisions when it counts.

The reasons why the Orphans are suddenly being hunted after so many years are cleverly put - and equally cleverly turned on their head in the final climax of the book. There is a full story here, but it is clearly the beginning of a larger story and I suspect we may find that what we thought was the point of the tale will prove to be a side-step beside the actual arc of the entire series.

I am looking forward to the sequel, Nine Gates, which will be published in August this year, and Lindskold is currently working on the third book, Five Odd Honors. I have no idea how long the series is expected to be and I am tempted to email the author to ask. It is kind of nice to have a rough idea what I'm getting into.

Thirteen Orphans
Jane Lindskold
Breaking the Wall, Book 1
8/10

Qualifies for: 100+ Reading Challenge, Support Your Local Library Reading Challenge