Monday, November 09, 2009

Four books in 2 weeks

I just finished four books, plus one I'm not really going to dwell on here.
Fledgling by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller was a delight, with their usual intricate plots and insanely fascinating characters from the Liaden Universe.
This particular story was about a teenager named Theo Waitley who is, as are most teens, trying to get her bearings both physically and mentally, while struggling for independence from her mother and yearning for time with her father. I enjoyed Theo's journey and that of her mother somewhat less so, as Kamele, who is a professor, is something of a cold fish toward her offspring, while Jen Sar, Theos father, seems much more compassionate, kind and understanding. The story will continue in Saltation, which is set to come out next year, and I look forward to reading it once it hits the shelves of my local branch of KCLS.
I also read the second in Devon Monk's "Magic" series, Magic in the Blood, which had an even crankier Allie in it than Magic in the Bone. Fortunately, we do see the return of the delicious Zayvion Jones, hottie magic man who smells of mint, and we see even more of the unsavory side of magic use and repurcussions, as an insane doctor uses Allie's dead father to try and suck the magic power from a host of young girls he's kidnapped for that purpose. Allie does her best to stop him, but in so doing encounters possession by the shade of her evil father, who was a ruthless businessman, and a lousy parent. I look forward to reading the third book in the series, if only to see how Allie gets her dead Da out of her head.
The Unfortunate Miss Fortunes by Jennifer Cruisie and two other authors, was a joy of a book to read, though it was yet another retelling of the Witches of Eastwick with a bit of the TV show "Charmed" thrown in for fun. No one can replicate the fine prose of John Updyke, of course, but the authors of Miss Fortunes managed to update it with a light and frothy touch, lots of hot romance and a satisfying storyline.
Today I finished Call of the Highland Moon by Kendra Leigh Castle, and though I enjoyed the steamy scenes with Carly and Guideon, I found myself wishing that there were more of them, and less of the self doubt, the lying and breaking up and getting back together bits, and more dealing with the paranormal aspect of falling in love with a werewolf stuff. But as paranormal romances go, it was a pretty decent read, though I winced at the use of the traditional "petite blonde who is fiesty yet ultra-feminine and sexy" protagonist, paired with the big hulking Scotsman who is totally enchanted with wee blondie the minute he sees her, and of course she can barely suppress her lust for his throbbing manliness from the moment he uses his husky Scottish accent on her. Insert eye roll here. I wish romance novelists would jettison the stereotypes and cliches. Still, this was a fun novel to read, the plot was swift and sure, and the line between good and evil clearly delineated.
I picked up a rather formulaic novel by Katherine Stone called "The Other Twin" that I read and didn't enjoy, so I will just note here that it was read, and leave it at that.
Now, I am on to Wen Spencer's "Tinker" which should prove to be interesting, as the last book I read by this author had the usual gender stereotypes reversed. I hope this book proves to be equally as inventive.

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