Post by Ananke II on Jan 23, 2011 4:16:49 GMT -5
When I'm feeling stressed I tend to hunker down with a good book. So since I last posted in this thread I've managed to read 60 novels. Which now I look at it is kinda insane...
I read 4 books in MaryJanice Davidson's Queen Betsy series of Urban Fantasy. The plots tend to be rather forgetable, but they're amusing and light books, which I can usually get through in 3-4 hours.
Cry wolf and Hunting ground by Patricia Briggs were very good. They're somewhat more focused on the romantic relationship between the main characters Charles and Anna than her Mercy Thompson series. I quite like how she's handling the relationship so far, since the main characters are still getting to know each other. I liked Hunting ground best though, since it dealt with werewolf pack politics in Briggs world, which I've always been interested in reading more about. Bone crossed (4rd book in Briggs Mercy Thompson series) was very good. Nice story, pared with Briggs usual deft handling of the relationship between Mercy and Adam. Reading that book had me really impatient for the 5th book in the series, which came out in paperback a week ago. A couple of important things got dealt/wrapped up with in this book, which was nice.
I also got my hands on Carrie Vaughn's 8th Kitty Norville book, Kitty Goes to War, which consisted of two main plot threads. The one dealing with werewolf soldiers returning from war I thought was really good. The 2nd part, which dealt with a sorcerer causing trouble, was imo weaker and didn’t really add much to the overall plot of the series.
From Dead to Worse by Charlaine Harris was good. I liked the plot about a power struggle among the vampires. Dead and Gone was really good. It’s a darker book than the previous ones, which I thought suited the series + Sookie and Eric finally starts acting on the attraction between them. Dead in the Family was rather light in comparison. It mostly just forwarded several plot threads somewhat, without containing a real plot on it’s own. Hopefully the next book will be more like Dead and Gone.
Midnight’s Daughter and Death’s Mistress by Karen Chance were both decent reads. I was interested in seeing what would happen to Louis-Cesare. These books didn’t capture me the way her Cassie Palmer novels did though. I suppose I just prefer the characters in her other series. The added info about the worldbuilding was nice though. That and finding out that Mircea (the main romantic interest in the Cassie Palmer novels) genuinely cared for his daughter, Dory. Maybe that means he isn’t just manipulating Cassie’s feelings for his own ends. I kinda liked the mystery about not knowing his real intentions though. Ah well. It’s a bit weird though; I really like Karen Chance’s Cassie Palmer series, but these books + her shortstories in the same world mostly leaves me cold.
I also got Cryoburn by Lois McMaster Bujold as a Christmas present. I spent a couple of weeks last spring devouring all her Miles Vorkosigan books, so it was nice to see her publish a new installment. I thought the plot was pretty good and it didn’t bother me too much that the story was told from the POV of both Miles, Roic and Jin, although I love Miles’ voice, so I wouldn’t have minded if she’d skipped the other POVs. Anyway, it was a nice story and a certain twist at the end was handled pretty well I thought.
Other authors I liked:
Seanan McGuire (Rosemary and Rue)
J.R. Ward (her Black Dagger Brotherhood series)
Karen Marie Moning (her MacKayla Lane/Fever series)
Kelley Armstrong (Frostbitten)
Diana Gabaldon (her Outlander series)
Ilona Andrews (her Kate Daniels series)
Nalini Singh (her Guild Hunter series)
Gail Carriger (her Parasol Protectorate series)
Richelle Mead (Stormborn)
Rachel Vincent (Stray)
Keri Arthur (her Riley Jenson Guardian series)
David Weber (On Basilisk Station)
I read 4 books in MaryJanice Davidson's Queen Betsy series of Urban Fantasy. The plots tend to be rather forgetable, but they're amusing and light books, which I can usually get through in 3-4 hours.
Cry wolf and Hunting ground by Patricia Briggs were very good. They're somewhat more focused on the romantic relationship between the main characters Charles and Anna than her Mercy Thompson series. I quite like how she's handling the relationship so far, since the main characters are still getting to know each other. I liked Hunting ground best though, since it dealt with werewolf pack politics in Briggs world, which I've always been interested in reading more about. Bone crossed (4rd book in Briggs Mercy Thompson series) was very good. Nice story, pared with Briggs usual deft handling of the relationship between Mercy and Adam. Reading that book had me really impatient for the 5th book in the series, which came out in paperback a week ago. A couple of important things got dealt/wrapped up with in this book, which was nice.
I also got my hands on Carrie Vaughn's 8th Kitty Norville book, Kitty Goes to War, which consisted of two main plot threads. The one dealing with werewolf soldiers returning from war I thought was really good. The 2nd part, which dealt with a sorcerer causing trouble, was imo weaker and didn’t really add much to the overall plot of the series.
From Dead to Worse by Charlaine Harris was good. I liked the plot about a power struggle among the vampires. Dead and Gone was really good. It’s a darker book than the previous ones, which I thought suited the series + Sookie and Eric finally starts acting on the attraction between them. Dead in the Family was rather light in comparison. It mostly just forwarded several plot threads somewhat, without containing a real plot on it’s own. Hopefully the next book will be more like Dead and Gone.
Midnight’s Daughter and Death’s Mistress by Karen Chance were both decent reads. I was interested in seeing what would happen to Louis-Cesare. These books didn’t capture me the way her Cassie Palmer novels did though. I suppose I just prefer the characters in her other series. The added info about the worldbuilding was nice though. That and finding out that Mircea (the main romantic interest in the Cassie Palmer novels) genuinely cared for his daughter, Dory. Maybe that means he isn’t just manipulating Cassie’s feelings for his own ends. I kinda liked the mystery about not knowing his real intentions though. Ah well. It’s a bit weird though; I really like Karen Chance’s Cassie Palmer series, but these books + her shortstories in the same world mostly leaves me cold.
I also got Cryoburn by Lois McMaster Bujold as a Christmas present. I spent a couple of weeks last spring devouring all her Miles Vorkosigan books, so it was nice to see her publish a new installment. I thought the plot was pretty good and it didn’t bother me too much that the story was told from the POV of both Miles, Roic and Jin, although I love Miles’ voice, so I wouldn’t have minded if she’d skipped the other POVs. Anyway, it was a nice story and a certain twist at the end was handled pretty well I thought.
Other authors I liked:
Seanan McGuire (Rosemary and Rue)
J.R. Ward (her Black Dagger Brotherhood series)
Karen Marie Moning (her MacKayla Lane/Fever series)
Kelley Armstrong (Frostbitten)
Diana Gabaldon (her Outlander series)
Ilona Andrews (her Kate Daniels series)
Nalini Singh (her Guild Hunter series)
Gail Carriger (her Parasol Protectorate series)
Richelle Mead (Stormborn)
Rachel Vincent (Stray)
Keri Arthur (her Riley Jenson Guardian series)
David Weber (On Basilisk Station)