Flight into Fantasy

When last we met, I was raving about the preceeding collection of Callahan’s stories, Callahan’s Cross-time Saloon . This is the second such collection of Callahan stories, and, while I still love the Callahan universe, I can definitely say I liked the first book better.

This second book was another collection of short stories, only four of which were actually set in Callahan’s, which, because I didn’t include a summary in the previous review, is basically the coolest bar ever and the kind of place I would hang out in real life, despite the fact that I don’t like bars all that much. Anyway, the rest of the book (which is really what we were talking about) consists of a few of Robinson’s other science fiction stories, most of which I thought weren’t all that good. (The exception being the excerpt from Mindkiller and the very last story in the collection, the name of which I’ve forgotten.) There were also a couple of essays, one his first-ever book review column for Galaxy magazine, one an essay about Robert A. heinlein which, if Robinson had written it today, would have been all over fandom wank, and one a speech he made about fandom and the craziness (or lack) therin.

As I said, I definitely liked the first set of Callahan stories a lot better. The rest of this collection felt extremely uneven and a little (by which I mean a lot) self-indulgent. If you're going to pick this particular book up, skip the nonfiction altogether, read the Callahan stuff, and then read the last story, and you'll hit the highlights.

Grade: C+

I know a bunch of you have read this book, so I’ll spare the summary and just say that I loved it. And, that being said, there is something really comforting in the Calahan stories. They seem like a wonderful balm on the soul for when a person is depressed. And while Spider Robinson’s sense of humor isn’t so much mine, and he does get a tad preachy, I forgive him for it, because I love his message. And yes, I would go hang out at Calahan’s, most definitely.

Summary: The title says it all. This is a humorous account of Christ’s growing up years, as recounted by Jesus’s childhood friend, Bif. The story takes Joshua of Nazareth from Nazareth to a Buddhist temple in China and back and fills in on the parts of the gospel that were left out.

The good: I actually don’t really have much in the way of criticism for this book. It was very well-written, IMO, and extremely funny. Also, not that I’m a biblical scholar, but it seems as if Moore actually did do his research, and the funny anachronisms scattered throughout the book were meant to be there. I didn’t really have any quibbles with the book, and would definitely recommend it.

Title: Gate of Darkness, Circle of Light
Author: Tanya Huff
Summary: Rebecca is a mentally retarded young woman who can see the the fairies. One day, Alexander, one of said wee folk, is killed, thus setting off a chain of events that will require Rebecca and her friends, including Roland, a street musician, Daru, a social worker, and Evan, adept of the Light, to save the world against the forces of darkness.

The Good: This was the kind of book I absolutely couldn’t stop reading. The storytelling is excellent, and Huff draws wonderfully likeable characters. Plus, there was a moment when I actually gasped out loud, something that rarely happens to this cynical reader. I liked how Huff treated Rebecca, demonstrating a compassion for the mentally disabled and not glossing over the stuff she has to deal with. There were also issues relating to a character’s sexuality that I thought were handled well.

The Bad: God, that plot. When I wasn’t reading the book, I remembered that I’ve read millions of different versions of this plot told a million different ways. I also felt that Huff meandered quite a bit, and I lost the feeling of suspense and foreboding she kept trying to evoke. Also, I thought the way she resolved things kind of sucked. But did I mention I loved reading this book? Because I forgive her for the lack of tightness in plot and the horrible ending because she made me care about the characters.

Overall: I give this one an A-. If only the plot weren’t so cliched, it’d be a lot higher of a grade. Definitely a good book for people who like urban fantasy.

I read a lot while I was gone, since I didn’t have the Internet to distract me during my downtime. I’ll see if I can remember everything.

Young Miles by Lois McMaster Bujold: I really did love reading about Miles Vorkosigan. He’s a compelling character, and so far his stories have been wonderful.

Kushiel’s Dart by Jacqueline Carey: I’d heard so much about how wonderful this book was that I was a little wary of reading it. After some initial irritation with the prose style and the faux French, I found myself captivated by the story, and once Phedre went off on adventures, things really picked up and I was hooked.

Kushiel’s Chosen by Jacqueline Carey: Once more, a great book. Again, I found the beginning slow, but I finished it in one sitting after I got about halfway through.

Storm Front by Jim Butcher: I’d started this one ages ago, but never finished it. I loved the combination of urban fantasy with a detective story, and I stayed up ridiculously late one night to finish it.

Undead and Unwed by MaryJanice Davidson: Chick lit meets vampires? I really didn’t expect to like this as much as I did, but I love Betsy, our vain, shallow, shoe-obsessed protagonist who is also the queen of the vampires.

Undead and Unemployed by MaryJanice Davidson: The sequel to the previous book. I didn’t read these back to back, or I might have been annoyed that Betsy really isn’t very bright. But nonetheless, still a good read.

Hot Spell by Emma Holly, Lorra Leigh, Meljean Brook and Shiloh Walker: I’ve been reading this anthology for months as well. I loved the Emma Holly story, and the Meljean Brook story, though a bit of a slow start, was great. The Shiloh Walker was meh, and the Lorra Leigh was… a bit of a mess, although it did have a great premise. (It’s just that our male protagonist had a barbed penis. Yes. A barbed. Fucking. Penis.

Bewitched, Bothered and Bevampired by MaryJanice Davidson, et. al.: A much better anthology. The stories were all varying degrees of funny, but they were all cute, and I can’t say there were any I hated.

Fine Flickering Hungers by Alesha Brio: Wonderful, well-written erotica. The only drawback to these stories was that I needed help navigating the publisher’s website, and letting the 60-year-old woman you’re staying with find out you want to read erotica is definitely embarrassing.

Pirate’s Price by Darlene Marshall: I was expecting a historical romantic comedy. And the book was funny in places, but the story was good enough that I wasn’t disappointed it wasn’t more hillarious. And it was a refreshing change to read about a kick-ass female lead in a romance story.

Promises Keep by Sarah McCarty: I adored Promises Linger but this sequel was meh. Mostly because I got the impression Sarah was writing the same story, only with duller characters. Plus, unlike the heroine in the previous book, Mara Kincaid, our erstwhile heroine here, was dropped on her head occasionally as a baby, which is the only excuse I can come up with for what a moron she was in places.

Guardian of Honor by Robin D. Owens: I shouldn’t have liked this book, because it was utterly cheesetastic, but I did. I can’t explain its appeal, either. I just know it was highly satisfying and I can’t wait to read the sequels.

The Year of the Unicorn by Andre Norton: I’m not sure that I like Norton’s writing style, either, as it was quite overblown, and it took me a while to understand where the plot was going, but in the end, it was a fairly good story. I would read more Witch World books.

A Wind in the Door by Madeleine L’Engle: I guess this counts since it was a reread. I adore the adventures of Meg and her friends, and have read almost everything L’Engle has written about them.

The Riddle of Pencroft Farm by Dorothea Jenson: The couple I was staying with and I read this together. It’s a children’s book, and would be great for a fifth or sixth grader studying about the Revolutionary War. For me as an adult, it was didactic and a little boring.

Assassin’s Apprentice by Robin Hobb: I read a recommendation for Hobb’s books on a George R. R. Martin message board and decided to try her for myself. I loved it. Fitz is an interesting and compelling character, and I’m curious to see where the story arc goes from here.

> Tales of the Shareem: Rhees by Allyson James: I did finish this eventually, but it wasn’t really all that exciting. James’s erotic romance formula was patently obvious from the beginning, and I wish she’d paid more attention to her world-building and less to smexing up her characters.

I think those are all the books I actually finished. At the moment, I’m in the middle of several other books.

Oh, and I have to mention that a couple of ebook authors made it onto my never read list again:

• Jordan Summers: Her stories are about five close female friends who all stupidly go off to the jungle for haut smexing. I never made it to the hot smexing part, because I couldn’t get past the fact that the heroine of the first book freely admitted she knew nothing about the outdoors, yet was happily galavanting around the jungle.

• Charlotte Boyett Compo: In the book of hers I tried, her male character refers to a woman’s secretions as tasting like boiled potatoes… which took me out of the story and made me collapse into hysterical laughter for a long time. Seriously… WTF, boiled potatoes? Not romantic.