Flight into Fantasy

I’ve been trying to space out my readings of the Vorkosigan series, because I know myself and know that even I become cynical and irritated if I read too many books by the same author in close proximity. (Long time readers of this blog are no doubt gasping in astonishment. Cynical? Me? About books? Parish the thought!

Anyway, the Vorkosigan books haven’t let me down, and they keep getting better and better. At the moment I am less than halfway through Brothers in Arms , which I will probably finish this weekend despite my best efforts to savor it. I love vulnerable, slightly angsty Miles, wondering if he’s really going crazy. And I love his relationship with Elli Quinn. Actually, I just love Miles and his thoughts on women, period.

And speaking of the women in Miles’s life, man, do I ever lurve me some Elli Quinn. I love that she is in love with the person she thinks Miles is rather than who he actually is. I also like that she just… randomly fires off rocket launchers when they’re necessary. And all of the moments where I laughed out loud so far in the book have been from lines of Elli’s. Of course, the part of me that is silly and repressed really wants to know if she will ever find someone as extremely cool as she is with whom to spend her life.

Heh, Elli Quinn, imo, is a good example of a strong female character. She’s kick-ass, snarky, and also very feminine and sexy. I totes want to be her when I grow up.

Doubtless, I will have more to say the more I read, so I’ll just stop here.

Title: Twilight
Author: Stephenie Meyer
Genre: young adult, paranormal romance
Grade: DNF
Summary: Bella moves from Phoenix and her flighty mom to Forks, Washington, where her dad’s the police chief. There she meets the mysterious and inegmatic Edward Cullen, who turns Bella’s life upside down.
My Thoughts: I’ve been trying to read this one for months. My sister introduced the book to me one day when we were hanging out, and we read the first couple of chapters together. From there I’m told she cloistered herself with the book and didn’t come out until she was done, whereupon her roommate at the time did the same. Me, I got to chapter 13, and then decided I couldn’t deal with it anymore.

The thing about this book that disappoints me is that I started out really loving Bella. She seemed smart, practical, maybe a trifle cynical. In other words, a teenager I could relate to. Then she met Edward, and the rest of the book promptly became all about Edward. She reminded me of the type of person I dislike IRL who has to have a man in her life in order to be validated, no matter how bad he is for her. In the end, I just couldn’t deal with the fact that everyone else in Bella’s life was incidental unless they impacted her relationship with Edward.

And Edward. I think I might have liked him a bit better had we seen him with his own POV. As it was, I found him insufferable. I mean, if I wanted to read about a high-handed jerk who is also a vampire, I’d read the next Christine Feehan book.

I think, to be fair to Meyer, that I probably would have finished the book if I weren’t just a little tired of reading about urban fantasy. I’ve kind of glutted myself on that type of book lately, and have decided I should try and read something else next.

Title: Fool Moon
Author: Jim Butcher
Genre: Urban fantasy
Grade: B+

Summary ganked from Wikipedia: Business has been slow. Okay, business has been dead. And not even of the undead
variety. You would think Chicago would have a little more action for the only professional
wizard in the phone book. But lately, Harry Dresden hasn’t been able to dredge up
any kind of work — magical or mundane.
But just when it looks like he can’t afford his next meal, a murder comes along that
requires his particular brand of supernatural expertise. A brutally mutilated corpse.
Strange-looking paw prints. A full moon.
Take three guesses — and the first two don’t count…

The Good:Once I got past the first bit, which was kind of slow, the book picked up and simply never let up until it was done. Butcher also draws wonderfully vivid characters. John Marcone, for example, is fascinating, and even though I regularly want to slap Murphy, I love her, despite her flaws, which especially come through in this book. I also like Butcher’s descriptions of the way magic works in his universe. It’s all very logical. And there’s some nice setup for stuff that will probably come up in future books.
Oh, and I liked that Butcher isn’t afraid to kill off characters, and I was fearing for some of my favorites there for a while.
The Bad: It seemed like in the first book, the tone was a bit lighter. This one was pretty grim, and I actually hit a point where I had to stop reading because I couldn’t deal with the violence. There were a few moments of relaxation, but it felt like poor Harry got hit with one thing after another with no real room to breathe. I also wish Butcher would have tied up some of the loose ends. I’d have liked to learn more about Tera’s backstory, for example. And, as I may have mentioned, it took a bit for this one to get going, which is why it’s not quite an A book for me.

Final Thoughts: I am definitely intrigued enough to read the next book in this series. Also, I’ve been on the Internet too long, because one of the things I thought after finishing this book was, ‘Man, if there isn’t shipping wank in Dresden Files fandom, why not?’
Anyway, definitely I recommend this one. B+.

So I was looking at a list of student clubs at JCCC and ran across the following:

The Twice Honorable Association of Collegiate Opportunists (T.H.A.C.O.)
The association will create and foster friendships though activities which combine
storytelling, strategy and overcoming intellectual challenges. They will also participate
in recreational games involving skill and imagination designed to broaden mindsets
of members and promote acceptance of diverse peoples and viewpoints.
Advisor: Omar Conrad, ext. 3495

Makes the club sound so… wholesome, and totally not like an excuse to play D&D. Although I wonder if anyone still uses the term Thac0 anymore.

Title: Dark Desire
Author: Christine Feehan
Genre: Paranormal Romance
Grade: C

Plot summary yoinked from The Barns and Noble website: The stranger silently summons her from across the continents, across the seas. He
whispers of eternal torment, of endless hunger…of dark, dangerous desires. And
somehow American surgeon Shea O’Halloran can feel his anguish, sense his haunting
aloneness, and she aches to heal him, to heal herself. Drawn to the far Carpathian
mountains, Shea finds a ravaged, raging man, a being like no other. And her soul
trembles. For in his burning eyes, his icy heart, she recognizes the beloved stranger
who’s already become part of her. This imperious Carpathian male compels Shea to
his side. But is she to be his healer…or his prey? His victim…or his mate? Is
he luring her into madness…or will his dark desire make her whole?

The Good: This one actually started out pretty engagingly. Shea is a brilliant surgeon who’s had a pretty shitty existance because her mother was depressed and withdrawn and actually didn’t give a shit about her. But during her medical school days one night, she experiences intense pain… which later turns out to have been caused by Jacques, the brother of Mikhail from the previous Carpathian book. Other stuff happens, and Shea ends up setting Jacques free from where he was being held captive, and begins the slow process of healing him physically and mentally.

Had the book continued in that vain, I’d have loved it.;.. Maybe not unreservedly, but still… it would have sufficed. Jacques’s high-handed, uber-alpha, male Carpathian behavior didn’t bother me very much in this case, because he had been rather brutally tortured and it was natural for him to be slightly insane. I’d have liked for him to have had to struggle more with his rage and his insanity than he in fact did. I also liked some of the sequel bait Feehan brings up–for example, Julian sounds like my kind of guy, all sarcastic smug self-assurance.

The Bad: Well, there were the villains, who pretty much did everything but twirl their moustaches. And there was a plot twist that any reader with a modicum of intelligence will pick up on years before it is actually introduced. Also, this book contains Gregory. The dark one. The most emo of all Carpathian males. I am sure that Melissa will probably want to smack me, but, really , if I were a Carpathian male, the mere thought of Gregory would have my inner beast hurrying to the surface so I could choke a bitch. Also, I should mention that mostly, Feehan sucks at introducing the sequel baits. Mostly, except for Gregory who I loathe and Julian who intrigues me, the rest of the male Carpathians seem to all come from the same mold and the same area in central casting.

Final Thoughts: This story had a lot of potential. Too bad it mostly didn’t live up to said potential. C for this one.

Title: Lady Slings the Booze
Author: Spider Robinson
Genre: Science fiction
Grade: C

Summary: Joe Quigley is a detective, although his employer continues to compare him to “that
guy in the Pink Panther movies.” Nonetheless, he sends Quigley over to the notorious
interplanetary bordello run by Lady Sally, wife of time-traveling bartender Mike
Callahan. But like Callahan’s Place, the staff and clientele of Lady Sally’s might
be called on to save the world–with Quigley’s help.

The Good: There are a lot of things I like about these books, things I consistently like. Mostly, they consist of the walk-on characters. Dr. Kate, Lady Sally’s physician, seems like a nifty lady. And I am always charmed by Ralph, the talking German shepherd. Also, Lady Sally’s place and Callahan’s would be really nice places to hang out. Robinson’s also a decent storyteller, and there were several moments when I held my breath in horror and anticipation, and even this cranky reader was surprised by one of his plot choices.

The Bad: Well, the first part of the book is a wonderful, rollicking mystery. Then it’s like Spider decided, “Eh, I’m tired of this. Let’s write something else.” And he pulled together the second half, which was just a complete mess. I hated reading his thoughts on nuclear disarmament, I hated the fact that Nikola Tesla, a real historical person, wound up just… randomly showing up in the book, and God, I was tired of Spider’s thoughts on sexual politics.

All of that could just be me, though, because I do get disappointed when writers who can turn out wonderful books end up writing complete and utter crap.

Final Thoughts: I might read the next one in this series, because I really do want to know where Robinson thinks he’s going, but I’m pretty sure I’m mostly done with the Callahan universe.

Dear Spider Robinson,

Why is it that I can get so engrossed in one of your books that I get a little sad inside when the bus comes to a stop and I have to stop reading, yet when I think about what you have actually written, I want to smack you?

My main gripe, aside from the fact that you would love to be in a manwich between Robert Heinlein and John D. MacDonald is that there are very few writers who can pull off subtle references to their previous works without sounding like a wanker. You? Completely fail.

Also, you would be a lot funnier if you didn’t try so hard. As it is, most of the time when your characters start trying to be funny, I want to reach through the book and strangle you, just to make my head stop hurting.

I really wish I could hate you, though, dammit. Because then I’d feel less guilty about mocking you.

Still faithfully reading,
Shannon

Title: The Bloody Sun
Author: Marion Zimmer Bradley
Genre: science Fiction
Grade: C+

Plot Summary: Jeff Kerwin arrived on Earth at age 12 after spending his childhood in an orphanage
on Darkover. Now he feels the need to return to Darkover to explore his heritage.

My Thoughts: I’d have loved this book unreservedly at fifteen. There’s a lot of high drama, character emo, forbidden love, etc. And for the most part, I actually did enjoy this book. The problem was that it was extremely easy to put the book down and forget about it. Which I did. Several times.

Also, as I mentioned earlier, I hated the romance, which I thought was incredibly forced, not to mention just this side of squicky, and I still think Jeff Kerwin should have wound up with Auster, one of the other major characters, because that would have been a lot more interesting to read about.

That said, the edition of the book I read featured a short story called “To Keep The Oath”, which describes the Renunciates, or Free Amazons, and that short story worked well for me on many different levels.

So, because I loved the concept of the Renunciates and loved the story about them, and because I’m feeling generous today, I’ll give this book a C+ grade. I’ll probably read more Darkover books because Bradley has me intrigued, but I’m definitely going to finish some other stuff first.