This is WebGenii, with another installment from my “Reading Diary”. So what have I been reading lately?
I started with “The Bible Repairman and Other Stories” by Tim Powers, published by Tachyon Publications.
Reading Diary #02: WebGenii’s Reads
This is WebGenii, with an installment from my “Reading Diary”. So what have I been reading lately?
Reading Diary #01: WebGenii’s Reads
This is WebGenii, with an installment from my “Reading Diary”. For those of you who’ve been listening to Cover to Cover for a while, it should come as no surprise that I read many more books than I actually review. But even if I don’t review a book, it doesn’t mean that I didn’t like it. It probably meant that I just ran out of time.
Dual Review: “Twelve”, “Thirteen Years Later” by Jasper Kent
Before I start reviewing Twelve and Thirteen Years Later I have to go on a rant, a rant about books with serial killers. The success of The Silence of the Lambs has meant a huge number of books featuring serial killers. I find the popularity of serial killer characters unnerving and annoying. Unnerving, because this hero worship of insane killers, is well unnerving.
Review: “Steampunk!” edited by Kelly Link and Gavin J. Grant
I do enjoy a good short story anthology and Steampunk! An Anthology of Fantastically Rich and Strange Stories really fits the bill. It offers 14 terrific stories all in the steampunk genre (although some of them are pretty loosely connected — I’m looking at you Garth Nix!). And the quality of the stories are uniformly good.
Review: “7th Sigma” by Steven Gould
I have to admit that I didn’t buy 7th Sigma because of the excerpt called “Bugs in the Arroyo” that you can find for free on the Tor website. I bought it because of Summer’s love for Steven Gould’s Jumper. I’ve never read Jumper, but Summer’s enthusiasm for Gould is contagious.
Review: “Heart’s Blood” by Juliet Marillier
In Heart’s Blood Ms. Marillier has created believable characters, both living and dead who grow and change through the book. Far from being a knock-off, the story and style stand out nicely on their own. I’m glad to have had the opportunity to discover her work.
Review: “The Goddess Test” by Aimée Carter
What I didn’t expect was to be reaching for a tissue in the first twenty pages. Ms. Carter nicely sidesteps the whole unequal romance trope by placing the emotional center of the novel in the relationship between our heroine Kate and her mother Diana. Kate’s frantic grief over her mother’s looming death drives the plot and gives more weight to the story than a YA romance would normally command.
Review: “The Enterprise of Death” by Jesse Bullington
The Enterprise of Death really broke my normal reading rules. You see, normally if I stop reading a book that’s it — Game Over. I just don’t pick books back up and continue them. I did put The Enterprise of Death down several times, because it was just too intense for me. And, at one point I stopped reading it for a couple of weeks while I went on to other books
But I kept coming back to The Enterprise of Death, because I just had to find out what happened to the characters.
Review: “Coronets and Steel” by Sherwood Smith
The setup for Coronets and Steel reminds me irresistibly of Marion Zimmer Bradley’s Glenraven. Tho’ to be honest. I think this is a better book with more realistic characters. And that is saying a lot when the plot involves identical cousins, magic, kidnappings, royalty, mysterious middle European countries and much daring do and plot twists.
Review: “Enclave” by Ann Aguirre
Enclave deals with the aftermath of a zombie apocalypse in a world where those people who are trying to maintain civilization are all very young, with a life expectancy of only their early twenties.
Review: “Red Glove” by Holly Black
Red Glove is promoted as a YA novel, although I’d put it more at the 18 year old to adult end of the spectrum than the 13-16 year old range. If your kids are old enough to watch the “Sopranos” or “The Riches” and they like those shows, then this is the right book. Much like those shows, Red Glove contrasts the supposed glamour of a criminal lifestyle with the pain it causes our hero. A younger reader might only see the glamour and magic and miss the misery.
Review: “Thirteenth Child” by Patricia C. Wrede
Thirteenth Child is a YA novel and in this novel Patricia C Wrede crafts a story that may remind you of Orson Scott Card’s “Seventh Son” series. In this case, the hero is a young girl named “Eff” coming to grips with her magical heritage.
Review: “Phoenix Rising: A Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences Novel”
A steampunk-mystery-romance (it certainly spans multiple genres); Phoenix Rising is a light-hearted confection of a novel. The novel features the pairing of Eliza D Braun and Wellington Books* leading to the duo of Books and Braun.
Review: “The Prisoner” by Carlos J. Cortes
As a good thriller does, the book proceeds at a brisk pace, only slightly slowed when one of the characters begins to expound on how easily personal freedom was lost in this near future America. I might not have noticed this, except my previous reading with Suarez and Doctorow had already covered this topic pretty extensively.
