The Promised Recap

It's taken me forever and a day to get around to writing this recap, but I know you're not surprised, so let's just move right along.

When I last posted, I was reading/listening to Anton Strout's "Dead to Me", which is the first novel in his Simon Canderous series. I had been looking forward to this one for quite a while, and I really enjoyed it. It's funny, original, and only slightly sexist. I suspect I wouldn't be as annoyed by the sexism if I had read the novel instead of listening to it, since the narrator did give a slightly irritating read for the female characters, but the sexism was definitely there. It's not bad enough that I wouldn't recommend this novel, and it wasn't bad enough to make me even consider not reading the rest of the series. It's just there. I think Anton Strout is a very funny and kind man, and I really don't think it will be an issue in the rest of the series - it seemed to be a 'first novel' issue more than an actual sexist issue.

While I was on holiday I read the second novel of Mercedes Lackey's Five Hundred Kingdom's series, "One Good Knight", which was a fun, light read. I didn't love it as much as I loved the first book, probably because I had an idea of what to expect from it, and predictable is never great, but it was still a really enjoyable read. I don't read much romance, but romantic fantasy is perfect for vacation.

I followed that up with a binge read of the three most recent novels in Kelly Meding's MetaWars series - "Changeling", "Tempest", and "Chimera". You may remember how much I enjoyed "Trance" - the series just gets better from there! I couldn't stop reading them. We are talking 'stay up past bedtime to finish and then immediately start the next novel' level of addiction here, and I am anxiously waiting for the next novel to be announced. This series is what I had hoped the 'Marvel's Agent's of Shield' TV series would be like, only even better because I'm not nearly as imaginative as Ms Meding is. Each novel is told from the point of view of a different member of the team-formerly-known-as-Rangers, a group of emotionally scarred young superheroes who are just trying to find their place in the world. They are brilliant, heartbreaking, and inspiring - and you should go buy the whole series (also available on Amazon, if that's your bag) because I swear you will not be disappointed. Go. I'll wait here.

Got it? Ok, moving on...

At Christmas I decided to re-read Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol", which is never a mistake. When I was growing up we went to the local stage production every year, but I never get tired of it. If you've never read it (GASP!!) find yourself a copy next December - it's a quick read, but it's lovely.

Maybe it's a comfort thing (I've been feeling a bit down) but a lot of my reading time over the past six months has been devoted to re-reading favourites. In addition to "A Christmas Carol" I've also re-read the first 6 Harry Potter novels and the second Dexter novel - so, it's been a lot of fun. I discover something new every time I read Harry Potter, and the joys and heartaches feel as fresh as they did on the very first read. I'm taking a little break before Deathly Hallows because, let's be honest, the conclusion Half-Blood Prince is emotionally exhausting! As for "Dearly Devoted Dexter" - man, I love that character! For all his darkness, he is a funny guy and one of the most human characters I've ever read. I'm way behind on the series, so hopefully I can catch up (assuming there will be a book 8 - fingers crossed!).

I also started a re-read on audio of Jim Butcher's "Dresden Files" series, which I love so much, you don't even understand. I was really excited about it - one of my favourite series ever, read by James Marsters? Yes please!! Unfortunately, Marsters reading of the story is not quite to my taste. I'll probably try again when the days are a bit longer. I'd like to get caught up on this series this year, too.

I haven't given up on my Man Booker challenge, but I've been stuck on Margaret Atwood's "Blind Assassin" since early November, and I don't know why. This novel is another re-read for me, and although I'm only about a quarter of the way into it, but I just keep putting it down to read other things. I'm disappointed that I'm not enjoying "Blind Assassin" this time around, since it blew me away the first time. It's probably mostly because I haven't forgotten any of it, so the dramatic tension is just not there. Or perhaps I'm just making excuses (see Harry Potter 1-6 and Dexter 2)! I'm going to try to get into it again after I finish reading my current novel, but if it still doesn't grab me I will have to admit defeat and move on to the next title.

I've also been reading a bunch of non-fiction book on finance, compassion, history, and evolution. Nothing terribly exciting, but it's been keeping my mind busy.  Novel-wise, I finished reading Half-Blood Prince four days ago, and Dearly Devoted Dexter three days ago, took a couple days off trying to decide what to read next, and yesterday I decided to start a new-to-me series that I've been looking forward to - Anthony Bidulka's "Russell Quant" mysteries. The first title is "Amuse Bouche" - a rookie PI based in a small Canadian prairie city - sounds like fun, right? So far, it is! In fact, I think I can fit in a few more chapters before bed...

Happy reading!

Fantastic Fantasy!

I finished reading the first novel of Mercedes Lackey's Five Hundred Kingdoms series, "The Fairy Godmother", yesterday, and wow! What a fantastic novel! Breezed through it in 7 days, and even worked out a way that I can knit and read at the same time because I just didn't want to put it down! I've never read any of her novels before, but I've now added four series to my TBR list!

The Five Hundred Kingdoms is a romantic fantasy series which turns traditional fairy tales on their heads.  In this novel a Cinderella, whose Prince is entirely unsuitable for her, decides to hire herself out so that she at least gets paid for slaving away all day.  Instead, thanks to some magical intervention, she becomes the apprentice of a Fairy Godmother. The story is warm, funny, feminist (that's not a bad word!), and incredibly sweet.  Who needs a Prince when there are tragic endings to be subverted, and Tradition to be twisted? This is a fine example of the 'moral' tradition of fantasy stories, something I think we could all use a little more of. 

To be completely fair, it wasn't perfect. There are a few needless repetitions of ideas and story background that probably should have been edited out, making me think 'Hey, I just read that x chapters ago!'. Some of the sentences suffer from an archaic structure, which seems to be a part of the overall fairy tale vibe but isn't consistent enough to blend in.  Also, I read an e-book edition, and there were a number of glaring errors (like missing words) that ought to have been edited better. But, overall, it wasn't enough to really detract from my enjoyment of the story, so I'm willing to let it slide. More than let it slide, I'm really looking forward to reading the next six stories in the series and having to talk myself out of reading them all right now!

Interestingly, this novel solved my personal mystery of why sometimes, even though I'm thoroughly enjoying a novel, I don't breeze through it, usually stretching the last third of the novel out as long as I can.  It's because, even though I know the Good Guys will 'win', I also know I'm not guaranteed a Happy Ending. Sometimes the good guys die in the process of saving the world, sometimes they have to sacrifice their own happiness for the benefit of others, but it's not always Happy. Because this series is romantic fantasy, the consequences are milder. Sure, there is darkness and peril (what good would the story be without that?!) but ultimately there is redemption for the deserving, and Happiness. I'm not gonna lie - I like Happy Endings, they make me... well, happy! If that means it sometimes takes me a little while longer to read a book that has a potentially tragic ending, I'm totally OK with that.

My reader's soul is feeling revived, mostly because I have loved four of the last five novels I've read so much, that I'm feeling strong enough to dip back into the Man Booker winner's list for my next read. I'm still skipping over "Sacred Hunger", "The Ghost Road" and "The God of small Things" (I'm not feeling quite that strong!) so I'm going to give Ian McEwan's "Amsterdam" a try.  It's fairly short, and now that I've figured out how to read and knit at the same time, it may not even be too tedious!

Happy reading!