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stoutfellowThe summer doldrums continue to have me in their grip. (And my students as well; I've had about half a dozen appointments cancelled in the past week.) About all I've achieved lately is to finish off the genre novels in my last Amazon shipment.
The Wake is the last of the Sandman graphic novels by Neil Gaiman. (Well, from the cover I get the impression that there was one more volume, apparently as an afterthought, but the overall arc is completed by this story and I don't know that I'll bother to get the other one.) It's a fairly nice coda, but overall I think I enjoyed the non-arc stories as much as or better than the main line.
Flash for Freedom! is the third of the Flashman books; this time, he finds himself on board a slave ship (the slave trade being, by this time - ca. 1848 - illegal under, among others, British and USAn law). It's as irreverent as ever, and in parts exciting - especially the "crossing the ice" scene; I could wish for a deeper exploration of, for instance, the slavery vs. factory-work issue, but Flashman is, after all, not that thoughtful a character - if there's a cynical way of understanding what's going on, he'll seize on it.
Sharpe's Triumph, the second (on internal chronology) of the Sharpe novels, is, well, reasonably exciting and informative; Cornwell is good at the description of battles on the tactical level, and he makes the sequence of events at the Battle of Assaye clear.
Two for the Dough is the second of the Stephanie Plum mysteries, and I think I'm coming around to the idea that they're pretty much mind candy. Less than a week after reading the book, I had to exert a bit of effort to remember just what happened, which is unusual. Still, they're entertaining enough, and Evanovich doesn't stint on the gritty details. (Again, she has one particularly nasty villain and another colder, but ultimately more dangerous, one.)
To Darkness and to Death, the fourth mystery in the Fergusson/Van Alstyne series, is on a par with its predecessors; I have to admit that I didn't catch on to the central detail that pulled everything together, namely who the pamphlets belonged to. I'm left wondering how the interaction between Rev. Fergusson and Deacon Aberforth will play out, and looking forward to the next installment.
The Language of Power is the fourth of the Steerswoman books, and continues to intrigue. More pieces of the puzzle are falling into place. I'm a bit troubled by a couple of things, though. First off, I find it hard to believe that Rowan would hear the self-identification of the wizards as "Krue" - she's been on shipboard enough for the other possibility to at least occur to her; but that's a minor cavil. More importantly, it bothers me that the tech level seems to be only slightly in advance of our own; most of the tech we've seen is stuff that we know how to do, are working on, or can extrapolate to from current developments. Given the literary game that Kirstein is playing, that's probably inevitable, but it disrupts my WSOD a bit, especially since interstellar flight of some form seems to be lurking in the background. Still, I'm enjoying the series a lot.
In other matters, I've started going through the archives of yet another webcomic, this time on a nonrecommendation from Websnark. Dominic Deegan, Oracle for Hire is an odd mix of silliness (including a propensity for obvious puns) and outright horror, and I'm finding it quite compelling. It's not exactly for the squeamish, though... It's probably best to begin at the beginning, where the silliness predominates (I loved the Curse of the Fish) and where the major characters are introduced.
Ah, well. Back to loafing.
The Wake is the last of the Sandman graphic novels by Neil Gaiman. (Well, from the cover I get the impression that there was one more volume, apparently as an afterthought, but the overall arc is completed by this story and I don't know that I'll bother to get the other one.) It's a fairly nice coda, but overall I think I enjoyed the non-arc stories as much as or better than the main line.
Flash for Freedom! is the third of the Flashman books; this time, he finds himself on board a slave ship (the slave trade being, by this time - ca. 1848 - illegal under, among others, British and USAn law). It's as irreverent as ever, and in parts exciting - especially the "crossing the ice" scene; I could wish for a deeper exploration of, for instance, the slavery vs. factory-work issue, but Flashman is, after all, not that thoughtful a character - if there's a cynical way of understanding what's going on, he'll seize on it.
Sharpe's Triumph, the second (on internal chronology) of the Sharpe novels, is, well, reasonably exciting and informative; Cornwell is good at the description of battles on the tactical level, and he makes the sequence of events at the Battle of Assaye clear.
Two for the Dough is the second of the Stephanie Plum mysteries, and I think I'm coming around to the idea that they're pretty much mind candy. Less than a week after reading the book, I had to exert a bit of effort to remember just what happened, which is unusual. Still, they're entertaining enough, and Evanovich doesn't stint on the gritty details. (Again, she has one particularly nasty villain and another colder, but ultimately more dangerous, one.)
To Darkness and to Death, the fourth mystery in the Fergusson/Van Alstyne series, is on a par with its predecessors; I have to admit that I didn't catch on to the central detail that pulled everything together, namely who the pamphlets belonged to. I'm left wondering how the interaction between Rev. Fergusson and Deacon Aberforth will play out, and looking forward to the next installment.
The Language of Power is the fourth of the Steerswoman books, and continues to intrigue. More pieces of the puzzle are falling into place. I'm a bit troubled by a couple of things, though. First off, I find it hard to believe that Rowan would hear the self-identification of the wizards as "Krue" - she's been on shipboard enough for the other possibility to at least occur to her; but that's a minor cavil. More importantly, it bothers me that the tech level seems to be only slightly in advance of our own; most of the tech we've seen is stuff that we know how to do, are working on, or can extrapolate to from current developments. Given the literary game that Kirstein is playing, that's probably inevitable, but it disrupts my WSOD a bit, especially since interstellar flight of some form seems to be lurking in the background. Still, I'm enjoying the series a lot.
In other matters, I've started going through the archives of yet another webcomic, this time on a nonrecommendation from Websnark. Dominic Deegan, Oracle for Hire is an odd mix of silliness (including a propensity for obvious puns) and outright horror, and I'm finding it quite compelling. It's not exactly for the squeamish, though... It's probably best to begin at the beginning, where the silliness predominates (I loved the Curse of the Fish) and where the major characters are introduced.
Ah, well. Back to loafing.
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Date: 2006-07-28 10:13 pm (UTC)I believe Lorraine said the next book is due in October or so. I can hardly wait! I do love this series. Aberforth surprised me, there at the end; I, like Claire, I think, did not expect the depth of understanding he evinced, nor the pastoral nature of his advice.
I've just read my first Evanovich, the ninth in the Plum stories (so obviously I'm way out of order), and I enjoyed it very much. Though the resolution was a tad rushed, I thought, I still liked the characters immensely. I do think I'll acquire the series, but one at a time--this is probably a writer who can be overdosed on, if taken too many in a row.
Oh, have I thanked you again lately for recommending Vexxarr? I'm sorry to see the Tac-to-Bot arc coming to a close; I've laughed myself silly all the way through it. I can't imagine where Hunter will go next... just that I will surely be following!
Coalwood Way left here by media mail yesterday. It's well wrapped and even has an inner plastic wrapping, because, like, you know, it rains where you are? Though actually, it rained here very nicely last night and this morning. Lovely, lovely, lovely.
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Date: 2006-07-28 11:10 pm (UTC)UVULA!!!
Thanks for sending the book; I'm looking forward to it.
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Date: 2006-07-29 01:26 am (UTC)*guffaw* *schnort* *giggle* Yes, ohhh, yes. That one's bookmarked! Another great favorite (5/15/06 in the archives) is Worst Things. Egads, I love Sploorfix. But my all-time favorite, so far anyway?
"Box! Pandora!! OPEN!!!"
Paired, of course, with the immediately preceding Bad Idea ("Mischief is its own reward."). Those two are 2/1 and 2/3/06. Man oh man, I love the new searchable archives! Have you used them yet? I need to make a quickie master calendar of at least where each arc starts.
Let me know what you think of Coalwood. I found the prose so beautiful in spots that I'd simply stop to reread some phrase or sentence or paragraph and just marvel at it. Most times I dislike being "thrown out of the story" like that (though it happens more often because of some awful boo-boo) but in this case I didn't mind. I really love that book.
no subject
Date: 2006-08-05 02:51 am (UTC)The 4th book in the Kirstein series came in the mail today. I enjoyed the omnibus, but probably won't get to all of them until after DragonCon.
I do enjoy your book reviews.