Had another book binge, brain full of awesomeness, so here's some short and sweet reviews... (definitely want to do fuller reviews, but for those, later...)
First, and definitely foremost, would be
Dragon in Chains by the ever lovely
Daniel Fox. The cover is gorgeous, and despite stopping every so often to try and remember how young the protags were supposed to be, this is a story that totally swallows you up. So much so, that I was immediately champing for the next one not one minute after finishing it.
And the jade. Of course. How could it not have that effect. It all makes perfect sense.
And the dragon. Ah yes, the dragon. A presence that stays on the edge of things, yet is also central to it all. Existing in different forms until her inevitable crowning moment right at the end. And when's the next one out? Hurry hurry hurry...
Definitely going to need to read this one again.
Hunter’s Moon –
David DevereuxNow this is a tricky one. Am as yet undecided on it.
Jack is a bastard. We know this because it says so. Jack is also a mission impossible style magician who gets sent in to fix magic based problems on behalf of a top secret doesn’t really exist branch of the government. So far, so James Bond with magic.
The problem comes with the levels of misogyny in it, which makes for uncomfortable reading at times. But this is complicated by the fact that Jack is, unreservedly, a bastard, and the story is told through his eyes and mind. So where you get a section which leaves you with an ‘I can’t believe I just read that,’ there’s a follow up of, ‘but it does make sense in the context of the story,’ which then gets quickly followed by, 'OMGWTFBBQ!' So on that front, while the viewpoint character is most definitely not the most pleasant of chaps to be seeing the story from, the tone remains completely consistent with Jack being a bastard.
And then there’s the bad guys. Gals. Primarily a coven of witches who are specialising in sex magic, who are also working with a group comprised of non magic terrorists, but that’s not too important. It’s all about the crazy sex magic hijinx.
Perhaps another reason why it’s uncomfortable reading. But they’re the villains who have evil plots so we’re not supposed to like them.
Except the other female characters, what few there are, don’t come off too well either. Mind you, neither do most of the men, there’s just more of them… :->
This one's going to need a re-read too, I think, just to pin things down.
Kari Sperring –
Living with GhostsWow. Wow wow wow. Utterly utterly awesome. It's beautiful and gloriously written. I can't even begin to go into how much this one blew me away. (I'll save that for a fuller review later). Until then, buy a copy and read it, cos, just, wow!
:->
Mike Carey -
Thicker Than WaterOk, how did I miss this series? Why did I miss this series? What a fool! This rocks! It's a fun thrill ridden urban magic thingy and despite it being book four, not having read the previous three is sooo not a disadvantage. There are some inevitable comparisons with John Constantine, but, actually, I think I prefer Felix Castor as a protag.
Kristin Cashore -
GracelingOoh, this was cool. And the story wrapped up neatly in the one book too. So we've got a kick ass heroine who's plenty screwed up, we've got power mad kings, we've got a whole array of nifty background characters interacting in awesome ways, and peeps squeezing the most of their special abilities. And the promise of said kick ass heroine being proactive about other things in the black space after the book has ended. Yep yep, definitely like it! Apparently there's a prequel coming out later this year, so that should be fun!
