#47: Reader and Raelynx
Sharon Shinn

Library book. Mind-reader Cammon and his Mystic friends do their best to protect princess Amalie from those who make attempts on her life and her throne.

I admit to skimming the last third of the book because I didn't care about what was going on. Cammon--arrggh. This was sort of his book, like the three previous ones focused on a different character, but he drove me nuts. There were many moments when he was little more than an innocent, naive puppet with no assertiveness, and there were others when he served as a voice of reason. I could never get a grip on him, and I kept waiting for him to change or to realize something about himself and do something, but he didn't, really. He didn't change. Or if he did, it was very subtle and I missed it. He's sort of too good to be true; I find it hard to like a character that has no vices except those that come from naivete.

Overall, the book is fine, but I did have a few peeves. I admire anyone who writes a book with an ensemble cast; it's hard to give everyone enough attention and to flesh them out. But it also caught me up a little bit because this started out as one character's story and pretty much ended as another's, and none of the other folks had plot arcs, really, they were just support or hindrance for the two main characters.

But there were a lot of times when certain types of magic seemed to appear because it was convenient. Character A needs more power? *poof* character B discovers he can route magic. Men dying on the battlefield? *poof* a character discovers she can heal too. I dunno. The magic has limits, it has a cost like good magic should, but so much of it felt put in for convenience. The origins of it are explained and plausible though.

I suppose I'm trying to compare it to, say, a magic that has a few limited variations, like, for instance, in Lackey, where there are mind-readers and fetchers and empaths and healers. There's the rare odd magic, like a firestarter. Or in the Dragonlance books, the magic and magic-wielders are much more specific. I think Shinn's bothered me because there were random gifts and gifts added on top of gifts with no idea of how many more would appear, and again, it felt convenient. Some of them were foreshadowed, at least.

Anyway. This felt like a very final book to the series, so I'm not expecting more. Out of the four, the third (DARK MOON DEFENDER) was the one I liked the best (because the characters and stakes weren't so spread out) and the first, MYSTIC AND RIDER, came in second. This one was all right, and the second I didn't care for at all.

And I do hate being mean to books. This is a good series at heart, there are plenty of things to like, I just wanted more out of it than I got.

#45: Brilliance of the Moon
Lian Hearn

Audiobook from the library. The third book in the Tales of the Otori series, though it's the fourth chronologically.

In this one, Otori Takeo faces the prophecy given to him by a sage: five battles to fight, four to win and one to lose, and his wife, Kaede, is kidnapped and forced to marry another, crueler man.

I still adore this series. I like the guy who does Takeo's voice, though Kaede's POV still grates a little. But, fortunately, there weren't that many Kaede sections in this one.

Basically, if you haven't read these, you should. And I wish the fourth book was on audio, but if it is, I haven't seen it at the library. Boo.

#46: Shadows Return
Lynn Flewelling

Bought this and got it signed. :>)

Alec and his lover Seregil, now out of place and out of favor in their usual haunts, are sent by the queen to fetch her sister. Along the way they're kidnapped, because Alec's half-faie ancestry gives his blood a certain property that a southern alchemist will do anything to get.

This book surprised me and made me blink several times in disbelief at the level of abuse the protagonists and others endure (I don't feel so bad about some of my own work now.) There is quite a bit of M/M goodness in there, and some very tender and sweet moments and some good characterization moments.

I liked it overall, though not quite as much as the previous one in the series. All in all, a worthy addition to the series, and a must-read for any Flewelling fan.

#43: Holder of Lightning
S.L. Farrell

Library book. Though why it was in the YA section, I don't know.

Loved this one. Really did. Have to admit, I'd seen it on bookstore shelves for years but never paid much attention to it, because I'd noticed DAW had been favoring big thick trilogies based on old cultures with strong female protagonists. I picked up a Gypsy one, and it was okay. Tried the Norse one and didn't make it through it. Saw this one was Celtic, and didn't try it.

This one, I should've bought ages ago, though maybe it's more valuable to me now in its own way. Jenna is the first to see the mage lights return to the sky, and picks up a glowing stone that turns out to be the most powerful of the clochs, stones that have various magical powers that can be used for good or ill. Jenna can't put the stone down despite the pain it causes her when it's used, and now everybody wants her, or, more appropriately, the powerful stone.

This is a book that, from the perspective of what all the pros tell you to do, does everything right. Magic has rules and a price? Check. Tension in every scene? Check. Three major turning points for the protagonist? Check. All the loose ends are tied up nicely. And Farrell is very, very good at making things worse. And worse. And even more worse. Several gut-wrenching scenes in here. Characters are all great, and it's hard to tell who's on which side, and it keeps changing. Very nicely done. So is the worldbuilding.

Anyway. I'm off to read the other two in the series here shortly. Can't wait. :>)


#44: Darkhenge
Catherine Fisher

Library book. This is the second I've read by Fisher, and I'm rather impressed. I liked this one better than the first, CORBENIC, but it's mostly because I'm not as into Arthuriana. This one weaves together two tales, the first a myth about Taliesin and Ceridwyn and the second about a boy dealing with the fact that his younger sister has been in a coma for three months after an accident.

So, for a bit of a comparison: both books have protagonists dealing with tragic, real-life issues that just hit you in the gut. Both involve secondary magical worlds in which the protagonist learns more about himself and his inner strength as he overcomes obstacles, including wrestling with the dark feelings that everyone has and no one wants to acknowledge. And both have legendary magical worlds that bleed into the present one--in Wales.

Darkhenge I liked, because it was, well, dark, and had a fun and intriguing cast of characters, all of whom were fully three-dimensional. All characters had good and bad sides and quirks.

It was just neat. Fortunately, the library has three more of her books for me to read.

#40: Un Lun Dun
China Mieville

Library book. This was weird. Yes, I know, one expects nothing less from China, but this is the tale of two girls who find a way to go from London to Un Lun Dun; a place where old, lost and broken items come to live, where they must find a way to stop a threat to both London and Un Lun Dun--the Smog, which has been growing more and more intelligent over the years.

And this book had pictures. I'd forgotten how fun and entertaining pictures inside a fiction book could be, especially how they're put within the text. China drew them all, and I'm especially fond of the carniverous giraffe. (Yes, I told you it was weird.)

Overall, it's well-written, very witty and creative. Bizarre. I was going to say it reminded me a little of Gaiman's Mirrormask, but China thanks Gaiman for helping him think of things to use, so, there you go. I probably would have liked it a bit better if I were younger, but there's still much to admire about this book, and it's definitely worth the read. Far easier to get into and finish than his other books, and there are enough twists that it's not your average second-world Chosen One plot.

And I'm particularly fond of Curdle the milk carton.

#41: The Mark of the Cat
Andre Norton

Library book. In a world where cats play a large part in society and myth, a young man known for his talent with beasts is shunned from his family and sent on a sort of walkabout to gain his manhood, and ends up finding a destiny heavily entwined with the fierce cats of the desert.

I actually liked this one a lot. The only other Norton I've read is WITCH WORLD, and that was some time ago. This was a pleasant surprise, with only two complaints; one is that it's written in first person, but there are two point of views, and the second comes unexpectedly and without explanation so it took me a while to figure out who was talking. The second was that it ended, well, in a good spot, but there was a lot built up (because of the politics surrounding the hero) that I would have liked to have seen how he handled it, but I didn't get to. (Unless there's a sequel, but I can't really look that up right now.)


#42: Grass for His Pillow
Lian Hearn

Audio book from library for the car. This book is largely about Otori Takeo wrestling with his past and his destiny while trying to stay alive and his love, Kaede, doing much of the same, though they're separated for nearly the whole book.

And it's really better than I'm making it sound. The whole series is good; perhaps it's just the fascination with ancient Japanese culture with some magic skillfully woven in, but I've enjoyed these. Should've started with the first one, but I listened to almost all of it on audio a while back, and I have the first book. I don't remember as much of it as I would have liked, though the second book does a good job of reminding you of what happened.

The audiobook is good. Well, I like the guy's voice, because he sounds much more natural and makes an effort to differentiate between speakers. The woman's voice, while it's Japanese so you know things are pronounced correctly, is much more halting and almost annoying. Neither does she change voices for characters.

Anyway. I'm on the third one on audio now. Yaay. Sure makes the drives go faster.

#38: Fairest
Gail Carson Levine

Library book. Was wandering through the YA section, and saw this book was by the author of ELLA ENCHANTED, a movie I enjoyed, so I picked it up.

Aza's exceptional voice in a realm of singers make up for her less-than-lovely looks. She even teaches herself how to illuse--that is, to throw her voice and to imitate other voices and sounds. A chance encounter with a duchess raises her from her life as a maid at an inn and she ends up as the queen's chambermaid, and her desire to be pretty and her talent for illusing soon gets her into a world of trouble.

This was a fun, lighthearted, enjoyable book, although the ultimate moral of the tale is fairly obvious. It took some great twists and turns along the way. I liked this one, and would read ELLA if they had it, but they don't.


#39: Corbenic
Catherine Fisher

Another YA book I found while wandering that section in the library. This is a retelling of Parsifal (which I had to look up on Wikipedia, because I didn't know anything about it) who was one of the knights of the round table who searched for the holy grail. So there's a lot of Arthurian stuff here.

It's set in modern-day Wales, and is written by a Welsh author, which was cool. It's also a coming-of-age tale for Cal, who's had a miserable childhood with his alcoholic mother and who leaves to stay with his uncle, hoping that money will be his way to rise above his past.

I liked this one; I'm generally not one for Arthuriana, because there's a lot of it out there and I'd rather read something else, so what I pick up is by accident (hello, Susan Cooper), but this one had enough other plot stuff going on to keep me interested until the end. Overall, an enjoyable book.

#33: Speaking Stones
Steven Leigh

Mine! This is the sequel to DARK WATER'S EMBRACE. A later generation (with a few character overlaps) is still dealing with the consequences of trying to keep the human colony alive and flourishing while dealing with the planet's native species.

This book is almost more about societies and cultural conflicts than any one character. It still reminds me of Octavia Butler and the way she could take one tiny personality trait and use it to spark a war. STONES is still a very good book, and I enjoyed the writing overall. Lots of neat ideas here.

#34: Martin the Warrior
Brian Jacques

Audiobook from the library for the car. Did you know his last name is pronounced "Jakes?" I didn't.

I read and bought this book in middle school after totally falling for the whole Redwall series. Then I got older and got tired of every plot being the same. Still, I thought it would be fun to listen to, and it was. There's an entire cast performing this book with Jacques as the main narrator (he's Scottish!) and his son (I think) playing the title role. Most actors played more than one part.

Anyway. It was fun. And I totally did not remember the book at all except for one event at the end. And I was glad to have this when it took me an hour and a half to get home one day because of traffic.

#35: The Secret Books of Venus parts I and II
Tanith Lee

Library book. I read the first part, "Faces in the Water," but gave up on the second, "Saint Fire." Both parts are set in a parallel Italy, with Venus being the name of the town. The first book takes place during the six weeks residents are required to wear masks, and the protagonist, Furian Furiano, is bespelled when he finds a mask floating in the water that belonged to a composer, now dead, and consequently runs into a mute woman with blazing blue eyes and falls for her. After that it gets weird and twisty.

All in all, it was good. Fairy-tale-ish by the use of the language. And, annoyingly, someone went through and circled a lot of words they (presumably) didn't know, or which caught their attention. (ichor, flayer's, beaked, stealthily, susurrous, and on and on).

The second part I gave up on. It was about a girl who was a former slave and learned through her dreams how to call fire, but it got so thick with religious stuff that I got tired of it and didn't want to wade through it.

#35: Over Sea, Under Stone
Susan Cooper

Audiobook from the library for the car.

I picked this up thinking it was the first in the Dark is Rising series and I just didn't remember the title, but I think it's the second, which I hadn't read. So it was interesting to hear. More interesting to think she wrote it in 1965. Anyway, fun "read" about three kids on a holiday in a small English town that stumble on an old manuscript that sets them on a search for the Holy Grail while trying to evade the powers of darkness. Towards the end there's quite a bit of description and action around a cave and a rocky shoreline; that I liked quite a bit, because I could really imagine it, and that part sticks in my head the best. Though, I just recently read an entry on another LJ about how the first couple in the series weren't Cooper's best, so that stuck in my head the whole time and I kept thinking about weaknesses and plot holes, but overall it was a good book and a fun story and I can definitely see the appeal for kids.

The narrator was good too, and did the various voices very victoriously.

#36: Stardust
Neil Gaiman

Library book.

I must be one of the few that doesn't totally dig Gaiman. I read CORALINE; that one ticked me off, because the kid rescues the parents and I couldn't quite figure out why the parents were worth saving. The same thing happened in MIRRORMASK the movie; girl's mom is in trouble. STARDUST, too, has a little of that thread. But I feel like I'm missing something. Sure, the writing's good, the story is solid, but there's not really anything that stood out for me as being exceptional fantasy. I didn't like the main character and couldn't find a real reason to root for him. It didn't seem like he did much on his own and just got carried along and people helped him for no reason (or when there was a reason, their help came as awfully convenient.) But maybe that's the way some fairy tales go.

#32: Maledicte
Lane Robins

Library book. I wanted to like this more than I did. After all, it's something I should be interested--cross-dressers and more than a little queer sexuality. And this comes with the usual caveat that I don't like picking on a book . . . but I have a few nitpicks with this one.

Maledicte, a handsome young man formerly known as the girl Miranda, allies with a dark goddess to take revenge on those who have wronged her.

( Cut because I'm close to spoilers here. )

I'm getting behind, so rather than doing these separately . . .

#28: Dark Water's Embrace

Steven Leigh

My book. And autographed. :>) SF where nine human survivors try to keep their species alive and flourishing on a hostile planet that also causes children to be born with various defects. Several generations later, one special person discovers a link with the the planet's sentient race that might save the humans from extinction--but most of the other humans strenuously object.

I had the odd impression of this one being a sort of cross between Octavia Butler's Xenogenesis series and V for Vendetta. The former, because both have a "third" sex and a "save the humans" motif, and the latter, because I was listening to the audiobook at the time, and because in V there is a lot of support of homosexuality while it's being suppressed by the government, as there is in Leigh's book. The other interesting thing is the way it's written, in that there are a number of POV characters, and their POV's vary, either journal entries or first person or third, but each is clearly labeled at the head of the chapter so there's no getting lost. It works, because it's totally necessary to have all the POV's, and there are still clearly main characters. Good book overall, and I'm halfway through the sequel.

#29: Vintage
Steve Berman

I bought this one. Ghost story about a kid coming to terms with himself and his sexuality (he's gay, and lives with his aunt because his parents kicked him out) while dealing with a crush on a ghost that has his own, often frightening, issues.

I really enjoyed this one. It was very good for a first book, and certainly deserved all the nominations and nods it got for YA. It feels totally realistic both in character and setting, and could be both heartbreaking and hopeful. And the protagonist hates Pop Tarts, so now I felt rather guilty about having four different flavors on my kitchen counter. It's one of those character quirks that makes him that much more human.

#30: Heaven's Net is Wide
Lian Hearn

Library book. This is the first book chronologically in the Tales of the Otori series, although it was the last written. This tells the tale of how Otori Shigeru grew to be a man and how he dealt with his enemies, lovers, and power. I do like this series and have enjoyed all the books, particularly the setting and details, because there's not a lot of Asian fantasy out there, even though this is almost more historical than fantasy.

#31: Flora Segunda
Ysabeau Wilce

Library book. I picked this one up because I've seen it mentioned for awards like the Tiptree (I think) and the Norton. The extended title of the book says it all, though I don't have the book and can't look it up at the moment. Flora doesn't want to be a soldier like her sister and mamma, and doesn't think her decaying family is much to be proud of. She meets a banished denizen--a butler--who asks for her help in being restored. Flora tries, leading to many (mis)adventures.

The thing about this book is that it throws so much weird stuff at you right off the bat that ordinarily you'd be going, "What the heck? What is this?" but it's pulled off so exceedingly well that you're just along for the ride and anything goes. I mean, it has a totally logical and thought-out world, but all this random stuff comes flying in and yet fits there perfectly. I don't know how to explain it better. Flora has a very distinct voice, but it never tips over into an annoying attitude sort of voice.

It was a very good book though, utterly entertaining, and I look forward to reading the next in the series. And Wilce has an LJ around here somewhere, but I've forgotten where it is.

#27: One for Sorrow
Chris Barzak

My book, ordered on the recommendation of a couple other folks.

Adam's life seems to be going from bad to worse; his mother is paralyzed in an accident, which causes even more strife and arguments between his parents, and one of the boys in his class is found murdered. Jamie's ghost is still around, though, and Adam's ties to his own life become thinner and thinner the more he depends on Jamie. A coming-of-age ghost story.

Overall I liked this a lot, and it's really good for a first novel and certainly deserving of all the notice it's getting. Very readable, and pretty much spot-on about being a kid in a dysfunctional family and not being able to realize what is and isn't "normal" or healthy in a family, and not being able to see a way out, which is something I can sympathize with.

The only nitpick I had was the ending, but admittedly it's more from my own personal bias than because it isn't the right ending for the story. Seems too easy, and one thing feels a little like too much of a surprise to be believable, but it might just be me.

And now I'm bummed because he was at ICFA where his book won an award, and I'm only just now reading it. -sigh- Though I didn't need to carry more books there anyhow.

#26: V for Vendetta

By somebody Moore. Alan Moore? I don't remember.

Audiobook via the library. Listened to this in the car since I've been driving a bit farther lately. It was good and entertaining and not at all bad for a book based on a movie based on a graphic novel. It actually illuminated the characters a lot more (I like Finch now) and explained some things I didn't quite get from the film.

Anyway. It was good.

#25: Luck in the Shadows
Lynn Flewelling

This one's mine; a signed copy I got at Comic-Con. :>)

This was just a reread which I started last October on the plane home from YaoiCon and just managed to finish a couple weeks ago. Alec is imprisoned unjustly and then rescued by Seregil. Alec accompanies Seregil, who soon becomes gravely ill, and finds himself part of something far larger than he could have dreamed of.

Still a good book, though this time I had a harder time reading it because one of the characters reminded me too much of someone I know.

#24: Daughter of Lir
Judith Tarr

Bought this book at ICFA. Overall, I liked it a lot. It was different; daughter of the Mother (revered female spiritual leader) is raised away from the temple, and although she shows signs of taking her mother's place, the priestesses refuse to acknowledge her talents. Girl is "adopted" by the mare, a symbol of the horse goddess, and allies with the king's son to stop an advancing warring tribe.

This one is nice because it contrasts a "civilized", female-led society from the city with a "barbarian" male-led tribe from the plains. Lots of interesting power-play going on between the characters, and some good examinations of empowerment.

Anyway. Good book. :>)

X3: Bright the Sky
Kay Kenyon

Library book. I wanted to like this book. I did. I saw Kenyon at a local con, and one of my friends bought her books and was looking forward to it, and I saw that my library had a copy so I waited patiently for it . . .

. . . buy by page 221 I'd had enough. It's me, I think. The writing is good (though the point of view shifts within scenes catch me off guard at times) but this is definitely a "what if" story. "What if Earth found a reliable way to and from a constructed world called the Entire to establish trade routes to other worlds?" Titus Quinn may hold the key; he's the only earth man to have gone to the Entire and returned, although he only has scant memories of his time there. He's coerced by a corporation to go back and attempts to rescue his wife and daughter.

It's a very cool concept and drawn out well. Great worldbuilding. The beginning hooked me; Titus is secluded in Oregon and invests all his time and interest in model trains that have taken over his home. It's a great scene and great characterization, but after that the characterization just seems to spread too thin and give way to ideas and plot. Which isn't a bad thing, it's just not something I have patience for, and I found I stopped caring what happened to the characters. The daughter and her situation is interesting, and I wouldn't mind reading more about her, but not enough to wade through the rest of it to get there.

Anyway. This will work for lots of people, just not me.

#23: The Phoenix Unchained
Mercedes Lackey and James Mallory

Library book. When Tiercel learns about a certain kind of magic that hasn't been used in a thousand years and tries a spell, things start to go awry. He nearly burns down his house, and he keeps having dreams of a woman ringed with fire. He decides to seek help from the elves and his friend, Harrier, comes along for company and protection. Both boys soon find out that there's about to be another war between darkness and light but things aren't as bad as they thought they'd be--they're worse.

Good book overall, despite it being a quest story, and I'm not terribly fond of quest stories. And it, inevitably, ends in a cliffhanger. This is a distant (as in a thousand years later) sequel to three other books Lackey and Mallory wrote, the names of which I don't remember right now, but I liked that trilogy as well. It's not fluffy Lackey; these are much better-plotted and written, though there are still some obvious traits of hers.

And you don't *have* to read the first three books to get this one, especially since the history as the two protagonists know it is quite different than what really happened, but that kind of twist from reality to myth would be expected.

Anyway. I'll be looking forward to the next in the series.

#22: Kindred
Octavia Butler

Library book. Slave narrative in which Dana, who's from 1976, travels back in time to Maryland over and over to ensure her distant ancestor is born.

Interesting book overall, and a good read, though I'm sure I watch too much SF because I kept thinking about what happened if Dana and her husband changed the timeline when they went back, but of course if they went back they were supposed to go back so anything they changed was supposed to happen. Though that aspect was never addressed and didn't really need to be. I had an edition that had a scholarly essay at the back and all kinds of critical thinking questions, which, in a way, sort of lessened my enjoyment of the book a bit because I'd rather just think of it as a good book and not something to be taken apart in a classroom, though obviously it has been and will continue to be. I didn't read the questions or the essay; I suppose I wasn't in the mood to think that hard.

Definitely worth reading. I think this is one of Butler's early books (1979), and it's still fascinating the way she deals with the social aspects, how people fit in, how they don't, and tiny little incidents that can eventually unfold into something catastrophic.

#21: Reserved for the Cat
Mercedes Lackey

Library book. Poor but talented dancer in early 1900's Paris gets her chance at stardom when the diva is injured, but is just as quickly shot down thanks to the diva's connections. Thrown out of the ballet company, Ninette follows a telepathic cat that's been looking after her for years to England, where she poses as a famous Russian ballerina who's been shipwrecked so she can start a new life among a troupe in Blackpool. But, unbeknownst to her and the the showmen who have become fond of her, a sinister creature is out to make her pay for her impersonation.

This is a book in the Elemental Mages series, which have been hit or miss for me. I still like Lackey, generally. There are some good things in this book; the lack of high stakes and the ending aren't any of those things. The book started out promisingly enough, but it's got a rather feminist bent to it, and the protagonist is a bit too sweet and faultless. There were a few plot threads that could have been followed further and weren't, and several others weren't tied up. Just an HEA ending that didn't quite work for me.

The good things? Um. They're in there somewhere. Lackey always does well with characterizations, often with the habit of introducing someone new just to have them killed off. I like the idea of the elemental mages, but after the first couple books in the series, Lackey gets a little bit lazy with the mages themselves, and the whole elemental magic bit was largely relegated to background as far as the people were concerned.

So, oh well. I'll keep reading these anyway 'cause I still kinda sorta like them. But I'm staying away from her Luna books. Those are just chokingly fluffy and sweet.

#17: The Impossibility of Sex
Susie Orbach

Book written about countertransference (that is, how a therapist reacts to her clients.) Case studies not based on real cases or a real therapist, but told from a therapists POV and very convincing and good.

#18: Some borderline personality book
By somebody

One of those "all about borderline personality disorder" kinds of books.

#19: Siren's Dance
Anthony Walker

Memoir from a doctor's perspective about a year and a half long relationship with his wife who had borderline personality disorder

#20: some other psych book about kids

#16: The SFWA European Hall of Fame: Sixteen Contemporary Masterpieces of Science Fiction from the Continent

Ed. James and Kathryn Morrow

Library book. This one had caught my eye from the New Book shelf, and later I saw it highly recommended by timons, so I got it the next time I saw it at the library. And, since I'll be going to a conference that Jim Morrow is going to this week, and I think he's doing a panel based around this book, I figured it was prudent to read it.

These are translations of short stories from all over Europe, including Spain, France, Germany, Finland, Romania, Russia, Poland, Greece, the Czech Republic, and a few others. These were all fantastic. Very, very good stories, each of them with some indelible image that is going to be stuck in my head for a very long time. Some of them are easily relatable, others are just plain weird. Good, but really out there. Some are creepy. Several are tragic. The odd thing was that a lot of these were in present tense, and I kept wondering if it was a fad or a standard thing, or if it was just coincidence.

This is really worth a read for any SF fan, and totally worth it just to see what's been going on across the pond.

#15: Never Let Me Go
Kazuo Ishiguro

Library book.

Dude, this book would have been better if I hadn't seen the move "The Island" first, because I knew what was going on. Same premise, different setting, different ending, but, yeah, lots of similarities. And they both came out in the same year, too; I saw the movie while I was out at Clarion.

So, sadly, a lot of the impact that this book seemed to have on others was a bit lost on me. The writing was lovely. The way it was structured was good, keeping things secret and perking interest at the same time, and the narrative voice, which was innocent and accepting-sounding was well done.

But, yeah, that's about all I have to say. Worth reading. Don't see the movie first if you can help it. Though the movie did have it's problems (too many Hollywood chase scenes) it did have a good story beneath it, much like the book.

#14: Lace and Blade
Deborah J. Ross, ed.

This was a gift, and one I now treasure because I have two autographs in it. Yay!

Anyway. This is an anthology from Norilana books feature stories of love, honor and valor, featuring characters ranging from highwaymen to a queen that's lost her head (that is, the head is enchanted to keep talking.)

I enjoyed all of the stories in here, some more than others, which is inevitable, I suppose. madrobins wrote a wonderful, almost comical tale that is perfect to start the book with of a young lady that lost a family heirloom and begs her friend's help in getting it back.

Chaz Brenchly wrote a wonderful tale about what two eunuchs might get up to in the evenings when they're off duty.

The most well-crafted is the last by sartorias which tells the tale of two men and two women going to extremes to get each other's attention.

The one I liked the least was the Asaro, and not because it was a bad story. In fact, it's a great example of crafting a three-stage story; character tries to get out of a bad situation and it gets worse, tries again and it gets worse, then climax and resolution. It's set in the same world that uses shapes and colors for magic.

But this anthology was totally worth the read. There were several more excellent stories, by Diana Paxson and Tanith Lee and a few others. They all had great examples of how to start stories (yeah, I'm still stuck on craft, but hey, they're all good at what they do.)