#4: Communion Blood
Chelsea Quinn Yarbro

Library book. Set in Roma in the late 17th century, Vampire Saint Germain finds himself fighting to keep a friend's holdings intact and to help a girl in danger from her brother, the Cardinal.

I liked this one almost as much as Midnight Harvest, the other one I just read.

There's several similarities in plot between the two books; S-G helps a friend keep his lands safe (in the first it was vineyards, in this one it's an estate left by a will), S-G is intimate with an artistic lady (a painter in the first, an opera singer in this one,) there's people out to kill him for reasons unrelated to being a vampire, and there's a final battle. And there's a ton of house details and transportation details (cars in the first, horses and carriages in this one.)

The general theme is still S-G's methods of existing as a vampire within society and keeping it a secret, while helping as many deserving people as he can. In some ways, he almost feels like a superhero, because he's got a secret, a pseudonym or ten, a trusted servant, and he likes to help people. Speaking of the servant, I so want to find Rogerio/Rugerius's history. I'm always more fascinated with the servants, somehow.

I do wonder if this trend will continue . . . I have a couple more books of hers to read. I'm not saying it's a bad thing; heck, if the formula works, by all means keep doing it. It just might be better not to read them so closely together like I'm doing.

#3: Midnight Harvest
Chelsea Quinn Yarbro

Got this from the library; picked it up because I met Yarbro at the World Fantasy conference in Austin.

Intriguing book. Vampire Saint-Germain flees the Spanish Civil War to visit an old friend in San Francisco, while an assassin will stop at nothing, even plaguing Saint-Germain's friends and associates, to dispatch Saint-Germain.

This is set in the 1930's with copious (but not overdone) amounts of details. It makes it seem all the more realistic, and the author's note at the beginning gives a brief description of the times along with several thank-you's which indicate the amount of research that went into this.

This is a vampire story, but not necessarily about being a vampire, the way the Anne Rice and Laurell K. Hamilton books are. There are several references to the difficulties Saint-Germain has (reflection not visible, which makes it hard to get passport photos, needs native earth, doesn't like moving water) but it's not dwelled on, they don't go trolling for victims or worry about getting enough to "eat", and it's story and character that are at the forefront here. The vampirism isn't written any differently than, say, someone with a physical affliction or an array of mental quirks. It's just the way it is.

The pace of this is fairly slow but deliberate, the action few and far between, but there's time enough to enjoy the writing itself and the erudite way the characters talk and interact. In a way, it's as much about his way of life as it is the avoiding-the-assassin bit. S-G also has a servant, Rogerio, who's been with him for 2,000 years (S-G is 4,000 years old) and I'm totally curious as to how they ended up together, though I don't know which book would have that (there's quite a few in this series.)

This is written in third person omniscient, so there's the occasional shift from POV character to POV character in the same chapter, but it's subtly done. More of the story and character is related through dialog rather than internally or through telling.

I got almost all the other Saint-Germain books the library had, and they all take place in different eras in history. I'm looking forward to reading them. Even if you don't like vampires, this one has a lot to recommend it from detail and prose and characterization.

#2: Switching Time
Dr. Richard Baer

Bought this one because I needed something to go with SHADOW BRIDGE so I could get free shipping. :>) This is a tale of multiple personalities from the therapist's POV.

As far as the writing goes--it's all in present tense, which makes sense, because it's the therapist learning as he goes along. A few of his own thoughts and emotions are tucked in there, though it would have been nice to have more. I wanted to know more about him because he was telling the story, but it was mostly about his patient, Karen, and her seventeen personalities. I also wanted to know more about her at home and how other people were dealing with her, but I think that didn't happen partly because we were in the doctor's POV, and because there were only so many pages in the book and those were devoted to the disorder itself.

Generally it turned out pretty good, and it must have been a huge challenge to organize the book, since Dr. Baer got some 5000 pages written by Karen, along with other miscellaneous things to help tell her story.

As far as the MPD/DID thing goes, for me it was interesting to see another perspective on it since I'm using that in my book. I did get a couple more ideas for my book.

All in all, it's good for a case study, but not as engrossing writing-wise as a few others I've read.

New year, new books. So we're starting over at #1.

#1. Shadow Bridge
Gregory Frost (aka frostokovich

I bought this one. Pre-ordered it, which is a rarity these days, and I'm glad I did. This is a tale of a female puppeteer, her drunken coordinator, and a god-touched musician, all of whom are running from unhappy pasts, set in a watery world covered with bridges and given a liberal dose of magic.

This is book one of two, the second of which is coming out in June, called Lord Tophet.

All in all, it's a fantastically done book, wrought with myths within myths. Leodora is a collector of stories, several of which are featured in the book, and are lovely works in and of themselves. I was lucky enough to hear Frost read part of this aloud last summer, and was hooked then. Besides, the cover is absolutely gorgeous.

This really ought to be nominated for a World Fantasy award, because it really is the epitome of what fantasy could and should be.

#102: Angel with the Sword
C.J. Cherryh

My final book for the year. Another library book, but--surprise! It's SIGNED. "Best wishes, CJ Cherryh."

This is an intriguing book, set on a colononized planet, and in a city loaded with canals. Altair Jones is a feisty young canal woman who had the (mis)fortune of fishing out of the river a highborn man on the run from various powerful and dangerous parties that want him.

Characterization is great in this one. Altair is fun, she definitely has her own dialect that doesn't get annoying, and she's an aggressive character that doesn't take no for an answer.

Lots of good boat chase scenes in here too. Technology is present but limited; there are guns, boat engines, and some electric lighting.

The ending makes it not seem quite finished. Maybe there's books set in the same world as this one, I don't know, but there is an extensive appendix in the back detailing noble houses and slang and music and history and maps, so it seems like there ought to be more. I wouldn't mind seeing more.

Anyway. Fun book. Quick read, and nice way to finish out the year.

#101: Wrongful Death
Kate Wilhelm

Library book. And--gasp--it's a legal thriller. Or something to that effect. I don't remember the exact phrase.

Anyway. Wilhelm's recurring series character, Barbara Holloway, gets mixed up in a murder plot while struggling to come to terms with what she fears most.

I did like this. And while I admit to my eyes glazing over when there were too many law references, there was plenty about the writing, style, and overall construction of the book to be admired. Mostly, how to leave in what's important and leave out what's not, when to tell details and when to show Barbara getting the details in person. Rather like those oh-so-timely cell phone calls in Law & Order all the time. They're in the middle of getting one detail at point A--and *poof* here's another clue that means the characters go to point B. Okay, Wilhelm's not *quite* that obvious.

The other thing I like is Barbara's overall personal issues. I did read the book that came out before this one, so I knew she left to go find herself in a way. (Which isn't a spoiler, 'cause it happens towards the beginning of the book.) But she thinks about it throughout, and in the end the case is merely the means to making her realize what she needs to do personally.

I also like all the local details. Maybe I just like them because I don't read much mainstream, so real-life details such as store names and bickering about how dinner is made seems like a novelty. Anyway. It's just a nice touch.

Anyway. I like Wilhelm's books, and I'll keep looking for more. Funny, I haven't read any of her SF/F stuff, but she's only written SF novellas, I think, which are harder to find.

#100: Bet Me
Jennifer Crusie

Got this one used. And this is another one of those where I feel bad about not liking a book, because it's for school, and the romance group picked it out, and they all like it, but . . .

So the caveats would be a)I'm not in the mood for this kind of a book right now (especially ones with annoying and stupid parents,) b) I can't relate to anything in the book besides the cat, c) and I'm not going to say I dislike it because it's not my genre, because that's shallow and there's romance books I've liked, but I want my books to have something at stake other than a blankety-blank romance. I mean, yeah, the romance is the reason for the book, but this book just feels shallow to me. (That comes from the perspective of reading too many books where the world/kingdom/society is at stake. And I'm sure if your life is all about relationships and weddings and lousy boyfriends, this would work for you because the "at stake" stuff would mean more and be closer to home.)

The good things: It's cute. It's nifty how details get mentioned on one page and put into action a few pages later. Lots of witty lines.

Other things that annoyed me: It's too long. For me, a little bit goes a long ways and I got tired of all the serendipitous stuff. The banter goes on forever. I put the book down several times thinking "Good grief," and if I weren't at work I'd throw it at the cat or something. It's clever, but I miss not having dark secrets beyond a jealous ex. And the epilogue? Please. Overdose of cuteness.

I mean, hooray for having a positively gay neighbor and a plus sized heroine. Those are good things I appreciate.

But . . . ack. Not a book for me.

#99: Twice the Cowboy, Twice the Ride
James Buchanan

He he he. Gay romance with cowboys. Very hot and toasty. I liked it a lot, but I won't say much more because I'm reviewing it elsewhere. As soon as I figure out what to say in the review.

#98: Parable of the Talents
Octavia Butler

Got this from the library.

I think I've said this before, but the more Butler I read, the more her books look alike. This one, FLEDGLING, and the Xenogenesis books are similar in a lot of ways. All three are very society based with a focus on survival in a futuristic society, and how one person has a vision to make the society work. And all kinds of bad, horrible things happen. And the other odd similarity is that all three have a kid who is displaced and grows up not knowing about its mother's society and ideals, to provide contrast, in a way, and to show two different points of view about what's happening in the society.

Anyway. It's a good book, written in a sort of epistolary style with three POV's. It's more of a daughter's search for her mother's reasoning about her Earthseed project, and whether Earthseed was more important than her daughter. There's a couple more layers to it--the title, obviously, and while the parable is quoted in the book, there's still something about the parable I don't get.

#97: The Fox
Sherwood Smith

Got this at the library but I'll by the paperback when it comes out, I swear. This is a continuation of INDA--not exactly a sequel since the story is gigantically long and leaves cliffhangers because it had to be split at a couple points.

I'm still totally impressed by the amount of worldbuiliding and research. Smith said in an interview that she'd been playing in this world for upwards of thirty years, and it shows. Also, if you're curious about how to use naval warfare in books--this is a wonderful example of how to do it. Actually, any military or planning tactics whatsoever--these books are filled with detailed accounts of raids and battles.

It's still in third-person omniscient, but I didn't find the sudden POV changes as jarring in this one as I did in the first. Hardly noticed it this time.

Anyway. I can't wait for the third in the series, but unfortunately I'll have to, since it doesn't come out until next July, and the library takes a while to get books in after that. :>(

#96: Unity
Steven Harper

Okay, the only reason I got this one from the library is because one of my mentors wrote it, and I like all his other books a lot.

This is a BSG novel. The caveat here is I don't have a clue about that show, and I've seen only one episode in the midst of a large group of people, several of which were trying to explain stuff to me.

So--for someone who doesn't know anything about BSG, this book finally explained things in an understandable way.

Sad thing is, I kind of liked Baltar in the one show, but in the book he comes across as kind of a--I don't even have a good word. Creepy, nuts, narcissistic to the nth degree, but the characterization is still good. Harper has a way with disturbed characters, and Baltar comes across as the most 3-D character, because he's also got Six with him, and since Harper has a lot of experience writing characters with multiple personalities, it seems as though he had a lot of fun writing this pair.

So, since I wasn't particularly invested in the characters (not that he didn't do a good job of writing them, I think any BSG lover would love this book) I focused more on writing stuff. Harper also knows how to tell a good mystery, and how to up the stakes and keep upping them till it hurts.

It also makes me darn jealous and feel like my book is sprawling and want to go hide in a dark corner and rewrite until my fingers bleed. Or something. Arrrggggh.

Anyway. Fun book, but it's better if you're a a BSG fan.

#95: The Catch Trap
Marion Zimmer Bradley

Boy, was I excited to hear about this one from a friend. I actually bought this one, used, since it's out of print.

This is basically a gay romance set in the 1940's-50's amidst the glamor and heartbreak of a flying trapeze family.

Total angst. Several Amazon reviewers said so, and I definitely agree. There are also a few MZB writing quirks, but the one that bugged me the most were these little tiny flash forwards, like a sentence or two such as, "it was the only promise they ever kept," or, "When he was older, he'd look back at these times and think X." Like that.

Otherwise, there were a lot of things I did like, namely the subtleties and nuances of emotion. And in this book, you can tell how sympathetic MZB was towards the plight of gays in such a restrictive society. The whole book was utterly honorable, and had lots of details about restrictions and hardships and the fear that gays lived with during those years.

And of course, all the circus details were nifty too, and it seems like it had to be hard to write climactic scenes involving trapeze and to get the whole feeling of it right. I wish I knew more about how MZB did research for this book; all I could find was in the author blurb that she was a lifelong fan of the circus, which doesn't help a lot.

Anyway. I liked this one a LOT and was ecstatic to wander down to the library book sale and just happen to find a paperback copy of the book so I can keep that one instead of the monster-sized hardback I ended up ordering. Which is cool, because it's as old as me, but, man, if I move again, I seriously don't want to lug it around.

#94: Scar Night
Alan Campbell

This one kept waving at me from the libary shelf, so I finally took it home.

Glad I did. This one was . . . different. Twisted, gothic, chaotic, and fun. It takes place in a city built on chains around an abyss, and involves the last of a line of angels, a female assassin that hasn't been fully trained, an older angel who steals a soul every month to survive, and Devon the Poisoner.

Devon's my favorite, because while he has his human, emotional moments, just as often he seems to have no conscience at all. The humor of all the characters was dry and witty and entertaining, but Devon was the best.

I kept thinking this would make an awesome video game because of the possible visual effects and settings. That likely stuck in my head because Campbell was part of the Grand Theft Auto game series. Which, I suppose, also accounts for Devon's nonchalance about violence towards others. Kind of the same vein, there.

Anyway. This was fun and a fairly quick read, and I'll be looking for the next books in the series.

#93: The Thirteenth House
Sharon Shinn

Library book.

Sadly, this is one I wanted to throw at the wall. I read the first book, Mystic and Rider, and the third book I don't remember the name of, and liked them well enough. Well, I liked the third better than the first because the goal and the stakes were more clearly defined. I missed the second book until now, supposedly because it wasn't on the library shelf when I looked.

I don't like picking on books, but for me, this one just kind of limped along plot-wise. Or maybe it's that there were too many plots. Escort and protect the king's daughter on her coming-out rounds of the noble houses. Main character falls in love with an unavailable man. But I just couldn't sympathize with the main character because she brought everything on herself and everybody was nice to her along the way.

There's about six main characters in this series, and so far it seems that each book seems to be told from a different character's POV. They're all interesting characters, but this book used them far too conveniently. Shapeshifter Kirra always says she'll never get hurt on her shapeshifting escapades and never does. She seems to be at risk at one point, but she's really not because another of her magic-using friends is around to save her. So the stakes for this book were incredibly low, which made any threats seem too convenient and forced. Like, another magic-using character who seems terribly naive just comes out with new abilities when the plot needs them, and because of his naivete and his personality it just doesn't occur to him to say anything sooner.

Though, granted, it's hard to write a book with an ensemble cast and give everyone enough to do. There's some interesting stuff to do with the characters, I just don't think this book was the best vehicle for it. She was way too nice to her characters.

The third book is much, much better. And the books are stand alone, so if you don't read this one, you won't miss anything vital to the series.

#87: The Name of the Wind
Patrick Rothfuss

Library book. This is the story of Kvothe (pronounced something like Quothe) and how he came to earn so many nicknames, like Kvothe the Bloodless.

Overall, I liked this a lot, though it wasn't one I would've bought (and not because of the SCARY COVER. :>p ) mostly because of the blurb, because the voice in the blurb just didn't catch me. But I got it from the library, and ended up enjoying it.

A couple nitpicks, though. One, is that, while it's a wonderful story, I couldn't figure out *why* we were listening to it (meaning, I could never quite figure out what Kvothe wanted. He's the main character, but . . . in the present, he gets bullied in to doing stuff. So why do we want to hear his story? I dunno. But I read it anyway.) And the two POV's. The majority is first person, because Kvothe is telling his story to the Chronicler, but it's framed and has interludes with an omniscient 3rd POV. The 3rd bothered me a bit because it felt like head-hopping, until I sort of reasoned that if the Chronicler was writing everything down, then he'd be writing the frame and interlude portions of this too and 3rd would be the perspective he'd use to explain stuff. I think.

But, on to the good parts. This book made me laugh several times, mostly due to the sheer audacity of Kvothe and his wit. The worldbuilding is good and extensive, and I can totally see why calico_reaction likens it to Hobb and Carey and a couple others. It's the sense that there is a lot of the world beyond just the one the main character sees, and there's a lot of room to go play with other characters. There are your stock fantasy elements, with the "boarding school" where the main character gets picked on by his classmates, but Rothfuss gives it a different spin because Kvothe is not a stock character.

The other thing that hit me was how much Kvothe loved music, and how much it hurt when he couldn't play. That, I totally understand, and Rothfuss got those feelings dead right.

Anyway. Good book. I actually wanted to throw this against the wall--because I was ticked that there wasn't any more to read RIGHT NOW and I have to wait until April. -sigh-

#86: Zulu Heart
Steven Barnes

More from the library.

Just . . . wow. This is a continuation of Lion's Blood. Things escalate when Kai's sister is kidnapped and basically held to ensure his good behavior, and Aiden has a chance to rescue the twin sister he promised to find after they were separated when they first became slaves.

Lovely writing and amazing research yet again. Since this is the fourth Barnes book I've read, I've started to notice a few themes. The biggest is how the culture affects the people within it, and it shows from the highest ranking person to the lowliest slave. There's good things, like the dances and marriage ceremonies of the Zulu, or there's the way some of the second- and third-generation slaves come to accept their lot in life and lose any connection with their homeland. As wonderfully individual as all the characters are, it's the culture that often has center stage, especially later in this book when emancipation is starting to become more than a rumor and war is imminent because of divided loyalties.

Even more apparent in this one is the focus on a certain way of thought that allows a person to become something more; like to lose all self-consciousness during a fight and to just know what's needs to happen.

(Okay. I'm not really explaining it well, and I just took the book back so I can't look it up. A higher plane of thought, or a sort of spiritual knowledge. Whatever it is, it's fascinating, and something to aspire towards.)

For more of the author's reasoning on such things, go check out his blog. And then go read his books.

#85: Lion's Blood
Steven Barnes

Devoured from the library.

This is an absolutely fascinating alternative history where disease ravaged Europe so the whites didn't become the powerhouse they were in our history. Instead, North America is populated by Vikings to the north, Aztecs to the south, Native Americans to the west, and Africans and Muslims in the south, and it's the whites that are enslaved. The storyline is how a white slave and the second son of the black leader of the area become friends and endure throughout their various hardships.

The amount of detail in this is, quite frankly, amazing. Lots and lots of research went into this book and its sequel, including religion, martial arts (a mix of several different styles,) not to mention all the research to rewrite history and come up with making inventions and plausible ways to reallocate the land to the different ethnic groups.

But there's more to this than just the research; the characters are very three-dimensional, and there's a lot of gut-wrenching decisions they have to make that develop them further. It's what's in their heads that's one of the best parts of the book.

Anyway. This is another must-read for a fan of any genre.

#84: Iron Shadows
Steven Barnes

I'm getting behind here, so pardon the multitude of books.

I really, really like Steven Barnes now. This was another library book, but one I wouldn't mind having. Cat Juvell and her partner Jax are hired to retrieve a man's sister from an alleged cult run by twins that seemingly have extraordinary psychic powers.

Lots of lovely twists and turns in the book. It definitely doesn't go where you think it's going, which is great.

This is one of my favorite examples of his writing, the second half of the first paragraph:

"Until this moment, fear, at its very worst, had existed as a sour weight somewhere inside her body, a small, gnawing creature burrowing its way through her mind. This was something very different. This was a cocoon spun of pure mortal terror."

Good, isn't it? Now go read it, and his other books, too.

#83: Erotic Universe: Sexuality and Fantastic Literature
Donald Palumbo, ed.

This was my one critical book for SHU this semester, and I've been able to have it from the library for, oh, two or three months now, he he he. I would buy it, but it's one of those textbook kinds of things so it's on the expensive side.

Anyway. This is full of wonderful essays about the different kinds of sexuality found in SF/F. It's all scholarly essays by various people. Some of the more notable essays are, "Close Encounters of the Carnal Kind: Sex with Aliens in Science Fiction" which mentions Philip Jose Farmer's Image of the Beast, which I read. There's "Technology and Sexuality in Science Fiction: Creating New Erotic Interfaces." Basically, sex with robots or other mechanical objects. The idea of sex as a euphemism for death gets explored.

My favorite essay--and the one for which I got the book--was Reimer's "Homosexuality in Science Fiction and Fantasy." His thesis is basically that creating new worlds gives an author a great freedom to explore homosexuality. A couple of the books I have; Marion Zimmer Bradley's The Forbidden Tower and Heritage of Hastur (which is probably my favorite book.) Joe Haldeman's The Forever War is examined, as is Suzy McKee Charnas' Motherlines, which I bought, started, but haven't finished yet, largely because the book feels old and a bit outdated with the writing, though I'm sure there's good stuff in there if I keep going.

I referred to that essay in several other project of mine, including an online feature article and the critical paper I'm writing for my PhD.

There is a whole section of essays focusing on Feminism in SF (take note, calico_reaction.) Charnas is mentioned again, so is James Tiptree, Jr. One essay, "Permissive, Unspectacular, A LIttle Baffling: Sex and the Single Feminist Utopian Quasi-tribesperson" takes a look at why books in which women can get along fine without men cause so many negative feelings towards them, and also why so many think that feminism = lesbianism. The next, "Sexuality in Russ, Piercy and Le Guin," tackles why sexuality in SF is so often met with hostility, and the next, "Speculations on Heterosexual Equality: MOrris, McCaffrey, Le Guin," does just that, and points out some books where the equality between the sexes is forced and artificial in comparison.

My other favorite essay is the last one--"Romantic Myth, Transcendence, and Star Trek Zines." The origins of Slash fiction! And the appeal of slash fiction, all explained. It also explores the reasons as to the lack of psychologically close relationships among middle-class American men, basically because to be psychologically close is to be vulnerable, which is why men form close bonds with women, because women are perceived as not being a threat. It's even got a nifty chart listing the male and female qualities of both Kirk and Spock (though I might argue that Kirk is "femininely 'beautiful'"). Overall, it asserts the main idea going around now in regards to the popularity of M/M fiction, that it's the relationship between equals, where gender isn't an issue, that makes it work so well.

Anyway. Fascinating book, and I do want my own copy of it someday.

#81: Great Sky Woman
Steven Barnes

I picked this up at the library thinking from the title that it would be a western with a Native American focus. Nope. It's got Africans instead of Native Americans.

I didn't recognize the name, but after I got the book home and read the bio--hey! He's an SF guy! Hugo-nominated and writes (wrote?) for shows like The Outer Limits and won an Emmy for it. So I was thinking, hey, this is going to be good.

And it really was. Took me until the end of the book and reading the more detailed bio about how Barnes teaches a seminar about the Hero's Journey that I figured out that that was the arc of the book, and it's got the Journey from both the men's and the women's POV.

Anyway. Here's the quote from the blurb that says it better than I could: "In this extraordinary novel, we follow the adventures of two of the Ibandi's chosen ones: T'Cori, an abandoned girl raised by the powerful and mysterious medicine woman Stillshadow, and Frog Hopping, a boy possessing a gift that is also a curse."

The really extraordinary thing about the book is the painstaking research, which is detailed in the acknowledgments, including a trip to Africa and a stay with a clan and a trip up Kilimanjaro, and lots of interviews and books and IMAX videos.

The story is good, too. Lots of lovely detail and intriguing characters. I suppose one thing that got me is how close Frog and his boma were to each other, and how intrinsic story and dance and music were to them, and how, in this day and age, there're so many of us yet we're so distant from each other.

The specfic element comes into play in the form of num, a sort of aura that surrounds everyone and that dream dancers like T'Cori can see and understand.

Anyway. I'm going to look for some of Barnes' other books, because now I'm really intrigued.