Sci Fi and Fantasy

The Brides of Rollrock Island

2013, Books in Bed, Sci Fi and Fantasy, Young Adult /

Sigh. I think I’m done with the girl/seal fairy tale. I used to like them but now, I just find myself annoyed. There’s no happy in these, I’m just too hung up on the seal not being allowed to be the darn seal. I guess The Brides of Rollrock Island tries to redeem itself by having the sons return the mams to the sea but then there are the fathers, cutting their sons (who are at least half their property?) out of their seal coats to bring them back.

One step forward, one step back? I’m just done with the seal as human storyline, I think.

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Rebel Heart

2013, Books in Bed, Sci Fi and Fantasy, Young Adult /

We listened to the first book on audio and the spelling/grammar was a little troubling but we got used to it. Reading the print version of Rebel Heart, well, it was jarring every time I picked the book up. I understand its purpose but still jarring. I think we’re going to have to listen to the third book on audio, it seems easier (though it sure took longer to listen to than this one took to read.)

I also can’t decide whether I liked this one better or worse than the first one. I think maybe… both?

Too much Saba. Not enough character development of the other characters. And Lugh? Well I didn’t like him in the first book – I pretty much hated him in this one.

I’m gonna be all sad about the next book, I know that much right now. Poor Tommo.

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Girl of Nightmares

1 Comment / 2013, Books in Bed, Favorites, Sci Fi and Fantasy, Young Adult /

I did that thing that I always do at the beginning of the year – I went through my reading list from last year and reserved a few books from series or sequels to books that we’ve read, to try and keep up/catch up. Girl of Nightmares was one of those – the sequel to Anna Dressed in Blood (one of the best kids horror books I’ve read.)

Girl of Nightmares wasn’t as creepy as Anna  Dressed in Blood – not enough scary stuff, too much talking about scary stuff that might or might not happen. And I guess watching an already dead and gone to hell ghost die over and over again, in horrible ways, is not as creepy, scary as reading about very scary ghosties attacking people.  The suicide forest wasn’t even as creepy as I thought it would be – maybe I’ve always pictured the suicide forest differently?

So while it wasn’t nearly as creepy, it was still good. I really liked the addition of Jestine and how it all played out at the end – Anna went where she was supposed to go, I think … now we just have to see what happens with the Order and its asthame…

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The White Forest

2013, Books in Bed, Sci Fi and Fantasy /

TW said The White Forest wasn’t very good but I didn’t believe her. I got sucked in by the author blurbs on the jacket and on Amazon and decided to read it anyway.

It wasn’t very good. It wasn’t horrible, either. It just wasn’t as good as I’d hoped it would be. The idea, Jane’s talent, very interesting to consider. But, there was too much back and forth so there was never any suspense. It wasn’t creepy and the ending wasn’t very compelling or fulfilling.  Darn it.

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The Last Dragonslayer

2013, Books in Bed, Children's Literature, Cybil Challenge, Sci Fi and Fantasy, Young Adult /

Jasper Fforde! For Kids! The Last Dragonslayer is listed on the Cybils (and at the library) as YA but it seemed a little young to me. Not that older teens won’t like it, I think some would – but I can think of a lot more 10 year olds who would really get into it than I can 17 year olds.

Jennifer Strange is a great character. Tiger Prawns is also excellent. I loved the Quarkbeast (and it looks like the next book is Quarkbeast related, so yay!). I’d like to get to know more of the magician people in future books.

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The Woman Who Died A Lot

2013, Books in Bed, Favorites, Sci Fi and Fantasy /

I really loved the first few Thursday Next books  and then they got a little old, possibly because I also read the Nursery Crimes books, which I didn’t like nearly as much as Thursday Next and it all just ended up being a little too much Fforde-fun for me. But, I did keep reading the Thursday Next books – just not as quickly as I had in those early days.

When I noticed Fforde had a kids fantasy novel, I knew I’d be reading that and when I went to reserve it, I noticed the new Thursday Next: The Woman Who Died A Lot, and figured what the heck. I’ll get it and at the very least it will be another book to keep TW reading (there are not enough books in the entire Book World to keep her in books. She probably needs to head to the DRM…. which will make no sense unless you read The Woman Who Died A Lot.)

Anyway, I read it and I’m glad. It was the best Thursday Next book since… I don’t know since when. The Well of Lost Plots? The fake Thursday thing did get a little old (ok a lot old) and I hope to goodness we’ve seen the end of that (except the next book will probably rif off of the very last duplicate Thursday… last that we know about. Sigh. But it will be ok because it just will. Trust me. )  

I’m not sure I like what happens to Tuesday in this book. Or what happens to her for the rest of her life. This is where I get annoyed with Fforde, just in general. His characters live with crappy people and put up with it, like that’s how it should be. The bad relationships are get easy laughs, except I never really laugh.  Oops. I’d better stop analyzing it or I’ll find myself liking this book less than I did before I sat down to type this.

Let’s leave it at… best book in the series in a very long time and I do have hope for the next book. DRM and DoDos… at least I hope that’s what Thursday finds…. Next.

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Libriomancer

2012, Books in Bed, Favorites, Sci Fi and Fantasy /

I ran into the library really quickly a couple of weeks ago, to return almost late books and pick up some holds that had been waiting for me for ages. TW had also complained that she was running out of books to read so I made a quick run through the new releases stacks. One of the books I grabbed was Libriomancer – books,  librarians and magic, first in a series, seemed like it could be a winner.

 

It’s definitely a winner. I can’t wait for the next book. (Also a great book to finish 2012.)

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The Fresco

2012, Books in Bed, Sci Fi and Fantasy, Women /

Lorena recommended The Fresco and when Joe Haldeman’s niece recommends SCIFI, you should really take that recommendation seriously. It took me weeks to get around to reading it but I’m glad I did.

The Fresco was … really interesting.

I can’t decide what my reaction might have been if I was in Benita’s place.

I also can’t decide whether the ETs plans to resolve some of our (all of our?) problems are good ideas or not so much, heh.

The ending – fabulous. Not so much the last chapter, but the way Benita convinced folks to resolve the problem – totally brilliant.

Ya gotta love strong female characters, particularly in SCIFI, and there were several in this book.

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Black Heart (and the Problem with Audiobooks)

2012, Audiobooks, Books in Bed, Favorites, Sci Fi and Fantasy, Young Adult /

When we finished Leverage, on audio, TW asked for a new audio book but made me promise we would never listen to another book like “THAT” again. I laughed and told her not to worry because I knew the perfect book to listen to next. A book that had come in for us at exactly the same time Leverage came in. A book I had to take back to the library because it took us so long to listen to Leverage and because it couldn’t be renewed (others had it reserved, too.) 

Black Heart, the latest book in the Curse Worker series arrived last weekend. I picked it up on Wednesday. We started listening to it on Thursday afternoon. We finished listening to it today, just after noon. That’s not even three days! Which tells you two things – first, it’s not long. A bit more than six hours on audio, I think. But that also tells you that we spend an ass ton of time in the car. Worse yet because there are times when we don’t listen to the audiobook while we are in the car – when TW’s mom is riding with us, for instance. Or when we’re chatting up the girls.

That’s the only thing I don’t like about books on audio. They can remind me of just how much of my life is spent shuttling around, from here to there. No wonder I never have time to lay on the couch and watch Dawson’s Creek. Poop.

Anyway, back to Black Heart.

I loved the ending. Not just the Cassel/Lila part – but the part about Danica and Barron. The only problem is… Black writes trilogies. Gah. Are we really never going to know what happens next? Or is this the lead up to a new trilogy?

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