Sci Fi and Fantasy

The Fourth Bear

2 Comments / 2006, Books in Bed, Fiction, Sci Fi and Fantasy /

Thank goodness! I actually enjoyed The Fourth Bear! OK not as much as I have enjoyed all of the Thursday Next books but I did enjoy it a lot. Tons more than the first Nursery Crimes book.

In the Humpty Dumpty book I didn’t much care for Mary Mary and I found Ashley a ridiculous character entirely. This time around, I liked them both. I also loved Punch & Judy. I’m still not thrilled about Prometheus and that whole storyline but I can overlook that now.

So what do you think – is The Gingerbread Man a cookie or is he cake? It’s important that you know for sure which he is…

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Acorna’s Children

2006, Books in Bed, Favorites, Fiction, Sci Fi and Fantasy /

Have I mentioned I am not an Anne McCaffrey fan? Well I’m not, except for the Acorna series. That, I like. Probably because the first one I “read” was on audio and it lured me in, but after half dozen (or more) of these, I’m still enjoying them. Acorna’s Children was just what I needed after a string of non-fiction. It just doesn’t get any better than inter-gallactic unicorn type creatures saving the universe, particularly when the heroes tend to be women and children.

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Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency

2 Comments / 2006, Books in Bed, Fiction, Sci Fi and Fantasy /

Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency by Douglas Adams is a bit like Hitchhiker’s Guide with a little Christopher Moore thrown in for good measure. As TW says, “So you recommend it, then?” Well duh. I’m a Hitchhiker fan and a huge Chris Moore fan. What’s not to like?

Quirky characters. Weird science. Unbelievable made totally believable. Tons of snark and sarcasm. Yea, I recommend it.

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Historical Science Fiction Romance?

3 Comments / 2006, Books in Bed, Chick Lit, Sci Fi and Fantasy /

Whoever heard of historical romance science fiction? Imagine a Harlequin crossed with some cheese sci fi paperback. Weird. But. It. Worked. Sort of. It being The Sun and the Moon.

Once I got into the idea and I got comfortable keeping all of the characters straight, it was a little bit interesting. The King of France (who would be Louis XIV) gets a “sea monster” which is of course a mermaid courtesy of his Jesuit Natural Philosopher. The Jesuit has a sister who is not a typical woman, of course, and discovers the sea monster is not a monster or an animal but a WOMAN and she needs to stop the King from eating the mermaid and thus risking his eternal soul through cannibalism. Seriously. I’m not making this up. Vonda Mcintyre made it up.

Also, there’s romance. The Jesuit’s sister, she has many suitors even though she has no money or title. There’s the gay guy. A music composer. A prince (or was that the bastard prince, umm whatever). A dwarf. And the king himself.

Fun and mindless stuff. Oddly compelling about half-way through it.

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The Stolen Child

2006, Books in Bed, Favorites, Fiction, Sci Fi and Fantasy /

I really thought I had reserved The Stolen Child on audio but apparently not. I wonder what it is like on audio. Has anyone listened to this one, rather than read it?

Not that I didn’t enjoy reading it. I did enjoy it. I had heard so many good reviews about it, I was worried. Particularly in the first few chapters when I found it just a little slow and it wasn’t holding my attention very well. I think by the 4th chapter (which really isn’t very far into the book) I was hooked.

Changelings. Hobgoblins. Faeries. Humans. I think I prefer the changelings, how about you?

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Percy Jackson – Sea of Monsters

2006, Books in Bed, Children's Literature, Favorites, Sci Fi and Fantasy /

I can’t even begin to tell you how much I enjoyed Sea of Monsters. Ignoring the fact that I’d have enjoyed just about anything after the horrors of Vanity Fair, Sea of Monsters was terrific. Great fun for kids and grown ups and an excellent sequel to The Lightning Thief. I can hardly wait to see what happens next.

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Kindred – Octavia Butler

2006, Books in Bed, Favorites, Fiction, Sci Fi and Fantasy /

I really hate to admit it but this is the first Octavia Butler I’ve read. What in the heck was I waiting for? If Kindred is any indication, I need to read them all – maybe even own them all.

I loved the sci-fi twist on a slavery novel, it’s brilliant. If I met Dana on the street today and she told me her story, I think I’d have to believe her. That’s how brilliant this book was.

After my SRC is over, I’ll want to read more of her work – do you have any suggestions about which I should start with?

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Four and Twenty Blackbirds

2006, Books in Bed, Favorites, Fiction, Mystery, Sci Fi and Fantasy /

It’s official. I’m back to avoiding my Summer Reading Challenge list and doing a darn good job of it. Four and Twenty Blackbirds by Cherie Priest was an excellent read.

I believe this was recommended to me by someone I know at work who recently moved to Florida. She was compiling a stack of books set in Florida and this was one of them. I think that’s how I discovered it. I certainly had never been to the author’s blog, I would have remembered that.

I thought this was a young adult book, for some reason. Probably the cover art, which is interesting but with the blackbird and the headless women, just feels like a kid book, ya know? Well it isn’t, though I am betting there are some teens around here who would enjoy it.

The reviews on the back suggested this was a really creepy read and it would give you goosebumps. Well, I didn’t find it that scarey. (Why do reviewers feel the need to exagerate?

So, the story, let’s see… a line of women, they “have magic on them”, voodoo or sorcery (whichever you prefer), John Gray and the St Augustine priests. A bad guy named Malachi who wasn’t so much bad as misled and a wee bit nuts. Chattanooga, Macon, St Augustine and the swamps of south Florida. Go read it.

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Valiant

2006, Children's Literature, Sci Fi and Fantasy /

Valiant, by Holly Black, was not nearly as good as Tithe. It tried but it just didn’t succeed – until the last few chapters. Those did make it worth reading.

As TW said, it felt like I’d read it before. The storyline was a little tired – bad thing happens to a girl, she runs off to NYC and finds some troubling people who take her in. Drugs (granted, these are faerie drugs) and crime and in the end, happily ever after.

I liked Val. I liked the Troll. I even liked Luis and Dave and Lolli and Ruth. The story was just a little tired. It’s a young adult novel though, so maybe 13 year olds haven’t already read a zillion of these stories? Maybe they don’t notice the same tired storyline? Maybe they simply see a modern faerie tale?

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Anne McCaffrey, I am still not a fan

1 Comment / 2006, Books in Bed, Fiction, Sci Fi and Fantasy /

I am surrounded by McCaffrey fans and it makes me nervous. I’ve tried to get with the program and love her the way they do but it is just no use. I don’t get it.

I do really like the Acorna series. I might even love it. I don’t often read books about female unicorn-like aliens, do you?

Dragons, on the otherhand, are a dime a dozen. I think that’s why I just can’t love McCaffrey and her Dragons of Pern. Big deal. I understand that these books were written dozens of years ago and were sort of original back then. I understand the social commentary in them. I really do understand the big deal for some of you. But for me, they’re just more dragon books and not the best dragon books I’ve ever read.

I will say that I did not hate Dragonflight like I expected to. I didn’t enjoy the first part at all, but once Lessa joined the Weyr, I did enjoy the story. The folks of Pern are not ever going to be my favorite characters and McCaffrey is never going to make it on my favorites list, with her dragon stories, but that’s ok. I have more than enough favorites, anyway.

Sorry People of Pern. I tried but I just can’t join you in your McCaffrey worship.

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