November-December Books
Dec. 27th, 2006 08:44 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ellarienI've been shamefully remiss in book-blogging lately, and some of these are going to be fairly sketchy, I'm afraid. Spoilers behind cuts.
Charles C. Mann, 1491: New Revelations of the Americas before Columbus
Fascinating look at archaeological and historical evidence for a much more populous pre-Columbian past in both North and South America than we normally think of, and the suprising levels of civilization reached by the indigenous peoples before they mostly died off from European diseases. In places it reaches the point of plausible-but-far-fetched, I suspect, like the bit about the bison and passenger pigeon populations exploding, then crashing, when the Indians were no longer around to manage them.
The bit about the 'serious mummy problem' in one of the South American cultures, with the mummies of dead rulers allowed to hold property and have substantial staffs, suggests a fertile ground for horror stories, I must say.
Carole Nelson Douglas, Femme Fatale
Irene Adler is lured to New York to investigate her own oddly sketchy past, bumping heads with Sherlock Holmes in the process. This and the following Spider Dance would probably have worked for me better if I'd read them in the right order, but it was engaging enough. The recently-released A Soul of Steel, incidentally, turns out to be a re-issue of Irene at Large, a much earlier entry in the series.
Tim Powers, Three Days to Never
The mixture as before, pretty much (magic, mutilations and bizarre secret history), this time with Albert Einstein, Charlie Chaplin, and the Yom Kippur war; also a twelve-year-old girl who read to me as about nine and weirdly out of touch with her peers even at that. And I don't think there are any 26,000 foot mountains in California -- isn't Everest about 29,000? Yes, I was disappointed, but then, I loathed Last Call, so my taste in Powers may be a little off-kilter.
C. J. Cherryh, Fortress of Ice
Sequel to the quadrology that began with Fortress in the Eye of Time, focusing on Cefwyn's two teenaged sons, one legitimate, one not. So far, the boys like each other fine, though the attempt to integrate illegitimate Otter into the family Christmas-equivalent doesn't go too smoothly, but there does seem to be an Arthurian-shaped tragedy looming.
Beagle, The Line Between
Short stories, including a sequel to The Last Unicorn. I think I liked Salt Wine, a tale of mermaids and dangerous gifts, best; the one about the dancing cat dragged a bit.
P. C. Hodgell, To Ride A Rathorn
Jaime is sent off to military college -- her brother's idea -- and continues to cause chaos wherever she goes and tumble yet more skeletons out of the family closets. I probably should have reread at least Seeker's Mask before tackling this one; it took me a while to remember who all these people -- or even races -- were. I'm not sure I like where the relationship between her and the brother seems to be going.
Robin Hobb, Forest Mage
Sequel to Shaman's Crossing, in which Navare develops serious weight issues and digs a lot of graves. The world is starting to grow on me a little, but more than halfway through a ponderous trilogy is a little late for that; it's about my least favourite of Hobb's work so far.
Brust, Five Hundred Years After
More Dumas-style derring-do, this one dealing with Adron's disaster. I think I need to fit in a reread of the Vlad books next, to see if various hints and references make more sense now.
Ian Johnson, Wild Grass: Three Stories of Change in Modern China
Thoughtful look at three examples of ordinary Chinese people trying to use their rudimentary legal system to get redress from their brutally inefficient government. The one about what's happening to the irreplaceable buildings of old Beijing resonated most strongly for me, because I've been there, if briefly; the brutal story of the death of a harmless grandmother involved in Falun Gong was the most shocking. All in all, it provides some interesting perspective on the changing situation in China, but it didn't leave me feeling very optimistic.
Patricia Wrede and Caroline Stevermer, The Mislaid Magician
Epistolary fun in a magic-enabled early nineteenth century, with ley-lines and railway engines.
J. D. Hetley, Dragon's Teeth
Dark, atmospheric, and often violent fantasy on the remote Maine coast, in which it turns out that the climactic events of Dragon's Eye haven't actually solved very much.
Charles C. Mann, 1491: New Revelations of the Americas before Columbus
Fascinating look at archaeological and historical evidence for a much more populous pre-Columbian past in both North and South America than we normally think of, and the suprising levels of civilization reached by the indigenous peoples before they mostly died off from European diseases. In places it reaches the point of plausible-but-far-fetched, I suspect, like the bit about the bison and passenger pigeon populations exploding, then crashing, when the Indians were no longer around to manage them.
The bit about the 'serious mummy problem' in one of the South American cultures, with the mummies of dead rulers allowed to hold property and have substantial staffs, suggests a fertile ground for horror stories, I must say.
Carole Nelson Douglas, Femme Fatale
Irene Adler is lured to New York to investigate her own oddly sketchy past, bumping heads with Sherlock Holmes in the process. This and the following Spider Dance would probably have worked for me better if I'd read them in the right order, but it was engaging enough. The recently-released A Soul of Steel, incidentally, turns out to be a re-issue of Irene at Large, a much earlier entry in the series.
Tim Powers, Three Days to Never
The mixture as before, pretty much (magic, mutilations and bizarre secret history), this time with Albert Einstein, Charlie Chaplin, and the Yom Kippur war; also a twelve-year-old girl who read to me as about nine and weirdly out of touch with her peers even at that. And I don't think there are any 26,000 foot mountains in California -- isn't Everest about 29,000? Yes, I was disappointed, but then, I loathed Last Call, so my taste in Powers may be a little off-kilter.
C. J. Cherryh, Fortress of Ice
Sequel to the quadrology that began with Fortress in the Eye of Time, focusing on Cefwyn's two teenaged sons, one legitimate, one not. So far, the boys like each other fine, though the attempt to integrate illegitimate Otter into the family Christmas-equivalent doesn't go too smoothly, but there does seem to be an Arthurian-shaped tragedy looming.
Beagle, The Line Between
Short stories, including a sequel to The Last Unicorn. I think I liked Salt Wine, a tale of mermaids and dangerous gifts, best; the one about the dancing cat dragged a bit.
P. C. Hodgell, To Ride A Rathorn
Jaime is sent off to military college -- her brother's idea -- and continues to cause chaos wherever she goes and tumble yet more skeletons out of the family closets. I probably should have reread at least Seeker's Mask before tackling this one; it took me a while to remember who all these people -- or even races -- were. I'm not sure I like where the relationship between her and the brother seems to be going.
Robin Hobb, Forest Mage
Sequel to Shaman's Crossing, in which Navare develops serious weight issues and digs a lot of graves. The world is starting to grow on me a little, but more than halfway through a ponderous trilogy is a little late for that; it's about my least favourite of Hobb's work so far.
Brust, Five Hundred Years After
More Dumas-style derring-do, this one dealing with Adron's disaster. I think I need to fit in a reread of the Vlad books next, to see if various hints and references make more sense now.
Ian Johnson, Wild Grass: Three Stories of Change in Modern China
Thoughtful look at three examples of ordinary Chinese people trying to use their rudimentary legal system to get redress from their brutally inefficient government. The one about what's happening to the irreplaceable buildings of old Beijing resonated most strongly for me, because I've been there, if briefly; the brutal story of the death of a harmless grandmother involved in Falun Gong was the most shocking. All in all, it provides some interesting perspective on the changing situation in China, but it didn't leave me feeling very optimistic.
Patricia Wrede and Caroline Stevermer, The Mislaid Magician
Epistolary fun in a magic-enabled early nineteenth century, with ley-lines and railway engines.
J. D. Hetley, Dragon's Teeth
Dark, atmospheric, and often violent fantasy on the remote Maine coast, in which it turns out that the climactic events of Dragon's Eye haven't actually solved very much.
