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hawkwing_lbSo. August was A Month. There are any number of things I need to do this month, like sort out my Patreon from August and for September, a couple of medical appointments, and buy my membership for Octocon.
I have more review work than I used to, which is good. On the other hand, keeping up with everything is... tricksy.
Books 2017: 130-156
130. Melinda Snodgrass, In Evil Times. Titan Books, 2017.
Read for review for Locus. Annoying grim, focusing on Bad Shit happening to Not So Nice People.
131. Kate Elliott, Buried Heart. Little, Brown, 2017.
Read for Sleeps With Monsters column. Excellent conclusion to Elliott's really great trilogy.
132. P.C. Hodgell, The Gates of Tagmeth. Baen, 2017.
Read for Sleeps With Monsters column. Latest Kencyrath novel. Fun, but the series has lacked a sense of forward progress for the last couple of installments.
133. Barbara Hambly, Murder in July. Severn House, 2017.
The latest in Hambly's long-running Ben Janvier mystery series, set in New Orleans in the 1830s.
134. Barbara Ann Wright, House of Fate. Bold Strokes Books, 2017.
Read for Sleeps With Monsters column. Fun, albeit weak and slight. Reminded me of a less gleefully batshit Jupiter Ascending.
135. Max Gladstone, Ruin of Angels. Tor.com Publishing, 2017.
Read for review for Tor.com. Really fucking brilliant.
136. Malka Older, Null States. Tor.com Publishing, 2017.
Read for review for Tor.com. Solidly entertaining sequel.
137. Adam Roberts, The Real-Town Murders. Gollancz, 2017.
Read for review for Patreon. Good near-future thriller.
138. J.Y. Yang, The Black Tides of Heaven. Tor.com Publishing, 2017.
Read for Sleeps With Monsters column. And for review for Locus. REALLY REALLY GOOD novella.
139. J.Y. Yang, The Red Threads of Fortune. Tor.com Publishing, 2017.
Read for Sleeps With Monsters column. And for review for Locus. Really good novella. Would've liked it better as a novel, I think.
140. Fran Wilde, Horizon. Tor, 2017.
Read for review for Tor.com. And for review for Locus. Interestingly thinky, rewards approaches from multiple directions.
141. Tim Pratt, The Wrong Stars. Angry Robot, 2017. Forthcoming.
Read for review for Locus. Really really really really fun space opera. It's got the emotional sense of humour of KILLJOYS but with more Weird Alien Shit. Immensely satisfying.
And between Yang, Roberts, Pratt, and Gladstone, I read five books in row in which there were queer main characters in relationships and NO GAYS WERE BURIED.
142. Alyssa Cole, An Extraordinary Union. Ebook, 2017.
Interracial het romance set during the American Civil War. I wanted more spies, less sex, but I am not the target audience?
143. Thea de Salle, The Queen of Dauphine Street. Ebook, 2017.
Het romance. Explicit. Good story. Pet tiger. Fun.
144. Jenny Frame, Royal Rebel. Ebook, Bold Strokes Books, 2017.
FF romance, set in a near-future alternate Europe with Ruritanian kingdoms. Romance between spoiled royal princess coming off a bad relationship and ex-CEO former addict now running a charity. Kind of awfully written, but the characters come alive.
145. K.J. Charles, Wanted, A Gentleman. Ebook, 2017.
MM historical romance, late 1700s, of the genre I find myself mentally referring to as Sad Boys In Love. Charles writes this genre very well, with appropriate levels of angst, snark, and explicit sex.
146. K.J. Charles, Sceptred Isle. Ebook, 2017.
MM historical romance, 1920s, with magic. Will probably write it up in a column. It is fun.
147-149. Cat Sebastian, The Soldier's Scoundrel, The Lawrence Browne Affair, and The Ruin of a Rake. Ebooks, 2016-2017.
MM historical romance, regency era. Sad Boys In Love! Fun.
150. Carsen Taite, Sidebar. Bold Strokes Books, 2017.
FF romance. Lawyer and Supreme Court Judge. Kind of terrible, really. But readable, just.
151-155. Jean Stewart, Return to Isis, Isis Rising, Warriors of Isis, Winged Isis, and Wizard of Isis. Bella Books, various dates. First volume originally published 1991.
FF romance/science fiction. Sort of. Set in a dystopian/utopian future world deeply influenced by the feminist SF novels of the period immediately preceding the publication of the first volume, Stewart posits a technologically advanced female-run (and largely lesbian) society, separated from a disease-ridden and repressive misogynistic society by a mostly impenetrable technological barrier on the North America continent. The writing is uneven, the worldbuilding is occasionally downright weird, and the plotting has giant holes. But as a series, these books still manage to be pretty fun.
nonfiction
Christopher A. Faraone & Laura K. McClure, eds, Prostitutes and Courtesans in the Ancient World. The University of Wisconsin Press. Madison WI: 2006.
A varied and interesting collection of essays on the topic of the sale of sex, or sex work, in the ancient world, ranging from ancient Mesopotamia to the Roman empire. Hopefully I will write more about it soon, but it is worth perusal.
I have more review work than I used to, which is good. On the other hand, keeping up with everything is... tricksy.
Books 2017: 130-156
130. Melinda Snodgrass, In Evil Times. Titan Books, 2017.
Read for review for Locus. Annoying grim, focusing on Bad Shit happening to Not So Nice People.
131. Kate Elliott, Buried Heart. Little, Brown, 2017.
Read for Sleeps With Monsters column. Excellent conclusion to Elliott's really great trilogy.
132. P.C. Hodgell, The Gates of Tagmeth. Baen, 2017.
Read for Sleeps With Monsters column. Latest Kencyrath novel. Fun, but the series has lacked a sense of forward progress for the last couple of installments.
133. Barbara Hambly, Murder in July. Severn House, 2017.
The latest in Hambly's long-running Ben Janvier mystery series, set in New Orleans in the 1830s.
134. Barbara Ann Wright, House of Fate. Bold Strokes Books, 2017.
Read for Sleeps With Monsters column. Fun, albeit weak and slight. Reminded me of a less gleefully batshit Jupiter Ascending.
135. Max Gladstone, Ruin of Angels. Tor.com Publishing, 2017.
Read for review for Tor.com. Really fucking brilliant.
136. Malka Older, Null States. Tor.com Publishing, 2017.
Read for review for Tor.com. Solidly entertaining sequel.
137. Adam Roberts, The Real-Town Murders. Gollancz, 2017.
Read for review for Patreon. Good near-future thriller.
138. J.Y. Yang, The Black Tides of Heaven. Tor.com Publishing, 2017.
Read for Sleeps With Monsters column. And for review for Locus. REALLY REALLY GOOD novella.
139. J.Y. Yang, The Red Threads of Fortune. Tor.com Publishing, 2017.
Read for Sleeps With Monsters column. And for review for Locus. Really good novella. Would've liked it better as a novel, I think.
140. Fran Wilde, Horizon. Tor, 2017.
Read for review for Tor.com. And for review for Locus. Interestingly thinky, rewards approaches from multiple directions.
141. Tim Pratt, The Wrong Stars. Angry Robot, 2017. Forthcoming.
Read for review for Locus. Really really really really fun space opera. It's got the emotional sense of humour of KILLJOYS but with more Weird Alien Shit. Immensely satisfying.
And between Yang, Roberts, Pratt, and Gladstone, I read five books in row in which there were queer main characters in relationships and NO GAYS WERE BURIED.
142. Alyssa Cole, An Extraordinary Union. Ebook, 2017.
Interracial het romance set during the American Civil War. I wanted more spies, less sex, but I am not the target audience?
143. Thea de Salle, The Queen of Dauphine Street. Ebook, 2017.
Het romance. Explicit. Good story. Pet tiger. Fun.
144. Jenny Frame, Royal Rebel. Ebook, Bold Strokes Books, 2017.
FF romance, set in a near-future alternate Europe with Ruritanian kingdoms. Romance between spoiled royal princess coming off a bad relationship and ex-CEO former addict now running a charity. Kind of awfully written, but the characters come alive.
145. K.J. Charles, Wanted, A Gentleman. Ebook, 2017.
MM historical romance, late 1700s, of the genre I find myself mentally referring to as Sad Boys In Love. Charles writes this genre very well, with appropriate levels of angst, snark, and explicit sex.
146. K.J. Charles, Sceptred Isle. Ebook, 2017.
MM historical romance, 1920s, with magic. Will probably write it up in a column. It is fun.
147-149. Cat Sebastian, The Soldier's Scoundrel, The Lawrence Browne Affair, and The Ruin of a Rake. Ebooks, 2016-2017.
MM historical romance, regency era. Sad Boys In Love! Fun.
150. Carsen Taite, Sidebar. Bold Strokes Books, 2017.
FF romance. Lawyer and Supreme Court Judge. Kind of terrible, really. But readable, just.
151-155. Jean Stewart, Return to Isis, Isis Rising, Warriors of Isis, Winged Isis, and Wizard of Isis. Bella Books, various dates. First volume originally published 1991.
FF romance/science fiction. Sort of. Set in a dystopian/utopian future world deeply influenced by the feminist SF novels of the period immediately preceding the publication of the first volume, Stewart posits a technologically advanced female-run (and largely lesbian) society, separated from a disease-ridden and repressive misogynistic society by a mostly impenetrable technological barrier on the North America continent. The writing is uneven, the worldbuilding is occasionally downright weird, and the plotting has giant holes. But as a series, these books still manage to be pretty fun.
nonfiction
Christopher A. Faraone & Laura K. McClure, eds, Prostitutes and Courtesans in the Ancient World. The University of Wisconsin Press. Madison WI: 2006.
A varied and interesting collection of essays on the topic of the sale of sex, or sex work, in the ancient world, ranging from ancient Mesopotamia to the Roman empire. Hopefully I will write more about it soon, but it is worth perusal.