Jun. 23rd, 2006

hawkwing_lb: (semicolon)
Progress notes for 22 June 2006:

"The Queen’s Mirror"

New Words: 325
Total Words: 904
Darling du jour: Witches cast no more reflection on the future than they must.
Like cats, they are tricksy creatures.


Untitled novel #? aka the pilots story

New Words: 689
Total Words: I dunno. This has been in progress a very long time, accumulating words in drips here and there, so maybe 8,000? Really, I dunno.
Darling du jour: N/A

"Untitled #3" aka the very strange angel story

New Words: 466
Total Words: 1040
Darling du jour: The Liffey is running high, languid and dark beneath the metal arch of the new footbridge. The Sean O’Casey Bridge: streetlights reflect from its nameplate. There’s an itch in my spine and an oppressive feeling in the dark: something’s out there tonight. or maybe: The angel was still in my apartment when I left, glowering at the walls and leaking blood on the furniture.

Books in progress: Robert Gildea, Marianne in Chains: Daily Life in the Heart of France during the German Occupation; Nicola Griffith, The Blue Place.
Exercise: Running, reps, kata.


Before starting work, I spent Monday in a panicked, last-gasping fit of reading. It’s my reaction to the intrusion of unpleasant realities: retreat to book.

Ellen Kushner’s Swordspoint is a marvellous, deft book. Alec and Richard are wonderful, imperfect characters, and the tenor of their relationship -- well, it hits the right note to be real, anyway. Also, Alec Campion? So believably self-destructive, and so right.

My only gripe with it is that it feels unfinished. Not just a dangling ending, but unfinished. Still, this could just be because I wanted more.

The Firebird Deception, by Cate Dermody ([livejournal.com profile] mizkit) lacks the quality of deftness which made Swordspoint so enjoyable. This wouldn’t matter, except that it also lacks the freshness and slightly snarky humour enjoyed by its predecessor, The Cardinal Rule. The Cardinal Rule was a breathless, helter-skelter ride of a -- well, spy romance, for lack of a better term. The Firebird Deception is also breathless and helter-skelter, but where its predecessor made those qualities into virtues, here the book merely feels rushed. Meh. It’s not bad, just a bit skimpy on character, and relying a little too heavily on the popular perception of spies to cover its shortcomings. It didn’t push the right buttons for me.

David Drake’s The Master of the Cauldron is another solid instalment in his Lord of the Isles series. Nothing particularly new to speak of -- it follows pretty much the same pattern as preceding volumes -- but fun nonetheless. Drake writes good character, good battle, and good magic. His worldbuilding is the next best thing to note-perfect. Yep, definitely fun.

I am holding out on reading [livejournal.com profile] naominovik’s Black Powder War because I know there are no more yet published, and it’s nice to have some Temeraire to look forward to. Sometime, when I’m feeling really down, I’ll treat myself to a good read of this book. But not yet, precioussss. Not yet.

Incidentally, there are paperback copies of Temeraire in the bookshop in Dublin Airport. So I guess Naomi Novik isn’t doing too badly, at all, at all.
hawkwing_lb: (semicolon)
Progress notes for 22 June 2006:

"The Queen’s Mirror"

New Words: 325
Total Words: 904
Darling du jour: Witches cast no more reflection on the future than they must.
Like cats, they are tricksy creatures.


Untitled novel #? aka the pilots story

New Words: 689
Total Words: I dunno. This has been in progress a very long time, accumulating words in drips here and there, so maybe 8,000? Really, I dunno.
Darling du jour: N/A

"Untitled #3" aka the very strange angel story

New Words: 466
Total Words: 1040
Darling du jour: The Liffey is running high, languid and dark beneath the metal arch of the new footbridge. The Sean O’Casey Bridge: streetlights reflect from its nameplate. There’s an itch in my spine and an oppressive feeling in the dark: something’s out there tonight. or maybe: The angel was still in my apartment when I left, glowering at the walls and leaking blood on the furniture.

Books in progress: Robert Gildea, Marianne in Chains: Daily Life in the Heart of France during the German Occupation; Nicola Griffith, The Blue Place.
Exercise: Running, reps, kata.


Before starting work, I spent Monday in a panicked, last-gasping fit of reading. It’s my reaction to the intrusion of unpleasant realities: retreat to book.

Ellen Kushner’s Swordspoint is a marvellous, deft book. Alec and Richard are wonderful, imperfect characters, and the tenor of their relationship -- well, it hits the right note to be real, anyway. Also, Alec Campion? So believably self-destructive, and so right.

My only gripe with it is that it feels unfinished. Not just a dangling ending, but unfinished. Still, this could just be because I wanted more.

The Firebird Deception, by Cate Dermody ([livejournal.com profile] mizkit) lacks the quality of deftness which made Swordspoint so enjoyable. This wouldn’t matter, except that it also lacks the freshness and slightly snarky humour enjoyed by its predecessor, The Cardinal Rule. The Cardinal Rule was a breathless, helter-skelter ride of a -- well, spy romance, for lack of a better term. The Firebird Deception is also breathless and helter-skelter, but where its predecessor made those qualities into virtues, here the book merely feels rushed. Meh. It’s not bad, just a bit skimpy on character, and relying a little too heavily on the popular perception of spies to cover its shortcomings. It didn’t push the right buttons for me.

David Drake’s The Master of the Cauldron is another solid instalment in his Lord of the Isles series. Nothing particularly new to speak of -- it follows pretty much the same pattern as preceding volumes -- but fun nonetheless. Drake writes good character, good battle, and good magic. His worldbuilding is the next best thing to note-perfect. Yep, definitely fun.

I am holding out on reading [livejournal.com profile] naominovik’s Black Powder War because I know there are no more yet published, and it’s nice to have some Temeraire to look forward to. Sometime, when I’m feeling really down, I’ll treat myself to a good read of this book. But not yet, precioussss. Not yet.

Incidentally, there are paperback copies of Temeraire in the bookshop in Dublin Airport. So I guess Naomi Novik isn’t doing too badly, at all, at all.
hawkwing_lb: (war just begun Sapphire and Steel)
Progress notes for 23 June 2006:

"The Queen’s Mirror"

New Words: 526
Total Words: 1431
Darling du jour: N/A
Reason for stopping: draft

"Untitled #3" aka the very strange angel story

New Words: 323
Total Words: 1364
Darling du jour: N/A

Books in progress: Robert Gildea, Marianne in Chains: Daily Life in the Heart of France during the German Occupation; Jo Walton, The King's Peace; Thucydides, A History of the Peloponnesian War.
Exercise: Reps, short run, 40 situps, 22 pressups.

The Blue Place, by Nicola Griffith, is an interesting noir-type book. It has lush language and a harsh and complex protagonist, but to my taste the love story angle drags once Aud (the main character) reaches Norway, and for fifty pages or so it became an exercise in endurance until I reached the end and things sped up again.

Last night, I forgot that one of the books I read on Monday was Jane Lindskold's Wolf Captured. Possibly this is because it is not a particularly memorable book: the fourth installment in the Firekeeper series lacks the freshness of the first two and the interesting character relationships of the third. Still a fun read, but the action drags in parts and the exposition is at times rather heavy-handed.

Tomorrow is the 5am shift. Gah.
hawkwing_lb: (war just begun Sapphire and Steel)
Progress notes for 23 June 2006:

"The Queen’s Mirror"

New Words: 526
Total Words: 1431
Darling du jour: N/A
Reason for stopping: draft

"Untitled #3" aka the very strange angel story

New Words: 323
Total Words: 1364
Darling du jour: N/A

Books in progress: Robert Gildea, Marianne in Chains: Daily Life in the Heart of France during the German Occupation; Jo Walton, The King's Peace; Thucydides, A History of the Peloponnesian War.
Exercise: Reps, short run, 40 situps, 22 pressups.

The Blue Place, by Nicola Griffith, is an interesting noir-type book. It has lush language and a harsh and complex protagonist, but to my taste the love story angle drags once Aud (the main character) reaches Norway, and for fifty pages or so it became an exercise in endurance until I reached the end and things sped up again.

Last night, I forgot that one of the books I read on Monday was Jane Lindskold's Wolf Captured. Possibly this is because it is not a particularly memorable book: the fourth installment in the Firekeeper series lacks the freshness of the first two and the interesting character relationships of the third. Still a fun read, but the action drags in parts and the exposition is at times rather heavy-handed.

Tomorrow is the 5am shift. Gah.

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