Books 2016: so few updates, so little time
May. 7th, 2016 10:01 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
hawkwing_lbBooks 2016: 37-42
37. Ada Palmer, Too Like the Lightning. Tor, 2016.
Reviewed for Tor.com. EXCELLENT GO READ IT.
38. Franci McMahon, Staying the Distance. Bold Strokes Books, 2016.
Mediocre lesbian romance novel about an endurance equitation competitor and her vet.
39. Barbara Ann Wright, Paladins of the Storm Lord. Bold Strokes Books, 2016.
I was extremely disappointed in Wright's last outing - which was, to put it mildly, an incoherent Norse-inspired mess, although better at a sentence level than many f/f fantasy romances in existence - and moderately disappointed in the two before that. Her first novel showed a great deal of promise, and I will confess to Some Hopes of her continuing career: but structurally the later novels of her first series really did not stand up well.
However. Paladins of the Storm Lord opens a new series, and one that shows somewhat better control. It mixes elements from fantasy and science fiction into a planetary opera somewhat reminiscent of Darkover (without the faux-medieval sexism), with politics and fights and interspecies romance. It's fun and fast and entertaining, and I'm really hoping that she manages to actually structure the rest of this series so that the narrative pays off in satisfying ways.
40. Jenny Frame, Heart of the Pack. Bold Strokes Books, 2016.
An incoherent mess of a f/f romance involving werewolves. I think. Narrative through-line, not its strong point.
Non-fiction
41. Peter Thonemann, The Hellenistic World. Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2016.
With a spot of luck, a review of this will be going up at Tor.com. It is a very short introduction to the world after Alexander. Warlords! Mercenaries! Kings! Art! Natural philosophy!
42. Noel Malcolm, Agents of Empire: Knights, Corsairs, Jesuits and Spies in the Sixteenth-Century Mediterranean World. Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2016.
Malcolm, a historian who specialises in the history of the Balkans, has reconstructed the achievements (in the service of at least five crowns, counting the Papacy and Venice) of three generations of an Albanian family in the 1500s. From Venice to the borders of Poland, and the Vatican to Istanbul, the Brutis and their relatives the Brunis were at the heart of political, social, and military events across the Mediterranean.
It's a really good book. I recommend it.
37. Ada Palmer, Too Like the Lightning. Tor, 2016.
Reviewed for Tor.com. EXCELLENT GO READ IT.
38. Franci McMahon, Staying the Distance. Bold Strokes Books, 2016.
Mediocre lesbian romance novel about an endurance equitation competitor and her vet.
39. Barbara Ann Wright, Paladins of the Storm Lord. Bold Strokes Books, 2016.
I was extremely disappointed in Wright's last outing - which was, to put it mildly, an incoherent Norse-inspired mess, although better at a sentence level than many f/f fantasy romances in existence - and moderately disappointed in the two before that. Her first novel showed a great deal of promise, and I will confess to Some Hopes of her continuing career: but structurally the later novels of her first series really did not stand up well.
However. Paladins of the Storm Lord opens a new series, and one that shows somewhat better control. It mixes elements from fantasy and science fiction into a planetary opera somewhat reminiscent of Darkover (without the faux-medieval sexism), with politics and fights and interspecies romance. It's fun and fast and entertaining, and I'm really hoping that she manages to actually structure the rest of this series so that the narrative pays off in satisfying ways.
40. Jenny Frame, Heart of the Pack. Bold Strokes Books, 2016.
An incoherent mess of a f/f romance involving werewolves. I think. Narrative through-line, not its strong point.
Non-fiction
41. Peter Thonemann, The Hellenistic World. Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2016.
With a spot of luck, a review of this will be going up at Tor.com. It is a very short introduction to the world after Alexander. Warlords! Mercenaries! Kings! Art! Natural philosophy!
42. Noel Malcolm, Agents of Empire: Knights, Corsairs, Jesuits and Spies in the Sixteenth-Century Mediterranean World. Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2016.
Malcolm, a historian who specialises in the history of the Balkans, has reconstructed the achievements (in the service of at least five crowns, counting the Papacy and Venice) of three generations of an Albanian family in the 1500s. From Venice to the borders of Poland, and the Vatican to Istanbul, the Brutis and their relatives the Brunis were at the heart of political, social, and military events across the Mediterranean.
It's a really good book. I recommend it.
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no subject
Date: 2016-05-08 06:44 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-05-08 07:22 pm (UTC)It is from a different publisher, but I think you might enjoy the works of Jae. (Just one name.) Or perhaps Tracey Richardson.
no subject
Date: 2016-05-10 06:22 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-05-10 06:26 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-05-08 07:22 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2016-05-08 07:52 pm (UTC)