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hawkwing_lbBooks 86-90, Fiction 82-86.
82. Alma Alexander, Gift of the Unmage.
The world needs more YA books like this.
Gift of the Unmage is thoughtful and almost mannerly in its pacing, but the quality of language is such that I feel in love with it from nearly the first page.
Thea Winthrope is the seventh child of two seventh children. As such, she should be a veritable prodigy of magical talent. But she's not. How she's not, and what she learns about herself, and what happens next - that's what the book's about.
And now I'm making a mess of trying to describe this book, because it's lovely and layered and really, excellent.
83-85. Carrie Vaughn, Kitty and the Midnight Hour, Kitty Goes to Washington, Kitty Takes a Holiday.
I love urban fantasy. But I prefer urban fantasy, not what they call 'paranormal romance'. Vaughn? Delivers urban fantasy.
Kitty is lovely and snarky and vulnerable. Vaughn has done her wolf research, and her radio talkshow research. And her government research, too. They're light books, easy reading, but I have the feeling that Vaughn also knows her genre and is deliberately subverting a few stereotypes (or tropes, if you prefer) - or more than a few. The vampire Alette in Kitty Goes to Washington, for example. Not your average vampire.
Recommended.
86. Tanya Huff, Smoke and Shadows.
Read this out of sequence, after reading Smoke and Mirrors. It's another of the urban fantasy (not paranormal romance) that I love so well, and Smoke and Shadows is a lovely addition to the subgenre. Okay, so the whole wizard-and-threat-from-another-world might be over the top, but that's why I love it. That, and the genre references, and the fact that it takes place on the set of a vampire detective TV show. How could you not love that?
Very fun.
*
In other news, I'm currently comtemplating which books I should get Hodges Figgis to order in for me, so I need never fear keeping money in my pocket. (They appear to be able to order up to six months in advance.)
So. Suggestions? Recommendations?
82. Alma Alexander, Gift of the Unmage.
The world needs more YA books like this.
Gift of the Unmage is thoughtful and almost mannerly in its pacing, but the quality of language is such that I feel in love with it from nearly the first page.
Thea Winthrope is the seventh child of two seventh children. As such, she should be a veritable prodigy of magical talent. But she's not. How she's not, and what she learns about herself, and what happens next - that's what the book's about.
And now I'm making a mess of trying to describe this book, because it's lovely and layered and really, excellent.
83-85. Carrie Vaughn, Kitty and the Midnight Hour, Kitty Goes to Washington, Kitty Takes a Holiday.
I love urban fantasy. But I prefer urban fantasy, not what they call 'paranormal romance'. Vaughn? Delivers urban fantasy.
Kitty is lovely and snarky and vulnerable. Vaughn has done her wolf research, and her radio talkshow research. And her government research, too. They're light books, easy reading, but I have the feeling that Vaughn also knows her genre and is deliberately subverting a few stereotypes (or tropes, if you prefer) - or more than a few. The vampire Alette in Kitty Goes to Washington, for example. Not your average vampire.
Recommended.
86. Tanya Huff, Smoke and Shadows.
Read this out of sequence, after reading Smoke and Mirrors. It's another of the urban fantasy (not paranormal romance) that I love so well, and Smoke and Shadows is a lovely addition to the subgenre. Okay, so the whole wizard-and-threat-from-another-world might be over the top, but that's why I love it. That, and the genre references, and the fact that it takes place on the set of a vampire detective TV show. How could you not love that?
Very fun.
*
In other news, I'm currently comtemplating which books I should get Hodges Figgis to order in for me, so I need never fear keeping money in my pocket. (They appear to be able to order up to six months in advance.)
So. Suggestions? Recommendations?
