After re-reading The Curse of Chalion, I only really felt like reading the new Bujold, but not having a copy, well, I settled for something undemanding like L.M. Montgomery’s Pat of Silver Bush and Mistress Pat. I was reminded of these by a flurry of discussion of Montgomery’s Emily books on various LiveJournals. These are about a girl who’s in love with a house. Mostly they’re just people living their lives and telling stories, in the way that Montgomery does well, but there are two things that drove me nuts. First, a major character speaks in a brogue that’s phonetically rendered, and I hate phonetic dialogue. Second, the ending is absolutely horrible. Montgomery clearly wrote herself into a corner, but that’s no excuse for smashing her way out in the way that most insults the characters and the reader. I was warned that Montgomery’s inability to plot was on fine display in these, but I still found the ending highly dreadful.
Bujold, Lois McMaster: (201) The Curse of Chalion (no-content re-read)
I re-read Lois McMaster Bujold’s The Curse of Chalion in preparation for the forthcoming book set in that world, Paladin of Souls. I have absolutely nothing to add to my review of it, except that I really like this book and can’t want the next one to come out. (My willpower was extremely weak and I read the online sample chapters. Bad idea.)
Doyle, Debra, and James D. Macdonald: Circle of Magic series
When I got back from vacation, I didn’t feel like reading anything lengthy, so I picked up Debra Doyle and James Macdonald’s Circle of Magic series, six books that were recently re-published, some under different names:
- School of Wizardry
- Secret of the Tower (formerly Tournament and Tower)
- The Wizard’s Statute (formerly City by the Sea)
- Danger in the Palace (formerly The Prince’s Players)
- The Wizard’s Castle (formerly The Prisoners of Bell Castle)
- The High King’s Daughter
Reprinted in 2000-01 with new covers, the publisher was clearly hoping to capitalize on the popularity of the Harry Potter books: the protagonist is about fifteen for the bulk of the series, and the old covers (I have the third in an old edition) show him as a teen. The new ones, on the other hand, have a pre-adolescent boy on most of the covers. I like the old titles better, by and large, as less generic, but if it helped them sell, I shall not fuss.
[ Speaking of clearly hoping to capitalize on Harry Potter: I spotted a twenty-anniversary edition of Diane Duane’s So You Want To Be A Wizard that, well, take a look at this pastel cover for yourself. Fortunately the paperbacks’ covers have not been changed. ]
I don’t know the technical term for this format, but the physical books are slightly taller than a standard mass-market paperback and all about 140 pages. They’re clearly written for a fairly young audience, and after the first book, I was afraid that they were written at too young a level, as I found it rather predictable. I have faith in Doyle and Macdonald, however (and these each take me about twenty minutes to read), so I persevered, and I was rewarded: these do get more complex and interesting as they go. The series leans very heavily on conservation of characters—I think as many may re-appear, as only appear once—and this allows the authors to play with expectations and to show multiple sides of characters. It also helps tie the individual book-episodes together into more of a continuing story.
These were good solid storytelling, just as I expect from Doyle and Macdonald. If you know young Harry Potter fans, you could do worse than to give them these books.
Robb, J.D.: (17) Imitation in Death
When we got off the plane at O’Hare, nearly the first thing I saw was J.D. Robb’s Imitation in Death, the latest Eve/Roarke novel. This was a pleasant surprise, as I’d seen it listed as a September release, so I snapped it up and read it on an antisocial afternoon. This is a serial killer novel, where the murderer models each of his killings on a different famous serial killer; it’s much in the classic police procedural mode, as there’s a finite universe of suspects, the reader doesn’t know the killer, and the clues to figure it out are gradually revealed as the protagonist investigates. Of the various ongoing character-based plot threads, the main one here is Peabody’s detective exam. Just the thing for a lazy, quiet vacation afternoon.
Conan Doyle, Arthur: (08-09) His Last Bow; The Casebook of Sherlock Holmes
When I go on vacations that involve airplanes, I take two kinds of books with me. (Paperbacks; I think hardcovers are an inefficient use of space when flying; so, The Merlin Conspiracy must wait yet again.) I take a set of short stories or some other form of reading that is well-suited being read in small chunks before bed. And I take a big thick book, in case I stay awake on a plane and want to immerse myself in something. This vacation, a Sherlock Holmes omnibus was before-bed reading, and I read His Last Bow and The Casebook of Sherlock Holmes.
I have now completed the Holmes canon. Finishing those provided more of a sense of accomplishment than actual enjoyment: not that they were terrible, but the plots were definitely getting tired by the end. Also, the two Holmes-narrated stories are just as insufferable as you’d except. But hey, now I can read The Beekeeper’s Apprentice.