Where are you in Fantasyland? January 2012

I'm in Minhorne, uncovering intrigues and danger with the Lightborn.

I'm in London with Bartemeus hiding The Amulet of Samarkand

I've just left The Hobbit behind after sharing in his adventure. I'd been holding off on a reread until after seeing the first movie. Next I plan to cross The Bridge of Birds (for the first time).

Started The Guns of Avalon, the 2nd book in Roger Zelazny's Chronicles of Amber series. Probably only reading this while on the dayshift at work though so it might take a while before I finish it.

{whisper} It's now 2013.

ETA: Just left The Peculiar's steampunk London.

5: I was just about to point out that the thread name was wrong. ;)

Still in UF/steampunky London with Gail Carriger's Parasol Protectorate. I am now on the fourth one. They are quite good; I am impressed. Far better than the first and second novel would have you expecting. On the flip side, there is no way I would have found that out if I'd had absolutely anything else to read...

Just left the Rangers at Roadsend and am jumping forward in time to join the Dynasty of Rogues on Celaeno.

I started the year off by beginning Renegade: The Making of a President by Richard Wolffe about Barack Obama's '08 Presidential campaign. I figured it was appropriate given his 2nd term begins in 16 days.

After that I will read The Gathering Storm by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson to continue my first read through of The Wheel of Time series.

I believe given the size of TGS, I think that'll be all the books I'll get to for January '13.

I've just left Ancient China and the Bridge of Birds. I'm not sure, yet, where I'm going next.

I've just finished The Inn at the Edge of the World which is set on a small Scottish island, most of whose inhabitants seem to be selkies.

Now I'm reading Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency. so I'm at high table in the dining hall of a Cambridge college with Richard and the Professor, and also in the Electric Monk's world, just as he and his horse are about to pass through a door into another world (ours?).

Both are re-reads, as January is re-read month for me.

Wandering around the haunted city of Ulrich in Philippa Ballantine's Geist. I wanted to try out a new author to begin this year; so far I'm enjoying her.

Guilty-pleasuring with Lady of Light and Shadows. This book has far more sex scenes than I am used to -- I am decidedly NOT a Fifty Shades of Grey kind of gal -- but I must admit that detailed descriptions of tender lovemaking do make an agreeable contrast to the rape scenes we see in so many gritty works of high fantasy these days. However, I am starting to notice certain "gender restricted abilities" -- things that male supernatural beings can do that females of the exact same species can not -- that I find off-putting. I may need to go over to my "female Other" thread to kvetch about that.

Traveling in Alban in Shadowfell. Juliet Marillier is a favorite of mine, but for some reason I was more anxious to start this one, a brand new series, than to go into the new Sevenwaters book.

Trekking over treacherous territory with Dion and Hishn in Shadow Leader. Hishn may well be my favorite of all the new characters I've met in the past month.

I'm taking a short break from The Belgariad to reread The Last Unicorn. It is the January read over in the Green Dragon.

Taking a break from Celaeno to visit a mercenary and a demon-spawn princess in Wolfsbane Winter. It's a little different style of writing for Jane Fletcher, so I'm curious to see where it ends up.

Just wrapped up one mystery in an enjoyable return visit to Gerse in Liar's Moon, and moving on to what looks like it'll be another mystery in Astreiant in Point of Hopes.

>5 CurrerBell:, 6: Doh! It will not be the only time I do that this month :-/

>14 Niko:: I love the Points books, the plot seems not to be moving but when it all comes together at the end you realise that all along the authors were slipping little hints and clues in, while building up a detailed picture of the world and its culture. THis is one of the few fantasy worlds I might actually want to live in.

I finished Timeless which was really good and am feeling positive about the whole series although the first two books were a bit iffy. Still it ended quite nicely.

After a brief trip through L.M. Montgomery's Canada, I am now in Eva Ibbotson's Tadford with Which Witch which is wholly wonderful. :)

I've been spending time in The Swan Kingdom, which seems like a pleasant place (about 30 pages in, still no love interest in sight, and the heroine's interactions up through this point have been mainly with her mother- already ahead of a lot of YA books I've tried) though the blurb indicates this won't last long. I could do without all of the "even though I'm the king's daughter, a respected wise woman and the daughter of a wise woman renowned throughout the land, I'm plain so I'm not marriageable" talk on the part of the heroine, but I like the author's prose style otherwise.

>11 kceccato: Oh, good! I picked up Geist from a local Borders when it was in closeout (sigh). The first bit I read seemed promising, somewhat the opposite of what you were talking about with the Tairen Soul books- Sorcha seemed like a powerful mage who actually gets to use her power onscreen. I hope that continues throughout the book instead of getting weighted down with the romance plot. I think I'm due for a reread of the Wolfwalker books this year too.

I've got some thoughts on the Tairen Soul issue you mentioned and a related issue in the sime-gen book I just got done reading, but haven't had time to write them up yet. I got the impression that this was more the author saving the transformation for a climactic moment than Elysetta not ever being able to transform; I didn't finish the last book, Crown of Crystal Flame, but checked the ending to see if my hunch was correct- Elysetta transform near the ending, but the way it happens makes me unsure if it is possible under normal circumstances or not. In the interest of not being too spoilery, I'll just say I found it a very romance novel solution.

>13 Morigue: How is Wolfsbane Winter? It's the one of Fletcher's books I haven't yet read, so I'm a little reluctant to start it knowing that no more books by her are scheduled for release...

>14 Niko:,15 I really need to get back to Point of Hopes this year, as soon as I've got the mental bandwidth to enjoy it. I'm so glad to see Scott releasing new work again, really looking forward to her contribution to the feminist space opera anthology The Other Half of the Sky coming out this spring.

I'm also participating in the GD group read of The Last Unicorn.

I finished Wolfsbane Winter and am reading the last of Jane Fletcher's Celaeno series, Shadow of the Knife. No idea which direction I'll go after that.

>17 sandstone78: Well, I was fairly disappointed with it. I hope it's not indicative of future works. I really enjoyed the worlds she crafted in the Celaeno and Lyremouth series but she didn't do much with the world in Wolfsbane. Though she doesn't say it, I get the impression it's based on a post-apocalyptic America. I can't imagine that she's intending to make a series out of it. I was also disappointed that same-sex relationships weren't quite as equal as opposite-sex ones. Overall, the book would have been more powerful as a novella. Maybe I'll give it a re-read after I've been done with her other books for a while.

17: I hope you continue to enjoy The Swan Kingdom. I really liked it, finding it a refreshing break from all those modern-setting "Twilight" clones that dominate YA. I like Marriott's writing style. I also like seeing a good fantasy book that hinges on a loving mother/daughter bond. There aren't enough of those.

My impression is that the power to shift into tairen form is the only thing that distinguishes a Tairen Soul from an ordinary Fey. So the big mistake the Tairen Soul books make, for me, is to claim that the changeless Ellysetta is a Tairen Soul at all. She is a Fey, nothing more, and I'd appreciate it much more if the books would not call her what she isn't, just so she can sound -- not actually be -- "equal" to the uber-powerful hero. I find it more irritating the more I think about it, and I may continue with the books solely because I liked Ms. Wilson when I met her at DragonCon.

Geist, by contrast, is one of the few Beauty-and-the-Beast takeoffs in which the hero's awesome shifting power and superior size and strength does NOT bother me -- perhaps because Sorcha herself is not the least bit in awe of it. I love it that Sorcha has a prickly personality to go with her basic decency.

I'm in a gothic version of Victorian Glasgow with Poor Things by Alastair Gray.

I've finished up rereading A Wizard's Dilemma and have moved on to A Wizard Abroad.

Now that I've finished the Celaeno series, I'm exploring Tornor in Watchtower by Elizabeth Lynn.

With The Woodcutter in The Wood.

I've Finished I am Number Four ... A Good Sci Fi Novel... After Completing The Book Rewatched The MOVIE With Same Name... Now I'll Explore ...... NOT DECIDED YET... ;)

I've just finished The Swan Kingdom, which I enjoyed very much. It was refreshing to see a heroine win through her own inner strength and self-acceptance that she has won over the course of the story, and perhaps even more so a heroine that is genuinely kind and concerned for others and allowed to build relationships with them (especially with other women) rather than yet another "strong female character" who seems to only be able to interact with others through defensive sarcasm and violence. The romance subplot also was the first one in a long while that hasn't had me grating my teeth as I read through it, I suspect because the author kept it very much a subplot so he didn't take over the heroine's story and built their mutual interest from things they had in common and genuine liking for each other rather than some destiny-enforced "mating instinct." Why aren't more stories like this?

For now, I've rejoined the The Exile and the Sorcerer as they meet for the first time; I'm about halfway through the book, and will probably follow up with the other half of the duology that begins the series, The Traitor and the Chalice. These books also follow younger, competent, likable heroines as they grow into their place in the world and have a functional romance based on mutual like; the prose is somewhat less lyrical, but it suits the book's more realist tone of exploration of the power dynamics in a society where one person in a hundred thousand is a sorcerer vastly more powerful than mere mortals.

>19 Morigue:,23 Oh, that's a shame. The beginning didn't grab me like her other books had (in fact, the few pages I read made me think that the author had just put Tevi from the Lyremouth books with her propensity for "um" and other speech hesitations into the guard society from the Celaeno books), but I picked it up on the strength of her previous books hoping it would get better later on. I hope you enjoy Watchtower; if you continue with the series, I'd be curious to know how The Dancers of Arun is- I wasn't able to get into it the first time I tried to read it, but I do intend to try again.

>21 isabelx: I did end up enjoying The Swan Kingdom a lot, and am very glad I picked it up after seeing your comments as you read it; I did have a few quibbles, but they weren't enough to significantly distract from the book for me.

(Spoilers) I wish there had been a bit more resolution between Alexandra and her aunt- after the way their time together was cut short after the aunt's confession, I was a little disappointed to see that she wasn't mentioned at all in the epilogue. I wasn't satisfied either with the resolution of the whole situation with the nettles- I understand it was because it was part of the fairy tale, and I understand what the author was going for when she resolved the brothers' situation in the way she did with regard to the nettles' role in things, but it seemed like that whole section of the book with Alexandra at the cottage then seemed to end up having no impact on her at all, and what happened to her hands seemed to be forgotten about and go unremarked at the end as well, a disappointment after the way the rest of the book did such a good job of keeping the heroine's physical state in mind.

In this way, I felt that having to incorporate the elements present in the original fairy tale weakened the story. I found the same thing to be true in the ending of the last retelling I read, Delia Sherman's otherwise excellent Through a Brazen Mirror, where the element of using a talking bird to get across a reveal to a certain character at the end of the story, taken from the original ballad, jarred with the more realistic portrait of medieval household life throughout the rest of the story.

I left Copper Downs and all it's drama, finished Green by Jay Lake last week. It was fine, but I expected it to be a bit better.

Now I've wandered into Darkhaven, beginning Banewreaker.

>26 sandstone78:: Another fan of The swan kingdom here; it's good to see it getting so much love and thoughtful criticism here.

I've just left Elendel having found the Alloy of law and am now heading off for some adventures with The stepsister scheme.

26: So glad you liked The Swan Kingdom! Zoe Marriott is definitely an author whose work I will explore further. I did have a similar issue re: Alexandra's aunt, considering that the tension between them (and the reason behind it) was interesting, and and I would have liked to see that relationship developed in more detail. (This is one book I wish had been LONGER.)

I've been sick with a sinus infection, so I needed a "comfort read," a book I know I love. So I've renewed my acquaintance with Elda in Year of the Griffin. She's darn good company.

I was in Haggard's castle in the Last Unicorn, now going back to the castle of Broe in alternate-history northern Europe for Mordre le bouclier, the sequel to one of my favorite 2012 reads.

Stayed up past my bedtime and finished The Exile and the Sorcerer; I plan to continue the hunt for The Traitor and the Chalice later tonight. My library hold on Tanya Huff's new book The Silvered should be in by the time I finish- I'm not quite sure what to expect from it, but I've enjoyed what I've read of Huff's work in the past so I thought I'd give it a try.

>28 Sakerfalcon:,29 I agree that the book could have been a bit longer to give some things more space to resolve. I hope that perhaps the author will revisit the characters in short fiction or a sequel sometime, though from her website it appears nothing like that is forthcoming in the near future.

I too am interested in seeing more of Marriott's work. My local library has a copy of Daughter of the Flames, which is evidently already out of print in the US (and it looks like the companion novel Frostfire hasn't been released over here either, nor is it scheduled for release.) From the reviews, it looks to be a bit more typical of the genre with a warrior girl protagonist who falls in love with a boy who's initially her enemy, but I'll probably still check it out the next time I see it on the shelf in the hopes that the things I liked from The Swan Kingdom are still present.

Hope you feel better soon, kceccato!

I've finished exploring Ferryport Landing with The Fairytale Detectives and am now joining The Phoenix Guards.

Finished reading the first two books of Elizabeth A. Lynn's Tornor trilogy and am about to start The Northern Girl.

>26 sandstone78: I really liked Watchtower but found The Dancers of Arun to be....okay but weird. Lynn pushed the sexual boundaries into an area I was a bit uncomfortable with and the book ended at a really odd point. I'm curious to see where the last book goes. As for Wolfsbane Winter, part of the problem was that I didn't really care for the main protagonist, but I quite liked the secondary protagonist. Her storyline made the story worth it.

>33 Morigue: I remember thinking the ending was a little weak in Watchtower as well, but can't remember too much about the specifics. The setup you mentioned with The Dancers of Arun was the primary reason I couldn't get into it, I think; reading reviews mentioning a similar issue in Elizabeth Bear's Dust have that novel still languishing in my TBR pile as well. I'll probably give Wolfsbane Winter a go later this year and see if I have better luck with it, and maybe pick up the Tornor novels as well for a second try.

I remember when I read Elizabeth A. Lynn's books many years ago. I spent a lot of time going back and forth trying to figure out if the characters were really having sex with people of the same sex. I'd never read anything like that before. I was uncomfortable at first but I liked the story and the characters so I stayed with them. The books helped me be comfortable with the idea of homosexuality and that was good for me.

Finished Cursed by Benedict Jacka, his second Alex Verus novel. Well done supernatural fiction; like many of those series these days, a bit derivative, but he puts a new spin on it and tells a good story. One of the good guys is a 10-foot spider, and to get me rooting for her -- with my arachnophobia -- is a real accomplishment!

I finished Fudoki by Kij Johnson, about a 12th Century Japanese princess who writes a story about a cat that turns into a woman. Very interesting and quite well written.

Loved The Phoenix Guards - recommended (but be aware that he intentionally uses long-winded language à la Dumas), and am about to move on with Karavans.

I'm in New York City in Pulling Up Stakes 2 by Peter David.

I've been wandering the Seven Realms by Cinda Williams Chima with enjoyment. I like this series much better than her Warrior Heir, Wizard Heir, Dragon Heir trilogy. I've just finished the third book, The Gray Wolf Throne and am on the waiting list for The Crimson Crown at the library. People who have enjoyed Megan Whalen Turner's Attolia series should like this one too.

Thanks Roni. I loved Attolia so I'll check that series out.

Roni, thanks for your impressions on the Chima's Seven Realms, I've got those books on my shelf and will probably get to them starting sometime this summer most likely. I'll be alternating between them and The First Law Trilogy. I'll keep Attolia for future reference.

I've left The Traitor and the Chalice, but the chase tired me right out. I've decided to take a break and spend some time On a Red Station, Drifting in the Dai Viet Empire in a novella inspired by the Chinese classic Dream of Red Mansions before starting The Silvered, which seems to also feature a chase/travel plot.

>35 nhlsecord: One of the best things about fantasy to me is the ability to visit worlds where "normal" is different.

>36 rshart3: A sympathetic 10-foot female spider sounds like a good bet for kceccato's female Other thread.

>37 beniowa: Oh, I've been on the lookout for that, glad to hear you enjoyed it.

>38 humouress: The Phoenix Guards took me a little while to get into when I read it years ago, but I ended up finding it very enjoyable. The sequel Five Hundred Years After is my favorite of the series, but the books after it form a nice bridge between the Dragaera of that time and the Dragaera seen in Jhereg and sequels.

Speaking of which, has anybody read the most recent couple of Vlad Taltos books? I wasn't too impressed with Dzur or Jhegaala, and I've been disappointed with the number of things Brust has revealed about the world or introduced only to leave hanging (eg Lady Teldra, the Jenoine, Vlad's connection to Dolivar and elder sorcery, Vlad and Cawti)- do Iorich or Tiassa advance anything previously introduced at all, or are they self-contained stories again?

I've not read any Wheel of Time myself, but I keep expecting someone to say they're reading A Memory of Light. Number one bestseller and all ... ;)

I've been in New York following the Black swan rising. It's a decent urban fantasy with lots of nice NYC details, but the insta-love connection is annoying as usual. But at least the romance hasn't taken over the plot.

45: Nothing will ever persuade me to touch The Wheel of Time. I already know too much about it -- enough to know these books have nothing to offer me but tooth-grinding anger at the depictions of female characters. It sounds like one of those things I might read just so that I could have the privilege of talking in detail about how much I hate it, and that's not sufficient temptation for me.

36, 44: I'm not too keen on urban fantasy, but the promise of a 10-foot spider heroine might just draw me in.

I've started two new books in the past week:
Martha Wells' The Wizard Hunters
Julie Czerneda's Beholder's Eye

I've also, on recommendation on another thread, been reading the web comic "Earthsong." Lovely stuff.

#36,44,47
I hate to be discouraging, but I'm not sure Arachne (the 10 foot spider) would fit kceccato's parameters as I understand them. She's definitely on the good side -- but perhaps you might find her a bit the wrong stereotype. She spends much of her time weaving & sewing (spider, after all), mostly clothing; and her plot function is to be a sympathetic listener to the (male) hero. She is, on the other hand, quite wise -- but not a heroine. So I don't know -- it would be interesting to find out. The Alex Verus books are pure gritty-protagonist urban fantasy of the Harry Dresden (if male protagonist) or Jane Yellowrock (female) type.

#47, 48: Have you read any Cherie Priest? Boneshaker is interesting (if not "High Fantasy") and features a female protagonist. And there are several sequels...

48: The gritty style would be more likely to put me off the book than the relatively domestic/listener role played by the huge spider. I do tend to prefer a more lyrical writing style -- hence my preference for high or historical fantasy over urban fantasy, although I have enjoyed steampunk -- but when it comes to female characters, here are the two basic things I ask for:

1) importance, and 2) competence.

First, I want her to matter. I want her to take up a fair amount of page space, even if she isn't the protagonist.

Second, whatever she does -- even if it's a more traditional task like spinning/sewing -- I want her to be good at it, or at least learn to be good at it by the story's end. I would imagine the spider would be pretty darn good at weaving, and probably a good listener as well.

Sheesh, I spend twice as much time on this site as I do on Facebook. Though I don't say that like it's a bad thing.

I'm in Brothe (a sort-of alternate-history Rome) toward the beginning of Surrender to the will of the Night, finishing the Instrumentalities of Night trilogy.

Also on the Laederon plateau and other assorted places as I'm beginning House of Chains.

I finished The Gathering Storm today, about 10 days sooner then I thought I would. The main reason I was something I hadn't planned on happening, so it could be called a fluke that I finished the book sooner than I planned. But to the actual book, I thought Brandon Sanderson did a wonderful job because I didn't notice any difference from the earlier books that Jordan completed on his own. Though to be honest I'm going through my first read through and I've only read each of the books once so far.

Tomorrow I'm starting I Am America by Stephen Colbert, as a nice interlude between WoT books. I don't want to predict when I'll get finished but I'm pretty sure I'll be starting Towers of Midnight by the end of the month.

Just wanted to ask :

I notice that my nearest bookshop has A Memory of Light on sale. For $26.99 (Australian). I'm sure I didn't pay that much for other books in the series when they weren't on sale.

Has anyone else bought it, and was it more expensive than usual?

In the Ever After with Rachel and company. It just came out today and I've had to drop everything else to get to it.

>53 humouress: Maybe it depends on different versions of the book ? Not in Australia here but on Amazon.fr I see this :

Orbit paperback, at 768 pages and 9€54 ISBN 1841498718 announced for October 2013 > This seems to be in line with earlier available books in the series

Orbit paperback at 672 pages, Size 23,3 x 15,4 x 5,3 cm ISBN 184149870X and 17€90 said to be out since this Jan 8

Tor hardback at 909 pages, Size 23,9 x 16,5 x 5,8 cm, ISBN 0765325950 at 24€22, also out since Jan 8

I'm in London waging a war of attrition with my cleaning-lady over who will be first to open the fridge. Re-reading The Long Dark Teatime of the Soul, the sequel to Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency, which I re-read earlier this month.

>55 Jarandel:: Went past a bookshop today; it may be the trade paperback size (would that be the second Orbit one you've listed?). Well, I'm holding off buying it, for a bit.

I travelled for a bit with Karavans, and am now wandering Varre and Wendar with King's Dragon.

>57 humouress:, how was Karavans? I enjoyed Jennifer Roberson's Cheysuli series way back when, wasn't sure whether to sample this new series she's written.

>58 Cecrow:: You know - that's exactly how I felt!

But I really liked it. I've reviewed it, if you want to take a look.

I picked up the audio version of Game of Thrones, so I'm back in Westeros for the third time, where the STarks are about to find some cubs. :)

So far this month I've read the Harpist in the Wind trilogy, The Fifth Elephant, Stardust and Wicked. I loved them all, but was wonderfully surprised by Wicked's imagination, wild plot and characters. I'll probably now read the next Discworld novel, then gear up for Son of a Witch.

Just finished Ever After and posted a 5***** review. (EDIT to fix touchstone.)

Finished Aliette de Bodard's On a Red Station, Drifting. I really enjoyed it- it's so rare and so, so refreshing to see a story in the SFF genre that's neither a coming-of-age story nor a romance, where the conflict is between people with legitimately different points of view, and the conflict is not solved by violence. I'm glad I took the chance on Red Station despite the dreadful photoshop/clipart cover and the price being relatively high for a novella (I think it's a limited edition of some kind, though not numbered or anything like that that I could tell). I'll definitely be seeking out de Bodard's Obsidian and Blood novels.

Afterward, I started Tanya Huff's The Silvered, got as far as page seven, where a sympathetic werewolf character dies in battle after being shot with a hail of silver bullets and losing both legs at mid-thigh, and decided I really wasn't in the mood for a gritty war story right now. That one's headed back to the library, and I've settled into a re-read of Garth Nix's Sabriel (and probably sequels) instead.

I remember liking Sabriel and thinking Lirael was a little disappointing overall because it didn't follow the same protagonist, but I don't remember a thing about Abhorsen. I'm also noticing how much of a difference cover art makes in the reading experience. The US publications I first read had this beautifully moody art of the protagonists on their covers, but the reprints I checked out from the library have these simpler covers with only the author's name, the title, and a burning magical symbol. Somehow, the difference in covers seems to change the entire atmosphere of book to me- am I just shallow, or is this something anyone else has noticed when reading differently-covered editions of the same book?

As a side note, I wondered if the new editions were part of the current trend in YA symbol-covers like The Hunger Games, Legend, and so on, but evidently they were actually published this way four months before the first Hunger Games book came out in 2008, certainly before it became a bestseller phenomenon- hmm. Guess it's just a coincidence.

>50 kceccato: I find Facebook valuable as a way to keep up with people I wouldn't come into contact with otherwise, but I find it lacking in fulfilling my social needs as an introvert- I much prefer being able to write long posts without getting "tl;dr," and being able to interact with others in ways other than "Like" and the absence of "Like." :)

Edit to add: I know many people here read the Liaden series, so I wanted to mention that I saw on Sharon Lee's blog (this post) that there are five more Liaden novels under contract, and evidently all of them together comprise the sequel to Dragon Ship- I wonder if they're going to be sequential, or follow different characters in different places as has been done before in the series. Interesting, at least.

Also, I found my copy of Jane Fletcher's most recent book Wolfsbane Winter while cleaning, and was pleased to see that the author's note mentioned her Lyremouth and Celaeno books both as "ongoing series"- it gives me hope that more might be published, despite the fact that none of seem to be currently scheduled for release. At least neither series is stopped on a cliffhanger...

>63 sandstone78:, I'd have a hard time saying what different covers do to me for the same novel, since I rarely read the same book twice. But if I've tried a book and set it down, then try it again a few years later - I need a different edition, else I know I'll fall easy prey to the same discouraged mindset before I even start.

I'm currently reading Shadow Unit 1, which I'm loving (with Emma Bull, Elizabeth Bear, and Sarah Monette as additional writers, seems a shoo-in), and Tigana by Guy Gavriel Kay, which is okay.

I have a huge TBR pile of fantasy books, so perhaps my challenge this year should be to only read fantasy...

>63 sandstone78: I'm curious to hear your take on Wolfsbane Winter when you get around to reading it. I am really hoping Fletcher continues the Lyremouth and Celaeno series.

63> I like the new Sabriel covers and hate the old ones. I don't find them artistically pleasing, and I think the female characters all look male. It is not that I prefer covers that tend more towards graphic design, but I do think that they are less likely to put me off a book. However, they don't really do anything to get me to pick it up either.

Read YA Lit has a whole thread for YA cover art - http://www.librarything.com/topic/138696

63 - If I remember correctly, those editions were published as the "adult versions" of the books, I guess under the assumption that simpler designs will appeal to older people.

>67 curioussquared:, I usually take those cover designs to mean "we're going to make this book look less embarassing for an adult to read", for adults who get embarassed over things like that.

This has been a good month to start new books. Two more I've begun:

Marie Brennan's Doppelganger (although the version I have is called "Warrior")

Patricia McKillip's Ombria in Shadow

McKillip's prose is exquisite, and I'm going to make it her season in my rotation; next I'll tackle Cygnet, then Song of the Basilisk, then maybe the Riddle-Master trilogy.

I'm in the Rain Wilds in City of Dragons.

In Kyrria, with Ella Enchanted (an LT recommendation).

Just embarked on my seventh voyage to the Malazan Empire et al., in Reaper's Gale.

I'm doing a quick return trip to Gatlin in Beautiful Creatures before the movie comes out in a couple weeks. I really like the book, so I hope the movie can do it justice.

I've just started The Silvered by Tanya Huff. It's getting interesting and I think I'll have good luck with it.

I loved The Silvered.

Tardis, I hope I will too, I learned of it from this group, or Janny's group :)

Julie E. Czerneda gave The Silvered a rave review, which certainly put it on my radar.

In Cornwall with the Drew children, just about a third of the way through Over Sea, Under Stone. It's moving quite slowly, but people say not to expect it to pick up until more than halfway through and that the remaining four books in the series are more interesting.

Still with Sabriel in the Old Kingdom; I hadn't remembered all of the head-hopping in the book- it seems to veer from the relatively tight third-person POV of Sabriel, to omniscient third describing things Sabriel clearly couldn't see, with no one else around, to one time detouring into the POV of a Dead creature she was banishing. It's a little jarring.

My coworker just lent me Trudi Canavan's Age of the Five trilogy, so I'll probably be spending some time with a Priestess of the White next.

>64 Cecrow: I can see that. When I look at the size of my TBR pile, I wish I wasn't so often drawn to re-reads!

>65 Morigue: Wolfsbane Winter is in the top part of said TBR pile, hope to get to it before too long. I'm keeping my eye out for more news about new Fletcher books too. I enjoyed my re-read of the first two Celaeno books, even though I did feel this time around that Tevi and Jem went from confessing their feelings to each other to life-long altering-all-future-life-plans true love a bit quick, or maybe just a bit too much offscreen, but there was a bit of an out there with the Coven messing with time and possibly their future and all. I saw you mention in the other thread that you enjoyed The Pyramid Waltz- I'd like to give that one a try too.

>66 pwaites: I suppose that's why it was printed with both covers. You're not the first person I've seen who read the figure on Sabriel's cover as male, but I confess I can't see it- the combination of the name that sounded feminine to me, the long hair, the features of the face (especially the lips), and the curve of the breast opposite the hand holding the bell (which, admittedly, does look wonkier the more I look at it!) have always made me read the person as a woman, but regardless of gender the combination of the sword, the bells, the otherwise incredibly-cool-to-my-twelve-year-old-self outfit, and the slight smile on the lips made this person someone I wanted to get to know.

Thanks for the link to the YA cover art page, by the way, interesting to look through and heartening to see that the "dead girls in pretty dresses" trend that was so big a couple of years ago seems to have died down (or at least covers of that type aren't being cited as people's favorites).

>67 curioussquared:, 68 Graphic-only covers tend to read like advertising logos to me, the exact opposite of what I'm looking for in a fantasy novel! I suspect you're right about trying to camouflage it as "boring adult stuff for real adults." (Like romance novels with covers that only have fancy text and flowers- not fooling anyone!)

>69 kceccato: I read the two Cygnet books in the wrong order and several years apart, but remember they are both good, though I prefer The Cygnet and the Firebird overall.

The Sorceress and the Cygnet started off on a bit of a bad foot with me- it's one of those books where the hero's marked as being Special by being, well, more white than everyone else around him (Corleu is blond among a society of brown-skinned brunettes), like Aerin in The Hero and the Crown (who's "conspicuous as the only pale-skinned redhead in a country of cinnamon-skinned brunettes," see) and Lirael in the sequel to Sabriel that I'm reading now, who has white skin and dark hair though others of the Clayr have "brown skin that tans to chestnut."

I suspect these are probably confluences of the trope of having a character who's a social outsider with the trope of having a character visually marked as special (see, for example, the purple eyes of Alanna of Trebond and her brother) and also beautiful according to the standards of the author's culture yet unappreciated, ie hey, why not let's have the character be ostracized because of their conventionally beautiful appearance, but still, the implications are not that great.

McKillip's prose is very good, though. I tend to group her style with that of Elizabeth A. Lynn (eg her novella Wizard's Domain), Laurie J. Marks, Nancy Springer's Books of the Isle, and (most recently) The Swan Kingdom as writers whose work has that "lyrical" feel to me. Eleanor Arnason's Hwarhath stories, Delia Sherman's Through a Brazen Mirror, and Tanith Lee's Black Unicorn and sequels are close relatives- definitely the side of fantasy that has more influence from fairy tales than gritty noir stories.

>74 nhlsecord:, 75, 77 - Glad to see positive comments about The Silvered, I'll have to give it another try sometime down the line.

I'm in the Tiste Edur lands at the margin of the Letheran Empire, toward the beginning of Midnight Tides.

79> I had a really bad reaction to Gail Carson Levine because of that trope. I had loved Ella Enchanted and when I found out that there was a sequel set in Ayortha I got really excited because, cool its going to be about brown people, how awesome. I went out and bought Fairest ASAP and within the first 3 pages I was horrified and appalled because of what seemed like gratuitous and unnecessary whitewashing of the main character. This is supposedly Areida's younger sister (of course, she is adopted) and in a land full of petite, brown skinned people she is tall, white with rosy cheeks and lips and black hair -- all the hallmarks of caucasian beauty. I HATED it. I have never been so angry at a book or an author in my life. And now I can't ever read any books by her because that is all I think about. The book is stuck in the basement in a box full of other rejects. Waste of money.

On a happier note, I have been traveling through a lot of Diana Wynne Jones's worlds -- first Ingary in the Howl's Moving Castle series and then through Chrestomanci's worlds. Jones is, as always, great fun. And I can forgive her all the powerful yet evil heroines in the earlier Chrestomanci's (they were written in the early 80's, think) because of Sophie's character. I am feeling a little bit sad again about her death...

81>> You might be interested in my review of "The Sisters Grimm" series, which I found disturbingly Euro-centric.

>81 anatwork.k: Oh, wow, that's awful :(

Coincidentally, I just left Ella Enchanted in Kyrria, and am now between books. (Well, I read Lady Susan, and am now between books.)

82> Great review. I like that you make the distinction between well written books and inclusive books for kids that can be used instructively.

83> Whiteness in books in general doesn't bother me so much. It is, after all, the norm and I didn't even notice it as a child. I had such a particularly bad reaction to Fairest because I had it built up in my mind as having a very specific type of heroine based on Areida in Ella Enchanted and Parminder Nagra's (of Bend it like Beckham fame) depiction of Areida in the movie.

84> How did you like Ella Enchanted? :)

Finished Over Sea, Under Stone and give it 3***. I'll read the rest of the series, though, because my understanding is that this first book is a bit weak but the remaining four are substantially better.

>86 CurrerBell:: I'm planning to re-read that series (The Dark is Rising) later on in the year. It's been a while, though, so I don't remember specifics.

Edit: Oops - moved to the Feb 2013 thread

Good point.

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