A Descent into Dullness

July
Short Fiction:  Aliette de Bodard's "Lullaby For a Lost World", Douglas F Warrick's "Sic Semper, Sic Semper", Justina Ireland's "Aisle 13", Gretchen McNeil's "By the Star-Dogged Moon", Chris McKitterick's "Waking the Predator", Mari Mansusi's "the Princess Can Save Herself", Ninu Allen's "the Art of Space Travel" and Sarn Raasch's "Seven Lifetimes"

New Reads:
Ferret Steinmitz' Flex: An interesting magic-system and world building for his urban fantasy series.  But while pretty good overall, the book didn't really grab me enough to continue on with the series it starts.
Lois McMaster Bujold's Penric & the Shaman:  Continuing on with the Penric stories in her "Chalion" series.
Michael Chabon's Telegraph Avenue: I think this is the first Chabon book I just didn't like.  Not sure why.
Cecil Castellucci's Stars in the Sky:  Sequel to Castellucci's YA sci-fi/western Tin Star.  Lots of neat "alien" aliens and the space station setting goes from near Ghost Town to Boom Town.
KJ Parker's the Last Witness:  1st person tale of revenge from a very unreliable narrator.
Douglas Hulick's Among Thieves:  Down in the streets with the scum style fantasy.

Rereads:
Alan Dean Foster's Into the Out Of:  I was pretty sure this was one of Foster's books I'd read when first bingeing on him back in high school.  But I honestly couldn't recall any of it until the end and the thing with the eyes.
Tamora Pierce's Rebekah Cooper: Terrier & Bloodhund:  Didn't reread the third book because the ending makes me sad.  And in a depressed kind of way.
Harry Turtledove's the Misplaced Legion & Empoeror for the Legion:  If I recall Amazon had the ebook omnibus edition of these two on sale.

Graphic Novels/TPBs/Rulebooks:
Kate Leth, Brittany L. Williams & Natasha Allegri's Patsy Walker aka Hellcat vol.1: Hooked on a Feline
David Wills' Dumbing of Age vol.5: Hey, Guess What, I'm a Lesbian

Total: 14


August
Short Fiction:  Annie Cardi's "the Ones Who Survive", Bethany Hagen's "Hearth Stone Rain", Seanan McGuire's "Full of Briars" & "Velveteen vs. Going Home Again", Rudy Rucker & Bruce Sterling's "Totem Poles" & Dhonielle Clayton's "the Things Our Mothers Tell Us".

New Reads:
Kerryn Offord & RIck Boatwright's 1636: the Chronicles of Dr. Gribbleflotz.  Collecting and expanding the various short pieces into a full novel.  Plus Tom Stone gets yelled at for a being a dick in that one Mercedes Lackey short story which makes me happy.
Cixin Liu, translated by Ken Liu's the 3-Body Problem
Ann Leckie's Ancillary Sword
RJ Ross' Super Villain Grandpa:  More "Cape High" fluffy junk food.
David Weber/Timothy Zahn/Tom Pope's A Call to Arms:  More "Honor-verse".  Also, I've mentioned a few times before in places that I seem to only really like Zahn when he's playing in someone elses' toybox.
Django Wexler's the Guns of the Empire:  Well that was a nasy twist for "the Shadow Campaigns" series.
A. Lee Martinez' the Last Adventure of Constance Verity:  Trying to retire from a fate-given heroism and adventure.
Johnathan L. Howard's Goon Squad (issues #8-#12):  Sadly the last for awhile until Howard can find a way to make them financially workable.

Rereads:
Harry Turtledove's the Legion of Videssos & Swords of the Legion

Graphic Novels/TPBs/Rulebooks:
Various writers & artists on the Unbeatable Squirrel Girl & the Great Lakes Avengers.  In addtion to all the fun GLA stuff, has the original Squirrel Girl story where she saves Tony Stark from Dr. Doom.  And canonically kicks Von Doom's metal keister.
David Petersen & various on Mouse Guard: Legends of the Guard vol.3
Ed Brubaker and Steve Epting's Captain America: the Winter Soldier vol.1 & 2
Jess Fink's Chester 5000 XYV vol. 1 & 2:  Steampunk sexy time comics.
Gurihiru (mostly) & Marc Sumerak, Alex Zalben & Fred Van Lente's Power Pack: Reread my various Power Pack mini-tpbs.  Thor & the Warriors Four, Avengers/Power Pack: Assemble, Power Pack Day One, Power Pack: Pack Attack!, Fantastic Four/Power Pack: Favorite Son, Spider-Man/Power Pack: Big-City Super Heroes & Hulk/Power Pack: Pack Smash! (the only one not drawn by Gurihru, instead having David Williams, Gary Martin and Andy Kuhn).

Total: 20

September
Short Fiction:   No free standing short stories.

New Reads:
Barbara Hambly's Bride of the Rat God:  Urban fantasy/horror in the Silent Film era of Hollywood
Walt Boyes & Bjorn Hasseler (ed) Grantville Gazette vol. 65-67
Sarah Kuhn's Heroine Complex:  Millenial-age social media exploiting supers.
Adrian Tchaivosky's Spoils of War: A "Shadows of the Apt" short story collection.
Michelle West's the Uncrowned King & the Shining Court:  Books two and three of her "Sun Sword" series.
Seanan McGuire's Once Broken Faith:  Latest "Tobey McGuire", with October having to be diplomatic. Again.
Kai Ashante Wilson's the Sorcerer of the Wildeeps
Ian Thomas Healy's the Neighborhood Watch:  YA entry into Healy's "Just Cause" supers series.
Ilona Andrews' Magic Binds:  Lastest "Kate Daniels", where Kate and her chosen family have to push forward on confronting her ancient super-villain dad.
V.E. Schwab's Viscious.  Supers-style revenge with blurring of villain vs. hero.

Rereads:
David Weber's Shadows of Victory

Graphic Novels/TPBs/Rulebooks:
Stan Lee & Steve Ditko's the Amazing Spider-Man Marvel Masterworks vol.1
Pathfinder's Rise of the Runelords: Anniversary Edition
Marjorie Liu & Sana Takeda's Monstress: Awakening vol.1

Total: 15

Opened the month up with Discord's Apple by Carrie Vaughn, a mix of near future fall of civilization and ancient myth. And while I enjoyed Vaughn's modern paranormal werewolf call-in radio show host series, this one just didn't work for me. I don't know if it was the set up or the asshole Greek gods, but I just didn't care for it...

I was much more pleased with the second Vaughn book I read in the month, After the Golden Age, a supers book about the non-powered daughter of a super-hero couple. Not a perfect book, but enjoyable...

Got the final Beka Cooper book by Tamora Pierce, Mastiff early in the month as well. A bit more morose in tone than the previous ones, but overall a fine ending to the trilogy with Beka and her law dog partners being brought in to track down a kidnapped prince by a very ruthless and arrogant cabal...

After that I ended up buying a whole mess more of David Weber's "Honor Harrington" series. Flag in Exile, Honor Among Enemies, In Enemy Hands, Echoes of Honor, Ashes of Victory and War of Honor. So books five thru nine in series. I do enjoy Weber, but he's got a some noticeable writing tics. As I mentioned last month, he's got a tendency to do huge info-dumps of expository dialogue or just description. Which I'll admit on a few occasions led to some "don't care, don't care skim skim skim" during bits of world building or tech description. Especially the later. Really I'm more space opera than hard scifi so I don't really care most of the time how the widget works. I'm fine with a bit of Trek techno-babble to hand wave things. Still, I don't doubt there are plenty out there who love getting the details. And another quirk of Weber's is related to that. He can give a seemingly unneeded amount of back-story to minor characters. Many of whom end up very, very dead within pages. Still, I'm within a couple books of being caught up on the main series and I'm tracking down both various side-books, collaborations and anthologies AND dipping into some of his other series so its not like its a huge turn off for me...

And while skimming thru Baen's e-book selection (specifically the free section) I came across the Baen 2011 Free Short Story anthology. A nice collection, including two scifi writers I hadn't heard of before, Sharon Lee & Steve Miller's "Liaden Universe" and Michael Z. Williamson's "Freehold", whose stories intrigued me enough that I'll be checking them out in more detail at some point...

Sadly the same isn't true of Dani & Eyton Kollin's the Unincorporated Man. Borrowed that one from the roommate's collection and its story about a future where every person in a publicly trade corporation and what happens to that society when an unincorporated cryogenic revival is dropped into it didn't work for me. Which means I'll be giving the other two books in the series a pass...

Happily though, my next book was a new "Shadows of the Apt" book by Adrian Tchaikovsky. Heirs of the Blade follows several of the characters in the Dragonfly Commonweal lands. Very enjoyable, though a bit of a bridging book setting things up for the renewal of the threat of the Wasp Empire...

Also got a new Grantville Gazette in November, the 38th. Which reminds me, I really need to get around to transferring all the Baen e-books I bought that month to my computer so I can transfer them to my Kindle...

The roommate also pushed Jim Butcher's Spider-Man novel, the Darkest Hours, on me and I was more than pleasantly surprised by it. Its set sometime during the J.M.S. run on the comic but before Spidey joins up with the Avengers. Though his use of both M.J. and the marriage, as well as a partial face turn by the Rhino, makes me even more annoyed with "One More Day" and parts of "The Gauntlet" all over again. But for Spider-Man fans who have avoiding the comics out of disgust, this is an excellent way to get a Spidey fix...

Finally got around to picking up a copy of the Lois McMaster Bujold novel, Falling Free. Which is an early book by her that serves as something of a prequel to the Vorkosigan books. A bit rough in spots, but nice...

Got the second of Larry Correia's "Grimnoir" series, Spellbound. Which are about magically powered super-humans in the 1920s. Very pulpy and fun, though Correia is a bit of a gun fetishest. Not as much here as in his "Monster Hunter" series, but there is still some of it...

Also on the always meant to get around to reading list is Jane Lindskold's Brother to Dragons, Companion to Owls. If only because I love that title. Which made me think this would be a fantasy book. But its actually a dystopian near future one with a bit of psychic powers thrown into the mix...

Then it was Mira Grant's second zombies vs. bloggers "Newsflesh" books, Deadline. Which follows up on the conspiracy exposed in Feed and takes things to a whole new level of Oh Fuck Me. I'm pretty sparing with getting into zombie stuff, because it honestly gives me screwed up dreams, but Grant is a definite keeper...

And then I finished up the month with an early fantasy book by Patricia Briggs, Masque and the sequel to it she wrote much later, Wolfesbane. Even with some re-editing for a new release the first book is very much a first novel. Not a bad book about mercenary/spy/mage girl versus the Giant Evil Wizard, but definitely full of some well-used fantasy tropes and rough first-book-out-of-college edges...

Total books: 20

Started off the month with the most recent Grantville Gazette (Paula Goodlette editor) e-book. This one includes a murder mystery that lacks a body, a new Dr. Phil - Modern Alchemist story (a favorite of mine that hasn't been used much of late) and also another chapter in the Saving the Dodo serial, among other stories set in the Ring of Fire shared setting. I also finished Mike Shevdon's 61 Nails that same day. A pretty good modern faerie story. A bit like Gaiman's Neverwhere in feel...

Then I finally got around to the second and third books in Brent Weeks' Night Angel trilogy, Shadow's Edge and Beyond the Shadows. Dark fantasy, with lots of thieves and assassins and whores and corrupt leaders and evil barbarians and callous wizards and so forth. I liked the final book more than the middle, mostly because the middle has a lot from the evil God-King's perspective. And he's a Total Monster type of bad guy. Which are sooooooooo boring. Murder, rape, plot, murder, plot, plot, murder, mind games, blah blah blah. The only interesting thing about Total Monster's are their feelings of shock when someone finally puts them down. But a pretty good mud and blood fantasy in spite of that...

Roommate got me to try out Richard Kadrey's fantasy noir "Sandman Slim" books. Only two, Sandman Slim and Kill the Dead, so far of this series about a magician condemned by his "friends" sent to Hell who escapes and returns to enact vengeance. My only real quibble with the series so far is that the lead engages in a lot of car theft using a magic knife/bone he got while fighting demons. And even if it magically pops locks, dude also hits the highest end of cars and all I can think is "don't any of these people have LoJack for their hundred thousand dollar cars"?

Then I went back for more Carrie Vaughn, getting her short story collection Kitty's Greatest Hits. A bit of a misnomer, since not all of the collection is about Vaughn's Kitty the werewolf radio talk-show host. In fact, if I'm rembering right, a few aren't even for that setting. More than a few enjoyable stories though...

Than another from the roommate's collection. This one a harder SF one, David S. Goyer & Michael Cassutt's Heaven's Shadow. Where two rival science space missions to study a comet lead to a First Contact situation. Interesting enough that I'll likely try out the sequel when it eventually comes out...

I ending up going on a bit of a Tamora Pierce tear for a while. Rereading all four of her "Immortals" books (Wildmagic, Wolf-Speaker, Emperor Mage and the Realms of the Gods), the Protector of the Small omnibus and then Trickster's Choice and Trickster's Queen. Really all of her Tortall books except the "Lioness" quartet ('cause I just don't care for the Lioness for some reason) and the Beka Cooper ones. And those I'm saving for later in this month when the third and final book for that sub-series comes out. Oh, and I even reread the Tortall related short stories in my e-book copy of Tortall and Other Lands. Much harder to pick and choose from an anthology on the Kindle by the way...

In the midst of all that Pierce rereading I tried some more from the roommate's books. He's been trying out a lot of new paperbacks of late, so that means more new stuff for me. First with Harry Connolly's "Twenty Palaces", which is more fantasy noir, but more Chaosium's Call of Cthulu than White Wolf's World of Darkness. Child of Fire has the protaginst ray Lilly and his near sociopath boss investigating a suspiscious toy company in the Pacific Northwest. Game of Cages has Ray mostly on his own and looking into the auction of a powerful supernatural creature. And in Circle of Enemies Ray's back in his home town of L.A. because of something going on with old circle of car thief friends...

After that was Larry Correia's "Monster Hunter" books, Monster Hunter International, Monster Hunter Vendetta and Monster Hunter Alpha. Which are about a corporation that hunts monster bountys as part of the world's governments' efforts to keep the supernatural and paranatural a secret from the general public. The series has a lot of heavy gun porn and is definitely higher on the action than the angst. More like, I don't know, Mack Bolan books or something. Except with werewolves and zombies and vampires and shit...

After that I got the Warriors anthology (George R.R. Martin and Gardner Dozois editing). Which was pretty good, only had a couple clunkers in it. I especially liked the David Weber one, enough that I'm thinking of getting both the expanded novel length version of the short story and also checking out some of his other military scifi stuff...

More rereading next, this time of Sherwood Smith and Dave Trowbridge's "Exordium" series, the Phoenix in Flight, Ruler of Naught, a Prison Unsought, Rifter's Convenant and the Throne of Kronos. I'm actually starting to wear out my copies of these. Maybe there are Kindle versions? The books are far future space opera, full of weird aliens, noble court drama, space naval battles (that aren't written like dog-fights), romance, villains both despisable and admirable. Really great series and one of my favorites...

After that a pair of new steampunk novels. First, Scott Westerfeld's Goliath, the finale to his alternate World War I trilogy. Which has the two leads forced to balance their feelings for each other with their personal feelings of duty. Plus Nicolai Tesla, who believes he's discovered a weapon that can end war forever. Second is the latest "Clockwork Century" book from Cherie Priest, Ganymede. In this one an airship captain has a chance for one final big score that will let him retire from the pirate/smuggler's life. He just has to get to New Orleans and pilot an experimental submarine out from occupied Louisiana and to the Union forces...

Total books: 28

Sept 1st: Andrew Vachss - Only Child & Down Here: Books 14 and 15 in the Burke series. In the first Burke is hired to find out what happened that caused the death of the bastard daughter of a Mafia boss. In the latter former D.A. turned information broker Wolfe has been accused of an attempted murder. So Burke and his people team up with her crew to prove her innocence...

Sept 2nd: Vachss - Mask Market: The 16th Burke book has the anti-hero lead trying to find out why a client was killed minutes after hiring him. And if its anything that could threaten Burke or his family. Leading him back into his past and one of the runaways he rescued off the street years ago...

Sept 3rd: Vachss - Terminal: In this 17th book Burke is approached by a terminally ill ex-con. One with a possible scam that could net them all a huge score. But it involves an old murder of a 13-year old girl...

Sept 4th: Vachss - Another Life: The final Burke novel, with Burke and his family getting an offer from a secretive federal agent. If they can recover the kidnapped baby son of a visitign Saudi noble then they can all have the record's cleaned and altered so they can come into the light and onto the straight life...

Sept 5th: Paula Goodlett (ed) - Grantville Gazette 31: Most recent of the Ring of Fire anthologies e-book editions. Still no new updates on Russia sadly...
Naomi Novik - Empire of Ivory: Captain Laurence & Tremaire travel to Africa to seek out a possible cure for the epidemic laying low England's dragon corps...
- Victory of Eagles: After choosing honor over duty, Laurence and Tremaire are considered traitors and are imprisoned seperately when Napoleon's armies invade England...

Sept 6th: Charlaine Harris & Toni Kelner (ed) - Death's Excellent Vacation: An urban/modern fantasy anthology based on around a theme of vacations...

Sept 7th: C.E. Murphy - Hands of Flame: The currently final volume of Murphy's "Negotiator" series. With former defense attorney Margrit caught in the middle of what could become an all-out war between the Five Races...

Sept 8th: Dan Abnett - Triumff: Her Majesty's Hero: A parody of both steampunk and Victorian fantasy that manages to be mostly amusing and also an excellent adventure story...

Sept 10th: Naomi Novik - Tongues of Serpents: Tremaire and Laurence have been essentially exiled to the British colony of Australia. And are soon racing across the Outback in pursuit of a stolen dragon egg...

Sept 12th: Rob Thurman - Trick of the Light: A new series from Thruman, loosely tied to the original. This one concentrating on Demons and Angels and the powerful artifact both sides are seeking. With an odd lady bartender and information broker stuck in the middle...

Sept 13th: Simon R Green - Just Another Judgement Day: John Taylor returns and he's been hired by the new bosses of the Nightside to try and stop God's Righteous Wrath aka The Walking Man from bringing down the Nightside and all its wickedness once and for all...

Sept 14th: Tamora Pierce - Protector of the Small: I really do love rereading Keladry's saga to become a knight and then live up to the ideals of that idea...

Sept 16th-21st: Harry Turtledove - The Misplaced Legion, An Emperor for the Legion, The Legion of Videssos & Swords of the Legion: Another reread. This time Turtledove's sereis about a lost Roman legion in a fantasy world. I still get a start every time I see the two leads from Rome pop-up as minor characters...

Sept 22nd: A. Lee Martinez - Automatic Detective: I'm a fan of both mad science settings and noir detective stories. And here I get both. AND a talking gorilla...

Lawrence Watt-Evans - The Misenchanted Sword

Sept 24th: Watt-Evans - Blood of a Dragon: I had planned on rereading all of the Esthar books I owned. But I quickly realized, that while I couldn't always recall names of people, I could easily recall the major plot points and scenes from all of them...

Sept 26: Faye Kellerman - Hangman: The police procedural parts of this were good. But the other half, following the teen-age son of a contract killer left in the care of police Lt. Decker left me cold. I just did not like that kid...

Sept 28th-29th: Terry Pratchett - Wee Free Men, A Hat Full of Sky & Wintersmith: Just catching up with Tiffany and the Feegles before the final book in the sub-series...

Sept 30th: Pratchett - I Shall Wear Midnight: Which was wonderful and sad and touching and great. And yes it does feel a bit overstuffed with characters. With several new characters and cameos by Granny Weatherwax an Nanny Ogg and the Ankh-Morpokh Watch (though it was good to see that Angua has made Captain) and a truly awesome moment involving Wee Mad Arthur and the Feegles and an even AWESOMER cameo from an early character. But I can understand Pterry's desire to try and touch base with so many of his creations while he still can...

Fuck. I'm going to miss the man so damn much and he's not even gone yet...

Total Books: 29

Dear tammy212;

I hate you. I've just finished Trickster's Choice and now I have to buy the rest of your books. Theres over a dozen of them! Where the hell am I going to put that many new books? Are you going to build me more bookshelves? Of course not. Lousy authors, no consideration for those of us with limited space. Plus the copy of Trickster's Queen I bought is at home. I don't get off work for OVER AN HOUR! You're just mean...

Hugs;

Me