First, let me say, "Aaaaaaghgh"! I went to order The Last Dark by Stephen Donaldson (the last book in the Thomas Covenant Chronicles) only to discover that it won't be published until next fall--a YEAR from now! If I am still alive then. And then, I bet it will be in hardback (I usually wait for the paperback edition of everything--they are easier to read.) So, I wound up ordering three diet soup cookbooks, though not really instead...
Burnt Offerings was the best book in the Anita Blake series yet. (I am reading them in order). After giggling my way through the first few chapters, it was edge of my seat for the remaining 300 or so pages. I was having trouble putting it down.
I have now started Kingsblood Royal by Sinclair Lewis, as recommended by friend Kristin. She had mentioned that if I had enjoyed Help, I might also enjoy this. So far (I am only about 3 pages in, but I read the introduction), I am greatly enjoying his writing style. I don't think I've ever read anything by him before! Don't know how he managed to escape all these years...
Sunday, September 30, 2012
Tuesday, September 25, 2012
Finished Against All Things Ending
Wow! I think this was the best book yet in the series. I am worn out. There is one book left which I need to order...today. TR asked me if this was easier than the others. Well, no. I don't know how it could be and still be Thomas Covenant. Both our hero and heroine (shero) are flawed in crippling ways, both physically and psychologically. But both are heroic while fighting their own demons as well as real physical monsters. The philosophy, history (of the fantasy environment), great characterization, and conflict after conflict after conflict fly by furiously. I love this series. I loved this book.
I am now reading Burnt Offerings by Laurell K. Hamilton, the seventh in the Anita Blake series. I love the sense of humor in her books--I've been giggling all morning at the wonderfully black humor: "The bellyband (holster) didn't work well under most formals because you had yards of cloth to raise before you could get to the gun. It was better than nothing, but only if the bad guy was patient." At least three or four comments like this per page! Just the break from Thomas Covenant that I needed!
I am now reading Burnt Offerings by Laurell K. Hamilton, the seventh in the Anita Blake series. I love the sense of humor in her books--I've been giggling all morning at the wonderfully black humor: "The bellyband (holster) didn't work well under most formals because you had yards of cloth to raise before you could get to the gun. It was better than nothing, but only if the bad guy was patient." At least three or four comments like this per page! Just the break from Thomas Covenant that I needed!
Saturday, September 15, 2012
Against All Things Ending--212 pages in
Reading Stephen Donaldson is like reading a lesson in writing:
1. First there are brilliant characters--both good, evil, and mixed--which he has no qualms about killing off, because he can just invent more. Esmer--extremely powerful for both good and evil--is one of my favorites at the moment, though I love the protagonists (flawed all of them) equally as much. And She Who Must Not Be Named is one of the most horrible monsters I've run across anywhere.
2. He is master of environments both beautiful and terrible--a favorite at the moment is the crystal room created by the Viles in the Lost Deep. Beautiful and terrible both, it, as do all Donaldson's environments, influences the action.
3. Then, there is his brilliance for creating conflict. It seems like I have been at the edge of my seat for days now, and I am only about 1/3 the way through the book. They are not getting much opportunity to breathe, but even with problems coming as thick and fast as they do,
4. time is still taken for philosophical discussion, for good and kindness and healing to rule, and for strength born of love rather than fear to conquer.
5. And all the time, the language and use of words is poetic, strong, and instructive.
Whew!
1. First there are brilliant characters--both good, evil, and mixed--which he has no qualms about killing off, because he can just invent more. Esmer--extremely powerful for both good and evil--is one of my favorites at the moment, though I love the protagonists (flawed all of them) equally as much. And She Who Must Not Be Named is one of the most horrible monsters I've run across anywhere.
2. He is master of environments both beautiful and terrible--a favorite at the moment is the crystal room created by the Viles in the Lost Deep. Beautiful and terrible both, it, as do all Donaldson's environments, influences the action.
3. Then, there is his brilliance for creating conflict. It seems like I have been at the edge of my seat for days now, and I am only about 1/3 the way through the book. They are not getting much opportunity to breathe, but even with problems coming as thick and fast as they do,
4. time is still taken for philosophical discussion, for good and kindness and healing to rule, and for strength born of love rather than fear to conquer.
5. And all the time, the language and use of words is poetic, strong, and instructive.
Whew!
Sunday, September 9, 2012
Finished The Return: Nightfall
This book has a very interesting pair of antagonists: kitsune. In The Return: Nightfall, two twin kitsune named Misao and Shinichi play horrible games that could destroy Falls Church, Elena's town. In a trilogy I have read by Christopher Golden--the Veil Trilogy: The Myth Hunters, Borderkind, and The Lost. In this trilogy, the kitsune is a protagonist. She is flawed, but she is basically a good being, whereas in Nightfall, this fox spirit legend is very evil. In common, they both are shape-shifters able to shift between fox and human forms. In the Veil, that is pretty much the end of her talents. While human, she wears a beautiful red fur coat and is lovely. As a fox, she is very fast and tricky and can lure hunters from their prey. In Nightfall, the kitsune can take any form they wish and can magically influence the flora in the woods as well as enchant human perception of the world.
Doing a little research through my "World of Enchantment" reference encyclopedia, I discover that the "kitsune", the fox spirit has a duel nature. Some kitsune serve the god of agriculture--she would appear to be the Kitsune of the Veil Trilogy. There is included in the volume I checked of a kitsune who surfaced in India--a beautiful courtesan who could shape-shift into a white fox with nine tails. She hated children and, for entertainment, loved to see children and women suffer. After destroying the court of the ruler of India, she fled and resurfaced in China where she again pretty much destroyed the court of the Emperor of China. Fleeing to Japan, she attempted the same thing with their emperor until discovered by a mirror which showed her mirror image to be a fox. This broke her magic and she fled to a remote part of Japan where she languished in loneliness until she turned to stone. To this day, anything that approaches this stone dies.
I found no mention of a male kitsune...this would appear to be an invention of L. J. Smith.
I have now started the third book of the third and last Chronicle of Thomas Covenant: Against All Things Ending. Since this "Chronicle" has four volumes, I am on the ninth book of a ten-book series. When I left "The Land" at the end of the last book, the world was in dire straights, Linden having just set in motion events which would lead to the end of the world. So far, she has attempted to absorb the enormity of what she has done and figure out if there is anything at all she can do. She is consulting pretty much all the historical figures of "The Land", people who have memory of history, and now has met a totally new being who appears very interesting.
Doing a little research through my "World of Enchantment" reference encyclopedia, I discover that the "kitsune", the fox spirit has a duel nature. Some kitsune serve the god of agriculture--she would appear to be the Kitsune of the Veil Trilogy. There is included in the volume I checked of a kitsune who surfaced in India--a beautiful courtesan who could shape-shift into a white fox with nine tails. She hated children and, for entertainment, loved to see children and women suffer. After destroying the court of the ruler of India, she fled and resurfaced in China where she again pretty much destroyed the court of the Emperor of China. Fleeing to Japan, she attempted the same thing with their emperor until discovered by a mirror which showed her mirror image to be a fox. This broke her magic and she fled to a remote part of Japan where she languished in loneliness until she turned to stone. To this day, anything that approaches this stone dies.
I found no mention of a male kitsune...this would appear to be an invention of L. J. Smith.
I have now started the third book of the third and last Chronicle of Thomas Covenant: Against All Things Ending. Since this "Chronicle" has four volumes, I am on the ninth book of a ten-book series. When I left "The Land" at the end of the last book, the world was in dire straights, Linden having just set in motion events which would lead to the end of the world. So far, she has attempted to absorb the enormity of what she has done and figure out if there is anything at all she can do. She is consulting pretty much all the historical figures of "The Land", people who have memory of history, and now has met a totally new being who appears very interesting.
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