Finished Strange Brew

Although "Bacon" by Charlaine Harris was not about Sookie, it was set in her universe.  A vampire goes after revenge on people who killed her husband.  In "Signatures of the Dead," a witch and a werewolf go after a nest of vampires who have been killing people in their neighborhood.  In "Ginger", an Earth witch and several children are captured by two dark witches who are attempting to gain power in the community.  In "Dark Sins," by Jenna Maclaine, a witch who has been made a vampire discovers her power.  There was not a single story in the book that I found dull.  Great book of stories.



I have now started Sanctus by Simon Toyne, a religious thriller which is supposed to rival Dan Brown's Da Vinci Code.  A monk has escaped the Citadel near Ruin, Turkey after learning the secret of the Sacrament that the monks have been guarding for, well, a long long time.  The repercussions this sets up are just starting to kick in (I'm on p 76.)  I'm already into it.

Finished 2061 Odyssey Three

This seemed really out there and strange.  But everything bizarre was verified with research done before Arthur C. Clarke started writing it.  Which made it weirdly believable every step of the way.  I love that he can make the most complicated concepts understandable.  The man is superb.



I have now started Strange Brew, a book of short stories about witches (and wizards) edited by P. N. Elrod.  So far I've read "Seeing Eye" by Patricia Briggs about a blind witch who goes up against a scary rival coven, "Last Call" by Jim Butcher about Harry Dresden coming up against a demon witch who has bespelled his favorite beer, "Death Warmed Over" by Rachel Caine, about a "resurrectionist witch" who raises a corpse to help her solve several murders, "Vegas Odds", by Karen Chance, about a war mage attacked by bespelled people she knows, "Hecate's Golden Eye" by P. N. Elrod in which Jack Flemming must recover a purloined cursed diamond.  I have just started "Bacon" by Charlaine Harris, in which a vampire contacts a witch for what purpose I have not yet discovered.  So far all of the stories have been very entertaining and there are none I'd pan.

Finished People of the Fire

I have no idea why I find these stories so fascinating.  Great characters.  Great mythology.  And wonderful descriptions of our own northwest as it underwent climate change and people hunting the buffalo to near extinction (perhaps the first time.)  I was wrong about the main character appearing in People of the Earth...I think this book is set about 1000 years prior to People of the Earth.  This includes the story of the discovery of how to harvest wheat and other grains which will save both the people and the buffalo from extinction.



I have now started Arthur C. Clarke's 2061 Odyssey Three.  For those of my friends who thought I would never come back to this series...fooled you.  LOL.  From the distant past to the future.  I love variety...

Finished Dying For Mercy

It was pretty satisfying.  Combination mystery/ thriller in Mary Higgins Clark style.  One of the problems with having a recurring character is that putting her in danger isn't all that suspenseful since we know she has to be around in the next book.  That said, the people around her are not so safe.  I liked the premise--that a man has found religion and has decided to commit suicide (alright, that IS a contradiction in terms) and does it in such a bizarre way that it points to clues he has left to solve a closed case crime as well as a present day criminal.  I'm not sure the end totally tied all the loose ends, but the book was certainly fun to read.



I have now started People of the Fire by W. Michael Gear and Kathleen Gear.  It has started a bit hard to follow, but only because it has switched characters a couple times and I am trying to trace the characters I met in the beginning or figure out how they fit together.  I feel certain I just have to read a bit farther and, as usual, the characters, the mythology, and the era are fascinating.  This is set before People of the Earth, and shows the same basic area and mythology, just maybe 1-2 hundred years earlier and the land is seriously changing...becoming dryer.

Finished The Vampire Files, Volume Three

The second (and last) book in The Vampire Files, Volume Three, by P. N. Elrod, is The Dark Sleep which is one of those stories that I found myself mourning the fact that I'd finished it.  It started rather slowly, but the characters were very interesting, so I didn't mind.  But it definitely built by the end and I was unable to put it down.

I have now started Dying for Mercy by Mary Jane Clark.  It was mixed in with some Mary Higgins Clark books at a rummage sale and I bought it by accident.  But, I figured, it got in the door, I might as well read it.  Well, it reads very much like Mary Higgins Clark's books:  short chapters, each chapter from the point of view of the next character in the story, sections dated.  I haven't figured out yet if it is a mystery, a thriller, or both...it is reading like a mystery, but it could develop into a thriller pretty easily.  I'm enjoying it so much, I bought four more of her books today at Half Price Books.

Finished A Lick of Frost and One Other

A Lick of Frost by Laurell K. Hamilton ended with Taranis (King of the Seelie) totally insane and Andais (Queen of the Unseelie) nearly so.  This is not really a spoiler--we've known this for several books--but they have both become amazingly difficult for our Meredith to live with.  In addition, there is good news, but this could be a spoiler...  :-)

Then I read a children's chapter book--Precious and the Puggies, by Alexander McCall Smith.  This is about Precious' first detective case solved at the age of 8.  It is written in Scots dialect, which is fun, but leaves me wondering about the connection between the dialect and a little girl who lives in Botswana...  I suppose it is up there with reading Winnie the Pooh in Latin.

Now I am reading The Vampire Files, Volume Three, by P. N. Elrod.  I have finished the first book in the volume--A Chill in the Blood-- which, as usual I thoroughly enjoyed.  It broaches the subject of the corruption of the law enforcement authorities of the '30s and explains the rock and the hard place ordinary honest citizens (and vampire detectives) find themselves between.  The second book in the volume is The Dark Sleep and I am only one chapter in.

Finished A Feast For Crows

Just before I finished this book, I got a notification from Amazon that the paperback of A Dance of Dragons (next book in the series) won't be released until fall of 2014!  Ahhhhhgh.  George R. R. Martin and Stephen Donaldson (Thomas Covenant) are driving me nuts!   I'm wondering if A Dance of Dragons paperback will be timed to coincide with the release in hardback of the sixth in the series...

The book was aptly named.  It truly was the remaining littler nobles fighting over the bones that are left in the land.  As the book ends, there are really only a couple real villains left, though one could make a case for "Lady Stoneheart."  But, Martin seems to be very good at giving us villains to hate as well as heroic, though flawed humans to love.

I have now started  A Lick of Frost (Meredith Gentry) by Laurell K. Hamilton.  One chapter in, King Tyranos is plotting against them...