rose_griffes (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
rose_griffes) wrote2022-04-07 09:00 pm
rose_griffes) wrote2022-04-07 09:00 pm
Entry tags:
many books (fewer authors)
My last book update was in February, which means y’all have yet to learn about my mini-obsession with a fantasy AU of the Napoleonic wars. And no, it’s not Novik’s Temeraire series. Sidenote: I’m amused that there are (at least!) two book series that can be described like that.
I stopped reading the Temeraire series because somewhere around book three I realized that I was never going to get any significant engagement with the female characters. Melissa McShane’s “The Extraordinaries” series does not have that problem. Each book is from the point of view of a different female character, who has powerful magical abilities.
There are a few elements within the series that I found a bit repetitive after a while--more so because I read them quickly in succession, to be sure. I would guess that McShane wrote romance before shifting into fantasy, because each story contains a het romance, frequently with a heroine who is surprised that the male lead is interested in her. And while McShane does push the boundaries of Napoleonic era norms, she doesn’t push very hard. The sixth book in particular could have used a solid shove against some ideas.
McShane’s prose is clear and engaging, even in battle scenes. I would add that the battle scenes exist to further both plot and character development, and I didn’t resent the war stuff the way I sometimes do. McShane also gives her readers credit--the rules for magic within this universe are not flung at us at first chance; instead they get built gradually, without an exposition dump.
Book six ended at a decent stopping point, but the author’s note at the end indicates more to come. No release date yet on book seven, however.
T. Kingfisher’s Swordheart was a very T. Kingfisher sort of fantasy adventure-romance. I enjoyed it; she’s got a shtick for this genre that really works for her. (She has a separate shtick for her horror tales, which is equally effective.)
The Invisible Library, by Genevieve Cogman, was fun, but it slid across the surface of some much more interesting ideas. As the first book in a series of eight, I can see why the tantalizing things are only hinted at. The problem is that the characters didn’t really get the depth they needed to make me care enough about them to read more. Not saying I’ll never try, but it’s not a high priority at the moment.
I read Emily St. John Mandel’s Station Eleven several years ago (loved it!). The Glass Hotel was a different experience. At times frustrating, I felt like the ultimate destination wasn’t quite worth the trip there. But it was an interesting trip, with intriguing prose.
Neo-noir detective solving a magical murder mystery, complete withfemme fatale homme who may or may not be fatal--all part of Sarah Gailey’s Magic for Liars. It was compelling and I wished it could be longer; the ending felt a bit abrupt. But if “The Maltese Falcon, but with a female lead and set in a modern-day magical high school” is your thing, I recommend it.
I stopped reading the Temeraire series because somewhere around book three I realized that I was never going to get any significant engagement with the female characters. Melissa McShane’s “The Extraordinaries” series does not have that problem. Each book is from the point of view of a different female character, who has powerful magical abilities.
There are a few elements within the series that I found a bit repetitive after a while--more so because I read them quickly in succession, to be sure. I would guess that McShane wrote romance before shifting into fantasy, because each story contains a het romance, frequently with a heroine who is surprised that the male lead is interested in her. And while McShane does push the boundaries of Napoleonic era norms, she doesn’t push very hard. The sixth book in particular could have used a solid shove against some ideas.
McShane’s prose is clear and engaging, even in battle scenes. I would add that the battle scenes exist to further both plot and character development, and I didn’t resent the war stuff the way I sometimes do. McShane also gives her readers credit--the rules for magic within this universe are not flung at us at first chance; instead they get built gradually, without an exposition dump.
Book six ended at a decent stopping point, but the author’s note at the end indicates more to come. No release date yet on book seven, however.
T. Kingfisher’s Swordheart was a very T. Kingfisher sort of fantasy adventure-romance. I enjoyed it; she’s got a shtick for this genre that really works for her. (She has a separate shtick for her horror tales, which is equally effective.)
The Invisible Library, by Genevieve Cogman, was fun, but it slid across the surface of some much more interesting ideas. As the first book in a series of eight, I can see why the tantalizing things are only hinted at. The problem is that the characters didn’t really get the depth they needed to make me care enough about them to read more. Not saying I’ll never try, but it’s not a high priority at the moment.
I read Emily St. John Mandel’s Station Eleven several years ago (loved it!). The Glass Hotel was a different experience. At times frustrating, I felt like the ultimate destination wasn’t quite worth the trip there. But it was an interesting trip, with intriguing prose.
Neo-noir detective solving a magical murder mystery, complete with