Reviews:

The Sword-Edged Blonde by Alex Bledsoe:

An amusing tale of a sword-jockey, a sort of private detective. He’s drug back, against his better judgment and wishes, to help his childhood friend (who happens to be a king) find out why the Queen murdered her son. Action packed adventure ensues, with lots of flashbacks to Eddie’s past which he’s been trying to avoid for years.

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The Dante Club – Matthew Pearl

In the last year following the Civil War, Longfellow and his fellow poets and friends, set about translating the Commedia by Dante into English in order to introduce it widely to America. Harvard’s powers that be are NOT happy about this and are trying to do everything they can to block him.  Might this include murder? The Dante Club, as they call themselves, begin to wonder, as two murders take place in Boston that enact two of the punishments Dante details in the Devine Comedy. Can they solve the murders, and catch the murderer and keep the police in the dark about the connection to Dante?

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Captain Vorpatril’s Alliance

A terrific romp through the Vorkosiverse with Ivan at his best.  I generally want to kick Miles when the story’s about him, but I almost always want to hug Ivan. The poor guy has spent his entire life trying to hide in the shadows and keep his abilities hidden under the nearest bucket. But he’s forced to step up his game when his ‘friend’ Byerly asks him to help out a damsel in distress. What’s Ivan to do (other than fall in love with her)? And when he finds out who she is, and just why assassins are on her doorstep, well, he takes drastic action.

A delightful book that had me quite often laughing out loud!