78. A Conspiracy of Kings - Megan Whalen Turner

With Attolia and Eddis having gotten rid if the Medes by any means necessary, now comes Sounis and a new king who needs to figure out a way of getthing them to leave the much smaller country alone. Gen, of course, is in the thick of things. Sadly, the last of the series, currently. I'm going to miss every one of these characters.

Review–The King of Attolia–Megan Whalen Turner

77. The King of Attolia by Megan Whalen Turner

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So hard to say much about this as everything is a spoiler. So suffice to say the series has become one of my favorite ever.  Gen is such a terrifically complex and surprising character. His schemes and plans are always so complex that although you know he's up to something, it's never quite clear just what until the whole thing falls into place.

This book shows him through the eyes of a guard who, the poor thing, has no clue who or what Gen is, but has to find a way to deal with him. At first hating him, as do most of his fellows, and then coming eventually to a fierce loyalty even he can't explain.

On to the last current book [Conspiracy of Kings].

For all, no matter what you’re celebrating:

75. Queen of Attolia–Megan Whalen Turner

Oh my!  Even better than the first of this series, The Thief. 

Eugenides is captured again, this time by the Queen of Attolia. When he’s returned (after nearly being hung) to his Queen Eddis, Eddis declares war on Attolia.

Eugenides, meanwhile is badly broken, in spirit and body.  He’s afraid, feels worthless, and is more a danger to himself than to anyone else, although Queen Attolia isn’t convinced, and continues to fear him dreadfully.  As part of her plan to defeat Eddis, she allies with the Mede kingdom outsiders, who want to not only invade Eddis, but control Attolia.

What a terrific book. It’s hard to talk about it without a ton of spoilers, but this series is such a terrific read!  The writing is first-rate, the action constant and exciting, the characterizations are deep and believeable, and the plot twists, wow!

Highly recommended.

 

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Also, I’ve met my 75 book challenge for the year!  Wow!  Last year, my previous high, was 43. I never expected to read 75 books in one year, and was merely hoping to make 50.  But I’ll take it!

Review: Cocaine Blues–Kerry Greenwood

 

What a surprise. Quite different in the way of cozy wealthy women detectives.  Phryne is sassy, savvy and modern. She has few illusions about the world or about herself. She leaves England headed to Australia to find out if a woman is being poisoned by her husband (at the behest of the woman's parents).  She arrives and immediately becomes embroiled in the search for a killer abortionist and the King of Snow.

Interesting look at the times, and colorful Melbourne.  Will definitely continue the series.

73. Review: Silent in the Sanctuary–Deanna Raybourn

 

Despite coming perilously close to being too romancy for me, I do enjoy the characters. Lady Julia is in Italy, recovering from the previous book’s events. One of her brother marries without daddy’s approval so daddy angrily calls them all home for Christmas. They obey and bring along Alessandro, their Italian friend, who is sweet on Lady Julia although she is busy denying it.

When they arrive, guess who is there as another house guest. Of course, the mysterious and sexy private inquiry agent, Brisbane.  Julia and he heat the house up and hunt a murderer, a ghost and a thief.

The best part of these books for me, is the mad March family, who are all delightfully ‘odd’.

Review: The Rule of Four–Ian Caldwell

A college student, whose father was an obsessed researcher, meets a would-be disciple of his father’s. Their frendship grows and  both young men are drawn into the same obsession, trying to figure out an ancient book written in code.

 

This book reminded me a  lot of A.S. Byatt’s Possession. The same sense of nearly mad obsession, the same sense of needing to solve the puzzles and devote all of one’s time and energies to the mystery.

I personally loved it, but  can see why others might not. I’m all for puzzles, bibliomysteries and obsessions!

Review: Sorcery and Cecelia or The Enchanted Chocolate Pot: Being the Correspondence of Two Young Ladies of Quality Regarding Various Magical Scandals in London and the Country

 

What a great fun read!  It is 1817 and one young lady is off to London to do the season. The other stays at home, and their correspondence begins.  The one in London meets the odious Marquis, the one in the country learns of a magical plot connected with the Marquis, and both young women are drawn into retrieving the magical chocolate plot as well as trying to figure out just who is the bad magician and what is he/she up to.

Lots of wry comments regarding the mores of the era with an alternate world including the College of Wizards.

Review: A Test of Wills–Charles Todd

Ian Rutledge survived WWI with body intact, but his mind is very nearly broken to pieces, His lover left him because she was afraid of him, he has a voice in his head, and he's tempted to self destruction, In an attempt to piece his life back together again, he returns to his job at Scotland Yard,  He doubts himself, is fragile and vulnerable, but needs to see he can again have a productive life,

The case is complex, with lots of possible suspects, but the main one is a hero of the war, winner of the Victoria Cross, and there's pressure from London and even the King to find anyone else guilty of the crime,

Rutledge, knowing his life never mind his job is on the line, tries desperately to reconnect with his instincts and identify the killer,

Great atmosphere and descriptions. Rutledge is likeable and sympathetic, and the mystery is awash with possible motives and perps. I'll definitely be continuing on with this series.

Reviews!

I see I haven’t posted about my reading lately. We’re traveling (at Cape San Blas in Florida) and getting lousy reception and only intermittent internet connectivity, so we’ll see if I can even post this when I get done.

 

Firstly, I’m on target for reading 75 books this year, which blows my mind. I thank LibraryThing.com for all the lunatic reader friends I’ve found there.

#63    Newton’s Wake – Ken McLeod -  Fairly standard Space Opera, with political overtones and some intriguing ideas regarding interstellar/intergalactic travel.

#64  The Ships of Merior – Janny Wurts  I have become a HUGE Janny Wurts fan. This is the second book in her Wars of Light and Shadow series.  Fascinating and deeply drawn characters, complex world building, and lots of plot twists and turns. And somehow, things never work out quite like the ‘heroes’ plan.   And speaking of heroes, they are multi-layered and nobody is ‘good’. Mostly they’re just trying to figure out how to survive in a hostile environment, or are being misled by a curse and/or someone else.

#65 The Thief -  Megan Whalen Turner -   Terrific ‘young adult’ fun read. Not really sure why it’s listed as ‘young adult’ other than no sex, but it is still a great book. I love, love, love the main character and will be happy to read the rest of this series.

#66 A Beautiful Blue Death -   Charles Finch – Period mystery with some great descriptions of Victorian London. Atmosphere is terrific, the amateur detective is interesting, and the mystery itself is complex enough to keep you wondering.

#67 Terovolas – Edward M. Erdelac – This was a free book I got through LibraryThing.com ‘s Early Reviewer Program. Have you ever wondered what happened to Van Helsing after Transylvania?  He went to Texas, got mixed up with a mysterious woman on a train, some wacky Norse cowboys, a couple of Red Indians, a drunken trapper, and oh, yeah, werewolves….

#68 Death Warmed Over – Kevin J. Anderson – Another Early Reviewer win.  - Finally, a Zombie I can relate to. This one is a private eye who got wacked and came back. Well, it seems a lot of folks are coming back. As Zombies, ghosts, vamps, and a few other species.  Ever since the “Big Uneasy’ when the necronomicon got exposed to moonlight, a virgin’s blood, all while there was  a special arrangement of the planets.  New Orleans will never be the same….

#69 Artemis Fowl – Eoin Colfer  - What happens when a 12 year old chooses ‘criminal mastermind’ as his career field?  Well, he was following in Daddy’s footsteps. But then Daddy never attempted to kidnap a Leprechaun and start a race war. Atemis is a hoot. And the fairy was not amused.

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Currently reading: A Test of Wills by Charles Todd – period mystery with shell-shocked Inspector. Pretty good so far.