“ He has the strangest expression on his face -- the emotive equivalent of 404 PAGE NOT FOUND.”
What a terrifically fun book. It’s got geeks, and a secret society, and books, and a quest and, yes, singing dragons!
What more can one want?? Okay, the dragons don’t really feature a lot in the plot but still….
If you understand the quote you’ll enjoy the book!
On an alien world settled primarily by Caribbean peoples, there is a battle raging between the Azteca, who believe in human sacrifice and worship their Teotl gods, and the rest of the population who worship the Loa and have been successfully holding back the Azteca with a mountain fort that commands the one useable pass through the Wicked Highs. But the Azteca dig a tunnel and invade.
The ‘gods’ are aliens of two different types who appear to be using the humans to continue to fight a long-standing interstellar battle. But the humans have little choice at this point but to fight for their lives.
An interesting and complex world, with lots of details. The characters are well-drawn and there are layers that complicate the main characters.
My main point of contention with the novel is the use of a patois for the locals that I found irritating to read. I kept having to go back and reread spoken sentences, not because I didn’t understand them, but because the English was twisted and it bothered me. Not to say others won’t find that not a problem, however.
This is the first book of a series, and I might, at some point, continue on, if only to learn more of the external world and the past history hinted at in this book.
Fifth book in the Armand Gamache series, once again Three Pines, that tiny perfect village, has a murder to contend with. Emphasis is, per usual, on the odd characters who live here. Can one of their own be a murderer?
Third novel of Banks’s The Culture. It follows a man frequently hired by Special Circumstances to destabilize planetary governments or sometimes to begin wars. He does the nasty things The Culture pretends to be above.
Told with two different timelines, one moving forward, the other backwards, we discover who this fellow is, and what his background as been, and why he is so very very effective.
Complex, in depth look at the characters with humor coming from the drones, as usual, and a surprisingly dense and complex look at the all too human cost of war.
Mind the Gap takes on new meaning as Peter Grant, intrepid newly recruited spelunker, searches the underground and the sewers (Lovely), in hopes of finding out just who, or perhaps WHAT, killed an American student living in London. Poor Peter. “You burn down one central London tourist attraction, I thought, and they never let you forget it.”
Flavia is a child who is introverted, smart and isolated from her dysfunctional family. When she finds a dead bird, then a dead man in her garden, she’s determined to use her knowledge of chemistry and her brains to figure out who killed him and to prove her father is innocent.
I can see where Flavia can be annoying to many people, but for me, she brought back a lot of my own childhood memories and miseries.
A re-read for me. Actually, I listened to an audio version this time. Good fun, although I confess I found the supposed wonderfulness of Milady a bit hard to take. Or are men really that easy to dupe?
Chet might have failed K9 training but he’s landed on his feet, and is now a partner of the Little Detective Agency along with his human Bernie. When I young girl goes missing and the dicks are hired by the girl’s mother, Chet and Bernie set out on a journey to find the girl and bring her home.
A fun story, narrated by Chet who tends to be just a tad forgetful, but he remembers the important things, like half-off BBQ coupons, you can be sure!
First book of the Raj Quartet. A wonderful, powerful book depicting British and Indian relations at the height of WWII when Gandhi was pushing for Independence and the British were more focused on defeating Japan and Hitler.
It’s the story of a rape, the events leading up to it, and how all sides, and individuals see it and interpret the events so differently, through their own prejudices and assumptions.
I read his way back in about 2000, so it was a surprise to see how well it held up to a re-read.
First Book of the Raksura.
Moon has no idea who he is, never mind what he is. He’s different and has never seen another person like himself. He’s a shifter, can fly, and is living among groundlings. But he’s forced to flee often when his secret is discovered.
He’s learned to trust no one, with good reason, but when someone who looks like him saves his life, he reluctantly agrees to accompany his new friend Stone to Stone’s colony.
It’s a tale of self discovery, facing one’s fears and hopes, and learning to reach out to others so we can find a place for ourselves in the world.
There’s an interesting romantic subplot, which is crucial to Moon’s decisions, but does not drive the story.
Lots of suspense and action as Moon helps Stone and Stone’s people defeat the dreaded Fell who pray on everyone.
Very well written, with powerful female characters, lots of character development and complex and intriguing world building.
Will definitely read more of this series and Martha Wells in general.
First of a series of contemporary mysteries set in Venice.
Guido Brunelli is called to the opera house in Venice to investigate the death of the Conductor, a man who is considered the greatest conductor of his time. He’s found poisoned.
The main character of the book is really Venice itself. I loved the atmospheric descriptions and the concentration on settings and descriptive prose. Brunelli, in contrast with Venice, is a bit dull. He’s happily married, content and not particularly deep. But he does read people well and that goes a long way to helping him solve the mysteries surrounding the man and the murder.
I’ll read more of the series to enjoy the setting.
