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What
I'm Currently Reading Return to Currently Reading Menu 20 November 2004 Elizabeth Moon's Letter of Marque, is apparently a sequel, but you can pick up the story fast. She does a good job of layering in Kayla's past--while shooting the story forward by assassination attempts on Kayla, who just wants to redefine her life as a trader since she was thrown out of the military academy. But an attack on her family prevents that. Moon is so good with detail, and with presenting appealing characters, I quite liked this one. Jane Lindskold Wolf Captured--again a sequel, but again you can pick up the story. Firekeeper is a woman raised as a wolf, with a giant wolf buddy, Blind Seer, and a human friend Derian Counselor. They are nabbed by people from another culture, brought for a specific purpose--though that is not made clear at first. This is a good story of culture clashes and the results. The world feels lived-in, has a fascinating history, the characters have dimension. I really liked this book. Goold fantasy adventure reading, particularly for those who like intriguing worlds as well as characters. 2 October 2004 Catherine Grace Gore's Pin Money, a delicious social satire, comedy of manners, and story of a relationship in high society published in 1832. It is criminal that these books are so hard to find. Known as 'Silver Fork' novels during the early Victorian era, romantic and funny stories about life in the bon ton were popular long before Georgette Heyer reinvented them for the 20th century. 25 September 2004 Susanna Clarke's Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell. Anyone who loved, as I did, any of the author's three delightful stories in Tor's Starlight anthologies was yearning for this book to come out. I read it this week, in a slow, leisurely way: what I discovered was that it was intellectually, but not emotionally, engaging. Easy to put down, but I always looked forward to picking it up again. So even though Shogun, to mention a recent doorstop-sized read, was not quite as well written, it was far more compelling, the characters changing, the story headlong as well as complex and I devoured it in four days though it was half again as long. Here we have an increasingly strange England weaving itself into the history I know so well, and watching that happen was a joy. The puzzle of what happened to English magic and when would the two eponymous magicians discover what the reader is seeing, piqued the mind, but not the heart. The book is strongest on images, on the clever voice, the playful structure, the strikingly imaginative and weird magic, the ways in which it interacted with history and tweaked it subtly here and there. The book's energy is in the weird, the fun she has with history, the style, the imaginative magical background. No predictable cheats--this is one novel that shows ten years of structural complexity. The only disappointment, though that word is maybe too strong--it does relate to the lack of engagement--is that female characters, promising, smart, witty as they are-- stay firmly on the periphery of the action. The characters are all interesting, but no one really changes. This is a "do" novel, not a "be" novel, if my own shorthand makes any sense. Jonathan Coe's The Rotter's Club, which, within a frame tale, does some fun things with structure. Set in Birmingham, England, during the middle seventies. Very poignant, funny in places, lovely writing, fascinating characters. 5 September 2004 Much good reading. First, Jennifer Stevenson's wonderful novel trash sex magic, set on the riverbank of the Fox, outside of Chicago. Couldn't put it down. Then I reread Sorcery and Cecelia by Caroline Stevermer and Patricia C. Wrede, in preparation for the new one, The Grand Tour, which I am reading now, and it's delightful so far. For those who like swashbucklers, let me just say: League of the Pimpernel and leave it at that. I am told they are working on a third, which is good news. Let's see...I finally read Shogun after all these years. In fact, I fell into it and didn't come up for three days. Enough ink has been spilled on why it's so good, so I will defer to others. I'm just glad to have discovered it now. I think I enjoyed it a lot more than I would have in 1977. 10 August 2004 Set aside The Confusion (which I am enjoying--and which keeps reminding me strongly of Braudel's Perspective of the World volumes on civilization and capitalism) so I could read Terry Pratchett's latest, Going Postal which I just loved.For me, sequels to Jane Austen's work have ranged from boring to downright awful. There is one that has entertained me, that makes fewer errors than any of the others I've seen and keeps the spirit, which is Diana Birchall's Mrs. Darcy's Dilemma. It takes place 25 years after P&P, which means the thrust of the novel is about the next generation. I really like what she does here, and want to see more by this author. Then, in more substantive reading, I've been looking into Norma Clarke's The Rise and Fall of the Woman of Letters which concerns the women writers of the 18th Century who have all but vanished from the literary histories of the time, and why she thinks that happened. 23 July 2004 Clare Dunkle's excellent The Hollow Kingdom which is about the most fun I've ever seen with the whole Persephone trope. Reread some Austen, and have been reading some Chesterton, beginning with his essay "The Ethics of Elfland" which is thought provoking for all kinds of reasons. 20 June 2004 Rereads! Frederick Marryat, Emma, Sense and Sensibility, Northanger Abbey--and I've begun reading First Heroes, the Bronze Age anthology that came out recently from Tor. NOTE! You do not have to know about the Bronze Age to enjoy this book! So far--I'm not done yet--the stories range from entertaining to excellent (the Gene Wolfe and Noreen Doyle's stories at the top end, followed closely by the collaboration between Katharine Kerr and Debra Doyle, two excellent writers I already enjoy). Harry Turtledove's story is engaging, and Brenda Clough's a delightful riff on Chinese history. I am also reading a rather odd biography of Elizabeth Inchbald. I will have to talk about it more when I'm done, but it's constructed very strangely, sometimes with facts repeated at least twice, plus the biographe--Annibel something, the book is downstairs--tells you what is coming in sort of blurby language, and then doesn't furnish a complete enough quote from Inchbald's day books. Frustrating. But uless the day books themselves get published, this is probably as close as we'll get to her...I guess few of her letters survived. 1 May 2004 Picked up Marryat's Peter Simple for a reread, enjoying not just the naval yarn, but looking at how early popular novels were shaped. Few realize now that Marryat was like Steven King and J.K. Rowling put together, in the 1830s--everybody read him. 15 April 2004 Space opera in the form of Sharon Lee and Steve Miller's thoroughly delightful Balance of Trade. The voice in these just gets better. Arthur Axelrad's Caught in the Act of Greatness which focuses closely on the actual manuscripts of the last two chapters of Persuasion, and those of the unfinished novels of Jane Austen. These are of particular interest to anyone who wants to learn about Jane Austen's writing process. She seems mistrustful of figurative language, finally searching for new ways to express old phrases. Lord of Castle Black by Steven Brust is the next in his Dumas-inspired series about the empire of Draegaria, and I love these books to pieces. 1 March 2004 Joe Spence's Becoming Jane Austen which seems to veer between penetrating insights, and some assumptions that are flat-out unproved. But it's better than most books on Austen, at least to my eye. His suggestion that Susan in Lady Susan is based on Eliza Feuillide (from JA's eighteen year old perspective) snaps the story into focus. Quite interesting. Also his impression from reading the family letters that Jane grew up in an atmosphere in which cool rationality was prized. He hasn't (so far) talked about how this might lie behind the heavy emphasis on secrecy--implying it's almost a moral requisite to hide one's emotions--in P&P but that sure makes sense. Am hoping for more reading time, though the paycheck labors make the prospect quite dim for many weeks to come. 16 February 2004 "Winterfair Gifts," in Irrestible Forces, an anthology containing romance stories with sf or f elements. I'm afraid the only one I liked was the Bujold story. Last but not least: my Greer Gilman interview is on SF-SITE. 25 January 2004 Cornelia Funke's Inkheart. This one is for readers, especially of fantasy; the love of books and engagements with other worlds is delightful, even if the pacing is a bit odd, and the heroine, Meggie, whines a tad too much about her independence at the beginning. Perservere! Terry Pratchett's Small Gods was one of the best Pratchetts I've read in a long time. A tiny god has a single believer, a seemingly doltish young would-be monk . . . oh, just read it, if you like Pratchett. 24 December Lord of the Rings yet again, after seeing the third film. Black Gate 6, which is probably the best issue yet, at least so far. (I was disappointed not to see a McAulty story in this issue, but there are some really good first timers in the early stories. So far I've only had time for one a day.) Black Gate is fast becoming my favorite adventure fantasy venue. 16 November 2003 7 November 2003 I've been reading a lot of history for research, inbetween some review assignments. Rosemary Kirstein's The Lost Steersman is one I thoroughly enjoyed--so much good character stuff, and taut writing. Fantasy that feels like sf, a contrast to the sf that feels like fantasy. Tooth and Claw by Jo Walton, which uses Trollope's Frmley Parsonage as a springboard--for a novel about dragons. Her worldbuilding alone is worth buying the book for, even if someone hasn't read any Anthony Trollope. 10 October 2003 Just finished Paladin of Souls. I already love Bujold's work, so of course I would love this. I will try to write up a review for SF-Site; despite the fact that Bujold isn't as strong at times on the sentence level (too many of my more sophistiated friends won't read her, as one said, "There are so many smiles playing, creeping, curling people's lips I keep thinking they all have worms") she is so strong, few stronger, on the character level, with an underlying generosity of spirit that just sings through the pages of the fiction. Ista is another of her splendid middle-aged heroines, like Cordelia Naismith. She's not perfect, but she has a sense of humor, she is willing to learn, and she takes action when action must be taken. There are some breathtakingly beautiful moments, one of which made me tear up, which is a rarity. And plenty of action for those so inclined. Recently at her book signing Bujold stated that this is speculative theology, something she can't do with Miles since he's too centered on himself and his world to think much about cosmic questions. With the five gods and their interactions in the lives of humans, Bujold cuts loose in a new and splendid way she just couldn't in her SF. Karin Lowachee's Burndive. Despite a rocky beginning, it's a must if you like very slashy sf. (A story type that harks clear back to Frances Hodgson Burnett's The Lost Prince). The beginning reads rocky to me because of the tangle of flashbacks, some of them hinted at over and over again before we see them: the protag, 19 year old Ryan Azarcon doesn't do much but go out to get drugs, go back home to sulk, so I as a reader felt I kept sliding backward rather than forward Once the story got to the assassination attempt on Ryan at a dance place, it began to move at last. Then it takes off like a rocket as soon as Ryan's father, the notorious ship captain Cairo Azarcon, blasts to the station to remove his son. It's a non-stop roller coaster from there, including characters from her first book, Warchild, which was the Warner Aspect winner. I bought Warchild and read it last weekend. It shows all her promise, though the writing is less polished--but enormous drive, and tremendous ambition. Strong insight, tight image, as the kids say, It's stylin', man! My other-than-genre reading has all been for current project; mostly maritime history. 21 September 2003
Two Years
Before the Mast Ricahrd Henry Jr. For research, but added value
in his close observations of Southern California in 1830. Places
I know well. Observations that match exactly other readings
I've done in CA history. And oddly enough he shows up in... Louisa
May Alcott by Martha Saxton. That is, he knew LMA--small worlds
back then, every writer seemed to know every other writer. Anyway
this book, though passionately feminist, corroborates certain
observations I've made--like LMA deliberately denying Jo a happily
married life with Laurie, condemning her instead to a useful
existence serving alongside her sexless old Professor. Jo didn't
just not know happy relationships between men and women, she
was angry she didn't know. Psmith
in the City, Smith Journalist by P.G. Wodehouse. I love the
early Wodehouse because the stories are not only fun but they
give these tiny glimpses into what life was really like for
the everyday person in NY and London--but entertainingly so,
not grimly and nastily, a la Dreiser. (Oh, he can be entertaining,
but underneath there lies a very nasty "Immorality rules,
so there." attitude I hate.) Later Wodehouse is well written
but the stories shift into a bright, sunny alternate world,
where Bertie can still wear lavender gloves and spats, even
though World War II was raging horribly, tearing apart the remains
of that old world. Hidden
Warrior by Lynn Flewelling. A good fantasy with interesting history, grand
pacing, interesting characters. If I could wish anything, it
was that Flewelling would focus a bit more on the sentence level:
too many of her people had chills running down their spines,
or flashing eyes, when real, individual, reactions that matched
the lovely precision of the rest of the story would have been
so much more satisfying. But I thoroughly enjoyed that book,
and look forward to the sequel. 24
August 2003 I visited Monticello
and Mount Vernon, and picked up interesting biographies at both
places--trying to steer between hagiography and hatchet-jobs.
For Jefferson, it was E.M. Halliday's Understanding Thomas Jefferson,
which I found mostly pretty well balanced. There was far too
much speculation about his sex life, which I found exasperating,
because it took up space that could have been spent on, for
instance, his tense relationship with Washington, but the book
is a good intro. And has a decent notes section. The Washington
bio was far better, but you'd expect that from James Thomas
Flexner, who wrote this after he produced his four volume work
on Washington. This one is called WASHINGTON: The Indispensable
Man. It's not a cliff notes version, it really reads like a
distillation, and when I was done, I wanted to go right out
and buy the four volume work. Wodehouse,
specifically Right Ho, Jeeves, which contains the superlative
Market Snodsbury Prize Giving scene. For mastery of voice and
pacing and tension within humor, Wodehouse is seldom matched.
The same goes for The Code of the Woosters, which concerns the
cow creamer and the would-be dictator, and how Bertie defangs
him. (It also makes reference to the cliches of Regency novel
heroes, which is interesting as this was 1934--these cliches
that Georgette Heyer propogated had already been set in form
by the likes of Baroness Orczy, Jeffrey Farnol, etc.) And I have
been rereading Narnia. Voyage of the Dawn Treader is still my favorite;
sharp, engaging, poignant, beautiful. 28
June 2003 Of course,
like everyone else, I read Harry Potter five, and enjoyed it,
even if it was somewhat easy to predict--it was a delightful
read anyway, and I adore seeing so many other people picking
up and engaging in fantasy, whether young or old. I put further
thoughts in my Harry Potter riff, over on my Young Adult page. Besides
that, I finished a delightful book--Madeleine Robins' Point
of Honour. She skillfully lets the reader know right away that
this is not quite the Regency England we know (and has become
such a cliche in the romance novel world); 'Prinny' is not the
Regent for Mad King George, his wife is. And in this London,
ladies can belong to clubs, where they can sit and read and
drink tea, or meet and talk, or just sit and relax. Thus those
of us who read a lot in the period can disengage the custom
and language filters that we can't help forming over the years.
So she uses 'about' to mean 'concerning' and not 'physically
bounding something'--and 'bespoke' to mean 'observed' instead
of 'ordered or requested'. In this parallel world, little variations
like that are convincing, not distracting; meanwhile, the writing
is tough, strong, supple, and blessedly free of unthinking Heyer
idiom. The story
itself? Miss Sarah Tolerance is a fallen woman, who ran off
with her fencing master. He died--and she's back, but Society,
of course, will not condone one widowed only by the heart. Instead
of taking up prostitution, as had her aunt, who gives her a
home, Sarah becomes an agent of inquiry, and has a modest business
going when a young, supercilious lord comes to her with the
prospect of a job, on behalf of someone else. The job
is to recover a fan that a lady of ill repute was given by the
mystery client's father...not, one would think, a job that would
trigger off a series of murders--and attacks on Miss Tolerance,
who is quite adept with a sword, thank you. Highwaymen, whores,
lords, dashing battles, and of course the Prince Regent all
occur in this wonderfully paced, wryly and well told tale. And
oh yes, there is a very handsome lord . . . but I defy anyone
to guess the ending. I was taken totally by surprise. And I
think you will too. Highly recommended. 12
June 2003 Rereading
E.F. Benson's Lucia and Mapp stories. That world is so small, such temptests in the pretty teacup. Rereading these is like vacation therapy
for people who cannot afford vacations. 25
May 2003 Finished
rereading the Patrick O'Brians. I think I can safely stop at
eighteen or so; he has begun to lose grip of the storyline by
then, and though things happen, sparks of the earlier brilliance,
much of it is long passages of information or journalistic reporting.
And repeated incidents--young and sweet midshipmen who die,
etc. Reread
Westlake's Dortmunder books, paying particular attention to
the delightful way he has with scene constuction. His Put a Lid on It, one of the new books. Enjoyable,
too quick, perhaps, and too easily resolved, but the hero was
competent, funny, the commentary funny. Good relaxo reading. Jane Austen--everything.
Even The Watsons and Sanditon fragments. As always I loved them,
and as always noticed tiny new things. Evelyn
Waugh--the Lancing Diaries. I needed some alien thought, especially
boarding-school thought. Two things leap out (besides his unrelenting
snobbery and caddishness, the later quality, at least, that
he noticed): the insistence, when he was youngest, on using
the word 'men' all the time, something he never does later when
he is one. Two: the attempt to remove oneself from mere emotion
by using the word 'bored' to mean angry, or even humiliated.
I should probably balance this out with another reread of Stalky
and Company. E.F. Benson,
the short stories and the Dodo books. So far removed from life
today that they are like archaeology. Currently
on book 14 of the Patrick O'Brians. Picked up all sorts of new
stuff this round; including changing my mind about who killed
Wray and Ledward. I usually stop around 17 or so; only three
more to go, alas. Reread
Henry Esmond; my modern sense can't help but be squicked by
the hero marrying his mother figure, no matter how much Victorian
purity and submissiveness she'd attained, but if one sets that
aside, it's interesting--especially when Esmond is away from
the women. I always find historical novels written by people
who are historical from my vantage quite fascinating; Thackeray
gets deeply into custom of the late 1600s and early 1700s, making
careless reference to habits that are remote to our time, unless
one has read a great deal, and his predictions of who would
remain in collective memory are quite interesting as well, underscoring
his Victorian views. (The 'good' women are firmly Victorian,
the bad very much like women of the time, which is perpetrated
by modern writers often enough.) In short, the use of history
is more interesting than the story, which does get tedious. Reread
Master and Commander and Post Captain, partly for pleasure,
partly for a very close eye on scene structure. Also reread
Forster's Midshipman Hornblower for the first time in nearly
forty years. It's time to reread Forster; so far, I see passages
of interest whereas O'Brian gives passages of brilliance. How
and why is something to ponder. |
