Daniel Pinkwater is my Favorite
This is going to be a very short entry today. Not because I don’t have tons of books, but because I went on a Laurell K. Hamilton binge and I’m going to deal with all of those at one time. So, today I would like to talk about one of my favorite children’s authors, Daniel Pinkwater. Daniel Pinkwater is an author and an ambassador of children’s literature. He appears on NPR frequently to discuss and even read children’s books. A bookseller in Boston once told me that they had a standing instructions to order at least twenty of any book he read from. He introduces people to books they might not otherwise find. He also writes books the likes of which you’ll never see from anyone else.
A Daniel Pinkwater book is a thing apart. It is full of offbeat humor and references to art, philosophy, and occasional giant chickens. I first learned about the amazing Mr. Pinkwater in college. (I’m a late bloomer.) One of my friends introduced me and we have had a very cordial relationship ever since. My favorites are: The Neddiad: How Neddie Took the Train, Went to Hollywood, and Saved Civilization, The Hoboken Chicken Emergency, and Fat Camp Commandos. This is not to say that his other books are not good. They are. It is just that one must have favorites and these are mine. Take them as you will. I also very much like audiobooks. Daniel Pinkwater has been so kind as to record many of his books. Some of them are even available for the low, low price of free! Some of the others are available elsewhere for slightly more. I highly recommend any of them. Or all of them. Whatever your budget and inclination suggest.
In particular, #47 on my list is: 
The Snarkout Boys and the Baconburg Horror
This is a sequel to The Snarkout Boys and the Avocado of Death, which is also very good. I got this particular book on audio, read by the author (the only way, accept no substitutes). Winston Bongo is our intrepid hero. He and his friends, Walter Gault and a young lady named Rat enjoy eating at questionable restaurants, investigating mysteries, fleeing from werewolves, and snarking out. Snarking out is the grand tradition of sneaking out to see movies at the Snark Theater. There are beatnik poets, bad coffee, a swami, and questionable butlers. Really, there is something for everyone. I can’t exactly explain the plot of a Daniel Pinkwater novel. It doesn’t work like that. I could tell you, but it’s better if you discover it for yourself. Which you can listen to The Snarkout Boys and the Avacado of Death for free, right here, to see if you’d like it.
History and Magic
Ok, so this is a Tor heavy entry. I didn’t plan it like that, but sometimes you finish a book and you want something with the same emotional resonance and, often times, you can get that by going to another book from the same publishing imprint. Apparently, this mood was historical magic.
#44. Shades of Milk and Honey by Mary Robinette Kowal
I looked at this book in hardcover two years ago, but for whatever reason, never got around to buying it. I can’t think why. It’s right up my alley; Jane Austen-ish, but with magic. Sign me up! Maybe the cover was understated enough that I thought it wouldn’t be fun? I think it’s a beautiful cover, don’t get me wrong. I can’t really explain why I didn’t pick it up. The reason I got it this year is because the sequel came out and, obviously, the series has been repackaged. Glamour in Glass was mistakenly 
shelved in the YA section and when I went to move it I thought, ‘Gee, that looks awesome.’ Then I saw that it was the follow up to that other book I had never gotten around to picking up. So, I got both. Congratulations cover design department, you did your job!
The set up of the story is straight out of Jane Austen. The Ellsworth family has two daughters; Jane, the older sister is more talented, but Melody is the family beauty. Jane has more or less resigned herself to being an old maid and someday living on the charity of her sister’s husband. The difference between this book and your average Regency era novel of manners is the world that Kowal has built. In this world magic is readily available and young ladies of breeding are taught how to weave glamour the same way they are taught to play the piano forte or cover screens. Drawing rooms are decorated with glamour tapestries and debutantes with slightly less than perfect physical features can cover them with magic, for a short time.
Jane, though plain, eschews such deception and meets the world with her own face. If her skills and personality cannot persuade a man to marry her then nothing shall. Melody, though somewhat ham-fisted with her magic is lovely enough that she should find a husband with no difficulty. Difficulties arise when both girls develop an attachment to their neighbor, Mr. Dunkirk. There are also the complications of Mr. Vincent, a master glamourist working on a tapestry for the Lady FitzCameron, and the lady’s nephew, Captain Livingston. Secrets, meetings, betrayals, and magic all weave together in this most excellent novel.
#45. Ironskin by Tina Connolly (Available October 2 from Tor Books)
I finished Shades of Milk and Honey and couldn’t quite settle on another book. I had an advance copy of Ironskin so I thought I’d give it a whirl. I ended up reading it all in one sitting. So, it was quite a whirl. I also like the cover. I’m not convinced about the accuracy of the fashion on the cover, but it’s pretty so I don’t care. Ironskin is set in an alternate England that never had an industrial revolution as such. They never needed to. They bought technology and the power supplies to use it from the fey. The blue packs were totally clean energy, the technology they could run was on par with that developed in the 20th century; electric lights, motorized vehicles, moving picture stories. All kinds of wonderful inventions free for the taking. Until, suddenly, they weren’t free at all.
The Great War began when the fey rose up against their trade partners. Fey bombs exploded on the battlefield, killing many and imbedding the survivors with magical shrapnel. The fey have the ability to take over the bodies of the dead meaning that every bomb dealt double damage killing humans and creating more weapons for the fey to use. The war took a toll on England, vast stretches of battlefield are no longer inhabitable and the wounded are everywhere.
Jane Elliott is one of the wounded. They are known as Ironskins for the iron coverings they must keep over the fey shrapnel imbedded in their bodies. Each piece of the fey magic comes with a curse that can infect those around them if it isn’t bound by cold iron. Jane is especially unlucky. Her curse is rage and the scars are on her face. She wears a sort of half mask of iron and cannot hide her injury from the world. Her curse has limited her employment prospects. Everyone understands about the wounded, but no one really wants them around. On the verge of desperation, Jane takes a job as a governess at a house on the edge of a fey wood. The child, Dorrie, is fey touched herself and her father, Edward Rochart has his own secrets.
I really enjoyed this book. It has obvious parallels with Jane Eyre, but Connolly does a good job of not making it a flat retelling. Jane shares many of her literary predecessor’s traits. She is very self-conscious about her appearance. She is drawn to the enigmatic Mr. Rochart, but backs off when more attractive women take the field for his affections. She is a bit more proactive than Miss Eyre however. When she discovers that Mr. Rochart’s secrets may very well endanger the country she takes rapid and decisive action. Miss Elliott is not fainting gothic heroine. She is a determined young woman who has finally found something worth fighting for.
An Interview with Nick Harkaway
So, I’ve been a naughty blogger and am late (again), but while I’m getting my act together here is an awesome interview with Nick Harkaway over on the STEAMED! blog.
Today we welcome author Nick Harkaway. His new novel ANGELMAKER is a “blistering gangster noir meets howling absurdist comedy as the forces of good square off against the forces of evil, and only an unassuming clockwork repairman and an octogenarian former superspy can save the world from total destruction.”
Nick Harkaway was born in 1972, a distinction he shares with Carmen Electra (allegedly), a collection of indifferent wines, Pink Floyd’s “Dark Side of the Moon” album, and a company which makes guttering in Pietermaritzburg. He is tall and has a shaggy and unkempt look about him which even the best grooming products cannot entirely erase. His eyebrows were at one time wanted on a charge of ruckus and affray in the state of Utah, but this unhappy passage has now been resolved. He is the author of ANGELMAKER and THE GONE-AWAY WORLD, which was originally titled THE WAGES OF GONZO LUBITSCH– a…
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Dan Wells Winners and the Mid-40’s
Not my mid 40’s. It’s the mid 40’s of my 100 books in 2012. I’m not telling you how old I am. I’m a lady. Or something very much like one.
But first we have winners! I should have replied to each of your comments letting you know that you won, but here is the list of winners.
For The Hollow City the winners are: Colin Parker, Kelsey, Kathleen Smith, Mary Jackson, and Alissa
For Partials the winners are: Esmale Hill, Sera, Reece Hanzon, and Nicole
Everyone, email me at medusasmirror@gmail.com with the address you’d like your book sent to and I’ll get those out in the next few days. Thank you so much for entering my giveaway and check back. I’ll be having more as the blog goes on. Now, onto some book reviews. Today I’m going to talk about four books, since one of them is another Lillian Jackson Braun and those are pretty short reviews.
#40. Tom Brown’s Body by Gladys Mitchell
Gladys Mitchell was one of the British Crime Queens working in the first half of the 20th century. She was about as prolific as Christie or Marsh, but hasn’t remained quite as popular. I found her because of a small series of videos that were made featuring her primary detective, Mrs. Bradley. Mrs. Bradley is a psychologist and widow who has lived a dreadfully interesting life. She has a wide circle of friends and oftentimes they draw her into murder investigations. The mini series was produced by the BBC and featured Diana Rigg as Mrs. Bradley.
Tom Brown’s Body is set in and around Spey School. Mrs. Bradley is in the region searching for a book of spells that belonged to a distant relative. She is attempting to wheedle it out of Mrs. Harris, the local witch, when a school master is found murdered. Mrs. Bradley is asked by the headmaster to look into the matter. Suspects abound; other masters, jealous lovers, angry students, prospective fathers-in-law, village witches. Everyone comes under Mrs. Bradley’s scrutiny.
The mystery itself meanders a bit. There are boys sneaking out of bed, school masters dabbling in the dark arts, master’s wives dabbling in adultery. Mrs. Bradley doesn’t so much collect clues as herd witnesses about. The book suffers from the obvious issues of its era. It was written in 1949 and so is not as socially progressive as one might like. In actual fact, it reads like something written in 1939. The war is very much not in evidence outside of the fact that it has been hard to find school masters to fill vacant spots ast Spey.
Another downside, is that the Mrs. Bradley of the books is, sadly, not very much like Diana Rigg. She is not terribly attractive or glamorous. I suspect that most of my fondness for this series is carried over from the tv show rather than the other way around. I gave it 3 stars on my goodreads page, but I don’t know that I’ll be delving much further into Ms. Mitchell’s catalog.
#41.The Cat Who Went Up the Creekby Lillian Jackson Braun
In this installment of the series Qwill is staying at the historic Nutcracker Inn. The inn has a sad, romantic history, a large collection of nutcrackers, and a local population of squirrels that swarm up and down its intricately decorated sides all day. The Inn is situated close to a nature preserve owned by the K-Fund. One of Qwills neighbors at the Inn goes off on a canoeing expedition one day and never returns. Qwill and Koko look into the matter while also setting up an exhibit of antique black walnut furniture, planning a book of nature photography, and looking into illegal activity in the nature preserve. As with many of the later books in the series, the mystery is far from the central element. They have ceased to be who-done-it’s and become atmospheric pieces about Moose County and the people therein. I’m fine with that, but they wouldn’t be for everyone.
#42. An Unmarked Grave by Charles Todd
This is the fourth Bess Crawford mystery by Charles Todd. Bess is working in a hospital in France during the spring of 1918. The Spanish Influenza has begun to eat its way through the soldiers and the medical staff. Bodies are being stored in sheds until the overworked teams of grave diggers can get to them. After one especially long shift an orderly comes to Bess and shows her a body that has no business being in the burial shed. The man did not die of the influenza, nor was he a patient in the hospital. Even more, the man is someone Bess knew; a soldier in her father’s old regiment and a friend. All the signs indicate that the man was murdered and hidden in the shed, but before Bess can alert anyone she herself is struck down by the influenza.
Bess faces a long recovery and the memory of the hours before her collapse are hazy and muddled up with fever dreams brought on by her illness. She is half convinced that she imagined the whole thing, but the man she saw is listed as a deserter and the orderly who showed him to her has committed suicide. Bess cannot let it rest at that. Something much deeper is going on and she will defy her family and the killer himself to find out what and clear the names of the two dead men.
As usual, I loved this book. Bess has never been an untouchable heroine. She starts the very first book wounded, but there is something about seeing her so vulnerable to the flu that I found really touching. I also like the way her family reacts to try to protect her. She understands their fears, but she cannot let things lie. The very first book in this series is titled A Duty to the Dead and I get the sense throughout the entire series, but especially in this new book, that Bess feels a sense of duty to those who are hurt and killed fighting this war. She cannot let good men be reviled as cowards or deserters, she cannot let their families live with that stigma. It is not that she wants to investigate, but that her duty compels her to.
#43. Home From the Sea by Mercedes Lackey
This is another installment of the Elemental Masters series. These books are loosely connected, but none of them directly follow each other. This book focuses on Mari Prothero, a Welsh fisherman’s daughter. Her family has always had luck when it comes to fishing, but not so much when it comes to their personal lives. Mari’s mother and brother were swept away by a rogue wave when she was a baby so it’s been just her and her da since then. However, what Mari doesn’t know is that her da’s luck with the fishing comes with a price tag. For generations the Protheros have taken selkie wives and had two children, one for the land and one for the sea. But Mari, the girl, is the land child this time. She will have to take a selkie husband, bear two children, and give husband and baby back to the sea.
Mari, being a strong-minded girl decides to make the best out of a bad situation. She’ll take a selkie husband, but she’ll have one who courts and wins her, not one who is foisted off on her. What Mari doesn’t know is that the Prothero blood and the selkie blood in her line have combined to make her a powerful water master. Her power makes her a threat to the selkie leader, a threat she can’t answer on her own.
This book is a bit of a departure from the format of the rest of the series. There isn’t a terrible lot of dramatic tension throughout most of the story. One reviewer on goodreads, which of course I can’t find again, compared the front end of the book to Little Womenwith magic. I think that’s totally fair. There isn’t a sense of urgency of danger. There is a large amount of attention paid to daily life and Mari’s courting and training. The climax therefore feels a little smaller than in other books in the series. The threat level is different. It’s a much more personal threat to Mari’s family rather than the huge scope of previous villains. That doesn’t mean that it’s bad, just that it’s different. I expected one thing and got another. It reminded me a bit of Death Comes to Pemberly. I thought I was getting a murder mystery, but I was getting a novel of manners with a murder. I would say that rather than Home From the Sea being a magical adventure it is a family story with magic.
Explanations and Dan Wells Goodies
Hi everyone. So, you may have noticed I missed a few weeks. Part of that is that I got distracted and apparently never posted the last update. That’s fixed now so you get 2 for 1 today. The second reason is much sadder. My dalmation, Tango, was sick so that was taking up most of my attention. Sadly, she had to be put to sleep on Tuesday. The vet thinks she had lymphoma. I’m coping, but it’s been a rough couple of weeks. My other dog, Ilsa, is very confused, but I’m pretty sure she’s excited about being an only child again. She doesn’t count the cat.
So, that’s the sad news. The happy news is that the Dan Wells signing at Little Professor went really well Friday night. We had fun. We had laughs. We had cake! I’ve got four signed copies of Partials and five signed copies of The Hollow City to give away. To enter just leave a comment on the previous post. You can see pictures from the signing over on the Little Professor facebook page. He was very nice and only made fun of me a little bit. He did tell the story of how we met, but I suppose, since I told that story on this very blog earlier I can’t complain too much.
My 100 Books in 2012 challenge is going well. I’m currently working on book #56, so I’m a couple of books ahead. Honestly, that’s mostly due to Laurell K. Hamilton because I plowed through the Merry Gentry series in about a week. Now, I can’t settle on what to read. Please, by all means, give me suggestions. I’m currently listening to Unnatural Issue by Mercedes Lackey. It’s one of her Elemental Masters books set at the beginning of WWI, my favorite period. I like it much more than I did Home From the Sea, which came out this year in the same series. I’ll get more into that when it comes up in a few posts. On with the reviews:
#37. Beauty in the Beast by Christine Danse
I listened to this on audio, although I believe it is also available as an ebook. I got it because it came up when I did a search for steampunk at audible.com. I wouldn’t really call it steampunk though. True, the characters have a sort of clockwork, steam powered sled like thing. But I wouldn’t say that the novella had an overall steampunk feel. It’s still fairly interesting.
The premise is that a group of performers have broken down on their way to a winter fair. To repay the man who has taken them in they tell stories. Some of them a brief, but Tara (our protagonist) tells a fairly long story about a girl who was orphaned and taken in by the fey. She grows up and lives for a long time with the fey, but eventually becomes curious about the human world. She steps back into the world to take up a mortal life. But the fey are sure to tell her that she has but to call them and they will come.
Rolf, the host, tells a story of his own. He talks about a scientist who, much like Dr. Jekyll, wanted to explore the chemical nature of man’s primitive side. He manages to regress some lab animals to a more primitive state. Then, accident befalls him and he is tainted by his own experiment. Tragedy strikes and he retreats from the world for the sake of the people he might encounter.
It’s not a long book, nor is it especially complicated. The writing is fairly good, and the reader well with the different voices and accents. However, the romantic elements between Tara and Rolf weren’t especially compelling. He was rough and tortured and she was curious and attracted. Yay? I would classify this much more as fantasy or fairytale than steampunk. Outside of the sled the promised steam entirely failed to punk. For $5.00 it whiled away a few hours and I certainly didn’t feel cheated.
#38. The Cat Who Brought Down the House by Lilian Jackson Braun
This is another in the Cat Who series. In this particular volume, Qwill meets Thelma Thackery, an octogenarian who has moved back to Moose County after a successful career as a Hollywood restauranteur. She plans to set up a supper club in Pickax with the help of her nephew. However, as the renovations move forward things begin to go wrong for the would be hostess. First her pet parrots are kidnapped and ransomed. Later a dead body turns up in a delivery van. Questions are even raised about the accidental death of Thelma’s twin brother. Did he really fall or was he helped over the cliff? Qwill and Koko are on the case!
#39. Dust & Decay by Jonathan Maberry
And again, we know I’m a crazy Jonathan Maberry fan. So, I’ll spare you the histrionics. This is book #2 in the Benny Imura series. It’s six months after Benny tumbled Charlie Pink-eye off the edge of a mountain. He and Nix have settled into a relationship, which, while not perfect, works pretty well for them. Benny even has a pretty good relationship with his brother Tom.
Tom, Benny, Lilah, and Nix are getting ready to head off into the rot and ruin in search of the plane they all saw right before the big battle. Lots of people in town don’t want them to go. They see it as Tom’s duty to defend them, but they don’t do anything about defending themselves. There are also tensions within the group since Morgie and Chong won’t be going with them. Tom offers Chong a slight reprieve. He can come with them for two nights, to have some extra time to say goodbye. Then Tom will have some friends bring him back to town.
Then things start going wrong. Very, very wrong. New forces are moving in the great rot and ruin. Someone new has stepped in to fill the shoes left by Charlie Pink-eye. Rumors are floating around that Gameland has reopened. And Tom is leading the kids straight through all of that. Benny thought that he had seen the darkest times of his life. He thought that nothing could be worse than facing down Charlie and the Motor City Hammer, or dealing with the zoms he’d already faced. He had no idea how much worse it could get.
Book 3 doesn’t come out until September. Which is making me crazy. On the bright side, it does come out on my birthday! On the downside, it comes out after DragonCon so I’ll have to wait until next year to get it signed. Le sigh.
Romance, Steampunk, Cats! And a Giveaway!
Ok, first of all, my Tor and Harper reps have come through! I’m going to have copies of The Hollow City and Partials to give away after our signing with Dan Wells. I’m not sure exactly how many copies of each I’ll have, but it should be several of each. The signing is July 6. I will announce the winners on July 15. 
1. Leave a comment below to enter.
2. Tell me which book you want; The Hollow City or Partials.
3. Tell me what you would ask Dan Wells if you were at the signing. (If you want to come to the signing it’s at 6:00 July 6 at the Little Professor in Birmingham, AL)
Now, onto my books. My 100 in 2012 challenge is going pretty well. I’m on #45 right now. I’ve got two weeks to read five more books to be right on track. I think I can make it. I am distracting myself a little bit right now. I’m listening to a book that I’ve already read – Phoenix and Ashes by Mercedes Lackey. It’s in her Elemental Masters series and is set during World War I.
It hasn’t come through in this blog too much yet, but I’m obsessed with WWI. Or, specifically, I’m obsessed with WWI era fiction. I haven’t read too much straight history yet, but I’m starting to. I’ve actually got an idea for a novel set during WWI or possibly WWII, so I’ll be doing research for that soon. Expect to see some actual non-fiction show up on this blog in coming months.
The three books today have even less to do with each other than last week. So, with that in mind, here they are:
#34. A Night Like This by Julia Quinn
This is #2 in the Smythe-Smith series. I haven’t actually read book 1, but I’ve read the entire Bridgerton series and the Smythe-Smith girls figure into that series. The Smythe-Smiths are the most untalented musicians in London, but every year all available Smythe-Smith girls give a musical performance. On this particular year one of the girls feigns an illness and her very attractive governess, Miss Wynter, is unfortunate enough to take her place at the pianoforte. There, she catches the eye of the Earl of Winstead, an unmusical Smythe-Smith himself and the cousin of her pupils.
Daniel has recently returned from a not entirely self-imposed exile to the Continent following a disastrous duel. Encountering the mysterious Miss Wynter in a deserted hallway is a much more pleasant welcome home than he had expected. His attraction is slightly tempered due to the possible danger that still haunts him. The father of the man he wounded so many years ago may still be after his blood.
For her part, Anne knows that falling for Daniel Smythe-Smith is the last thing she can afford to do. Her own past is as fraught with danger as his. More so, because she does not dare to use her real name. She cannot afford the slightest hint of a scandal nor any scrutiny of her background. But logic rarely tempers passion as most of the Smythe-Smiths can attest.
I’ve been reading Julia Quinn for years. If I didn’t like her so much I’d probably be insanely envious. She’s pretty, talented, oh yeah, she went to Harvard and won the jackpot on The Weakest Link. So… there’s that. It’s ok. I work at a bookstore and read awesome books, and have a blog… and I won some audiobooks from Random House one time. It’s kind of the same.
Really though, I enjoy her books tremendously. They’re romance that isn’t pure fluff. Her heroines are usually well thought out, intelligent women. Her heroes rarely throb anything, nor do they have crisp mats of chest hair, which just wierds me out. They’re genuinely nice guys even when they don’t think they are. Her historical details are well researched and I never have to jump up and down screaming, “You can’t do that with a corset!” (Which yes, I actually do.) So, if you’re thinking about picking up a Regency romance I can highly recommend Julia Quinn.
#35. Cruel Numbers by Christopher Beats 
There is a great piece by him over at Steamed called Ideas in Action. It’s a very interesting look at the ugly side of history and what steampunk can do with it. Cruel Numbers is another look at the ugly side of history. It’s a noir mystery set in a steampunk New York run by a Magnocracy. The War of the Southern Succession went a little differently than we might remember and the shattered republic became a very different thing. Money runs the country now and the power is in the hands of the magnates. Steam and clockwork and automation are the rising powers. Donovan Schist is an Irish-German private investigator. He worked for the Pinkertons for a while until he couldn’t stomach it anymore. Now he works for himself and mostly stays out of trouble.
He’s working on a case. Small time stuff. Searching for a missing Irish girl. In New York. That’s gonna go well, but her mother and her uncle have come all the way from Erie to check on his progress and somehow he just can’t turn them away with a simple explanation. However, the more he looks into the case the more it becomes obvious that there’s nothing simple about the disappearance of Bridget Cleary. Somehow, a simple Irish girl has become caught up with a magnate and anyone who asks about her is likely to end up dead.
I listened to the audiobook version of this novella. It was very well done. It ended up being darker than I had expected, but really good. Donovan is a mostly good man in a difficult position. I’d definitely be interested in his further adventures.
#36.The Cat Who Sang for the Birds by Lilian Jackson Braun
These books are near and dear to my heart. This is #20 in the series. I’ve missed a few here and there (like this one), but I’ve been reading the series since I was 8 or 9 years old. My mom and I would scour the used bookstores and library sales to find these and then share them. The protagonist, Jim Qwilleran used to be a crime reporter in the major metropolitan areas Down Below (everything south of Pickax, which is 400 miles north of everywhere). He stumbled upon an amazing inheritance and has become the wealthiest man in the northeast central United States. He caters to the whims of two Siamese cats, Koko and Yumyum who rule his house with an iron paw.
Koko has investigative tendencies and when murder occurs in Moose County Koko is on the scene with a death howl and various eccentric behaviors which always indicate the killer. The specific plot points aren’t terribly important. This is a very long series with pretty easily recognized patterns. In this particular book Moose County has a new art center. The director has lots of complaints, including one about the unsightly farm-house across the road. Soon thereafter the farm-house burns down, with the owner inside. Qwill and Koko set out to investigate the death of a remarkable old woman.
These aren’t groundbreaking literature by any means, but I love them. I got this one at the Eclipse Coffee in Montevallo. They’re really neat if you’re ever in the area. The Cat Who series started in 1966 with The Cat Who Could Read Backwards and ended in 2007 with The Cat Who had 60 Whiskers, which was the 29th book in the series. I reread or listen to these fairly often. They’re like my comfort food.
Apparently, I never published this? Oops! I’m sorry!
[Insert Cute Tag Line Here]
So, my play is finally over. We had our last performance June 2. I actually got to be onstage! One of our actresses was moving out-of-state, so I understudied her. I miss being on stage. Which is why yesterday I auditioned for another play. Results to come. But it gave me an excuse to dress up in a corset and bustle on a Saturday morning, so either way, I win!
I’m a bit behind on my reading. I’m currently working on books 43 & 44. I should be at about 50 by now, but I think I can still manage. I don’t have a clever theme for this grouping. I was thinking about clustering earlier today. I tend to read several things along a theme before I switch off. This happened to be one of those stretches where everything was just a little different. The Perfect Poison and Heart of Brass have some similarities, but one is arcane and the other is steampunk. Related, but not the same, if you see what I mean.
31. The Perfect Poison by Amanda Quick
Lucinda Bromley is a gentlewoman with a cloud hanging over her head. Her father is said to have committed suicide. Her fiance was poisoned, supposedly by Lucinda herself. Although the courts never convicted her, public opinion has. But, on the whole, Lucinda is content. She raises exotic plants, has a position in the Arcane Society, and uses her gifts to assist the police on poison cases. It is not an expansive life, but it is, on the whole, a happy one.
That all changes when she is called out to a crime scene and discovers that not only was the dead lord murdered, but the poison was extracted from a rare fern that had been in Lucinda’s possession until a very few months ago. Lucinda is determined to track down the thief and preemptively prove her innocence. In order to do that she hires Caleb Jones, a private investigator who is also a member of the Arcane Society. Their investigation places Lucinda in significantly more danger from the killer than she ever was from the police.
Naturally, this being a romance novel, Lucinda and Caleb are drawn together. I listened to this one on audio and the narrator did a good job. It’s not stunningly original, but I enjoyed it fairly well. We spend a little too much time on Caleb’s angst ridden thoughts about why he can never make a life with Lucinda, but it’s not Twilight level self-torture so I”ll put up with it. It’s a great airport book if you like some thriller/mystery elements with your romance, and while I’m not running out to pick up more books in the Arcane Society series I’ll probably pack some on my next trip.
32. The Hollow City by Dan Wells
First of all, did I mention, DAN WELLS IS COMING TO MY BOOKSTORE JULY 6!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Look – it’s on his website and everything!!!!
Sorry, had to get that out. The book actually comes out July 3. I’m also talking to my Tor rep (The Hollow City) and my HarperTeen rep (Partials ) to see if there’s any way to get some copies to give away. I probably won’t haveThe Hollow City early, but I will try to get some signed copies of Dan’s books to give you guys. And I’m probably going to take some medication before the signing so that I don’t freak right out. Again.
Ok,The Hollow City. First off, it’s brilliant! I mean, just really, really good. The first thing you have to understand, is that Michael Shipman, our protagonist, is not to be trusted. I mean, he’s a nice enough guy, but he’s a paranoid schizophrenic. He has delusions. He sees things that aren’t there and imagines that dark, shadowy people are out to get him. They communicate thought any device that sends an electronic signal; cell phones, computers, tvs, clock radios. The faceless men are the worst. They literally have a blank where their face should be. They’re out to get him and do something horrible to him.
Granted, Michael has a right to be paranoid. His pregnant mother was kidnapped and murdered by a cult. People were out to get him before he was even born. His father resents that Michael lived while his mother died. He’s had a hard life for a young man. But, it’s all just in his head. Right?
The problem is that there are murders happening in the city. Horrible murders. Murders where the killer disfigures the victim’s face. The FBI think that Michael might know something, have seen something during one of his episodes. Or maybe, Michael saw everything because he is the killer? Michael himself can’t remember what happened the last time he blacked out. But there are only two possibilities; either he is a serial killer, or, some of the things he sees are real and they’re coming for him next.
I read this book incredibly fast. When I finished it, all I could say was, “Wow”. On twitter. Where I apparently made the author a little nervous. 
I highly recommend this book! Michael is an amazing character. He is beautifully human in the midst of the horrible things happening around and to him. The story is tense and well thought out. I don’t want to keep talking about it because I don’t want to give anything away. Just buy it. Please.
33. Heart of Brass by Kate Cross
Interestingly enough, this book opened almost the same way that The Perfect Poison did, which since I was reading this while listening to that caused a little confusion. They very quickly distinguished themselves however. Heart of Brass is, unsurprisingly, a steampunk romance novel. I’d say it has about as much of a mix of romance and mystery/thriller as The Perfect Poison does. It is also the first in a planned series.
Almost seven years ago Luke Grey, Lord Huntley, left his young wife, Arden, to go on a mission for the Wardens; a secret organization that protects the Empire. He never came home. Only Arden believes that he is still alive. Finally, with only days to go before Luke’s brother has him declared legally dead Arden sees him in London. The only problem is that he’s trying to kill her.
Luke was captured by a rival organization during that fateful mission. He no longer remembers anything about his old life. He is a faithful agent of the Company and has been enhanced to be one of the most efficient killers in the world. He has come to London to assassinate Warden Arden Grey. But there is something about her…
Meanwhile, someone is murdering eligible young debutantes. Arden has been called in by the police to assist them. She has invented a device that allows her to see through the eyes of the victims and observe their last moments. Unfortunately, none of the victims took a good look at her killer’s face. The killer has enhanced strength and Arden is horribly afraid that her husband may be responsible.
The adventure element of this book is very fun. There are dangerous secret agents, narrow escapes, even air ships. The romantic side of things was a little less satisfying to me. Arden has been alone for seven years. Her husband’s best friend is in love with her, but she has never been tempted. However, when said husband does show back up… I don’t know. It’s not that it’s not passionate. I just felt kind of ‘meh’ about their romantic relationship. probably because I root for the underdog and liked the friend.
Also, the murder mystery seemed a bit tacked on. I actually liked that part of the story, but it was kind of superfluous to the thrilling daring-do going on with the Wardens and the Company. I’m curious to see if the next book will be more agents of the Wardens or more of Arden and Luke. I kind of hope for more of them solving mysteries together, but I suspect that I’m going to get more new couples instead.
I’m Late, but there are Vampires!
So, you may have noticed that there was no blog last weekend. Sorry about that. The play I was stage managing had its closing weekend and then I had to start getting ready for a sci-fi convention I was selling my jewelry at. The con was tons of fun. It was the Alabama Phoenix Festival’s first year and I think they did a great job. Here’s a picture of me in my costume from Sunday. I was going for kind of a steampunk sari sort of thing. The booth I’m in is the Silver Cicada Designs booth. You can see the totally awesome masks over my shoulder. The artist is awesome! I’ve got a Medusa mask from her that is out of this world! She also does really pretty hair slides. I got one with dogwood flowers.
So, on to the reviews:
#28 A Caress of Twilight by Laurell K. Hamilton
This is book #2 is the Merry Gentry series. I read book 1 in college longer ago than I really want to admit. It was pretty good, but I was getting frustrated with Hamilton in general during that period and quit reading her shortly after A Cress of Twilight came out. In this volume Princess Merideth is set up in L.A. trying to get pregnant so that she can be named heir to the Unseelie court. That is certainly on the table, but takes a back burner to local issues.
Firstly, someone has released the Nameless, an intangible monster made up of all the darkest fey powers. It is assumed that the Nameless will be coming after Merry and her companions. Secondly, murders are occurring in the L.A. area. The Grey Agency, Merry’s employers, are brought in. The deaths are clearly supernatural in origin, but the officer in charge of the scene has such a strong anti-fey bias that he chases Merry and her entourage off the case. However, before they are barred completely one of her guards recognizes the style of the murders. They are being committed by hungry fey ghosts. Which means that the person controlling them must be close by.
The third thing that occupies Merry’s attention is a personal appeal from Maeve Reed, the golden goddess of Hollywood, who happens to be an exiled Seelie fey. She begs Merry to conduct a fertility ritual for her so that she and her husband can have a child. There is also a great deal of political maneuvering between Merry and the various courts. She negotiates with the demi-fey, the goblins, as well as dodging barbs from the Seelie and the Unseelie courts.
Overall, I like this series quite a bit. I read the first ten or so Anita Blake books before they took a direction I didn’t particularly want to follow. The books added a great deal of sexual content, which didn’t bother me that much, but I didn’t like where the characters were going along with that. Nothing wrong with that, just not what I was interested in at the time. The Merry Gentry series starts off with a fairly high sex level. So, at least you know what you’re getting into from the get go. I don’t find the sex scenes particularly compelling, but I like the characters and I’m intrigued by the political shenanigans that are going on. Merry is one possible heir to the Unseelie court, but she has to have a child and survive in order to claim her crown. That’s kind of cool.
The one thing that I do have a bit of a problem with in this particular book is that the end happens very abruptly. It’s like in a video game when you’re building up the story and then all of a sudden you turn the corner and there’s the final boss. You fight, you win, the end. Ok… There’s a sense that the build up was way bigger than the final payoff. I felt a bit like that in this book. I’ve felt that with some of her other books as well. Narcissus in Chains out of the Anita Blake series springs to mind. My boyfriend has read the rest of the Merry Gentry series. He tells me that while this isn’t necessarily alleviated in later books the timeframe of the action compresses so much that it’s not really a problem. The action in the later books stacks much closer chronologically, with days or even hours between books. We’ll see. I haven’t gotten to the rest of the series yet.
My only other complaint is particular to the audiobook. The narrator, Laural Merlington, does a pretty good job with the pronunciation until she gets to the name Siobhan. It’s really, really not pronounced like it looks. It has a ‘v’ in it. It’s an Irish name and they do weird things. But the narrator pronounces it just like it looks. I almost had to turn off the iPod. I couldn’t stand it. I find it really weird that of all the names, that’s the one she gets wrong. So, something that drives me crazy, but may not matter to the vast majority of readers. All in all, I will be continuing the series, but it’s not at the top of my to read pile.
28. Deadlocked by Charlaine Harris
So… Sookie. Every single time I think of that name I hear it in Stephen Moyer’s… interesting southern accent. Sookie. Just think about it for a minute. I’m pretty sure you’ll start cracking up. Or maybe that’s just me.
So anyhoodles, as my friend Torrin says. This is #12 in the Southern Vampires series. And from what I hear will be the penultimate (how fun is the word penultimate?) volume of the series. On the one hand, I’m sad, because this series has brought me a great deal of pleasure. On the other hand, I’m kind of glad. I want Sookie settled. There’s only so long that she can get bounced around between men, between emotions, and between political factions. The girl’s earned a break.
So, for those of you who have not read the book, I’m probably going to spoil some things. I won’t put huge ones in, but you may want to skip ahead, especially if you haven’t read the previous book, Dead Reckoning. If you’ve seen the tv show, but haven’t read the books… they’re really, really different.
I had a weird moment at the very beginning of this book. At the end of Dead Reckoning, it is revealed that Eric’s maker had signed a marriage contract between him and the Queen of Oklahoma. It is a binding contract and Eric is unsure that he can get out of it. That leaves Sookie in a pretty precarious position from a relationship standpoint. So, when Deadlocked opens and Sookie is calling him her vampire honey, I was a little confused. The issue of his forthcoming marriage is apparently tabled for the time being.
However, even without the pending nuptials all is not well in Sookie’s world. The King of Louisiana has arrived to investigate what happened to the manager he sent to look after his territory. The manager Sookie helped Eric to kill, as it happens. While entertaining the king Sookie catches Eric snacking on a strange girl. A girl who later ends up dead on Eric’s lawn, surrounded by police. Sookie is unclear as to whether someone is trying to frame Eric for murder, or just cause trouble for him and for the King.
On the home front, her cousin Claude and her great-uncle Dermot are having trouble controlling all the restless fey that have been drawn to them. Some of the fey are slipping out to hunt on Sookie’s land and coming dangerously close to discovery. Add in the fact that Sam’s girlfriend seems to hate her and Sookie is having a pretty rough time of it.
I liked this book more out of nostalgia than out of conviction. There are several relationship paths open for Sookie by the end of the book. The one that would make me most happy seems to be off the table. Of the three(?) left, I only really like one of them. I think I know where it’s going and I wouldn’t hate it, but I wouldn’t like it either. Eric seems like more of a calculating ass in this one than he has in quite some time. That makes me sad. I really like Eric. Bill is around. I don’t like Bill. The interesting thing is that a few other men from Sookie’s past pop up as well.
So, we’ll see where that goes. I don’t have tons to say about this book. It was ok. I’m glad the series is ending. I’d like that last book now please. That’s about all I’ve got.
#30. Plain Kate by Erin Bow
Plain Kate takes place is a hypothetical Russia. The location is never firmly established, but the architecture and some of the words say Russia to me. I’m always interested in Russian stories, since I majored in Russian Lit in college.
Kate is the daughter of the village carver. He is talented, and kind, and wise. Kate herself is very talented. At 10 she is carving better than most journeymen. Some people say that perhaps she has some witchcraft with wood, but most take her as she is.
Eventually, during a very hard winter, Kate’s father dies and leaves her alone. The house and shop belong to the woodworkers’ guild and Kate is too proud to take charity from the replacement carver they send. She is already better than him. So she moves into her father’s stall in the market. There she acquires a kitten she names Taggle. The village recovers from the winter and the sickness it brought. Kate makes a little money from people who would rather have her carvings than a guild master’s. She is content. Then one day a stranger comes. He is an albino and a gypsy. He commissions Kate to make him a new bow for his fiddle, but there is something wrong with him. Taggle hates him, but he pays well so Kate takes the work.
Soon, he is cropping up everywhere and strange rumors are flying about Kate. When she goes to fish in the river hundreds of fish fling themselves at her though the fishing boats come home empty. When she puts her fish in the village smokehouse all the others burn up and only her fish are left. A fisherman sails down the river and returns in a coma. People begin to mutter about witchcraft. When Kate is attacked in the night she makes a devil’s bargain with the gypsy; one heart’s wish for her shadow. He needs it, he says, to right a horrible wrong.
The next morning Kate sets off on her own with a shadow that is slowly unraveling and a talking cat. Kate is taken in by a group of gypsies, but she must hide herself even from this new family. She is afraid to tell them about her shadow or about Taggle. Her fears increase as a mysterious sickness begins to spread over the country. It follows the river and rides on the fog. People fall asleep and never wake up. Kate is convinced that the fog is connected to her shadow, but she cannot imagine how or how dangerous finding out will be.
This book is a young adult novel. I was expecting something much lighter than it turned out to be. It’s actually very dark. I had a hard time with several scenes in the book on an emotional level. I’m not saying it’s too dark for a teenager, but I’d be careful about which teenager I gave it to. I thought it was good overall, but I doubt I’ll read it again. I like my books to either be a bit more light-hearted all the way through, or at least to give me a little more happy in my happy ending. But that’s just me. It’s very well written. I enjoyed the Russian folklore elements quite a bit.
Natural Disasters & the Shadow of Night Winner
Thank you everyone who entered my giveaway for the Deborah Harkness ARC. Catherine Thomas was our winner. Congratulations. You should have an email from me asking for your address. There will be more giveaways. I think I’m going to try to have one a month so I hope you’ll all keep checking back.
My year of 100 books is going pretty well. I’m currently reading what will hopefully be #31. I’m a little behind, but I blame that on the play I’m working on. We’re performing this weekend and next weekend. Then I should have some more free time.
The three books I have to talk about today don’t have a whole lot in common.
#25 Royal Streetby Suzanne Johnson
I picked this up because urban fantasy in peri-Katrina New Orleans sounded awesome. It ended up being… ok. Drusilla Jaco is a Warden, something like a supernatural cop. She has a gift with potions and plants, which means she can get the job done, but she’s not quick or showy. No problem for the most part. She works with her mentor, a much more powerful combat mage. They live in New Orleans and work together to keep other mages in line, and keep the supernatural out of the public eye. Then Hurricane Katrina comes rolling through.
DJ, as she prefers to be known, evacuates while her mentor, Gerald, stays behind to try to hold the barriers closed. (I will say, DJ’s evacuation route made me smile since it went through my hometown of Tuscaloosa.) Gerald makes it through the actual storm, but a few days later he stops responding to DJ’s communications. She heads back into the city, using her powers to slip past the National Guard blockades. DJ is lucky. Her house survived the water and the looting. However, the barriers between the modern world and Old Orleans, the world of the spirits did not.
DJ arrived home to a pissed off pirate in her library. She may have banished him once, but it wasn’t personal. However, he’s taking it very personally. She is saved by the abrupt arrival of her new and unwanted partner Alex. Alex has been assigned to help her hold New Orleans together and search for Gerald. He seems to think that a) she can’t take care of herself, b)he should have free access to her home and her investigation, and c) Gerald may have been up to something horrible. The worst part is, she’s not sure he’s wrong.
Ok, so I thought Johnson did a great job of talking about New Orleans in the wake of Katrina. There are some awesome characters like the ghost of Louis Armstrong. But I had some problems. First of all, the pirate, Jean Lafitte; he’s not a nice man, but there’s still some sort of sexual charge there. At various times he tries to kill or assault her. Why is he still on the table as a potential romantic interest?
Next, DJ is very interested in Alex. But she’s also interested in his cousin who is conveniently around and just damaged enough from his time in Iraq to have some bad boy charm. I’m not sure why the romantic angle got so complicated. It really didn’t need to be. DJ’s personal history is complicated enough, her love life could do with a little clarity and ease. The other big problem I had was DJ herself. It’s not that I didn’t find her likeable or sympathetic. I just didn’t find her that memorable. She sort of existed in a very interesting setting, but was not that interesting herself. I may pick up the next book in the series, but I’m not going to be bugging my rep to get it early.
#26 The Rook by Daniel O’Malley
I looked at this book on the shelf for weeks before I finally decided to pick it up on audio. My boyfriend picked it up and then set it down as “too British.” I then thought to myself, ‘Self, you love the British. You’re an anglophile. And it has a secret supernatural organization that fights evil. And it’s got a chess analogy. Go for it.’ I’m very glad I listened to myself because I loved the book.
The basic premise is this: A young woman wakes up in a park in central London. There is a letter in her pocket and on the ground are several dead people all wearing latex gloves. She has had the ever-loving snot kicked out of her. The letter starts off, “The body you are wearing used to be mine.” Well then. She reads on.
Her name, she discovers is Myfanwy Thomas, she has powers, and she holds to position of Rook in an organization called the Checquy. The Checquy is an organization that defends Britain against the supernatural. They are powerful, secret, and not very forgiving of mistakes. Myfanwy has no memory of her previous life, a large purple binder containing letters and vital information left to her by the previous tenant of the body, and fairly convincing proof that someone inside the organization wants her dead. She has two days to put her brand new life into some kind of order and get to work saving the world for Queen and country.
The book is part supernatural thriller and part comedy. The new Myfanwy Thomas is acerbic and very aware of the absurdity of her own existence. The old Myfanwy Thomas was a bit of a mouse. She had amazing powers that she was too afraid to use. The current Myfanwy is willing to use anything to preserve her shiny new life. There is enough humor in the story to keep it from becoming absurd, but enough real tension to keep the reader interested. It definitely seems like something that might be a series and I would very much like to read the next book!
#27 Year of Wonders by Geraldine Brooks
This is another book club book. The story is based on events that occurred in the village of Eyam during the plague of 1666. When plague is found in the village the rector convinces the villagers to seal themselves off from the rest of the world to prevent the further spread of the plague. During the year that the village is cut off the survivors go through wonders and horrors.
The protagonist is Anna Frith. She is the widow of a miner and works as a housemaid for the rector and his wife. In the time before plague comes to the village Anna is very much like any other young mother in the village. She is lucky enough to have a kind husband who leaves her with two sons, a cottage, and a small herd of sheep when he dies in a mining accident. The most unusual thing about her is that the rector’s wife has taught her to read. She and Mrs. Mompellion form a very close friendship during the year the village is quarantined.
The year of the plague tests the villagers to their utmost. As more and more people become sick various waves of hysteria sweep through. There are witch hunts that result in the death of the village’s only healers. Some people turn to flagellation while others turn to the occult for their answers. Anna and Mrs. Mompellion attempt to take up the mantle of healers and research in the rector’s library for medicines that might help.
Anna blossoms into a mature, intelligent woman during the year of hardship. Her faith and her resolve are tested and found strong. I really enjoyed this book. Although, there is a turn at the end that I didn’t see coming. Overall, I was satisfied with where Anna ends up, although I was very surprised by how she got there. Is that vague enough? I do recommend the book. We had a very lively conversation about it in book club. I especially liked it because my very first term paper was on the bubonic plague. So, that was kind of fun for me. I
Tea & Steam
First off, I’d like to say hi to everyone who came for the Shadow of Night giveaway and stayed for the rest of the blog! I hope you enjoy it. If you haven’t yet, there is still a week left to enter the giveaway. Just go to the previous post and leave a comment!
Today we have a nice progression of books from one about a tea shop in Charleston, to one in which tea is a mainstay of the steampunk heroine’s life, to one with a steampunk pirate. Two have tea, two have air ships. Only one has mummies though! There should be more mummies. Speaking of which, The Mummy Congress by Heather Pringle is totally awesome if you’re excessively interested in mummies, which I am. I am also, you may have noticed, a little hyper today. I went to see the Avengers Thursday night and I’m still a bit sleep deprived and loopy. So please, bear with me.
My year of 100 books is progressing. I just finished #30 so I’m a little behind, but nothing I can’t make up. I hope. Now, on to the three books we’ll talk about this week.
#22. Scones & Bones by Laura Childs
This is the twelfth book in the Tea Shop Mysteries series. These are definitely on the cozy side of the mystery world. The protagonist, Theodosia Browning, is the proprietress of the Indigo Tea Shop in Charleston, S.C. She is also a bit of an amateur detective. Theodosia is amply aided by her staff at the tea shop; Drayton, a master tea blender and history buff; and Hayley, the shop’s chef. Theo also has a dog named Earl Grey who isn’t vital to the story, I just like him.
In this story Theodosia and Drayton are attending the opening of the Historical Society’s new exhibit on pirates when the prize of the exhibit is stolen and a volunteer is murdered. The president of the historical society comes to Theo and begs for her help solving they mystery and recovering the lost artifact. Of course, this artifact isn’t the sort of thing you can pawn on any corner. The missing treasure is a silver skull cup. The skull is rumored to be that of Edward Teach, aka, Blackbeard. Theodosia soon discoveries that not only is the cup valuable on its own, but it supposedly is one of three clues that can lead to Blackbeard’s missing treasure, more than enough motive for murder.
I enjoy this series. It’s not terribly deep, but I find the characters convincing and interesting. The tiny details about Charleston delight me. It’s a city I have never visited, but I’d like to someday. Childs also knows her tea. She talks about the different blends and flavors and includes recipes in the back. I’ve tried several of them, including the earl grey truffles. Theo is an intelligent woman. She occasionally makes stupid, yet plot driven decisions, but I don’t find myself yelling at the book in an attempt to get her to make different choices, so I’m going to call it a win! The mystery itself is pretty good. In long running series there’s always a temptation to just make the killer the first new person you meet. Childs manages to avoid this pitfall. I’m not going to say that it’s a complete stumper. You can guess, but she doesn’t just give it away.
#23. Timeless by Gail Carriger
All of my books this week are part of a series. Timeless is the fifth and final book in the Parasol Protectorate series. The heroine, Alexia Tarabotti Macon is what is known as a preternatural. She has no soul. This is not as inconvenient as one might think. In her world there are those with no soul, those with just the right amount of soul, and those with excess soul. The people with excess soul have the potential to become supernatural. They may become ghosts when they die, or they may survive the transition into vampires or werewolves. The preternaturals are the opposite of the supernaturals. They can cancel out the supernatural and render ghosts permanently dead or return vampires and werewolves to their human state with a touch.
***Spoilers for earlier books in the series***
All well and good. However, over the course of the series Alexia has found herself married to a werewolf, Conal Macon. They now have a daughter together with a unique blend of her parents’ attributes. As I understand it, Prudence will soon have her own series of books! Alexia and her daughter find themselves summoned to Egypt at the behest of the Alexandria hive’s Queen. As the oldest known vampire her requests are not lightly ignored. The small family teams up with Alexia’s great friend Ivy Tunstell (who I dressed as for last year’s DragonCon) and her theater troupe. Alexia suspects that her daughter’s unique attributes might be the reason the Queen has requested their presence.
This book makes me ridiculously happy for several reasons.
#1 – I love the Parasol Protectorate series so more of it is always better.
#2 – I love Egypt so I’m always happy to see books set there.
#3 – I have always felt that Alexia is the spiritual daughter of another great parasol toting heroine – Amelia Peabody from Elizabeth Peter’s book series. They are both wonderful, adventurous, intelligent women. Amelia is an archaeologist who works in Victorian Egypt so it is very exciting for me to see Alexia go to Egypt! If you have any interest in murder mysteries or Egyptology I highly recommend those books.
#24. Heart of Steel by Meljean Brook
This is book #2 in the Iron Seas series. I reviewed book 1 The Iron Duke last time. Sadly, this is another pretty terrible cover. I’m not sure why he’s moist… from the steam? Also, if you look closely, I”m pretty sure the model is wearing cargo pants. So there’s that.
But! The book itself is awesome, just like last time. Heart of Steel focuses on Yasmeen, the captain of the Lady Corsair. We get a lot of her back story and find out lots of details about where she came from, as well as finding out more about the Horde.
I’m going to have to warn for some spoilers here. There’s really no way to talk about this book without giving away some things that ended in mysteries in the first book. So,
****Slight Spoiler Alert****
InThe Iron Duke Yasmeen throws the adventurer, Archimedes Fox, off her ship and into a canal in zombie infested Venice. Heart of Steelopens with her going to tell his sister about his death and promise her a fair portion of the treasure he found. That’s when things start going wrong. It’s around page 5. First of all, people already seem to know about the treasure. And they very much want to take it from her.
Shortly after that, Yasmeen discovers that Archimedes is still alive. He has come to retrieve his treasure and make one more run at capturing Yasmeen’s affections. He succeeds in getting her attention, which may or may not be a good thing for him. The others who pursue the treasure are hot on their heels though. Very quickly, they find themselves without a ship or crew. They join a French expedition run by a Horde diplomat. This puts both Yasmeen, with her hidden past, and Archimedes, with his outstanding debts, into a very delicate position.
There are zombies, treasure hunts, narrow escapes, and rebellions. I really don’t know what more I could have asked for in this book. There is a bit more of a heated romance in this one. I’m not sure if it’s because Yasmeen is comfortable with herself in a way that Mina from book 1 just couldn’t be, or if it just worked out that way, but the steam isn’t just coming from the clockworks in this book.
Medusa's Library 