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larryhammerBack when I talked about Gale Dayton's The Compass Rose, I said I'd look for the sequel; ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
oracne mentioned it's out; so now I have The Barbed Rose. Somewhat more satisfying than the first. Somewhat.
Pluses: Our Heroine is getting better at managing the emotions of a plural marriage, and in a believable way. Also, Her Nibs seems to finish collecting spouses, at least if her theology (discovered halfway through the second book) is to be believed. As far as teh sex goes, it's not as relentlessly hetero (though only MFM and brief MM). And there are things to be learned about managing ensemble casts.1 Minuses: Given the size of the ensemble, several relationships are less developed than I'd like. I was surprised to see it conclude with Her Nibs exactly where I expected her to be, though not with the expected constellation around her. Which expectations were broken not by authorial misdirection (which I rilly like) but by missing information.
You know how (far too) many books start too early? This one starts too late. As much as I liked how it began in the middle of action, it shouldn't have -- a couple key emotional guywires holding the climax in place were laid down before the opening scene, between the two books, and we needed to see the tying on-stage. The sweeping up of backstory seemed moderately deft at the time, but it was, well, too sweeping.
That said, it's more enjoyable overall than The Compass Rose. And there's more to come -- next year.2
I've seen worries about Charlene Harris's southern vampire mysteries to the effect of "Sookie Stackhouse is in danger turning into another Anita Blake -- and not in a good way." I've worried about it myself. After rereading the first four and then the fifth, Dead as a Doornail, over two days3 I'm less worried than I was.
Yes, Sookie is attracted to even more interested men -- but she's not collecting them. She's doing a pretty good job, considering her inexperience with dating, of putting boyfriends down after she's done playing with them. Okay, partly decent job. She tries, anyway. Also, with one exception, Sookie isn't gaining any new powers or abilities as she goes, aside from managing her telepathy a little better with time. That exception being the fairy godmother who showed up halfway through book four. Claudine could get out of hand all too easily. She is my main worry for now.
Dead as a Doornail itself is not bad. The mystery plot is thinner than ever -- not that it was all that strong even in Dead Until Dark -- and there's less of her family complications than the first chapters suggest we'd get. The comic and commercial possibilities of a pirate vampire (eye-patch included) are woefully underused. Not the best in the series, but worthy. Now to wait for Definitely Dead to hit paperback in a year.
Naomi Novik's His Magesty's Dragon (aka Tameraire) is a loosely-plotted story of mid-life career change and exploration of a subculture. The Jade Emperor is a loosely-plotted story of discovering one's hidden royal identity and political intrigue. Black Powder War is a loosely plotted story of mild radical reform and elaborate personal revenge -- or so it appears, as of two-thirds through, and frankly I'm uninterested enough I left the book at work. But what I really wanted to point to was the progression: the inner and outer stories getting less relevant to each other. Also, while the looseness of the plotting fit both stories of the first novel, the spare architecture makes the other two feel flabby. In particular, the political intrigue of the second is ... not intriguing.
More of a problem, Tameraire both a) has gone from special to Teh Speshul and b) is at any moment either asstupid naive or as brilliant as the plot requires.
I'll probably finish this one, but not urgently.
1. Among them being: Make sure you keep a wisecracking competent character around at all times to lighten everyone up.
2. I am, btw, rather taken by a minor detail of Dayton's world: marriage tokens are thin metal bracelets exchanged with each of one's spouses, one's co-husbands' on the left wrist or ankle, co-wives' on the right.
3. I've been sick.
---L.
oracne mentioned it's out; so now I have The Barbed Rose. Somewhat more satisfying than the first. Somewhat.Pluses: Our Heroine is getting better at managing the emotions of a plural marriage, and in a believable way. Also, Her Nibs seems to finish collecting spouses, at least if her theology (discovered halfway through the second book) is to be believed. As far as teh sex goes, it's not as relentlessly hetero (though only MFM and brief MM). And there are things to be learned about managing ensemble casts.1 Minuses: Given the size of the ensemble, several relationships are less developed than I'd like. I was surprised to see it conclude with Her Nibs exactly where I expected her to be, though not with the expected constellation around her. Which expectations were broken not by authorial misdirection (which I rilly like) but by missing information.
You know how (far too) many books start too early? This one starts too late. As much as I liked how it began in the middle of action, it shouldn't have -- a couple key emotional guywires holding the climax in place were laid down before the opening scene, between the two books, and we needed to see the tying on-stage. The sweeping up of backstory seemed moderately deft at the time, but it was, well, too sweeping.
That said, it's more enjoyable overall than The Compass Rose. And there's more to come -- next year.2
I've seen worries about Charlene Harris's southern vampire mysteries to the effect of "Sookie Stackhouse is in danger turning into another Anita Blake -- and not in a good way." I've worried about it myself. After rereading the first four and then the fifth, Dead as a Doornail, over two days3 I'm less worried than I was.
Yes, Sookie is attracted to even more interested men -- but she's not collecting them. She's doing a pretty good job, considering her inexperience with dating, of putting boyfriends down after she's done playing with them. Okay, partly decent job. She tries, anyway. Also, with one exception, Sookie isn't gaining any new powers or abilities as she goes, aside from managing her telepathy a little better with time. That exception being the fairy godmother who showed up halfway through book four. Claudine could get out of hand all too easily. She is my main worry for now.
Dead as a Doornail itself is not bad. The mystery plot is thinner than ever -- not that it was all that strong even in Dead Until Dark -- and there's less of her family complications than the first chapters suggest we'd get. The comic and commercial possibilities of a pirate vampire (eye-patch included) are woefully underused. Not the best in the series, but worthy. Now to wait for Definitely Dead to hit paperback in a year.
Naomi Novik's His Magesty's Dragon (aka Tameraire) is a loosely-plotted story of mid-life career change and exploration of a subculture. The Jade Emperor is a loosely-plotted story of discovering one's hidden royal identity and political intrigue. Black Powder War is a loosely plotted story of mild radical reform and elaborate personal revenge -- or so it appears, as of two-thirds through, and frankly I'm uninterested enough I left the book at work. But what I really wanted to point to was the progression: the inner and outer stories getting less relevant to each other. Also, while the looseness of the plotting fit both stories of the first novel, the spare architecture makes the other two feel flabby. In particular, the political intrigue of the second is ... not intriguing.
More of a problem, Tameraire both a) has gone from special to Teh Speshul and b) is at any moment either as
I'll probably finish this one, but not urgently.
1. Among them being: Make sure you keep a wisecracking competent character around at all times to lighten everyone up.
2. I am, btw, rather taken by a minor detail of Dayton's world: marriage tokens are thin metal bracelets exchanged with each of one's spouses, one's co-husbands' on the left wrist or ankle, co-wives' on the right.
3. I've been sick.
---L.