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larryhammerI cannot, in general, recommend as a life experience getting a flu while living with a healthy, active toddler. Nor getting a flu in high summer. But doing so did mean more reading happened. And since it's Wednesday:
Finished:
Karen Memory by Elizabeth Bear - The prostitution is, in fact, central to not just the story but the plot -- well played, Bear. Strongly recommended to anyone wanting more steampunk or who has been interested in steampunk tropes but never really gotten their feet wet.
The Quiet Gentleman, another Georgette Heyer reread, though in this case, having read it more than once I remembered more of it -- for values of "more" that includes hardly anything beyond the characterization of the lead couple. Certainly I did NOT remember how extensively and delightfully it skewers Gothic novel conventions (even while relying on those elements to misdirect the reader as to what's really up). Would that the romance between the subdued and under-emoting leads was better set up, or at least better signaled. Upper-tier but not best Heyer.
In progress:
The Convenient Marriage, a Heyer reread of one I remember absolutely nothing about -- I know I have read it, as I've had to keep it and A Civil Contract straight, but I'm recognizing even less than usual. In any case, this is technically not Regency but Georgian, set in 1776 with the American war as a tangential backdrop, and has an impetuous young heroine with a gambling problem (much as in April Lady) and an older hero guiding her through Society's reefs (much as in many other Heyers). It does say something about it that one third in I put it aside to start ...
Frederica, one of my top faves by Heyer. Still quite good -- no sneak Suck Fairy attack. It's from late in her career (indeed, it's the book I think of as her last really good one) and picks up types and tropes from several earlier works, weaving them together more masterfully into a fully supported basket of story. Plus a good deal of entertaining, plot-relevant piffle. Am in the final chapters and bounding along delightfully.
---L.
Subject quote from "The Thrush," Edward Thomas.
Finished:
Karen Memory by Elizabeth Bear - The prostitution is, in fact, central to not just the story but the plot -- well played, Bear. Strongly recommended to anyone wanting more steampunk or who has been interested in steampunk tropes but never really gotten their feet wet.
The Quiet Gentleman, another Georgette Heyer reread, though in this case, having read it more than once I remembered more of it -- for values of "more" that includes hardly anything beyond the characterization of the lead couple. Certainly I did NOT remember how extensively and delightfully it skewers Gothic novel conventions (even while relying on those elements to misdirect the reader as to what's really up). Would that the romance between the subdued and under-emoting leads was better set up, or at least better signaled. Upper-tier but not best Heyer.
In progress:
The Convenient Marriage, a Heyer reread of one I remember absolutely nothing about -- I know I have read it, as I've had to keep it and A Civil Contract straight, but I'm recognizing even less than usual. In any case, this is technically not Regency but Georgian, set in 1776 with the American war as a tangential backdrop, and has an impetuous young heroine with a gambling problem (much as in April Lady) and an older hero guiding her through Society's reefs (much as in many other Heyers). It does say something about it that one third in I put it aside to start ...
Frederica, one of my top faves by Heyer. Still quite good -- no sneak Suck Fairy attack. It's from late in her career (indeed, it's the book I think of as her last really good one) and picks up types and tropes from several earlier works, weaving them together more masterfully into a fully supported basket of story. Plus a good deal of entertaining, plot-relevant piffle. Am in the final chapters and bounding along delightfully.
---L.
Subject quote from "The Thrush," Edward Thomas.
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Date: 6 August 2015 09:58 am (UTC)Hope you're soon feeling well enough to cope with healthy, active toddlers again!
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Date: 6 August 2015 03:43 pm (UTC)---L.