Seth's bookshelves

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Seth is currently reading

	05/03 Seth is currently reading: Evil Genius (Hardcover) by Catherine Jinks bookshelves: currently-reading, ya	my rating:
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	05/01 Seth is currently reading: The House of the Vestals (Paperback) by Steven Saylor bookshelves: currently-reading, mystery, shorts	my rating:
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	03/27 Seth is currently reading: The 33 Strategies of War (Paperback) by Robert Greene bookshelves: currently-reading, gm-toolkit, how-people-work	my rating:
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Seth's recent updates (rss)

May 13

Seth gave

to:
Small Favor (The Dresden Files, Book 10)
by Jim Butcher
bookshelves: modernfantasy

my rating:

read in May, 2008

Seth said: "About 1/4 into Small Favors I found myself wondering if Harry Dresden was about to magically jump a shark. By the end, I had decided it might be the best book in the series.

Well, he actually does kind of jump a shark, but he was in an aqu...more About 1/4 into Small Favors I found myself wondering if Harry Dresden was about to magically jump a shark. By the end, I had decided it might be the best book in the series.

Well, he actually does kind of jump a shark, but he was in an aquarium at the time.

Favors put us firmly back in Dresden's home territory. Someone has kidnapped his least-favorite sometimes-ally "Gentleman" Marcone and he's being coerced into saving him by an old enemy. His allies in faerie-land are trying to kill him. His friend Michael is seriously doubting whether Harry is trustworthy. And he winds up stuck in the convergence of conflicts between the Seelie and Unseelie courts and between the Knights of the Cross and the Denarian demons. And just for fun, with Kincaid and Sergeant Murphy along for the ride, still bristling from their breakup.

Thematically, this book is about divided loyalties, trust, and--most centrally--what it means to be good instead of evil. The central morals of Harry, Sergeant Murphy, Michael, Sanyo (another Knight of the Cross), and even the mercenaries Kincaid and Gard are roughly similar, but each draws different lines around what is required and what is allowed to be good.

Marcone and The Archive (a super-efficent magical database of all written knowledge ever, but housed in a little girl) serve as the background to the moral debate: Marcone's morality is strongly personal, running his criminal empire and ruining whatever lives it costs while still going out of his way to save and help individuals he sees in distress. The Archive is impersonal, fighting to keep emotional attachments from driving her insane while she hold humanity's heritage against any disaster. They are each afraid to join human society fully, worried that they won't be able to reconcile their job with their humanity.

The book is back in classic Dresden form in other ways, too. Harry doesn't rely on odd moments of insight that come like deus ex machina in some of the other books. He doesn't build plans that last longer than a day. And he doesn't ever rely on his intelligence over his wit, his wits, and his ability to break things very, very well. He's good at mouthing off, pushing people into making mistakes, and doing not-subtle magic with collateral damage. And he has charisma and leadership only Murphy can match. In Small Favors he leaves the other stuff to the pros. Just like the good old days.

In a lot of ways, this is what Storm Front would have been if Butcher had been a better writer at the time. It has more complex character interactions than the first book in a series can sustain and it assumes some (but not too much) knowledge of the backstory, but it hits the themes of the series without sacrificing the action and faith in himself that make Harry who he is. ...less "

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Seth made a comment in the group Paranormal Romance—Sookie Stackhouse and book suggestions.. topic:

Seth wrote: "They definitely get better as they go. The plots get more complex and flow pretty seamlessly from bo...more "

Seth joined the Paranormal Romance group.

May 10

Seth made a comment in the group Goodreads Feedback—Option to remove Yahoo! box from homepage topic:

Seth wrote: "I see that box and think it's a login prompt (well, it is... I think it's a login prompt for Goodrea...more "

Seth made a comment in the group Goodreads Feedback—Email updates only for top friends? topic:

Seth wrote: "For some reason, a lot of people seem to want to friend as many people as possible (is there some so...more "

May 03

Seth marked as to-read:
Under a Velvet Cloak (Paperback)
by Piers Anthony
bookshelves: sf-f-h, to-buy, to-read

my rating:

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Seth is currently reading:
Evil Genius (Hardcover)
by Catherine Jinks
bookshelves: currently-reading, ya

my rating:

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Seth gave

to:
Free Fall (Paperback)
by Laura Anne Gilman
bookshelves: modernfantasy

my rating:

read in May, 2008

Seth said: "Burning Bridges, the book before Free Fall pushed the Retrievers story off a cliff: "Wren" Valere and her partner/boyfriend Sergei split up, each thinking they were pushing the o...more Burning Bridges, the book before Free Fall pushed the Retrievers story off a cliff: "Wren" Valere and her partner/boyfriend Sergei split up, each thinking they were pushing the other away to protect them, her demon friend P.B. revealed that he is her familiar, whether she wants it or not, P.B. and Sergei were colluding instead of bickering, The Silence was the enemy instead of the client, and Valere was a leader instead of staying in the background and keeping her head down. While it was a fun book, it looked like the end of everything that made the series good.

Fortunately, this book sets out to undo most of the previous. In the several months since Bridges, Wren has taken small jobs on her own and tried to distance herself from the debacle at the Brooklyn Bridge. She's avoided Sergei completely and had P.B. move in so she can keep an eye on him. She is once again the lonejack Wren everyone expects: no one can get her involved in anything except her own life.

Early in the book, someone--presumably The Silence--sets her up and she winds up captured by three Nulls (non-magic-using humans) who are geared up to be protected from her magic. As they hold her down and discuss whether raping her is acceptable (if she's human, it is, they decide, but since she's a magic user....) she tries to find a way to escape and has to make a choice: is she willing to kill to protect herself? Either answer would be traumatic and her friends' response to either would not help.

This sets the theme of the book. Wren is haunted by her decision to kill the attackers, she is afraid of the deep, old power she called on to do so, and her friends don't understand why it bothers her at all. She is going slowly insane, closer to "wizzing" every day, and her friends can't do anything but watch. P.B. even encourages it to some extent. And having crossed the line to intentionally killing people, even in self-defense, she decides to let Thou Shalt Not Kill go the same way Thou Shalt Not Steal has and take the battle to The Silence. Since she's a thief, she decides to play to her strengths this time (unlike in Bridges) and do what she does best: she plans to "steal" back the young magic users The Silence has kidnapped and brainwashed to fight them.

It's an audacious plot and a strong character story as she wrestles with the morality and consequences of what she's doing. There is a short foreward by the author about why the series is on the Luna line, which publishes romantic fantasy, when there is little traditional romance in it. She points out that the series focuses on the personal relationships Valere forms and that love, not just lust, infatuation, or need, is an acceptable subject for romance.

If you liked the books before Bridges, you'll like this one quite a bit. If you liked Bridges, this is a nice continuation. Valere still takes some leadership moments, mostly when she's closest to wizzing, but she's closer to character (and more comfortable with what she's doing). P.B. reveals more about what demons are. Sergei proves his loyalties and we learn whether his faith in Andre is well-founded.

There are a few problems with the book, mostly around the ending (where the timing gets confused) and around how Wren's descent into madness is shown. Gilman relies a lot on the "she knew something was wrong but didn't know what' device, which fails when it's overused and when the reader doesn't know precisely which wrong thing it means. The addiction storyline with Sergei needs more time than it's getting to make sense, but hopefully that is the next book.

All in all, one of the better books in the series. If you like the genre and the characters, worth a read....less "

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May 02

Seth made a comment in the group Paranormal Romance—Book Covers topic:

Seth wrote: "Hit a Christian bookstore in your area and grab a few common sizes of bible covers. They come in a w...more "

Seth made a comment in the group Paranormal Romance—Paranormal Romance without a lot of sex? topic:

Seth wrote: "I can't stand explicit sex scenes in my fiction, so I totally understand. I also read a lot of YA, w...more I can't stand explicit sex scenes in my fiction, so I totally understand. I also read a lot of YA, which is weird for me because much of the YA shelf is more explicit than the SF/F shelf!

Almost anything in the Luna line is pretty sex lite. I especially like Snyder's series; it starts with Poison Lore, one of the best I've read in a while. The fantasy story is good and the romance storyline builds extremely slowly, believably, and compellingly (if I can use that as a word). (After its critical acclaim and strong sales, Snyder's series has been moved off the Luna line to an imprint with more marketing clout.) I just re-read the earlier posts and the Poison/Magic/Fire Lore are more traditional fantasy than paranormal, so that may not work for you.

On the Luna line, the Retrievers series by Laura Anne Gilman isn't as romance heavy as most; it's an interesting take on the genre because it focuses more on romance as connections between people ("love" as opposed to "passion"); the most recent book is especially strong on that point (and has an author's forward mentioning how odd it is for the Luna line).

The Kim Harrison series (Dead Witch Walking, etc.) has very few sex scenes, although they are a bit more explicit than I like. The series is more action oriented, but the romantic plotlines are always present and drive the bulk of the action. Over the first 6 books there are maybe 3 or 4 sex scenes: one in book 2, one or two in book 4, and maybe another in book 5.

Harrison is my new favorite author and this series is fabulous.

Do be aware that one of the plots around the main character in the Harrison is the slow seduction (across 6 books) of the main character by her female roommate; no sex scenes with them (and none likely to come), but the romance and pursuit are very strongly written; if the female/female element of that would bother you, factor it in. Having said that, it's certainly not a "lesbian story" in any way and I can't imagine it bothering most people with the way it's written.

I'll second the Charlain Harris recommendation. The Sookie Stackhouse books are fabulous and the (few) sex scenes are mostly off-camera (although there is one with a were-tiger that takes place on the kitchen counter....)

Harris' newest series all have "Grave" in the title and are about a stepbrother-and-sister team using her ability to find and "read" dead bodies/graves as a business (more of a detective vibe); the romantic plot is slightly icky in that it's between step-siblings, but it's still a great read.

I'll also second the Morganville Vampires series. I found it because I loved the Weather Warden books, but those (Weather Warden) are drifting down in quality in my opinion. Morganville is a YA series, so you won't find it on the SF/F or romance shelf.

The Mercy Thomson books are very good, but I wouldn't say that they have a strong romance element. If it has enough for you, also check out the Kitty series by Carrie Vaughn. Better writing, more "internal" story, and loads of fun. The first is Kitty and the Midnight Hour. I like both series....less "

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Seth's groups (recent posts)

Goodreads Feedback — 853 members — last activity 1 hour, 10 min ago
This is a place to give feedback about Goodreads. Feature ideas, bugs, or any other suggestion for improvement. The Goodreads staff monitors this gr...more

Goodreads Librarians — 1212 members — last activity 1 hour, 27 min ago
A place where people can work together to correct book issues on Goodreads. Examples include combining editions, contacting librarians, fixing book an...more

Paranormal Romance — 383 members — last activity 1 hour, 48 min ago
Welcome to Paranormal Romance! This group is for the discussion and recommendation of paranormal romances and paranormal romantica, along with simila...more

What's The Name of That Book??? — 673 members — last activity 3 hours, 28 min ago
Can't remember the title of a book you read a while back? Come post a description on our message board and we can try to help each other out.

***N...more

GoodReads 2.0 - UI and Design Refreshment — 53 members — last activity 19 hours, 24 min ago
This past year, Otis (Mr. Goodreads) developed and added a ton of new features to GoodReads. Most of which were created thanks to the suggestions of t...more

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events Seth is attending

event: _Touch of Twilight_ shelf date
date: May 27, 2008 12:00AM
location: Your local bookstore, United States
description: Current shelf date for the new book, The Touch of Twilight.

Seth's friend comments

showing 1-4 of 4. (add a comment | view all)

from Jeremy

01/23/2008 08:40PM

I want to apologize for the all the recommendations from me today. I wanted to share the Stoker Award news, and I only pressed the send button once--I'm not sure what happened to create so many messages. Some weird glitch.

Argh...this is terrible...

Again, I'm very sorry.

-Jeremy

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from Jeremy

01/01/2008 01:17PM

Here’s wishing you a nifty New Year filled with noiseless noses, neato nicknames, noble Nebraskans, gnarly narcoleptic nebulas, and novel novels about nut-eating narwhals and novercaphobic gnats.

-Jeremy :)

P.S.—I’m currently offering autographed/personally-inscribed copies of my novel, Vacation, with free shipping for those in the US. If there’s anything you could do to help me spread the word about this, I’d really appreciate it. Feel free to click here for details:
http://hauntedhousedressing.co...

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from Jeremy

12/24/2007 10:31AM

Hi Seth!

Here’s wishing you a yippee-filled Yuletime overflowing with yard-long yams, yapping yoyo-yanking yetis, yak-milk yeast-cakes, and yellow yarn-yielding year-end yard-gnomes.

-Jeremy :)

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from Jeremy

12/15/2007 11:59AM

Thanks for the friendship, Seth!

If you don't mind sharing--I'm curious, what's your favorite novel of all time (if you have one)?

Also, I was wondering if you'd do me the honor of reading about my debut novel, Vacation. Your support would mean a lot to me. If you'd like to do me this honor, feel free to click here:
http://www.hauntedhousedressin...

Here’s wishing you a fantastic day filled with fabulous fates, fanciful festivities, and frolicking phantom footstools.

-Jeremy :)

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	Jeremy 132 books 1371 friends
	Allan 142 books 38 friends
	Rachel 78 books 12 friends
	Ryan 0 books 9 friends
	Andrea 94 books 6 friends
	Jess 10 books 6 friends
	Becky 161 books 27 friends
	Mackenzie 33 books 7 friends
	David 4 books 13 friends
	Cesar 9 books 4 friends
	Daniel 19 books 5 friends
	Darby 457 books 19 friends
	Ryan 0 books 8 friends
	Noctifer 0 books 7 friends
	Diane 1 books 8 friends

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