by Charlaine Harris
I reserved this book at the library and waited with great anticipation for a few days. But then I just lost interest. In the end I didn't even finish the book.
I agree that this series started as light, fun escapism, but it's just gotten so complicated. It now uneasily bridges the trashy and fantastical situations with the new element of 'real life'. It's been shifting that way for the last few books. Because real life is complicated and confusing and has too many loose ends.
I think Charlaine Harris has said that she has a definite ending in mind for the series, and that she doesn't want it to string along for too long either. ]]>
bookshelves: arthurian-historical
Thought this was essentially a good book, but a trifle long and wordy. Didn't enjoy it as much as I could have since it was a vastly different book to what I expected. ]]>
Alice
took the never-ending book quiz.
| questions answered: | 273 |
| correct: | 220 (80.6%) |
| skipped: | 148 |
| best streak: | 12 |
| questions added: | 0 |
Essentially I liked this book, but it feels strangely disconnected from the first two. Perhaps it was the different setting from urban New York to Idris which made everyone act differently (not out of character, but reacting to unusual and unprecendented events). It took me a while to reacquaint myself with various characters because of this.
Also, something about the pacing of this book is different. There seems to be more action and much less intricate backstory and worldbuilding overall, despite several long awaited revelations. Events happen and flow quickly into each other, giving a much more compressed timeline than in the previous novels. The inclusion of characters such as Amatis and Jocelyn gives a different dimension to previous characters in terms of interaction and history.
There was an overall tone of desperation and urgency about this final book. Well, society as everyone knows it is crumbling, people are dying and nobody can agree on a course of action. It seems strangely fitting that the teenagers know how to react and what they want, compared to the adults who are still trying to cling to some sembelence of structure and order.
Another change is that the main characters, instead of being together are off on different missions through parts of the book to bring several loose storylines together. I was pleased that I managed to predict what would happen. However with two working theories there were good odds. Still, some revelations did manage to take me by surprise.
Wish that there had been more of Sebastion. Actually, wish the whole thing had been much longer. However, there are still some things that remain tantilisingly unexplained or unexplored.
It's always sad when a trilogy comes to an end. ]]>
bookshelves: poetry
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bookshelves: poetry
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bookshelves: poetry
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bookshelves: author-laurierking
Russell and Holmes sail to San Fransisco from their last case to settle Mary's estate. Holmes discovers some irregularities from Russell's past that center on the deaths of her parents and brother. With the mysterious deaths of other people linked to her parent's estate and the odd condition's of her father's will, Holmes is convinced that the car accident that killed Russell's family all those years ago was in fact murder.
And they meet Dashiell Hammett along the way. ]]>
bookshelves: fantasy-sciencefiction
I liked this book. Like all Sharon Shinn novels it was intriguing and very readable. But it didn't stand out for me like some of her novels and concepts have. Compared to angels, biological weapons and cute YA comedies, swords and socery fantasy tales don't really stand out.
Basically a group of five mystics (sort of sorcerers with various powers) and King's Riders (elite warriers) are sent on a 'quest' to scout out the mood of the nation and the posibility that the nobles will rebel against the king. Like other Shinn novels it has issues of prejudice against a minority, the mystics, and explore relationships and identity. I felt vaguely unfocused because just like their quest, where they took cues of where their next destination would be from what information that had just recently gathered. There really was no overarching plot, and the book is held together by the characters and their interaction and growth.
Shinn seems to take a more aloft, birds-eye view of her characters than previous novels and I feel overuses her device of highlighting what isn't said. It just served to detatch me from the story and the characters. Sometimes conveying through action what the narrator and main characters feel rather than implicitly stating it draws you in, but in this case I found it alienating.
I know the who high fantasy theme is very similar to 'Summers at Castle Auburn' which is one of my favourites, but I felt this book lacked the slightly subversive drive of that other novel. It also lacked the character developement that was such a strong feature in Summers, probably because it is so much more of a traditional high fantasy tale of a group of heroes (which is hard to develop with reduced time to each character).
But considering it is Sharon Shinn I probably will end up reading the rest of the series as they very slowly come out. ]]>
bookshelves: arthurian-historical
Too melodramatic. Also, this should be read first of the 'linked' Heyer novels. I felt like I had spoilers for thge entire novel having read 'These Old Shades' first, though some would argue that technically they aren't connected at all.
Still, found the main characters insipid compared to the villain. Lavinia is also really annoying without being charming as one of the secondary characters. Likewise her husband Richard is spineless without being romantic.
You don't get a real sense of the heroine's (Diana) characters. The hero was vaguely intriging but I couldn't see what Jack saw in Diana.
This has been a really rambling, directionless review. Which perfectly reflects the book. ]]>