Elizabeth Culmer (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
edenfalling) wrote2007-11-01 04:16 pm
edenfalling) wrote2007-11-01 04:16 pm
Entry tags:
book list, October 2007
It's time for the continuing adventures of Liz and her reading list! These are the books I read in October 2007.
New: 15
---Inventing Shaka: Using History in the Construction of Zulu Nationalism, Daphna Golan (nonfiction: what the title says. Golan assumes her readers have some prior knowledge of Zulu history -- though she proceeds to show how that knowledge is most likely flawed or slanted at best -- but if you have a basic familiarity with the names and dates she mentions, this is a fascinating look at how history comes to be written, codified, and worked into the fabric of a society.)
---Be the Pack Leader: Use Cesar's Way To Transform Your Dog... and Your Life, Cesar Milan and Melissa Jo Peltier (nonfiction: how to deal with problem dogs, and how learning to 'control your energy,' as Milan puts it, can help you deal with other problems in your life as well.)
---Star Wars on Trial: Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Debate the Most Popular Science Fiction Films of All Time, David Brin, Matthew Woodring Stover, et al (nonfiction: a collection of essays attacking and defending Star Wars on a variety of charges. Hysterically funny, even while making you think. And I think the prosecution is right about the weakness of women characters in the films... though, you know, that charge could be leveled at something like 3/4 of pop culture, which is a sad commentary on the slowness of social change.)
---Belladonna, Anne Bishop (fantasy: sequel to Sebastian, in which the fight against the Eater of the World continues. Pretty blah.)
---Empire of Ivory, Naomi Novik (fantasy/historical: 4th in the Temeraire series, which is the Napoleonic Wars with dragons. In this volume, Lawrence and Temeraire go to South Africa in search of a cure for a mysterious disease that has struck the dragons of Great Britain. I like the way each book widens our view of this world and shows how the existence of dragons has made it different from ours.)
---The Fairy Godmother, Mercedes Lackey (fantasy/romance: a 500 Kingdoms story. Elena, a woman who was meant to live an iteration of the Cinderella story, is unable to fulfill her destiny, and ends up being a guardian of stories instead. Cute.)
---Fortune's Fool, Mercedes Lackey (fantasy/romance: a 500 Kingdoms story. The daughter of the Sea King and the seventh son of the king of Led Belarus fall in love and fight an evil djinn. Also cute.)
---The First Betrayal, Patricia Bray (fantasy: conspirators use forbidden magic to place the soul of a dying monk into the body of a rebellious prince, but neither monk nor prince is interested in being a puppet ruler.)
---Devlin's Luck, Patricia Bray (fantasy: after his family's deaths, Devlin of Duncaer takes service as the Chosen One of Jorsk, intending to die. Except he keeps on surviving... perhaps he really is chosen by the gods? Workmanlike.)
---Devlin's Honor, Patricia Bray (fantasy: sequel to Devlin's Luck, in which Devlin returns to his conquered homeland in search of the missing Sword of Light.)
---Making Money, Terry Pratchett (fantasy: a Discworld novel. Moist von Lipwig has turned the post office and the clacks into successes. This leaves him with no adventure in his life, and a bored Moist is a dangerous thing. Fortunately, Lord Vetinari has a solution, and so Moist finds himself in charge of the Royal Mint. Also includes golems, clowns, and a pneumatic model of the economy of Ankh-Morpork. *grin* I love Discworld.)
---The Alton Gift, Deborah J. Ross and Marion Zimmer Bradley (sci-fi/fantasy: a sequel to Traitor's Sun, describing how Darkover copes with the Terrans' departure. Whatever spark Bradley had as a storyteller, Ross does not have. This is a very blah book, and hews annoyingly close to the genre romance clichés that Bradley usually managed to avoid in her own love stories.)
---A War of Gifts, Orson Scott Card (science fiction: a novella set in Battle School, dealing with family, religion, and homesickness)
---Flesh and Spirit, Carol Berg (fantasy: the land of Navronne is dying, beset by war, famine, flood, frost, and religious madness, ever since the death of King Eodward. Valen, a renegade pureblood magician, stumbles into grand events when seeking sanctuary at a monastery. Interesting, though maybe a bit slow-paced. This is clearly only part of a story, and cuts off in an annoying place, but the sequel should be out in January.)
---One Piece vol. 7, Eiichiro Oda (manga: pirate adventure on crack. The continuation of the battle for the Barrattie, and Sanji's backstory with Zeff.)
Old: 10
---A History of the End of the World: How the Most Controversial Book in the Bible Change the Course of Western Civilization, Jonathan Kirsch (nonfiction: everything you ever wondered about the Book of Revelation, and then twice as much stuff you'd never even thought to ask about. The subtitle is just a marketing hook, though.)
---Caressed by Ice, Nalini Singh (romance: within the genre boundaries, this is very well written, and Singh is less irritating than many in her use of clichés. I reread this as research for NaNoWriMo.)
---Brightly Burning, Mercedes Lackey (fantasy: a Valdemar story, about Lan Firestorm, one of the more notorious Heralds in that country's history. This is a tragedy rather than a happy ending, and I like that, though Lackey rushes the end of the book.)
---The Sea Change, Patricia Bray (fantasy: sequel to The First Betrayal, in which Lucius and Josan find themselves playing puppet emperor.)
---Going Postal, Terry Pratchett (fantasy: a Discworld novel. Moist von Lipwig, a confidence trickster, is hanged to within an inch of his life and then offered a choice between certain death (a short step off a deep cliff) and uncertain death (reviving the defunct Ankh-Morpork post office). He takes the second choice.)
---Issola, Steven Brust (fantasy: in which Lady Teldra finally gets some characterization, and Vlad saves the world... or, more accurately, kind of helps other people save the world while wishing he were somewhere else and didn't have friends who routinely get involved in stuff like that.)
---Jhereg, Steven Brust (fantasy: in which Vlad Taltos and friends foil a plan to start a war between the House of the Jhereg and the House of the Dragon)
---Brokedown Palace, Steven Brust (fantasy: a story in the world of the Dragaeran Empire, though set in the human lands to the east. The country of Fenario is strained by quarrels among the four princes, the royal palace is falling apart, and the gods themselves seem to be meddling in human affairs.)
---The Lions of Al-Rassan, Guy Gavriel Kay (fantasy: a jazz riff on the Spanish Reconquista. Kay plays on the themes of beauty and art as bulwarks against the darkness, and the fragility of all that humans make, and the inevitability of loss and defeat. He's trying to break your heart. He broke mine. A beautiful, beautiful book.)
---Wild Adapter vol. 3, Kazuya Minekura (manga: two young men, a strange drug case, and various underworld machinations in greater metropolitan Tokyo. Film noir, horror, and science fiction run together through a blender, with generous subtext.)
October Total: 25 books (plus several magazines, a few newspapers, and a lot of fanfiction)
Year to Date: 328 books (191 new, 137 old)
New: 15
---Inventing Shaka: Using History in the Construction of Zulu Nationalism, Daphna Golan (nonfiction: what the title says. Golan assumes her readers have some prior knowledge of Zulu history -- though she proceeds to show how that knowledge is most likely flawed or slanted at best -- but if you have a basic familiarity with the names and dates she mentions, this is a fascinating look at how history comes to be written, codified, and worked into the fabric of a society.)
---Be the Pack Leader: Use Cesar's Way To Transform Your Dog... and Your Life, Cesar Milan and Melissa Jo Peltier (nonfiction: how to deal with problem dogs, and how learning to 'control your energy,' as Milan puts it, can help you deal with other problems in your life as well.)
---Star Wars on Trial: Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Debate the Most Popular Science Fiction Films of All Time, David Brin, Matthew Woodring Stover, et al (nonfiction: a collection of essays attacking and defending Star Wars on a variety of charges. Hysterically funny, even while making you think. And I think the prosecution is right about the weakness of women characters in the films... though, you know, that charge could be leveled at something like 3/4 of pop culture, which is a sad commentary on the slowness of social change.)
---Belladonna, Anne Bishop (fantasy: sequel to Sebastian, in which the fight against the Eater of the World continues. Pretty blah.)
---Empire of Ivory, Naomi Novik (fantasy/historical: 4th in the Temeraire series, which is the Napoleonic Wars with dragons. In this volume, Lawrence and Temeraire go to South Africa in search of a cure for a mysterious disease that has struck the dragons of Great Britain. I like the way each book widens our view of this world and shows how the existence of dragons has made it different from ours.)
---The Fairy Godmother, Mercedes Lackey (fantasy/romance: a 500 Kingdoms story. Elena, a woman who was meant to live an iteration of the Cinderella story, is unable to fulfill her destiny, and ends up being a guardian of stories instead. Cute.)
---Fortune's Fool, Mercedes Lackey (fantasy/romance: a 500 Kingdoms story. The daughter of the Sea King and the seventh son of the king of Led Belarus fall in love and fight an evil djinn. Also cute.)
---The First Betrayal, Patricia Bray (fantasy: conspirators use forbidden magic to place the soul of a dying monk into the body of a rebellious prince, but neither monk nor prince is interested in being a puppet ruler.)
---Devlin's Luck, Patricia Bray (fantasy: after his family's deaths, Devlin of Duncaer takes service as the Chosen One of Jorsk, intending to die. Except he keeps on surviving... perhaps he really is chosen by the gods? Workmanlike.)
---Devlin's Honor, Patricia Bray (fantasy: sequel to Devlin's Luck, in which Devlin returns to his conquered homeland in search of the missing Sword of Light.)
---Making Money, Terry Pratchett (fantasy: a Discworld novel. Moist von Lipwig has turned the post office and the clacks into successes. This leaves him with no adventure in his life, and a bored Moist is a dangerous thing. Fortunately, Lord Vetinari has a solution, and so Moist finds himself in charge of the Royal Mint. Also includes golems, clowns, and a pneumatic model of the economy of Ankh-Morpork. *grin* I love Discworld.)
---The Alton Gift, Deborah J. Ross and Marion Zimmer Bradley (sci-fi/fantasy: a sequel to Traitor's Sun, describing how Darkover copes with the Terrans' departure. Whatever spark Bradley had as a storyteller, Ross does not have. This is a very blah book, and hews annoyingly close to the genre romance clichés that Bradley usually managed to avoid in her own love stories.)
---A War of Gifts, Orson Scott Card (science fiction: a novella set in Battle School, dealing with family, religion, and homesickness)
---Flesh and Spirit, Carol Berg (fantasy: the land of Navronne is dying, beset by war, famine, flood, frost, and religious madness, ever since the death of King Eodward. Valen, a renegade pureblood magician, stumbles into grand events when seeking sanctuary at a monastery. Interesting, though maybe a bit slow-paced. This is clearly only part of a story, and cuts off in an annoying place, but the sequel should be out in January.)
---One Piece vol. 7, Eiichiro Oda (manga: pirate adventure on crack. The continuation of the battle for the Barrattie, and Sanji's backstory with Zeff.)
Old: 10
---A History of the End of the World: How the Most Controversial Book in the Bible Change the Course of Western Civilization, Jonathan Kirsch (nonfiction: everything you ever wondered about the Book of Revelation, and then twice as much stuff you'd never even thought to ask about. The subtitle is just a marketing hook, though.)
---Caressed by Ice, Nalini Singh (romance: within the genre boundaries, this is very well written, and Singh is less irritating than many in her use of clichés. I reread this as research for NaNoWriMo.)
---Brightly Burning, Mercedes Lackey (fantasy: a Valdemar story, about Lan Firestorm, one of the more notorious Heralds in that country's history. This is a tragedy rather than a happy ending, and I like that, though Lackey rushes the end of the book.)
---The Sea Change, Patricia Bray (fantasy: sequel to The First Betrayal, in which Lucius and Josan find themselves playing puppet emperor.)
---Going Postal, Terry Pratchett (fantasy: a Discworld novel. Moist von Lipwig, a confidence trickster, is hanged to within an inch of his life and then offered a choice between certain death (a short step off a deep cliff) and uncertain death (reviving the defunct Ankh-Morpork post office). He takes the second choice.)
---Issola, Steven Brust (fantasy: in which Lady Teldra finally gets some characterization, and Vlad saves the world... or, more accurately, kind of helps other people save the world while wishing he were somewhere else and didn't have friends who routinely get involved in stuff like that.)
---Jhereg, Steven Brust (fantasy: in which Vlad Taltos and friends foil a plan to start a war between the House of the Jhereg and the House of the Dragon)
---Brokedown Palace, Steven Brust (fantasy: a story in the world of the Dragaeran Empire, though set in the human lands to the east. The country of Fenario is strained by quarrels among the four princes, the royal palace is falling apart, and the gods themselves seem to be meddling in human affairs.)
---The Lions of Al-Rassan, Guy Gavriel Kay (fantasy: a jazz riff on the Spanish Reconquista. Kay plays on the themes of beauty and art as bulwarks against the darkness, and the fragility of all that humans make, and the inevitability of loss and defeat. He's trying to break your heart. He broke mine. A beautiful, beautiful book.)
---Wild Adapter vol. 3, Kazuya Minekura (manga: two young men, a strange drug case, and various underworld machinations in greater metropolitan Tokyo. Film noir, horror, and science fiction run together through a blender, with generous subtext.)
October Total: 25 books (plus several magazines, a few newspapers, and a lot of fanfiction)
Year to Date: 328 books (191 new, 137 old)