Cursed by Benedict Jacka
Series: Alex Verus, #2
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Jacka did a great job following up his first Alex Verus novel. Fated. introduced us to Verus’ world, and Cursed lives in it. With the universe so well established, Jacka can focus on this particular adventure, building on Fated.
This makes for a more exciting read–more action, more character development, more of everything we liked in the first book.
Jacka’s got us all hooked now, we just have to wait for the next hit.
Fated by Benedict Jacka
Series: Alex Verus, #1
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Britain’s answer to Harry Dresden. Well, not really. But, pretty much, yeah. Okay, his magic specialty isn’t the same as Dresden’s, but his backstory, attitudes and relationships to the magic world are pretty similar. Which means this is a fun, gripping read.
Alex Versus’ version of fore-telling is very interesting, and a type of magic that I haven’t run into before in Urban Fantasy. I’m really looking forward to seeing what else Jacka can do with it in further volumes. As well as the way he develops Versus’ accidental apprentice.
I’m not sure that my nascent arachnophobia needed a couple of scenes, but if I could get past Shelob and Aragog, I’ll get over this, too. Well, as long as a future Versus adventure doesn’t focus exclusively on that storyline…probably won’t sleep for weeks if that happens.
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Indexing by Seanan McGuire
Series: Indexing, #1.9
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Episode 9: Whiteout
Wait? That’s it? It’s over?
Sort of a let-down, honestly, after Episodes 7 and 8. But it makes sense, the story and the characters need a break to regroup, to refocus, to make sure that they (and the readers) grasp what’s going on. The pieces are moved around a bit and the stage is set for 2 chapters of rockin’ action, and I’m betting 1, or maybe half of one for dénouement.
And really, my initial reaction wasn’t fair — there was a fair bit of action, it just wasn’t as dazzling. The choice that Henry makes to save her team — and to allow them to move on and stop Mother Goose — is just as dramatic as anything that happened earlier, it just didn’t look that way. The realizations that she comes to as result of that choice, about the nature of the Narrative are really what everything’s been driving toward and will likely prove to be the key to stopping the tumult the agency finds itself in the midst of.
This episode was all Henry’s, and we didn’t get enough of Sloane, Andy or Jeff. We didn’t need a lot Demi time here, particularly when McGuire got as much mileage out of her brief appearance as she did.
Not the most obviously good episode of this serial, but a solid one, and a necessary one. Bring on the action in 10!
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Indexing by Seanan McGuire
Series: Indexing, #1.8
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Episode 8: Empty Nest
Hey, diddle diddle! That was something! I spent most of this episode leaning forward on the edge of my seat (surely, I’m not the only one who subconsciously believes that helps them read tense/exciting parts of books faster, am I?). Sure, I was way ahead of Henry on picking up that Very Significant Clue, but the important thing is that she grabbed hold of it eventually and ran with it. Killer episode.
From the shell-shocked reaction of the team to the events in the last episode (unlike the rest, this one picks up right from the end of the previous installment), through the bureaucratic kerfuffle that kicks up from it to Henry’s clue pickup straight through to . . . well, the end — this was Indexing firing on all cylinders.
It struck me that at this point McGuire’s developed her world enough that she can say something like this:
Birdie Hubbard lived in exactly the sort of house that you would expect a woman named “Birdie Hubbard” to live in, especially if that woman existed in a world where fairy tales were real and had teeth.
and the reader doesn’t need the 3 sentences that follow to know what kind of place the characters are at (not that McGuire was guilty of over-kill in providing them). We also are at the point where we can understand Sloane’s reaction (“somewhere midway between horrified and impressed”) to the presence of garden gnomes in Hubbard’s lawn.
Such a fun read, don’t know how she’s going to top it next week, but I’m sure she will.
Blood Bond by Jeanne C. Stein
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
This is not at all what I expected from the last installment in the Anna Strong series. For that matter, it’s not what I expected from any Anna Strong book. Although, in retrospect, it makes sense that this would focus on the human side of Anna’s life — her love life, her family, her friends.
Yes, there’s a supernatural storyline — almost perfunctory, and even when it takes center stage in the novel, it does so under the shadow of the personal storylines. If this wasn’t the last in the series, it would seem that Stein was introducing a large, shadowy group that Anna and her allies would wrangle with for awhile. But, that doesn’t appear to be the case. There’s a new vampire character introduced that Anna becomes awfully chummy with far too quickly for someone in her position (vague, yeah, but trying to stay spoiler-free) Again, if there were more books to come — I’d fully expect this new pal to reveal himself to be just cozying up to her to find her Achilles’ Heel. Regardless, it was a quick and painless story that really only served to keep this book in the Urban Fantasy camp.
Stein’s focus was on the human/emotional stories, giving each major character some sort of resolution as the curtain comes down (although Culebra was given pretty short-shrift) — and in each scene apart from the Vampire story, it feels like Stein is trying to channel the spirit of the mid-80s long distance telephone company commercials and make you reach for the kleenex box every chapter. Big emotional moments and conversations, a lotta lovey-dovey faces, and tears being jerked.
Which sounds like a complaint, but it’s not — somehow Stein pulls it off. It’d be easy for this to be overly-sentimental and sappy — and she gets right up to that line, but she doesn’t cross it. Granted, it’s not the kind of book that I’d want to read all the time, but it worked this time. It let her leave Anna in a good place — or at least a place she could find a measure of peace and happiness for a time. But we all know Anna well-enough at this point to know that can’t last, she’ll find trouble/it will find her soon enough. We just won’t get to see it.
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Indexing by Seanan McGuire
Series: Indexing, #1.7
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Episode 7: Bread Crumbs
Well, didn’t see any of that coming. Wow. Well, not totally true — I’d figured something a lot like what happened with Demi at the end of the episode was coming. But McGuire’s been leading us to that for awhile now, so that’s not a knock on her ability to surprise the reader. Given how many different things happened in this episode, that’s still a really good ratio.
More stuff — little things, episodic things, character things, overarching plot things, comic things, curious things, puzzling things — happened in this episode than any other. The pacing was far different, too — there was an urgency to everything that unfolded that matched what was going on for the characters. The team split up to deal with several narrative events — their night was chaotic, messy, and terrible — and the writing matched that. I read this a few days ago, and more than any single plot point, that feeling sticks with me.
Not that the plot points have faded — this is one of those bits of writing that burns itself into your brain for awhile. Every character is well-served, even the constantly under-utilized Andy. He gets more ink — and action — here than in the first six episodes combined. We learn a lot about him along the way — and while Jeff is featured as much as he usually is, we learn as much about him as Andy.
This is an episode where the changes to the narrative are front and center, on display for Henry’s team to see as clearly as it is for the reader — and the rest of the Agency. Not just the potentially earth-shattering events are lived through, but paradigm-shifting realizations are reached. The road for these five just got a lot bumpier ahead.
In the midst of this heaviness, McGuire puts a well-placed bit of comedy (possibly two, depending how you take the latter). Henry and Sloane are working to keep a Peter Pan from attempting to launch himself off a roof and discover that he really can’t fly. I wondered if instead of trying to stop him, what if they made him think a lot of happy thoughts — would that have actually permitted him to fly? In a world where a Snow White manifestation can actually talk to birds, I wouldn’t have thought so. But maybe. With time running out and their normal efforts failing, Sloane does the smartest, most inventive thing I’ve seen anyone in this book do to help this boy grow up. I laughed out loud as I realized what she was up to, and kept it up through her execution. I’m still not sure why Henry was so against it.
I’m more invested in this story than I’ve been at any point since I started reading it, and cannot wait for Episode 8.
Indexing by Seanan McGuire
Series: Indexing, #1.6
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Episode 6: Fox’s Tongue
Again, I’ll just say that without more grounding in the normal way the narrative works in this world it’s hard to get too invested in/fully understand the way it’s working differently now. If McGuire’d asked me, I’d have told her to give us an episode or two of the status quo before Henry has to toss caution to the wind and recruit Demi. But the status is not quo — and McGuire didn’t ask me, so who cares? (frankly, as long as I get my regular Toby Daye fixes, I really don’t care how the rest of her stuff comes out, even this one, which I’m generally positive about.)
This particular case is interesting enough on its face — but once you go behind the surface, this could get really, really ugly. The plot twists and turns in these few pages are very engaging, just the kind of thing to really draw in the reader.
The character moments for Henry and Sloane are likely the best in this series — Henry seems capable and useful — something I’ve not really seen from her — particularly when she dips into her Snow White-ness for the sake of the investigation. And Sloane grappling with her (true?) self was very effective. I was less impressed with the use of Demi here — her being overly honest and complete with her reports was a good, rookie touch. But where’s the training, why weren’t her teammates on top of that thing — she needs to be trained, not only in the written words and procedures, but in the unwritten policies of her team. They’ve really dropped the ball with her.
McGuire really seems to be pointing at someone as the Big Bad of the series — I’m not sure I want to go where she appears to be leading — it’s almost too easy that way. Then again, sometimes the subtle approach isn’t the best. I guess I’ll see over the next 6 installments.
Whoops, behind again. Further than I thought, too. I knew I needed to read/talk about Episode 6, but I hadn’t realized that Episode 5 wasn’t up yet — I’d have sworn I posted it last month. Maybe I did. Maybe Internet Termites came along and ate it, leaving the rest of this blog.
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Indexing by Seanan McGuire
Series: Indexing, #1.5
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Episode 5: Cruel Sister
I thought I had things figured out — at least for the next 2-3 episodes, I thought she’d take the memetic incursion from the last episode and put it to work, and that this would last for a few episodes, if not turning into the Big Bad for the 12 as a whole.
What a relief to be wrong — the way that McGuire took things instead — a good, honest heart-to-heart rather than repeated covert assassination attempts might be smaller on the Drama Meter, but it ranks pretty high on my satisfactory use of characters meter. Characters — particularly those who work in close quarters together — need to talk more and combat less (not that I have a problem with good fight scenes, etc. — it’s just when they’re necessary and/or unavoidable, not the result of sit-com type misunderstandings and circumstances)
The cases that Henry and her team (aka, Henry and People Who Serve a Purpose) have been dealing with lately, the narrative isn’t acting like they expect/have been lead to believe is necessary. That’s definitely the situation this time, which for some reason appeals to me more than the others. Maybe it’s the way that this one veered from the norm, maybe it’s because I’m getting a better and better idea what the norm is supposed to be. Or maybe I just have a thing for people poisoning their families.
I hope it’s not the latter.
I’m thinking we could use more development of each idea in this episode (and in retrospect, the previous episodes, too) — it felt really rushed. Almost too rushed to keep going with. I don’t think each of these is a book-length idea (but it might be), but they need more space than they’re currently getting, at least 2x the words.
Still, a good read, with a lot of tantalizing possibilities for the next episodes. I need to just stop trying to guess what’s going to happen and just enjoy the ride. Don’t see that happening, but that’s what I should do.
A slightly different post this morning, I’ve been trying some behind-the-scenes work here on the blog this morning — composition, infrastructure, design, etc. The books that I’m overdue to review are hard to write about, I’m plugging away at 4 different reviews right now that I absolutely want to get right , and that’s time-consuming. Also, Grossman’s YOU: A Novel took 2 or 3 days longer to read than I’d expected — worth the time, but it did sort of mess up my schedule. So, like I said. Something different.
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I saw that picture on Grammarly.com‘s facebook page*, and as one does, shared it, which prompted a friend to ask what some of my favorite fictional characters were. I decided to limit the list to fictional characters from books (a. see the picture and b. see this blog), and to characters I had “non-fictional feelings” for — Hannibal Lecter was a favorite (for 2 books, anyway), but I had no emotional attachment to him, or Evanovich‘s Ranger — fun character, but don’t really care about the guy. Here, with added commentary, is my list.
Let me hear from you, reader/follower/happener-upon-this-post — who do you have non-fictional feelings for?
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* I looked but couldn’t find the source for this, otherwise I’d have cited it. If you know who should get the credit, please let me know.
Kitty in the Underworld by Carrie Vaughn
Series: Kitty Norville, #12
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I’m a little surprised at my rating for this one — not that Vaughn’s not more than capable of writing a four or five-star book — but based on my reactions while reading which were definitely not favorable. But my reactions were strong enough — based on the claustrophobic note frequently struck here, and how much I cared about what Kitty was doing/going through — that I knew Vaughn had delivered. Hadn’t necessarily written the book I wanted/expected, but she got the job done very effectively.
N.B. I get vaguely spoilery beyond here — I don’t think it’s too terrible, nothing I’d really have minded reading before picking up this book.
So the idea behind Kitty Drinks the Kool-Aid in the Underground is that while some vampires, and Kitty herself think the whole Regina Luporum thing is a joke, there are some who take it very seriously. So seriously, that they kidnap Kitty to get her assistance in making a major attack on Roman/Dux Bellorum.
Now, this may strike you as a particularly stupid way to get someone to help you out — as it should, it definitely strikes Kitty that way. But for whatever reason/delusion, her kidnappers don’t see it that way.
Now, over the last 11 books, we’ve seen impetuous Kitty, rash Kitty, leaping-before-she-looks Kitty — and while Ben and Cormac grit their teeth and fret, the reader just smiles, content in our knowledge that this is just Kitty being Kitty. However, in Kitty gets Stockholm Syndrome in the Underground we see Kitty being just stupid.
She gives a magic user (that she doesn’t know) access to her blood. She lets a strange vampire feed off of her. She passes up chances to escape. She lets her guard down with her captors. Now, Kitty’s generally quick to trust — which is part of her charm — but she generally has some sort of basis for that. Not here. Well, at least no rational basis. Here’s she’s just so desperate to take down Dux Bellorum, that she throws reason and caution to the wind.
She spends large amount of time being rational, thinking things through, reacting as she should — and then she seems to shut that down to work with these people. I talked back to the book a lot (this is a behavior I don’t typically engage in at all). My favorite werewolf had taken leave of her senses and was risking it all.
This book should’ve been twice as long (at least). Kitty needed more time in the cave before she acted the way she acted. The reader needed to get a better idea of the rich and colorful characters that were introduced here. It would’ve been nice to see Kitty’s pack at work trying to find and rescue her. So much of what was going on in this book was new, terribly interesting, and worthy of exploration, it’s a shame we didn’t get the chance.
Although, a longer book would’ve likely given me a stroke. So I shouldn’t complain.
For all my gripes, it was a tense, taught adventure that will have interesting (to say the least) ramifications going on. Now I have to start counting down for the next one. Can’t come soon enough.
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