Around the Web

There’s a Jacqueline Carey interview up at Fantasy Book Critic (together with a review of her latest “Kushiel’s Mercy”.  I really liked the book, btw, thought it was a good conclusion to the Imriel trilogy, and as always, Ms Carey writes beautifully.

And there’s also an interview with Stephenie Meyer on the Times website.  This is from May, so before “The Host” was published.  Speaking of which, “The Host” is still sitting in my TBR pile.  Reviews have been unanimously positive, but I’m just not in the mood for an SF romance right now (which is what I’m assuming it is!).

PS: I’m writing the post using the rather cool Windows Live Writer, which is an application you install on your PC.  Still early days, but I’m liking this very much because it looks as though you’ll get all the functionality that you would when blogging online, but it’s faster to save, insert pictures, preview posts, etc.  I’ve been struggling with WordPress’s image editing lately and this may be the perfect solution.

Books for May

Okay, I’m keeping my fingers crossed that I will be able to post covers properly for this post.  I’m not liking the WordPress upgrade much. (ETA: No, I still can’t insert pictures directly - this is driving me mad!)

Anyway, May books I’m looking forward to:

Charlaine Harris‘ “From Dead to Worse” (urban fantasy) – I’ve been a big fan of the Sookie Stackhouse series since Day 1, so definitely am getting the 8th book in the series.  But OMG.  Look at the UK cover (left).  Is that Sookie to you?  Yes, she’s blonde and if I think about it, I can’t pick out anything that contradicts the books.  But I guess I’m just not used to actually seeing Sookie as a “real” person – err… that would be as opposed to the cartoon-like characters on the US covers. 

Excerpt here (out May 6).

 

Julia Quinn‘s “The Lost Duke of Wyndham” (historical romance) – A brand-new Julia Quinn!  And I mean properly new (that is, not a rewritten older book).  The sequel to this is out in September, btw, and apparently is the story of the existing Duke of Wyndham.  The one who could be replaced by the hero of this book.  I’m looking forward to seeing how she handles this story.  The cover’s interesting – it’s mimicking the look of a TV/movie book adaptation.

Excerpt here (out May 27).

 

Stephenie Meyer‘s “The Host” (SF) - Ms Meyer’s first grown-up book.  I’m thinking lots of teen readers who loved “Twilight” will be picking this one up.  I really have no idea how this one will be received.  Heh – just went over to her website, and the tagline is “science fiction for people who don’t like science fiction”.  I like SF, but SF thrillers aren’t quite my thing.  I’m planning on getting this as I loved Ms Meyer’s writing and “Twilight” (though by the third book, Bella was really starting to grate on me).  I haven’t been looking for reviews on this, but I’m surprised I haven’t happened across any by accident yet.  I’ve seen quite a few ARCs of these on auction sites.

Excerpt here (out May 6).

 

Laurell K Hamilton‘s “Blood Noir” (urban fantasy) – I’m such a sucker for Anita Blake books – this is the 16th, I think?  The last one (“The Harlequin”) started out promisingly but sort of fizzled out halfway.  I’m hoping this one is better.  The UK cover is more consistent with previous books in the series (for some reason, the model reminds me of Angelina Jolie in the Tomb Raider movies – err that would be Lara Croft then).  The US cover, as has been mentioned elsewhere, is a radical departure from previous covers. 

Excerpt here (out May 27)

 

Tanya Huff‘s “Blood Bank” (urban fantasy) – This is a collection of the Vicky Nelson/Henry Fitzroy short stories, previously published in an omnibus version together with “Blood Debt”.  Vicky’s a PI and Henry’s a vampire – I know you’re thinking standard urban fantasy, but the first of these books was published back in 1991, so way before the current UF trend.  I suspect I’ve probably read some of these short stories already, but still…

No excerpts (out May 6).

 

That is pretty much it for this month.  I’m most excited about the Charlaine Harris book.  I’ll also probably get the Jes Battis book I mentioned in my post below.  Amanda Quick also has a new book out (“The Third Circle”), but it’s hardcover and I still haven’t gotten hold of her last release “The River Knows”.

 

What I read on holiday

Not full-on proper reviews, because I’m, well, lazy – just thoughts! 

I picked up Linda Lael Miller‘s “The Man from Stone Creek” on impulse.  I haven’t read her books for ages and ages, and was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed it.  I hadn’t read a Western historical romance in, well, ages.  But I loved the characters in this book – the undercover Ranger working as a schoolteacher, the heroine managing the general store, the vividly-drawn secondary cast – as well as the general atmosphere and feel of the wild wild West!  This really put me in the mood for reading more Westerns, so I also picked up her “Emma and the Outlaw” and “Lily and the Major” books (re-issues).  While these weren’t as good as TMfSC, I think I may start reading Westerns again.

Nora Roberts‘ “High Noon” was my airplane book – I thought it was a solid read, but nothing special, IMO.  My sister said that Ms Roberts writes great characters, but her recent standalones lack *something*. And I think I’ll agree.  The writing flowed as always, but I didn’t love it, and from a distance of two weeks or thereabouts, I can’t even remember the storyline.  I think the last Nora Roberts books I loved were her Chesapeake books – the ones with the Quinn brothers.

I also read Stephenie Meyer‘s “Eclipse”.  Eh.  I’ll admit it – this book bored me.  I gave up halfway through and skimmed through to the end, just to find out where the characters ended up.  I don’t like Bella, which is a major problem since the book is written from her POV.  She’s too whiny and well, immature.  But she’s only 18.  Or 19.  I’m wondering if I would have liked it more if I were a teenage girl – would I have identified more with Bella?  I’m a bit on the fence as to whether I’ll get the final book – I’ll probably wait until the reviews come out for that one, I suspect.  This was a bit of a disappointment.

Oh, and Suzanne Brockmann‘s Force of Nature.  Now this I loved.  I thought FoN was classic Brockmann, with a really action-packed suspenseful ending. Without giving too much away, I’m a huge Jules fan, and I’m glad he finally got his story and HEA.  And I’m so getting the November novella (FoN spoiler-ish blurb here).  

I heard she’s starting a new story arc that includes Tess and Nash.  Ouch.  Poor them.  I’m in two minds on these secondary romance arcs – on one hand, I love them because you really get invested in the characters and there’s more scope for “what’s the worst thing I can do to these characters”-type plots and she does it *so* well, but on the other hand, I find that I get so caught up in them, that I just end up skimming through the books for the bits that involve them.  I know I certainly did that for Sam/Alyssa and now for Jules.  Hmm… 

And finally, I read Linda Howard‘s “Up Close and Dangerous” on the way back.  Though reading about a plane crash while on a plane may not have been the best choice.  Heh.  Maybe I’m in the minority here, but I found all the practical survival stuff fascinating.  So I liked that part, which was good since they spent most of the book getting off the mountain, which surprised me a bit.  The suspense part… wasn’t really suspense, was it?  I thought she could have led up to it better, more foreshadowing perhaps?  The twist came out of nowhere for me – I re-read the relevant bits once I finished the book, and still didn’t think she gave any clues.  Perhaps not one of her greatest books ever, but a good read nonetheless.

I actually did more re-reads of old favourites, but I’ll save that for another post!

Books for August

August is a good month for books – books I want:

Stephenie Meyer‘s “Eclipse”: Third book in her YA vampire series.  I love Bella and I *love* Edward.  “Twilight” and “New Moon” are the first and second books in this series respectively – if you haven’t read them, go and try “Twilight” at least.  Even if you don’t do YA and hate vampires.  Really.  “Eclipse” excerpt here.

Rachel Caine‘s “Thin Air”: Sixth book in her Weather Wardens series.  Right, the first book “Ill Wind” completely captivated me – people with the power to control weather, a secret group of weather wardens who work to avert natural disasters, and a very cute and yummy Djinn called David.  It was a great start to the series, and then… arrrgghhh.  I really really hate non-conclusive endings, and that’s how most of the later books have ended – with a major plot twist or reveal in the last few pages.  I’m going to get “Thin Air” because it’s meant to wrap up loose threads from the previous books.  And then I’m going to see how it ends, because I’m not 100% sure I want to continue with this series.  I love Ms Caine’s writing, but I just don’t like her plots.  Sigh.  Excerpt here.

Staying with the fantasy books, Gail Dayton‘s “The Eternal Rose”: The third in a trilogy.  The first two books in this series was published by Luna, but they decided not to continue with the series.  Thankfully, it was picked up by Juno.  While it’s not ground-breaking fantasy by any means, it’s an enjoyable and fast-paced fantasy series.  Err… alternative lifestyle warning:  There is polygamy in a sense here; Kallista, the lead female character is “married” to about five others (both male and female).  

An anthology with some of my favourite authors – “On the Prowl” (Patricia Briggs, Eileen Wilks, Karen Chance, and Sunny).  I think I’ve probably said this about a million times already, but I really love the first three authors.  If I were asked who I wanted to see in an urban fantasy anthology, those would have been the three names I’d have picked.  Though maybe I’d have liked Charlaine Harris as well, and oh, Kelley Armstrong. Anyway, I’m very much looking forward to this book – excerpts from Patricia Briggs and Eileen Wilks‘ stories are up.

Sarah Monette‘s “The Mirador”: The third in her dark fantasy series (btw, yes, I’ve noticed the “3″ theme in this post!).  I think I’ve posted the link before, but excerpts from the book are up on her website.  The series revolves around two main characters, Felix and Mildmay, and they take turns to narrate the story.  I love these books – they’re dark, edgy, and compelling. 

That’s it for the fantasy – on the historical front, I want Diana Gabaldon‘s “Lord John and the Brotherhood of the Blades”.  A spin-off from her Jamie and Claire books, this book focuses on Lord John, a secondary character in the “Outlander” series.  I’ve no idea when it’s set relative to the J&C story timeline though (and no idea when the next J&C book will come out – I just wish she’ll write faster!).  Excerpt here.

And finally, I want Suzanne Brockmann‘s “Force of Nature”.  Mainly to see what happens to Jules – he better get his HEA soon.  Oh, and just one more, Jayne Castle‘s “Silver Master”.  Jayne Ann Krentz’s futuristic romances are my guilty pleasure.

I did say August was a good month for books

Around the Web

Suzanne Brockmann‘s posted an “Extras” booklet for her Force of Nature book (August 2007) – scroll to the bottom of the page to download.  Warning – it’s approx 28 MB in size, so watch out if you’ve a slow Internet connection.  It has a brand-new Sam and Alyssa short story (with Jules), plus an POV article for writers.  

I decided to try reading it using Adobe Digital Editions, which I downloaded the other day, and realised the major downside of its slick black background is that it shows up all the smudges on my laptop screen in bright sunlight.  Bah.

Naomi Novik‘s posted an excerpt from her upcoming Temeraire book “Empire of Ivory” (September 2007) on her website.  Just reading the first few sentences reminds me of how much I’m looking forward to it.

Here’s a rather long interview with Stephenie Meyer (via Locus Online Blinks) - she doesn’t give anything away on “Eclipse” (out August 2007), but it’s an interesting read if you’re a fan.  The next JK Rowling?