Happy November! It was a bit of an October, wasn’t it?
A few links to kick off the month:
Martha Wells talks a bit about her Raksura fantasy books @ SF Signal.
I mentioned in passing that I recently raced through those Raksura books, right? That would be the original trilogy, plus the first collection of two (new) novellas and short stories, which came out fairly recently. I was hooked pretty much from the first chapter of THE CLOUD ROADS – loved how she created this completely alien world, which is so very accessible at the same time. And humour! I was not expecting that, but there were some one-liners which made me laugh. Basically, if you’re in the mood for adventure fantasy, give this series a go.
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I really enjoyed this Dear Author post about Betty Neels and her books. I was one of those romance readers who grew up reading M&Bs, and Betty Neels, with her Dutch surgeon romances, was one of those reliable authors – you always knew what you were getting. I’ve bookmarked that post for some Neels recommendations when I’m next in the right mood.
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Two Reddit author AMAs: Robin McKinley and Ilona Andrews & Jocelynn Drake.
I haven’t yet read the latter, as I was reading the new Ilona Andrews’s BURN FOR ME, and didn’t want to be spoiled. I’ve now finished the book – thought it was a promising start to a new series, and I’m looking forward to the next. Also liking the comments/discussion following Janine’s DA review, where I add my (horribly ungrammatical – I was in a rush, really!) take on the book.
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Tor.com announced that they’re doing a re-read of Mercedes Lackey‘s Arrows of the Queen trilogy. *dies* I can’t remember when I read this now, though I was very definitely an impressionable teen. I had a whole shelf of Lackey’s Valdemar books, and every single one of them was probably dog-eared and falling apart. I loved those books… and still do. White talking horses, anyone?
I KNOW I read the Arrows books in middle school, because I can vividly remember sobbing in the lunch line while reading the last one.
LOL – love that! I sometimes try to pretend *that* scene in the final book did NOT happen.
Oh gosh. I’m pretty sure I was 14 when I first read the Arrows of the Queen. I was such a goner.
I was hooked. Heralds and Companions and mindspeech… the whole lot, really.