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Jan. 9th, 2019 10:31 pmI didn't do last week's Reading Wednesday because I'd just done my end-of-year book roundup, but oh well.
What I've just finished reading
Some rereads -- mostly comfort rereads, including Martha Wells' The Element of Fire and Barbara Hambly's The Walls of Air (I'm doing another Darwath reread, which may turn into another Hambly chronological reread). Also, uh, the middle/end of Mercedes Lackey and Rosemary Edghill's Bedlam's Bard series, starting with Spirits White as Lightning and Mad Maudlin, since I was in the mood for it. I read Mad Maudlin today, and it was kind of startling in a way -- one thing I find interesting about urban fantasy is that it can sometimes be very precisely dated to when it was written, which is particularly true for Mad Maudlin because it was written after 9/11 and takes place in 2002 (it was published in 2003), with a lot of references to 9/11 and the way it affected NYC.
In Star Wars rereads, I'm working through the X-Wing books again -- I reread the Wraith Squadron books pretty regularly, but haven't reread the Rogue Squadron books since the first time I read them, so I'm doing that. Also this week were Thrawn and Thrawn: Alliances, the former for Devil's Lair (the sequel to Backbone), which is going to have Thrawn and Eli in it. I want to do a review of Thrawn: Alliances (and have meant to do so since I listened to the audiobook this summer), but I'm not really sure what I have to say about it. I mean, aside from the fact that trying to reconcile the two Thrawn books and Rebels is basically impossible. (I have a post somewhere in me on how frustrating Star Wars ~canon is for me right now.)
And new this week was Seanan McGuire's In an Absent Dream, the fourth Wayward Children book. I have mixed feelings on this book -- novella, technically. Of the Wayward Children books I like Every Heart a Doorway the most, which is probably predictable for someone who came out of Narnia fandom. In an Absent Dream is a tragedy, but I also feel like...it might have worked better as a full novel rather than as a novella? Of the four novellas in the series it's the one that for me feels the most cramped by its format.
( spoilers )
I also read the first four issues of Spider-Gwen: Ghost-Spider this week, the new Seanan McGuire run, and while I'm not much of a superhero comics girl (Star Wars, yes, a couple of indies, yes, Marvel and DC, not so much), I have read a lot of McGuire and Ghost-Spider is...it's very, very Seanan McGuire. Like, extremely so. It reminds me the most of the Sparrow Hill Road books and her novellas (both the McGuire ones and the ones written as Mira Grant), and I'm not totally sure it works. But I don't know the character or the franchise, so this is my read as someone familiar with the author but not the genre.
Other comics I'm reading: Star Wars - Age of Republic and Die. Not really in the mood for any of them at the moment, but I'm still reading both. (There are a couple of Star Wars titles I'm no longer reading.)
What I'm currently reading:
Several books in progress: The Armies of Daylight (Barbara Hambly), City of Bones (Martha Wells), Music to my Sorrow (Mercedes Lackey & Rosemary Edghill), and Star Wars: X-Wing: The Krytos Trap by Michael Stackpole. Various books for various moods. I've also been trying to work through Barbara Hambly's Renfield: Slave of Dracula because I'm trying to be a Hambly completionist, but I think it's going to hit my DNF list since I'm not very familiar with Dracula and I think you kind of have to be to read this.
What I'm reading next:
The rest of the X-wing series, Swordheart, more Hambly, and since the term is starting next week, probably a lot of books on the Late Roman Empire. Those don't count, though.
What I've just finished reading
Some rereads -- mostly comfort rereads, including Martha Wells' The Element of Fire and Barbara Hambly's The Walls of Air (I'm doing another Darwath reread, which may turn into another Hambly chronological reread). Also, uh, the middle/end of Mercedes Lackey and Rosemary Edghill's Bedlam's Bard series, starting with Spirits White as Lightning and Mad Maudlin, since I was in the mood for it. I read Mad Maudlin today, and it was kind of startling in a way -- one thing I find interesting about urban fantasy is that it can sometimes be very precisely dated to when it was written, which is particularly true for Mad Maudlin because it was written after 9/11 and takes place in 2002 (it was published in 2003), with a lot of references to 9/11 and the way it affected NYC.
In Star Wars rereads, I'm working through the X-Wing books again -- I reread the Wraith Squadron books pretty regularly, but haven't reread the Rogue Squadron books since the first time I read them, so I'm doing that. Also this week were Thrawn and Thrawn: Alliances, the former for Devil's Lair (the sequel to Backbone), which is going to have Thrawn and Eli in it. I want to do a review of Thrawn: Alliances (and have meant to do so since I listened to the audiobook this summer), but I'm not really sure what I have to say about it. I mean, aside from the fact that trying to reconcile the two Thrawn books and Rebels is basically impossible. (I have a post somewhere in me on how frustrating Star Wars ~canon is for me right now.)
And new this week was Seanan McGuire's In an Absent Dream, the fourth Wayward Children book. I have mixed feelings on this book -- novella, technically. Of the Wayward Children books I like Every Heart a Doorway the most, which is probably predictable for someone who came out of Narnia fandom. In an Absent Dream is a tragedy, but I also feel like...it might have worked better as a full novel rather than as a novella? Of the four novellas in the series it's the one that for me feels the most cramped by its format.
( spoilers )I also read the first four issues of Spider-Gwen: Ghost-Spider this week, the new Seanan McGuire run, and while I'm not much of a superhero comics girl (Star Wars, yes, a couple of indies, yes, Marvel and DC, not so much), I have read a lot of McGuire and Ghost-Spider is...it's very, very Seanan McGuire. Like, extremely so. It reminds me the most of the Sparrow Hill Road books and her novellas (both the McGuire ones and the ones written as Mira Grant), and I'm not totally sure it works. But I don't know the character or the franchise, so this is my read as someone familiar with the author but not the genre.
Other comics I'm reading: Star Wars - Age of Republic and Die. Not really in the mood for any of them at the moment, but I'm still reading both. (There are a couple of Star Wars titles I'm no longer reading.)
What I'm currently reading:
Several books in progress: The Armies of Daylight (Barbara Hambly), City of Bones (Martha Wells), Music to my Sorrow (Mercedes Lackey & Rosemary Edghill), and Star Wars: X-Wing: The Krytos Trap by Michael Stackpole. Various books for various moods. I've also been trying to work through Barbara Hambly's Renfield: Slave of Dracula because I'm trying to be a Hambly completionist, but I think it's going to hit my DNF list since I'm not very familiar with Dracula and I think you kind of have to be to read this.
What I'm reading next:
The rest of the X-wing series, Swordheart, more Hambly, and since the term is starting next week, probably a lot of books on the Late Roman Empire. Those don't count, though.
