March to the Sea, Three Days to Never, and Staying Dead

[snugglekitty]

March to the Sea by David Weber and John Ringo is the first sequel to March Upcountry, and I didn't like it anywhere near as much. This book fell into the (imo) fallacy that any other planet is inevitably going to be like Earth, and any other society is going to make the same technical progression as society on Earth has. The aliens are really tall, have four arms, and are covered in mucus. They live on a planet where it rains almost every day. Why, why WHY would they develop arquebuses that are based on fire when it is wet all the time and they admit that they can hardly ever use them? Wouldn't they be shooting blowdarts, or waging biological warfare with chemicals that dry out the other guy's mucus, or something? Sorry, I don't mean to be gross. And even if they DID develop those arquebuses, wouldn't they be overwhelmed by folks who know the anti-mucus chemicals, or something? Anyway, it bugged me. And a strong wind could've blown away the plot. Two stars.

Three Days to Never was more satisfying. It's Tim Powers' new novel. For those who don't already know Powers, he writes creepy, intellectual speculative fiction. He likes time travel and ghosts and mysterious telepathic links. These themes come together well in this novel. The main characters are the twelve-year-old Daphne Marrity (written very convincingly) and her father Frank. Powers also chooses quotations from another piece of literature to use as epigraphs to each chapter - in this case, The Tempest was his source. It's not always a graceful combination, he usually tries to make that piece of literature significant to the plot in some way, and it tends not to work. But these are minor complaints. Yay, Mossad, Einstein, and the Head of Baphomet! If you like weird stuff, you'll like this book. Three and a half stars.

Staying Dead by Laura Gilman is the first book in the Retrievers series. It's also one of the best book titles I've seen in a while. I read a short story by her in Murder by Magic which I really liked, but it took me a while to look her up for some reason. Anyway, this is an original variant on the Anita Blake thing, like so many other books I like. Main character Wren is a thief who makes a living stealing back stolen objects using her magical Talent. Her business partner is a devastatingly handsome businessman who also owns an art gallery. They are up to their necks in conspiracies and dark magics. You can cut the sexual tension with a knife. Do they get it on? Who's responsible for the theft of a dangerous and valuable magical artifact? Gotta read the book to find out. Four stars for book 110 - yum!



Currently in the pile - Jane and the Man of the Cloth, The Space Opera Renaissance, and No-Pattern Knits.