Aerie, The Shapes of Their Hearts, Allies, The Sunday Philosophy Club

[snugglekitty]

Aerie was the fourth book in Mercedes Lackey's Joust series. I have read each book with some anticipation but not what you could call excitement. In my opinion, Lackey's glory days are over, even though I still like her new books. They are comfort food books for me, so I like to read them at this time of year. I'd give it three stars. It was okay but it wasn't excellent, and I probably won't read it again.

The Shapes of Their Hearts is by Melissa Scott, one of my favorite cyberpunk writers. This book didn't do it for me, though. It starts out promising enough - an AI is leading a cult, and might be going crazy. Someone is trapped in its brain. And then, it just... kind of fizzles out. What happens to the AI? We're never told. Two stars - I expected better.

Allies is the new chapbook from the Liaden Universe, by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller. The first story, "Fighting Chance," I had read before in the anthology _Women of War_ - I think it was my first brush with Miri Robertson. The other story was okay. Three stars.

The Sunday Philosophy Club by Alexander McCall Smith, the author of the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series, was a bit of a disappointment. It was nowhere near as funny as his other books, although I found the characters endearing. I also liked the ending. Three stars.

Comments

[bearsir.livejournal.com]

I read Lackey the same way, like Robert Parker's Spenser mysteries - palate cleansers, quick and tasty breaks between more substantial courses.