three pleasing fantasies
Feb. 15th, 2007 03:30 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
snugglekittyI picked up When the King Comes Home by Caroline Stevermer at a book swap a while back. I have very much enjoyed her young adult fiction. Yet, for some reason, it took me almost a year to read this book. Which is a shame because it was really quite excellent. It's not at all standard fantasy. How magic works is never entirely explained (which I like). The focus of the book on the idea of art was very enjoyable to me. The characters were very real, and the magical stuff was believable and creepy and hard to figure out.
I think it's great that Stevermer's collaborations with Pat Wrede are now very well-known, and I hope for great things from her in the future. Four and a half stars.
I read White Lies by Jayne Ann Krentz because I had very much enjoyed the previous book in the series, Second Sight, written under the name Amanda Quick. WL was not exactly what I expected - I hadn't realized the second book would take place in the modern era, rather than in Victorian times as the first book had. Still, I really enjoyed it. (The authors that have been recommended to me by Novelist as being similar to Krentz have all fallen terribly short.) My enjoyment, in no small part, came from Chapter Eight, in which the heroine confides to her sister that even though she has always sought out submissive men in the past, she is tired of running the show. She wants someone who can stand up to her, and she to him. Thus, when her love interest acts possessive and predatory, it makes perfect sense and does not make me scowl and mutter under my breath. I figured I'd mention this in detail to explain why Krentz does it for me when other romance writers tend not to. Anyway, I will definitely keep reading books in this series. I read an interview in which Krentz said that she would write at least one entry under each of her pen names, which suggests that the third will be futuristic in focus. I sure do hope so! She's come a long, long way since After Dark. Three stars - a solid read, but I wouldn't go back to it over and over.
Finally, after much searching, I found the book Silverglass by JF Rivkin. This book was recommended to me some time ago by someone whose tastes in books are unerring. This is a fantasy from the 80s in which a mercenary swordswoman is hired by a woman she's been sent to kill. The two argue, tease each other, go to bed together, squabble over men, and face down their enemies together. I really enjoyed the book. I'd give it four and a half stars. I would have loved it even more if I had read it when it came out. To think at the time I was reading Piers Anthony, for want of having found female-oriented fantasy! Anyway, the book is followed by three sequels, which I am going to do my best to get my hands on. Again, thank you, paperbackswap.com! If anyone wants a referral to join, just let me know. So many free books!
I think it's great that Stevermer's collaborations with Pat Wrede are now very well-known, and I hope for great things from her in the future. Four and a half stars.
I read White Lies by Jayne Ann Krentz because I had very much enjoyed the previous book in the series, Second Sight, written under the name Amanda Quick. WL was not exactly what I expected - I hadn't realized the second book would take place in the modern era, rather than in Victorian times as the first book had. Still, I really enjoyed it. (The authors that have been recommended to me by Novelist as being similar to Krentz have all fallen terribly short.) My enjoyment, in no small part, came from Chapter Eight, in which the heroine confides to her sister that even though she has always sought out submissive men in the past, she is tired of running the show. She wants someone who can stand up to her, and she to him. Thus, when her love interest acts possessive and predatory, it makes perfect sense and does not make me scowl and mutter under my breath. I figured I'd mention this in detail to explain why Krentz does it for me when other romance writers tend not to. Anyway, I will definitely keep reading books in this series. I read an interview in which Krentz said that she would write at least one entry under each of her pen names, which suggests that the third will be futuristic in focus. I sure do hope so! She's come a long, long way since After Dark. Three stars - a solid read, but I wouldn't go back to it over and over.
Finally, after much searching, I found the book Silverglass by JF Rivkin. This book was recommended to me some time ago by someone whose tastes in books are unerring. This is a fantasy from the 80s in which a mercenary swordswoman is hired by a woman she's been sent to kill. The two argue, tease each other, go to bed together, squabble over men, and face down their enemies together. I really enjoyed the book. I'd give it four and a half stars. I would have loved it even more if I had read it when it came out. To think at the time I was reading Piers Anthony, for want of having found female-oriented fantasy! Anyway, the book is followed by three sequels, which I am going to do my best to get my hands on. Again, thank you, paperbackswap.com! If anyone wants a referral to join, just let me know. So many free books!
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Date: 2007-02-15 09:09 pm (UTC)I just finished it, and have to say I enjoyed it. (http://elkor.livejournal.com/481412.html)
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Date: 2007-02-15 09:15 pm (UTC)If you like CE Murphy, you might also want to try Moon Called by Patricia Briggs. Or actually, anything on that list you commented on a while back. :)
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Date: 2007-02-18 11:55 pm (UTC)