Month: December 2007

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Enoch, Suzanne: (03.5-04) Twice the Temptation; A Touch of Minx

Suzanne Enoch’s contemporary caper/romance series had a stealth entry with Twice the Temptation, which is basically her Remember When: two novellas linked by diamonds, one in each of the author’s principal genres. The first, “A Diamond or Forever,” is a Regency romance featuring Rick Addison’s ancestors which gave the book its cover (hence the stealth nature). I enjoyed this perfectly well, but didn’t find it notable enough to motivate me to read Enoch’s other Regencies. The other novella, “Diamonds Are Not A Girl’s Best Friend,” is the contemporary tale featuring Rick and Samantha Jellicoe. Perhaps because I was a bit under the weather when I read it a while ago, it made me cranky: I didn’t approve of the way the ongoing power and trust struggles played out.

The fourth novel in the series, A Touch of Minx, is a lot better (even if its title has nothing to do with anything). Samantha is juggling two retrieval jobs, a set of valuable stolen museum goods and an anatomical classroom model (as a favor to an honorary niece), which amused me inordinately. Plus, in her personal life, Rick is getting impatient with her ongoing commitment issues.

I liked the actual plot in this one, and the continuing development of secondary characters. I still skip the sex scenes (not only are they repetitive, but I am jarred by Enoch’s word choices), but otherwise this was good winter-afternoon reading.

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Pullman, Philip: (01) The Golden Compass

After watching the movie adaptation of Philip Pullman’s The Golden Compass last night, I gave the book a quick re-read today.

The book is better, as it makes more sense and is far less anvilicious. I love the rich strange compelling nature of the world-building and the characters here, and the range of emotions, and the hints at hugely ambitious goings-on. My memory of it is by far the clearest of the series, though I’m not sure if that’s because I liked it best or I just had more opportunties to re-read. I’m likely to go on and re-read the second book, too, though I’m unsure whether I’ll bother with the third, which I do not remember fondly—which puts me in the odd position of not recommending this book, for all that it’s excellent.

(I’ve just noticed that our mass market edition, a first edition of Del Rey’s May 1997 printing, promises an introduction by Terry Brooks on its cover, but contains no such thing inside. I can’t say I regret the omission.)

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Chase, Loretta: (101) Miss Wonderful

After reading Mr. Impossible, I went back to the beginning of Loretta Chase’s series with Miss Wonderful. To my surprise and delight, this was very close to being just as good.

Alistair Carsington has a history of falling in love “quickly, deeply, and disastrously.” (The list of his “Episodes of Stupidity” in the Prologue is wonderful.) After the last scandal, his father packed him off into the army, just in time for him to be seriously injured at Waterloo. Now a reluctant war hero, he is determined to save his fortune, and the fortune of his friend, by getting a canal approved.

Mirabel Oldridge has been running her botanist father’s estates for years, and vehemently opposes the canal plan. She’s not alone in her opposition–but she’s the only one willing to stand against a noble-born war hero.

One of the things I like about Chase’s books to date is that they’re about something other than the romance plot. Here, the proposed canal poses a genuine dilemma, and I admire its handling more than I can say without spoilers. More, it’s intertwined with character problems and growth that are, again, independent of the romance plot. Being both sensible and charming is a good trick, but one which this book manages.

My only quibble is with the book’s portrayal of recovering from post-traumatic stress disorder, which struck me as edging toward facile. Which is peculiar, because the book’s treatment of reactions to Waterloo seemed nuanced otherwise. It’s a very small element of the book, however, which I enjoyed very much.

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Wilks, Eileen: (03) Blood Lines

Eileen Wilks’ Blood Lines concludes the trilogy started by Tempting Danger. Magic levels are rising dangerously and unpredictably, which is bad enough on its own, but someone is using the power spikes to summon demons to attack the lupi.

Besides liking the prior two books in the series, I was favorably inclined toward this book from the opening of Chapter One:

The National Symphony’s performance of Handel’s Messiah had started at eight thirty, so the choir was winding up the “Hallelujah Chorus” when the lead tenor turned into a wolf.

And for quite a while, the book lives up to that, moving briskly and with an engaging sense of heightened jeopardy.

Unfortunately the plot’s climax is a rickety contrivance that pushed me out of the story. I’m also not happy with the way the story treats Cynna, a major character introduced in the prior book. As she is one of the main characters of the next book (which appears to go off in a different direction, plot-wise), I’ll be looking for an acknowledgment of these problems. So, not as good as the prior books, but I won’t be ditching the series quite yet.

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Shinn, Sharon: (02-04) The Thirteenth House; Dark Moon Defender; Reader and Raelynx

I read the second and third books in Sharon Shinn’s Twelve Houses series in paperback a few weeks ago, and the fourth and most recent from the library recently. On the whole, I found these cozy entertainment, though nothing impressive in terms of form or content.

Well, with the exception of The Thirteenth House, the second book, which does two things: it explores the political situation of the twelve noble houses and their vassals, the House of the title. And it is the story of how Kirra and the potential regent—the married potential regent—fall in love. Unfortunately the book suffers from a fundamental structural imbalance, the complete failure to do justice to Donnal, Kirra’s devoted and constant companion. This Donnal-shaped hole is a fatal distraction for me.

The third book, Dark Moon Defender, is a better, more balanced book. It examines the religious order that murders mystics and supports rebellion against the king, through a convent novice who gradually realizes the true aims of the order and the danger it places her in. This is a somewhat conventional story of love and adventure, but I liked the characters and found it an enjoyable read.

At this point, my overall impression of the series was that the broader plot was developing very slowly. I also didn’t really think it would culminate in a war, for all that everyone kept predicting one, because it just didn’t feel like that kind of series. I also saw news on Shinn’s site (non-linkable Flash) about a potential fifth book, and so thought there was more space for the plot to develop in.

Well, Reader and Raelynx, the fourth book, proved me wrong. It does wrap up the arc begun in the first book, and it does include a war. Overall, I found its answers and resolutions satisfying, particularly the mythic aspects of the final confrontation. One or two of the scenes strained my suspension of disbelief, and I’m not sure I like the very end; but on the whole I found it very good comfort reading. I should note, however, that something about these books nearly mutes my critical facilities; I don’t know whether that’s cause or effect, but readers should take these comments with a grain of salt.

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