![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
What I just finished
The Drowning Eyes by Emily Foster. The cover for this novella is fantastic: a young black woman stands on a storm-tossed deck, clutching an amulet, while a Viking ship encroaches in the background. The novella itself, however, has a bland writing style, a thin plot, and terrible plotting. Its one good point is that the characters are fairly interesting, but that's not enough to redeem the story.
Wight Mischief by J. L. Merrow. Ridiculously over-the-top contemporary m/m romance whose characters are forced to hold the idiot ball way too often. Not recommended.
The Sorcerer of the Wildeeps by Kai Ashante Wilson. I liked this book but didn't love it, though the breakdown of its strengths and flaws is such that I'm really looking forward to reading more from Wilson. The characters are vivid and believable and the worldbuilding fascinating. The prose is rich and dense (though occasionally too overwrought for my taste). I didn't even mind the somewhat insubstantial plot--focused on a single caravan journey, with a few flashbacks to the earlier life of one of the hired guards--because the worldbuilding and the interpersonal relationships are the real stars of the story. That said, the pacing is quite bad; the story's terribly slow to get started, the flashbacks are dropped in willy-nilly, and the conclusion is way too abrupt and insufficiently supported by the rest of the story. Still, I'm very glad I read it. Possible Yuletide fandom.
What I'm reading now
Chaos Station by Jenn Burke and Kelly Jensen and a reread of Rivers of London by Ben Aaronovitch.
What I'm reading next
A Taste of Honey is still near the top of my TBR list. I just need a bit of a break after the heaviness of The Sorcerer of the Wildeeps.
The Drowning Eyes by Emily Foster. The cover for this novella is fantastic: a young black woman stands on a storm-tossed deck, clutching an amulet, while a Viking ship encroaches in the background. The novella itself, however, has a bland writing style, a thin plot, and terrible plotting. Its one good point is that the characters are fairly interesting, but that's not enough to redeem the story.
Wight Mischief by J. L. Merrow. Ridiculously over-the-top contemporary m/m romance whose characters are forced to hold the idiot ball way too often. Not recommended.
The Sorcerer of the Wildeeps by Kai Ashante Wilson. I liked this book but didn't love it, though the breakdown of its strengths and flaws is such that I'm really looking forward to reading more from Wilson. The characters are vivid and believable and the worldbuilding fascinating. The prose is rich and dense (though occasionally too overwrought for my taste). I didn't even mind the somewhat insubstantial plot--focused on a single caravan journey, with a few flashbacks to the earlier life of one of the hired guards--because the worldbuilding and the interpersonal relationships are the real stars of the story. That said, the pacing is quite bad; the story's terribly slow to get started, the flashbacks are dropped in willy-nilly, and the conclusion is way too abrupt and insufficiently supported by the rest of the story. Still, I'm very glad I read it. Possible Yuletide fandom.
What I'm reading now
Chaos Station by Jenn Burke and Kelly Jensen and a reread of Rivers of London by Ben Aaronovitch.
What I'm reading next
A Taste of Honey is still near the top of my TBR list. I just need a bit of a break after the heaviness of The Sorcerer of the Wildeeps.
Tags: