Affliction by Laurell K. Hamilton

2017 Review

You know a book is going to blow you away when you're laughing and crying happy tears within the first chunk of it. I think Affliction is going down as my favorite Anita Blake novel.

Also, even though I totally called how it was going to end, I thoroughly enjoyed the ride there.

2026 Reread Review

I honestly thought I'd done more of a review on Affliction, in fact, I thought I'd done two. I was obviously wrong on that count, but whatever. Here we are. I really love Affliction and, so far in this series reread, it is my favorite. Go figure.

I really like the character work done here. We get Nicky and Dev more fleshed out and more of Micah's surrounding back-story. I adore Micah's family, aside from the obvious outliers of Aunt Bertie and Uncle Jamie. Those two would definitely be hardcore MAGA if this were our universe, I have little doubt. As they are... well, I can honestly say I was not at all sorry to see them exit to story.

I wasn't super pleased to have another, though expected, round of "Anita has to explain/justify her lifestyle and work choices to a bunch of cops in order to be taken seriously"... but it was handled okay. I'm glad Hatfield got her shit together on that count. Like, yes, perhaps take what the more experienced Monster Hunters have to say about the monster hunting to heart, even if you don't agree with who they're sleeping with. I find those kinds of things very tedious. I get it's not super realistic to just gloss over, but it's been 22 books at this point and we have to rehash it every damn time... ugh.

I enjoyed the "zombie apocalypse" aspect, surprisingly for me. I'm not usually a fan of that kind of overt horror (it grosses me out, for one). I think reading it helps because my brain can just be like "Ah yes, we understand the concept the words are conveying but you don't have to see it, so it's fine." As always, having Edward on board is fun. I like his dynamic with Anita and Nicky. So very, very glad Olaf didn't make an appearance this time.

So... yeah. Affliction is definitely my favorite. I think it's nice not to have to deal with the frustrations that often complicate Anita's life... for a little while anyway.

Favorite Lines

"Wound. We can always kill her later, but once you kill someone, wounding seems a little pointless." - Anita Blake

"I could never eat someone who thought planning a wedding was fun." - Anita Blake

"If you're doing it right, love makes you more of who you are, not less," - Anita Blake

"Picture don't tell the truth, Anita. Anyone can lie long enough to have a picture taken." - Nicky Murdoch

"We can't really control what flips our switch; don't judge it, Anita, just accept it." - Edward 

The Renegades of Pern by Anne McCaffrey

The Renegades of Pern made me realize that, unless there are very large deviations from the original text, I don’t enjoy reading of events that have already happened. Or at least, not in McCaffrey’s style. Because I’ve been reading in chronological order, there’s several instances in The Renegades of Pern where the story is re-tread. There was a retelling of Piemur’s arrival in Southern via Sharra, Thella’s version of Aramina’s recuse by Heth, and a good chunk of The White Dragon through Piemur’s eyes. It was alright, but I just read all that elsewhere.

That said, the rest of The Renegades of Pern was alright. I was honestly bored with the second half of Jayge and Aramina’s story, but did enjoy the ultimate ending. Thella was slightly compelling, until she went full-on revenge-girl. Like, I enjoyed that she was willing to strike out on her own and that she managed to mostly do it successfully… but then it was all “they have seen me, they must die” and that was just less fun.

Most of Piemur and Toric’s bits were re-treads of what happened during The White Dragon. That changed during the last few chapters, where more exploring of the Southern Continent happened. That part was interesting. I won’t go into specifics on that, but it was a continuation of Pern’s story that’s looking like a lot of fun.

Dragon's Time by Anne & Todd McCaffrey

I can’t pinpoint what made Dragon’s Time so much better than Dragongirl, but pacing is a big part of this. The pacing was so, so much better. I practically flew through Dragon’s Time.

The time travel is very heavy here, but mostly well done. Lorana’s adventures through time were alright. I think the concept of a Beacon is interesting. Lorana was definitely more relatable here. I particularly liked her first little thing with Tenniz. And “seeing” her be at least somewhat in space was interesting. It was also really obvious to me that F’jian was doing a “Time Traveler’s Wife” kind of thing, which was fairly sweet. Terin’s initial reaction to it was super understandable.

There also wasn’t the dire sort of feeling that Dragongirl had about the state of the Dragons. We didn’t get, or need, up-to-the-moment updates about how many dragons were left. The worry was still there, just not nearly as oppressive this time.

I do like that we get some dragon-switching. It’s an interesting concept, especially in light of the more open attitude Fiona and Telgar Weyr have been promoting.

The last third of the book honestly had me confused. I don’t usually rely on maps, but I wish the islands were included. I guess that’s regarded as a spoiler, which is why the map didn’t appear until after the last chapter. I had a hard time visualizing where the heck Fiona and them were. I would talk more about the goings on there, but I do feel like that’s a lot more of a spoiler.

But anyway, Dragon’s Time was definitely a lot more enjoyable than Dragongirl. That’s the main feeling I’m left with. I’m also relieved, because I do want to enjoy my time reading and rereading Pern.

I've Done It Again!

I'm not re-upping my goal again this year. Just gonna see how many I get through for the rest of the year in a chill manner.

Reviews Batch 11

Paper Towns by John Green
Originally Posted to GoodReads: September 3, 2014

Paper Towns was absolutely awesome. I learned from it, laughed, and stayed up a lot longer than I should have reading it.

 

 

Affliction by Laurell K. Hamilton
Originally Posted to GoodReads: September 6, 2017

You know a book is going to blow you away when you're laughing and crying happy tears within the first chunk of it. I think Affliction is going down as my favorite Anita Blake novel.

Also, even though I totally called how it was going to end, I thoroughly enjoyed the ride there.

 

The House in the Cerulean Sea by T.J. Klune
Originally Posted to GoodReads: September 14, 2021

Beautiful

Absolutely beautiful. I loved it. There were happy tears. I should probably make a mental note that things starting out similar in tone/cadence to Harry Potter are probably going to be very good.

Got me through a couple of tough days at work. I like to hope more people are like Linus than not. We all need that kind of acceptance in our lives.

I thought the story was sweet and amusing. I enjoyed the different takes on the Magical Youths, a good chunk of which I hadn’t encountered before even as a voracious reader of fantasy. And I do mean the species of the characters. It’s nice to get away from the “norms” of creatures. Also the way they were handled personality-wise was excellent.

 

Library of Souls by Ransom Riggs
Originally Posted to GoodReads: September 19, 2018

Better than the last one but geeeeez that schmaltzy ending... which, in all honesty, seems really tacked on. Like, "Oh hey, wanna write another book? Make sure to write an ending that'll lead into the next one!" Kind of an ending. I dunno, it was alright. *shrug*