Foxglove Summer by Ben Aaronovitch

There is a slight spoiler for something reveal mid-book. Just a bit of a warning.

I definitely liked this one a lot more than Broken Homes. The lore especially was right up my alley. I also like Beverly Brook more than I ever did Lesley. That is not to say Lesley is a bad character, I’m just less fond of her. *shrug* But anyway, Foxglove Summer fully introduces the Fae in what I think is a rather classic but brilliant way. Although fairyland itself doesn’t have so much “screen time,” it lived up to my expectations of what we might get.

Changeling lore is usually pretty fun. Being the veteran of fantasy and mythology that I am, I clocked it pretty much from the start, or at least, upon the return of Hannah and “Nicole.” I didn’t anticipate the “Derek” of it all, but that was a nice little twist.

I think I also preferred the group of police from Leominster over the London group. They seemed much more chill and open about the whole Folly business. I’m appreciative of open-mindedness around weird things you demonstratively know are happening, rather than immediately going down the “don’t ask/don’t tell” route.

So yeah, Foxglove Summer was quite enjoyable. Good world building. Solid entry. 

Bloody Bones by Laurell K. Hamilton

According to my previous rating of 5 stars, I was definitely a lot more into Bloody Bones than I am now. (Down to 3 stars) It's alright and boy, does it go a mile a minute once we meet Seraphina... but that mile a minute-ness is actually what made me dislike it more this time around. I feel like a lot happened in too short of a time-frame to make the plot fit and go where it needed to. I really feel like the ultimate solution to Rawhead and Bloody Bones was too easy. Aaand then there's the first real taste of what vampire "politics" are like in the Anita Blake universe, which I also hate with a seething passion.

So... first, on a reread it's actually kind of nice to "experience" Anita traveling pre-entorage. Larry definitely doesn't count. We don't have 5000 characters to keep track of at any given moment. Just Anita and Larry joined by Jean-Claude and Jason. Very chill. Kind of miss that.

I did enjoy, as usual, further expansion of the Anita Blake world with the fairy stuff. This is one of the very few times Anita comes up against fairies... honestly mostly lack-luster. I'm not a fan of Dorcas, but Magnus was at least as menacing as he needed to be. Rawhead and Bloody Bones was semi-interesting before his end... his lore was a lot more interesting than the actual beastie, in my opinion.

Okay, so, vampire "politics" and show-boating and all the "we're gonna play with our food" crap... I get we gotta have vampires shown to be much more dangerous, but I hate it. I honestly feel this is an extension of their humanity showing through. You've got the power to intimidate so you gotta throw it in the faces of your rivals. I get it. This was particularly drawn out by Janos and his rotting ladies. I like that there's more than one type of vampire, and honestly, that scene, or rather, the aftermath, did very much endear Jason to me. However, the manipulation aspect of it bugs the shit out of me. Consent with a coercion backer does not mean actual consent, no matter whose life appears to be on the line. This also happens pretty much non-stop from the moment Anita and the boys arrive at Seraphina's. Anita, we're about to torture some girls to get you to let us torture you instead. Anita, we're gonna kill Larry. Anita, we're gonna kill Jeff. Anita, Larry's about to get killed again. On and on. Ugh. I hate it.

I legit spent about 4 days avoiding the Janos-in-the-basement-scene. Weird, honestly, because I'd forgotten that trauma happens this early in the series... but my brain remembered. I skimmed it, this time, just to get it over with. Read the rest of the book in about 24hrs.

So yeah, I'm a lot less into Bloody Bones than I was originally. I really found a lot of it repetitive in how it forced the plot to move along. I did like the very ending, though. It was interesting, if also kind of confusing... but not a bad ending at all. 

Favorite Lines

"You've just admitted you don't know anything about my job," I said. "How do you know what will affect it and what won't?" - Anita Blake

"A vampire was a person once. Just being dead doesn't cure you of any problems you had as a live human being. If you have a violent pathology before death, that won't change just because you're dead." - Anita Blake

"It's alright," I said. "Carrot's inert." - Anita Blake 

In Other News

As of posting this, I'm one hatching away from finishing my Ebonwumon project over on OviPets. Gonna go ahead and post about this now so I don't end up forgetting later. Ebonwumon is part of my Mega Digimon Project and based on the Digimon of the same name. I did the tattoos on their heads to mimic the helmet-things on the two-headed Digimon. I also did the tail tattoo.

Ebonwumon took me about 13 months to complete.

Ebonwumon

The Prince of Nowhere by Emily Drake

Honestly, this was not what I was expecting. I was not expecting the two year time-jump, not that it made any difference whatsoever. I was expecting something having to do with Gregory, which this did not at all. It was honestly okay most of the way through, which seems to be par for the course with The Magickers series. The ending, as usual, was super rushed, though also took forever getting there.

So, the nothing burger of a time-jump. I honestly feel like it was there to have given Ting/Pearl time to become a larger dragon and explain how she’s now used to this. Trent and Jason seem to have figured out how to use Trent’s abilities in a much different manner than Trent was using them in The Gate of Bones. That was so different I was confused as to what anyone was talking about in regard to Trent’s abilities. But otherwise… everything is pretty much the same as it was at the end of The Gate of Bones.

I enjoyed meeting and getting to know Leah. She’s a fun new character. I’m honestly glad, though, that we only got this short amount of time with her, as I feel like she would have just faded into the ensemble if the series were continuing. Along with Leah, we got more of a glimpse into Haven’s other inhabitants and how another piece of their society works.

Eyomani was honestly a nothing burger of an antagonist. His motivation, explained at the very end, was honestly stupid. I would have rather not had him at all and just focused on finding Rich’s cure. That, and dealing with Leah and her tracker-companion would have been just fine.

So, yeah… The Prince of Nowhere was largely just alright. The very ending felt like a rushed mess that had to basically tie up everything

 

In Other News

I finished another OviPets Project. This one is an approximation of the Digimon: Sakumon. Sakumon has a blade on its head and OviPets doesn't have that option so the unicorn horn had to do.

Sakumon took me approximately 3 months to complete and is a "Village of Beginnings" project.

The Last Olympian by Rick Riordan

The Last Olympian had me in tears a good few times. I largely chalk this up to a waves of backup Percy and the Campers receive over the course of the New York Battle. I’ve said it before and I will say it probably a thousand more times: I am a sucker for the “Big Damn Heroes” Trope in which everyone and their mother shows up to help save the day. The Last Olympian had many such moments and therefore: tears. Couldn’t help it.

I am rather glad that Nico got more characterization. I originally found him mostly a non-entity, so I’m glad that’s changed. I'm not sure exactly how much of a spoiler it is to say that Thalia makes a reappearance... but she does. It was the first of the "Big Damn Heroes" moments that had me tearing up. She seems much more grounded here, though I'm not sure exactly what gave me that impression.

After the reveals about Luke's mother, I saw Rachel Dare's fate coming. I honestly thought it was rather obvious, though I like her as a character. 

I don’t think I have much else specific to say about The Last Olympian. I enjoyed it a lot more than the other books, that’s for sure. It felt much more focused, which, given the New York Battle took up a sizable chunk of the book, makes sense. Definitely an acceptable and satisfying end to Percy Jackson and the Olympians.

 On A Personal Note

I honestly would probably have enjoyed these more when I was younger. I've been told by and IRL coworker/friend that the next batch of books is better... however, I really have zero desire to continue beyond this point. Plus, well, I'm more excited to start The Wheel of Time. I might return to the Percy Jackson universe at some stage, but... not right now.

I'll do my customary pallette cleanser standalone novel before starting The Wheel of Time. Just so ya'll know where I'm at, reading-wise. 

Wyvernhail by Amelia Atwater-Rhodes

Spoiler Free Reread Review

Wyvernhail is the fastest paced of these five books. Hai's desperation to save the future from the flames of the unborn Keyi is palpable. She, no overt spoilers, does manage to save everything and tie a neat bow on the whole series. Wyvernhail is also a book of self-discovery for Hai, though I don't think she realizes it until the very end.

I'm not entirely sure how I feel about Wyvernhail personally. On the one hand, I am again frustrated by the way Wyvern's Court is still super segregated, though that is both less and more of an issue in Wyvernhail. I am annoyed by the falcon interference. I am pleased that Hai, despite being pulled this way and that by her magic, is able to have some adult relationships that are implied to be... well... less than healthy. And to be clear, I'm not pleased by the less-than-healthy aspects of this, but by the fact her character isn't infantilized.

Wyvernhail also does a lot of heavy lifting, as far as the World Building for the entire series. There's been bits a pieces of the past scattered throughout the series, but Wyvernhail comes right out and explains what happened with Maeve and Keisha and Alasdair and the falcons. It feels cathartic, but I also doubt Hai really explains any of this to her compatriots, so I'm not sure whether or not it's helpful to the people of Wyvern's Court.

I do like Wyvernhail well enough. Definitely not as up on it as I was on first read, but then, I've grown since then so... yeah.

Nerilka's Story by Anne McCaffrey

First and foremost: I am in love with the Appendix of this book. I've never had a proper image of the Holds in my head -- I always imagined them to look like castles -- until looking at this Appendix. My mind is honestly blown at how much the outside portions look like factories. Not exactly the most beautiful illustrations, but I love them anyway.

Secondly, the whole "Rill" mystery at the end of Moreta: Dragonlady of Pern... solved. It felt weirdly tacked on at the end of that book and I think the inclusion of Nerilka's name was either a typo or someone missed changing it in the edit. But anyway...

Finally, Nerilka's Story was a quick, fresh read. I finished it in a few hours. Getting a first-person viewpoint made a nice change. I also quite like Nerilka. She's the kind of person I'd like to think I would be in her situation. Hard-working and more likely to do what is right rather than sit by while people suffer. I also enjoyed getting a Holder viewpoint of Pern in crisis and one that, though colored by tragedy, isn't seeped in it. Nerilka does seem detached from the death of her mother and siblings, but it also feels as though her tale was written through the lens of hindsight. Either that, or she just wasn't actually close with her mother or those particular siblings.

Anyway, I enjoyed Nerilka's Story. Not sure exactly what I was expecting, but it was definitely worth a read and a good addition to any Pern read-through.

This Dragonet CANNOT be to scale. There's no way she'd be injuring anyone on her way to Impress. That size disparity made me laugh.

Persistence of Memory by Amelia Atwater-Rhodes

Slight spoilers included. Nothing too specific.

I am forever conflicted when mental illness is conflated or caused by supernatural elements of a story. I don't really have a problem with the supernatural making whatever the mental illness is worse or better, but being the root cause... that's sticky for me. That said, how this is dealt with in Persistence of Memory at least feels like a good representation of that... mostly. Having never experienced something like DID (Dissociative Identity Disorder), I don't feel qualified to discuss that aspect of the story, so I will try to stay away from it, despite it being a rather big part of the story.

I actually quite liked most of the characters here. Erin felt like a mostly blank slate, even though she is arguably the main character. Sassy and Adjila were quite good as the love-interest-types. Shevaun... well... Shevaun mainly comes together in the last third of the book. I mostly the the feel of her as a mothering character with a wild streak. Given how short Persistence of Memory is, I feel like the characterization was mostly well done.

I definitely feel like the plot elements all crashed into place at the end, rather than revealing themselves more slowly. I don't think Single Earth/Marissa's inclusion would have ever been revealed without Alexander just handing over the info... and Pandora... I really, really want some kind of Pandora character study. We're told how she operates, but aren't really shown much of that. She's basically shamed into helping at the end, but otherwise doesn't really contribute much.

I'm overall conflicted about how to feel about the whole thing. I did enjoy the story, right up until the very end, though that wasn't dissatisfying either. Add in the mental health stuff... I do understand that Nyeusigrube is a world in which the supernatural is hidden and can come out in sudden ways. The epilogue definitely didn't help with this feeling. Even Erin's acceptance of the events leading to her "current" life feels kind of rushed. It's fine. It's honestly par for the course of this era of Nyeusigrube. At least I actually cared about the characters this time around.

Dragon's Fire by Anne & Todd McCaffrey

Dragon's Fire is honestly the worst Pern book I've read so far. The antagonists are one-note, most of the characters aren't even likeable, and the story is honestly just boring. The main point, it seems, is to explain the differences in Firestone and how the safe stuff came to be mined as opposed to the more unstable version... and how they figured out the Shunned problem.

I kind of liked getting some "behind the scenes" stuff at Camp Natalon that synchs up with the events of Dragon's Kin. Knowing that Zist had some more going on than just Nuella's lessons. Honestly, Pellar's story toward the beginning of "Book One" was the most engaging part of the book.

I found the rest of the book very disjointed. Too many POVs and too many absolutely horrible characters. Horrible in their personalities, although they also didn't feel very rounded, either. I'm really not sure how D'gan ever became a dragonrider. I would have thought the dragons would be better judges of character, but I guess not. Tenim is one note as all get-out. He's just greedy and that's it. And Tarik... still a horrible human-being. Makes sense that he was Shunned. Oh, and Moran... he's really just super flawed and not fleshed out nearly at all. Like, kind of good for him, taking in strays, but he largely throws their care onto Hala so... eh. Just too much absolute nonsense, in my opinion.

I honestly feel like I could have skipped Dragon's Fire in my chronological reread and not missed anything.

Rituals by Kelley Armstrong

I have reached the "official" end of the series... still got two more novellas to go, but Rituals marks the end of the main series. It was quite the ending... threading in some little loose ends rather deftly, all things considered, while at the same time throwing in an ultimate Big Bad for the series that was apparently there all along, just not as overt as the Tylwyth Teg and Cŵn Annwn. The sluagh, a semi-interesting addition that really drove the plot more than anything else.

I'm not sure I really agree with Olivia's decision of "mates" in the end. Of course, I also didn't really think Kelley Armstrong was going to go the polycule route, either. Still... I think I'm just gonna make that my head-cannon. Olivia chooses who she chooses for the sake of the plot but they end up in a polycule down the line because that just makes more sense to me. "Stick together" is much easier in a modern relationship than it would have been between the kingdoms of Gywnn and Arawn.

I really, really enjoyed the addition of Helia and Alexios. They were a lot of fun and added a much-needed breath of levity. I was half-expecting them to be the solution to the sluagh's, uh... spoilery thing it turned out the sluagh were responsible for... but... yeah. They were fun.

I'm glad we finally got an answer as to what exactly's going on with Grace's apartment building. I liked that addition to the lore. Liked most of the additions to the lore. They were very well done and satisfying overall. Oh! I almost forgot about Lloergan! I'd hoped we'd get more of her, and we did. Even a pronunciation guide to her name... though you won't catch me trying to say it anytime soon. Didn't even stick after reading it a few times. But anyway, Lloergan was very sweet and her presence very welcome.

Seanna's reemergence I could honestly take or leave. She was a puzzle piece, ultimately. One that felt a little shoe-horned in, if I'm being completely honest, but... yeah. I suppose I was just as curious as anyone as to why she seduced (or whatever) Patrick all those years ago and we did get that answer... but she was very "meh" as a character, all told.

Rituals was a satisfying ending to the Cainsville series. I like that it's ultimately open to additions, as with the pair of novellas I'm about to read... and, ultimately, I'm just glad to not have to read more of the love triangle thing. Persephone would be proud, I think.

Favorite Lines

"Right or wrong, one cannot argue with the excitement value of a good murder, because it leads to a good mystery." - Helia

"Adventure comes with risk or it would hardly feel adventurous." - Helia

"We love traps. They're like puzzles, only with higher stakes." - Olivia Taylor-Jones

Abhorsen by Garth Nix

Abhorsen is, without a doubt, a very good and fitting end to the trilogy… though the story goes on. Abhorsen is filled with more world-building, character growth, and… well… adventure is the only word that’s coming to mind. The pace is excellent. I devoured Abhorsen in approximately a day, if that tells you anything. It was very good. I cried. Usually the mark of a very good story.

The ABSOLUTE IRONY of Chlorr of the Mask being the one to besiege Abhorsen’s House. Spoiler if you haven’t read Clariel, but Chlorr is Clariel. And if you’ve read Clariel you understand the irony. It’s pretty delectable, honestly.

I actually enjoy Sam in this book. He doesn’t spend his time worrying or sunk into his previous depression, which is good. He’s actually shown to be more clever than he was before, so that was also good.

Lirael is ever growing, learning to be the Abhorsen-In-Waiting and actual Abhorsen. It’s pretty cool to “watch.” I especially enjoyed her few mostly-solo missions, especially the one at the end.

I am very satisfied with this ending. It was the ending of the Abhorsen/Old Kingdom series for a while. Like I said in the beginning, I cried. Several times, in fact. I’m ever a sucker for teams coming together and/or military people saying “fuck it” to the rules because they gotta do the right thing. Got both of those here. I’m still highly satisfied. But now I’m off to The Creature in the Case… well, a shower and some other things, but that’s what’s next.

A Slight Annoyance

My Goodreads reading goal was set to 80 books. Abhorsen is book 80. However!!!!

The Goodreads App glitched and did not give me the "Yay! You did it!" Plaque thingy with the confetti. I am very, very annoyed about this. 😑😡

So now I've set my goal to 81 and will hopefully get the dang confetti when I log my next book.

Roadkill by Rob Thurman

I had a lot more fun reading Roadkill than I did with Deathwish. Roadkill is just a much more fun book in general. The stakes are high, but it takes a good long while to get to the point where Cal and the gang can actually deal with the cause. Speaking of, Suyolak was alright as an antagonist. He was creepy enough to keep the boys moving toward ending him, but not super in-your-face about it… even when he was kinda.

Things I remember from my first read: Catcher is involved and has chapters from his POV. I did remember Catcher’s calendars, but that’s the extent of my memories for this one.

This has very little to do with Roadkill, but I feel it’s at least a bit relevant. I never read far enough into the Cal Leandros series to see if the boys eventually encounter angels and demons. I do vaguely remember them cameoing in The Grimrose Path but that memory is vague. Cal detailing that “There were no angels or demons, no Heaven of Hell.” is about as funny to me as Dean from Supernatural saying that angels don’t exist in the first three seasons. Like dude, you sweet, summer child. You have no idea.

So, I knew Niko was insufferable about Cal’s diet, but dude, he’s really insufferable about it. I was extremely annoyed about this. I get that Niko’s the overprotective big brother, but if you’re gonna “let” your little brother grow up, you gotta stop harping on his food choices. That part of Niko feels like a vegan stereotype and I hate it.

I think part of what I really enjoy about these books is knowing the main characters could actually die. Like, maybe not Cal, since there are 5 more books left in the series at this point… but geez the tension even around his potential deaths is awesome… until the end… which really felt like more of a clusterfuck than it probably was. It really felt like Thurman wasn’t sure how to write the Rafferty/Suyolak fight in an interesting manner, so we also got the clusterfuck fight scene. Much meh about that. I was more confused during it than anything else.

Lastly, I looked up the Ördögs aaand… the “real thing” is apparently a faun/satyr-lookin’ demon. Amusing, considering Robin’s origins. Ördög was definitely a Hungarian “critter,” though, so there’s that.

Favorite Lines

"Pick up your clothes, I am not your maid. How do I know this? A maid cannot kill you with a tube sock. I can." Niko Leandros

"But something doesn't have to be forever to be good," - Catcher

"Great for you two," Robin complained. "But what if Niko and I end up 'hunting no more'? Where's our kiss of potential death? Or quickie of potential death? I'm open to all options."

Sunstone: Volume 5-7 by Stjepan Šejić

Volume 5

Well, this one is the “end” of Lisa and Ally’s story-arc. It’s very satisfying. “Our story” had me in tears, not gonna lie. Fuckin-A. I wasn’t expecting to be in tears, given I’ve read this before, but man… “Our Story” is just awesome.

I feel like Lisa’s plan to write her feelings to Ally was a good idea, just definitely flawed in the execution. After all, it took Anne explaining to Ally about the texty subtext for Ally to get it. And that was only because Lisa explained it to Anne during that apology.

But yeah, Volume 5 was really good. I love the story and the art.

The Sandman: Book Five by Neil Gaiman

Midnight Theatre: Despite the pretty cool cover and the interesting enough art, I was very “meh” on this one. Not my style, really. All mystery and blackmail and exactly one semi-interesting character.

The Dream Hunters: Yoshitaka Amano’s art is frigging gorgeous. I love it, so so much. Seeing The Dreaming rendered this way is just amazing.

The story was fantastic as well. Gaiman’s very good at that old-school, fairy-tale vibe. This had it in spades.

Endless Nights: Feeling mostly “meh” about this little series. I do appreciate short stories, but reading them one after the other like this just isn’t my jam.

Green Lantern Lady falling at complete random for her own sun was… stupid. Hate it. I did think the art was really nice, though.

Not gonna lie, I skimmed most of Despair’s chapter. Just don’t need that shit in my head right now. Did not understand what was going on in Delirium’s bit, either. So there’s that.

In Other News

It's Eclipse Day!

I was lucky enough to be in the path of totality. It was so cool.

Image taken with my iPhone

Silver Borne by Patricia Briggs

A Slightly Spoilery Reread Review

Silver Borne is another solid entry in the Mercy Thompson catalogue. It mostly deals with the ties between Mercy and the wolves she’s surrounded with. Also there are fae involved again. Most of what follows are my notes from my reread. I vaguely remembered the Phin plot, but only vaguely. Everything else was written as I read this time.

I HATE the bowling scene. I HATE characters not talking to each other. HATE IT. The conflict WILL NOT resolve unless you talk about it. Being silent on the matter helps nothing. Which is why I love Adam and Mercy so much. They might make mistakes in the moment, but they take the time to talk things out. It makes them a more solid unit and a more believable couple. I seem to remember that this is the last of the big drama between them, but I also only read the next two books in the series, so I’m not entirely sure. I hope so. I’d much rather see a healthy relationship than a constantly battling one.

I find it interesting that the werewolves in the Mercy Thompson universe basically get Dissociative Identity Disorder with a big ol’ side helping of shapeshifting… apparently. It’s also interesting that the wolf can wholesale take over, even if the werewolf is in human form. Clearly that doesn’t happen super often, as Samuel/Sam’s case is extreme, but… yeah. Super interesting. This is further expounded upon once Adam knows about Samuel’s condition.

We get some more fae lore here, which is great. I will forever enjoy getting more fae lore. They’re a weirdly big part of the Mercy universe. I say weirdly because most werewolf books I’ve read largely revolve around the wolves and vampires. Not much else.

I liked Mercy’s mind-scape where she met with Bran at the end of the book. It’s always interesting to see how a main character’s mind works and how the author chooses to visualize it. Garland and rocks is definitely original.

Favorite Lines

     "I raised my eyebrows, and said in dulcet tones, 'Are you telling me you can't fix it? I'm sorry. I distinctly remember you saying that there is nothing you can't fix. I must have been mistaken, and it was someone else wearing your mouth.'

     He gave a growl that would have done Sam credit and pushed himself back under again, muttering, 'Deine Mutter war ein Cola-Automat!'

     'Her mama might have been a pop machine,' I said, responding to one of the remarks I understood even at full Zee-speed. 'Your mama...' sounds the same in a number of languages. 'But she was a beauty in her day.' I grinned at Gabriel. 'We women have to stick together.'

     'Why is it that all cars are women?' he asked.

     'Because they're fussy and demanding,' answered Zee.

     'Because if they were men, they'd sit around and complain instead of getting the job done,' I told him." - Mercy Thompson, Zee Adelbertsmiter, and Gabriel Sandoval

"Endings are relative," I said, and Samuel jerked his head up. "I mean, as long as no one is dead, they get the chance to rewrite their endings, don't you think? Take it from me, Samuel, a little time can heal some awfully big wounds."

In Other News

I finished another OviPets project today. Goatmon, the Rangifer version (there will be an Ovis version down the line), took me 9 months to complete. Goatmon is part of my Armor Digimon Project. I did the little bit of tattooing around the ankles. Supposed to be Goatmon's shackles. *shrug*

Chaos Choreography by Seanan McGuire

Slightly Spoilery Review

Like, the second to last paragraph and there's a warning.

Another cracking InCryptid adventure. We’re back with Verity and Dominic this time and Verity’s back to dancing. Quite a fun ride with a couple new Cryptid friends in the mix.

I was honestly unprepared for Alice Healy-Price. I figured she’d keep popping up in the series as a long-running family legend/inside joke kind of a deal, but I was unprepared for her to actually show up. I thought the second woman on the cover was Antimony, not Alice. I did really enjoy her, though. Learning the little bits and pieces about her life just adds more to McGuire’s skillful world-building.

Speaking of world-building, we got a bit more about routewitches and other cryptids. I’m still not totally clear on what exactly routewitches deal with, but it’s interesting enough that I want to know more. I also enjoyed the bits about what cryptids were doing in LA before the humans got there. Finding out about the bogeymen, hidebehind, and ghoul city under the city was a shock when revealed but pretty cool upon later reflection. That sounded pretentious, but I’m mot sure how else to put it. Anyway, the world-building was great.

I was glad Dominic had more to this time around. He got to show off his Covenent skills as well as how he’s loosening up now that he’s out.

I’m pretty sure Malena is up for my favorite new character. I like her personality and her Chupacabra-ness is pretty cool. I felt like Pax was just kinda there as a blood-detector. Lyra… she was alright, but really faded into the background for most of the book. Anders had a really abrupt about-face there at the end that was surprising for both Verity and the reader.

The following paragraph contains spoilers.

And this brings me to an element of Chaos Choreography and actually InCryptid overall that I’m not so happy with: the bad guys. The threat of the bad guys looms over the entire plot but they don’t get much play throughout the books themselves. Their reveals are almost last-minute twists. It makes them hard to talk about and hard to feel much about. The only exception to this was Clint’s creepy dance with Verity… every other bad guy was just blah. Jessica was so obviously a bad guy that it was both surprising and not that she actually was. Lamp-shading it didn't make it better.

End spoilers.

Anyway, I thought Chaos Choreography was an overall fun romp. I’m chomping at the bit to go on to Magic for Nothing so I’m gonna go do that.

Favorite Lines

"Turning into a giant snake is never the solution to your problems," I said. "It actually ranks somewhere between 'cut off own hand, replace with chainsaw' and 'summon indestructible dream demon.' Bad plans one and all." - Verity Price

"And lo did the Violent Priestess speak unto the congregation, and she did say, 'Ain't Nothing Wrong with Most People which couldn't be Fixed with a Good Smack Upside the Head,'" - Aeslin Mouse

"Your real friends will love you for who you are, no matter how many heads or limbs or ovipositors you have." - Evelyn Baker

"Coincidence is just another word for an accident that doesn't kill you." - Alice Healy-Price

"HAIL!" rejoiced the mice. "HAIL THE LACK OF STABBING, SHOOTING, AND FLAME."

"Profanity is the universal language." - Verity Price

In Other News

I finished another OviPets Project! Majiramon is based on the Digimon of the same name. I made the tattoo depicting their clothing. Majiramon took me 9 months to complete.

Bastion by Mercedes Lackey

A Spoiler Free Review

Bastion is actually where Mags gets a 99% normal “year” training to be a Herald. I rather enjoyed this one, though it doesn’t actually feel like a finale at all. Not that those things are mutually exclusive, but… yeah. Bastion had Mags and friends headed out on Circuit for that last bit of training they all needed… and for a change in Mags’ identity apparently.

I know that most of the Heralds series are either duologies or trilogies and The Collegium Chronicles is the longest series. However, that really doesn’t mean we can’t remember the important bits of what happened in the last four books. There were several instances of straight-up text-lifting in order to refresh us on Mags’ memories. As soon as I realized this, I skipped them wholesale. I feel like, had I read them, they would have dragged the momentum of the current story down.

I was not expecting Lita to be the “other person” added to Mags’ band during Circuit. I like that Jakyr had someone he knew well to bounce off of and Lita turned out to be a good addition overall. I also feel like Jakyr got some more fleshing out here, which was good because most everyone else is still fairly flat. The story isn’t really about Bear, Lena, Amily, or the adults, but it would have been nice for more of their personalities to come through. I think Lena barely did anything in Bastion worth her actually being there, to be completely honest.

I was pleasantly surprised to see an empty Tayledras Vale. I would have thought there might be more of those dotted around Valdemar, but I guess not. I was also actually surprised that Jakyr had met some Tayledras. Guess at least one Herald a generation is their quota.

On another note: the Companions are apparently burying even the very idea of magic and mages. Dallen telling Mags “it doesn’t matter” during Bey’s little sharing session confirms that. On the one hand, this makes sense as there apparently weren’t any Mages born between Vanyel and what’s-her-face-Princess-something… On the other hand, I feel like it puts Valdemarans at a disadvantage to cultures that have more than mind-magic to go on, like the Tayledras and Karsites. Just in The Collegium Chronicles we have the Heralds being completely in the dark about the vrondi and that was actually kind of important but reduced to a footnote.

Speaking of Bey, he is easily the most well rounded secondary character of the lot. He’s clearly got a personality on him that vaguely clashes with his assassin thing. I liked him a lot.

Bastion was an alright end to an alright series. Definitely went out with less of a bang than I maybe thought it might. I dunno, I enjoyed it overall.

Favorite Lines

:Yes, well, civility is an art form not practiced nearly enough,: Dallen observed

"The person who throws his weapon at the enemy is an idiot. A few moments after that, he will be a dead idiot." - Mags

Queen's Gambit by Karen Chance

A Spoiler-Free Review

Holy World Building Spree, Batman. There is a lot packed into Queen's Gambit. A. Lot. I'm not even completely sure I understood it all or that it's going to stick in my head, but yeah. So much. We got pre-Mircea vampire stuff. Got a good chunk of the aftermath of Cleopatra and Anthony's battle with their Master (Sokkwi, apparently)... and yes, I will call them (her) that at this point because there's too many "Consuls" to do otherwise and if you didn't realize she was Cleopatra by now... I can't help you. Anyway, we also got Dorina's side of things, which was wonderful an frustrating. We got a good deal of Hong Kong post Dragon's Claw. We got vampire politics. Just so, so much. And largely engaging, too boot.

All of that said and although I really do enjoy the building out of the mythology surrounding this universe, it still really bugs me that we're stirring mythologies together like they all have the same roots. I will give the Greek/Roman stuff specifically a past as they're mostly Romans copy-pasting things, but tying in the Egyptian and Norse pantheons... no. These three mythologies were a hell of a lot more separate than Karen Chance is making them out to seem. Yes, there was a little bit of crossover with the Egyptian mythology and Greek/Roman stuff, but not enough to just copy-paste gods onto each other. Not to mention Norse is so far afield from any of the others... and that's not even bringing in the South American mythologies that Hassani blathers about during his snake/sun-god thing... This sort of thing really, really, really bugs me. It was overall a smaller part of Queen's Gambit than I'm making it out to be, but that's how much it bugs me.

Speaking of Hassani's snake/sun-god thing... the big ol' fight in the "morgue" (I guess it was a morgue, I was confused) was fun. I was not expecting a big fight like that at about the mid-point of the book. It really felt like a finale fight more than a mid-book fight.

Okay, so, I'm a very glad that Dory and Louis-Cesare are more of a unit in Queen's Gambit than they have been. I appreciate Dory literally pulling Louis-Cesare aside to discuss her issues with his treatment of her. Communication is key and they definitely do some work on that here. Makes me happy to see.

I also really enjoyed Dorina and Ray in Faerie. Although most of that was Dorina's memories, the actual running around Faerie the pair did was interesting. I'm very glad we got to see more of Faerie than we have in the past. Ya know, more caves and crazy rivers is fun. Nimue was... there. I like that she's so far divorced from the Arthurian stuff Chance originally pulled her from. Dorina's memories were a nice little respite from the crazy happening with Dory. They did make me even more angry with Mircea than I was at the end of Ride the Storm, but I will refrain from ranting about that now. I like Dorina so far. She's definitely different from Dory, which I suppose should have been obvious, but she's also not a rage-filled as one might expect.

The whole Hong Kong "underworld" section was honestly a blur. I like the come-alive graffiti idea. It was kind of constantly confusing, though. That might have been the amount of random graffiti or the amount of characters in this section, but... yeah. Crazy-pants stuff that I'm having a hard time recalling even five minutes after I read it.

The ending... uh yeah... that was an ending. I won't spoil it, but it did feel really convenient. Especially with certain characters showing up a little earlier and straight-up murdering other ones... and 360 change of heart apparently? Okay then. But Hassani turns out to be a better guy than I had the original impression he was, so that's nice. I'd like Hassani to be the main consul we deal with now, thanks. Cleopatra isn't nearly as fun or interesting.

My last note is about Dory and Cassie apparently actually meeting at some point. I decided after Ride the Storm to stop reading the Cassie books, so I completely missed this meeting. I feel like the execution of the summary of that meeting in Queen's Gambit left much to be desired, especially as it meant so much to Louis-Cesare, who is a more Dory-side character... I assume, anyway. Maybe would have been nice as a prologue or something, although Queen's Gambit is already quite long and stuffed.

Anyway, I did quite enjoy Queen's Gambit. Took me much less time to get through than the last few books, so that's also nice.

Into the West by Mercedes Lackey

A Mostly Spoiler Free Review

First and foremost, if anyone can tell me if and when a third The Founding of Valdemar book is coming out, I would be most appreciative. Into the West fully establishes the final settling place of the Valdemarans and the Tayledras, hertasi, etc. Now all that's missing is the Companions and how they came into the mix. I feel like, if/when there's a third Founding of Valdemar book, it would probably focus on that.

Largely, Into the West is a travel book. The characters travel through the wilderness between Crescent Lake and the newly formed Valdemar capital... I assume it's the capital, after all, the Tayledras set the Heartstone to build a palace so... yeah. But anyway, Delia gets a much bigger role in this one. She really grows into her own person, as opposed to the semi-stereotypical noble girl she was during Beyond. Kordas continues on his merry way leading his people.

I probably would have liked some more personal bits with other characters. I think I'd most like to get to know Briada. She seems like the most interesting of the new characters introduced here. I also would have loved to see how Jonaton and Hakkon were together, just, ya know, to feed my inner rabid fangirl. I also really enjoyed a character added toward the end of the book, who I will not name but I thought was really cute. Pretty much the only other new named characters (other than Briadas cousins) were used as object lessons for Kordas' new rules and such.

I really enjoyed the nods to critters past in the wyrsa and makaar. I will say, though, in The Mage Wars, Skandranon pretty much said the makaar had died out so it was a surprise to see them in The Founding of Valdemar. Not that Skan is a particularly reliable narrator or that the makaar were at all described in The Mage Wars but... yeah. I had no idea what they were when they showed up and was surprised when Silvermoon confirmed what they were.

I largely liked how the Tayledras were introduced to the Valdemarans. I think it felt better than it did before... from what I can remember of my reading of the Valdemar series prior to this. I don't know why, exactly, but the Tayledras always felt a little off to me in terms of representation of a more indigenous people than the more European feeling Valdemarans. I don't know. It's late and I might just be rambling about that and misremembering. Anyway. Silvermoon was interesting as a sort of equal to Kordas. These Tayledras also definitely have more hertasi around than the ones Vanyel encounters in "later" books. Delia's friend Jelavan delighted me.

So yeah, Into the West was pretty good. It was well paced and I never felt like there was a slog anywhere. I'm not going to lie, the ending had me semi-skimming because of the sudden action happening, but it also didn't end abruptly, which I appreciate. I really can't wait for another installment in this series... if/when there is one. It's really odd that it keeps being referred to as a "series" but there doesn't seem to be any actual official confirmation of a third book anywhere... like, one site that has this year (2023) as a release date, but nothing else. I assume a trilogy, at least, cuz most of the Valdemar series is made of up trilogies... and I'm rambling so... yeah. Bye!

Favorite Lines

"You're an idiot. And you used to be my apprentice. I reserve the right to continue smacking you when you say something stupid," Sai replied.

"We had a skygazing poet-scout, Wildwolf, who went through an awkward, dramatic stage of life as Moonmoon.” - Silvermoon - Reminded me of the common amusement over the name "Remus Lupin" in the Harry Potter series.

"Apparently, hells are not consistent. That could be why they are hells." - Silvermoon 

"Sometimes, explosives are the best way to show you care." - Jelevan 

Hunt the Moon by Karen Chance

A Spoiler Free Review

Hunt the Moon is backstory city mixed with what basically amounts to car chases and mixing mythologies. It was pretty good, exciting for a good chunk and satisfying in other chunks.

We get more backstory for Pritkin, which I guess gave more insight to his character but really served as long setup for the Netflix-like hook into the next story line. Well… and helping Cassie understand things for the finale. We got a wider version of Mircea’s backstory. I personally never gave a second thought to Mircea’s parents, but I guess it kind of mirrors Cassie’s parents… or at least that information coming to light as well. Speaking of which… While I didn’t exactly call that reveal, I kinda called half that reveal while Cassie was talking to Deino and half when Mircea mentioned it at some point earlier in the book.

The chase scenes were fun. But less chaotic that Cassie’s usual forays into fight scenes. The dragon fight was definitely a dive into that chaos.

So, important point here: I really, really hate the mixing/equating of mythologies. I mean, getting the gods all together is fun and all, but actually equating them across mythologies… more annoying than anything else. I understand how it’s a thing people do, but it’s some bullshit. The people the mythologies belonged to in the first place didn’t just go traipsing around like “Apollo is definitely also Thor.” That’s a more modern thing. That’s not to say these things didn’t happen, at least in terms of the Mediterranean mythos-es building off each other and mixing some (Greek, Roman, and Egyptian being the big three there), but Norse wasn’t included there so… this bugs me. A lot. It’s like the ancient aliens theories… kind of fun to think about but not actually a thing most scholars seriously contemplate.

But yeah Hunt the Moon was pretty okay. A better mix of the downtime and action scenes than usual, I think.

Favorite Lines

"They always are. Anyone who can only see their point of view is. Once a group decides that their way is the only way, it is an easy progression to vilifying anyone who doesn't agree with them. And once someone has been demonized, has been characterized as opposing the good, killing him becomes virtue." - Mircea Basarab

"A legend is merely a man history decided to bugger," Pritkin said harshly.

In Other News

I have finished my Falcomon project over on Ovipets! Part of my Child Digimon project.

Curse the Dawn by Karen Chance

A Spoiler Free Reread Review

I have said before that the Cassandra Palmer series is chaotic and that I really should brace myself for more oncoming chaos. Well, Curse the Dawn definitely ramps up the chaos. It honestly felt as though Karen Chance wanted to do a couple different stories and had to figure out how to put them all together rather than something cohesive. The main plot of the book is explained via info-dump at the end of the book... after a bunch of battles and body-swapping and general nonsense that kind of pays off in the end... I honestly have a hard time remembering everything now that I've finished Curse the Dawn.

I think one of the main issues is, as Cassie actually addresses with Mircea at one point, the fact that she has little to no information about anything. I get that she's one of the more vulnerable characters in terms of abilities and that everyone wants to protect her, but the lack of information and training she's given as a result of this is frustrating, to say the least. Take the body-swap between Cassie and Pritkin, for example. Even in Cassie's body, Pritkin is able to shield and fire off spells whereas Cassie is just doing the same things she always does: basically nothing. Sure, she gets in a few lucky shots at some of their pursuers, but that's only so long as she manages to keep her hands on a gun. After that, she's helpless. I find this incredibly annoying. I assume Cassie's had time to get in at least some physical training, if not magical, but apparently she hasn't been using her time wisely or it hasn't occurred to her to use her time in that manner. Just "Swim, read, maybe do a little shopping." Cassie, darling, you've been in combat situations for the last four books, maybe use some of that down time to train. You clearly need it and know you're going to need it. It's extremely frustrating that you're not doing it at this point.

I'm also vaguely frustrated by the "mistress" drama Cassie's internalized around Dorina... and then just decides not to ask Mircea about it when she has the chance. Of course, if you're specifically reading the <i>Cassandra Palmer</i> books and not the <i>Dorina Basarab</i> books, you don't know who the "mistress" is, but still... I hate this sort of thing. If ya'll would just TALK TO EACH OTHER, there would be less problems. But no, no one wants to actually talk about things unless they're apparently setting up traps or planning coups. Which reminds me, are either Cassie or Pritkin going to tell anyone about Jonas' "Pythia Recall Device?" I assume that's going to need to be explained at some point...

Which brings me to another frustration that also ties into my "Cassie is super untrained" issue. Mircea knows Cassie travels in time. He knows she gets randomly yanked through time and can't/doesn't really control when she gets back and yet... assigns a bodyguard who can't/won't be able to be with her on these sojourns and will thus be punished if anything happens to Cassie during those times. I do not like this. It makes Mircea seem cruel, which isn't really something we've seen him be on purpose at this point. Manipulative, yes, but not cruel. I really think he should maybe have Marco (said bodyguard) also made aware of Cassie's power yanking her off and, I dunno, also tasked Marco with TRAINING HER as opposed to what actually happens.

Well, now that I've ranted about what I disliked about this book... I liked the body-swapping thing. The story slowed down to basically a halt while Cassie and Pritkin dealt with that and met Jonas, but a breather was definitely needed. I guess the Three Dees were kind of fun. Nice to see a little representation. The part where Cassie, Pritkin, and Caleb go into MAGIC to rescue the prisoners was a highlight.

Uhm, yeah, Curse the Dawn was honestly a mess. It was one of those "let's just go from one crisis to the next with no clear endgame until five minutes before the endgame" kind of stories. I preferred it when that wasn't the case.