Take a Thief by Mercedes Lackey

A Spoiler Free Review

Take a Thief was honestly a lot of fun. I’m not sure I have too many deep thoughts about it, though. Skif was a fun protagonist to get to know and see grow. I honestly thought he was a lot older than he was while the whole stalking Jass thing was going on. It’s really no surprise that he came across as older, given what he’d been through and, as Alberich observes, had his childhood basically stolen.

That said, I don’t really need my main characters to be put-upon orphans. This is not a trope I enjoy very much and I don’t really think it does much for their character except to make them less likely to sniff at a bit of hardship. I mean… I guess it makes them a little more interesting than rando middle-class kiddo or the “I’m so spoiled everything shocks me” type… but… I dunno. Don’t know why the pair of kid main characters up til now in the chronology have had to be super destitute orphans. All that said, I do actually like Lackey’s world-building through and around Skif. I can really feel how gross the tavern is, how oppressively hot his room next to Jass is, and how disgusting that blanket at the end was.

However, I honestly find reading the “gutter speak” or whatever quite annoying. It was annoying when Mags (Collegium Chronicles and The Herald Spy) was speaking in it throughout his run and it’s annoying now with Bazie and Skif.

Speaking of, it is very clear that Mags is a pale imitation of Skif. Skif has infinitely more personality and feels much more real than Mags ever did. Skif fits better into the world he inhabits and isn’t just constantly referring to past hardships as though they’re a personality trait.

But yeah, aside from all that, I did really enjoy Take a Thief. It was interesting to see Alberich from an outside angle and know that it was Alberich even if Skif had no clue. I also actually enjoyed Skif’s spy stuff… mostly because it wasn’t referred to as such and was the thieving aspect of his life.

Very much looking forward to the next part of my Valdemar journey with Heralds of Valdemar. I have definitely read the next three books, so it'll be interesting to get to know Talia all over again... and maybe figure out why I definitely seem to remember Lord Orthallan being a baddie.

Terrier by Tamora Pierce

 A Spoiler Free Reread Review

I’m not a giant fan of Terrier. It’s an alright enough story, just not one I’m super invested in. Probably accounts for how long it took me to get through. I’d definitely been reading Tamora Pierce’s work for a long while before Terrier originally came out, so I was probably more invested in the world of Tortall at that point than I am now. I’m largely revisiting due to the completionist in me and I feel like the Beka Cooper trilogy isn’t going to be high on my favorites of the Tortall books.

That said, the story really takes its time getting where it’s going. I feel like this is realistic in terms of how the Tortallan Dogs investigate crimes, but boy does it plod along. Beka spends most of her time patrolling and apparently watching Goodwin and Tunstall get into fights pretty much every night. Add to that Beka’s semi-unpredictable power with the pigeons and dust spinners… just a lot of plodding plot.

This was a small blip in the book overall, but I very much dislike Lady Teodorie. Lady Teodorie is not who I’d want as a mother substitute or ultimate caregiver for my children. She clearly has no respect for Beka’s chosen profession or for Beka herself. That she allows her personal opinions to color those of Beka’s sisters is also a giant red flag. I understand that this bit is largely to introduce us to Beka’s family for a moment and contrast her with her sisters but… bleh.

Pierce does a lot of describing the people in a place, rather than the place itself. Leaves that largely to the reader’s imagination. I personally find that I can’t really picture the place Beka and her Dogs end up, due to this. I can’t even really picture the people, the descriptions are rather bare bones. I want to chalk that up to Beka’s wanting to write the journal rather like a report, so the language would be more simple.

Even the ultimate ending of the book seemed to take forever. I think that’s possibly because there were two cases, but also because we essentially had to “sit through” the court case as well.

I think overall, Terrier is an alright book. Beka and her friends are alright characters. It’s just rather middling, in my opinion.

Character Spotlight

Whew, haven't done one of these in a while. I thought I'd talk a little bit about Pounce.

I first encountered Pounce roughly 200 years after the events of Terrier in The Song of the Lioness quartet. He was following Alanna around and was known as Faithful.

I want to say he had fairly close to the same personality, though I'm not entirely sure as it's definitely been over 10 years since I read The Song of the Lioness. Pounce is definitely a highlight of Terrier. Everyone love a cat sidekick, even if Pounce isn't nearly as snarky as some I could name... Pounce definitely acts less cat-like than one would expect; after all, what cat would follow someone around through most, if not all, their shifts at their job?

Anyway, I like Pounce and look forward to reading more of him in the future.

Reviews Batch 12

Ever After by Kim Harrison
Originally Posted to GoodReads: October 7, 2020

This was a lot. A lot went on and it felt like chaos. I’m so very glad a certain villain is FINALLY dealt with. He bugged me to no end. Was not a fan in the slightest.

Also, I just want to take a moment to talk about the book cover. Specifically Rachel’s hair on the cover. What. The. Bloody. Hell. Is. With. The. STRAIGHT. Hair? It’s said MULTIPLE times throughout the books that Rachel’s hair is crazy curly. So why is it straight on the cover? And the next cover, too? What. The. Hell. This bothers me so, so much. Figure out how to draw friggin curly hair, for the love of whatever deity you choose. 

Alice In Wonderland by Lewis Caroll, adapted by Eliza Gatewood Warren
Originally Posted to GoodReads: October 14, 2013

I've probably been spoiled by the Disney movie adaptation and pretty much all the other adaptations I've seen, but this book was seriously lacking in actual storyline.

 

 

The Hob's Bargain by Patricia Briggs
Originally Posted to GoodReads: October 22, 2018

Life is too good for bad books and this one... while not completely unreadable, is not one of the good ones. I only got halfway through it -- to a part where the perspective keeps randomly shifting from first to third between a pair of characters -- and I just can't anymore. It's definitely more tell than show in terms of narration and the main character is just bland, visions or no visions.

Mercy Thompson Series Overview

Mercy Thompson by Patricia Briggs

 

This Post Contains Spoilers For The Entirety Of The Mercy Thompson Series Up Through Soul Taken. You Have Been Warned.

I've started writing this thing just as I'm beginning to read Soul Taken, partially because I wanted to get it started and partially because that little muse in the back of my brain is prodding me with thoughts. So here we go.

Mercy Thompson is largely a series centered on community. It doesn't precisely start out that way, what with Mercy being a self-professed loner, but it definitely falls into that category was the story progresses. I find this sort of thing seems to happen when there is one protagonist and they find themselves becoming essentially the center of their supernatural community for one reason or another. Mercy started with the Columbia Basin Wolf Pack and jumped right into the entire Tri-Cities Area. At the same time, each piece of the community definitely has their own flavor and they don't actually mix very much, or as much as I might have made it seem in this paragraph. I was originally just pulled in my the werewolves and vampires, but the rich Fae mythology and a bit of the witch stuff was a nice addition that helps make Mercy's world feel lived in. Not gonna lie, the line-up of people who went to Italy to "save Mercy" from Bonarata in Silence Fallen made me tear up a little. This community is also still in its fledgling stages as of Soul Taken, with no one really trusting each other very far, but Mercy spends the entire book referring to the vampires as "our vampires" and Larry the Goblin King wants to be friends so... baby steps.

I find it really gratifying that Mercy and Adam have a mostly stable and fairly healthy relationship. That sort of thing is definitely not normal for these sorts of series. Usually, there's a lot of relationship drama between the main character and his/her beau to distract from the main story. It's actually quite nice to not have to worry about that happening through most of the series, Smoke Bitten notwithstanding. Adam's Ex, Christy, really makes me want to throw things so Mercy and I agree on that, at least.

I also quite like that Mercy is definitely more human than the people she runs around with and it's actually shown. No super-human healing for Mercy... except that one time when Coyote saved her life. But otherwise, Mercy actually spends a lot of time in hospitals, healing from various injuries that would definitely be sustained by a largely non-supernatural character. She also actually gets exhausted and actually shows signs of shock when that happens, so, yeah. Gimme some realism with my fantasy, please.

It also makes me immensely happy that Mercy is first and foremost a mechanic. She doesn't have any policing background and doesn't even get super involved with the policing aspect of the "Protectors of the Tri-Cities" thing she imposed on the pack. In fact, it's very rare that she's actually involved in the policing aspect at all. Yes, Mercy does do a lot of problem-solving, but that's usually while she's fixing a car. This all makes a nice change from, say, Anita Blake or Rachel Morgan or any of the other urban-fantasy protagonists I've read. That Mercy is a mechanic and almost stubbornly stays a mechanic throughout the series makes me very happy, even if she does spend a lot of time closing her shop due to supernatural reasons.

My favorite wolves are definitely Ben and Honey. Ben reminds me a lot of Spike from Buffy. Both problematic faves, I do realize. Honey, though, is definitely a lot less problematic. I felt very much for her loss, but feel that she's rallied well afterward. That she's ended up 4th in pack ranking the last time that was mentioned (Sherwood's recent discovery notwithstanding) makes me very happy. I definitely still love Warren and Kyle, but they've dropped behind Ben and Honey so... yeah. There's also not been a whole lot with Warren and Kyle after the first few books, which makes me a little sad, but... le sigh. Just gotta deal with it.

I guess now is as good a time as any to discuss my biggest pet-peeve in all of supernatural media: How Werewolves Work as Opposed to Actual Wolves. So, the way werewolves work was originally pulled from research on captive wolves and later David Mech's book in 1970. You have an Alpha wolf/mated pair who rule over the rest of the wolves based on their dominance and the pecking order goes by who's more dominant or less dominant. Patricia Briggs' werewolves definitely follow these guidelines as to how the pack works and even has submissive wolves playing quite a big role in keeping the dominant wolves from going nuts on each other at any given moment. This is all well and good for werewolves, but it's not actually how real wolf packs work and so it bothers me a lot. I mostly shove these thoughts into the back of my brain while I'm reading these days, but it's still a thing that bugs me. Of course, werewolves are also influenced by their human sides, Patricia Briggs' work actually mentions this and pretty much cites it as the reason her werewolves have females taking their rank from either their husbands or just being lowest because female. And look, it works well enough in fiction, so you can have certain werewolves get all tetchy about stuff, but... I hate it and want it to stop. Most likely won't anytime soon, so I just have to deal with it.

I feel like the Fae in the Mercy Series are a lot more "true to life" than other series make them out to be. It's neat how their various mythologies are woven in with more modern stuff. I particularly love Baba Yaga and was reasonably pleased with Rumpelstiltskin's portrayal. Mostly we get Zee being grumpy and Tad being around. Uncle Mike and Beauclaire are also notable... or would be in the absence, I guess. I like that they're so precise with their wording and definitely more dangerous than the humans want to believe. I'm not so sure about Underhill, though. Like, really not sure. I think the issue is just not being able to "get a read" on her. She's too tricksy and old and just... very Fae like, even to the Fae. I really don't like how she's got her claws in Aiden... but that's an ongoing issue that I don't think is going to be resolved anytime soon.

Patricia Briggs' vampires have interesting mechanics. I'm pleased that they take a while to make, essentially, otherwise I feel like they'd be overrunning the world by "breeding" like rabbits. It is also quite interesting that we end up dealing with pretty old vampires, for the most part. Bonarta, Marsilia, Stefan, and Wulfe are all centuries old. Probably the youngest "major" vampire we saw was Frost, who was only a few decades, if I'm remembering correctly. I also kind of like the "sheep" or "flock" aspect of their feeding pool. Makes a lot more sense if you want to stay in the shadows to have a dedicated pool of people to feed from rather than leaving dead bodies in your wake all the time. Wulfe jumped to the fore of the Mercy vampires with his stalking of Mercy and the whole thing in Soul Taken. He's... interesting definitely, but also very unique. He's the only tri-species vampire I've ever come across in my reading, so that's neat. Like Mercy, I'm really not sure how to feel about him.

I want to give a special shout-out to the Mercy cover artist: Dan dos Santos. I love his work and feel like it truly captures Mercy. Also, I never do cover artist shout-outs and I kind of stole the cover-pic collage from his website, so yeah. You can take a peek at his website: HERE.

Exile's Valor by Mercedes Lackey

Exile’s Valor is probably my favorite Valdemar book at the moment. That might be due to the ending that made me cry, but I did really enjoy the book as a whole. Each of the elements combined really well. Definitely the superior spy book when compared to Herald Spy and Family Spies.

I like getting a look at what weapons practices are like from the Weaponsmaster’s POV. Makes a change from pretty much always having from a student’s POV.

Neat to read how glass is shaped and stuff. Highly recommend watching the Netflix’s Blown Away to actually witness some of that. They make some pretty cool art pieces. Not really practical, like Alberich is interested in, but neat all the same.

I like that Selenay’s still grieving toward the beginning of the book. She should be. It’s not like grief ever really goes away, and definitely not if you haven’t had time to really process anything because of how busy you are. As busy as Selenay is. Of course, that this essentially leads to the whole Karath thing is a bit regrettable, but… it is what it is.

We also basically have confirmation that Kirball isn’t a thing anymore… or, ya know, yet, as publication times go. Alberich essentially created Hurlee, though he didn’t know it at the time. As I’d completely forgotten about Hurlee except for reading random reviews of the Collegium Chronicles where people were complaining about it not existing, that’s not a big deal. Just interesting to see an author’s mind at work vs her readers. Also, I kind of see how Hurlee got so lodged in peoples minds, as it does play a very large role here. Alberich remarks that it’ll probably fade, which I’m going to take as some confirmation as to what happened to Kirball. These things happen.

It’s also really interesting to see how a majority of Alberich’s spy stuff went on to influence Mags’. Obviously some things weren’t thought up during Exile’s Valor that ended up being created in The Herald Spy, so there are technically continuity errors if you’re reading chronologically, like I am. I find the differences interesting, even if The Herald Spy completely ruined my enjoyment of the spy stuff in Valdemar. That said, I feel like Alberich’s spy stuff is just more believable than Mags’.

I actually quite like the Alberich/Mytse pairing and bit of romance. It feels quite real, as far as fictional relationships are often choreographed. Selenay/Karath, however… much barf. I am not really a fan of their kind of romance. Aaand considering how that turns out… still barf. Lots of barf.

It’s an interesting move that Karath is being known as Karath and not the name he had in Rethwellan among his family (Thanel)… known because the first part of By the Sword comes before/happens at the same time as this bit of Exile’s Valor. Makes sense, if you’re at least trying to separate your past self from your present self, or from your reputation.

Mical’s volunteering has me legit in tears. The hurlee team leaping to Selenay’s defense at the drop of Alberich’s vision was also tear-inducing. I’m not even particularly attached to them and their immediate reaction to their duty is just… aaaahhhh. Not to mention the rest of the Heralds and Trainees.

Given how Mercedes Lackey doesn’t shy away from certain realities of life, I shouldn’t really be super surprised Selanay has postpartum depression. I also kind of knew that from reading later books in the chronology. Selanay’s not super motherly in Elspeth’s direction, if I'm remembering correctly.

So yeah, I ended up really enjoying Exile’s Valor. It was a lot of fun with a good tempering of emotion to go along with it.

Soul Taken by Patricia Briggs

A Spoiler Filled Review

So… I wasn’t so fond of Soul Taken. I feel like there was a lot of… not exactly misdirects, but a lot of dancing around the actual plot to do a whole lotta nothing.

Hooooly Shiiieeeet. Sherwood’s a Cornick. If I had to guess, probably Bran’s brother… probably. Confirmed later on in the book. Go me. But also… big concern all of a sudden that turns out to not be a concern at all so… yay, I guess. Honestly felt somewhat tacked on even though it happened right before Marsilia appeared with her cryptic message.

Maybe I’m just done with overly complicated vampire politic plot lines. Not sure. This was definitely one of those with a fae artifact twist.

Actually, thinking on it, I was just really confused for most of the plot and then everyone was like: Bonarata’s behind this! Still not entirely sure why, but they were right so… yeah. Soul Taken. Not my fave by a long shot.

Favorite Line

"Sadly, gods seldom die unless someone kills them." - Siebold Adelbertsmiter

Scarlet Adventures #8

So, with The Teal Mask DLC complete, it is now time to settle in to the grind of leveling up and evolving my various Pokemon while waiting for The Indigo Disk to come out. This task is made a little less onerous by the existence of Pokemon Outbreaks, which I've covered before. That's pretty much all I'm doing in Pokemon Scarlet at the moment so... here's some pics from that.

Shiny Toedscruel has a cool color scheme.

Excited to have a "Family of Four" Maushold... although apparently this is the more common version? IDK, I already have a "Family of Three" version so... yeah.

Chien-Pao has to be careful when it sleeps cuz the other swords stuck in its face.

Mighteyna Outbreak with a side of Lotad (who are not "outbreaking").

Persian has always been one of my favorite Pokemon. Their outbreaks look like lion prides.

More Persian Outbreak

Excuse my childishness at being amused by this angle of Walking Wake I was treated to during a battle.

In Other News

This month is going to be much lighter on posts than last month. I have one batch of reviews incoming this weekend and then it'll pretty much be whenever I finish books and amass enough interesting Pokemon Scarlet stuff.