jinian | September 2006 books

I know I've revised this file before, so how did it not get posted? Or saved? Well, here it is now anyway.

The Virtu, Sarah Monette. When did I read Melusine? I know I wrote about it. (But then, I was also sure I had posted this file already.) Mildmay: good character, marvelous voice. Felix: needs a smack in the head, but has good reasons for being broken. I read The Virtu and liked it, but it was awfully close to my angst tolerance level.

The Fall of the Kings, Ellen Kushner and Delia Sherman. Rereading after having forgotten almost everything about the plot was interesting, with this huge sense of foreboding but not really remembering the outcome. I hadn't noticed last time just how wide open to a sequel this is. I wonder if Kushner will succumb to temptation; I wonder if, if she does, I will read it (yes).

Stranger at the Wedding, Barbara Hambly. From

gwyneira, found at Magus. The cover art on this copy is dire, and the copy sounds pretty bad too, but the inside is good fun, worth reading if only so you can properly appreciate the fine Echo's Children song "Tibbeth of Hale".

Trading In Danger and Marque and Reprisal, Elizabeth Moon. From Magus store credit. Somewhat violent space opera with kickass female lead, a very good thing to read while sick.

The Bearkeeper's Daughter, Gillian Bradshaw. Interesting transition into Westerfeld's The Last Days: this one includes the Plague of Justinian, the first recorded pandemic.

The Last Days, Scott Westerfeld. Ensemble-cast band book set following the excellent Peeps, which introduced something very much like vampirism into New York (and the less important rest of the world). Not as good as Peeps, because how could it be? but pretty good.

Womansword, Kittredge Cherry. From Elgin's Try To Feel It My Way. Very interesting collection of Japanese words and phrases about women. I badly want an updated version; this one's about thirty years old and I'd love to know how things have changed.

The Oracle's Queen, Lynn Flewelling. Third of three. Good epic fantasy. Gender issues continue to be somewhat interesting but less fully explored than I would like.

Inda, Sherwood Smith. From

gwyneira. First of three, something of a cliffhanger. Also I wonder what the later books are going to be called, since Inda is the linchpin character and seems likely to stay so.

Od Magic, Patricia McKillip. I think of McKillip-nature as being all about words, carefully chosen and tuned, so it's funny that this book aims so much at magic being sublinguistic.

Joust, Mercedes Lackey. Have I mentioned that I never need to read Lackey ever again? Not even while sick.

Abenobashi Magical Shopping Arcade 2.
Absolute Boyfriend 2, Yuu Watase. Somehow the library got volume 2 before volume 1. It's cute and sex-obsessed. The "maybe the robot is developing self-awareness!" plot could have been set up less obviously (and was even in Chobits, sheesh), but I suppose people are reading this for the naked gift-wrapped boy.
CLAMP School Detectives 1-3, CLAMP. Clearly for girls of about age ten, but I wanted to read this because the characters showed up in Tsubasa.
The Dreaming: Through the Gates of Horn and Ivory, various.
Fruits Basket, Natsuki Takaya. Through 132.
Hot Gimmick, Miki Aihara. Through volume 4. I never should have started, but something that could make

coffeeandink keep reading despite being consistently referred to as "the manga of deep feminist shame" had to be compelling, right? Oh yes indeed, it is the kinky power-game crack. Fear this manga.
Naruto, Masashi Kishimoto. Through chapter 324. Temari is indeed awesome. And okay maybe I care about Sasuke some. Loving the new mighty Sakura. I don't like Sai or find him believable, but maybe that's on purpose.
Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle, CLAMP. Through chapter 127. Waaaah, my poor pretty Fai!
Y the Last Man: Girl on Girl, Brian K. Vaughan.
Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou, Hitoshi Ashinano. (ykk.misago.org) Through chapter 11.