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So I haven't updated in a bit - haven't found the time. I've been settling into my new job with a cabling company while continuing on at my retail job. I got a bonus from the retail job. I spent a chunk of it on books.
Books:
Lone Wolf and Cub 1 & 2 (because![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
deralte convinced me it was time)
Monster 1
A History of Violence
Batman: Year one (I can't believe I didn't already own this!)
The Lathe of Heaven (I can't believe I didn't already own this! I suck at fangirling)
The Children of Hurin
The City: A Vision in Woodcuts
Graphic Witness (apparently I'm all about the woodcuts right now)
Jonah Hex: Origins
Oh, and The Alton Gift. Yeah, the new Darkover book.
I've been reading these things since I was knee high to a grasshopper and can't quite seem to kick the habit, despite the fact that a lot of them, especially these new fic-y novels, aren't all that good. I'm the same about Pern. Every few years I have to go reread the original trilogy. Lessa! F'lar! F'nor! <3
With Darkover, I was always about the Renunciates, Regis Hastur et al, and the cracksanity of The Ages of Chaos. Yay for laran weapons! This made the new book, by Deborah J. Ross kind of perfect for me. It's set post Terrans leaving Darkover, in the midst of a civil war, with Darkover possibly descending into another period of massive social disruption. It focuses on the new generation of characters introduced in Exile's Song, Shadow Matrix and that other one, the name of which escapes me.
Of the good:
- plenty of Lew Alton being his usual doofy, guilt-ridden self
- Danilo Syrtis has a substantial part for the first time in like, five books
- Marguerida Alton and Katherine Aldaran continue to wave the feminist flag and raise hell
- the new character Jeram, AKA Jeremiah Reed, is awesome
Of the bad:
- OMG too much romance
- OMG bad sex scenes
- seeeeriously average writing, weak plotting and occasional trips to the land of purple prose
- too much of ohsoboring Domenic Hastur. Needs more crazy chicks! What's Darkover without the crazy chicks?
- rushed ending
I think I would have liked this book more if she'd had a tighter focus. Maybe a smaller pool of pov characters. I understand that she's trying to build up the new guy, Domenic Hastur, but quite frankly, he's freaking dull as hell. It doesn't help when the writer glosses over the supposed born! leader!'s inspiring! speech. "And then he was inspiring." Uh, no. But good GOD was this guy soul-crushingly boring. I couldn't summon up any interest in his fake problems.
It's like, dude. You're heir to the throne of the WHOLE WORLD. You have a loving family, you're filthy rich, you've had more freedom than most people in your caste, you're attractive, talented, well-liked and INSPIRING! And! You have two beautiful women in love with you. What the fuck kind of 'problems' can you possibly have? Regis Hastur had your 'problems' plus assassins, a plague, ecological and social sabotage, political upheaval, giant matrix weapons, and lots of borderline and outright crazy relatives to contend with. Lew Alton almost died trying to GET some of your problems. Shut the hell up, you whiny baby man.
So yeah, Darkover. I'm hoping the next book has more Jeram and less Domenic.
And now, after my thirteen hours of work, plus 2 1/2 hours of commuting, I'm going to collapse into bed.
Books:
Lone Wolf and Cub 1 & 2 (because
deralte convinced me it was time) Monster 1
A History of Violence
Batman: Year one (I can't believe I didn't already own this!)
The Lathe of Heaven (I can't believe I didn't already own this! I suck at fangirling)
The Children of Hurin
The City: A Vision in Woodcuts
Graphic Witness (apparently I'm all about the woodcuts right now)
Jonah Hex: Origins
Oh, and The Alton Gift. Yeah, the new Darkover book.
I've been reading these things since I was knee high to a grasshopper and can't quite seem to kick the habit, despite the fact that a lot of them, especially these new fic-y novels, aren't all that good. I'm the same about Pern. Every few years I have to go reread the original trilogy. Lessa! F'lar! F'nor! <3
With Darkover, I was always about the Renunciates, Regis Hastur et al, and the cracksanity of The Ages of Chaos. Yay for laran weapons! This made the new book, by Deborah J. Ross kind of perfect for me. It's set post Terrans leaving Darkover, in the midst of a civil war, with Darkover possibly descending into another period of massive social disruption. It focuses on the new generation of characters introduced in Exile's Song, Shadow Matrix and that other one, the name of which escapes me.
Of the good:
- plenty of Lew Alton being his usual doofy, guilt-ridden self
- Danilo Syrtis has a substantial part for the first time in like, five books
- Marguerida Alton and Katherine Aldaran continue to wave the feminist flag and raise hell
- the new character Jeram, AKA Jeremiah Reed, is awesome
Of the bad:
- OMG too much romance
- OMG bad sex scenes
- seeeeriously average writing, weak plotting and occasional trips to the land of purple prose
- too much of ohsoboring Domenic Hastur. Needs more crazy chicks! What's Darkover without the crazy chicks?
- rushed ending
I think I would have liked this book more if she'd had a tighter focus. Maybe a smaller pool of pov characters. I understand that she's trying to build up the new guy, Domenic Hastur, but quite frankly, he's freaking dull as hell. It doesn't help when the writer glosses over the supposed born! leader!'s inspiring! speech. "And then he was inspiring." Uh, no. But good GOD was this guy soul-crushingly boring. I couldn't summon up any interest in his fake problems.
It's like, dude. You're heir to the throne of the WHOLE WORLD. You have a loving family, you're filthy rich, you've had more freedom than most people in your caste, you're attractive, talented, well-liked and INSPIRING! And! You have two beautiful women in love with you. What the fuck kind of 'problems' can you possibly have? Regis Hastur had your 'problems' plus assassins, a plague, ecological and social sabotage, political upheaval, giant matrix weapons, and lots of borderline and outright crazy relatives to contend with. Lew Alton almost died trying to GET some of your problems. Shut the hell up, you whiny baby man.
So yeah, Darkover. I'm hoping the next book has more Jeram and less Domenic.
And now, after my thirteen hours of work, plus 2 1/2 hours of commuting, I'm going to collapse into bed.