Hours Gone By (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
hoursgoneby) wrote2016-01-06 06:26 pm
hoursgoneby) wrote2016-01-06 06:26 pm
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What Am I Reading Wednesday, January 6, 2016
Right, so this year I set my Goodreads reading challenge at 50 books again, and hopefully will manage to meet it this year. So far we're 8 towards fifty, but to be fair it's counting a few short stories in there.
What I Just Finished Reading: Corambis, by Sarah Monette. I'd taken it out to verify something and found myself reading it instead of researching and reshelving. Oops.
Red Seas Under Red Skies (Gentleman Bastard, #2), by Scott Lynch. Man, now I don't know which I like better, this or The Lies of Locke Lamora! Now I want to read the rest of the series not only because it's wonderful and gorgeously written, but to find out if there's a Gentleman Bastard book that doesn't rip my heart out and stomp on it at some point.
Eidolon (Whyborne & Griffin #1.5), by Jordan L. Hawk. Dammit, I am a sucker for couples being sweet at each other while overcoming odds. Toss in some horror on top of that and it's like dangling a string for a kitten, I swear. This is one of the short stories, just a few thousand words long. You can read the rest of the series without having read this, but why would you?
Carousel: A Whyborne & Griffin Short Story, #3.4, by Jordan L. Hawk. Everything in Widdershins has underlying horror. Everything.
Necropolis (Whyborne & Griffin #4), by Jordan L. Hawk. (Are we sensing a theme yet?) Lovecraftian cosmic horror in Egypt! Lots and lots and lots of Christine, too, which makes me happy because I'd just been feeling in Stormhaven that we weren't getting to see enough of her.
Bloodline (Whyborne & Griffin #5), by Jordan L. Hawk. Or, Whyborne & Griffin: The Wham Novel. I was annoyed with Whyborne for much of the book, then the realization of the underlying reasons for his attitude and behaviour set in and I began to understand the reasons. Not excuse, mind, but you begin to get even more of a sense of just how lonely and rejected he's always felt, everywhere. This probably has the strongest and most obvious Lovecraft influence, and if you're familiar with his more famous works you'll probably see where it's going, though it does swerve sharply in tone and message regarding certain characters, and thank god for that.
Hoarfrost, Whyborne & Griffin #6, by Jordan L. Hawk. Whyborne, Griffin, Christine, and Iskander go to Alaska! Whyborne is not pleased - and as it's freaking cold here right now, too, I am in complete sympathy, especially once you get to the decriptions of frontier inns in the early 20th century. This ties back to events in Necropolis and Bloodline, though it's not nearly as intense and heavy in tone as the latter. It's still dark, mind, but you get a bit of a breather.
Maelstrom, Whyborne & Griffin #7, by Jordan L. Hawk. Murderous cults! Mind control! Niles trying very hard to be less of a bastard! I actually thought this was going to be another breather (comparatively) until about 2/3 of the way through then the real crisis of the novel hit. Jesus. I mean, I sort of saw it coming, I just didn't realize it was going to be as intense as it was.
What I'm Reading Now: Last one, I swear: Remnant: A Caldwell & Feximal/Whyborne & Griffin Mystery (The Secret Casebook of Simon Feximal, #3; Whyborne & Griffin, #3.5), by K.J. Charles and Jordan L. Hawk. I have no idea who Caldwell & Feximal are, and am just going to admit right up front I'm reading it for Whyborne & Griffin. The bright young things of London are being murdured by magic, and the only clues available are written in Egyptian hieratic. This takes place during W&G's London stopover on their way to Egypt in Necropolis. Poor Whyborne: bad enough he hates travel he keeps getting yanked into mysteries. 's what happens when you're marked by occult powers I guess.
The Chrome Borne, by Mercedes Lackey. It's an omnibus edition of the 1st and 4th books in the SERRAted Edge series, which I've never read. Actually, I haven't read a whole lot by Lackey: I can't recall them being in my local public libraries and my school libraries sure as hell weren't going to stock them. Plus, I didn't have any other fantasy fans near me who could rec the books or lend them to me. *settles in rocking chair* You kids today, with your Internet, don't know how good you have it! *gets up* I finally got around to it and oh man, do I love this! Please, are there any more series with elves driving race cars I should know about?
What I'm Reading Next: A lot of fanfic that I've been alerted to but haven't had a chance to read, plus the Star Trek fics![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
runpunkrun recced to me for Day 2 of the Snowflake Challenge. Then, The Watchmaker of Filigree Street and perhaps the 2nd and 3rd novels in The Inheritance Trilogy.
What I Just Finished Reading: Corambis, by Sarah Monette. I'd taken it out to verify something and found myself reading it instead of researching and reshelving. Oops.
Red Seas Under Red Skies (Gentleman Bastard, #2), by Scott Lynch. Man, now I don't know which I like better, this or The Lies of Locke Lamora! Now I want to read the rest of the series not only because it's wonderful and gorgeously written, but to find out if there's a Gentleman Bastard book that doesn't rip my heart out and stomp on it at some point.
Eidolon (Whyborne & Griffin #1.5), by Jordan L. Hawk. Dammit, I am a sucker for couples being sweet at each other while overcoming odds. Toss in some horror on top of that and it's like dangling a string for a kitten, I swear. This is one of the short stories, just a few thousand words long. You can read the rest of the series without having read this, but why would you?
Carousel: A Whyborne & Griffin Short Story, #3.4, by Jordan L. Hawk. Everything in Widdershins has underlying horror. Everything.
Necropolis (Whyborne & Griffin #4), by Jordan L. Hawk. (Are we sensing a theme yet?) Lovecraftian cosmic horror in Egypt! Lots and lots and lots of Christine, too, which makes me happy because I'd just been feeling in Stormhaven that we weren't getting to see enough of her.
Bloodline (Whyborne & Griffin #5), by Jordan L. Hawk. Or, Whyborne & Griffin: The Wham Novel. I was annoyed with Whyborne for much of the book, then the realization of the underlying reasons for his attitude and behaviour set in and I began to understand the reasons. Not excuse, mind, but you begin to get even more of a sense of just how lonely and rejected he's always felt, everywhere. This probably has the strongest and most obvious Lovecraft influence, and if you're familiar with his more famous works you'll probably see where it's going, though it does swerve sharply in tone and message regarding certain characters, and thank god for that.
Hoarfrost, Whyborne & Griffin #6, by Jordan L. Hawk. Whyborne, Griffin, Christine, and Iskander go to Alaska! Whyborne is not pleased - and as it's freaking cold here right now, too, I am in complete sympathy, especially once you get to the decriptions of frontier inns in the early 20th century. This ties back to events in Necropolis and Bloodline, though it's not nearly as intense and heavy in tone as the latter. It's still dark, mind, but you get a bit of a breather.
Maelstrom, Whyborne & Griffin #7, by Jordan L. Hawk. Murderous cults! Mind control! Niles trying very hard to be less of a bastard! I actually thought this was going to be another breather (comparatively) until about 2/3 of the way through then the real crisis of the novel hit. Jesus. I mean, I sort of saw it coming, I just didn't realize it was going to be as intense as it was.
What I'm Reading Now: Last one, I swear: Remnant: A Caldwell & Feximal/Whyborne & Griffin Mystery (The Secret Casebook of Simon Feximal, #3; Whyborne & Griffin, #3.5), by K.J. Charles and Jordan L. Hawk. I have no idea who Caldwell & Feximal are, and am just going to admit right up front I'm reading it for Whyborne & Griffin. The bright young things of London are being murdured by magic, and the only clues available are written in Egyptian hieratic. This takes place during W&G's London stopover on their way to Egypt in Necropolis. Poor Whyborne: bad enough he hates travel he keeps getting yanked into mysteries. 's what happens when you're marked by occult powers I guess.
The Chrome Borne, by Mercedes Lackey. It's an omnibus edition of the 1st and 4th books in the SERRAted Edge series, which I've never read. Actually, I haven't read a whole lot by Lackey: I can't recall them being in my local public libraries and my school libraries sure as hell weren't going to stock them. Plus, I didn't have any other fantasy fans near me who could rec the books or lend them to me. *settles in rocking chair* You kids today, with your Internet, don't know how good you have it! *gets up* I finally got around to it and oh man, do I love this! Please, are there any more series with elves driving race cars I should know about?
What I'm Reading Next: A lot of fanfic that I've been alerted to but haven't had a chance to read, plus the Star Trek fics
runpunkrun recced to me for Day 2 of the Snowflake Challenge. Then, The Watchmaker of Filigree Street and perhaps the 2nd and 3rd novels in The Inheritance Trilogy.