Hours Gone By (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
hoursgoneby) wrote2016-09-07 09:30 am
hoursgoneby) wrote2016-09-07 09:30 am
Entry tags:
Work News & What Am I Reading Wednesday
First things first, the work news is that I did find a job. It's working the phones in a call center - excuse me, contact center - and I do not like it but it goes by quick and pays rather well, so there's that. Seeing as I was out of money, I can't complain too much. Also studying web development and WordPress development and hoping to maybe get some freelance work, along with trying for some freelance writing work but no one's biting yet. *sigh* Who signed me up for this 'being an adult' nonsense and what were they thinking?
What Am I Reading
What I Just Finished Reading: Non-Stop Till Tokyo by K.J. Charles. A young woman threatened by theYakuza must go on the run and try to find a way to prove who the real culprit is. It's an early work and it shows, and while the idea is interesting I thought the overall plot felt a little too thin.
Charmed and Dangerous, edited by Jordan Castillo Price. It's an anthology of LGBT paranormal fiction, and overall quite good. A couple of stories fell below the bar but the rest I really enjoyed. (Yes, yes, there's a Whyborne & Griffin short in there, but it doesn't count because I'd already read it. Right?) Worth checking out, certainly.
Fallow (Whyborne & Griffin #8), by Jordan L. Hawk. Like most of the rest of the readership I'm going to start with this, just to get it off my chest: ugh, that cover. I know the author's thrilled with it, and I did think through whether I was just reacting because it was new or because I genuinely don't like it and...I genuinely don't like it. I liked the originals better. Anyway, now that's done...
Goodreads Summary: When a man from Griffin’s past murders a sorcerer, the situation grows even more dire. Once a simple farmer from Griffin’s hometown of Fallow, the assassin now bears a terrifying magical corruption, one whose nature even Whyborne can’t explain. To keep Griffin’s estranged mother safe, they must travel to a dying town in Kansas. But as drought withers the crops of Fallow, a sinister cult sinks its roots deep into the arid soil. And if the cult’s foul harvest isn’t stopped in time, Fallow will be only the first city to fall.
It's easy to overlook because Whyborne is generally more dramatic about things but Griffin has a much more screwed up past. That becomes even more apparent when we get to Fallow, which is a spiteful little place just overflowing with pettiness and homophobia. Yeah, fun. I'd raise an eyebrow at the museum letting Christine and Iskander go along on pretense of an archaeological expedition except that since Bloodline it's been made pretty clear that, in Widdershins, Whyborne's wishes are to be respected. Particularly after the events of Maelstrom. The book is ok, but it's not my favorite out of the series, or even the strongest of the 'away' novels. (That would be Necropolis.) The next book, Draakenwood, is out in 2017 and I'm definitely curious about that one since we've been getting hints about the nature of the Draakenwood since the first book but never gone in. In between, I think we're getting a short story about Persephone and Miss Parkhurst.
The Just City, by Jo Walton. The Greek gods Athena and Apollo create a city based on Plato's Republic and populate it with people drawn from different periods of time. I liked the concept, and I liked seeing how the city developed. The side plot with the robot workers was fascinating and I wish it had gotten more page time. But I found it hard to track what was going on because every single character's voice was the same, and no one really ever expressed any emotions. They were like that even before they got to the city or else I would see it as a result of trying to enforce conformity. As it is, it just read like flawed writing.
Blood of Elves, by Andrzej Sapkowski. Not enough Geralt. Too much Triss and Yennefer.
What I'm Reading Now: Just finished Blood of Elves before writing this so I haven't picked anything else up yet. Utopia, maybe?
What I'm Reading Next: Probably something I've read before. It makes it easier when you're reading between calls because you know you won't have an uninterrupted train of thought for more than a few minutes at best.
What Am I Reading
What I Just Finished Reading: Non-Stop Till Tokyo by K.J. Charles. A young woman threatened by theYakuza must go on the run and try to find a way to prove who the real culprit is. It's an early work and it shows, and while the idea is interesting I thought the overall plot felt a little too thin.
Charmed and Dangerous, edited by Jordan Castillo Price. It's an anthology of LGBT paranormal fiction, and overall quite good. A couple of stories fell below the bar but the rest I really enjoyed. (Yes, yes, there's a Whyborne & Griffin short in there, but it doesn't count because I'd already read it. Right?) Worth checking out, certainly.
Fallow (Whyborne & Griffin #8), by Jordan L. Hawk. Like most of the rest of the readership I'm going to start with this, just to get it off my chest: ugh, that cover. I know the author's thrilled with it, and I did think through whether I was just reacting because it was new or because I genuinely don't like it and...I genuinely don't like it. I liked the originals better. Anyway, now that's done...
Goodreads Summary: When a man from Griffin’s past murders a sorcerer, the situation grows even more dire. Once a simple farmer from Griffin’s hometown of Fallow, the assassin now bears a terrifying magical corruption, one whose nature even Whyborne can’t explain. To keep Griffin’s estranged mother safe, they must travel to a dying town in Kansas. But as drought withers the crops of Fallow, a sinister cult sinks its roots deep into the arid soil. And if the cult’s foul harvest isn’t stopped in time, Fallow will be only the first city to fall.
It's easy to overlook because Whyborne is generally more dramatic about things but Griffin has a much more screwed up past. That becomes even more apparent when we get to Fallow, which is a spiteful little place just overflowing with pettiness and homophobia. Yeah, fun. I'd raise an eyebrow at the museum letting Christine and Iskander go along on pretense of an archaeological expedition except that since Bloodline it's been made pretty clear that, in Widdershins, Whyborne's wishes are to be respected. Particularly after the events of Maelstrom. The book is ok, but it's not my favorite out of the series, or even the strongest of the 'away' novels. (That would be Necropolis.) The next book, Draakenwood, is out in 2017 and I'm definitely curious about that one since we've been getting hints about the nature of the Draakenwood since the first book but never gone in. In between, I think we're getting a short story about Persephone and Miss Parkhurst.
The Just City, by Jo Walton. The Greek gods Athena and Apollo create a city based on Plato's Republic and populate it with people drawn from different periods of time. I liked the concept, and I liked seeing how the city developed. The side plot with the robot workers was fascinating and I wish it had gotten more page time. But I found it hard to track what was going on because every single character's voice was the same, and no one really ever expressed any emotions. They were like that even before they got to the city or else I would see it as a result of trying to enforce conformity. As it is, it just read like flawed writing.
Blood of Elves, by Andrzej Sapkowski. Not enough Geralt. Too much Triss and Yennefer.
What I'm Reading Now: Just finished Blood of Elves before writing this so I haven't picked anything else up yet. Utopia, maybe?
What I'm Reading Next: Probably something I've read before. It makes it easier when you're reading between calls because you know you won't have an uninterrupted train of thought for more than a few minutes at best.
no subject
Yennefer just bugs me. It doesn't help that about 90% of her dialogue with Ciri has no tags, and yeah, it's just the two of them but it does start to be confusing after a few paragraphs. (I think I owe my 4th grade language arts teacher an apology because I used to do that and insisted that readers would 'figure it out'. Yes, but they'll be annoyed.)
I read the author's note that mentioned Griffin was much more screwed up than Whyborne, and I disagree with that
So do I. Griffin's clearly got PTSD and claustrophobia from Chicago and the asylum, not to mention the emotional trauma from getting thrown out of Fallow and then being disowned by his parents, but he works on managing these things. Whyborne - taking different coping mechanisms into account here - really doesn't. (Drama, suspicion, and sulking are not management.)
Aww, there's going to be a Persephone and Miss Parkhurst story? Cute!
I wonder if Whyborne will ever clue in on Miss Parkhurst's desperate crush on him? Probably not until it's bluntly and blatantly pointed out by someone - he seems to be bad about getting emotional cues unless they come that way.
Oh, and yay for a job!
Thanks! Here's hoping I can manage to keep my temper. I am so amazingly done with customer service roles you don't even know.
no subject
but he works on managing these things. Whyborne - taking different coping mechanisms into account here - really doesn't. (Drama, suspicion, and sulking are not management.)
Yes! That's exactly what I was trying to express, but you said it so much better.
I wonder if Whyborne will ever clue in on Miss Parkhurst's desperate crush on him?
IIRC, he's only ever clued in to people wanting to be involved with him romantically when they've kissed him/attempted to, so... I'm guessing not.
And wishing you patience and strength for the job!
no subject
Same here.
Yes! That's exactly what I was trying to express, but you said it so much better.
Thank you!
IIRC, he's only ever clued in to people wanting to be involved with him romantically when they've kissed him/attempted to, so... I'm guessing not.
Poor Miss Parkhurst indeed. Though she seems to have transferred her crush to Persephone?
no subject
She does! And Persephone seems much faster on the uptake in this regard, fortunately for Miss Parkhurst XD