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It's more than a month since I last posted here. I've got a lot of catching up to do.
The Tombs of Atuan - Ursula le Guin. The second Earthsea book, and I thought it was a better book than Wizard of Earthsea. This one is just one single story, whereas Wizard was a bit rambling and picaresque. It was also pretty short. I read it in a single afternoon, while ill in bed, as a break from the next book.
The Republic of Thieves - Scott Lynch. The third Locke Lamora book. Honestly, I was a bit disappointed with this. It's still good, but not, in my mind, as good as the first two. The flashback story is great, but the present day stuff just didn't quite work for me.
Generation Loss - Elizabeth Hand. Atmospheric story about a has-been/never-was punk photographer and mysterious goings-on in Maine. The lead character drinks too much, takes drugs, commits petty acts of theft and mischief, and doesn't really seem to have much going for her, but is somehow still sympathetic. I just bought the sequel today.
Wool 3: Casting Off - Hugh Howey. I continue to make my slow way through the first Wool omnibus. It's solid enough, so far, but I can't help feeling that it's massively overrated because of its indie roots. I can make myself look thin if I stand in a crowd of fat people. Maybe the last two parts will change my mind.
Soulless - Gail Carriger. Not my usual fare, but I enjoyed this a lot. It's set in a version of Victorian London where vampires and werewolves are integrated into society, and the technology is a bit steampunky. Romance is a large element, but far from the whole of the book. Good fun.
The Riddle-Master of Hed - Patricia A McKillip. Enjoyable off-beat fantasy about a prince from a small island wandering about having strange encounters. It reminded me a bit of Wizard of Earthsea and Lyonesse. I'm very keen to get on with the sequel(s), but decided to space them out a bit.
A Door into Ocean - Joan Slonczewski. Another good one, an SF novel about a peaceful race of genetically-adapted women who live on an ocean moon, and the attempt of the nearby planet to assert control over them. How do you win a war when one side won't fight? Interesting, and a good story.
I'm currently reading The Seven Dials Mystery by Agatha Christie, which I should finish in the next day or so. I thought it had been a bit too long since I read anything from my growing TBR pile of Christie books. This one's a follow-up to Secret of Chimneys with some of the same cast. It's more of a thriller than a whodunnit, and I never seem to quite like those as much - they seem a bit more preposterous and cliched - but it's readable enough.
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