[gmw]

End of Ever After by E. L. Tenenbaum. I really liked the idea of this, but found the execution annoying. It was first person with a strongly retrospective cast. The first half of the book is spent telling the story we already know (mostly). By the time the twist arrives it has been so strongly foreshadowed that nothing is a surprise (except perhaps the goose), nor even that interesting. But the finale lifts this out of the strictly mundane, with Ella playing a much stronger role than I expected, and this felt good after so much passivity. Some good lines, I'll post a few to the quote thread, but I can only stretch to 3/5.


Golden Fleece by Robert J. Sawyer. I had some trouble through the first half, the human interactions felt a little stiff and stilted, but it picks up from there and moves forward more quickly. The conclusion included a couple of neat twists that make the journey worthwhile. I will say that some of the background explanation was not entirely convincing, but it was good enough for the main points to stand. Somewhere around 3.5/5, I think.


The Green Glass Sea by Ellen Klages. Historical fiction theoretically for younger readers. I was strongly moved by this subtle, quiet and yet powerful tale of childhood, friendship, loss and the development of the atomic bomb. There really isn't that much story in here, and the bomb is very much just a background to the lives these young girls are living in the new military township of Los Alamos, but it worked well for me. It all seemed very real, and that reality gave the subtle ending an added poignancy. 4.5/5.

Side Note: The ebook edition I have includes lots of additional material at the front. Why at the front? Good grief. Lots of spoilers in it. If you want to read the extra material, wait until you've read the story.


A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin. I feel like this has not aged well. It's (at least partly) told in the slightly pompous voice of historical recital and as a result the tale tends to be sparse and doesn't dwell long in any one place or on the more human interactions. But it does move along very quickly and it is quite short. The dénouement carries (what seems now) a fairly predictable moral or spiritual flavour; it is satisfying enough but feels a little trite. For all that, I was entertained and quite happy to see it through to the finish. 3/5.