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What I'm Reading Wednesday
Aug. 7th, 2014 12:41 amWhat are you currently reading?
I just yesterday finished The Silvered by Tanya Huff and haven't yet picked up a new book, so I'll talk about that book for this question. I enjoyed The Silvered. It's a high fantasy with werewolves, mages, and a bit of steampunk flavor. Unlike many werewolf stories, these werewolves are not only open about their existence, but in some parts of the world they are the political leaders and core of high society. (It's the sort of place where upwardly-mobile mothers try to get their daughters and sons to marry a member of the Pack.) There's some intriguing worldbuilding, and the book's unputdownability factor is high. I often found myself taking time away from the internet and real world obligations because the only thing I wanted to do was find out what happened next. I like that in the midst of a major war between the main protagonists' home kingdom of Aydori and an expanding empire led by a mad emperor, the book insists on the humanity of the individual Imperial soldiers. I am kinda sick of evil empires with hordes of unquestioning minions. Also, I found myself wondering early on whether there were any queer werewolves in this society, and later in the book we got a queer werewolf as a supporting character! Yay representation! I thought the characterization of the leads was not quite as strong as in some of Huff's other books, but overall I liked this novel a lot.
What have you recently finished reading?
Prior to The Silvered I read Ashes of Honor by Seanan McGuire, sixth of the October Daye novels. If you're a fan of urban fantasy, I highly recommend these books. October "Toby" Daye and her various friends, associates, frenemies, etc. are all fascinating and well-drawn characters, and at this point I'm deeply invested in their well-being. Too bad that Seanan is very willing to kill off fairly major characters. The books in this series are quick reads, but they don't feel like trifles. The worldbuilding for the Fae community is great, with enough quirk to suit the San Francisco setting. Although I've enjoyed every book in this series, I thought Ashes of Honor was the strongest since An Artificial Night, making it one of my favorite. Spoiler (going behind a cut, but just in case that cut doesn't work here's a warning outside it):I was really happy that Toby and Tybalt finally admitted their feelings and got together. I've been shipping them since book 1, so finally having them get together was very satisfying. While I adore UST, it was starting to get to the point where I was questioning Toby's intelligence for not noticing that Tybalt was obviously head-over-heels for her in his prickly king of cats way.
Also, I have a theory about Toby's squire Quentin and the unknown identity of his parents. I think I'm not quite ready to type it out, but I feel like there have been enough circumstantial hints in the text that I feel pretty good about my theory. Time will tell, I suppose.
What do you think you'll read next?
Probably I'll next read either Vol. 2 of Saga (I never posted about it here, but I adored the first volume so much that I made both of my parents read it, and they bought me the next two volumes for my birthday last weekend) or The Severed Streets by Paul Cornell (sequel to London Falling).
I just yesterday finished The Silvered by Tanya Huff and haven't yet picked up a new book, so I'll talk about that book for this question. I enjoyed The Silvered. It's a high fantasy with werewolves, mages, and a bit of steampunk flavor. Unlike many werewolf stories, these werewolves are not only open about their existence, but in some parts of the world they are the political leaders and core of high society. (It's the sort of place where upwardly-mobile mothers try to get their daughters and sons to marry a member of the Pack.) There's some intriguing worldbuilding, and the book's unputdownability factor is high. I often found myself taking time away from the internet and real world obligations because the only thing I wanted to do was find out what happened next. I like that in the midst of a major war between the main protagonists' home kingdom of Aydori and an expanding empire led by a mad emperor, the book insists on the humanity of the individual Imperial soldiers. I am kinda sick of evil empires with hordes of unquestioning minions. Also, I found myself wondering early on whether there were any queer werewolves in this society, and later in the book we got a queer werewolf as a supporting character! Yay representation! I thought the characterization of the leads was not quite as strong as in some of Huff's other books, but overall I liked this novel a lot.
What have you recently finished reading?
Prior to The Silvered I read Ashes of Honor by Seanan McGuire, sixth of the October Daye novels. If you're a fan of urban fantasy, I highly recommend these books. October "Toby" Daye and her various friends, associates, frenemies, etc. are all fascinating and well-drawn characters, and at this point I'm deeply invested in their well-being. Too bad that Seanan is very willing to kill off fairly major characters. The books in this series are quick reads, but they don't feel like trifles. The worldbuilding for the Fae community is great, with enough quirk to suit the San Francisco setting. Although I've enjoyed every book in this series, I thought Ashes of Honor was the strongest since An Artificial Night, making it one of my favorite. Spoiler (going behind a cut, but just in case that cut doesn't work here's a warning outside it):
Also, I have a theory about Toby's squire Quentin and the unknown identity of his parents. I think I'm not quite ready to type it out, but I feel like there have been enough circumstantial hints in the text that I feel pretty good about my theory. Time will tell, I suppose.
What do you think you'll read next?
Probably I'll next read either Vol. 2 of Saga (I never posted about it here, but I adored the first volume so much that I made both of my parents read it, and they bought me the next two volumes for my birthday last weekend) or The Severed Streets by Paul Cornell (sequel to London Falling).