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Apr. 3rd, 2008 04:00 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
skygiantsThere is a Theme for the books I read during the second half of my spring break - basically, all I really wanted was to indulge myself in lots of comfort reading with happy endings. So that is what I did!
I bought Sherwood Smith's Crown Duel for my trip because I had recently read and loved her Inda for its fabulous worldbuilding and I had heard that Crown Duel was set in the future of the same universe. (I had also read it many years before, but I really did not remember a thing about it.) Originally published as two books, Crown Duel tells the story of very provincial noblewoman Meliara, who in the first half is involved in a rebellion against the corrupt king with her brother, and in the second half finds herself trying to fit in at the court of the new king amidst lots of wacky intrigue. Meliara often displays signs of being very traditionally Spunky and I facepalmed at her lots of times, especially when she got judgmental, but the book doesn't let her get away with it, which is nice. She does learn, and I warmed to her as she did. I also liked the critique of your basic Noble Rebellion Against Corruption plotline, which is often, as the book points out, a stupid way to get things done that causes a lot of damage. There were the seeds of interesting worldbuilding, and the seeds of interesting political complexity, too, especially in the second half, but it never went far enough for me, and everything always resolved a little bit too easily - but I could definitely see the roots of what Smith does in Inda, which has ten times the worldbuilding and also ten times the intrigue and politics and is awesome. I should probably mention, though, that other than a few place names and one interesting world-wide custom, the books are set many years apart and in different places and have little in common in terms of setting.
After this, I had run out of books purchased for the trip, so I went to check out my local library's Georgette Heyer section and picked up Venetia. I didn't like this one quite as much as the other Heyers I've read so far - not that it's not a well-written and fun book, because it is, but I think that after being thoroughly immersed in Jane Eyretasticness, Lord Damerel, Angsty Reformed Rake, kind of just seemed like a less interesting Rochester. Also, I think this one felt more explicitly romance-focused to me than the other two I've read, which both had a bunch of interesting side plots. I do really like the way Heyer sets up older sister-younger brother relationships, though.
The last proper vacation book I finished (well, flight home book) was Judith Merkle Riley's A Vision of Light, which I had also read before, but, again, so many years ago I didn't remember it. I should say first off that Judith Merkle Riley is total comfort reading for me. I know exactly what I will get if I pick up one of her books: an interesting and well-researched historical setting, an independent female character doing something weird but mostly plausible to support herself, some vague possibly-supernatural interference, and a grumpy and confused male character who learns to appreciate the female character's weirdness and independence, all of which combine for reads that may not be great per se but are very enjoyable. My favorite of hers is The Oracle Glass, which has the most flawed heroine doing the weirdest thing (pretending to be an old lady who looks young because she drank out of the fountain of youth!) among the weirdest people (a gang of crazy satanic poisoners in the court of the king of France; most weird because they are all historical characters!) with the weirdest boyfriend (grumpy pamphleteering ex-galley-slave card shark!). A Vision of Light, set in the medieval era, does not quite reach that standard of fun and bizarre; the main character, Margaret, is a midwife with vaguely possibly-religious healing powers, who has decided that she needs to hire a clerk to write down her life story. The book alternates between her history and the scenes in the present between her and the grumpy clerk. Margaret is kind of over-perfect at times, but I can deal with that. The story is interesting and moves along, and I really like that Margaret has to cope with historically plausible consequences for her independence, and that her eventual necessary marriage of convenience works out perfectly fine.
Apparently this is the first one in a trilogy; I will definitely be looking for the rest. (But if you've never heard of Judith Merkle Riley, and you decide you want to read one of her books, start with The Oracle Glass. Because it is awesome.)
I bought Sherwood Smith's Crown Duel for my trip because I had recently read and loved her Inda for its fabulous worldbuilding and I had heard that Crown Duel was set in the future of the same universe. (I had also read it many years before, but I really did not remember a thing about it.) Originally published as two books, Crown Duel tells the story of very provincial noblewoman Meliara, who in the first half is involved in a rebellion against the corrupt king with her brother, and in the second half finds herself trying to fit in at the court of the new king amidst lots of wacky intrigue. Meliara often displays signs of being very traditionally Spunky and I facepalmed at her lots of times, especially when she got judgmental, but the book doesn't let her get away with it, which is nice. She does learn, and I warmed to her as she did. I also liked the critique of your basic Noble Rebellion Against Corruption plotline, which is often, as the book points out, a stupid way to get things done that causes a lot of damage. There were the seeds of interesting worldbuilding, and the seeds of interesting political complexity, too, especially in the second half, but it never went far enough for me, and everything always resolved a little bit too easily - but I could definitely see the roots of what Smith does in Inda, which has ten times the worldbuilding and also ten times the intrigue and politics and is awesome. I should probably mention, though, that other than a few place names and one interesting world-wide custom, the books are set many years apart and in different places and have little in common in terms of setting.
After this, I had run out of books purchased for the trip, so I went to check out my local library's Georgette Heyer section and picked up Venetia. I didn't like this one quite as much as the other Heyers I've read so far - not that it's not a well-written and fun book, because it is, but I think that after being thoroughly immersed in Jane Eyretasticness, Lord Damerel, Angsty Reformed Rake, kind of just seemed like a less interesting Rochester. Also, I think this one felt more explicitly romance-focused to me than the other two I've read, which both had a bunch of interesting side plots. I do really like the way Heyer sets up older sister-younger brother relationships, though.
The last proper vacation book I finished (well, flight home book) was Judith Merkle Riley's A Vision of Light, which I had also read before, but, again, so many years ago I didn't remember it. I should say first off that Judith Merkle Riley is total comfort reading for me. I know exactly what I will get if I pick up one of her books: an interesting and well-researched historical setting, an independent female character doing something weird but mostly plausible to support herself, some vague possibly-supernatural interference, and a grumpy and confused male character who learns to appreciate the female character's weirdness and independence, all of which combine for reads that may not be great per se but are very enjoyable. My favorite of hers is The Oracle Glass, which has the most flawed heroine doing the weirdest thing (pretending to be an old lady who looks young because she drank out of the fountain of youth!) among the weirdest people (a gang of crazy satanic poisoners in the court of the king of France; most weird because they are all historical characters!) with the weirdest boyfriend (grumpy pamphleteering ex-galley-slave card shark!). A Vision of Light, set in the medieval era, does not quite reach that standard of fun and bizarre; the main character, Margaret, is a midwife with vaguely possibly-religious healing powers, who has decided that she needs to hire a clerk to write down her life story. The book alternates between her history and the scenes in the present between her and the grumpy clerk. Margaret is kind of over-perfect at times, but I can deal with that. The story is interesting and moves along, and I really like that Margaret has to cope with historically plausible consequences for her independence, and that her eventual necessary marriage of convenience works out perfectly fine.
Apparently this is the first one in a trilogy; I will definitely be looking for the rest. (But if you've never heard of Judith Merkle Riley, and you decide you want to read one of her books, start with The Oracle Glass. Because it is awesome.)
