Books I've Read
Sep. 17th, 2010 12:07 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
imaginary_golux-Owlflight, Owlsight, and Owlknight, by Mercedes Lackey. The trilogy follows Darian Firkin through his adoption by the Hawkbrothers and his growing maturity. The first book is very black-and-white, but then Darian is very young, so his mindset does not allow for much grey. The second book is my favorite of the trilogy, since it does allow for 'greyness' in its portrayal of the people, and also I quite like and empathize with Keisha; also, we get to see Darian actually grow up quite a bit, not physically but emotionally and mentally. The third book is more about the characters than their adventures - and I like adventures - and really we've already seen some of the same character development in the first two books, so it doesn't do as much for me, though it does wrap up a couple of plot arcs nicely. These aren't as end-of-the-world-if-we-fail as some of the Valdemar books are; the worst that can happen is that a small village is overrun, or a few characters die; the fate of Valdemar and the world at large is not at stake, which is rather pleasant. 7/10, 8/10, 6/10.
-Hawkspar, by Holly Lisle. I adore this book and keep going back to re-read it. Hawkspar is a wonderful protagonist, strong and stubborn and ethical but willing to make compromises if she has to; Aaran, the other protagonist, doesn't do quite as much for me, but he's charming and obsessed with rescuing his sister, which is kinda sweet. Political intrigue! Racism! Occasional betrayals! REALLY CREEPY stone eyes! 9/10
-The City Who Won, by Anne McCaffrey. I quite like the brainships series - the idea of cyborgs is an old one, but McCaffrey does it well. Simeon, our protagonist brain, is kind of a jerk, but he grows up substantially over the course of the books; Channa, his brawn, is utterly awesome: strong, brave, no-nonsense, and more than a match for Simeon. Unfortunately, Amos, the third in this little love triangle, drives me BONKERS. He's handsome and charming and clever and a condescending, misogynist jackass. Ick. But! Pirates! An orphan girl who's a mechanical genius! More pirates! They are wonderfully evil and I may want to grow up to be Pol t'Veng if I can't be Miss Susan. Maybe not. Anyhow. 8/10, mostly because Amos irks me so much.
-The Monster's Legacy, by Andre Norton. I know Norton is the grand old lady of scifi/fantasy and everyone loves her, but somehow she's never really grabbed me, and this book continues that trend. The details - surviving in the wild being really hard, and injuries taking a while to heal, and two-year-olds being kind of annoying, and seamstresses maybe not knowing how to take care of children, especially in the wild, especially when the only available help is wounded - are all very well done, and I liked the realism of them. On the other hand, the monster and the magical gifts and the sudden interference of the goddess were far, far too easily explained away or glossed over, and neither of the main characters ever had a proper freak-out about O GODS I HAVE MAGIC AND THERE'S A DESTINY WAITING FOR ME KILL ME NOW. Which would have been a proper reaction at at least two points in the story. So overall, 7/10.
-Hawkspar, by Holly Lisle. I adore this book and keep going back to re-read it. Hawkspar is a wonderful protagonist, strong and stubborn and ethical but willing to make compromises if she has to; Aaran, the other protagonist, doesn't do quite as much for me, but he's charming and obsessed with rescuing his sister, which is kinda sweet. Political intrigue! Racism! Occasional betrayals! REALLY CREEPY stone eyes! 9/10
-The City Who Won, by Anne McCaffrey. I quite like the brainships series - the idea of cyborgs is an old one, but McCaffrey does it well. Simeon, our protagonist brain, is kind of a jerk, but he grows up substantially over the course of the books; Channa, his brawn, is utterly awesome: strong, brave, no-nonsense, and more than a match for Simeon. Unfortunately, Amos, the third in this little love triangle, drives me BONKERS. He's handsome and charming and clever and a condescending, misogynist jackass. Ick. But! Pirates! An orphan girl who's a mechanical genius! More pirates! They are wonderfully evil and I may want to grow up to be Pol t'Veng if I can't be Miss Susan. Maybe not. Anyhow. 8/10, mostly because Amos irks me so much.
-The Monster's Legacy, by Andre Norton. I know Norton is the grand old lady of scifi/fantasy and everyone loves her, but somehow she's never really grabbed me, and this book continues that trend. The details - surviving in the wild being really hard, and injuries taking a while to heal, and two-year-olds being kind of annoying, and seamstresses maybe not knowing how to take care of children, especially in the wild, especially when the only available help is wounded - are all very well done, and I liked the realism of them. On the other hand, the monster and the magical gifts and the sudden interference of the goddess were far, far too easily explained away or glossed over, and neither of the main characters ever had a proper freak-out about O GODS I HAVE MAGIC AND THERE'S A DESTINY WAITING FOR ME KILL ME NOW. Which would have been a proper reaction at at least two points in the story. So overall, 7/10.
