Book Log 20/2011 - Lisa Shearin: Con & Conjure – Raine Benares #5

The fifth Raine Benares book continuing her struggles against the Saghred, the soul-sucking stone of limitless power that she accidentally bonded with in book one. Sarad Nukpana, who wants the rock over her dead body, or worse, is still on the loose and Raine is still facing enemies in both the goblin and elf camps not to mention the slimy mage Sylvanus Carnades, but on her side she has semi-reformed (and very cute) dark goblin mage, Tam, and uber-powerful spell-singing boss of the Conclave Guardians, Mychael, with whom she has bonded in more ways than one.

This picks up barely a couple of weeks after 'Bewitched and Betrayed'. Raine is cautiously supporting pretender to the goblin throne, Chigaru Mal'Salin who despite being a bad guy in the first book now presents the least bad alternative contender for top job in the twisted goblin political hierarchy, but someone's out to kill him - and Mychael as well.

There are some new players in town. On the plus side one of them is Raine's sneaky banker cousin Mago who's popped in to lend some underhand Benares family support. (The Benares are the most criminally active family on the planet, but in the nicest possible way.) On the minus side there's also her ex-fiance, a top-notch elven assassin with a grudge.

While Mago tries to do a little sympathetic embezzlement to make sure the money paying the elven hired muscle suddenly evaporates, Raine tries to keep her loved ones safe and stay alive herself. Carnades has her on the top of his most-wanted list and he's got a lot of influence with the mages who matter.

Another fast paced, quirky fantasy romp with sexy goblins, gorgeous elves and a kick-ass, leather-clad wisecracking elven heroine with a unique character voice that hooks you right in. It feels as up to date as urban fantasy, but in a world totally unlike our own. The worldbuilding is vivid and detailed and you feel as though these characters are getting up to tricks and the world is turning even when the book is closed.

I've caught up with this series now, so I'm waiting for the next one. According to Lisa Shearin's blog she's still in the middle of writing 'All Spell Breaks Loose' so it's not going to be ready anytime soon. Pity.

Book Log 20/2011 - Lisa Shearin: Con & Conjure – Raine Benares #5

The fifth Raine Benares book continuing her struggles against the Saghred, the soul-sucking stone of limitless power that she accidentally bonded with in book one. Sarad Nukpana, who wants the rock over her dead body, or worse, is still on the loose and Raine is still facing enemies in both the goblin and elf camps not to mention the slimy mage Sylvanus Carnades, but on her side she has semi-reformed (and very cute) dark goblin mage, Tam, and uber-powerful spell-singing boss of the Conclave Guardians, Mychael, with whom she has bonded in more ways than one.

This picks up barely a couple of weeks after 'Bewitched and Betrayed'. Raine is cautiously supporting pretender to the goblin throne, Chigaru Mal'Salin who despite being a bad guy in the first book now presents the least bad alternative contender for top job in the twisted goblin political hierarchy, but someone's out to kill him - and Mychael as well.

There are some new players in town. On the plus side one of them is Raine's sneaky banker cousin Mago who's popped in to lend some underhand Benares family support. (The Benares are the most criminally active family on the planet, but in the nicest possible way.) On the minus side there's also her ex-fiance, a top-notch elven assassin with a grudge.

While Mago tries to do a little sympathetic embezzlement to make sure the money paying the elven hired muscle suddenly evaporates, Raine tries to keep her loved ones safe and stay alive herself. Carnades has her on the top of his most-wanted list and he's got a lot of influence with the mages who matter.

Another fast paced, quirky fantasy romp with sexy goblins, gorgeous elves and a kick-ass, leather-clad wisecracking elven heroine with a unique character voice that hooks you right in. It feels as up to date as urban fantasy, but in a world totally unlike our own. The worldbuilding is vivid and detailed and you feel as though these characters are getting up to tricks and the world is turning even when the book is closed.

I've caught up with this series now, so I'm waiting for the next one. According to Lisa Shearin's blog she's still in the middle of writing 'All Spell Breaks Loose' so it's not going to be ready anytime soon. Pity.

Book Log 21/2011 - Georgette Heyer: The Convenient Marriage

I'm beginning to suspect... well no, more than suspect... that Heyer wrote the same book a number of times. No, I don't just mean sticking to the tried and tested formula, but actually writing the same characters and situations, though possibly pairing them up differently and mixing and matching scandals. There are way too many tropes here from 'Friday's Child'

Horry – Horatia Winwood. – marries Lord Rule so her sister doesn't have to and then once married and with a promise not to interfere in her husband's life, proceeds to make an ass of herself with the help of a couple of young bucks – in this instance her brother and his friend, who have barely two brain cells between them. Sound familiar? Horry is very nearly Hero rewritten from Friday's Child.

Actually, looking at the publication date, it's the other way around. This precedes Friday's Child by a decade, but everything else still stands. One is unusually reminiscent of the other. Enjoyable fluff, of course, as usual.

Book Log 21/2011 - Georgette Heyer: The Convenient Marriage

I'm beginning to suspect... well no, more than suspect... that Heyer wrote the same book a number of times. No, I don't just mean sticking to the tried and tested formula, but actually writing the same characters and situations, though possibly pairing them up differently and mixing and matching scandals. There are way too many tropes here from 'Friday's Child'

Horry – Horatia Winwood. – marries Lord Rule so her sister doesn't have to and then once married and with a promise not to interfere in her husband's life, proceeds to make an ass of herself with the help of a couple of young bucks – in this instance her brother and his friend, who have barely two brain cells between them. Sound familiar? Horry is very nearly Hero rewritten from Friday's Child.

Actually, looking at the publication date, it's the other way around. This precedes Friday's Child by a decade, but everything else still stands. One is unusually reminiscent of the other. Enjoyable fluff, of course, as usual.

Book Log 22/2011 - N.K.Jemisin: The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms

Yeine Darr is a warrior and minor ruler from the barbarian north. Soon after her mother dies under mysterious circumstances she is summoned to the majestic city of Sky, seat of the ruling Arameri family. There, to her shock, Yeine is named an heiress (one of three) to the king, her maternal grandfather. But the throne of the Hundred Thousand Kingdoms is not easily won, and Yeine is thrust into a vicious power struggle with a pair of cousins she never knew she had. To lose is to die.

The unassailable Arameri power comes from four enslaved gods, childlike Sieh, his two sisters and Nahadoth, by day a man and by night the Night Lord, elemental, barely-contained and dangerous. They must obey the Arameri, but wording a command wrongly may just give them the leeway they need to kill, or worse.

Yeine has little time to unlock the secrets of Sky before the day of choosing and her relationship with Sieh and Naha draws her to make dangerous choices and alliances. As she fights for her life, she draws ever closer to the secrets of her mother’s death, her family’s bloody history and the truth behind the cataclysmic gods' war.

I'm not surprised this book seems to be on every awards shortlist this year. It's stunningly well written, lyrical and mysterious without sacrificing dramatic tension. The world building is fascinating with its city-on-a-stalk, its political machinations and its god-legends Though it's book one of a trilogy, it reads perfectly well as a standalone. I hadn't intended to read it in a weekend, but I couldn't put it down.

Book Log 22/2011 - N.K.Jemisin: The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms

Yeine Darr is a warrior and minor ruler from the barbarian north. Soon after her mother dies under mysterious circumstances she is summoned to the majestic city of Sky, seat of the ruling Arameri family. There, to her shock, Yeine is named an heiress (one of three) to the king, her maternal grandfather. But the throne of the Hundred Thousand Kingdoms is not easily won, and Yeine is thrust into a vicious power struggle with a pair of cousins she never knew she had. To lose is to die.

The unassailable Arameri power comes from four enslaved gods, childlike Sieh, his two sisters and Nahadoth, by day a man and by night the Night Lord, elemental, barely-contained and dangerous. They must obey the Arameri, but wording a command wrongly may just give them the leeway they need to kill, or worse.

Yeine has little time to unlock the secrets of Sky before the day of choosing and her relationship with Sieh and Naha draws her to make dangerous choices and alliances. As she fights for her life, she draws ever closer to the secrets of her mother’s death, her family’s bloody history and the truth behind the cataclysmic gods' war.

I'm not surprised this book seems to be on every awards shortlist this year. It's stunningly well written, lyrical and mysterious without sacrificing dramatic tension. The world building is fascinating with its city-on-a-stalk, its political machinations and its god-legends Though it's book one of a trilogy, it reads perfectly well as a standalone. I hadn't intended to read it in a weekend, but I couldn't put it down.