Book Log 22/2013 - Cassandra Rose Clarke: The Pirate's Wish

The second half of the story begun in The Assassin's Curse, as this is basically one long book split into two. It's a light, fast read which comes to a satisfying conclusion despite a couple of places where the sexual tension gets stretched out purely because the main characters seem to wilfully misunderstand each other's intentions.

I was a little disappointed to find that this was not the start of a series because I enjoyed the first one so much, however this tied up all the loose ends, so I'm happy to leave it there.

Ananna has a strong voice and Naji, the scar-faced assassin, is suitably moody. The worldbuilding was mostly completed in the first book, but is maintained very well.

This nook picks up where the last one left off, with Ananna and Naji marooned on a magical island. I wish I hadn't left so long between reading the first and second volume because it took me a while to read myself back into it, but once I picked up the threads I was fine.

Ananna has unwittingly saved the life on Naji, her would-be assassin, set on her by a pirate family she mortally offended while trying to escape marriage to their son (in book one). In doing so she has triggered a curse and now Naji is forced to protect her or suffer dreadful consequences. Of course they fancy each other rotten, but neither will admit it, hence the wilful misunderstandings that almost-but-not-quite stretch reader credibility.

I'm probably not giving much away if I tell you that happy endings follow several plot twists. Thoroughly enjoyable.

Book Log 23/2013 - Rayne Hall: Writing Fight Scenes

You could use this as a prescription for writing fight scenes, which would ba a mistake, but it also gives you the tools for working out the various stages a fight scene goes through. It gets specific about edged weapons and hand to hand fighting (not so much guns as that sets the protagonists apart from each other and is over very quickly). It outlines the psychological differences between female and male characters resulting in different energy arcs (men quick to anger and quick to cool down; women slower to build to a boiling fury but the anger dies away more slowly even after the fight is won). That leads to likely differences in dialogue before, during and after a fight.

It's very good for someone like me who has no martial arts experience, but needs to write fight scenes for historical and/or fantasy stories which include bladed weapons or hand-to-hand fights. Imagination can take you so far, but a little hard information provides good building blocks. Good for adding important little details and prompting the author to interrogate any fight scenes already written to see if anything can be added or needs to be subtracted.