melita66 | Books in 2010, part 2

I"m going to talk about books with which I was unhappy or that I didn't finish in this post.

When I was young, I would always finish a book. Now, however, life is too short, and with 2 bookcases of unread books, there's always something else to read. Many times, I drop a book temporarily. I'm just not in the mood for this book now, or something shinier arrives.

I've now managed to get about halfway through Hawkwood's Voyage by Paul Kearney. This is my second attempt. I've acquired books 3 and 4 of the series, Monarchies of God, so I'll track down book 2 before I finish the first one. Set in an alternative Europe complete with shapeshifters, the voyage is across the ocean to another continent. Previously trips have ended in disaster, but the countries involved are facing invasion from the east. I prefer his Macht books more. They do have simpler storylines and a lot less characters.

Gail Carriger's Parasol Protectorate series had two entries this year: Changeless and Blameless. They reasonably well-written fluff. I liked the first book the best although I have some reservations about the characterization of Alexia (I like Amelia Peabody better). Blameless didn't hold my attention, although I did finally finish it.

I do plan to finish The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms by N.K. Jemisin as it's strikingly well written. Something shiny showed up and I just haven't gotten back to it. This is the book that included an excerpt from Celine Kiernan's Moorehawke Trilogy and I think I diverted to read The Poison Throne.

I also stalled about a third of the way into Cast into Chaos by Michelle Sagara. Set in another world, humans are late-comers into a medieval world with several races. Another influx appears imminent. Sagara has some authorial tics that drop me right out of the story. Normally I can ignore them as I like the characters and the world. In this book, after reading a bunch of pages of Kaylin and Lord Nightshade being all philosophical and oblique and realizing I had another 20 pages of mumble-jumble discussion to go, I put it aside. I will finish it, but maybe I'll skip the drawn out conversation. Ugh.

Two books in long-running series have caused me to reconsider buying any new entries. MaryJanice Davidson's Undead and Unfinished took a shocking turn. I absolutely hated it and will probably not read the next book. Two friends who read this series agree and were very disappointed. I believe I will buy the next Anita Blake book, but this series by Laurell K. Hamilton is now approaching the chopping block. I have really enjoyed this series and have stuck out the latter books because there is some forward plot movement and I just want to know what happens to the characters. I adore Anita's sheer bloody-mindedness. In Bullet, the widening of possibilities for partners and combinations finally overwhelmed my open-minded leanings. I mean, whew. I'll read Hit List, but that might be the end.

Surprisingly enough, I also dropped Mary Robinette Kowal's Shades of Milk and Honey. It appeared to be a book I would love--Regency with magic by a respected author. I did finish it later and enjoyed it. Thinking about books set in a similar time period, I liked Patricia Wrede, Caroline Stevermer, and Kate Elliott (Cold Magic) books more.