melita's booklog - mostly

Another long delay. I was traveling again, but this time I managed to finish two books and a chunk of another one, all new. I have two more new books started and hope to finish both by next weekend.

Cold Fire by Kate Elliott is the sequel to Cold Magic. Catherine Bell Hassi Barahal is half-Phoenician and given up to the cold mages as part of a marriage alliance in Cold Magic. In her world, an ice age has continued into present day (maybe 18th or 19th century). Meanwhile a 'salt plague' has driven people out of Africa and into Europe.

She and her sister, Bea[trice], are on the run from the cold mages (who draw power from the glaciers) and are looking for allies. Cat ends up in the western hemisphere where there's an existing empire (possibly Aztec analogue) with a few European colonies tolerated on the coast. There, fire mages hold sway while cold mages are suppressed and weak. Other characters, including Bea, manage to make their way to Cat, including her estranged cold mage husband, Andevai.

I like this series quite a bit. Not as much as Elliott's Jaran or Crossroads series, but certainly better than the Crown of Stars series. I'm sure it's because of the characters. Elliott produces different and believable characters that are informed by their backgrounds and cultures. I don't find the main characters in Crown of Stars nearly as sympathetic as those in the other series.

Concurrently, I was also reading Cindy Pon's Silver Phoenix. Set in a historic China-analogue, Ai Ling is the daughter of a disgraced scholar living far from the imperial capital. Her father heads to the capital after being summoned, but doesn't return. Ai Ling, under pressure to become the fourth wife of a smarmy merchant, decided to travel to the capital to find her father. On the way she becomes involved with Chen Yong, who is on his own quest to find out more about his heritage. I appreciated the strong Chinese influences including mythical creatures. I want to read the sequel, but plan to wait until it's out in tpb, probably next year.

Next I read Daniel Abraham's first book in this Long Price Quartet, A Shadow in Summer. It is strongly recommended by Jo Walton, a writer that I enjoy a lot and respect, so when I spotted an omnibus of the first two books in a used bookstore, I picked it up. The first book is complex with adult (not necessarily "mature") themes including ends-justify-the-means, enslavement, betrayal, friendship, etc. There are several viewpoint characters whose stories are interconnected. "Poets" can make a thought real with volition. The spirit is one of the andat and has a certain power depending on what the poet desired. Seedless, the main andat in this book, can pull the seeds from harvested cotton or remove a baby from a pregnant woman.

For some reason, I kept thinking of Cherryh, perhaps partially because of the concentration on politics and economics. The Khaiem reinforce speech with subtle poses and gestures. That and the andat made me think of CJC's Serpent Reach, but this could be a false echo. It's been years since I read Serpent's Reach.

The book's very well-written. The characters are interesting and I want to find out what happens to them. I'm definitely going to continue the series, but plan to read other books in between. 

On a side note, a new Sarah Tolerance novel, The Sleeping Partner, by Madeleine E. Robins, will be released later this month by Plus One Press.