Airplane reading

Besides the aforementioned Atlantic, I also took three books on my recent sojourn to the North.

John Moore’s A Fate Worse Than Dragons, which was pretty hilarious. John had mentioned it during the YA panel at Armadillocon and I was intrigued. I had already read Bad Prince Charlie and knew what to expect from John’s demented brand of fantasy satire. Well worth it.

Deborah Chester’s The Pearls, the beginning of a new series. Quite good, but I wished that the main character, the woman, wasn’t so…good. I mean, she was good and wise, and young and beautiful, and of course she has a soulful relationship with the really bad anti-hero. While I liked the book, it made me think about my own female heroes. I realize that I have a hard time writing women who are not so soulful, or men who are not stalwart. So the book made me look at my own writing style and approach to characterization. But it looks to be a good series. By the way, check out Deborah’s website, especially the trailer for The Pearls. Neat!

J.M. McDermott’s Last Dragon. I’m currently halfway through, and I am blown away. The world is fully realized and the plot unfolds against a backdrop of intrigue and war. I love novels in which you realize that world goes inside even when you close the book. This is one of them. And it is hands down one of the handsomest books I’ve seen in a long time. The nonlineal technique isn’t easy, however, and it does require a great deal of attention because of the intricacies of both the story and the structure. Still, worth a visit.