I didn't post a review for everything I read this past year because there were a few repeats and it was otherwise a hell of a year. So, my 2009 reads look to be pathetic. In reality, I read 17 books:
My goal for 2010 is 18 books. And I'm going to try to post my reviews of them as soon as I've finished them instead of letting them build up and then getting forgotten.
Detective Nikki Heat has a high profile murder to solve: that of a real estate tycoon who was pushed to his death from his 6th floor apartment. It would be a lot easier if she didn't have Jameson Rook, a Pulitzer Prize winning journalist, riding along and not only trying to play detective but also distracting her with his charms or a record breaking heat wave in the city. As they follow a twisted trail of clues, suspects, related crimes, and death, Nikki and Rook uncover the secrets of a wealthy man going broke and their own attraction.
Impression: Despite the problems with the writing itself (and there were some), I enjoyed Heat Wave, but I suspect that had a lot to do with the TV series from which it came, Castle. The book itself is written in a tone very similar to the show, and the characters are undisguised copies of the characters from the show. Anyone who watches the show will see Beckett in Nikki (which makes sense since Heat Wave is supposed to be Castle's new novel based on Beckett) and Castle in Rook. It's these characters, following the formula that has worked so well for the series, and the plot itself that make the novel work. There's some nice twists and turns in the mystery, and I have to admit I missed half the mark on the who dunnit. The writer did a very good job of taking the obvious and obscuring it, so the ending works, but you don't necessarily see it coming.
My one complaint is the quality of the writing itself, which seemed sloppy to me. While, thankfully, there didn't seem to be much in the way of editing or technical errors (which can drop me out of a story because I am a very visual reader), there were places where it seemed the writing was padded with extra words just to give the book a higher word count. While it isn't a long book, the writing itself needed some cleaning up.
However, I would still recommend this book to adult readers (there is a sex scene that makes it inappropriate for younger readers) who are looking for something fun to read—and I rarely recommend books where the writing is an issue, so for me that means it was well done. It's all fluff, but sometimes you just need a little light, humorous reading that doesn't require a lot of thought or analyses. This is definitely one of those books. And fans of Castle will definitely enjoy Heat Wave. It will be interesting to see if they give the ghost writer of this work more Castle books to write.
Harrowing The Dragon is a collection of short works by award-winning author Patricia McKillip. Among the stories are tales of dragons, bards, princess, witches, and more. She reinvents fairy tales, offers up original stories, and even gives fresh eyes to the classic Romeo and Juliet. The collection includes 15 stories of magic and reshaped standards of classic fantasy.
Impression: I've yet to read a McKillip book I didn't like, and Harrowing The Dragon is no different despite my tendency to be impatient with short stories. McKillip's shorts are much like her novels: rich with detail and in their use of language and beautifully written. I particularly liked "The Lion and the Lark" which uses "The Beauty and the Beast" as a foundation for a new tale of love that goes beyond the boundaries. I also enjoyed "A Matter of Music", the story of a young bard who releases two lovers with her music; "Lady of the Skulls", a tale which reveals that not all treasure is silver and gold; and "Star-Crossed", an exploration into the investigation of the deaths of Romeo and Juliet. Not all her stories were a hit with me–I wasn't particularly fond of "Transmutations"–but they were all rich and beautifully written. I highly recommend Harrowing The Dragon.
The story of Hikaru Azuma and his family continues in the fourth installment of the With The Light: Raising An Autistic Child manga series. As Hikaru enters the later elementary school years, his family begins looking for more ways to increase his independence and to help him get ready to become a working adult. Initially the family's difficulties are compounded by Masato's transfer to a dead end job in a hard to reach location. However, the family perseveres and Masato is eventually transferred back because of some ideas that stem from their search into options for Hikaru's future.
Impression: I enjoyed this new volume in Hikaru's journey, partly because we're at the stage in my house where we need to start looking into my son's future and he is expressing a desire to go to work. But the volume also gave the reader a wider look into the lives of Hikaru's friends, and while not all the revelations were pleasant, it was nice to see beyond the family and into other character's lives. There was also some setting up for what I expect to be issues in future volumes: Hikaru's current teacher is getting ready to retire and it will be interesting to see if she retires first or Hikaru moves to a new school first. Either will provide challenges for the family, but having the teacher retire first and then Hikaru being promoted will, if Hikaru is typical, be more challenging as autistic children have difficulty with changes and this would be two changes practically one on top of the other. In general, this book is a bit of a lull for Hikaru as the greater stress is on his family and friends. And this too is a part of the autism puzzle.
I still highly recommend the series to anyone curious about autism and its affect on families. Readers just need to keep in mind the cultural differences. With the Light is based in Japan, and much of what is done there is either not done here or done differently, and many of the difficulties the book shows being experienced by families with autistic children in Japan are not experienced here. But with those things in mind, the series is an excellent window into the lives of families dealing with autism.
Joanne Baldwin is on the run for a crime she didn't commit: the murder of a senior weather warden. Joanne can control the weather and has been trained to safely tame the weather, but something goes horribly wrong when Bad Bob, a warden known for his temper and his dislike of Joanne, asks her to help him with a project. Bob ends up dead and Joanne has only one option that won't result in her being stripped of her powers: to hunt down Lewis, one of the most powerful wardens known, and get help in removing the demon mark that's trying to work its way into her. Only one of the Djinn he holds can save her. Her road trip takes her across the country and pits her against the other senior wardens, and some of her discoveries along the way are even less pleasant than her confrontation with Bad Bob.
Impression: It's always hard for me to pick out a new (to me) author to try, and more times than not, I end up not being too happy with them. Fortunately, I loved the first in Rachel Caine's Weather Warden series and am looking forward to picking up more when I can. The story opens with Joanne already on the run and there's few dull moments from that point on. The author does provide moments where the reader can catch his or her breath, but keeps the action going through the novel.
The characters are entertaining and have complexity, although I did figure out the "secrets" of two of them, one relatively early after his appearance. The weather work is well detailed and fascinating, and the plot is less straight forward than it appears, and while I saw some of the ending before it happened, there were still plenty of surprises to hold my interest. And knowing some of the ending didn't give it all away, particularly Joanne's fate. However, everything that happens is well set up in the story itself. The story holds a reader's interest, the writing is nice and clean. I would like to see a little more depth in future excursions, but it's a great opening for a new series.
Maddie Temple has put her life back together since the night her father and twin sister died in a car accident when she was a teenager: she's a respected doctor and E.R. specialist and has just started seeing the handsome Jarred Keith. All she needs now is for the nightmares to stop. Nightmares that have her killing another woman, that only become stronger, and start tearing her life apart when she realizes they are not her own. Her sister isn't dead. And that's not the only thing her mother has kept from her. To save her crumbling sanity, Maddie must face her insane sister and the dark secrets of their past and the darker possibilities of their future.
Impression:Dark Legacy was a mixed bag for me. I loved the paranormal/fantasy element, which was what kept me reading; but the romance elements, while they worked most of the time, turned me off when they went to the genre's extremes. I just can't buy that anyone, no matter how much they love someone, will lay there and let that someone stab them with a knife until they are close to death. That's not love/romance, that's stupidity, and I don't care if someone else is possessing the body doing the stabbing. Anyone with common sense and an ounce of survival instinct is going to get out of the way of a knife in the hands of someone who is determined to kill them, possessed or not.
Other than that kind of "romance" extreme (which didn't happen more than once or twice, thank goodness) and the whole idea that falling in love makes a person toss their common sense and ethics out the window, the story was okay. I really liked the use of the tie between the twins and Maddie's need to figure out the mysteries behind her gifts. I did have a problem with Maddie's stubborn determination to see herself as evil, but I can also almost see where it came from and how it would be hard to change those thought processes in just a few days. Outside the romance plot, the story was well-plotted and well written. My issues with characters are generally tied up with the romance elements that didn’t work for me.
So Dark Legacy is a paranormal romance I almost like. If the romance elements had been more realistic for me (and I have to say, at least there was no sense of "Oh my God, my life's in danger, but man you have a cute butte, let's do it!", which would have totally turned me off, so I give the author huge credit there), I would consider the book a really good read. All that being said, I can see how someone who is into paranormal romance (and who doesn't have my issues) would really enjoy Dark Legacy. I can't put the novel into a best reads category, given my issues with it, but I can still highly recommend it to others who like the genre.
When Marcone, the Chicago crime lord, is kidnapped, Dresden is called in to help find him by Mab, the Queen of the Winter Court of the Sidhe, and she refuses to take no for an answer. But any favor for the Queen of the Winter Court, even one that is owed, is no small thing, and soon Dresden finds himself at odds with the Summer Court and the Denarians, fallen angels who use humans as hosts. And what Dresden uncovers is a far larger plan that gives the Denarians more power than anyone in their right mind would want them to have.
Impression: While the story itself is up to Butcher's usual excellence, the writing is starting to slip a little...or maybe it's the editing. Particularly early in the novel, there were some small technical issues, repetitions, and a few other things that are unusual for a Dresden book. But once the story got rolling, either those problems became less prevalent (and they weren't all that frequent to begin with, just noticeable when you're used to the quality that a Dresden book usually has), or the story did its job and made the problems disappear. Either way, the bumps were only in the first few chapters for me. After that, I was too drawn in to care much.
And, as usual, Butcher dives into the action early. Even before Harry knows Mab will be calling in one of her remaining favors, the Summer Court is after him. From there, it only gets worse as Mab forces him to hunt for Marcone, a man he's sure Chocago is better off without, and he quickly uncovers his own reasons to find the mobster before he accepts a Denarian coin and becomes an greater power and worse danger to the city. But in the process of trying to negotiate for Marcone's release, he uncovers an even more dangerous plan and finds himself the target of suspicions from the friends who aide him.
I think, if anything, the book could have used a lull or two, places for Dresden, and the reader, to catch their breath a little. The plot flowed, the reason for the constant rush of the novel made sense, it was just hard to process the events. I'm sure a lot of readers would say that's just a me thing.
Other than that, it was another excellent addition to the Dresden series (it really is nice to see a series continue to so strongly after the 4th or 5th book, when so many other series are starting to lose steam or are having other issues). Character development wasn't as strong in this particular installment, but with as much as was going on, that makes sense. The plot twists worked very well as usual. If there's one thing Butcher is the master at, it's putting in a twist you don’t see coming, but you can definitely see events leading to it once it happens. So I highly recommend the book, but there is one thing readers do need to be aware of: a lot of the earlier books didn't need to be read in a particular order to make sense, but this book (and, to be honest, at least the two or three before it) needs to be read in order or a lot of what goes on, particularly with the Denarians, will not make sense.
And if you haven't started reading the Dresden Files, and you love fantasy (particularly urban fantasy), what are you waiting for? Pick them all up, including this one. You won't be disappointed.
The story of Sachiko and Masato and their autistic son, Hikaru, continues through Hikaru's later elementary school years with some new challenges and experiences. Hikaru gets sick for the first time and goes to a camp with his class for a few days. Continuing challenges include Hikaru's teacher, who continues to expect more from her autistic students than can they can realistically achieve, particularly in their emotional responses. There are also new problems that have no relationship with Hikaru: Masato is transferred to a job that makes less income because of a supervisor who wants him out of the office, and ends up getting drunk. Sachiko also continues to have problems with her mother-in-law, who tries to take Kanon, Hikaru's sister, from her parents to raise her in a way she deems more appropriate. The family continues to rely on each other, neighbors, friends, and community resources to make it through each new challenge.
Impression: For some reason, I wasn't as impressed with this volume as with the previous two. It's still a good series, but there seemed to be some inconsistency this time around. For example, Hikaru, like most autistics, is fairly rigid when it comes to routines, yet there were actually very few problems on his trip away from home. From the way Hikaru has been portrayed in the past, he is much like my son when overwhelmed by changes and tends to melt down not only more quickly but also more dramatically. My son is in high school and has only recently begun to manage some control over that. This is just one example of the "little things" that struck me as off this time around.
But the story is still good, and the family's internal support and reliance on outside resources is very realistically portrayed. Raising an autistic child is a tough job, and all of us who are doing it need to find supports and resources to help us keep our sanity and to make it through the challenges. The story also continues to raise awareness of autism, its affect on the children, and the struggles of the families raising autistic children.
Belinda Primrose is the bastard daughter of Queen Lorraine and her adviser, Lord Drake. Trained since childhood to serve her father, and through him the Queen, Belinda is the Queen's secret weapon, an assassin wrapped in a pretty face and a woman's body. Held within, unknown even to herself, is the power of the witchbreed, placed out of reach by her father's witchbreed magic. Sent to Gallin to spy upon Queen Sandalia and to discover if she or her son, Javier, stir up rebellion against Lorraine, Belinda becomes entangled in political intrigue and a prince's heart in ways she had not planned. And now her powers are awakening....
Impression: While I generally enjoyed The Queen's Bastard and think I might like to read the sequel (if only to find out what happens to Belinda from here), I can't say the book totally held my interest. It was actually easy for me to put it down, and I can’t completely put my finger on why. This saddens me as I was, when I first bought the book, really looking forward to reading it.
Belinda is an well-rounded, engaging character, loyal to her father and the Queen she remembers being born to. The other characters are equally well written. The story itself, once it gets started, is rather predictable, however, but the writing itself is good. I think one of my biggest problems is the answer to the question of the witchbreed powers. There is absolutely NO hint of the implied answer prior to the last few pages of the book, so it takes you a bit by surprise, and for me it was out of line with the world setting that had already been established. This occurred so late in the book, however, that I can't say it was the reason I had difficulty keeping a sustained interest in the book. Perhaps it was the predictability of the plot. Maybe it was the heavy focus on sex (not that I'm a prude; I enjoyed the first 4 or 5 books of the Anita Blake series). As I said, I do kind of want to know what happens to Belinda and Javier after this, but I can see it not being a priority. Not going to say don't read the book, but I also can't really recommend it.
Unless otherwise noted, all books reviewed have been purchased by me.
~*~
I will no longer be linking to Amazon and no longer recommending Amazon as a place to purchase books I review. Amazon has repeatedly used bully tactics to reinforce its policies, even if those tactics cause harm to authors or limit customer choices. Amazon usually apologizes for the events after the fact, but that they continue to use the same methods makes those apologies hollow. I will not purchase from or encourage others to purchase from a business that chooses to take from the pockets of authors (who as a whole earn a lot less than general public realizes) and decide what the public should and should not read.
