Humouress ROOTs again in 2021

I'm a bit late to the party because January and February - which are usually stellar reading months for me - were very slow, books-wise, with only three books read in total for February. But my reading has picked up although I have a high proportion of Overdrive books. So, let's redress the imbalance and see if I can't reduce the number of TBR books on my shelves. However (unless I really don't like the story) I don't plan to deaccession, just to actually read the books I've bought.

I'll try again for 30 books this year. And 10 e books. Although I may have to adjust later in the year.

75 Book Challenge 2021 thread 4 (fourth quarter)
75 Book Challenge 2021 thread 3 (third quarter)
75 Book Challenge 2021 thread 2 (second quarter)
75 Book Challenge 2021 thread 1 (first quarter)

ROOTs 2020 thread

tickers & icons


  Total books read for 2021


  Total ROOTs read for 2021


  Total physical ROOTs read in 2021





  = physical book
   = e-book (Kindle)
     = e-book
      = re-read
  = LTER

September
       Marian Halcombe by Brenda W. Clough (2021)
     Princess in Practice by Connie Glynn (2018)
     Cast in Courtlight by Michelle Sagara (2006)

August
  Clockwork Boys by T. Kingfisher (2017)
     Undercover Princess by Connie Glynn (2017)
  Dragonquest by Anne McCaffrey (1971)
  Alanna; the first adventure by Tamora Pierce (1983)

July
     The Siege of Macindaw by John Flanagan (2007)
     Midlife Bounty Hunter by Shannon Mayer (2020)
     Cast in Shadow by Michelle Sagara (2005)
Esme's Gift by Elizabeth Foster (2019)
     Balance of Trade by Sharon Lee & Steve Miller (2004)
     Raisins and Almonds by Kerry Greenwood (1997)

June
  Seraphina by Rachel Hartman (2012)
     Bound in Blood by P.C. Hodgell (2010)
  Sorcerer's Son by Phyllis Eisenstein (1990)

May
     The Sorcerer in the North by John Flanagan (2006)
     Crystal Dragon by Sharon Lee & Steve Miller (2005)
     Point Blanc by Anthony Horowitz (2001)

April

     Dragonhaven by Robin McKinley (2007)

March

     Stormbreaker by Anthony Horowitz (2000)
     One Fell Sweep by Ilona Andrews (2016)
     The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman (2020)
  Blue Moon Rising by Simon Green (1992)

February

(no ROOTs read)

January

     Crystal Soldier by Sharon Lee & Steve Miller (2004)
     Sweep in Peace by Ilona Andrews (2015)

Total ROOTs read in 2021 (to end of September)

26   - all formats
20   - physical books
06   - e-books  

Of which:
07   - re-reads

(Message 74 on ticker thread)

The constellation:

  You have got to read this one!                           
  Really good; worth reading                                 
     Good, but without that special 'something' for me   
      Very nice, but a few issues                                    
         An enjoyable book                                                   
         Um, okay. Has some redeeming qualities                   
              Writing is hard. I appreciate the work the author did    
             (haven't met one - yet)                                              
                  Dire                                                                            
                  Rated only as a warning. Run away. Don't stop.              

Purple stars, from Robin's thread:

5.0
4.5
4.0
3.5
3.0
2.5
2.0
1.5
1.0
0.5

4

books read Oct-Dec

September
Review:
recorded/ rated/ written/ read
✔ / / (#) / Title

✔     73) Marian Halcombe by Brenda W. Clough (2021)
✔     72) Princess in Practice by Connie Glynn (2018)
✔     67) Cast in Courtlight by Michelle Sagara (2006)

August
Review:
recorded/ rated/ written/ read
✔ / / (#) / Title

✔     65) Clockwork Boys by T. Kingfisher (2017)
✔  64) Undercover Princess by Connie Glynn (2017)
✔  62) Dragonquest by Anne McCaffrey (1971)
✔     61) Alanna; the first adventure by Tamora Pierce (1983)

July
Review:
recorded/ rated/ written/ read
✔ / / (#) / Title

✔     57) The Siege of Macindaw by John Flanagan (2007)
✔       56) Midlife Bounty Hunter by Shannon Mayer (2020)
✔       54) Cast in Shadow by Michelle Sagara (2005)
✔  53) Esme's Gift by Elizabeth Foster (2019)
✔  51) Balance of Trade by Sharon Lee & Steve Miller (2004)
✔       50) Raisins and Almonds by Kerry Greenwood (1997)

September
73.   72. 67.

August
65.  64. 62. 61.

July
57. 56.  54.

53.  51. 50.

Apr-Jun

June
Review:
recorded/ rated/ written/ read
✔ / / (#) / Title

✔   44) Seraphina by Rachel Hartman (2012)
✔   43) Bound in Blood by P.C. Hodgell (2010)
✔   42) Sorcerer's Son by Phyllis Eisenstein (1990)

May
Review:
recorded/ rated/ written/ read
✔ / / (#) / Title

✔  39) The Sorcerer in the North by John Flanagan (2006)
✔     38) Crystal Dragon by Sharon Lee & Steve Miller (2005)
✔  30) Point Blanc by Anthony Horowitz (2001)

April
Review:
recorded/ rated/ written/ read
✔ / / (#) / Title
✔     23) Dragonhaven by Robin McKinley (2007)

44 43. 42.

39. 38. 30.

23.

Jan-Mar

March
Review:
recorded/ rated/ written/ read

✔ / / (#) / Title

✔  18) Stormbreaker by Anthony Horowitz (2000)
✔  17) One Fell Sweep by Ilona Andrews (2016)
✔     14) The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman (2020)
✔  13) Blue Moon Rising by Simon Green (1992)

February

No ROOTs read

January
Review:
recorded/ rated/ written/ read

✔ / / (#) / Title

✔     3) Crystal Soldier by Sharon Lee & Miller (2004)
✔     2) Sweep in Peace by Ilona Andrews (2015)

18. 17.  14. 13.

3. 2. 

Hi, Better late then never! Good to see you here too.

Thanks Connie! I'm setting up slowly.

Welcome back! :)

Thanks Jackie!

Rated only as a warning. Run away. Don't stop.

Love the description! I hope there aren't too many of the kind in your life.

>12 MissWatson: Thank you :0)

Thankfully, I don’t have too many of those. I think there’s just one in my library.

Welcome back! Glad to hear your reading has picked up. I've had a couple of reading slumps this year already and they are the pits.

Thank you Princess!

I seem to be reading a lot on Overdrive (which means fewer ROOTs) these days and I've been picking up a lot of chick-lit book bullets so I'm reading outside my usual fantasy genre.

I like the way you are setting up your thread, Nina!

>16 connie53: Thanks Connie :0) I'm getting there gradually. I think last year was more like a practice run.

Don't forget to copy your ticker in the ticker thread for Cyderry to count them for the group total!

>18 connie53: Done, thanks Connie. Though it looks a bit weird.

Yes, I noticed that too. Maye you have used the wrong link.

You have to use the one that looks like the one below and add the brackets at the beginning and the end. That's my ticker I use as an example, just look at the combination

img src="https://www.tickerfactory.com/ezt/t/wAneWhd/counter.png">

>20 connie53: I've picked up the usual one. I think it's just because I clicked on the box marked 'dark'.

ETA: okay, I've unchecked it and it's better now. It's a pity; it looked quite effective with bulbs lit up against a dark sky.

Yes, it's much beter now!

2) The Innkeeper Chronicles volume 1 by Ilona Andrews
ii) Sweep in Peace

{Second in The Innkeeper Chronicles; fantasy, interstellar politics, romance, adventure} (2015)

 

After Dina's adventures in the first book, the Gertrude Hunt Inn has been upgraded to two and a half stars which eases the pressure on the gang a tiny bit. The inn is not the earthly bed and breakfast it seems but a waypoint for alien travellers whose presence must not be revealed to the locals. Innkeepers such as Dina have magic which is linked to the inn and symbolised by a broom which can transform into almost any other equipment; once off the property, her magical power tails off dramatically. The inn itself is sentient but so as not to fall dormant, it requires guests. Dina has revived the inn, as a means to finding her lost parents who were also innkeepers, but she desperately needs more guests.

To her comes the Office of Arbitration asking if she would be willing to host peace negotiations. The planet Nexus is claimed by three different species, none of them native; the fox-like Nuan Cees who are a blue-furred Merchant clan, the war-mongering humanoid otrakar who live to claim territory and our old friends the vampires (cue Arland of the Krahr) who also live to claim territory. The vampires and otrakars are evenly matched but neither side will back down and so it has turned into a war of attrition with the Merchant clan, on whose land the only working transporter is sited, caught in the middle.

If Dina can pull this off, forty guests will substantially improve the Gertrude Hunt's standing - but she'll have to prevent her guests coming to blows for the duration of the peace summit. I like the way she can use the Inn's magic to expand the available space and tailor the quarters to each species as well as ensure that they are kept apart.

Her 'gang' are Beast, her deceptively cute-looking shi-tzu (so named for a reason) and Her Grace, Caldenia na ma gret, a humanoid alien with a bloody past who is a permanent guest of the inn, Earth being neutral territory. We see two new additions in the form of a cat (currently nameless) and Orro, a hedgehog-like alien super-chef with a drama queen complex.

“Please don’t tell me you’re going to cook that,” I said.
“Of course I’m going to cook it.” He waved the head around for emphasis. “Might I remind you that you’re on a limited budget?”
“What if it’s poisonous?” Jack asked.
“Preposterous!” Orro growled. “This is clearly a Morean water drake.”
He tucked the severed head under his arm and walked into the kitchen, dragging the neck across the floor behind him.
“I shall have to make some preparations as well,” George said. He and Jack left the room.
My legs gave out and I collapsed into a chair. Beast leaped into my lap.
Caldenia looked at me across the room. “So much excitement, and the peace talks haven’t even started.”
I groaned and put my hands over my face.

As before, this novel was fun and enjoyable. I admit that my imagination resorts to children's cartoons to envision the aliens but the illustrations in my e-book are very helpful. Alien politics, visits to alien worlds (including throwing a vampire Marshal into a monster-infested ocean), fights by supernaturally fast beings, magic, family, lots of tea - what's not to like?

There were few universal principles in this world. That most water-based lifeforms drank tea was one.

3.5-4

love the vampires (though I'm quite happy for one not to turn up at my door); they take themselves so seriously but they're a light spot for me.

The Crystal Variation



3) Crystal Soldier by Sharon Lee & Steve Miller

{First in chronology/ twenty second of 45(?) in publication order of Liaden series; sci-fi, space opera} (2004)

This is a story of a time when humans(?) in an alternative universe have conquered the stars and spread through all three arms of the spiral galaxy. They are now bioengineered to meet specific requirements so much so that one branch, more technologically advanced and calling itself sheriekas, deem themselves to be perfect. The sheriekas are now bent on eliminating all other life, using world-eaters to obliterate planetary life, and a centuries-long war has been fought against this enemy throughout the galaxy. Now, we discover, the sheriekas are able to make entire sections of the galaxy disappear, or 'decrystallise' and the fight has become more urgent.

Jela (M. Jela Granthor's Guard) is an M strain Generalist soldier who is assigned to travel undercover through the galaxy to discover more information about decrystallising.

There was a real danger, with your Generalist, of feeding them so much info they got lost in their own thoughts, and never came out again.

Cantra yos'Phellium is a smuggler-pilot (and may be more than she seems) who operates mainly on the Rim of the galaxy who touches down on Faldaiza and, looking for a dinner companion, ends up becoming entangled in Jela's schemes.

He’d’ve said prosperous free trader, from the quality of the ‘skins and the fact that she was eating at a subdued place at the high end of mid-range. On the other hand, there was that story and the easy-seeming familiarity with the Rim - and beyond. According to his considerable information, Rimmers had a flexible regard for such concepts as laws, ownership, and what might be called proscribed substances. Not that all Rimmers were necessarily pirates.

Adventures and mayhem ensue.

Although this is the first chronological book (currently) it wasn't the first published and reading in publication order has been recommended to me. However, I like to do things sequentially. It took me the first 70 odd pages to settle in and it feels a bit like being thrown into the middle of things, with different speech patterns and the assumption that you know what an M strain soldier is and so on, but that's par for the course and you do pick things up as you go along. Once I had settled in, I enjoyed the story with the adventurers - both more than competent fighters and not shy about using their skills - travelling from planet to planet, trading partly as a cover and partly to keep in funds, while Jela kept on his mission. I did hope that Dulcey would stick around and keep making more great meals.

Once we got to the end I did wonder 'and then what?' but this is a duology with Crystal Dragon - and I have the omnibus edition that also includes Balance of Trade so I shall continue anon.

Oh - and I'm in love with a psychic tree (which is also more than it seems to be). At the beginning of the story Jela crash landed on a planet which had been destroyed by the sheriekas and of the seas, great forests and their symbiotic dragons the sole survivor was a half-grown tree, even shorter (and he's not tall) than he was. Having helped him survive, Jela promised it that he would take it off-planet if he was rescued and so he carries effortlessly (because he's that strong) it in its pot from ship to port to ship through all his adventures (sometimes, literally, while dodging bullets).

And there were the dreams, usually not so loud as to wake him, and behind them the conviction that he could almost smell the water, hear the surf on the beach, recall the dragons hovering over the world-forest, and know their names.
This last was the most perplexing - for he must assume that the dreams and wistful memories were the tree’s, channeled to him by a mechanism he accepted without understanding - and how would the tree know the names of beings who rode the air currents?

3.5 stars

Litsy notes

Been wanting to dive into Liaden but haven‘t been sure where to start. So I‘ve acquired the 4 omnibus and starting at the beginning (chronologically) with ‘Crystal Soldier‘. But now, a few chapters in, I‘m faced with decrystallising universes 🤯⁉️

About 1/2 way through now. Liking it - our hero is in telepathic communication with a tree.

I‘m finding some instances that assume prior knowledge; but that happens even with first-written books so nothing I can‘t cope with. It did take about 50 pages to get comfortably in stride but I‘m really enjoying it now.

13) Blue Moon Rising by Simon Green



{First of 5 Forest Kingdom series; fantasy, 1992}

Prince Rupert is the second son of the king of the Forest Land and has been sent into the Tanglewood on a quest to slay a dragon. He knows that the hidden purpose of the quest is to get rid of him so he won’t become a rival to his brother, Prince Harald, but he has an unquenchable sense of duty. So not only does he survive but he finds the dragon and rescues it from a princess ... and then the story really gets going.

'Rupert, you were supposed to bring back the valuable parts of a dead dragon and at least some of his hoard. Haven't you brought back any gold?'
'No,' said Rupert. 'There wasn't any.'
'What about the dragon's hoard?'
'He collected butterflies.'
They all stared at the sleeping dragon. 'Only you, Rupert,' said the Champion quietly. 'Only you ...'
'Haven't you brought back anything of value?' asked the King.
'Just this,' said Rupert, drawing his sword. Everybody studied the gleaming blade warily.
'It has a strong magical aura,' said the Astrologer dubiously. 'What does it do?'
'It summons rainbows,' said Rupert, just a little lamely.
There was a long pause.
'Let's talk about the Darkwood,' said King John.

The Tanglewood has always buffered the Forest Land from the Darkwood where demons and other evils live. Now, with the Blue Moon on the rise, the power of the Demon Prince is increasing, the Darkwood is spreading and the long night is threatening to cover the land. Only magic can hold it back, but magic has been disappearing as humans and human logic proliferate. Rupert returns to a castle under desperate siege and a court full of treachery. It seems that the only hope to save the kingdom - and the world - is the High Warlock, who was banished to the Dark Tower years ago. Which means that Rupert will have to brave the Darkwood again to bring him back.

This was a re-read and, more than likely, a re-re-read for me. I’ve found that this year I’ve been struggling with re-reads probably because there’s less sense of anticipation than the first time through. But I do remember being on tenterhooks the previous time(s) I read this because I didn’t know which characters to trust.

This sword-and-sorcery story was one of my favourites when I first read it (fairly close to its publication date); I like my heroes to show a little bit of vulnerability. It’s full of doom and (no, not gloom) dark humour, which appealed to me. I did find it a bit portentous this time - but I may add back half a star for nostalgia. A side note: I had read some of the Hawk and Fisher books before I read this the first time and Rob Hawke makes an appearance here; the two series are set in the same world (possibly reverse engineered, I felt) and were later amalgamated.

4.5-5 stars

14) The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman



{First of 2? in series; murder mystery} 2020

We are introduced to the Thursday Murder Club, a group of four retirees in a luxury retirement home near the Kent coast (UK) who go over cold cases, through Joyce (an ex-nurse) and her diary. The point of view is told mainly in the third person narrative with excerpts, in the first person, from the diary. Penny, retired from the police as DCI, has kept copies of her old files although she wasn't supposed to; Ibrahim is/ was a psychiatrist; Ron was a prominent and very argumentative trade unionist; and Elizabeth - well, I could tell you but then ...

The retirement village they live in was developed by Ian Ventham, a shady businessman, from an old convent and called Coopers Chase. It has done well and now he wants to expand the development and build new apartments by digging up the graveyard associated with the convent grounds. However this brings up old secrets associated with the graveyard - some twenty years old and some fifty years old - which provide motives for the modern day murders which suddenly start occurring around Coopers Chase and which the Thursday Murder Club enthusiastically look into. So do the police, of course, and I like the two police officers - Chris Hudson and Donna De Freitas. (PC De Freitas is invited to Coopers Chase to talk to the pensioners; but they're not interested in practical tips for home security:

‘And what criminal wouldn‘t be able to forge an ID document?‘
‘I‘ve got cataracts. You could show me a library card and I‘d let you in.‘
‘They don‘t even check the meter now. It‘s all on the web.‘
‘It‘s on the cloud, dear.')

But the Murder Club have contacts and resources not available (or permitted) to the police and being older has not robbed them of their thinking power. And they're thrilled to be involved in something out of their ordinary routines:

‘So, we were all witnesses to a murder,‘ says Elizabeth. ‘Which, needless to say, is wonderful.'

This was fun and, despite the subject, light.

They are very careful not to talk about the Tony Curran case. One of the first things you learn at Coopers Chase is that some people can still actually hear.

It made me laugh out loud at times but it also made me think about the mortality of my preceding generation. A few minor quibbles: I found the 'chatting to my diary' format distracting but otherwise I liked Joyce's voice and I was discomfited by the way people kept clapping their hands (it made me think of them like little girls on TV).

All in all, a gentle whodunnit. Recommended.

4 stars

Litsy notes

Set in the UK. Conversation with PC De Freitas (who would like her job to resemble TV cops‘) who‘s been invited to talk at Coopers Chase Retirement Village. But not on practical tips for home security:

‘And what criminal wouldn‘t be able to forge an ID document?‘
‘I‘ve got cataracts. You could show me a library card and I‘d let you in.‘
‘They don‘t even check the meter now. It‘s all on the web.‘
‘It‘s on the cloud, dear.'

Narrated alternatively in 3rd person/ 1st person (Joyce‘s diary) POV. I‘m finding the ‘chatting to my diary‘ format distracting but otherwise I like Joyce‘s voice.

They are very careful not to talk about the Tony Curran case. One of the first things you learn at Coopers Chase is that some people can still actually hear.

I‘m not sure why all the ladies are constantly clapping their hands. It makes me think of them like little girls - although I‘ve only ever seen little girls do that on TV.
And now the guys are doing it too ...

Reads like a cosy mystery (I assume - it‘s not a genre I‘ve tried); light and fun. Picks up a bit around the halfway point.

‘So, we were all witnesses to a murder,‘ says Elizabeth. ‘Which, needless to say, is wonderful.'

18) Stormbreaker by Anthony Horowitz

{First in Alex Rider series; children's/ YA, action-adventure, spy} (2000/ 2020)



Alex Rider's parents died when he was a baby so he has grown up with his uncle, Ian Rider. The story opens as the doorbell rings in the middle of the night to let fourteen year old Alex know that his uncle has been killed in a car crash on the way home from one of his many business trips. But then Alex finds out that his uncle was actually a spy and was killed while on a mission to investigate the billionaire, Herod Sayle, who has donated free computers, named Stormbreaker, to every school in Britain including Alex's own comprehensive (Ian Rider thought it would be 'more of a challenge' than any of the smart private schools around Chelsea). The computers are soon to be distributed to the schools and will be activated by the Prime Minister in a ceremony on the first of April. Ian Rider must have found something, but was killed before he could pass on the information. Someone needs to finish the mission - and so MI6 calls Alex in, whether he wants to or not, to take the place of another boy who won a competition to be the first to try out a Stormbreaker before they are distributed from Sayle's headquarters. It's a good thing that his uncle seems to have been training him to be a spy since he was a baby.

I read the 20th anniversary edition which was published in 2020 and I don't know if it was updated in any way. Stormbreakers are very advanced computers - they boot instantly, for one thing - which may seem like every-day ordinary technology now but would have been ahead of cutting edge in 2000. Remember when connecting to the internet would give you the 'boing boing crrrrr' sound effect and then you'd have to wait for the connection? So, although it has dated slightly (but not too noticeably), it still works.

I did think that the giant jellyfish got a bit of a raw deal. Alex has a tendency to put his foot in his mouth when talking to Sayle:

'I love to kill fish,' Sayle went on. But when I saw this specimen of Physalia physalis, I knew I had to capture it and keep it. You see, it reminds me of myself.'
'It's ninety-nine percent water. It has no brain, no guts and no anus.' Alex had dredged up the facts from somewhere and spoken them before he knew what he was doing.

The story takes place over two weeks and, since Alex is in the heart of the bad guy's territory, he gets thrown into the thick of the action. There were a few deus ex machina moments although Alex's training and Ian Rider's having run the mission previously did explain a lot of things convincingly.

As an adult reader there were one or two moments that made me pause but I think that it works very well for its target audience (tweens and young teenagers); it still kept me reading. Horowitz wanted to write a book about a reluctant teenage James Bond and he's done it well - after all, this book is the first in a best-selling series.

5 stars (for its age range) / 4 stars

Litsy notes

Physalia physalis (Portuguese man-o‘-war)

‘I love to kill fish,‘ Sayle went on. But when I saw this specimen of Physalia physalis, I knew I had to capture it and keep it. You see, it reminds me of myself.‘
‘It‘s ninety-nine percent water. It has no brain, no guts and no anus.‘ Alex had dredged up the facts from somewhere and spoken them before he knew what he was doing.

{umm ... oops}

23) Dragonhaven by Robin McKinley



{Stand-alone. Urban fantasy} (2007)

I'm still hoping that we'll see more books in McKinley's Damar series and although I've picked up some of her other books for my shelves, I admit I've been a bit tentative about reading them. But it's been a while since I've re-read a Damar book so I thought I'd give Dragonhaven a go.

This is set on an alternative Earth in a similar timeline to ours so, while dragons (and griffins and Loch Ness monsters and so on) exist, so do computers and the internet. The premise is that dragons were discovered in Australia about two hundred and fifty years ago (Cook landed in Botany Bay in 1770, for reference) and some were taken over to zoos in America and eventually Smokehill National Park was established for them to live in, about ninety years before the story starts, where they then kept very much to themselves. They are an endangered species and many groups want the land for development or mining or want the dragons destroyed or to poach them for the 'medicinal' value of their organs or are worried that dragons might fly out and so there is a protective fence around the park which has the side effect of nullifying a lot of modern technology inside its boundaries. The story is narrated by eighteen year old Jake Mendoza who is writing a book about events that started five years previously (and the epilogue is written five years after that although the narrative style doesn’t change).

Fourteen year old Jake was the son of the Director of the Institute at Smokehill which studied dragons (he's very insistent that Draco australiensis is the only true dragon) and had recently lost his mother. While on his first solo hiking trip in the park, he discovered a mother dragon who had been killed with only one just-born baby dragon surviving. Being used to animals at the small zoo and orphanage at the Institute, Jake rescued the baby and took her home to raise. But, of course, no one knew anything about dragons, much less baby dragons; Lois (as he named her) had imprinted on him and wouldn't let anyone else carry her; and because of the laws surrounding dragons, nobody else could know about her so she had to be raised in secret from the rest of the world; and she could start breathing fire at any moment.

I was sure Lois would be brokenhearted if she woke up one morning and discovered she'd fried me in her sleep ... but what if she did?

This is the story of Jake raising Lois; the overwhelming responsibility for a fourteen year old subsumed in rescuing a wild creature that no one knew much about and then the adventure that followed when she grew older and he needed to find dragons to reintroduce her to her species.

The writing style takes a while to get used to; it's very chatty (hah - imagine my seventeen year old son being chatty; but then again, you can't stop my twelve year old son talking) to the extent it's like my sister and I talking to each other, with lots of asides (in fact, we sometimes have to ask the other person to get to the point) and it took the first fifty or so pages (a chapter and a half out of eleven) before anything happened (Jake discovering the mother and baby dragons) and the story finally took off. It took me a bit longer than that to really get used to the chatty style, though (please see preceding sentence).

You don't go near a dying dragon. They can fry you after they're dead. The reflex that makes chickens run around after their heads are cut off makes dragons cough fire. Quite a few people have died this way, including one zoo-keeper. I suppose I wasn't thinking about that. I was thinking about the fact that she was dying, and that her babies were going to die because they had no mother, and that she'd know that. I boomeranged into thinking about my own mother again. They wanted to tell us, when they found her, that she must have died instantly. Seems to me, if she really did fall down that cliff, she'd've had time to think about it that Dad and I were going to be really miserable without her.

How do I know what a mother dragon thinks or doesn't think? But it was just so sad. I couldn't bear it. I went up to her. Went up to her head, which was likely nearly as big as a Ranger's cabin. She watched me coming. She watched me. I had to walk up most of the length of her body, so I had to walk past her babies, these little blobs that were baby dragons. They were born and everything. But they were already dead. So she was dying knowing her babies were already dead. I started to cry and I didn't even know it.

The story is information dense along the way (although it’s possible - and occasionally obvious - that some information is exaggerated by the ‘teenaged’ narrator); though my book came to 338 pages I feel that the print was smaller than usual so it took longer than I had anticipated to finish this book but I did like the story. For Lewis Carrol fans, there are a few Alice in Wonderland and Jabberwock references scattered about and are the origin of Lois's name.

The premise and the putative science behind it (a lot of which is worked out as the story develops, since this is the first baby dragon to be raised - or even seen - by humans) work. It's similar to learning to raise pandas: I recently caught part of a documentary observing baby pandas in the wild demonstrating behaviours that people hadn't realised are normal - like climbing high into a tree and staying there for a week while mama panda went foraging. They discovered that the black and white colouring is surprisingly effective against the light sky when the baby is sitting high in the branches of a tree bare of leaves. So now they're going to incorporate that into the way they raise captive pandas.

Well worth sticking with this book.

4 stars

Litsy notes

Just at the beginning of this one (partway through ch1); a bit confusing. Told in 1 person POV by a boy recalling events 4 years ago. His mum seems to have died before that time. At some point he was 12 and his sister? friend? is/ was 7.
Set on a parallel Earth where computers and dragons coexist. Very much not Damar (I suspect).

Ch 1 is a bit of a slog, getting the background in. It‘s supposed to be from the 1st person POV of a 14 yo boy but he fills in details like I do when I‘m nattering on to my sis when we‘re catching up (on our different continents). Useful maybe, interesting even but TMI for the first chapter. Possibly would have worked better as a flashback.

... though I have learned that Draco australiensis is the only true dragon species - and heading for extinction - while all the others are actually lizards.

It‘s a parallel Earth but I‘m not sure what time frame; there are computers but also faxes (no internet in evidence so far). Publish date 2007 ETA: found it - there‘s online gaming.

Finally gets going at page 50, about halfway through chapter 2. Took a while to get here!

There‘s a lot of Louis Carrol (Alice inWonderland, Jabberwocky) threaded through this book.

'I was sure Lois would be brokenhearted if she woke up one morning and discovered she‘d fried me in her sleep ... but what if she did?'

The science parts work. I recently caught part of a documentary observing baby pandas in the wild demonstrating behaviours that people hadn't realised are normal - like climbing high into a tree and staying there for a week while mama panda went foraging. They discovered that the black and white colouring is surprisingly effective against the light sky when the baby is sitting high in the branches of a tree bare of leaves.

I'm curious what will happen to the post above!

>29 connie53: I was going to post my review, since that's the only one of my ROOT reviews I've finished - but then I realised I don't have a picture of the book. I'm waiting for sunny weather to take a decent shot :0)

>30 humouress: Hah! It turns out that I had already taken the photo and put a note on my catalogue to that effect. I'm trying to put in photos of my own books because a few automatically-assigned Amazon covers have changed on me without my realising it. But I could have posted the review in the first place. I've added it now.

>32 humouress: Oops; miscounted. I read 4 ROOTs in March.

17) The Innkeeper Chronicles volume 1 by Ilona Andrews
iii) One Fell Sweep
{Third in The Innkeeper Chronicles; fantasy, interstellar politics, romance, adventure} (2016)

 

Dina runs the Gertrude Hunt, an inn on Earth for aliens, and thanks to her previous adventures the inn has increased its ranking to two and a half stars. This time, it's no different. Starting three days after the end of the events in Sweep in Peace the adventures keep coming. First Dina goes off-planet to bring her sister and niece back to Earth and then she welcomes a guest who is one of the last of his kind because a war of extinction has been declared against his species by those from a neighbouring planet.

As Innkeeper, her primary directive is the safety and comfort of her guests while preventing the people of Earth discovering that aliens have been visiting our planet for a thousand years. Dina, the Gertrude Hunt and their allies (including - of course - Sean the werewolf and Arland of House Krahr, the vampire) have to defend the inn's grounds from the assassins sent against him until he can find a new home.

'I know it's a lot to ask with Arland still recovering, but can you hold the inn for several hours?'
Lord Soren squared his massive shoulders and bared his fangs in a happy grin that would give most people a lifetime of nightmares.

And there are some touches of romance.* And Officer Marais, the local cop, gets even more suspicious ... but I should let you read it for yourselves.

I laughed my way through this one. I highlighted so many quotes (on my Kindle) but there are too many to copy them all out. The potential romance triangle is resolved happily on all sides.

* word of warning; the first two books could be considered upper level YA but this one notches up the age level.

5 stars

I didn't know where to fit this quote in, but it puts the first one in perspective:

Arland valiantly ignored him. 'I desire a sojourn. A brief respite from the many matters requiring my attention. I do believe I've earned it.'
The russet-haired vampire stepped forward. 'Lord Marshal, your uncle was most specific -'
Arland bared his fangs a little more. 'My uncle is, of course, concerned for my well-being.' ...

...'Yes, my lord,' the russet-haired vampire said, resigned. 'Lord Soren will be delighted.'
Lord Soren popped into my head in all his burly, grim-faced, older vampire glory. 'I didn't know the Knight Sergeant knew the meaning of the word.'
'His grizzled exterior hides a gentle heart.'
Knight Ruin nearly choked on air.

>32 humouress: I really loved that series, Nina. Good to see you love them too.

>33 connie53: The three I've read so far are funny. However, I've got volume 1 but I can't find a volume 2 so it looks like I'll have to wait to continue the series :0/

30) Point Blanc by Anthony Horowitz



{Second of 12 in the Alex Rider series; children's/ YA, action-adventure, spy} (2001)
This seems to be the book that the TV series is based on.

It is spring in England and just weeks after his first adventure, while he's still trying to catch up with his schoolwork due to his absence, fourteen year old Alex Rider is given another mission. This time, it's to a finishing school run by Dr. Grief for troubled, rich teenage boys high in the French Alps, called Point Blanc (White Point). There is something sinister happening to the boys who go there but two of their wealthy fathers who evinced some unease have ... been disposed of and MI6 are concerned. Alex is the perfect person to be sent in as an undercover agent.

But the school is a long way from the nearest town and isolated by the snow, with the only method of transport being a helicopter piloted by Dr. Grief's henchwoman, Mrs. Stellenbosch, who is also a world champion body builder. He discovers, when he gets there, that there are thirty armed guards patrolling the premises where only six other boys live. Alex will have to save the world by himself when he discovers Dr. Grief's dastardly plot.

This series is a bit like James Bond (à la Roger Moore) for tweens. Although there is plenty of action some of the details felt a bit 'lite', at least at the beginning. Horowitz does add lots of details regarding equipment, like the specific model of a gun or an aeroplane.

Poor old Alex, despite his black belt in karate, does get beaten up a lot more in this story than in the first. And I thought Alan Blunt was rather callous about Alex and the situations he sends him into; (Horowitz's) MI6 takes advantage of the fact that Alex is an orphan to put him into dangerous positions.

‘It’s rather odd,’ he said. ‘Most schoolboys dream of being spies. With Alex, we have a spy who dreams of being a schoolboy.’

‘Will you really use him again?’ Mrs Jones asked.

‘Of course.’

Although it resolves the question ‘why aren't his parents worried that he's out late and going to strange places' that often niggles at me when reading about kids' adventures (as a parent/ older reader), it‘s sad that he doesn‘t seem to have family or friends - but this might not be an issue for the target audience.

4.5 stars (for its age range)/ 3.5 stars

Litsy notes

2nd in the series; seems to be the one the TV series is based on. Horowitz is kind of mean to his 14 year old hero; (his) MI6 takes advantage of the fact that Alex is an orphan to put him into dangerous positions. Although it resolves the question ‘why aren‘t his parents worried that he‘s out late and going to strange places‘ that often niggles at me when reading about kids‘ adventures, it‘s sad that he doesn‘t seem to have family or friends.

Horowitz is obviously anti-hunting. (I fully agree with him)

I feel this is James Bond (à la Roger Moore) for kids (but maybe a bit lite on details).

The Crystal Variation



38) Crystal Dragon by Sharon Lee & Steve Miller

{Second in chronology/ twenty fourth of 45(?) in publication order of Liaden series; sci-fi, space opera} (2005)

It’s been a few months since I read Crystal Soldier where a soldier in the long-running galactic war against the sheriekas, M. Jela Granthor’s Guard, and his psychic sapling inadvertently involved the pilot Cantra yos’Phelium in his mission to find out why portions of the galaxy have disappeared, or decrystallised, thought to be caused by the sheriekas and where they met two very mysterious strangers.

It becomes apparent that decrystallisation cannot be halted or avoided; it may only be possible to escape it - at the instant of its occurrence - into a parallel universe. But the only scholar who has calculated the possible equations is locked away in a Tower on a distant world so Jela and Cantra must infiltrate it to try and hack into the Tower’s jealously guarded ‘brain’ to save the galaxy.

Crystal Dragon starts at the point where Crystal Soldier ends. However, the prologue goes back to the origins of the two mysterious strangers, the way they are trained to manipulate possibilities and how they became involved in the fight against the sheriekas or, as they know them, the Iloheen. I felt a bit lost until I worked out that in this universe, apart from the psychic tree, its co-species the extinct dragons and the zaliata that the sheriekas trap in constructed human bodies, there do not seem to be any aliens; all species seem to be derived or engineered from humans.

The story proper begins by introducing us to Tor An yos’Galan, a young Trader pilot on his way home, who discovers that the portion of the galaxy that contains his home planet no longer exists. When he tries to find an explanation for this, he too is pulled into the dance of fate.

Meanwhile, Jela and Cantra are working on the problem assigned to them by the mysterious strangers, namely to acquire those equations. Fortunately - when it comes to mathematical equations - Jela, as a generalist soldier, is very good at them and has been working on them as part of his ongoing mission. However, to access Liad dea’Syl’s work there is no alternative to going into Osabei Tower on Landomist, an Inner world of the galaxy where his genetic makeup would stand out and prevent his access to the Towers. Luckily, Cantra fits the bill perfectly and she is a trained aelantaza - someone who can take on a character and personality so thoroughly that she believes the false memories she uses to create that character. But working Jela and the tree into her disguise - that’s the trick.

Some characters from Crystal Soldier return in this book to lend a hand against the sheriekas's last push as they prepare to eliminate all other life in the spiral arm galaxy. And when it comes down to that final battle, the likelihood of escape rests on the slimmest of chances - if all the fates align - but, luckily, the mysterious strangers are on their side and they have allies. It might work, in the end.

I enjoyed this story and I liked the characters, especially Jela:

The citations and reprimands, the write-ups for offences that earned him detention wove a kind of narrative, as if the Jela in the file was a character in a story who touched some points with the man ... but was otherwise wholly imaginary. Not that she couldn’t perfectly well imagine Jela taking on an entire squad of soldiers - and winning the fight! - but the smile and the sheer joy coming off him while he courted and committed mayhem - that didn’t come through the reports. For Jela, she thought, had been bred, born and trained to fight and destroy - and he’d been happy in his work. He’d been bred for that, too.

and the sussdriad (doesn't name that just make you think of the susurration of leaves in a wind sweeping across the treetops of a great forest?), who communicates in images of its home planet which convert people into dragons:

A series of pictures flared inside his head, hard enough to hurt, strong enough to obscure the sight of the ships and the port around him: The golden dragon, voice faint, calling against the fall of night. From the darkening sky, the black dragon swooped, behind and beneath her, bearing her up, moving them both toward a distant cliff-edge and the tree growing there, the scent of seed-pods clear and enticing on the wind ...
‘M. Jela, are you well?’ the old scholar asked sharply.
He shook the pictures out of his head, and blinked the port back into existence.
‘Disagreement among the troop,’ he muttered, and took a hard breath.

I like the tip of the hat to Anne McCaffrey’s Pern towards the end. And don’t worry - despite all the maths flying around, there’s not a single actual equation in evidence :0)

Despite the purists' encouragement to read this series in publication order, I found this (currently the first two books in chronological order and the origin story) a good introduction to the Liaden Universe and I'm happy to explore it further.

4-4.5 stars

39) The Sorcerer in the North by John Flanagan



{Fifth published/ sixth chronologically of 11 (or 12); Ranger’s Apprentice series. Fantasy, children’s, YA} (2006)
Group read.

This is labelled book 5 in the series but the story follows on from events in book 7 (Erak's Ransom), when Will graduated from Ranger's Apprentice to fully fledged Ranger. Now aged around twenty, Will gets his first Ranger's posting, the fief of Seacliff in the west and along the way rescues a dog. The well-meaning lord and his Battle master try to assert their authority but Will knows that Rangers answer to the crown. Despite carrying out his duties, he is called back on a secret mission - there is apparently a sorcerer in the north, near the castle of Macindaw in Norgate fief which guards Araluen's boundary with the land of Picta, home of the Scotti.

But, apart from the superstitious, people in this world don't believe in magic and the Rangers need to investigate what is happening in this crucial defensive fief. However, there is a Ranger already in the fief but - since Rangers themselves cultivate a superstitious mystique about themselves and are regarded with awe - he cannot investigate so another Ranger has to go in undercover. Cue Will the jongleur, playing his mandola. It's not a lute because a lute has ten strings whereas a mandola has eight which are ... never mind.

His old friend Alyss, who is a Courier/ a member of the Diplomatic Service, is also brought into play undercover as his contact agent but then they both find themselves in danger.

I will admit that in the second half of the book I kept glancing ahead (something I deplore - but I managed to resist turning the page too early) because I was on tenterhooks and I was hoping at the character 'don't do that, don't do that'.

As always, I like Flanagan's writing. He keeps it clean and not too simple, his characters show intelligence and he doesn't talk down to his audience.

The long grass shivered once more. It was only a faint movement but there was no wind to cause it - as the hanging clouds of steam from the horses‘ breath clearly showed.

Will is growing up - although I felt, at times, that he nearly gave in to anger which was uncharacteristic of him. There is still some of the banter from previous books but the general tone is slightly more serious.

But, along with the other skills of a Ranger, he had learned patience. As he sat and waited for his superiors to broach the subject, he felt Halt‘s approving eye on him from time to time as his former teacher assessed this new-found quality. Will looked up once, caught Halt's eyes on him and allowed a grin to touch his features. He was pleased that he was able to demonstrate his forbearance.
Finally, Halt shifted his seat on the hard ground and said in an exasperated tone, 'Oh, all right, Crowley! Let's get on with it, for God's sake!'
The Corps Commandant smiled delightedly at his friend. 'I thought we were testing Will's patience here, not yours,' he said. Halt made an annoyed gesture.
'Well, consider his patience tested.'

There is a little bit of mild cursing (but, I'm embarrassed to admit, my kids use stronger language).

I've always liked Tug, Will's small Ranger horse, and I like the addition of the dog - Araluen's equivalent of a border collie. He's trained her well in the short time that he's had her and I hope she sticks around - although he still hasn't named her by the end of the book and there are signs that she's falling in love with another human.

I think the message behind this story is 'don't judge a book by its cover'.

'Look at them,' he said. 'Are they human?' ...
One at least was huge - he must have been two and a half metres tall and massive across the chest and shoulders. ...
The pallid-skinned giant had begun to advance across the clearing towards them, one ponderous step at a time. ...
The frown disappeared from the huge creature's face and he went down on one knee, one massive hand out to the dog. ...
'You know, I think he's quite harmless. Thank God you didn't shoot him.'

Be warned; have book 6 (The Siege of Macindaw) to hand because this book ends on a cliff-hanger (almost literally)!

He tugged on his gloves and seized the tied-off end of the rope with his left hand about half a metre above his head, using his right to belay the loose end against his hip.
Alyss's stomach heaved as Will let himself fall backwards into space, controlling his fall with the loop of rope running around his body, fending off from the wall with his feet.

4.5 stars

Litsy notes

-Will‘s first posting as a Ranger. This is book 5 but follows after events in book 7 when he got his silver badge to symbolise his graduating from Ranger‘s Apprentice.

-‘The long grass shivered once more. It was only a faint movement but there was no wind to cause it - as the hanging clouds of steam from the horses‘ breath clearly showed.‘

This is why I think Flanagan is such a good YA author. His characters show intelligence and he doesn‘t talk down to his audience.

-Will has matured as a Ranger:
But, along with the other skills of a Ranger, he had learned patience. As he sat and waited for his superiors to broach the subject, he felt Halt‘s approving eye on him from time to time as his former teacher assessed this new-found quality. Will looked up once, caught Halt's eyes on him and allowed a grin to touch his features. He was pleased that he was able to demonstrate his forbearance.
Finally, Halt shifted his seat on the hard ground and said in an exasperated tone, 'Oh, all right, Crowley! Let's get on with it, for God's sake!'
The Corps Commandant smiled delightedly at his friend. 'I thought we were testing Will's patience here, not yours,' he said. Halt made an annoyed gesture.
'Well, consider his patience tested.'

-Cliff-hanger, almost literally. Have ‘The Siege of Macindaw‘ ready to go ...
He tugged on his gloves and seized the tied-off end of the rope with his left hand about half a metre above his head, using his right to belay the loose end against his hip.
Alyss's stomach heaved as Will let himself fall backwards into space, controlling his fall with the loop of rope running around his body, fending off from the wall with his feet.

I've just updated my numbers for the year upto the end of May. Although I've been doing a lot of reading in the past three months (a big change from January and February!) and I've read 39 books so far (so - if I keep it up - I should manage 75 books this year), most of them have been on Overdrive. So, I've only managed around a quarter of my ROOT targets for the year. I'd better read a lot more off my own shelves in June if I'm going to catch up!

>34 humouress: That's not a good thing, Nina. I've got part 2 in English as an ebook. So if yo want an e-book version I can somehow send it to you? Perhaps by 'We transfer'? I will need your email address for that though.

>39 connie53: Thanks Connie, that's very sweet of you. But I don't mind waiting to buy it for myself because I do like the series and in the meantime, I do have a huge TBR; I should really try to read more ROOTs and I've been racing to finish Overdrive library books before they expire and disappear from my account :0)

42) Sorcerer's Son by Phyllis Eisenstein



{First of 3 in Book of Elementals series; fantasy} (1990)

It's been a bit longer than usual since I last posted a book read because this book, while it's one of the first I bought for my own, single shelf with funds eked out of my pocket money and one I keep coming back to, took a while to read. Not that it is hard to read; quite the contrary - it is gentle but rich. Eisenstein didn't write much but I did borrow most of her books from the library in the '90s when she published most of her work. There is one published sequel to this book and one unpublished because, although it was completed, Meisha Merlin folded before it could do so (according to Wikipedia). Sadly, Eisenstein passed away last year after an illness and with covid complications.

When Delivev Ormoru rejected Smada Rezhyk's proposal of marriage, he immediately suspected her of wanting to destroy him. Both Delivev and Rezhyk are sorcerers from sorcerous families but while she deals in more gentle arts of spinning with control over animals like spiders and snakes as well as plants like ivy, climbing roses and other creepers, he has enclosed himself in Castle Ringforge where he smelts metals into rings and sculpts and fires clay into shapes to enslave demons to do his bidding. His longest serving and most trusted demon, Gildrum (whose most commonly used earthly form Rezhyk has sculpted as a young girl), suggested a spell which would combine both provinces as protection for Rezhyk against Delivev's powers. However, Rezhyk felt that he would still be vulnerable for the month or so it would take to craft the spell and then the demon pointed out that if she were to conceive, her powers would be limited for that time. And so, in the form of a handsome young knight, the demon went to Delivev and then returned to the command of its master.

The storm drove from beyond the fortress, and so there was a respite from both wind and wet in its lee. Almost at the arch of the gate, the animal stopped and bent to drink from a puddle and to crop a bit of soaked grass; its rider fell then, slid silently off its back and dropped to the mud in an awkward heap.

Inside, warm and dry and surrounded by the things she loved, was Delivev Ormoru, mistress of Castle Spinweb. She expected no visitors, neither on a stormy night nor a clear one; no one had knocked at the gates of Castle Spinweb in many years, and she was pleased with that state of affairs. But when the ivy curled in her bedroom window, when a small brown spider scurried across its tendrils to report a stranger outside, she was curious. The stranger had not requested entry, had not pounded on the heavy wooden gate or shouted or beat sword upon shield to attract attention through the noise of the storm, yet why would he be there but to enter? She looked out of her window, but the outer wall was too high for her to see anything close beneath it. She could have spun a web to view there, but walking would take no greater time, so she went.

But Delivev and Gildrum both fell in love. And, against Rezhyk's and Gildrum's expectations, Delivev kept the baby and raised him by herself in Castle Spinweb while Gildrum secretly watched, longing to end his servitude and return to them. Cray, though, always wanted to find out what happened to his father, that handsome young knight whom his mother loved and who rode away promising to return after his mission for his lord was completed and who never came back. And so, at the age of fourteen, he rides away from Spinweb, determined to find his father and become a knight like him although his mother urges him to stay and learn sorcery from her instead. Fortunately he is as generous and open-hearted as Rezhyk is closed-in and cold and he makes friends easily, such as Feldar Sepwin, another boy, who shares some of his adventures.

But, of course, his quest is doomed to failure and Cray has many adventures, not least when Rezhyk finally discovers his existence and throws more obstacles in his path, suspecting further mischief from Delivev.

This was a gentle but rich story, as much about a mother's love for her son (with a touch of poignancy for me now that my eldest is 17 and threatening to fly the nest) as about the adventures that Cray has once he leaves the protection of Spinweb to learn to be a knight. Eisenstein shows us demons as being alien from humans, but not necessarily menacing, with a few visits to their elemental world.

4.5 stars

43) Bound in Blood by P.C. Hodgell



{Fifth of 9+5 Chronicles of the Kencyrath series; fantasy, high fantasy}

Continuing on with the Chronicles of the Kencyrath; I do think you have to read these in order and you shouldn't leave it too long between books or you start to lose track of events and names. Though Hodgell does repeat key phrases from previous books - and even earlier in this book - so it jogs your memory if you have left it too long (although it can get repetitive if you haven't). I like the way she takes something and twists it just enough for me to smile at it - and then wonder whether it actually happens in our world, for example the ironwood trees that burn from inside to provide heat for years. This leads to some Rathillien-specific double entendre-type puns, like the wandering willow (which, unfortunately, has taken root in Gorbel's foot).

Gorbel's foot was tightly laced about with fine, white, willow rootlets. As they sensed the water's warmth, they began to untwine and spread into a fibrous mass that filled most of the tub. Longer fringe root reached out to tap the ceramic walls of their prison, probing for any crack or flaw.

This book covers more of Jame's year and duties as the Earth Wife's Favourite and fills in some of the more recent history of the Knorth (pronounced K-north) while giving us details of Jame's life and classes as a first year cadet at the randon college at Tentir as well as her discovery of some of the duties of the Kencyr, the highborn and their house high lords.

'Tori has to remember the names of everyone bound to his - that is, to our - house and so far he's forgotten at least one of them. I've memorised all I've been able to learn. Frankly, though, I don't know what's going to happen to me in the hills. We need a third list-keeper. You.'
'Trinity. First Index's shed and now this. Haven't you written them down?'
Jame was taken aback. 'That never occurred to me. They say that memory is safest.'
'Not if some overenthusiastic hillman is waiting to flatten your skull. As far as I can make out, people have been lining up to do that for years. No, we'll have a paper and quill, if you please.'

While it doesn't advance the overall story arc hugely, it is still lots of fun following Jame's adventures, and it may be/ may have been meant as a look at life and cultures on Rathillien since Hodgell lapses into the present tense occasionally, such as when describing the preparations for a hunt.

Although the Kencyrath arrived on Rathillien over three millennia ago in their retreat down the Chain of Creation to protect it against Perimal Darkling, the houses have forgotten their higher purpose and have devolved into petty squabbling between each other, especially in a quest for power during the hiatus when it looked like the Knorths were extinct. Having not grown up in the Riverlands among the Kencyr, Jame continues to build bridges and friendships across political divisions although the ghosts of the past come back (literally) to foster those divisions. I like the way she can analyse people who are hostile towards her and still find their best qualities (not that she's volunteering to be their friend, though).

Of course, the rathorn colt plays a large part in this book - as does Jorin, her blind royal ounce and I liked the way that the cadets in the Falconer's class, who are similarly bound to different types of animals, have an understanding between themselves even though they may come from 'enemy' houses.

We also discover that there are more Shanir (Kencyr with powers) than the highborn are willing to admit and so Jame is not as alone in that as she had assumed, given Ganth's (her father) and Torisen's (her brother) prejudices against them.

Fun and intense although (thankfully) not as dark and nail-bitingly suspenseful as previous books.

4.5-5 stars

Litsy notes

I love this series. But it‘s intense; you can‘t leave it too long between books or you start to lose track of events and names.

I like the way Hodgell takes something and twists it just enough for me to smile at it - and then wonder whether it actually happens in our world. Like ironwood trees that burn from inside for years.

>40 humouress: I know what you mean. I have the same problem with the TBR-pile!

Seraphina (although this was sort of a ROOTs in reverse; I borrowed it and liked it so I bought it and now it's mine)

44) Seraphina by Rachel Hartman

 

{First of 3 in Goredd series; fantasy, YA, dragons} (2012)

Re-read but I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Seraphina has a secret so dangerous that even she did not know it at first. Sixteen year old Seraphina, whose mother died when she was born and whose father is a lawyer for the royal court representing saarantras, has been working at the palace, known as Castle Orison, in Lavondaville (capital of Goredd) as Music Mistress for two weeks (even though her father doesn't like her playing music). She is the assistant to Viridius, the Court composer who is in charge of musical entertainment for the upcoming celebration of the 40th anniversary of the truce between humans and dragons and she also teaches Princess Glisselda, who is a year younger than her, to play the harpsichord - or spinnet, if you're reading the UK edition.

“Forty years,” interrupted Eskar. “We‘ve had forty years of peace. You weren‘t even born when Comonot‘s Treaty was signed. Your own mother—”
“Rest she on Heaven‘s hearthstone,” I mumbled, as if it were my job to make up for the social inadequacies of dragons everywhere. The prince flashed me a grateful glance.
“—was but a speck in the queen‘s womb,” continued Eskar placidly, as if I hadn‘t spoken.

Seraphina has inherited secrets from her mother along with physical impairments which she keeps hidden and visions which she controls by maintaining a dream garden full of grotesques. But her closest family acquaintance is the saarantras Orma who has taught her about dragons.

He taught me not just music but everything he thought I should know about dragonkind: history, philosophy, physiology, higher mathematics (as close as they came to a religion). He answered even my most impudent questions. Yes, dragons could smell colors under the right conditions. Yes, it was a terrible idea to transform into a saarantras right after eating an aurochs.

Dragons and humans co-exist very uneasily and those dragons which take human forms and live as saarantras amongst humans are regarded with suspicion and superstition and are required to wear bells to distinguish them. For their parts, dragons find human emotions uncomfortable and hard to understand although some saarantras do try.

Only then did I notice the dragon waiting for me on the cathedral steps, flashing me his best facsimile of a proper human smile. No one in the world could have found Orma‘s strained expression heartwarming but me.

and

“I‘m sorry about your mother. I believe I am.” He gestured toward his stomach. “There, yes? That‘s where one feels it?”

The dragon Ardmagar, Comonot, will be coming to Lavondaville for the anniversary and while the royal family and those at the palace want everything to go well, the general human population is uncomfortable with the idea of more dragons in their city - and the Sons of St. Ogdo are especially disapproving - so relations are a bit tense.

An aged monk led me to the infirmary. “He‘s got the place to himself. Once the other invalids learned there was a dragon coming, they miraculously got well! The lame could walk and the blind decided they didn‘t really need to see. He‘s a panacea.”

Suddenly Prince Rupert, only son of the queen, is assassinated and the obvious suspect is dragon-kind. Since his head was missing, a dragon must have killed him. Mustn‘t it? The story opens with Prince Rufus‘s funeral.

Seraphina, with her unique perspective on dragons, finds herself trying to foil a plot against the Ardmagar and the peace treaty, trying to prevent an inter-species war, battling the prejudices of humans against dragons as well as the prejudices of dragons against humans and against other dragons whom they perceive as getting too close to humans and protecting her secrets while inadvertently making friends with members of the royal family. And then, to top it off, she starts meeting the grotesques from her garden in real life.

This was a very nice story, set in a medieval-type world (as evidenced by phrases like ‘A recent scandal over the dissection of human cadavers hadn‘t helped matters.' and medieval-sounding saints), well told with flashes of humour - which I always appreciate - and which lightened the mood and kept the story flowing. I love the wonderfully irreverent cast list at the beginning - don‘t skip over it!

Orma moved a pile of books off a stool for me but seated himself directly on another stack. This habit of his never ceased to amuse me. Dragons no longer hoarded gold; Comonot‘s reforms had outlawed it. For Orma and his generation, knowledge was treasure. As dragons through the ages had done, he gathered it, and then he sat on it.

Since most of the story takes place around the palace, we barely see any of Serphina’s home life - just enough to know that her father loves her and her stepmother is kind, but her secrets keep interactions awkward. It is nice to see a royal family who care about each other rather than being distant and it is obvious, although we never get to meet Prince Rupert, that he was a good man who benefitted his country and who will be deeply missed by his family.

I liked this story a lot. Hartman uses language well and in unanticipated ways. She has filled Seraphina's world with medieval clothes and instruments; which, because I was reading this book through Overdrive, I could look up quickly on the web.

houppelande or houpelande: an outer garment with a long, full body and flaring sleeves and sometimes lined with fur, that was worn by both men and women in Europe in the late Middle Ages. The garment was later worn by professional classes and has remained as the familiar academic and legal robes of today.

aurochs: species of cattle, now extinct in our world

wimple: headdress worn by women over the head and around the neck, cheeks, and chin.

oud (Arabic): a short-neck lute-type, pear-shaped, fretless stringed instrument

4.5-5 stars

Litsy notes

16 year old Seraphina, whose mother died when she was born, is now assistant to the
Court composer, who is in charge of musical entertainment for the upcoming celebration of the 40th anniversary of the truce between humans and dragons. The story opens with Prince Rufus‘s funeral. Since his head was missing, a dragon must have killed him. Mustn‘t it?

It‘s been 2 weeks since she moved to Castle Orison (the palace) and she also teaches 15yo Princess Glisselda music. Seraphina has inherited secrets from her mother among which is a dream garden full of grotesques. And then she starts meeting them in real life.

I love the wonderfully irreverent cast list at the beginning - don‘t skip over it!

I like the way Hartmann uses language and her unusual descriptions.

Well written and fun. Now, though, there‘s a bit of mystery and a hint of darkness.

Quotes & definitions:

Only then did I notice the dragon waiting for me on the cathedral steps, flashing me his best facsimile of a proper human smile. No one in the world could have found Orma‘s strained expression heartwarming but me.

“Forty years,” interrupted Eskar. “We‘ve had forty years of peace. You weren‘t even born when Comonot‘s Treaty was signed. Your own mother—”
“Rest she on Heaven‘s hearthstone,” I mumbled, as if it were my job to make up for the social inadequacies of dragons everywhere. The prince flashed me a grateful glance.
“—was but a speck in the queen‘s womb,” continued Eskar placidly, as if I hadn‘t spoken.

He taught me not just music but everything he thought I should know about dragonkind: history, philosophy, physiology, higher mathematics (as close as they came to a religion). He answered even my most impudent questions. Yes, dragons could smell colors under the right conditions. Yes, it was a terrible idea to transform into a saarantras right after eating an aurochs.

“It‘s such a relief after all these years to learn that you recovered from your fright,” he said in a low voice, giving my hand a squeeze, “and that you grew up so pretty!”
“Were you worried?” I asked, touched.
“Yes. What were you, eleven? Twelve? At that age we‘re all gawky, and the outcome is always in doubt.” He winked,

Love the bits where dragons (in saarantras form) try to comprehend human emotions: “I‘m sorry about your mother. I believe I am.” He gestured toward his stomach. “There, yes? That‘s where one feels it?”

Orma moved a pile of books off a stool for me but seated himself directly on another stack. This habit of his never ceased to amuse me. Dragons no longer hoarded gold; Comonot‘s reforms had outlawed it. For Orma and his generation, knowledge was treasure. As dragons through the ages had done, he gathered it, and then he sat on it.

An aged monk led me to the infirmary. “He‘s got the place to himself. Once the other invalids learned there was a dragon coming, they miraculously got well! The lame could walk and the blind decided they didn‘t really need to see. He‘s a panacea.”

{A houppelande or houpelande is an outer garment, with a long, full body and flaring sleeves, that was worn by both men and women in Europe in the late Middle Ages. Sometimes the houppelande was lined with fur. The garment was later worn by professional classes, and has remained in Western civilization as the familiar academic and legal robes of today. {Sorry - not quote but important info.}} See illustration (edited)

(A saarantras being a dragon‘s human form. Aurochs - species of cattle, now extinct in our world.)

From Encyclopaedia Britannica: Wimple, headdress worn by women over the head and around the neck, cheeks, and chin.

Wikipedia: The oud (Arabic) is a short-neck lute-type, pear-shaped, fretless stringed instrument

Evidence of medieval setting : ‘A recent scandal over the dissection of human cadavers hadn‘t helped matters.'

My half written review from last year

Seraphina has a secret so dangerous that even she did not know it at first. Her mother died when she was born so she lives in Lavondaville, the capital of Goredd, with her father who is a lawyer for the royal court and represents those dragons who choose to live as humans, called sarrantras. The twenty year truce between humans and dragons is about to be celebrated but suddenly Prince Rupert is assassinated and the obvious suspect is dragon-kind.

Although her father doesnt like to hear her play music, Seraphina has learned and now has a position at court as assistant to the music master. While helping him make arrangements for the concerts and teaching the princess to play the spinet, Seraphina - because of her sympathy for dragons - finds herself helping to unravel the mystery behind Prince Rupert's death before an interspecies war can erupt.

Hartman uses language well and in unanticipated ways. She has filled Seraphina's world with medieval clothes and instruments; which, because I was reading this book through Overdrive, I could look up quickly on the web. Though I did know a lot of them already, so there.

4.5*****

ETA: I notice that last time I read the UK edition and Glisselda was learning the spinet,

50) Raisins and Almonds by Kerry Greenwood



{Ninth of 20: Phryne Fisher mysteries. Golden age crime, Australian}(1997)

While her lover, Lin Chung, is away on a business trip to Shanghai Phryne (pronounced Fry knee) is hired by a Mr. Abrahams to investigate a murder in a bookshop run by his tenant, Miss Lee, who has been arrested for the crime. Both Mr. Abrahams and Phryne feel that she couldn't possibly have done it and so Phryne dives into the lives of Jews in between the wars Melbourne - many of whom are dreaming of a Jewish state, possibly to be set up in the Middle East. Cue exotic young man (Simon Abrahams, whose father is hiring her) for Phryne to have a fling with, this time from the Jewish community. There is also a mysterious formula for the mythical philosopher's stone.

As this is my own book, I took two or three breaks from it to finish expiring Overdrive books before they disappeared and I must say a) I did need to take a break from it because the early parts, especially, irritated me and b) it was very easy to get back into the flow of the story.

Why did it irritate me? Well (maybe I wasn't in an amenable mood but) older men call Phryne 'beautiful lady' which sounds a bit stilted to me (I've felt that reading previous books), all young men immediately fall in love with her (who me? jealous? Seriously, though, it's not true to life) and their mammas, while initially suspicious, end up seeing her as a good thing for their boys (as long as she promises not to marry them) and practically throwing them at her. But this always happens and I can take it with a pinch of salt.

However, the thing that really got under my skin was that I felt that Jews were portrayed as caricatures; I've never heard anyone speak in that manner outside of a TV screen. There are a lot of Yiddish words sprinkled through the text; you can generally catch the gist of them but there's a glossary at the back with many of the meanings. It's probably due to personal experience, but too many words in a foreign language leave me feeling vaguely excluded.

'We saved for years, Yossel and me, working, working, always picking up anything we could do - my Yossel was a carpenter, I could embroider, but also paint and gild and carve, he taught me, what my father would have said I didn't like to think, but he said, Yossel said, we must leave Russia, the new laws are killing us, and when the war comes the revolution will follow and maybe then they will be glad to see the back of us, they hate Jews, but they hate Christians too, and unless you want to see our Philo a soldier and our little Helen a whore, we must leave ... ai, ai, what a time, we worked all the hours God gave, but he was right, my Yossel alav ha-sholom, the revolution did come

(and the sentence runs on like this for another seven lines).

I did start to come around when the animals were introduced, especially when Ember, the tom cat, started insistently mothering Phryne's wards' new puppy.

'Why "Molly", Jane?' asked Phryne, watching in fascination as Ember corralled the small dog and washed its face.

Then, observing a certain contemplative look on Molly's face, the two girls rushed the puppy downstairs into the garden, with Ember streaking after via the bannister. He had found out how to do this by accident, slipping down fast, all paws together and tail outstretched for balance, and Phryne suspected that he was showing off.

I was delighted to note, though, that Phryne, whom I've always imagined as long and elegant, is 5 foot 2 and tiny - but still elegant. There is hope for me yet. And 'Jack' Robinson collects cattleya orchids, which are one of the more showy types but (I find) not as easy to care for.

It was still fun visiting 1920s/30s Melbourne again although I had a suspect about 4/5ths of the way through (not in an 'aha!' way but more of a 'yeah, that works'). Solving this one takes the combined efforts of Phryne, Dot, Bert, Cec, Jane, Ruth and - of course - Detective Robinson; it was nice to see the girls getting a chance to help too and Dot coming even more into her own.

Apparently the title refers to a Jewish lullaby.

2.5-3 stars

Litsy notes

It does sound a bit stilted when Phryne‘s (pronounced Fry knee) foreign admirers address her as ‘Beautiful lady‘ all the time.
NB: she is 5 foot 2.
‘Jack‘ Robinson collects cattleya orchids

Phryne finds another beautiful young man while Lin Chung is on a business trip to China
This time, Phryne‘s exotic young man is of Jewish extraction. Maybe Jews in 1930s Melbourne sounded like they came from Brooklyn NY but I feel like I‘m watching a film. They seem like caricatures
Being neither Jew nor Muslim and having gone from a book featuring one (The Candle and the Flame) to this, I notice (again) how similar the religions are: shalom aleichem/ assalaam wa alaikum

I was daydreaming when I suddenly saw the ostrich in the bottom left-hand corner 😳

4/5ths of the way through and I have a suspect. Let‘s see if it plays out ...

I‘m enjoying the interaction between the pets; Ember the black Tom cat(!) and Molly the new puppy. I think they‘re winning me over.
Coming back to this for ... looks like ... the 3rd time. Fortunately it‘s easy to get back into

51) Balance of Trade by Sharon Lee & Steve Miller



{Third in chronology/ twentieth of 45(?) in publication order of Liaden series; sci-fi, space opera} (2004)

This story takes place about 1,125 years after the events in Crystal Soldier and Crystal Dragon and lets us know how the original Liaden universe ties into this one - which is possibly a futuristic version of our own, given the presence of Terrans.

Jethri Gobelyn (who seems to be about 17 years old, give or take), a Terran, is the son of Arin and Iza Gobelyn and unwanted (by his mum) third child. His father, who died years before, educated Jethri but now all that he has left to remember him by is his lucky fractin (which we recognise as one of the type of tiles Jela used to program his tile array) since Iza got rid of everything else. At the beginning of the story, we find Jethri crewing aboard his mother's trading ship Gobelyn Market along with other family members; but now Iza is planning to send him to crew on another ship.

Jethri, partially taught by his father, is adept at trading and knows something of Liadens and the deep but foreign sense of Liaden honour. When he does a favour for a Liaden master trader, Norn ven’Deelin, in a matter of honour she offers him a berth on a Liaden trading ship (he will be the first ever Terran to do so), seeing in him an opportunity to build bridges between Liadens and Terrans. However, he has a lot to learn including the nuances of Liaden manners (and the finer points of bowing) and how to use them so as not to cause offence.

He checked, whistle dying on his lips, eyes rapt upon a performance the like of which he had not beheld since - well, since he had first come to Rinork, and spent so many hours before the mirror, shining his bows for High House display.
Alas, the person bowing so earnestly and with such ... interesting ... results in the wide space in the hall meant to accommodate a service jitney, had no mirror. Style was also sadly absent, though there was, Tan Sim allowed, after observing for a few heartbeats, a certain vivacity in delivery that was not ... entirely ... displeasing.
At just that point, the person in the shadows executed a bow with a vivacity sufficient to set them staggering and Tan Sim felt it was time to take a hand.
'Here then!' he called out in the mode spoken between comrades, which would surely have set Bar Jan to ranting. 'There's no sense breaking your head over a bow, you know.'

Master ven'Deelin treats Jethri like an adopted son and as part of his education Jethri sees what life is like in a Liaden household when she takes him to her foster mother’s house on planet Irikwae (where we find that there are dramliz within the current day Liadens).

‘Oh, certainly!’ Meicha cut him off. ‘It is understood that the ven’Deelin’s word must carry all before it!’
‘Except Aunt Stafeli,’ said Miandra.
‘Sometimes,’ concluded Meicha; and, ’Do you find the steps difficult, Jethri?’
He bit his lip. ‘My home ship ran light gravity, and I am never easy in heavy grav.’
‘Light gravity,’ Miandra repeated, in caressing tones. ‘Sister, we must go to space!’
‘Let Ren Lar catch us ‘mong the vines again and we shall.’

Meanwhile his family docks their ship for a year to refit and so are planet-bound for a time during which they receive visits from people who want to find out more about Arin and his interest in ‘Befores’ or ‘old technology’, such as Jethri’s fractin (Fractional Mosaic Memory Module) - which Liaden Scouts are also interested in - which came across from the old universe and is Sheriekas-made or derived from Sheriekas technology.

Liadens are generally smaller in proportion to Terrans so Jethri has problems with the height of chairs and handles of teapots; I thought that that was a nice detail (myself having the opposite problem) that highlighted that they are different species, despite being very similar in looks. I also appreciated the way that the authors showed how Jethri (who is space born and bred) has to deal with open skies and heavier gravity than he is used to on board ship; and I found it amusing that he uses 'mud' as a swear word.

‘Turn the knob and push the door away from you,’ Miandra coached. ‘If you like, we will show you how to lock it from the inside.’
‘Thank you,’ he said. The porcelain was cool and smooth, vaguely reminiscent of his fractin.
The door moved easily under his push, and he came a little too quickly into the room, the knob still in his hand.
This time he shouted, and threw an arm up over his eyes, all the while his heart pounded in his ears, and his breath burned in his chest.
‘The curtains!’ a high voice shrilled, and there were hands on his shoulders, pushing him, turning him, he realised, in the midst of his panic and willingly allowed it, the knob slipping from his hand.
‘Done!’
‘Done,’ repeated an identical voice, very near at hand. ‘Jethri, the curtain is closed. You may open your eyes.’
It wasn’t as easy as that, of course, and there was the added knowledge, as he got his breathing under control, that he’d made a looby outta himself in front of the twins, besides showing them just as plain as he could where he stood vulnerable.
Mud, dust and stink! He raged at himself, standing there with his arm over his face and his eyes squeezed tight. His druthers, if it mattered, was to sink down deep into the flooring and never rise up again. Failing that, he figured dying on the spot would do. Of all the stupid - but, who expected bare sky and mountain peaks when they opened a sleeping room door? Certainly not a born spacer.

I found this book very more-ish. The syntax is a bit Yoda-like and the odd phrasing may initially keep readers at a distance but the story is engaging. There were some interesting concepts and story-lines opened which I hope are/ will be developed further; as I understand it, this was a departure by the authors from their main thread about clan Korval. I enjoyed reading Jethri's story and I look forward to reading more about him - and coming back to re-read this one.

4.5-5 stars

Litsy notes

Continuing with the 3rd book in the omnibus, ‘Balance of Trade‘ which takes place about 1,125 years later, in our own (?) galaxy. The tech is recognisable in our day and age - but we‘re not reading this series for the tech, are we. So, not an issue.

Jethri, a Terran, has a fractin as a lucky piece - all that he has left to remember his dad by. He is the son of Arin and Iza Gobelyn and unwanted (by his mum) 3rd child. So he finds a berth on a Liaden ship (the 1st ever Terran to do so) whose master trader sees in him an opportunity to build bridges. Meanwhile his family docks their ship for a year to refit.

Still reading. Love the way Jethri (space born) has to deal with open skies and heavier gravity than he‘s used to on board ship. And the way ‘mud‘ is a swear word. Fractins seem to be the tiles that Jela used to build circuits in ‘Crystal Dragon‘ but is now forbidden ‘old technology‘

53) Esme's Gift by Elisabeth Foster



{Second in Esme trilogy; children's, fantasy, parallel world; LT Early Reviewers}(2019)

This was a LibraryThing Early Reviewers book from last year that I'm re-reading.

Esme is from Picton Island on our world but over the summer she has had adventures in the parallel world of Aeolia where she found her mum, who had been missing for seven years. But now her mum lies in a comma and in danger of fading away so Esme, together with her friends, is trying to wake her. When they learn of an obscure elixir they go on adventures (often adragonback) to try and obtain the exotic ingredients. In the meantime, Esme enrols in Pierpont School on Esperance, along with her friends Daniel and Lilian who are existing students, so she doesn't miss out on her education.

Pierpont is no Hogwarts since it has ordinary subjects like Maths and History but now that people's Gifts are starting to show, as a result of Esme's previous adventures, they do affect the classes, like Meera's Gift for portalling which ties in to her Art talent or Esme's own unreliable Gift for seeing the past which she uses to help her with her History homework and to search for the more unknown ingredients as well as to complete the decrepit recipe for the elixir.

When the subtle energies were at their height, Lillian’s unmade bed began to make itself. First, the sheets ironed themselves out and tucked themselves under the mattress. Then the purple bedspread smoothed itself over the top. Finally, the pillow gave a little shake, plumped itself up and settled into place.
Lillian kept singing, kept the spell going, just to prove that she could - and the wardrobe responded with a deep shudder. Its double doors flew open. The clothes on the floor rose up, then straggled like lost lambs into the wardrobe’s embrace.
When the song was over, Lillian stood there, very still, her face radiant. Somehow she seemed fuller, more complete, like a piece of the puzzle of who she was had slotted into place.
‘It’s really happened, hasn’t it?’ she murmured. ‘Oh, Mum!’
Miranda wiped away a tear. ‘I never thought I’d see the day you tidied your room without being asked!’

Did you ever read books in your childhood where you really wanted to go and live in that world? This world does that for me, and it's been a while since that happened; I mean, if you could escape to a parallel world where you could breathe under water, the weather is always nice, people have magical gifts and you get to ride dragons wouldn‘t you want to live there? I really like the gentle ambiance that Foster creates with Aeolia and its capital island of Esperance; it has a warm, relaxed Mediterranean feel to me (though Esme's term is at the beginning of the school year and ends in winter, it doesn't get very cold) which stays with me even more than the adventures although those are fun and nicely told.

There is a very helpful map of the canal city of Esperance but it would have been nice to have a map of the whole of Aeolia as well, since Esme's adventures take her to many different parts of that world.

The third book of the trilogy is due out later this year (2021) which will hopefully satisfy my curiosity about some questions (though the story is not left on a cliffhanger). I hope Foster doesn't stop there but sets more stories in this charming world.

4-4.5 stars



Litsy notes (from last year):

I love the summer-holiday, Mediterranean ambiance of these books. I sometimes pause my reading to savour the feeling. I‘m only a fifth of the way through the second book but I‘ll risk saying: LOVE it!

If you could escape to a parallel world where you can breathe under water, people have magical gifts and you get to ride dragons wouldn‘t you want to live there? Especially if you had a wicked stepmother at home and everyone thought you were losing your mind in your own world.

Excuse me - I need to get back to Aeolia ...

(BehindthePages: I love this book! I can barely put it down!)
humouress: I‘ve finished it now but I did keep putting it down - just so I could lengthen my stay there.

>47 humouress: This sounds really lovely!

>48 Caramellunacy: It's a children's/ YA book and it's not non-stop action or anything that normally hits the best-seller lists but I really love the ambiance it (and the first book in the series) creates.

Phew! I've finally got my reviews and (therefore) tickers up to date to the end of June, except for one ticker - since they go squiffy if I update them too close together. Mind you, I did miscount my May books because I counted my e-books twice so I only need to add one more book to my overall counter. And since updating (more than one at a time) tickers is such a pain, I've already counted my e-books so far for July.

So I opted to read 40 ROOTs this year (30 physical books and 10 e-books) which is about 3-4 books a month but the early part of the year was slow for reading and, since Overdrive libraries seem to have stocked up last year, I've been reading a lot of library books since I can now find the BBs I get hit by on LibraryThing. By the end of June I had read 13 ROOTs (11 physical books and 2 e-books) so I'm not too far behind my target and I won't adjust it for now. That leaves me (just calculating out loud here) 19 physical books and 8 e-books for the second half of the year. Do-able!

ETA: I've updated my ROOTs ticker to the end of June now.

54) Cast in Shadow by Michelle Sagara



{First of 16 Chronicles of Elantra; fantasy, sword and sorcery} (2005)

Kaylin Neya has been a Hawk in the city of Elantra since she joined them at the age of thirteen, seven years ago. She also does some healing on the side because she has unusual and strong magical healing powers that can save lives when medicine is not enough. The Hawks, along with the Wolves and the Swords, keep the city safe and are answerable to the three Lords of Law. However, Kaylin grew up in the fief of Nightshade and the fiefdoms, which lie across the river, also lie outside the law. Kaylin, who had then been known by a different name, had sworn never to return to Nightshade - but now children have been found murdered, with marks on their bodies; the same type of marks that suddenly appeared on Kaylin’s body all those years ago and the reason she fled the fiefs. And now the reason she must return, to fight the evil that the sacrifices represent as only she can. Along with her will go two men; Severn, who grew up with her in the fief and who betrayed her, and a Dragon, a member of one of the immortal races. And supporting them, her beloved Hawks of many races - human, Leontine, winged Aerians, immortal Barani - who have been a family to her for the past seven years.

'Did you see it?' she asked him, all enmity momentarily forgotten. He was Severn, she was Elianne, and the streets of the fiefs had become that most impossible of things: more terrifying than either had ever thought possible.
He shook his head. 'No,' he said, devoid now of arrogance or ease. 'But I know what you saw.'
'How?'
'I've only heard you scream that way once in your life,' he replied. He lifted a hand, as if to touch her, ands shied away instantly, her hand falling to her dagger hilt. To one of many.
He accepted her rejection as if it hadn't happened. 'I was there, back then,' he added quietly. 'I saw it too. It's happening again, isn't it?'
She closed her eyes. After a moment, eyes still closed, she rolled up her sleeves, exposing the length of arm from wrist to elbow.
There, in black lines, in an elegant and menacing swirl, were tattoos that were almost twin to the ones upon the dead boy's arms.

It could have been because my reading was fractionated with this book but it didn’t flow smoothly for me; the writing style was a bit casual and rather than my usual refrain of ‘show, don’t tell’ I could have done with more 'telling'. I felt I had to infer a lot and I felt I was missing things. It was slow to take off with a lot of history hinted at but not told, until around the halfway mark at which point some history was also filled in. I did wonder if this was Sagara’s debut novel but it seems to be her thirteenth published book.

I liked the characters, though, especially Tiamaris and I like the way that, although she is now twenty and can hold her own as a Hawk, many of the Hawks still feel protective towards Kaylin and she feels they are her family.

But I know that a lot of people love this series and I’m willing to give it another go - especially since I’ve already got the next book, anyway, and I liked Sagara’s (writing as Michelle West) The Broken Crown.

3-3.5 stars

Litsy notes

It‘s been slow to take off with a lot of history hinted at but not told. Now, around the halfway mark, it‘s taking off and some history is being filled in

I know I sometimes think an author is 'telling' too much instead of just 'showing' but I often feel a bit lost in this book; I could do with being told a bit more. But I know a lot of people like this series and I did like 'The Broken Crown' by the same author so I will continue with this series for a bit. Besides - I've already got the next couple of books 😊

56) Midlife Bounty Hunter aka Grave Magic Bounty by Shannon Mayer

   

{First of 5 of Forty Proof series; urban fantasy, contemporary setting, older female protagonist} (2020)

Full disclosure; this is not my preferred genre. I'm not sure why I picked this up but it's somehow landed on my Kindle. Could be I was sucked in by the blurb (note to self - do not be sucked in by the blurb. Again) or maybe I thought I should try something new (but I usually do that via the library) or maybe it was a Kindle deal.

So, anyhow. Breena O'Rylee is old and she's just gone through a nasty divorce so she's run home to Savannah from Seattle with her tail between her legs. Growing up, she lost her parents as a young girl so her gran brought her up and trained her to deal with the shadow world but after she got married, Himself (she can't bring herself to name her ex-husband) put her in a psych ward for seeing bogeymen and so she asked her gran to take away her second sight. As a result, she has no friends in Savannah and no contacts except Corb, the black sheep of her husband's family, and so she crashes at his place. She interviews for a job that pays better than her current dog grooming job and signs on as a trainee with the Hollows Group. They ... deal with the shadow world. And though Breena is old (older than the other trainees and older, even, than most of the mentors) she has other skills as her old training resurfaces.

I felt an immense amount of pity for them. They were young, early twenties at best, though they might have been even younger. I had a hard time telling now how old young people were. They all looked like babies to me with the lack of experience in their eyes, and the softness of their faces.

Unfortunately, her gran has died in the intervening twenty years that Breena has been away and Himself has somehow transferred Breena's signature to papers that will allow him to sell the house Breena grew up in and inherited from her grandmother - but that doesn't stop her reconnecting with her gran. In the meantime, there is something sinister (more sinister than usual, that is) going on in Savannah and the Hollows Group need to stop it. Once they find out what it is.

Well, it was okay. Breena, though, is so old and feels her age that I'm not looking forward to becoming ... hang on, she's a full decade younger than me! I see that the author must have been 41, the same age as her heroine, when this was published. 41, let me tell you, is practically a spring chicken but Breena's joints creak more than mine do. I think you gather that the constant harping about the age factor was something I wasn't fully on board with. Nor, to be honest, was I a fan of the swearing (so? I'm old fashioned) peppering the first few chapters but that faded away. It's as though Meyer wanted to make her a Lara Croft-type action heroine but emphasise her age and ended up with her neither here nor there. I appreciate her choosing to have an 'older' (supposedly) heroine but I wish she wouldn't keep playing up the downsides.

I did like, however, the variety of people Meyer introduced. As well as demons, leprechauns, werewolves and ghosts there were big foots (big feet?), river maids and some that were described but she refused to name.

I hit the stairs, stuffed one knife into my bag and grabbed the railing with my now-free hand, pulling myself up with my arm as much as with my legs, which had once more turned to jelly. I got to the top of the stairs and bent at the waist to catch my breath. A quick glance over my shoulder proved I’d thought wrong about the spider’s supposed limitations. Those long, hairy black legs were following me.

‘Gran, you never warned me about this!’ I yelled to myself as I moved with speed down the streets that would lead me back to East Perry. I had to believe Corb was still at the loft. Or Sarge.

Something splooshed into the building that I had just circled around. I looked back at the oozing hunk of what had to be web stuck to the old brick building. Only it wasn’t light and airy, but thick like mucus spit.
I stuck my head around the corner to glare at the still oncoming spider. ‘Seriously? You’re spitting at me?’

The spider let out a snarl - yes, a snarl! - and opened its mouth. I squeaked and ran all the way to the Colonial cemetery...

The writing style settled in the latter part of the book and it definitely improved but I'm not sure that I will be continuing with this series. Or, if I'm curious, I'll borrow it from the library, despite my completist genes.

3 stars

Litsy notes

The protagonist is 41 but acts like she‘s 61 - at least in the first few chapters - even though she‘s younger than me and her job keeps her active. Wonder how old the author is?
ETA: looks like she would have been 41 at the time this book was published. Not that I‘m sensitive about my age or anything 👵🏼

Set in Savannah. Urban fantasy, a little out of my preferred reading zone
Ch 9: Not enjoying the constant references to age. I‘m starting to feel sensitive ...

>50 humouress: You can do it!

>53 rabbitprincess: Thank you!

:0)

Hi Nina, I'm sure you can do that.

>55 connie53: Thanks Connie. I'm making an effort to read more off my shelves and borrow fewer books from the library. I've already read 5 ROOTs this month and have started a sixth, so that should help my numbers.

>56 humouress: Yes it definitely would.

57) The Siege of Macindaw by John Flanagan



{Sixth published/ seventh chronologically of 11 (or 12); Ranger’s Apprentice series. Fantasy, children’s, YA} (2007)
Group read.

Will, having had to leave Alyss trapped in a tower inside Castle Macindaw, is now desperate to rescue her as well as foil the plans of the traitor holding the castle. Luckily he finds unexpected and somewhat unusual allies, although they are still all outnumbered, and they plan to take the castle back to prevent it falling into the hands of Scotti invaders coming over the border from Picta because otherwise it would leave the whole of Norgate Fief open to their raids and weaken the kingdom of Araluen. And Alyss, a trained diplomat and Royal Courier, is no damsel in distress but contributes too, getting vital information about the enemy out to them as she can.

While most books in this series (so far) can be read as stand-alones - although they follow the overall story arc of Will’s apprenticeship as he grows up to become a Ranger - this book is the second part of the story that was begun in The Sorcerer in the North and should be read after it. Will is now a full fledged Ranger and is on his first solo mission, which was given to him in the previous book.

The tone of the book is a bit more serious than previous instalments although Will and Horace still bicker away (while recognising that sometimes their friend is covering for nerves). The friends, Alyss, Horace and Will, are now all around sixteen years old. As Flanagan’s characters are getting older and, presumably, so is his target audience, he’s introducing some (mild) swearing.

And illogically, right on the heels of a sudden rush of relief, Horace felt his anger welling up.
'His blood? Why didn't you say so? I was frantic here, thinking you were bleeding like a stuck pig!'
'When did you give me a chance?' Will said, 'You were all over me, grabbing at me, turning me this way and that!'
The anger, of course, was nothing more than reaction to the shock and fear they had both felt. But it was no less real for all that.
'I'm sorry!' Horace snapped back. 'Forgive me for being concerned about you. It won't happen again!'
'Well, if you'd got here a little sooner, there wouldn't have been a problem,' Will retorted quickly. 'Where the hell were you, anyway?'
'Where the hell was I? Where the hell were you? Is this the thanks I get for saving your life? Because let me tell you, it didn't look as if you were having the best of it with our friend here.'
He nudged the unconscious MacHaddish with the toe of his boot. The Scotti general made no sound. But Will had the grace to look suddenly chastened as he realised his friend was right.
'I'm sorry, Horace. You're right. You saved my life and I'm grateful.'
'Well ...' Now it was Horace's turn to shuffle his feet uneasily. He knew the reason for Will's apparent anger. He had seen it in many soldiers who had come close to death and he knew Will hadn't meant to be ungracious. 'That's okay. Think nothing of it.'

I’m always impressed with Flanagan’s fight scenes which are described well enough for me to follow them and for them to make sense without getting bogged down in the detail.

There are oblique references to the previous adventure (Erak’s Ransom) and the next one (The Kings of Clonmel) but I think it’s just to position this story within the timeline. Another good instalment in the series.

3.5-4 stars

Litsy notes

Will, now a Ranger and an expert archer, is using the cover name ‘Will Barton’. Coincidentally similar to the archer’s name in the MCU Avenger films.

As Flanagan’s characters are getting older (Will is now a full Ranger and on his first solo mission) and, presumably, his target audience, he’s introducing some (mild) swearing.

Flanagan’s fight scenes are well written and believable. (I say this with great expertise as a veteran of no battles whatsoever, though.)

Horace, and therefore Will and Alyss, are now 16

York Castle. June 2016

>59 humouress: Nice place to visit, Nina.

>60 connie53: Thanks Connie. It was a lovely holiday.

>59 humouress: York is gorgeous, one of my favourite English cities. In fact I got married there (my husband used to live there, before my time, and still has a lot of friends there).

>62 Jackie_K: I've only been there the once, but we had a lovely time. It was summer so we visited some of the castles and stately houses and gardens. (And, for my son, the Manchester City grounds, although he refused to allow his dad a reciprocal visit to Manchester United. They're all football crazy.)

ETA: I know it's not York, but it was close enough for us to pop over on the train for a day trip.

61) Alanna; the First Adventure by Tamora Pierce



{First of 4, Song of the Lioness/ fifth of 18 Tortal Universe chronological order; children's, fantasy, sword and sorcery} (1983)

I first came across this series at around the time the books were being published. Growing up, I had always wanted to be a knight (not really feasible, given my gender. And time period) so they appealed to me. Now that I‘ve collected this first quartet for my own shelves (nostalgia; I spotted a couple of the books when I was raiding Forbidden Planet in London) in the same cover style, it's time to start re-reading it!

Ten year old Alanna of Trebond, red-haired and purple-eyed, is almost identical to her twin, Thom. Their father is about to send them away from Trebond to futures that neither want. Alanna - who is good at martial arts and also has a strong healing Gift - is being sent to learn to be a lady while Thom - who would prefer to learn magic - is going to the palace at the capital, Corus, to learn to be a knight. So, by forging the letters of introduction that their father is supposed to send with them, they decide to swap places which will allow Thom (as himself) to study sorcery.

'D'you think I want to be a lady?' his sister asked. '"Walk slowly, Alanna,"' she said primly. '"Sit still, Alanna. Shoulders back, Alanna." As if that's all I can do with myself!' She paced the floor. 'There has to be another way.'
The boy watched the girl. Thom and Alanna of Trebond were twins, both with red hair and purple eyes. The only difference between them - as far as most people could tell - was the length of their hair. In face and body shape, dressed alike, they would have looked alike.
'Face it,' Thom told Alanna. Tomorrow you leave for the convent, and I go to the palace. That's it.'
'Why do you get all the fun?' she complained. 'I'll have to learn sewing and dancing. You'll study tilting, fencing -'
'D'you think I like that stuff?' he yelled. I hate falling down and whacking at things! You're the one who likes it, not me!'
She grinned. 'You should have been Alanna. They always teach the girls magic -' The thought hit her so suddenly that she gasped. 'Thom. That's it!'
From the look on her face, Thom knew his sister had just come up with yet another crazy idea. 'What's it?' he asked suspiciously.
Alanna looked around and checked the hall for servants. 'Tomorrow he gives us the letters for the man who trains the pages and the people at the convent. You can imitate his writing, so you can do new letters, saying we're twin boys.
'You go to the convent. Say in the letter that you're to be a sorcerer. The Daughters of the Goddess are the ones who train young boys in magic, remember? When you're older, they'll send you to the priests. And I'll go to the palace and learn to be a knight!'
'That's crazy,' Thom argued. 'What about your hair? You can't go swimming naked, either. And you'll turn into a girl - you know, with a chest and everything.'
'I'll cut my hair,' she replied. 'And - well, I'll handle the rest when it happens.'

And so Alanna, pretending to be the younger male twin 'Alan', rides off to adventure to become a page. If she can hold the deception until she is eighteen, she can achieve her long held dream and become the first ever female knight. But first she has to survive the gruelling schedule of being a page; the academic education, training in different forms of fighting and sorcery not to mention still being on her (his) feet to serve at the nightly banquet. And homework. Fortunately, 'Alan' is good at making friends although she's so focussed on working hard to be more competent than the bigger boys and standing up for herself against bullies that she doubts herself and doesn't always feel worthy.

This book covers about three years of Alanna's training; we're given the information about passing time, such as her eleventh naming day, but that is one of the details that felt nebulous to me, somehow. You do root for Alanna to be able to achieve her dream without being discovered and she works hard to earn it. This and the fact that she has her faults - her quick temper, for one - prevents her from being too good to be true although there are hints that the gods of this world have chosen her for some great destiny.

Apparently this quartet was originally written as a single book for adults but Pierce was advised to resubmit it as a series for children. Well, it worked; it's been a resounding success - although I admit to curiousity as to what the original was like. It works as a children's book and I don't remember feeling anything lacking the first time I read it (when I was probably in my teens), but I think that, on this re-reading, I'm not as invested in the characters as I would have been if there had been more detail. I still enjoyed the story although I felt that the magical crisis at the end of this instalment was resolved too easily.

On to the next book (In the Hand of the Goddess)!

3.5-4 stars

Litsy notes

I first came across this series at around the time the books were being written and I‘d always wanted to be a knight so they appealed to me. So now (nostalgia) I‘ve collected this first quartet for my own shelves in the same binding style. Time to start re-reading it!

(BehindthePages I had so much fun reading these in middle school!)

@BehindthePages So did I (though I was slightly older)

Apparently this quartet was originally written as a single book for adults but Pierce was advised to resubmit it as a series for children. Well, it worked! though I am curious to know what the original was like

Jasper making friends with the horses at Riding for the Disabled (Singapore).

62) Dragonquest by Anne McCaffrey



{Second of original trilogy/ seventeenth of 27 of Pern series; fantasy, sci-fi, dragons}(1971)

The second of the original Pern trilogy it continues the story of the dragons of the planet of Pern and their riders who fight Thread, a voracious mycorrhizoid which occasionally crosses from a neighbouring planet and is inimical to life if allowed to land.

'Where was Thread seen?' he yelled up to the Igen rider still perched atop the Gate Wall.
'South!' The man's response was an anguished appeal. 'Across the bay from Keroon Hold. Across the water.'
'How long ago?'
'I'll take you there and then!'
The ripple of cheering grew as it spread back, as people were reminded that the Weyrs would go between time itself and catch Thread, erasing the interval of time lost

Although it focuses on Benden Weyr (a Weyr being where dragons and their riders live), its Weyrwoman Lessa, her partner F’lar and his half-brother F’nor and their dragons, with whom they are mentally linked, the scope of the book is planet-wide covering the adventures of the dragonriders of Pern (perceived as an elite society) and the politics of getting diverse groups to agree on how to fight Thread.

There wasn't a man alive in Pern who hadn't secretly cherished the notion that he might be able to Impress a dragon. That he could be linked for life to the love and sustaining admiration of these gentle great beasts. That he could transverse Pern in a twinkling, astride a dragon. That he would never suffer the loneliness that was the condition of most men - a dragonrider always had his dragon.

(I wanna be a dragonrider. Dragons fly, they teleport, they transverse time itself and they love you unconditionally. Although sometimes they'll countermand you for your own good.)

The triumphant conclusion to events of the story in Red Star Rising has been diluted by the seven years that have passed since then and new issues have arisen which F'lar and a group of like-minded people who want to do the best for their planet - including Masterharper Robinton, Mastersmith Fandarel, other (but not all) dragonriders and some (but not all) Lords Holder - try to solve. Including the perennial problem of how to get rid of Thread once and for all.

The story opens as a clutch of eggs laid by Ramoth, Lessa’s golden queen dragon, and most of it takes place before they hatch - although the hatching itself sets in motion the momentous events of the third book of this trilogy. The story is an interlacing of linked adventures, events (such as the discovery of 'ancient timer' labs and equipment) and decisions that occur across the planet but they are stitched together seamlessly and the narrative flows well. There are triumphs and tragedies; the dragon fight scene, especially, is riveting and ... but to tell you more would be to reveal too much.

There is a rumour that fire lizards - the small, mythical antecedents of dragons - have been spotted and now everyone wants to find one.

There isn‘t a beach along the coastline that doesn‘t have a dragon couchant, with rider a-coil, feigning sleep.

I have read this particular book many times before and I still love it. There were some things that I quibbled with before that I didn’t mind this time (such as 'why this person but not that person?') and some things that I’d glossed over before that jumped out at me, one of which was that despite it being written by a woman and having a cast of several strong female characters, I found it a bit misogynistic. It is always women (often specifically stated) who cook, clean, look after the weyr etc and (at this point) all dragonriders are male except for the queen riders. I like the romance but there is a passage that troubles me. It seems odd and doesn’t fit with the rest of those characters’ story; I suspect that McCaffrey didn’t intend it to come out that way. It may be a sign of the times that she was writing in (1971) when there were few female writers in the field of sci-fi/ fantasy and they were writing for a (perceived) male audience. I also thought Lessa's 'leaning' was ethically questionable, even if in a good cause.

However, despite the wide and varied cast and their distribution across different regions of the planet, I've rarely found it hard to keep track of the different personalities across the series which is a credit to the writing. (There is an instance in this book where two minor characters have similar names - male dragonriders abbreviating their names on Impressing helping the confusion in this case.)

Despite the seriousness of having to fight a planet-wide scourge, there are light moments too. For some reason, these are quotes that always come back to me:

'He has the entire Weyr hopping to when he itches and wants to be oiled. That‘s a lot of dragon to oil.' F'lar chuckled as much to reassure Corman who looked uncomfortable hearing a list of Canth's injuries as in recollection of the sight of Canth dominating a Weyr's personnel.

and (in response to the 'dragon couchant' quote above)

'Oh, you laugh?'
'Aye, and they‘ve made a note of both occasions that I did,' she said with due solemnity, but her eyes danced.

Although each book can be read as a stand-alone story, doing so may result in spoilers for other books. This is one series which might (therefore) benefit from being read in publication order. I'm sure I'll be re-reading this book and this series again.

4.5 stars

Litsy notes

Re-reading for the umpteenth time. The misogyny is troubling me more than usual; could be a sign of the time it was written (1971)? Still loving it.

I want a dragon!

Litsy quotes

There wasn't a man alive in Pern who hadn't secretly cherished the notion that he might be able to Impress a dragon ...
(Still want a dragon 🐉)

There isn‘t a beach along the coastline that doesn‘t have a dragon couchant, with rider a-coil, feigning sleep.

Oh, you laugh?
Aye, and they‘ve made a note of both occasions that I did.

... the Weyrs would go between time itself and catch Thread ...

He has the entire Weyr hopping to when he itches and wants to be oiled. That‘s a lot of dragon to oil.

Jasper, our (my boys') golden retriever. 2020

65) Clockwork Boys by T. Kingfisher

 

{First of 2, Clocktaur War duology; fantasy, steampunk, YA} (2017)

We meet Slate as she is sneezing her way through the Dowager's prison. Slate is a forger but she has inherited a vague sense of magic - she smells rosemary (sidenote: I keep wanting to call her 'Sage') whenever her magic wants to warn her of something important but she's allergic to the scent (amongst other things). And she never seems to be able to hold on to handkerchiefs.

Slate tried to say, “Excuse me,” snuffled, and sneezed twice.
An eyebrow went up, but he didn’t say anything.
I suppose “Bless you,” is a little much to ask under the circumstances.
“Are you—damn—urrrggghhkk—” Her tongue pressed itself to the roof of her mouth as rosemary stormed the castle of her sinuses. There were no survivors.

The Dowager's kingdom (which doesn't seem to be given a name throughout the whole book) is at war and in imminent danger of being attacked by the clockwork boys being sent out of Anuket City. Slate and her erstwhile companion Brenner have been chosen for a mission to get to Anuket City to discover how to fight them; but they're no heroes. Slate is a forger (specialising in accounts) and Brenner is an assassin and this will be the third such mission being sent out, since the first one was destroyed and the second one has disappeared.

“Anyway it’s a suicide mission. You—and I, and a…coupla other people…will be going somewhere, and doing…err…something. Which is probably impossible, and we’ll likely all die.”

Joining them are Caliban, a failed paladin of the Dreaming God (currently in possession of the dead demon that previously possessed him), and the Learned Edmund, a monk of the Many Armed God, to whom the sight of women is anathema. Which could be a problem, since the Dowager has chosen Slate to lead the mission.

“Why are we bringing a woman?” he asked, peering down his nose at Slate. “I will not travel with one of their sex.”
Slate’s jaw dropped. The Captain put a hand over his eyes.
“I beg your pardon?” said Slate, clearly unable to believe what she had just heard.
“It is granted,” said the scholar, flicking his fingers outward in an abbreviated gesture of blessing. “Go forth and sin no more. Captain?” He turned away. “I believe I asked—”
Caliban and Brenner, acting with rare unity, reached out and grabbed one of Slate’s arms each, before anyone could learn what her sudden lunge in the scholar’s direction might mean.

Fortunately, he is only nineteen and has time to learn the error of his ways.

The clockwork boys are constructs (which may be organic or artificial or something in between - but nobody knows) which are eight feet tall, covered in cogwheels (which may or may not move them) and just about indestructible.

Down the road, three abreast, a column of Clockwork Boys came marching.
They were huge. They were horrible.
There were a great many of them.
The basic shape was centaur-like. Some had four legs, some had six. They stood between eight and ten feet tall.
...
The Clockwork Boys were the color of old ivory. Their heads—if it was anything so normal as a head—were blunt wedges, like a squared-off horse head. Slate caught a glimpse of what looked like inlay—carving—something.
Gears. They’re covered in gears, like barnacles. It’s how they move, somehow—but it doesn’t make sense. They’re alive, but they’re a made thing, but nobody could have made that, surely—

The story is told, in the third person, mainly from Slate's point of view, but sometimes from Caliban's, with the occasional interjection of their thoughts. A lot of the story is the snarky banter and interaction between the characters which I enjoyed. This particular passage, after their first day on horseback, has the power to get me giggling.

Brenner bounced by, stiffly, an expression of frozen horror on his face. He hadn’t been able to get down, either, and apparently any attempt to control his horse had failed utterly. The mare smelled food, and was roaming the yard looking for it.
Learned Edmund looked at Brenner. Brenner smiled horribly at him. His mare made another circuit of the yard.

Brenner and Caliban are both obviously potential rivals for Slate, although otherwise they seem to reluctantly admire each other.

I did find Caliban's demon confusing, though.

His own particular demon muttered down in the dark, ragged ends of syllables with no earthly meaning. Death hadn’t silenced it completely. It was a more familiar sound than the city, now, but not a comfortable one.
...
It was embarrassing that he’d spoken with the demon voice in the Captain’s office. He hadn’t meant to. It must have been the tattoo, or the tattoo artist. Magic made the corpse stir, as if something were walking past it and kicking up the flies. It took them a while to buzz and settle down again.

Although he asserted that it was definitely dead and its corpse was rotting in the back of his soul, it seemed to revive when confronted with another demon and seemed to act to protect Caliban.

I found some of the ideas (although not the story) reminiscent of Lois McMaster Bujold's Paladin of Souls which is no bad thing since that is one of my favourite books. I enjoyed this book which mainly introduced the story and covered the group's journey to Anuket City with a few diversions and adventures along the way. It ends as they ride through the gates into the city.

I picked this book up on my Kindle, having been hit by quite a few LibraryThing book bullets, and read it first about eight months ago. And now I've gone and got the second book.

4-4.5**** (this reading)
Looks like I enjoyed it more on the second reading; overall rating:

4 stars

Litsy notes

So many quotes highlighted in the first couple of chapters; I don‘t think it can keep up the pace. I‘m getting Paladin of Souls vibes from Caliban.

... and also the Learned Edmund

The clockwork boys are some kind of construct used by Anuket City in the war against the Dowager‘s kingdom (as yet - ch 6 - unnamed). Not known if they are organic or manufactured or some combination but it is Slate‘s and Brenner‘s mission to find out how to stop them.

Kindle quotes:

There are a number of smells one expects to encounter in a dungeon. Fresh rosemary generally isn’t one of them.

I suppose “Bless you,” is a little much to ask under the circumstances. “Are you—damn—urrrggghhkk—” Her tongue pressed itself to the roof of her mouth as rosemary stormed the castle of her sinuses. There were no survivors.

Slate had made peace with her god several times over in the last few days, but she commended her soul to heaven again just in case.

“Anyway it’s a suicide mission. You—and I, and a…coupla other people…will be going somewhere, and doing…err…something. Which is probably impossible, and we’ll likely all die.”

His own particular demon muttered down in the dark, ragged ends of syllables with no earthly meaning. Death hadn’t silenced it completely. It was a more familiar sound than the city, now, but not a comfortable one.

He looked at Slate instead. She was a small-boned woman, her eyes grey and glittering, like flawed quartz. She had dark brown hair in a thick braid down her back, and a long, mobile face. Her skin was a few shades lighter than her hair and her clothes were loosely cut and nondescript. Mouse brown, sparrow brown—some creature that relied on being small and drab and getting out of the way of predators.

It was embarrassing that he’d spoken with the demon voice in the Captain’s office. He hadn’t meant to. It must have been the tattoo, or the tattoo artist. Magic made the corpse stir, as if something were walking past it and kicking up the flies. It took them a while to buzz and settle down again.

The man who spoke was a wiry, compact fellow with heavy eyebrows and shoulder-length hair.

The man moved with more strength than grace, and yet, despite pacing wildly back and forth across the room (as he leapt up and began to do) his feet made no sound. He wore dusty black clothing, and his boots were very fine.

“Why are we bringing a woman?” he asked, peering down his nose at Slate. “I will not travel with one of their sex.” Slate’s jaw dropped. The Captain put a hand over his eyes. “I beg your pardon?” said Slate, clearly unable to believe what she had just heard. “It is granted,” said the scholar, flicking his fingers outward in an abbreviated gesture of blessing. “Go forth and sin no more. Captain?” He turned away. “I believe I asked—”

Caliban and Brenner, acting with rare unity, reached out and grabbed one of Slate’s arms each, before anyone could learn what her sudden lunge in the scholar’s direction might mean.

Down the road, three abreast, a column of Clockwork Boys came marching. They were huge. They were horrible. There were a great many of them. The basic shape was centaur-like. Some had four legs, some had six. They stood between eight and ten feet tall.

The Clockwork Boys were the color of old ivory. Their heads—if it was anything so normal as a head—were blunt wedges, like a squared-off horse head. Slate caught a glimpse of what looked like inlay—carving—something. Gears. They’re covered in gears, like barnacles. It’s how they move, somehow—but it doesn’t make sense. They’re alive, but they’re a made thing, but nobody could have made that, surely—

Review from December 2020:

{First of 2 Clocktaur War duology; fantasy, steampunk, YA} (2017)

We meet Sage as she is sneezing her way through the Dowager's prison. Sage is a forger but she has inherited a vague sense of magic - she smells rosemary whenever her magic wants to warn her of something important but she's allergic to the scent (amongst other things). And she never seems to be able to hold on to handkerchiefs.

The city of ... where she lives is under threat of attack from the city of Anuket who send constructs that those who have seen them and try to describe them cannot decide whether they are living beings or machines. The Dowager want to send a mission to Anuket to either find out how disable the constructs - known as 'Clockwork Boys' - at the source or bring back the secret of their creation to make them for her side. The first two missions have been unsuccessful so she is resorting to sending criminals on this third one. Along with Sage will go her erstwhile companion Brenner, an assassin, and one more whom Sage is in the prison to find. But the man she finds is demon-ridden.

This book tells us the story of how Sage, Brenner, Caliban and - eventually - the Learned Edmund meet, set out on their journey and the adventures that accost them on the way. As it ends, they are just approaching Anuket city walls, but there are still parts of their backstories that we have not yet learned. A lot of the story is the banter and interaction between the characters which is quite fun. Brenner and Caliban are both obviously potential rivals for Sage, although otherwise they seem to reluctantly admire each other, whereas the Learned Edmund (who is along for research) cannot bear to look at her or talk to her.

I did find the characters internal monologues a bit of an issue; granted, I have long conversations with myself inside my head but finding myself listening inside someone else's head was a bit disconcerting. Fortunately that tailed off after the initial chapters. The other issue I had was not always knowing whose head I was inside. The story (narrated in the third person) was told mainly from Sage's point of view but occasionally I would realise it had switched to Caliban's which was a bit confusing. I was also confused about the paladin's demon. It was dead (very definitely dead, he kept asserting) but it kept speaking through his mouth and seemed to have feelings.

But overall I'm looking forward to the next book.

3.5***

For his 12th birthday, my older son and I made a Minecraft cake for my younger son; he requested a cube of dirt and a whatever-it-is (zombie?) from the game.

(ETA: from December last year)

>69 humouress: Terrific-looking cakes! Hope your son enjoyed them!

>69 humouress: Oh, my daughter would love that! Happy birthday to your son!

>70 Charon07: >71 Jackie_K: Thank you!

>68 humouress: Skipping that because I still have to read that book and don't want to read what you were thinking about it, but I saw your stars, so that's hopeful!

>73 connie53: Fair enough, although I do keep spoilers out of my reviews. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did when you read it!

>74 humouress: I will let you know.

67) Cast in Courtlight by Michelle Sagara



{Second of 16 Chronicles of Elantra; fantasy, sword and sorcery}(2006)

The events in this story follow almost straight on from those in the first book.

Kaylin Neya left behind her name along with her fraught past when she fled the fiefs of her childhood. As we all know, names have power.

She has been a Ground Hawk in the city of Elantra since she joined the Hawks at the age of thirteen, seven years ago. The Hawks, along with the Wolves and the Swords, keep the city safe and are answerable to the three Lords of Law. However, Kaylin grew up in the fief of Nightshade but the fiefdoms, which lie across the river, also lie outside the law and Kaylin had sworn never to return to Nightshade

As a healer - an almost unique power in the Empire - Kaylin is much in demand to help with difficult and dangerous births but this often makes her late (or, rather, even later) for her actual job as a Hawk policing the city of Elantra. But this power has recently brought her to the notice of the Dragon Emperor (not a courtesy title) who has decreed that she should be trained as a mage; unfortunately, Kaylin has always had little patience with lessons and ... ah ... frustrates the mages sent to train her.

But this book does not concern the Dragon caste. The two immortal races, Dragons and the elven-like Barrani, have always held themselves aloof, for the most part, from the mortal races. Kaylin does have a couple of Barrani friends in the Hawks and discovers that her friend Teela is a Lord of the Barrani High Halls when Teela whisks her there to attempt to heal the younger son of the Lord of the High Courts. Having done so, she is then invited back during Festival when she finds that things are not as they seem, although her discoveries are ... not aided by the inscrutable Barrani.

Teela lead them quietly. She paused as Kaylin paused and moved when Kaylin's attention was once again in the present. She did not ask what had caught Kaylin's eye. Sometimes it was the floor; the stones there had been laid out like a mosaic, or a series of mosaics. She almost hated to walk across them. She saw trees, birds, deer; she saw swords, armour and crown; she saw caves and mountains. The rivers that passed down the mountains were real; fountains were set at intervals throughout the Hall, blending with the floor. So, too, were flowers, and these were at least as remarkable as the floor itself.
'It has been long since mortals walked these Halls,' Teela told her not unkindly. 'And often they tarry. It will be expected,' she added, 'And lack of attention to detail might be seen as a slight.'
Given permission, Kaylin did tarry. The sunlight seemed endless, and the permutations of light through glass - for the walls were half glass, and all of it coloured and composed like hard tapestry - blended with the stonework of the floor.
She tried to remember that death was waiting. But it was hard to see death in these things.

She discovers that she still has work to do to drive back dark forces, this time within the Barrani court, although she finds that she is not alone as she makes more allies to go with existing ones. The mark that Lord Nightshade, the exiled Barrani lord, gave her in the first book turns out to be both a help and a hindrance, depending on the situation, as she navigates Barrani court politics.

I found that this book flowed a lot better than the first one and though I still had moments of confusion, many of them were resolved and I found the narrative quite more-ish. (I must say, though, that where Lord Nightshade was first scary and then protective in Cast in Shadow, now I‘m finding him creepy.)

Kaylin, for all her fierce independence and fighting skills, has spent the last seven years growing up with the Hawks and being protected by them to some extent so she still seemed a bit childish in the first book. Now she seems to be growing up and learning from her experiences - even deliberately ‘failing to notice’ things on a few occasions although she still tries to ask lots of questions. She also learns a bit more about events connected to the first book and how she inadvertently failed to save the world.

I'm beginning to see why people like this series and will be continuing with it soon. I think, too, that these first books could bear re-reading at some point, once I'm further into the series.

September 2021
3.5 stars

Litsy notes

This book (at the halfway point) flows better than the first Cast in Shadow and is quite more-ish. Kaylin, having grown up & been protected by the Hawks, was still a bit childish at times but maybe she‘s growing up now. Could be she has ADHD given her inattentiveness in her classes in the past? Where Lord Nightshade was first scary then protective in CiS, now I‘m finding him creepy

Finished. A definite improvement on the first though it still has the odd confusing moment

Iolani Palace (January 2020)

>77 humouress: Gorgeous! Did you visit it? It looks absolutely grand.

>78 connie53: Thanks Connie. Unfortunately, we only had time to visit the gift shop downstairs as we were there in the late afternoon but it was nice walking around the grounds and absorbing the history.

>79 humouress: I bet it was.

73) Marian Halcombe by Brenda W. Clough

 

{First of 5 (so far) in Marian Halcombe series; historical fiction, Victorian}(2021)

This story is apparently based on the character ‘Marian Halcombe’ in Wilkie Collins's The Woman in White, which I hadn't realised when I requested it; I was attracted by the tagline 'the most dangerous woman in Europe'. Not having read any works by Collins, I didn't have preconceptions with regards to his style of writing or the character. A quick look at Wikepedia caught me up on the story in his novel, which is set in Victorian times. This e-novel is divided into six books although the narrative forms one story rather than separate episodes.

Book 1
In which Marian is courted. (1857): I found it slow going to start with, probably because it's not my preferred genre and Clough utilises a writing style which, presumably, would match the original; it does work, for the most part (I'm comparing it mentally to the Brontës' style though it's been a long time since I've read them), although there is the occasional slight slip. It is written as a selection of journal entries from Marian's diary and letters between herself and her sister or her suitor and mentions a few contemporary books (including references to ‘Arsène Dupin’ which must be a version of Arsène Lupin) and events, which enable the reader to place the story in time. There is a fair bit of nonsense about a woman's place being subservient to a man's (according to society and legal standing) when - I assume - the author has tongue firmly in cheek. It is short but sweet. 3.5**** (could have been higher but for brevity)

Book 2
In which there is a setback to Marian’s romance (1858): The narration (in the first person) alternates between Marian and her brother-in-law, Walter Hartright.
I like this quote:

With an effort I kept my face straight. ‘It was ill done of you, Camlet, to put her into that condition. She wields it like a brace of pistols, ruthlessly exploiting it at every opportunity.’

Book 3
In which Walter Hartright’s detective skills are called upon as there is a further setback.

Clough works the rights (or not) of women and the terrible conditions in gaols in those times into the narrative (although I don’t have enough knowledge to comment on her accuracy but it aligns with the little I do know). It does, for the most part, fit fairly comfortably into the story.

Book 4
In which Marian and Walter investigate further: We read her own written account by the most dangerous woman in Europe. (This would make an interesting novel in itself if Clough were to write it in full, which I’d like to read.) I noticed (and liked) the fact that both Marian and Walter are instrumental in resolving the case.

Book 5
In which Marian and Laura face down danger and Walter’s artistic talents are required.

Book 6
Endings. And beginnings.

I found the story interesting overall and it flowed well, although I still have a couple of questions that weren't answered. I liked the touches of humour interspersed through the story. Clough highlights some of the conditions of Victorian England that no longer exist (for instance the state of Newgate Prison, the miasma caused through London by the rubbish clogging up the Thames - and perish the thought of women asking for the right to vote) although it feels more like information for the present day reader than having impact as it might have done if it had been read in Victorian times. And though Marian is an independent character, she still defers to the rights that men (her brother-in-law and then her husband) have over her actions and property but despite this I still felt she was more modern than, say, Jane Eyre. 'Jane Eyre' (as a character in a book) and Charles Dickens (the author) are referred to a few times in the story; Dickens himself even makes a cameo appearance.

Although historical fiction is not my go-to genre I have the next book, thanks to LT Early Readers, and I am happy to continue with the series.

September 2021
3.5 stars

Orchids in my garden May 2020

No matter what I do, I can't seem to get the picture the right way up; sorry!

Beautiful orchids! Luckily I have tablet that I can rotate with turning my head! :-D

>83 Charon07: Thank you. I've finally discovered that orchids do best with me if I put them in the garden and leave them alone to do their own thing.

Good thinking (re rotating your tablet)! :0D

I've never kept an orchid alive, and so have sadly had to stop trying. I will just vicariously enjoy other people's - yours is a beauty!

>85 Jackie_K: Thank you! Mine never survived indoors but most of them have done well in the garden. I can't grow roses or lavender in Singapore but I do have a good selection of pretty orchids available that aren't expensive.

64) Undercover Princess by Connie Glynn



{First of 3 of Rosewood Chronicles; children's, adventure, friendship, boarding school} (2017)

Fourteen year old Lottie Pumpkin has always loved the fairy-tales and stories about princesses that her mother told her when she was young but her mother died and now she has a ... well ... not quite nice stepmother. She has worked hard and fulfilled a promise to her mum by getting into Rosewood Hall school on a bursary. When she gets there, she is accidentally confused with the Maravish princess of Mardova but the two become friends and decide to continue the deception - and so Lottie realises her dream of being a princess. But then she discovers that being a princess brings life-threatening dangers with it too.

Meanwhile, Ellie Wolf - actually Princess Eleanor Wolfson, sole child of the king and queen of Mardova - just wants the chance to be a normal teenager.

But she was smart, she was confident and she was passionate – and for Alexander that was all far more important than any of the traditional values expected of her. Although occasionally he did wish she'd watch her language around her grandparents.

She has so far managed to avoid the social duties and parties that royalty is obliged to attend and is therefore not known outside the palace but now that she is scheduled to attend a finishing school (as her ancestors have done before her) she sees this as her last chance and applies incognito to Rosewood Hall instead.

This starts off as a boarding school story but evolves into an adventure story and things get serious.

'Ellie, this is different, I promise. They've –' he faltered for a moment, then looked back into Ellie‘s eyes – 'they‘ve brought your grandmother.'

I did think Lottie got out of a few lessons rather easily, presumably because she was (supposedly) a princess. I felt sorry for her best friend, Olly, left behind at home. He supported her on her journey to join the school and is disappointed when she goes to Mardova instead of going home for the holidays especially as she can't tell him the reason. Maybe he'll have a larger role in the next book.

The prologue begins:

There are places in our world in which wondrous and whimsical things seem more capable of happening than anywhere else. You can recognise them because they are thick with an atmosphere that seems out of time and place with the rest of reality. Sometimes they exist naturally, such as hidden waterfalls or secret meadows filled with flourishing wild flowers. Sometimes they are man-made, like empty playgrounds at twilight or dusty antique shops rich with history. But occasionally, although it is rare, these spaces exist in a certain type of person.

I found this story charming and very more-ish and the characters are believable. I think it would resonate very well with its target audience; reading it as an adult I enjoyed it very much.

August 2021
4.5 stars

Litsy quotes
There are places in our world in which wondrous and whimsical things seem more capable of happening than anywhere else. You can recognise them because they are thick with an atmosphere that seems out of time and place with the rest of reality. Sometimes they exist naturally, such as hidden waterfalls or secret meadows filled with flourishing wild flowers. Sometimes they are man-made, like empty playgrounds at twilight or dusty antique shops rich with history. But occasionally, although it is rare, these spaces exist in a certain type of person.

But she was smart, she was confident and she was passionate – and for Alexander that was all far more important than any of the traditional values expected of her. Although occasionally he did wish she‘d watch her language around her grandparents.

‘Ellie, this is different, I promise. They‘ve –‘ he faltered for a moment, then looked back into Ellie‘s eyes – ‘they‘ve brought your grandmother.‘

72) Princess in Practice by Connie Glynn



{Second of 3 of Rosewood Chronicles; children's, adventure, friendship, boarding school} (2018)

Continuing shortly after the end of the first book, Lottie continues as Portman to stand in for the Maravish princess Eleanor Wolfson, starting with the celebration of the 'princess's' fifteenth birthday just before they return for another school year at exclusive Rosewood Hall.

‘I found a job,’ Lottie said. They were the first words that came to her.
‘What?’ Ollie’s brow creased in confusion.
‘I mean,’ Lottie started again. She just had to tell him quickly, like ripping off a plaster. She let her breath out in one long go. ‘Ellie is the undercover princess of Maradova.’ She glanced over at her friend and Ellie nodded encouragingly. Lottie swallowed, her mouth suddenly dry. ‘During my first weeks at Rosewood, a rumour started that I was the princess. So Ellie and I decided to swap identities. I’ve been hired by her family as a Portman – someone who pretends to be a member of the royal family so that the actual royal member can live a safe and normal life. That is, until they’re ready to officially take up their role.’ Lottie took another deep breath as she finished speaking.

Now, thanks to the kidnapping attempt on the princess, they are aware of the shadowy organisation called Leviathan, which is targeting the children of rich and powerful people, and life has become more dangerous so it is up to Lottie and Jamie, her Partizan (dedicated bodyguard), to keep Ellie safe.

As they try to find out what Leviathan is planning, they realise that some of their friends may have useful information especially as some of them may be in danger, which results in them pooling resources. There was one particularly funny chapter where the whole group of friends was out after curfew, following each other in the dark without being aware of each others’ activities. The danger and her admiration of their characters draws Lottie closer to both Ellie and Jamie; but who will her heart choose?

This mixes a boarding school story with a larger world plot involving heirs and heiresses, some of whom are Lottie's, Ellie's and Jamie's school friends, as well as secret tunnels and hidden histories though there is a touch of supernatural too. Despite the Enid Blyton premise I found the story well written and compelling and the characters feel real, within the story; unlike some children's/ YA books, it didn't talk down to its audience. There are, as you would expect in any real life boarding school, a good mix of nationalities and ethnicities (Jamie's mother, for instance, was Pakistani). Lottie feels conflicted at representing the Wolfson family as her own in public, especially as she still misses her mother. Her one link to her own life is Ollie, her best friend from home, and it’s nice to see him play a part in this book.

I am enjoying this series, which goes beyond the usual boarding school adventures.

September 2021
4 stars

Here she was now, about to tell him the truth. Would that be another mistake? The truth could expose him to the very dangers she’d been trying to protect him from.
‘I came back to explain myself,’ Lottie said calmly, ‘even though this is probably a terrible idea.’
‘It is,’ Jamie said from the doorway. Lottie scowled at him before turning back to Ollie. He was spooning his third sugar into his tea, his eyes trained on her. Watching, waiting.
Lottie cleared her throat nervously. ‘Ollie, before I explain, I need you to promise two things.’
Ollie’s eyebrows furrowed. ‘OK …’ He sounded less than convinced.
‘I need you to promise that you will never, ever tell anyone what I’m about to say.’ Ollie’s glance darted over towards Ellie and Jamie, who were trying their best to stay inconspicuous and failing terribly. He opened his mouth to speak, but Lottie cut him off. ‘And I need you to promise that you will under no circumstances try to get involved in any way.’
‘Well, that’s no fun,’ Ollie said, laughing in Jamie’s direction as if he expected him to join in. Jamie didn’t even crack a smile, but Ollie did get a small chuckle from Ellie.
‘I’m serious, Ollie. You have to promise me.’
He rolled his eyes. ‘Fine, I promise I won’t … do either of those things.’
‘I found a job,’ Lottie said. They were the first words that came to her.
‘What?’ Ollie’s brow creased in confusion.
‘I mean,’ Lottie started again. She just had to tell him quickly, like ripping off a plaster. She let her breath out in one long go. ‘Ellie is the undercover princess of Maradova.’ She glanced over at her friend and Ellie nodded encouragingly. Lottie swallowed, her mouth suddenly dry. ‘During my first weeks at Rosewood, a rumour started that I was the princess. So Ellie and I decided to swap identities. I’ve been hired by her family as a Portman – someone who pretends to be a member of the royal family so that the actual royal member can live a safe and normal life. That is, until they’re ready to officially take up their role.’ Lottie took another deep breath as she finished speaking.
Ollie’s teaspoon made a clinking sound as it fell against his mug of tea. ‘Is this a joke?’
Lottie shook her head.
‘But you have different names. How does this work?’
Lottie had always been a little touchy about her name but it had come in handy.
‘Oh, well, very few people actually knew the princess’s name and, well … everyone assumed Lottie Pumpkin was a fake name, so they just thought it was part of the undercover-princess thing and –’

Outside Hawai'i (Big Island) airport. January 2020

Umm ... I may have got this ROOTs idea the wrong way round. I've just added two books that I read earlier this year and I'm enjoying the series so much that I decided to buy it. So now the books are on my shelves - and I've 'read my own tomes' ;0)

>89 humouress: That really is doing it the other way round, Nina. But books you like so much you need te buy them after reading are worth it.

Just wondering which books you liked that much.

>89 humouress: I do that too, if I really like a book I've read from the library then I'll buy my own copy. I don't read series very often so at least I don't have to worry so much about being sucked into buying loads more books after reading the first one!

>90 connie53: Thanks :0)

I bought the 'Princess' books (numbers 64 and 72 in my list), including two more in the series (with one more to be published) and Seraphina (number 44).

>91 Jackie_K: I started off (as a student, buying books with pocket money) only buying books I loved that I'd read from the library.

Series ... yes, well, series are a problem. In those early days, I'd try to save money by only getting the last book in a series that I loved. When I moved to Singapore, I found that the libraries weren't so good with fiction books so I started buying more books just to have something to read - which, of course, leads to having to buy more books (which leads to building more shelves ... which leads to filling them with more books ... which leads to ...). Unfortunately, now if I want to re-read the early series, I only have one book and the others are out of print. I have managed to fill some gaps, especially now that authors are reprinting their books through independent publishers, but they don't have the covers that I loved.

And yes, there are e-books, but I haven't fully converted. I like seeing my shelves full of books.

I've fallen behind on my ROOTs reporting and reading. Adding 4 books for October to my ticker. No ROOTs read in November, despite my best intentions.

75) Annotated P&P

picture

78) The Lost Princess by Connie Glynn

 

{Third of 5 (eventually) of the Rosewood Chronicles; YA, school stories, adventure, fantasy}(2019)

Portman, princess, Partizan. The next instalment of Lottie, Ellie and Jamie's adventures.

This one sees the trio, together with some of their friends from Rosewood Hall, going to its sister school in Japan for the summer to improve Lottie's grades - but could it be a Leviathan trap? Especially when they discover evidence of Leviathan in their new surroundings.

I like this series; a school story with friendships and just a frisson of magic.

‘Secret treasure and pink demons!’ Lola whispered in the near silent library. ‘I think I love this school.’

The cast list becomes even more multinational; apart from the existing students and the new Japanese characters, there's a Middle Eastern girl in the background. And there are a few more same sex relationships. As well as maturing emotionally the characters are visibly growing up - as teenagers will (the girls are now 15). I like the fact that Ollie, Lottie's best friend from home, also has a role to play in this book too. I'm looking forward to the next book because - right at the end - there is mention of a character of interest.

(October 2021)
3.5-4

Litsy notes

Ooh - there's a fourth book after this one.

The cast list becomes even more multinational as some of the Rosewood Hall students join its sister school in Japan for the summer. Just before Lottie's and Ellie's 15th birthday and in time for Jamie's (18th?) birthday.
Maybe it's a bit cliché because it's in Japan but I keep imagining the scenes in manga style 😄 There are also echoes of Kamen Riders/ Power Rangers

There's a little bit of magic behind the adventures

Bird of paradise flower in my garden (finally!) May 2021

you'd be mine

Jasper

small angry planet

Sunset at the top of the world. Mauna Kea December 2019

Hello Nina!

Trying to catch up on threads again. I want to wish you

>103 connie53: Thanks Connie! And to you too.

I would like to wish you and your families the very best of the season and good health and happiness for 2022.

Happy New Year to you and yours, Nina.

Are you aware of the fact that the ROOTers 2022 is open for action?

https://www.librarything.nl/ngroups/23590/2022-ROOT-CHALLENGE

Happy new year!