CBR2 Book 86: "Bayou Moon" by Ilona Andrews

Publisher: Ace Books
Page count: 480 pages
Rating: 4 stars
Date begun: September 28th, 2010
Date finished: September 29th, 2010

William Sandine is a changeling, raised in the Weird, a magical world where the geography in some ways mirrors our world, but things are very different and they have magic rather than technology. Being a changeling means he turns into an animal, in his case, a wolf. He is not a were-wolf, as such, he can't turn other people into shapeshifters by biting them, his changes are in no way controlled by the full moon, but the condition is hereditary. Having been raised a special ops soldier and an outsider, William has very few ties in the world. He is living in a trailer in the Edge, a semi-magical area in between the Weird and the Broken (basically our mundane world, where there is technology but no magic), collecting plastic action figures and working construction in the Broken.

He is contacted by what is basically the Weird-version of the CIA, and asked to go on a secret spy mission in a massive swamp area of the Edge known as the Mire. A crazy enemy spy master known as Spider, and his band of mutated agents are trying to get a special weapon, which would be disastrous for the Kingdom of Adrianglia. Since Spider hates changelings, and has a history with William, the Mirror are pretty sure he won't refuse the chance to get revenge and stop Spider once and for all. They're not wrong. William accepts the mission, and goes into the Mire, where he meets a young, seemingly homeless woman he has to make a deal with to get to his arranged meeting place.

The woman William affectionately names Queen of the Hobos, is in fact a young Mire noble named Cerise Mar. Her family has huge numbers and lots of land, but are very poor. The Mar family is in a feud with a neighbouring family, who has taken over one of their houses. Cerise's parents have gone missing, and that leaves her the head of the family. She needs to prove to the local authorities that her father didn't sell the house before he disappeared, and get the rivaling clan evicted. Then she has to locate her parents. She agrees to guide the strange Weird noble to make some extra cash, but had not expected to have to fight for her life to get them to their destination.

It soon becomes clear that Spider has kidnapped Cerise's parents, and tries to torture them to find the location of the hidden weapon William is also there to find. Spider wants to know why Cerise left the Mire so suddenly after her parents' disappearance, and figures he can also use her as leverage against her parents. When William realizes that Spider's mutant goons are after Cerise, he becomes even more determined to stay at her side, and the more time he spends with her, the more remarkable he discovers that she is.

Bayou Moon is the follow-up to Ilona and Gordon Andrews' On the Edge (they write all their novels under her name), but can be read completely independently, and works as a stand-alone novel. On the Edge is probably Andrews' best novel to date, it is certainly the one I love the most, and considering I adore ALL their books, that is great praise indeed. That one is completely self-contained, by the time they wrote Bayou Moon, they knew they had a series on their hands. As such, this one has a bit more of an open ending, but no edge of your seat cliffhanger that makes you curse the authors and tear your hair in frustration until the sequel comes out. Another thing that makes it obvious that the authors knew they were now writing a series, is the multiple story lines in Bayou Moon. There are a whole load of characters introduced, some not so very vital to the main plot, who I suspect will become protagonists in later stories.

William Wolf, as he is often called, first appeared in On the Edge, but everything you found out about him in that book is repeated here for new readers. He has always been a loner, born in a society that doesn't really accept changelings, abandoned by his mother shortly after birth, raised in a orphanage and trained from an early age to become a soldier and a killer. He feels that love and a family will always be denied him, and is therefore very conflicted when he meets Cerise and realizes that she is not repulsed or scared by him. He hides his true nature from her for a long time, afraid that he will lose her, but desperately wants a relationship with her.

Cerise has more family than she knows what to do with. A multitude of relatives, hardly any money, and heavy responsibilities on her shoulders. She has helped her father run the family finances for years, and when her parents suddenly disappear, she has to take the reins of the whole clan, and try to steer them right, in the midst of what looks like a very likely to be bloody family feud. She has also been trained to be the family fighter, and is not very amused when William assumes she needs protection, and can't take care of herself. As well as a brilliant manager, Cerise is a fierce fighter, and shows that she can cut freaky mutants in half with one sword thrust.

On the Edge is primarily the romance between Declan and Rose, with a secondary storyline about danger threatening the Edge and the surrounding world that needs to be stopped. In Bayou Moon, which I had been hoping would be the same, only with William and Cerise as protagonists, there are a bit too many story lines. There's a lot of time spent introducing Cerise's many colourful relatives and their various quirks, and there's the feud with the neighbouring family, and the spy subplot with Spider and his nefarious plans. The book has not one, but two climaxes, first the Mars have to fight their neighbours, and then they all have to take on Spider and his band of mutant spies to reclaim the mysterious and dangerous weapon, and free Cerise's parents.

Too many stories to keep track of splits the focus of the book, and makes it a less satisfying read. It's a shame, because I think Ilona and Gordon were trying for something more advanced and sophisticated with Bayou Moon, and I don't entirely think it worked. I did not in any way dislike the book, but I don't love it as much as I wanted to, and it did not live up to my (admittedly very high) expectations. I will still eagerly anticipate every new book written by the couple, though, and I am huge fans of their blog.

CRB2 Book 85: "Storm Born" by Richelle Mead

Publisher: Bantam
Page count: 512 pages
Rating: 4 stars
Date begun: September 26th, 2010
Date finished: September 28th, 2010

Eugenie Markham is a shaman, which means that she has powers to banish faeries, spirits, ghosts and other otherworldly beings to either the Underworld or the Otherworld. The faeries, or gentry, live in the Otherworld, where there are a number of different kingdoms. Eugenie has been trained for this since she was a teenager, by her stepfather, another powerful shaman. She uses the name Odile Dark Swan when she communicates with the non-human beings. But lately, more and more of the otherworldly beings know her true name, and a lot of them seem to be making really creepy come-ons to her.

She is hired by a rather mentally unstable young man to find his sister, who he claims was abducted by a powerful gentry. Since human girls captured by faeries are coveted for their fertility, and the girl is only a teenager, Eugenie reluctantly agrees to help the guy, even though he seems like a bit of a whack-job. She then finds out that the gentry that kidnapped the girl is a gentry king, and that her best chance to rescue the kid is by forming an alliance with Dorian, King of the Oak Lands. She is reluctant to trust anyone non-human, even more so when she finds herself really attracted to him. She also has to figure out the identity of the mysterious man she met in a bar and had a hot night with, and why the scratches he left on her back won't heal.

With the first book of the Dark Swan series, I have now tried all three of Richelle Mead's paranormal fantasy series. Her Vampire Academy books are a half-guilty pleasure of mine, and there's still enough that I enjoy about her Succubus books that I keep reading them, even when a couple have been a bit underwhelming. One of the things she does very well, is world-building, and the world she describes in this series is fascinating. Some of the story is set in the "real world", but it's the parts in the Otherworld that are particularly well done. With a number of different Fairy kingdoms, all with very different rulers, and a geography that seems to constantly change, not to mention the many interesting types of gentry there appear to be - this was a good read.

Eugenie is a strong and capable heroine, like so many others in paranormal fantasy. She is very good at her job, and not afraid to do unpopular things if it gets the job done. She has been raised with a very strong work-ethic by her stepfather, and feels very ambivalent about the gentry, especially after she spends more time in the Otherworld and gets to know more of them.

The supporting cast are all well done, as well. I especially liked Dorian, King of the Oak Lands, although Eugenie's room mate, who pretends to be a Native American, and Kiyo, the half-Hispanic/half-Japanese mystery guy she runs into, are also cool. I really enjoyed, but was not very surprised by, some of the revelations and developments in the books and will absolutely be picking up the second book in the series.

CBR2 Book 84: "The Folklore of Discworld" by Terry Pratchett and Jacqueline Simpson

Publisher: Corgi
Page count: 512 pages
Rating: 4 stars
Date begun: September 11th, 2010
Date finished: September 24th, 2010

The Folklore of Discworld is a reference book, co-written by Terry Pratchett and Jacqueline Simpson. Terry Pratchett talks about all the various aspects of folklore in his famous Discworld, while Jacqueline Simpson gives background on the folklore of our human world. Much of the folklore is mirrored or gently twisted in the Discworld. There is fascinating information on fairies, witches, trolls, dwarves, heroes, gods, magic and all sorts of things. It also features a number of very nice black and white illustrations by regular Pratchett artist Paul Kidby, which help enhance the reading experience.

The book pretty much does what it says on the tin. I would not recommend it as an introduction to general folklore if you have not read any Discworld books, as absolutely all the folklore discussed is covered from both our world and Discworld perspectives. But if you are a fan of Pratchett's Discworld, it's a great read. Contrary to what some may belive, it's clearly not just a pointless spin-off made solely to make more cash from Pratchett's already ridiculously popular universe. This is a substantial book, with a lot of cool both fantasy and real world information. It made me curious abut several aspects of our world's folklore, and it further inspired me to re-read most of his witches books while I also dipped in and out of this one.

CBR2 Book 83: "The Ruby in the Smoke" by Philip Pullman

Publisher: Laurel Leaf
Page count: 230 pages
Rating: 3.5 stars
Date begun: September 9th, 2010
Date finished: September 10th, 2010

Veronica "Sally" Lockhart is sixteen years old and recently orphaned. Her father's ship, the Lavinia, sank, and shortly after Sally received a mysterious note in the post. She goes to see her father's shipping partner about the contents of the note, but only gets to see his secretary. When she asks Mr. Higgs, the secretary, about Marchbanks and "the Seven Blessings", the man has a heart attack and dies. One of the office boys, Jim Taylor, helps her decipher bits of the oddly written note, and they figure out that this Marchbanks is a person, who lives in Chatham in Kent. They are unable to figure out what "the Seven Blessings" are or why it might scare a grown man to death.

It quickly becomes clear that there are mysterious events surrounding Sally's early childhood in India, during the Indian Mutiny, that she keeps having nightmares about. She gets a letter from Major Marchbanks, and when she goes to see him, he gives her a package containing a journal, and warns her that a Mrs. Holland is threatening him, and can be dangerous to Sally, as well. Sally sees Mrs. Holland following her on the way back to the train station, but is helped by a young photographer, Frederick Garland, who hides her from the nasty, old lady. Mrs. Holland wants a priceless ruby, and the journal Sally got from Marchbanks not only tells the truth about Sally's childhood in India, but the whereabouts of the ruby. Sally doesn't have time to read a lot of the journal before she falls asleep on the train - and when she wakes up, the journal is gone.

Sally moves out of her mean aunt's house once it becomes clear that her relative doesn't believe her about the events surrounding Sally's father's death. She is at a loss about where to go, until she remembers the friendly photographer she met in Kent, and goes to see him. Mr. Garland lives with his sister, an actress, and they are barely getting by, even though Frederick is a talented photographer. Sally, who was raised by her father, and may be lacking in traditional ladylike accomplishments, is a brilliant accountant, and is offered room and board with the Garlands in return for doing their book keeping. Now Sally just has to figure out why she keeps having horrible nightmares about a night in India long ago, avoid the murderous clutches of Mrs. Holland and solve her father's murder, as well as discover where all his missing money went.

Sally is a plucky and resourceful heroine. Her aunt disapproves of her because her father never sent her to school, but taught her himself. As a result, Sally knows how to shoot a pistol, keep books and read scientific and maritime texts, but has very little grasp of classical literature, embroidery and other things a well-brought up young Victorian lady should know. Sally's skills stand her in good stead when she leaves her aunt's house, however, and befriends the Garland siblings and moves into their colourful household. She has to escape murderous fiends, figure out her father's murder, and find her own way in the world after her father's death.

The book is aimed at a younger readership than Pullman's Dark Materials readership, and this book is a lot less complex than Pullman's most famous trilogy. But it's a fun adventure book for kids and Sally is a very admirable heroine and role-model. I look forward to reading about her continuing adventures in the rest of the series.

CBR Book 82: "Rosemary and Rue" by Seanan McGuire

Publisher: DAW
Page count: 358 pages
Rating: 4 stars
Date begun: September 6th, 2010
Date finished: September 8th, 2010

Private Investigator October "Toby" Daye is a changeling, a half-human, half-fairy woman, who feels out of place in both worlds. After a particularly nasty spell turns her into a fish for fourteen years, she has lost contact with her human fiancee and her daughter, no longer possesses a PI license, and is trying to lay low, far away from both fairy and human entanglements. This changes when her old friend fairy Countess Evening Winterrose leaves a message on her answering machine, charging her to solve her murder, and cursing her to make sure she cannot refuse. Toby will literally die if she is unable to solve Evening's murder in a certain amount of time.

So Toby has to come out of hiding, and start investigating. She needs to find out why Evening was murdered in the first place, and who could have been brutal enough to both shoot her with iron bullets and sever her throat with an iron knife. She has to get back in contact with a number of fairies, some less sympathetic to her cause than others, and solve the murder before the curse, or Evening's killer, catches up with her.

Toby is a cool heroine. It's easy to see why she would choose to isolate herself and try to stay far away from both fairies and humans who knew her, having been badly burned by both sides of her heritage. It is made very clear that the half-human changelings often have a hard time of it, never really being accepted fully in the fairy world. Toby had a surprisingly honoured position before she was turned into a fish on a mission, but feels she let her liege lord down, and has a hard time admitting that maybe she made some mistakes by cutting herself off completely from people who loved her upon being turned human again.

Unlike a lot of paranormal heroines, Toby is not that powerful. She has some magic due to her fairy mother, but it wears her out when she uses it, and isn't always helpful. She actually gets hit worse by Evening's curse specifically because she uses some of her magic, and most of the time she has to rely on brains and mundane weapons to fight her foes.

There are a number of fascinating characters in the book. Evening was clearly a very impressive lady, from what is revealed after her death. Toby also realizes that she only knew a tiny bit about her, and that she may have been overly judgmental about many things. Tybalt, the King of Cats, who loathes Toby because of her half-human blood, yet will keep his word to her anyway, was delightful, and the various fairy hideouts all over San Fransisco were very nice. Like Holly Black, Melissa Marr and a number of other writers of fairy-themed paranormal fantasy, McGuire manages to blend the Fay and Human worlds nicely, explaining why most humans never realize the supernatural world all around them.

The book was a bit slow at first, but as the action got going, I was hooked. I will be picking up the sequels to this to see if the series stays as good, or hopefully, gets even better.

We have far too much stuff

Have just started my autumn holiday, a week off only six weeks after term started. In the olden days, this holiday was necessary so the children could help out with the harvest - now I suspect most of them play computer games and do very little useful.

I was wanting to spend the week being extremely lazy, catching up on my reading, going to the cinema a couple of times, finishing off my overdue correction work. However, my husband pointed out that our flat is unbearably cluttered, and we really, really need to deal with it before we get buried under all our stuff. As much as I prefer to live in denial of the fact that we are pretty much friends only to the pig and the rat when it comes to tidiness, and manage to overlook the issue that even when we have tidied and cleaned, most of the surfaces, corners and shelves in our flat are crowded with far too much stuff - I had to admit he was right.

So while he went off to play a Lovecraft board game with our friends (I really do not like board games, or any games that require more than me alone on a PC or games console), I plugged my Ipod into the stereo and got to work. OK, I got to work after several hours of aimless web surfing, having dinner, watching the latest episode of Castle and some reading. But once I got started, I really did get a lot done. As well as the 7 big standard bookshelves, we have a corner bookshelf, which has been mainly used to store all sorts of crap that doesn't fit anywhere else. The top shelf has been used to store various pictures, but the rest was really stuffed to the brim with books, magazines, old coursebooks, plastic bags etc.

The husband, who in the past year has got really into his cocktail making, not unreasonably requested that I clear out some space in the corner bookshelf, so he can store his wine and cocktail glasses somewhere other than in front of our books or cds, where they are currently spread out. Several hours later, our flat looks even more like a tip than it usually does, because it always gets messier before it gets better when one undertakes large cleaning projects such as these. In the process of clearing our corner shelf, and bits of the comics shelf, I have found many many things - and a whole load of rubbish.

Things I have found include:
Dune by Frank Herbert, which I thought I'd donated to charity ages ago. Now I'm giving it to the school library
8 notepads, pretty much unused
5 notepads, filled to a varying degree with work and/or old course notes
5 notebooks of varying quality, all unused (I have FAR too many unused notebooks)
3 shopping list pads
3 ring binders full of useless old lecture notes or course literature
6 printed volumes of old course texts
8 of husband's old Norwegian course books
2 course books I borrowed off a friend more than 5 years ago
6 pedagogy textbooks that I should probably take with me to work
A pair of fancy candle holders I got as a work Christmas present years ago
Piles and piles and piles of old course or work handouts
6 plastic files
4 old wedding magazines
15 paperback romances, translated into Norwegian, all going to charity
3 English language romances, also going to charity
My big box of colouring pencils
3 sets of knitting needles, 2 of which belong to my Mum
2 knitting pattern brochures
5 books belonging to my Dad
14 books belonging to my Mum
5 books I borrowed from a friend years ago and had completely forgotten I had
1 dress pattern for a medieval style dress
1 address book
2 old diaries, the oldest ended in 2001
3 audio books
A pack of forgotten duty free boiled sweets - still good!
2 large rolls of gift-wrap ribbon
1 Norwegian flag
A set of fancy stationary - don't think I've written anything non-electronic that wasn't a postcard in years
Many, many old postcards and Christmas cards
A complete 2007 Far Side Off the Wall calendar
Various self-help and diet books that don't work and need to get thrown out

As I was about to finish this blog post, the husband returned from his evening out, and he's very happy about the progress I've made. So that's good. And it does feel good to have a bit more space on the shelves. Not really looking forward to tackling the rest of the flat, though.

CBR Book 81: "I Shall Wear Midnight" by Terry Pratchett

Publisher: Doubleday
Page count: 349 pages
Rating: 4 stars
Date begun: September 4th, 2010
Date finished: September 4th, 2010

Tiffany Aching is a witch. This mostly means that she helps women give birth, cuts old ladies' toenails, bandages wounds and helps the dying in the area whose witch she is. She has first sight and second thoughts, meaning that she sees what is really there and thinks twice about what she sees. She does the things that need doing, but that few really think about or get round to doing. People respect her, but lately that respect seems to have changed to fear and suspicion. There are tales about old, eccentric ladies all over the countryside being hounded and killed by paranoid villagers.

The old baron dies, and Tiffany has to go to Anhk-Morpork to give Roland, her childhood friend, the bad news and fetch him back to Lancre. Tiffany once saved Roland from the Queen of the Fairies, but he doesn't remember anymore. Now he has an excessively sniffly fiancée and a battleaxe of a future mother in law, and seems to be making all the wrong decisions. He is suspicious about Tiffany's role in his father's death, and Tiffany finds herself locked up in the dungeon, right next to where they keep the goats.

Something old and very evil is spreading its influence, and Tiffany needs to find a way to stop it, before it gets more innocent old ladies, and herself, killed. She can't ask for help from her fellow witches, as once she's shown herself incapable of dealing with such things, who is really going to trust her to manage anything at all without assistance in the future?

I Shall Wear Midnight is the fourth, and according to Terry Pratchett, final Tiffany Aching book. It's the first of the books to really integrate more into the wider Discworld universe, Tiffany leaves Lancre for a while, goes to the capital, runs into familiar characters from the City Watch. It may be a book written for young adults, but it's also a dark book, and Pratchett does not shy away from writing about the harsh realities of life. The book covers things like domestic abuse, miscarriages, neglect, false accusations, wrongful imprisonment, jealousy and thoughtless hatred. Pratchett never underestimates his audience, and that is probably why he is such a great author, whether he's writing for children or adults.