(no subject)

[kcobweb]

Love Letters, by Madeleine L'Engle - This was a favorite of mine as a teenager; now I'm not quite so sure why. I love the double intertwining stories, but particularly the historical one. (Wikipedia tells me that there really was a nun named Mariana Alfocorado, and her letters do exist - though, as it says in the book, scholars debate her actual authorship.) As an adult reader, the modern relationship bugs me - Charlotte is grating and annoying and immature; Patrick seems like a jerk; I can't imagine what either of them sees in the other. (And their relationship echoes a few scenes from The Small Rain - was L'Engle recycling or reusing her own experiences?) But I could still read the historical sections of this book over and over as comfort reading.

The Young Unicorns, by Madeleine L'Engle - This basically has the same plot as The Arm of the Starfish (which doesn't have a great plot to begin with), only it's *more* annoying and unrealistic. I started getting a little fed up with my L'Engle Reading Project at this point, and was thinking about taking a hiatus. We'll see..... The next one on the list is another favorite of mine. Or used to be. Oh dear.

Local Custom, by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller - I wanted to like this book, I really really did. New universe that seemed interesting, funky-cool cultures, blah blah. Halfway through, I just couldn't bring myself to care. This plot wouldn't exist - or would take about 10 pages - if the two central characters would just sit down and *talk* to each other. The fact that they didn't was sort of presented as cultural differences between them, but I just wasn't buying it. Especially since they are clearly being pushed as true soulmates - it just didn't work for me. As much as I wanted to like the book, I gave up and had to put it down. Blech. galagan said the next one (for which I can't remember the title) is a little better.

The Curse of Chalion, by Lois McMaster Bujold - This, on the other hand..... *happy sigh* Yes, Bujold can write fantasy as well as space opera. (rivka told me this was so, but I was happy to confirm it myself.) A minor lord was accidentally-on-purpose sold into slavery - at the opening of the book, he has just escaped, and has walked back to his home country, and is hoping to find a corner somewhere to live in the royal castle where he used to serve. This setting reminded me a bit of George R.R. Martin's Ice Zombies! Song of Ice and Fire series, though this one is slightly less violent in the ways people die..... and a tad more focused, in that you don't have a cast of trillions. Occasionally, a certain turn of phrase or a bit of wry wit would remind me that this author also wrote Miles Vorkosigan, but this is nearly as far as you could get from Barrayar and that universe. Love love love. Already have a hold on book 2 through the library.

Every Eye, by Isobel English - This was subtle and very fast. Written in the 1950s, and very British. A woman who always thought she'd be a spinster just married a much younger man, and she's reflecting on her life and the strong female figures in it (mostly her mother and her aunt) as she and new hubby are embarking on a honeymoon trip to Ibiza. This flowed along pretty fast, and not too much happens - it's more of a mood piece - but the last page kind of made the book for me, and I think I liked it relatively well, in retrospect. Not sure if I'll hunt down more books by this author, or not.

Comments

[pseudosilence.livejournal.com]

I think you'll really like Paladin of Souls. Let us know what you think!

[fairoriana.livejournal.com]

The Hallowed Hunt was none too shabby, either.

They were actually my introduction to Bujold. It was a good intro.

[spyscribe.livejournal.com]

So glad you liked Curse of Chalion. I actually like Paladin of Souls a bit better, but I always was a Cordelia partisan.

[ltlbird.livejournal.com]

All your positive reviews of your Bujold readings have me intrigued. Is there a book you'd recommend I start with?

[kcobweb.livejournal.com]

See here (http://www.amazon.com/gp/series/9/ref=pd_serl_books?ie=UTF8&edition=hardcover) for the series in order. Shards of Honor is first, but Cordelia's Honor is an omnibus that includes the first two novels - so either of those titles would be the ideal starting place. galagan is on Book 3.