Recently Read

[Brian M. Scott]

Kathleen Baldwin, _A School for Unusual Girls_: The first
of the Stranje House YA series, set in an alternate 1814.
Daughters who don’t meet society’s requirements are dumped
at Stranje House, supposedly to be reformed into proper
young ladies, but in fact to be introduced to the world of
espionage and diplomacy. In this book we follow Georgiana
Fitzwilliam, who set fire to her father’s stables while
trying to produce an invisible ink. The book is accurately
described as a ‘romantic Regency adventure’. It suffers a
little from being the first book: Baldwin doesn’t manage
the dual tasks of setting the scene and telling the story
as well as M.J. Scott (below). Still, I thought it an
enjoyable enough quick read. I note, though, that the
reviews and ratings at Goodreads are all over the place.


P.N. Elrod, _The Hanged Man_: Steampunk mystery in a world
in which Victoria married Arthur Godalming(!) and embraced
progressive policies that resulted, among other things, in
women getting voting rights in 1859. Alex (Alexandrina)
Pendlebury, one of Victoria’s many, many godchildren, is a
Reader for Her Majesty’s Psychic Service: she Reads
emotions and emotional residue. Many readers will probably
suspect at least one of the villains fairly early on, and
some will likely anticipate the final twist, but there are
still surprises and much fun to be had. It’s nothing
special, but it offers solid entertainment.


Elliott James, _Charming_ and _Daring_: Urban fantasy.
These are the first two novels in the author’s Pax Arcana
world, in which he’s previously published a number of
shorter works. The general setting is reminiscent of Harry
Dresden’s world, with the general populace unaware of the
supernatural, which includes a Valkyrie and a naga as well
as the usual suspects.

The truth is that the world is under a spell called the
Pax Arcana, a compulsion that makes people unable
to see, believe, or even seriously consider any evidence
of the supernatural that is not an immediate threat to
their survival.

I know this because I come from a long line of dragon
slayers, witch finders, and self-righteous asshats. I
used to be one of the modern-day knights who patrol
the borders between the world of man and the
supernatural abyss that is its shadow. I wore
non-reflective Kevlar instead of shining armor and
carried a sawed-off shotgun as well as a sword; I
didn’t light a candle against the dark, I wielded a
flamethrower… right up until the day I discovered
that I had been cursed by one of the monsters I used
to hunt. My name is Charming by the way. John
Charming.

And I am not living happily ever after.

It’s pretty well done, and the problems to be solved in the
first two books are nicely different from each other.


Gini Koch, _Alien Separation_ (Alien #11): Whee!
Megalomaniac Girl and the Ancient Katyhopper Kung Fu
Masters! Koch seems to have Doc Smith’s ability to keep
ramping things up, though she’s doing it more slowly. And
while the science is as silly as ever, and there’s still
plenty of humor, the tone is a little more serious this
time.


Kelly McCullough, _Darkened Blade_ (Fallen Blade #6): Some
fascinating new characters are introduced, but this is the
last of the series, which it brings to a very satisfactory
conclusion.


Susan Murray, _The Waterborne Blade_: First of at least a
duology, with the second volume, _Waterborne Exile_, due
out in early August; this book reaches a reasonable resting
place, but it definitely does need a sequel. Epic fantasy
in a medievalish world, it is first and foremost the story
of Alwenna, a rather unwilling and somewhat spoiled queen
for whom everything goes wrong, but who does grow a bit as
a result. She also grew on me in the process -- a good
thing, since the book is full of unpleasant and ambiguous
characters. It will never be a favorite, but it’s a very
respectable debut effort; I’ll definitely read the sequel.


M.J. Scott, _The Shattered Court_: Alternate history
fantasy, the first in a new series (‘A Novel of the Four
Arts’). Anglion, clearly an alternate England, and Illvya,
equally clearly an alternate France, are traditional
enemies. Anglion is bound by tradition and severely
curtails the use of magic; Illvya is very different. Owing
to very unusual circumstances, Lady Sophia Kendall,
distantly in line for the Anglion throne and potentially a
witch, comes into her power *without* being bound. The
powers that be are not happy. Alarums and excursions, and
some romance. Although the novel is clearly intended to
introduce the setting, it manages to tell a pretty good
story and reach a decent resting point that leaves the
reader wanting more. Scott’s Half-Light City tetralogy was
an unspectacular but solid effort, and this series looks to
be of similar quality.


K.B. Spangler, _State Machine_ (Rachel Peng #3): Every bit
as enjoyable as the first two. Rachel has to deal with a
murder in and theft from the White House. As you might
expect, there’s more to the matter than meets the eye, and
OACET is at one focus, The stolen item remains in some
ways a bit of a mystery, but we’re promised more
information in the next novel, _Greek Key_, which is to
come out in October and which features Hope Blackwell.


Marc Turner, _When the Heavens Fall_ (The Chronicles of the
Exile #1): Although billed as the first of a series, this
does come to a satisfactory conclusion. It’s fairly dark
epic fantasy, with some of the larger than life flavor of
the Malazan books, albeit on a smaller scale. The
viewpoint characters are hardly saints, though none of them
is wholly unlikable; some of the major characters in the
Murray are much more unpleasant. Turner has created a
pretty big and varied world, and I’m rather looking forward
to seeing more of it.


Michelle West, _Oracle_ (The House War #6): To repeat what
I wrote a couple of weeks ago, it's wonderful. Finch is
wonderful. *Jester* is wonderful. We finally learn
something about Andrei.

Brian
--
It was the neap tide, when the baga venture out of their
holes to root for sandtatties. The waves whispered
rhythmically over the packed sand: haggisss, haggisss,
haggisss.