Vanja accidentally starts a cult which accidentally draws the attention of her (ex?) boyfriend Emeric which in turn leads them to a frantic chase acroVanja accidentally starts a cult which accidentally draws the attention of her (ex?) boyfriend Emeric which in turn leads them to a frantic chase across the country to find a way to defeat a would-be god.
Unfortunately I'd forgotten basically everything about the first book, Little Thieves, so when characters referenced events or character growth from that book I was left feeling a bit lost. My own fault! That was the only flaw I experienced reading this book, which was a wonderfully engrossing mixture of heists, arcane research, and interpersonal tensions. I intensely dislike cons in most fiction, but I like the way Vanja does them. Despite having forgotten how their relationship began, I totally bought Emeric and Vanja's romance and was rooting for those two crazy kids from the first page they shared. And I continue to really like how this author constructs her fantasy worlds and the fairy tales and lesser known sources she draws from....more
I just finished The Republic of Thieves and am desperate for the next installment of the Gentleman Bastard series. These books are insanely smart, absI just finished The Republic of Thieves and am desperate for the next installment of the Gentleman Bastard series. These books are insanely smart, absurdly funny, and have so many plot twists and HOLY SHIT moments that they're basically adrenaline in novel form....more
In New London, the heavy hand of the Administration has put yet another yoke on Toreth's shoulders--he's been assigned as the "personal liason" to socIn New London, the heavy hand of the Administration has put yet another yoke on Toreth's shoulders--he's been assigned as the "personal liason" to socioanalyst Carnac. Carnac is a constantly talking, deeply annoying, creepily charming man whose training in reading and manipulating people and groups makes him far too dangerous for anyone's good. And when he decides to stave off boredom by breaking Toreth, it'll take all Sara and Warrick's wits to prevent him....more
Well into the Administration series, the muted, every day terror of the dystopia in which Toreth and Warrick live is abruptly changed. A successful reWell into the Administration series, the muted, every day terror of the dystopia in which Toreth and Warrick live is abruptly changed. A successful revolt against the Administration leaves Toreth beaten and waiting to die in one of the very cells he used to put his own prisoners in. Through cleverness and sheer stubborn will, Toreth and Warrick manage to survive the machinations of those who would put an end to I&I.
Rooting for the sociopath torturer and his sociopath friends against liberal resistors feels uneasy, and Francis never makes it easy for the reader. Lots of twists, turns, manipulation and narrow escapes, plus further deepening of the trust between Toreth and Warrick....more
Enola was raised a idiosyncratically in an isolated manor house by her mother. When her mother decamped to live her own life, Enola discovered that shEnola was raised a idiosyncratically in an isolated manor house by her mother. When her mother decamped to live her own life, Enola discovered that she too could lead an independent life--but she nevertheless misses her mother terribly. Their only communication since her mother's disappearance is through cyphered messages left in newspapers, but this is enough to buck up Enola's spirits and confidence. Under a variety of disguises she sets herself up as a finder of lost persons. Her latest case: what has become of the aristocratic girl she saved in The case of the Left-handed lady? Her only clue: a cheap pink fan the girl dropped while asking her for help in the rudimentary language of the fan.
It is great fun to watch Enola slip in and out of her variety of guises, and view London from distinctly different points of view. Her complicated feelings for her mother and brothers are particularly well developed in this volume. It is, alas, her brothers that pose the one sticking point I have with the series: both seem rather less astute than usual, and Mycroft in particular is both much less intelligent and far more talkative and active than I'm used to....more
Enola Holmes, the younger sister of Mycroft and Sherlock Holmes, has set herself up as a consulting detective. When she hears that Dr.Watson is missinEnola Holmes, the younger sister of Mycroft and Sherlock Holmes, has set herself up as a consulting detective. When she hears that Dr.Watson is missing, she dives into the investigation. Her only clue is that Mrs.Watson has been receiving strange bouquets.
Enola is a wonderful heroine, smart, resourceful, and gutsy. I love watching her skills develop and her relationship with Sherlock shift....more
A stupid but sweet middle-aged woman is murdered in her bed in the midst of a lovely little house party. The other guests find her body within a minutA stupid but sweet middle-aged woman is murdered in her bed in the midst of a lovely little house party. The other guests find her body within a minute, the room is locked, there are no footprints outside the window--the case seems insolvable. Three great amateur detectives show up the next day to solve the case--parody versions of Lord Peter Wimsey, Hercule Poirot and Father Brown.
Lord Simon Plimsoll: "He stepped out of the foremost of three Rolls-Royces, the second of which contained his man-servant, whose name I afterwards learnt was Butterfield, and the third, a quantity of photographic apparatus. I happened to be outside the front door at the time, and heard him address his man. I was at first a little startled at his idiom, for it reminded me of a dialogue I had heard in a cabaret between two entertainers whose name I believe was Western, and it took me a few moments to believe that this was his natural mode of speech."
Amer Picon: "He interrupted me. 'I know all that you know, mon vieux, and per'aps a leetle more. Oho, tiens, voila!' he ended not very relevantly."
Monsignor Smith: "'Why, I've actually heard that an American has risen from the ground and moved through the air with wings,' he said, 'and without sharing the fate of Icarus.' The little cleric was staring out of the window through the thick lenses of his spectacles. 'But there are so many kinds of wings,' he murmured; 'there are the wings of aeroplanes and of birds. There are angels' wings and'--his voice dropped--'there are devils' wings.' Then he nibbled at a piece of bread which he had been crumbling. We were silent at once. My acquaintance with all of this remarkable man that had been made public, led me to look for something in his words which would turn out to have some bearing on our problem. 'But there is flight without wings,' he went on, 'more terrible than flight with wings. The Zeppelins had no wings to lift them. A bullet has no wings. A skilfully thrown knife, flashing through the air like a drunken comet, is wingless, too.' This was too pointed for Alec Norris, who began to talk hastily of motor-cars."
The detectives guide us through twists and turns of hidden ropes, servants with criminal pasts, and various wills, until at last, they each give their rendition of how this locked room murder was committed.
And then Sergeant Beef, the ponderous, slow-witted police officer originally assigned to the case, says "But I know 'oo done it" and unravells it all....more
Val Toreth is a bright young star at the Investigation and Interrogation division, known for his ability to get information and results out of nearly Val Toreth is a bright young star at the Investigation and Interrogation division, known for his ability to get information and results out of nearly anybody, whether through charm, sex, or torture. He's assigned the investigation of an up-and-coming company: two people have mysteriously died while hooking into the company's proprietary simulation devices. The investigation is twistier and far more interesting than I expected, and the clues are well placed. (The futuristic dystopia in which all this takes class is equally well put together: information about it comes out casually and naturally through conversations and characters' assumptions.) During this investigation, Val's involvement with one of the company's senior directors, the controlled Dr. Keir Warrick, both tests Val's casual approach to relationships and reveals dark secrets about what's really going on.
Fascinating, with a good mix of plot, characterization, and very well crafted sex scenes. I'd expected this to be like the other published m/m erotica I've read, which often feels generic and copy&pasted together. Toreth and Warrick are very distinct individuals; I look forward to reading more of their noirish adventures while trying to survive being under the thumb of the Administration....more
Enola Holmes is the much younger sister of Mycroft and Sherlock Holmes. Raised by her Rationalist mother in the country, Enola runs wild and a bit uneEnola Holmes is the much younger sister of Mycroft and Sherlock Holmes. Raised by her Rationalist mother in the country, Enola runs wild and a bit uneducated. But then, on her 14th birthday, Enola's mother vanishes. Sherlock won't look for her, and Mycroft is too busy getting Enola enrolled in a boarding school to teach her to be a proper lady. So Enola makes a plan and runs away to London to find her mother.
Lots of action and adventure, with some clues and cyphers thrown in for good measure. This is definitely intended for a younger audience than I, but there's a great deal about the unfair and terrible effects of classism and sexism cleverly hidden in here. I really liked Enola, who is quick-witted without being unbelievable. Her brothers are not characterized precisely as AC Doyle presented them, but that's the worst criticism I can throw at this charming slip of a mystery novel. ...more
A favorite waiter surprises Archie one night and says he fears he'll be killed. Archie leaves him in a guest bedroom to sleep until the great detectivA favorite waiter surprises Archie one night and says he fears he'll be killed. Archie leaves him in a guest bedroom to sleep until the great detective, Nero Wolfe, wakes up. But only minutes after Archie goes to bed himself, the house is shaken. A bomb has gone off, and the waiter is dead.
So begins another mystery, set in 1970s New York and focusing on the sedentary gastronomer and genius, Nero Wolfe, and his bff and right hand man, Archie Goodwin. The mystery is solved through unbelievably circumstantial clues, there's very little motive for the murders, and there's a completely unnecessary red herring that takes up a good half of the book. The other half is taken up by Stout's repetitive stock phrases: men are constantly sending their eyes round the room, palming the arms of their chair, walking exactly three streps into the room...Stout tells every single motion in absurd detail, none of which has anything whatsoever to do with the mystery or even much to do with character development. Between the unsatisfactory mystery, the stock phrases and unnecessary details padding out the slender plot, and Archie's unbearable sexism (he makes a joke at one point that the only way to get a feminist to listen is to rape her--which she'd like, btw), I really hated this book by the end....more
Robert Blair is a staid lawyer settling into a comfortable middle age when he gets dragged into an odd kidnapping case.
It's told well--I really like Robert Blair is a staid lawyer settling into a comfortable middle age when he gets dragged into an odd kidnapping case.
It's told well--I really like Tey's quiet, understated writing style. And the characters and their interactions are delightfully old-fashioned. But old-fashioned is precisely my problem with this story--it all hinges on slut-shaming, bad-seedism (that concept that some people are just born totally evil, blegh) and classism, which kept rankling as I read. I just don't believe that "the lower classes" are crass and lack tact, and either live to serve or are evil. And without sharing that belief, the story reads less naturally and believably. And, as all too often happens in mystery novels, all is revealed in a sensational confession.
Cassel Sharpe was raised in the Curse Workers's world, where everyone is a con artist and every choice is a potential trap. His mother can emotionallyCassel Sharpe was raised in the Curse Workers's world, where everyone is a con artist and every choice is a potential trap. His mother can emotionally control him, his brother can manipulate his memories, his ex-girlfriend is now part of the mob and he himself has (view spoiler)[a power so rare that its nearly mythical. (hide spoiler)] He wants to get a high class education and win himself free of all the plots, but instead he keeps getting pulled deeper.
The world building remains awesome. There are workers and non-workers. Workers can enact magic with a touch, but experience blowback if they do. For example, emotion workers can manipulate other people's feelings, but in return their own emotions become unstable. Or there are death workers, who can kill someone with a touch, but in return a part of their body dies--a tooth if they're lucky, their heart if they're not. Even healing has blowback of its own: by healing others, one becomes sick oneself. Working magic is dangerous and not to be done lightly. But for all that, it's so powerful that it's still used. And because all the magic is touch-based, everyone wears gloves constantly, and seeing someone's ungloved hand is both incredibly intimate and a little scary.
Cassel, and all the supporting characters, are equally well-thought out, well-rounded creations. And the plot is as twisty as ever, though not quite so mind-blowing as the first two books. I really loved this series, but I think Black was smart to end (or at least pause) it here. (view spoiler)[Cassel quitting school, the FBI, and all pretences of normality in order to have a little time with Lila was an incredibly gutsy plot twist, the equivalent of having Harry Potter quit Hogwarts in, say, the fifth book. It was smart, it was unexpected, and it completely shook up the books' loose formula. In all three books, Cassel has to juggle school, curse working, and the law--after the last chapter, the juggling act is over. (hide spoiler)]...more
Journalist Mikael Blomkvist is charged with libel and decides to take some time off from his magazine. Instead, he works to find what happened to HarrJournalist Mikael Blomkvist is charged with libel and decides to take some time off from his magazine. Instead, he works to find what happened to Harriet Vanger, the young niece of a wealthy CEO. Meanwhile, punky hacker Lisbeth Salander has her own investigations, which presumably eventually have something to do with Blomkvist and the Vanger family. I don't know, because I couldn't bear to finish this. It usually takes me about a day to read a book. It took me an entire month to slog through less than 300 pages of Larsson's bullshit.
His writing is simultaneously ridonkulously sensational (chapter after chapter of escalatingly SHOCKING! sex acts) and brain-numbingly boring. Page after page of stilted, unbelievably dialog. Constant info dumps in place of action or dialog. Larsson repeats himself on pretty much ever page; nothing is hinted at or unsaid, everything is reiterated. Blomkvist and Salander make no sense as human beings; in 250 pages, I knew more about their computers than I did their inner lives or even, how they talked. I kept slogging through this because everyone rated it so highly, but I seriously do not get why. I feel like I'm taking crazy pills. Is it all one big parody or something?...more
Really distinctive, unique art--beautiful, stylized, really gets the emotions, mood, and action across. The dialog is great too: snappy and clever, buReally distinctive, unique art--beautiful, stylized, really gets the emotions, mood, and action across. The dialog is great too: snappy and clever, but not ridiculously so, and does not adhere to the usual noir cliches. And best of all, Catwoman shines. This is a book to remind one of everything there is to love about her. Self-sufficient, canny, but with a heart that sometimes comes into play.
After being linked to a mob boss's death, Selena flees to Rome. But despite the city's reputation as a no-cape zone, she keeps running into evidence of the presence of an ever-widening circle of the Bat's enemies. Meanwhile, she's concerned with her own search for the truth about her parentage, and her troubled relationship with Batman. This is a fantastic story, full of double-crosses, narrow escapes, and murky motives. The Big Bad leaves a little to be desired, but I was so entranced by Selena that I didn't care. I'd recommend it to anyone feeling a bit jaded and tired of the usual Bat-stories....more
The last of the finished Lord Peter Wimsey books. I am saving it for when I am ancient and will get the references without needing a hypertext cheat sThe last of the finished Lord Peter Wimsey books. I am saving it for when I am ancient and will get the references without needing a hypertext cheat sheet....more
Harper can find dead people. She has a fucked up family and a tragic past, but at least she's got her one talent--and her devoted step-brother, TollivHarper can find dead people. She has a fucked up family and a tragic past, but at least she's got her one talent--and her devoted step-brother, Tolliver. They're a great couple of characters, and the mysteries Harris throws them into are always clever and disturbing. When Harper finds the bodies of eight teenagers, the little southern town is thrown into an uproar. Harris has a true talent for the details of small town life, and even the background characters are fully fleshed out. ...more
Collins writes like low-rent Dickens crossed with Trollop. He loves creating quirky characters and writing satirically and judgementally about them. HCollins writes like low-rent Dickens crossed with Trollop. He loves creating quirky characters and writing satirically and judgementally about them. He is addicted to unnecessary hystrionics and suspense--an entire chapter will just be one character warning another of the SHOCKING news they are about to impart. Then, just as they are finally going to tell the truth, the chapter ends. Even worse, the Shocking Truth is always something completely petty and anticlimatic.
The story is told by Valeria, a young and pretty woman of good birth and excellent character. She is astounded when she learns her new husband married her under an assumed name. MINOR SPOILERS FROM HERE ON OUT. She rapidly discovers that several years before, he was accused of murdering his first wife--and never cleared of the crime. When he hears of her discovery, he flees the country and will not let her contact him. Valeria decides that the only way to regain her husband is to discover the true poisoner, and clear Eustace's name.
I am used to anti-non-Protestant, sexist, and racist view points polluting Victorian narratives. The usual tropes are at work here--but so is an extreme prejudice against the differently abled. One of the main characters, Dexter, was born with no legs, and his cousin is "an idiot." Every single time they appear, they are described in the most disgusting and bigoted terms--Dexter is described as grotesque, a Thing, an It, a monkey...When he tries to participate in the murder investigation, a preeminent doctor is summoned to examine him, and concludes that he will inevitably go mad or imbecilic--at any moment! I was shocked by the unfair treatment of these characters. I had some hope that Collins was brutal to Dexter to showcase needless, baseless prejudice. My idealism was dashed in chapter 40, when he goes mad because of how evil and unnatural he is: "nothing but a mute, vacant face turned up to the ceiling, with eyes that looked blindly, with lips parted in a senseless, changeless grin...Even the horror of that fearful sight seemed only to increase the pity that I felt for the stricken wretch." Um, screw you, Collins. Mystery spoiling SPOILERS! Dexter proves to have hounded Eustace's first wife into reading her husband's diary. She was so shocked and hurt when she realized that he did not love her, that she killed *herself* with arsenic. Dexter wanted to protect her memory and harm Eustace, so he destroyed her suicide letter. Valeria's investigation uncovers fragments of the letter, and her friends piece them together. Dexter dies of being mad (?) and his cousin Ariel throws herself on his grave and dies of exposure. Meanwhile, Valeria tells her husband of the discovery of his first wife's suicide note. She councils him not to read it, so his wife's reputation will remain untouched. They leave the suicide note for their infant son when he grows up. This is crazy, right? Why not take care of the unproved murder trial now, and by the time the kid grows up it will be a non-issue? In a decade or two, no one will remember that a woman completely unrelated to him committed suicide. Instead, Valeria and Eustace decide to be martyrs, and even worse, force their son to make the decision they themselves chose not to make. And THIS is supposed to be the Right Thing To Do. Victorians, you are messed in the head. http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/1622...more
Written in the 1920s but set directly before the French Revolution, this is the story of a young lawyer from the provinces, Andre-Louis. Raised and edWritten in the 1920s but set directly before the French Revolution, this is the story of a young lawyer from the provinces, Andre-Louis. Raised and educated among the nobility, he has not the wealth, parentage, or hypocrisy needed to remain in their midst. When the Marquis de La Tour d'Azyr viciously and cold-bloodedly kills Andre-Louis's best friend, a naive priest, Andre swears vengeance. The corrupt system of laws is no help, and Andre is turned from his home and profession for his trouble-making. In extremity, he becomes in turn a rabble-rouser, an actor, a fencing-master, and finally, a politician. In each guise, he heaps another humiliation upon the Marquis, until finally 1792 is upon them, and blood must be spilt.
This is a book filled with duels, rhetoric, mob violence and lots and lots of clever dialog*. Andre is a rather more sarcastic twist on The Princess Bride's Wesley--Aline is a much smarter version of Buttercup. Scaramouche would be a fantastic movie.
*example: "From M. le Marquis there was a slight play of eyebrows, a vague, indulgent smile. His dark, liquid eyes looked squarely into the face of M. de Vilmorin. "You have been deceived in that, I fear." "Deceived?" "Your sentiments betray the indiscretion of which madame your mother must have been guilty." The brutally affronting words were sped beyond recall, and the lips that had uttered them, coldly, as if they had been the merest commonplace, remained calm and faintly sneering. A dead silence followed."...more
Many years ago, the Thieftaker sold a little boy to an old priest. The old priest turned out to be a brilliant con man and criminal, and the little boMany years ago, the Thieftaker sold a little boy to an old priest. The old priest turned out to be a brilliant con man and criminal, and the little boy became Locke Lamora, a man who is basically the embodiment of the platitude "too smart for his own good." After conning the rich, breaking the Secret Peace, fighting a mage and bringing down at least one government, Locke and his bff Jean Tannon are at their lowest point yet. As the book begins, Locke is dying of a slow-working poison with no possible cure.
(view spoiler)[Then bondsmagi Patience offers the pair a choice: let Locke die, or fix an election for her in exchange for his life. Soon they're in Karthain pranking, manipulating, and bribing the populace into voting for their candidates. But fixing the election is harder than the Gentleman Bastards assumed, because the opposing side has also hired help--Sabetha. Locke has been in love with Sabetha since they were tiny thieves together, and the years have only intensified his obsession. Sabetha may love him back, but she's not above using their relationship to win the election.
Interspersed with the election shenanigans is the tale of the Gentleman Bastards' first solo mission, when teenaged Locke, Sabetha, Jean, Calo and Galdo try to put on a play. Of course nothing is as easy as it seems--no sooner do they arrive than they find out their chief player has been locked up for a year and a day, and to solve that problem they get embroiled in an even larger one. (hide spoiler)]
This is an incredibly impressive book, from the whip-smart dialog to the twists and turns of the plots. I loved the play interlude--it's the best fantasy representation of a pseudo-Renaissance theatre scene I've ever read. Lynch creates a play with lines and plot that feels like Shakespeare, without being overly dependent or obvious.
The election plot lacks the urgency of the first two books, because for once Locke's attention is not on conning an entire city, but instead on wooing (view spoiler)[Sabetha. I love the way they trade witticisms and pranks, but I still felt a little let down by Sabetha's introduction. She absolutely comes across as a character in her own right, which is no small feat considering the way the other characters have been referring to her and building up her reputation in the last two books. But I never really got why Locke and Sabetha were in love. This is possibly unfair of me, because they each explicitly tell the other all the reasons they're drawn to each other. They each have tons of awesome moments, so I can understand why someone would love either of them, but I never quite got the idea of why specifically Sabetha loves Locke, or vice versa. It felt a bit unearned. Whereas I have never doubted the friendship between Locke and Jean; Lynch sold me on it with every scene and never needed either of them to declare a thing. (hide spoiler)]
What is incredibly awesome about this book is that, looking back on it, my mild sense of disappointment in the low-stakes of the election plot is (view spoiler)[actually a mirror of the actual plot of the novel. The election was always just a distraction--the war between the bondsmagi was always the real plot, both within the book and for the reader. And Lynch absolutely succeeds with the bondsmagi. The magic war is terrifying, and the epilogue even more so. In point of fact, the epilogue (in which that motherfucking Falconer awakens and regains his magic GODDAMMIT) elicited so much rage and disgust in me that I will read however many books Lynch decides to write, just to see the Falconer fail and die someday. Even if Lynch killed off Locke, even if he killed off Jean (oh please god no), I would keep reading these books in hopes of seeing the Falconer get his just desserts. SO MUCH HATE. (hide spoiler)]...more
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