What I have been reading
Dec. 29th, 2019 03:58 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
scripsiAaaand I have caught up!
Anders Fager Krig! Barn! The final book in the trilogy about Cornelia Karlsson. Fager writes horror with mixes Lovecraft mythology (minus the misogyny and racism) with Swedish folklore and history, and I really like the result. This trilogy is about Cornelia, who is destined to bring Nyarlathotep through to our realm, and her struggles both to not make it happen- and to make it happen. I liked this one, though several plot lines weren’t really solved. But apparently Fager plans to write a concluding short story collection. Which is fitting as the trilogy is actually part of a series of books, which started with three short story collections.
Paul Cornell The Lights Go Out in Lychford The fourth novella about the witches in the small village of Lychford. I find these very entertaining, but just because they are so short they feel a bit start-stop. I think I will hold off reading the next novellas until they are finished and then read them as a novel instead.
Laurie R. King Hellbender In the near future science clashes with religious fundamentalism, and a result is a group of humans whose DNA has been spliced with a species of salamanders, SalaMans. The novella itself is a Phillip Marlowe pastiche where a private detective is hired by a beautiful young woman to find her brother- and a number of other SalaMans who has mysteriously disappeared. I found it a very enjoyable read.
Melissa McShane The Book of Secret A young woman starts working at a shabby bookstore, and, when her employer suddenly is murdered, find herself running it. Only it’s really an oracle, and she is suddenly involved in an age-old magical battle. I’m a sucker for books with magical book collections, and I really enjoyed this one. It’s the first of a series; The Last Oracle, and I find myself a little annoyed with this. After all, I have decided to not buy any books next year. It’s possible I will fudge a little and buy the other books in this series.
F. G. Cottam The Magdalena Curse As I’ve said before I find Cottam a bit uneven. I liked the premises of this book; a soldier unwittingly interrupts a meeting between two witches; one mostly evil, the other mostly good, and gets cursed. Now, a decade later, this curse is honing in on his little son. However, the execution of it all felt a bit lacking, and the end a bit anticlimactic. I also failed to see the romance of a widower meeting the dead-ringer of his dead wife and falls in love. I find that more creepy than anything else.
Anders Fager Krig! Barn! The final book in the trilogy about Cornelia Karlsson. Fager writes horror with mixes Lovecraft mythology (minus the misogyny and racism) with Swedish folklore and history, and I really like the result. This trilogy is about Cornelia, who is destined to bring Nyarlathotep through to our realm, and her struggles both to not make it happen- and to make it happen. I liked this one, though several plot lines weren’t really solved. But apparently Fager plans to write a concluding short story collection. Which is fitting as the trilogy is actually part of a series of books, which started with three short story collections.
Paul Cornell The Lights Go Out in Lychford The fourth novella about the witches in the small village of Lychford. I find these very entertaining, but just because they are so short they feel a bit start-stop. I think I will hold off reading the next novellas until they are finished and then read them as a novel instead.
Laurie R. King Hellbender In the near future science clashes with religious fundamentalism, and a result is a group of humans whose DNA has been spliced with a species of salamanders, SalaMans. The novella itself is a Phillip Marlowe pastiche where a private detective is hired by a beautiful young woman to find her brother- and a number of other SalaMans who has mysteriously disappeared. I found it a very enjoyable read.
Melissa McShane The Book of Secret A young woman starts working at a shabby bookstore, and, when her employer suddenly is murdered, find herself running it. Only it’s really an oracle, and she is suddenly involved in an age-old magical battle. I’m a sucker for books with magical book collections, and I really enjoyed this one. It’s the first of a series; The Last Oracle, and I find myself a little annoyed with this. After all, I have decided to not buy any books next year. It’s possible I will fudge a little and buy the other books in this series.
F. G. Cottam The Magdalena Curse As I’ve said before I find Cottam a bit uneven. I liked the premises of this book; a soldier unwittingly interrupts a meeting between two witches; one mostly evil, the other mostly good, and gets cursed. Now, a decade later, this curse is honing in on his little son. However, the execution of it all felt a bit lacking, and the end a bit anticlimactic. I also failed to see the romance of a widower meeting the dead-ringer of his dead wife and falls in love. I find that more creepy than anything else.
