Novel, and novels
Jan. 20th, 2007 03:32 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sakon76Word count for the day: 2,048, dropping me at a total of 70,550. I finally introduced a character who's been in my head since the beginning of the novel! Yay! I need to drag out my reference art for her. I also spent some time doing up a relationship chart which will hopefully help me keep a few things straight.
I'd apparently read Persuasion at some point before, as I had vague moments of familiarity all through the book. All the same, not remembering enough of it to name the characters or even describe the plot (beyond the fact that all of Jane Austen's novels have a certain similarity of plot), I'm deciding to count it. I like this one. It has a different "feel" than the rest of Austen's works, which difference I hesitantly state is because it's about a slightly older main character (28) and a second chance rather than a first one. It's also, like Mansfield Park, about a main character who has been more than a little emotionally abused, which lends it rather a different state of mind than the characters of P&P or S&S. It's the shortest of Austen's novels (I think...) and overall quite charming. 283 pages.
This was one I'd been eyeing off an on for probably about a year since I spotted it in the local library. I finally bought it to read on the flight to England. Please note that I did not, in fact, read it on the way to England, while in England, nor even on the way back. I did, however, read it. And I was surprised, when I researched it later online, to find out that it's published by Harlequin. Yes, the cheap romance novel people. If this is representative of their new lines, however, I may have to revise that estimate. It's the story of a convicted murderer named Yelena who is given a chance at life. She just has to be the ruler's foodtaster. Even before palace politics enter into the position, that's not the safest of jobs. She's given a poison called Butterfly's Dust to keep her from running away--she needs to take a dose of the antidote every day, and Valek, the Commander's spymaster/assassin/right-hand whathaveyou, is the only one who has the antidote. The story proceeds from there. I admit there were a few minutes which made me go "riiiiiight..." but they were few and far between. Yelena does end up as a tad of a Mary Sue in the last chapter or two, but it's partially unavoidable. There is currently one sequel out, and one more that will come out next year. I'm planning to read both. 427 pages.
This is the third book in his "Council Wars" series. And, frankly, I think it's the best thus far. There Will Be Dragons was hampered by a lot of setup and military training, Emerald Sea was a bit tongue-in cheek, but this one was just a jolly good ride. These aren't books I read looking for deep meaning or introspection, they're the books I read looking for action. They're The Pirates of the Caribbean movies as opposed to The Lord of the Rings movies. And though the cover art in this one is deceptive (the character, Joie, is a fairly minor one), the Marty Stu tendancies of some characters finally settle down and I read through it in a flash. Overall a well-researched book, only one moment in particular threw me out: Henry the Eighth had SIX wives, not eight. There's one more in the series beyond this, East of the Sun, West of the Moon, and I'll be picking that one up too. 550 pages.
I'd apparently read Persuasion at some point before, as I had vague moments of familiarity all through the book. All the same, not remembering enough of it to name the characters or even describe the plot (beyond the fact that all of Jane Austen's novels have a certain similarity of plot), I'm deciding to count it. I like this one. It has a different "feel" than the rest of Austen's works, which difference I hesitantly state is because it's about a slightly older main character (28) and a second chance rather than a first one. It's also, like Mansfield Park, about a main character who has been more than a little emotionally abused, which lends it rather a different state of mind than the characters of P&P or S&S. It's the shortest of Austen's novels (I think...) and overall quite charming. 283 pages.
This was one I'd been eyeing off an on for probably about a year since I spotted it in the local library. I finally bought it to read on the flight to England. Please note that I did not, in fact, read it on the way to England, while in England, nor even on the way back. I did, however, read it. And I was surprised, when I researched it later online, to find out that it's published by Harlequin. Yes, the cheap romance novel people. If this is representative of their new lines, however, I may have to revise that estimate. It's the story of a convicted murderer named Yelena who is given a chance at life. She just has to be the ruler's foodtaster. Even before palace politics enter into the position, that's not the safest of jobs. She's given a poison called Butterfly's Dust to keep her from running away--she needs to take a dose of the antidote every day, and Valek, the Commander's spymaster/assassin/right-hand whathaveyou, is the only one who has the antidote. The story proceeds from there. I admit there were a few minutes which made me go "riiiiiight..." but they were few and far between. Yelena does end up as a tad of a Mary Sue in the last chapter or two, but it's partially unavoidable. There is currently one sequel out, and one more that will come out next year. I'm planning to read both. 427 pages.
This is the third book in his "Council Wars" series. And, frankly, I think it's the best thus far. There Will Be Dragons was hampered by a lot of setup and military training, Emerald Sea was a bit tongue-in cheek, but this one was just a jolly good ride. These aren't books I read looking for deep meaning or introspection, they're the books I read looking for action. They're The Pirates of the Caribbean movies as opposed to The Lord of the Rings movies. And though the cover art in this one is deceptive (the character, Joie, is a fairly minor one), the Marty Stu tendancies of some characters finally settle down and I read through it in a flash. Overall a well-researched book, only one moment in particular threw me out: Henry the Eighth had SIX wives, not eight. There's one more in the series beyond this, East of the Sun, West of the Moon, and I'll be picking that one up too. 550 pages.
