Dark Moon Defender by Sharon Shinn

Another fun book to read in this series - Ellynor is a character we haven't met before, and she is that rarity, a sensible but interesting character. She is also that rarity in modern writing, though not in life, a women who can see her male relatives are oppressive and controlling in some ways but still loves them and wants to remain in the family. She also copes well in another restrictive environment, having an excellent sense of what to conceal and what is worth rebelling against.

Justin is the other main character. I am certainly not giving away any part of the plot if I say they fall in love - a couple always fall in love in Shinn books. However, when he objects to her going to nurse in a place he thinks dangerous, do they compromise and she goes with a guard? No, she goes alone and is captured. Marriage is about both parties wisdom and worries being accommodated, not one person getting their own way entirely, which makes me worry a bit about them.

We also see that Shinn is cheating with Senneth and Tayse, a couple from an earlier book. Because of Senneth's power the king is quite happy to have Tayse, a kings guard, trail around after Senneth permanently: most people have to come to some compromise about careers. I did enjoy this book, even though I think Shinn is not being realistic about relationships.

Dark Moon Defender first published 2006

Snow White and Rose Red by Patricia Wrede

This book is a retelling of the fairy tale of the same name. I enjoyed the story and plot, which makes more emotional sense than the original. I didn't enjoy the language and style. Wrede attempts an Elizabethan style of speaking for all characters, which doesn't quite come off. The characterisation is passable, but better for the villains than the heroes.

Snow White and Rose Red first published 1989

Two Miss Silver books by Patricia Wentworth

Both the The Brading Collection and The Benevent Treasure have jewelry or treasure playing an important part in the plot. I think Wentworth was running out of realistic plots - both these books were written in the fifties, near the end of her life. I enjoyed them both however, finding the characters interesting as usual, and enjoying the romance subplots. I didn't spot the actual murderer in one, only the accomplice, and though I was right in the other it was only because I noticed the fuss they made setting up their alibi.

It seems Umberto Eco was not as imaginative as I had thought in the method of murder used in The Name of the Rose; Miss Silver also predates Christie's Miss Marple.

The Brading Collection first published 1952,The Benevent Treasure 1956

The Ram Rebellion by Eric Flint & others

I liked this, but only just. This isn't one of the better entries into the Ring of Fire series, but it is still interesting. The stories were of variable quality. As a farmer's daughter, I was very interested in the farming stories; though I think most people would have found Birdie's efforts to combine American and German farming and Flo's worries about wool quality interesting. The ballet story was fun too.

The Brillo fables need not have been printed, or not so many, in my opinion. Parts 3 & 4 had interesting moments, but were a bit laboured. I liked the accounts of the Mormons in the new world - I like the way religion is taken seriously as a motivating factor in this series - and I thought Johnnie F.'s sense of when to get involved and when to pretend he hadn't noticed a thing was great.

Flint's refusal to take the easy plot path of winning a few big battles and assuming that will then automatically win hearts and minds is the most interesting part of this series. Parts 3 & 4 are set in Franconia, a nearby area that the Americans are trying to administrate and make more democratic, or at least have less witch burning and disease, and more religious tolerance and voting. The path to revolution, especially when you are trying to have a low death toll, but know you can't help breaking some eggs, is always problematic, and the difficulties aren't made small and palatable. Worth reading just for the consideration of the problems of changing a society.

The Game by Diana Wynne Jones

This is a wonderful story. Diana Wynne Jones usually does a great job of making all her worlds and characters totally convincing, and this book is no exception. I don't think there is a word out of place in this short book.

This book draws heavily on Greek mythology, but it isn't necessary to know any to enjoy the story; the world of the story is set up so well and is so internally consistent it carries you along without need for outside knowledge, except what we all know about families and how people think and behave. I and my daughter know lots of Greek mythology, but didn't realise Jones was using it till well into the book. Jones is so good at setting up new worlds of her own it comes as a surprise to see her using an outside mythology, and even then she fiddles with it (you'll get the pun when you read this highly recommended book).

The Game first published 2007

The Innocent Mage & Innocence Lost by Karen Miller

Karen Miller can tell a story that keeps your attention, but this duology could have been shorter while still covering the same ground. All the characters were a bit one note, and each seemed to have a very small emotional range. As this is her first effort, I hope to see some improvements in later books.

In particular she needs to do some research. One character goes up in the world and starts wearing silk and brocade instead of cotton and linen - in pre-industrial societies, cotton was by far the most expensive fabric, due to the labour costs of production; wool and linen were the most common fabrics. Royal families who go off in a coach for a picnic would not only have a coachman, but one footman at least to put down the step, open the door, hold the horses so the coachman can get down - as though a royal family would go anywhere without several attendants anyway. And the likelihood of a king in any society collapsing in a crypt and no-one noticing his absence till next morning is vanishingly small. But no, not a valet or page in sight.

A few contradictions as well - the mage king needs to do weather magic every few days in a special tower, but also does an annual visit of several weeks to the seaside.

The Innocent Mage first published 2005, Innocence Lost (also published as The Awakened Mage) 2006

The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett

This book, like some other famous children's books, is pushing a philosophy while telling a story - Theosophy in this case. As the philosophy of thinking positive works well in the story, it does the book no harm and does it some good.

Many women report this book struck them greatly as children. I read The Little Princess first when young, and still like it best, but can still read this book only skipping a few bits. And more parents should read it for its sensible comments on child rearing and child ruining. Not many adults come out of this book all that well. The exceptions are Mr Crawford, for his comment that if Mary's mother had carried her pretty manners into the nursery, Mary might have learned them; and the wise Susan Sowerby, mother of twelve cheerful children, who remarks she doesn't know which is worse for children, to be always given their own way or never given it.

Colin and Mary have been neglected and always given their own way to shut them up, but manage to save each other with the help of the garden - well Mary does more saving then Colin! And because Mrs Sowerby's advice is followed by other characters.

The best comment I ever read about Burnett's books said that Cedric in Little Lord Fauntleroy effortlessly was a hero, Sara in A Little Princess shows herself a heroine by how she reacts to losing everything, but Mary turns herself into a heroine by her own efforts.

The Secret Garden first published 1911

Lord John and the Brotherhood of the Blade by Diana Gabaldon

This was interesting, though a little long. It also had two plot lines which could have been 2 separate stories really.

The first plot line was about being homosexual when it was illegal and you could be executed if you were caught. That was very interesting, and the moral and social issues were covered well. In the eighteenth century what you did affected your family much more than now, even to job and marriage prospects; more pressure and guilt on the homosexual man.

The other plot line covered the mystery surrounding the death of parent many years ago, and efforts to solve it - this bit kept popping in and out of sight in the story line, as the trail went from one person to another. It wasn't as interesting.

Three Miss Silver books by Patricia Wentworth

Wentworth writes mysteries where people are murdered or kidnapped for ordinary human reasons, like money, sex, and being blackmailed; not a mass murderer or terrorist in sight. Lonesome Road is set just before World War II, Out of the Past and The Catherine Wheel soon after. There is a big difference in attitude to money: after the war everyone seems more worried about earning a living and have less expectation of living off richer relatives, and plan on selling large old houses due to the expense of maintaining and staffing them.

I enjoyed The Catherine Wheel most, for its imaginative setting, and because you can see the start of changes in attitudes to female roles. For a start, all the single women are working or running small businesses, in marked contrast to Lonesome Road. The Catherine Wheel also gives an interesting view of class divisions.

Lonesome Road first published 1939, The Catherine Wheel, 1951, Out of the Past 1955

The Life of the World to Come by Kage Baker

This Company novel starts with Mendoza deep in the past, but then shifts to the twenty-third century for the most part. The future is both familiar and unfamiliar, with what was then illegal being interesting. I thought the characters I christened The Three Nerds most amusing, and yet they were understandable people still.

The dual view of the same incident was very interesting and enlightening about the the two characters involved. I recomend this novel highly, and it could be read without having read any previous Company series novels.

The Life of the World to COme first published 2004

Mendoza in Hollywood by Kage Baker

This is one of Baker's Company novels, and is an excellent read. Baker balances humour and sadness well in this book. Watching the immortal operatives get carried away by their specialities is amusing, especially Imarti and Juan. I found I even caught a bit of their enthusiasm as they enthused. But immortals have seen plenty of sorrow in their long lives, and must cope with it in some way - and Juan, at the beginning of his immortal life, has to learn sorrow like everyone else.

This is set in Hollywood before there was Hollywood, in the 1860's, and there are a lot of references to films, serving to point out how the operatives treat that now (1860's) as something they are watching rather than living in, as history already because they know what happens next. Where they don't know what will happen next, they make as many mistakes as the average mortal.

Mendoza in Hollywood first published 2000

The Kitchen God's Wife by Amy Tan

Tan is a deservedly well regarded writer, but this story of survival means you go through a lot of shattering events with the main character. So not a fun book even if the ending is very satisfying. Worth reading just for the view of Chinese culture and history in the thirties and early forties, which is presented in an interesting and appropriate way, not at all info dump by sadistic author (I did all this research so the reader must suffer too...). Also has mother daughter relationships and some interesting points on memory.

Emma Watson - Joan Aiken and Jane Austen

I read 2 books completing Jane Austen's The Watsons, of which she only wrote five chapters. Austen family history relates how she intended the plot to come out, though of course Austen might have changed her mind while writing.

Joan Aiken's effort, Emma Watson, starts after the fragment Austen left, and while keeping the personalities of the characters established by Austen the same, changes the plot considerably. Merryn William's completion, The Watsons, uses the original five chapters and the intended plot where it is known. Her effort is a lot closer to Austen than Aiken's, but the Aiken version is much more fun to read and better written, with more lively language. Although she puts in unusual events, everyone's reactions to them ring very true to their characters.

William's version is worth reading, and is better than nearly all the other Austen efforts I have read, but seems a little flat, being without Austen's gift for the right word and the right incident to show someone's true character. I'll be keeping the Aiken version.

Emma Watson first published 1996, The Watsons 2005

The Well of Lost Plots by Jasper Fforde

This is the third Thursday Next adventure, but I think this could be read without having read the first two. I enjoyed this the most of the three. This is funnier if you have read some of the books which come up, but I'm sure I didn't get all the references, and I still enjoyed The Well of Lost Plots. One reviewer thought this worked well as a literary joke, but not as a mystery. This book is proof that if you set it up properly, you can have a deus ex machina work in a plot!

The Well of Lost Plots first published 2003

Three Serrano books by Elizabeth Moon

There are seven books in the Serrano Legacy sequence. The first four books, which I read quite a while ago, read well as independent novels. I have just read the last three, Rules of Engagement, Change of Command and Against the Odds, and I think they read a lot more powerfully if you know what happened in the earlier books, and also form almost one long novel.

Esmay and Brun are the most important characters, though there are multiple viewpoints and many minor characters get a chapter. I didn't find the many viewpoints hard to follow and never wondered which character was which. I thought Moon handled the many strands of the plot well, and I enjoyed these books.

One of the issues this book is dealing with is effective immortality through rejuvenation, and how this will affect society. I was pleased to see that Moon didn't think everyone's reaction would be the same, there are plenty of people opposing it on various religious and philosophical grounds. I also noted with interest that her rejuvenated people tended to conservatism and opposition to change - most authors depict effectively undying people as perpetual adolescents.

Rules of Engagement first published 2000, Change of Command 2000, Against the Odds 2001.

Grantville Gazette II edited by Eric Flint

I thought Grantville Gazette II didn't have as many fun stories as Gazettes I or III. Weber's The Company Men was a lot of fun, and so was Clark's alchemical style factual treatise on zinc. Several other stories were quite good. I have friends with firsthand experience in doing medical training and practice in countries without the hygiene/science beliefs we are used to, and thought Ewings's story on the problems of cross cultural medical training had an excellent and realistic grasp of the likely situation. But as an actual story it was a bit too long without a clear climax.

Grantville Gazette II published 2006

Two books by Ellis Peters

Fallen into the Pit is a detective novel set just after World War II. The author is trying to portray the tensions in the changing society and the emotional aftermath of the war for the people who fought and came home, which is all quite interesting. However to modern readers what is most striking is the children regularly playing unsupervised for hours in an area full of mine shafts. This book gives the definite impression modern children are over-protected physically, though the parent's concerns about manners and obedience and bad influences seem timeless. As soon as the second person died I guessed who had done all the murders and why, usually I have no idea whodunnit. An interesting and recommended book on the whole, though a few too many coincidences.

The Horn of Roland is not recommended unless you are a romantic who can believe six impossible things before breakfast. Like a person who has taken on their mother's vendetta so completely they try to kill a person over something that happened when they themselves were a baby is not mentally ill, but an otherwise normal person. And that a musician/composer has a daughter who does not play a musical instrument. Again, the villain is fairly obvious.

Fallen into the Pit first published 1951, The Horn of Roland 1974

The Last Anniversary by Liane Moriarty

I thought this book was pretty funny, with a quite a few lines that made me laugh. The mystery wasn't all that mysterious, especially once a few clues were dropped, but there were still a few surprises. Apart from the character with post-natal depression, everyone had plenty of energy to focus on being emotionally fulfilled. A very light and fluffy read, good for a laugh.

YA books by Friesen, Voigt, Pratchett & Aiken

The Wee Free Men: Tiffany is my favourite Terry Pratchett character (my husband the Rincewind fan is not that keen on her); and this is an excellent variant on the getting-back-your-stolen-sibling-from-fairyland plot. So excellent in fact, that you can read the whole book twice before realising the plot is actually familiar. Tiffany's conversation with Miss Tick is a delight, and so are the Nac Mac Feegles. Even in a YA book Pratchett can make you see the world differently.

Bad Girls by Cynthia Voigt: Usually I like Voigt, who has written some of my favourite YA novels, but I and my daughter found this one well written but not at all interesting or re-readable. I didn't understand the motivations of the bad girls at all. Why did they decide to start rumours, manipulate and annoy people?

The Isabel Factor by Gayle Friesen was very good, especially in comparison. Peer pressure and truthfulness clash in this book, in the shape of Jennifer and Isabel; to the horror of Anna who prefers to slide through life without trouble or notice but finds herself expected to side with both, while Karim & Zoe have another two sets of expectations for her. In my experience Canadian writers deal with teenage problems with a lot more subtlety and sense than American writers.

Joan Aiken's Creepy Company is a book of supernatural short stories. Although I think Aiken is a wonderful writer, I usually avoid her ghost stories as they are uncomfortably creepy and full of horrible people. These wildly imaginative stories are, as usual, uncomfortably creepy, though not all the people are horrible.

The Wee Free Men first published 2003, Bad Girls 1996, The Isabel Factor 2005, Creepy Company 1993

The Thirteenth House by Sharon Shinn

Though technically a sequel, you can read this without having read Mystic and Rider. This was possibly a better book I thought, a very enjoyable read. More clues to the overall situation, a villain unmasked, another journey. Lots of romance readers will hate it.

Romantic novels often underestimate the prejudice against cross class marriages. They also underestimate how much most people's identity is bound up in their family and place in society, and thus how much they will lose with a disapproved of marriage. I was pleased to see some actual contemplation of the costs of this situation. Unfortunately the character should have been contemplating the costs of a completely different situation, but we can all manage to be wise after the event! And however good your motives, taking away someone else's choice/memory is despicably unethical. I am referring to the character here, not the author.

The Thirteenth House first published 2006