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juushikaTitle: The Kingdom of the Gods (Inheritance Book 3)
Author: N.K. Jemisin
Published: Orbit, 2011
Rating: 3 of 5
Page Count: 595
Total Page Count: 264,630
Text Number: 856
Read Because: continuing the series, ebook borrowed from the Multnomah County Library
Review: Sieh's interaction with a pair of Amn children destroys his divine power and threatens another upheaval in the Thousand Kingdoms. I really did like first book in this series, so I'm disappointed that the other two have been much less successful. This isn't nearly as frustrating as The Broken Kingdoms; it's overlong, but the plotting is less tedious. Sieh was a great supporting character, but I'm not as fond of his voice; more than that, to take a divine figure and make them increasingly less powerful compounds my primary problem with this series, which is that the gods are too human and too small. The phenomenal scale and competent plotting of the ending counters this to an extent, but still this frequently feels like the least interesting possible approach to the PoV. As always, the complicated interpersonal relationships are more interesting—the dynamics that Jemisin frequently returns to appeal to me as well—but underdeveloped, pushed aside by the plot. This was just okay; I want more than that from something of this ambition and concept.
Title: The Magicians of Caprona (Chrestomanci Book 2)
Author: Dianna Wynne Jones
Narrator: Gerard Doyle
Published: Recorded Books, 2006 (1980)
Rating: 3 of 5
Page Count: 255
Total Page Count: 265,415
Text Number: 860
Read Because: continuing the series, audiobook borrowed from the Multnomah County Library
Review: The feud between two families of Italian wizards threatens to leave the city-state vulnerable. I didn't like this near as much as Charmed Life, which is in part an issue of aesthetics: orphans adopted into an inhospitable British estate flatters my tastes better than the large feuding families and Italian set dressing (no pun intended) of this location. But the magic is phenomenal, quirky and creative, and particularly well-realized as a lived experience—the physical details and scale (still no pun intended) of the climactic action is memorable. And I admire the character growth—it repeats the first book somewhat, but I can't condemn a theme as earnest as characters discovering that there's value and validity in their alternative skills/learning methods. This is fun and charming, but rather more average than Charmed Life; were it my introduction to the series it probably wouldn't spurn me to continue, but neither is it a disappointment.
Title: Raven Stratagem (The Machineries of Empire Book 2)
Author: Yoon Ha Lee
Published: Solaris, 2017
Rating: 4 of 5
Page Count: 355
Total Page Count: 265,770
Text Number: 861
Read Because: continuing the series, ebook borrowed from the Multnomah County Library
Review: Jedao uses formation instinct to hijack a Kel fleet engaged in battle against heretics. There's a wealth of headhopping here, assuming almost every PoV except the characters from Ninefox Gambit; it does similar work to the first book's heretical reports in the first book, building a large and complicated narrative, but is more effective, particularly at exploring the lives and cultures that underpin the vast premise. This has a complete plot and doesn't suffer from middle book syndrome; the ending "twist" really isn't one, at least not for the reader, but that doesn't make the narrative any less intelligent. Lee's themes are political, intensely critical, and tightly tied to highly speculative concepts—it doesn't require a twist; there's plenty of tension. I didn't love this quite so much as the first book—it's conceptually less engaging—but that may change upon reread, which Lee's writing invites and benefits from. It did make me look forward to the finale.
Author: N.K. Jemisin
Published: Orbit, 2011
Rating: 3 of 5
Page Count: 595
Total Page Count: 264,630
Text Number: 856
Read Because: continuing the series, ebook borrowed from the Multnomah County Library
Review: Sieh's interaction with a pair of Amn children destroys his divine power and threatens another upheaval in the Thousand Kingdoms. I really did like first book in this series, so I'm disappointed that the other two have been much less successful. This isn't nearly as frustrating as The Broken Kingdoms; it's overlong, but the plotting is less tedious. Sieh was a great supporting character, but I'm not as fond of his voice; more than that, to take a divine figure and make them increasingly less powerful compounds my primary problem with this series, which is that the gods are too human and too small. The phenomenal scale and competent plotting of the ending counters this to an extent, but still this frequently feels like the least interesting possible approach to the PoV. As always, the complicated interpersonal relationships are more interesting—the dynamics that Jemisin frequently returns to appeal to me as well—but underdeveloped, pushed aside by the plot. This was just okay; I want more than that from something of this ambition and concept.
Title: The Magicians of Caprona (Chrestomanci Book 2)
Author: Dianna Wynne Jones
Narrator: Gerard Doyle
Published: Recorded Books, 2006 (1980)
Rating: 3 of 5
Page Count: 255
Total Page Count: 265,415
Text Number: 860
Read Because: continuing the series, audiobook borrowed from the Multnomah County Library
Review: The feud between two families of Italian wizards threatens to leave the city-state vulnerable. I didn't like this near as much as Charmed Life, which is in part an issue of aesthetics: orphans adopted into an inhospitable British estate flatters my tastes better than the large feuding families and Italian set dressing (no pun intended) of this location. But the magic is phenomenal, quirky and creative, and particularly well-realized as a lived experience—the physical details and scale (still no pun intended) of the climactic action is memorable. And I admire the character growth—it repeats the first book somewhat, but I can't condemn a theme as earnest as characters discovering that there's value and validity in their alternative skills/learning methods. This is fun and charming, but rather more average than Charmed Life; were it my introduction to the series it probably wouldn't spurn me to continue, but neither is it a disappointment.
Title: Raven Stratagem (The Machineries of Empire Book 2)
Author: Yoon Ha Lee
Published: Solaris, 2017
Rating: 4 of 5
Page Count: 355
Total Page Count: 265,770
Text Number: 861
Read Because: continuing the series, ebook borrowed from the Multnomah County Library
Review: Jedao uses formation instinct to hijack a Kel fleet engaged in battle against heretics. There's a wealth of headhopping here, assuming almost every PoV except the characters from Ninefox Gambit; it does similar work to the first book's heretical reports in the first book, building a large and complicated narrative, but is more effective, particularly at exploring the lives and cultures that underpin the vast premise. This has a complete plot and doesn't suffer from middle book syndrome; the ending "twist" really isn't one, at least not for the reader, but that doesn't make the narrative any less intelligent. Lee's themes are political, intensely critical, and tightly tied to highly speculative concepts—it doesn't require a twist; there's plenty of tension. I didn't love this quite so much as the first book—it's conceptually less engaging—but that may change upon reread, which Lee's writing invites and benefits from. It did make me look forward to the finale.
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Date: 2018-08-21 02:53 pm (UTC)