#renascence

#1 - Murder in Mesopotamia by Agatha Christie - 3 stars (audio)

"As a matter of fact it wouldn’t be safe to tell any man the truth about his wife! Funnily enough, I’d trust most women with the truth about their husbands. Women can accept the fact that a man is a rotter, a swindler, a drug taker, a confirmed liar, and a general swine, without batting an eyelash, and without its impairing their affection for the brute in the least. Women are wonderful realists."

I've been meaning to get back around to reading the odd Christie here and there, and saw that this one takes place chronologically just before Murder on the Orient Express*, and the concept was interesting, so here we are.

This one was a pretty straight-forward closed-circle mystery and, while I didn't really connect with most of the cast or put much effort into guessing the solution, I was at least decently entertained right until the end. That solution is what brought my rating down. It was too silly for me to buy. When it was first suggested earlier in the investigation I assumed that it was a red herring because it was that absurd.

I did have a good laugh at Poirot explaining what "the sex appeal" was.

*future me popping into say another list said this was not in fact the case

#2 - His Majesty's Dragon by Naomi Novik - 5 stars (audio)

Surely there could be nothing ahead which they could not face together.

It may have taken me a while, but I'm finally here, and y'all weren't kidding about this book. I knew within the first chapter that I was going to love it. No proper review to follow; I simply had a fantastic time.

The worldbuilding, the details, the style, the characterization, the dragons. Turns out I'm picky when it comes to dragons, and Novik's dragons are perfect. I'm also picky when it comes to Novik herself, but this one was a solid hit. I will definitely read more.

My only trouble was in keeping track of all of the side/minor characters, dragons and humans both. This, as usual, probably would have been easier to manage reading rather than listening.

Also, cheers to Novik for letting her women keep their stays, even if they didn't like skirts. Finally some sense.

More like this: the Lady Trent series, for the historical fantasy, the general style, and dragons; and Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, again for the well-grounded historical fantasy, specifically the Napoleonic period.

#3 - Renascence and Other Poems by Edna St. Vincent Millay - 3 stars

There are a hundred places where I fear To go, --so with his memory they brim! And entering with relief some quiet place Where never fell his foot nor shone his face I say, "There is no memory of him here!" And so stand stricken, so remembering him! - from "Sonnets"

I had come across a couple of Millay's poems before picking up this little volume. "Tavern" was familiar, but I don't think I've ever read the others before. I love her imagery, even if I can't quite catch the rhythm of her style.

#4 - One, Two, Buckle My Shoe by Agatha Christie - 3 stars (audio)

Profiting by a long experience of the English people, Poirot suggested a cup of tea.

This one started out strongly, and I thought I had the shape of the mystery pretty early on. Then more and more twists appeared, and I lost track, and by the end I was thoroughly confused. Incredibly convoluted.

There was one conversation right at the end, during the confession, that caught me wholly off-guard, though, and really gave me something to chew on. I don't know if the rest of the book was worth it. More noodling required.

#5 - Fullmetal Alchemist, vols. 1-3 by Hiromu Arakawa - 4.5 stars (reread)

Original review here. I cannot believe it's taken me this long to get back to this series, but I intend to actually read it through this time around.

As a note: I will continue to count three volumes at a time as one book, since they're so small.

#6 - Sourcery by Terry Pratchett - 3.5 stars

"It's vital to remember who you really are. It's very important. It isn't a good idea to rely on other people or things to do it for you, you see. They always get it wrong." "I'll try and remember," said Coin.  "It's very important," Rincewind repeated, almost to himself.

Now this is starting to feel like Discworld!

I enjoyed this one much more than The Light Fantastic. It felt more cohesive and like it had a proper direction. And, against all expectations, Rincewind is kind of growing on me. The ending in particular had me glued to my seat (in my car, after work, feverishly flipping pages).

#7 - Fullmetal Alchemist, vols. 4-6 by Hiromu Arakawa - 4 stars

Lots of lore-building in these three volumes, as well as expanding on Winry's character. Not the most exciting installments (I've always been meh about the Rush Valley tangent), but I do love Izumi Curtis.

#8 - X Y Z: A Detective Story by Anna Katharine Green - 3 stars

For a moment I stood dumbfounded at the position in which my recklessness had placed me. All the folly, the impertinence even, of the proceeding upon which I had entered, was revealed to me in its true colors, and I mentally inquired what could have induced me to thus hamper myself with the details of a mystery so entirely removed from the serious matter I had in charge.

Found this little book on a list I was browsing and promptly fell down a rabbit hole of classic detective fiction. On resurfacing, I ordered another of Green's collections from the library but could only access this one via the Internet Archive.

I proceeded to spend an afternoon reading it.

This short story was surprisingly engaging, full of twists and melodrama. Oddly charming. Slightly baffling.

#9 - Throne of Jade by Naomi Novik - 4 stars (audio)

"If I were very offensive, do you suppose they would go away now?"

I wanted to dive into the second Temeraire book directly, but decided to stick with audio and two other people were in the hold line ahead of me; so I languished for a couple of weeks (only to realize just before my turn came up that I could have just...picked up a printed copy at the library).

This is a pretty slow-paced series, I'm coming to find. Well-paced, but heavily character-focused. I really thought we'd get to China well before the 70% mark. That last third was chock-full of new settings and characters and ideas and drama to keep up with.

However, I remain delighted by Novik's worldbuilding, especially her efforts to keep the characters' sensibilities accurate to the time and cultures they each live in. (As an example, Laurence is anti-slavery not because he's the protagonist and this is good by modern standards; but because his father is a pro-abolitionist who is friends with William Wilberforce and who raised his children with these values.) It's all fairly grounded and realistic.

Also Novik's favorite word in this series seems to be "particular", made very noticeable by how the narrator pronounces it.

#10 - Fullmetal Alchemist, vols. 7-9 by Hiromu Arawaka - 4.5 stars

Lan Fan is one of my favorite characters, so of course I was excited to get into this portion of the story. (I like Ling [Lin??*] as well, but largely for his dynamic with Lan Fan.) This one feels better paced than the last set, though possibly that's because the backstory has mostly been established and we don't have too many character introductions to go. I think.

*The multiple-names-for-characters thing is starting to really confuse me. Jean is Jan? Riza is Liza? Someone help me.

#11 - Black Powder War by Naomi Novik - 4 stars (audio)

"I will see you bereft of all that you have, of home and happiness and beautiful things. I will see your nation cast down and your allies drawn away. I will see you as alone and friendless and wretched as am I; and then you may live as long as you like, in some dark and lonely corner of the earth, and I shall call myself content."

NAOMI STOP KILLING EVERYONE CHALLENGE.

The irony is that I saw a post going around here about the time I started reading this installment that said something like "Modern people forget how easy it is to die" and my brain went "Yeah that's something I need to remember for writing" and then this. THIS. STOP IT.

It was hard enough keeping track of the crew--all the while reminding myself that when Laurence says "the boys" he literally is talking about children--and then Novik KEEPS KILLING THEM OFF IN HORRIBLE WAYS. AUGH. (And yes, I know it's in a different alternate history and like three hundred years apart but so many horrible things happened in the Istanbul section and I kept having flashbacks to Pawn in Frankincense. And suffering.)

Anyway.

This series is shaping up to be an entirely different kind of adventure than I was expecting--not that I was really expecting anything in particular, but I didn't expect revenge and politics to feature quite so prominently. Also the summary mentioned a "shattering betrayal" so I was braced for that and? Which part was the betrayal? Was that the British not sending reinforcements? The hints at the beginning with the original message that sent them on this escapade? The trouble in Istanbul? I'm confused.

Doesn't matter because suddenly we got to meet Iskierka and I about died. She's perfect. (And so is Tharkay. I like him.)

Also the villain monologue was excellent.

DNF:

X6: A Novellanthology edited by Keith Stevenson - This is a soft DNF. I'm in the middle of the third story and it's...not going well. I might poke around at one or two of the others but I don't think this is for me; not sure if it's style or this collection in particular.

Queen of Shifting Sands by Kaitlyn Carter Brown - Gave it two chapters because the setting was interesting, but this needed editing. I had to reread whole paragraphs multiple times to figure out who was doing and saying and wearing what; and it was too heavy in the descriptions when we're still trying to work out why everyone is grieving and/or panicking.

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