Summer Reading, Part 3!

1.  Hidden Warrier and 2.  The Oracle's Queen, Lynn Flewelling - The second and third books in The Bone Doll's Twin trilogy.  I love these books, more than I can possibly say.  I read them at a very slow pace - there being no urgency to find out what happened on this reread because I already knew - and so was able to truly enjoy Flewelling's prose.  So awesome.  Truth be told, I think this series deserves a slot on the list of all-time best fantasy series. 

3.  Luck in the Shadows, Lynn Flewelling (audio) - Then I discovered that the first few books of Flewelling's Nightrunner series are now available in audio through my library, so I decided to reread them, too!  There are seven or so books in this series, so I had forgotten more of the details than I realized.  The Nightrunner books are set about 600 years after the events of the Bone Doll books, and are more lighthearted by nature, although the plots do wade into rather grim events from time to time.  (They are still long - 18 - 21 hours/book in audio)  Excellent.  Alec and Seregil are amongst some of my all-time favorite characters, and their love story is amazing. 

4.  Fool's Quest, Robin Hobb - Man.  I know this most recent trilogy of Hobb's hasn't received the best of reviews, but I'm totally loving it.  The pacing is slow, and the focus is really on the characters.  Yeah, she could probably have edited a lot of it out, but it doesn't feel like a slog when I'm reading it.  Can't wait to see how she finishes it!  As a side note....the one thing that kept cropping up in my mind as I was reading it was wow...this is a writer with multiple trilogies, all big books, all in the same world, and the way she keeps them all interconnected....wow. 

5.  Stalking Darkness, Lynn Flewelling (audio) and 6.  Traitor's Moon, Lynn Flewelling (audio) - books 2 and 3 o the Nightrunner series.  Sadly, our library only has the first three available in audio.  True, I have copies of all seven books and could finish the reread in print if I wanted...but I kind of want to listen to them this time around.  They are super fun as audio, and are an excellent companion to the projects I'm working on now.  Curiously enough, I felt more urgency to get through the Nightrunner books.  In part, I couldn't wait to rediscover what I had forgotten, but also I was just sooo anxious to get to the parts I remembered! 

6.  Glimpses, Lynn Flewelling - I looked her up in ibooks when trying to remember the order of the Nightrunner books, and found this small collection of standalone stories from the Nightrunner world which fill in a few of the gaps in the novels.  They also include a lot of super-fun fan art of her characters.  (And how cool is it that she included that!) 

7.  The Fifth Season, N.K. Jemisin - I'll be eternally grateful to my friend Lana for introducing me to Jemisin, who is one of the most innovative and literary fantasy writers that I've found in quite some time.  Her books are quite simply exquisite.  This is the first in her new series, and it was a preorder that I waited for impatiently.  As with her Killing Moon books, it took a little while to settle into the prose, but once I did I was swept away.  It's hard to find 'original' books in my beloved genre, and Jemisin does not disappoint.  Her characters are so beautifully drawn.  The only problem?  I have to wait for the what's to come....

Unfinished:
1.  Ancillary Justice, Anne Leckie (unfinished) - I picked it up on sale...it was an award winner with lots of buzz...I LOVE what Leckie did with gender and pronouns (very, very thought provoking)..but seriously, it was a space book.  With the exception of The Martian, I generally don't do space books.  I prefer the fantasy portion of the sci fi/fantasy section.
2.  Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister, Gregory Maguire - Also on the sale table.  Don't even know why I bothered. While I appreciate what Maguire did with the  Oz story (and there are some gorgeous lines in Wicked) he's really not my cup of tea. 

Curious note:  My X-Files addiction has seen me through the second and third seasons. In season 2 there is an episode called The Calisari which deals with a child being haunted by a twin that didn't survive birth.  There are many eery connections to Flewelling's series on Tamir, and I may have to do some research to track down the folklore that no doubt influenced both books and X-Files episode. 

End Note:  Thus I officially close the door on my summer of fantasy novels.  While there are a few 'regular' books that I think I'm ready to read now, I think by and large I'll be sticking with fantasy through the fall and winter.  I still have that Kate Elliot series I want to rediscover/finish, and in digging through my boxes of books recently I rediscovered at least three other series I'm seriously contemplating rereading.  (It's been 15-20 years since I read those books!)  Oh yes...I've plenty to keep me busy for a while! 

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