[Previous entry: "Poll: What is on your holiday wish list?"] [Main Index] [Next entry: "CLOSE KIN by Clare Dunkle -- Enjoyable, Uneven (Margaret)"] 12/04/2004 Entry: "Edith's Not-So-Recent Reads -- Shinn, Caine, Dunkle, etc." TO WEAVE A WEB OF MAGIC anthology Note that I'm not a fan of novellas since, for me, they're generally too short. That should explain most of my reaction to these stories. Sharon Shinn's story was the strongest. It's about a young Manadavvi heiress yearning for a bad-boy angel. I didn't understand why these two people should fall in love given their very limited meetings and interactions. Pleasant story but not unforgettable. This story takes place some years after ARCHANGEL, so the high points for me were the glimpses of Gabriel, Rachel, and their wonderful, young, responsible son. Patricia McKillip's story of the artist who learns to see the person behind the woman he uses as a model was interesting but not particulary involving. Usually her writing draws me in no matter how strange her story, but this time didn't do much for me. I just wanted to thwack the hero in the head and say OPEN YOUR EYES. Lynn Kurland's story about a young boy who begs his parents for his favorite story of derring-do started charmingly. The father relates the tale of a high-born young girl who flees from an arranged marriage and searches for a mage to help her decode her dead mother's book. She arrives at a run-down castle where the peasant who inhabits the place turns out to be (surprise) the hero. He's handsome, she's beautiful, it's predictable, blah blah blah. I didn't read the Delacroix story because I figured it would be as predictable as the Kurland.--Edith UNDEAD AND UNWED by MaryJanice Davidson (not a romance -- yet?) My biggest problem was with the heroine's attitude: she has too much of it. This went beyond feisty, IMO, to a bit stupid. She doesn't know the limits of her new powers yet is mouthy towards people who could harm her. In spite of the fact that the nasty people could hurt her friends and family, she doesn't rein herself in.
I finished CLOSE KIN Friday and liked it but didn't think it was as good as THE HOLLOW KINGDOM. Charm did make one appearance. I like him (it?) so much that I noticed.--Edith --TO WEAVE A WEB OF MAGIC at Amazon
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