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I read...a lot.

Rather than spam this blog with a new review every day or two, as I read that many books most weeks, I've collected the reviews of the last week into one post. A couple of these are older books that I read a while back, but did not have a chance to post reviews of earlier as the blog was still in hiatus. The last three books, Books 1-3 of the "Fever" series by Karen Marie Moning, are the first three of five. A full review will come after the entire series is complete. The ratings are a good indication of my initial feelings upon first reading these three over the weekend in between Blogathon posts/prep.

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Fast Ships, Black Sails by Ann VanderMeer


My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Not as good as I was expecting after reading the Steampunk anthology. Took a long time to get through it as I had trouble getting into many of the stories, despite being written by some of my favorite authors.

"Araminta, or, The Wreck of the Amphidrake" by Naomi Novik and "Elegy for Gabrielle, Patron Saint of Healers, Whores and Righteous Thieves" by Kelly Barnhill were, perhaps, the two pieces I enjoyed the most. Each one had a depth to the characters I found sadly lacking in many of the other stories -- although "Iron Face" by Michael Moorcock was a nice vignette, I found it too short a piece to bring up the general level of quality in the anthology as a whole. I would have liked to see one of his longer works included.

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Divine Evil by Nora Roberts


My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Normally, I really like Nora Roberts' stories. The plotlines and character developments are generally intriguing and three-dimensional. But, I didn't get that from this one. The two main characters were likable enough and the story kept me reading without getting bored.

Still, I can't say it was one of her best works. It was fairly easy to guess at the 'Big Bad' and, while the characters were likable, some seemed to almost slip into a caricature of "small town people" -- the town gossip, the town whore, the barkeep, the green deputy, the 'outsiders' from the city. And, while there was tension between the two main characters, the relationship between didn't seem to really struggle at all. It was a fait accomplis almost from the first kiss, give or take a couple shouting matches.

All in all, enjoyable, but not spectacular.

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Steampunk by Jeff VanderMeer


My rating: 4 of 5 stars
A very comprehensive collection and excellent overview of the genre. The essays covering the roots of the genre were of particular interest to me. Some may find two or three of the tales a bit on the dark side. But I like dark.

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Darkfever by Karen Marie Moning My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Bloodfever by Karen Marie Moning My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Faefever by Karen Marie Moning My rating: 4 of 5 stars

View all my reviews >>