Mercenary Reading

The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms - N.K. Jemisin I really, really liked this one--from the complex worldbuilding to the excellent portrayals of the gods to the interesting cast--until the very end. The last few pages seemed to... undermine the rest of the book, betraying the build-up and thematic elements, and left me very disappointed as a reader.

Still, extremely good read for most of the book until the ending ceremony/showdown.
The God Engines - John Scalzi A really shiny idea and world, but I couldn't stand the prose and didn't care about any of the characters--in short, aside from the core concept, I hated most everything else about it. It deeply disappointed (though I liked the events in the ending), sigh, because I was hoping for so much more.
The Shifter - Janice Hardy Excellent read. A dark and intriguing world, especially in regards to the healing magic and pain and how it works and is interwoven into the society; I didn't quite connect to the characters, but they were nicely drawn and I think this is purely a matter of personal taste, and the only thing that stopped me loving it. I still really liked it, and I recommend it. I'm anticipating the next two books!
The Wizard Test - Hilari Bell I loved this book.

Such a nice, bittersweet ending where the MC loses as much as he gains and has to figure out hard choices and things are not "good vs evil" and life is complicated and the writing was very nice and smooth and I adore Reddick like an adoring thing (and Vadeen).

The book is so SHORT and deceptively simple starting out, I totally did not expect to like it this much.
Whitechapel Gods - S.M. Peters What frustrated me is I wanted to like it so much--an awesome concept, great steampunk setting, and I liked quite a few of the worldbuilding bits. But I just couldn't connect or care about any of the characters. I was mildly interested in them, but I just couldn't empathize (and I wanted to--I really did want to love this book). So in the end I simply didn't care, and that in turn resulted in the climax and casualties not affecting me at all. I liked how it happened, from a "shiny idea" standpoint, but I was left cold and unaffected.
Faces of the Gone - Brad Parks Quite enjoyable! I liked the voice and pacing--I don't read a lot of mysteries or thrillers, but this is one that makes me willing to check out other titles in the genres.

While I found the third-person interludes annoying and spoilery at first (they also wound up repetitive when we immediately get the same information from the narrator), after the middle of the book, it worked for the tension and clues. Wish they'd been more about The Director's personal life in the first half and less about the plot--which, as I said, was spoilery. Even with the flaws, I really enjoyed this one and look forward to more Carter Ross adventures.
Heart of Veridon - Tim Akers So. It has a great premise, it's gearpunk, and it's got lots of shiny in the world building (parasitic clockwork angels! airships! worms that create living dead in the river!). I began reading really wanting to like this, because in theory it has many things that Merc loves.

It bored me to tears. I tried to get over the issues of voice and flat characterization and the rough edges. I really, really tried to find something to engage in. (I did like Wilson, in the sense I found him to have the hope of developing more personality--plus he was some kind of humaniod spider scientist-assassin dude.) No dice. It's sad when not even the shiny is enough.
Zombie Haiku: Good Poetry For Your...Brains - Ryan Mecum Zombies come for brains
give them this book instead while
you run for your life.
Dead To Me - Anton Strout I loved the corniness of this novel. It wasn't terribly deep and I didn't quite care about the characters, but it was fun. I absolutely ADORE all the titles of the offices, the pamphlets and seminars, and just the general way the bureaucracy was set up--cultists having their own government divisions, the Fraternity of Goodness (F.O.G.), and the rest were my favorite bits. And the killer bookshelf. It was a breezy, entertaining popcorn novel. I'd read the next books for the same elements.
The Better Part of Darkness - Kelly Gay I liked this one quite a bit. There were some issues, but overall it was smart, well-paced, had a good voice without being annoying, and I enjoyed the change of having a UF heroine who's also a single mom and deals with her kid and family. I'm definitely looking forward to the next books.
Child of Fire - Harry Connolly This was a great read! A fun, fast-paced urban fantasy, refreshingly non-romantic and with lots of action, werewolves, monsters, magic, and a wonderful narrator: Ray Lilly (his boss, Annalise, is MADE OF WIN). I'm definitely a fan of this series already--it's all the fun the Dresden Files used to be, while maintaining its own style and personality. I recommend it.
Rampant - Diana Peterfreund I wanted to love this one--because the premise is definitely shiny. But the narrator's voice never felt natural, authentic, or consistent and completely failed to work for me (plus I didn't like Astrid as a character). The side cast--in particular the MC's cousin, Phil--were entertaining and the story was fun. But the overwhelming issues I had with the voice (including how the chapter titles failed to work at all for me, given the tone and style of the story) made it too hard to really like this one, much as I was hoping to. (I did really like the last third, however, even with voice issues.)
Graceling - Kristin Cashore This had a very intriguing premise (sort of like superheroes with random powers) which I moderately liked--I think my reservations on this come down to taste. The narrative style didn't jive with me, and overall it just felt too long for the amount of story. (It wasn't wordy--the prose was fairly trim, which was nice. But for how much plot there was, I didn't think it warranted almost 500 pages; I think I wanted more depth and nuances than it delivered on.)

So, it was okay--I'll check out the next book, but nothing in this one sprang out at me as squee-worthy and gripping. (I did like Katsa's internal problems, given how invincible she is externally, but it didn't quite ever feel deep or meaty enough to satisfy me, though normally I love this kind of internal conflict in a story. All I can mark it up to is personal taste, in this case.)
Stolen - Vivian Vande Velde I figured out the secret pretty much right away, but it was still entertaining. Not as good as some of Vande Velde's books, but I moderately liked it.
Chill Factor - Rachel Caine The third book in the Weather Wardens series, I picked it up to finish the plot thread (continued from Heat Stroke) regarding Jonathan and Lewis. Sighfully, there was far too little of either of them. When I don't like the narrator/MC, I'm usually reading a book because of the secondary characters or the world. (The world, see above, is the case with the Nightside series.) Although I must say that Quinn was very cool. He made a fabulous antagonist. *approves*
Just Another Judgement Day - Simon R. Green I quite enjoyed the next book in the Nightside series--I read the series purely for the world (it's so cracktastic, it's awesome) and a couple secondary characters, so I was quite pleased to see Razor Eddie (Punk God of the Straight Razor) and a few old favorites show up. (Although I feel like I have deja vu because I could swear the scene with Baron Frankenstein was transplanted from a previous book, verbatim, after the bamboo nuns were dealt with. Yes, I do know Green takes huge chunks of previous books or phrases and whatnot and sticks them in new ones, and the recycling irritates me, but still--this was the most blatant one I've seen.)

Currently reading

The Night Strangers: A Novel
Chris Bohjalian