I've moved!

After all these years of keeping track of my reading through this blog, I've switched over to Goodreads. You can find me over there, under Celia Reaves.

A Darker Shade of Magic (V. E. Schwab)

The story started slow: it wasn't until nearly 1/3 of the way through that the two main characters met and the main problem was engaged. Until then there was a lot of world-building, with parallel London joined by magical doors only a select few can cross. There was also a rather stereotypical Feisty Female character, fun but a bit one-dimensional. By the middle, though, the action, and my interest, picked up, and it was satisfying enough in the end.

Codex Born (Jim Hines)

The second book in this series lives up to the promise of the first. When Gutenberg developed the printing press, he made it possible for thousands of people to read identical copies of the same book, and their collective belief in the story made libriomancy possible. Those with the innate ability can reach into books and pull out the things inside; phasers, sonic screwdrivers, magic seeds. But there's a darker magic hiding in the books, something much older even than Gutenberg, and it is coming through and threatening the world. Isaac, Lena, Nhidi, Smudge, and a whole army of good guys have to fight not swarms of magical insects, but enemy forces that seemingly negate magic all together. Lots of fun.

The Chaperone (Laura Moriarty)

This historical novel tracks the real-life story of Laura Brooks, Hollywood silent-film star and famous wild girl, from the perspective of a fictional character. When Laura was 15 she had the opportunity to study dance in NYC under the condition that she travel with a chaperone. History says very little about who this chaperone was, so the author imagined Cora, giving her a back story involving the New York orphan trains. Cora is a wonderful heroine, brave and tolerant and caring. I enjoyed being in her head as she confronted and overcame the prejudices of her time and culture to bring love and joy to the people around her. In places the plot seemed a little too pat, with some people's decisions motivated more by the author's decisions than the characters', but for me it all worked. The writing is clear and compelling, though the atmosphere and environments are not as well drawn as the people are. I recommend it for anyone who enjoys historical fiction or is interested in the changes in society from the 1920s to the 1960s.

Fool Moon (Jim Butcher)

Harry Dresden is a wizard in contemporary Chicago, working with the police to solve crimes that have occult elements. In this story, people have been torn apart by something with monstrous claws and teeth right around the full moon, and Harry has to figure out how to stop it. There are multiple kinds of werewolves in this story, some good, some bad, some in between, but the real complication comes as Harry tries to sort out his relationships with three women: his young apprentice, a smart and lovely reporter, and a tough, no-nonsense detective. I love this series, because the stories are engaging and Harry is someone I can really like.

Libriomancer (Jim C. Hines)

This is the first book in a series, and I expect to keep reading it. It's a contemporary fantasy based on the idea that books are magical. When enough people read the same book in the same form, and it's written well enough so that the story becomes real for them as they read, then people who have the proper magical abilities can literally reach into the book and pull things out into the real world. Isaac, the hero of this story, has pulled out things like sonic screwdrivers, blasters, and light sabers. There are magical creatures in the world, some naturally created and some book-based (such as the recent appearance of sparkly vampires), and there's a balance of power between the libriomancers who govern the magic of the books and other magical beings (vampires, werewolves, and such). This balance has been disrupted recently; both vampires and libriomancers have suffered attacks that they blame on each other, and before total war breaks out Isaac has to find out who's behind it and defeat them. Along the way he joins up with a dryad and his trusty pet fire spider. Isaac is a good hero, smart and engaging and sympathetic, and the idea of magical books appeals to me. Lots of fun.

Zer0es (Chuck Wendig)

The Zeroes are a motley group of hackers and trolls dragged to a prison compound by a mysterious government organization and put to work on various hacker-related tasks that don't seem to make much sense. They gradually figure out that there's a powerful and dangerous force that's taking over the Internet, causing death and mayhem, and they band together to escape and fight this power. I enjoyed the geeky references to tech and pop culture, but ultimately the story didn't really work for me. The characters never came alive, but remained cardboard stand-ins for stock people. The story also had two basic flaws that dragged my disbelief to the ground. One is that if a computer takes over the Internet then it can take direct control over any interconnected digital device, from the GPS in an airplane to your car's radio. The other, even more implausible, is that it is possible to throw someone down on a table, drill a hole in their skull, and shove in a cable that allows the computer to both download all their memories and upload a command program that turns them into a remote-controlled zombie. I'm sorry, but no.