Tag Archives: Ace Books

The Left Hand of Darkness

Book Review of The Left Hand of Darkness, by Ursula K. Le Guin

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I have owned this copy of Ursula K. Le Guin‘s The Left Hand of Darkness for years. One would presume I bought it at some point.

Description from Goodreads:
On the planet Winter, there is no gender. The Gethenians can become male or female during each mating cycle, and this is something that humans find incomprehensible.

The Ekumen of Known Worlds has sent an ethnologist to study the Gethenians on their forbidding, ice-bound world. At first he finds his subjects difficult and off-putting, with their elaborate social systems and alien minds. But in the course of a long journey across the ice, he reaches an understanding with one of the Gethenians — it might even be a kind of love.

Review:
This is one of those books that is more a thought experiment than an actual reading experience. I can’t say I’m sad to have read it—especially now, so soon after Le Guin’s death—but I’ll say I’m glad to have read it, to be done reading it. As interesting as it was, I was bored for almost all of it. The world was breathtakingly described and, again, the moral and social implications of the Emissary’s circumstances were interesting, but the whole thing was soooo slow and indirect. Plus, while I understand the book was published in 1969 and therefore a product of it’s time, I was uncomfortable with the way women were positioned and described. All in all, I think of this much like I do Moby Dick. I’m glad to tick it off my list off books I’ve meant to read, but didn’t enjoy it all that much, though I can appreciate it’s worth.

Silence Fallen

Book Review of Silence Fallen (Mercy Thompson #10), by Patricia Briggs

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I borrowed Silence Fallen, by Patricia Briggs, from my local library.

Description from Goodreads:
Attacked and abducted in her home territory, Mercy finds herself in the clutches of the most powerful vampire in the world, taken as a weapon to use against alpha werewolf Adam and the ruler of the Tri-Cities vampires. In coyote form, Mercy escapes—only to find herself without money, without clothing, and alone in the heart of Europe… 
 
Unable to contact Adam and the rest of the pack, Mercy has allies to find and enemies to fight, and she needs to figure out which is which. Ancient powers stir, and Mercy must be her agile best to avoid causing a war between vampires and werewolves, and between werewolves and werewolves. And in the heart of the ancient city of Prague, old ghosts rise…

Review;
Sloppy. I really hope that this isn’t ANOTHER series that’s become so popular that the author has become complacent about it.

I disliked the little, sarcastic comments by Mercy at the start of each chapter. I saw no reason for the story to be told out of chronological order, requiring these comments to break the third wall to explain where they fall in relation to one another. In fact, it seemed to me as if Briggs just couldn’t be bothered to clean her timeline up. I found it jarring that the whole book, except one or two small snippets, were from either Mercy or Adam’s POV. Those sections felt out of place and lazy. And honestly, I just wasn’t all that invested in the story as a whole. We didn’t get to see much of the pack. Adam and Mercy weren’t together, so we didn’t get any of their byplays, and it never settled into anything truly engaging compared to past books in the series.

It’s still better than many urban fantasy books on the market but nowhere near as good as early Mercy Thompson books. Speaking of the early Mercy Thompson books, I apparently never did post reviews of them on the blog. But I did make notes on some of them on Goodreads. I’ll add them below.

#1 Moon Called:
have to express my surprise at liking this book as much as I did. I’ve found most of my forays into traditionally published UF and PNR to be disappointing of late. But I stayed up until ten past three this morning to finish this one. I was simply enjoying it so much I didn’t notice night passing. Now, it’s not edge of your seat exciting. It’s UF, not PNR, so there is no sex, and the little bit of romance that there is is in the background. But I simply enjoyed Mercy, Adam, Sam, Warren, and everyone else in a kind of mellow, go-with-the-flow way. I’ll definitely be looking to read more of the series.

#2 Blood Bound:
I enjoyed this second instalment of the Mercy Thompson Series. Mercy is still wonderfully independent and I like her tendency to purposefully rile the big bads up. She does seem to be establishing a bit of a harem though. Not sure how I feel about that, but I look forward to seeing where this series goes.

#3 Iron Kissed:

#4 Bone Crossed:
Four books into this series, and I’m still basically enjoying it. However, this one played heavily on Mercy’s status as a recent victim, and it seriously compromised her previous impression as a strong, unflappable character. (Someone please tell me why it’s required that so many UF/PNR heroines have to be traumatised at some point? I don’t get it.) I disliked this and just plain got tired of it. I understand she can’t be expected to have healed instantly, but half the book was dedicated to the aftereffects and her response to being attacked in the last book. IMO, not fun, not fun at all. Writing is still good. Editing is still good. The rest of the characters are still fun. I did find the frequent recaps of previous books repetitive and distracting. Plus, the challenge to overcome was both diluted by virtue of being two-fold, and I felt overcome too easily. All in all, however still a good book.

#5 Silver Borne:
#6 River Marked:
#7 Frost Burned:
#8 Night Broken:

#9 Fire Touched:
The one where, having been married a while, Mercy apparently needs a kid, but no one could bother with a pesky pregnancy.

Not as satisfying as past books. I kept waiting for this to really develop into something, but it felt like a continual building that never culminated into a true plot.