Musings of the Obsessive Kind

I am fast discovering my love for Sanderson's fantasy novels. I adored Elantris and now, in the middle of Warbreaker, I love that book even better!

Warbreaker is a stand-alone (yesss!) novel about Vivenna and Siri, two very different sisters who, in a way, switch fates.

Hallandren is a powerful kingdom based on colors (even the alphabet is color-based) and the powers these colors can bestow. It is awash in people who can use colors to take other people's essence or manifest other powers, and even bring people back from the dead (even if that will result in pretty much a zombie). It is ruled by the 'Returned' - people who somehow came back from the dead and are treated as Gods and, above them all, is Susebron, the God King, someone who was never alive - who 'returned' from being a stillborn. And Hallandren has its eye on Idris, a poor, small neighbor kingdom.

From childhood, the King of Idris' oldest daughter, Vivenna, was promised in marriage to the fearsome God King of a powerful neighboring kingdom as a way to avoid war. Vivenna is dutiful, poised, ladylike. She has been brought up to know the ins and outs of her future husband's kingdom. Siri, the youngest, is the polar opposite - never meant to be anyone of particular importance, Siri is bad at obedience, defies her father regularly, and loves flaunting colors - the ultimate sin in Idris, where it is believed that colors can invite people who will steal one's 'Breath' (a sort of hybrid soul and power concept). So when push comes to shove, and the King has to send his daughter to marriage and almost certain death (even if the reputedly monstrous God King will leave her alive, war is coming and then the princess becomes a hostage and eventually dead), he cannot bear to send his favorite Vivenna. He sends Siri instead.

And then, the proper, prim Vivenna does something unthinkable - she disguises herself and sets off to the faraway Hallandren to rescue her sister.

The novel follows multiple characters - Vivenna and her adventure quest plus her interactions with a bunch of rebels and a mysterious man who may or may not be the key in stopping the war. Meanwhile, Siri is navigating the dangerous waters of the court and coming to terms with the fact that she is married to a person whom she is not supposed to speak to or touch (well, touch to the minimum necessary to get an heir). Oh, and there is Lightsong, a resurrected God who questions just how divine he really is.

I LOVE IT!!!! The worldbuilding is great, I adore both Vivenna and Siri (though confess to liking Siri just a smidge more), the plot is complicated and things are not always as they seem (let's just say that God King and the priests are not really what/how you think they are).

And if you need an OTP, Siri/Susibron hit all my kinks, in a very very unexpected way. ( kinda sorta one sentence spoiler )

So yes, super super addicted!

I am fast discovering my love for Sanderson's fantasy novels. I adored Elantris and now, in the middle of Warbreaker, I love that book even better!

Warbreaker is a stand-alone (yesss!) novel about Vivenna and Siri, two very different sisters who, in a way, switch fates.

Hallandren is a powerful kingdom based on colors (even the alphabet is color-based) and the powers these colors can bestow. It is awash in people who can use colors to take other people's essence or manifest other powers, and even bring people back from the dead (even if that will result in pretty much a zombie). It is ruled by the 'Returned' - people who somehow came back from the dead and are treated as Gods and, above them all, is Susebron, the God King, someone who was never alive - who 'returned' from being a stillborn. And Hallandren has its eye on Idris, a poor, small neighbor kingdom.

From childhood, the King of Idris' oldest daughter, Vivenna, was promised in marriage to the fearsome God King of a powerful neighboring kingdom as a way to avoid war. Vivenna is dutiful, poised, ladylike. She has been brought up to know the ins and outs of her future husband's kingdom. Siri, the youngest, is the polar opposite - never meant to be anyone of particular importance, Siri is bad at obedience, defies her father regularly, and loves flaunting colors - the ultimate sin in Idris, where it is believed that colors can invite people who will steal one's 'Breath' (a sort of hybrid soul and power concept). So when push comes to shove, and the King has to send his daughter to marriage and almost certain death (even if the reputedly monstrous God King will leave her alive, war is coming and then the princess becomes a hostage and eventually dead), he cannot bear to send his favorite Vivenna. He sends Siri instead.

And then, the proper, prim Vivenna does something unthinkable - she disguises herself and sets off to the faraway Hallandren to rescue her sister.

The novel follows multiple characters - Vivenna and her adventure quest plus her interactions with a bunch of rebels and a mysterious man who may or may not be the key in stopping the war. Meanwhile, Siri is navigating the dangerous waters of the court and coming to terms with the fact that she is married to a person whom she is not supposed to speak to or touch (well, touch to the minimum necessary to get an heir). Oh, and there is Lightsong, a resurrected God who questions just how divine he really is.

I LOVE IT!!!! The worldbuilding is great, I adore both Vivenna and Siri (though confess to liking Siri just a smidge more), the plot is complicated and things are not always as they seem (let's just say that God King and the priests are not really what/how you think they are).

And if you need an OTP, Siri/Susibron hit all my kinks, in a very very unexpected way. ( kinda sorta one sentence spoiler )

So yes, super super addicted!

Recent scouring of amazon for period novels brought forth the following:

1. I cannot resist any book involving Rupert of the Rhine. I blame reading Margaret Irwin's The Stranger Prince during my formative years. I mean, normally I at least read the reviews first before buying a book, but throw in "Rupert, civil war, battles, and some romance" and I click "purchase" like a Pavlovian dog.

2. There is apparently a whole sub genre of novels about ladies who married Elizabeth I's boyfriends. Ummm...

3. It is impossible to find a good pirate novel that doesn't involve heaving bosoms and coy references to fleshly swords. I love romance novels but seriously - just one (in print, available on Kindle) pirate novel that doesn't fall into that genre, please! I can find few scenarios less appealing that being stuck, seasick, with a man who likely has both a death warrant and pubic lice.

4. I am still obsessed with reading books on Richard III but remain confused by the "did he off the princes in the tower" fixation books about him have (good or bad) - umm, he could have, who cares? Medieval (and after) kings were all a nasty lot and did a lot worse to stay in power - look at Henry VIII wholesale rooting out of anyone with any claim to the crown or the whole Richard II/Henry IV thing.

I am rereading Laura Kinsale's Flowers From The Storm - still my favorite romance novel but a bit too depressing even for me in the earlier parts. I mean, I love h/c more than your average bear but even with that...

Still. Total total love.

I am rereading Laura Kinsale's Flowers From The Storm - still my favorite romance novel but a bit too depressing even for me in the earlier parts. I mean, I love h/c more than your average bear but even with that...

Still. Total total love.

I have been on a fantasy/scifi kick lately and read a number of fun things:

( Books that aren't Elantris )

I saved the best for last - by pure chance, I stumbled on Brandon Sanderson's Elantris, that rarity-of-rarities, a standalone 'traditional' fantasy novel. The city of Elantris used to house demigods - people who could perform amazing magic with a sweep of their fingers, who glowed and lived almost forever. It wasn't a hereditary thing, either - anyone could become Elantrian - a transformation would happen at night and the person, rich or poor, man or woman, would wake up transformed. However, all of this ended 10 years ago - after a great cataclysm, Elantris fell apart and all Elantrians turned from demigods into pitiful, disgusting, mindless creatures. After initial upheaval, the country transformed and continued on, and Elantris was locked up and abandoned. One problem - the transformation still takes place, still at night, and still taking anyone - only it now transforms them into hideous cursed beings and their fate is to be thrown into the ruins of Elantris, never to be seen again. When the novel starts, Raoden, the Crown Prince, wakes up to discover he has been transformed. His father, too ashamed to admit what has happened, proclaims him dead and has him thrown into Elantris.

The novel follows three people - Raoden, who tries not only to survive the hell of Elantris but both to make sense of what happened and to protect the fellow sufferers within, Sarene, Raoden's wife-by-arranged-marriage (the two had never met), who has been told her husband had died and who stays on to protect the kingdom and counteract the influence of the third protagonist - Hrothden, a highly-ranked functionary of a militant religion intent on taking over the world.

I loved this book! It's clever - with a good plot and solid world-building, but what really got me was the characters - even the tertiary characters come alive, but I fell madly for both Sarene and Raoden (and also Sarene/Raoden), who deal with some majorly heavy stuff while remaining true to themselves. SO VERY GOOD!!! Now I need to read more of his stuff.

Too tired (and am still waiting for 720p - anyone seen those) to watch Bridal Mask today. Spoil me and perish :)

In cheerier news, I've just found out that my favorite working scifi/fantasy author, Simon R. Green, has a new book coming out in August. And not just any random book, but Ghost of a Dream, the third in his Ghostfinders series (about a team of ghostbuster types who work for Carnacki Institute and deal with evil, blood, guts with help of weapons, grit, and awesome quips).

EEEEEEEE! Ghostfinders are a pretty divisive series, with some people thinking SRG is not at his best in them, but I adore adore adore them to bits. And the second book ended on a cliffhanger, and not just any cliffhanger, but one that totally impacted my huge OTP (only SRG OTP that I ship harder are Finlay/Evangeline in Deathstalker) JC/Kim. I was ready to tear my hair out! And now I get to find out what happened, though presumably any 'fighting minions of evil' business is going to interesting until JC gets Kim back because he's kinda unhinged without her (yeah, so it's like non-space Finlay/Evangeline? I do have my ship types).

So EEEEEE!

Too tired (and am still waiting for 720p - anyone seen those) to watch Bridal Mask today. Spoil me and perish :)

In cheerier news, I've just found out that my favorite working scifi/fantasy author, Simon R. Green, has a new book coming out in August. And not just any random book, but Ghost of a Dream, the third in his Ghostfinders series (about a team of ghostbuster types who work for Carnacki Institute and deal with evil, blood, guts with help of weapons, grit, and awesome quips).

EEEEEEEE! Ghostfinders are a pretty divisive series, with some people thinking SRG is not at his best in them, but I adore adore adore them to bits. And the second book ended on a cliffhanger, and not just any cliffhanger, but one that totally impacted my huge OTP (only SRG OTP that I ship harder are Finlay/Evangeline in Deathstalker) JC/Kim. I was ready to tear my hair out! And now I get to find out what happened, though presumably any 'fighting minions of evil' business is going to interesting until JC gets Kim back because he's kinda unhinged without her (yeah, so it's like non-space Finlay/Evangeline? I do have my ship types).

So EEEEEE!

It is no secret I enjoy romance novels, but I largely do it in the same way I do cotton candy - it's sweet, quick, and forgotten as soon as consumed. However, there are some that escape that oblivion, that I adore and keep and reread and think are very very good. Below the cut are my 15 favorites, in no order.

Two notes: First, I didn't put any Georgette Heyer or Patricia Veryan on this because otherwise the list would be solely them. And the other note is that this list, like any list, reflects my personal preferences - I prefer period romances to contemporary ones, I like my romance explicit and also am very fond of h/c. The choices below rather reflect that.

( List here of the 15 books )

I am going to try to do periodic reading posts because I do read a lot so it might be fun to blab about it.

Part of the reason there haven't been so many posts in the last couple of days is that I've been obsessed with Jilly Cooper's Wicked! and just finished it. Now I am reading Jump! (no, I have no idea why there are exclamation marks in the titles).

I've posted about her before, but in case you missed it, Jilly Cooper is the grande dame of those super-thick, deliciously snarky, melodramatic British novels which aren't really chick lit but are a somewhat trashy, R-rated delight. She's been writing forever and is still active.

I love some of her Rutshire Chronicles books more than others but they are all great fun:

( A really long list of her books with summaries and non-spoilery thoughts )

OK, this is long enough for a dissertation. Anyone read this?