I've done some gardening when it wasn't raining. We have had way too much rain this year. After several years of drought, having so much rain for the last few months has been a surprise--initially appreciated. Then the combination of our own rain and the rain in Oklahoma and Texas had the Red River rising to flood stage...then past flood stage, flooding all that was in reach of the river's expanding banks. Early June spelled disaster for many.
We are fortunate not to live in the flooded areas, but it was both amazing and horrifying to see the normally well-contained Red spill over its bank and destroy so many homes.
Because I couldn't work in the garden, my reading became unusually obsessive. Now in July, it is so hot and the humidity so high, that at 7:30 AM the sweat burns my eyes and by 10:00, I'm bedraggled, debilitated, almost prostrate with exhaustion--ready for a shower, air conditioning, and a book. And still facing so many gardening tasks that didn't get done in the spring. If the humidity is 60% or less, we rejoice. Right now, my Weather Bug app says 94% humidity at 8:00 AM.
At any rate, I spent most of June reading like some kind of crack addict. Right now I have 12 reviews scheduled (most of which were June reading) for between now and October (keeping in mind their publication dates)...and probably that many left to write.
So here are some quick reviews of books I purchased and read last month. Since they are not ARCs or NetGalley ebooks, no need to schedule them.
The Inheritance Trilogy by N.K. Jemisin. The trilogy consists of 3 novels: The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, The Broken Kingdoms, and The Kingdom of the Gods. Whoa! The gods in these novels are the powerful, petty, flawed, unreasonable, impetuous, interfering, often malicious kind. They resemble the Greek gods with all of their flaws and destructive behavior--intriguing, but frightening. Each novel in the trilogy is connected, but emphasizes different characters; the role of Sieh the Trickster, however, is important in all of them.
The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms and The Broken Kingdoms were awesome, but The Kingdom of the Gods was less appealing and too long with occasional pacing problems. There is also a novella (The Awakened Kingdom) included in this omnibus that is less connected, but interesting.
Overall, The Inheritance Trilogy is more a modern take on myth than epic fantasy, but it is a strange, imaginative, fascinating, and original world. Jemisin has created a character-driven trio of novels set in a curious world with eccentric gods and mortals. More please.
Read in June. Purchased.
Myth/Fantasy. 2014. Print length: 1,472 pages. (lotta' pages, but 3 novels & a novella--all in one)
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Season of the Fox by Denise DomningI loved the first book in A Servant of the Crown series (Season of the Raven) and was eager to continue.
Book Description: A wealthy merchant has been murdered in his own home, and the suspect has fled to sanctuary in a local church. Enter Sir Faucon de Ramis, the king’s new Servant of the Crown in the shire, to solve the murder, assisted by his prickly secretary, Brother Edmund.
As Faucon begins his hunt, the shire’s new Crowner finds himself in the upside-down world of a woman’s trade. Not only does the merchant’s wife own the business—unheard of!—the suspect is the daughter’s betrothed, or so the town believes. But what about the bloody shoe prints and missing tally sticks, and what does the sheriff have to gain?
As much as I loved the first in this series, I was a little disappointed with this one. What was missing?
The first book had much more about the characters and the medieval world they inhabit (with such interesting historical details that I found myself Googling for more information about "hue and cry"-- its historical significance and all that was involved in the process, Keeper or the Pleas, Coronarius/Crowner/Coroner, and various other medieval laws and practices). Season of the Raven was character driven with excellent world-building, while Season of the Fox is more about the plot with less character development, although there are interesting elements about sanctuary and women who managed their own business.
I enjoyed it, but while I gave Raven 5 stars on Goodreads, Fox would only merit 3 stars. It was shorter, less detailed, and lacked much of what made the first in the series so engrossing. A good mystery, but without the same whole-world atmosphere Domning created in Season of the Raven.
Hopefully, the next in this series will return to developing Faucon, Edmund, and Brother Colin. I'm also eager to find about about the thread that is curiously (and briefly) winding through the first two books.
Read in June. Purchased.
Medieval Mystery. 2015. Print length: 193 pages.
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Tomorrow: my John Connolly digression.
I quite enjoyed N.K. Jemesin's trilogy too and agree about the third book, didn't enjoy it nearly as much. I need to read her new book.
ReplyDelete:) I am eager to read more by Jemisin. The trilogy kept me from getting much done for a couple of days!
DeleteI am so glad you weren't flooded out, Jenclair. Flooding was a common occurrence when I lived in Sacramento--at least in terms of streets and outlying areas close to the rivers. There's been a prediction that California will be getting some wet weather in the next year or two--which I am really hoping we do. My husband is more cautious, seeing what's happened in your part of the country as being what will happen here if it does. For the moment though, we have to deal with the drought conditions, water shortage and fires. It's rough either way, isn't it?
ReplyDeleteI'm really curious about N.K. Jemisin's books and so was glad to see your review of the trilogy. My dad was really into mythology and I find I'm fascinated by it at times too--even in fiction (well, you know what I mean. I hope. LOL). It's too bad Season of the Fox wasn't better.
It is a poor choice between drought and flood. After so many summers with high temperatures and little rain, we are grateful for rain to get the watershed back up, but want the river to stay within its banks. I hope California can get the right amount of rain--your drought is getting scary.
DeleteI enjoyed the Jemisin books and look forward to more. Season of the Fox was not bad, just not as good as the first one.
I'm on a blogging break - scheduled and totally enjoying it. Had to comment though. The rain...my word, the rain. And the humidity. It's ferocious. This has been an interesting year and we had rain almost every day of June as well as the flooding at the end of May. July is supposed to be less and the temps will go up, but the ground is so saturated, the humidity is awful. I don't mean to complain as we've been in severe drought for quite a while. However...sheesh! All at once.
ReplyDeleteApril, May, and June were all rainy here, too. We've already had quite a bit of rain in July, but the temps are definitely going up and no rain forecast for the next week.
Delete:) I do wish the weather would do a better job of cooperating with our wishes!
Since it's June our weather here is hot and humid. Heck, it's always humidity all year round. We have the fan on all the time and AC is a must when we sleep. The monsoon season is usually between October till January but one can never be sure when it comes to weather.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you aren't living in the flooded area. I can't imagine anyone who are affected by the floods; it must be devastating to them.
We are a hot and humid state, but we don't have a monsoon season, which is a good thing. I know the monsoons are needed for crops your part of the world, though. We are lucky not to have had to worry about our home being flooded, but watching people fight to save their homes and then watching the water take them anyway makes me realize how quickly things can change. One month everything is fine; the next week everything you own is part of the river.
DeleteHuh! I quite liked The Kingdom of the Gods -- I thought it felt like a more coherent book than the other two, even if I was slightly less invested in the characters in that one. Either way, I'm excited for anything NK Jemisin wants to write. She's an excellent writer, and I think she just gets better and better at putting books together.
ReplyDeleteTHE HUMIDITY I can't even with it. I take the bus to work every morning, and even the short walk to the bus stop at 7AM makes me feel like I just rolled around in an oil slick. Gross.
:) I liked parts of it, but it just seemed to go on and on. I thought I was going to have to strangle the resolution to make it stop!
DeleteIt is awful to feel like your walking into a sauna when you step out the door, isn't it? This time of year I even seek books with snow on the cover...when I'm not after frozen yogurt.
Oh don't get me started on the humidity. I have been using countless hair products and still my hair is frizzy! We definitely got tons of rain in Texas which we needed but I just wish it hadn't caused so much damage too. We lucked out and didn't have any issues but I still feel for the folks in Wimberley. Anyway, glad to hear you are enjoying a lot of reading at least! Really enjoyed hearing about these books which are new to me and definitely sound interesting.
ReplyDeleteI've given up on the frizz element--it might as well be raining the humidity is so high. I know Texas was really suffering in May. I saw lots of snaps of Austin's downtown area with flooded streets, and Houston was a mess, too!
DeleteYour picture had me doing a bit of research to see whereabouts you are. We're just an hour from the Red River and thankfully didn't have any flooding in our immediate area, but know that several parts of Dallas were affected. We're grateful for the full lakes and the relief we've had from the drought, but goodness...when it rains it pours, huh? Careful what you ask for?
ReplyDeleteHope a cool spell comes your way, if even for a day. I'm sure your hands are itching to get out there and play in the dirt!
We are in North Louisiana, the Shreveport/Bossier City area. It was the worst flood since around 1947 for this area. All the rain in Texas and Oklahoma fed into the Red River, so it wasn't just our local rain that caused the problems. Texas suffered from huge deluges and flash flooding. Here, we just watched the river rise and waited for flood stage. You are right, about being careful what we ask for! And with climate change, we never know what we are going to get.
Delete94% humidity at 8 am? Good gravy that's bad. We can get pretty tropical up here in MN but generally not that bad at that time of the morning. I hope everything dries out a bit soon!
ReplyDeleteThat morning it was like walking into a sauna, by the afternoon the humidity was down to around 50%, but the temps were in the 90's. Always hot and humid in Louisiana, and I dream of snow and cool breezes. :)
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