Pawn in Frankincense by Dorothy Dunnett

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Holy smokin' story!  I nearly had a heart attack several times and if I hadn't been at work, I would've sobbed my eyeballs out.

And of course, now I can't stop, so planned November reads??? Bye-bye!  This series is absolutely wonderful. 

Why are people surprised that Lymond loves?  Of course he does -- so intensely he just can't show it.

I can't say anything at all without it being a spoiler...Lymond takes a gift to Sultan Suleiman in Istanbul from the King of France chasing his bastard son before the baby is murdered by the totally evil Graham Mallett. As always we see him through everyone's eyes but his.  New characters and old, ever fascinating and richly drawn.  Incredible detail of the riches and cruelties of the Islamic countries of that time.  The looting of Hagia Sophia, the maze of the Seraglio where the harem is kept, the polishing of Phillippa - his old friend's daughter from previous books.  All of it fine, beautiful, terrifying, and achingly sad.



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The Disorderly Knights by Dorothy Dunnett

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Oh my god!  What a book!  There's only one problem!  Now I've gotta read Pawn in Frankincense!  And I'm already dreading it all being over!



Dunnett spins a wonderful, intricate, suspenseful plot.  Sometimes she makes me laugh, sometimes she makes me look up words, but always she entertains me.  What rewards a little work can bring.  :)



This series has made me fall in love with the characters over time.  The depth of character building is phenomenal.  The plotting is sine qua non.  The world building is impeccable.  What else can I say?  Just read them.  It's worth it. 



The The Dorothy Dunnett Companion is very helpful to those of us who can't just identify quotes and French off the top of our heads.



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Bah Humbug!

The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett

My rating: 1 of 5 stars


I read good reviews of this book.  I loved Eye of the Needle.  It is 40 hours long and I figured it would be 40 hours of good entertainment.  Not.



I found the characterizations thin, annoying, and implausible.  The historical research was abysmal - seemed to be restricted to what anyone visiting a European cathedral can read about cathedral structure.  The writing is pedantic at best.



I believe in cutting my losses early, so I gave up after 12 hours and started Dunnett's The Disorderly Knights.



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Another fine addition to the Vorkosigan Saga

CryoBurn by Lois McMaster Bujold

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


As someone said, it was like visiting with old friends.  Very funny, touching, Miles and his wild antics have matured a little.  Having to do with cryogenics as the title implies.  Miles, of course, was revived from a cryo-sleep years before.

I knew something sad was coming at the end from reading other reviews so was braced for it, but still, it was out of the blue and brought tears to my eyes.  ;(  ;(  ;(

Another fine addition to the Vorkosigan Saga.



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From The Huffington Post

DNC member:  White House couldn't sell cocaine to Charlie Sheen!

Finished this last night:

Queens' Play by Dorothy Dunnett

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


I feel fairly inarticulate and incompetent to review a Dorothy Dunnett book except to say that they are complex, difficult reading, rich, fantastic, funny, sad, lovable and thoroughly worth the effort.

An example of her rich and original prose:  It had been a sharp night; but now the early sun, glaring cross grained through the branches, laid fresh black contours, thinly prowling, over the people below.

And a blurb from a book jacket: "Her hero, the enigmatic Lymond, [is] Byron crossed with Lawrence of Arabia... He moves in an aura of intrigue, hidden menace and sheer physical daring."
                                        ---Times Literary Supplement (London)

How could I improve on that?  He's also utterly handsome, blonde, artistic, thoroughly accomplished, brilliant (much more so than I), and a gentleman.

Her books are romance literature in the original sense - a style of heroic prose and verse narrative current in Europe from the Middle Ages to the Renaissance.  Although there is a love story in this one, it is not the kind of 'romance' that is lately popularized.  Far from it, thank God.  Although I can enjoy a cheesy romance novel at times, a steady diet of them has turned me into a voracious reader of novels with some meat, some deeper meaning, some difficulty, and that make me think.

In this episode of Lymond's career, he learns a bitter lesson about what his ability to influence and inspire people can do when he is careless of their vulnerability and weakness.



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The third installment of The Cycle of Fire by Janny Wurts

Shadowfane by Janny Wurts

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Demons or aliens, star ships with the technology to create sorcerers, plenty of psychological drama reins in the last installment of The Cycle of Fire.

For those who find Janny Wurts 'too difficult' will find this trilogy fairly easy going, but with some sophisticated psychological twists.  This element in Wurts' writing is what draws me to her books.  As in her later work, layers are uncovered gradually to reveal depth and the unexpected.

Dreamweaver, Firelord, and Stormwarden fight heroically to save mankind from the destruction desired by alien races (or demons) in revenge for being taken from their home planets.

I do think a fourth book would be lovely.  There is plenty of meat here for more.

A great listen!



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In other news, I think my refrigerator is sick.  The top half of the freezer is no longer freezing and I found the source of that awful smell I've been searching high and low for.  Also, I'm starting to wonder if I'm coming down with something, as I am achey and very tired.

I just finished this one, too.  Very good, but the narrator a little too flat.

A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Afghanistan from the woman's point of view, lovely, sad, hopeful.  The only surprise here is the mercy of some Taliban.  The friendship and love between Mariam and Laila is very moving.  Hosseini does a great job of getting inside their heads.  At times I felt sorry for Rashaad, a pitiful and brutal man in a society with no room for healing of old wounds and for recognition of the sacred feminine.



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The election sucked

But it wasn't as bad as it could've been.  And I'm not sure how a bunch of Republicans could be worse than the Democrats in Congress the last two years.  They're all idiots.  Connecticut of course went Democratic and I almost didn't vote, but dragged myself to the polls after work Tuesday.  So I did my civic duty.

Got my new iPhone last night and have been busy setting it up.  It's Tres Cool.  A little trouble reading some websites, like Goodreads.

We have a new Democratic governor, Malloy.  Don't know a thing about him.  Hopefully CT will continue to be liberal with its social programs.

Well, gotta go to work.

Stayed up most of the night reading this one.

Flowers from the Storm by Laura Kinsale

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Well, this was just delightful.  I promised myself a romance after I finished Anathem and this was it.  A typical historical romance between the rake and the prig, but with many original twists and turns.  I can't say too much or it will spoil it.  The writing is very good, the plot tight, and there was some pretty funny snarky humor.  The romance is great.  Loved the characters, the side characters, the setting.

Oh and it's a page turner.  Or else it's just my compulsive behavior at work, but I had to read to the end and stayed up most of the night to do it.  :D

Lovely, just lovely.



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