Patrick Rothfuss: The Name of the Wind

MY NAME IS KVOTHE

I have stolen princesses back from sleeping barrow kings. I burned down the town of Trebon. I have spent the night with Felurian and left with both my sanity and my life. I was expelled from the University at a younger age than most people are allowed in. I tread paths by moonlight that others fear to speak of during day. I have talked to Gods, loved women, and written songs that make the minstrels weep.

You may have heard of me.

So begins a tale unequaled in fantasy literature–the story of a hero told in his own voice. It is a tale of sorrow, a tale of survival, a tale of one man’s search for meaning in his universe, and how that search, and the indomitable will that drove it, gave birth to a legend.

The voice carries the story and makes the story. In anybody else’s hands, this would be nothing more than backstory, because there is precious little that actually happens in this book.

If I had not wanted to read this book to find out why authors like Terry Brooks and Ursula K. LeGuin blurbed the book, I wouldn’t have gotten past the first ten pages and wouldn’t have finished the book. It may take other readers less time to be snagged by Rothfuss’s voice, in which case they are going to settle in for a good solid read.

The Name of the Wind rates 4 out of 5.

Cleaned out the Archives

All done.

Heading back to the UK tomorrow. I’ve a post up next week, I think, but Maggie Stiefvater’s interview will be up on the 1st next month, and she’s giving away Lament!

Charlene Teglia: Wicked Hot

Two immortal warriors attending to her every need…
The struggle between good and evil is about to get…Wicked Hot

Edana is a succubus—a breathtakingly beautiful demon who offers men their most decadent fantasy in exchange for their souls. No one can get close to her without being destroyed..until she meets Eli and Dal. Both men are Nephilim, immortal warriors who bind and banish demons. Edana’s mission is to arouse their lust and steal their souls before they can destroy her—she never expects to fall in love. Shared by two virile lovers and lost in a world of sensation, Edana begins to fall for one of the warriors, jeopardizing her mission. Only he has power to save her, but first she must give him power over her heart—and her destiny…

I’ve read quite a few other first-person succubus books.

This is the only one I’d truly consider a romance. And what a romance it is!

Charlene kept the suspense going throughout the book, from the appearances of Eli and Dal’s father and the Devil to Edana trying to do what a succubus is best at.

And the sex…*fans herself* If you are particularly into m/f/m threesomes, this is definitely the book for you. While many, and maybe most, of the sex scenes are threesomes, you can still see the growth of Edana’s relationship with her hero. It’s not to say that I rooted for one brother or the other, but when you get to the last page, you know that Edana ended up with the right brother.

It’s not a book I read in one sitting, however. Believe it or not, I got past the first hundred pages and then thought ‘whooo hot! but I need a breather.’ I put down the book at least twice. But I’m very very glad that I had to pick it up again so I could write this review, because the pay-off? Totally worth it.

Wicked Hot rates 4 out of 5.

C.L. Wilson: Lord of the Fading Lands

Long ago, in the magical holocaust known as the Mage Wars, the immortal Fey and their allies fought to defeat the grasping evil of the Elden Mages and their dark-gifted supporters. During those wars, in a fit of grief-induced madness caused by the death of his mate, Fey shapeshifter Rain Tairen Soul nearly destroyed the world in a blaze of tairen fire.

Now, a thousand years later, the fierce Fey king must fight to save his race from the brink of extinction and once again stop the evil rising in the homeland of his enemies, the Eld. The key to his success lies in the mortal city of Celieria, where the Mage Wars began, and with a young woman whose soul sings to him in ways no woman’s ever has, whose presence reawakens the primal fury of the tairen within his soul, and whose vast, untapped power can either save or destroy him and his people.

I saw this at the library and picked it up because of the hype. I wouldn’t have made it through if I didn’t want to understand the hype.

It’s an interesting book. I’d have loved it maybe 5-6 years ago.

What’s not to like about Ellysetta? At the start of the book, she is someone nearly every woman has been at some point in their lives. They feel ugly, they are never going to get married, and they feel trapped. Excepting the second bit, I totally get it.

Then Rain comes along. Rain the soul mate. Rain thinks Ellysetta is beautiful, perfect etc. So does the rest of his people — at least the ones we meet in this book.

Wouldn’t you WANT to be Ellysetta?

I would, but I don’t think Ellysetta has much of a personality. Maybe it gets better in the next book, but there’s my one book and you’re out on your ear rule. Wilson’s voice isn’t anything special for me.

As for Rain… He never becomes anything more than a jumble of emotions of wanting Ellysetta, being the man who nearly scorched the world and being the last Tairen Soul. It never clicks into a single character.

Lord of the Fading Lands rates 2 out of 5.

6 Unspectacularly Quirky Things? Only 6?

I’m kidding about the second part.

As always, Nadia Lee is the Queen of Evil.

1. I fiddle with fonts for every project. Fiction, non-fiction etc. The only one that goes untouched are my blogs, and that may not last for very long.
2. I always have to read library books first. No matter how many hundred books I have in my TBR pile.
3. I like chewy things, like mitarashi dango and caramels and toffees and glutinous rice balls.
4. I like sashimi and sushi, but I don’t particularly like salmon or maguro. My current favorite is nama hotate.
5. I speak a number of food languages, but only 1 fluently and another kind of in the sense that I sound like a native speaker even if I don’t read like one.
6. I don’t believe in Wikipedia but I do believe in the power of the wiki.

Because I am the Queen of Evil’s chief councillor, I must tag people. Therefore, I tag you, you, you, you, you and you

I feel really sorry for Bristol Palin

This blog isn’t about politics.

But I think you should go read this post by Maureen Johnson anyway:

Brisol Palin, for those of you who have managed to avoid all forms of media for the last 48 hours, is the daughter of Republican Vice Presidential nominee Sarah Palin. Bristol is seventeen years old and five months pregnant, and she has the extreme misfortune to be in the middle of a contentious presidential race.

This makes me so queasy, I find it hard to type.

A lot of people are saying, “Isn’t that wonderful! What a nice family to support her!” I’d bet my Abba collection that most of you saying that are probably pretty nice people, who do a lot to support others. But I respectfully disagree. I think this situation is nuts. I don’t think she’s getting support at all, and this is one of the most messed up messages I have ever seen put across.

It had to be pretty tough already to be the Republican VP nominee’s kid. Throw in a pregnancy at 17 and there’s just no good way out of this mess.

Jennifer’s going to get her soul sucked out!

By MG’s book. What, she’s a sister of the severed hand. That gives her supernatural powers beyond your ken.

Anyway, Jennifer, email me at miladyinsanity (at) gmail (dot) com and I’ll pass you along to MG!

MG Braden Comes To Town

She cheated. I wouldn’t give her questions, and guess what she does? She cheats and gets the Divas to give her some. *tosses severed hands at her*

Mock her for her cheating, and you could win a copy of Harmony!

When May said I could guestblog I had no idea what to talk about so I asked people to tell me what they’d what to know about. Here are the questions they asked:

What were your struggles when you started writing for publication and how did you over come them?

When I started my struggles mostly involved juggling family time with writing. At the time I started writing seriously, for publication, I became pregnant and experienced a difficult pregnancy. That sidetracked me for a while, but then when my youngest was a few months old I came back to it and my first published story was written with him in my lap. Really, it’s just been a matter of finding time for everything. I’m not really sure I’ve over come anything, some days are easier than others. My family has to come first, especially because my kids are so young right now.

How do you deal with writer’s block or do you think there is such a thing? I totally believe there is such a thing. It is hard. My worst was last year when I went three months without writing anything. I was miserable, but I just couldn’t write. The well was empty and I didn’t really know why. I just kept in touch with my CP and hung out with Romance Divas for inspiration. It finally came back. Thankfully I wasn’t on contract at the time, although I tend to work better under stress and when work is due, so hopefully that won’t be a problem.

Why are you the way you are?

Because God made me this way.

What is the nastiest, dirtiest non-writing job you’ve ever had and do you think it contributed to you becoming a writer?

For me it was being a busser at busy restaurant where the kitchen was downstairs. We had to haul trays of dishes, cutlery etc. up and down those stairs without killing ourselves or breaking anything. I know that’s not necessarily nasty, but it was dirty. And I didn’t last long at it, so I don’t really think it contributed much of anything to my life, let alone writing. I waitressed for a long time and was much more suited to that. I love people-watching and working at restaurants provides a great venue for that. People-watching contributes a lot to my writing.

When you write do you keep pictures of your heroes and your heroines in front of you?

Nope. They’re in my head.

Are you a pantser or a plotter?

A pantser for sure.

How would you describe a typical writing day?

I have three kids aged 2-9, there really is no typical writing day for me at the moment, but mostly it would start at 9pm when my house is quiet. When I’ve got something due then I try to write between 9 and 11pm every day and then whenever I can catch some time throughout the day.

Is there anything you have to have on your desk or you can’t write? And I don’t mean a computer.

Duh. LOL Coffee!

If you could choose just one, would you rather win the National Book Award, a Nobel prize, or be on Oprah for something unrelated to your writing? And we aren’t sayin’ what!

Wow – well, I’m not really eligble for the National Book Award because I’m Canadian, but I’d probably pick that if I was. Otherwise, Oprah, for something unrelated to writing.

If you had to choose, which writer would you consider a mentor?

I’m not sure I could just choose one. I choose different things from different people. But, I guess, if I had to choose just one, it would be Imogen Howson. She is brilliant with world-building and description/narratives. She puts words together in a way that makes them magical and she’s a grammar goddess.

What book are you reading now?

I just finished Lara Adrian’s Midnight Awakening.

Is there anything you find particularly challenging in your writing?

I need to work on descriptions more. I love dialogue and I like the pace to move along. When I read I don’t like a lot of filler, so I tend to write that way, but sometimes you need descriptions—you need more information.

You write within a few romance sub-genres. How do you think that affects your writing? Are any of the sub-genres the one you aspired to write?

I honestly didn’t intend to do that. I honestly write what I am called to write. What I mean is, the story in my head evolves the way it evolves and I let it. At the base, everything I write is contemporary romance. What I actually aspired to write was romantic-suspense, but my voice seems to be lighter than that requires. I like to read gritty romantic-suspense, but I just don’t have a dark voice. I’ve learned to accept what my voice calls for and am slowly finding what works for me.

How did you get so tall? Can I have some?

It’s my genes! And I’ll Fedex you some.

I think this is srsly unfair. I’m her sister. How come I’m so short? I throw more severed hands than she does. I should be taller!

Seriously, does the butterfly (in your banner) have significance to you or is it just pretty?

It’s all about the emergence of me as a writer and how I coccooned and… No, really, it’s just pretty! LOL

What is your favorite cheese?

Brie

If you could write anywhere in the world, where would it be? why?

Probably on the beach in Mexico, because I would really rather do anything on a beach in Mexico. LOL Truly, I am lucky to have a great office to write in at home, where I can look at the trees, squirrels and nature in my backyard. Sometimes, I wish I had walls so that I could shut out the household noise, but otherwise I’m good.

Michelle (MG) Braden is the author of several contemporary romances, the latest of which is also a paranormal. Vampire Oracle: Harmony cover Vampire Oracle: Harmony was released by Cobblestone Press on August 1, 2008.

You can find out more about the book at http://www.cobblestone-press.com/catalog/books/harmony.htm and more about Michelle at http://www.mgbraden.com

And so. Giveaway. Harmony. One lucky winner, one vampiric copy. It’s gonna suck your soul out into its pages. *nods* That’s why I haven’t read it yet. Not sure I have one, but if I have a soul, I wanna keep it. So comment if you dare!