In Calabria, by Peter S. Beagle

In Calabria by Peter S. Beagle

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Like a lot of people, I liked this book but didn't love it. The writing is beautiful, and Calabria is a fun setting for a story, but it feels just a slight bit remote and I'm not sure I came away feeling more intensely about the setting. As for the unicorn, and the relationship to Bianchi--also beautiful, also a little remote, perhaps intentionally so. I remember reading reading The Last Unicorn more than 40 years ago, and while it also felt that way at the start, it got more intense as it went along and I still remember its ending very well. I'm glad I read it, equally glad I get to return it to the library. It has a good home there.



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City of Blades, by Robert Jackson Bennett

City of Blades by Robert Jackson Bennett

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This series is a rare combination--great world building and great characterization. Really rare to get both. General Turyin Mulaghesh is both a war criminal and a hero, and RJB actually manages to fit all of this into one skin in the book. Similar with Sigrud Je Harkvaaldsen, they are two peas in a pod as far as their history goes but very dissimilar in personality.

The world building goes forward here but it takes more of a back seat to characterization. I very much appreciated how hard Jackson worked to make war a human reality--that it is fought by humans and those humans who are soldiers pay a terrible cost even if they are victorious.

I was a little sad when this book ended, which is exactly as it should be. You know you've enjoyed a book when you find you will miss the characters. I hope to pick up City of Miracles soon, to see how this all ends.



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Cloudbound, by Fran Wilde

Cloudbound by Fran Wilde

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


In this installment of The Bone Universe we get a change of POV (from Kirit to her brother Nate), and of perspective. Nate is a more reflective and big-picture thinker than Kirit, which shows in his attraction to politics and able players. The book centers on how he and Kirit will try to save their home from his perspective.

We get a nice expansion of the Bone Universe, in an expected but interesting way. (view spoiler)[They literally do live on the back of something you could legitimately call a giant turtle. Wryly funny. (hide spoiler)] We get a more thorough introduction to the ecosystem, and Wilde does a good job of showing how delicately balanced their environment is.

But I have to say I didn't like it as much as the first one, since the world is now familiar. Others have said the plot is not quite dramatic enough for YA, nor intricate enough for adult SF, and I agree. Many like the writing style, but it is wearing on me. Very short sentences that don't flow make it a more challenging read than it needs to be. This one falls victim to the "middle of the trilogy" syndrome, where it's just difficult to keep the momentum going.

The third book is nominated for awards, so I'm looking forward to that one.



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