In Theory, there is no Practice.

Audio: Eclipse, Stephenie Meyer (Audio) 4.5 of 5 stars. I am impressed that that Stephenie Meyer can keep the quality of the books so high. This was a harder, somewhat darker book to take, but still very satisfying. I really felt sad for Jacob. In a lot of ways, he and Alice are the most memorable and interesting characters.

Read: Breaking Dawn, Stephenie Meyer. Outstanding. 4.5 of 5 stars. This one had a bit more humor than the others, and the danger never really seemed as dire as the first 3 books, but that really fits my preferences better anyway.

Firestorm , Rachel Caine. 4 of 5 stars. In contrast, this one was quite a bit darker. The death of one character really made me sad. The danger / loss is much higher in these books, though the humor was still there. Were Joanne not as easy to like, or the humor less successful, I would probably find this series too dark. Pushing Charlaine Harris Sookie Stackhouse dark. I want to be happy when a book is done (not happy that the book is done, if you take my meaning…)

Listening to: Eclipse, Stephenie Meyer (Audio) 5 hours in. Working on integrating Bella, Edward and Jacob. Mystery villian atm. Really into it.

Reading:
Chill Factor, Rachel Caine. Really picked up a quarter of the way in. Or maybe I am biased because I used to live in Las Vegas.

Listening to: Eclipse, Stephenie Meyer (Audio) 5 hours in. Working on integrating Bella, Edward and Jacob. Mystery villian atm. Really into it.

Reading:
Chill Factor, Rachel Caine. Really picked up a quarter of the way in. Or maybe I am biased because I used to live in Las Vegas.

New Moon, Stephenie Meyer (Audio) Really like it. 4.5 of 5 stars. I was surprised how good this second book was. Normally there is a drop off, but this was an exception. Jacob was a great character, and Isabella did many interesting things. The last third didn’t seem as integrated as the first 2/3. That first part was great, and really tugged at a lot of emotions for me. I was worried at the beginning that Bella would get to whiny / dependent, but the story got off to a bang from her birthday on, and really never slowed down. Not so much in action, but I really wanted to see what happened next.

A damn fine book.

New Moon, Stephenie Meyer (Audio) Really like it. 4.5 of 5 stars. I was surprised how good this second book was. Normally there is a drop off, but this was an exception. Jacob was a great character, and Isabella did many interesting things. The last third didn’t seem as integrated as the first 2/3. That first part was great, and really tugged at a lot of emotions for me. I was worried at the beginning that Bella would get to whiny / dependent, but the story got off to a bang from her birthday on, and really never slowed down. Not so much in action, but I really wanted to see what happened next.

A damn fine book.

Heat Stroke, Rachel Caine. 3.5 of 5 stars. Still only one real character (fortunately, the main character). Joanne Baldwin is pretty cool, but the men / djinn seem superficial. The story was a bit forced to get to the end, but the action was fun to follow. Pretty clear what book 3 will address.

Quite a drop-off from the first book.

Listening To: Eclipse, Stephenie Meyer (Audio) (Twilight Series, book three) About 1 hour into it. Still getting started.

Reading: Chill Factor, Rachel Caine. About 40 pages in. Still getting started.

Reading:
Heat Stroke, Rachel Caine About half way done. Pretty good so far.
Listening to: Twilight,Stephenie Meyer (Audio), New Moon, Stephenie Meyer (Audio) Almost done with Twilight. Love it.

Reading:
Heat Stroke, Rachel Caine About half way done. Pretty good so far.
Listening to: Twilight,Stephenie Meyer (Audio), New Moon, Stephenie Meyer (Audio) Almost done with Twilight. Love it.

Just finished Ill Wind by Rachel Caine. I give this one 4 of 5 stars. I did enjoy the unique magic  system and problems created / addressed by that magic system. Joanne Baldwin was a fun heroine, and there was quite a bit of humor, which for me is a plus. However, only Joanne was a memorable character to me. The rest were just not that interesting or well developed. The ending was an interesting and daring twist.

This is the first book in the Weather Warden series. Since, I will read at least one more book in the series, the book has been successful. There are a number of series, such as The Sword of Truth, that I have abandoned, so any book that keeps me reading the next can’t be too bad.

Listening to : Twilight,Stephenie Meyer (Audio) About 9 hrs in, 3.5 hours to go. Not super fast or a great deal of action, but I am enjoying it a lot.

Reading: Ill Wind, Rachel Caine Half way or so through. This is the kind of book that starts in the middle, and moves forward and has flash backs. Thus the I assume the cause of the big problem obliquely referenced at the start will be revealed pretty much at the same time as the solution to the problem. It is a fun story so far.

I finished The Touch of Twilight by Vicki Petterson. I like it, say 4 of 5 stars. 

I often have troubles with books like this after a while. There is a lot of sorrow, and not a lot of happiness, even during the ‘Happy’ ending. 

It makes me wonder why so many of the comic books, series, epics work the way they do. I mean, for the Good/Light, even success has a cost in life, sorrow, blood, loss. But you never really see the Evil/Dark pay a cost, unless it is the final battle where they are well and truly defeated. I can take it for a bit, but really, after a while I can only wonder why the heroes don’t despair.

I do see in this case that several of the Shadows pay both physical and emotional costs (Regan kills someone she cares about while thinking she is killing someone else, and is also hurt badly physically), but most just go about their business. Joanna pays at least as high a cost, and she wins. 

EDIT:
Upon further review, most of the Shadows that paid a price did so because The Archer did things the Shadow way (in particular, Regan got pwned). But still, I can’t shake the feeling that somehow in trying to make the odds the good had to overcome look so high, we make the evil seem omnipotent. It can make for a good yarn, but it only works for so long. Then it just gets tiresome.

The real world doesn’t work that way. Rarely is the Dark 1-dimensional evil. There are people of honor on both sides, and people on both side makes errors in judgement based on character fales, bad intel or just bad luck. I think that Glenn Cook’s Black Company series is a wonderful attempt to show how minions of a Shadow can live and work without being blind.

I have to start someplace. I have been reading a lot lately, mostly Urban Fantasy and Fantasy. I’d like to start writing reviews of the books, but I feel overwhelmed. So here is the last 60 days or so of reading.

I have noted books I have ‘read’ on Audio. I will try to put together the differences in another post later.

In Progress:
• The Touch of Twilight, Vicki Pettersson 
• Twilight, Stephenie Meyer (Audio)
• Saturn’s Children, Charles Stross
  
• Iron Sunrise, Charles Stross

Completed (approximately most recently completed first):

• The Taste of Night, Vicki Petterson
  
• Blood Noir, Laurell K. Hamilton (Audio)
• Alpha and Omega, Patricia Briggs
• Nightwalker, Jocelynn Drake
• Tangled Webs, Anne Bishop
• The Harlequin, Laurell K. Hamilton (Audio)
• The Scent of Shadows, Vicki Pettersson
• Dance Macabre, Laurell K. Hamilton (Audio)
• Mistral’s Kiss, Laurell K. Hamilton (Audio)
• A Stroke of Midnight, Laurell K. Hamilton (Audio)
• Seduce by Moonlight, Laurell K. Hamilton (Audio)
• A Caress of Twilight, Laurell K. Hamilton (Audio)
• A Kiss of Shadows, Laurell K. Hamilton (Audio)
• From Dead to Worse, Charlaine Harris (Audio)
• All Together Dead, Charlaine Harris
• Definitly Dead, Charlaine Harris
• Dead as a Doornail, Charlaine Harris
• Living Dead in Dallas, Charlaine Harris
• Dead Until Dark, Charlaine Harris
• Dead to the World, Charlain Harris
• Club Dead, Charlaine Harris
• The Edge of Reason, Melissa Snodgrass
• A Lick of Frost, Laurell K. Hamilton (Audio)
• Dreams Made Flesh, Anne Bishop
• The Invisible Ring, Anne Bishop
• The Black Jewels Trilogy, Anne Bishop
• Micah, Laurell K. Hamilton (Audio)
• Incubus Dreams, Laurell K. Hamilton (Audio)
• Cerulean Sins, Laurell K. Hamilton (Audio)

When I get some time, I will add links to the the titles / audio. 

My employer has implemented new web site filtering content and my personal sites have been blocked. Bah.

Here is my attempt at bypassing the blocks.

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