5 Books read in June, 4 were part of a series. I spent a lot of time in my truck, so I audiobooked a series of 5. The fifth was finished in early July, so it will be there next month.
Mars One – Jonathan Maberry
I like Maberry’s Young Adult novels. They’re for a younger audience, but he doesn’t dumb things down. In this one, Tristan is going to Mars with his family, to be the first colonists to settle it. He has to leave behind everything he’s ever known, as well as ending it with his girlfriend, Izzy. In addition to that, the terrorist group Neo-Luddites are protesting, and trying to sabotage the Mars mission, and China’s claiming they already sent out a mission to colonize Mars. What’s a boy to do?
I enjoyed the book a lot, but the first part dragged. It was all on Earth, with Tristan saying goodbye to everything he was familiar with, while on tv (realty tv paid him and his girlfriend well), and getting the final training in for the mission. This stuff’s kind of boring.
Once they get into space, it really picks up, and I devoured the book. Maberry did his homework, and the travel to Mars feels real. The descriptions of life on the ship and how gravity does and doesn’t work, feels real. Also, this is where the plots involving potential Neo-Luddite sabotage, and China’s launched mission come into play, and those bits are super interesting.
Ordinarily I’d be clamoring for a second book, as I love Maberry’s writing, but I think this one sits best as a stand alone.
The Fairy Godmother – Mercedes Lackey
I remember reading this book when I was just out of college, and really enjoying it. I kept seeing it listed on various pages on TV Tropes, and decided to check it out again, this time as an audiobook.
I enjoyed the book as much this time as the first time I read it. Elena has spirit, and is the perfect godmother’s apprentice. She’s smart and savvy. And I like that she’s not wasteful of magic. Her training to become a godmother, and how she handles it after she’s become a godmother is interesting and fun to read.
I am not nearly as entertained with the section of the book involving Alexnder and his trials to become a better person. I mean, you can see exactly where the story is going, yet it plods along, unstoppable, and not all that fast. I like how it tied into the ending of the book, and the great conflict, but it wasn’t nearly as fun as seeing Elena do Godmother things.
One Good Knight – Mercedes Lackey
I would have liked this book better if the plot hadn’t plodded along quite so slowly. Andie, the queen’s daughter, is a fun character. She’s bright and intelligent, and her need for glasses is a nice change from people never having a problem. But to be fair, she never really loses them or has trouble with them, so they’re more window dressing than anything.
I’m also annoyed with her mother dressing her in things that are supposed to make her look unwell, with glasses to make her look owlish, yet those loyal to her never seem to realize it’s to make her look weak. Everyone thinks she looks fine. Her mother is nearly perfect in appearance, so I doubt that she messed up there.
The romance plot between Andie and her intended was weird. They’re good friends, but the love issue, and the idea they’re in love, is neglected and ignored until the very last pages, when it’s suddenly them passionately declaring their love. And it just so happens that the other couple in the book, that you don’t really realize is a couple, are also deeply, madly in love, so Elena can work a spell and make everything okay.
Fortune’s Fool – Mercedes Lackey
This one was a nice change from the previous book. I didn’t recognize the fairy tale is was from, but that didn’t damped my enjoyment of the book. Katya, the heroine, and Sasha, the Hero, were interesting characters, and both well developed. Katya is a spy for her father, the Sea King. Sasha is a 7th son, which makes him a Fortunate Fool. Both characters are aware of The Tradition, and how it can shape things, so they make an effort to ensure their respective kingdoms run smoothly despite it.
The Jinn kidnapping girls and women was a weird twist. Again, I don’t know the fairy tale this is based on, so maybe it’s part of it. Katya comments that the Jinn doesn’t belong, and The Tradition is forcing him into a role he’s not meant to have. They way Katya and the other women, as well as Sasha and his helpers, manage to defeat the Jinn is awesome, and her binding is great. I really enjoyed this one, probably because it was so unusual to me.
The Snow Queen – Mercedes Lackey
This was probably my least favorite of all of the Five Hundred Kingdoms series. It took so long to get going, and the ending was anti climactic. The Snow Queen, Aleksia, lives a lonely life in the Palace of Midwinter. She has a mirror servant and a rotating staff of brownies, and that’s it. Eventually word gets to her that there’s a sorceress who’s stolen her name of The Snow Queen and is freezing villages, and luring young men to their doom. That’s finally enough to get her to act, and with the help of some other people we’ve been following, she does.
Aleksia is a whiny bitch. I don’t have a nice word for her. She bemoans being the ice fairy, because usually she’s posing as the Snow Queen and she’s a heartless bitch, and people don’t like her. Yet, she acts like that a lot of the time anyway. Three villages get frozen stiff, but she’s not compelled to investigate herself. Until she gets word of the Snow Queen, and and a few other things finally compel her to get involved, 80% through the book, she sits around and whines. And whines. And whines some more. Oh, and puts a problem in the path of a woman and her future daughter-in-law, which results in the daughter-in-law getting pawed and assaulted, and nearly raped. Aleksia considers it a minor thing.
90% of the book is Aleksia sitting around doing minor things, while the actual plot gets itself going in the occasional snippet from the supporting cast. It was boring, Aleksia isn’t relatable, and I was so glad the stupid book was done.