Stacked-Up Book Thoughts: A Slow Reading Week

Well this has been an embarrassing week for a book reviewer! I've listened to one -- yes ONE -- book all week. That's it.

I have an excuse of sorts: I'm trying to work ahead so I can take a trip with my girlfriends. Thus my life has been all about editing, freelance writing, packing, and otherwise losing my mind.

Oh and did I mention the poison ivy I got while weeding the other day? Oh yes. What a great airplane trip I'm going to have (scratch, scratch). Fortunately, the rash doesn't seem to be too bad, and I've been able to contain the itch with calamine lotion. STILL!

More about my upcoming trip in a later post. . . . In the meantime, here's what I listened to.

Age of War by Michael J. Sullivan (Del Rey, July 3), the third book in the Legends of the First Empire series, continues the story of the deep history of the universe introduced in the Riyria Revelations. Lost? Don't be. Sullivan has written three epic fantasy series, all set in the same world but not in the same time period. The first two series focused on the adventures of two thieves and how their seemingly insignificant lives in fact had an impact on far-reaching events. This third series goes back in time to reveal the pivotal events that changed a world and provided the foundation for the other books. I can't really say much about Age of War to those of you who haven't read any of Sullivan's books without giving away major spoilers. What I can say is this: Sullivan knows how to create believable characters that are easy to root for or to hate. Not everyone lives. Relationships don't always go the way you want them to. People grow and change. People make mistakes. There are dwarfs and elves and magic, but this isn't a children's story with wands and pointy hats. Age of War, as the title suggests, involves bloody battles and politics. Sacrifices are made, people are injured and killed, and few choices are black or white. I love, love, love these books and this entry did not disappoint. I also can't say enough good things about Tim Gerard Reynolds's performance of the audiobook (Recorded Books, 15 hr, 47 min). He gets the emotions, the pacing, the humor, and the personalities down perfectly.  (personal collection).

Bad Man by Dathan Auerbach (Doubleday, August 7): This novel, about the disappearance of a young boy from a grocery store, was pitched as being spooky. I don't do scary, but Mr. BFR does, so I accepted the ARC with the understanding that if anyone read the book in my house, it would be him. He did in fact read it, and here are some of his brief thoughts. First, he didn't think it was all that scary, though he liked the setup: Teenage Ben loses track of his three-year-old brother in a grocery store, and the toddler is never seen again. As his family falls apart, Ben, now twenty, is forced to work at the very store where his brother disappeared. There is a cast of creepy characters who all seem to be hiding something, and Ben has never stopped looking for his brother or feeling guilty. Mr. BFR was invested for most of the book, coming up with theories for the identity of the "bad man." Unfortunately, the Southern Gothic story didn't hold up at the end. He didn't buy some of the reveals and was frustrated by some unresolved issues. The book ends with an author's note that talks about the inspiration for this story. Mr. BFR says he wishes he had read the note before reading the book; it might have positively affected his reactions. Other reviewers had better luck, so you might want to give it a try.