• Nothing to Lose by Lee Child – 3 stars

  Though this latest Jack Reacher novel is leaps and bounds beyond the decidedly underwhelming Bad Luck and Trouble—it was, typically of Child, engaging and well-written, and thankfully suffered from none of its predecessor’s plot discrepancies—I just couldn’t get into it. I think my problem is that I am starting to feel a real lack of credible motivation from Reacher himself. I’m tired of reading Reacher books where he involves himself in something because they messed with the wrong guy, or that the organizing principle of his life is relentless forward motion. When does it become personal? When does it become difficult for him? Where’s the challenge?

  The last few books have followed the same formula: someone pisses him off and he goes in and cleans the floor with the villain(s). Not since One Shot, in fact, and probably actually not since The Enemy, has Reacher seemed fully, emotionally engaged in the book’s conflict. Really, he’s lost his humanity, or is near it, and I’m near to never picking up another Reacher book.

• Cry Wolf by Patricia Briggs – 4 stars

  The beginning of a new series set in the same world as Briggs’ Mercy Thompson books, Cry Wolf is another strong offering from a very talented author. It was very good, but not quite as good as the Mercy books, and I think it’s because of the character development. Each of the two main characters is still a bit of a cipher, though I hope and expect that will change as the series progresses—it is admittedly a bit unfair of me to compare this single novel to a series that has 3 whole books out, and which is therefore guaranteed to have better fleshed-out characters.

  Again, I have to say that Briggs is rapidly becoming one of my favorite authors, and Cry Wolf is only strengthening her position. If you haven’t read her excellent, excellent urban fantasy books, I don’t know what you’re waiting for.

of first novels. Well, leery when the first novel in question is by an author whose later works I’ve already read, and especially so when the author in question has a lot of books under his/her belt. Veteran writers’ later works tend to be very accomplished, and going back afterwards and reading their work in its more unpolished form is…difficult.

The same was true in reading the book I just finished: Michelle West’s Into the Dark Lands (3 stars). I could definitely see the promise of what West would become in this book (the first of a quartet), but technically, it just wasn’t on par with her later works. Her prose was beautiful, but often clumsy: the dialogue was a bit stilted, the plot poorly structured, the pacing syncopated. The premise was interesting, but the plot lacked a certain sophistication I had become accustomed to from West’s Sun Sword series, the characters likewise lacking complexity. The thing I missed most, though, was the rich cultural and anthropological detail of her later work; part of what made the Sun Sword series so great was its lovingly realized, nuanced and immersive setting.

Don’t mistake me, though. Mediocrity from Michelle West is still better than many others’ best. Most authors should be so lucky as to have a first work as good as this one. The ending of the book, especially, was very good, and I’m looking forward to reading the next one in the series.

• The Hard Way by Lee Child – 4 stars
  All of Child’s Reacher novels have been excellent: tightly plotted, well written, and thoroughly unputdownable. As expected, this one delivered the goods; as good as any of the previous novels, and better than most. Highly recommended.
• Mystic and Rider by Sharon Shinn – 4 stars
  I’ve been a fan of Shinn’s since first reading her Samaria series a few years ago, primarily for her skill with character development. However, her plots, while not bad by any means, had not been of sufficiently satisfying complexity for me, a diehard epic fantasy fan. Let me elaborate. When I come across a series of books, especially in the fantasy genre, I have certain expectations. One of them is that the story will continue across all the books in the series. In the Samaria series, this was not the case; while all 3 original books (with another one just published, I believe) were set in the same world, they were more or less stand-alone novels. They’re interesting and well written, and good enough to be on my keeper shelf, but not on my list of favorites for the reason I mention above. Mystic and Rider goes a long way to addressing that lack; an interesting and complex story was introduced in this first novel, and while I think the second in the series, The Thirteenth House, will focus on a different main character, I believe the overarching plot will be explored in more detail. Anyway. Back to the review. Like I said before, I love the way Shinn paints complex characters and their inter-relationships, and Mystic and Rider showcases her skill admirably.
• A Plague of Angels by Sheri S. Tepper – 3 stars
  This first novel of Tepper’s had the same strong points as her later ones: a very high level of technical skill, in dialogue, narration, plotting, pacing, everything. And it had the same weak points, too. She tends to write near- or post-apocalyptic novels with a similar theme: that man is a plague, a virus, a scourge upon the earth, and has destroyed it (or will in the near future) through his selfishness and utter disregard for those other creatures that have the misfortune to share it with us. Him. Whatever. So after a while, you get the feeling that if you’ve read one, you’ve read them all, however skillfully they’re put together. This being the 4th Tepper novel I’ve read, her strident and thinly-veiled lectures to care for the earth before it’s too late, and her resolute pessimism about human nature are wearing mighty thin. So I’ll give this one a 3 for being an engaging and interesting story, but no higher because, well, no one likes being told what to do all the time.

The Mirror Prince by Violette Malan – 3 stars

A solid debut effort, this straightforward fantasy was an enjoyable, quick read. The reviewers said that the greatest strength of this book was taking high fantasy and giving it an accessible, modern voice; I tend to agree. It was very good, but undemanding, which is both a good and a bad thing. Good in that it’s a great candidate for the casual or inexperienced fantasy reader, but bad in that it’s not as engrossing or memorable as it could be.

Nevertheless, I am looking forward to Malan’s future efforts.