Jeweled Fire

As I already mentioned when I read Royal Airs, I got Jeweled Fire through interlibrary loan after unsuccessfully trying to buy it in paperback a few years ago. The book arrived and I only had a few weeks to get through it so it could go back to its home library out of town.  So I've been reading it over the last few days to make sure it was finished in time to go back.

Jeweled Fire picks up just a few days after Royal Airs ended. Princess Corene has joined Steff and his grandmother, the Empress Filomara of Malinqua, on their journey to bring Steff home. She left without her father's permission (her father being Darien Serlast, so that's kind of a big deal).  Because she ran away in the middle of the night, the only one to accompany her is her bodyguard, Foley (he was Josetta's bodyguard, but told her he was moving on to another assignment because Josetta now had Rafe to watch over her).

Corene knows she is arriving in Malinqua as a potential suitor to one of the four potential heirs to Filomara's throne.  She is joined by Princess Melissande of Cozique, Princess Alette of Dhonsho, and Liramelli, the daughter of the prefect of Malinqua. Filomara has not yet chosen her successor, and Steff's arrival complicates the playing field, which otherwise consists of Filomara's nephews Garameno, Jiramondi, and Greggorio.  All three have a flaw: Garameno had a riding accident that has left him in a wheelchair; he is considered to be "half a man" by many people, and there is some question as to whether or not he can have heirs.  Jiramondi is, as Melissande says,  "sublime": he prefers the romantic company of men.  In Malinqua, that is considered a detriment.  And Greggorio, the youngest, looks the part, but is not terribly bright nor interested in running the kingdom (although people say perhaps advisors could make up for his severe lack when it comes to running the kingdom)?  The succession is further complicated because Filomara's daughters have both died, two of her brothers died, and the remaining two have been exiled from court because they are suspected of having something to do with the other brothers deaths.  As the bodies continue to pile up, it becomes increasingly clear that someone is trying to eliminate the competition.  And unfortunately Corene and her new friends are right in the middle of everything!

I absolutely loved Jeweled Fire.  I wasn't expecting to like Corene as much as I did.  But I loved the story of how she finally came to have friends she cared about.  She's no longer the spoiled and selfish princess that she fears she is (that her mother tried to make her into).  While she can still be quite sassy (and sometimes rude when she wants to be), she means well and is just a lot of fun.

I also really liked how she came to realize what she wanted out of life.  Corene had been raised to think she should be queen, so she came to Malinqua intending to secure her crown now that she has no place in Welce.  Her father is due to be crowned king, but she is being overlooked in favour of her half-sister to be his heir.  So Corene was left adrift, thinking that she was a burden on everyone, and I enjoyed reading about how she found her own place in life while also discovering that people do care about her for being herself, not for being a potential queen. 
And of course, I loved her interactions with Foley.  Foley is a torz man whose only blessing to ever be drawn is "loyalty."  He is the perfect, no-nonsense bodyguard.  So when Corene wanders up and starts asking him ridiculous questions, their interactions get pretty great (especially in how they try to outmaneuver each other).  As the book continued, it became increasingly obvious that these two were meant for each other, and I was so happy when it finally happened that I cried (it was also a fairly emotional scene: Corene had to jump from a burning tower and he promised that he would catch her.  She didn't want to jump because she was terrified that landing on him would kill him. And he wanted her to jump because he couldn't stand the thought of her dying).

I also really liked Corene's friends.  Steff is so practical and blind to court politics that you just have to love him.  The three other girls were such opposites that managed to compliment one another, and they really looked out for one another.  And the heirs were all so intriguing: Garameno was the oldest who already advises the queen - he was knowledgeable, gallant, and didn't let his accident stop him.  Jiramondi was fun, and fit in really well with the group.  And Greggorio was a good person: he watched out for people and was always there to help.

As I said, I really did love this book.  Jeweled Fire is, at its heart, a story I think we can all relate to: finding our place in the world (and our people).

The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning

Rather than jump right into reading Jeweled Fire, I decided to take a very quick nonfiction break and read The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning first.  This tiny book was given to me by a friend because she knew I liked this sort of thing. For my part, I've seen The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning around and figured I would give it a read, especially since it's only about 100 pages long. 

The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning is all about clearing your clutter so your family doesn't have to deal with all your things when you pass away.  That is the primary focus of the book, but it's also fine if you're just wanting to downsize, perhaps because you are moving, or perhaps because you just know you have too much stuff.  Margareta Magnusson, a woman who is "between eighty and one hundred years old," has death cleaned for her parents and husband; she knows her time on this earth is limited now, so she wants to make her passing easier on her children by getting rid of her clutter. She looks at various facets of life and offers advice on how to deal with your various objects (the usual keep, give to friends and family, donate, or trash/paper shredder/recycle).  She also offers many fun anecdotes along the way (like how she once went skiing in a bikini).  The book also has some really cute drawings that accompany it (including one of skiing while wearing a bikini).

The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning is more of a coach than a real how-to manual.  If you're looking for a book that has lots of nitty-gritty ideas for clearing clutter, that is not this book.  Wha it is is a cheerful, gentle read to help you think about decluttering, especially when you know your time is almost up. 

Royal Airs

Oh my gosh, has it really been almost FOUR YEARS since I read Sharon Shinn's Troubled Waters??? 

I bought Royal Airs not long after loving Troubled Waters.  But the third book, Jeweled Fire, had just come out in hardback, so I decided to wait to read Royal Airs until I had the third one in paperback, too.  I waited.  And waited.  And saw the publication information change, saying the paperback version of Jeweled Fire wouldn't be coming out for like twenty years!  I pre-ordered it on Amazon in 2016; earlier in June (2019), Amazon cancelled my order because they found out the book wouldn't be released at all. :(

(Yesterday I discovered the reason why: the publisher decided that people will prefer ebooks to paperbacks). So much for my paperback collection of these books. :(

Thankfully, interlibrary loan started back up at the local library.  So I put in a request for Jeweled Fire.  In the meantime, I also found a copy of the fourth book, Unquiet Land (also hardback).  So once Jeweled Fire arrived from out of town, I knew I had to get reading Royal Airs!

Of course, this being four years later, I don't really remember all the details of Troubled Waters.  Thankfully, Royal Airs gives enough of the background information that I was able to piece together the important bits as I went along.

Royal Airs takes place about five years after the events of Troubled Waters.  Rafe Adova, a man who gambles at cards against people for a living, notices a well-dressed red-head slip into the bar he's in.  When some unsavoury sorts corner the red-head at the table, Rafe is quick to stop them.  He has lived on the streets for years now, and appreciated when strangers helped him.

Of course, he wasn't expecting that the wayward girl he was helping was Princess Corene.  And he most definitely wasn't prepared to meet her sister, Princess Josetta, who operates a shelter in the slums.  While in the area, Rafe is later jumped and almost killed because of the strange markings on his ear.  Josetta's guards find him and bring her back to the shelter, where their lives become unexpectedly intertwined because they find each other fascinating.  But when the truth about the attack comes to light (and to the attention of Darien Serlast, regent of the Welce throne and Corene's father) their lives get a whole lot more complicated!

Okay, I'll admit that's a pretty lame synopsis.  There's a lot more to Royal Airs than that, but also a lot less political maneuverings than were in Troubled Waters (I think? Maybe I'm wrong about that?  It's been four years?)  The two main characters, Josetta and Rafe, want to lead ordinary lives.  Josetta likes caring for the poor in her shelter in the slums (I loved how Zoe brought water to the building for her because of course the coru prime can do that!)  I also loved how Rafe had no elemental blessings for years (every time people pulled ghost coins, which are coins that are so old and worn that you can't tell what blessing was supposed to be on them) until Josetta pulled blessings from her shelter's temple, where none of the coins were old enough; only then did Rafe get actual blessings (but they were all extraordinary ones, not ones associated with particular elements). 

But then Royal Airs also has the technological aspects as well.  The elay (air) prime invented cars (elaymotives), and is working on creating flying machines as well (aeromotives).  Rafe was given a fortune for helping Corene, and at Josetta's suggestion he meets the elay prime to invest in an elaymotive factory.  But while there, he discovers the plans for the aeromotives, and gets recruited to be a pilot (which is a huge gamble because there have been seven fatalities already!)

The political maneuverings happen mostly around visits to the state.  First one foreign prince arrives to tour Welce in the hopes of making some trade negotiations.  Then the empress from a second nation arrives as well.  As one of the heirs to the throne, Josetta has to attend both.  And after Darien Serlast discovers Rafe (and Serlast knows exactly who Rafe's parents were, even though he keeps that information close to his chest), Rafe is drawn into the affairs of state as well.  There's also a huge question as to the heir of the country, because the named heir hasn't been seen at court for a year or two (only her decoy). 

All in all, I really enjoyed Royal Airs.  It was great to read more about the characters I liked from Troubled Waters, plus I really liked the new additions as well.  Once again, this book was full of superb worldbuilding, and I can't wait to start Jeweled Fire!

Harley Quinn Vol 1 and 2 + comics

I've really enjoyed reading about Harley Quinn's adventures. So when the local library stopped subscribing to Hoopla (which is how I was reading the graphic novels), I bought the next two graphic novels then asked my local comic shop to start putting them away monthly for me. I didn't get to them right away (Harley Quinn Vol 2: Harley Destroys the Universe, wasn't due out for a fee months); in the meantime I actually stopped getting comics. When I had trouble sleeping last night, I finally sat down to read my stash of Harley Quinn, starting with Harley Quinn Vol 1: Harley Vs. Apokolips. The numbering has restarted on the graphic novels because a new creative team took over the run (but the individual comics retain their current numbering).

In Harley Vs. Apokolips, Harley is on a much needed vacation, when Granny Goodness sends two of her Female Furies to bring Harley to her. Granny Goodness thinks Harley will be perfect for her plans. Harley is wowed by Apokolips (and the chance to be Hammer Harley rather than regular old Harley Quinn). Harley has fun on the world of chaos at first, but once she understands exactly what Granny Goodness is doing, Harley can't sit idly by while innocent people are sent to die.

I have to admit, I didn't enjoy Harley Vs. Apokolips as much as I have enjoyed previous volumes. For one thing, I often found the action (and even parts of the story like when the Female Furies succeed in kidnapping Harley from her vacation) hard to follow. There also seemed to be gaps in the story, where it seemed to jump ahead a bit. This was most clearly driven home when I discovered that issues 43 and 44, while included in the graphic novel, were put after the Harley Vs. Apokolips storyline (so I didn't get to see Harley going crazy and seeing things, and hence her need of a vacation, until afterwards).

Harley also didn't quite seem like herself. She seemed just crazy throughout this graphic novel; she was missing that bit of lovableness she normally has (this was driven home when she said to her beaver, Bernie "This is the price I pay for bein' the life of the party all the time. Ya want the good crazy? Well this is the ugly crazy that comes with it." This just didn't seem like her because she's pretty much always the good crazy - and that's what I want to read). You also don't get to see much of her friends in this volume, which was a shame since they're all super fun, too.

So I soldiered on with Harley Destroys the Universe....

And what a weird graphic novel that was! It started with issue 50, where Harley and Jonni DC, Continuity Cop chase after a comic book that is breaking DC continuity. That is followed by issues 51 and 52, where Harley is dealing with Captain Triumph, a golden age superhero who got caught in her continuity. Issues 53 and 54 then have Harley making online videos so she can pay for all the damage she and Captain Triumph caused (but a new super villain names Minor Disaster keeps ruining her videos in an attempt to impress her father, Major Disaster). And then the graphic novel skips issue 55 for some reason (a friend later told me it was most likely collected in a DC Christmas graphic novel because it was a Christmas story), going straight to issue 56, a weird story where Harley tries to give away cats (because she's suddenly allergic to them? I could have sworn she had cats and dogs in the past!) but a chain of men pet stores take exception to this because she's a woman. I don't even know where this story came from...it was totally random and didn't really fit with the world of Harley Quinn while also being one of the most Harley Quinn stories out of the whole graphic novel.

Harley Destroys the Universe did briefly bring Eggy back, but otherwise once again mainly avoided Harley's friends from earlier in the series. I'm also not sure why her mom keeps showing up to hang out; earlier in the series it was a big deal that her parents were coming to visit.

While Harley Destroys the Universe was missing issue #55, I happened to have it (I remember reading that the graphic novel was only going to collect issues 50-54). So after finishing it, I read the remaining issues I had (so up to issue 61).

 

Issue 57 starts a big story line where Harley is given the chance to become the Galactic Angel of Retribution if she can make it through 6 soul-searching trials.  So 57 and 58 are her first trial (she was framed for murder and teams up with Batman to find the real culprit - the trial ends with her proving to herself that she is worthy of a second chance).  The second trial is in issue 59, where Harley wakes up to discover she is turning into a bug (she was cursed by witches, who magnified an ugliness inside of her).  Issue 60 is the third trial, where a vicious alien swarm has taken over a science lab that Harley just happens to be breaking into to find an experimental cure for her mother's cancer.  After passing her third trial, issue 61 sees her off on a girl's night out with Catwoman and Tina.  Harley and Tina are playing a board game some old lady gave to Harley for free; Harley didn't realize the lady was the Enchantress, who has ensorcelled Gotham City.  Only Harley remembers the way things used to be!

 

I'll admit that I enjoyed issue 61.  But overall, I really haven't been a fan of Sam Humphries' take on Harley Quinn.  :( 

Heaven's Devils

I've been playing a lot of the Starcraft 2 co-op missions with a friend lately.  I was specifically levelling up co-op commander Tychus Findlay.  Along the way I remembered that I had Heaven's Devils by William C. Dietz, which tells the story of how Jim Raynor met Tychus.  I decided to read it because I wanted to learn more about all the other people in the squad.

So imagine my surprise when not a single one of them showed up in the book!   >:(

Heaven's Devils is the story of how farm-boy Jim Raynor, along with a couple of his friends, decided to join the Confederate marines.  Raynor's family, along with many other folks, had fallen on hard times thanks to rising taxes and dealing with supply rationing because of the Confederacy's war against the Kel-Morian Combine.  Giving his sign-up bonus to help his parents out, Raynor finds himself at bootcamp and later on the front lines where he meets Tychus Findlay.  For his part, Findlay is a thief who is working on "Operation: Early Retirement;" he tries to make a quick buck by liberating whatever he can from the Confederacy army and selling it on the side.  While the two are opposites in a lot of ways, they become great friends while working together along with their other squad mates.

Instead of the Heaven's Devils from the game, this squad also includes Tom Omer (Raynor's friend from home who is killed in action during his first mission), Hank Harnack (another "friend" from home - Raynor and he start off as enemies but somehow become friends), Ryk Kidd (aka Ark Bennet, who was kidnapped and forcibly recruited into the Confederacy army, only to discover he is a better sniper than he was an heir to one of the Confederacy's Old Families), Connor Ward (he lost his family in a Kel-Morian raid, and so lives only to kill as many of them as he can), Max Zander (a kind-hearted man who grew up in the slums), Lisa "Doc" Cassidy (a drug addict who was recruited by a superior officer to spy on the rest of the squad), and Hiram Feek (a technician who builds marine armor). 

Heaven's Devils is a really odd read.  The story continually jumps forwards in time, glossing over events to move the plot forward.  For example, after Raynor and Harnack become friends, the book skips ahead a few weeks and suddenly they're friends with Kydd, too.  I would have loved to see some of that because Kydd probably didn't fit in with the other recruits at all at that point in the story.  Or later, the book will give snapshots of conflicts, then skip ahead to a few hours or days later when everything is over.  It really wasn't satisfying as a result.  Thankfully the end conflict played out without these time skips; I was getting more into the story at that point and would have been quite annoyed if it did.

All in all, Heaven's Devils was an okay read.  Even though they weren't who I expected to read about, I did enjoy the characters, and it was an interesting look at just how corrupt the Confederacy was before the events of the original Starcraft (and before Arcturus Mengsk took over).  But I would have preferred it if the book actually showed a lot more of what happened rather than skipping ahead the way it did.

Harnack, Zander, Ward, Raynor, Feek, Tychus, Kydd, and Cassidy

Starcraft: Evolution

When I saw that Timothy Zahn had written a Starcraft book, I was intrigued.  I've read a few of his Star Wars books sometime before I started this blog and they were quite good.  So I was curious to see what he would do within the Starcraft universe.

In Starcraft: Evolution, Emperor Valerian receives a distress call from the zerg's Overqueen, Zagara, who requests terran aid against the protoss. The three races have had a cease-fire since their war against the xel-naga Amon, but this peace is tenuous. Along with his Admiral, Matt Horner, he brings the Hyperion to the world of Gystt where the protoss Hierarch, Artanis, is already in orbit.  Gystt was glassed by the protoss a decade ago; everyone is stunned to see the world teeming with life.

While Artanis and Valerian agree to speak with Zagara in person so that she may explain how the zerg has brought new life to the world (and how they may help rebuild some of the devastated worlds of the terran and protoss), Valerian sends a research team to investigate.  Made up of four terran (a marine, a reaper, a ghost, and a scientist) and a protoss (who has been with the ghost academy for a few years because his people did not want him back), Zagara assures everyone that the team can go wherever they like and will not be harmed.  But the team is attacked by a new breed of zerg, one that has distinctive red markings and psionic power that can cripple the protoss and psionic terrans in battle.  And Zagara claims no knowledge of this breed...

I really liked Starcraft: Evolution.  As I have played the games (especially Starcraft II), I kind of knew exactly who was behind what was going on.  But that didn't take away from my enjoyment of the book.  While the political stuff between Valerian, Artanis, and Zagara was interesting enough, Starcraft: Evolution really shines when it comes to the adventures of the research team.  I loved their dynamics and would be totally up for reading more of their adventures in the future!

Cosmic Ghost Rider: Baby Thanos Must Die

A friend of mine lent this to me. It starts out with Frank Castle unhappy in Valhalla. Odin let's him return to the world of the living to whatever time he wishes since he feels he still has vengeance to deliver. He chooses to go back to when Thanos was a three year old. But he finds he cannot kill the innocent child. Instead he decides to raise Thanos in the hopes that he will make a better role model for the boy. However, the once-Punisher, now crazy Cosmic Ghost Rider may not be exactly the best father figure for the young boy....

This story is so ridiculous and fun! I laughed out loud when the Thanos Frank raised comes from the future to find him. Full of hilarious characters (like the Juggerduck), I loved this from start to finish! :D