Archive for September 2019
Two more Vlad Taltos Books
Posted on: September 24, 2019
You saw this article on BoingBoing about Steven Brust and Roger Zelazny, yeah?
I’m going to talk about these books in the order I read them. Even though in hindsight, I should have read them in the opposite order. Oh well.
Minor spoilers and major teases ahead.
So, I haven’t read every single book in this series, and the ones that I have read, I haven’t exactly read them in order. But it’s okay, because the books in this series are sorta kinda meant to be read in whatever order you please, and then reread in whatever order you please. I kinda don’t want to get to the point where I’ve read every book in this series? Like, I always want there to be some surprises left. Lol I’ll be 90 years old and blind, and that’s when I’ll decide to read the one I haven’t read, and then I’ll be shouting in the middle of the night at the nursing home “That’s how Teldra and Morrolan met? You are fucking shitting me!”
These books are my comfort reads. When I need something I know I’m going to love from page one, I pick up a Vlad Taltos book, and I’m a happy camper for a few days.
Also, I’ve got a little bit of history with this series.
Phoenix was written in 1990, and is chronologically the approximate 9th book in Brust’s Vlad Taltos series. (yeah, this isn’t that kind of fantasy and these aren’t those dragons. Just so we’re clear)
This is the book where Vlad realizes his marriage is over. Some readers will gloss right over those scenes, I had a really tough time. I’m a softy, ok? And he still loves her. And I think she still loves him. And I get why they split, and I respect it, but I can still cry about it, ok?
Anyway, the book opens with Vlad getting killed. And he thinks about the Demon Goddess Verra, and how he
“had once traveled several thousand miles through supernatural horrors and the realm of the dead men just to bid her good-day”
And I thought that sounded hella cool, so I pulled Taltos off my bookshelf to read next. Not only does Verra answer when Vlad calls out to her with his dying breath, she gives him a job. All Vlad’s gotta do is kill a guy. He’s pretty good at that, so no problem. Except, his target is the king of a tiny island country that the Empire doesn’t have anything to do with, because sorcery doesn’t work there. Sorcery is what allows the Empire to function, so if you could go somewhere where it doesn’t work . . . .
There’s also a drummer who might be a spy.
And there’s a revolution brewing at home. This book has buckets of societal questions about the rights of the lower classes and the rights of minority ethnic groups, and the right to protest and the right to be heard. But this isn’t a book about how to start a revolution, it’s not a youth anthem, it’s not a book about toppling the system, this ain’t Hunger Games, you know. In truth, Vlad would very much like for things to quiet down and go back to the way they were. He just wants to live a quiet life where he gets paid to kill people, and runs illegal gambling dens, you know?
Special Edition Six for Friday
Posted on: September 20, 2019
While Five for Friday has run its course, today I have a special treat for you, a literal special edition Six for Friday.
Mailing books to friends must be some kinda addicting, like yawns. As I was emailing a friend that I was going to be mailing her a box of books (Sorry K! I haven’t gotten to the post office yet!), another friend was emailing me that he was mailing me a box of books!
And boy was this box a humdinger!
Take a few minutes to feast your eyes, and then I’ll tell you what you’re looking at.
if that blew your mind, here’s the cover art of each volume! You’ll have to forgive my garbage photography.
two books I enjoyed
Posted on: September 14, 2019
instead of a some long drawn out reviews, howsabout a few words on some books I enjoyed recently? You’d like that? yeah, me too.
They made a movie out of The Prestige by Christopher Priest, and all I remember was i think Hugh Jackman was in it? And there was some scene at the end where there are like 30 top hats just blowing away? I’m pretty sure another Illusionist/Magician movie came out around the same time, and I might be getting them mixed up. Anyone remember the details of this, or even what year these movies came out?
From seeing the movie, I pretty much already knew the “big reveal” in the book. But friends had told me that the reveal is treated totally different in the book, and boy were they right!!! if you like slow-ish moving historical dramas, this is the story for you! The beginning was a bit slow, and then it ramps up and the drama ramps up, and at the end I couldn’t put the book down. If you’ve not ever read any Christopher Priest because everyone says his book are weird AF (they are!), this is a great book to start with because it’s completely readable and keeps you turning the pages, even when weird shit happens. The further you get into the book, the more weird shit happens. Also? Nikola Tesla has a cameo!
Both main characters, the guys who are feuding, neither of them are sympathetic characters. They are both shit heads, they both feel bad for the shitty stuff they did, and at the end of the book I wasn’t sure who I felt more bad for. I pity them both.
The Prestige is a great place to start with Christopher Priest and Vallista isn’t a good place to start with Steven Brust. Vallista is the 15th book in Brust’s Dragaeran series (but like, the 13th book, chronologically? i’m really not sure). I love this series. When I am feeling stressed out, these are the comfort books I turn to. This series is basically about a guy, Vlad. I’m not going to get into it more than that, because if I did I’d be blathering on forever. If you are that interested, start here, and from there there is about a million directions you can go.
I lovethis series so much because, well, the writing and the story and the characters, they are all fantastic. I love first person POV, i love dialog banter, I love snark, I love long running jokes, I love slow world building. This series has all of that. I love that this series is just about people trying to live their lives, and people who care about their families. Knowing I have a stack of Steven Brust books (many of which are Vlad books) that I can read whenever I want is therapeutic for me. Just knowing they are there, like, it works for me, ok? Being alive at the same time that Vlad’s life is being created, like, it’s a good time to be alive. and yes, I know Loiosh is giving me side-eye right now for not making him out to be the main character. I earned that side-eye!
ok, anyway, Vallista. What a fun book! Devera shows up and asks for Vlad’s help (she doesn’t tell him with what, exactly), and of course he’s going to help her! She runs into a house on a hill (YES, the house from the end of Hawk! eeeeee!!!!), he follows her, and the door locks behind him. This house doesn’t follow any rules of physics or architecture, and when Vlad meets the ghost of the architect, her explanation doesn’t help any. The book gave me Doctor Who vibes, in the best way. The people who Vlad meets in this weird house, he’s got to figure out how to get them to keep talking, because the more he learns about what the hell is going on, the more likely he is to figure out how to get out of this weird screwy house!
if you’re not caught up in the series, so long as you have met Devera, you’re good to read Vallista. I know she shows up in Tiassa, I don’t remember if she shows up prior to that.
I dig this series, because the world building happens slowly. Like, you remember when you were young, and you started collecting books, or comic books, or whatever? You had a little bookshelf in your room, and it slowly filled up. When it filled up, you were really excited – your bookshelf was full! then you got a fullsize bookshelf. and that filled up. fast forward ten years, and you’ve rooms full of books. and you are happy, because they are full, and you are happy because you keep buying more books. that’s what the worldbuilding in this series feels like – just the right amount at a time, at just the right speed. I didn’t explain it well. #sorrynotsorry
A question to my fellow Dragaeran readers: Who is your favorite character in the series?
Stay tuned, one of these days I’ll post about two books I read recently that didn’t wow me!
Secret Life of a Book Blogger
Posted on: September 3, 2019
As you can see from my recent posts, my brain hasn’t been in a review-writing mood lately. This short list of “secret life” questions has been doing the rounds – I’ve seen it at Don Jimmy Reviews, Tattooed Book Geek, Always Trust in Books, on twitter, etc. It looked like fun, and I like fun and shyly talking about myself, right?
be warned – these answers are boring and practical. I tell it how it is.
How Long have you been blogging?
Little Red Reviewer has been going since 2010, so nine years here. total blogging online and posting book reviews on various sites? probably closer to 13 years.
At what point do you think you will stop blogging?
to be honest, I think I am getting close to that point. When I started this blog, I was working part-time, my commute to work was 5 minutes, I didn’t have a lot of hobbies, and I just didn’t have a lot of stuff going on in my life. I needed a hobby, and something to pour my creative energy into, you know? Nine years later, I have a very fulfilling full time job with an hour commute each way, not that much time to read, and other less time-consuming projects to pour my creative energy into. Blogging was the perfect creative outlet for me at the time. I think i’m getting to the point in my life where it is one of many creative outlets.
What is the best thing about blogging?
the community! thanks to blogging, I have friends EVERYWHERE! I’ve done read alongs, buddy reads, themed months, organized blog tours. Those things were possible because of our amazing and supportive community!
What is the worst thing? What do you do to make it OK?
the pressure to put out content on a regular basis.
the FOMO when every else gets an ARC that you didn’t get.
the guilt that you didn’t read for 20 hours this weekend. the guilt that you are reading a book that YOU want to read, instead of the book that is hyped or the book that you got talked into doing for a blog tour.
the pressure to simply kick out content as fast as you can and have more hits and more comments and more social media followers than someone else.
What do I do to make it ok? As a way to lower my anxiety, I have mostly disengaged from the blogging community, which is a shitty thing to do, I guess, but whatever. That seems to be my defense mechanism for everything lately – disengage. People should do whatever makes them happy, and I don’t want to be a buzzkill, so I just wander off and do whatever makes me happy. I’m a exhausted introvert – a lot of time the thing that makes me happy is sitting in a quiet room, enjoying the quiet.
the Little Red Reviewer 
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