Words are inadequate

Steven Brust, P.J.F., The Viscount of Adrilankha
[consisting of The Paths of the Dead, The Lord of Castle Black, and Sethra Lavode]

I read PotD and LoCB when they first came out, and when people asked me how they were I said "I can't pass judgement on only part of a book." Now that SL is finally here I've read them all straight through.

Viscount rocks. On first reading, it's as good as Phoenix Guards was, the first time I read that lo these many years ago. It's huge and sprawling, it builds on the things that made Phoenix Guards and 500 Years After so cool [the voice, the characters, the action], it adds in new fun things like the Gods and Morrolan. Everyone's fate is resolved [at least, up through the Vladiad and beyond], and yes, I actually cried at a Certain Character's last scene. Wonderful, wonderful book.

As for the individual parts. . . I can't pass judgement on only part of a book.

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Raphael Carter, The Fortunate Fall

My third time reading, and I think I actually understood almost everything that's going on in it this time. An incredibly dense cyberpunk novel, by a recent addition to the Scribblies, set in a futureworld that's so unlike our own I was utterly lost the first time I read the book. Though that didn't stop me from seeing the incredible sadness that Carter brings out. Not for those wanting a pleasant read. [I did not cry at the end of Fortunate Fall, because the pain and misery built so slowly that by the time it might have been appropriate my emotions had already passed that peak and were huddled up numbly, waiting for the end. So beautiful. . .]

Anyone with an interest in cyberpunk should read this book. Anyone with an interest in gender studies should also read this book, though the gender stuff's a bit more subtle than the cyberpunk.

"Oh, Andreyeva, you do not understand His Majesty at all. He does a thousand things that do no good. His-Majesty-In-Chains does not care what is effective, only what is right."

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Tim Powers, Last Call

Nth reread. This was the first Powers I ever read, over Memorial Day weekend ten years ago to distract me from girl problems. Worked like a charm; I thought it was one of the best things I'd ever read. I hold it to a higher standard because of that, and so the flaws show through. The biggest one is the freakin' yooge cast of characters, too many of whom don't get developed at all (Neal Obstadt and Diana's boys are the worst of this lot). Even the major characters sometimes feel too flat; the four protagonists are fine, as is Georges, but nearly everyone else could've been better. (Especially Nardie and Ray-Joe.)

The plot's wonderfully intricate, and Powers writes well enough that the lack of characterization doesn't kill the story. It would have been nice, though. [Come to think of it, Anubis Gates was weak in that regard too. I think I need to reread my other Powers books (well, Stress of Her Regard and Declare, being the ones I own) and see if the characterization is weak in all of them.]