Forthcoming reviews for STAYING DEAD

[lagilman]

I am told that there is a good review in the current issue of Starlog but I haven't gotten my hands on it yet.

Likewise, I am told there will be a short but useful review of le book in the September issue of Locus.


I am reserving judgement until I actually see these reviews, but there's some anticipatory pleasure waiting just to the left of my right shoulder...

Edit: Oh yeah, and finished Robin McKinley's SUNSHINE. A very strong read, but I found myself far more interested in her worldbuilding than her character. Sunshine (the character) and Con never quite became more fascinating that the worlds they lived in. I'm still not sure if this was a flaw in the book or not, since the world was so damn brilliant...

In other news, the revisions slog on. And it rains. The excitement never ends around here...

Comments

[divanoir.livejournal.com]

A very strong read, but I found myself far more interested in her worldbuilding than her character.

Don't forget about the cinnamon rolls! =)

As for character, it did seem that there should have been more to them.

[lagilman]

Don't forget about the cinnamon rolls! =)

Dude. I put on five pounds, reading those scenes...

[nick-kaufmann.livejournal.com]

I had a similar reaction to SUNSHINE. I thought the authorial voice was excellent and the world surrounding these characters was very interesting, but I didn't get into what they were actually doing. I didn't feel the chemistry between Sunshine and Con (except in that one scene where she seems to be magically aroused), and the ending didn't seem like an ending to me. Plus, I kept wondering about Sunshine's boyfriend. He sort of disappears from the story, only to mentioned occasionally and then forgotten again. Still, it was my first McKinley book, and I was impressed by her writing.

Congrats on the reviews!

[lagilman]

Oh, Robin's a lovely writer, in all the best, lyrical, cogent, and technically perfect ways. I fell hook line and sinker for her in the long-ago YA days with The Blue Sword and The Hero and the Crown, where the world was barely there except as was needed for the story but still managed to give the reader all the information needed to know and understand what drove the characters.

They're still two of my favorite "comfort reading" books, when I just want to revist an old friend. Outlaws of Sherwood was fun, likewise Beauty, and Deerskin is a little heavy-handed but moving nonetheless. The Door in the Hedge is a story collection,and while I have fond memories of discovering it, I don't think it's her best stuff (certainly Water would be a better selection of her short work.)

Hrm. Think I've read a lot of her stuff? (Haven't gotten to Rose Daughter yet, though)

[janni.livejournal.com]

I wonder just how many of us read and reread The Blue Sword as comfort reading. I wonder whether McKinley knows.

I also liked Spindle's End quite a bit, though it is a very different story.

[lagilman]

I suspect she does know -- I remember, when I was at Ace, hearing about the letters she got from fans...

[janni.livejournal.com]

I always figured she knew she had lots of fans, but I wonder if she knows how many adults read and reread her books.

Probably, actually--since adults write letters from time to time, too. :-)

[vincam.livejournal.com]

That sort of world building is certainly my preference. I want to gnaw off a foot to get away from stories that are nothing but clumps of world structure. I liked "Sunshine," though I also thought there was something missing in the relationship.

[writerkatie.livejournal.com]

I am reserving judgement until I actually see these reviews

Well, once I get a chance, I plan to write a rave about it somewhere. :) I meant to tell you, I got hold of a copy a couple of weeks ago and loved it. Alas, a borrowed copy, so I'll have to get my own before I review it. (I do not like relying on my memory for a review!) But it will be a rave, because I loved the entire book, the whole world-concept, and the characters. And the relationships. Oh, and yeah, spies? What is not to love, girl?

So, just thought I should mention. :)

Katie

[lagilman]

*blush*

(as an aside, you know you've fallen from tea-drinking grace when you come around the corner into the kitchen, see that the coffee pot is almost full with a thick black liquid, and you think "there's a beautiful thing...")