September is all but over...

So – yet another locale, and another post – this time, the Thayls somewhere between Paris and Brussels – and what a stunning evening it is! The sun is setting out the window and the visibility is gorgous. This week has been the best (driest and hottest!) we have had all summer, and it’ nearly the middle of autumn! Just stunning.

So anyway, what are we here for? Right, so still finding more and more Steampunk authors to fawn over – Lindsay Buroker continues to surprise and delight with her mix of fantasy and steampunk - not sure if I mentioned how impressed I was with The Emperor's Edge? I know I should have, but my laziness knows no bounds. I'm really enjoying the mixture in this author's writing - especially the Emporer's edge series and supporting novellas: really fantastically imagined world, heavy, bordering on gruesome imagery, and really fun heroines. Why can't I write sassy heroines like all you guys do!?! Sorry, I'll stop gushing. I recently finished Flash Gold which was the first of a new series aimed more at a yukon steampunk world than the fantastic word of the Emperors Edge series, which further goes to show Buroker's flexibility. This project again finds our heroine, a gal who is good with her hands (a mechanic, you dirty minded perv!) with a tall dark and handsome stranger who she can't trust - *sigh* can we ever trust the tall dark and handsome men of the world? In the rough and ready world of the dog-sled racing pioneers, our mechanical genius needs to race against the competitors, and a harem of assassins who are just dying to score some extremely powerful loot...

I notice there is another one out now, bless all the prolific authors in the world! if only because I admire Buroker's attitude towards publishing and the excellence, I would recommend it, but I have genuinely enjoyed reading all the stories, and while I'm sure an editor and publisher might smooth out the lines and ask the difficult questions on occasion (there are times I wish I could!) I think what Lindsay Buroker is doing is applaudable, not just the quality of the works, but also the methodology of the execution.

After My Buroker fest, Zoe Archer has been a great way to maintain some of the joy of steampunk, her Blades of the Rose quartet are fantastic escapism, and while a bit too much time is spent between the bedcovers (or behind trees, in enchanted streams, sail boat cabins, etc etc) for me to be able to call them literature, Archer's variety in location, the depth of the character and story development and the width of the mythology described has me hooked. Although her world building is not always consistent (it does my head in when her characters talk in today's parlance - which they do regularly), Archer's story telling is enjoyable and I can't fault her stunning descriptions of times and places. I'm looking forward to finishing the final installation in this series.

So what else has the Basilisk had a bookmark in lately?

Cameron Chapman's Aboard the Unstoppable Aerostat Fenris (The Steam & Steel Chronicles); man can I say I was shocked and awed by the conclusion of this novella - I dig it. I admire it, and I hope that the consistency is maintained, should there be more chronicles, as it's a brave brave author that does it.

JR Rain's Vampire for Hire series - I got through Moon Dance and Vampire Moon, and really enjoyed them, not sure I'm going to keep reading though - Samantha Moon is a pretty desperate queen of the night, her struggles to be a mom and carry on her evening existence is kinda heart-wrenching to read. I see great potential for the series, which is 4 novels and several novellas strong, I'm just not sure I want to witness the suffering, sorry!

The latest from Kelley Armstrong - Spell Bound yay! we love Savannah!!

Smoking 17 from Janet Evanovich - and may I say, how exciting is it going to be to have Katherine Heigl playing Stephanie Plum in One for the Money - she could not be cast better.

So, that's it from me, nearly back in Rotterdam, from whence I trek back to Zoetermeer... yay!

LB

July - Another Locale, another Post

One wonders why I never post from my beautiful hometown of Perth - I could tell you it's due to never being there, but I think the truth is that getting the internet access is that much harder when I'm at home.


So, currently located in Zoetemeer in the Netherlands, it's Summer and that means long, LONG nights, filled with plenty of time to read plenty of new books. since I haven't written in a while, I'm going to plug some great books from the past 6 months or so:



Continuing with the theme of Steampunk month from February, we have recently seen the release of Gail Carriger's 4th book, Heartless, continuing the intrepid Alexia Tarabotti's adventures, again, a fantastic example of the genre, I really appreciate Carriger's writing style, it is irreverent and absolutely hits the nail on the head; her succinct and well written prose immediately throws you in with the characters, and even after a couple of months between books, you feel as though you are back amoung friends.


Following on teh same theme, I have just finished CJ Archer's The Adventures of Miss Upton and the Sky Pirate which was a little harlequin'y but an enjoyable read - the characters had the opportunity for a lot more development, and the principles were only lightly steampunk - not really hitting it the way Carriger does, but an amusing way to spend a couple of hours. The main protagonist is a champ though, I would love to meet her.

Speaking of protagonists I would love to meet, 17 year old Lady Claire Trevelyan would have to be on this list. Shelly Adina's Lady of Devices is the first in her young-adult steampunk series, and this girl has got her head on straight. Adina's characters, particularly in the department of the male lead, and female opposition (opposition? you know what I mean, the person against the main person, give me a break!) still need a bit of work (a bit too cardboard stereotype at the moment), but the depths she goes to for the young people that young Claire meets and changes the lives of is fantastic - I loved the whole vibe of this piece, which had the similar sort of level as Y.S. Lee's The Agency series but without the mystery.

The last steampunk for the past 6 months, I promise, is the joint effort from Pip Ballantine and Tee Morris, Pheonix Rising - A Ministry of Peculiar Occurences Novel which again was an enjoyable romp. I read this one a while ago, so I can't say I recall the literary style in great depth, but the gist is enjoyable, (particularly watching a kiwi with a bit of an antipodean chip on her shoulder fighting both the Imperial system of Victorian England, but also the attentions of the burly, loud, unpleasant Australian). I found that the mixture of the secrets with the steampunk lead to a fabulous tale on this occasion, without the neccessity of pulling out the urban fantasy elements to make for a story.


So, apart from Steampunk, what on earth have you been reading?

More Kelley Armstrong, a bit of Melissa Marr, The Ultimate Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Kylie Chan's Heaven to Wudang,

The latest two Kate Daniels books from Wife-Husband dream team Ilona Andrews are Magic Bleeds and Magic Slays, I think I found this series through Patricia Briggs, another old favourite of the Lounge Basilisk's, and I gotta say, this vision of the post apocalyptic world where magic & technology collide is very attractive in it's chaotic-ness - the only word for Kate Daniel's life, relationships and job is messy, and it is great getting in the muck with her. A Caveat - I didn't really get/appreciate/enjoy the Andrews' "On the Edge" series, I don't know why, but I think it was the element of deperation felt by all the characters without the "stick it to the man" heart of the Kate Daniel's series.

Juliet Blackwell was another new find recently, her "Secondhand Spirits" was a really sweet mixture of hero-worshipping San Francisco (awwww, now I wanna go back!!), the do-gooding uber-powerful witch and the multiple mysterious males who may or may not sort through their issues over the coming books.

Things to look out for in the next few months:

Eye of the Tempest - Nicole Peeler
Succubus Revealed - Richelle Mead
Bloodlines - Richelle Mead

Heaps more, that currently escapes me. Anyway, that's the highlights, see you from the next random location.

LB

February was Steampunk Month

After the chaos of January, it was lovely to spend the month of Feb at home, and catch up on some reading;
Two great authors over the month were YS Lee and Gail Carriger; both of whom write alternative versions of Victorian(ish) England. Absolutely terrific reads for people who love to mix in the old with the fantastical.
I started the month by re-reading Gail Carriger's debut Souless which is the first of the parasol protectorate series, and was a "best new debut in 2010" (according to me). This book cracked me up the first time I read it, and improved on reading the second time - I flew through it so that I could get on to Changeless and Blameless; which are the continuation of Alexia Tarabotti's tale. I'm not going to spoiler all over you, but to say that if you have even the remotest knowledge of the historical period and love a tall tale, these books are really great fun - diabolical family and friends, never mind the enemies! Carriger has put a lot of detail into these stories and with Heartless and Timeless to follow close behind (June release for Heartless according to Amazon), she has obviously got more to say... which is exciting because these reads are fun and fresh (for me at least - if you have found other steampunk/paranormal books out there, I would love to hear about them).

I followed up the parasol protectorate with the start of "The Agency" series from YS Lee. A Spy in the House introduces us to Mary Quinn, a former thief who; saved from the gallows, is given the opportunity to better herself, completing an education at Ms Scrimshaw's Academy for Girls - the front for a spy agency built on the beliefs that a woman "minding her own business" may be privy to talk than any man. Its a great premise and Lee carries it off really well; and the depiction of James Easton makes me want to scream - where is the next book!!!!! The Body in the Tower continued Mary's story and Lee's depiction of the underbelly of Victorian(ish) London gets more and more detailed as the books continue. There is a depth of description that is just incredible, and Lee keeps the story moving; which is always appreciated by me... as much as the fact that I am even more appreciative of the fact that I didn't have to live that way!

A quick shout-back to Laura Bickle as well, having finished both Embers and Sparks (yay for the name, I only got that when I was halfway through the book!); I am again keen to highlight these books as being a great new series - although I'm worried about the depiction of Detroit? is it really like that? (If so, strike it from my list of places to visit, sorry!). Sparky and Anya's story has continued in the second book which again creates massive change not only for Anya and her Slamander side-kick (who has a very busy book!), but for Detroit's population of ghosts, witches and other things that go bump in the night.

Anyways, that's going to have to do for me - I'm currently doing the telecomute thing from the sunny Tweed Heads region of NSW/QLD... living the dream

Cheers

LB