Writer's Grove
Still Life with Fantasy and Fruit #12
For the uninitiated—and a reminder for everyone—I just do these to share what I’m reading because I’m a happy nerd who can’t stop himself from geeking out in public. You can assume I’m going to like these books without me delving into details. Now that I’m an author, I feel kind of squidgy about critiquing the writing of others. (The exception to this is Charles Dickens. He deserves every critique I can muster.) I do occasionally put something up on Goodreads, but these are usually exceptional bits of praise; you shouldn’t expect me to smack anyone down (apart from the aforementioned Mr. Dickens). These are books I’ve either spent my own dough on or I’ve specifically requested from the Holy Vault o’ Sci-Fi/Fantasy Treasure at Del Rey/Spectra, which is guarded by two gnome paladins and an editorial assistant named Mike. So here’s what I’m enjoying these days:
You might notice that this particular composition is profoundly lacking in fruit. There is an excellent reason for this: I need to go to the grocery store. But I found a jar of this jelly substance in the fridge called Simply Fruit, and apparently it’s composed of naught but smooshed strawberries and sugar, which is clearly the way nature intended us to eat strawberries. To balance things out, I put a cuppa hot chocolate in there. It has schnapps in it to make it edgy.
The books are all continuations of series I’ve been enjoying. The River of Shadows is the third book in Mr. Redick’s epic at sea. If you haven’t heard o’ him yet, start with The Red Wolf Conspiracy—and you’re welcome. :)
I just finished Moon Over Soho, the second book featuring Constable Peter Grant, a London copper who’s out to catch some mighty creepy buggers. You know how you get all worked up sometimes by the events in books or movies and you start talking to the characters like they can hear you? Like “GET OUT OF THERE OR YOU’RE GONNA DIE, YOU FOOL!” or “JUST NUKE IT!” or “WAIT FOR BACKUP, FOR THE LOVE O’ CHRIST!” There were a couple of those moments in this book and I scared the hell out of my wife when I shouted the first line unexpectedly in my house. That got me in a wee bit of trouble, because she was in another room and thought I might be talking to her. I had to explain that no, she wasn’t a fool, and if there was any danger to be faced in our home office then I would run in there to face it and not simply shout at her from a place of safety. I think this is a fun series.
Look at that cover for The Curious Case of the Clockwork Man! I freakin’ love it! I enjoyed The Strange Affair of Spring Heeled Jack so I’m looking forward to this too. I think the chubby dude kind of looks like the Kingpin a little bit. What do you think? And what are you reading these days?
