Rider at the Gate by C.J. Cherryh

Description:

"Rider at the Gate is the first in a two-book series chronicling the existence of human colonists stranded on a planet whose only native life forms are linked by telepathy, sending sensory images to one another enhanced by powerful emotions. One of these species, the "nighthorse," befriends the humans, and together they form a bond of mutual protection--the nighthorses guard their riders against the planet's mind-clouding predators, while the humans provide them with food and shelter. Once matched, the two experience a companionship more profound than either has ever known before. The story continues in Cloud's Rider."-- from the back cover

My thoughts:

I enjoyed this story which featured people and horses who can communicate with each other using images. I especially liked the interactions between Guil and his horse Burn and between Danny and his horse Cloud.

Date read: 9/9/2008
Book #: 65
Challenge: Celebrate the Author Challenge, Initials Reading Challenge, Summer Reading Thing Challenge
Series: Nighthorse, #1
Rating: 3*/5 = good
Genre: SF

ISBN-10: 0446603457
ISBN-13: 9780446603454
Publisher: Aspect
Year: 1996
No. of Pages: 496
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
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Summer Reading Thing Challenge 2008

Summer Reading Thing Challenge 2008

When: June 20, 2008 - September 21, 2008
What: Read any number of books during the Summer






My list:

• Michael Connelly. The Black Ice -- finished 7/23/2008
• C.E. Murphy. Urban Shaman -- finished 7/25/2008
• Camille DeAngelis. Mary Modern -- finished 7/26/2008
  
• Arthur Herzog. The Swarm -- finished 8/3/2008
• Jill Paton Walsh. Knowledge of Angels -- finished 8/14/2008
• Barbara Hambly. The Magicians of Night - finished 8/18/2008
  
• C.J. Cherryh. Rider at the Gate -- finished 9/9/2008

The Magicians of Night by Barbara Hambly

First sentence:

"'I think he's coming around.'"

Description:

"The two wizards, Jaldis and Rhion, had dared the dread Dark Well to answer the desperate call of a world without magic. Jaldis had not survived the dreadful Void. Now Rhion was alone in a world he could not imagine -- the world of Germany in 1940.
The four would-be wizards of the Occult Bureau welcomed him to their home in Schloss Torweg. They wanted his help desperately. But they would not heed his advice against the calling up of dark magic. They needed magic to overcome the enemies they claimed were trying to conquer their fatherland. To that high mission, nothing could be neglected, however dark and ugly.
They lied to him, claiming the Dark Well had been destroyed, removing his only hope of returning to Tally and his two sons. And soon he realized he was no more than a useful prisoner.
But he knew the Dark Well still existed. And somehow, despite whatever they did to him, he must find a way back across the Void!"-- from the back cover

My thoughts:

When I read the description, I wondered whether this fantasy featuring a wizard in early Nazi Germany would be clichéd with cardboard characters. However, Hambly skillfully creates great interactions between the wizard Rhion, his Nazi captors and the people he rescues. The only quibble I have is that the plot set in Rhion's homeworld seemed tacked on and not resolved very well.

Date read: 8/19/2008
Book #: 55
Challenges: Summer Reading Thing Challenge 2008, Celebrate the Author Challenge
Series: Sun-Cross #2
Rating: 3*/5 = good
Genre: Fantasy

ISBN-10: 0345362594
ISBN-13: 9780345362599
Publisher: Del Rey
Year: 1992
# of Pages: 354
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
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Knowledge of Angels by Jill Paton Walsh

First sentence:

"Suppose you are contemplating an island."

Description:

"Capturing the mood of William Golding's haunting medieval love story, The Spire, Knowledge Of Angels is a suspenseful fable set on a mythical island in the time of the Inquisition, a time of unquestionable and unquestioned faith and unmerciful justice. The fable spins a tale of two outcasts: a wild, flesh-eating wolf child and a foreign prince, captured separately and taken to the cardinal prince of the island. The wolf girl is remanded to a nunnery, where her caretakers are ordered to teach her to speak but not to speak of God, so that the cardinal can ask her if God exists. On her answer depends the life of the heretic prince, condemned because he does not believe in God. The federal creature and the elegant paladin are used as pawns by the town's religious council to answer the question of whether or not believing in God is an inherent part of being human."

My thoughts:

This was a beautifully written and thought-provoking book about conscience, faith, and being true to one's beliefs. I liked the conversations between Palinor, Benedictx and Cardinal Severo as well as the ones between Josefa and the wolf-child Amara.

Date read: 8/14/2008
Book #: 53
Challenges: Summer Reading Thing Challenge 2008, Man Booker Challenge
Rating: 3*/5 = good
Genre: Fiction

ISBN-10: 0395686660
ISBN-13: 9780395686669
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
Year: 1994
# of Pages: 268
Binding: Trade Paperback
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Mary Modern by Camille DeAngelis

First sentence:

"The house has no name, though it is quite grand enough to warrant one."

Description:

"Lucy Morrigan, a young genetic researcher, lives with her boyfriend, Gray, and a strange collection of tenants in her crumbling family mansion. Surrounded by four generations of clothes, photographs, furniture, and other remnants of past lives, Lucy and Gray's home life is strangely out of touch with the modern world -- except for Lucy's high-tech lab in the basement.

Frustrated by her unsuccessful attempts to attain motherhood or tenure, Lucy takes drastic measures to achieve both. Using a blood stained scrap of an apron found in the attic, Lucy successfully clones her grandmother Mary. But rather than conjuring a new baby, Lucy brings to life a twenty-two-year-old Mary, who is confused and disoriented when she finds herself trapped in the strangest sort of déjà vu: alive in a house that is no longer her own, surrounded by reminders of a life she has already lived but doesn't remember.

A remarkable debut novel, Mary Modern turns an unflinching eye on the joyous, heartbreaking, and utterly unexpected consequences of human desire." -- from the back cover

My thoughts:

This was a wonderful book about humanity and the role of memory. I liked the ethical dilemmas Lucy and Gray go through as well as the struggle Mary has in adjusting to a world 80 years in the future.

Date read: 7/26/2008
Book #: 49
Challenges: Summer Reading Thing Challenge 2008
Rating: 4*/5 = great
Genre: Fiction

ISBN-10: 0307352587
ISBN-13: 9780307352583
Publisher: Shaye Areheart Books
Year: 2007
# of Pages: 352
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Urban Shaman by C.E. Murphy

First sentence:

"There's nothing worse than a red-eye flight."

Description:

"Joanne Walker has three days to learn to use her shamanic powers and save the world from the unleashed Wild Hunt.

No worries. No pressure. Never mind the lack of sleep, the perplexing new talent for healing herself from fatal wounds, or the cryptic, talking coyote who appears in her dreams.

And if all that's not bad enough, in the three years Joanne's been a cop, she's never seen a dead body--but she's just come across her second in three days. It's been a bitch of a week.

And it isn't over yet." -- from the back cover

My thoughts:

I liked this urban fantasy featuring Joanna Walker who has to learn quickly how to harness her shamanic powers while trying to save the city from the Wild Hunt. I look forward to Joanna's next storyline in the anthology, Winter Moon.

Date read: 7/25/2008
Book #: 48
Challenge: Summer Reading Thing Challenge 2008
Series: Walker Papers #1
Rating: 3*/5 = good
Genre: Urban Fantasy

ISBN-10: 0373802234
ISBN-13: 9780373802234
Publisher: Luna Books
Year: 2005
# of Pages: 344
Binding: Trade Paperback
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The Black Ice by Michael Connelly

First sentence:

"The smoke carried up from the Cahuenga Pass and flattened beneath a layer of cool crossing air."

Description:

"Narcotics officer Cal Moore's orders were to look into the city's latest drug killing. Instead, he ends up in a motel room with a fatal bullet wound to the head and a suicide note stuffed in his back pocket. Working the case, LAPD detective Harry Bosch is reminded of the primal police rule he learned long ago: Don't look for the facts, but the glue that holds them together. Soon Harry's making some very dangerous connections, starting with a dead cop and leading to a bloody string of murders that wind from Hollywood Boulevard to the back alleys south of the border. Now this battle-scarred veteran will find himself in the center of a complex and deadly game--one in which he may be the next and likeliest victim." -- from the back cover

My thoughts:

This story was an intense mystery with lots of suspense. I liked the way Harry followed his instincts even when it meant possibly losing his job.

Date read: 7/23/2008
Book #: 47
Series: Harry Bosch #2
Challenges: Celebrate the Author Challenge, Summer Reading Thing Challenge 2008
Rating: 3*/5 = good
Genre: Mystery

ISBN-10: 0446613444
ISBN-13: 9780446613446
Publisher: Warner Vision
Year: 1993
# of Pages: 427
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
LibraryThing Page