Knight of the Black Rose by James Lowder

First sentence:

"One name recorded here, in these scrolls that make up my history of Krynn, has become a byword for corruption and monumental evil throughout the continent of Ansalon: Lord Soth of Dargaard Keep."

Description:

"On the fabled world of Krynn, Lord Soth finally learns that there is a price to pay for his long history of evil deeds, a price even an undead warrior might find horrifying.

Dark powers transport Soth to Barovia, and there the death knight must face the dread minions of Count Strahd Von Zarovich, the vampire lord of the nightmare land. But with only a captive Vistani woman and an untrustworthy ghost for allies, Lord Soth soon discovers that he may have to join forces with the powerful vampire if he is ever to escape the realm of terror." -- from the back cover

My thoughts:

I liked this dark fantasy in which even the evil Lord Soth can, at times, have some redeeming qualities. I look forward to reading the next book, The Spectre of the Dark Rose.


Date read: 3/6/2011
Book #: 11
Challenge: TBR Challenge 2011
Series: Terror of Lord Soth, #1
Rating: 3*/5 = good
Genre: Dark Fantasy

ISBN-10: 1560761563ISBN-13: 9781560761563
Publisher: Wizards of the Coast
Year: 1991
# of pages: 313
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
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Murder in E Minor by Robert Goldsborough

First sentence:
"Nero Wolfe and I have argued for years about whether the client who makes his first visit to us before or after noon is more likely to provide an interesting--and lucrative--case."

Description:

"When a maestro is murdered, Archie is flabbergasted when the gargantuan gourmet detective lifts himself out of retirement, amid a juicy public scandal. Wolfe and Archie feast on suspects yet starve for facts--until the scanty clues finally arrange themselves like notes on a score, and Wolfe recognizes a dark melody that only a murder virtuoso could perform." -- from the back cover

My thoughts:

This was my first Nero Wolfe read, and it won't be the last. I enjoyed how Wolfe and Archie gradually solved the case and confronted the real killer.

Date read: 3/6/2011
Book #: 10
Series: Nero Wolfe, #48
Challenge: TBR Challenge 2011
Rating: 3*/5 = good
Genre: Mystery

ISBN-10: 0553261207

ISBN-13: 9780553261202

Publisher: Bantam Books
Year: 1986
# of pages: 196

Binding: Mass Market Paperback

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Mister Monday by Garth Nix

First sentence:

"They had tried to destroyed the Will, but that proved beyond their power."

Description:

"Arthur Penhaligon is not supposed to be a hero. He is supposed to die. But then he meets sinister Mister Monday and everything changes.

SEVEN DAYS. SEVEN KEYS. ONE MYSTERIOUS BOOK. ONE STRANGE HOUSE FILLED WITH SECRETS.

Dare Arthur enter and accept the fate that awaits him within? -- from the back cover

My thoughts:

I enjoyed this first book of the Keys to the Kingdom series. Iliked how Arthur learned to believe in himself and how he interacted with Suzy and the Will. I look forward to reading the next book, Grim Tuesday.

Date read: 12/23/2010
Book #: 53
Series: Keys to the Kingdom, #1
Challenges: Speculative Fiction Reading Challenge; A-Z Challenge 2010
Rating: 3*/5 = good
Genre: Fantasy

ISBN-10: 0007175019
ISBN-13: 9780007175017
Publisher: Collins
Year: 2003
# of pages: 425
Binding: Trade Paperback
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TBR Challenge 2010!

It's time for me to post my list of books for the TBR Challenge 0f 2010! I selected 12 books for the challenge plus 12 alternates/extra credits.

Here they are (in no particular order):

• Damien Broderick. Matilda at the Speed of Light -- finished 1/6/2010 (substitute for The Knight of the Black Rose)
  
• Thomas Tryon. The Other -- finished 1/23/2010
• Iris Johansen. Final Target -- finished 1/26/2010
• Jincy Willett. Winner of the National Book Award -- finished 3/2/2010
• Ana Castillo. Peel My Love Like an Onion -- finished 4/14/2010
• David Wise. The Children's Game -- finished 4/27/2010
  
• Whitley Streiber. The Forbidden Zone -- finished 5/3/2010
  
• Eoin Colfer. The Wish List -- finished 5/5/2010 (substitute for All Tomorrow's Parties)
  
• Terry Brooks. The Sword of Shannara -- finished 5/22/2010
• Lorenza Caracaterra. Sleepers -- finished 6/5/2010 (substitute for Chosen Prey)
  
• David G. Hartwell. Year's Best Fantasy -- finished 6/30/2010
• Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child. Reliquary -- finished 7/21/2010 (substitute for The Dimension Riders)
  

Alternates/Extra Credit:

• Iain Banks. Excession -- read 11/7/2010
• Robert Tine. Desperate Measures
• Frederick Forsyth. Icon
• Douglas Clegg. Dark of the Eye
• Carl Hiassen. Native Tongue
• Michael Bishop. Unicorn Mountain
  
• John Ramsey Miller. Upside Down
• Michael Reaves. The Shattered World

What's in a Name ? 3 Challenge

What's in a Name? 3 Challenge
January 1 - December 3, 2010

Between January 1 and December 31, 2010, I will read one book in each of the following categories:

1. A book with a food in the title: Five Quarters of the Orange by Joanne Harris -- finished 3/6/2010
   
2. A book with a body of water in the title: Cane River by Lalita Tademy -- finished 10/25/2010
   
3. A book with a title (queen, president) in the title: The Winter Queen by Boris Akunin -- finished 2/26/2010
   
4. A book with a plant in the title: The Wood Wife by Terri Windling -- finished 3/2/2010
   
5. A book with a place name (city, country) in the title: The Bookseller of Kabul by Asne Seierstad -- finished 2/16/2010
   
6. A book with a music term in the title: The Mapmaker's Opera by Béa Gonzalez -- finished 1/17/2010
   

Blood Magic by Matthew Cook

First sentence:

"For three days we run, and the Mor follow."

Description:

"When the inhuman Mor crawl up from the underground to torment the world above, Kirin joins the battle against them as scout and archer for the Imperial Army. The power of her blood magic, a dark sorcery even she does not understand, has given her the ability to raise grotesque creatures from souls and dead flesh -- loyal, lethal warriors that aid her in the fight to survive. She finds comfort in the arms of Sergeant Jazen Tor, but it is beautiful and gentle Lia Cho, a woman who can call lightning from the skies, who helps Kirin discover the truth about herself . . ." -- from the back cover

My thoughts:

This was a good fantasy featuring Kirin, a young woman with powers she doesn't always understand. I liked how she gradually learned about the cost of her actions and I look forward to reading the sequel, Nights of Sin.

Date read: 4/22/2010
Book #: 28
Series: Kirin Widowmaker, #1
Challenge: Speculative Fiction Reading Challenge
Rating: 3*/5 = good
Genre: Fantasy

ISBN-10: 0809572001
ISBN-13: 9780809572007
Publisher: Juno Books
Year: 2008
# of pages: 264
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
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Witness in Death by J.D. Robb

First sentence:

"There was always an audience for murder."

Description:

"Opening night at New York's New Globe Theater turns from stage scene to crime scene when the leading man is stabbed to death center stage. Now Eve Dallas has a high-profile, celebrity homicide on her hands. Not only is she lead detective, she's also a witness - and when the press discovers that her husband owns the theater, there's more media spotlight than either can handle. The only way out is to move fast. Question everyone and everything . . . and in the meantime, try to tell the difference between the truth - and really good acting. . ." -- from the back cover

My thoughts:

This was a good mystery featuring Eve Dallas. I liked the mix of theater and crime and the way Eve figured out who the killer was.

Date read: 4/17/2010
Book #: 27
Challenge: A to Z Challenge 2010
Series: In Death, #10
Rating: 3*/5 = good
Genre: Mystery

ISBN-10: 0425173631
ISBN-13: 073042517363?
Publisher: Berkeley
Year: 2000
# of pages: 338
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
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Peel My Love Like an Onion by Ana Castillo

First sentence:

"I remember him dark."

Description:

"Peel My Love Like an Onion is the breakthrough novel from Ana Castillo, author of the wildly praised So Far from God -- a lyrical, steamy, and moving story of a love triangle set in the colorful world of flamenco dancing.

Carmen "La Coja" ("the cripple) Santos is a flamenco dancer of local renown in Chicago, despite the obstacle of a gimpy leg, the legacy of a childhood attack of polio. From the beginning of her professional career, she has carried on an affair with Agustin, the married director of her troupe -- a romance that is going stale from over-familiar lust and an absence of honesty. But when she begins a passionate liaison with the younger Manolo, Agustin's godson and a dancer of natural genius, an angry rivalry is sparked. Add to that the looming reassertion of her crippling disease and Carmen's vexed relations with her mother, one of the most exasperating parents in recent literature, and you have all the ingredients for a love story a la Ana Castillo -- equal parts soap opera, tragicomedy, and rhapsody. Laced with sarcastic asides and dead-on observations, Peel My Love Like an Onion is a universal work inbued with love's power to vex and exalt." -- from the inside flap

My thoughts:

This was a very good love story interlaced with music and dancing. I liked how Carmen learned to find her own voice and dignity.

Date read: 4/14/2010
Book #: 26
Challenges: A-Z Challenge 2010; TBR Challenge 2010
Rating: 3*/5 = good
Genre: Fiction

ISBN-10: 0385496761
ISBN-13: 9780375496766
Publisher: Doubleday
Year: 1999
# of pages: 213
Binding: Hardcover
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The Redemption of Althalus by David and Leigh Eddings

First sentence:

"Now before the Beginning, there was no Time, and all was Chaos and Darkness."

Description:

"Althalus is an unrepentant rogue and scoundrel. Yet of all men in the world, it is Althalus who will become the champion of humanity in its desperate struggle against the forces of an ancient god determined to return the universe to nothingness.

On this way to stealing The Book from the House at the End of the World Althalus collides head-on with his unique destiny-- and Dweia, a seductive goddess who just happens to be a cat. Dweia can manipulate time. Unfortunately, as can her evil brother. . . and he has been using his own dark magic to rewrite history itself. The only people who can stop him are Althalus and a ragtag group of men, women, and children. But they have no reason to trust Althalus -- or one another." -- from the back cover

My thoughts:

I enjoyed this fantasy adventure very much. I liked how Althalus and his friends learn to work together as they battle Daeva and the forces of darkness. I also like the use of "doors" to get from place to place (and from time to time).

Date read: 4/3/2010
Book #: 23
Challenge: A-Z Challenge 2010, Speculative Fiction Reading Challenge, Celebrate the Author Challenge 2010
Rating: 3*/5 = good
Genre: Fantasy

ISBN-10: 0345440781
ISBN-13: 9780345440785
Publisher: Dell Rey
Year: 2000
# of pages: 792
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
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The Girl's Guide to Hunting and Fishing by Melissa Bank

First sentence:

"My brother's first serious girlfriend was eight years older–twenty-eight to his twenty."

Description:

"Generous-hearted, smartly comic, and wickedly insightful, The Girl's Guide to Hunting and Fishing maps the progress of Jane Rosenal as she sets out on a personal and spirited expedition through the perilous terrain of sex, love, relationships and the treacherous waters of the workplace. What is love, she wonders, as she scrutinizes the wiles and ways of older, possibly wiser women; casts a questioning eye toward various species of couples; and holds out her wrists for a spritz of perfume from her beautiful boss . . . How do you find it (and keep it) -- and above all, who makes the rules?

In the throes of a budding romance, Jane repairs to the self-help shelves to take a sojourn with authors Bouncy Bonnie and Blown-Dry Faith who whisper in her ear and tell her what the rules are -- in their terms. 'Wear you hair long. . .Don't say 'I love you' first. . .Don't accept a date less than four days in advance. . .' and above all. 'Don't be funny! . . . Men like femininity," Faith says, crossing her legs. "Humor isn't feminine. . .'

When she is swept off her feet by an older man and into a Fitzgeraldesque world of cocktail parties, country houses and rules-that-were-made-to-be-broken, Jane learns what it means when her lover says he wants "to everything" with her, and the stakes become far too high.

A floating house in St. Croix (after a soul-stripping game of strip poker) has its own lesson to teach, as do a couple of sexy, come-and-go boyfriends, a drama around a Greenwich Village kitchen table, and a never-ending bloop-yatty-bloop wedding reception. Finally, when Jane has gone in all the wrong directions (but for all the right reasons), she learns not only when to fish and when to cut bait, but who really makes the rules." -- from the inside flap

My thoughts:

This was a somewhat quirky and interesting book about relationships. I liked how Jane learned how relying too much on other people's opinions isn't the right thing to do.

Date read: 3/16/2010
Book #: 22
Challenge: A-Z Challenge 2010
Rating: 3*/5 = good
Genre: Fiction

ISBN-10: 067088300x
ISBN-13: 978067088300?
Publisher: Viking
# of pages: 274
Binding: Hardcover
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The List of Seven by Mark Frost

First sentence:

"The envelope was vellum, cream."

Description:

"Christmas Day, 1884: a letter is slid under the door of a struggling young doctor and aspiring novelist, begging him to come to the aid of a mysterious woman, a victim of the black spiritual arts. . .

From the foggy streets of Victorian London to the wind-swept moors of Yorkshire, a demonic conspiracy begins to unfold. The List of Seven, a sinister brotherhood sworn to serve the Dark Lord, have conceived a diabolical plot that threatens not only the Royal Crown, but the very fabric of modern society.

Only two men stand in their way: the young Doctor Arthur Conan Doyle, and Jack Sparks, Queen Victoria's Special Agent, a man of formidable intellect and lethal skills. . ." -- from the back cover

My thoughts:

This was a good mix of mystery, historical fiction and the supernatural. I liked how the characteristics of Holmes and Watson were displayed in Sparks and Doyle, respectively. While some scenes did get a bit clichéd, I enjoyed the book and look forward to the next book in the series, The Six Messiahs.

Date read: 3/10/2010
Book #: 21
Series: Jack Sparks, #1
Challenges: A-Z Challenge 2010; 1st in a Series Challenge, Celebrate the Author Challenge 2010
Rating: 3*/5 = good
Genres: Mystery, Historical Fiction

ISBN-10: 0099305119
ISBN-13: 9780099305118
Publisher: Arrow Books
Year: 1994
# of pages: 426
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
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Five Quarters of the Orange by Joanne Harris

First sentence:

"When my mother died, she left the farm to my brother, Cassis, the fortune in the wine cellar to my sister, Reine-Claude, and to me the youngest, her album, and a two-liter jar containing a single black Perigord truffle, large as a tennis ball, suspended in sunflower oil, that, when uncorked, still releases the rich dank perfume of the forest floor."

Description:

"The novels of Joanne Harris are a literary feast for the senses. Five Quarters of the Orange represents Harris's most complex and sophisticated work yet -- a novel in which darkness and fierce joy come together to create an unforgettable story.

When Framboise Simon returns to a small village on the banks of the Loire, the locals do not recognize her as the daughter of the infamous Mirabelle Dartigen -- the woman they still hold responsible for a terrible tragedy that, look place during the German occupation decades before. Although Framboise hopes for a new beginning, she quickly discovers that past and present are inextricably intertwined. Nowhere is this truth more apparent than in the scrapbook of recipes site has inherited from her dead mother.

With this book, Framboise re-creates her mother's dishes, which she serves in her small creperie. And yet as she studies the scrapbook -- searching for clues to unlock the contradiction between her mother's sensuous love of food and often cruel demeanor -- she begins to recognize a deeper meaning behind Mirabelle's cryptic scribbles. Within the journal's tattered pages lies the key to what actually transpired the summer Framboise was nine years old.

Rich and dark. Fire Quarters of the Orange is a novel of mothers and daughters of the past and the present, of resisting, and succumbing, and an extraordinary work by a masterful writer." -- from the inside flap

My thoughts:

This was a good book about family and secrets. I liked how Framboise learned about her mother through the diary/recipe book and how she and others came to understand what happened years ago.


Date read: 3/5/2010
Book #: 19
Challenges: What's in a Name 3 Challenge
Series: Food Trilogy #3
Rating: 3*/5 = good
Genre: Fiction

ISBN-10: 0060198133
ISBN-13: 9780060198138
Publisher: HarperCollins
Year: 2001
# of pages: 307
Binding: Hardcover
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Hurting Distance by Sophie Hannah

First sentence:

"I could explain, if you were here to listen."

Description:

"Three years ago, something terrible happened to Naomi Jenikins - so terrible she never told anyone.

Now Naomi has another secret - her lover, unhappily married Robert Haworth. When Robert vanishes, Naomi know he must have come to harm. But the police are less convinced, particularly when Robert's wife insists he is no missing.

Naomi is desperate. If she can't persuade the police that Robert is in danger, she'll convice them that he is a danger to others. Then they'll have to look for him - urgently.

Naomi knows how to describe in detail the actions of a psychopath.

My thoughts:

This was a very good thriller with many unexpected twists. I liked how Naomi and others learned the truth about Robert.

Date read: 3/5/2010
Book #: 18
Series: Spilling Detectives, #2
Challenges: A-Z Challenge 2010
Rating: 3*/5 = good
Genre: Thriller

ISBN-10: 034084034X
ISBN-13: 9780340840344
Publisher: Hodder
Year: 2007
# of pages: 408
Binding: Trade Paperback
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Gathering Blue by Lois Lowry

First sentence:

"Mother?"

Description:

"Kira, an orphan with a twisted leg, lives in a world where the weak are cast aside. She fears for her future until she is spared by the all-powerful Council of Guardians. Kira is a gifted weaver and is given a task that no other community member can do. While her talent keeps her alive and brings certain privileges, Kira soon realizes she is surrounded by many mysteries and secrets. No one must know of her plans to uncover the truth about her world -- and to find out what exists beyond it." -- from the back cover

My thoughts:

This was a very good story about a world in which the weak are cast aside. I liked how Kira learned about her gift and the truth of the Council of Guardians. I look forward to reading the next book in the series, Messenger.

Date read: 3/3/2010
Book #: 17
Challenges: Celebrate the Author Challenge 2010; 2nd Reading Challenge; Speculative Fiction Reading Challenge
Series: The Giver Trilogy #2
Rating: 3*/5 = good
Genre: Fantasy

ISBN-10: 0440229499
ISBN-13: 9780440229490
Publisher: Random House
Year: 2000
# of pages: 215
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
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The Wood Wife by Terri Windling

First sentence:

"On the night that Davis Cooper died, coyotes cam down from the hills to the town in the desert valley below."

Description:

"Leaving behind her fashionable West Coast life, Maggie Black comes to the Southwestern desert to pursue her passion and her dream. Her mentor, the acclaimed poet Davis Cooper, has mysteriously died in the canyons east of Tucson, bequeathing her his estate and the mystery of his life--and death.

Maggie is astonished by the power of this harsh but beautiful land and captivated by the uncommon people who call it home--especially Fox, a man unlike any she has ever known, who understands the desert's special power.

As she reads Cooper's letters and learns the secrets of his life, Maggie comes face-to-face with the wild, ancient spirits of the desert--and discovers the hidden power at its heart, a power that will take her on a journey like no other."

My thoughts:

This was a good fantasy set in the American Southwest. I liked how Maggie learned about the land and people around her and how she discovers the truth behind Cooper's death.

Date read: 3/2/2010
Book #: 16
Challenges: What's in a Name 3 Challenge, Speculative Fiction Reading Challenge
Rating: 3*/5 = good
Genre: Fantasy

ISBN-10: 0812549295
ISBN-13: 9780812549294
Publisher: Tor Fantasy
Year: 1996
# of pages: 292
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
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Winner of the National Book Award by Jincy Willett

First sentence:

"Lightning sought our mother out, when she was a young girl in Brown County, Indiana."

Description:

"Set in Rhode Island, Winner of the National Book Award tells the story of twins who could not be more different. Abigail Mather is a woman of passionate sensual and sexual appetites, while her sister, the book loving local librarian Dorcas, lives a quiet life of the mind. But when the sisters are sought out by the predatory and famous poet, Guy DeVilbiss, who introduces them to Hollywood hack writer and possible psychopath Conrad Lowe, they rapidly become pawns in a game that leads to betrayal, shame and ultimately, murder.

Darkly comic and satirical, Jincy Willett's Winner of the National Book Award is unnervingly funny and disarmingly tender whether she is writing about sex, literary delusion or Yankee pretension."

My thoughts:

I enjoyed this book. I liked Dorca's cynical observations and wit, especially about her neighbors and the library patrons. I also liked how she grew to appreciate her twin sister Abigail.

Date read: 3/2/2010
Book #: 15
Challenges: TBR Challenge 2010; A-Z Challenge 2010
Rating: 3*/5 = good
Genre: Fiction

ISBN-10: 031242423X
ISBN-13: 9780312424237
Publisher: Picador
Year: 2003
# of pages: 323
Binding: Trade Paperback
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The Winter Queen by Boris Akunin

First sentence:

"On Monday the thirteenth day of May in the years 1876, between the hours of two and three in the afternoon on a day that combined the freshness of spring with the warmth of summer, numerous individuals in Moscow's Alexander Gardens unexpectedly found themselves eyewitnesses to the perpetration of an outrage that flagrantly transgressed the bounds of common decency."

Description:

"Set in 1870s Moscow, St. Petersburg, and London, The Winter Queen introduces to American readers Boris Akunin's internationally celebrated sleuth, Erast Fandorin, who investigates the suicide of a wealthy student in Moscow's Alexander Gardens and discovers that it is not an open-and-shut case but evidence of a vast conspiracy with the deadliest of implications." -- from the back cover

My thoughts:

I enjoyed this first book in the Erast Fandorin series. I liked how Fandorin noticed inconsistencies and how he interacted with his boss and with the suspects. I look forward to reading the next book in the series, The Turkish Gambit.

Date read: 2/26/2010
Book #: 14
Series: Boris Akunin, #1
Challenges: What's in a Name 3 Challenge; A-Z Challenge 2010; 1st in a Series Challenge
Rating: 3*/5 = good
Genre: Mystery

ISBN-10: 0812968778
ISBN-13: 9780812968774
Publisher: Random House
Year: 2004
# of pages: 242
Binding: Trade Paperback
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Lullabies for Little Criminals by Heather O'Neill

First sentence:

"Right before my twelfth birthday, my dad, Jules, and I moved into a two-room apartment in a building that we called the Ostrich Hotel."

Description:

"12-year-old Baby is used to turmoil in her life. Her mother is long dead, her father is a junkie and they shuttle between rotting apartments and decrepit downtown hotels.

As your father's addiction and paranoia grow worse, she begins a journey that will lead her in and out of several foster homes, a detention centre and eventually onto the streets as a prostitute.

Throughout the chaos and hardship of her life, Baby's remarkable strength of spirit enables her to survive. Smart, funny and determined to life herself off the city's dirty streets, she knows that the only person she can truly rely upon is herself." -- from the back cover

My thoughts:

This was a very good book about finding one's way in the world and the need to be important to someone. I liked how Baby learned about herself and her father.

Date read: 2/23/2010
Book #: 13
Challenge: A-Z Challenge 2010
Rating: 3*/5 = good
Genre: Fiction

ISBN-10: 184724393
ISBN-13: 9781847243935
Publisher: Quercus Fiction
Year: 2006
# of pages: 358
Binding: Trade Paperback
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Tales of Known Space by Larry Niven

First sentence:

"In the coldest place in the solar system, I hesitated outside the ship for a moment."

Description:

"Ranging from the 20th Century to the 31st, these interconnected stories trace man's expansion and colonization throughout the galaxy...completing an epic creation that stands beside Asimov's Foundation trilogy and Heinlein's popular Future History series.

A colossal vision of the future. . .by a super writer!

Becalmed in hell
Howie's spaceship had a malfunction...but it might be only psychosomatic!

Wait it out
He was trapped on Pluto...and all his assets were frozen!

The borderland of Sol
Forward possessed the ultimate weapon...but no one would ever see it!

The jigsaw man
The organ banks want you...now!

Cloak of anarchy
They were free to be anything but violent...but that wasn't enough!

-- plus eight other great stories in Niven's spectacular cycle of the future...and, special for this volume, a complete Niven bibliography and a detailed chronology of all his Known Space stories!" -- from the back cover

My thoughts:

I enjoyed this anthology of Known Space stories. I especially liked the stories "Wait it out," (set on Pluto), "At the Bottom of a Hole," (Muller discovers the truth behind the failure of a human settlement on Mars) and "The Borderland of Sol" (Julius Forward has a very dangerous weapon). I also like the timeline at the beginning of the book which sets the stories in context and the bibliography at the end.

Readers who like Niven's work may like Shaun Farrell's October 2007 interview with Larry Niven at the Conjecture convention. It aired on Farrell's podcast Adventures in SciFi Publishing:
http://www.adventuresinscifipublishing.com/2007/10/aisfp-36/

Date read: 2/22/2010
Book #: 12
Challenges: Speculative Fiction Reading Challenge, A-Z Reading Challenge 2010, Winter Words Reading Challenge
Rating: 3*/5 = good
Genre: SF

ISBN-10: 0345245636
ISBN-13: 9780345245632
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Year: 1975
# of pages: 220
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
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Marooned in Real Time by Vernor Vinge

First sentence:

"On the day of the big rescue, Wil Brierson took a walk on the beach."

Description:

"Fifty million years in the future, all the time in the world might not be enough to save mankind. . .

The Extinction happened at some point in the 23rd century. Beyond that point, all that remained of humankind survived locked in timeless limbo inside spherical force fields known as 'bobbles'.

The rebuilding of civilisation and the rescue of survivors fell to the 'high-techs', themselves survivors of the technologically advanced decades just before The Extinction.

When they reached the 'bobble' where the last members of the Peace Authority lived on in stasis, one of the 'high-techs' was murdered, cruelly abandoned in real time.

Wil Brierson, the last detective in the world, was called in to handle the case. Seeking the murderer through a complex web of mysteries, he stumbled on a plan for a new -- and final -- Extinction . . ." -- from the back cover

My thoughts:

This book had a good mix of mystery and science fiction. I liked how Wil and Della Lu learn who abandoned Marta Korolev in the past and who was still a danger to them in the present.

Date read: 2/13/2010
Book #: 10
Challenges: A-Z Challenge 2010, Winter Words Reading Challenge, Speculative Fiction Reading Challenge 2010
Series: Across Realtime, #2
Rating: 3*/5 = good
Genre: SF

ISBN-10: 0330299603
ISBN-13: 9780330299602
Publisher: Pan Books
Year: 1987
# of pages: 269
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
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