First Casuality by Mike Moscoe

Moscoe and Shepherd of the Kris Longknife stories are one and the same. Unfortunately, this time I had to read very fast to manage to finish the book. I haven't come this close to dumping one in a long time. However, the second Kris book was a much better read than the first (which I understand is not actually the first but the tenth or some such), so maybe I will give book two a try.

I would have said that the only purpose the book served was to introduce characters and some back story for the Kris books, but Google informs me that it and its two fellows were in fact written first. The primary character, Ray Longknife, is Princess Kris's grampa Ray (actually great-grampa) - also known as King Ray. In this one he is merely a marine lieutenant, who does marry and beget the initial spawn in the line of Longknife.

Aside from that, it is basically fly, fight, and kill. Lengthy, detailed descriptions of space warfare are pretty boring. There was a fair amount of ground combat as well, but it seemed remarkably pointless - except as a plot device for getting Ray seriously injured. C'mon people, why would you have ground forces in combat on an moon without atmosphere or any redeeming mineral value or population to be protected?

The title is apt, but unsubtle. The political leadership on both sides is corrupt to the point of idiocy. Oh well, maybe there will be some story in the next one.

Kris Longknife: Furious by Mike Shepherd

Good fun. I noted that the previous book didn't wrap things up. Neither did this one. The title bomb only drops in the last paragraphs of the last chapter - and opens up another whole world of plot possibilities. It still reads like space opera, but there is very little "fly, fight, and kill" in this one. In fact, I don't think anyone got killed.

The previous book, Daring, ended with Princess Kris being hauled off to jail for saving the galaxy as her newly discovered sweetheart, Jack, being hauled off to a different jail. This one opens with a jailbreak and we go from there. BTW, she does get back together with Jack.

I suppose one must categorize this as science fiction, rather than fantasy, but the tech - which to my mind marks the distinction between the two - is definitely "magic" tech. We have self-aware computers small enough to be worn by their users and magic metal that reforms itself into whatever would be convenient at the moment at the touch of a button. Not to mention bullet-stopping body armor that you can wear under your undies. By contrast, in spite of the far future setting, costume and slang are pretty standard for today - jeans and t-shirts, etc.

We also have a touch of not so far future in surveillance systems with cameras everywhere and face recognition software, much as I understand is in place in some European cities - London, for example.

Skeleton Man by Tony Hillerman

Finished on Dec26. And that is today, believe it or not. If I can just get this lot posted today, I will be officially caught up!!!

I stopped by my office on Christmas Eve to water my plants (which, by the way, are flourishing there as they never did in this house) and found this on the freebie table - a Hillerman that I hadn't read - what a Christmas gift!

The wiki informs me that there is one more that follows this one, and there may be a couple on the list that I missed somehow. It also informs me (shades of Dick Francis) that Hillerman's daughter has picked up the torch and is continuing the series. I will reserve judgment on that. Felix Francis seems to be doing a respectable job of it, maybe Anne Hillerman will also.

Here we have the emerging pattern of the later books, the retired Joe Leaphorn gets the not-so-retired Jim Chee involved in matters. This time going back to the disastrous Grand Canyon mid-air collision of two passenger aircraft back in the fifties. There is considerable emphasis on Bernadette Manuelito, Bernie, now no longer Chee's subordinate, but transferred to another jurisdiction and his fiancee.

They actually manage to get married in this one, but off-camera, in a way. We hear about it when Leaphorn reports on the event to his coffee buddies at the Navajo Cafe.

Hillerman could join Jance for this coming year's reread. I still have some Dick Francis to go, and I sort of abandoned Marcia Muller somewhere along the way. Grafton is due for a long rest before I pick up the rest of the alphabet. And Reichs and Davidson are caught up to current publications. I was considering adding Agatha and Dorothy --- Whatever, I am clearly in no danger of running out of reading material.

Reflex by Dick Francis

Finished on Dec24.

Philip Nore is a jockey - and photographer. He emerged from a very peculiar upbringing (Francis has outdone himself with this one) to have a very strong sense of right and wrong - but very little initiative about the direction of his own life. And like all floaters gets caught up in currents that sweep him in unpredictable directions.

We meet Philip lying on the ground after his horse has fallen hoping not to be damaged too badly and thinking that his is a damned stupid way for a grown man to make a living. One of Francis's best openers, I think.

The current he gets caught up in forces him to draw on his darkroom expertise to uncover a most unusual blackmailer and a not so unusual murderer.

Horizon(The Sharing Knife, Book 4) by Lois McMaster Bujold

Finished on Dec22.

They find temporary refuge at a southern Lakewalker encampment, where Dag begins serious training as a healer to further his plan of setting up as a healer in a Farmer community. He can't play by their rules, though, and is sent on his way after leaving the grounds to try to help a boy with tetanus.

The tale begins to resemble the old Nevil Shute book, Pied Piper, as they acquire more and more members of their party as they move out. By the way, Fawn is pregnant by this time.

They do, after many crises, have enough folks to settle and create a mixed population community.

This series is rather like one book that was just too long. So, instead of packing it all into a ten or eleven hundred page volume, Bujold broke it up into four volumes. The breaks are logical, I suppose, but each one begins literally within the moments following the end of the previous volume. I enjoyed it, but Dag is no Miles Vorkosigan.

Passage(The Sharing Knife, Book 3) by Lois McMaster Bujold

Finished on Dec20.

Dag had promised Fawn that he would show her the sea, so they set off downriver (down the Arkansas to the Mississippi to the delta and the gulf, sounds like). They make friends along the way, and recruits to the cause, but Dag is discouraged because one at a time doesn't seem fast enough. (Sounds like my friend/professor Doug - who isn't satisfied with one-by-one conversions.) Fawn, on the other hand, points out that conversion works exponentially (well, she didn't say that, but it was the general idea).

Legacy(The Sharing Knife, Book 2) by Lois McMaster Bujold

Finished on Dec19.

What with one thing and another, having gotten married by both Farmer and Lakewalker rites at Fawn's home, Dag and Fawn set out for Dag's home. Their reception is far less cordial than that they received at Fawn's home, which wasn't all that friendly, either. Eventually, in spite of acts of heroism on both their parts, they are invited to take themselves away. Which gives Dag the opportunity to start working on his world-view project of getting both groups working on the same team.

Beguilement(The Sharing Knife, Book 1) by Lois McMaster Bujold

Finished on Dec17.

I read the first three of this series of four several years ago. Naturally, I didn't remember enough of the first three to tackle the fourth book without rereading the earlier ones.

The geography of this world sounds a lot like the eastern US, but it isn't totally obvious. The society composed of two groups: Lakewalkers and Farmers. Farmers resemble American rural and semi-rural society of the late 1800s more or less: pre-electricity, some indoor plumbing, wood fires for heat and cooking, horses for transportation. The Lakewalkers somewhat resemble the plains indians of more or less the same period, but are much more. They have some psi powers, specifically the ability to sense "ground" - a type of life-force present in all things, particularly living things. They are highly organized and have the mission of patrolling inhabited areas for incursions of menaces known by them as "malices" and by farmers as "blight bogles" which feed on "ground" and utterly destroy everything they can reach.

The two groups are completely separate. Farmers regard Lakewalkers with superstitious fear and Lakewalkers have deep contempt for farmers. They do, of necessity, interact, but very uneasily.

So, it is obvious where this is going. A farmer girl and a Lakewalker man meet and fall in love and thereby hangs the tale.

Whip Hand by Dick Francis

Finished on Dec16.

Sid Halley (Odds Against, Dick Francis book 4) returns. I believe that Sid is the only character that Francis repeats; I think he could be a series in his own right - except that Francis does tend to brutalize his heroes rather badly.

If you recall, Sid had concluded his collection of cases so successfully that Radnor was making him a partner in the newly reconstituted Radnor-Halley Agency. Unfortunately, after the end of that book and the beginning of this one, Radnor collapsed and died without completing the partnership papers; a random nephew appeared and took possession; and Sid was out. His sidekick, Chico Barnes, has joined him in his new venture as an independent investigator.

Anyway, multiple investigations, brutal beatings, horses murdered, all the usual. Among other things, Sid saves his ex-wife from a probable prison sentence. No, there is no reconciliation, she isn't really even grateful. Let's face it: Jenny is not a nice girl and is a great disappointment to her father. Sid does hook up with a rather nice girl - Jenny's ex-housemate - but there is not any sense of permanence to that relationship.

Maybe the previous book, Trial Run, struck the general reading public and Dick Francis fans specifically rather as it did me, leaving Francis in need of a solid winner to get everybody back. Bet this one did the job.

Trial Run by Dick Francis

Finished on Dec14.

Disappointing. I suppose I have read this one before since it was there on my shelf, but I didn't remember anything about it.

I'm not sure why this one doesn't work for me; it seems to have the elements that drive the others, but somehow it simply falls flat. Perhaps it is the setting; the Soviet Union of the period is not a particularly charming environment. The plot is also political and rather strained - strained to the point of silliness.

Heralds of Valdemar by Mercedes Lackey

Finished on Dec12. Yet again.

Yes, I reread all three books in the series. I always pick them up thinking that I am only going to read the first one - or even only the first chapter of the first one - and end up reading all three of them cover to cover.

These are the ones I go to when I want something familiar and not too demanding with characters that I really like. Times like this week - final exam week. Students think they are the ones stressed - if they only knew.

Betsy-Tacy by Maud Hart Lovelace

Finished on Dec7.

This was a quick run back to my childhood. I read all of these when I was in grade school. The two little girls meet and, after a rough start, become best friends.

They have endless adventures, both real and imaginary, and it all rings true for the place and the period. When they start school, the shy one has to be dragged to school sobbing by her older sister. Reminded me of the time ... well, never mind about that.

The piano crate in the backyard, dressing up in their mothers' clothes and going calling on the new people in the biggest house in town, catching a ride on a floating feather and sailing over the town - all seem to be formed from the memory of a couple of real little girls.

It is nice to reread something that I read and loved as a child without being embarrassed for my complete lack of taste and literary judgment.

The Speed of Dark by Elizabeth Moon

Finished on Dec7.

This is about as different from The Deed of Paksenarrion as I can imagine, except in her creation of absolutely compelling characters and a story that grabs you and hangs on. It is set in a near future United States, so near that those who don't read much science fiction might not notice. It is inevitable to compare it to Daniel Keyes' "Flowers for Algernon."

Lou is an autistic adult. It has been discovered that there are tasks that his kind of mind can perform far more effectively than "normal" minds or computer software, and the pharmaceutical firm that he works for has an entire unit of autistic adults working in an environment that allows them to manage their problems. Lou is well-adapted, likes his work, has a life beyond his job, and is falling in love with a "normal" woman who reciprocates his feelings.

Then he and his colleagues are presented with a "cure" for their condition. Lou's question is whether or not he will be the same person if he takes the treatment. He likes who he is; he likes his job; he has friends; and he loves Marjory. Would any of those things remain the same?

Moon's credentials for the topic are impeccable: her son is autistic, she has lived with the fact of autism for his entire life - with the fear and misunderstanding of people outside their world and the obstacles that the world places in the paths of people who are different.

Very early in the story Lou tells us "Everything in my life that I value has been gained at the cost of not saying what I really think and saying what they want me to say." The statement shocked me because I can identify with it in many ways. When I started school, successful bright little girls learned quickly to sit down and shut up - to keep our heads down. And how many of us have learned the same lesson on the job - whatever job we might have? One of my colleagues put it rather harshly: "I can be a good house slave - 'Yes, Massa, jes' tell me what to do.' Why would my opinion and experience matter, I'm not entitled to an opinion and my experience is clearly of no interest whatsoever to those making operational decisions."

I think that is the primary message here - maybe different isn't all that different after all.

Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones

Finished on 2Dec.

What fun! I'm quite certain that I read this several years ago, but I had forgotten - have to love my convenient memory. It really comes in handy when I am economizing and trying to buy fewer books.

Sophie, our heroine, is quite amazingly calm about her fate. As the eldest of three, she is doomed (by fairy tale tradition) to be a failure. As we all know, it is the youngest that is fated for glory. In accord with tradition, after the death of the mother of the older two girls, their father remarries and has another daughter, then dies himself. Unlike the obvious parallel tale, the stepmother is quite fond of all three girls and raises them all as her own. She apprentices the two younger out and keeps Sophie with her to learn the milliner's trade in expectation of inheriting the shop some day - as the eldest.

As she makes and trims hats, Sophie, all unwittingly, is enchanting them - which earns her the enmity of the evil Witch of the Waste - who turns her (no, not into a toad) but into a ninety year-old crone.

Sophie decides to make the best of things as an old woman - and actually discovers that it has its advantages. Old women may be excused for some rather outrageous behavior - my own grandmother being a case in point. "When I am an old woman I shall wear purple, and a red had that doesn't go." Grandmother never wore purple, and the Red Hat ladies are the very antithesis of the spirit of Jennie Joseph's poem. And, besides, I was talking about Sophie Hatter.

Although Sophie is philosophical about old age, and does not particularly seek to have her own curse reversed, it is reversed - eventually - and she reverts to being a beautiful seventeen year old. And - in a radical break with tradition - does not win the heart of the handsome prince - but that of the handsome wizard - and finds suitable husbands for both of her sisters.

Risk by Dick Francis

Finished on 1Dec.

Roland Britten is an accountant - and amateur jockey, of course. The senior partner in his accounting firm is also heavily involved in racing and allows him great flexibility in his working hours so he can go racing. Then one day Roland is kidnapped after a day of racing and held on a boat. The reason why is unclear. There is clearly no intent to kill him - just to keep him out of circulation - since he is not of the class or income bracket to make ransom an issue. Then the bookkeeping irregularities start to appear.

In the Frame by Dick Francis

Finished on 30 Nov.

I occasionally miss the point of Francis's titles (not as bad as Grafton's, but she had her gimmick to stick to) - this was not one of them.

Our hero arrives at his brother's house for a visit and finds a police investigation into his brother's wife's murder - for which his brother is "in the frame" as the prime suspect. And it all turns on an elaborate scam involving some paintings - which were also framed, I believe. Besides all that, the hero is a painter. A painter of portraits of race horses, which provides the Francis racing connection. All good fun - plus a trip to Australia.

"P" is for Peril by Sue Grafton

Finished on 28Nov.

I notice that I have remembered enough to write at least some minimal notes about most of the books that I read a month or so ago - okay, not quite that - the date on this one is November 28th and today is Christmas Eve - but the point is that I remember at least some salient details about the stories I have read - with the exception of the Sue Grafton books. These I have to reopen and check out the beginning and maybe the end before I recall anything about them.

My current theory is that part of the problem is the lack of connection between the titles and the text. Early in the series I think she did a better job of that, but by this point the connections are vague at best.

This one begins with a missing doctor and progresses through the usual murder and mayhem. I do remember where and more or less how they found the body, I simply can't remember why the vic was murdered.

Close to His Heart by Leonora Pruner

Finished on 26Nov.

Very Georgette Heyer, but with much more scripture. Rather implausible in most respects, but no end of good intentions - in spite of the fact that we meet our heroine as she is attempting to sneak out of the house to elope with a footman. (Major implausibility #1). She is thwarted in her intentions, however, by a young man who has come to court her at the recommendation of his recently deceased father. His man having informed him of stable gossip of the intended elopement, he takes up his station for the night on the floor outside her bedroom door to prevent her escape. (Major implausibility #2 - or maybe #3, if you count his haring off to marry a girl recommended by his papa.)

My sister purchased this - and I read it - cooperative learning, or something. Christian romantic fiction is not the genre of choice for either one of us - even Christian historical romantic fiction, but we are acquainted with the author and thought it worth a try.

Flying Changes by Sara Gruen

Finished on 25Nov.

I enjoyed Riding Lessons which I read some time ago. Nothing to compare with Water for Elephants, which I probably mentioned then, but it was pleasant, a bit more "coming of age" or "finally growing up" than heavy duty romance, but all right. So, when this one appeared on the "under $4" list ---

About the same, not a strain in any way but a reasonably good read. More mother/daughter dramatics, of course. I was left feeling that, if she goes on for four or five more of these, she may actually get Annemarie to something resembling adulthood. Her daughter seems to be growing up successfully - and deserves an adult for a mother.

Booked to Die by John Dunning

Finished on 24Nov.

Another first of a series. A friend recommended these "bookman" books a number of years ago. There are, unfortunately, only five of them - but one is new since I read the others! I love Google! I've actually read one of his not from this series, and had never made the connection - Two A.M., Eastern War Time. I read that while I was in Africa over ten years ago - and left it there - but Amazon will provide, no doubt.

Cliff Janeway starts the series as a cop who can't quite manage to work within the lines and eventually leaves the force to pursue his other passion - antique and collectible books. But - setting up in business as a bookman doesn't keep him out of trouble.

I do like the juxtaposition of old books and violent crime.

Until Proven Guilty by JA Jance

Finished on 22Nov.

More dead kids. This is the first of the J.P. Beaumont stories. I knew I had read it, and even remembered some of the back story. I just didn't remember that all of that happened in the first book. It was sort of like watching the first episode of "Hill Street Blues" when it finally came out on DVD. The events and story lines that I thought ran the entire first season all opened in that first episode.

Beaumont is one of those depressed cop characters and, as I recall - which may not be the way the series develops at all, he gets more depressed as time goes on. Which at some point has him drying out at a spa in Arizona and encountering Sheriff Joanna Brady - I think, maybe ---

I guess Jance may have to be my next big reread. With all three series, there are a bunch of them.

Bones are Forever by Kathy Reichs

Finished on 21Nov.

Tempe is called to the scene of the discovery of a fairly recently dead newborn infant, and it goes exponential when, on a hunch, they search the apartment and find two older infant bodies. And from there, they follow a trail of dead infants across the frozen northern wastelands. Cheery, but as always from Reichs, a great read.

The truly depressing bit is that this is the most recent one. Not only had I not read it before - there aren't any more yet.

"O" is for Outlaw by Sue Grafton

Finished on 19Nov.

The outlaw in question is Kinsey's first ex-husband, ex-cop Mickey Macgruder. Seems like her second ex was dealt with several volumes ago.

Sadly, these are becoming less memorable as we go along. The vehicle for reconnecting with ex-1 was clever, though. A guy whose sideline during the off-season for roofing is scavenging storage lockers finds a box of Kinsey's belongings in an abandoned locker and sells it to her. There isn't any particularly clear reason while she hunts up good ol' Mickey, however.

Web of Evil by JA Jance

Finished on 16Nov.

I'm glad that somewhere down the line Jance abandons the "Something of Evil" titles; they really make me cringe.

Ali returns to LA for the formal divorce proceedings. After all, her husband's fiancee is perilously close to delivery - in fact, their wedding is scheduled for the day after the divorce is finalized. Unfortunately, murder intervenes and Ali is left a widow instead of a divorcee.

I believe that after this, Ali gets to do her investigating in Arizona.

Edge of Evil by JA Jance

Finished on 15Nov.

The first one of Jance's Ali Reynolds books. Jance has three series with quite different detectives. The first ones I ran into were the Beaumont books about a Seattle cop. Then the Joanna Brady books about an Arizona sheriff. And now these. I'm not sure about the order of writing - maybe she switches around for variety.

In this one Ali has been summarily dumped from her job as a news anchor, and by her husband one of whose hobbies has become pregnant. To add to her distress, an old friend of hers is dead, apparently a suicide. So she packs up, leaves LA, and heads back to Sedona, Arizona, to check into the circumstances of her friend's death.

Deadly Stakes by JA Jance

Finished on 14Nov.

I had started this when I had to reboot my computer - and forgot that I had been working on this file group - and had not saved. Sad, and an ironic event because I had just been commenting that although it was less than three weeks ago that I read this - and I had enjoyed it enough to "run" to Amazon and buy the first two books in the series, which I also enjoyed - I remembered nothing about the story. I am sure that is significant in some way. Or perhaps it is simply my ability to forget all about a whodunit, which allows me to reread it.

High Stakes by Dick Francis

Finished on 11Nov.

This has always been one of my favorites along with a much later one - Shattered. Both feature creative geniuses, this one a designer of mechanical toys and the other an artist working with hot glass.

Steven Scott has made a fortune from his line of mechanical toys and has graduated to big boy toys for himself - in the form of race horses and racing. The story opens as he fires his trainer for systematically cheating him. The opening irony is that Steven has discovered that Jody Leeds, his trainer, has a clever little number going in gambling scams, and when he confronts Jody with cheating him - Jody inadvertently gives away the fact that he has been cheating him on supplies and services. And even that turns out to be only the tip of the proverbial iceberg.

"N" is for Noose by Sue Grafton

Finished on 11Nov. So much for my resolution to stay on top of this. I've been spending so much time madly crocheting baby gifts that I'm way behind again - and I'm not done yet! I can knit or crochet and read at the same time, but not type...

These notes will be brief until I catch up. This is one of Kinsey's out of town jobs. She has been over in Nevada with Dietz during his knee surgery and stopped in Small Town, Cali, to take on this job the job for an old client of his. So this time she has the stranger thing going against her.

The title refers to the MO which is all that connects a couple of murders. This had been spotted by the primary murder victim - a cop in this small town, the client is his wife - also an outsider and not highly regarded by the locals.

I'm wondering if this is when Kinsey starts bemoaning her lack of judgment in taking each and every case. I've read two more since this one, and she whines along this line in both.