Snuff

You know about my love of Discworld and anything related to City Watch of Ankh-Morpork. So saying I savored this latest installment in Discworld series, “Snuff” by Terry Pratchett; is a little understatement.

Captain Vimes is forced to take a vacation and visit his country seat with Lady Sybil and their son young Sam. But as he finds the country life boring, his expert eyes are looking for crime and “Just ice”. He finds both in the shape of law breaking country magistrates, enslavement of goblins and a murder. To top it all off there is the curious case of a laughing cigar. Join the gang and enjoy a wild river ride, fights on horseback, walking in dark tunnels and under hills plus a wonderful harp recital.

Discworld is where I take refuge when I’m running away from real life!

Crispin Guest Medieval Noir

It is a new series by Jeri Westerson that I discovered and fell instantly in love with. It mixes two of favorite subjects: mystery and medieval history and settings.

The books include “Veil of Lies”, “Serpent in Thorns”, “Demon’s Parchment” and “Troubled Bones” so far.

Expert from the “Veil of Lies”:

“Crispin Guest is a disgraced knight, stripped of his rank and his honor - but left with his life - for plotting against Richard II. Having lost his bethrothed, his friends, his patrons and his position in society. With no trade to support him and no family willing to acknowledge him, Crispin has turned to the one thing he still has - his wits - to scrape a living together on the mean streets of London. In 1383, Guest is called to the compound of a merchant - a reclusive mercer who suspects that his wife is being unfaithful and wants Guest to look into the matter. Not wishing to sully himself in such disgraceful, dishonorable business but in dire need of money, Guest agrees and discovers that the wife is indeed up to something, presumably nothing good. But when he comes to inform his client, he is found dead - murdered in a sealed room, locked from the inside. Now Guest has come to the unwanted attention of the Lord Sheriff of London and most recent client was murdered while he was working for him. And everything seems to turn on a religious relic - a veil reported to have wiped the brow of Christ - that is now missing.”

“Serpent in Thorns”:

“Convicted of treason, Crispin Guest was stripped of his title, his land, his money and his friends. Now with only his considerable wits to sustain him, Guest works the mean streets of 14th century London, building a small reputation for his skill. In 1383, a simple-minded tavern girl comes to his door--a body was found where she works and she's the only person who could have killed him. Except for the fact that the man was killed in place by a precisely aimed crossbow bolt. Making matters worse, the murdered man was one of three couriers from the French king, transporting a relic intended to smooth the troubled relations between France and England. Events quickly spin out of control and Guest now finds himself the prime suspect in the murder, one with terrible diplomatic implications. As the drumbeat of war between the two countries grow, Guest must unravel the con spiracy behind the murder to save not only his country, but himself as well.”

“Demon’s Parchment” :

“Guest, who's developed a reputation as "the Tracker," pursues two cases: a Jewish doctor, Jacob of Provençal, retains him to recover some lost Hebrew manuscripts, and the sheriff of London asks for his help to trace a serial killer who's strangled and eviscerated four young boys. In the course of his inquiries, Guest encounters a hulking figure who may be the legendary golem, a creature molded from clay to protect the Jewish community.”

“Troubled Bones” :

“Disgraced knight Crispin Guest gets himself into some serious trouble in London and as a result is forced to accept an assignment far out of town. The Archbishop of Canterbury has specifically requested Guest to investigate a threat against the bones of saint and martyr Thomas a Beckett, which are on display in the cathedral in Canterbury. The archbishop has received letters threatening the safety of the artifacts, and he wants Guest to protect them and uncover whoever is after them.
When he arrives at Canterbury, Guest is accosted by an old acquaintance from court – one Geoffrey Chaucer – and is surrounded by a group in town on a pilgrimage. Trapped amongst the pilgrims (who were, quite possibly, the model for Chaucer’s famous story cycle), looking for a murderer, a hidden heretic and a solution to the riddle that will allow him to go back home, Crispin Guest finds his considerable wit and intellect taxed to its very limit.”

Last Sacrifice and Bloodlines

“Last Sacrifice” the last book of A Vampire Academy Novel by Richelle Mead ended with Rose attempting to find the real murderer and also helping Lisa secure her power as the new queen of Moroi. Hence the story of Lisa and Rose ended somehow with happily ever after.

“Bloodlines” by Richelle Mead is the start of a new series, featuring all the secondary characters; Lisa’s half sister, her dispositioned guardian, Sydney the alchemist and of course Adrian. They are moved to Palm Spring California to be protected from rebellious Moroi but are facing new and un-anticipated threats. Sydney is the narrator and central figure of this new series.

All in all it looks less mushy than Vampire Academy series. Let’s keep our fingers crossed!

After the golden Age

“After the golden Age” by Carrie Vaughn was a superhero-induced teenager-family drama in my opinion. I love Ms. Vaughn Kitty Norville series but haven’t been able to relate to her individual novels. Anyhow:

“Can an accountant defeat a supervillain? Celia West, only daughter of the heroic leaders of the superpowered Olympiad, has spent the past few years estranged from her parents and their high-powered lifestyle. She’s had enough of masks and heroics, and wants only to live her own quiet life out from under the shadow of West Plaza and her rich and famous parents.
Then she is called into her boss’ office and told that as the city’s top forensic accountant, Celia is the best chance the prosecution has to catch notorious supervillain the Destructor for tax fraud. In the course of the trial, Celia’s troubled past comes to light and family secrets are revealed as the rift between Celia and her parents grows deeper. Cut off from friends and family, Celia must come to terms with the fact that she might just be Commerce City’s only hope.
This all-new and moving story of love, family, and sacrifice is a homage to Golden Age comics that no fan will want to miss.”

Tamora Pierce and Tortall

I discovered Tamora Pierce and her books through Gail Carriger (one of my favorite authors). I started with what Gail recommended “Protector of the Small” series. I couldn’t believe it! How in Gutenberg’s name I’ve missed these books, this great author, how?! So all through summer, whenever life was getting unbearable; I would pack my bags and go to Tortall.

Tortall is the land where magic and adventure are still alive. Knights protect and fight, mages some good some evil exist and fantastic creatures roam the land and gods play with mortal lives. The story of contemporary Tortall starts with “The Song of the Lioness” series. It includes four books: “Alanna: The First Adventure”, “In the Hand of the Goddess”, “The Woman Who Rides Like a Man” and “Lioness Rampant”. Everything starts when a noble and neglectful father send his twin children to be trained in respected establishments. The boy Tom to become a page and be trained for knighthood and the girl Alanna to temple learning genteel art of becoming a lady and healing magic. The twins however have other ideas: Tom good with magic and hating any physical activity wants to go to the temple and learn serious magic, Alanna good with a sword and loving adventure wants to become a Lady knight. There hasn’t been any lady knight in the realm of Tortall for hundreds of years. What choice these sibling have except to switch places and disguise themselves? Alanna adopting the name Alan poses as her brother and goes into training with other boys to become a knight… and this is just the beginning, as Alanna finds friends, learns fighting skills and saves lives, Tortall enters a new era of conflicts, wars and new alliances. Alanna and her friends shape this new Tortall.

Some ten year or so after the Alanna’s adventure in “The Song of the Lioness”, a little girl in northern Tortall asks a horse trader for a job. Her name is Daine and she is good with horses. Actually she is good with all animals; she can talk to them, order them and tame them. There starts Daine’s story “The Immortals Quartet”. Books include: “Wild Magic”, “Wolf-speaker”, “Emperor Mage” and “The Realms of the Gods”. As Daine learns about her magic and animals, politics and relationships; Tortall is facing new threats: immortal creatures from the other world have come to the land and are staying: Winged horses, centaurs, dragons and monsters. People have to learn to live with these new neighbors but more importantly they have to learn to live without war. We get to meet many of our favorite characters from Alanna’s adventures again, all grown up! It’s the time of Immortal Wars.

Despite Alanna’s knighthood it takes another four years for the first girl to apply to the king, wanting to become a knight. Kel is a tomboy, an athlete and her dearest wish is becoming Squire to Alanna the Lioness. But old nobles think the proper place for genteel women is in court doing embroidery. That’s how Kel’s struggles and story, “Protector of the Small” series starts. Four books, “First Test”, “Page”, “Squire”, “Lady Knight”; and more war and heroic follows.

Then it is time for Alanna’s daughter, Alyanna to find her proper place in the world. The daughter of a knight and a spy, granddaughter of king’s spymaster, god daughter of king and queen and two famous mages, she has a lot of expectations to live up to. Will she be able to? Where in the world she can carve a place for herself? We read about Aly in “Trickster’s Choice” and “Trickster’s Queen”.

A collection of tales from our favorite characters is “Tortall and Other Lands”, where we learn what happened to the tree Numair changed to a man, some playful darkings looking for amusement , how Kit the dragon learns to talk and how the life goes after Aly and Nawat have children.

Then there is the new series: “The Legend of Beka Cooper” happening chronically some five hundred years or so before the start of Alanna’s adventures. Beka is a Dog, one of provost’s guards who polices the city of Tortall. Books include: “Terrier”, “Bloodhound” and “Mastiff” which I’m right in the middle of this last one.