Reading List 2006, and related bitching

[allisnow]

^ Part of the Miles Vorkosigan Saga

1. Daughter of the Blood by Anne Bishop
2. Stargate Atlantis: Rising by Sally Malcolm
3. Heir to the Shadows by Anne Bishop
4. Queen of the Darkness by Anne Bishop
5. Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister by Gregory Maguire
6. Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire
7. The Curse of Chalion by Lois McMaster Bujold
8. Paladin of Souls by Lois McMaster Bujold
9. Angel-Seeker by Sharon Shinn
10. Jovah's Angel by Sharon Shinn
11. The Alleluia Files by Sharon Shinn
12. Angelica by Sharon Shinn
13. Daughter of the Forest by Juliet Marillier
14. Son of the Shadows by Juliet Marillier
15. Child of the Prophecy by Juliet Marillier
16. Stargate Atlantis: Reliquary by Martha Wells
17. Kushiel's Dart by Jacqueline Carey
18. Kushiel's Chosen by Jacqueline Carey
19. The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
20. Cordelia's Honor by Lois McMaster Bujold ^
21. Velocity by Dean Koontz
22. Life Expectancy by Dean Koontz
23. The Warrior's Apprentice by Lois McMaster Bujold ^
24. Elemental (anthology)
25. Kushiel's Avatar by Jacqueline Carey
26. The Vor Game by Lois McMaster Bujold ^
27. Kushiel's Scion by Jacqueline Carey
28. Ethan of Athos by Lois McMaster Bujold ^
29. Borders of Infinity by Lois McMaster Bujold ^
30. Brothers in Arms by Lois McMaster Bujold ^
31. Ticktock by Dean Koontz
32. Forever Odd by Dean Koontz
33. Stargate Atlantis: The Chosen by Sonny Whitelaw & Elizabeth Christensen (review)
34. Perchance to Dream (anthology)
35. One Door Away from Heaven by Dean Koontz
36. Quicksilver by Judith & Garfield Reeves-Stevens


And most recently...

37. Cast in Shadow by Michelle Sagara
38. Path of Fate by Diana Pharaoh Francis

I wasn't all that impressed with either of these books; they were both 'wandering around the bookstore and they seemed interesting' selections. The Sagara novel seemed much more... complicated than was necessary, and the writing style was extremely choppy and fragmented. There was the potential for lovely UST but it was just frustrating. And it just seemed like she tried way too hard in everything, if that makes any sense. The other book was more regular fantasy, and although I haven't read a whole lot of fantasy the word that came to mind reading it was 'cliche'. That, and the characters just didn't seem developed enough. *shrugs*

Right now I'm reading Icefire by Judith & Garfield Reeves-Stevens, which is a kind of Clancyesque "techno-thriller" and so far it's pretty good. Either the authors really know what they're talking about, or they're such good BSers that it doesn't matter ;)

I've also ordered the new SGA novel from Fandy, Halcyon, although I'm not totally sure why... the quality of the Atlantis novels has been in a steady decline since the Rising novelization. But I'm an eternal optimist and hey, at least it's not written by Whitelaw. That one I'll be skipping, based on the general horribleness of The Chosen.

Bitch? Maybe. Or maybe I'm just annoyed that Fandy hasn't seen fit to open submissions for SGA, or tell people who've put in SG1 submissions what their status is*, or seem to think that nobody in North America is capable of passing their publishing standards and yet Sonny "Three-quarters of the planet in sun" Whitelaw is.

* No, I'm not one of those people.