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More book-reading! I have been doing a lot of this lately.
I read the second of Mercedes Lackey's 500 Kingdoms series, and enjoyed it more than the first. The plot held more direction, and I found several of the characters more interesting. The main conflict resolved itself a little too quickly - and almost seemed too easy - but it wasn't as rushed and contrived as in the first book. I like the fantasy world that's been created, and it's a lot of fun to read about. Unfortunately, I had trouble getting into the romance yet again. Not because of the unusual nature of the romance, but more because I wans't feeling the chemistry. The sense of companionship between the main character and her love interest was very nice, and I felt bad for her when she didn't think it would work out, but there was no fascinating pull to the relationship that made me very eager to find out what happened with it. And the second romance in the story seemed altogether too convenient. I liked it, but still.
I remember being enthralled by some of the romances in the Valdemar series when I was younger, so I'm not sure if ML is doing something different now or if my tastes have changed, but I haven't really been that into the love stories in these books. They're nice enough, but nothing really exciting. That would be a deal-breaker on a normal harlequin, but these ones have some other fun things about them that keep me entertained.
I'll probably read the third book eventually, but I decided to take a break and re-read some older books with a similar theme: Patricia C. Wrede's Enchanted Forest series.
I still find these pretty enjoyable. They're lively and fun, and have a cast of pretty colorful characters. Perfect for some light reading. I'm already through Dealing with Dragons and Searching for Dragons, and just getting started with Calling on Dragons. Much like the books above, the romance is not all that compelling, but this is okay because it plays such a small part in the overall story that I just don't care much. Plus, the way the characters play off of each other is fun. Simple and light-hearted fantasy like this is just fantastic to read - at least for me.
I read the second of Mercedes Lackey's 500 Kingdoms series, and enjoyed it more than the first. The plot held more direction, and I found several of the characters more interesting. The main conflict resolved itself a little too quickly - and almost seemed too easy - but it wasn't as rushed and contrived as in the first book. I like the fantasy world that's been created, and it's a lot of fun to read about. Unfortunately, I had trouble getting into the romance yet again. Not because of the unusual nature of the romance, but more because I wans't feeling the chemistry. The sense of companionship between the main character and her love interest was very nice, and I felt bad for her when she didn't think it would work out, but there was no fascinating pull to the relationship that made me very eager to find out what happened with it. And the second romance in the story seemed altogether too convenient. I liked it, but still.
I remember being enthralled by some of the romances in the Valdemar series when I was younger, so I'm not sure if ML is doing something different now or if my tastes have changed, but I haven't really been that into the love stories in these books. They're nice enough, but nothing really exciting. That would be a deal-breaker on a normal harlequin, but these ones have some other fun things about them that keep me entertained.
I'll probably read the third book eventually, but I decided to take a break and re-read some older books with a similar theme: Patricia C. Wrede's Enchanted Forest series.
I still find these pretty enjoyable. They're lively and fun, and have a cast of pretty colorful characters. Perfect for some light reading. I'm already through Dealing with Dragons and Searching for Dragons, and just getting started with Calling on Dragons. Much like the books above, the romance is not all that compelling, but this is okay because it plays such a small part in the overall story that I just don't care much. Plus, the way the characters play off of each other is fun. Simple and light-hearted fantasy like this is just fantastic to read - at least for me.
