From now on, at the end of each month I’ll post reviews written by participants in the Mythopoeic Award Challenge during that month. This time, I’m posting reviews from January 17th to February 29th, because I missed a few in January.

Some of these reviews contain major spoilers. Read at your own risk.

Annie reviewed Island of the Aunts by Eva Ibbotson and The Giver by Lois Lowry.

Book Calendar reviewed Solstice Wood by Patricia A. McKillip, The Wood Wife by Terri Windling, Sunshine by Robin McKinley and Briar Rose by Jane Yolen.

Claire reviewed The Penelopiad by Margaret Atwood.

Darla reviewed Nina Kiriki Hoffman’s Spirits That Walk in Shadow.

domynoe reviewed Nine Princes in Amber by Roger Zelazny.

Esther reviewed Solstice Wood by Patricia A. McKillip.

Eva reviewed Inkheart by Cornelia Funke.

Orchidus reviewed The Tombs of Atuan by Ursula K. LeGuin.

Joanna reviewed Neil Gaiman’s Stardust.

Kim reviewed Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman.

Megan reviewed The Stolen Child by Keith Donohue.

Meiran reviewed Sunshine by Robin McKinley.

Nicole B. reviewed Inkheart by Cornelia Funke.

Nymeth reviewed Summerland by Michael Chabon.

Rhinoa reviewed Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman and Roverandom by J.R.R. Tolkien.

Susan reviewed The Door in the Hedge by Robin McKinley.

*****

As of yet, I haven’t read anything for my own challenge! Research has stopped my fiction reading in its tracks, and I am Slogging (with a capital “S”) through the non-fiction because I’m just not in the mood for Music of the Baroque and such right now.

Today’s Booking Through Thursday:

Who is your favorite female lead character? And why? (And yes, of course, you can name more than one . . . I always have trouble narrowing down these things to one name, why should I force you to?)

Liath from Kate Elliott’s Crown of Stars series. I haven’t read the whole series yet, but Liath has some truly terrible things happen to her early on, and a lot of disappointments and setbacks along the way, but up to the point I’ve read, she always keeps going, remaining steadfast and courageous, and never wallows in self-pity nor gives in to despair.

The outline for the first Searoyal novel is done. I still have some questions jotted down and some places where motivation needs to be worked out, but I’m considering it done. It’s time to move on to the next stage: character planning. I did a little tentative work on my main character, and I have a basic feel for most of the principal characters after planning the outline, so I have quite a bit to go on: a main character, a few villains, a number of comrades in song, and some peripheral characters to help move things along. I expect to have fun! I’ll continue to read through my outline daily, making adjustments here and there, but it’s not an overly-detailed plan; I’m giving myself quite a bit of room to breathe this time.

The other thing I’ll be doing over the next few days, before the challenge at Dreaming in Ink starts, is looking everything over and choosing a working title. I’m well on my way!

Locus has published their 2007 Recommended Reading list online as well as in their February issue. It’s a consensus by Locus reviewers and editors, with input from outside reviewers and others.

Hmm . . . I didn’t realize Connie Willis had released a short story collection last year, The Winds of Marble Arch and Other Stories. Worlds Apart: A Russian Anthology of Science Fiction and Fantasy looks mighty interesting too.

Apparently Sherwood Smith has worked on her setting since 1959, when she was eight years old. The hard work she’s put into her story world shows in Crown Duel, and you get the feeling it’s only a taste of this rich setting.

Crown Duel is one story in two parts, and was at one point published as two separate works. In this paperback, it has been printed as a single novel, Smith’s original intent. However, there are two distinct parts to this story, and each has a slightly different feel, though the voice and tone remain the same throughout.

In the first part, Meliara and her brother, Branaric go to war against King Galdran, who plans to break the Covenant that protects the colourwood forests the Hill Folk cherish (full of highly-prized woods of blue, red and gold), and protects the people of Remalna from the Hill Folk. Meliara and Branaric promised their late father that they would take arms against the greedy king, but their campaign is not a success, and due to her own impulsiveness, Meliara is taken captive by the enemy and is carried to the capital city of Remalna by Vidanric, the blonde-haired and narrow-eyed Marquis of Shevraeth.

The second part is the account of how Meliara learns to survive at court amongst nobles vying for position after the war. The court is a new world of intrigue and deception to Meliara, a countess raised in the mountains of Tlanth.

The second part succeeds better than the first, but even the first section is an enjoyable read. Meliara is a somewhat unpleasant character, frustrating on occasion when you witness her obvious errors of judgement, though she refuses to see them herself. There are some odd bits; Smith seems reluctant to describe battle scenes. Meliara is absent or knocked out during some of them, others are “told” more than shown. Key moments are explained to her by other characters after the fact. This weakens the overall plot of the first half, and everything seems to happen on such a small scale that it’s surprising later when they refer to the events as a “war”.

The best thing about the first half is Meliara’s pluck, and her escape across the countryside, through villages, and finally back into the hands of her enemy. She is a surprisingly resourceful and resilient heroine without being unrealistic, and is a joy to read even when you’re shaking your head at her inwardly, or occasionally, screaming at her mentally. You know the author intended her to have these flaws, and Meliara feels like a real person, with all her “prickles and stings”.

The second part is more successful, although I wish it had been heavier on intrigue; In a political story, I like a bit of cloak and dagger, and not knowing who is bad or good, or who merely appears to be bad or good. Only one character’s nature seemed truly uncertain until the end, and even his motives weren’t quite obscure enough for my liking. The intricacies of court life were well-developed, however, and the character interactions were fun. My favourite bit was Meliara’s correspondence with a secret admirer who becomes her mentor in court life. The fact that I guessed who it was from the beginning only made it more charming.

This is the first book I’ve read in a long time that I didn’t want to end, and that’s saying something. Fortunately, Smith added a cute short story at the conclusion of the book that was like the prize in a Cracker-Jack box: the novel was complete without it, but it was a nice surprise all the same. I have a feeling I’ll miss the characters from Crown Duel for awhile—especially the Marquis of Shevraeth—but fortunately I can return to Smith’s fascinating world in Inda and her other books.

Ever since I got into SF, I’ve heard the name Lois McMaster Bujold spoken with admiration and respect. This author of space opera and fantasy is also the winner of four Hugos, two Nebulas, the World Fantasy Award, the Locus Award and the Mythopoeic Award. You can’t argue with that kind of success, so I spent last night and some of this morning poking around to see which books to start with.

Bujold has written a whole slew of books and stories; to get an idea, just check out her entry at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database. When choosing a book to start with, for any author as prolific as Bujold, a reading order debate is inevitable, so I was not surprised to learn that there’s no real consensus. According to the Wikipedia article on her longest-running series, the Vorkosigan Saga, the most-recommended book to read first is The Mountains of Mourning (a Hugo and Nebula winning novella), which happens to be available as a free ebook at the Baen Free Library.

Choosing a fantasy to start off with might be easier; Bujold has two fantasy series to date, the Chalion universe, beginning with The Curse of Chalion, and The Sharing Knife, beginning with Beguilement.

While trying to figure out what to read first, I also found excerpts of a Locus Magazine interview with Bujold from 2005.

“Both historical fantasy and futuristic science fiction have the appeal of being very far away from here, that escapist element. Of course the more you read about history, the less you want to go live there, but it still has that romanticism — not in the sense of sexual romance but in the sense of exotic places. ‘Escapist’ is one of those terms that gets used with a sneer, but I’m getting to be more and more of the opinion that it has a value in its own right that isn’t being properly appreciated.”

Well, this is handy. Locus Magazine’s Index of Science Fiction Awards has just been brought up-to-date, including lists for 2008 so far. There are also FAQs and articles that make the site fun to explore.

Award and nominee lists are a great way to discover new books and authors. Find the award most suited to your tastes and interests, and use it as inspiration for your own reading list!

Today’s Booking Through Thursday:

All other things (like price and storage space) being equal, given a choice in a perfect world, would you rather have paperbacks in your library? Or hardcovers? And why?

I vastly prefer hardbacks. Paperbacks get rumpled covers and cracked spines, but if you take the slipcover off when you read a hardback they stay beautiful for a long time. The cheapest paperbacks I’ve owned (Harlequin editions of Georgette Heyer) literally fell apart after one reading, some in the middle of the first reading. The Nonesuch dropped clean out of the cover in a solid brick of pages! You bet I want hardcovers after that mess.

Paperbacks are easier to carry around with you, and to drag from house to house. They’re easier to store, too. Even with those advantages, I still prefer hardcovers.

. . . ever devised by man. Apartment Therapy New York visits a London apartment that utilizes what would normally be dead space under the staircase to store books. There’s a skylight at the top so you can see what you’re looking at, and the stairs are designed just-so for sitting.

What I want to know is, can an architectural element be The Precious?

Lots more gorgeous pictures in the article.

Kate Elliott asks her readers how to write short stories, and the comments are extremely helpful.

I’m glad to see I’m not alone. I rarely, if ever, get ideas for short stories, and even when I think I have, in the end they feel like a five-course-meal crammed into a lunch box, all smashed up and leaking out in places. I really want to learn the form, because I think it’s a valuable skill. I admire writers that can manage them, and think that it adds depth and richness to a story world to supplement novels and series with short stories to sort of fill in the gaps.

I’m working on a short that takes place in Searoyal, based on a character who I like very much but who is unlikely to appear in many stories: The King of Searoyal himself. I figure a short story is the perfect chance to get to know him. I had written the first page or so, which consisted of characters walking down a street (it’s an important walk, trust me), but I remembered it as if I’d written ten walking-down-the-street pages. It’s funny how your emotional state in the middle of writing can affect your later perception of what you’ve put down.

Looking back at it, it was a rather better beginning than I’d thought, so I think I’ll keep at it. I promise to stick to one theme, one event, and just a couple of main characters. Hopefully I’ll be able to get a workable short story out of the thing. If that happens, maybe I’ll even work up the courage to write another! And another! Etcetera!

The outline for my first Searoyal novel is nearly done; I’m just putting on finishing touches and finalizing a subplot. It should be ready in time for the Novel Challenge at Dreaming in Ink come March 1st.