kingstoken (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
kingstoken) wrote2022-06-30 08:41 pm
kingstoken) wrote2022-06-30 08:41 pm
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Second Quarter Reading Wrap-up
I am still making good progress towards my reading goals for the year, you can see my Book Bingo Card here. I am currently in the middle of a mystery novel, Dancing in the Dark by Mary Jane Clark, pretty good so far, but the final judgment will have to be included in my next quarterly wrap-up. I finished reading six books this quarter:
Killing Time by Della Van Hise - the controversial Star Trek AU novel from back in the day. I quite enjoyed it. By today's standards we wouldn't even consider it a big deal, but I can see why this was considered a little too slashy for some Trek readers, like it's all subtext, but the Spirk is very much a central part of the story. Surprisingly there was also some hints of Spones, but it seemed mostly one sided on Bones' part. Overall an interesting AU universe.
Superman: Dawnbreaker by Matt de la Pena - a Superman story that takes place when Clark was a teenager in Smallville. This was an enjoyable read, very classic comic book storyline. There was some teenage angst, and Clark was a tad self-centered in the beginning, but he shows character growth over the course of the novel. Plus, there were a couple of original characters that I liked.
Storm Front by Jim Butcher - the Dresden Files book, this was a fun read, there was lots of humor and action, in an urban fantasy setting. I've heard the books get better as the series goes on, so I'm looking forward to checking them out at some point.
The Darkness Outside Us by Eilot Schrefer - this book was heartbreaking and devastating at points. It has a classic sci-fi set-up, two spacefarers alone on a spacecraft together, but it also has a bit of a mystery, suspense, and a little bit of horror. I was able to guess the twist early on, but still found myself loving the characters, and my heart was breaking over the struggles they faced. This was an unexpected fave for me, I found it recced on a list about LBGT YA stories, but this was not the the typical YA story at all.
A Dark and Hollow Star by Ashley Shuttleworth - speaking of YA, this one is typical of the genre, a secret fairy world hidden within our own. The main character, Arlo, is half-fae and half-human and she is not well liked or accepted in her extended family or society, but then it turns out she is special and has special abilities, and an immortal being is her love interest, so a pretty typical YA set-up, except the romance is F/F, but I still really enjoyed it. Most of this book takes place in Toronto, so it was fun to see places mentioned that I am somewhat familiar with. It also had a little bit of mystery feel, as Arlo and her new friends try and solve the mystery of who is killing half-fae children.
A Cruel and Fated Light by Ashley Shuttlworth - I liked A Dark and Hollow Star so much I went right into the sequel. This one gets a lot more political, although there is still some time for romance. I also think the second book is better written, like you can see that author improved from one book to another, which is a weird thing to point out, but it's seems true. Some of my fave side characters from the first book get bigger roles, and the M/M pairing comes to fruition, which I was very happy about. I will say the end was a lot darker than I was expecting the series to go, like I knew we were building to something bad happening, but the scale of what happened at the end of the book was bigger than I thought it would be. And, now I am going to have to probably wait a year or two for the third book, sigh.
Killing Time by Della Van Hise - the controversial Star Trek AU novel from back in the day. I quite enjoyed it. By today's standards we wouldn't even consider it a big deal, but I can see why this was considered a little too slashy for some Trek readers, like it's all subtext, but the Spirk is very much a central part of the story. Surprisingly there was also some hints of Spones, but it seemed mostly one sided on Bones' part. Overall an interesting AU universe.
Superman: Dawnbreaker by Matt de la Pena - a Superman story that takes place when Clark was a teenager in Smallville. This was an enjoyable read, very classic comic book storyline. There was some teenage angst, and Clark was a tad self-centered in the beginning, but he shows character growth over the course of the novel. Plus, there were a couple of original characters that I liked.
Storm Front by Jim Butcher - the Dresden Files book, this was a fun read, there was lots of humor and action, in an urban fantasy setting. I've heard the books get better as the series goes on, so I'm looking forward to checking them out at some point.
The Darkness Outside Us by Eilot Schrefer - this book was heartbreaking and devastating at points. It has a classic sci-fi set-up, two spacefarers alone on a spacecraft together, but it also has a bit of a mystery, suspense, and a little bit of horror. I was able to guess the twist early on, but still found myself loving the characters, and my heart was breaking over the struggles they faced. This was an unexpected fave for me, I found it recced on a list about LBGT YA stories, but this was not the the typical YA story at all.
A Dark and Hollow Star by Ashley Shuttleworth - speaking of YA, this one is typical of the genre, a secret fairy world hidden within our own. The main character, Arlo, is half-fae and half-human and she is not well liked or accepted in her extended family or society, but then it turns out she is special and has special abilities, and an immortal being is her love interest, so a pretty typical YA set-up, except the romance is F/F, but I still really enjoyed it. Most of this book takes place in Toronto, so it was fun to see places mentioned that I am somewhat familiar with. It also had a little bit of mystery feel, as Arlo and her new friends try and solve the mystery of who is killing half-fae children.
A Cruel and Fated Light by Ashley Shuttlworth - I liked A Dark and Hollow Star so much I went right into the sequel. This one gets a lot more political, although there is still some time for romance. I also think the second book is better written, like you can see that author improved from one book to another, which is a weird thing to point out, but it's seems true. Some of my fave side characters from the first book get bigger roles, and the M/M pairing comes to fruition, which I was very happy about. I will say the end was a lot darker than I was expecting the series to go, like I knew we were building to something bad happening, but the scale of what happened at the end of the book was bigger than I thought it would be. And, now I am going to have to probably wait a year or two for the third book, sigh.