Mystery/Thriller Reading Friends discussion

Since I had the last of a very difficult semester during May, I ended up reading as much as I did in April which is actually very good. I just have the potential to read a great deal more than that when I'm on vacation the entire month. :)

1)So Long Been Dreaming: Postcolonial Science Fiction & Fantasyed. Nalo Hopkinson and Uppinder Mehan (science fiction and fantasy anthology) 270 pages. Source: Library Started: 4/29 Finished: 5/1

Why Read: I noticed this on the GR author page of Nnedi Okorafor. She is the author of
Who Fears Deathmy top read of 2010. So I was interested in seeing what else she'd written that would interest me. When I looked at the reviews of this anthology, I found some very interesting comments about "Lingua Franca" by Carole McConnell. So I decided to put it on hold.

Comments: The story that impressed me most was "Refugees" by Celu Amberstone. I did a search on her afterward and it appears that she hasn't written anything else. In this story Earth has been destroyed and the survivors are brought by aliens to a planet where they had been settling representatives of persecuted ethnic groups from Earth for centuries. Unfortunately, there are problems with integrating the most recent wave of Earth immigrants into the planet's established culture. This is a very good story that addresses the issues involved in colonialism in a complex way.

"Lingua Franca" was almost as good. It takes place on a planet of the deaf with Earth representatives finding a diabolical way to divide the generations and disrupt their culture.

"Trade Winds" by Devorah Major is a story that I liked for its focus on character. It also deals with the themes of home and self-determination. It's very sad.

The only fantasy story that I liked was "When Scarabs Multiply" by Nnedi Okorafor. A woman ruler left her land temporarily. The man who rules in her name while she's absent definitely doesn't follow her policies. I suppose he thought she'd never return. He was mistaken. I enjoyed seeing this villain get his comeuppance.

The rating for the anthology as a whole was B-. This is good considering that there were a number of failed nearly plotless stories in the collection.

2) The Musician's Daughter by Susanne Dunlap (YA historical mystery)322 pages. Source: Library Started: 5/2 Finished: 5/3

Why Read: A GR friend put it on to read and it sounded interesting--especially the gypsy music aspect. This takes place in 18th century Austria. The composer Haydn is a major character.

Comments: The MC is Theresa, a fifteen year old girl whose musician father has been murdered. When she decides to investigate her father's death, she finds herself immersed in radical politics. I loved the musical aspect. Theresa is herself a musician. There is also the music of the gypsies, and it's suggested that their music influenced Haydn's which would be very interesting if true. The blurb on the cover about "true love" is more than a bit misleading. There is only a slight amount of romantic content. Theresa is mainly focused on music and finding out who killed her father. I suspect that the blurb is meant to attract the YA audience for which this book was intended. But I think that adults who appreciate unusual historical mysteries would appreciate it more. Rating A

3)River Markedby Patricia Briggs (urban fantasy) 326 pages. Source: Library Started: 5/3 Finished: 5/6

Why Read: This is the most recent in the Mercy Thompson series which I like very much, though not as much as this author's Alpha and Omega series.

Comments: There was some really wonderful Native American content which included background about Mercy's past and her heritage. There were also a number of powerful Native American spirits present in the narrative. OTOH, I wasn't that interested in the villain who I found stereotypical. Rating A-

4)The Philosopher's Kissby Peter Prange (historical fiction) 409 pages. Source: Library Started: 5/6 Finished: 5/8

Why Read: I found this as a result of the GR giveaway and put it on hold. It deals with a woman and her relationship with the philosopher Diderot, who was one of the editors of the 18th century French encyclopedia which was quite radical in its day.

Comments: We think of encyclopedias as being quite dull and dry. They follow current standards of objective scholarship which didn't exist in the 18th century. Scholars felt threatened by the Catholic Church and the Church felt threatened by scholars. So there were many bitter attacks on the Church in the articles written for this encyclopedia which was published one volume at a time. There was a great deal of focus on whether the encyclopedia would be banned and its editors imprisoned. But this book wasn't just about history. It was about people and their relationships. I couldn't believe the reviews that said the characters were flat. I was very moved by Sophie, Diderot and Malesherbes. There was a romance element in this novel, but it wasn't at all conventional. The GR reviewer who claimed that this was a romance genre story line has probably never read anything in the genre. The romance genre formulas of HEA and "love conquers all" were totally alien to this novel. The central characters were very real internally conflicted individuals who were also conflicted about their romantic relationships. There could never be a HEA for these characters, but they showed their strength and nobility. Rating B+

5)Wading Home: A Novel of New Orleansby Rosalyn Story (contemporary fiction)304 pages. Source: Library Started: 5/9 Finished: 5/10

Why Read: This is a novel dealing with African Americans who are Katrina survivors. I'm very interested in books dealing with Hurricane Katrina and its survivors.

Comments: What an awesome New Orleans novel! But it's not just about New Orleans. It's about the history of a family which in some ways encapsulates the history of African Americans in Louisiana. There are so many great characters. The descriptions of the food made me hungry. Then there was the music--especially the jazz funeral. The book deals with the conflict of family heritage and the aspirations of individuals. It also deals with the value of land and its meaning for people who had been slaves. Hurricane Katrina is part of the background, not the focus of this novel. It shows us the strength and resilience of the human spirit. Rating A+

To Be Continued...

You've had some interesting reads this month.

I thought I had already commented on this first post the other night but must not have... Great that in a difficult month of studies you had a good book count and some good quality reads too! The Musician's Daughter does sound good!