The Tea House on Mulberry Street by Sharon Owens

     This is another one of those books that I’m not sure what I feel about it. It is about a Teahouse in Belfast, Ireland and how the lives of the customers and employees intertwine. The book is well-written and there is something like a half dozen main characters. Each chapter alternates which character it involves using which ever one is most relevant to the passing of time. The chapters are decent lengths and fairly consistent; not three pages here, twelve pages there.

     The things that have me unsure about this book are the fact that all the characters get a nice, neat happy ending and her characters are just not likable. The endings for all the characters except one involve being in a happy, stable relationship. I don’t know why that part bothers me so much but it does. I might be trying to read too much into the concept but the people who have the kinds of problems these characters did, don’t and can’t just jump into a happy relationship without professional help. Instead of dealing with their problems, it feels like they either ignored them to stay with their current love interest or blamed their partner and ran away with some one else. It also bugs me that to get the happy ending the two professional artistic characters, a novelist and a painter, had to give up their art. She didn't even make it into a hobby. She just had the characters swear it off completely.

     The characters are unlikable because even though half of them get dealt a crappy hand, they go about trying to fix it in the worst way possible. One woman’s husband is cheating on her, so she decides to get revenge on him. Understandable? Yes. But what she does goes way too far and drags on way too long. She starts on a months long campaign to discredit him in the eyes of his mistress, his family, and his boss; ending with telling lies about him stealing clients and setting up a rival business at a work banquet in his honor to get him fired. The owner of the café has a penny pinching husband. He won’t do anything if it involves money. He doesn't want kids and won’t remodel or update the café. The owner decides she is going to withhold sex and starts an affair with some random guy until her husband changes his mind about having kids. I couldn't even feel sorry for them because they all act like stupid teenagers. I may read this book again in a few months just to see if my first impressions were accurate but I’m glad I got it from the library and didn't pay actual money for it. 

The Other Boleyn Girl – Philippa Gregory

     I have apparently been on both a historical fiction kick and an Anne Boleyn kick. To be honest, I picked up The Secret Diary of Anne Boleyn because I couldn’t find this particular book at the library. I found a copy at the local Goodwill though which made my day. I’ve seen the movie a half dozen times at least and wanted to see how the book compared. It’s much like what happened when I saw Memoirs of a Geisha. The book contains way more information than the movie and if you like the movie, you need to read the book. The movie got the major points correct but it left out many little details as well as having a small issue with the timing of events.

     This book tells the story of Anne Boleyn and Henry the VIII from the perspective of Anne’s sister, Mary. It begins with 12 year old Mary witnessing her uncle’s execution and believing he will be pardoned at the last minute. A few years pass with details of the family, Mary’s marriage, calling Anne back from France, and generally introducing their family and explaining how the Court works and why things are the way they are. Mary catches the attention of Henry and is moved out of her husband’s rooms and into her own so that she can be at the king’s disposal and any kids are obviously Henry’s. The rest of the book is a bit love story and a bit drama. When Mary gets pregnant and can’t sleep with the king until after she gives birth, her sister starts to catch Henry’s attention and eventually leads the story to it’s conclusion. There are about 15 years between the beginning of the novel and the end; be prepared at nearly 700 pages, it’s a long book.

     It seems from all the reviews I’ve read, this is a book that is either hated or loved, there is no in between with this one. It has gotten a lot of insults for not being accurate. Those people seem to be missing the point of it being historical fiction. Fiction (not real) being the key word. Also, this took place 500 years ago. There’s no way to know for certain the tiny little details of what happened back then, even the details of whether or not Mary was the youngest or oldest Boleyn is in dispute. The character of Mary was kind of a wimp and very naïve compared to Anne but she grows a backbone eventually. The writing was engaging and I thoroughly enjoyed this book. If you liked the movie or historical fiction in general, this book is definitely a must read. 

Mage Storms Trilogy – Mercedes Lackey

     I know I just complained copiously about a Mercedes Lackey book but this trilogy is one of the reasons her new books annoy me so much. I grew up reading this and some of her earlier works. I still reread them every couple of years and thoroughly enjoy them. She explores so many different themes in her early books that the new stuff is just fluff. There isn’t the same depth. It feels like she is just writing to meet her contractual obligations.

     These books take place after a disastrous war between the countries of Valdemar and Hardorn. The Valedemarans had to enlist the help of their traditional enemies, Karse. They had been fighting over the borders disguised as religious differences for several hundred years. Unfortunately for them, Hardorn’s king despised women in power and was poised to overrun both countries which were ruled by women unless they put aside their differences to defeat him.

     Storm Warning: This book starts with the first non-military ambassadors to Valdemar from Karse. The story concentrates on Karal, the secretary of the ambassador. The ambassador himself is an elderly mage-cleric and the close personal advisor of the ruler of Karse, Solaris, and Karal’s mentor. As usual, the author spends the first few chapters introducing the reader to the world and giving the reactions of the common people a.k.a Karal to this new alliance since the fall of Hardorn’s kingdom for anyone who hasn’t read the series. The protagonists get to deal with two challenges in this book. The legendary country-devouring Empire (simply known as The Empire) trying to add what’s left of Hardorn to itself and the Mage storms, the after-effects of a long ago cataclysm happening in reverse that disrupt the way magic works. The Empire runs mostly on magic and believe that the mage storms are a weapon sent from Valdemar to prevent them from adding to their territory. While Karal is making friends and trying to prevent people from being hurt by the storms and the Empire, they eventually come up with a temporary solution and that is where the first book ends. There are of course many more complications and manipulations from the Empire.

     Storm Rising: This book mostly concentrates on finding a permanent solution to the mage storms. There’s quite a bit of relationship development between Karal, his friends, and a potential love interest. Karal has been promoted to Ambassador because of his mentor’s murder. Unfortunately, his youth and the prejudices of the other councilors cause him so many issues that he begins working himself sick, trying to do too many things at once. Another main protagonist that is expanded on is the Grand Duke Tremaine. Tremaine is the heir to the leader of the Empire and is in charge of “pacifying” Hardorn. The mage storms however have disrupted communications and supplies from the Empire. After many attempts to contact his superiors for more supplies, he comes to believe that the Emperor is sacrificing his own men to test a magic disrupting weapon on the Valdemarans. Tremaine starts to consolidate his power and take over Hardorn for himself and his men. Despite his origins and occasional questionable morals, the people of Hardorn begin to accept him as their protector from hunger and mage-storm created monsters. Sensing that the Duke may be able to help them and knowing he’s left the Empire, Karal and his friends reach out to him for his help to solve the puzzle of the mage storms. Again a temporary solution is found at the end of the novel with half the characters recovering from trauma and the other half still desperately searching for a permanent solution.

     Storm Breaking: This book continues in the same vein as the others. With the help of the Valdemarans, Tremaine is magically bound to the land of Hardorn, so that he can do nothing that would harm the land or the people living, and then crowned King. Everyone is still frantically searching for a way to prevent or lessen the effects of the final cataclysmic mage storm. The only new real development to the story is the involvement of the country of Iftel. Iftel is fairly isolated and mysterious; there are few people allowed in and anyone who leaves never speaks about their homeland. We find out why when a delegation shows up at Tremaine’s court including gryphons and priests that appear to be the same as the ones that rule in Karse. They apparently are the descendents of another part of the ancient armies that were separated from the group that formed Karse. The author was really trying to drive home the fact that this cataclysm was going to be widespread and required much cooperation. Much soul searching is had, the final cataclysm finally happens, a solution is attempted, and the survivors are left tending their wounds and planning how to handle the aftermath.

     I cannot stress enough how much I enjoy these books. Mercedes Lackey explores the themes of religion and magic and science and how they fit together well. The insight she puts into her characters’ arguments of one versus the other or how the various religions interact and tolerance or not is so realistic. I’ve seen people make similar arguments for or against religions that hold different beliefs from their own. Some of it is hard to believe, such as the huge empire directly on the other side of a country that less than five or ten years ago was an ally not being known to any of the people in power in three different countries. Granted they are at about the pony express stage of long distance communication but that would be like Spain not knowing about Germany because France is between them. I also wish she had gone more into the history and future of Iftel. I want the long version of how they became the country they are. Unfortunately, after this series and the OwlMage Trilogy, the only future events that can be found are in short story collections written by other writers and edited or very occasionally written by Mercedes Lackey. 

Friday by Heinlein

I really like Heinlein as an author. Some of his themes cause me to pause but this particular book is devoid of those ones. It also happens to be one of my favorites.

It’s about an Artificial Person. A woman who has been genetically created but people who are genetically created are treated as though they are things. They have no rights and no privileges. They are raised as property for their owners. There are other types of “created” life in this society but the APs are the most mistreated because they look human and understand the injustice they suffer.

Anyway, back to Friday. This particular AP is owned by a specialized intrigue-type agency kind of like James Bond and MI-5 in the future. Friday is a message carrier getting sensitive information where it needs to be. Her employer has erased/covered up her status as an AP but she still suffers from self doubt and worry that she will be discovered and punished. During the this book, several world wide disasters occur while Friday is out on assignment/vacation. But the main focus is Friday and her perceptions of home, family, and love and the lengths people will go to gain and protect those things.

From my review, it sounds a little girly and romance novel-ish. It isn’t at all. Without going into specifics, it’s more periods of personal danger followed by “my family is missing how can I use my skills to find them”. The adventure aspect is well written, the “feeling” aspects are well written, the characters seem like real living breathing people. In general, Heinlein is just a great author. I cannot recommend reading his works enough. I read this book in one sitting every time I pick it up. It’s one of those books that I pick up every time I’m feeling sick because I know it by heart and it never fails to make me feel better.

Shanghai Girls by Lisa See

  Shanghai Girls is about a pair of sisters and their lives together. It starts in Shanghai with Pearl and May barely being out of teenage years and working as models for an advertisement painter. Their father arranges a marriage for them to a pair of brothers to cover his gambling debts and get the girls out of the country. Then the Japanese invade China and incidentally Shanghai and despite being warned the girls fail to immigrate in time. There’s a lot behind their not wanting leave Shanghai and the book goes into depth as to their reasoning but I’ll just summarize it as stubbornness and being young. Actually being stubborn is pretty much the cornerstone to all the girls triumphs and failures.

  Eventually the girls escape China and make it to America and their “husbands.” Despite wanting nothing more than to go home, they eventually decide to make the best of their situations. As the book progressed into their middle aged, working family future, I really started to sympathize with Pearl, the older sister. It seemed like she was always covering for her sister. While May was always unhappy, her motives and her actions, while hinted at,  were never truly defined. The woman who wrote this clearly had siblings because she got the dynamic completely right. The attitude of protectiveness and slight animosity and the ability to say the one thing that will either do the most damage or fix everything between the sisters was perfect.

  The book was moving and wonderful and I can see this as a book I’ll read many more times to come. The only problem was the ending. After a very dramatic last chapter, the book ends with an unnecessary cliff hanger. It was clearly written to be followed by a sequel and that always bothers me. A good book, game, or movie should not have to resort to that kind of emotional black mail. The sequels should want to be read on the strength of the previous installments. Now I’ll get off my soap box because I have to go add the sequel to my list of books to pick up from the library.

Monster – A. Lee Martinez

     First off, the summary on the back of this book is completely wrong. I don’t think the person who wrote it read past the first chapter or maybe, *maybe* two. The only thing he got right was the characters’ names. This book is a lot more than a girlfriend from hell pun-making buddy adventure. To begin with Judy (who works the over night shift at a 24 hour grocery store) finds a yeti eating most of the frozen food section. She calls animal control who send out Monster, one of their crypto biological specialists, to take care of the thing. This is where things get interesting; we learn there are three kinds of people in the world: those who can see and work with magic, those who genetically can’t handle the existence of magic and never perceive anything remotely out of the ordinary, and those like poor Judy, stuck in the middle. They can see and believe magic while in the presence of it or magical creatures but hours or even minutes later forget that something strange just happened except they always feel as if something is missing from their lives.

     The story follows Monster home after capturing the yetis and explains the girl friend from hell and how demons can be wandering all over the town. It also goes in-depth into Monster’s personality, an Average Joe who just wants to make enough money to pay for his TV and beer. The next day he gets another call about trolls invading some woman’s apartment. He’s surprised to find out that it’s Judy’s apartment and clearly something weird is going on because strange things keep happening around her, crypto biological creatures showing up way out of their common habitat or in groups when they’ve only ever been seen as solitary or possibly extinct. This eventually leads to a witch and the purpose of the universe. The end is a climatic battle between Evil and Not-so evil since no one could ever really call Monster a *good* guy.

     Witches, demons, and strange creatures! Oh my! I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. Despite its progressively serious story line, the author managed to keep a light hearted tone. Also, I’ve never read a story where magic was explained/functioned in that way, so I thought it was fairly unique and kept trying to figure out who knew about magic and who didn’t even of the extreme back ground characters who were there only for a scene or two. I can see myself coming back and reading this again several more times just to see what new information I can spot. 

Changes by Mercedes Lackey

   This book is set in the realm of Valdemar and is the third installment of the Collegium Chronicles. The main character is Mags, a former mine slave, who was Chosen to become a Herald in the first book of the series. The first book (Foundation) deals mainly with the consequences of him being chosen and making friends with various other trainees. The second book (Intrigues) has slightly more action and, you guessed it, intrigue. Diplomats coming from an unspecified country are being haunted and some of them seem to be going mad. The “hauntings” are later found out to be a couple of pranksters. As anyone who has read any of the previous Valdemar books know, mages cannot go to Valdemar because something drives them mad. This stays true in the second book when during a huge, unexpected blizzard the now completely mad mage kidnaps one of Mags’ friends and tries to use blood magic to make whatever is watching him go away. In a fit of heroics, Mags acts as decoy while his friend is rescued and the mage is killed. The book ends when the “diplomats” are discovered to have escaped in the confusion and are hiding somewhere in the city. This sounds like the perfect place to begin the next book, right? Apparently it wasn’t.

   Changes begins in the middle of a game called “Kirball.” This game is basically half-polo, half-soccer. This game was introduced in one of the short story anthologies and if you haven’t read the short story, you would start this novel completely confused. The rules are barely mentioned and the moves are half explained at best. Kirball is a fast paced game and hard to follow on the written page. This sequence at least could have been left out in favor of a better explanation of the game. After the game, the book concentrates on Mags with the King’s Own teaching him more about being a spy and going undercover. They find someone who may be linked to the diplomat/assassins in the summer after the second book. Things take a turn for the worse when the assassins appear to be after Mags and his friends and not the King like every one assumed. No one can figure out why they’re after someone who is not highly placed in the government. They spend the whole book trying to figure this out and still don’t manage it, paving the way for book number four.

   This book takes place what feels like forever after the second book or that this is actually the fourth book in the series and I missed the one in between. The characters refer to events that happen between the second and third books that make it seem as if a year or more has passed but then refer to events in the first book as “last spring.” The ages of the characters are also murky for me because of this whole time line confusion. Also Mags has been trying to discover the identity of his parents since he was an orphan. Early in the book, he says he has proof his parents weren’t bandits, then later wishes he had proof that his parents weren’t bandits. It’s like Mercedes Lackey had completely forgotten what she wrote earlier. There were even typos! Typos! Not just one either but the closer to the end, the more often they popped up. Where was the editor?! This is the kind of thing that drives certain people crazy because they have to listen to me yell at my books. I will probably never read this book again and I sure won’t buy any of her new books without checking them out from the library first and coming from me, that is a sad statement.