Recent reading

[luzula]

Stranger at the Wedding by Barbara Hambly
I have never read Hambly before, and picked this one up because it's a stand-alone and because Jo Walton recced it at some point. And I enjoyed it! It's a fantasy of manners, I guess you could call it. The daughter of the family who was thrown out when she wanted to train as a wizard comes back to attend her sister's wedding because she senses magical danger to her sister on her wedding night. Hijinks ensue. I'll probably pick up more Hambly at some point.

Din tjänare hör by Sara Lidman (Your Servant Hears, not available in English)
Yes, moar Lidman. This is the fourth book of hers I've read this year, and it's the first of a five-volume series about the colonization of northern Sweden. It's set in a village in the 19th century, jumping around between various characters. Also there is foreshadowing that the Railroad is Coming. The book feels as if it's set in a country of the past that's very different from today, but with characters that are also very human and recognizable.

Comments

[sineala]

If you liked Stranger at the Wedding, I really strongly recommend the first two books in the series. There are four books in the Windrose Chronicles. One and two are a duology, three is set after that, but not as tightly linked, and as you have seen, four is a standalone in the same world. The first two books are portal fantasies about a programmer (this is the early 80s) being thrown into Ferryth, where she teams up with a wizard who may or may not be someone she can trust. I Iike to reread them every couple of years.

[luzula]

Thanks, I'll look them up! : )

[sineala]

Book one is The Silent Tower and book two is The Silicon Mage.

They are a little dated, but I love them to bits.

If you think you might like them, I encourage you to make sure you have the second one before you start reading the first one because the ending of the first is, uh, quite a cliffhanger.

[lilysea]

Stranger at the Wedding by Barbara Hambly
I have never read Hambly before, and picked this one up because it's a stand-alone and because Jo Walton recced it at some point. And I enjoyed it! It's a fantasy of manners, I guess you could call it. The daughter of the family who was thrown out when she wanted to train as a wizard comes back to attend her sister's wedding because she senses magical danger to her sister on her wedding night. Hijinks ensue. I'll probably pick up more Hambly at some point.

Thank you for this: I've added it to my Amazon wishlist. ^_^

[luzula]

I hope you enjoy it! : )

[vatine]

For a very brief moment, my brain stopped reading and went "should't that be moar Martinsson"? Then I continued on, stopping to try parsing English as Swedish names. sigh Bilinguality is sometimes a curse. :)

[luzula]

Ahaha. Well, I think this particular misreading probably doesn't happen very often. : )

[riverlight]

Ooh, I'm going to have to look up the Lidman. Not sure I'm quite good enough with the language to get it, but it's just the kind of story I like, so it'd be a good challenge.

[luzula]

I think it might be a challenge, because it's heavy on the dialect. But if a challenge is what you're after, go ahead! : )

[lyr]

I haven't read that one in particular, but I do love Hambly. Her Those Who Hunt the Night is particularly fun.

[luzula]

Thanks, I'll look that one up! : )