I am re-reading Mary Stewart, starting with
Madam, Will You Talk?
and
Wildfire at Midnight.
I'd read them backwards and forwards twenty years ago, and I was a little anxious that they wouldn't bear up, but gosh, they do. Witty, suspenseful, beautifully crafted. and evem though they're Gothic romances, the relationships do develop somewhat reasonably, rather than "Oh, I'm in danger, oh, he's handsome, oh, we're getting married." There's generallly, "I'm in danger, he's handsome, darn it, I think he's the killer I'd better watch myself very carefully." Heroines with brains and a lick of self-preservation instinct. Generally.
I'm saving
Crystal Cave
and
Hollow Hills
and
Last Enchantment
for last.
Reading her books is a masterclass in setting up character and situation. With Mid-Century being the Next Big Thing, her books should get a renaissance, if all was fair.
The Newsflesh series is made of AWESOME!!!
I'm so glad you enjoyed it -- I adore it. So good.
I'm saving Crystal Cave and Hollow Hills and Last Enchantment for last.
I did not enjoy
The Wicked Day.
Haven't read it since high school. But I read the Merlin Trilogy repeatedly. I wonder if I should give it another try.
You'll note I left Wicked Day off. I didn't enjoy it either.
Ditto on The Wicked Day. It's one of the very few Stewarts I won't reread. Nine Coaches Waiting? This Rough Magic? Airs Above the Ground? Yes please. It's been awhile, I should revisit. My paperbacks are brittle and friable. I should probably replace them.
I also love Jane Aiken Hodge, but she's harder to replace.
I highly recommend Fair Coin and Quantum Coin (spoilers for Fair Coin in review), by E.C. Myers. It takes the "wishing coin" idea and crafts a really cool world out of it. The books are ACTUALLY about
parallel universes and the idea of the multiverse,
and the second book especially is great YA sci-fi.
Plus Eugene is a really great guy. I'm glad you found the books -- if I remember right, a amaller press published them. Soz knows him, too.
Yeah, I first heard about the book from Charlie Jane at Comic-Con last year, and it sounded really cool. And then Eugene retweeted the submission call for my sci-fi Theater Pub, so I thanked him for that when I met him at the Nebula signing. I said I was waiting for the books to come out on paperback, but he said that wasn't happening, which was sad. So since he had supported me, I supported him by buying the books right there. No regrets!
