Oh, that's sad news. I love the Amelia Peabody books.

The Barbara Michaels tends to fall into gothic romance traps, which annoy me now that I am old.

What sort of gothic romance traps? The type that would amuse me, or would I roll my eyes a lot?

They have a better sense of humor and non-helpless-female than the standard gothic, and there are often supernatural elements that you'll enjoy. It's more in comparison to Elizabeth Peters that the differences show up. The Peters books are much more tongue-in-cheek about the tropes--mysterious castles, secret treasures, handsome heroes who may be villains. The Vicky Bliss books even has our heroine attempting to cash in the gothic/romance/thinly veiled erotica market by writing one with all the cliches she can think of.

The best way I can define the difference that I see is that I often finish a Michaels with a sense of "Oh, you didn't go for that cheesy ending, I absolutely know you can do better." She's--that is, she was, sigh--playing closer to the standard guidebook than she did under Elizabeth Peters. Heck, in one of the modern-era Peters, she mentions Barbara Michaels, but I can't remember if it's as an example of a run-of-the-mill writer or as one who's better than usual.

And of course, that's only as I see it.

I adored Barbara Mertz' work. I stumbled onto Elizabeth Peters in the library in the form of The Last Camel Died At Noon. Not knowing I was jumping into a series in the middle, I found myself very much unable to simply leave a book with that glorious title on the shelf. It was a brilliant introduction. The fact that I was also in the process of becoming friends with a woman in a nearby town who owned a mystery book shop, who knew the Amelia Peabody books and loved them too (she was an archaeologist before she settled down to sell books) cast a charm over this part of my life that would have otherwise been mostly heartbreak, hard work, and loneliness.

Thank you for many wonderful hours' holiday from workaday life, Doctor Mertz. Good night, dear Lady. A flight of angels wing thee to thy rest.

I also liked her Egyptology book Red Land, Black Land, written under her own name. I should find a copy of that.

Oh, so sad! I really enjoyed all of her work, although the Peters novels were far more fun.

I remember one of them, written in the early 70s, had a line about the character meeting a man who was the most attractive man she'd seen since she watch Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.

She was always very entertaining, although I burned out on the Amelia Peabody books after five or so.

Ray Bradbury on sale for Kindle today:

[link]

Ray Bradbury on sale for Kindle today:

Whoo! Time to go grab October Country, Death is a Lonely Business, and Lets' All Kill Constance! But dammit, From Dust Returned isn't in the sale.

Consuela, thanks for the Cold Magic mention--I'm currently on the second one, so unless she does something weird and unforgivable, I'm in for the trilogy.

I do find Bee somewhat unbelievable. I have no idea how a person achieves the expressions or voices she's reputed to have. And good lord, did she rush to infodump at the end of the first one. All the better to get you close to the cliff she'll be hanging you off of!

Yay, ita. I really enjoyed them, although I was less interested in the Spirit World than many people. I do really enjoy Elliott's world-building, and her interest in how societies change.

If you like these, I really encourage you to pick up the Crossroads trilogy--they start with The Spirit Gate, and are fantastic epic fantasy with gods, magic, multiple cultures, war, death, and giant eagles that carry our heroes around. They're really good and excellently plotted. [deleted rant about why Jordan & Martin get all the attention while women epic fantasists like Elliott, Wells, & Sherwood Smith are ignored]

I was enjoying Elliott until my favorite character got kicked in the teeth one too many times. I know this stuff happens in epics, but I reserve the right to be petty and shallow about my pleasure reading.