WWW Wednesday | The Sixth

Happy Wednesday Everyone!

First thank you to everyone who extended well wishes. I’m feeling a bit better today, though somewhat more congested. My throat is starting to resemble less of the Sahara Desert 😛

As per usual, today is WWW Wednesday in the word of bibliophiles. Thanks as ever to Sam at Taking on a World of Words for hosting each week! I always look forward to participating in the great book sharing 🙂

Want to take part in WWW Wednesday yourself? All you have to do is answer three questions:

1. What are you currently reading?
2. What have you recently finished reading?
3. What do you think you’ll read next?

With my recent bout of groggy general unwellness, my reading has been a little lax the past few days….

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WHAT I’M CURRENTLY READING

Stardancer (The Song of Forgotten Stars, Book 1): by Kelly Sedinger

BLURB:

While on their first space voyage, two Princesses from a small backwater planet find themselves hurtled across the Galaxy to a world that sees them either as saviors, come to rescue their world from a ten-thousand-year confinement, or as the greatest threat their world has ever seen. As they search for a way home, Princesses Tariana and Margeth learn things about themselves, and their universe, that they never dreamed possible.

I finally managed to seriously dive into this book and all I can say at the moment is WOW! I am enthralled by the writing style and the plot. The characters of Tariana and Margeth are engaging as well, their personalities float off the pages. I’m having a hard time putting this down but reading a screen at night is not my forte and that tends to be the only time I ever have for reading these days. I’m hoping to finally have this finished by next week. Expect a review once I am 🙂

Ship of Magic (Liveship Traders #1) by Robin Hobb

BLURB:

Bingtown is a hub of exotic trade and home to a merchant nobility famed for its liveships—rare vessels carved from wizardwood, which ripens magically into sentient awareness. The fortunes of one of Bingtown’s oldest families rest on the newly awakened liveship Vivacia.
For Althea Vestrit, the ship is her rightful legacy unjustly denied her —a legacy she will risk anything to reclaim. For Althea’s young nephew Wintrow, wrenched from his religious studies and forced to serve aboard ship, Vivacia is a life sentence.
But the fate of the Vestrit family—and the ship—may ultimately lie in the hands of an outsider. The ruthless pirate Kennit seeks a way to seize power over all the denizens of the Pirate Isles…and the first step of his plan requires him to capture his own liveship and bend it to his will….

I’m a good two hundred pages into this one and I love everything about it so far. Robin Hobb shines in her element, lending vivid images of the world she has created and introducing characters so varied and nuanced that they become real. From the spiritual Wintrow to the disheartened Althea, each one portrays qualities that make them unique. Even Kennit comes across as a villain with more to him than just a thirst for power. The premise of ships having a life of their own is enchanting too and the plot thus far has not disappointed.

WHAT I RECENTLY FINISHED READING

The Gospel of Loki by Joanne Harris:

BLURB:

With his notorious reputation for trickery and deception, and an ability to cause as many problems as he solves, Loki is a Norse god like no other. Demon-born, he is viewed with deepest suspicion by his fellow gods who will never accept him as one of their own and for this he vows to take his revenge. From his recruitment by Odin from the realm of Chaos, through his years as the go-to man of Asgard, to his fall from grace in the build-up to Ragnarok, this is the unofficial history of the world’s ultimate trickster.

I really wanted to enjoy this book, but I didn’t. It was a good read, don’t get me wrong. Written as a retelling of Norse myth, Loki’s voice is strong and consistent throughout, snarky and bold. He interprets history from his perspective with the intention of convincing his readers that his actions were done because others forced his hand accordingly. His story is a compelling one, and Harris does a wonderful job of bringing the mythology to her readers.

So why didn’t I enjoy it. Well, it’s a matter of opinion and I’m sure many people will disagree with me, but the tone of the story is what underwhelmed me. Snarky and bold as he is, Loki’s voice also teeters on colloquial at his time, his speech and the gods relying on a vernacular full of trite cliches and current metaphors. The prose, for the most part, was actually quite poetic, so those tiny slips became ever more frustrating as they puncture an otherwise well-woven narrative. It jarred me, to be honest, and I could never get passed it.

Perhaps, my other big issue, was that the story itself was only a retelling. It wasn’t a new plot, there was nothing that was changed from the myth. It just presented a new point of view. I had wanted a bit more than that.

Again, I concede that this is probably just my own bias. Still a good read though if you enjoy Norse mythology or Tom Hiddleston…er.. Loki…

WHAT I KNOW I’LL READ NEXT

Still these two:

O Jerusalem (Mary Russell #5) by Laurie R. King

BLURB:

At the close of the year 1918, forced to flee England, Sherlock Holmes and his nineteen-year-old apprentice Mary Russell enter British-occupied Palestine under the auspices of Holmes’s enigmatic brother, Mycroft. Their arrival coincides with a rash of unsolved murders that has baffled the authorities and seems unrelated to the growing tensions in the area among Jew, Moslem, and Christian. Still, no one is too pleased at Holmes’s insistence on reconstructing the most recent homicide in the desert gully where it occurred.
What they unexpectedly uncover will lead Russell and Holmes through an exotic gauntlet of labyrinthine bazaars, verminous hovels, cliff-hung monasteries—and into mortal danger. In the jewel-like city of Jerusalem, they will at last meet their adversary, whose lust for power could reduce the city’s most ancient and sacred place to rubble and ignite a tinderbox of hostilities just waiting for a spark.…

The Orphanmaster by Jean Zimmerman

BLURB:

A love story wrapped around a murder mystery, set in seventeenth-century Manhattan.
In 1663 in the hardscrabble colony of New Amsterdam—today’s lower Manhattan—orphan children are going missing and residents suspect a serial killer. The list of possible culprits is long and strange. Among those looking into the mystery are a shrewd young Dutch woman, Blandine van Couvering, and a dashing Englishman, Edward Drummond, whose newfound romance is threatened by horrible accusations.
In this spellbinding work of historical fiction, Jean Zimmerman relates the harsh realities of life in early Manhattan, re-creating the sights, smells, and textures of the rough settlement surrounded by wilderness and subject to political turmoil. Compulsively readable and filled with New York history, The Orphanmaster will delight fans of Caleb Carr, Hilary Mantel, and Geraldine Brooks.

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Sorry for the lackluster post today. Hopefully more reading achievements will follow this week.

Thanks for stopping by Please feel free to share your WWW with me in the comments. Or let me know what you’re reading, have read, will read. Books are gems. Treasure them and share the love

Happy Reading!

May inspiration flow like ink upon your quill,

Faith