Sakura of DOOM

(books one and two of the Spiritwalker trilogy)

This is set in the late Regency period of a world in which the Roman Empire never completely toppled, mage houses are a powerful force from a long-ago alliance between West African and Celtic mages, people are making airships, revolutionary forces are in the brewing, the spirit world is close at hand, Camjiata (the Napoleon equivalent) is about to make a second attempt at empire, and oh yes, by the way, there's still a bit of the ice age going and did I mention the intelligent dinosaurs (called "trolls" by the humans in the world)?

Our heroine, Cat Hassi Barahal, gets entangled in mage house politics while also uncovering her own ties to the spirit world in book one. In book two, she ends up in Expedition, a trade city in the world's equivalent of the Dominican Republic which struggles to maintain its independence from the next-door Taino empire.

This is basically everything and the kitchen sink. The pacing in book one is kind of terrible; I didn't get into it until a revelation around the halfway point. Book two does much better, partly because there is much less journeying involved and way less worldbuilding to cram into your head, because if you couldn't tell, there is a heck of a lot of worldbuilding in these books. Some of it is less explicit than I would like (want more about the trolls!), but I find the eventual migration of various African peoples up north and the blend of African and Celtic society to be absolutely fascinating.

It's not even the biggest point of the world either, just the background! The books are basically about revolutionary and radical ideas and the spread of ideas about equality and property and rights, and I am really impressed that Elliott manages to make these ideas feel (afaict) true to the Regency time period we know and true to her own world. It's a great example of how fantasy doesn't actually have to be about the restoration of monarchical bloodlines, and I like that she does it in a way that doesn't use that much modern jargon about social justice or democracy (in the USian sense, not the Greek sense).

I did find that the characters suffer a little due to this. Cat has an extremely close relationship with her cousin Bee, but I often felt as though we were told that more than seeing it. Some of it is due to Cat getting separated from Bee for long periods in both books, and I'm hoping the third will have much more Cat-and-Bee adventures. Cat herself is a fine character but not one I am completely in love with (unlike, say, the women in Melina Marchetta's Lumatere trilogy), though I very much like that Elliott emphasizes both Cat's fighting ability and her skill with a needle.

( Spoilers )

Links:

• starlady's reviews of Cold Magic (no spoilers) and Cold Fire (spoilers)

What I've just finished: I finished Cold Magic at a reasonable hour in which I could make it to bed and still get enough sleep.

What I'm reading: ... so of course I started Cold Fire so I could continue to read on and get so caught up in character relationships that once again I went to bed at a truly very bad ungood hour. /o\

I'm not actually sure this "reading" thing is better for my sleep schedule than endless Picross and Sims Social, but it certainly is more enjoyable.

What I'm going to read next: So... when does Cold Steel come out?

Barring that, I'm not sure. I kinda want to finish Subramaniam's retelling of the Mahabharata, but now I have read several books in a row on my Nook, I am a bit reluctant to lug the giant thing around. I suppose I'll just browse my library and see what catches my interest to try and keep up reading momentum. Suggestions always welcome! I currently seem to be in the mood for relatively plotty, fast-moving sf/f with cool worldbuilding, though I will add the disclaimer that my brain is very capricious.

Newlyweds Chryse and Sanjay Mukerji are on their way to their honeymoon suite when a mysterious tarot deck included in their wedding gifts transports them to an alternate Regency England. In order to get back home, they have to help a host of characters excavate a legendary city.

I got this as a rec when I asked for fun, banter-y romance, and it fits the bill quite well. The dialogue isn't quite as snappy as I would have liked, and all the romances are not particularly in depth, but this book is good, fluffy fun. The alternate Regency is particularly interesting, as many of the important male personages are now female (the Regent is female, as is the heiress Princess Georgiana, and many other random mentions).

Much of the book is spent deciphering an ancient religion in Anglia prior to the coming of the Christianity-analogue. As noted, there are several romances in the book, but none of the characters are fully fleshed out. Instead, there's just enough of them to carry the plot. On the other hand, I really liked that Chryse and Sanjay were happily married and did things like talk to each other fondly. Also, POC! In fantasy of manners! I like that he's just casually Indian and there's nothing made of how misogynistic POC culture has to be (I hate that!). On the other hand, I felt some of his off-the-cuff comments referring back to being Indian didn't quite ring right to me, but then again, the book was published in 1988. Still, I did want just a bit more about the Indian-ness, especially given the setting and the fact that Anglia and an analogue of the East India company are already in Indhya.

I am also not fully bought into the resolution of one of the romances, given when one of the characters attempts to do in the book. And yet, even then there's some interesting genderbending going on. ( Spoilers )

I did like Rasmussen's inclusion of various labor movements instead of completely ignoring class issues.

Overall, not deep, but this is a fun, light read that has more going on under the surface than it initially seems like.