Hitting the Books

Finished Fire in the Mist , by Holly Lisle. I was actually able to read it mostly for pleasure. Of course, since I also am writing about a shepherdess with magical abilities, I did keep a close eye out for similarities. Thankfully, there very few.

One thing that confused me though was the back blurb:

“Take a simple shepherd girl with magic in her blood, raised in the back country, living free. Then destroy her family, but let her get away and grow to magehood. Now, you’re in trouble.”

Now, doesn’t that sound like some evil entity destroyed her family? That she was out for revenge against the person/people responsible? That’s what I thought it was, and so was rather disappointed when it turned out to be a Plague.

Another thing is the off-hand tea and crumpets. “You’re cute, so let’s jump in bed.” When did free-spirited and independent become synonymous with loose? This “musical beds” routine is really starting to irk me. Sigh.

And the Hoos (one of the cultures of Arhel) supposedly have 13 different sexual orientations. I’ve still not figured that one out. Not sure if I want to.

Other than those little things, it was an okay read. Lisle is incredibly good at world-building and characterization (but I already knew that from her website and clinic), and I did enjoy those parts of the book. It was the plot itself that didn’t do much for me.

Okay, so I finally got this written. Had it partially done last night when the Punkin started wailing, and kept wailing for the next hour. Second night in a row she’s done that. So, I took her in to the doctor today just to make sure her ear infection had cleared up and that there wasn’t anything else wrong. Doc says she’s fine, and thinks poor Punkin might be having night terrors. Sigh. Needless to say, neither one of us has gotten much sleep the past couple nights.

And what I really want to do is go write. Which is where I’m going as soon as I hit the publish button on this post.

Toodles.