Morganville, Book 1
Re-Read:
September 19 - September 23 2019
In an effort to fight off the reading slump I’m caught in I decided to revisit Morganville. I’m so glad I made this decision. This book starts off pretty dark as Monica, who must be a sociopath, tires to kill Claire. And then we find out the town is full of and run by vampires. I forgot a lot of what happened along the way so I’m excited by this re-exploration.
This is a tough one for me, since I have, at various times, enjoyed each of them, but, also, each of these tropes became oversaturated at some point or another! If I had to choose, right now, I would choose werewolf by elimination, because I overdosed on vampires and I never really liked zombies, although there a couple of zombie books I liked a lot.
I was never a fan of Twilight. My YA vampire romance catnip were the Morganville Vampires and Vampire Academy - those were the ones that my daughter read, and that I read along with her. Oh, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer, on television, of course.
Now that I've put some distance between myself and far too much sexy vampire fiction, there are a few series that I'm interested in again, though! The Chelsea Quinn Yarbro St. Germaine series has been recommended by several of my friends here - including Linda Hilton, whose bookish taste is impeccable. The first book, Hotel Transylvania, is on my list of possibles for this years game of Halloween Bingo, unless someone who knows the series recommends a different starting point! I also have a copy of Anno Dracula on my kindle that has been there for years, and that looks like something I would love!
Moving on to zombies, they just didn't appeal to me. Sexy vampires are silly, but there is nothing sexy about a zombie. On the other hand, World War Z is worth reading, and The Girl With All the Gifts is excellent, with a great ending. Too many authors blow the ending, and Carey nailed it.
There are exactly zero is one possible zombie books that I am sufficiently interested in to plan to read for Halloween bingo at this point, although I'll keep my eyes on the posts for something that might interest me. No, wait, there's Feed by Mira Grant. I might read that one!
So, that brings me to werewolves, which brings me to urban fantasy. Urban fantasy is replete with shifters of all sorts, and I pretty much lump werewolves with shifters. My favorite shifter has to be Mercy Thompson, who is actually a skin walker (shifts into coyote form), not a werewolf. I read the hell out of Mercy Thompson and keep meaning to do a reread! And I can't mention shifters without pointing to Kate Daniels, which may be the actual best UF series ever written.
Glass Houses begins in the present, with Gamache on the witness stand at a murder trial. The story moves back and forth between this trial and the recent past (eight months earlier) when the events leading to the murder occurred.
These events began with a mysterious figure, dressed all in black – robes, hood, mask, gloves, boots, the whole works – shows up in Three Pines. No one knows who it is and, legally, Gamache can take no action to make the person move on. The unknown individual’s identity is so obscured by the disguise and their presence so menacing, the villagers have taken to thinking of him/her as Death.
Indeed, the whole book seems to be about death: death in the past, death in the present, and deaths that will occur in the future.
“That thing is here because someone in the village doesn’t have a quiet conscience.”
While more revelations and research shed light on the figure or, more accurately, what its presence represents, everyone is still in the dark as to who it may have come for.
Then there is the murder.
From the start, the story is dark and obscure and remains that way for about one-third of the book, around which time a body is discovered and the victim revealed. Even then, you don’t know who is on trial until much later on.
In many ways, while connected, the murder is secondary to the real issue at hand, a problem being fought by Gamache and his team. He is fighting a war he is determined to win. There is plenty of subterfuge going around and Gamache is in the thick of it with his own barely legal masterminding and manoeuvring. The murder is not Gamache’s main objective but he uses the circumstances and the trial as pawns in his war. While the means he uses seem the only way to win this war, the consequences can be devastating, even if he wins.
The book started out on a slow simmer, with the temperature climbing bit by bit after the first quarter. From there, it steadily builds up into a raging and shocking inferno. It was a different pace from usual but I enjoyed it, and I’m eager to know how the consequences arising from all that happened in Glass Houses play out in the next book, Kingdom of the Blind.
After more than three years of reading my books any old how, creating a TBR list again has brought on a nice purposeful feeling. And how much nicer if I complete the whole thing ;)
For May 2019, I hope to complete:
Seven of these are from my paid TBR, and would be a score if I can finish them. The Louise Penny I'm very late in reading; when it first came out I wasn't in a good reading mindset and before I knew it another book had come out, and still another is due later this year in August. At least I have time to catch up without rushing.
The Georgette Heyer collection of stories was a serendipitous library find just now. I don't own it (I think that's the only one) but I've been waiting for a sale before I buy it. It came to mind as I was finalizing my TBR list. I checked my library, thinking no way they would have it but the little doubter was not rewarded, a happy turn of affairs. I know what I'll be doing tonight ;)
What are you most looking forward to reading this month?
4.5 stars
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