Shadowplay picks up a lot of the slack I thought dragged Pantomime down a bit (a case of debut syndrome) - still not perfect, still taking big steps forward. I'm so pleased about that.

Micah really gets a chance to come into himself in this book. He's growing as a person, his world view is expanding, and he's having to juggle not just living yet another layer of incognito, but all of the revelations and changes that both himself and the world around him is going through.

Political upheaval is a real threat, Alder magic seems to be finding its way back into the world, Maske and his fellow Kymri Theatre workers and performers become something resembling a real family for him, and the Damselfly that had haunted him before is pushing her way more strongly into his awareness.

Through all of that, Micah finally seems to be discovering who he is and what he wants for his life. He hasn't at all lost the cheekiness and boldness that really endeared him to me in Pantomime, and tends not to take injustices sitting down.

I'm very much looking forward to Masquerade (which isn't out until 2017), and I'm eager to read False Hearts when it's out as well.

I have been stoked as hell to read Pantomime for a while now, but had to wait for the new ebook edition before I could purchase it.

Circus setting? Check. Nonbinary protagonist? Check. Non-heteronormative protagonist? Check. Intersex protagonist? Check! I can't say I've ever read a confirmed intersex character (where they weren't just there for a punchline) before, so being able to sink my teeth into Micah's story was a pretty major deal.

Pantomime was short, as far as my usual novel fare goes, and the only reason it doesn't have a four-star rating from me is because it suffers from what I call 'debut syndrome' - a book can be deeply enjoyable and even well-written, but still feels a little bit loose at the seams. Usually spotted with debut novels, and it's usually burned off in the sequel or subsequent novels by the same author. (Also why I believe you shouldn't necessarily judge an author by their debut work, ever.) Pantomime had a bit of that - great setting, enjoyable characters, engaging and interesting protagonist, but I felt it needed an extra coat of paint to really bring out the story. I am intensely eager to get into the sequel, Shadowplay, because of that.

I loved Micah. He was outgoing, engaging, cheeky, even bold as brass at times. Aenea was a sweetheart, witty and playful, and while not understanding in the end, still kind. Drystan was odd and distant, intelligent, charismatic, charming, simultaneously extroverted and subdued depending on the situation he was in (and my favourite after Micah).

The reveal that the circus was not quite as wonderful as Micah originally thought, that the core of it was rotten and crumbling apart, was well-paced I thought. We see the layers being stripped from Bil at just the right speed as he falls further and further away from decency and into deprivation - an interesting parallel to how Micah works his ass off at pretty much everything he throws himself into, and refuses to fall. 

This is a YA book that I want to get once the new paperbacks are out; I want it sitting on my shelf where I can point it out and lend it to people and nag them into reading it. It's upsetting that there isn't a larger pool of books like this for mogai kids/teens/young adults to pick from, but, well, we've got to start somewhere and somewhen, right?

Can't wait to pick up Shadowplay.

I have a rather unfortunate soft spot for Arrogant, Swaggering Shitkickers With Hearts of Gold (Even if it's Gold in the Sense that Cheap Christmas Ornaments are Gold) and really rather gross, slummy settings in fantasy. It's like Camorr and the Gentlemen Bastards were made for me.

I enjoyed this, but something was missing. Perhaps it was the rather vague way that the setting was presented? A bunch of interesting worldbuilding-y things showed up, and it was easy enough to visualise most of the time, but it felt...watery? Half-assed sometimes? I can't put my finger on it. It had a very debut feel to it, that's for sure.

I am running on the assumption that Sabetha becomes a more prominent character later on, because having the (presumably) only female Gentleman Bastard literally not in action at all during the entire book is kind of a joke. 

So, yes - completely weak at heart for this particular character archetype (the ASS, as I like to refer to it), and loving Gross Venice, but still definitely critical of the book. Will be wondering how it goes in the future ones.

It's been so long that I last read LotR that I have legitimately no memory whatsoever of the books, except for a vague sense of thinking that they were a bit dry to my young tastes.

Let's see if I still feel that way about them.

It's not boding well for a book when I can say that I power-read half of it in one day and can sincerely say that I remember very little of it.

It was boring.

Not that I disliked it, per se. It was fun, for what it was worth, but the writing and tone was so surprisingly bland. The narrative felt sterile, watered-down almost, and everything was written so very safely. It grated on me a little. Not to mention the constant exclamations of "Light!" "Burn me/you!" "*random analogy about fishing and/or boats*".....it gets kind of obnoxious, kind of fast.

It does not help that, for some reason unknown to me, I cannot picture Ba'alzemon as anything other than that Sun Baby from Teletubbies.

Shai'tan, Father of Lies. I can't stop laughing.

(He's also a pretty stellar Digimon.)

I think the reason I don't remember a huge amount is because I don't think that much actually happened this book. The Dragon crew slowly made their way in the general direction of Tear, hijinks along the way, and Rand gets Callandor and blasts a dude or three.

My fondness for Faile is balancing on a knife's edge. The fact that all of the female characters seem to have to be paired off, or at least fall ~*~helplessly in love~*~ with a bunch of scruffy dudes is making me want to chew off a table leg. It's infuriating. Min? Rand. Nynaeve? Lan. Egwene? Rand/Galad. Elayne? Rand. Faile? Perrin. No, no, no. Ugh.

I'm hoping the story starts picking up soon.