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So, now I have something else to waste time on: LibraryThing.

In other news, I was planning on a full-length review of Ysabel, but it's probably going to be shortened. Lots of Saylor stuff in my notebook too, so I'll be spammy. XD

Ysabel, by Guy Gavriel Kay

Quite belated, considering that I finished the book a few weeks ago, but hey; better late than never.

Title: Ysabel
Author: Guy Gavriel Kay
# of Pages: 421 (hardcover)
Rating: A
Summary: (from inside cover)
Ned Marriner is spending six weeks with his father in France, where the celebrated photographer is shooting Saint-Sauveur Cathedral in Aix-en-Provence. Both father and son fear for Ned's mother--a physician with Doctors Without Borders, currently assigned to the civil war-torn country of Sudan. This is not the first time she's placed herself in harm's way to help alleviate suffering--and Ned has inherited her courage. He'll need it.

While exploring the cathedral, Ned meets Kate Wenger, an American exchange student with a deep knowledge of the area's history. But even Kate is at a loss when she and Ned surprise a scar-faced stranger, wearing a leather jacket and carrying a knife, deep inside the cathedral. "I think you ought to go now," he tells them. "You have blundered into a corner of a very old story..."

In this ancient place, where the borders between the living and the long-dead are thin, Ned and his family are about to be drawn into a haunted tale, as mythic figures from conflicts of long ago erupt into the present, changing--and claiming--lives.

Review:
An amazing novel, as one would expect from GGK. I doubt that any review of mine could do it justice. The plot, characterization, setting, and prose are all excellent. I especially liked the little hints and inside jokes for loyal fans; this book is a side sequel of sorts for The Fiovanar Tapestry, with two reoccuring characters.

Detail-wise, I especially liked the Veracook/Veraclean distinction, because little things like that are so realistic, what any tourist family might do. Ned's defeat of the mountain is exhilarating and keeps him from Gary-Stu-ism, as he is far from perfect or powerful. A minor quibble I had was with the brand-dropping at the beginning--Ned goes running in Nikes and listens to his iPod. It seems like the author is trying too hard to maintain a modern setting, and it will date the novel quickly.

Cross-posted to scifantasybooks and fantasywithbite.

Roma Sub Rosa series, by Steven Saylor

Overall, this series is pretty good as far as mysteries go. Saylor's prose is crisp and concise, the characters are well-developed (especially Gordianus's family), and the setting is captivating. I'm not usually a big fan of the mystery genre, but this and John Maddox Roberts's SPQR series are the exceptions (though the two are very different in protagonist and length). Each volume has its own merits and drawbacks, so I'll review them briefly.

( Four novels... )

And now, a collection of short stories in the series, which I'm sure everyone is tired of hearing about by now. Saylor's shorts possess most of the pros of his novels without many of the cons (chiefly, clunky blocks of setting description). While some of the stories were a bit too summarized, others certainly made me smile.

( A Gladiator Only Dies Once )