Month 7 of 260 (2.69 percent)
Size of list: 80,706 pages (3.8 percent greater than starting size)
Pages read: 3,950 (5.15 percent)
H-list: 1,206/22,219 (5.74 percent)
N-list: 1,103/35,009 (3.25 percent)
O-list: 1,641/23,478 (7.51 percent)
Finished: The City Stained Red, Solo Command
Reading: The Dispossessed, The Great Hunt, The Dream Cycle of H.P. Lovecraft (no progress this month)
Added: The Courtship of Princess Leia, Brothers in Arms
I've been slowly reading the X-Wing series of Star Wars EU books over the past few years, and Solo Command was the seventh and sort-of last. It wasn't as good as Iron Fist, the sixth book, in part because it added in Han Solo as a character and had to set up a book that was written before it, apparently. I want to see what happens to Zsinj, so I have added the Courtship of Princess Leia, even though it's apparently pretty bad. Mainly, I ended this book wanting to read more about Wraith Squadron and more by Aaron Allston. That's a good sign. (Note to self: add the novels listed here.)
On the other hand, I ended The City Stained Red unsure about keeping on. And it's the first volume of a Tolkien-style trilogy; the last time I ran into one of those, I finished the first one and devoured the next two. The City Stained Red does a lot of things right; the worldbuilding is creative yet understandable, the characters are distinctive and interesting and have detailed motivations and personalities, and the action sequences are entertaining. It's the right mix of grim and funny, sometimes both at the same time. Why do I not feel compelled to pick up the next volume, then? As I mentioned last month, I might have given it short shrift by often going days between chapters, but that became less an issue in the final third.
Some reading that is not part of the plan was a novella by Lois McMaster Bujold. She's on my list already. I've never read her before, and this novella made me want to read more. She threw in a note at the end as a reading guide, and recommended reading Brothers in Arms before Mirror Dance (which won the Hugo), so I've added that to the list.
I'm about halfway through The Dispossessed, and that's pretty good so far, and I expect it to get better as it goes; and about a fifth of the way through The Great Hunt, the second Wheel of Time book, so it's really just getting going.
I've been slowly reading the X-Wing series of Star Wars EU books over the past few years, and Solo Command was the seventh and sort-of last. It wasn't as good as Iron Fist, the sixth book, in part because it added in Han Solo as a character and had to set up a book that was written before it, apparently. I want to see what happens to Zsinj, so I have added the Courtship of Princess Leia, even though it's apparently pretty bad. Mainly, I ended this book wanting to read more about Wraith Squadron and more by Aaron Allston. That's a good sign. (Note to self: add the novels listed here.)
On the other hand, I ended The City Stained Red unsure about keeping on. And it's the first volume of a Tolkien-style trilogy; the last time I ran into one of those, I finished the first one and devoured the next two. The City Stained Red does a lot of things right; the worldbuilding is creative yet understandable, the characters are distinctive and interesting and have detailed motivations and personalities, and the action sequences are entertaining. It's the right mix of grim and funny, sometimes both at the same time. Why do I not feel compelled to pick up the next volume, then? As I mentioned last month, I might have given it short shrift by often going days between chapters, but that became less an issue in the final third.
Some reading that is not part of the plan was a novella by Lois McMaster Bujold. She's on my list already. I've never read her before, and this novella made me want to read more. She threw in a note at the end as a reading guide, and recommended reading Brothers in Arms before Mirror Dance (which won the Hugo), so I've added that to the list.
I'm about halfway through The Dispossessed, and that's pretty good so far, and I expect it to get better as it goes; and about a fifth of the way through The Great Hunt, the second Wheel of Time book, so it's really just getting going.
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