Reading
I read Livesuit by James SA Corey, a novella that’s set in their Captive’s War universe. I read the first book, The Mercy of Gods, earlier this year and had a really good time with it. It’s actually grown on me since I’ve read it rather than receding into the mind soup that is all I read in a given year. This novella was good, and followed a separate set of characters fighting the same war that consumed our characters in The Mercy of Gods, only they’re fighting in a different way. While the ending was predictable, the novella still did a good job filling in details of the universe.
I also read Summer Knight by Jim Butcher, the fourth in his Dresden Files series. I know I said a few weeks ago that I was going to take a break from this series, but I was in need of something on the shorter and breezier side. As with all of the Dresden books, this one starts with a bang on page one and doesn’t let up until the very end. This is definitely the best installment of the series so far, and I thought that about the previous book. Good sign, that.
I’m hoping to finish Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke this week. The story has only gotten better as I’ve read, and I can already anticipate that this will be high up in my top ten for the year. I’ve found excuses to sneak this audiobook into my day outside of my commute. Still, I’ll be a bit sad once it’s all over. I feel like this book could go on forever and I wouldn’t get tired of it.
Once I finish Jonathan Strange, I plan on tackling a few ambitious reads and plucking up a few shorter works for fun. I’ll be diving into A Memory of Light by Robert Jordan, the 14th and final volume in The Wheel of Time. It’s been two years since I started my re-read, and I’ve enjoyed it a lot. It will be a bit sad when it’s over, but I own all the books in hardcover and on audio, so I can always return to this series if I ever feel the pull.
Simultaneously, I’ll be starting a series, The Dandelion Dynasty by Ken Liu, starting with The Grace of Kings. I read this book when it came out but never picked up any of the sequels. Now that the series is done, I want to give this a re-read and continue on with the series.
I’ve also had a couple of library holds drop, including the audiobook for The Wild Robot Escapes by Peter Brown, the sequel to The Wild Robot, which I read earlier this year. The other book that arrived is The Last Battle by CS Lewis, the conclusion of The Chronicles of Narnia.
Writing
I’ve been jumping back and forth between my novel outline and a rewrite of a short story I wrote several years ago. I’ve completed the new outline for the story, and I’ll be getting started on that when I can next sit down in front of my computer. The novel outline is still being written by hand (scrawled might be the more appropriate word), and though it’s a jumbled mess of scenes and worldbuilding, it’s taking a more complete shape everyday. I pretty much have the climax, so now I’m trying to figure out which choices my characters will make to reach that conclusion. It’s an interesting way to plot a novel, one I haven’t really tried before.
The Night Bulletin 