April Reads

Didn't post at the end of April because I was on my way to Sint Maarten on the 30th/1st.

April was a busy, busy month, so my reading was kind of light. But I did finish The Mists of Avalon, which is like a million words or something.

04/07/2011    Chapterhouse: Dune (audiobook) by Frank Herbert
04/15/2011    The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley
04/20/2011    Love from the Shadows by Gilbert Hernandez

After finishing Chapterhouse: Dune, I tried to listen to Hunters of Dune by KJA & Brian Herbert. It's boring awfulness defeated me after about 2 trips to/from work. Seriously an awful, awful book. Just long, rambling and pointless. So I suppose I'll never know what happened to Duncan on the no-ship. Oh well.

Currently listening to MZB's The Firebrand on audio, but the copy I "downloaded" was missing three 90-minute segments, so I'll read those chapters before going back to the audio. I'm not really into this like I was into Mists, but it's pretty good.

Sint Maarten Reads

The almost-2 weeks in SXM (we had to go a day late and come back a day early because of Democratic Party commitments) were stupendous. The tan is virtually perfect -- the exact color I was going for.

So, I spent about 10 days over the last fortnight lying on Cupecoy Beach absorbing the sun. How did I keep myself entertained, you ask?

Here's how:
05/01/2011    Star Trek: Indistinguishable From Magic by David Mcintee
05/02/2011    Star Trek: SCE: Past Life by Robert Greenberger
05/03/2011    Star Trek: SCE: Oaths by Jeff Mariotte
05/03/2011    Space: 1999: Survival by Brian Ball
05/04/2011    Star Trek: SCE: Foundations I by Dayton Ward & Kevin Dilmore
05/05/2011    Star Trek: SCE: Foundations II by Dayton Ward & Kevin Dilmore
05/07/2011    Star Trek: SCE: Foundations III by Dayton Ward & Kevin Dilmore
05/07/2011    Zandru's Forge by Marion Zimmer Bradley & Deborah J. Ross
05/08/2011    Conan: The Sword of Skelos by Andrew Offut
05/08/2011    ST: TNG: Slings & Arrows III: The Insolence of Office by William Leisner
05/09/2011    ST: TNG: Slings & Arrows IV: That Sleep of Death by Terri Osborne
05/10/2011    ST: TNG: Slings & Arrows V: A Weary Life by Robert Greenberger
05/11/2011    ST: TNG: Slings & Arrows VI: Enterprises of Great Pitch and Moment by Keith R. A. DeCandido
05/13/2011    A Flame in Hali by Marion Zimmer Bradley & Deborah J. Ross
05/13/2011    Conan: The Road of Kings by Karl Edward Wagner

The first one was finished on the flights down; the last two on the flights home. The rest were mostly read on the beach. I got into a rhythm of reading a chunk of a "primary" book each day, with breaks for something smaller -- like Star Trek novellas originally published as e-books. The Trek novellas were mostly read on the iPad back in the condo before/after the day at the beach. The "primary" reading was paperbacks. As usual, I took about three times as many books as any sane person could read. By next year, I plan to have a Kindle, The backlight screen on the iPad is impossible to read outdoors, but I understand the Kindle's e-ink screen is very readable in directly sunlight. By putting everything on the Kindle, I should be able to free up half a suitcase I usually fill with books…

Deborah J. Ross's Clingfire trilogy is really wonderful. She did an excellent job weaving the original plot & characters of the books with existing action & characters from Hawkmistress and Two to Conquer, which are contemporaneous with Zandru's Forge and A Flame in Hali, respectively. I suspect Marion herself couldn't have done as well – chronology was never Marion's focus. Ross's Darkover books are damn-near perfect. I hope she gets to keep writing them for many, many years to come.

With the completion of the Clingfire trilogy, I'm now done with my "re-read" of the entire Darkover series begun in April of last year, with the exception of Thendara House, City of Sorcery and the truly awful The Shadow Matrix. I also haven't read most of the Darkover anthologies, aside from Marion's own contributions. I'm working on the Renunciate books, and should have them finished soon. Shadow Matrix has defeated me in three attempts to read it. I might try again one day, but not any time soon.

I started Matthew Hughes's' The Damned Busters: To Hell and Back Book 1 (Kindle on the iPad) on the last leg of yesterday's marathon fly home. I love the first chapter, and look forward to reading more.

All in all, a great vacation!

Edited to add: I "gifted" a copy of The Clingfire Trilogy to the small cache of books left in the condo on the island. So, if you ever stay in room 171 at the Sapphire Beach Club and need something to read, check the cupboard by the kitchen table. It's almost certainly better reading than the "inspirational romance" (Finally a Family) that some previous tenant abandoned there.