The Woman Who Died a Lot by Jasper Fforde

This book gives readers a peek at Thursday Next as an aging detective. The timeline has jumped forward (it's now something near the current time) and Spec Ops is reforming. Unfortunately Thursday is not tapped as the director of the literary detectives. The book is both deftly plotted and wickedly funny--things that seem crazy at first turn out to be essential parts of the story--and to fit in quite well. I love the way that the disbanding of the Chronoguard is handled, and the suggestions about the journey into Dark Reading Matter (all the books and ideas that have been destroyed or disappeared). This series just keeps getting better.

Kept by D.J. Taylor

This book models the novels of Dickens and Collins that it reads like; there are a lot of intertwining plots and characters. We also get to see early police in action (towards the end of the book). None of the main characters are entirely sympathetic, but Taylor has a good sense of the Victorian worlds. I loved the literary allusions. It covers a number of themes that play out in the period: criminality, interest in science, insanity, the role of women. It wasn't quite as good as a genuine Victorian novel, but it was a decent imitation of that kind of plot, and very well written.

Captain's Fury by Jim Butcher

In this book Tavi is masquerading as Captain Rufus Scipio, and his successes against the Canim have made him more political enemies than allies. But when he discovers that some of his suspicions about his parentage (that he's the First Lord's grandson) are confirmed and that his mother has been pretending to be his Aunt Isana his entire life, he's faced with a crisis of trust. The fate of the realm depends on his ability to take up a new mantel as Princeps. I really enjoyed this book. While I liked the idea of Gaius Sextus having to do without his furies, those scenes weren't as interesting as Tavi's. These books are not the most epic high fantasy I've ever read, but the series is well-plotted and very enjoyable.

Armored edited by John Joseph Adams

This anthology centers its stories around characters in body armor. Most of this armor is highly intelligent and can help the user make decisions, or even make decisions for the user (if for example, its occupant is harmed during battle or in the military). A few were alternative histories (for example, one was set in Australia during the nineteenth century, another was during the Spanish Civil War). I'm not as fond of the straight battle stories, but many had interesting twists (for example, a general who kept turning up when he wasn't expected, a planet of man-eating plants). I read this anthology for the new Brandon Sanderson story, which was okay, but not as good as his other work.

Crucible of Gold by Naomi Novik

This book has another great story about Temeraire. He and Captain Laurence have been recalled to service in order to help with British difficulties in Brazil. But when the Allegiance sinks, and the remaining crew is rescued (and subsequently taken prisoner by) the French, it takes all of Temeraire's and Laurence's wits to escape and help the British. I loved seeing the South American dragons, and the cultural differences in the ways dragons were treated. I think the dragons--as Novik has imagined them--are really great characters, because they are powerful and smart but deeply different from humans. These differences make for a lot of really fruitful conflict. I can't wait for more of this lovely series.

Arcadia by Lauren Groff

I found this book interesting because while it starts with an historical realism (it sounds like the bildungsroman of a boy growing up in a hippy commune in the seventies), it moves forward in time to a future world, made increasingly uninhabitable by global warming and spreading epidemic disease. Or you could say that it moves from one distopia (we see the dream of a commune crumbling, crushed by the pressures of too many people, outward society--the police, and not enough money) to another (an apocalyptic vision of our future). Indeed, the second distopia is more disturbing than the first; for the realism of the first part of the book implies that we are headed for the second with little hope of reprieve. Despite the problems the world faces in the second part of the book, however, and looming personal problems for our protagonist (his wife has disappeared, his teenage daughter is a teenager, and his mother suffers from a slowly debilitating disease), we see the strength of the human spirit in the face of adversity. I didn't like this book as well as Monsters of Templeton, but it did give me a lot to think about.

The Crystal City by Orson Scott Card

This book picks up the pace in the Alvin Maker series again: there's far less repetition of past events and the story moves forward as Alvin rescues thousands of slaves and impoverished French people from New Barcy (New Orleans, under the control of the Spanish) and finds the spot for his Crystal City. He also discovers that to make the city, not everyone need be a maker, but everyone needs to have a part in it. I loved the addition of Abe Lincoln to the series, but I missed Taleswapper (and Peggy, for that matter, who is definitely there, but doesn't have as much of a role). I'm not sure if Card still intends to wrap this series up with a seventh book (supposedly titled Alvin Maker) but if he does write it, I'll be interested to see how he ends things--Peggy's visions make it sound like there will be bad with the good at the end.

11/22/1963: A Novel by Stephen King

This book uses time travel to explore the consequences of changing history--specifically the Kennedy assassination. While the ability to time travel is never really explained, most of the rules are quite clear and kept up by the story. The characters who time travel are (or become) well aware of the consequences of this ability and the story does a great job looking at the consequences of what-ifs and finally highlights the inability of the human mind to figure it all out. It's a great story--good for the beach.

The System of the World by Neal Stepheson

The final volume in the Baroque Cycle is easily the best and most entertaining of the trilogy. Here, all the various strands of the plot pay off and come together in a thrilling conclusion. The action seems more directed, there's lots of excitement, and hints of greater things than we knew through history. Stephenson does a great job setting the mood of the period, from his language use to the scientific debates (Newton against Leibniz is a huge part of this) to the changing system of the world (in which currency becomes increasingly important). Although I understand the series is fictional, it really helped make that period of British history more real and exciting. Even though the first two books were frustrating at times, I am so glad that I finished this series.

Heartfire by Orson Scott Card

This book shows Alvin's adventures with the witchers in New England juxtaposed with Peggy's work against slavery in the Crown Colonies. I enjoyed seeing more historical figures appear (including Denmark Vesey, John Adams, Honoré Balzac, and John-Jacques Audubon) and all the thoughtfulness about how to deal with unjust laws. There was a good mixture of humor and determination in the book. I was also intrigued by Adams's reflections on his relationship with Thomas Jefferson (who only appears in other characters' thoughts). I felt like this book gets the series back on track.

The Mammoth Hunters by Jean Auel

In this book Ayla and Jondalar stay with the Mammoth people for a while during their travels back to Jondalar's family. We see Jondalar's jealousy and Ayla's inability to understand human culture (temporarily) confound their romance. I think the book gets too hung up (as others in the series have) on how early humans thought and learned and knew--more like a textbook than a story. The best part of the story was Rydag, the child of a human and a Neanderthal.

Alvin Journeyman by Orson Scott Card

In this book Alvin's attempt to build his Crystal City is slowed down by a number of false accusations (and true, but morally unjust accusations). I enjoyed the story (and finding out more about Taleswapper), but at times it felt like it was all tied up and repetitive instead of actually advancing the plot in a particularly meaningful way. Still, I'm excited to follow Alvin's progress on his journey to build the Crystal City.

Flashback by Dan Simmons

For the most part, I enjoyed this book, which is a noir-style detective story set in the dystopic future. The technology is awesome, the drug flashback (that lets you relive your past) intriguing, and even the family drama is handled pretty well. I also found the mystery really compelling. What was less exciting was the book's political stance--not necessarily its side, but its extremism and its desire for screed instead of thoughtful consideration of the topics. I thought the politics took away from the book as a whole.

Prentice Alvin by Orson Scott Card

This book continues the story of Alvin Maker, focusing on his return to Hatrack to be the Smith's apprentice. Alvin's not just learning how to be a blacksmith, however, but also how to be a Maker. We also learn more about Peggy, the town Torch who leaves just before Alvin arrives in order to learn how to be a better help to him. Perhaps the most compelling part of the story, though, is the story of Arthur Stuart, a mixed-race boy whose mother saved him from a life of slavery, but whose freedom is always at threat throughout the book. I'm really enjoying this series.

Down These Strange Streets edited by George R.R. Martin and Gardner Dozois

This anthology contains short stories loosely united by what the editors call urban fantasy. I enjoyed the Lord John story in this anthology ("Lord John and the Plague of Zombies" by Diana Gabaldon) more than any of the other Lord John stories (and really, more than most of the recent Outlander books). "Death by Dahlia," a new Charlaine Harris story set in the Sookie Stackhouse universe was also entertaining. There was a story that featured Dashiell Hammett and another that seemed a clear take on The Maltese Falcon. I enjoyed the stories set in Rome (there were two). There was also a good one about a jazz musician. A few had mythological worlds so complex, it was hard to figure out what the rules were in the course of the story. Overall a very entertaining collection.

Red Prophet by Orson Scott Card

This book continues the story of Alvin Maker, but it fits his story into that of William Henry Harrison, Tecumsah, and the Shawnee. It made me wish I knew more about that history, so I could tell what was accurate and what was stretched. I really liked the way this book thought about war, relations beaten very different groups of people, and how to live with the land. It's structure also was thought-provoking: the book overlaps in time with the first book, do the reader gets to experience some events all over again in a really powerful way.

John Henry Days by Colson Whitehead

This book investigates the myth of John Henry through the perspectives of a number of characters poised on the cusp of the information age. When the US Post Office decides to release a John Henry stamp, a number of New York freelancers and a Maryland stamp collector converge on the town of Hinton, West Virginia for the first annual John Henry Days festival. As the story plays out, it's not just the question of John Henry against the steam engine, but modern man against computers, and the grueling cycle of digital promotion that plays out. This book spends a lot of time thoughtfully considering what it means to read a book. Another excellent and thoughtful book.

The Song of the Quarkbeast by Jasper Fforde

I loved this sequel to The Last Dragonslayer. Jennifer Strange is still temporarily in charge of Kazam, King Snodd is still an incompetent jerk, and Fforde is still as funny and witty as ever. Because Snodd is trying to use the government to control magic, Jennifer finds she must pit Kazam's sorcerers against those of iMagic--and King Snodd and the iMagicians are not against using any means necessary to take Kazam's team out of the picture. The plot comes together nicely with plenty of wit and derring-do. I especially love seeing such an awesome teenager in charge of a bunch of wizards. Plenty to enjoy for everyone (except, perhaps, the fact that US publication lags way behind UK publication for this series).

The Seventh Son by Orson Scott Card

This book presents the childhood of Alvin Maker, the seventh son of a seventh son, and thus a very powerful figure indeed. In fact, because of Alvin's great power, he early in his life (even before his birth) attracts a sort of supernatural ire (which we later find out is the manifestation of the Unmaker). I really enjoyed this book, not just for the story of Alvin and his family (which was very entertaining, if a bit episodic at times), but also for the imaginative world the work inhabits. Here we have a variety of peoples contesting for power in the Americas in a history in which the colonies did not unite into one political body and in which George Washington was hanged as a traitor. Although the history stuff neither confuses or dominates the text, it is a great addition to a fine story. I can't wait to see where Alvin's luck takes him.

The Clan of the Cave Bear by Jean M. Auel

This book tells the story of Ayla, separated from her family by an earthquake and raised by the Clan of the Cave Bear. Although Ayla is obviously different, one of the Others, she quickly learns the ways of the Clan, even if she finds them unduly strange and restrictive at times. I really enjoyed this story--the characters and their struggles felt real and familiar, even as their surroundings, culture, and customs were totally foreign.