City of Dark Magic by Magnus Flyte

I liked this book more by its end than I thought I might at its beginning. It tells the story of Sarah Weston, a grad student in musicology, who receives a mysterious invitation to work at a Prague museum over the summer, cataloguing scores and papers relating to Beethoven, her musical hero. But even before she arrives at the castle, she realizes that all is not well. Most of the story was really clever and inventive. But there were a number of moments when I found myself rolling my eyes--many of the characters seemed to lack clear motivation, especially at first. I'm intrigued to see where the story goes next.

Night Watch by Terry Pratchett

The Time Monks are at it again, in this novel: they've sent Sam Vimes back to the beginning of his career just before the birth of his first child. And Sam realizes that he can't go home until he deals with the criminal who came back with him, lest time be altered too much and his home, family, and career disappear. I thought this book was a time travel story at its best: it pushes the imagination to figure out how all the parts work together, but in the end I was satisfied with how all the parts worked together. I thought the time travel device also worked really well in allowing the series to fill in some great backstory to both the Night Watch and the city's political structure. This book is a great entry in the Discworld series.

Thief of Time by Terry Pratchett

This novel is Discworld at its best. There's a bit of a Bond spoof, lots of Death (who works to reunite the four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, but doesn't count on Ronnie, who left before they hit it big), lots of Susan, and a great storyline involving monks of time and a glass clock that can stop it entirely. It's the sort of story you have to read to fully understand, and reading it is a real pleasure.

The Last Continent by Terry Pratchett

This book finds Rincewind making his way through FourEcks (EcksEcksEcksEcks), a continent that looks a whole lot like Australia, while on the other side of the Disc, the wizards who sent him there are trying to figure out how to get him back (as the University librarian, who was turned into an ape some time ago, has gone unstable in his shape, and the wizards need to know his name to perform magic on him--a name which only Rincewind has a chance of knowing). But in their search for a geographer to help them find XXXX, they step through a window that takes them to a different place and time, where  they encounter a small god, who keeps banging his head against evolution. This was not one of my favorite Discworld novels (though in all fairness, Pratchett's take on academics is pretty funny)--I think it's because Rincewind has just never clicked with me as a character. But there were definitely some pretty funny moments along the way.

Shadow of Night by Deborah Harkness

This book picks up where A Gathering of Witches left off: Matthew and Diana travel back in time to Elizabethan England to look for a manuscript known as Ashmole 782 which promises to reveal secrets about witches, vampires, and demons. Matthew was still a bit heavy handed for my tastes, but we did get to see more of Diana's power--and just as importantly--to get some explanation of why she has the powers she does. We also got a number of historical cameos, including Queen Elizabeth I, Kit Marlow (who has been both daemonized and demonized in this retelling), and, all too briefly, William Shakespeare. There was a lot of historical detail (it probably doesn't hurt that Deborah Harkness is an esteemed historian of seventeenth century England in addition to writing novels and blogging about wine), which added to the atmosphere of the piece. At times it felt like obstacles were thrown up and then almost immediately brushed away (for example, when Matthew takes Diana to his family home in France, Matthew's father Philippe insists that Matthew and Diana are not married and should not marry, but by the end of the section, less than a month later, throws them a lavish wedding). The mysteries of the Ashmole 782 only continue to grow; even though we get to see it again, the reader is left with questions instead of answers--but now it seems that the book is more an object or possession than a book. It's all setting things up for the third and final volume of the trilogy.

The Fall of Hyperion by Dan Simmons

I really enjoyed this book, which picks up with the pilgrims on Hyperion, but also introduces a broader, realtime context to their actions. Through the dreams of another Keats cybrid, Joseph Severn (named for the real Keats's painter friend), Meina Gladstone, CEO of the Hegemony can follow the actions of the pilgrims at the Time Tombs. The pilgrims disappear and reappear as they encounter the Shrike on their own. There were some great twists--rest assured that even what you think you know, you don't! I particularly appreciated the way the book examines the hidden costs of technology. The story is chock full of literary allusions, and a great conclusion to Hyperion!

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.

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs

This book is the story of Jacob's quest to decipher the meaning behind his grandfather's mysterious last words. As it turns out, his grandfather was one of the children sent from mainland Europe to England to escape the Holocaust--but he was subject to additional dangers because he was peculiar and so found himself in the care of Miss Peregrine. The book is beautifully illustrated with vintage photographs (repurposed as illustrations of the peculiar children) and a mythology slowly develops. Indeed, as the story continues, you begin to realize that worlds and ideas are opened that could not possibly be closed within the confines of the novel. I'll be interested in seeing how the sequel develops and how the world of the peculiar children plays out. The part of this novel that felt clunkiest to me was the portrayal family relationships between Jacob and his family (especially his parents). I understand why the main character needs to be a loner or isolated in this story, but it didn't seem to be handled quite as smoothly as it could have been. Otherwise a fantastic and fantastical story!

An Echo in the Bone by Diana Gabaldon

This book shares its virtues and faults with many of the previous books in the series. I felt like the plot arcs weren't clearly defined and worked towards cliffhangers rather than resolution.

A Breath of Snow and Ashes by Diana Gabaldon

This book continues the story of Jamie and Claire Fraser, settled in North Carolina on the eve of the American Revolution. It's not as annoying as some of the previous books as there's a discernible arc to the plot (Jamie's conversion to the Revolutionary cause as a matter of principle instead of survival) and a few abductions (both Claire and Brianna) to be dealt with, but, as with many of the books in this series, this book could have used a stronger editorial hand.

The Fiery Cross by Diana Gabaldon

I felt that this book was one of the weaker entries in the Outlander series. Jamie, Claire, Roger, and Brianna have a series of adventures in North Carolina--there are some plot lines that get lost in the shuffle--and several don't get finished. There are several plot points (usually medical) that stretch the limits of belief. I enjoy parts of the series, and I'm so far in now, I'll probably keep going, but the first book was the best.

Drums of Autumn by Diana Gabaldon

This book continues the adventures of Claire and Jamie Fraser in colonial America. They're joined by their daughter Brianna, once she discovers news of their death from the 20th century. The plot of this book moved better than I thought it would once it got started, although I'm not sure that the overall narrative arc was complete (lots of things felt like they were left hanging)--this series definitely builds from one book to the next. Enjoyable, though I feel at times the book's playing the game of trying to figure out how one might transfer knowledge of modern medicine back 200 years.

Dragonfly in Amber by Diana Gabaldon

This book continues the story of Claire Randall, who travels to the 1740s at the end of World War II through a stone circle in Scotland, and her husband, Jamie Fraser, who finds himself increasingly implicated in the Jacobite Rebellion despite his intentions. Although the book is quite hefty, and the framing story set in 1968 Scotland could have used a little more time, I enjoyed this book. I'll be continuing to read the other books in the series.

Outlander by Diana Gabaldon

This book follows Claire, a nurse who is taking a second honeymoon with her milquetoast husband after World War Two, when a stone circle in the Scottish Highlands sends her back to the eighteenth century. Once there she must choose between her past and the past, amid dangers, violence, and a new marriage. I enjoyed reading this book. There's a little bit of everything in it. I'm looking forward to continuing the series.

The Kingdom of Ohio by Matthew Flaming

This book explores the relationship between a man and a woman our narrator discovers in a photograph which arrives at his antique store. Questions of politics (the titular Kingdom of Ohio) and time traveling also come into play. The narrator is delightfully unreliable (lots of footnotes with some real and some not) and there is a pretty good twist at the end. Still, the story runs a bit fast at the end--there's a Croatoan connection that's thrown in and not adequately explored.