Cracks in the wall

Sometimes, the writing is like seeing the story on the other side of frosted glass wall. It's there, you know it is, and you can see the general shape of it, but no matter how much you try to reach it, you just can't. The only way to get to it seems to be banging your head repeatedly against the wall in the hope that you can break through, or otherwise get a spectacular enough concussion that it doesn't matter any more.

But then, sometimes you break through. You have a moment of perfect clarity which manifests itself into a sledgehammer. The glass wall receives a hole the size of Godzilla. The story and characters are there, clear and wonderful and in more detail than you thought you'd get to see them.

Guess which days I'd been having lately? But then guess which day I had on Thursday. I'm feeling good.

Nobody's Princess by Esther Friesner

Beginning this book, I was a little skeptical. I had a little bit of reverse psychology working on me - I'd heard some great things about this book, but I didn't really think it could be good as all that. And besides that, it just didn't grab me. It has a lot of the things I usually enjoy in a book, like kick-butt princesses, action, adventure, and clever solutions to confusing problems. But having read the Young Warriors anthology including the short story by Friesner that preceded/inspired Nobody's Princess, I really wasn't sure if I'd enjoy the direction she'd take Helen of Sparta. I liked the short story, but for me it left a lot to be desired. I didn't want to be disappointed if Friesner didn't answer my expectations.

But lucky for me, she did. Helen is smart, driven, realistic, and so completely herself that you can't help believing in her. The story is fast-paced and intriguing - it took some turns I completely was not expecting - and Friesner's writing was fresh and to the point. What was abrupt in short story form is expanded, but still lean and without excess - perfect for a princess of Sparta.

I definitely recommend Nobody's Princess, and I'm looking forward to more of Friesner's writing.

I may or may not be a liar

But I probably am. I hate making excuses for so many posts in a row, but I really haven't had the time or the energy to tackle a full-scale book review. And in the interest of actually doing what I set out to do - blather on about the books I'm reading - I'm just going to talk about what I thought about the books, and the things that particularly struck me about it. This way I'll actually probably get some posts up.