After reading so may of Sanderson’s cosmere novels, it’s a bit odd to read one that isn’t. There’s still a ‘Sanderson feel’ to it, both in how the characters think and interact and also in this novel’s version of a magic system.

Basic premise: the main character–Stephen Leeds–has manifest many ‘aspects’ that only he can see. Each is a specialist in a specific field that Leeds needed to solve a particular problem. It’s left vague if the aspects are actually real (in the sense of being conscious entities, separate from Leeds himself), which makes the story all the more interesting. So far as Leeds is concerned, they are, and his mind will jump through some pretty crazy hoops to keep that illusion going.

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This is really a great place to end my current reading of HP Lovecraft. Here we get the story of an Antarctic expedition that goes off the rails in the most Lovecraftian way possible. They find not only the madness inducing beasties but a whole civilization thereof from billions of years ago.

Overall, Mountains of Madness plays directly to Lovecraft’s strengths: the world building. There isn’t much in the way of plot or character (although more than in some of his stories). Instead what we get is a mix of history spanning literally billions of years with the human narrators exploring the ruins.

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I recently read through a large part of Lovecraft’s work. It was interesting seeing the first of what eventually became the Lovecraftian Mythos, but there were still some issues with it–Lovecraft wasn’t really the best when it came to plot or character and was very much a product of his times.

If The Horror from the Mound is any indication, Howard took the feel of the world that Lovecraft had build and really built on it. The Horror from the Mound takes something that we’ve heard of a thousand times before (the vampire) and takes it in another direction. Well worth the read.

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Golden Son takes up where Red Rising left off, following the continuing adventures of Darrow, the Red turned Gold as he tries to tear apart society… and hopefully rebuild it for the better?

Overall, the world building is about the same as the first book in that it’s better/more believable than the conceits of most YA novels and I like the sci fi tropes. We’re also starting to see some of the exceptions to the rules that everyone (in universe) thinks were so unassailable the first time around, which is interesting. We do get a more expanded scope though, seeing much of the rest of the Solar System, which is neat. And there are interesting hints at some of the history of this world; like how the Obsidians got to where they are and why there are no robots or anything quite like that.

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No more vampires, which is a plus for me at least. Your milage may vary. Instead we get a mix of wolves and Fae, which in my opinion are the best parts of the Mercyverse worldbuilding.

The subplot with Samuel is interesting. One thing that many urban fantasies tend to sweep under the rug is exactly how hard it could be to live for century after century. Many will pay lip service to it, mentioning it from time to time, but the characters often still feel relatively young. Samuel has some of that as well, but there are at least hints of of it here that he is really an old wolf.

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Back to vampires for a little while.

Remember back when Mercy pissed off the local vampire leadership? Well now she’s run out of town… and of course bumps into more vampires. One thing leads to another… vampires die… and Mercy saves the day.

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I was reading about the Borges “The Library of Babel” all about a huge (albeit finite) library containing every book that could ever be written (so long as it contains 410 pages containing 40 lines of 80 characters each), which reminded me of the short story A Short Stay in Hell, so I re-read it.

This is a thoroughly intriguing exploration of that same idea, wrapped in the idea that this is an afterlife (turns out the Zoroastrians were right all along). There are some interesting consequences to a library light-years across and the societies that develop therein.

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That was kind of a bizarre story, bouncing around in time and space a bit. Then again, it sounds like perhaps the narrator had a bizarre life, bouncing around in time and space. :)

Overall, an interesting read and one of the better Lovecraft stories I’ve read. It’s interesting trying to figure out how much of the story actually happened (in universe) and how much might just be some sort of mental health issues on the part of the narrator.

Iron Kissed gets into one of the most interesting parts of the Mercy Thompson universe: the Fae. They may have come out to the public a few decades ago, but only the least of the Fae. When a small pile of the greater Fae are brutally murdered, Mercy gets involved.

We get to learn a fair bit more about the Fae in general and Uncle Mike and Zee in particular, which is nice. They’re fascinating and just alien enough to be believable. On top of that, Mercy finally manages to choose between Sam and Adam, although if it will stick, who can say… We start getting into a bit more of the romance aspects that some readers of the series are expecting–and then the final section of the book happens (see spoiler section below).

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Blood Bound follows Mercy Thompson as Stefan the vampire calls in a favor owed from the events of the first book. What follows is a violent, blood soaked look into the darker parts of the world Patricia Briggs has built.

While there was a decent amount of violence in Moon Called, Blood Bound out does it easily. Given that the big bad is a demon possessed vampire (as if one or the other wouldn’t be enough), it’s not surprising, but there are a few fairly intense scenes in here.

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