lunabee34

1. ( Into the Drowning Deep )

Does anyone know if Rolling in the Deep adds anything to the story? Is it the short story that is the germ of Into the Drowning Deep, or is there more to it? Also, does anyone know if she plans a sequel?

2. Thank you for sending me this,

executrix!!

Hidden Louisa May Alcott: 2 Volumes by Louisa May Alcott

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

First of all, the two sections of this anthology are prefaced with scholarly essays by one of the most important Alcott scholars who actually discovered (along with a colleague) the texts Alcott had published under aliases. I get the same sort of thrill of scholarship and discovery that I get when reading A.S. Byatt's Possession; how marvelous to figure out an unknown thing, to be the first to put your hands on some document or fact. Thrilling!

Next, the stories in this anthology are what Alcott called her "blood and thunder" stories, and they are melodramatic and racy with Gothic trappings, but they are also surprising in a couple of ways. Two stories portray a pretty realistic picture of drug use (suggesting, of course, that Alcott was familiar with laudanum addiction and with eating hashish). Many of the stories contain familiar gothic tropes like being locked in a madhouse against one's will, inheritance problems, "ghosts," murder, revenge, etc, and while some of them end on a happily ever note that seems contrived in some cases, in at least one story the villainess wins, and in at least one other story, well--let's just say another story ends in such a completely unexpected way that it's best not to spoil it at all.

Anyone who knows Alcott primarily through the Little Women series would be delighted to see another version of her in this anthology.

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Chimera by Mira Grant

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I didn't like the concluding book of this series as well as the previous two, and I'm having trouble pinpointing exactly why.

I think the ratio of dialogue to exposition is off; Sal spends way too much time in this book thinking about things rather than talking to people or engaging in action. I also think this book does way too much of the reminding readers of people and events from previous books thing; I really dislike that tactic. If I can't remember Sal's accident or who Dr. Banks is or the reveal about Sherman at this point, I have some serious problems. There was some of this in the second book, but the third book was kinda overloaded with it.

I also didn't like that one of the main motivating factors in Sherman's interest in Sal was a twisted desire for her to love him.

I did like the way Colonel Mitchell ultimately had the courage to make some very tough decisions. I did like that Joyce knew all along that Sally was dead and Sal had taken her place and chose to love Sal anyway. That was probably the most moving part of the whole series for me.

I also really liked Fishy's character and the way he chose to deal with the apocalypse by believing that he's a character in a video game. He was funny and unpredictable.

Overall, I liked the series, and I'm glad I read it.

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Crossposts: http://lunabee34.livejournal.com/520488.html

Symbiont by Mira Grant

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I really like this series. I think finding a new source of apocalypse, especially a zombie apocalypse, is really hard, and Grant manages to combine zombie apocalypse, evil corporation, medical horror, and invasion of the body snatchers with the promise of a Warm Bodies feel-good type ending.

I love the protagonist Sal. I love that she is not a Rambo. I love that she doesn't magically gain skills that are unrealistic for where she begins. I love that she spends a lot of the two books I've read so far being afraid, vulnerable, and betrayed and that she rises to the challenges before her as a normal (ha!) person.

It's a middle book and so it ends on a terrible cliffhanger. I'll be getting the last book today so I can remedy that. LOL

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Parasite by Mira Grant

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I really enjoyed this book. I like the way Grant uses snippets of interviews, video recordings, and manuscripts along with first person narration to tell the story. I always love a story about a huge, potentially evil corporation that may or may not be ushering in the apocalypse. Most of all, I really like stories about the idea that the way we manipulate the world around us has the potential to harm us (whether that's through our technology, our medical treatments, our use of chemicals and plastics, etc.). I don't necessarily think the specific thing that happens in the book is very plausible (which isn't a criticism; I just don't think we're ever going to have a zombie apocalypse of any kind, for example; that doesn't mean I don't enjoy those kinds of stories), but I think the central premise of the book is very plausible--that when we alter nature radically we court severe consequences. I very much liked the narrator of the story and figuring out along with her what exactly had happened to her. Also, given the way that Grant writes the parents in Newsflesh, I'm starting to wonder if parents who can't connect with their children and who tend to exploit them in some way is A Thing in her writing.

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Crossposts: http://lunabee34.livejournal.com/512404.html

1. Apparently BPAL stuff takes forever to ship. *cries* LOL

2. I bought some stevia to try. It tastes exactly like a Sweet-n-Low packet. Bleck. My little foray down the sugar substitute aisle also reminded me that I don't like agave as a sweetener. Boo and also hiss.

3. I finished the final book in the Newsflesh trilogy.

( SERIOUS SPOILERS BE HERE )

I wholeheartedly recommend reading this series to everyone!