Time for Reviews

Well, I promised reviews however brief, of the sort of stuff I was reading last week. Now, I know tis a shade later than I had planned, but things came up. So here it is.

To start with, my review of Bad Prince Charlie, a satirical fantasy kingdom.

Basically, there is a kingdom whose name I cannot remember. It was settled by people fleeing an oppressive regime, who discovered too late that the lovely kingdom they settled is... well, not as nice as it looked. It is on the far side of a mountain range from their oppressors. On the other hand, it is also on the far side of the mountain range from any rainfall. The king has recently died. Cue plotting. By the nobility, to sell the place out to the oppressors for gold and position. By the oppressor as a spring-board for world-domination. By the premier noblewoman of both kingdoms, to get herself married to whomever ends up ruling both. By the court wizard for a number of different reasons. And the only thing all these plots have in common? No one knows about any bar the ones they are involved in, and they all center round the newly chosen king, formerly called Bad Prince Charlie. Who has been dragged back from university, and only wants the best for his kingdom. Hilarity ensues.

Next we shall consider Rolling Thunder, by John Varley.
Science Fiction. Meet Lieutenant Podkayne, Martian Navy. I wish to point out that Mars was settled by the descendants of folks who developed a form of technology that makes brilliant weapons/drives. And refuses to distribute them. Especially after the debacle where they turned asteroids into generational ships for minorities. One such minority used its ship as a KEW. So. Earth is recovering from a rather impressive asteroid strike, and doing badly. Mars is busy colonizing the rest of the solar system. Podkayne gets ordered to return to Mars from the Martian Consulate in one of the three states that grew up out of the old U.S., as her terminally ill granny is going into stasis. Whilst there she gets transferred to the branch of the Martian navy that is responsible for Morale. Cue travel, disaster, fame, coping with fame, more disaster, coping with disaster and other fun times.
Tis very well done, and rather enjoyable. Especially where it mentions how Canada had to build a wall along the US border...

Third. Elric, by Michael Moorcock. Elric of Malniborne is the true heir to the throne of Malniborne, an albino sorceror given strength by a combination of drugs and an enchanted soul-drinking sword. Unfortunately A) Malniborneans are a dying race. B) His sword favours the souls of his friends. C) In an attempt to punish the usurper of his throne he sees to the destruction of the last great Malnibornean citadel. Whilst his sword 'accidentally' claims the soul of the woman he loves. (It does that sort of thing a lot.) Cue wide travels, adventures, swords and sorcery. Sort of like the adventures of Conan, had Conan been a weakling who gained strength by doping himself up and wielding 'Ye Great And Mighty Magic Sword Of Evil!'. And Emo, and a Sorceror of not inconsiderable strength. Oh, and assuming Conan had started with a Crown, given it up to a regent, had the regent claim the crown, returned to take it back, left again, and then repeated the same process only sacking his own capital as he left the second time round. The Omnibus I read dealt with some of Elrics travels, and with the war against the Lords of Chaos that terminated with Elrics death. I would heartily recommend this one on accounts of it being fun.

Fourth. Patricia Briggs series'. There are two of them I have been reading, both set in the same 'universe.'

The premise of said universe is simple. All those things that go bump in the night? They exist. A decade or so ago, the Fey came out to humanity. They are now required to be registered with the government (Not that that registration works, cause not even the Fey could accurately categorise themselves even if they wanted to.) Many of the Fey now (semi-voluntarily) Live on Reservations. They basically function much like modern-day Native Americans, to be fair. On the reservations, Fey law, such as it is, holds sway. Outside them, the Fey come under Human Law. More recently (over the course of the series', actually) The Werewolves have also come out to Humanity. But they haven't bothered to accept the offer of reservations. Possibly cause it be easier for them to fit in...

Anyway. Of the two series I've been reading, the first, The Alpha and the Omega series, deals with the adventures of Anna and Charles Cornick, son of Bran Cornick, called The Marrock, high honcho of the North American Werewolves. Charles, were he not part of The Marrock's Pack would be an Alpha, a pack leader. As it is, he is the Marrock's enforcer. Anna is his mate, an Omega, that is to say a Dominant Werewolf without the 'To Defend. Must Kill.' instinct most Dominant's have. It is rather interesting and well thought out. Especially seeing as, whilst both the lead characters are epic, they have some rather major weakness and scars...

The second series is the Mercy Thompson novels. Mercedes 'Mercy' Thompson is a Walker, a Native American shamany type who can turn into a Coyote, and see and speak to Ghosts. She has a friend who is a Vampire. Her old boss (and one of her better friends) Is registered as a Gremlin, and is in fact an old, germanic Faerie Smith. The Dark Smith of Drottenheim, I think. Her lodger, Samuel, is the elder brother of Charles Cornick, and a dominant Werewolf. Her boyfriend is the local Werewolf Alpha (and isn't that a barrel of laughs, cause Samuel is a lone wolf.). As a consequence, however much she would like to be left to deal with her day job as a mechanic, she keeps getting roped into dealing with Supernatural issues... fun fun...