recent reading
Aug. 7th, 2022 06:45 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
castironKerry Greenwood, Death in Daylesford. Finally managed to finish this one, with the reread of the rest of the series to give me momentum. When I first tried to read Death in Daylesford, I set it down in boredom a couple chapters in. Most Phryne Fisher books start with either a bit of the mystery or some interesting situation in the family that reveals something new; this one starts with Phryne and Lin in bed, not exactly a novel circumstance. The book could have just has easily started with chapter 2 without losing anything, and Lin's thoughts on the planned lake and the displacement of the Chinese folks who lived there could've been a flashback when Phryne saw the soon-to-be-lake.
Once I got a bit further into the book, it became more interesting, but there was a lot going on in this book. Multiple mysteries in Daylesford; the mystery that Ruth, Jane, and Tinker are solving back in Melbourne (which I found a bit too dark, and the solution made sense but didn't satisfy); Hugh's issues with the temporary substitute for Jack (which makes me wonder if Greenwood is having trouble writing book-Jack after TV-Jack and therefore decided to get him offscreen)... Everything got resolved in the end, but it wasn't quite as satisfying as usual.
It's the first Phryne Fisher book in seven years, so I'm not surprised that it feels off. On balance, I'd have been fine if the previous in the series Murder and Mendelssohn had been the final Phryne Fisher book. Death in Daylesford does have decent final paragraphs, and if it turns out to be the last book then it's not a terrible way to end the series, but it's not great.
Gabe Hudson, Gork, the Teenage Dragon. A fun read if you can cope with the violence level; I mostly could, but there were some scenes that I didn't try to visualize because it would've been too much. Gork's voice is great, and the worldbuilding is great, and it's very entertaining. That said, while the romantic resolution works fine, the resolution of the rest of the story is abrupt and I don't buy it.
Once I got a bit further into the book, it became more interesting, but there was a lot going on in this book. Multiple mysteries in Daylesford; the mystery that Ruth, Jane, and Tinker are solving back in Melbourne (which I found a bit too dark, and the solution made sense but didn't satisfy); Hugh's issues with the temporary substitute for Jack (which makes me wonder if Greenwood is having trouble writing book-Jack after TV-Jack and therefore decided to get him offscreen)... Everything got resolved in the end, but it wasn't quite as satisfying as usual.
It's the first Phryne Fisher book in seven years, so I'm not surprised that it feels off. On balance, I'd have been fine if the previous in the series Murder and Mendelssohn had been the final Phryne Fisher book. Death in Daylesford does have decent final paragraphs, and if it turns out to be the last book then it's not a terrible way to end the series, but it's not great.
Gabe Hudson, Gork, the Teenage Dragon. A fun read if you can cope with the violence level; I mostly could, but there were some scenes that I didn't try to visualize because it would've been too much. Gork's voice is great, and the worldbuilding is great, and it's very entertaining. That said, while the romantic resolution works fine, the resolution of the rest of the story is abrupt and I don't buy it.