Friday, July 15, 2016

TGIF people



Just starting THE GENEVA TRAP by Stella Rimington. 7th of 9 in series featuring Liz Carlyle, an agent in MI-5 Joint Counter-Terrorist Group, in London.


At a tracking station in Virginia, U.S. Navy officers watch in horror as one of their communications satellites plummets into the Indian Ocean and panic spreads through the British and American intelligence services. When a Russian intelligence officer approaches MI5 with vital information about the cyber sabotage, he refuses to talk to anyone but Liz Carlyle. But who is he, and how is he connected to Liz? Is this a Russian plot to disable the West's defenses? Or is the threat coming from elsewhere? As Liz and her team search for a mole inside the Ministry of Defense, the trail takes them from Geneva, to Marseilles, and to Korea in a race against time to stop the Cold War from heating up.

Published in 2012, it has 336 pages. 

I think I may also start a re-read of a fabulous fantasy series I absolutely adored. The first book of the series is DERYNI RISING by Katherine Kurtz.


In the land of Gwynedd, the Haldanes have long ruled and have long kept a dangerous secret: there are those of their blood who possess the magical powers of the Deryni. To be Deryni in a land ruled by the all-powerful Church is to be branded an outcast. But now, young Prince Kelson is about to assume the throne after the mysterious death of his father. He must be told of his magical heritage. For his legacy is being challenged by a woman who does not hesitate to lay full claim to her Deryni powers. And to face her in magical combat, Kelson must learn a lifetime’s worth of magic in a few short days. If he loses, he dies as his father did. And if he wins, he is King—but all the world will know that he is also Deryni…

 Published in 1976, it has 304 pages. 

Speaking of SFF series.... I've come to the age where I want to re-read these beloved books now with the perspective of a much-maturer adult.  Here are some of my favorites:

DUNE by Frank Herbert. Rocked my world in junior high.


Just seeing that cover gives me shivers and transports me back to that very moment when I first pulled it off the shelf in the library at Lewis and Clark Junior High.

The Deryni books by Katherine Kurtz. Politics and religion and magic.



The Vorkosigan series by Lois McMaster Bujold. Miles Vorkosigan.  Best. Character. Ever.


Vatta's War series by Elizabeth Moon. Commerce in space. (read in the last couple years)


The Prydain Chronicles by Lloyd Alexander. Welsh mythology. My first touch of romance and fantasy in grade school.


Foundation books by Isaac Asimov. I didn't read these until college. I must re-read because maybe I'll understand them this time.


The Dragonlance Chronicles by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman. (wow, remembering these blew my mind)



Memory, Sorrow & Thorn series by Tad Williams



Mary Stewart's CRYSTAL CAVE trilogy about Merlin. Between that and the movie Excalibur, I fell in love with Arthur.


THE MIRROR OF HER DREAMS, two book fantasy story by Stephen R. Donaldson


The Belgariad by David Eddings. Not Kindle. They must fix that.


The Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan



Wow. Flashback city. I feel very sorry for kids who will only know Harry Potter and the junk that is out now.

Stand alones:

Tam Lin by Pamela Dean


THE SPARROW by Mary Doria Russell. Haunting.


And good recent series:

The Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer. Fairy tales in space.


The Cainsville books by Kelley Armstrong:


So many more.


So, yes, I read a lot of mysteries but my formative years were SFF. And I want to re-read ALL of these.

Have a great weekend!

Much love,
PK the Bookeemonster

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