The Wooden Sea

The Wooden Sea by Jonathan Carroll was an interesting story. I really liked the idea behind it. The main character is chief of police in a small town in New York. One day a three legged dog is found in a grocery store parking lot. No one knows what to do with the dog so they bring it to the police station. Frannie, the police chief brings the dog into his office. Goes and buys him food, dishes, and a blanket and let's the dog hang out with him while he tries to figure out what to do. But as he is talking about the dog with his family the dog dies.

And Frannie's life will never be the same.

I liked this story up until the end. It wasn't a bad end. It was just not a really satisfying end. The author gets you thinking about all sorts of things, time, love, aging, the universe, god, you name it, he gives you something to think long and hard about. But the end just sort of ends. Maybe he intended it to be that way. After all, we don't have answers to the great questions so why would he provide one? So maybe, as I think about it, it wasn't so bad after all.

In the Company of the Courtesan

In the Company of the Courtesan by Sarah Dunant is a wonderful tale about 16th Century Venice. After Rome is sacked by Spanish and German invaders a dwarf and his partner a beautiful Venetian Courtesan return to her home in Venice to start anew.

This is a beautiful story. I fell in love with the author's previous book The Birth of Venus so I was anxious to read her next novel. And this one did not disappoint.

Deathstalker Rebellion

Deathstalker Rebellion by Simon R. Green is book 2 in his massive Deathstalker series. I absolutely and completely LOVE anything written by this man. And the Deathstalker series has been no exception. They are fun and interesting reads. Comical yet bloody good adventures. And even if not all that much happens in 400 pages, it is still a most excellent 400 pages. I plowed through this book with gusto. I couldn't read enough. Simon Green continues to leave me in awe with everything I read from him. I just simply love his style, his characters, and his incredibly creative mind. Picking up a Simon Green book is always a gift to myself. The man is a literary god.

Myth Hunters

Myth Hunters by Christopner Golden is a marvelous read. The main character Oliver Bascombe is sitting quietly in his mother's parlor when a very wounded Jack Frost enters his life. And Jack is being hunted. So Oliver helps Jack escape only to find himself in The Veil. The Veil was created as a place for those of magic and mystery to go because mankind had lost its sense of wonder and belief. Man had become fixated on schedules and work. There was no place in the world for things of wonder and beauty.

But in helping Jack, Oliver becomes one of the hunted. And now they both must flee for their lives.

I can't begin to tell you how much I loved this story. The second book, Borderkind comes out at the end of the month. I can't wait.