Christopher Moore & P.C. Cast

[jmc_bks]

I inhaled Moore's Fluke, or I Know Why the Winged Whale Sings yesterday. Loved it. LOVED it! The tone, voice and style just sucked me in. The story, magic and biology blended, was brilliant. And the religious references/parallels, which usually irritate the hell out of me, totally worked. Going to pull Bloodsucking Fiends out of the TBR mountain and go by Borders to pick up a copy of A Dirty Job (it's 30% off this weekend!). It's all Bookseller Chick's fault, I say. Had to pick up a Moore book and read it after she raved. And now I'm hooked. And I knew I was going to stay hooked when I read the following sentences:

Doing what he wanted to do and his boundless affinity for everything made Clay Demodocus a happy guy, but he was also shrewd enough not to be too open about his happiness. Animals might put up with that smiley shit, but people will eventually kill you for it.

Also finished P.C. Cast's Brighid's Quest yesterday, after lugging the book around with me for a week -- a tbp at 500+ pages, that thing took up a bunch of space in my knapsack. Check out SmartBitch Sarah's review here, which is excellent. The comments posted by Cast help, too, because she talks about how much of the story was edited out and what her intent was with the book, in terms of fantasy/romance balance. My grade is slightly lower than SB Sarah's for a couple of reasons. First, the suddenness of Cuchulainn's feelings -- grieving for his dead wife for two months and then falling in love over night? I could see Brighid's feelings develop, but his appeared in a finger snap. And he angsted about falling in love and how he would always love his first wife, but then made the decision to leave her behind in seconds, when given an ultimatum. Second, the ending sucked for me. It left all kinds of questions unanswered. Yes, I'm sure there will be another book to come (the epilogue screams this), but it would have been nice to have some pieces of the story wrapped up before ending the book. The prequel to this book, Elphame's Choice, did the same thing. BQ worked as a series fantasy novel and would get a B+ from me, but the romance/relationship part didn't work so well and was closer to a C+. Combined grade: B.

Comments

[(Anonymous)]

Oh, I just finished A Dirty Job yesterday. My first Moore, but definitely not my last. And yeah, I agree. It's all BSC's fault. It's the only reason I picked it up (or rather put it on hold at the library).

Nicole
http://bloghappy.blogspot.com

[(Anonymous)]

Oh I LOVED Fluke. LOVE LOVE LOVED it. It took me a couple of chapters to get into it but then I couldn't stop reading it. Whalie boys!!! IMO Bloodsucking Fiends is nowhere near as good. It's not bad, the ending just annoyed me. I think my favorite Moore is Lamb, followed by Fluke. I read The Lust Lizard of Pine Cove (is that the name? That doesn't sound entirely correct) and it was very weird. I've got Island of the Sequined Love Nun TBR and I'm getting A Dirty Job from a Bookcrossing bookring.

~Jay

[jmc-bks.livejournal.com]

If I was a prudent, fiscally responsible person, I would have waited for a copy of A Dirty Job to become available at the library. But I have a hard time with the concept of delayed gratification. Plus it was 30% and I had a coupon for another 25% off. As soon as this work project is finished sucking up my evenings, I'll start it.

[jperceval.livejournal.com]

I love Christopher Moore's stuff -- you'll enjoy Bloodsucking Fiends and be sure to check out Practical Demonkeeping and its somewhat sequel (set in the same town), The Lust Lizard of Melancholy Cove.

I'm afraid to try another Cast, b/c Goddess of the Sea was a big wallbanger for me. Should I risk it?

P.C. Cast

[jmc-bks.livejournal.com]

Cast is a little hit or miss for me, so far. I read Goddess of the Sea, which I did not care for either. But I have enjoyed the Luna-released books (with a couple of gripes) and Goddess by Mistake, which was her first book, released as a tpb by an independent press, I think. Mistake was a little rough and could have used some editing and revision, I thought, which makes sense if it was her first book. According to Cast's website, it's going to be updated and released by Luna as Divine by Mistake. Elphame's Choice and Brighid's Quest are set in the same world (Elphame and Cuchulainn are the children of the heroine & hero of GBM).

I'm not sure I'd be willing to buy Cast's books at full TPB price, but I was okay with buying GBM & EC at a UBS. I might buy future Luna books in the same series if/when they are released as MMPs.

I still have my copy of Goddess by Mistake if you'd like to check it out. And I may still have EC, too. Post here or at my yahoo account (same name) and I'll mail them, if you'd like.

Re: P.C. Cast

[(Anonymous)]

According to Amazon, Divine by Mistake is going to be mm, not trade.

Nicole

Re: P.C. Cast

[jmc-bks.livejournal.com]

Hmmm, I'd be willing to shell out for an MM, just to see the updates. Thanks for the info!