More miniviews of books...
Jun. 4th, 2009 03:21 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
deborahjrossCharles Stross, THE JENNIFER MORGUE. In our house, all you have to say is, "I'm reading a Charlie Stross," as shorthand for "a wildly inventive, absorbing, thoughtful read." This follows THE ATROCITY ARCHIVES aka Cold War spy agencies with delusions of bureaucratic paperwork in Cthulu-Land. Now our computer-geek hero (and his violin-waving philosopher lady) are trapped in an unfolding James Bond scenario.
Charles DeLint, THE MYSTERY OF GRACE. Not a "big" novel, but a sweet, lyrical fantasy. Heroine is a tattoed Latina car mechanic named Grace. She says:
"Every time we make something out of nothing, that's an act of magic. It doesn't matter if it's a painting or a garden, or an abuelo telling his grandchildren some tall tale. Every time we fix something that's broken, whether it's a car engine or a broken heart, that's an act of magic.
"And what makes it magic is that we choose to create or help, just as we can choose to harm. But it's so easy to destroy and so much harder to make things better. That's why doing the right think makes you stronger.
"If we can only remember what we are and what we can do, nothing can bind us or control us."
Charles DeLint, THE MYSTERY OF GRACE. Not a "big" novel, but a sweet, lyrical fantasy. Heroine is a tattoed Latina car mechanic named Grace. She says:
"Every time we make something out of nothing, that's an act of magic. It doesn't matter if it's a painting or a garden, or an abuelo telling his grandchildren some tall tale. Every time we fix something that's broken, whether it's a car engine or a broken heart, that's an act of magic.
"And what makes it magic is that we choose to create or help, just as we can choose to harm. But it's so easy to destroy and so much harder to make things better. That's why doing the right think makes you stronger.
"If we can only remember what we are and what we can do, nothing can bind us or control us."
