Making History

In my previous post, I mentioned the books I bought on a recent shopping trip. I started the first one from that grab bag of goodies today, and I am going to have to say something unprecedented, not only about the book, but just in general. My sister was right.

Queen of Babble in the Big City, by Meg Cabot, is already annoying me, and I've only gotten through the first chapter. She talks. A lot. In fact, she blabs on about worth-less things that I'd really rather not have to read about. And she does it in a manner that makes her sound like she is still in the sixth grade. I've noticed a trend among Meg Cabot's characters, and that is that they are all the same. They have the same cadence when they speak; the same sense of humor; the same attitude. It's like she's using the same character in every book and is just applying different names.

Usually, I'm inclined to give a book a chance, but I think I'll lay this one aside and pick another. The Queen of Babble will just have to wait for a day when I have nothing better to read.

New Book Not So Great

I've been reading a book that I had high hopes for, a science fiction collector's edition novel containing the first three novels in the Annja Creed/Rogue Angel series by Alex Archer. This novel is pretty thick, and mixes archeology, history, and mystery together in a creation that I'd hoped would make for good reading. In fact, it's this very creation - really the mixing of history and mystery, not to mention supernatural- that keeps me reading.
The author has managed to write moments of interest interspersed in the story, but it lacks a *sparkle* that I was really hoping to find. I suppose I've read too many really great fantasy novels (it only takes one) and too much Orson Scott Card, and such readings have made me look for equal greatness in all the novels I read. But Rogue Angel is sort of cut and dry; smash and grab; straight-forward. It just doesn't float my boat, you know? And I really hate it when a novel fails my expectations, especially one with so much potential. Its only saving grace is that it may be based on a comic book: I wouldn't mind taking a trip into the comic book/ graphic novel scene.