fenchurch | Reading actual books

You know, I should probably sit down and do an entry about all the books I've read this year. Sadly, it wouldn't be a very lengthy post... because as of this evening, I've finished reading exactly eight books (although the good news is that's already more than I was able to finish in 2007). I'm slowly regaining the habit of reading... something I lost after the car accident, when it became almost impossible for me to hold books to read them, at least for any decent length of time.

Tonight, I finally finished Ill Wind by Rachel Caine, which is part of her Weather Warden series. I've mostly been reading it while riding the Lifecycle at the YMCA and it's been a good way to pass the time there... and, um, it wasn't exactly BAD, but I don't know if I would go so far as to classify it as GOOD. To be honest, it read like a first fanfic that wasn't based on another source, but with decent grammar and no spelling errors, if that makes any sense (and yeah, I know, I should just say it's badly written original fiction, but it does really have that badfic/fanfic feel to it). The main character was practically a Mary Sue -- everyone loved her, she attracted the hot guys, she had an amazing ability and, in the end, she became an amazing magical creature because of her self sacrifice.

Other than that, the storytelling was fairly straightforward, but enjoyable and I liked the premise, even if it seemed like it was both overly complicated and overly simplistic. A weird combo that I think had more to do with the author's writing style than with the universe she's created.

I'm not sure how interested I am in reading any more of the series... although there is one part of me that is really curious about where she could possibly take the character from here. I think I would have been much more likely to want to read the other books if she had left Joanna as a regular old human Weather Warden... because by removing the humanity portion of her character so quickly, it seems like she's been separated from the reader a bit too much. And it seems like the sort of thing that could have waited for a few books to better establish the character and the world... I think it might have had more impact.

So, anyway, I guess what it comes down to is that I enjoyed the book, but ultimately didn't find it satisfying. Everything felt too rushed and a little bit too orderly (in the way of stories written by people who are still figuring out what they're doing).