Happy September! I did not read a lot this last month, but it was a great month for music, music, music. My wife and I saw Bon Iver to kick things, then caught Brandi Carlile and Kamelot to end it. Each show was truly great, but I have a special place in my heart for Kamelot, a band I’ve wanted to see for nearly 15 years. They were fun in a way only power metal can be fun, all bluster and drama in the service of lyrics that make very little sense. It’s theater with guitars and the odd scream. Who wouldn’t want to spend their time at a show like that?

Regardless! Please feel free to check out the links in the sidebar or follow me on The StoryGraph. I’m always glad to hear from you.

The Book of the Month:

Penric’s Demon, by Lois McMaster Bujold

Short, sweet, and entirely delightful. I’ve enjoyed some of Lois McMaster Bujold’s longer work, but Penric’s Demon is my favorite of hers so far. Kind teen Penric stops to help an ailing sorceress on the road, is possessed by the demon she carries (upon whom he very sweetly bestows the name Desdemona), and becomes a sorcerer. Hijinks ensue. I listened to the audiobook, which is brisk fun at only 4 hours long. This is exactly my idea of a summer read, delightful and charming at every turn. I’m hoping for more of the same from the rest of the series.

The Rest:

Incense and Sensibility, by Sonali Dev

The third of Sonali Dev’s Jane Austen adaptations, Incense and Sensibility is kind of a downer! There’s an assassination attempt on a political candidate that turns very West Wing, a reckoning with medical debt, and a lot of grappling with different kinds of trauma. There are also some lovely relationships (both romantic and familial) and many descriptions of wonderful food. Also a pug named Chutney. I love Chutney. Anyway, I mentioned this when I wrote about the previous two books in the series (Pride, Prejudice, and Other Flavors and Recipe for Persuasion), but Dev has a way of making what I expect to be light romances feel very heavy. That’s okay! They’ve all been great books. I just need to remember that her light material can very quickly turn dark.

The Hallowed Hunt, by Lois McMaster Bujold

Set in the same world as Penric’s Demon, The Hallowed Hunt is a much more serious fantasy, with the very real threat of death by burning looming over the main characters. McMaster Bujold’s writing is still lively (the sequences with the faux Vikings and the polar bear are real highlights) but protagonist Ingrey is humorless and frustrating to spend a great deal of time with. I wonder if perhaps the book would have been more interesting if narrated by Lady Ijada, Ingrey’s love interest? Regardless, McMaster Bujold’s vivid descriptions of animal spirits and warriors long dead made the book worth reading. I would rather return to Penric, though.

Eyes of the Void, by Adrian Tchaikovsky

Yes, I read the second of Tchaikovsky’s The Final Architecture books. I remember liking the first one? I did not care for Eyes of the Void. I’m willing to put up with a lot for a good space opera, but this book did not do it for me. The pacing was odd, characters were thrown together, and I struggled with why it had to be so incredibly long. I’ve checked out the final book, but I don’t think I’ll get to it. The universe is really cool — I just don’t think this series is for me.