Friday, January 24, 2003

Q is for Quarry, by Sue Grafton

The latest installment in the Kinsey Milhone Alphabet Series, this is a welcome return to (at least for me) an interesting story; MUCH better than the lamentable "P" (is for ponderous). Kinsey, along with two "Grumpy Old Cops" is trying to close off an old Jane Doe case. Oddly, I'd class these books as "cozies"; not in the sense of the Agatha Christie-ish British village mysteries, but "cozy" in that there ARE pleasant diversions in Kinsey's mostly drab and flat life: Henry and his family, the Santa Teresa setting (pleasant to experience when Minnesota is registering >10 below, Fahrenheit!). The terrain is classic Milhone, rednecky territories of California, peopled by various lowlifes. And there is SOME progress in the (too-long) family Saga of Kinsey and her estranged family. Maybe the next book will be "R is for Reunion" (or Revenge?).

Monday, January 20, 2003

The Brave and the Bold, Volume Two, by Keith R. A. DeCandido

Good conclusion to story, spanning all the era's (so far) of Star Trek. Like other Trek Authors, DeCandido enjoys building a continuity with his other stories. Worked well for Diane Duane, and it works well for him. Interesting to see that, like Peter David before him, DeCandido is being granted a NEW book-based Trek series... this one a KLINGON series, based on his IKS Gorkon characters. Sounds promising. MrKlingon smiles.