The Literate Kitty

Are heroes formed through years of experience... or is it more likely that they’re simply born to it? No doubt there’s a heap of anecdotal evidence supporting each side of such a “nurture vs. nature” question, but in her “Spiritwalker” trilogy--an alternate-reality fantasy series set during the Industrial Revolution, featuring two very young women (girls, still, really) who set their minds on changing the world--author Kate Elliott goes the heroism-as-a-birthright route.  The entertaining Cold Magic first introduced us to the cast of characters (notably, feisty Cat Barahal and her irrepressible cousin Bee, along with Cat’s delightful half-brother, the cat/human Rory, and her newly-acquired-though-wholly-unwanted husband, the cold mage Andevai), as well as doing considerable world-building and setting the stage for all of their problems. [You can see my earlier review of it, here , by the way]. Cold Fire [which I somehow never got around to finishing a review for!] fo...

Good grief... I thought August would never end. It’s always been my least-favorite month (the hottest part of summer), for starters. It also turned out to be frustratingly busy (boring work stuff). The worst part, though? Being majorly let down on the book front. [sigh] My boycat has the right idea about August, I think... Sure, August found me reading one book ( The Cuckoo’s Calling, reviewed here ) that was fantastic , but the other two I managed to finagle enough time (and focus) for... well, weren’t . One of them--which initially had promise--turned out to be so mind-numbingly dull (and sloooow) that I gave up after the first 300 or so pages; there was just no way I could make myself finish it. The other I forced myself to slog through to the very end... but only because it was the final story in a trilogy (that I'd previously really enjoyed). Blergh. At least my hopes are high for September. Autumn--my favorite season!--should start gusting in with bluster...