New Portions of Old Series.

Victory of Eagles, by Naomi Novik. I was trying to explain this series to a friend the other day, and it sounds very silly, I readily admit. The elements don't sound like they would work together to make a serious story; I think it's the author's writing style that makes it real. Being an avid reader but not having completed an in-depth study of older writing styles, I'm still prepared to go out on a limb and say this feels fairy authentic-- plausible, if not possible, and realistic, though not real. 

I do mean to go back and buy the set, if that is any indication of my esteem for this author, but I am waiting until she is done writing. It's obvious there will be more books, but no word on the author's website when that might be or what the title is. This is why I like to wait to start a series until after it's finished.

I do think that the author could have wrapped the story up at the end of this book and it would have had a nice finished feel. I'm worried that she's continuing to write more for the money than for anything else, and that the quality is going to start to suffer. This last one did seem a bit better; I commented last time that the middle books seemed to definitely slip. It was only November that I read them, so I didn't reread the entire set again this time, and I may be remembering them in a better light than they deserve.

Startled by His Furry Shorts, by Louise Rennison. This is picking up a bit, after having some books in the middle there that weren't really very good at all. Many of the "words" are still silly and pointless, but the main character may actually be experiencing some growth, or something close to it. I've decided not to give up after all.