First Comes Marriage

I read another Mary Balogh romance Sunday. The protagonists of First Comes Marriage were awfully similar to the ones in Slightly Dangerous. Like the male protagonist that never laughs or smiles. Seriously, this is a point of observation on multiple occasions in both books: the female protagonist who's been hanging around this guy for weeks will note that he NEVER laughs or smiles. It is a Big Deal when, three-fourths through the book, the guy finally cracks a smile. I assume that some people who are not me find this romantic.

I am pretty sure that not all of Balogh's characters are so similar, if only because when the protagonists from other novels show up as supporting cast, they come across as reasonably distinct. First Comes Marriage wasn't bad overall: the characters spend a chunk of the book being nice to one another, even if they do start off hating each other. There are a number of sweet moments. Probably the most interesting character to me was in the supporting cast and a quasi-villain: Constantine Huxtable. I got the impression there was more to him than was revealed in the book, and wonder if he has secrets that come out in the sequels. He's not apparently a protagonist later, so perhaps not.

I'll give it a 6-of-10 on the fun-o-meter, and think I will look for non-Regency for my next fluffy romance. Something about the way Austen writes keeps me from focusing on what a crapsack universe she lived in, but it really is pretty awful compared to modern times. Especially if you consider servants as human beings instead of set dressing.

No new books came to the library Sunday either. My stash of unread library books is down to 2.5! (I'm halfway through The Demon's Lexicon now.) I added some more to the reserve list, so hopefully some will show up today.

The Devil's Lexicon by Sarah Rees Brennan

My primary thought after I finished reading The Devil's Lexicon was "Wow, that was awesome". Coupled with "And she managed to write more books about these characters? HOW?" This is a three-book trilogy (so far; the third came out in 2011, so I don't know if more are planned in the series or if that's actually the conclusion. The first book wrapped up in a satisfying manner and I didn't think it needed a sequel, though I'm certainly very interested to see what comes next.) I put the next two books on reserve immediately.

I read this book because the_gneech pointed me at Unspoken, by the same author, which isn't available from the library yet. I was sufficiently amused by Brennan's style in her guest blog post on Scalzi's site that I figured I would just get something else by her. GOOD CHOICE.

The Devil's Lexicon is young-adult supernatural urban fantasy, about sixteen year-old Nick and his older brother Alan, who have spent their whole lives being hunted by demons and the magicians that summon them. Alan and Nick have become pretty good demon-slayers as a result of much practice. Two other teenagers, Mae and Jamie, show up on their doorstep seeking occult help. Alan has a pre-existing crush on and Mae and agrees to help; Nick doesn't want to. This makes Nick seem pretty cold-hearted, although if one takes into account the whole "we never spend more than a couple of months in one place because demons attack us and then we have to run away again", it's also rather pragmatic. These guys are not in a great position to take care of themselves, never mind help someone else.

This is all a pretty typical supernatural urban fantasy set-up. What makes it great is primarily the PoV character, Nick, and his relationship with his brother and lack-of-relationship with practically anyone else. Nick reminded me of John Wayne Cleaver, the protagonist of I Am Not a Serial Killer, in that Nick has a sociopath-like lack of normal emotional responses and empathy, and a general sense of isolation from humanity. But where Cleaver has a genuine impulse to heroism, Nick does not. He is not the guy with the tough exterior concealing a heart of gold: he's pretty much the jerk that he looks like. You get to feeling sorry for Nick, because he has had a craptastic life, but that never excuses Nick because Alan has had the same craptastic life and is nonetheless a sweetheart. Anyway, there's quite a bit of neat interpersonal stuff leading up to and at the ending, which I thought was wonderfully executed. Part of the finale struck me as a bit too contrived, but overall I loved the story. 9 out of 10.

( Cut for giant spoiler )

And I am down to just TWO BOOKS. D: The library did get another one in for me today, but for some reason my phone did not pick up the email notification. Huh. Anyway, it was raining after work today so tomorrow will be better for biking over to get it and any others that show up. And return the three I've read.