My last trip to the library brought home _Hanging by a Thread_ by Monica Ferris. Her _Framed in Lace_ was mentioned on this list a while ago, but _Crewel World_ is a better introduction. Though it's shelved as mystery, I count this series as fantasy -- the needlework shop not only exists, it makes enough profit for the owner to live on!
Though rather slight, and interesting mostly for the needlework connection, the series is noteworthy for taking place in a small town where people are *not* dropping like flies! Both of the sequels[1] I read were about solving crimes that had lain dormant in unsolved files for ages; I rather expect the author to decide soon that she is skilled enough to write a story in which there is no murder at all. --------------------------- "Keeper of the Bees" by Jean Stratton-Porter is justly one of her lesser-known works, but, having discovered just before finding the book that some of her works were listed in the cardless catalog under "Gene Stratton-Porter", I thought it interesting that one of the characters was a child of undetermined sex named "Jean". Given the date of the story, I thought it impressive that the solution to the child's problem was *not* to explain to her that being an indolent sissy is fun, but to sign her up with the Girl Scouts. --------------------------- Catharine Asaro's "Moon Shadow" was rather difficult to check out of the library -- first I had to put it in! -- but worth the expense, I thought. Asaro's work lies in enough different genres to appeal to almost anybody. The Scolian Empire is technically space opera, but it is also hard SF and sci fi that I can think of offhand. Most of the stories are romances -- one male reviewer was so enjoying the war background of "Primary Inversion" that he was quite wroth when the two lovers tipped on out and got married before the war was over -- he wanted to know how the war came out! (C'mon, Charley, it was a WAR already -- both sides lost, and nothing was settled.) Some think the series begins with _Primary Inversions_ -- first-published, and the most sci-fi of the series -- and some think that _The Last Hawk_ is the place to start -- though published later, it begins earlier. But _Last Hawk_ ends after _Radiant Seas_, the sequel to _Primary Inversions_. Each story stands on its own -- and each is improved by having read all the other stories. For a straight re-telling of Cinderella, see _Catch the Lightning_. --------------------------- Went back to the library and got _The Harvester_. Counter clerk remarked that she hadn't checked out a Jean Stratton-Porter in years, which I think a great pity. _The Harvester_ -- I'm on page 59 -- is *definitely* not for people who like a fast-moving plot. Indeed, the dust-cover blurb (which was pasted inside the front cover) summarizes the entire story. Nice thing about the older books: They have a pocket in the back you can stash the due-date slip in. --------------------------- On the way to the library, I picked up _Camber of Culdi_ by Katherine Kurtz at Bishop's Books. The Deryni stories are often downers. They are the history of a fictional kingdom, and things work out about the way they do in real history. But not bad if you are feeling good, the weather is pleasant, and you have a hammock. --------------------------- "The Interior Life", a fantasy about a housewife who catches up on her housework, is always good. Dorothy Heydt wrote it, but for some reason the publisher gave it the generic pseudonym "Katherine Blake". And a really strange cover depicting Darklife as *cute*. Then they failed to promote it and remaindered most of the copies, so it's hard to find, but worth sending Interlibrary Loan after. If you look very closely, it's in three different fonts to say whether you are in Mundania[2], Fantasyland, or the House of Mist. Helps to hold the book at arms length, as Mundania and Fantasyland are very slightly different densities. -- Joy Beeson [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://home.earthlink.net/~joybeeson/ http://home.earthlink.net/~beeson_n3f/ west of Fort Wayne, Indiana, U.S.A. where summer means thunderstorms. [1] the first proprietor of Crewel World was murdered in the introduction. [2] Mundania: the ordinary (mundane) world, or a reasonable facsimile thereof. To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace-chat [EMAIL PROTECTED]
