I got a lot of reading done this week. First of all, I finished Stone of Tymora merely out of sheer, rugged determination; it had a marginally interesting plot but the main character was very much a Mary Sue (he's 12-14 years old over the course of the book yet holds his own in fights with practiced swordsmen and it's amazing how no matter where he goes there are people there - usually who he's never met before - willing to bend over backwards to aid him on his stupid quest). I also got tired of the constant name-dropping of him running into characters the author's father (it was written by R. A. Salvatore and his son Geno) had already established in previous novels. All in all, I'm glad it's over with. The ending hints at a sequel, fleshing out one of the other characters, but I'm not in the least bit interested.
As a palate cleanser, I read (devoured, really, over the course of a 24-hour period) a book written by an actual adult: Acts of Nature by Jonathon King, a 277-page paperback dealing with a PI and his policewoman girlfriend relaxing for a week "off the grid" at his cabin deep in the Florida Everglades. But then a hurricane veers off course and tears their place up and they have to deal with finding a way back to civilization while dealing with a life-threatening injury, a trio of airboat looters stealing whatever they can from the damaged buildings in the area after the hurricane's passed, and hit men out protecting an illegal operation in the area. It was a fast-paced read and thoroughly enjoyable. Apparently he's written previous books (or at least one) with the same two characters; I may try to hunt it/them down.
I'm now starting The Mermaids Singing by Val McDermid, a thriller dealing with a man who profiles serial killers who, quite naturally, finds himself being hunted by the guy he's trying to find, all while trying to stop him from continuing his killing spree. I'm only a few chapters in but it's already very good.
Johnathan
