reading Update

The Amber Spyglass by Philip Pullman

What a mess. There's some satisfaction in the resolution of the trilogy, especially in the emotion with which it is infused. But I long ago gave up on caring about all the millions of characters Pullman introduced in the second and third book. There were simply too many povs, and I kept losing track of the story because we'd have to switch away from one track for so long to follow the others.

The lesson here? When writing series, you have to have an energy/matter conservation thing with regard to characters. You can introduce new characters, but only if you somehow disable the old ones, either by killing them off, or by sending them off to do something else, away from all the action, until the grand finale when they get to share the spoils with everyone else.

Flora Segunda by Ysabeau Wilce

Lovely and Delightful, just like everyone says. A major lesson in worldbuilding here. The world is very different, but unlike most Delightful and Quirky secondary worlds, the differences are more than just superficial, more than merely metaphorical. They run underground and come out in funky places. The world is alive, and feels like a distinctly different place. Plus, it's great to live in Califa and read about its alternate reality. I'll never look at the Cliff House the same way again.