I’m reading, watching TV and movies, and helping the roomie pack. May go insane if I don’t write soon, but suddenly there’s no time for that. Seems if I don’t spend a week snarling at everyone who interrupts, the word gets out that I’m not writing, and everyone descends to make sure I don’t start again.
Okay, it might not be as bad as that. But still. The simple truth is every time I’ve sat down to write anything in the last week, something has come up. Usually something that will take hours to smash back down again.
Grrr.
I read a book. I ranted about it elsewhere. Here it is. Don’t peek if you plan to read Burning Water by Mercedes Lackey.
First up–our heroine, Diana Tregarde, is a Mary Sue. She’s five foot nothing, very pretty, moves like a dancer, has a black belt, and is a strong witch devoted to helping people. But she doesn’t get paid for that; she writes romances to pay the bills. All the good guys like her from the start. Not only that, but they tell her, and every other good guy, how much they like her. Still, she’s kind of cool. I liked her despite the Sue-ness. A less discerning reader (ie, not a writer) might not even notice it. Pretty annoying, though, that she never figures out that anyone she doesn’t like or who avoids her MUST be a bad guy.
Second–the bad guys are trying to bring back an Aztec god, and the visible end of that is a bunch of dead bodies keep showing up with their hearts cut out. Now, maybe it’s just me, but anything like that anywhere near Mexico (the story is set in Dallas) SCREAMS Aztec, I think. But she doesn’t figure it out till darn near the end, though she talks to Talented people from every OTHER sect or cult she can get her hands on. Lackey covers this somewhat by having Diana stumble (perhaps her only stumble) into a trap that messes with her memory. But I didn’t buy the “I’m a powerful, experienced witch but there’s a spell on me” thing. Moreso because her partner WAS Mexican, and darn well should have known at least two things about the Aztec–and those two would naturally be pyramids and blood-sacrifice.
Third–the climax SUCKED. We’re all set for a bash-it-out fight, Diana the witch and Mark the cop against Aztec god and his priestesses–and in steps Quetzalcoatl (completely set up in the story, it made sense) to make a bargain with Evil God. Basically, you get the five you’ve got, now go away. And he GOES. Wrap it up and we all go home.
Bah.
The good: By Lork, Mercedes Lackey can tell an absorbing tale. She writes excellent characters. They all made sense (even the one ranted about above), the supposed-to-be-likeable ones were, it all hung together. The complaints above didn’t keep me from reading eagerly to the end.
But. It could have been so much better.