Camp Fire Ghouls

*Warning* The author of this post is still coming off a Girl Scout Cookie binge and her brain is clouded with sugar. There will likely be no enlightening, entertaining or otherwise worthwhile material in this post. If you keep reading, you do so at your own risk.

That said, I figured since my last blog was in February, I ought to at least put up something. It's embarrassing. In self-defense, however, I have been extremely busy with working two, three and sometimes four jobs, running back & forth to the doctor's office, and trying to keep my juvenile delinquent out of jail. That's a full-time in itself. Most days, I'm too tired to breathe, much less write.

Anyway, in the interest of at least something book related, I read Karen Miller's EMPRESS last weekend. Jury's still out. The main character was not particularly likable through most of the book--in fact, I even began to despise her--yet I kept reading. I felt the author too often went with the cheap emotional shocks, yet I kept reading. I was annoyed by much of the language, yet I kept reading. Most likely, I will even read the sequels, because I still want to see what happens. How's that for a rousing review? Lol

Apart from the aforementioned drawbacks, I still found the overall story interesting, the pacing on target, and the secondary characters very well drawn.

From the back cover:
"In a family torn apart by poverty and violence, Hekat is no more than an unwanted mouth to feed, worth only a few coins from a passing trader. But Hekat is not born to be a slave. For her, a different path has been chosen. It is a path that will take her from stinking back alleys to the house of her god, from blood-drenched battlefields to the glittering palaces of Mijak."

I think I'll try Ms. Miller's MAGE books and see if I like them better. Have any of you read those? I'd be interested in your opinion. Also, your opinion of EMPRESS if you've read that too. Or heck, just make some recommendations - what's the last thing you read that you really enjoyed? I'm re-reading Christopher Moore's LAMB, because it's one of my favorites.