10. The Case of the Threatened King by Robert Newman (Children’s Lit, Mystery)
As a break from some of the heavier books I’m reading at the moment, I decided to revisit some old favourites. I read Robert Newman’s Sherlock Holmes-related stories when I was fairly young, but I still remember them fondly. IIRC, Sherlock Holmes doesn’t actually appear except in the first book in the series, The Case of the Baker Street Irregular. The series actually follows the adventures of a boy named Andrew and his friend, Sara Wiggins.
Sara is kidnapped on her way home from dance class, and there are various other sinister goings-on and nefarious plots.
11. The Case of the Frightened Friend by Robert Newman (Children’s Lit, Mystery)
After a school friend of Andrew’s makes a worrying request, Andrew discovers that all is not right in his friend’s family.
Short, pleasant children’s books, perfect for ages 8-12, who like mysteries or Sherlock Holmes.
12. The Fairy Godmother by Mercedes Lackey (Fantasy, Romance)
After the first flush of excitement at reading her Last Herald Mage trilogy, I haven’t been very impressed with Lackey’s writing skills. I thought this was better written than LHM, but the plot didn’t do much for me. It ended up being pretty much just a romance novel. Reworking of fairy takes is getting to be pretty clichéd, and I didn’t think this added much that was new.
[spoilers]
And I found the heterosexism of The Tradition to be very strange, coming from Lackey - I mean, I can see why an author would make it that way, but it seems like with a bit of ingenuity she could have got around that. Either that, or made it clear that The Tradition even pushes gay people into hetero pairings, thus exposing another aspect of its oppression. Instead, she just used it a very clumsy plot device to explain why Elena is able to rescue the princess without the latter falling in love with her.
[/spoilers]
Books read: 12/50
Pages read: 3,092/15,000
X-posted here.
Tags: 50 Book Challenge 2007, Mercedes Lackey, Robert Newman
