The last time I was at the dentist was a year ago, mainly thanks to all my recurrent lung problems. So I finally got an appointment for today, and it wasn't all pleasant. They had to update everything, so that meant new X-rays. I have a small mouth, and those films they use are pretty big, so there was much pain and gagging. To top it off, I have a chipped tooth, and in the chip I've got some decay, so I'm going back Monday to get that filled in. Amazingly, despite that and my constant grinding problems, I have excellently clean teeth. Go figure. :V
Of course, any sort of prolonged medical suffering is a good excuse for bookstore therapy, so I came out with a couple of good ones this time.
The Silver Skull (Swords of Albion #1) by Mark Chadbourne
A devilish plot to assassinate the Queen, a cold war enemy hell-bent on destroying the nation, incredible gadgets, a race against time to stop the ultimate doomsday device... and Elizabethan England's greatest spy!
Meet Will Swyfte - adventurer, swordsman, rake, swashbuckler, wit, scholar, and the greatest of Walsingham's band of spies. His exploits against the forces of Philip of Spain have made him a national hero, lauded from Carlisle to Kent. Yet his associates can barely disguise their incredulity - what is the point of a spy whose face and name is known across Europe?
But Swyfte's public image is a carefully crafted facade to give the people of England something to believe in, and to allow them to sleep peacefully at night. It deflects attention from his real work - and the true reason why Walsingham's spy network was established.
A cold war seethes, and England remains under a state of threat. The forces of Faerie have preyed on humanity for millennia. Responsible for our myths and legends, of gods and fairies, dragons, griffins, devils, imps, and every other supernatural menace that has haunted our dreams, this power in the darkness has seen humans as playthings to be tormented, hunted, or eradicated.
But now England is fighting back!
Magical defenses have been put in place by the queen's sorcerer, Dr. John Dee, who is also a senior member of Walsingham's secret service and provides many of the bizarre gadgets utilized by the spies. Finally, there is a balance of power. But the cold war is threatening to turn hot at any moment...
Will now plays a constant game of deceit and death, holding back the Enemy's repeated incursions, dealing in a shadowy world of plots and counterplots, deceptions, secrets, murder - where no one... and no thing... is quite what it seems.
Miserere - An Autumn Tale by Teresa Frohock
Exiled exorcist Lucian Negru deserted his lover in Hell in exchange for saving his sister Catarina's soul, but Catarina doesn't want salvation. She wants Lucian to help her fulfill her dark covenant with the Fallen Angels by using his power to open the Hell Gates. Catarina intends to lead the Fallen's hordes out of Hell and into the parallel dimension of Woerld, Heaven's front-line of defense between Earth and Hell.
When Lucian refuses to help his sister, she imprisons and cripples him, but Lucian learns that Rachael, the lover he betrayed and abandoned in Hell, is dying from a demonic possession. Determined to rescue Rachael from the demon he unleashed on her soul, Lucian flees his sister, but Catarina's wrath isn't so easy to escape.
In the end, she will force him once more to choose between losing Rachael or opening the Hell Gates so the Fallen's hordes may overrun Earth, their last obstacle before reaching Heaven's Gates.
So yeah, some pretty interesting stuff. I'll probably take time out between every couple of Wheel of Time books to read these and other things, to keep things fresh and not grind my 75 books challenge to a snail's pace.
And finally, Pond's latest trick is climbing the screen on grandma's porch and back patio. Behold the cat-fly:
