Another book finished
February 12, 2003 (2:41 PM) ( link )

In less than 24 hours, I've finished reading Tracy Chevalier's excellent Girl with a Pearl Earring. It's hard to explain why it's good; as I'll probably say in my review, it's a simple tale, but exceedingly well told.

Next on my list is Richard Powers's The Gold Bug Variations, which, unlike Chevalier's novel, is a big, beefy book, and supposedly dazzling for its brilliance. Well, we'll see about that. I have the good fortune of starting it without any idea what it's about. I don't even know what genre it is, though I get the feeling it's not quite an ordinary book.

As for my usual fare of speculative fiction, I have, easily accessible, the first two volumes of Robin Hobb's latest trilogy, the Tawny Man. But I cannot, cannot start those two now; I need to wait for her to finish the final book in the trilogy. Fortunately, unlike George R. R. Martin and Robert Jordan, Hobb seems pretty good about writing on schedule, so her last book should be coming out by next year at the latest. (The second book came out just a month ago.)