What I'm Reading Wednesday (only one day late)

[thisbluespirit]

What I've Just Finished Reading

I finished Post-Captain by Patrick O'Brian, so I'm now committed to the series! I'm continuing to enjoy them, and this one was probably less technical than the first, or I'm getting to be less of a landlubber. Highlights being the bear escape mentioned last time and when Stephen decided a hive of bees are a perfectly reasonable thing to keep on board a ship. (It's very satisfying to have made a small dent in my TBR pile as well, because I was rather beginning to think I would never read anything new again that wasn't a regency romance.)

Before I finished that, however, I found another Regency romance in a charity shop (well, actually I found two, but the other was the usual, complete with someone called Carolyn) - from 1972!

I complain all the time about the modern ones not being like Heyer, now let me be nothing if not inconsistent and complain about Clare Darcy's Cecily for being too much like Heyer! The blatant copying left me open-mouthed. Her plot is her own, but all the Heyer ingredients and descriptions are present and correct... and, alas, have nothing of the engaging liveliness of Heyer. I'm not surprised Heyer used to get angry about this sort of thing. Clare Darcy was only lucky that Ms Heyer was probably dead by the time this book crossed the ocean.

It was an interesting read, though, and would have been better had the hero and the heroine actually had more time together on the page. Probably. Actually, it would have been better if it had just focused on the heroine's aunt and the hero's mother and their disapproving alliance, because that bit was her own, and a little more enjoyable than the rest. Everyone else should just go home for being pale copies of Heyer characters. Charity Girl was published the same year, and even though that is not my favourite Heyer, it still has a lot more going for it than a copy of the real thing.


What I'm reading now

I am just a few pages into HMS Surprise. There has not been a bear so far, sadly.

I'm still reading and taking notes from Jenny Uglow's In These Times, which continues to be an excellent social history of Britain in the Napoleonic War era. (There are no people called Carolyn in it. So far.)


What I'm Reading Next

I still haven't read that Daisy Dalrymple mystery, because I found two Regency romances for my light-reading needs instead, so that needs to get read so it can go back to the library.

I don't know what else will be next, or if I'll even get to Daisy, but I did find the first of Frances Brody's series of Kate Shackleton mysteries in a charity shop, hurrah, so that'll probably get read sometime soon, because I do need to get to the one I found first with the tantalising title of Death of an Avid Reader.

Comments

[persiflage_1]

I spotted some Heyer in one of my local charity shops and was going to snag them for you - then didn't know if you had them...

[thisbluespirit]

Aw, thanks! I have all the main ones now. I think the only one of those I gave away I'd still like to replace is The Masqueraders. So, unless it was that, I either have it or don't really want it!

But, awww, I appreciate the thought! *hugs you*

[persiflage_1]

Then I'll have a look next time I'm passing (when they're open, natch!) and see if it was.

*hugs back*

[liadt]

What was the avid reader a reader of? That's the mystery I want solved!

Regency romances: you can't win, best stick to a life on the ocean wave.

[thisbluespirit]

I grumble, but the Regency romances have helped me read stuff! Were it not for all the Carolyns, I would not have made it to the ocean waves! I just wish I didn't need to turn my brain off quite so hard for so many (but not all) of them, or that I didn't get rapidly bored of the sex if it happens too often.

It's like taking a medicine that's really effective but has this one awkward side-effect, except not as bad, so a win, basically. :-)

I will let you know about the avid reader when I get to avidly read it. ;-p

[liadt]

Aw! I'm glad it helped you read and didn't do the opposite, thought it sounds they are trying their best! It feels like an accomplishment to finish a book:)

[dimity_blue]

How blatant was the copying? I looked at the reviews on Amazon and the reviewers didn't seem to think highly of Cecily (the character) at all!

[thisbluespirit]

Well, not at all in terms of the plot, but the style, the character types, the descriptions of the hero in particular, were all quite clearly lifted from Heyer! I mean, to be fair, she is hard to ignore, given that she invented the genre - but even if you fall into a similar style, you don't have to quite so blatantly mimic the character set.

Poor Cecily! She wasn't much of a character, it's true, but she wasn't any less unremarkable than most of the other characters, save the fierce aunt.

Anyway, it fell down as a Regency romance, as the hero and heroine fell in love sort of in the sidelines by not talking to each other at all and yet somehow still being in love by the end. It was a mystery.

[shannonsequitur]

Well, I guess you're just going to have to write your own Regency romance.

(I'd read it!)

[thisbluespirit]

It would be just as terrible as everybody's else's I can guarantee that! But it would be free of any Carolyns. :-D

[john_amend_all]

I wonder how many Darcies there are writing Regency romance? I found one by Emma Darcy the last time I was collecting summaries for the generator. And whether any of them adopted the surname on purpose.

[thisbluespirit]

I have been ighly suspicious of Emma Darcy for years. I mean, given how many of them are pseudonyms for obvious reasons, yes.

I don't know if there are any others, though!

[jaxomsride2]

She is not the only one to imitate Heyer, even Cartland did it (Yes I have read some Cartlands, they are so unintentionally funny with her choice of phrasing. They are also obviously the origin of Mary Sues.)

I've read Cecily, though so long ago I can't remember what it is about, but do remember it as a pale imitation of a Heyer.

Stephanie Laurens is not a bad romance writer, if youcan find her earlier novels.Her later ones though show clearly she cannot write erotica at all.

[thisbluespirit]

Yes, Heyer is a bit hard to ignore & I know that she used to get annoyed about people copying her, and especially Barbara Cartland. It was one thing to know that and another to read one that was quite such a blatant copy - or, as you say, pale imitation, which is it exactly.

I quite like some of Stephanie Laurens's, especially, as you say, some of the earlier ones, but she is rather a mixed bag really. I seem to get on with MC Beaton and Eloisa James the most so far, and some of the better Mills & Boon authors, but there are quite a few who at least fulfil the enjoyable mindless fluff qualifier, including SL.

[vilakins]

I have the whole Master & Commander series, picked up at a jumble sale. Excellent and often very funny series; have you encountered the sloth yet?

[thisbluespirit]

I don't think I have! Or I have, but I've forgotten, it's quite scary how much I do that. But I'm only at the very start of Bk 3 so far.

[vilakins]

You'd remember it. "Jack! You have debauched my sloth!"

[swordznsorcery]

I must give the O'Brians another try. I wasn't able to get into them before, but then that was back when I was finding it hard to concentrate on reading. So many people whose opinions I trust seem to enjoy them. It does seem a shame that the bear appearances (real or costume!) are rationed though. ;) More bears, people! Always more bears.

[thisbluespirit]

If you were finding it hard to concentrate, these are very dense, or at least the first one is - Stephen and Jack are immediately distinct and interesting, but then it gets incredibly technical for ages. I'm enjoying them so far, but I've heard people say that they get better at Bk 3 (I'll let you know when I'm done with it), so it's possible trying again would pay off. There would at least be a bear, for a bit! ;-)

[hyarrowen]

Hope you enjoy HMS Surprise! It's the one I usually rec as an entry point because the first two are fairly hard going tbh. (It's too long since I read the series but I'm re-reading Horblower atm so must not get diverted.)

[thisbluespirit]

Well, I did enjoy the others! Sometimes dense is okay if I can just sort of read a bit at a time and not worry about the plot, and this worked for that. I look forward to it being even betterer, of course. I shall complain if everyone has lied to me and it isn't. ;-)

[ravenskyewalker]

I can't remember if I ever mentioned how much I came to appreciate Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey and Maturin series. They're dense, as you mentioned, so I found that the best way to tackle them was to listen to them on audio. At the time I did that, 20 years ago, there was a wonderful collection of them only accessible through libraries (sadly not commercially available), read by Patrick Tull. He read with enthusiasm and seemed perfect for the job.

I've been told that the seagoing adventure genre's for men... well, that's nice, annoying customer, but a woman with a seagoing family history turned me on to it. *snort*

[thisbluespirit]

Ha, well, stuff the annoying customer - there seem to be a lot of us females somewhow managing to read and appreciate them! I certainly seem to be in good company here. <3