Out Of Town

I'm going to be out of town until Sunday, and away from internet access. I've got a couple of new books from the library for research, and I'll try to have something interesting or useful by the time I get back.

In the meantime, on the thread of books with excellent use of weapons:

Hunter's Moon, by CT Adams and Cathy Clamp is an awesome book, and so are all the rest of the Sazi books. They are very worth the read, whether you're a girl or a guy. This was the book that convinced me that paranormal romance doesn't have to just be brain candy. From what I know, Tony's use of his weapons was very accurate without being distracting, and makes a good example of real weapons in a new world. And I love the Sazi culture, though you need to read more of the books to get a deeper look at it.

For the use of both real and fantasy weapons, and another excellent read, check out The Cage, by S.M. Stirling and Shirley Meier. I was enamored with Megan's knives from the moment they were mentioned in the book: her fingernails are actually steel, and can be sharpened and used like knives. Magic was used to make them grow naturally, drawing the iron from her blood, necessitating the eating of liver or drinking of fish oil to keep the iron up. The fights are breath-taking, and excellently written. Sh'Kaira's use of sword and compound bow both are an excellent example for anyone.

I don't think I'd have ever touched the book, if only because of the mention if it's being a novel of vengeance on the cover, except that it was recommended to me by someone with impeccable taste. I'm very glad I read it, and I even managed to scrounge up a copy of it (and the rest of the series) so I'd be able to read them again. If nothing else, the wing cats are awesome, there has never been a more bad-ass cat than Ten Knife Foot (and I usually am not fond of pets in novels, even if I'm surrounded by them), and I got some of my best insults ever from those books.