I finished 3 fairly different books this past week or so.  Two for clubs and one because it arrived at the library finally.

So, the one that arrived was "Ever After" by Kim Harrison, the newest book in her Hallows series.  I can't say I was disappointed with the book, but it wasn't my favorite.  In some ways, I think she feels like the story is at a crossroads and wanted to try and clean up the world and maybe see if there is a new direction to take things.  So, between the last one and this, there are lots of secondary characters that are/have gone away.  And it seems like things are changing between Rachel, Ivy and Jenks as well (not nearly enough Ivy in this book).  I'm willing to wait and see how the next one turns out, but this one was a bit forced and I hope things pick up again.

The first club book was "Hounded" by Kevin Hearne, the first in his "Iron Druid" series.  I really enjoyed this one, even though there were some aspects that I thought were unnecessary.  The main character is Atticus O'Sullivan, a 2100 year old druid living in Tempe, AZ.  Some of the Celtic gods are hunting for him because he acquired (some of them say stole) a magic sword millenia ago.  Others are trying to help him.  Aided by his sentient dog, vampire and werewolf lawyers, and some humans, he tries to stay one step away from death while attempting to figure a way out of his problems.  I wish Hearne had not felt the need to throw in vampires and werewolves, not because they are not good characters but because it felt unnecessary, bringing in folklore rather than sticking with mythology.  Book 2 is currently in transit to the library, so I look forward to getting into that one shortly.

The third book of the week was "Wyrd Sisters" by Terry Pratchett.  I've never been quite sure what I think of Pratchett's books.  Partly because I find the lack of chapters annoying.  Partly because humor is so hard to make good when reading it (but which comes across so amazingly well in the movies, even the animated one of Wyrd Sisters that was shown for book/movie).  This one, however, was quite fun and quick to read (and maybe reading it quickly is part of what made it work better than others did).  The plot is a typical one for the discworld books (if such a thing can be said of them), covering/parodying witchcraft, Shakespeare, ghosts, actors, playwrights, royal succession (and assassination), the nature of kingdoms, and a whole bunch more.  Of the ones I've read, Hogfather remains my favorite, but this one is certainly worth the time (and, as I said, check out the animated movie version as well).