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54. China Miéville, Embassytown: Miéville returns to the double city, this time with a brilliant concept of aliens whose language binds them to truth, and the terrible events that rise from that. A fascinating exploration of how language works to bind us and free us, propelled by the horrifying events of the plot. Can he get any better? I don't know if I could stand to read it, if so.

55. Ellen Airgood, South of Superior: Set in Grand Marais, where I was headed, so had to read, no matter the quality. Very evocative of the small town coming under siege from modern life. I have to admit to skimming because I couldn’t take it along, but seemed to have appealing characters and plot. Didn’t do as much with the physical beauty of the place as I’d have wished.

56. George RR Martin, A Dance with Dragons: And all the plots move along. Better than Feast for Crows, but not nearly as good as the first two books (Game of Thrones, Clash of Kings). At least there was something about all the plots that seemed headed toward an eventually resolution, instead of infinite expansion of characters and events . And Daenerys, Tyrion, and Jon, as well as Arya, feature largely as POV characters. Did not like what happened to Cersei and Theon!

57. C.J. Sansom, Dark Fire: The second book in the Matthew Shardlake series, and a fine one. Back working for Cromwell against his will, Shardlake tries to deal with the possible rediscovery of Greek Fire (just what the Tudors needed!), while trying to clear a young girl imprisoned for murder and staying clear of the intricacies of Tudor court intrigue. Definitely well-paced, and well-written.

58. C. J. Cherryh, The Paladin: The first part of this book, set in something very similar to Tang Dynasty China, is so appealing: the young girl bent on revenge finds the master swordsman who’s withdrawn to the mountains , and persuades him to train her. The interaction between the two is so realistic, as is his own growth in spire of himself. But the second part degenerates into one battle after another, lots of blow-by-blow that I don’t find fun to read.

59. Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman, Good Omens (re-read): Liked this so much the first time that I can’t believe I’ve pretty much forgotten what happens, so it’s just as much fun this time. Love the angel and devil who want to forestall Armageddon, and the anti-Anti-Christ who seems most unlikely to bring it on. Hope I forget it again and have the fun of reading it several times.