Starfleet Academy by Diane Carey and Bill Maxwell. Meh. Almost DNF’ed it but around halfway I came to care enough about some of the characters that I wanted to know what happened. The military academy setting seems so plausible that I think perhaps at least one of the authors went there themself, or at least did their research extremely well. I usually like school settings and training montages, but this was too much American boys being American boys, I suppose. It’s telling that the protagonist “suddenly” seemed to have been at the Academy for two years when I thought he was still in his first weeks — either the writing was sloppy or I wasn’t interested enough to pay attention (or perhaps both).
Paladin’s Grace by T. Kingfisher. What I said in March 2020 still stands: the story is okay, the people are wonderful, I love the White Rat and all his servants, but oh my, the halting romance is so annoying. All the constant “I’m not good enough for him/her” — well, he/she wants you, and you want him/her, and neither of you comes from a culture with objections to sex with a willing partner, so why not do it? (spoiler: they do. But not without misgivings before and after.)
The Body in the Library by Agatha Christie. One of the better Miss Marples. Knew whodunnit and why, but had forgotten exactly how, and there were some more twisty bits at the end. Ends a bit abruptly but not without full closure.
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