Originally published at Thus Sayeth the Lord…. You can comment here or there.

I’ve been critisized (justly) for being a bit of a…curmudgeon. A stick-in-the-mud. A sourpuss. After my most recent reviews (Eragon, Eldest, DaVinci Code, Heroes), I can understand that it seems like I’ve got NOTHING positive to say.
So today, I’ve got a treat. Positive reviews for two great books by two great authors.

The Wee Free Men

I first encountered Terry Pratchett online, in the form of a recommendation from someone whose opinion I highly respect, but hardly ever agree with. I picked up Pratchett’s fantasy, ‘The Thief of Time.’ That book remains the best audiobook I’ve ever listened to, and among the great fantasies I’ve read.

Wee Free Men is of the same standard. It is everything a fantasy should be: touching, thoughtful, thought provoking, imaginitive, wonderful… It is some things a fantasy usually isn’t: funny, philosophical, funny. Did I mention funny? Pratchett is effortlessly, and deeply, amusing.

Pratchett is also a master storyteller. There’s no dropped plotlines, no confounded mess of characterizations, no cliches (that don’t work)…everything is fit and plumb and hale. Want to see how to do flashbacks correctly? Dan Brown take note, and hie thee hence to Wee Free Men.

Tiffany Aching is a smart, insightful dairy maid, who wants to be a witch. When her baby brother is kidnapped, she gets her chance. She has to fight the collision of two worlds, outwit a nasty sorceress, battle demon-dogs and a headless horseman, and befriend the fierce (and fearsome!) Nac Mac Feegle.

It is a delightful tale.
Backstory

I’ve been a fan of Spenser since my parents let me stay up and watch Spenser: For Hire back in the 80’s. Robert Ulrich was perfect as the boxer with brains. And Hawk! Who could forget the soulful, cool, suave, dangerously immoral Hawk…

I picked up my first Spenser novel on Orson Scott Card’s recommendation. Robert Parker is smarter than a lot of mystery writers; he knows his craft and his audience. Parker caters to the literate-but-unafraid-of-unpleasantness crowd. His books are mostly right up my ally. (All Our Yesterdays is a terrible, terrible novel…but I’m supposed to be positive today. Positively!)
In Backstory, the detective Spenser is hired to find out who killed a hippie activist 30 years ago. (Well, 28 years ago…that becomes a running joke in the novel) He encounters recalcitrant mobsters, aged hippie blackmailers, weepy actresses, and a boisterous dog along the way.

Parker is a master. There’s no other word for it. His dialogue is second-to-none, and his action sequences are as clear as choreography. He uses short, dense sentences to describe the scenes. It’s effective, allowing the reader world-build on their own, with very little effort, while he concentrates on keeping the pace pounding.

While Backstory and all of Parker’s novels contain a bit more profanity than I’m generally comfortable with, it’s a good tale.