[amphibian]

Romance novels keep the publishing industry afloat because they earn so much money.

Maas is a fantasy mega star right now because she's gotten into that dynamic like Gabaldon, like Auel etc.

That brings a lot of newer eyeballs to the genre, yet there are certain "I'm new here and don't fully know the landscape" critiques that are going to dominate reviews.

[Whisperzzzzzzz]

These books are not great. Since I was lured in by the idea of a strong female assassin and the main character is not actually that, I think I will switch over to reading Jacqueline Carey's Kushiel books. I've heard great things about those over the years.

[worry]

Finished Valor -- definitely an improvement on Malice. It's still a simpler story than the real top tier in fantasy (imo), but there was a lot more drive to this one. I very consistently wanted to find out what happened next, which is pretty much what you want whether it's a popcorn read or something weightier.

Just a couple minor nitpicks (somewhat spoilery):

Spoiler

I thought I was reading a 1980s slasher, not cuz it was scary or violent, but cuz of the way this book treats sex. There's only three horny characters total in a named cast of dozens. One of the main bad guys is a horny cruel old lady. One of the other main bad guys is a horny cruel pirate. The third horny person is a good guy, more or less, but his horniness is literally his downfall. Come on, JG! Let people be horny in peace.

The other thing is people get their heads lopped off real easy. The one time it's not easy is during a literal execution, rather than battle. I guess it's pretty funny how often it happens, but I don't think that's what JG was going for.

Anyway, I liked this one. Next I will detour with a short weird fiction alien invasion novel called The Seep by Chana Porter, and then will get to Ruin right after.

[Abyss]

Just finished THE GIRL AND THE STARS, see the Mark Lawrence ded-thread for more, but short version, i enjoyed it and plowed thru half the next book THE GIRL AND THE MOUNTAIN before needing a short break.

A random audible sale gave me something called THE ASCENT by Adam Plantinga. The author's a retired police officer w a couple of nonfiction books on law enforcement out, this is his first fiction piece. I wanted popcorn, i got popcorn. It's a fun action thriller about some people stuck in a prison who have to ascend through multiple floors full of inmates to escape. The male MC has some 'author self-insertion' elements to him but it's not bad and it's to be expected from an ex cop writing a character who is an ex cop. He does a decent job w the female MC and avoids a lot of the traps male thriller authors fall into making them either perpetual damsels in distress or men in dresses. About halfway, no surprises but it's fun, low think high pace and exactly what i was jonesing for but didn't feel like looking thru the eTRP to find. Woman/man narrator duo are excellent, they really sell their characters' pov's which helps make the relatively hollywood action script story a bit more engaging.