Cuckoo's Egg by C.J. Cherryh

Presenting the stones -- Hatani test

     Often, I am content to make a few simple little sketches after reading a book. Sure, I'd love to make complete illustrations, but to at least do SOMETHING is okay... it's enough.
But then there's some books for which I can hardly stand to make even those few simple sketches -- not because the book is uninteresting or hard to visualize, but because it's a story that is particularly engaging to me, and it bothers me not to be able to represent it with a genuinely GREAT picture.

Cuckoo's Egg is one of those books.

  I wish I could give you a beautiful, fully rendered painting (or two, or three). Then you could really see, could *feel*, this story. But alas, I have neither the skills nor the time to make anything beyond a couple rough sketches

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 One narrator knows nothing; the other knows everything but reveals very, very little. Something huge is going on. Something desperate. Chaos descends over a world, and we have only a few speed-blurred glimpses of it, barely understood through Thorn [the protagonist]'s eyes:
...A shuttle, poised against the smoke-stained sky. On the horizon, a red sun burst, and swelled, and faded...
   

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Thorn -- Hatani solution

 Cuckoo's Egg has a good, satisfying ending, and yet... it's left so wide open. It's like the story's only getting started! But... copyright 1985, and no sequel in sight. Oh well.

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Cobra Guardian by Timothy Zahn (Cobra War Trilogy, Book 2)

Lorne leaps over the streets of occupied Capitalia

Lorne launching Nissa up to the Tlossie ship

Freylan protecting Jody from the tree wolves

  

How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe by Charles Yu

What an odd (yet amusing) little book. So many "Wha...? Okaaay, whatever" moments, but what do you expect, when the protagonist is a time machine repairman? Time travel does weird things to a person, y'know.

  When it happens, this is what happens: I shoot myself.
  Not, you know, my self self. I shoot my future self. He steps out of a time machine, introduces himself as Charles Yu. 
  What else am I supposed to do? I kill him. I kill my own future.





To give you another picture of the quirky meta thing that is this book, I leave you with this conversation:

Hello, whoever you are?

Still here.

You're retcon, right? This is the retcon shuttle.

You got it.

Can you pick up Ed for me?

Sure. Who's Ed?

My dog.

I don't have any record of a dog.

Technically, he didn't exist.

You have a retconned dog for a pet?

Yeah.

Eulalia! by Brian Jacques

Ah, Rangval. I think I can safely say he's my favorite character in this book.

Teasing about delicious food is a very bad idea when you're stuck at the top of a mountain with a tribe of hungry shrews and not enough food to go around. It only took one sling-stone to the ear to teach Rangval the Rogue that lesson...

  I grew up reading (and loving) the Redwall series. I missed the last few books, though, so when I saw this one in audio book form at the library I wanted to check it out. Admittedly, the Redwall stories tend to blend together once you've read a lot of them (they do share a lot of similarities), but even so, I've enjoyed every Redwall book I've ever read. Eulalia! is no exception. Delicious food, dramatic battle scenes, and charming accents aplenty.

Boxing hare champ Mad Maudie takes on a gang of sand lizards

Cobra Alliance by Timothy Zahn (Cobra War Trilogy, Book 1)

Haha, you can't cuff a Cobra.

   

Merrik firing at Trofts

  When I set my mind to picturing one of the many Cobra fight scenes in this book, I was momentarily stymied by the antiarmor laser. It's implanted in the leg. Talk about an awkward weapon to fire! I'd love to see an animated sequence of a Cobra in action.

  The narrative doesn't really help me picture this. It tends to say something along the lines of "he lifted his leg and aimed at the ship..." Well, okay then. That's all there is to it, hm? I get that the Cobras are a force to behold, yes, but with visuals, I think that idea would have way more, shall I say... punch

 

Daulo & Fadil with Qasaman soldiers fighting back against the Troft invaders

Merrik gets most of the cool action shots in this book. Thus the scene I end up doodling that shows Jin using Cobra abilities... is of her closing a bulkhead door in the Qasaman underground. Exciting, huh?

Airman by Eoin Colfer

The mysterious Airman

   Oh, Eoin Colfer... I appreciate your sense of humor so much.
 *coughcough* I don't have much to say today, so why don't I just give you the sketches:
 


 

Fighting in a diving bell? Not a great idea.

"Monsieur, I can be either angel or devil... but to you, I am a devil."

Cobra Bargain by Timothy Zahn (Cobra Trilogy, Book 3)

Wrapping up the first Cobra trilogy.

Daulo Sammon

Jin & Akim with an unconscious Daulo, dropping into the Troft side of the Mangus compound