Falling Back in: Game of Cages

It's Fall, and I haven't blogged in over a month. I haven't read much either, which is part of the problem. But both kids have to keep reading logs, and X even needs to do a reading journal, and I'll have much more backbone forcing this upon them if I'm responsible for my own log. So there. I'm back!

I finished Harry Connolly's Game of Cages: A Twenty Palaces Novel, the 2nd book about Ray Lilly, ex-con and wooden man, whose life was ripped apart when his best friend met up with a magic predator. Now Ray is a pawn in the Twenty Palaces, the organization dedicated to keeping those magical beasties away from our earth, but he's very uncomfortable with what he has to do for them.

The characters in Connolly's stories seem very real, especially Lilly. He does a good job of showing Ray's emotions and growth through his actions, especially since the book is told from Ray's viewpoint. This is a very violent book, with a lot of death and fear; I don't recommend it for the squeamish although I do recommend it in general. I'll be looking for Connolly's next book.B+