City of Dragons

I loved Kelli Stanley's "Nox Dormienda" that was set in Roman Britain but frankly, I picked this title because I thought that the subject sounded interesting - I never even connected the author's name. I will now keep track of her books.I read this one in two days - with time out for beading. "Nox Dormienda" had a male protagonist and this one has a female - thirty-three-year-old Miranda Corbie, a private investigator, Spanish Civil War nurse and former escort - and yes that mostly means prostitute. Miranda is attempting to get home but didn't plan on getting stuck in the crowd celebrating the Chinese New Year with a Rice Bowl Party. Nor did she plan on having a young man fall dying at her feet - Eddie Takahashi is Japanese American in a Chinatown that hates the Japanese for what has been done in China - hence the Rice Bowl Party. Even with no one paying for her to investigate his death, Miranda can't help herself and attempts to discover what happened to cause his killing. This is a noir look at San Francisco in 1940 as the world is fighting tyrants and America hasn't yet entered the war. Some of this was new to me but I had my mother to ask about that time. I liked Miranda even with all of her smoking and drinking. Her mental pain became clear as the book went forward. I'll look forward to the next in this series.

"Except the Queen" by Jane Yolen and Midori Snyder is a wonderful fantasy about being exiled in a strange land. Sisters Serana and Meteora are member of the Seelie Court of the Fairy Queen when they discover that Her Highness has mated with a mortal man and born him a child. The fact that the Queen has had sex with a mortal and they inadvertantly tell this secret; gets them banished from the Greenwood and into the mortal realm. Once there, they find that they have lost all of their magic and their eternal youth and are now old, fat women. They are seperated from each other in this confusing land and each ends up taking care of a tormented young person who is not what they seem. This fantasy read quickly and excitedly. I'm ready to read more fantasy again; but then Jane Yolen has always been one of my favorites!

I'm finishing my first needlecase and enjoying doing the tubular peyote. Now I have to do circular peyote for the top and bottom. The weather is slightly warmer and life is good right now.