Cranford - Elizabeth Gaskell

A gentle book in which nothing much happens, but which happens in such minute detail that you end up fascinated by the social mores of who will condescend to speak to whom in a tiny English village.

These are the upper class women who didn't find a rich husband, and are trapped by poverty and social convention into a genteel poverty that seeks desperately to convince itself that any sign of wealth would be ostentatious in any case.

Yet, even in this stilted social setting, the people are still capable of quiet acts of kindness (and have the understanding to conceal their help so as not to burden their friend with the need for gratitude).

This is a book that I'm sure I'll read again.


Sheepfarmer's Daughter - Elizabeth Moon

I really enjoyed Moon's Serrano Legacy SF novels, so I was looking forward to her fantasy series, The Deed of Paksenarrion.  However, although the background of the mercenary troop conveys a knowledge of the military (Moon was in the US Marine Corps), there's no darn plot!  I got nearly half way through the book before giving up in disgust.  There was what appeared to be a plot thread at the start, but it petered out into nothing and the 'story' just becomes endless bits of marches and combat practice.

The background is detailed, but I need more than just  background to hold my interest.  I can survive without plot (Cranford has almost no plot), but for that to happen, I need characters I can relate to - and Paksenarrion fails the test.  Looking at Wikipedia, I see that this was Moon's first novel.  Perhaps that explains why I like her later work better.