A review by aprillen
The Silicon Mage by Barbara Hambly
5.0
Copied from my review of book 1:
I've tried reading other books by Barbara Hambly, but none have ever made the same impression on me as the books about Antryg Windrose and Joanna Sheraton. I first borrowed book 1 from an acquaintance years ago, and could hardly eat or sleep, and when I had finished it and didn't have immediate access to book 2 I thought I would perish. The worldbuilding isn't spectacular, it's pretty run-of-the-mill; but the plot and especially the characters stand out. Antryg and Joanna both really resonate with me, and their love feels real, which is not always the case for me with literary romances. Re-reading the books, even so many years later (fifteen? Twenty? I can't remember), they naturally didn't have quite the same impact as the first time around, but they were still joyful page-turners, just the kind you should hate but can't: Can't stop reading, while knowing that the more you read, the faster you approach the end. This book precipitated my first ever fanfiction, long before I know such a thing even existed (this was way before online fandom became a Thing, at least in any context that I knew existed). Thankfully, it is now long lost. :)
I've tried reading other books by Barbara Hambly, but none have ever made the same impression on me as the books about Antryg Windrose and Joanna Sheraton. I first borrowed book 1 from an acquaintance years ago, and could hardly eat or sleep, and when I had finished it and didn't have immediate access to book 2 I thought I would perish. The worldbuilding isn't spectacular, it's pretty run-of-the-mill; but the plot and especially the characters stand out. Antryg and Joanna both really resonate with me, and their love feels real, which is not always the case for me with literary romances. Re-reading the books, even so many years later (fifteen? Twenty? I can't remember), they naturally didn't have quite the same impact as the first time around, but they were still joyful page-turners, just the kind you should hate but can't: Can't stop reading, while knowing that the more you read, the faster you approach the end. This book precipitated my first ever fanfiction, long before I know such a thing even existed (this was way before online fandom became a Thing, at least in any context that I knew existed). Thankfully, it is now long lost. :)