I'm also reading a book for review, and a different book for a preview. I haven't been reading much fanfiction this week; the J.D. Robb is sort of in the same vein as fanfiction, for me. I'm still slowly working on Volume 3 of the About Time nonfiction series of geekerrific Dr. Who lore.
I finished a book for preview, and then Born to Darkness by Suzanne Brockmann, her first attempt (so far as I know) at paranormal romance/urban fantasy (the book has elements of both, though I'd lean more towards PR). The book seems more comfortable with the romance/special ops aspects than the science fictional worldbuilding, which makes sense, because this is her first foray into SF. It's a little info-dumpy at the start, but picks up pretty well once Brockmann feels free to use her characters. I wanted more about the limitations of the super powers (resulting from higher integration of the brain's capabilities, in this world). There was a running theme of abuse of power; it's set in a near-future dystopia in which American citizens are steadily losing rights and the economy is on the downslide.
Overall, I thought the worldbuilding needed some work, to not have so much going on all at once. There was a lot of stuff about the integration powers, including new things being constantly discovered, all of which were relevant to the action plot, and a bit to the romance plot - and there were simultaneous three romances. Plus sex scenes. It all felt crammed together into too small a book. I enjoyed reading it, but I didn't think it was as accomplished as her other work. I'm curious if she wrote a second obook int his world, and if so, if she got the genre more under control.
I also finished Imago, the last book in the Xenogenesis trilogy, and am writing up notes which I plan to post for feedback before WisCon.
Next up will be more books for preview (I received a lot of galleys of novels coming out this summer) and probably the first in Patricia Gaffney's Wyckerley trilogy, which I mentioned last week.
