A bit of a departure from my recent navel-gazing. But by the time I got around to writing, I was pretty fried. I enjoyed the introspection, and may return to it in the future. Also, Happy Annual Turkey Holocaust.

Have you ever been reluctant to keep reading a book you’re really enjoying? You’re reading along, getting into the story, when you’re overcome with a sense of dread. Things are going well for the characters. Too well. Somehow, you just know that things are about to go pear shaped, and the characters that survive are sure to be worse for the wear.

And no, I’m not talking about A Song of Ice and Fire.

I’m currently working my way through David Weber’s Honor Harrington series. It’s a far-future military sci-fi series that focuses on the aforementioned naval officer, her career, and reluctant forays into politics. I’m most of the way through the fifth (of 13, not including spinoffs), and am so far on board. Aside from the problem stated above.

I’m going to try to avoid specific spoilers, since if you haven’t read this series, and science fiction is your thing, you totally should. On a similar note, don’t let my lament turn you off. Weber is not George R.R. Martin (probably more of a Joss “I am a leaf on the wind” Whedon), but there is a war on in the story.

It’s happened twice so far, and both times I wanted to stop reading so that these characters that I cared about wouldn’t have to suffer. But I could feel the inevitability of the tragedy, and I turned to the next page as I both cursed and celebrated the author for making me care so strongly about the fictional beings sketched out in black ink on white paper, fleshed out by my imagination.

Huh. That last sentence kinda got away from me. Oh well.

So yeah, you should totally read this series. But if you’re the type of person to want to throw things at authors, be forewarned. It can be heart-wrenching, but it’s still worth it.

I think I can get a few more pages in before practice…