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1. Victory of Eagles (the new Temeraire book): awesome awesome awesome so far. Has Temeraire ever narrated chapters before? I don't remember. But I adore his voice.

2. Saiyuki Reload 8: also awesome. The official releases have finally caught up to the point where I stopped following the scans- out of laziness- which means this was new to me. I quite enjoyed it, although I probably missed any interesting meta by months.

3. Is anyone else reading Joe Abercrombie's trilogy (The Blade Itself, Before They Are Hanged, and the last one isn't out yet, at least in the US)? Because I adore it: epic fantasy with all the standard tropes- Conan-type Barbarians, ancient wizards, talented young swordsmen- but done self-aware and cynical and gritty and funny and brilliant. The misanthropic, crippled ex-war hero turned torturer is my favorite character. Someone squee with me, or else go read them yourself.

4. I'll also recommend Empress by Karen Miller, also part of a trilogy (the other two books are not yet out in the US, though I think they might be in Australia). Set in a very vaguely ancient Mespotamia-type world, with colored characters, and a really interesting (even if a lot of reviewers seem to find her not very sympathetic) female main character, Hekat. She is, in fact, kind of a sociopath, I agree, but I adored her, even if I wouldn't particularly want to meet her. I suppose the title already spoils part of the plot, so I can say the book focuses on her rise from an unnamed slave to leader of the kingdom, with the political machinations, violence, and religious manipulation that would involve.