Amelia Peabody ReRead Update

Okay, summer is over for most of us. How did you do on your Peabody reread?  *spoilers ahead*

I just finished reading He Shall Thunder in the Sky. That makes 12 of the 19 books I've managed to read. Admittedly, I stalled on some of the books that aren't my favorites. And I skipped River in the Sky, which I'll have to go back to.

Some random observations gleaned from the reread:

For all that Amelia is portrayed as not being maternal, we're given several examples of it throughout the series. But it's not until Ramses is grown that Amelia believes *herself* to be at all maternal. She's pretty hard on herself for not being a worrier, but once Ramses becomes involved in the war effort, she finds herself near tears often, and worrying herself sick.

I still really, REALLY hate the turns taken in The Falcon at the Portal. This is the book I threw against the wall when I first read it at its initial publication in 1999. I mean that literally. I still feel like Nefret's actions are more a device to continue the angst of the romance arc through to another book, rather than a natural reaction based on past actions. She's OLDER than Ramses. She's had medical training. She's smart, savvy, and while impulsive, she's NOT stupid. And her actions in that book are beyond stupid.

He Shall Thunder in the Sky is definitely one of my favorites. It's heartbreaking. It's complex, too, with all of the various POVs we're given through Amelia's journals, Manuscript H, and Nefret's letters to Lia. And Peters did an amazing job setting the stage with the wartime machinations without burying the reader in details. If you want to find out what war was like during World War I outside the trench warfare on the Continent, this is an excellent source. Even if it is fiction.

 I also discovered that I am a sucker for the Sethos books. I didn't realize it until now, but all of the my favorite books are the ones that feature Sethos. Clearly, I like rogues.

I'm continuing the reread through the Fall, because I can't just drop the series midway through. Follow along with the #Peabody tag on Twitter, along with the occasional title of the book I'm reading.