Reading Wednesday

[dhampyresa]

What did you finish reading

Dead Water, by Barbara Hambly: This book was awesome! I loved it. Hannibal gets roped into a duel (and poisoned. Again). Underground Railway! Queen Régine! Ben being a hero! Plenty of OT3 moments like this one:

Rose shook her head, "I'm no good with nursing, but I've had plenty of practice at yanking off Hannibal's boots."
January grimaced agreement and ran an affectionate hand along his unconscious friend's arm.

Or this Rose/Hannibal moment (in Ben's presence):

Rose stepped through the stateroom door and shut it behind her, and, putting her arms around Hannibal's neck from behind, kissed the bare scalp in one of the long fjords of his hairline.

I called the twist with Mr Bredon (well, the first one anyway). BOBBY MADE IT! I was so incredibly relieved to learn that he did and the boy's had, what, twenty pages of screentime? Rose protecting the girl at the beginning! Ben and Hannibal shaing a bath! Hannibal getting dragged around by the front of his shirt (that seems to happen a lot).


Dead and Buried, by Barbara Hambly: OMG THIS BOOK THIS BOOK. Rose's school has pupils! That Hannibal will teach Greek and history to! Ben and Rose have offered to put a roof over Hannibal's head more than once! THE MAYERLINGS! I love the Mayerlings so much, omg. We learn how Ben and Hannibal met and it does not disappoint: HANNIBAL SAVES BEN'S LIFE <strike>with the power of song!</strike> (I wish I could quote from this passage, because it's great, but I can't seem to find it, sadly. Have Ben talking about Hannibal, instead: "a man who'd saved his life, a man he loved"). Also, Hannibal apparently has a habit of exit rooms through windows. Hannibal almost gets poisoned (yes, again). Chloë still calls Dominique 'Darling'! There's lots of touching and Ben taking notice of Hannibal's hands, too. Also, I really want the fic where Ben and Hannibal meet while in Paris. Ben brings up himself that it's surprising they've never met.


What are you reading now

The Shirt on His Back, by Barbara Hambly: Rose! Rose , Rose! She's pregnant! But the school's in bad shape and omg why is she not in this book, I miss her already. On the plus side, annibal seems to ahve kicked off the alcohol AND the laudanum habit, so that's good. Abishag Shaw: still fucking terrifyingly single-minded in his pursuit of justice.

Hannibal's Odyssey, by William Mahaney: I'm about halfway through, so there's progress, at least, but the format is really not practical.


What are you reading next

Ran Away, by Barbara Hambly. HOW DO I ONLY HAVE TWO BOOKS LEFT IN THIS SERIES?

Comments

[wordsofastory.livejournal.com]

OMG I LOVE 'DEAD WATER' SO MUCH. It's the other candidate for my favorite book in the series. Like you say, it's so OT3-y: Rose and Hannibal's devious plan to break the boat to rescue Ben! Rose cross-dressing in Hannibal's clothes at the end! Hannibal actually saying he loves them! ("Poverty can break a marriage, and I love you and Rose too much to want to see you turn on each other, as the poor so often do, and your happiness vanish for want of hope." and "I beg you, if you love me, get me a cup of coffee" and then "I think everyone who cares anything about me is here." AHHH.) Ben comparing himself to Hannibal's lover! ("I'm not going to be like the lady in the ballad," said January, who throws her glove into the lion's den simply to see if her suitor loves her enough to fetch it out. No love, quoth he, but vanity / Sets love a task like that.")

I totally did not guess the twist about Brendon the first time I read it, so I'm impressed you did. And the Underground Railroad! I love that being included.

Everything about Hannibal's duel absolutely breaks my heart, from him being so determined to die to protect Ben and Rose, and so sure of his own worthlessness, and them being so scared for him, and Ben being so proud of Hannibal's bravery and loyalty, and then Hannibal's absolute grief at having killed someone, and then Rose watching over him- just aahhhhh, it's amazing. I really want the fic where they get to tell him he's not actually responsible for Molloy's death.

Dead and Buried! You finally get Hannibal's backstory. I love the Januarys repeatedly trying to get Hannibal to move in with them, and him refusing out of concern for them. I love Rose's school and all three of them as teachers! Ah, the scene where Hannibal refuses to leave town with Ben and he's so scared and Ben is so gentle with him! Hannibal's son! Hannibal's wife! Giving up his addictions! I also really would love Ben-and-Hannibal-in-Paris fic. And I want Rose fic during this book, since she barely interacts with Hannibal at all, and I want to know what she thinks of all the new information.

(The flashback to Ben and Hannibal's first meeting is at the beginning of Days of the Dead, actually.)

[dhampyresa.livejournal.com]

IT IS SO OT3-Y AND I LOVE IT SO! I almost quoted all the bits you did, but I figure my post was already long enough as it is. ALL THE CROSSDRESSING! Your theory that Rose and Hannibal can share clothes is no longer a theory! This book and days of the Dead are some of the most OT3-y things I've ever seen, ngl. They're right up there with the Leverage series finale.

It was a combination of Cain not selling any slaves, him working alongside his slaves to help with the baot and the question of what, exactly, you could blackmail a slavedealer with. I'd heard about the Undergroung Railroad, but I had no idea when it was in action. I was so happy when it showed up, though (and they saved Bobby and Julie!).

Yessssssssssssss, Hannibal's duel is the best and everyone deserves hugs forever. Hannibal clearly has no idea what he's doing, but he has to do it so he will and Rose wnats him and Ben to run away and then she takes care of him and Ben is so pissed someone tried to make Hannibal think he killed a man. That fic would be amazing!

I'm so sad we don't get to see Hannibal teaching at the school, it would be amazing. (Does he crash on the couch most days because the Januarys won't let him walk home drunk after dark?) Hannibal is so torn in that scene and Ben has no idea why, but he's a good friend anyway, because this is clearly hella important to Hannibal ("there was probably only one thing in the world that would keep his friend"). Hannibal's son who looks like his wife so no one suspects! And how he breaks Hannibal's heart without knowing it. I was saddened by how little Rose was in this book and now she's not in Shirt on His Back at all! I miss her.

(Thank you! I've found it now. I guess I started thinking of Dead and Buried as the Hannibal backstory book and since this scene is Hannibal backstory...)

[wordsofastory.livejournal.com]

and the question of what, exactly, you could blackmail a slavedealer with

Ah, I love that line!

I'd love to see Hannibal teaching. It's hard to imagine him being good at it; I sort of feel like he would keep going off on tangents about Catullus's domestic life, and the students would end up with no Latin grammar but plenty of Roman gossip.

Does he crash on the couch most days because the Januarys won't let him walk home drunk after dark?

I definitely believe that Hannibal ends up spending a lot of nights at the Januarys. Especially after Days of the Dead, when he has a broken leg, and between Dead and Buried and The Shirt on His Back when he's going through withdrawal. I rather doubt Hannibal would have survived (much less succeeded in) withdrawal if he didn't have someone to watch him 24/7 through the worst part of it.

I know! I miss Rose in these books too. She has a fairly large part in Ran Away, but I really want some more Rose.

[dhampyresa.livejournal.com]

So pretty much like my Latin classes, then? (Okay, no. We learned a shit ton of Roman gossip, but we did still learn Latin.) Hannibal would teach them Catullus, on the principle that it always made him motivated to learn Latin. Ben would be horrified and Rose amused.

Hannibal spent the whole time his leg was mending at the January house. They threw a tarp over him when Livia came to visit.

I'm pretty sure Hannibal told no one he was stopping alcohol and laudanum at the same time. It was only one day when Ben was passing by that very same wharf he'd once stood on to contemplate dark waters beneath all those years ago, that he noticed Hannibal laying down his violin gently on the ground and tucking a note inside. He's watch incredulously as Hannibal finished the movement by letting himself fall into the water. Ben had jumped, because Hannibal was his friend and drowning was a terrible way to die in Ben's opinion. (An opinion Hannibal was later to dispute.)
When he'd dragged Hannibal out of the water, January heard him say, voice too thin, "why would you do that, amicus meus?"
It was only then that Ben noticed the tremors in his usually so sure hands, the eyes gone bloodshot and dark from lack of sleep and, most telling of all, the erratic beat of his pulse against his throat. Ben bit down what he had been about to say. "You saved my life once, in similar circumstances."
"Oh, amicus meus," Hannibal said, touching his trembling fingers to January's face lightly. "You need not trouble yourself with that or me any longer."
January carried Hannibal, still babbling, still trembling, still touching him as if to make sure he was real, all the way to his house on Rue Esplanade. It was far too late for anyone to see them and while January was glad of this, he did not think he would have cared if anyone had.

She's in Ran Away, yay! How amazing would a Rose book be? EXTRA SUPER AMAZING that's how amazing it would be.

(I recced the books to a friend today and I legit jumped with joy when he told me he'd check them out.)

[wordsofastory.livejournal.com]

Ahhhh, that is so heart-breaking! Thank you! I want all the hurt/comfort, please. <3 <3 <3

I also have a hard time imagining Hannibal asking for help when he decided to stop drinking/taking laudanum. But the other side of the argument is that it's actually quite dangerous- about 1/3 of people going through alcohol withdrawal died before modern medicine, mostly from seizures. Plus there's also hallucinations, panic attacks, extreme confusion, fever, vomiting, erratic heartbeat and breathing... it's generally a bad time. (Oddly, opium withdrawal is a lot less dangerous.) Also, it's more dangerous if you've done it before, and Hannibal had tried at least one previous time. So, even outside of the suicidal depression, he'd need nursing.

I want so many fics about his withdrawal, especially because Ben (and Rose? When does Rose figure it out!) have just learned about his backstory.

I TOTALLY want a Rose book. I'd love a big flashback to the time she went away to school in particular. (Do you have the short stories? One of them is in Rose's POV and all about her. It's also my favorite of the three short stories.)

[dhampyresa.livejournal.com]

I didn't intend to write a short ficlet. It just sort of happened.

He would need nursing, but you seem to be assuming that he's reasonable. He probably just stopped taking both one day and didn't expect to succeed, even marginally, so he didn't tell anyone. Withdrawal is a terrible thing and I'm amazed he decided to do both at once, because that could have killed him.

Can you imagine Ben and Hannibal trying to keep the whole thing a secret from Rose? They wouldn't last ten seconds.

I do have the short stories! I'm going to read them when I've finished Good Man Friday, but omg Rose short story, so excited! Which one is it?

Speaking of Good Man Friday, do you know when it's set?

[wordsofastory.livejournal.com]

Well, I'm very glad you did! :)

Yeah, I wish we knew more about exactly how it all worked out. It is really hard to picture Hannibal asking for help, even though it's so obvious that it would be a good idea.

The Rose short story is "A Time to Every Purpose". The other two are both about Ben and Hannibal; one with Livia and Dominique, and one with Kentucky Williams.

Good Man Friday is January to March, 1838.

[dhampyresa.livejournal.com]

Kentucky Williams! She's great, I love her.

That includes Mardi Gras, perfect, thank you.

[wordsofastory.livejournal.com]

Me too!

Ha, I have an entire time line written out, in an attempt to figure out how old people are, when stuff happens, how much time is between books, etc.

[dhampyresa.livejournal.com]

I don't suppose I could convince you to share that timeline, could I?

[wordsofastory.livejournal.com]

Here you go! I thought I'd put it up in a post in case anyone else found it useful.

[dhampyresa.livejournal.com]

Awesome! Thank you so much.

[silverflight8.livejournal.com]

You are on a Barbara Hambly marathon! *gazes in awe*

[dhampyresa.livejournal.com]

THESE BOOKS ARE AMAZING! I really didn't think I'd love them so much, but I do. (And now I have several fic ideas.)

[wordsofastory.livejournal.com]

Ahem. If you're interested in the ebooks, I could, well, arrange that.