Looks like this IS a reading month for me!
Finished:
A Princess of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs -- generally liked it and its a shorter, faster paced book than the epic ones that I tend to end up reading more. That said I can't say I favour the weaker worldbuilding, or at least Burroughs style. He worldbuilds without you realising as such, but the problem is he drops big facts all of a sudden without much expansion (eg martians layings eggs was totally glossed over at the end!) The style can also be a bit short feeling, poor Woola seems to get left behind a lot without much mention as to where he was.
Crucible of Gold by Naomi Novik - getting back to the roots of things a bit more after the slight pace change in the last book. Great to see more characters from past books reappearing and also seeing some big changes in the world again. Certainly completes another cycle of the tale and opens itself up to the next chapter (I've also a feeling that we might get a trip to Russia sometime soon!)
Moved onto:
The Gods of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs