Wednesday, November 27, 2019

SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: Ecilpse the Skies by Maura Milan




Eclipse the Skies is the second in a YA Space Opera trilogy by Maura Milan which began with last year's "Ignite the Stars" (Review Here).  I liked Ignite the Stars a good bit - sure it had some pretty predictable plot beats, but it had 3 excellent lead characters and a story with some interesting themes, and ended on a pretty strong sequel hook.  I noted in my review that I couldn't wait for the sequel to get a release date, and it actually snuck up on me here until just recently.

Does it measure up?  Yes and No - on one hand, our three characters remain excellent to some extent, and the book definitely once again deals with some interesting themes (an imperialist government vs a terrorist organization, the rights and lives of refugees within the imperialist territory, etc.).  On the other, the book relies upon a major turn towards the dark side of one character as well as a few awfully convenient coincidences to drive things forward, and I don't think Milan quite pulled these plot elements off.  That said, I look forward to seeing how this trilogy concludes in the final volume.

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Tuesday, November 26, 2019

SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: The Future of Another Timeline by Annalee Newitz




The Future of Another Timeline is the second novel by io9 cofounder Annalee Newitz, after their 2017 novel, Autonomous (Review Here).  Autonomous was a fascinating novel with some really interesting ideas about the autonomy (naturally) of humans and artificial intelligences in various situations and circumstances (to go along with a solid plot).  It wasn't a perfect novel, but it was excellent not just for a first novel, but for a SF/F work in general, so naturally I was interested in Newitz' next work and here we are.

The Future of Another Timeline is similar in feel to Autonomous, although with a very different central idea: the concept of fighting for women's and LGBTQ rights against those who would erase those rights/accomplishments, and the meaning of individuals' and groups' fights for changes small and large.  It of course explores this idea through genre - as you can imagine from the title, it's a time travel story, and does so too in a pretty fascinating way, leading again, like Autonomous, to an ending which doesn't suggest easy answers.  It's a strong book, and I think for the most part it has stronger characters than in Newitz' first novel, although it still has some warts along the way.


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Monday, November 25, 2019

SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: The Mortal Word by Genevieve Cogman




The Mortal Word is the 5th book in Genevieve Cogman's Invisible Library series.  As I've said in my reviews of the first four books in this series, the fourth of which I just recently reviewed HERE, the series has quickly become one of my favorite reads over the past few years.  Or to try and explain that in terms that are less vague and childish (an earlier draft of that last sentence literally called it "my most favorite fun read"), for every previous book in this series, I've started and finished that book within 24 hours - which yes, is quick even for me.  Each book is a fun fast paced ride that I've found impossible to basically put down once I've started.

This book, book 5 - The Mortal Word - is no different, despite being the longest in the series (although it's not THAT long).  Once again we have a fun adventure, with our heroine going up against Fae, Dragons, and other potential villains in a strange new world, that never lets up in pace from beginning to end.  And unlike the last book, we get basically a full return from practically our entire cast, with the book promising to some extent a new status quo by the ending - an ending that also clears up certain plot points from the last book.


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Sunday, November 24, 2019

TV Review: The Mandalorian - Episodes 1-3





Boba Fett Sucks.  He shows up in Empire Strikes Back, let's Vader capture our heroes, takes Solo after Vader's done with him, and bolts.  He then shows up in Return of the Jedi randomly hanging around Jabba's Palace, where he gets knocked into the Sarlacc by a blind man randomly swinging a stick.  He does nothing cool or badass.  He's a specially dressed mook and that's it.  But that dress - his "Mandalorian" Armor, inspired Star Wars fans to imagine an awesome badass, which the old EU took and ran with, and the Star Wars universe could never put him to the side afterwards.

And so The Mandalorian exists, showcasing another bounty hunter who wears the same cool set of armor.  But cool looking armor isn't enough to make a TV Show or Film.  And while the show thankfully doesn't feature Fett himself, it very much envisions its protagonist somewhat in his mold, complete with being short of words.  As such, it's left very much to the setting and actions of everyone involved in order to set up the plot and characters, to go along with the action sequences featured in every episode.  Badly done, this could wind up in a show that's nothing more than empty action sequences.  Indeed, the first episode of The Mandalorian, and even the second somewhat, suggests the show might fall into that pile of emptiness.

The third episode however, does enough to suggest this show might be going interesting places.

NOTE: Spoilers after the Jump for the first three episodes, although if you've avoided all these spoilers on social media, you've basically been living in a hole the last two weeks and I'm very impressed.


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Thursday, November 21, 2019

SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: Steel Crow Saga by Paul Krueger




Steel Crow Saga is the recently published Epic Fantasy novel from Paul Krueger featuring a world inspired by a number of East Asian cultures (Krueger is Filipino-American himself).  It's a novel I skipped over at first, but one which I'd seen a number of people I trusted on social media hype up quite a bit.

And I'm glad they did, because Steel Crow Saga is very very good.  The setting is incredibly well done, with many peoples, magics, and cultures all feeling really well developed and real.  And the characters are excellent, resulting in a plot where you care about all four of the major characters and keeps you on the edge of your seat wondering what will happen next.  Along the way we deal with themes of discrimination, of the effects of colonization and the cycles of war and conquering, and the aftermaths of those battles.  The result is an excellent stand alone novel that contains enough sequel hooks to make me hopeful for a sequel.


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Wednesday, November 20, 2019

SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: A Betrayal in Winter by Daniel Abraham




A Betrayal in Winter is the second book in Daniel Abraham's "Long Price Quartet", his first four published novels, after "A Shadow in Summer" (which I reviewed HERE).  I really enjoyed A Shadow in Summer - which combined an epic fantasy setting with the feel of a fantasy of manners, with much of the plot dealing with the interactions and machinations of various characters in a city bereft with conspiracy.  The story had me constantly guessing what would happen next, all the way to its impressive ending, in which one main character makes a pretty dire choice, the effects of which were generally left to the reader to imagine.

A Betrayal in Winter takes place years after A Shadow in Summer (13 years, if I calculated right), and follows two of the same main characters from before - Otah and Maati - now in very different places.  Again, these characters find themselves caught in a city beset by conspiracy, one perhaps even deadlier than before, and have to struggle to both survive and find a way forward.  In some ways therefore, it's a bit of a similar book in mechanics to its predecessor.  But the new characters involved, in particular the story's antagonist, are absolutely tremendous, and even with the feeling of sameness being pretty clear, the characters kept me riveted and caring at what happened next.

Note: I read this as an audiobook and the reader is again very good.  Worth a read in that format.


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Tuesday, November 19, 2019

SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: The Lost Plot by Genevieve Cogman




The Lost Plot is the fourth book in Genevieve Cogman's ongoing series, "The Invisible Library".  I've kind of loved this series, which if you've missed it is an incredibly fun series about Irene, an agent for a multiversal Library that collects rare books from across the multiverse and tries to avoid getting involved with the battle across the worlds between the Dragons - agents of order - and the Fae - agents of chaos.  But again, the key thing about the series is how the setup allows Cogman to vary things up in really fun ways - so we have the most common setting being a version of London with Fae and fantasy creatures, but we've also seen a high tech world run by dragons, a fantasy version of Venice overrun by Fae, etc.

In this book, we get into an alternate version of 1920s New York, in which our incredibly fun and quick-thinking heroine Irene has barely any time to breathe as she attempts to outwit multiple parties, both human and not, in order to save the day.  As with the last review I did of this series, I suspect this review will be a bit short - mainly because I'm running out of ways to say: "Still really fun and enjoyable!"  There's nothing in this series that makes it an absolute must read, but the ability to always be really fun and read at a really good pace should not be undervalued.



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Monday, November 18, 2019

SciFi/Fantasy/Horror Book Review: The Twisted Ones by T Kingfisher (aka Ursula Vernon)




The Twisted Ones is the latest horror novel by fantasy author T Kingfisher (aka children's book author Ursula Vernon's pseudonym for her adult work).  I'm a pretty solid fan of Kingfisher's work in general, although I'm not a huge horror fan honestly, so I've never actually read her horror work.  Still, given all the tweets I've seen about how scary this book was from multiple authors I respect on twitter, The Twisted Ones seemed like a good place to start.

And it's a pretty strong horror novel, although to be honest I wasn't that scared?  I suspect I'd have been more scared in audiobook form, as the book relies well on what are often classic horror jump scares - good ones mind you, but they lose something for me in text form.  The book is actually inspired by and includes references to a classic early 20th century horror story "The White People", but I hadn't read that story and it still overall works.  Add in Kingfisher/Vernon's classic charm of dialogue/characters, and well, you get a very enjoyable package, even if I didn't quite find it as scary as others have.


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Thursday, November 14, 2019

SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: The Rosewater Redemption by Tade Thompson




The Rosewater Redemption is the third in Tade Thompson's Rosewater trilogy.  The first book in the series was in my opinion an absolute classic - a tale of alien invasion in Nigeria in a particularly unique fashion.  The original's non-linear story allowed for a fascinating tale in a cynical crapsack world, with at a take on humanity's value that was both cynical and sadly realistic.  The second book in the trilogy wasn't any less complicated - god these books are complex with how they mess with timelines, psychic and real worlds, and character motivations - but was almost more conventional in its aims: it seemed to make the story more of a standard humanity vs alien invasion narrative, if one with some very weird and strange aliens and a non-western setting.  As a result, while it still worked, it didn't have that same specialness of the first book.

The Rosewater Redemption continues the vein of the second book - this is now a book about humans dealing with alien invasion in many chaotic ways, and the conflicts that erupt.  And well, I called the second book a bit of a mess with the motivations and actions of many conflicting actors, and the third book takes that to a new level.  It's a hell of a book, really and a crazy ride.  I still agree with my original thoughts that the result isn't quite as tremendous as the initial installment, but it's still a worthy capper to one of the more original works I've read in a long long time.


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Wednesday, November 13, 2019

SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: Finder by Suzanne Palmer




Finder is a space opera novel by Suzanne Palmer.  It may be part of a series (Amazon now lists it with a series subtitle), but it's entirely stand-alone as a novel.  I say the novel is space opera because it features a SF universe featuring multiple planets, travel through space, and scifi devices and weaponry, but the story has traces of the spy, noir, and action novel genres as well.

That said, the book has as many down moments as ups, which prevents it from being overall anything particularly special.  The story verges into silliness at more than a few moments, but it's never really a comedy overall, so some of these stories kind of stand out awkwardly - and our protagonist's competence seems to waiver with the plot's demands.  It's still a fun romp for much of it, but the book's repetitive use of certain tropes and the awkward humor prevent it from really reaching any higher levels beyond average.

Note: I read this as an audiobook.  The reader is fine if not anything special, but if you're considering the book in the audiobook format,

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Tuesday, November 12, 2019

SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: We Set the Dark On Fire by Tehlor Kay Mejia




We Set the Dark on Fire is a YA Dystopian Fantasy - the first in a Duology by Tehlor Kay Mejia.  I mention that first and foremost because it's  book without a complete ending really - it's a logical end point, but one that is clearly only the first half of a longer narrative.  So if you don't want to commit to that, you should stay away, as the sequel won't be out till early next year.  That said, if you do decide you might want to commit to that, this is a very solid book that will reward you for that commitment.

It's a story that very much follows a traditional sounding plotline but it takes it in interesting different directions, and executes it rather well.  The book is easily setup in a way that other stories might turn into a hetero romance story, but the book swerves instead into a F-F romance at its center, to go along with a plot featuring racial and class conflict and revolution.  The book is also excellent in showcasing the risks and rewards of those involved in such class conflict, and makes it clear better than most works how the actions aren't black and white, but in shades of gray.  To go along with its excellent character work, that makes We Set the Dark on Fire an excellent first half of the story, if a little brutal in its ending point.


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Monday, November 11, 2019

SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: A Shadow in Summer by Daniel Abraham




A Shadow in Summer is the first in Daniel Abraham's fantasy series, The Long Price Quartet.  I've never actually read anything by Abraham - nor have I read anything previously by Abraham and his various co-authors (for those unaware, Abraham is one half of James S.A. Corey, the pseudonym author of The Expanse books).  This is actually the first published book I see of Abraham's (it's possible wikipedia is incomplete) but it very much doesn't read like a debut work, setting up a complex world clearly based on a mixture of real life cultures, and following a number of characters with intersecting plot arcs.

The result is....pretty good, although very hard to describe.  Essentially the book combines the style of a Fantasy of Manners with the typical styles of Epic Fantasy - the book contains magic and a setting befitting that of epic fantasy, but takes place for the most part within a single city, with a plot based upon the characters maneuvering via diplomacy, political and personal gambits, and growing and breaking relationships.  As with much of the "Fantasy of Manners" genre (think Swordspoint), it's very much a slow burn of a book, but it pays off with excellent characters and a plot that had me on my seat waiting to see how things would play out.

Trigger Warning:  Forced Abortion (Magical).  A major part of the story involves a plot to trick a mage into using his power to abort a baby that is actually wanted by the mother.  The actual event happens off-page, but it does happen, and some readers may be turned off by the use of this plot mechanic in this way.

Note: I read this as an audiobook, and the reader is very good, even managing to hide a twist with creative use of voices, so I'd definitely recommend it in this format.  
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Thursday, November 7, 2019

SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo




Ninth House is a pretty hyped modern adult fantasy* novel by author Leigh Bardugo, known far more for her YA works.  I've not yet actually read any of her YA works, so this is my first experience with Bardugo - but Ninth House was getting a lot of press (it got a review in Vox, for example, which is not a frequent reviewer of genre books) so I reserved it some time before its release.

*I've said this before, but I define "Modern Fantasy" as a story taking place in a modern-esque setting with fantastical elements as compared to "Urban Fantasy" which also takes place in a modern world but one in which fantastical elements and creatures from fantasy stories are commonplace throughout - so most usually magical creatures and the like are present either openly or secretly but in such frequency to be a major part of the setting.  It's a definition of the subgenres that's really without meaning but I don't think "urban fantasy" gives the right impression for this book.

 And Ninth House is a really interesting and solid novel, a genre mystery story with strong themes of class and gender oppression, especially that of class.  The story is set on a version of Yale in which Yale's secret societies are in fact organizations devoted to different studies of magic, using these magics to enrich their members and alumni.  Into this world is dropped our protagonist, a high-school drop out who is enrolled into Yale because of her innate ability to see ghosts and supernatural phenomena, making her of great use to the societies' overseers - but who finds herself torn between her "town" (lower class) roots and her need to survive to escape the horrors of her past.  It's a really strong story with some really interesting themes, helped by a very strong lead character, and is well worth your time even if the mystery elements don't really work upon any close inspection.


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Wednesday, November 6, 2019

SciFi/Fantasy Book Review; Children of Earth and Sky by Guy Gavriel Kay




I was a latecomer to the work of Canadian fantasy author, Guy Gavriel Kay, with me only reading my first Kay novel earlier this year.  And well, I really loved that first experience with Kay's work, in his most recent work, A Brightness Long Ago (Review Here), so it was never going to take me long to try and catch up with Kay's backlog.  Children of Earth and Sky is another book in the same universe as A Brightness Long Ago (ABLA was essentially a stand-alone sequel) - Kay's low fantasy version of Europe - so it was a logical next book for me to try.

And again I really enjoyed Children of Earth and Sky quite a bit, for much the same reasons as A Brightness Long Ago.  Like that other book, it's an incredibly character focused story, following a set of major characters - and a few others - and really lacking a major plot other than to follow a set of characters as they find themselves caught up in the events of this pastiche renaissance Europe.  It's a slow-paced book that often jumps between characters we haven't seen in quite a while, but Kay manages to give even the minorest of characters real life and depth - making them interesting to read - so that it always works, culminating in a rather satisfying ending for all involved.

More after the jump:


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Monday, November 4, 2019

SciFi/Fantasy Novella: The Deep by Rivers Solomon (with clipping)


Full Disclosure:  This work was read as an e-ARC (Advance Reader Copy) obtained via Netgalley from the publisher in advance of the book's release on November 5 2019 in exchange for a potential review.  I give my word that this did not affect my review in any way - if I felt conflicted in any way, I would simply have declined to review the book.

The Deep by Rivers Solomon (with an assist from the band "clipping.").

The Deep is one of the more highly anticipated novellas of the year in the SF/F world due to the story's unique origins: the novella is inspired and takes its name from an afrofuturist (afrofantasy?) song of the same name by clipping - the band that includes Daveed Diggs, and has branched into SF/F in its songs more than a few times.  In fact the original song actually earned its own Hugo nomination, featuring a fantasy world in which the children of pregnant African slaves thrown overboard during the slave trade morph into beings who can live under the sea and eventually come into conflict with surface dwellers.  And the author who is adapting that song into this novella, Rivers Solomon, was twice a Campbell nominee for Best New Writer, with the powerful but tragic novel: The Unkindness of Ghosts.  So yeah, it's got one hell of a pedigree.

The novella features that same origin concept, but is its own inspired story with the themes you would expect, and perhaps a few you wouldn't - themes of a people being thrown away, a people being forced to adapt, of the value of memories and history to a people that may be dying off/be split apart, and of one's self.  It's a fascinating work, and well worth your time, making good on the promise of its pedigree.


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