Monday, November 30, 2020

SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: Paper and Fire by Rachel Caine

 



Paper and Fire is the second book in Rachel Caine's "Great Library" series, following Ink and Bone (reviewed here).  The Great Library puts a different spin (for me at least) of a classical SF/F trope - the all powerful library who preserves knowledge for mankind....except here, the Library (of Alexandria in this alternate Earth) is a fascist controlling entity, not a real force for good.  I enjoyed the first book's setting and character work, but it's ending was a bit brutal, even for me, and I was a bit hesitant to continue on given that.  Still, since one of my favorite authors was recommending it, I opted to give it one more book in the series a try before I gave up.

And I'm rather glad I did, because Paper and Fire mostly avoids the tropes and character-usage that I feared after book 1, and continues a story that is hard not to get completely caught up in.  Most of the lead characters remain fascinating to read about and the story continues to drop hints about things going in the background that make it all so hard not to keep reading, so that we can finally see how it all pays off.  And again, we deal with themes about the power of knowledge, the value of knowledge vs that of a life, and more.  It's still not a perfect book with some clear issues, but it's better and I'll be continuing on to book 3 soon enough.

Note 1:  I read this as an audiobook, and the reader is very good, but if as a result I misspell some names/places below that's why.

Note 2:  Again the plot summary on Amazon is bad, so don't read it as it spoils events that occur in the last 10% of the book.  If you liked the first book, you'll like this.  

Note 3:  SPOILERS for book 1 are unhidden below, as they are unavoidable.

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Friday, November 27, 2020

SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: Ink and Bone by Rachel Caine



Ink and Bone is the first book in Rachel Caine's "Great Library" series of alternate history SF/ novels, the fifth and final book of which came out in 2019.  Caine was* an author I've seen fairly respected on twitter and I've always wanted at some point to try her out, but well she has a substantial back catalog so it was hard to figure out where to begin.  But when Kate Elliott and Zoraida Córdova began a bimonthly reread of this series on the Tor.com blog, well that made my choice of starting point fairly obvious, and I wanted to catch up to them if I could.  Fortunately, the Hoopla eLibrary has the whole thing in audiobook, so it was easy to pick up.

*Caine, real name Roxanne Conrad, passed away from cancer between the time I finished the last audiobook in this series and this one.  I only wish I'd gotten to her work before this.  

And well, Ink and Bone is a very interesting start to a series, one in which I'm not sure is for me.  Like many SF/F series, it's a book centered in large part around a powerful Library - in this case an alternate Library of Alexandria that survived and expanded throughout the world, using magic to control the flow of books.  But unlike most of those series I've read, the Library is not a force for good - it's essentially a Fascist international power that uses its absolute control of the flow of information for its own ends, and the world that this takes place in is a dark dark place as a result.  Into this world comes our 16/17 year old protagonist and a group of friends who are supposedly training to become part of the Library...only to run into the realities of this world.  It's well done mostly, but the darkness and where Caine takes it goes in certain directions I don't particularly love...but that may be more of a matter of personal taste.

Note:  The Book Summary on Amazon/Other-Booksellers, which I presume is also on the book's back cover, is awful and spoils an even that occurs in the last two 10% of the book.  It's not really a surprise when it happens, but you're still better off avoiding that book summary if you can.  

Note2:  I read this as an audiobook, and I would recommend it in that format: the reader is very good, with solid different voices for basically every character, and really adds to the experience.  

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Thursday, November 26, 2020

SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: Miss Meteor by Tehlor Kay Mejia and Anna-Marie McLemore

 


Miss Meteor is a short YA novel co-written by authors Tehlor Kay Mejia (We Set the Dark on Fire) and Anna-Marie McLemore (Blanca & Roja).  It's more of a YA queer teenage rom-com than a fantasy novel - the fantasy element here is one of the main characters literally comes from the stars but that's more a metaphorical plot device than anything, so if you're looking for a clear genre work, you're not going to find it here.  This is the tale of two 16 year old girls who don't quite fit in - two brown hispanic girls, one pansexual tomboy and one short and stocky who talks to cacti for fun, and neither in any sense popular.

And this is a tale that is just incredible sweet and charming and had me smiling by its end, in sheer joy at how things turn out.  Our two protagonists feel both totally real and easy to root for, as they strive just one time to make something for themselves, and the romances they get involved in are just so so sweet, even if it takes them both a long time to figure it out.  The side characters are well done as are the antagonists, and while the general description totally could come out of a classical teenage rom-com, it all takes place instead in a world filled with people who classically didn't get to be in those Hollywood works - the Hispanic/non-white-skinned girls, the poor communities in small towns, and those who aren't cis or straight.  The result is a YA book that will absolutely be a darling to a populace who badly needs books like this, and I'd recommend it for others as well.  

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Wednesday, November 25, 2020

SciFi/Fantasy Anthology Review: A Universe of Wishes, edited by Dhonielle Clayton

 

Full Disclosure:  This book was read as an e-ARC (Advance Reader Copy) obtained via Netgalley from the publisher in advance of the book's release on December 8, 2020 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.

A Universe of Wishes is an anthology from "We Need Diverse Books", an organization that is exactly what it says on the tin, featuring a variety of short stories from prominent "diverse" (usually meaning non White Male here) authors in SciFi/Fantasy writing today and edited by author Dhonielle Clayton.  I've enjoyed a few of the authors listed on its manifest - Tochi Onyebuchi, Mark Oshiro, Zoraida Córdova - among others, so I was excited to give this one a try when I saw it pop up on NetGalley.  

The result is however, even more uneven than I'm used to from short fiction anthologies, with some pretty great stories spread out alongside some pretty big whiffs.  Some of the whiffs mind you are because at least two of the stories take place in their authors' preexisting worlds (only one of which I've read), and thus don't feel complete outside the context of those worlds.  The anthology also doesn't, oddly to my view, provide an explanation for the background of each author to demonstrate to the reader where their voice comes from (and what makes it "diverse,"), leaving me a bit confused about a few of the authors who were selected for this collection.*  Still there's enough good stuff here from really great writers to be worth your time, especially for YA-age readers, even if it's not my favorite anthology of the year.

*It is usually not an author's obligation to explain their background to the reader - it's their private business whether they may in fact be mixed race or queer despite their appearances on the surface for example, and questions to them about these things are kind of icky.  But when the anthology is based upon voices being from not the dominant group - a diverse group - it's weird to me when there's not even an attempt at this, especially given at least a few of the authors included seem to be white women, who I don't count myself as "diverse" in the space of genre anymore.*  

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Tuesday, November 24, 2020

SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: King of the Rising by Kacen Callender

 


Full Disclosure:  This book was read as an e-ARC (Advance Reader Copy) obtained via Netgalley from the publisher in advance of the book's release on December 1, 2020 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.


King of the Rising is the second book in Kacen Callender's "Islands of Blood and Storm" duology, which began with last year's "Queen of the Conquered.  Queen of the Conquered was my pick for best SF/F book of 2019 (My review here) and it recently picked up the World Fantasy Award for Best Novel.  It was a tremendously (brutal to read) novel about a black woman in an enslaved/colonized group of islands (inspired by Callender's home of the US Virgin Islands) who uses her magic (mind controlling) and wits not to free her people, but to obtain power and vengeance instead, no matter the cost.  Not to spoil anything before the jump, but it concluded with an absolutely devastating ending that made me both excited and terrified to see what Callender would do with a sequel that switched protagonists from someone so morally gray (to be generous) to someone actually good.  

And King of the Rising delivers, with a continuation of the story that is just as tremendously powerful, but in a very different way.  The story shift's focus to the perspective of Løren, the young man whose approval the last book's protag Sigourney tried to obtain...even as she held his reins as her slave.  Løren is a very different protagonist in that he's somehow an idealist - having experienced the pains of slavery and seen all its horrors, he's determined that the result of their revolution will be a better world not constrained by the ruling attitudes of the Fjern slave masters...but as with the last book, this is not a series about the triumph of the good, and things do not go easily for him despite his good intentions.  Add in a well done setting that shows us the perspectives of the various enslaved and formerly enslaved people on the Islands, and you wind up with another devastating novel, even if it has a few more flaws than its predecessor.  

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Monday, November 23, 2020

SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab

 



The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue marks the fifth book I've read by author V.E. Schwab, an author whose work I've had conflicted feelings about.  Schwab's prose has always worked really well for me, making it easy for me to devour her books with ease and with speed - which is not something I can say for every writer, even writers I enjoy.  On the other hand, the final products of that prose haven't always actually worked for me as well as others, with me pretty much hating the final book of her Darker Shade of Magic trilogy (A Conjuring of Light) and not really caring enough about her This Savage Song to go on to its sequel, even if I liked the earlier books/parts of those volumes.  Still, it had been over 2 years since I read one of her books - longer than I've been writing on this blog in fact - and so with this latest novel getting good press, I couldn't help but pick it up. 

And The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue is generally pretty good and enjoyable - a lovely story of life and love that I devoured once again fairly quickly.  It takes a premises I've read at least once if not twice before - the idea of a woman who is immediately forgotten by everyone the moment she leaves their sight  (see for example - the Sudden Appearance of Hope) - and makes it into a cohesive story about loneliness and love that kept me enthralled, with two really damn strong lead characters.  There are, like the other Schwab books I've read, a number of annoying quirks in the way, which mar it a little, but only a little, so I can actually recommend this one to others to read as something I've liked.

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Friday, November 20, 2020

Horror/Fantasy Novella Review: The Route of Ice and Salt by José Luis Zárate (translated by David Bowles)

 

Full Disclosure:  This book was read as an e-ARC (Advance Reader Copy) obtained via Netgalley from the publisher in advance of the book's release on January 19, 2021 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 Route of Ice and Salt by José Luis Zárate (translated by David Bowles)

The Route of Ice and Salt is a novella originally published in 1998 in Mexico by a small press trying to break into the local Science Fiction and Fantasy market with Mexican authors.  The novella was an adaptation of a small part of Bram Stoker's Dracula, namely the shipment of Dracula to England on the doomed ship Demeter, with the story being told from the point of view of its ill fated captain, now reimagined as a gay man in the homophobic world of 1897.  The novella apparently became a cult hit in Mexico (even though its publisher failed) and was translated into French at one point, but only now is being translated into English for English-speaking audiences.

It's an impressive work, especially when given the context in which it was produced, in presenting a gay man in a homophobic time, confronted with horror and finding it in himself to proclaim his own value at the end in the face of that horror.  I should add that this edition of the work comes backed with not one but three explanations of this context - a foreword by Silvia Moreno-Garcia explaining the context of its publication, a new foreword by the author as to why he would write a story about a Vampire and monsters, and an afterword by Poppy Z Brite on the literary connections between vampires and homosexuality and how that history applies to the novella.  So it's kind of hard to miss what this novella is doing in this package given all that comes with it, but fortunately, what it's doing is fairly well done.
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Thursday, November 19, 2020

SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: Empire of Wild by Cherie Dimaline

 




Empire of Wild is the second novel* from Cherie Dimaline, a Canadian writer from the Métis community.  Her first novel, The Marrow Thieves, was a really strong (I reviewed it here) post apocalyptic YA novel in which the Native community was once again hunted for something the rest of the world didn't have (dreams).  So I was really interested to see Dimaline's first book for "adult" audiences and so here we are.

*Confusingly, the book's marketing lists this as her "American Debut," despite the fact that her first book was published in the far away land of Canada and was highly acclaimed in both countries.*

And Empire of Wild is a solid novel....but I kind of expected more from it after The Marrow Thieves?  It's a story of a woman in the Métis community trying to get back her husband from a White Christian preaching group run by a man who might be a mythological Métis monster, who has aims on using his preaching business to enable the continued appropriation of Métis/Native resources.  And it works, with believable characters and an interesting plotline from beginning to conclusion, but it honestly does less than I expected after her first book.  I don't know, this might be an expectations problem more than anything and let me try to better explain after the jump.

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Wednesday, November 18, 2020

SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: Each of Us a Desert by Mark Oshiro

 




Each of Us a Desert is a YA Fantasy novel by author Mark Oshiro and is their second novel.  I missed their first novel (Anger is a Gift) but from twitter they've been on my radar for quite a while, and so I put this book on hold a while back.  Naturally it came in when I had a billion other books to get to, and I was tempted to send it back and put it back on hold for later.  

I'm really glad I resisted that temptation, because Each of Us a Desert is....something, something really damn impressive.  It's a tale of a young woman in a post-apocalyptic world, who has a magical gift that has bound her seemingly to only one destiny...who travels the world in search of something else, and finds what she could never have expected.  It's a tale of human ugliness at times, of how we justify evil behavior and try to make excuses for it, but it's also one of love and finding oneself, and of determining a better way forward.  

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Tuesday, November 17, 2020

SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: A Song of Wraiths and Ruin by Roseanne A. Brown

 




A Song of Wraiths and Ruin is a book that I had on hold in various forms for a while - it was one of a trio of books decently hyped up books by women of color that came out around the same date in June, and was the only one of the trio that I couldn't quickly get my hands on.  It's author Roseanne A. Brown's debut novel, and a young adult fantasy tale inspire by West-African folktales, which naturally piqued my interest.  So I had this on hold from my physical library via inter-library loan and via audiobook vis the NYPL, and naturally it came in through both of those ways simultaneously.  

And I really enjoyed A Song of Wraiths and Ruin and definitely look forward to its sequel (this is apparently the first half of a duology).  The story features what is a pretty typical young adult framework: two protagonists, one from a place of privilege and one not, of opposite genders, meet each other, fall in love and have their views changed as things go to hell.  And yet, the book never takes the easy way out with that framework, and builds its characters in interestingly different directions all the way to a point which provides both a satisfying ending and a tantalizing cliffhanger at the same time.  

Note:  I read this as an audiobook, and this is yet another book that decides to use two audio-narrators: a male reader for the male protag and a female reader for the female protag.  Both readers are very solid, but their voices for their characters don't really come close to one another, which is a bit annoying.

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Monday, November 16, 2020

SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: Sword in the Stars by A. R. Capetta and Cory McCarthy

 




Sword in the Stars is the sequel to A.R. Capetta and Cory McCarty's "Once and Future" - and the conclusion of this duology, which features a genderflipped queer scifi take on the King Arthur Mythos.  I really enjoyed the first novel - it wasn't truly a great novel, but it was a lot of fun with how self aware it was, with takes on Arthur (Ari, a lesbian woman of color fighting against an galaxy-spanning evil corporation) and Merlin (a gay man who ages backwards and is now a young man) that felt somehow fresh despite the old mythos used, and a plot that mostly worked from beginning to end.  I say mostly, because the book sort of felt like it threw a cliffhanger together out of nowhere that didn't really work, which annoyed me.  

But the cliffhanger leads into this book, Sword in the Stars, which concludes this series, and it's everything again I enjoyed about the first book, only with a shift into the classical Arthur timeline.  And yet, it stays self-aware, deals with themes like whitewashing and straight-washing the past, and above all remains really damn fun, with strong characters and plotting that would frequently make me smile.  Again, nothing about this is really that strong to make me consider this some kind of must-read, but it's still incredibly enjoyable and well worth any young adult reader's time - or even adult looking for some fun.  

Spoilers for Once & Future are inevitable below:

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Thursday, November 12, 2020

SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: Lost Gods by Micah Yongo


Lost Gods is the first in an epic fantasy series by Micah Yongo. It was a book I'd wanted to read for a long time after I saw a couple of people on twitter praise it except for some odd reason, my libraries never had a copy despite it coming from a major publisher. Oddly enough, I wound up getting an advance copy of this book's sequel (which I didn't realize was a sequel due to how the book was marketed) Pale Kings a while back and reviewed it without having read this book.  And I actually enjoyed Pale Kings, although I couldn't help but wonder if I might've gone as far as loved it if I'd had the background from reading book 1.  

And Lost Gods apparently turned up at the NYPL, so I took it out, and what I found was...an interesting fantasy novel that just didn't quite fascinate me as much as I'd hoped.  There was a solid world setup here with a very solid main plot, but separate side plots that popped up from time to time really never felt like more than a distraction, and were rather hard to care about.  I vaguely recall the second book doing better in this regard, and I do feel the urge to reread the second book now, so it's still a solid series starter by any means, and I really do hope the trilogy is completed at some point in the future.

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Wednesday, November 11, 2020

SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: The Fires of Vengeance by Evan Winter

 

Disclaimer:  This review is based upon an e-ARC provided by the publisher in exchange for a review.  I give my word that my reactions and review below are not affected by this and that this review is entirely fair and unbiased.  If I felt unable to review this book without bias, I would not have reviewed it.


The Fires of Vengeance is the second book in Evan Winter's "The Burning" epic fantasy series, which began with The Rage of Dragons.  That first book, which I believe was originally self published before being picked up by Orbit, was a hell of a start to a brutal new epic fantasy series (Review Here) inspired by Winter's Xhosa heritage and which dealt with issues of class, race, revenge, and colonization.  I compared the first book in that review to the anime Berserk because well: you had a revenge driven protagonist willing to go to unthinkable lengths to get stronger and achieve his goals in a world that is absolutely arrayed against him.  It ended in brutal form, and I was absolutely thrilled to get an early copy to read the sequel.  

And well, The Fires of Vengeance is an impressive follow-up, in pretty much all the ways you would imagine.  Our protagonist Tau remains a compelling determinator as he tries to wreak his vengeance in a world that seemingly wants more and more of him, and the series' side characters, both new and old, get some strong development as well to build this world up.  And we continue to deal with serious themes all the while.  Combine it all with some impressive writing that uses different points of view in some rather clever ways, and well, this is another winner.  

Note:  If you couldn't tell from the first book, this is an absolutely brutal book, bordering on grimdark.  If you enjoyed the first one and were able to deal with that, there's little here that will change your mind, although I guess I should add a Trigger Warning for SUICIDE.  

Spoilers for book 1 are inevitable to follow:

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Tuesday, November 10, 2020

SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: Medusa in the Graveyard by Emily Devenport



Medusa in the Graveyard is the sequel to 2018's Medusa Uploaded, a scifi novel which I reviewed here.  Medusa Uploaded - which I read as an audiobook - was an.....interesting book to say the least: in short, it was an utter mess, jumping back and forth in time for seemingly no reason, with characters acting in utterly unrealistic ways, and a plot that just got more and more crazy as our crazy and borderline psychopathic heroine learned more about her home, a generation ship (for example: our protagonist got thrown out an airlock at least five times).  But here's the thing: while it was an utter mess, it was an utterly fun mess, one where I really couldn't wait to see what our protagonist would do next. 

Medusa in the Graveyard is a similar book in many ways - it's again an utter mess, the characters act and talk (oh especially talk) in utterly insane ways, our protagonist is again kind of nuts. - but it loses a lot of the fun, honestly.  The book separates our main protagonist from her best ally - Medusa, the deadly tentacled AI machine - and expands the universe, but rarely gives the protagonist a chance to make any decisions on her own to change the outcomes, instead putting her on a journey through crazy new places where she is pinballed around in other beings' agendas.  Those beings are kind of interesting, but not nearly as interesting as our protagonist used to be, and removing her agency in favor of her melodrama is a losing trade, and makes this one not nearly as fun as its predecessor.

Note: I read this as an audiobook, so if I misspell any terms or names below, I apologize.  The audiobook reader is very good though at accentuating the bonkersness. 


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Monday, November 9, 2020

SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: The Burning God by R.F. Kuang

 



The Burning God is the third and final book in R.F. Kuang's "Poppy War" trilogy, which began with The Poppy War in 2018 (which I reviewed here) and continued in last year's The Dragon Republic (reviewed here).  The trilogy has been one of the most remarkable things I've read in the past few years - a brutal fantasy tale based heavily upon the events in China in the early 20th century, beginning with the Sino-Japanese Wars and continuing with events relating to China's colonization by forces of the West.  And I do mean brutal - this story is absolutely not afraid to go deep into fantasy versions of historical atrocities and then some, although it has never been gratuitous and always for creating a fascinating dark story of a girl from nothing (and others) driven to madness and destruction. 

Kuang has said in interviews that the trilogy's protagonist Fang Runin is a fantasy take on Mao, and as such, The Burning God takes the story in that direction....sort of.  It's an absolutely tremendous trilogy-ender, even if it didn't quite fully work in the middle third, with the story taking on serious themes of occupation and colonization, the brutal costs of war and the impossibility of rebuilding, and what is left for a person in the world after all the horrible acts they may have committed.  And of course, the story tackles the cycles of love and hate, with its two trios of characters finally getting their resolutions.  It's an incredible work, one in which people could probably write essays, but well, I'm just doing this review.  Let's give it a shot.

Note: This review is based upon an ARC that I won off a Goodreads giveaway, so it's possible that there were some minor alterations to the text in the final version.  Nothing I can do about that, and it's unlikely to affect my review, but fair warning.    

TRIGGER WARNING: Mass Death, Graves, Executions, and more atrocities are committed off and sometimes on page here, although any rape that is mentioned is off page and nowhere near as prevalent as in prior volumes.  But if you've gotten through the first two books with their far harsher content, you'll be okay here.

Spoilers for the first two books follow.

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Sunday, November 8, 2020

SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: Daughter of the Moon by Effie Calvin

 



Full Disclosure:  This book was read as an e-ARC (Advance Reader Copy) obtained via Netgalley from the publisher in advance of the book's release on November 9, 2020 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.

Daughter of the Moon is the fifth book in Effie Calvin's Tales of Inytha series of F-F queer fantasy romance novels, which began with The Queen of Ieflaria (my review here) back in 2018.  The Tales of Inthya novels feature a fantasy world where mortals - mostly humans, but dragons and other creatures sometimes have significant roles - are often dealing with a group of meddling gods (among other things) as they wind up getting into trouble and romance.  It's a chaste romance series - the most you ever will see on page are kisses - but the books are short and genuinely charming for the most part, which is something I really could use right about now.  

And Daughter of the Moon is a highlight for the series, with a pair of protagonists who rank up near the top of any in the prior books.  The book takes place just a few months after the last book (The Empress of Xytae), and features a surprise character as one half of its protagonists while returning us to the city of Ieflaria.  There once again we have a pair of young women struggling to figure out what they have in life and why things have turned out in a certain way, who despite all odds fall in love with the process: to the consternation and pleasure of some of the goddesses.  You can probably read this book without reading the rest of the series, although you'll probably want to read book 4 at least before this one.  But either way, you'll enjoy this one, even if it continues a trend from book 4 that's a bit awkward.

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Friday, November 6, 2020

Fantasy Novelette Review: Frostgilded by Stephanie Burgis

 


Frostgilded by Stephanie Burgis


Frostgilded is a novelette in Stephanie Burgis' "The Harwood Spellbook" series of romantic fantasy/fantasy romance short novels and novellas.  In fact it's billed as an epilogue to the series.  Unsurprisingly, this is not going to be for you if you haven't read the rest of the series - but as someone who read the series in incorrect order and really loved its sweet enjoyable take on fantasy romance, it's an absolute joy to read - which is something I really in 2020.

More after the jump: This will be a short review because this is a shorter story than I usually review.  You can purchase Frostgilded from this universal link in most formats by the way.

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Fantasy Novella Review: The Four Profound Weaves by R. B. Lemberg

 


The Four Profound Weaves by R. B. Lemberg:

The Four Profound Weaves is the debut published novella of R. B. Lemberg and a work in her Birdverse, a queer universe with a Bird deity (literally named "Bird") who comes for souls upon their death.  This novella apparently follows up on a Nebula-nominated novelette, but requires no prior knowledge of any of Lemberg's prior work and has been talked up and praised by a ton of authors online, so I was really excited that my own library actually had ordered a copy.  

And the praise was really justified.  The blurb on top of my copy from Annalee Newitz praises this work as "The anti-authoritarian queer mystical fairy tale that we need right now", and honestly I'm not sure I can put it much better (I have to try, otherwise I wouldn't have a review).  This is a story of two queer people - older people in their 60s mind you - on a journey to find their destinies that puts them against those who would confine them to particular roles, who would destroy and lock away all hope, all for the sake of greed and tradition.  And it's so very good at that.  

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Thursday, November 5, 2020

SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: Nophek Gloss by Essa Hansen

 



Full Disclosure:  This book was read as an e-ARC (Advance Reader Copy) obtained via Netgalley from the publisher in advance of the book's release on November 17, 2020 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.

Nophek Gloss is the debut novel (and first of a trilogy) by author Essa Hansen.  It's a Space Opera novel (sort of?), a Vengeance tale, a tale of growing up....it's a lot of things.  It's also a novel I'd heard basically nothing about prior to its listing on Netgalley, but I figured I'd give it a shot when I saw it posted.  

And well, it's a really interesting novel that made me want more, with some clear limitations.  It's an interesting mix of high concept (not my thing) scifi/fantasy and character-focused SF/F (very much my thing), with a main cast that will draw comparisons to many other Sci Fi stories - the book's blurbs reference Firefly, Wayfarers, and Revenger, for instance.  And the character work is really interesting, featuring developments that always remain interesting...except they don't always seem to quite follow from the setup that comes before.  This is in no way a short book, but it almost feels at times like its missing pages, and yet again, I'm really damn interesting in seeing where this goes next.  

Note:  The plot summary of this novel is fine on retailers, but it does spoil a plot development that occurs like halfway through the book, which isn't really ideal.  

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Wednesday, November 4, 2020

SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: Catherine House by Elisabeth Thomas



Catherine House is a gothic fiction novel by debut author Elisabeth Thomas.  It's a short but really fascinating novel, featuring as its setting (a key element of gothic fiction) a fictional small "liberal arts" university, in which students spend 3 years in complete isolation from the rest of the world, with no phone, internet, or other media connection to the outside.  Of course, as is the point of gothic fiction, what is really going on at this college is more than first meets the eye.

And again, the result is really interesting, even if I'm not sure how I think about it even after a full day to contemplate it all.  It's a novel that takes the theme of colleges manipulating and abusing the trust of their students and makes it almost literal, and the lead character is incredibly devastating to read - a young woman with nothing left to live for outside going into a place she doesn't quite know what to think of - and doesn't even think she wants - except that she knows it has to be better than what's outside.....

More thoughts after the jump:

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Monday, November 2, 2020

SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: Abaddon's Gate by James S.A. Corey




Abaddon's Gate is the third book in James S.A. Corey's "The Expanse" series of space opera novels, following the second novel in the series, Caliban's War.  The series through two novels has always been a ton of fun, with a really enjoyable set of characters (led by the way too earnest James "Jim" Holden), which has made me feel stupid for taking so long to get to it (in my defense at one point I was trying to watch the TV show blind).  It's not a particularly serious series in terms of providing interesting themes and discussions, but it's still very fun to read.

Abaddon's Gate is probably my least favorite of the series so far to be honest, but it's still another strong installment in the series that I had to resist trying to stay up late and finish in a single day.  Following on the sequel hook from the 2nd book, Jim Holden and crew - plus a whole new batch of characters - find themselves once again at the forefront of a conflict that could drastically alter the balance of power for humanity, caused by a new change in the alien protomolecule.  There's little particularly serious here, except perhaps an argument about humanity's reactions to things, but it still works pretty well.


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