Tuesday, February 28, 2023

SciFi/Fantasy Anthology Review: Africa Risen, Edited by Sheree Renée Thomas, Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki, and Zelda Knight

 
Full Disclosure:  This book was read as an e-ARC Audiobook (Advance Reader Copy) obtained via NetGalley from the publisher in advance of the book's release on November 15, 2022 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.

Africa Risen is an anthology of short science fiction and fantasy stories from writers of African and African Diaspora Descent, with the stories collected by and edited by Sheree Renée Thomas, Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki, and Zelda Knight. This anthology, unlike others (like the Dominion Anthology which was also edited by Ekpeki and Knight), is concentrated entirely on shorter stories - if anything here exceed's the word count for the Hugo Short Story category, it is not by much. But don't mistake that for this being a small anthology, as the book contains Thirty Two (32!) different short stories from African or African Diaspora authors, including both more known authors (Tananarive Due, Tobias S. Buckell, Steven Barnes, etc.) and ones I haven't and others most likely haven't heard of before.

Just to be clear, short stories are not my favorite format of story to read and review - I prefer longer stories that have more room for characters and ideas to develop, even if they don't need to reach novella length. So take my review with a bit of a grain of salt - there are a bunch of stories here which to me feel like incomplete, like they're the start of a longer story, and for me those stories don't really satisfy...but obviously they do for others, given this is far from the first collection I've read with them. But even taking that as a given, Africa Risen does contain a number of stories I liked quite a bit, to go along with a perspective that is not the one most Western readers are familiar with, so it's certainly worth a recommend for those looking for SF/F short fiction.

TRIGGER WARNINGS: Rape, Sexual Abuse, Child Abuse, Racism, Sexism, Homophobia. All of these issues are used well in their respectives stories and are never superfluous, but the anthology does NOT contain warnings that a particular story contains certain triggering issues, so if you have issues reading about them, there isn't really a guide of which stories you might want to skip.

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Monday, February 27, 2023

SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: VenCo by Cherie Dimaline

 


Full Disclosure: This book was read as an e-ARC Audiobook (Advance Reader Copy) obtained via Netgalley from the publisher in advance of the book's release on February 7, 2023 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.

Venco is the latest novel from Métis author Cherie Dimaline, known in large part for her award winning YA novel The Marrow Thieves and who also has written adult contemporary fantasy with her book Empire of Wild. Dimaline's works have dealt heavily with the indigenous communities of North America (not just Métis peoples) as they deal with life in the modern world...or oppression in near future ones, and are often harsh and brutal. But that harshness and brutality is to good extent, and her books tackle strong themes effectively and leave you with lasting impressions, especially as to the injustices that are very real around us. I imagined VenCo, a novel advertised as witches fighting against the patriarchy, would similarly hit upon such themes, and with some of the advertised blurbs mentoining it as being full of "adventure" and "funny", I was eager to give my advance copy at try.

Those blurbs turned out to be a bit misleading, as while there are humorous points, VenCo is a serious and often dark book featuring a Métis woman and her grandmother discovering a potential coven of witches and going on a chase for a final seventh wish - and a magical spoon - which could help them somehow dismantle a patriarchy that keeps women and people who don't fit into male stereotypes down. The book has a notably dark antagonist (see below trigger warning) that kind of keep it from ever being funny, but its lead characters are very charming and easy to enjoy and the plot largely works as it does hit upon its main themes. The book also avoids the way too common binary dichotomy of men vs women and makes clear that gender isn't a binary, and that the patriarchy keeps down trans, NB, and other individuals as well, with such characters considered possible parts of the coven as well, which I appreciated. That said, the setting felt very incomplete and the triggering material almost overshadowed this book at times, and didn't quite always feel necessary, which made it hard for me to really love VenCo.

TRIGGER WARNING: Sexual Assault/Rape, in an unconventional sense at least. The antagonist in this book is like the personification of the oppression of Patriarchal Societies, and he has magical powers that include mind-influencing and terrifying, such that even if he never explicitly on page rapes anyone (although he sort of tries at one point), he more or less arouses involuntary sexual responses from those who get in his way (and not in a "he's hot way", but like a "forces a male character to think about women and masterbate type of way" - I may not be describing this right, but I have no interest in going back and rereading that sequence) It's rough to read, and while it fits the themes...it might be a bit much. Also this novel includes homophobia, transphobia, sexism, and more of that ilk.

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Thursday, February 23, 2023

SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: Foul Lady Fortune by Chloe Gong

 


Foul Lady Fortune is the first of a new Historical YA Fantasy Duology from author Chloe Gong. More specifically, it's the first in a duology that follows up on Gong's earlier duology, These Violent Delights/Our Violent Ends, which were adaptations of Romeo and Juliet, except with the story transferred to 1926-1927 Shanghai, a city divided by Imperialist outside powers and facing a coming internal struggle between local communist and nationalist Chinese forces, with a magical fantasy touch added alongside it all. And the combination of it all was fantastic: for example, the altered versions of Romeo and Juliet (Roma Montagov of the Largely Russian White Flower gang and Juliette Cai of the Chinese White Flowers Gang) were terrific unique characters on their own, especially the incredibly vicious and deadly Juliette, and had tremendous chemistry even as the book took their romance for a different spin than the original and the side characters and depth and developments of their own. Meanwhile the setting allowed Gong to deal with real life issues like the imperialism and colonialism of the time and historical atrocities (like the Shanghai Massacre) carried out by the factions in power, as the characters found themselves caught up in the middle of it. It was a really well done duology and I do highly recommend it (My review of the first book in it is HERE). 

Foul Lady Fortune doesn't require you to read that duology, but I suspect you probably should first as the story takes place 4 years later with one of the side characters of that duology, Rosalind Lang, who was dramatically altered by the events of that duology (which it somewhat spoils), and now finds herself an assassin/spy for the Nationalists in a Shanghai no longer just beset by Western foreign powers, but also now more menacingly by the Japanese, as the Japanese begin to ramp up to full on invasion. Unfortunately, it doesn't work nearly as well as the former duology - the story attempts to use similar historical background to ramp up the tensions and show the struggle with outside power colonialism, but the story doesn't really make much of the Japanese's impact on Shanghai unlike the prior duology (although that will likely change in book 2), and the story's attempt to use the communist/nationalist conflict struggles because there's no emphasis or explanation of what these factions actually were (and the characters we know on each side tend to cooperate with each other anyway). More importantly, while the book focuses on a new couple in Rosalind and new character Orion, neither is anywhere near as interesting on their own and their romantic chemistry is not nearly as strong as in the first book, with the side characters similarly not clicking for me as being really that interesting or having much about them that doesn't revolve around the main duo. The result is a book that is kind of a disappointment and which I was very tempted to not-finish at one point.

Spoilers for the original duology do exist below, but I'll try to minimize them to the extent possible.

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Wednesday, February 22, 2023

SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: Spice Road by Maiya Ibrahim

 



Full Disclosure: This book was read as an e-ARC Audiobook (Advance Reader Copy) obtained via NetGalley from the publisher in advance of the book's release on January 24, 2023 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.

Spice Road is the debut of Australian author Maiya Ibrahim, and the first in an young adult epic fantasy trilogy inspired by Arabian Myth (for example, Djinn) and seemingly the history of Arabic states in the Middle East that faced colonization from European/White outsiders. The novel features a City blessed with magic that is hidden from the outside world - and which teaches that the outside world does not exist - all the while facing occasional attacks from djinn and other magical monsters. But when the novel's protagonist Imani discovers that not only does the outside world exist, but that her disappeared brother went to it with the secrets of their magic, she embarks with a group of others on a mission to bring him back...only to discover the world isn't what she thought.

It's a setup that wouldn't really be unique in a Western form, and while the shift to Arabian Myth and themes of the horrors of colonization (inspired by real life) give life to this book, it really still struggles to be much more than the collection of tropes and plot points the book tries to hit. The book struggles to really setup each plot point, such that its lead character Imani seems to do things or believe things just because that's what you'd expect in a book like this, rather than because of earnest character development. And the book's use of these themes and issues is so unsubtle (particularly its literal use of the word "colonizer") so as to strain credibility. The book isn't bad, and its themes are generally fine if a bit muddled, but after a decent early start, it just never really gets to the point where it feels like something interesting on its own, instead of just another of many books using similar themes and plot points (like its incredibly perfunctory romance). As such I'm unlikely to continue this trilogy from here.

More specifics after the jump:

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Tuesday, February 21, 2023

SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: Midnight Robber by Nalo Hopkinson

 




Midnight Robber is a 2000 novel by Jamaican-Canadian writer Nalo Hopkinson.  The novel earned a Hugo Nomination for Best Novel back in 2000, only to lose to Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, which is a choice that in retrospect (and really at the time) looks pretty bad, but well that's what you get with an award by popular vote.  The novel is written pretty much entirely in Jamaican Patois, with its science fiction setting takes place on two worlds: a world called Toussaint settled by people of largely Afro-Caribbean descent and a prison/exile planet in another dimension called New Half Way Tree, where the humans there struggle to survive in various ways among alien megafauna and indigenous/alien peoples.  The result may be difficult for many western - especially White - audiences to read, even before we get to the book's very difficult material.  

But even English readers unfamiliar with Patois or Pidgin languages should be able to read this book comfortably after a bit, and if they make the effort, they will find a book that is incredibly deep, as it weaves Afro-Caribbean folklore and ideas to tell a story about abuse, about moving past it and guilt, about the various often awful ways humanity responds to challenge and adversity, about colonialism, prejudice and ignorance towards indigenous cultures, and more.  The book is really well done, featuring both a main narrative, told by a mysterious narrator in asides, and occasional aside stories that interrupt the narrative to convey the feelings and changes that have gone on.  It's a story that is a coming of age story, and could arguably be considered YA, but should definitely appeal to readers of adult ages as well (although it's certainly not fit for most kids under high school age).  

TRIGGER WARNING:  Sexual Abuse, Child Abuse, and Incest.  These issues are dealt with well, as the plotline deals in large part with our protagonist struggling with these things, and with the guilt of having suffered them and having taken action to stop them - nothing here is gratuitous, and little to nothing of it happening is shown on page at least in regards to sexual abuse.  But it is still a rough plot to deal with as a result.  

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Monday, February 20, 2023

SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: The Last Gifts of the Universe by Rory August

 




The last gifts of the universe is a self published space opera debut novel by author Rory August. The novel is one of the semifinalists for the Self Published Science Fiction Competition (SPSFC2 - my reviews of these books can be found here)) and as such is one of six novels myself and my group of reviewers is now tasked with judging. Just by making it to the semifinals meant that this book already got some praise from other reviewers, and I also noted that it had a blurb from author Sunyi Dean, whose novel The Book Eaters I really liked, so I was excited to give this book a try.

And well, The Last Gifts of the Universe kind of blew me away to some extent: it’s a really well written short novel dealing with life in a universe where every other civilization has seemingly died out and where the end is inevitable, and how people might go on and live despite all that and despite the grief they may feel amidst all the death. And with its really easy to relate main protagonist, and some flashbacks to a love story that is incredibly well written, the book tugs on the heartstrings incredibly well, even if it’s not super profound. This will be a strong contender not just to be a finalist but to win the SPSFC based just on my read.

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Thursday, February 16, 2023

SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: The Musician by Heloisa Prieto

 


Full Disclosure: This book was read as an e-ARC Audiobook (Advance Reader Copy) obtained via Netgalley from the publisher in advance of the book's release on December 13, 2022 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 Musician is a novel written by Brazilian Author Heloisa Prieto. It's a short novel, and is inspired by close contact Prieto has had since childhood with the Indigenous Guarani people of Brazil. The story features a musician who is seemingly on the autism spectrum and who also can see musical spirits...and whose gifts seem to connect him to others who can feel the spirits. And when a rich privileged professor, who seems to be a cult leader and maybe something more sinister, lures him to his mansion, those others - led by a Guarani girl - have to act to try to save him.

It's a short story with veins of horror at times in the actions of its villain, with some decent themes, although it has one trope which we probably should be moving past these days in how it treats an autistic person as a "Savant" in part due to his own condition. A solid read nevertheless.

More specifics after the jump:

TRIGGER WARNING: Suicide and Suicidal Thoughts - nothing superfluous here, but as backstory and as part of the mental manipulations of the antagonist.

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Wednesday, February 15, 2023

Fantasy Novella Review: The Keeper's Six by Kate Elliott

 

The Keeper's Six by Kate Elliott

The Keeper's Six is the latest novella by prolific science fiction and fantasy author Kate Elliott. Elliott is one of my favorite authors, with several series I really love (Jaran, Crossroads, Spiritwalker, and most recently the Sun Chronicles), all taking place along widely differing settings, even if there are some common and familiar themes. So The Keeper's Six was the rare book I pre-ordered months in advance rather than requesting my library do so. And the novella, featuring an older Jewish Mother getting her old crew of travelers through the dangerous Beyond in order to rescue her son, who had been taken hostage by a dragon, promised to be really interesting....and in some ways (the Jewish aspect) to speak specifically to me.

And well The Keeper's Six did exactly what I hoped. Its older Jewish Mother protagonist Esther is phenomenal as she and her crew, her Hex (the "Six" referred to in the title) are forced to come back together after Esther screwed them over in the name of helping others years ago. The story has a hint of romantic attraction that never distracts from the main story and instead adds flavor and character, while Esther's very Jewish nature (and that of the mysterious potential love interest) seemed perfectly tailored to hit everything I want in a Jewish fantasy novel. Add in a setting that is really interesting, a team of other characters who are solid if not super developed, and a story that has a rather nice conclusion that never relies on any big action beats (of which there are only a few such moents) and well, this is a big winner for me.

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Tuesday, February 14, 2023

Fantasy Anthology Review: The River of Silver by S.A. Chakraborty

 

The River of Silver is a short story anthology by S.A. Chakraborty, featuring short stories taking place in the world of her Daevabad Trilogy (The City of Brass, The Kingdom of Copper, The Empire of Gold). It's the type of work I've read for other authors before: stories taking place before, after, during and around the main story of a work, taking place often from other perspectives not explored or only referenced in the major work. And I've enjoyed a bunch of these types of works, like Yoon Ha Lee's Hexarchate Stories, NK Jemisin's Shades in Shadow (from her Inheritance Trilogy) or Martha Wells' stories from her Ile-Rien world.

Such works can work in two ways: they can reward those who really enjoyed the main trilogy by giving them new pieces to treasure. Or they can do that AND work for newer readers by giving them tastes of that world that may lead them to enjoy the original work.

The River of Silver is the former and not the latter - you need to have read the trilogy first, even if some stories can be read after reading only book 1 or 2 without reading book 3. And while I enjoyed the Daevabad trilogy a lot, I also felt that a large percentage of the stories within here didn't do much for me in terms of adding anything I cared about. There is some pretty good stories in here, a few at least, but I would say this work really only will work for diehard fans of the original series.

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Monday, February 13, 2023

SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: Lone Women by Victor LaValle

 


Full Disclosure:  This book was read as an e-ARC Audiobook (Advance Reader Copy) obtained via Netgalley from the publisher in advance of the book's release on March 28, 2023 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.

Lone Women is the latest novel from author Victor Lavalle, one of the more accclaimed - and deservedly so - writers out there over the last few years. His Lovecraft subversion The Ballad of Black Tom was a brilliant take on one of Lovecraft's more racist stories and his novel The Changeling was just absolutely brilliant in its dark modern fairy tale. That latter novel dealt not only with modern racism, but the refusal of society to listen to women in New York City, and Lone Women promises similar themes...except this time in a Western setting out in 1915 Montana.

And the result is similarly spectacular, even if it doesn't quite reach The Changeling's heights. Lone Women tells the story of women attempting to take advantage of the government's giving away of land to anyone who would grow on the land for a specific (3 years) length of time. More particularly it tells the story of women who are outcasts for various reasons, who don't fit in "normal" white cis hetero society, such as its main protagonist Adelaine Henry, a Black woman haunted by a monster she carries in a steamer trunk, but also a bunch of others. And the story really works as it combines its western setting with horror tropes to tell a story of racism, of hatred of those who are others that don't fit in, of found family, and more. It's another real winner from LaValle.

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Thursday, February 9, 2023

SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: The Book of Lost Saints by Daniel José Older

 


The Book of Lost Saints is a novel of magical realism (sorta?) and historical fiction written by Cuban American author Daniel José Older, author of the YA Shadowshaper Cypher trilogy, various Star Wars books, and a bunch more. I've enjoyed some of Older's works a lot - the Shadowshaper works are excellent YA - so when I saw this book on sale at a bookstore in Astoria, I bought a physical copy...which has been sitting on my bookshelf for a few months. But I finally got a chance to read it in January 2023 as one of my first books of the New Year, and was very pleased with the result.

The story essentially tells two tales of two generations - first, more importantly, it tells the tale of a woman Marisol who was caught up in the Cuban Revolution and disappeared, and has seemingly become a ghost haunting a young man who turns out to be her nephew Ramon, with Marisol using her possession to send Ramon her memories of what happened to her while he sleeps, and occasionally interferes with the modern world....albeit to limited extent. But the story also tells the story of Ramon, security guard at a New Jersey (mental) hospital by day, successful and internet famous DJ by night, as he attempts to understand his family's past, with the dark choices made by his mother and others, as well as to figure out his growing love of a doctor at the hospital and his online connection to those smuggling him music out of cuba for him to remix. It's a story that works really well at showing two generations of Cubans during both the revolution and afterwards, in the diaspora and back at home, and I very much liked this and recommend it.

TRIGGER WARNING: Torture, Suicide, discussions of rape but never shown. None of this is gratuitous and is shown to the least extent possibly by the author, but is a necessary part of a story dealing with a dark time in history.

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Tuesday, February 7, 2023

SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: The Loophole by Naz Kutub

 


The Loophole is a YA modern fantasy novel - maybe (more on that below) - featuring a gay Indian muslim teen protagonist Sy who winds up on a journey around the world to try to find and reconnect with his ex, a boy who left him to go help people around the world. The story has a fantasy-esque framing, featuring a girl Reggie who offers to help Sy by granting him three wishes...but who might be more drunken rich girl than magical, and occasionally tells a myth of a man who goes into the underworld with the help of a djinn in order to try to get back the woman he loved.

But mainly the point of this story is Sy's self discovery about himself, about issues in the world, and the importance of family and loved ones and sticking up for them and up to them. And the result is a short novel, but one that works fairly well, and is very enjoyable for what it is. Queer YA Muslim readers, or just Queer YA readers, will especially appreciate this story that talks to what is a very real group out there who might be suffering in some ways just like Sy.

Trigger Warning: Parental Abuse (Corporal Punishment), Homophobia, Family Casting one out due to Homophobia, Islamophobia. All of these events, though hard to read, are done purposefully and without any gratuity, as this is the story of one boy's attempts to overcome many of these atrocities.

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Monday, February 6, 2023

SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: The Liminal People by Ayize Jama Everett

 



The Liminal People is the first book in a four book urban fantasy series written by author Ayize Jama-Everett. The book was originally self-published in 2009, only to be picked up and republished in 2011 by Small Beer Press, one of my favorite small presses. It also picked up a blurb and recommendation from Nalo Hopkinson, a phenomenal author in her own right. So with the final book in the series coming out in January 2023, I was curious enough to pick up this first book from my eLibrary.

And there's plenty to like in The Liminal People, even if I didn't quite fall in love with it. The book is short but far from shallow, featuring a noir-esque plot following a man with the power to affect human bodies - for healing or harm - who finds himself leaving his post in a crime org to come to the aid of the woman he once loved before she left him. The setting, featuring a number of "Liminal People" with powers that can be used to really deadly and creepy ends, and who largely use those powers in dark ways, is far from original, but Everett really does it well, and it's helped by its lead character's highly cynical views...and by the lead character being an African American who has journeyed throughout the world and isn't simply American or even European-centric. Still while the plot works pretty well, there's a number of sketchy tropes and language choices that kind of date this novel which make it hard for me to super recommend...even though I may give the second book in the series a try anyway.

More specifics after the jump:

Trigger Warning: There are no overtly queer characters in the story, but some light homophobia at occasional points and one use of a gay slur directed at an antagonist by the main character. It's not good, and I suspect if the novel came out in the last few years it wouldn't be in there.

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Thursday, February 2, 2023

SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: Soul of the Deep by Natasha Bowen

 



Full Disclosure:  This book was read as an e-ARC Audiobook (Advance Reader Copy) obtained via Netgalley from the publisher in advance of the book's release on September 27, 2022 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.


 Soul of the Deep is the sequel to 2021's Skin of the Sea, which combined West African Mythologies, the real life world of slave-trade era Africa, and elements of the Little Mermaid into a really enjoyable piece of YA. That novel worked really well with its strong lead characters, particularly Mami Wata (mermaid) girl Simi, who saves a boy (Kola) thrown overboard from a slave ship and is forced to go on a quest to prevent a dangerous Orisha from causing devastation through his greed. The story was wonderous even in the dark times of this setting as it showed off various creatures from West African Mythologies and ended on a really strong cliffhanger, even if that ending was a bit abrupt. So I was excited to see how it was followed up with this novel.

Soul of the Deep is a solid successor to its predecessor as it continues the story of Simi as she is forced to face the consequences of her actions, ones which threaten the entire world for reasons she could never have anticipated. The story's characters remain excellent, particularly Simi, as she deals with how conflicted her heart is between her duties to various Orisa, her love of Kola and her care for other people, and her need to try to fix things. And this time the turn through West African Myth is darker, as the antagonists are the Ajogun, the anti-gods that herald destruction, and the beings that the protagonists encounter are darker accordingly...and these creatures and beings are really well done. At the same time, the story again ends on an abrupt swerve, even if it makes sense, and relies on one ridiculously obvious and overdone kind of plot twist that makes this novel just a shade behind its predecessor in quality.

More after the jump - Note: SPOILERS for Skin of the Sea are inevitable below, as this book picks up after its ending twist:

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Wednesday, February 1, 2023

SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: Unraveller by Frances Hardinge

 


Unraveller is the latest dark fantasy novel from young adult/middle-grade author Frances Hardinge, who has won or at least been nominated for a bunch of awards for her past works, including the Lodestar (Hugo) and the Norton (Nebula) Awards for books aimed at YA readers. The two of Hardinge's works that I've read have been at least very interesting even if I loved one (A Skinful of Shadows) more than the other (Deeplight) - both are darker young adult works with violence and dark but serious themes that probably make them a bit too much for Middle Grade readers, even as they don't have any mature/sexual content that would absolutely place them out of the middle grade age range. So I was interested to hear about Hardinge's latest...and was made even more interested when its worldbuilding was praised by Ursula Vernon, one of my favorite authors.

And Unraveller is absolutely phenomenal and well worth that praise, with it being my favorite Hardinge book yet. The story features a country with a fae-like Wilds that contains weird and supernatural-type creatures, one type of whom - the spider-esque Little Brothers - can grant a person with immense anger the ability to magically curse another. Into this world the story follows two teenagers: Kellen, a boy who is the only one who can "unravel" those curses...as long as he understands the intent of the curser and can suggest ways to mend fences (sorta), and Nettle, a girl who was cursed once by her stepmother to become a Heron but remains silently a bit traumatized by what happened to her and her siblings during their time as birds. The story deals with anger and rage - both at injustice and at individuals - with love and trauma and the struggle to recover from it and the difficulty of staying and trying to help others really fully recover from abuse and tragedies, and deals with these themes extremely well through its two main protagonists and the fantastical world around them. It's a clear highlight that I will be absolutely nominating or this year's Lodestar Award and hope it picks up a Norton Nomination as well.

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