Thursday, June 29, 2023

SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: Aestus: Book 1: The City by S.Z. Attwell

 

Aestus is the first book in a self published epic sci-fi duology. The story, which takes place in the far future after a climate apocalypse seems to have reduced humanity to living in an underground city, has been named a finalist in this year's Self-Published Science Fiction Competition (#SPSFC2 - See my earlier SPSFC2 reviews here). Despite this book not being stand alone in any way, the book is by far the longest of any of the SPSFC2 finalists, clocking in at over 700 pages although the book reads fairly well - I finished the book in 3 days, whereas I normally manage to read typical sized SF/F books in 2. Whereas there was one book of similar length that my team was assigned for the semifinals that I was unable to finishs, Aestus* drew me in effectively and made me want to keep going, so I could see quite easily how such a long book could make the SPSFC2 finals.

The title of this series is technically "Aestus" with this book being "Aestus: Book 1: The City" but that's a mouthful, so I'm going to refer to this book solely as Aestus for the rest of this review.

This is because the book's protagonist - engineer Jossey - is extremely compelling as she deals with trauma from an encounter with monsters that resulted in the disappearance and probable death of her brother, an extremely shifty Uncle who asks her to join the city's military unit and to take part in an important engineering project, several potential love interests, and a discovery that not everything she knows is as it seems. The book is in large part somewhat predictable in its reveals but manages them well, and deals with strong themes dealing with autocratic governments keeping secrets, oppression and exploitation of minority groups, and more. And so I was hoping as the book neared its end that I would give this one a really high score...but the book ends on an extremely frustrating cliffhanger that provides no resolution whatsoever and is incredibly unsatisfying - both for how it just cuts off the plot extremely abruptly and is based upon a reveal that oddly isn't foreshadowed very well and thus seems to come out of nowhere. For such a long book, that's a major problem to have.

More specifics after the jump:

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Tuesday, June 27, 2023

SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: Percival Gynt and the Conspiracy of Days by Drew Melbourne




Percival Gynt and the Conspiracy of Days is a Science Fantasy novel by Drew Melbourne and one of our finalists in this year's Self-Published Science Fiction Competition (#SPSFC2 - See my earlier SPSFC2 reviews here). In addition to being Science Fantasy (meaning the novel is Science Fiction but set in a setting where magic is very real and prominent in the setting as well), the novel follows a trend in this competition of being one that peppers its setting with jokey comments, attributes, and ideas alongside a plot that is more a thriller than a comedy. For those who have read my reviews before, or have read them as I judged books in the SPSFC, well you may note that such comedic stylings are often kind of wasted on me, although if done really well I have been swayed into enjoying them. And well, one book this really reminded me of - K Eason's "How Rory Thorne Destroyed the Multiverse" - actually managed to do that, so even as I got through the first act of this book I was hopeful Percival Gynt would manage to accomplish that feat.

Unfortunately, it did not quite manage to do that. None of the absurd bits, jokes about the future of our society, or just things in general really made me smile all that much, and the plot of Percival Gynt never really gets that interesting, even if it's put together mostly well. The main character in Percival is enjoyable at times, as are some others, but the book insists upon a mutual romantic interest between two characters pretty much immediately despite portraying basically no chemistry on page between them, which made it hard to care about actions those characters take due to their sudden love and caring for one another. Add in a final act that sort of disposes of the biggest antagonists with a whimper and then deus ex machinas away all the remaining lost plot threads/consequences of certain actions, and well, the result was a book that was never "bad" but also just made me shrug when I finished it. I want more from books that are supposed to be challengers to win a competition, and I didn't find it here.

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Thursday, June 22, 2023

SciFi/Fantasy/Horror Anthology Review: Night of the Living Queers: 13 Tales of Terror & Delight: Edited by Shelly Page and Alex Brown

 

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 August 29, 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.

Night of the Living Queers is an upcoming YA horror anthology featuring 13 stories by queer writers of color, collected and edited by Alex Brown and Shelly Page. The anthology features a set of 13 stories united by a few common things: First, each features a queer teen of color; Second, each takes place on Halloween during a "Blue Moon" - the name for a phenomenon where there is a 13th Full moon during the year instead of 12. The authors are a mix of those who I've heard of before (and who are somewhat prominent, like Kalynn Bayron) and those who I hadn't, so I was very intrigued by the collection when I was given a shot at an early copy for review.

And Night of the Living Queers does largely deliver what it promised: YA Horror or Horror adjacent stories that turned the narrative of queer people being the monsters on their heads by having them be the protagonists of their own stories. The stories themselves range from truly dark and horrific, sometimes dealing with powerful and harsh subjects like the struggles and abuse queer people face, to stories that are light and comedic (or that are somewhere in between), so there's a bit of something for everyone here. As with any anthology, some of these stories are better than others, but in general, this is a pretty damn solid anthology that I'd easily recommend for the YA Horror reader.

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Tuesday, June 20, 2023

SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: Hammer and Crucible by Cameron Cooper

 

Hammer and Crucible is a self-published Science Fiction (Space Opera) thriller written by author Cameron Cooper. The novel is a finalist in this year's Self-Published Science Fiction Competition (#SPSFC2 - See my earlier SPSFC2 reviews here) and as such, I was given a copy to Judge as part of my reviewing team. Admittedly, I'm not the biggest fan of conspiracy thrillers like Hammer and Crucible - I enjoy them when they have strong characters and/or strong themes, but the very plot structure of seeing characters on the run trying to figure out a grand conspiracy until they can strike back against the conspirators to save the day and clear their names isn't something that really appeals to me (and I've seen a bunch of them as a Judge in this competition). But Hammer and Crucible, which is the first of a five book series, is a finalist, so I was hoping it would have those characters and themes to show it worthy of possibly winning the SPSFC2 crown.

And well, to be frank, it doesn't really have either. Hammer and Crucible features a space opera setting where the galaxy is ruled by an Empire who controls space travel through proprietary technology that controls wormhole gates between planets and a humanity that has discovered technology that can reset one's body age, eliminating death by old age...except this rejuvenation technology is largely expensive and usually forces people to either enter into military service or some form of indentured servitude to pay for it. There's some interesting stuff that can be done with those themes (and other books have), but Hammer and Crucible doesn't bother to try, and instead focuses upon the chase by its protagonist Danny around the galaxy with her granddaughter Juliyana to discover what really happened 40 years ago when Danny's son (and Juliyana's father) went mad and seemingly caused massive chaos, killing many and upsetting the galactic orer. The story really tries to lean on its main protagonist Danny being cool as she figures things out and keeps her and her family/friends alive, but really never develops its characters in any interesting way; nor does its reveals make any impact since there is little reason to care about the world or to even realize that the revelations make much difference in how the characters see the world. I'm not sure how this was a SPSFC2 finalist - it's crafted okay but that's about it - but it isn't quite up with many of the books I've read in this competition so far, and it wouldn't have made my list.

Note: For whatever reason, the book's plot summary on websites includes a massive spoiler for a last act reveal and at the same time pretty massively mischaracterizes the book's plot for most of its runtime. If you intend to read the book, I would avoid the plot summaries posted online.

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Monday, June 19, 2023

SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: The Saint of Bright Doors by Vajra Chandrasekera

 


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 July 11, 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.

The Saint of Bright Doors is the debut novel of Sri Lankan Science Fiction/Fantasy author Vajra Chandrasekera, who has written a whole bunch of SF/F short fiction for various outlets.  This is my first experience with Chandrasekera, but the novel got some hype on twitter from authors I enjoy, so I was very interested when I got an advance copy on NetGalley.  The novel features a man named Fetter, raised by his mad and possibly magically powerful mother to assassinate his cult leader father, who now just tries to live in peace in a City filled with all kinds of people, while he gets therapy along with others who have moved on from having been chosen or "unchosen" as special by various cults and religions.  

If that was all The Saint of Bright Doors was about, I might've liked it more, but Chandrasekera fills the book with so many ideas its pretty much bursting at the seems.  So you also have a city which is in some ways socialist in how it provides for everyone but is also a Big Brother-esque incoherent caste system-oriented bureaucracy-led city where pogroms and plague are always on the horizon.  You have demons only the protagonist can see, and mysterious bright painted doors that can't open, appear mysteriously out of real doors, and appear only throughout the city.  You have revolution, colonization, refugee camps, cults of personality, and more.  There's just so much happening here, and some of these ideas feel kind of contradictory, with the book moving from one idea to another, that none of it really lands and any message that's intended just comes out muddled. 

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Wednesday, June 14, 2023

SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: The City Beneath the Hidden Stars by Sonya Kudei



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 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.

The City Beneath the Hidden Stars is a fantasy novel from an indie publisher by author Sonya Kudei. I requested the novel out of pure curiosity on NetGalley, as its publisher blurb noted that it was "based on the myths and history of Zagreb, Croatia", a country I know very little about whatsoever. So I was intrigued to see how the novel would turn out, given my love of trying books based upon different cultures from around the world, even if the book's description had some of the stulted language that I often see and dislike in Indie/Self-Published Books.

And The City Beneath the Stars was kind of a pleasant surprise. The book features a narrative style that sometimes feels as if it came from a Douglas Adams-y book, with quips and asides that are clearly aiming (and are often successful) to amuse, although it goes long sections without much of those quips and I usually find such half-hearted commitment to that style to be a little annoying and pointless. The book's main characters are enjoyable, but really aren't particularly built up or developed that well, and there really aren't any major relationships between characters here for the story to grow, as all characters wind up having to confront (willingly, unwillingly, or even knowingly) the rising of a dark evil queen from the distant past. And yet, despite all of the above, the narration and the characters remain incredibly charming and amusing, even when things are played straight, and it all winds up culminating in a kind of bonkers story that made me smile even despite all the things it seemingly did wrong that I usually dislike. I'll try to explain better after the jump, but yeah, I enjoyed this book a lot.

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Monday, June 12, 2023

SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: Secret of the Moon Conch by David Bowles and Guadalupe García McCall

 




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 June 6, 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.

Secret of the Moon Conch is a new young adult fantasy novel by authors David Bowles and Guadalupe García McCall. The novel contains large elements of historical fantasy and romance, as the story features two protagonists from two different time periods: the year 1521, in which the story follows an Aztec warrior named Calizto during the fall of the Aztec Empire to Cortez and his Spanish invaders and the year 2019, in which the story follows a girl Sitlali as she attempts to flee to her father who abandoned them to head to the United States to escape the attention of gangs in Mexico. Through a magical conch, the two protagonists connect and are able to communicate...and fall in love, as they each struggle with seemingly similar situations, persecution for who they are at the behest of colonial and imperial powers and people who simply are unwilling to acknowledge others as human beings with their own rights to exist.

You'd think such a book would be a bit heavy handed, and it is, and the book is in some ways predictable (and not just because Calizto's history has already happened), but at the same time the story really works. Both main characters are really easy to relate to and have strong deep characters, resulting in them having some rather unpredictable moments, and the thematic parallels between their times work quite well. The romantic chemistry between the two is really well done, and the book closes itself off not with an unrealistically optimistic ending, but also not with a dark cynical and depressing one as well - there's just the right amount of hopefulness alongside the recognition that today's world features some absolute atrocities alongside the southern border...not just in Mexico, but in the US immigration system's treatment of those trying to cross the border for the sake of better lives. It's a short book, but it's packed and not a quick read, and I would definitely recommend it to YA readers

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Wednesday, June 7, 2023

SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: Melody by David Hoffer

 


David Hoffer's "Melody" is a self-published science fiction novel that is now a finalist in this year's Self-Published Science Fiction Competition (#SPSFC2 - See my earlier SPSFC2 reviews here), of which I am a Judge. The novel bears the subtitle "A First Contact Novel" and well, kind of means what it says, as the novel features humanity's first contact with alien life in the form of a mysterious communication received from beyond the stars. At the same time, the novel isn't quite the typical version of a first contact novel - with the story focusing upon a protagonist who might be connected to the mysterious aliens rather than dealing with alien visitors physically showing up on our world.

And well, Melody is a cynical take on first contact, and it's one that pretty much didn't work for me, even if it certainly isn't a bad book. The main theme of the book seemingly is that human contact with alien life and advanced technology is going to treated with extreme distrust and that humans will try to immediately misuse and abuse such technology if given it, especially governments and militaries. Is this a plausible idea? Sure, it can be, but it's not a particularly insightful or interesting one. Add in a take on reincarnation that I kind of found distasteful and well, Melody is not a book I would have chosen to be a Finalist had I been a judge of it earlier in the competition.

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Tuesday, June 6, 2023

SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: Shigidi and the Brass Head of Obalufon by Wole Talabi

 


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 August 8, 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.

Shigidi and the Brass Head of Obalufon is the debut novel of acclaimed Nigerian SF/F writer Wole Talabi. Talabi's short fiction has been fantastic when I've read it, so I was super excited to read this novel - his first work of published long fiction (at least in the US). The novel promises an urban fantasy story inspired in large part by West African/Yoruba myth, but featuring myths, deities, magics, and beings from other myths as well. Indeed the story follows a West African Nightmare God (the eponymous Shigidi) as he breaks free of a corporate structure of godhood and embarks on a heist of the British Museum alongside a Succubus he loves, and if that's not a hook that interests you, well...you have different tastes than mine.

The result is.....uneven, but largely enjoyable. The novel's setting is utterly fascinating, with the gods and deities of each religion reimagined as having formed corporate boards that negotiate and compete for influence (with mortal faith giving them power), such that the African gods are struggling to maintain power amidst everything else...and our heroes struggle for freedom from this corporate structure after they've escaped. The heist of a relic of West Africa with deific power (the eponymous Brass Head) is well done, and the way the two main characters (Shigidi and Nneoma) are built up through frequent flashbacks, along with a famous magician they pick up along the way, works pretty well. There's even some themes of fighting foreign and colonial influence interwoven throughout the story. That said, the constant flashbacks, the in media res beginning, and the way it all plays out made this a bit less fulfilling than I would've hoped in what seems to be the start of what should be a longer series.

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Friday, June 2, 2023

SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: Bitter Medicine by Mia Tsai

 



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 March 14, 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.

Bitter Medicine is a fantasy/paranormal romance novel written by debut author Mia Tsai. The novel features a world where paranormal beings exist alongside humanity without their knowledge, all coming from myths and creations of different cultures - so our protagonists are a Chinese Immortal and a Half-Elf Fae - many of whom work together for a Fae Company under its boss Oberon. The story doesn't focus too much on how this setting should or could work, and instead deals largely with the romance between its main duo: Elle, the aforementioned immortal - who conceals her magical/medical skills to hide herself and her older brother from her dangerous but still loved older brother - and Luc, a half-elf who serves as Oberon's best fixer, meaning he kills or gets rid of whatever stands in Oberon's way, despite his dislike of what that entails and what that means about him. The story follows the duo as they finally admit their feelings for one another, come into conflict due to their secrets, and have to figure out what to do about it.

And Bitter Medicine tells this story really really well, and drew me in quite strongly. The story's approach to the romance begins kind of slow burn as both characters are afraid to spit it out, but once they do it gets incredibly steamy in the best way possible. And when their secrets do come out, Tsai takes the story in directions that really aren't the usual way - for example, not to spoil too much, this book avoids the usual romance plot arc where the characters get together, break apart due to a conflict, and then get back together again and reconcile....events and difficulties do occur, but our characters approach and deal with them in different and understandable ways, and this diversion from the usual plot arc really works. Tsai's refusal to go with normal pathways for this romance, and the development of her characters, their plot arcs, and the setting around them, wind up really working and being highly enjoyable, such that I could barely put this book down. If you're looking for a fantasy romance, this is definitely something you should be into.

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