SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: Sleep No More by Seanan McGuire

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 5, 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.

Sleep No More is the 17th novel in Seanan McGuire's urban fae fantasy "October Daye" series, one of my favorite series in SF/F at this point. If by some chance you have no knowledge of the series and are still reading this review anyway, well the series follows the half-fae (Changeling) October Daye, as her work as both a knight of the local Fae Kingdom in San Francisco and her private detective work in the human world gets her deeper and deeper involved in the affairs of Faerie. More importantly, the series really thrives on showcasing its irreverent blood working heroine as she winds up over all the books building her own found family with whom she feels at home....and who aid her as she gets deeper and deeper into trouble.

Most likely however, if you're reading this review, you've heard of or at least read part of the series, and it's kind of impossible to write this review without going into spoilers for the series' first 16 books as Sleep No More builds directly off a MASSIVE cliffhanger in the series' last book, Be the Serpent. At the end of that book, after October had finally dealt with a threat hinted at for 15 prior books, she found her world and herself massively changed in a way that was simply wrong....and horrifying. It was a twist that was downright brutal and unprecedented in this series, and it left me begging for a conclusion.

Sleep No More is that conclusion in part - McGuire actually wrote an 18th book from Tybalt's perspective because there is so much to deal with in this new world that can't be seen here in this book - as October lives in this new world for a while until cracks start to form and set her down the road to restoration. It's yet another gripping book in the series, although its ending leaves a little to be desired...given the sheer amount of threat our series' new antagonist poses, it does feel like our protagonist's set things "right" a bit too easily (especially after everything in the last two books). But well, if you're an October Daye fan, you'll remain hooked on the series after this book and wanting more now that this cliffhanger is resolved.

Spoilers for the First 16 books are below and untagged. If you want to read further, you're reading at your own risk. Spoilers for THIS book will be discussed in a secondary post.

SciFi/Fantasy/Horror Book Review: A House with Good Bones by T Kingfisher

 

A House with Good Bones is the latest horror novel by author T Kingfisher (aka Children's author Ursula Vernon). This time around, the novel isn't a take by Kingfisher on a classic horror story from a century ago, but is instead a Southern Gothic, featuring an archeological entomologist Sam as she returns to her mother's house (formerly her Gran Mae's North Carolina House) between digs...and to check on that same mother, who Sam's brother thinks is acting "off". Needless to say, as this is a southern gothic, Sam's mother's actions are symptoms of a greater problem, one which Sam will slowly discover as things get further and further out of control...in horrifying fashion.

As I've said before, I'm not a horror fan in general - I will enjoy those stories when they come with deeper themes or really enjoyable characters, but I could care a lot less about getting scared by a story or a movie. And when the culprit behind the slow burn of a horror story is obvious to anyone familiar with a genre, as seemed to be the case with A House with Good Bones (and was with the last Kingfisher Horror I read), it's even less of an interest to me. But A House with Good Bones managed to surprise me in its last act, putting things together in a way that surprised, and combined with Kingfisher's usually enjoyable and good characters, wound up working for me despite it all. So if you like horror, would definitely recommend this one.

Fantasy Novella Review: Mammoths at the Gates by Nghi Vo

 



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 12, 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.

Mammoths at the Gates is the fourth novella in Nghi Vo's "Singing Hills" cycle of Novellas. The Singing Hills novellas all follow Cleric Chih and their neixin (a talking intelligent hoopoe bird who never forgets) named Almost Brilliant as they go around this fantasy world and collect and tell stories, whether they be tales or histories. So the first novella (The Empress of Salt and Fortune) dealt with the story of the rise of an outsider Empress through the telling of her companion; the second novella (When the Tiger Came down the Mountain) tells a romance between a tiger woman and a human...but has the story told from both the perspective of humans and from the perspective of tigers; the third novella (Into the Riverlands) was a wuxia tale of martial artists and kung fu tales seeming in the past...but maybe in the present as well? Each tale was really well done, often very fun, and award worthy, as Cleric Chih's encounters with stories allowed Vo to touch serious and fun themes in different genres.

Mammoths at the Gates flips things a little - where Cleric Chih is usually a passive observer, here the novella focuses on events and people Chih actually has experienced: mainly the life of one of their mentors at the Singing Hills Monastery, who has now passed away, and whose body is now wanted by the mentor's blood relatives, who are threatening to storm the monastery with the titular mammoths. But the focus flip doesn't prevent this novella from being a tale about stories, and about a number of fascinating things - grief, how we see people from different (good and bad) lights, and how people change over time in ways others never could have anticipated. It isn't my favorite novella in the series, but it's another very effective one.

SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: Labyrinth's Heart by M.A. Carrick

 

SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: Labyrinth's Heart by M.A. Carrick: https://t.co/OBL9HHBR2N

Short Review: 8.5 out of 10 - The conclusion of the Rook & Rose Trilogy features Ren, Grey, and Vargo dealing with their secrets being revealed, the corrupting powers of the Medallions...
1/3

— Josh (garik16) (@garik16) August 14, 2023

Short Review (cont): the truths in each of their pasts, and a burgeoning revolution in Nadežra, which in the wrong hands can make things not better, but far worse. The plot and pacing is a bit unwieldy, but I love the characters in this series so much and am very satisfied
2/3

— Josh (garik16) (@garik16) August 14, 2023

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 15, 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.


Labyrinth's Heart is the third and final book in the epic fantasy "Rook and Rose" series by M.A. Carrick (a pen name for the combined work of authors Marie Brennan and Alyc Helms), which began with The Mask of Mirrors (my review here) and continued with The Liar's Knot (my review here).  The series has aspects of a Fantasy of Manners (dealing with nobles, duelists, assignments, secret identities and claims of family) but also deals with major conflicts in a city caused by multiple conflicting magic systems and the remains of empire and colonialism in a city still kinda ruled by its onetime conquerors.  There's a lot going on, and honestly I found it resulted in a first book that was kind of confusing in the end...but also it resulted in a second book that I absolutely loved, as protagonist Ren - a con artist who tried to con her way into a noble family - winds up struggling with lies, finding family and loves where she never expected, and having to deal with powers of gods and those far more dangerous than gods wielded by those seeking Power for their own sake.  The main characters in this series have been really really good, even as many of the minor characters are forgettable and resulted in me never remembering how to distinguish one such character from another.

Labyrinth's Heart is somewhere in the middle of the two books: on one hand, the book features tremendous character work, as long running plot threads get resolved and our characters have to come to terms with what is left when their lies and deceptions are revealed, and whether the relationships they have grown in the meantime can survive. Our main protagonist Ren, as well as secondary protagonist's Grey and Vargo, remains fantastic and the other characters who have been major parts of this series remain really strong as they deal with the new developments....and have to deal with what happens when the city of Nadežra face a series of important developments - the powers of the Medallions belonging to the heretical god (Primordial) of desire being in the hands of nobles who ostensibly are working together to destroy them...but may instead find themselves tempted; the uprising of the Vraszenian people who originally settled Nadežra against the outside Liganti nobles who have remained in control since the Tyrant was overthrown; and the coming of the most holy of days, when the magical wellspring at the center of the Vraszenian religion comes into physical being. The result is truly excellent character work as these characters deal with issues of love, family, and revolution....but on the other hand, the plot winds up resolving with a series of repeated climaxes that don't quite satisfy as well as how book 2 came together. Still, the character work in this trilogy is so good that I find it too hard to care that certain aspects of the plot are a little confusing and might not satisfy...as other parts and characters satisfy immensely.

Note: Spoilers are unavoidable for books 1 and 2 in this series. But if you want to remain unspoiled and are simply trying to decide whether or not to start or continue this series, the rest of this review concludes that my recommendation is to absolutely give this series and this book a try, as this ending to the trilogy works really really well.

Fantasy Novella Review: The Lies of the Ajungo by Moses Ose Utomi

 

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 21, 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 Lies of the Ajungo is the debut novella of Nigerian-American author Moses Ose Utomi.   The novella features a story about a boy from a city in world filled with desert that was taken advantage of by a powerful neighboring empire (the Ajungo).  The Ajungo offers this city just enough water for its people to barely survive...in exchange for the tongues of every adult resident...and to make it worse, the Ajungo rename the city the "City of Lies" to prevent its residents from being believed when they seek for help.  In this setting, the boy - Tutu - sets out into the desert to try to find water to save his dying mother...only to find the things he understands about the world aren't quite what he believed....

The result is a story of greed ad colonial and economic oppression and about the lies those in power use to prevent the oppressed from being able to rise up and change their fates.  I'm gonna try to make this review as spoiler free as possible, although I may rot13 some spoilers after the jump, but I'll say straight out: this is a really effective novella in characters, themes, and message, and well worthy of award recognition.  

Note: The novella is  part of a series that will be continued next year apparently.  But the story is entirely stand alone and the only connection I suspect there is in the series - from what I can tell from the next novella's plot summary - is that it takes place in the same world some 300 years later, when this story's events are long mythologized history.