Wednesday, May 31, 2023

Fantasy Novella Review: The Last Dragoners of Bowbazar by Indra Das

  The Last Dragoners of Bowbazar by Indra Das

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 30, 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 Last Dragoners of Bowbazar is a novella by Indian science fiction/fantasy author Indra Das and marks a return for him to long fiction after his debut 2016 novel "The Devourers". The Devourers was a masterpiece, a queer fantasy horror/historical fiction novel (although I don't think those genre classifications are necessarily adequate) that dealt ostensibly with shapehshifters/werewolves in modern day and 17th century history and questions of identity, love and transformation (using serious and often brutal themes like rape here). So it was with great anticipation that I requested this second piece of long fiction (Das has written plenty of short fiction since The Devourers) from NetGalley as soon as it was posted up there.

And as expected, The Last Dragoners of Bowbazar is a fascinating novella, that itself defies classification, and is really interesting. The story follows a boy Reuel, as he grows up in a family that seems to come from nowhere, who makes him constantly a tea that forces him to forget whenever he learns something about their true history, and yet still he has glimpses of memories of his family dealing with the impossible - dragons and dragonflesh. Its the story of a child of immigrants from another world who want that child to grow up in this world, rather than their own one, and the struggles that child feels when his family can't escape their feelings and memories towards that old world and can't quite understand at the same time this own new one. And it's the story about faith and memory and believing, and keeping history alive, told in beautiful fascinating prose, and I think it really works.

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Wednesday, May 24, 2023

SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: The Nightland Express by J.M. Lee

 



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 8, 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 Nightland Express is an antebellum young adult weird west novel by author J.M. Lee, published by one of my favorite publishers Erewhon Books. The novel takes place in 1860 America, where two teens try to obtain a special job for the Pony Express to travel the unusual and unheard of Nightland route to California with a special package, one which is unusual and not one that normal Pony Express Riders would take. But the two teens - Jesse and Ben - are each holding secrets that they are deathly afraid of getting out: Ben, for being a mixed race boy who passes for White and is on the run as a runaway slave from his pure White Brother, and Jesse, for being born female but feeling more comfortable in boy's clothes, even if calling Jesse a "boy" doesn't quite work either. And then there's the strange supernatural spirit creatures that the two of them start to see as they journey across the country with a strange young girl.

The result is a fascinating and generally well done story as the two teen struggle with their secrets, their identities, and the realities of a United States that is built upon not just the works of slavery, but colonial oppression of indigenous peoples and spirits. There's a grand overarching plot here as Ben and Jesse find themselves caught up in a battle for the future of the Spirit World, but really the strength of this novel is finding the two teens struggling with who they are and what they want to be - and how they deal with the revelations about the other. The book deals with these themes and oppressions pretty well, never equating the different hardships of the two and rejecting the times where a character tries to do so, and as a result is a stronger more interesting and powerful/useful story as a result of it. It's not a long book, but The Nightland Express packs a bunch into it, and it's worth your time.

More specifics after the jump:

Mild Trigger Warning: A minor scene of sexual assault in flashback, slavery and abuse in flashback.

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Tuesday, May 23, 2023

SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: Our Blue Beautiful World by Karen Lord

 


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.

The Blue Beautiful World is the latest science fiction novel from Barbadian author Karen Lord, one of the more recent greats of Science Fiction and Fantasy, at least in my opinion, even if she's not well known by many even within that space. The book is technically the third book in a series which began with The Best of All Possible Worlds (a book I absolutely love) and was continued a while later with The Galaxy Game (which I didn't really like), although the novel is not advertised as part of a series at all. The series has always dealt with human connections, anthropology, and how people come together (the first book was part anthropological sci-fi, part romance, the second book featured magic-like technology that used personal and emotional connections to impact the real world) and this book brings that to a future version of our planet Earth, one which has seemingly convalesced into a global society....even as outside forces begin to make contact.

And the result is...interesting, for sure. The story uses its third person narration to follow a number of characters, dealing with lots of ideas based upon the darker history of the world - colonization and human domination - and how to try to avoid those situations going forward. It features a bunch of interesting tech ideas and more far out concepts, some of which are based upon ideas from The Galaxy Game, and features as its protagonists a number of younger people all trying to work to help the Earth move forward as part of a well established and somewhat fractured at times galactic society. And yet the book doesn't keen in on this idea until its second act, with the narrative suddenly switching course after its first third in what seems possibly like a jarring fashion. It's an interesting book and I'm not sure how well it works - certainly I'm curious how well it works without having read The Galaxy Game (although I think it works significantly better than that novel) - but I'll try to review it anyway.

Note: The novel features references to the prior two novels, especially the events of The Galaxy Game, although those references are minor for the first third before becoming more prominent thereabout. There's also a conclusion to a plot thread from that book....sort of....in the book's ending (I think that'll be dealt with more fully at this point in probably a future book. So you may want to read the prior books first, even if this is not advertised as part of a series.

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Thursday, May 18, 2023

SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: Silver Under Nightfall by Rin Chupeco

 



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 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.

Silver Under Nightfall is a Queer Paranormal Romance/Romantic Fantasy novel by Filipinx author Rin Chupeco, who's largely known for their young adult SF/F works (This novel doesn't seem to be advertised as YA and its hero is 23 years old, although it shares some YA tropes). Admittedly, when I requested this book, I had two reasons to not be super enthusiastic about it: I'd not liked my prior attempt at reading Chupeco's works - her YA novel Wicked as you Wish - and I'm not really a huge vampire novel fan. Silver Under Nightfall is definitely a paranormal romance-esque novel featuring Vampires and Humans so it's very much in that second category even if this book is far queerer and stranger than say...Twilight. But I requested the book thanks to some pretty strong blurbs and prior praise for Chupeco's other stuff, and hoped I'd like this book better.

And I very much did like Silver Under Nightfall better than my last taste of Chupeco. The novel features a non-binary main character Remy and puts him in a general situation that is pretty common in such books: a vampire hunter (reaper) who is suspected and ostracized for possibly being half-vampire, a crippled father who used to be a reaper himself who berates him for any mistakes and has his own agenda, and a kind heart that is often taken advantage of by others, even as he's one of the best vampire hunters his country of Aluria has. It even features some really obvious twists and turns that you'll see coming a mile away. But the book also features a queer polyamorous relationship between Remy and two vampire characters that is really well done and highly enjoyable (and very horny) and a strong theme of Remy having to realize that he is worthy of having happiness in his life, no matter what others think of him. That relationship is enrapturing and lifts this novel immensely, making me very willing to overlook some of the genericness of some of its setting.

More specifics after the jump:

Mild Trigger Warning: Parental and emotional abuse, as well as use of a minor for sex. At least one female character in backstory takes advantage of a 15 year old Remy and basically emotionally entices Remy into having sex with her, a relationship that continues due to that character holding intelligence Remy needs and his father essentially insisting he keep getting that intelligence. Remy's father is also abusive emotionally. The book is very clear that these things are wrong, even if Remy doesn't recognize it, but these issues are there.

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Wednesday, May 17, 2023

SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: Witch King by Martha Wells

 


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 May 30, 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.


Witch King is the latest novel from one of my favorite SciFi/Fantasy authors, Martha Wells, who has recently hit a high mark in reader popularity and critical acclaim for her Murderbot series of SciFi novellas/novels. But, at the risk of sounding like a hipster, I was a fan of Wells even before her Murderbot success, with her Raksura series of fantasy novels featuring a group of incredible characters (Queer polyamorous shapeshifting creatures in a bee-like hierarchal society trying to survive among other fantastical creatures with their own civilizations and societies, some of which prey upon others and look similar to them) being among my faves, and her Ile-Rien series of fantasy/steampunk novels being tremendous fun as well. I've basically read every book of hers that isn't a tie-in novel (and I do want to get to those eventually) so I was super excited to hear about Wells returning to fantasy with her latest novel.

And yet I kind of wanted to love Witch King more than I actually did. The story is centered around Kai, a powerful "Demon" who the story makes clear at first was once part of a group of rebels who helped overthrow the Hierarchs, powerful and terrifying magical invaders somehow, and the story begins with him and one companion awaking to discovery they'd been unknowingly imprisoned by someone for some time, with their close friends/family members missing, and others hunting for Kai and his companion Ziede. The story then takes place over two timelines: first, the main timeline where Kai, Ziede and others they encounter search for answers while avoiding dangerous pursuers and second, a flashback timeline as to Kai's origins, his meeting with Ziede and those others, and how they began their fighting back against the Hierarchs. And while both stories have compelling moments, especially as you get a hang of the setting (which might take a few chapters), there's a substantial gap in time between those stories where relationships have clearly formed, characters have developed, and the world has changed, and as much as I enjoyed the characters here, I felt like I was badly missing that story from this novel, which would've made the developments, betrayals, and reveals more meaningful and given me a bit more to care about.

I'll try to give more specifics after the jump.

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Friday, May 12, 2023

TV/Film Review: Star Wars Visions (Season 2):

 


Star Wars Visions 2 years ago was a revelation - 9 animated shorts using the Star Wars setting (albeit in non-canon ways) made by Japanese Animation (anime) studios which used the setting (itself a Western take on Eastern tropes) in different ways that were unique, stylish as all hell sometimes, and fascinating in themes and characters. One of those shorts - The Village Bride - is one of my favorite bits of Star Wars media maybe ever, and another, The Duel, was expanded into the wonderful non-canon Star Wars novel, Star Wars Visions: Ronin by Emma Mieko Candon. It was a great addition to the Star Wars canon (even if non-canon) and I'd hoped that it would not be a one and done series.

And it wasn't....as here we have a second season of Visions, but this time the season is very different than season 1. Now, instead of 9 Anime shorts produced by Japanese studios, we have 9 shorts by international studios (or well, 8, as I'll get to below) from around the world, with only one being animated by a Japanese studio. The result is really fascinating as the 9 studios each showcasing their own spin on Star Wars, such that their individual cultures really show through in how they tell their stories. And as a result we get some stories that are really interesting, as well as stylishly animated in various ways from 2d art to 3d animation to stop motion, and more than worth your time. I'm gonna explore each of the shorts, and rank them, after the jump.

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Thursday, May 11, 2023

SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: The First Binding by R.R. Virdi

 


The First Binding is an absolute tome of an epic fantasy novel, one which is in fact over 800 pages long. The novel, by Indian American author R.R. Virdi, is his first attempt at epic fantasy, after some success with short fiction and apparently a couple of urban fantasy and sci-fi works that I haven't read. I got interested in this novel through some retweets on twitter and then actually decided to take a risk and buy a physical hardback copy from Astoria Bookstore during a sale, but it's taken me a while to actually sit down and make the effort to read it - again, at over 800 pages, it requires a long time commitment that was difficult to muster with how long my TBR was. Still an Indian inspired epic fantasy was enough to intrigue me to eventually get to it, which I finally did at the end of April/beginning of May.

Unfortunately, The First Binding doesn't really justify that commitment and kind of is an extremely unsatisfying package. The novel is about 75% flashbacks to the origin story of its protagonist - the Binder (kind of Wizard) Ari - and 25% present day story about him serving as a storyteller hunting for some specific knowledge. And the storytelling prose is well done, as is the development of the lead character. The setting is mostly excellent as well, with interesting myths and gods and an extremely well developed magic system, although that setting is very heteronormative and kind of obsessed with gender roles, particularly with how horny men are assumed to be, including the main protagonist. But while the present day story hints at some really interesting and intriguing backstory of its lead character, the actual story told in the flashbacks just doesn't contain any of the interesting parts hinted at, and just takes way way too many pages to get to where the novel finally ends. There just isn't enough payoff here for the page length, and while that might be acceptable in a novel with a well written protagonist (if not much of anyone else) that is 200-400 pages long, that's a far bigger sin for an 800 page tome.

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