SciFi/Fantasy/Romance Book Review: Rules for Ghosting by Shelly Jay Shore

 

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 20, 2024 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.

Rules for Ghosting is the debut novel for queer Jewish author Shelly Jay Shore. The book is advertised as a queer Jewish romance (and Jewish family drama) and that's exactly what it is - with a minor fantasy element of its protagonist being able to see ghosts. And so we get a story dealing with the rituals of a Jewish Funeral Home, our trans male protagonist Ezra dealing with new roommates and a crush on a hot recently widowed funeral home volunteer Jonathan, family drama incited by Ezra's mother admitting at the seder that she's actually in love with the Rabbi's wife, and oh yeah, one of the ghosts Ezra is now seeing everwhere is Jonathan's dead husband Ben. If that sounds like a lot and a mess, well, that's the point and honestly, that only makes the book feel more Jewish.

And as a Jewish SF/F and romance reader who reads a lot of queer works, well, I kind of loved Rules for Ghosting. The story deals with Jewish Guilt and Obligations and family messes in very realistic ways, has a really lovely romance between Ezra and Jonathan and doesn't do the annoying third act temporary breakup I hate in many romances, and just is pretty lovely in the end. I'm not sure how the book will work for non-Jewish readers (probably still pretty decent, but honestly who cares those readers have plenty of non Jewish romances to read) but for the Jewish and especially the Jewish and Queer romance fans, this one is definitely going to appeal.

SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: Ash by Grace Walker

 

Ash is a self-published science fiction novel that is the start of a new series/trilogy by 17 year old author Grace Walker, whose bio notes that her first trilogy was written at age 14. And let me tell you, for a 17 year old's self published work, Ash is very solid - the prose is written very well and is very readable and the main characters are certainly likable, with the story also containing some promise of exploration of serious themes. And the novel is short enough that readers will get through it fairly quickly.

Unfortunately, Ash isn't ultimately a satisfying novel because the book feels incomplete. As I'll explain more below, the book stops on a cliffhanger before the story really gets into anything, despite the reader knowing that certain events are going to happen, so it just winds up being kind of frustrating. And the book definitely could use a bunch of editing as it takes just too long to get out of the first act that is basically just preamble and probably could've used more time in the book's second act. There's a good novel in what is written here I think and an editor probably would've helped Walker tease it out, but Ash isn't there yet.

SciFi Novella Review: Navigational Entanglements by Aliette de Bodard

Navigational Entanglements is the newest Sci-Fi novella from Aliette de Bodard (the Xuya Universe, Dominion of the Fallen, Dragons and Blades), one of my favorite authors. Like de Bodard's Xuya works, this is set in a sci-fi universe (with some magic-esque attributes) where the world is Vietnamese-inspired, although this work is not actually a Xuya work (that universe is seemingly more direct sci-fi and prominently features mindships, which are not present here). And de Bodard uses this new setting to tell a story of a pair of young adults, Nhi and Hạc Cúc being sent on a mission with two other young Navigators by their rival clans, which forces them to confront their internal struggles as well as their own moral codes and desires to do what's right.

It's a really well done novella, dealing strongly with a pair of protagonists (who fall for each other of course) dealing with their own insecurities or disabilities - Nhi is on the spectrum and has a hard time dealing with people, Hạc Cúc is massively insecure about not living up to their legendary mentor - and putting them into a super interesting scifi world with some interesting themes.

SciFi/Fantasy/Romance Book Review: A Swift and Sudden Exit by Nico Vincenty

 

A Swift and Sudden Exit is a self-published sci-fi F/F romance novel that features a time traveler from a post-apocalyptic future (Zera) looking for keys to fix her time and an immortal woman (Katherine) she keeps finding along the way who might possess the answers she seeks...if she doesn't fall in love with her first. It's not a unique setup, but it's one seemingly tailor-made to intrigue me, so it wasn't a surprise when it wound up in my review allotment for the Self Published Science Fiction Competition (SPSFC) that I am judging again this year.

And the result is uneven, although it has moments of real promise. The romance between Zera and Katherine works really well from the midpoint on, with both characters being delights to read and strong in their development and character, which means romance fans will definitely enjoy this book. But there are a few moments here and there that are clear whiffs (one will cause any lawyer reader pain), a late act plot twist is insanely predictable, and the book's ending is an utter mess. The result is an enjoyable romance but one with enough flaws to prevent it from being a strong recommend...and one that non-romance readers should definitely skip.*

Normally I wouldn't include this caveat in a review, but as this is a SPSFC review and some readers will thus be looking for Sci-Fi without romance, I feel obligated to give it, even though it's not quite the fault of the book.

SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: The Diablo's Curse by Gabe Cole Novoa

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 February 20, 2024 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 Diablo's Curse is the second YA novel by author Gabe Cole Novoa, after his novel "The Wicked Bargain". It's essentially a stand-alone sequel to that book, featuring as one of its protagonists Dami, the demonio who was a minor character in that first book, who now seeks to become fully human by revoking all of the magical bargains they tricked humans into making with them. But the last such human, Silas, is cursed with deadly bad luck and the only thing keeping them from dying - permanently at least - is the bargain Dami struck with Silas. And so, to get that last deal done, Dami agrees to help Silas break said family curse by finding a long lost treasure on a magical island

It's a pretty standard YA setup to some extent, albeit one a lot more queer (Dami is NB/genderfluid, Silas is bi (but mostly prefers guys), and third protagonist Marisol is a trans girl) and with a Hispanic Spanish speaking protagonist in Dami. And it's generally pretty well executed even as it plays to the typical plot beats - like Silas and Dami falling for each other - and the story of each main character fighting to be able to be who they want to be and with the people they want to be with works well even as it does mostly eventually turn into the trio of protags looking for treasure on a dangerous mysterious magical island and falls into some very tropey parts in the book's ending.

Fantasy Novella Review: The Brides of High Hill by Nghi Vo

The Brides of High Hill is the Fifth Novella in Nghi Vo's wonderful award winning Singing Hills Cycle of novellas. The novellas follow Cleric Chih and their Neixein (sp?) Almost Brilliant (a bird who remembers everything) as they go around collecting and telling stories around an Asian-inspired world. It's a formula that has allowed Vo to tell a wide variety of sub-genre stories, from a Wuxia story (Into the Riverlands) to a Romance story (When the Tiger Comes Down the Mountain) to a story filled with grief and memories (Mammoths at the Gates) etc.

The Brides of High Hill is Vo's take, kinda, on the gothic horror subgenre, specifically a horror modeled after the classic Bluebeard story. Here we find Cleric Chih, alone without their trusted companion Almost Brilliant, accompanying a young noble girl from a relatively poor family and her parents as they go to meet her older promised husband...who has secrets of his own. It's a well done story, that doesn't play things straight and features great atmosphere (and the audiobook reader is excellent), but it also seems less interesting than some of the prior Singing Hills stories by comparison. More specifics after the jump:

SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: Conquer the Kingdom by Jennifer Estep

 

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 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.

Conquer the Kingdom is the final book in Jennifer Estep's "Gargoyle Queen" trilogy, which is itself the second trilogy in the world that Estep started with her Crown of Stars trilogy (so this is really the sixth book in this universe, and events and characters from the first trilogy are important here, even if readers didn't necessarily need to read those books to enjoy this trilogy).  This trilogy has followed princess Gemma - known for being a ditzy princess but really an intelligent adventurous spy who relies upon her mind magier magic (telepathy and telekinesis) to try and protect her country from the forces of the sinister Morta.  There's just one problem: while Morta's evil Queen Maeven is a clear threat and her son Milo is a monster whose plans to grab power involve destroying her country,  Maeven's son Leonidas is another mind magier with whom Gemma has shared a connection since childhood...and a passionate attraction.  

This has resulted in a trilogy that deals with the same type of simple fantasy adventure as the first trilogy - there's nothing particularly complex or deep in themes here and will never be - but that has added just a little (but not much) more depth to the romance, including a few actual decent if unexceptional sex scenes.  The trilogy has been enjoyable, if often predictable and never really that super exciting and Conquer the Kingdom is the same: a fan fantasy adventure conclusion to this trilogy as Gemma and her friends try to lay a trap to stop the evil Milo and save her kingdom.  At the same time, six books in - and three books into this trilogy - it does kind of feel like this style of book and plot is getting old, and I kind of had trouble maintaining my interest enough to finish it.  

Note: I read part of this in audio format, which helped me finish it.  The audio reader is very solid, if unexceptional, so this is not a bad choice in that format.