Thursday, December 30, 2021

SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: Descendant of the Crane by Joan He

 




Descendant of the Crane is the young adult fantasy debut of author Joan He, whose 2021 novel The Ones We're Meant to Find I really enjoyed (My review here).  This book features a world that is thrilling with its complexity, with a well meaning heroine finding herself betraying herself more and more as she tries to do both what's right and true.  It's a book with some classic plot setups that you might imagine, and features some serious themes such as cycles of oppression, nobles vs common people, fears of people with power, sins of the past and more. 

And what Descendant of the Crane does with these themes and plot setups are really interesting, with the story taking a number of plot turns that are very different from what I expected and from what I've seen in books with similar themes and issues.  The protagonist is highly likable and easy to understand, and the story never takes the easy way out in dealing with its complicated issues.  Still, the book ends on what is a resolution but is also at the same time a cliffhanger that makes the story feel incomplete, and it doesn't seem a sequel is likely to be forthcoming, so readers looking for an entirely satisfying stand alone story may want to stay away, even if it does sort of work on its own. 

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Wednesday, December 29, 2021

SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: A Snake Falls to Earth by Darcie Little Badger

 



A Snake Falls to Earth is the second young adult novel from Lipan Apache author Darcie Little Badger, after last year's incredible Elatsoe (My review here).  Elatsoe featured a similarly Lipan Apache high school girl as its protagonist in an alternate world in which various types of magic were common, and featured a delightful protagonist and her companions (between her family and her ghost dog Kirby) as well as a plot that dealt with serious themes of persecution, colonization and more.  It was really good and highly acclaimed, so I was surprised how under the radar this follow-up novel seemed to be, even if it does seem targeted at a slightly younger age group (this book straddles the gaps between middle-grade and YA).  

A Snake Falls to Earth is a highly enjoyable story featuring two protagonists - a Lipan Apache girl Nina as she grows up from ages 9 to 16 (mostly from ages 13-16) and an cottonmouth snake animal person Oli in the Reflecting World.  Both worlds are very well done and naturally intersect directly in the final act, as catastrophic events on Earth begin to affect Oli's world and friends, and the two characters join together to try and save and keep alive their loved ones.  The story hits some serious themes - environmental disaster, the loss of culture and history at the hands of colonization - although not as strongly as Elatsoe did, and suffers from at times being a bit more disorganized, but is still a very solid piece of YA more than worth your time, and definitely worth the time of younger readers.  
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Tuesday, December 28, 2021

SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: Pym by Mat Johnson

 



Pym is a short novel by Mat Johnson based upon Edgar Allen Poe's only published novel "The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket".  The Poe novel, which is strange and ends in such a weird way as to feel incomplete, also features some typical early 1800s racist writing, with a black character leading a mutiny, a black-coded native character turning into an unhelpful ally, and a race of all black "primitive" people that nearly slaughter the white protagonist.  This novel features a fired black literature professor, fired for not fitting into a white college's plans for a token diverse teacher, and a bunch of oddball others (all Black) as they wind up discovering Poe's book isn't quite all that fictional.  

The result is a book that is at times pretty funny, and at others is a pretty cutting satire about ideas of race, both in the original Poe work and in modern society, as Johnson turns Pym's saviors and monsters on their head.  There's even a parody of kitsch painter Thomas Kinkade to go along with it all.  By the 2/3 mark of the book it becomes pretty clear how this book has to end, and yet Pym manages to make that ending work, with his satire working throughout.  This is not really a "fun" book in any way (although it's in no way serious, horrifying as a turn 2/3 of the way through is), but it's certainly a different and interesting (and again occasionally funny) exploration of the themes of race and the different approaches people have to it that is worth your time.  
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Monday, December 27, 2021

SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: Daughter of the Moon Goddess by Sue Lynn Tan

 




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 January 11, 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.    


Daughter of the Moon Goddess is the debut fantasy novel by author Sue Lynn Tan, inspired by Chinese mythology.  In particular (as you might imagine from the title), it's inspired by the story of Chang'e the Moon Goddess and Hou Yi the Archer, a story I've learned about from other adaptations (last year's Burning Roses by S.L. Huang for example).  Here, that story is this book's backstory, as the novel features Chang'e's daughter Xingyin, who becomes determined to find a way to free her mother from the decree of the Celestial Kingdom that she remain imprisoned for her actions.  The result is a novel that I've seen a lot of advance acclaim for online, and features a set of author blurbs that could hardly be more impressive.  

And all that acclaim is largely worth it, as Daughter of the Moon Goddess is a tale that is really really well done and nearly impossible to put down (I meant to read it over two days and finished it instead in one).  The protagonist heroine Xingyin is tremendous in her determination to save her mother, her struggles with her attraction to two different immortal men, and her struggles between honor, love and doing the right thing - all in a story and setting that is incredibly well built in its Chinese-myth inspired depth.  It's not perfect, but this is a highly satisfying novel in its own right that makes me eager for the chance to read its eventual sequel (this is the first half of a duology, although it stands alone perfectly well).  

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Friday, December 24, 2021

Fantasy TV Review: The Wheel of Time: Season 1

 



The Wheel of Time is one of the most well known series in the genre of Fantasy, even if it never really penetrated into general non-genre consciousness during its publication.  If you're reading my blog, you probably have heard of the series before, and well, you might have even read it.  I actually haven't read the books before, although from cultural osmosis (and occasional TVTropes browsing), I have been somewhat spoiled - I knew who the prophesied Dragon (the chosen one of the series) is, and I knew the general concept of the series.  But otherwise, I've gone into this series blind, enjoying the show on its own merits, rather than trying to compare and contrast it to the books that came first (unlike how I watched Game of Thrones).  

So how did I like the Wheel of Time?  I found it fairly enjoyable fantasy of the traditional sense, with it feeling very very Tolkieny at times, enough to keep me interested, but not enough to recommend it to anyone who wasn't also already interested in fantasy.  The story struggled with pacing, with its first three episodes rushing so much that character development of the main characters suffered, but got significantly better after that.  So I'm still on board for the already announced Season 2.  There's plenty of potential here to improve too, so hopefully the show does that next season (with one major recasting)....

More specifics after the jump - Note: Spoilers for all 8 episodes:

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Thursday, December 23, 2021

SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: The Dragons of Heaven by Alyc Helms

 




The Dragons of Heaven is the start of Alyc Helms' Missy Masters series* of pulp-ish superheroine novels.  I hadn't heard of Helms until they joined together with author Marie Brennan (The Memoirs of Lady Trent) to co-write the Rook and Rose trilogy (under the pen name M.A. Carrick), which I've grown to really really love two books in.  So I decided to go back and check out Helms' solo work, since I'd already greatly enjoyed Brennan's, and fortunately the New York Public Library had both books in stock.  

*I say "series", but it looks like the series has stalled at two novels since this book and its sequel came out in 2016, and I do not know Helms is planning on writing any more.*  

And well, The Dragons of Heaven could easily have gone horribly wrong - it features a white heroine in a story set largely in China, based upon Chinese myths/religion/culture, with Helms themselves being a white author.  But Helms seems to toe that line very well, never verging into White Savior territory with her protagonist, and handling the parts of Chinese culture included in ways that never seem exploitative or inappropriate - although I'm a White Jewish guy, so it's possible others might disagree with my assessment.  

Most importantly, The Dragons of Heaven is very fun with a really witty genre savvy protagonist, a pulp setting filled with superheroes, villains, and mythological beings in an alternate modern world.  The plot also subverts expectations quite frequently with the story moving in directions I certainly didn't expect all the way from beginning to end.  There's some pretty good stuff here, and I'll be trying the sequel probably sooner rather than later.  

NOTE: The Amazon Plot Summary for this book is SUPER spoilery.  Would recommend you skip it, even if it won't ruin your enjoyment of the book.  

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Wednesday, December 22, 2021

SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: Beasts of Prey by Ayana Grey

 




Beasts of Prey is a Pan-African inspired young adult fantasy novel by debut author Ayana Grey.   The novel isn't based upon a single African culture, or even a specific region, with creatures from East African and South African myth, a language based upon Swahili, and a religion that is itself wholly invented.  It's also a book that features a lot of classic YA tropes of the moment, with male and female dual protagonists, each keeping their own secrets, etc. etc.   

And well, those tropes are overused because they can be done well, which Beasts of Prey largely does.  Both its main protagonists are likable and interesting, with teen boy Ekon being neurodivergent and suffering from trauma and teen girl Koffi dealing with both poverty and coming from an oppressed people.  Add in a setting that is really well done, with its African inspirations, and I can see why this earned a bunch of praise from people I respect.  At the same time, the book spends a good amount of time on some pointless flashbacks and doesn't really spend enough time on some other ideas, which really prevents it from pulling off all its ambitions.  

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Tuesday, December 21, 2021

SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: At the End of Everything by Marieke Nijkamp

 




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 January 4, 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.    

At the End of Everything is a YA Science Fiction novel by author Marieke Nijkamp, and well, it's very much a book written during the COVID Pandemic.  The book features a group of teens at a juvenile detention center - a group of teens who are more misfits for not fitting in with society than actually being deserving of imprisonment - who are abandoned their when a deadly plague strikes society.  If the parallels to what happened during the COVID Pandemic weren't apparent, the occasional interludes with news articles are very blatantly almost ripped from our own headlines.  

And while the resulting story isn't very original (it could go one of two ways, and it does indeed largely go that way), it works very well at hitting on its biggest theme - how society cruelly abandons those who don't fit in, forcing those people to fight for themselves, sometimes successfully, other times...not so much.  The book's three main protagonists - non-binary castout Emerson, mute girl Logan, and leader Grace - are really well done, as they struggle with their situation, trying to help each other and themselves out, and find a way to do more than just survive.  The result is a story that is far from optimistic, with an ending that is bittersweet, but works pretty well at hitting its readers' hearts, so they learn the lessons its trying to teach. 

Trigger Warning:  Dead-Naming/Misgendering (only in the first few chapters), Ableism, references to abuse - physical and sexual - and transphobia.  For the most part, the worst of these behaviors are in flashbacks and only implied, as they form parts of characters' backstories, and not their present problems.  

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Monday, December 20, 2021

SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: Hunt the Stars by Jessie Mihalik

 



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 1, 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.    

Hunt the Stars is the first book in a new series of space opera romance novels by author Jessie Mihalik, who previously wrote the SF romance Consortium Rebellion trilogy (Polaris Rising, Aurora Blazing, and Chaos Reigning).  I really enjoyed that trilogy - not as any kind of serious scifi, but as the type of "trashy" romance that can be really fun if you don't think too hard about the setting.  Each book in that series featured essentially a different space princess (or well daughter of an oligarch) getting into an adventure with a romantic love interest and fighting and failing to deal with a ton of sexual attraction along the way.  The trilogy was a lot of fun, and incredibly sexy (with really great sex scenes), so I was happy to dive in to Mihalik's new series.  

And well Hunt the Stars starts off very generic, as it again features a first person female protagonist  - this time a bounty hunter and former war hero - desperately trying to fight off a strong physical attraction to her former enemy - a human-like alien telekinetic/telepathic general.  You'll see certain plot points coming and it doesn't really standout for the book's first half, even if it never gets boring as it slowly unweaves its enemies-to-lovers plot.  And then the book gets into its final act, and oh my god does it get hot, steamy and sexy as all hell, ending with a hell of a satisfying release.  

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Friday, December 17, 2021

Fantasy/Horror Novella Review: Comfort Me With Apples by Catherynne M. Valente

 




Comfort Me With Apples by Catherynne M. Valente

Comfort Me With Apples is the latest work of award-nominated/winning author Catherynne M. Valente, who is frequently known for her stories taking and spinning off fairy/folk tales (Six-Gun Snow White for example).  I've liked some of Valente's short fiction; on the other hand, her more comedic or satirical works like Space Opera haven't really worked for me.  So I was originally going to skip this one, but for all the hype I've seen for it.  

And Comfort Me With Apples is an unsettling short horror novella, which makes clear from the very beginning that something strange is going on in a way that will likely be very familiar to the reader (with some humorously horrifying excerpts from a homeowners' association rules) before a reveal that really twists expectations.  Saying anything more about the plot will spoil, so I won't do that, but I will say this is a really interesting horror novella that will be worth reading if you are looking for a short horror thriller read.  

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Wednesday, December 15, 2021

SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: Future Home of the Living God by Louise Erdrich

 




Future Home of the Living God is a 2017 novel by reputed literary author Louise Erdrich, making a turn into dystopian science fiction.  The novel doesn't seem to have been as well received as some of Erdrich's other works, although it has drawn comparison to The Handmaid's Tale, as it features a world where pregnant women (and potentially other women of childrearing age) are rounded up and captured.  The cause is an unexplainable reversal of evolution, which makes modern society collapse as governments and people try to figure out what to do.  

It's a setup that is less interesting than everything else in it, as the book also features an adopted indigenous protagonist trying to connect with her indigenous birth family, deal with her white baby father, and deals heavily with religion and culture along the way too.  These ideas are a lot more interesting than the dystopian pregnant prison camps, especially with the first person perspective of its protagonist, a girl who philosophizes science and metaphysics constantly, for better or worse.  Unfortunately, it's final arc returns to the less interesting dystopian bits, which makes this hard to really recommend. 

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Tuesday, December 14, 2021

SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: Grave Reservations by Cherie Priest

 





Grave Reservations is the latest book by author Cherie Priest known in good part for her horror novels, and whom I know mainly from her very fun twitter feed (and her very fun dogs and cat).  Grave Reservations is a change of pace - it's another take on the amateur psychic meets police detective genre, with the story being light and enjoyable even as it deals with murder and a protagonist with tremendous self doubt and some big issues with grief.  It's a short novel, one which a reader can easily finish in one day, which I did.  

And well, Grave Reservations was fun, with a very enjoyable main protagonist and a solid if unspectacular main mystery.  As the beginning of a new series, It certainly has me willing to try another volume, which is really what you hope for.  On the other hand, I was a bit confused as to what it was trying to do with the relationship between the two main protagonists, who didn't really have any significant chemistry whatsoever, and I don't think that was deliberate?  I'll have some more specifics after the jump.  

Note: That as a more or less straight take to some extent of the Buddy Cop genre, this is not a book that questions the integrity of cops or detectives (in Seattle) at all.  

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SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: Year of the Reaper by Makiia Lucier

 




Year of the Reaper is a YA Fantasy novel from author Makiia Lucier, whose prior fantasy Tower of Winds duology (Isle of Blood and Stone (Review Here), Song of the Abyss (Review Here)) I enjoyed.  That duology featured a very different type of fantasy setting, an Island Kingdom with a culture of peaceful exploration rather than conquering.  Neither book was anything truly remarkable, but they were enjoyable for younger side of YA offerings, and so I was intrigued when I saw some talk about this latest offering.  

And Year of the Reaper is another very solid YA offering* that doesn't really manage to break out from the pack.  The story features one incredibly predictable twist that any experienced reader will see coming - even in the target age group I suspect - but also features a number of plot points that go in different directions to how you'd expect.  It's executed well enough, with a very enjoyable main character, very solid dialogue, and some solid secondary characters, so if you're looking for an enjoyable YA book to read or to give someone, you won't go wrong here.  It just wouldn't necessarily be super high up on my list.  

*This could again be considered on the younger side of YA, as the romance involved is entirely chaste, although there is a good amount of violence and there are multiple moments dealing with war and medical atrocities committed by people off page, which probably takes this out of Middle Grade.*

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Monday, December 13, 2021

SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: Moon of the Crusted Snow by Waubgeshig Rice

 




Moon of the Crusted Snow is a novel by Wasauksing First Nation author Waubgeshig Rice, published by ECW Press, a Canadian small press that has put out a few interesting short novels and novellas I've read.*  The novel is a short one, featuring an Anishinaabe community in Canada during a total blackout of power and communications, as they try to work together to survive a brutal winter.  

*I got this book for free as a reward for posting a review of another book of theirs, but I give my word it did not affect this review.  I was looking to read this book anyway.  

The result is a really strong short novel, even if certain elements are rather predictable if you have any knowledge of the experience of First Nations people in Canada.  The story focuses upon a family who, due to being only a generation out of open persecution, weren't taught as children their people's culture and who have been trying to get back to that culture so as to teach it to their children - as they struggle to keep their community fed and surviving while others (outsiders and those who have been content not to try to contribute and be part of the community) who are selfish threaten them all.  This is not a happy story, but it works very well at making its points clear.  

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Thursday, December 9, 2021

SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: The Interrogation of Ashala Wolf by Ambelin Kwaymullina

 




The Interrogation of Ashala Wolf is a young adult science fiction novel by indigenous Australian author Ambelin Kwaymullina.  The novel is fairly short, and features a future a few centuries into the future in which the world suffered a major disaster (the Reckoning) only for humans to bounce back with a focus on maintaining a Balance with nature.  But of course certain people, those with abilities, aren't thought of by the majority as being part of the Balance, and the story features a protagonist who leads a "Tribe" of such illegal individuals in an attempt at freedom.  

As you can imagine from the title, the novel features its protagonist Ashala starting the story imprisoned in a detention camp and being pressured to give up those she cares about, and the result is a very strong story with some fairly obvious but well done themes.  The protagonist Tribe aren't specifically indigenous in and of themselves (race as such isn't really a thing in this future), but they are essentially indigenous-coded, and seeing how protagonist Ashala tries to fight for them, for their future in harmony with elements of nature, and the family she has formed works really well.  Ashala and the side characters form a really strong set of characters despite the short time we have with each of them, and I definitely will be trying out the sequel after this book.

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Wednesday, December 8, 2021

SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: Lycanthropy and Other Chronic Illnesses by Kristen O'Neal

 




Lycanthropy and Other Chronic Illnesses is a young adult novel by debut author Kristen O'Neal, with some fantastical elements (as you might expect from the title, there's a werewolf).  It's the type of novel that's tricky to label, since nearly every major character involved is older than your traditional YA age - they're college aged rather than high school age, and while some could describe this as "coming of age", it's not really "coming of age" as much as a story of development through new circumstances a bit later in life.  

However you want to describe it, it's a novel that's absolutely delightful, as it focuses on younger adults with chronic pain and disabilities trying to deal with those pains in their own lives and how others treat them because of it - a group that is often not featured in novels I read.  It's also a story of similar people reaching out and bonding to help themselves cope with such problems - about how to deal with a body that won't reliably cooperate with one's mind and desires - and the struggles of trying to be there for someone without making them seem lesser.  And it's also an incredibly fun and often hilariously written novel about online friends turning into more - and not romantically! - about growing together, struggling with each other and together, and making up and moving forward.  There's no antagonist here, even if there is a werewolf, but instead there's just a novel that's absolutely delightful, charming and entertaining and well...true.   

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Tuesday, December 7, 2021

SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: Storm of War by Kachi Ugo

 




Storm of War is the first in a series of self published "urban fantasy" novels by author Kachi Ugo.  This is not a book I'd heard of before it showed up on NetGalley, but it was posted months after release there and I decided to give it a shot.  I'm a big fan of urban fantasy in general, so I was hoping this would be the start of a new series for me to follow. 

And well....Storm of War shows some interesting potential, before falling into some more cliché plotlines and ending in a very unsatisfying cliffhanger.   The story is set in the modern day world, but doesn't really feature prominently in the normal world, instead focusing upon a community of "wood" levitating magic users (really plant wielding), who face a potential war from a more dangerous "metal" wielding magic tribe.  The protagonist is a young man who ran away in cowardice from his wood wielding community, and his cowardice at first makes him an unusual hero....but again the book goes away from that in the end as it deals with prophecy and very generic fantasy ideas.  

More specifics after the jump:

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SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: The Bones of Ruin by Sarah Raughley

 


The Bones of Ruin is the first in a new young adult* historical fantasy series by author Sarah Raughley, taking place in an alternate 1884 London.  It's a story featuring a cast featuring of people of color with various magical powers forced into conflict by a wealthy white society who believes in a coming apocalypse and that only they can lead the way into a new world.  It's a story that reminded me a bunch of Roshani Chokshi's The Gilded Wolves (indeed, the book's marketing makes that very comparison) in how it features a cast of outcasts dealing with a racist/imperialist society that tries to use and crush them.  

*The book is published by a YA imprint and advertised as young adult; however, I don't really think it fits many of the usual characterizations of YA in character age/atmosphere necessarily.  YA readers will enjoy this, but so will adult ones, for what that's worth.*

And the Bones of Ruin is very good at dealing with those themes while keeping the story moving and centered around a really solid main character - amnesiac and seemingly immortal African tightrope dancer Iris, whose quest to discover who she really is will lead her to answers she may not really want.  The side characters, such as Iris' companions in this deadly contest of champions all generally work really well, with each having their own personalities and backstories that makes them all feel three dimensional, even the ones we only see in small part.  And the story may be the first in a "series" (as described on the author's page, no idea how long this is meant to be), but it is satisfying in and of itself, even with it ending on a major cliffhanger.  

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Monday, December 6, 2021

SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: Under the Whispering Door by T. J. Klune

 




Under the Whispering Door is the second adult novel by author T.J. Klune, author of last year's highly acclaimed The House in the Cerulean Sea (Reviewed here).  The House in the Cerulean Sea was a delight, the story of a man from an bureaucratic agency that deals with the running of orphanages for children with magical talents, who falls in love with an orphanage keeper of some of the strangest children possible, in a heartwarming gay romance with a set of characters who you couldn't help but fall in love with.  So I was very much excited to read this book, which in its description sounded in some ways like the last one.  

And Under the Whispering Door is indeed going to be a little bit familiar to readers of Klune's last book - it also features a heartwarming M-M relationship between a man whose heart defrosts throughout and another with tremendous empathy, and a cast of really great characters who form a very cute family.  However, the tone of the book is very different, with this book dealing heavily with the impact of Grief and guilt and how people react to it all, and what they need to try and move forward.  It's pretty well done for the most part, both different and similar to the last book, so if you liked that The House in the Cerulean Sea, you'll like this - and if you haven't read that book, it's worth giving this one a try.  

Trigger Warning:  This book deals with Death, Grief, and a few death tropes, including Suicide and Death of a Child.  

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Romance Anthology Review: Fools in Love (Edited by Ashley Herring Blake & Rebecca Podos)

 



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 December 7, 2021 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.    

Fools in Love is an anthology of young adult romance short stories by a number of rising authors, with each story taking a pretty well known romance trope and running with it.  For those who come to my blog for SciFi and Fantasy reviews, rest assured that Fools in Love comes with a bunch of Fantasy and SciFi Romance stories, although not every story fits in this category.  What they all do have, like any good romance story, is a Happy Ever After ending (HEA), even as they feature a bunch of very different backgrounds for those relationships to emerge.  

And this is an absolutely lovely anthology that's a lot of fun and has just the right amount of charm you'd hope for stories like this.  The romance stories feature people and relationships of all backgrounds - Straight and Queer, Cis and Trans, different Religions, Races and Cultures, etc. - and they're generally all done well.  A few stories are merely good rather than great, but some are real highlights, and even the more basic ones at least are charming and enjoyable, as you'd expect from romance stories.  

More specifics and highlights after the jump:

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Thursday, December 2, 2021

SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: The Chariot at Dusk by Swati Teerdhala

 





The Chariot at Dusk is the conclusion to the Swati Teerdhala's young adult fantasy trilogy which began with "The Tiger at Midnight (which I reviewed here) and continued with "The Archer at Dawn" (Reviewed Here).  The series is inspired by (per the marketing of the first book) ancient Indian history and (Hindu) myth, and features as its heart two protagonists: a young woman who survived the massacre of her family to become the resistance fighter and assassin the "Viper" and a young man, a soldier, with a kind heart and a secret past who struggles with his role and his need to do what's right.  The setting also featured two related countries with a breaking but shared magical bond, jealous princes and foreign rulers, and enough background to keep it interesting and a little different from other stories.  Still, book 2 ended on a cliffhanger that was a bit hard to believe, so I didn't rush to pick up this trilogy ender when it first came out.  

And....The Chariot at Dusk is fine as a trilogy ender, although very much an anticlimax in how much it rushes through closing off all the relevant plot points.  The 2nd book ended with the main duo separated and on the outs for various reasons, with enemies new and old popping up on all sides forcing the pair into strange new alliances, but this book rushes to reunite the pair and never really deals with how strange and uncomfortable these new allies could be.  Thankfully the main duo's relationship, although not particularly unique, is still done decently well and the ending is solid if pretty standard, so the book isn't bad by any means.  It just feels like this book needed to be about 33% longer to really hit home the way it should have.  

Spoilers for Books 1 and 2 are below:

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Wednesday, December 1, 2021

SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: Dark Rise by C.S. Pacat

 





Dark Rise is the type of Young Adult Fantasy I haven't read in a long time - the type of classical British/Western YA Fantasy featuring a chosen one, a Dark force returning to power, and group of teens discovering they're maybe the only ones who can stop it.  In fact, as you might have guessed from the title, it's very much a book channeling elements from a specific classic YA Fantasy series: Susan Cooper's The Dark is Rising (although it's definitely dealing with tropes more general to the genre as well).  That said, this is not a straight forward take on the genre, and it's one that certain people i respect on social media had been hyping for a bit, so it piqued my interest for a while.  

And well, Dark Rise is certainly a really interesting take on the genre, especially once it gets into its second act and begins to subvert genre expectations.  The book's main duo - chosen one Will and orphan girl with evil blood Violet - form a really strong pair as the two are drawn in to the conflict between light and dark and soon learn that things are not only dire, but are far more complicated than they seem.  You will be able to guess how some twists will turn out, but not others, and the book finishes in a satisfying place that also will leave you curious on how things will turnout in the next book in the trilogy.  Still the book is relatively short, and really could've used a bit more development for a couple of other important characters to make those twists really land, which prevents it from being really great.  

Trigger Warning: Discussions of Assisted Suicide/Euthanasia.  

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