SciFi/Fantasy Anthology Review: Lost Worlds & Mythological Kingdoms (edited by John Joseph Adams)

 

SciFi/Fantasy Anthology Review: Lost Worlds & Mythological Kingdoms (ed. by John Joseph Adams), featuring stories by Kate Elliott, Darcie Little Badger, Dexter Palmer, Seanan McGuire, Becky Chambers and more

Short Review: 8 out of 10
1/3

— Josh (garik16) (@garik16) March 1, 2022

Short Review (cont): An anthology featuring 17 short stories dealing with discoveries of lost worlds, mythological worlds, past worlds, etc., sometimes dealing with colonization, sometimes imagination, sometimes horror, & more. A very solid if rarely exceptional collection.
2/3

— Josh (garik16) (@garik16) March 1, 2022

Full Disclosure:  This book was read as an e-ARC (Advance Reader Copy) obtained from the publisher in advance of the book's release on March 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.      

Lost Worlds & Mythological Kingdoms is the latest themed anthology edited by prominent anthologist, John Joseph Adams.  As is typical for an Adams anthology, this collection is filled with stories from pretty well renowned members of the SciFi/Fantasy community, such as Becky Chambers, Kate Elliott, Darcie Little Badger, Seanan McGuire, and more.  

These writers combine to write stories that all follow a single theme in a ton of different ways: each story deals in some way with discovery of a lost world, a mythological world, or some place or part connected to the distant past.  It's a theme that in a different time would've resulted in a LOT of stories from the perspective of a colonizer and be problematic as a result.  But this anthology's authors are aware of that, either taking the theme in an alternate direction altogether - portal fantasies, cute stories about exploration and imagination, horror stories - or take direct aim at those stories and provide and interrogate/critique them entirely.  

The result is a whole bunch of very solid stories, although I don't think any wound up being an absolute standout that demands you read it right away.  But still, if you pick this anthology up, you won't be disappointed.  

A Chorus of Dragons (by Jenn Lyons) Reread: Book Two: The Name of All Things

 


Welcome to Part 2 of my reread of Jenn Lyons' A Chorus of Dragons, with this post featuring book 2 in the series, 2019's The Name of All Things. You can find all my posts in this Reread - 1 post per book - by clicking this link here.

And well, this time around I'm going to pretty much just be gushing, since The Name of All Things is a revelation as compared to The Ruin of Kings.  It's still not a perfect book, nor is it my favorite of the series, and it's still very much dealing with introducing various major characters - particularly Janel, Senera and Qown - and concepts that will be relevant to the rest of the series. 

But whereas The Ruin of Kings's need to introduce the world and it's concepts leads its plot to feel often scattershot, confusing and less interesting, The Name of All Things' narrative is cohesive - long and windy and going in very different places from time to time, but cohesive such that it feels like one complete part of a story.  Even as the story is clearly setting up long term plot arcs - Xaltorath's messing with Janel, Relos Var dealing with the prophecies, the Dragons and Val Korath, etc. - these parts feel like natural parts of the story being told in THIS book, as Janel struggles to fight for her people and to save them and others from threats on a much higher level.  It's just a really great book.  

Spoilers obviously after the Jump:  

SciFi/Fantasy Novella Review: One Arm Shorter than the Other by Gigi Ganguly

 


Full Disclosure:  This book was read as an e-ARC (Advance Reader Copy) obtained from the publisher in advance of the book's release on April 5, 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.      

One Arm Shorter than the Other by Gigi Ganguly

One Arm Shorter than the Other is a debut novella by Indian author Gigi Ganguly, being published by a small press here in America in April.  It's a novella in two parts, with the first part featuring a series of short stories all connected by a single theme - a repair shop in Delhi whose workings result in magic - and a second part featuring a longer story that explains the origins of what came to pass in those stories.  

It's a really well done novella, an interesting tale with ideas of love, loss, and eternity throughout, that shifts from fantasy in the beginning to a more clearly sci-fi touch in its final acts.  It's not the type of work that'll blow you away, but it's effective and worth your time for a different touch to a novella.  

SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: The Keeper of Night by Kylie Lee Baker

 

SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: The Keeper of Night by Kylie Lee Baker: https://t.co/OBsiLha2cF

Short Review: 9.5 out of 10
1/3

— Josh (garik16) (@garik16) February 24, 2022

Short Review (cont): When half British Reaper/half Japanese Shinigami Ren flees Britain for Japan in search of a home, she is given a test to join the service of the Japanese death goddess that tests just how far she is willing to go to find a home. Incredible & Devastating
2/3

— Josh (garik16) (@garik16) February 24, 2022

The Keeper of Night is the debut novel by author Kylie Lee Baker and the first in a new YA Fantasy Duology.  The story features leans heavily into Japanese mythology, but features a protagonist who is half-English and half-Japanese, a (grim) reaper/shinigami who finds herself an outcast in England and flees to Japan to hopefully find a place she can be at home.  The story thus features a couple of elements that I've seen before and enjoyed - issues of mixed racial heritage and finding a place for oneself, shinigami/death-gods/reapers, the Japanese mythological elements - although I'm not sure I'd seen the combination together before or in a long while.  

And The Keeper of Night makes a tremendous impact with them, as it follows protagonist Ren as she decides to do anything it takes in order to find a place at home with the Japanese shinigami, even as that path takes her down darker and darker places, and causes a rift between her and her beloved half-brother, the Reaper who followed her to Japan.  It hits hard the feelings that come from being abused for how one is born, for not fitting in whether by being half-blooded or something else, and how that can drive one to dark places, and features a plot and world that is highly engaging and goes in some places I definitely did not expect.  And it ends with an ending that left me stunned and desperate to read the sequel.  So yeah, this is a winner, and I'm gonna give serious consideration to this for my Lodestar Ballot.  

SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: The Atlas Six by Olivie Blake

SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: The Atlas Six by Olivie Blake: https://t.co/IrWKxoG56v

Short Review: 5.5 out of 10
1/3

— Josh (garik16) (@garik16) February 23, 2022

Short Review (cont): A tale of six magicians invited into a society - where only five will survive to be initiated - is hampered by too many unlikable characters and a plot that teases revelations that either don't come or just don't land, and instead tease for a sequel.
2/3

— Josh (garik16) (@garik16) February 23, 2022

 
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 updated release on March 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.

The Atlas Six was a self-published novel by author Olivie Blake that apparently somewhat of a hit on BookTok and other social media, leading to it and its future sequels being picked up by Tor Books last year.  As a result, Tor is releasing a revised edition on March 1, 2022, and I managed to be granted a copy on Netgalley to check out (ironically I had my request granted after I already had a copy of the original version from my eLibrary).  

And well......I did not like The Atlas Six, as it manages to combine a plot structure that I absolutely hate with a set of main characters who I largely did not care for.  The story features six main characters, two of which are largely unlikable throughout, and one of which never gets almost any redeeming features - and yet he's also not really meant to be an antagonist either so it doesn't really work.  Nor are the other four particularly likable as a generally incredibly jaded bunch who just are miserable to follow, with them often keeping secrets for no reason that just further keeps them separated.  And the story seems clearly to be leading to a major point, to some big revelation....except that revelation is either a bust or just really pushed off to the next book, making it all just seem like such a letdown.  

The result is a book I can absolutely not recommend and I really don't get where the buzz came from here.  

SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: Riding the Trail of Tears by Blake M. Hausman

 

SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: Riding the Trail of Tears by Blake M. Hausman: https://t.co/WifNB8KlWF

Short Review: 9 out of 10
1/3

— Josh (garik16) (@garik16) February 22, 2022

Short Review (cont): A story featuring a virtual reality recreation of the Trail of Tears, meant ostensibly for education but transformed into entertainment, as its "virtual" inhabitants go rogue during a trip led by a real indigenous tour guide. Strong & Highly recommended
2/3

— Josh (garik16) (@garik16) February 22, 2022

Riding the Trail of Tears is a 2011 novel by author Blake M. Hausman, a member of the Cherokee Tribe (and per his bio, half-Jewish as well).  The novel features a part Cherokee protagonist who helped design and works as a tour guide on a virtual reality tourist attraction in which tourists are placed in the role of indigenous peoples displaced during the Trail of Tears.  The concept and some of the themes will ring a bell to those who have read Rebecca Roanhorse's later award winning short story Welcome to Your Authentic Indian Experience.  

But Riding the Trail of Tears goes a lot farther than Roanhorse's story - and not just because of the fact that its a full novel instead of a short story.  There's a greater examination of appropriation in this story, not least of which because the virtual reality experience being given here is supposedly meant to be a historical reenactment of the atrocity of the Trail of Tears, but the story includes more than that - long forgotten indigenous spirits, grieving for things lost not only due to the colonial invaders, and both negative and positive reactions of those who are outsiders to the things lost within.  The story also ends on a more positive note, as its main character is transformed by the experience, despite the events that occur within.  

More specifics after the jump:

A Chorus of Dragons (by Jenn Lyons) Reread: Book One: The Ruin of Kings

 



Welcome to my Reread of Jenn Lyons' epic fantasy series, A Chorus of Dragons!  This series, whose fifth and final book is scheduled to come out in April, began in 2019 with The Ruin of Kings and has since popped out three other epic fantasy doorstoppers: 2019's The Name of All Things, 2020's The Memory of Souls, and 2021's The House of Always.  And since book 2 (The Name of All Things), this has been easily one of my favorite series over the past few years, doing some really interesting things with the genre, and featuring a set of major and minor characters who are really enjoyable, fun, and interesting - to go along with some great dialogue.  I've reread books 2-4 of this series quite a bunch, and figured I'd do a blog reread of each book prior to my review of Book 5, which I got an advance copy of through NetGalley.  

That means we're starting with Book 1: The Ruin of Kings, the first book in the series, and the only one I had never before done a full reread of prior to this point.  And that's because, as I put in my original review of that book (see HERE), I didn't particularly love that book, and wasn't sure if I was even going to continue with the series after that.  And I wasn't alone in that opinion, no less than 3 other SF/F fans I've spoken to who tried book 1 managed to bounce off of it, which is a shame because Book 2 is so so good - and honestly, thanks to the recap of book 1 that starts that book, you could probably start there.  So I've actually advised people to do just that.....but well, Book 4 in the series, The House of Always, ,returns a bunch of characters from book 1, and even without remembering them too well, I felt like I probably wanted to do a reread before the finale.  

Does The Ruin of Kings still stand out as a problem for the series after reading books 2-4?  Or was its issues necessary for the rest to hit the highs?  I wanted to find out, and that's what I'll be discussing in this post, after the jump:

SPOILER WARNING BEFORE THIS POINT

SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: The City of Dusk by Tara Sim

 

SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: The City of Dusk by Tara Sim: https://t.co/C1K3DhRHn2

Short Review: 7.5 out of 10
1/3

— Josh (garik16) (@garik16) February 18, 2022

Short Review (cont): An epic fantasy novel that features a world cut off from the four magical realms it once was tied to, and follows the four heirs to magical lineages each with their own dreams as heretical magic. Really good characters, but too much is going on here.

2/3

— Josh (garik16) (@garik16) February 18, 2022

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 22, 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 of Dusk is the first in a new epic fantasy series by author Tara Sim, an author I'd previously enjoyed for her Scavenge the Stars duology (Review of the first book Here).  That duology was a really well done YA fantasy (sorta) take on the Count of Monte Cristo, although its second book very much felt like it kind of rushed through the ending (especially with how many pieces it has juggling in the air) so that the story could fit into a duology instead of a trilogy.  But naturally it made me want to read more from Sim, so I was excited to get an early look at this book.  

And well, The City of Dusk may be a much longer book than either book in the Scavenge the Stars duology, as you'd expect from epic fantasy, but it has many of the same pluses and negatives as that series.  The book features four-five main characters, from whose perspectives the story gets told, each of whom have their own issues and wants even as they ostensibly want the same thing in a fantasy world that is seemingly dying due to being cutoff by their gods.  But each of them, as well as a number of other characters, and the antagonists, have so many things going on that it's hard sometimes to keep track, and some character interactions feel like they should get a larger amount of pagetime, and the book just doesn't have enough for it all, leading to a climax that feels insanely hectic and a bit too confusing, at least to me.  Still the character work is generally very good, and I liked so many of the characters, so I'll be back for the sequel to see if it improves (like another epic fantasy trilogy that this kind of reminds me of).  

More specifics after the jump:

SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: The Blue-Spangled Blue by David Bowles

 

SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: The Blue-Spangled Blue by David Bowles: https://t.co/hnUhIyn22g

Short Review: 7.5 out of 10
1/3

— Josh (garik16) (@garik16) February 16, 2022

Short Review (cont): The first in a space opera series featuring enjoyable romance alongside a gnostic futuristic religion that is really interesting for the first 2/3, until the final act becomes more action heavy to my distaste. Very different though.

2/3

— Josh (garik16) (@garik16) February 16, 2022

The Blue-Spangled Blue is the first book in a four book space opera series by Mexican-American author David Bowles.  The series, titled "The Path", was originally being released self-published (or by a very small press, I'm not sure), but it was picked up by a publisher in the last few years, and now is being released over 2021-2023 in full, with the publisher including it on Kindle Unlimited.  This is the first of Bowles' long fiction I've read, but I enjoyed his translation of José Luis Zárate's The Route of Ice and Salt and really enjoyed his contribution to the LatAm Anthology Reclaim the Stars, so I was really curious to try out his longer offerings.  

The result is.....well mixed.  The Blue Spangled Blue features a future where humanity has spread to the stars, with some colonies long lost and just being found again by a multi-world government, several worlds being ruled by theocratic governments that do and don't resemble our own religions, as well as several incredibly powerful and dangerous criminal syndicates.  The first two thirds of this novel feature a really well done and enjoyable romance alongside a gnostic futuristic religion, intrigue and conspiracies that threaten everything, and the main power realizing their own souls and each other (both religiously and romantically along the way).  And then the book's final act shifts everything, becoming a action-heavy thriller that really didn't quite appeal to me, and makes me unsure if I'll continue from here.  

SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: Spelunking Through Hell by Seanan McGuire

 

SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: Spelunking Through Hell by Seanan McGuire: https://t.co/UdwSRsmmBU

Short Review: 8.5 out of 10
1/3

— Josh (garik16) (@garik16) February 15, 2022

Short Review (cont): The newest InCryptid novel features Alice Price-Healy, the interdimensional bounty hunter who has searched for her lost husband for 50 years, making one especially dangerous journey after she finds hints to his presence. I <3 Alice, so much fun.
2/3

— Josh (garik16) (@garik16) February 15, 2022

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 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.

Spelunking Through Hell is the eleventh* novel in Seanan McGuire's second urban fantasy series, InCryptid.  For those who don't know the series, it follows the Price/Healy family, a family of cryptozoologists as they try to protect the Cryptids of North America, the creatures sciences says couldn't really exist, from human intervention, such as that of the Covenant of Saint George (which hunts them as "monsters").   The series features a bunch of short stories set in various past generations of the family and then a series of novels dealing with the present generation (mainly), with each book/arc featuring a different Price as the narrating main character.  

*Technically McGuire released a short prequel novel a few months back on her Patreon in this series, Halfway through the Wood (which I reviewed here), but I'm not counting that as it's not a mainline entry.*

The result is an urban fantasy series that is incredibly fun and enjoyable, with the interactions between the usually human protagonists and the various cryptid species and peoples they interact with keeping up a good bit of variety (and then there's magic-users and other strange things as well), especially as each new protagonist narrator has very different perspectives and character struggles.  So yeah I love this series and I was psyched to get an early copy of the latest volume.  

Spelunking Through Hell is an oddball installment of the series - it's a single novel arc featuring not one of the latest Price generation, but Alice Price-Healy, the current family's kind of insane grandma, who has magically kept resetting her age as she hunts through different dimensions for her lost husband Thomas.  But Alice is highly entertaining - not to mention deadly - as she goes through different dimensions with different peoples, even as the book makes clear quite quickly that something isn't quite right with her in a way that even she doesn't realize (and well she knows she's quite broken).  I've really loved reading the short stories featuring Alice and Thomas 50 years in the past, and so I was really excited to read adult Alice, to see her finally find Tommy and to see how they would react after everything that had happened.  And I was not disappointed.  

Fantasy/Romance Novella Review: Mating the Huntress by Talia Hibbert

 



Mating the Huntress by Talia Hibbert

Mating the Huntress is a paranormal romance novella by romance author Talia Hibbert, featuring naturally a pairing between a Huntress (duh) and a Werewolf.  It's the type of combination that is almost stereotypical at this point for the genre, and I'd never have noticed this novella if a SF/F author I like didn't recommend it on twitter - which made me give it a try.  

And I'm very glad I did.  Mating the Huntress is incredibly entertaining and very sexy at times (particularly with two sex scenes).  But it's also very very surprising in how it subverts some of the more expected plot points for this type of story, as two potential enemies fall in lust for one another.  The story is not long, and if you're hoping for a slow burn well, nope, this is very much the "want to jump the other's bones from the beginning" type of story.  But it's done so well that I really enjoyed it and I definitely recommend it to fantasy romance readers.  

Some more specifics after the jump:

SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: Summer Sons by Lee Mandelo

 

SciFi/Fantasy/Horror Book Review: Summer Sons by Lee Mandelo: https://t.co/IkQ4RCntae

Short Review: 6.5 out of 10
1/3

— Josh (garik16) (@garik16) February 11, 2022

Short Review (cont): A queer southern gothic horror novel that just wasn't for me, as grieving protagonist Andrew, who can see haunts, searches for the truth behind his adopted brother's suicide at Vanderbilt while spiraling destructively amidst his own self-revelations.
2/3

— Josh (garik16) (@garik16) February 11, 2022

Summer Sons is a Queer Southern Gothic (Horror) novel by author Lee Mandelo.  Gothic stories are always a bit hit or miss for me, as they rely on atmospheric descriptions as much if not more than character interactions in order to convey the mood of the story - something that doesn't really fit my reading style, which often glosses over such descriptions.  But Summer Sons has been hitting a ton of "Best of" lists from sources I trust, so I wanted to give it a try.  

And well....aside from my issues with gothic stories in general (and Summer Sons very much relies upon those atmospheric descriptions of what its protagonist is feeling), Summer Sons was a difficult read for me, especially in its first quarter.  A lot of this, to be clear, is probably due to a mismatch of book and reader - I have trouble reading a story featuring a protagonist spiraling self destructively in grief, pushing away a friend rudely and assholishly, falling into drugs and alcohol (to a certain extent).  Add in the fact that a central relationship to the book starts with some rough if maybe abusive language, it very much made it hard for me to really like the main character or relate to or even understand his actions.  

Others will find this more believable I'm sure, and after that first act, the story turns into a really well done and interesting queer southern gothic, dealing with issues of inheritance, grief, and identity in the South, with a spirit filled mystery that is a bit predictable but works rather well, and even the central relationship turns out strong after the rocky beginning.  So I get why others really loved this, even if it very much didn't fit me.  

SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: A Psalm of Storms and Silence by Roseanne A. Brown

 

SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: A Psalm of Storms and Silence by Roseanne A. Brown: https://t.co/ceX7fDR2mX

Short Review: 8 out of 10
1/3

— Josh (garik16) (@garik16) February 10, 2022

Short Review (cont): The sequel to A Song of Wraiths and Ruin has Karina on the run & Malik inside the palace, each trying to figure out their magic, as plagues strike the land & their bond is tested by the need for sacrifice. Very well done West-African inspired duology
2/3

— Josh (garik16) (@garik16) February 10, 2022

A Psalm of Storms and Silence is the second half of Roseanne A. Brown's YA fantasy duology which began with 2020's A Song of Wraiths and Ruin (Reviewed Here).  I very much enjoyed that book, a West-African folktale inspired YA fantasy, which took a pretty classic setup - dual protagonists of opposite genders and social statuses who will eventually be forced together - and takes it in some very different directions, with male protagonist Malik suffering from panic attacks and anxiety that make him struggle to move forward while female protagonist Karina is selfish and spoiled but grows throughout into something stronger and likable.  As you would expect from a duology, the story ends on a major cliffhanger that greatly altered the status quo, but it was a satisfying one that made me eager to find out what happened next.  

And I thought A Psalm of Storms and Silence did a pretty good job resolving everything, taking both of its two main characters in interesting new but logical directions, leading to a very well done conclusion that wraps things up fairly well.  The book continues to deal with some interesting themes - loving someone vs controlling them, standing silent vs doing something to help people, the recurring cycle of abuse, and more - and introduces new and develops old side characters in generally well done ways.  The duology never really hits that "you have to read this" level, but remains at the level just below that, and will definitely be a good choice for someone looking for YA works to read, especially one based on West African (or just non-Western) folklore.  

Spoilers for book 1 are inevitable below:

SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: A Thousand Steps Into Night by Traci Chee

 

SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: A Thousand Steps Into Night by Traci Chee: https://t.co/W0cWKGUm1X

Short Review: 8 out of 10
1/3

— Josh (garik16) (@garik16) February 9, 2022

Short Review (Cont): In a Japanese-myth inspired YA fantasy, a girl who doesn't fit finds herself cursed to become a demon and forced to go on an adventure alongside a thieving magpie spirit. Very enjoyable story dealing with those who aren't cis men struggling for more.
2/3

— Josh (garik16) (@garik16) February 9, 2022

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 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.  

A Thousand Steps Into Night is the latest Young Adult Fantasy from author Traci Chee, author of The Reader Trilogy.  That trilogy (The Reader, The Speaker, and The Storyteller) was a really surprising and meta take on dark YA fantasy, with some real heartbreaking moments along the way, and I really recommend it.  So when I saw that Chee was returning back to fantasy with this book (after an award winning/nominated work of historical fiction based upon Japanese internment camps), I was immediately interested.  

And while A Thousand Steps into Night isn't quite as interesting as The Reader trilogy, it's still really well done and enthralling Japanese-myth inspired YA.  Featuring a girl who doesn't fit in in a society with strict gender roles, who winds up becoming cursed to become a demon and is forced to go on an adventure, the story features a very strong heroine, a surprising mid-book turn, and a really great setting.  Add in some excellent side characters, and a story with strong themes - particularly about the fight for more freedom and opportunities for people of all genders (M/F/NB, cis or trans/queer) - and an adventure that never gets less interesting and well, this is very enjoyable and I had problems putting it down, even if it never quite hits a level of greatness.  

Trigger Warning:  Forced Kissing - twice, once by a character actually trying to make an advance on the victim.  That's as far as it goes, so it's not that bad, but fair warning.  

SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: Our Lady of Mysterious Ailments by T.L. Huchu

 

SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: Our Lady of Mysterious Ailments by T.L. Huchu: https://t.co/AOrdDhTDPs

Short Review: 8.5 out of 10
1/3

— Josh (garik16) (@garik16) February 8, 2022

Short Review (cont): The 2nd Edinburgh Nights urban fantasy noir book continues the story of Ropa, as she takes another side job investigating a strange magical illness afflicting a comatose boy from a prestigous all boy magic school to support her grandma & sis. Very good.

2/3

— Josh (garik16) (@garik16) February 8, 2022

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 April 5, 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.    


Our Lady of Mysterious Ailments is the second book in T.L. Huchu's new urban fantasy noir series, Edinburgh Nights, which began with last year's "The Library of the Dead" (my review is here).  I very much liked the first book in this series, which featured an alternate/slightly-futuristic Scotland, where there's an undercurrent of magic (regulated and unregulated), and some dystopian elements in a land ruled by a King whose reign is openly praised by all.  Into this world came a remarkable heroine - teenage Zimbabwean-Scottish dropout Ropa, who tries to earn money passing on messages of the dead to their loved ones via her ghosttalking magic, only to get roped up in more regulated and "proper" European magic as well as a street-level mystery of missing children.  It was an easy book to enjoy, even as it was at times clearly setting up a larger plot, so I was excited to try out the second book in the series.  

Our Lady of Mysterious Ailments is very similar to the first book, with a street-level adventure forcing Ropa again between various needs and forces - her need to earn money for the sake of her grandma and sister, her want to learn proper magic and to prove herself to the magician who has trusted her (and the ones who discriminate against her for her background), the street gangs who she owes debts to, and more.  There's some strong themes here to go with a mystery that works generally pretty well, although the solution comes a bit out of thin air, but still - it's highly enjoyable all the way thanks to Ropa's narration and viewpoint, even as it hits serious themes.  Again there's a lot of building of a longer myth-arc going on here, which prevents this from hitting a really big high, but I remain very curious where it's all going.  

SciFi/Fantasy Novella Review: Elder Race by Adrian Tchaikovsky

 



Elder Race by Adrian Tchaikovsky


Elder Race is the latest novella by prolific author Adrian Tchaikovsky, whose output has been very hit or miss for me.  I've really liked his novellas, but very much not loved his novels, for various reasons.  Still not only is this a novella, but one of my good friends on twitter has hyped this as one of his favorite works of 2021, so I was kind of excited to see how this turned out.  

And well I liked Elder Race, although not as much as my friend.  It has a real interesting concept - alternating chapters from a fantasy and then a SF perspective on the same events, where the characters telling each chapter's story hear the other's words and language in very different ways, as they both try to figure out what they're doing and what if anything they can do about the threat facing the world they're present on.  That said, I found other than that concept, there isn't much here, especially not in the fantasy half of the story, which really prevented me from really loving it.  But it's certainly worth your time.  

SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: Age of Ash by Daniel Abraham

 

SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: Age of Ash by Daniel Abraham: https://t.co/vAkQhy8bhZ

Short Review: 8.5 out of 10
1/3

— Josh (garik16) (@garik16) February 4, 2022

Short Review (cont): An epic fantasy novel dealing with those on the outskirts of an epic fantasy, and dealing heavily with grief, follows Alys, a girl looking for answers as to her brother's death, to try to take up his purpose, even as it changes who she is. Very good.
2/3

— Josh (garik16) (@garik16) February 4, 2022

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 15, 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.


Age of Ash is the first book in a new trilogy by Daniel Abraham, known for his prior epic sci-fi (he's one half of James S.A. Corey, writer of the Expanse) and fantasy works (i.e. The Long Price Quartet).  Abraham's Long Price Quartet is utterly brilliant, a fantasy of manners/epic fantasy that takes place during the span of a lifetime, with fifteen years between each book, dealing with themes of power, responsibility, empire, gender imbalance, and more, and it is one of those series I recommend to everyone (I'm underselling all the themes it touches).  The Expanse is of course hugely popular as well, although I think it's a bit more popcorn-ish and thus less interesting, which is why I haven't finished it.  Either way, these prior works made the news that Abraham had a new epic fantasy work coming out of huge interest to me.  

And Age of Ash is really interesting as an Epic Fantasy that really takes place along the periphery of what would normally be the setting and story of an epic fantasy, focusing instead on minor characters struggling with love, grief, and a lack or loss of purpose.  It's a book with two (or three) very strong leads, and will absolutely make you want to yell at the most predominant one for making some horrible decisions, ones it turns on its head near the end in a way that feels very real.  It's not quite the Long Price Quartet level, but it's a stand alone exploration of characters among struggling grief-stricken situations that is really worth your time.    

SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: Girls of Fate and Fury by Natasha Ngan

 

SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: Girls of Fate and Fury by Natasha Ngan: https://t.co/p4LGToUXtj

Short Review: 8 out of 10
1/3

— Josh (garik16) (@garik16) February 2, 2022

Short Review (cont): The finale to the Girls of Paper & Fire trilogy splits the narrative between now-separated lovers Lei and Wren, and works well in wrapping up this story of sacrifice, love, overcoming trauma and fighting for a better tomorrow.

2/3

— Josh (garik16) (@garik16) February 2, 2022

Girls of Fate and Fury is the concluding book in Natasha Ngan's YA Fantasy trilogy which began two years ago with Girls of Paper and Fire (Reviewed Here) and continued with Girls of Storm and Shadow (Reviewed Here).  I liked the first of these books, although it was hard to read due to the protagonist and her friends being raped as part of the plot - them being human girls "chosen" to be trained to serve the Demon King in a world where humans (Paper Caste) are the oppressed minor-est of castes.  But the strong protagonist, the strong sapphic love story, and the way it dealt with the various girls' reactions to their situation was very well done, even if I didn't love it. 

The second book however was one I didn't quite like as much, as it tried to deal with not just main protagonist Lei suffering from trauma, but also issues of sacrifice, manipulation and how far is too far to go for freedom, and how love can exist when it stands against such a fight.  The themes and main character - as well as a few new side characters - were still very good, but the book kind of abandoned some of its most interesting themes in the end and threw in an extra conflict that to me just felt pointless.  The result of this was that I didn't reread either of those books prior to reading this one.  

And well, that makes reviewing Girls of Fate and Fury tricky, because while I remembered the major plot elements, I did not remember a lot of the minor ones or minor characters, especially ones we hadn't seen since book 1 - this is clearly not how this book is meant to be read, and so I would advise catching up on the prior books before starting this one and taking this review with a grain of salt.  And yet, I did like how this book wrapped up this story, as it splits its time evenly among our two protagonists, Lei and Wren, and their fight for freedom and their own chance at happiness in their love.  

Trigger Warnings:  There is no actual rape or sexual abuse on page this time, however this book still deals heavily with trauma as a result of the past instances of it.  If you were able to read the first two books, you know what you're in for here.  

Spoilers for Books 1 and 2 are inevitable below.  Be Warned.