SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: Cross Fire by Fonda Lee

SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: Cross Fire (Exo #2) by Fonda Lee: https://t.co/In1w8RmD2G Short Review: 7 out of 10 (1/3)

— garik16|CanesFan (@garik16) October 31, 2018

Short Review (cont): The sequel last year's Exo finds young adult Donovan Reyes, Human Security Officer for the Collaborator/Alien gov't of Earth, forced into desperate, treasonous decisions when the Homeworld leaves Earth out to dry. Solid but way too predictable. (2/3)

— garik16|CanesFan (@garik16) October 31, 2018

Cross Fire is the sequel to Fonda Lee's "Exo," which was a finalist for the Norton Award for Best SF/F Young Adult Novel last year (and which I reviewed here).  Exo was an interesting SciFi novel because of its premise: the Earth had been conquered by aliens, and protagonist Donovan Reyes is a member of the Collaborator human government's security forces (SecPac), though he winds up conflicted due to discovering his mother working with an underground resistance movement.  Despite his conflict, he didn't wind up changing sides in the novel, and the novel doesn't take a standard viewpoint of "resistance = good, collaboration = bad" which made it an interesting backdrop to a story with some decently interesting characters.

Cross Fire picks up right where Exo left off (well months later, but more or less) and follows through on two of the threatened plot points from Exo - the idea that the occupying aliens are planning to leave and that a new conquering force may be coming in their stead, which might require the resistance and collaborators to cooperate in order for humanity to survive.  Protagonist Donovan Reyes and some of the side characters remain excellent here, but large parts of this plot are rather predictable and while the story has some interesting ideas, it arguably punts around halfway through instead of dealing with them.  Cross Fire isn't bad - it's totally fine, and well constructed - but it fails to live up to the potential it has in its setup, alas.

Once again, I read this book as an audiobook, where the reader is pretty good, but it means that I'll probably be misspelling terms here, so my apologies.  

More specifics after the Jump:

Spoilery Discussion: The Monster Baru Cormorant by Seth J Dickinson

This post will be dedicated to a spoilery discussion of The Monster Baru Cormorant, because I have too many thoughts about the book that I need to put down somewhere and tried to make my review non-spoilery as possible (it spoils Traitor, but well, that's a given for a review of a book's sequel).

If you have not read The Monster Baru Cormorant, this is your last warning of any spoilers - do not go beyond the jump here.  My Non-Spoiler Review is HERE:

SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: Menagerie by Rachel Vincent

SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: Menagerie by Rachel Vincent: https://t.co/Ll2N0ktyiT Short Review: 7.5/10 (1/3)

— garik16|CanesFan (@garik16) October 29, 2018

Short Review (cont): In this dystopian urban fantasy novel, 20-something year old Delilah Marlow finds herself outed as a Cryptid of some unusual type & forced into captivity, searching for a way for her and her fellows to escape before she loses herself. Solid if dark. (2/3)

— garik16|CanesFan (@garik16) October 29, 2018

Menagerie is the first in an urban fantasy trilogy by Rachel Vincent, with the last in the trilogy coming out later this month.  It's another such series featuring mythological creatures/beings living among humanity - in this case openly with the world well aware of them.  However, it's also a kind of a dystopian novel, as an apocalyptic event has resulted in this alternate United States declaring that these creatures (categorized here as "Cryptids") have no rights and simply exist as property to be held in captivity, and deals with the situation created by forcing sentient beings into captivity in private menageries....or worse.

The result is a novel featuring a group of such beings, led by our heroine - a newcomer to this lack of rights - trying to resist this treatment in the titular menagerie.  Given the setup, its not as dark a book as you might expect (although it seems like it could be going there at some points, it never quite does), but its a nicely paced novel with an effective main character, and while it didn't blow me away, I will be trying out the sequel to see where this plot is going.

SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: Mask of Shadows by Linsey Miller

SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: Mask of Shadows by Linsey Miller https://t.co/SOG2ewjEHB Short Review: 8.5 out of 10 (1/3)

— garik16|CanesFan (@garik16) October 26, 2018

Short Review (cont): Mask of Shadows features an utterly fantastic hero & narrator - the Genderfluid Sal, who enters a competition of Assassins in order to get revenge on those who killed their family - and thus makes this book well worth reading despite some plot issues (2/3)

— garik16|CanesFan (@garik16) October 26, 2018

  Mask of Shadows is the first in a Young Adult Dark Fantasy duology by Linsey Miller, with the second book in the series having come out this year.  It's a low fantasy story - in a world where magic once existed but no longer does - featuring at its heart a competition of assassins and a protagonist with a heart dead set on revenge.

  It is also a great example of a book with a meh plot saved and made good thanks to an excellent lead character: a young gender-fluid hero seeking vengeance, whose inner voice and first person narration is fantastic, and who is very easy to root for in a dark book filled with bad people.  If you're looking for a book with a great LGBTQ hero, this will definitely be up your alley, and if you don't particularly care about that, well this hero is still fantastic to read, making this book worth your time.

  Note: I listened to this as an audiobook, and the reader is generally excellent.  There are a lot of foreign-ish sounding names in this story that you can confuse without being able to check back as easily as you can with a written book, but other than that, it's a fine choice if you're looking for a new audiobook.    

More after the Jump:

SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: Space Unicorn Blues by TJ Berry

SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: Space Unicorn Blues by TJ Berry: https://t.co/eJuW1thymU Short Review: 7 out of 10 (1/3)

— garik16|CanesFan (@garik16) October 25, 2018

Short Review (cont): A Space Opera featuring a half-unicorn and his former torturer working together to defy a fascist colonizing regime, Space Unicorn Blues can't seem to decide whether it wants to be a comedy or a drama and is merely good to okay as a result of it. (2/3)

— garik16|CanesFan (@garik16) October 25, 2018

Space Unicorn Blues is a strange book, which doesn't seem to know what it wants to be.  On one hand, it's a space opera story of a group of former enemies/allies joining together to escape an oppressive colonizing force.  On the other hand, its a light hearted romp with witty characters and situations setup by a universe featuring oppressed aliens that look just like mythological creatures from humanity's old days, such as Unicorns, Satyrs, Dryads, etc.  It's genuinely funny at times mind you, but its a little jarring considering the other themes in play in this story.

And yet for the most part, Space Unicorn Blues does work, when it could instead be an utter disaster.  I finished the book in one day, which is not something I do with books I find myself disliking, and some of the characters and worldbuilding is incredibly well done, even when it should be a little silly.

More specific talk after the jump:

SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: The Phoenix Empress by K. Arsenault Rivera

SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: The Phoenix Empress (Their Bright Ascendancy #2) by K Arsenault Rivera https://t.co/pAtNKQmpFb Short Review: 8 out of 10 (1/3)

— garik16|CanesFan (@garik16) October 24, 2018

Short Review (cont): The Sequel to the fantastic "The Tiger's Daughter" switches from a Romance story in an Epic Fantasy world to an Epic Fantasy plot with romance elements as it tells the story of the traumatizing events that led Shizuka to become The Phoenix Empress. (2/3)

— garik16|CanesFan (@garik16) October 24, 2018

The Phoenix Empress is the sequel to one of my favorite books from last year - and one of the few books that I've ever given a perfect score to - The Tiger's Daughter (My Review Here).  So yeah, I had this book pre-ordered for around a month now, and my anticipation for it was through the roof.  In retrospect, there was nearly no way for the book to meet my expectations, so I don't want to sound too negative in this review: The Phoenix Empress is still a good book, and this series is still well worth reading.

What this book is not however is the same type of story as its predecessor.  The Tiger's Daughter was a romance set amidst the background of an Epic Fantasy Story - the entire book was essentially a confession of love from one heroine to the other.  By contrast, this book is an Epic Fantasy story with an element of romance, with part of the book being a confession of guilt (not love) from one heroine to the other and the other part sets the stage for a major epic fantasy conclusion.  The result is a far darker book, one that is still good, but not charming/funny/heartwarming like its predecessor.

More after the Jump:

SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: The Monster Baru Cormorant by Seth J Dickinson

Advance SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: The Monster Baru Cormorant by Seth J Dickinson https://t.co/9mDrMelPoz Short Review: 9 out of 10 (1/3)

— garik16|CanesFan (@garik16) October 23, 2018

Short Review (cont): The Sequel to the perfect Traitor Baru Cormorant is a bit more of a mess than its predecessor, but still a fantastic further exploration of the costs of trying to take down a fascist empire by rising up from within. Still Devastating at times. (2/3)

— garik16|CanesFan (@garik16) October 23, 2018

Full Disclosure:  This book was read as an e-ARC (Advance Reader Copy) obtained via Netgalley from the publisher, Tor/Forge Books, in advance of the novella's release on October 16, 2018 in exchange for a potential review.  I give my word that this did not affect my review in any way (if I'd not liked the book, I just would not have reviewed it). 

  There may not have been a book I was looking more forward to this year than The Monster Baru Cormorant.  This book is the sequel to The Traitor Baru Comorant, an incredibly dark/brutal book about a brilliant woman who decides to rise up the ranks in an evil repressive empire in order to destroy it from within....no matter the sacrifices she is forced to make in the Empire's service in order to rise up the ranks.  Traitor is one of the few books that I've ever given a perfect 10 out of 10 score to, and it left off on an incredible cliffhanger.

  Monster is nowhere near as streamlined as Traitor, featuring some more elements of modern Epic Fantasy - multiple point of view characters, fantastical elements, etc - that didn't always work for me (the fantastical elements in particular).  But the overall core of this book remains absolutely incredible and the result is a strong follow up that continues asking interesting questions as it follows its protagonist along her dark path.

Note:  Spoilers for Traitor follow, there's no way to discuss this book otherwise.  Read Traitor first, You can't start this series here.  

More after the Jump: