SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: After the Crown by K.B. Wagers

SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: After the Crown by K.B. Wagers: https://t.co/GLWVBJWhmB Short Review: 8.5 out of 10 (1/3)

— garik16 (@garik16) December 1, 2018

Short Review (cont): The 2nd Indranan War novel speeds up the pace and enters full blown Space Opera mode, with Gunrunner Empress Hail Bristol forced to rely on her old criminal allies in order to fight for her people. Great characters and a lot of fun dialogue/action (2/3)

— garik16 (@garik16) December 1, 2018

After the Crown is the second book in K.B. Wagers' Indranan War trilogy, which began with "Behind the Throne" (which I reviewed HERE).   I'd said in my review of that book that I couldn't quite describe well why I enjoyed that book so much, because the book never really fit into a clear genre mold (political scifi was kind of the best fit, but even then it wasn't the greatest).  That book's tag-line boasted that its heroine was like a mixture of Han Solo and Princess Leia, but the comparison didn't quite fit, even though I really enjoyed the book.

In this book, the second book in the trilogy, that comparison actually works a lot better, as the book definitely takes on Star Wars vibes as our Heroine is forced to work with criminals and smugglers to fight against those who would try to destroy her people.  We're very much into space opera mode here, and the transformation of genre works beautifully.  The result is an expansion of the universe the story takes place in that feels natural, with more excellent characters introduced and old ones developed, and a really fun plot that surprises on a few occasions.

SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: Mage Against the Machine by Shaun Barger

SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: Mage Against the Machine by Shaun Barger: https://t.co/nneKWi9KI9 Short Review: 5.5 out of 10 (1/3)

— garik16 (@garik16) November 30, 2018

Short Review (cont): This book that's decently described as an attempt to merge Harry Potter (kinda) with The Terminator (definitely) has some promise, but has some major pacing problems, one main character who's a bit of a jerk, and was a bit too dark for me. Alas. (2/3)

— garik16 (@garik16) November 30, 2018

Mage Against the Machine is one of the science fiction/fantasy books with an obvious selling hook: it's a hybrid of The Terminator and Harry Potter!  Marriage of SciFi and Fantasy concepts into a single book is hardly that unusual in the genre - 2016's "All the Birds in the Sky" by Charlie Jane Anders is an example of it done wonderfully for example.  Still, Mage Against the Machine wears its influences, particularly that of The Terminator, on its sleeve.

It's not wholly successful unfortunately, as the book takes way too long a time to merge its two elements and features one main character who is kind of a jerk and hard to like.  It's also a very very dark book with few moments of lightness whatsoever - if this book isn't quite "grimdark," it's really close.  The result is a book that shows elements of promise, but never quite fulfills them and as a result I can't really recommend it too highly.

SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: The Book of Joan by Lidia Yuknavitch

SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: The Book of Joan by Lidia Yuknavitch: https://t.co/Ky5Mwor84r Short Review: 8 out of 10 (1/3)

— garik16 (@garik16) November 29, 2018

Short Review (cont): A SciFi short novel that takes Joan of Arc & other historical figures into the future to tell a tale of the importance of love, control of reproduction, gender, and the value of the planet itself is full of ideas and fascinatingly weird, brutal & dark (2/3)

— garik16 (@garik16) November 29, 2018

The Book of Joan is a hell of a book, that packs a LOT into its short length (it's under 300 pages, and the audiobook is under 8 hours).  A SciFi story that takes the story of Joan of Arc, as well as several other real life people (Christine Pizan and Jean du Meun) into a post-apocalyptic SF world, the Book of Joan tells a story of the importance of control over one's own body, reproduction, and of life in general.  Note that you don't need to have a familiarity with any of the real life people transplanted through time in this story in order to read this book (I didn't really with most of them).

The result is a fascinating book that has a ton of ideas that it is not afraid to put front and center.  If you're looking for a good "story" or an interesting plot, The Book of Joan is probably not for you - Yuknavitch's characters and story move in ways that are clearly meant to get her ideas across (complete with character dialogue that often sounds like it was taken from essays) rather than in ways that are meant to form a cohesive plot without holes.  But somehow, it works, and the characters themselves work, so it's definitely worth a look for anyone willing to read this type of work.

Note:  This was another book I read as an audiobook, and the reader is very good, so it's worth your time if you're looking for a book in that format.

Trigger Warning:  There's no rape in this book but violence toward bodies is a major act of the antagonist, so if that's an issue, it might be a concern for some readers.

Some Suggestions for SciFi/Fantasy Books for People to Read For Some of My Followers on Twitter (Part 2):

Last year on twitter, I was asked by a hockey follower about suggestions for books for people new to the Science Fiction and Fantasy genre and I wrote up a quick post with some suggestions based upon my dive into the genre over the past three years (that post can be found here).   This year I wanted to do another such post, but I wanted to do something a little more specific: offering suggestions based upon what my followers on twitter might be looking for.

So I asked on twitter for what people were looking for in Science Fiction and Fantasy Books they seek to read.  This is my second column (the first can be found here) where I offer suggestions in response to some of the answers you gave me on twitter.  Today's post will deal with two answers that are pretty much exact opposites, so the book suggestions are going to be very different:

SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: Terra Nullius by Claire G Coleman

SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: Terra Nullius by Claire G. Coleman: https://t.co/v7I9U5yEM3 Short Review: 10 out of 10 (1/3)

— garik16 (@garik16) November 27, 2018

Short Review (cont): An incredibly powerful (but chilling and painful) Science Fiction book by an Indigenous Australian author about Natives trying to survive and/or escape a world dominated by Settlers from another land. Brutal, but a must read piece of science fiction (2/3)

— garik16 (@garik16) November 27, 2018

Terra Nullius is a speculative fiction novel published in 2017 in Australia that was brought this year to the US by Small Beer Press.  Small Beer Press is a small mostly SF/F publisher that publishes what is usually less typical and sometimes more "literary" SF/F works, and I've yet to find a book (this is the 5th book I've theirs I've read) published by SBP that isn't at least rather interesting (and usually tough to review).  In fact "interesting" underrates my opinion of these books, which I've generally reviewed as being either "worth a read" or "must read."  And Terra Nullius is an example of the latter category - this is a must read book.

Note that I said "must read" and not "enjoyable" - Terra Nullius is not a book to be enjoyed and it doesn't want to be.  Coleman is a Wirloman Noongar (Indigenous Australian) woman and it is the experiences of the Indigenous Australian peoples that forms the background for this novel - and as you would imagine if you know what happened to the Native peoples around the world when Europeans came to colonize, the result is incredibly brutal.  But all of this brutality serves a purpose, and when the book pulls the rug out from under the reader with its twist halfway through, it creates a truly shocking and powerful book that really should be read by everyone.

Trigger Warning:  This is a rough book, with physical abuse of both children and adults being present, as one might imagine from the subject matter.  Sexual abuse and rape in its usual form is not present, although forced reproduction is a plot point.  None of this content however is gratuitous (and mostly occurs off screen) and it is all justified by the story.

SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: Ignite the Stars by Maura Milan

SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: Ignite the Stars by Maura Milan https://t.co/YLIdFlstag Short Review: 8 out of 10 (1/3)

— garik16 (@garik16) November 23, 2018

Short Review (cont): A YA SciFi novel featuring a young woman, known as a terrorist to the fascist government that rules much of the galaxy, as she's forced to attend the government's training facility which she needs to escape. Really fun characters, Enjoyable plot. (2/3)

— garik16 (@garik16) November 23, 2018

Ignite the Stars is a Young Adult Science Fiction book that I assume is the start of a series by debut author Maura Milan.  I can't actually recall how I heard of the book (I tend to bookmark books that I see mentioned or recommended around the internet by sources/authors I trust and often don't get to those books till months afterwards, well after I'd forgotten about the initial rec in the first place).

But I'm glad I did, as I enjoyed Ignite the Stars a bit for its three main characters, who all wind up being really well done, even if they begin perhaps as some standard archetypes.  The plot is moderately predictable - I predicted one twist rather early although a second "twist" I expected to happen never occurred, and yet again its very well done and made me want to read more in this universe.  And that's a pretty big complement right there.

SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: Song of Blood and Stone by L Penelope

SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: Song of Blood and Stone by L. Penelope https://t.co/5yZFboID0t Short Review: 6 out of 10 (1/3)

— garik16 (@garik16) November 22, 2018

Short Review (cont): This fantasy romance featuring a woman with magical powers from a foreign country falling in love with a soldier as the magical fascist nation heads toward invasion has some good ideas but feels rather bare-bones in execution. (2/3)

— garik16 (@garik16) November 22, 2018

Song of Blood and Stone is a book, the first in a series, that was originally a self published book a few years back, before a re-release this year by an actual publisher (there was a self-published sequel as well, but I'm not sure if that's also being rereleased).  The first in a fantasy romance series, it features a world in which a country filled with magic and a country that has gotten by solely with technology, each divided by a magical barrier that has been the only thing preventing all out wars that have broken out in the past.

But more specifically, this is a fantasy romance, featuring, as these stories tend to do, two people from very different backgrounds, whose duties find themselves on opposite sides, falling in love.  Or at least that's the tagline of this book.  To me unfortunately, the conflict between love and duty felt like no conflict at all given how stark the characters' choices were, and the story's lack of descriptions at times made the book feel a little more bare-boned than I'd like.  A very functional fantasy romance here, but not quite much more than that.