Thursday, April 30, 2020

SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: Crush the King by Jennifer Estep




Crush the King is the final book in Jennifer Estep's fantasy series, Crown of Shards, which began with 2018's "Kill the Queen" (Reviewed Here) and continued with last year's "Protect the Prince" (Reviewed Here).  Both are fun fantasy novels that don't get too dark or unpredictable, but they're executed well with a fun main heroine and side characters along the way, with some really fun moments at times.  I liked the first book more than the second because the second lost a little bit of the first's charm, but was still looking forward to the conclusion of the trilogy with this novel.

And Crush the King is closer to the first book than the second, with a plot that returns some of the charm and fun as it rushes to a conclusion.  It's a conclusion that is still fairly predictable, despite some moments of surprise, but manages to twist some of those expected plot turns in some interesting ways, and its main characters remain very fun.  Again, this is not a standout piece of fantasy, as demonstrated by the large number of plot threads that wind up going absolutely nowhere, but you could do worse for a solid enjoyable fantasy series than this trilogy.

Note: Spoilers for the first two books are inevitable below, but as neither book relies upon surprise, it's not really much of a big deal.


Read more »
Posted by at No comments:

SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: The Memory Police by Yoko Ogawa (Translated by Stephen Snyder)




The Memory Police is a 1994 novel written originally in Japanese by author Yoko Ogawa.  The novel was translated last year (2019) into English and received a lot of awards and noteworthy attention from mainstream critics - not just genre critics (honestly, genre critics were less interested in it).  It's a short novel, not even hitting 300 pages, but still one that was seemingly loved by the english-speaking critic media even 15 years after it was first released.

And the Memory Police is certainly fascinating, featuring a dystopian scifi setting that one can easily use to draw parallels to parts of today's world.  It's narrator, never identified by name, is a young woman on an island in which things - and the memories of those things in particular - begin disappearing, with a mysterious police organization policing the Island to ensure that those disappeared things are gone for good, and that anyone who still remembers is removed.  As such, its easy to see how this novel could again be relevant in the current cultural zeitgeist, and the novel remains fascinating today for its focus on the importance of memory in making who we are.


Read more »
Posted by at No comments:

Wednesday, April 29, 2020

SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: Cry of Metal and Bone by L Penelope



Full Disclosure:  This book was read as an e-ARC (Advance Reader Copy) obtained via Netgalley from the publisher in advance of the book's release on August 11, 2020 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.


Cry of Metal and Bone is the third novel in L Penelope's Earthsinger Chronicles.  The series was initially self published before being picked up by a publisher - and now before this book consists of two novels - Song of Blood and Stone (Reviewed Here) and Whispers of Shadow and Flame (Reviewed Here) - and two novellas which serve as prequels/sequels to the novels.  The Series is essentially romantic fantasy, with the first one being close to a pure fantasy romance at times* and the second one still featuring romance as a major part of the plot.  Perhaps more interesting, the novels feature countries with racial/nationalistic views that will feel very familiar to modern American readers and form important parts of the plots.

*I use "Fantasy Romance" to describe books in which the primary plot in the book - in its fantasy world - is the romance, which ends on a happy ending whereas "Romantic Fantasy" refers to Fantasy novels where Romance is a central element of the plot but is not the only central focus....and the plot doesn't necessarily end in a happy ending.  So for example a book in which our heroes' final goal is to save the world is likely a romantic fantasy whereas one where the ending centers around the finding happiness and love, even if the threat to the world is still out there, is a Fantasy Romance.

 I had mixed feelings about the first two books.  The first novel (Song of Blood and Stone) had a lovely romance and predictable but well executed fantasy plot, but I felt the socio-political themes seemed a bit too underdone, as was the world in general really, existing mainly as a skeleton for the rest of the plot.  The second novel (Whispers of Shadow and Flame) fixed this completely - with the novel taking place at the same time as the first novel in a different setting - and made a far more real feeling, albeit just as familiar and depressing in many ways, world....but felt incomplete at the end with an unsatisfying cliffhanger.  Still I really liked the main duo of the second novel and was really interested on seeing where the plot would go forward from its cliffhanger ending, so I quickly requested this third novel on NetGalley when it showed up.

And Cry of Metal and Bone is very good and surprised me greatly and is a much satisfying if still a little frustrating novel compared to its predecessors.  The story has fully moved into Epic Fantasy here, with a cast of important characters far more expansive than we started with, and a number of competing subplots all over multiple continents and countries that we flip around between as the plot goes on, and it can't quit manage to cover all of these elements in its duration.  And yet, the characters remain excellent, the new and old romances are terrific, and the story & setting continues to hit a number of very important themes - racism and nationalism, the plights of refugees, misogyny and sexism, the corruption of power, etc. - in ways that feel really well done and very real given today's world.  I'm not sure how long this series is intended to be - it does not end here - but I'll be back for sure with book 4 after this one, and I'm glad I stuck around.

Note: Minor Spoilers for Books 1 and 2 are inevitable below:


Read more »
Posted by at No comments:

Tuesday, April 28, 2020

SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: Daughter of the Sun by Effie Calvin




Daughter of the Sun is the second book in Effie Calvin's queer fantasy romance series, Tales of Inthya, following the series' first book: The Queen of Ieflaria (which I reviewed here).  I really liked The Queen of Ieflaria - set in a fun fantasy world filled with magical creatures and many sometimes present deities, it was a really delightful romance between princesses of very different temperaments - one deep at heart caring of all her people, but preferring wildness to duty, and the other from a more stuck-up family but more understanding of the need to get over her own fears and be dutiful in times of need - that really pulled off a nice story in a short amount of time.  So I may have taken this book out from the library immediately after finishing the first one, even despite the books I already had out.

And Daughter of the Sun is perhaps just as delightful, or maybe at most a little less, than its predecessor.  And while it's still a F-F romance at its core it's very different from its predecessor: whereas the last book dealt with two women trying to see if they could love each other, this one features two women falling in love despite knowing they absolutely should not.  Whereas the last book featured two women thrown into a situation they could never have expected but who previously were at least somewhat comfortable in that position, this one features two women who have been lonely - even if they are in denial about it.  But it's done so well, and the characters are so likable, that it works nearly as well as its predecessor, and I may have reread parts of it several times before writing this review.

I should note somewhere that, like its predecessor, this isn't the type of romance in which anything explicit is described - the most that's described on page are kisses. So if you're looking for something more steamy this isn't it.  (On the other hand, that also makes it fine for younger readers as well if that's your concern, even if this isn't YA).


Read more »
Posted by at No comments:

Monday, April 27, 2020

SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: Goldilocks by Laura Lam


Full Disclosure:  This novella was read as an e-ARC (Advance Reader Copy) obtained via Netgalley from the publisher in advance of the book's release on May 5, 2020 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.

Goldilocks is an upcoming scifi novel from Scottish Author Laura Lam.  The book is being advertised as "Handmaid's Tale" meets "The Martian" - with occasional other advertising comparisons to Station Eleven and The Power as well.  That's a hell of a group of novels to be compared with, and gives you a general gist of what I guess the novel is supposed to be going for - post apocalyptic (Station Eleven), dystopian in a misogynistic/chauvinist fashion (Handmaid's Tale), with entertaining science digressions (The Martian).  And that is for once not a terrible description, although the sexist dystopian parts of the background for this novel mainly are used as the background for decisions made rather than as a center of this novel - a similar thing could be said about "The Martian"-esque sciency digressions.  They are present, but this is its own novel rather than a duplicate of those earlier works.

And Goldilocks is a really interesting novel that is well worth your time.  The story, of a group of women stealing a spaceship meant for men to first make landing on a healthy exoplanet to provide the start of an escape for humanity from a dying dystopian Earth, is captivating throughout, even as it bounces between time periods for explanations at various points.  Its world is very easy to imagine happening, especially given who is in power in today's United States, and its characters are very believable from beginning to end, as they grapple with various ethical issues.  I'm not quite sure I agree with some of the ethical implications of a major part of this book, but it's certainly interesting in its entirety.  I'll also add that despite The Handmaid's Tale comparison, this is not a book that ends in a depressing fashion, despite it all, if that's what you are or aren't looking for.


Read more »
Posted by at No comments:

Saturday, April 25, 2020

A Pale Light In The Black (by KB Wagers) Reread - Chapters 12 and 13



Welcome back to my reread of K.B. Wagers' "A Pale Light in the Black!"  You can find the other posts in this reread here.  For those somehow seeing this post first instead of the others, A Pale Light in the Black is a space opera featuring a SF space version of the Coast Guard in an optimistic future universe.  It's not too late to pick up this book yourself and read along, and I highly recommend doing so - we're just about done with the book's first part and up to the first part of the Boarding Games.

When we last left off, Max had gone on her first on-page mission, was growing into Rosa's confidant, and was exchanging very cordial letters with Nika.  Oh and we got see Jenks' sex game - both casual and long-term.  Good times for all and no small amount of confusing feelings here, no sir.

Today we'll be rereading Chapters 12 and 13 (and a letter column in between them).  This time around, someone gets a bloody nose, Rosa (!) almost gets into another bar fight, and the team finds themselves in an emergency situation with hundreds or more lives on the line.  Oh and the System Jumper case starts getting more and more sketchy.....


Read more »
Posted by at No comments:
Labels:

Friday, April 24, 2020

SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: The Queen of Ieflaria by Effie Calvin




The Queen of Ieflaria is the first in a series of short queer fantasy romance novels by Effie Calvin (the series is the Tales of Inthya).  I saw the novels first recommended by a reviewer at the Tor.com website a while back, but as they're published by a small press, my library didn't have a copy at the time.  The series has expanded to 4 books at present, and the NY public library actually has ecopies of the first two, so I put it on reserve - and it came off reserve this week.

And honestly, The Queen of Ieflaria is definitely the type of book I really needed right now, a fun light F-F fantasy romance between a pair of princesses who ostensibly couldn't be more different - one from an uncaring family who believes in doing her duty first and foremost and one from a loving family who were willing to let her as the second child be a wild child hunting and partying.  Oh and did I mention the first princess is a powerful mage and there are dragons threatening the countryside?  The story doesn't spend long on the parts of tropes in romance that tend to annoy me and is light fun throughout, and its hard not to like the two lead characters.  It's not the greatest and deepest romance, but it's definitely something I could've used right now so definitely recommended.

I should note somewhere btw that this isn't the type of romance in which anything explicit is described - the most that's described on page are kisses. So if you're looking for something more steamy this isn't it.  (On the other hand, that also makes it fine for younger readers as well if that's your concern, even if this isn't YA).
Read more »
Posted by at No comments:
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)