SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: Amatka by Karin Tidbeck

SF/F Review: Amatka by Karin Tidbeck https://t.co/6FSuUutxP9 Short Review: 10 out of 10 (1/4)

— garik16 (@garik16) August 31, 2017

Short Review (cont): A dystopian tale in a world, where strict description of all things is necessary to keep a hold on reality, poses (2/4)

— garik16 (@garik16) August 31, 2017

Short Review (cont): interesting questions about love, language, freedom, & life worth living. Short & dark but absolutely compelling (3/4)

— garik16 (@garik16) August 31, 2017

Amatka is a book originally published in Sweden in 2012, finally making it over to America in 2017 (Translated by the author herself).  It's a short novel and definitely falls in the sub-genre of "Weird" science fiction typified to some extent by Jeff VanderMeer (who's a known fan of Tidbeck). But more importantly, this Dystopian tale is incredibly strong and thought-provoking and original (at least to me), and is easily amongst the best things I've read all year - Maybe the best thing I've read all year.

SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: The Sudden Appearance of Hope by Claire North

SF/F Review: The Sudden Appearance of Hope by Claire North https://t.co/EyUSMCovut Short Review: 7.5/10 (1/4)

— garik16 (@garik16) August 30, 2017

Short Review (cont): The Story of a Woman who fades from memory when she leaves one's view and a technology that can adjust the brain (2/4)

— garik16 (@garik16) August 30, 2017

Short Review (cont): to change someone to be more like "perfection" has strong ideas, but falls apart in final execution (3/4)

— garik16 (@garik16) August 30, 2017

At a certain point in The Sudden Appearance of Hope, I was fully riveting in the story and could not help keep reading (despite it being past 1 in the morning).  The story had a strong central character, a strong set of ideas, and was far from predictable.  And....well, like many books, it didn't really pull through all of its threads into a satisfactory ending.  In a way, the book tries to pull off a bit more than it can chew, and loses itself in the process.

More after the Jump:

SciFi/Fantasy Novella Review: Hammers on Bone by Cassandra Khaw

(Novella can be found here: https://www.amazon.com/Hammers-Bone-Persons-Non-Grata/dp/0765392712)

Hammers on Bone is the first in a novella series in which Cthulhu-esque monsters are livingamong and in humans, with at least this first book told in a stereotypical noir style.  Seriously - it is REALLY channeling noir conventions - our hero, John Persons, is a private investigator, hired by a child to kill his stepdad.  There's just two twists: one, the Stepdad is a literal monster wearing human skin, and two: well, so is Persons to a lesser extent.  And like any classical noir story, there's also a "Dame" whose good nature may be less than it seems on first glance.

SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: Envy of Angels (Sin Du Jour #1) by Matt Wallace

SF/F Review: Envy of Angels (Sin du Jour #1) by Matt Wallace https://t.co/3wWFc4TB5D Short Review: 7.5/10 (1/4)

— garik16 (@garik16) August 26, 2017

Short Review (cont): Sin Du Jour is a catering company that caters to the Supernatural at the government's behest but when the gov't (2/4)

— garik16 (@garik16) August 26, 2017

Short Review (cont): asks them to cook a real Angel, a scramble ensues to find a substitute dish. Wacky Hijinks & a lot of fun ensue (3/4)

— garik16 (@garik16) August 26, 2017

Sin Du Jour is a series of novellas/short-novels (the 220 page count of each book is kind of at the borderline) by Matt Wallace, centering on a catering company (the aforementioned Sin Du Jour) which caters to the supernatural (Demons and other things) at least partly on behalf of the government. This is the first book in the series.

As you might imagine from such a premise, this is a lighthearted series filled fun moments and wacky hijinks - this book alone contains a knife fight between chefs to second blood, an infiltration of a McDonalds-like company to steal a recipe, a server trying to weave his way between two rival demon families to pick up a dish, and more.

Long Review continues after the jump:

SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: The House of Binding Thorns (Dominion of the Fallen #2) by Aliette de Bodard

SF/F Review: The House of Binding Thorns (Dominion of the Fallen #2) by Aliette de Bodard https://t.co/5pRPvErn9D Short Review: 8/10 (1/4)

— garik16 (@garik16) August 24, 2017

Short Review (cont): 2nd in Series but mostly stand-alone, this tale of Fallen Angels in Paris & Vietnamese Immortals (2/4)

— garik16 (@garik16) August 24, 2017

Short Review (cont): & Dragon Spirits under the Seine, focusing on the "bad guys", has fascinating characters and a solid story (3/4)

— garik16 (@garik16) August 24, 2017

The House of Binding Thorns is ostensibly a sequel to Aliette de Bodard's House of Shattered Wings.  It follows up on threads from that book and obviously takes place in the same universe, but it CAN be read Stand-Alone.  You'll benefit from reading the first book - the background of the setting is arguably established better in that book and one of the main characters' plotlines follows directly from that book, but the main plot of this book is wholly distinct from HoSW.

I read the House of Shattered Wings last year and I had mixed feelings about that book.  I LOVED the Worldbuilding - Fallen Angels!  A Vietnamese Immortal cast out from the Court of the Jade Emperor!  Dragon Spirits!  Alchemists and Magicians!  Oh and LGBTQ characters treated as the norm.  The World was one of the most unique I've read about in the past few years. But the storyline kind of petered out at the end, with the several character threads not all coming together to form a combined resolution but instead for one of these threads to provide the conclusion and the rest to all just peter out.

That's not the case with The House of Binding Thorns - here the four main story threads all wind in and out of the main plotline, with each remaining interesting throughout and none seeming wasted in the finale.  Despite the story focusing in large part on what was presented in book 1 as the "Evil" House Hawthorn, the story is not ultradark and bad characters show new dimensions that make sense and make them more interesting.  This book really makes great use of that great worldbuilding, which makes it a very strong read.

Long Review continues after the Jump (Minor Spoilers for House of Shattered Wings):

SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: The Stone Sky (The Broken Earth #3) by N.K. Jemisin

SF/F Review: The Stone Sky (The Broken Earth #3) by NK Jemisin. https://t.co/3ktjVpIw7a Short Review: 10 out of 10 - A Tour de Force (1/4)

— garik16 (@garik16) August 20, 2017

Short Review (cont): The finale to The Broken Earth trilogy finds Essun & Nassun on a collision course as the trauma of repeated abuse (2/4)

— garik16 (@garik16) August 20, 2017

Short Review (cont): & discrimination drives each to opposite conclusions on how to change/destroy the world. Devastating & Powerful (3/4)

— garik16 (@garik16) August 20, 2017

The first two books in the Broken Earth trilogy have won the last two Hugo Awards, and deservedly so.  With The Stone Sky, NK Jemisin stands a strong chance at being the first ever back to back to back winner for Best Novel, as this book is clearly the strongest of the trilogy....and maybe Jemisin's best Novel ever.

Unlike my other favorite work of Jemisin - the Inheritance Trilogy - this trilogy does not end on a triumphant note.  This is a story of a people - even a whole world - oppressed and abused for no reason other than fear, jealousy and cruelty.  There is no way such a story could end triumphantly.  But despite this, the story ends Perfectly, on what is essentially a hopeful note, one that wraps up everything really really nicely.

Of course, as one should expect from this series already, the steps between this book and really this whole trilogy's beginning and ending are filled with heartbreaking powerful moments.  This trilogy has not been one for the faint of heart, who can't stand to see good people, even children, face tremendous suffering and abuse.  Good writing - and Jemisin is my favorite writer at this point for a reason - makes these things hard to read.  But the power of this story could not be done in any other way, and it is all worth it in the end.

More after the Jump (Spoilers for The Fifth Season and The Obelisk Gate are unavoidable).

Video Game Review: The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel

  I don't play very many video games these days, but when I do I tend to stick to a few genres, and probably my favorite genre has been for a while the JRPG.  A good JRPG often doesn't require great physical dexterity or reflexes to play, involves tactical strategy and choices, and has a long sprawling plot that is entertaining to unveil.  In particular, I was introduced last year to the "Trails" series ("Kiseki" in Japan), a series of JRPGs popular in Japan that took a long time to come over to America -first as PSP games and then later as PC ports.

  I loved the first two games in the series, Trails in the Sky and its sequel Trails in the Sky SC, when I played them last year, with SC being a particular favorite of mine.  The third game in the Trails in the Sky subseries ("Cleverly" titled "Trails in the Sky The Third") came out in May of this year, and was also a blast to play, even if it was kind of a step back form SC.  Now, as of 2 weeks ago, the american localizer of the series has ported the second (3rd in Japan, but 2nd to come here) Trails series to PC - it was originally on PS3: Trails of Cold Steel.  If you've noticed my book reviews slowing down on this blog the last two weeks, it was because I was distracted tearing through this game in around 75 hours.

  The good news is that Trails of Cold Steel is still pretty good if you like JRPGs.  Like Trails in the Sky it is a sprawling JRPG with LOTS of minor characters, many of whom have their own stories in the background that you can discover through optional dialogue as the game goes on.  The battle system is very similar to Trails in the Sky with a few tweaks that have some pluses and minuses and the story is mostly great.  The issue for me is that the game rarely presents you with particularly challenging battles and the "free day" of school to start each chapter is kind of a drag.  As a result still prefer the Trails in the Sky series so far, although maybe that opinion will change when this game's sequel comes out for PC later this year.

More detailed review after the jump: