Graham
I think insects are under represented in fantasy. Yes, you get your tropey Giant Spiders, but other insects really are not so present. Adrian Tchaikovsky is on a mission to change that. Shadows of the Apt is almost a fantasy celebration of insects. Here we come across different insect ‘Kinden'. The Kinden are all humans, but each has abilities linked to a specific arthropod, be it Beatle, Mantis, Spider, Wasp etc... These are further divided into ‘apt' and ‘inapt' - those who can use machines and those who can use magic. This all has combined into an incredibly layered and fascinatingly realized world.
Empire in Black and Gold opens this story up with a shadow brewing in the East - the Wasp Kinden, hyper-militaristic, are on the march. This is a very military focused novel - a lot of fighting goes on, spread over multiple cities and multiple points of view. The scale is certainly epic and whilst a lot goes on in the novel there is very much a sense that this is only the opening act to something much larger.
There is a lot of creativity here. The different Kinden are really fascinating and I really am intrigued to see where this goes. Some of the fighting was taken a bit to extremes, but the world built was so fascinating that it just kept drawing me in
This was a delightful little gem. A collection of short stories and flash fiction, this was one of the best written and best balanced collections I have read in a long time.
My partner and I have developed a little tradition where each year we hand each other 5 books we have read that we think the other should read. This was one that my partner handed to me. I knew next to nothing of the author, but the cover looked really cool so I was intrigued.
What we have is a brilliant collection of creepy and sad little stories. Brandon Applegate has a masterful way of building atmosphere in a very short space of time. He plays with ambiguity, with tropes and expectations. He understands the real history of fairies (see Tea Party - probably my favourite in the collection, but there are no weak stories here). All the emotional levers are pulled in all the most sensitive ways.
This is dark, brutal but strangely sympathetic stuff. A name to watch for the future!
There is an intrinsic cleverness to the way the War for the Rose Throne has evolved over its 3 books so far. Whilst Priest of Bones was fantasy Mafia on a gang level, now with Priest of Gallows we have evolved into a full on Mafia state and it is fascinating and horrifying to watch at the same time. The structures which have been set up have a horrifying believability to them - you can kind of see examples of how they have been used by people seeking power in real life at times. And the sheer Machiavellian mastery of it all is brilliant.
Tearing back the levers of state we see how much is controlled by the Queen's Men. Tomas may be a Queen's Man but he has not been fully initiated into the organization. When the Queen dies and the succession begins the Queen's Men are called into action to leverage their influence. Succession as a gang war ensues. But are the Queen's Men really what they seem?
The War for the Rose Throne is one of those gems that has flown a bit under the radar. This is such a clever twist on fantasy and it truly deserves more recognition!
Sweary mercenaries strike again! The Articles of Faith follow the basic premise of Murphy's Law - if it can go wrong, it will go wrong. The Righteous picks up pretty much where The Black Hawks left off. Throughout the course of these pages, the shenanigans of the mercenary band follow the progressive bad choices and escapes by making further bad choices. The found family basis is wonderfully done, the irreverence and needling of each other forms a constant backbone to the progressively more dire straits the gang finds themselves in.
A warning - do not read this book if you are easily offended by bad language. For me, this definitely helps capture the spirit of the books (soldiers are some of the most foul mouthed people out there), and the bickering between the characters provides one of the great joys of reading this!
I thoroughly enjoyed this. Yes it is silly, yes it is crude at times, but my god this is fun!
The Xuya universe is certainly an intriguing place. A fascinating take on scifi with a very different cultural point of reference - Vietnamese. This gives a very different emphasis than the more typical western oriented cultural basis. This novella is one of the longer entries in this universe so I figured it was a good place to start.
Here, we follow Linh. She is fleeing after bringing down the wrath of the emperor by writing a highly critical communique. She has run to a station run by some distant family members. She is bitter and abrasive, frequently frustrating and petty. But her family on this space station are little better, riven by their own rivalries and grievances. The cultural references to the importance of family and shame give an interesting twist to the relationships here.
I struggled with the characters here unfortunately. They are all just very unlikeable. The Machiavellian politics largely brought down by the characters own pettiness was well done, but I needed to like the characters more.
Ultimately this left me intrigued, but not quite satisfied. This is well written, well plotted and taken from a fascinating cultural reference point, but I just found myself struggling to engage with the characters on a personal level
A very different fantastical setting. Taking some interesting tropes but twisting them in unique ways this was a highly impressive read. Clever world building and really interesting character development lead to a highly accomplished and unique feeling fantasy.
The world is one of decay, quite a common fantasy trope, but taken in quite a clever and unique way. The race and civilization that has protected the world (Ebora) is in terminal decline. Its sustaining god has died and with it the protections granted. They have turned into an almost vampiric people, finding that human blood helps sustain them, but at the cost of eventual terminal illness.
Meanwhile, Fell Witches, women who can use other creatures life force to generate ‘winnow flame', are kept in a kind of prison, looked over by some malevolent religious cult. They are kept as almost slaves.
The alien Jure'lia invader that has left the world in its decayed state have relics dotted around the landscape, which cause all sorts of weird and strange effects in their vicinity.
The story has a strong found family bent. We follow Vintage, a strangely wealthy researcher into the relics dotted around the world, an escaped Fell Witch, and one of the Eboran vampiric type creatures. They are on a quest to understand the Jure'lian relics with implications for the future of the world.
Meanwhile, there is politics afoot as the leader of Ebora tries to heal her falling civilization.
This is all epic fantasy at its best. Plus it has giant pet bats.
Firstly, this book is not badly written. The prose is competently put together, but it just was not for me. I failed to engage with the characters, found the plot meandered in ways that just did not work for me and ultimately it all fell a bit flat.
Chess playing automatons in the 18th century seem to have been a bit of a theme in recent historical fantasy stories. I am not sure what to make of this - I presume it is related to an increase in interest in chess recently as it is a somewhat esoteric trend. Anyway, I digress a bit. The main theme of the story follows the story of a clockmaker somewhat beset by tragedy. The earnestness is a bit overbearing and exhausting. The familial relationships are all a bit strained in weird ways, which jarred me somewhat. Ultimately the characters were not ones that I could relate to, their eccentricities very much on the extreme end of the scale. YMMV, but this one was not for me.
Sun Eater is one of those series that is improving as it progresses. The scope and scale and shear epicness only increase with each entry, but each entry also manages to be self contained without leaving to many plot threads hanging. This is epic story telling in the vein of Rothfuss - telling the tale in a poetic way in a more retrospective look - it is the protagonist telling the story after the deed. The prose is rich and beautiful without being obtuse, and is very very readable.
In this, the third book, we are drawn closer to the center of power. Hadrian is now engaging with the Emperor and his close political advisors, getting caught up in a lot of the politicking inherent in a large empire. He is still the great hero - being sent out regularly to counter the Cielcin hordes. We see the fruits of the links that have been alluded to between the empires enemies and that provides a large driver for the first half of the novel.
Whilst the politics have got grander and more Machiavellian, so have the conflicts. There is a lot of huge scale fights. We have moved away from the intimate gladiatorial fighting that characterized the first novel and are mostly dealing with massive armies and space fleet battles - there is an edge of military Sci-Fi to the tale now. This is particularly so in the latter half of the novel.
We also delve further into the mythos that has driven Hadrian's story. Who are The Quiet? Some of these questions begin to be answered.
Not just a stepping stone like some middle books, this one is epic story telling in its own right!
A clever little thriller. The set up here is interesting - combining some coming of age elements, an unusual location (Alaska) and some clever social dynamics. Strand is probably better known for his more pure horror stories. As with most thrillers there is a horrific element to this tale, although there is nothing supernatural about it. Mostly this story deals with the frustrated sense of impotence that most people will feel when confronted with a crime. This take is usually done through grieving parents or some such but taking it through the eyes of a teenage friend is an interesting twist on it. It is also quite clever as the inherent stupidity of a lot of characters in these situations is better explained and rationalised through the dynamic of child, where it is more believable.
The thriller here is well executed. Whilst it is not stretching the boundaries of the genre by an means, it does take its twists and turns well. The prose is very engaging and helps to draw the reader in. I thoroughly enjoyed this!
I am a huge fan of RJBs fantasy output. His two main series both tap unexpected and intriguing niches within the genre. Whilst Divine Cities has some distinct crossover with the horror work that he started off with, The Founders Trilogy is a much more pure fantasy with one of the best realized hard magic systems I have seen. Added to this is the very well crafted camaraderie that has been put in place between the main characters.
Shorefall pick up where Foundryside left off. The gang have managed to change the outlook towards the major houses and provide an alternative model towards glyph making. They are all set on undermining the existing society from beneath, overthrowing the great houses, when a full blown Heirophant appears on the seen.
From here, they get caught in a conflict that is much older than them, pawns being used by two ancient and powerful beings. This conflict makes up the majority of the book, and the degrees of moral greyness it throws up are fascinating. Ultimately the story here is a study on power and human nature - how power corrupts and the tendency to slip towards violence to try to control others.
Big themes in a big story, told extremely well. Very enjoyable!
The best epic fantasy manages to make very big events feel very small and intimate. The Collarbound maybe takes this a bit too much to an extreme (there are so many grand events eluded to, but the entire book is set in the politics of a small university like environment). This book leaves more questions than it answers. Some people may find that frustrating, but for me that is actually one of the good things about this book. It leaves me intrigued about the world.
Beyond the grand world scale politics there is also a clear race politics motive going on. There are two very different peoples in this world, the humans and the Kher, and there is a lot of prejudice and discriminatory undercurrents.
This is not action packed fantasy. Instead it revels in the intricate details of the plotting, the small scale and petty lives overshadowed by the greater events. There is a rebellion going on, but this very distant and impacts only on the edges of the lives of people here.
The ideas are very clever, the world building intriguing in both its simultaneous grandeur and small scale detail. I don't think this will be for everyone - if you want all action bombast you wont find it here. But you will find epic fantasy on a small and intimate scale.
We need more nautical fantasy. RJ Barker has certainly found a niche where fantasy is under served with this series. His creativity in his creatures is matched by his brilliant world building and relationships between the crew members on the Tide Child.
Fantasy is at its best when it manages to be both huge and small at the same time - epic drama but focused in on a small tight nit group. A boat is almost the perfect setting for this as the crew provides the ‘found family' closeness whilst the ocean provides a vastness and scale.
Call of the Bone Ships is an excellent second outing. Following the character development of Joron in the first book we are presented with a much more competent and confident ship officer as our main protagonist. This allows the focus to switch to some of the larger political machinations at play in the world. There is not really a sense of second book malaise that sometimes affects trilogies - this book is confident and has a proper drive to it, always feeling more than a mere stepping stone to the finale. The stakes are rising and the real peril and risk is always underlying. RJ is not frightened of killing of important characters and it really adds to the sense of drama and brutality to the setting
As you can probably tell I thoroughly enjoyed this. High quality fantasy that deserves its increasing recognition!
4 short stories/novellas collected together. An intriguing glimpse into Andrew Cull's style. He has an almost cinematic take on writing, his prose reading in a very vivid way.
Did You Forget About Me
A creepy return to an abusive father's house after he passed away. But here it is not the abusive father that provides the most chilling memories. This one pulled out all the stops on the general ‘dread' theme, leaning heavily into death and the effects it can have on people who were close to the deceased for many years.
Hope and Walker
Death is definitely a theme to this collection and this time we are taken into a funeral parlour. Here the main protagonist has taken to drawing pictures of the deceased. But what happens when the dead start talking back to her?
The Trade
Something is leaving grisly presents on the porch of a house deep in the woods...
Knock and You Will See Me
Probably my favourite story in the collection as it leaves a wonderful sense of ambiguity. Is it the grief talking or is the father really buried alive? Is the father possessed by something else?
There is a final very short vignette called The Rambling Man which I wont dive into too much but is definitely worth a read too!
Death is definitely the theme, but the directions it takes provide some truly interesting twists!
Supposedly the result of a bet, to see if he could write a full story with the smallest amount of words. What has resulted is an ultimate set of rhyming whimsy. Dr Seuss is at his most Dr Seuss here. Again, behind the funny rhymes there is an important message to the child - you have to try things before you decide you don't like them! That being said, having actually tried green died eggs before (a university tradition for St Chad's College in Durham UK...) there is something extremely off-putting about green eggs...
Anyway, having a young daughter is proving an excellent excuse to dive into these fun children's books. This has always been one of my favourite Seuss books
Started reading some books for my baby daughter. Dr Seuss is just such fun - both for the reader and the listener! Oh, The Places You'll Go is one of my favourites of his - the life lessons contained within are valuable but it still retains the whimsical charm that he is so well known for.
Today is your day!
Your mountain is waiting
so get on your way!
Very much a mixed bag. A lot of the stories completely miss the brief (I am sorry but if the collection is about dangerous women then the dangerous woman should be the focus of the story, not a side character). There are some gems in there though. The genre jumping is somewhat jarring at times - I do think collections benefit from keeping to a single style.
Some Desperado - Joe Abercrombie
To my mind the best story in the collection. It meets the brief (Shy South is most assuredly a desperate character and she is also the main character). I am a huge fan of Joe's prose - both engaging and snarky at the same time. 5/5
My Heart is Either Broken - Megan Abbott
The dangerous woman here is a bit of a side character, but at least the lead is also a woman. The twist is somewhat telegraphed and the mans expectations and suspicions of his wife are not exactly pleasant. 2/5
Nora's Song - Cecelia Holland
Eleanor of Aquitaine probably does qualify as a dangerous woman. I am not so sure about her daughter. Nonetheless this gives an interesting observation into a bad marriage from an outside perspective. It felt like more of excerpt from a larger story than a standalone piece of fiction, but I suppose that is to be expected with a historical fiction story 2/5
The Hands That Are Not There - Melinda Snodgrass
Another story where the dangerous woman is in fact relegated to a secondary role. The story itself is an intriguing one, delving into race and politics. Some heady themes that are well contained within the short story format here. 4/5
Bombshell - Jim Butcher
This one deserves a huge Spoiler warning. Honestly, anthologized short stories should not include major plot spoilers for a larger story arc. As Jim Butcher has quite a catalogue of shorter fiction it is a shame that such a spoilery one has been included. That said, this one meets the brief well enough, with a strong female character being pretty badass. The Dresden Files are a landmark series in urban fantasy so always fun to dive into that world for a bit. 4/5
Raisa Stepanova - Carrie Vaughn
More historical fiction, this time focused on Russian airwomen in the Second World War. It met the brief pretty well as fighter pilots by their very nature are dangerous. The interesting look into the propaganda and politics of state is well done. The end is kind of sad, but the whole story is well contained 4/5
Wrestling Jesus - Joe Lansdale
This one missed the brief entirely. Yes it is somewhat witty dialogued, but it is essentially about an old man and his young protégé. The woman is only tangentially included and only as kind of a prize. Lansdale's writing is always a bit hit and miss for me. I think the story here is fine, but the degree it doesn't fit in with the theme of the anthology is very jarring. 3/5
Neighbours - Megan Lindholm (aka Robin Hobb)
A complete disappointment for me. The woman was more a danger to herself than anyone else. I get that aging and dementia are important topics, but reading about confused people is almost always confusing. A mess of a story. 1/5
I Know How to Pick ‘Em - Lawrence Block
Another one that misses the brief and is very disturbingly violent towards women to boot. This one gets extremely dark. The prose and the dark twist is pretty engaging to read, but an anthology celebrating women should not be including this particular story... 1/5
Shadows For Silence in the Forests of Hell - Brandon Sanderson
Finally we are back on brief! This novella is the first (and currently only) story glimpsing into Threnody, part of the larger Cosmere universe that Sanderson has created. Our main character is a female bounty hunter, so definitely a dangerous woman. Sanderson's clever take on magic and world building is definitely here - I am very much intrigued about the place Threnody takes within the larger Cosmere. The tone here is much darker than you usual Sandersonian works and I really quite enjoyed it! I hope we get a full length story here at some point, but I am aware it is not in his immediate plans. 5/5
A Queen in Exile - Sharon Penman
More historical fiction -this time looking at the events leading up to the Night in Jesi and the birth of Frederick II of Hohenstaufen. This was quite dry, but interesting from a historical perspective. I am not sure I would characterize Constance as a dangerous woman (the author has to epilogue this to explain why). 2/5
The Girl in the Mirror - Lev Grossman
Distinct Harry Potter vibes. Having read a couple of short stories from his ‘The Magicians' world I kind of get where he is coming from, with a more American take on the Harry Potter universe. A fun enough read but nothing particularly special. At least Lev Grossman is not a transphobe as far as I am aware I suppose... 3/5
Second Arabesque, Very Slowly - Nancy Kress
This one was plain odd. A post apocalyptic SF where women are effectively sex slaves? Extremely out of place in the anthology. And then they decide to go ballet dancing. Just because. Unpleasant, disturbing and odd and not in a good way. 1/5
City Lazarus - Diana Rowland
A kind of post apocalyptic take on Katrina, this time the hurricane changed the course of Mississippi leaving New Orleans as a dying city. A femme fatale love triangle between a corrupt police officer, a sleazy business man and a stripper. The problem here was the relationship between the men was the main focus, missing the brief a bit. 3/5
Virgins - Diana Gabaldon
Another story that completely misses the brief. Here we are focused on the relationship between two men, we witness a violent rape, and the dangerous woman is only tangentially involved as a bit of an inconvenience for the two main characters. I suspect this one will be enjoyed more by people who are familiar with Outlander. For me it fell pretty flat 2/5
Hell Hath No Fury - Sherrilyn Kenyon
Ancient Indian curses are nothing particularly new or special. It fits the brief well enough though, and there is a decently creepy vibe running through it. It does get a bit preachy about the dangers of greed though. 3/5
Pronouncing Doom - S. M. Stirling
This one manages to inadvertently capture a very annoying American trait -the appropriation of other cultures through tenuous family links. The story itself is lost in a weird wiccan/Irish legalese. I also have issues with its take on the ‘dangerous women' theme - it seems to be suggesting that female justice is dangerous towards rapey men? Not sure that is a take I want to follow up too closely... 1/5
Name the Beast - Sam Sykes
Sykes is trying to be a bit too clever here. There is a frequent changing of perspectives, trying to confuse who/what actually is the beast here. A bit too literary for me - I just found myself mostly confused. 1/5
Caretakers - Pat Cadigan
Not sure this entirely meets the brief. Mostly this focuses on malpractice in a nursing home. It does capture the fears we have when we leave our loved ones in the care of others though. 2/5
Lies My Mother Told Me - Caroline Spector
Superhero fiction in the Wildcard Universe. This one follows two fairly badass female superheroes. This one meets the brief well, it has an interesting look into trauma as a driver towards future character, and does it in a relatively sensitive way. A well crafted story. 4/5
The Princess and the Queen - George RR Martin
I believe this is now being developed into a new TV series. The story is told in a dry historical style. This is quite different from the rest of the Song of Ice and Fire story. It feels a bit like the Silmarillion compared to the Lord of the Rings. A lot of action, betrayals and names in the space of novella. This feels more like an outline for a future story than an actual story... 2/5
A somewhat uneven police procedural story. There are some very good parts to this - the way that corruption high up is woven into the story creates for some interesting tensions. However, it doesn't seem to know whether it wants to be a political police procedural thriller or a Hollywood style guns blazing all action thing. I am not sure the Hollywood ending is doing the story any favours in the long run...
The setting is an interesting one for me - Brighton is a place I am familiar with and several of the places mentioned I know reasonably well. Whilst there is crime here it is not exactly the crime capital of the UK. The pressures on policing with regards to budget cuts are definitely a hot topic and the author obviously speaks from a place of knowledge. With regards to corruption in the forces, it is dealt with in an interesting way. The location of the story and its contents do become a bit jarring. There is quite a brutal story buried in here, but it is the firefight at the end that really bugs me. This is an extremely American style piece of action and feels supremely unrealistic in a UK setting.
The first few chapters are somewhat confusing with the POV jumping around a lot. This settles down as the book progresses and the prose becomes an engaging and readable affair. The characters are mostly well written, although I think having Phil Cooke as the Police Chief made some of his later actions less believable and more frustrating. I do feel that if the desire for the Hollywood ending had been reigned in a bit this would have been a very good crime novel.
Sapphic witchy Great Gatsby sounds like a good tag line. Unfortunately this is one hot mess of a novel, not quite sure what it wants to be.
The first half leans heavily into the Gatsby imagery, partying and lifestyle. The problem here is that the Great Gatsby's success is owed to the fact that it captures a time in history from the perspective of one of its witnesses. The story itself is somewhat of a whole lot of not much happening. Wild and Wicked Things is not trying to capture a reality and that means that its gatsbyisms fall flat. The first half drags and lacks the charm that makes F. Scott Fitzgerald's work the masterpiece that it is.
Then we get to the witchy parts. This is largely dumped on the reader with no background, no worldbuilding. I found myself tripping up over what the author was trying to achieve here. To begin with, magic seems more like a party drug, something to get high on. Towards the end the magic is a completely different animal leading to possession and all sorts of dark things. The jump between the two is somewhat abrupt. I liked the first hint of the magic which was a very intriguing take and could have been expanded much more - the idea of it as a drug. The later magic was both generic and confused.
Finally we come to the characters themselves. Most of them were just plain unlikeable. Bea and Emmeline were both just unpleasant and unpredictable. Annie changed dramatically and unbelievably. I just failed to connect with any of them
There were some interesting ideas here, but in the end the whole thing just did not gel for me
Historical fantasy is an interesting subgenre, weaving fantastical elements into well established historical events. The best ones of these really manage to capture the time period with the fantastical elements used more to drive the story and fill in blanks rather than attempting major revisionism. At this The Embroidered Book most definitely succeeds.
Here we take on the story of Marie Antoinette and Maria Carolina, two sisters who had a major impact on European history. Marie Antoinette needs no real introduction as Queen of France during the French Revolution. Maria Carolina was Queen of Naples during the same period, and effectively the power in the country as her husband was disinterested in matters of state.
Kate Heartfield manages to weave a story of magic into a well researched history of the period. She prevents a much more sympathetic view of Marie Antoinette than is usually found in the popular discourse. It was also fascinating to read more of the story behind Maria Carolina, whose own history is really interesting!
Overall a well worked take on the history in the period. Possibly a bit on the long side (it drags a little in the middle) but it provides a fun fantasy read with a fascinating take on some important historical figures.
A beautiful edition of a creepy short story. This review is specifically for the No Reply Press edition.
Poe is a masterful weaver of words, and this tale of revenge is supremely creepy. The sense of madness with the continual cheery nature of the language whilst slowly consigning someone to their death is twisted and macabre. A fascinatingly brutal study.
Beyond the short story itself, this edition is gorgeous. Printed letterpress with a coptic binding presented in a clear acrylic slipcase, this is very special edition. The paste paper cover and wine label style titling buy properly into the theming of the book.
I have always had a fascination with maps. My career (geologist) and several of my hobbies (sailing and hiking) revolve around both map making and interpretation so the theming here was always going to capture me.
Here we are given a Dan Brown style mystery wrapped in some magical realism based around a very real artifact present in some maps - phantom settlements. These are fake places put onto maps to try and catch copyright thieves. The cross genre nature of this story does lead to some messiness in the structure, and the inherent plot holes found in any Dan Brown style mystery are most definitely present here too, but I had fun reading it. Definitely a book that forces you to suspend your disbelief so ymmv depending on how you approach it. For me an adventure featuring cartographical nerdiness works well. The fantastical elements are maybe a bit overwrought but in the end it is fun, and to be honest, that is the main reason to read things, isn't it?
A difficult book to rate. There are many fundamental flaws with this one - the characters are unlikable, the prose is somewhat naïve and clunky, and there is a lot of telling going on. The first half the book was a real struggle with this. The book follows multiple POVs, but the dominant one is probably Tynnstra. The idea of a coward as lead character in this style of fantasy (which btw is at grimdarkest end of grimdark) is a nice idea, but the constant statements that she is a coward without really developing the whats and the whys of it just ends up deeply annoying. Cowards can be written well (Flashman and Rincewind are two examples that come to mind) and it is possible to write them in ways where it is possible to relate and understand their cowardice. Tynnstra is just a coward, with no ulterior motives explored at all.
The one dimensionality of the other characters is also there. The villains are evil for no apparent reason except to be evil. The noble soldiers are also not really explored in their motivations. The shallowness of the characters is offset dramatically against the viciousness of the world they live in. A conquered country with an invading force that cares little for their new subjects is a vivid setting that really is brutal.
The saving grace for the novel is its second half. Here the pace picks up, the action picks up, the characters start to show some better development and suddenly the story becomes alive. The prose is still clunky at times but the tension and the stakes become more exciting, the telling is reduced and the whole thing is much more readable.
This is very grim and very dark. There are plenty of triggers in the text. It is also not the best prose. But there is enough excitement to help provide some good entertainment.
A revenge tale wrapped up in a fascinating desert fantasy package. In Sharikai, Mr Beaulieu has created a fascinating city and culture. The world building here is truly epic. The titular twelve kings form a mysterious and sinister backdrop to it all and are the focus of our heroine's revenge.
The book starts full throttle - within a few pages we have had gladitorial fight and some gratuitous sex. Certainly an exciting way to introduce our character and world! The story does slow down a bit, allowing the back story to fill in nicely and allowing a glimpse into the history of the city.
This was a fun introduction to a series that I am going to have to dive further into!
Second books in series are undeniably challenging. The characters are there, the world is created. By nature they tend to be explorations rather than completely new things. We Lie With Death is definitely in that character. It definitely feels like a middle book in a series.
Three main plots are followed, although they do interweave a bit, especially towards the start and ends of the novel. The first one follows the deposed empress and one of the disgraced invaders. This plot is kind of a typical questing journey type thing. It meanders somewhat, but we do learn a bit more about two key characters from the first book and get to see a bit more of a part of the world that was not really delved into previously. The second main plot is more on the politicking of the conquerors. Here we see the influence of a nefarious outside presence starting to have a malign influence on things. This ties into our final plot that dives a bit more into the source of this malign influence.
The book does wander around quite a bit and parts of it are a bit bloated, but there is definitely a sense of build towards something more climactic. The characters are definitely delved into more. Some of the more interesting cultural conflict established in the first book is lost a bit which is a shame. This is a solid middle book in a series. Nothing spectacular but definitely leaves me intrigued towards continuing
This was fun. Taking two side characters from the main Locked Tomb story line and giving them a locked room mystery. Sixth House is very different in feel from the places explored elsewhere, with an entertainingly obtuse bureaucracy and a much more lived in feel. This allows Tamsyn Muir to do what she does best and give a completely different style of story telling set all within the same universe. Her versatility is truly astounding.
Even though this is only a short story I already want to find out more about the Sixth House! A fun glimpse at another part of the Locked Tomb universe.