Jessica Strider

Pros: real war feel, lots of slang and specialized vocabulary, superb world-building, varied characters

Cons: tough read, slow beginning

Join the Kingdom's ‘finest' as they fight to keep their colony, Luitox, free from the Forest Collective. But the FnC are hard to fight, hiding deep in the jungle and, though their arrows snipe the troops, they're never there when the troops arrive. Manned dragons fly overhead, ferrying troops and flaming suspected hotspots. Some newly freed dwarves have enlisted but still bear hatred for their former slavers. New technologies are invented as soldiers face a mostly faceless enemy. The army must deal with privations and problems galore, even as the war finally rushes towards a conclusion.

This is a fantasy retelling of the Vietnam war. I don't know much about the war, but this makes me want to learn more. If even a portion of what happens in this book is true it was a truly horrific event. The book touches on all sorts of issues - racism, demonizing the enemy, lack of communication, the incorporation of new and barely understood technology, the horrors of battle, losing friends, those back home not understanding the realities of what's happening, and more.

It's a difficult read in that no punches are pulled. War isn't noble or heroic, it's dirty, full of pain and desperation. You'll be seeing blood, puke and all other bodily fluids. Don't get too attached to any of the characters as the ones that make it to the end do so greatly changed by their experiences.

There's a fair amount of slang to master, but aside from ‘rag', short for dragon, which took me a while to figure out as there was no context for it the first time it was used, I picked it up pretty fast. The book jumps ahead frequently, allowing it to cover more time and give a broader look at the perceptions and realities of the war. You're also getting several points of view: a grunt soldier, two thaums (a cross between a magic worker and a scientist), a dragon rider, people in different levels of command, a journalist, etc. This also helps give a more varied view of the war.

The opening is a bit slow. There's an atmospheric prologue and some scenes with soldiers followed by a chapter that consists of a much needed info dump that explains the purpose of the war. Things pick up fast though and draw you into the lives of the characters.

It's a compelling read, and sometimes its easier to come to grips with the horrors of reality when they're presented as somewhat removed from it. History retelling aside, it's a great book that will have you wishing that real wars were a thing of the past.

Pros: wonderful characters, emotionally touching scenes, romantic elements, fast paced

cons: not much world-building

Toby is a 16 year old defective. Weeks ago a black van picked him up at home and deposited him at what he and the other kids call the Death House. They'll live here until their bodies break down and they're taken upstairs to the sanitarium from which none return. The atmosphere in the house changes when two new kids arrive.

I started this book thinking it was a horror novel. It's not. There are minor SF elements, in that you slowly learn that it's a future after which humanity has recovered from a pandemic. Unfortunately the characters don't know much more than that, and so can't pass on any more detailed information about the history of the pandemic or what makes the kids defective genes dangerous (beyond the fact that they get sick). The lack of details on this account was my only complaint with the book.

The characters are all wonderful. There are a number of dynamics at play: what room you're assigned to, the age of the kids, religious beliefs, fear factor, etc. I enjoyed the complexities of the various relationships and Toby realizing the undertones of why people act the way they do. He grows as a character as the book progresses, realizing his own motivations as well as the motivations of those around him.

Clara's wonderful too, with a zest for life, relishing her freedom from overbearing parents despite being sent to the place where she's going to die. I really enjoyed watching her entrance change how things work in the house.

There's a dread about the book - obviously considering the plot - but it's not all dread. There are moments of joy and moments of peace. I thought the author did a great job of varying the events to keep me guessing about what would happen next.

There were some truly touching scenes and I thought the romance progresses naturally given the circumstances.

The book is a very quick read that had me in tears at the end.

Pros: compelling writing, brilliant chracterization, minor romance elements, stand-alone story

Cons: close calls start to feel contrived, ending feels abrupt

For Parents: some violence (murder, torture), no swearing, off screen sex

When Em finds the note in the drain of her prison cell, she knows she and Finn have travelled back in time 14 times, and that they've failed in their objective to save the future. There's only one course of action left to them, to kill the man who made time travel possible, their former best friend and the man Em used to love.

This book was VERY hard to put down. The characters feel real, their emotions felt true to life but without the overarching angst that sometimes makes YA hard for adults to enjoy. Marina has complex relationships with everyone in her life. She's afraid her best female friends only like her because they want to get closer to James. Her parents are having trouble in their marriage, using her as a go-between. She loves James but isn't sure he feels the same way. And she's jealous of how close Finn and James have become, and so treats Finn badly, even if he doesn't always deserve it.

It's the first YA novel I've read that captured how conflicted I felt as a teen, so I really connected with Marina's character.

Em and Finn - the future versions - are equally complicated characters, having to make a tough decision knowing the pain it will bring their younger selves.

The two guys, one girl, formula sounds familiar but Terrill does great things with it. Marina loves James and dislikes Finn. Finn likes Marina, but recognizes that she doesn't like him back, which makes him snarky and bitter towards her at times. And James... well, it's unclear what he feels. Even their older selves have a unique dynamic.

Though I felt that Em's compunctions about killing her former crush were realistic, I started to feel the scenes involving close calls with him became contrived towards the middle of the book. The last quarter of the book shook things up again, which I really liked.

There's little told about the dystopian future the teens are from or the science involved with time travel, so if that's what you're looking for, look elsewhere.

The ending felt abrupt, but on further reflection - and rereading some scenes - I realized that it fit what the author said about time travel. This is a great book to reread, as you pick up all sorts of details you miss - especially in the first few chapters - the first time through.

Finally, it's great to read a YA dystopian novel and have it stand on its own. I highly recommend this one.

Pros: interesting new aliens, excellent world-building, utopic Earth

Cons: frustrating, somewhat boring, limited plot

Having gone through the transcendental machine, Riley and Asha find themselves separated, on far flung worlds. They must use their new skills to get back to Federation space and find each other.

This is very much a middle book, working specifically to get the two protagonists from one place to another. Along the way they each meet an important figure from their past - which was the most interesting part of the book, as those scenes touched on the events of the first book and brought one of the mysteries of that book forward.

The world-building is top notch, with several new alien races introduced. Gunn's aliens are all unique, and have histories as well as cultures. Similarly, he extrapolates a future for Earth that encompasses AI protection, a future that has a lot of utopic qualities (though, naturally, not everyone is happy with the status quo).

Having said that, I personally found this book fairly boring. While the aliens Riley and Asha encounter are interesting, the first third of the book felt like it had no relevance to the rest of the story. I also found the ending anti-climactic and confusing.

There's a 2 page afterward that narrates some fascinating events that sound like they would have made for a very interesting novel, which I'm hoping play a big part in the next book.

There's enough of interest here for me to at least check out the third book, as I am curious to learn what comes next. But I'm hoping it's got more plot and less wandering than this book.

Pros: thought provoking premise, interesting characters, quick paced

Cons: some world-building and logistical issues

Ten days before the national update for the boost, networked supercomputers implanted in people's brains, Ralf Alvare, a software engineer, finds himself on the run after learning about an open surveillance gate in the program that would allow companies direct access to people's thoughts and memories. His own boost chip has been ripped out and, newly ‘wild', he's heading to see his brother in El Paso, across the border from the infamous drug lord run city of Juarez, where no one has boosts. But John Vallinger, a lobbyist whose spent years working towards this chip update, sends one of his men after Ralf, intent on stopping whatever resistance the programmer can create.

I thought the story was very interesting, with a lot of good questions being asked about privacy vs access to information. Would you put a chip in your head that allowed you to be smarter and access information anywhere, effortlessly, if it meant that someone could track your every move, see what you're buying, etc.? Would having a brain implant that can affect your thoughts make things better or worse? In the book there's an app that you can apply to make the tasteless protein they eat taste like anything you program in. There were some great scenes where Ellen, for the first time without the use of her boost, gets to taste actual food and experience other sensations without recourse to a fantasy cover for it. Her observations that some things are better natural while others are better in her imagination, were very interesting.

Ralf's family's drama was also pretty fun to read, with the stories getting deeper as more information is revealed. I also liked that his family provided a grounding in how different people reacted to the Boost. His dad rejected and fought against it, his mother helped bring it to the US but then regretted the role she played in making it a ubiquitous thing, his older brother constantly struggled to use it and he spent most of his time in it and is lost without it.

I wasn't a big fan of Suzy. Though she was a member of the Democratic Movement, she seemed unaware of security issues despite the domestic terrorism she could be accused of and made some odd decisions towards the end of the book.

There's a scene towards the end of the book that may cause trigger issues for some readers. Though mostly off page, the scene is violent but necessary for the plot and the person attacked is shown as capable of defending themself earlier on. There's a bit of follow-up in the epilogue that briefly mentions some of the ethical issues surrounding what happened, which I thought was well done.

As for the world-building, I did question, while I was reading the book, the idea that once a chip is damaged or removed that's it, there's no fixing or replacing it. Considering the importance of the chips (you can't pay for things or direct cars without one), and how easily brain injuries can occur that might damage chips, it seems like there should be some alternate options available.

After I finished the book a few other questions came to me about how the world worked. For example, while it's clear that Juarez isn't easy to get to or leave, it's unclear if the Amish wild area is equally blocked off, and if not, how the people there trade with their non-wild neighbours. And does Juarez manufacture all of its needs or does it get a lot of goods through the black market? And if it depends on contraband, how do its citizens pay for it when they don't have chips and their money is worthless outside their city? I was also surprised by how far money went in Juarez. I would have thought fresh, tasteful food would be harder to grow/raise than the manufactured tasteless food the non-wilds ate. It should therefore be more expensive as the market for things like spices would be non-existent outside of the wilds and are time consuming to make.

The book is told in third person present tense (eg: Ellen blinks her eyes open.), rather than the more common past tense. I personally found the jump between events narrated in past tense and the present tense of the main text jarring. Most readers probably won't have a problem with it.

This is a quick, entertaining read, and despite the complaints I had with aspects of it, the questions it raises - about letting a government and corporations have control over what information you can access - are relevant ones for our current world.

Reading this book is like watching TV. The description is incredible (brief but comprehensive) and the plot quick moving. You'll love Yimt, the Dwarf, and his unique grasp of logic.

Pros: several vampire species, unique setting, great characters

Cons: antagonist upsets his own plans

Atl is a Tlahuihpochtli, a vampire descended from those that served in the Aztec temple in Mexico city in ages past. Now she's the last of her clan, hiding in the city from a rival vampire drug lord's son. Domingo is a trash picker who stumbles across Atl one evening. Entranced by her beauty, he accompanies her home.

If you're looking for something different with regards to vampires - vicious, brutal, vampires - then this book is for you. In this world, humans discovered vampires were real in the 1960s, but not just Bram Stoker's style of vampires. The glossary at the end of the book goes over the different types, though only three types show up in the book.

I really liked Atl, and while I thought Domingo was naive, I couldn't help mimicking his belief that Atl was a ‘good' vampire, despite the mounting evidence against this idea. I did face a crisis of “am I supposed to be rooting for her?” half way through the novel, something I come against when there are no obvious heroes. Atl is a type of vampire I've never heard of, and found fascinating. She's strong willed and learns fast.

Another character I really liked was Ana, a detective who's faced vampires before and uses her skills to track Atl down. I loved her grit and determination to make a better life for herself and her daughter. She's the character I ended up rooting for the most.

Nick, as the antagonist, was great. He's flawed in many ways, not least is that his stupidity and desire to punish Atl upset his own side's plans. But he's a great traditional vampire - terrifying in his disregard for human life, even as he's constrained in his actions by his father's human henchman.

Mexico city was a unique setting that was a pleasure to read about. It's nice to see books branching out into new locations.

The ending gets pretty brutal, and while one character's ending left me somewhat unhappy, it was an appropriate and satisfying ending for the book as a whole.

Pros: hard SF, interesting characters, complex interconnected story lines

Cons: characters sometimes solve problems too easily, ending felt too pat

Jane Navio manages resources for 25 Phocaea, an asteroid settlement.  When an accident destroys most of the current shipment of ice that provides water, air and fuel for the colony, she's beset by numerous problems.  A feral sapient is born from the disaster and must be dealt with before it creates havoc and the martian mob appears to be the only ones in possession of enough ice to save them. But Jane's dealth with the mob before, on her previous home, Vesta. She barely escaped with her life. Many others she knew weren't so lucky.

Meanwhile, four young bikers who happened to be at the scene of the accident, keep getting in and out of trouble as they cross paths multiple times with those investigating and those exacerbating the crises.

This is a clever hard SF story with multiple major conflicts and some great protagonists.  Jane is a complex character who's used to dealing with politics even though she's not keen on them.  She's first introduced making a life or death decision reminiscent of Ripley, but while she's got a cold exterior, she's got a sense of morality that won't let her deal with the mob, even when their ice shipment appers to be the colony's only means of survival.

While the book focuses on certain people, it's clear that this is a large colony, with multiple layers of bureaucracy that are mentioned when necessary, but not in enough detail to swamp the book.  I only remember one occasion where a name was mentioned and I couldn't place it because it was a beurocrat only mentioned in passing before.

The larger world is also shown to have complex politics and economics, even if they're only hinted at. There's the martian mob, the ‘Stroders (cameras that record what happens in the colony) sending data to reality TV watchers on Earth, and the Earth politics that made gene splicing illegal and forced the Viridians to emigrate.  Apparently Canada's no longer a nice place to live, as it's referenced as having refuge camps and detainee centres.

I appreciated the mix of races and religions represented, as well as sexualities, from the expectant homosexual couple barely mentioned in a park to the Viridians who prefer non-gendered pronouns that reflect their gene spliced states.

One of my favourite things in the book was Tonal-Z, a music based programming language used to talk to the feral sapient.  The acknowledgements credit a real life interface concept as the genesis for it and I'd have loved to see more of it in action.

The only problems with the book that I found were that the 4 teens kept running into more and more problems in a way that started to feel manufactured even though there were logical reasons why they were in each of the places.  And while I liked the fact that, given the locations, characters realized if they were going to get out of bad situations they needed to save themselves as the chances of someone else learning of their problem and/or arriving in time to help were slim, there were a few times when characters got out of tough spots remarkably easily.  Similarly, given all the problems the protagonists faced, the ending seemed a little too pat.

If you're looking for space battles, look elsewhere. There are a few fight scenes (which are all remarkably different), but on the whole this is a cerebral SF novel.

If you like interesting science, cool characters, depictions of what it might be like to live in space and complex world building, then give this book a try.

Pros: great world-building, fascinating alien species, diverse characters, interesting plot, stand-alone novel

Cons:

An accident occurs among the humans observing the native intelligent life forms deep in the oceans under the ice of the distant planet Ilmatar. An alien race older than humans, the Sholen, have decreed that no contact be made with the natives for fear of human colonization. They send a ship to the planet to verify that no rules have been broken, but their inner politics dictate that the humans' mission be shut down, regardless.

Meanwhile, Broadtail 38 Sandyslope, along with a group of likeminded Ilmataran scientists, makes a strange discovery that changes the course of his life.

I love it when the first paragraph of a book sucks you in and doesn't let you go. And this book has an awesome one:

By the end of his second month at Hitode Station, Rob Freeman had already come up with 85 ways to murder Henry Kerlerec. That put him third in the station's rankings — Joseph Palashnik was first with 143, followed by Nadia Kyle with 97. In general, the number and sheer viciousness of the suggested methods was in proportion to the amount of time each one spent with Henri.

Rob Freeman is the research station's underwater photographer and drone operator and the first, and only human, viewpoint character. Through him we see how the humans get along and how they react when the Sholen show up.

Our Showlen point of view comes from one of their two scientists, Tizhos, the subordinate in a race that focuses on consensus and achieves it via sexual contact. Through her we see signs of how their society works, using pheromones to calm and attract, as well as trying to subdue natural reactions, like anger and frustration, to maintain peace.

We're given two Ilmataran points of view, one through Broadtail, a scientist and landowner, and the other through Strongpincer, a bandit. This, and Broadtail's adventures, allows the reader to get a wider idea of the Ilmataran society.

The alien societies are quite fascinating, and distinct. Ironically, many of the problems that occur in the book are because each group expects that the aliens think and act the way they do - even when the person making this assumption knows better. So, for example, the humans' passive aggressive screaming and handcuffing tactic isn't understood by the Sholen, despite the humans thinking it's a universal form of protest.

While I didn't like all of the characters, I'm looking at you Richard Graves, there was a good variety of personalities and temperaments represented. Every character had their own motivations for what they did, and reacted differently to the various crises that occur.

The story was very interesting, with a lot going on all the time. And it's a stand-alone novel.

This is a fantastic debut.

Pros: fascinating world of the after life, complex plot, lyrical writing, interesting and diverse characters

Cons: one plot point revolves around assault

Ben Mendelssohn is a righter of endings, an epilogist. A year after his wife's unexpected death he kills himself, expecting a touching reunion on the other side. But while he's correct that there's life after death, he's not expecting the complexity or strangeness of the otherworld. And he's definitely not expecting that his wife is nowhere to be found.

The novel alternates between chapters of Ben's life/afterlife with those of seemingly random side characters. As the novel progresses and the various side stories merge you start to realize how lives intersect and affect each other in the most bizarre ways.

The alternating chapters ramp up the suspense as each chapter with Ben ends with him discovering something on his quest to find his wife. But you don't find out what it is until his next chapter, propelling you through the book at a breakneck pace.

While I liked Ben, some of the side characters were harder to relate to. For example, while I pitied Ann's childhood, her attitude as an adult, based on adult decisions, was in many ways reprehensible. And yet, her part of the story was so interesting it was hard to stop reading.

As a work in translation (from Hebrew no less) word choice becomes important. There were two decisions that I wondered about. The first was Ben's career as a righter (as opposed to writer). I'm not sure if there was meant to be a deeper meaning to the choice that I simply didn't get (which I'm willing to accept as one chapter dealt with the writings of Salmon Rushdie, an author I've not read, and I'm sure it contained allusions I therefore missed). Along the same lines I'm not sure if the Babel chip the citizens of the Other World get is just a reference to the Biblical story or if I was supposed to think of the Babel fish in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy as well.

The second word choice that surprised me was the use of the term ‘midget' as opposed to the more politically correct ‘little people' to describe two of the characters. I do applaud the author for including not one but two little people in important supporting roles. The only question I had here was that at one point one of them hosts someone at their home and I was left wondering if the furniture was sized for her, thereby potentially harder to use by her guest?

The world of the afterlife was fascinating. I don't want to spoil anything, as the author slowly brings different aspects of the world into focus, but he really did flesh out the world well. I did wonder why orientation didn't explain several things - particularly about the aliases - which would have been very helpful for the protagonist (and presumably countless others) to know.

One of the plot points revolves around an assault, which may be triggering for some readers though there is no gratuitous description. Similarly, one character is revealed as a pedophile, though one who doesn't abuse children.

I found the ending itself a touch anti-climactic, though it did fit the book perfectly.

Ultimately this is a great book with a compelling mystery, discourses on death - and what, if anything, it means - some romance and a unique cast of characters. You'll go through a gambit of emotions reading it as you race to the end.

Pros: interesting murder mystery, wonderful relationships

Cons:

The year is 1919 and a riot and explosions rock San Francisco's St Patrick's Day parade, the perpetrators targeting a young woman in the crowd. Captain Gabe Ryon tries to figure out the connection between the attack and the growing number of murdered Russian immigrants. Meanwhile his wife, Delia, is haunted by the ghost of a European princess.

The novel is split between Gabe and Delia's efforts to understand what's happening and stop the murders. It's great seeing how the investigation covers both procedural and spiritualist methods. The mystery is intense, with a lot of twists.

It's a real joy seeing a book that has several loving couples and deep friendships. While you can read this book independently of the previous two in the series (Delia's Shadow and A Barricade in Hell), you've definitely got a deeper sense of the relationships and how the characters have come to trust and rely on each other if you've read the other books.

Perhaps that's why the books, though dealing with disturbing subject matter, leave one with a feeling of positivity. There's a good amount of death and darkness, but the stories read more like cosy mysteries than hardboiled detective fiction.

It's a fast paced book that makes good use of an interesting time and setting. This is a series I highly recommend.

Pros: interesting characters, interesting setting, intricate plot

Cons:

It's 1917 and though San Francisco's far from the war in Europe, the war's affects are felt there. Delia's become Isadora's apprentice in dealing with ghosts in order to help with her ‘gift' of seeing them. But her schooling's tried by the ghost of a young girl that has started haunting her, which doesn't seem bound by the normal rules and can't be banished. Meanwhile, Captain Gabe Ryan and his partner Jack Fitzgerald start investigating a murder that appears to have an occult connection.

This is a murder mystery with ghosts. It's twist is that the culprit's discovered fairly early but proving a case against the person, that would hold up in court, proves to be very difficult. The viewpoints alternate between Delia and Gabe, focusing on the troublesome ghosts on the one hand and the murder case on the other. There are a good number of twists and turns and you don't know who will survive ‘till the end.

I loved all of the characters. They're well written, with backgrounds that are painful in different ways, making them feel like real people. The protagonists all have understandable motivations for their actions, and while the antagonists' reasons for doing things aren't as well defined - until the end - they don't feel like cookie cutter villains at any point.

You get to see a bit of chinatown and some of the racism the inhabitants there faced. Those scenes were handled carefully and considerately.

It's the second book in the series, but the books are written episodically, so you can easily pick this up without reading Delia's Shadow. If you like ghosts and mysteries and good writing, you'll love this series.

Pros: great world-building, entertaining

Cons: surprisingly swift resolution to numerous problems

The Western Star returns to England from the edge of the world purportedly carrying treasures untold, but the hold is full of barrels of dirt, rocks, and seawater, and the crew has mysteriously died. Stephen Parris, physic to the ailing King Edward VI, attempts to increase his knowledge of the human body by dissecting corpses, an act that would mean his execution if discovered. The most recent body he examines, from The Western Star, is remarkably preserved and has some bizarre characteristics. Christopher Sinclair is an alchemist, determined to find the elixir of life, and believes the tales of wealth the admiral of The Western Star told before he died. He convinces the king to finance a second mission for the repaired ship and persuades Parris to accompany him on his voyage of discovery.

This book is set in a world very similar to our own where the Earth is, in fact, flat, and a mysterious substance called quintessence - the fifth element, the essence of life - is found in creatures that live close to the world's edge. The book, consequently, has a lot of fantastical creatures, starting with a beetle that can fly through walls and a manticore that can speak mind to mind using its tail as a connection port. Learning about the different creatures and their miraculous properties was highly entertaining.

I'm currently learning about the history of science so it was a real pleasure to see Aristotelianism argued against atomism (not to be confused with the modern atomic theory).

The book doesn't pull any punches with regards to what life was like, either with England in its time of tribulation (with the succession), shipboard life, or the challenges of learning about a new land. I especially appreciated that the Spanish inquisition was used accurately - as a way to wipe out heresy, not a series of witchcraft trials. Again, the horror of the institution isn't toned down at all, and the true targets, conversos (Jews and Muslims who professed conversion to Catholicism while retaining their beliefs in secret), are briefly shown in focus. Witchcraft does come up, but in the contexts of body snatching and magic.

I really liked Parris and his inquisitiveness, as well as his daughter Catherine, and her desire to learn more about the natural world and avoid marriage for the time being. I felt that Catherine grew over the course of the book, though mostly at the end, when the consequences of her actions throughout the book become clear. Parris too grows to some extent.

Sinclair is pretty interesting as a character, though he's not very likeable. I found his experiments cool, but his willingness to manipulate people to get his way became disturbing as the book wore on.

Most of the action in the book was predictable but there were some interesting twists, mainly concerning the creatures encountered and revolving around the ending of the book.

The ending came rather suddenly and wrapped things up a little too neatly. A number of people mastered powers too quickly to be believable. I did, however, appreciate that there was no cliffhanger leading to the next book in the trilogy.

Pros: Helen's a complex character, interesting plot

Cons: Alastair's mistreatment of Helen is more told than shown

Helen Huntingdon's husband is part of Copperhead, an organization that aims to rid the city of the fae - and the dwarvven. Under his direction she replaced her normal face with a fae one, an act that now leaves her in peril of being overtaken by the fae and having her own existence wiped out. She's not alone, almost 100 other influential women in the city have had the same operation.

Helen brings her sister Jane to a Copperhead meeting in order to remove the fae mask of the host's wife, but when the host turns on their new weapon against the fae, something goes horribly wrong. The wife is left in a fae trance while Jane, accused of murdering the woman, has disappeared. Helen must convince the rest of the 100 fae faced women to have the operation to return their original faces while she searches for her missing sister, because it sounds like the fae are gearing up for another attack.

Helen is a great character. While Jane, the protagonist of the first book, and her older sister, is direct and often tactless with her sense of right and wrong, Helen has learned to manipulate the people around her into thinking she's a bit empty-headed and have them do things for her when she smiles and flirts. She feels guilty that she wasn't brave enough to join the fae war like Jane, and resentful that Jane left her - at 13 - to watch their mother die of a slow illness afterwards. Helen doesn't want to responsibility that's left with her when Jane disappears. She wants to be shallow, discussing fashion with other socialite women, dancing, and flirting. She wants to find Jane so she can hand over the fate of the 100. But when push comes to shove - again and again and again - she knuckles down and does when she has to. Indeed, as the book progresses you discover how much of her flirtatious attitude masks insecurity and how capable she really is when she trusts herself. We learn what she actually did after the war - how she helped and what decisions she made that trapped her in the present, with a husband who isn't who she thought he was. It's fascinating seeing the different sides of her, and watching her decide who she wants to be moving forward. It's a story about seeing yourself as you truly are and accepting the good and bad in you. It's a story about growth.

The Copperhead plot was pretty interesting, as was the mystery of what happened to Jane and the danger facing the city. There's a touch of romance that develops organically from the story. In addition to Helen there are a number of other interesting women who play a large part of the story. It's cool to see female friendships and interactions in a fantasy setting.

I felt that Helen and Alastair's relationship wasn't as well defined in the book as it could have been. There's more telling than showing to indicate that their relationship is bad. Early on he takes her mask - the only thing that keeps her safe from being taken over by the fae when outside. He sees it as a way of protecting her. She sees it as a way of controlling her. Without other interactions it's hard to know if she is being unreasonably restricted by him (I'd argue she isn't considering how easy it is for her to sneak out). Only later in the book do we see his darker side, but even then, some of the revelations about him at the climax still came as something of a shock to me.

As much as I enjoyed Ironskin I have to admit I liked Copperhead more. Perhaps it was because the story was more original, perhaps it was because Helen was such a delightful character to get to know. I'm really enjoying this series and look forward to finishing it off in Silverblind.

Pros: fabulous writing, witty, complex story with multiple subplots, endearing characters, emotional punch

Cons: the first 5 pages are a bit over the top, get past them and the rest of the book is fabulous

The Importance of Being Earnest meets Twelfth Night in this fabulously written debut novel. Violet Adams has a plan to attend the illustrious school of science, Illyria, by dressing the year as her twin brother Ashton. Being a man is more difficult than Violet considered, and it turns out to be quite an interesting year, filled with experimentation, drinking, exploring the labyrinthine basement of the school, blackmail, avoiding the love of Cicely (ward of Illyria's duke) and dealing with her own complicated feelings towards said duke.

This is a delightful romp that could well have been written by Oscar Wilde himself. It has the feel of Victorian literature, with subtle wit and constant references to things of the period.

As a steampunk novel there's a lot of experimentation going on, but very little scientific explanation, so those who want a more hard SF feel should look elsewhere, while those wishing for a book to ease someone into genre should think of this as the perfect gift.

The plot becomes more and more complex as new characters are added, each with their own plans that interfere with those of the others. And the characters are all complex. Rosen takes a few pages here and there to flesh out even minor characters so their motivations are understood. And while he jumps between heads often, it's always clear whose thoughts you're following.

This book made me laugh, out loud, at several points. It also made me cry. Can't ask for more than that.

Pros: great characters, excellent world-building, interesting plot

Cons: a few distracting word choices

The magician Nemastes takes advantage of the superstitious senator Saxa and casts a spell in the man's house. That spell interrupts the poetry reading of Saxa's son Gaius Varus, and turns the young man into an unwitting pawn of Nemastes's enemies. Also pulled into the spell's influence are Varus's sister, Alphena, who practices swordplay, even though it's not a womanly art; his new, young stepmother, Hedia; and his best friend Publius Corylus, who grew up on the border of the barbarian frontiers of Germania.

The four players are pulled into other worlds, worlds in which creatures of myth are real, and where a group of evil men are planning the destruction of the world.

The author begins the book with a forward explaining that while the book is based on the history of ancient Rome (called Carce in the book to help keep the distinction), it is not historical fiction. He also points out that all of the gods and mythological creatures he references are things people in the past believed in.

It was really cool reading a book that referenced a lot of old mythology as if it were real. There were some expected creatures and a lot of unexpected ones as well. And while the main setting is Carce, Egyptian, Norse, and other belief systems make appearances.

The four principle characters are well fleshed out, as are a few side characters. I really enjoyed the developing relationship between Alphena and her close in age stepmother - the mix of anger Alphena feels towards the woman as well as her grudging respect. Hedia meanwhile is a surprising woman: on her second marriage with few illusions about the world. She enjoys sex and knows how to use her looks to advantage. She's also quite intelligent with regards to the danger posed by Nemastes and honestly wants what's best for her new stepchildren. I felt kind of sorry for Varus, who wants to do great things but just doesn't have the necessary abilities. I was impressed by his actions in the climax. Corylus has a grab bag of skills that come in handy during the trials he faces. He doesn't grow as much as a character as the others, but he's a fascinating character to read about.

The plot takes a while to get going, but the characters are so interesting I didn't mind. And when it does pick up, things go quickly.

A few word choices irritated me, specifically the use of ‘knight' for a position in the Carcian army instead of the Roman title and ‘hell' referencing to the Christian version of the afterlife (which didn't exist as we think of it at the time) rather than the terms/meanings people back then would have used for the afterlife). But those are pretty minor complaints and didn't detract from my enjoyment of the book

This is the first of a four book series but though there's a teaser for book 2 in the epilogue, all of the plot points are resolved and it can be read as a standalone novel.

If you like mythology and Roman fiction, give this a go.

Pros: great series conclusion, fast paced/

Cons: one scene felt superfluous/

Bea is dying and Snow has a plan to keep her around longer. When her spell goes wrong she unwittingly releases something that takes control of her and others, Prince Jakob being a strange exception. So she takes the boy when she leaves Lorindar's Palace and heads for home./

Making a beloved protagonist into the antagonist made this concluding volume of the Princess Series a heart wrenching one. By the end of the book ‘Snow' has done so many horrible things it's hard to imagine a good ending. But Hines delivers one that fits the subject matter and neatly wraps up the series./

The pacing is fast - it's a quick, exciting read. The protagonists' trip to see the fairies seems superfluous, but it's tied into the overarching plot well, making it a minor complaint./

If you haven't read this series, what are you waiting for?

Hans Christian Anderson's The Little Mermaid is a horribly depressing story. Jim Hines takes that story and makes it even more horrifying. So yet another princess missed out on her ‘happily ever after'. Only this time the princess strikes back. Against those who hurt her and those who want to help her.

The Mermaid's Madness begins with the Lorindar nobles welcoming the return of the undine (merfolk) from their annual hybernation. Only this time the undine aren't happy to see the humans. The subsequent attack lands one noble greviously wounded and embroils Danielle, Talia and Snow in an adventure with consequences none of them are ready for.

The novel is fast paced, with well defined characters. Readers who haven't read The Stepsister Scheme will be confused by one or two points left unexplained from the first book, but won't otherwise have any trouble reading this book on its own. The true joy of this series is figuring out how Mr. Hines has twisted otherwise familiar (or not, depending on the version you read as a child) fairy tales. And this one is twisted indeed.

Pros: psychological horror, good set-up for a creepy climax

Cons: more swearing than I like

Paula Wittmore's mother falls ill after the death of a friend in the close knit community of Haven Woods. Another friend, Izzy, notifies the young woman and suggests that she and her daughter, Rowan, return to visit. But a special sisterhood there needs both Paula and Rowan in order to regain their number. And be their sacrifice.

This is my kind of horror novel, where you're given hints of what's really going on and your imagination is left to fill in the blanks. Rather than dealing in depth with all of the sisterhood, Moloney focuses on a few - keeping the novel tight and encouraging sympathy in surprising ways. Paula and Rowan are immediately sympathetic (if not immediately likable), but I hadn't expected to like Marla, Paula's childhood friend who's trapped in a life that's becoming ever more distant from the perfect life she was promised when she joined the sisterhood.

And while I'm definitely a cat lover, this book managed to show the darker side of the animals, making me cheer for the dogs in the book (and I don't generally like dogs).

The only thing I wasn't keen on was the amount of swearing. The characters cuss easily and often.

The climax is suitably long and dark, given the lead up, but not gratuitous or overbearing. In other words, if you like psychological horror, this is a good book.

Pros: colour photo center spread, tips at the start of each section, ‘make a meal' box on recipe pages, lots of recipes

Cons: recipes require lots of ingredients and can be time intensive, some ingredients are hard to find

To review this cookbook I tested 6 recipes. Of those, only one wasn't worth the effort (time or taste wise). The other 5 turned out great and required me to use ingredients I've either never cooked with before or only done limited things with in the past.

Based on the recipes I tried, it's a great cookbook for people with intermediate or advanced cooking skills, as the recipes required more preparation and effort than those of other books. But the extra effort is worth it for the taste combinations this book will teach you.

Pros: complex plot, characters face difficult ethical decisions

Cons:

I've seen the question of what to do when faced with two equally unpleasant choices dealt with in several books lately (Mockingjay & Monsters of Men come immediately to mind). There are only two choices, pick the lesser of two evils or try to find a third, more acceptable option.

Agent Nico Wachalowski is asked to join forces with the revivors (reanimated dead) against those who can manipulate minds and memories - and kill their leader, Ai. He's asked by Ai to fight with her people against the revivors, who are in possession of 9 nuclear devices and are planning to use them to destroy the city.

Both sides make convincing arguments as to the dangers posed by their enemies. And like most decisions of this nature, when Nico finally makes his choice, he's not satisfied with it.

Meanwhile Zoe Ott is seduced by Ai's agent Penny into joining their side, and Calliope Flax, back from a two year tour of duty, does some dangerous detective work in hopes of impressing Nico and perhaps landing a job with the FBI.

The problem with reading a debut as good as State of Decay is the fear that the sequel won't live up to expectations. The Silent Army does everything right. This is not a filler book for a trilogy. The plot is tight and complex and the characters are forced to deal with difficult situations and make tough choices.

If you haven't started this series, you're really missing out on something great.

Pros: great protagonist, fascinating world, interesting aliens, complex plot

Cons: minor plot complaints, Sam survives a LOT of dangerous situations without injury

Though months have passed since the events that took place in Shiliuyuan station, Sam Shao is still haunted by what she saw there and what she knows Sillith's virus is doing to the people of her city. She wants to expose the truth of the alien haan, what they really look like and have been doing, and so has teamed up with some other dissidents to help expose the aliens' true form. But there are a lot of new problems: Alexei is enamoured with the new Gonzo religion that worships the haan, there are hundreds of missing people, and some of her allies want to take their protests to a new, violent level.

The Burn Zone ended with several revelations that deeply affect Sam. This book starts with her dealing with the fall out of what happened, even though some time has passed.

She's a great protagonist. She's been through some horrible stuff and is quite tough because of it. That does make it difficult for her to progress in her relationships. She's kept Vamp at a distance and her relationship with Alexei is combative, despite her love for her adopted brother. She's dealing with a lot and so ignores some important clues that those around her need help and attention, which causes her problems as the action progresses.

The world is fully realized. It's easy to picture the streets of Hangfei as Sam goes from place to place. There's variety in the different neighbourhoods and a sense of history.

While you don't learn much new about the haan, they continue to be mysterious. And the new haanyong - humans who have been ‘evolved' into haan like creatures - are pretty scary.

The plot is really complex, though Sam does do a lot of running around to keep things moving. There's a ton of action, though I was surprised at how many dangerous situations she walked away from without injury. I was also surprised by how naive she was about how people would react to seeing the true face of the haan.

While I predicted one aspect of the ending, several other things surprised me and I was left... unsure how I felt about Sam's reaction to the various revelations.

It's an entertaining book that will keep you turning pages.

Pros: interesting story, fast pacing, unique aliens, complex plot

Cons: too many big revelations at the end made it hard to comprehend them all

Sam Shao's apartment is attacked and her adopted military father accused of treason and taken away by four military personel. Aside from the fact that Sam knows her dad's innocent, she's also stunned that one of their attackers is a disguised haan. As a surrogate for haan young, Sam is able to pick up on the aliens' emotions through her brain-band and can't understand how one of the fragile beings could survive the violence of the attack and its aftermath. Running from the authorities, Sam tries to figure out what her father discovered that's worth killing for.

This is a fast paced SF thriller, jumping from place to place as Sam tries to find a twistkey her father acquired and hid. Along the way she gets help from a hacker friend, a rogue haan and friends from her, and her father's, pasts.

The story takes place in an overcrowded future, where street meat and scrapcake (made from human flesh) are illegal substitutes for feeding humans when over 80% of the food produced goes to feed the alien haan in return for haan technology. Some of the descriptions in the book are brutal, as humans are pushed to the brink of reason.

The plot is complex and it's interesting watching Sam try to avoid the various groups hunting her. Information about what's really going on is doled out in bits and pieces, making it hard to put the book down. I did find the ending a bit rushed in that you learn a LOT, too much to process so quickly. I'm sure I missed a lot of the nuances of Sam's discoveries because there were so many all at once.

The aliens were really cool. The more you learn about them the stranger they become.

In the end I really liked the book, though I'm hoping if there's a sequel some of the end of book revelations will get more discussion.

Pros: tense, good pacing, compelling

Cons: heavy subject matter for younger teen target audience, but author does a great job with it

Ever since the Treaty of Treason following the Dark Days when the 13 districts rebelled against the capitol and lost, the remaining 12 districts have given 2 youths as tributes for the yearly Hunger Games.

This year, district 12 is sending Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark. Along with their counterparts from the other districts, these two will fight to the death in the Gamemakers' arena, for the entertainment of those in the capitol.

The Hunger Games is a teen reimagining of Koushun Takami's Battle Royale. With some important changes. The Hunger Games takes place in a post-apocalyptic America. In The Hunger Games everyone understands the purpose of the games (in Battle Royale this is only revealed at the end, where it has a bigger psychological impact), and there's a LOT less violence. Battle Royale depended on the shock value of its extremely graphic content to get its point across. The Hunger Games does a surprisingly good job of keeping the violence to a minimum given the novel's plot. And what violence there is, is fairly tame. Still, this is a book which I'd recommend parents read first and judge if their child is mature enough to handle what happens, and then discuss the contents with them afterwards.

The novel is very fast paced and compelling. being a teen book it's also a very quick read. I can't wait to finish the series and see what happens.

Pros: clever plotting, thought provoking story, interesting characters, hard SF

Cons: occasionally the protagonist would learn important things offstage that would have been better learned within scenes of the book, climax felt like a rushed information dump, Maddy is surprisingly unconcerned about the consequences of her actions with regards to others

Maddy Grant and her potential step-brother are in an accident at a fair. Ben dies, but Maddy is left severely brain damaged. Luckily for her, her parents contact the Braintree institute, which is experimenting with the use of computer implants.

With the implant, Maddy's as good as new. Better even. She knows things - things she didn't know before, things she doesn't want to know now. Like how to make a rocket out of convenience store items. Like how to kill a man.

Her heightened intelligence causes Maddy to question things that most people ignore, don't question or take for granted. Where does fast food come from? Why do people live in suburbs and commute to cities to work when it takes so much time to get back and forth? Why do we adhere to gender mores that demean and cripple (dieting, high heeled shoes, genital mutilation)? Mr. Greatshell avoids too much social commentary by mentioning these points for discussion from readers but not dwelling on them in the book.

I don't know how accurate the scientific technobabble was, but it sounded convincing and wasn't overwhelming in quantity or detail.

And when Maddy starts to learn what's really been done to her... Well, it's a fascinating story. It's also a surprisingly quick read for all the thought provoking points and scientific experimentation.

At least once in the novel, she learns something off page that confused me when it was mentioned, as there was no hint of it elsewhere in the story. And the ‘reveal' finale was quite an info dump, requiring a few chapters to explain. I'd have liked a slower climax to match the pacing of the rest of the novel. I liked the nod to the Firemen of Fahrenheit 451 and the (perhaps unintentional) one of indentured slavery a la Parable of the Sower.

If you like hard SF set in the modern day, I highly recommend this.