Jessica Strider

Pros: wonderful world-building, great characters, some humour

Cons: some unpleasant descriptions

When the fairies vanished other hominid species moved into their home on the floating island of Eden and started mining the dust they left behind. Though the dust isn't as potent as what the fairies once used, it can cure minor ailments, and the hominids and animalia in the city below are hooked.

Henry Whelp is the son of a convicted drug runner and murderer. Though he's a good kid, a bad decision lands him at the St Remus Home for Wayward Youth, and another reason society still fears and distrusts wolves. But Henry uncovers a mystery that involves his dad, the missing fairies, and the dust that's becoming more and more potent.

It was really cool reading a fairytale story from the point of view of one of the talking/evolved animals. In the stories these are either the bad guys (like the wolf), guides to human protagonists (ravens & foxes), or creatures drafted into the magic (mice, birds). So it was an interesting perspective, as the humanoid characters mostly look down on the animalia.

As with most books that riff on fairy tales, part of the fun is figuring out what characters come from what stories. There's little mystery here if you've read the brothers Grimm, though I'll have to look up the story of the girl without hands. The characters are cleverly used, particularly Detective White, referencing their fairytale backgrounds without being limited to their origin stories.

The world is wonderful and feels real, what with its racism, drug problems, corruption, and more. Henry encounters several people from different walks of life, giving a decent overview of the lower city.

While the book isn't funny - in fact, it's quite dark - there were a few lines, particularly in the scenes with Siobhan's granny, that made me laugh out loud.

Some of the descriptions got a little... gross. There's a lot of spit and drool, disgusting smells, some blood and violence, and a torture scene. But that's a pretty minor issue.

On the whole I really enjoyed this book and found it quite unique in its treatment of the stories and characters.

Pros: variety of aliens, excellent pacing, interesting mystery

Cons: impersonal protagonist, telling rather than showing makes it hard to feel immersed in the story

Riley joins a mixed group of alien and human pilgrims chasing after hints that an alien machine has been discovered that helps entities transcend. But not everyone wants such a device found, for the galaxy is enjoying a hard won peace, a peace they believe this machine will upset.

I was told that this was a sort of Canterbury Tales told in space. While Chaucer is referenced a time or two and some of the characters do tell stories, it's not really a good comparison. Chaucer's tales are for enlightenment and entertainment. Gunn's tales are for exposition with regards to learning about character backgrounds and alien cultures.

Riley is an unreliable narrator. Though you're getting the story from his point of view, you're unclear of his motivations. You're constantly warned not to trust anyone - including him, and told that everyone is lying about everything. This makes it difficult to get to know any of the characters, or feel like you're really connecting with them or with the story.

Similarly, when the characters do start telling about their pasts - lies though their tales might be - it's through narration that feels more like info dumps than a character explaining why they've decided to make a pilgrimage. Their stories are more about how their different races evolved or how they joined the Galactic Council than about their personal presence on the voyage. I found some of the stories more interesting than others, though they were all unique.

The book's pacing is excellent. Each time I started to question things and need more information to maintain my interest, that information was provided. I was surprised at how early the Prophet was revealed - I expected it to be revealed as part of the climax - but it was a revelation that ramped up the tension for the end of the book.

There are a number of mysteries that come up at different times in the book from assassination attempts to what the transcendental machine actually is. Enough answers were provided that the ending felt satisfying.

It may not be the Canterbury Tales in space, but it does have some interesting elements to it and it was a quick, entertaining read.

Pros: fascinating world, fascinating characters

Cons: if you're prudish you won't like this book

Centuries in the future the human population has increased dramatically. Most humans live in 1000 story towers separated into cities with their own schools, hospitals, etc. Fed by communes outside the towers that urban dwellers will never see as they live their lives fully contained within their buildings.

This book starts with the premise that humans have moved into towers, foregoing privacy for a sexually liberal society and then shows what life is like for a handful of those inhabitants. It's a fascinating look at a certain kind of utopian society - and how unhappy many of its inhabitants are under their veneer of acceptance.

The stories vary in terms of interest, though each shows a different aspect of life. The first involves a lot of exposition as a urbmon dweller explains the tower lifestyle to a visiter from Venus, where the lifestyle is quite different. Another story shows a young woman's terror over the prospect of being forced to move to a new tower. Most of the stories are from the point of view of the higher middle class, though there are glimpses of how the lower, physical workers, and higher, government workers live.

Like many utopian/dystopian books there's a huge emphasis on population and sex in this book. There's a brief contrast in one of the stories between how the people in the towers encourage having children while those of the communes must keep their populations in check. While the free sexual mores are meant to reduce conflict, jealousies still arise, though not the way you might expect. There's a LOT of sex going on in this book. It's not graphic and is there to make several points, but consider yourself warned.

I'd expected the book to end with the departure of the Venusian visitor so I was a little surprised when a different character got a second story. The story did wrap things up well though, touching - however briefly - on the other viewpoint characters.

This is a pretty interesting book. There's no plot but the world and characters are quite interesting and will keep you turning pages. I did find one story, about a musician, a little boring, but the others were quite fascinating. I'd put it with Ira Levin's This Perfect Day in terms of dystopian worlds that might not be so bad to live in.

Pros: introverted protagonist, man vs himself plot, awkward situational and dry humour, minor romance elements

Cons: I wondered where Maksim got his money

The death of Lissa Nevsky's grandmother affects her life in numerous ways. She has to take up her duties as a kodun'ia, a Russian witch, and her stepsister, whom she barely knows and who knows nothing of witchcraft, shows up unexpectedly to help out. The death also affects Maksim Volkov, a member of the kin who's had his violent nature tamed with a spell. When the spell breaks he inadvertently infects a young man with his condition. Now Maksim needs Lissa's help getting his violent nature back under control. He also needs to find the newly made kin, before he kills someone with his enhanced strength and increasingly violent restlessness.

It's not common to find books that revolve around people dealing with their own problems, and their consequences - rather than outside physical foes - so I found this book rather refreshing. Similarly, it's nice to see an urban fantasy novel that doesn't rely on the female protagonist physically fighting the bad guys. And while there is fighting in the book - it's mostly mutual, as a way of holding the violence of the kin in check (and done amongst themselves, since they can handle each other's enhanced abilities).

Lissa is an introvert with minimal social skills. Her stepsister, Stella, is an extrovert who's more into feminine things. The two clash in a number of ways. I loved Lissa as a character. She has a lot of the same quirks - and therefore problems - that I have. She's awkward when a guy flirts with her. She's uncomfortable with attention. She has trouble trusting others and telling them truths she'd rather keep to herself. I found myself laughing out loud a few times, just because I sympathized so much with her situation. Other times I laughed because Stella made pointed observations that were just the right kind of dry for my sense of humour.

Maksim's got some issues, which makes him interesting, though he doesn't do much in the book beyond trying to hold his demons at bay. Gus, another kin, has an interesting past and I found her snark fun to read. Nick was a little annoying, but he's got the excuse that his body is changing without his knowledge, making him edgy and violent and kind of a jerk.

I liked that the kin are portrayed as the truth behind myths of vampires and werewolves. There's just enough Russian mythology mentioned to whet the appetite, but not enough to quench it. Similarly the magic Lissa performs is interesting to read about, but sounds kind of tedious to perform.

There's a hint of romance, but it's a minor point and not between the character's you'd expect.

I did find myself wondering how Maksim has so much money. Yes, he owns a gym and trains fighters, but he always seems to have ready cash to hand out to Gus. And while I'm sure being a soldier paid something, I'm not sure it accounts for the amount of cash he has in flashback scenes. It's possible he saves well and his poor living conditions imply that he doesn't spend much on food, housing or clothing, so maybe it's a matter of priorities and good budgeting.

Along the same lines, while Lissa works at a printing shop, it's only mentioned a few times and she seems to have no problem staying up until 3 am and/or sleeping in late a lot. Though, she is in her early 20s, which might account for her ability to go without proper sleep, I was starting to wonder if she was missing shifts.

If you're looking for an urban fantasy that does some new and interesting things, this is a quick, fun read.

Pros: fascinating characters, lots of intrigue, several secrets are revealed

Cons: very slow moving

Antiphon begins six months after Canticle ends. When an attack rocks the confidence of Rudolfo to keep his lands safe, he and Jin Li Tam make a difficult decision. Winteria's still stunned by the revelations of the last book and wonders if there's any hope of returning her people to their former faith in their home-seeking. Neb discovers blood magicked runners in the wastes who don't die after three days and tries to find out who they are. Meanwhile, the Antiphon requires and answer, and the metal men search for it in many places.

This is a fascinating series, with a lot of intrigue. Each book uncovers more layers underpinning the desolation of Windwir. There are plots upon plots and secrets within secrets. And just when you think you've gotten to the bottom of one mystery you discover there's an entirely new side to it that reframes what you know.

The characters are all great. Winters grows a lot in this book, coming more into her own as she questions how to best help her people. It's sad - but understandable - what happens with Rudolfo. It was great seeing Vlad Li Tam with an intrigue not worked through his children.

It was nice getting some answers to questions, even if there may still be hidden nuances and twists to those story threads. I'd love to learn more of the history that's been hinted at with Whym and the wizards. I happened upon a short story Scholes wrote about the love affair between Francisco and a mysterious woman (A Weeping Czar Beholds the Fallen Moon), which factors into this novel nicely (you can read it on Tor.com's website here http://www.tor.com/2009/02/17/a-weeping-czar-beholds-the-fallen-moon/).

The book is very slow moving with characters mostly getting from point A to point B, both in terms of location as well as with understanding of the underlying purposes of what's been happening these past two years since Windwir fell.

I am very interested in seeing where things go from here. The book left several characters in fascinating places.

Pros: fun protagonists, good world-building, interesting plot

Cons: immersion broken at times

Pomella AnDone is astonished when she's invited by the new High Mystic to compete for an apprenticeship. Though Pomella has a book with mystic symbols and songs from her grandmhathir, and has always been able to see wispy animal shapes no one else can, she never dreamed that a commoner would be allowed to apprentice. Defying her Baron, her fathir, and custom, she sets out. Pomella wants to start her new life by leaving her old life behind but her potential beau Sim, follows after, wanting to make sure she gets to the meeting place safely. And others aren't keen on a commoner rising above her station.

It took me a little while to get into the story. While I appreciated the attempt at making some words sound ‘fantasy', I kept tripping over ‘fathir' and ‘grandmhathir'. There were also a few early scenes that bumped me out of the story - particularly when Pomella starts reading her grandmhathir's book in the rain - and the book somehow doesn't suffer any damage (nor does it suffer much damage after being left out in the elements - open - for 2 days). I also had a few issues with light sources that other readers probably won't notice or care about. In one scene Sim tries to pass time by reading - under a wagon, when the sky's dark with clouds, with no candle or other named light source - and yet he's able to see the colour of the ink on the page.

Those minor nitpicks aside, this is an enjoyable book. A lot of effort was put into the world-building. My favourite aspect was the wide variety of world - and character - appropriate exclamations and expressions. Sim, an apprentice blacksmith, uses a few that reference metal-working. It was also cool to see sumptuary style laws in place, stating what people of different classes were allowed to do, along with specific written languages for each class. The multi-racial make-up of the continent vs the island where the book takes place, was also cool to see.

Pomella, as a sixteen year old, isn't sure what she wants out of life, and so questions her decisions often. She's feisty but she also realizes she can't do everything on her own. In one scene that made me want to cheer are these sentences; “Now, faced with the first Trial, she needed someone. Not because she couldn't succeed by herself, but because the thought of being in this alone made her sick” (p122). Too many books assume that for a protagonist to be strong they have to do everything alone. But they ignore the reality that friendship is important, and we all need help and support to achieve our dreams.

The plot is interesting, and the ending is quite exciting. I really enjoyed how things pan out. While it wasn't a perfect book, it was a good debut.

Pros: several fight scenes, more background, quick moving plot

Cons:

For Parents: some sexual content (nothing graphic), some swearing, some violence

Mere weeks have passed since John's airship home crashed and Shinobu is slowly healing. When he and Quin are attacked by two feral boys and her father, they head for safety in Hong Kong. The Middle Dread's plans put them in danger and they search the diary of John's mother for clues to what's happened to Seekers in the past in order to avoid the same fate. Meanwhile, John has found someone willing to finish his Seeker training.

The book alternates through several viewpoints, including the new point of view of Catherine, John's mother, from the time of her training until her pregnancy with John. I personally found her chapters the most interesting, as they shined light on what the previous generation of Seekers were up to, and showed how she'd changed - or warped - into the woman John remembered. She begins her scenes quite like Quin, idealistic and believing in the nobility of the Seekers. It's her research into the actions of the Middle Dread and the journal she writes about it, that guides this book, as both Quin/Shinobu and John search through the entries for clues in the present.

I really liked all of the protagonists in this book. Shinobu's arc made me a little sad at times, given the substance abuse he fell into in the first book. John's training was interesting and I would have liked to see more of it. Quin doesn't change much, but I suspect that's because she started this book in a better place than the other two.

The bad guys, while somewhat comical in their ineptitude, are also kind of terrifying with regards to the implications surrounding them. The Middle Dread has, apparently, been busy while the Old Dread slept.

There are a couple of good fight scenes as the plot speeds along. There's just enough down time to appreciate the revelations that come before the characters head to the next problem or the point of view changes.

I liked that more of the Seeker families make an appearance, and that their history feels more grounded in this book. I also liked that a few more Seeker tools make their appearance. From the sounds of it, there are a couple more to discover in the last book as well.

Traveler's a fun book. It's a quick read that builds on everything that was good about the first book, and then adds more to it. While it's not a cliffhanger ending, it did leave me wishing the third book, Disruptor, came out this year rather than next year.

Pros: political intrigue, sense of dread throughout, wonderfully complex characters

Cons: slow & somewhat confusing beginning

King Alonzo II's Spanish court works in close connection with the Inquisition of Padre Juan Murador, rooting out heresy wherever it lies. At an auto-da-fe, a condemned woman proclaims her innocence and pronounces a curse on Alonzo's line, a curse his now 19 year old legitimate son bears the burden - and effects - of. The Infante Real, Don Rolon, is beset by doubts as to his worthiness to be the heir to the Spanish throne, as the curse worsens, turning him into a beast during the full moon. But he walks a fine line, as the king would prefer to see his bastard son, Gil del Rey, heir, and the inquisition is eager to find fault with those at court, with spies everywhere.

While the prologue, which sets the scene of the Spanish court and the curse, is easy to follow, I found the first chapter, which introduced Don Rolon a little confusing. We meet him travelling on his father's orders to a remote castle. Given the number of titles and names used, I thought it was a large party, and only realized that the names and titles were for the same people when the text stated that only 5 people were travelling. The heir is called numerous things, and until I had them all straight (which didn't take long once I was aware of the situation), it was a bit confusing. Similarly, I had assumed the men travelling with him were all friends, but that turned out to not be the case either.

It takes a while to get into the story as a lot of the early part of the book is cementing the personalities of Don Rolon and, to a lesser extent, Lugantes, the court jester. Other characters are fleshed out and given POV scenes later, when the company returns to court.

The characters are all fascinating, and diverse. Everyone's terrified of the inquisition, though some less than others, assuming that their innocence and devotion protects them. The priests are all devout in their beliefs that they're doing god's work, even as they torture innocents. In fact, some of the most terrifying scenes in the book are listening to the priests justify their work, knowing they're 100% oblivious to the irony of their accusations in comparison to their actions.

While I liked Don Rolon's complexity in his dealings with everyone, my favourite character was the jester. Lugantes, though a little person and much mocked by the court as a whole, with the noted exception of Don Rolon, which earns him Lugantes' devotion, is remarkably clever. He hides his cleverness with japes and jokes, and uses his lower status as a form of invisibility, to learn important news and visit people in private. He's given a good amount of page time, and he's instrumental in helping Don Rolon, though he also has his own interests (and love) to occupy, and worry, him.

Not given as much page time, but interesting all the same - if not as developed a character - is Don Rolon's valet, Ciro Eje, a converso who's not as devout in his Catholicism as would be wise considering his position.

Certain other characters changed over the course of the book, making me like them more. I'd put Genevieve, the French Queen and Don Rolon's fiance in that category. Conversely, I liked Inez at first, but her unwise decisions - and to be fair, Don Rolon's interest in her - put her in danger.

The king's blindness towards what the priests were doing - and some of the liberties he allows them to take with their accusations and denouncements, is astonishing. And led to several plot twists, especially towards the end, that I did not see coming.

There's a deep feeling of dread that settles on you as you read this book. As with actual torture, there's so much anticipation of what the Inquisition will do to Don Rolon should they learn what the curse does to him that it starts to feel like a physical weight pressing you down as you read on. So many people you come to care for are in so much danger that you rush towards the ending, just to put yourself out of the misery of uncertainty. And while I wasn't necessarily happy with the ending, it did suit the book magnificently.

The book takes place in Spain, but the protagonists are all invented - including the royal family. The curse makes the book a very light historical fantasy, though it reads like historical fiction. If you like political intrigue and touches of horror in your stories, you'll love this.

Pros: tight, tense storytelling, interesting characters

Cons: limited world-building

For parents: no content (swearing, sex, drugs), minor gun violence

Fifteen year old Ann Burden has been living - alone - in her family's farmhouse for the past year. Her family - and as far as she knows everyone else in the world - is dead, victims of the war and the bombs that fell. So she has mixed emotions when she sees a column of smoke each night, getting closer to the valley that's protected her. She knows someone is coming. But what does this arrival mean for her?

This is a short novel, told through Ann's journal entries starting when she first realizes someone is coming. It details his arrival and the slowly unfolding drama that occurs afterwards. It's a tight, tense story, that slowly becomes dreadful as you wonder how everything will play out.

It's a story worth coming to with little advance knowledge, as it really depends on learning things with the character. I really liked Ann. She's a farm girl - and so knows how to do things that are useful in a post-apocalyptic survival situation, like catch, prepare and cook fish, plogh a field, etc.

There's very little backstory. We learn where Ann's family has gone and how the stranger arrives, but little else. There's no information about what the war was about or who it was with or what kinds of bombs were dropped, beyond that they were highly radioactive.

It's a great story that kept me on the edge of my seat.

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

Cons: a few points drag

Kerida Nast was born into a powerful military family, so she's not happy when it's discovered that she has the Talent and must leave her family and join the Halls of Law. Flashing objects and people allows Talents to know truth in matters of judgement. Just as she comes to terms with her fate, a foreign invasion takes place, upending her life and forcing her to flee or die. She joins up with some defending soldiers and along the way uncovers a prophecy and a people long believed to be myths.

The world-building is excellent. I loved how the Talent and jewels work. It's very creepy how the jewels can be used to twist people's beliefs, emphasizing certain truths at the expense of others. There are a fair number of terms to learn, but you come to them organically and they make the world feel expansive. I loved that women were so prominent in the power structure of the Faraman Polity. Seeing the invading force's attempts to subjugate the native customs to fit their own belief system was terrifying.

Kerida's a great protagonist. I loved that she learns a lot through the book. She's practical and makes hard decisions about her own survival, leaving her feeling ashamed by her lack of heroism. She has a lot of responsibility placed on her and does a remarkable job, despite not being fully trained. I thought the supporting cast was great, especially the archer Wynn. Seeing some of them jeweled was tough because I liked all of them.

The story's pretty interesting, with a lot of unanswered questions to take up in the next book. I'm hoping the griffin has a larger role.

There are a few points where the story drags a bit as the characters travel a lot over the same territory.

On the whole I really enjoyed this and eagerly await the sequel.

Pros: terrifying yet plausible premise

Cons: things go predictably badly

Vlogger David Callow meets with the creator of OptimiZer, Xan Brinkley, and is offered the staring role in a new entertainment program. The show is called MindCast and will broadcast what David's thinking, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

David is a fairly apathetic character when the book starts. He doesn't really care about anything other than the number of views and likes his videos get, barely paying attention during the meeting that changes his life. He's not particularly satisfied with the way his life is going, though he projects an image for his fans of a life that is fun and glamorous. So it's interesting seeing him come to a slow realization of what having his thoughts projected to the world means with regards to his privacy, his safety, and his sense of self.

I was shocked by how few questions David had about the program. While he doesn't seem to care about his privacy in general, he never asks how things like going to the bathroom or having sex would be dealt with. David is oblivious to the potential downfalls of having everyone able to see his thoughts at all times, so the conversations that point out how this technology can be used or abused are interesting. Even more interesting are the early unexpected side-effects, some of which I hadn't considered.

While the main plot of the book is fairly predictable, the book's premise, that some people can be so enamoured of themselves that they'll give up all privacy in return for fame, is believable. And the results of such an act, are as horrific as you can imagine. You feel a real sense of dread as the book progresses, for a variety of reasons.

It's a fairly short book and is an entertaining cautionary story.

Pros: some good twists; complex language

Cons: Ana angered, frustrated, and annoyed me; lots of major and minor irritants towards the end of the book

Severe earthquakes hit Heart and free Deborl and his followers. Ana and Sam call a group together and decide to escape the city and see if they can end Janan and the threat of Soul Night.

The book is quite exciting, with the characters finally meeting several more of the dangerous creatures living around Range. You also learn the answers to more of Ana's questions about the temple books, sylph, and Janan.

I thought the complexity of the language in the temple books was great. I appreciated that each symbol could mean several things, creating a number of possible interpretations.

I didn't like Ana as much in this book. She had a streak of selfishness (thinking of her own emotional needs and ignoring those of others) in the previous books, that stemmed from her emotional abuse at Li's hands. As the books progressed she seemed to slowly learn how to open up and give emotional support as well as take it. But in this book she makes several decisions that cause deep pain in others later on simply because they help her avoid temporary pain in the moment. She ends up with an overinflated sense of her own importance and stops the reciprocal empathy that friendships and relationships require. I really wanted her to ask the others for advice, to help them through the guilt and sorrow they felt at things she reveals about their past. Basically, I wanted her to show them the love and support they'd given her, welcoming her into their lives, teaching her, guiding her. I mention more about this in the spoiler section below.

While the ending had a lot of twists and turns, by that point I was so frustrated by Ana and so many of the things that were happening that I didn't really feel emotionally invested anymore.











SPOILERS


Half way through the book, after following her for weeks through snow to find dragons for Ana's insane plan, Ana leaves her friends behind with only a passive aggressive note telling them how they used to believe in her and now she's going off on her own, for them to find when they wake up. There's no acknowledgment of the sacrifices they've made or the fact that they FOLLOWED her all that way because they BELIEVED in her. Because it's all about her at this point. Bare paragraphs later she comments on how the sylph give her the feeling of companionship the others didn't anymore (because she wasn't asking for or accepting advice, because she was hiding things from them, because she didn't want to be burdened with their sorrow or guilt or help them work through it, etc). She strangely comes to the conclusion that she can succeed simply by believing in herself. She doesn't NEED other people to believe in her, despite that feeling coming because she felt the COMPANIONSHIP of the sylph! Despite the fact that the sylph continue to help her by melting snow and ice so she can walk easier. She ignores the aid her friends gave her to get her to this point, including the large amount of help and protection the sylph provided. It's only after she cheers herself up that she realizes that the sylph have also felt lonely, and determines she won't ignore them again. But what about the friends she's just left? What about their needs and the fact that they'll wake up and feel even worse because after all their sacrifices for her it wasn't enough? How much are they expected to give just to make her feel better about herself? When do they get something from this relationship?

When the group gets back together, once again it's up to Sam to reconcile things. Which made me think that perhaps his friends are right and having a relationship with Ana's not the right move. She's obviously not ready for a romantic relationship. Maybe the best thing to do would be to give her a few years to find herself, grow up a little, see how other - healthy - relationships work and then try again if they both still want to. Going from an abusive mother to an overly loving and caring psudo-boyfriend may be too much of an extreme for her to dealt with.

The last half of the book contained so many irritating things. If the dragons could communicate with humans, why didn't they? Did Sam use his song against them at some point creating that enmity or were they just unreasonably afraid of him? How big were everyone's packs? (Apparently they had blankets in addition to their sleeping bags, books, enough clothes for Ana to wear 3 hats, etc when flying.) Why did they wait until Soul Night to attack? Couldn't they have tried to kill Janan BEFORE the eruptions, etc? (There didn't seem to be a reason to wait. That's when Janan would be at his most powerful. And I would have thought stopping the eruptions would be just as important as killing Janan. If he's dead, then Soul Night isn't a problem. And if they fail, they have more time to figure something out before Soul Night.) How did Sarit forget why she and Stef left Sam and Ana alone when they hadn't been gone that long? Why did Stef make the distraction explosions have separate detonation devices instead of tying that into their SEDs (like cellphone triggers)? Why didn't Sam want his burns treated before they had sex? (It would have made him more comfortable.) How could they have sex at such a time, after such personal tragedies? (They'd have a lot of distracting thoughts, given what they had to do later that night and having just watched their friends die. I'd think it would be hard to get in the mood under such conditions.) Did everyone's last reincarnation push other newsouls out of the way again? Why did Ana wait until she was in her teens to let Sam know she'd been reborn? (Ok, I know the answer to this one, selfishness. She wanted him to prove he could find her in her new body, like the Masquerade. Because she needed him to prove that he could pick her out of a crowd, or else how would she know he really loved her?). What ultimately happened to Janan? He gave them all one last reincarnation and then ... leaves? He spent 1000 years in a prison to become a god and then lets his followers all abandon him?

Pros: great characters, nice extrapolation of 30s SF tech

Cons: drags a bit

When Nola Gardner's entire team of switchboard operators is laid off, she hires Kelvin ‘Dash' Kent, a professional adventurer, to investigate who replaced them. Rusty, a unique robot person, is being followed when he uncovers a similarly unbranded, and therefore illegally made, robot. Abner Perkins has discovered some strange inefficiencies with the new Tube Transport system and decides to investigate.

I loved the characters in this. Dash is so much fun, and Nola's got a good mix of spunk and intelligence. The Campbell kids are... something. They were both great and terrifying to follow.

The world-building was great. The switchboard is sort of an internet, if history had taken a different path. The priests of the spider god were fun, and kept the old school pulp feel. The robot League and the interactions between robot and human people show a positive future that's often lacking in modern SF and something I enjoyed seeing.

The book manages to evoke a 1950s SF feel without relying on campiness. While the book isn't laugh out loud funny, it did have me smiling and smirking quite often. There are some great comebacks. There are also some callbacks to authors and novels (like the Fraternal League of Robotic Persons being on Rue de Rur). While his role is quite small, I loved the writer Edward Bellin's storyline.

Given the number of characters and storylines, it's not surprising that the story drags a bit. There's a lot to introduce and some of the mystery - being solved in fits and starts by several people - takes a while to turn up useful information.

The book is printed on very nice, high quality paper, likely due to the inclusion of several black and white illustrations by the author. These are great for giving a better feel of the actions, characters and locations. The author is highly skilled at drawing cityscapes and robots, though his human people sometimes look a little off.

Dr. Krajnik confused me. Her plan to help out seemed needlessly wasteful and surely someone so brilliant could come up with a more constructive way to perform a search. It also prevented her from seeing how things turn out. It also took me a while to figure out that she was on a different time schedule from others in the book.

I felt a little sorry for the robots, waiting for the plumber to return...

On the whole this was a fun book, quirky and different and worth the read.

Pros: great artwork, good condensing of the story, one scene is moved creating more tension

Cons: abrupt opening, inclusion of lyrics makes for disjointed storytelling

Jack Skellington, the Pumpkin King of Halloween Town, is tired of his job. When he stumbles across a doorway to another holiday land, he comes up with a plan to take over Christmas.

This is a manga version of the Disney film The Nightmare Before Christmas, based on Tim Burton's children's story of the same name. It follows the film exactly, even going so far as to reproduce song lyrics and dialogue verbatim.

I enjoyed the stylized manga artwork. The characters had a vibrancy and motion to them.

The story is condensed well, keeping the essentials but not including everything. One scene towards the end was moved to a different place, creating significantly more tension than that scene has in the film.

The opening is quite abrupt, starting with the line about discovering where holidays come from rather than the lead in lines the movie has.

Unfortunately the inclusion of lyrics made some dialogue and narration feel clunky and disjointed. There's unnecessary repetition in some scenes, while others have phrases that go nowhere. The scene where Lock, Shock, and Barrel discuss plans for kidnapping Sandy Claws goes like this:
“I heard he has razor sharp claws!”
“We'll kidnap Mr. Sandy Claws!”
“First we're going to set some bait.”
“I can't wait to see how scary he is.”
“But you know... Mr. Oogie Boogie Might be even scarier.”
In the film, the bait line in the song is followed by the rest of the plan to use the bait to catch Santa. Here, it's mentioned but not referred to again, making it feel out of place. The end of the comic has fewer song lyrics, and the storytelling becomes more coherent. Instead of forcing one or two lyric lines into the text and explaining what the missing lyrics would have, the writer was able to simply tell a good story.

Despite my annoyance with the text at times, it is a good physical rendition of the film, for those who love it.

Pros: gorgeous artwork, touching story

Cons: makes the locals look ignorant

Mourning the death of a friend, Lady Mechanika makes her way to Mexico, where she's coerced into joining the Day of the Dead festivities.

This graphic novel gathers a 3 issue storyline.

As with the previous volumes the artwork is simply gorgeous. I love the costumes and make-up associated with the festival. There are some beautiful double page spreads.

I enjoyed the story, though it does depend on the ‘superstitious natives are easily duped' trope and it's not particularly original. I found the opening beautiful and sad, despite the positive message of the festival.

I was confused by who Dallas was. He isn't mentioned in the earlier volumes nor was there a flashback explaining how he died or any explanation of why Mechanika felt responsible for his death.

Despite a few minor issues, I love this series. Each volume stands alone and uses unique new locations and outfits. The artwork really is worth it.

Pros: deals with an under researched topic, lots of high quality images, excellent supporting information for catalogue items

Cons: parts are very dry and academic, a few catalogue items have no images, out of print

The book consists of the following chapters: 1) Introduction, 2) Dreaming of Jerusalem, 3) Ethiopia Revealed: Merchants, Travellers, and Scholars, 4) Church and State: 16th to 18th Centuries, 5) Ethiopic Literature, 6) Ethiopian Manuscripts and Paleography, 7) Linear Decoration in Ethiopian Manuscripts.
After dealing with the background information, it continues with the Catalogue, consisting of 8) Maryam Seyon: Mary of Zion, 9) Aksumite Coinage, 10) the Heritage of Late Antiquity, 11) the Zagwe Dynasty: 1137-1270, 12) the Early Solomonic Period: 1270-1527, 13) the Late Solomaic Period: 1540-1769.

I found the introduction to be quite dry and academic. While the information was interesting, the delivery was such that I had trouble paying attention. This is followed by a section on Ethiopian contact with the outside world, that is, writings about Ethiopia by outsiders, which was quite interesting and engaging. Then follows several slightly more in depth chapters dealing with the Christian church in Ethiopia through the centuries. These give a bit more grounding in the monarchy and how it used the church to maintain cohesion and power. There's a tiny bit of information on conflicts with Muslims and contact with Europe (and Jesuits) in later centuries. The chapters on literature and manuscripts were both very interesting. I was amazed by how many Ethiopian manuscripts have been preserved via microfilm and digitization, mainly by the HMML (Hill Museum and Manuscript Library). [If you'd like to see their collection, viewing manuscripts online requires a free account. Your application is reviewed by one of their librarians before being granted.] The final chapter before looking at the manuscripts themselves gives a cursory examination of harag decoration. Similar to Celtic knotwork in appearance, harag are “a type of illumination made of bands of colored lines interlaced in a geometrical pattern and used to frame the pages of Ethiopian manuscripts” (p.63). The artwork changed over the centuries.

The catalogue begins with a discussion of the importance of Mary, the mother of God, in Ethiopian devotion, and comprises numerous images of her. There are some comparison images that give local context for some of the elements (for example, a photo showing the entrance to a holy sanctuary with a checkered design around it that explains the checkered background for an icon of Mary).

The second chapter of the catalogue goes over Aksumite coinage. I didn't expect it to be as interesting as it was. It's a great example of how historians must glean information from minimal sources. In this case, the Aksumite kingdom has left little trace, so much of what is known about their kings is due to their names on coins. The coins are shown to scale, which makes the images quite small and it's sometimes hard to see details.

Most of the catalogue images are shown in colour on black backgrounds. The rest are inset with the descriptive text in black and white. In some cases more than one image of an object is used (both sides of a processional cross, several manuscript pages) but not always. With manuscripts, all of the miniatures are mentioned, even if only a few pages are displayed. Similarly, in cases where only one side of a double sided object is shown, the other side is described in the text. I love how some entries have supplementary images to help show how different aspects of art influence each other. Unfortunately, in a few cases images of the catalogue items themselves are omitted.

While there are a few things I disliked about this volume, on the whole it's an exceptional collection of Ethiopian sacred artworks. It's a real shame that this book, created for a specific exhibition, is now out of print, because it's a much needed look at a rarely studied country. Ethiopia doesn't get much mention in medieval (my focus) or other history textbooks, so this is a brilliant addition for anyone wanting to expand their understanding about the rich history and artistic traditions of this amazing country, if - like me - you can find it used.

Pros: adorable wolf, pretty artwork

Cons: some scary images

A little wolf cub is given a rabbit to bring to his ailing grandmother and warned away from an area of the forest where humans live. But little wolves, like little girls, don't always follow instructions.

I'm not sure how to describe the artwork. It looks like watercolours, with most pages having a slight fantasy look to them. There's lush greenery of the forest and strangely stylistic birds and bunnies. The wolves walk upright and have adorable cloaks. The wolf cub himself often poses in ways that show both attitude and emotion. The guard looks rather terrifying and there are a few scarier images though it's on par with other fairytales in this respect.

I liked the little wolf a lot. While he's portrayed as arrogant, he's pretty typical of a child who wants to show some independence but isn't quite as aware of the dangers of the world as he'd like to appear. He also faces some consequences for actions he chooses and has a dreadful moment when he's done something bad and is worried his family will hate him for it. I felt for the little guy.

The story is very much in line with other fairytales. Obviously this one draws upon Little Red Riding Hood, but includes some innovations to the story. You can draw several messages from it or read it for fun.

As an adult I enjoyed this and I suspect children will too.

Note: This book review contains spoilers for book 3, The Daylight War.

Pros: lots of politics, lots of intrigue, complex characters, the last 100 pages will blow you away

Cons: have to wait for the next book

Both Arlen and Jardir disappear after their fall from the cliff, putting Inevera in a difficult position to keep her sons alive and off the Skull Throne, while maintaining the unity of the clans that she and Jardir fought so hard for. Leesha and her companions return to the Hollow where she agonizes over what to do about her coming child, her growing love for Count Thamos, and organizing the gatherers. The Hollow leaders are soon called to Angiers by the royal family. Leesha, to help cure the Duke's infertility; Gared, to find a wife; and Rojer, to introduce his Krasian wives to the court. Meanwhile, Arlen has a dangerous plan in mind.

Get ready for deep intrigues and a lot of politics. This book is fast paced and a quick read, despite its near 700 pages (which includes the ever helpful Krasian dictionary at the end).

The characters remain complex, with tough decisions to make and lots of compromises between how they want the world to become versus dealing with how it actually is. I loved the scenes from Ashia's point of view, getting to know her and the other sharum'ting (female warriors). Their training was interesting, as was the family politics she was thrown into with regards to her marriage. I felt both admiration for her and pity for her situation. Though I started to find Leesha irritating in book 3, here she's back to the woman I admired in books 1 and 2, only with more responsibilities and harder choices to make. I love Inevera as a character, even though she can be quite horrible at times. This book made me again appreciate her intelligence and drive while pitying her when things start to spiral out of control. Abban's manipulation of power made him less sympathetic in this book, but his storyline remains intriguing. The interplay between Rojer and his wives is so interesting, especially given their various abilities.

Unlike book 3, this one doesn't end with a cliffhanger, but it will have you cursing the fact that book 5 isn't out yet. The last hundred pages or so really ramps up the action as all of the political maneuvering comes to fruition in unexpected ways. This series continues to get better and I can't wait to read what's going to happen next.

Pros: interesting characters, high attention to detail, diverse cast, nuanced politics

Cons: more military minutiae than I personally like though less space battle action than military SF fans may be looking for

His Highness Lieutenant Sikander Singh North, Nawabzada of Ishar, is assigned to the Aquilan Commonwealth starship Hector as its new gunnery officer. Well aware that few Kashmiris serve in the Commonwealth officer corps, he must prove himself to his new crew members who look down on the colonial system of his birth.

Amira Ranya Meriem el-Nasir, niece to Sultan Rashid and Crown Princess of Gadira is concerned by the politics of her home world. As a colony of the Republic of Montreal, Gadira has made great strides in modernizing. This has increased the power of the Beys, but many of her people have lost jobs, and religious insurgents fearing for the traditions of their people are becoming more powerful.

With tensions mounting, the Hector is sent to Gadira to protect the commonwealth's consulate and commercial interests even as another major power works to destabilize the planet's government.

There's a lot going on in this book, predominantly the examination of pre-WWI style colonization. We see this from Sikander's view, as someone whose country is modernizing but still has economic and political issues, as well as with Ranya, whose country is caught in a clash of colonial interests. Aside from insurgents, we're not shown much of how big events impact ‘little' people, but it's quite interesting seeing the various power plays at higher levels. It's easy to see who the players are with regards to their historic influences, though I'm not sure to what extent the details of the book are influenced by real history.

There's a lot of nuance with regards to how Sikander is treated and how he reacts to those around him. He's constantly aware of who he is and what that means in the larger picture of his service, his home world, and himself. But the book doesn't harp on issues, it examines them and shows the reality of the different situations, then moves on as time passes and conditions change.

There are three point of view characters, and I really enjoyed seeing the two mentioned above (the third isn't a character we're meant to like). The characters must deal with a variety of issues, which keeps them feeling fresh and fully realized.

There's a high attention to detail - much of it military in nature. Personally I found it a bit much though I suspect military history buffs will enjoy learning more about the ships, armaments, tanks, etc. being mentioned. Fans of military SF may find that there's less military minutiae and action than they'd like, as the main focus of the book is on the politics and character based drama rather than military strategizing. The book uses generally realistic physics for its one space battle, which was fun to read.

While they were sometimes hard to follow I enjoyed the variety of titles used (I found it fascinating that titles often changed depending on the speaker as well as the location).

This book has a high amount of world-building and politicking and minimal military action, and I enjoyed it a lot.

Pros: interesting setting, fascinating story, complex depictions of and around black and gay characters

Cons: not particularly scary

Jason Thorn (aka Thistledown) flew planes over the trenches in WWI. After some bad times, he's landed a job flying post in Africa. But the flight there is diverted to Bavaria, Germany, where an experiment has gone wrong. An experiment with a creature Jason has faced - and survived - in the past.

This is a direct continuation of Eutopia: A Novel of Terrible Optimism, picking up 20 or so years after that one ends. All of the survivors show up and play major roles in the book. It's interesting seeing how their lives have progressed, but also sad, as some of them don't recover from their ordeal as well as others.

It's very interesting learning more about the jukes and their parasitic nature. Unlike with the first book, when you knew when the characters were under the creature's influence, in this book characters often reexamine their memories to discover they've forgotten things or were completely unaware of them. It make most of them unreliable narrators, but imparts their feelings of confusion and hesitancy very well.

The plot is pretty interesting, trying to figure out what happened to Jason, who and what Orlok is, and whether the Nazi's will get their ubermensch.

Several of the newly introduced characters are gay, which was handled well considering the location and period the book takes place (Germany and France in the 1930s). One of the gay characters considered it a disease and was looking for a cure, while others were more comfortable with who they were. For the most part the principle characters around them were supportive or, at least, not derogatory regarding them.

Race, obviously comes up given Doctor Waggoner is black and married to a white woman. Again, I was impressed with how that was handled, especially entering Germany. The introduction of the jazz band and the treatment of its members was well done, showing racism in a more individualistic rather than stereotypical manner.

I didn't find the book particularly terrifying (unlike with the eugenics of the first one) despite the presence of Nazis and some horrible things going on. There are some uncomfortable scenes and the ending was unsettling.

It is a good sequel. It answers a lot of questions raised in the previous book and shows what happens to everyone. It also shows that however much you run, sometimes you can't escape your past.

Pros: tense, makes you second guess what's going on, fascinating characters

Cons: repetition, some gore

Fifteen year old Koichi Sakakibara moves in with his grandparents at the beginning of his third year of middle school. A collapsed lung keeps him from attending the first week of class and he finds things... odd when he does start school. Everyone seems tense and there's a girl who sits at the back that no one seems to acknowledge is there. He slowly learns of the third-year Class 3 curse, a phenomenon that leaves members of Class 3 and their immediate family dead.

I loved the two main protagonists, Koichi Sakakibara and Mei Misaki (note, following Japanese custom most characters are called by their last names, so I'll be doing that in my review). It was interesting seeing Sakakibara's illness, his hesitation when joining the class, trying to figure out what was happening, his consideration of and compassion towards Misaki, his gratitude towards his grandparents. He's a highly sympathetic character going through difficult times. Misaki is equally interesting, and quite different, being standoffish and mysterious. Seeing their friendship bloom was great.

The book has a very tense atmosphere. You're just as in the dark about what's going on as Sakakibara and it makes for an eerie first half of the book, wondering what's up with Misaki, wondering what the curse is. When things start going wrong it's quite terrifying. There are a number of twists to the story, making you question and re-question what's happening.

The translation doesn't clarify any social or cultural Japanese aspects of the book (aside from explicitly pointing out the meanings of the written characters (kanji) used for various people and place names. This doesn't affect understanding of the story, though knowing some of this myself did add to my enjoyment of the book.

I did notice there was a fair amount of repetition with regards to conversations and plot points. The afterward to the paperback edition (printed at the back of the English edition) mentions that the book was originally serialized, which probably accounts for that.

There is some gore as several deaths are described. It's a little graphic at times.

One thing that annoyed me was that the ending turned on a fact that the narrator (ie Sakakibara) knows, but you - the reader - do not. So it's possible for him to figure out the final twist but much harder for you to do so.

On the whole, if you're looking for a creepy read, this is a good choice.

Pros: great story, lots of intrigue

Cons:

Picking up immediately where Antiphon finished, Requiem follows everyone as the Y'Zir forces conquer the Named Lands. Jin has taken her son to the Y'Zirite capital, Ahm's Glory, and met the Empress she's supposed to kill. Rudolfo has been given a position of authority within the Empire that he doesn't want but can't refuse. Vlad Li Tam searches for the Wizard's spellbook to go with the staff he carries. A strange mechanical has emerged, sharing dreams with Charles the Arch-Engineer of Mechanical Science and giving Winters hope that the Final Dream of her people has not been lost. And Neb is on the moon, unsure of what to do.

There's no reintroduction of people or events so be sure to brush up on the previous books before starting this one. Though the book does contain a glossary at the end if there's a character, etc. you don't recognize.

There are a lot of great turns in the book and we're finally getting more answers than twists as prophecies reach fulfillment. There's still a lot of political intrigue and quiet action, and several things that happen at the end of this book imply a great number of twists for the final volume.

This is a fantastic series that interweaves a great many plots and really keeps you guessing.

Pros: lots of twists and turns, great character moments, touching ending

Cons:

Picking up immediately where Requiem left off, Neb still needs the staff that Vlad Li Tam is using to terrorize the Y'Zirite Empire. Amyle D'Anjite has disappeared with her kin-dragon, on a mission to oppose Neb and the work he and Patronus are doing on the moon. Orius, Lysias, and Rudolfo work towards clearing the Named Lands of Y'Zirite soldiers. In the aftermath of the Final Dream, Winteria Bat Mardic begins preaching again. And mysterious allies finally show themselves.

This is the fifth and final book in the Psalms of Isaac series. I've long since given up trying to figure out what's going to happen next in these books. There are so many surprises and major twists. A new group shows up in this book that ends up playing major roles along the various storylines.

While I sympathized with (and in some cases agreed with) a few of Vlad Li Tam's actions, there hit a point where I agreed with other characters that he needed to be stopped. Jin Li Tam makes some surprising choices, and I was impressed with how Rudolfo dealt with his further losses.

At one point I was convinced that the author had forgotten about Lynnae, Jacob's wet-nurse, and so was very happy that she turned up again.

The ending was fantastic. It came with more revelations about the people, and really tied off a lot of character threads. There were tears (in book and in person), and moments of joy.

If you like intrigue and haven't picked these books up, you're missing out.

Pros: interesting story, really captures the high school atmosphere

Cons: really captures the high school atmosphere, takes a while to get to the mystery aspects

Fourteen year old Freddy has enough problems in life - a neglectful mother and step-father, a deaf step-brother she resents, a genius little sister - the last thing she needs are crazy neighbours, Josiah and Cuerva Lachance. She's worked hard to maintain social invisibility at school, but when Josiah starts talking to her, she becomes a target for abuse. She and her sister are convinced there's a mystery with the neighbours, and intend to solve it, even as their step-brother warns them away from the pair.

This is a hard book to discuss without spoilers, but I'll try. There's a slow burn on the mystery of what's up with the neighbours and you don't really get more than hints until the half way point. Having said that, it's a quick read (took me two days), so you're not frustrated trying to figure things out.

There are some very realistic depictions of high school. I personally didn't enjoy high school so that's kind of a negative for me, especially since I straddled the not cool but not outcast social position Freddy's in.

I really liked Freddy. She's got some real issues and has a coming of age where she realizes that some of the things she did in the past weren't that great. Her interactions with her step-brother felt honest given her circumstances.

I liked seeing a deaf character in an important role. I'd be interested in seeing what readers with more experience with this issue have to say about the portrayal.

It's a fun, quirky, story.

Pros: interesting characters, fast paced, tense

Cons: a little obvious

In an attempt to save money, XO recruits convicts to man its mission to Mars and build its NASA contracted habitat. But Mars is a dangerous place and ‘accidents' happen.

I really enjoyed this book. Frank's an interesting narrator who knows about as much as the reader with regards to what's going on. A lot of the mystery and suspense surrounds the aspects of the mission that the ‘crew' aren't aware of as they're rushed through training and shipped off to Mars.

I thought there was a good mix of characters in terms of personality and the reason they were behind bars. I did wonder why Brack was so obviously antagonistic towards the convicts, considering he needed the group to work together. Yes, they needed to stay in line, but he generally did more harm than good with his comments.

The depictions of life on Mars were great. A lot of care was obviously taken to point out the very real dangers of living and working there.

Due to a lack of attention, it took me a while to realize that the opening quotes weren't in chronological order as I'd expected. Pay attention to the dates so you can piece together the history of XO's planning for - and problems regarding - the Mars mission.

The story is fast paced. While I figured out one mystery quite early, the ending was still very tense and suspenseful.