Beth Tabler
Oh, my heart.
Two characters, Lindsey and Keith. Separated by time, space and circumstances. They could not be more different, yet so much about them comes together to be right.
Lindsey lives with her mother and step-father in the past. Lindsey is right out of school floundering about what she wants to do and who she wants to be. Family dynamics complicate things and make her home life uncomfortable. With no one to talk to, Lindsey pulls out a video camera and records a video diary to have somewhere to put her thoughts.
Keith lives in the past, but only figuratively. He lost his parents at a young age in an automobile accident. As a means to cope, Keith collects comic books to feel close to his dad. On one fateful day, while searching for comics books, Keith comes across an old VHS tape. On a whim, he takes the tape home to see what he has come across. What he finds on that tape changes both Lindsey and Keith forever.
This book spoke to me. I related to both Lindsey and Keith. I grew up in the 1980s. It was sweet bits of nostalgia reading about Lindsey. Keith was also very relatable and well written. I liked him, I liked his character. I wanted him to succeed. I can't give away to much of the plot arc because what is the fun of that? But man, my heart. If you want a love story that spans time with relatable characters then this is the story for you. Beware the ending, it left me destroyed but in a lovely sweet way.
GG of I'm Not Here returns in Constantly with another elegant and minimalist story. The story is a touching portrait of a woman wracked by depression, disillusionment, and anxiety. The story reminds me much like a duck gliding so regally across the surface of a pond. Below the surface, the duck is churning the waters with desperate intense energy. Still, you would never know it by looking at the glass-like surface of the water just as you wouldn't understand GG's intent if you look at these panels superficially.
The story is rendered in neutral grays and pinks, almost fashionable colors. The first panels illustrate a young woman as she goes about her morning ablution. She awoke troubled from sleep, so she is now to get dressed. The panels, even from the very beginning, have a sort of air quality to them. You see the young woman gazing out the window. Instead of gazing in wonderment, you get the sense that she is gazing with anxiety. Something about each of the panels is almost imperceptibly off. Later as the story progresses, you see the only dialog. It is in the form of sentences written on a lined notebook sheet. In the beginning it reads:
“I don't want
I don't want
I don't want
I don't want”
Interspersed with the lightness of the pink and gray panels, we have dark panels that show the main character getting pulled in different directions from all angles. It is all confusion and desperation. Then there is a panel of the woman lying on a black bed surrounded by pink walls in the fetal position. As an anxiety sufferer myself, I can empathize and understand what she is feeling at that moment. I to have laid in beautiful rooms and been too wracked by so much anxiety I could not open my eyes nor lift my head.
As the story progress interspersed between panels of the woman doing benign things are scenes of the woman writing in her notebook:
“I don't want to eat,
I don't want to sleep.”
“I don't want to live.”
“I don't want to die.”
It seems as if the character is standing on the abyss of dark depression; she does not want to live at this moment. But she also does not want to die. There is some hope, some small gem of Constantly hope still inside of her.
Constantly is a starkly affecting book. I thin, especially for those who have suffered from depression and anxiety. You can see it in the curve of the young woman's hand, the angle of her head, the fact that you never see her real face throughout the story.
GG has given explained something vastly complicated with delicate clarity and nuance. It is beautiful and heartbreaking if you look a bit deeper.
I received a free copy of this book courtesy of the publisher and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
I haven't read “Girl With All the Gifts,” and I am only vaguely aware that there is a movie for it. However, I found that “The Boy on the Bridge” can stand alone just fine. It is technically a prequel, but the way that it is written makes it very accessible to readers not familiar with the series. I enjoy Carey's writing style quite a bit being a big fan of Lucifer and Hellblazer and again he doesn't disappoint. This book could easily fall into the realm of mindless horror, but it doesn't. It has heart and I care about the characters. I definitely recommend.
I read and re-read Seanan Mcguire's books every year as a means of being comforted. Her stories, the Newsflesh series (under the pseudonym Mira Grant), and the October Days stories have brought me a lot of joy over the years. I find myself coming back to the stories every year like a comfy pair of shoes. There is just something about her writing that straddles the line between expressive and understated. She gives you the right amount of information that you fall in love with the world and want to know more about it. Because of that, her books always engage me. Plus, because there are so many plot intricacies in every book, I am rarely bored even on the second or, in some cases, fifth read.
A Killing Frost, Seanan Mcguire's newest addition to the October Daye series, is the fourteenth book. There is quite a lot to recap for this series; it is enormous! But to surmise, October Daye is the lead protagonist in a Fae/Human world. She is an investigator who can straddle both the fae and human world. As the stories progress, October becomes more entrenched in the politics and machinations of the Fae world. In this particular book, October faces familial problems mainly in the form of her stepfather Simon Torquil.
“When October is informed that Simon Torquill—legally her father, due to Faerie's archaic marriage traditions—must be invited to her wedding or risk the ceremony throwing the Kingdom in the Mists into political turmoil, she finds herself setting out on a quest she was not yet prepared to undertake for the sake of her future.... and the man who represents her family's past.”
Supporting characters from past books are again helping October with her quest. October, as a character, relies heavily on her relationships with her found family. October doesn't have friends; she has people who she adopts and loves fiercely. She is a mentor to some, a friend to others, and a lover to Tybalt. With October's development as a strong character, we get development from her supporting cast of characters. I find that to be one of the best aspects of this story. Quinton, Luiadeg, Tybalt, and more, develop their already stable identities. There are no cardboard characters in Macguire's worlds.
I don't want to give away to much about the plot. That would spoil this new episode in October's grand saga, and many of these books have a mystery aspect to the plot. But, I will say, as I mentioned earlier, that this book concentrates on the mysterious villain Simon Torquil, villain, who also is October's stepfather. They have a very complicated relationship. His story is epic and twists and turns. If you are a fan of the Daye books, you will not be disappointed. It is a page-turner! If you are new to the series, I suggest setting this one aside just a bit and jump into the 13 books that took place beforehand. You won't be disappointed. But if you are starting with this one, Macguire gives enough backstory so new readers will not be lost.
“Better him than me. Of the two of us, he's the one who actually speaks ‘diplomacy' with something other than a knife.”
All in all, this is a beautiful and exciting addition to the October Daye world. Some plot points are solved, and new things open up. Old characters get a moment to shine in the spotlight, but not all of them as the cast is way too big at this point. I also found the conclusion to be satisfying and leads into the next book with gusto.
The Killing Frost is an exciting and wonderful, and I am so glad I got the opportunity to read it. Check it out!
Usually, when I read a Seanan McGuire book, such as her newest October Daye book, When Sorrows Come releasing soon, I fall face first into it and do not come up for air until the book is over and I am near dead. I am sad to say that did not happen. I wish it had.
A bit about where we are in the October Daye series and in When Sorrows Come specifically. This is the fifteenth book in the October Daye series, plus multiple short stories and novellas. It is a big world with a substantial backstory incorporating myths and legends of various cultures worldwide. The story's main character is the titular October Daye, daughter of Amadine the Liar, one of the firstborn children of the King of Fairie. Her love is The King of Cats, Tybalt. Their love has been a long time coming; it has been full of twists, turns, and drama. But at the end of the day, their love is two unlikely people finding that familiar spark between them igniting a bonfire of passion at first, but that eventually simmers down to a love and familiar that you spend lifetimes protecting.
A few books back, Tybalt asked October to marry him. Marriage in itself is fraught with all sorts of issues as October is a half-born or changeling child and a hero of the realm. The changelings are not a protected class in fairy, and being a hero requires heroic acts and stepping into uncomfortable situations. October has also had various difficulties that come about through the neglect that she faced at the hands of her mother that she has fought hard to overcome. This is very honestly told and addressed throughout the series and affects her love life. I believe McGuire has handled her difficulties with care. one thing that McGuire is as an author is one where representation is hugely important and is prevalent throughout her work. I respect that and love that about her work.
In this story, October is finally getting married to Tybalt. Things are never that simple though...
October and Tybalt have been requestatold to come to the high king's knowe in Ontario to have the ceremony. This is a great honor but also stacked with logistical issues. McGuire spends a lot of time on these at the beginning of the story. And as always, through passive resistance, Toby wants nothing to do with wedding planning and logistical issues. She wants to show up and marry. Futzing is not something she is good at. I get this as a part of her character. Frillyness is not part of October's personality.
However, I think this tiny bit of passive resistance irked me in this setting. Instead of it coming off as a part of October's personality makeup, it came off a little like a toddler stamping her foot. I felt like it was time for October to embrace her destiny, even in small things and even if it was for just a few moments. Her family and friends have done a lot for her, and while October, as you will see as the story progresses, whether this is by destiny or her insatiable need to help, she cannot stay out of things. An attempted coup happens right as the festivities begin. And the shenanigans begin.
I get that all of October's stories have a mystery element, which is an essential part of the makeup of the series. However, just this once, the mystery part felt shoe-horned into a much bigger narrative of them finally getting married. Tybalt seems careworn trying to get this woman to the alter. Honestly, McGuire could have written this as a novella. I enjoyed the story, especially the ending. It was still a fun time. But it did not have the charming effect I look forward to when diving into one of her books.
When Sorrows Came is still very much worth still reading. But only if you have read the other books in the series. You have to read this one because we are fifteen books in. There are still many unanswered questions, and two future books planned that I know of. And while this certainly seemed like the weakest of the entire series, I cannot wait to continue with Toby's story.
Upright Women Wanted by Sarah Gailey is a queer western with dystopian roots and a whole lot of moxie.
“She wanted that satisfaction. She wanted it for herself wanted it like a half-starved alley-rat watching that table through a window on a bellyaching night. She didn't know how to get it—but she had a feeling that if she stuck with the Librarians for long enough, she might be able to figure it out. How to feast instead of starving.
How to like the person who she was instead of fighting it.”
In this future, the State, in combination with religious fanaticism, controls everything you listen to, what you eat, and who you love. Our protagonist, Esther, is the daughter of a high-ranking official who is fleeing her home. Esther's life was thrown into turmoil when her best friend and lover was hung in front of the town for owning unapproved reading materials. She hides in the back of a wagon of a Librarian with hopes of joining their group. A Librarian travels and provides approved reading materials to the townsfolk of the various frontier communities in their area. Esther hopes for a better life and to be cured of her' wrongness.” What Esther finds is a group of people who are accepting and very much themselves. They are people who have to hide from the State but in secret live in queer relationships or live as non-binary individuals. Things that Esther did not think even possible.
“When there's people around that we don't trust, we let them think we're the kinds of people who are allowed to exist. And the only kind of Librarian that's allowed to exist is one who answers to she.”
Upright Women Wanted is a novella-length story, so author Sarah Gailey had to condense a lot of story, nuance, and world-building into few pages. For the most part, Gailey is very successful. They created an engaging story, highlighting critical societal problems that play a pivotal role in the plot and character development. The story is too short to provide you with a backstory on the librarians, though, which I badly wanted considering the depth of character their few lines had and how impactful they are. Bet and Leda are a queer couple in a solid long-term relationship, Cye is non-binary, and Amity rounds out the group but remains a mystery. Gailey could write a full-length novel in this world, and I am here for it. Esther is a good character also and is the most developed, but the other librarians stole the show.
The conflict of the story, aside from Esther's initial reason for running, is the Damocles hovering over the group from being discovered. If they are found, the consequences will be dire. Instead, the group of librarians works to subvert the system from the inside. From there, the narrative plays out a bit with the Librarians dealing with skirmishes and problems in their line of work.
Upright Women Wanted is a clever book. Clever in wordplay, as in “what is an upright woman? But also creative in style and characterization. Gailey gets what it takes to create an engaging novella, just enough of a story bite that gets the readers hooked, and just enough back story and world-building to understand the setting. It is well done. I loved the characters, and it allows me to use the underutilized word like moxie. Them folks are full of all sorts of moxie, and I loved reading it.
The Order of The Pure Moon Reflected in Water is a complicated story to talk about due to massive spoilers. It is also short, so the story beats are pretty precise, and if I say anything specific, it will ruin the whole plot. However, there are a few observations I can make about this captivating story.
Firstly, let's talk about the cover; it is masterfully done. I thought it was a beautiful cover and one of the first factors in leading me to request the story to review. After reading the story, you can appreciate just how beautifully done the cover is and how well it works in concert with the plot.
“You hexed a customer?” he roared. He smacked her on the side of the head.
“I didn't say that, Mr. Aw,” protested the waitress, rubbing her head. “I just said I didn't deny only.”
Secondly, the protagonist and supporting characters are fun. Tet Sang runs a band of brothers. They are classic, morally grey independent contractors that are some times on the right side and sometimes on the wrong side. They are minding their business and witness a waitress lose her job and possibly hex a customer. This waitress, a nun in disguise, joins the band of brothers and goes on a bit of a quest. Tet Sang is a good leader with secrets of his own, the same with the nun. We know less about the other characters in the party except for the fun dialog snippets we get as they argue like a family.
Plot-wise, the story delves into quite a few critical issues. The strongest is that families can be found. This goes back to how the group argues like a family; they have that level of banter. There is a level of comfort and trust you can have with someone who is not related by blood. I found Cho's writing on this to be very authentic and effortless. The banter betwixt the members of the group was slipped into like a comfy pair of shoes. Secondly, again no spoilers, but Cho touches on transgender identity. Some of her characters' identities are not what we think. Once again, Cho slips these parts of the characters into the story without a lot of fanfare.
It is brilliantly done.
I loved this story and would have given it a solid 5-star rating, except I found the ending to be a bit jarring. It came out of the left-field for me, which took me out of the story. Aside from that, this is solid, wonderfully written, great characters, and cool backstories. Definitely worth checking out.
A Desolation Called Peace, Arkady Martine's next installment in the Teixcalaan following her Hugo award-winning novel A Memory Called Empire is just as culturally rich and profound as A Memory Called Empire was. Still, instead of focusing the guts of the story on the understanding of what memory is, A Desolation Called Peace focuses on how we communicate.
“On the flagship Weight of the Wheel:
“You'd have to ask medical,” said Two Foam.
“Someone ask medical,” said Mahit. “I can't talk to anyone. I'm not a citizen.” And she smiled, terrifying and far too beautiful with all those teeth exposed, gesturing to her entire lack of cloudhook.”
Arkady Martine quoted in the first book, “This book is dedicated to anyone who has ever fallen in love with a culture that was devouring their own.” The first novel, A Memory Called Empire, was about the power of memory and specifically what memory is. Cultural memory can devour and expand inside of you and push the “you” out and replace it with a new transformed you.
It can devour.
This abstract idea was wrapped in an exciting murder mystery that kept the story moving and gave it an understandable hook for readers to latch on to. Desolation is about memory again, but I think it expands on the idea of how memory is expressed through language and communication. This time the grander idea is wrapped in an exciting first contact story between two disparate creatures.
The story starts up right at the end of the first book. We have a huge looming threat of an advancing alien empire that is both figuratively and in some cases literally devouring up the edges of the Teixcalaan Empire. As this is a first contact story, no one knows who or what these aliens are. I applaud Martine for her description of the aliens. Often, writers create aliens that have some sort of likeness to humans so that readers can empathize and understand them. I get that.
However, if you think about aliens in a real sense and how infinite the universe is, they could be anything. Douglas Adams made me think hard about this when he created a planet with living mattresses wallowing around in the muck.
“She's a barbarian, but don't hold it against her. She's brilliant.”
We cut back and forth between Nine Hibiscus, the yaotlek of the campaign, Mahit Dzmare, and the newly appointed Undersecretary to the Minister of Information Three Seagrass. Three Seagrass was Mahit Dzmare liaison in the first book. Also, we have the young perspective of young Eight Antidote, the clone of the previous employer who is very much like his predecessor, but with notable differences. Each of the characters represents a different perspective on the aliens and how they will affect the future.
Mahit Dzmare is back on Lsel station. In the first novel, we learn that she has a faulty imago machine, courtesy of the ministry. They would like her to download herself to be stored, but they will know that she has an updated imago machine if she does that. She is in a politically tricky position. The ministry would like her line terminated and probably her as well.
Three Seagrass is at home in the shining city when she learns of the alien issue. She decides that she needs to get to Mahit post-haste to work together on the first contact problem and understand what the aliens want. This allows Mahit to leave the station and accompany Three Seagrass to the Weight of the Wheel, the Teixcalaan flagship.
I had a difficult time with this part of the story. Yes, Mahit Dzmare and Three Seagrass are a great pair to work on this problem. But, the first contact with an alien species is such a complicated conflict. Martine sped through a bit of that. I am reminded of the movie “The Arrival” and this scene specifically:
“Dr. Louise Banks: So first, we need to make sure that they understand what a question is. Okay, the nature of a request for information along with a response. Then, we need to clarify the difference between a specific “you” and a collective “you”, because we don't want to know why Joe Alien is here, we want to know why they all landed.
And purpose requires an understanding of intent. We need to find out: do they make conscious choices? Or is their motivation so instinctive that they don't understand a “why” question at all? And, and biggest of all, we need to have enough vocabulary with them that we understand their answer.”
I felt like much of the ideas of collective “you” and understanding intent were skipped. I understand that A Desolation Called Peace is a weighty novel as it stands, and some streamlining was necessary. Also, Martine does explain the process that Mahit and Three Seagrass go through when dealing with the aliens, but it seemed just a touch too easy for a first contact scenario.
Along with the deep political intrigue betwixt the characters, there is significant character development in all of them. Young Eight Antidote begins to get first-hand experience in politics and protecting its people and culture. Mahit starts to develop a deeper and more complex symbiotic bond with Yskandr. And while they are two separate people, they begin to meld and share ideas. This character development is in service to the overarching plot and the discussions about what communication is and what part language and memory plays in it.
Mahit's experience on Teixcalaan has been invaluable. It has allowed her eyes to be opened up to worlds outside of her own. This, in turn, has allowed her to see her own culture with a critical eye. Does that make her dangerous to Teixcalaan or Lsel station? Possibly. I think her new perspective on things is one of the most exciting parts of this story.
I am looking forward to seeing where Martine takes hers and Three Seagrass's character.
The story continues and gets vastly more complicated. The aliens are a terrifying threat, and all of the characters, including a couple of new ones, are tested mentally and emotionally. Everything comes together in an unexpected climax.
What is A Desolation Called Peace? I was curious as to the phrase choice of desolation. A desolation has two definitions that I know of, and it applies to the story in different ways. Desolation can be “a state of complete emptiness or destruction.” A Desolation Called Peace is a first contact story, and the aliens bring desolation in their wake. They destroy all before them wholly and thoroughly. They are a desolation, living destruction.
Secondly, the word desolation is “anguished misery or loneliness.” Much like how Mahit feels at the beginning of the book. I found that more in-depth and particular word choice is found throughout this book, and I am quickly coming to associate this kind of next-level writing with Arkady Martine.
Upon further research, the title of the story is seemingly based on one of Tacitus' speaking about Calgacus, “To ravage, to slaughter, to usurp under false titles, they call empire; and where they make a desert, they call it peace.” It is no shocker to me that the title A Desolation Called Peace would have historical significance. Arkady Martine is a historian, and the detailing and worldbuilding reflect that upon each page.
Every piece of this story flows and melds into others. It is an exquisitely written book. Martine is a master at language, character building, and history, and that mastery is evident in every facet of the story.
A Memory Called Peace was an excellent book, wholly deserved of the awards and acclaim it has received. But that was Martine's debut. It feels like now, with Desolation Called Peace, Martine is settling into her groove. I will read anything that she writes; her work is that good, and I recommend it to any science fiction or political intrigue lover.
The House In The Cerulean Sea is a lovely book incorporating unique world-building and Characters. It is a cross between Mrs. Peregrins Home for Peculiar Children, 1984, and a bit of Umbrella Academy. It is a captivating read and has been making the rounds amongst readers this past year with solidly five-star reviews, and it is wholly deserved of its praise; this is a gorgeous book.
“Humanity is so weird. If we're not laughing, we're crying or running for our lives because monsters are trying to eat us. And they don't even have to be real monsters. They could be the ones we make up in our heads. Don't you think that's weird?”
The story's main protagonist is Linus Baker, a gentle soul living a life of quiet desperation. He is a caseworker for a department that is in charge of Magical Youth. While Linus is calm and obedient in most aspects of his life, he is a champion of children and will defend those who can not protect themselves. This sentiment may sound a bit twee, but it comes off as a very authentic aspect of Linus's personality. Linus loves kids and as a caseworker who audits orphanages and makes sure that the children are receiving adequate care.
“Change often starts with the smallest of whispers. Like-minded people building it up to a roar.”
Because of the organization Linus works in, it is essential that Linus reports and observes the orphanages with objectivity. He needs to remain impartial and not get attached to the children. Linus generally does this well, as he is a more effective advocate for children when he is an impartial witness. But, even with all that he does for children, Linus is a lonely, unfulfilled person. He leaves the office every night, comes home, argues with his busybody neighbor, and goes to sleep. The only passions he allows himself are a love of music and a grumpy cat that he shares his life with.
On a rather ordinary day, Linus's life changes. Extremely Upper Management summons him. I love how the author creates this level of bureaucracy. Instead of just upper management, we are talking Extremely Upper Management—the people who aren't typically seen but who pull all the levers. They want him to evaluate Marsyas Island Orphanage, home to six special kids who aren't human. In this world, Linus is very familiar with the non-human population and has worked with them many times. Even so, this is a strange project to be given.
“Sometimes our prejudices color our thoughts when we least expect them to. If we can recognize that, and learn from it, we can become better people.”
Linus arrives at the orphanage, and this is where the magic happens in the story. The interactions between the six children: A wyvern, a gnome, a weredog, a green blob, a sprite, and the child of the devil and Linus are charming. It is also an exercise in acceptance. While Linus is unnerved and sometimes terrified by these children, especially in Baby Lucy, he sees their innocence and wants to protect them. He wants to teach them as an elder about courage and kindness, even in the face of townsfolk who don't want their kind around here. Linus has a month on this island, and while he tries to keep his typical objectivity, it isn't easy in the face of the beautiful interactions with the kids.
Additionally, Linus needs to interact with the headmaster of the school. A Mr. Arthur Parnassus, whom Linus is intrigued by, but again tries to remain impartial as he is there to evaluate Arthur as well. The relationship between Arthur and Linus is written as if they are dim lights circling each other, but they get brighter as they get closer to each other. It is a beautiful thing to read.
The entire story is uplifting. I know that many who read fantasy like it dark; I mostly look for morally gray characters and dark fantasy myself. The House in the Cerulean Sea seemed quaint and not something I would typically read when I originally read the blurb. But, there is something about TJ Klunes writing that is wonderful. It isn't quaint or cutesy, but something far more elegant and lovely. The relationships that Linus has, first with the children and then with Arthur, have a healing quality that extends past the character and affects the reader. Marsyas Island Orphanage was healing for Linus's soul after years of stagnation and repression, and it feels healing for readers like me after this long year of suckage. This story is like a warm mug of hot cocoa with a shot of whiskey in front of a fire. This story's message is powerful, and it goes to the top reads of 2020 for me.
Even people who love the darkest and meanest fantasy will get something out of the story, and it is well worth the journey to read it.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with a copy of this in exchange for my open and honest review.
“By the touch of thy hand shall the black lotus bloomThus shall we know thee, handmaid of desolationBy the corruption of the seasBy the fading of all thingsThy name shall be forsaken and thou be my brideThus spake the Nameless One upon the plains of dust from The Book of Unmaking”
A.K Larkwood's debut novel, The Unspoken Name, the first novel in The Serpent's Gate series, is all about choice. There is absolute power in hitting bottom; you have faced death, the end, and come out on the other side. After that, the world is open to you choice-wise.
“You have looked your foretold death in the face and turned from it in defiance. Nothing in this world or any other deserves your fear.”
This is one of the main aspects of the lead protagonist Csorwe, and I think of The Unspoken Name in general. This story delves deeply into the nature of what choice actually is. Are our actions in this world truly choices? Or do we choose to do things based on what is expected of us?
Larkwood's debut novel, the first of a grand new series aptly named The Serpents Gates stars the character Cswore. Csorwe is in a lot of ways unoriginal, at least at first. She grows up in what I can only think of as a cult where every 14 years, a girl child that has been groomed to become the bride of a god is devoured in sacrifice to appease the god. The first 14 years of her life have been entirely without choice. Choice, as a concept, is a wholly foreign concept. Csorwe has been brainwashed her entire life. This great honor that has been bestowed upon her by this wrathful god.
Her life's only meaning is in its death. In the last hour of her life, she is approached by the wizard Sethennai, a wizard, he offers her a choice, “serve me, and I will save you. Don't and accept your fate.” Csorwe, having never been offered a choice in anything, she is offered what could be the most pivotal choice of her life. She accepts life and defies a god. She takes her young life and runs for it. Sethennai needs Cswore to restore his position as ruler of a great city named Tlaanthothe. It is difficult as a reader to make the connection as to why Csorwe, basically a babe in the ways of the world, is essential in this great wizard's quest to gain his city back. Especially since, again, Cswore is groomed as an assassin and bodyguard, and it takes years to get her ready. And, still, what looks like a choice and an opportunity to live her life finally on her own terms is not what she thinks it is. She is bound to Sethennai by obligation and her honor.
The narrative The Unspoken Name has two plot arcs. It is almost as if two novels were joined together, each could have stood on their own as a book in the series. The first arc is of Cswore's escape, education, abduction, and finally, assistance in Sethennai's quest of restoring his position as ruler of Tlaanthothe. This arc is exciting and encompasses the first 30 or so percent of the story. After this arc concludes, we jump forward five years. Cswore and Talasseres, who is a fascinating side character and is both Cswore's foil and companion for much of the novel, are on the hunt for the Reliquary of Pentravesse for Sethennai. The Reliquary is an object of mystical and religious importance that Sethennai and Oranna are both searching for. Anyone who obtains the Reliquary will gain knowledge of the Pentravesse. A source of high power. Sethennai and Oranna are brutal and efficient characters in very different ways. Each stops at nothing to achieve their own goals. While Sethennai behaves like a razor blade cutting into and removing things in his search for the Reliquary, Oranna acts much like a cudgel and bashes into things and people with brutal raw force. Both Tal and Cswore get in the crossfire.
Another integral part of the second arc in The Unspoken Name is the developing romantic relationship that occurs. It becomes a complete expression of choice. The choice to live, to love, to die, and to protect. All vital and singular expressions of Cswore's budding ability to make choices for her self and her future. Her choices, Whether it burns the world down or not, it is her choices to make. It helped create a strong second half to this book that saved the pace and brought the full reader speeding into the conclusion.
“The desert called the Speechless Sea was of black sand, scattered with shards of volcanic glass that sparkled like the stars. A chain of hills emerged from this desert, as though the night sky was punctured by a row of vertebrae. Built on these was the city of Tlaanthothe.”
World-building in this story is exceptional, although occasionally, it is just a little bit murky. The setting of this story is a series of worlds, an almost infinite amount of them, that are accessed through gates. Each setting is entirely different culturally and geographically. It is a heady mix of ever-shifting landscapes that are a serious nod to writer's A.K Larkwood's imagination. The part that was a bit murky to me was the character's physical attributes. Csorwe is described as having tusks. Unless other descriptions are given, Cswore is immediately orc-like. The same goes for Sethennai. He is described as having pointed ears, which immediately makes me think of an elf. Maybe this is a function of my fantasy context from reading other books. But, it seemed like a missed opportunity for more complicated and exciting physical characteristics of the characters.
Is the power of choice enough to build a substantial epic series around?
The answer is a resounding, yes!
Choice is one of the most primal things humans can make. Your choices make or break your future. This debut novel is excellent and worth reading, even if it is just for the world-building alone. Is it perfect? No, there are plotting problems, and as I mentioned above, issues with suspended disbelief. But it is a great book that ended on a high note. This, in turn, will lead to the second book in the series perfectly. You should absolutely check out this debut novel and jump into this world.
Author Skottie Young and Jorge Corona explore anger and chaos set within a complicated and beautiful fantasy world in the second volume of the Middlewest series. It is has everything a coming of age tale needs. It includes a young and confused protagonist escaping a dark past and a possibly darker future. A beautiful and sometimes dangerous landscape full of colorful characters and a talking and snarky fox that, that at times is the best character in the story.
Abel, the young protagonist of the story, has escaped his father in the first edition of Middlewest Vol. 1. His father often is fueled by a wave of anger so intense that he transforms into a monster comprised of swirling anger. Chaos and violence are powerful forces in the world. They swirl around us, flow through us, and occasionally someone can become so angry that they lose all ability to see past it. In Middlewest, this is both a statement of truth and an actual reality of Abel's father and as we come to find out - Abel himself.
Abel finds he is cursed with the same abilities as his father to disastrous results and finds himself on the road again amid a sea of wreckage with Fox, his faithful friend.
Young and Corona speak volumes on the dynamics of father-son relationships, the nature of family, and on the painful journey of discovery that sometimes people need to undertake to find themselves. The worldbuilding is more intense, the dialog is stronger, and Abel's needs that can drive a young character like him towards the truth or tear himself apart, looking for answers is more substantial. It is heartbreaking at points and immensely poignant at others. Childhood can be rough, and sometimes one must walk through proverbial fire to find answers, and we are learning that Abel might have to do just that to find the peace he needs and quiet his inner storm.
I received a copy from the publisher in exchange for my open and honest review.
Do you know what happens when author Eoin Colfer of Artemis Fowl fame decides he wants to write an adult book? You get dragons and snark. You get Highfire. I am a particular fan of the snark, pretty much as it comes in all forms because I like my characters to swagger and be cheeky bastards.
Vern, short for Wyvern, is hiding on an island in a Louisiana swamp. He minds his own business, doing as he has done for the last 3000+ years. He hates humans, much like an old man who hates kids playing on his lawn. They are a nuisance, cause all sorts of issues, and usually end up trying to hunt you down with pitchforks. He loves Netflix, Flashdance, the incredible 1980s classic, and Vodka. But to get these necessities of life, he needs a minion to fetch things for him. Currently, a half-human creature named Waxman has been helping him out; they go back for a awhile. Vern saved Waxman from a life in the circus fifty years ago. But Waxman needs to go underground, or really bury himself in Vern's dragon shit to regenerate himself for a few months, so Vern needs a new minion.
Also, in the town lives a resourceful 15-year-old boy named Squib. Squib is a hustler. He does anything he can to make a dollar, and that includes fetching Vern vodka and helping him with his cable. To make things even more interesting, the town constable, sociopath Regence Hooke, is off to create himself a drug trade through Vern's little piece of swamp paradise. Hooke's plans are an issue for both Squib, who gets caught up in the machinations of Hooke and Vern, as well as Vern himself. Thrown in a whole lot of dragon fire, exciting fights, and a blowout on Honey Island, and you have yourself a story.
I have known Colfer from the much-beloved Artemis Fowl children's series. He writes compelling characters, with fun offbeat senses of humor and excitement. However, this story is touted as an adult story, and I didn't get that sense when reading it. Yes, there is cursing, and yes, Hooke is very much a psychopath. But something was missing in the execution that screamed adult to me. It was a good story. Squib is a great and lovable protagonist, and Vern is a whole lot of grumpy scaly fun, but the story did not feel fully fleshed out beside the characterizations and fight scenes. Both of which are very good.
It was only somewhat meh for me.
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I received a copy of this from Netgalley and the Publisher in exchange for my open and honest review.
Come Tumbling Down, Seanan Mcguire's fifth installment in the Wayward Children series follows the adventures of the delightfully macabre and grisly Wolcott twins. Jack, the mad scientist, sufferer of OCD, and generally quirky misanthrope and Jill, jacks twin, cruel, beautiful, and wants nothing more than to become a vampire. Jack returns to the school via a door made of lightning, literally carrying her love in her arms. Jack is trapped in the body of Jill, and although Jill is virtually identical to Jack physically, Jill has done horrible things that have soiled her very essence. Jack is a sufferer of OCD and desperately needs her body back to salvage her sanity. She requests the aid of former classmates in a quest, disobeying the no quest rule, to get something of great her body back from Jill and save Jill, even if it means saving her from herself.
The Moors, the twin's world they have come to love, is a place of darkness, monsters, mad science, and unforgiving fierce creatures. It is a place where gods are drowned, the moon has power, and lightning fuels the world, and it is a place where Jack feels most like herself and a home where she wants to stay. But first, Jack and friends Kade, Sumi, Cristopher, and Cora must help Jack stay sane and save this dark and macabre world. But, who knows who the monsters are? The line between good and evil or Monster and savior can be blurry. It depends entirely on which side you are standing.
“The world doesn't stop spinning because you're sad, and that's good; if it did, people would go around breaking hearts like they were sheets of maple sugar, just to keep the world exactly where it is. They'd make it out like it was a good thing, a few crying children in exchange for a peace that never falters or fades. We can be sad and we can be hurt and we can even be killed, but the world keeps turning, and the things we're supposed to do keep needing to be done.”
― Seanan McGuire, Come Tumbling Down
Again, McGuire delights and intrigues with the darkly rich world she has created in the Wayward Children series. Each installment has a message or a sort of idea that can be gleaned from the pages without it coming off as preachy. In this installment, McGuire touches on the sense of self and not being at home in one's own body. Where your body on the outside does not necessarily match who you are on the inside. It is an important message, and McGuire treats the subject delicately and with immense care.
McGuire has written another beautiful and meaningful story with Come Tumbling Down. It will delight, and maybe shock a bit. And, when you get done reading it, you might think twice about who is a monster, and who is not.
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Thank you to the publisher and author Tochi Onyebuchi for providing me an ARC in exchange for my open and honest review.
Onyebuchi creates a dystopia portrait of modern American in Riot Baby. Kev, one of the two protagonists in Riot Baby, is born to a single mom in 1992 Los Angeles during the height of the Rodney King riots, hence the name Riot Baby. Kev was born into a time that explodes with violence in his childhood violence follows him, and as an adult, Kev is incarcerated at Rikers for eight years. Again his life swirls with anger and violence. The ironic and well-done part of Kev's character is that even though he was born, lived, and survived through significant violence, Kev himself, does not come off as a violent person. He is a person who reacts to violence and protects himself.
The other major character and protagonist of the story is Ella, Kev's older sister as much as Kev is mired in violence and its effects, Ella is mired in her power. She sees much more than the surface of events. She can touch the very soil of the land after some event or act of violence and feel the pain and emotions of those affected. There is a reason why she has this power, isn't there? While Kev is in prison, Ella visits him both physically and psychically. They do not lose touch and are very close even though Kev is incarcerated.
One of the most impactful parts of this story is the dichotomy that Onyebuchi writes events with. On one side, both Kev and Ella are very gifted and powerful; they have supernatural abilities. This could have been the main focus of the story, but it isn't. On the other side, racism and violence run rampant and have shaped their worlds in dystopias. These abilities do not save them from the vagaries of life. While each of the sides of this story is important, their powers and society in general, they are instead written to help develop the other.
In lesser hands, this story would have been challenging to make it through. It is dark and introspective, full of moments of pain and is unflinching from detailing the misery humans can rain down on others. However, in Onyebuchi's hands, this story has a vein of hope and ends on a note of possibility for the future.
I think it will be a book that people will be talking about in the coming year and is worth a reader's time.
Riot Baby is speculative fiction at its finest.
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Oh good lord, where do I start?
If you think you know where this story is going after 50 pages, you don't. You just don't. This is like taking your seemingly innocent brain, smashing it against a frying pan while simultaneously reciting Shakespeare and doing calculus.
It is pants-on-your-head-crazy and works perfectly.
“She turned back to the doorman, and everything fell out of Michael's hands, “Hello. My name is Jackie Steele,” Stephanie said, clearly having put a lot of thought into a ridiculous alias. She continued, adopting the velvety, sultry voice a woman named Jackie Steele would possess. “And this is my associate . . .” Stephanie paused and looked at Michael. Her wide eyes implied that she had wasted all her time imagining the intricacies of Jackie Steele and hadn't come up with a suitable name for Michael. Michael crossed his arms, forcing her to grasp for straws to continue this chosen charade “Maurice . . . Sendak.”
Firstly, let's address the buddy comedy that is the duo of Duckett and Dyer. 30 pages into the story I found myself remarking to Jodie (witty and sarcastic book club) how I knew this girl who was Stephanie down to the dirty feet. She had the same conclusion. I think most people have met a “Stephanie” in their lives. A loveable and complete fuck-up who is just this side of nuts but brings that perfect and endearing crazy into your life. Someone who makes life just that little bit more interesting. It is a great bit of writing on Nair's part because it allows us, readers, to be able to empathize with Mikester and all the headaches that he has to endure. Mike is a perfect foil to Stephanie's batshit tendencies. Mike reminds me of a tea kettle. Fine with water in it, occasionally makes a lot of noise but quiets down pretty quickly. Don't let it overheat though or it bends and twist and is never right again.
Plot-wise, I am giving nothing away because it would take away from the pure titillation of discovery that is this wacky story. But, I can surmise it by saying it is a wacky relative or bastard lovechild of Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy and something by Terry Pratchett. Weirdness, clever characters, smugness, and the perfect amount of snark.
The setting of the story varies depending on the ‘verse they were traveling through. Although I loved the, albeit brief, romp through the universe with the giant bunny rabbit and humongous man-eating hamburgers bent of Duckett and Dyer's destruction. That particular scene was pure poetry.
Overall, this is a must-read. It is fun with a capital ‘FU'. Made me laugh, guffaw, and chuckle at the relationship between these two “investigators.”
“Maybe God loves us.” “No, that can't be it,”
This was a particularly fun book to do as a buddy read with Witty and Sarcastic Bookclub. The ridiculous nature of it lent itself to a lot of guffaws between us. Thank you so much for doing the read with me.
Solid Five Star Read
Made Things, Adrian Tchaikovsky's wild take on puppets, a puppeteer named Coppelia, and the schemes of a local thieves guild. What is becoming known to me as a very Adrian Tchaikovsky way of approaching an idea. Adrian took the concept of puppets, which under any other author would be twee and quaint, and gave them personality and breadth of character. The main protagonist is the puppeteer Coppeliam and the trials she faces with two of her homunculi friends Tef and Arc.
“They were very beautiful, to her eyes. They were horrible, too, but only in a way that uncanny things often are, and in Loretz, the magicians' city, one got used to uncanny things.”
Made Things is a story of many layers. Firstly we have the view of Tef and Arc. Two creatures who are trying to make their way in the world. When you are small and insignificant, the view from those who lord power over you is quite different. Though they are small, they be mighty. Secondly, Coppelia is learning to trust her mind and heart and where she should put her trust. There is also an exciting magic system in place, one that allows creating objects like Tef and Arc.
In the background are political disputes, but I think the real magic of the story and where Tchaikovsky has excelled is in the character creation of Coppelia and Tef and Arc. He fleshes them out and gives them life. These humonoculis's are no Pinocchios.
“The workshops of her mind were minting sincerity in unprecedented quantities, depressing the market for years to come with their adulterated coinage.”
Suppose you are not familiar with Tchaikovsky's other stories. In that case, they all have very similar qualities to them that make him one of the leaders in science fiction and fantasy writing today. He puts a lot of time and detail into his characters. I see this intensity of creation in his characters most in his novella work. It is as if his gift for writing has been distilled down for this medium.
The story's plot is interesting, but honestly, I thought of it as only a vehicle to learn more about the characters and where they fit into the world. So, if you enjoy very character-heavy stories, don't overlook Made Things. It will appeal to fans of fantasy in general, and as a shorter read, I think just under 200 pages, you can't go wrong with it.
I received a copy of this from the Publisher in exchange for my open and honest review.
I truly enjoyed The Oracle Year, Charles Soule debut novel that dealt with tech and the future. That is why I was so stoked to get my hands on a copy of Anyone. It was one of my most anticipated reads for 2019. Sadly, I did not connect with Anyone.
Anyone is told through multiple and interconnecting narratives. The first narrative takes place in Ann Arbor, Michigan, in the lab of Neuroscientist Dr. Gabriella White. White is about to break through to a cure for Alzheimer's disease. But, instead of finding a cure to Alzheimer's, she discovers something else, something more powerful and changing for the human race as a species. Anna discovers something that she aptly names The Flash, an ability to remove oneself from your body and transport you to another body. She discovers this by transporting herself into the unsuspecting body of her husband, Paul.
The other timeline and narrative takes place 25 years into the future. We are introduced to the character Annami. Annami is a woman desperate and willing to trade her body away to earn money. She dark shares. This means she allows her body to be taken over by anonymous people to do anything they want. The price is high, but so are the repercussions for Annami. We start with her character waking from a bloodbath and someone trying to kill her, and she has no idea why.
For most of the novel, the reader has no idea why these two narratives play back and forth. For me, that was one of the significant weaknesses of the story. I did not care about either protagonist in any meaningful way. The characters I thought were more interesting, Paul and Soro, where refrigerated. I had no idea why Soule even introduced these characters if they were going to be treated as used tissue and thrown away. Another detractor, this is a personal thing, I disliked both Anna and Annami. Both of them had this tense desperation about them that was offputting — desperation in the face of intelligent decisions.
The story itself was cool. Soule does well in writing intense sci-fi/mystery plots. Much like Oracle year, the tech twists in this story were remarkable. It had a very Cryptonomican/Altered Carbon feel to it. But the lack of connection between relatable characters and the fresh plot grated on me. I almost DNF'ed this but kept going because I knew he was going to tie it all together at the end. In the end, I rated this three stars for a cool story, but my connection and enjoyment stopped there.
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Kings of the Wyld by Nicholas Eames is Legend...wait for it...dary. So legendary, in fact, that The Boys are Back in Town by Thin Lizzy was on constant repeat in my head while reading it. Hell, I even thought about just reprinting the lyrics to the song and forgoing a proper review altogether. But cooler heads prevailed, and here I am sharing what is one of my favorite books now and is one of the most enjoyable experiences I had reading something in a long time.
Let me tell you about a little band named Saga and known for their deeds and misdeeds the land over. This band consists of five legendary mercenaries, thugs for hire who have slashed, bashed, magicked, and screwed their way across the empire of Grandual. And while this could have been a token machismo fest, it isn't. Eames humanized each character and added depth and breadth to them, which allowed them to be more than caricatures of who people wanted to emulate, and everyone wanted to be with.
“Among them is a renegade king, he who sired five royal heirs without ever unzipping his pants. A man to whom time has imparted great wisdom and an even greater waistline, whose thoughtless courage is rivalled only by his unquenchable thirst.
At his shoulder walks a sorcerer, a cosmic conversationalist. Enemy of the incurable rot, absent chairman of combustive sciences at the university in Oddsford, and the only living soul above the age of eight to believe in owlbears.
Look here at a warrior born, a scion of power and poverty whose purpose is manifold: to shatter shackles, to murder monarchs, and to demonstrate that even the forces of good must sometimes enlist the service of big, bad motherfuckers. His is an ancient soul destined to die young.
And now comes the quiet one, the gentle giant, he who fights his battles with a shield. Stout as the tree that counts its age in aeons, constant as the star that marks true north and shines most brightly on the darkest nights.
A step ahead of these four: our hero. He is the candle burnt down to the stump, the cutting blade grown dull with overuse. But see now the spark in his stride. Behold the glint of steel in his gaze. Who dares to stand between a man such as this and that which he holds dear? He will kill, if he must, to protect it. He will die, if that is what it takes.
“Go get the boss,” says one guardsman to another. “This bunch looks like trouble.”
And they do. They do look like trouble, at least until the wizard trips on the hem of his robe. He stumbles, cursing, and fouls the steps of the others as he falls face-first onto the mud-slick hillside.”
But that was 19 years ago. Their time in the sun has turned to shade. Time, that bitch of a mistress, has changed things for them. They have gotten greyer, older, slower, and in some cases wiser. But not really. They are warriors of old staring at middle age, wondering where the hell the last two decades went.
The story starts thus, Clay Cooper an ex-mercenary, now just a regular fellow with a family and responsibilities receives the inevitable knock upon his door. He opens it to find his ex-bandmate and brother in arms Gabriel. Gabriel is in a tizzy as his beloved daughter Rose has run off seeking fortune and fame, just like dear old Dad. The only problem is that she could be in grave danger, the kind of trouble that you don't come back from. Clay immediately says no. He doesn't do that thing anymore. But, with the realization that he would do this and more, including burning the world to cinders, to save his own daughter, he decides that he is in. Let gets the band back together.
Thus begins the tale of finding and coercing the bandmates to leave their comfy lives; one is currently a king. And embark on a quest that will take them across the empire and into the heart of a wyld forest full of poisonous spiders, giants, and an owlbear or two.
The full force of Eames's creativity shines on every page of this story. Honestly, I think under any other writer this story could have gone two ways. It could have been sullen and mean, decrying the effects of aging. Or it could have all the depth of an AC/DC concert. Fun yes, but fun for fun's sake and lacking any gravitas and having the depth of a thimble. Instead, we have brotherhood and not a fake, forced brotherhood. Real people, with real issues, are forced to take an in-depth look into the mirror at their past deeds and the pain they caused.
“What was it about fathers, Clay wondered, that compelled so many of them to test their children? To insist that a daughter, or a son, prove themselves worthy of a love their mother offered without condition?”
Also, there is grand silliness to the narrative that Eames crafted. Kings of the Wyld has serious themes, but it can't take itself too seriously. I mean, cmon, Kings of the Wyld is a band of brothers slaying everything that dares to cross their path. You have to find things funny, gallows humor, or otherwise. Also, the conversations, bantering, and ripping on each other is brilliant. They come off as friends or at least individuals with a deep common history. In any other circumstance, they would probably not be friends, but life and shared goals have brought them together. So because they are in this awful situation that they will probably not survive, it is entirely prudent that they poke fun at each other at every convenient moment.
“How do I look?” he asked.
Barret grinned. “Old.”
Moog glanced over appraisingly. “Tired.”
Gabriel snorted a laugh. “Fuck you guys.”
Each of the band members has a weapon of destruction, including Moog, the band's magician whose bag of tricks is literally a bag of tricks. Each weapon they wield has obtained its own legendary status. And much like the legendary warriors who wield these objects of destruction, they also play a part in the story. It is all very Dungeons and Dragons, but a very accessible Dungeons and Dragons for the masses that also involves the “fuck yeah” of 1980s metal bands. Eames made everything so fun and accessible. I think that even the greatest fantasy hater would enjoy this book and understand, at least for a few minutes, why people play Dungeons and Dragons and read fantasy.
This story is fantastical, Kings of the Wyld has all the right parts blended together by a brilliant storyteller that has you traveling with delight page to page. Bring me, Moog. Bring me, Gabriel. Bring me owlbears! This is a splendid book that I cannot recommend enough.
Let us destroy those in front of us and search for glory!
Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for providing me a copy of this in exchange for my open and honest review.
This is a faithful adaptation of Olivia Butler's Parable of the Sower story. It is being adapted, Damian Duffy and John Jennings, the same team that tackled Butler's Kindred story.
Initially, I was apprehensive about reading and reviewing Parable of the Sower. It is a story I do not like, to no fault of Butler's beautiful writing. For some reason, the first time I read Parable, there was something about it that disturbed me deeply. Maybe it is how lyrically she describes the bleak future. Perhaps it is the repetition of the word, change. I am not sure. I was hoping that reading the graphic adaptation to the story would lend to some greater insight and love of the story. And it did.
The Sower story is a heavy dystopian story about a world that has drastically changed from our own. The environment has been all but destroyed, wild packs of dogs and cannibals roam the hills. Lauren, the lead protagonist of the story, is trying o find her own spirt and religion in the form of journal keeping while the world around her changes.
Adding the graphic element to the story helped nail down the visuals for me as a reader that was slightly murky on the first read. The graphics in the story are beautifully done. It is done as a monochromatic palette of oranges and reds, and I think that lends to the story and was a good design choice.
Even with the beautiful graphics and faithful adaptation, this still isn't a story I want to come back to. However, that should not keep other people from reading this and starting this journey with Lauren. Butler is a powerful and lyrical writer. She infuses every word she writes with emotion, and for some readers, this story is an emotional, beautiful journey.
Thank you to netgalley for providing me with a copy of this in exchange for my open and honest review.
I was curious enough about this enough to buy a paper copy of it on amazon so I could better understand what the writer was trying to do here. This is a confusing book. It is neither a reference guide for people who are attempting to understand things about the kink world nor is it very funny. It skirts the line, not riding either side. It is almost as if the author went through and picked out some of the most mundane and most outrageous kinks, (dendrophilia anyone?) to talk about without really saying anything about them that could provide useful info while making some wild psychological claims about the reasoning behind people having specific kinks. Once again not really coming down on the side of factual or of a parody. It was just confusing.
The book itself is cute and put together well, a perfect little purple guide, but I can't recommend it.
I want to thank Orbit Books for providing me with a copy to read Fortuna in exchange for my open and honest review.
Imagine Momma Fratelli from Goonies is your mother and ship captain. Except your ship is in space, and you are part of a family of smugglers. Your family is spectacularly chaotic, and you are trying to save millions of people. Fortuna is this story told by author Kristyn Merbeth previously writing as author K.S Merbeth in the Wastelanders duology.
I have had my eye on this book for months. The synopsis, space opera, and family dynamics, as well as that gorgeous cover, had me sold long before copies were available to read. The cover, bright and glaring, reminds me of sunset on a desert planet with some serious Firefly vibes thrown in. Maybe Dune in space? I wasn't sure quite what to expect.
Scropia Kaiser is the second oldest of a family of 5 children and one spectacularly distant messed up mother. All Scorpia wants is to satisfy and make her mother proud and step into the boots of her older brother Corvus. Corvus had left home previously three years ago to join the Gaian military service and fight in an unwinnable war. His choice to enlist and abandon the Kaiser family is devastating to the Kaiser children and Scorpia in particular.
Corvus is finishing up his tour of service and wanting nothing more to come home to the life he has left. He is done with war and haunted by the deeds he had to do to battle in that war. It has left deep marks on his soul and a bought of PTSD that he does not know how to deal with.
Both characters have enormous hurdles to overcome. Scorpia cannot stop stepping on her own feet. She is continually screwing things up or drinking too heavily. Twice in the novel, she almost got her entire family killed due to the ramifications of her choices. There is winging it, and then there is suicidally and stupidly not thinking before your actions. Her actions were not redeemed to me because there were no offset qualities that help balance the scales. She was just a mouthy fuck up most of the story with a considerable ego and mommy issues. She would have been redeemed by the love she had for her brothers and sisters, but they were flat characters, and thus that love felt very flat and unreal.
This story is the pairing of two narratives, one told from Corvus's side while the other told from Scorpia's side. The unfortunate thing about this story is although the setting and the bare bones of the worldbuilding are there and exciting, I did not care about either character. Scorpia especially. Her decision making, alcoholism, naivete, and arrogance that is almost stupidity turned me off from her as a protagonist. Scorpia is a flawed character, as all people are imperfect, but there needs to be a point to her choices and chaos, including her addiction to alcohol. It is difficult to explain, but it almost seemed like her addiction lacked authenticity. It did not ring true. She was an alcholic, not someone addicted to sweets. Alcoholism is a real thing and can be devastating, it isn't something for pratfalls or rim shots. Corvus was a much cooler character. In the beginning, his brooding and aloofness were annoying, but as the story continued, the brooding led to some character growth and change. He fleshed out into a three-dimensional character.
With the difficult time I had connecting with the characters, the slow down of the plot and pacing destroyed my enjoyment of the book. It became a slog, which was unfortunate because it had such tremendous promise. I love the idea of a dysfunctional band of smugglers who happen to be family run by a matriarch - Very Firefly. But something did not cinch together, and the depth and love of the characters I would need to become emotionally invested in the story never became deeper than a superficial level. For example, Scropia's brother and sisters were nothing more than cardboard cutouts for most of the story. I know the familial connection was supposed to be there and implied by the author, but it never connected.
As far as the enjoyment level of this story, at about the 60% mark, I almost DNF'ed, which would have been a shame because the author brought everything together nicely in the last 20% of the book. The last 20% ended up being fun and not quite what I had imagined. I liked the spin she put on it and opening it up for the next book in the series, which is why I gave this a lukewarm 3 stars. I won't be continuing this story as I don't think I am the right audience, however much like other recent books I have read this book will find the right audience. I could imagine a considerable bunch of love for it, which is excellent. Every story will find it's readers.
Either way, come because of the gorgeous cover, and the synopsis is neat and stay for that last 20%.
Warren Ellis is a writer that asks profound questions. In Transmetropolitan, he talked about the role of the media and investigative reporting. Freakangels talks about absolute power and Trees is a story about the science fiction trope of Supergod. A being so powerful, so complete, that humanity is but a speck of dust to them. The most clever part about all this excellent writing is that Ellis tells his tales in the guise of well written graphic novel stories. His books are deep and thoughtful as well as exciting and, in some cases, beautiful. Orbiter is no different and so much more. It might even be Ellis's best story thus far.
Ten years ago, Venture, a U.S. space shuttle, soared for the heavens, lasted a few minutes and promptly disappeared. It left without a trace. This broke the U.S. space agency and the hearts and minds of would-be explorers. Now, at present, Kennedy Space Center is a shantytown. We never know the specifics of what has happened, and why the U.S. is in such decline, so much so that people are starving and living in lean-tos. But, I could guess it has to do with the demise of NASA. Space travel and the hope for more can be a buoying thing to people. It is the ultimate what-if. Without that, life can become long and sad. There is nothing to strive for. After a few pages describing what a shit hole life has become, the Venture comes wailing like a ball of hellfire through the air and slams into the ground liquidizing a few unfortunate souls that were in the wrong place at the wrong time.
The Venture is back. But the more significant and more interesting question is, “where has the Venture gone?”
The military step in as they are want to do. “Is the Venture a threat to the U.S.?” A military commander, Colonel Bukovic of U.S. Space Command, gathers a team of scientists to investigate. The best and brightest the U.S. has to offer have been languishing in poverty and boredom because NASA no longer exists. Bukovic, an angry military commander trope, needs to answers yesterday on what is going on with this ship. It looks like it hasn't aged a day, it should have run out of gas years ago, and where is the crew?
We jump from an overall exposition of the state of the U.S. to a much more intimate look at the scientists as characters. Michelle Robeson, once a prominent biologist, is now trapped on the Earth and has lost her greatest love. “been trapped on this planet since Venture disappeared. It radiates from her. This palpable feeling of something having been stolen from her.”
Terry Marx is a young and violently brilliant engineer. He comes off at first as a little hamfisted. Wrong with girls and awkward in conversation and personality. As the story propelled forward, he, as a character, got a lot more solid and interesting. The great mystery of it all is what drives him. He never got the opportunity to use his intelligence to reach out to the stars, that was taken from him when NASA was closed. Now with Venture back, he can flex the mind muscles that have laid dormant for so long. The final main character is Anna Bracken. Anna was a psychologist whose primary purpose was to help and study those astronauts who have returned from space flight. “To help make sense of it all.” She knows that she will never go to space, but she can experience the sense of wonder and thrill vicariously though helping ones who had. When NASA was shuttered, she lost her chance of hope and wonder. It was taken from her as it was taken from all citizens when NASA closed. Each of the three main characters represents a viewpoint. Michelle lost her ability to experience the greatness of space, and she will always yearn for it. Terry lost his chance to dive deeper, to peel back the layers of science to find what was underneath, and Anna lost her opportunity to live vicariously.
We, as a society, lost so much when NASA closed.
Now the Venture is back and full of questions.
Ellis tackles something fundamental in Orbiter, and it is this, “if you take away the greatest thing a human can yearn for, an impossible thing, what is left? How do we go on?” Space flight is, and dreaming is synonymous with a lot of people. If we shutter space flight, do we take away people's ability to dream big? Maybe? It certainly helps to know that great things are happening. Orbiter is a science fiction story that asks the essential questions, “who are we?” And, “can we be more?” Inside of the more profound questions, Ellis writes a good, if short, character study on the three types of people as well. Layers inside of layers
It is a beautiful and deep science fiction that should be read and often.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with a copy of this title in exchange for my open and honest review.
This is a solid midgrade graphic novel. I wanted to like it, the premise was interesting but the execution of character, dialog, and setting was jumpy and spotty. At places, the pacing of the story seemed over-rushed while in others it crawled by. The graphics felt distracting in oversaturated colors that did nothing to further the plot. In the end, there was little in the way of ending of this particular story arc. It ended up not being the comic for me.
Deck Matthews's book, The First of Shadows, has been on my TBR for a long time. I ended up saving my reading of it until I got an opportunity to read it on tour. I got to support both the series and The Write Reads. Additionally, it is Self Published Fantasy Month, and being that this is a self-published fantasy title, the stars aligned, and I got a chance to check this out finally. And I am so glad that I did.
The First of Shadows is a great book and hints at a wonderful series. It evoked a lot of the nostalgia and longing of my first days reading fantasy. Although this is a much darker story, then say, The Belgariad, it has a lot of the same expressive writing and tone.
The first book of The Rivan realm, The First of Shadows, is a novella-length book, clocking in at 147 pages. It is an excellent bite-size chunk of the story and worldbuilding that is enough to entice the reader into the other books. The book is divided into three points of view. The first is a character named Caleb. Caleb is the youngest character in the main group. He is a rigger on a ship, who, from the get-go of the story, you can tell he has humility and ethics. He is the one who found Shem, badly injured, and helped him to safety.
Shem is the second point of view. He is gravely injured battling a demon is brought to the home of Caleb's mother. His injury is the catalyst for Caleb's life changing in ways Caleb can not imagine.
And although there are other important character's points of view in the story. I truly enjoyed that of Palawan Ty. She is a character that had been hunting a disturbance, a great evil that she sensed but could not understand and had been tracking it for two weeks. This brought her into the paths of Shem, Caleb, and Tanner.
The worldbuilding, pacing, and characterizations are all top-notch in this story. Although I do not want to give to much away about the plot, know that there are elves, magic, fighting, demons, and airships. It has the feel of a familiar fantasy story, with some steampunkesque additions. The battle scenes are written quite well also. Demons are scary creatures. “This will have you manling! This cannot be destroyed!”
Check out The First of Shadows if you want an exciting first novella in what should turn out to be an excellent, more extended series!