Beth Tabler

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for my open and honest review.

This book now sits proudly on my cookbook shelf. I liked the e-book version of this book so much that I had to have a physical copy. All I know is that all my favorite books should have to put out a mandatory cookbook. I know this doesn't make sense financially, but that's the new rule.

This book is lovely. Beautiful illustrations, fantastic recipes reminiscent of the story, and gorgeous pictures. It has everything one could want, I tested out the famous Toffee Pudding recipe on page 32. I hear great things about this recipe on British cooking shows but had yet to try it. It was delicious and every bit as wonderful as it is purported to be.

If you are a cookbook aficionado like myself, you will seriously dig this book.

The End We Start From by Megan Hunter is a descriptive but fragmented story about a dystopian Great Britain overrun by global warming floods. If you are looking for an apocalyptic type story dense with action, this is not it. Instead, The End We Start From is an exploration of motherhood that keeps the reader at arm's length.

The story is about a group of characters, all given a letter instead of a name. The husband R and wife give birth to a baby named Z. As the floodwaters begin to rise, the scramble for shelter and flee to Scotland. Z eventually becomes ill and ends up in a hospital. R leaves due to... reasons, and the story is told during Z's first year. It is quite the contrast of early motherhood woes and childhood milestones juxtaposed against the terror of unstoppable world events.

“We are told not to panic, the most panic-inducing instruction known to man.”

Both nature and the nurturing of a child stops for no one. Time and life must go on even in the direst of circumstances. However, the distance that the author puts between the reader and the writing didn't allow me to connect my own experiences of motherhood with that of the mother. I wanted to empathize with the characters, but aside from well-written language and dialog, the story fell ultimately flat.

Events are vaguely described, often to the point that I felt like I was watching a school film about devastation or war for educational purposes rather than living the character's life. I am not sure I understand the unusual choice of not giving the character's full names. If the author intended to create even more distance between the characters and the readers, it was effective. I remained a passive observer throughout the novel.

“When I was a child, my mother told me she would die for me, of course. I asked her all the time. Tested her.”

However, on a more positive note, while the language and dialog are sparse, it is compelling and well thought out. The End We Start From has a poetic feel to it; instead of reading a short story about a flooded Britain, we read about a dystopia in verse. It is highly stylized language; some of it is brilliant, “The water rose and rose, and they could not recognize each other in the torrent, in the endless rain from above.”

In the end, this will be an extremely polarizing book. You will either love it or be baffled by it. I am sorry to say that I am in the latter camp. I could not get past the distance and lack of description. However, I recognize that this story will speak to some readers, and I recommend it for readers who want a more experimental story.

While Miriam Black's devil-may-care attitude coupled with the wit and ultimate self-destruction would generally appeal to me as a reader, Blackbirds, Chuck Wendig's uber-popular urban fantasy series, left me flat. Chuck Wendig is a helluva writer if you have read Wanderers or Invasive you know that he has skill in weaving together a story. In Wanderers, Chuck demonstrated his ability to create a plot with a slow burn that comes together with a symphonic crash and  Invasive frankly scared the shit out of me. 

Miriam, the protagonist of Blackbirds is a chain-smoking, talking-like-a-sailor, broken person who has a curse of knowing exactly how a person will die. A curse like this would break anyone and it has Miriam cut off from physical contact and intimacy of any kind. I get that. As soon as I understood her predicament in the first chapter of the book, I understood why Miriam is the way she is. This ability needs skin-on-skin contact, and early in when she first got her curse, Miriam attempts to help people. She tries to step in and thwart what amounts to as the reaper. But she can never help. It is as if she is watching horror movies for every person she comes into contact with. Death will come for who they want, and no one will stop it.

While hopping from city to city in a vagrant lifestyle, stealing as she needs to, she comes upon a truck driver named Louis. Louis is a small beacon of light in the shit-storm that is Miriam's life. He shows her kindness when he doesn't have to and generosity when he gets nothing out of it. Miriam touches him, and low and behold, Louis is going to die a horrible death very soon. But the real punch to Miriam's gut is that she will be standing right there watching him die.

This is a real problem for her.

At the start of the novel, I could not put this book down. I plowed through the chapters. Miriam appealed to me. I enjoyed reading someone who was not so perfect and whose actions did not seem so telegraphed. It is a part of why I enjoy horror and grimdark so much. I like my characters coated in a little grime. But, Blackbirds is written with such an unlikeable character that I could not get into it. Sometimes, unlikeable is excellent. It allows the author a chance for the character to have small redeeming qualities, or at the very least make them not suck so much. I waited for the entire novel for Miriam to have that moment, and it did just not come. 

About midway through the novel, and with the addition of a few characters, I could not understand the purpose of Miriam's wanderings. I found myself wanting Wendig to get to the point. Chapters began to slog. Wendig's usual frenetic writing style I usually enjoy came in bits and pieces. A murder here, a bit of torture there, all for the sake of not pushing the plot along. I could not tell if Wendig was going for edgy rather than purposeful with the violence. I feel like early chapters in the series are setting up the future novels, which now stand at six. But as an entry point into the novel, it left me a bit confused.

I can see Miriam being a great HBO/Netflix tv show. She reminded me a lot of Jessica Jones. Similar snark, attitude about the world, and general lack of ability to take anyone's crap. But where Jones was noir, Miriam is horror.

While this did not completely do it for me, and I won't be continuing the series, I know that it will appeal to many people. It is a beloved series. So give it a swing if you like your urban fantasy with a side of horror; Miriam Black might be your gal.

Thank you to Tor for providing me with a copy of this in exchange for my open and honest review.

Sabbath by Nick Mamatas is a death metal band rolled in a taquito.
It is strange, addictive, probably bad for your arteries, and at times makes you want to headbang to some Slayer. These are the mental images I got while reading this story. If Def Leppard could be condensed down to a single book, this would be it.

Sabbath is the novelization of Sabbath: All Your Sins Reborn by Mathew Tomao. The graphic novel currently has a 2.1 on Goodreads, and from what I can tell reviews wise, it is not well-liked. However, the novelization has quite a lot more meat in the story, then the graphic novel does. Hexen Sabbath (see my Def Leppard comment above) is pulled from hell after dying on the battlefields in the 11th century. He has led a prideful and sinful life. He is removed from hell by the angel of judgment for one reason, and one reason alone, he is to kill the embodiment of the seven deadly sins before they destroy mankind. How they go about destroying humanity is not quite fleshed out, know that they are bad news. He also must sever their heads and carry them around in a duffle bag to present them to Abathar(angel of judgment) upon completion of his quest. In exchange for his successful killing of the sins, he will be granted a reprieve from hell and welcomed in heaven. He agrees because, of course, he does.

Hexen finds himself naked and confused in the year 2016. Thankfully his head is full of information on how to navigate the differences between his own time and now. This is an excellent opt-in by the author to minimalize culture clash in a story this fast-paced. He also has a helpful tattoo that lights up whenever a sin is close. He meets up with a female Russian gallery owner that he connects with, and she becomes a part of his story.

Once he is clothed and donning a new but old sword, Hexen sets out to kill the seven. The battles are entertaining. Lust is a prostitute. Wrath a cage fighter and had some of the most exciting scenes of the book. Envy is a dilettant who is never quite good enough. It is all very grindhouse type dialog and scenes. Matterafact, this book on a whole reminds me of an old grindhouse movie from the seventies, but with better acting. It is a whole lot of sex, violence, and gore, but not in a way that is not disturbing but more of tongue in cheek kind of way. I mean, Hexen walks around with six heads in a duffle bag. You can't take this too seriously.

It is entertaining as hell. Is it perfect? No. The dialog stutters a bit and lost me a few times in the beginning, and there were some pacing issues mid-book. But it is a hell of a lot of fun, and I am just being picky.

If you want to feel completely metal check this out.

I received a copy of this from Netgalley and the Publisher in exchange for my open and honest review.

A wacky and imaginatively crafted tale with a seal named Ned, who has welded on opposable thumbs, and enhanced brain, and drives a flying sled. He hangs out with none other than H.G Wells, intrepid traveler, and explorer.

What is this about? I honestly don't know. It is a rip-roaring book written in an almost stream of consciousness vibe. Jack and Jill play a part, as does Tomi, once a bully of a child, now hulking she-beast that travels on a sled made from the bones of allies and enemies alike. She uses the moniker Tomi who must be obeyed and eats lunch early. There are also two apes who lived in a world where humans were not flourishing. In this world, apes are humans. Their cruise ship that was trying to outsail the end of the world smashed into a flying saucer. They, thrown from the boat, landed on HG Wells ship. He graciously invited them on the boat, they ate fish and dressed up in some odd clown costumes. (just what wells had available) They end up accompanying Ned and Jack on a quest to find the fleece to save a sick Jills life.

It is absurd. It is quirky. It is damn fun.

If you are in to have your mind batted around like a ping pong ball, this book and series will be right up your alley. Check it out.

If you would like to read more of my reviews or various other bookish things, please come by my blog
at https://beforewegoblog.com/

Dark Man is King flexing his poetic muscles. King has said that he is not much of a poet. Often, even when he writes poetry, it is of a more illustrative type of narrative that verse. It is just not how his mind works.  

Is this great? Not so much. 

But, it is a serviceable piece of literature that I read and practically studied for the sake of the King's Quest and completeness. 

Important aspects to consider when checking out The Dark Man. There are few examples of capital letters and punctuation. It gives the poem an almost run-on stream of consciousness vibe that is pretty annoying. Furthermore, it isn't great or evocative poetry. It reminds me quite a bit of something you would see at a college poetry slam. 

i have slept in glaring swampswhere musk-reek roseto mix with the sex smell of rotting cypress stumpswhere witch fire clung in sunkenpsycho spheres of baptism

Eh. It is, however, essential if you are a King-ite? Kinger? A person who reads a lot of Stephen King, as this is a poem about one of King's most titular characters, Randall Flagg. It gives you quite an impression of Flagg that helps solidify him as one of literature's great antagonists. 

The reason you should read this, and the reason why I gave it four stars is because of the graphics. The illustrator is Glenn Chadbourne, a horror artist. They are incredible. Detailed, enthralling, and in their dark ways, completely beautiful. This is the reason you read this book. Chadbourne takes you down some dark paths with his imagery, and it only makes it better if you have read a lot of King. 

It is a perfect depiction of how I imagine Flagg. If you can find a copy of this, peruse it, you will see what I mean. 

Did you know that sometimes Stephen King is not scary, not all stories need terror. Sometimes existential dread will do the trick. If you are scared of the future and where you fit into the grand scheme of the world, then Gwendy's Button Box is the story for you.

In my quest to read all the King novels, including his more obscure stuff, I came across this little gem. It stars Gwendy, as in a mash-up of Gwendolin and Wendy, as a typical young girl in the 1970s. The first scene if of Gwendy doing laps on a dangerous set of steps called the Suicide Steps. One of her classmates called her fat, and this has caused an intense need to exercise and lose any pudge that the 11-year-old might be holding on to. The theme of self-acceptance comes up often as a significant theme throughout the story. Gwendy needs everyone to accept her, and the button box offers a way for her to be above reproach. Gwendy encounters a weird man in a black top hat on her way to leave the Suicide Steps. Again, strange people in top hats are a common occurrence in Stephen King's books. Still, I have no idea why top hats are a trigger point for the bizarre in King's worlds, but there you go. The enigmatic man offers Gwendy a choice, take the mysterious black box with buttons, a box that Gwendy feels to the marrow of her bones that belongs to her, or don't. Of course, Wendy accepts the responsibility of the box. And it is a responsibility because as the story progresses, we come to understand the innate power that the box has over the universe. Triggers and switches on the box can crush whole continents, buttons, and levers can make any desire that Gwendy has come true. Gwendy is not just some girl; she was, in a way, selected to protect the box for several years. In exchange for her acceptance and protection of the power of the box, Gwendy gets perks. She is gorgeous and healthy. Everything that she strives to do is effortless.

With an effortless existence comes a bit of ennui. What is she pulled a lever? Why does any of this matter at all? Coupled with typical teenageness, Gwendy has a difficult time controlling her impulses. That is the crux of the story more than the black button box. Given infinite power, what should Gwendy do? How does one weigh morals against exercising her power?

Gwendy is haunted by her ability to do destruction.

This is a good Stephen King story. Instead of gross-out scares, we have the haunting of the mind and soul, which is think is way more interested than just being scared or disgusted. King does this kind of dread well; you see it a lot in his novels. It makes me think of the existential dread many of the characters in The Stand face.

I loved this story, more so than some of the recent Stephen king shorts and novellas I have been reading. Elevation I am looking at you; you are lame-sauce.

If you are looking for dread laced in your horror like strychnine on a cookie, this story is for you. And, at just under 30k words, it isn't huge.

Give Gwendy's Button Box a try.

If you would like to read more of my reviews or various other bookish things please come by my blogat https://beforewegoblog.com/

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%.

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.

If you would like to read more of my reviews or various other bookish things, please come by my blog
at https://beforewegoblog.com/

Thank you to The_WriteReads and the author for providing me with a copy of this in exchange for my open and honest review. Please check out my other reviews at www.beforewegoblog.com

Phillip's life is the pits. He is 13 years old, which let's be frank, is no good for anyone. On top of that, he is the frequent target of a vicious school bully who takes bullying to a whole new level, he is a genuinely kind person, and most of all, he is dead. Even worse, is that upon dying he finds himself in the fiery pits of hell instead of heaven and he is confused. And, so are all the demons around him.

There has been a grave mistake.

Thus starts Phillip's adventure, which is part Dante's Inferno and part Percy Jackson. Lucifer is dying, and he needs an heir. Is it Phillip? Can Phillip look past all his good ways to be the bad boy that he might be inside? It is a fun and smart thought. Most novels are always on the side of good and looking down their nose at the bad. But not this one. It is fun! Everyone is bad, wrong. Demons, tempters, ghosts, the devil - this story has it all in spades.

Phillip is also a very likable character. His goodness could come off as a goody-goody character with a less skilled writer, but in the hands of Anderson, Phillip is a recognizable and empathetic character. You like him, and you root for him. Plus, the twist at the ending of the story kept this from being predictable.

Overall this is an enjoyable read. I can see it being engaging for a 12-year-old or an adult. It was absolutely engaging for this adult. There are themes in the story that is understandable for everyone. Give this story a try. It will be well worth the read.

I received a copy of this from Netgalley and the Publisher in exchange for my open and honest review.

If you would like to read more of my reviews or various other bookish things please come by my blog
at https://beforewegoblog.com/



Kel Kade's book, Fate of the Fallen, is a book of tropes turned on their head and flipped all around. For example, how many books have you read about a small-town farming boy and his trusty best friend that learns that he has a magical destiny and is fated to either destroy or save the world? How about that farming boy that was raised by a wise old man who happens to be a wizard. And that wizard has kept it a secret all these years. These tropes are here, sort of.

Here is where this story gets good...

Kade has taken these time old formulas and flipped them all around. Instead of the small-town boy fulfilling the prophecy, he dies in the second chapter. His best friend has to take his head and do all he can do to help save his friends and family. Imagine if Frodo died, and Samwise Gamgee had to take over his quest alone while carrying Frodo's magically bespelled. The old male father figure wizard trope is instead replaced by a female who is a witch. It entirely changes the tone of the story, for the better. And the prophecy is going to come true no matter what. No matter what.

I can't tell you much more about the plot because this is a story that even merely alluding to events in the story that will ruin it. Just know that hackneyed tropes are thrown out the window for fresh and bright storytelling that is enthralling and heartbreaking at the same time. There was more than one time during this story, where I had to put the book down and say out loud, “Damn.”

The side characters are just as exciting as the main protagonist, and I enjoyed the interactions and reactions that Kade has written. The dialog and prose of the story flow from moment to moment but is not jam-packed with so much action and detail that the reader gets tired. It is just enough to keep you only slightly breathless, but always wanting more. Another thing is this story is funny as hell. It had me guffawing and howling a couple of times. Kade really taps into the snark on this one.

Fate of the Fallen is a story that I just loved. It is everything a reader wants out of a fantasy romp. It has great characters, exciting twists, funny dialog, and a protagonist that you want to know more about. Definitely one of the best books I have read this year and I can't wait to read more from Kade.

If you would like to read more of my reviews or various other bookish things, please come by my blog at https://beforewegoblog.com/

The ironic thing about the novella, Permafrost, is that in Permafrost, nothing is permanent. The name belies the content. The future, the past, and the present are all malleable constructs.

I haven't read any Alastair Reynolds books previously, although I am very familiar with his books. I have wanted to read Redemption Ark forever. If you are looking for sincere and hard science fiction, he is your man from what I hear. In Permafrost, Reynolds utilizes the much-overused time-travel trope. It would take an excellent writer with a fresh perspective to bring anything new to the time travel type novel. He does it here. Instead of being hackneyed, this story comes off fresh and exciting. I liked how he explained time as a stream; someone who travels the flow goes backward and forwards like swimming in a river. Where you are in a stream is always relative to other points. It is an excellent way to explain a difficult concept without a Deus ex Machina explanation.

In some ways, the story is a scary premise. The future, 2080, has been destroyed by a malignant virus type thing that systematically destroys all the insectile species on the planet. Insects are a keystone, so soon, other animal and plant systems start to collapse, and finally, the whole pyramid, with humans at the top, crumbles like Jenga. The WHO(World Health Organization) is the only government type organization still in existence. They have a shot of saving the future by going into the past. Now, this is a shortish story. There is not a lot of time for explanation. So it is bare-bones, and much of the time, Reynolds only gives the reader the barest glimpse of the history and backstory. Sometimes it is like trying to see things through a blizzard. It is just enough to provide a springboard for the imagination of the reader to take hold. Valentina Lidova, the main protagonist of the story, is a 71yr old daughter of the inventor of the science of time travel. It is her consciousness, along with a few others, which are sent back through the past to save the future. Protecting the future is not what you think it will be. It is a twisty story that grabs your heart, intelligence, and emotions and ties them in knots. Although that doesn't sound fun, it is.

This is an incredibly exciting novel and worth the time it takes to deep dive into this brilliant environmental dying Earth story.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with a copy of this in exchange for my open and honest review.

This book is about more than running. Sure there is running. Katie is an Ultra Marathon runner, which is amazing. But this story is so much deeper than that. This story is about motherhood, power, your inner self, overcoming obstacles, and specifically mortality. Arnold's family turmoil and health scare send her for a loop. This is a difficult book for someone expecting all running, this is definitely not all running. But this is a cathartic book and a good read.

I received a copy of this from Netgalley and the Publisher in exchange for my open and honest review.

If you would like to read more of my reviews or various other bookish things, please come by my blog
at https://beforewegoblog.com/

What would you give if someone asked you for everything? If they asked you for your sanity, your future, your love, or the control of your destiny. Would you be able to give everything for that one incredible thing your heart is set on? Not many people would. People say that they would give everything, but they don't really mean EVERYTHING. What does everything look like? Temi Oh poses that question in Do You Dream Of Terra-Two (DYDOTT).

The story is about six (sometimes seven) teenagers: Harry, Jesse, Juno, Astrid, Aria, Eliot, and Poppy. One is a boy king who has never failed at anything. Another is an engineering genius with a broken heart. Another is one who is beautiful on camera and full of life while another is driven if broken second-string team member. Two are twin sisters who are alike as they are different. They enter a school called Dalton at the age of 13, leaping at the chance to be selected for this great adventure. Dalton is horrifically difficult. It asks everything and more of these kids. Much of the story is these kids dealing with the ramifications of psychological warfare that was Dalton. They go up to space, and now what.

“For marooned sailors, the ocean might never be the same after they'd watched it devour another crew. It could come to seem like death personified, death with a will, death with splendid, terrifying power. And so it was for Astrid that day ... Here was death, again, calling their names, and she had touched it.”

Do you Dream of Terra Two, Oh's debut novel is sometimes frenetic and sometimes leisurely stroll through desire, power, and drive to succeed. Oh also takes on the subtler but no less powerful emotions of sadness, PTSD, and mortal despair. It is a lot to take in. Six(sometimes seven) teenagers give up their childhoods, adulthoods, and everything else to fly to a distant planet to colonize and help save humanity. It sounds like a romantic and courageous thing: the best and the brightest sailing off for the unknown. But truth and life are so much messier than that. They believe that they are the best and brightest, by destiny and right - until they don't. And, that is where the story gets interesting.

This is a difficult story to categorize. It is less about the journey of discovery and more about what it means to be human, what it means to be a teenager with this kind of pressure sitting on your shoulders. It is not a science fiction story, at least not in the typical sense. The characters exist in a universe where rocketry and fast-as-light-travel exist, but that is not important except as a vehicle to move the plot forward.

The six teenagers are not likable characters, but they have human, likable moments. Some are boring; some are whiny, some bitchy, and some moody, and occasionally, they can be kind, generous, and courageous. The critical point I think that Oh was trying to make was they are human and real.

She is good at writing these characters. But is this an enjoyable book? Not so much. This is a book where I can respect the craft of Oh's writing skill. I can applaud the finesse she uses to demonstrate these character's plights, and I can contemplate the dilemmas they face. But in terms of pure enjoyment and connection with the characters, it did not land well with me. Maybe that is the point of this, to be unsettled. Space is unsettling; you are thrust into a situation where death is at every turn. You give up everything, including your childhood, for the chance at something greater than yourself. That is unsettling.

If you want to read a character study, this is the story for you. Oh is a fantastic writer. I have no idea if you will enjoy it, as your mileage may vary, but you will be affected by it.

Bury the Lede by Gaby Dunn is a hard biting crime-noir graphic novel. The novel sits high amongst noir graphic novels contemporaries such as Criminal by Ed Brubaker, and Jimmy's Bastards by Garth Ennis. The story holds its own. However, even with the fantastic panels drawn by artist Claire Roe and colored by Miguel Muerto, the tale lacks real cohesion to shine. It just is missing something, some connection between the writing and the reader. 
The story revolves around Madison Jackson, an intrepid intern journalist at the fictionalized newspaper The Boston Lede. Madison is desperate to sink her journalistic incisors into a huge story, something that can put her on the map and prove her chops. Madison follows a police scanner to the murder of a prominent Boston citizen. The sole suspect is a woman named Delilah Kennedy. For some reason, Delilah has claimed the violent crime as her own and will only talk to Madison. The reasons for this are unclear. Delilah dangles tidbits to Madison and riddles. Madison, hungry for a story, tap dances to Delilah's tune. They pace around each other like hungry lionesses verbally sparring and looking for weakness. 
In the meantime, Madison flubs her personal life repeatedly. She starts an intense physical relationship with her co-worker and with a young police officer that has fed her information in the past — each relationship falling to the back seat of Madison's drive as a reporter. The story has a lot of good. First and foremost is the featuring of two intelligent queer women of color, as well as quite a few other characters of various ethnicities. The graphics are well done by Clare Roe and Miguel Muerto. They are stark and dramatic and add to the noir vibe. Often the intensity and skill of the graphics overshadow the story. 
Even though the story is interesting and frequently even compelling, the lack of cohesion and uneven pacing left me unattached and cold. I wanted to become vested in the characters and enthralled with the crime story, but it was so sporadic that part of the time, mainly in the middle, I couldn't tell what was going on. This is especially bad in crime stories where the intensity and building of plot tension are critical. 
I recommend this read for people who love crime stories, but not much more than that. I think there are more engaging stories of this genre out there to start with. Check out Transmetropolitan or Criminal by Ed Brubaker to start. 
3 out of 5 stars

The Millennial Manifesto is a sparse, in-your-face story about the duality of politics and perspectives. If you love Quentin Tarantino movies, with a dose of stark commentary on current events, you will love this story.

“The Brave? People cowered in their homes, clutching their guns, living in fear of their neighbors and the very government they voted into power: land of the scared, home of the wage slaves.”

The premise is simple. You have two groups and two wildly different perspectives. Julia, Chen, Aarush, and Inanna are friends with a singular purpose — they want to change the world. They want to fix the crushing reality of being a millennial and living in a generation whose lives will be worse than those preceding it, and they will do anything to accomplish this task.

Right away, you can see the morally gray area of this sentiment.

The other group is Hiran, Chuck, and Fana. Hiran and Chuck are soldiers — thugs for hire. While Fana is a hacker and assists them by finding their targets and at accessing stores of protected information, they already exist on the far side of questionable morals. The cool thing about how this story is that it has dueling protagonists. Each chapter switches back and forth between the perspectives of Hiran and Inanna. This allows the reader to see how morally ambiguous some actions of either character can be. Who “good guys” are and who the “bad guys” are is not always straightforward. Just as it is in life, people are usually neither good nor bad, and in the end, no one thinks of themselves as the bad guy.

With Hiran, although he is a mercenary, he is a father and husband. He worries about his joints and paying for his daughter's college education. He is hired to do dirty work by a capitalist and all-around horrible person, Gartner. Gartner is also the target for Innana's terrorist group's first action. Innana is a woman who is anchorless. She has come into money after the death of her parents and wants to do something better with her life and for the world.

“Part of her wanted that, to go back to her easy life, to putter about pointless hobbies. No. I am going to make the world a better place. “Do any of you want out?” she asked.”

She does this by funding a small nameless terrorist cell. After the Innana's group completes their first terrorist like action, they make Gartner drink dirty water from one of the streams he has ruined through pollution; they have to go on the run after the second group starts to chase them. From there, the story evolves into chases of cat and mouse. Each group displays actions that both humanize and demonize them.

It is an exciting take on this type of story and one that Fletcher has done it well. It is quite a departure from the science fiction and fantasy story that we have become accustomed to from him.

It is a great story.

Engaging and visceral, the reader gets drawn into the minds of the two protagonists right away. You want to know how it is going end, and from the get-go, the reader has no idea how the story will play out. My only small qualm with the story is that I didn't feel like it was long enough. I wanted more from the characters; I wanted a more substantial base to pull from before the characters started to go on the run. The story also ends very abruptly. Whether that is a stylistic choice by the author, as it fits the narrative style, or just how the story played out, I am not sure. But it is a good ride either way.

If you are a fan of Tarantino type story that is ruthless with its characters, The Millennial Manifesto is the right choice. I hope that Fletcher continues the tale because there is room in this world for another story arc or five.

Reading Flint Maxwell's Knight and Shadow feels like you are reading and paying homage to the wonderful storytelling of Steven King and the classic fantasy hero story. Knight and Shadow is the story of a badass gun knight and a young boy on a quest to find him.

The story begins with Ansen Kane going under the name Crowne - A brooding and a melancholy man hiding out in anonymity in what amounts to the old west. Kane, sitting and playing cards and minding his own business, is accosted by three bounty hunters looking for him. Kane wants none of it.

“His left hand brought the whiskey up to his lips once more, while the right hand rested on the butt of his own weapon, just beneath his long, leather coat. But his revolver was bit scavenged, nor did it come from the Long Ago. His revolver was forged in the fires of Wolfscar Volcano and was as deadly as the magic that leaked from within its chasm.”

Kane, “still as a stone,” evaluates the situation. The bounty hunters are typical bullies, Veiled threats, aggression, and bravado. “Kane's face remained impassive. His fingers continued to hover over the revolver beneath his coat.”

You get the drift here... Knight and Shadow is classic western storytelling. Tension and bravado. Bad guys and misunderstood heroes. On the hand and another side of the continent, we have 17 years old Isaac milking his cow Carmen on his birthday. When a boy turns 17, he becomes a man. Isaac is celebrating this achievement with his mother. All he wants for his birthday is a riffle, something to hunt with, but deep down, he wants something worthy of the legendary gun knights. Gun knights that have been hunted down to extinction.

These two narratives, thousands of miles apart and utterly different in tone, come slamming together throughout the fascinating story. You like Ansen Kane as a character. He has morals, but his life is a series of gray choices. You like Isaac naivete and optimism, but you aren't annoyed by it as a reader. Both characters develop and change throughout the story and culminate into some exhilarating action and outcome.

Knight and Shadow is a great read and worthy of its status as a SPFBO5 semi-finalist. I recommend it to anyone who loves westerns with a fantasy overtone.

Waiting on a Bright Moon is a short story written by author J.Y Yang, and they are known for their Tensorate series.
This isn't a bad story at all. It is about Xin, an ansible. In this story, an Ansible is a person who is using song and music magic can connect vast distances. It is a role forced upon some woman who a talent for music magic. There are some intrigue and romances. Honestly, though, the issue I had with the story is that in this short story format, the worldbuilding and story did not have a chance to develop a clear picture in my mind. I was often confused and detached from the story, and had to go back and read multiple passages so that I understood what was going on.
I do commend the author on their use of language, though. They have a way of describing moments in a lush prose-like style that I appreciate. The lyrical style of it flowed from line to line.
Even now, the role of an Ansible is vague to me. I think with an extended format into novelette size; this would be a much more intriguing story. As it is, it was only midgrade for me.

Gods, Monsters, and the Lucky Peach is not a simple story. There is nothing subtle and simple about a middle-aged scientist with prosthesis octopus-like legs, time travel, ecological restoration, and culture dynamics. Nor is there anything subtle about a world in recovery that has been racked by climate change, species die off, and plague. The world Minh lives in is one that is complicated and nursing its wounds and trying to move on. It sounds like it is a depressing story full of tropes, coming off as a typical apocalyptic novel. But in Gods, Monsters and the Lucky Peach, it isn't like that. If anything, Robson has created a world that is recovering and in a lot of ways excelling. We are past the struggle for resources usually associated with apocalyptic novels. The descriptions of technology and how it is intertwined with life are marvelous, but humanity has changed past that. To me, there seemed to be an undercurrent of depression among the plague-babies (those that survived the plague), Minh's generation. This is in stark contrast to Kiki's generation, the fat-babies. The characterizations between the two cultures is relevant and interesting.

The story is told in three parts. The first, and most lengthy is setting up the world building and Minh's life as a world-class ecologist. Her job is to go out and do reclamation on natural habitats in an attempt to find balance again with nature. We meet Kiki, an administrator, and fat-baby - tall, healthy, and robust in personality. All she wants is Minh's approval and friendship. She goes out of her way to put herself in Minh's life, almost to an uncomfortable degree. Minh is a cantankerous older woman. Set in her ways and uncomfortable with how forthright Kiki is. A new proposal for a time travel project to ancient Mesopotamia has come up, a proposal that Minh wants badly. Kiki and Minh work to land the bid and enlarge her team with the addition of Hamid. He falls in the middle, personality-wise. The second part of the story is the actual expedition and ecological restoration work. It is fascinating how Robson handles this. She creates a stark dichotomy between the technology of the Lucky Peach(their ship) and ancient Mesopotamia. The third part of the story is what happens after the intial part of the cataloging is done, where cultures clash.

Robson has meticulously constructed a story that is rich and nuanced. Areas that are “old-hat” in science fiction, i.e., time travel, seem restrained and exciting instead of worn out. It is a rigorous story that asks a lot of the audience. Character dynamics, the heart of the story, are done in a way that you empathize with all sides involved. It is obvious why Robson won many awards for this story. This story cements her as a science fiction powerhouse and one to watch in the coming years.

Thanks to Andrews McMeel Publishing and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Oh, how I love Phoebe and Marigold. A better pair has never existed. My daughter and I love reading about their adventures. There is humor that an adult would find funny, and humor that is perfect for sharing with your children. It is masterfully written to appeal to so many tiers of audiences. I love the overarching themes of acceptance and loving yourself. It s such an important trait to help instill in kids. I definitely suggest picking up this series to read with your child, you will enjoy it.


For more reviews, visit www.beforewegoblog.com

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.

First off, let me say that this series is kick ass. I ended up reading the books out of order; first, I read Ash Kickers, and I liked it so much I came back to Smoke Eaters. Even though I gave Smoke Eaters a 3 instead of a 5, don't think that I didn't love the hell out of it. I did.

Smoke Eaters is the story of Cole Brannigan, intrepid firefighter and captain. A week before retirement, Brannigan gets to a call that changes his destiny and his plans.

Here is some relevant backstory. In the early 2100s, dragons rose from the soil and roared across the Earth. They wreaked havoc, razed cities, destroyed echo systems, and ravaged humanity. The US, government broken, has divided itself into nation states eschewing the restoration of governmental control.

Smoke Eaters, the novel, takes place in Ohio within the world, decimated by dragons. An offset of the fire department is created with individuals who, through a genetic miracle, can breathe dragon smoke and resist heat. Those individuals are called to serve in this elite fighting force called Smoke Eaters. Cole Brannigan, our main protagonist, goes on a call and is confronted with a dragon. The dragon eats some of his team, and Cole is confronted with dragon smoke, which he survives. He is roped into being the new rookie of the Smoke Eaters.

Cole is on one side, a father figure type character, and on the other, a wise sensei. The Smoke Eaters need cohesion, and they need the ethics and morality outside of just killing dragons. People live, and their lives are directly affected by the dragons that need to be taken into account. Grigsby, an Arkansas firefighter, invokes a lot of the imagery and real-world experience he has as a working firefighter. There is an absolute authenticity to the action sequences and firefighting scenes that can only be derived from living it.

My only caveat, and the reason I gave this a 3 instead of 5 stars is that I found the plot to meander a bit, and I got lost. We are here, and Brannigan is a quadriplegic, but only for a little while. But in the meantime, they need to go check out weapons in Canada. Why does Brannigan needs to go to Canada, while injured is beyond me? Then there is a human sacrifice, an evil mayor, robots, and a mega dragon. But, the story pulls it right back together, and everything makes sense again and ends with a grandiose finale that is exciting.

If you want all the fun, pick up this book and the next in the series Ash Kickers. It is a ton of fun. Like, ass-kicking whooping kind of fun. Check it out!

If you would like to read more of my reviews or various other bookish things please come by my blog
at https://beforewegoblog.com/

Getting old is more than marking days off on a calendar. It is a state of mind. Age can happen over many years with slow growth, tremulously, and wobbly marching towards adulthood and old age. Or age can occur in an instant. It is marked by one moment, a precipice that you are thrown off of never to be the same. Heloise started this series as a child, naive, young and untested. Not any more. Heloise is an old soul now - battle-scarred, hardened, and worldly. In a way, her forced toughness is a little death. The death of who Heloise could have been. She could have been someone's wife, a mother, and a partner. Maybe Heloise can be those things in the future. If she can survive the coming events. She has already lost pieces of herself, more than the physical (an arm, and now an eye.) Maybe those are things that she no longer wants.

We have a lot of maybes at the end of book two.

What I can tell you is that this book is nearly as good as the first one. (please see my glowing review here) I said that Heloise is the hero that we need now. It still holds I think Heloise is the hero that this story needs and the hero that we, as a society, need to read. We need strong female characters that are not written into the corner of false insusceptibility. The vulnerability can be a strength if one can conquer it. Courage is not the absence of fear, but the power to overcome weakness and terror to do what needs to be done. Heloise does that. Cole has written a female character outside of the archetypes. Authors either write female warrior characters as fearless and invulnerable, which is false and frankly lazy. Or they write them as needy. They need to be saved, and usually, that is by some hunky and strong man. Heloise is neither. She is vulnerable, and the epitome of strength all rolled into an iron machine set to save and free her people. Heloise needs to be protected by no one, not her parents or the traveling people. This is her duty, and she understands what fear is. But fear will not conquer her.

The insane thing is that Cole is doing this inside of 250 pages.

“Getting old's the hardest thing I've ever had to do. But it's taught me that...that life is like being a mouse caught in a river current. So much of living is simply trying to keep from going under long enough to ride the water to its end.”

The story starts right as we left off from the first book. Heloise is in the thick of things. The first novel of the series, The Armoured Saint, is about Heloise shedding her childhood. While the second, Queen of Crows, is about her accepting the mantle of leadership and what that means. Interestingly, Cole gives us a new character group called the Traveling People. They are the antithesis of the villagers, both in religion and personality. This opens up the story to ingrained prejudices on both sides and how that plays out when put into hairy situations where one must rely on the other for survival. One thing they do have in common is an enemy in The Order. Even the names that Cole chose are clever. The order: a group is adhering to an orderly and systematic belief structure. The Traveling People: wild and free unbound by rigidity. The Villagers: a group right in the middle, ordinary people. These names reinforce the worldbuilding that Cole does and helps create those identities in the three groups.
I say that this is almost as good as the first one. This was a close thing 4.5 stars instead of 5. Some of the turns in the plot felt a little shaky to me. Especially those with the traveling people and I won't go into specifics, because why ruin it.

The Queen of Crows is an incredible book. Dark and grim, but with the occasional glimmer of hope amongst the pain. This story is Grimdark done right. I can not wait to read the next one; if it is anything like the previous two, then I am in for a wild ride. The final book in this series comes out on November 12th. Get to reading, so you are ready for it.

Please check out this review and others on www.grimdarkmagazine.com or my personal blog www.beforewegoblog.com

Master of Sorrows by Justin Travis Call is the book I have been waiting for all year. Ainnevog, let's call him Annev, is a boy with a simple but not easy path before him. He works as a school deacon and takes classes to become an avatar there. An avatar is one who goes out into the world, finds magical items, and brings them back to the school so that they can be safely stored away. In the world that Call has created, magic use is verboten. If one is found to be using magic or has a magical gift, they are flayed alive and stoned. Passing the Avatar of Judgement classes and final tests for Annev is an all-consuming endeavor. Only the best can become an avatar. While taking his classes, Annev also studies and is guided by the school's priest and father figure, Sodar. How will Annev balance the two halves of his life? The public half is an avatar trainee and rule-follower, while the secret half is a magic user and possibly a destined hero. That is the crux of the story: duality.

Furthermore, to add to the duality of the plot, Annev is on the precipice of manhood. Of coming into his own and knowing who he is. But, as it stands, he is not quite a boy nor a man.

Master of Sorrows is in the style of Patrick Rothfuss's epic Name of the Wind and Pierce Brown's Red Rising series. They all share similar trajectories. A boy from dubious circumstances is thrust into a world they can not quite understand, in Master of Sorrows' case, an anti-magic school. This boy is destined for more incredible things but is hampered on all sides by morally grey characters. I say they share similar trajectories, but there is nothing bland or hackneyed in Master of Sorrows.

The plotting and backstory of Master of Sorrows is tightly done and rich in history. Annev comes from a world of gods, precisely three major ones – all siblings. Odar, Lumea, and Keos. Two gods, Odar and Lumea, are still culturally and spiritually revered by the public. But the other god, Keos, is considered the betrayer. Those who are born disabled are said to have been touched by Keos. They are considered to be in Keos's favor and are immediately put to death. But in Annev's case, as he was born without a left hand, instead of death, he was saved and raised by Sodar. This becomes another part of the duality and line that Annev must walk. He is the antithesis of everything an Avatar of Judgement is, yet he battles and struggles to excel and achieve an Avatar position while hiding his disability.

One of the detractors of the story, there are very few, is the love interest between Annev and Myjun. Watching from the position of a reader, one can look at a relationship like Annev's and Myjun's and think it is incredibly unrealistic and sometimes silly. Annev makes buffoonish decisions that make me want to shake him. But isn't that what it is like when you are 17? You make stupid choices because your body is going berzerk with hormones. As much as I cringed when reading about Annev's mooning, it is a realistic detail. To make him a full and round character, Annev needs to experience things like love, loss, and betrayal on his narrative path. This relationship is something that an older and wiser Annev in later books can pull and learn from. Also, the exposition of the story in some parts was lengthy. This is necessary due to the humongous back story and cultural context in which Annev's character exists. Sometimes, I wanted to return to the action, but these chapters are necessary.

Aside from the tight plot, one of the significant strengths of the story was the relationship between Sodar and Annev. Sodar is not all that he seems. He was living a double life; one as a priest to the students, the other as scholar and magic-user. The latter he keeps hidden from all but Annev, whom he has raised from a baby and trusts. Sodar is the stern father figure who attempts to guide Annev to his destiny while similarly protecting him from its details. They have an easiness between them that has developed throughout their shared lives, and is a testament to Call's writing skills that this came off effortlessly. I believed in their relationship, which presented no false notes to me.

Another major strength of this story is the tense action sequences. They flowed like water from scene to scene and are some of the best I have read. Whether Annev is battling wild contraptions in his bid for a position as an avatar or fighting Feurog's (creatures made of metals, stones, and flesh), the pulse-racing, edge-of-your-seat intensity kept me reading into the late hours.

The first narrative arc for Annev is done, but his story is far from over. Master of Shadows can be read as a stand-alone novel if one desires; however, the outcome was a bit of a cliffhanger that had me yearning for more. I want to know where this story is going. I want to know more about Annev and who accompanies him on the next part of his journey.
I hate that it hasn't been written yet!

Master of Sorrows is one of the best books I have read this year and a perfect example of grimdark fantasy. It isn't overly mired in negativity or cruelness. The rawer parts of grimdark and epic fantasy are there, but this story is tinged with hope in the best possible way. It is riveting, exciting, and will stick with me for a while.

I cannot wait to read the next book, a solid five-star novel, and I highly recommend it.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for providing me with this book in exchange for open and honest opinions.

This is a fun way to tackle learning law while expressing your undying love of Harry Potter. The main premise is using Harry Potter character's and plot points, this book gives you a thorough examination of the law and how it would pertain to said plot points and what the consequences are. I think at times this might be a little dry for the everyday reader but would be a killer gift to someone who is both an ardent fan and studying law. Even as a study aid for passing tests in law school, this might be a useful book.