geekylorraine
3.5 Rating
Blood Casino is an interesting take on the “vampires come out of the coffin” trope made famous by True Blood. In this world, vampires are known for having their fingers in all the pies associated with vice and sin. As the name of the book suggests, particularly gambling, where it's possible to exchange blood for chips, sometimes too much.
The book is in first person POV, a personal favourite of mine, and from the point of view of Evangeline, known as Eva or Angel. Eva was a character I had a feeling I wasn't going to like from the beginning. Apparently 18, she's got this strange mix of maturity and immaturity, with the immature portions grating on me. But as a character, she also had a lot of depth and character. By the end, I still wanted to yell at her for some or most of her choices, but the reasoning at the same time I guess is hard to reason with.
The vampires in the book are the same old vampires, with a little bit of added something to make things interesting and fresh. And there's a hint of something more, something other. Because after all, if vampires exist, what else is there? We don't find out yet, maybe we will, and I'm intrigued to know what route this is going down.
The main thing that's keeping me from rating this highly is the plot. It all made sense, mostly, and was engaging enough. It just felt rushed. Like too much was happening in too few words and pages. Some areas could've done with a little more build-up, more tension that, as I read, I could cut with a knife. It was lacking in this.
Saying that, I plan to carry on with this series and hope that, with the world set and the characters introduced, the writing can only get better, but we shall see.
My only other hesitation is that I am completely over love triangles and do I smell one brewing...? I'm not sure yet, but maybe. I really hope it's not ruined by that!
A Thrilling First Contact Adventure
Those Left Behind is an exciting start to what I hope is an amazing series. It's got something for every science-fiction fan from first contact to unexplained ancient, yet advanced technology, mysterious precursors, aliens, AIs and more! I enjoyed every word of it.
If you're a Mass Effect or Star Wars fan, I'd say this book is definitely for you.
This book was an interesting one to even rate for me. At points, I wasn't a fan of John, the main character, but I began to realise I don't think you're necessarily supposed to be. His flaws are 100% centre stage and some of them are... harsh and damaging to himself and those around him. It was hard to read, especially near the end, but it was honest too.
Beyond the main character, the world itself was a fun read. Only my second series (2nd author, 4th book) of trying out LitRPG and every person I mentioned it to brought up System Apocalypse and Tao Wang also replied to a post on Twitter I had up asking for sci-fi book releases where I discovered that book 12 is releasing this year! I love long series, so it seemed natural to pick up System Apocalypse next.
It has some differences to the last LitRPG I read, namely a little less focus on the grind and levelling and the constant skill pop-ups, but still more than enough to satisfy and intrigue me on the System that's been built in this world. There's plenty to discover and plot threads to follow. Not just on Earth, but the System is clearly something much bigger with plenty of other worlds, civilisations and aliens involved. I'm excited to see more of it. The world building is straightforward enough to be understood, detailed enough to build a picture and intriguing enough to make me want to read on.
The world is also gritty and dark. Just because life has become somewhat game-like in it's mechanics doesn't mean the trauma is any less, in fact for many, it's more. Death is still permanent, unlike the last LitRPG I read and everything is violent, visceral and out to kill you. It's not a light and happy story, this one, that's for sure.
Oh, I've got to give a shout-out to Ali. Love that little Spirit! As characters go, Ali has got to be my favourite.
Book two down, and it felt like a more complete story this time. The world has been established, the characters introduced and now we get to explore and experience this world along with John.
Thanks to much already being set, there was much more plot, tension and emotion attached to everything. It's well-rounded, the start mostly picking up where book 1 left off and not stopping from there. The big bad was more traditional in the sense there was a big bad, rather than just the world in general, which is how it felt in the last book. And it is very bad. Coming off that ending, I'm slightly shocked, although at the same time, I'm glad it happened... it highlights how visceral and tough this world that Tao Wong has built is. And whilst it's LitRPG, this world certainly is no easy and fun game to play.
The characters, outside of John, are taking much more form in my head. Being that this is told from the first person point of view, it does really feel like we only really know about the characters John cares to pay attention to. It makes you care for the characters John cares about and dislike those he dislikes as everything you read is through the main character's tinted world view. It's one of the reasons I love first pov books. The characters and relationships that can bloom feel so much more when you're in that character's head.
This felt like a step-up from book 1. I was glad that, whilst John's flaws were still at the forefront often enough, we're in his head after all, there was room for more. It really helped me not dislike John quite so much. In fact, I may even be close to liking him now!
And yes, I plan to start book 3 asap!
I can see something in this story. There's a solid story and some characters to make this interesting, but I just couldn't get through some of the errors. The character's name switches between Reilly and Riley in the first few chapters, for example. The tenses are inconsistent. The grammar is... spotty. Let an editor go over this book, write up a new version based on that and maybe there's something here. Unfortunately until then, it's a no from me.
Actual rating: 4.5.
Review originally posted on Geeky Galaxy.
eARC received from the author via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
First off, I'll start by saying thanks to Andy (A. R. Witham) for reaching out and offering up his book for review! I might not have picked this book up had he not, and then I'd be missing out!
The Legend of Black Jack is at its heart, the story of a young boy with a knack for medicine going on one hell of an adventure. From the first page to the last, this story truly is the legend of Black Jack from exploring archaeological sites as a Chief to the saviour of Keymark. This book really did read like you were reading about a mythical figure.
I'll be honest and say I stopped reading YA for gritter, heavier stories recently. And whilst The Legend of Black Jack stood well as YA, it did offer more for those that could understand the nuances of it, which I appreciated. The coming of age story was also a breath of fresh air against the heavier themes of previous reads.
This book looks like it'd be beautiful to own in hard copy too. It's full of gorgeous illustrations that perfectly encapsulate the scenes from the book; one that particularly struck me is a gorgeous coloured image featuring the silhouette of a demon. You'll know it when you see it.
The Legend of Black Jack is full of characters, full of life, full of wonders and full of twists! At some points, I'd say there was almost too much. Too many characters, too many fantastical elements to marvel at. It's a fine line between an amazing fantasy story and feeling a little much. The Legend of Black Jack is right on that line for me, occasionally tipping over it as we jump from pirate ships to burning towns, to undead armies and chromatic samurai-type knights. It really has something for everyone.
There's also a lot here for the keen-eyed among us. If you're the sort of person who likes spotting little (or big) Easter Eggs and then getting annoyed when something is revealed at the end that you missed but you should've figured out. Then this story is also for you. I'm still annoyed I didn't see one of the big reveals coming. Although that's certainly not the fault of the book. I could say it's because I started this book and put it down for a month before finishing it. But in reality, I was just missing all the signs that were left. I'd love to see if others figured it out before the end!
Once you get past everything though, there's a really great story here; a story of a young boy who loves his Father. And what more could you want than that?
Review originally posted on Geeky Galaxy.
I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
When I was writing up the 2022 Sci-Fi Book Releases Masterlist, I stumbled across Eyes of the Void on Netgalley and immediately hit “Request” despite saying to myself I wasn't requesting anymore books until I'd gone through the awkwardly long list of books I hadn't yet reviewed. When Pan Mac accepted the request, I dropped everything else and started reading because I loved Shards of Earth and couldn't wait to see what awaited our rag-tag bunch in the next book.
Eyes of the Void is told in multiple POVs from pretty much every important character. Each member of the Vulture God crew plus some others, such as a human spy. Every character held their own for their own chapters with strong voice and exciting information to add to the overall story; none of the chapters felt unnecessary or superfluous.
The Final Architecture has become one of those series for me where I want to absorb as much information about the world as possible, so whilst this story felt slightly different to Shards of Earth as there was more room for exploring the wider universe and introducing more of the world, I was totally here for it. One additional aspect is the Naeromathi (hopefully I copied that down correctly!) a fascinating species that seems to have dealt with the Architects before. In classic Tchaikovsky style, they're about as alien as you could get. You could never accuse Tchaikovsky of creating aliens that are just humans with some added scales or limbs. They're always so much more than that. Much stranger. Much more interesting. Much more alien.
The Naeromathi are just one of the additional plot threads introduced in Eyes of the Void. There's also plenty of political in-fighting in the Hugh, warmongering between everyone and everyone else (like the Parthenon and Hugh or the Hegemony and possibly everyone else). The tension of the political world of The Final Architecture rests on a knife-edge throughout Eyes of the Void and I enjoyed every word of it.
And with everything else going on, don't forget the Architects are out to reform planets with billions of people living there. No big deal. Eyes of the Void has a lot going on, I won't lie. It's the sort of book you want to sit and enjoy in peace and quiet to ensure you can catch everything that's going on and keep up with everything in the moment.
You definitely want to be focusing on the fight scenes too. Whether it's battles between a Partheni who takes no bullshit versus a bunch of xenophobes or a solar-system wide battle of everyone vs Architects, it is sure to not let you down. Tchaikovsky balances the quick pace of a hard-won battle against awesome descriptions of someone's shoulder having a hole punched through it by a particularly nasty weapon well. Speaking of holes in shoulders... I wouldn't recommend this if you're squeamish at all. Whether it's humans, human-adjacent or strange-as-aliens, everyone bleeds, everyone dies... everyone can get torn into four pieces. Don't say you weren't warned!
Finally, I'm going to mention the crew of the Vulture God; Idris, Solace, Olli, Kris, Kittering. Sometimes, The Final Architecture feels like the story of Idris. He's so important to everything that's going on, and frankly, the crew do spend more time either protecting or rescuing him than pretty much everything else. But each character holds their own and has a place and a story of their own to tell. I sat for a while trying to decide who my favourite character is, and honestly, I couldn't pick one. I love Solace, the badass Partheni who won't back down from a fight. Kris, the lawyer, with a violent history who isn't afraid to talk down a fight but also whip out her blade at a moment's notice. Maybe Olli, the tech specialist who walks around in a damn metal scorpion and has one hell of a mouth on her. Kittering, the hiver who, most of the time, probably just wants some peace and quiet, but has plenty of intelligence buried beneath the fear. Honestly, that whole crew are epic.
I could keep going, but this is already approaching too many words!
Holy shit! That book - just - what? The book's narrator and one of the main character was Georgia Mason. Emphasis on the was, there. Not many authors kill off the narrator and main character, Mira Grant went there. I'm glad she did. I don't think I'm going to be able to get this book out of my head for weeks.
A summary? Georgia Mason and her brother, Shaun Mason are bloggers, drafted by a presidential candidate to follow his campaign in zombie-filled America. They get exclusives and hits on their sites rise until they are the number one site in the world, then the shit hits the fan, terrorism, espionage, all that fun stuff.
Surprisingly, I liked how this story was all based around a presidential campaign. I didn't even realise it was a book about a presidential campaign when I started reading and rolled my eyes when I did find out. Mira Grant manages to make it interesting and understandable for someone who's not an American and for someone who isn't the biggest fan of politics.
Mira Grant's description was brilliant and the action was fast-paced and had me completely engrossed in the book. As I write this, I'm still in that after-book shock you can go into as you try and process all the things you've just read.
I debated buying the next one, and read more about Shaun Mason, the brother, dealing with his sister's death. For now, I've decided against it. Georgia Mason was the main character and I liked her for it. Whilst her brother is a strong character, he doesn't seem to quite be the same. I might read the next book eventually, just not yet. I have to get over this one first.
I was recommended this book by some people over at a Reddit page known as Suggest Me A Book. So, first of all, thanks to those guys and gals for suggesting it to me. I asked for a modern-day urban fantasy story and they sure delivered!
WARNING: STRONG LANGUAGE AND SPOILERS
The best thing about this novel, in my humble opinion, is the character. He's well-fleshed out and really entertaining to read. He's a bit of a dick, but somehow likeable. However the author pulled that off, I'm not sure.
The side-characters are also suitably interesting and enjoyable to read. You've got an interesting variety of characters, from an immortal alchemist, to a fallen arch-angel, to something known as a Jade. I've heard of Jade's before, sure, but I always thought they were dragon-type things, not what's described in this book. I won't give to much away, but Candy, the Jade in this book, is pretty bad-ass.
There's a lot of world-building in this book. After all, it's the first book in a series of an alternative reality where things like angels, something called Kissi, Jades, Vampires, Magicians, and much more roam the earth. The author has managed to weave all sorts of bits of information about the world into the story, without any of it seeming info-dumpy or hard to keep up with.
I'm going to stop here, because I've already started the next book in the series. A) I keep getting confused between what was in book 1, and what I've already read in book 2, and don't want to spoil the second book. B) The book is calling me back, and I need to read it!
Review originally posted on Geeky Galaxy.
I've started writing my reviews as I read, instead of how I used to do it, which was after I'd finished everything. I think it gives a slightly different perspective on things. So this review is in chronological order of reading the book...
There are also some mild spoilers below, but there's no major plot points and I've kept them to a minimum!
At first, Shards of Earth is very sci-fi-esque in that the beginning is heavy as you begin to learn this world, it's various alien species, it's political arrangements, hell, even physics. So for the first few days, I was picking this book up, reading a few pages and putting it down because I was struggling to dedicate the brain power to it to make sense of everything.
About 10% in and we're Introduced to Solace and Idris. Solace is a woman from a powerful female-only warrior society who desperately want an “intermediary” to ensure that not only are they the strongest, they have the ability to enter and navigate “unspace”. “Unspace” isn't typically easily navigated as most humans don't do well in it when awake, most sleep during it to avoid possible madness, comas etc. Intermediaries are specifically genetically engineered to be able to handle unspace, and there's a hint of much more.
Idris is one of these Intermediaries that Solace crossed paths with years ago during the defence of a planet from the “Architects”. Idris was a key weapon in the defence, and the Architects vanished for 40 years. Therefore, Idris was no longer a weapon and now just a navigator on a salvage ship.
Solace had been in cryo (stasis?) for a while, but has now been woken and tasked with getting an Intermediary for her warrior... family? She's looking for Idris...
Which is why I'm glad I stuck with this. I could see the beginnings of a great story with amazing characters. This is the first space opera I've read in a while that's gone really whacky with xeno-biology, where the descriptions sound so strange I'm struggling to even form an image of them. And I love that. They're not all bipedal with just an extra couple of fins or feathers or whatever else. The aliens are really alien. And there's a range of how they govern. There's hiveminds, hegemonies and every other sort of political/leading class you could think of. Makes a change and reminds me of Stellaris.
I don't want to post serious spoilers... but don't get too attached to the characters because you never know what could happen quite unexpectedly. One thing I did discover from this, however, is that Tchaikovsky is a master at the action sequences. Reading Solace fight in her suped-up armour against a symbiotic alien who repairs damage almost instantly was something else. It had great cadence and rhythm, with lots of tension and action, as well as lulls where you think you can catch your breath for a second before all hells breaks loose all over again.
Much like any heavy space opera, Shards of Earth takes a little bit to cement itself in your brain. A lot of aliens, a large cast of characters, ship names and more. Once it's there though, what a ride. Every page of this book was such a joy to read, from the space battles, to the urgent yet deliberate piercing of metaphysical minds. The book from start to finish was a delightful ride with plenty of world-spanning tension but also small personal relationships that explores the importance of friendship and crew.
And, of course, The Architects. They are such an amazing and unknowable antagonist, right up until the very end. They've got an incredible and terrifying power and no apparent reason as to why, other than to make art, but it all begins to make sense and leads neatly into an outcry for the next book. And I'm excited for more.
Book of the Year?
Well, whilst a lot about 2020 might suck, something that hasn't is the books I've read. As I was rating this 5 stars on goodreads (that'll give you a hint of the review to come!) I took a look at my other books read in 2020. Only one book DNF'd, one rated 3 stars and the rest 4 and above. And then to get granted this earc at 12pm on the 7th September and have it finished by 3pm the same day? Yeah, this book was good. This book was amazing. This book is in contention for my book of the year and honestly, it's got stiff competition so I'm not sure how I'm going to decide or what else may join it in the next 3 (that's alarming) months.
From the very first page (yep, I'm talking the title page), I had a feeling I'd love this book. Turn the page (or tap the screen, as the case may be) and I was then greeted by a map. I'm used to ARCs having blank pages where the map should be along with something like ‘map to come'. Not this time, and this map in particular was gorgeous. Definitely the best I'd seen in a book this year (and I'm a sucker for books with maps, just look at the background for all my IG posts.)
The First Book to Make Me Hungry
My first suggestion to you, if you're yet to read this book, is don't start it when you're hungry. I started it at 12 and hadn't had lunch. This was a mistake as I read about the glorious Italian food and wished desperately to be sharing in the food they were making as they casually discussed devils. Well, mostly casually. Also, the pre-order incentive involving pasta makes a whole lot of sense. Oh, and I've never tried cannoli and now I seriously need to. Sorry, I'm writing this review 4 hours after starting it and I still haven't eaten. My hunger is spilling out.
Brilliant Descriptions of the Everyday
Anyway, the food discussion was supposed to be a segue into discussing the writing and the way Kerri Maniscalco describes things is such a delight to read. Some descriptions are almost lyrical and the first paragraph of the prologue gave this away immediately and it continued, where relevant, throughout. A few chapters later, one very simple description stuck out to me, simply because I loved the way it was worded:
“In moments, condensation bloomed like morning dew across the glass.”
Kerri is describing a drink being poured into a glass, not exactly exciting, right? And yet such short descriptions of normal, everyday things is what drew me into this book, the world she's created and I loved every moment of it. Each time a small description like that happened, I marvelled in the enjoyment of something so simple and yet brilliant.
Characters to Love
But of course, beyond the description is the characters in this world. The three characters that stuck out most were our main point of view character, Emilia; a prince of hell, Wrath and then, perhaps unexpectedly, Emilia's grandmother, referred to as Nonna, as this story is inherently Italian.
From Good to...
“I could either be a victim or a victor.”
Emilia experiences a character arc that was glorious to read. She's a twin with her sister Vittoria and there was the classic archetype of one twin being good and the other being, I won't say evil, but rebellious. Emilia was the more well-behaved of the two, as we're introduced to Vittoria not being home in time and other things like that as the story begins. However, without saying too much, Emilia doesn't stay the pure and good one for very long and reading her path from being so good and innocent to where she ended up was one of the many highlights of this book.
A Wicked-Prince of Hell
Wrath is a Demon Prince of Hell, as his name may suggest, the princes are centred around the seven deadly sins, and we meet most of the others during the story as well, although Wrath features more centrally. I'll admit, I'm a sucker for a bad-boy with some hidden depth in fantasy books. I love the complexity, and Wrath is no exception to this.
There's definitely more to him than we truly get to meet in this book. He's clearly powerful, which I don't think we get to experience enough of, and there's something else about him that, well, I don't want to say too much, but I'm intrigued to read more of him and I'm slightly frustrated we've got to wait a while before book 2! It's the eternal problem with ARCs, the pleasure of reading early, but then the painfully long wait for the next book!
A Grandmother with Secrets
Emilia and Vittoria's grandmother is referred to as Nonna throughout. I don't recall if she was ever named beyond that, but she was a fantastic character. I enjoyed each scene with her in it. She is a fierce matriarch for the family and is hiding much throughout. Some secrets are ultimately spilled, but I don't think everything is out. She's a character with more to come and I'm looking forward to what other surprises her character will bring.
Read This Book
The summary of my review is pretty simple: Read the book! I thoroughly enjoyed every page. From the fascinating characters, to the magical story and the gorgeous writing. I don't see a reason to not read the book. Witches, Witch Hunters, Magic, Demons, Italian cooking. What more could you possibly want?
The magic in this story is quite unlike anything else I'd read. Alyce, our main character and “villain” is a Dark Grace, unlike everyone else around her. Whilst Grace's can bestow beauty, wit and other benefits nobles enjoy with a few drops of golden blood, Alyce is the opposite. A drop of her green blood can cause warts, spoil cream and so much more. The land of Briar relies on the beautifying, the hair or eye colour change, the smoothing of wrinkles from the Graces whilst largely shunning Alyce. Of course, that doesn't stop them using her particular brand of magic on rivals when desired. Within the first few pages, I began to appreciate Alyce as a character and enjoy seeing things from a more morally grey point of view. The author does a great job of showing how the supposedly beautiful golden Graces are not as beautiful on the inside and how Alyce has plenty of hidden depth.
Part One was great. It built up the world of humans, Graces, Fae, Vila and a hint at a whole other host of fantastical species in a world that I could picture clearly with the wonderful descriptions. It also, of course, introduces our characters. As well as Alyce, the other characters worth mentioning are Aurora, Rose, Kal and Endlewild.
Aurora is the Princess, cursed to die if she doesn't have true love's kiss by her 21st birthday. If her name wasn't enough to give you a hint at the retelling, the curse should be reasonably familiar! Aurora's not your average Princess with the perfect manners, so it was fun to begin to learn her character and have her standout for more than just being a cursed princess.
Rose is an antagonist, a Grace that lives with Alyce in a house full of their Grace's. As Alyce is “dark”, they all tend to treat her differently, but Rose is particularly cruel with it. Come the end of Part One though, I began to see the flaws to her character that stemmed a lot from the stress and pressure of a) being a Grace and b) the fact that Grace powers have a limit and fade before long. It's a lot of weight to have on your shoulders, losing your power along with your way of making a tidy living.
Kal is... I'm not really sure. A mentor archetype but there's something more to him. I'm writing this at the end of Part One, so I'm not sure what yet, but there's definitely something there and he's powerful, so there'll be more to come from that, I'm sure.
Endlewild, finally, is the ambassador of the Fae to Briar. And he's not necessarily happy about it or a nice guy in general. Endlewild is responsible for torturing Alyce as a child and is another character I think we'll hear more about as the book progresses.
some time later
Part Two has struck and... wow. Where Part One was slowly drawing us in, showing us the depth of the world, exploring the characters, letting us begin to root for them. Part Two was unleashing all of that in angst, drama, love, action and then... the last few chapters. I don't want to spoil things too much but what I posted on Instagram shortly after probably sums it up. I closed the book and stared at the words “There was a villain.” for a good few minutes. There was a villain, indeed, and my brain can't quite handle that right now. The main issue with reading books pre-release of right at release is then the wait for the next book. Has the author even finished writing it yet? Possibly not. And yet, I need it. Now. Please.
I also need the art. The things illustrators could do with the use of colour in this book is going to be amazing, I'm telling you, and I really hope that happens.
Review originally posted on Geeky Galaxy.
ARC provided for free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
You ever finish a book and kind-of just flail your arms around uselessly because you don't know what else to do? That's what I did. Do you know why they're flailing around uselessly? Because I have to wait forever for book 2, and I'm not sure how I'm going to wait that long since book 1 isn't even published yet!
Honestly, I thought I was over the court drama thing. I've read a few and they were all very samey and cliché. When I requested A Throne of Swans, I wasn't sure what to expect. The idea of shape-shifting into various birds intrigued me, and I'm so glad I decided to go for it based on that. Not only was the shape-shifting element really fun and interesting to read about, so was the court drama. Although this somehow managed to be even more dramatic than other court-based books I read. More dramatic, but so much better and well done.
The Characters
Aderyn
Aderyn worried me as the main character at first. She led such a sheltered life and her actions were frustratingly clueless at times. However, she grew throughout the book and quickly became a character I enjoyed reading about and I no longer felt the need to tell her to sort herself out. The authors handled her personality growth really well and handled her overcoming her trauma perfectly.
Lucien
Lucien was a character I loved for his wit and humour. The sarcastic comments he probably shouldn't have been saying to the Protector were fun and reading the friendship between Aderyn and Lucien was one of the highlights of this book.
Letya
Letya's an important friend and confidante to Aderyn, but I feel she didn't get enough story of who she is beyond Aderyn's maid. I hope there's more to be revealed about her in future books.
Aron
Aron is the king's son, stripped of his rights to the throne. From the first scene he was in, I knew I was going to like him, and it only got better from there. Aron is intelligent, with the knowhow to survive amongst the politics of a kingdom. He's clearly caring, under the cold exterior, and I'm excited to see where this character goes from the end of the book.
The World
I really enjoyed the world-building in A Throne of Swans. Yes, this is court-based, but we're not restricted to that single setting throughout the book, and even when we are, there's an acknowledgement of life outside.
The idea of different families transforming into different birds is great and adds an extra element to both the characterisation and the world. Not only that, but the world felt authentic. It was alive with various other events and I just fell in love with it. From the swans to the hawks to the ravens; I wanted to read more.
The Plot
The first chapter of A Throne of Swans grabbed me immediately, and that feeling of being totally engrossed didn't leave me until I finished the book. And even after, I couldn't get this book out of my head. The end tied things up nicely so that I was left satisfied with the ending, but it also left me wanting to know more. There's more story to be told and I look forward to reading more of it. This book is the first of a duology, I believe, and I'm a tad disappointed there's only going to be two! At the same time though, I really believe the authors will do it justice and I can't wait to read it.
I know I rambled a little here! It took me 2 weeks to even get my thoughts straight enough to write this review, let alone write something coherent. Basically, if you've made it to the end, you'll have figured out that I loved this book, and that's all you really need to know!
I've also managed to pre-order 2 copies of it, as well as already having a FC, so I'm not sure what I'm going to do with them all!
Actual Rating: 4.5
Review originally posted on Geeky Galaxy
This Golden Flame is a brilliant read about magic, friendship and most of all, freedom. Set in an Ancient Greek inspired world where statue-like automatons dot the towns and cities, forever frozen when the magical fuel that powered them was locked away. The premise from the start had me intrigued, from the setting to the automatons and Alix, the automaton who was so much more.
Alix, without doubt, was my favourite character and arguably the most complex. He's an automaton, and according to everything known about them, shouldn't be able to speak, let alone think and feel. And yet he can, and so much more, and it makes him real and vulnerable. There's such a depth to Alix's character, it practically sang off the page in every chapter from his point of view. I enjoyed reading every page of it.
“It's all you. Your light is stunning. It's brave and beautiful. So just be you, because that's enough. It's always been enough.”
Throughout, Alix struggle with who or what he is, what his purpose is, and if anything, that is what makes him most human of all.
“You have a spark that refuses to dim.”
He's a character that comes alive in the way he's expertly crafted and I could picture him so vividly in my head, he may as well have been stood in the room before me.
Karis, the character you'd probably call the main, if not very key, didn't shine quite as brightly for me. She was a strong character in herself with a clear motivation and meaning behind every action she took, even when it was the wrong one. Karis was also asexual and aromantic, and I'll admit it's the first book, especially fantasy, I've ever read with an aro ace main character and I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. It was refreshing to see a character who's focus wasn't constantly on the boy. And that's not the only rep in this book! There's also 2 gay characters and a character that prefers they/them, and it didn't seem forced or like an after-thought. It seemed natural to the story and worked really well.
As for the plot with the automatons, the golden flame, pirates, bandits, rebellions; it had it all and I loved the story that was weaved amongst these characters. A personal favourite point is the fact that Alix heard the rune magic as music, and, whilst he didn't need to, he'd hum a tune to go along with it. It was such a brilliant way to frame it and made for some luscious reading.
As soon as I touch it, I hear the rune in the seal, the plucked strings of a harp, as if it's the beginning of a well-known melody that I have to finish.
Overall, this book ticked a lot of boxes and was quick and easy to read, with characters I was routing for and a world I was itching to explore. If you're debating whether to pick this up, it's a resounding yes from me.
Review originally posted on Geeky Galaxy
The World
I think the world-building and the setting Kathryn Purdie has created is the best thing about this book. The whole idea of women ferrying the dead to their rightful place is great, but there's so much more depth to the lore. I think there's more to come and more to be revealed, I feel like we're only scratching the surface of the possibilities of this magic system that's been built so seemingly effortlessly
The lore is where Bone Crier's Moon really excelled. Kathryn Purdie was inspired by the French folklore of Dames Blanches. I really recommend you check out the myth of Dames Blanches because once you know that, you can see all the connections with Bone Crier's Moon and how cleverly Kathryn has weaved it into her world.
The Plot
I read this in pretty much one sitting, getting annoyed with anyone who disturbed my reading. Bone Crier's Moon started well, introducing the lord of the woman in white on the bridge, inspired by French folklore, and building from there. We're introduced to the key characters quickly, but in a way that doesn't feel rushed. The pacing is perfect. There are ups and downs. The ups are high tension that were fun to read and ensured I didn't want to tear my eyes away from the book. The lows were usually sweet and interesting, revealing more about the lore of the world or the personalities of the characters.
The ending! I can't say anything without spoilers, but February 2021 can't come quick enough!
The Characters
The characters all felt unique with their own personalities, motivations and character arcs. When I sat down to write this review, I could clearly identify each character's reason for being there and what each character went through and why. Nothing happened just because, everything and everyone was there for a reason. And I love that. No character seemed like a spare part. Bone Crier's Moon is told in multiple POVs, which I didn't know going into it. Usually, I'm not a fan of multiple POV books because I tend to prefer one character, and get bored of hearing from characters I don't like. This didn't happen here because I genuinely loved hearing from all the characters.
Our main character is Aliesse. She's a strong protagonist with a great and enjoyable arc throughout. You follow her as she learns the truth about herself and her family and you can see the changes in who she is throughout.
Aliesse's best friend is Sabine. She has arguably the most growth through the novel. From someone who lives in Aliesse's shadow to a strong woman on her own. If you love reading about someone finding their strength, you'll like Sabine!
The last person I'll mention is Bastien, and I'm going to mention him because of a single quote that was super cute to read and is one of the many reasons I loved him.
“You're not missing from me. I'm not missing from you.”
Bastien - Bone Crier's Moon, Kathryn Purdie
Chilling Effect is an own voices space opera featuring a Cuban-descended Captain called (mostly) Eva Innocente and her crew as they get into more and more trouble as the book goes on!
Eva herself is a great main character, who I enjoyed reading about during every single sentence of the book. The character had a strong voice and really stood out. You always knew who was talking just because her personality really shone through in the dialogue. Eva is badass, head-strong and sometimes a little bit blinkered, but cares deeply for her crew and her ship and is willing to do just about anything for them. Also known as, my favourite sort of character. A character who is badass, has her flaws, but also cares deeply for those she trusts, and doesn't stand for injustices against them.
Vakar is a close second-favourite. Vakar is a species known as Quennian, who rely on scent much as humans may rely on tone of voice, and it's such an interesting added element as a way to describe his emotions. In the beginning, the scents are explained but come the end, even the reader knows which scents equal which emotion. Honestly, there's one scent in particular that I think was obvious from the beginning, and I was just waiting for Eva to catch up!
As well as that, you've got Min, Pink and Leroy in the crew, and then a cast of family members of both Eva and Vakar on the sidelines. Overall, Eva and Vakar have the most detailed backstories and character building, which works for the story, but I hope we get to learn a little more about the other characters in the future.
From a plot point of view, Chilling Effect gets going and doesn't really slow down from there. We're introduced into the story in the middle of a hunt for psychic cats, yep, the book cover mostly makes sense. I'm not a cat person, but cats that can hypnotise people sound a lot more interesting than your average cat.
Moving on from the cats, I really enjoyed reading the comings and goings of La Sirena Negra (translated as The Black Mermaid in the book, although I was definitely calling it The Black Siren, and did wonder if The Black Mermaid was a bad translation via the good ol' translation technology that's now famous or infamous in sci-fi books and films!). The action was fast-paced and thrilling to read. I couldn't turn the pages fast.
The world of Chilling Effect, outside of the ship, was well-developed with many facets. From The Fridge (Chilling, fridge, get it?) , BOFA and some interesting agencies, like the Wraiths, a branch of Quennian military, I think. There's also a ton of alien species. One of the more interesting ones and perhaps strange one's, to human standard, is governed by an emperor known as Glorious Apotheosis. I'm sure you can tell from the name, the guy has issues, and it's a pretty hilarious plot point throughout. Everything included made the world feel alive and real.
It was such a fun book to read, from the fascinating alien species to the very human characters. I'm so glad I took the time, as reading it cheered me up.
The next book, Prime Deceptions, is out September and I'm super excited. The title for book 3 has also not long been announced as Fault Tolerance. I need them in my life.
Comparisons to Mass Effect
As a self-confessed Mass Effect fanatic, I wanted to list a few of the ways I think Chilling Effect was very Mass Effect-esque. Mostly because the reasons they compare is the reason I love them! This next section is full of spoilers, so if you haven't read the book (or played the games) and don't want to be spoiled, stop here.
- Is it too obvious to say the title? No? Well, that's self-explanatory, moving on.
- The main character, Eva, is sarcastic, snarky and totally badass. Much like a certain Fem!Shep I tend to play. It's the right level of snark without turning into full bitch. Like a Shepard the skews renegade, but not fully.
- The gate technology is as much a mystery in CE as ME, whilst we eventually learn a little more in ME. The basis is that it's some ancient alien technology that works, but most of the other ancient stuff doesn't work. In ME, it's initially placed on the Protheans. In CE, it's the Proarkhe. They're similarly mysterious, with only those seriously dedicated to studying ancient alien civilisations having much of any knowledge on them, besides wild conspiracy theorists.
- The love interest! In ME, you, of course, get to pick. If you're like me, you went Garrus, because obviously. Garrus is famous for his time spent calibrating the weaponry of the Normandy. You could say he has some engineering knowledge but he's actually a super badass. In CE, Eva begins to fall for Vakar, the engineer of La Sirena Negra but also a super badass. Not only that, but Vakar is not human and that can cause some problems. And things get verrrry interesting.
- Found family crew. Found family spaceship crews might be my favourite thing, and CE and ME have it down.
- The fish in the captain's cabin that the captain seems to care about for some reason I can't quite comprehend. (As Shepard, my fish died every damn time).
In case I'm not clear, I'm basically just saying, if you're a fan of Mass Effect, then read this book. It's so much fun, and there's plenty of things to love about it!
Review originally posted on Geeky Galaxy.
I closed this book and actually said “No!” out loud. You know why? The book ends with a question. My answer to the question wasn't no. My yelling no is because I'm never going to know the answer to said question. And I'm asking myself if that means there never was an answer to the question, or if we just never find out the answer. Yes. That's a whole paragraph of me talking about the final few sentences of the book. I could probably write a whole novel in response to this book. But I won't. Instead, see below my trying to sum up how much I adored this book, without actually writing a novel.
The Plot
Aside from the ending, which I explained above, I adored the narrative style of To Be Taught, If Fortunate. It's told in a sort of after-action report. If reports were more casual and more human. It's as if the main character sat down, wrote up the goings-on, and sent it off to Earth in the hopes of it being read. And I loved that. Writing that makes me consider the ending again, there's no answer to the question because it's up to us to answer it. I'm just annoyed I won't get to read what happens next. And I really need to know what happens next.
The World
Here's the trick with this book, it's a study of four different worlds. And Becky Chambers manages to explain each one in such a way that I could imagine exactly what the planet was like, what the characters were feeling due to planetary conditions. For the most part, the environment is described without express emotion, but I somehow still embraced a sense of wonder that came with each discovery. It's like I wasn't reading fiction, and was enjoying the writings of someone who had actually been responsible for aiding in cataloguing life on other planets. It was amazing.
The Characters
Becky Chambers has a knack for characters. Despite the science, the planets, the technology, it all comes back to the four characters this whole thing is centred on. It's how these planets impact them, their thoughts, how they cope with environments, how they find joy in the little things, and deal with adversity. This whole thing is character-driven right up until the end, where Becky Chambers makes you a character, the reader makes the ultimate decision. And damn, I loved and hated that.
I'm not going to break the characters down like I normally do. I loved all of them. Despite this being a report of sorts, the characters personalities shone through and they're each unique and so fun to read about. You need to read this (and it's super short, so it won't take too long!) to really grasp how Becky Chambers manages to work her magic with these characters.
I should probably stop rambling now! Have you read this novella? What'd you think?
The World
The world is where Viper by Bex Hogan really excels. It's so effortlessly weaved into the story. I felt like I understood the various islands, the touch of magic and the place The Viper holds in the world without really looking for the information. The information is hidden amongst the action and drama, so nothing ever felt like an info-dump. And the detail itself is super interesting and not like anything I'd read before. Although, I might not be a good judge of anything nautical. I've tended to avoid it, but not I'm not sure why!
I loved the way the different islands had different specialities because of their climates and the way the ships were such a big part of the story, but didn't overshadow or interfere with the beauty of the rest of the world. And there's so much more to learn of this world! I'm glad I waited to read this, purely so there's not that much of a wait for the next book.
The Plot
Some books, I always struggle to discuss the plot without spoilers. Maybe I'm trying to write this review too soon after finishing Viper by Bex Hogan, when my mind is still reeling from the action and drama. Maybe some books defy explanation without a hint at the plot. Let's try this. Let me indulge you with the first line of this book...
“I don't need to dissect the bird to know how it died.”
And the final line...
“Let the wind bring what it will. I'm ready for anything.”
Between these two is a lot of amazingness. There are ups and downs. Hope, and hope being crushed, sometimes quite literally. There's a rollercoaster here and whilst I hated pieces of it, I also thoroughly enjoyed every second of it too. Figure that one out.
The Characters
Marianne
Marianne is our protagonist, and as the story is told in the first person, it was important that she be capable of holding the story on her own back. And that she did. Her character arc throughout the tribulations was fun to read, if a tad predictable. She had a sense of humour and a hint of sarcasm which I enjoyed. Basically, give a character some sarcasm and I'll probably support them!
Bronn
Ah, Bronn. Now this one had a story that I somehow found more heartbreaking than Marianne, and that only made me love him more. His story is another thing I don't know how to discuss without spoilers, but he's an important part of the story and... I've deleted what I was going to say next. Spoilers!
Grace
Oh, Grace. Grace is possibly Marianne's only friend and protector, even if Marianne doesn't immediately see it. I'm interested to hopefully see more of Grace's family in the future. There's definitely something more to hear about them, and I hope the opportunity arises when we do!
Adler
AKA The Viper, the Captain of The Maiden, the most feared ship on the sea. It's feared for a good reason. Adler is vile, in the simplest meaning of the word. Nothing he says, nothing he does, shows even a hint of kindness or remorse. He's full of hatred, and I'm not sure his backstory explains it fully. His desire is power, that much is clear, but as a villain, I wish there was a tad more depth. I'm not sure there's enough to justify the pure evil. Maybe this is getting deep for a YA Fantasy, but is anyone born pure evil, or should there be something in their backstory that leads them down that road? Unless I missed it, this is the one thing I feel is really missing from this book.
After having read A Darker Shade of Magic and not enjoying it all that much, I was hesitant to try another Schwab book. I was pleasantly surprised by This Savage Song though. Urban fantasy is up there amongst my favourite genres, so I was hopeful that this could be better for me, but when you've read a ton of urban fantasy, you begin to wonder if you'll ever read something truly different. This Savage Song managed to be different. The world that was built and the creatures that Schwab created were...
Continue reading at A Reading Brit
I asked for sci-fi recommendations on Twitter, and book-blog/writer Twitter being as awesome as it is, it didn't let me down. I had a ton of suggestions, and read through a couple of the synopsis and decided to start here, and I'm definitely not disappointed I did!
The Plot
Embers of War only spanned a few days, overall, but they were definitely a dramatic couple of days. The introduction is strong, and surprising, featuring death almost immediately. And not a small number of deaths either, I'm talking planetary annihilation. That definitely awakens the reader to the brutalities of war, and war in a science fiction perspective can be totally brutal. These futuristic weapons don't play around. This introduction is the basis for this whole book, and it's used so well throughout. Me being the idiot I am didn't even think up or imagine one of the links the characters had to the war, and I applaud the author for that.
This book is technically part of a series, and I didn't realise that going into it, but it works pretty well as a standalone if you didn't want to go on and read the rest. The ending wraps up the main arc nicely, and we're only left with a few threads and wonders of what is going to happen next.
The World
Yay for awesome sci-fi world-building. Powell manages to build a complex world, far in the future, but not drown us in too much information most of the time. There were a few sections where we do get a little bogged down in information, mostly from the AI spaceship. One that sticks with me is when it starts comparing one side of the war, the “Conglomeration” to various things from history, such as the Anglo-American culture and the classical Greco-Roman empires. This only lasts for a paragraph or two, but about two sentences in, I was horribly bored and skipped to the end of that section. Most of the time, it's awesome, but there is the odd area where we veer a little close to info-dump, and not even interesting info dump.
Beyond that, we've got an interesting clash between the Conglomeration and the Outward, but not much else going on with regards to species. There's mention of other species, and there is something non-human on the main ship, but it's not mentioned too often, and aliens definitely aren't the focus of this. It's very much about humanity and what humans are capable of, with a fascinating dash of ship AI.
The Characters
Trouble Dog
Trouble Dog is our main AI spaceship. She's a person, basically, just in the form of a massive warship, who regrets her past, so joins an organisation that rescues people, rather than kills them. She battles with emotion, as AIs often do, and still battles with that side of her that was built to be a warship, and sorely misses the massive guns that being a rescue ship, rather than a warship, means she no longer has. Trouble Dog was probably my favourite character, who made me smile and cheer with some of her comments and actions.
“The Trouble Dog gave a credible impression of an indignant sniff. If she had been a child, she would have been pouting. “I told the idiot to give me back my guns.””
Sal Konstanz
Ona Sudak
Would I read it again?
Will I be picking up the next in the series?
Would I recommend it?
Is it going on my favourites shelf?
Squirtoon's Bookish Blog
Think I might have urban fantasy, strong female MC, somewhat annoying love interest/psycho burnout. I just feel like I'm reading interesting plots, but with very similar characters a lot of the time.
Badass female MC – ✔
Annoying Love Interest – ✔. Admittedly, why they're annoying varies. This one is a won't take no for an answer sort, but there's a weird reason for that I won't spoil.
The third male, who isn't a love interest at all, but wants in the MC's pants too – ✔
However, some were flipped on their head, and for that, I'm super happy. It's what redeemed it for me. I definitely can't go into detail without major spoilers, but let's just say, something I've wanted to happen in all these paranormal romance books, finally happened!
I enjoyed the world that has been built here too. Angels, archangels and vampires are all common knowledge. The unique thing, or at least new to me, is that only angels turn vampires.
The thing is, whilst I do want to read on, I also don't. The book had a happy ending, where I can make up some, they lived happily ever after bs. I really liked the ending, but it's not encouraging me to read on, so I also don't know how to feel about it.
Overall, I'm giving this a 4.5/5. I think my issues with it are because I've read about 10 books along the same lines recently. This might've been the best of the lot of them.
Actual rating: 4.5
A super interesting alternate history fantasy sci-fi. There was a lot of elements in such a short novella, but all of them intriguing and enjoyable. I'm disappointed in how short it was, if anything! The world-building is magnificent and I want to read more about the character of Creeper and Ann-Marie.
Full review to come.
Review originally posted on A Reading Brit
In love with this. Truly, completely in love with it. My favourite read of the year so far. I was super excited to start the next one, more than willing to go out and buy it directly after finishing the first. When I discovered it wasn't out yet, I was devastated. I didn't realise that Skyward was so recently published, so just assumed the next one would be out, and wasn't emotionally prepared for it not to be.
The Characters
Spensa – Our glorious main character. She's got great depth, with details of her life revealed expertly by Sanderson. Everything she says and does has a clear motivation and her backstory perfectly suits who she is and what she does throughout. Despite the fact this is a sci-fi, where nothing should really be relatable, I could totally understand why she acted the way she did and why she was angry at the world. I felt really sorry and angry for her at first and then ended up cheering her on as the story progressed. At one point, I actually physically punched the air in celebration because apparently this book really got to me.
Cobb – Cobb is the best instructor going. He's different to the rest of the instructors and seemed to genuinely care for his cadets. His backstory, again, was expertly woven in and, as the reader, we can understand why he does what he does.
M-Bot – I don't know where to start with this. Honestly, you've got read this to understand M-Bot, who he is and why he's so freaking fabulous.
Jorgen – His arc here from jerkface (Spensa's words, not mine) to a loveable character is great. It doesn't happen overnight (well, I read the book overnight!), and I went from hating him to rooting for him.
I won't mention anymore characters, but they were all so fantastic, unique and worthy that I could easily mention every single character, where normally I'd only feature the main few. I mean, I feel like I need to mention Doomslug, at least. If you read Skyward, you'll know what I mean.
The World
The world! Where do I even start? The world this takes place on is Detritus, which is a fantastic name for this planet. The descriptions we get throughout this novel makes it sound like a hard, but rewarding place to live. The sci-fi elements aren't heavy at all, there's no difficult scientific sounding descriptions, so I'd say this would be a decent novel to start with if you're interested in sci-fi but don't want anything too heavy. The world felt so real as I was reading it. I could truly imagine the falling debris and the hell that could follow them.
Overall, I'd say Brandon Sanderson is going to be a new favourite for me. In the time between finishing Skyward and finishing this review I've also read Mistborn, which I also really enjoyed (you may except a review at some point!).
Would I read it again? Yeah, I'll read this before the next one comes out. I can also see this being a comfort read for me. You know, one of those books you go back to if you're in a slump or if you want something good to read.
Will I be picking up the next in the series? Hell yes!
Would I recommend it? 100% absolutely without a shadow of a doubt yes.
Is it going on my favourites shelf? See above! My love for this book is way more than I ever expected it to be. I need more people to read it so I can shout about it with them!
Review originally posted on Geeky Galaxy
You didn't think I was going to get my hands on an urban fantasy and not review it did you? I started Venators: Magic Unleashed only a few days before this post is up, because I work best under pressure, apparently. Or, that's what I keep telling myself. From the description, I went in with high expectations. Read the summary above, “fae, vampires, werewolves, elves and succubi”. What more could I want?
The Plot
The introduction was short and action-filled, with only a few chapters before we dive right into the action. The action doesn't really slow from there, and I mean all the way up until the end! Because of that, I felt like the book wasn't really a full book. It's not a standalone story, so much relies on the next book that it feels like book one and book two may have been randomly cut down the middle. The end didn't feel anything like an end and was a bit too abrupt for my liking. Of course, it's making me want to read the next one, which serves its purpose, but I wish there'd been more of an end, rather than a sudden stop.
The Characters
After about 20%, I couldn't help but feel the characters were a little cliché. You've got Grey, the “weird kid” with long, black hair, always wearing a trench coat. Using his long hair to hide from the world. And then Rune. The beautiful girl, mostly achieving straight As, great at sport, and somehow still friends with the weird kid, even though everything says they shouldn't be. It's a trope I've seen a lot, and it's a little bit tiring. Despite that, I did enjoy the relationship Rune and Grey had. And as the book progressed, they grew into their own characters more, stepping a little away from their clichés. Come the end, they'd grown into two defining characters and I'm intrigued to know where the path takes them next.
As well as Rune and Grey, we've got Beltran, Verida and Tate, all very different characters. Again, Tate could fall into the “old warrior mentor” category. Beltran, though, was probably my favourite character of the lot. He's fun and has a sense of humour, but is also calculating and clearly intelligent. I think there's a lot more to come from him, and I can't wait to read it.
The World
So, this is the fun part! In Venators: Magic Unleashed, we've got somewhere called Eon, which is a separate plane from the world we know. The world was filled with every supernatural creature you could probably imagine, and perhaps some you can't. The author did well balancing the world-building so as not to bombard with too much information in one go. It also has similarities to your average fantasy world, elves have a sense of arrogance, vampires are elegant but violent etc. It's all very familiar, but also different. The introduction of the Venators was an added element that really pulled me into this, and I look forward to reading more about them. The political intrigue with the council of supernatural beings could definitely be explored more, and I hope it is in the next book. There's an element there that could really add something to the world if done right!