The Last Chance Hotel
The Seth Seppi series, Book 1
Nicki Thornton
Chicken House
Fiction, MG Fantasy/Mystery
*** (Okay)
DESCRIPTION: Young Seth has no memories of his mother and barely any of his father, once the chef of the remote Last Chance Hotel. People used to come from miles away to the lonely little place in the middle of the forbidding woods just to taste his food. When Dad disappeared, he left Seth behind. Now the boy toils as the dishwasher/cleaner/porter/general lowly servant of the nasty Bunn family who runs the Last Chance. The worst of them is their mean daughter Tiffany, who constantly reminds Seth that he'll never be the famous chef his father was, and he'll never escape the Last Chance Hotel. If it weren't for the grungy old black cat Nightshade, he'd have no friends at all in this desolate place.
When a group of important guests arrives, each more peculiar than the last, Seth sees hope in the illustrious Doctor Thallomius, who treats the boy well despite his lowly status. Maybe, just maybe, Seth has found an ally, someone who could help him escape the Bunns and a future of drudgery. When Thallomius dies at dinner - poisoned, it seems, by the dessert Seth made especially for him - he instead finds himself accused of murder. But the food was fine when it left the kitchen; he tasted it himself. Along with his cat Nightshade, he'll have to figure out who the real killer is if he hopes to clear his name. But things become complicated when he realizes that the guests at the Last Chance aren't just peculiar. They're each magicians, with real magic, and each of them has their own reasons to have wanted Thallomius dead.
REVIEW: The Last Chance Hotel starts with plenty of promise and a decent enough premise, as well as a young protagonist who, right out of the gate, has an interesting gift in his culinary sense and sensitive nose. The nasty Bunns are a too-familiar cliche, particularly the girl Tiffany whose sole motiviation is "big meanie bullying Seth" (the sort of shallow characterizations even picture books have been known to rise above, let alone a full-length story pitched at the lower end of middle grade), but I figured things would flesh out as the story progressed and the worldbuilding unfolded. Unfortunately, the story remained flat and thin throughout.
Seth starts out a downtrodden boy who nevertheless dreams of living up to his father's legacy and restoring the Last Chance Hotel's kitchen to its former reputation... yet his every action is preceded by pages worth of hesitation and cowardice and general indecisive, repetitive dithering. It's unclear how the Bunns came to be his guardians, and it's equally unclear why Tiffany is such an insufferable monster to him... matters which (risking spoilers, here) are hardly clarified at all throughout the entire book. It doesn't help that Seth is an utter blockhead of a protagonist. Not long after the accusation of murder, his cat Nightshade starts talking to him, yet it still takes him several long and tedious chapters to finally clue in to the existence of magic and the magical community. To repeat: His. Cat. Is. Talking. To. Him. Is this not a massive clue, not only to the existence of magic but secrets in the hotel? Apparently not. Seth is the sort of character who needs things explained multiple times before they begin to percolate through his cranium, and even then he tends to backslide and fail to connect dots as he repeats information to himself. (Even then, he has to be reminded of things he actually experienced at more than one point.) It doesn't help that the worldbuilding here is all over the map. The Last Chance Hotel is the sort of place with little to no sign of modern technology, seeming to exist in a nebulous sort-of past where nobody really expects a remote location to have so much as a phone, let alone television or computers or a cell phone signal, the sort of world where a fading magical community can exist even as it fades into obscurity... yet at one point Seth brightly compares a magical artifact to "virtual reality". Huh? Where would Seth have even heard about virtual reality, and how can a world with virtual reality - and associated technology, which would almost have to include some sort of recording devices - forget that magic is a thing? I struggled to really care about such a nebulously sketched world and such a deliberately clueless boy... or, frankly, any of the people surrounding him. (Yes, unfortunately, that includes the cat Nightshade.) Things happen to Seth more often than he actively acts to clear his own name, characters behave suspiciously or ridiculously (often both), Tiffany behaves cruelly because she's a half-note character (not even a one-note character) who makes Veruca Salt from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory seem complex and nuanced, and somehow things work out while leaving threads dangling for future books.
There are some promising ideas and nicely described moments now and again. Seth had potential to be interesting, as did the setting. I did want to enjoy the story. I just couldn't really connect with anyone, or the world the story tried to build.
You Might Also Enjoy:
Serafina and the Black Cloak (Robert Beatty) - My Review
A Wizard's Guide to Defensive Baking (T. Kingfisher) - My Review
Midnight for Charlie Bone (Jenny Nimmo) - My Review
Friday, October 4, 2024
One of Us Is Lying (Karen M. McManus)
One of Us Is Lying
The One of Us Is Lying series, Book 1
Karen M. McManus
Delacorte Press
Fiction, YA Mystery/Thriller
**** (Good)
DESCRIPTION: Bronwyn's been college bound since elementary school, with top grades and top ambitions. Cooper is living his father's dream on the baseball diamond, with interest from colleges and the major leagues even before high school graduation. Addy, homecoming queen, is the envy of half the school as she dates the star quarterback. Nate has a criminal record for drug dealing, but it's the only way to keep the bills paid with his father drowning in a bottle all day and night. Simon runs a gossip app, About That, spreading hurtful rumors that always turn out to be true. All five wind up in Mr. Avery's room for detention on Monday for bringing their cell phones to class... and all of them know for a fact that the phones they were busted with weren't even theirs. Mr. Avery doesn't care; he's just there to make sure they serve their sentence and learn their lesson.
Then Simon drops dead in the middle of the room... and the police suspect foul play.
The four survivors had little in common before the incident. Now, they're all considered suspects. And, thanks to Simon's gossip app and a particularly damning post that was due to be posted on Tuesday, all four of them have sufficient motive. As the police dig deeper and the media catches wind of the story, each of the four suspects wonder which of the others is guilty, or if they're all being framed.
Everyone has secrets in Bayview. Who had secrets worth killing for?
REVIEW: Built on a tried and true formula of mismatched students forced to see each others as people rather than stereotypes (in the vein of The Breakfast Club) with a murder mystery and potentially unreliable narrators, One of Us Is Lying presents a solid mystery with thriller overtones.
From the start, it's clear that each of the four narrators - the viewpoint shifts in each chapter, rotating through the students - has secrets even beyond what Simon spread in his app. None of them like the rumor-monger, yet nobody can deny that, however he gets his information, it always proves out in the end. His app goes far beyond locker room gossip, revealing secrets that crush people and end futures before they begin, and even though he only identifies people by their initials, it's easy for anyone at Bayview High to figure out who is who. Bronwyn, Cooper, Addy, and Nate all have their own reasons for loathing Simon; even if they haven't been targeted directly (yet), they all know people who have been destroyed by his app, such as the girl who attempted suicide after a particularly brutal campaign of harassment. Still, none expected to be seriously considered as suspects in his death. When the police get that bit in their teeth, there's no shaking them, especially when goaded by national press coverage... not even when the investigation turns out to be at least as damaging and harmful as Simon's app, unearthing all manner of skeletons from everyone's closets. Worse, someone seems to have taken up Simon's torch to make sure the entire student body, and the world, knows about every one of those old bones as they're brought to light. Could it be the killer, or one of Simon's unknown informants avenging his death?
During the course of the investigation, each of the targeted teens finds their lives turned upside down. Friends they thought they could rely on disappear. Futures they took for granted disintegrate before their eyes. None of them know whom they can trust, and not even their own families can be relied on to support them; Nate in particular lacks any sort of home safety net, but even Bronwyn's affluent parents seem more interested in preserving their idealized image of their child (and their own reputations) than listening. They each are forced to re-examine assumptions on which they've built their worlds and the people they've surrounded themselves with. Naturally, they end up drawing closer to each other... but is one of them actually a killer, or covering for a killer? They all ultimately have something to contribute to the mystery's resolution, each of them stepping up in ways they'd never anticipated they'd be capable of before the accusations and the upending of everything they believed about themselves and their peers. It all makes for an interesting, fast-paced ride with characters whose actions and emotions always rang true.
You Might Also Enjoy:
Like Never and Always (Ann Aguirre) - My Review
Killing Mr. Griffin (Lois Duncan) - My Review
Don't Even Think About It (Sarah Mlynowski) - My Review
The One of Us Is Lying series, Book 1
Karen M. McManus
Delacorte Press
Fiction, YA Mystery/Thriller
**** (Good)
DESCRIPTION: Bronwyn's been college bound since elementary school, with top grades and top ambitions. Cooper is living his father's dream on the baseball diamond, with interest from colleges and the major leagues even before high school graduation. Addy, homecoming queen, is the envy of half the school as she dates the star quarterback. Nate has a criminal record for drug dealing, but it's the only way to keep the bills paid with his father drowning in a bottle all day and night. Simon runs a gossip app, About That, spreading hurtful rumors that always turn out to be true. All five wind up in Mr. Avery's room for detention on Monday for bringing their cell phones to class... and all of them know for a fact that the phones they were busted with weren't even theirs. Mr. Avery doesn't care; he's just there to make sure they serve their sentence and learn their lesson.
Then Simon drops dead in the middle of the room... and the police suspect foul play.
The four survivors had little in common before the incident. Now, they're all considered suspects. And, thanks to Simon's gossip app and a particularly damning post that was due to be posted on Tuesday, all four of them have sufficient motive. As the police dig deeper and the media catches wind of the story, each of the four suspects wonder which of the others is guilty, or if they're all being framed.
Everyone has secrets in Bayview. Who had secrets worth killing for?
REVIEW: Built on a tried and true formula of mismatched students forced to see each others as people rather than stereotypes (in the vein of The Breakfast Club) with a murder mystery and potentially unreliable narrators, One of Us Is Lying presents a solid mystery with thriller overtones.
From the start, it's clear that each of the four narrators - the viewpoint shifts in each chapter, rotating through the students - has secrets even beyond what Simon spread in his app. None of them like the rumor-monger, yet nobody can deny that, however he gets his information, it always proves out in the end. His app goes far beyond locker room gossip, revealing secrets that crush people and end futures before they begin, and even though he only identifies people by their initials, it's easy for anyone at Bayview High to figure out who is who. Bronwyn, Cooper, Addy, and Nate all have their own reasons for loathing Simon; even if they haven't been targeted directly (yet), they all know people who have been destroyed by his app, such as the girl who attempted suicide after a particularly brutal campaign of harassment. Still, none expected to be seriously considered as suspects in his death. When the police get that bit in their teeth, there's no shaking them, especially when goaded by national press coverage... not even when the investigation turns out to be at least as damaging and harmful as Simon's app, unearthing all manner of skeletons from everyone's closets. Worse, someone seems to have taken up Simon's torch to make sure the entire student body, and the world, knows about every one of those old bones as they're brought to light. Could it be the killer, or one of Simon's unknown informants avenging his death?
During the course of the investigation, each of the targeted teens finds their lives turned upside down. Friends they thought they could rely on disappear. Futures they took for granted disintegrate before their eyes. None of them know whom they can trust, and not even their own families can be relied on to support them; Nate in particular lacks any sort of home safety net, but even Bronwyn's affluent parents seem more interested in preserving their idealized image of their child (and their own reputations) than listening. They each are forced to re-examine assumptions on which they've built their worlds and the people they've surrounded themselves with. Naturally, they end up drawing closer to each other... but is one of them actually a killer, or covering for a killer? They all ultimately have something to contribute to the mystery's resolution, each of them stepping up in ways they'd never anticipated they'd be capable of before the accusations and the upending of everything they believed about themselves and their peers. It all makes for an interesting, fast-paced ride with characters whose actions and emotions always rang true.
You Might Also Enjoy:
Like Never and Always (Ann Aguirre) - My Review
Killing Mr. Griffin (Lois Duncan) - My Review
Don't Even Think About It (Sarah Mlynowski) - My Review
Sunday, September 29, 2024
Main Site Work in Progress (Domain Up!)
For all nobody who cares, I'm doing some behind-the-scenes stuff on my main Brightdreamer Books site (namely, attempting to switch domain hosts), so there may be some Issues over the next few hours (days?) while that gets sorted out.
This blog will not be affected, just the site and domain.
I'll update this post if/when it's all sorted. Meanwhile, apologies for any interruptions...
--
UPDATE (Sunday, September 29, 4:10 PM) - Brightdreamer.com is currently down pending site transfer, which will occur when I can get hold of tech support to figure out why I cannot seem to get my FTP transfer program to connect to Dreamhost using the numbers they're telling me to use.
This may not be resolved today (Sunday.)
--
UPDATE (Sunday, September 29, 7:42 PM) - Still mostly down. Manually transferred a few files but ran into issues trying to do the whole thing manually. So I finally asked for help. Odds are good this will not be resolved until later on Monday. So much for the "it's so easy!" instructions on the site...
--
UPDATE (Monday, September 30, 3:30 PM) - And still having troubles, though progress has been made insofar as it's a different error I'm getting on my FTP program. Second round of support ticket requests for help is winging its way through the ether. I'm still hopeful I can make this new host work, but if it's still no-go by Friday I'll be forced to look elsewhere for hosting options.
--
UPDATE (Monday, September 30, 4:56 PM) - Kudos to the DreamHost team for helping me out; the site has officially been switched over and updated, with the month's new reviews archived and cross-linked on the main Brightdreamer Books site.
Enjoy!
This blog will not be affected, just the site and domain.
I'll update this post if/when it's all sorted. Meanwhile, apologies for any interruptions...
--
UPDATE (Sunday, September 29, 4:10 PM) - Brightdreamer.com is currently down pending site transfer, which will occur when I can get hold of tech support to figure out why I cannot seem to get my FTP transfer program to connect to Dreamhost using the numbers they're telling me to use.
This may not be resolved today (Sunday.)
--
UPDATE (Sunday, September 29, 7:42 PM) - Still mostly down. Manually transferred a few files but ran into issues trying to do the whole thing manually. So I finally asked for help. Odds are good this will not be resolved until later on Monday. So much for the "it's so easy!" instructions on the site...
--
UPDATE (Monday, September 30, 3:30 PM) - And still having troubles, though progress has been made insofar as it's a different error I'm getting on my FTP program. Second round of support ticket requests for help is winging its way through the ether. I'm still hopeful I can make this new host work, but if it's still no-go by Friday I'll be forced to look elsewhere for hosting options.
--
UPDATE (Monday, September 30, 4:56 PM) - Kudos to the DreamHost team for helping me out; the site has officially been switched over and updated, with the month's new reviews archived and cross-linked on the main Brightdreamer Books site.
Enjoy!
Saturday, September 28, 2024
CatStronauts: Mission Moon (Drew Brockington)
CatStronauts: Mission Moon
The CatStronauts series, Book 1
Drew Brockington
Little, Brown and Company
Fiction, CH Graphic Novel/Humor/Sci-Fi
**** (Good)
DESCRIPTION: Oh, no! The world is about to run out of power! Fortunately, the President of America knows just who to call: the World's Best Scientist, who hatches a plan to put a solar power plant on the moon and beam energy back to Earth via microwave. To accomplish this, World's Best Scientist knows who else to call: the CatStronauts over at the Catsup Space Agency. Major Meowser, Waffles, Blanket, and Pom Pom - as well as the entire space agency, which hasn't conducted a moon mission in 30 years - have just 60 days to train, build a rocket, and get the lunar power plant online, or Earth will run out of energy and life as every cat knows it will end.
REVIEW: Melding humor and science and more than a few nods to the history of the (human) space race, CatStronauts is a fun little graphic novel for kids (and grown-ups reading along, or just looking for a light, fast-reading adventure). The illustrations are whimsical, with details that add to the humor and the resonance for those looking for real-world space connections. Characters are simple yet distinct and fun, learning to work together in a crunch and science their way through problems in true astronaut fashion, and the plot moves briskly (with more than a few throwaway puns and jokes). There's a little peril, a little conflict, and no real spoiler that things come together by the end. I had fun reading it, and if I ever need a light pick-me-up in the future, I might continue the series.
You Might Also Enjoy:
Captain Raptor and the Space Pirates (Kevin O'Malley and Patrick O'Brien) - My Review
In the Red (Christopher Swiedler) - My Review
Quantum Mechanics (Jeff Weigel) - My Review
The CatStronauts series, Book 1
Drew Brockington
Little, Brown and Company
Fiction, CH Graphic Novel/Humor/Sci-Fi
**** (Good)
DESCRIPTION: Oh, no! The world is about to run out of power! Fortunately, the President of America knows just who to call: the World's Best Scientist, who hatches a plan to put a solar power plant on the moon and beam energy back to Earth via microwave. To accomplish this, World's Best Scientist knows who else to call: the CatStronauts over at the Catsup Space Agency. Major Meowser, Waffles, Blanket, and Pom Pom - as well as the entire space agency, which hasn't conducted a moon mission in 30 years - have just 60 days to train, build a rocket, and get the lunar power plant online, or Earth will run out of energy and life as every cat knows it will end.
REVIEW: Melding humor and science and more than a few nods to the history of the (human) space race, CatStronauts is a fun little graphic novel for kids (and grown-ups reading along, or just looking for a light, fast-reading adventure). The illustrations are whimsical, with details that add to the humor and the resonance for those looking for real-world space connections. Characters are simple yet distinct and fun, learning to work together in a crunch and science their way through problems in true astronaut fashion, and the plot moves briskly (with more than a few throwaway puns and jokes). There's a little peril, a little conflict, and no real spoiler that things come together by the end. I had fun reading it, and if I ever need a light pick-me-up in the future, I might continue the series.
You Might Also Enjoy:
Captain Raptor and the Space Pirates (Kevin O'Malley and Patrick O'Brien) - My Review
In the Red (Christopher Swiedler) - My Review
Quantum Mechanics (Jeff Weigel) - My Review
Tuesday, September 24, 2024
Blade of Dream (Daniel Abraham)
Blade of Dream
The Kithamar trilogy, Book 2
Daniel Abraham
Orbit
Fiction, Fantasy
****+ (Good/Great)
DESCRIPTION: Since its founding, the city of Kithamar has been a city of struggles and contrasts, from the first violent clashes of invading Hansch against indigenous Inlisc to the friction of rival brotherhoods and religions and families and classes in its many sprawling districts. It is the duty of the prince to keep Kithamar together and help the city thrive despite its many differences and disagreements... but Byrn a Sal only reigned for a single year. Did he die by accident, by traitors in the palace, by some foreign plot, or by the very living thread of city itself?
Elaine a Sal has lived a life of privilege... and boredom. Her father may be next in line for the Kithamar crown, and herself his most likely successor, but she can't help feeling separated from the city she is expected to rule someday. As the current prince's death grows more imminent, she only feels the walls growing thicker. Then her cousin Theddan, notorious for flouting convention and pesky social rules, talks Elaine into sneaking out to a riverside party... and her whole world is turned upside down. When the bluecloak city guards raid the boathouse, Elaine dives into the river to escape capture (and embarrassment for her father) - and finds a stranger who helps her slip away, a handsome and noble-hearted young man far out of her social class but who unexpectedly captures her attention, and her heart. She knew she should forget all about one indiscretion, that the duties to family and city will always supersede personal happiness, but she can't help thinking of him. And when her father's rise to Palace Hill brings troubling hints that all is not well with the crown or the city, she realizes she can trust nobody - nobody except perhaps one handsome and noble-hearted young man from across the river...
Garreth Left's life has been proscribed by family "policy" since before he can remember. The way his mother is always away traveling while his father manages the family trading business at home: policy. The fact that he's no longer a child and yet is still in the dark about so much of the family business despite being the eldest son: policy. Now policy will dictate his marriage to a stranger, an Inlisc woman from a trading clan beyond Kithamar, a move that may restore House Left to its former fortune and glory (and provide a loophole through which to run an off-season caravan and undercut their rivals). Worse, his childhood best friends are all drifting away into their own lives. Three of them chose the blue cloaks of the city guard over lesser (or no) status roles in their own trader families, and though Garreth still spends time with them, he can feel the bonds fraying. He is with them one night, watching as they raid an unlawful party in a boathouse, when he sees a young woman climb out of the river and hide from the guards... and, rather than turn her in to his friends, he feels moved to help her - "help" that ends in his bedroom, though mutual consent. He never even asks her name, but from that moment on, his entire life tips askew. Suddenly, "policy" is no longer enough to compel him to accept a loveless marriage and a future dictated by others. He takes his first steps toward a life of his own, beyond the reach of his father and family policy. Little does he suspect just how far those steps will take him - and how the very fate of Kithamar might hang in the balance.
REVIEW: The first volume in the Kithamar trilogy was an unexpected delight, an epic fantasy compressed into the scope of one turbulent year and one fractured city, focused on a relatively small cast of players and yet with all the richness and worldbuilding and character growth of a larger, sprawling tale. The second volume follows the same year, but switches the focus to other characters, the star-crossed pair of Garreth and Elaine who were part of events in Age of Ash but not the main focus. It could easily have been a simple retread, but Abraham turns it into a fresh and interesting take that nevertheless slots seamlessly into the larger arc, which is also a different tale when viewed from another angle.
The original story's characters viewed the future prince Elaine a Sal ("prince" being a gender-neutral title in this world) as a sheltered, naive girl with a puppy-love crush on a stranger beneath her station. While Elaine is undoubtedly sheltered, she's not so naive that she doesn't realize it. Unlike her cousin Theddan, though, she has trouble pushing back too hard against rules and conventions, in no small part because of her deep love for her father; the thought of embarrassing him as Theddan embarrasses her family on an almost nightly basis is enough to keep her safely at home after dark. At last, when the princess feels the future closing in like a noose around her neck, she decides on one (likely first and last) walk on the wild side, reassured when her cousin insists she can get them in and out of the party without a problem, as she's done similar herself many times. Of course, that sort of confidence is catnip for fate; while Elaine manages to escape the bluecloaks, Theddan is finally caught in one transgression too many... but that is not the end of Theddan's involvement (or character growth), as she remains an ally to Elaine even in the darkest times. Elaine also finds herself drawn to the strange young man by the river who, instead of turning her over or being cruel, offers her help and respect. Their indiscretion in the bedroom is entirely consensual on both sides, both knowing that their families and stations and other obligations mean that their relationship has no future - or, at least, that's what they expect. But it changes everything for both of them. Elaine cannot forget him, or the taste of freedom he offered, the sense of someone seeing her as her and not as the daughter of her father, the princess, a potential playing piece in the eternal game of politics and personal ambition. When her father and his chief advisor start acting very strangely after his ascent to the throne, she realizes that he can be more than a one-off memory, but someone beyond the games of Palace Hill whom she can trust to be a neutral party to hear her out. Far from being the childish socialite glimpsed in the first book, she comes across as a reasonably competent young woman stuck a situation far beyond her control, doing her best to protect her loved ones.
Garreth, for his part, is as trapped as any noble by his merchant family's expectations. He's always a son of House Left first, and his own self second (or not at all). Even when his father brings a total stranger to their home and announces his plans for the marriage that will yoke Garreth for the rest of his days, he doesn't once think that he'll upset the rigid bindings of "policy" to refuse... until that night by the river. Suddenly, the thought of marriage to a woman who clearly doesn't care a speck about him seems intolerable. He walks away, thinking to join his friends with the bluecloaks. While he does okay in his new job, he never quite recaptures the camaraderie and old bond he once had with his friends, never truly settles in. And when he finally sees Elaine again and realizes who she is, things only get more complicated. Despite their best intentions, Garreth and Elaine's one-night stand has created something stronger, something they'll both end up relying on more and more as the true rot at the heart of Kithamar becomes more apparent. While Alys and Sammish (from Age of Ash) play a pivotal role in the struggle against that rot, Elaine and Garreth also have a very important role to play, one that's in no way less than that of the Inlisc thief and her friend.
As before, there are subtle magics at work in the city streets, but this time the role of the gods is more apparent from earlier on, or so it seemed to me (though perhaps it was because I knew to look for it). This book also delves more into just what the gods are and how they came to be, with some interesting takes on familiar ideas. Coming from a more educated background, Elaine learns more about the history and philosophy of the city's deities, and makes the discovery of their existence in a different way, while Garreth has his own journey to the secrets of Kithamar.
Many authors might have chosen to weave the tales of Alys and Sammish from the first volume along with Garreth and Elaine, as their stories cover the same timespan and ultimately tie into the same greater arc. By separating out characters into their own books, Abraham gives them breathing room, freeing them from overwhelming each other. As in any city, there are many individual lives threading through the streets, lives which may braid together with others or with the greater tale of the population but which are also separate entities, no less rich for being their own. This storytelling approach also lends greater weight and scale to Kithamar itself, a city too large and too complex to belong to any small handful of people. Even places and people familiar from the first volume look entirely different here. I'm already looking forward to the third and final installment.
You Might Also Enjoy:
Age of Ash (Daniel Abraham) - My Review
City of Stairs (Robert Jackson Bennett) - My Review
Promise of Blood (Brian McClellan) - My Review
The Kithamar trilogy, Book 2
Daniel Abraham
Orbit
Fiction, Fantasy
****+ (Good/Great)
DESCRIPTION: Since its founding, the city of Kithamar has been a city of struggles and contrasts, from the first violent clashes of invading Hansch against indigenous Inlisc to the friction of rival brotherhoods and religions and families and classes in its many sprawling districts. It is the duty of the prince to keep Kithamar together and help the city thrive despite its many differences and disagreements... but Byrn a Sal only reigned for a single year. Did he die by accident, by traitors in the palace, by some foreign plot, or by the very living thread of city itself?
Elaine a Sal has lived a life of privilege... and boredom. Her father may be next in line for the Kithamar crown, and herself his most likely successor, but she can't help feeling separated from the city she is expected to rule someday. As the current prince's death grows more imminent, she only feels the walls growing thicker. Then her cousin Theddan, notorious for flouting convention and pesky social rules, talks Elaine into sneaking out to a riverside party... and her whole world is turned upside down. When the bluecloak city guards raid the boathouse, Elaine dives into the river to escape capture (and embarrassment for her father) - and finds a stranger who helps her slip away, a handsome and noble-hearted young man far out of her social class but who unexpectedly captures her attention, and her heart. She knew she should forget all about one indiscretion, that the duties to family and city will always supersede personal happiness, but she can't help thinking of him. And when her father's rise to Palace Hill brings troubling hints that all is not well with the crown or the city, she realizes she can trust nobody - nobody except perhaps one handsome and noble-hearted young man from across the river...
Garreth Left's life has been proscribed by family "policy" since before he can remember. The way his mother is always away traveling while his father manages the family trading business at home: policy. The fact that he's no longer a child and yet is still in the dark about so much of the family business despite being the eldest son: policy. Now policy will dictate his marriage to a stranger, an Inlisc woman from a trading clan beyond Kithamar, a move that may restore House Left to its former fortune and glory (and provide a loophole through which to run an off-season caravan and undercut their rivals). Worse, his childhood best friends are all drifting away into their own lives. Three of them chose the blue cloaks of the city guard over lesser (or no) status roles in their own trader families, and though Garreth still spends time with them, he can feel the bonds fraying. He is with them one night, watching as they raid an unlawful party in a boathouse, when he sees a young woman climb out of the river and hide from the guards... and, rather than turn her in to his friends, he feels moved to help her - "help" that ends in his bedroom, though mutual consent. He never even asks her name, but from that moment on, his entire life tips askew. Suddenly, "policy" is no longer enough to compel him to accept a loveless marriage and a future dictated by others. He takes his first steps toward a life of his own, beyond the reach of his father and family policy. Little does he suspect just how far those steps will take him - and how the very fate of Kithamar might hang in the balance.
REVIEW: The first volume in the Kithamar trilogy was an unexpected delight, an epic fantasy compressed into the scope of one turbulent year and one fractured city, focused on a relatively small cast of players and yet with all the richness and worldbuilding and character growth of a larger, sprawling tale. The second volume follows the same year, but switches the focus to other characters, the star-crossed pair of Garreth and Elaine who were part of events in Age of Ash but not the main focus. It could easily have been a simple retread, but Abraham turns it into a fresh and interesting take that nevertheless slots seamlessly into the larger arc, which is also a different tale when viewed from another angle.
The original story's characters viewed the future prince Elaine a Sal ("prince" being a gender-neutral title in this world) as a sheltered, naive girl with a puppy-love crush on a stranger beneath her station. While Elaine is undoubtedly sheltered, she's not so naive that she doesn't realize it. Unlike her cousin Theddan, though, she has trouble pushing back too hard against rules and conventions, in no small part because of her deep love for her father; the thought of embarrassing him as Theddan embarrasses her family on an almost nightly basis is enough to keep her safely at home after dark. At last, when the princess feels the future closing in like a noose around her neck, she decides on one (likely first and last) walk on the wild side, reassured when her cousin insists she can get them in and out of the party without a problem, as she's done similar herself many times. Of course, that sort of confidence is catnip for fate; while Elaine manages to escape the bluecloaks, Theddan is finally caught in one transgression too many... but that is not the end of Theddan's involvement (or character growth), as she remains an ally to Elaine even in the darkest times. Elaine also finds herself drawn to the strange young man by the river who, instead of turning her over or being cruel, offers her help and respect. Their indiscretion in the bedroom is entirely consensual on both sides, both knowing that their families and stations and other obligations mean that their relationship has no future - or, at least, that's what they expect. But it changes everything for both of them. Elaine cannot forget him, or the taste of freedom he offered, the sense of someone seeing her as her and not as the daughter of her father, the princess, a potential playing piece in the eternal game of politics and personal ambition. When her father and his chief advisor start acting very strangely after his ascent to the throne, she realizes that he can be more than a one-off memory, but someone beyond the games of Palace Hill whom she can trust to be a neutral party to hear her out. Far from being the childish socialite glimpsed in the first book, she comes across as a reasonably competent young woman stuck a situation far beyond her control, doing her best to protect her loved ones.
Garreth, for his part, is as trapped as any noble by his merchant family's expectations. He's always a son of House Left first, and his own self second (or not at all). Even when his father brings a total stranger to their home and announces his plans for the marriage that will yoke Garreth for the rest of his days, he doesn't once think that he'll upset the rigid bindings of "policy" to refuse... until that night by the river. Suddenly, the thought of marriage to a woman who clearly doesn't care a speck about him seems intolerable. He walks away, thinking to join his friends with the bluecloaks. While he does okay in his new job, he never quite recaptures the camaraderie and old bond he once had with his friends, never truly settles in. And when he finally sees Elaine again and realizes who she is, things only get more complicated. Despite their best intentions, Garreth and Elaine's one-night stand has created something stronger, something they'll both end up relying on more and more as the true rot at the heart of Kithamar becomes more apparent. While Alys and Sammish (from Age of Ash) play a pivotal role in the struggle against that rot, Elaine and Garreth also have a very important role to play, one that's in no way less than that of the Inlisc thief and her friend.
As before, there are subtle magics at work in the city streets, but this time the role of the gods is more apparent from earlier on, or so it seemed to me (though perhaps it was because I knew to look for it). This book also delves more into just what the gods are and how they came to be, with some interesting takes on familiar ideas. Coming from a more educated background, Elaine learns more about the history and philosophy of the city's deities, and makes the discovery of their existence in a different way, while Garreth has his own journey to the secrets of Kithamar.
Many authors might have chosen to weave the tales of Alys and Sammish from the first volume along with Garreth and Elaine, as their stories cover the same timespan and ultimately tie into the same greater arc. By separating out characters into their own books, Abraham gives them breathing room, freeing them from overwhelming each other. As in any city, there are many individual lives threading through the streets, lives which may braid together with others or with the greater tale of the population but which are also separate entities, no less rich for being their own. This storytelling approach also lends greater weight and scale to Kithamar itself, a city too large and too complex to belong to any small handful of people. Even places and people familiar from the first volume look entirely different here. I'm already looking forward to the third and final installment.
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Age of Ash (Daniel Abraham) - My Review
City of Stairs (Robert Jackson Bennett) - My Review
Promise of Blood (Brian McClellan) - My Review
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