November's nine reviews have been archived and cross-linked on the main Brightdreamer Books website.
Enjoy!
Monday, November 30, 2020
Thursday, November 26, 2020
Alif the Unseen (G. Willow Wilson)
Alif the Unseen
G. Willow Wilson
Grove Press
Fiction, Fantasy
** (Bad)
DESCRIPTION: In a small desert country off the Persian Gulf, the State rules with an iron hand, backed by the riches of the oil fields and the cybersecurity agent known as the Hand of God. The young man who calls himself Alif is among the few who resist, helping shield dissidents of all stripes around the world from their own governments. Though he may be rebellious online, his real life is anything but bold, spent mostly in a room in his room or among a very small handful of other computer geeks on the edges of the City's law. He never thought he'd have to come out from behind his screen name... until the woman he loved and pledged himself to, wealthy Intisar, announces she's to be married to a man of better prospects and she doesn't want to see him again, online or off. His rash actions in the wake of rejection - inventing a new breed of computer tracking software - bring the eye of the Hand to his doorstep. Now he's on the run, along with the neighbor girl Dina who just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time (and have the wrong childhood friend in Alif.) In his flight, he discovers the terrible truth behind the Hand's power, tied to the legendary jinni and to an ancient book whose pages could remake the future.
REVIEW: For a book that grabbed me early on, with a near-future (or merely contemporary - the timeline is never precisely nailed down) dystopian Middle East and a refreshingly non-Western perspective, Alif the Unseen took an almost unprecedented nosedive by the end. What went wrong? It stopped being a technological fantasy and started being an overlong parable extolling the virtues of the Quran, thus answering the question of whether a preachy Muslim book could be just as annoying as a preachy Christian book (yes, it truly can be.) Even the jinni are all about religious lessons. It also reduces all females to objects who seem to embrace their object/trophy status and lack of power over their own destinies (one of whom is only ever known by "the convert" and not a name, and another of whom may have voluntarily undergone female circumcision - way to empower, not), while Alif gets to bed whomever he choses with impunity - one of whom isn't even a human woman. I might not have minded had Alif not started and remained such an irritating and obtuse main character, largely so other characters can preach to him and lead him back into the arms of God. The Hand is a decently nefarious bad guy, at least, firmly convinced that all means justify the ends of the ordered world he strives for, where the "delusion of freedom" is stamped out and the strong control every aspect of life for the weak... a vision not that far removed from fundamental religion. By the end, I couldn't bring myself to care about the climax or outcome because it was all so clearly just an allegory for more religious dogma. (And when that dogma resorts to distortions to praise its own wonders, you really lose me... but, then, I'm beyond salvation in any vision of religion.) At least with Narnia I got some nice mind's eye candy in another world; here, it's a dark and dystopian trek to teach one selfish and block-headed man the value of prayer.
While this World Fantasy Award-winning title started with plenty of potential and a different sort of fantasy setting, by the end it was nothing but a pile of half-baked religious messages flung at the protagonist until some of them finally stick.
You Might Also Enjoy:
The Armored Saint (Myke Cole) - My Review
Rebel of the Sands (Alwyn Hamilton) - My Review
Endymion Spring (Matthew Skelton) - My Review
G. Willow Wilson
Grove Press
Fiction, Fantasy
** (Bad)
DESCRIPTION: In a small desert country off the Persian Gulf, the State rules with an iron hand, backed by the riches of the oil fields and the cybersecurity agent known as the Hand of God. The young man who calls himself Alif is among the few who resist, helping shield dissidents of all stripes around the world from their own governments. Though he may be rebellious online, his real life is anything but bold, spent mostly in a room in his room or among a very small handful of other computer geeks on the edges of the City's law. He never thought he'd have to come out from behind his screen name... until the woman he loved and pledged himself to, wealthy Intisar, announces she's to be married to a man of better prospects and she doesn't want to see him again, online or off. His rash actions in the wake of rejection - inventing a new breed of computer tracking software - bring the eye of the Hand to his doorstep. Now he's on the run, along with the neighbor girl Dina who just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time (and have the wrong childhood friend in Alif.) In his flight, he discovers the terrible truth behind the Hand's power, tied to the legendary jinni and to an ancient book whose pages could remake the future.
REVIEW: For a book that grabbed me early on, with a near-future (or merely contemporary - the timeline is never precisely nailed down) dystopian Middle East and a refreshingly non-Western perspective, Alif the Unseen took an almost unprecedented nosedive by the end. What went wrong? It stopped being a technological fantasy and started being an overlong parable extolling the virtues of the Quran, thus answering the question of whether a preachy Muslim book could be just as annoying as a preachy Christian book (yes, it truly can be.) Even the jinni are all about religious lessons. It also reduces all females to objects who seem to embrace their object/trophy status and lack of power over their own destinies (one of whom is only ever known by "the convert" and not a name, and another of whom may have voluntarily undergone female circumcision - way to empower, not), while Alif gets to bed whomever he choses with impunity - one of whom isn't even a human woman. I might not have minded had Alif not started and remained such an irritating and obtuse main character, largely so other characters can preach to him and lead him back into the arms of God. The Hand is a decently nefarious bad guy, at least, firmly convinced that all means justify the ends of the ordered world he strives for, where the "delusion of freedom" is stamped out and the strong control every aspect of life for the weak... a vision not that far removed from fundamental religion. By the end, I couldn't bring myself to care about the climax or outcome because it was all so clearly just an allegory for more religious dogma. (And when that dogma resorts to distortions to praise its own wonders, you really lose me... but, then, I'm beyond salvation in any vision of religion.) At least with Narnia I got some nice mind's eye candy in another world; here, it's a dark and dystopian trek to teach one selfish and block-headed man the value of prayer.
While this World Fantasy Award-winning title started with plenty of potential and a different sort of fantasy setting, by the end it was nothing but a pile of half-baked religious messages flung at the protagonist until some of them finally stick.
You Might Also Enjoy:
The Armored Saint (Myke Cole) - My Review
Rebel of the Sands (Alwyn Hamilton) - My Review
Endymion Spring (Matthew Skelton) - My Review
Sunday, November 22, 2020
The Bone Shard Daughter (Andrea Stewart)
The Bone Shard Daughter
The Drowning Empire series, Book 1
Andrea Stewart
Orbit
Fiction, Fantasy
**** (Good)
DESCRIPTION: In a world of migratory islands adrift on the Endless Sea, the Phoenix Empire has stood for centuries, lone bulwark against the return of the powerful and destructive mages known as the Alanga. For the price of a sliver of bone from each child, key to the artificial constructs that defend the land and run its bureaucracies, the emperor keeps the people safe. But lately the emperor has turned increasingly inward, neglecting the people, even as disturbing signs of awakening Alanga magic show and islands start to rumble and sink beneath the waves. Rebellion is in the air, and unless a leader steps forward, all may be lost...
Lin, daughter of the emperor, lost her memory to a fever sickness and has never regained her father's love or trust. She secretly steals and copies the many keys he carries, which unlock countless doors and secrets within the mostly-empty palace - but what she discovers may be more devastating than she could ever have imagined.
Smuggler Jovis just wanted to pay off the shady Ioph Carn criminal network and get back to his pursuit of his lost wife: stolen seven years ago by a mysterious ship with sky-blue sails. He had just found a fresh lead on Deerhead Island when a desperate local pays him to steal a child from the trepanning ceremony: it's not uncommon for children to be killed while having their bone sliver tithe extracted, and it puts them forever at risk of sickening and dying when their shard is used to power an imperial construct, burning their life energy as a fire burns wood. When Deerhead Island shakes apart beneath his feet, Jovis is among the few survivors - along with the boy whose rescue will be the beginning of a new chapter in his life, and a strange catlike animal who awakens unusual abilities in the smuggler.
Phalue never wanted to be a governor's daughter, disgusted by her father's excesses, but neither does she understand the plight of the common farmers the man mercilessly works to death in the caro nut groves. Her girlfriend Ranami, a commoner raised from gutter orphan to bookseller, tries to teach her, but Phalue's head is as thick as her sword is sharp... until they become entangled with the rebel group, the Shardless Few, and their enigmatic leader Gio. He has already overthrown one governor - will Phalue's father be next? And will the future the Shardless Few want be any better than the one the empire offers?
And on a distant island, the lady Sand tumbles from a mango tree and suddenly recalls glimpses of another life: a life beyond the island, beyond the mangoes, in a palace with green-tiled rooftops. Suddenly, she starts to question everything she thought she knew... and begins to plot an escape to recover what was stolen from her.
REVIEW: I was in the mood for another epic fantasy, and this one (mostly) hit the spot. The Drowning Empire is an interesting world, where the islands drift across the ocean through years-long dry and wet seasons and where carved slivers of bone power artificial life forms with a language that has hints of computer coding - with similar potential for disastrous results if an unskilled coder messes up the syntax and order of instructions. It's a decently complex setting... and yet, by the end, I felt it was still a bit vague around the edges, with extraneous pieces that never seemed to find a place. Some are clearly left dangling for future installments, but others just seemed forgotten along the way. Likewise, the characters are generally interesting and rarely foolish, though once in a while there was a flatness and obviousness to their actions (or lack thereof) that struck a slightly-off-key note. Overall, it moves well and has some decent turns and setbacks along the way, though the ending is clearly less of a conclusion than a brief pause in a longer arc. Aside from a few niggling issues here and there, I enjoyed it, and will probably read onward when the next installment appears.
You Might Also Enjoy:
Ship of Magic (Robin Hobb) - My Review
Seafire (Natalie C. Parker) - My Review
The Waking Fire (Anthony Ryan) - My Review
The Drowning Empire series, Book 1
Andrea Stewart
Orbit
Fiction, Fantasy
**** (Good)
DESCRIPTION: In a world of migratory islands adrift on the Endless Sea, the Phoenix Empire has stood for centuries, lone bulwark against the return of the powerful and destructive mages known as the Alanga. For the price of a sliver of bone from each child, key to the artificial constructs that defend the land and run its bureaucracies, the emperor keeps the people safe. But lately the emperor has turned increasingly inward, neglecting the people, even as disturbing signs of awakening Alanga magic show and islands start to rumble and sink beneath the waves. Rebellion is in the air, and unless a leader steps forward, all may be lost...
Lin, daughter of the emperor, lost her memory to a fever sickness and has never regained her father's love or trust. She secretly steals and copies the many keys he carries, which unlock countless doors and secrets within the mostly-empty palace - but what she discovers may be more devastating than she could ever have imagined.
Smuggler Jovis just wanted to pay off the shady Ioph Carn criminal network and get back to his pursuit of his lost wife: stolen seven years ago by a mysterious ship with sky-blue sails. He had just found a fresh lead on Deerhead Island when a desperate local pays him to steal a child from the trepanning ceremony: it's not uncommon for children to be killed while having their bone sliver tithe extracted, and it puts them forever at risk of sickening and dying when their shard is used to power an imperial construct, burning their life energy as a fire burns wood. When Deerhead Island shakes apart beneath his feet, Jovis is among the few survivors - along with the boy whose rescue will be the beginning of a new chapter in his life, and a strange catlike animal who awakens unusual abilities in the smuggler.
Phalue never wanted to be a governor's daughter, disgusted by her father's excesses, but neither does she understand the plight of the common farmers the man mercilessly works to death in the caro nut groves. Her girlfriend Ranami, a commoner raised from gutter orphan to bookseller, tries to teach her, but Phalue's head is as thick as her sword is sharp... until they become entangled with the rebel group, the Shardless Few, and their enigmatic leader Gio. He has already overthrown one governor - will Phalue's father be next? And will the future the Shardless Few want be any better than the one the empire offers?
And on a distant island, the lady Sand tumbles from a mango tree and suddenly recalls glimpses of another life: a life beyond the island, beyond the mangoes, in a palace with green-tiled rooftops. Suddenly, she starts to question everything she thought she knew... and begins to plot an escape to recover what was stolen from her.
REVIEW: I was in the mood for another epic fantasy, and this one (mostly) hit the spot. The Drowning Empire is an interesting world, where the islands drift across the ocean through years-long dry and wet seasons and where carved slivers of bone power artificial life forms with a language that has hints of computer coding - with similar potential for disastrous results if an unskilled coder messes up the syntax and order of instructions. It's a decently complex setting... and yet, by the end, I felt it was still a bit vague around the edges, with extraneous pieces that never seemed to find a place. Some are clearly left dangling for future installments, but others just seemed forgotten along the way. Likewise, the characters are generally interesting and rarely foolish, though once in a while there was a flatness and obviousness to their actions (or lack thereof) that struck a slightly-off-key note. Overall, it moves well and has some decent turns and setbacks along the way, though the ending is clearly less of a conclusion than a brief pause in a longer arc. Aside from a few niggling issues here and there, I enjoyed it, and will probably read onward when the next installment appears.
You Might Also Enjoy:
Ship of Magic (Robin Hobb) - My Review
Seafire (Natalie C. Parker) - My Review
The Waking Fire (Anthony Ryan) - My Review
Thursday, November 19, 2020
Planet Paradise (Jesse Lonergan)
Planet Paradise
Jesse Lonergan
Image Comics
Fiction, Graphic Novel/Sci-Fi
*** (Okay)
DESCRIPTION: Eunice's trip to Planet Paradise, a world of rest and relaxation, turns into a nightmare when the ship crash-lands on a hellhole infested with carnivorous lizard beasts. As the only vacationer to awaken from the trip's stasis pods, it falls to her to help the injured (and drug-addled) captain as they await rescue... assuming the corporation can be bothered.
REVIEW: The premise had plenty of promise, and it starts out on a decent note, presenting a world where space travel is so routine that bureaucracy's jaded, cynical shadow has fallen over everything. Rescue pilots delay their mission so they can see the end of the cheap melodrama they're watching on the shipboard computer, and they're only dispatched after HQ belatedly decides the red light alarm of a trip gone wrong is worth getting up from a chair to answer. Only Eunice seems to have some lingering sense of adventure and optimism, which is the only way anyone ultimately survives... but it's a bit of a bait-and-switch to make it sound like she has many adventures and the captain is constantly dragging her down. The captain spends most of the time drugged up on pain meds (which she doesn't just take when she's injured) and complaining. When they finally do leave, Eunice's visit to Planet Paradise with her also-jaded husband Peter shows how the trip has changed her, or rather revealed who she really is... but the change feels muted, blunted by everyone else's utter lack of interest in anything (save when they're actively trying to convince her, too, to not care or push or do - despite being a far-future interplanetary culture, apparently wives are still supposed to sit around the hotel getting massages while husbands golf and drink beer), and by the end she seems to have acquired a touch of that, herself. It left a disappointing taste in my mouth.
You Might Also Enjoy:
Sea of Stars Volume 1 (Jason Aaron and Dennis Hallum) - My Review
All Systems Red (Martha Wells) - My Review
Mirror World (Tad Williams) - My Review
Jesse Lonergan
Image Comics
Fiction, Graphic Novel/Sci-Fi
*** (Okay)
DESCRIPTION: Eunice's trip to Planet Paradise, a world of rest and relaxation, turns into a nightmare when the ship crash-lands on a hellhole infested with carnivorous lizard beasts. As the only vacationer to awaken from the trip's stasis pods, it falls to her to help the injured (and drug-addled) captain as they await rescue... assuming the corporation can be bothered.
REVIEW: The premise had plenty of promise, and it starts out on a decent note, presenting a world where space travel is so routine that bureaucracy's jaded, cynical shadow has fallen over everything. Rescue pilots delay their mission so they can see the end of the cheap melodrama they're watching on the shipboard computer, and they're only dispatched after HQ belatedly decides the red light alarm of a trip gone wrong is worth getting up from a chair to answer. Only Eunice seems to have some lingering sense of adventure and optimism, which is the only way anyone ultimately survives... but it's a bit of a bait-and-switch to make it sound like she has many adventures and the captain is constantly dragging her down. The captain spends most of the time drugged up on pain meds (which she doesn't just take when she's injured) and complaining. When they finally do leave, Eunice's visit to Planet Paradise with her also-jaded husband Peter shows how the trip has changed her, or rather revealed who she really is... but the change feels muted, blunted by everyone else's utter lack of interest in anything (save when they're actively trying to convince her, too, to not care or push or do - despite being a far-future interplanetary culture, apparently wives are still supposed to sit around the hotel getting massages while husbands golf and drink beer), and by the end she seems to have acquired a touch of that, herself. It left a disappointing taste in my mouth.
You Might Also Enjoy:
Sea of Stars Volume 1 (Jason Aaron and Dennis Hallum) - My Review
All Systems Red (Martha Wells) - My Review
Mirror World (Tad Williams) - My Review
Friday, November 13, 2020
Over the Woodward Wall (A. Deborah Baker)
Over the Woodward Wall
The Up-and-Under series, Book 1
A. Deborah Baker
Tordotcom
Fiction, MG? Fantasy
***** (Great)
DESCRIPTION: Zib and Avery lived on the same street in the same town, but in different worlds. Zib was a girl of wild hair and mismatched socks, her weekends spent catching frogs in the woods. Avery was a boy of pleated pants and shiny shoes who preferred reading or studying for school. They'd never even met until the day they were both forced to detour on their way to their separate schools... and both found themselves standing before a wall that they knew they hadn't ever seen in their neighborhood before. On the far side, they find a wild and impossible woodland stretching as far as the eye can see - and a talking owl who tells them that, like it or not, they're now on an Adventure, one that can only end once they find the improbable road and follow it all the way to the Impossible City at the heart of the realm known as the Up-and-Under. As Zib and Avery began their journey together, they must end it together as well... but that's easier said than done, when they have so little in common, and when the Up-and-Under and the improbable road seem to be doing their level best to tear them apart.
REVIEW: "A. Deborah Baker" is a pseudonym for popular author Seanan McGuire; this book, her first aimed at younger readers, is actually a spinoff, referenced as an in-world classic in her dark fantasy Middlegame. (It is not necessary to have read Middlegame first, which is good as that book is most definitely not for young children; though there are story parallels, the two stand well on their own.) Over the Woodward Wall is an homage to classic portal fantasies, where children stumble into fantasy worlds and meet many strange characters in their travels, but it is also its own thing. The Up-and-Under is less friendly than classic Oz-type worlds; to enter is not to simply have a light afternoon's adventure between teatime and dinner, but to face the very real possibility of losing one's home, one's memory, even one's heart. The characters likewise are more akin to older fae tales, not always friendly to outsiders; among them, the truth is a slippery thing, and words have power that the children don't always realize until they've already spoken. Zib and Avery make decent heroes, both young enough to make mistakes and clever enough to (mostly) learn from them. The whole is a fine adventure with nice mind's-eye-candy and turns of phrase, though it does not end with a neat wrap-up; it's the first in a series, after all. It's an enjoyable and imaginative tale, one that can be enjoyed by young and old alike.
You Might Also Enjoy:
The Wizard of Oz (L. Frank Baum) - My Review
The Divide (Elizabeth Kay) - My Review
Middlegame (Seanan McGuire) - My Review
The Up-and-Under series, Book 1
A. Deborah Baker
Tordotcom
Fiction, MG? Fantasy
***** (Great)
DESCRIPTION: Zib and Avery lived on the same street in the same town, but in different worlds. Zib was a girl of wild hair and mismatched socks, her weekends spent catching frogs in the woods. Avery was a boy of pleated pants and shiny shoes who preferred reading or studying for school. They'd never even met until the day they were both forced to detour on their way to their separate schools... and both found themselves standing before a wall that they knew they hadn't ever seen in their neighborhood before. On the far side, they find a wild and impossible woodland stretching as far as the eye can see - and a talking owl who tells them that, like it or not, they're now on an Adventure, one that can only end once they find the improbable road and follow it all the way to the Impossible City at the heart of the realm known as the Up-and-Under. As Zib and Avery began their journey together, they must end it together as well... but that's easier said than done, when they have so little in common, and when the Up-and-Under and the improbable road seem to be doing their level best to tear them apart.
REVIEW: "A. Deborah Baker" is a pseudonym for popular author Seanan McGuire; this book, her first aimed at younger readers, is actually a spinoff, referenced as an in-world classic in her dark fantasy Middlegame. (It is not necessary to have read Middlegame first, which is good as that book is most definitely not for young children; though there are story parallels, the two stand well on their own.) Over the Woodward Wall is an homage to classic portal fantasies, where children stumble into fantasy worlds and meet many strange characters in their travels, but it is also its own thing. The Up-and-Under is less friendly than classic Oz-type worlds; to enter is not to simply have a light afternoon's adventure between teatime and dinner, but to face the very real possibility of losing one's home, one's memory, even one's heart. The characters likewise are more akin to older fae tales, not always friendly to outsiders; among them, the truth is a slippery thing, and words have power that the children don't always realize until they've already spoken. Zib and Avery make decent heroes, both young enough to make mistakes and clever enough to (mostly) learn from them. The whole is a fine adventure with nice mind's-eye-candy and turns of phrase, though it does not end with a neat wrap-up; it's the first in a series, after all. It's an enjoyable and imaginative tale, one that can be enjoyed by young and old alike.
You Might Also Enjoy:
The Wizard of Oz (L. Frank Baum) - My Review
The Divide (Elizabeth Kay) - My Review
Middlegame (Seanan McGuire) - My Review
Tuesday, November 10, 2020
I Will Judge You by Your Bookshelf (Grant Snider)
I Will Judge You by Your Bookshelf
Grant Snider
Harry N. Abrams
Nonfiction, Collection/Comics/Creativity
**** (Good)
DESCRIPTION: Cartoonist Grant Snider presents more comics about the wonders of reading, the magic of books, and the struggles and rewards of writing.
REVIEW: Much like The Shape of Ideas, this collection offers an interesting, somewhat irreverent look at reading, readers, books of all kinds, and the act of creating words. Also like the previous collection, some of the cartoons reach a point, and some never quite get there. The poetry-themed comics in particular seemed to circle around concepts without quite reaching what they were aiming for, but then I've never been a huge poetry reader. There's also a whiff of repeated concepts now and again, easier to see in a collection than in random comics seen online here and there. Overall, though, it's a fun celebration of all things bookish.
You Might Also Enjoy:
Frequently Asked Questions: An Unshelved Collection (Gene Ambaum and Bill Barnes) - My Review
The Shape of Ideas (Grant Snider) - My Review
Book Love (Debbie Tung) - My Review
Grant Snider
Harry N. Abrams
Nonfiction, Collection/Comics/Creativity
**** (Good)
DESCRIPTION: Cartoonist Grant Snider presents more comics about the wonders of reading, the magic of books, and the struggles and rewards of writing.
REVIEW: Much like The Shape of Ideas, this collection offers an interesting, somewhat irreverent look at reading, readers, books of all kinds, and the act of creating words. Also like the previous collection, some of the cartoons reach a point, and some never quite get there. The poetry-themed comics in particular seemed to circle around concepts without quite reaching what they were aiming for, but then I've never been a huge poetry reader. There's also a whiff of repeated concepts now and again, easier to see in a collection than in random comics seen online here and there. Overall, though, it's a fun celebration of all things bookish.
You Might Also Enjoy:
Frequently Asked Questions: An Unshelved Collection (Gene Ambaum and Bill Barnes) - My Review
The Shape of Ideas (Grant Snider) - My Review
Book Love (Debbie Tung) - My Review
Sunday, November 8, 2020
Steel Crow Saga (Paul Krueger)
Steel Crow Saga
Paul Krueger
Del Rey
Fiction, Fantasy
**** (Good)
DESCRIPTION: For decades, Tomoda ruled with a steel fist - literally. With the nation's ability to metalpact, channeling their soul into metals to guide bullets true or heat blades white-hot or even power machinery, they plundered the lands of Sanbu, Shang, and Dahal, stripping their resources and subjugating their people in the name of "modernization." They were seemingly unstoppable, until a coalition of Tomoda's oppressed victims managed to throw off their yoke and decapitate their royal house. Now captive Prince Jimuro, long a prisoner of Sanbu's general leader, is being sent home to defeated Tomoda to fill the long-empty throne of the Steel Lord, a bid for peace in a world still reeling from years of bitter war. But what was supposed to be a simple, if secret, mission becomes a bloodbath. Now, only four people of different nations and conflicted loyalties stand between the world and a terror even darker and more dangerous than the war they barely survived.
Sergeant Tala was an honored member of Sanbu's rebellion, along with her shade: Beaky, the crow soul she pacted with, an ancient tradition that Tomoda tried to stamp out as "slavery" and "barbarism." Being chosen to escort Jimuro back to his throne was a great honor, though it can't help rankle, given that Tomoda destroyed her homeland and her family... but she understands the importance of the mission, even if she has next to no faith in the weakling, arrogant young man's ability to follow through, so she shall do her duty. When her unit is attacked at sea, only she and the prince survive - and secrets she's hidden even from her own general threaten to come to light, endangering herself, the prince, and the mission.
Jimuro always expected to become Steel Lord someday, but he thought he'd do so only after many more years of his stern yet powerful mother's reign... and ascend to the throne of a Tomoda that still reigned superior over the world, dragging nations of ungrateful heathens into the light of modern civilization. Years of captivity among the Sanbu have humbled him, though he still hasn't reconciled himself to their soul-enslaving, meat-eating ways. Nevertheless, he was willing to at least try rebuilding Tomoda into an engine of peace instead of a sword of conquest - but to do so, he not only has to survive, but find his own steel.
Princess Xiulan was twenty-eighth in line for the Shang imperial throne, the family disgrace and outcast, but she's never been one to give up without a fight. In the tradition of her hero, the fictional detective Bai Junjie, she joined Shang's elite investigation force, the Li Quan. With the help of an imprisoned thief, she might finally have a chance to prove herself worthy of the throne (and show up her main rival, second daughter Ruomei) by intercepting a secret Sanbu mission to return the Steel Lord's heir to Tomoda... but things go wrong almost from the start.
As a Jeongsonese, Lee is considered lower than a street rat by every other nation that has ever trampled her ancestral homeland; when the Tomoda took over, it was merely a different flag over their head and a different cut of boot on their neck. So she has no real qualms about a life of theft and petty cons, relieving interlopers of their riches. When one of her associates got her tangled up in black market organ harvesting (and disappeared, leaving her holding the bag), she figured her minimal luck had run out - until a peculiar Li Quan inspector arrives just before her execution, with an unusual offer. Anything that keeps her alive another day is worth snatching at, but this time Lee finds herself entangled in a way she'd never anticipated... and her decisions may tip the balance in a struggle that will determine the fates of nations.
REVIEW: Steel Crow Saga takes a concept much like Pokemon and injects it into a rich, multicultural, and near-modern setting and a story with a certain anime vibe. It starts moving almost on the first page and only rarely slows down, with action and danger and several witty moments thrown in as personalities mix and clash in unexpected ways. The characters, though, start feeling a bit exaggerated and flat as the tale unfolds, and some of the plot twists, particularly toward the end, have a contrived aftertaste. The whole story warps itself ultimately around Tala and her secrets, which involve the fate of her beloved brother and the origins of her crow shade (as strongly implied by the title) as well as other developments that are never adequately explained in this volume. It feels like there is supposed to be a sequel, though I have seen no sign of one, and am not quite sure if I'd read it if I found it, to be honest. Something about the whole conclusion just didn't sit right with what came before to me, in a way I couldn't quite put my finger on; something about how everything was designed to create the most angst and pain in Tala, perhaps, when she came to be among my least favorite characters (for reasons I can't get into without possible spoilers.) Still, I did enjoy the setting, and it had many fun and interesting moments. I also liked the shadepacting concept.
You Might Also Enjoy:
Furies of Calderon (Jim Butcher) - My Review
Jade City (Fonda Lee) - My Review
The Tiger's Daughter (K. Arsenault Rivera) - My Review
Paul Krueger
Del Rey
Fiction, Fantasy
**** (Good)
DESCRIPTION: For decades, Tomoda ruled with a steel fist - literally. With the nation's ability to metalpact, channeling their soul into metals to guide bullets true or heat blades white-hot or even power machinery, they plundered the lands of Sanbu, Shang, and Dahal, stripping their resources and subjugating their people in the name of "modernization." They were seemingly unstoppable, until a coalition of Tomoda's oppressed victims managed to throw off their yoke and decapitate their royal house. Now captive Prince Jimuro, long a prisoner of Sanbu's general leader, is being sent home to defeated Tomoda to fill the long-empty throne of the Steel Lord, a bid for peace in a world still reeling from years of bitter war. But what was supposed to be a simple, if secret, mission becomes a bloodbath. Now, only four people of different nations and conflicted loyalties stand between the world and a terror even darker and more dangerous than the war they barely survived.
Sergeant Tala was an honored member of Sanbu's rebellion, along with her shade: Beaky, the crow soul she pacted with, an ancient tradition that Tomoda tried to stamp out as "slavery" and "barbarism." Being chosen to escort Jimuro back to his throne was a great honor, though it can't help rankle, given that Tomoda destroyed her homeland and her family... but she understands the importance of the mission, even if she has next to no faith in the weakling, arrogant young man's ability to follow through, so she shall do her duty. When her unit is attacked at sea, only she and the prince survive - and secrets she's hidden even from her own general threaten to come to light, endangering herself, the prince, and the mission.
Jimuro always expected to become Steel Lord someday, but he thought he'd do so only after many more years of his stern yet powerful mother's reign... and ascend to the throne of a Tomoda that still reigned superior over the world, dragging nations of ungrateful heathens into the light of modern civilization. Years of captivity among the Sanbu have humbled him, though he still hasn't reconciled himself to their soul-enslaving, meat-eating ways. Nevertheless, he was willing to at least try rebuilding Tomoda into an engine of peace instead of a sword of conquest - but to do so, he not only has to survive, but find his own steel.
Princess Xiulan was twenty-eighth in line for the Shang imperial throne, the family disgrace and outcast, but she's never been one to give up without a fight. In the tradition of her hero, the fictional detective Bai Junjie, she joined Shang's elite investigation force, the Li Quan. With the help of an imprisoned thief, she might finally have a chance to prove herself worthy of the throne (and show up her main rival, second daughter Ruomei) by intercepting a secret Sanbu mission to return the Steel Lord's heir to Tomoda... but things go wrong almost from the start.
As a Jeongsonese, Lee is considered lower than a street rat by every other nation that has ever trampled her ancestral homeland; when the Tomoda took over, it was merely a different flag over their head and a different cut of boot on their neck. So she has no real qualms about a life of theft and petty cons, relieving interlopers of their riches. When one of her associates got her tangled up in black market organ harvesting (and disappeared, leaving her holding the bag), she figured her minimal luck had run out - until a peculiar Li Quan inspector arrives just before her execution, with an unusual offer. Anything that keeps her alive another day is worth snatching at, but this time Lee finds herself entangled in a way she'd never anticipated... and her decisions may tip the balance in a struggle that will determine the fates of nations.
REVIEW: Steel Crow Saga takes a concept much like Pokemon and injects it into a rich, multicultural, and near-modern setting and a story with a certain anime vibe. It starts moving almost on the first page and only rarely slows down, with action and danger and several witty moments thrown in as personalities mix and clash in unexpected ways. The characters, though, start feeling a bit exaggerated and flat as the tale unfolds, and some of the plot twists, particularly toward the end, have a contrived aftertaste. The whole story warps itself ultimately around Tala and her secrets, which involve the fate of her beloved brother and the origins of her crow shade (as strongly implied by the title) as well as other developments that are never adequately explained in this volume. It feels like there is supposed to be a sequel, though I have seen no sign of one, and am not quite sure if I'd read it if I found it, to be honest. Something about the whole conclusion just didn't sit right with what came before to me, in a way I couldn't quite put my finger on; something about how everything was designed to create the most angst and pain in Tala, perhaps, when she came to be among my least favorite characters (for reasons I can't get into without possible spoilers.) Still, I did enjoy the setting, and it had many fun and interesting moments. I also liked the shadepacting concept.
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Furies of Calderon (Jim Butcher) - My Review
Jade City (Fonda Lee) - My Review
The Tiger's Daughter (K. Arsenault Rivera) - My Review
Thursday, November 5, 2020
Emergency Skin (N. K. Jemisin)
Emergency Skin
The Forward collection
N. K. Jemisin
Amazon Original Stories
Fiction, Sci-Fi
****+ (Good/Great)
DESCRIPTION: An explorer from a rigidly-controlled colony world braves light-years of space and returns to the ecologically devastated birthplace of the human species in search of needed biological material. Success will bring the reward of skin and other luxuries deprived of all but the most worthy of the technocrati, descendants of the wise Founders who ensured humanity's survival by fleeing to the stars. But the planet once known as Earth is no wasteland. How is it possible that anything survived? What happened in the intervening centuries? And what does that mean about the space colonies?
REVIEW: This is a quick-reading story that turns old tropes about progress and the space race being the salvation of a dying Earth on their ear. The narrator is an AI implant in the mind of the never-named explorer, trying with increasing desperation to keep its mission on track in the face of dangerous distractions like "nature", "beauty", and "humanity." It's intriguing, thought-provoking, and hopeful in a world where "hope" may be the ultimate endangered species.
You Might Also Enjoy:
Foundation (Isaac Asimov) - My Review
Red Rising (Pierce Brown) - My Review
City (Clifford D. Simak) - My Review
The Forward collection
N. K. Jemisin
Amazon Original Stories
Fiction, Sci-Fi
****+ (Good/Great)
DESCRIPTION: An explorer from a rigidly-controlled colony world braves light-years of space and returns to the ecologically devastated birthplace of the human species in search of needed biological material. Success will bring the reward of skin and other luxuries deprived of all but the most worthy of the technocrati, descendants of the wise Founders who ensured humanity's survival by fleeing to the stars. But the planet once known as Earth is no wasteland. How is it possible that anything survived? What happened in the intervening centuries? And what does that mean about the space colonies?
REVIEW: This is a quick-reading story that turns old tropes about progress and the space race being the salvation of a dying Earth on their ear. The narrator is an AI implant in the mind of the never-named explorer, trying with increasing desperation to keep its mission on track in the face of dangerous distractions like "nature", "beauty", and "humanity." It's intriguing, thought-provoking, and hopeful in a world where "hope" may be the ultimate endangered species.
You Might Also Enjoy:
Foundation (Isaac Asimov) - My Review
Red Rising (Pierce Brown) - My Review
City (Clifford D. Simak) - My Review
Nobody Likes a Goblin (Ben Hatke)
Nobody Likes a Goblin
Ben Hatke
First Second
Fiction, CH Fantasy/Picture Book
**** (Good)
DESCRIPTION: Goblin lives a quiet cave, where he spends his days tending his pet bats, tidying up the treasure piles, and talking to his best friend, Skeleton. Then the adventurers arrive, swinging swords and flashing spells and terrifying him into hiding under his bed until they leave. They steal everything - even Skeleton! Screwing up his courage, he sets out to rescue his friend... even though he's warned that nobody in the outside world likes a goblin.
REVIEW: We had some down time again at work, so I read this while waiting for things to pick back up. It's a fun little picture book, following brave - if naive - little Goblin through a world that has little use for goblins, but where he finds allies in unexpected places. The illustrations are simple and silly, fitting the story, and it has a good ending.
You Might Also Enjoy:
The Knight and the Dragon (Tomie DePaola) - My Review
Goblin Quest (Jim C. Hines) - My Review
Sir Toby Jingle's Beastly Journey (Wallace Tripp) - My Review
Ben Hatke
First Second
Fiction, CH Fantasy/Picture Book
**** (Good)
DESCRIPTION: Goblin lives a quiet cave, where he spends his days tending his pet bats, tidying up the treasure piles, and talking to his best friend, Skeleton. Then the adventurers arrive, swinging swords and flashing spells and terrifying him into hiding under his bed until they leave. They steal everything - even Skeleton! Screwing up his courage, he sets out to rescue his friend... even though he's warned that nobody in the outside world likes a goblin.
REVIEW: We had some down time again at work, so I read this while waiting for things to pick back up. It's a fun little picture book, following brave - if naive - little Goblin through a world that has little use for goblins, but where he finds allies in unexpected places. The illustrations are simple and silly, fitting the story, and it has a good ending.
You Might Also Enjoy:
The Knight and the Dragon (Tomie DePaola) - My Review
Goblin Quest (Jim C. Hines) - My Review
Sir Toby Jingle's Beastly Journey (Wallace Tripp) - My Review
Sunday, November 1, 2020
Haunter of Dreams (Claudya Schmidt)
Haunter of Dreams
The Chronicles of Yria series
Claudya Schmidt
AlectorFencer
Fiction, CH? Fantasy/Graphic Novel
**** (Good)
DESCRIPTION: Long ago, in the world of Yria, the child Yor dreamed of bright wonders... until a nightmare beast invaded his peaceful dreams.
Not available in English from Amazon; it can be purchased in hardcover, paperback, or PDF format from the creator's site here. (Note COVID-related shipping restrictions.)
REVIEW: In the interest of full disclosure, I downloaded this during a free promotional window.
I've long watched and admired this artist's work, full of bright colors and life and beautiful imagery; it's work like this that makes me wish I had the talent, drive, and overall wherewithall to pursue art myself. This graphic novel has, appropriately, a dreamlike quality to its largely wordless tale, as young Yor delights in a dream of green forests and great dragons... until a dark figure known as the Crow Eater arrives and morphs it into a nightmare. The struggle that follows, and the vivid impressions left on his young mind, will inspire him for the rest of his life, and inspire generations on his world long after. Here, though, is where things stumbled slightly for me, as the creator ends the tale with a lengthy explanation about the significance of Yor's experience in the history of the larger world of Yria, wandering outside the fourth wall into the artist's inspiration for the tale. It was interesting, but it felt like a wordy weight dropped on the tail of the story, which could've flown free on its own. (It's also a bit hard to track frame sequence in PDF form, scrolling downward instead of turning pages.) That aside, it's a gorgeous work of art, every page bursting with the sometimes-marvelous, sometimes-terrifying, but always amazing wonder of dreams.
You Might Also Enjoy:
Journey (Aaron Becker) - My Review
I Kill Giants (Joe Kelly) - My Review
The Cinder-Eyed Cats (Eric Rohmann) - My Review
The Chronicles of Yria series
Claudya Schmidt
AlectorFencer
Fiction, CH? Fantasy/Graphic Novel
**** (Good)
DESCRIPTION: Long ago, in the world of Yria, the child Yor dreamed of bright wonders... until a nightmare beast invaded his peaceful dreams.
Not available in English from Amazon; it can be purchased in hardcover, paperback, or PDF format from the creator's site here. (Note COVID-related shipping restrictions.)
REVIEW: In the interest of full disclosure, I downloaded this during a free promotional window.
I've long watched and admired this artist's work, full of bright colors and life and beautiful imagery; it's work like this that makes me wish I had the talent, drive, and overall wherewithall to pursue art myself. This graphic novel has, appropriately, a dreamlike quality to its largely wordless tale, as young Yor delights in a dream of green forests and great dragons... until a dark figure known as the Crow Eater arrives and morphs it into a nightmare. The struggle that follows, and the vivid impressions left on his young mind, will inspire him for the rest of his life, and inspire generations on his world long after. Here, though, is where things stumbled slightly for me, as the creator ends the tale with a lengthy explanation about the significance of Yor's experience in the history of the larger world of Yria, wandering outside the fourth wall into the artist's inspiration for the tale. It was interesting, but it felt like a wordy weight dropped on the tail of the story, which could've flown free on its own. (It's also a bit hard to track frame sequence in PDF form, scrolling downward instead of turning pages.) That aside, it's a gorgeous work of art, every page bursting with the sometimes-marvelous, sometimes-terrifying, but always amazing wonder of dreams.
You Might Also Enjoy:
Journey (Aaron Becker) - My Review
I Kill Giants (Joe Kelly) - My Review
The Cinder-Eyed Cats (Eric Rohmann) - My Review
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