The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales
Joe Scieszka, illustrations by Lane Smith
Viking
Fiction, CH Collection/Fantasy/Humor/Picture Book
****+ (Good/Great)
DESCRIPTION: A Goldilocks thwarted by the exceptionally oversized chairs at the home of the Three Elephants... a peculiar race to determine if the Hare really can grow hair faster than the Tortoise can run... a giant who insists on adding his own story to a fairy tale collection... a mischievous little man made entirely of stinky cheese... What, these aren't the stories you're used to? Correct - they're not fairy tales. They're fairly stupid tales, brought to you by your narrator, Jack.
REVIEW: This award-winning book still gets decent library circulation, so it was there when we hit a lull at work. Just as the title promises, every story in this collection is stupid and more than a little sarcastic and silly. The fourth wall is gleefully shattered by Jack, a narrator who often has trouble keeping the characters in line, while the little red hen (who canonically made a loaf of bread without assistance despite repeated requests for aid with planting the wheat, milling the flour, and baking the loaf) insists on trying to squeeze her story into whatever blank spaces she can find... even if they're before the title page or on the back cover. The tales are all short enough not to overstay their welcome, as is the book itself. It made this grown-up chuckle more than once.
You Might Also Enjoy:
Chloe and the Lion (Mac Barnett) - My Review
The Boy Who Cried Ninja (Alex Latimer) - My Review
The Paper Bag Princess (Robert N. Munsch) - My Review
Friday, April 26, 2024
Thursday, April 25, 2024
Mislaid in Parts Half-Unknown (Seanan McGuire)
Mislaid in Parts Half-Unknown
The Wayward Children series, Book 1
Seanan McGuire
Tordotcom
Fiction, YA? Fantasy
**** (Good)
DESCRIPTION: Once upon a time, a child found a doorway to another world... Thus begins the tale of every kid and teen at Eleanor West's special boarding school for former door-travelers, those who were whisked away to another world only to be returned, irrevocably changed, to an Earth that was no longer home. But Antsy didn't just find one door to one world. She found a door to a nexus, a gathering place of lost items, and the vast Shop Where the Lost Things Go... and at the nexus she found more doors to more worlds. Only the shopkeepers didn't tell her that each door she opened cost her in time, until she was a nine-year-old mind in a sixteen-year-old body - and even at Eleanor West's school, among the peculiar students, she can't find a way to fit in, not when she doesn't fit within herself, too physically old to be with the children and too mentally young to connect with the teenagers. When a bully discovers her talent for finding misplaced and lost things - including doorways to other worlds - Antsy feels trapped, until a group of other students helps her flee before being forced to find a door she very much does not wish to find. Unfortunately, their flight necessitates traveling through yet more doors, to yet more worlds... and, in the nature of other worlds, each challenges and tests the wayward children, changing them and their fates - possibly forever...
REVIEW: I've been enjoying McGuire's Wayward Children series for a while, and still find them quite imaginative and poignant, yet part of me is starting to wonder if the series is running a slight bit long, as there's a certain whiff of familiarity in the stories that unfold.
As with the other odd-numbered entries, this one continues the here-and-now arc of Eleanor West's School for Wayward Children and the core group of questing friends who haven't broken the habit of heroism developed in other worlds. After the events at the competing, abusive Whitethorn school, new students fill the halls, often traumatized by the experience and sometimes struggling to fit in. Eleanor West herself seems to be showing her age, too, as her assessments of where to place these new students no longer makes for the best possible matches; her background in a Nonsense world seems to be coloring her judgement, and perhaps she's finally reaching the age and state of mental decline that will let her return to her beloved realm beyond the patient door in the woods. As a result, students like Antsy find themselves at a disadvantage, lacking the peer support they need to process their experiences and bond with new friends. It doesn't help that Antsy retains her knack for finding lost things when they need finding, or that the skill has grown in her time away from the Shop. Thus, she doesn't know whom she can turn to or trust when word of her special ability - including the ability to find lost doors that might lead a desperate child back to worlds that have become their true homes - reaches the wrong ears... but Cora (once a mermaid of the Trenches), Kade (formerly a champion of fairy realm of Prism), Christopher (who fell in love with the Skeleton Girl), and Sumi (who died and was resurrected by the sugary Nonsense realm of Confection) - along with former Whitethorn student Emily (who still dreams of dancing again by the endless bonfires in the world of Harvest) are of course ever-watchful and ever-ready to step in where they're needed. Once more, the core group is off on another world-hopping jaunt, and though the worlds and trials are different, it starts feeling a bit similar to previous Wayward Children installments. Along the way, they each must rethink the purpose (if there is any) to the doors, and what they really mean by the ubiquitous warning to would-be travelers to "Be Sure" before stepping through. By now, the notion of going "home" to worlds beyond Earth is less unthinkable than it was earlier in the series - indeed, despite Eleanor West's early assertions to the contrary, there seem to be quite a few students who manage to find their way through doors again, if not back to the worlds they visited before than to new ones - but "homecoming" still something that must be understood and earned, and satisfaction is no more guaranteed than it is on Earth. For her part, Antsy must finally confront the adults whose lies hurt her and cost her so dearly, but the other characters have their own reconciliations and revelations to deal with.
As I mentioned at the start, there starts to be a hint of familiarity about the story, beyond the marvelous new sights and wonders and dangers and revelations. I'm starting to wonder just how long the series is intended to run. The prequel even-number books are becoming the strongest entries, untethered by the here-and-now arc that could use a little more momentum and direction. Beyond that, it's another enjoyable entry in a very enjoyable series.
You Might Also Enjoy:
Coraline (Neil Gaiman) - My Review
Every Heart a Doorway (Seanan McGuire) - My Review
The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making (Catherynne M. Valente) - My Review
The Wayward Children series, Book 1
Seanan McGuire
Tordotcom
Fiction, YA? Fantasy
**** (Good)
DESCRIPTION: Once upon a time, a child found a doorway to another world... Thus begins the tale of every kid and teen at Eleanor West's special boarding school for former door-travelers, those who were whisked away to another world only to be returned, irrevocably changed, to an Earth that was no longer home. But Antsy didn't just find one door to one world. She found a door to a nexus, a gathering place of lost items, and the vast Shop Where the Lost Things Go... and at the nexus she found more doors to more worlds. Only the shopkeepers didn't tell her that each door she opened cost her in time, until she was a nine-year-old mind in a sixteen-year-old body - and even at Eleanor West's school, among the peculiar students, she can't find a way to fit in, not when she doesn't fit within herself, too physically old to be with the children and too mentally young to connect with the teenagers. When a bully discovers her talent for finding misplaced and lost things - including doorways to other worlds - Antsy feels trapped, until a group of other students helps her flee before being forced to find a door she very much does not wish to find. Unfortunately, their flight necessitates traveling through yet more doors, to yet more worlds... and, in the nature of other worlds, each challenges and tests the wayward children, changing them and their fates - possibly forever...
REVIEW: I've been enjoying McGuire's Wayward Children series for a while, and still find them quite imaginative and poignant, yet part of me is starting to wonder if the series is running a slight bit long, as there's a certain whiff of familiarity in the stories that unfold.
As with the other odd-numbered entries, this one continues the here-and-now arc of Eleanor West's School for Wayward Children and the core group of questing friends who haven't broken the habit of heroism developed in other worlds. After the events at the competing, abusive Whitethorn school, new students fill the halls, often traumatized by the experience and sometimes struggling to fit in. Eleanor West herself seems to be showing her age, too, as her assessments of where to place these new students no longer makes for the best possible matches; her background in a Nonsense world seems to be coloring her judgement, and perhaps she's finally reaching the age and state of mental decline that will let her return to her beloved realm beyond the patient door in the woods. As a result, students like Antsy find themselves at a disadvantage, lacking the peer support they need to process their experiences and bond with new friends. It doesn't help that Antsy retains her knack for finding lost things when they need finding, or that the skill has grown in her time away from the Shop. Thus, she doesn't know whom she can turn to or trust when word of her special ability - including the ability to find lost doors that might lead a desperate child back to worlds that have become their true homes - reaches the wrong ears... but Cora (once a mermaid of the Trenches), Kade (formerly a champion of fairy realm of Prism), Christopher (who fell in love with the Skeleton Girl), and Sumi (who died and was resurrected by the sugary Nonsense realm of Confection) - along with former Whitethorn student Emily (who still dreams of dancing again by the endless bonfires in the world of Harvest) are of course ever-watchful and ever-ready to step in where they're needed. Once more, the core group is off on another world-hopping jaunt, and though the worlds and trials are different, it starts feeling a bit similar to previous Wayward Children installments. Along the way, they each must rethink the purpose (if there is any) to the doors, and what they really mean by the ubiquitous warning to would-be travelers to "Be Sure" before stepping through. By now, the notion of going "home" to worlds beyond Earth is less unthinkable than it was earlier in the series - indeed, despite Eleanor West's early assertions to the contrary, there seem to be quite a few students who manage to find their way through doors again, if not back to the worlds they visited before than to new ones - but "homecoming" still something that must be understood and earned, and satisfaction is no more guaranteed than it is on Earth. For her part, Antsy must finally confront the adults whose lies hurt her and cost her so dearly, but the other characters have their own reconciliations and revelations to deal with.
As I mentioned at the start, there starts to be a hint of familiarity about the story, beyond the marvelous new sights and wonders and dangers and revelations. I'm starting to wonder just how long the series is intended to run. The prequel even-number books are becoming the strongest entries, untethered by the here-and-now arc that could use a little more momentum and direction. Beyond that, it's another enjoyable entry in a very enjoyable series.
You Might Also Enjoy:
Coraline (Neil Gaiman) - My Review
Every Heart a Doorway (Seanan McGuire) - My Review
The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making (Catherynne M. Valente) - My Review
Wednesday, April 24, 2024
Titanium Noir (Nick Harkaway)
Titanium Noir
Nick Harkaway
Knopf
Fiction, Mystery/Sci-Fi/Thriller
***+ (Okay/Good)
DESCRIPTION: Cal Sounder is a private detective specializing in incidents involving the Titans: medically-enhanced elites who can potentially live forever. They are the richest of the rich, the most powerful of the powerful, literally larger than life thanks to the growth effects of the drugs involved, and their crimes are as outsized as their lifestyles... so when one of them turns up dead under very suspicious circumstances, the case could blow the roof off the city.
Roddy Tebbit was atypical even for a Titan, a modest techie working as a professor and pursuing private research into lake algae. Who would want an inoffensive milquetoast of a man like that dead? The more Cal investigates, the more doesn't make sense, leading him down a long and twisted path into deadly secrets long buried by the most powerful Titan on the planet.
REVIEW: A jaded investigator of gray morality, an untouchable elite, a criminal underworld at least as powerful as the ostensible government... Titanium Noir isn't the first science fiction story to transplant the guts of a noir thriller into a dystopian future, but it does so with confidence and a nice conceit in the Titan treatments and its consequences, creating what is essentially another species with godlike aspirations.
Though an ordinary human, Cal has a unique position in the city as a liaison between the Titans and the normal population: his girlfriend Athena is the daughter of the most powerful Titan in the city (and arguably the world), who wound up turning Titan herself after a horrific accident... a transformation that has inevitably driven a wedge between the pair. To become a Titan is to outgrow one's old self (literally; each life-extending, rejuvenating dose causes fresh growth, so they physically tower over the populace and even their voices can cause physical harm), and many become increasingly divorced from their humanity and from the consequences of their own actions. Even as Cal resents the Titans who essentially rule in the way oligarchs do - not with official titles or offices but through money and power and holding the keys to fame, fortune, and immortality - he has fallen into the role as their defender and protector on some level. This is a fence he will not be able to straddle indefinitely; Athena beckons from the Titan side, while his vestigial conscious and outsized awareness of how inhuman they become, how even love seems to fade among them after a few decades or pesky human lifetimes, pull him toward humanity. The case of Roddy's murder plunges Cal deeper into Titan secrets and deceptions than even he could imagine, making him few new friends and many new enemies. In noir fashion, Cal finds corruption behind nearly every doorway in a case that inevitably zigs just when he anticipates a zag. Around him, the future city he inhabits is revealed, a world with some progress but also mired in the past, in no small part due to the essential-immortals pulling civilization's strings; if they can't change, why should the world?
It lost a half-star for an ending that felt a bit rushed (and a conclusion that left a slight aftertaste I didn't quite like... one that I'm sure was intentional, but it being intentional didn't keep me from not quite enjoying it). Overall, though, it's a decent blend of genres with an interesting examination of how immortality and elitism create a subspecies almost literally divorced from the main body of the human race.
You Might Also Enjoy:
Kiln People (David Brin) - My Review
The Body Scout (Lincoln Michel) - My Review
Altered Carbon (Richard K. Morgan) - My Review
Nick Harkaway
Knopf
Fiction, Mystery/Sci-Fi/Thriller
***+ (Okay/Good)
DESCRIPTION: Cal Sounder is a private detective specializing in incidents involving the Titans: medically-enhanced elites who can potentially live forever. They are the richest of the rich, the most powerful of the powerful, literally larger than life thanks to the growth effects of the drugs involved, and their crimes are as outsized as their lifestyles... so when one of them turns up dead under very suspicious circumstances, the case could blow the roof off the city.
Roddy Tebbit was atypical even for a Titan, a modest techie working as a professor and pursuing private research into lake algae. Who would want an inoffensive milquetoast of a man like that dead? The more Cal investigates, the more doesn't make sense, leading him down a long and twisted path into deadly secrets long buried by the most powerful Titan on the planet.
REVIEW: A jaded investigator of gray morality, an untouchable elite, a criminal underworld at least as powerful as the ostensible government... Titanium Noir isn't the first science fiction story to transplant the guts of a noir thriller into a dystopian future, but it does so with confidence and a nice conceit in the Titan treatments and its consequences, creating what is essentially another species with godlike aspirations.
Though an ordinary human, Cal has a unique position in the city as a liaison between the Titans and the normal population: his girlfriend Athena is the daughter of the most powerful Titan in the city (and arguably the world), who wound up turning Titan herself after a horrific accident... a transformation that has inevitably driven a wedge between the pair. To become a Titan is to outgrow one's old self (literally; each life-extending, rejuvenating dose causes fresh growth, so they physically tower over the populace and even their voices can cause physical harm), and many become increasingly divorced from their humanity and from the consequences of their own actions. Even as Cal resents the Titans who essentially rule in the way oligarchs do - not with official titles or offices but through money and power and holding the keys to fame, fortune, and immortality - he has fallen into the role as their defender and protector on some level. This is a fence he will not be able to straddle indefinitely; Athena beckons from the Titan side, while his vestigial conscious and outsized awareness of how inhuman they become, how even love seems to fade among them after a few decades or pesky human lifetimes, pull him toward humanity. The case of Roddy's murder plunges Cal deeper into Titan secrets and deceptions than even he could imagine, making him few new friends and many new enemies. In noir fashion, Cal finds corruption behind nearly every doorway in a case that inevitably zigs just when he anticipates a zag. Around him, the future city he inhabits is revealed, a world with some progress but also mired in the past, in no small part due to the essential-immortals pulling civilization's strings; if they can't change, why should the world?
It lost a half-star for an ending that felt a bit rushed (and a conclusion that left a slight aftertaste I didn't quite like... one that I'm sure was intentional, but it being intentional didn't keep me from not quite enjoying it). Overall, though, it's a decent blend of genres with an interesting examination of how immortality and elitism create a subspecies almost literally divorced from the main body of the human race.
You Might Also Enjoy:
Kiln People (David Brin) - My Review
The Body Scout (Lincoln Michel) - My Review
Altered Carbon (Richard K. Morgan) - My Review
Friday, April 19, 2024
The Lost Tomb (Douglas Preston)
The Lost Tomb: And Other Real-Life Stories of Bones, Burial, and Murder
Douglas Preston
Grand Central Publishing
Nonfiction, Archaeology/True Crime/History/Sociology/True Stories
****+ (Good/Great)
DESCRIPTION: A string of grisly murders in Florence, Italy and an investigation hijacked by politics and personal agendas... An ancient Egyptian tomb of unrivaled size and scope unearthed after long being dismissed as insignificant... One of the longest-running and most expensive treasure hunts in history on a small Canadian island... The possible evolutionary roots of online vitriol run amok... These and more stories, drawn from the articles and research of author and journalist Douglas Preston, are gathered in this volume.
REVIEW: One of the great things about books is the ability to vicariously experience a bigger, bolder, wider life that is remotely possible for an unremarkable, broke lardlump like myself. Here, Douglas Preston republishes (with updates and annotations) articles from his long history of journalism and related research on all manner of topics, proving yet again that if reality may not always be stranger than fiction, it can sure give fiction a run for its money. He manages to bring the subjects, the people, the controversies, and more to life in his words, and generally writes complete enough articles that one isn't unduly frustrated by omissions or obvious blind spots (as in some article-based books I've read). The updates are also fairly up to date, as the book was published in December 2023 and I'm reviewing this audiobook in April 2024. From the amateur paleontologist who discovered a once-in-a-lifetime window into the day that ended the dinosaurs to investigations into why so many online communities seem to build themselves around hate and punishment of the perceived Other, from the Oak Island "money pit" to the deserts of the American Southwest and the Valley of the Kings in Egypt, Preston's tales take the reader around the world and across time to encounter all manner of mysteries, controversies, and colorful characters. It made for an enjoyable read (or listen, this being another audiobook selection), and a reminder of how very small and pointless my own particular existence has been, is, and doubtless will continue to be until it ceases.
You Might Also Enjoy:
The Last Days of the Dinosaurs (Riley Black) - My Review
Flying Snakes and Griffin Claws (Adrienne Mayor) - My Review
The Lost City of the Monkey God (Douglas Preston) - My Review
Douglas Preston
Grand Central Publishing
Nonfiction, Archaeology/True Crime/History/Sociology/True Stories
****+ (Good/Great)
DESCRIPTION: A string of grisly murders in Florence, Italy and an investigation hijacked by politics and personal agendas... An ancient Egyptian tomb of unrivaled size and scope unearthed after long being dismissed as insignificant... One of the longest-running and most expensive treasure hunts in history on a small Canadian island... The possible evolutionary roots of online vitriol run amok... These and more stories, drawn from the articles and research of author and journalist Douglas Preston, are gathered in this volume.
REVIEW: One of the great things about books is the ability to vicariously experience a bigger, bolder, wider life that is remotely possible for an unremarkable, broke lardlump like myself. Here, Douglas Preston republishes (with updates and annotations) articles from his long history of journalism and related research on all manner of topics, proving yet again that if reality may not always be stranger than fiction, it can sure give fiction a run for its money. He manages to bring the subjects, the people, the controversies, and more to life in his words, and generally writes complete enough articles that one isn't unduly frustrated by omissions or obvious blind spots (as in some article-based books I've read). The updates are also fairly up to date, as the book was published in December 2023 and I'm reviewing this audiobook in April 2024. From the amateur paleontologist who discovered a once-in-a-lifetime window into the day that ended the dinosaurs to investigations into why so many online communities seem to build themselves around hate and punishment of the perceived Other, from the Oak Island "money pit" to the deserts of the American Southwest and the Valley of the Kings in Egypt, Preston's tales take the reader around the world and across time to encounter all manner of mysteries, controversies, and colorful characters. It made for an enjoyable read (or listen, this being another audiobook selection), and a reminder of how very small and pointless my own particular existence has been, is, and doubtless will continue to be until it ceases.
You Might Also Enjoy:
The Last Days of the Dinosaurs (Riley Black) - My Review
Flying Snakes and Griffin Claws (Adrienne Mayor) - My Review
The Lost City of the Monkey God (Douglas Preston) - My Review
Friday, April 12, 2024
Playing With Fire (Derek Landy)
Playing With Fire
The Skulduggery Pleasant series, Book 2
Derek Landy
HarperCollins
Fiction, MG Adventure/Fantasy/Horror/Humor/Mystery
****+ (Good/Great)
DESCRIPTION: A year ago, Stephanie Edgely was a normal twelve-year-old Dublin girl. That was before her eccentric horror writer uncle passed away and left her his entire estate... and before Stephanie learned the truth behind his twisted stories of hidden mages and magical creatures skulking in the shadows. It was also before she encountered one of her uncle's strangest friends, the living skeleton detective Skulduggery Pleasant, and before she discovered her own heritage as a descendant of ancient mages. Now, as Valkyrie Cain, she spends most of her time training with Skulduggery and others in the magical community, leaving a magically-animated mirror reflection to cover for her absence with her family and her school. But if she thought she'd dealt with the worst the magical world had to offer when she took on the sorcerer who murdered her uncle, she thought wrong.
After eighty years in a secret prison, Baron Vengeous has been freed by compatriots on the outside. He was among the most zealous in his devotion to the lost Faceless Ones, the dark godlike entities that once ruled the world, and now that he's free he resumes his efforts to call them back and usher in a new and terrible reign. As Skulduggery scrambles to stop him, facing possible traitors in the Dublin Sanctuary (the governing body of the magical community), Valkyrie finds herself a direct target of the baron and his terrifying mercenaries.
REVIEW: I unexpectedly enjoyed the first book in this series, and am happy to report that the second one maintains the high standards set there. It kicks right into the story, with just a little bit of recapping early on to help jog readers' memories (likely not enough for someone coming into it cold), building on foundations laid before and ratcheting up the stakes. Stephanie/Valkyrie is no neophyte this time around, though she's still quite early into her unconventional apprenticeship. She is also still a minor, and at thirteen years old she finally starts to truly grasp just how dangerous the path she's chosen is, and what she stands to sacrifice by embracing it over a normal childhood; her mirror self fills in her memories of family and school when they swap places, but it's not the same as living it herself, and she's already starting to feel the bonds fraying, like she's the outsider viewing her life through a pane of glass. But it's not like she can turn her back on magic now that she's discovered it, or on the community that already has her marked as a person/threat to watch... especially not when Baron Vengeous and his assistants, the vampire Dusk and the American mercenary Sanguine (who favors a straight razor as a weapon, and can move through solid objects and even the ground itself like so much liquid), take the danger directly to her doorstep.
The first book wasn't exactly bloodless, but this one ramps up the violence and horror vibes, even as touches of humor and witty dialog add needed levity. Skulduggery Pleasant remains a great character, and despite her youth Valkyrie makes an excellent partner for his antics, growing into her role as his assistant/apprentice, though neither of them are flawless or incapable of failure. Several elements are introduced here that foreshadow developments in future volumes (or so I suspect), and while much is wrapped up there are many loose ends that all but demand a sequel or two (at least). This remains a clever, exciting series, full of twists and turns, and I'm already looking forward to the third book.
You Might Also Enjoy:
The Clockwork Fairy Kingdom (Leah R. Cutter) - My Review
Skulduggery Pleasant (Derek Landy) - My Review
Nevermoor (Jessica Townsend) - My Review
The Skulduggery Pleasant series, Book 2
Derek Landy
HarperCollins
Fiction, MG Adventure/Fantasy/Horror/Humor/Mystery
****+ (Good/Great)
DESCRIPTION: A year ago, Stephanie Edgely was a normal twelve-year-old Dublin girl. That was before her eccentric horror writer uncle passed away and left her his entire estate... and before Stephanie learned the truth behind his twisted stories of hidden mages and magical creatures skulking in the shadows. It was also before she encountered one of her uncle's strangest friends, the living skeleton detective Skulduggery Pleasant, and before she discovered her own heritage as a descendant of ancient mages. Now, as Valkyrie Cain, she spends most of her time training with Skulduggery and others in the magical community, leaving a magically-animated mirror reflection to cover for her absence with her family and her school. But if she thought she'd dealt with the worst the magical world had to offer when she took on the sorcerer who murdered her uncle, she thought wrong.
After eighty years in a secret prison, Baron Vengeous has been freed by compatriots on the outside. He was among the most zealous in his devotion to the lost Faceless Ones, the dark godlike entities that once ruled the world, and now that he's free he resumes his efforts to call them back and usher in a new and terrible reign. As Skulduggery scrambles to stop him, facing possible traitors in the Dublin Sanctuary (the governing body of the magical community), Valkyrie finds herself a direct target of the baron and his terrifying mercenaries.
REVIEW: I unexpectedly enjoyed the first book in this series, and am happy to report that the second one maintains the high standards set there. It kicks right into the story, with just a little bit of recapping early on to help jog readers' memories (likely not enough for someone coming into it cold), building on foundations laid before and ratcheting up the stakes. Stephanie/Valkyrie is no neophyte this time around, though she's still quite early into her unconventional apprenticeship. She is also still a minor, and at thirteen years old she finally starts to truly grasp just how dangerous the path she's chosen is, and what she stands to sacrifice by embracing it over a normal childhood; her mirror self fills in her memories of family and school when they swap places, but it's not the same as living it herself, and she's already starting to feel the bonds fraying, like she's the outsider viewing her life through a pane of glass. But it's not like she can turn her back on magic now that she's discovered it, or on the community that already has her marked as a person/threat to watch... especially not when Baron Vengeous and his assistants, the vampire Dusk and the American mercenary Sanguine (who favors a straight razor as a weapon, and can move through solid objects and even the ground itself like so much liquid), take the danger directly to her doorstep.
The first book wasn't exactly bloodless, but this one ramps up the violence and horror vibes, even as touches of humor and witty dialog add needed levity. Skulduggery Pleasant remains a great character, and despite her youth Valkyrie makes an excellent partner for his antics, growing into her role as his assistant/apprentice, though neither of them are flawless or incapable of failure. Several elements are introduced here that foreshadow developments in future volumes (or so I suspect), and while much is wrapped up there are many loose ends that all but demand a sequel or two (at least). This remains a clever, exciting series, full of twists and turns, and I'm already looking forward to the third book.
You Might Also Enjoy:
The Clockwork Fairy Kingdom (Leah R. Cutter) - My Review
Skulduggery Pleasant (Derek Landy) - My Review
Nevermoor (Jessica Townsend) - My Review
Thursday, April 11, 2024
The Eye of Jade (Diane Wei Liang)
The Eye of Jade
A Mei Wang Mystery, Book 1
Diane Wei Liang
Simon and Schuster
Fiction, Mystery
***+ (Okay/Good)
DESCRIPTION: Once, Mei Wang was a rising star in China, with a bright future ahead of her in the ministry of public security. But a bad situation led her to resign the prestigious post. Now, she works as an independent "information consultant" in Beijing - actually a private investigator, but that job is technically illegal, so she did what so many citizens do and found a loophole. She has an apartment, a car, an eager male assistant from the rural provinces, and a steady stream of business... everything but the respect of her mother, who laments that Mei has no interest in marriage or bettering her status in the Party (especially after the shame of resigning from the ministry), and sister, who married into wealth and power and makes sure nobody forgets it. She tells herself she doesn't care what they think, that she's happy living her life on her own terms. Then an old family friend, Uncle Chen Jitian, comes to Mei with a case involving smuggled antiquities. As Mei digs into the matter, she finds herself digging into the tangled, bloody history of the Cultural Revolution, and - unexpectedly - into the pasts of her mother and late father.
REVIEW: Written by a Chinese expatriate, The Eye of Jade takes readers into modern (well, just before Hong Kong's reversion to Beijing's control) China with an unconventional protagonist and a mystery that wends through the country's complicated history. Like so many her age, Mei Wang grew up full of hope for China's bright future, only to find those hopes tempered or outright dashed by time and experience and ever-shifting politics (too often accompanied by ever-shifting webs of corruption and internal back-scratching). The parents of her generation were directly involved in the chaos of the Cultural Revolution where so much was destroyed (and the seeds of so many modern troubles were planted, often watered with blood), creating a generational gap that is difficult to bridge under the best of circumstances. Mei's circumstances are not exactly the best; her relationship with her mother has always been fraught, as Mei has never understood how the woman could have left her beloved father to languish in a labor camp until the end of his days (having been sentenced for politically unpopular sentiments in his writings and poetry). Living in the shadow of her little sister, who found (apparent) happiness in the arms (and bank accounts) of a wealthy businessman, doesn't help with family harmony much. Still, Mei is determined to live her own life by her own principles, even as a class reunion dredges up hard memories of the woman she thought she'd be by now. The antique smuggling investigation gives her something to dive into, a case that wends through various seedy characters and Beijing's many districts and social strata and which seems to draw some dangerous interest from powerful players... but the two parts of her life may not be as disconnected as she initially thinks.
The plot sometimes feels stretched thin, like it can't quite decide if it's more about the case and establishing Mei Wang the detective for a possible series, or if it's more about Mei Wang the conflicted modern Chinese woman coming to terms with her family and her own path in life. When her mother suffers a sudden health crisis, the investigation is pushed to the back seat for an awfully long time - the same as when a former love interest returns from years abroad, still bearing a torch that she long ago snuffed out (or thought she did). Eventually the tale gets back on track, but by then I had to mentally backtrack to remember just where Mei had paused things and what she was up to after the side trips, leading to an ending that, frankly, felt like a bit of a letdown. I also expected more character development for her underling, who felt rather extraneous and forgotten by the end. Along the way, the city of Beijing and life in modern China come alive in many details. I doubt I'll read on in the series (which only looks like it continues through one more book anyway), but it was an intriguing glimpse into a part of the world I haven't read too much about, and a different sort of detective.
You Might Also Enjoy:
The Three-Body Problem (Cixin Liu) - My Review
The Third Man (Graham Greene) - My Review
The Experiences of Loveday Brooke, Lady Detective (Catherine Louisa Pirkis) - My Review
A Mei Wang Mystery, Book 1
Diane Wei Liang
Simon and Schuster
Fiction, Mystery
***+ (Okay/Good)
DESCRIPTION: Once, Mei Wang was a rising star in China, with a bright future ahead of her in the ministry of public security. But a bad situation led her to resign the prestigious post. Now, she works as an independent "information consultant" in Beijing - actually a private investigator, but that job is technically illegal, so she did what so many citizens do and found a loophole. She has an apartment, a car, an eager male assistant from the rural provinces, and a steady stream of business... everything but the respect of her mother, who laments that Mei has no interest in marriage or bettering her status in the Party (especially after the shame of resigning from the ministry), and sister, who married into wealth and power and makes sure nobody forgets it. She tells herself she doesn't care what they think, that she's happy living her life on her own terms. Then an old family friend, Uncle Chen Jitian, comes to Mei with a case involving smuggled antiquities. As Mei digs into the matter, she finds herself digging into the tangled, bloody history of the Cultural Revolution, and - unexpectedly - into the pasts of her mother and late father.
REVIEW: Written by a Chinese expatriate, The Eye of Jade takes readers into modern (well, just before Hong Kong's reversion to Beijing's control) China with an unconventional protagonist and a mystery that wends through the country's complicated history. Like so many her age, Mei Wang grew up full of hope for China's bright future, only to find those hopes tempered or outright dashed by time and experience and ever-shifting politics (too often accompanied by ever-shifting webs of corruption and internal back-scratching). The parents of her generation were directly involved in the chaos of the Cultural Revolution where so much was destroyed (and the seeds of so many modern troubles were planted, often watered with blood), creating a generational gap that is difficult to bridge under the best of circumstances. Mei's circumstances are not exactly the best; her relationship with her mother has always been fraught, as Mei has never understood how the woman could have left her beloved father to languish in a labor camp until the end of his days (having been sentenced for politically unpopular sentiments in his writings and poetry). Living in the shadow of her little sister, who found (apparent) happiness in the arms (and bank accounts) of a wealthy businessman, doesn't help with family harmony much. Still, Mei is determined to live her own life by her own principles, even as a class reunion dredges up hard memories of the woman she thought she'd be by now. The antique smuggling investigation gives her something to dive into, a case that wends through various seedy characters and Beijing's many districts and social strata and which seems to draw some dangerous interest from powerful players... but the two parts of her life may not be as disconnected as she initially thinks.
The plot sometimes feels stretched thin, like it can't quite decide if it's more about the case and establishing Mei Wang the detective for a possible series, or if it's more about Mei Wang the conflicted modern Chinese woman coming to terms with her family and her own path in life. When her mother suffers a sudden health crisis, the investigation is pushed to the back seat for an awfully long time - the same as when a former love interest returns from years abroad, still bearing a torch that she long ago snuffed out (or thought she did). Eventually the tale gets back on track, but by then I had to mentally backtrack to remember just where Mei had paused things and what she was up to after the side trips, leading to an ending that, frankly, felt like a bit of a letdown. I also expected more character development for her underling, who felt rather extraneous and forgotten by the end. Along the way, the city of Beijing and life in modern China come alive in many details. I doubt I'll read on in the series (which only looks like it continues through one more book anyway), but it was an intriguing glimpse into a part of the world I haven't read too much about, and a different sort of detective.
You Might Also Enjoy:
The Three-Body Problem (Cixin Liu) - My Review
The Third Man (Graham Greene) - My Review
The Experiences of Loveday Brooke, Lady Detective (Catherine Louisa Pirkis) - My Review
Wednesday, April 10, 2024
The Clue of the Linoleum Lederhosen (M. T. Anderson)
The Clue of the Linoleum Lederhosen
A Pals in Peril Tale, Book 2
M. T. Anderson
Beach Lane Books
Fiction, MG Action/Humor/Sci-Fi
****+ (Good/Great)
DESCRIPTION: It's summer break, and Katie is bored, bored, bored. She's sick and tired of the werewolves and the zombies, of foiling evil plans and solving mysteries and otherwise being the girl heroine of Horror Hollow (off Route 666). She just wants to do normal stuff for a while: go on vacation, read a vapid teen magazine and do the quizzes, chill out by the pool. Fortunately, her friend Jasper Dash (Boy Technonaut, young hero of his own obsolete kid adventurer series) just got an invitation to Moose Tongue Lodge and Resort. That sounds like just the place to have an ordinary, boring summer with Jasper and their other friend, the normal girl Lily (well, except for the time she helped stop her dad's boss from taking over the world with an army of whales on stilts, but that's a story for a previous book).
When they get to the mountains, they're surprised to discover that not only is Jasper's photocopied coupon fraudulent, but that several other guests received the same ones... guests that seem oddly familiar, such as the crime-solving duo the Manley Boys, the gossiping Cutesy Dell twins, and even Eddie Wax, star of a popular boy-and-his-horse adventure. The famed Hooper Quints were supposed to turn up, too - only, shortly after the trio arrive, someone rushes into the lobby to announce that the quints were abducted on the way up the mountain! This looks like a mystery in need of solving, with a villain in need of thwarting - but Katie didn't come all the way up here just to fall right back into danger and detective work. It's summer, darn it all, and she's on break! Unfortunately, peril didn't get the memo to leave the pals alone, not even on vacation...
REVIEW: I only had a short window to listen to an audiobook today, so I grabbed this title, having greatly enjoyed Whales on Stilts previously. Just as hilarious and out-loud-snicker-inducing as the first book, The Clue of the Linoleum Lederhosen once again presses the pedal to the metal (and nearly through to the asphalt) with a fast-paced story full of action(!), mystery(!), danger(!), footnotes(!), and exclamation marks(!). Amid the hilarious satire of numerous classic series, Anderson actually adds a little depth to his characters, making them more than the tropes they were created to skewer. The tale leans more into the meta elements introduced in the previous volume, as the characters seem mildly self-aware about being fictional creations, which has some drawbacks that come into play in the story. There's an unexpected element of pathos underlying this revelation, giving the story more heart than its outwardly silly, over-the-top trappings might suggest. Katie tries being a normal girl for once, finding new friends in the Cutesy Dell twins, but there's only so long she can stay out of the heroism game. As she sits on the sidelines, Lily and Jasper take up the challenge of solving the mystery, but both run into their own brands of trouble as they get separated during the search for the missing quintuplets. Other guests at the lodge, of course, are all suspects in their own ways, each more peculiar than the last.
The tale quite deliberately does not even try to make sense by the end (another nod to serial tales that often, especially later in their runs, sacrifice logic for cheap thrills and big twists), but it all works in its own context; as before, this is the kind of story that can only work with absolute, total commitment to the conceit. I expect I'll continue on with this series if they remain this fun, and I'm definitely interested in seeing where Anderson is going with kid heroes who are aware of how they're stuck in time and tropes beyond their control.
You Might Also Enjoy:
Whales on Stilts (M. T. Anderson) - My Review
The Case of the Case of Mistaken Identity (Mac Barnett) - My Review
Cold Cereal (Adam Rex) - My Review
A Pals in Peril Tale, Book 2
M. T. Anderson
Beach Lane Books
Fiction, MG Action/Humor/Sci-Fi
****+ (Good/Great)
DESCRIPTION: It's summer break, and Katie is bored, bored, bored. She's sick and tired of the werewolves and the zombies, of foiling evil plans and solving mysteries and otherwise being the girl heroine of Horror Hollow (off Route 666). She just wants to do normal stuff for a while: go on vacation, read a vapid teen magazine and do the quizzes, chill out by the pool. Fortunately, her friend Jasper Dash (Boy Technonaut, young hero of his own obsolete kid adventurer series) just got an invitation to Moose Tongue Lodge and Resort. That sounds like just the place to have an ordinary, boring summer with Jasper and their other friend, the normal girl Lily (well, except for the time she helped stop her dad's boss from taking over the world with an army of whales on stilts, but that's a story for a previous book).
When they get to the mountains, they're surprised to discover that not only is Jasper's photocopied coupon fraudulent, but that several other guests received the same ones... guests that seem oddly familiar, such as the crime-solving duo the Manley Boys, the gossiping Cutesy Dell twins, and even Eddie Wax, star of a popular boy-and-his-horse adventure. The famed Hooper Quints were supposed to turn up, too - only, shortly after the trio arrive, someone rushes into the lobby to announce that the quints were abducted on the way up the mountain! This looks like a mystery in need of solving, with a villain in need of thwarting - but Katie didn't come all the way up here just to fall right back into danger and detective work. It's summer, darn it all, and she's on break! Unfortunately, peril didn't get the memo to leave the pals alone, not even on vacation...
REVIEW: I only had a short window to listen to an audiobook today, so I grabbed this title, having greatly enjoyed Whales on Stilts previously. Just as hilarious and out-loud-snicker-inducing as the first book, The Clue of the Linoleum Lederhosen once again presses the pedal to the metal (and nearly through to the asphalt) with a fast-paced story full of action(!), mystery(!), danger(!), footnotes(!), and exclamation marks(!). Amid the hilarious satire of numerous classic series, Anderson actually adds a little depth to his characters, making them more than the tropes they were created to skewer. The tale leans more into the meta elements introduced in the previous volume, as the characters seem mildly self-aware about being fictional creations, which has some drawbacks that come into play in the story. There's an unexpected element of pathos underlying this revelation, giving the story more heart than its outwardly silly, over-the-top trappings might suggest. Katie tries being a normal girl for once, finding new friends in the Cutesy Dell twins, but there's only so long she can stay out of the heroism game. As she sits on the sidelines, Lily and Jasper take up the challenge of solving the mystery, but both run into their own brands of trouble as they get separated during the search for the missing quintuplets. Other guests at the lodge, of course, are all suspects in their own ways, each more peculiar than the last.
The tale quite deliberately does not even try to make sense by the end (another nod to serial tales that often, especially later in their runs, sacrifice logic for cheap thrills and big twists), but it all works in its own context; as before, this is the kind of story that can only work with absolute, total commitment to the conceit. I expect I'll continue on with this series if they remain this fun, and I'm definitely interested in seeing where Anderson is going with kid heroes who are aware of how they're stuck in time and tropes beyond their control.
You Might Also Enjoy:
Whales on Stilts (M. T. Anderson) - My Review
The Case of the Case of Mistaken Identity (Mac Barnett) - My Review
Cold Cereal (Adam Rex) - My Review
Monday, April 8, 2024
This is Not a Book About Benedict Cumberbatch (Tabitha Carvan)
This is Not a Book About Benedict Cumberbatch: The Joy of Loving Something - Anything - Like Your Life Depends on It
Tabitha Carvan
Putnam
Nonfiction, Fandom/Memoir
**** (Good)
DESCRIPTION: Tabitha Carvan did not intend to fall for Benedict Cumberbatch that day in the coffee shop. She'd seen his work before, but until that moment, looking at his face on that magazine, she had never felt that bolt to the heart. It made no sense; she was a sensible woman, happily married to a wonderful man, a mother to two young children, living as ordinary a life as anyone could imagine. So why was she suddenly swooning like a schoolgirl over an essential stranger half a world away? She sets out to understand the phenomenon of Benedict Cumberbatch fandom, what makes so many perfectly sane people of all ages and from all walks of life become so very passionate about the characters and the actor behind them... finding that it's not really about Benedict Cumberbatch at all, but about something far more fundamental to human existence, something society has trained too many people (especially women) to ignore and suppress and be ashamed of: the sheer, basic joy of expressing wholehearted love for something.
REVIEW: I'm no stranger to the joys and heartbreaks of fandom, though I tend to latch onto imaginary worlds and characters more than celebrities. I'm also familiar with how society tends to treat the majority of fannish passions (sports fandom is one of the few given a pass, even a boost - particularly when it's cishet males behaving in ways that would get the average woman mocked and bullied off the street), as something shameful and the butt of too many punchlines and stereotypes. (There's also more than a little intrafandom shaming and stigma and gatekeeping, even within the same interest niche, but that would be a topic for another book altogether.) Though I've read a few other fandom-related books, this one takes a different angle. It's not so much about what it's like to be a fan as it is about the forces behind that fannish feeling, which can strike - as it did with Carvan - seemingly out of the blue. It's about why it's so hard to simply enjoy enjoying something, how so many of us learn early in life that the opinions of others and society at large should take precedence over our own needs and wants, and how embracing fandom and related passions can open doors to improve all aspects of our lives. Carvan reflects on her own life and influences as she learns to accept her unanticipated crush, delving into the world of internet fandom and even fanfic (unauthorized fiction written by and for fans). She interviews other fans and experts, some of whom have studied the matter at a doctoral thesis level, to further understand the fannish phenomenon in general.
Sometimes it feels a trifle repetitious, but overall it presents an interesting look at fandom from a perspective I haven't quite seen before. It never occurred to me to link the stigma associated with so many fandoms with other social stigmas and apparent taboos, especially those linked with women's perceived roles (who have been so often encouraged to temper our happiness, to not feel too much or too strongly, lest we be deemed "hysterical"), but it tracks.
At the end is an appendix of facts about Benedict Cumberbatch, which is the only part of the book solely dedicated to the British actor. He was, after all, the inspiration behind the book, so he deserves a little attention. As the title states, though, this book isn't really about him, as Carvan's obsession isn't really about any delusions of personal connection to a man living half a world away from her native Australia, but about what it means to accept and embrace joy where we find it, and having the courage to pursue that passion - and the self-discovery that comes with it - for a more fulfilling life. Cumberbatch and other objects of fandom, be they tangible or imaginary, are just the keys, not the door, nor are they paths where that door may lead.
You Might Also Enjoy:
Will the Vampire People Please Leave the Lobby? (Allyson Beatrice) - My Review
Fangirl (Rainbow Rowell) - My Review
Fan Fiction: A Mem-Noir (Brent Spiner) - My Review
Tabitha Carvan
Putnam
Nonfiction, Fandom/Memoir
**** (Good)
DESCRIPTION: Tabitha Carvan did not intend to fall for Benedict Cumberbatch that day in the coffee shop. She'd seen his work before, but until that moment, looking at his face on that magazine, she had never felt that bolt to the heart. It made no sense; she was a sensible woman, happily married to a wonderful man, a mother to two young children, living as ordinary a life as anyone could imagine. So why was she suddenly swooning like a schoolgirl over an essential stranger half a world away? She sets out to understand the phenomenon of Benedict Cumberbatch fandom, what makes so many perfectly sane people of all ages and from all walks of life become so very passionate about the characters and the actor behind them... finding that it's not really about Benedict Cumberbatch at all, but about something far more fundamental to human existence, something society has trained too many people (especially women) to ignore and suppress and be ashamed of: the sheer, basic joy of expressing wholehearted love for something.
REVIEW: I'm no stranger to the joys and heartbreaks of fandom, though I tend to latch onto imaginary worlds and characters more than celebrities. I'm also familiar with how society tends to treat the majority of fannish passions (sports fandom is one of the few given a pass, even a boost - particularly when it's cishet males behaving in ways that would get the average woman mocked and bullied off the street), as something shameful and the butt of too many punchlines and stereotypes. (There's also more than a little intrafandom shaming and stigma and gatekeeping, even within the same interest niche, but that would be a topic for another book altogether.) Though I've read a few other fandom-related books, this one takes a different angle. It's not so much about what it's like to be a fan as it is about the forces behind that fannish feeling, which can strike - as it did with Carvan - seemingly out of the blue. It's about why it's so hard to simply enjoy enjoying something, how so many of us learn early in life that the opinions of others and society at large should take precedence over our own needs and wants, and how embracing fandom and related passions can open doors to improve all aspects of our lives. Carvan reflects on her own life and influences as she learns to accept her unanticipated crush, delving into the world of internet fandom and even fanfic (unauthorized fiction written by and for fans). She interviews other fans and experts, some of whom have studied the matter at a doctoral thesis level, to further understand the fannish phenomenon in general.
Sometimes it feels a trifle repetitious, but overall it presents an interesting look at fandom from a perspective I haven't quite seen before. It never occurred to me to link the stigma associated with so many fandoms with other social stigmas and apparent taboos, especially those linked with women's perceived roles (who have been so often encouraged to temper our happiness, to not feel too much or too strongly, lest we be deemed "hysterical"), but it tracks.
At the end is an appendix of facts about Benedict Cumberbatch, which is the only part of the book solely dedicated to the British actor. He was, after all, the inspiration behind the book, so he deserves a little attention. As the title states, though, this book isn't really about him, as Carvan's obsession isn't really about any delusions of personal connection to a man living half a world away from her native Australia, but about what it means to accept and embrace joy where we find it, and having the courage to pursue that passion - and the self-discovery that comes with it - for a more fulfilling life. Cumberbatch and other objects of fandom, be they tangible or imaginary, are just the keys, not the door, nor are they paths where that door may lead.
You Might Also Enjoy:
Will the Vampire People Please Leave the Lobby? (Allyson Beatrice) - My Review
Fangirl (Rainbow Rowell) - My Review
Fan Fiction: A Mem-Noir (Brent Spiner) - My Review
Friday, April 5, 2024
The Truth About Dragons (Julie Leung)
The Truth About Dragons
Julie Leung, illustrations by Hanna Cha
Henry Holt and Co.
Fiction, CH Fantasy/Picture Book/Poetry
***** (Great)
DESCRIPTION: At bedtime, a young child's mother tells him a tale of two grandmothers and two dragons, both of which hold their own truth.
REVIEW: This gorgeous picture book celebrates two cultures with two different dragon traditions. Are dragons dangerous hoarders of gold or benevolent river spirits? They are both (and more besides), and for a child with a biracial background, they both have wonder and wisdom to share. The dragon illustrations simply gleam on the page.
You Might Also Enjoy:
Drawn Together (Minh Le) - My Review
John Ronald's Dragons (Caroline McAlister) - My Review
Tell Me a Dragon (Jackie Morris) - My Review
Julie Leung, illustrations by Hanna Cha
Henry Holt and Co.
Fiction, CH Fantasy/Picture Book/Poetry
***** (Great)
DESCRIPTION: At bedtime, a young child's mother tells him a tale of two grandmothers and two dragons, both of which hold their own truth.
REVIEW: This gorgeous picture book celebrates two cultures with two different dragon traditions. Are dragons dangerous hoarders of gold or benevolent river spirits? They are both (and more besides), and for a child with a biracial background, they both have wonder and wisdom to share. The dragon illustrations simply gleam on the page.
You Might Also Enjoy:
Drawn Together (Minh Le) - My Review
John Ronald's Dragons (Caroline McAlister) - My Review
Tell Me a Dragon (Jackie Morris) - My Review
The Janitor's Boy (Andrew Clements)
The Janitor's Boy
Andrew Clements
Atheneum Books
Fiction, CH General Fiction
****+ (Good/Great)
DESCRIPTION: Jack Rankin used to be proud of his father... way back when he was in second grade, before he realized that janitors were considered the lowest of the low. Now, he's stuck in the very school where his father works. Worse, when a classmate got sick, Dad smiled at him in front of the whole class and said hello to Jack, calling him "son". Of course, the class bullies latch onto this bit of information in a snap... and it never would've happened if his father had a better job! This calls for revenge, by way of a massive wad of gum smeared under a desk in the music room: just the way to send a message to his father about what Jack thinks of janitors in general and him in particular.
Unfortunately, teachers and principals aren't as oblivious as kids would like to believe, at least not when it really matters. Caught, Jack is sentenced to three weeks of gum cleaning duty after school, which will mean working with his dad. How much worse could his life get?
But then Jack discovers the janitors' secret: keys that let them access any room in the building. He never expected his explorations to teach him more about his father, and why the man seems so happy and proud being "just" a school janitor.
REVIEW: I've only read a few of Clements's books, but the ones I have read have been stellar. He really had a way of capturing the often-awkward, sometimes-painful moments of growing up, and presenting adults as something more than monolithic masses even in stories geared around young protagonists. This story is a small slice of a boy's life, but a pivotal one, as Jack struggles in a vice between peer pressure and family; he never truly hates his father, not at a bone-deep level at any rate, but feels frustrated and, yes, more than a little ashamed to be known as the janitor's boy. Sentenced to work with the janitors after school, he learns there's more to them and their jobs than he ever stopped to think about before, just as he learns that there's more to his father than he ever realized; everything and everyone has hidden facets, from old school buildings to the people whom he's always taken for granted around him. Meanwhile, the act of gum-based vandalism/rebellion wakes his father John up to the fact that Jack isn't a little kid anymore, and that a growing boy needs more to hold onto if there's going to be a relationship in the future. John finally brings the boy into his confidence about some of the forces that shaped him, including his own stressful relationship with Jack's late grandfather. It culminates in a rite of passage that's both a literal and metaphoric journey out of young childhood and young childish emotions and viewpoints and into something more mature and nuanced.
You Might Also Enjoy:
Frindle (Andrew Clements) - My Review
Ghost (Jason Reynolds) - My Review
Andrew Clements
Atheneum Books
Fiction, CH General Fiction
****+ (Good/Great)
DESCRIPTION: Jack Rankin used to be proud of his father... way back when he was in second grade, before he realized that janitors were considered the lowest of the low. Now, he's stuck in the very school where his father works. Worse, when a classmate got sick, Dad smiled at him in front of the whole class and said hello to Jack, calling him "son". Of course, the class bullies latch onto this bit of information in a snap... and it never would've happened if his father had a better job! This calls for revenge, by way of a massive wad of gum smeared under a desk in the music room: just the way to send a message to his father about what Jack thinks of janitors in general and him in particular.
Unfortunately, teachers and principals aren't as oblivious as kids would like to believe, at least not when it really matters. Caught, Jack is sentenced to three weeks of gum cleaning duty after school, which will mean working with his dad. How much worse could his life get?
But then Jack discovers the janitors' secret: keys that let them access any room in the building. He never expected his explorations to teach him more about his father, and why the man seems so happy and proud being "just" a school janitor.
REVIEW: I've only read a few of Clements's books, but the ones I have read have been stellar. He really had a way of capturing the often-awkward, sometimes-painful moments of growing up, and presenting adults as something more than monolithic masses even in stories geared around young protagonists. This story is a small slice of a boy's life, but a pivotal one, as Jack struggles in a vice between peer pressure and family; he never truly hates his father, not at a bone-deep level at any rate, but feels frustrated and, yes, more than a little ashamed to be known as the janitor's boy. Sentenced to work with the janitors after school, he learns there's more to them and their jobs than he ever stopped to think about before, just as he learns that there's more to his father than he ever realized; everything and everyone has hidden facets, from old school buildings to the people whom he's always taken for granted around him. Meanwhile, the act of gum-based vandalism/rebellion wakes his father John up to the fact that Jack isn't a little kid anymore, and that a growing boy needs more to hold onto if there's going to be a relationship in the future. John finally brings the boy into his confidence about some of the forces that shaped him, including his own stressful relationship with Jack's late grandfather. It culminates in a rite of passage that's both a literal and metaphoric journey out of young childhood and young childish emotions and viewpoints and into something more mature and nuanced.
You Might Also Enjoy:
Frindle (Andrew Clements) - My Review
Ghost (Jason Reynolds) - My Review
The Mighty Odds (Amy Ignatow)
The Mighty Odds
The Odds series, Book 1
Amy Ignatow
Amulet Books
Fiction, CH? Action/Humor/Sci-Fi
**** (Good)
DESCRIPTION: Nick's always been something of a nerd. Martina hides behind her sketchbook, unnoticed by everyone. Farshad had hoped that middle school would be a chance for new friends and a new start until the popular kids branded him "Terror Boy", an unkind reference to his Middle Eastern heritage. Cookie, the only Black girl in Deborah Reed Middle School, has clawed her way to the top of the social ladder and does not intend to slip so much as a single rung. They were four ordinary middle school students, on their way back to rural Muellersville from a field trip to Philadelphia... before the accident. Now, they all have super powers - sort of. Nick can transport himself, but only four inches to the left. Martina can change her eye color. Farshad's thumbs have super strength. And Cookie can hear people's thoughts if they're thinking about directions. None of these powers are the sort of things to write a movie franchise about, but they're all signs that something extraordinary happened - and, unimpressive as these new gifts are, someone is trying very, very hard to get their hands on the kids.
REVIEW: I'll admit I came close to docking this book a half-point for a cliffhanger ending (and for poor formatting on the audiobook version I borrowed; inexplicably, the last fifteen or so minutes of the file are just the first part of the book replaying). Aside from that, it's exactly what it looks like from the description: a light, fun tale of mismatched kids bonded by new powers and new enemies. (Well, kids and a few others, but that risks spoilers.) The fact that the major employer in Muellersville is a chemical company should be a hint that something sinister is afoot, and the accident lands the hapless kids squarely in the middle of it. Light as the overall concept is, the characters are generally more than simple sketches, each having a decently interesting backstory that helps explain where they are when they start out and how they react once they become involved in something as unusual as developing strange powers seemingly out of nowhere. They are not natural friends, separated by racial, social, and economic divides that even mysterious abilities and shared trauma can't easily bridge. By the end, they're still not completely at ease with teamwork, but they're working on it, and none of them are so stupidly stubborn as to keep rejecting the need to band together against a common enemy (though it does take some convincing). I ultimately decided to give it the benefit of the doubt on that cliffhanger and round it up.
You Might Also Enjoy:
The Invasion (K. A. Applegate) - My Review
Sister of the Chosen One (Erin Armknecht and Colleen Oakes) - My Review
Power Up (Kate Leth) - My Review
The Odds series, Book 1
Amy Ignatow
Amulet Books
Fiction, CH? Action/Humor/Sci-Fi
**** (Good)
DESCRIPTION: Nick's always been something of a nerd. Martina hides behind her sketchbook, unnoticed by everyone. Farshad had hoped that middle school would be a chance for new friends and a new start until the popular kids branded him "Terror Boy", an unkind reference to his Middle Eastern heritage. Cookie, the only Black girl in Deborah Reed Middle School, has clawed her way to the top of the social ladder and does not intend to slip so much as a single rung. They were four ordinary middle school students, on their way back to rural Muellersville from a field trip to Philadelphia... before the accident. Now, they all have super powers - sort of. Nick can transport himself, but only four inches to the left. Martina can change her eye color. Farshad's thumbs have super strength. And Cookie can hear people's thoughts if they're thinking about directions. None of these powers are the sort of things to write a movie franchise about, but they're all signs that something extraordinary happened - and, unimpressive as these new gifts are, someone is trying very, very hard to get their hands on the kids.
REVIEW: I'll admit I came close to docking this book a half-point for a cliffhanger ending (and for poor formatting on the audiobook version I borrowed; inexplicably, the last fifteen or so minutes of the file are just the first part of the book replaying). Aside from that, it's exactly what it looks like from the description: a light, fun tale of mismatched kids bonded by new powers and new enemies. (Well, kids and a few others, but that risks spoilers.) The fact that the major employer in Muellersville is a chemical company should be a hint that something sinister is afoot, and the accident lands the hapless kids squarely in the middle of it. Light as the overall concept is, the characters are generally more than simple sketches, each having a decently interesting backstory that helps explain where they are when they start out and how they react once they become involved in something as unusual as developing strange powers seemingly out of nowhere. They are not natural friends, separated by racial, social, and economic divides that even mysterious abilities and shared trauma can't easily bridge. By the end, they're still not completely at ease with teamwork, but they're working on it, and none of them are so stupidly stubborn as to keep rejecting the need to band together against a common enemy (though it does take some convincing). I ultimately decided to give it the benefit of the doubt on that cliffhanger and round it up.
You Might Also Enjoy:
The Invasion (K. A. Applegate) - My Review
Sister of the Chosen One (Erin Armknecht and Colleen Oakes) - My Review
Power Up (Kate Leth) - My Review
The Library of the Dead (T. D. Huchu)
The Library of the Dead
The Edinburgh Nights series, Book 1
T. D. Huchu
Tor
Fiction, YA? Fantasy
*** (Okay)
DESCRIPTION: There was a time, or so fourteen-year-old Ropa has heard, when Edinburgh was a bright, beautiful, clean, and hopeful city. Today, half-drowned by rising sea levels and choked by coal smoke and plagued with power grid failures, it's hard enough to get by in this city, and nearly impossible to get back on your feet once you've been knocked down. With Gran in ill health and a kid sister to look after in their rickety caravan home, it's up to Ropa to pay the bills, which she does by delivering messages for the lingering dead, seeking closure before they can move on. But she doesn't work for free; there has to be a relative or recipient - living, of course - who can offer her cold, hard cash. That's why Ropa brushes off the spirit of the young woman who keeps turning up, begging for help finding the young son who went missing before her death. At some point, though, the girl's resolve cracks. Maybe it couldn't hurt just to follow up on one lead, to say she tried (and get the ghost to leave her alone). Before she knows it, Ropa has been pulled into a dark and dangerous plot, one tied to a society of powerful mages and a monster preying on Edinburgh's children.
REVIEW: The Library of the Dead has lots of potential in the ingredients: a dystopian near-future with acknowledged magic and ghosts, different strains of magic, a hidden library, and a heroine who can take care of herself. I should've liked it more than I did. But at some point Ropa's Edinburgh becomes just plain unpleasant, the library and secret mage society fail to live up to their potential, and Ropa becomes one of those protagonists who ends up being protected and coddled inexplicably as she fumbles and stumbles and tends to do stupid things for the sake of the story. The culprit is a little too obvious too early on, as well, and the story wanders off on a few tangents that never really pay off. For all that Ropa starts out so distinctive, her adventure starts feeling like a collection of too-familiar plot points and characters, the latter of whom sometimes lack development as they serve their expected roles in Ropa's tale. Some of this can be explained by it being the first book in a series, of course, but when I end up feeling dissatisfied enough that it took extra effort to even finish the audiobook, it affects the rating. By the end, I can't say I felt like I wanted to spend much more time in Ropa's Edinburgh.
You Might Also Enjoy:
Ghost Talker (Mary Robinette Kowal) - My Review
Skulduggery Pleasant (Derek Landy) - My Review
Elatsoe (Darcie Little Badger) - My Review
The Edinburgh Nights series, Book 1
T. D. Huchu
Tor
Fiction, YA? Fantasy
*** (Okay)
DESCRIPTION: There was a time, or so fourteen-year-old Ropa has heard, when Edinburgh was a bright, beautiful, clean, and hopeful city. Today, half-drowned by rising sea levels and choked by coal smoke and plagued with power grid failures, it's hard enough to get by in this city, and nearly impossible to get back on your feet once you've been knocked down. With Gran in ill health and a kid sister to look after in their rickety caravan home, it's up to Ropa to pay the bills, which she does by delivering messages for the lingering dead, seeking closure before they can move on. But she doesn't work for free; there has to be a relative or recipient - living, of course - who can offer her cold, hard cash. That's why Ropa brushes off the spirit of the young woman who keeps turning up, begging for help finding the young son who went missing before her death. At some point, though, the girl's resolve cracks. Maybe it couldn't hurt just to follow up on one lead, to say she tried (and get the ghost to leave her alone). Before she knows it, Ropa has been pulled into a dark and dangerous plot, one tied to a society of powerful mages and a monster preying on Edinburgh's children.
REVIEW: The Library of the Dead has lots of potential in the ingredients: a dystopian near-future with acknowledged magic and ghosts, different strains of magic, a hidden library, and a heroine who can take care of herself. I should've liked it more than I did. But at some point Ropa's Edinburgh becomes just plain unpleasant, the library and secret mage society fail to live up to their potential, and Ropa becomes one of those protagonists who ends up being protected and coddled inexplicably as she fumbles and stumbles and tends to do stupid things for the sake of the story. The culprit is a little too obvious too early on, as well, and the story wanders off on a few tangents that never really pay off. For all that Ropa starts out so distinctive, her adventure starts feeling like a collection of too-familiar plot points and characters, the latter of whom sometimes lack development as they serve their expected roles in Ropa's tale. Some of this can be explained by it being the first book in a series, of course, but when I end up feeling dissatisfied enough that it took extra effort to even finish the audiobook, it affects the rating. By the end, I can't say I felt like I wanted to spend much more time in Ropa's Edinburgh.
You Might Also Enjoy:
Ghost Talker (Mary Robinette Kowal) - My Review
Skulduggery Pleasant (Derek Landy) - My Review
Elatsoe (Darcie Little Badger) - My Review
Wednesday, April 3, 2024
Ruthless River (Holly FitzGerald)
Ruthless River: Love and Survival By Raft on the Amazon's Relentless Madre de Dios
Holly FitzGerald
Vintage
Nonfiction, Memoir
***+ (Okay/Good)
DESCRIPTION: The year is 1973, and two Americans - counselor Holly and journalist Fitz FitzGerald - are traveling around the world on their belated honeymoon. When their plans to get to Brazil in time for Carnivale season are disrupted near the Peru border, they decide to travel as the locals do: by log raft down the Madre de Dios river, one of the wide tributaries to the great Amazon. Neither one has rafting experience, but everyone assures them there's nothing to it; the river does all the work, after all, and the waterways are dotted with settlements if there's any trouble along the way. Thus, Holly and Fitz set forth on the Pink Palace, certain they'll be at their destination soon with a great story for the relatives back home.
They didn't count on the wild currents that seem to have a will of their own, the gun-happy Bolivian border guards, or the terrible storm that sweeps them off course, into a swampy backwater far from the main channel and countless miles from the nearest settlements.
With no map or compass, barely any food, little clean water, and only the tattered shelter of the plastic tarp on their raft, the American couple face a survival nightmare in terrain that has claimed the lives of travelers far more experienced and prepared than themselves... and all without knowing if anyone even knows they're missing.
REVIEW: The rain forests of South America remain some of the most forbidding wildernesses in the world, and were even moreso in the 1970's. Even seasoned travelers could run into trouble easily, let alone starry-eyed tourists like the FitzGeralds. They thought their previous experiences getting to Peru had made them equal to any challenge, but even before their ill-fated raft trip, things start going wrong, such as when a plane trip ends in a crash-landing that strands the couple and other travelers in a jungle prison while waiting for another flight. Of course, memoirs have the advantage of hindsight; what looks like foreshadowing here was just part of the adventure of international travel in the moment. Still, even then, Holly and Fitz get occasional twinges and warnings before they set out on the Madre de Dios... but they were young, in love, dazzled and excited by their grand adventure, and - despite Fitz's previous tour in Vietnam - still had a certain youthful expectation of immortality, that they would somehow make it through dangers with little but an adrenaline rush and a new story for their next letters home. Thus, they set out on their raft with lots of well-wishes from locals and sky-high hopes... but, as the saying goes, man proposes and nature disposes. Finding themselves in a backwater flooded by the rainy season, the newlyweds get a crash course in the harsh realities of the jungle outside even the thin veneer of civilization that stretches up the main waterways. Fitz's experiences in the jungles of Vietnam do little to prepare him for the South American wilderness; in the war, at least, rescue was rarely more than a radio call away. The couple struggle to come up with a plan, every day growing weaker and more despondent as hopes for escape or rescue dim. The jungle teems with life, but finding food in their swampy niche proves nearly impossible. Then there are the bugs... the bees... Interludes fill in the backstories of Holly and Fitz, how they met and courted, and how it is they ended up on this trip to begin with, as the here-and-now of their plight grows bleaker and more desperate. Still, even amid the terror, Holly finds moments of beauty and personal epiphanies, and the bond between husband and wife only grows stronger as they lean on each other to get through the obstacles nature (or God - there's a religious/spiritual angle to much of the narrative) keeps throwing their way.
As survival tales go, this is a decently harrowing adventure. Something about the later bits felt weaker, though, particularly as it became more about Holly's religious reawakening and personal epiphanies. It also can't help becoming a bit repetitious as the couple struggle and fail again and again. Those issues aside, the rest of the book evokes the dangers and wonders of the deep wilderness, and how quickly that wilderness and its rules of raw survival can take over when one ventures beyond civilization's safety net.
You Might Also Enjoy:
The Girl With No Name (Marina Chapman) - My Review
The Adventurer's Son (Roman Dial) - My Review
Lost in Shangri-La (Mitchell Zuckoff) - My Review
Holly FitzGerald
Vintage
Nonfiction, Memoir
***+ (Okay/Good)
DESCRIPTION: The year is 1973, and two Americans - counselor Holly and journalist Fitz FitzGerald - are traveling around the world on their belated honeymoon. When their plans to get to Brazil in time for Carnivale season are disrupted near the Peru border, they decide to travel as the locals do: by log raft down the Madre de Dios river, one of the wide tributaries to the great Amazon. Neither one has rafting experience, but everyone assures them there's nothing to it; the river does all the work, after all, and the waterways are dotted with settlements if there's any trouble along the way. Thus, Holly and Fitz set forth on the Pink Palace, certain they'll be at their destination soon with a great story for the relatives back home.
They didn't count on the wild currents that seem to have a will of their own, the gun-happy Bolivian border guards, or the terrible storm that sweeps them off course, into a swampy backwater far from the main channel and countless miles from the nearest settlements.
With no map or compass, barely any food, little clean water, and only the tattered shelter of the plastic tarp on their raft, the American couple face a survival nightmare in terrain that has claimed the lives of travelers far more experienced and prepared than themselves... and all without knowing if anyone even knows they're missing.
REVIEW: The rain forests of South America remain some of the most forbidding wildernesses in the world, and were even moreso in the 1970's. Even seasoned travelers could run into trouble easily, let alone starry-eyed tourists like the FitzGeralds. They thought their previous experiences getting to Peru had made them equal to any challenge, but even before their ill-fated raft trip, things start going wrong, such as when a plane trip ends in a crash-landing that strands the couple and other travelers in a jungle prison while waiting for another flight. Of course, memoirs have the advantage of hindsight; what looks like foreshadowing here was just part of the adventure of international travel in the moment. Still, even then, Holly and Fitz get occasional twinges and warnings before they set out on the Madre de Dios... but they were young, in love, dazzled and excited by their grand adventure, and - despite Fitz's previous tour in Vietnam - still had a certain youthful expectation of immortality, that they would somehow make it through dangers with little but an adrenaline rush and a new story for their next letters home. Thus, they set out on their raft with lots of well-wishes from locals and sky-high hopes... but, as the saying goes, man proposes and nature disposes. Finding themselves in a backwater flooded by the rainy season, the newlyweds get a crash course in the harsh realities of the jungle outside even the thin veneer of civilization that stretches up the main waterways. Fitz's experiences in the jungles of Vietnam do little to prepare him for the South American wilderness; in the war, at least, rescue was rarely more than a radio call away. The couple struggle to come up with a plan, every day growing weaker and more despondent as hopes for escape or rescue dim. The jungle teems with life, but finding food in their swampy niche proves nearly impossible. Then there are the bugs... the bees... Interludes fill in the backstories of Holly and Fitz, how they met and courted, and how it is they ended up on this trip to begin with, as the here-and-now of their plight grows bleaker and more desperate. Still, even amid the terror, Holly finds moments of beauty and personal epiphanies, and the bond between husband and wife only grows stronger as they lean on each other to get through the obstacles nature (or God - there's a religious/spiritual angle to much of the narrative) keeps throwing their way.
As survival tales go, this is a decently harrowing adventure. Something about the later bits felt weaker, though, particularly as it became more about Holly's religious reawakening and personal epiphanies. It also can't help becoming a bit repetitious as the couple struggle and fail again and again. Those issues aside, the rest of the book evokes the dangers and wonders of the deep wilderness, and how quickly that wilderness and its rules of raw survival can take over when one ventures beyond civilization's safety net.
You Might Also Enjoy:
The Girl With No Name (Marina Chapman) - My Review
The Adventurer's Son (Roman Dial) - My Review
Lost in Shangri-La (Mitchell Zuckoff) - My Review
Sunday, March 31, 2024
March Site Update
And it's been another one of "those" months, but I managed to get the previous ten reviews onto the main Brightdreamer Books site.
Enjoy!
(Edit: Oops, managed to miss one review, there. As I mentioned, it's been one of "those" months. Relatives are having health Issues, so it's been taking a toll on my focus, my time, and my focus. And I also can't focus. In any event, should be fixed now.)
Enjoy!
(Edit: Oops, managed to miss one review, there. As I mentioned, it's been one of "those" months. Relatives are having health Issues, so it's been taking a toll on my focus, my time, and my focus. And I also can't focus. In any event, should be fixed now.)
Friday, March 29, 2024
Unusual Chickens for the Exceptional Poultry Farmer (Kelly Jones)
Unusual Chickens for the Exceptional Poultry Farmer
The Unusual Chickens series, Book 1
Kelly Jones
Yearling
Fiction, MG Fantasy/Humor
**** (Good)
DESCRIPTION: When twelve-year-old Sophie Brown moves to Blackbird Farm in rural California, she doesn't know what to make of the place. She's been an apartment-dwelling city girl all her life, though her father claims they once visited the farm when she was too little to remember. It's a sprawling place full of overgrown grapevines, junk-filled barns, a disused chicken coop... or maybe not so disused. When Sophie spots a little white hen in the blackberries, she realizes not all of her late great-uncle's flock is gone. And when she watches that little hen levitate a spilled jar of water, she realizes that his chickens were very, very unusual indeed. With the help of a dusty old catalog she finds among the junk from Redwood Farm Supply (which advertises unusual chickens for exceptional poultry farmers, so surely they must be experts on the matter), Sophie decides to become a chicken keeper - a task made all the more complicated when she discovers someone trying very, very hard to get their hands on the strange hens of Blackbird Farm.
REVIEW: This is a fun, odd little story of a girl finding her place under strange circumstances. Told in epistolary format, in letters to her late Hispanic grandmother and the deceased great-uncle, as well as correspondence with the eccentric owner of Redwood Farm Supply (who offers a free correspondence course in chicken keeping), Sophie's tale unfolds as she struggles to deal with a new home and a mother and father who both are under their own stresses; they didn't move to the farm because they had starry-eyed notions of becoming farmers, but because they had no choice, with Dad being out of work and Mom's freelance articles not being enough to pay for city life. The girl may not even recall setting foot on a farm before, but she is eager to make the best of a bad situation. The fact that she remembers to water her bean plant regularly certainly means she's qualified to keep poultry, doesn't it? If not, she's more than willing to learn. From her discovery of "Henrietta" and its unusual abilities, more strange chickens trickle their way back to the hen house - even as a neighbor seems unusually keen to poke around. Who else knew of her great-uncle's bizarre birds, and how is one twelve-year-old girl going to stop the thief from taking them? It's a fun story, with some nice information on chickens and chicken keeping thrown in along the way; even the "villain" isn't necessarily evil or scary or mean, and has their own reasons for thinking they'll do better by Sophie's strange flock than a green city girl. One twist is a bit obvious early on (to a grown-up reader, at least), but plays out okay nonetheless, and the ending leaves the coop open for more unusual poultry adventures.
You Might Also Enjoy:
Cora and the Nurse Dragon (H. L. Burke) - My Review
Walk Two Moons (Sharon Creech) - My Review
Bob (Wendy Mass and Rebecca Stead) - My Review
The Unusual Chickens series, Book 1
Kelly Jones
Yearling
Fiction, MG Fantasy/Humor
**** (Good)
DESCRIPTION: When twelve-year-old Sophie Brown moves to Blackbird Farm in rural California, she doesn't know what to make of the place. She's been an apartment-dwelling city girl all her life, though her father claims they once visited the farm when she was too little to remember. It's a sprawling place full of overgrown grapevines, junk-filled barns, a disused chicken coop... or maybe not so disused. When Sophie spots a little white hen in the blackberries, she realizes not all of her late great-uncle's flock is gone. And when she watches that little hen levitate a spilled jar of water, she realizes that his chickens were very, very unusual indeed. With the help of a dusty old catalog she finds among the junk from Redwood Farm Supply (which advertises unusual chickens for exceptional poultry farmers, so surely they must be experts on the matter), Sophie decides to become a chicken keeper - a task made all the more complicated when she discovers someone trying very, very hard to get their hands on the strange hens of Blackbird Farm.
REVIEW: This is a fun, odd little story of a girl finding her place under strange circumstances. Told in epistolary format, in letters to her late Hispanic grandmother and the deceased great-uncle, as well as correspondence with the eccentric owner of Redwood Farm Supply (who offers a free correspondence course in chicken keeping), Sophie's tale unfolds as she struggles to deal with a new home and a mother and father who both are under their own stresses; they didn't move to the farm because they had starry-eyed notions of becoming farmers, but because they had no choice, with Dad being out of work and Mom's freelance articles not being enough to pay for city life. The girl may not even recall setting foot on a farm before, but she is eager to make the best of a bad situation. The fact that she remembers to water her bean plant regularly certainly means she's qualified to keep poultry, doesn't it? If not, she's more than willing to learn. From her discovery of "Henrietta" and its unusual abilities, more strange chickens trickle their way back to the hen house - even as a neighbor seems unusually keen to poke around. Who else knew of her great-uncle's bizarre birds, and how is one twelve-year-old girl going to stop the thief from taking them? It's a fun story, with some nice information on chickens and chicken keeping thrown in along the way; even the "villain" isn't necessarily evil or scary or mean, and has their own reasons for thinking they'll do better by Sophie's strange flock than a green city girl. One twist is a bit obvious early on (to a grown-up reader, at least), but plays out okay nonetheless, and the ending leaves the coop open for more unusual poultry adventures.
You Might Also Enjoy:
Cora and the Nurse Dragon (H. L. Burke) - My Review
Walk Two Moons (Sharon Creech) - My Review
Bob (Wendy Mass and Rebecca Stead) - My Review
Thursday, March 28, 2024
The Jolly Regina (Kara LaReau)
The Jolly Regina
The Unintentional Adventures of the Bland Sisters series, Book 1
Kara LaReau
Amulet Books
Fiction, CH? Adventure/Humor
**** (Good)
DESCRIPTION: Jaundice and Kale Bland have lived alone in their drab little house near Dullsville ever since their parents left on an "errand" and never returned (at least, not yet, but surely any day now). In the meantime, they mend socks and eat cheese sandwiches and entertain themselves by watching the grass grow and reading to each other from their favorite (and only) book, Dr. Nathaniel Snoote's Illustrated Children's Dictionary. It's a dull life, a predictable life, and it's just the kind of life they want.
Then the stranger knocks on their door with a surprise - the "surprise" being a burlap sack and an abduction to the deck of a pirate ship. The captain, "Dead-Eye" Delilah, claims that Mother and Father Bland were her hostages not so long ago, but when they refused to give up the location of the famed treasure of Captain Ann Tennille, the pirates marooned them on Gilly Guns Island, then came back to grab the girls. If they can't tell Delilah where the booty is, they'll be stuck scrubbing decks on the ship forever.
Jaundice and Kale know nothing about gold; they don't even like the color (their favorites being brown and gray). Now, though, they at least know where their parents are, and that they're in trouble (and not out on an errand at all). But what can two girls who have hardly ever set foot outside their home before, who don't even like the word "adventure", hope to do about it?
REVIEW: As the description implies, this is a lightweight, often silly little adventure tale starring two girls who would much rather mend socks and stare at their wallpaper than be out and about. Nevertheless, sometimes adventure is thrust upon those who least want it, and with a little scraping of pluck and the help of their dictionary and its educational sidebars, they manage to get by. Characters don't tend to have a ton of depth, but there's sometimes a little more to them than is initially apparent; one thing the Bland sisters learn is that most everyone has a story if you sit and let them tell it. The text is riddled with puns, many of which aim at least a couple generations over the target age, and the narrative is quick and lively. Does the experience turn Jaundice and Kale into seasoned, eager adventurers? Hardly, but they are not quite the same girls they were at the end of their adventure, and the fact that it's Book 1 of a series hints that there's more in store for the reluctant travelers. There's a bit at the end that almost knocked it down a half star, some implications where I was probably reading a little too much into things (with shades of adults misunderstanding possibly-neurodivergent children and their needs and trying to make them be people that they just are not). Overall, though, it made for a quick and amusing yarn.
You Might Also Enjoy:
Fortunately, the Milk (Neil Gaiman) - My Review
Piratica (Tanith Lee) - My Review
Meet the Dullards (Sara Pennypacker) - My Review
The Unintentional Adventures of the Bland Sisters series, Book 1
Kara LaReau
Amulet Books
Fiction, CH? Adventure/Humor
**** (Good)
DESCRIPTION: Jaundice and Kale Bland have lived alone in their drab little house near Dullsville ever since their parents left on an "errand" and never returned (at least, not yet, but surely any day now). In the meantime, they mend socks and eat cheese sandwiches and entertain themselves by watching the grass grow and reading to each other from their favorite (and only) book, Dr. Nathaniel Snoote's Illustrated Children's Dictionary. It's a dull life, a predictable life, and it's just the kind of life they want.
Then the stranger knocks on their door with a surprise - the "surprise" being a burlap sack and an abduction to the deck of a pirate ship. The captain, "Dead-Eye" Delilah, claims that Mother and Father Bland were her hostages not so long ago, but when they refused to give up the location of the famed treasure of Captain Ann Tennille, the pirates marooned them on Gilly Guns Island, then came back to grab the girls. If they can't tell Delilah where the booty is, they'll be stuck scrubbing decks on the ship forever.
Jaundice and Kale know nothing about gold; they don't even like the color (their favorites being brown and gray). Now, though, they at least know where their parents are, and that they're in trouble (and not out on an errand at all). But what can two girls who have hardly ever set foot outside their home before, who don't even like the word "adventure", hope to do about it?
REVIEW: As the description implies, this is a lightweight, often silly little adventure tale starring two girls who would much rather mend socks and stare at their wallpaper than be out and about. Nevertheless, sometimes adventure is thrust upon those who least want it, and with a little scraping of pluck and the help of their dictionary and its educational sidebars, they manage to get by. Characters don't tend to have a ton of depth, but there's sometimes a little more to them than is initially apparent; one thing the Bland sisters learn is that most everyone has a story if you sit and let them tell it. The text is riddled with puns, many of which aim at least a couple generations over the target age, and the narrative is quick and lively. Does the experience turn Jaundice and Kale into seasoned, eager adventurers? Hardly, but they are not quite the same girls they were at the end of their adventure, and the fact that it's Book 1 of a series hints that there's more in store for the reluctant travelers. There's a bit at the end that almost knocked it down a half star, some implications where I was probably reading a little too much into things (with shades of adults misunderstanding possibly-neurodivergent children and their needs and trying to make them be people that they just are not). Overall, though, it made for a quick and amusing yarn.
You Might Also Enjoy:
Fortunately, the Milk (Neil Gaiman) - My Review
Piratica (Tanith Lee) - My Review
Meet the Dullards (Sara Pennypacker) - My Review
Wednesday, March 27, 2024
Domesticating Dragons (Dan Koboldt)
Domesticating Dragons
The Build-A-Dragon Sequence, Book 1
Dan Koboldt
Baen
Fiction, Sci-Fi
**** (Good)
DESCRIPTION: Noah Parker didn't set out to design dragons. He didn't even really like them. His interest in genetics research was prompted by his brother Connor's progressive muscle-wasting disease, one too rare for a definitive diagnosis but which Noah is sure is linked to a particular genetic mutation. By studying genes and writing new programs to virtually model genetic alterations in real-time, he hopes to prove it, and maybe get Connor some sort of help before it's too late. Unfortunately, there's only so much computing power he can wrangle from the universities. The best servers are in private hands... such as the ones powering Arizona's cutting-edge Reptilian Corporation. Brainchild of eccentric inventor Simon Redwood, the company started off creating genetically engineered life forms to help curb the exploding feral pig population: apex predators based on reptile DNA (with a little rodent thrown into the mix) that are essentially dragons. Since then, new working forms have been developed, largely to fill roles left open after a devastating disease nearly wiped out the world's domestic dogs... but, to date, nobody has cracked the code to make "dragons" suitable as household companions, the ultimate potential market.
Noah needs access to Reptilian's computers. The company needs a genetic engineer to solve their domestic dragon problem. Maybe they both can get what they want... but one truth everyone forgot about dragons is that meddling with them is almost always more trouble than it's worth. Noah's greatest breakthrough may unleash far more trouble than he can imagine - and test Noah's priorities and loyalties to their limits.
REVIEW: I'll admit going into this one with middling-to-low expectations. (I'll also admit that part of this came from a not-great cover design, at least on the audiobook edition I borrowed via Libby.) But it was almost the exact right length to fill a shift at work (well, the right length at the speed I usually play audiobooks, at least), and I was tired of scrolling through options. The presence of dragons in the title didn't exactly hurt, either. So I figured it was worth a shot. Given that, it may not be surprising that Domesticating Dragons exceeded my expectations, but even I was amazed by how much I ended up enjoying it, enough I came close to giving it another half-star at several points.
Considering how much of this story relies on genetics (the author apparently is a genetics researcher, with published articles), this book manages to avoid lengthy infodumps, managing to set up the world and characters fairly quickly and backfill more details later on. There is a sense of wonder and inherent awe in dragons that even Noah, who is indifferent to fantasy, feels when in the presence of a dragon's egg for the first time. Never mind that it's not a "real" dragon from a storybook. Never mind that, as a genetic researcher, he is fully aware that this is a product of humanity tinkering/meddling with biological code it still doesn't fully understand. A dragon is a dragon, and one can't help feeling something when encountering them in the flesh. For all that Noah comes to Reptilian with ulterior motives - he mostly wants a foot in the door so he can secretly hijack some of their processing power for his own secret research - he finds himself caught up in the challenge of designing dragons, which are all crafted in company software and the "God machine" of a biological 3D printer with proprietary (handwave) technology. When a technical error winds up with him inadvertently creating an extraneous, uncounted dragon egg off an unauthorized design - an egg he impulsively takes home - his ambivalence about dragons takes on a new twist... ans when he learns the truth about the company director and the fates of too many of the dragons he has designed, that twist becomes a knife in the gut. Meanwhile, his personal life is shaken by an unexpected reconnection with Summer, the roommate of his former college girlfriend, and by his brother's continued deterioration.
There are acknowledged shades of Jurassic Park and other franchises throughout - at one time, Noah even makes a comment about Pernese dragons, perhaps the original genetically-engineered dragons in a sci-fi setting - as Noah is drawn deeper in the corporate culture and (despite himself) into the world of the dragons themselves. The dragons here may be products of science, but are very much dragons, and even the "pet" models are far more than scaly puppies. They are usually intelligent, often cunning, frequently proud (and perhaps a touch vain), loyal to their allies and absolutely devastating to their enemies... and humans, predictably, often have no clue how to handle them, frequently underestimating them. Interludes with customer service calls show just how far things are going off the rails in the real world, as real people interact with dragons (and demonstrate a sometimes-tragic inability to read the instruction manuals that came with their new companions). Corporate greed, however, sees no reason to even tap the brakes when they're making money hand over fist, and it's too easy to forget the consequences of one's work when one is parked behind a computer screen all day (and focused on personal goals that don't involve dragons at all). At some point, of course, Noah must face what's really going on - and his own role in that, via the dragons he has designed and consigned to uncertain fates - and must decide which takes precedent: stopping the atrocities being committed by Build-A-Dragon, or taking an increasingly-slim chance at saving his brother. This choice is not as simple as it may sound, when even Connor is telling him that this obsession is making him focus on the wrong things.
As I mentioned, I didn't really expect to enjoy this one as much as I did, so I found myself rather pleasantly surprised throughout. There were, however, a few stumbling points now and again, especially toward the ending - an ending that felt both a little too neat and a little too open to the inevitable sequel. I may or may not follow the sequence on to the next book, but I will say that I was well entertained.
You Might Also Enjoy:
Eve and Adam (Katherine Applegate and Michael Grant) - My Review
His Majesty's Dragon (Naomi Novik) - My Review
Dragon's Blood (Jane Yolen) - My Review
The Build-A-Dragon Sequence, Book 1
Dan Koboldt
Baen
Fiction, Sci-Fi
**** (Good)
DESCRIPTION: Noah Parker didn't set out to design dragons. He didn't even really like them. His interest in genetics research was prompted by his brother Connor's progressive muscle-wasting disease, one too rare for a definitive diagnosis but which Noah is sure is linked to a particular genetic mutation. By studying genes and writing new programs to virtually model genetic alterations in real-time, he hopes to prove it, and maybe get Connor some sort of help before it's too late. Unfortunately, there's only so much computing power he can wrangle from the universities. The best servers are in private hands... such as the ones powering Arizona's cutting-edge Reptilian Corporation. Brainchild of eccentric inventor Simon Redwood, the company started off creating genetically engineered life forms to help curb the exploding feral pig population: apex predators based on reptile DNA (with a little rodent thrown into the mix) that are essentially dragons. Since then, new working forms have been developed, largely to fill roles left open after a devastating disease nearly wiped out the world's domestic dogs... but, to date, nobody has cracked the code to make "dragons" suitable as household companions, the ultimate potential market.
Noah needs access to Reptilian's computers. The company needs a genetic engineer to solve their domestic dragon problem. Maybe they both can get what they want... but one truth everyone forgot about dragons is that meddling with them is almost always more trouble than it's worth. Noah's greatest breakthrough may unleash far more trouble than he can imagine - and test Noah's priorities and loyalties to their limits.
REVIEW: I'll admit going into this one with middling-to-low expectations. (I'll also admit that part of this came from a not-great cover design, at least on the audiobook edition I borrowed via Libby.) But it was almost the exact right length to fill a shift at work (well, the right length at the speed I usually play audiobooks, at least), and I was tired of scrolling through options. The presence of dragons in the title didn't exactly hurt, either. So I figured it was worth a shot. Given that, it may not be surprising that Domesticating Dragons exceeded my expectations, but even I was amazed by how much I ended up enjoying it, enough I came close to giving it another half-star at several points.
Considering how much of this story relies on genetics (the author apparently is a genetics researcher, with published articles), this book manages to avoid lengthy infodumps, managing to set up the world and characters fairly quickly and backfill more details later on. There is a sense of wonder and inherent awe in dragons that even Noah, who is indifferent to fantasy, feels when in the presence of a dragon's egg for the first time. Never mind that it's not a "real" dragon from a storybook. Never mind that, as a genetic researcher, he is fully aware that this is a product of humanity tinkering/meddling with biological code it still doesn't fully understand. A dragon is a dragon, and one can't help feeling something when encountering them in the flesh. For all that Noah comes to Reptilian with ulterior motives - he mostly wants a foot in the door so he can secretly hijack some of their processing power for his own secret research - he finds himself caught up in the challenge of designing dragons, which are all crafted in company software and the "God machine" of a biological 3D printer with proprietary (handwave) technology. When a technical error winds up with him inadvertently creating an extraneous, uncounted dragon egg off an unauthorized design - an egg he impulsively takes home - his ambivalence about dragons takes on a new twist... ans when he learns the truth about the company director and the fates of too many of the dragons he has designed, that twist becomes a knife in the gut. Meanwhile, his personal life is shaken by an unexpected reconnection with Summer, the roommate of his former college girlfriend, and by his brother's continued deterioration.
There are acknowledged shades of Jurassic Park and other franchises throughout - at one time, Noah even makes a comment about Pernese dragons, perhaps the original genetically-engineered dragons in a sci-fi setting - as Noah is drawn deeper in the corporate culture and (despite himself) into the world of the dragons themselves. The dragons here may be products of science, but are very much dragons, and even the "pet" models are far more than scaly puppies. They are usually intelligent, often cunning, frequently proud (and perhaps a touch vain), loyal to their allies and absolutely devastating to their enemies... and humans, predictably, often have no clue how to handle them, frequently underestimating them. Interludes with customer service calls show just how far things are going off the rails in the real world, as real people interact with dragons (and demonstrate a sometimes-tragic inability to read the instruction manuals that came with their new companions). Corporate greed, however, sees no reason to even tap the brakes when they're making money hand over fist, and it's too easy to forget the consequences of one's work when one is parked behind a computer screen all day (and focused on personal goals that don't involve dragons at all). At some point, of course, Noah must face what's really going on - and his own role in that, via the dragons he has designed and consigned to uncertain fates - and must decide which takes precedent: stopping the atrocities being committed by Build-A-Dragon, or taking an increasingly-slim chance at saving his brother. This choice is not as simple as it may sound, when even Connor is telling him that this obsession is making him focus on the wrong things.
As I mentioned, I didn't really expect to enjoy this one as much as I did, so I found myself rather pleasantly surprised throughout. There were, however, a few stumbling points now and again, especially toward the ending - an ending that felt both a little too neat and a little too open to the inevitable sequel. I may or may not follow the sequence on to the next book, but I will say that I was well entertained.
You Might Also Enjoy:
Eve and Adam (Katherine Applegate and Michael Grant) - My Review
His Majesty's Dragon (Naomi Novik) - My Review
Dragon's Blood (Jane Yolen) - My Review
Sunday, March 24, 2024
Nightwatch on the Hinterlands (K. Eason)
Nightwatch on the Hinterlands
Arithmancy and Anarchy: The Weep series, Book 1
K. Eason
DAW
Fiction, Fantasy/Sci-Fi
****+ (Good/Great)
DESCRIPTION: Generations ago, the multiverse was rocked by interspecies war - a war that only ended when the vakari Protectorate inadvertently ripped the very fabric of spacetime with a powerful act of arithmancy. The fissures of the Weep extend into an unknown plane of existence, from which reality-warping entities known as the Brood periodically emerge to ravage anything in their path. The Protectorate, the splinter defectors of the Five Tribes, and the Confederacy alliance of species were forced to the treaty table in order to deal with the threat. But so far no arithmancers, hex-workers, artificers, priests, or others on any side have figured out how to close up the rifts. All they can do is stand watch over the fissures, wait, and pray to whatever gods or entities that might listen that today will not be a surge day.
The backwater world of Tanis was lucky enough to survive the worst of the Weep, but still has a minor fissure running through the system. As such, it has its contingent of Aedis templars - soldiers with advanced nanotech and battle suits and other augmentations, trained to fight Brood - as well as an official Five Tribes vakari presence. Templar Lieutenant Iari, a native tenju and veteran of the last Brood outbreak on Tanis (with the scars and cracked tusk to prove it), is devout and loyal, so when Knight-Marshal Tobin assigned her to be the escort of Ambassador Gaer, she took the assignment without complaint, for all that babysitting a diplomat was not why she took oaths as a templar. In truth, the duty isn't too terrible, for all that Gaer has terrible taste in night club music. But when an excursion to B-town is interrupted by screams, Iari and Gaer stumble into a horrific and impossible murder: a wichu artificer has apparently been brutally killed in their own workshop, but the apparent culprit should not have been able to hurt so much as a fly, let alone a sentient being. The riev - amalgamations of magic and technology wound around the reanimated corpses of deceased soldiers, created originally to fight the vakari - were repurposed after the treaty, their ability to kill removed from their systems. Are the riev going rogue, or is someone controlling them... and to what end? The more Iari and Gaer unearth, the more they realize the terrible plot at work, the danger that might bring Protectorate, Tribes, and Confederacy to their knees.
REVIEW: I greatly enjoyed Eason's Thorne Chronicles, which mashed up fairy tale tropes and space opera to create an original and entertaining world. When I saw Eason was continuing the tale with this new sequel series, I snapped it up (even if it took a while to rise to the top of the reading pile; I read by mood, not necessarily order of acquisition). Nightwatch on the Hinterlands both is and isn't like its predecessor, in ways that were initially a bit jarring but which quickly became compelling and fascinating. This is Rory Thorne's young adult-tinged multiverse all grown up, gritty and battle-scarred. While there are callbacks and follow-ups on some threads from the first duology, and while it uses the same magic-tech blend of "arithmancy", hexwork, turing devices, and such to create an interstellar milieu powered by magic so advanced it's almost indistinguishable from technology, it's almost effectively a standalone work. There is no chronicler adding amusing footnotes, no fairy tale structure or archetype underlying it (at least not one I readily recognized), no princesses or queens or fairies placing blessings or curses upon children to shape their destinies. Instead, there is a thorny tangle of alliances and rivalries, ranging from personal to interplanetary, a collection of nicely rounded and individually flawed characters in a multiverse that has literally been shattered, and a fast-paced, twist-filled murder investigation whose implications could destabilize, even destroy, what's left of that shattered multiverse, wrapped in a noir-tinged tale haunted by past traumas and punctuated with violence.
From the start, it's clear that this isn't Rory Thorne's multiverse anymore, for all that there were definite shades of darkness and significant depth in the earlier tales. Within ten pages, there's a gory murder and a mystery, not to mention loads of confict and tension in the setting. A lot of setting and worldbuilding gets layered in along the way - sometimes pushing toward new-term overload, especially as it's been a while since I read the Thorne Chronicles - but it sorts itself out along the way. As before, nobody is stupid or stubborn just for plot's sake, each doing their best with the information and resources they have. Iari and Gaer make for a good, if outwardly unlikely, investigation team, wending their way through B-town's underworld with some help from Iari's ex, former soldier turned private investigator Corso, as well as a pair of unusually independent riev. The traumas of war - between species and against Brood incursions - have left their mark on everyone and everything, and the notion of facing a renewal of hostilities and a brand-new enemy that may combine the worst of all previous conflicts is almost more than anyone can face. The plot, as mentioned, starts fairly quickly and hardly ever lets up, leading to a high-octane climax that sets up the next book in the Weep series. Despite the change in gears from the first duology, I found myself very much enjoying this new facet of Eason's arithmancy-laced multiverse, and eagerly look forward to more.
You Might Also Enjoy:
Leviathan Wakes (James S. A. Corey) - My Review
How Rory Thorne Destroyed the Multiverse (K. Eason) - My Review
Shards of Earth (Adrian Tchaikovsky) - My Review
Arithmancy and Anarchy: The Weep series, Book 1
K. Eason
DAW
Fiction, Fantasy/Sci-Fi
****+ (Good/Great)
DESCRIPTION: Generations ago, the multiverse was rocked by interspecies war - a war that only ended when the vakari Protectorate inadvertently ripped the very fabric of spacetime with a powerful act of arithmancy. The fissures of the Weep extend into an unknown plane of existence, from which reality-warping entities known as the Brood periodically emerge to ravage anything in their path. The Protectorate, the splinter defectors of the Five Tribes, and the Confederacy alliance of species were forced to the treaty table in order to deal with the threat. But so far no arithmancers, hex-workers, artificers, priests, or others on any side have figured out how to close up the rifts. All they can do is stand watch over the fissures, wait, and pray to whatever gods or entities that might listen that today will not be a surge day.
The backwater world of Tanis was lucky enough to survive the worst of the Weep, but still has a minor fissure running through the system. As such, it has its contingent of Aedis templars - soldiers with advanced nanotech and battle suits and other augmentations, trained to fight Brood - as well as an official Five Tribes vakari presence. Templar Lieutenant Iari, a native tenju and veteran of the last Brood outbreak on Tanis (with the scars and cracked tusk to prove it), is devout and loyal, so when Knight-Marshal Tobin assigned her to be the escort of Ambassador Gaer, she took the assignment without complaint, for all that babysitting a diplomat was not why she took oaths as a templar. In truth, the duty isn't too terrible, for all that Gaer has terrible taste in night club music. But when an excursion to B-town is interrupted by screams, Iari and Gaer stumble into a horrific and impossible murder: a wichu artificer has apparently been brutally killed in their own workshop, but the apparent culprit should not have been able to hurt so much as a fly, let alone a sentient being. The riev - amalgamations of magic and technology wound around the reanimated corpses of deceased soldiers, created originally to fight the vakari - were repurposed after the treaty, their ability to kill removed from their systems. Are the riev going rogue, or is someone controlling them... and to what end? The more Iari and Gaer unearth, the more they realize the terrible plot at work, the danger that might bring Protectorate, Tribes, and Confederacy to their knees.
REVIEW: I greatly enjoyed Eason's Thorne Chronicles, which mashed up fairy tale tropes and space opera to create an original and entertaining world. When I saw Eason was continuing the tale with this new sequel series, I snapped it up (even if it took a while to rise to the top of the reading pile; I read by mood, not necessarily order of acquisition). Nightwatch on the Hinterlands both is and isn't like its predecessor, in ways that were initially a bit jarring but which quickly became compelling and fascinating. This is Rory Thorne's young adult-tinged multiverse all grown up, gritty and battle-scarred. While there are callbacks and follow-ups on some threads from the first duology, and while it uses the same magic-tech blend of "arithmancy", hexwork, turing devices, and such to create an interstellar milieu powered by magic so advanced it's almost indistinguishable from technology, it's almost effectively a standalone work. There is no chronicler adding amusing footnotes, no fairy tale structure or archetype underlying it (at least not one I readily recognized), no princesses or queens or fairies placing blessings or curses upon children to shape their destinies. Instead, there is a thorny tangle of alliances and rivalries, ranging from personal to interplanetary, a collection of nicely rounded and individually flawed characters in a multiverse that has literally been shattered, and a fast-paced, twist-filled murder investigation whose implications could destabilize, even destroy, what's left of that shattered multiverse, wrapped in a noir-tinged tale haunted by past traumas and punctuated with violence.
From the start, it's clear that this isn't Rory Thorne's multiverse anymore, for all that there were definite shades of darkness and significant depth in the earlier tales. Within ten pages, there's a gory murder and a mystery, not to mention loads of confict and tension in the setting. A lot of setting and worldbuilding gets layered in along the way - sometimes pushing toward new-term overload, especially as it's been a while since I read the Thorne Chronicles - but it sorts itself out along the way. As before, nobody is stupid or stubborn just for plot's sake, each doing their best with the information and resources they have. Iari and Gaer make for a good, if outwardly unlikely, investigation team, wending their way through B-town's underworld with some help from Iari's ex, former soldier turned private investigator Corso, as well as a pair of unusually independent riev. The traumas of war - between species and against Brood incursions - have left their mark on everyone and everything, and the notion of facing a renewal of hostilities and a brand-new enemy that may combine the worst of all previous conflicts is almost more than anyone can face. The plot, as mentioned, starts fairly quickly and hardly ever lets up, leading to a high-octane climax that sets up the next book in the Weep series. Despite the change in gears from the first duology, I found myself very much enjoying this new facet of Eason's arithmancy-laced multiverse, and eagerly look forward to more.
You Might Also Enjoy:
Leviathan Wakes (James S. A. Corey) - My Review
How Rory Thorne Destroyed the Multiverse (K. Eason) - My Review
Shards of Earth (Adrian Tchaikovsky) - My Review
Friday, March 15, 2024
A Night in the Lonesome October (Roger Zelazny)
A Night in the Lonesome October
Roger Zelazny
William Morrow and Company
Fiction, Horror/Humor
*** (Okay)
DESCRIPTION: Full moons have power, as does the night of Halloween. When the two coincide, great and terrible things may happen... depending on who involves themselves, and whether they stand for preserving the world or opening doorways to elder gods who may destroy everything. The dog Snuff, loyal familiar of cursed sorcerer Jack, has been through these events more than once in his long life, but this year's convergence in the English countryside already has unusual hallmarks, drawing all manner of strange characters and their own animal familiars. Before, Jack and his allies have managed to keep the elder entities at bay, but this time, dangerous newcomers are violating nearly every rule and custom to ensure that they fail, and even a loyal familiar like Snuff may not be able to save the day.
REVIEW: This is one of those classics I keep meaning to get to, generally at a more seasonably-appropriate time (this being a very springlike mid-March, with the novel taking place over the 31 days of October), but it's understandably harder to secure the audiobook though the library in autumn. In any event, I'm not sure if it would've been notably improved by the proper atmosphere, for while the prose could be amusing and there are some very interesting and imaginative ideas and images at play, the whole starts feeling less like its own horror tale and more like a fanfic mashup of various gothic figures familiar from page and silver screen, to the point of distracting absurdity.
The narrator, Snuff, makes allusions to the histories of himself, his master (who, though never explicitly named, is clearly Jack the Ripper as well as a very long-lived sorcerer), and the October ritual that may or may not end the world. When not protecting his master on nightly jaunts for spell ingredients, he's protecting the master from various entities contained in various parts of their home (such as the "Thing in the Circle" that keeps trying to tempt Snuff to free it by transforming into various exotic lady canines, and the often-threatening "Thing in the Wardrobe" up in the attic) and keeping an eye on the other local "players" in the coming "game". As part of the latter duties, he develops professional relationships with the other masters' and mistresses' familiars that range from friendly to antagonistic; the cat Greymalk, familiar of local "mad" witch Jill, is perhaps his closest friend, even when they realize that their keepers are destined to stand on opposite sides of the conflict.
At first, Snuff views it all with a certain weary familiarity. This isn't his first supernatural rodeo, after all. But when dead bodies turn up near his house, a wild card turns up in the form of a neighbor with a wolfish secret who may or may not be a player, and other oddities (such as a detective and his portly companion poking their noses into things) shake that complacency, Snuff starts feeling his first sense that maybe master Jack won't come out on the winning side come the end of October. The strongest parts of the story are Snuff's interactions with his fellow familiars, underlings with their own agendas that may or may not coincide with the humans they serve. The humans, on the other hand... despite what Hollywood and many comic book "multiverses" seem to insist, there are only so many disparate "worlds" and rules one can throw together before it just starts getting a bit ridiculous. Here, there's Jack the Ripper, Count Dracula (who keeps a company of stereotype "Gypsy" followers, not the only trace of unfortunate dating in the book), Sherlock Holmes and Watson, Larry Talbot (the Wolfman), Doctor Frankenstein and Igor and the Creature, and numerous others I didn't recognize off the top of my head but which were clearly lifted from other works. They draw too much attention to themselves and clutter the game board until the game itself is almost an afterthought. As a result, the climax feels weirdly muted, too surreal to even begin to care about the stakes or who wins or loses, with a bit of a deus ex machina thrown in the middle. The ending just kind of shrugs the whole thing off with a glib final line that doesn't even fit what we readers were told earlier about the consequences for whoever loses the contest (not really a spoiler if there's not really a point).
This is the second swing-and-miss for Zelazny for me, so I'm pretty sure he's just not an author I'm equipped to really enjoy, for all that I can appreciate some of the writing and the concepts. He may be an inspiration to many in the genre, but for me I fear he's just too dated and not my cup of cocoa.
You Might Also Enjoy:
The Improbable Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (John Joseph Adams, editor) - My Review
At the Mountains of Madness (Howard Phillips Lovecraft) - My Review
Forever After (Roger Zelazny, creator) - My Review
Roger Zelazny
William Morrow and Company
Fiction, Horror/Humor
*** (Okay)
DESCRIPTION: Full moons have power, as does the night of Halloween. When the two coincide, great and terrible things may happen... depending on who involves themselves, and whether they stand for preserving the world or opening doorways to elder gods who may destroy everything. The dog Snuff, loyal familiar of cursed sorcerer Jack, has been through these events more than once in his long life, but this year's convergence in the English countryside already has unusual hallmarks, drawing all manner of strange characters and their own animal familiars. Before, Jack and his allies have managed to keep the elder entities at bay, but this time, dangerous newcomers are violating nearly every rule and custom to ensure that they fail, and even a loyal familiar like Snuff may not be able to save the day.
REVIEW: This is one of those classics I keep meaning to get to, generally at a more seasonably-appropriate time (this being a very springlike mid-March, with the novel taking place over the 31 days of October), but it's understandably harder to secure the audiobook though the library in autumn. In any event, I'm not sure if it would've been notably improved by the proper atmosphere, for while the prose could be amusing and there are some very interesting and imaginative ideas and images at play, the whole starts feeling less like its own horror tale and more like a fanfic mashup of various gothic figures familiar from page and silver screen, to the point of distracting absurdity.
The narrator, Snuff, makes allusions to the histories of himself, his master (who, though never explicitly named, is clearly Jack the Ripper as well as a very long-lived sorcerer), and the October ritual that may or may not end the world. When not protecting his master on nightly jaunts for spell ingredients, he's protecting the master from various entities contained in various parts of their home (such as the "Thing in the Circle" that keeps trying to tempt Snuff to free it by transforming into various exotic lady canines, and the often-threatening "Thing in the Wardrobe" up in the attic) and keeping an eye on the other local "players" in the coming "game". As part of the latter duties, he develops professional relationships with the other masters' and mistresses' familiars that range from friendly to antagonistic; the cat Greymalk, familiar of local "mad" witch Jill, is perhaps his closest friend, even when they realize that their keepers are destined to stand on opposite sides of the conflict.
At first, Snuff views it all with a certain weary familiarity. This isn't his first supernatural rodeo, after all. But when dead bodies turn up near his house, a wild card turns up in the form of a neighbor with a wolfish secret who may or may not be a player, and other oddities (such as a detective and his portly companion poking their noses into things) shake that complacency, Snuff starts feeling his first sense that maybe master Jack won't come out on the winning side come the end of October. The strongest parts of the story are Snuff's interactions with his fellow familiars, underlings with their own agendas that may or may not coincide with the humans they serve. The humans, on the other hand... despite what Hollywood and many comic book "multiverses" seem to insist, there are only so many disparate "worlds" and rules one can throw together before it just starts getting a bit ridiculous. Here, there's Jack the Ripper, Count Dracula (who keeps a company of stereotype "Gypsy" followers, not the only trace of unfortunate dating in the book), Sherlock Holmes and Watson, Larry Talbot (the Wolfman), Doctor Frankenstein and Igor and the Creature, and numerous others I didn't recognize off the top of my head but which were clearly lifted from other works. They draw too much attention to themselves and clutter the game board until the game itself is almost an afterthought. As a result, the climax feels weirdly muted, too surreal to even begin to care about the stakes or who wins or loses, with a bit of a deus ex machina thrown in the middle. The ending just kind of shrugs the whole thing off with a glib final line that doesn't even fit what we readers were told earlier about the consequences for whoever loses the contest (not really a spoiler if there's not really a point).
This is the second swing-and-miss for Zelazny for me, so I'm pretty sure he's just not an author I'm equipped to really enjoy, for all that I can appreciate some of the writing and the concepts. He may be an inspiration to many in the genre, but for me I fear he's just too dated and not my cup of cocoa.
You Might Also Enjoy:
The Improbable Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (John Joseph Adams, editor) - My Review
At the Mountains of Madness (Howard Phillips Lovecraft) - My Review
Forever After (Roger Zelazny, creator) - My Review
Thursday, March 14, 2024
The Lost Words (Robert Macfarlane)
The Lost Words
Robert Macfarlane
Anansi International
Fiction, CH Poetry
***+ (Okay/Good)
DESCRIPTION: When the Oxford Children's Dictionary was updated in 2007, several words were removed as no longer relevant to young readers, replaced with more modern terms related to technology. Acorn, newt, raven, willow... their loss hinted at a loss of nature, a loss of connection to the green world beyond the classroom. With these poems inspired by the missing words, Robert Macfarlane hopes to reforge that connection and spark the sense of wonder that the natural world can bring, even in the internet age.
REVIEW: This is a case where the presentation - in this case, the audiobook - had a distinct impact on the rating. The poems themselves are decent, if a bit variable in quality and content. (I also wonder how much a kid who didn't already know and appreciate nature - particularly the nature of the English countryside - would get out of some of them.) But the audiobook insisted on inserting long lulls between the poems full of birdsong and natural sounds. They comprised at least a third of the total runtime; I timed more than one as longer than the accompanying poem. There's adding atmosphere, and there's just plain overkill... I think this one would work better in the original format, as a picture book with illustrations by Jackie Morris, but as I listened to the audiobook, it's the audiobook version I must review.
(As a closing note, I wonder why the original word definitions weren't included, either with the poems or in an afterword. Wasn't half the point to re-introduce those words to children's vocabulary?)
You Might Also Enjoy:
Being a Beast (Charles Foster) - My Review
Imagine a World (Rob Gonsalves) - My Review
The Dream of the Thylacine (Margaret Wild) - My Review
Robert Macfarlane
Anansi International
Fiction, CH Poetry
***+ (Okay/Good)
DESCRIPTION: When the Oxford Children's Dictionary was updated in 2007, several words were removed as no longer relevant to young readers, replaced with more modern terms related to technology. Acorn, newt, raven, willow... their loss hinted at a loss of nature, a loss of connection to the green world beyond the classroom. With these poems inspired by the missing words, Robert Macfarlane hopes to reforge that connection and spark the sense of wonder that the natural world can bring, even in the internet age.
REVIEW: This is a case where the presentation - in this case, the audiobook - had a distinct impact on the rating. The poems themselves are decent, if a bit variable in quality and content. (I also wonder how much a kid who didn't already know and appreciate nature - particularly the nature of the English countryside - would get out of some of them.) But the audiobook insisted on inserting long lulls between the poems full of birdsong and natural sounds. They comprised at least a third of the total runtime; I timed more than one as longer than the accompanying poem. There's adding atmosphere, and there's just plain overkill... I think this one would work better in the original format, as a picture book with illustrations by Jackie Morris, but as I listened to the audiobook, it's the audiobook version I must review.
(As a closing note, I wonder why the original word definitions weren't included, either with the poems or in an afterword. Wasn't half the point to re-introduce those words to children's vocabulary?)
You Might Also Enjoy:
Being a Beast (Charles Foster) - My Review
Imagine a World (Rob Gonsalves) - My Review
The Dream of the Thylacine (Margaret Wild) - My Review
The Case of the Case of Mistaken Identity (Mac Barnett)
The Case of the Case of Mistaken Identity
The Brixton Brothers series, Book 1
Mac Barnett
Simon and Schuster
Fiction, MG Humor/Mystery
**** (Good)
DESCRIPTION: Steve Brixton may just be a kid, but he already knows what he wants to be when he grows up: a private detective. He already knows everything he needs to know about sleuthing and catching criminals thanks to his favorite book series, the Bailey Brothers, and their handy guide for aspiring young detectives, The Bailey Brothers' Detective Handbook. All he needs is a case to get him started... but he never expected to stumble into one thanks to his social studies class, of all things, and certainly not researching the history of American needlework for an eight-page essay (due Monday). When he tries to check out the town library's only book on the subject, all heck breaks loose. Suddenly, he's on the run from both the librarians - really a secret society of elite agents that makes the FBI look like Cub Scouts - and the law, with everyone convinced he's an undercover private eye working for a mysterious figure known only as Mr. E. The only way to prove he's not a real detective is to find Mr. E for himself - a dangerous caper that might stump even the famed Bailey Brothers.
REVIEW: A tongue-in-cheek riff on boy detective series like the Hardy Boys, The Case of the Case of Mistaken Identity pits a young would-be detective against intentionally over-the-top baddies in a twisty, turny plot that both leans on and tweaks familiar tropes. Steve thinks he has what it takes to be a real, live crime fighter, and even outsmarts his mother's new cop boyfriend by cracking a burglary at the dinner table, Encyclopedia Brown style (not that the man believes him, or appreciates the boy showing him up). But it's one thing to read about the fictional Bailey Brothers stalking smugglers and dodging gunfire, and a whole different thing altogether when armed men are breaking through the library windows hunting him down for trying to check out an old book on quilts. Still, Steve has his notebook, his mail-order official Bailey Brothers detective badge, his handbook for young detectives, and even his magnifying glass (which is apparently a vital accessory to any private eye, though he only figures out a use for it later on), and it's not like he has a choice about taking the case when the case is literally dropped in his lap... and when failure means either being hauled off to jail as a national traitor or taken away to a secret compound by the shadow organization of librarians, which might be even worse. Of course, one thing he knows from his reading is that every good detective has a "chum", or partner, though his best friend Dana isn't exactly thrilled to be drug into the role of sidekick, and even less thrilled by Steve calling him "chum" all the time, which in a modern coastal town is more often associated with fish bait than with partnership (the Bailey Brothers aren't exactly a modern duo). Through a combination of pluck, cleverness, sheer luck, and beneficial failures, not to mention a handbook that sometimes is more hindrance than help, Steve manages to make his way through the tale, though not without several setbacks and contusions. The whole manages to be amusing, delivering chuckles and thrills and intentional ridiculousness.
You Might Also Enjoy:
The Library of Ever (Zeno Alexander) - My Review
Write This Book: A Do-It-Yourself Mystery (Pseudonymous Bosch) - My Review
Alcatraz Versus the Evil Librarians (Brandon Sanderson) - My Review
The Brixton Brothers series, Book 1
Mac Barnett
Simon and Schuster
Fiction, MG Humor/Mystery
**** (Good)
DESCRIPTION: Steve Brixton may just be a kid, but he already knows what he wants to be when he grows up: a private detective. He already knows everything he needs to know about sleuthing and catching criminals thanks to his favorite book series, the Bailey Brothers, and their handy guide for aspiring young detectives, The Bailey Brothers' Detective Handbook. All he needs is a case to get him started... but he never expected to stumble into one thanks to his social studies class, of all things, and certainly not researching the history of American needlework for an eight-page essay (due Monday). When he tries to check out the town library's only book on the subject, all heck breaks loose. Suddenly, he's on the run from both the librarians - really a secret society of elite agents that makes the FBI look like Cub Scouts - and the law, with everyone convinced he's an undercover private eye working for a mysterious figure known only as Mr. E. The only way to prove he's not a real detective is to find Mr. E for himself - a dangerous caper that might stump even the famed Bailey Brothers.
REVIEW: A tongue-in-cheek riff on boy detective series like the Hardy Boys, The Case of the Case of Mistaken Identity pits a young would-be detective against intentionally over-the-top baddies in a twisty, turny plot that both leans on and tweaks familiar tropes. Steve thinks he has what it takes to be a real, live crime fighter, and even outsmarts his mother's new cop boyfriend by cracking a burglary at the dinner table, Encyclopedia Brown style (not that the man believes him, or appreciates the boy showing him up). But it's one thing to read about the fictional Bailey Brothers stalking smugglers and dodging gunfire, and a whole different thing altogether when armed men are breaking through the library windows hunting him down for trying to check out an old book on quilts. Still, Steve has his notebook, his mail-order official Bailey Brothers detective badge, his handbook for young detectives, and even his magnifying glass (which is apparently a vital accessory to any private eye, though he only figures out a use for it later on), and it's not like he has a choice about taking the case when the case is literally dropped in his lap... and when failure means either being hauled off to jail as a national traitor or taken away to a secret compound by the shadow organization of librarians, which might be even worse. Of course, one thing he knows from his reading is that every good detective has a "chum", or partner, though his best friend Dana isn't exactly thrilled to be drug into the role of sidekick, and even less thrilled by Steve calling him "chum" all the time, which in a modern coastal town is more often associated with fish bait than with partnership (the Bailey Brothers aren't exactly a modern duo). Through a combination of pluck, cleverness, sheer luck, and beneficial failures, not to mention a handbook that sometimes is more hindrance than help, Steve manages to make his way through the tale, though not without several setbacks and contusions. The whole manages to be amusing, delivering chuckles and thrills and intentional ridiculousness.
You Might Also Enjoy:
The Library of Ever (Zeno Alexander) - My Review
Write This Book: A Do-It-Yourself Mystery (Pseudonymous Bosch) - My Review
Alcatraz Versus the Evil Librarians (Brandon Sanderson) - My Review
Wednesday, March 13, 2024
The Neanderthals Rediscovered (Dimitra Papagianni and Michael A. Morse)
The Neanderthals Rediscovered: How Modern Science is Rewriting Their Story
Dimitra Papagianni and Michael A. Morse
Thames and Hudson
Nonfiction, Anthropology/Archaeology
***+ (Okay/Good)
DESCRIPTION: Neanderthal. Caveman. Ever since the first discoveries of primitive hominins and early reconstructions, these terms have been tossed around as pejoratives, expressing brutish stupidity and dinosaur-like obsolescence. The proof, of course, is that Homo sapiens has survived to invent the very archaeology that renders our extinct relatives as inferiors. If we weren't smarter, weren't stronger, weren't faster and more clever and overall just plain better and more blessed beings, we'd be the bones in the caves and they'd be the ones excavating our tools and wondering about us, right? In recent years, new discoveries and investigative techniques have upended nearly everything we thought we knew about Homo neanderthalensis, the iconic "caveman" relatives who once spread across Europe and Asia before disappearing into the mists of time. Just what were Neanderthals like? Where did they come from and why did they vanish... and is there anything other than old bones and stone tools left of them today? And, given what we've learned, is it really fair or accurate to treat their name as a synonym for stupidity?
REVIEW: In the foreword, the authors mention that the book was supposed to have gone to press earlier than it did (in 2015), but that various factors ended up holding it up... and even in that brief delay, much of what they'd written had to be rewritten, or at least adjusted, to account for new discoveries, breakthroughs, and theories. I can only imagine where things stand in the scientific community in 2024. Even when it was published, though, it was clear that popular cultural images of the Neanderthal as a knuckle-dragging, club-swinging, misogynistic monster were about as accurate as the Flintstones in depicting our prehistoric ancestors and relatives. From missteps in early reconstruction and investigations to biases on race (and species), the history of prehistoric study has wended its way slowly and circuitously toward something approaching the truth, though of course we probably will never know the whole truth unless time travel becomes a thing (and fiction informs us that that's frankly more trouble than it's probably worth). The authors recount both the history (as understood) of the human/hominin diaspora that created Neanderthals, early "modern" humans, and other relatives known and unknown, and the history of discoveries and theories that have shaped our understanding of our lost kin. Sometimes the recitations can feel a bit dry and technical, and once in a while it seemed they were dismissing or downplaying hypotheses and ideas without really getting into why, but overall it paints a fascinating, if naturally (sometimes frustratingly) incomplete, picture of a lost species that was far more like us than many H. sapiens are comfortable admitting... for if we allow that Neanderthals were also capable of many of the things we think of as exclusively ours, that they were not obviously or inherently lesser beings, we might have to consider that we, too, could follow them into oblivion with the next roll of the evolutionary dice.
You Might Also Enjoy:
The Smart Neanderthal (Clive Finlayson) - My Review
Last Ape Standing (Chip Walter) - My Review
Paleofantasy (Marlene Zuk) - My Review
Dimitra Papagianni and Michael A. Morse
Thames and Hudson
Nonfiction, Anthropology/Archaeology
***+ (Okay/Good)
DESCRIPTION: Neanderthal. Caveman. Ever since the first discoveries of primitive hominins and early reconstructions, these terms have been tossed around as pejoratives, expressing brutish stupidity and dinosaur-like obsolescence. The proof, of course, is that Homo sapiens has survived to invent the very archaeology that renders our extinct relatives as inferiors. If we weren't smarter, weren't stronger, weren't faster and more clever and overall just plain better and more blessed beings, we'd be the bones in the caves and they'd be the ones excavating our tools and wondering about us, right? In recent years, new discoveries and investigative techniques have upended nearly everything we thought we knew about Homo neanderthalensis, the iconic "caveman" relatives who once spread across Europe and Asia before disappearing into the mists of time. Just what were Neanderthals like? Where did they come from and why did they vanish... and is there anything other than old bones and stone tools left of them today? And, given what we've learned, is it really fair or accurate to treat their name as a synonym for stupidity?
REVIEW: In the foreword, the authors mention that the book was supposed to have gone to press earlier than it did (in 2015), but that various factors ended up holding it up... and even in that brief delay, much of what they'd written had to be rewritten, or at least adjusted, to account for new discoveries, breakthroughs, and theories. I can only imagine where things stand in the scientific community in 2024. Even when it was published, though, it was clear that popular cultural images of the Neanderthal as a knuckle-dragging, club-swinging, misogynistic monster were about as accurate as the Flintstones in depicting our prehistoric ancestors and relatives. From missteps in early reconstruction and investigations to biases on race (and species), the history of prehistoric study has wended its way slowly and circuitously toward something approaching the truth, though of course we probably will never know the whole truth unless time travel becomes a thing (and fiction informs us that that's frankly more trouble than it's probably worth). The authors recount both the history (as understood) of the human/hominin diaspora that created Neanderthals, early "modern" humans, and other relatives known and unknown, and the history of discoveries and theories that have shaped our understanding of our lost kin. Sometimes the recitations can feel a bit dry and technical, and once in a while it seemed they were dismissing or downplaying hypotheses and ideas without really getting into why, but overall it paints a fascinating, if naturally (sometimes frustratingly) incomplete, picture of a lost species that was far more like us than many H. sapiens are comfortable admitting... for if we allow that Neanderthals were also capable of many of the things we think of as exclusively ours, that they were not obviously or inherently lesser beings, we might have to consider that we, too, could follow them into oblivion with the next roll of the evolutionary dice.
You Might Also Enjoy:
The Smart Neanderthal (Clive Finlayson) - My Review
Last Ape Standing (Chip Walter) - My Review
Paleofantasy (Marlene Zuk) - My Review
Tuesday, March 12, 2024
The Art of Prophecy (Wesley Chu)
The Art of Prophecy
The War Arts Saga, Book 1
Wesley Chu
Del Rey
Fiction, Fantasy/Humor
**** (Good)
DESCRIPTION: It was the prophecy that founded a religion, that gave the beleaguered nations hope, that justified exorbitant expenditures of time, effort, and cold hard liang coins once the child was found: the Prophecized Hero of the Tiandi and Champion of the Five Under Heaven, who would rise to slay the Immortal Khan of the Grass Sea and end the relentless raids of those barbaric Katuian people upon civilized Zhuun lands. Thus was young Jian raised in a luxurious palace, surrounded by bodyguards and servants catering to every whim, trained by the best war artists in every possible manner of combat... and utterly incapable of winning a fight against so much as a child, let alone the Khan. Aging windwhisper Taishi, long past her prime, despairs when she discovers how spoiled the hero-to-be has become, how greed and corruption have turned his training into a mockery. She determines to do her best to salvage the situation - until the Immortal Khan is killed by someone else, rendering the prophecy obsolete and Jian a political liability.
Jian doesn't understand it. As far back as he can recall, he's been the glorified chosen one. He's learned everything his exalted masters have taught him, struck every pose perfect as a painting, won every practice match he's ever been in - and never questioned why. Only the one-armed old hag of a war artist who plucks air currents like harp strings doubts his prowess... but when the very people who once praised him try to kill him in his own garden, only that old hag defends him, whisking him away from Mute Men assassins and bounty-hungry shadowkills. Faced with the very real possibility that not only was his entire life a lie but that he may not actually be a good war artist, Jian finds himself staring into a bleak future... but the prophecy may not be quite as obsolete as everyone believes, and the Champion of the Five Under Heaven may yet be needed to save the land.
The Viperstrike warrior Sali has served the moving cities of the Grass Sea and the Immortal Khan himself with unwavering loyalty. She even bears a piece of his Will within her, a fragment of soul that beckons her when the Khan's too-mortal body is struck down. Tradition compels her to lay down her life, to return that fragment of the Khan's will that it may be reborn in a new body... but with the land-chained Zhuun armies destroying her people, Sali defies her sacred duty to become a Soul Seeker, to find the Khan's new vessel and unite the Grass Sea against the enemy. Once she has found him, she'll gladly die and return his piece of soul to him - but destiny may have another fate in mind for the warrior.
REVIEW: Warriors who can step through shadows or ride upon winds or even blur time, a "sea" of moving, living plants where cities rove upon great wheels, a prophecy that appears to have ruined more than it promised to save, and a collection of characters left to pick up the pieces and figure out what went wrong and why nothing seems to be going right... Chu blends magical martial arts with a well-imagined world and flawed yet interesting characters in this amusing epic adventure
Starting with Taishi discovering just how far astray the coddled would-be hero has been led by advisors and trainers more interested in their own glorification (and purses) than with saving Zhuun from the Immortal Khan's people, the tale takes several surprising turns. Jian, naturally, undergoes some much-needed growing up by being literally chased out of the lap of luxury and into the harsh reality beyond the palace walls... not quite as much growing up as one might expect by the end, in some ways, but he is still young and has a lot of botched upbringing to erase before he can truly become anything like a proper hero. Taishi, for her part, sees just enough promise in the boy to keep from giving up on him - just as she's not convinced that it's the prophecy that failed, a journey that leads her to the heart of the Tiandi religion and some surprising revelations, not to mention some new allies and enemies along the way. Steadfast warrior Sali of the Grass Sea has dedicated herself fully to her people and her Khan - especially when a childhood best friend became the new incarnation of the Katuian ruler after the previous one passed away. She eats, sleeps, and breathes tradition... yet finds herself defying not only the shamans but her own soul's pull toward death when she decides that she can serve the Grass Sea better by finding the new Khan amid the postwar chaos than by committing suicide in the temple - the first of many clashes she'll encounter with truths and rules she once considered as solid and unquestionable as the sun and three moons in the heavens. Further complications come from Quisimi, an ambitious (if not entirely mentally stable) shadowkill mercenary who means to make a name for herself and her crew by taking down the ex-hero and his traitor protector, the windwhisper war artist Taishi. They all have their parts to play in the unfolding saga, all facing conflicts that force them to reexamine their loyalties and beliefs and long-unquestioned assumptions.
The tale moves decently enough, with plenty of action, many exciting fight sequences and fascinating settings, some emotion and drama, and more than a touch of humor throughout, though sometimes it feels like it's not quite covering as much ground as it seems it should be given the page count, if that makes any sense. I wasn't entirely certain I'd read over five hundred pages worth of story when I reached the end, for all that I generally enjoyed it and look forward to where the saga goes from here.
You Might Also Enjoy:
The Blacktongue Thief (Christopher Buehlman) - My Review
The Lives of Tao (Wesley Chu) - My Review
Jade City (Fonda Lee) - My Review
The War Arts Saga, Book 1
Wesley Chu
Del Rey
Fiction, Fantasy/Humor
**** (Good)
DESCRIPTION: It was the prophecy that founded a religion, that gave the beleaguered nations hope, that justified exorbitant expenditures of time, effort, and cold hard liang coins once the child was found: the Prophecized Hero of the Tiandi and Champion of the Five Under Heaven, who would rise to slay the Immortal Khan of the Grass Sea and end the relentless raids of those barbaric Katuian people upon civilized Zhuun lands. Thus was young Jian raised in a luxurious palace, surrounded by bodyguards and servants catering to every whim, trained by the best war artists in every possible manner of combat... and utterly incapable of winning a fight against so much as a child, let alone the Khan. Aging windwhisper Taishi, long past her prime, despairs when she discovers how spoiled the hero-to-be has become, how greed and corruption have turned his training into a mockery. She determines to do her best to salvage the situation - until the Immortal Khan is killed by someone else, rendering the prophecy obsolete and Jian a political liability.
Jian doesn't understand it. As far back as he can recall, he's been the glorified chosen one. He's learned everything his exalted masters have taught him, struck every pose perfect as a painting, won every practice match he's ever been in - and never questioned why. Only the one-armed old hag of a war artist who plucks air currents like harp strings doubts his prowess... but when the very people who once praised him try to kill him in his own garden, only that old hag defends him, whisking him away from Mute Men assassins and bounty-hungry shadowkills. Faced with the very real possibility that not only was his entire life a lie but that he may not actually be a good war artist, Jian finds himself staring into a bleak future... but the prophecy may not be quite as obsolete as everyone believes, and the Champion of the Five Under Heaven may yet be needed to save the land.
The Viperstrike warrior Sali has served the moving cities of the Grass Sea and the Immortal Khan himself with unwavering loyalty. She even bears a piece of his Will within her, a fragment of soul that beckons her when the Khan's too-mortal body is struck down. Tradition compels her to lay down her life, to return that fragment of the Khan's will that it may be reborn in a new body... but with the land-chained Zhuun armies destroying her people, Sali defies her sacred duty to become a Soul Seeker, to find the Khan's new vessel and unite the Grass Sea against the enemy. Once she has found him, she'll gladly die and return his piece of soul to him - but destiny may have another fate in mind for the warrior.
REVIEW: Warriors who can step through shadows or ride upon winds or even blur time, a "sea" of moving, living plants where cities rove upon great wheels, a prophecy that appears to have ruined more than it promised to save, and a collection of characters left to pick up the pieces and figure out what went wrong and why nothing seems to be going right... Chu blends magical martial arts with a well-imagined world and flawed yet interesting characters in this amusing epic adventure
Starting with Taishi discovering just how far astray the coddled would-be hero has been led by advisors and trainers more interested in their own glorification (and purses) than with saving Zhuun from the Immortal Khan's people, the tale takes several surprising turns. Jian, naturally, undergoes some much-needed growing up by being literally chased out of the lap of luxury and into the harsh reality beyond the palace walls... not quite as much growing up as one might expect by the end, in some ways, but he is still young and has a lot of botched upbringing to erase before he can truly become anything like a proper hero. Taishi, for her part, sees just enough promise in the boy to keep from giving up on him - just as she's not convinced that it's the prophecy that failed, a journey that leads her to the heart of the Tiandi religion and some surprising revelations, not to mention some new allies and enemies along the way. Steadfast warrior Sali of the Grass Sea has dedicated herself fully to her people and her Khan - especially when a childhood best friend became the new incarnation of the Katuian ruler after the previous one passed away. She eats, sleeps, and breathes tradition... yet finds herself defying not only the shamans but her own soul's pull toward death when she decides that she can serve the Grass Sea better by finding the new Khan amid the postwar chaos than by committing suicide in the temple - the first of many clashes she'll encounter with truths and rules she once considered as solid and unquestionable as the sun and three moons in the heavens. Further complications come from Quisimi, an ambitious (if not entirely mentally stable) shadowkill mercenary who means to make a name for herself and her crew by taking down the ex-hero and his traitor protector, the windwhisper war artist Taishi. They all have their parts to play in the unfolding saga, all facing conflicts that force them to reexamine their loyalties and beliefs and long-unquestioned assumptions.
The tale moves decently enough, with plenty of action, many exciting fight sequences and fascinating settings, some emotion and drama, and more than a touch of humor throughout, though sometimes it feels like it's not quite covering as much ground as it seems it should be given the page count, if that makes any sense. I wasn't entirely certain I'd read over five hundred pages worth of story when I reached the end, for all that I generally enjoyed it and look forward to where the saga goes from here.
You Might Also Enjoy:
The Blacktongue Thief (Christopher Buehlman) - My Review
The Lives of Tao (Wesley Chu) - My Review
Jade City (Fonda Lee) - My Review
Wednesday, March 6, 2024
Whales on Stilts (M. T. Anderson)
Whales on Stilts
A Pals in Peril Tale, Book 1
M. T. Anderson
Beach Lane Books
Fiction, MG Action/Humor/Sci-Fi
****+ (Good/Great)
DESCRIPTION: Twelve-year-old Lily Gefelty is nobody's idea of a heroine. She spends most of her life hiding behind her bangs, as good as invisible... but being invisible means she notices things others miss. So when she goes to work with her dad for Career Day, she notices something amiss with the place - inside an abandoned warehouse (in the abandoned warehouse district of town) and protected by armed guards - and with the boss - Larry, a strange man who always wears a burlap sack on his head, rubber gloves on his hands, and has a strange habit of dumping seawater on his face for lunch. She's also not too sure about the outfit's business plan, though her father insists it's just an ordinary business dedicated to building stilts (and other accessories) for whales. Lily, though, is certain that Larry is a mad scientist trying to take over the world... a certainty that only becomes stronger when Larry tells Lily and her father that he's going to take over the world this coming Tuesday.
Lily doesn't know what to do with this information, or how to stop it. She's just the girl nobody notices, not the girl who saves the day. Fortunately, she has two best friends who are famous for saving days: Kate Mulligan, whose exploits surviving monster attacks in Horror Hollow (a suburb off Route 666) have landed her a book series and fan club, and Jasper Dash, boy technonaut, whose steam-powered contraptions and science-based adventures used to have a far greater following (though he still has a lucrative endorsement from Gargletine breakfast drinks). But it's going to take more than Kate and Jasper to stop Larry's evil schemes. It's going to take a new heroine to step up... a heroine like Lily Gefelty.
REVIEW: The title promises over-the-top silliness in the vein of old implausible serials and kid adventurer tales, and the story delivers on that promise in full and then some. Part Lemony Snickett, part Goosebumps, part homage to/satire of logic-light but action-heavy adventure series the likes of which date back well over a century, this is the kind of book that only works if the author fully commits to the gimmick, leans all their weight on the gas pedal, and puts every needle in the red, start to finish, which Anderson gleefully does. The fourth wall gets so many holes in it it's practically a window, which can be a tough trick to pull off but works here. (Some of the humor seemed aimed a little over the heads of the target reader, to the grown-ups reading along - or, like me, reading entirely on our own - not in a crude way, but referencing experiences and cultural knowledge the average youngster likely just doesn't have or hasn't been exposed to yet.) The main characters, despite their inherent exaggeration and silliness, make for a fun trio bonded by genuine friendship, each pulling their weight (even if they're sometimes hampered by the tropes that created them; Jasper Dash's clunky gear-and-steamwork gadgetry was all the rage back in the heyday of his serials and peak Gargletine sales, but is more than a little outdated in the cell phone era, while Kate is often shadowed by a trio of ghostwriters who crank out even more exaggerated versions of her exaggerated exploits so fast they often hit stores before the exploit itself has concluded). That friendship forms an emotional core that makes the story more than a collection of gags and winks, pulling all the elements together to be even stronger than the sum of the parts. The author often intrudes to skip over boring or repetitive parts or add the odd flashback or commentary, plus more than a few one-liners and asides. At the end of the wild adventure, which naturally leaves the door open for future installments (like any good serial), is a "study guide" for classrooms and book groups written by an expert... a guide that reveals far more about the expert's issues than the book it purports to examine. The fact that I was prompted to snicker out loud at work multiple times while listening to this story kicks it above four stars. I'm not sure if I need to follow the Pals in Peril tales further - this feels like a gimmick that, while hilarious once, might not be able to carry more installments without getting stale or repeating itself - but I'd be game to try at least one more.
You Might Also Enjoy:
The Name of This Book is Secret (Pseudonymous Bosch) - My Review
Alcatraz vs. the Evil Librarians (Brandon Sanderson) - My Review
The Adventurer's Guide to Successful Escapes (Wade Albert White) - My Review
A Pals in Peril Tale, Book 1
M. T. Anderson
Beach Lane Books
Fiction, MG Action/Humor/Sci-Fi
****+ (Good/Great)
DESCRIPTION: Twelve-year-old Lily Gefelty is nobody's idea of a heroine. She spends most of her life hiding behind her bangs, as good as invisible... but being invisible means she notices things others miss. So when she goes to work with her dad for Career Day, she notices something amiss with the place - inside an abandoned warehouse (in the abandoned warehouse district of town) and protected by armed guards - and with the boss - Larry, a strange man who always wears a burlap sack on his head, rubber gloves on his hands, and has a strange habit of dumping seawater on his face for lunch. She's also not too sure about the outfit's business plan, though her father insists it's just an ordinary business dedicated to building stilts (and other accessories) for whales. Lily, though, is certain that Larry is a mad scientist trying to take over the world... a certainty that only becomes stronger when Larry tells Lily and her father that he's going to take over the world this coming Tuesday.
Lily doesn't know what to do with this information, or how to stop it. She's just the girl nobody notices, not the girl who saves the day. Fortunately, she has two best friends who are famous for saving days: Kate Mulligan, whose exploits surviving monster attacks in Horror Hollow (a suburb off Route 666) have landed her a book series and fan club, and Jasper Dash, boy technonaut, whose steam-powered contraptions and science-based adventures used to have a far greater following (though he still has a lucrative endorsement from Gargletine breakfast drinks). But it's going to take more than Kate and Jasper to stop Larry's evil schemes. It's going to take a new heroine to step up... a heroine like Lily Gefelty.
REVIEW: The title promises over-the-top silliness in the vein of old implausible serials and kid adventurer tales, and the story delivers on that promise in full and then some. Part Lemony Snickett, part Goosebumps, part homage to/satire of logic-light but action-heavy adventure series the likes of which date back well over a century, this is the kind of book that only works if the author fully commits to the gimmick, leans all their weight on the gas pedal, and puts every needle in the red, start to finish, which Anderson gleefully does. The fourth wall gets so many holes in it it's practically a window, which can be a tough trick to pull off but works here. (Some of the humor seemed aimed a little over the heads of the target reader, to the grown-ups reading along - or, like me, reading entirely on our own - not in a crude way, but referencing experiences and cultural knowledge the average youngster likely just doesn't have or hasn't been exposed to yet.) The main characters, despite their inherent exaggeration and silliness, make for a fun trio bonded by genuine friendship, each pulling their weight (even if they're sometimes hampered by the tropes that created them; Jasper Dash's clunky gear-and-steamwork gadgetry was all the rage back in the heyday of his serials and peak Gargletine sales, but is more than a little outdated in the cell phone era, while Kate is often shadowed by a trio of ghostwriters who crank out even more exaggerated versions of her exaggerated exploits so fast they often hit stores before the exploit itself has concluded). That friendship forms an emotional core that makes the story more than a collection of gags and winks, pulling all the elements together to be even stronger than the sum of the parts. The author often intrudes to skip over boring or repetitive parts or add the odd flashback or commentary, plus more than a few one-liners and asides. At the end of the wild adventure, which naturally leaves the door open for future installments (like any good serial), is a "study guide" for classrooms and book groups written by an expert... a guide that reveals far more about the expert's issues than the book it purports to examine. The fact that I was prompted to snicker out loud at work multiple times while listening to this story kicks it above four stars. I'm not sure if I need to follow the Pals in Peril tales further - this feels like a gimmick that, while hilarious once, might not be able to carry more installments without getting stale or repeating itself - but I'd be game to try at least one more.
You Might Also Enjoy:
The Name of This Book is Secret (Pseudonymous Bosch) - My Review
Alcatraz vs. the Evil Librarians (Brandon Sanderson) - My Review
The Adventurer's Guide to Successful Escapes (Wade Albert White) - My Review
The Dragons at Crumbling Castle (Terry Pratchett)
The Dragons at Crumbling Castle: And Other Tales
Terry Pratchett
Clarion Books
Fiction, CH? Collection/Fantasy/Humor
**** (Good)
DESCRIPTION: One of King Arthur's least promising knights leads a quest to rid Crumbling Castle of a dragon infestation... a race of tiny people, so small they can dwell upon a speck of dust, explore the wild universe within a living room... a boring prince sets out to seek his fortune... an ordinary bus trip takes an extraordinary turn through time... This volume collects fourteen stories written by the legendary author Sir Terry Pratchett.
REVIEW: Long before Discworld debuted and changed the course of fantasy and satire, Terry Pratchett was a teenage journalist who penned numerous little confections like the ones collected here. Some, such as the "carpet people" tales, revisit the same settings and a few of the same characters - those stories would eventually inspire his first published novel, The Carpet People - but many of the rest are just light, often silly amusements. Even then, there are traces of Pratchett's later, more signature style and wit, and every story brims with imagination. If there aren't really any girl characters of note, and if there are hints of some racial stereotypes now and again, well, not only was the author just a teenager, but the stories were written in emulation of older fairy stories, adventure yarns, and once-upon-a-time tales that shared similar blind spots. The whole may not be up to the lofty heights Pratchett would later reach, but are certainly enjoyable and entertaining for what they are.
You Might Also Enjoy:
Odds are Good (Bruce Coville) - My Review
The Bromeliad Trilogy (Terry Pratchett) - My Review
Book of Enchantments (Patricia C. Wrede) - My Review
Terry Pratchett
Clarion Books
Fiction, CH? Collection/Fantasy/Humor
**** (Good)
DESCRIPTION: One of King Arthur's least promising knights leads a quest to rid Crumbling Castle of a dragon infestation... a race of tiny people, so small they can dwell upon a speck of dust, explore the wild universe within a living room... a boring prince sets out to seek his fortune... an ordinary bus trip takes an extraordinary turn through time... This volume collects fourteen stories written by the legendary author Sir Terry Pratchett.
REVIEW: Long before Discworld debuted and changed the course of fantasy and satire, Terry Pratchett was a teenage journalist who penned numerous little confections like the ones collected here. Some, such as the "carpet people" tales, revisit the same settings and a few of the same characters - those stories would eventually inspire his first published novel, The Carpet People - but many of the rest are just light, often silly amusements. Even then, there are traces of Pratchett's later, more signature style and wit, and every story brims with imagination. If there aren't really any girl characters of note, and if there are hints of some racial stereotypes now and again, well, not only was the author just a teenager, but the stories were written in emulation of older fairy stories, adventure yarns, and once-upon-a-time tales that shared similar blind spots. The whole may not be up to the lofty heights Pratchett would later reach, but are certainly enjoyable and entertaining for what they are.
You Might Also Enjoy:
Odds are Good (Bruce Coville) - My Review
The Bromeliad Trilogy (Terry Pratchett) - My Review
Book of Enchantments (Patricia C. Wrede) - My Review
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)