July reading recap

July was a slow month for me, as nothing really caught my interest. I started several books that I couldn’t finish. If it hadn’t been for review copies, I probably wouldn’t have read anything. In the end, I read four novels, three of them review ARCs, and 18 mangas, ten of them review copies. Twenty-two books in total.

The one novel that wasn’t a review copy was the latest Psy-Changeling UF romance, Atonement Sky by Nalini Sing. Even the spin-off series has nine books out already, and the series is going as strong as ever. Read my review here.

I had review copies of The Wizard by Shi Wu, a paranormal Chinese danmei with an interesting premise, but it wasn’t a very good romance. I read the vol. 1 novel of Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint by singNsong, and it was as good as the manhwa adaptation. Lastly, I read the latest Peter Grant novel by Ben Aaronovitch, Stone and Sky, which sadly was a bit of a let-down.

Four of the review mangas I read were follow-ups to ongoing series. There was vol. 3 of Firefly Wedding by Tachibana Oreco, a series I probably would’ve given up already if it weren’t for review copies. The same goes with Tokyo Alien Bros. by Shinzo Keigo, but luckily vol. 3 is the last one. The end was good. Kill Blue vol 2 by Fujimaki Tadatoshi continues the story of a hit-man whose body turns into a teenager’s and he’s sent to a school. This is a funny series and the cliffhanger ending makes me want to read more. And then there was my favourite, Spy x Family vol. 14 by Tatsuya Endo. This series never lets you down.

Then I reviewed one stand-alone manga and a few series starters, some of which I liked and others that I won’t continue with. Cute but Not Cute by Sakishita Senmu was a stand-alone BL about two guys who probably shouldn’t have ended together. Suzuki-kun’s Mindful Life, Vol. 1 by Fujimoto Yuhki was a great start to a cute high school series and I’ll read more. Tower Dungeon 1 by Tsutomu Nihei was a more artistic dungeon series and while it was good, it wasn’t for me.

The Brilliant Healer's New Life in the Shadows vol. 1 by Sakaku Hishikawa was a fun fantasy harem series and I might read more, whereas Gushing over Magical Girls vol. 1 by Akihiro Ononaka would’ve been much better if the girls in question hadn’t been 14. And lastly, Double the Trouble, Twice as Nice, Vol. 1 by Ryō Ichino was a fun start to a cute romance series.

The manga I read for myself was fun, but not all of it was good. There was Two Guys at the Vet Clinic by sinonome, a fun start to a BL series about two vets, but unfortunately there doesn’t seem to be more volumes available. I read 23:45 Re; by Ohana, a follow-up to 23:45, which was a fairly good conclusion to the story, though there’s room for more. My Younger Knight Takes Care of Me in Another World Vol. 1 by Nekonomori Shima is such a rip-off of The Other World’s Books Depend on the Bean Counter that it wouldn’t be too much to call it plagiarised. Also, it wasn’t as cute as the original. The Feisty Omega and His Twin Mates Vol. 1 by Ryo Ayamine was so bad I gave it two stars.

Secrets of the Silent Witch vol 4 by Tobi Tana was cute, but not as interesting as the earlier story arc, but I’m sure it’ll pick up another arc soon. And an anime adaptation came out on Crunchyroll in July too and it’s great. And last but not least, like previous months, I read three volumes of Monthly Girls’ Nozaki-kun by Izumi Tsubaki, vols. 11, 12 and 13. I’ve almost read all the volumes available on MangaUP! and I’ve been pacing myself until there’s more.

So, despite my reading slump, I managed to read quite a lot. August has a great many interesting books coming out, so it should be a good reading month.

Astrolabe Rebirth by Fei Tian Ye Xiang: review

4/5 stars on Goodreads

Astrolabe Rebirth by Fei Tian Ye Xiang

I’ve read a couple of books by Fei Tian Ye Xiang and they’ve been a hit and miss with me. Astrolabe Rebirth is more of a hit. It’s a stand-alone sci-fi set in a unique world of Astrolabe. The City of Steel is a dystopian place for humans, enslaved by Father, an AI that rules the city with camera surveillance, robots and human clones. It’s a miserable, polluted place, where humans are likely to meet an untimely end for violating strict rules.

A-Ka is 16 and has just begun working as a technician mending robots and clones, a job he has unique aptitude for, but he dreams of freedom. He’s found his way out of the city, and is building a mecha for himself in secret to escape. One day, he rescues a man from the sea, preserved in a sleeping pod. He has no memories, so A-Ka names him Heishi.

The two mean to go their separate ways, but fate intervenes in the form of a clone uprisal, and the two are swept along with it. They find themselves outside the city, fleeing with humans and clones to the other side of the continent where free people live.

As Heishi regains his memories, he remembers his purpose: rebooting Astrolabe to remove everything that has gone wrong with the system since it was initiated. But Father has the same command system, and may get there first, rebooting the system to its liking. Humans and clones must work together to help Heishi to shut down Father before the AI destroys everything. But the reboot requires a special human component, and that’s A-Ka, the only human Heishi has learned to love.

This was a good story. It was hasty, the world-building was shoddy, and descriptions were confusing if they existed, but the core story was interesting. It wasn’t much of a romance, but A-Ka and Heishi learned to love each other through their hardships. It has some sad moments that were slightly weakened through miraculous twists, but the ending was very good.

A-Ka was a great protagonist, downtrodden but resourceful and resilient. He gained a miraculous ability, but it wasn’t overused. Heishi remained distant, but as he gained his memories and learned about humans, he became more interesting. There were some good side characters too, with proper purpose for the story. I would’ve wished for more romance, but the story was satisfying as it was.

The Wizard (Novel): When Words Kill by Shi Wu: review

4/5 stars on Goodreads

The Wizard by Shi Wu

The Wizard is set in a nameless big city in modern China. It begins with a prologue seven years before the main story. Cheng Jinxi, 18, has confessed to killing his entire family and even though the detective in charge of the investigation, Liang Yuanfeng, can’t find any evidence of his involvement, the young man is taken to prison.

Readers learn already during the prologue, that Cheng Jinxi did indeed kill his family, and how and why he did it. He can hurt and kill people seemingly with his thought alone, which he demonstrates the first day in the prison by killing some prisoners. The director of the prison instantly realises that there’s nothing he can do to keep Cheng Jinxi confined if he doesn’t choose to stay. Fortunately for him, the young man has chosen to accept his punishment and stays, though with great liberties.

Seven years later, Liang Yuanfeng, only 32, is already burned out as a detective and on a forced leave to recuperate. Only he and his boss know that it’s because Liang Yuanfeng has resorted to vigilant justice. He’s kept in close touch with Cheng Jinxi, his only visitor in prison, and learned what the younger man can do. So he’s asked him to kill some bad people. He doesn’t regret his actions.

A great evil has taken over an apartment building and people have started to kill each other. When the building takes a special task force hostage and almost kills Liang Yuanfeng’s boss, Liang Yuanfeng is asked to bring in Cheng Jinxi to solve the problem. Liang Yuanfeng manages to negotiate a pardon for him, with himself as the younger man’s warder.

The two settle into the family home of Cheng Jinxi’s sister whose death in the hands of their extended family triggered him to killing everyone. Cheng family comes from a long line of shamans with great powers that women possess. But the family didn’t know that in their generation, it’s Cheng Jinxi who has the power, not his sister or little niece. Cheng Jinxi gets the custody of his niece, now 12, and the three become a small family.

It doesn’t take long for the two to become romantically involved, although it’s fairly one-sided, as Cheng Jinxi can’t really feel any emotions after everything he’s done. They spend their time solving supernatural crimes, and trying to come to terms with things they’ve both done. Atonement doesn’t seem possible, on top of which Cheng Jinxi has a time-stamp on him. Because it turns out, he’s not the one who’s using the power; it’s a demon to whom he’s promised himself as a sacrifice. And the demon is about to collect.

This was a good but gloomy story, with some tear-jerking moments. Liang Yuanfeng turned into a warm caretaker fairly easily for a burned-out cop, but his character remains slightly superficial. Cheng Jinxi has a deeper character and backstory, and he goes through a greater change. Theirs is not a very good romance, but it’s sweet with some tender moments. The story heads slowly but surely towards the impending doom and a happily ever after seems impossible. It takes a great twist for the small family to end up in a good place.

The writing stars as fairly good, but it deteriorates towards the end, with lots of repetition and contradictions in character actions. It didn’t really matter at that point, but it nevertheless managed to lessen the impact of the emotional climax. This is a stand-alone story, and the end is conclusive. While I liked it, it’s not among the great BL stories that’ll linger in my mind.

I received a free copy from Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.

Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint, Vol. 1 (light novel) by singNsong: review

4/5 stars on Goodreads

Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint vol 1 by SingNsong

The original Korean light novel of Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint by SingNsong (a writing duo pseudonym) is finally available in print and ebook in English. I’ve read the manhwa serialisation on Webtoon (first seven volumes are also available in print in English), so I was familiar with the story and characters going in.

Dokja Kim (Kim Dokja in original Korean; all the names have been westernised for some annoying reason) is an unimpressive office worker in his late twenties. The sole solace in his joyless life is a serialised novel Three Ways to Survive the Apocalypse, which he has read over a decade, most of it as its sole reader. After three thousand chapters, the book has come to an end, and just as he wonders what he’s supposed to do next, the world ends.

The end isn’t random or a complete destruction. Humanity finds itself as participants in a universe-wide reality show for the amusement of Constellations, god-like beings who observe the show through thousands of channels somewhere in the universe. The show is deadly and very unfair. But Kim Dokja immediately realises he knows how the show is run. Because he’s been reading about it the past ten years.

Armed with the knowledge of the story and the rules of the new world, he sets out to survive. And from the very first scenario given to humans through game interfaces, he starts to change the story.

The first volume sets the scene, completes the first deadly scenario and starts the second. The scenarios are run by goblins who are hosts of the channels, their sole interest to amuse the gods and making as much money of them as they can. The gods interfere by claiming favourite players and paying in coins for interesting events.

From the start, Kim Dokja gains the attention of the gods, not least because he knows how to game the game. He also gathers a small group of people around him who all will play a great role in the story later. He doesn’t do it solely for kindness though. He does it to survive.

The manhwa adaptation is fairly faithful to the light novel. Not much is left out. There’s not much to leave out anyway. The narrative is fast-paced and sparce. Kim Dokja’s thoughts are portrayed well in the adaptation too.

The only difference I noted from the beginning is the way the second main character, Yu Junghyeok (Junghyeok Yu in English version), the original lead of TWSA novel, is portrayed. He's a regressor who has lived through the scenarios many times over, starting from the beginning every time he dies and getting stronger and more inhuman in every round. Kim Dokja makes clear in his inner thoughts that he’s afraid of Yu Junghyeok and sees him as a monster, though he admires him too. We also get Yu Junghyeok’s inner thoughts, which we seldom get in the manhwa. It adds an interesting layer to the novel.

The bromance between the pair is a fan-favourite that’s absent from the manhwa. I don’t know if it’ll develop later in the series, but it’s not here yet. Yu Junghyeok is absent most of the story anyway.

This was a good, fast-paced read, and a morally very grey story. Kim Dokja is the hero, but he’s not heroic or good in a sense we expect heroes to be. Side characters didn’t really become their own persons here yet, but as we learned, Kim Dokja’s abilities and knowledge of the story gives him insight into them too.

The layout with several different fonts, one of which was very difficult to read, made it visually busy. I also missed character profiles at the beginning—or end—of the book, like in the manhwa. And I don’t usually judge the cover, but I think the publisher could’ve gone with a better one. This one doesn’t reflect the story at all. There’s a long way for the characters to go yet, and even though I know how the story goes, I’d like to read the original version too.

I received a free copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Manhwa cover of Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint. Art by Sleepy-C.

 

Atonement Sky by Nalini Singh: review

5/5 stars on Goodreads

Atonement Sky by Nalini Singh

Book number nine in Psy-Changeling Trinity series takes us to a completely different type of changeling, falcons. Adam Garret is the wing-leader (alpha) of WindHaven falcon clan in Arizona, fairly young for his position at 28, but capable. His backstory evolves around losing his parents when he was 18 to a poacher that he knows shot them knowing they were changelings and not real birds. But the J-Psy in the trial who was there to read the shooters memories confirmed accidental shooting.

It's not solely the injustice eating him. Assisting the J-Psy had been an intern his age he’d briefly encountered, only to realise she’s his mate. And then she betrayed him by taking the J-Psy’s side.

Ten years later, that intern, Eleri Dias, is a former J-Psy at the end of her life. A decade of absorbing the memories of psychopathic killers has destroyed her mind and once the last shield protecting her against the minds of other people goes, she’ll die. But before she does, she wants to track down a serial killer obsessed with her. That brings her to WindHaven’s territory.

This was a good, emotional story like all Nalini Singh romances. Adam is drawn to Eleri, as she is his mate, no matter that he hates her. But it doesn’t take him long to give up the hate when she almost dies saving a friend of his. For her part, she experiences fleeting emotions for the first time in ages. Unfortunately, every sensation erodes her shields and brings the death closer.

The hunt for the killer is fairly low-key and only after they come after Eleri does something happen on that front. The killer isn’t anyone interesting anyway and we don’t even learn why they’re obsessed with Eleri. There’s no additional background evil like usually working against the entire Psy race either. The focus is on Eleri’s impending death and finding a last-minute miracle to stop it so that she and Adam can have their happily ever after.

Like always, clan life with loving relationships is the heart of the story. Falcons had their unique features that were interesting, but the sense of ‘birdness’ wasn’t there the same way than with the animal natures of leopards and wolves. There are similar people like in every clan, the seconds in command and a healer who are all likeable. The one with some backstory even gets a romance of their own that I maybe liked a bit more than the main one. Nothing wrong with the main one, it was wonderfully emotional, but the first bedroom scene felt too soon, whereas the hookup of the second pair felt more natural.

Adam was the usual stalwart changeling hero with a big heart full of emotions to counter the complete lack of them in Eleri. She wasn’t the most interesting of the series’ heroines so far, but her impending death with no cure was compelling. Her acceptance of it and willingness to end her own life before her mind goes may upset some readers. Together they formed a good pair that was easy to root for.

Some old favourites like Sascha Duncan—and Naya!—make appearances. They don’t have great roles on page and barely any dialogue, but it’s always wonderful to see them. No Kaleb Krycheck to my disappointment.

The ending is, of course, happy and highly emotional. The solution they come up with for Eleri’s condition has wider implications to the entire Psy-changeling world, so it’ll be interesting to see where the author takes that. No solution to the unravelling of the psy-net yet though, so there will be more books yet. As always, looking forward to reading them.