The Husky and His Wite Cat Shizun vol. 5 by Rou Bao Bu Chi Rou
The most
satisfying volume so far, emotionally. It’s the wedding of Nangong Si, Chu
Wanning’s former disciple, and Song Qiutong, Mo Ran’s wife in his previous life
whom he hates. The reader was given to understand already in the previous
volume that something big was going to happen during the wedding, but it went
beyond even that.
The
pre-wedding feast is ruined by accusations of a masked intruder, that Song
Qiutong has not been chaste and that she’s carried a relationship with Nangong
Si’s best friend, Ye Wangxi, who saved her from being sold as a slave. That led
to a stunning revelation that I didn’t see coming. But it was only a start.
A rift
opens to a demon realm, and when Mo Ran and Chu Wanning go to investigate, they
learn it’s done by the enemy they’ve been chasing for years. But the truth
behind their identity is nothing either them or the reader expect, and the
reason for their actions comes a bit out of the blue. But what is revealed
causes a literal inferno that sends everyone to fleeing for their lives.
Mo Ran and
Chu Wanning take shelter in a remote fishing village and there we finally come
to the best part: feelings. Both are really bad expressing them, and both
believe their feelings aren’t returned, so there’s a lot of angst to get past
before we get a confession. Nothing happens, but it’s very satisfying
nonetheless.
There’s no cliff-hanger
ending this time, but nothing is solved yet. And the way things were left, taking
back their confessions is entirely possible too. I’ll have to read on to find
out.
The Disabled Tyrant's Beloved Pet Fish by Xue Shan Fei Hu
I bought
this book solely on the title, The Disabled Tyrant’s Beloved Pet Fish. I had to find out how that could possibly be a romance. I hoped for a bonkers story.
What I got was rather sweet.
Li Yu is an
18-year-old man from modern China who has been reading a historical novel about
a tyrant who butchers his way on the throne. Next thing he knows, he wakes up
in the book’s world as a humble carp who is about to be eaten, first as a soup
and then by a cat. Only a chance in the form of the fifth prince Mu Tianchi,
also called Prince Jing, saves him from that fate. And that’s not all. Li Yu is
part of a computer game where the system gives him tasks. His main task is to stop
Prince Jing from becoming a tyrant. If he succeeds, he can become a human
again.
Prince Jing
is twenty and the only surviving son by the empress and therefore of higher birth
than the other princes, but he’s mute and so isn’t considered a successor for
the throne. But he is the tyrant who will take the throne by force. Armed with
his knowledge of the story from the book and his cute antics as a fish, Li Yu
sets out to complete the tasks given to him. As a reward, he gets all sorts of
useful things. One of them is the ability to turn into a human for an hour each
day.
The story
is mostly about palace intrigue. The second and third princes compete for the
throne and they’re not above treachery and tricks. But thanks to Li Yu, their
plans go wrong one after another. He ends up changing Prince Jing too, who
spends more and more time with his fish. The prince is also hunting for a
mysterious young man who shows up in his room at oddest times, only to
disappear without a trace. The first volume ends when he finally figures out
who the mystery man is.
Li Yu was a
fun character—and a very odd fish. He can survive out of water amazingly long
times, and jump out of his tank whenever he wants. Prince Jing came across
rather lonely, which is mostly his own making, as he drives everyone away. His muteness isn’t a gimmick
that is overcome in convenient places. He has a eunuch who speaks for him.
The man and
the fish form a friendship of sorts, and the prince might even be having romantic
feelings for the young man visiting his rooms. They’re vague and innocent
though, and nothing more than a drunken kiss takes place. But was it the boy or
the fish who did the kissing, Li Yu would very much like to know.
This was a
funny, coherent, and well written story, which isn’t always the case with web
novels. There are no repetitions or inconsistencies, and the pace was good. It
ends with a small cliff-hanger in the middle of a scene, and I absolutely have
to read more.
Death in the Spires is excellent historical fiction and an enjoyable murder mystery. It
takes place in the early 1890s Oxford and London in 1905, and follows Jeremy Kite,
a government clerk who loses his job when an anonymous letter accuses him of a
murder that took place in Oxford ten years earlier. Incensed, he decides to investigate
once and for all.
Jem is a
son of a factory worker, who with the help of a scholarship manages to get to Oxford
to study mathematics, an achievement that was out of grasp of most working
class people at the time. He’s short, clubfooted and doesn’t know the rules and manners of
the place that is mostly populated by upper class white men who do not tolerate
difference. He doesn’t have great expectations for his time there, but on his
first day, he meets Toby Feynsham, a grandson of a marquis who takes him and
other unusual people—for the era—under his wing, like a black man studying to
become a doctor, two women (one of whom is Toby’s sister) and an (almost) openly
gay man.
Against all
odds, Jem has magical time in Oxford with his group of friends. He excels in
his studies and even participates in activities like the rowing team. And then,
three years later, right before the finals, Toby is murdered. It happens after
a huge row between the group, and in a manner that the friends know that only
one of them could’ve done it. But they keep their mouths shut and the murder
goes unsolved. It breaks the group and they never meet again.
Jem’s life
is destroyed by it. He has a breakdown and can’t graduate. He works for
pittance at jobs he hates, and every now and then gets fired when rumours
about the murder surface. So he starts to investigate, even though everyone he
contacts tells him to leave be. To his surprise and sorrow, while the rest of
the group seem successful, the murder has ruined their lives too, one way or
another. And no one wants to talk.
Jem returns
to Oxford, reluctantly, and connects with his old love, which somehow makes
things worse, as Nick is among the suspects too. Little by little, he forms a
picture of what took place. It turns out, Toby wasn’t the wonderful person he believed
and may even have brought the death on himself, and all his friends had secrets
that could’ve made them the killer. But no matter the reasons, Jem knows only
truth will release their group from the limbo their lives have become. Not
everyone agrees, and Jem’s life is suddenly in danger.
This was a
wonderful, melancholy story of friendship, lost loves and missed chances. Like
in Brideshead Revisited, the reader gets a vivid glimpse into a lost world of
aristocratic academia, and the contrast with Jem’s dreary later life is great. Jem
with his health issues is a lovely, dignified character who carries the story
perfectly. His friends, flawed and all, are people who matter to him greatly. The
reader doesn’t really want anyone to be the killer, to see them hang, and
neither does Jem.
Luckily,
this is a story where truth and justice aren’t the same thing. We get both. The
ending is absolutely satisfying, and it leaves the reader with a hope that from
now on, Jem’s life will improve and everyone will live happily ever after—whatever
that may mean for them.
I received
a free copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
The Fascination is a stand-alone historical novel set in Victorian England. It’s
about the seedier underside of the society, the fascination of Victorians with
macabre and everything different. It’s about found families and acceptance too,
and written well enough that I was wavering between three and four stars. And
then, in the last paragraph, the author slaps the reader with a wet dishrag, yelling
“April Fools. Question everything you’ve read.” So here I am, questioning.
The setting
is Victorian only because the author says so. The descriptions are sparse and
could be from any era. Author especially fails to grasp the material culture
and the value of money. It’s difficult to believe that a travelling musician could
have a large house with papered walls and rooms for several people, and a boat
too, without independent means, which there apparently weren’t. A penniless
apprentice of an anatomist definitely can’t afford tailor-made suits (in
plural) and colourful silk waistcoats. A troupe of freaks doesn’t get to
perform in one of the finest theatres in London, and they do not get costumes
made of fresh materials for every production. The book is set in a fantasy,
where these things are possible so that the reader can feel happy for the
characters and where they end up in life. It almost worked.
There are
two point of view characters, Keziah, whose chapters are told in first person
past tense, and Theo, whose chapters are in third person present tense, which took
a moment to get used to. For all that the reader gets an insight in Keziah, she’s
curiously bland. She doesn’t have interests, skills, hopes or dreams until at
the very end. She exists solely to tell the story of her twin sister, Tilly.
A violent incident
in Tilly’s childhood has stopped her growth when she was five. She’s an adult
woman in a child’s body. But she’s beautiful, can sing, and loves to perform,
so she has found a place on stage. The plot revolves mostly around her, her addiction
to opium and her abduction by evil people who covet everything different.
We only get
Keziah’s view of Tilly. She observes her constantly, yet not once does she
wonder what Tilly’s life is like, being different and constantly gawped at. We’re
not given scenes either, where people would treat Tilly, or the other different
characters, badly. It’s presumed. There are no descriptions of everyday life
where Tilly’s life might be difficult because of her size. The idea is probably
to show Keziah’s acceptance of her sister the way she is, but it comes across as
wilful blindness.
That is
doubly so when it comes to Theo, and it’s a deliberate choice by the author. He’s
a grandson of an aristocrat who gets thrown out of his home without a penny
when the grandfather finally manages to produce a male heir. Lord Seabrook has
an unhealthy fascination with the macabre and his collections include human
specimen preserved in formaldehyde. It doesn’t come as a surprise that he turns
out to be the bad guy of the story.
Theo is
saved by his governess who arranges him an apprenticeship with an anatomist, a
disgraced doctor who runs a museum of macabre. Theo wants to become a doctor,
but lack of funds makes it impossible. Or that’s what the reader is given to
understand.
The last paragraph
of the story reveals that Theo is physically different too. Since
the author wants to keep it a secret, I won’t reveal how—though other
reviewers have done so. By leaving the revelation at the end, the author
probably wants the reader to question their prejudices. Keziah certainly points
it out.
But it
doesn’t work. The reader needs a chance to realise their prejudices exist and
that’s only possible if they know the pertinent facts about the character and
can work them along the way. Even if the author doesn’t want to state the difference
outright, there were plenty of chances for giving the reader hints, to make them
question their understanding of Theo along the way.
Theo is a
point of view character who never questions his difference, doesn’t rue it or
wonder if it hinders his chances in life. He doesn’t ask if he’ll ever end up
as a specimen in his grandfather’s collections. He’s utterly indifferent about
it. The author fails to get inside the character to show the reader what it feels
like to be different in a society that reviles those that aren’t perfect. He
turns out to be gay too, which we only find out from another character, not
him.
According
to Keziah, people don’t notice Theo’s difference, because he’s such a charismatic
person. But he’s not. He’s reticent and apologetic, colourful waistcoats and
all. And so, instead of turning the mirror at the reader, the last sentence
screams GAWP, and we gawp. And we see that Aleski, the character with hirsutism
is only accepted as a bedfellow after he shaves his face, and Martha only gets the
life she’s dreamed of after her cleft mouth is operated. The reader is
disgusted, but not with Theo who is a lovely person, or the other characters,
except maybe Keziah. The reader is disgusted with the book and its author.
I received
a free copy from Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.
Play of Shadows starts the Court of Shadows series, a spin-off of de Castell’s
Greatcoats series. I hadn’t read it, or the prequel to Play of Shadows, but
that wasn’t necessary. The earlier series is set in the kingdom of Tristia, and
this book takes place in a small duchy of Jereste there.
Damelas
Chademantaigne is a grandson of two Greatcoats, famed magistrates and duellists
of the kingdom, but he’s more of a coward. The book starts with him fleeing
from a duel with the deadliest duellist of Jereste, the Vixen. He hides in a
theatre and claims to be an actor there, which by the laws of the duchy grants
him immunity. He’s safe, for now.
A year
later, he’s still with the troupe, playing two-line bit parts. Then one night,
during a history play about the duchy’s greatest hero and greatest traitor, he
suddenly delivers lines he has no recollection of saying. It turns out he’s
channelling the spirit of the traitor. And the Duke wants to hear what he has
to say.
The duchy
is in chaos. A private militia, Iron Orchids, has all but taken Jereste over.
The duke wants to find out where they come from and who controls them. And he
believes the answer lies in the past. So, night after night, the troupe has to
stage the play that evolves and comes to life with whatever Damelas channels.
And the more he learns, the more in danger he and those he holds dear are. The
truth might very well see all of them dead.
This was a
good book with great characters. Damelas especially turned out to be more than
he believed himself capable of. It’s about a found family too, with unlikely
people coming together. I liked Beretto best, but the women didn’t quite reach
the potential of their interesting jobs.
The plot,
however, left me wanting. The stakes were low, and the path to the goal was out
of the hands of the characters. Learning who controls the Iron Orchids wasn’t that
interesting to begin with, and the truth was a let-down. There was no
antagonist to fight against, just a nameless mob, so the conflicts were mere street
fights that didn’t really lead to anything but a body count. But the wrap-up in
the (amazingly long) epilogue was satisfying. It sets the next book too, but I’m
not entirely sure I’ll continue with the series.
I received
a free copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Volume 2 of Guardian continues where the previous left off, after the events where Zhao Yunlan
has learned the true identity of Shen Wei. It hasn’t lessened his interest in
the other man, but Shen Wei keeps his guard up.
It’s the
lunar New Year, and the time of year when the ghosts and humans alike have
their merits tallied. Guo Changcheng, the intern at the Special Investigations
Department, gets another learning experience when the group goes after a resentful
spirit. He’s still timid and easily frightened, but we learn that he has abundance
of merits, whereas Chu Shuzhi, the zombie investigator at SID doesn’t have
enough to end his 300 years of service.
It’s also the
time of year to visit the family. Zhao Yunlan brings Shen Wei to meet his
parents, shocking them by coming out to them. He doesn’t let their opinions
stop him—or Shen Wei’s reluctance either. He’s already bought them a house
even, and is contemplating forcefully moving the other man there, only to stop
at the last moment after learning the secret about their relationship Shen Wei
has kept.
Shen Wei is
still searching for the four hallowed artifacts that could release the great
seal. This time, the Merit Brush makes an appearance and he and Zhao Yunlan
both go after it, though Shen Wei tries to stop the other man. He knows that it
will reveal the true identity of Zhao Yunlan to him. It puts a strain between
the men, but it also brings their relationship to a turning point.
This wasn’t
as action filled as the first volume. There’s only one investigation that is
solved fairly easily. The rest is taken up by personal issues of the
characters, and Zhao Yunlan investigating his true identity from the Chinese creation
mythologies. The volume ends before we learn what he truly thinks of the
revelations. The relationship between Zhao Yunlan and Shen Wei remains rather one-sided,
and we don’t learn either, where it stands after their first night together
(especially since it’s a bit of a shock to Zhao Yunlan.) I’m eager to find out.
The story of Shen Qiao, the good Daoist cultivator, and Yan Wushi, the leader of the
demonic cultivating sect, has reached the second to last volume. After the excitement
at the end of the last volume, the start of this one is fairly calm. Shen Qiao
takes Yuwen Song, the last heir of the previous emperor, to safety with the Bixia
Sect. Life for them would be serene even, if Yan Wushi didn’t insist on
accompanying them.
Yan Wushi
has had a great change of mind—or heart—since the previous book. All of a
sudden, Shen Qiao is the most wonderful and perfect person in the world for him,
and he’s determined to make the younger man his in a very forceful way. Shen
Qiao is equally determined not to believe a word that comes out of Yan Wushi’s
mouth, and he most definitely won’t open his heart after the way Yan Wushi
broke it earlier by betraying him.
The
political turmoil catches with them when they attend the Sword Trial Conference
where the rankings of the cultivation world are determined with several battle scenes. An old grandmaster,
long believed dead, shows up. And he’s someone even Yan Wushi isn’t willing to
face. So he whisks Shen Qiao away, and the pair head to save another contender
to the throne. The book ends in the middle of a scene again, before that
storyline finds conclusion.
This was
the most romance filled book so far, if one can call it such. At least for the
first time, it dominated the narrative, and we get Yan Wushi’s point of view of
things. But it’s difficult to see how everything could be solved between the
men in the last book that’s left, the misunderstandings and mistrust are so
strong. But I’m definitely eager to find out.
Cascade Failure
starts Ambit’s Run sci-fi series. It’s set in a far-future, space-faring galaxy
that still has a connection to perfectly liveable Earth. Everything worth
anything is owned by Trust, which aims at making profit no matter the human
cost. They’re only kept in reign by the Union who protects the labourers.
Between them, as a sort of a police and military, is the Guild.
Jal is a deserted
Guild ranger. He’s been modified genetically for mining work, and is stronger
and faster than others, with eyes that can see in the dark. He’s fleeing from
something towards an unknown goal, and for that, he needs a ride. He thinks he’s
landed on a ship that has no connection to the Guild, but turns out he’s wrong.
And it’s not a coincidence he’s on the ship.
Ambit is a
small Guild vessel that takes on riskier jobs at the edges of the galaxy, and
looks the part. Her captain is Eoan, a sentient AI with holographic projections
and a yearn to learn everything, especially about humans. XO is Saint, a gruff
former Earth soldier turned Guild ranger. He’s Jal’s former commanding officer
and there’s huge baggage between the men, though their relationship is never
made very clear. Then there’s Nash, who is both the mechanic and the doctor and
equally good at both. She likes feng shui and crocheting in her spare time.
The crew’s
plan to take Jal to be court marshalled takes a turn when they answer a
distress call. They find Anke, a chirpy programmer who’s learned of a Trust
code that destroys terraformed planets in mere moments. She has a counter code.
She just needs to test it. The crew decides to help her. Things don’t go as planned.
This is a
very character-driven sci-fi. Each character is given their point of view chapters,
and much time is spent in interpersonal relationships. No romances, though
there are some hints that could’ve been made stronger and clearer for bigger
emotional punches later.
The focus
is on Jal and Saint with their past. We learn why Jal deserted, but his life
since is sort of glossed over. He emerges as my favourite, though there’s a
huge gap in how his chapters present him and how others see him. Anke too, has
a clear role. Nash and Eoan didn’t necessarily need their own chapters, they
slow things down, but Eoan goes through a transforming event, which was good to
see from their point of view.
The plot is
fairly straightforward, sort of secondary, and a bit slow, but good. Nothing is
black and white, and the bad guys aren’t necessarily bad, or are bad in an
understandable way. There are betrayals and sacrifices, and the solutions aren’t
easy. The biggest reward for the reader doesn’t come from the plot, but from
the characters themselves.
This might
have been a four-star book, but it’s so well-written and balanced, especially
for a debut, that it gets full five stars. The ending hints at the crew’s next
mission. I’m definitely going to read that too.
I received
a free copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Jumpnauts
is set in near future where a war has split the world into two factions. In the
middle of this, a signal from space is detected that’s fast-approaching earth.
Three young Chinese, two men and a woman, with their own interests in the matter
decide to investigate.
I was
looking for a modern sci-fi with a fresh take from a new, non-western
perspective. This wasn’t that book. The premise is tired and went out of fashion
with von Däniken in the 70s. The idea that humanity is too stupid to evolve
without outside help would require a truly innovative take to make it work. This
wasn’t it. Not even our imagination is our own, and the icons of Chinese
culture like the dragon (loong) are just reflections of alien cultures. The book doesn’t even ask what made those aliens so much better that they can evolve, but humans can’t? Moreover, they haven’t even evolved beyond wars.
The three
main characters, Jiang Liu, Yun Fan and Qi Fei, were really annoying with
absolutely nothing to redeem themselves. The reader never gets a proper reading
of them. They’re emotionless (like absolutely zero emotional response to
anything, be it space, aliens or a scolding mother) and don’t have any inner
monologues that would explain their actions and reactions. For the first third,
we’re stuck with some sort of triangle drama that doesn’t even exist. Yun Fan
said no, and the two men weren’t even truly interested in her. They just needed
a reason for constant cockfighting.
The story
doesn’t really pick up when the three finally manage to get to space to meet
the aliens. The past is rehashed again, and then the story pauses for a philosophising
of the garden variety. Everything ends with a kumbaya moment where all the humanity’s
differences are put aside for a chance for space exploration.
But above
all, the book is boring. The narrative has no driving force from the inside. The
characters react to outside prompts and are pushed by them through the story.
Not once do they rise above themselves or evolve (and no, the mind-reading
ability doesn’t count.) In the end, the reader is left empty.
Learning
from the author’s bio that she’s a physicist and economist explains a lot about
her attitude to humans as an afterthought and passengers in their own story—and
why Yun Fan would be such a bad archaeologist. But the
author is not much of a physicist either. I’m all for innovative take in
science when it comes to fiction; it doesn’t have to be based in real world
science. But it has to be consistent within the book. Here, it’s best seen like
cultivation magic in Chinese webnovel xianxias. Whatever suits the narrative at
any given moment.
The writing
is only marginally better than in xianxias too (and I’ve given five stars for far messier of those), and the translation by Ken Liu can do
only so much with the childish narrative. I’ll stick with xianxias with their
jumpy narrative and bad translations. At least there’s emotional reward in
those.
I received
a free copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Volume 3 of
Remnants of Filth offered a heartbreak after a heartbreak. I’ll try to review
it without great spoilers, but continue at your own discretion.
The story
picks up on the burial mountain where Mo Xi is paying respects to his father.
Gu Mang, feeling the need to show Mo Xi that he can become a good person again,
sets to ask forgiveness in front of all ten thousand graves on the burial mountain.
This even though Mo Xi tells him that no matter how good he becomes, he’ll be
executed in the end.
And Mo Xi
is right: people aren’t swayed by Gu Mang’s show of humility. Things might have
continued like they have so far, with Mo Xi frustrated with Gu Mang, whose
memory remains poor, but then Yue Chenqing goes missing. The emperor orders Mo
Xi to go rescue him with his Fourth Uncle Murong Chui and half-brother Jiang
Yexue, and Gu Mang has to come along too. It’s an uncomfortable journey, as Murong
Chui and Jiang Yexue don’t get along at all, and Gu Mang remembers some of the
more embarrassing things.
They locate
Yue Chenqing to an island of bat demons, but the rescue mission goes sideways.
In the heat of the battle, Gu Mang and Mo Xi have a chance to observe the
events of the past, namely the moment Gu Mang decides to defect.
It’s a
revelation in many ways to Mo Xi. He learns things about Gu Mang he had been
too young to understand at the time, and gets some insight into why Gu Mang
defected, though he has now more questions than before. And he realises exactly
how the emperor sees Gu Mang and what his role in Gu Mang’s defection was. All
of it is heartbreaking; more so, because Mo Xi has no way to help Gu Mang or
console him.
Mo Xi is
greatly shaken by what he learns, but since the battle is on, he has no time to
reflect. Gu Mang is changed too. But not back to the man Mo Xi knew before. The
final heartbreak comes when Mo Xi finally gathers courage to ask Gu Mang if he
ever loved him. The book ends before we get the answer. It’ll be an agony to
wait for the next volume.
Small Gods of Calamity is an urban fantasy/paranormal mystery set in modern Seoul, South
Korea. Kim Han-gil is a homicide detective with a special ability to see
spirits, both of the living and the dead. His reputation among his colleagues
is bad because of it, and his partners never last. The latest has been with him
for two weeks and is already showing signs of leaving, when they get a case
that appears to be a suicide. Han-gil knows differently.
For years, he’s
been hunting an evil spirit that caused his mother’s death. It moves from
person to person, causing them to either kill people or themselves. From the
police’s point of view, the crimes are separate, and it doesn’t help that other
spiritualists can’t see the spirit either, so they’re not willing to help him. Only his
adoptive sister, a powerful practitioner, is there for him.
This time,
she arranges a partner for him—against his will. Shin Yoonhae, the only person
who has survived the spirit. For Han-gil, he is someone to blame for his mother’s
death. Yoonhae is a timid person greatly affected by his past and harsh words
Han-gil has said to him when they were children. But when a sacrifice is
needed, he’s willing to step in.
This was a
great story; for a debut, it’s excellent. It’s not terribly long—I read it in one (looong) evening—and the
mystery isn’t very complicated. But the world is interesting—I especially liked
how Han-gil detected the spirits of living as sounds and smells—the characters
with their complicated backstories are very likeable, and the narrative flows
in an easy pace that keeps the reader’s attention. It’s mostly told from
Han-gil’s point of view, but Yoonhae gets a few chapters too, broadening the
backstory.
For a Korean
society, it’s very inclusive, with bi and trans characters, and attention is
paid to pronouns in a very natural way. More could’ve been done with Han-gil’s
anxiety, but it’s the first book so maybe later. Korean society and culture weren’t very prominent either, it’s mostly about forms of address, but the author is American, which probably explains it.
The new partner, and the
entire police force, was left out of the story rather easily. With him there,
the tension between practitioners and people who know nothing about the spirits
could’ve been stronger, but that had already happened in the backstory. But
since things with him and Han-gil’s work were left open, it’s maybe something
that’ll be explored in subsequent books.
This was a good start for a mystery series, and I definitely hope there will be more.
I received
a free copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
The Other World's Books Depend on the Bean Counter by yatsuki Wakatsu
Volume one
of the original light novel has finally been translated, a year after the first manga came out. I’ve read the first
three volumes of the manga adaptation, and they cover most of the novel, so the story was
familiar to me.
Seiichirou
Kondou, 29, is an overworked accountant in Japan who on a rare day off comes to
the rescue of a school girl who is being sucked into ground by a white light,
and he’s sucked in too. They find themselves in an alternate world, where the
girl, Yua, has been summoned as a Holy Maiden, whose job it is to save the
world from a deadly miasma.
Kondou is a
tag-along, who the kingdom feels honour-bound to protect, but nothing more. He
could spend his days being idle, but he doesn’t know how, so he asks for a job
and is pointed at the royal accounting department. He’s horrified by the lazy
work-culture there, and in no time reorganises the whole place. But he doesn’t stop
there: he needs to salvage the kingdom’s finances too.
There’s one
problem: his body is unable to handle the magic the world is permeated with, and
everything from food to air is slowly killing him. In an acute health crisis,
he’s rescued by dashing Commander Aresh Indolark, who heals him with magic,
which only makes things worse. Out of options, he needs to acclimatise Kondou’s
body fast to magic. And that means having sex with him.
Aresh
appoints himself as Kondou’s protector, making sure he takes care of his health.
And every now and then, a healing is needed, which requires more sex. Their odd
relationship is a matter of necessity for Kondou, but for Aresh, it gradually
becomes more.
I read the
light novel in order to get a deeper view of the story. In places, that
happened too, but the manga adaptation is fairly faithful to the story. Kondou seems
more driven and single-minded here. There wasn’t much from Aresh’s point of view,
but he emerges as a slightly different figure than in the manga in the end. The
side characters also have a more meaningful role. The world itself remains a
bit vague, so the manga does a better job depicting that.
This was
originally a serialised web novel, so every chapter repeats much of what has
been told many times already. Apart from that, it’s well-written and easy to
read. Translation works too. The story ends without a cliffhanger, but in such
a point in the men’s lives that I absolutely have to read more.
This is a
combined edition of the first two books in Ile-Rien series, The Element of Fire
and The Death of the Necromancer. Both were originally published in the 90s,
and were received well. They’ve been revised here and are the author’s
preferred edition.
First book
is set in a renaissance or baroque type of royal court of Ile-Rien where
tensions are high between the dowager queen, her rather useless son the king, the
current queen, and the king’s favourite courtier. That alone would’ve made an interesting
story of palace intrigue, but added to it are a conspiracy by a sorcerer,
attack by the unseelie court of fayres, and the illegitimate daughter of the
previous king by the fayre queen of Air and Darkness who returns after several
years of exile. And at the centre of everything is the captain of the Queen’s Guard,
Thomas Boniface, whose job it is to maintain order and keep both queens safe.
Kade’s
return pushes several conflicts and conspiracies to light, and before anyone
realises, there’s a battle for life and death going on. The enemy is rather
vague and changes constantly, as the conspirators betray each other for their
own gain, keeping the reader guessing as much as Boniface. When the dust
settles, things have changed for everyone, and not always for the better.
This was a
good and compact stand-alone story with high stakes, interesting characters and
a bit of romance which I didn’t entirely feel. It’s a May-December one between
Kade and Boniface that felt slightly icky even though she’s 24, mostly because Kade
behaved like a capricious child. Luckily it was left to the end of the book, so
I could let it go.
Nicholas
Valiarde is a successful thief and man of mystery posing as an art dealer. He’s
lost his foster father to a conspiracy, and has spent the years since planning
a revenge against the man he thinks is responsible for it. With his team, he’s
worked hard and everything is ready for the final act in his revenge. And then
things start to go wrong.
A man
arrives who claims to know who Nicholas is. Even worse, he has items Nicholas’s
father has invented that should’ve been destroyed. Nicholas has no choice but
to go after the man. What should’ve been a quick kill turns into a full-blown
investigation into necromancy and other forbidden arts that is as ghoulish as
it’s difficult to solve. And to make matters worse, Nicholas himself is being
hunted by an investigator.
This too
was a compact, standalone story with great characters and an intriguing story.
Interestingly enough, I’d tried to read The Death of the Necromancer years ago
and hadn’t managed more than three chapters before giving up. Mostly, if I
recall, because I couldn’t get into the world at all. Reading the books back-to-back,
it was easier to understand the second book too, even though the worlds are
completely different, and I rushed through it.
I would
give the first book four stars (it was a tad confusing with too large a cast)
and the latter five stars. As a whole, they get five stars for being
well-written, imaginative and able to tell their stories in a concise manner
that didn’t leave anything out and didn’t have anything unnecessary either. The
characters were great and the world was interesting. There are other Ile-Rien
books too, and I’ll have to give them a try after this.
I received
a free copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Associate Professor Akira Takatsuki's Conjecture by Mikage Sawamura
Volume 3 of
Associate Professor Akira Takatsuki's Conjecture is called A Tale of Curses and Blessings. This light novel series of paranormal cozy mysteries is set in contemporary
Japan. It follows Naoya Fukamachi, a first-year student at Seiwa University in
Tokyo, and an associate professor of folklore, Akira Takatsuki, who specialises in
urban legends and ghost stories. Naoya helps the professor to explore all sorts
of paranormal incidents, all of which have had very mundane explanations so far,
much to the excitable professor’s disappointment.
As the
title tells, the third volume is about curses. Naoya’s classmate believes he’s
been cursed because he didn’t forward a chain letter, so Naoya brings him to
the professor who solves it in a very Takatsuki manner. Then the pair
investigates a ghost story at a nearby library. The ghost leaves ciphers in
books and whoever finds them is cursed if they fail to solve them. That turned
out to have a lovely and sad explanation.
Third
mystery takes Naoya, Takatsuki and his detective friend Kenji ‘KenKen’ Sasakura
out of Tokyo to a remote mountain village. They’re supposed to be on a winter
break, but Takatsuki has heard of a cave with a demon buried in it and wants to
see it for himself. When they find bones that belong to a human, they suddenly
have a mystery to solve. That too, turned out to be very sad.
The volume
ends with a lovely bonus story from KenKen’s point of view, where he remembers
how he and Akira first met when they were six and formed a friendship that’s lasted
thirty years. It has a spooky ghost story too, that might shed light to why Akira
is special—if only KenKen would reveal it to him.
In addition
to mysteries, we learn more about Takatsuki. He hides a personal tragedy behind
constant smiles and taking delight in all the small things, like hot chocolate with marshmallows. But the
glimpses behind the scenes make the reader want to give him a tight hug and never
let go. There is something dark in him too, which Naoya discovers to his horror,
though it’s unclear yet if Takatsuki himself knows about it. Since Naoya and
KenKen are determined to protect him at all costs, mostly from himself, neither
of them will likely tell him.
Naoya, the
point of view character, is more involved this time round instead of a mere
observer that remains a bit distant. He realises that his time at the university
has changed him, and that he might have made friends even. He’s not willing to
admit it though, as all friends he makes usually leave him when they learn that he
can hear their lies. He tells a few fibs himself, much to his distress. But
best of all, he realises he’s become friends with Takatsuki beyond a mere
student-professor relationship. Those looking for a romance will be
disappointed though—unless the last line in KenKen’s story hints at that.
As always,
I read this too fast and now have to wait for the next volume. Luckily there
are several volumes to be translated still. I’m looking forward to reading them
all.
p.s. If you’re buying this series on Amazon, there’s a glitch which directs to the manga of the series when purchasing the ebook. The volume number is the same, but contents obviously aren’t. Paperback links direct to the correct book. Other retailers don’t have the same problem, so maybe favour them. The problem isn’t unique to this series on Amazon; many light novels with manga adaptations have the glitch.
Case File Compendium is a long-awaited official translation of the Chinese webnovel Bing An
Ben by Rou Bao Bu Chi Rou, a prolific author of historical danmei fantasies.
Unlike their other series, this book has a contemporary Chinese setting and
doesn’t have fantasy elements.
He Yu is a 19-year-old
university student in the imaginary city of Huzhou (basically Shanghai.) He’s
recently returned from living several years abroad, and wants to reconnect with
the girl he’s loved for a long time, Xie Xue. She’s teaching screenwriting at
the university, so that’s what he’ll study too. She’s several years older than
him though, and only sees him as a childhood friend.
Xie
Quingcheng is 32, a former doctor and current professor of medicine at a nearby
university. He’s Xie Xue’s brother, and He Yu’s former doctor. He Yu suffers
from an extremely rare (and imaginary) condition that’ll eventually drive him
insane, if he doesn’t learn to control his emotions. And love, especially unrequited,
isn’t good for him.
The premise
of the three being connected throws the men constantly together. They don’t
like each other much, and don’t really understand each other either, even
though Xie Quingcheng is the only person who truly knows what He Yu is like and
what is required of him so that he can remain sane. Both are extremely homophobic
too, so even friendship under the guise of looking after a former patient isn’t
likely. The first volume only sets the stage for their
relationship.
Mostly, the book is a bit of a mess. A lot of things happen, a background
conspiracy emerges, people come and go, and random stories pop up that have
nothing to do with the characters or the plot. It takes a long time for the
basic story to form and the reader to get the hang of the two men, especially
since—in the manner of webnovels—their characters and backstories keep changing
to fit the plot.
It’s amazing how much Xie Quingcheng has done for a relatively
young man (though He Yu keeps calling him middle-aged), and how sane He Yu is
for a psychopath. They’re fairly likeable characters nonetheless, and oddly
well-suited for one another for such different people. The age gap is pronounced,
but I didn’t find it problematic.
Contemporary
China is an interesting setting. It remains kind of vague though, and I kept
wishing there would be more of it. It’s mostly about the divide between the rich
and poor, and traditional, patriarchal society and modern values—or the lack of
them.
Despite the slow start, the story becomes fairly compelling towards the end, lifting it from a three-star book to a four-star one. The first
volume ends at a small cliffhanger that comes out of the blue. However, since
it is about the background plot, it’s not terribly
annoying. The game between the two men has only started, and I’m interested in
reading where it’ll lead.
At First Spite starts the Harlot’s Bay series of contemporary romances. In the first
book, Athena Greydon moves to Harlot’s Bay, into the house she had bought for
her husband-to-be as a wedding present, only for him to call off the wedding.
Now she’s stuck with the house and mortgage, and to her horror, she’s next-door
neighbours with her ex’s brother who caused the breakup.
Matthew Vine
had a good reason to make his brother call off the wedding: Johnny wasn’t
mature enough for Athena. He just didn’t think to tell her that. And he’s not
about to admit, not even to himself, that he’s interested in her himself.
At first,
Athena’s anger with Matthew makes her push him away, but little by little, the
two become friends. He feels responsible for her and acts accordingly, which occasionally
annoys her. But when she becomes depressed, he’s there for her. There’s not
much romance as such until after the half point, when she has recovered, with a
bit of drama when Matthew feels he needs to choose between his brother and her.
This was a
lovely, grownup romance, though slow and much too long. Both MCs are closer to
forty with lived lives and baggage. They behave their age too, and not like
teenagers, like so often happens in these ‘mature’ romances. Nevertheless, both
needed to grow up, and some grovelling had to happen, before the happily ever
after. Emotions were fairly steady, but it’s a good romance for those who want more mature characters.
I received
a free copy from Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.
The Tainted Cup starts the Shadow of the Leviathan series of fantasy mysteries. As always,
Jackson Bennet has created a wonderfully innovative world that isn’t a mere
backdrop but an integral part of the story, and characters that the reader can
root for.
The story
is set in a vast empire lined by the sea at one edge, where each wet season
huge leviathans try to enter the land, kept at bay by a wall. All the efforts
of the empire, especially the military, is directed at protecting the people
from these creatures. But they’re useful too, as their blood is used for
modifying and genetically manipulating everything from people to animals and plants.
Dinios Kol
is an engraver, a person whose brain has been altered to remember absolutely
everything. He’s been assigned as an assistant to Ana Dolabra, a criminal
investigator banished to a tiny village near the sea. She’s susceptible to
outward stimulus and goes blindfolded most of the time. And she never visits
the crime scenes herself. That’s why she has Kol.
A puzzling
murder has happened in a manor of one of the most influential families in the
empire. A tree has burst from inside a visiting military officer. The crime
doesn’t take Dolabra long to figure out, but then there turns out to be more of
these murders, which takes the pair to the town nearest to the seawall where
the military is preparing for the wet season.
This was an
excellent book and an intriguing mystery. Told from the point of view of Dinios
Kol, the mystery deepens and its scope widens at every turn. He’s the perfect protagonist
for the story, curious, single-minded and persistent. With his ability to
remember everything, he conducts a steady investigation. But solving the crime is
left for his boss. She’s a Sherlock Holmes type of person who makes huge deductive
leaps that leave others puzzled, the reader included. But she definitely finds
the truth in the end.
It's also a
warning about the human manipulation of nature. At every turn, the story relies
on the consequences of altering the people and the nature, and the toll of the
endless war against the leviathans. I have a notion they’ll turn out to be both
more important and less destructive than the people believe.
Despite the
gruesome nature of the murders, the story has a cozy feel to it. Kol goes about
his investigation, making friends and finding new things about himself and his
abilities. There’s even a bit of romance for him, if too briefly. The ending sends
the pair for more adventures. I hope there will be an entire series of the two
solving crimes around the empire.
I received
a free copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Legacy of Temptation starts a new Demonica spin-off series, Demonica Birthright. I’ve
been reading these books since they first began to appear 16 years ago, and
although this one has a 30-year time-jump, the complex world and the characters
are the same, and everything felt familiar.
The premise
is the same too: humans still hate and mistrust demons, and at the centre of
the hatred and misinformation is the Aegis agency. It felt a bit dated—haven’t
they learned anything in thirty years?—but the plot that was based on the hatred
worked fine.
Demons have
their own agency, DART, for fighting evil demons. An exchange program between
the two brings humans in the middle of demons, and things don’t go well. The
focus is on Logan, the son of one of the four horsemen, Thanatos, and Eva, a spokesperson
for the Aegis. She’s the typical brainwashed hater that the series has
introduced before, difficult to like at first, but with demon trouble of her
own. And she does change in the end. Logan is the typical hothead hero with a
good heart.
A romance
happens, sort of. The two barely interact during the first third of the book,
and right after things start to warm up, the plot takes a turn that basically
ruins the chances for any romance. Logan and Eva spend most of the book apart,
dealing with their own family dramas and other emergencies, and the romance is
very much like an afterthought. The spicy scenes are stolen moments in the
middle of drama, sex for sex’s sake, and they don’t feel very romantic. It’s
not the emotional rollercoaster of the earlier books, but love is declared and
a happy ending is had, so I guess it’s a romance.
But the
book is full of supernatural action of other kind. Lilith is on the loose, causing
trouble for Logan. A demon colleague of his is about to turn permanently evil,
and the hunt for him is on too. And there’s trouble brewing in heaven, with different
point of view characters. It makes for an exciting book, but it also feels like
a setup for the series to come. There will be interesting action. I hope there
will be better romances too.
I received
a free copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
