A Palace Near the Wind starts Natural
Engines series (duology?) set in a unique secondary world. Liu Lufeng is fighting the windmills
of modernity that threaten to destroy the habitat and way of life of her Feng
(wind) people. It’s an uphill struggle on the home front too, as many of her
people have left the habitat for the palace of the king for easier life and
human technology.
To keep the king’s constructions at bay, one
member of Lufeng’s family is sent to the palace every year to marry the king.
Now it’s her turn, after which only her youngest sister is left. She’s determined
to save her, so the only option is to kill the king.
At the palace, Lufeng, a creature of
branches and leaves, has to adjust to wearing clothes, sleeping in a bed,
travelling by engine powered contraptions, and eating meat. But she endures, so
that when the marriage ceremony takes place, she can kill the king.
But the marriage isn’t what she believes, the king
turns out to be not who she expected, and he’s not the enemy she thought. There’s a
place of even more destructive technology beyond the palace, and those in
charge there aren’t above cruel atrocities.
Killing the king would be useless, so Lufeng’s
entire family has to flee. Easier said than done, when some of them are
perfectly happy where they are, and others need to stay in place for the safety
of the rest. But she’s not about to give up. With the help of a couple of
friends she’s made, she acts on a hastily concocted plan. The book ends before
we learn how that’ll turn out.
This was a short, straightforward story
with a couple of twists to keep things interesting. The pace was fast, with no
time wasted on secondary plots, character development, or worldbuilding, which
was mostly a collection of interesting concepts.
I was especially disappointed
in the Feng. As a plant-based life-form, they were such an interesting idea,
but then the unique physiology didn’t play any role in the story. Even their
element turned out to be wind, which I found really odd. I didn’t particularly
like Lufeng either, but it would be interesting to see where she ends up from
here.
I received a free copy from the NetGalley
in exchange for an honest review.
This is the second book in the Shadow of
the Leviathan series. It’s set in a wonderfully unique secondary world where
the centuries old emperor, the last remnant of the original people, rule over a
population modified with blood from humongous sea creatures who once a year
make to the land, destroying everything. The entire empire is harnessed to
either fight the leviathans or to make use of them.
This time, we follow the investigative duo,
Dinios Kol, the narrator, and his superior officer in the law department, Ana
Dolabra, outside the empire to Yarrowdale, a small seaside kingdom that the
empire has rented for a century for its practical geography. The dead
leviathans are floated there to The Shroud, a secret facility where everything
useful is extracted of them. It’s dangerous work, as the leviathan blood
mutates everything around it instantly, but necessary. Now the century is up
and the empire is trying to negotiate a new contract with the king.
One of the negotiators has been killed in a
bizarre fashion and the body disappeared from inside a locked, upper-floor
room. Ana and Din have arrived to investigate. Well, Din investigates and Ana
stays in her room to avoid overpowering herself with too much stimulus like
always. Nevertheless, it doesn’t take her long to figure out how it was done.
That turns out to be the easiest part of the case.
A conspiracy against the empire seems to be
afoot, and the perpetrator is not only capable of changing their appearances,
but highly intelligent too, thanks to illegal modifications. Poor Din has his
hands full as he hunts the killer through swamps to king’s court and even to
The Shroud itself, all the while risking his life to instant mutation by
leviathan blood stolen by the killer who has made it into a weapon.
Even Ana seems stumped, her behaviour
turning more bizarre by the day. But nothing escapes her, and in the end, the truth
turns out to be fairly simple and, as she says, banal. She’s very disappointed.
Reader is less so. I sort of guessed where the case was headed to, but allowed
myself to be distracted by the false leads. And even if the killer’s
motivations were fairly simple in the end, the case was entertaining.
Murder wasn’t the only crime committed. Ana
learns that the officers working for the empire at the Shroud have misused
their power and illegally modified the workers. All in the name of greater
good. In the end, the only arrest she’s able to make are these people. But it’s
a lesson for Din as well, about the importance of the work they’re doing for
the empire and the meaning of justice.
The greatness of the series is in the
characters. Din, the engraver with perfect memory, thanks to his mods, has
personal troubles. His father’s debts are his to pay, and the bank is doubling
the payments, now that he’s working in such a high-risk area. He has difficulty
sleeping, so he finds willing bed-fellows, men and women, where ever he goes to
avoid his own bed. He dreams of joining the legion to fight the leviathans, and
returning to the man he left behind, but he knows that the bank will never
allow that.
With the amount of sleep he got in this
book, it’s a wonder he’s able to function through it, let alone have several
sword fights. But he’s ever curious and able to detect the smallest details,
thanks to his modifications. And in the end, after several talks with Ana, he’s
even able to make up his mind about the legion.
There was maybe a character discrepancy with
the previous book though. I don’t remember well, but I seem to recall Din had
trouble reading, which was only once referenced to in this book when letters
danced in his eyes. Yet he seemed to be able to read well throughout the book. Maybe
I misremember, but it caught my eye.
Din was joined in his investigation by a
new side-kick, Malo. She’s a warden, a local working for the empire with a modified
sense of smell and sight. Her job is to track and fight smugglers in the swamps.
She’s a fun, rough character and not a love-interest or bed-fellow, which I
found refreshing. The end saw her needing to change her life, and maybe we’ll
see her in later books too.
The most interesting character is, like before,
Ana. She starts as her usual cantankerous, highly intelligent, and easily
distracted self. But as the case progresses, she morphs into something else,
and some of it is clearly deliberate. Din doesn’t know what to make of it, and
she won’t talk. It could even be that she can’t talk about what kinds of modifications
she has. She can hint though, and what Din learns through his investigation is
so mind-boggling he refuses to believe it.
This was another great book. It retained
the cozy feel despite the gruesome mutations and sword fights, the world
remained intriguing, even if this one didn’t have mushroom houses, and the
case, despite the banal ending, was good. I’m very eager to read more of Din
and Ana’s investigations.
I received a free copy from NetGalley in
exchange for an honest review.
Here’s another recap of a busy reading
month. I read and reviewed 35 items in March, 31 of which were mangas. Almost
half of that was The Apothecary Diaries by Nekokurage and Natsu Hyuuga, 13
volumes so far. Well, 14, but the last one isn't out yet officially. I’ve been reading it on Manga Up!, the publisher’s official
site, chapter at a time, and even though I’ve tried to pace myself, I ended up reading
it all. Now I have to wait for the next chapters to be published at the end of
this month.
If you haven’t read it, it’s a wonderful story
set in maybe 19th century China, based on references to western cultures. It
follows Maomao, an apothecary who is abducted and sold as a servant to the
inner court of the imperial palace. She saves the life of an infant princess
and gets to work as a food taster for the concubine, her dream job. The stories
consist of mysteries she solves, tasked by the head eunuch with secrets of his
own. Maomao is a delightful character with penchant for poisons and Sir Jinshi
makes for a great romantic lead—even if after 14 volumes there’s still no
romance. There’s also anime series on Crunchyroll and coming to Netflix soon.
I reviewed eleven mangas for NetGalley and
Edelweiss. Gunsmith Cats Omnibus Volume 1 by Sonoda Kenichi is a reissue from
the 90s and follows two bounty hunter women. It’s action-packed and fun. Dead Rock 1
by Hiro Mashima is a fun story about a school for demons. Four Lives Remain: Tatsuya Endo Before Spy x Family by Tatsuya Endo is a collection of Endo’s
older stories. They weren’t good. 23:45 by Ohana is a lovely story of a young
college student who lets a ghost of a young man to move in with him.
Soul Taker by Jeannine Acheson and Thomas
E. Sniegoski is a contemporary horror/fantasy of a woman who has lived for
centuries hunted by the Church. Sacrificial Princess and the King of Beasts Heir: White Rabbit and the Prince of Beasts, Vol. 1 by Yu Tomofuji is a spinoff
of the original Sacrificial Princess and the King of Beasts Heir series, a cute
story of a little prince needing to find his magic and courage. Veil vol 1 by
Kotteri is a rather odd, artistic comic of a woman who can’t see and a police
officer helping her. Not much of a story, but very beautiful art.
I read two novels I had ARCs for, both
books that I would’ve read anyway. The Tomb of Dragons by Katherine Addison,
book 3 in the Cemeteries of Amalo series, was as wonderful as the other books.
It has a feel of the last volume and a start of a new arc.
The Martian Contingency by Mary Robinette Kowal is book 4 in the Lady Astronaut
series. It was good, but not as interesting as the earlier books.
Three of the manhwas I reviewed I’d
actually read earlier, but they were officially published last month so I added
them on Goodreads as read. Technically I could leave them out of the count, but
since I haven’t counted them in the month that I read them, here they are.
Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint vol 6 by singNsong.
The story is in early stages yet here, as this volume reaches about episode 60
of 250 or so. I’ve been reading this one on Webtoons and am almost finished. Solo Leveling Vol. 11 by
Chugong and Dubu I’d read earlier too, on Tappytoons. I’ve now finished the
series there, but I’ll review them on GR when they come out in print, which will
take a while yet. And lastly, the first volume of Shutline, a very
graphic BL I’m reading on Lezhin where it’s ongoing, about a car mechanic and a
gangster. It was recently added on GR when the Korean edition was published
in print, so I added it too. No English version in print yet.
And then, finally, my favourite comfort read:
Mr. Villain's Day Off vol. 6 by Yuu Morikawa. The evil (or not so evil) general
enjoying pandas and ice cream is such a delight. And it’s an anime too! On
Crunchyroll. I’ve only watched one episode so far (I’m watching The Apothecary
Diaries first), but it’s equally delightful, with the added delight of being in
colour.
So, there it is, my insane reading month.
On top of this, I started a couple of books in my favourite series, but had to put aside
to make room for other reading. I’ll finish those later. And I prepared my own
book for publication and read it a couple of times, but that’s work and doesn’t
count.
In the fourth book, it’s 1970 and Elma York,
The Lady Astronaut, finally lands on Mars with her husband Nathaniel with the
second wave of settlers. Earth hasn’t had a clear sky since the asteroid hit it
and the mere chance of seeing stars at night is lifting their spirits.
But from the start, Elma feels something’s
off. Accidents have clearly taken place during the first wave of settlers that
no one has reported back to earth and hateful messages have been painted on the
wall. No one is willing to tell her anything when she tries to ask about it,
even though she’s the second in command.
Small accidents keep happening too. They’re
fairly harmless at first—until they aren’t. It’s clear that they’re deliberate
sabotage. But is it someone on the planet with them behind it, or is the
mastermind back on earth?
Despite the intriguing premise, this was
surprisingly boring book. Focus was on technical details and religious rituals,
and even the who dunnit was solved elsewhere behind the scenes. Most of the cast
was new, the familiar characters like Stetson Parker only appeared through
radio transmissions, and even Elma and Nathaniel spent large part of the book
apart. The new characters were none of them interesting, nor were they given
any backstories that would’ve made them more than talking heads, useful for
each scene only.
Character relations were antagonist. Instead
of building the inclusivity through open conversation, nothing happened until
after a confrontation, however small. It made the whole process feel angry and
negative instead of a hopeful chance to build a better world mentioned in the
book’s description. It made for a heavy read and I didn’t enjoy this as much as
I hoped I would.
In the end, everything was solved as well
as it could be. Elma and Nathaniel settled down to their forever home, and they
seemed content with where they are now. If this was the last book, it leaves them
in a good place. But there’s a lot to explore in space left.
I received a free copy from NetGalley in
exchange for an honest review.
The Other World's Books Depend on the Bean Counter vol. 3 by Yatsuki Wakatsu
First up, beware: this is the last volume.
I didn’t know it going in and wasn’t adequately prepared emotionally for it to
end. It left me slightly upset despite the ending being good. But now you know
and can read it accordingly.
Volume 3 of the light novel has a subtitle Magic
Research Exchange Plan and that’s what the story is about with no side plots.
An envoy arrives from a distant country to study Romany’s summoning magic. Seiichirou
is roped in to guide the visitors, as the whole project is his idea. It’s about
sending him and Yua, the Holy Maiden, back to their own world.
Leading the visitors is the country’s third
prince, Lars, who shows great interest in Seiichirou. Not romantically though;
he’s impressed by his efficiency and considers recruiting him to work for his
country. Despite Seiichirou’s skills, the visit is a bit chaotic, as the group
includes mages who are very excitable and have no patience for anything but magic.
Seiichirou is kept busy and he doesn’t have enough time for his partner, Aresh.
Aresh has anticipated this though. For the welcoming
party, he arranges a suitable attire for Seiichirou, complete with a brooch
that declares he and Seiichirou are engaged. He just doesn’t think to inform Seiichirou
about it. Seiichirou doesn’t take it well that Aresh does such a huge thing
behind his back, as if he isn’t part of the relationship. A fight ensues and
the pair doesn’t speak in days.
It doesn’t help that Aresh is summoned home
by his parents. Lars is trying to arrange a marriage between his youngest
sister and the youngest son of Idolark family. That’s Aresh. Seiichirou learns
about this from other people and it adds to his upset. When he finally has a
chance to ask Aresh about it, the other man goes into another huff. And then
leaves to escort the envoy back to their country.
A weaker man might despair. Seiichirou isn’t
one of those. He goes after his man. Matters are cleared between the two,
including the biggest cause of upset for Aresh: Seiichirou returning to his own
world.
This was a good book, but it read like
another middle book and it came as a surprise that it ended. After all the hardships,
the series deserved a stronger ending. The great magical feat of sending Seiichirou
and Yua back was solved rather fast with a time jump. It left the reader to wish
that at least some of it had been made into another volume, maybe about the
days leading up to the reverse summoning. There could’ve been lot of drama
about it, and we could’ve finally witnessed Seiichirou and Aresh settle into a
happy life together. Seiichirou opened about his feelings only in the last
chapter and I would’ve loved to read more about that. Even the epilogue was
more about general story than the two of them.
After the epilogue there were two extras,
one from Norbert’s point of view as he reports to the king, and another from
Aresh’s, which explains his point of view about the spat. In the afterword, the
author admits that some storylines were left open, but didn’t promise more
stories. I don’t really need those; only the bit that was missing from this
one. But it was a sweet story as it was, with some spice, and I’m happy with where the men ended
up.
The Tomb of Dragons is the third book in The
Cemeteries of Amalo series (fifth overall), and after two fairly gloomy books, Thara
Celehar is finally showing signs of recovering from the tragedy of his past of
sending his lover to death with his witnessing. The beginning isn’t auspicious
though. Having lost his ability to speak with the death, he’s at loss for what
he’s supposed to do now.
The purpose comes from his unique sponsor,
the Archprelate, who tasks him with sorting out a cemetery that hasn’t been functioning
for fifty years. What seems like an administrative task turns out to be an
uncontrollable mess that has begun decades ago. But Thara Celehar is good at
cleaning up messes.
His mentee Velhiro Tomasaran also keeps him
busy. She’s now given the full status of the Witness for the Dead, but she’s
never investigated on behalf of a murdered person before, and constantly relies
on Thara for advice. It’s an odd murder, with seemingly no suspects, as the
victim didn’t have time to notice they were being killed. Only one memory guiding
Tomasaran, she slowly unravels a conspiracy.
Thara’s main story begins when he’s
kidnapped and forcefully transported into a mine where the miners say a ghoul
of a dragon remains, killing the workers. But the joke’s on them, because he
can’t speak with the dead anymore and can’t banish ghouls, so he’s left for
dead. But he’s not alone; his god, Ulis, seems to have a purpose for him and so
he’s saved. What he learns is that 192 dragons were brutally killed in the
mines, with one of them remaining as a guardian. She wants him to witness for
them, and he accepts.
But the mining company is powerful, its
tentacles reaching everywhere in the society. Thara has only one option:
pleading with the emperor. Good thing he knows him personally. But it brings
the ire of the company on him. After an attempt on his life, he agrees with his
friends that he needs a guard.
Enter Captain Hanu Olgarezh. He’s caught
Thara’s eye early in the book, but as Thara isn’t used to being interested in
anyone except his dead lover, he doesn’t really pay attention. But now that
they spend a long winter together, the pain inside him begins to ease and he
starts to hope that the captain might be interested in him too.
He opens with his other friends too.
Instead of pushing everyone away so he wouldn’t be a nuisance, he accepts their
help and interest in him. That especially applies to Iäna Pel-Thenhior, the
opera director who I thought would be the long-term romantic interest (not that
I entirely agreed). But the two have an open conversation and it turns out Iäna
isn’t even interested in men, nor is Thara interested in him. You could’ve fooled
me.
The emperor gives his ruling on the Tomb of
Dragons and the matter should be settled. But the mining company isn’t about to
give up on having their revenge on Thara. He can’t stay in Amalo, a fate he and
his friends had discussed of so they know he’s not abandoning them.
And he’s
not alone in his exile. Captain Olgarezh is with him and eager for adventures. He’s an old soldier with his own troubled past and perfect for Thara.
The book ends with the two on the run, and I very much hope there will be many books of them
sorting out troubles for the Archprelate all over the empire.
This was a great book. It wasn’t as
heart-wrenching or scary as the earlier books, but I loved the healing arc
Thara was on here. The world is as brilliantly rich and complicated as ever, with
only a surface showing to the readers. The reader has no idea what people are
talking about half the time, but it’s always very interesting. With a world
like this and a character as wonderful as Thara, there’s material for exploring
for many books to come.
I received a free copy from NetGalley in
exchange for an honest review.
The Disabled Tyrant's Beloved Pet Fish vol. 4 by Xue Shan Fei Hu
The delightful and silly story of a
transmigrating fish in a book about ancient China comes to an end in this volume. It doesn’t go out in a bang or with high emotions. It ends with a sweet
happily ever after.
The last volume is slightly uneven. The
main story about those plotting against the emperor comes to an end already
during the first third of the book. There are some surprises in store for the
reader and Li Yu both, but thanks to his ingenuity, a coup is thwarted and the
emperor survives another day. As a reward, Prince Jing is finally named the
crown prince.
It’s what Li Yu had been tasked to do by
the fish scamming system, but apparently it isn’t enough. The final tribulation
isn’t over. The rest of the book meanders to that goal with small side steps
that include people realising Li Yu and the beloved pet fish might be the same.
Mostly, it’s about family stuff. The
biggest drama comes from another pregnancy. This time Li Yu accidentally
chooses the wrong option and has to go through it in human form. He is not happy,
sob, sob. A little girl is born and instantly made a princess by the happy
emperor. But it appears she’s not able to turn into a fish like her brothers
and fish father.
And then, finally, the last tribulation
comes to an end. Li Yu learns that the only reason it hadn’t was because Prince
Jing was afraid it would make Li Yu leave. But he promises to stay forever. As
a reward, Li Yu is now a human that can turn into a fish, not a fish that can
turn into a human. And he’s given an option to return to his life and not
remember what took place in the book world. Obviously, he refuses. But he’s
given a chance to visit once, and he can take someone with him. It’s a nice
side quest, but it could’ve been better.
The book ends with a brief description of
the happily ever after for the pair. A prosperous empire and a good rule follow
when Prince Jing becomes the emperor instead of the tyranny of the original
story. And finally, no family member is left behind when it comes to fishy
antics. The end.
This was a delightful ending, but much of
it was just fillers to make the required word count. The reader slightly
disconnects from the story, and while there are cute moments, they remain a bit
distant. There are barely any fishy antics and the children are sidelined from
the action. But the love between Prince Jing and Li Yu is wonderful and their
happily ever after is well deserved. All in all, a lovely, delightful story.
February turned out to be a good reading
month, despite being short, brought about by a week-long vacation that I
mostly spent reading. I read eight books and twelve mangas, and liked almost everything.
Links are to my reviews on this blog or Goodreads.
My favourite book turned out to be The Orbof Caraido by Katherine Addison, a novella set in her Goblin Emperor world. It
was a surprise addition to my reading list, as I hadn’t known it existed. I read
it the moment I found it, and now I’m eagerly waiting for her The Tomb of Dragonswhich comes out later this month.
I read books 2 and 3 in Heather Fawcett’s
Emily Wilde alt-history fantasy trilogy, Emily Wilde’s Map of the Otherlands
and Emily Wilde’s Compendium of Lost Tales. I’d postponed reading the second
book, but then I got an ARC of the last book and had to read them back-to-back.
It was a good decision, in hindsight, as the last book continues where the previous
one left. Both were fun and good.
Other review copy reads included Juliette
Cross’s A Rebel Without Claws, which started a spin-off series in her earlier
world. I didn’t like it as much as the earlier series, but it was fine. I also
read The Fourth Consort by Edward Ashton, a fun sci-fi romp that turned out to
be one of my favourite reads last month. The reading month ended with a review
copy of The Otherwhere Post by Emily J. Taylor, a YA fantasy that had potential
for more, but a fine enough read.
My Chinese danmei enthusiasm was rewarded
with two books, both of which came out last month. Peerless vol. 3 by Meng Xi
Shi was a great addition to an interesting series about two secret service bosses
in ancient China. Intrigue and heartbreak aplenty. And in Case File Compendium vol. 4 by Rou Bao Bu Chi Rou the complicated story of two men who hate each
other for various reasons saw one of them have a change of heart. Maybe it’ll
turn out to be a romance after all.
I read five review copies of mangas, but
none of them stood out. There was Love on the Horizon 1 by Machi Yamashita, a
cute but small gay romance; Palace of the Omega, Vol. 1 by Fumi Tsuyuhisa that
I really didn’t like all that much, mostly because the love interest was a
child; Fall In Love, You False Angels 1 by Coco Uzuki was a silly and a bit weak high school
romance; My Stepmom's Daughter is my Ex, vol. 1 by Kyosuke Kamishiro and Rei
Kusakabe was also a high school romance, but surprisingly bitter; and lastly
one more high school romance, A Star Brighter than the Sun, Vol. 1 by Kazune
Kawahara, which was cute but really slow.
I had better luck with mangas that I chose
for myself. There was vol. 2 of I Ship My Rival x Me by Pepa, a fun, sweet, and
cute series of two Chinese idols working on a same movie. I’ve read the entire
series online already, but the official second volume came out last month so I
re-read it. It was still perfect.
The Fragrant Flower Blooms with Dignity vol 5 by Saka Mikami continues to be my feel-good high school romance manga, sweet
and uncomplicated. I found a new feel-good manga too, A Man and His Cat vol 1 by
Umi Sakurai of a man who gets himself a cat after his wife dies, giving a home
for a cat no one else has wanted. Funniest high school manga was The Otaku Love Connection 01 by Chu Amairo of a boy who ships his class-mates’ romance.
On action front, I finished two volumes of Solo
Leveling by Chugong & Dubu, vols. 9 and 10. I’ve read this online too, on Tappytoons,
but I review it volume at a time. The series keeps getting better. In addition,
I’ve been reading Omniscient Reader manhwa by SingNSong and Sleepy-C, but I’ll
have to wait forever for official publications to catch up before I can review
it. I also read Black Butler 1 by Yana Toboso, but for once I encountered a
manga that I couldn’t get into at all. My other webtoons have almost all gone
to hiatus, so there’s nothing to report there, except Jinx by Mingwa BL manga
is getting on gear after a slow start for season 2.
Excellent reading month, if I say so
myself, with all kinds of fun books and comics. March is packed full already
too. I hope I have time to read it all.
The Otherwhere Post takes place in a city that
used to be a shared point between three worlds, which all occupy the same space
in their universes. Travelling between them used to happen through doors upheld
with magic. But then one of the worlds was taken over by a fast-spreading poisonous
vine, killing the place, and the doors had to be destroyed to stop it from killing the other two worlds too.
Seven years later, there’s still no
travelling between the two remaining worlds except for couriers who can create
individual doors for themselves to deliver letters, some of which have waited
since the doors were destroyed. One such letter finds Maeve, several years
after it was sent.
Maeve is the daughter of a man who was
accused of destroying the world, and a survivor of it. Her father’s name is a
curse and she’s learned early on to hide her connection to him. She changes her
name and living place constantly, never settling anywhere or confiding in
anyone. But then the letter tells her that her father was innocent. She needs
to learn the truth, but the problem is, she doesn’t know who sent the letter.
Her only option is to join the school of
scriptomancers to learn the ancient art of travelling between the worlds. She
cheats her way in and starts to investigate. It proves to be difficult in many
ways, but the biggest obstacle is that in order to create a door to another
world, she needs to reveal her real name.
But someone in the school already knows it.
She’s getting threatening notes, some of which are spelled to physically harm
her. She prevails and even makes friends who seem eager to help her, even if
she doesn’t tell them the truth about why she’s investigating. But whoever wants the
truth hidden isn’t above killing.
This was a good book, but it fell a bit
flat for me. The world was interesting, but underused, as it mostly took place
in one world and inside the school. The scriptomancy was intriguing, but the
narrative never made proper use of it, even though it was pivotal to it, and
Maeve’s knowledge of inks and languages was all but ignored. Side characters
were nice; Tristan made a good YA hero with his tragic past and willingness to
help Maeve, though the inevitable romance didn’t convince me. I liked the
slow burn though, and that the pair didn’t hook up the first chance they got.
However, the mystery and how Maeve
investigated it was downright infuriating in its randomness. Most clues were
handed to her and then she made a mess of them. But the biggest disappointment
was Maeve herself. She was a character whose first instinct was to flee at every
obstacle. While it was understandable at the beginning, she never grew out of it,
or grew as a person. It made it difficult to root for her, knowing she would
always take the easy way out, cheat, lie and run no matter who it hurt, to which
she never gave the slightest thought. Most disappointingly, she was sidelined
from her own investigation at the end. It may seem like she solved it, but she
only learns the truth because the villain tells it to her, and then officials
take over, leaving her to read what was happening from letters.
Nevertheless, this was an easy, fairly enjoyable
read if one doesn’t overly analyse it. It wasn’t too scary and there were no
graphic scenes, so it suits younger readers too. This is a stand-alone, and the
ending is conclusive and good.
I received a free copy from Edelweiss in
exchange for an honest review.
The story really gets going in volume 3. It
starts at the encampment of the Western Khaganate where Cui Buqu and Feng Xiao
had been honoured guests until the second prince was suddenly murdered at the
end of the previous volume. Now the men stand accused of the deed. The way out
of the situation is to solve the crime themselves. But instead of Cui Buqu
doing the investigation, he volunteers to stay as a hostage while Feng Xiao
investigates. Only, the latter has no intention of doing so.
Cui Buqu has an ace on his sleeve though,
and doesn’t need Feng Xiao—until he does. In the end, the mystery is solved
rather fast, and not in any way I thought it would. The men are now free to
travel back home where they are hailed as heroes.
Their adventures at end, they continue
their separate lives as heads of their rivalling secret service organisations.
But Cui Buqu has promised a rare musical instrument for Feng Xiao as a reward
for saving his life. It turns out to be in the hands of Cui clan, and the men
travel together to fetch it. But the instrument is all but forgotten when Feng
Xiao has a chance to learn about Cui Buqu’s past and his connection to Cui clan.
It’s an interesting and sad story, but Cui Buqu has a chance to air old
grievances and eventually emerge on the top.
But the men haven’t forgotten the mysterious
secret organisation that seems to be behind all their troubles. Going after it
again leads to a sudden gut-wrenching twist and betrayal the kind that’s familiar
from the author’s Thousand Autumns novel. The end is a huge cliffhanger that
leaves Cui Buqu in mortal peril. It’ll be an agony to wait for the next volume.
This was maybe the best volume so far. A
lot happened and the men really became their own characters. Cui Buqu
especially had a chance to shine. There wasn’t much in the way of romance, only
brief teasing moments, and after this volume, the road to a happy ending will
be long. The secret organisation and its motives remain a bit over the top, but
as an adversary, it’s interesting. Side characters from previous volumes didn’t
really show up and new ones didn’t take their place. All in all, an entertaining read.
The Fourth Consort is a sci-fi novel set in a
universe where the earth is still very much like present, but part of the space-faring
Unity, after aliens showed up to make sure humans don’t destroy the planet. But
the Unity isn’t quite that altruistic and they always get something in return.
From the earth, they get people.
Dalton Greaves is an engineer, a former
soldier, and an all-around accomplished person who has lost the grip of his
life after his father died. No other family is mentioned. When even his
girlfriend dumps him, he’s more than willing to accept an offer to work for
the Unity and leave the earth.
Three years later, somewhere deep in the
universe, he’s starting to question the wisdom of the decision. For years, he’s
travelled from one potential planet to another in a three-person grew captained
by Boreau who is a giant slug representing the Unity, and Neera, a fellow human
who recruited him. He hasn’t really had a chance to do what he was hired to do,
diplomacy to win over the inhabitants of whichever planet they want won over.
Mostly, he and Neera are very bored.
When they finally find a promising planet
with intelligent civilisations, it turns out they’re not the first ones there.
The Assembly, a rivalling alien organisation on the same mission as the Unity is
there as well. Dalton, Neera, and the representative of the Assembly have
barely landed on the planet, when both their motherships are destroyed,
stranding them.
For Neera, the proper way to handle things
is immediately to kill the person from the Assembly, an insectoid species
derogatorily called stickman, though we never learn what they call themselves.
Dalton refuses. As a former soldier who has done his fair share of shady
missions in Bolivian jungles, there are things that shouldn’t be done, and
unprovoked killing of an unarmed person is one. Miffed, Neera decides to stay
in their landing craft while Dalton and the stickman go to negotiate with the
natives of the planet, giant ant-like people called minarchs who live in
underground hives.
The negotiation takes a bizarre turn though,
when the queen of minarchs (First Among Equals) decides to make Dalton his fourth
consort. Consorts two and three (Bob and Randall) are still around, but the
first consort has met an unfortunate end. Consorts don’t have any power—males
are powerless in the female led society—and Dalton finds himself confined to a
harem and sidelined from the negotiations.
For minarchs, exchanging consorts is a way
to deal and consolidate power with neighbouring hives. But choosing Dalton, who
they see as a prey species, is an odd choice that triggers a coup to remove the
queen. And the easiest way to do that is to kill Dalton.
That’s only the beginning of his troubles.
He’s constantly juggling between trying to stay alive, the pressure from Neera
to kill Breaker, the stickman he’s sort of befriending, and making sure the Unity wins
the negotiations. But it seems that the only thing he has any influence on is
choosing how to die, honourably—according to the codes both minarchs and
Breaker subscribe to—or dishonourably. Someone will be disappointed, no matter how
he chooses. But increasingly, he’s starting to lean towards disappointing Neera
and the Unity.
This was a really good and entertaining
novel. It’s deceptively small; it takes place in one hive, and nothing major
happens, even if a coup is going on in the background. Dalton sort of drifts
from one event to another, with no real agency over anything but his own
reactions to them. But he’s not helpless, and in the end, he pulls through on his
own terms.
Dalton is a great character with a good moral
code, even if Breaker and the minarchs don’t understand or respect it. Neera,
for her part, is a corporate drone and her actions are dictated by her fear of
the Unity leaders. Breaker is the aloof knight type of a character, a teacher or
sensei, who is more atop of things thanks to his clearer understanding of what
kind of people minarchs are. He has the teacher’s hope of elevating Dalton to
his and the Assembly’s level, and in the end, the two come to understand each other
as friends. (The description mentions a bizarre love triangle, but that’s misleading
in every way, as there is no third or even a romance.)
The ending is good, and while it concludes
the story, it does have a seed for a new beginning. I’d definitely read more
stories of Dalton travelling the universe.
Bob and Randall forever.
I received a free copy from NetGalley in
exchange for an honest review.
Volume four did something I thought could
never happen: reduced the hostilities between He Yu and Xie Qingcheng. Not
easily and completely, but it’s a step in the right direction if one wants a
happy ending for the men.
The volume continues from where the
previous left, with the men about to drown inside an airtight chamber. Since
they think this is their last moment, Xie Qingcheng tells the younger man his
greatest secret. It’s nothing I had imagined. And then they’re saved at the
last moment. Now that they’re alive, the truth completely changes how He Yu
sees him. The same isn’t true for Xie Qingcheng.
They agree to stay apart. Easy for Xie Qingcheng,
but impossible for He Yu. Even when Xie Xue falls ill, clearly because of the
illegal drug He Yu’s been affected with, Xie Qingcheng doesn’t contact He Yu.
But He Yu finds about it anyway and decides to investigate. Eventually, he has Xie Qingcheng roped into it too.
But the shady organisation is constantly
one step ahead of them. Every time He Yu thinks he’s about to have a breakthrough,
the clue is removed, usually with violence. Until he stumbles onto one that
even the masterminds haven’t come to think of. It sends the men to a remote
village, which turns out to be the home village of many players they’ve come
across so far. It can’t be a coincidence.
As they investigate, they find a crime that
has nothing to do with them or the case, but which the perp wants to keep
secret anyway. It puts the men in mortal peril once again. The volume ends with
a cliffhanger, with Xie Qingcheng on his last breath.
This was the best volume so far. Focus was
on the men and their relationship, with only brief glimpses of other players,
which weren’t terribly important. He Yu is mostly sane, and while he still wants
to force Xie Qingcheng to have sex with him, he manages to stop himself. He’s found
a new truth about his relationship with Xie Qingcheng and he has no idea what
to do with it. For his part, Xie Qingcheng is starting to see He Yu in new
light. Not enough to forgive him yet, but maybe he doesn’t hate him as much
anymore. I’m eagerly waiting to find out how that turns out.
