Book 3 of the
fantastical detective duo, Ana Dolabra and Din Kol, takes them to the heart of
the empire, to its agricultural core where augmented cattle grow the size of wagons
and whose feed is picked by small cats conditioned by a fungus to keep up with
their need for food. It’s also the area where Din is from and where he hasn’t
been back to since he agreed to be augmented as a scribe.
Two
families rule over the area. Now the son of one family has killed the daughter
of another. Ana and Din need to solve the matter before the families descend in
an open warfare, as that would threaten the food supply. She’s bored already.
But from
the start it becomes evident that the crime isn’t as straightforward as they
believed. The manner of killing has oddities. There have been several earlier
deaths in one of the ruling families. It has made the matriarch believe her
family is cursed and seek out guidance from the gods of people who inhabited
the empire before—and still maybe rule it. And every time the pair thinks they’ve
made progress with the investigation, a twist of fate pulls the rug from under
them.
To solve
the case, Ana has to delve deep into the history of the area and unearth things
that she’s in a unique position to know about. But some secrets of the ancients
should stay hidden.
This was
another great book. The manner with which the victims were killed was unique and
something that is only possible in this world, which makes the mystery feel
fresh. Ana was more active in the investigation than before, and her character gained a bit
of depth. Din was having a personal crisis or two, one that had to do with his
augmentations and another with his family that made an appearance. He wasn’t quite
as promiscuous as in the previous book, but he had his moment. We were
introduced to yet another interesting group of augmented people, the Osrii, who
scent and taste the world to determine its state. And the mystery that is Ana came
a little bit closer to solving. Maybe.
I received
a free copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
This is a
light novel with a time travel/transmigration plot. Mitaelshuroxa, an Elder
Dragon, has lost bitterly at the hands of the Blade Saint who has butchered her
entire people. When he goes for a killing blow, she activates a device that
allows her to jump back in time. She intends to kill him before he has a chance
to become so powerful even a magnificent Elder Dragon cannot defeat him.
She finds
herself on the grounds of a magic academy, in a realm with no
dragons, 17 years in the past, still badly hurt and trapped in human form, with
almost no mana to defend herself. She’s rescued by Karen, a Guardian (in
training) who offers her an asylum at the school. The only catch is, she has to
pretend to be a human named El—and wear a dog collar that restricts her power.
It’s almost too much to bear, but she doesn’t have to endure it long, because
the Blade Saint goes to the same school and a practice duel is conveniently set
between them, so she can kill him and leave. Things don’t go as planned though,
and instead, she finds herself fighting a stronger enemy with him.
This was a
good start to a series, fast-paced and humorous, with no romantic plot whatsoever so far. There are several POV characters,
each with their own mission and distinctive voice. El was grumpy and cranky, though she was only 15 in her own realm too, and powerful despite the restrictions. Karen was saved from being annoying by her sense of humour. Villains were truly bad, with their POV chapters too.
The first half had all the
annoyances of a light novel with details changing between one scene and the
next, and girls’ obsessing with the size of their boobs, but when the Blade
Saint, Ca’al finally showed up, the narrative changed gears. He had a good,
tragic backstory that was written like it belonged to a different book, and it
elevated the story from three stars to four. Fight scenes on the latter
half of the book were well-written too.
The volume
ends at a natural place with no cliffhangers. But the epilogue sets the stage
for the next book, revealing a new villain. I might read more (if there is more), but the first
volume formed a satisfying whole, so I can leave it at this too.
There are no translation notes, so this appears to be an English original. I don’t know if the author is western or Japanese, but they can write in the style of light novels well.
I received
a free copy from Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.
I went into
this book hoping for pleasant cozy fantasy with some adventure in the mix. I definitely
got that. Just not the way I thought based on the book description, which is a
bit misleading. But then again, so is Teddy, the book’s narrator. It’s not
entirely cozy in its details either (some gory stuff in the mix), but I’m not a
purist when it comes to genre conventions. I just allowed the story to take me
where it wanted to go, and I suggest other readers do the same, as it’s
definitely not where they expect it to lead.
An Accident of Dragons takes place in Summer. It’s an island where everything has its place
and nothing ever changes. The state of things is maintained by Summer, a huge
ancient dragon that lives in the caves beneath the island. And the island is
ruled by Summer, the dragon’s caretaker who is bonded with her. Much is made about confusing the three throughout the story.
The position
of the caretaker is hereditary, the next ruler inheriting some attributes
already at birth that allows them to connect with the dragon. But Jack, the
previous Lord Summer, had rebelled against becoming Summer and had died without
an heir. To everyone’s surprise, the dragon has chosen Teddy, Jack’s kept man,
as the next caretaker.
The book
starts six years after that. Teddy has mostly settled into his new position as a
ruler that he never thought to become. He’s an outsider to Summer, and has
never had a place there, because everyone’s place is set by the dragon and
nothing ever changes. Unlike Jack, he’s dutifully married a nice widow and
managed to produce an heir despite definitely preferring men, and now maintains
cordial if distant relationship with his wife and stepson while doting on his
daughter Zinnia, who is five.
And then
Zinnia is abducted by people from the mainland, where the people of Summer
seldom go, because Summer the dragon doesn’t want them to leave. Unlike on
Summer, things change on the continent. A cult is rising there that is
utilising dragons’ powers to subjugate everyone. And now they want a dragon’s
egg. Summer’s egg.
Teddy is
almost forty, not very strong despite the dragon altering his physique a
little, and a dandy who prefers fancy clothing and parties to heroics. But he
doesn’t hesitate to go after his daughter. With him is the entire navy of
Summer (three ships) and his stepson Brook who dreams of seeing the world. Turns
out, rescuing Zinnia is the easy part. Defeating a cult that wants Summer—the
dragon and island both—is another matter.
This was a
delightful read. It’s a book that firmly stands with the voice of its narrator,
Teddy, and it does it with great flair. He addresses the reader very directly
and with familiarity, but it isn’t until the very end that we learn he’s
talking to his children. He has a delightful voice, a rather straightforward
outlook on life, and no misconceptions about his importance, even though he’s
the ruler of the island. Slowly, we learn why that is the case. But he’s a bit
unreliable narrator. Or rather, he alludes to events of the past that give the
reader one notion, only to tell the full story later that reveals a different
picture.
Teddy is an
outsider, made evident because he looks different. It’s never stated outright,
but everyone on the island is white and he’s Black, or their world’s equivalent,
as skin colour isn’t mentioned, only shown on the book’s cover. But it’s not an issue to anyone; this isn’t a
book about race or racism. That Teddy is gay isn’t an issue either, or that he
maintains relationships even though he’s married. Everyone does the same, his
wife included. Teddy has an odd romance with a married father of two throughout
the book—odd because Teddy doesn’t really like him (although it turns out to be
a very good relationship.) But this isn’t a gay romance either—though there’s
room for it.
This is
mostly a book about becoming, and accepting oneself. Teddy realises that he’s
never really accepted that he’s Lord Summer, and has only waited for his
daughter to take over. He’s never really accepted that he’s a father to Brook
too, and that he has a wife who has her own needs. It’s about finding the
family he already has. Teddy who returns to Summer is different than Teddy who
left. The ending is satisfying, but there’s room for more adventures. I’d definitely
read them.
I received
a free copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Alchemised is one of those massive (1000+ pages) fantasy novels I loved to read back before
social media killed my attention span. Nowadays, I tend to give these a pass,
and I almost didn’t pick this one either. But I ended up buying a physical copy
on a whim, and instead of letting it gather dust on my shelf, I started
reading. And I’m glad I did, even if it took me two weeks to finish—and that’s
without constantly skipping to check my socials. I try to keep this review spoiler free, but if you want to be certain, read my short review here.
This is a
secondary world fantasy, a world with three moons and people with resonance, an
inner ability to transmute things like metal or fire, called alchemists. Resonance
doesn’t appear evenly in the world and it’s concentrated in Paladia, where the
Alchemy Tower gathers the most talented alchemists. Paladia is led by Holdfast
family who claim a divine right to rule and have the ability to transmute gold.
Not all
forms of resonance are allowed in the religion-led Paladia. Necromancy, the
ability to animate the dead is forbidden, as is its more benign counterpart, vivimancy,
the ability to heal. But a necromancer has risen who can create Undying, people
who have an incredible ability to heal but who aren’t entirely alive.
A
devastating civil war has been fought between the supporters of the rightful
rule and the Necromancer with his supporters. The book begins a year and a half
after the war has ended. The good guys have lost and the Necromancer is in
charge. It’s a harsh rule with human experiments and violent punishments meted
out by the High Reeve, the Necromancer’s closest man.
Helena Marino
has been confided in a stasis pod of the Necromancer’s people since the war
ended. She should’ve been sedated, but she’s been conscious the whole time. As
a result, she’s lost much of her memory. When she’s finally released, much to
the surprise of her captors who didn’t know she was there or who she is, she’s
sent to the High Reeve so that he can unravel her memory in case she knows
important Resistance secrets.
The first
part of the book is about Helena’s captivity in the High Reeve’s manor. His
name is Kaine Ferron and he used to be her classmate and rival at the Alchemy
Tower, not that she—an outsider to his legacy family—really recognised the
rivalry. All she remembers of him now is that he killed the previous leader and
caused the war in the first place. She’s deadly afraid of him and for a reason.
He’s an animancer who can invade her mind and extract her memories.
It’s not
easy or safe captivity. Ferron’s attempts to break her mind cause her almost
die several times, the medical leaders of the new regime want to experiment on
her, and Ferron’s wife he neglects wants to kill her. And all the while she is
a captive of her own mind, unable to remember what happened. Until she does.
The second
part takes place in the past, starting five years after the war began. It’s
already devastated Paladia, and while the leadership won’t recognise that they’re
fighting a losing war, some people know more drastic measures are needed.
Helena has spent
the war as a healer. It’s hard, unthankful work, because it requires vivimancy
that she’s found the ability for, much to the horror of her friends, the
current leader of the country and his paladins. She’s desperate for acceptance
and so, when she’s asked to act as a liaison with an enemy who has agreed to
spy on their side, she agrees. The spy turns out to be Ferron, already an
Undying as a reward for killing the previous ruler, and high up in the Necromancer’s army.
For two
years, to the inevitable end of the war, the two meet in secret, both using
each other for information and being used by their own people in return. They
don’t trust each other—Ferron doesn’t trust anyone—but eventually they realise
that they only have one another to rely on. A friendship of sorts forms, a bit
unhealthy and codependent, and then, inevitably, a love story. They make plans
to disappear together, but he can’t really leave, as the Undying are bound to
the Necromancer. And then the war ends, and Helena disappears.
Third part
of the book returns to the present where Helena has to reconcile her memories
of Kaine of the past and the High Reeve of the present, the love story with her
trauma of the captivity. He wants to get her to safety; she won’t leave without
him. There are no allies, only enemies on all sides, and a hunt for the last
remaining Resistance fighter. And the noose is tightening.
This was an
excellent novel: structure, pace, plot, the world, and characters were all perfect. Even though it’s long, there’s nothing unnecessary. The chapters are short and every
scene has a meaning. It’s dark and atmospheric, the war with its horrors come
close even though they’re mostly seen through the aftermath at the hospital—it’s like
watching China Beach or M*A*S*H. Bad things happen to good people, and good people
do really bad things. I’m not triggered by much as a reader, and nothing here
caused me distress, but some readers might find the reality of war and
characters that are both black and important difficult to handle. Pain and
suffering, physical or mental, aren’t dwelled on, or described in nauseating detail
in order to horrify or titillate the reader. They’re simply the realities of
war.
The
narrative is from Helena’s point of view in third person, which distances it a
little—sometimes a good thing when she’s suffering from all sorts of trauma.
She’s an unreliable narrator, especially at the beginning, so the second part
is a discovery into her mind and memories. She does paint a good picture of
Kaine, so we learn a lot about him and what drives him even though there is
nothing from his point of view. The enemies-to-lovers storyline unfolds
organically from the needs and deeds of the characters and not from an overwhelming
attraction the characters can’t help feeling. I really rooted for them, even as
I feared the inevitable, as this isn’t the kind of book where you take the
happy ending for granted.
The only weak
part is the third, though not by much. The enemy remains mostly hidden and is
only seen by proxy, the tension comes from people and deeds the reader isn’t
privy to, and Helena’s traumas reconcile with her memories fairly fast. The
ending is unnecessarily long, and a bit too easy and convenient.
For such a
dark book, this was a surprisingly pleasant read and difficult to put down. I
loved the characters and the ending they earned for themselves. I’m glad I gave
the book a chance. It’ll stay with me for a long time.
The Somewhat Wicked Witch of Brigandale by C. M. Waggoner
I’ve liked
everything by C.M. Waggoner I’ve read. Her books are cozy, worlds are unique, inclusive, and interesting, and the plots are meaningful and not too easy. Cozy doesn’t
mean no stakes or no bad things happening. Everything is simply presented in a low-tension
way. This book was no exception.
Gretsella
has been the witch of reasonable prices in the forest of Brigandale for
decades, dealing in charms and curses—like coughing during classical music
concerts—tending to her poisonous plants and attending her coven of equally
qualified witches. One day, she finds a baby on her doorstep. She knows, as
there are knights ruining her garden, that the boy is special. She takes him in
anyway and names him Bradley. Her witch friends grant him good looks, charm,
kindness and a mean right hook.
Bradley
grows up to be exactly as wished, but he’s not terribly bright. Gretsella loves
him anyway, not that she would be caught dead admitting it. But, as tends to
happen, forest animals tell him he’s the rightful king, and against her wishes,
he sets out to take the throne. He’s successful. Unfortunately, he’s not a very
good king, mostly for being too kind. What is a witch/mother to do but to go to
the king’s castle and set things right, the only way a witch does things—her
way.
This was an
absolutely charming book, well-written and witty. It’s low stakes, low tension,
but not meaningless cozy fantasy, with great characters that have a good heart—even
Gretsella. Waggoner’s characters are never twee, and despite the cozy genre,
they’re not perfectly good with only good things happening to them. Between
chapters there’s another story of another witch, and though the side-steps
break the flow of the story constantly, they’re always short and necessary
additions. The ending is happy and conclusive, with everyone getting what they
want, even if it doesn’t happen exactly the way they imagined it would. It
leaves the reader happy and satisfied with the time spent with the book. I’m
looking forward to reading more books from Waggoner.
I’ve seldom
read Ilona Andrews, but the moment this book hit my radar, I wanted to read it.
It’s in isekai genre, which has been popular in East-Asia for decades, but which has
been making its way to western fantasy only in recent years.
In isekai,
a person from our world is transported to a fantasy world, an alternate reality, game or, like here, into a world of a book the protagonist has been reading. They often
bring something unique from the original world that gives them an edge in the
new world. In this book, the protagonist has an encyclopaedic knowledge of her
favourite book, knows exactly what’s going to happen, and sets out to change
the future.
Maggie has
woken up in a ditch in a strange medieval city without clothes and no idea how she’s ended up there. She’s
had a couple of days to adjust when the book begins, so she’s already figured
out the pertinent: she’s in the world of her favourite book she’s been reading
obsessively for the past decade. She also knows what isekai is and understands that
she’s been transported. She doesn’t remember dying, which is often a
requirement in isekai, but she knows she’s her original self and hasn’t taken
the body and life of an existing character in the book. It’s a cruel and
violent world where her favourite characters are more likely to die than not, and
she knows it’s headed to a violent and bloody upheaval.
She sets
out to survive. She needs money and shelter, and she knows where to find both.
The first requires a robbery which she has no compunctions committing. It leads
to a stunning discovery: she can’t die, hence the series name, Maggie the
Undying. Or rather, she dies and comes back to life a little later unharmed.
The world doesn’t reset when that happens, like often in isekai, and she’s able
to continue with what she’s gained.
Once she
has her basic needs met, she starts making little changes in the lives of her
favourite characters. Little changes lead to large ones and before she knows
it, she’s leading a group of people determined to prevent the bad future from
happening. She utilises the intimate knowledge she’s gained from the point of
view characters, and trades in secrets to win people on her side. It isn’t
smooth sailing, but with some sacrifices—usually her—they get to their goal.
And then it turns out the goal isn’t what they thought, because there are only
two books in the series with the third never published. Maggie doesn’t know how
the story ends.
This was a
great book. It’s told solely from Maggie’s first-person point of view and utilises
the tropes of isekai well. She knows what’s at stake, knows the players, and is
aware that with every change she makes, the future changes beyond her knowledge of
it. She gathers a found family around her, mostly by being nice and helping
them, which in the book’s cruel world is unheard of. Her allies are capable and
loyal, the mysteries are suitably complicated but not impossible, the twists
are good, and bad guys are perfectly evil. The love interest is straight from a
fantasy. The narrative flows well, the pacing is good, and the plot keeps in its
grip. The ending is the worst kind of cliffhanger, and I hope this series won’t
have the fate of Maggie’s favourite book.
My only
gripe is that since Maggie knows she’s in a book, she narrates what she’s
supposed to feel—fear, love, lust—instead of feeling it. It distances the
reader from the emotions, making it difficult to enter into her sentiments. The
romance especially suffers from this. The reader knows why Maggie thinks she
should find him attractive—although she wasn’t attracted to him in the book—but we’re never
shown the attraction and love she feels. There’s no quickening of her pulse, no
flushes of heat, or sweating of her palms when he’s around or kissing her, only analysing narrative. So,
while I root for the pair, I think I might be fine if they never ended up
together. But this isn’t a romance first and foremost, so I can live with that.
These Shattered Spires is the author’s debut novel and it’s wonderfully well-formed
and mature for one. It’s not an easy read and it doesn’t aim to be one. It’s
also not YA, despite the publisher advertising it as such. The main characters may
be in their late teens, but the themes aren’t YA and the characters don’t
behave or think of themselves as people on the cusp of adulthood. They’re
survivors who know they’ll die at any moment. The atmosphere reminds me of Gormenghast, and the world that of Gideon the Ninth.
It’s seldom
that a book stands so firmly on its unique world, but here it’s almost its own
character. Fourspires Castle is the whole world to its residents. It has always existed at
the brink of destruction by a daily apocalypse that has to be stopped with
spells every morning by the four head arcanists that inhabit its four towers: black,
red, green and grey, corresponding with the magic they wield: bone, blood,
botany, and stone. Even with this ceaseless spellcasting, the castle slowly
sinks and rots, disappearing piece by piece, diminishing the world. The rot and
decay of the castle is described vividly, down to smells and tastes.
The fifth
castle at the centre is occupied by the Thaumaturge, the most powerful of the
arcanists. He’s centuries old, and his position is coveted by all the
arcanists. Then the unthinkable happens and he’s assassinated, which triggers a
battle for succession among the arcanists, the Slaughter. It’s a race to the
top of the fifth tower, and as the name suggests, deadly, especially so for the
familiars of the arcanists.
The
familiars are humans trained to wrest, to pull arcania to power the arcanists
spells. It’s incredibly painful for them and wears them out bodily. They’re
treated badly (they’re not allowed to speak, they’re barely fed, and sleep on
floors and filth) and used until they die, usually very young.
The main
point of view characters are familiars of different disciplines. Tarenteeno
(Taro) is the familiar of the bone arcanist; Nixeen (Nixie), the familiar of
the botany arcanist; Elliot, the familiar of a lesser blood arcanist, and
Alis/Alix, a disgraced stone familiar. Taro and Nixie have been plotting an
escape, but the death of the Thaumaturge ruins their plans. The familiars are
instantly marked as participants of the Slaughter and to escape is to die. To
participate is to die too, because the new Thaumaturge will instantly kill all
familiars but their own.
However, Taro
and Nixie learn that the permanent apocalypse of their world isn’t the natural
state of things and that there might be a way to stop it and flee. They can’t
do it alone though, so they talk the other two into taking part. It’s not an
easy alliance or an easy task to pull off, but neither is the Slaughter.
The
relationships of the four are complicated. They’ve all trained at the same time
in the Pit, the academy for familiars. Taro and Nixie used to date, and Taro
still thinks they’re romantically involved. Nixie hates her guts for a
betrayal, but is using Taro to escape. Alis used to be Nixie’s best friend
before Taro showed up, so she hates Taro, but she also hates Nixie for leaving
her. But she loves her too. Elliot is the odd man out, but seems to be coveted
and hated in equal measures by the others for his looks.
The
characters aren’t nice or easy to root for. They’re selfish and brought down by
their harsh life. Elliot is suffering from a curse that makes him especially
irritable, Alis is having a gender crisis, Nixie is filled with hate, and Taro
isn’t entirely sane. They ally and betray each other, sometimes within the same
chapter, and none of them is very likeable. But little by little, reader
becomes attached to them, which isn’t wise when people casually and constantly
die.
This isn’t
an easy book to read. There is pain and suffering inflicted on the main
characters, blood and gore, broken body parts and death. It’s not a splatter
though, the narrative doesn’t dwell on the gory details, or even a grimdark as
such. Suffering is a natural part of the characters’ lives and the narrative
treats it so naturally that the reader doesn’t even blink an eye when a
character cuts into their own flesh to power a spell. Nonetheless, it does make
this a heavy read, and I had to pace myself a lot.
But there is also an undercurrent of hope for something better, an escape that is worth all the pain. This current carried the story against all odds and the harsh reality. Sometimes it paid off, sometimes it plunged the characters even deeper.
A countdown
to the Slaughter at the beginning of every chapter keeps the tension rising as
the four try to break the curse. And then it begins—and turns out to be
something completely different from what everyone believed, as is the end of the
curse. For a first book in a trilogy, the ending is fairly conclusive. It sets the stage for the next book, but the story can be left here as well. I’d read
more though.
I received
a free copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Entwined is
set in a secondary world that resembles the early 20th century with its
technology, with two kinds of people: humans and Entwined, people genetically
capable of magic who aren’t considered human. The Entwined used to rule Harrow
where the events take place, but after a revolution of sorts, humans are now in
charge and it means trouble for the Entwined that humans hate. Only the Entwined bound
to the Guild can operate freely. But the Guild is a gilded cage that’s not for
everyone.
Ottilie’s
boss has unearthed an artefact a client wants, which should bring in so much
money that Ottilie can finally leave. But before the transaction is complete,
both the artefact and her boss disappear. The client wants the artefact back
and since Ottilie is the only one left, she’s forced to find it. She has a good
notion who took it: her sister Pretoria, who has also left the Guild, and become
a thief.
The
artefact isn’t the only thing bringing Ottilie trouble. Humans are turning
against the Entwined and it’s getting more difficult to hide what she is. Human
zealots and Entwined terrorists are clashing and creating political upheaval, it
could be that the artefact she has to find is a key to destroying the Entwined
for good, and man she’s interested in might be a terrorist. On top of this, her other sister shows up too, and she wants to take
Ottilie back to the Guild. Things soon get out of hands and Ottilie finds
herself in the middle of events she has no way out of.
This was an
interesting first book in a duology. The magic powered by different lights
(sun, moon, twilight etc.) was unique, and the political situation was complex.
It was a bit too complex, to be honest, and I found it confusing a lot of time.
The narrative was rich and pulled the reader into the world and the magic effortlessly.
The story was a bit slow though, and not as engaging as the events would merit.
The narrative
is from Ottilie’s POV. She’s a good character with a lot of baggage, but not as
compelling as, for example, Hessa with her rage in Long’s Four Pillars series.
I couldn’t quite fathom why she’d come to Harrow where she knew she’d be
trapped and why she hadn’t left sooner, as she had the money for it. Many of
the events just happened to her and she accepted everything. Her waffling
between suitors was very characteristic. It wasn’t until the end that she took
a stance and even then, others made the decisions. The side characters,
especially the sisters, had good backstories too, but the reader didn’t have
similar insight into them as Ottilie, though the epilogue gave a good glimpse.
The book
ends at a natural turning point, setting the stage for the second book. Good
though this was, the storyline I was most interested in concluded here and
nothing particularly compels me to read more. I’m not sure I’ll read the
conclusion.
I received a
free copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
The Library of Amorlin starts The Age of Beasts fantasy, and it was one of my anticipated
reads for the start of the year. The beginning was promising, but
unfortunately, the book didn’t deliver.
The setting
is interesting. A world of several kingdoms around a neutral zone of a magical
library that bends time and space within its limits. The library is in charge
of protecting magical beasts and mediating between kingdoms. Unfortunately, Kalthos, one
of the kingdoms, is ruled by a religion that sees the beasts as embodiments of
sins, and systematically destroys them. As beasts die, magic becomes more
unpredictable and the natural order of things begin to unravel. So, Kalthos and the library are at direct odds.
The premise is good too. Kasira, in her
late twenties, is a con-artist who grew up on the streets of Kalthos until she
was captured. She was held imprisoned in inhuman conditions for four years,
after which the sentence was commuted to hunting and killing beasts as part of
elite killing units, which she’s been doing for the past three years. And then
she’s offered a chance for freedom by Vera, the Kalthos ambassador to Amorlin:
con her way into the library and bring it under Kalthos’s rule. She has three months. Fail
and it’s back to prison.
Kasira sets out to convince the librarian,
Allaster, that she’s not a Kalthos spy. He doesn’t believe her. He’s right. She
pulls off a couple of cons and manages to change his mind. And then a twist
happens, which changes things for Kasira, sort of but not. And then another
twist, upping the stakes but not. And then the final con that
brings the book to a satisfying conclusion with no cliffhanger ending.
Technically, this all should’ve made for an
interesting book. Problem is, there’s no plot. There are events that spring out
of nowhere and end as fast, with no aftermath or consequences. The events
include cons that Kasira pulls, but how she does them isn’t shown on the page.
What readers see is her reading books, tending to beasts, and training with
Allaster. The plot that affects them both happens elsewhere. There is a war
brewing and a possible coup taking place in Kalthos, on top of the battle for
the library, and on the background, Vera is pulling strings.
The final continues the same. The reader is
shown one thing, only to learn that Kasira has pulled something on the
background. On the surface, it’s interesting, but not as interesting as following
her along it would’ve been. The end result is satisfying and clever, but it
leaves the reader cold.
From the reader’s point of view, Kasira has
no agency in her own story. There are the cons, but the reader isn’t shown them,
and the small wins she creates are made void by an outside influence that
always trumps her efforts, forcing her to react instead of being in charge. We’re
only seemingly following Kasira’s story, but what we get is Vera’s efforts on
the background.
When the protagonist is a con-artist, I
expect to be shown how they plan the cons, and whether they can pull them off,
especially since some here seemed a bit impossible. I don’t want a smug
admission after the fact that “I made this happen,” without being shown—or
even told—how. The surprise factor isn’t interesting. Kasira comes off as
useless, boring and smug on the page. That she makes things work in the end is
fine, but doesn’t feel like a win when we’ve not seen her do it.
Allastair, who also has point of view chapters,
isn’t any better. He’s grabbling with a magical condition that already killed
his predecessor. He’s 130 years old and he still hasn’t found the solution. All
we ever see him doing, when he’s not mistrusting Kasira, is reading. He comes
off as waffling and useless. The same goes with the few side characters. They
all have issues on the background that affect how they act, with some surprises,
but again, it’s not shown on the page.
Without a plot, the author is forced to use
the out of the blue twists to make the story more interesting. All it would’ve
taken is to give the main characters something proactive to do and show it to
the reader. Anything that would take the reader along the ride, anticipate and
fear with them. The events of the ending especially suffered from this. Kasira
is clever, but we get nothing but the aftermath. There wasn’t even a proper
romance yet to make things exciting.
All this is to say that this was a boring
book. There’s no reason to read it; just skip to the end. It took me ages to
finish, and that’s not including the couple of days after the second twist around
60% mark when I stopped reading completely. I almost didn’t pick it up again,
but forced myself to finish. The ending was more conclusive than I expected, and
it was good enough to leave the story here.
I received a free copy from NetGalley in
exchange for an honest review.
Apparently, Sir Cameron Needs to Die by Greer Stothers
Apparently, Sir Cameron Needs to Die is a cozy fantasy, of sorts. In a world
not our own, or maybe it is, mad sorcerer Merulo—not called mad yet—declares in
front of the entire court that he’s going to kill the god and put an end to
magic. Forty years later, he’s still at it, only now he’s also at war with the church,
which obviously doesn’t want their god to be killed.
The war isn’t
going well for the church, but the Elder comes up with a prophecy for which she
sacrificed the heart of last dragon, a great source of magic in a world where
magic isn’t unlimited. Sir Cameron, a knight of church, needs to be killed by a
specific method at a specific spot to bring the downfall of Merulo.
Cameron has
coasted being a knight by avoiding battles when possible. His greatest fear is
dying, which is very probable when fighting the sorcerer. So, when he learns about
the prophecy, he doesn’t choose a noble self-sacrifice like the church assumes,
but flees. The only place he can flee to is Merulo.
The
sorcerer isn’t happy that he’s there, but since Cameron not dying is in his
interests, he takes him in. Thing is, the prophecy is very specific and Cameron
needs to die as he is, a beautiful blond man. Transforming him into a vulture
isn’t a problem, then. Merulo prefers him being a vulture even, because Cameron
has a very specific bodily reaction to being threatened and intimidated.
Cameron doesn’t mind being a vulture as such, but having a human body would be
better, so he sets out to cajole Merulo, until he has his body back, by way of
being turned a woman.
At this
point, the story had been a fairly amusing romp of Cameron’s attempts to
survive by seducing Merulo. The young man is conceited and a bit obtuse, but
good-natured and willing to help Merulo, even though he doesn’t understand Merulo’s
need to kill the god when he’ll lose not only his magic but probably his life
too. However, the joke was growing stale and it wasn’t even mid-point yet. Not
even the attempts of Cameron’s former elf squire Glenda to hunt Cameron to kill
him personally amused.
I was ready
to put the book down, but then a couple of twists in short succession switched
the story to a new gear. The tone changed too from a sex comedy to more mellow
search for connection and family. Merulo gets help in his endeavour, and after
forty years, he’s finally ready to kill the god and change the world forever. Cameron
isn’t happy about it, because he’s learned to love the cantankerous old
sorcerer and doesn’t want him to die, but since that’s what Merulo wants, he’ll
be there to the end.
And then
there was another twist, which quite frankly didn’t work very well. There had
been many hints, but it completely switched the tone for the rest of the book
from a secondary world fantasy to something opposite. The book should’ve ended
before that; it would’ve been a good ending. With the twist, the book would’ve
needed much more story than we got to make it work. The epilogue is fairly open
ended though, so maybe there will be a sequel exploring what comes after. I’d
definitely want to know how the world will fare, and have answers to a few
questions that were ignored, like Glenda’s lack of emotions, and why Cameron’s
father hated him, because it wasn’t solely for being gay. And what happened to
the chancellor?
The story
had potential, but it was much too long for the plot. The world felt constantly off,
but that was deliberate, considering its origins—which also turned out to be a
small let-down. Cameron was a fun
character and easy to root for despite being conceited—and he had an upsetting
awakening regarding that. Merulo stayed true to his character throughout even
after learning to love too. Glenda’s POV chapters promised more than they gave
and, in the end, she was pushed aside for another character. I’m especially
disappointed in the latter, a half-dragon witch. The way she was presented gave to understand she
would have a compassionate impact on the characters.
The story had
its fun moments, but never more than a chuckle. Cameron pestering Merulo for
sex was constant, but when the other finally gave in, the scenes ended and were
never mentioned again. Not even when Cameron was a woman to compare matters.
There were hints about Cameron’s preferred gender, but nothing was made of that
either, even though he got to experience being woman, only to want to be a man
again. The pace was fast and light-hearted almost throughout. Chapter headings
were fun and worth reading, but they too often promised insights that were
never shown on the page.
All in all,
this is a difficult book to rate. I’m dithering between three and four stars,
but since it was well-written, the author managed to bring the rather
impossible story to a satisfying end, the characters were good, and the twists interesting,
I will give it four stars.
I received
a free copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
How to Defeat a Demon King in Ten Easy Steps by Andrew Rowe
This is the first LitRPG book that I’ve
read and I’m not a gamer, but I’ve read similar Japanese light novels and manga
of adventurers and heroes on a quest to conquer dungeons and defeat the final boss. In
the world of this book, Demon King arises every hundred years, followed by a
hero who will (almost) always defeat him. The cycle has been unchanging for
millennia, but now something’s different. Demon King is advancing faster than
usually, but a hero hasn’t emerged out of schedule to defeat him.
Yui Shaw knows something has to be done and
fast. Lacking better candidates for a hero, she decides to become one herself.
She sets out a simple ten step plan for herself. She has to be accepted into an
adventurer class, become stronger by levelling up enough times, clear some dungeons
for important artefacts, obtain the hero’s sacred sword, build an adventuring
party, and finally defeat the Demon King.
From the beginning, her path is
unconventional. She chooses to become Bag Magician, which is basically a porter
with some magical help. She does consider orphan class, but her parents refuse to
disown her. Her new class comes with overlooked advances that she sets out
to make the most of.
She befriends Ken, a low-class priest with a side class as a fashionista, who
guards the sacred sword, and together they start levelling up by killing slimes.
Soon, it’s time to start clearing the dungeons, but not like the heroes usually
do it. Along the way, they have help from a fairy and definitely not a missing
princess.
Demon King seems to be a step ahead of them
all the time, but Yui is resourceful and clever. With her unconventional skills
and unwavering belief in herself and her companions, she prepares for the final
battle. The outcome is surprising for everyone.
This was a fun book. It’s exactly as advertised,
a LitRPG with a clear path set out for the characters and the reader that is
followed to the letter. The fun comes from watching Yui overcome her
disadvantages, the biggest one being that she’s not the hero and the story is
stacked against her. The story doesn’t in any way try to deepen her character
or tell anything about her that isn’t necessary. I don’t even know her age. Ken
remains similarly distant, but he’s a good supporting character. The additional side
characters work well too.
If you like LitRPG stories, or even if you
simply like good adventure stories, this is for you. Nothing truly bad happens,
so it’s suitable for younger readers too. The ending hints at more adventures
for Yui and Ken. I’d read those.
I received a free copy from NetGalley in
exchange for an honest review.
Audition for the Fox is a novella length
fantasy set in a world I presumed was inspired by East-Asian mythology, but so
lightly that nothing really stands out. It also leans heavily on the fairytale
tradition and stories about wily fox outsmarting everyone.
Nesi, 21, is a descendant of the Bull god,
one of the ninety-nine pillars of a pantheon that consists of animal gods. She’d
been dumped to a temple by her parents as a child, and there she must stay
unless she can find a patron for herself in one of the gods. But she’s already
failed 96 auditions with them, even with her great-great-grandfather the Bull,
and there are only bad options left. Despite warnings, she decides to audition
for the Fox, T’sidaan, who has never taken an acolyte.
Next thing she knows, she’s been sent back
in time 300 years when her country was occupied by supporters of the Wolf. The Wolf
had been a pillar back when there were a hundred of them, but he’s been
permanently banished. We learn why later, and the banishment was deserved. His
supporters are cruel and her people are suffering.
She’s taken in chains to a labour camp
fortress to work for the soldiers of the Wolf with other captives. And the Fox
gives her a task: she must start a revolution. Easier said than done when
everything she tries gets her beaten up and incarcerated. And she’s really back
in time, so if she fails, she’ll change the future of her time too. But little
by little, she learns the wily ways of the fox and with their help, manages to
free everyone. But it’s only the start of the revolution.
This was a good story about good winning
over evil, with morals. It’s narrated like a fairytale, complete with several
stories of the Fox, and is almost solely told instead of shown. The one
exception where the narrative stops and lets the reader watch the characters operate
in real time stands out almost like an anomaly. But in order to tell a massive story of a
revolution in a novella form, the chosen narrative style is basically the only
way to do it. And it works, keeping the reader interested.
We don’t really learn anything about Nesi,
and I only presume she comes from a modern world. But she’s stubborn, strong
and resilient like the Bull and she pushes through. I liked her, but because of
the distancing narrative style, I didn’t really get attached to the couple of
named characters there were besides her. But T’sidaan comes alive through their
stories and turns out to be delightful. In the afterword, the author hints at more
of their adventures with Nesi. I’d read them.
I received a free copy from NetGalley in
exchange for an honest review.
The Summer War is a fairytale set in
fantasy kingdom that shares a border with the fairy summer court. For a
century, a war has raged every summer between the two countries over a fairy
princess who was mistreated by a human king. But now the war is over, thanks to
Celia’s father, the duke.
Celia is twelve and her beloved eldest
brother Argent has just denounced his father and left home for good to be a knight
in the summer court, because he wants to be free to love who he wants. Furious,
Celia wishes he never finds love except in his blade, only for her powers as a
sorceress to manifest at that point, making it a true curse instead.
With a sorcerer to barter with for his
family’s position, Celia’s father arranges a marriage for her with the crown
prince—or she suggests it, as she’s very clever for a twelve-year-old. But when
the time for the wedding comes a couple of years later, she ends up married to
the prince of the summer court instead. He wants revenge for the sister he lost
a century ago, a mere blink in his long life. Celia has to suffer the exact
fate his sister did. But she jumped off a tower and Celia has no intention of
killing herself.
Luckily for her, Argent shows up to fight
for her freedom. But she soon realises it’s the curse pushing him. She’s the
only person who loves him and he wants to die for it to end the curse in his
terms. But the prince can’t reverse his oath either, without suffering fatal
consequences. So, one of the three has to die for the situation to be solved, and
Celia can’t let that happen.
This was a good fairytale. It was fairly
short and could be read in a couple of hours, but a lot happened. Celia
befriended her neglected middle brother after Argent left and the two plotted
to go to the summer court to end Argent’s curse. They even ran their father’s
estate while the duke mourned the loss of his eldest son. The way out of the
curse seemed impossible, but the entire family came together to solve it, and Celia
was the cleverest of all in the end. The good people won and the bad people got
their just deserts, although their fate wasn’t as bad as is usual in fairytales.
No gruesome deaths for them.
The narrative flowed constantly, even
though it was filled with a lot of information and secondary fairytales, and it
was easy to read. It’s not a very memorable story, but it was a pleasant read
for an evening, like a fairytale should be.
I received a free copy from NetGalley in
exchange for an honest review.
The second book in Saint Death series
(trilogy?) took its time to arrive. The first book, Saint Death’s Daughter (2022), blew my mind and I was
eagerly waiting for the follow-up. In many ways, it was worth the wait. In
others, a slight let down.
Miscellaneous Stone, the best and only
necromancer in the world, is on a hunt for her great-grandfather Irradiant Stone’s
ghost. Problem is, he’s a necromancer too, even if not alive anymore, and her
teacher, so he’s not easy to catch. She’s followed his trail towards north. She
knows he’ll head to Skakhmat where he has unfinished business of genocide kind
to take care of.
She’s accompanied by Duantri, the gyrfalcon
lady bodyguard, and Stripes, the tiger rug she accidentally brought to life in
the previous book, and—once Grandpa Rad abandons his body—Cracchen
Skrathmandan, the once enemy who is now filled with spirits of dead Skakhmat wizards
bent on revenging on Grandpa Rad.
The hunt is difficult, but they almost
catch Grandpa Rad several times, only for him to pull a disappearance act by
jumping to a different body. It becomes especially difficult to best him when
he finds the city of skinchangers and can become anything he wants after
jumping to them. But she’s not above asking for help, from her gods and friends
alike, and eventually they manage to best him.
This was a very straightforward book from
start to finish: find Grandpa Rad and lay his spirit to rest. No side quests,
no distractions from subplots. And while it worked as a story, with good twists
and action scenes, it was not quite compelling enough to hold my full interest.
It took me over a week to finish this as I kept putting it down.
The first book had two elements that made
it one of the best reads of the year it came out. One was Lanie as an underdog,
trying to prevail against her murderous family in a very macabre house. The other
was the found family of her brother-in-law Makkovian and his daughter Datu, and
the falcon ladies TanaliÃn and Duantri.
Here Lanie and Duantri were mostly alone,
with brief visits from the rest of the family or chapters from their point of
view showing what they were doing elsewhere. Mak is on a pilgrimage that he
apparently can’t abandon for his sister, and for some reason TanaliÃn needs to
stay with him and Datu, which strains her bond with Duantri. Mak is the third
in their relationship, so they both pine after Duantri, but that’s as emotional
as it gets.
The narrative was from several points of
view, unlike the first book which was mostly from Lanie’s. Most of the time,
they didn’t add anything to the story as such. They only seemed to highlight
the fact that Lanie didn’t have enough to do in her own story to carry it like the first book. Even the final
battle is mostly from other characters’ points of view.
But the biggest reason why this wasn’t as
compelling is that Lanie is now overwhelmingly powerful. She’s not the underdog;
she’s the final boss. And I never find characters like that interesting. She had
no true enemies throughout the story to keep the reader fearing and rooting for
her. Even Grandpa Rad was merely fleeing. She never had to face a true
opposition like in the first book, where everything was stacked against her.
For every problem, she had a larger-than-life
solution, or a literal deus ex machina in the form of her goddess, Saint Death. Even
when her friend, Haaken Skrathmandan, rushes in to a rescue, he shows up with a
flying tower he’s only now learned how to create. It’s nice that things go
well, but it’s not very interesting if a reader knows everything’s going to be all
right from the start.
That being said, this was a well-written,
good book; cozy rather than gothic. Lanie was as lovely as before and endearing in her enthusiasm about
bones. The ending was good and open enough that there will hopefully be more
books. Something was building between Lanie and Haaken, and while he’s not my
favourite love interest, (Mak would’ve been better, but he’s happy in his
threesome) and he wasn’t as interesting a character as in the first
book, it’s something to look forward to.
I received a free copy from NetGalley in
exchange for an honest review.
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.
