Book Review: Redemption’s Blade by Adrian Tchaikovsky
Posted on December 1, 2018 15 Comments
I received a review copy from the publisher. This does not affect the contents of my review and all opinions are my own.
Redemption’s Blade by Adrian Tchaikovsky
Mogsy’s Rating: 3.5 of 5 stars
Genre: Fantasy
Series: Book 1 of After The War
Publisher: Solaris (July 31, 2018)
Length: 367 pages
Author Information: Website | Twitter
I was not exactly disappointed by Redemption’s Blade, but having gotten a sense of what Adrian Tchaikovsky is capable of, I think I might have expected a little more from this one. It is not, by any stretch of the imagination, a bad book or even a mediocre one. However, by its very nature, the novel’s premise does not lend itself well to being something to get all that excited about.
For you see, Redemption’s Blade is very much an “aftermath” story. Most fantasy readers are familiar with the idea of the epic battle, or the final showdown that inevitably occurs during the climax of a 1000-page tome or at the end of the long and winding multi-book series. Picture if you will though, a war-torn world where this grand event has not only happened already, but is now more than ten years into the past. Evil in the form of the renegade demigod known as the Kinslayer was defeated, his armies of monsters vanquished back to the foul depths from which they came.
Celestaine was one of the heroes among those who triumphed that day, as the one who personally slew the Kinslayer’s dragon and thus single-handedly removing the tyrant’s most powerful weapon from the field. The Kinslayer himself was soon dealt with after that, and Celestaine became an instant legend. But now, a decade after her victory, our protagonist finds herself jaded with life, struggling to find a reason to keep on fighting. Surprising everyone, she falls into a peacekeeping role of sorts, becoming a champion for the Yorughan, a race of warriors who were forced into the Kinslayer’s service but were left flightless and abandoned after their side was defeated.
The concept behind this novel is a good one, I’ll grant it that. Most classic quest narratives involve our heroes seeking to make the world a better place by removing a source of oppression and misery, which in a lot of cases is the main baddie, but Tchaikovsky has taken this fantasy trope and given in a little twist. What happens when the villain is dead and gone, and the world is still a sick, sad and miserable place? Who do you blame, and what do you fight? The point is, even when you win you can still lose—a lesson Celestaine learned the hard way, when she realizes that while she and others may have beaten the odds that day by defeating the Kinslayer, the world is not a Disney movie where everything reverts to sunshine and rainbows with the wave of a magic wand. To a great extent, this is what made these people’s predicament so tragic and real.
Celestaine, however, was not a character I felt all that interested in, even though I could sympathize with her situation and plight. Despite the author’s attempts to subvert character and genre tropes, his protagonist was still pigeonholed into that boilerplate role of reluctant hero, and there weren’t really any extra layers of complexity to make her stand out. I felt much the same about the story, which featured a relatively light and straightforward plot. In some ways, it reminded me of those old RPG cliché joke charts, in which our questing party must visit 3-4 main locations in order to save the world/galaxy before joining the threads together again for the lead-up to the conclusion, a type of narrative structure that adds a lot of padding but not much actual substance. That’s not to say I didn’t enjoy the filler-y bits—this being a Tchaikovsky novel after all, he does world-building and character interactions wonderfully—but again, they lacked the depth I’d expected.
I think my problem is that Children of Time was the first book I ever read by Adrian Tchaikovsky. I loved it to pieces, and in a way, that will always be the bar by which I will measure all his other books. Probably not fair, but it is what it is. It’s not that I didn’t have a good time with Redemption’s Blade. In fact, I thought the story was very readable, punctuated by fun and clever wit in spite of the bleak setting. It was also a delight to try something so new and different by the author, but I just know this is not his top form. All the same though, I’ll still look forward to reading his work.
Friday Face-Off: Vampire
Posted on November 30, 2018 19 Comments
Welcome to The Friday Face-Off, a weekly meme created by Books by Proxy! Each Friday, we will pit cover against cover while also taking the opportunity to showcase gorgeous artwork and feature some of our favorite book covers. If you want to join the fun, simply choose a book each Friday that fits that week’s predetermined theme, post and compare two or more different covers available for that book, then name your favorite. A list of future weeks’ themes are available at Lynn’s Book Blog.
This week’s theme is:
“…the children of the night. What music they make!”
~ a cover featuring a VAMPIRE
Mogsy’s Pick:
Pandora by Anne Rice
My pick for today’s theme is a nice blast from the past, and probably the last Anne Rice book I truly enjoyed before the author and I parted ways for many years after that. I was a teen when I read this; Pandora was one of my favorite vampires from Rice’s Vampire Chronicles and when I heard she would be the star of the first book in the New Tales of the Vampires series, I knew I had to read it. There have been many editions released since the novel’s original publication in 1998, and here’s a selection of some of the more interesting covers I’ve found:
From left to right:
Alfred A. Knopf Hardcover (1998) – Ballantine Paperback (1999) – Arrow (1999)
Hungarian Edition (2008) – Polish Edition (2002) – French Edition (2015)
Russian Edition (2008) – Turkish Edition (2007) – Italian Edition (2000)
Spanish Edition (2010) – Portuguese Edition (1998) – German Edition (2001)
Winner:
The choices are varied this week, we have everything from Egyptian motifs to a bulb of garlic! However, the cover I love best has a modern feel, but is also elegant in its simplicity. Of all the vampires created by Rice, it is said that Pandora is the most lonely and melancholic, which is reflected by her story – and this cover. A substantial part of the book also deals with her life as a mortal, before she was turned, a duality that is very subtly hinted at in this image. The darkly suggestive Portuguese edition might be one of the plainer options this week, but something about it really speaks to me and I find it very appealing.
But what do you think? Which one is your favorite?
#RRSciFiMonth Book Review: Outpost by W. Michael Gear
Posted on November 29, 2018 33 Comments
I received a review copy from the publisher. This does not affect the contents of my review and all opinions are my own.
Mogsy’s Rating: 4.5 of 5 stars
Genre: Science Fiction
Series: Book 1 of Donovan Trilogy
Publisher: DAW (February 20, 2018)
Length: 422 pages
Author Information: Website
One thing I realized after reading this book, is that I love colonization sci-fi for a lot of the same reasons I love Westerns. A harsh and unforgiving landscape always seems to play an important role, and the stories often project a similar kind of atmosphere and ambience: the thrill of heading out into the great unknown and largely unsettled territory, the struggle of making a better life for yourself and your family while trying to impart order on a dangerous wilderness, and the absolute lawlessness of an untamed and sparsely populated frontier.
But despite the merciless nature of the land, some people take to it and even thrive on it, embracing it as their home. This is essentially the tableau we’re presented with in Outpost by W. Micheal Gear. Our story opens on Donovan, a planet settled by colonists who arrived a mere few decades ago to establish a mining operation on behalf of the Corporation. What they hadn’t expected, however, was the lack of support they would receive from their employers. Everyone had underestimated the dangers on Donovan, and as a result, within a generation, the original group of settlers had been reduced to couple hundred. Some had fallen prey to predators, while many more died from accidents and disease. Had they been provided with the necessary weapons, medicines, and equipment they were promised, most of the deaths could have been prevented, but the last time the colony saw a Corporate resupply ship was more than six years ago.
Of course, some of this also had to do with the unavoidable perils of space travel. Almost half a dozen Corporate ships have gone missing, never reaching their destinations. So when news arrives that the Turalon has been sighted in orbit, it is almost like a miracle. The people of Donovan are relieved but some are also quite fearful. With space travel being such a risky business these days, what will happen to their colony? And for those who want to return to the Solar System, is it worth the chance that they will become lost forever? Or would it be better simply to remain on Donovan, where most of the colonists have deeds to their own land and control over their own lives? Could they even convince the Corporation representatives to let them keep the properties and businesses they’ve established, or has the Turalon come to seize and dismantle everything they’ve worked so hard to build?
So many questions, and so many avenues for story ideas and character exploration. Speaking of which, Outpost features a pretty big cast, but all the individuals are compelling and memorable in their own unique ways. Some of the major players include Talina Perez, the de facto leader of the Port Authority colony on Donovan. She’s a tough and charismatic woman who first arrived on planet to protect the original settlers, but over time she has grown to accept Donovan and in turn Donovan has grown to accept her. The book starts off with a scene of Talina having a run-in with a quetzal—a type of lizard-like creature native to the planet, whose favorite prey includes warm, squishy humans—and the encounter leaves her changed forever. Backing her up are her team of enforcers and friends, including Yvette and Shig with their invaluable advice, as well as Trish, the young orphaned teen Talina had taken under her wing. I loved Talina and the way she was written, mainly because of the presence she commanded through her actions and words; there was no telling, only showing.
Then we have the characters of the Corporation, and believe it or not, in this corner we find even more incredible and varied backgrounds. Kalico Aguila is the supervisor of the Turalon expedition, an ambitious young woman who finds herself in way over her head when she arrives on Donovan to find a diminished colony whose members have devolved in a wild and ungovernable bunch of roughnecks who could give a rat’s ass about her so-called authority. A rich spoiled princess, she has never had anyone defy her to her face, and now she faces a tough decision, weighing what she knows about the colony’s riches against the dangers of spacing. Answering to Kalico is Max Taggart, the Marine captain in charge of enforcing the law—or at least as far as the law can be enforced on Donovan, as the Corporation soon learns the hard way. A brutal no-nonsense tough guy, Max is the epitome of the stony and unrelenting officer who only is best at following orders, which is why the intense chemistry generated between him and Talina ended up being such a fantastic surprise.
And finally, there’s Dan Wirth…who’s not actually Dan Wirth. A murdering psychopath who stole his identity in order to board the Turalon, Dan has no intention of ever returning to Earth, where a death sentence awaits. To him, the chaos on Donovan means paradise and a chance for him to get a piece of the action, and he can hide his true intentions for as long as it takes. Even though he’s bar none the vilest, most despicable character in the entire novel, Dan was one of my favorite points-of-view to follow. Having an antagonist as one of your main POVs is always a risky choice, but it’s also one that pays off so much when done well. Dan’s sections of the story added even more nuance to the already threatening and high-strung atmosphere of Port Authority and made the colony’s predicament into an even more volatile situation.
There’s a lot going on in this book: survival, politics, romance, and even a mystery with the return of a Corporate ship that went missing two years ago. However, everybody onboard has died of old age and all that’s left of the crew is a pile of skulls indicating the possibility of some death-cult ritual (see the cover). Communication equipment on the ghost ship is working but non-functional—almost as though it is trapped in its own sort of time bubble.
In sum, there is a lot to love in Outpost—so many places to go, people to meet, and stories to discover. There’s action and adventure, high drama mixed with intrigue and suspense, a dash of passion and heartbreak. I enjoyed every moment reading this book and in some ways I’m glad I’d waited to start it, because of course now I can jump into the sequel right away. I can’t wait to see what else the Donovan Trilogy has in store for us.
#RRSciFiMonth Waiting on Wednesday 11/28/18
Posted on November 28, 2018 18 Comments
Waiting On Wednesday” is a weekly meme that first originated at Breaking the Spine but has since linked up with “Can’t Wait Wednesday” at Wishful Endings now that the original creator is unable to host it anymore. Either way, this fun feature is a chance to showcase the upcoming releases that we can’t wait to get our hands on!
Mogsy’s Pick
The Last Astronaut by David Wellington (July 23, 2019 by Orbit)
David Wellington is an author I’ve not had the pleasure of reading before, though he has written a bunch of horror novels that have caught my eye. Next year he is coming out with a science fiction thriller, which from the looks of it will have its fair share of creepy moments as well.
“Sally Jansen was once NASA’s leading astronaut, but her final mission ended in disaster. Haunted by her failure, Jansen now lives in semi-retirement, convinced her days in space are over.Book Review: Breach by W.L. Goodwater
Posted on November 27, 2018 14 Comments
I received a review copy from the publisher. This does not affect the contents of my review and all opinions are my own.
Mogsy’s Rating: 4 of 5 stars
Genre: Alternate History, Fantasy
Series: Book 1
Publisher: Ace (November 6, 2018)
Length: 368 pages
Author Information: Website | Twitter
I was surprised how much I liked Breach. Mostly, I wasn’t sure how I would take to the novel, given my last venture into a Cold War alternate history was met with mixed results, but I’m pleased to say W.L. Goodwater has delivered a fine thriller here, laced with just the right amount and balance of history, action and magic.
The novel opens on a world very different from our own. World War II happened, yes. But a generation later, even following the devastation, the world’s powers continued to clash—with war, ideology…and magic. Though thaumaturgy is widely seen as a weapon of the Germans because of how brutally the Nazi troops used magic to do horrible things during WWII, American researcher Karen O’Neil is trying to change that perception. To counter magic, she reasons, one must be able to understand it, and it need not be a tool for destruction either if its power and energy can be harnessed to do good.
As a woman and a magician, however, Karen’s quest is an uphill battle, given how wary the public is regarding anything to do with magic. Even her own father, a veteran who has experienced its destructive power in the war, despises the magical work she does for the State Department. Then one day, an urgent request for a magical expert arrives from Germany, warning of a breach in the Berlin Wall, which in this world is a massive construct made entirely of magical energy. Karen is tapped for the assignment, amidst backlash from her male co-workers who feel she would not be up to the rigors of the job. Determined to prove herself, Karen throws herself into finding an explanation and solution for the growing breach, despite increasing signs that the problem may be linked to greater dangers involving deadly conspiracies and powerful secrets.
For a debut, Breach was pretty solid. I was impressed by the flow of the writing, despite some over-embellishment and the occasional moment where I questioned word choice. I also enjoyed the voice of the main protagonist. The narrative follows a couple points-of-view besides Karen, but she was the character I latched onto the moment she stepped onto the page. A twenty-something-year-old woman and a magician, she faces pushback from many corners because of her sex and her ability to do magic. While the negativity she receives is great motivational factor, it also has a tendency to drive her to do impulsive things in her effort to prove she is up to the task, usually resulting in her doing something she regrets. However, her complexities—which include her flaws and personal weaknesses—serve to make her feel like a genuine and well-rounded character. On the whole, I found her to more memorable and developed than any of the other POVs, though I hope some—namely Jim, the CIA agent—will get more attention if there are future sequels.
To my relief, you also don’t have to be much of a history buff to get into this book. Cold War knowledge certainly isn’t my forte, but I made out fine anyway, mostly because Goodwater has devised a world that holds up reasonably well as its own creation. The presence of magic is a gamechanger, causing sweeping changes in history and the way people conduct their lives. The magic system described in the book itself isn’t anything too special (comprising of the usual hand gestures and incantations, special objects to act as a focal point for the magician’s power, etc.) but I felt the social implications of it were. Magicians are both admired and feared for what they can do, as represented by an early scene of Karen at a family gathering, showing off her magic to the delight of her young niece while Karen’s own father stands to the side, seething with disapproval. It is a time of great change in this world, and attitudes towards magic play a role in determining the impact of certain events and people in the story.
The plot reads like a mystery, with emphasis on investigations and spycraft early on, though there is a lot more action and suspense in the second half of the novel. There is also a surprise twist later on in the story that throws even more possibilities into the mix, making me re-evaluate what I thought I knew about this world. It seemed a bit over-the-top, for a novel already filled to the brim with a multitude of concepts, but as it was a genuinely fascinating plot development and the author didn’t let it get too out of hand, I was willing to disregard some of the more overreaching elements of the story. As well, the final page makes me think there will be more to follow, and as I alluded to earlier, if we’re fortunate enough to get a sequel, I will definitely be on board for more.
Guest Post: “Back to the Roots: The Unexplored Fantasy” by Daniel E. Olesen
Posted on November 26, 2018 5 Comments
This fall, the BiblioSanctum is pleased to help spread the word about new and upcoming titles from Sigil Independent, a writing guild founded by a group of like-minded authors who believe in serious self-published fantasy for serious fantasy fans. Among their members, you will find many current and past Self-Published Fantasy Blog-Off (SPFBO) authors whose mission is to utilize traditionally published best practices in their work to ensure that audiences will receive nothing but the best possible self-published stories.
Today, we would like to shine the spotlight on Daniel E. Olesen and his new novel The Prince of Cats, which has already received early praise from Fantasy Book Review and Mihir at Fantasy Book Critic, who describes it as “an incredible tale with an Arabian Nights setting and the gritty outlook of The Lies Of Locke Lamora.” To share with us how he created the setting, Daniel was kind enough to write about his experience researching for his novel. We hope you enjoy his guest post, and be sure to also check out The Prince of Cats, out now!
BACK TO THE ROOTS: THE UNEXPLORED FANTASY
by Daniel E. Olesen
Let’s take a closer look at the genre of fantasy. On one hand, it has expanded greatly. There are all sorts of new settings, different characters, and other kinds of stories being explored. This is natural – any genre must reinvent itself on a regular basis, or grow stale and become abandoned. On the other hand, let’s look at arguably the three most successful fantasy franchises: The Lord of the Rings, A Song of Ice and Fire, and Harry Potter. All three are firmly rooted in Western/Northern European settings. It would seem that there is still interest among fantasy readers in the traditional setting.
Which might be great, for the two do not have to be mutually exclusive. My latest book, The Prince of Cats, is inspired by Arabian Tales with a corresponding setting, drawing heavily on Arab culture and language. Besides reading on the topic and consulting with Arab readers, I also did research on location, so to say, by travelling no further than to Spain and Portugal.
As it turns out, when we talk about “European” settings in fantasy, we usually refer to a specific part of it; primarily medieval France, which is where knights, chivalry, and jousting had its heyday. Compare with the regions of the Iberian peninsula. We cannot say who were the first inhabitants, though the Basque people are not Indo-European like nearly all the rest of Europe. The Celts appeared at some point, and both the Carthaginians and the Romans built colonies and ruled the peninsula intermittently. The Christian Goths invaded at some point, setting up kingdoms, as did the Muslim Arabs and Moors from Northern Africa. For me, in order to research the golden age of Islam, I didn’t need to look outside of Europe.
In other words, there is an untapped wealth of history and culture, sometimes within rather small regions of Europe. Writing fantasy in a “European” setting can include more than just feudal kingdoms, knightly aristocracy and so on. There is room for fantasy to expand in every direction and explore all kinds of new settings and stories, as I mentioned at first. But there is also plenty of room for fantasy to explore its own roots and unearth all the hidden gems lying in the soil of traditional, “European” settings.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Daniel E. Olesen spent entirely too long studying Comparative Literature and now works freelance as a translator and editor. Writing in fantasy, he draws strongly from history and travels around Europe, always searching for inspiration. His first book, The Eagle’s Flight, is an epic fantasy that can be downloaded for free from his site, www.annalsofadal.net.
You can also follow Daniel on Twitter: @QuillofAdal
#RRSciFiMonth YA Weekend: Toxic by Lydia Kang
Posted on November 25, 2018 17 Comments
I received a review copy from the publisher. This does not affect the contents of my review and all opinions are my own.
Toxic by Lydia Kang
Mogsy’s Rating: 3.5 of 5 stars
Genre: Science Fiction, Young Adult
Series: Stand Alone
Publisher: Entangled: Teen (November 6, 2018)
Length: 368 pages
Author Information: Website | Twitter
When it comes to science fiction, there are few things more irresistible to me than a story about killer robots or rogue AI. This is the premise behind Toxic, a young adult space adventure set aboard Cyclo, a massive state-of-the-art live ship that’s the first of its kind. But of course, being an actual biological construct, Cyclo isn’t your typical sentient ship. Like anything alive, it also experiences senescence, and now it is slowly but surely dying.
In order to study such a momentous and scientifically significant event, data collectors have been dispatched on a one-way trip to Cyclo to document the ship’s final days. Made up entirely of criminals, this group was never intended to make it back alive. Among them is Fennec, who has signed on for the mission as a way to repay his debt to society. He’s determined to fulfill his contract so that his sister will be taken care of when he’s gone, because when the ship dies, he and his team will soon follow.
However, instead of finding Cyclo completely evacuated, Fennec and his fellow mercenaries discover a lone girl on the ship, who apparently has been left behind. For seventeen years, Hana has been kept isolated and hidden because her very existence would have been a violation of the strict population laws. Created illegally by her mother and cared for by Cyclo, Hana dreams of the day she will finally be revealed and accepted by the outside world. But one day, she wakes up to find her mother gone, the entire ship empty. She is devastated when Fennec and his team arrive, informing her of Cyclo’s impending demise and the reason for their mission. Hana doesn’t understand why she has been abandoned and left to die, but for the first time in her life, she has gotten a taste of freedom and knows she will do anything for a chance to live.
Toxic was an interesting book, even if the pacing was uneven in some places. I loved the opening chapters which introduced Hana and her fascinating backstory, as well as Cyclo’s role in her upbringing. Speaking of which, the ship itself was one of the novel’s best characters. While Cyclo is a complex and intelligent entity, it nonetheless possesses many traits that remind readers that it is a creature of instinct. As such, many of its behaviors and actions are completely unpredictable and made this one a joy to read. Biological technology is something I love seeing in books, and Lydia Kang explored the idea in a way I found quite unique and engaging.
That said, compared to the first riveting chapters, I thought the middle sections of the novel dragged a bit. The story doesn’t waste time establishing an attraction between Hana and Fennec, which I thought was a mistake. Given the circumstances—him being literally the first boy she’s ever met, and she being the last human girl he’ll have contact with before his final sentence is served—the entire situation kind of left a bad taste in my mouth. The focus on the romance also diminished the presence of the others around them. As I sit here writing this review, I find that I can hardly remember anything at all about the supporting characters, who mostly served as background distractions.
Thankfully, the story picks up again in the last third. I was quite taken with Kang’s writing, and was especially impressed with her characters’ dialogue and banter. I also liked how Fennec and Hana were able to bond over a shared interest in antiquities, so that there ended up being something deeper driving their relationship. Most important of all, the mystery reaches its climax in this section. Toxic is a standalone so you’ll get all the answers before it’s over, and there are plenty of surprises and twists to keep the momentum going until the very end.
As usual, the somewhat awkward handling of the romance was what affected my overall enjoyment of the novel, but only slightly. All in all, Toxic ended up being a pretty good read, and I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed it. Its minor flaws aside, I thought the book displayed a high level of creativity and depth of thought, and some of its darker and more disturbing moments also made for some incredible atmosphere. I would recommend it for YA sci-fi fans, and Lydia Kang is an author whose work I’ll be keeping my eye out for in the future.
Mogsy’s Bookshelf Roundup: Stacking the Shelves & Recent Reads
Posted on November 24, 2018 35 Comments
Bookshelf Roundup is a feature I do every other weekend which fills the role of several blog memes, like Stacking the Shelves where I talk about the new books I’ve added to my library or received for review, as well as It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? where I round up what I’ve read since the last update and what I’m planning to read soon. Mostly it also serves as a recap post, so sometimes I’ll throw in stuff like reading challenge progress reports, book lists, and other random bookish thoughts or announcements.
Received for Review
My thanks to the publishers and authors for the following review copies received, and be sure to click the links to their Goodreads pages for more details and full descriptions!
A big thank you to Redhook for sending me an ARC of The Wolf in the Whale by Jordanna Max Brodsky, an upcoming historical epic fantasy about a young Inuit shaman’s quest for survival in the frozen lands of North America in the Viking age. Also thanks to William Morrow for this beautiful proof of The Binding by Bridget Collins which features a magical story about bookbinding that is sure to be a hit for those of us who are book lovers and fans of “books about books”. My deepest appreciation also to Orbit for Soulbinder by Sebastian de Castell, the fourth book in his Spellslinger series, which I’m completely addicted to right now.
From the kind folks at Tor also comes this trio of finished copies: City of Broken Magic by Mirah Bolender is one I’m really looking forward to, featuring the exploits of an elite bomb squad that specializes in defusing magical weapons; Nothing to Devour by Glen Hirshberg is the third book in the Motherless Child trilogy; and The Monster Baru Cormorant by Seth Dickinson is the highly anticipated follow-up to the author’s brilliant novel debut, The Traitor Baru Cormorant.
Next up, a huge thanks to Little, Brown and Company and the Jimmy Patterson imprint for getting in contact about Once & Future by Amy Rose Capetta and Cori McCarthy, described as a sci-fi gender-flipped retelling of the King Arthur legend. Courtesy of Simon & Schuster, I was also surprised with a copy of Limetown created by Zack Akers and Skip Bronkie with Cote Smith, described as the prequel novel to the podcast of the same name. I’m not familiar with the series, so if you are, please feel free to share your thoughts. This book looks really intriguing, and want to know more.
Also thanks to Saga Press and Wunderkind PR sending me Mage Against the Machine by Shaun Barger, described Harry Potter meets The Terminator. This book has been getting some mixed reviews, but with a blurb like that, I just have to try it. The Wunderkind team was also kind enough to hook me up with a copy of Stronger, Faster, and More Beautiful by Arwen Elys Dayton from Delacorte Press, a YA sci-fi that explores how far society is willing to go to remake ourselves into the perfect specimen. This one’s new to me and I haven’t had the best experience with the author, but I’m curious to check it out.
From DAW Books, I also received Abandoned by W. Michael Gear, book two in the Donovan Trilogy. I have not started this series yet, but I have every intention of getting to the first book soon, hopefully before November is over so I can review it for Sci-Fi Month, so wish me luck. And finally, with thanks to Dey Street Books, I received this surprise copy of Astounding by Alec Nevala-Lee, described as a biographical portrait of John W. Campbell, Robert A. Heinlein, and L. Ron Hubbard. I’m not really one for non-fiction, but anyone interested in learning more about these authors and the history of the Golden Age of Science Fiction will probably want to take a look.
I have been a good girl lately, staying away from the temptations offered at NetGalley and Edelweiss. I haven’t even requested any audiobooks. I do, however, want to give a shout-out to Sigil Independent, the writing guild founded by a group of self-published fantasy authors, many of whom have been featured in current and past Self-Published Fantasy Blog-Offs (SPFBO).
In the coming months, three of their members will have new books out, and they were kind enough to send a long a few eARCs. The Woven Ring by M.D. Presley is actually the first novel of the Sol’s Harvest series, a flintlock fantasy reimagining of the American Civil War. The third installment is coming out soon, but for something that sounds this amazing, obviously I want to be starting at the beginning. The Prince of Cats by D.E. Olesen has been described an Arabian Nights-inspired fantasy steeped in mystery and adventure, featuring a jewel thief tasked to hunt down the elusive title character, a target shrouded in rumors and legend. And last but not least, Chasing Graves by Ben Galley is the first book of a grimdark fantasy series featuring a tale of murder and collecting ghosts as currency. I’m looking forward to having more free time later this winter so I can check out these books, and also be sure to keep your eyes peeled for possibly even more Sigil Independent coverage here in the next few weeks.
Reviews
A summary of reviews posted since the last update:
Skyward by Brandon Sanderson (4.5 of 5 stars)
An Easy Death by Charlaine Harris (4.5 of 5 stars)
Dragonshadow by Elle Katharine White (4 of 5 stars)
Someone Like Me by M.R. Carey (4 of 5 stars)
We Sold Our Souls by Grady Hendrix (4 of 5 stars)
Zero Sum Game by S.L. Huang (3.5 of 5 stars)
Empire of Sand by Tasha Suri (3 of 5 stars)
Roundup Highlights:
What I’ve Read Since the Last Update
Here’s what I’ve managed to “unstack” from the TBR since the last update. More reviews coming soon!
Have you heard of or read any of the books featured this week? What caught your eye? Any new discoveries? I hope you found something interesting for a future read! Let me know what you plan on checking out. Until next time, see you next Roundup!
Friday Face-Off: Mermaid
Posted on November 23, 2018 22 Comments
Welcome to The Friday Face-Off, a weekly meme created by Books by Proxy! Each Friday, we will pit cover against cover while also taking the opportunity to showcase gorgeous artwork and feature some of our favorite book covers. If you want to join the fun, simply choose a book each Friday that fits that week’s predetermined theme, post and compare two or more different covers available for that book, then name your favorite. A list of future weeks’ themes are available at Lynn’s Book Blog.
This week’s theme is:
“The child is in love with a human. And not just any human. A prince!”
~ a cover featuring a MERMAID
Mogsy’s Pick:
The Surface Breaks by Louise O’Neill
I’m going to bend the rules again this week by going with a book I have not read yet, but I got a copy earlier this year and it’s one I hope I can get to soon. Described as a reimagining of The Little Mermaid, Louise O’Neill’s The Surface Breaks follows a young mermaid who falls in love with a human boy and longs for more freedom from her controlling father. I’m actually quite partial to the cover of version I own (Scholastic A), but there are a couple more to consider:
From left to right:
Scholastic A (2018) – Scholastic B (2019) – Dutch Edition (2018)
Winner:
I confess, I almost wavered from my initial choice here, when I saw that the Dutch edition cover was apparently derived from the proof copy (and look how pretty it is!) The 2019 Scholastic edition is gorgeous too, though the pose is rather unfortunate, like she was caught in the shower. I’m going with my instincts on this one.
But what do you think? Which one is your favorite?
#RRSciFiMonth Book Review: Adrift by Rob Boffard
Posted on November 22, 2018 20 Comments
I received a review copy from the publisher. This does not affect the contents of my review and all opinions are my own.
Mogsy’s Rating: 4 of 5 stars
Genre: Science Fiction, Thriller
Series: Stand Alone
Publisher: Orbit (June 5, 2018)
Length: 416 pages
Author Information: Website | Twitter
Rob Boffard knows his space disasters. A couple years ago, he wrote a guest post for the BiblioSanctum called “The Worst Things That Can Happen to You in Space” and before you ask, yes, he has included several of these in Adrift, a heart-pumping and thrilling sci-fi tale of survival.
It was a day like any other on Sigma Station, which boasts luxurious hotels and unique attractions, making it a popular destination for tourists heading into space. It’s Hannah’s first day on the job as a tour guide, shepherding groups of visitors onto chartered shuttles to get a better view of the stunning Horsehead Nebula nearby. Her next shift is aboard the Red Panda, to which she barely makes it on time, much to the chagrin of the pilot and their passengers, who are all unimpressed by the delay. Still, once they are on their way, Hannah is determined to make it up to them, not only because she wants to prove herself capable of the job, but also because she really can’t afford to be fired.
However, mere minutes into the tour, a horrific disaster strikes. Right before the eyes of everyone on the shuttle, Sigma Station is destroyed in a devastating explosion, killing every one of its thousands of occupants. The source of the attack, an unidentified ship that had recently passed through the station jump gate, now turns its sights on the passengers of the Red Panda, the only survivors of the massacre—and the only witnesses. Stranded in space, with no help to be found for lightyears in all directions, Hannah and her charges place their lives in the hands of their jaded but talented pilot, who manages to buy them some time to figure out what to do.
There’s something about the premise of Adrift that makes it immediately appealing, possibly because of its potential for all the tropes we’ve come to expect and love from disaster stories, and one need not go far beyond the cast to find examples. While the group aboard the Red Panda is rather eclectic, the passenger list is still filled with the familiar archetypes. Besides Hannah and the pilot, we have a husband and wife in a troubled marriage, their two young sons, a newlywed couple on their honeymoon, a matronly retired miner in her 60s, as well as brusque no-nonsense hotel reviewer named Jack. Of course, every story involving trapped characters must inevitably include a group hothead, a role which Jack fills nicely as the novel’s second major perspective. And who can forget the guileless yet precocious child, who is wise beyond his years? This role is filled by ten-year-old Corey, the younger of the two boys from the family aboard, rounding out our POV characters.
Once the adventure gets under way, however, we begin to see signs of Boffard’s efforts to make this story his own by filling the plot with interesting developments and clever surprises. Some of the characters are given backstories, sometimes presented in memory or flashback. Dark secrets and hidden motives come to light. Disagreements abound as there’s no clear leadership, though many of them try to take charge. Several of the revelations about the characters will make your jaw drop. Meanwhile, emotions are already running high as food and air supplies dwindle, not to mention a mysterious enemy still lurking out there, who has just annihilated a space station full of people and would have no qualms about murdering a few more. It’s the perfect recipe for a delicious thriller, and I’m happy to say, it was executed with well-timed action scenes and unexpected twists. All these conflicts and the overarching mystery made this book a compulsive and addictive read, and I’m only slightly annoyed that my favorite character died first.
With that said, I should probably wrap this up if I don’t want to give anything more about the story away. Needless to say, Adrift is packed with surprises, with the most significant ones occurring in the second half of the novel, and trust me, they’re worth finding out on your own. This is a book I would recommend to fans of sci-fi thrillers and space disaster stories, especially if enjoy a heavy survival component. It’s an exciting blend of intense action and high drama, supported by tightly plotted storytelling and a rich cast of characters.
The BiblioSanctum 
