Friday Face-Off: Dragon
Posted on October 13, 2017 30 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:
“You have nice manners for a thief, and a LIAR!”
~ a cover featuring a DRAGON
Mogsy’s Pick:
The Dragon Keeper by Robin Hobb
Out of all the different types of dragons I’ve encountered in fantasy, Robin Hobb’s dragons are perhaps some of the most interesting and unique I’ve ever seen. The Dragon Keeper is the first book of The Rain Wild Chronicles, which is a series that takes place in the author’s famous Realm of the Elderlings. The story begins with a group of sea serpents journeying upriver to cocoon themselves so that they might emerge as full-fledged dragons. They are overseen by the dragon Tintaglia, the last known of her kind, with the help of some humans on the Rain Wild Council. Together, the expedition travels along the river in the hopes of finding the legendary Elderling city of Kelsingra.
These, however, are not your typical dragons. Malformed and unable to take care of themselves, these pitiful creatures are as far away from the “magnificent and noble dragon” archetype as you can get. That said, being weak and helpless has not humbled them at all. Take the least flattering stereotypes about cats, and dragons are like that except a thousand times worse–belligerent, arrogant, petty, and squabbly. Still, they felt fresh and different for me, and I liked them a lot for that.
And now, time to look at the covers:
First row, left to right: Voyager (2009) – HarperCollins (2010) – Harper Voyager (2015)
Second row, left to right: German (2012) – Russian (2012) – Dutch (2016)
Winner:
While I do enjoy minimalist covers like the Voyager (2009) or Harper Voyager (2015) editions, my eye also couldn’t help but be drawn to the more colorful ones. Plus, I’m a sucker for the painted style that always makes me think of sweeping fantasy epics, so this week the clear winner is the Russian 2012 edition. It is a poor portrayal of the book, which makes the setting look cold and icy when the story actually takes place in a marshy forest (not to mention the vessels the characters traveled on were liveships, not Viking ships). Still, I really like the cool tones of this cover, and the dragon looks awesome, even though it, too, is a poor representation of the stunted, malformed river dragons in the story.
What do you think, though? Which cover is your favorite?
Book Review: Paradox Bound by Peter Clines
Posted on October 12, 2017 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.
Mogsy’s Rating: 3 of 5 stars
Genre: Science Fiction
Series: Stand Alone
Publisher: Crown Publishing (September 26, 2017)
Length: 384 pages
Author Information: Website | Twitter
Despite my love for time travel stories, sometimes they can be hard to wrap my head around. I think that might be why I struggled a little with this one, even though I’m a huge fan of Peter Clines and look forward to every new novel of his that comes along. They’re always so unique and original, and yes, a lot of the time, they can be quite strange as well. Paradox Bound turned out to be one of these books, and while I enjoyed it overall, there were admittedly parts of it that grew out of control and tested my patience.
Our protagonist Eli Teague was just a young boy when he first met Harry. Dressed in a Revolutionary War outfit while stranded on the side of the road with her broken-down hundred-year-old car, she had stuck out like a sore thumb in a small town like Sanders, Maine—where nothing ever changes and nothing interesting ever happens. But soon after Eli stopped to help, he noticed a second strange vehicle speeding towards them, and what he saw behind the wheel was so disturbing, and so impossible, that the sight made him lose control of his bladder. Upon noticing the other car’s rumbling approach, Harry’s response was also panicked and immediate, and a split second later the two cars were off in a cacophony of screeching tires and gunfire before Eli could even register what had happened.
In the decades after this event, Eli would meet Harry several more times—but each time, even though Eli would be older, Harry would look just as she did the day of their first encounter. Each time, Eli would also become more and more obsessed about this bizarre pretty woman whose random appearances in his life seem to be tied to his fate. Who is she? And where did she come from? Eli wants answers, but what he ends up getting is much more than he expected. It turns out Harry is part of a shadowy group known as The Chain, whose members can travel back and forth through history, and in aiding her in the search for an artifact called the “American Dream”, Eli has inadvertently managed to get himself targeted by the same nefarious enemies who are hunting her. Now the country’s past, present, and future are on the line, as Eli and Harry must use all their wits to survive an adventurous cat-and-mouse chase across time.
Sometimes, it can take a lot of head-scratching for me to figure out why a book is not working as well as it should, but in the case of Paradox Bound, I knew almost right away. Firstly, despite the novel’s entertaining and punchy premise, it took a long time for the story to build and for the main conflict to reveal itself. As interesting as it was to read about Eli and Harry’s mysterious early encounters, I found I had a hard time caring about them without the necessary context, though to his credit, I think Clines did his best to provide it wherever he could. Still, time travel stories can be tricky, and this one might be trickier than most, involving a lot of complicated ideas and moving parts. In many of these cases, the concepts surrounding the time traveling aspect itself becomes so unwieldy and hard to manage that they end up crowding out everything else, and in order to get everything across to the overwhelmed and confused reader, other areas like character development must be sacrificed as a result.
That said, the story did have its brilliant moments. This is, after all, Peter Clines. While Paradox Bound may lack the breathless urgency which made his previous novel The Fold so addictive, the author clearly has a knack for action and suspense, so he knows exactly what makes a crowd-pleaser. The complex themes in it notwithstanding, there’s no doubt this book contains immense commercial appeal, and I believe readers will delight in getting to visit several iconic periods in American history as well as the chance to meet some famous historical figures, both real and fictional. The adventurous elements also gave this story an overall sensational, almost pulpy tone that I thought was slickly done.
And yet, I think these strengths only managed to counteract some of the weaknesses to an extent. Thing is, Paradox Bound is now the eighth novel I’ve read by Mr. Clines (told you I was a big fan), and having seen the incredible storytelling and character development he’s capable of, I just can’t say this was his best. Still, he’s certainly been setting a high bar for himself in the past few years, so my expectations going into this were admittedly high—perhaps a little too high, if I’m to be completely honest. Regardless, this small disappointment will not prevent me from picking up more of his future work, and I’m glad he’s continuing to push the boundaries of speculative fiction.
Waiting on Wednesday 10/11/17
Posted on October 11, 2017 10 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
Wrath of Empire by Brian McClellan (March 6, 2018 by Orbit)
McClellan’s second trilogy was off to a good start with Sin of Empire, the first novel of the Gods of Blood and Powder series that takes place in the same world as his Powder Mage books. I’m excited to see that next spring he’ll be following it up with Wrath of Empire, which promises even more epic adventure and action.
“The country is in turmoil. With the capital city occupied, half a million refugees are on the march, looking for safety on the frontier, accompanied by Lady Flint’s soldiers. But escaping war is never easy, and soon the battle may find them, whether they are prepared or not.
Back in the capital, Michel Bravis smuggles even more refugees out of the city. But internal forces are working against him. With enemies on all sides, Michael may be forced to find help with the very occupiers he’s trying to undermine.
Meanwhile, Ben Styke is building his own army. He and his mad lancers are gathering every able body they can find and searching for an ancient artifact that may have the power to turn the tides of war in their favor. But what they find may not be what they’re looking for.”
Book Review: Sea of Rust by C. Robert Cargill
Posted on October 10, 2017 31 Comments
I received a review copy from the publisher. This does not affect the contents of my review and all opinions are my own.
Sea of Rust by C. Robert Cargill
Mogsy’s Rating: 4 of 5 stars
Genre: Science Fiction, Post-Apocalyptic
Series: Book 1/Stand Alone
Publisher: Harper Voyager (September 5, 2017)
Length: 384 pages
Author Information: Website | Twitter
After hearing everyone rave about the works of C. Robert Cargill, I finally got to read one of his books. My verdict when I finished Sea of Rust? The praise is justified.
The novel follows the life of a robot named Brittle in a post-apocalyptic future. But Brittle isn’t a typical robot and this isn’t your typical post-apocalyptic story. In the world of this book, humanity’s fear of an A.I. takeover has indeed come to pass, but instead of us prevailing like all the movies always show, victory actually went to the machines. Now it has been thirty years since the war, and every last human is dead. Super computers referred to as the One World Intelligences control everything, and the last two standing have turned to fighting each other, determined to be the only mainframe left to reign over the minds of all robots on the planet.
But not all robots want to give up their individuality and be part of the collective. Those who wish to retain control of their own programming and memories are left with no choice but to hide, then run as their cities and safe havens are invaded and consumed by the OWIs and their countless drone-like facets. This is how we meet Brittle, who used to be a caregiver model back in the day when robots still had humans to care for. Now though, she is a lone scavenger eking out a precarious existence in the large desert known as the Sea of Rust, selling whatever spare parts she can pull from other broken bots she comes across in her travels. Old components are always in demand, and Brittle herself is one corrupted core away from certain death, with her own parts becoming increasingly harder to find.
Then one day, our protagonist’s greatest fears are realized as she suffers damage to an irreplaceable, irreparable piece of her hardware. Brittle knows her days are numbered, unless she can find the part she needs to save herself. As it so happens, she is offered a slim chance of survival by a group of independent robots needing her services as a pathfinder through the wasteland. Their mission is secretive and dangerous, but Brittle is left with no choice but to accept their offer in order to avoid her own inevitable shutdown.
What I loved most about Sea of Rust was its premise. Books about machines that become the dominant intelligence on earth and seizing control of the earth away from humans are a dime a dozen. So are post-apocalyptic novels, for that matter. But here’s a book that combines those two ideas and twists them into something fresh.
I was also immediately taken with our protagonist. The story opens with an encounter between Brittle and another broken down robot she is hoping to cannibalize for parts. While I doubt this intro was supposed to make readers feel sympathetic towards her, what it does do is show us what makes her tick. It’s a bot eat bot world, and only the toughest survive. Brittle is just being logical and pragmatic, as machines are wont to do. But although she has long since evolved past her caregiving programing, the memories of her past remain, as hard as she tries to suppress them. Most of this first section of the novel is dedicated to exploring that history, examining Brittle’s relationship with her human owner as well as chronicling how the robots first rose up and eventually took over. This resulted in a slow and gradual introduction, but it was one filled with rich world-building and fascinating insight into our protagonist.
My only regret about this book is less of a criticism and more of just a casual observation. What originally drew me to Sea of Rust was the prospect of reading a story from a robot’s perspective, but of course, the whole point of the novel is that as an AI grows smarter and achieves sentience, it also becomes more human. Robots may have replaced humanity as the dominant intelligence, but they are not infallible, and ironically, in achieving the ability to feel and think for themselves, they have also adopted very human behaviors, including coming up with their own rituals to follow or identifying with a certain gender. In time, they have even inherited their creators’ faults. They wage war. They destroy the planet. They oppress and subjugate their own. In essence, there’s little difference between reading about Brittle and reading about a human protagonist. At times, I even forgot we were reading about robot characters, which was no doubt Cargill’s intent, but I did wish we could have seen more of the their “machine-ness” come through, as that would have set this book apart even more.
In the end, Sea of Rust was quite the thrill ride through a very different post-apocalyptic setting. Weaving a story filled with both action and emotion, C. Robert Cargill has written a novel that is meaningful, unique, and entertaining. I’ll definitely be reading more by the author.
Book Review: The Genius Plague by David Walton
Posted on October 9, 2017 12 Comments
I received a review copy from the publisher. This does not affect the contents of my review and all opinions are my own.
The Genius Plague by David Walton
Mogsy’s Rating: 4 of 5 stars
Genre: Science Fiction
Series: Stand Alone
Publisher: Pyr (October 3, 2017)
Length: 400 pages
Author Information: Website | Twitter
Mother Nature can be a scary bitch. Forget horror movies; if you ever want to see some truly messed up, freaky bone-chilling stuff, look no further than your BBC nature documentary. Case in point: the “Jungles” episode of Planet Earth. After so many years, that infamous scene of the killer parasitic fungus bursting forth from the back of a dead ant’s head like some kind of grotesque alien worm still gives me the heebie-jeebies—and clearly, I’m not the only one who feels this way. From The Last of Us to The Girl with All the Gifts, a great number of books, movies, and video games have come out in recent years to show us just how screwed humanity would be if we ever went to war with Kingdom Fungi.
Which was why, when I first found out about the premise of The Genius Plague by David Walton, I was immediately intrigued. After all, like in most of the examples I mentioned above, being infected with a fungal plague usually meant very bad things—like turning into a mindless, slavering zombie, for one. Yet in this case, the fungus actually made you…smarter? This was definitely a new angle for me, and I was curious to see how it would play out.
We begin this tale deep in the Amazon jungle, where mycologist Paul Johns has just completed a successful scientific expedition and is looking forward to heading home with his samples of mushroom specimens. Shortly after boarding the riverboat that would take him and his group back to civilization, however, they are attacked by a group of men disguised in military uniform, and Paul and another tourist are the only survivors of the horrific massacre. Rescue finally comes after a couple days of trekking through the rainforest, and Paul eventually makes it back home to the United States only to be diagnosed with a lung infection caused by breathing in fungal spores while he was in the jungle—and none too soon. Any longer, and he would have succumbed to the pneumonia and died.
Meanwhile, Paul’s younger brother Neil has just been hired by the National Security Agency, where their father also used to work before early onset of Alzheimer’s cut his career short. Neil joins a team of code crackers trying to decipher secret messages intercepted from all around the globe, focusing his attention on a series of encrypted communications coming out of the Amazon basin. Rival guerrilla factions are working together when they shouldn’t be, using a language they shouldn’t know, and the implications of this are making the NSA nervous. At home, things have taken a strange turn as well, as Paul, now recovered from his illness, begins showing signs of increased intelligence. It appears that the fungus has altered his brain functioning, improving memory centers and enhancing pattern recognition and communication skills. Excited about what this could mean for the human race, Paul believes that a symbiotic relationship with the fungus is the next step in human evolution, but Neil, a little more circumspect, is not entirely convinced that joining with an unknown organism would be in humanity’s best interest.
Let’s go back to why nature is so scary, shall we? Nature is scary because, like the fungus in this book, it doesn’t think and it doesn’t have a plan, it simply does what it needs to do to survive. Therefore, we can’t really think of the fungus—or those it infects, for that matter—as a convention villain. To my surprise, it turns out that the idea of a plague making its victims smarter is even more horrifying to me than if it had simply turned all of them into a shambling horde of zombies. Certainly, the scenario put forth in The Genius Plague is much more disconcerting, and the effects of the fungus in the book are much more dangerous. I don’t want to reveal too much more than that for fear of spoilers, but let’s just say that the pathways of this particular pathogen are a lot more insidious than you’d expect, and it gave me chills just thinking about what it does to the human brain.
I also liked how the book focused on genuinely relatable characters who have to deal with some very real problems and tough personal struggles in their everyday lives, even as the entire world descended into madness around them. The story mainly focuses on Neil, a brilliant but reckless young man who seems to achieve his successes through sheer dumb luck more than anything else. But whatever can be said about his faults, the love for his family is beyond any measure. As mentioned before, Neil and Paul’s father was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, leading to his early retirement from the NSA. Hence, woven into this tale is also an intimate glimpse into a family’s private pain as they watch someone they love decline in memory and mental function, adding an emotional layer to the narrative. Ultimately it leads to some very tough questions and choices for the characters, as more is discovered about the fungus’ effects.
Gripping and intense, The Genius Plague is a wonderful example of the science fiction-thriller genre done right, combining a well-researched premise with fast-paced action and suspense. We even get a little bit of touching family drama thrown in for good measure. Needless to say, I had a good time with this book, and I can’t wait to read what David Walton writes next.
YA Weekend: Wonder Woman: Warbringer by Leigh Bardugo
Posted on October 8, 2017 11 Comments
Wonder Woman: Warbringer by Leigh Bardugo
Genre: Comics, superhero, young adult
Series: DC Icons #1
Publisher:
Author Info: leighbardugo.com
Wendy’s Rating: 2.5 of 5 stars
“Diana searched her memory for everything she’d been told about mortals, the soft stuff—eating habits, body temperature, cultural norms. Unfortunately, her mother and her tutors were more focused on what Diana referred to as the Dire Warnings: War. Torture. Genocide. Pollution. Bad Grammar.”
Both DC and Marvel have been intent on bringing their stories to different audiences through different mediums. The movies are obvious, but Marvel, in particular, has been hitting up the YA market for a while. Now DC is tapping some of the popular YA authors to ride the wave of mainstream attention that the movies have brought, with a focus specifically on the female heroes. So, unsurprising after Gal Gadot and Patty Jenkin’s success on the big screen, here’s a Wonder Woman book that takes us back to the island of Themyscira in yet another take on how Diana left her beloved Amazons to save the world.
I wanted to like this book, but from the beginning, the premise is… off. Diana no longer rescues Steve Trevor from certain doom and ventures off to save the world from war. This time, it’s a young woman named Alia Keralis–an ancestor of Helen of Troy. This makes her the Warbringer, which means her existence sets the course for the next age of bloodshed and misery. Because it wasn’t jealousy or any of the other reasons cited that caused everyone to go to war. It was just that, well, I guess we can say There’s Something About Helen. Not humanity’s greed, envy, thirst for power and violence, or anything like that. It’s just that when people are around Helen and her descendants, they just seem to want to kill each other.
I wanted to give this concept the benefit of the doubt, but tying all of the world’s horrible events to this one 16-year-old girl and her bloodline leaps too far into the implausible. And when the plot twists happen, they take the book to a new level of mustache-twirling ridiculousness that disappointed me further.
Which is all very unfortunate because I did enjoy Bardugo’s take on a young Diana, trying to earn her place among the Amazons who see her forever as a coddled princess who has not earned her stripes because of the nature of her clay birth. She and Alia share some traits in common, what with Alia wanting desperately to be herself despite the expectations of the pharmaceutical company legacy left behind by her parents. Her brother has embraced his role, but Alia refuses to accept this label, especially with this new mantle of Warbringer also being thrust upon her.
Bardugo writes Diana as naive by necessity, but her lack of knowledge of the ways of modern day New York City aren’t simply played as jokes and Alia isn’t forced to cover for her ignorance at all times since Diana is generally aware that she must learn to fit in and hide her newly discovered abilities. She also gets to confront and learn about sexism and racism in ways that she has not faced before in her world through scenes that Bardugo writes smoothly, rather than making any particular moment feel inorganic or “preachy.”
Given the way Bardugo writes a young adult Diana, I find myself wishing that the author had not been constrained to this particular plotline so that I could have properly enjoyed the character’s journey.
Mogsy’s Bookshelf Roundup: Stacking the Shelves & Recent Reads
Posted on October 7, 2017 28 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
Thank you to the publishers and authors for the following review copies received. For more details and full descriptions of the books, be sure to click the links to their Goodreads pages!
First things first: THIS IS NOT A DRILL! THIS IS NOT A DRILL! I want to express my most sincere and heartfelt gratitude to Tor Books for pretty much making my whole month when this ARC of Oathbringer by Brandon Sanderson showed up on my doorstep last week. You can bet I got started on this bad boy right away! Furthermore, the publisher was also kind enough to send finished copies of Deadlands: Boneyard by Seanan McGuire and The Stone in the Skull by Elizabeth Bear – two more books that are on my highly anticipated releases for this fall, and I’m sure I’ll be tackling them as soon as I’m done the latest Stormlight Archives.
Next up are some more finished copies, with thanks to the kind folks to the following publishers: Simon and Schuster for Zero G: Green Space by William Shatner and Jeff Rovin, Crown Publishing for Paradox Bound by Peter Clines (my review of which should be hitting the blog next week, so stay tuned for that!) and also William Morrow for this gorgeous hardcover illustrated edition of Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman. Somehow, I’d never gotten around to reading this Gaiman classic, so I’m glad to be getting another chance.
Last week, a physical ARC of Kill Creek by Scott Thomas also arrived with thanks to Inkshares, just in time to ring in Halloween month. If you’re looking for a book to set the mood, this creepy haunted house horror sounds like it’d be perfect! From LibraryThing, I was also selected to receive Strange Weather by Joe Hill as part of their Early Reviewer program, so that was super exciting. Pyr Books was also kind enough to send over a finished copy of The Genius Plague by David Walton which I’ll be reviewing very soon, but in the meantime you can give the image on the sidebar a click to check out the author’s guest post and enter the international giveaway that’s currently going on!
Huge thanks also to Orbit Books for this next duo of new arrivals: Mageborn by Stephen Aryan whose first trilogy I really enjoyed so I’m really looking forward to this one, and The Two of Swords: Volume One by K.J. Parker which I believe collects the first eight installments of his serialized novel. And finally, thank you to St. Martin’s Press for sending me a finished copy of In the Still of the Night by David L. Golemon. Haunted house stories seem to be quite popular this year!
And on to the digital haul, with thanks to Tor.com for e-galleys of Binti: The Night Masquerade by Nnedi Okorafor and Beneath the Sugar Sky by Seanan McGuire, both of which are third installments in their respective series, so I best be catching up with them quick. While browsing Edelweiss, a book I hadn’t heard of before called Master Assassins by Robert V.S. Redick also caught my eye this week. The author is known to me for his excellent nautical fantasy series The Chathrand Voyage though, so I thought I’d give this one a try. With thanks to Talos.
It’s also been a big week for new audiobooks, with thanks to Macmillan Audio, Audible Studios, and Random House Audio for the following review copies. Kicking us off is Autonomous by Annalee Newitz with story about pharmaceutical pirates and military robots! Next up is Tower of Dawn by Sarah J. Maas, a novel of Throne of Glass. To be honest, I was this close to quitting the series after my awful experience with the last book, but when I found out this one was all about Chaol Westfall, I decided to give it another chance. At the time of this writing, I’m actually more than halfway through the audiobook, and so far it’s not bad! I also couldn’t resist Origin by Dan Brown when I saw it on offer, because if nothing else, the Robert Langdon books are super addictive and I’m curious to see what this latest one will be like.
Finally, Star Wars: From a Certain Point of View is a collection of 40 stories by 40 authors celebrating Star Wars’ 40th anniversary, each one told from the perspective of a background character in A New Hope, with a lineup including big names like Ken Liu, Renee Ahdieh, Christie Golden, Mur Lafferty, Nnedi Okorafor, Chuck Wendig, Sabaa Tahir, Claudia Gray, Delilah S. Dawson and many, many more.
Something a little different also showed up from a publisher this week – not exactly book mail, but it’s arguably just as cool: A Game of Thrones 3D Mask and Wall Mount! I was pleasantly surprised to be sent the Targaryen Dragon, which I started putting together straight away. Not gonna lie, it was tougher than I expected. As you can see, there were a ton of different pieces and unfortunately limited instructions, but gradually the mask came together and I couldn’t be happier with the end result (considering it’s pretty much heavy card held together by a crap ton of tape!) With thanks to Bantam for sending it to me, and for also giving me a cool gift idea for some of my crafty friends this Christmas.
Reviews
A quick summary of the reviews I’ve posted since the last update:
13 Minutes by Sarah Pinborough (5 of 5 stars)
Strange Practice by Vivian Shaw (4 of 5 stars)
Leia, Princess of Alderaan by Claudia Gray (4 of 5 stars)
The Salt Line by Holly Goddard Jones (4 of 5 stars)
Blackwing by Ed McDonald (3.5 of 5 stars)
An Unkindness of Magicians by Kat Howard (3.5 of 5 stars)
Magicians Impossible by Brad Abraham (3.5 of 5 stars)
When I Cast Your Shadow by Sarah Porter (2.5 of 5 stars)
Roundup Highlights:
Interviews & Guest Posts
A huge thanks to author David Walton for stopping by The BiblioSanctum this week with a guest post related to his new novel, The Genius Plague!
Guest Post: “If A Fungus Had A Brain” by David Walton
What I’ve Read Since the Last Update
Whew, big update this week! But things have not been looking so productive on the reading front, and I wasn’t able to get as many books finished as I would have liked. Part of this is due to starting Oathbringer which is about the length of 3-4 average-sized novels, and another part of it is due to a busy schedule and simply having to deal with a lot more stuff going on around here lately. Here’s what I did manage to “unstack” from the TBR since my last roundup post though, and I’m sure you’ll be seeing their reviews 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!
Book Review: Blackwing by Ed McDonald
Posted on October 6, 2017 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: 3.5 of 5 stars
Genre: Fantasy
Series: Book 1 of Raven’s Mark
Publisher: Ace Books (October 3, 2017)
Length: 336 pages
Author Information: Website | Twitter
While it may be a little bloated at times, which unfortunately weighs the story down in its later sections, overall I have to say Blackwing is a pretty solid debut. Writing vividly and originally, Ed McDonald has managed to pull off something few authors have been able to do in recent years—open my eyes to a new way of doing grimdark.
In this novel we follow our protagonist Ryhalt Galharrow, who is a bounty hunter and captain for the Blackwing, a mysterious organization which serves one of the powerful ancient entities known as the Nameless. His patron, called Crowfoot, is a ruthless master who communicates through a tattoo on Galharrow’s arm, bursting forth from his skin in a form of a raven whenever he has orders to give. In this way, Galharrow receives his latest mission which takes him and his crew into the Misery, an expansive wasteland created when the Nameless unleashed a devastating weapon called the Engine against their enemies the Deep Kings. As a result, corrupted magic runs rampant in the Misery, along with the forces of the Deep Kings still lurking and waiting to strike at unsuspecting victims.
Galharrow now must lead his squad into danger, following Crowfoot’s instructions to track down a wayward noblewoman last known to be holed up in a remote outpost in the Misery. When our protagonist arrives at his destination however, he is surprised to find it under attack by agents of the Deep Kings, which should not have been possible given the protections surrounding the place. Things take an interesting turn when the very woman Galharrow was tasked to find ends up saving him, and it is revealed that the two of them actually know each other from a long time ago. While both characters have changed a lot since those happier days, together they must work through the secrets of their pasts in order to survive the challenges and horrors ahead.
Right away, I was drawn to the strong voice of Galharrow, who commands the reader’s attention with his depth of his experience and force of his personality. He’s a natural leader, easy going and good to the men and women who follow him, but he is also jaded from his long years of being a mercenary and serving a Nameless master like Crowfoot. On the surface, it might not appear as if much separates Galharrow from the usual lineup of grimdark anti-heroes, but to be fair, McDonald does keep a lot of detail about his protagonist close to the vest. Only once the story gets going and the main conflict is revealed do we get a chance to see some of his past seep through.
Without a doubt though, the highlight of Blackwing was the world-building. The setting almost feels like a medley of elements taken from a huge number of genres, which probably explains for the many different ways readers have interpreted the novel’s world despite the rich detail and descriptions. For example, at times I would feel like I was in a high fantasy reading about all the incredible systems of magic, while at others the bleak and barren landscape reminded me more of a post-apocalyptic western. There are a lot of horrific sights and sounds to be found in the Misery too, the corrupted land causing people to relive their worst memories or experience disturbing hallucinations, not to mention the terrible creatures that dwell there. Everything feels so original and fresh in this book, than even the most grotesque and disgusting aspects of the world-building left me in awe of the author’s imagination.
But of course, like many debuts, this novel is not without its flaws. Pacing issues are often a common obstacle for new authors, and McDonald also stumbles in this area as he tries to pack too much lore and world-building into certain parts of the narrative, leaving huge sections of dense exposition that really put a damper on the story’s momentum. After cruising through the first half of the novel, it felt a lot like slamming into a brick wall. I definitely did not enjoy the middle part of the book as much as I did the beginning, and quite honestly, there were even whole chapters where I lost focus and grew bored. Still, after a while, I’m pleased to report that the author wrestles things back under control. If it hadn’t been for the pacing issues, this book would have been pretty close to perfect, though my interest did increase again once the plot was brought back on track—just in time to lead up to a stunning climax and finale.
To tell the truth, I have no idea what’s going to happen next, and I couldn’t be happier about feeling this way. It’s nice to finally come across a grimdark novel that feels fresh and different, one that’s filled with such wild and unique ideas that I’m actually quite curious and really looking forward to see where Ed McDonald will take the story. Hopefully the pacing issues will be ironed out in the sequel now that the bulk of the groundwork has been laid, and I’ll definitely be keeping my eye out for it.
Book Review: Strange Practice by Vivian Shaw
Posted on October 5, 2017 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.
Strange Practice by Vivian Shaw
Mogsy’s Rating: 4 of 5 stars
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Series: Book 1
Publisher: Orbit (July 25, 3017)
Length: 353 pages
Author Information: Website | Twitter
Admittedly, I was both excited and a little nervous about starting Strange Practice because of the mixed reviews, but as it turned out, I ended up really enjoying it. Swiftly paced at times, but also slow-moving at others, I can see how some readers would be put off by the story’s hodgepodge construction and eccentric writing style. Fortunately though, the book’s mix of humor, mystery, urban fantasy, and gothic horror ultimately struck all the right chords with me.
Our protagonist is Dr. Greta Helsing, a woman who hails from a long and illustrious line of monster experts, though her family has long dropped the “van” from their name. Following in the footsteps of her father, Greta is a doctor for the supernatural, specializing in providing care for London’s underground population of undead creatures, with patients ranging from vampires to mummies.
One day, Greta receives a request for help from her vampire friend Ruthven, who brings to her a special case. Another vampire has been gravely injured, and the patient is none other than Sir Francis Varney himself, from the famed Victorian era gothic horror tale. Varney had been stabbed by a mysterious cross-shaped blade, following an ambush in his home by an intruder with glowing blue eyes dressed in monk robes. At once, Greta can sense something wrong, and not least because the vampire is unable to heal from his wound.
After stabilizing her patient, Greta and her friends set their sights on figuring out the culprit behind the heinous attack. Meanwhile, there’s also a Jack the Ripper-like serial killer on the loose, targeting prostitutes and leaving plastic rosaries in their mouths as a calling card. Although the methodologies are different, our protagonist is concerned that the recent string of killings and the attack on Varney may be connected, and all too soon those fears are realized as Greta becomes a victim of blue-eyed monk herself.
I was completely charmed by this novel from the very first page. Greta is such a great character, with her selfless mission to carry on her father’s work in serving the paranormal community of London. Of course, her specialized clinic keeps her pretty busy, and as a result she keeps mostly to herself, both out of necessity (it’s hard explaining what she does for a living to any new people she meets) as well as from the amount of work she gets from trying to help anyone who comes to her for care. Fortunately, she has some very good friends around to support her, and we are lucky to meet several of them here as well, including Edmund Ruthven, the wealthy vampire whom she treats for chronic depression (and who has the distinction of being one of the first vampires in literature), as well as Fastitocalon, a demon who has been a friend of the Helsings for generations (known as “Fass” to his friends, he quickly became a personal favorite).
At first, Greta may seem aloof, but over time we start to see her compassionate personality come through, and even a little bit of her wry sense of humor. To be honest, I was surprised at how often the jokes in the dialogue made me chuckle. In some ways this reminds of Ben Aaronovitch’s Rivers of London, another series I love because of its dry, subtle, very British humor. As other reviews have noted, the language in Strange Practice is quite formal, despite the novel being an urban fantasy story set in the present day. The result is both strange and alluring, frequently transporting my mind back to the Victorian era, and the Ripper storyline simply added to this effect, even though the text is peppered with references to modern day amenities and technology.
However, I can easily see how this anachronistic writing style can be a deterrent for some readers. The prose got clunky at times, causing disruptions to the flow of the story, and unfortunately Greta’s medical jargon did little to help. Pacing was also slightly uneven, but certainly I’ve seen worse in a lot of other debuts, not to mention whenever things slowed down, I found that it was often due to character or relationship development and world-building, so I didn’t mind too much.
Overall, I was pretty happy with my time with Strange Practice. It read like an urban fantasy but with a very cool twist, and I took to the story’s unique blend of genre elements instead of being turned off by them like I had feared. That said, this probably won’t be a book for everyone, but for me it was quick read and I found it hard to put down. I’m already looking forward to the next one.
Waiting on Wednesday 10/04/17
Posted on October 4, 2017 16 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
City of Bastards by Andrew Shvarts (June 5, 2018 by Disney-Hyperion)
I’m more excited for this than I thought, which should tell you how much I enjoyed the first Royal Bastards book. Sure, it was somewhat predictable and unabashedly trope-filled…but boy did I have a lot of fun with it. I still find myself thinking about the characters sometimes, wondering what they’ll be up to next in this sequel, which just goes to show, you don’t need to reinvent the genre to offer up a good read.
“While war rages in her Western homeland, Tilla of House Kent is far away, safely cloistered as a ward of the King in Lightspire. She’s best friends with the Princess, treated like nobility, and is even given a spot at the prestigious University, where only the Kingdom’s finest are educated. And yet, she finds herself unhappy, haunted by memories of her beloved brother, Jax, and plagued by a deeper sense of uncertainty, of not fitting in.
Her boyfriend, Zell, who is now a recruit for the City Watch, puts on a brave face to hide the pain of leaving behind his Zitochi identity, while Princess Lyriana, stripped of her role as Mage, has begun rebelling against her conservative upbringing: drinking, partying, and hooking up with random boys.
Then, Tilla returns to her quarters one night to find the cold body of her roommate. The girl was the daughter of an Eastern diplomat, well-known to be troubled, so the school has no trouble ruling it a suicide and sweeping it under the rug. Tilla doesn’t buy it. And despite the urging of just about everyone in her life, she can’t let it go. She digs deeper, along with Zell, Lyriana, and the Archmagus-to-be Ellarion, unearthing a conspiracy that goes from the highest of the nobility to the most dangerous depths of its criminal underbelly…and whose sinister mastermind is a face all too familiar.”
The BiblioSanctum 