Mogsy’s Bookshelf Roundup: Stacking the Shelves & Recent Reads
Posted on August 12, 2017 43 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.
As you know, I usually prepare my posts beforehand so by the time you read this I should be on the road for our family vacation. While I’ve scheduled a bunch of posts so that the blog’s activity should continue as normal, I apologize in advance if I’m slower to visit your blogs or reply to comments in the coming days. Rest assured though, I’ll catch up with everything once I get back! In the meantime, here’s a roundup of my recent bookshelf activities:
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!
Don’t Live For Your Obituary by John Scalzi is described as a selection the author’s writing advice, commentary, and observations curated over a decade. My thanks to Subterranean Press for the ARC!
Idle Hands by Tom Fletcher is the second book of the The Factory Trilogy, which I’ll probably check out because I really liked the first book Gleam. Huge thanks to the kind folks at Jo Fletcher Books for this nice surprise from across the pond.
I’m also really curious about A Secret History of Witches by Louisa Morgan so I was pretty excited when an ARC showed up unexpectedly in my mailbox last week! Thank you, Orbit Books!
Next up, a trio of fantastic finished copies! The amazing folks at Inkshares were kind enough to send me a finished copy of Devil’s Call by J. Danielle Dorn last week, and to my excitement, when I looked inside I saw that they had printed a blurb from my review! Pretty sure I’m sounding like a broken record by now, but I can’t emphasize just how much I loved this book and I highly recommend it.
I also received a paperback edition of Age of Myth by Michael J. Sullivan which I had a really good time with last year. The sequel just came out, so now is a great time to grab this one to catch up! My thanks to Del Rey.
And speaking of new editions and re-issues, the paperback of The Last One by Alexandra Oliva is coming out in a few days as well, complete with an incredible new look. I like this cover a lot more than the hardback, to be honest! In case you missed my review of the book, which made my list of Top Ten Debuts of 2016, you can read it here. My thanks to Ballantine Books.
The Overneath by Peter S. Beagle was another wonderful surprise in my mailbox last week, featuring both new and previously uncollected tales by the author whom I had the pleasure of reading for the first time just earlier this year with In Calabria. While I don’t read a lot of short stories, I love Beagle’s prose so much that I’m actually quite excited to check out this anthology! My thanks to Tachyon Publications for the ARC.
Described as a domestic suspense-thriller novel weaving together high stakes hospital politics and the pressures of family life, Best Intentions by Erika Raskin is a bit out of my wheelhouse, but then again, I’ve been having a lot of luck with this genre lately so I’d love to try fitting this one into my reading schedule if time allows. With thanks to St. Martin’s Press.
Sorcery for Beginners by Euphemia Whitmore with Matt Harry was another new one to me, so I did some googling after it arrived. Frankly, it sounds fascinating. From what I gather, it’s a blend of contemporary YA meets “mock manual”, complete with pictures and diagrams and other fun stuff like the kind you’d find in a “For Dummies” style guide. How fun! My thanks to Inkshares for the ARC!
On to the digital book haul! In preparation for my trip, I had requested a few audiobooks to listen to while on the road. After On by Rob Reid caught my attention because of its description as the definitive novel capturing the culture and technology of today’s Silicon Valley. My thanks to Random House Audio.
Next up, one of my favorite YA authors does DC superheroes? Sign me up please! When Listening Library offered me the chance to review the audiobook of Wonder Woman: Warbringer by Leigh Bardugo, I did not hesitate for a second.
I also requested the audiobook of The Fifth Ward: First Watch by Dale Lucas when I found out that Simon Vance is the narrator. The man has a voice of gold and I’ll never miss a chance to hear him read. My thanks to Hachette Audio!
The Naked World by Eli K. P. William is the sequel to Cash Crash Jubilee, a fascinating cyber-dystopian thriller I read a couple years back. I’m so glad the book is finally on the horizon because I was starting to grow worried that it was never going to come out! With thanks to Talos via Edelweiss.
Speaking of highly anticipated sequels, I was also sent a review copy of The Girl in the Tower by Katherine Arden, which is the follow-up to The Bear and the Nightingale. The first book took my breath away and I’m really excited to see where the author will take this story next. With thanks to Del Rey.
Finally, with thanks to Tor.com I received Gluttony Bay by Matt Wallace, sixth installment of the Sin du Jour series of novellas. I can’t believe how quickly these are coming out! I still have the fifth book to read before I can jump into this one, so I’d best catch up quick.
Books Won
And here’s something you don’t see very often…I won some giveaways! A while ago I entered a Penguin contest for several of their prize packs and ended up winning Heroine Worship by Sarah Kuhn and a cool tote bag that came with it. I wasn’t crazy about the first book, but I’m definitely not closing any doors to trying this sequel especially since I heard that it offers a POV change. I was also very excited to win This Monstrous Thing by Mackenzi Lee from Sara’s Blogoversary giveaway in which she featured this book as one of her top ten most unique reads. It sounds very interesting indeed, and I can’t wait to try it! Last but not least, I managed to score an ARC of Invictus by Ryan Graudin from NOVL’s newsletter giveaway. So pumped for this!
Reviews
A quick look at the reviews I’ve posted since the last update:
Stillhouse Lake by Rachel Caine (4 of 5 stars)
The X-Files: Cold Cases by Joe Harris, Chris Carter, and Dirk Maggs (4 of 5 stars)
Tomorrow’s Kin by Nancy Kress (4 of 5 stars)
The Clockwork Dynasty by Daniel H. Wilson (4 of 5 stars)
Where Loyalties Lie by Rob J. Hayes (3.5 of 5 stars)
Star Wars: Battlefront II: Inferno Squad by Christie Golden (3.5 of 5 stars)
Age of Swords by Michael J. Sullivan (3.5 of 5 stars)
What I’ve Read Since the Last Update
Here’s what I’ve finished reading or “unstacked” from the TBR in the last two weeks. Reviews for a couple of these are up already, the rest 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: Soldier
Posted on August 11, 2017 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:
“No soldier outlives a thousand chances”
~ a cover featuring a SOLDIER
Mogsy’s Pick:
Old Man’s War by John Scalzi
Still my favorite John Scalzi novel even after all this time, Old Man’s War is the author’s exciting and hilarious take on military space opera which draws heavily on the themes of Starship Troopers by Robert A. Heinlein for inspiration. In this story, 75-year-old protagonist John Perry is given a second chance to be young again, but the only catch? He has to enlist in the Colonial Defense Force in order for his consciousness to be transferred to a young, genetically enhanced (and green) body so he can help fight for Earth’s colonies against hostile alien races.
Generally regarded as the book that brought Scalzi to prominence, Old Man’s War has since been reissued multiple times, not to mention translated into many different languages. Not surprisingly, there are a lot of covers, so let’s take a look at a selection of them now.
First row, from left to right: Tor Hardcover (2005) – Tor Paperback (2005) – Subterranean Press (2007) – French (2016)
Second row, left to right: German (2007) – Romanian (2015) – Hungarian (2012) – Spanish (2007)
Third row, left to right: Portuguese (2015) – Russian (2016) – Turkish (2012) – Polish (2016)
Winner:
Hmm. No clear favorite for me this week even with all these choices, though in general I think I prefer the newer covers over the ones pre-2010. The one exception would be the Tor Paperback (2005) because it has that old-school sci-fi look that I think many genre readers would feel a natural affinity for, and it’s also the cover I know best. I also really like the designs for the French (2016) and Polish (2016) covers, but unfortunately neither of them are a good representation of the tone and style of the novel.
Taking in account these factors along with a whole bunch of other considerations, ultimately I think I’m going to have to go with the Portuguese (2015) cover as the winner. For one thing, it’s very action oriented, depicting the conflict between the aliens and Colonial Defense Force soldiers. Its style is also very reminiscent of Starship Troopers, which tells me that the designer understands the intent behind the novel and demonstrates that by giving a nod to the story’s inspiration.
What do you think? Which one is your favorite?
Book Review: Stillhouse Lake by Rachel Caine
Posted on August 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.
Stillhouse Lake by Rachel Caine
Mogsy’s Rating: 4 of 5 stars
Genre: Thriller, Mystery
Series: Book 1 of Gwen Proctor
Publisher: Thomas & Mercer (July 1, 2017)
Length: 302 pages
Author Information: Website | Twitter
Rachel Caine does thriller-suspense! And she’s a natural at it, if Stillhouse Lake is any indication. Before picking this one up on a whim, I’d only read her books in the YA fantasy series The Great Library and was curious to see how she would tackle a different genre. Now though, I can safely say that my esteem has only grown for her talent and versatility as a writer.
The story follows Gina Royal, a woman who has had her life turned upside down. Before that fateful day when everything changed, she was just your average Midwestern housewife with a loving husband and two great kids, blissfully unaware of anything wrong with her life. Then, a drunk driver accidentally slams his car into the side of the Royals’ house, exposing the dark secret that has been kept hidden for years within its walls. As it turns out, Gina’s husband has been concealing his double life as a serial killer, and she is as shocked to discover it as anyone else. Not surprisingly, the public found that difficult to believe and thus she was tried as his accomplice, and only after years of trials did she manage to convince the court of her innocence.
However, by then the damage had been done. Most of the country now believes her guilty, claiming that no one could have lived in that house for years with a murderer, not knowing what was going on right underneath her roof. Gina knows she had been naïve, giving her husband all the space and privacy he’d asked for, never questioning anything he did. But even though he is now in prison, her nightmare is far from over. The constant harassment and death threats from doxxers and internet trolls have led her to fear for her life and those of her children, leading them to take on new identities and stay on the move. Gina is now Gwen Proctor, and she is a new woman—tough and independent, but also anxious and paranoid, unwilling to let her guard down even for a second. That is, until the family arrives at Stillhouse Lake, a small rural community in Tennessee where Gwen dares to imagine that her family might have finally found some semblance of peace and stability. But then that fleeting moment of happiness is shattered by a gruesome discovery in the lake, a dead body that shows signs of being tortured and killed in the same manner of her ex-husband’s victims. Suddenly, Gwen finds herself under suspicion again—only this time, she may be a target too.
While Stillhouse Lake may lack the complexity of some of the more high-profile books in its genre, it’s nonetheless one of the more enjoyable and addictive mystery-thrillers I’ve ever read. It all started with the intro, which was an insanely nerve-wracking and tense few pages, especially if you were like me and didn’t read the publisher’s description too closely before I started the book. My heart felt like it was being squeezed in a vise as I watched the events unfold, not having a clue what the hell was going on but at the same time being cognizant enough of the situation to know nothing good could come out of it for Gina/Gwen and her family. From then on, the story takes off—perhaps not like a rocket, but definitely more like a powerful steam locomotive that gradually builds up speed before hurtling off towards its mysterious and unforeseeable destination.
Gwen is also a character you can sympathize with, if not relate to (because let’s face it, her situation is pretty unique). We know she is innocent because we get to be in her head—but imagine looking at her story from an outsider’s point-of-view, and it easy to see why she has been driven to her wit’s end by fear and paranoia. So much of her actions may seem extreme or unnecessary, but again, we’re privy to the truth while the rest of the world believes her to be a monster complicit in her ex-husband’s horrific crimes. Also, anyone who has spent enough time on the internet knows how vile people can be when acting under conditions of anonymity, as well as how far some are willing to go when they think their actions are justified. It was easy to feel for Gwen, not only because she’s a mother who wants the best for her children, but also because she’s living with a tremendous amount of guilt. She might not have known what her husband was up to all those years living with him in their old house, but the realization of how naïve and complaisant she was in the face of his manipulative charms is going to haunt her forever.
Having only read the author’s fantasy work before this, I found Stillhouse Lake to be very different but no less engrossing and addictive. Nail-bitingly intense and unsettling, the story managed to lure me in before swiftly sinking its hooks into my mind, consuming my attention. I was a little surprised to learn there will be a sequel, which I gathered simply based on how the book ended (with an edge-of-your-seat climax that led to a satisfying closure, while still leaving things open enough for more to come). Still, it’s news that fills me with excitement. Needless to say, I’ll be continuing with the series, and I can’t wait to read on and find out what happens next.
Waiting on Wednesday 08/09/17
Posted on August 9, 2017 18 Comments
“Waiting On Wednesday” is a weekly meme hosted by Breaking the Spine that lets us feature upcoming releases that we can’t wait to get our hands on!
Mogsy’s Pick
Obsidio by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff (March 13, 2018 by Knopf Books for Young Readers)
I’m so excited about this one! It sounds like this third installment of the Illuminae Files will be picking up from the end of the previous book, continuing the sequence of events that began with Kady and Ezra on the Alexander fleet but now it seems Hanna and Nik will be brought into the fold as well. There’s also a really good chance I’m going to go with the audiobook again since I had such an incredible experience with the previous book in this format.
“Kady, Ezra, Hanna, and Nik narrowly escaped with their lives from the attacks on Heimdall station and now find themselves crammed with 2,000 refugees on the container ship, Mao. With the jump station destroyed and their resources scarce, the only option is to return to Kerenza—but who knows what they’ll find seven months after the invasion?
Meanwhile, Kady’s cousin, Asha, survived the initial BeiTech assault and has joined Kerenza’s ragtag underground resistance. When Rhys—an old flame from Asha’s past—reappears on Kerenza, the two find themselves on opposite sides of the conflict.
With time running out, a final battle will be waged on land and in space, heros will fall, and hearts will be broken.”
Audiobook Review: Star Wars: Battlefront II: Inferno Squad by Christie Golden
Posted on August 8, 2017 23 Comments
I received a review copy from the publisher. This does not affect the contents of my review and all opinions are my own.
Star Wars: Battlefront II: Inferno Squad by Christie Golden
Mogsy’s Rating (Overall): 3.5 of 5 stars
Genre: Science Fiction, Media Tie-In
Series: Star Wars Canon
Publisher: Random House Audio (July 25, 2017)
Length: 10 hrs and 22 mins
Author Information: Website | Twitter
Taking place in the aftermath of A New Hope with heavy references to the events of Rogue One, this book serves as a prequel for the upcoming video game Star Wars: Battlefront II by providing the backstory for the elite strike team known as Inferno Squad.
Following the theft of the Death Star plans from Scarif which led to the destruction of the orbital battle station, the Empire is itching for retaliation. Iden, the daughter of Admiral Garrick Versio of the Imperial Security Bureau, is tapped to head up a special forces commando unit to hunt down and eliminate the rest of Saw Gerrera’s Partisans. The resistance leader might have died on Jedha during the test of the Death Star’s superlaser, but there are still plenty of his followers, dubbing themselves the Dreamers, who have followed in his footsteps. Determined to avoid any more humiliating defeats, the Empire is working to stamp out any and all of these extremist rebels that they can find.
And thus, Inferno Squad was born. Iden Versio, who was one of the few surviving TIE fighter pilots in the Battle of Yavin, is teamed up with three other Imperials at the top of their fields: fellow pilot Gideon Hask, expert engineer Del Meeko, and intelligence agent Seyn Marana. Together, they’re put through a rigorous training regimen to prepare them for a top secret operation to infiltrate the Dreamers and take them down from within. Each squad member is tasked to take on a new identity, with the goal of convincing the enemy to seek them out and take them in. But as time wears on and the demands of their new undercover roles grow, the risk of discovery becomes the greatest threat to the success of their mission. Just how far are the four of them willing to go in order to protect the Empire?
I’ve always been a big fan of Christie Golden’s Star Wars books, but this was definitely not her best. Overall the story was based on a rather flimsy premise and there was a slapdash quality to the manner the plot was pieced together. The entire setup of the novel felt unneeded, for example. Despite Iden’s repeated concerns that she would not be chosen as the team’s leader, we already know that she will be, and as such, Inferno Squad’s first assignment together felt like one long exercise in pointlessness. Using the appropriate analogy, if this book was a video game, then this whole sequence would be the mind-numbing introductory tutorial.
As for their main mission to infiltrate the Dreamers, there were a lot of moving pieces, and with Iden’s cover story being especially thin and risky, I was not entirely convinced that every single one of their plans would have fallen into place so perfectly. We’re also told that the members of Inferno Squad are supposed to be the best of the best, and yet this book was full of examples of their incompetence and slipping up left and right. Going after Dreamers didn’t really make much sense to me either. It was clear what the Empire really wanted was to get revenge on the rebels that stole the Death Star plans, but since they were all either dead or out of reach, Inferno Squad instead decides to go after the remnants of Saw Gerrera’s fan club, also known as the guys that are so radical that even the main Rebel Alliance doesn’t want anything to do with them. It just seemed like the publisher was trying too hard to link this book to Rogue One.
Fortunately though, I loved following the characters of Inferno Squad. This novel joins the growing number of stories in the new canon that have come out recently exploring the inner workings of Empire, emphasizing the fact that they are not one homogenous entity. The leadership aside, most of them are not evil people but are merely regular citizens born on this side of the war. For someone like Iden who was raised on an Imperial planet and was surrounded by the military, the destruction of the Death Star was a holocaust, and the extreme resistance factions like Saw Gerrera and his supporters represent the worst kinds of terrorists in her eyes. While Iden herself subscribes to an ends-justifies-the-means mindset, some of her foe’s tactics are so distasteful that I think many readers will find that it is easier to cheer for Inferno Squad than expected. Of the team, Iden was probably most fleshed out and well-written, but each member also had fascinating backgrounds and personalities and I enjoyed getting to know them all.
When Star Wars: Battlefront II releases in several months, the game’s will take place after Return of the Jedi and focus on Iden, who would have survived to see a second Death Star get destroyed (personally, I would have switched sides or retired to the a quiet corner of the galaxy at this point—clearly the Rebels know something my team doesn’t). It’s unlikely this novel would be a prerequisite for the game, but those who would like to get Iden’s backstory before playing the campaign might wish to check this out. Otherwise, I would probably skip this. While Inferno Squad is by no means a bad book, there are plenty of better canonical Star Wars novels I would rank above it. Recommended only if you follow new canon book releases, or if you have an interest in the Battlefront video game series.
Audiobook Comments: One of the best things about Star Wars audiobooks is that they’ve always got the best actors and actresses to read for them, and it was a great decision to have Janina Gavankar narrate this since she is also portraying Iden Versio in the game. It lends a special touch to this audiobook, and Gavankar’s personal connection to the Battlefront II project is obvious because you can also hear her passion and enthusiasm practically bursting from her voice. It was an excellent performance, and I can’t wait to hear portrayal of Iden in the game.
Book Review: Age of Swords by Michael J. Sullivan
Posted on August 7, 2017 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.
Age of Swords by Michael J. Sullivan
Mogsy’s Rating: 3.5 of 5 stars
Genre: Fantasy
Series: Book 2 of The Legends of the First Empire
Publisher: Del Rey (July 26, 2017)
Length: 512 pages
Author Information: Website | Twitter
With six books in total now planned for The Legends of the First Empire series and four more left on the docket, it’s understandable that we have to pace ourselves. That may explain why I found Age of Swords to be on the slower side in comparison to its predecessor Age of Myth, which still holds a slight edge for being the more enjoyable book. That said, this was still a solid sequel, and there were even a few areas which I felt were improvements over the previous book.
Set thousands of years before the events of Michael J. Sullivan’s beloved Riyria Revelations, Age of Swords is the second in a new sequence of books that takes us back to the dawn of this world, introducing us to the precursors of many of the races and locations you’ll find in the time of Royce and Hadrian. This would be a fine series to start with if you’ve never read the author before and would like to give his work a try, though beginning with Age of Myth is a must—Sullivan has a way of foreshadowing the big events at the end of his series by planting subtle seeds for them in the earlier books, and trust me when I say that you won’t want to miss a thing.
We pick up the tale here following the spark of rebellion lit by Raithe the God Killer, turning the bitter enmity that has always existed between the Rhune and the Fhrey into a full-blown war—one that the Rhune are sure to lose, if they cannot unify the tribes against their common foe. After all, what chance do they have, when the most powerful of the elf-like Fhrey are practically immortal and possess magic? Already they have retaliated against the humans for their attempt at defiance, by sending lightning storms and giant beings to destroy the settlement of Dahl Rhen.
Persephone, once the wife of a clan chieftain, now finds herself to be the new Rhen leader. After gathering her supporters, she leads them on a campaign to rally the other Rhune clans to their cause. Among those who follow her are Brin, the Dahl’s newly appointed Keeper of Ways; Suri, the only human known to possess the power of magic, along with her loyal wolf companion Minna; Roan, a traumatized girl with an uncanny talent for tinkering and creating new inventions; Gifford, a good friend of Roan who has a heart of gold but was also born with a congenital disability; Moya, a young woman who wishes to defy tradition by becoming a warrior; and Arion, the exiled Fhrey sorceress who now finds herself traveling with the humans and training Suri to become a mystic.
Eventually, Persephone’s journey leads her to the dwarves, a race that disdains both the Rhune and the Fhrey with equal measure. But with the need for well-crafted weapons to use in the coming war, our characters have no choice but to agree to the dwarves’ demands. In exchange for their help, Persephone and her team agree to descend into the dark depths of the ancient dwarven city to vanquish a demon that has taken residence there.
Needless to say, the women are the real winners here. This book revisits a lot of the characters we first met in Age of Myth, but as Sullivan promised, many of those who played smaller roles are now getting their chance to shine in Age of Swords. As a fan of stories about misfits and outsiders, I loved this new development—especially when our group of Dahl Rhen underdogs the ones providing the catalyst for important turning points. There’s no shortage of stories about the fighters in epic fantasy, but not as much attention is usually given to the inventors, scholars, and deep thinkers whose achievements keep the gears of the world well-oiled and moving. This is why I really enjoyed this book, as it shifts the focus from Raithe to those who fight the war in less apparent ways. The actions of those like Suri or Brin may never earn them cool nicknames like “God Killer”, but their deeds are no less heroic or deserving of recognition. This novel pays tribute to these characters, and I’m grateful to the author for it.
In terms of criticisms though, the one big downside to this story was the uneven pacing. Long stretches of subdued activity, like when the characters are discussing history or magic, were only punctuated by infrequent and brief periods of excitement, while huge technological or cultural advancements felt like they were accomplished in days. These pacing issues kept me from powering my way through this one like I did with Age of Myth, and though a lot seemed to have happened in this book, at the end of the day it didn’t actually feel like we moved the series that much more forward. In other words, in longer fantasy series like this it’s often natural to see the plot go through multiple peaks and dips, and this book felt very much like a “dip”.
Still, these minor flaws aside, there’s lots to like about Age of Swords and I found the book enjoyable overall. As I alluded to before, it’s not unusual to see a sequel take a step back to regroup and reorient itself while setting things up for more to come, which is what I think is going on here especially given the care and forethought Michael J. Sullivan likes to put into his foundation building for later novels. I’m looking forward to see how this series will unfold, and will be picking up the next book without hesitation.
More on The BiblioSanctum:
Review of Age of Myth (Book 1)
Audiobook Review: The X-Files: Cold Cases by Joe Harris, Chris Carter, and Dirk Maggs
Posted on August 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.
The X-Files: Cold Cases by Joe Harris, Chris Carter, and Dirk Maggs (Adaptation)
Mogsy’s Rating (Overall): 4 of 5 stars
Genre: Science Fiction, Audio Drama, Media Tie-In
Series: Book 1 of The X-Files (Audible Original)
Publisher: Audible Studios (July 18, 2017)
Length: 4 hrs and 5 mins
Narrators: David Duchovny, Gillian Anderson, Mitch Pileggi, Willliam B. Davis, Tom Braidwood, Dean Haglund, Bruce Harwood, Full Cast
While I have been listening to audiobooks for years, this is the first time I’ve actually tried one of these much-talked-about audio dramas from Audible Studios. Also known as audio plays or audio theater, these are very much like the old-school radio shows that were so popular in the 1920s-40s before the advent of television, though obviously their successors have come a long way since those days. Still, the idea is the same—with no visual aspect at all, the production relies completely on dialogue, music, and sound effects to tell the story.
As this was brand new territory for me, I was happy to take my first plunge with a franchise that has always been close to my heart. The X-Files dominated my TV time in the 90s and was a show that made a huge impression on my childhood, so despite the disastrous final seasons, the terrible movies, and the most recent lukewarm miniseries revival, I always still find myself returning again and again. The X-Files: Cold Cases caught my eye right away for several reasons, and not least because it features a full cast including David Duchovny, Gillian Anderson, and several other actors from the original show returning to voice their respective characters. I was also intrigued because this audio drama is actually an adaption of the series of graphic novels by Joe Harris, and I’ve always been curious about those.
Set after the events of The X-Files: I Want to Believe, these stories provide a glimpse into those intervening years leading up to 2016’s television tenth season. When a cyber security breach at FBI headquarters compromises the information of unsolved investigations, former agents Mulder and Scully are pulled out of hiding by Deputy Director Skinner to resume their past work in the secret department known as the X-Files. For Scully, the timing of the database breach is of an even greater concern when she learns that some of the stolen information may involve the child she secretly put up for adoption, and now the boy may be in danger.
So, the nostalgia is there, but is it enough? The answer, I think, will depend on what you were expecting. I wouldn’t consider myself a super fan by any means, but I’ll admit my heart still gave an excited flutter to think about Mulder and Scully being on the case again, going back and forth with their cheeky banter. It’s less about the stories for me, but more about the full experience. Even audio dramas such as these are an opportunity for me to skip down memory lane in the hopes of recapturing and holding on to that old feeling, so yes—personally speaking, anyway—sometimes nostalgia is indeed enough. Even hearing that familiar Mark Snow theme song come through my headphones in the audiobook intro was enough to send a pleasant shiver down my spine.
That said though, not all the stories in here were created equal. Like the first volume of the graphic novel it was based on, this audio drama contains a handful of episodes over a period of about four hours. The first story, ostensibly reintroducing Mulder and Scully back into game while also attempting to link this series to the main body of the lore was, in a nutshell, awkward as hell. Just as well that I wasn’t really looking for story cogency, because there was some major plot gymnastics going down in this first episode in order to tie the X-Files mythology together with the goal of bringing back as many old characters as possible. Calling it messy would be an understatement, but thankfully, not all the episodes were like this. Subsequent stories, particularly the ones that moved away from “mytharc” themes to instead feature more “monster of the week” horror/thriller narratives were a lot more entertaining and easier to follow. I especially enjoyed the return to Flukeman as well as the episode that took our characters on a trip to investigate a case in Saudi Arabia.
As far as my first experience with an audio drama went, I loved it! The performances were amazing, with Duchovny and Anderson bringing their best even when the acting only involved voice work. The characters were true to themselves, and many times I caught myself smiling as I pictured Mulder’s deadpan deliveries or Scully’s epic eye-rolls. The music and sound effects were also mixed in so perfectly that if I closed my eyes I could almost imagine seeing everything play out like it was a TV episode. That’s not to say everything was flawless, because whenever you deal with adaptations, especially from a visual medium to an aural one, it’s inevitable that you’ll encounter some hitches. You’ll get the odd scene where the actor has to talk clumsily to themselves to make up for the listener not being able to see what’s going on (“I’m wearing the same clothes, and here’s the same bullet hole in my jacket….but oh, my arm! There’s not a scratch!”) but on the whole, I think the creative team did a really good job adapting the comic in spite of the limitations.
In sum, I had a great time with this audio drama and would do this again in a heartbeat. While this wouldn’t be the best place to start your journey if you’re new to the X-Files franchise (mainly because there’s so much of the original show’s mythology involved), I definitely would not hesitate to recommend these audiobooks to fans like me who aren’t quite ready to let go of the magic just yet. I still want to believe! Needless to say, I’m already highly anticipating the next audio drama in this series, The X-Files: Stolen Lives.
Book Review: Tomorrow’s Kin by Nancy Kress
Posted on August 5, 2017 19 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
Series: Book 1 of Yesterday’s Kin
Publisher: Tor (July 11, 2017)
Length: 352 pages
Author Information: Website | Twitter
I’m always up for a good tale of alien first contact, and Tomorrow’s Kin definitely fit the bill. Expanding upon the author’s Nebula Award-winning novella Yesterday’s Kin, this book is told in multiple sections, first chronicling the arrival of the extra-terrestrials before exploring the far-reaching repercussions in the latter parts of the novel.
It is New York City, sometime in the near future. Humanity now knows for certain they are not alone in universe. When the “Debnebs” first arrived, people were scared—understandably. But as time passed and the aliens proved themselves to be peaceful, life on Earth returned to relative normalcy. The visitors even had their Embassy ship parked on a platform in the middle of New York Harbor, even though pretty much everything about them still remains a great mystery. At first, they would only speak to the United Nations, claiming that their physiologies were too different to withstand Earth’s atmosphere and thus they must stay on their ship. No one has any idea what they look like, or what they want. But suddenly, two months later, they are finally ready to talk.
For Dr. Marianne Jenner, the invitation to the Debneb Embassy comes as one of the biggest surprises of her life. After all, she’s just a human genome scientist, working on an esoteric project involving the mapping of mitochondrial DNA. For some reason though, the aliens want to talk to her about the latest research paper, in which she detailed her identification of a new mtDNA haplogroup. Marianne is baffled as to why the Debnebs would be interested in singling her out to discuss her work—that is, until she gets the chance to meet one of them for the very first time. Having seen a Debneb with her very own eyes, Marianne now knows why the aliens desperately need Earth’s help, but time is running out even with humanity’s most brilliant minds working together to tackle the problem.
Before I go further in review, I must warn that Tomorrow’s Kin is not like most first contact narratives. If you simply want your aliens and not much else, then I’m afraid this might not be the book for you, because the Debnebs really only play a major role in the first part of the story (which I believe was the originally novella). The themes involved are also not the ones you’d typically expect from a novel about aliens, focusing instead on topics that run the gamut from environmental issues to foreign policy, which gives rise to plenty of potential for debate. Then, of course, there’s the science, spanning multiple subjects across fields like human genetics, ecology studies, astrophysics, and more. Needless to say, it would be impossible to read this book and fail to appreciate the amount of research that was put into its ideas, and the even more impressive is the way Kress managed to juggle all this information without resorting to awkward info-dumping or worse, derailing her plot.
Still, if you ask me, the best thing about this book is the emphasis on the theme of family. As its title suggests, this novel explores the deeper meanings and roles of kinship, and how those ideas might be perceived by an alien race whose concept of family differs vastly from ours. Following this thread, the story also allows us to get to know Dr. Marianne Jenner and discover her own family ties, examining the web of complex relationships between three generations over a number of years. As well, it’s rare these days to read a book starring middle-aged characters, and rarer still when the main protagonist is a parent of adult children and is even a grandmother. Personally, I found Marianne fascinating. Her relationship with her three children—who hold very different ideological views—forms the very core of Tomorrow’s Kin, influencing the decisions of many of the characters.
I also must admit, this was a difficult review to write. So much of the story—and by extension, a lot of what I want to say about what I thought of it—is affected by a huge revelation near the beginning of the book. I don’t want to spoil anything, so I’ve been deliberately vague, trying to dance around that major plot development. Suffice to say though, Tomorrow’s Kin is tightly plotted and well-written, combining imaginative yet believable elements of science fiction with relevant and thought-provoking issues. The story remained engaging even as it constantly evolved, moving from one stage of the novel to the next, filling me with confidence that the next installment will bring us even more exciting and imaginative developments. I’m looking forward to continuing this series.
App Review: The City’s Thirst by Max Gladstone
Posted on August 4, 2017 10 Comments
Remember reading Choose Your Own Adventure books as a kid? I used to gobble those up and am excited that my daughters can now control the outcomes of their literary adventures as I did. Because your choices matter!
Choice of the Deathless: “Battle demons and undead attorneys, and win souls to pay back your student loans! At the elite demonic-law firm of Varkath Nebuchadnezzar Stone, you’ll depose a fallen god, find romance, and maybe even make partner, if you don’t lose your own soul first.”
I’ve moved on to define my adventures in games like BioWare’s Dragon Age and Mass Effect, but sometimes, I just want some good old fashioned reading entertainment. Turns out that, as an adult, I can have just that. I can still have a say in the stories I read because of course there are choose your own adventure-type reading experiences for adults. Thanks to a tweet from Max Gladstone, I was reminded that the Craft Sequence author has augmented his incredible world with two side stories based in this format: Choice of the Deathless and Deathless: The City’s Thirst.
Deathless: The City’s Thirst: “Negotiate water rights from scorpion gods in Max Gladstone’s necromantic legal thriller! Discredit your boss, solve murders, and reanimate your own corpse.”
The stories created by Choice of Games LLC and written by Max Gladstone are available for iOS, Amazon Kindle, Steam, and Google Play, or you can play in your web browser. The text-based games company has several stories available, though I have only checked out the Craft Sequence ones so far. The available stories allow you an introductory taste before you hit a pay wall of less than $5, which isn’t much to ask for a well-crafted story in an interesting format. Choice of Games also offers their proprietary software, ChoiceScript, to creators looking to script their own text-based game.
I have not explored Choice of Games’ other offerings, but I definitely jumped into the Craft Sequence adventures to become Avani Hawke and Calli Shepard (speaking of Dragon Age and Mass Effect, I see what you did there, Mr. Gladstone! There really was no other choice in character surnames for me.)
In Choice of the Deathless, you are a lawyer clawing your way to the top with a major case. Who you befriend and betray along the way and whether or not you pay those pesky student loans all factors into your story. Do you play the cutthroat gaming of lawyeriness? Or are you a little more honest and fair. I opted for the latter.
In Deathless: The City’s Thirst, the fate of Dresediel Lex’s water supply is in your hands as you try to broker a deal with the Scorpionkind and farmers who need the water just as much as your city does.
Both games benefit from some passing knowledge of Gladstone’s unique world of gods, souls, undead, and legalities. By nature of the format, there is not really a lot of time given to descriptions and world building so there are a lot of blanks to fill in. I suspect the basics could still be handled by someone who has not fully immersed themselves in the Craft Sequence, but it certainly helps to be familiar with the major players of the various firms and their ultimate goals within each realm.
The game-play is fairly simple. Read a chunk of text, choose your subsequent response or action. The game tracks your statistics which apparently affects interactions and your general state of being. How badly does your PTSD affect you? Are you too poor to pay your rent? Does Dunestrider want to feast on your guts? You also can score achievements for various accomplishments such as dying (my first achievement. I am so proud). Out of a possible 900 points for these achievements, I barely scratched the surface, which obviously means I need to go back and try out other options.
Aside from the fact that you can’t cheat and skip to the end to find the best options like in the olden days, I found it slightly disconcerting that there didn’t seem to be a way to gauge how far along I was in the story. There were chapters and climactic moments that indicated some sort of passage of plot, but little indication that things were coming to any kind of conclusion until they did, at which point I was kind of jolted out of my escape world into the reality of the book being over. I wasn’t ready!
Still, the stories were engaging, if somewhat repetitive at times. I’m thrilled to have an opportunity to relive my childhood love of choose your own adventure stories again.
Friday Face-Off: Fire
Posted on August 4, 2017 17 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:
“From the ashes a fire shall be woken”
~ a cover featuring FIRE
Mogsy’s Pick:
Half A War by Joe Abercrombie
The stage is set for a war to end all wars in this final volume of the excellent Shattered Seas trilogy, Joe Abercrombie’s first YA series. It appears that most of the cover artists agree – a finale of this caliber should involve fire. And lots of it.
Now let’s take a look at some of the different covers:
From left to right, top to bottom: Del Rey (2015) – Harper Voyager (2016) – Subterranean Press (2016) – Spanish (2016) – French (2016) – Romanian (2016) – German (2016) – Russian (2016)
Winner:
There were two covers that leaped out at me right away: the Spanish edition with the bird on fire, and the French version with the burning ship. Both feature striking imagery and makes use of a good color palette. I really can’t decide which I like better, so since it’s my post, my rules, I’m just going to cheese out this week and call it a tie between the two.
What do you think? Perhaps you can help break the tie, or maybe you have a completely different favorite? Let me know your thoughts!
The BiblioSanctum 