Friday Face-Off: Knife
Posted on July 28, 2017 25 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 kindest use a knife, because the dead so soon grow cold”
~ a cover featuring a KNIFE
Mogsy’s Pick:
The Falconer by Elizabeth May
Even though I am behind on this trilogy, I loved the first book. And since there are also several editions that fit the theme, I decided The Falconer was the perfect book to feature for my Friday Face-Off post this week. Actually, it’s quite apropos, considering that I was actually first drawn to this book because of its striking cover…
From left to right, top to bottom: UK: Gollancz (2013) – US: Chronicle Books (2014) – German (2015) – Portuguese (2014) – Italian (2014) – Spanish (2014)
Winner:
That’s quite an impressive gallery of knife-wielding redheads, but I think I’m going to have to go with the Gollancz cover as my favorite. Like I said, it was the cover that initially motivated me to find out more about this book, and it was this edition that I ended up winning in a giveaway hosted by the publisher. When the sequel came out, I even made a special trip to the Book Depository so I could get the UK copy of The Vanishing Throne with the matching cover, because I loved the design so much.
What do you think? Which one is your favorite?
Book Review: The Witchwood Crown by Tad Williams
Posted on July 27, 2017 25 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 Witchwood Crown by Tad Williams
Mogsy’s Rating: 3.5 of 5 stars
Genre: Fantasy
Series: Book 1 of The Last King of Osten Ard
Publisher: DAW (June 27, 2017)
Length: 721 pages
Author Information: Website | Twitter
This was a very long, very dense read, but I really don’t mean that in a negative way. Quite the contrary, in fact; it has been a while since I’ve sunk my teeth into an epic fantasy so rich and layered, and it felt incredibly refreshing to fall into a meaty novel like this and just let it consume me completely.
The Witchwood Crown is the start of a new series set in the universe of Tad Williams’ Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn trilogy, though I believe it would serve as a decent jumping on point for readers new to the author and his books. This was my first experience with his work and I found I was able to follow the story quite easily, excepting some initial confusion over the lore of Osten Ard and the different inhabitants that make the continent their home. Thankfully, in a lengthy novel like this, there’s plenty of world-building and no shortage of opportunities to catch up on all this information so it wasn’t long before I felt totally at ease in this new setting.
The story continues the story of King Simon and Queen Miriamele from the previous series, having been married for the last thirty years since the conclusion of Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn. Their grandson Morgan is now the heir apparent, after the death of Simon and Miriamele’s son Prince Josua. With their grief still all too fresh, this causes the aging royal couple to become both overprotective and excessively tough on Morgan, who both yearns for and chafes at the growing responsibilities placed upon his shoulders. Like any young person growing up, he’s trying to find himself but always seems to be getting mixed up into trouble with his rowdy, tavern-hopping friends.
Meanwhile, the realm is in danger once again from a threat long since thought vanquished. The Norns, an immortal elf-like race, are rallying together and preparing for an invasion to reclaim the mortal lands for themselves. After falling into disfavor and becoming a sacrifice, a young half-Norn woman named Nezeru is taken along on a journey to fulfill a mission for their queen, and along the way the group encounters a mysterious warrior named Jarnulf who appears to be much more than he claims to be.
There are a lot of characters involved but I liked how the narrative introduced them all gradually, making it easier to identify the multiple plot threads and determine which perspectives are the important ones. While Simon and Miriamele are characters that I’m only meeting now for the first time, evidently there’s still plenty of growth and development to be had even though they’re both now into their golden years. The two of them are more in love than ever, but the years have also brought certain new life changes and challenges as their priorities have shifted, and most of their disagreements now have to do with their grandson. Speaking of Prince Morgan, he was another important POV character, not to mention one of the more complex and well-written ones. Unlike Simon, who started from humble beginnings as a kitchen scullion, Morgan was born into a royal life and grew up wanting for nothing. In spite of this, he is something of a shiftless and troubled young man who couldn’t be more different than his driven grandfather. And yet there’s something about him that reminds me of a lost and scared little boy, and reading about his self-doubt just makes me want to wrap him up in a big hug.
That said, as a newcomer to this world, I confess it was an interesting experience to be reading the first book of a sequel series, one that I could tell has deep ties to the previous trilogy. While it did not affect my enjoyment overly much, it was at times distracting to be catching little snippets of references to past events and wondering at the full details behind them. The main crux of the story also took a long time to build (for a novel that’s more than 700 pages long, that’s really saying something) and there were rambling sections which I felt could have been trimmed without making too much of an impact on the overall story. Again, this is only my personal opinion as a brand new reader to this world. It’s more than likely that I’m just missing a lot of the nuances, being completely unfamiliar with the events of the previous trilogy, and if you’re an old fan I imagine your experiences will be very different.
At the end of the day though, I think it’s safe to say that no matter who you are, as long as you have a love for rich, multilayered epic fantasy then you will certainly develop a deep appreciation for The Witchwood Crown. It’s a heavy novel, both literally and figuratively, containing robust world-building and character development. Exploring complex themes and conflicts, Tad Williams takes a big-picture look at how several generations deal with problems threatening their kingdom, and while the sheer scope of it can feel a little overwhelming at first, a willingness to invest some time and patience in the story will eventually pay off. I feel like I have a stronger, more confident grasp of the world now, and I look forward to continuing with the next book of the series.
Excerpt and Giveaway: The Ray Electromatic Mysteries Series by Adam Christopher
Posted on July 26, 2017 4 Comments
Another golden morning in a seedy town, and a new memory tape and assignment for intrepid PI-turned-hitman―and last robot left in working order―Raymond Electromatic. But his skills may be rustier than he remembered in Killing Is My Business, the latest in Christopher’s robot noir oeuvre, hot on the heels of the acclaimed Made to Kill.
***
ADAM CHRISTOPHER is a novelist and comic writer. In 2010, as an editor, Christopher won a Sir Julius Vogel award, New Zealand’s highest science fiction honor. His debut novel, Empire State, was SciFiNow‘s Book of the Year and a Financial Times Book of the Year for 2012. In 2013, he was nominated for the Sir Julius Vogel award for Best New Talent, with Empire State shortlisted for Best Novel. His other novels include The Age Atomic and The Burning Dark.
Excerpted from Killing Is My Business by Adam Christopher (Tor Books, 2017). Reprinted with permission from the publisher.
1
Listen to this:
Vaughan Delaney was a planner for the city of Los Angeles. He occupied a position high enough up the ladder that entitled him to an office at an equally high altitude in a tall building downtown that was home to a number of other local government desks. The office came with a salary that was high for a city employee but nothing to write a favorite uncle about, and a view that was simply to die for.
Vaughan Delaney was forty-two years old and he liked suits that were a light blue-gray in color. He carried a buckskin briefcase that wasn’t so much battered as nicely worn in. On his head he liked to position a fedora that was several shades darker than his suit. The hat had a brim that looked at first glance to be a little wide for the kind of hat that a city planner would wear, but Vaughan Delaney did not break the rules, neither in his job nor in his private life. He had a position a lot of people envied, along with the life that went along with it, and he stuck rigidly within the boundaries of both.
Actually, that wasn’t quite true. Because the one thing that didn’t fit Vaughan Delaney was his car.
His car was a 1957 Plymouth Fury, a mobile work of art in red and white with enough chrome to blind oncoming traffic on the bright and sunny mornings that were not uncommon in this part of California. The machine had fins like you wouldn’t believe and when the brake lights lit you’d think they were rocket motors. It was the kind of car you could fly to the moon in, only when you got to the moon you’d cast one eye on the fuel gauge and you’d pat the wheel with your kidskin-gloved hand, admiring the fuel economy as you pointed the scarlet hood off somewhere toward Jupiter and pressed the loud pedal.
It was a great car and it was in perfect shape. Factory fresh. It was getting on for ten years old but Vaughan Delaney had looked after it well.
And, I had to admit, that car caught my optics. It wasn’t jealousy—I liked my own car well enough, a Buick that was a satisfying ride, functional and elegant and with a few optional extras you wouldn’t find outside a science laboratory.
No, what I had for the red Plymouth Fury was something else. Admiration, and admiration for Vaughan Delaney too. He was every element the city man but that car was a jackrabbit. Perhaps it was his mid-life crisis. Perhaps he was telling the city to go take a jump while he sat shuffling papers in his nice office with his sensible suit and practical hat. Look what I get to drive to the office in the morning, he said. Look what I get to drive out to lunch every Wednesday. Look what I get to drive home in the evening. It was the kind of car that people would lean out of the office windows to take a look at, and Vaughan Delaney did every bit to help, the way he parked the red-and-white lightning bolt right outside the office door.
Because Vaughan Delaney had reached a certain level within the city hierarchy that allowed him to pick his own secretary based on the color of her hair and the length of her skirt and he was not a man who had to walk very far from his car to his desk.
He was also a family man. When the Plymouth Fury wasn’t outside the office or being driven to lunch on Wednesdays it lived in a two-car garage that sat next to a modest but modern bungalow in Gray Lake. Next to the Fury was commonly parked a yellow vehicle that General Motors had shooed out the door without much of a fuss, a rectangular lozenge on wheels with whitewall tires shining and seat belt tight and the sense of humor removed for safety reasons.
This was not a car to take much of an interest in. It belonged to Vaughan Delaney’s wife. Her name was Cindy Delaney.
Cindy Delaney loved her husband and let him know by kissing him on the cheek each and every morning before her husband went to work. The children loved him too. There were two of those, a boy and a girl, and both of them had blond hair like their mother and they were both a decade shy of joining the army and both of them kissed their father on the cheek each and every morning like their mother did, the only difference being that Vaughan Delaney had to go down on one knee so they could smell his aftershave. Then he blasted off in the Plymouth Fury and the quiet street in Gray Lake was quiet once more until Cindy Delaney took the children to school in the yellow boat and then came back again twenty minutes later. Then she put on a housecoat to keep her dress clean and she drove a vacuum over the bungalow while her husband drove a desk down in the city.
They were a nice family. Middle class, middle income, middle ambition. The children would grow up and the boy would play football at high school with his parents watching and the girl would play flute in the school orchestra with her parents watching and all was right with the world.
I knew all of this because I’d been watching Vaughan Delaney for three weeks. I’d been to the street in Gray Lake and had sat in my car and I’d watched life in and around the bungalow. I’d been to the office building downtown and had sat in my car and watched the Plymouth Fury come in for landing and Vaughan Delaney hop, skip, and jump up the stairs into the building and then waltz down the same steps some eight hours later.
Vaughan Delaney looked like a swell guy with a good job and a nice car and a happy family.
It was just a shame that he had to die.
The Ray Electromatic Mysteries Series Giveaway
Interested in checking out The Ray Electromatic Mysteries? While Killing Is My Business can be read as a standalone, with our giveaway you won’t have to worry about missing out on the first book because thanks to the awesome folks at Tor we have both novels of the series up for grabs. Two winners will be chosen to win a set which includes one trade paperback copy of Made To Kill and one hardcover copy of Killing Is My Business. The giveaway is open to residents of the US and Canada. To enter all you have to do is send an email to bibliosanctum@gmail.com with your Name and valid Mailing Address using the subject line “RAY ELECTROMATIC” by 11:59pm Eastern time on Wednesday, August 2, 2017.
Only one entry per household, please. The winners will be randomly selected when the giveaway ends and then be notified by email. All information will only be used for the purposes of contacting the winner and sending them their prize. Once the giveaway ends all entry emails will be deleted.
So what are you waiting for? Enter to win! Good luck!
Waiting on Wednesday 07/26/17
Posted on July 26, 2017 15 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
The Disappearance of Winter’s Daughter by Michael J. Sullivan (December 1, 2017 by Riyria Enterprises LLC)
Michael J. Sullivan may have have just released the newest novel in his Legends of the Lost Empire series, but that doesn’t mean that’s all we’re going to be seeing from him this year. Come winter, he’ll once again be self-publishing another Royce and Hadrian adventure in the fourth installment of The Riyria Chronicles, which is a series of standalone novels starring this beloved duo.
“Gabriel Winter’s daughter is dead or captive. He seeks revenge. Now it’s up to Riyria to turn the rivers of Rochelle red.
Desperate for money, the Duke of Rochelle broke with tradition and married Jenny Winter, a wealthy whiskey merchant’s daughter from Colnora. When the unpopular duchess disappears, her father is certain she’s dead by her husband’s hand. Seeking retribution, Gabriel Winter knows just who to hire…the man responsible for waging war with an entire city during Colnora’s Summer of Terror.
Ride once again with Royce and Hadrian as they travel to a mysterious old-world city filled with noble families claiming descent from Imperial aristocracy. Riyria’s job appears easy: Find out what happened to the missing woman, and if she’s alive, bring her safely home; if not, find those responsible and make them pay with their lives. But nothing is ever simple in the crowded, narrow, mist-filled streets of Rochelle, where more than one ancient legend lurks.”
Other books in the Riyria Chronicles sequence (first two published by Orbit):
Book Review: The Punch Escrow by Tal M. Klein
Posted on July 25, 2017 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.
The Punch Escrow by Tal M. Klein
Mogsy’s Rating: 5 of 5 stars
Genre: Science Fiction
Series: Book 1
Publisher: Inkshares/Geek & Sundry (July 25, 2017)
Length: 319 pages
Author Information: Website | Twitter
Everyone, prepare to have your minds blown because The Punch Escrow will be like nothing else you’ve ever seen. It does, however, have all the makings of a runaway hit which will no doubt strike a chord with a broad range of readers, reaching even those who might not normally read sci-fi. Just think about books like The Martian, Ready Player One, Dark Matter, or any other examples of hard science fiction that has achieved widespread popularity due to the fact they are not only clever and technological, but also a lot of fun. This is the successful formula Tal M. Klein has managed to capture and apply to his phenomenal debut.
The story opens in the year 2147, in a world completely altered by technological advancements and their implementation. Still, there are some things that never change, like the fundamental human need to connect with others and conquer the physical distances between ourselves, leading to continuous research and development to find newer, better ways to make travel from point A to point B as fast and efficient as possible. A corporation called International Transport believes it has found the answer. While the technology that makes teleportation possible has already been around for decades, it was IT that finally turned it into the ideal mode of transportation for human beings, making it viable, affordable, and, above all else, safe. Or so they say, anyway.
Enter Joel Byram, our protagonist. He’s a typical average guy who likes to play video games in his underwear, collect random trivia, and listen to obscure 1980s new wave music in his spare time. He’s also dealing with some problems in his marriage. Ever since Joel’s wife Sylvia got her promotion at IT, she has been preoccupied with one classified project after another, and the secretive nature of her work along with the increased hours have made the two of them drift apart. All that was supposed to change with the couple’s plans for a second honeymoon in celebration of their tenth anniversary, a romantic week where they’ll have each other all to themselves in the remote mountains of Costa Rica. Unfortunately though, while at the New York City teleportation center on his way to meet up with his wife in San Jose, Joel suffers a terrible mishap. The incident results in Joel being duplicated, raising some serious questions about the truth behind teleportation—questions that certain parties will go to great lengths to silence.
As I said before, The Punch Escrow is like nothing else I’ve read before, which makes the story difficult to describe beyond what I’ve written above. I’m also nervous to reveal too much, because I would be loath to spoil anything for prospective readers. This is a book full of amazing surprises, and it’s really no exaggeration to say that it’s best to go in with fresh eyes, knowing as little as possible about the plot.
I can, however, extol the awesomeness of safer subjects, like the world-building. Brace yourself for some really cool stuff. Klein has created a futuristic society here that is extraordinary in its originality and carefully considered approach, which is probably why the setting also seems so believable despite some of its more bizarre features. Humanity’s salvation has come in the form of the mosquito, for example, after genetic tinkering has effectively turned these hateful little bloodsuckers into tiny steam reformers, feasting on carbon fumes while excreting water. Didn’t I tell you this book was fun? I mean, how could I not laugh out loud at the author’s descriptions of the gorgeous twenty-second century NYC sunsets, made possible only by the ubiquitous misty clouds of skeeter piss? Massive changes have also occurred to political systems worldwide, with transnational mega-corporations governing at the helm and capitalism reigning supreme. While poverty has effectively been eliminated, money still talks, and with enough chits at your disposal, you can do things like pay other self-driving cars to prioritize your arrival if you need to get some place fast, or even buy anti-aging treatments to extend your life for as many years as you can afford.
But if you’re worried that the hard sci-fi elements will become too heavy or overwhelming, fear not! While there’s a lot of techno-jargon in this story, as well as—I won’t lie—a significant amount of quantum theory involved, much of it is presented in an engaging, entertaining and often humorous way. I even devoured the very technical footnotes, which is huge for me because 1) I hate footnotes, and 2) the ones here are theoretically optional. So trust me, if a total quantum physics noob like me can read this book and enjoy the heck out of it, then anyone can.
Bottom line though, if all my gushing so far has felt as random to you as it has for me, here’s what it all boils down to: The Punch Escrow is one of those wholly unique, mind-bogglingly innovative novels that only come once in a blue moon. The story (which I’m just dying to say more about but can’t) is extremely fun, fast-paced, and thrilling, yet there’s also a deeper, tender side to our protagonist’s existential journey and moments where he experiences meaningful philosophical reverie. There are also ideas in this book that are so incredible that every few pages I simply had to stop and marvel over a sentence or passage, speechless at the sheer imagination. Seriously, short of begging, I really don’t know what more I need to say in order to convince you to read this book.
Oh, what the hell. Please, please, please, just go and check it out now, please!
Book Review: Skitter by Ezekiel Boone
Posted on July 24, 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: Horror
Series: Book 2 of The Hatching
Publisher: Atria/Emily Bestler Books (May 2, 2017)
Length: 352 pages
Author Information: Website | Twitter
Skitter is the second novel of the creepy-crawly-infested Hatching series, and in many ways it is a textbook sequel. Ezekiel Boone is clearly striving for bigger, better, and bloodier—and for the most part he succeeds. That said, while things are definitely moving along as far as the main story goes, there’s still a sense that we’re in a holding pattern. Mostly, we’re seeing a reiteration of many of the same themes found in the previous installment, following the characters as they deal with the fallout from the spider apocalypse while the threat of something even worse to come is hanging thick in the air.
Needless to say, it would be wise to complete The Hatching first before tackling this one (not to mention it’s possible that this review may contain spoilers for book one if you haven’t read it yet). The story picks up from the end of the first novel, after a deadly wave of spider attacks have crippled communications and travel all around the world. These are, after all, not your average arachnids. For one thing, they travel in massive carnivorous swarms, capable of stripping all your flesh from your bones in seconds. For another, they simply love laying their eggs in human bodies, turning their hapless victims into ticking spider bombs. For this reason, the United States has chosen to combat the spider problem the same way it would an epidemic disease—with quarantine zones and the clearing out of infected areas. Once bustling cities like Los Angeles have been given up for lost and now lie in ruins.
But just experts are fearing the worst, there comes a brief respite. Having reached the end of their life cycle, the spiders in the initial wave seem to be dying off, leaving behind blankets of their black lifeless husks. But is the danger really over? Dr. Melanie Guyer doesn’t think so. As a spider researcher now working for President of the United States Stephanie Pilgrim, she believes the great spider die-off could be a precursor to a second wave of attacks, one that might be bigger and even more deadly than the first. Now President Pilgrim will have to face a difficult choice: stick it out and save as many lives as possible while hoping to ride out the next wave, or make a terrible sacrifice now tear the country apart in order to guarantee the survival of humanity?
If you enjoyed The Hatching, chances are you’ll also enjoy Skitter. Boone is sticking to a formula that works, employing all the creature horror genre tropes you’d expect by upping the terror and making his spiders even ickier and more disturbing. Once again, we have a number of different POVs showing how things are unfolding around the globe. In Japan, a scientist makes a gruesome discovery, capturing on camera a gargantuan glowing egg sack that spells more disaster and death to come. Panic in Norway lets us see just how far the spider menace has spread. And in the southwestern United States, terrified refugees fleeing from L.A. are forced to watch as their loved ones are torn away from them at military checkpoints if there is even the slightest chance they are infected with spider eggs. The fates of those taken away are unknown, leaving the reader to draw their own awful conclusions.
Luckily though, not every new face we get to meet is a goner. The cast has been expanded, but the author has also started bringing those characters we’re already familiar with together so that the overall story is still manageable. Some of the more random POVs and plot threads from the last book are now beginning to make sense, as Gordo and his survivalist friends from Desperation, California (my favorite characters from The Hatching!) are finally crossing paths with the group in Washington D.C., which is made up of President Pilgrim and Dr. Melanie Guyer’s teams. Even so, some of the connections are still a mystery, such as Angus and his fiancée and grandfather in Scotland. Only time will tell, I suppose, but for the most part Skitter does have the feel of a “bridge book” attempting to start tying all the disparate threads together.
My only disappointment is that this book felt too short, and despite the greater horror and chaos, it felt like very little actually happened. Instead, we retread some old ground—though to be fair, I can’t complain too much since the stakes are much higher this time around—and everyone seems to be holding their breath for the moment of truth, which presumably will be the focus of the third novel, suitably titled Zero Hour.
Still, overall Skitter was a fast read and fun, and I also enjoyed it for its entertainment value, making it the perfect book to slip in between some of my heavier reads. I’ll be looking forward to see how this trilogy concludes!
More on The BiblioSanctum:
Review of The Hatching (Book 1)
Audiobook Review: Badlands by Melissa Lenhardt
Posted on July 23, 2017 18 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 (Overall): 5 of 5 stars
Genre: Historical Fiction, Western
Series: Book 3 of Sawbones/The Laura Elliston Trilogy
Publisher: Hachette Audio (June 27, 2017)
Length: 11 hrs and 17 mins
Author Information: Website | Twitter
Narrator: Suehyla El-Attar
Badlands is the final volume of the Laura Elliston trilogy, bringing this magnificent emotional journey that began with Sawbones to a gripping and satisfying conclusion. Still, I confess there had been a lot of initial hand-wringing on my part over how all this would end, though I really should have known better than to be worried—Melissa Lenhardt knew what she was doing and was in control the whole time, providing closure to the series while bringing things full circle.
Needless to say, if you haven’t gotten the chance to start the trilogy yet, please keep in mind that this review may contain spoilers for the previous two novels. Last we saw Laura in Blood Oath, she and her husband William Kindle had become separated, with him being taken into custody for abandoning his post in the Army to aid and abet her. Wanted in New York for a crime she did not commit, Laura is now one of the most sought after bounties in the West and is forced to go into hiding again, with only a dubious ally named Rosemond Barclay for protection and support.
As a prostitute and a past lover of her husband, Rosemond is practically the last person Laura wants to be traveling with. However, she is also claiming to be helping Laura on behalf of Kindle, and since there is no one else our protagonist can turn to now that she is alone and penniless once more, she will have to go along with the other woman’s plans—at least for now. Not that she has much of a choice, anyway. Terrified of what might happen to Kindle, Laura is desperate to be close to him again even if it means walking right into the hands of the law, and it doesn’t help that at the time she is struggling to pull herself out of a laudanum-induced haze. For better or worse, Rosemond is the only thing holding her back—serving as both her kidnapper and voice of reason. The two women end up in Cheyenne under the guise of sisters trying to start a new life, though in truth Laura is biding her time while she awaits for further news of Kindle, and Rosemond is following her own plan that only she knows about. Laura knows better than to trust the former prostitute, but after everything the two of them have been through together, neither can she bring herself to simply walk away.
For the last two books, things for Laura have been anything but easy, and so I think readers will welcome this concluding novel which finally lets our protagonist experience some semblance of peace again, even with plenty of heartbreak still in her life. It was however a nice change of pace to see her return to practicing medicine, giving care to the needy as she once did in New York before she went on the run. Despite all the horrors she has been through, at her core Laura is still the same good person—which can be either a blessing or a curse, depending on how you view things. Often she puts aside all rational thought and concern for her own wellbeing when it comes to others (especially with matters related to Kindle), leading her to make several mistakes in the first half of Badlands which she will come to regret for the rest of the novel. Laura’s willfulness in this regard is both a source of admiration and frustration, because on the one hand her empathy is what makes me love her character, but on the other her tendency to care too much has also led to a lot of tragedy for herself and those around her.
I also thought that I would be disappointed at Kindle’s severely diminished role in this novel, but I was pleasantly surprised to find that this was not the case. It’s true that without him, there is a lot less passion and romance in this installment, but the amazing complexity between Laura and Rosemond’s interplay more than makes up for it. In spite of all her efforts to help other women, Laura has always had a rough time making female friends, mainly because she’s met so few others who share her interests and drive. While Laura and Rosemond have little in common (besides a history with the same man), the two of them manage to strike up a solid rapport if not a true friendship, due to the fact that they both are outcasts in their own way. Rosemond is also a fascinating and enigmatic character who kept me guessing at her motives the whole time, wondering if she truly cares about Laura or if she is simply manipulating her for her own ends.
The best part about Badlands, however, is Laura’s realization that she cannot keep running anymore and that enough people have been hurt because of the choices she has made. The only thing left to do is to return to the place where all this began—except this time, she won’t be alone anymore. Our protagonist has come a long way and has proven herself capable of anything she sets her mind to in an era in which women had little to no power. She has suffered loss but also found love, and I am pleased that we got to see Laura confront her past so that she can finally have the future she deserves.
These books are really something special. I’ve said this before, but I think it’s worth saying again: the author does not pull any punches, and her rendition of the Wild West is a brutally authentic one, which sometimes makes all of the injustices and violence difficult to read. However, it also makes our characters’ struggles more heart-wrenching and their eventual triumph all the more powerful and poignant. The ending was everything I wanted, featuring a touching and joyous scenario that tied everything together perfectly. Melissa Lenhardt has accomplished a superb achievement in bringing the fantastic Laura Elliston trilogy to a phenomenal close, and I can’t wait to see what future stories she will tell.
Audiobook Comments: Suehyla El-Attar has long since won me over with her narrating work, and her performance in Badlands is even better than in Blood Oath, if that is even possible. She is a talented voice actress and a real natural with accents and inflections, adding an extra layer to the story. For instance, in sections where Laura was thinking of Kindle, I could practically hear the hopelessness and despair in her reading. This was an emotional tale, and El-Attar’s narration made the experience even more unforgettable. I highly recommend this series in audio.
More on The BiblioSanctum:
Review of Sawbones (Book 1)
Review of Blood Oath (Book 2)
YA Weekend: A Face Like Glass by Frances Hardinge
Posted on July 22, 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.
A Face Like Glass by Frances Hardinge
Mogsy’s Rating: 4.5 of 5 stars
Genre: Fantasy, Middle Grade/ Young Adult
Series: Stand Alone
Publisher: Amulet Books (May 9, 2017)
Length: 489 pages
Author Information: Website | Twitter
Now I really wish I had read this book sooner, because in a word, it’s amazing. Sitting in that much-needed place between Middle Grade and Young Adult, A Face Like Glass is a coming-of-age novel about a younger protagonist, but the challenges she must deal with are no less difficult or complex.
Our protagonist Neverfell was just a child when she was found practically half-drowned in a vat of curds by Master Grandible, Caverna’s foremost maker of fine, magical cheeses. But as soon as the cheesemaker cleaned off the little girl and looked at her face, he could tell something was seriously wrong. From that moment on, he has instructed Neverfell to always wear a mask in public, though he refuses to tell her the real reason why, letting her believe she is hideous and disfigured.
For years afterward, Neverfell trains with Grandible as his apprentice, learning all about the ways of Caverna and cheese-making since she herself has no memory of who she was or where she came from. Caverna, as its name would suggest, is a huge underground city made up of tunnels. Skilled craftsmen like Grandible create all sorts of things with fantastical properties to sell to the court, like cheeses that can bring on wondrous visions, perfumes that can influence the emotions of others, wines that can make you forget your worst memories, and much more.
Then there are also the special artisans called Facesmiths, for unlike the people who live in the world above, citizens of Caverna are born with blank faces and no natural instinct to form facial expressions. This is where a Facesmith comes in, developing and teaching new expressions to those who can afford his or her services. The richer you are the more facial expressions you can learn, while the poor, like the laborers and drudges, are only taught a few to get them through a life of servitude.
Because so much can be gleaned about your social status from the number of faces you can wear, this leads to much demand for Facesmiths among the court, and likewise, a Facesmith who can develop the most unique catalogues will also earn a lot of prestige. So when Madame Appeline, one of Caverna’s most prominent and skilled Facesmiths suddenly shows up at Master Grandible’s one day, Neverfell sees the visit as a chance to change her own fate. Appeline is in need of a favor from Grandible, but in spite of the cheesemaker’s initial refusal, Neverfell is convinced that she can make her master change his mind, unaware that she is meddling in dangerous matters she doesn’t understand.
Everything about this novel is pure imagination and magic, and needless to say, I loved every moment. While there is a strong emphasis on the whimsical, I thought it was applied in just the right amount, without becoming overly silly or distracting. Every page was filled with new and interesting ideas, from the oddly precise sleep cycles that citizens of Caverna must keep due to living in the tunnels to the absurd rules of etiquette that the city elites must follow. This is one strange world, where society is strongly shaped by the fact that its people are born with the inability to form facial expressions naturally. Considering the huge range of emotions that that can be expressed through facial cues, just thinking about how every single little facial movement has to be slowly and painfully measured and applied…well, the consequences of it are staggering. One tiny miscalculation or a sudden muscle tic can convey a different meaning and cause a scandal at best, or lead to persecution and even punishment by death at worst.
I was also completely taken with Frances Hardinge’s writing, which is so beautiful and clever. I imagine she faced a lot of challenges for a story like this—after all, how do you even begin to put yourself into the shoes of a character who has little understanding of the relationship between emotions and expressions? Somehow though, Hardinge made it work. Her descriptions are careful but also creative, utilizing unconventional methods to paint a picture of the way someone looks or to convey how they feel. The story is also fast-paced and addictive, and with surprises waiting at every turn, I can’t say there was ever a moment where I felt bored.
Perhaps most importantly, A Face Like Glass has something I don’t often find in a lot of YA and MG books—rich imagination and a shockingly original and unpredictable storyline, refreshingly light on cliché or stereotypes. Consider me a fan. This may be my first book by Frances Hardinge, but you can definitely count on me to read more!
Friday Face-Off: Planet
Posted on July 21, 2017 18 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:
“Any planet is ‘Earth’ to those who live on it”
~ a cover featuring a PLANET
Mogsy’s Pick:
Earth Girl by Janet Edwards
Any planet is “Earth” to those who live on it – especially to those who are stuck on it. I’m really excited this week, because the book I’m featuring is one of my favorites, and it’s a story that’s close to my heart. Set in the far-flung future, Earth Girl follows the story of an eighteen-year-old girl named Jarra who is among the one-in-a-thousand born with an immune disorder that confines her to earth’s atmosphere. Humans have developed portal technology at this point, using it to colonize a multitude of worlds, but unfortunately Jarra can’t visit any of them. If she even stepped onto any of those planets, she would go into anaphylactic shock in seconds and die if not returned immediately to Earth.
Those afflicted with Jarra’s condition are looked down upon, and called all kinds of terrible, hurtful names. Jarra is sick and tired of it, so when the time comes to enroll in university, she decides to invent a fake background for herself to apply at a school on another planet whose class would be on earth for the first year of practical studies. Time to show the universe just what a mere “Earth Girl” is capable of, and to take a look at the book covers!
From left to right: Harper Voyager (2012) – Pyr (2013)
Winner:
No contest here. I’ve waited a long time for this week’s topic to come up because I’ve always had this book in mind to feature for it. I adore this novel and I’ve always loved, loved, LOVED the Pyr cover – and not just because it’s downright stunning! I also like the image of the girl’s ankle shackled to the Earth-and-chain, symbolizing Jarra’s dilemma of being confined to the planet because of her immune disorder. At the same time, she is embracing Earth because it’s the only home she knows and it’s the home she loves. This is a great cover for so many reasons, any of which would have been enough for me to choose it as the clear winner.
What do you think? Which one is your favorite?
Book Review: Wilders by Brenda Cooper
Posted on July 20, 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: 3 of 5 stars
Genre: Science Fiction
Series: Book 1 of Project Earth
Publisher: Pyr (June 13, 2017)
Length: 350 pages
Author Information: Website | Twitter
Brenda Cooper is taking a new direction in her new book Wilders, switching from space operas to look at a world in a future where human expansion and environmental change has shaped the face of the planet in dramatic ways.
The story takes place in the Pacific Northwest, in the megacity of Seacouver. Established after the merging of Seattle and Vancouver, the place is a shining example of progress and modernity: every citizen is connected to a greater network that takes care of their every need. And yet, not everyone is happy in this high-tech environment where everything is clean, controlled, and carefully ordered. Our protagonist is Coryn Williams, who loves living in Seacouver, but the same cannot be said for the rest of her family. Unable to take the pressures of the city anymore, her parents commit suicide, leaving behind Coryn and her older sister Lou.
Lou, however, is also miserable in Seacouver. At eighteen, she has reached the age where she can choose an occupation after graduating high school, but instead, she decides to leave to work in the wild lands, the unincorporated zones outside the city limits. Coryn is still fifteen, so she is left behind to finish her studies, with only her robot Paula for companionship. For the next three years, she receives regular updates from Lou, who writes about her idyllic life as a ranger working to restore the devastated ecosystem for a non-government organization. Charmed by these wonderful accounts of the wild beyond, when Coryn turns eighteen she also decides to leave the safety of the city with Paula to go reunite with Lou, only to discover that her sister might not have been entirely truthful with her descriptions.
I knew from some of the common themes in Cooper’s previous books that she was very passionate about environmental issues, and she’s brought them to the forefront here in Wilders, a story that speculates how humanity would live after the planet has gone through ecological degradation. Thus, it was with no surprise when I found that the messages in this novel—well-intentioned as they are— were delivered with the approximate delicacy of an orbital strike. That said, the narrative is completely upfront with this, as early as the prologue, so I have to give credit where credit is due. Even before the story started in earnest, I knew exactly what I was going to be in for, and because of that, I was able to overlook most of its weaknesses resulting from the author’s not-so-subtle messages, though admittedly it was a struggle sometimes.
One area I thought the book excelled in was character development. Coryn was a great protagonist, and I thought the story captured her personality and thought processes very well. Having grown up in the city with an appreciation for it not shared by her sister or most of the other characters in this novel, she also gave us a unique point of view. And while it may be true that she’s a city girl needing to overcome her naïve ways to learn about survival in the wild lands, it surprised me how frequently she ended up being the voice of reason. When Lou goes overboard in her romanticizing of nature, for example, or when the Wilders put down the life in the city unfairly, Coryn is often there to slap the truth and reality back into picture. Despite being childishly foolish and having her priorities confused at times, I thought Coryn was an independent and determined character, and as an outsider among the lawlessness of the wildlands, she did a good job holding her own.
In terms of criticisms though, I felt there was an overall “sparseness” to the world of Wilders that prevented the concept of the megacity and its surrounding wilderness from being fully realized. With Coryn being an exception, all of the others characters were painted in very broad strokes and given overly simplistic explanations for their motivations and actions. Furthermore, serious topics like suicide were diminished, such as when no other reason is given for Coryn’s parents’ suicides beyond simply that “they hated the city”, and most of what life is like in Seacouver was told to us instead of shown. There also seemed to be an “all or nothing” division to it, i.e. people in the city either suffered or thrived with no in between. At first I thought there might have been an underlying reason for this that author would reveal in due course, but nope. The Wilders also had a similar weird dichotomy in their attitudes, i.e. if you’re not on their side, then you’re an animal-murdering, planet-hating, city-slicking dirtbag.
For all the book’s flaws though, the story was entertaining, with frequent bursts of action to drive the pacing. Wilders won’t be for everyone, but some parts did work for me, especially some of the more intriguing ideas about futuristic smart cities and ecological reconstruction. I also have a good feeling that any weak points will be beefed up in the sequel, so for now consider me interested and optimistic about the next book of the Project Earth duology.
The BiblioSanctum 