Audiobook Review Bites: Here Be Dragons
Posted on June 9, 2016 15 Comments
A Natural History of Dragons by Marie Brennan
Series: Memoir by Lady Trent #1
Genre: Fantasy
Publisher: Tor Books (February 5, 2013)
Tiara’s Rating: 2.5 of 5 stars
Lady Isabella Hendemore discovers a lifelong love of natural science, especially the study of dragons, at the tender age of seven-years-old. In her polite society, academics are something that women are discouraged to pursue in fear that it’ll drive away potential suitors who might find them too curious to wed. Over the years, Isabella continues her studies as discreetly as possible with some aid from one of her older brothers until she eventually ends up marrying baronet and kindred spirit Jacob Camherst. With some prodding, Isabella–now known as Lady Camherst–is able to convince her husband to join an expedition to study rock wyrm dragons. At first, she is content to live vicariously through her husband, but as she realizes that she is about the miss an opportunity that may never come around again, Isabella persuades the expedition to allow her to join under the guise of being their artist and secretary. This first book is narrated by a much older Isabella.
I floundered a bit on this rating because I didn’t really start enjoying this book until it was nearly over. This was an agonizingly slow listen for much of the book, but the ending touched me. I enjoyed Isabella’s unconventional nature, but there were things I just didn’t like about her. She struggled to be accepted in a society that would step all over her, which she complains about often, yet her own behavior was equally privileged, elitist, and self-serving to the point of being almost awful. I know she mentions many times during the course of this story that she was very young then and is quick to point out where she was wrong, so maybe these are flaws that correct themselves in future books as she matures. Also, I find that it’s very easy for me to become annoyed with fantasy of manners books. This book seems to praise the imperialistic attitudes that prevailed in the Victorian era rather than showing how ridiculous it was (aside from gender roles), which ties into many of the attitudes I strongly disliked in Isabella and her companions. You’ve created this fantasy world that is just more or less England. Same social mores, nothing that really made me feel like I was reading about some new and exciting setting. Why not just make an alternate historical England?
Finally, there’s not much in the way of dragons, and that would’ve been okay if the rest of the story was better. This book touches on so many things outside Isabella’s love of natural sciences, but it just fell so flat with me. This book was somewhat saved by an exceptional narration by Kate Reading, that cover, and the ending. I’m going to really have to have a heart-to-heart with myself about whether I want to give this series one more chance or not by reading the next book.
Narrator: Kate Reading | Length: 10 hrs and 16 mins | Audiobook Publisher: Macmillan Audio (November 15, 2013) | Whispersync Ready: Yes
His Majesty’s Dragon by Naomi Novik
Series: Temeraire #1
Genre: Alternate History, Fantasy
Publisher: Del Ray (March 28, 2006)
Tiara’s Rating: 4.5 of 5 stars
I checked out A Natural History of Dragons and this book from the library together. I went into this book dubiously after not enjoying A Natural History of Dragons as much as I’d hoped. However, I loved this book. It’s narrated by my all-time favorite narrator, Simon Vance, who did a stand-up job as usual with all the characters. I’m a big fan of history, so I loved that this had some foundation in a real historical event (the Napoleonic Wars) and Novik weaved this awesome fantasy element of dragons into that event. This story is based on the foundation that during the wars, different countries had dragons at their disposal to form an aviation corps. France has built up an impressive aerial army while the British, while not shoddy, aren’t nearly on par with the French aviation corps. Their dragons are well-trained, but they are fewer in number. British Navy Captain, Will Laurence, captures a French vessel whose cargo includes a dragon egg preparing to hatch.
Dragons have to be harnessed from birth with their new captain, and life in the aerial army isn’t seen as a life that many would want mainly due to social conventions of the time. However, someone from Will’s crew has to take on the task of harnessing the dragon since it will hatch before reaching land. Despite the men drawing lots and Laurence not being the chosen man, the hatchling takes to Laurence rather than the man who was supposed to become his captain. Laurence names the hatchling Temeraire after a warship, and this first book chronicles their adventures as Temeraire learns to become a war dragon and Laurence is taken away from the sea and taught to be an aerial captain.
This book was basically How to Train Your Dragon for grownups. It was endearing and funny, and I couldn’t help loving how Laurence and Temeraire’s relationship developed during the course of this story. This was a beautifully written and well-realized story that does an excellent job with making the dragons feel as if they were actually part of this history. Novik did a wonderful job with the characterization and the action, making everything work together seamlessly. The writing is calculated and every word seems considered. It doesn’t have much of what I would consider fluff. Vance’s narration just adds the cherry to the cake, engaging the reader even more.
Narrator: Simon Vance | Length: 10 hrs and 00 mins | Audiobook Publisher: Books On Tape (October 03, 2007) | Whispersync Ready: Yes
Book Review: The Invisible Library by Genevieve Cogman
Posted on June 9, 2016 34 Comments
A review copy was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
The Invisible Library by Genevieve Cogman
Mogsy’s Rating: 3.5 of 5 stars
Genre: Fantasy
Series: Book 1 of The Invisible Library
Publisher: Roc (June 14, 2016)
Length: 352 pages
Author Information: Website | Twitter
Speaking as someone who loves to read, I just can’t help but get these warm fuzzy feelings for books about libraries. After all, what could be better for an avid bookworm, than being immersed in a story about a place filled with books, books, and more books?
Well, Genevieve Cogman’s The Invisible Library does one even better.
Oh, this book has libraries, all right—interdimensional libraries, established across multiple worlds, all interconnected and run by a secret society of librarian spies! Collectively, this network is known as the Invisible Library, and their members are tasked with the utmost important mission: to procure and archive important works of fiction from all of the different realities, for the purposes of preservation and research.
Our protagonist is Irene, a junior librarian agent. When the book opens, Irene is just returning home to the Library, having completed her latest assignment in the field and looking forward to some time off. However, no sooner had she reported in than she is given a new mission. This time, her superiors are sending her off to an alternate London where magic and steampunkish technologies dominate. Furthermore, Irene is given a new assistant, a mysterious young man named Kai. Together, they are to retrieve a rare book of fairy tales and bring it back to the Library before it can fall into the wrong hands.
Yet by the time Irene and Kai arrive at their destination, they find that the book has already been stolen. Tangled in a mystery involving vampires and fae, killer automatons and dashing detectives, it soon becomes clear they are on no ordinary mission.
As soon as I heard the premise, I just knew I had to check it out! This novel ended up being an incredibly fun book which uses the idea of parallel worlds to great effect, allowing the reader to ponder its infinite possibilities. This particular story takes us to an alternate London with magic and paranormal creatures, but then who knows what might come next? The potential here is simply staggering. And of course, the Library itself is also fascinating concept, with librarians who can work magic by using a secret Language. Their order’s primary purpose raises some important questions—questions that I was glad to see are ultimately addressed by the main character. For instance, what responsibilities, if any, does the Library have? What good is keeping a vast store of knowledge after all, if you don’t ever apply the information you learn? Is it even ethical what Irene and her peers are doing, plundering alternate realities for important books with no thought to what will happen to the worlds and their people? The argument is that a love for books should be good enough, but is it really?
That Irene is willing to consider these questions shows that she is different from a lot of her fellow librarians. Despite being born to life in the Library, she’s also not one to follow its rules blindly, making her a flexible agent who can think quickly on her feet. Still, her loyalty is beyond reproach. Even when faced with a competitor trying to steal credit for her work, Irene will never let pride or anything else get in the way of her mission, thinking instead of the greater goal. When the stakes are this high, it’s nice to have such a smart, efficient and good protagonist at the helm.
Still, in spite of the interesting ideas and thoughtful themes, the plot of The Invisible Library is relatively simple. It’s also a light read that has the distinct feel of being the first book a series, with room to grow in terms of character development and world-building. I for one would love to see more of the Library itself, and to learn more about its inner workings. Several of the secondary characters could use some fleshing out as well, including Vale, who is currently shaping up to be a romantic interest for Irene. For all that she is attracted to his Sherlock Holmes-like persona, I personally wouldn’t mind seeing Vale’s character grow a bit further past the “great detective” archetype. Similarly, the villain feels too lightly sketched at the moment, and needs to become more than just a bogeyman-type character for me to feel like he is a true threat, though by the end of the book I think we’re taking a step in the right direction.
While there’s no denying The Invisible Library is a book more about action than substance, I can hardly complain about that! The story is loads of fun, the characters are great, and the concept holds lots of promise. Any weaknesses I felt were very minor, and I have a feeling subsequent novels in this series will have everything covered. I had an amazing time with this book, which I would heartily recommend to all bibliophiles and lovers of “books about books”. Looking forward to the sequel!
Audiobook Review: The Sudden Appearance of Hope by Claire North
Posted on June 8, 2016 23 Comments
A review copy was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
The Sudden Appearance of Hope by Claire North
Mogsy’s Rating (Overall): 4 of 5 stars
Genre: Science Fiction, Mystery
Series: Stand Alone
Publisher: Hachette Audio (May 17, 2016)
Length: 16 hrs and 36 mins
Author Information: Website | Twitter
Narrator: Gillian Burke
Claire North’s books tend to be very hard to categorize, and describing them always makes me feel like I’m talking myself through some fascinating thought experiment. Last year, I discovered the author when I picked up her novel Touch, a thriller about an immortal character whose consciousness could jump from body to body, choosing to be anyone they want, live any life they want, for however long they want—and their hosts won’t remember a thing. I ended up loving my first taste of North’s work, so this time, I decided to try her new book in audio for my next mind-trip: The Sudden Appearance of Hope, a story about a young woman who can’t be remembered.
Imagine not being able to remain in anyone’s memory long enough for them to look back after walking out of view, or even just briefly after breaking line of sight. You can meet someone for the first time multiple times, or have the same conversations with them over and over again because they can never remember. Trying to get service in a store or in a restaurant would be a major pain in the ass, and visits to the hospital can be at best a frustrating situation (nurse forgets that you were put in a waiting room), or at worst a life or death predicament (surgeon steps away to use the toilet while you’re on the operating table). You’ll live a mostly solitary existence, unable to form lasting relationships. Share a meal with someone, and all they’ll remember afterwards is eating alone. Even your parents will end up forgetting you. It’s a tricky, tragic, lonely life.
But on the other hand, if no one will ever remember you, what’s to stop you from doing anything you want? You can have a bad day and vent your spleen at an incompetent clerk, leave and it’ll be like your outburst never happened. Punch someone in the face then run away, and no one will be the wiser. Or you can rob a jewelry store, snatch someone’s wallet right out of their hands, and before anyone can even call the police, you’ll be lost in the crowd and everyone would have forgotten you were even there.
That’s the life of Hope Arden, who started fading from everyone’s memory when she was just sixteen years old. Since a proper job, a proper life, a proper anything is out of the question, she has decided to partake in all the criminal activities best suited for someone with her strange condition. Being an international jewel thief helps pay the bills, and it also gives her the satisfaction of stealing from the hoity-toity rich.
But then, going against all her own rules, Hope lets it get personal. A woman commits suicide in a posh hotel in Dubai, the site of our protagonist’s latest heist. At the heart of it is something called Perfection, a lifestyle app that gains access to all your schedules and bank accounts, monitoring everything you are and everything you do. It will make suggestions—what to eat, what to wear, who to date, where to vacation, etc.—and reward you with points when you do what it says, all to nudge you towards becoming a “better” and more “perfect” person. Just the idea of the app repulses Hope, but in it she does find a new target for her anger and a new cause to fight for.
I was really blown away by how North was able to construct this entire multi-layered narrative around just one remarkable, singular idea: What if no one can remember you? At one point, Hope even meets someone with the exact same kind of condition, which was certainly an interesting few chapters. If you had described that situation to me before I read this, I would have said it would make an excellent short story. But 500-page book? How can you write about an idea like that and expand it so you don’t wear out the novelty?
Well, Claire North showed me how it can be done, and not only that, she made it suspenseful, absorbing, and highly emotional. As human beings, we all seem to be obsessed with the idea of “leaving a legacy”. There’s this natural desire to be remembered, if not for ourselves then for our actions. For someone whose ability to make an impression is stripped away, that can be psychologically devastating, and in Hope we see the full range of those effects. What’s the value of personhood, after all, if no one can remember you long enough to appreciate it? Perhaps that is why Perfection is so abhorrent to Hope, because it makes an individual erase themselves little by little, when they already have something Hope will never experience.
And speaking of emotional, the narration on this audiobook is absolutely fantastic. Gillian Burke allows for every single feeling to come across in her voice, from giddiness to melancholy, fury to terror. Hope’s story takes us on all these ups and downs and Burke manages to capture all those moments in her reading. When I researched her narrator profile, she describes herself as having a mixed ancestry, coming from “nowhere and everywhere”, thus giving her a natural talent for different accents. It definitely shows in her narration for this book, which takes us all over the world to meet characters from cities like Dubai, London, Hong Kong, Paris, Venice, Seoul, Cairo, Edinburgh, Tokyo, and more.
The Sudden Appearance of Hope ended up being everything I expected from a novel by Claire North: original, entertaining, and hard-hitting. Her stories are always so different, which may or may not work depending on the kind of reader you are. I never know whether her books will run hot or cold for me, so it was nice to dive into this audiobook and come out on the other side with a very positive experience. I enjoyed this one a lot!
Story: 
| Performance: | Overall:
Waiting on Wednesday 06/08/16
Posted on June 8, 2016 11 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
A Closed and Common Orbit by Becky Chambers (October 18, 2016 by Harper Voyager)
A follow-up to The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet? Sign me up, please! From what I gather, the publication of this stand-alone sequel will be hitting the UK first from Hodder & Stoughton, but an ebook edition will also be released in the US at the same time by Harper Voyager. Really hoping this will be the case, because I’d like to get my hands on this as soon as possible.
“Lovelace was once merely a ship’s artificial intelligence. When she wakes up in an new body, following a total system shut-down and reboot, she has no memory of what came before. As Lovelace learns to negotiate the universe and discover who she is, she makes friends with Pepper, an excitable engineer, who’s determined to help her learn and grow.
Together, Pepper and Lovey will discover that no matter how vast space is, two people can fill it together.
The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet introduced readers to the incredible world of Rosemary Harper, a young woman with a restless soul and secrets to keep. When she joined the crew of the Wayfarer, an intergalactic ship, she got more than she bargained for – and learned to live with, and love, her rag-tag collection of crewmates.”
Book Review: Spear of Light by Brenda Cooper + The Glittering Edge Series Giveaway
Posted on June 7, 2016 11 Comments
***The giveaway is now over, thanks to everyone who entered!***
A review copy was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
Spear of Light by Brenda Cooper
Mogsy’s Rating: 4 of 5 stars
Genre: Science Fiction
Series: Book 2 of The Glittering Edge
Publisher: Pyr (June 7, 2016)
Length: 400 pages
Author Information: Website | Twitter
Spear of Light continues the story from Edge of Dark—which was a novel I consider to be one of the best sci-fi surprises for me last year—and it certainly does not disappoint. Brenda Cooper continues to handle the subject of transhumanism with a keen sense of thoughtfulness, tackling all the important questions in this exciting conclusion of The Glittering Edge duology.
The first book saw the rise of the Next, a post-human society that has returned from deep space after many centuries of living in exile. And for some unknown reason, they want a claim on the planet Lym. Unable to stop the stronger and more technologically advanced Next, our characters from Edge of Dark were left with no choice but to cede parts of the land to them.
Now the residents of Lym are angry. Humanity is angry. Many have joined the Shining Revolution, a rebel group that vows to fight the Next, even if it ultimately means taking out Lym with them. This puts those like Charlie between a rock and a hard place. As a ranger whose family has devoted generations to protecting and re-wilding the planet, it chafes him to see these more-machine-than-human invaders his home, but neither is the idea of Lym’s destruction acceptable to him. The Next may be building cities on his beloved world, but at least they have vowed not to harm anyone—unless they are attacked first.
Ambassador Nona Hall has also fought hard to maintain this peace, but it’s difficult when every day more and more are actually seeking to join the robots. With their methods of downloading a person’s consciousness into a carbon fiber body and incorporating them into a greater network, the Next are essentially offering a form of immortality, and idea which some cannot resist. To the Shining Revolution though, it is an abomination. But as the rebels go on the offense, they are also endangering the fragile peace, each attack pushing the Next to make good on their threat. Sooner or later, something’s going to break.
Unsurprisingly, both Charlie and Nona are back to reprise their roles as point-of-view characters in this sequel, but this time they are also joined by three others: Satyana, Nona’s aunt from the Diamond Deep space station; Yi, a character from the first book who was forcibly turned into one of the Next; and Nayli, one of the top leaders of the Shining Revolution. Together, these five characters provide a well-rounded picture of the conflict from all perspectives, showing the far-reaching consequences of everything that happens in this story.
But perhaps the greatest drama occurs on Lym. Spear of Light addresses a lot of questions about this world, like why the Next are interested in it, and also why its history is so important for humanity. But before we get to those answers, we have the battle for the planet. What would you do if your home was invaded by an unbeatable enemy? Would you still fight, even if it meant certain death? Would victory be worth it, even if it meant completely destroying the thing you sought to protect in the first place? The tensions are high as the people of Lym make their choice, and Cooper does an incredible job presenting the dilemma from every side possible.
Dealing with the Next is also no simple matter, as I realized very quickly that there are no clear villains in this story. While I found it hard to sympathize with the brutal and violent tactics of the Shining Revolution, neither could I make myself fully embrace the Next because some of their members were so thoroughly machine-like, especially those who have lost much of their humanity after being around for such a long time. This is why I thought Nayli and Yi’s chapters were so important; their perspectives succeeded in balancing each other out, raising this story to another level by making it a much deeper and more engaging one.
The final parts of this book were just phenomenal, bringing this duology to an end with thrilling climax and conclusion. There were also some shocking revelations to boot. All told, I still think I liked Edge of Dark a little bit more, but I have say it was really close. Spear of Light lacked some of the emotional impact I experienced in the first book, but it made up for that with its high suspense and tight pacing. This novel merely confirmed to me that The Glittering Edge is one of the most solid, well written sci-fi series out there, and it deserves a hell of a lot more attention. If you have an interest in transhumanism or stories about what it means to be human, you really need to read these books.
More on The BiblioSanctum:
Review of Edge of Dark (Book 1)
The Glittering Edge Series Giveaway
Interested in checking out The Glittering Edge duology? With thanks to the publisher, the BiblioSanctum has a set of these books up for grabs. The winner of this giveaway will receive a print copy of Edge of Dark and a print copy of Spear of Light. This 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 “THE GLITTERING EDGE” by 11:59pm Eastern time on Friday, June 17, 2016.
Only one entry per household, please. The winner 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!
Top Ten Tuesday: Ten Reasons I Love Audiobooks
Posted on June 7, 2016 28 Comments
Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created by The Broke and the Bookish. They created the meme because they love lists. Who doesn’t love lists? They wanted to share these lists with fellow book lovers and ask that we share in return to connect with our fellow book lovers. To learn more about participating in the challenge, stop by their page dedicated to it and dive in!
This week’s topic: Ten Reasons I Love [X]
It’s Audiobook Month! So, I like to do the TTTs during this month with an audiobook twist. I’ll follow each example with books I listened to that pertain to that particular point.
01. Family Reading Time
This is a firm #1 for me, and it’s the reason that I became such a lover of audiobook in the last two years. A couple of years back, I decided to listen to Fool Moon (The Dresden Files #2) when I had to make a long commute for work over a period of two days. I didn’t completely finish that book during that time, but once I was back home, I started listening to it on my commute while dropping my son off at school and continuing on to work. I had no idea that he was even paying attention to what I was listening to until one day, while I was dropping him off at school, he pleaded for me not to listen to the rest of Fool Moon without him. Without mentioning anything to me, he’d gotten super invested in the story, and he knew I was nearing the end because it was getting very tense. He couldn’t bear for me to listen to it without him. That’s when I decided I needed to find us something else to listen to, and we started listening to the Percy Jackson series together. We’ve been a little slow in our listening and have listened to other books, but we’ve recently finished the series (along with my daughter) and plan to start the Harry Potter series soon. I’ve noticed that listening to stories has been absolutely amazing for their retention, and they’re always so excited and involved in the stories.
The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan, narrated by Jesse Bernstein | The Sea of Monsters by Rick Riordan, narrated by Jesse Bernstein
02. Exercising
I’m being a bit more health conscious these days and try to keep a regular walking, running, and dancing routine going. While dancing I’m totally into the music and the activity, walking and running can sometimes turn into dull affairs, though. I listen to music a lot during these activities, but I’m also starting to listen to more audiobooks. In particular, I love Zombies, Run! It’s an exercise app with a story. So, it’s basically an audiobook with some interludes during which I can listen to my own music. It’s wonderfully done and I can’t recommend it enough for people into fitness who often walk or run.
You by Caroline Kepnes, narrated by Santino Fontana | The Madness of Lord Ian Mackenzie by Jennifer Ashley, narrated by Angela Dawe
03. Hammering Down on Longer Titles/Books I Would’ve Skipped
Audiobooks have been a lifesaver when it comes to knocking out books that are fairly lengthy, books that I would’ve ordinarily skipped, or both. Audiobooks are probably the only reason that I bit the bullet and picked up Terry Brooks’ Shannara series. I doubt if I’d been handed that book by anyone that I would’ve actually sat down and read it, and despite my low star rating of the first book, I did enjoy the story for the amusement that I got out of it. I’m a fast reader with a wide literary taste by nature, but some books I just turn my nose up at for various reason. With audiobooks, I find that I am more willing to actually give books a chance and will listen to them longer that I would’ve read them. Many times I’m pleasantly surprised about how much I end up enjoying stories that I wouldn’t have read.
The Sword of Shannara by Terry Brooks, narrated by Scott Brick | Me Before You by Jojo Moyes, narrated by Full Cast
04. Immersive Reading
You’d be surprised how well a good narration will make passages read different and be more understandable. I find that things I might not have found funny in a reading is absolutely funny in a narration. An emotion that I might not have considered in a passage can come through during a narration. I’ve found that some things just make more sense when I listen to them than when I read them. Combining reading with listening helps a ton.
Gardens of the Moon by Steven Erikson, narrated by Ralph Lister | Deadhouse Gates by Steven Erikson, narrated by Ralph Lister
05. Excellent Narrators
Simon Vance is pretty much my narrator to rule them all, but over the years, I have come to love many voices. It’s always exciting to hear a new or even an old favorite because you wonder what they’re going to bring to the table in each story.
Tigerheart by Peter David, narrated by Simon Vance | The Girl with All the Gifts by M.R. Carey, narrated by Flinty Williams
06. Surviving Traffic
I don’t have a very long commute to work unless I’m working out of town, but even those twenty minutes are great for fitting in snatches of an audiobook. My kids mostly ride the bus now, but when I take them to school or to their events, we’re listening to an audiobook. If I’m shopping or running errands, I’m listening to an audiobook during my rides. I find I’m also less likely to break the speed limit when I’m listening to an audiobook as well. 😉
The House of the Scorpion by Nancy Farmer, narrated by Raúl Esparza | A Natural History of Dragons by Marie Brennan, narrated by Kate Reading
07. Multitasking
I’ve learned to start filling my time that doesn’t require much brain power with an audiobook mostly during things like gaming (during mundane fetch quests/gathering facets of a game), mindless data entry, and cleaning. You’d be surprise how quickly those few minutes of listening add up.
The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson, narrated by Bernadette Dunne | Pretty Little Dead Girls by Mercedes M. Yardley, narrated by Khristine Hvam
08. Convenient
I’m a wife, mother, a blogger, and a full-time employee with a fairly demanding job. I’m trying to take better care of my health, and I have other interests and hobbies. Sometimes, I find I just don’t have the time or the will to sit down with a paperback or an epub after dealing with my life responsibilities. Sometimes, I get tired of staring at words after a long day at work where I’m looking at paperwork all day long. Audiobooks to the rescue! I can listen to them whenever I can snatch a moment or while I’m doing other things that will allow me to spare some brain power to listen.
The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater, narrated by Will Patton | The Serpent Sea by Martha Wells, narrated by Chris Kipiniak
09. More Time Reading
This goes hand-in-hand with convenience. I took a semi-hiatus from this site that lasted almost a year in 2014. In 2015 I was back, but work started demanding more of my time. That cut into my reading time. My work life is almost always pretty busy at certain times of the year like clockwork, which means I have less time to sit down with a book. To combat that this year, I’ve started listening to more audiobooks even at work sometimes, which I didn’t think about doing last year. This has allowed me to stay on top of my reading this year where I’d slowed down significantly last year. It’s still a little bit of a struggle at times balancing work and life with reading, but audiobooks have lessened the burden and allowed me to feel accomplished in my reading life.
Acacia by David Anthony Durham, narrated by Dick Hill | Steelheart by Brandon Sanderson, narrated by MacLeod Andrews
10. Traveling
Aside from commuting, audiobooks have been great for my travels whether I’m listening to a book while on my way to a destination or sitting on the beach soaking up some sunshine, I have an audiobook handy to enjoy during those times. Long flight? Audiobook. Long drive? Audiobook. Subway ride in NYC to meet a friend while I’m visiting the city? Audiobook.
The Palace Job by Patrick Weekes, narrated by Justine Eyre | This Song Will Save Your Life by Rebecca Lowman
Week 1: Any Other Name Read-Along
Posted on June 6, 2016 2 Comments
We’re gaining steam on our read-along of the The Split Worlds series this month, continuing with the second book Any Other Name! If you’re interested in joining this Read-Along, visit the SF/F Read-Along group for more information and to join the discussion.
Cathy has been reluctantly married into the Iris family and moves to Londinium, the magical Nether reflection of London, setting her on a collision course with the restrictive, high-pressure social circles that demand propriety and obedience, things the vocal and free-spirited Cathy cannot abide. Will, meanwhile, is trying to find a compromise for his new bride, but whispers in his ear are urging him towards dark deeds…
Sam, determined to dive back into the world of Exilium to rescue innocents, crosses paths with Cathy and Max once again as Max and the gargoyle uncover more information about the mysterious Agency and the chain of events that wiped out the Bath Chapter. Sacrifices, terrible deals, and dreadful revelations mark this second installment of Emma Newman’s wondrous Split Worlds series.
Week 1: Monday 6th June, Chapters 1-6, hosted by Over The Effing Rainbow
Week 2: Monday 13th June, Chapters 7-13, hosted by x + 1
Week 3: Monday 20th June, Chapters 14-20, hosted by Lynn’s Book Blog
Week 4: Monday 27th June, Chapters 21-End, hosted by The Illustrated Page
1. Cathy’s wedding day arrives, and her mother wasn’t joking when she said she’d make sure Cathy would go through with it. What are your thoughts/feelings on Cathy’s forced circumstances?
Mogsy: Cathy’s parents have really dialed their callousness up to 11 on this one. I was prepared in the first book to dismiss her mother as yet another victim of her overbearing husband, simply having no choice but to go along with his wishes. However, this opening sequence before the wedding proves she’s just as bad. Now I’m even more horrified at Cathy’s situation. In some ways, what her own mother did to her was even worse than when her father beat her, because in the latter case at least there had been a chance, however slim, to fight back or run away. In contrast, being effectively drugged robbed Cathy of her control completely, to the point where she wasn’t even free to feel the anger that was rightfully hers. For Cathy, who values her freedom above everything else, I think the realization that she was rendered utterly helpless was just as awful and traumatizing than the knowledge that her own mother did that to her.
Tiara: Honestly, I was disgusted and disturbed by her interactions with her parents for various reasons starting with this one. However, I am starting to see a trend I don’t much like in these books with the female characters versus the males characters where the female characters come off overly petty, even Cathy, and pretty irredeemable while the male characters who act in equally gross ways are given more opportunity to prove that, “Hey, I’m not such a bad guy…” or have the women reinforce the men by saying things like, “… if you let him, he’ll be kind to you…” While I am disgusted by the mother’s action, I think I am more disappointed that the female characters are boxed in in this way while I’m asked to sympathize with the male characters. There’s little in between for them. With that being said, let’s get on to this next question…
2. On the way to the ceremony, we get some surprising insights into Cathy’s father’s background and why he treats his daughter the way he does. Does this change your opinion of him at all? If so, what do you make of him now?
Mogsy: No, my opinion of him has not really changed. My thoughts on his story?
Guess what? Just because you have your own little tale of youthful rebellion to tell, doesn’t erase or excuse any of the crap things you did to your daughter. I also didn’t see his circumstances as anything close to resembling the indignity of what Cathy is going through right now. If this was meant to be their sweet father-daughter moment, it really fell flat on its face. All I see is a man who might not mean to be cold and cruel on purpose, but the society he lives in has deluded him completely on how he should live his life and raise his children. I guess if there’s one thing to be said for him, I think he truly believes in his own little mind that he’s doing the best for Cathy, and his extreme worldviews have blinded him from any other avenue, or seeing his daughter as anything more than a bargaining chip or object he can control.
Tiara: Ugh. The sections with Cathy’s father is exactly the kind of emotional manipulation I don’t care for in books. All books manipulate our emotions to some degree, but how I feel about such manipulation is going to be decided by what I perceive the intent of this manipulation to be. In this section, I felt I was was really expected to see some drop of a good quality in the father because once upon a time he rebelled a little and maybe Cathy’s just like him. No. I am not okay with writers wanting me to sympathize with their abusive characters, to try to justify any gross behavior with, “Oh, he’s just trying to make sure she doesn’t ruin her life in his small, misguided world that’s why he had to beat her. Oh, he really loves her. Look at this touching moment of tears and understanding–” Fuck that. Don’t. Do. This.
3. The wedding itself, and the honeymoon, brings some unavoidable truths with it, for Cathy and Will both. Does their behaviour in this part of the book change what you think of them/their outlook?
Mogsy: I have to admit, that was a really awkward scene to watch. In my mind I consider Cathy to be a 21st-century modern woman and I view Will as a Victorian-era man. The two will most certainly have different views on the subject of arranged marriages, and throwing them together went as poorly as I expected. Because they’re both products of their experiences though, I guess I can’t really blame Will for having certain “expectations” on their wedding night, but in this section my regard for him also plummeted to a new low. Even though he ended up leaving Cathy alone, I was still seriously annoyed by his hypocrisy and attitude. It’s frightening to think what might have happened to Cathy, if she had been betrothed to someone else and if they had been more insistent.
Tiara: After mom and dad, this was the scene that was almost the straw in the maw for me. This is honestly where I almost decided I was about to tap out of this book. If I get started on this question, we’d be here all day. You don’t want that. You really don’t want any of that. If you can’t tell by all the answers, I have like zero ounces of patience to give this story right now, but I’ll try to see what the next week brings. Everything about this first week was the worst. The woooooorrrrrst!
Except Sam. Sam’s all right and the gargoyle. The gargoyle needs a name. I was about to say I was going to call him Max because of video games Sam & Max, which happen to be a police game, but then I remembered his… his… body… (what do we even call that… ???) is Max. So, I’ll call him Dave instead.
Audiobook Review: Angel’s Blood by Nalini Singh, Narrated by Justine Eyre
Posted on June 6, 2016 15 Comments
“The bastard kissed her. She was so mad, she bit him hard enough to draw blood.
Raphael pulled back, lip already beginning to swell.
“We are no longer even, Elena. You’re now in debt.”
“You can deduct it from my slow and painful death.”
Angels’ Blood by Nalini Singh
Narrator: Justine Eyre
Genre: Urban Fantasy, Romance, Supernatural
Series: Guild Hunter #1
Publisher: Tantor Media (May 2010)
Author Info: nalinisingh.com
Wendy’s Rating: 4 of 5 stars
Much like Laurel K. Hamilton’s Anita Blake, Elena Deveraux hunts vampires and is, of course, the best at what she does thanks to her preternatural skill and her own confidence and training. Now she’s up against her greatest challenge yet, and at the request of the super sexy and deadly Archangel of New York, who doesn’t take no for an answer (unless Elena wants to find herself tossed off of a roof).
Cocky, wise-cracking leading lady with dark past [CHECK] who gets caught involved in a deadly mission [CHECK] that has more going on beneath the surface [CHECK] and who must wrestle with her desires [CHECK] for a man who just might kill her [CHECK].
Ah yes. There’s a reason why I tend to avoid urban fantasy. But that probably has more to do with binging Anita Blake one summer and watching stories that I initially enjoyed devolve into mad sex romps. Look. If I want porn, I’ll watch or read porn. But if you promised me interesting characters and story, then at least make the attempt. I’ve tried a few other urban fantasy series since LKH soured me to the genre, but at long last, I’ve found one I actually want to sink my teeth into again.
Angel’s Blood still has the typical troublesome sexy relationship, but at the very least, I appreciate that Elena does not accept it until it’s on her terms. She has no qualms about calling out Raphael’s mental manipulation for what it is: rape. And, in turn, he actually takes the time to consider this and seeks to do better. I also appreciate that the hot sex relationship isn’t the only relationship upon which Elena’s life circles. She doesn’t function in a loner bubble, only calling upon others who exist to provide advice and gadget support. Her friends and guild mates do serve that purpose, but there is actual depth to their friendships and working relationships that I want to see more of.
We mostly get Elena’s perspective throughout the adventure, but there are frequent interludes through Raphael’s eyes that not only deal with his inevitable interest with Elena, but also provide insight into archangel politics and sow seeds for future stories. Where Elena and Raphael end up at the end seems overly dramatic, but I suspect that Singh is shaping a story that extends beyond the monster of the week to something more intriguing. Or it could just be an excuse for lots more hot angel/vampire sex. Which is okay, as long as we don’t go overboard okay?
Oh and did I mention that Elena is a woman of colour? Though other book covers will try to dissuade you from realizing that, Singh has created a world where PoCs aren’t just exotic background material.
Urban fantasy isn’t my usual stomping ground, but I’m happy to find a series that I will make room for on my shelves. Added bonus: the audiobook is narrated by Justine Eyre, whom I have loved to pieces since first hearing her storm through Patrick Weekes’ The Paladin Caper.
YA Audiobook Weekend: The Selection by Kiera Cass
Posted on June 5, 2016 11 Comments
Genre: Young Adult, Science Fiction, Dystopia, Romance
Series: The Selection #1
Publisher: HarperTeen (April 24, 2012)
Information: Website | Twitter | Goodreads
Tiara’s Rating: 3 of 5 stars
Narrator: Amy Rubinate | Length: 8 hrs and 7 mins | Audiobook Publisher: HarpterAudio (April 24, 2012) | Whispersync Ready: Yes
America Singer (I know, I know… I could never get over the name either…) is one of thirty-four girls part of a group known as the Selection. When a prince comes of age in the country, one girl from each of the thirty-four territories are picked to compete for the crown. The Selection is encouraged to provide morale to the people living in the former United States of America. After losing a war to the Chinese, the states have regressed to a monarchy and caste system (1 being the highest and reserved for the monarchy and 8 being the lowest). America is part of the artist caste, which is a 5, and they live just above being destitute. She doesn’t want to join the Selection, especially since she’s already in love with a boy. However, she can’t deny the monetary benefit it would bring to her somewhat large family. After some debate with her family and her boyfriend (who is a caste below her), she puts her name in the hat and is surprised when she’s chosen to be one of the girls who will compete for Prince Maxon’s affections.
This book turned me into such a liar. Prior to reading this book, I’d pretty much written this off as something I would never read. I’m not a fan of dating reality shows, so even with the science fiction angle, I wasn’t too interested in reading a book that is basically The Bachelor. However, I have a friend who is on a YA kick right now, and when she needs someone to flail with over a book, a group of us team up and read together. This book along with Shatter Me were two of her picks. Despite the premise, this book was actually okay. I don’t know why I didn’t end up hating this. Perhaps it’s because of how vanilla and tepid this story is. The writing was engaging enough. The conflicts didn’t feel too threatening, even the more violent encounters weren’t that urgent and are taken care of rather neatly. I guess my brain just settled on this being a romance book, a fairy tale romance with some added elements to be specific, and romance books don’t usually do much to add dramatic tension to the other elements that aren’t the romance. I think I was just able to enjoy it for what it was, and since I wasn’t expecting much I couldn’t really be disappointed. America spends most of her time telling herself that she doesn’t want Maxon, that she’s only there for her family, but still this book finds itself forced into being a love triangle after America’s boyfriend is introduced into the castle while she’s competing. I usually have a hard time with girls behaving badly toward one another over boys, and I was sure that this was going to get on my nerves quickly. I was surprised when the girls weren’t written as badly as I’d expected. There was cattiness from time to time and, of course, there is one girl who is an absolute monster. This book managed to make the girls far less combative than I’ve seen in other books that have just two girls vying for a boy’s affection, though.
The world-building isn’t that great in this story. We get a weak story about two more world wars until America is finally conquered by China because it couldn’t pay its debts. That smacked a little much of yellow peril and made me side eye this book hard. There are some rebels in the story that attack the castle every now and again, but no one knows what they want. That’s kind of left hanging there (to my frustration), but I’m sure Cass addresses them in later books. This book tries a little too hard with wanting to be a story that takes social responsibility by railing on social issues (as presented by the caste system) and setting America up as the poor girl who makes the rich boy suddenly see the light. Also, I feel like I should mention here that this is nothing like The Hunger Games. I find that when books are described as being like The Hunger Games what they mean is that it features a caste system. I didn’t care much for America’s boyfriend, Aspen, or her mother. I didn’t like his reasoning that she should compete “if she really loved him,” so he wouldn’t feel like he’d made her miss an opportunity. That was manipulative and gross, not sweet as I’m sure Cass wants me to believe it be. He didn’t prove to be much better later in the story either. Also, America’s mother is equally as manipulative. While I understand the hardships the family are facing, her mother is much too obsessed with the idea of her daughters marrying up into a better caste. I wasn’t sure if I was supposed feel sorry that her mother was so desperate or dislike her for being so desperate. Most of the interaction between America and her mother felt equally as gross as Aspen’s interactions with America. Surprisingly, I did like Prince Maxon. Sure, it was expected that he’d be the rich boy with the heart of gold, but his interactions with America felt the most earnest. Early in the book, America places herself in the position of being Maxon’s friend rather than trying to be chosen by him, and they have an interesting dynamic for most of the book until she decides she has feelings for him. When she decides she had feelings is when the love triangle started, and it became a bit annoying.
Amy Rubinate does an admirable job with the narration. Some of the voices could sound a little too alike, though. Some of the emotion seemed to be missing from her narration, as well, which might be why I feel it’s such a tepid story. However, I don’t know whether to blame the writing or her narration for that. I suspect it’s the writing. Prince Maxon was my favorite voice she did. She did an excellent job with making him sound formal and a bit uncertain about this position he’s thrust into with the Selection.
This book would’ve worked so much better as a straight up romance book set in the style of The Bachelor. The dystopian angle, while interesting, wasn’t done much justice, and most people who read this book will really only be here for the romance anyway. I’m not sure if this is the type of story that couldn’t have been told in one book, but I’ll make that assessment again once I’ve read the others. I liked this, but I couldn’t tell you one thing that I just loved about this book other than I enjoy a romantic fairy tale at times. This certainly delivers on that angle and will appeal to romance lovers much more than SFF lovers. There’s nothing really new or bold here. I’m certain I’ll be continuing this because I’m a gross sap.
Story
Performance
Overall
YA Audiobook Weekend: The House of the Scorpion by Nancy Farmer
Posted on June 4, 2016 8 Comments
Genre: Science Fiction, Young Adult
Series: Matteo Alacrán #1
Publisher: Atheneum Books for Young Readers (2002)
Information: Website | Goodreads
Tiara’s Rating: 4 of 5 stars
Narrator: Raúl Esparza | Length: 10 hrs and 43 mins | Audiobook Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio (January 23, 2009) | Whispersync Ready: Yes
My children have turned out to be avid readers as I am, especially my oldest. My son reads in a wide variety of genres, but he seems to be settling into a routine of reading mostly SFF like me. This book was a recommendation from my son. I’d spied him reading this about a month back, and I was tempted then to steal his book for myself. After doing some reshuffling of my books for the Women of Genre Fiction Challenge on Worlds Without End, he suggested that I add this book to my list since it was written by a woman. Since my interest was already piqued, it didn’t much convincing for me to do just that.
Matteo “Matt” Alacrán is the clone of a drug lord who owns a small country called Opium located between the United States and Aztlán (formerly Mexico). In this near future setting, the United States is no longer the premier country of the world, and in fact, the southern parts of the United States seem to be a hard and unattractive place to live as many Americans try to cross into Aztlán. People illegally crossing the borders from either side are dealt with harshly by El Patrón (the man Matt is cloned from) who forces most of them into a type of slavery using a computer chip that renders them unable and unwilling to do anything other than what they’re told.
At the beginning of this story, six-year-old Matt is living isolated in a small house in the opium fields with a worker named Celia. He longs desperately to talk to someone, to be around more than just Celia, even though he loves her very much. He has no idea about the world beyond the poppy fields until he meets the Mendoza sisters and the great-great-grandson of El Patrón. Once he’s spied by the children, the secret of his existence can no longer be ignored. The family knows of his existence, but largely forgot about him because he was out of sight. Finally, Matt meets the man whose DNA he shares. El Patrón is 140-years-old when Matt meets him, and Matt loves him from the moment they meet.
Existence for Matt is not an easy thing. He’s despised by the Alacrán family, excluding the patriarch, and most people who interact with the family. Clones as seen as beasts, nothing more than chattel. Most clones’ brains are chemically tampered with at birth to make them nothing more than drooling, living specimens, as required by law, but El Patrón stops Matt from undergoing that treatment as a baby. Matt is given respect because to do anything other than that would mean facing the wrath of El Patrón, but he has little meaningful contact with people in Opium aside from a few. Over the years that Matt grows up in the Alacrán family, he learns that that El Patrón might not be worth the admiration and love that Matt feels for him.
This book skews on the younger end of the Young Adult spectrum, and I was impressed with how complex this book is, especially since books that skew younger tend to deal with things in a more simplistic manner for easy understanding. This book explores the complexity of relationships and social standing. There’s the issue of personhood and acceptance that runs strong in this book due to the various questions that come up because of Matt’s status as a clone. I’m not saying that this book explores those issues as deeply as a book geared toward adults or older young adults would, but it certainly opens a path to dialogue about various moral and ethic issues while having themes that are more familiar such as bullying, standing up for what’s right, and friendship. My son and I had a very lively discussion about this book after I finished. This book also has the added bonus of having a wide appeal. It isn’t so futuristic that people who don’t enjoy science fiction would feel alienated, but it’s also not so sterile that fans of SFF can’t enjoy it. There were some plot points that I felt dangled and some that didn’t reach a satisfying conclusion, but overall, I enjoyed this story.
Raúl Esparza did such a wonderful job narrating this, and I appreciate that someone who actually speaks Spanish fluently was chosen for this book to make it sound authentic since there were many instances where things were spoken in Spanish (but often translated to English in a way that’s not attention breaking). Too often narrators are chosen who do such a spectacular job at butchering accents and languages, and I end up cringing. Now, he did have to do a few English and Irish accents, and I can’t really comment on how great those were or weren’t. They sounded passable to me, but I’ll leave that assessment to someone who has a better ear for those accents.
Part of my higher rating probably comes from the fact that I’m viewing this from a parental angle and seeing it as a valuable learning tool for children, but I think, even if this had been a book that I picked up on my own, I still would’ve rated this as an excellent read.
Story
Performance
Overall
The BiblioSanctum 