Tough Traveling: Pure Good
Posted on October 15, 2015 12 Comments
The Thursday feature “Tough Traveling” is the brainchild of Nathan of Review Barn, who has come up with the excellent idea of making a new list each week based on the most common tropes in fantasy, as seen in (and inspired by) The Tough Guide to Fantasyland by Diana Wynn Jones. Nathan has invited anyone who is interested to come play along, so be sure to check out the first link for more information.
This week’s tour topic is: Pure Good
No middle ground, no moral middle, no grey area at all. Some people are pure avatars of goodness. Fantasyland seems to be full of them.
Wendy’s Pick
Honestly, I am at an utter loss over pure good characters. Why? Because I dislike them so much. Pure good is booooring. And sometimes pretty damn annoying too. Give me a Prince Jorg any day.
Comic Stack 10/14/15 – 5 Horror Manga Recommendations
Posted on October 14, 2015 4 Comments
Following on the heels of my 5 Horror Graphic Novel Recommendations, I give you my manga recommendations. I know what you’re thinking. You’re going to see my usual suspects, but I can assure you that I read so much more manga than Attack on Titans, okay. I just have my books I love and can’t get over ever. I really, really wanted to put Battle Royale in this lineup, but since it’s like one of my favorite books/manga/movie ever, I use it for everything.
I can still leave you with smiling Mitsuko, though. Anyhow, here are 5 picks, many of which have left me in a state of “Please, God, Japan, no!”
I found this manga much like I find most of my manga by watching the anime first and then having to hunt down the manga:
Shy Ken Kaneki is thrilled to go on a date with the beautiful Rize. But it turns out that she’s only interested in his body—eating it, that is. When a morally questionable rescue transforms him into the first half-human half-Ghoul hybrid, Ken is drawn into the dark and violent world of Ghouls, which exists alongside our own.
Jisatsu Circle (Suicide Club) by Usamaru Furuya
This actually isn’t an anime that tempted me to its manga. This was a movie I watched many years ago. It was one of those movies much like Battle Royale that was just horrifically creepy. Unfortunately, this manga is very hard to find, and obviously, there’s a huge trigger warning on this one.
54 girls jump off a platform in front of an on coming train. However, one girl survives and starts up another suicide club as more copycat clubs pop up around the city. The police begin a frantic race to figure out what is triggering these events that seem unrelated… at first…
Yuu, Mitsuki, Rei, Hajime, Eiji, and Haruka have entered the game called ‘Rabbit Doubt’, where all of the players are ‘rabbits’ in a group, and one of the players among them is randomly chosen to be a ‘wolf’ in the group of rabbits. Each round, the wolf kills a rabbit. Each round, the rabbit group tries to figure out which of the rabbits is actually the wolf in disguise and kill it. If a rabbit kills the real wolf, the rabbits win. If they’re wrong, all of the rabbits will be killed. Who is the real wolf? And can they stopped it before the game is over…
All the best creepy Japanese manga seem to involve high school kids which has probably given me an irrational fear of all high school kids probably being evil entities. I’m a mom. I’m preparing the salt for my kids’ high school years.
These terse tales of terror tell the story of a high-school girl named Tomie, who can be seen as a living embodiment of lust and all the negative emotions that go along with it, such as jealousy. Tomie is the ultimate self-destructive entity, yet ironically she survives anything. She is identified by a mole under her left eye.
She possesses an undisclosed power to make anyone fall in love with her. Through sleight of hand, or emotional manipulation, she drives these men into jealous rages that inevitably lead to brutal acts of violence. Men kill each other over her; and girls are sometimes driven to jealous rages as well. Tomie is inevitably killed time and again, only to regenerate. Tomie is bound to go on forever in this way.
In the first story “Tomie”, she returns to school after an announcement that she had died, much to the horror of her friends and teachers. It transpires that during a school trip, her fellow students and favorite teacher murder her and dismember her body.
Each story tells a different viewpoint of how she lived and died, with some recurring characters. (wiki)
Fuan No Tane (Seeds of Anxiety) by Nakayama Masaaki
There are four volumes of these books which are basically just short stories that revolve around urban legends and myths and revolve a recurring theme. Most of them are terrifically creepy.
Waiting on Wednesday 10/14/15
Posted on October 14, 2015 19 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:
False Hearts by Laura Lam: June 14, 2016 (Tor)
Ever since Pantomime I’ve wanted to read more by Laura Lam, so it was exciting to hear that next summer Tor will be releasing her new book called False Hearts that’s being pitched as “Orphan Black meets Inception.” Sounds awesome!
“Raised in the closed cult of Mana’s Hearth and denied access to modern technology, conjoined sisters Taema and Tila dream of a life beyond the walls of the compound. When the heart they share begins to fail, the twins escape to San Francisco, where they are surgically separated and given new artificial hearts. From then on they pursue lives beyond anything they could have previously imagined.
Ten years later, Tila returns one night to the twins’ home in the city, terrified and covered in blood, just before the police arrive and arrest her for murder—the first homicide by a civilian in decades. Tila is suspected of involvement with the Ratel, a powerful crime syndicate that deals in the flow of Zeal, a drug that allows violent minds to enact their darkest desires in a terrifying dreamscape. Taema is given a proposition: go undercover as her sister and perhaps save her twin’s life. But during her investigation Taema discovers disturbing links between the twins’ past and their present. Once unable to keep anything from each other, the sisters now discover the true cost of secrets.”
Book Review: The Kingmakers by Clay Griffith and Susan Griffith
Posted on October 13, 2015 10 Comments
A review copy was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
The Kingmakers by Clay Griffith and Susan Griffith
Genre: Fantasy
Series: Book 3 of Vampire Empire
Publisher: Pyr (9/4/12)
Author Information: Website | Twitter
Mogsy’s Rating: 4 of 5 stars
I was so happy when I found out that Clay Griffith and Susan Griffith were returning to the world of Vampire Empire this fall with another Adele and Gareth book. Even though you can read the upcoming novel as a stand-alone without reading this trilogy first, I still wanted to find out how things will end in the third book before tackling The Geomancer. Plus, I am a completionist at heart.
It’s actually been quite a while since I read the first two books in this series, but this is a very special world full of very special characters, the kind that stay with you for a long time. I jumped right back in with no problems, and it was like I never left. War between humans and vampire is at full tilt, with Empress Adele of Equatoria launching a campaign to take back the lands of the north. Fighting at her side is her consort, the vampire Prince Gareth who is helping the human cause in his guise as the legendary Greyfriar.
The Equatorians also have a secret weapon – Adele herself. A talented geomancer, she has the ability to use the powers of the earth to burn away vampires in vast numbers. But geomancy has its costs. As surely as it kills vampires, the power also poses a danger to her beloved Gareth, not to mention every time she uses geomancy it drains her energy and threatens her own life. After a huge attack on the heart of vampire territory, Adele sees the destruction she has wrought and starts to wonder if there is another way to wage this war. Gareth seeks a chance to do affect change as well, using his influence to undermine the efforts of his brother Cesare, who has become the new king of the vampire clans.
This book is full of bloody battles, hidden alliances, and betrayals. It’s a lot to fit into the concluding volume of a trilogy, but in spite of this, the novel is well balanced and pulls everything together in a spectacular finish. Of all three books, The Kingmakers is probably the most action-packed and fast-paced, building up to the climax of the war.
And yet, there’s also plenty of what first drew me to this series: the romance! In between all the intense fighting and war planning, it’s good to see that Adele and Gareth are still able to find ways to spend quality time together. When it comes to forbidden love, theirs is one of my favorites. So many tales involving star-crossed lovers rely on unnecessary drama and emotional manipulation to keep things “interesting”, but there’s no need for that nonsense when it comes to Adele and Gareth. Throughout the trilogy, their romance has never once felt contrived to me, with their relationship rising above all those cloying clichés. It’s always good to see them as a team, with the Greyfriar’s resolve complementing the Empress’s indomitable spirit.
The Kingmakers is an emotional finale, filled with difficult choices and dark twists. You might be surprised at how things end. For me, it was a satisfying conclusion to the trilogy, and that’s what mattered. Clay and Susan Griffith did something very amazing here, taking a tired old trope like vampires but still somehow managed to make it interesting and unique. Throwing in the alternate history and steampunk setting was a stroke of genius as well.
This book has only cemented my love for this world and the characters. Thinking about the sweet moments like the scenes of Gareth and Adele together at the opera house or at the Great Library of Alexandria still makes me smile. It has also made me realize that it’s probably a good thing that I read this only after I found out there’s another Vampire Empire book on the horizon. Clearly, I’m not ready to say good bye just yet! Now onwards to The Geomancer!
More on The BiblioSanctum:
Review of The Greyfriar (Book 1) | Review of The Rift Walker (Book 2)
Novella Review: Tales of the Captain Duke by Rebecca Diem
Posted on October 12, 2015 5 Comments
Tales of the Captain Duke by Rebecca Diem
Genre: Steampunk, pirates
Publisher: Woolf Like Me Publishing (2014, 2015)
Author Info: www.rebeccadiem.com
I had the good fortune of meeting Rebecca Diem by chance at Fan Expo Canada this past summer, and I’m so glad I did! I picked up a copy of her book and quickly fell in love with the characters and the story, prompting me to grab the next in the series. I’m now impatiently clamouring for the third book. Why do I love them so much? Well, the this is where I compare Tales of the Captain Duke to the Fast and Furious movie series. No wait! Hear me out! No, Captain Duke does not feature car chases, NOS, ridiculous fist fights, and lots of explosions (well, there are a few explosions), but it does feature a very amazing family. The FF movies are pretty silly, but I love them because, far more than fast cars, the story has always been about the bonds of family that go far deeper than blood. That is the kind of bond the Captain’s crew share in these stories and what a young woman named Clara finds most endearing when faced with the choice of joining the crew of airship pilots.
In the first book, our titular stowaway debutante winds up saving the crew (and herself) from an unfortunate event. Despite the secrets she is determined to cling to, Captain Duke tentatively accepts her as a member of his crew. She is immediately drawn to the various pilots, whom Diem brings to life most endearingly, and to the Captain Duke himself, who also keeps his secrets–including the very name of his airship–close. Diem carefully parcels out the pieces of their mysteries through chapters that alternate between their points of view, and expertly teases the growing spark between the two enigmatic characters. Whatever Clara is running from is bound to catch up with her, as we find out in the second book in the series where the loyalty of the crew is severely tested.
I am very new to, but utterly intrigued by steampunk. This series is a great place for anyone to start as Diem charmingly reinvents piratical history with airships, and challenges gender roles and diversity. This is a lighthearted adventure that isn’t afraid to get serious from time to time. A welcome change from my usual reads.
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Book Review: Thorn Jack by Katherine Harbour
Posted on October 12, 2015 11 Comments
A review copy was provided by the author in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
Thorn Jack by Katherine Harbour
Genre: Fantasy
Series: Book 1 of Night and Nothing
Publisher: Harper Voyager (6/24/14)
Author Information: Website | Twitter
Mogsy’s Rating: 4 of 5 stars
Thorn Jack has been on my to-read list for a while, but nothing could have prepared me for magical story I found when I cracked open its pages. I was also delighted to find out that it’s a modern retelling inspired by “Tam Lin”.
First of all, I love creative reimaginings of all sorts; myths, folklore, fairytales – you name it, I want it. Second, if it’s a retelling of a story I’m not as familiar with…well, that actually just makes me even more interested. Needless to say, I had to go and brush up on the old Scottish legendary ballad while reading this book. There are many versions, but most variants of “Tam Lin” involve a mortal woman rescuing her true love held captive by the Queen of the Fairies, and like most old stories involving the Fae, it encompasses some pretty dark themes. Thorn Jack may be a modern retelling, but it likewise features some of the same themes, including those surrounding the power of young woman’s determination and courage.
So if you enjoy reading about strong, dedicated and genuine female protagonists, you’ll definitely like Finn Sullivan. We come upon her at a very dark time of her life, though. The recent suicide of her sister Lily Rose is an open wound on her heart as Finn and her father move from San Diego to a small town called Fair Hollow in upstate New York. While unpacking, Finn finds Lily Rose’s journal, filled with mad ramblings about strange occurrences and dark creatures that have preyed on humanity for hundreds of years. Dismissing these as her sister’s fanciful stories, Finn puts this aside and goes back to her grieving.
However, it soon becomes clear that things in Fair Hollow are not as they seem. Something feels wrong, and it all seems to revolve around the town’s most wealthiest and notorious family, the Fatas. When Finn and her new college friends are invited to a lakeside party, she immediately becomes drawn to one of the Fatas, a mysterious young man named Jack. But as they grow closer, the more unsettled Finn feels in spite of herself. So much about Jack and his family reminds her of Lily Rose’s journal and her sister’s descriptions of the “Children of Night and Nothing”. There’s an enigmatic, sinister air around the Fatas, but are they really dangerous? And what have they got to do with Lily Rose’s suicide?
Walking into Katherine Harbour’s world of Thorn Jack is like walking into a modern fairytale, a little bit of Buffy the Vampire Slayer meets Once Upon a Time. Also, you know you’re in for a good time whenever there are Fae involved, though these Fae are unlike any I’ve ever seen. Their characteristics make me think they are an amalgamation of many different kinds of monsters and creatures, with traits that bring to mind vampires, shapeshifters, ghostly spirits and more. There’s some excellent world-building going on here; I sensed the dark wonder and otherworldliness of Fair Hollow as soon as Finn and her father arrived at their new home. Harbour has created an almost palpable atmosphere, the kind that slowly seeps off the page to send tingles up your arms.
There’s also a heavy element of romance. After all, the story is based on a legend about a man rescued by his true love, so I went into Thorn Jack expecting the plot to center on a romantic relationship. My only issue with it is that it was a bit slow to take off. Part of the reason for this is because the narrative meanders quite a bit, occasionally branching out into small side threads and different POVs. Fortunately, in many cases the characters make up for much of it. While the story might not be constantly moving forward, I loved getting to know Christie and Sylvie (whom I pictured in my mind as Finn’s Xander and Willow) and I got to enjoy reading about the different members of the extended Fata family in all their creepy and dangerous glory. Even the various townies and seemingly innocuous professors at Finn’s college have hidden secrets. Part of the fun was discovering the mysteries of Fair Hollow and its people.
This book also turned out to be a wonderful read for October especially as we approach Halloween (which plays a significant role in this book, much like it did in the ballad of Tam Lin). It’s the time of the year when the leaves are starting to turn and the days are getting colder and shorter, and I found Thorn Jack and its mystical and eerie vibes to be incredibly immersive even though it’s not a horror novel and there’s nothing overtly frightening about the story. What Katherine Harbour has done here is really cool; she has reinvented a legend and put it into a modern package while making sure to preserve all the beauty and magic and seduction.
YA Weekend: Walk on Earth a Stranger by Rae Carson
Posted on October 11, 2015 17 Comments
A review copy was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
Walk on Earth a Stranger by Rae Carson
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy
Series: Book 1 of The Gold Seer Trilogy
Publisher: Greenwillow (9/22/15)
Author Information: Website | Twitter
Mogsy’s Rating: 5 of 5 stars
From the very start, I had a feeling that Walk on Earth a Stranger would be just the book for me. I have a huge weakness for fantasy western settings and themes exploring wild frontiers, so a story set in Gold Rush-era America about a young woman trying to make her way to California sounded exactly like something I would enjoy.
Ahem. Then came several of my Goodreads friends’ reviews comparing it to The Oregon Trail.
Okay, hold up a second. The Oregon Trail? THE OREGON TRAIL?!! I loved that game growing up. I’m not ashamed to admit that I still dig it up to play every few years, just to relive the nostalgia. If this book lives up to even just a fraction of those descriptions, it was going to be awesome.
But the best has yet to come. Not long after I started this book, I was delighted to discover that In Walk on Earth a Stranger, the protagonist is a girl named Leah Westfall who has to take on the guise of a boy, becoming Lee McCauley in order to strike it out on her own cross-country.
Why, yes, the girl-disguised-as-boy trope happens to be one of my favorites, actually.
Perhaps my love for this book was a forgone conclusion, perhaps not. Regardless, I don’t hand out full marks lightly, especially when it comes to Young Adult fiction. Folks know I’m super picky about my YA. As I was reading, I was looking for other things to fall into place, because nothing frustrates me more than a great idea undermined by shoddy execution. This being my first book by Rae Carson, her writing and storytelling was also a big question mark to me so I had no idea what to expect.
As you can see though, I ended up enjoying every moment! I was also very impressed with Carson’s writing, so much so that I want to rush to add her other books to my TBR, post-haste.
Still, I’m not sure that I would enjoy anything as much as I did Walk on Earth a Stranger. True, this book features several themes I like, but it also deviates from a lot of YA conventions, which is probably another reason why I took to it so completely.
First of all, if you like a lot of magic in your fantasy, you’re not going to find much of it here. The only fantasy element in this book is Lee’s special power, her ability to sense gold around her. A most handy talent for someone with plans to head out west during the Gold Rush hoping to make their fortune, but it doesn’t come into play throughout much of the story, which mostly involves a lot of traveling. And traveling. And more traveling.
Which brings me to my second caveat. If you’re seeking action and excitement, a fast-paced plot to get your blood pumping in your veins, Walk on Earth a Stranger is not really that kind of story. It is a tale of survival, with as much focus on the emotional journey as the physical one. Let’s go back to The Oregon Trail comparison. You remember all the horrible things that could befall your company, right? You had everything from buffalo stampedes to little Mary has the measles. The point is, not every danger or threat is immediate; some, in truth, are pretty boring and routine. Doesn’t mean they still can’t kill you though, if you don’t have help. Thus, while brute force and personal determination might help get you to California, so too does the power of cooperation and forging lasting friendships. No, this book isn’t exactly a page-turner, but what you do get is your character development and meaningful relationships in spades. The people you meet in this book will become your family. Whenever good things happened to the characters, I couldn’t help but feel giddy with joy. And when they experienced tragedy, my heart ached along with theirs.
Third caveat: If you need a love story, you can forget it. While the slightest hint of lovey-dovey feelings are ever present between Lee and her best friend Jefferson, the romance is so slow-burning that it is virtually non-existent. Wait, you mean, there’s no unnecessary romantic drama to get in the way of the story? Perfect! Lee does end up feeling jealous towards another girl in their wagon train, but eventually the two of them actually become friends. I can’t tell you how refreshing that is, especially these days when it feels like every four out of five YA novels I read that has a female character who’s not the main protagonist, they inevitably become bitter enemies. It’s nice to see a potential rival end up an ally for a change.
Another nice thing about this book is that it can be read as a self-contained story. Of course, Rae Carson leaves plenty of breadcrumbs along this journey to pick up for the later books, but she’s not leaving us with any burning questions or an infuriating cliffhanger. Honestly, I don’t need any of those to want to read the sequel; a chance to spend more time with the wonderful characters I met in this book is already incentive enough for me. This is YA fiction done right, in my opinion, with a charming approach to history and just a light brush of fantasy. I loved it, and I want more like this.
Mogsy’s Bookshelf Roundup: Stacking the Shelves and Recent Reads
Posted on October 10, 2015 19 Comments
Bookshelf Roundup is a feature I do every other weekend similar to Stacking the Shelves where I talk about the new books I’ve added to my library or received for review, as well as what I plan to read soon. I also round up what I’ve finished reading and/or reviewed since the last update, and sometimes throw in stuff like reading challenge progress reports, book lists, and other random bookish thoughts or announcements.
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This came out of my fortune cookie last week when the family and I got Chinese takeout. Oh cookie, it was like you and I were meant to be. You were delicious too.
RECEIVED FOR REVIEW
Lots of surprises again this week, as I’ve been curbing review requests and the number of books I accept for review since the beginning of fall. One reason for this is because I’m gearing up for SciFiMonth, trying to catch up on personal reads and sci-fi titles already on my to-be-reviewed shelf. Also, after much consideration, I think I’m going to do it. I’m going to do NaNoWriMo again. So yeah, November will be a busy month. Regardless, there are certainly a couple of new discoveries and a lot of really cool books in this haul that I want to check out! My thanks to all the wonderful publishers and authors!
Bound ARCs/Finished Copies:
Ancillary Mercy by Ann Leckie – Paperback, with thanks to Orbit. This is the third book of the Imperial Radch trilogy which first began with the award-winning Ancillary Justice, a book I’m sure needs no introduction! Its arrival was an unexpected surprise since I had already received an audio review copy of the book last week, but I’ll be sure to enjoy both!
Luna: New Moon by Ian McDonald – Hardcover, with thanks to Tor. The only books I’ve read by Ian McDonald are from his young adult series Everness, but I love them to bits. I’ve seen this one compared to Game of Thrones, except we’re on the moon. I’m totally lining it up for Sci-fi Month, which should come as no surprise, so keep an eye out for a review in November.
An Apprentice to Elves by Sarah Monette and Elizabeth Bear – Hardcover, with thanks to Tor. This beautiful finished copy arrived last week, and I’m quite excited to dive into it. It’s technically the third book in a series, but the publicist let me know that it works perfectly fine as a stand alone and that it builds on the first two books, but has a different protagonist and is a fine place to jump into the story.
Gold Throne in Shadow by M.C. Planck and Rising Tide by Rajan Khanna – Paperbacks, with thanks to Pyr. Yay, more finished copies! Both are sequels of books I read last year, so I am in a good place to continue either series. I’m especially hyped to read Rising Tide later this fall because I love airships and a good zombie post-apocalypse.
The King’s Justice by Stephen R. Donaldson – Hardcover, with thanks to G.P. Putnam’s Sons. This one was a surprise arrival that made me very happy! It’s a two-novella collection by Stephen R. Donaldson of the Thomas Covenant series fame, though I haven’t read any of those books and was initially concerned that I wasn’t going to be able to read this without getting completely lost. Happily, I later learned that both stories are new and original, or at least it sounded that way, so this is going right onto my fall TBR.
Wolf by Wolf by Ryan Graudin – Print ARC, with thanks to Little, Brown Books for Young Readers via their NOVL program. This was pitched as “Code Name Verity meets Inglourious Basterds“, a YA alternate history novel about a teen who needs to win an epic motorcycle race across Europe and Asia in order to assassinate Hitler. Are you kidding me, that is like the most awesome premise ever.
A Song for Ella Grey by David Almond – Hardcover, with thanks to Delacorte Books for Young Readers. Occasionally I will receive unsolicited YA novels from Penguin Random House, and most of these I haven’t talked about in my Bookshelf Roundups because they are outside The BiblioSanctum’s scope in terms of genre. This time I’m pleased to feature A Song for Ella Grey though, a creative reimagining of the tragic tale of Orpheus and Eurydice. Wow! I always like to see more mythology-related retellings.
The Last Exodus by Paul Tassi – Paperback, with thanks to Talos. Skyhorse Publishing is generous as usual, surprising me with a copy of this book about an invasion that leaves Earth in ruins and a survivor who searches for his family in the aftermath of an intergalactic war.
Digital and Audio:
Star Wars: Battlefront: Twilight Company by Alexander Freed – eARC, with thanks to Del Rey via NetGalley. Some books I can’t resist requesting, like this one based on the upcoming Star Wars: Battlefront game (which I’m going to play the shit out of, by the way).
Revenge and the Wild by Michelle Modesto – eARC with thanks to Balzer + Bray. Another thing I can never resist is a good story with a fantasy western setting and Edelweiss was so kind as to indulge me.
Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo – Audiobook, with thanks to Audible Studios. I’m prepping this post mid-week, so by the time it goes live I hope to be well into this one. I have heard such amazing things about this book, and I have a weakness for stories that feature heists.
WHAT I’VE READ SINCE THE LAST UPDATE
It looks like a lot, but I actually indulged in several novellas this past fortnight, and they were super quick reads. I’m also falling behind on writing reviews, but I suppose that’s a good problem to have if it means I’m making some good progress on my to-read pile. Fall and winter are my catch-up months and so far I’m off to a great start.
Reviews:
Here are the reviews I’ve written and posted since the last update, gathered together and listed here for your convenience and viewing pleasure.
Illuminae by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff (4.5 of 5 stars)
The Last Witness by K.J. Parker (4 of 5 stars)
Shadows of Self by Brandon Sanderson (4 of 5 stars)
Reign of Iron by Angus Watson (4 of 5 stars)
Sunset Mantle by Alter S. Reiss (3.5 of 5 stars)
Swords and Scoundrels by Julia Knight (3.5 of 5 stars)
Last First Snow by Max Gladstone (3.5 of 5 stars)
Queen of Shadow by Sarah J. Maas (3.5 of 5 stars)
Bat out of Hell by Alan Gold
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Have you heard of or read any of the books featured this week? What caught your eye? Any new discoveries? Let me know if you plan to read any of these! Nothing makes me happier than sharing my love for books and I hope you found something interesting for a future read. Until next time, see you next Roundup! 🙂
~Mogsy/Steff~
Novella Review: The Last Witness by K.J. Parker
Posted on October 9, 2015 14 Comments
A review copy was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own. Any quotes contained within the review are from the advance copy and are subject to change.
The Last Witness by K.J. Parker
Genre: Fantasy
Series: Stand Alone
Publisher: Tor.com (10/6/15)
Author Information: Website
Mogsy’s Rating: 4 of 5 stars
I know I can be quite picky when it comes to short stories and novellas, and in fact there was a time in my life where I simply avoided them all together. I’m big on the immersive reading experience which is something longer novels are in a better position to provide, not to mention characters are also very important to me but it’s less likely I can connect to them when the story is over in a blink of an eye.
But every once in a while, along will come a novella that is so bizarre, so offbeat and so unlike anything I have ever read before, that somehow, against all the odds, it just…works.
The Last Witness by K. J. Parker is such a novella. Its protagonist and narrator is a man with a very special talent. He would be quick to tell you that it is not like mind-reading, not really. What he does is something much more fiddly and delicate. What he can do is enter your mind and take away your memories. A single one or all of them, it doesn’t matter; they would be transferred to his own mind, and it would be like you never had them.
That makes it sound a lot more clear-cut than it is, though. The reality is that things can get a little messy in our narrator’s mind, because all the memories he has ever taken, he retains along with his own. He’s holding so many that he’s not always sure which ones were taken from others and which one are actually his. As you can imagine, that has a profound effect on the narrative.
Also, what would you do if you had an ability like that? Would you use it for good or evil? Our protagonist, who appears to have a dark and mischievous side to him, has decided to let money decide that for him, selling his services to whoever might require them. His clients range from criminals who don’t want anyone to remember their crimes, to traumatized victims who want their bad memories wiped away. Either way, the point is nobody ever asks to get rid of their happy memories. So it’s always the violent, nasty, embarrassing, painful, shameful ones that he has to take away and into himself. And if you’re already someone who’s slightly unhinged, what do think adding that extra load to your psyche does to a person?
The result is a non-linear account of events told through the eyes of a protagonist whom you can’t really count on him to provide a credible narrative. You get also get a sense that he’s not altogether there, or that he’s a twisted guy deep down and all the memories he’s absorbed has only made him even more so. There are moments of clarity in the story, but most of the time you’re also kept guessing – are we still in the character’s present headspace, or are we in a memory? If we are in a memory, is it his or someone else’s? Is it a true memory, or just another “truth” he has created? Because that’s the thing: in addition to his ability to take a memory away, he can also plant seeds of doubt in someone’s mind. If you know someone has been in your head, would you trust what they saw in it? Even if you only half-believed, an innocent comment in passing can sprout into something bigger and change someone’s whole perspective. One of my favorite movies ever, Inception, plays upon this very idea. And our protagonist in The Last Witness, being somewhat of an ass, likes to screw with people the same way, having little to no respect for truths:
“Truth is like love; it’s universally lauded and admired, and most of the time it just causes pain and makes trouble for people.”
Who can blame him, though? To someone who can erase memory and knowledge and history so easily, no wonder truth feels overrated. When you read this, it’s best to brace yourself for a nice little romp through some wild and tangled territory.
I also want to mention that this is the first book I’ve ever read by this author under the name K.J. Parker, even though earlier this year I read a book by Tom Holt, the author behind the pseudonym. After reading The Last Witness, I can really believe the two are one and the same. Though it is completely different from his satirical work, there’s definitely the telltale thread of Holt’s sly and wicked sense of humor lurking beneath the surface. It is a nice, sweet treat.
By all rights I should have found The Last Witness unfulfilling, given the story’s disorganized structure and how impossible it was connect with the character and his haphazard perspective, but it ended up really resonating with me. It’s strange, but in the best way possible – just like this book! The story’s vision was incredible, and K.J. Parker made it work very well. This one gets my recommendation.
Tough Traveling: Creative Cursing
Posted on October 8, 2015 20 Comments
The Thursday feature “Tough Traveling” is the brainchild of Nathan of Review Barn, who has come up with the excellent idea of making a new list each week based on the most common tropes in fantasy, as seen in (and inspired by) The Tough Guide to Fantasyland by Diana Wynn Jones. Nathan has invited anyone who is interested to come play along, so be sure to check out the first link for more information.
This week’s tour topic is: Creative Cursing
New lands, new languages, new things to cuss out. Nobody in fantasyland cusses in quite the same way though; each world has its own way to yell at the world.
Wendy’s Picks
The sign of a good creative curse word is when it transcends its fictional world to become a part of my every day phrasing. Sometimse I’m calling someone a bosh’tet, other times I might be swearing on Andraste’s tits. More often than not, I’m alternating between these two darlings:
But no matter how many fraks I do or don’t give, cursing in fantasy is a fine art and one that great care should be given to when deciding your own fantastical curse words. N. K. Jemisin offers some excellent food for thought on the subject here.
“Goddamn it I hate the word “damn”. Because the instant I want to use it, I have to stop and consider a fantasy culture’s beliefs about the afterlife. Do they have a Bad Afterlife Place to which people can be damned? Who does this damning, and why? Why is being damned such a problem? ” ~N.K. Jemisin
Mogsy’s Picks:
For some reason, many of the picks I came up with this week are from science fiction. I guess that makes sense. Language is dynamic; it develops and evolves within cultures and societies. We curse differently than people did in the past, and future generations will in turn curse differently than we do now. In Dark Eden, the language drift is even more extreme, since their society grew out of a small founding population stranded on a planet. A lot of their curses involve the names of original two settlers, like “Angela’s tits!” or “Tom’s dick!”
The Grim Company by Luke Scull
To me, creative cursing can also be how you finesse your swear words. While Luke Scull isn’t really making up new curse words for his fantasy world, just using the ones we’re all familiar with, he does it in very colorful and creative ways: “Now get the fuck out of my sight before I shove this dagger so far up your dick eye it tickles the back of your throat with your balls.”
The Expanse by James S.A. Corey
Creative cursing can also be how you relate your world back to your swearing, I guess? In a sci-fi world you gotta cuss people out using some sci-fi related touches. Chrisjen Avasarala is the acting secretary-general of the United Nations and also a grandmotherly old lady who swears like a sailor, entertaining readers with memorable gems such as: “That man’s asshole must be tight enough right now to bend space.“
Crashing Heaven by Al Robertson
Honestly, it’s much easier to think of characters who curse creatively, rather than creative curses. After spending years in prison, protagonist Jack Forster is a soldier who returns home with two things: a reputation as a traitor, and a virtual puppet named Hugo Fist tethered to his mind. Fist mostly exists inside Jack’s head but can also be “pulled” out to manifest in a form similar to that of a ventriloquist dummy. It’s hard to reconcile the fact that such an innocuous-looking puppet can actually be a deadly weapon, with one hell of a potty-mouth on him to boot.
Everything by Chuck Wendig
The corn-related curses in The Heartland Trilogy. Miriam Black from Blackbirds. Reagan’s hacker speak from Zer0es. I was originally planning on writing out my comments for each one when it suddenly occurred to me, oh heck, why not just make it easier on myself and save some time? 😛
The BiblioSanctum 