Book Review: The Buried Life by Carrie Patel
Posted on May 21, 2015 12 Comments
The Buried Life by Carrie Patel
Book Source: Purchased
Genre: Gaslamp, Post-Apocalyptic
Series: Book 1 of the Recoletta Series
Publisher: Angry Robot (March 3, 2015)
Author Information: Website | Twitter
Tiara’s Rating: 3 of 5 stars
Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble
Hundreds of years ago, something happened that changed the course of humanity. An event, the Cataclysm, that isn’t talked about has driven humanity underground. They’ve regressed to a more Victorian style setting where modern technology no longer exists. History prior to the event has either been destroyed or is closely guarded by one of its directorates. People have become intensely private and secretive about their affairs. This story takes place in one such city called Recoletta.
The Buried Life introduces us to Inspector Liesl Malone and Inspector Rafe Sundar. Malone is a wizened inspector who has spent many years working on the force, and Rafe is her wide-eyed new partner. Among the most secretive of inhabitants are the “whitenails,” Recoletta’s crème de la crème. They are the aristocrats called white nails because they keep their nails clean and trimmed. However, when the murder of two whitenails fall on Malone and Sundar to investigate, they’re thrust in a guarded world where they’re regarded with suspicion and stonewalled. They’re given little recourse because the whitenails are held to a different standard than the ordinary citizens. Read More
Tough Traveling: Dead Gods
Posted on May 21, 2015 24 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: Dead Gods
Fantasyland had gods, right? And now they are dead. Dead Gods are not forgotten though, often they are still just influential to the land as they were when living.
Mogsy’s Picks:
Thousands of years ago, gods warred and after their conflict, the dead or dying ended up scattered across the world, becoming features of the land. Mirea is a city built by a massive stone wall that spans a mountain range which houses the body of one of these gods. Since then, people have awakened with spectacular powers that are derived from the fallen gods’ bodies.
Gods can’t die, right? Wrong. The Greek gods of old are dead or slowly dying, falling victims to the most horrific, bizarre fates. Demeter, goddess of harvest and fertility of the earth is being stretched across the earth to the point of ripping, Athena is experiencing impending death by way of random feathers sprouting in her body like a cancer, and Hermes’ is starving to death as his own body devours itself.
Preacher by Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon
The Saint of Killers is the Patron Saint of Murderers and Assassinations. Originally a Confederate soldier in the Civil War, when his wife and daughter fall ill he attempts to fetch medicine for them, only to be delayed by bandits. His family dies as a result. The Saint subsequently slaughters the bandits, but is himself killed in the conflict. After he learns that God arranged for his family to die in order to set him on the path towards Sainthood, he vows revenge. Not going to spoil the ending, but…well, you can guess.
Promise of Blood by Brian McClellan
Can’t really say much about the dead gods in this series without revealing spoilers, but know that there’s a pantheon of them whom a character kills and then steals their powers. More is revealed later on about the death and killing of gods, which becomes significant when the god Kresimir manifests in a body on earth and one of the protagonists, Taniel, tries to kill him at the end of the first book.
Three Parts Dead by Max Gladstone
This book begins with the murder of a god. After the fire god Kos dies, the city of Alt Coulumb starts falling apart as steam generators shut down and transportation stops running. The people begin to riot and tear the city apart, and its up to Tara, first year associate in the international necromantic firm of Kelethres, Albrecht, and Ao to resurrect Kos and stop the chaos and destruction.
City of Stairs by Robert Jackson Bennett
Years ago, magic was lost in the city of Bulikov, then known as the Seat of the World before the coming of a great Saypuri hero called the Kaj. Six gods known as the Divinities each had their own worshippers who lived by the rules and ideologies of the god they followed. After the Kaj killed the Divinities, Bulikov was devastated by an event known as the Blink, causing chunks of the city to disappear or warp and resulting in a section filled with giant staircases that went nowhere.
The magical world of Fillory is home to the twin ram gods Ember and Umber. Protagonist Quentin discovers a book belonging to Rupert Chatwin containing memoirs of his adventures in Fillory, including an account of how his older brother Martin Chatwin becomes more and more desperate as the gods turn their backs on him and stop sending for him. It is believed that Martin killed Umber a long time ago, after the angry young man manages to find his way back to Fillory.
The Grim Company by Luke Scull
The gods are dead. Five hundred years ago, the magelords and their magically enhanced troops led by the tyrant Salazar assaulted heaven itself and killed them all, becoming the rulers of the world. However, when the gods died, so did magic. What’s left of it is in the dying bodies of the magelords over which they fight each other to control, and it’s just unpleasant for all the ordinary people living under them in a state of poverty and neglect.
Tiara’s Picks
I’m not going to say all these gods are “technically” dead, so I took a little freedom there and defined it as not only dead, but just no longer walk the earth for various reasons. Some have just abandoned humanity to their fate for reasons unknown, usually speculation that humans have offended them in some way. They are gone, but not forgotten. And there’s a divide whether people believe they are dead or not in most cases. I tried to stay away from some of the more obvious choices (like A Song of Ice and Fire) since I’m sure I’ll be seeing them on many lists, so here are my picks.
Termana (The Dead Gods Trilogy by Richard Lee Byers) – On first glance, this might remind some of Dragon Age‘s elves predicament with their gods and beliefs, but it predates that by some years, though. A savage war between Titans and gods erupt, killing the elven god Termana in the war. Along with his death, elves lose much of their purpose including their immortality. One elf, a high priest to the god named Vladawen, seeks to bring him back. Resurrection, however, is never without its costs, but it may be worth it to bring back a dead god.
The Infinite – (The Tankborn Trilogy by Karen Sandler) – This is very much a science fiction book. However, there is a strong theistic backing to these books as well. GENs, the genetically altered humans (and slaves essentially), and trueborns, “pure” humans, both have a faith, but their belief system differs. GENs believe in a god who will reward them in the afterlife for serving humans well. Trueborns believe he’s dead and/or never existed. To say anything more would be to spoil the book. I imagine The Infinite to look like the Paragon (the one with the wings; in the foreground is a dervish that I’m going to pretend is Kayla from this novel, okay) in this Guild Wars picture:
How The Infinite appears in my head. Credit.
The Gods of Mt. Olympus (God of War by Sony) – Kratos, the Ghost of Sparta, is tasked with killing the god Ares. When he’s completed the deed, he is granted Ares’ power and becomes the new god of war. Some of the other gods decide they don’t like this much and decide to betray him. Kratos’ response to this madness? (I’m sure a good “THIS IS SPARTA!” joke should go here, but I’ll not try to be punny right now.) “You just bought yourself a metric fuckton of rage, son.” So, he decides to kill all the gods, and his god/demigods/mystical creatures count is going way up. You don’t just give a man known as The Ghost of Sparta, a man who already had anger issues, the powers of a war god and not expect him not to kill you with his bare hands. What I like about these novels/games is that they try to give an explanation about why these gods no longer exist… which is basically because Kratos turned all the way up to 199.99% badass (he was already 100% badass before that) and starting killing them like the epic beast of a man (or rather, god) he is.
The Giver (Acacia: The War with the Mein by David Anthony Durham) – The Giver is believed to have created all things including humans. However, the language he used to speak the world into existence was never meant to be used by mortal tongues. One human who was close to him did learn the language, though, but the human tongue is not meant to shape words that can destroy and create worlds. The Giver leaves the earth, leaving his creations to fend for themselves. The book that contains knowledge of his magic is hidden away, and with that, humans are left believing the magic and The Giver could be fake, especially the magic–since no one uses magic…
Enefa (The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms by N.K. Jemisin) – Before the start of this book, Enefa–the goddess of balance, life and death, dusk and dawn–is murdered many thousands years before. The other gods, aside from one, have become the slaves to their own creations. Enefa is was one one of the gods considered The Maelstrom, represented by three high level gods who have absolute power. The gods below them are actually their offspring and called godlings. They (the godlings) take on more traditional roles of having something they’re known for (such as being the goddess of war or the trickster god).
The Elven Pantheon (Dragon Age by BioWare) – A rather unique set of gods as they supposedly (there may or may not be evidence to prove otherwise) never walked the earth–or so the elves say. They call them the “creators,” but say that the gods themselves were created by something else. The gods gave gifts to the worlds. They are lost to them now, tricked by one of their own, betrayed by Fen’Harel ( the Dread Wolf). Even though no one is certain of their true fate, the elves believe they reside in a placed called the Fade (a dreamlike world) in the Eternal City there imprisoned not killed. However, some could, in fact, be dead if we go by some of the recent game/book lore. On that note, we have…
Shrine of Fen’Harel. Credit
The Maker and Andraste (DragonAge by Bioware) – The Maker is the human god who is believed to have turned away from them after his creations fell out of favor with him. However, Andraste, the most devout of his followers, his prophet, and his human bride pleaded for him to have mercy on humans. Her words shaped the beliefs humans hold for The Maker. However, after humans burned Andraste, he turned from the world again. The humans of Thedas believe he will not return to them, answers their prayers, or show them any favor until they have done something to regain his love and trust. The Chantry (the church basically) teaches that when the Chant of Light is sung in every part of the world, he will finally return and turn it into an eternal paradise. For now, however, his fate and existence is up in the air. Andraste while technically not a god is revered and worshiped as much as The Maker. She’s more of a Jesus Christ figure.
The Maker and Andraste. Credit
God (Silent Hill by Konami) – God in the Silent Hill games, comics, and novels isn’t quite like the God we know in our world. First, she’s always a woman. Second, she really is dead (or something like dead), but her followers try to resurrect her in a chosen female host. Third, she’s considered more of a sun god, even though her cult believes her to be the creator of all things. God, when possessing a host, is not lovable or benevolent. There’s belief she just may be a monster who takes a female body because women are seen as nurturers and inviting, even though God doesn’t even TRY to be any of those things even in a host. Even after having to fight her, you never really find out if she’s real or not. She’s just dead until she gets to her next host.
One depiction of God in Silent Hill. Credit.
The Six Human Gods (Guild Wars 2 by ArenaNet) – Originally, there were six original gods the humans worshipped in the books/games for Guild Wars. Dwayna (god of healing). Balthazar (god of war, fire, and courage). Melandru (goddess of nature, earth, and growth) Twins Lyss and Ilya who make up one god called Lyssa (goddesses of beauty, water and illusion). Grenth (god of darkness, death, and ice).
Kormir (goddess of order, spirit, and truth). Koromir is unique among these gods as she was a human who gained the powers of Abbadon who had been banished by the other gods because he started using his powers to corrupt. Koromir killed him and became the new goddess of knowledge. These gods have left humanity by the start of the second game for some 200+ years while wars between the races ravaged the land, but are still highly revered.
The Shrine of Koromir. Credit
Novella Review: Nightlife: Hazardous Materials by Matthew Quinn Martin
Posted on May 20, 2015 3 Comments
Nightlife: Hazardous Material by Matthew Quinn Martin
Genre: Horror, Supernatural, Paranormal
Series: Nightlife
Publisher: Pocket Star (May 11, 2015)
Author Info: matthewquinnmartin.com
Wendy’s Rating: 4 of 5 stars
With thanks to Matthew Quinn Martin and Pocket Books for the opportunity to read an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
I recently ready Harlan Ellison’s I Have No Mouth But I Must Scream. It’s a book about a crazy A.I. that traps a small group of humans within a chaotic, psychotic world, driving them all kinds of crazy with its mind games. I tried the video game based on the book, but quickly decided it wasn’t my cup of tea. Other video games from books that I will avoid at all costs: Polybius.
Nightlife: Hazardous Materials is a novella set in Martin’s supernatural horror world that we first saw in Nightlife (reviewed by Mogsy and I here). A prequel of sorts, and though seemingly unrelated beyond the title, there is at least one name readers of Nightlife might recognize. I had thought we’d see some of the scary monsters from Nightlife, but Hazardous Materials offers something far more frightening by subtly expanding his world well beyond monsters in the sewers.
It introduces the main protagonist, Jarrod Foster, a down on his luck young man scraping for cash with a job clearing out abandoned buildings no one else will touch. As he and his boss make their way through one such place, they discover a vintage arcade–the site of a mass shooting decades before. Martin intersperses news stories of other such shootings, grounding his work in reality, while slowly letting the creepy factor in, even before Jarrod finds the mysterious game called Polybius and falls under its spell.
I’ve always wanted to have an actual arcade system, but Hazardous Materials has made me think twice about that thanks to Martin’s ability to tease out a spine-tingling mystery that leaves me very much wanting to know how deeply the darkness of Martin’s urban horror world runs.
Comic Stack – 05/20/15
Posted on May 20, 2015 5 Comments
Veiled and Vile #1 by Samuel Lenn (writer), Glen Melnikov (illustrator)
Publisher: Rocketblast Comics (May 13, 2015)
Genre: Superheroes, Crime, Leading Ladies
Veiled and Vile’s description states: “In a world where only women have super powers, a group of female supervillains must band together and learn to cope with their personal demons in order to escape a supermax prison. Orange is the New Black meets Arkham Asylum.” The part about the world only having women with powers was the part the piqued my interest more than anything.
Not that I have anything against Orange is the New Black or Arkham Asylum, but my brain was thinking: “HOLY [BLEEP]! A WORLD WHERE ONLY THE WOMEN HAVE SUPER POWERS? WOMEN HEROES AND WOMEN VILLAINS CREATING CHAOS? OMG!” I admit I am excitable.
I’m surprised I hadn’t heard about this project sooner considering I had heard about and supported the Urbance project by the same creators, and I only happened to find out about this by chance while I was on Comixology lamenting my huge backlog of digital comics and that happened to pop up in their Comixology Submit section, which takes submissions from indie comic makers and puts them out there for the world to find. Well, I found them.
This comic introduces us to Lady Atomica, a super genius who has spent the last 15 years in prison after falling in love with a total nutcase named Dr. Metropolis. A short list of their crimes include making weapons measured in “apocalypses,” making Connecticut disappear into an alternate dimension, and trying to relive Hitler’s dream. Yeah, Lady Atomica’s husband was Nazi-obsessed. To her credit, out of all the bad things they’ve done, she does seem to be pretty ashamed of that fact.
Side note: It had to be Nazis, though, didn’t it? Nazis and zombies are probably two of my least favorite things in fiction with very few exceptions. While it wasn’t heavy-handed in this issue, I’m kind of hoping it doesn’t become a thing in later issues.
This books gives a little bit of Atomica’s background as a villain and then, quickly turns to her life in prison. Even though her power is more benign in nature, her sharpness of mind has landed her in a facility for metahumans. We’re introduced to women who can control fire, harness lightning, read minds, have superstrength, can control their hair as if it was another limb. You meet the core players of the story early, even if they don’t know they’re the players yet. And they are a fascinating, caustic bunch.
Readers also learn that the prison is going through some management changes which doesn’t sit well with the hero, Sovereign. He thinks the prison gives the ladies too many liberties, too many opportunities to mess up. While the warden argues that giving them responsibilities makes them productive. We’ll see who wins that argument in the end because, with these characters, I can see it going either way.
Speaking of Sovereign, one thing is not very clear to me at this point, and since this is only the first issue, this may be something that’s cleared up in the next issues. There is mention of a male villain, Lady Atomica’s husband (Dr. Metropolis, as I mentioned earlier), and a male hero, Sovereign. I was a little curious to their roles if only the women were supposed to be powered. Well, more so Sovereign’s role than Atomica’s husband’s role. Atomica’s husband sounds more like a mad genius type that got with his wife who is a super genius and together they made super crazy evil science happen. (However, it did look like he was flying in one panel, but gadgetry , maybe?)
Bucky…?
So, that really left me wondering about Sovereign. Does he have powers or is he like Batman/Iron Man, relying more on technology and inventions? I’m a little unsure of what to think there since he’s obviously some type of hero who seems to have some type of clout. He also wears a goofy outfit and say things like, “So, they can just swoop in here, big dick swinging….” You’re wearing a goofy outfit, dude. You’re not allowed to talk like that looking while looking like Bucky Barnes, okay. Actually, he reminds me of Homelander from The Boys:
About me. I mean… no, that’s terrible, Homelander!
Homelander is super-douchey superhero, so let’s hope Sovereign doesn’t turn out to really be a Homelander.
This was a fun comic. I expected maybe a little more from it than it delivered. I thought the story was a little hokey in places, but I love the concept and the characters so far. It’s solid as far as a first issue goes, and there were so many ways that this could’ve gone wrong. And this book is much better than some other first issues by seasoned vets. It’s interesting enough for me to think I might need to keep reading to where this is going. I’ll die happy if I get an all out meta ladies fight between the villains and heroes. I haven’t seen any lady heroes, but they have to be here, right?
Also, according to the Tumblr page for this project, there are plans to release audio dramas set to these comics, too. I haven’t had a chance to see if that’s come to fruition or if they’re still working on that, though. Maybe I’ll go on Tumblr and bug them about this a little bit.
Waiting on Wednesday 05/20/15
Posted on May 20, 2015 7 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:
Morning Star by Pierce Brown: Del Rey (January 5, 2016)
Hmm, how to describe how I felt after the ending of the last book? Now that’s a challenge. Probably torn between wanting to jump up and down with excitement versus punching someone in the face. I turned one of my good friends onto these books recently, and after he devoured Red Rising and Golden Son he learned to his dismay that Morning Star won’t be out until 2016. Of course he blames me, even though I share and understand his pain. I can’t wait for this book either. How’s Darrow going to get out of his latest mess?
“Red Rising thrilled readers and announced the presence of a talented new author. Golden Son totally changed the game and took the story of Darrow to the next level. Now comes the exhilarating conclusion to the Red Rising Trilogy: Morning Star.
Born a lowly Red in the mines of Mars, Darrow lost his beloved wife to the treacherous Gold overlords. Vowing to fight for the future that his wife believed in, Darrow joins a secret revolutionary group and is remade into a Gold so that he can infiltrate the ruling class and bring them down from the inside. Now, after years of hiding amongst the Golds, Darrow is finally ready to declare open revolution and throw off the chains of oppression. Nothing in Darrow’s world has been easily won, and this final fight will be the most harrowing of all.”
Book Review: The Shadow Master by Craig Cormick
Posted on May 19, 2015 13 Comments
Click cover be taken to the Goodreads page
Book Source: Purchased
Genre: Fantasy, Alternate History
Series: Book #1 of The Shadow Master
Publisher: Angry Robot (June 24, 2014)
Author Information: Website
Tiara’s Rating: ????? of 5 Stars (I don’t even know, man)
Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble
Two warring families prepare for war when the brother of one of the powerful households, the Medicis, is killed in the cathedral during religious ceremonies. The Medicis believe the culprits are long time rivals the Lorraines. On top of this, both households employ historical geniuses. The Medicis have Galileo and the Lorraines have Leonardo Da Vinci (not di Caprio, but they might as well). On top of that, the daughter of the Lorraines and the Galileo’s protégé, Lorenzo, are in love. So, we now have murder in the streets, assassinations, kidnappings, and an illicit love affair… Did I mention the Plague is happening, too? Yeah, that’s happening, but so far, they’ve been able to keep the Plague victims out of the city, but they’re piling up at the walled city’s gates. In other words, this had everything to be a good story. I love this kind of stuff. However, I don’t know how I really feel about this one.
I was approved to read the second book in this series, and I’m not one to just start a series anywhere. Some people can do it. I start hyperventilating when people start suggesting I skip first books or first games for that matter. I have a fairly lengthy story about how I became a PC gamer after years of being really only a console gamer. However, the first game in a series I wanted to play wasn’t available for Playstation (only Xbox and PC) at the time, and the rest is history. So, no, I rarely jump into books at any old book in the series. I like to have context, even if the books are more loosely related.
First of all, when I first started thinking about what I was going to rate this book, this was pretty much my reaction when I was trying to decide for this because, again, I don’t even know, man:
I mean, this wasn’t written badly, but there was just so much absurdity with flashes of brilliance that I wasn’t really sure what to even make of this book. And my God, the millions of euphemisms and passages that were literally like, “That was a metaphor,” (I totally understand metaphor and what the word means and implies, even bad ones). I wasn’t sure if he was being serious or if he was trying to be punny or what. I pretty much lost it at phrases like “mountains of the goddess,” “serpent of sin,” and “towers of ivory that include playing the bone flute.” And I was just mystified by passages like this:
“I will save Lucia because I love her.”
“You dare!” said the duke almost rising from the seat in indignation.
“Yes, I dare,” said Lorenzo softly, not meeting the Duke’s eyes.
“Yes, he dares,” said Cosimo, smiling at the way the youth had now unsettled the Duke.
It almost reminded me of the “Do you bite your thumb at us, sir?” scene from Romeo and Juliet, which makes complete sense since he opens this book with a quote from Romeo and Juliet. You can see the influence everywhere. Less amusing than Shakespeare, though, considering the thumb scene makes absolute sense in that play. This had me raising my eyebrows and giving it the same look I give my children when I am not amused.
I think maybe he was trying to be like those type of writers who can masterfully inject wry humor into their mostly serious stories, but it doesn’t fit together well. Maybe he was being perfectly serious with all this, though, and in that case, I have to say:
Second of all, Ezio Auditore da Firenze is not amused Shadow Master, Virgil, Beatrice, hooded dude, whatever you call yourself. You just took his game combined it with Romeo and Juliet and added a dash of Iron Man if he lived during some alternate Italian Renaissance era. I don’t think Ezio would like you. Ezio kills things he does not like, and The Shadow Master ain’t about that Creed life.
That’s Ezio not being amused with you right now, guy.
Those blades aren’t for your health either, dude.
I don’t know if many books have ever made me feel so confused and made me question my purpose in life more than this one. I love strange books, but it still needs to make sense in its own bizarre way, though. It would be easy if I could say I really hated it, I really loved it, or I was just “meh” about it. I don’t know how I even feel about this book except I didn’t really like the romance. I’m not a big fan of Romeo and Juliet type romances and most people seem to miss the bigger picture of Romeo and Juliet and think it’s some great romance we all should aspire to have. Spoiler: It’s not.
I really wanted to like this book. I mean, there are parts I really like for about the first 50% of the book, and then it’s like this book just completely lost its mind at that point, pushing me to the verge of insanity with it. All these things going on, none of it barely connecting or coming together to make any sense, and what is that ending? WHAT. IN. THE. ENTIRE. HELL. IS. THAT. ENDING?
At least I got to use an abundance of disgusted Jay-Z and Beyonce faces while I was tweeting about this book. That was the best part of this whole book.
“He would be docking in her harbour, as they liked to call it, when together this evening.” #amreading #books pic.twitter.com/UnpObyONZ8
— Champion of Aries (@digitaltempest) May 9, 2015
“…and the other took hold of his serpent of sin and held it up for the torturer.” #amreading #books pic.twitter.com/LtRTajG5MW
— Champion of Aries (@digitaltempest) May 9, 2015
Just go play Assassin’s Creed II (or read the wiki for it or watch it on YouTube if you can’t do games) because basically… I don’t know about this one, guys.
Please, God, don’t let the second book confuse me so. Please be kind to me. I did nothing to deserve such ruin.
(Yes, this is my official final rating.)
Other reviews of this series at the BiblioSanctum:
The Shadow Master (Reviewed by Mogsy)
Novella Review: The Shadow of Elysium by Django Wexler
Posted on May 18, 2015 15 Comments
A review copy of this book was provided to me by the publisher in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
The Shadow of Elysium by Django Wexler
Genre: Fantasy
Series: Book 2.5 of The Shadow Campaigns
Publisher: Intermix (May 19, 2015)
Author Information: Website | Twitter
Mogsy’s Rating: 4 of 5 stars
I’m not usually one to pick up novellas outside of a series’ main books, but for The Shadow Campaigns I’d gladly make an exception – which should give you a hint into how much I love this series. A couple of years ago when Django Wexler released the prequel short story The Penitent Damned for free, I snatched it up and read that one too. It introduced us to a young female thief named Alex who possesses a demon inside her that allows her to do some incredible things, giving her an edge over others in her trade.
Now Alex’s tale continues in The Shadow of Elysium, but it is told instead through the eyes of a young man named Abraham, a character who also has a demon inside him. The novella opens with the two of them in chains, traveling on a prisoner wagon to the fortress-city of Elysium to start a lonely and brutal life under the watchful eyes of the Priests of the Black. Every other chapter we get a glimpse into Abraham’s past as he tells of his life growing up in a remote village, the day he discovers his demon and the healing powers it grants him, and the events that led up to his arrest. Eventually things converge into the present, and Abraham has decided to stage a daring breakout. But then, there’s his fellow captive Alex. The young woman’s abilities are a mystery to him, but he has no doubt that they must be dangerous if the guards feel the need to keep her sedated at almost all hours of the day – which means she could be their greatest chance for escape.
The Shadow of Elysium can be read and enjoyed as a stand-alone, no prior experience with The Shadow Campaigns series is required since these characters and events are completely apart from the main story. You don’t even need to have read The Penitent Damned. It’s a great place for new readers to jump on board but also a wonderful experience for fans of the series because it adds so much in terms of world building. This novella’s main focus is Abraham anyhow, a deeply personal tale that does a way better job exploring a protagonist than most short fiction I’ve ever read. We’ve not seen first person narration used in this series until now, but it works extraordinarily well for Abraham’s story and it was probably the foremost reason I took to him so quickly in just a handful of pages. A lot of short stories and novellas have disappointed me in the past because they don’t leave much room for character development (which is why I typically avoid them), but this isn’t a problem here. In fact, I find the storytelling well-paced and very balanced.
Now I realize complaining that a novella is too short is a bit like complaining that ice cream is too sweet, so I’m not going to do it here; but I do, however, want to say I wished it hadn’t ended so abruptly. It was a deflating moment when I turned the page with excitement expecting another chapter to see what became of Abraham and Alex, to discover that the remaining 25% of the book or so was actually a preview for the third novel of the series The Price of Valor. To Wexler’s credit though, he definitely made me want more. And considering how I’ve been looking forward to The Price of Valor for almost a year now, I certainly couldn’t remain glum for long.
What else can I say but if you haven’t picked up The Thousand Names yet, what in the hells are you waiting for, go out and get it, go out and get it NOW! But okay, if you’re still on the fence and not sure if you want to take the plunge into yet another epic fantasy series (I understand, as they do demand a lot of your time), I urge you to check out The Shadow of Elysium. Like The Penitent Damned, it serves as a fantastic introduction to Wexler’s writing and gives a taste of what The Shadow Campaigns has to offer, and it’s an even better novella. A wonderful place to get started.
More of The Shadow Campaigns on the BiblioSanctum:
Review of The Thousand Names (Book 1) | Review of The Shadow Throne (Book 2) | Guest Post by Django Wexler
Book Review: Uprooted by Naomi Novik
Posted on May 18, 2015 31 Comments
A review copy of this book was provided to me by the publisher in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
Genre: Fantasy
Series: Stand Alone/Book 1
Publisher: Del Rey (May 19, 2015)
Author Information: Website | Twitter
Mogsy’s Rating: 4.5 of 5 stars
I was excited when I learned that Naomi Novik would be writing a new fantasy novel “rooted in folk stories and legends” in the vein of Grimm Fairy Tales, and even more excited now that I’ve read it and the book has exceeded all my expectations. I’m already a fan of Novik’s from reading her Temeraire series, but not only is Uprooted quite a departure, the change is also like an exhilarating breath of fresh air.
The story of Uprooted is simply spellbinding, with magical elements and traditional Polish fairy tale influences, all superbly woven into the fabric of the narrative. We begin with an introduction to our protagonist Agnieszka, just another simple girl from yet another simple village, but the bucolic setting belies something more sinister lurking beneath the surface. Surrounding Agnieszka’s valley home is the ever encroaching Wood, a forest filled with dark energies and spirits, whose corrupting force has trapped and stolen the lives and minds of many.
Every so often, the wizard in the tower will descend to the valley and work up powerful spells to drive away the malicious effects of the Wood. Cold and aloof, this sorcerer also known as the Dragon helps the villagers keep the evil at bay, but also exacts a steep price: every ten years, he chooses one young woman and takes her away to live in his tower until she is released and the next choosing begins again. No one really knows why he takes the girls, but there is speculation of course, and none of it is good. Agnieszka will be up for the choosing this year, but the villagers already know that the Dragon will take bright, bold and beautiful Kasia, Agnieszka’s best friend who exemplifies everything the wizard looks for. So it was a shock to everyone, most of all to Agnieszka herself, when the Dragon ends up passing over Kasia and chooses our poor, discombobulated protagonist instead.
Book Review: The Dragons of Dorcastle by Jack Campbell
Posted on May 17, 2015 8 Comments
A review copy of this book was provided to me by the publisher in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
The Dragons of Dorcastle by Jack Campbell
Genre: Fantasy, Steampunk
Series: Book 1 of The Pillars of Reality
Publisher: Jabberwocky Literary Agency (Ebook: April 3, 2015)
Author Information: Website | Twitter
Mogsy’s Rating: 3.5 of 5 stars
Boy is a Mage, brought up on lessons about the power of illusions, taught that reality is a sham and that people are shadows – and oh, no matter what you do, do NOT trust those lying, stinking Mechanics.
Girl is a Mechanic, a master of logic and equations who prides herself on the fact that no machine is beyond her abilities to fix, and of course, Mechanics are just so much better than those useless Mages.
Then boy meets girl. Everything changes. Alain and Mari come together after their caravan is destroyed by bandits, only managing to survive the treacherous journey back to civilization with each other’s help. They begin to discover just how much their Guild elders have kept from them, secrets and misconceptions that have been keeping the Mage-Mechanical rivalry alive for all these hundreds of years.
Then the power of Foresight unexpectedly comes to Alain. He learns something that Mari doesn’t know – that she is in fact the prophesied chosen one who will unite the two great guilds and save the world. As the two are sent to Dorcastle amidst rumors of uncontrolled dragons and sabotage, Alain can hardly begin to describe the way he feels for Mari, but he does know staying away from her as his masters had ordered is not an option.
The Dragons of Dorcastle is a sweet little story about the serendipitous partnership between two people from different divides, who end up realizing they were wrong about everything they thought they knew about the other. I’d never read anything by John G. Hemry AKA Jack Campbell before, though I do know a bit about his military sci-fi Lost Fleet series, which I can’t imagine can be any more different than this book, a Young Adult-ish fantasy and steampunk romance.
Surprisingly though, this was very good. A little standard, perhaps, and playing a bit too safe when it comes to ideas. However, seeing as this book was originally written to be an audiobook exclusive for Audible Studios, it wouldn’t surprise me if a fun and practical story like this – intended to appeal to a wider and more general audience – was a conscious decision. And it was probably the right decision; I can see it being the perfect choice for anyone in the mood for an entertaining and light read looking to pass the time, though it’s possible that diehard genre readers may be left unsatisfied.
But hey, here be dragons. Well, okay, maybe not exactly. I don’t actually hold this against the book, but I think it’s worth mentioning anyhow that I find the title a bit misleading. There’s some dragon activity for sure, though it doesn’t come until very late in the book, and relatively briefly. Relating this to my thoughts above, I can’t help but to think the name was another clever move to boost appeal. Granted, the story does present a rather intriguing mystery about the dragons at the end, so even though they aren’t the center of attention, we are left with some major dragon-related questions to ponder and there’s no doubt they will play a bigger role in the next book.
Perhaps the novel’s greatest strength is its focus the characters. Most of the book is spent developing the relationship between Alain and Mari, even when the two aren’t even in the same scene. We’re in their heads all the time, experiencing their thoughts and emotions as contemplate the other. The narrative does an especially good job with Alain, whose capacity for emotions has been all but stripped by the Mage guild. The way I looked at the situation, it’s actually a lot like reading about Spock falling in love. That is to say, it’s no easy feat. The author deserves my admiration for pulling it off.
Let’s face it, too: I’m a sucker for Forbidden Love. Despite being YA and the style of prose leaning towards younger audiences, I really enjoyed the delightful romance blooming between Alain and Mari. It’s a relationship I find more “cute” than “passionate”, but nonetheless it worked surprisingly well for me.
In the end, The Dragons of Dorcastle is not a terribly original or noteworthy book, but I really liked it. Its down-to-earth style, entertainment value, and wonderful characters made it very hard for me to resist its charms. All told, a very good book to just curl up and relax with.
The BiblioSanctum 