The BiblioSanctum

Book Review: The Shadow Revolution by Clay Griffith and Susan Griffith

Posted on May 26, 2015 24 Comments

A review copy of this book was provided to me by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

The Shadow Revolution by Clay Griffith and Susan Griffith

Genre: Fantasy

Series: Book 1 of Crown & Key

Publisher: Del Rey (June 2, 2015)

Author Information: Website | Twitter

Mogsy’s Rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

If summer blockbuster action movies existed back in the Victorian era, they would look a lot like The Shadow Revolution. This book doesn’t mess around. It makes its goals very clear right from the beginning, and that is to stuff as much fun and excitement as it can into its three hundred or so pages.

Clay Griffith and Susan Griffith take readers on a wild ride through Victorian London in this feisty, ass-kicking adventure about magic and alchemy and werewolves and mad science. Spell-casting scribe Simon Archer and his mentor Nick Barker have an unfortunate run-in with a lycanthrope one night, and the hunt for it leads them to discover something bigger and so much more disturbing stirring within the city’s shadows. Meanwhile, the brilliant alchemist Kate Anstruther’s younger sister Imogen is snatched by a werewolf, prompting Kate to join forces with Simon, Nick, and a Scottish monster hunter named Malcolm in order to stage a daring rescue.

Being a fan of the authors, I was really excited when I first heard about this book. I saw the kind of magic the Griffiths worked with historical fiction, fantasy and adventure in their Vampire Empire series, and it looks like they’ve dialed things up even higher here for Crown & Key. This first installment wastes no time throwing readers into the thick of things, going straight for pure fast-paced and unadulterated fun. Sometimes it felt like the story only took breaks long enough to push things along, and then we’re plunging right back into the action again. As you’d expect, this makes for quite a page-turner.

Of course, this also makes the book a bit weaker in other areas, most notably in the character development and world building departments. That’s not to say these aspects are completely lacking, just that we get the minimum to satisfy the story and to care about our protagonists. In spite of this, I still found the characters fascinating and memorable, and a great air of intrigue permeates the setting. Simon Archer captured my attention with his roguish charm, and I loved Kate’s cleverness and stalwart determination. The story even leaves plenty of room for characters to grow and relationships to develop. Already I’m looking forward to finding out what secrets Nick might be hiding from Simon, or whether or not Kate and Imogen will ever be the same again, or how Malcolm will fit into the equation in future books.

So maybe it’s not a terribly deep or sophisticated experience, but so what? It’s not really meant to be. Entertainment value is what this novel is all about, complete with snappy dialogue, tons of throwaway violence and a sweet little romantic subplot. It’s fun as hell. The book and its two sequels following right on its heels will make the perfect 2015 summer beach reads for lovers of steampunk gaslamp fantasy and urban paranormal mysteries, count on it. The story might not stay with you for very long, it’s true, but you’ll definitely want to pick up the next book straight away and get right back into the world.

All told, The Shadow Revolution is an exciting introduction to a series that knows exactly what it wants to be, and it’s scarily good at what it does. If you’re willing to go with that, then you’ll probably enjoy this one as much as I did. I’m already excited to dive into book two, The Undying Legion. Highly recommended if you’re in the mood for something fast, pulpish and wicked cool to brighten up your day.

Teaser Tuesday & Top Ten Tuesday: Ten Books I Plan To Have In My Beach Bag This Summer or Ten Books I Think Make Great Beach Reads

Posted on May 26, 2015 13 Comments

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of A Daily Rhythm. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

Tiara’s Teaser

Page 1: "For my shield this day I call: Heaven’s might, Sun’s brightness, Moon’s whiteness, Fire’s glory, Lightning’s swiftness, Wind’s wildness, Ocean’s depth, Earth’s solidity, Rock’s immobility."

Mary Weber, Storm Siren

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 list 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 Books I Plan To Have In My Beach Bag This Summer or Ten Books I Think Make Great Beach Reads

Tiara’s Picks

The Prophecy Con by Patrick Weekes

I started this, and then, put it on the backburner for a bit as I tried to get through other audiobooks (and books in general) that I needed to finish first. This is the sequel to The Palace Job, which you know I’m a big fan of that book. However, I have some trips and things coming up for the summer with the family. This is exactly the kind of read that I’d take on the beach or listen to during a drive.

Meredith Against the Wind by Amanda Gale

A few of my friends have read this series and liked it, so I decided to give it a try. I read the first book Meredith Out of the Darkness a couple of months back. The story revolves around a teacher (and daughter to two emotionally distant, overachieving parents and sister to a brother who’s “disappointed” their parents by becoming a drifting painter rather than continuing the longstanding family tradition of being a teacher) named Meredith as she tries to piece her life back together after the death of her fiance. I really, really need to find out if a certain part of this story ever comes together because I’ll die if it just ends on that note.

Willful Child by Steven Erikson

And I quote: “These are the voyages of the starship, A.S.F. Willful Child. Its ongoing mission: to seek out strange new worlds on which to plant the Terran flag, to subjugate and if necessary obliterate new life life-forms, to boldly blow the…” How could I not read this? Humorous space opera? Always here for it.

I’ll Give You the Sun by Jandy Nelson

I recently bought this during Audible’s Deal of the Day. One of the narrators is Jesse Bernstein who I’m a fan of due to his readings of the Percy Jackson series, and the premise sounded interesting:

A brilliant, luminous story of first love, family, loss, and betrayal for fans of John Green, David Levithan, and Rainbow Rowell

Jude and her twin brother, Noah, are incredibly close. At thirteen, isolated Noah draws constantly and is falling in love with the charismatic boy next door, while daredevil Jude cliff-dives and wears red-red lipstick and does the talking for both of them. But three years later, Jude and Noah are barely speaking. Something has happened to wreck the twins in different and dramatic ways . . . until Jude meets a cocky, broken, beautiful boy, as well as someone else—an even more unpredictable new force in her life. The early years are Noah’s story to tell. The later years are Jude’s. What the twins don’t realize is that they each have only half the story, and if they could just find their way back to one another, they’d have a chance to remake their world

When Mystical Creatures Attack by Kathleen Founds

Do you see that cover? Do you? Tentacles and unicorns. It seems like it is probably relevant to my interests. Also this blurb:

In When Mystical Creatures Attack!, Ms. Freedman’s high school English class writes essays in which mystical creatures resolve the greatest sociopolitical problems of our time. Students include Janice Gibbs, “a feral child with excessive eyeliner and an anti-authoritarian complex that would be interesting were it not so ill-informed,” and Cody Splunk, an aspiring writer working on a time machine. Following a nervous breakdown, Ms. Freedman corresponds with Janice and Cody from an insane asylum run on the capitalist model of cognitive-behavioral therapy, where inmates practice water aerobics to rebuild their Psychiatric Credit Scores.

Seven Years by Dannika Dark

I was actually gifted this book as an audiobook and Kindle book by a friend who loves to feed that part of me that enjoys this kind of stuff (light paranormal romance). I’ll definitely be more in the mood for this kind of read now that it’s summer.

Outlander by Diana Gabaldon

Buddy read with my friends Monica and Sparkle. I’ve had this book for years and years and years. Still haven’t read it. I was thinking about watching the series soon, so I decided that I’d better started on reading this, too. My friend Monica will be reading this for the first time, as well. My friend Sparkle will be rereading and offering moral support (which means she’ll patiently let us flail at her).

Sourcery by Terry Pratchett

I know some people have recommended that I read these books in order, but I already had this book when some people started imploring that I read these as they were published. Part of the Rincewind series of these books. I’m buddy reading this series with my friend, Nick. This will be the third book that I’ve read by Pratchett. If I find myself confused or put off, I’ll definitely switch gears and read these in order.

The Girl Who Played with Fire by Stieg Larsson

Another buddy reading with my friend, Monica. We’ve watched the extended versions of the Swedish version of these movies on Netflix (Loved them!). We’ve watched the remade version with Daniel Craig. And, of course, we’ve read the first book together. Now, it’s time for us to read the second and third books together, especially in light of there now being a fourth book written by David Lagercrantz, which we haven’t decided if we’re going to read or not yet since Larsson’s partner has criticized the project and says that she has an unfinished manuscript for the next book in her possession.

Spotless by Camilla Monk

They had me at “A gentleman professional killer with a bad case of OCD and zero tolerance for unsorted laundry, March isn’t there to kill her…yet.” Sounds like a total fluffy, mysterious, summer read.

Audiobook Review: Corsair by James L. Cambias

Posted on May 25, 2015 20 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.

Corsair by James L. Cambias

Genre: Science Fiction

Series: Stand Alone

Publisher: Audible Inc. (May 5, 2015)

Author Information: Website

Mogsy’s Rating: 4 of 5 stars

Narrator: Victor Bevine | Length: 8 hrs and 9 min

I’m actually surprised at all middling ratings I’ve seen for Corsair, because I personally had a really good time with it. Maybe this is just one of those books that work better as an audiobook, the format I reviewed. I do seem to have much better luck listening to rather than reading science fiction novels that have a lot of technical jargon (an example I can think of is Andy Weir’s The Martian, which I ended up loving) so that might be a factor.

Still, all the same I found Corsair and its story of hackers, pirates, and space travel to be a hell lot of fun and relentlessly addictive.

Because, come on. SPACE PIRATES.

Our story follows the lives of two former friends who first crossed paths at MIT in the early 2020s. Elizabeth has a penchant for all things related to technology and space travel, studying to pursue her dreams of one day joining the Air Force after graduation. David Schwartz on the other hand is a brilliant hacker, whose transgressions gradually escalate from harmless pranks to more serious crimes. Too different to remain together, the two of them eventually part ways.

Skip forward to ten years later. One has become a high level intelligence officer, monitoring the activity of shipments to and from the moon to prevent space piracy and theft of the precious Helium3 mined there. The other has made a name for himself too by adopting his new cyber alias of Captain Black, Space Pirate to hack into military and mining operations systems, resulting in billions lost from stolen cargo. Elizabeth and David are locked in a battle of wits, and though neither of them can be sure of the other’s identity, both have their suspicions. Very soon, they will have their confrontation and ultimately might even end up on the same side again.

Fast, thrilling and entertaining, I’ve heard that Corsair is a lighter and more high-spirited offering from James L. Cambias compared to his previous work. This is my first book by him so I can’t judge, but certainly there were several points in here, particularly in the dialogue, which made me laugh out loud. I don’t know why, but I was surprised to see a bit of humor in this, and yet I can’t deny these little spikes of levity worked very well especially when they relieved the pressure in very tense moments.

The characters’ personalities also feel very genuine, and here perhaps the narrator deserves some kudos too. Victor Bevine injects the required charisma in his voice to bring them to life, making each person sound natural and like themselves. Elizabeth comes across as very straight-laced and technical, but easy to be around. David on the other hand is bombastic and bizarre, slightly tinged with that social awkwardness we’ve been led us to associate with genius. At the same time, the two of them are not static protagonists, even after both of them set off on their expected career paths. Ten years is a long time for people to change, and I love how Cambias decided to tackle Elizabeth and David’s Criminal vs. Law Enforcer dynamic, which is definitely not typical. It’s difficult to go into this without revealing more details and possible spoilers for the story, but suffice to say both character experience significant life changes that motivate them to see and do certain things differently than you’d expect, and the author makes it all sufficiently convincing.

Too much hard sci-fi generally turns me off so I was glad Corsair wasn’t too heavy on these elements, and yet neither was the story a cheap, throwaway experience. Simply put, I found this book to be just the right balance of sophisticated science fiction mixed with healthy dose of campiness and full-on thrills. After some of the reviews I’ve seen for this, I had my reservations, but I ended up liking this more than I expected. I’d like to check out the author’s other book now; even if it doesn’t strike the same tone, I would be curious to see if The Darkling Sea will grab me the same way.

Click below to hear a sample of the CORSAIR audiobook, narrated by Victor Bevine, courtesy of Audible.

Book Review: Where by Kit Reed

Posted on May 24, 2015 10 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.

Where by Kit Reed

Genre: Paranormal, Mystery

Series: Stand Alone

Publisher: Tor (May 12, 2015)

Author Information: Website | Twitter

Mogsy’s Rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

In a small island town on the coast of South Carolina, everyone disappears. The military, scientists, and media are all perplexed. Rewind back to a day before, when everything still seemed hunky-dory. There’s David Ribault, smarting over the arrival of a slick Northerner named Rawson Steele who has come blazing into town looking to buy up property. Davy returns that evening to the home he shares with his girlfriend Merrill, to find her and Rawson leaning close to each other on the porch, talking. Jealousies flare, tempers rise, and Davy and Merrill end up having a huge fight, ignoring the sage relationship advice of “never go to bed angry.”

It’s a decision that both of them will come to regret. Without waking Merrill or leaving a note, Davy wakes up in the dead of night for a meeting and confrontation outside the town with Rawson Steele. However, Steele ends up being a no-show. Morning has come by the time Davy decides to head back to the island, but it is already too late. Everyone in the village gone without a trace, including Merrill.

This mysterious and spooky scenario has the feel of a Stephen King story all over it, starting with an unexplainable paranormal event that disappears the entire population of Kraven Island, eventually culminating into an end with lots of panic, terror and paranoia. But that’s pretty much where my comparison ends, because Where is a very unique novel that does its own very unique thing. Kit Reed’s choice of writing style for this book is interesting, adopting an almost stream-of-consciousness narrative for most of it. Reed also makes a story decision that I personally find very bold, in that she shows both sides of the mystery and lets us see through the eyes of the missing. We get chapters from the perspectives of Merrill, her brother Ned, as well as their overbearing and unstable father, who along with all the townsfolk have been mysteriously whisked away to another plane of existence. Time moves differently in this strange new dimension, and the longer the missing are trapped, the more the feelings of helplessness and fear seem to warp their minds.

Where is a real head-trip, and it’s good at playing on readers’ fear of the unknown especially when it comes to unsolved mass disappearances. Its story even makes references to high-profile incidents like the Lost Colony of Roanoke as well as missing Malaysian Airlines Flight 370. Coverage of such incidents make a lot of us anxious and uncomfortable, particularly when they happen in more modern times when it really hits home that neither science nor technology can prevent or explain every case, and the book is written in a purposeful way to stir up all these unsettling emotions. Through Davy’s chapters I could feel his guilt and frustration, because sometimes not knowing can be even more painful than the truth. Through Merrill’s, I could feel the rising tensions and the collective fear ultimately becoming too much for everyone to bear. Throughout the novel there is a pervasive sense of eeriness that I really enjoyed.

As for where the book stumbles, the aforementioned quirks in the writing style could pose possible obstacles for readers; I personally found the 13-year-old Ned’s chapters very difficult to read because he uses bad grammar, bad punctuation and run-on sentences galore. Where is also a very short novel and I didn’t feel enough time was given to develop the characters or story. Someone like Merrill’s arrogant and power-hungry father was given an intriguing chapter where we were able to glimpse his very disturbed mind, but for the most part he came across like a caricature. I didn’t get a good feel for any of the characters which is a shame, because without the emotional connection in what should be a very emotional tale, this book falls a bit flat. The ending also came very abruptly, leaving me hanging on this mystery that doesn’t really offer a solution or much closure.

Still, right up until the ending, I was really enjoying this book. I wish the ultimate payoff could have been more satisfying, but I also can’t deny that for the most part Where is a very eerie and atmospheric novel. The build-up of tension alone makes this one a worthy read, and be prepared for some chills if you find you get spooked by unexplained phenomena or stories about strange mass disappearances.

Mogsy’s Bookshelf Roundup: New Books, Backlist, What I’ve Been Reading

Posted on May 23, 2015 22 Comments

Bookshelf Roundup is a feature I do every two weeks where I talk about the new books I’ve added to my library or received for review, what I plan to read soon, and what I’ve finished reading in the last fortnight.

Received for Review

The Price of Valor by Django Wexler – Print ARC, with thanks to Roc. Of course we have to kick things off this week with one of my most anticipated epic fantasy sequels of 2015! I was literally jumping up and down with excitement when this arrived and I can’t wait to read it.

Where by Kit Reed – Hardcover, with thanks to Tor. Described as “spooky, unsettling speculative fiction” set in a small coastal town, this one just sounded perfect for me.

The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemison – Print ARC, with thanks to Orbit. I was literally speechless when a mystery package arrived from Hachette and I opened it to find this book in it. Unless I manage to fit in The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms between now and August, this is gonna be my first book by N.K. Jemisin, you guys! I’m psyched. Plus, now that these are out in the world, it means that release date is final. No more delays for this book, whew.

The Gracekeepers by Kirsty Logan – Hardcover, with thanks to Crown Publishing and Blogging for Books. I was a little unsure about this one at first, since magical realism can be hit or miss with me. But the positive buzz and 5-star reviews like this one from Tammy at Books, Bones & Buffy have convinced me that I should give it a look!

The Rise of the Automated Aristocrats by Mark Hodder – Print ARC, with thanks to Pyr. An unexpected arrival, I have several books of this series from the publisher but thus far haven’t gotten the chance to read them yet. The covers and the titles for these books though are just so amazingly cool.

Corsair by James Cambias – Audiobook, with thanks to Audible Studios. A futuristic tale about two hackers embroiled in international space piracy, how cool does that sound? This one slipped by me when it was released, so I was very grateful to get the chance to review the audiobook.

The Pyre by David Hair – Paperback, with thanks to Jo Fletcher Books. I love what I’ve read so far of David Hair’s The Moontide Quartet so when I was offered The Pyre for review I immediately said yes. At about 350 pages and categorized as Young Adult, it is certainly a lot less bulky than his epic adult fantasy books.

Supersymmetry by David Walton – Print ARC, with thanks to Pyr. My plans to review the first book Superposition are still on for next month, so even though this was an unexpected arrival, I’m glad to know I’ll have this sequel on hand to jump right in.

The Trial of Intentions by Peter Orullian – Hardcover, with thanks to Tor. Like the first book, this one arrived on my doorstep as a surprise, and it is quite a hefty novel! I still need to make time to read The Unremembered, though I heard you can enjoy The Trial of Intentions without having read it. We’ll see, as I really want to read both at some point.

A Murder of Mages by Marshall Ryan Maresca – Digital ARC via NetGalley with thanks to DAW. I’m more excited to read this than I thought! I loved The Thorn of Dentonhill and can’t to see what this companion novel has to offer.

The Fold by Peter Clines – Hardcover, with thanks to Random House. I’d gotten an eARC of this already, but a very nice finished copy arrived last week. I’m a big fan of Peter Clines so I am absolutely going to read this one. Very soon.

Cocoon by David Saperstein – Paperback, with thanks to Talos. When this book showed up in the mail last week, it was a surprise on so many levels. Originally published in 1985, this is the latest reprint of the sci-fi novel that inspired the classic movie directed by Ron Howard (which I watched a loooong time ago, and after this book reminded me of it, man do I want to see it again now). I hope I can fit it in this summer; it looks like it could make a good beach read.

Other Shelf Additions

Vostok by Steve Alten – I won this from the Vostok blog tour giveaway, and after the reviews I’ve seen from Beauty in Ruins, Books Bones & Buffy, Space and Sorcery and others, I have to say I’m mighty curious about this bizarre and crazy sounding book!

Blackguards edited by J.M. Martin – This was an anthology I supported on Kickstarter and a couple weeks ago my hard copy backer reward finally arrived! It’s a ginormous book filled with stories from amazing authors whose books I’ve enjoyed like Michael J. Sullvian, Django Wexler, Carol Berg, Mark Lawrence, Mark Smylie, Anthony Ryan and so many more. As you can see, there are illustrations too and they are gorgeous! I have much love for these collections from Ragnarok Pub — in the past I’ve also backed and received Kaiju Rising as well as the more recent Genius Loci and already I’m excited for the next one they have planned, Mech: Age of Steel. (OMG A MECH STORY BY M.L. BRENNAN?!?!?! YESSSSSS.)

Back to the Backlist

I already have my book chosen for this month’s Backlist Burndown, but I’m looking ahead to June. I’m thinking an Urban Fantasy is in order, perhaps one of the three following Book 1s from series that I’ve been meaning to read for a long time:

So what shall it be? Rosemary and Rue by Seanan McGuire, Dead Witch Walking by Kim Harrison, or Skinwalker by Faith Hunter?

Books I’ve Read Since the Last Update

There’s been lots of activity in the inbox, but of course the outbox is full too. Keep an eye out for my reviews of these books in the coming weeks, and you can see my reviews for these books which are up already: The Hanged Man, The Shadow of Elysium, and When the Heavens Fall.

Have you heard of or read any of the books featured in this week? What looks interesting to you?

Tiara’s Bookish Bingo Update

Posted on May 23, 2015 7 Comments

Midway through the challenge. Pretty sure I’m not going to make all of them, but I’ll give it a valiant effort.

Completed

Dark Contemporary
Unravel by Calia Read
Tiara’s Rating: 2.5 of 5 stars – “Beautifully written for sure. Handled some very sensitive triggers in a way that didn’t make me completely rage. Still left me feeling a bit meh about it, though. HUGE TRIGGER WARNING ON THIS!”

Anthology or Collection
The A.I. Chronicles by Ellen Campbell
Tiara’s Rating: 3.5 of 5 stars – “An interesting exploration of the A.I. from various authors. Particularly enjoyed the stories that focused more on the philosophical/psychological question of the A.I. Check out my full review here.”

Thieves, Assassins, Pirates
Quicksilver by Neal Stephenson
Tiara’s Rating: 4 of 5 stars – “This was a very interesting science-fiction/historical fiction/alternate history read that featured characters like Isaac Newton, Benjamin Franklin, and Robert Hooke as their dabbling and often feuding in Natural Philosophy made way for the sciences we know today. A conflicted Puritan and Natural Philosopher is called back to England to help smooth things over with Newton and Gottfried Leibniz.”

Freebie
Absolutely True Lies by Rachel Stuhler
Tiara’s Rating: 3.5 of 5 stars – “I found the main character very likable and the romance well enough until they introduced one element. The ending left me a little WTF about the story because it made it very convoluted and had me asking why would you go through ALL this?”

Yellow Cover & Australian Author
The Shadow Master by Craig Cormick
Tiara’s Rating: ????? of 5 stars – “I have no idea. I don’t even know how to rate this book. And yeah, I know I cheated. Check out my full review here.”

Parental Relationships
A Blue So Dark by Holly Schindler
Tiara’s Rating: 3.5-4 of 5 stars – “A very heartfelt, painful look into the life of a teen struggling with her mother’s mental illness after her father leaves. I wanted to rate this book so much higher, and I seriously love it, but I had some issues with parts of it outside of the Aura and Grace’s relationship and how they dealt with Grace’s mental illness.”

I made a few changes on my bingo book card. Some of these changed because I suddenly had an ungodly influx of arcs to read, and I manipulated things a bit. The can be viewed behind the cut.

Book Review: When the Heavens Fall by Marc Turner

Posted on May 22, 2015 16 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.

When the Heavens Fall by Marc Turner

Genre: Fantasy

Series: Book 1 of The Chronicles of the Exile

Publisher: Tor (May 19, 2015)

Author Information: Website | Twitter

Mogsy’s Rating: 3 of 5 stars

Marc Turner’s When the Heavens Fall was a book that snuck quietly onto my radar earlier this year. I knew next to nothing about it beyond the official publisher’s description, and so as with most things shrouded in mystery, I was instantly intrigued and hoping it would score a surprise hit. In retrospect, my first impressions might have been different if I had kept my expectations more in line, but even after they were tempered I knew I probably wouldn’t be shelving this one under my favorites. That’s not to say it’s a bad book, because this is a very solid debut. However, some parts just didn’t work for me as well as it probably would for other readers.

At first glance, this seemed like your classic quest narrative. All the characters and events appeared to be linked to the theft of an extremely powerful and dangerous magical artifact called the Book of Lost Souls. Hidden long ago by the death god Shroud, a rogue mage called Mayot Mencada has since uncovered the tome and spirited it away deep into the Forest of Sighs. This sparks the beginning of the story for four different characters, each with their own agendas. Luker is a former Guardian who embarks on this journey to search not for the book but for his mentor, who was the last person to go after Mayot. Tasked to keep an eye on things is a priestess named Romany, whose patron goddess the Spider was the one who manipulated Mayot into stealing the book in the first place. Then there’s Ebon, heir to a kingdom on the edge of the Forest of Sighs, who is also plagued by voices of spirits in his head. And finally, there’s Parolla, a young woman who seeks entry into Shroud’s realm to settle an old debt with the Lord of the Dead himself.

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 o f 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:

The Godless by Ben Peek

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.

Antigoddess by Kendare Blake

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 Magicians by Lev Grossman

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.