Waiting on Wednesday 04/22/15
Posted on April 22, 2015 13 Comments
“Waiting On Wednesday” is a weekly meme hosted by Breaking the Spine that lets us feature upcoming releases that we can’t wait to get our hands on!
Mogsy’s Pick:
A Murder of Mages by Marshall Ryan Maresca: July 7, 2015 (DAW)
When I first saw this, I thought it was the sequel to The Thorn of Dentonhill. On closer inspection, it actually appears to be a companion series, called the novels of The Maradaine Constabulary, set in the same world but different neighborhood of the city and also starring different characters. Since one of the things I liked most about The Thorn of Dentonhill was the setting and its world building, I’m thrilled that Marshall Ryan Maresca is expanding it, though with two Maradaine series going, I imagine he’s going to be quite busy!
“A Murder of Mages marks the debut of Marshall Ryan Maresca’s novels of The Maradaine Constabulary, his second series set amid the bustling streets and crime-ridden districts of the exotic city called Maradaine. A Murder of Mages introduces us to this spellbinding port city as seen through the eyes of the people who strive to maintain law and order, the hardworking men and women of the Maradaine Constabulary.
Satrine Rainey—former street rat, ex-spy, mother of two, and wife to a Constabulary Inspector who lies on the edge of death, injured in the line of duty—has been forced to fake her way into the post of Constabulary Inspector to support her family.
Minox Welling is a brilliant, unorthodox Inspector and an Uncircled mage—almost a crime in itself. Nicknamed “the jinx” because of the misfortunes that seem to befall anyone around him, Minox has been partnered with Satrine because no one else will work with either of them.
Their first case together—the ritual murder of a Circled mage— sends Satrine back to the streets she grew up on and brings Minox face-to-face with mage politics he’s desperate to avoid. As the body count rises, Satrine and Minox must race to catch the killer before their own secrets are exposed and they, too, become targets.”
Book Review: The Gabble and Other Stories by Neal Asher
Posted on April 21, 2015 9 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 Gabble and Other Stories by Neal Asher
Genre: Science Fiction, Anthology
Series: Polity
Publisher: Night Shade (Paperback: February 3, 2015)
Author Information: Website | Twitter
Mogsy’s Rating: 3.5 of 5 stars (overall)
The Gabble and Other Stories is a collection of short fiction set in the universe of the Polity series by Neal Asher. I’ve been curious about his books for a long time now, especially since his work has been described as being close to Splatterpunk, a sub-genre often characterized by its depiction of gory graphic violence, fast-paced action, and a tendency to push the boundaries especially in horror-themed sci-fi.
I was not disappointed! Indeed, The Gabble ended up being a lot of fun and I enjoyed a lot of the stories in here. Being an anthology, I also went with the assumption that this book would work well as a stand-alone read, and thus a good place to jump on board. I think for the most part my instinct was correct, though I do have more to add to this. I will go into the details below in my in-depth analysis of each story, but I did notice a couple trends in my overall experience:
1) My favorite stories tended to be shorter ones, while the longer novelettes are perhaps too steeped in the Polity lore for me to get into as easily.
2) If the main focus of a story is aliens or alien culture, there’s a good chance I loved it!
Cover Reveal: Binary by Stephanie Saulter
Posted on April 20, 2015 6 Comments
I’ve always enjoyed the minimalist UK cover designs of the ®Evolution books by Stephanie Saulter, but GOOD GOD the US versions are just STUNNING. My jaw dropped last year when Quercus showed off the US cover of Gemsigns and now I find myself floored again when they shared with me the US edition of the sequel, Binary.
I’m very pleased to participate in the reveal today. With its poignant commentary on society and incredible insight into what it means to be human, Gemsigns was one of the top sci-fi novels I read last year. Binary promises to be all that and more, and this cover is actually an allusion to my most absolute favorite scene from the first book — but that’s all I’ll say about that, no spoiling the best part!
Here’s the cover, tell me your thoughts!
Zavcka Klist is no longer the ruthless gemtech enforcer determined to keep the gems enslaved she once was. She’s now all about transparency and sharing the fruits of Bel’Natur’s research to help gems and norms alike.
Or is she?
Neither Aryel Morningstar nor Dr. Eli Walker are convinced by this change, but the gems have problems that only a gemtech can solve. In exchange for their help, digital savant Herran agrees to work on Klist’s latest project: reviving the science that drove mankind to the brink of extinction.
Then confiscated genestock disappears from a secure government facility, and the more Detective Varsi investigates, the closer she comes to the dark heart of Bel’Natur and what Zavcka Klist is really after—not to mention the secrets of Aryel Morningstar’s own past.
It’s a powerful cover. Personally I love the eye-catching color theme (you really can’t go wrong with yellow, if you want something to jump out at your from the shelf). Can’t wait to read it. Binary is set to be released May 5, 2015 in the US.
Book Review: The Grace of Kings by Ken Liu
Posted on April 20, 2015 35 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: Book 1 of The Dandelion Dynasty
Publisher: Saga Press (April 7, 2015)
Author Information: Website | Twitter
Mogsy’s Rating: 5 of 5 stars
I was never a really good student of history. But my family background being Chinese, I’ve always been taught to embrace my heritage. I grew up listening and adoring the history and legendary tales of Ancient China told to me by my parents and grandparents, who have learned these things themselves when they were children. My great uncle was also fond of watching old Wuxia operas and historical dramas, and he used to record these and leave the tapes at our house for the curious and unsuspecting adolescent me to find. They were…interesting.
It might seem like I’m zipping off on a tangent here, but really, I’m trying my best to explain why I loved this book so much. I read The Grace of Kings with a strange mixture of emotions I’ve never experienced before while reading anything else in my life. It was part giddiness at the familiarity of the topic; the fall of the Qin Dynasty and the subsequent rise of the Han Dynasty being such an important and tumultuous period in China’s classical age, it was instantly recognizable that this interregnum was what Ken Liu was basing his story on. I was like, “Oh, I think I know the story or legend that inspired this scene/character/event, etc.” pretty much every few chapters.
I was also very moved, and I struggle to find the words to explain this. In essence, seeing what the author has done here – taking these snippets of legends and tales from history that I’ve grown up with and incorporating into this novel, forming this wondrous piece of literature – at times it was too much to take. Many of the side stories in The Grace of Kings had the feel and atmosphere of the old anecdotes my elders shared with me when I was younger. At times I got so sentimental that I was nearly moved to tears. It’s also a beautiful book. Anyway, personal aside over. I don’t usually get sappy in my reviews, but I just don’t know how else to describe how much reading this novel affected me. I saw Ken Liu take a historical narrative that I know and love, and transform it into this gorgeous work of art.
Graphic Novel Review Bites: Zombies and Clockworks and Big Bangs
Posted on April 19, 2015 3 Comments
Rachel Rising, Volume 1: The Shadow of Death
The beauty of a comic book that remembers its a comic book meant to tell a story through its images more than its words. The first few pages of this book are silent, following a mysterious woman who claws herself out of a ditch and makes her way home, and eventually comes to realize that she is dead, though she does not know who killed her or why.
Rachel’s mystery is encompassed by a strange woman with powers of murderous persuasion, and friends and family who are not quite sure what to do with their undead companion who seems quite normal save for her those eyes.
I am one of the few people, apparently, who didn’t care much for Terry Moore’s Strangers in Paradise series, but the mystery of Rachel’s brutal death and those involved is definitely enticing…
Dead to the World by Chris Roberson
I didn’t know about this comic series until I learned about the TV show, of which I have now watched the first episode. The show definitely has potential, featuring a young woman, Liv, inexplicably caught up in a zombie infection, now working at a morgue to get her brain fix, and helping to solve crimes by tapping into the memories of those brains upon which she munches. The latter, as well as the zombie part, are where the comparisons between source and show end. Liv isn’t even Liv in the comic, she’s Gwen, a zombie that works as a gravedigger, eating brains once a month, and hanging out with her ghost and wereterrier friends in a town that could well be Sunnydale, thanks to all the supernatural beings around. But Gwen is no slayer. That’s where the monster hunters come in, one of whom Gwen is attracted to. There is also murder and mystery to solve, as Gwen learns from eating the brains of a man who appears to have been murdered by a mummy.
This is a quirky read, but not a particularly engrossing one. There are a lot of interesting and amusing things happening in Gwen’s little town, and the cast of characters has potential. This might be just the right book for someone looking to relive Buffy’s glory days, but I’ve long since moved on from that kind of stuff.
The Bigger Bang by Vassilis Gogtzilas
With thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.
The earth was created in a big bang and destroyed in a bigger one. The being that was born in the latter lives with the guilt of our destruction, and uses his vast powers to save other planets from such a fate, but no matter what Cosmos does, the people fear him. Meanwhile, a despotic, tentacled king wants to rule the universe and believes Cosmos to be the key to his undoing or his success, depending on how he can sway the PR campaign.
There is some cute, snarky humour in this story, and a bittersweet exploration of acceptance, as told mainly through an unexpected friendship between Cosmos and the king’s number one enforcer. There is so much potential in this, but unfortunately, things start to fall apart half way through the book when the story goes exactly where you expect it to.
The artistic style is kind of chaotic in its sketchiness, which is something I appreciate, however, at times, it becomes too “messy,” making it difficult to follow along with the story it is trying to tell.
Hinges: Book 1 Clockwork City by Meredith McClaren
With thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.
Hinges is a webcomic that, thanks to a Kickstarter, is now collected here.
There is an manga feel to McClaren’s art–the obvious being the large eyes and slim bodies, but also in the stark black and white and the shades of gray, and in the silence of many of the panels. This is what drew me to the book. I am fond of graphic novels that do not rely on words so much to tell their story, and I like artists who can be powerfully expressive through monotones. McClaren’s art is “cute,” but you can’t get away from the subtle, spine-tingly creepiness of her clockwork world.
Not a lot seemingly goes on within the pages of this first book, but McClaren’s web is enticing, luring me in with the mystery of the town of Cobble and Orio’s impish partner, Bauble. The story begins with Orio’s arrival in Cobble, where she is introduced to their strict rules. This is a clockwork town, after all, so everything must run like, well, clockwork. But when Bauble chooses Orio, and when Orio is later unable to find her place within society, you know that things are not going to go as smoothly as Margo, the town’s organizer, expects them to. But where will things go? That is the question that I am left with and I definitely want to find out the answer.
YA Weekend: The Novice by Taran Matharu
Posted on April 18, 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.
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy
Series: Book 1 of Summoner
Publisher: Feiwel and Friends (May 5, 2015)
Author Information: Website | Twitter
Mogsy’s Rating: 3.5 of 5 stars
I don’t know what it is, but something about this book totally appealed to me. One would think I’d have had enough of elves and dwarves and orcs by now, but then I tried to remember the last time I read a Young Adult novel set in a world like this, and it actually made me realized just how refreshingly different it is from the sort of YA I’ve been reading lately. It’s free of a lot of the usual tropes, anyway. Plus, something about the storytelling just gives off this down-to-earth and easygoing vibe. It feels like the author wrote this book from his heart, to have fun, not to hit up all the items on some imaginary checklist of what makes a YA novel successful. In fact, I read somewhere that The Novice began life as a personal NaNoWriMo project, and that doesn’t surprise me at all.
Q&A with Kristen Painter + GIVEAWAY of the Crescent City Series
Posted on April 17, 2015 4 Comments
*** The giveaway is now over, thanks to everyone who entered! ***
You may recall my descriptions of magical unique fae, the never-ending party atmosphere of New Orleans, and other wondrous things in my reviews for House of the Rising Sun and City of Eternal Night, the first two books of the Crescent City series. Now with the third book Garden of Dreams and Desires just released and all lined up on my to-read list, I’m pleased to bring you a behind-the-scenes look at Crescent City with an interview with the author!
Please join me in welcoming Kristen Painter to the blog, and I hope you enjoy the Q&A.
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Hi Kristen, welcome to The BiblioSanctum!
Kristen: Thanks! Glad to be here.
Thanks for joining us today, and congrats on the release of Crescent City book three, Garden of Dreams and Desires. I’m really enjoying the series so far, so I would really love to ask you a few questions about it. To start off, how would you describe it to readers?
Kristen: A fae-focused urban fantasy series set in a slightly futuristic New Orleans. With kissing. And death.
Actually, when I first picked up the first book House of the Rising Sun I had no idea it was a spin-off from your House of Comarré series, but I really liked how I was able to jump right in! I’ve always wondered how the two series relate to each other. Can you talk a bit about that, and what made you choose Augustine as your protagonist for Crescent City?
Kristen: The two series are set in the same world and there are some crossover characters. But the two series can definitely be read separately.
The reason I choose Augustine as my new protag is simple – he wouldn’t stop talking to me. He was just one of those secondary characters that leapt off the page and I wanted to give him the spotlight. And find him a nice girl to settle down with.
The characters go through a lot over the course of this series. Augustine went from carefree partygoer to becoming Guardian, and Harlow started off sheltered and naïve but quickly learned some pretty tough lessons. What were some of the challenges writing your two protagonists?
Kristen: Augustine wasn’t a challenge – I could have written more books with him. But Harlow, in the beginning, was tough. She was difficult and prickly and unlikeable, something beta readers really stuck on, so I had to dial her back.
What made you choose New Orleans as the setting for this series?
Kristen: I love the city and have spent a lot of time there. It’s a place that always feels layered and rich and mysterious. I knew some day I’d explore it in a series, so it was just a matter of time.
The story takes place in the future too, so your world has advanced technology mixed with old Fae magic. What was the driving force behind this idea?
Kristen: I wanted to show that despite some change, the world wasn’t that different. More in turmoil, maybe, but that tech advances hadn’t really made life that much better. In fact, in some ways, the divides between the haves and the have nots have only increased.
Blood Rights, Book 1 of House of Comarré
What do you love about writing Urban Fantasy?
Kristen: Anything is possible. Anything. It’s a fabulously wide arena.
Did you always want to be a writer? Which books or authors have influenced you the most?
Kristen: Not always. I originally wanted to be a chemist (don’t ask) then a chef. But I have always written and read voraciously. I don’t think I can pinpoint one book or one author as a main influence, there have been too many, but I can say that comics, which I have also always loved, have definitely shaped my writer’s brain.
When you’re not writing, what do you like to do to relax or have fun?
Kristen: What is this not writing that you speak of? Seriously, I write a lot. But I also love to read, cook, play mindless computer games and watch good tv and movies. Napping is way up there too. Naps are totally underrated.
I’ve heard that Crescent City was meant to be a trilogy, but do you think you might revisit some of these characters again in more spin-offs or stories set in this universe? Any projects you’re working on currently or in the near future, either writing or non-writing related?
Kristen: It wasn’t meant to be a trilogy, actually, but my publisher wasn’t interested in more, so that’s where it stopped. (I had two more planned.) I don’t know if I’ll go back to this world. Really depends what my readers want and what my time allows.
Future projects include a brand new paranormal romance series I’ll be launching this summer! I’m super excited about it. It’s set in a very fun world with very fun characters and writing it has been a blast. Once that’s up and running, I may dip my toe back into UF.
Non-writing related projects include keeping my husband from adopting a seventh cat. It’s an ongoing struggle.
Really appreciate your time, Kristen! Thank you again for doing this Q&A with me!
Kristen: Thanks for having me, it’s been fun!
*** For more information about Kristen Painter and her books, please visit her website at http://kristenpainter.com! ***
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CRESCENT CITY SERIES GIVEAWAY
Are you ready for this? Orbit Books has very generously offered The BiblioSanctum an opportunity to host a major giveaway for the entire Crescent City series — all three books (House of the Rising Sun, City of Eternal Night, and Garden of Dreams & Desires) — to one lucky winner. With apologies to international readers, this giveaway is open to US/Canada only due to publisher copyright reasons. To enter, send an email to bibliosanctum@gmail.com with your Name and valid Mailing Address using the subject line “CRESCENT CITY” by 11:59pm Eastern time on Wednesday, April 29, 2015.
Only one entry per household, please. The winner will be randomly selected when the giveaway ends and then be notified by email. All information will only be used for the purposes of contacting the winner and sending them their prize. Once the giveaway ends all entry emails will be deleted.
So what are you waiting for? Enter to win! Good luck!
Book Review: Edge of Dark by Brenda Cooper
Posted on April 16, 2015 12 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: Science Fiction
Series: Book 1 of The Glittering Edge
Publisher: Pyr (March 3, 2015)
Author Information: Website | Twitter
Mogsy’s Rating: 4 of 5 stars
This book was an awesome read. I first went into it believing it was a brand new series set in a new universe, but it turns out I was only half right. Edge of Dark is indeed the first book of a planned duology, but then I discovered within the first few pages that it also takes place in the future of the same timeline as Brenda Cooper’s Ruby’s Song series. This actually made me very happy – I loved The Diamond Deep when I read it a couple years ago. We’re introduced to new characters here in The Glittering Edge series, but Ruby’s legacy lives on, and the best part is, the new reader can jump on board with no problems.
Here’s what to know: long ago, society exiled a small subset of the population who wanted to start a machine revolution. Seen as abominations, these people who essentially wanted to meld their minds into robot bodies were summarily banished to the far edges of the solar system to waste away and perish without the access to sunlight and resources. But instead of dying out like they were expected to, these exiles flourished, growing into a formidable force of near-AI entities who call themselves the Next. Now they’re more powerful than ever before, and they’re coming back.
When that happens, the characters in this book all have a lot to lose. Charlie is a ranger who has spent his whole life trying to restore the ecosystem and natural wonders of Lym, a planet which will be one of the first casualties if humanity goes to war with the Next. The Next have already claimed a research station called the High Sweet Home, killing all its inhabitants and turning many into robots with sentient minds like themselves. Nona Hall is from the space station Diamond Deep, which would suffer similar consequences if the Next attack, but she has other worries to deal with — her best friend Chrystal was on the High Sweet Home, and the scientist’s fate still remains a mystery.
Edge of Dark was a delightful surprise which completely took over my life for two days, and I don’t regret a second of it. The book features a rich story that held me captive from the get-go, introducing deep characters in a well-established universe with a long and interesting history. Charlie and Nona are two disparate souls who nonetheless find comfort and solace in each other. One was born and raised on a wild and savage planet, while the other has lived on a space station her whole life, never having seen the sky. When Nona arrives on Lym to live out a lifelong dream, Charlie expected to hate her. However, she turns out to be very different from the rest of the high-and-mighty Diamond Deep elite, and the two quickly strike up a quiet friendship. Edge of Dark is not a romance by any means, but it does have a thread of a love story woven through the plot, and I just happened to be in the mood for it.
The beginning of the book was also my favorite part, because having grown up in cities my whole life, I was able to relate to Nona and understand her reaction to the natural beauty of Lym. Also kudos to Charlie and the rangers for the work that they do. I can appreciate the environmental message there, but more importantly, it was not in-your-face about it.
Then comes the Next. I was unsure about them at first, these Borg-like machines who take over human beings with ruthless abandon, downloading a person’s consciousness into a carbon fiber body and incorporating them into a greater network, all without the victim’s consent. The result is something that almost looks and acts like a human, but they are not alive in the strictest sense. They don’t need air, food, or sleep. Their artificial bodies are stronger and more powerful. However, every Next’s mind once belonged to a living, breathing person. And like all living things, they have the drive to propagate and survive. So where does this put them?
What felt like an urgent escalation towards a tense space adventure began easing off instead, becoming something more understated. I think those anticipating a bigger payoff might come away disappointed, but I found myself drawn to the rest of the story. These kinds of books that feature themes of transhumanism or explore what it means to be human always seem to get me for some reason. Add Brenda Cooper’s unique portrayal of artificial intelligence to that, and I had a very good time with this novel.
Edge of Dark won’t be for everyone, but it worked for me. I certainly didn’t expect to like it so much, and was surprised at how addictive most of the story was, especially in the beginning. One of the more enjoyable sci-fi reads of the year for me so far.
Tough Traveling: Awesome Displays of Power
Posted on April 16, 2015 41 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 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: Awesome Displays of Power
Sometimes magic can be subtle. Who wants that? Big explosions or acts of creation, death and destruction or acts of awe inspiring wonder. If your world has magic then why not show it off?
Mogsy’s Picks:
Should I be worried that the examples I want to feature this week all involve annihilation and destruction?
Firefight by Brandon Sanderson
The Epics are all about awesome displays of power. Steelheart turned all of Newcago into a metallic jungle. Nightwielder blanketed it all in darkness. Faultline sank buildings into the ground. In Firefight, the Reckoners battle a new epic who has the power to level cities, and they have only days to find a way to stop him before he charges up and lets loose.
Imagine entire cities floating in the sky high above miles and miles of killer corn as far as the eye can see. Now imagine all those cities come crashing down at once. The rebels have had enough of the Empyrean elites and their (literally) high and mighty ways, and they’ve found a way to bring down their floating palaces to show them that Heartlanders are not as powerless and downtrodden as they think.
Visitors from space show earth and us puny humans who’s boss in this story of hostile alien invasion. They display their awesome power in multiple waves: the 1st was darkness. The 2nd was a killer tsunami. The 3rd was a deadly plague. The 4th wave made those still alive mistrust and turn on each other. Those that are left now prepare for the worst because they know “the Others” aren’t done with humanity yet, and a 5th wave is on the horizon.
Wendy’s Picks
Worried, Mogsy? Pfft! What magic is better than the kind of magic that brings death and destruction? Better still if it involves lots of blood and demons!
Dragon Age: Asunder by David Gaider
Blood magic is always a threat in any Dragon Age book. Mages access their magic through the Fade, the realm of demons and spirits. Want bigger, badder magic? Get a little blood into the mix. And that’s what makes mages so scary and why the Chantry wants to keep them locked safely in towers — and why the mages are tired of being held prisoner…
The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms by N.K. Jemisin
“The Nightlord cannot be controlled, child. He can only be unleashed. And you asked him not to kill.”
Warbreaker by Brandon Sanderson
Sanderson has such amazing forms of magic in his books. I could include them all, but I’ll settle on the one that caught my eye first: Warbreaker, where colour is power — and you really don’t want to leave Denth in a room full of rainbows.
There’s a lockdown on magic in the kingdom of Adarlen, but the queen’s got her memories back and that includes her firebending powers. She’s coming back to Adarlen with vengeance on her mind, and she’ll burn everything that stands in her way.
Three Parts Dead by Max Gladstone
The most frightening kind of magic of all is the law, especially when manipulated by, well, lawyers. In Alt Coloumb, Tara discovers magic powerful enough to even kill a god. Hopefully her necromancy is enough to handle it.
King of Thorns by Mark Lawrence
Jorg is deadly enough as is, but when he messes with the wrong necromancer, he gains power over the dead. But that’s not enough, is it. When he takes the power of the Ferrakind, no army can stand against him.
The Shadowed Sun by N.K. Jemisin
There is power in sleep. Power in dreams. The masters of narcomancy can kill with but a touch. They are feared for their abilities, but what if there is something that can kill even these protectors of the dreaming soul?
Wizard’s First Rule by Terry Goodkind
Confessors are revered women whose judgment is law — and when they confess you, you fall under their thrall, which is something the Confessors do not take lightly. But if you make a Confessor — especially the Mother Confessor — angry… well… you wouldn’t want to see her angry…
Namaah’s Kiss by Jacqueline Carey
All right all right. Enough with the death and destruction. How about Moirin’s ability to breathe life into plants, and to channel her powers into the healing arts? See? That’s nice. UNTIL HER RUTHLESS LOVER USES HER ABILITIES TO BRING AN EVIL GOD UNDER HIS POSSESSION MWAHAHAHA!
Tiara’s Picks
Just to answer Wendy’s gif above:
The Soul Reapers of Bleach are tasked with banishing Hollows (violent, monstrous ghosts) from the world, and let’s just say they have some epic spiritual battles with one Soul Reaper in particular exhibiting the powers of both sides. This is one of my top 10 anime/manga, and this battle I included is one of my favorite battles. It may not be flashy as some of the others in this series, but it was when shit got real.
I am actually doing a re-read of this series for my new #ThrowbackThursday features. This series features a group of individuals chosen specifically for their neuroses to become part of a crime-fighting team call The Disllusionists. They’re taken and taught to use their neuroses as magical weapons in their tasks. The main character is a hypochondriac. She can take her fears, which often includes her believing she’s about to DIE at any moment, and turn them outward on her enemies. Some pretty ugly magical stuff can happen.
The Palace Job by Patrick Weekes
Desidora is a death priestess with a talking warhammer helping Locke with her heist in the book. Normally, Desidora appears as a pretty, tanned redhead. But when she’s angered or using her powers, her skin becomes deathly pale, her hair turns the color of night, even her clothing changes to death robes. Objects around her even start to react to her magic by sprouting tentacles and skulls. She’s a really nice gal, though.
Acacia: The War with the Mein by David Anthony Durham
The Santoth are a group of magicians who use magic that was “stolen” from their god and not meant to be uttered by human tongues, even the slightest change corrupts the magic despite the best of intentions:
Its intent may not have been conceived with wickedness. Nualo and the other Santoth were not themselves malignant. Even the rage that propelled them was rooted in a love of the world, in a longing to be able to rejoin it. But the power they unleashed had its own seething animus. If the language of the Giver all those years before had been one of creation, and if that act of creation had been a love hymn that sang the world into being on music that was the fabric of existence itself and that was, as the legends held, most wondrously good to behold … if that was so, then what the Santoth released was its opposite. Their song was a fire that consumed the world, a hunger that ate creation, not fed it.
Corruption , Leeka thought, doesn’t even begin to explain it . Nualo must have heard this, but he did not respond. He turned away, disgusted and impatient. He again unleashed air- rending shouts from the cavern of his mouth. He moved forward, arms flailing the world before him into shredded ribbons.
The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan
Percy Jackson is a demi-god whose father happens to be Poseidon. This is something he just learned about like two seconds ago. However, over the course of this book and the series, Percy learns to to exhibit some impressive waterbending control over his water abilities as shown here with Percy’s total lack of fucks given in his fight with Luke, the son of Hermes. *sigh* I still love you best, Luke.
The Magician’s Nephew by C.S. Lewis
I’ve long been a fan of The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe (since I was a child), but only recently started reading the books chronologically starting with this one. I know C.S. Lewis often referred to his faith in his books with Aslan being allegorical to God, and I think one of the most awesome and beautiful uses of magic is Aslan singing Narnia into creation. I bet he was all about that bass, too:
Far overhead from beyond the veil of blue sky which hid them the stars sang again; a pure, cold, difficult music. Then there came a swift flash like fire (but it burnt nobody) either from the sky or from the Lion itself, and every drop of blood tingled in the children’s bodies, and the deepest, wildest voice they had ever heard was saying: “Narnia, Narnia, Narnia, awake. Love. Think. Speak. Be walking trees. Be talking beasts. Be divine waters.”
Mage: The Ascension by Stewart Wieck
This is a tabletop role playing game with a book (of course) with a very interesting magical lore that says that everyone can shape reality and that the reality people believe in (that magic doesn’t exist) is a lie perpetuated by a group called the Technocratic Union, a group that’s convinced the world that only science exists. Even the magic itself is very varied from the unusual things such as science (but in a way that the TU hates), philosophy, technology, inspiration, information and religion along with more traditional magic to name a few. While all of the mages to me are fascinating (I used to watch a friend play and read his book), the Marauders were one of the most awe-inspiring. These are the mages who have gone completely insane. Not just a little mad, but completely absolutely insane. Their magic takes advantage of dynamism. Their magic is chaotic defying normal rules. Just like the TU serves as an extreme against magic, the Marauders likewise are an example of too much magical power. They seem nigh invincible because they don’t respond in the usual ways to the normal checks and balances in place sometimes and use mad magic to accomplish their goals. However, because of their mental state, they are barred from joining a group mages who sort of “transcend” their school of magic, and it’s not because they’re not powerful enough but because of their madness not allowing them to complete part of the process needed. I think they’ve fixed this in revised editions, but before, when I used to watch my friend play, they were magical beasts of nature not to be fucked with often.
Black Sun Rising by C.S. Friedman
The Fae is actually a magical energy that envelops the planet of Erna that is colonized by humans. Many humans proved to be as sensitive to the Fae as other lifeforms already on the planet. Some humans even gained the ability to manipulate it. The four types of Fae are Tidal, Earth, Dark, and Solar. The two that stick out the most for me are Tidal and Dark. Tidal sticks out because it’s the most finicky of the Fae energy and will not allow men to manipulate it. It won’t even let men feel or see its presence. It reminds me of the belief that you find in some books about dowsers that believe men cannot be dowsers because only women are attuned to water and water related events. Dark is where the scary awesome comes in. It’s the most powerful form. It was actually created by the darkness in men’s heart. It gives men great power, but it asks a great price. Tarrant uses his dark fae powers to feed on fear and causes it a lot among young women he hunts and kills in his forests.
I’d also like to note that Friedman said that her idea for the magic in this series was inspired by Asimov who said that if magic existed it still needed to be governed by natural laws as anything else. Useful if controlled, dangerous if not. Having windmills doesn’t mean we shouldn’t fear hurricanes was the example I think I remember being used.
Fullmetal Alchemist by Hiromu Arakawa
The FMA universe is one universe that has never ceased to amaze me with how they’ve used science and magic. The alchemy of the universe is part magic/part science that works on a natural flowing principle of understanding (comprehending the science behind it), deconstructing (using understanding to break down the energy into something usable), and reconstructing (using understanding and deconstruction to recreate and continue the flow into a new shape). Alchemy in the FMA world works much like magic in many books/shows that believe in the law of exchange or personal gain. There has to be an equal exchange. In order to create, you must lose something. The greater the creation you are attempting, the greater the loss (but there is some leniency is the “loss” in this sense). Most Alchemist have a particular element they control such as fire, water, air, or earth. However, there are some alchemist who control things such as mercury, sulfur, or salt. And the protagonist of the series can command quite a few in time. In the series, the Homunculi serve as the Alchemists’ chief antagonists. They are beings created by evil alchemy. Eight exist. Seven of them are named after the seven deadly sins (and I am actually thinking about getting a Lust tattoo) and the most powerful is called Father. They are powerful foes for the Alchemist and have hellacious battles of alchemy and magic.
The BiblioSanctum 
