Mogsy’s Bookshelf Roundup: Book Haul, Backlist, What I’ve Read
Posted on March 14, 2015 22 Comments
Time for another Bookshelf Roundup! Here’s what’s been going on in the last two weeks:
Received for Review
Lots of new books this week, mostly unsolicited and some requested. First, this pretty gem arrived late last week:
Knight’s Shadow by Sebastien de Castell – This one was on my most-anticipated list for 2015, and I was practically bouncing up and down with excitement when it arrived. The book came with an “invitation” to join the Greatcoats and — get this — a piece of Greatcoat Hard Candy. I haven’t eaten it yet, so no telling whether it’ll give me that extra energy boost and turn me into a swashbuckling superhero. It just looks like some kind of sesame snack, but hey, YOU NEVER KNOW. Thank you so much, Jo Fletcher Books, both for the review copy and the lovely and clever presentation.
Storm and Steel by Jon Sprunk – Physical ARC, courtesy of Pyr. I read book one Blood and Iron last year, so I’m really grateful to the publisher for thinking of me when they sent these out. I hope I can find the time to fit this one in.
The Crow of Connemara by Stephen Leigh – Hardcover, courtesy of Penguin. This one was completely new to me, but it looks interesting enough that I’m putting it on the “definitely considering” pile.
Vision in Silver by Anne Bishop – Hardcover, courtesy of Penguin. Also unsolicited, but now its arrival has given me the perfect motivation to catch up with the series!
The Dragon Conspiracy by Lisa Shearin – Paperback, courtesy of Penguin. Sequel to The Grendel Affair which I really enjoyed. Currently reading this one now because I’m in a UF kinda mood and this is perfect.
Aurora by Kim Stanley Robinson – Physical ARC, courtesy of Orbit. This was a surprise arrival, and I wasn’t sure what to make of it at first. It doesn’t seem like my kind of book, but I’m willing to try anything. In the meantime, my husband will probably want to steal this ARC from me, he’s quite a fan of Kim Stanley Robinson.
Uprooted by Naomi Novik – From NetGalley. I said I was going to wait until I polished off a few more titles from my NG pile before I requested this one, didn’t I? Nope, couldn’t resist.
Shadow Scale by Rachel Hartman – From NetGalley. I almost forgot that I had requested this one because it sat in my pending queue for so long (I would never had forgotten if I had the old dashboard, grumble), but I was nonetheless quite happy when I got approval. Really looking forward to this.
Hidden Huntress by Danielle L. Jensen – Digital ARC, courtesy of Angry Robot. The publisher was so kind as to send an early copy to the folks who helped out in the cover reveal.
Purchased
“Books from abroad” seems to be the theme for my Purchased Shelf this week:
Earth Flight by Janet Edwards – My wonderful brother visited from Toronto at the end of February, and he brought a gift for me! I guess this book doesn’t have a US release date yet, but it is currently out in the UK and Canada. Talk about worthy tribute!
The Iron Ghost by Jen Williams and Those Above by Daniel Polansky – Ah, the Book Depository haul. Two books I really want to read that should have had US release dates yesterday. Very excited when both of them came!
Back to the Backlist
Here’s what’s on tap from the backlist bar this week.
Murder of Crows by Anne Bishop – Audiobook. Like I said, I need to catch up with this series, and it’s time to put my money where my mouth is and get it done! And for those wondering, Goodreads says Murder of Crows has been on my TBR since April 10, 2014. That’s hitting the backlist, all right.
What I’ve Read Since the Last Update:
A couple rather large books I’m reading have slowed me down some, so I didn’t get quite that many finished this time. But keep an eye out for my reviews of these books in the coming weeks. The one for Nice Dragons Finish Last is already up!
Book Review: Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel
Posted on March 13, 2015 12 Comments
Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel
Genre: Dystopia, Post-Apocalypse
Publisher: Knopf Doubleday (September 9, 2014)
Author’s Information: Website | Twitter
Tiara’s Rating: 4.5 of 5 stars
An actor’s death while performing the eponymous role in King Lear heralds the end of an age, ushering in a new one with a roar. No one expected the Georgia Flu–romantic in name, but deadly in scope–to sweep the globe as quickly and as brutally as it did.
Twenty years later, society has collapsed completely and now, there are only pockets of communities, families, and survivors inhabiting the world. Amenities such as the internet are considered thrilling tales for children twenty and under who now live during a time when old cars are stripped and turned into horse-led caravans. As one passage that details an incomplete list of things that are “no more” states:
No more Internet. No more social media, no more scrolling through litanies of dreams and nervous hopes and photographs of lunches, cries for help and expressions of contentment and relationship-status updates with heart icons whole or broken, plans to meet up later, pleas, complaints, desires, pictures of babies dressed as bears or peppers for Halloween. No more reading and commenting on the lives of others, and in so doing, feeling slightly less alone in the room. No more avatars.
However, this isn’t just a story about life post-civilization. This story follows a cast of players all connected by the actor, Arthur Leander, people whose lives he touched in profound ways. Jeevan Chaudhary, a former paparazzo turned EMS, who encountered Arthur during many critical moments in his life as a paparazzi photographer and again as an EMS. Kirsten Raymonde, a child actress who witnessed Arthur’s death and develops a fascination for him in the post-flu world as she roams with a traveling symphony intent on keeping performing art in the world. Clark, his college friend who worked in organizational psychology “fixing” people by making them into the idea employee their companies want them to be but finds a different calling after the Georgia Flu. Finally, there is Miranda, his first wife, an artist who worked in shipping by day, but slowly, secretly penned her magnum opus for many years–a science fiction graphic novel called Station Eleven, which is gifted to Kirsten as a child by Arthur, a book Kirsten still has in her possession twenty years later.
This story travels back and forth in time, revealing the tenuous strings that tie them together, documenting the world for what it once was and what it has now become since 99% of the population has been decimated thanks to the flu. The world is a starker place than before the collapse. There are no countries or states, and the post-flu generation doesn’t even really have a working knowledge of such concepts. Kirsten comments that they’re just now entering “softer” years than when the illness first ravished the world. She remembers people being distrustful and territorial to the point of immediate violence when she first started traveling with the symphony but now, people are starting to slowly trust one another again, or at least give people the opportunity to explain themselves when showing up unannounced.
While one doesn’t tend to think of stories about a world ravaged by illness as lyrical, Mandel’s writing gave this world a strikingly tragic, dreamy feel that juxtaposes beauty and ugliness, sometimes having both characteristics present in the same sequence:
What was lost in the collaspe: almost everything, almost everyone, but there is still such beauty. Twilight in the altered world, a performance of A Midsummer Night’s Dream in a parking lot in the mysteriously named town of St. Deborah by the Water, Lake Michigan shining a half mile away. Kirsten as Titania, a crown of flowers on her close-cropped hair, the jagged scar on her cheekbone half-erased by candlelight. The audience is silent. Sayid, circling her in a tuxedo that Kirsten found in a dead man’s closet near the town of East Jordan: “Tarry, rash wanton. Am I not thy lord?”
Miranda’s graphic novel played an essential part in this aside from giving the novel its name. It served as a haunting allegory for feelings, situations, and dreams throughout the story, giving us such moments as these where her story underscores her pent up feelings about being the eccentric wife who never truly belonged in Hollywood (but has dual meaning when put up for comparison to the post-flu world):
The sentiment seems right, but somehow not for this image. A new image to go before this one, a close-up of a note left on Captain Lonagan’s body by an Undersea assassin: “We were not meant for this world. Let us go home.”
In the next image, Dr. Eleven holds the note in his hand as he stands on the outcropping of rock, the little dog by his boots. His thoughts:
The first sentence of the assassin’s note rang true: we were not meant for this world. I returned to my city, to my shattered life and damaged home, to my loneliness, and tried to forget the sweetness of life on Earth.
Too long, also melodramatic. She erases it, and writes in soft pencil: I stood looking over my damaged home and tried to forget the sweetness of life on Earth.
There was one issue that I felt could’ve been improved upon, mostly because it only kept popping up at convenient times when it felt Mandel needed things to move, but she couldn’t quite figure out how to get them to move. I felt the idea needed to either have been explored more or taken out altogether. It was one of those instances where it kept popping up at points, and I’d forgotten that was even part of the story because it only felt important in that moment. I won’t spoil it since it is important to the plot, but it was just one small complaint. And it’s an issue that other readers have pointed out as well.
Another thing that I don’t know if I think is brilliant or not is the Prophet. You know there is always at least one person who turns into the religious zealot in a post-apocalyptic setting. On one hand, I did like what she eventually did with that angle, even though at first I was thinking, “Please, not this.” On the other hand, I couldn’t fully appreciate it as much as I wanted because the entirety of it seemed to be all crammed in toward the end rather than being slowly revealed like most of the story. You have a good idea where it’s going to go with that angle, but it just seemed a bit more shoehorned in when compared to the rest of the story.
It would be easy to categorize this book as just a dystopian/post-apocalyptic novel, but it’s so much more than that. It’s one of those books that defies genre, and I’m sure it’s probably been the source of more than one great genre debate by now. Despite any ambiguity it lends, this novel is poetic, elegiac, and moving. Station Eleven has the quality of a book that could be considered a classic years from now, something that my kids will likely dig up when they decide to go on a classics binge (much like I’m doing right now with various genres). It’s a terrific blend of prose, character, and dialogue.
Book Review: Harrison Squared by Daryl Gregory
Posted on March 13, 2015 13 Comments
Harrison Squared by Daryl Gregory
Genre: Fantasy, Horror
Series: Book 1
Publisher: Tor (March 24, 2015)
Author Information: Website | Twitter
Mogsy’s Rating: 4 of 5 stars
I’m always on the lookout for good Lovecraft-inspired horror, and so when I stumbled upon the description of Daryl Gregory’s new novel Harrison Squared I just knew I had to check it out.
When Harrison Harrison (nicknamed Harrison Squared by his scientist mother, because geek humor is the best kind of humor) was a toddler, his family’s boat was capsized by a giant tentacled sea monster. Officially, the authorities said that it was a sharp piece of metal that claimed Harrison’s leg, and that the storm was what drowned his father, but Harrison knew he did not imagine or hallucinate what he saw that terrible day.
Now sixteen years old, he travels cross-country with his mother to Dunnsmouth, Massachusetts, a quiet seaside town where everything seems creepy as hell. His school is like a labyrinth out of myth, the teachers don’t seem to care whether he shows up to his classes or not, and the other students are like the Children of the Corn. The first night in town, his favorite comic book gets stolen by some weird fish-boy. Then tragedy hits when Harrison’s marine biologist mom goes missing at sea. Refusing to believe she’s dead, Harrison goes investigating. Pretty soon he’s gathered about him a group of unlikely allies to battle the nightmarish Scrimshander, an ancient Dunnsmouth legend come to life.
Why do I love the Lovecraftian subgenre so? For the atmosphere, of course. As a setting, Dunnsmouth perfectly embodies the rural, insular feel of Lovecraft country, belying the terrible secrets kept under wraps by its townsfolk. The horror featured in these stories tend to involve cosmicism and the occult, which is psychologically so much more effective. Daryl Gregory delivers all these aspects, combining both fantasy and horror elements in a neat little package. There’s no small amount of weirdness in the plot, which is usually something I can’t tolerate, but Gregory somehow renders it into a conceivable, real-world everyday kind of weird that his protagonist Harrison takes in stride…so I did as well.
The book will also do well with both adults and teens, striking the perfect balance for crossover appeal. On the surface, Harrison seems to be like a lot of other kids his age, struggling with a volatile temper and his desire to fit in at a new school. But gradually, the reader will learn that he’s also not your typical teenager. Harrison is very well written and convincing; his quiet resourcefulness both charmed and intrigued me, and I sympathized with his fear of the ocean and felt for him when his mom was reported lost at sea. So much of his life has been shaped by the boating accident when he was three years old, and unraveling the mysteries behind his character ended up being as much fun as keeping up with the story itself.
Gregory also rounds out the cast with several fantastic secondary characters, including Lydia, a fellow classmate from school; Lub, the half-human-half-fish boy; and last but not least, the most memorable of all for me was Harrison’s Aunt Selena who arrives in Dunnsmouth from New York City to take care of Harrison after his mom goes missing. Breezing into town in a flurry of silks and designer clothes, Sel was not at all what I expected, but it sure made me wish I had more relatives like her.
I had a great time with this book. It’s not a heart-pounding tale of horror, but rather a well-paced delectable mystery that’s also a fun adventure filled with lots of unexpected twists and turns, while exuding an eerie vibe. I enjoyed uncovering the secrets of Dunnsmouth with Harrison and his strange but really cool group of friends, and hopefully there will be some sort of follow-up to this book and that we won’t have long to wait for it.
A review copy of this book was provided to me by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. My thanks to Tor Books!
Tough Traveling: Fae
Posted on March 12, 2015 20 Comments
The Thursday feature “Tough Traveling” is the brainchild of Nathan of Review Barn, who has come up with the excellent idea of making a new list each week based on the most common tropes in fantasy, as seen in 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: Fae
Surprisingly not in the Tough Guide. How can this be? Fairies are a constant in the fantasy world and it is time they get their own week. Give us your Fae, be they sweet or nasty.
Mogsy’s Pick:
We’re all over the board today with the Fae, and I’m kicking ass and taking names! (Okay, mostly I have my Goodreads tagged “Fae” shelf to thank for that.)
Darkfever by Karen Marie Moning
Mac was sitting by the poolside when she got the news that her sister has been murdered. Before she died, she left a cryptic message on Mac’s cell phone. Mac travels to Ireland to find answers and discovers she possesses a gift that allows her to see beyond the our world into the Fae realm, and learns that an alpha sex Fae may have something to do with her sister’s death. You heard me. Alpha sex Fae.
John Golden: Freelance Debugger by Django Wexler
If you ever find your computer or networks bogged down by gremlins, sprites, or any form of pesky fairies, John Golden’s your guy. In this world, the fae live in the “Wildernet”, and its denizens wreck havoc on our servers and systems by infesting them with their nasty “burrows”. As a debugger, it’s John’s job to get them out.
House of the Rising Sun by Kristen Painter
New Orleans is the perfect haven for paranormal beings like the Fae, of which there are dozens of different varieties, all categorized by their type of power. Augustine loves partying it up in the city, where the human women find his Fae heritage (as well as his horns) irresistible.
Foxglove Summer by Ben Aaronovitch
Peter Grant travels into the English countryside to investigate the disappearance of two young girls and finds himself tangling with Faeries, invisible carnivorous unicorns, and skeptical locals. What more can you ask for?
Daughter of the Forest by Juliet Marillier
Peace at Sevenwaters is shattered when Sorcha’s widower father is seduced into marriage by an evil enchantress. The witch curses them all, turning Sorcha’s brothers into swans and banishing Sorcha into the forest. it’s up to Sorcha to lift the spell, but first she has to complete a long and difficult quest for the Fae.
The fae reside in the Nevernever and in our world. They are grouped into the Winter and Summer courts. The nobility, known as the Sidhe, are the most powerful of them all. Fae of all kinds love to make bargains, which is how Harry manages to get himself pressed into service of Mab, Winter Queen of the Winter Court,
Meet Celeste Ritsuko and Janus Mikani, a detective team for the Criminal Investigation Department. She’s the first female detective in her division; he’s a magical expert and brings his own uncanny Ferisher (just another fancy name for the Fae here) powers to the case.
The Waking Engine by David Edison
This wasn’t really my kind of book: too strange, with a protagonist I couldn’t quite relate to. It’s not helped by Cooper’s, er, unique situation. Over the course of this novel, he gets dragged across the metaverse by a goddess, kidnapped by faeries, drugged by Cleopatra, engulfed by a machine-flesh creature, and pursued by undead monsters and evil elf beings.
Throne of Glass series by Sarah J. Maas
The Fae were long thought to have been extinct from Erilea, but in the old days they ruled the forests, rivers and mountains. Queen Elena Havilliard was a half-fae, and former princess of Terrasen. She appears throughout the series as a kind of ghost, helping Celaena by giving her advice.
The world of The Barrow is one filled with dark magics, shady politics, and disreputable characters. Scoundrels and perverts lurk at every corner, and if you’re really unlucky, you might even run afoul of demonic horrors and nasty fae sorcery.
It is Scotland and the year is 1844. A year has passed since Aileana Kameron was found standing over the dead body of her mother, covered in blood. Everyone thinks she has something to do with it, but Aileana knows the truth. It was a faery who killed her mother and ripped out her heart.
The fae almost took over the city six months ago with their plot to make rich society women trade in their natural faces for beautiful, fae-charmed ones. Society is still recovering from the aftermath but it’s too late for Helen, who has already made the switch. Now she has to wear an iron mask to protect herself and her identity from being possessed and erased.
Mercy Thompson by Patricia Briggs
Mercy encounters fae quite frequently over the course of the series. Her mechanic mentor Zee is a rare kind of fae who can handle and work metal of all kinds. Mercy also has a fairy walking stick that has a tendency to follow her around at all times.
Graphic Novel Review: Suicide Squad, Vol. 1: Kicked in the Teeth by Adam Glass
Posted on March 11, 2015 7 Comments
Suicide Squad, Vol. 1: Kicked in the Teeth by Adam Glass
Genre: Superhero
Publisher: DC Comics
Author Information: Twitter
Tiara’s Rating: 3.5 of 5
Coming hot on the heels of my last journey into a DC comic is the first volume of Suicide Squad. The squad is comprised of Deadshot, a merc for hire, Harley Quinn, King Shark, a shark man hybrid, Black Spider, a vigilante who fights bad guys but still ends up in prison, El Diablo, a Latino gang member (I guess he’s supposed to be a gang member, anyway) seeking redemption who controls fire through an unusual method, and Voltaic, a kid who controls electricity. Deadshot serves as their unspoken leader.
Each member of the team is serving prison time. They’re offered the chance at shortening their sentences by becoming Amanda Waller’s pawns and completing suicidal missions in ways that heroes wouldn’t even consider. Even though this is an opportunity for these criminals to have time shaved off their sentences, they’re still treated as criminals and contingencies are put into place for the criminal who would entertain going off script. If you’re a Marvel fan, think of this as being sort of the equivalent of the old Freedom Force, but with a much sinister and cooler name. Readers follow the team through a series of missions from securing important cargo that would help the general population to hunting down their own team members who have gone rogue.
This was a mostly fun book full of fun and mayhem. It was like reading the comic book version of The Expendables with villains complete with dramatic team shots, stealth missions being bumbled with over enthusiastic members wanting to get right to the good parts, some sexy tension between characters, explosions, and corny one-liners. After a while the various strategic panels that managed to make eyes hover to Harley’s crotch in cut-off jean shorts and the general campiness of El Diablo started to grate on my nerves a little.
Speaking of Harley’s shorts, as far as sexiness in comics goes, I’m not against it if it doesn’t feel gross. Comics can use sexuality much like weapon of its own in some respects and just to be, well, sexy. The context of it influences whether I see its merit or not. Harley is sexy, and part of her arsenal of attacks includes her sexuality and femininity to control her situation. This isn’t her only means of attack as Harley is an accomplished brawler who gives as good as she takes, but she’s not beyond being the ditz, the seemingly harmless “girl,” the bouncy bruiser, the focused fatale, or the sex kitten. Her usage of femininity reminds me of a line from my favorite Emilie Autumn song “Fight Like A Girl“: I’m giving you a head start. You’re going to need it ’cause I fight like a girl.
Much like Joker, Harley molds herself to what she feels the situation calls for. You have to remember that she was a psychiatrist, and she has an understanding of how to be whatever she needs to be for her environment. However, there seemed to be a need to focus eye attention to Harley’s cutoffs that you don’t get when she’s wearing her normal costume, which also includes shorts. There’s a panel here of Harley buttoning up her shorts. A panel there of a slip of pink panties being shown behind unbuttoned shorts. A butt jutting out there to remind you she has on cutoffs while everyone stares. A scene of viewing someone from right between her legs looking like a terrified bystander who is about to be attacked by a maneater. She has a vagina, and vagina’s are magical. I understand as the owner of one myself. I guess they were going for that weaponized sexy there, but it was a little annoying for me. More on Harley later.
Let’s talk about El Diablo. Don’t get me wrong about El Diablo. For the most part I liked him, and while I realize they’re trying to be deep with his character where he might otherwise have been shrugged off as just a thug and want to remind readers he is a man of color who has a culture all his own that tempers him, it’s a little hit and miss there. Sometimes, he’s brilliant as a character, but sometimes, he’s hokey, very hokey.
Something feels slightly off at times in his characterization as if they’re trying too hard with him and the background he comes from on top of trying way too hard with this redemption angle. I can’t say that I don’t like the concept of him or how his powers work, though. I just hope they level him out more in later comics and make it feel less like they’re saying, “Hey, guys, we have this diverse group of people.”
For the record, Black Spider is a black man and while I wished he’d gotten more face time, I feel like they did an admirable job with him without making me feel like they had no idea what to do with his character. Marvel and DC both seem to flounder a bit in the creativity department to me when dealing with male characters of color.
What I enjoyed most about this book was Harley Queen (despite the crotch shots) and Amanda Waller. They are the reason I ended up rating this as high as I did.
Amanda Waller is my hero, and she always has been. Say what you want about The Wall but she gets shit done, and she doesn’t kowtow to many people if any. My first experience with Amanda was when she was still a stout woman pre-DCnU when she put Batman in his place and dropped the mic on him. From that moment forward, that sealed a love and respect for her character, even when I didn’t always agree with her. When talking about kickass women in comics, Amanda is deserving of a place as a woman who isn’t a conventional hero or villain. She’s surrounded by super types while having no powers of her own, and she’ll still look them in the eye without cowering. She uses her wits to her advantage where she may lack in powers.
This book marks the first time I’ve encountered her since they gave her a new svelte body in DCnU. She reminds me of Angela Bassett who played a milder, kinder version of The Wall in the Green Lantern movie with Ryan Reynolds. I can’t be the only one who watched that movie. New body, same Amanda. I’m still pleased with her, as of this book. She’s the type of woman who has a backup plan in place even if that means her own life might be forfeit. If she’s caught unprepared, she manipulates a situation to the best of her abilities, but she still has her “throw everything but the kitchen sink” card.
She’s not ruffled by much. Her unofficial theme song (because I said so) is “I Don’t Get Tired” by Kevin Gates because I can so see her saying, “Get it. Get fly. I got six jobs. I don’t get tired.” Sure, she has outbursts of anger, but even when losing control of a situation, it’s always going to be The Wall who wins in the end. Think of her as Olivia Pope (from Scandal) with more guns and an attitude that says she’s not beyond doing whatever is necessary without wavering much in her resolve. I could see her using two of my favorite Olivia Pope power phrases: “Shut it down!” and “It’s handled!”
Despite this, there is a moment that shows Amanda’s capacity for affection. There are things and people she cares about, even if she doesn’t show it often, as witnessed in this scene:
Nerve gas is considered a weapon of mass destruction and is a terrible way to die, and even for those who manage to survive, the neurological damage is substantial. This scenes proves her willingness to do whatever she has to to control the situation, even signing her own death warrant.
Back to Harley. A few months back, there was discussion going on among comic book fans on Tumblr about how writers were starting to evolve Harley as a character beyond the “comically” abused companion of Joker. Instead she was beginning to show layers of her personality that betrayed how she has suffered because of the nature of the relationship, the depth of her emotional attachment to her abuser, and how she struggles with conflicting feelings to be more than Mistah J’s girl while wanting to be only that as well.
It’s long past due for this for Harley, and I think it’s an important step to take for her character and the relationship. So many readers and people who know casually of the relationship from pop culture think it nothing more than a comical relationship where Joker is only a little mean to Harley. It’s treated like slapstick comedy and romantic. You hear people saying things such as, “I want a relationship like Harley and Joker. I want a Joker to my Harley. I want a Harley to my Joker.” When you strip away the “haha” nature of the relationship, there’s nothing charming, comical, or endearing about it at all. It is an emotionally and physically abusive relationship that’s rarely explored for what it is.
This book reinforces that as it begins to paint the relationship and Harley’s muddled feelings into the most troubling picture. That is initially what prompted me to read volume one of her own series, which fell a bit flat with me. This book, however, gives a heartbreaking glimpse into Harley’s emotional state culminating into a chilling scene where she uses Deadshot, whom she expresses mild interest in, to vent her frustration, love, and fears about the failed relationship.
That’s not to say that Harley isn’t good, ol’ Harley in much of this, but they start to shape her as more than just the comedic punching bag. I’m curious to see more of these pivotal scenes for Harley.
I’d been meaning to read this much sooner than now, but you know how it is when you have so many books and comics to read. You have to pick your reading battles. This was an enjoyable read for the most part, and I look forward to continuing their misadventures.
Waiting on Wednesday 03/11/15
Posted on March 11, 2015 19 Comments
“Waiting On Wednesday” is a weekly meme hosted by Breaking the Spine that lets us feature upcoming releases that we can’t wait to get our hands on!
Mogsy’s Pick:
The Aeronaut’s Windlass by Jim Butcher: September 29, 2015 (Roc)
For the longest time, all we’ve gotten out of Jim Butcher about his upcoming Cinder Spires series is simply: Steampunk. Now it has a description and a cover! I’m a fan of his Dresden Files series, but all for something new from him too.
“Jim Butcher, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Dresden Files and the Codex Alera novels, conjures up a new series set in a fantastic world of noble families, steam-powered technology, and magic-wielding warriors…
Since time immemorial, the Spires have sheltered humanity, towering for miles over the mist-shrouded surface of the world. Within their halls, aristocratic houses have ruled for generations, developing scientific marvels, fostering trade alliances, and building fleets of airships to keep the peace.
Captain Grimm commands the merchant ship, Predator. Fiercely loyal to Spire Albion, he has taken their side in the cold war with Spire Aurora, disrupting the enemy’s shipping lines by attacking their cargo vessels. But when the Predator is severely damaged in combat, leaving captain and crew grounded, Grimm is offered a proposition from the Spirearch of Albion—to join a team of agents on a vital mission in exchange for fully restoring Predator to its fighting glory.
And even as Grimm undertakes this dangerous task, he will learn that the conflict between the Spires is merely a premonition of things to come. Humanity’s ancient enemy, silent for more than ten thousand years, has begun to stir once more. And death will follow in its wake… “
Audiobook Review: Acacia: The War with the Mein by David Anthony Durham
Posted on March 10, 2015 24 Comments
Acacia: The War with the Mein by David Anthony Durham
Genre: Fantasy
Series: Book 1 of The Acacia Trilogy
Author Information: Website
Publisher: Doubleday
Tiara’s Rating: 3.5 of 5 stars
Narrator: Dick Hill | Length: 29 hrs and 30 mins | Audiobook Publisher: Tantor Audio | Whispersync Ready (as of this posting): Yes
Leodan Akaran is the king of Acacia, which includes all the “known world.” The Akarans have ruled over Acacia for many generations with the throne being passed down from father to son. A bitter race called the Mein secretly oppose the Akaran rule and have since their occupation, feeling the Akarans have been disingenuous and underhanded in their rule, including how they dealt with their ancestors. The Mein’s version of history recounts how their ancestors were driven to the frozen north for being an earnest people and opposing the practices used to keep up this illusion of perfect.
Things aren’t as perfect as they seem on the surface. Leodan is idealistic, but buckled under the pressure of preserving the empire’s peace through unsavory means. Leodan hopes that his children will grow up and foster the change that he couldn’t. However, he doesn’t give his children the knowledge they need to fight for these changes st first, and when we meet the children they’re a seemingly clueless bunch whose father still spins tales when they try to question him about their true history. The Akaran children are the heart of this book as a whole, doted on by a troubled father whose only joy comes from loving them and mentally preserving the memory of his deceased wife.
Aliver is the oldest child and heir to the throne. Mena, Aliver’s younger sister, describes him as being afflicted with a disease called “boredom” that he hasn’t recovered from. He’s hot-tempered, given to action rather than inaction. He has a good heart and a naïve view of how the world should work. Corinn is the second oldest. She’s cultured, well-spoken, and versed in court behavior. She’s a princess’ princess. She considers herself the pretty one between her and her younger sister. After Corinn comes Mena, she is astute and curious, often described by others as having a wisdom and intuition beyond her years. Last is Dariel. Like his sister Mena he is curious with a taste for adventure and action. He has a way of getting into things under the noses of the adults.
With the twist of an assassin’s blade, the four Akaran children are thrown to the wind, a request made by their dying father to his most trusted adviser as the Akaran rule begins to crumble. He feels that allowing them to live their life unfettered will shape them into the people they’re meant to be, and with it, he hopes that the Acacian empire will become the bastion he wasn’t able to achieve in his reign.
This book started a little slow for me. It had those Game of Thrones vibes all around it as we meet the Akaran children. Despite that, I found Durham’s writing to be lyrical and thoughtful, so I toughed it out a little while longer, hoping it’d become more than a clone. Midway through the first part, Durham pushed off the ledge and began to distinguish this story as his own. It became a story about power, betrayal, redemption, love, and change coupled with a intriguing mythos that I mostly enjoyed.
One thing I truly appreciated about this is the lack of violence, especially gendered violence. I don’t mean that there’s not any fighting in this book, but there’s not pages upon pages of torture or rape or any of that nonsense to prove that this story is heavy. I’m especially glad there wasn’t the constant looming rape threat (against women) that is so prevalent in many fantasy novels trying to establish themselves as serious, grimdark books. I appreciate that he able to find depth in his writing that didn’t require that.
Also, I appreciated that that Durham tried to present a struggle where the grievances between these two races was not just a simple matter of who’s right and who’s wrong, who’s good and who’s evil, summed up succinctly by this quote:
Very little of what he learned of people’s actions began or ended with either the noble ideals or the fiendish wickedness he had been taught lay behind all great struggles. There was something comforting in this.
The readers do feel empathy for the Akaran children. Their father has been murdered and their fate has been placed in chance’s hands. However, the Mein aren’t presented as a despicable race of people. A people who would win a war through some questionable means, yes, but their actions hardly set a precedent in the book, as previous wars have been won through questionable methods and will likely continue to be won in that manner. Nothing about their actions say they’re worst than the Acacians. The methods seem brutal because we witness them in “real time” affecting characters in a current situation as opposed to only “hearing” about the actions of the former rulers and how they’ve affected the Mein in retrospect. It is, after all, war.
Durham doesn’t reduce the Mein people to just villain status. Their fears, wants, and needs are the same as any other people’s. Even in their war, the goal isn’t to annihilate these other people completely. This is seen as unrealistic and foolish. You fight the enemy and assimilate the people. They just want to claim what they feel they lost through treachery and end a dynasty. There isn’t needless slaughter of innocent to assert their rule (though there are casualties, of course) and much of life is the same for the people except the name and race of their rulers.
It makes readers question why they oppose the Mein rule so, but I think one character summed up the sentiment when they said they think people forgot the realities of the Akaran rule, that the nostalgia of having an Akaran on the throne tempered their opinions as neither rule is that much worse/better than the other. However, because the Mein aren’t some big bad, it does make the upcoming battle feel somewhat anticlimatic, even if the Akaran children are teeming with ideas about how the kingdom should be ruled, which brings me to my next point.
My main problem with this novel is that Durham obviously loves the Akaran children. There is nothing wrong with a writer loving their characters. They need to care about them in order to give the readers developed characters. However, the Akaran children don’t face many real dilemmas or most of the dilemmas they do face don’t give them actual crisis points with the exception of a few key moments. Even these varied situations they find themselves growing up in aren’t necessarily challenging them.
Situations that should be particularly prickly for them, they’re able to handle better than most people would with some of these outcomes feeling a little bit like Durham was afraid to really test the characters. This is especially true of a character I really loved in the book. For this reason, the novel didn’t have as much of an impact for me because, even when a scene got tense, you knew everyone was going to make it out unscathed while brandishing power beyond imagine. The story wasn’t tested because it’s characters were never truly tested.
As far as the narration goes, Dick Hill is an exceptional narrator for this story. However, I did find him to be a very slow reader, slower than normal. I could easily bump up the narration to two times the speed and he’d sound like he was reading at a more normal pace. He’s one of those rare narrators that I’m comfortable with listening to on three times the speed, which I still didn’t do very often. He has such a rich quality to his voice that I didn’t want to speed him up too much and lose that full-bodied, strong voice he brought to the story. Two times speed was a reasonable compromise between speed and narration quality for me. While I do think he has a rich, deep reading voice, that didn’t diminish the impact of the female characters since, for me, quality of timbre is a better way of portraying male/female characters over decreasing/increasing pitch arbitrarily.
Something I noticed with this audiobook is that it added content to the story. Sometimes, I’d read along with the narrator using the Kindle book, and there would be whole passages added to the story that are not in the book. I’m used to a missing or added word here and there when listening to an audiobook, but this is the first time I’d encounter a great deal of content being added to narration. It’s not necessarily a bad thing as it wasn’t just filler. The things added really helped to flesh out the story and characters, but it also made me feel a little apprehensive about reading the book without the narration because I felt that I may miss some great passages because the audiobook differed slightly from the book.
Audiobook Review: Nice Dragons Finish Last by Rachel Aaron
Posted on March 10, 2015 24 Comments
Nice Dragons Finish Last by Rachel Aaron
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Series: Book 1 of Heartstrikers
Publisher: Audible (Nov 18, 2014)
Author Information: Website | Twitter
Mogsy’s Rating: 4.5 of 5 stars
Narrator: Vikas Adam | Length: 13 hrs and 2 mins
I found this book surprisingly enjoyable…or perhaps that ought not to be so surprising. After all, I loved The Spirit Thief and the rollicking sci-fi Paradox trilogy that the author wrote under her pen name Rachel Bach. Still, combining dragons, magic, dystopia, humor and urban fantasy? Seemed just a tad ambitious. But boy, does Aaron pull it off with flying colors. I think Nice Dragons Finish Last may be my favorite book from her yet. I also had the pleasure of listening to the audio version of this book and it was fantastic.
Meet Julius, the smallest dragon in the Heartstriker clan. He isn’t a pushover so much as he’s just downright terrible at being a dragon. He’s nice, considerate, has no designs on taking over the world, all of which makes him an absolute failure in his mother’s eyes. After twenty-four years of watching Julius hide out in his room in the mountain, Bethesda the Heartstriker has finally had it. Sealing him in his human form, the dragon matriarch banishes her son to the Detroit Free Zone.
Built on the ruins of old Detroit, the DFZ is set apart from the rest of the country, having been annexed by the spirit Algonquin, Lady of the Great Lakes. It is home to modern mages, lesser spirits and all manner of magical creatures. Unfortunately, it’s also got a strict no dragons policy. Trapped in hostile territory with only the clothes on his back, Julius is going to have to prove himself to his mother if he wants any chance of getting his true form back. His only source of help comes in the form of Marci, an exiled human mage who is dealing with her own hefty set of problems.
First of all, I called this one an urban fantasy, but it’s actually a lot more complicated than that. Rachel Aaron puts a fun, fresh twist on the genre, infusing her setting with science fiction, post-apocalyptic and dystopic elements as well as a touch of mythology. It’s a fascinating mix. Magic exists in the world now, thanks to a meteor striking the earth in 2035. Algonquin awakens from the resulting shockwave, causing great tidal waves to rise, which was how Detroit was flooded and destroyed. The DFZ rises from its ruins, thriving unchecked on an economy system based on free enterprise and bounty hunting.
I also love rooting for the underdog, and Julius is an underdog all right, being the runt of Bethesda’s latest clutch. While his siblings are out doing great things, Julius prefers to avoid the rest of his family by shutting himself in his room playing computer games and earning an impressive collection of online degrees. It’s hard not to feel for him; if Julian were human, he’d actually be quite a catch! Good looking, sweet, kind, educated, and being just this side of geeky enough for me. Bah, too bad he had to be born to a clan of merciless, cutthroat dragons who can’t appreciate his finer points.
No worries though, because I’m on Team Julius all the way. Also in his corner you’ll find Marci the runaway thaumaturgic mage, as well as – surprise, surprise – Julius’s brother Justin. Marci’s a great character; she’s got an awkward personality but also a shrewd mind, which creates an interesting dynamic with our protagonist. I loved Justin too. He’s Julius’s complete opposite, but it’s hard not to be touched by his brotherly love and concern. I even got a kick out of Julian’s less benevolent family members like Chelsie the Heartstriker assassin and Bob the mercurial Seer. Did I also mention Bethesda names her children by assigning each clutch by letter in order of the alphabet, so that all the dragonlings in her first clutch would have names starting with A, those in the second clutch would have names starting with B, and so on? The Heartstriker clan is full of quirks, and I loved them all.
Rachel Aaron has an incredible imagination, and I think this book, more than any of her others, let her go wild with it. The audio version really did an amazing job bringing this book and all of her ideas to life, the narrator Vikas Adam making this one a really fun listen. I haven’t listened to any of his other performances, but this was a great first experience. Adam can do a wonderful range of voices, even though I have to say a couple of them didn’t quite “fit”, like Bob whom he made sound like a stoned surfer dude, and at times his female voices can be hilariously awkward. You can tell he had a good time reading the book too though, because his narration is animated and he does wonderful effects like hissing for when Bethesda is annoyed, or groaning when Justin is exasperated with Julius. Little touches like that can make the listening experience more memorable.
All in all, I’m really impressed with how well this book came together. Maybe it’s because urban fantasy is more to my tastes, but I think I liked this one even more than Aaron’s Paradox trilogy, and I did love those Devi Morris books. Julius is just such a lovable character though, and the story is so fun and easy to get into, it’s hard to stop once you start. Highly recommended if you’re looking for an entertaining feel-good book.
A review copy of this audiobook was provided to me by the publisher in exchange for an honest review. My thanks to Audible Studios!
Click below to hear a sample of NICE DRAGONS FINISH LAST audiobook, narrated by Vikas Adam, courtesy of Audible.
Book Review: The Mechanical by Ian Tregillis
Posted on March 9, 2015 22 Comments
The Mechanical by Ian Tregillis
Genre: Science Fiction, Fantasy
Series: Book 1 of The Alchemy Wars
Publisher: Orbit (March 10, 2015)
Author Information: Website | Twitter
Mogsy’s Rating: 5 of 5 stars
Like many fans of Ian Tregillis, I was first introduced to his work with the Milkweed Triptych, a series about British warlocks versus Nazi super-soldiers in an alternate history of World War II. Then In 2013 I picked up Something More Than Night, a futuristic urban fantasy-type metaphysical hard-boiled detective noir story about angels. That book was a bit of a departure to say the least, but it also solidified Tregillis in my mind as a talented visionary, definitely a rising star to watch.
Now Tregillis returns to alternate history in The Mechanical, outdoing himself once again with an inventive blend of mind-blowing fantasy, history, and existential philosophy. This time we see humble French metallurgy pitted against the demonic alchemy of the Dutch, in a story set in the early 1900s. Back in the 17th century in this alternate timeline, prominent mathematician and scientist Christiaan Huygens changed the face of the world by using magic to develop an army of clockwork automatons capable of intelligent thought but are enslaved to their masters through a series of geasa. This breakthrough discovery ensured the survival of the Calvinist Dutch Empire, for very few found themselves capable of standing against a legion of these tireless and utterly obedient mechanical men called “Clakkers.”
So three hundred years later, the Dutch are the dominant power with only a small remnant of French Papists still fighting to oppose their rule. The book begins with the executions of a group of French spies, witnessed through the eyes of one of our main protagonists, a Clakker servitor named Jax. Across the ocean where what’s left of the French Court has been exiled to the New World, our other protagonist is spymistress Berenice Charlotte de Mornay-Périgord, who is understandably vexed that almost all her agents back in the Netherlands have been caught and killed. Not long after, Jax is unwittingly used to smuggle a dangerous piece of intel across the Atlantic, and then a fatal disaster strikes the French within the walls of Marseilles-in-the-West. Thus begins an incredible tale of deadly secrets and ruthless politics, as our two characters’ fates ultimately come together in their search for what they desire most – for Jax, the sweet taste of freedom, and for Berenice, her vengeance on those who took everything from her.
What can I say but I’m just completely awestruck by the world Tregillis has created here. I know I say that about every one of his novels, but it’s true. No one does alternate history quite like the way he does, always bringing a fresh new twist by blending elements from multiple genres. He offers a whole new vision to steampunk in The Mechanical, presenting a heart-pounding tale of intrigue wrapped around a philosophical core which explores the subject of artificial intelligence and its consequences. The book will no doubt provide fertile ground for plenty of discussion, littered as it is with profound themes examining free will versus determinism, the nature of identity and the purpose of the individual, and at times it even dabbles lightly in religious theory.
Sounds delightfully cerebral, doesn’t it? But don’t let that fool you. True, The Mechanical will give you plenty of existential questions to mull over, but at its heart it is a gripping story brought to life by complex, engaging characters. There’s plenty of action and adventure that will get the blood pumping in your veins. Also, you can never let your guard down when reading a Tregillis novel. No one is ever truly safe (the unfortunate character of Father Luuk Visser can attest to that) and the author clearly has no qualms about taking his story into shocking, brutal territory. Tragedy and bloody violence can befall a character in a Tregillis novel at any time, something I discovered way back when I read Bitter Seeds, so it was a lesson I learned early.
Still, I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again – I do adore Ian Tregillis’s writing for the very fact that his style is so well-suited for darker, more evocative stories. His prose is so tight and it always flows well with the narrative, not to mention he can also be ferociously detailed when he needs to be. He draws you in and makes you feel for his characters, so that everything that happens to them matters, even (or perhaps especially) when the shit massively hits the fan. I found The Mechanical less bleak than Milkweed, though fair warning: there are more than a few traumatizing scenes in this book. Then again, it sure didn’t stop me from madly devouring up its pages, and in fact I find myself even more invested when I know that anything can happen.
In short, The Mechanical is an excellent read, not to be missed by fans of alternate history fiction and steampunk. Even if you’re not into those genres, the mix of so many ideas and other elements from sci-fi and fantasy will surely make this worth checking out. Tregillis never fails to impress, and his writing and stories seem to be getting better with each novel. This book is truly unlike anything I’ve ever read before, and it’s my favorite work of his to date. I can’t wait to see what the next installment in The Alchemy Wars will bring.
A review copy of this book was provided to me by the publisher in exchange for an honest review. My thanks to Orbit Books!
Graphic Novel Review Bites
Posted on March 8, 2015 8 Comments
Teen Titans Go! Vol. 1 by Sholly Fisch and Lea Hernandez
With thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to read an advanced copy of this graphic novel in exchange for an honest review.
My kids and I miss the 2003 Teen Titans cartoon. It was fun and funny, and also had some amazing messages. The new Teen Titans GO! cartoon foregoes the latter, opting more for irreverence and amusement rather than important morals, but there’s still a lot to make us laugh. Teen Titans GO! volume 1 Party does a great job of capturing all that goodness—and the ridiculousness of the cartoon. From crazy stories about Robin and Beast Boy’s mini-putt show down, to demon pizzas, this has just about everything. It manages to capture all the over the top sight gags and ridiculous expressions and actions of the characters, which is something I was worried about when I started reading this. Translating an animated cartoon to a static comic book page has the potential to lose much, which was the problem I had with Adventure Time Vol. 1. But unlike the latter, Teen Titans GO! doesn’t forget that imagery, colour, and movement are as much a part of the story. While it does not neglect dialogue and occasional plot points, it doesn’t get bogged down with words, allowing the reader to move smoothly from panel to panel.
Saga, Volume 4 by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples
As always, a review of Saga has to come with a warning for those who have no idea what this seriesis about: Simply put, Saga is not for the faint of heart. The opening page is yet another marvel of Staples’ and Vaughan’s awesomely disturbing creativity. But the thing is, as shocking as these images are, they are all contextual–far more so than a big old splash page of some superhero’s boob window or butt shot. Everything in Saga’s imagery is off the wall and meant to shock you, but again, it’s all contextual. And more importantly, right under the surface of all of that is a very realistic story of family and all the struggles that come with. Scrape away the crazy veneer and you have a continually touching story that hits really close to home. It’s impossible not to see myself or people I know in its pages.
Storm Volume 1: Make it Rain by Greg Pak, Victor Ibañez, and Matteo Buffagni
Storm. She is my goddess, and I have been waiting my whole comic book life to see her story told with the justice it deserves. (I’m still waiting to see her get the same kind of justice on the big screen, but that’s another story.) When Greg Pak shared the Storm love on Twitter, I was in tears. And now that I have read all of the first issues and have this glorious volume one on my shelf, I am content.
I have always liked Pak’s work because he understands the characters he writes on an emotional level. Storm is not just lightning and thunder. Nor is this series about her simply bringing the rain (despite the title). The book explores her relationships with the most important people in her life, from students at the Jean Grey Academy, to Forge (OMG OTP ❤ ❤ <3) to Yukio, and of course, Wolverine, with whom she has most recently been linked. It also explores the connection between her emotions and her powers. Simply put, a bad mood in this alpha level mutant could level a city if she’s not careful. Imagine what can happen when she loses a loved one.
My only real disappointment with the series so far is that each issue jumps from one major factor/person in Storm’s life to the next, with no pause or transition to explain why. I’m not entirely sure what I would have wanted to see between these moments, but perhaps a bit more of a build up. And it leaves me with the question if “what next?” since the she has already visited these major players in her life. Of course, whatever the what next might be, I will be there to weather the storm.
The BiblioSanctum 
