Book Review: Deadly Spells by Jaye Wells
Posted on February 13, 2015 11 Comments
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Series: Book 3 of Prospero’s War
Publisher: Orbit (February 10, 2015)
Author Information: Website | Twitter
Mogsy’s Rating: 4 of 5 stars
Ever since the release of Dirty Magic a year ago, I’ve been hearing such great things the Prospero’s War series, which is why over the holiday season I decided to take the plunge and binge read the first and second books. And that’s the story of how I got hooked into yet another urban fantasy series, as well as my first introduction to the work of Jaye Wells.
Meet protagonist Kate Prospero, former scion of a dirty magic coven who has turned her back on her old life in order to start clean. Now a beat cop on loan to the Magical Enforcement Agency, Kate is hoping to shed the prejudices of her notorious family name by helping her new team members investigate magic-related crimes in the rust belt city of Babylon, while also trying to raise her younger brother by herself.
Deadly Spells begins with the murder of a leader of a dirty magic coven leader, lighting a spark which could set off a chain of events leading to an all-out turf war if Kate and the MEA task force can’t track down the killer first.
For a series that’s already three books in, it is not surprising that it’s had its ups and downs. I’ve come this far though, so obviously I’m still enjoying the hell out of it. I like my urban fantasy fast-paced and entertaining, and Prospero’s War delivers. Wells has created and built a whole world around a relatively simple concept involving “clean” versus “dirty” magic. Those individuals who are magically adept can “cook” potions, creating all sorts of concoctions with a variety of uses. Clean potions are made, sold, and used legally, whereas dirty potions are cooked and distributed by cartel-like organizations on the streets for the less law-abiding citizenry. Like I said, it’s a simple and straightforward concept, yet its potential for interesting cases is virtually limitless.
Kate is also a complex but sometimes exasperating character. Our heroine has gone through a lot in the last two books, so understandably her emotions are a whirlwind of confusion and guilt by this point. But while some characters carry their burdens with grace, unfortunately that’s just not Kate. She’s the kind of person who gets into a lot of trouble due to her own stupid decisions, but dare to point that out to her and she’ll chew your face off. There’s only so much I can take of a character’s crap, and admittedly she came dangerously close to that line in the last book. Thankfully, now that she’s made her peace with magic, her attitude has vastly improved. While at times she is still a bully and a condescending self-righteous hypocrite, at least she did not try my patience as much in this book (though making stupid decisions due to impulsiveness and her own negligence is sadly still a pattern).
However, on the whole I’m enjoying where the main series arc is headed as well as the development of the relationships between various characters. Kate’s situation of raising her teenaged brother Danny is perhaps a bit clichéd, but wrangling a broody and defiant sixteen year old always makes for some stories in every book. I’d also hoped that Kate would finally stop wasting her time with John Volos and that Wells would stop teasing that pairing as a possible romance since that doozy appears to be hitting a brick wall no matter how you look at it. Again, there seems to be progress in this area, as well as certain developments in Kate’s love life that should make Drew Morales fans very happy. Finally, Kate’s pretty clueless, but still I can’t help but be curious about where future stories in this series will go now that she’s been hit with some huge revelations about her past life.
Urban fantasy readers, you can’t go wrong with the Prospero’s War series. It sounds like there may be more books after Deadly Spells, though I can’t seem to find any sources to confirm at this time of writing. I sure hope so though, as this series is just starting to get off the ground. It’s fun, it’s fast, and it has a bite. Sure, the protagonist isn’t perfect, but then who is? There are themes in these books that will make those with more delicate sensibilities squirm, but if you like a slightly more twisted vibe to your UF then you’re golden.
A review copy of this book was provided to me by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. My thanks to Orbit Books!
Book Review: Unbreakable by W.C. Bauers
Posted on February 12, 2015 16 Comments
Genre: Science Fiction
Series: Book 1
Publisher: Tor (January 13, 2015)
Author Information: Website | Twitter
Mogsy’s Rating: 3.5 of 5 stars
Every once in a while I’ll get this hankering for some military sci-fi, so Unbreakable couldn’t have come along at a better time. Teasing the prospect of large scale ship-to-ship battles and space marines in mech suits, W.C. Bauers’ debut also features a kick-ass female lead who’ll prove to be the bane of space pirates and the Republic’s enemies everywhere.
Meet Promise T. Paen (yep, that’s her real name), the novel’s protagonist who hails from an outer rim colonial planet called Montana caught between the Republic of Aligned Worlds and the Lusitanian Empire. Montana is also a hotbed for pirates, and when Promise witnesses her father killed in a raid, the young orphan decides to enlist in the RAW Marine Corps and leave her old life behind forever.
Promise is happy enough killing lots and lots of pirates in the RAW-MC, but when Montana’s capital and spaceport comes under attack by the marauders, she finds herself ordered back home to head up the counterstrike. After neutralizing the threat, Promise is promoted and, to her chagrin, showered with accolades and labeled a local hero by Montana’s vivacious president Anne Buckmeister. However, quietly watching behind the scenes are the Lusitanians, who decide to take advantage of the weakened Marine forces to launch their own attack to seize the planet.
Happily, despite being filled to the brim with plenty of detailed and sometimes very graphic battle scenes, Unbreakable isn’t all just violent action and no substance. There’s depth to Bauer’s world and characters, achieved through occasional breathers in the narrative. Some of these little breaks ended up being lulls in the story that I had to struggle to push through, but for the most part there are far more ups than downs.
Sci-fi tech and weapon enthusiasts for one will no doubt geek out over descriptions of the RAW-MC’s impressive arsenal. Some of these sections can be lengthy, and yet I didn’t see them as overly obtrusive. The ins-and-outs of pulse guns and armor suits are as much a part of Promise’s life as everything else, not to mention it’s the little details like that which serve to bring a level of authenticity to this futuristic version of the Corps. There’s also room for levity in the form of social gatherings with Montana’s colonists, outlining the quirks of this backwater planet’s culture. And on the other side of the coin, there are the quiet and heart-wrenching moments of grief as Promise and her company honor their fallen. I honestly thought I’d be getting nothing but gung-ho soldiers and their nifty military toys, but there’s actually a lot more feeling here than I was expecting.
When it comes to characters we don’t get too much insight into anyone else in the story, but that’s because Promise takes center stage and she’s also the most developed. I wasn’t initially all that impressed by her, but what eventually won me over was the fantastic dialogue, which ended up being my favorite aspect of Unbreakable. I learned a lot about Promise and those around her — especially her comrades and President Buckmeister — through their passionate and snappy conversations.
Perhaps the only major criticism I have is the matter pertaining to the main character’s mother, who now and then appears in front of Promise as a specter that only she can see, or speaks to her as a voice in her head. Whether Sandra Paen is a true ghost or just a hallucination of her daughter’s, that’s never really explained or made clear. The publisher’s description in the novel’s synopsis of Promise being “persistently haunted” makes this particular plot point sound more mysterious and significant than it really is, and I’m a little disappointed that it wasn’t explored further.
Still, Unbreakable was a book that intrigued and entertained me. All told, I believe this is a rousing military sci-fi debut that will make fans of the genre quite happy.
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: True Love
Posted on February 12, 2015 26 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: To Blave
“Sonny, true love is the greatest thing in the world. Except for a nice MLT, a mutton, lettuce and tomato sandwich, where the mutton is nice and lean and the tomato is ripe. They’re so perky, I love that. But that’s not what he said! He distinctly said “to blave.” (Thanks to Wendy again. Let’s find those examples of True Love!)
Wendy’s Picks:
An easy one this week, since one of the choices is right there in the topic. 😉
The Wizard’s First Rule by Terry Goodkind
One of my favourite storybook romances. As a Confessor, Kahlan’s powers prevent her from giving in to her desires, lest she lose control and confess her lover. Richard might not understand this, but he respects it, and never once pressures her. Throughout their adventure, their love blooms through mutual respect and dedication to their cause.
Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tokien
As always, LOTR has a place on the tour. Aragorn and Arwen’s love is so 4real that the bard’s will sing of it forever. Not even distance, time, nor immortality could keep them apart.
The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms by N.K. Jemisin
“So there was love, once. More than love. And now there is more than hate. Mortals have no words for what we gods feel. Gods have no words for such things. But love like that doesn’t just disappear, does it? No matter how powerful the hate, there is always love left, underneath. Horrible, isn’t it?”
Kushiel’s Dart by Jacqueline Carey
Elua’s precept is to “love as thou wilt,” but sometimes, one’s will is not what determines whom one will love. Joscelin did not intend to fall in love with the courtesan Phèdre nó Delaunay. In fact, much about her was anathema to him and the order he represented. But though their love went on to become the backbone of the series, there was a deeper love still, that first set them on their path, as Anafiel Delaunay sought to keep a promise that endured well beyond death.
The Best of All Possible Worlds by Karen Lord
For me, the best romance books are the ones that you don’t realize are romances. That happened with The Best of All Possible Worlds by Karen Lord where, coincidentally, the lead character, Grace Delarua, didn’t realize it either.
Some romances seem to be anything but, which is most certainly the case with Doro and Anyanwu, immortal beings whose relationship vacillates between love and hate, abuse and affection.
Mogsy’s Picks:
After browsing through the list of books I’ve read and picking out my choices for this week’s theme, I realized that almost all the romances I decided to feature here involve the lovers overcoming great obstacles to be with each other. That’s true love to me.
Kushiel’s Scion by Jacqueline Carey
The love between Joscelin and Phèdre may be one for the ages, but we mustn’t forget the epic romance between Imriel and Sidonie in the follow-up trilogy. The two did not mean to fall for each other either. In fact he initially found her insufferably arrogant, and she didn’t trust him — Imriel being the son of the greatest villainess Terre D’Ange has ever seen. But by the third book, it’s clear nothing can come between the two of them. Imriel will go through anything to return to Sidonie’s side.
Daughter of the Forest by Juliet Marillier
After her brothers are turned to swans by an evil sorceress, Sorcha retreats into the woods to work on her quest to save them. However, a terrible incident leads her to flee her hiding place and she ends up being saved by Red and his men, Britons who her people are at war with. But not even war or a magical curse could keep them from falling in love.
Flight of the Golden Harpy by Susan Klaus
A golden male harpy saved Kari’s life when she was a child and she’s been fascinated with the creatures ever since. She became obsessed in particular with her special golden named Shail, to the point where her father felt the need to send her off-world for ten years in the hopes that she would forget all about the half-man-half-bird. Of course, the plan backfires and Kari comes home feeling more in love with Shail than ever.
The Mad Scientist’s Daughter by Cassandra Rose Clarke
Cat is five years old when she first meets Finn, the android her father brings home to be her tutor. But as Cat grows, she discovers Finn is different from other androids. With every year that passes Cat begins to see Finn as someone more than just a teacher and a friend, and their relationship becomes increasingly complicated. After all, she’s a human and he’s a robot. On top of it all, that’s not a pairing society would accept.
Love Minus Eighty by Will McIntosh
In this futuristic dystopian novel, hundreds of dead women are cryogenically frozen in dating farms, hoping that one day some rich man will like her enough to pay millions for her revivification before whisking her home to be his wife. This is what happens to the jogger Rob accidentally kills while driving. Full of guilt, Rob visits her to ask for forgiveness, but ends up falling for her instead. Since “waking” a dead woman up even for a few minutes to talk costs a lot of money, Rob has to sell everything he owns just to afford to keep seeing her, but it’s still no where near enough to pay for her full revivification.
Beguilement by Lois McMaster Bujold
Fawn Bluefield is an eighteen-year-old farm girl who runs away from home only to be kidnapped by a Malice, an inhuman magical creature that sucks life out of everything around them. Dag is a jaded and middle-aged Lakewalker, a soldier-sorcerer whose life’s work involves hunting down and killing these Malices, keeping the land safe for all. Dag ends up saving Fawn’s life and before long they fall in love and have plans to marry. But the two come from such different backgrounds, and especially with Lakewalker culture being so insular, will their families agree to the match?
The Outlander series needs no introduction, I’m sure. This first book is practically a classic by now, though I actually have not read any of the sequels beyond it. We’re introduced to Claire Randall, a former combat nurse home from WWII. Reunited with her husband, the two go on a second honeymoon to Scotland in order to get reacquainted. One day Claire stumbles upon a time portal in an ancient standing stone circle and ends up back in 1743 where she meets and falls in love with the handsome young Scots warrior named Jamie Fraser. Stuck in the past, Claire becomes torn between desire for Jamie and her loyalty to the husband she left behind…two hundred years in her future.
Comic Stack 02/11/14
Posted on February 11, 2015 2 Comments
This week I met Poe, a young boy born with black feathers whose destiny seems to rest in a game played by omnipresent beings, Laney Griffin, a man who has a chance encounter in the woods after deciding to do whatever necessary to help his dying son, Kate Kristopher, who has to return to her fantasy world exploring ways she’d left behind because of a family secret, and a woman who has no memories of the former force she used to be–a being known only as Lady Death.
Shutter #1 by Joe Keatinge
Publisher: Image Comics
Genre: Fantasy, Supernatural, Action-Adventure, Leading Ladies
“Daaaaaaad! Cooome on! The moon’s boring!”
Kate was an explorer. She came from a long line of explorers. She explored an earth far more fantastic than our own with her father. She’s faced alligator men, large sea fish, dragons, and tentacle-y, er, things. She’s even walked on the moon which was so boring for her. However, now, at 27-years-old, Kate has stopped exploring. There’s no reason given why at this point, but a couple of possibilities do come to mind while reading this book. While visiting her father’s grave, Kate is given interesting information about her family, information that will bring her out of retirement.
This was a very fast paced story. I felt like I blinked and it was over. I liked the premise of it with earth being this wonderful placed filled with strange things just asking to be explored. It made me wish there were just a couple of more pages to reveal just a little bit more to me. It ended right when I was really starting to connect with the story. Also, the art in this book is amazing.
I’m intrigued, but I kind of feel like this is the type of story I’ll have to pick up its volumed edition. Some stories, like the next one I’ll be talking about, have that pacing that makes you want to pick up each book as its released. However, some stories I know I won’t be able to truly enjoy until a whole arc is completed even if I think it’ll be very good. There’s something about the pacing that tells me this is one of those books. Since volume one is already out, I’ll be picking it up soon. (Side note: This also includes two mini comics. One of which is named Tiger Lawyer and is about an actual tiger that is a lawyer. )
Lady Death #1 by Brian Pulido
Publisher: Boundless Comics
Genre: Fantasy, Horror, Supernatural, Leading Ladies
Lady Death lives in a world far mundane than the one she’s used to, but the trouble is she doesn’t remember who she used to be. She only knows that horrible things keep happening to the people around her, the people who try to help her. In her absence, another woman has taken her face and rules what was once hers, sending her minions in search of her to finally finish her off. A witch in the thieves camp gives tells Lady Death a broken, fragmented story of the woman she used to be and tells her that she must regain her power.
This is going to be short and to the point. I don’t know about this one. I mean, I didn’t hate it, but I wasn’t bowled over with it either. I feel like I should probably read the first volume of this one since it’s got quite a few issues behind it now. On one hand, I want to kind of set it to the side, but on the other, I feel like I should give it another chance for some reason. (Probably because it has everything I love in it, and I’d feel bad not giving it a fighting chance.) I’m indecisive on whether I’ll continue this one or not, but I’m leaning more in the camp of not. I’m not really feeling it right now, and there’s no point in wasting time when I could be reading other things.
Curse #1 by Michael Moreci
Publisher: Boom! Studios
Genre: Supernatural, Horror
“As for your offspring, he’s infected with the scent. There’s no going back.”
Laney Griffin, former football legend, is a man at wit’s end. His son is suffering from leukemia and needs aggressive treatment. Laney is doing everything he can to pay for his son’s treatment, except accept his sister-in-law’s (who is the sheriff, I’m assuming) offer to become his son’s guardian and have her state benefits pay for his treatment. It’s implied here that Laney’s wife died from some disease herself. Nora, his sister-in-law, says she’ll do whatever she has to do to take Laney’s son from him and get him the treatment he needs if she feels Laney isn’t doing enough. Left with very few options for making money, Laney decides to take up the bounty offered on whatever “animal” has been brutally killing people who venture too close to the woods. Things turn out a little unexpected.
It’s not very often that a comic, especially a #1, has me doing my best dying whale act while rolling around in the bed like a madwoman. This one did it. I was captured from the beginning, from the very first page, I knew this was going to be a keeper. The art really compliment the story here. It’s dark with few colors and the more violent the scenes get the starker the art. Laney is the type of quiet, tortured protagonist that I have a weakness for. But instead of a troubled past with tragedy or misdeeds he wants to atone for, his troubles come from the fact that his son is dying and there’s just not enough money. When his son uttered the words (after his dad asked him why he wasn’t sleep): “I was… I tried. I just… Dad… I’m scared.” The brief talk after those lines between the two, as a parent, that hit me hard. The delivery was so succinct and perfect. What true parent wouldn’t do whatever they had to do for their child? What parent wouldn’t fight heaven and hell for their child? Fucking comic, what the hell are you trying to do to my feelings here?
While it may be selfish of him not to see things from Nora’s point-of-view, he feels like giving her custody would mean “giving up” his son. It’s easy to tsk and say that he should look at the big picture by giving her guardianship, but that’s a tough decision. He would also give up being involved in his son’s medical matters because he would no longer technically be his guardian. And as someone, who’s been in a family with a very sick family member, you’d be surprised how ugly things like that can get. However, this comic book doesn’t paint Nora as the villain, which can sometimes happen in books and comics when family members are at an impasse. She’s a concerned aunt and you sympathize with how she must be feeling and her frustration with the situation.
This is the kind of story that I could see myself waiting for each issue with bated breath. With that being said, expect a review of the first volume of this one soon.
Feathers #1 by Jorge Corona
Publisher: Boom! Studios
Genre: Action-Adventure
There’s a lot going on in this book, which makes it hard to be concise, but here goes. Two beings leave a baby boy covered in black feathers in the alleyway of a seemingly destitute city known as The Maze. I call them “beings” because we don’t know who they are just yet but they seem to be omnipresent and may even be the beings from the “faith” revered in the book. They’re looking to “break” the balance of things in some game known only to them and The Maze is chosen because “you never know who might show up.” The feathered baby is found by one of the city’s nocturnal inhabitants, Gabriel, who names the boy Poe and raises him as his own.
Eleven years later, Poe has grown into a mischievous boy still covered in black feathers with a birdlike build. He’s known as “The Ghost” by the Mice, the colloquial name for the children of The Maze derived from the term Maze Rat which describes all the people who live in the Maze. Poe spends his days helping the Mice avoid the city’s guards when he should be sleeping because he scavenges at night for parts with Gabriel. It’s implied that Gabriel is a cautious sort and there were initial worries by one of the beings that Poe would learn to be as fearful and sheltered as Gabriel who does show a large amount of concern for Poe’s safety when they’re out at night.
However, Poe sneaks out of his home during the day, thinking his father is sleeping when in fact Gabriel is well aware that Poe is adventuring. During one of his adventures he encounters Bianca, the privileged daughter of a city official. Bianca has never been outside of her walled home. She lives with a dour overly religious mother (who seems to have a mean streak) and a timid father. When she’s presented the opportunity to see The Maze, she plans to make it count and is soon causing mischief of her own with Poe’s assistance (who initially mistakes her as a lone mouse).
The beginning of this made me think of one of my favorite manga, Death Note, where a random variable is introduced into the world just to see what the outcome will eventually be. That angle never gets old for me, and there was just something so endearing about Poe and Gabriel. This was a fun story that had a tinge of darkness attached to it. I’m curious to see what Poe and Bianca get into.
Waiting on Wednesday 02/11/15
Posted on February 11, 2015 18 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:
Dark Ascension by M.L. Brennan: August 4, 2015 (Roc)
In August, Fortitude Scott returns in book 4 of Generation V. OMG, can it be August already?
“As the “wickedly clever” (Publishers Weekly) series continues, reluctant, slacker vampire Fortitude Scott learns that nothing is more important than family—or more deadly….
After a lifetime of avoiding his family, Fort has discovered that working for them isn’t half bad—even if his mother, Madeline, is a terrifying, murderous vampire. His newfound career has given him a purpose and a paycheck and has even helped him get his partner, foxy kitsune Suzume, to agree to be his girlfriend. All in all, things are looking up.
Only, just as Fort is getting comfortable managing a supernatural empire that stretches from New Jersey to Ontario, Madeline’s health starts failing, throwing Fort into the middle of an uncomfortable and dangerous battle for succession. His older sister, Prudence, is determined to take over the territory. But Fort isn’t the only one wary of her sociopathic tendencies, and allies, old and new, are turning to him to keep Prudence from gaining power.
Now, as Fort fights against his impending transition into vampire adulthood, he must also battle to keep Prudence from destroying their mother’s kingdom—before she takes him down with it….”
Book Review: The Eterna Files by Leanna Renee Hieber
Posted on February 10, 2015 14 Comments
The Eterna Files by Leanna Renee Hieber
Genre: Fantasy
Series: Book 1 of The Eterna Files
Publisher: Tor (February 3, 2015)
Author Information: Website | Twitter
Mogsy’s Rating: 3 of 5 stars
It’s Great Britain versus the United States in this paranormal historical novel about the search for immortality. After the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, his widow Mary Todd Lincoln is determined to never let anyone experience her grief again, forming the impetus behind the Eterna Project, a secret group of scientists and researchers tasked to find a cure for death.
Across the ocean, Queen Victoria creates special division in charge of investigating all matters of the supernatural and paranormal, codenaming it “Omega”. Hungry for everlasting power and expansion, the queen appoints Harold Spire of the Metropolitan Police to head up Omega, charging him to find the ruined Eterna laboratory in New York, where she is convinced someone has survived with a sample of the immortality compound. Meanwhile, American Clara Templeton is also searching for Eterna. Grieving for her lover who worked on the secret project and died in the catastrophe that destroyed the laboratory, she will do her best not to let the any of the research fall into British hands.
The book is an interesting blend of genres with a unique premise, though it may take quite a bit of investment to get into the meat of the story. It’s up to the reader to get caught up, since we’re essentially dropped into the wake of the destruction of the Eterna laboratory and deaths of all the scientists and researchers. But perhaps most bewildering of all is the prologue which introduces readers to the character of Clara as a young girl, being confided in by Mary Todd Lincoln after the assassination of the president. Thus we learn that Clara possesses special abilities, ones that allow her to commune with the dead, but that she also a mystic of sorts who recalls all the memories of her past lives.
Even after finishing this novel, I’m still unclear as to the significance of Clara’s abilities in the bigger scheme of things. They don’t benefit her in any clear way, and certainly not on the Eterna project as she isn’t even directly connected with the work. They don’t even come in handy when it comes to communicating with her dead lover, since she blocks everything out. As far as I can tell, her psychic talents are there to make her stand out and be more interesting than she really is. The truth is, Clara is aloof, uninspiring and devoid of much personality, and unfortunately her powers actually don’t do much to improve things. In fact, I think they make an even bigger mess of her character. Whether her abilities will come into play later on in the series, only time will tell.
On the British side, we have Harold Spire and Omega. I found Spire to be a much more developed character than Clara, and more sympathetic due to his tragic past and the unusual relationship he has with his father. There are also more interesting characters in Omega; secret agents and spies and circus performers, oh my. My only criticism is that, while assigned the job of tracking down Eterna, the plot ends up spending more time focusing on Spire as he investigates another seemingly unconnected case. This robs the story of a lot of the suspense, especially if you were anticipating a tension-filled “arms race” type competition between the British and Americans from the novel’s description, with the two nations scrabbling to be the first to find the secret to immortality. This is not that kind of book, which was somewhat disappointing, though I ultimately didn’t mind the new direction.
The Eterna Files ended up being an enjoyable read, if at times disorganized and convoluted. In the jumble of themes and ideas and plot points, I can glean the overall picture and take a good guess where author Leanna Renee Hieber is taking the story, even though the narrative stumbles in the pacing and is slow in pulling it all together. Once everything resolves, however, it’s a lot more compelling.
A review copy of this book was provided to me by the publisher in exchange for an honest review. My thanks to Tor Books!
Audiobook Review: The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson
Posted on February 9, 2015 14 Comments
The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson
Genre: Horror
Publisher: Penguin Books (1959)
Author Information: Website
Tiara’s Rating: 4 of 5 stars
Occult scholar Dr. John Montague rents Hill House for the summer after hearing of the strange occurrences that happened there. No family has been able to stay in house for more than a few days at a time. Even though they give a wide range of excuses, Dr. Montague believes they do this simply because it’s unfeasible to a rational person to say that some unknown fear drove them out. The only thing the families agree on is that no one should set foot in Hill House. Hill House is an eighty-year-old mansion built by a man named Hugh Crain, and there has never been a moment’s peace for anyone since it was built. Violent deaths, family squabbles, and suicide taint its brief history.
Dr. Montague invites guests to stay at Hill House with him to help him track any phenomena. These guests are all chosen for their connection to strange events. Only two end up taking him up on his offer. Eleanor Vance, a fragile, socially awkward woman who had an experience with a poltergeist as a young girl, and Theodora (no last name), a free-spirited woman who has exhibited psychic tendencies. The last person to join them is Luke Sanderson, a charming rake who represents the family who owns the property. Despite their different lifestyles and personalities, the four form quick friendships with one another.
The group begins to experience strange occurrences in Hill House with Eleanor being the most receptive to what is happening around them as she increasingly loses grip with reality. There’s some evidence to suggest that the event she witnessed during her childhood might actually have been some supernatural doing of her own that she is unaware of, a doing that may have followed her to Hill House.
I can only vaguely remember watching The Haunting with Liam Neeson, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Owen Wilson, and Lili Taylor, and I’ve never watched the original one from the 60s. So, I didn’t have much movie lore to taint the book for me other than having images of Taylor as Eleanor Vance, Wilson as Luke Sanderson, and Zeta-Jones as Theodora. Liam Neeson did not fit the image of Dr. Montague, but I think I remember them calling him by another last name in the movie, anyway.
I’ve been a horror book and movie fan for a very long time. For quite a number of years (read: most of my preteen, teenage, and young adult years) horror was about the only thing I would read with the occasional read from other genres. The first horror novel that I can remember leaving an impression with me as a preteen was Stephen King’s It. Sure, I had read other horror books, mostly in the YA vein, during that time. However, even as a preteen, I was a bit numbed to the scary aspects of horror books, and I remember It being the moment when a whole new world of horror opened up for me. However, two subgenres of horror were never really my cuppa–zombie horror and ghost stories.
Even though ghost stories aren’t high on my list that doesn’t stop me from reading them. I just found that most ghost stories never really got any better than your average 13 Alabama Ghosts and Jeffrey books. Enjoyable, fun reads, but kind of campy. Sure, there have been exceptions as always, but most of them read like the kind of urban legends you’d whisper to your friend. “Hey, did you hear the story about the cheerleader who died on the football field and now her ghost will chase you if you stand on the 50-yard line at midnight?” Yeah, that. I’ve always been more into the macabre, anyway. So, I went into The Haunting of Hill House expecting it to be kitschy.
This is a ghost story, but it manages to be more than just a story that’s told around the camp fires. Jackson brought a psychological angle that makes the reader question if these things are really happening to this bunch or if it is some unexplainable shared delusion. Maybe Eleanor made the thing up entirely. We learn early in the novel that she has a very ripe imagination that threatens to overflow. This imagination may be the consequence of taking care of her ailing mother for years before her death and never having much contact with others. Jackson spends a fair amount of time delving into Eleanor’s thoughts with poetic prose that can sometimes make you forget that you’re reading a horror novel.
At the same time, that same poetic writing can suddenly be twisted by Jackson to capture the eerie, dreadful feel of Hill House. It creates tension and scares that seem to be hidden just out of the corner of your eye. I wouldn’t say this book is necessarily scary, but it creates a fair mount of tension for the characters that they never really shake as the house seeds itself deep in their psyche. Jackson never takes the mystery out of the story, leaving so much of the happenings at Hill House up to the reader, which makes the mind run wild. Add to that the caretakers, Mr. and Mrs. Dudley, who both are depressing, dour people that help feed the groups’ edginess.
I should take some time out here to praise the narrator, Bernadette Dunne. Her raspy reading voice helped to accentuate the creepiness of the story, but she did an excellent job creating voices and personality for the characters through her voice, as well. I don’t think this would have been quite as enjoyable without her narration of the story. I loved hearing her Mrs. Dudley, who was probably the most terrifying and the funniest person in the book for me because of these lines delivered so well by Ms. Dunne:
“I leave before dark comes […] We live over in the town, six miles away. So there won’t be anyone around if you need help. We couldn’t even hear you, in the night. No one could. No one lives any nearer than the town. No one else will come any nearer than that. In the night,” Mrs. Dudley said, and smiled outright. “In the dark,” she said, and closed the door behind her.
This is part of a much longer mantra that Mrs. Dudley recites repeatedly throughout the novel to the characters. She rarely says much else aside from these same words, and Dunne’s delivery really cuts down to the bone with those words. (Side note: If our small theater ever puts on a production of The Haunting of Hill House, I would so try out for Mrs. Dudley’s part.)
The Haunting of Hill House is a tense story that seems to ask if the house is truly haunted or could these things have happened because the group believed in them. Would they have been faced with this same terror if they hadn’t had certain expectations about what to expect or is the house truly some primordial evil waiting and watching for victims? It’s almost as if the story is asking the reader, “What do you think… in the night… in the dark?”
Graphic Novel Review: Harley Quinn Vol. 1: Hot in the City by Amanda Connor & Jimmy Palmiotti
Posted on February 9, 2015 9 Comments
Harley Quinn Vol. 1: Hot in the City by Amanda Connor & Jimmy Palmiotti
Genre: Superhero, Leading Ladies
Publisher: DC Comics (October 28, 2014)
Author Information: Website|Twitter
Tiara’s Rating: 2.5 of 5
Hijinxs and mayhem ensue when one of Harley’s former patients leaves her real estate in Brooklyn. Packing up the few possessions she owns and hopping on her bike, Harley (with her pal Bernie the Charbroiled Beaver) leaves Gotham in favor of greener pastures. She becomes the owner of a sizable building on Coney Island that houses a few businesses and a menagerie of live-in tenants who mostly work as sideshow attractions. Harley immediately takes to her new family, especially a dwarf by the name of, wait for it, Big Tony, and they take a liking to her because she’s strange like them and likable.
Nothing good comes without a catch, though. Harley is expected to find gainful employment to cover the cost of owning the property (back taxes, insurance, upkeep, property taxes) because her tenants and businesses only cover about 45% of that cost.
Honestly, a 2.5 from me is a very generous rating considering how I feel about this book. I really wanted to like this. I tried to rationalize it as much as I could to fit a narrative that appealed to me, and I just couldn’t. That’s not to say there aren’t things that I like about it, but it feels that what I didn’t like far outweighs what I did like. I felt a little defeated, disheartened, after reading this. I wanted to be treated to a really great Harley story because I love Harley. I expected this to be quirky and fun with a touch of macabre–the misadventures of Harleen Quinzel.
Yes, we’re treated to many misadventures as Harley learns to navigate her new city, avoid overzealous assassins, and seek money sources (including actual employment) to keep her new home while attracting the kind of chaos only Harley could. However, there were so few moments that really struck me as brilliant with this book. Mostly, the story felt a bit forced and too much like someone was saying, “This is funny. I made a funny… right?” This after such a promising start where Harley muses that she wishes there was a comic book all about her.
My review could effectively summed up by a panel where the owner of the wax museum housed in Harley’s building asks her to stop humping the Joker statue. With that panel, all I would’ve had to write was: “That’s it. That’s the whole book.” It was a nonstop barrage of bad puns and Harley exclaiming “Hooooleee [insert choice word that may or may not vaguely rhyme with “holy”].” Things that you’d expect from Harley, but hardly executed as well as they should’ve been.
Parts of the story felt problematic to me as well. I know sometimes humor can help temper some problem themes. This book is full of stereotypes jokes (the ranting Russian who loves America because of “ze bread” and capitalism, the Jewish granddad that putters around yelling in Yiddish, etc.) and “That’s what she said” type jokes. Granted these can be used in ways to really point out the irony/problems of a situation in humorous ways, but I don’t think that’s what they were going for here. There were moments with this book where, if you take away the glibness, they are gross and troubling with no real merit. It was disappointing to see that.
Despite my complaints, Harley is clearly no one’s victim, and she won’t stand for anyone trying to make her one. I did appreciate that about this book. I appreciated her friendship with Ivy, which was meant to be mockingly sapphic, but I still read it as two women who support each other wholly, two women who’d do anything for the other because their bond is strong. Harley’s love of animals was very endearing, and she often exhibited a compassionate side that wanted to protect those weaker than her the best way she knew how–by pulling out Beatrice (her large hammer).
While reading this, I questioned where was the Harley that argued that she could be whatever she wanted to be without Joker. She could be smart. She could be dumb. She could be sexy. Or she could choose to be all of those things. Sometimes, that really showed in this book, but most of my time reading this was spent grimacing. If it hadn’t been for a few key moments in the book and the really beautiful art and variant art pages/covers that featured a wealth of drawing styles, this book might’ve received a much lower rating.
Book Review: Cherry Bomb by Kathleen Tierney/Caitlín R. Kiernan
Posted on February 8, 2015 17 Comments
Cherry Bomb by Kathleen Tierney/Caitlín R. Kiernan
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Series: Book 3 of Siobhan Quinn
Publisher: Roc (February 3, 2015)
Author Information: Website | Twitter
Mogsy’s Rating: 3.5 of 5 stars
The Siobhan Quinn series is the dark underbelly of urban fantasy you never get to see, a project that began as the author Caitlín R. Kiernan’s (writing as Kathleen Tierney) “protest against what ‘paranormal romance’ has done to the once respectable genre”. It is harsh, it is gritty, it is obscene…but so help me I’ve loved every page and every moment I’ve gotten to spend with its crude and foul-mouthed protagonist.
Cherry Bomb is the latest (and apparently also the last – I’ll have more words on this later) book of the series. It has been three years since Quinn walked out on Mean Mr. B and left Rhode Island behind her, and after traveling around the country she eventually settled in the Big Apple. One night she meets a seductive antiquities dealer named Selwyn Throckmorton in a BDSM club and the two immediately hit it off. Unbeknownst to Quinn, however, Miss Throckmorton has apparently been getting into all kinds of trouble trading in ghoul artifacts with some deeply unsavory characters.
They say love makes you do foolish things, and if you ask Quinn I’m sure she’ll offer her agreement along with some choice words for how she feels about that.
This book is the arguably the grittiest, most aggressive and in-your-face installment yet. In spite of that, I wish I could claim the series goes out with a bang. It doesn’t though, not really. Or at least, not in any conventional sense. But seeing as how this series is all about doing things unconventionally, I suppose the ending strikes the right tone in its own way.
Of course, a lot of my feelings might have to do with how I discovered this was the final Siobhan Quinn novel. I literally found out on the very last page – the Author’s Note. Up to this point, I was actually quite happy with the ending, but after becoming aware that this book concludes the series, my expectations were inevitably altered. Not very fair of me, perhaps; but I can’t help that this is how I feel, and for that reason I wish I had known beforehand. I wasn’t looking for anything happy or monumental, but I still I couldn’t help but wish things had wrapped up in a more memorable conclusion.
Because this series is also a satirical look at the urban fantasy genre, it makes these books hard to review. But I did feel Cherry Bomb is lighter on the dark, twisted humor than the first two novels, and is instead just darker and more twisted in general, not to mention also more violent, more disturbing and more depressing. I’m all right with this on the whole, though I frequently found myself missing Quinn’s dry wit. She still retains that “very Quinn” sense of humor, but now it has an edge. Understandably, the events of the last novel and then in this one has jaded her (even more) and it really shows in her new attitude.
Finally, Quinn isn’t meant to be an admirable or a sympathetic character; she’s lewd, unpleasant, and over-the-top, but that’s also why I love her. And because I love her, it was very hard for me to see her manipulated and played like a damn fiddle. Selwyn isn’t a very likeable character either (and we’re actually warned about this) but she knows that deep down inside Quinn is a goodness that she’s not afraid to take advantage of, and it drove me nuts. On the one hand, I spent a lot of time reading this book feeling annoyed at Quinn for letting Selwyn lead her around by the nose (what happened to the spitfire from the last two books? That Quinn I know wouldn’t have taken any of this crap), but on the other hand, it did open my eyes to the softer, more solicitous side to her personality. Love, after all, can change someone, make them act differently, and I liked how Tierney/Kiernan explored Quinn’s character in this book by really peeling back the layers.
Once more, the author delivers another fantastic Siobhan Quinn novel. If you ask me, it’s a series that ended all too soon. Still, it’s probably best to say goodbye on a high note, not to mention no one likes to see a series drag on unnecessarily and I would have hated to see one this special wear out its welcome. I heartily recommend this series to anyone who enjoys urban fantasy, anti-heroes, and dark stories…and who won’t mind reading a book that come with a warning label.
A review copy of this book was provided to me by the publisher in exchange for an honest review. My thanks to Roc Books!
YA Weekend: Half the World by Joe Abercrombie
Posted on February 7, 2015 33 Comments
Half the World by Joe Abercrombie
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy
Series: Book 2 of The Shattered Sea
Publisher: Del Rey (February 17, 2015)
Author Information: Website | Twitter
Mogsy’s Rating: 4.5 of 5 stars
You gotta hand it to Joe Abercrombie. Knocking it out of the park on his first venture into Young Adult territory could be seen as a fluke, but when he nails it again for a second time, it’s clearly a testament to his writing skills and versatility. This author is a master when it comes to storytelling, whether he’s writing for teens or adults.
Half the World is the follow-up-but-not-really-a-direct-sequel to Half a King, which introduced readers to the land of Gettland and a young prince with a crippled hand named Yarvi. A man grown now, Prince Yarvi has become Father Yarvi, a trusted minister to Gettland’s king, and is no longer the main focus; instead, that torch and its responsibilities have been passed on to sixteen-year-old Thorn Bathu, a girl with a fierce heart and a fighter’s spirit.
Determined to one day avenge her father, Thorn has been training for years to become a warrior of Gettland, only to fail on the day of her testing and be condemned to death for the accidental killing of a fellow student. When a young warrior named Brand speaks up on her behalf, Thorn is spared from execution only to be swept up along with Brand into an ambitious political plot devised by the cunning Father Yarvi, which sees the three of them and a ragtag crew embarking on an exciting but dangerous diplomatic mission across half the world.
For a society that worships a goddess referred to as Mother War, you would think they’d be more open and accepting of female warriors, but apparently not. It’s an uphill battle all the way for Thorn Bathu to prove herself to her teacher, her peers and even to her own mother, whom Thorn suspects had always wished for a daughter more into sewing and pretty dresses. But Thorn is who she is, and I can’t say I would have preferred it any other way. Not that kickass heroines are in short supply when it comes to the YA genre, but take any of the female protagonists in any of the more popular books in the genre these days, and I guarantee you Thorn will make every single one of them look like fluffy kittens. When I say Thorn is a tough girl, you definitely get a tough girl. That’s mainly because Abercrombie simply does not hold back when it comes to his characters; if he feels that a fight scene calls for his protagonist getting a knife through the cheek…well, she’s getting a knife through the cheek (“Ouch, sorry about that, Thorn, but it builds character!)
Not that Abercrombie is infallible. One thing to note is that there was not a full-blown romantic subplot in Half a King like there is in Half the World, and when it comes to writing a YA romance and a teenage girl’s perspective, he manages admirably though not without unintentional awkwardness. Scenes where Thorn is kicking ass and taking names seem to come naturally, but where her softer feelings for Brand are concerned (playing mental games of he-loves-me-he-loves-me-not, feeling jealous of other girls, appreciating the virtues of his well-toned backside, etc.) that’s when you sense that Abercrombie may be feeling a bit out of his comfort zone. It’s not too distracting; the moments where Thorn almost acts like a completely different person are more amusing than they are truly problematic. However, this does make Brand the more consistent character, and I sometimes found myself enjoying and looking forward to his chapters more than Thorn’s.
Story-wise, I also found the twists and turns in Half the World to be somewhat tamer and more predictable than in Half a King, though this might have something to do with the fact that we now know the character of Father Yarvi well enough to “expect the unexpected”. Nevertheless, I sailed through this novel loving every page of it, but the highlight was without a doubt the last few chapters that led up to and culminated in the stunning climax. For you see, fight scenes are a bit of a Joe Abercrombie specialty. Once the action starts, it’s impossible to tear your eyes away. The final showdown was one such sequence, with the suspense keeping you on the edge of seat until the moment of reckoning. As climaxes go, that was close to perfection. Before the ending, I was already pretty set on rating Half the World a solid 4 stars, but that one amazing scene alone made me bump it up to 4.5.
One thing is clear, though – the scene is now set for the next and final book of the trilogy. Seeing as how things have progressed so far, Half a War promises to be even more intense and exciting. I can’t wait.
A review copy of this book was provided to me by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. My thanks to Del Rey Books!
The BiblioSanctum 