PANELS: The Boys #38
Posted on June 26, 2014 Leave a Comment
The female of the species is more deadly than the male.
The Boys #38
Tough Traveling: Minions
Posted on June 26, 2014 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. Compulsive list-maker that I am, I’m very excited to take part!
This week’s tour topic is: Minions of the Dark Lord
MINIONS OF THE DARK LORD are all over the place. The DARK LORD has been busy planting them for years…
And the description in the book goes on and on and on. It basically boils down to anyone working for a Dark Lord. You’ve already seen my extensive list for Dark Lord a few weeks back, and almost all of them have their henchmen or agents. Rather than naming them all and featuring the same books again, I’m going to go for a shorter list this time and use a few new titles I haven’t talked about yet!
Steelheart by Brandon Sanderson
Newcago is ruled with an iron fist by the extremely powerful Epic named Steelheart, who is apparently invincible and has the ability to fly and hurl blasts of energy in addition to turning matter into steel. To take him down, the protagonist David and his fellow Reckoners have to take in account three other Epics who are supposedly in Steelheart’s inner council and who also serve as his elite bodyguards: Firefight, Conflux, and Nightwielder.
The Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer
Levana is the evil queen of Luna, employing Sybil as her head thaumaturge. Sybil herself ruled over a colony on Luna and accompanied her queen when she went to Earth to discuss an alliance with the Commonwealth. Sybil’s role was described as “between a doting lapdog and gleeful servant who delighted in seeing to Levana’s cruelest request”. She is also the cold, uncaring adoptive mother of Cress Mira, who is the main focus of the series’ third book.
NOS4A2 by Joe Hill
Charles Talent Manx likes to take children for rides in his 1938 Rolls-Royce Wraith, taking them away forever into the otherworldly realm called “Christmasland”. With an ad in the back of a magazine, he enlists a chemical plant worker named Bing Partridge, who ultimately becomes his wicked and obedient “Head Elf”, as it were. Bing does terrible things for Manx, using his knowledge of chemicals to drug and capture children, then killing the victim’s parents.
Book Review: Cibola Burn by James S.A. Corey
Posted on June 25, 2014 26 Comments
Cibola Burn by James S.A. Corey
Genre: Science Fiction
Series: Book 4 of The Expanse
Publisher: Orbit (June 17, 2014)
Author Information: Website | Twitter
Mogsy’s Rating: 4.5 of 5 stars
The Expanse is probably my science fiction series right now, and I think Cibola Burn is the best installment yet.
Why, you ask? Well, unlike the previous books, which I felt started off slow but gradually built up to bigger and better action, Cibola Burn breaks this pattern and kicks things off right away with an explosive conflict you can’t ignore. The mysterious proto-molecule that somehow created a massive ring structure just outside the orbit of Uranus has turned out to be a gate leading to thousands of habitable planets on the other side. To the annoyance and chagrin of the corporation with the planetary exploration and harvesting rights, a ship of refugees have made it over and settled on the first of such new worlds, claiming it as their own and starting up their own mining operations.
Violence erupts when the company finally arrives to protect what they think of as their property, with the colonists pushing back. This is how the book starts out – literally with a bang. Protagonist James Holden, deemed as the best person to act as mediator in this conflict, is dropped into the middle of things before they can escalate and both sides end up killing each other. The whole situation is a lit powder keg waiting to explode and the atmosphere could not be more intense, and this is all just within the first handful of chapters. There’s none of that “slow climb to the apex”, which is how I described Abbadon’s Gate. Here, you get to the good stuff right off the bat.
But before you think all the action is front-loaded, rest assured that this is not the case. The tension continues to build and it’s safe to say that circumstances get worse for the characters (which translates to “More exciting!” for the reader) before they get better. Cibola Burn is part space colonization story and part space disaster thriller. For those reading this series who might be suffering from proto-molecule fatigue by now, the good news is that while the proto-molecule still plays a big role in the overall story, it takes a backseat to the more dramatic and more human events happening right there on the frontier planet. It’s wild and lawless territory out there, with neither side willing to relinquish control. With no real police force, no courts and no legal system, authority is determined by who has the greatest firepower, and when you’re in a region of space eighteen months from the closest civilization, that there pretty much spells a recipe for disaster.
Like all the previous books in the series, Cibola Burn is told from the perspective of a handful of point-of-view characters. The cast has expanded yet again, changing up all the key players except for Holden, who as the main protagonist has kept up a constant presence in all four books now. For the first time in this series, however, I became partial to his chapters. In books 1-3, I’d always felt that Holden’s character was eclipsed by more powerful and interesting personalities (in Leviathan Wakes, by Miller; in Caliban’s War, by Chrisjen Avasarala, my favorite potty-mouthed UN politician; and in Abbadon’s Gate, by Bull) and he’d never managed to capture my attention. That is, until now. What changed? It’s not like the other POV characters here were any less compelling. But somehow, Holden definitely came into his own in Cibola Burn. As someone who’s always so sure of his moral position, it’s a new experience to see him try to compromise for the sake of keeping the peace, and when the situation devolves, his leadership skills are put to the test.
In fact, all the POV characters – Holden, Basia, Havelock and Elvi — were enjoyable to read about in their own way. Compared to a relatively weaker cast in the last book, Cibola Burn was a much more engaging read for this reason. The only character I didn’t care for was Murtry – and not because he’s the villain. I notice the authors seem to have a tendency to paint the “bad guys” in this series as really BAD guys, all super evil psychopaths with terrible motives and inflexible attitudes. While it leaves little room for doubt who you should be rooting for, that doesn’t add much to the person or situation. Other characters who sometimes lack in depth is an occasional issue I encountered, but the baddies seem to have it the worst.
Still, if that’s my only complaint, and it’s a minor one at that, this book is clear a winner in my eyes. Like I said, I found this to be the most exciting and powerful book so far. When a strange planet that no one understands turns against colony and corporation alike, the notion of people putting aside their differences to help each other survive becomes a central theme, and all the while the clock is ticking. It’s really no surprise that the series is heading to TV, being the perfect mix of science fiction chills-and-thrills with the passion and weight of human drama. Fans of The Expanse will eat this book right up. And if you haven’t started this series yet, what are you waiting for?
A review copy of this book was provided to me by the publisher in exchange for an honest review. My thanks to Orbit Books!
Waiting on Wednesday 06/25/14
Posted on June 25, 2014 13 Comments
“Waiting On Wednesday” is a weekly meme hosted by Breaking the Spine that lets us feature upcoming releases that we can’t wait to get our hands on!
“The Galactic Civil War rages on after the destruction of the Death Star and Luke Skywalker struggles to learn more about the Force without the aid of Obi-Wan Kenobi – or indeed without any aid at all. But the few memories he has of Obi-Wan’s instruction point the way to a stronger control of the Force, and he is encouraged to pursue it by a new friend in the Alliance. When Luke, R2-D2 and his new ally are tasked with liberating a valuable asset from the Empire and delivering her to a safe planet where she can aid the Alliance, their journey across the galaxy is fraught with peril – and opportunities for Luke to discover the mysteries of the Force.“Posted on June 24, 2014 Leave a Comment
“Memories are dangerous things. You turn them over and over, until you know every touch and corner, but still you’ll find an edge to cut you.”
~ Mark Lawrence, Prince of Thorns
Book Review: Brown Girl in the Ring by Nalo Hopkinson
Posted on June 24, 2014 5 Comments
Brown Girl in the Ring by Nalo Hopkinson
Genre: Urban Fantasy, Science-Fantasy
Publisher: Hachette Book Group
Date of Publication: March 15, 2001
Author Information: Website | Twitter
Tiara’s Rating – 3.5 of 5 stars
I know this book is classified as science fiction, but honestly, it felt more like urban fantasy to me. At best, it was science-fantasy because it does have some science fiction elements. However, those things aren’t nearly as pronounced to me as the fantasy portion of the novel.
Downtown Toronto has been abandoned by the Canadian government after a series of financial disasters that lead to an economic depression. They’ve blocked the people from leaving the hellhole it’s become, but those who have money move to the suburbs are allowed to keep their illusion of safety while those who don’t are forced to stay in Toronto and fend for themselves, which is largely made of a society of people of color.
Depending on the ways of their ancestors, despite their ugly surroundings and reality, they’ve built up this society that focuses on bartering and relying on the old ideas of their people ranging from India to the Caribbean. That could come in the form of food or knowledge of the land or that can come in the form of more fantastic elements.
Ti-Jeanne is a new mother who hasn’t named her baby. She’s recently moved back in with her grandmother, Gros-Jeanne, due to the baby’s father being an addict and needing support that she knows her grandmother can provide. Despite that, Ti-Jeanne fears her grandmother’s herbalism and spiritualism powers. She also fears that they may be manifesting in her as her dreams begin to plague her, and she is reluctant to give into that side of her family, especially since her grandmother said the visions made her mother mad before she disappeared. However, there are evils in their city that Ti-Jeanne will eventually have to find the courage to face as she learns not to fear who she is.
This is one of the books that I choose from the 2014 Speculative Fiction by Authors of Color Challenge because I wanted to read more spec fic by authors of color. This was a beautifully written book that incorporated so much cultural character to the story. Quotes like this just made my whole reading experience:
“Tony could give sweet, sweet talk. Words so nice, they would charm the money from your pocket, the caution from your heart, the clothes from your body. Words so sweet and soothing, they sounded like love, like let me hold you the way your mama never held you, like come and be my only special one, my doux-doux darling. Words that promised heaven.”
So lyrical and full of flavor and culture, exactly what I’ve been wanting and looking for in my science fiction and fantasy. Words that speak to me. Words that feel genuine. Words that I can hear people I know in my life saying. Hopkinson created a very scarred, scary, abandoned society, but at the same time, she’s made it this diverse place full of colorful characters who are just trying to survive.
Now, for the main character, Ti-Jeanne. We had a torrid relationship for a moment. While I appreciated and even empathized with Ti-Jeanne’s struggles with being a mother, loving a man that’s “no good” for her, and trying to assert herself as a woman to her grandmother, it took me a while to connect with her character. I understood her selfishness and her anger at not only her personal situation but the situation of her city. However, that may have been part of the point to all this. Ti-Jeanne needed to learn to respect, compassion, and selflessness. She needed to learn that, while selfishness is part of human nature, one has to temper it with respect for others.
It’s one of those books where you want to tell the character you are no more special than anyone else in respect to your needs or wants. Your needs do not outweigh the needs of others. Many of your needs and wants are only different from anyone else’s. Many first mothers have troubles. Many of us don’t have enough to feed ourselves much less others. Of course, your problems, these problems, seem worst than the next person because they’re yours. However, the next person feels the same way about their problems. You are special because you are you, and no one else can say that.
However, as Ti-Jeanne grew as a character, I grew to love her much more. Her transformation from this almost girl-child pretending to be a woman to a woman who is not afraid of what power she holds, not just as her grandmother’s child, but as her tragic mother’s child and as a woman of power herself, is beautifully done. Her grandmother reminded me so much of my own great-grandmother who could be a curmudgeonly soul, but this is how she imparted wisdom and love. Parts of the book like that just made me so nostalgic.
I have to say I didn’t quite know if I’d come out of this one loving it. I appreciated it, but it took me so long to warm to Ti-Jeanne that I was afraid I was going to like it, but it wasn’t going to be that story for me. I’m grateful that I was wrong, and I look forward to more of Hopkinson’s wonderfully magic books.
Here we are!
Posted on June 23, 2014 32 Comments
Over a year ago, Tiara, Mogsy and Wendy discovered NetGalley, but without an acceptable outlet, we couldn’t participate as professional readers. That’s when a thought struck us. The three of us were already avid Goodreads users, making regular use of the site’s review options. We decided to join forces and revive Mogsy’s book blog, The Bibliosanctum, and now that we’ve cut our teeth, we’ve decided to get a little fancier.
Welcome to the new and improved BiblioSanctum!
Our time in the book review blogosphere has taught us so much and introduced us to so many wonderful people and experiences, and of course, to many, many new books! Everything we need to feed our bibliophilia (as if our obsession actually needed more encouragement!)
These are just a few of the wonderful experiences we’ve come to appreciate so much, and we wanted to thank you all, our readers, bloggers, publishers and authors, who’ve been so incredible.
The Review Blogosphere: There are many other reviewers who’ve been doing this book review thing for some time. Initially, their sites provided inspiration for our own, but as time has gone on, we’ve made a few friends and acquaintances and enjoyed many book-related conversations.
Sharing Our Book Love: Creating a book blog meant we could participate in NetGalley, but more importantly, we got to expand the opportunity to flail about books. When we love a book, we want to make sure you know about it. And while we might not be able to share it with you physically, we can at least steer you in the direction of a sale or two.
The To-Read Pile: Goodreads recommendations were already ensuring we’d never get through our to-read piles, but getting into the world ARCs and meeting all these new people means we’re constantly being inundated with more and more to read! And it’s just so darn hard to say no when everything looks so gooood…
Chatting with Authors: Something we didn’t expect was the opportunity to actually chat with authors. Not just in interviews about their books, but chatting about everyday stuff too. Turns out, authors are actually cool human beings who love to read and game and cook and, you know, do stuff too!
Watching Authors Chat: Sometimes, as fun as it is to chat with the authors, it’s just as fun to be a bit of a voyeur and watch their Twitter interactions with each other, especially after a major event in the book community. It’s a small world, it seems, and more importantly, a very close knit one filled with lots of fun and encouragement.
Publishers: We’re still a little amazed by all the wonderful publishers out there who value our opinion on the many wonderful books they produce.
Now that we’ve moved to our cozy new home in this corner of the internet, we’re looking forward to this and a whole lot more! Thanks for reading!
~The BiblioSanctum
YA Weekend: Earth Star by Janet Edwards
Posted on June 22, 2014 1 Comment
Genre: Young Adult, Science Fiction
Series: Book 2 of Earth Girl
Publisher: Pyr (April 15, 2014)
Author Information: Website | Twitter
Mogsy’s Rating: 4 of 5 stars
Jarra has carried out a successful rescue mission, saved lives at the risk of losing her own, and received the Earth Star and the highest honor of the Artemis medal. But still our protagonist finds herself defined by her disability.
I’d been eagerly waiting to read this book ever since I read Earth Girl. Earth Star is the sequel, picking up right where the first book left off. Things have pretty much returned to normal after the events of the unprecedented solar storm that put the New York dig site and Jarra in the spotlight. The whole world knows she’s Handicapped now, that she is among one in a thousand born with an immune system disorder that confines her to earth. But while most of her classmates have come to terms with learning her secret, not everyone has been so accepting of Jarra.
I continue to enjoy this series for its ability to engage as well as its departures from the usual YA conventions. Unsurprisingly, these books probably won’t be for everyone, though I do wish more people knew about them. Not only is there an important message, I also love the universe Janet Edwards has created, and here she expands the idea further by throwing humanity a curveball – the possibility of aliens on Earth’s doorstep. When the military discovers a strange sphere in orbit, the planet goes into high alert and Jarra is drafted to help.
You would think that the arrival of an extraterrestrial presence might bring humankind together, but that isn’t the case. The book continues the theme of showing how deep-rooted bigotry and intolerance can be, even though Jarra has proven herself to be as capable as any Norm time and time again. The prejudice against the Handicapped has been ingrained in this society for generations, and Earth has become a second-class planet, with who have the immune disorder somehow seen as less than human.
But there is hope yet. There are plenty of those who don’t share those close-minded views. Jarra and her boyfriend Fian have gotten much closer since the first book; the two have pledged their commitment to each other and Fian continues to be Jarra’s strongest and most loyal supporter. But like I said, we aren’t going to be treated to the same old tropes here, so Jarra and Fian’s relationship also has a completely different dynamic than your typical YA novel. I wouldn’t recommend going into these books expecting a strong romance plot. It’s just not that kind of book, and I’m cool with that. Still, that doesn’t mean that it is completely devoid of romantic tension. A private person by nature, Jarra still struggles with opening up to Fian, and Fian comes across as almost insecure in his desperation to get through to her. His role feels slightly diminished here, but then I suppose the force of Jarra’s personality has a way of overshadowing those around her.
For make no mistake, these books are all about Jarra’s journey, her own exceptional fight against adversity, from without and within. But I also like the fact she is not painted as the invincible hero. Reviewers including myself have noted in the first book that her character seems to be an expert at everything and know all the answers. In spite of that, I see now that she has her fears and doubts. The message is clear: as a Handicapped, Jarra is nevertheless able to do everything that a Norm can do, but it works both ways. She’s also just as liable to fall victim to her own anxieties and lose confidence in herself, just like everyone else.
After all, she’s only human. Like all of us.
A review copy of this book was provided to me by the publisher in exchange for an honest review. My thanks to Pyr Books!
Book Review: EVE: Templar One by Tony Gonzales
Posted on June 21, 2014 Leave a Comment
EVE: Templar One by Tony Gonzales
Genre: Science Fiction, Gaming Tie-in
Publisher: Gollancz (February 2013)
Wendy’s Rating: 3 of 5 stars
My husband tried for a time to convince me to play EVE, the futuristic massive multiplayer online game about corporate space intrigue, piracy and politics. I couldn’t get beyond the whole “spreadsheets in space” concept of the game. When the company released Dust 514, the console version, we briefly considered having me serve as his ground forces, but ultimately, his interest in EVE crashed and burned and mine failed to launch in the first place.
Still, his talk about the game itself did intrigue me enough to pick up this audiobook from the library, and it helped me make it through some of the technical aspects, such as the various classes of ships, the drones and, most importantly, the cloning process, which is taken to a whole new level in Templar One. That background was certainly an advantage for me, but I think the book could hold up on its own without it.
The blurb explains that war has reached a new level with the introduction of the cloning process, but it fails to give any depth to the concept beyond the trauma of repeated death. At the point where the story takes place, cloning technology already exists and many of the characters make use of it. The key to Templar One is that a new breed of clones has been introduced, one that is advanced well beyond the ones already in play, and relies on the deletion of the subject’s past life. Once you know that, it should become obvious that all this is leading up to said subject remembering his past life and questioning his purpose. This is exactly what happens about half way through the book, but it’s also at that point that it finally dawned on me that Templar One isn’t merely the subject matter, but the main character.
And therein lies the major problem. There are a tonne of characters in this story and almost every one of them gets airtime to the point where I could not tell them apart. They were each unique and interesting, but not enough time was spent with any of them to make the choice to have so many points of view worthwhile. Some characters even appeared for only a moment during battles, with entire pages dedicated to their POVs, only to have them die by the end of the section.
The story delves deeply – very deeply – into the political and corporate machinations that shape this universe, as well as the mysterious history upon which the universe is based. There is a lot going on, but I was mostly able to follow along. It is actually very well written with exceptional dialogue, characterization, action and descriptions, but the constantly changing characters some how failed to work overall.
Though ultimately not enough to get me to play the game, I was still very impressed with the level of detail that went into the lore.
Book Review: The Leopard by K.V. Johansen
Posted on June 20, 2014 1 Comment
Genre: Fantasy
Series: Book 1 of Marakand
Publisher: Pyr (June 10, 2014)
Author Information: Website | Twitter
Mogsy’s Rating: 3 of 5 stars
The Leopard was a really tough book to rate and as I sit down to write this review, I find myself waffling back and forth on my thoughts. For one thing, I did not expect the unconventional structure, effectively dividing the novel into two separate parts. Because The Leopard is also the first installment of a duology, with the bulk of the story still left untold in book two, it’s also hard to decide how I really feel based on what happened here alone.
After the prologue, we are introduced to Deyandara, a bastard tribal princess who suddenly becomes her mother’s sole heir when everyone else in the family was murdered. But before this news even has the chance to settle, Deyandara is made messenger to the goddess Catairanach, who sends her on a quest to seek out the assassin known as the Leopard. Said assassin, whose true name is Ahjvar, is a cursed man who only wants to die, taking his burden to the grave. However, Deyandara’s message from the goddess changes all that. If he accepts her mission to kill the mad prophet known as the Voice of Marakand, Catairanach promises to free him from his curse. Along with his companion the escaped slave Ghu, Ahj sets off to perform this one final task.
Then we reach Part Two of the novel, which features a whole cast of different characters, apparently bringing back some of the familiar faces for those who have read Blackdog, an earlier novel based in K.V. Johansen’s world of the Marakand. We don’t get to see much (or anything) of Deyandara, Ahjvar or Ghu again. I don’t even know what more I can say beyond that, since Part Two also really lost me, and I found myself struggling through the rest of the novel. The truth is, while I ate up Part One, I practically had to force myself through Part Two, and almost had to throw in the towel. I spent most of the time trying to care about Moth, Mikki, and the other new characters, but never quite managed.
Though it is not necessary to read Blackdog first before tackling The Leopard, I wonder if I would have enjoyed this second part more if I had. At the very least, I think I would have felt more of a connection to the characters, this group of mysterious shapeshifters and otherworldly beings whose convoluted activities only seem to have a tenuous link to the storyline I read in Part One. In Part Two we see that Ahj’s activities have resulted in some rather strong ripples, but I still found it hard to stay focused since all the while Ahjvar, Deyandara and Ghu remained ever present in the back of my mind. It wasn’t long until I realized I wish I could have been reading about them instead.
This book won’t be for everyone; because of the vast difference in my feelings for the two different story lines, I still wonder if it is for me. Johansen’s style also takes getting used to. She clearly loves detail, but it’s a double-edged sword. The wonderful descriptions that made Part One such a vivid and scintillating experience also made Part Two feel lagging and tedious – though no doubt this has a lot to do with how effectively each story line captured my attention. My love of the setting was a constant, however; I’m a big fan of sword and sorcery set in Middle Eastern and Eastern influenced worlds, and Johansen’s writing is perfect for bringing this environment to life.
The world of Marakand really is quite lovely, and I enjoy its people, cultures and magic. But it wasn’t enough, because ultimately the main issue I had with this book was its structure. It’s one thing to weave two different storylines in tandem, it’s quite another to place a very distinct split in the middle of a novel. I put a lot of stock in characters and I’m usually extremely averse to the idea of drastic changes in players or perspective, so I don’t think this book worked for me – but it might for you.
A review copy of this book was provided to me by the publisher in exchange for an honest review. My thanks to Pyr Books!
The BiblioSanctum