May is Wyrd & Wonder: A Fantastical Month Of Fantasy
Posted on April 27, 2021 25 Comments
May is right around the corner, so you know what that means! Wyrd & Wonder is back for 2021, once more spearheaded by our lovely hosts imyril, Lisa and Jorie! The BiblioSanctum is excited to be a part of the fun again, joining other fantasy fanatics around the blogosphere and other social media outlets to celebrate this month-long event emphasizing all things fantasy.
What will this mean for the blog? Well, we certainly won’t stop covering other genres, and rest assured you’ll continue to see the usual book reviews, weekly memes, spotlights and features. The difference is, there will also be more fantasy-themed posts, which will be marked with Wyrd & Wonder tags or the banner you see above.
As this will be my second year participating, I feel like I’m a little bit more organized and prepared this time around, but quite honestly, it’s not by much! Luckily, Wyrd & Wonder is super casual and easy to join up if you feel like jumping on board. Just head on over to the sign up sheet and add your details anytime. Even then, this a stress-free and low-commitment event with no obligation to read any particular books or make a certain number of posts. It’s not even limited to just literature! From movies and TV shows to comics and video games, any medium goes if it’s fantasy-related. The only objective here is to have a good time.
So without further ado, let’s move on my my “plans” for Wyrd & Wonder 2021! Mind you, I’m notoriously bad at sticking to reading lists and my TBR can change on a whim depending on my mood which is why those quotation marks are there, but here’s what I hope to accomplish next month. First, fantasy-themed Waiting on Wednesdays and Friday Face-Offs are a given. Similar to what I did during Sci-Fi Month last year, I’d also love to put together a series of posts highlighting my favorite genre themes and tropes. Ideally, I’d like to come up with my own ideas, but here’s also an amazing calendar of prompts that our event host has put together for each day in May in case anyone needs extra inspiration.
And finally, we come to my favorite part, which is the reading list!
It’s highly unlikely that I’ll get to all of these, and I don’t expect I’ll even come close. As usual though, I like stacking my TBR with a mix of new releases and older titles so I’ll have a large pool of options to draw from, and something to suit any mood.
How about you? Are you planning to participate in Wyrd & Wonder this year? If so, what’s on your reading list? Make sure to grab a banner and a button if you haven’t done so yet, and let’s dive right in!
Book Review: The Last Watch by J.S. Dewes
Posted on April 26, 2021 23 Comments
I received a review copy from the publisher. This does not affect the contents of my review and all opinions are my own.
Mogsy’s Rating: 4.5 of 5 stars
Genre: Science Fiction
Series: Book 1 of The Divide
Publisher: Paperback: Tor | Audiobook: Macmillan Audio (April 20, 2021)
Length: 480 pages | 16 hrs and 30 mins
Author Information: Website | Twitter
Narrators: Andrew Eiden, Nicol Zanzarella
Well, color me pleasantly surprised! I’m usually super skeptical with any book whose blurb invokes comparisons to The Expanse because, man, that’s one tough promise. Still, I must doff my hat to J.S. Dewes, because I have a feeling The Last Watch is about to become my next big sci-fi obsession.
To set the scene, imagine the dark and lonely reaches at the edge of the universe, beyond which simply nothing exists. This is the Divide. Here is where the Argus keeps its watch, the space station home to a ragtag crew of misfits known as the Sentinels. They are considered the dregs of society—criminals, exiles, court-martialed military personnel and ex-soldiers—all of them have nowhere else to go. However, at the Divide, they have a very important role and purpose. Their job is to patrol edges of space, maintaining the warning and defense systems in place to protect against any unknown threats. After all, it wasn’t that long ago when humanity was nearly wiped out by an alien species called the Viators, and only after multiple wars and untold number of deaths did they finally manage to drive the invaders out. Although that had been many years ago, the Sentinels aren’t about to take any chances, always remaining vigilant and on alert.
But now comes a danger no one was expecting. The Divide is starting to collapse, threatening to destroy everyone and everything with it. The commander of the Argus, a Titan veteran of Viator war named Adequin Rake, is suddenly faced with some difficult choices. With the lives of more than two thousand Sentinels now resting in her hands, their survival will depend on her next steps. First, they must find a way to stop the collapse, but with communications down and their resources stretched to the limits, the Argus finds itself isolated and cut off from all help. Left with no other recourse, Rake turns to the wise-cracking and irreverent Cavalon Mercer, an exiled prince from the Allied Monarchies of the Core. Cavalon had been sent to the Divide for apparently pissing off his family, though he alone knows the real reason. Still, while he may be a rogue and an asshole of the highest order, his upbringing and education had supplied him with a wealth of knowledge in a variety of different fields—knowledge that Rake hopes may help her get the Argus and the universe out of their current jam.
The initial setup felt a bit slow, especially those sections immediately following the opening chapters in which we first meet Cavalon, whose blithe attitude helped establish a snappy tone for the book. But once things switch to focus on Adequin Rake, the pacing takes a steep nosedive as the narrative turns to giving readers a detailed rundown of the world-building and story background. Needless to say, there’s a lot to take in, even if all the information is necessary. Then of course, we have Rake, whose personality is very different from that of Cavalon’s. As a leader, she runs a tight ship and does not tolerate any incompetence or disrespect. At the same time, she’s also compassionate and thoughtful, dedicated to her duties which includes maintaining the wellbeing of her space station and crew. Some might even say she cares too much. Regardless, this need to explain the history of the setting along with detailed backstories for all our disparate characters ultimately led to an unevenly paced introduction, and consequently a slower ramp-up.
Having said that though, I would be hard pressed to level any other criticism at The Last Watch, because simply put, the rest of the book was as close to perfection as you can get. The action? Awesome. The character development? Magnificent. As I mentioned, Rake and Cavalon may be polar opposites, but when forced to work together to stop the collapse, the efficient synergies they created were undeniable. Then there was the supporting cast. Dewes impressed me with the amount of thought and attention she must have put into creating each character, because from sidekicks to love interests, every single one of them was a well-rounded, memorable and important member of the team. Of this ensemble, I especially enjoyed Mesa, a genetically engineered human-alien hybrid known as a Savant, and Griffith, because I loved watching this tough old soldier turn all sweet and tender when he was with Rake. Honestly, though—Cavalon, Rake, Griffin, Mesa, Jackin, Puck, Emery—I could easily rave on for pages about each of them. These are people you want to root for and cheer them on when they succeed, or break down into blubbering, crying ball of tears when they go down. They feel like your friends and family.
So, I’d be careful before you go picking this up, because you will get hooked! Seriously, I needed the sequel, like yesterday. Luckily, the next book, The Exiled Fleet, is already slated for release this summer, just months away but which is still going to feel like a long time to wait. I anticipate an even more explosive and high-powered book, now that we’d be able to jump right into the action. Looking forward to it with unbounded excitement!
Book Review: Win by Harlan Coben
Posted on April 25, 2021 15 Comments
I received a review copy from the publisher. This does not affect the contents of my review and all opinions are my own.
Win by Harlan Coben
Mogsy’s Rating (Overall): 4 of 5 stars
Genre: Mystery, Thriller
Series: Book 1 of Windsor Horne Lockwood III
Publisher: Hardcover: Grand Central Publishing | Audiobook: Brilliance Audio (March 16, 2021)
Length: 375 pages | 10 hrs and 35 mins
Author Information: Website | Twitter
Audiobook Narrator: Steven Weber
Well, this was a fun one! I will preface this review by saying this was my first Harlan Coben, so the character of Windsor Horne Lockwood III was completely new to me along with the Myron Bolitar books, which this new series spun off from. I’ve always wanted to read this author’s books though, and figured this would be a perfect time and place to jump on board.
The best friend and once sidekick to former basketball star turned sports agent and ”accidental detective” Myron Bolitar, Windsor Horne Lockwood III, AKA Win, now takes center stage in his own mystery novel as he takes the reins on the case. And believe me, he has an interesting way of doing things. If you’re a longtime fan, I guess you already know this, but for a newcomer like myself, learning all about this guy was quite the whirlwind. For one, he’s richer than Scrooge McDuck and unironically compares himself to Batman, not only from the “I’m a mysterious, brooding, kick-ass vigilante” angle, but also noting that for people like him and Bruce Wayne, money is their superpower. While he may not have a superhero persona, Win does show different sides of himself when he’s with different people: a soft and flighty yet charming gentleman when he’s our in the public eye, for instance, but a cold, calculating and ruthless opponent when faced with his enemies. He’s also well-connected and has no moral qualms about pressing those connections or turning to less-than-ethical means to achieve his goals, which is how in this first novel of his new series, our eponymous protagonist winds up on the trail to track down the whereabouts of a group of fugitive bombers from the sixties known as the Jane Street Six.
But of course, Win probably wouldn’t have been so invested if he didn’t have a personal stake. As the story begins, he is summoned by the FBI to a penthouse apartment on the Upper West Side where its reclusive hoarder resident has just been found murdered. Soon, Win finds out why he is a person of interest. In the middle of all the mess, agents had found two items belonging to his family, including a priceless Vermeer painting that was famously reported stolen from the Lockwoods years ago, as well as a leather suitcase bearing his initials, WHL3. But as pleased as he is to have finally located the lost painting, it is the presence of the suitcase that has Win rattled, for it also has a history. Two decades ago, his cousin, heiress and philanthropist Patricia Lockwood, was kidnapped from her family estate. After killing her father, the attackers had told the then sixteen-year-old to pack that very same suitcase before taking her to an isolated shack in the woods, where she was subjected to unspeakable violence and abuse. Eventually, Patricia managed to break her chains and escape, but her captors were never found, and the fate of her suitcase also remained unknown…until now.
Could the deceased resident of that penthouse have been one of Patricia’s abductors? If so, the case just became even more startling and muddled when the dead man is identified as Ry Strauss, linked to an FBI cold case involving a deadly bombing in the sixties. Four men and two women, called the Jane Street Six, were wanted in connection to a Molotov cocktail attack which caused the accidental death of innocent bystanders. Part of a radical hippie network, the six of them immediately went underground following the incident, and the authorities have been trying to track each one down since, especially their charismatic leader, Strauss, who now may or may not be implicated in the theft of the Vermeer and the abduction of Patricia as well. This is why Win has been tasked to find out more, recruited by a friend and former FBI agent who also has reason to want answers.
After reading Win, I can see why Harlan Coben is considered a top mystery-thriller writer and why his books are bestsellers. This one was a prime example of excellent and compelling storytelling, juggling a number of side plots and branching threads, but as ever the focus remained laser sharp with no words wasted. The story itself is fast-paced, compulsive, and smartly edgy—and somehow Coben manages it all with effortless style and ease. I was amazed at the way everything came together, given the jumble of different cases and the complex web of characters and motives involved. It is only in the hands of an experienced author like him that a mystery with so many disparate strands and moving parts can be coherently narrated like this and be resolved so meticulously.
But for all that, I do have a couple criticisms, and it goes back to the main protagonist of Win. While Myron Bolitar fans have had the advantage of getting to know him as a secondary character through about a dozen novels over two decades, this was my first introduction to him, and let’s just say I believe he’s something of an acquired taste. Considering how descriptions of him have ranged from anti-hero to downright psychopathic, I think I’m being kind. Win is arrogant, pretentious, hypocritical, and obnoxious. He’s also completely unapologetic and shameless about it. While some protagonists can make that work for them, I spent much of the book wishing someone would come along and take this snooty, condescending rich asshole down a notch, because there were honestly times where being in his head made me feel gross and dirty. That said, he is not without some good qualities, and I guess I can see his appeal if you’ve had prior experience with him as a sidekick. Letting him take the lead for an entire novel, however, was a bit trying.
Still, in the end I read Win for the mystery and thrills, and I got both in spades so all in all I am a happy camper. I’m also glad I finally got to read a Harlan Coben novel, and I can promise you this will not be the last time I pick up his work. I may even check out the next Windsor Horne Lockwood III book if he continues developing this series, because that’s just how much I loved the storytelling (though hopefully he’ll find a way to make Win’s character a little less unpalatable). I was also fortunate enough to receive an audio copy for review, and it was once again a pleasure to listen to renowned actor and voice-over artist Steven Weber’s stellar performance as narrator. He was fantastic and believable as Win, giving his personality the weight it deserves, and also diligent in providing the voices and accents of other characters. Overall, a cracking good listen.
Bookshelf Roundup: 04/24/21: Stacking the Shelves & Recent Reads
Posted on April 24, 2021 21 Comments
Bookshelf Roundup is a feature I do every weekend which fills the role of several blog memes, like Stacking the Shelves where I talk about the new books I’ve added to my library or received for review, as well as It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? where I summarize what I’ve finished reading in the last week and what I’m planning to read soon. Mostly it also serves as a recap post, so sometimes I’ll throw in stuff like reading challenge progress reports, book lists, and other random bookish thoughts or announcements.
Received for Review
My thanks to the publishers and authors for the following review copies received, and be sure to click the links to their Goodreads pages for more details and full descriptions!
First, with thanks to Minotaur Books for sending me a review copy of Thief of Souls by Brian Klingborg, kicking off a new series called Inspector Lu Fei Mysteries about a young graduate from China’s top police college assigned to solve crimes in a sleepy backwater town in the north where practically nothing ever happens—until a young woman is found dead with her organs removed and joss papers stuffed in her mouth.
Also thanks to Subterranean Press for an ARC of Everything in All the Wrong Order: The Best of Chaz Brenchley featuring a collection of the author’s short stories. Unfortunately, as of this writing I can find very little information on this book—no Goodreads link, or even a page on the publisher website—but I’m sure that will change soon as we get closer to the book’s release date at the end of August. Chaz Brenchley fans take note!
I was also very excited earlier this week to receive an ARC of Capture the Crown by Jennifer Estep with huge thanks to the amazing team at HarperVoyager. I really enjoyed the Crown of Shards trilogy and love that this new series called Gargoyle Queen is set in the same world.
And also thank you to the awesome folks at Titan Books for a review copy of Aliens: Infiltrator by Weston Ochse, because they know how much I love my media tie-ins! This one is the prequel to the upcoming Aliens: Fireteam video game, a cooperative third-person survival shooter slated to come out later this year. Honestly, there’s not much known about the game at the moment, not even a hard release date, and I’m still on the fence about whether I’ll pick it up. Maybe this book will help me decide, if the story intrigues me!
A couple of audiobook additions to the digital review pile this week. Though technically, I received Instinct by Jason M. Hough at the beginning of the month but forgot to feature it, and welp, that needed to be rectified! I’ve enjoyed Jason’s work a great deal, and can’t wait to check this one out too, with thanks to Simon & Schuster Audio. Next, I also received a listening copy of We Are Satellites by Sarah Pinsker, with thanks to Penguin Audio. She’s an author I still need to read, and I have a good feeling it’ll be happening soon, as I have this on my reading list for early next month.
Reviews
Fugitive Telemetry by Martha Wells (5 of 5 stars)
Mirrorland by Carole Johnstone (3.5 of 5 stars)
The Galaxy, and the Ground Within by Becky Chambers (3.5 of 5 stars)
The Dispatcher: Murder by Other Means by John Scalzi (3.5 of 5 stars)
Roundup Highlights:
What I’ve Been Reading
Have you heard of or read any of the books featured this week? What caught your eye? Any new discoveries? I hope you found something interesting for a future read! Let me know what you plan on checking out. Until next time, see you next Roundup!
Friday Face-Off: Recent Read
Posted on April 23, 2021 11 Comments
Welcome to The Friday Face-Off, a weekly meme created by Books by Proxy! Each Friday, we will pit cover against cover while also taking the opportunity to showcase gorgeous artwork and feature some of our favorite book covers. If you want to join the fun, simply choose a book each Friday that fits that week’s predetermined theme, post and compare two or more different covers available for that book, then name your favorite. A list of future weeks’ themes are available at Lynn’s Book Blog.
This week’s theme is:
~ a cover of a RECENT READ
Mogsy’s Pick:
The Galaxy, and the Ground Within by Becky Chambers
For today’s topic, we got to choose a current read or a recent read, but since the book I’m reading now only has one cover, I went with the last book I finished, The Galaxy, and the Ground Within by Becky Chambers. Still, even that has only two covers right now since it was just released, so it’s going to be a head-to-head.
HarperVoyager (2021) vs. Hodder & Stoughton (2021)
Winner:
I used to love the UK (Hodder & Stoughton) covers for this series, because there’s nothing like looking up into a vast starry sky to make one appreciate the majesty, beauty, and sheer enormity of the universe. Still, after four reiterations of the same idea, the novelty has sort of worn itself out. The US (HarperVoyager) covers are kind of cheesy and gaudy in a tongue-in-cheek way, but over time they’ve really come to grow on me. I admire them for their charm, if not for the style itself, and even I have to admit the imagery and colors behind this one are pretty damn cool.
But what do you think? Which one is your favorite?
Audiobook Review: Mirrorland by Carole Johnstone
Posted on April 22, 2021 14 Comments
I received a review copy from the publisher. This does not affect the contents of my review and all opinions are my own.
Mirrorland by Carole Johnstone
Mogsy’s Rating (Overall): 3.5 of 5 stars
Genre: Mystery, Thriller
Series: Stand Alone
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio (April 20, 2021)
Length: 11 hrs and 38 mins
Author Information: Website | Twitter
Narrator: Katie Leung
Cat and El are identical twin sisters who want nothing to do with each other. When they were nineteen years old, something happened that caused an irreparable rift between them, causing Cat to leave 36 Westeryk Road, the old Gothic house in Edinburgh where they grew up, and cross the ocean for a new life in America. They haven’t spoken to each other since, and Cat hadn’t planned on ever going back. That is, until a shocking phone call out of the blue changed everything.
Now, Cat finds herself on a plane back to her childhood home, trying to sort out her feelings for the news she just got. A few days ago, El had gone out sailing in her boat and never returned. Now her husband Ross is frantically trying to find her, though the authorities have reason to believe that she had an accident at sea and drowned. Cat, however, does not believe that El is dead. As children, they shared a preternatural connection with each other, and Cat was sure that if something bad had happened to her twin, she would have felt it. Besides, she alone knows the lengths her sister would go to if she wanted to make a point or to teach someone a lesson. Growing up, the two of them had been polar opposites, and El was always the one with the dark, impulsive, and mean streak. Cat doesn’t understand why all of this is happening now, but she feels with a certainly down to her bones that her sister is still alive.
But when she arrives at 36 Westeryk Road, where El and Ross have been living, the memories return to Cat like a tidal wave, reminding her of the good times the three of them had shared here as children. There were the thousands of hours spent under the pantry stairs, playing in an imaginary world they created called Mirrorland—a place of jungles, oceans, roadside American diners and anywhere else the girls could think of where their stories of pirates, princesses, witches, clowns and more came to life. Cat realizes that, no matter what happened between them, she still loves her sister and wants her to be okay. Unfortunately, the police have all but given up on looking for El, and Cat doesn’t know how to explain to them how she knows her twin is still out there, not when she doesn’t understand it herself. Someone has been leaving her cryptic messages, leading to clues scattered all through the old house—clues that have significance to both Cat and El’s shared past in Mirrorland.
This book had my attention from the very first page, beguiling me with its secrets and mystery. And as it turns out, El’s disappearance is only the tip of the iceberg. Much more of the story is buried in the past, unfolding through Cat’s childhood memories of her and her sister playing in their make-believe world. Information was doled out in measured amounts—never too much at once, but always just enough to keep you guessing. As such, every question mark was an exciting puzzle to be solved. For instance, what was the watershed event that ultimately led to the twins’ estrangement? And what was up with that insane introduction which showed the two girls when they were much younger? All I desperately wanted was to fill in those blank spaces, and to that, I knew I had to keep reading.
Ironically, where the book started to lose me was when we got the parts with Mirrorland. While I can appreciate the power of a child’s imagination, and to some extent I understood the effect the author was trying to go for, it was nonetheless difficult for me to perceive everything described as a shared phenomenon experienced the same way by multiple people. As much as I enjoy the occasional dash of fantasy in my thrillers, this felt like magical realism applied in a way that was often confusing and heavy-handed. Still, to be fair, a lot of creativity and effort clearly went into creating Mirrorland, a place where the atmosphere feels both eerie and whimsical, and where youthful innocence can sometimes meet with cruel curiosity, leading to hurt and spite. In that sense, it’s also perfectly believable as a product of a child’s mind.
As well, this bizarre nature of Mirrorland meshed nicely with the strange and uncertain tone of Cat’s unreliable narrative. Both she and El had gone through rough times and trauma, affecting her memories and perceptions of certain events. Gradually, these experiences are explained, and here the story holds no punches—be prepared for it to go to some really dark places.
All told, this was a solid debut, with a great premise behind it. Although I wasn’t completely on board with the implementation of Mirrorland, given how it was a major component, I was still thoroughly gripped by its psychological elements. This one was good at keeping me on my toes, and I ate up all the mystery and intrigue.
Audiobook Comments: This is my first audiobook narrated by Katie Leung, who’s probably best known for playing Cho Chang in the Harry Potter movies, but seeing as she’s already an accomplished actress who’s also had a few audiobooks under her belt, I was pretty confident this was going to be a good listen. Admittedly, I had to set playback speed to slower until my ear adjusted to her character voices and accent, but overall I felt her performance added new layers of depth to the story while bringing Cat and the setting of Edinburgh to life.
Waiting on Wednesday 04/21/21
Posted on April 21, 2021 20 Comments
Waiting On Wednesday” is a weekly meme that first originated at Breaking the Spine but has since linked up with “Can’t Wait Wednesday” at Wishful Endings now that the original creator is unable to host it anymore. Either way, this fun feature is a chance to showcase the upcoming releases that we can’t wait to get our hands on!
Mogsy’s Pick
Tidepool by Nicole Willson (August 3, 2021 by Parliament House Press)
I have not had a chance to read anything from Parliament House Press yet, but one day soon I hope to give this small SFF and Horror publisher a try. Lately, a couple of their titles have making waves and I find myself irresistibly drawn to Tidepool, not only for its wickedly wonderful cover but also because the Lovecraftian horror elements in it sound very enticing.
“If ye give not willingly, the Lords will rise…
In 1913, Henry Hamilton disappeared while on a business trip, and his sister, Sorrow, won’t rest until she finds out what happened to him. Defying her father’s orders to remain at home, she travels to Tidepool, the last place Henry is known to have visited. Residents of the small, shabby oceanside town can’t quite meet Sorrow’s eyes when she asks about her brother.
When corpses wash up on shore looking as if they’ve been torn apart by something not quite human, Sorrow is ready to return to Baltimore and let her father send in the professional detectives.
However, after meeting Ada Oliver, a widow whose black silk dresses and elegant manners set her apart from other Tidepool residents, Sorrow discovers Tidepool’s dark, deadly secret.
With this discovery, some denizens of Tidepool—human and otherwise—are hell-bent on making sure Sorrow never leaves their forsaken town.
Lovecraftian dark fantasy gets a modern treatment in this terrifying debut novel.”
Audiobook Review: The Galaxy, and the Ground Within by Becky Chambers
Posted on April 20, 2021 19 Comments
I received a review copy from the publisher. This does not affect the contents of my review and all opinions are my own.
The Galaxy, and the Ground Within by Becky Chambers
Mogsy’s Rating: 3.5 of 5 stars
Genre: Science Fiction
Series: Book 4 of Wayfarers
Publisher: HarperAudio (April 20, 2021)
Length: 9 hrs and 55 mins
Author Information: Website | Twitter
Narrator: Rachel Dulude
The Galaxy, and the Ground Within is the fourth book in the Wayfarer sequence, and this time author Becky Chambers brings readers to Gora, an unremarkable planet in every way except for its serendipitous proximity to a number of more popular, well-traveled worlds. This makes it the perfect rest stop for starships making the long journey across the galaxy, a place for travelers to refuel, restock, and refresh. Here, a Laru named Ouloo also runs a establishment called the Five-Hop One stop along with her adolescent child, Tupo.
As the book opens, Ouloo and Tupo are preparing the Five-Hop for a day like any other. On the agenda are three scheduled arrivals, each vessel carrying visitors from a different species on their way to different worlds for different purposes. Speaker is a member of the elusive Akarak who must travel all the time in a bio-suit because her species cannot breathe oxygen. Roveg is a heavily-carapaced being known as a Quelim, making his way to a very important appointment. And Captain Tem is an Aeluon, whom Wayfarer fans would recognize as Ashby’s lover Pei from The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet—en route to meet him now, in fact.
All three guests only intended to stay on Gora for a quick break before heading back out on their way. Unfortunately, a sudden disruption in comms puts a damper on those plans, delaying travel until repairs can be made to the damaged satellites. With nothing else to do but wait, mingle and socialize to pass the time, our five aliens at the Five-Hop One Stop decide to come together and share their stories.
My favorite thing about the Wayfarer series? Every new novel is a completely separate and unknown adventure to discover. The thing I like the least? Every new novel is a completely separate and unknown adventure to discover. It’s possible that I have been spoiled by A Closed and Common Orbit and Record of a Spaceborn Few, the latter of which whose balance of character building and storytelling was as close to perfection as you can get. After all, I just love a good narrative with conflict, along with all the ups and downs that come with it.
The style of The Galaxy, and the Ground Within, on the other hand, is more in the vein of The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet—episodic, multi-thread, with no central force to drive or guide it. Unlike the first book though, the entirety of this one takes place over a short time, in a single setting. I waited and waited for something close to a conventional plot to emerge, but it never came. It’s just not that kind of book. So what kind of book is it? It’s how I would imagine my crew from Mass Effect would be like during their off-hours behind the scenes, hanging out in the mess hall of my ship, shooting the shit. And it’s also a lot like the Breakfast Club, except instead of kids with nothing in common, these are aliens with nothing in common (and they actually want to know more about each other). But as their time on Gora grows longer, with some of them having urgent places to go and things to do, gradually patience starts to wear thin, and inevitably a couple of the aliens start to get on each other’s nerves.
Still, this being a Wayfarers book, you can rest assured that won’t lead to anything more serious than a mild tiff. To be sure, this latest installment is of the same tone as its predecessors, if not the same style. The mood is sweet, with themes that are charming and sentimental, just bordering on campy. I loved the description of the Five-Hop as an intergalactic truck stop in the synopsis, though in my mind I likened it more to a cozy bed and breakfast, especially given the way Ouloo so lovingly takes care of her property and guests (tending a garden with plants from different worlds in order to help make her diverse clientele feel more at home, as well as her cakes—who can forget her cakes?) The individual characters’ backgrounds also meant getting snippets of many separate stories, mostly related to their respective lives, cultural traditions and familial relationships. While it could get pretty heavy-handed at times, overall the novel delivered some earnest messages about the sharing of values and problems between different species, portraying this engagement in a realistic light without going full on kumbaya.
All told though, nothing happens here that’s all that surprising, and those messages conveyed were also pretty much as expected. No earthshattering revelations here! Furthermore, the aliens, as unique and strange they might seem to us, all have fairly predictable problems like your standard hang-ups about relationships with parents, kids, siblings, lovers, society and the like. Even the story’s conflicts, what little there were, felt highly manufactured and contrived. Most frustrating of all is the sense that the best and most interesting parts of our characters’ lives will be just around the corner…but of course, that’s when the book ends.
But hey, if the whole of your book is to give off the warm and fuzzies, I guess none of that stuff really matters.
All in all, The Galaxy, and the Ground Within was a good read, but compared to the other Wayfarer books, I would probably put it at the bottom of the stack. Sadly, it does sound like this will be the last one of the series, but since each installment stands alone with only slight elements and references to connect them to each other, I’m glad all four novels can be taken as a complete body of work showcasing the beauty and wonders of the universe Chambers has crafted with such care and attention. I would definitely recommend reading them all to experience the full scope.
Audiobook Comments: This was actually my first time doing a Wayfarers book in audio, and I really enjoyed it. Rachel Dulude’s narration was expert and powerful, and it all made for a wonderfully engaging listen.
More on The BiblioSanctum:
Review of A Closed and Common Orbit
Review of Record of a Spaceborn Few
Novella Review: The Dispatcher: Murder by Other Means by John Scalzi
Posted on April 19, 2021 19 Comments
I received a review copy from the publisher. This does not affect the contents of my review and all opinions are my own.
The Dispatcher: Murder by Other Means by John Scalzi
Mogsy’s Rating: 3.5 of 5 stars
Genre: Science Fiction
Series: Book 2 of The Dispatcher
Publisher: Subterranean Press (April 30, 2021)
Length: 192 pages
Author Information: Website | Twitter
Murder by Other Means is the second novella in John Scalzi’s The Dispatcher series and I wanted to like it more, but this is one of those cases where comparisons to the first book will be inevitable. Long story short, those are some mega huge shoes to fill, and while this sequel certainly wasn’t bad, it also didn’t quite meet those high expectations either.
Before I get into the meat of the review, I think a crash course on the world of The Dispatcher is in order. Basically, the entire premise of the series revolves around a strange phenomenon that suddenly became reality for everyone on the planet, forever changing the way they think about death. For you see, it has now become nearly impossible to kill anyone. Oh, death still occurs, if it happened to be natural or by accident or suicide. But for some reason, if you were murdered, i.e., your life was deliberately taken by someone else, there was actually a really good chance you’d come back to life—999 out of 1000 times, to be precise. In those cases, the victim’s body would disappear and they would be “reborn” naked, as safe and as whole as the day they were “killed”, right back in their homes. No one knows why it works this way, or how it happens. Everyone has sort of just accepted it, just like how you, as the reader, are expected to accept it and don’t ask too many questions.
But then, you might ask, what happens to the 1 in 1000 that are murdered? Don’t they come back? Nope, those are the unlucky chumps that drew the short straw, and they stay killed—dead. But for a lot of people, that’s a chance they’re willing to take—like those who are ill and are undergoing a risky medical procedure, for instance. Something goes wrong? No problem, get someone to murder them, and BAM, get a do-over.
Needless to say, a system like this is rife for abuse, leading to the government to create a whole new role, and that’s where our protagonist Tony Valdez comes in. He is a Dispatcher, an officially licensed killer. The rules surrounding his profession ensures that those utilizing his services do so safely, lawfully, and humanely. But of course, not all Dispatchers stick to “authorized” jobs, many of them taking contracts from private clients ranging from unscrupulous businessmen to wealthy thrill-seekers since that’s where all the big money is. Tony has always tried to stay above board, but now that times are tough, he’s willing to bend the rules a little, depending on the circumstances. And anyway, this latest job he’s been hired for by a private law firm isn’t the worst he’s had to do, as far as shady deals go. But then, when people connected to the firm and those who have been in contact with him start dying under mysterious circumstances, Tony can’t help to wonder if he’s made a big mistake.
The driving force behind this series is an interesting and wildly imaginative concept, of a caliber I would have attributed to an author like Brandon Sanderson if the details surrounding it hadn’t been so macabre. The reality is, though, you do lose a lot of the novelty after the first book, so for this sequel I’d hoped for Scalzi to build upon what’s already there to keep things fresh. Let’s face it, there’s plenty he could have done, limitless possibilities he could explore, given how I’m sure we all have questions. I’ve already suspended my disbelief far enough to go along with anything he might throw my way, but instead, he decided to play it circumspect and go with a rather unremarkable mystery plot.
Don’t get me wrong, I love a good mystery. This also being a novella though, there just wasn’t much in the way of development, surprises, or any interesting twists and turns. That said, as long as you don’t mind a more simplistic noir story, Murder by Other Means will still provide a satisfying amount light, easy entertainment. The plot might be undemanding, not requiring the reader to be on alert for any false leads or clues, but that isn’t to say the book was dull. You’ll still get plenty of Scalzi’s brand of humor, as well as the occasional glimpse into the wild and crazy things that people in this world will get up to now that murder is almost impossible. So, even though you’re pretty much led by the nose, at least you’ll have fun.
Ultimately, I’m glad there was a sequel to The Dispatcher. If future books are in the cards though, my hope is that we would get a fresher angle to explore the series concept, or a more original story at the very least. Still, Murder by Other Means made for a fine diversion, and I appreciate the ideas in it for being far more introspective and unique than some of the contrived stuff John Scalzi has been putting out in recent years. There’s a lot of potential here, and I would love to see that developed to its fullest.
Novella Review: Fugitive Telemetry by Martha Wells
Posted on April 18, 2021 24 Comments
I received a review copy from the publisher. This does not affect the contents of my review and all opinions are my own.
Fugitive Telemetry by Martha Wells
Mogsy’s Rating: 5 of 5 stars
Genre: Science Fiction
Series: Book 6 of The Murderbot Diaries
Publisher: Tor.com (April 27, 2021)
Length: 176 pages
Author Information: Website | Twitter
Detective Murderbot is the BEST Murderbot! Martha Wells returns to the short format with Fugitive Telemetry, the sixth volume released in the Murderbot Diaries sequence and it’s probably my favorite one yet—which is really saying something, considering how much I’ve enjoyed all the books. What can I say, but a murder mystery in space will do it for me every time!
And this one doesn’t mess around. The story beings right away with the discovery of a dead body on Preservation Station, a quiet little outpost on which Murderbot finds itself along with Dr. Mensah while hiding out from GrayCris. The place isn’t exactly killer central, sending the entire station into lockdown and our protagonist’s risk assessment levels soaring. It’s possible that their enemies could have found them, but then again, the death might be completely unrelated. That’s what Preservation’s Senior Officer Indah is trying to figure out, along with support teams from Station Security and Port Authority.
Murderbot being Murderbot, all it wants is to be left alone with its shows, but Dr. Mensah has other ideas. It had been a right challenge to convince the pertinacious Indah to take in a SecUnit, so in order to continue cultivating goodwill with their hosts, she believes it would be prudent for Murderbot to help out with the investigation as a consultant. While Murderbot isn’t at all happy with that plan (but then again, it seldom is), it knows Dr. Mensah is right. Plus, getting involved in the case might also mean gaining access to some of the security systems and data it had been denied before, and the sooner they can rule out a threat from GrayCris, the safer Dr. Mensah and her team will be.
What follows next is a sequence of events that read more like a locked room mystery, but that’s not to say we don’t have many of the tried-and-true elements that made all the other Murderbot Diaries books such a hit. Theoretically, one can probably read Fugitive Telemetry as a standalone, but I certainly wouldn’t recommend it. This story will be much more enjoyable if you have read up to Exit Strategy, the ending of which explains why Murderbot now has reason to fear retribution from GrayCris, not to mention having a solid foundation of knowledge from the previous books would also lead to more appreciation for the characters and the relationships.
As well, being able to understand the significance of society’s attitudes towards Murderbot is a crucial point to this novella. Time and time again, we’ve heard how humans fear and mistrust SecUnits, but so far in the series, our protagonist has spent a great deal of time traveling alone or has had its interactions mostly limited to Dr. Mensah and members of her team. This all changes in Fugitive Telemetry. For the first time, Murderbot’s designation is out in the open, which comes with its own set of unique challenges as most of the population still perceive rogue SecUnits as thoughtless killing machines. Of course, this situation would have been more tragic, if Murderbot’s overall pragmatism and wry commentary about the silly behaviors of humans didn’t make everything so damn hilarious.
It was also profoundly satisfying to watch as Murderbot trounced the Preservation Station’s ragtag security team on threat assessment and defense strategy, though ultimately nothing could compare to the feeling of vindication as those in charge gradually began seeing our protagonist as more a person. All the while, we were also seeing a similar change in Murderbot as it grudgingly developed an appreciation for being a part of a team, and—against its better judgement—even started to feel invested in the lives and wellbeing of those affected by the murder investigation.
Which leads me to the story itself. I’m not going to give away any more details of the plot, other than the fact it kept me hooked from start to finish, and I could not tear myself away. I honestly was surprised by the ending and did not anticipate a lot of the twists and turns. Despite its primary classification as a sci-fi novel, do not doubt that Fugitive Telemetry can hold its own in the mystery category, and even surpass expectations for the whodunnit genre.
Bottom line, followers of the series owe it to themselves to also check out Fugitive Telemetry. For me, it was the perfect blend of entertaining sci-fi action and tantalizing murder mystery, though I also enjoyed seeing our favorite SecUnit continue to navigate the indeterminate world of human space and learning new lessons, both strange and wonderful. And if you still haven’t had the pleasure of meeting Murderbot yet, seriously—what are you waiting for?! Run, don’t walk, to pick up All Systems Red and begin this amazing journey, which I hope will last for a long time yet.
More on The BiblioSanctum:
Review of All Systems Red (Book 1)
Review of Artificial Condition (Book 2)
Review of Rogue Protocol (Book 3)
Review of Exit Strategy (Book 4)
Review of Network Effect (Book 5)
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