Tag: fiction

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Review

“Spellbreaker”

Charlie N. Holmberg

This book caught my attention so much more thoroughly than I expected it to. The magic system is fascinating: we start off with the titular character, a spellbreaker—one of a small group of people born with the natural ability to break spells cast by others. And, as it turns out, to sense their presence in a way that the actual spellcasters (or, as they’re called, aspectors) cannot. It goes into more detail: there’s four types of spells, and the way the casting system works feels… honestly a great deal like it was originally designed to be the setting for a videogame. Learn a spell by consuming Magic Points, and then after that you can cast it at will until you’re tired out and need to rest? That’s a writer, explaining a game mechanic.

So, we have a fascinating setting. And then we have two fascinating characters: Bacchus Kelsey, a wealthy scion, up for his mastery examinations in magic… and running face-first into a wall of “it is the 1800s and Britain is very racist”. And then there’s Elsie Camden, the (illegally) unregistered spellbreaker, who lives a double life. Mild-mannered—or rather, well-raised and -behaved—administrative assistant by day, vigilante spellbreaker by night, going on secretive missions to help the downtrodden masses. Magic, after all, may be magic, but it’s also a form of power… and power corrupts.

I was locked in to the book fairly early on, but by the end I couldn’t put it down. An absolutely delightful read, I highly encourage you to check it out.1

  1. This is a Bookshop affiliate link – if you buy it from here, I get a little bit of commission. It won’t hurt my feelings if you buy it elsewhere; honestly, I’d rather you check it out from your local library, or go to a local book store. I use Bookshop affiliate links instead of Amazon because they distribute a significant chunk of their profits to small, local book stores. ↩
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Review

“The Bruising of Qilwa”

Naseem Jamnia

A quick read, but a very enjoyable one. It’s a bit of a medical mystery, but mostly what it’s about is the experience of being… well, going into the author’s note at the end, of being Persian. Of being an oppressed minority… whilst also being aware that your people were once the oppressors.

The linguistics and magic were both very interesting, and I found all the characters to be well-developed. Definitely worth the read.1

  1. This is a Bookshop affiliate link – if you buy it from here, I get a little bit of commission. It won’t hurt my feelings if you buy it elsewhere; honestly, I’d rather you check it out from your local library, or go to a local book store. I use Bookshop affiliate links instead of Amazon because they distribute a significant chunk of their profits to small, local book stores. ↩
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Review

“The Dragon Eater”

J. Scott Coatsworth

The ‘jumping the shark’ moment for this book was in the appearance of one of the Pern books in-universe. A bit on the nose to have your “fantasy setting, but it’s actually another planet that got colonized by humans before the big civilization collapsed” book feature, as one of the Ancient Artifacts… a book about the exact same concept. In this case, the threat is still unknown, but we do get to see it, and it’s a bit more… active than thread.

That said, I did really enjoy the setting; I’m a firm believer in the whole “any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic” thing, and dropping the general level of technology available to people lowers the threshold on “sufficiently advanced” enough to make it more recognizable.

It also helps that the love arc here was just… hilarious. I quite liked all the characters, and seeing them interact, but the fact that there’s at least one love triangle, one member of whom keeps thinking about jumping ship to a different love triangle, makes it fun.

Overall, I quite enjoyed the book; my main complaint is that it’s an entire book’s worth of setup, and the payoff is going to happen in, presumably, the third book of the trilogy. I’d rather one long book to three medium-short ones. Still, a fun little fantasy/science fiction thing, worth a try.1

  1. This is a Bookshop affiliate link – if you buy it from here, I get a little bit of commission. It won’t hurt my feelings if you buy it elsewhere; honestly, I’d rather you check it out from your local library, or go to a local book store. I use Bookshop affiliate links instead of Amazon because they distribute a significant chunk of their profits to small, local book stores. ↩
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Review

“Blackcollar”

Timothy Zahn

I started to get more into this book the further I read; it starts off as a spy drama kind of thing, and transitions into being a guerrilla warfare story instead. It’s an interesting setting—a conquered Terran Empire, and a resistance trying to accomplish anything, really, from amidst the ruins. The lost blackcollars, elite, superhuman warriors trained in ancient forms of combat, combines well with that setting to make me think, as I’m reading the author’s bio and seeing how much Star Wars he’s written, “oh, of course.” It does, indeed, feel like a homier version of that story, including some attempts at the “I am your father” level twist.

It was a fun read, worth the time I’d say. Check it out!1

  1. This is an Amazon affiliate link – if you buy it from here, I get a little bit of commission. It won’t hurt my feelings if you buy it elsewhere; honestly, I’d rather you check it out from your local library, or go to a local book store. I prefer Bookshop affiliate links to Amazon when possible, but in this case, the book wasn’t available there, so it’ll have to do. ↩
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Review

“Wings of Fury”

Emily R. King

I’ve kinda got to enjoy a book that makes me think about what the pluralization of “apotheosis” is.1

This feels like it was inspired by Song of Achilles—or, at least, it’s within that same “let’s tell one of the ancient Greek myths in a way it hasn’t been told before” genre. It’s the story about the end of Cronus’ reign, about Zeus coming to power… but it’s from the point of view of a woman living under the Cronus regime, and boy, does he ever not believe in women’s rights. The latest in women’s fashion is self-mutilation in hopes that it’ll avoid catching his eye; “property rights for women” is a discussion of how many women a man can own. Not… a great place to live.

In that depressing setting, I did find the story rather fun. The romance arc was… confused, at best? There’s a clear romance arc, and then there’s the actual mythology, and they didn’t align super well. But then, what’s a retold myth without artistic license?

All in all, this was a fairly fun read; give it a go.2

  1. “Apotheoses,” for those wondering. ↩
  2. This is a Bookshop affiliate link – if you buy it from here, I get a little bit of commission. It won’t hurt my feelings if you buy it elsewhere; honestly, I’d rather you check it out from your local library, or go to a local book store. I use Bookshop affiliate links instead of Amazon because they distribute a significant chunk of their profits to small, local book stores. ↩
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Review

“Perishables”

Michael G. Williams

Y’know, I’m really not sure why I’m surprised that I’m just feeling unsettled at the end of this book. It features not one but two distinct zombie apocalypses, and both “zombie” and “apocalypse” are, independently, genres that I don’t enjoy. I quite liked the second protagonist, and the first one was… interesting, if less likable, certainly a more fleshed-out character than I’d expect to see in a book this short, but it doesn’t really balance out my usual response to zombie things of “kill it with nuclear fire.”

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Review

“Encounter with Tiber”

Buzz Aldrin and John Barnes

I really wasn’t sure what to expect from this book; turns out, it was amazing. Four different stories, told in five parts, and they all pieced together beautifully.

It starts with the meta-story, the one we see a vignette from every couple years along the timeline, with a historian going to space. Then, the first half of the book she’s writing, a translation, another translation, and the second half of the book.

And let me tell you, that first transition, where she comes up from writing the first book and decides to tackle another project, and it’s a timeskip of a five-digit number of years into the past? A heck of a change, but it all made sense by the end. Each piece forms the context for the others, so that by the end you’re feeling things snapping together, waiting for characters a little bit in the past to figure out things that happened long in the past, but a little after the bit we got to read through… oh, what a delightful mystery.

I also found the writing style incredibly enjoyable. It is… heavy on the As You Know, Bob. Which I was briefly annoyed by, then quickly came to love, and much later realized actually makes sense within the context of the book—it’s a book within a book. In the meta-story, the historian never does this; but each of the books she’s writing are for a specific audience, who will almost certainly not know the sorts of things she’s talking about. In light of that, it becomes “As You Know, Bob,” but I’m in on the joke that it’s for the in-universe readers of her book. And, aside from that, it was just a lovely expression of “oh yeah, Buzz Goddamn Aldrin is a coauthor of this thing.” In places it feels like each chapter is 3 pages of plot and then 17 pages of detailed explanation of orbital mechanics, or how a spaceplane works, or what policy changes would be necessary to create this lovely science-fiction future. It’s the feeling of in conversation realizing that a) this person is an expert on something and b) you’ve just set them off on it and now you’re coming along for a very educational ride. I love those moments.

Screenshot of two text messages I sent. First one reads "80 pages in and this book is just masturbatory fantasy about what the space industry could've been by now." The second one reads "this is not a complaint."

Overall, I absolutely loved this book. It got weird, and it was fun, and I loved it. It’s hopeful science fiction, and I adore that kind of thing. Check it out.1

  1. This is an Amazon affiliate link – if you buy it from here, I get a little bit of commission. It won’t hurt my feelings if you buy it elsewhere; honestly, I’d rather you check it out from your local library, or go to a local book store. I prefer Bookshop affiliate links to Amazon when possible, but in this case, the book wasn’t available there, so it’ll have to do. ↩
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Review

“Song of the Forever Rains”

E. J. Mellow

I bounced off this book at first—it opens with a very violent scene, and that put me off for quite a while. Fortunately for this book, though, that happened right as I was going into one of my “I need to reread the Circle of Magic books” phases, so instead of completely putting it away, I wound up setting it aside for long enough to forget why I hadn’t finished it, and gave it another go. And as it turns out, it got a lot more interesting from there!

Broadly, what’s sticking with me here at the end of the book is the dreamlike quality of the world. There’s a poetry to it; the titular Forever Rains are a decade-long rainstorm brought about by grief bolstered with magic. Everything about the magic system, really, has that feeling to it—that whatever rules there may be, they only exist to service the story. Unlike most soft magic systems like that, though, it isn’t “the author can change the rules for the sake of the story,” it really feels more like “within this world, magic changes the rules of magic for the sake of whatever story it’s trying to tell.”

It made for a fun read; Lark, the protagonist, is a delight, and reading her interactions with her sisters brought a smile to my face. So, if you don’t mind the occasional bit of violence, I can recommend the book. Check it out.1

  1. This is a Bookshop affiliate link – if you buy it from here, I get a little bit of commission. It won’t hurt my feelings if you buy it elsewhere; honestly, I’d rather you check it out from your local library, or go to a local book store. I use Bookshop affiliate links instead of Amazon because they distribute a significant chunk of their profits to small, local book stores. ↩
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Review

“Uncommon Charm”

Emily Bergslien, Kat Weaver

I might have to go back and reread the first chapter now that I’ve finished this, just so I can understand what all was going on. The point-of-view protagonist spends that whole time talking a mile a minute, and there’s so much background that you don’t know yet that it’s rather overwhelming. Though, given that it’s a scene of someone being dropped off for a new apprenticeship, feeling overwhelmed is probably about right.

There’s a definite mystery vibe to this one, though it’s a cold case, as well as something of a coming-of-age. Really, quite a lot to shove into this short a book. It was an interesting read, though, and at least one reveal had me going back like “oh, that’s what that was about! oh! oh.” Check it out.1

  1. This is a Bookshop affiliate link – if you buy it from here, I get a little bit of commission. It won’t hurt my feelings if you buy it elsewhere; honestly, I’d rather you check it out from your local library, or go to a local book store. I use Bookshop affiliate links instead of Amazon because they distribute a significant chunk of their profits to small, local book stores. ↩
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Review

“Any Way the Wind Blows”

Rainbow Rowell

Oh dear, it has been four years since I read the first two books in this trilogy, no wonder it took me so long to remember who any of the characters were or what had been going on.

That said, after an adjustment period of the first part of the book to remember what was going on and who any of these people were, I quite enjoyed it. There’s solid closure for some of the lingering threads that I remember cropping up in the first book, which was quite nice to see, as well as some additional characters being brought in to add some more to it.

Switching from POV to POV was a bit rough at times, but Rowell used it well—so many opportunities for cliffhangers!

I enjoyed the whole concept of this series, really. It came from another of Rowell’s books, where what these books are was a fanfiction being written by the protagonist of that book. Very clearly meant to be an homage to the whole Harry Potter fandom, without incurring the wrath of She Who Must Not Be Named. But instead of writing the children’s book series, we have the final book and then the epilogue.1 Because, hey, a child soldier? They’re not exactly gonna be in a great place, mentally at the end of their war. Can’t really hand-wave past a decade of trauma. These characters deserve time to work through that.

Anyhow, I really enjoyed this book. What’s not to like? There’s a whole scene that I’d describe as “divorce court in Hell,” which I’d call a B-plot, roughly, but with the POV swapping you can kinda choose whichever plotline you’d like as the A-plot. So many choices! Give it a go.2

  1. The Harry Potter epilogue (and later sequel) being so bad that there’s a whole “Epilogue? What Epilogue?” tag. ↩
  2. This is a Bookshop affiliate link – if you buy it from here, I get a little bit of commission. It won’t hurt my feelings if you buy it elsewhere; honestly, I’d rather you check it out from your local library, or go to a local book store. I use Bookshop affiliate links instead of Amazon because they distribute a significant chunk of their profits to small, local book stores. ↩
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Review

“The Naturalist Society”

Carrie Vaughn

This was one of the free books that Amazon hands out every month as part of Prime, which meant my expectations were low—there’s the occasional gem in there, but on average, those books tend to feel rather bland. They’re aimed at the widest possible audience, so of course they’re generic.

This, though? This was a delight. The fact that two of the three protagonists were a gay couple was already putting it in the top 10% of Free Prime Books for me. That trio felt something like a Venn diagram to me—these two are queer, these two come across as being autistic, these two are part of the upper class but looked down upon for not being old white guys. It feels all the more progressive for being set in the late 1800s; everyone is so concerned with scandal, and for the majority of the book the scandal is simply that gasp, a woman is interested in science? Doesn’t show know that’s not a feminine interest? The shame!

I almost bounced off this book, at the beginning. It’s a rough time for me to be reading a book that has a scene of someone listening to a loved one breathe their last. I’m glad I kept with it, though—not just because of the aforementioned delightful setting and characters, but because so much of the book was about Beth fighting for her right to grieve, and doing so in the way that was right for her.

So, for that, and all the other things, I absolutely loved this book. It’s so rare that my “why don’t you just-“ mutterings at the book actually turn out to be what they do, and work great for everyone. If I’ve got my scheduling right, it’s only available for pre-order at the moment, but I think it’s well worth it; check it out.1

  1. This is a Bookshop affiliate link – if you buy it from here, I get a little bit of commission. It won’t hurt my feelings if you buy it elsewhere; honestly, I’d rather you check it out from your local library, or go to a local book store. I use Bookshop affiliate links instead of Amazon because they distribute a significant chunk of their profits to small, local book stores. ↩
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Review

“Under a Gilded Moon”

Joy Jordan-Lake

Downton Abbey, but make it Appalachia.1

I’m of mixed opinions about this book. It was very well-written; the prose was a delight to read through. But it has that ‘literary’ feel to it; there’s no real closure at the end, a token bit here or there but not nearly enough to leave me feeling like the story has actually been wrapped up. I suppose that’s what I get for reading historical fiction; when the person you want to get their comeuppance is an actual historical figure, you can’t deliver on that desire without breaking the timeline. Alas.

As I said, it’s a pretty book to read; I don’t regret the time I spent with it. I just wish it was a more just world; back to my other genres I go.

  1. I haven’t actually watched any Downton Abbey; I just know that it’s got that above stairs/below stairs split going on. ↩
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Review

“The Unbalancing”

R. B. Lemberger

I’m not quite sure how I feel about this one. It’s definitely an interesting world—I’m particularly a fan of anything where the Ancient Magic/Technology gets explained in terms of the current stuff. And the setting is remarkably idyllic… at first.

That’s where my uncertainty comes in; Lemberger created a really beautiful world, one that’s, whilst not perfectly utopian, a heck of a lot closer than ours is. And this story is, fundamentally, about the end of that civilization. Entropy comes for us all, I suppose.

That said, for the setting and magic system alone, I’d recommend reading this one. It’s fairly short, and approachable in that; the names threw me a bit at the beginning, but the naming as a whole makes more sense as the story goes on. Give it a read.1

  1. This is a Bookshop affiliate link – if you buy it from here, I get a little bit of commission. It won’t hurt my feelings if you buy it elsewhere; honestly, I’d rather you check it out from your local library, or go to a local book store. I use Bookshop affiliate links instead of Amazon because they distribute a significant chunk of their profits to small, local book stores. ↩
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Review

“This Way Out”

Tufayel Ahmed

This is a contender for “most stressful book I’ve ever read.” Science fiction and fantasy are easier; when the stakes are ‘the fate of the entire world,’ it’s easy to remember that these aren’t my problems they’re dealing with. This, though, is much more approachable in scale… which means it feels like the sort of thing I’d actually have to figure out.

Boy, am I glad that I’m already on the “going to therapy” train, reading through someone else’s breaking point that gets them to start was rough. Don’t want to be back there, thanks very much.

All that said, I did really enjoy the book. It’s not quite the Hero’s Journey, more of an immediate plummet and then a slow climb back up, but there’s a palpable sense of progress throughout. You can feel the protagonist’s work they’re putting in, and seeing it actually pay off feels very rewarding. Stick with it through the painful beginning, and I hope you’ll enjoy it too.1

  1. This is a Bookshop affiliate link – if you buy it from here, I get a little bit of commission. It won’t hurt my feelings if you buy it elsewhere; honestly, I’d rather you check it out from your local library, or go to a local book store. I use Bookshop affiliate links instead of Amazon because they distribute a significant chunk of their profits to small, local book stores. ↩
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Review

“Through a Darkening Glass”

R.S. Maxwell

I enjoyed this book a lot more than I expected to. Honestly, most of the way through I was looking at the protagonist like “you’re kinda the worst.” She is, though — bursts into this town and starts nosing around in everyone’s business, digging up the past, and it’s not even a “let’s help people figure this out!” kind of thing, she’s just over here like “I’m an English major and I’m gonna write a book about this!” That said, by the end of the book I was just accepting that that’s what she was like, and she learned some discretion at least, and meanwhile I was having so much fun with everything else going on that I didn’t much mind it anymore.

The overall feeling of this book is… a Gordian knot. It actually did a great job of tripping me up; I thought I’d figured out how everything was going to be tied together into one big bow at the end, and I was hilariously wrong. I think that’s about all I can say without it being too much of a spoiler.

Suffice it to say, I enjoyed the heck out of this book. It struck a truly wonderful balance between some Gothic spookiness, a romance arc, some mystery, a surprising amount of comedy, and a reasonably-accurate historical feel. Absolutely worth a read; check it out.1

  1. This is a Bookshop affiliate link – if you buy it from here, I get a little bit of commission. It won’t hurt my feelings if you buy it elsewhere; honestly, I’d rather you check it out from your local library, or go to a local book store. I use Bookshop affiliate links instead of Amazon because they distribute a significant chunk of their profits to small, local book stores. ↩