The Aeronaut's Windlass (Cinder Spires #1)
Jim Butcher
ISBN: 9780451466808
Epic fantasy in a claustrophobic but sheltered high-rise "spire" housing a city above the dangerous misty surface world.
A bit odd to read, because I found people and scenes and characters from everywhere just casually dropped in. Auri is there, Brienne of Tarth (at least physically), Horatio Hornblower, just re-skinned and in different circumstances. It's not exactly a complaint - I like those characters, it's just odd to see them there. Like having a very recognizable actor can sometimes make it hard for suspension of disbelief when I'm watching a movie, these characters sometimes made it hard for this particular world to seem quite real to me.
The story is fun and winds along well. Much closer to Furies than to Dresden if you're curious. I'm looking forward to the next installment, but I'm not aching for it or desperately waiting to learn what happens next. The talking cats helped quite a lot.
Showing posts with label steampunk. Show all posts
Showing posts with label steampunk. Show all posts
Saturday, July 23, 2016
Sunday, January 24, 2016
2015 Review Round-Up: Historical Fantasy/Steampunk: The Watchmaker of Filigree Street, Natasha Pulley
The Watchmaker of Filigree Street
Natasha Pulley
ISBN: 9781620408339
Sumptuous cover hints at a rich and clockwork-detailed plot, filled with multifaceted characters.
Read November 2015
The most interesting thing about this book is how Pulley manages to keep you from deciding which characters are good guys and which characters are bad guys for the ENTIRE BOOK. It's nothing short of a magic trick all of itself, and it makes the perfect cherry on top of this confection of a story. It's rich and mellow and tooth-achingly dense, and just jammed full of atmosphere like plummy preserves inside an overstuffed tart. From the very first paragraphs, you realise that you're in for something enjoyable, but it's the absolute opposite of a light quick read - it's dense and full of philosophy and humanity and the big important questions of free will and fate and predestination. Yet even so it doesn't feel like a slog - it all just seems naturally flowing from the premise, which I'm not even going to hint at here, because it's so amazingly absurd and complicatedly simple. If you like peculiar characters studies, and atmospheric steampunky London, you'll be right at home here.
Natasha Pulley
ISBN: 9781620408339
Sumptuous cover hints at a rich and clockwork-detailed plot, filled with multifaceted characters.
Read November 2015
The most interesting thing about this book is how Pulley manages to keep you from deciding which characters are good guys and which characters are bad guys for the ENTIRE BOOK. It's nothing short of a magic trick all of itself, and it makes the perfect cherry on top of this confection of a story. It's rich and mellow and tooth-achingly dense, and just jammed full of atmosphere like plummy preserves inside an overstuffed tart. From the very first paragraphs, you realise that you're in for something enjoyable, but it's the absolute opposite of a light quick read - it's dense and full of philosophy and humanity and the big important questions of free will and fate and predestination. Yet even so it doesn't feel like a slog - it all just seems naturally flowing from the premise, which I'm not even going to hint at here, because it's so amazingly absurd and complicatedly simple. If you like peculiar characters studies, and atmospheric steampunky London, you'll be right at home here.
Friday, April 3, 2015
Two Serpents Rise, Max Gladstone
Two Serpents Rise
Max Gladstone
ISBN: 9780765333124
Sf/fantasy/urban fantasy/alternate world fantasy
Craft Sequence: Book 2 (following Three Parts Dead, followed by Full Fathom Five, with upcoming working title Last First Snow)
Read April 2, 2015
I read Three Parts Dead already, so I have no idea if someone new to this world with this book would be totally confused, but I think not. The references to the past are not info-dumps, and they are subtly different from the ones in the previous book (which is natural, since we're across an ocean and in a very different society with a completely different perspective on the world's history) but I think they explain the background sufficiently. I can't know, since I'm coming at this with that info already known.
If you did read Three Parts Dead, now we're across the ocean and in an openly Craft-ruled city, built on the ruins of a previously very Incan/Aztec society, complete with pyramid temples, heart sacrifices and soccer played with people's heads.
Our hero is Caleb, a gambler and mid-level "risk management executive" with Red King Consolidated, the Concern (craft-magic bureaucracy) that manages the city's water and power supplies. It's a decent job, until the water in the city's major reservoir literally turns into bloodthirsty inky ooze demons. That's despite the massive wards and guards, naturally. Now Caleb has to balance his duty to the company with his fraught history with religion, with his family, and with his growing attraction to a runner (parkour!) who is most certainly more than she seems.
In addition to this, there's a huge Craft business merger going on between RKC and Heartfire, a smaller water/power Concern run by a former priest turned Craftsman. Finally, Caleb's best friend Teo has to navigate the difficult currents of having a lover who is more politically (perhaps even radically) active than she is comfortable with.
Caleb is a gambler, but he's lost his nerve. In the coming days, he'll either find it again, or die in the process.
I very much enjoyed the read, but I think that I liked the characters and characterization in Three Parts Dead a little more. Teo was awesome, as was the RK himself, but I really would have liked to know Temoc and even Caleb himself a little better.
On the other hand, I feel like the setting and worldbuilding for Dresediel Lex is much more clear and vibrant than for Alt Columb. There were times that AC felt very like a glossed-over "standard western european fantasy city" just because of how the world is set up, and with this location, that was very much not an issue.
Descriptions of magic and of magical effects are still strong and visceral, but on the flip side, the battles were still a little confused.
Some of the plotting is a little tenuous to think about after the book is finished, but the overall concept is so engaging that I didn't notice while I was reading.
Again, the power levels here are super crazy - humans who are able to kill gods, and power that can be used in ways only limited by imagination and reach. Still, there are coffee chains, taxis, and people calling in sick on Mondays because they drank too much the night before. An interesting and sometimes slightly uneasy combination, but I like it.
Max Gladstone
ISBN: 9780765333124
Sf/fantasy/urban fantasy/alternate world fantasy
Craft Sequence: Book 2 (following Three Parts Dead, followed by Full Fathom Five, with upcoming working title Last First Snow)
Read April 2, 2015
I read Three Parts Dead already, so I have no idea if someone new to this world with this book would be totally confused, but I think not. The references to the past are not info-dumps, and they are subtly different from the ones in the previous book (which is natural, since we're across an ocean and in a very different society with a completely different perspective on the world's history) but I think they explain the background sufficiently. I can't know, since I'm coming at this with that info already known.
If you did read Three Parts Dead, now we're across the ocean and in an openly Craft-ruled city, built on the ruins of a previously very Incan/Aztec society, complete with pyramid temples, heart sacrifices and soccer played with people's heads.
Our hero is Caleb, a gambler and mid-level "risk management executive" with Red King Consolidated, the Concern (craft-magic bureaucracy) that manages the city's water and power supplies. It's a decent job, until the water in the city's major reservoir literally turns into bloodthirsty inky ooze demons. That's despite the massive wards and guards, naturally. Now Caleb has to balance his duty to the company with his fraught history with religion, with his family, and with his growing attraction to a runner (parkour!) who is most certainly more than she seems.
In addition to this, there's a huge Craft business merger going on between RKC and Heartfire, a smaller water/power Concern run by a former priest turned Craftsman. Finally, Caleb's best friend Teo has to navigate the difficult currents of having a lover who is more politically (perhaps even radically) active than she is comfortable with.
Caleb is a gambler, but he's lost his nerve. In the coming days, he'll either find it again, or die in the process.
I very much enjoyed the read, but I think that I liked the characters and characterization in Three Parts Dead a little more. Teo was awesome, as was the RK himself, but I really would have liked to know Temoc and even Caleb himself a little better.
On the other hand, I feel like the setting and worldbuilding for Dresediel Lex is much more clear and vibrant than for Alt Columb. There were times that AC felt very like a glossed-over "standard western european fantasy city" just because of how the world is set up, and with this location, that was very much not an issue.
Descriptions of magic and of magical effects are still strong and visceral, but on the flip side, the battles were still a little confused.
Some of the plotting is a little tenuous to think about after the book is finished, but the overall concept is so engaging that I didn't notice while I was reading.
Again, the power levels here are super crazy - humans who are able to kill gods, and power that can be used in ways only limited by imagination and reach. Still, there are coffee chains, taxis, and people calling in sick on Mondays because they drank too much the night before. An interesting and sometimes slightly uneasy combination, but I like it.
Tuesday, February 24, 2015
Steampunk Fantasy: Clockwork Secrets: Heavy Fire, by Dru Pagliassotti
Clockwork Secrets: Heavy Fire
Dru Pagliassotti
ISBN: 9781770530546
Conclusion to The Clockwork Heart Trilogy (previous reviews of Clockwork Heart & Clockwork Lies: Iron Wind here.)
Read February 23, 2015
I read the first of these way back when, roughly a million years ago, and I was really fascinated with the idea of Exalted and the caste system of Ondinium, and by their nifty anti-gravity steam-and-analytical-engine-driven technologies. I was very much looking forward to spending more time in that culture, seeing how the world worked, and how the restrictions of movement and identity hampered or helped the society.
But then the author decided that instead, we were going to tour the other (sadly not as well-fleshed-out or imaginative) societies of the world, and to largely have her characters ignore the restrictions imposed in the beginning (which, given these characters, was absolutely the right thing to do, and expected of them) while they hare about attempting to be diplomatic for the entire second book, and then almost exactly 4 full pages of this last book.
After that, we're in an extended chase sequence, to yet another country, across oceans and farmlands and mountains, until the finale brings us right back to where we ended the first book, with similarly dramatic results.
I enjoyed the reading. I really love having a married main couple who are happy and working together to manage their (fairly impressive number of) differences of opinions and attitudes, and I love the undertones of cultural strife and racism that streak through like veins of beautiful ores. The story was told engagingly, the characters and pacing were fine - I just really wanted to see Ondinium more first, to be familiar enough with it that it could be accepted as normal, and THEN to see the other countries through their eyes. I just didn't feel that I had enough chance to do that, and so I never quite sympathized with Taya or Chris in their concerns or fears or puzzlements while they were in foreign lands.
Dru Pagliassotti
ISBN: 9781770530546
Conclusion to The Clockwork Heart Trilogy (previous reviews of Clockwork Heart & Clockwork Lies: Iron Wind here.)
Read February 23, 2015
I read the first of these way back when, roughly a million years ago, and I was really fascinated with the idea of Exalted and the caste system of Ondinium, and by their nifty anti-gravity steam-and-analytical-engine-driven technologies. I was very much looking forward to spending more time in that culture, seeing how the world worked, and how the restrictions of movement and identity hampered or helped the society.
But then the author decided that instead, we were going to tour the other (sadly not as well-fleshed-out or imaginative) societies of the world, and to largely have her characters ignore the restrictions imposed in the beginning (which, given these characters, was absolutely the right thing to do, and expected of them) while they hare about attempting to be diplomatic for the entire second book, and then almost exactly 4 full pages of this last book.
After that, we're in an extended chase sequence, to yet another country, across oceans and farmlands and mountains, until the finale brings us right back to where we ended the first book, with similarly dramatic results.
I enjoyed the reading. I really love having a married main couple who are happy and working together to manage their (fairly impressive number of) differences of opinions and attitudes, and I love the undertones of cultural strife and racism that streak through like veins of beautiful ores. The story was told engagingly, the characters and pacing were fine - I just really wanted to see Ondinium more first, to be familiar enough with it that it could be accepted as normal, and THEN to see the other countries through their eyes. I just didn't feel that I had enough chance to do that, and so I never quite sympathized with Taya or Chris in their concerns or fears or puzzlements while they were in foreign lands.
Tuesday, December 30, 2014
Three Parts Dead, Max Gladstone
Three Parts Dead
Max Gladstone
ISBN: 9780765333100
Sf/fantasy/urban fantasy/alternate world fantasy.
Craft Sequence titles: Three Parts Dead, Two Serpents Rise, Full Fathom Five, and (upcoming book's working title: Last First Snow)
This is a world where Gods exist, and live in (mostly) symbiotic spiritual cohabitations with humans: humans provide worship (soul energy) to the Gods, and the Gods use (some of) that energy to protect and prosper their people. The Gods also use the energy to protect and prosper themselves, and once they are strong and savvy enough (through worship and assiduous soul energy use) they also create complex power-sharing and alliance deals with other Gods.
A few generations ago, science finally caught up to religion, and Crafters were realized - essentially scientists realized that this soul energy could be measured, realized, and harnessed, and quite a lot of scientists became essentially mages who reaped soul energy from anywhere they could find it (usually destructively) as they tested the limits (pretty much non-existent) and abilities (pretty much endless) of their new power-source. The Gods realized they were in danger from these atheistic power-hungry humans, and Craft-less humans realized that these upstarts were either going to 1) compete with their Gods for available soul energy (weakening the Gods by cutting into their power-monopoly), and/or 2) destroy the countryside in their mad scientific pursuit of knowledge (and, let's be honest here, more power).
So the Craft and the Gods fought a huge and bitter war, leaving many Gods dead, most normal people scarred by the flagrant abuse of powers on both sides, and the Craft hiding in the skies from the potentially pitchfork-wielding mobs.
Now, the Hidden Schools and the countries ruled by the elder statesmen of the Craftspeople do their best to stay hidden, to find and nurture young Crafters, and, secondarily, to provide services and scientific advances for the enclaves of the religious, and to the people in the countrysides.
Got all that?
Into this world, a traumatic and potentially catastrophic event: One of the few remaining Gods, Kos Everburning of the city of Alt Coulumb, is dead. Gods are really not meant to die, and this specific death is being blamed on a power imbalance (the party line is that either Kos or his Church didn't adequately monitor the soul energy contracts he was involved in, and an unexpected call for aid precipitates his fall). Our heroines are essentially soul-lawyers and Craft-investigators, and they have their suspicions.
I love this world, and the interesting balances of power and responsibility, and the differences in knowledge and worldview provided by different characters who are either religious or not, or who are conversant in Craft or not, are really clever ways to present information about the world that may or may not be so much fact as opinion.
On the downside, the way this world deals with nearly unlimited potential power-scales and abilities made it a perfect recommendation for my husband, which is a real shame because he devoured this one in two days and started on Two Serpents Rise before I could get my hands on it!
Max Gladstone
ISBN: 9780765333100
Sf/fantasy/urban fantasy/alternate world fantasy.
Craft Sequence titles: Three Parts Dead, Two Serpents Rise, Full Fathom Five, and (upcoming book's working title: Last First Snow)
This is a world where Gods exist, and live in (mostly) symbiotic spiritual cohabitations with humans: humans provide worship (soul energy) to the Gods, and the Gods use (some of) that energy to protect and prosper their people. The Gods also use the energy to protect and prosper themselves, and once they are strong and savvy enough (through worship and assiduous soul energy use) they also create complex power-sharing and alliance deals with other Gods.
A few generations ago, science finally caught up to religion, and Crafters were realized - essentially scientists realized that this soul energy could be measured, realized, and harnessed, and quite a lot of scientists became essentially mages who reaped soul energy from anywhere they could find it (usually destructively) as they tested the limits (pretty much non-existent) and abilities (pretty much endless) of their new power-source. The Gods realized they were in danger from these atheistic power-hungry humans, and Craft-less humans realized that these upstarts were either going to 1) compete with their Gods for available soul energy (weakening the Gods by cutting into their power-monopoly), and/or 2) destroy the countryside in their mad scientific pursuit of knowledge (and, let's be honest here, more power).
So the Craft and the Gods fought a huge and bitter war, leaving many Gods dead, most normal people scarred by the flagrant abuse of powers on both sides, and the Craft hiding in the skies from the potentially pitchfork-wielding mobs.
Now, the Hidden Schools and the countries ruled by the elder statesmen of the Craftspeople do their best to stay hidden, to find and nurture young Crafters, and, secondarily, to provide services and scientific advances for the enclaves of the religious, and to the people in the countrysides.
Got all that?
Into this world, a traumatic and potentially catastrophic event: One of the few remaining Gods, Kos Everburning of the city of Alt Coulumb, is dead. Gods are really not meant to die, and this specific death is being blamed on a power imbalance (the party line is that either Kos or his Church didn't adequately monitor the soul energy contracts he was involved in, and an unexpected call for aid precipitates his fall). Our heroines are essentially soul-lawyers and Craft-investigators, and they have their suspicions.
I love this world, and the interesting balances of power and responsibility, and the differences in knowledge and worldview provided by different characters who are either religious or not, or who are conversant in Craft or not, are really clever ways to present information about the world that may or may not be so much fact as opinion.
On the downside, the way this world deals with nearly unlimited potential power-scales and abilities made it a perfect recommendation for my husband, which is a real shame because he devoured this one in two days and started on Two Serpents Rise before I could get my hands on it!
Friday, December 5, 2014
New Arrivals: Juv Nonfiction: Ashley Bryan's Puppets, Ashley Bryan & Rich Entel
Ashley Bryan's Puppets
Ashley Bryan, photographs by Rich Entel
ISBN: 9781442487284
Poems and close-up photographs of "found-object" puppets and dolls.
As an adult, and someone who is overly invested in the re-use portion of steampunk creative philosophy, and someone who really enjoys puppetry and strange objects of art and play, this is a really interesting book.
As a child, I would have been freaked right out. These puppets are some creepy creatures. Many of them are made with old bones or shells or antlers or strangely twisted organic shapes of driftwood, with strange eyes (often pupil-less) and oddly distorted features. They all have names and stories (which are also often odd), and come in groups organized by some underlying theme or through-line that I'm not able to discern.
I spent a good while poring over the creatures, and I really do like them. They remind me strongly of the creatures built to inhabit the world of the Dark Crystal and Labyrinth movies, or of del Toro's strange imaginations. For some, that might be a warning, for others, an invitation.
I don't know that I'd keep it from a kid if they were interested, but I think I would be prepared to deal with nightmares afterwards.
Very odd, very peculiar.
Ashley Bryan, photographs by Rich Entel
ISBN: 9781442487284
Poems and close-up photographs of "found-object" puppets and dolls.
As an adult, and someone who is overly invested in the re-use portion of steampunk creative philosophy, and someone who really enjoys puppetry and strange objects of art and play, this is a really interesting book.
As a child, I would have been freaked right out. These puppets are some creepy creatures. Many of them are made with old bones or shells or antlers or strangely twisted organic shapes of driftwood, with strange eyes (often pupil-less) and oddly distorted features. They all have names and stories (which are also often odd), and come in groups organized by some underlying theme or through-line that I'm not able to discern.
I spent a good while poring over the creatures, and I really do like them. They remind me strongly of the creatures built to inhabit the world of the Dark Crystal and Labyrinth movies, or of del Toro's strange imaginations. For some, that might be a warning, for others, an invitation.
I don't know that I'd keep it from a kid if they were interested, but I think I would be prepared to deal with nightmares afterwards.
Very odd, very peculiar.
Monday, October 13, 2014
Clockwork Heart, and Clockwork Lies: Iron Wind, both by Dru Pagliassotti
The last in the trilogy came out in September, and made me realize that I had missed the arrival of the second. Originally, when I read the first, I only remembered the intricate caste system, the concept of flying couriers, and the noble "Exalted" class who were hidden behind intricate and restrictive robes and masks in all but the most private or extreme circumstances.
Clockwork Heart
Dru Pagliassotti
ISBN: 9781770530263
Re-read Oct 10
Clockwork Lies: Iron Wind
Dru Pagliassotti
ISBN: 9781770530508
Read Oct 12
In Heart, we're introduced to the mountainous city-state of Ondinium, made proud and rich by industry, and by the precious metal ondinum, which not only floats, but rises. This metal powers giant difference engines in the heart of the city, keeps timepieces and cable-cars aloft, and provides the ability for small and light-weight people to become icarii - couriers and emergency response crews who fly on enormous lighter-than-air metal wings.
These couriers are the only members of Ondinium's strictly regulated society able to transcend caste boundaries - marked clearly by tattoos on the face, or in the case of the Exalted, also marked by enveloping and restrictive heavily ornamental and stylized robes and masks.
Taya Icarus' immigrant family is from one of the lower rungs of society, but Taya herself, cleared for any job due to her position as an icarus, wants to be a diplomat. She's still worrying about her aptitude test when she responds to a cable-car accident, rescues a duo of Exalted, and is immediately thrust into a web of espionage and state-secret-selling, aided and wooed by two very different high-caste brothers.
In Lies, Taya has gotten her coveted diplomat job, but not quite the way she had imagined, and she is also a bit unprepared for the brutal nature of politicking and schmoozing in their neighbor-kingdom Mareaux. When her Exalted diplomat companion is the subject of multiple assassination attempts, the duo must protect themselves (diplomatically) work with their security escort to figure out what is happening (diplomatically), return home early (diplomatically) and once back home, survive a last-ditch effort to destroy them all. All of that only gets us to the halfway mark, and the rest of the book deals with the conclusion of their investigations and Taya's attempt to avert a true and enormous threat to the entire country, while still saving the man she loves, and trying to not shatter the ancient taboos she is bound by. The feel of this book was a lot different from the first - this was more like a heist novel or a James Bond story.
In both stories, I really enjoy the relationship between Taya and the Exalted - it's not one you see often in science fiction or fantasy novels (a notable exception being Mary Robinette Kowal's Regency-With-Magic Glamourist Histories). I also very much like the Lictor (police) Lieutenant Amcathra - again, nice to see a positive representation of police in this sort of story.
Looking forward to seeing the last book processed into the library collection: Clockwork Secrets: Heavy Fire was out in mid-September, so I should be seeing it soon.
Clockwork Heart
Dru Pagliassotti
ISBN: 9781770530263
Re-read Oct 10
Clockwork Lies: Iron Wind
Dru Pagliassotti
ISBN: 9781770530508
Read Oct 12
In Heart, we're introduced to the mountainous city-state of Ondinium, made proud and rich by industry, and by the precious metal ondinum, which not only floats, but rises. This metal powers giant difference engines in the heart of the city, keeps timepieces and cable-cars aloft, and provides the ability for small and light-weight people to become icarii - couriers and emergency response crews who fly on enormous lighter-than-air metal wings.
These couriers are the only members of Ondinium's strictly regulated society able to transcend caste boundaries - marked clearly by tattoos on the face, or in the case of the Exalted, also marked by enveloping and restrictive heavily ornamental and stylized robes and masks.
Taya Icarus' immigrant family is from one of the lower rungs of society, but Taya herself, cleared for any job due to her position as an icarus, wants to be a diplomat. She's still worrying about her aptitude test when she responds to a cable-car accident, rescues a duo of Exalted, and is immediately thrust into a web of espionage and state-secret-selling, aided and wooed by two very different high-caste brothers.
In Lies, Taya has gotten her coveted diplomat job, but not quite the way she had imagined, and she is also a bit unprepared for the brutal nature of politicking and schmoozing in their neighbor-kingdom Mareaux. When her Exalted diplomat companion is the subject of multiple assassination attempts, the duo must protect themselves (diplomatically) work with their security escort to figure out what is happening (diplomatically), return home early (diplomatically) and once back home, survive a last-ditch effort to destroy them all. All of that only gets us to the halfway mark, and the rest of the book deals with the conclusion of their investigations and Taya's attempt to avert a true and enormous threat to the entire country, while still saving the man she loves, and trying to not shatter the ancient taboos she is bound by. The feel of this book was a lot different from the first - this was more like a heist novel or a James Bond story.
In both stories, I really enjoy the relationship between Taya and the Exalted - it's not one you see often in science fiction or fantasy novels (a notable exception being Mary Robinette Kowal's Regency-With-Magic Glamourist Histories). I also very much like the Lictor (police) Lieutenant Amcathra - again, nice to see a positive representation of police in this sort of story.
Looking forward to seeing the last book processed into the library collection: Clockwork Secrets: Heavy Fire was out in mid-September, so I should be seeing it soon.
Monday, January 27, 2014
Mystic: The Tenth Apprentice, G. Willow Wilson, David Lopez, Alvaro Lopez, Nathan Fairbairn, Jared K. Fletcher
Mystic: The Tenth Apprentice
Writer, G. Willow Wilson
Penciler, David Lopez
Inker, Alvaro Lopez
Colorist, Nathan Fairbairn
Letterer, Jared K. Fletcher
ISBN: 9780785156086
Graphic Novel, combined Mystic Issues 1-4.
So the backstory here is that a comics group named CrossGen folded a while back, leaving a whole lot of stories unfinished, just hanging out with no chance of resolution (as an avid reader, I totally sympathize - that SUCKS as a reader). Marvel picked up the CrossGen catalog, but instead of picking up the originals and running with them, it's 'rebooting' each story as a limited-run set of complete stories, to see which of them, if any, are popular or interesting enough to put into commission as full lines.
That said, I never read the originals, but added this particular one based on good reviews in a variety of places. I'm glad I did, and I'm also glad that it showed up today for a good 'slip back into reading' expreience, because frankly my brains aren't up for anything strenuous these past few days.
We start in a classic Dickensian fashion, with two orphan girls in indentured servitude to the headmistress of the orphanage where they were left as children. They have to pay her back for the cost of their raising, you see. (Which is an excellent nasty plot hook, to be totally honest.) One is dreamy and starry-eyed, full of faith and hope in the goodness of Fate and her certitude that life will get better. The other is a hard-nosed cynic, smart-mouthed and suspicious. Life is made bearable by their regular sneaking visits to the lady's library, until they are found out and escape into the streets. By a set of circumstances best characterized as giddy handwaving, one ends up in the lap of luxury, learning to become an elite mage, while the other one joins the violent French Revolution-inspired street mobs as a powerful figurehead. The kicker is that the dreamer ends up as the cynical revolutionary while the cynic has to have faith in her new aristocratic companions.
Is it earth-shattering plotting? Nope, but it's awfully fun anyway. The story is really a veneer over the revolution, with beheadings and dramatic posing on top of barrel-constructed barricades. In places I really felt like the characters were about to break into a Les Mis musical number.
Are the characters awesome? Eh, they're archtypes. But I still liked reading about them. The only real downside I have with the characters is that during the ending (which requires group action) a character participates, or at the very least, refrains from sabotage, which doesn't match the character at all.
Well, the art is glorious, right? I liked it, but it isn't Sandman or Sin City or Girl Genius. Still, it's easy to tell who is who, the characters are distinctive and interesting (I appreciated the mix of skin-tones) and the colors and design layout play very nicely with the progression and dynamics of the story, while the lettering is well-placed to not distract from the art, but still is readable and flows logically (which feat is apparently harder than it seems, given the many times I've been confused by what order text blocks are supposed to be following).
So, I like it. It isn't a great artistic masterpiece, but it's funny, obviously references the classics, it's readable, easy on the eyes, and doesn't have anything objectionable sexually or violently (beheadings are threatened but averted).
About my speed tonight.
PS - (spoiler warning) Many of the reviews made me worry that the story would have more of a tragic culmination than it did. It obviously doesn't finish everything off neatly -it was intended to kickstart a series after all - but neither does it leave the reader in the lurch or with a tragic death to digest. (end spoiler)
Writer, G. Willow Wilson
Penciler, David Lopez
Inker, Alvaro Lopez
Colorist, Nathan Fairbairn
Letterer, Jared K. Fletcher
ISBN: 9780785156086
Graphic Novel, combined Mystic Issues 1-4.
So the backstory here is that a comics group named CrossGen folded a while back, leaving a whole lot of stories unfinished, just hanging out with no chance of resolution (as an avid reader, I totally sympathize - that SUCKS as a reader). Marvel picked up the CrossGen catalog, but instead of picking up the originals and running with them, it's 'rebooting' each story as a limited-run set of complete stories, to see which of them, if any, are popular or interesting enough to put into commission as full lines.
That said, I never read the originals, but added this particular one based on good reviews in a variety of places. I'm glad I did, and I'm also glad that it showed up today for a good 'slip back into reading' expreience, because frankly my brains aren't up for anything strenuous these past few days.
We start in a classic Dickensian fashion, with two orphan girls in indentured servitude to the headmistress of the orphanage where they were left as children. They have to pay her back for the cost of their raising, you see. (Which is an excellent nasty plot hook, to be totally honest.) One is dreamy and starry-eyed, full of faith and hope in the goodness of Fate and her certitude that life will get better. The other is a hard-nosed cynic, smart-mouthed and suspicious. Life is made bearable by their regular sneaking visits to the lady's library, until they are found out and escape into the streets. By a set of circumstances best characterized as giddy handwaving, one ends up in the lap of luxury, learning to become an elite mage, while the other one joins the violent French Revolution-inspired street mobs as a powerful figurehead. The kicker is that the dreamer ends up as the cynical revolutionary while the cynic has to have faith in her new aristocratic companions.
Is it earth-shattering plotting? Nope, but it's awfully fun anyway. The story is really a veneer over the revolution, with beheadings and dramatic posing on top of barrel-constructed barricades. In places I really felt like the characters were about to break into a Les Mis musical number.
Are the characters awesome? Eh, they're archtypes. But I still liked reading about them. The only real downside I have with the characters is that during the ending (which requires group action) a character participates, or at the very least, refrains from sabotage, which doesn't match the character at all.
Well, the art is glorious, right? I liked it, but it isn't Sandman or Sin City or Girl Genius. Still, it's easy to tell who is who, the characters are distinctive and interesting (I appreciated the mix of skin-tones) and the colors and design layout play very nicely with the progression and dynamics of the story, while the lettering is well-placed to not distract from the art, but still is readable and flows logically (which feat is apparently harder than it seems, given the many times I've been confused by what order text blocks are supposed to be following).
So, I like it. It isn't a great artistic masterpiece, but it's funny, obviously references the classics, it's readable, easy on the eyes, and doesn't have anything objectionable sexually or violently (beheadings are threatened but averted).
About my speed tonight.
PS - (spoiler warning) Many of the reviews made me worry that the story would have more of a tragic culmination than it did. It obviously doesn't finish everything off neatly -it was intended to kickstart a series after all - but neither does it leave the reader in the lurch or with a tragic death to digest. (end spoiler)
Tuesday, December 31, 2013
Short Reviews: January 2013. Ironskin, Tina Connolly
Ironskin, Tina Connolly. ISBN: 9780765330598
January 2013
YA: This book reminded me very strongly of Jenna Starborn,
in that it really does quite simply take Jane Eyre, mess around with the
setting, and let it fly again. I enjoyed Jenna Starborn, and I did
enjoy Ironskin also, but I do think that the world-building in the
former was a little more realized. There were some implications in this
endeavor that weren't fully dealt with, and several others which were just left
to hang unresolved.
However! While the setting in Jenna Starborn is
pretty ho-hum Victoriana in space, THIS setting is really very interesting.
I would have LOVED to see an original story set in this world, rather
than a re-hash of a classic. I got the impression that a lot of thought
had gone into creating an interesting concept for a world, and then when it
came time to write a story - they choked up. I totally understand that;
I'm a worldbuilder, and a character writer myself, not a plotter. But I
do feel somewhat cheated that this really very interesting scenery and
background was wasted on a watered down YA edition of Jane Eyre.
A world in the twilight of an Empire powered by the stolen
life-energy of the fae really deserves something a bit more original.
ETA: apparently there is now a sequel: Copperhead.
Tuesday, May 21, 2013
Stormdancer, Jay Kristoff
Stormdancer (The Lotus War, Book One)
Author: Jay Kristoff
Thomas Dunne, 2012
ISBN: 9781250001405
Steampunk Bushido in a ravaged Japan-analogue where "blood lotus" destroys the land, but makes airships, trains, and mechanized armor and weaponry possible. Crazed young Emperor demands his Hunters return to him with a mythical Arashitora - a giant griffin.
Really mixed feelings about this one.
Spoilers aplenty - you've been warned.
First real set of grouses - the metal-encased priests. I'm left not entirely sure what their motivations are, and whether they really believe their rites and taboos, or if that's just to keep the rank and file in line. It bugs me that they're so much of a player, but they're left nearly entirely a mystery. (I know there's a series upcoming - I can still be unhappy about what isn't in THIS book.)
Also not happy that the reveal about the "fertilizer" for the red lotus is left until so close to the end and then thrown in casually like that. A potential knockout like that is should be a bit more than "the character goes back home and continues to feel somewhat sorry for the people riding the Soylent Green conveyor belt until he turns a corner and then forgets about them because he has other things on his mind." If you're going for cannibalism and human sacrifice, it just feels odd to have it casually thrown in there.
Red Lotus. So... it's a fuel. And a drug. And clothing. And food. And a lubricant. And a decoration? And.... I start to lose faith in a miracle plant that does all things for all people. Just not realistic to me, magical kingdom or not.
Gritty realism vs romantic inter-species partnership. It could be done where these two genres coexist nicely, I'm sure. But here it's like the fan-fic equivalent of the "magic horsies" of Valdemar (yes, I know they're Companions, and aren't actually horses - I'm making a point here) crashed into Warhammer 40K. I get sucked in by the happy lovely interactive mental/emotional bond and then POW - exploding brains! Severed limbs! Emotionally withdrawn heroes soldiering on while comrades are hacked squishily to death behind them! Yeesh.
The Dad. I feel like I'm being a little unfair with this grouse, but really, the "child who doesn't realize the massive sacrifice dad has made for them until he's gone, and their reunion is seconds before he dies" trope is making me a little nuts. I understand it's difficult to have a teen protagonist really be an active protagonist with parents in the way. I understand that conflict and drama and pain are a great way to build character, and dead/threatened/dying parents are a great easy path to that conflict and drama and pain. I know that having the "mentor" die off in the first book (movie) of the trilogy is the accepted way to go. I got it. But really for the love of goats, try to make it a little varied? I know I'm not the target audience - I read way too many books, and remember them all too well. I also think too hard about all this stuff, and most people don't. But I have to say, if I'm rolling my eyes during the climax of your book because I JUST KNEW IT WAS GOING TO HAPPEN THAT WAY, GODDAMNIT, it makes it hard for me to connect with the surviving characters and want to continue on with them in the future.
(On the other hand, nice fakeout with the inheritance. That was classy.)
Final grouse - Really didn't like that the Princess was resolved offscreen. Not a fan of that choice at all. Maybe there was a page-number limit, maybe there was a difficulty getting a "face" character over there to see what happened, but unless the author is abusing the "if you don't see them die and see their corpse, they aren't really dead" trope (and I would qualify a between-book resurrection as an abuse) then I feel like she got shafted as a character.
OTHERWISE, I really enjoyed it! :)
Author: Jay Kristoff
Thomas Dunne, 2012
ISBN: 9781250001405
Steampunk Bushido in a ravaged Japan-analogue where "blood lotus" destroys the land, but makes airships, trains, and mechanized armor and weaponry possible. Crazed young Emperor demands his Hunters return to him with a mythical Arashitora - a giant griffin.
Really mixed feelings about this one.
Spoilers aplenty - you've been warned.
First real set of grouses - the metal-encased priests. I'm left not entirely sure what their motivations are, and whether they really believe their rites and taboos, or if that's just to keep the rank and file in line. It bugs me that they're so much of a player, but they're left nearly entirely a mystery. (I know there's a series upcoming - I can still be unhappy about what isn't in THIS book.)
Also not happy that the reveal about the "fertilizer" for the red lotus is left until so close to the end and then thrown in casually like that. A potential knockout like that is should be a bit more than "the character goes back home and continues to feel somewhat sorry for the people riding the Soylent Green conveyor belt until he turns a corner and then forgets about them because he has other things on his mind." If you're going for cannibalism and human sacrifice, it just feels odd to have it casually thrown in there.
Red Lotus. So... it's a fuel. And a drug. And clothing. And food. And a lubricant. And a decoration? And.... I start to lose faith in a miracle plant that does all things for all people. Just not realistic to me, magical kingdom or not.
Gritty realism vs romantic inter-species partnership. It could be done where these two genres coexist nicely, I'm sure. But here it's like the fan-fic equivalent of the "magic horsies" of Valdemar (yes, I know they're Companions, and aren't actually horses - I'm making a point here) crashed into Warhammer 40K. I get sucked in by the happy lovely interactive mental/emotional bond and then POW - exploding brains! Severed limbs! Emotionally withdrawn heroes soldiering on while comrades are hacked squishily to death behind them! Yeesh.
The Dad. I feel like I'm being a little unfair with this grouse, but really, the "child who doesn't realize the massive sacrifice dad has made for them until he's gone, and their reunion is seconds before he dies" trope is making me a little nuts. I understand it's difficult to have a teen protagonist really be an active protagonist with parents in the way. I understand that conflict and drama and pain are a great way to build character, and dead/threatened/dying parents are a great easy path to that conflict and drama and pain. I know that having the "mentor" die off in the first book (movie) of the trilogy is the accepted way to go. I got it. But really for the love of goats, try to make it a little varied? I know I'm not the target audience - I read way too many books, and remember them all too well. I also think too hard about all this stuff, and most people don't. But I have to say, if I'm rolling my eyes during the climax of your book because I JUST KNEW IT WAS GOING TO HAPPEN THAT WAY, GODDAMNIT, it makes it hard for me to connect with the surviving characters and want to continue on with them in the future.
(On the other hand, nice fakeout with the inheritance. That was classy.)
Final grouse - Really didn't like that the Princess was resolved offscreen. Not a fan of that choice at all. Maybe there was a page-number limit, maybe there was a difficulty getting a "face" character over there to see what happened, but unless the author is abusing the "if you don't see them die and see their corpse, they aren't really dead" trope (and I would qualify a between-book resurrection as an abuse) then I feel like she got shafted as a character.
OTHERWISE, I really enjoyed it! :)
Thursday, January 26, 2012
All Men of Genius, Lev AC Rosen
I LOVED this book! Rosen smushes together Twelfth Night and The Importance of Being Earnest, throws in a dash of Frankenstein, a smidge of Conan Doyle, a side of English boarding-school, and a heaping tablespoon of steampunk. And it worked! It worked! *cue lightning and mad laughter*
Violet and Ashton are twins but never really cared about it that much, until Violet realizes that she simply HAS to attend the best mad-scientist school in the world, the prestigous, highly selective, and male-only Illyria College. No worries. With the help of effete Ashton (an acknowledged and mostly un-remarked "invert" known now as the much less loaded 'gay') she learns to dress and act as a man, submits her application, and promptly has her headmaster falling head over heels in love with her (to the disconcertion of said headmaster, who is decidedly NOT gay, and doesn't understand why he's attracted so to "Ashton.")
If you're familiar with the two main source texts, you know how things will go, but the journey isn't really the point here. Characters are delightful (especially the professors and their mini backstories), mad science romps through every page (I had to stop reading to laugh about the poor exclamative bunny, Oscar) and the story winds to an eventful conclusion that leaves just enough strings lying about to form a sequel, but not to feel as if it needs one.
All in all, absolutely delightful.
Violet and Ashton are twins but never really cared about it that much, until Violet realizes that she simply HAS to attend the best mad-scientist school in the world, the prestigous, highly selective, and male-only Illyria College. No worries. With the help of effete Ashton (an acknowledged and mostly un-remarked "invert" known now as the much less loaded 'gay') she learns to dress and act as a man, submits her application, and promptly has her headmaster falling head over heels in love with her (to the disconcertion of said headmaster, who is decidedly NOT gay, and doesn't understand why he's attracted so to "Ashton.")
If you're familiar with the two main source texts, you know how things will go, but the journey isn't really the point here. Characters are delightful (especially the professors and their mini backstories), mad science romps through every page (I had to stop reading to laugh about the poor exclamative bunny, Oscar) and the story winds to an eventful conclusion that leaves just enough strings lying about to form a sequel, but not to feel as if it needs one.
All in all, absolutely delightful.
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