The Diamond in the Window
Jane Langton, illustrated by Erik Blegvad
ISBN: none
Pubdata: Harper and Row, NY, 1962
Read May 4, 2016
This is the starting point of a series of 8 children's novels written between 1962 and 2008 that focus on the Hall family children, starting in this book with Eleanor and Edward. They live with their Aunt Lily and Uncle Fred (Fred and Lily are brother and sister, not married). Their parents are dead (of course) and one day while exploring the old rickety mansion, they discover a hidden attic room and a mysterious sad case involving even more of Lily and Fred's siblings. It seems that long ago, when Lily was a young woman, her youngest two siblings (a boy and girl named Edward and Eleanor: crucially and luckily nicknamed Ned and Nora) and her beau, a maharaja from India (yes really) all simply up and vanished one night, and no one could ever find them. Now the house is on the hook for back taxes, and the current set of siblings are off and running to solve the mystery and save the house.
It's cute, but it's dated, and the endless references to Lousia (Alcott) and Henry (Thoreau) and Walt (Whitman) are meant to be enriching, but end up as somewhat tiresome: although a few of the dream sequences involving the Alcott sisters as children, and showing Walden in his cabin are sweet and deftly done. I can see how the book sticks in the mind (I discovered it when a patron was searching for it, half-remembered from their own childhood) because the dreams are creepy and unsettling and visually evocative, and the scenario is just wild enough to not quite be preposterous. The ending is quick and utterly mundane, and everyone is happily settled down in the best possible fashion. I'm glad I read it and made ms Langton's accquaintance, but I don't think I'll continue with the series - it's not quite my style, even though sections were very enjoyable.
Showing posts with label urban fantasy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label urban fantasy. Show all posts
Monday, May 9, 2016
Friday, April 15, 2016
Urban Fantasy/Horror: Rolling in the Deep, Mira Grant
Short and shivery. Lovecraftian in the good way (creepy and atmospheric, not racist and sexist).
Rolling in the Deep
Mira Grant
ISBN: 9781596067080
Novella: documentary-style horror story featuring creepy mermaids.
Read April 11, 2016
This was SOOOO GOOD! This is another that I had been sitting on all winter, waiting to feel better and for the weather to brighten up. I'm so glad I saved it and read it now. The only better time would have been actually on summer vacation, when you can start worrying about what might be peeking through the ocean murk at your delectable toes in the surf.
Our book is all serious and set in the future (post 2017) and recording a documentary about 'ghost ships' and the great modern mystery of ghost ships is the 2015 vanishing of the good ship Atargatis with all hands (plus a film crew, a slew of desperate/broke scientists, a team of "professional mermaid performers," and our Felicia Day stand-in internet blogging personality) in the waters above the Mariana Trench (the official name is singular - I had to go look it up). Since we know from the start that something killed all of them, and because the book is billed as a horror on the back, I don't feel like I'm spoiling anything to say that they're all dead by the end.
However, it's the voyage that counts, and we get a lot of mileage from just a few pages as our colorful cast assert themselves and work themselves ever deeper into the mire. What I found interesting is that save two particularly nasty pieces of work, every character is more or less sympathetic, from the worry-wart captain to the den-mother troupe-leader, even to our dynamic if not particularly bright duo of cameraman and blogger personality. Unlike a lot of horror, you never really get the sense that this poor crew of people deserves it (again, save two specific exceptions), but at the same time, the novella is so short that the slight glimmers of personality don't do much to quench the heady satisfaction of a good blood-bath. Grace-notes abound, from the unfortunate attempts at communication via ASL, to the sweet morbid scene between the elder-statesman scientist and the creeping death advancing on him, to the fine line between the natural curiosity and camera-ready smile of our personality.
Really quite fun, in the most creepy way.
Rolling in the Deep
Mira Grant
ISBN: 9781596067080
Novella: documentary-style horror story featuring creepy mermaids.
Read April 11, 2016
This was SOOOO GOOD! This is another that I had been sitting on all winter, waiting to feel better and for the weather to brighten up. I'm so glad I saved it and read it now. The only better time would have been actually on summer vacation, when you can start worrying about what might be peeking through the ocean murk at your delectable toes in the surf.
Our book is all serious and set in the future (post 2017) and recording a documentary about 'ghost ships' and the great modern mystery of ghost ships is the 2015 vanishing of the good ship Atargatis with all hands (plus a film crew, a slew of desperate/broke scientists, a team of "professional mermaid performers," and our Felicia Day stand-in internet blogging personality) in the waters above the Mariana Trench (the official name is singular - I had to go look it up). Since we know from the start that something killed all of them, and because the book is billed as a horror on the back, I don't feel like I'm spoiling anything to say that they're all dead by the end.
However, it's the voyage that counts, and we get a lot of mileage from just a few pages as our colorful cast assert themselves and work themselves ever deeper into the mire. What I found interesting is that save two particularly nasty pieces of work, every character is more or less sympathetic, from the worry-wart captain to the den-mother troupe-leader, even to our dynamic if not particularly bright duo of cameraman and blogger personality. Unlike a lot of horror, you never really get the sense that this poor crew of people deserves it (again, save two specific exceptions), but at the same time, the novella is so short that the slight glimmers of personality don't do much to quench the heady satisfaction of a good blood-bath. Grace-notes abound, from the unfortunate attempts at communication via ASL, to the sweet morbid scene between the elder-statesman scientist and the creeping death advancing on him, to the fine line between the natural curiosity and camera-ready smile of our personality.
Really quite fun, in the most creepy way.
Wednesday, April 6, 2016
Urban Fantasy (sequel) Marked in Flesh, Anne Bishop
This is the fourth in the Others Series by Anne Bishop. I've read and reviewed the first three:
Written in Red
Murder of Crows
Vision in Silver
Marked in Flesh
Anne Bishop
ISBN: 9780451474476
Read April 5, 2016
Book four won't make much sense if you haven't read the first ones, so don't think you can just jump in. We've lost focus on the Courtyard a bit, and shuffle between there, the Intuit (not a spelling error) /Other village where one of the "sweet bloods" has settled (our young artist from the previous book), and a new pair of western prairie towns that are introduced in this book for the specific purpose of having people to kill off (the entire continent of Europe is likewise introduced).
The jumps around are still present, but they're executed much more competently, and the shifts in perspective are more pronounced, so it's easier to keep track of who is where, even with a whole new place thrown in. Characters are still very much archetypes, and we're never in any confusion about who is on the good guy side and who is on the bad guy side, but eh - again, I'm not expecting Shakespeare here.
I will say that as the series goes on, there is a distinct "second-class citizen" vibe going on, especially at the end of this book. I'm not going to get into spoilers, but I will say that the specifics referenced, and the actions committed (and then excused or explained away) are starting to make me want to step away from this series before it goes any further down that path. That of course is the trouble with making one side of the conflict into utterly bad monstrous people - that makes it ok to do terrible things to them in retribution. Except it doesn't really. So that's starting to be an unfortunate and growing sour note. I felt that way slightly after the third book, and it was much stronger and more direct this time around. I may not read the next at all - if there is another one.
Written in Red
Murder of Crows
Vision in Silver
Marked in Flesh
Anne Bishop
ISBN: 9780451474476
Read April 5, 2016
Book four won't make much sense if you haven't read the first ones, so don't think you can just jump in. We've lost focus on the Courtyard a bit, and shuffle between there, the Intuit (not a spelling error) /Other village where one of the "sweet bloods" has settled (our young artist from the previous book), and a new pair of western prairie towns that are introduced in this book for the specific purpose of having people to kill off (the entire continent of Europe is likewise introduced).
The jumps around are still present, but they're executed much more competently, and the shifts in perspective are more pronounced, so it's easier to keep track of who is where, even with a whole new place thrown in. Characters are still very much archetypes, and we're never in any confusion about who is on the good guy side and who is on the bad guy side, but eh - again, I'm not expecting Shakespeare here.
I will say that as the series goes on, there is a distinct "second-class citizen" vibe going on, especially at the end of this book. I'm not going to get into spoilers, but I will say that the specifics referenced, and the actions committed (and then excused or explained away) are starting to make me want to step away from this series before it goes any further down that path. That of course is the trouble with making one side of the conflict into utterly bad monstrous people - that makes it ok to do terrible things to them in retribution. Except it doesn't really. So that's starting to be an unfortunate and growing sour note. I felt that way slightly after the third book, and it was much stronger and more direct this time around. I may not read the next at all - if there is another one.
Wednesday, April 8, 2015
Urban Fantasy: Vision in Silver, Anne Bishop
Vision in Silver
Anne Bishop
ISBN: 9780451465276
Continuing a series begun with Written in Red and Murder of Crows. Next book upcoming is Marked in Flesh.
Read April 6, 2015
If you like, you can check out my reviews for the first two books of this series linked above.
In this installation, our focus widens out into the larger world, and the implications of the previous books' action is coming to fruition. The pacing and the characters are better, but there are still odd little gaps here and there that I can't tell if they are purposeful omissions or just jumps because of space/pacing constraints. Odd, but not actively frustrating this time around.
We are starting to build our character list up, and that caused me a few moments of confusion here and there as I occasionally lost track who was where doing what with whom. I will also say that the larger cast list made the losses of characters a lot less impactful for me, because we didn't ever get to spend that much time with them individually.
The ponies were given their required few scenes to remind readers that they exist, but they weren't used to propel the story, which saddened me. Likewise we learn more about a conspiracy and about humans fomenting a rebellion, but the main forward momentum was provided by the struggle to learn about the sweet bloods to try and help them recover and live happily, if not entirely sanely.
I'm honestly ok with that. I like that the series focuses on the Courtyard and the residents, and scenes like the clearing out of the library and the gardening day and picnic are part of what makes this really enjoyable. Sure the world is dark and gruesome, sure there are some awful events and people, but the author really makes sure to counteract that with repeated emphasis on the basic goodness of our heroes and the hope that they are trying to build something good. Very Charles de Lint in seeing cautiously (perhaps rebelliously) optimistic characters persevering through and doing their best together.
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, 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, October 3, 2014
Short Story Collection/Ghost Story: Sparrow Hill Road, Seanan McGuire
Late to the party, (this collection has previously published stories from all over the place, and was itself published back in May) but this is a really really good combined ghost story.
Sparrow Hill Road
Seanan McGuire
ISBN: 9780756409616
Read October 2, 2014
Doesn't everyone look for a good ghost story to set them up for Halloween? If you do, I'd strongly suggest you add this one to your rotation.
This is such a good cumulative ghost story. Fair warning, the book is (from what I can tell researching) an edited compilation of previously existing stories and short fiction about a single character and world, and as such, some of the stories either slightly disagree with each other, or (more often) are a bit repetitive, as the basic introductions and world mechanics must be introduced as part of what was originally intended to be a single story standing alone. It didn't bother me, because I greatly enjoyed McGuire's worldbuilding and thought that the characters inhabiting this world were interesting and quirky, but that repetition seems to have really bugged the snot out of some readers,
Summary: It seems like everyone knows the ghost story of the Girl in the Diner, or the Phantom Prom Date. Those two stories especially - the first of a trucker's angel who appears as a hitchhiker and saves her driver from impending accidents, and the second of a murderous jilted ghost who kills boys in retribution from being stood up at her prom - have haunted Rose Marshall since 1952. Or, more appropriately, Rose has haunted the roads, and the stories have slowly evolved.
The reality is closer to the first than the second (although I have to say there was a solid tease that there IS a darker version of Rose out there, homecoming away, and would I ever love to see the story of that realization and confrontation unfold) and Rose has been around longer as a ghost than she ever was as a living girl. She's just starting to get the hang of the rules of the undead world, of twilight ghosts interacting with the living, and the midnight world of long-dead ghosts interacting with strange and terrible creatures of myth. She is lucky to have survived this long, because she's being hunted by someone who seems to be both living and dead, and needs her soul for fuel.
Despite the chronological (roughly) progression of the story, we don't get a solid "here is the ending of the book" resolution. Again, I'm pretty sure that this is because we're just seeing a collected version of all the existing stories about Rose. I really really hope that we'll get MORE stories, or perhaps a novella or novel about her and her world, but for this one, having a character wrapped up in a pretty "the end" bow would cut off so many possibilities that I'm really not surprised at all to come away without a final resolution to her through-line conflict. The 'miniboss fight' that we did get was good, but not amazingly climactic, which makes the open-ended sense a little stronger.
On that note, I did feel like our antagonist could have been a smidge more active or at least a bit more present in the stories. He came off a little weak in the aggregate, even though his individual appearances were suitably tense. I'm not entirely sure why the overall impression weakens like that, but it might be that we never actually see any consequences of his predation (other than Bethany, who was 1) partly spared, and 2) blase about her experiences).
I'm immediately passing this on to one of my friends, and I very rarely do this. It's just up his alley tho, and I think he'll enjoy it.
Similar ghostly or american-creepy reads:
The Night Circus (Erin Morgenstern)
The Boneshaker (Kate Milford)
Anna Dressed in Blood (Kendare Blake)
anything written by Charles de Lint
American Gods and Anansi Boys (Neil Gaiman)
The Graveyard Book (Neil Gaiman)
The Little Girl Who Lived Down the Lane (Laird Koenig)
Mad Maudlin (Bedlam's Bard series, Mercedes Lackey & Rosemary Edghill)
Sparrow Hill Road
Seanan McGuire
ISBN: 9780756409616
Read October 2, 2014
Doesn't everyone look for a good ghost story to set them up for Halloween? If you do, I'd strongly suggest you add this one to your rotation.
This is such a good cumulative ghost story. Fair warning, the book is (from what I can tell researching) an edited compilation of previously existing stories and short fiction about a single character and world, and as such, some of the stories either slightly disagree with each other, or (more often) are a bit repetitive, as the basic introductions and world mechanics must be introduced as part of what was originally intended to be a single story standing alone. It didn't bother me, because I greatly enjoyed McGuire's worldbuilding and thought that the characters inhabiting this world were interesting and quirky, but that repetition seems to have really bugged the snot out of some readers,
Summary: It seems like everyone knows the ghost story of the Girl in the Diner, or the Phantom Prom Date. Those two stories especially - the first of a trucker's angel who appears as a hitchhiker and saves her driver from impending accidents, and the second of a murderous jilted ghost who kills boys in retribution from being stood up at her prom - have haunted Rose Marshall since 1952. Or, more appropriately, Rose has haunted the roads, and the stories have slowly evolved.
The reality is closer to the first than the second (although I have to say there was a solid tease that there IS a darker version of Rose out there, homecoming away, and would I ever love to see the story of that realization and confrontation unfold) and Rose has been around longer as a ghost than she ever was as a living girl. She's just starting to get the hang of the rules of the undead world, of twilight ghosts interacting with the living, and the midnight world of long-dead ghosts interacting with strange and terrible creatures of myth. She is lucky to have survived this long, because she's being hunted by someone who seems to be both living and dead, and needs her soul for fuel.
Despite the chronological (roughly) progression of the story, we don't get a solid "here is the ending of the book" resolution. Again, I'm pretty sure that this is because we're just seeing a collected version of all the existing stories about Rose. I really really hope that we'll get MORE stories, or perhaps a novella or novel about her and her world, but for this one, having a character wrapped up in a pretty "the end" bow would cut off so many possibilities that I'm really not surprised at all to come away without a final resolution to her through-line conflict. The 'miniboss fight' that we did get was good, but not amazingly climactic, which makes the open-ended sense a little stronger.
On that note, I did feel like our antagonist could have been a smidge more active or at least a bit more present in the stories. He came off a little weak in the aggregate, even though his individual appearances were suitably tense. I'm not entirely sure why the overall impression weakens like that, but it might be that we never actually see any consequences of his predation (other than Bethany, who was 1) partly spared, and 2) blase about her experiences).
I'm immediately passing this on to one of my friends, and I very rarely do this. It's just up his alley tho, and I think he'll enjoy it.
Similar ghostly or american-creepy reads:
The Night Circus (Erin Morgenstern)
The Boneshaker (Kate Milford)
Anna Dressed in Blood (Kendare Blake)
anything written by Charles de Lint
American Gods and Anansi Boys (Neil Gaiman)
The Graveyard Book (Neil Gaiman)
The Little Girl Who Lived Down the Lane (Laird Koenig)
Mad Maudlin (Bedlam's Bard series, Mercedes Lackey & Rosemary Edghill)
Friday, June 20, 2014
Dark Lord: The Early Years, and Dark Lord: School's Out. Both by Jamie Thomson
Dark Lord: The Early Years
Jamie Thomson
ISBN: 9780802728494
Re-read June 14, 2014 (originally read Oct 2012)
Juv alternate realms fantasy.
I gave this one a short blurb when I first read it, but I wanted to make sure to include it here as well, because the second book is very dependent on the first for tone and story and set-up.
Our 'hero' wakes on a hot summery day on an asphalt parking lot, bereft of his name, his mighty evil powers, and his hideous fear-inducing form. He has been alive for centuries, no, millenia, but now his nemesis the Wizard has reduced him to the form and magical abilities (that is, puny and none to speak of) of a small human tween. Oh the humiliation.
Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately, when he landed, his essence of evil was ejected from him, so now this small child with the mind and memories of a dread Dark Lord has a fighting chance to learn about friendship, loyalty, and compassion. He'll need all the help he can get from his schoolmates to try and make his way back home again.
Dark Lord: School's Out
Jamie Thomson
ISBN: 9780802735225
Read June 19. 2014
Juv alternate-realms fantasy.
Dirk is stuck on Earth, and Sooz is stuck in the Darklands, and things are looking quite grim indeed. But Sooz is smart and spunky, and soon has Dirk's armies and lieutenants eating out of the hand of the Moon Queen while she happily tarts the castle up in Goth regalia. That pesky Wizard won't leave them alone however, and with a White Witch scheming against Dirk on Earth, he may be too distracted to save Sooz from his old mortal foe. Still, his foster-brother Christopher remains a loyal (sometimes begrudging) ally, and the kids manage to make it back to Earth in time for school to start back up once more.
These are delightful, but be aware, they're published in England, and they have different titles and publication dates from there. Makes things a little bit confusing.
Jamie Thomson
ISBN: 9780802728494
Re-read June 14, 2014 (originally read Oct 2012)
Juv alternate realms fantasy.
I gave this one a short blurb when I first read it, but I wanted to make sure to include it here as well, because the second book is very dependent on the first for tone and story and set-up.
Our 'hero' wakes on a hot summery day on an asphalt parking lot, bereft of his name, his mighty evil powers, and his hideous fear-inducing form. He has been alive for centuries, no, millenia, but now his nemesis the Wizard has reduced him to the form and magical abilities (that is, puny and none to speak of) of a small human tween. Oh the humiliation.
Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately, when he landed, his essence of evil was ejected from him, so now this small child with the mind and memories of a dread Dark Lord has a fighting chance to learn about friendship, loyalty, and compassion. He'll need all the help he can get from his schoolmates to try and make his way back home again.
Dark Lord: School's Out
Jamie Thomson
ISBN: 9780802735225
Read June 19. 2014
Juv alternate-realms fantasy.
Dirk is stuck on Earth, and Sooz is stuck in the Darklands, and things are looking quite grim indeed. But Sooz is smart and spunky, and soon has Dirk's armies and lieutenants eating out of the hand of the Moon Queen while she happily tarts the castle up in Goth regalia. That pesky Wizard won't leave them alone however, and with a White Witch scheming against Dirk on Earth, he may be too distracted to save Sooz from his old mortal foe. Still, his foster-brother Christopher remains a loyal (sometimes begrudging) ally, and the kids manage to make it back to Earth in time for school to start back up once more.
These are delightful, but be aware, they're published in England, and they have different titles and publication dates from there. Makes things a little bit confusing.
Wednesday, May 21, 2014
Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore, Robin Sloan
Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore
Robin Sloan
ISBN: 9780374214913
Finished May 20, 2014
There are people who jump into swimming pools, or into the ocean. It's perhaps mid-April, she's on spring break, she's got her bathing suit on, and she is GOING. A shiver of antici...pation (shush, I had to), a quick run, a smallish hop, a splash, and she's IN.
I am not that person. I am the person who sits on the edge of the dock and pokes her toes in with a worried crease in her forehead, thinking about temperatures and wind-chill and leg cramps. I am the person who sits on the warm concrete edge of the swimming pool with her legs in - ONLY her legs in - and watches the rest of the group swarm around the water like mayflies.
I don't jump. I am not an "early adopter." Hype makes me nervous. The more people who shove a specific thing in my face with the breathless exhortation "My God this is PERFECT for you!" the more nervous I get, and the longer I hold off. In this case, about umpty billion people (even patrons whose names I don't actually know) shoved this book at me with frantic intensity.
It was too much. I couldn't take it. The book (already purchased, because I did read a review and think "I might like this" before I got shoved at by everyone) ended up in the purgatory that is the back seat of my car. For MONTHS. I bought this book NEW. In October. Do you want to count how many months that is? It's a depressing number.
I swung my legs in that pool for more than half a year.
Why? I was afraid. I don't like dreary. I don't like depression (scuse me: "realism") I have enough of that in my own life, thanks. I don't like to be wrapped up in a lovely story and have it fizzle out, or take a strange turn at Albuquerque. I don't like to fall in love with characters and have them beheaded or raped (looking at you, GRRM). I don't like gritty. I don't like "snappy dialogue" that's actually mean-spirited snark that comes from entitled or arrogant or superior bastards.
I worry a lot. As fast and as much as I read, you'd think that it wouldn't bother me this much, but I want to read things that are uplifting and heartwarming, and when I get a bait-and-switch, it's like being gut-punched. It's horrid.
I finally slipped into the water on Monday. God as my witness, this water is HEAVENLY.
Reviews elsewhere do the review thing. I just want to gush for a bit.
I'm so glad I bought it. I want to wander around for a week or so, clutching it to my chest and luxuriating in the happy fugue that comes from scarfing down a story that started great, stayed great, and finished with a beautifully satisfying ending AND AN EPILOGUE!
I'm revealing myself as a giant nerd here, but I spent my college days playing Mage, the World of Darkness game system developed by White Wolf. This book reads like a beautiful Mage chronicle, in the lightest grey World of Darkness possible. The synthesis of nostalgia for my college games (and, let's be honest here - my college years) and the breathless frantic intensity of the cutting-edge Google projects and post-recession uncertainty was like manna.
I swear, people should stop recommending things to me. I would get in a lot faster if people just stopped hassling me about how nice the water is.
Robin Sloan
ISBN: 9780374214913
Finished May 20, 2014
There are people who jump into swimming pools, or into the ocean. It's perhaps mid-April, she's on spring break, she's got her bathing suit on, and she is GOING. A shiver of antici...pation (shush, I had to), a quick run, a smallish hop, a splash, and she's IN.
I am not that person. I am the person who sits on the edge of the dock and pokes her toes in with a worried crease in her forehead, thinking about temperatures and wind-chill and leg cramps. I am the person who sits on the warm concrete edge of the swimming pool with her legs in - ONLY her legs in - and watches the rest of the group swarm around the water like mayflies.
I don't jump. I am not an "early adopter." Hype makes me nervous. The more people who shove a specific thing in my face with the breathless exhortation "My God this is PERFECT for you!" the more nervous I get, and the longer I hold off. In this case, about umpty billion people (even patrons whose names I don't actually know) shoved this book at me with frantic intensity.
It was too much. I couldn't take it. The book (already purchased, because I did read a review and think "I might like this" before I got shoved at by everyone) ended up in the purgatory that is the back seat of my car. For MONTHS. I bought this book NEW. In October. Do you want to count how many months that is? It's a depressing number.
I swung my legs in that pool for more than half a year.
Why? I was afraid. I don't like dreary. I don't like depression (scuse me: "realism") I have enough of that in my own life, thanks. I don't like to be wrapped up in a lovely story and have it fizzle out, or take a strange turn at Albuquerque. I don't like to fall in love with characters and have them beheaded or raped (looking at you, GRRM). I don't like gritty. I don't like "snappy dialogue" that's actually mean-spirited snark that comes from entitled or arrogant or superior bastards.
I worry a lot. As fast and as much as I read, you'd think that it wouldn't bother me this much, but I want to read things that are uplifting and heartwarming, and when I get a bait-and-switch, it's like being gut-punched. It's horrid.
I finally slipped into the water on Monday. God as my witness, this water is HEAVENLY.
Reviews elsewhere do the review thing. I just want to gush for a bit.
I'm so glad I bought it. I want to wander around for a week or so, clutching it to my chest and luxuriating in the happy fugue that comes from scarfing down a story that started great, stayed great, and finished with a beautifully satisfying ending AND AN EPILOGUE!
I'm revealing myself as a giant nerd here, but I spent my college days playing Mage, the World of Darkness game system developed by White Wolf. This book reads like a beautiful Mage chronicle, in the lightest grey World of Darkness possible. The synthesis of nostalgia for my college games (and, let's be honest here - my college years) and the breathless frantic intensity of the cutting-edge Google projects and post-recession uncertainty was like manna.
I swear, people should stop recommending things to me. I would get in a lot faster if people just stopped hassling me about how nice the water is.
Saturday, April 19, 2014
Murder of Crows, Anne Bishop
Murder of Crows: A Novel of the Others
Anne Bishop
ISBN: 9780451465269
2nd in Series, after Written in Red
Read April 18, 2014
I read the first of this series and did a shorty review of it a while back, and I'm happy to say the sequel was pretty darn good. I was sad to see less of the Elementals; I love the seasons and the weather/natural phenomenon ponies so much, but they weren't a big part of this.
I will say the plotting was more solid this time around, although the characters are still a little one-dimensional. That's ok with me, because I like the dimensions they show off, and honestly I wasn't looking for the next great literary epic.
Good stuff: More about the background and the world, some really creepy moments (meat grinders and hands in jars) and a good bit of Tess (who is scary scary!).
Not so good stuff: A few elisions made me wonder about either plot-holes or the mental capacity of the Others. After learning that it's not wise to use attacks that could involve ingesting the blood of their enemies, the main characters assist on an all-out-attack, where either the main characters forgot to tell the other assailants about this little detail, or the other assailants didn't give a crap - and none of the so-far pretty serious consequences were mentioned as a result. That bugged me a little.
The totally unnecessary mis-communication regarding the "sweet bloods" kept at the facilities was really irksome. I just hate that particular method of introducing in-group conflict or tensions, and it felt very false to the characters and story so far to end on that particular note.
However, I still enjoyed the crap out of it, read it straight through, and can't wait for the next one!
Anne Bishop
ISBN: 9780451465269
2nd in Series, after Written in Red
Read April 18, 2014
I read the first of this series and did a shorty review of it a while back, and I'm happy to say the sequel was pretty darn good. I was sad to see less of the Elementals; I love the seasons and the weather/natural phenomenon ponies so much, but they weren't a big part of this.
I will say the plotting was more solid this time around, although the characters are still a little one-dimensional. That's ok with me, because I like the dimensions they show off, and honestly I wasn't looking for the next great literary epic.
Good stuff: More about the background and the world, some really creepy moments (meat grinders and hands in jars) and a good bit of Tess (who is scary scary!).
Not so good stuff: A few elisions made me wonder about either plot-holes or the mental capacity of the Others. After learning that it's not wise to use attacks that could involve ingesting the blood of their enemies, the main characters assist on an all-out-attack, where either the main characters forgot to tell the other assailants about this little detail, or the other assailants didn't give a crap - and none of the so-far pretty serious consequences were mentioned as a result. That bugged me a little.
The totally unnecessary mis-communication regarding the "sweet bloods" kept at the facilities was really irksome. I just hate that particular method of introducing in-group conflict or tensions, and it felt very false to the characters and story so far to end on that particular note.
However, I still enjoyed the crap out of it, read it straight through, and can't wait for the next one!
Thursday, March 27, 2014
Foiled, and Curses, Foiled Again, Jane Yolen & Mike Cavallaro
Foiled
Jane Yolen, illustrated by Mike Cavallaro
Middle-Grade Graphic Novel
ISBN: 9781596432796
Re-read March 26, 2014
Curses, Foiled Again
Jane Yolen, illustrated by Mike Cavallaro
Middle-Grade Graphic Novel, sequel
ISBN: 9781596436190
Read March 26, 2014
Pretty sure I reviewed Foiled before, but I got hold of the sequel, so wanted to hit it up again to be sure where I stood. It holds up well to a re-read, although I was much more aware of the forbodingly looming birds showing up everywhere this time around. Still think Aliera is a fantastic name.
Curses, Foiled Again picks up right after we left off, with Aliera not yet used to the idea of faery at all, let alone her place as a Defender of a realm she can't even see normally. Avery is bound and determined to be her knight, and Aliera is bound and determined to not trust him.
The storyline is again really terribly short - these are really almost graphic novellas. The "dark lord" is a little eye-rolly, especially given the age-group this is aimed at, and the reveal on who is the big bad was woefully expected (although handled fairly well). I liked that Aliera wasn't given super instincts to go with her new position, and she's flailing around wildly trying to figure everything out and be the hero. That's a nice and unexpected direction to go, and I hope it continues. What I didn't like, and which wasn't a problem as much in the first, was that with the very stylized speech and thought bubbles, I really had a hard time during the climax figuring out who is saying (or thinking) what to whom. I think this is my own fault for not reading enough comics as an impressionable child, but I really did have to read a few pages over again to match lines with characters. Despite my own shortcomings, that shouldn't ever be a problem.
As the first did, we're set up here at a nice breather, ready for the next encounter.
Jane Yolen, illustrated by Mike Cavallaro
Middle-Grade Graphic Novel
ISBN: 9781596432796
Re-read March 26, 2014
Curses, Foiled Again
Jane Yolen, illustrated by Mike Cavallaro
Middle-Grade Graphic Novel, sequel
ISBN: 9781596436190
Read March 26, 2014
Pretty sure I reviewed Foiled before, but I got hold of the sequel, so wanted to hit it up again to be sure where I stood. It holds up well to a re-read, although I was much more aware of the forbodingly looming birds showing up everywhere this time around. Still think Aliera is a fantastic name.
Curses, Foiled Again picks up right after we left off, with Aliera not yet used to the idea of faery at all, let alone her place as a Defender of a realm she can't even see normally. Avery is bound and determined to be her knight, and Aliera is bound and determined to not trust him.
The storyline is again really terribly short - these are really almost graphic novellas. The "dark lord" is a little eye-rolly, especially given the age-group this is aimed at, and the reveal on who is the big bad was woefully expected (although handled fairly well). I liked that Aliera wasn't given super instincts to go with her new position, and she's flailing around wildly trying to figure everything out and be the hero. That's a nice and unexpected direction to go, and I hope it continues. What I didn't like, and which wasn't a problem as much in the first, was that with the very stylized speech and thought bubbles, I really had a hard time during the climax figuring out who is saying (or thinking) what to whom. I think this is my own fault for not reading enough comics as an impressionable child, but I really did have to read a few pages over again to match lines with characters. Despite my own shortcomings, that shouldn't ever be a problem.
As the first did, we're set up here at a nice breather, ready for the next encounter.
Saturday, March 15, 2014
Codex Born (Magic Ex Libris)
Codex Born
Jim C. Hines
ISBN: 9780756408169
Read March 15, 2014
This is the second installment in Hines' Magic Ex Libris series, and while I didn't like it quite as much as the first, it's a really teeny 'quite' - this is a solid sequel, and an excellent read in its own right, although I don't think it would be as enjoyable if you were picking it up without being familiar with the first one.
Isaac is trying to figure out how to live in a not-quite-threesome with a magical psychotherapist and a dryad who is defined by the needs and desires of her lovers. (Really interesting plotting involved there, and a lot of good thought put into implications and consequences.)
The villain situation is complicated this time around, with the conclusion of this book leaving the good guys having won the battle, but pretty sure they've fucked over the overall war. The Epilogue was expected, but still heartwrenching. I want to think happy thoughts for the character involved, but I've been burned too much in the past to truly hope. Damnit.
Now the interminable wait for the next installment!
Jim C. Hines
ISBN: 9780756408169
Read March 15, 2014
This is the second installment in Hines' Magic Ex Libris series, and while I didn't like it quite as much as the first, it's a really teeny 'quite' - this is a solid sequel, and an excellent read in its own right, although I don't think it would be as enjoyable if you were picking it up without being familiar with the first one.
Isaac is trying to figure out how to live in a not-quite-threesome with a magical psychotherapist and a dryad who is defined by the needs and desires of her lovers. (Really interesting plotting involved there, and a lot of good thought put into implications and consequences.)
The villain situation is complicated this time around, with the conclusion of this book leaving the good guys having won the battle, but pretty sure they've fucked over the overall war. The Epilogue was expected, but still heartwrenching. I want to think happy thoughts for the character involved, but I've been burned too much in the past to truly hope. Damnit.
Now the interminable wait for the next installment!
Thursday, March 13, 2014
Re-read: Libriomancer (Magic Ex Libris) Jim C. Hines
Libriomancer
Jim C. Hines
ISBN: 9780756407391
Re-read March 13, 2014
So the sequel Codex Born is sitting on my to-read pile, and I dislike heading into sequels without being fresh on the previous installments (although Sanderson is likely to break me of that particular habit with the Stormlight Archive) so I got to read Libriomancer again. Yay!
This book just gets me in the feels. I'm not a magician, but I am a librarian, and this book totally gets it. The joy of finding obscure knowledge, of cataloging and organizing physical artifacts into a coherent and searchable whole, the drive to learn (to read) everything possible, the instinct to share that knowledge (usually by grandstanding). It also relishes (and tortures) the physicality of books and pages and bookshelves, of sagging shelves and dusty rooms and bent covers and broken spines and old paperbacks with decades-old childish repair attempts in bad scotch tape.
In fact, it gets so much of my own passion and life right, I don't even mind the tarantula - er, scuse me - 'fire spider' even though normally that would be a death knell.
I think I did a shorty review on this when I read it first, but I wanted to pop back in and say that it held up quite nicely for a re-read. Even when the motives and identity of the baddie are no longer a surprise, they're still creepy and imposing as a challenge to our heroes.
Finally, you gotta love any book that ends by setting up a threesome with a nonhuman keystone as a workable relationship fix. Mercedes Lackey blew my mind with that way back in Knight of Ghosts and Shadows, and I'm happy to see it pop up again.
Jim C. Hines
ISBN: 9780756407391
Re-read March 13, 2014
So the sequel Codex Born is sitting on my to-read pile, and I dislike heading into sequels without being fresh on the previous installments (although Sanderson is likely to break me of that particular habit with the Stormlight Archive) so I got to read Libriomancer again. Yay!
This book just gets me in the feels. I'm not a magician, but I am a librarian, and this book totally gets it. The joy of finding obscure knowledge, of cataloging and organizing physical artifacts into a coherent and searchable whole, the drive to learn (to read) everything possible, the instinct to share that knowledge (usually by grandstanding). It also relishes (and tortures) the physicality of books and pages and bookshelves, of sagging shelves and dusty rooms and bent covers and broken spines and old paperbacks with decades-old childish repair attempts in bad scotch tape.
In fact, it gets so much of my own passion and life right, I don't even mind the tarantula - er, scuse me - 'fire spider' even though normally that would be a death knell.
I think I did a shorty review on this when I read it first, but I wanted to pop back in and say that it held up quite nicely for a re-read. Even when the motives and identity of the baddie are no longer a surprise, they're still creepy and imposing as a challenge to our heroes.
Finally, you gotta love any book that ends by setting up a threesome with a nonhuman keystone as a workable relationship fix. Mercedes Lackey blew my mind with that way back in Knight of Ghosts and Shadows, and I'm happy to see it pop up again.
Tuesday, December 31, 2013
Short Reviews: June 2013. Unnatural Creatures, Movement of Stars, Dragonswood, Written in Red
Written
in Red, Anne Bishop. ISBN: 978-0451464965
June 25, 2013
Author is very lucky for Charles de Lint's blurb on the back, otherwise the cover and inital "Brief History of the World" would NOT have interested me enough to pick it up. Oddly light in tone for the subject matter, only a few described scenes of torture/gore - everything else is insinuated. Very little background on the main character and her past. Interesting world, plot is standard "bunch of strong characters (mostly men) feel obligated to protect a persecuted innocent (usually a woman) to the death, despite cultural/historical/prejudical indications otherwise." Characters engaging despite the plot. Loved Winter, loved Grandfather, loved the ponies.
Dragonswood, Janet Lee Carey. ISBN: 0803735049 (no ISBN13)
June 24, 2013
"Sequel" to Dragon's Keep, with very few characters in common. (I have NOT read Dragon's Keep) Tess regularly flees her abusive homelife into the forbidden forests; home to dragons, feykin, and witches. She's eventually condemned as a witch, tortured, and flees with her friends into a fairly cliched story of huntsmen-cum-princes living in the woods, wise elder dragons, scheming fae, conniving "Prince John" councilors, and of course the requisite misunderstood prophecy. Enjoyed the fleeing and huntsmen-hiding more than the climax, sadly.
The Movement of Stars, Amy Brill. ISBN: 978-1594487446
June 16-22, 2013
Interesting fictionalized version of Maria Mitchell. I was very interested in the Quaker trappings and the adherance to "Discipline" but wasn't able to find more information on that subject easily. The love story was sweet, but very much out of place for those characters in that time-period, and that was jarring. Very feminist, almost strident. Good, but not exceedingly engaging.
Unnatural Creatures, (collected by) Neil Gaiman. ISBN: 978-0062236296
June 16-22, 2013
Short stories (very old and very new) collected and introduced individually by Gaiman. Exceedingly nice little collection, and very happy to see some older and lesser-known gems in the mix. Can't pick a favorite, but Sunbird has stuck in my mind for over a week now.
June 25, 2013
Author is very lucky for Charles de Lint's blurb on the back, otherwise the cover and inital "Brief History of the World" would NOT have interested me enough to pick it up. Oddly light in tone for the subject matter, only a few described scenes of torture/gore - everything else is insinuated. Very little background on the main character and her past. Interesting world, plot is standard "bunch of strong characters (mostly men) feel obligated to protect a persecuted innocent (usually a woman) to the death, despite cultural/historical/prejudical indications otherwise." Characters engaging despite the plot. Loved Winter, loved Grandfather, loved the ponies.
Dragonswood, Janet Lee Carey. ISBN: 0803735049 (no ISBN13)
June 24, 2013
"Sequel" to Dragon's Keep, with very few characters in common. (I have NOT read Dragon's Keep) Tess regularly flees her abusive homelife into the forbidden forests; home to dragons, feykin, and witches. She's eventually condemned as a witch, tortured, and flees with her friends into a fairly cliched story of huntsmen-cum-princes living in the woods, wise elder dragons, scheming fae, conniving "Prince John" councilors, and of course the requisite misunderstood prophecy. Enjoyed the fleeing and huntsmen-hiding more than the climax, sadly.
The Movement of Stars, Amy Brill. ISBN: 978-1594487446
June 16-22, 2013
Interesting fictionalized version of Maria Mitchell. I was very interested in the Quaker trappings and the adherance to "Discipline" but wasn't able to find more information on that subject easily. The love story was sweet, but very much out of place for those characters in that time-period, and that was jarring. Very feminist, almost strident. Good, but not exceedingly engaging.
Unnatural Creatures, (collected by) Neil Gaiman. ISBN: 978-0062236296
June 16-22, 2013
Short stories (very old and very new) collected and introduced individually by Gaiman. Exceedingly nice little collection, and very happy to see some older and lesser-known gems in the mix. Can't pick a favorite, but Sunbird has stuck in my mind for over a week now.
Short Reviews: May 2013. Libriomancer & Disaster Diaries
Libriomancer, Jim
C. Hines. ISBN: 978-0756407391
May 2013
Urban fantasy. Excellent story (I didn't even mind the fire-spider!) with an intriguing magical system based on the creative spark of fiction writers, and the power of the written (typed/inked/tattooed) word available to practitioners. Awaiting a sequel (Codex Born)
The Disaster Diaries, Sam Sheridan. ISBN - 9781594205279
May 2013
Funny trip through various unlikely apocalypsae, especially considered that they're all strung together into one single narrative, beginning with a mega-quake, proceeding through into a zombie infestation, escape from totalitarian government, into a desert wasteland road-warrior phase, then a Postman-like scenario, and finally into a nuclear winter. The fictional narratives are fun and engaging, but they don't always point directly to the real-world lessons that the author learns or experiences. I'm sure that trapping and tanning is important, but perhaps more so is orienteering, no? Good companion to such books as the Zombie Survival Guide, but a bit hefty to make it into the Bug-Out Bag.
May 2013
Urban fantasy. Excellent story (I didn't even mind the fire-spider!) with an intriguing magical system based on the creative spark of fiction writers, and the power of the written (typed/inked/tattooed) word available to practitioners. Awaiting a sequel (Codex Born)
The Disaster Diaries, Sam Sheridan. ISBN - 9781594205279
May 2013
Funny trip through various unlikely apocalypsae, especially considered that they're all strung together into one single narrative, beginning with a mega-quake, proceeding through into a zombie infestation, escape from totalitarian government, into a desert wasteland road-warrior phase, then a Postman-like scenario, and finally into a nuclear winter. The fictional narratives are fun and engaging, but they don't always point directly to the real-world lessons that the author learns or experiences. I'm sure that trapping and tanning is important, but perhaps more so is orienteering, no? Good companion to such books as the Zombie Survival Guide, but a bit hefty to make it into the Bug-Out Bag.
Monday, November 18, 2013
Eight Million Gods, Wen Spencer
Eight Million Gods, Wen Spencer
ISBN: 9781451638981
Read October 22, 2013
Fantasy: Modern-Mythic Japan via hypographic expat American.
Eh...
I really wanted to like this, and the ideas were awesome, but the
second half just completely fell apart. There was a real sense that it
was rushed to printing, with no chance to look into even basic things
like plotholes, dropped characters, and logical progression of
abilities.
Nikki is in Japan after having narrowly escaped her
mother, who is hell-bent on putting her into an institution due to her
hypographia, which manifests as writing horrible graphic death scenes
for characters which pop into her head fully-formed.
The world turns out to be more complex than she
imagined, as she enters a world of Kami and yokai, and learns that
instead of having a mental disorder, she's really a Seer - and all those
horrible deaths she's written? Totally true, actually happening to real people. Ugh.
Here's where things get interesting, and also fall
apart. Characters appear and then vanish for a time, intentions are set
up and then left stagnant, and even important character developments
(TRUE LOVE!!!1!!) happen in the space of a paragraph.
That's not even counting the actual climax of the book, where
everything established so far gets tossed aside for an ending that is
not only confusing, but seems totally implausible in the world as given
to us so far. An unreliable narrator will only get you so far with
this, and the overly chipper finale just made the entire journey seem
even more unrealistic.
Specific disgruntlements:
WTF happened with Atsumori? Dropped like a hot rock, no closure whatsoever, and he was my favorite character.
When
you name a character "Scary Cat Dude" you need to have him be a scary
cat dude in an ACTION SCENE - not just locked in a cage.
Power-creep progression. Nikki begins the story not able to handle stress
without uncontrollable, unfocused writing, sometimes for hours. Then she can
handle stress without writing by frantically clicking a pen, and getting
to the writing ASAP. Next she can handle stress without writing at all, then or later.
Not satisfied with that, then she moves into handling stress just fine, and can guide the "uncontrollable" writing to
focus on a specific person. Next? Guiding the writing to specify time or
scene desired. Still not enough, as then we're told that she can write multiple options for reality and then choose
the best. Seems that's not quite enough, so then she writes in blood and causes the writing to manifest. Finally, not happy with the already earthshattering graphically-based powers laid onto the heroine, Nikki finishes up by IMAGINING a scene, and
causes the imagined scene to manifest, therefore wiping a main character entirely out existence in the modern world. Well then. That settles that.
Makes all of her stress and worry and panic from previously in the book
(as well as previously in life) seem a bit silly.
Sadly not a keeper, and not really a recommended
title either. Which is a shame, because Atsumori and Inari really
deserve better.
Tuesday, September 17, 2013
Foiled, Jane Yolen & Mike Cavallaro
Foiled, Jane Yolen & Mike Cavallaro. ISBN: 9781596432796
Read August 28
YA Graphic Novel, urban fantasy, fencing heroine, first of series?
Aliera Carstairs (excellent name, by the way) is a fencer; foil, not saber or epee. But,
she's not a rich fencer. So when her thrift-store-obsessed mom finds a 2
dollar practice saber with a gaudy enormous gem stuck to the end, she's
delighted to have it. She's a little more conflicted about Avery -
the new boy in school, and her lab-partner for frog dissection. He
apparently likes to stab and slice things. (About the time of that
revelation, the alert reader may also notice some interesting happenings
with crows.) The action here is pretty slow, mostly introductions
to Aliera's regimented life, lofty goals for her foil-fencing, her
conflicted feelings about Avery, and her relationship with her disabled
cousin. The end picks up dramatically, with a complication regarding
Avery (which I really really like) and the resulting introduction to a
colorful world that Aliera (and perhaps her cousin?) will be spending
future installments learning about and adventuring in.
The only quibble I have with the art is the occasional side-profile
where people (especially their mouths) look just odd. I also thought
that the grey-scale went on for just a smidge too long. I understand
why it was done, and think it's really a powerful and clever
application, I just was getting a bit dreary when faced with all the
unremitting grey for so long.
Monday, June 4, 2012
Spell Bound, Rachel Hawkins (Hex Hall #3)
Spell Bound
Rachel Hawkins
ISBN: 978-1423121329
Hyperion 2012
A solid conclusion to an overall quite decent YA girl-power thriller-urban fantasy trilogy.
Sophie Mercer first thought she was a witch, then she found out she was a demon, then she got wrapped up in an ancient blood-feud turned politial coup which left her friends possibly dead, and her father forcibly bereft of his own awesome powers. Now she's on the run, alone, and powerless.
Yay fun!
Rachel Hawkins has a style very similar to that of the Gallagher Girls books, and Sophie herself has that almost Clueless meets Buffy style of breezily taking in horrible news and immediately using sarcasm or wisecracks to take the edge off. I like it.
This final installment brings the trilogy nicely around full-circle, although I do wish that the last third of the book had been about two or maybe three times as long. I really felt that some of the desired impact and emotional intensity were lost through compression. Not to say that it was badly done, just that I felt that there was a lot more potential to be drawn out of that final stretch, and it is a shame to have let it go to waste.
However, a good series all the way through is hard to find, and this one was very enjoyable!
Rachel Hawkins
ISBN: 978-1423121329
Hyperion 2012
A solid conclusion to an overall quite decent YA girl-power thriller-urban fantasy trilogy.
Sophie Mercer first thought she was a witch, then she found out she was a demon, then she got wrapped up in an ancient blood-feud turned politial coup which left her friends possibly dead, and her father forcibly bereft of his own awesome powers. Now she's on the run, alone, and powerless.
Yay fun!
Rachel Hawkins has a style very similar to that of the Gallagher Girls books, and Sophie herself has that almost Clueless meets Buffy style of breezily taking in horrible news and immediately using sarcasm or wisecracks to take the edge off. I like it.
This final installment brings the trilogy nicely around full-circle, although I do wish that the last third of the book had been about two or maybe three times as long. I really felt that some of the desired impact and emotional intensity were lost through compression. Not to say that it was badly done, just that I felt that there was a lot more potential to be drawn out of that final stretch, and it is a shame to have let it go to waste.
However, a good series all the way through is hard to find, and this one was very enjoyable!
Monday, February 6, 2012
Welcome to Bordertown, editors: Holly Black & Ellen Kushner
With this new anthology of Borderlands/Bordertown stories, the source-point for modern American urban fantasy steps into a new era. At least - I sure hope so!
I first found Bordertown a looong time ago. I was reading Charles de Lint like a starving waif, and I didn't know where else to turn for stories of myth and magic and REAL PEOPLE. Then he mentioned Terri Windling, and that was that.
I firmly believe that a whole generation of authors, artists, and dreamers-in-general owe a great debt to this lovely lady and her delightful world that she shared so generously with everyone - readers and authors alike. It was like a splendid playbox where each person built on another's foundation, or riffed off of a tune that another just casually tossed out as ornamentation. It was beautiful, and then the 80s ended, urban fantasy got passed on to another (still excellent) generation, and Bordertown quietly faded into the background inspiration pile.
Now, we're back! The way has opened again, familiar faces are still right there, new people are pouring in, elves are stuck-up as usual, but i-pods and laptops are taking over, and I can't wait to see what happens when the haughty Truebloods encounter dubstep!
Welcome to Bordertown has a visitor's guide, stories, songs (including one rap), poems (including a jump-rope rhyme), and a black&white comic by all of the following fantastic people: Ellen Kushner, Terri Windling, Cory Doctorow, Patricia McKillip, Catherynne Valente, Amal El-Mohtar, Emma Bull, Steven Brust, Alaya Dawn Johnson, Will Shetterly, Jane Yolen, Janni Lee Simner, Sara Ryan, Dylan Meconis, Tim Pratt, Annette Curtis Klause, Nalo Hopkinson, Delia Sherman, Christopher Barzak, Holly Black, Cassandra Clare, Neil Gaiman, and Charles de Lint.
If you haven't already, go and read all of their other (non Borderlands) work. Yes, I mean all of it. Seriously. You will be a better, mostly happier person if you do.
In the meantime, Bordertown LIVES!
I first found Bordertown a looong time ago. I was reading Charles de Lint like a starving waif, and I didn't know where else to turn for stories of myth and magic and REAL PEOPLE. Then he mentioned Terri Windling, and that was that.
I firmly believe that a whole generation of authors, artists, and dreamers-in-general owe a great debt to this lovely lady and her delightful world that she shared so generously with everyone - readers and authors alike. It was like a splendid playbox where each person built on another's foundation, or riffed off of a tune that another just casually tossed out as ornamentation. It was beautiful, and then the 80s ended, urban fantasy got passed on to another (still excellent) generation, and Bordertown quietly faded into the background inspiration pile.
Now, we're back! The way has opened again, familiar faces are still right there, new people are pouring in, elves are stuck-up as usual, but i-pods and laptops are taking over, and I can't wait to see what happens when the haughty Truebloods encounter dubstep!
Welcome to Bordertown has a visitor's guide, stories, songs (including one rap), poems (including a jump-rope rhyme), and a black&white comic by all of the following fantastic people: Ellen Kushner, Terri Windling, Cory Doctorow, Patricia McKillip, Catherynne Valente, Amal El-Mohtar, Emma Bull, Steven Brust, Alaya Dawn Johnson, Will Shetterly, Jane Yolen, Janni Lee Simner, Sara Ryan, Dylan Meconis, Tim Pratt, Annette Curtis Klause, Nalo Hopkinson, Delia Sherman, Christopher Barzak, Holly Black, Cassandra Clare, Neil Gaiman, and Charles de Lint.
If you haven't already, go and read all of their other (non Borderlands) work. Yes, I mean all of it. Seriously. You will be a better, mostly happier person if you do.
In the meantime, Bordertown LIVES!
Monday, January 30, 2012
My Favorite Band Does Not Exist, Robert Jeschonek
Oh what a weird book. I like it a lot, but I'll fully admit, it's a weird one.
Ok, here goes....
In a world much like ours, with blue skies and green grass, Idea Deity (seriously) is on the run from his parents (Loving and Vengeful Deity, yes, seriously.) and his minders/tutors. Meanwhile, he amuses himself by posting status reports about an imaginary band he's created out of whole cloth - and which is rapidly becoming an internet phenom. Then he meets up with Eunice Truant, a pretty blonde girl with a gothic face tattooed on the back of her head. She's not doing anything important, so she's ready to help him make his escape. He's also reading this really cool fantasy book called Fireskull's Revenant.
In a world much like ours, with green skies and pink grass, Reacher Mirage is the front man of a band that is desperately trying to remain secret. That's hard, with someone online managing to spill all of their set lists, songs, schedules, and lyrics (even the ones he hasn't even finished writing yet!) to everyone in the world! He and his bandmates travel around with their stage manager (and his girlfriend) Eurydice Tarantella, a really cool goth chick with this amazing tattoo of a blonde on the back of her head. As he tours, he tries to get up his courage to actually perform live, without a disguise. He's also reading this really nifty book called Fireskull's Revenant.
In a world with bright orange fiery skies and lots of dead grass, Lord Fireskull and his arch-nemesis Johnny Without (yes, really) battle pretty much continually over their shared border. They get each get advice from a Scrier, who oddly enough doesn't look quite the same to each of them, and conflicting advice from a Prophet.
All three of these worlds are deeply entertwined, and only Idea, Reacher, Fireskull, and Johnny can save the universe. First they have to find each other. Then they have to find themselves.
Ok, here goes....
In a world much like ours, with blue skies and green grass, Idea Deity (seriously) is on the run from his parents (Loving and Vengeful Deity, yes, seriously.) and his minders/tutors. Meanwhile, he amuses himself by posting status reports about an imaginary band he's created out of whole cloth - and which is rapidly becoming an internet phenom. Then he meets up with Eunice Truant, a pretty blonde girl with a gothic face tattooed on the back of her head. She's not doing anything important, so she's ready to help him make his escape. He's also reading this really cool fantasy book called Fireskull's Revenant.
In a world much like ours, with green skies and pink grass, Reacher Mirage is the front man of a band that is desperately trying to remain secret. That's hard, with someone online managing to spill all of their set lists, songs, schedules, and lyrics (even the ones he hasn't even finished writing yet!) to everyone in the world! He and his bandmates travel around with their stage manager (and his girlfriend) Eurydice Tarantella, a really cool goth chick with this amazing tattoo of a blonde on the back of her head. As he tours, he tries to get up his courage to actually perform live, without a disguise. He's also reading this really nifty book called Fireskull's Revenant.
In a world with bright orange fiery skies and lots of dead grass, Lord Fireskull and his arch-nemesis Johnny Without (yes, really) battle pretty much continually over their shared border. They get each get advice from a Scrier, who oddly enough doesn't look quite the same to each of them, and conflicting advice from a Prophet.
All three of these worlds are deeply entertwined, and only Idea, Reacher, Fireskull, and Johnny can save the universe. First they have to find each other. Then they have to find themselves.
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