Tag: books

Review – Heartless

Posted July 20, 2015 by Nicky in Reviews / 0 Comments

Heartless, Gail Carriger

Heartless is still pretty fun, but the humour of these books is getting a little tired. For one thing, it relies on apocryphal stuff about the period (no, table legs were not considered indecent) and silly humour. And a lot of the humour in this book is basically “haha, Alexia is pregnant and huge, hahahaha”. I get that it’s a bit difficult to have Alexia up to her usual tricks without some glossing over of the fact that she’s eight months pregnant here, but yeesh, stop hanging lampshades on it, we get it.

I didn’t think much of the mystery plot, either. Mostly because I didn’t believe that particular character would be so rash and stupid, when we know they’re fearsomely intelligent. It’s like spectacle took second place to believability — which isn’t surprising for the Parasol Protectorate books, since they’re knowingly absurd, but there’s a point where it becomes too much.

What did I like about this book? Well, Genevieve’s love for her son; Akeldama’s relationship with Alexia continuing to be special; Biffy and Lord Akeldama’s doomed love; Alexia’s grit; Professor Lyall. I remain fond of the characters here, primarily, while aspects of the world/writing are really beginning to drive me round the bend — and I wasn’t 100% on board to begin with. Probably not even 60% on board. I’m not fond of absurdity, really.

I am going to read Timeless, because there are some character developments I look forward to, and at least Alexia won’t be pregnant anymore.

Rating: 3/5

Tags: book reviews, books, Gail Carriger, SF/F

Review – ODY-C

Posted July 19, 2015 by Nicky in Reviews / 0 Comments

ODY-C, Matt Fraction, Christian Ward

Wha… what did I just read? I’d vaguely heard of ODY-C before I picked it up for my partner in Chapters, and I thought it sounded pretty cool: genderflipped space-faring retelling of The Odyssey, done by Matt Fraction who is at least consistently entertaining, even if his humour isn’t always my thing and I’d rather worship at his wife’s altar, comic-wise.

The description on the front pretty much nails it: “A trippy, gender-flipped version of Homer’s Odyssey hurtling through space on psychedelic, science fiction wings.” Thanks, Wired. You said it so I don’t have to. And I guess there are people who love that kind of thing, but I don’t. The correspondences to The Odyssey weren’t actually close enough, for me; there’s this whole new backstory that changes everything. The backstory is cool, but… there’s so much going on here, I kind of wanted the familiarity of the original story to keep me with it.

The art is not a style I love, though it definitely fits the psychedelic nature of the comic, and some of it is pretty striking. Not a comic I’m going to keep up with, though — it’s just so completely not my thing in execution.

Rating: 1/5

Tags: book reviews, books, comics, Matt Fraction

Review – Fire

Posted July 18, 2015 by Nicky in Reviews / 6 Comments

Fire, Kristin Cashore

If I’d read this soon after the first time I read Graceling, it might have given me a slightly different perspective on that book. It engages again with stuff like complex relationships where marriage isn’t possible, with the need for contraception and even sterilisation. I’m not always 100% comfortable with the way it’s all handled — I mean, the main character is a “human monster” who causes virtually uncontrollable desire in men.

But then, on the other hand, many men in the book can control themselves, and some of them learn to control themselves out of respect for Fire. So that in itself isn’t a bad message to send, it’s just the fact that Fire is a “monster” and the primary manifestation of that is that she’s so desireable men can’t resist her. I mean, that’s pretty much a men’s rights activist argument for rape being okay, right there.

There’s other cool stuff, though, like the fact that despite her beauty, her allure, Fire is actually battle-scarred, and even loses two of her fingers. She has to work past that to continue to play her violin — and she succeeds. It’s also frank about menstruation and how that can affect a woman’s life, too!

There’s also a lot of working through relationships. Archer is one of the main characters, and he and Fire have a sexual relationship, but then a significant plot point is how to deal with leaving that behind and just being friends again.

In short, in many ways this is a great YA title because it does examine a ton of issues people may well take for granted, especially if their parents have firm opinions about it all.

In addition to that, it builds on the story of Graceling, giving us more information about the world and about Leck, who makes a significant appearance in this book. The prologue is about him, but you don’t see the relevance for a long time. The plot does move a little slowly, I think; we don’t see a lot of the promise of Fire’s character until she leaves home and goes to the city. Then we start to see more of her, her negotiation with her powers and with living in the shadow of a remarkable (and far from universally loved) father.

Rating: 4/5

Tags: book reviews, books, SF/F

Stacking the Shelves

Posted July 18, 2015 by Nicky in General / 16 Comments

Some lovely book-mail awaited me on my return from my month in Belgium, Canada and the US. So excite! Thank you to Susanna Kearsley and to Pan Macmillan for these, respectively.

Aaaand I was happy to reunite with the library, of course.

Cover of One-Eyed Jack by Elizabeth Bear

One-Eyed Jack is a book I had as an ARC… ages ago. So I figured I’d get it from the library. I don’t know what exactly prompted me to try Sarah Pinborough’s books, but I’m intrigued. Susan Cooper is, well. Susan Cooper. ’nuff said. Been meaning to get to this one for ages. And The Darkest Part of the Forest features queer characters, so why the heck not? The Great Zoo of China… I haven’t heard 100% good things about it, but I felt like giving it a shot anyway.

Aaand just one comic on my pull list this week.

So what’s everyone else been getting? Anything you’re really excited about?

Tags: books, Stacking the Shelves, Susanna Kearsley

Review – Captain Marvel: Stay Fly

Posted July 17, 2015 by Nicky in Reviews / 2 Comments

Captain Marvel: Stay Fly, Kelly Sue DeConnick, Marcio Takara, David Lopez

If you’re not a fan of Captain Marvel, this issue probably isn’t going to make you into one. The three storylines are relatively light, though there is some sweet stuff — parts where Spider-woman, Rhodey, Kit, Tic and Chewie all appear. One of the storylines focuses on Chewie, in fact, with Rocket Raccoon along for the ride. There’s also a nice bit with Tracy, continuing the theme of her relationship with Carol.

A lot of this is funny/silly, and I love Takara’s art style. But it’s not any kind of gamechanger for Captain Marvel or Kelly Sue’s writing. It’s just fun.

I still think Carol/Rhodey is genius.

Rating: 3/5

Tags: book reviews, books, Kelly Sue DeConnick, Marvel

Review – Huntress

Posted July 17, 2015 by Nicky in Reviews / 2 Comments

Huntress, Malinda Lo
Review from 10th October, 2010

Huntress is a sort of prequel to Ash, but it is set a long time before it. If I remember rightly, this story is mentioned in Ash. Anyway, this story is about the journey of six people: Con, the son of the king; Taisin, a young woman who wants to be a celibate sage; Kaede, a classmate of Taisin’s with no talent for the magic; and Shae, Pol and Tali, their guards. They have to see the Fairy Queen, during a period when nature has gone out of balance.

The story of the journey itself isn’t really unique, but the love between Kaede and Taisin is. I loved the fact that the book treats them in pretty much the same way as a male-female couple is usually treated in fantasy stories — I mean, that it seems natural and inevitable that they should be drawn together, and that their desire for each other is palpable and not treated euphemistically. Okay, there’s nothing explicit, but the physicality of their relationship is there.

It’s also easy to read, a quick read, and the situations and emotions ring reasonably true. The emotional involvement that was lacking in Ash was definitely there, for me, which made it that much more enjoyable.

I really wish books like this had existed when I was younger. I hope the arrival on the market of books like Ash and Huntress isn’t just a one off.

Rating: 4/5

Tags: book reviews, books, Flashback Friday, Malinda Lo, queer fic, SF/F

ARC August

Posted July 16, 2015 by Nicky in General / 0 Comments

I just found I signed up for this last year, too, and I’m not sure I really got anywhere — some of the books I still haven’t read. Oops. Anyway, it’s time for another round of ARC August: a whole bunch of us getting together and cracking down on our lists of ARCs.

Because I plan my TBR in advance, I’m reasonably sure of what I’m putting on the list for August, which means I’m fairly sure of what I am determined to read during the month (though there might always be more, since I give myself wildcards — ten wildcards, next month, even). So here’s what I’ll be working on:

One-eyed Jack, Elizabeth Bear. I picked this up from the library too, so now I have extra motivation and a slightly less guilty conscience. But it’s still in my Netgalley list, so down it goes.
The Palace Job, Patrick Weekes. I don’t want to know how late I am with this one…
Seven Forges, James A. Moore. I own this too, but it’s still in my NG backlog. And I keep getting nearly to the end and then getting distracted, which is a shame, because I enjoy it.
The Hollow Crown, Dan Jones. Another one I’m grabbing from the library, and not as chronically late as the others, I think. Still late enough — it’s out in paperback now.
The Galaxy Game, Karen Lord. Library as well as Netgalley. Which is good, because obviously I don’t have access through NG anymore, and I’m fairly sure it was a DRM protected file.
Pacific Fire, Greg van Eekhout. I need to read California Bones first, though.
Knight’s Shadow, Sebastien de Castell. I’m not chronically late with this one yet, at least.
Fair Play, Josh Lanyon. Another one where I needed to read the first book and didn’t get round to it… but it’s Josh Lanyon, so it should be fun.
Sorcerer to the Crown, Zen Cho. I’m hoping to finish this on a wildcard in July’s TBR, but if not, I definitely owe a review for this after begging for a copy.
Gretel and the Dark, Eliza Granville. I’ve had this for ages, but only just refound the copy I was sent to review. It’s probably about time.

The last three aren’t strictly on the August TBR (at least so far), so I might replace those later or deprioritise them or something. I just like groups of ten…

Tags: books, readathon

Review – The Killing Kind

Posted July 16, 2015 by Nicky in Reviews / 1 Comment

The Killing Kind, Chris F. Holm
Received to review via Netgalley

I was excited to get this ARC. I loved Holm’s Collector series, and though this goes more into the detective line and away from the fantastical aspects that got me into it, I still love Holm’s writing, and I love the concept. I don’t know if this is meant to become a series or something — there’s room for it, given the ending, but it would be awkward to put the emotional punch into it. The main character is already a ghost, cut off from family and friends: there’s basically only two people he cares for, and by the end of this book, one of them is dead and the other is going into witness protection where she should, in theory, be safe.

Still, if Holm decides to write more, I trust him to do it well. There’s a redemption plot here, after all: Hendricks is killing hitmen with the eventual goal of redemption. When exactly he might reach that, I don’t think the character knows.

Anyway, this has slick writing, with just the right levels of detail. I love that it has some queer characters, too, just casually in with the rest because that’s how it works. I felt like I knew what was coming a little too often at the end, but maybe that’s just in comparison to mysteries where the end is deliberately from out of nowhere.

Rating: 4/5

Tags: book reviews, books, Chris F. Holm, mystery

Review – Rat Queens: Sass and Sorcery

Posted July 15, 2015 by Nicky in Reviews / 4 Comments

Rat Queens: Sass and Sorcery, Kurtis J. Wiebe, Roc Upchurch

I might have to revise this review after some thought, because I’m not sure what to make of Rat Queens. It’s cheerfully NSFW, LGBTQ+, full of unapologetically kickass female characters of various types who are living it up and having a great time. The problem for me is with the drugs, sex and wholesale violence aspect; I’m not that interested by those as motivators for characters, and the total lack of background for the Rat Queens leaves me pretty cold. All we see for most of the book is the drugs, sex and violence. I want to know why they’re friends, how they know each other, where they’ve come from and where they’re going. There’s not much of that here, beyond a few hints.

On the upside, the art is gorgeous, and I do enjoy some of the banter, the camaraderie between the Queens, and the unapologetic nature of all of it. I just want more meat in terms of characterisation. I’m going to try the second volume and see if that helps.

Rating: 3/5

Tags: book reviews, books, comics, SF/F

Review – Adaptation

Posted July 14, 2015 by Nicky in Reviews / 0 Comments

Adaptation, Malinda Lo

I’ve been meaning to read this since it first came out, and at one point I even had an ARC of it, I think for the UK release. I ended up grabbing it and the sequel on our way to the airport, and read it on the flight. Which was possibly not a good idea given all the plane crashes at the start, heh. I don’t quite buy the explanation given in the book for that — genetically manipulated birds all somehow released at once and in multiple places worldwide? Seems a bit of a hole in the story there.

Still, if you elide the science stuff (e.g. I’m also not sure introducing alien DNA via mitochondrial DNA would have reliable effects), this is still pretty fun. It’s definitely YA, with the preoccupations of teenage readers fairly front and centre. What stands out is less the plot and more the characters. Even then, it’s not characterisation I’m talking about, but character diversity. The main character is, for instance, actually bisexual! And she actually initially read to me as ace, maybe grey-A, because she doesn’t seem to grok attraction as a general thing.

So that’s pretty cool. I’m not overwhelmed by plot and character, though there are some great moments — Reese’s mother, for example, and her adult life going on in the background — but it’s enjoyable and easy to read.

Rating: 3/5

Tags: book reviews, books, Malinda Lo, queer fic, SF/F