Tag: SF/F

Review – The Apothecary Diaries (LN), vol 3

Posted July 26, 2025 by Nicky in Reviews / 0 Comments

Review – The Apothecary Diaries (LN), vol 3

The Apothecary Diaries

by Natsu Hyuuga, Touko Shino

Genres: Fantasy, Light Novels
Pages: 344
Series: The Apothecary Diaries (LN) #3
Rating: three-stars
Synopsis:

Maomao must help keep Consort Gyokuyou safe during her pregnancy. An imperial consort being with child is supposed to be a matter of the utmost secrecy, but this is the rear palace, where maneuvering and backstabbing are as commonplace as banter and tea parties. Threats seem to lurk around every corner — but it’s not just the rear palace keeping busy. Jinshi finds himself struggling to entertain a most unusual request from a pair of visiting ambassadors. Later, he’s invited to an important gathering in a faraway place — but who knows what dangers might be waiting for him?

I found volume three of Natsu Hyuuga’s The Apothecary Diaries (the light novel version) dragged a little bit, if I’m honest. It felt like there was quite a bit of filler, and it was harder to tell if there was an underlying linkage between the stories, even when they revealed more of the court and characters (and ultimately… with most of these chapters, there wasn’t a strong link to bring it all together).

It’s hard to tell since there are so many volumes, of course; maybe some of the details of these stories will become important later — and it is fun to see a bit more of the court and characters like Xiaolan and Suirei. But for me the potentially plot-forwarding bit didn’t come soon enough to really keep my interest in this volume.

Also, the “frog” scene was excruciating. Come on, Maomao, what good is all that doing?!

So I’m sure I’ll read more of The Apothecary Diaries, probably both the light novel and the manga; I love Maomao and her way of thinking. Buuut… I probably won’t go onto volume four right away this time.

Rating: 3/5 (“liked it”)

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Review – Castle of the Winds

Posted July 20, 2025 by Nicky in Reviews / 0 Comments

Review – Castle of the Winds

Castle of the Winds

by Christina Baehr

Genres: Fantasy
Pages: 212
Series: The Secrets of Ormdale #3
Rating: one-star
Synopsis:

At Midsummer’s Eve, the Red Dragon will choose his bride.

Following this mysterious invitation, Edith sets off on a quest to the Castle of the Winds to find a lost family of dragon keepers in the mountains of Wild Wales.

But all is not as it seems. Edith must guard her own hidden power, or she might not return to her friends in Ormdale—including the man who has come to love her. Will Edith make an alliance with the legendary Red Dragon of her dreams to safeguard her ancestral charge, or will she lose everything she has tried to protect?

Book 3 of The Secrets of Ormdale is a breathtaking adventure that will take Edith to exhilarating new heights
and deeper into peril than ever before.

Oof, it’s difficult to know what to say about Christina Baehr’s Castle of the Winds. I think in writing it and setting it mostly in Wales, she did do some research into Wales at that period: she seemed to know about things like the Welsh Not and the Treachery of the Blue Books (Brad y Llyfrau Gleision), even if she didn’t directly reference the latter: certainly her characters discuss the situation of the Welsh versus the English in the Victorian period.

But… all that research, and she didn’t really think that maybe this wasn’t a story she should be telling, at least not with an Anglican clergyman’s daughter as the heroine? It risks becoming a bit of a “white saviour” sort of story (granted, of other white people, but nonetheless of people she’s viewing as “primitive”). It’s especially problematic since Nonconformist religion was part of what led the Welsh to be viewed as lesser. It’s all a bit messy and interacts weirdly with the fact that the bad guys have set up a socialist, atheist Welsh commune with faux-medieval trappings.

I was basically uncomfortable with the story from the moment someone was announced as “Arthur, Prince of Gwynedd”, and also “Lord Pendragon”, and I didn’t get any happier about it the further I went along. It tiptoes along the edge of being okay, nominally sympathetic to the ordinary Welsh people caught up in it all, but… I don’t know.

It’s probably also pretty weird that despite her Jewish mother, she’s so very Anglican Christian.

I don’t know if I’ll read more of this series to see how things shake out. I enjoyed it quite a lot prior to this book, because when she’s not being positioned as a saviour to the poor ignorant Welsh, Edith and her relationship with Simon are great fun. She’s a little bit in the mould of Emily Wilde and Isabella Trent, and I enjoy that very much. I guess we’ll see how it sits with me given a little time.

Rating: 1/5 (“didn’t like it”)

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Review – The Other World’s Books Depend on the Bean Counter (manga), vol 2

Posted July 19, 2025 by Nicky in Reviews / 0 Comments

Review – The Other World’s Books Depend on the Bean Counter (manga), vol 2

The Other World's Books Depend on the Bean Counter (manga)

by Kazuki Irodori, Yatsuki Wakutsu

Genres: Fantasy, Manga, Romance
Pages: 178
Series: The Other World's Books Depend on the Bean Counter (manga) #2
Rating: four-stars
Synopsis:

Not long ago, in a fantasy world in a different dimension, a business guy was dragged through a portal. Stranded in a new land, Kondou has only one request—to spend his days peacefully working himself into the ground. But when he collapses from downing potion after potion day after day, it’s the handsome knight captain Aresh who rescues the bean counter in distress... However, ‘twas just the beginning of the tale for these star-crossed lovers. After all, not even a near-death experience and his first time can stop Kondou from working the very next day! And so, jilted by the man he saved after a night of many firsts, Aresh starts a personal crusade to teach Kondou how to work to live instead of living to work. Meanwhile, Kondou for the life of him just can’t figure out why he’s not allowed to take any overtime...

The second volume of Kazuki Irodori’s adaptation of The Other World’s Books Depend on the Bean Counter into manga form is fun! It mostly focuses on Aresh’s attempts to get Seiichirou to take care of himself better, with Aresh quickly becoming fascinated by as much as exasperated by him, along with some world building.

I do wish Aresh would talk to Seiichirou about how he feels a bit more, and tell him that he likes him and wants to spend the time with him — and that he’d maybe be a bit less controlling, even if Seiichirou has no sense of self-preservation. The scene where Seiichirou says he’s not interested in younger people is really pretty funny in a sad sort of way — poor Aresh!

I’m not sure entirely where it’s going to go, as far as weighting between plot, pining and actual relationship stands. We’ll see, I guess; I’m interested enough that I’m thinking about reading the light novels.

Since this review was posted quite a while after being written, I have of course now read all three light novels. The review of the first is up!

Rating: 4/5 (“really liked it”)

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Review – Comet in Moominland

Posted July 18, 2025 by Nicky in Reviews / 0 Comments

Review – Comet in Moominland

Comet in Moominland

by Tove Jansson

Genres: Children's, Fantasy
Pages: 192
Series: Moomintrolls #2
Rating: four-stars
Synopsis:

When Moomintroll learns that a comet will be passing by, he and his friend Sniff travel to the Observatory on the Lonely Mountains to consult the Professors. Along the way, they have many adventures, but the greatest adventure of all awaits them when they learn that the comet is headed straight for their beloved Moominvalley.

I either never read Tove Jansson’s Comet in Moominland or forgot most of the story — or maybe it’s present but shorter in the comic strip versions? It’s been so long. The beginning and ending seemed familiar, but not the middle stuff: I remember never entirely being clear where Snufkin or Snorkmaiden came from, but this is where they join the family!

Speaking of which, I really love Moominmamma just relentlessly adopting anyone who needs a mother. The end of the book, where they all creep into the cave in fear, is just so sweet (Moominmamma sings a comforting lullaby, promising them all “your mother is here” — but only Moomin himself is actually her child).

I love the way things just are in these books: Snufkin’s a Snufkin, Sniff’s a Sniff, a Hemulen is a Hemulen… we don’t get enormous amounts of explanation, it’s just on with the adventure, and you’d better keep up!

Rating: 4/5 (“really liked it”)

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Review – The Baby Dragon CafĂ©

Posted July 16, 2025 by Nicky in Reviews / 4 Comments

Review – The Baby Dragon CafĂ©

The Baby Dragon Café

by A.T. Qureshi

Genres: Fantasy, Romance
Pages: 312
Series: The Baby Dragon
Rating: two-stars
Synopsis:

When Saphira opened up her cafĂ© for baby dragons and their humans, she wasn’t expecting it to be so difficult to keep the fires burning. It turns out, young dragons are not the best magical animals to keep in a cafĂ©, and replacing all that burnt furniture is costing Saphira more than she can afford from selling dragon-roasted coffee.

Aiden is a local gardener, and local heart-throb, more interested in his plants than actually spending time with his disobedient baby dragon. When Aiden walks into Saphira’s cafĂ©, he has a genius idea – he'll ask Saphira to train his baby dragon, and he'll pay her enough to keep the cafĂ© afloat.

Saphira’s happy-go-lucky attitude doesn’t seem to do anything but irritate the grumpy-but-gorgeous Aiden, except that everywhere she goes, she finds him there. But can this dragon cafĂ© owner turn her fortunes around, and maybe find love along the way?

A.T. Qureshi’s The Baby Dragon CafĂ© is frothy and light, more sugar than substance, a cosy read without major conflict and a romance without huge miscommunications or a mid-act breakup. There are a couple of dramatic scenes, but mostly it’s about a shy guy bonding with his dragon and a bubbly cafĂ© owner who misses her family and loves dragons.

It’s exactly what people complain about when talking about cosy fantasy and romance, and I wouldn’t recommend it for anyone who is looking for rich worldbuilding. It plops dragons into everyday life, and otherwise it could be any romance book — not much would change if you made it The Baby Horse CafĂ©, in some ways.

This all sounds critical, but it was a fun read for me in the moment, I’m just saying not to pick it up with greater expectations than that. It’s tropey and sugary and I’m pretty certain it’s meant to be. The romantic leads communicate and solve their problems fairly swiftly, are relatively in touch with their emotions, and the big drama with Aiden’s family fizzles into absolutely nothing. There are some dramatic scenes with the dragons that sit a bit oddly with the rest (Saphira pushes Aiden out of the way of a burst of dragon fire, and then later there are some dragon-related rituals with a certain amount of peril), but for the most part it’s just… cosy.

There’s maybe something a bit “young” feeling about it, with the squealing between Saphira and her best friend Lavinia — it feels quite teenage. The main characters are supposed to be in their twenties, and not their early twenties, but… it’s fine. It’s not meant to be that deep, I think! Avoid it if that’s not what you want.

Rating: 2/5 (“it was okay”)

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Review – The Moomins and the Great Flood

Posted July 13, 2025 by Nicky in Reviews / 1 Comment

Review – The Moomins and the Great Flood

The Moomins and the Great Flood

by Tove Jansson

Genres: Children's, Fantasy
Pages: 64
Series: Moomintrolls #1
Rating: three-stars
Synopsis:

Essential reading for any lover of the Moomins. This is where it all began: The Moomins and the Great Flood offers an extraordinary glimpse into the creativity and imagination that launched the Moomin books. Moominmamma and young Moomintroll search for the long lost Moominpappa through forest and flood, meeting a little creature (an early Sniff) and the elegantly strange Tulippa along the way.

I’m not sure which of Tove Jansson’s Moomin novels I’ve actually read; I know I’ve read most if not all of the comic versions, thanks to Cardiff Library, but the novels so far have been sort of half-familiar. I think I have read this first one, The Moomins and the Great Flood before, because some of the episodes definitely felt familiar, down to the phrasing — like the marabou stork and his glasses — but in the end… who knows?

It was a fun revisit, even if it feels like the world isn’t fully set up yet in the final configuration (does Sniff get named at all in this? I don’t think so). If I recall rightly, it’s pretty skippable, but I’m glad I didn’t: I always like to see where things began.

It’s a bit of a madcap ride, really, from one random event to the other, but it’s charming all the same.

Rating: 3/5 (liked it)

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Review – The Other World’s Books Depend on the Bean Counter, vol 1 (LN)

Posted July 11, 2025 by Nicky in Reviews / 0 Comments

Review – The Other World’s Books Depend on the Bean Counter, vol 1 (LN)

The Other World's Books Depend on the Bean Counter: Holy Maiden Summoning Improvement Plan

by Yatsuki Wakutsu

Genres: Fantasy, Light Novels, Romance
Pages: 288
Series: The Other World's Books Depend on the Bean Counter (light novel) #1
Rating: four-stars
Synopsis:

Seiichirou Kondou is a 29-year-old accountant and major workaholic. When he's accidentally transported to another world, not only does he demand a job, he starts whipping the lackadaisical Royal Accounting Department into shape! But when he gets in over his head and nearly dies from overwork, the handsome Commander Aresh steps in to save him, and the two develop a unique, physical relationship... as a form of medical treatment?!

I’ve been reading the manga adaptation of The Other World’s Books Depend on the Bean Counter, so now I’ve turned to the original light novel, by Yatsuki Wakutsu. Like most light novels I’ve come across, it has some illustrations, which are very similar in character design to the manga, but I might like them just a touch more.

I always think when reading a light novel that it’ll add a bit more to what I learned/experienced in the light novel, but then get amazed reading the light novel how faithful and complete the manga actually was. The same was true here: there are some extra snippets of characters’ thoughts and feelings, but really, I knew everything I needed to from reading the manga.

It’s still fun though to experience it in this format. Seiichirou is such an idiot, and Aresh’s overprotectiveness feels pretty justified when it’s so clearly laid out what an idiot he’s being with his own health.

That said, there’s already more than a hint of Aresh being a bit too controlling, which drives me mad in the manga versions. Seiichirou can make his own decisions, even if they’re objectively terrible ones. I really hope that they do eventually have a reckoning about this, but we’ll see!

Rating: 4/5

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Review – Siren Queen

Posted July 10, 2025 by Nicky in Reviews / 2 Comments

Review – Siren Queen

Siren Queen

by Nghi Vo

Genres: Fantasy
Pages: 282
Rating: four-stars
Synopsis:

It was magic. In every world, it was a kind of magic.

“No maids, no funny talking, no fainting flowers.” Luli Wei is beautiful, talented, and desperate to be a star. Coming of age in pre-Code Hollywood, she knows how dangerous the movie business is and how limited the roles are for a Chinese American girl from Hungarian Hill — but she doesn't care. She’d rather play a monster than a maid.

But in Luli's world, the worst monsters in Hollywood are not the ones on screen. The studios want to own everything from her face to her name to the women she loves, and they run on a system of bargains made in blood and ancient magic, powered by the endless sacrifice of unlucky starlets like her. For those who do survive to earn their fame, success comes with a steep price. Luli is willing to do whatever it takes—even if that means becoming the monster herself.

Siren Queen offers up an enthralling exploration of an outsider achieving stardom on her own terms, in a fantastical Hollywood where the monsters are real and the magic of the silver screen illuminates every page.

This is a review I wrote quite a while ago but which somehow never got posted!

When this book says Hollywood is full of monsters, that’s only the literal truth. Stars on the screen are also stars in the sky, and some people sell their soul trying to get there. That’s the premise of Siren Queen, and I really don’t want to say more than that, because I really enjoyed slowly figuring out what was literal, how this world differs from our own, where the metaphors have become reality.

Luli is Chinese-American, and she knows full well what kind of roles await her in Hollywood — but she’s going to go there on her own terms and do what she can. Whether she’s going to get there never seems like an option: she wants to be seen, she wants millions to see her, she wants to be just like the people she’s seen at the local cinema. She never really questions this desire or her determination to go there; she’s almost possessed by it. I could definitely have stood to understand that better; I understood Luli’s ambivalent feelings about her home and her sister, and understood her drive toward Emmaline and her friendship with Greta… but I wanted to understand more of her drive to be seen, to rise, because the brief references to that felt powerful.

Luli is surrounded by characters who almost all want the same thing: they didn’t just somehow end up there, against their will — except for Greta, of course — and I found myself at risk of forgetting that with people like Harry Long and Emmaline and maybe even Brandt Hiller. But they chose this, just like Luli did, and the ways they are trapped and hurt each other arise from that as well. It adds a little complexity to the sympathy you feel for them sometimes. Luli’s far from perfect, but Emmaline has made the same choices in many ways.

There’s a lot that isn’t explained, a lot that you’re left to intuit or guess or imagine for yourself, and I really liked that. It stays with the central concept and doesn’t try to elaborate it too much, and there are mysteries that we don’t get to understand. I like that a lot; I don’t think it should have tried to unravel Oberlin Wolfe’s existence or why certain things are as they are — this is Luli’s story, shaped by those mysteries but never seeking to understand them.

People have compared this to The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, and there are similarities there, for sure. I’ve certainly enjoyed both!

Rating: 4/5

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Review – A Breviary of Fire

Posted July 4, 2025 by Nicky in Reviews / 4 Comments

Review – A Breviary of Fire

A Breviary of Fire

by Marie Brennan

Genres: Fantasy, Short Stories
Pages: 168
Rating: four-stars
Synopsis:

“Tradition is not the worship of ashes, but the preservation of fire.”

The words of composer Gustav Mahler animate this collection of sixteen tales from award-winning author Marie Brennan, inspired by mythological and folkloric traditions around the world. Here you will find flames of revenge, immortality, and grace, as a valkyrie seeks peace, a queen weaves and unweaves her own fate, and a goddess vanishes from mortal memory — but never from the page.

Marie Brennan’s A Breviary of Fire is a collection of short stories — some shorter than others — that fit broadly into the traditions of several different world-regions, each being based on mythology, or at least mythology-adjacent. It’s a pretty quick read, especially as some of the stories are more like prose poems or at least microfiction (which, to be clear, is something I’m enthusiastic about).

For me the most memorable ones were probably the Norse and Greek stories, just because they’re the mythologies I’m most familiar with (having studied them from the English Lit/learning to translate Old Norse angle); I really liked her take on Penelope, and her ponderings on the fate of Hella in Norse myth.

I enjoyed pretty much all of them, though; they all felt like they were at exactly the length the idea required, which can be a really annoying thing with short fiction.

Rating: 4/5

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Review – A Gentle Noble’s Vacation Recommendation, vol 8

Posted July 3, 2025 by Nicky in Reviews / 2 Comments

Review – A Gentle Noble’s Vacation Recommendation, vol 8

A Gentle Noble's Vacation Recommendation

by Misaki, Momochi, Sando, Lamp, Magonote

Genres: Fantasy, Manga
Pages: 162
Series: A Gentle Noble's Vacation Recommendation #8
Rating: four-stars
Synopsis:

When Lizel mysteriously finds himself in a city that bears odd similarities to his own but clearly isn't, he quickly comes to terms with the unlikely truth: this is an entirely different world. Even so, laid-back Lizel isn't the type to panic. He immediately sets out to learn more about this strange place, and to help him do so, hires a seasoned adventurer named Gil as his tour guide and protector.

Until he's able to find a way home, Lizel figures this is a perfect opportunity to explore a new way of life adventuring as part of a guild. After all, he's sure he'll go home eventually... might as well enjoy the otherworldly vacation for now!

Volume eight of A Gentle Noble’s Vacation Recommendation continues the action of the previous volume — and Lizel’s manipulation of events. Someday someone is going to outmanoeuvre him and he’s going to get quite the shock, but for now he’s the master. I loved the extra glimpses of Shadow and his attempts to suss what Lizel’s up to.

And, look, you can say “deep camaraderie” all you want, but in this volume Eleven goes to sit at Lizel’s feet while he’s reading, gets his hair pet and cheek scritched, and then nibbles on Lizel’s finger. Come on now.

We have some real Gil/Lizel moments too, don’t get me wrong — Gil’s face when he thinks that Lizel’s trying to do something in order to go home, aaah. I think it’s both determination to do it if that’s what Lizel needs, and grief at the idea of losing him.

Very curious what else will happen to wrap up the invasion of Marcade, and then what Lizel does to get back to what he was doing before…

Rating: 4/5 

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