Posted May 7, 2023 by Nicky in Reviews / 0 Comments
Mammoths at the Gates, Nghi Vo
Received to review via Netgalley
Cleric Chih returns to the Singing Hills abbey for the first time in this novella series, and finds things have changed: Cleric Thien, a beloved mentor, has died, and they’re just in time to participate in his memorial, and Almost Brilliant’s chick is growing fast and eager to meet them. Plus, there’s a pair of mammoths at the gates of the abbey, and some kind of quarrel growing up.
Homecoming can be strange, and Chih finds some of that difficult: a childhood friend is grown and even acting as the leader of the abbey, and the younger ones look up to them as an elder now. Almost Brilliant isn’t ready to travel with them again, and the abbey is strangely quiet (with everyone absent to go and record some fascinating uncovered previously-drowned ruins)… They have to navigate that and settle back down for a while, and try to figure out how to manage the whole mammoth situation (inasfar as that’s something they even ought to be managing).
It’s a lot, but as with the other novellas in this series, I loved it. We see a little more of the world, of all the stories those at the abbey gather and curate, and a little more now of where Chih comes from and what has shaped them. Especially fascinating to me, we learn a little more of the neixin, and meet several of them.
Rating: 4/5
Tags: book reviews, books, Nghi Vo, SF/F
Posted May 5, 2023 by Nicky in Reviews / 4 Comments
Thornhedge, T. Kingfisher
Received to review via Netgalley
T. Kingfisher’s Thornhedge takes the story of Sleeping Beauty and bends it till it breaks, flipping things round to give us a different perspective. That massive thorny hedge makes a great defence — but what if it was keeping something in, rather than out? What if we really, really don’t want Sleeping Beauty to wake?
Toadling is a changeling, raised in Fairy and then sent back to her original parents to avert disaster. Fayette is wilful, powerful and destructive, and Toadling… well, she knows how to turn into a toad, and how to command water. She has minor magics, nothing like Fayette’s strength, but somehow she has to contain her and protect the world.
Into the familiar story comes a knight, as you’d expect — but he’s a pretty singular sort of knight, one rather more interested in books, and not entirely sure what to do with a sword. He’s drawn to Toadling and the way she’s trapped within the thorny hedge, and he’s determined to fix things. Somehow.
The friendship that grows up between Halim and Toadling is really sweet, and I love his gentleness and the warm humour around him. I raced through this and loved it; fans of Kingfisher’s work won’t be disappointed.
Rating: 4/5
Tags: book reviews, books, SF/F, T. Kingfisher
Posted April 28, 2023 by Nicky in Reviews / 0 Comments
Under the Smokestrewn Sky, A. Deborah Baker (Seanan McGuire)
Received to review via Netgalley
Under the Smokestrewn Sky continues and completes the story of Zib and Avery’s first travels through the Up-And-Under. I was pretty sceptical in beginning this journey, since it spun off Middlegame — a great book, don’t get me wrong, but not one I really wanted to see a sequel or spin-off for, somehow.
Still, the series is not very related to Middlegame‘s story, and is self-contained and quite different in tone. This final volume wraps things up, bringing Zib and Avery to their final destination. The language remains playful and reminiscent of Cat Valente’s voice in the Fairyland books, and mostly avoids being too much.
As for the story, well, there are certain things that I found really predictable and others that I hadn’t been expecting. The narration made light of the first part, pointing out that Niamh also saw it coming, so just played into the whole meta-textual bit there — but still, I was a little disappointed that it had been obvious to me for so long.
It’s a mostly satisfying end, though I have lot of questions about where the characters other than Zib and Avery go from there. I suppose there may be more, since the last pages mention that Zib and Avery do return to the Up-and-Under… and I shall read it eagerly if so.
Rating: 4/5
Tags: book reviews, books, Seanan McGuire, SF/F
Posted April 26, 2023 by Nicky in Reviews / 0 Comments
A Season of Monstrous Conceptions, Lina Rather
Received to review via Netgalley
I really liked Lina Rather’s previous novellas, so I leapt on this one even without reading what it was about. It follows Sarah Davis, an apprentice midwife who is more than a little uncanny herself, in a year when uncanny children are being born all over London. By chance, she meets Sir Christopher Wren’s wife, who is pregnant, and becomes her midwife — and thus gets drawn more and more into the strangeness, tugged between Sir Christopher’s ambitions for her uncanny powers, and those of the midwives she works with.
It’s an interesting setup, and I liked that the motivations of everyone had some justification behind them. Everyone thinks they’re a hero and doing the right thing, in their own head, and I could see that these characters did too.
As a novella, it doesn’t get into an enormous amount of depth with most of the characters, but Sarah is pretty clear, and her fledgeling relationship with Margaret, and the liminal world of almost-respectable, almost-unrespectable that she inhabits and struggles with.
I love Sisters of the Vast Black more, but I’m glad I picked this up!
Rating: 4/5
Tags: book reviews, books, horror, Lina Rather, SF/F
Posted April 9, 2023 by Nicky in Reviews / 3 Comments
Rattling Bone, Jordan L. Hawk
I didn’t realise this was coming out, and leapt on it as soon as I did! It’s lovely to revisit Oscar and Nigel, and see them a little further into their relationship — in fact, with Oscar taking Nigel to meet his parents. It’s… predictably awkward, especially as soon as they discover Nigel’s job and what the two of them work on together. I like that the contention isn’t about Nigel being trans or about it being a queer relationship, and there’s no tension about the non-binary character either; instead this is pure family dynamics, secrets being kept, etc. I enjoyed that there were complexities there, that it wasn’t just both parents being a united front of anger for exactly the same reasons.
Of course, those secrets are relevant to the story, and Oscar finds himself having to use his newly acknowledged talents to help his family — whether they want him to or not.
I was a little worried that the jealousy/inferiority complex stuff so characteristic of Whyborne in the early Whyborne & Griffin books was going to come out here with the references to Oscar’s childhood friend, but luckily it didn’t really go that way too much. The ending is cute, too.
So much more I’d like to know about the background stuff and their sponsor…
Rating: 4/5
Tags: book reviews, books, Jordan L. Hawk, queer fic, romance, SF/F
Posted April 7, 2023 by Nicky in Reviews / 0 Comments
The Chosen and the Beautiful, Nghi Vo
I’m really sad this one didn’t work for me, because I love Nghi Vo’s work usually. Perhaps it’s the fact that I’m not a huge fan of The Great Gatsby, and only ever read it once, a long time ago. Perhaps it’s that I’m not familiar with the American culture surrounding The Great Gatsby — some readers from the US seem to have such strong feelings around it!
Vo’s writing is great as ever, really easy to read, but I just couldn’t quite make myself care about Gatsby or Daisy or what they were up to. Jordan Baker herself is more interesting, at least as portrayed by Vo, but so much revolves around Daisy and Gatsby. The magic and wonder is an interesting surrounding to the story, but I felt like I never got a close enough look at it.
All in all, just not one for me. Siren Queen was great, with a lot of similar worldbuilding going on, so I’m inclined to lay it at the feet of The Great Gatsby.
Rating: 2/5
Tags: book reviews, books, Nghi Vo, SF/F
Posted March 2, 2023 by Nicky in Reviews / 2 Comments
Legends & Lattes, Travis Baldree
Legends & Lattes is a rare book that I wanted to read again as soon as I was finished with it — it’s warm and cosy, a world with a lot of goodness in it and people who will make an effort and put in work, even when it’s hard. A world where even an orc can quit being a mercenary and make a coffee shop, and a rattkin can come on staff to make baked goods, and a succubus (who doesn’t use any of her charms) can come on board as a barista. It’s a world where a far-fetched dream can come true with a little magic, a little luck, and a lot of willing hands.
Honestly, I got to the end of it and was a little outraged that the bit I thought was left was an additional short story and not more of the same coffee-scented cosiness. I wanted more of Viv, more of the coffee shop, more of the little mysteries around it (the gnome who seemed to be some kind of time traveller, for example).
I think some people have dinged it rating-wise for not being original, which is a little bit confusing to me: it’s not meant to be some spectacular and strange fantasy world with intricate world-building. It’s more like “here’s a generic fantasy world, and here’s the kind of story we don’t tell set in this kind of world very often”. The world-building is far from the point — it’s more taking this basic fantasy world and saying, well, not everyone can be a mercenary all their life. What do they do after? What do they do if killing people isn’t what makes them happy?
So I wouldn’t go in expecting something super original, because it’s not about that. It’s a mug of hot coffee (or hot chocolate, if that’s more your thing, as it is for me) on a cold day; a friend’s shoulder leaning into yours while you’re just going about your day.
Rating: 5/5
Tags: book reviews, books, romance, SF/F, Travis Baldree
Posted February 14, 2023 by Nicky in Reviews / 0 Comments
Hexmaker, Jordan L. Hawk
Back to Hexworld, and this second book is as fun as the first. I think I liked them a tiny bit less than Cicero and Tom from the first book, and I thought they needed to do a heck of a lot more communicating (including about their boundaries during sex, which they just kind of plunge into), but Malachi and Owen have a totally different and interesting dynamic, and it worked out well. The power differential between witches and familiars is present in all of these stories, but most of all here, where the personal relationship balances it.
I think overall I’d have liked a bit longer for Owen and Malachi’s relationship to develop; the compressed timescale didn’t quite work for me here, and I could’ve used seeing a little more trust starting to develop between them. The relationship crisis definitely echoed the one in the first book, but I’d felt more closely connected to the relationship in the first book.
I’m curious to see where the overarching plot is going, and I love the background of the world — Owen’s trans brother, because of course hexes can help with that; Egyptian archaeology being relevant for the history of hexes… It’s all pretty fascinating, and as always the book is pacy and fun.
Rating: 4/5
Tags: alternate history, book reviews, books, Jordan L. Hawk, queer fiction, romance, SF/F
Posted February 2, 2023 by Nicky in Reviews / 0 Comments
A Master of Djinn, P. Djèlí Clark
A Master of Djinn takes the threads from the novellas in this world — primarily A Dead Djinn in Cairo, but also the world-building and some characters from The Haunting of Tram Car 015 — and pulls them together into a full-length novel, with Agent Fatma as the lead. If you haven’t read those novellas, I’d strongly suggest doing so first: I suspect there are enough details here to let you jump in, but the novellas provide a lot of context (e.g. the Clock of Worlds, what exactly Fatma does, why the world is the way it is).
Clark seems to love writing female characters who have strong opinions and their own way of approaching the world: the central three female characters are each quite different, though driven and capable. Hadia is not a carbon copy of Fatma, despite their shared profession, and nor is she the wilting flower that Fatma originally expects — and Siti’s something else entirely. I found the female characters a joy here, to be honest, though I’d like to see more of Hadia and her weak points as well as all her surprising strengths.
As far as the antagonist goes, I called it well before the characters did, though in part that’s being outside the narrative and knowing how mysteries are structured. I was glad that Fatma realised a particular aspect of it before the story actually revealed it, because it would’ve felt weird if she wasn’t sharp enough to see that when I had realised it.
I found it really satisfying that this book pulled together the threads from the novellas, while creating a whole new story that revealed more of the world. It’s a book I may well come back to, as I did the novellas.
Rating: 4/5
Tags: book reviews, books, P. Djèlí Clark, SF/F
Posted January 24, 2023 by Nicky in Reviews / 2 Comments
Hexbreaker, Jordan L. Hawk
Tom is a copper, a decent one who doesn’t take bribes and keeps his neighbourhood safe. He’s hiding a past of violence and betrayal, something he walked away from for everyone’s safety. Cicero is a familiar, a shapeshifter, who works with the local magical police for protection, but hasn’t yet agreed to bond with a witch. They’re thrown together to solve two murders — which stir up horrifying echoes for both of them, of pasts they’ve tried to put behind them — and at first it seems like they’re oil and water. Cicero constantly makes assumptions about Tom based on his job and appearance, but slowly, of course, sparks start to fly.
There is of course a wrenching part of the romance (as so often) where the secrets Tom is keeping come back to haunt him, leaving Cicero feeling lied to and abandoned. Obviously there were so many opportunities to do better and to communicate with Cicero — but at least it seems to make sense that he doesn’t. He doesn’t realise his past is relevant to the case, and he’s committed to a better future, one with Cicero in it; the smart thing would be to ‘fess up, of course, but… that’s difficult, and didn’t seem important. It makes sense.
A lot of people mention not loving this book as much as the Widdershins books, but I disagree. That’s partly down to my pet peeves: Whyborne’s obsessive lack of self-esteem over the course of several books drives me nuts, and the lack of communication between him and Griffin comes back again and again and again. For that reason, this clicked better for me (which is not to say that I find nothing to enjoy in the Widdershins books).
There are some gruesome bits of this story, just as a warning. There’s also some period typical homophobia, though not amongst the main characters or anyone who matters. I’m looking forward to glimpsing Cicero and Tom in the stories of the others…
Rating: 4/5
Tags: book reviews, books, Jordan L. Hawk, mystery, queer fiction, romance, SF/F
