Tag: SF/F

Review – A Sweet Sting of Salt

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

Review – A Sweet Sting of Salt

A Sweet Sting of Salt

by Rose Sutherland

Genres: Fantasy, Historical Fiction
Pages: 342
Rating: four-stars
Synopsis:

Once a young woman uncovers a dark secret about her neighbor and his mysterious new wife, she’ll have to fight to keep herself—and the woman she loves—safe in this stunning queer reimagining of the classic folktale The Selkie Wife.

When a sharp cry wakes Jean in the middle of the night during a terrible tempest, she’s convinced it must have been a dream. But when the cry comes again, Jean ventures outside and is shocked by what she discovers—a young woman in labor, already drenched to the bone in the freezing cold and barely able to speak a word of English.

Although Jean is the only midwife in the village and for miles around, she’s at a loss as to who this woman is or where she’s from; Jean can only assume she must be the new wife of the neighbor up the road, Tobias. And when Tobias does indeed arrive at her cabin in search of his wife, Muirin, Jean’s questions continue to grow. Why has he kept his wife’s pregnancy a secret? And why does Muirin’s open demeanor change completely the moment she’s in his presence?

Though Jean learned long ago that she should stay out of other people’s business, her growing concern—and growing feelings—for Muirin mean she can’t simply set her worries aside. But when the answers she finds are more harrowing than she ever could have imagined, she fears she may have endangered herself, Muirin, and the baby. Will she be able to put things right and save the woman she loves before it’s too late, or will someone have to pay for Jean’s actions with their life?

Rose Sutherland’s A Sweet Sting of Salt is ultimately a selkie story, but it doesn’t feel like one — this isn’t a fantasy story, is what I’m trying to say, but feels much more literary fiction/historical fiction. Which is not a bad thing, per se, but it was on fantasy lists and I think the vibe is quite different to that. The story is mostly grounded in physical, historical detail: milking goats, making cheese, delivering babies… and it’s not that fantasy never does that, but this book is so coy about the selkie reveal that you only know it’s going there for sure because the cover copy says so.

The main character, Jean, is a big part of that, because she’s very much grounded in the everyday, physical tasks of her life, and quick to interpret everything in light of that everyday life. Muirin’s not a selkie, she’s just a Scot who doesn’t speak English; Kiel’s webbed hands are just a minor birth defect; their seal-like barks are just an odd laughter…

You get the drill.

There’s a significant creepiness and tension to the book that I hadn’t quite expected, as Muirin’s husband becomes colder, angrier, and more determined to keep her locked inside her home, and keep Jean off his land. His suspicions turn into violent anger and creepy behaviour, in a way that feels realistic at each step — and then you take a step back and look at how unhinged he was, see all the warning signs, and know that all along he was awful, really.

It’s well done, and I enjoyed it; I didn’t find it “unputdownable”, but I did want to know how things worked out exactly. I liked some of the supporting characters, like Anneke, Laurie, and the brief glimpses we get of Dal and Jo.

Rating: 4/5

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Review – The Teller of Small Fortunes

Posted February 4, 2025 by Nicky in Reviews / 0 Comments

Review – The Teller of Small Fortunes

The Teller of Small Fortunes

by Julie Leong

Genres: Fantasy
Pages: 336
Rating: five-stars
Synopsis:

Fleeing a troubled past, immigrant fortune teller Tao roams the dusty countryside with only her mule for company, telling small fortunes, for small prices. Big fortunes come with big consequences . . . which she knows from bitter experience.

It's a lonely life, until she encounters an ex-mercenary and a (semi) reformed thief, who recruit her into their desperate search for a lost child. Soon, they're joined by a baker with a knead for adventure, and - of course - a slightly magical cat.

Tao sets down a new path with companions as big-hearted as her fortunes are small. But as her friends break down her walls, the shadows of her past close in. Now, Tao must decide whether to risk everything to save the family she never thought she could have . . .

Julie Leong’s The Teller of Small Fortunes turned out to really hit the spot for me. It’s cosy-ish fantasy, with mostly personal stakes (I won’t say small stakes, because firstly one of the main characters faces a bunch of racism, secondly there’s a child in potential peril who has definitely been lost by her parents, and there’s other family stuff going on which is huge for the person in question). It’s a bit of a found-family/ragtag band type story, as well, because Tao collects a (former) thief, a former soldier, a young baker and a cat, along the road.

I love that Tao’s trying to tell “small” fortunes, as well, but it’s clear that those aren’t always small in impact: we’re shown this early on when she reads Mash’s fortune, and tells him that he’ll give his daughter a kitten. Sure, it’s a small moment, but not for Mash, who has lost his daughter and doesn’t know if he’ll ever see her again.

In the same way, Tao makes an outsize impact on her travelling companions, as they do on her. I don’t want to say too much about the journey, because I enjoyed discovering it myself — the small cosy moments, the moments of peril (because despite the overall cosiness of it, there are some of those), the camaraderie, and the bits of magic. There are some really touching moments, and they work even though I found them somewhat predictable.

I liked that it’s self-contained, as well. Tao and her friends will undoubtedly continue to have small adventures as they travel, but their story is as complete as any stories get.

Rating: 5/5

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Review – The Potency of Ungovernable Impulses

Posted January 28, 2025 by Nicky in Reviews / 4 Comments

Review – The Potency of Ungovernable Impulses

The Potency of Ungovernable Impulses

by Malka Older

Genres: Crime, Mystery, Science Fiction
Pages: 256
Series: The Investigations of Mossa and Pleiti #3
Rating: four-stars
Synopsis:

When a former classmate begs Pleiti for help on behalf of her cousin—who’s up for a prestigious academic position at a rival Jovian university but has been accused of plagiarism on the eve of her defense—Pleiti agrees to investigate the matter.

Even if she has to do it without Mossa, her partner in more ways than one. Even if she’s still reeling from Mossa’s sudden isolation and bewildering rejection.

Yet what appears to be a case of an attempted reputational smearing devolves into something decidedly more dangerous—and possibly deadly.

I received a copy of this book for free in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

The third book in Malka Older’s Mossa and Pleiti series, The Potency of Ungovernable Impulses sticks to the basic formula: an intro where Mossa appears (which gives us something of her situation and thoughts), followed by narration by Pleiti of the main plot.

For a good chunk of this one, Mossa and Pleiti are apart, and feeling more mismatched from each other in the previous book, due to a fit of depression on Mossa’s part. Given that the chemistry between them is part of what I’m attracted to in these books (not just in relationship terms, but as two people playing off each other), it’s not surprising that things picked up in pace once Mossa arrived in the story, though she and Pleiti continue to be out of step with each other. It feels like there’s a reckoning still to come there — or a constant, ever-shifting dance of adaptation and compromise, which might in the end be more realistic.

One thing I noticed a lot in this installment was the use of language. There were a lot of borrowed words I didn’t immediately know the meaning of, which I don’t remember happening in the previous two books. Mostly it’s clear by context (or similarity to an English word), but once or twice I was stymied enough to try to look up a translation, which I definitely didn’t have to do with the previous books. I wonder if I was just flowing with it better, in the past? But it definitely struck me very strongly this time.

My overall impression was that this book was a bit longer than the other two, and the pace didn’t quite work for me — but that should be taken with a pinch of salt since I still read it in half a day, in just four reading sessions! It might not be my favourite of the series, but I enjoyed it.

Rating: 4/5

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Review – My Happy Marriage, vol 1

Posted January 21, 2025 by Nicky in Reviews / 0 Comments

Review – My Happy Marriage, vol 1

My Happy Marriage

by Akumi Agitogi

Genres: Fantasy, Light Novels, Romance
Pages: 180
Series: My Happy Marriage #1
Rating: three-stars
Synopsis:

IS THIS MARRIAGE A BLESSING? OR A CURSE? Born talentless to a noble family famous for their supernatural abilities, Miyo Saimori is forced into an existence of servitude by her abusive stepmother. When Miyo finally comes of marriageable age, though, her hopes of being whisked away to a better life crumble after she discovers her fiancé’s identity: Kiyoka Kudou, a commander apparently so cold and cruel that his previous would-be brides all fled within three days of their engagements. With no home to return to, Miyo resigns herself to her fate-and soon finds that her pale and beautiful husband-to-be is anything but the monster she expected. As they slowly open their hearts to each other, both realize the other may be their chance at finding true love and happiness.

Akumi Agitogi’s My Happy Marriage basically begins as a Cinderella-type story: since her parents’ arranged marriage ended with her mother’s death, and her lack of magic powers was revealed, Miyo has become a servant in her own home, abused by her mother and sisters. It becomes convenient for her father to marry her off, so she’s sent to Kiyoka Kudou as a potential bride. Living with him, she slowly begins to wish she could stay, while knowing she’s not really a suitable bride.

Her shyness and anxiety is pretty well-done, as is Kiyoka’s slow realisation that he’s becoming fond of her — his coldness at first is revealed to be shyness, lack of understanding of how to handle other people (or at least women), and tiredness of being forced to play the marriage game. I think the pace is a little quick, but it’s lovely to see them both come out of their shells, and I did believe in Miyo’s quick attachment to one of the few people to ever treat her kindly.

The fantasy backdrop is interesting too, with gifts running in families which help to combat Grotesqueries, creatures made of human fears and superstitions. Kiyoka is a high-ranking soldier who handles Grotesqueries, and the hereditary nature of the powers provide some political/social motivation to Miyo’s family and other interested parties.

I’m interested to see where it goes, particularly as I think it’s being hinted that Miyo does have some kind of gift.

Rating: 3/5

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Review – The Apothecary Diaries (LN), vol 1

Posted January 17, 2025 by Nicky in Reviews / 2 Comments

Review – The Apothecary Diaries (LN), vol 1

The Apothecary Diaries

by Natsu Hyuuga, Touko Shino, Kevin Steinbach (translator)

Genres: Light Novels, Fantasy
Pages: 272
Series: The Apothecary Diaries (LN) #1
Rating: four-stars
Synopsis:

In the East is a land ruled by an emperor, whose consorts and serving women live in a sprawling complex known as the hougong, the rear palace. Maomao, an unassuming girl raised in an unassuming town by her apothecary father, never imagined the rear palace would have anything to do with her—until she was kidnapped and sold into service there.

Though she looks ordinary, Maomao has a quick wit, a sharp mind, and an extensive knowledge of medicine. That’s her secret, until she encounters a resident of the palace at least as perceptive as she is: the head eunuch, Jinshi. He sees through Maomao’s façade and makes her a lady-in-waiting to none other than the Emperor’s favorite consort... so she can taste the lady’s food for poison!

At her lady’s side, Maomao starts to learn about everything that goes on in the rear palace—not all of it seemly. Can she ever lead a quiet life, or will her powers of deduction and insatiable curiosity bring her ever more adventures, and ever more dangers?

I got the first volume of the light novel version of Natsu Hyuuga’s The Apothecary Diaries after reading the first novel of the manga. It covers some of the same material, and then goes on much further — I think I read that it’s about volumes 1-4 of the manga. The series is historical, with a series of mini-mysteries throughout the first volume, though one of the characters would very much like it to be a romance as well…

I found that it was much easier to follow the sections of the plot that I’d also read in the manga, which is an experience I had with reading danmei: often it helps to get absorbed in the world and follow the various events if you read the same story as both manga/manhua, animation, and novel. I can’t put my finger on quite why that is, but probably a mixture of unfamiliar settings/attitudes and translation. The writing and translation certainly feels clear and easy to read, but I’ll read it and be like “okay, yeah, XYZ is happening, I understand, I understand… wait. What?!” (You could interpret this as me being an idiot, too; you may or may not believe me when I say I’m generally not, but either way, clearly something doesn’t quite click for me with a lot of light novels.)

Anyway, the big draw of this series for me is Maomao. I find her fascinating as a character: pragmatic, curious, self-absorbed in a way that isn’t intended to be offensive, perceptive and yet capable of turning a blind eye to things she wilfully doesn’t want to know… Her setup is a lot of fun as well, with her apothecary training and natural powers of observation fitting her excellently to work out the intricacies of the rear court’s life, while her laser-focused interests actually leave her completely out of step with others in other ways. (E.g. the way everyone thinks she’s been abused, but it’s all self-inflicted during experiments with poisons, etc.)

As for other characters, I find Jinshi’s thoughts and motivations actually perhaps a little less clear here than in the manga, which surprised me. I’d expected to get a bit more insight into what he’s thinking, and in a way you do see more of his reactions to Maomao, but still… I feel like I understood his situation less well from the light novel.

Overall, I had a good time, and I’m glad I have the next two volumes ready to read. I’m very curious how much of it is a “case of the week” episodic-type format, and how much of it starts to chain together into a larger plot.

Rating: 4/5

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Review – The River Has Roots

Posted January 13, 2025 by Nicky in Reviews / 4 Comments

Review – The River Has Roots

The River Has Roots

by Amal El-Mohtar

Genres: Fantasy
Pages: 144
Rating: four-stars
Synopsis:

In the small town of Thistleford, on the edge of Faerie, dwells the mysterious Hawthorn family.

There, they tend and harvest the enchanted willows and honour an ancient compact to sing to them in thanks for their magic. None more devotedly than the family’s latest daughters, Esther and Ysabel, who cherish each other as much as they cherish the ancient trees.

But when Esther rejects a forceful suitor in favor of a lover from the land of Faerie, not only the sisters’ bond but also their lives will be at risk…

I received a copy of this book for free in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

For whatever reason, Amal El-Mohtar’s work with Max Gladestone (This Is How You Lose The Time War) left me rather cold, so I wasn’t sure what to expect from The River Has Roots. Still, a solo work is quite different to a joint one, and I was curious, so I snagged this one to give it a shot — and really liked it. Mohtar’s style works well in this fairytale retelling (which I ID’d fairly quickly), and the narrative works well with the fairytale style. There’s a touch of the Valente/McGuire-style commentary on fairytales (heck, even C.S. Lewis), which never dips into condescension. Just… storytelling, explaining the world, as fairytale narrators can do in a way which adds to the worldbuilding and tone of the story.

Fairytale retellings can sometimes fall down by sticking too close to their origins, but Mohtar is careful to flesh out the two sisters, Esther and Ysabel, and their needs and wants. It stops short of explaining too much (despite the helpful narrator): Rin remains a little bit of a mystery, as does Agnes Crow — but there’s more than enough to tantalise.

I was a bit worried about the pacing given my progress through the book, but all made sense when I realised the review copy also came with a teaser for an upcoming book of short stories. The River Has Roots was the perfect length, I think, with the ending leaving enough questions to leave the reader some work to do with the imagination.

Rating: 4/5

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Review – A Man and His God

Posted January 8, 2025 by Nicky in Reviews / 0 Comments

Review – A Man and His God

A Man and His God

by Janet Morris

Genres: Fantasy
Pages: 39
Rating: one-star
Synopsis:

An immortalized cavalry commander joins forces with the high-priest of the god of war.... Where myth meets legend, two men kiss and Tempus' world changes forever. Meet and mourn the Slaughter Priest in "A Man and His God." In this canonical short novel, the Sacred Band begins when Abarsis, Slaughter Priest, brings his Sacred Band to Tempus and dies in his arms.

In this pivotal story, the Sacred Band is formed from love and death....

"Tempus put an arm under Abarsis' head and gathered him up, pulling the wounded priest across his lap. “Hush, now.”

“Soon, soon,” said the paling lips. “I did well for you. Tell me so… that you are content. O Riddler, so well do I love you, I go to my god singing your praises. When I meet my father, I will tell him… I… fought beside you.”

“Go with more than that, Stepson,” whispered Tempus, who leaned forward and kissed him gently on the mouth; and Abarsis breathed out his soul while their lips yet touched."

This landmark short novel contains what may be the first male/male kiss in modern fantasy, and was widely reprinted, after appearing in somewhat different form in Thieves' World, in the Science Fiction Book Club, two Issac Asimov collections, and the Baen Book "Tempus" by Janet Morris.

It’s hard to know how to rate or talk about Janet E. Morris’ A Man and His God. As I understand it, it’s part of a larger world, and though it’s listed as being only 39 pages, I’d swear it was at least twice that. Maybe it was printed with the tiniest font imaginable.

Anyway, it has a semi-mythic register, and follows Tempus, a warrior who is currently on the outs with his god. It seems from the narrative that he’s cursed because he slept with his sister, and his sister is cursed because she manipulated him into it. Tempus’ feelings and intentions are often unclear, and I think that isn’t helped by the fact that this is actually cut out from a larger narrative.

The story is full of a general contempt for life and specifically for people different than oneself and for women. There is a kiss between Tempus and another man, Abarsis, as he dies, and there’s the Sacred Band who are all paired warriors, but… I can’t say that it felt particularly queer-positive in any way. There’s lots of violence, gratuitous levels of it, and torture.

Maybe it all fits together better if you read the whole original collection rather than these cut-out-and-revised fragments. That said, this part was published alone both in the past and now, so it should stand alone.

I think there’s an angle from which I can see that this is cleverly done, but the general contempt for everything that oozed off Tempus didn’t endear him to me, and it isn’t clear to me what level this is coming from: the character, the setting, the narrative, or the author. It’s not my thing either way, but one could admire it more if one was sure that the author doesn’t think they’re portraying a true hero.

Rating: 1/5

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Review – Camp Spirit

Posted January 5, 2025 by Nicky in Reviews / 2 Comments

Review – Camp Spirit

Camp Spirit

by Axelle Lenoir

Genres: Fantasy, Graphic Novels, Romance
Pages: 208
Rating: three-stars
Synopsis:

Summer camp is supposed to be about finding nirvana in a rock garden... But Elodie prefers Nirvana and Soundgarden. Can she confront rambunctious kids, confusing feelings, and supernatural horrors all at once?

Summer 1994: with just two months left before college, Elodie is forced by her mother to take a job as a camp counselor. She doesn't know the first thing about nature, or sports, of kids for that matter, and isn't especially interested in learning... but now she's responsible for a foul-mouthed horde of red-headed girls who just might win her over, whether she likes it or not. Just as Elodie starts getting used to her new environment, though -- and close to one of the other counselors -- a dark mystery lurking around the camp begins to haunt her dreams.

Axelle Lenoir’s Camp Spirit felt a bit like there were two halves, not equally split, that it kept jumping between: a summer love story between two camp counselors, Elodie and Catherine… and a spooky/supernatural story that involved the camp leader, and only later connected at all with what was going on with Elodie and Catherine.

The romance is cute enough, but it feels like it might actually have been stronger if it’d stuck to the summer of self-discovery between Elodie and Catherine or the supernatural plot. As it was, the supernatural plot felt side-lined compared to the teenage woes of those two.

It is, of course, also a very teenage book, given that a large part of what’s going on involves Elodie and Catherine developing feelings for each other.

I quite liked the art, and overall, I did have fun reading it, but it felt strangely slow — especially the first half or so.

Rating: 3/5

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Review – The Cybernetic Tea Shop

Posted December 27, 2024 by Nicky in Reviews / 4 Comments

Review – The Cybernetic Tea Shop

The Cybernetic Tea Shop

by Meredith Katz

Genres: Romance, Science Fiction
Pages: 112
Rating: four-stars
Synopsis:

A F/F retro-future sci-fi asexual romance. A story about artificial intelligence and real kindness, about love, and the feeling of watching steam rising softly from a teacup on a bright and quiet morning.

Clara Gutierrez is an AI repair technician and a wanderer. Her childhood with her migrant worker family has left her uncomfortable with lingering for too long, so she moves from place to place across retro-futuristic America.

Sal is a fully autonomous robot. Older than the law declaring her kind illegal due to ethical concerns, she is at best out of place in society and at worst vilified. She continues to run the tea shop previously owned by her long-dead master, lost in memories of the past, struggling to fulfill her master’s dream for the shop while slowly breaking down.

They meet by chance, but as they begin to spend time together, they both start to wrestle with the concept of moving on…

Meredith Katz’s The Cybernetic Tea Shop is a novella focusing on two characters: a technician called Clara, who likes to wander from city to city, letting her job take her wherever she feels an urge to go, and a robot called Sal, who has been running a teashop for almost 300 years, since long after her original owner (and partner) died.

The solution is obvious in the setup: Sal is slowly beginning to fall apart, and Clara’s got the knowhow to fix her. But that isn’t all there is to it, as they also form a personal bond, and become partners. There’s a bittersweetness to it since we know Sal will long outlast Clara, but the way it works out is very sweet: Sal is ready to begin taking new risks and doing new things, and Clara has someone who will go with her.

Also, a particular highlight is Clara’s pet/robot, Joanie: she isn’t quite sentient but still packs plenty of personality…

I really liked it, and though there are some shadows over the story (such as persecution of Sal for being a robot), it’s overall really gentle and warm.

Rating:

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Review – What Feasts at Night

Posted December 21, 2024 by Nicky in Reviews / 0 Comments

Review – What Feasts at Night

What Feasts At Night

by T. Kingfisher

Genres: Fantasy, Horror
Pages: 151
Series: Sworn Soldier #2
Rating: four-stars
Synopsis:

Alex Easton, retired soldier, returns in this novella-length sequel to the bestselling What Moves The Dead.

When Easton travels to Gallacia as a favor to Miss Potter, they find their home empty, the caretaker dead, and the grounds troubled by a strange, uncanny silence.

The locals whisper of a strange breath-stealing being from Gallacian folklore that has taken up residence in Easton’s home . . . and in their dreams.

I received a copy of this book for free in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

T. Kingfisher’s What Feasts At Night is a follow-up to her retelling of ‘The Fall of the House of Usher’, this one as far as I can tell an original story (though based on folklore, it’s not as strongly tied to a specific story). It was nice to see more of Alex Easton, and to explore ka’s experience as a soldier, along with the fallout of the events of What Moves The Dead (unsurprisingly, Easton is not even slightly a fan of fungi).

The book actually takes us to Gallacia, to the hunting lodge that Easton briefly mentioned in the previous book, in order for Miss Potter (also returning, hurrah!) to stay there and do some exploration for fungi. But when ka arrives, there’s a curious heavy atmosphere, the man he used to pay to keep the place up is gone, and the villagers don’t want to explain what happened.

I found it interesting that Easton points out at one stage that the events in What Moves The Dead are in fact all natural, not supernatural: freaky as heck, but it’s driven by fungi, growing and surviving. In What Feasts at Night, the threat is definitely supernatural. Which probably explains why I found it rather less unsettling than What Moves The Dead: infection and contagion frighten me for legitimate reasons, while ghosts and spirits and “other families” are more solidly in the realm of fiction. I’m not immune to getting creeped out at random, of course, but this book just didn’t play on my fears as well. I just enjoyed Alex’s character, the world-building of the Ruritanian romance stuff, and the typically witty narration of a T. Kingfisher book.

In a way, I enjoyed it more than the first book, and certainly read it faster. I don’t think that makes it better — I think What Moves The Dead is quite possibly the better book.

Rating: 4/5

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