Tag: SF/F

Review – Comfort Me With Apples

Posted July 30, 2021 by Nicky in Reviews / 0 Comments

Cover of Comfort Me With Apples by Catherynne M. ValenteComfort Me With Apples, Catherynne M. Valente

Received to review via Netgalley; publication date 26th October 2021

This is a novella which takes a number of different elements and whisks them together — and to explain too much about what exactly goes into the mix might tip you off about what’s going on in Valente’s Arcadia, so I won’t. As you’d expect of Valente, it’s rich language with lots of descriptions, and it’s worth lingering over to let her paint the pictures for you. Even as a very non-visual person, it always works.

I feel like I’m missing a lot about how the story is put together — there’s an obvious level that is quickly apparent, of course, but I think there’s most likely a lot more that I didn’t catch onto at first. I’ll probably at least skim through it again and see what I can spot.

It’s clever, but because of the nature of the story — again, not saying too much — there’s not a lot to grab onto in terms of character, which is often how I get most hooked into a story. So it’s not a favourite, for that reason, but something I did enjoy reading.

Rating: 3/5

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Review – Necropolis

Posted July 29, 2021 by Nicky in Reviews / 0 Comments

Cover of Necropolis by Jordan L HawkNecropolis, Jordan L. Hawk

I took a bit of a break from the Whyborne and Griffin books, not entirely intentionally (I have a problem with things being out of sight, out of mind) — so it was nice to come back with a bang into a book that goes some different places (literally, geographically) and involves some significant development for Christine, my favourite character. We learn a little more about her, and more about the work she does. I’m a big fan of archaeology, fiction or non-fiction, so I was allll on board for this.

So okay, there wasn’t a lot of digging, because there wasn’t much time — it was all action. Which is not a bad thing. I read this in just a few chunks, tearing through it, and it was great fun.

I had issues before with Whyborne’s low self-esteem, because I just didn’t enjoy the same conflict happening every book with him deciding he’s not good enough for Griffin. It does feel like there’s some progress there, and that both of them are learning, so that kind of puts my worries to rest — though I hope that development continues happening. Slow is fine, as long as it’s happening.

So yeah, really enjoyable, and it’s nice to see Whyborne stepping up and figuring out some important stuff, too.

Rating: 4/5

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Review – Iron Widow

Posted July 25, 2021 by Nicky in Reviews / 2 Comments

Cover of Iron Widow by Xiran Jay ZhaoIron Widow, Xiran Jay Zhao

Received to review; publication date 7th October 2021

Well, this was a heckuva ride! This is a world protected against an invading force by pilots in giant mecha suits which transform according to their particular mental capabilities. Two pilots are required, yin and yang: the stronger male pilot, and the balancing female pilot… who often ends up a sacrifice, drained of her life force by her fellow pilot to power the suit in battle. Wu Zetian has volunteered as a pilot in order to kill the pilot who killed her sister, not in battle but somehow outside of it. Now she’s expected to become his concubine…

Think you know where it’s going? Well, the book has some surprises coming for you, about which I shouldn’t say too much for fear of spoiling them! However, I think it’s worth mentioning the fact that this features not a love triangle but a poly relationship: Zetian ends up with two boyfriends, and her boyfriends are boyfriends, too.

It is worth noting as well that this isn’t a nice world, and Zetian isn’t a nice girl. It’s a world loosely based on ancient China, meaning that Zetian has had her feet bound to become “lotus feet”, and the effects of that aren’t shied away from. And of course, our heroine starts the book planning a murder, and has few hesitations throughout the book about making life and death decisions for other people. We root for her because we also see the helpless position she’s put into, but we also know she’s not someone we want to know. There’s a line in one of Thea Gilmore’s live albums where she describes the personality of someone she wrote a song about: “She has the kind of personality that’s a nice place to visit, but you wouldn’t want to live there.”

Well, Zetian’s personality is an entertaining place to visit, but you definitely, definitely don’t want to live there. That you can root for her at all works because you can sympathise with her motives and reasons.

On a final note, oof! That ending! I’m guessing there’s more to come from Wu Zetian, and I intend to read it if so.

Rating: 4/5

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Review – Magic Burns

Posted July 23, 2021 by Nicky in Reviews / 0 Comments

Cover of Magic Burns by Ilona AndrewsMagic Burns, Ilona Andrews

I always forget how many books it takes for this series to really become a romance — I expect it straight away, somehow, and yet it’s really taking its time in that regard. Instead, this book’s emotional heart centres around Julie, a young girl whose mother is missing and who comes under Kate’s protection. Having read the later books, there’s also more information about Kate and foreshadowing for things in books to come — but you don’t know it yet!

Really, the books are an amazing mishmash of all sorts of mythology, and that would normally bother me, but it feels natural in the chaotic world of oscillating magic and technology that the characters inhabit. The chaos is the rule that means it’s not weird that you’ve got the Morrigan right beside birds with metal feathers from Greek legend.

There are also more glimpses into the workings of the Pack and the Order, which is fun. But the best parts are Kate and her interactions with Andrea, Curran, Julie and Bran; we get to see more of her heart, more of her hurt, and more of what she needs, wants, and thinks she needs and wants.

It’s a hecking lot of fun, basically.

Rating: 4/5

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Review – Phoenix Extravagant

Posted July 19, 2021 by Nicky in Reviews / 2 Comments

Cover of Phoenix Extravagant by Yoon Ha LeePhoenix Extravagant, Yoon Ha Lee

This was, I must admit, not quite what I’d expected from the author of Ninefox Gambit et al; it’s a more straightforward story, and one whose audience I found a little hard to place. I think a lot of my reaction to the book is because of that clash between expectation and reality, rather than a comment on the book. That’s not to say that I didn’t enjoy it, but I ended up having difficulty putting together what I think and feel about it because of that difference.

There was a lot I loved immediately, of course: a book where the protagonist shares my preferred pronouns is always a thrill, and the fact that it mostly goes unremarked on in the story was nice too. (It’s not quite ignored; there are a few references to Jebi’s gender and presentation. What we don’t get — as far as I remember anyway — is any clear description that marks out what sex Jebi “really” is, which was a huge relief to me.) Vei is great as well — I loved her! Arazi, the giant dragon automaton, is also pretty awesome and has some cool abilities.

Howeeeever, I didn’t really understand the relationship Jebi forms with Vei, and the level of loyalty the two of them have for each other. It feels slightly out of nowhere, and I felt like some threads weren’t super well dealt with. (The fact that Vei killed Jebi’s sister’s wife, for instance.)

I guess in the end the whole thing didn’t quite come together for me, and the ending left me with a rather melancholy, trailing-off feeling. It was an enjoyable read, and yet it didn’t quite work out for me. I’m positive part of that is because I found Ninefox Gambit et al a challenge in a way I really enjoyed, and this is not that kind of book instead. It takes a long hard look at colonialism, so it’s not that it’s an easy book… but I guess it just didn’t spark with me in the same way.

Rating: 3/5

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Review – Raybearer

Posted July 13, 2021 by Nicky in Reviews / 0 Comments

Cover of Raybearer by Jordan IfuekoRaybearer, Jordan Ifueko

I found this book a little frustrating: I got into it immediately, and then there was a timeskip which kind of knocked me out of things again, and I didn’t find my feet again until the last third or so of the book. There were parts where I raced through it, and then a middle section that I just kind of plodded through. I did enjoy the bonds between Tarisai and the others, particularly the bond between Tarisai and Dayo; the fact that it was so strong and yet determinedly non-sexual and non-romantic was great.

It’s definitely YA, and it feels very young, but there is some ambiguity there in some of the characters and relationships, which gives it a bit more depth than it might otherwise have.

I’d be interested enough to read the second book: the world at least feels interesting, and there’s a good sense that there’s a lot more out there (something which always does it for me with fantasy settings). There’s a lot of enjoyable detail that shows this isn’t your standard medieval-Europe inspired fantasy, too.

Rating-wise, I feel torn — easily four stars for the parts I tore through, but a meh for the middle part. I guess I’ll compromise on 3 — but it’s a 3 that’s close to 4 in some respects.

Rating: 3/5

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Review – Plain Bad Heroines

Posted July 11, 2021 by Nicky in Reviews / 2 Comments

Cover of Plain Bad Heroines by emily m. danforthPlain Bad Heroines, emily m. danforth

In some ways, I guess it’s a surprise I picked this up, since it relies heavily on horror tropes and on the reader recognising horror tropes and horror movies and sly little references. That’s never really been my thing, though one or two authors have tempted me into that realm, or interesting concepts, etc. Anyway, the blurb tempted me in despite my total wussiness, and actually, I can’t say I was ever really creeped out.

It follows three women in the present as they make a movie about events of the past, when a girls’ school seemed cursed and some girls died in weird and unpleasant ways. It starts to seem like maybe the curse is real, because weird things keep happening around these three women now in the present. Or is it just the movie getting under their skins?

The book plays with that ambiguity throughout, and it feels like it’s building toward something explosive and genuinely frightening — there is a real tension and weirdness to it, but for me it never quite came off. The revelations that happen actually diminish the climax of it: now you know what’s going on, it seems much more mundane, even when weird stuff is still happening. It didn’t hold onto enough of the unknowable weirdness to really be unsettling. In the end, you get some answers, and for me at least, it was too many answers. It never managed to reach the fever pitch it was trying to build — I didn’t get even a little bit unsettled.

One thing that did work is the charge between three of the female characters — and the love between two of the characters in the past/flashback portions of the book. Those relationships work very well, and the way those relationships are far from idyllic, but sometimes capture moments of bliss, really works out for me.

Rating-wise, I feel like 2 is pretty fair. I didn’t DNF it, so there was stuff that kept me hanging on… but it was 600+ pages of waiting for it to live up to the promises it was making, and for me, it didn’t.

Rating: 2/5

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Review – Magic Bites

Posted July 8, 2021 by Nicky in Reviews / 0 Comments

Cover of Magic Bites by Ilona AndrewsMagic Bites, Ilona Andrews

I read this relatively recently already, but sometimes you just want to turn to familiar books — and I couldn’t get back into the book I was up to in my last read through the series, just starting cold from the first page. So I went back to the beginning, which is a) a very good place to start (sorry, couldn’t resist) and b) has the start of the relationship between Kate and Curran, which is always entertaining.

I didn’t giggle as much at this one as I remember, but there were some great moments (here, kitty, kitty) and Kate’s smart mouth remains a joy to me. I love the way the books build up the hints about who she is and what she’s hiding, and that she and Curran are not obviously star-crossed lovers right from the start — you genuinely don’t know if they’re going to end up hating each other or loving each other, and both feel possible (though the former admittedly feels a little more likely).

One thing that did annoy me a lot on this readthrough was that Kate figures things out, after some healthy hints around her (really, she is slow on this one), and then Curran immediately jumps to a conclusion about who the bad guy must be. He decides she’s wrong altogether when he’s wrong about who he assumed was the problem. Dude, you’re the one who jumped to conclusions, not Kate!

Anyway, it’s a bag of fun and remains so, with lots of hints of what’s to come. Kate is pretty epic, and it’s a fun fast read for me. Maybe it’s not the best book in the world, but… the fascinating setting drew me in and the character arcs have kept me. One day I’ll actually catch up to the most recently published volume.

Rating: 4/5

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Review – After the Dragons

Posted July 7, 2021 by Nicky in Reviews / 0 Comments

Cover of After the Dragons by Cynthia ZhangAfter the Dragons, Cynthia Zhang

Received to review via Netgalley; publication date 19th August 2021

I seem to have picked this up mostly on a whim and for the promise of dragons, because I didn’t know much about it going in. Which was quite nice, actually: I wasn’t looking for the love story, wasn’t expecting the discussions of chronic illness, responsibility, family, etc. I just knew there were dragons, and I wasn’t disappointed there!

If you’re looking for Western-style dragons, of course, you might find this disappointing. So too if you’re wanting huge dragons that rule the skies. The dragons of this alternate world are small, stunted by pollution, and used and abused by humans for fights and as pets. Kai cares deeply about dragons, carefully taking them in and splicing their broken wings, disinfecting their cuts, and trying to bring them back to health. Eli is in Beijing to study and do research, but his supervisor drags him out to the dragon fights — which is where he meets Kai. They’re instantly antagonistic, not dramatically so, but because Eli wants to help and heal, and Kai refuses to be pitied.

The love story that develops is a quiet one, wrapped around Kai’s concern for the dragons and Eli’s exploration of some of his family roots. It feels a very tender story: there are no huge dramatic events, but a normal and healthy relationship that’s trying to find room for both parties, and find a balance.

As a warning, the ending is not a “Happy Ever After” but a “Happy For Now”; much can happen, given Kai’s illness and the plans he makes. The future isn’t wrapped up neatly in a bow — but nonetheless the story is one of hope.

Rating: 5/5

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Review – The Echo Wife

Posted June 17, 2021 by Nicky in Reviews / 1 Comment

Cover of The Echo Wife by Sarah GaileyThe Echo Wife, Sarah Gailey

I wasn’t quite prepared for the journey when I picked up The Echo Wife. It goes some pretty dark places, musing about the way people shape each other, the fingerprints we leave on each other — both metaphorically and for some people physically — and the way we re-enact our own traumas and fall into terrible patterns. Even the acknowledgements at the end are a hell of a thing: raw, truly thankful, but in some cases in a twisted way that hurts. Gailey has put a lot of pain into this book, and that could make it a really difficult read.

For me, though, it got its hooks into me and wouldn’t let go. I read it in two sittings — a whole 150 pages or maybe even more while my wife was on the phone with my parents-in-law. Okay, it must’ve been a long call, but wow.

I don’t want to say too much about the story, but it is not the kind of story where you necessarily end up liking the characters — all that matters is that you really get to understand the characters, the things that shaped them and the way they in turn shape their world. It’s a hell of a ride.

Rating: 5/5

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