Tag: SF/F

Review – Race the Sands

Posted December 9, 2020 by Nicky in Reviews / 1 Comment

Race the Sands, Sarah Beth Durst

I’ve been meaning to try a book by Sarah Beth Durst for a while, largely due to Mogsy, and finally this one appealed at the right moment. (I joke that it’s a bit like all the books I have are waiting in an Underground station, and they get read when they manage to dash on board one of the attention-trains passing through my mind at any one moment. There are a lot of trains! But they go very fast, and the platforms are very crowded.) Actually, I read it for the Clear Your Shit readathon, for the prompt about a pretty cover. Just look at that thing!

Anyway, I’m glad I gave this a go even though I haven’t read the other book by Sarah Beth Durst that I have, because I loved it. It’s set in the fantasy kingdom of Becar, where the emperor has recently died, and unrest is stirring in the streets… and on the racetrack, where it’s nearly time for the races that pit humans riding monsters against each other. Trainer Tamra suffered disgrace at the last races when her rider died, but she’s eager to redeem herself and earn enough money to keep her daughter with her. She has to set out and acquire a new monster for the races, and a new rider to go with it… which is how she meets Raia, who’s running from problems of her own.

There are some pretty predictable twists to the plot: as soon as a certain thing got mentioned, it was obviously significant to the plot, and that meant a big reveal was just… obvious. (I’m trying not to say too much here!) The ultimate bad guy was kind of obvious too, after a certain point. But there were a few surprises (the fate of one particular character, which made me gasp in outrage while on the darn treadmill reading!) and in the end… Tamra’s determination, her knowledge of herself and what’s important, pretty much carried the whole book for me. I could believe in her tough exterior and her caring heart, her love for her daughter and for the rider she’s training. I didn’t have to believe that she was an amazing, perfect person: it’s clear that she’s not. But I could believe she was a strong person, who would do whatever it took for her own reasons as much as for anyone else’s.

Raia was a less strong character for me — she remains fairly soft-hearted, despite becoming a rider in the races, and it sort of doesn’t quite ring true in a way that she remains so untouched by the violence and gore. There were some great moments where she had to face her past, though, and in the end it all just worked really well for me.

I suppose my main complaint is that there were one or two things that felt unsatisfying: one particular betrayal and one particular death, for instance, didn’t stand out for me very much because I never quite saw enough of the character to strongly form an impression of who they were and what they were doing, what they stood for. Finding out that they weren’t what I expected didn’t mean very much, because I didn’t know enough about the character to feel like I could judge.

Still, overall, I found it really enjoyable, and somewhat to my own surprise I think I’ll give it my rarest rating.

Rating: 5/5

Tags: book reviews, books, Sarah Beth Durst, SF/F

Review – When We Were Magic

Posted December 5, 2020 by Nicky in Reviews / 0 Comments

When We Were Magic, Sarah Gailey

Sarah Gailey has a gift for writing books I can’t put down. I steamed through this one in two sittings, and read the whole thing in an hour and a half. Since my attention’s been awful lately, for most books, that’s enough for me to rate this pretty highly on enjoyment, even if I have a lot of lingering questions.

It starts with Alexis accidentally killing a boy she’s trying to have sex with at a party, and calling in her friends to help her fix the problem. They jump somewhat awkwardly to the idea of just getting rid of the body — and they have a somewhat unique method to do that, because they can all do magic, and they know how to work together. It doesn’t go as planned, though, leaving them with pieces of his body and his weirdly ice-cold, very slowly beating heart…

The rest of the book follows them as they get rid of the pieces and cope with the consequences of their magic: each of them loses something as they get rid of the pieces of the body, and of course, the boy’s absence is quickly spotted and the cops want to talk to everyone who was at the party, and also they all have their own little dramas. I have some questions about their reaction to the boy’s death — they don’t really know him, so it makes sense that they’re not distraught, but it felt like they were shockingly put together for a bunch of kids who had to dispose of pieces of a peer’s body. Not one of them seemed likely to crack under the strain. And yeah, I get that their friendship here is meant to be unshakeable, but it kind of made them sound like sociopaths, too.

I also have questions about what exactly happened to change Alexis’ magic. It’s clear it’s the first time her magic has got out of her control like that, and they never really do much about figuring it out. How do we know she isn’t going to endanger people more?

Overall, though, it was a lot of fun. I sped through it, and I loved that Alexis has two dads and a crush on a friend who happens to be a girl, and it’s just all part of these girls’ lives. I adore the tiny glimpses we get of what her parents were like when they met, and the fact that the family background to Alexis’ life feels real; they have a history that’s played out in the book, even though it is not the focus of the book. I’d have loved a little more of that for other characters (some of the group of girls, even), but I deeply enjoyed that it was there for Alexis’ family. That’s what makes characters feel real to me.

Rating: 4/5

Tags: book reviews, books, queer fiction, Sarah Gailey, SF/F

Review – The House in the Cerulean Sea

Posted December 2, 2020 by Nicky in Reviews / 6 Comments

The House in the Cerulean Sea, T.J. Klune

If you’re looking for a feel-good book right now, then this is a solid one to choose. It starts off with Linus Baker, the main character, finishing up his inspection of an orphanage for magical children. No sooner is he back from that than he’s handed a bigger task, a highly classified task, to go to an orphanage he’s never even heard of to check on the welfare of some very unique children. Lucy, for one — guess what that’s short for?

I say it’s a feel-good book, but it’s not always: Linus Baker works for DICOMY, which supervises magical children. All magical beings must be registered and monitored, and though Linus cares deeply about the welfare of the children in the orphanages he inspects, he might be the only member of DICOMY who does for all we can tell. It’s a dystopic world, and one that’s not a far cry from our own: “See something, say something” is a recognisable slogan that also haunts the book.

The reason it’s a feel-good book is that Linus is a good person. A very ordinary person in many ways, but one who cares deeply. He tries not to sacrifice his objectivity, and sometimes it’s hard, but he genuinely tries to do his best for the children he oversees… and pretty much everyone he meets. That makes him the right caseworker for Marsyas, a rather unique orphanage, holding unique and troubling children. Talia, a female gnome; Phee, a powerful young sprite; Chauncey, a protean creature of unknown origin; Sal, a shapeshifter with a history of being abused; Theodore, a wyvern with a penchant for buttons… and Lucy, short for Lucifer, and yes, it means that Lucifer. Not to mention Mr Parnassus, the master of the orphanage.

As you’d more or less expect, Linus quickly finds himself losing objectivity, feeling incredible tenderness for the children and concern for them. He also quickly comes to like their caretakers, Mr Parnassus, and the island’s resident sprite, Zoe. He accidentally becomes part of their family, standing up for them against prejudiced villagers, and coaxing the children to come out of their shells — even coaxing Mr Parnassus to give them a little more freedom, rather than protect them too closely.

In terms of the plot, it is predictable, but what’s satisfying is just watching Linus be a good man, and watch him figure out what he needs to do, and where he wants to be. The fact that I found it was predictable didn’t make it a whit less lovely. I shan’t say any more about it, because there are some surprises, and they’re worth it.

Rating: 5/5

Tags: book reviews, books, queer fiction, SF/F, TJ Klune

Review – Driftwood

Posted December 2, 2020 by Nicky in Reviews / 0 Comments

Driftwood, Marie Brennan

Driftwood is a novella, sort of, but also a set of short stories set in the world of Driftwood, where realities go to die. It’s a world where stepping from one street to the next can induce a change in the weather, the laws of physics, and the very air people need to breathe. And everyone there knows their worlds are vanishing… and either accept it or not, as they can. Last is the main character, sort of — mostly glimpsed through others — and is a lone survivor from a long-gone world. He’s a guide, helping others half for a living and half for curiosity, and sometimes out of kindness as well.

He also isn’t dying, despite the loss of his world, despite having outlived the normal lifespan of his people a dozen times over.

It’s a fascinating setup, and Last is a pretty cool idea; the stories told about him by other characters in this book highlight a lonely man, who is making the best job he can of unasked for immortality. The sadness of it takes a while to shine through, but there’s one particular story which illustrates it beautifully, without lingering too long.

Overall, I found it a really enjoyable novella/collection — and the illustrations help! It’s possible to imagine an infinity of worlds and stories within Driftwood, but the last bit of this book closes it off beautifully. I still have questions, but the more important answer is the one Last finds, smiling at the end of the world.

Rating: 4/5

Tags: book reviews, books, Marie Brennan, SF/F

Review – Fire & Hemlock

Posted December 2, 2020 by Nicky in Reviews / 0 Comments

Fire & Hemlock, Diana Wynne Jones

This was the first adaptation of Tam Lin that I ever read, so it was sort of odd to come back to it now with various sung versions of the ballad rattling round my head. I remembered much of the story and the events — one thing that stuck with me in particular was Polly’s mortification when she realises (or at least thinks she does) that Tom knows about her crush on him and thinks she’s too much of a kid. Gah. Cringe.

It’s funny the way the story weaves slowly through Polly’s childhood, dropping clues, and then suddenly at the end Jones puts her foot down and zooms off. This is kind of a feature of her endings, which take careful reading sometimes — you can’t just let them wash over you, or you’ll be left asking “wait, what?”

It’s sort of aged badly for me, though: it feels completely gross the way Tom uses Polly, not just because of the grossness of using someone but because she’s so young (I don’t care if he’s not as old as she initially thinks; you can make an argument that he grooms her, with the gifts and the letters). Her grandmother is quite right to worry about it, and though she’s the solid and dependable centre of the book in many ways, it feels like she isn’t listened to enough there!

Despite that ick factor, I kind of want to reread it again sometime sooner, to see if the memories layer over each other better and show up more of the hints and clevernesses to make that ending work.

Rating: 3/5

Tags: book reviews, books, Diana Wynne Jones, SF/F

Review – The Beast’s Heart

Posted November 30, 2020 by Nicky in Reviews / 0 Comments

The Beast’s Heart, Leife Shallcross

The Beast’s Heart is a retelling of ‘The Beauty and the Beast’, set in France (though it’s unclear at exactly what era, I think), and narrated by the Beast. I started it with some trepidation, since the Beast’s narration in the opening chapter didn’t quite appeal. I mean, it’s not especially surprising that the Beast is kind of self-absorbed before he becomes the Beast, but that was the immediate impression I had of his character as the Beast as well from his rather fussy narration. He never particularly sounded Beastly, you know?

That said, once we got over the part where he tricked Isabeau’s father into thinking he’d kill him if he didn’t return with Isabeau, things began to improve. I do love retellings of this story, and it was interesting to get things from this perspective — though there weren’t exactly any surprises. Shallcross doesn’t do anything particularly revolutionary with the story at all, except perhaps for the Fairy that loved his grandmother.

Isabeau manages to feel fairly real; unlike some versions of Beauty, she’s not too perfect — she has her pettinesses, and she’s not the cleverest most amazing person of all, just a caring young woman who likes books and music and drawing and getting to have a rather indolent existence. The glimpses we get of her sisters work for me, too, though it all felt fairly close to Robin McKinley’s Beauty.

I don’t think this is the freshest version of the story; worth it if you have an itch for ‘Beauty and the Beast’, or you’re particularly fond of collecting versions of it, but not something I’d go out of my way for. That said, I read it in a few sessions, compelled to speed through it, so it wasn’t bad either — it just didn’t bring anything startling to a story that has been done many times.

Rating: 3/5

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

Review – Network Effect

Posted November 23, 2020 by Nicky in Reviews / 1 Comment

Network Effect, Martha Wells

I was so excited to learn that there’d be a Murderbot novel, and so excited to get my hands on an ARC, that my performance dropped by several points due to the number of inputs. Which is to say, I started reading the book, was loving it, and then actually I got too wound up by certain events and ended up with a sort of anxiety about picking it up and continuing. Needless to say, I finally did, and many of my wishes for the series were fulfilled by the return of known characters and more exploration of the world.

I don’t really know what to say without being spoilery, because I think the thing that got me wound up is worth getting wound up about on your own terms. I should say that I found some of the interludes a little irritating, because they felt like padding. Though, well, you’ll see if you read it.

I’ll also admit that in some of the scenes where they were all figuring things out and making plans, my brain started derailing and refusing to hold the details in mind. I just sort of trusted to the narrative at that point, and it did work, but there is a lot of talking and negotiating, and there are a lot of characters running round doing their own thing. It might have been a bit sharper through narrowing down the focus to fewer characters. There are two characters who didn’t feel totally integral to the plot, who could’ve been left behind without harming things too much.

However, it’s also delightful to see Murderbot with its people, having returned with them to Preservation. All of Murderbot’s complicated feelings about having friends and being part of a team are on full display in this novel, and it’s lovely to explore. It’s also fascinating to see more of their world (spoiler spoiler spoiler). Despite my quibbles about the dialogue-heavy bits and the extraneous characters, I sped through the book in several large gulps once I settled down to it and started again.

If you’ve loved the novellas, it’s definitely recommended, with the caveat that you may feel the longer format wasn’t as ideal.

Rating: 4/5

Tags: book reviews, books, Martha Wells, SF/F

Review – The Churn

Posted November 22, 2020 by Nicky in Reviews / 0 Comments

The Churn, James S.A Corey

The Churn is a short novella which tells the story of one of the major characters from The Expanse series: Amos Burton. I like Amos a lot, but I’m not totally sure I care about having read this; it wasn’t bad in any way, or not enjoyable, but it wasn’t necessary. We know who Amos is, and we get glimpses of where he came from… and I’m not sure I needed to read this novella to fill it in. I almost prefer piecing it together, because in some ways who Amos was isn’t as important as who Amos is… and in other ways, he really hasn’t changed very much in the series: it doesn’t add much development-wise, because the differences are simply in the different contexts.

So, if you’re a hardcore lover of The Expanse and you want to read every scrap of background, then yeah, The Churn is probably of interest. If not, then I don’t think I especially recommend it — the main series are all you need, I suspect.

Rating: 3/5

Tags: book reviews, books, James S.A. Corey, SF/F

Review – Caliban’s War

Posted November 22, 2020 by Nicky in Reviews / 4 Comments

Caliban’s War, James S.A. Corey

Caliban’s War is the second book of the Expanse series, and I can’t help but see it (and Leviathan Wakes) in some ways as an answer to Firefly/Serenity. Serenity ends as a triumph, to some degree, with Mal getting the story out there. That’s the big win. And yet… Leviathan Wakes almost starts with that, but Holden can’t sit back and retire. He figures that getting the message out is enough, and of course it isn’t — as we’ve found in our own timeline with Cambridge Analytica and the Vote Leave campaign and impeachment and… everything. Getting the signal out there isn’t enough, and Caliban’s War shows Holden continuing to reckon with that, and keep trying to find a place for himself and the crew of the Rocinante.

There’s another way in which Holden is like Malcolm Reynolds, and that’s really showcased here as well. It struck me during the middle-ish part of the book, when Holden goes to confront Fred Johnson — who spits back at him:

“I’ve been putting up with your bullshit for over a year now,” Fred said. “This idea you have that the universe owes you answers. This righteous indignation you wield like a club at everyone around you.”

And yeah, Malcolm Reynolds has that as well, for all that he wants to think he’s a hardened criminal. I think Caliban’s War does a good job of digging into that and showing what makes a man like that dangerous, as well as someone to follow.

Anyway, that’s what particularly struck me this time — maybe because the part about “we got the signal out and nobody cared” really cuts deep right now!

It really did bother me again that everyone spends the book running around looking for Mei, without questioning basic things like “why did they want an immuno-compromised kid?” And Prax is a biologist! Okay, not a human biologist, but at other times he clearly has a scientific mind and the ability to think through a problem, including those which aren’t restricted to botany. I’m not sure it changes the story to know why Mei’s key, but it bothers me as someone who knew what was going on from the minute her condition was mentioned.

This book introduces Bobbie and Avasarala, and they are both great and balance out the gender balance, and give us the outside-perspective on Holden and his crew that we need. I know we won’t be seeing a lot of them for a couple of books, which sucks, because Avasarala is the kind of character who really challenges the dudes-with-guns sci-fi stereotypes. (Bobbie is less so, since she’s essentially the female version of them.) She’s a grandmother, a diplomat, an Earther — and that’s a needed sort of perspective.

I’m looking forward to continuing to chew through this series; I called it popcorn before, and I still concur. It’s very more-ish, and it goes down easy.

Rating: 4/5

Tags: book reviews, books, James S.A. Corey, SF/F

Review – Black Leopard, Red Wolf

Posted November 15, 2020 by Nicky in Reviews / 3 Comments

Black Leopard, Red Wolf, Marlon James

Black Leopard, Red Wolf follows the adventures of a man named Tracker, from childhood to a cell where he is forced to tell his life story. He has a wolf eye and a nose — he can track anything, anyone, once he has scented it once, and that’s how he gets pulled into a quest to save the son of the king’s sister, prophesied to save the kingdom. Not that the prophecy matters much to Tracker: he’s just in it for the adventure, for the sake of a shapeshifter he loves named Leopard, and gold. Mostly the gold.

The book was pretty hard going for me. It’s rife with violence, sexual and otherwise; the narration is stream-of-consciousness, in rhythms of speech that aren’t very familiar to me. Sometimes it lacks the expected punctuation or grammar, capturing a whole different kind of voice. I found myself skipping parts, because it would take so long to say a simple thing. If a man fires three arrows, one after the other, then each arrow will be described. This isn’t a quote, but it’s an illustration of the style: “Leopard fired one arrow and a man fell down. Leopard fired another arrow and a man fell down. Leopard fired another arrow and another man fell down.”

As a stylistic choice, it adds a certain rhythmic energy, and it all adds to a clear picture of Tracker, so that you can almost hear his voice narrating… but I wasn’t a fan and found it hard to concentrate on (in the same way that it can take me a while to feel my way into the style of a Norse saga, or particularly the set-piece bits of The Odyssey).

Plot-wise, there’s a lot of back-and-forth to get nowhere, but the story builds up in its own time and I never quite got to the point where I got fed up and just wanted to put it down. I did want to know what happened. There are definitely some moments where it got under my skin, too, particularly regarding Sadogo, and another character from later in the book. The violence of it all really put me off, though; I can’t say I’d call it gratuitous, because it says something about this world and about Tracker, his companions and his outlook. It does begin to feel excessive, though.

I don’t think I’ll read the other books — I believe it’s meant to be a trilogy, and apparently the next book focuses on a character I really don’t care for. Not that I particularly care for Tracker, either! It seems like an awful long time to spend with characters I don’t enjoy, since I’m rather the type to hang a lot of my interest in a story on the players. I don’t have to like them, but I do have to be invested, and I barely was.

So, glad I read it, because there are interesting stylistic choices and a few bits I did rather like (to explain would be a spoiler, but it involves Tracker’s relationship with a particular character who appears later in the story, and secondarily with some other side characters). But… I don’t think it’s for me.

(Remember, I rate books on my enjoyment of them, not an objective assessment.)

Rating: 2/5

Tags: book reviews, books, Marlon James, SF/F