Raven Stratagem, Yoon Ha Lee

I’ve been struggling to think of how to review this book, because it was a total whirlwind of stuff I really enjoyed, from the machinations of Cheris/Jedao to the characters to the countermeasures people try to employ. I really want to know more about the deeper plot between Jedao and a character who has mostly been conspicuous by their absence so far. I found it easier, this book, to concentrate on the plot and ignore the magical-science stuff surrounding the calendar, math, etc. I just took it as read and focused on the characters.

Perhaps it’s best I don’t try and say too much about it. It’s hard to describe, and all I can really say is that I enjoyed the characters (perhaps more so in this book than the last) and how things worked out. I enjoyed the twists of the narrative. And most of all, I stayed up all night to finish it.

Rating: 4/5

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The Godless, Ben Peek

This is another case where there’s some really cool world building, but I really didn’t get into the story/characters. It was interesting enough to follow them right to the end, and I did want to know more about some of the characters — okay, I admit it, particularly Zaifyr/Qian — and what brought them to where they are at the point of the story… but I’m not planning on reading more in the series. For me, characters are the major thing, and sometimes I felt like the narrative didn’t give enough time to their motivations and plans. Sometimes I just did not get what the connections between actions or scenes were; probably partly my fault, but also a feature of Peek’s style.

I wouldn’t say that I’d avoid Peek’s work in future, because there was a lot of interesting stuff in the world that he created. It’s just that it didn’t quite cater to my interests in terms of people to root for. That’s not always important for everyone, so if the idea of the dying gods and the power manifesting in individuals and the military campaign all appeal, I’d definitely recommend giving this a go.

Rating: 3/5

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Strange Practice, Vivian Shaw

If you’re looking at the cover and expecting some sort of Victoriana setting, that’s actually misleading. It’s set in modern London, and modern technology actually plays a significant role in all of this. It’s also utilised sensibly in that people pick up the phone and call each other rather than running around helplessly after being attacked — the characters do get separated at times, but not in situations where just pick up your phone would be the answer, something I find irritating in some urban fantasy when it isn’t dealt with.

So the plot: Dr Greta Helsing is the heir to a medical practice for supernatural creatures, treating everything from decaying limbs for mummies to sore throats in Banshees. There’s a whole community of supernatural creatures living among humans, and Greta happens to be one of the people they’d consider allies. Surprise, surprise, someone doesn’t like that, and so she gets entangled in a larger plot against supernatural creatures of all sorts.

I really enjoyed it. I enjoyed her drive to help people, and I enjoyed the characters around her — including Lord Ruthven and Varney the Vampyre, a demon who is not actually evil, ghouls who might have odd eating habits but are really pretty harmless… I enjoyed the group dynamics, too. In the end, I just had fun reading it, and immediately wanted the sequel (which isn’t out yet, alas). It was a lot of fun, from the concept (the monsters’ doctor) to the characters (Ruthven in particular) to the epic note during the ending (featuring a particularly important mythological character).

Rating: 4/5

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The Horns of Ruin, Tim Akers

The Horns of Ruin is a fun, rather frenetic steampunk adventure with a very kickass heroine. There’s a lot of fascinating ideas in the world-building — the gods and the way divinity works, the invocations which are based on stories about the divinities, the interplay between the three gods… It feels like a piece of a larger world, maybe a tie-in for a game. Eva refers to her spells as buffs at one point, even!

This doesn’t always lead to the best storytelling, and it is a very linear plot which just features Eva bashing heads in, then briefly recuperating before going off to do it again. But it has its charms, and I enjoyed the ride.

Rating: 3/5

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Abaddon’s Gate, James S.A. Corey

If you’ve enjoyed the books up to this point, then this is more of the same — and I mean that in the good way. If you’ve been numbed by scientific inaccuracies and maddened by stupid things the characters do, then you’re not going to want to continue, because this very much continues in the same vein as the previous books. I find it enjoyable; it’s brain candy, but there’s a place for that on my shelves.

There is an element of sameness about these books in the way that it focuses on Holden and co, and therefore Holden never quite learns and he always somehow gets into trouble, dragging his crew with him. It is nice that the narrative is aware of this, though, and his crew call him out — and he’s forced to remember that he’s not in fact all that important by the events of the book. Still. Sometimes Holden gets a little too much for me, much as I love his crew.

It remains an entertaining mindfuck if you’ve enjoyed what Corey’s done so far. It widens up the world and brings in more sci-fi elements — not just humanity expanding out of the solar system, but more signs of what might be encroaching from outside. I’m still intrigued.

Rating: 4/5

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The Gracekeepers, Kirsty Logan

The Gracekeepers seemed like it had a lot of potential. The idea of the Gracekeepers, the drowned world it takes place in, the promise of the political and religious background that hedged the characters round, the webbed hands of Callanish… There’s a fairytale-like feeling to the narration at times, in the feeling of inevitability about every step the characters take — I don’t know if that’s something other readers took away from the book, but it felt like it was to me. Callanish and North were on a collision course all along, however improbable, and they were going to find each other anyway.

I found the world interesting, but it also felt kind of superficial. I didn’t feel like there was a wider world beyond Callanish and the circus; the world was just there to be a setting for the characters. Just not the kind of story setting I prefer, in the end, though there are some powerful bits — particularly between North and her bear.

Rating: 3/5

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