Adrian Collins's Blog, page 203

REVIEW: The Refrigerator Monologues by Catherynne M. Valente

Fridging‘ is the practice of killing off or hurting a minor character to motivate or torture the main character. The term comes from the world of comics, describing an issue of Green Lantern in which the hero’s partner is killed and stuffed in a refrigerator for the protagonist to find.

Let that sink in a minute.

This is a storytelling trope aimed at motivating the main character through emotional torture. That violence is usually visited on a female character to motivate a male character.

Case in point:

*The death of Gwen Stacey in Spiderman – Is thrown off of a bridge only to have her neck snap at the last minute by spiderman.



*The death of Linda Park in Flash – Although the originally planned demise of Linda Park in The Flash was avoided, the sonic boom that was created by the battle between Zoom and Flash caused the pregnant Linda to abort her children.

*Barbara Gordon from Batman The Killing Joke – “While she fought crime for years as Batgirl, it was the fact that she was Commissioner Gordon’s daughter that caused Barbara to receive a visit by the maniac known as the Joker. In an attempt to drive the Commissioner insane, the Joker showed up at Barbara’s house and shot her in the stomach, then proceeded to remove her clothes and take pictures of her. He showed these pictures to her father to try and break him, but the Commissioner remained sane and was freed by the Batman. Barbara, however, was paralyzed — the bullet lodged in her spine, and she never walked again, becoming the wheelchair-bound information broker known as Oracle. Also, they gave her a crappy TV show, so, you know, double whammy.”(link)

*Sue Dibny was the wife of Ralph Dibny, the Elongated Man. – “The two were always a happy couple of the superhero set, with Sue often acting as den mother to the Justice League, and the pair did detective work on the side, like some sort of stretchy Nick and Nora Charles. Then came the Identity Crisis mini-series. Right off the bat, Sue gets horribly burned to death in her home. The culprit is unknown, but based on the evidence, the League suspects it to be Dr. Light. Now Doc Light is usually a D-list villain, and he actually had his name stolen by a superhero once, but we find out through a flashback that one day, when Sue was hanging out on the Justice League satellite (by herself, in space), Dr. Light somehow managed to get aboard. Yes, a supervillain had somehow gained access to the League’s high-tech HQ (in space), and that was when he decided to rape Sue to within an inch of her life.”(link)

Now that you see this trope for what it is, it is hard to unsee it in popular literature. It is everywhere from TV to Comics. Which brings us to the brilliant Refrigerator Monologues written by Catherynne M. Valente. The Refrigerator Monologues is a combination of The Vaginia Monologues by Eve Ensler and Gail Simone’s Women in Refrigerators. It is six stories told from the point of view of six dead women. Either the superheroes themselves or wives/girlfriends/motivations of living superheroes. The stories are brilliant and based loosely around existing stories in the comics universe. For example, the first story is about a character, Paige Embry, loosely based on Gwen Stacey. Paige is hurled off of a bridge only to have her neck snapped in when saved a la Gwen Stacey from Spiderman. The stories that Valente wrote are much rawer, much more adult, and much more real. And frankly much more interesting.

I think the best story of the bunch, and that is saying something because every story in this collection is damn good, is the one about Pauline Ketch. This story is loosely based on Harley Quinn. Violence is not sexy, and violence within a relationship is definitely not sexy, it is tragic and sickening. This story is hard to describe, it should be read. It is written from an almost obsessive combination of love/sex/violence where the reader doesn’t know where one emotion ends the next begins and isn’t that what the Harley/Joker relationship is?

The Refrigerator Monologues is brilliant. Valente created an entirely real universe and canon of superheroes to prove a point. It is not preachy, it is persuasive and well written.

Read The Refrigerator Monologues by Catherynne M. Valente

Check out more reviews from Beth.

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REVIEW: Best Served Cold by Joe Abercrombie

Best Served Cold is the first entry of three standalones set after the fantastic First Law trilogy by Joe Abercrombie. It has dark humour, a vile cast and action so bloody and grim you can practically see the spouts of shooting blood on the pages. What’s not to love?

“What do the dice say?”

Dice say nothing. They are dice.”

Why roll’em, then?”

They are dice. What else would I do with them?”

Twoyears from the end of The Last Argument of Kings, Best Served Cold takes us to the land of Styria – one that is ridden with war, death, revenge and many other unpleasantries. We follow the story of Monza Murcatto, on her path for vengeance after she is betrayed, her brother murdered and she is injured. All against Grand Duke Orso.

“You were a hero round these parts. That’s what they call you when you kill so many people the word murderer falls short.”

It’s a simple and direct story, with a few twists here, but for the most part, is a brutal revenge story with characters who make the cast of Reservoir Dogs seem like the good guys.

“When God means to punish a man He sends him stupid friends and clever enemies.”

After binging The First Law trilogy I fell in love with the characters. When reading Best Served Cold I found it hard to grow a meaningful connection with the cast, maybe because The First Law characters were so damn good. However, there are some familiar faces from the previous trilogy that was immensely enjoyable to be able to shed new light on them.

“That was the difference between a hero and a villain, a soldier and a murderer, a victory and a crime. Which side of a river you called home.”

The plot, although simple, was full of fantastic scenes. There are some of the most brutal moments Abercrombie has written here, as well as some *truly* disturbing sex scenes that I couldn’t stop laughing throughout. All of the glory and romanticism is taken from everything and sheeted with a coat of morally grey paint.

“My name is Nicomo Cosca, famed solider of fortune, and I am here for dinner.”

Although not as strong as The First Law – not much is – I still enjoyed Best Served Cold. There are intriguing characters with dialogue so witty you could put a tail on it and call it a weasel. The interactions are clever and I look forward to delving deeper into these standalones within The First law universe.

“Sometimes men change for the better. Sometimes men change for the worse. And often, very often, given time and opportunity . . .’ He waved his flask around for a moment, then shrugged. ‘They change back.”

4/5 – A fun read, with great scenes. Although the main character Monza was totally dislikable in a whole new level for most of the time, I still really enjoyed this read. Bring on The Heroes!

Read Best Served Cold by Joe Abercrombie

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An Interview with John Gwynne

At Grimdark Magazine we are huge fans of the epic fantasy author John Gwynne. Through our friends at Pan Macmillan, Gwynne recently released A Time of Courage, the incredible finale to his Of Blood and Bone trilogy. We thought that now would be a good time to interview John for the site. The great news is that he agreed so I would like to thank John for taking the time out of his day to answer some questions for us.

Hi James, it’s great to be back here at Grimdark Magazine, and to be chatting with you again. Thanks so much for the invite.

I’d like to say congratulations for completing Of Blood and Bone with the release of A Time of Courage. How did you feel when you finished writing A Time of Courage, knowing it was the end of another epic series, and also the seventh, and perhaps final novel in The Banished Lands?

Thank you, James, I really appreciate that. Thinking about A Time of Courage and the Banished Lands, it didn’t really hit me that it was THE END until I sat down to write the acknowledgments for A Time of Courage. Looking back, it’s been quite the journey, beginning in 2002 when I first decided to take up writing as a hobby and started working on Malice, the Faithful and the Fallen and the Banished Lands. Eighteen years and seven books later…

So, finishing A Time of Courage was quite the moment for me, especially when considered in the context of my daughter Harriett having just come through the most terrible of times, including a long stay in hospital and some very dark moments. I don’t even think I can describe how I felt. I do remember hoping readers would feel that A Time of Courage was a satisfying end to the tale I began in Malice. I wanted it to have a sense of hope running through the book, even in the darkest of times, some kind of reflection of what we had gone through with Harriett. And I clearly remember thinking that I wanted the Banished Lands to go out with a bang…

If you had to choose a character from the Of Blood and Bone trilogy to be stranded with, and to hopefully survive with, on a desert island then who would you pick?

Ha, that’s easy, it would have to be Craf. I think I’d enjoy chatting to that lazy, cheeky old crow.

If you were somehow magically transported to The Banished Lands is there a particular city or part of the world that you’d like to live? How would you keep yourself busy whilst there?

That would have to be Dun Carreg, where Corban began his tale, or perhaps Brina’s cottage, which is close by. That part of the tale felt like my ‘Shire,’ where life was good and happy for a while.

How would I keep myself busy? Perhaps finding someone to teach me the running mount in the weapons field, or spending my time helping wolven escaping from bogs…

Your next series, The Bloodsworn Saga, starting with The Dragon Unchained is set to be released through Orbit books in 2021. Could you tell our readers what they can expect from that series? How it is different from your previous works? Also, can you also tell us something that you have not yet told your readers about The Bloodsworn Saga, such as a character’s name or a fact about the world they reside in?

The Bloodsworn Saga, I am so excited for you to read this.

My first inspiration for this story is Ragnarok and Beowulf; a world where the gods are dead, fought to extinction, and now filled with Jarls and petty-Kings and Norse monster-hunting mercenaries – though the bands of warriors in this tale are grittier and less heroic than Beowulf and his band of heroes.

I’ve delved deep into Norse mythology and Scandinavian folklore to build this new world; a world of ice-blue fjords, of snow-peaked mountains and dark, mist-shrouded forests, a world where dragon-ships prowl the seas and creatures of tooth and claw stalk the land. A world where the remains of the gods and their tainted off-spring are valuable commodities and are hunted in the pursuit of power.

But most of all this tale is built around the characters. I hope that they will be the heart of the story, and that they will carry the reader into a world of danger, into a world of oaths and betrayal, of love and friendship. Into the world of the Bloodsworn.

I find it hard to objectively evaluate my own writing, but the few who have read it so far have told me it’s grittier than the Banished Lands, and that it feels both more historically authentic and more fantastical. There are three POV characters, Elvar, Varg and Orka.

I’ve absolutely loved writing book one, it felt wonderful to just let loose in a new world. I hope that you’ll join me in following the Bloodsworn as they carve a bloody path across Vigrið, the battle-plain.

What are the books that have influenced you most as an author?

There are so many, but if I had to narrow it down three names come to mind. Tolkien, Gemmell and Bernard Cornwell. A combination of those three would be my perfect read. Tolkien’s epicness and beautiful prose, Gemmell’s flawed characters and pacing, and Cornwell’s all-round perfection – character, gritty historicity and vivid, brutal battle-scenes.

Stepping out of the specifics of your books for a moment, I’d like to ask you about writing in general. What is the most challenging part of your artistic process?

Time management, and by that I mean actually sitting down to write. It’s something I’m getting better at, but it doesn’t come naturally. My lifestyle is pretty hectic and disorganised – there are many, many medical appointments surrounding my daughter, and two of my other sons still live at home so there are a lot of distractions. It doesn’t help that my sons love their Viking re-enactment (as do I) and are often sticking their heads into my writing room and saying “Fancy a scrap in the garden,” whilst waving a sword or axe at me. So, it isn’t the easiest thing to sit down and make time to research or write.

If you could invite three people to your fantasy Warband, alive, dead, or fictional, who would they be and why?

Ha, okay, let’s think about this. Thor, because lets face it, having the God of Thunder on your team would probably help in most situations, although he could also end up getting me into a lot of trouble. Nona from Mark Lawrence’s Book of the Ancestor series, because she is so loyal to her friends and you can count on her to guard your back, and Samwise Gamgee, because you always need someone with a bit of salt and seasoning in their cloak, just in case you get the chance to cook a roast chicken.

Are there any books that have been/ are being released in 2020 that you are excited to read?

Bernard Cornwell’s The War Lord. It’s the final book of his Last Kingdom series, featuring the iconic Uhtred of Bebbanburgh. A wonderful, wonderful series and I am so excited to read the finale, but also already sad that it will be the last one.

Throughout The Faithful and the Fallen and Of Blood and Bone, is there a scene, in particular, that stands out in your mind that you are really proud of writing?

There are scenes from each book that pop up in my mind when I think of the individual books, but if I was to narrow it down to just one scene…that would probably be a scene from Ruin, where Corban walks out of the safety of the fortress of Drassil to duel Sumur. I loved writing that scene – the duel and then the following part, where Corban is charged by horsemen and just stands there, feet set and sword raised, waiting for them, unaware that Storm, Shield and his entire warband were hurtling through Drassil’s gates to try and reach him. It felt like a defining moment for Corban, who began his tale in Malice as a fourteen year old boy daydreaming about being a warrior.

On the back cover of A Time of Courage, you have amazing blurbs from Adrian Tchaikovsky, Anna Smith Spark, Mark Lawrence, Giles Kristian, James Islington, and Christian Cameron. How does it feel to get such praising and positive feedback from your peers?

Surreal. Utterly surreal. Those are all writers who I admire and respect enormously, and it always makes me nervous when I know that a writer who I love is having a look at one of my books. To know that they enjoyed one of my books really is a staggering feeling. And a huge, huge relief

I have commented many times in my reviews how much I love your characters that are animals or creatures, such as Craf, Storm, and Wrath. If you could have a pet creature from the Banished Lands what would you choose and what would you name them?

It would have to be a talking crow. I love my dogs, and would be pretty happy having a wolven like Storm around, but I think there would be a lot more fun with a talking crow.

When writing moments that move your readers do you find yourself getting emotional too?

There have been a few scenes or moments I’ve written where I felt so deep in it that I could almost touch and breathe it, the scene is so vivid in my mind. My quest is always to try and put what I can see in my head down on paper. There have been a couple of moments when I felt very emotional during the writing of a scene. The end of Ruin. A certain moment in Wrath. And a few moments in A Time of Courage. It’s a bit like a prickling of the hairs on your arm. Those moments are rare for me, but when they do happen I feel like it might have come out okay.

Have you ever thought about fantasy casting for your stories? If they were to get big-screen or Netflix adaptions, which actors do you think would be a good fit for one of your characters?

Haha, yes, of course I have. When writing Maquin I always pictured him as Mads Mikkelsen – especially in his Valhalla Rising role.

Do you remember the moment when you came up with the mantra “Truth and Courage” and did you know then that this phrase would become so important to your novels and to your fans?

I do remember coming up with it – it was after I’d watched Gladiator and Maximus said ‘Strength and Honour.’ I thought that was cool and it would be great to have a kind of mantra for my hero. I wanted something that felt like it summarised the heart of my story, which at its core is a good vs evil tale, but hopefully with a contemporary, realistic edge. Truth and Courage felt like two principles that were really at the heart of how I was imagining Corban. But I had absolutely NO idea how central that phrase would become to the whole series, and really the whole seven books set in the Banished Lands.

A Time of Courage is currently sitting nicely on Goodreads with an average rating of 4.66/5. How does it make you feel knowing that your books are being so well received? Do you ever read any of your reviews? How do you take the good and the bad ones?

To see your book going down well is an amazing feeling, and to see A Time of Courage with the highest Goodreads rating of any of my books so far is wonderful. It is a relief, more than anything. I did not want to fumble the end of this seven book tale, I wanted the Banished Lands to go out with a bang, both in terms of epic scale and the events that happen in the book, but also on an emotional level for the characters who have fought and died their way through the saga. Everything I write and ever will write will have family and friendship at its heart, and it was important to me that this did not get lost in the sheer scale of the events that happen in A Time of Courage.

On the whole it seems that my readers have enjoyed this last adventure in the Banished Lands (for now), and that does make me feel happy.

And yes, I tend to read all of the reviews. It’s a great way of finding out what works for readers and what doesn’t. It’s also a great way of ruining your day. When I was first published a good review would have me walking on air, and a bad review would put a raincloud over my head. Good reviews still have that effect on me, but bad reviews, not so much. They are something you just have to get used to, and they don’t affect me like they used to. It’s a part of publishing, although it is a difficult thing to come to terms with. Writing is so deeply personal, you’re not just making a product, you’re putting something of yourself into your books, and they feel like a part of you. Publication Day is something like your child’s first day at school, and if they come home and you hear that someone has been mean to them you feel extremely protective. It can feel a bit like that when publishing your book.

Thank you John. I hope you are staying safe and you and your family are well.

Cheers, James, it’s been a pleasure chatting, and thank you for the invite and the questions.

Read A Time of Courage by John Gwynne

The post An Interview with John Gwynne appeared first on Grimdark Magazine.

REVIEW: The Ember Blade by Chris Wooding

The Ember Blade by Chris Wooding was a recommendation by fellow Grimdark Magazine reviewer, James Tivendale, for which I’m very grateful. Just so you’re left in no doubt as to which way this review is going to go, I’ll kick things off with this opening declaration: stand aside JRR Tolkien, GRR Martin and Joe Abercrombie, for Chris Wooding.

Yes, you read that right. The Ember Blade is hands down the best fantasy novel I’ve ever read. I can only think of two things that suck about it: 1. The sequel is not yet published, and 2. The blurb on Goodreads and Amazon is poorly written and makes The Ember Blade sound like a stirring of the same old soup. But it is not, for this book is 1000% the real deal.

I’ll qualify my opening ravings by disclosing that the main themes in The Ember Blade had a particular resonance with me, since I was raised in Malta, a former British colony, by parents who were both Anglophiles. I can still recall once criticising a book on ‘famous lives’ which I’d received as a birthday present, by stating that it contained too much of a focus on British people, as if no one else in the world also made their own contribution. It earned me a stern rebuke from my mother who informed me that this primary focus was merited since the Brits set the standard in everything and do everything in proper and orderly fashion.

Which is why I could instantly identify with the book’s young protagonist Aren and his sidekick Cade, two Ossian boys who are raised in a country conquered and colonised by the Krodan Empire. Growing up they are taught that everything Ossian is backwards and to be forgotten, while they should aspire to learn and adopt Krodan ways. Aren is raised as a Krodan and constantly dismisses his Ossian background, unlike his closest friend the low-born Cade, who constantly pokes fun at Aren’s posturing while also reminding him that he is essentially a white raven i.e. an Ossian doing his best to be something he’s not.

Aren ignores Cade’s jibes, keen as he is to embrace the ways of what he perceives as the Krodan master race. He faithfully adopts their faith, manners, dress, culture and cuisine, while also enjoying a dalliance with a local Krodan girl, albeit against her family’s wishes. Yet his whole world comes crashing down when he is unjustly separated from his father and arrested along with Cade, with both boys taken to a mine where Krodan captives are worked to death. I could go on and on about what happens next but I shan’t, since I couldn’t live with ruining the sheer delight of this novel for any aspiring readers. Suffice to say that I’ve not often encountered themes of colonisation and rebellion so powerfully, intricately and movingly described, both in fantasy and other genres.

But be warned: it is a really long book. Yet there’s no sagging, irrelevant, mind-numbingly boring scenes like hobbits bagging gas with Farmer Maggot or being sung to sleep by Goldberry in the house of Tom Bombadil. The opening chapters are a carefully crafted build up until things pick up (the gentle and unhurried narration on Audible doesn’t help matters, so that I turned the speed up from 1 to 1.4, which suddenly ticked things along at a satisfying pace). It’s all a bit like a snowball beginning to roll down a hill before you are seized by the collar and hauled along for such a fast and exhilarating ride that a huge novel suddenly seems far too short.

The quality of writing is extraordinary, holding its own with any literary novel while not using hard words for the sake of it. The character building and plot twists are divine. The Grimdark element is present throughout, with real consequences for each of the characters’ actions and there being no convenient quick fixes or sudden deus ex machina moments to dilute the suspense which is ratcheted up further with each page turned. Wooding’s world is also possessed of a magic which is soft but intensely deep and powerful, with far-reaching consequences.

The interactions between the characters are extremely engaging, with each of them possessed of credible personal sufferings, troubles, strengths and aspirations. Their cultures and backgrounds are intricately set out in a world that’s both highly credible and immersive. I loved each member of the ‘fellowship of the blade’ (for want of a better description) and in Garric and Grub I’ve added two more awesome characters to my personal pantheon of favourite characters in fantasy, which includes Gandalf, Aragorn, Silk, Glokta and Logen Ninefingers.

The Ember Blade contains the well-worn fantasy tropes of perilous escape, bildungsroman, quest, rebellion, love triangle and so many other arcs and sub-plots which have been done before. But the way Wooding has blended and remixed it all is just to die for. There’s little to no gallows humour like that used by Abercrombie, yet overall this pays off since this sort of humour would only serve to dilute the real sense of danger that lurks at the edge of each page so that you can almost taste it. In fact I can’t count the number of times my mouth went dry or my stomach knotted up in fearful anticipation while reading this book. I also started biting my nails again. Yet the eventual payoff and ending are so good I felt like I needed a bone-crushing hug afterwards to stop me quivering all over, overwhelmed as I was by the quality of this novel.

So it’s a five on five read, I’d give it ten on five if it were up to me. A brilliant reminder of how intense and exceptional an experience awesome fiction can be when it’s done well. And at this point, phew, I’ve run out of superlatives, and am not quite sure what else I can say to make you pick up The Ember Blade right now. You can thank me later.

Buy The Ember Blade by Chris Wooding

The post REVIEW: The Ember Blade by Chris Wooding appeared first on Grimdark Magazine.

Best SFF books of 2020 so far: picked by the GdM team

There have been some magnificent books released this year. We asked the GdM team what they thought the best SFF books of 2020 so far were, with each member of our reviewer team putting forward their favourite. As with each of these lists we publish, they generally span the gamut of dark fiction to full blown grimdark, but I’m sure readers will be happy to see some laughs in this list as well–because bugger me we could all use some!

We’ve got plenty to look forward to in fiction over the second half of 2020, but if you’re itching for something new to read right now, you could do a lot worse than the below books! We have plenty of action, intrigue, stories close and personal alongside the epic and grandiose, and all well worth looking in to.

Happy browsing!

Along The Razor’s Edge by Rob J. Hayes
(Picked by Chris Haught)

At just fifteen Eskara Helsene fought in the greatest war mankind has ever known. Fought and lost. There is only one place her enemies would send a Sourcerer as powerful as her, the Pit, a prison sunk so deep into the earth the sun is a distant memory. Now she finds herself stripped of her magic; a young girl surrounded by thieves, murderers, and worse. In order to survive she will need to find new allies, play the inmates against each other, and find a way out. Her enemies will soon find Eskara is not so easily broken.

Our review: Click here

Interview with Rob J. Hayes: Click here

Sample chapter: Click here

Read in the US: Along the Razor’s Edge (The War Eternal Book 1)[image error]

Read in the UK: Along the Razor’s Edge (The War Eternal Book 1)[image error]

Flyaway by Kathleen Jennings
(Picked by Michael Dodd)

In a small Western Queensland town, a reserved young woman receives a note from one of her vanished brothers—a note that makes question her memories of their disappearance and her father’s departure.

A beguiling story that proves that gothic delights and uncanny family horror can live—and even thrive—under a burning sun, Flyaway introduces readers to Bettina Scott, whose search for the truth throws her into tales of eerie dogs, vanished schools, cursed monsters, and enchanted bottles.

In these pages Jennings assures you that gothic delights, uncanny family horror, and strange, unsettling prose can live—and even thrive—under a burning sun.

Our review: Click here

Read in the US: Flyaway[image error]

Read in the UK: Flyaway[image error]

Stormblood by Jeremy Szal
(Picked by Adrian Collins)

Vakov Fukasawa used to be a Reaper, a biosoldier fighting for the intergalactic governing body of Harmony against a brutal invading empire. Now, he fights against the stormtech: the DNA of an extinct alien race Harmony injected into him, altering his body chemistry and making him permanently addicted to adrenaline and aggression. It made him the perfect soldier, but it also opened a new drug market that has millions hopelessly addicted to their own body chemistry.

But when Harmony tells him that his former ally Reapers are being murdered, Vakov is appalled to discover his estranged brother is likely involved in the killings. They haven’t spoken in years, but Vakov can’t let his brother down, and investigates. But the deeper he goes, the more addicted to stormtech he becomes, and Vakov discovers that the war might not be over after all. It’ll take everything he has to unearth this terrible secret, although doing so might mean betraying his brother. If his own body doesn’t betray him first.

A vibrant and talented new voice in SFF: alien technology, addictive upgrades, a soldier determined to protect his family, and a thief who is prepared to burn the world down . . .

Our review: Click here

Read in the US: Stormblood[image error]

Read in the UK: Stormblood[image error]

Camelot by Giles Kristian
(Picked by Edward Gwynne)

Britain is a land riven by anarchy, slaughter, famine, filth and darkness. Its armies are destroyed, its heroes dead, or missing. Arthur and Lancelot fell in the last great battle and Merlin has not been these past ten years. But in a small, isolated monastery in the west of England, a young boy is suddenly plucked from his simple existence by the ageing warrior, Gawain. It seems he must come to terms with his legacy and fate as the son of the most celebrated yet most infamous of Arthur’s warriors: Lancelot. For this is the story of Galahad, Lancelot’s son – the reluctant warrior who dared to keep the dream of Camelot alive . . .

Our review: Click here

Read in the US: CAMELOT (working title): the epic new novel from the author of Lancelot[image error]

Read int he UK: Camelot: The epic new novel from the author of Lancelot[image error]

The Once and Future Witches by Alix E. Harrow
(Picked by Fabienne Schwizer)

In 1893, there’s no such thing as witches. There used to be, in the wild, dark days before the burnings began, but now witching is nothing but tidy charms and nursery rhymes. If the modern woman wants any measure of power, she must find it at the ballot box.

But when the Eastwood sisters–James Juniper, Agnes Amaranth, and Beatrice Belladonna–join the suffragists of New Salem, they begin to pursue the forgotten words and ways that might turn the women’s movement into the witch’s movement. Stalked by shadows and sickness, hunted by forces who will not suffer a witch to vote-and perhaps not even to live-the sisters will need to delve into the oldest magics, draw new alliances, and heal the bond between them if they want to survive.

There’s no such thing as witches. But there will be.

Fabienne’s review at libridraconis.com: Click here

Read in the US: The Once and Future Witches[image error]

Read in the UK:The Once and Future Witches[image error]

A Time of Courage by John Gwynne
(Picked by James Tivendale)

Battle the dark

Reclaim the world

The Demon-King of the Otherworld is finally free. And armed with mighty new starstone weapons, Asroth prepares to lead his demonic war-host south. With the help of his dark bride Fritha, he plans to crush the warrior-angels and their allies.

In the shadows of Forn Forest, Riv and the surviving Ben-Elim hold a war council. After the catastrophic events at Drassil, they are desperate to unite those who would stand against Asroth and his army. So they fly west, to join the Order of the Bright Star. But Drem and the Order are besieged by a demon horde – and their fragile defence may soon shatter.

Across the Banished Lands armies are heading south, to settle ancient grudges and decide the fate of humanity. Drem, Riv and the Bright Star’s warriors will need every ounce of their courage if they are to join the final battle. But will their combined forces be enough to face down their greatest foe?

In A Time of Courage, angels, demons and heroes face the ultimate fight for the Banished Lands. Thousands of years of enmity will be put to the test, in the epic conclusion to John Gwynne’s mighty trilogy.

Our review: Click here

Read int he US: A Time of Courage (Of Blood & Bone Book 3)[image error]

Read in the UK: A Time of Courage (Of Blood and Bone)[image error]

The Order of the Pure Moon Reflected in Water by Zen Cho
(Picked by Mike Myers)

Zen Cho returns with a found family wuxia fantasy that combines the vibrancy of old school martial arts movies with characters drawn from the margins of history.

A bandit walks into a coffeehouse, and it all goes downhill from there. Guet Imm, a young votary of the Order of the Pure Moon, joins up with an eclectic group of thieves (whether they like it or not) in order to protect a sacred object, and finds herself in a far more complicated situation than she could have ever imagined.

Our review: Click here 

Read in the US: The Order of the Pure Moon Reflected in Water[image error]

Read in the UK: The Order of the Pure Moon Reflected in Water[image error]

The Last Smile in Sunder City by Luke Arnold
(Picked by Elizabeth Tabler)

A former soldier turned PI tries to help the fantasy creatures whose lives he ruined in a world that’s lost its magic in a compelling debut fantasy by Black Sails actor Luke Arnold.

Welcome to Sunder City. The magic is gone but the monsters remain.

I’m Fetch Phillips, just like it says on the window. There are a few things you should know before you hire me:

1. Sobriety costs extra.

2. My services are confidential.

3. I don’t work for humans.

It’s nothing personal—I’m human myself. But after what happened, to the magic, it’s not the humans who need my help.

Walk the streets of Sunder City and meet Fetch, his magical clients, and a darkly imagined world perfect for readers of Ben Aaronovitch and Jim Butcher.

Our review: Click here

Interview with Luke Arnold: Click here

Read in the US: The Last Smile in Sunder City (The Fetch Phillips Archives (1))[image error]

Read in the UK: The Last Smile in Sunder City (Fetch Phillips Book 1)[image error]

Assassination Protocol by Andy Peloquin
(Picked by CT Phipps)

Nolan Garrett is Cerberus. A government assassin, tasked with fixing the galaxy’s darkest, ugliest problems with a bullet to the brain.

Armed with cutting-edge weapons and an AI-run cybernetic suit that controls his paralyzed legs, he is the fist in the shadows, the dagger to the heart of the Nyzarian Empire’s enemies.

Then he found Bex on his doorstep…

A junkie, high on the drug he’d fought for years to avoid, and a former elite soldier like him. So he takes her in to help her get clean—Silverguards never leave their own behind.

If only he’d known his actions would put him in the crosshairs of the most powerful cartel in New Avalon.

Facing an army of gangbangers, drug pushers, and thugs, Nolan must fight to not only carry out his mission, but to prevent the escalating violence from destroying everything he loves.

Cerberus: Assassination Protocol is the riveting, heart-pounding first book in the epic military sci-fi Cerberus series. If you like fearless heroes, non-stop futuristic action, and neck-breaking plot twists, you’ll love Andy Peloquin’s thrilling space opera series.

Buy Cerberus: Assassination Protocol now to watch an assassin fight to protect the innocent!

Charles’ review at Booknest.eu: Click here

Read in the US: Assassination Protocol: A Military Space Opera Thriller (Cerberus Book 1)[image error]

Read int he UK: Assassination Protocol: A Military Space Opera Thriller (Cerberus Book 1)[image error]

The Headlock of Destiny by Samuel Gately
(Picked by Nate Aubin)

Some say titans are descended from giants. Others say they are risen from men. But there’s never any debate about where to find them. They will be in the center of a roaring crowd, beating the hell out of each other. From contenders like the Savage and Scott Flawless to pretenders like Richard the Living Portrait and Troll-Blooded Thom, a titan’s lot in life is the same: To wrestle for dominion and glory in the squared circle.

Van, a quiet titan from the brewery town of Headwaters, wants no part in this. He’d prefer to be left alone with a beer. But destiny has him in a headlock, and it is prepared to drag him into battles that will shake the land and change his world forever.

Step into the ring with this one-of-a-kind novel, brewed special for fans of epic fantasy, fans of professional wrestling from the Golden Era and beyond, or simply fans of a good tale.

Our review: Click here

Read in the US: The Headlock of Destiny: An Epic Fantasy / Pro Wrestling Mash-up (Titan Wars Book 1)[image error]

Read in the UK: The Headlock of Destiny: An Epic Fantasy / Pro Wrestling Mash-up (Titan Wars Book 1)[image error]

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REVIEW: The Monster Baru Cormorant by Seth Dickinson

I was so excited to read The Monster Baru Cormorant after absolutely loving The Traitor Baru Cormorant, and calling Baru one of the best protagonists in fantasy. When the publisher sent me through links for both Monster and Tyrant at the start of iso, I thought this was going to be brilliant–the world was burning around us but I had two books I was so excited to read back-to-back during lockdown.

The story starts with failure: failure of courage, failure of combat, failure of death, and who knows how many others—all leading, eventually, back to the secret rebel accountant, Baru. And this is all part of an absolutely devastating opening quarter of book. I gobbled up the first quarter of this book in a couple of days. But that’s where my happiness and enjoyment of The Monster Baru Cormorant pretty much ended. And I do need to say in fairness to both author and publisher that, in hindsight, this was likely the wrong book to have read during these times. It’s a heavy read, has plenty of characters, and if you lose concentration for a moment, or forget a detail, or read it over a long period of time, like I did, then you’re going to miss things.

Our key cast of characters are fairly familiar, with Baru, Aminata, and Admiral Ormsmet leading the fray.

Baru is on a mission to find the mysterious Cancrioth–the mysterious puppet masters sitting behind and guiding the numerically superior (to Falcrest) Oriato Mbo people. They are famed to be immortal, and the Falcresti cryptarchs want that power. The cryptarchs topple nations with disease and commerce, they bring people after people under the iron shod boot of Falcrest. They have done so much just in the last few decades. Imagine what the Falcresti cryptarchs could accomplish within many lifetimes?

Animata, two navy voyages into her career, is now a landlocked torturer of her own people—know thy enemy—using whores to fill time and need and wishing Baru, dead or alive, would write her back. Then the Admiralty gives her command of a mission—the one mission she wishes didn’t exist.

Admiral Ormsment has a plan, and the Emperor of Falcrest is going to kill her and everyone she knows if she goes ahead with it. With two ships full of loyal crew, and a new alliance, it is time for her to hunt down Baru.

The second quarter of this book is a lot slower, sometimes a bit dreamlike, to how I remember book one. In this section we spent a lot of time in Baru’s head, trying to figure out the repercussions of her actions in The Traitor Baru Cormorant, deal with the shadow of her lover, figure out who wants her dead and who is helping her and why. The threads of where this book could go writhe out in what feels like a hundred trails of possibility.

Unfortunately, in hindsight, this is perhaps where I should have pulled the pin on The Monster Baru Cormorant–perhaps even just to try and pick it up again in happier days. All these threads just end up creating a bunch of confusion and an incredibly long drawn out second half of the book that does not deliver a satisfying ending–a dissatisfying bridge into book three. I feel like I can see what Dickinson was doing. I understand the plot. I can see the characters grow and change. I just can’t say there was ever a moment where I was thinking, “Wife? Food? Sleep? Forget that! I’ve got to drop everything and read!” as opposed to feeling obliged to finish the book so I could review it.

The frustrating thing is that all the right ingredients are there in this book. A super shadowy foe to discover and chase down. A nicely diverse and different group of characters. Enjoyable ethical systems and characters who truly see the world differently. Espionage and fear of discovery. Brutal, brutal, decisions and repercussions. A very gross but very cool low magic system. One wonderfully terrifying extra foe in Tain Shir. Real heartbreak. An end goal where it should have been a brilliant unveiling that drives home an unquenchable thirst to get into book three.

This book feels like it should have been half the length, like Dickinson had too much story for a duology and not enough story for a trilogy, and went with the latter, jamming all the good bits into book one and (hopefully, now) book three.

One thing I do really want to highlight is some really interesting commentary from the author on how culture is fluid—it’s in a perpetual state of change and has no set boundaries. That really rang true with the prejudices I have witnessed change in my lifetime around the LGBTQIA+ community, and I assume some of the change other countries have seen in their own cultures and populations as the world becomes more and more connected and people leave their countries to live on other shores in greater numbers, taking their own cultures and life experiences with them. This is something Dickinson does really well throughout this series so far. He ties themes that matter to readers now into his work in a manner that doesn’t have him on a soapbox preaching and info dumping, but has you seeing this change through the eyes of Baru.

In the end, this is a book I wanted to love so much. Again, I don’t know if it was the times I tried to read it in, or it was just as unenjoyable as I found it (I haven’t looked at anybody else’s reviews to compare), but I found The Monster Baru Cormorant to be a long grind towards an unsatisfying end. I really hope The Tyrant Baru Cormorant is as epic as I think it will be, but I’m going to read a few short, sharp, million-miles-an-hour books to get my mojo back before I open up Tyrant.

Buy The Monster Baru Cormorant by Seth Dickinson

As with evil, reviews are a matter of perspective. Perhaps you’ll have a different experience to mine.

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REVIEW: Every Sky a Grave by Jay Posey

I received an uncorrected proof copy of Every Sky a Grave in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to Jay Posey and Harper Voyager.

In Every Sky a Grave we follow Elyth, an agent for the First House of the Ascendance. This female-only order regulates the galaxy and keeps peace and harmony throughout. When a planet’s path deviates from what the authorities desire then an operative is sent to do a task. Their objective is to use the Deep Langauge, the greatest of all the Ascendance’s technologies, to assassinate the planet. Elyth uses these words of power to bring forth the assigned planet’s destruction. Upon completing her mission on Revik, she is urgently called back to base and given a crucial follow-up mission. This task, which takes Elyth to the planet of Qel, makes up the lion’s share of the action that takes place in Every Sky a Grave.

Elyth is a model agent for the First House of the Ascendance. She is highly trained and experienced in stealth, reading people, manipulating situations, combat, and with the Deep Language. She is a true believer of the First House’s cause. When upon Qel, her mission does not go to plan at all. When events go a bit haywire Elyth has to use analyse the strange scenarios and improvise on the assignment that isn’t like any that she has completed before. There is a mysterious and powerful entity on or surrounding the planet, and that something, or maybe the planet itself, may not give in to Elyth’s words of power and doom.

Every Sky a Grave, the first novel in The Ascendance Series, was my first time reading anything by Jay Posey. The intriguing premise won me over completely, I think the cover is beautiful, and the publicist presented it as science fiction for fans of Mark Lawrence. Every Sky a Grave does have a planet-hopping science fiction Book of the Ancestor vibe to it. Like Nona, Elyth is the sole third-person point of view perspective and she operates for a female-only assassin/warrior establishment. Similar to Lawrence, Posey is a skilled wordsmith who creates excellent imagery, presents quality and exciting set-pieces and makes me truly empathise with his protagonist throughout. Even if she is stubborn, headstrong and blindly dedicated to her role in First House of the Ascendance. I enjoyed following her patterns of thinking when dealing with a scenario or drama.

I had a mostly positive experience when reading Every Sky a Grave. It took me a while to get into though and some of the chapters in the first half of the novel dragged and seemed overly descriptive, including the opening segment. Throughout the second half, I didn’t have this problem but it may be that whilst reading I became attuned to Posey’s style, just embraced it and enjoyed the ride. The chapters tend to be between 20-35 minutes long so I always made sure that I had at least that time set aside so that I wouldn’t be rushed and could relish what was being presented.

We spend a fair amount of the narrative’s time in Elyth’s head as she is alone but the novel also includes some fine supporting players. The Paragon of the First House is a great character who has been extremely influential in Elyth’s upbringing yet my favourite character is someone who I can’t really mention or describe here without potentially mentioning something that might take away from the reading experience. All I will say is that they were an absolute pleasure to read about and their interactions with Elyth were sometimes humorous, often thought-provoking, but always had me glued to the page.

Every Sky a Grave, although the first in a series, works perfectly well as a standalone. The last 25% to the ending is terrific and takes the novel from a steady 3 to a strong 4-star rating for me. What could come in the next books is exciting and there are a lot of possibilities. I believe I will check out the sequel as I am interested to see what is next for Elyth after the knowledge gained, and the revelations and events witnessed here. Every Sky is a Grave is an intriguing and entertaining read for those who wish to follow the adventure of an assassin of worlds. Even with the sections that dragged to me, I raced through the 400 or so pages in 4 days. Recommended.

Buy Every Sky a Grave by Jay Posey

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REVIEW: The Black God’s Drums by P. Djèlí Clark

I have been to New Orleans, once. And even in my limited understanding of New Orleans, I can imagine how difficult it would be to get down on paper in The Black God’s Drums. Not only does P. Djèlí Clark get it on paper, but he also evokes the “spirit of the place.” He understands what makes New Orleans hum. Clark understands the smells, and he gets the people. He gets what it feels like to walk the cobblestone streets and hear the music of Mardi Gras. Any reader can read this story and smell beignets, moss, and hear the deep thrumming of drums in their bones. It is no small feat.

The Black God’s Drums is an immersive tale, a steampunk-esque alternative history. An eloquently written, and researched, story set in confederate era New Orleans post Civil War Stalemate. Clark took legends and folklore from Haiti, the Caribbean, and Africa and paired them with the history of the Haitian Slave Rebellion of 1794. In reality, the rebellion helped create only Haiti, a state free from slavery, and ruled by non-whites and former captives. Yet, in this story, the rebellion helped free Haiti as well as most of the Caribbean and created a state known as The Free Isles. Thus a great stalemate was born between the Free Isles and the slave-owning south. A stalemate based upon a mysterious weapon, previously used once against the French fleet. A weapon that is so powerful that to use it again, it would destroy everything.

Against the backdrop of history, both real and imagined lay New Orleans and our protagonist Creeper. Creeper is a 13-year-old street kid gifted or cursed by the goddess Oya. She makes her living stealing and doing what is necessary to survive. Even though Creeper is a thief, there a strong moral current that flows through her. Given different circumstances, you know that Creeper wouldn’t steal. There is no great thrill to stealing save for prolonging her life a day at a time. Oya, the Yoruba goddess of winds, lightning, and violent storms, death, and rebirth. She was brought to New Orleans in the hearts of slaves. Part of Oya has settled inside of Creeper, sending her visions and protecting her on occasion.

Creeper wants to escape her circumstance. After a chance meeting with a Cajun smuggler and overhearing some useful and important information, Creeper has a chance to leave. What follows is an exciting array of characters. Specifically in the form of Captain Ann-Marie of the airship Midnight Robber. The Captain has secrets of her own and that could involve Creeper. The story has exciting plot elements and a gorgeous retelling of history from that era.

If you like stories that involve nuns, smuggling, mysticism, and saving the world. All set against New Orleans, this is the story for you. It is gorgeously and atmospherically written and I cannot wait to read whatever else Clark writes.

“Fighting it has to be like trying to push back a flood. In my head, Oya laughs. You can run from those old Afrikin goddesses. But they find you when they ready.”

Buy The Black God’s Drums by P. Djèlí Clark

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REVIEW: A Plague of Swords by Miles Cameron

A Plague of Swords solidified The Traitor Son Cycle as one of the best epic fantasy series written. It has everything I have come to love in fantasy, and continues on a wonderfully fun trajectory that has built up to the final instalment excellently. A Plague of Swords was the excellent penultimate entry of the Traitor Son Cycle.

“Never ascribe to some conspiracy of evil what can be explained as easily by ignorance and fear.”

Now being the fourth book of the series, I’ll not go into the plot and intricacies of A Plague Swords – but I WILL go into everything that is especially brilliant about The Traitor Son Cycle.

With the grand ending of the previous book, A Plague of Swords begins with the ‘sides’ of the various wars in a state of limbo, recovering from the conflicts and preparing for those that lie ahead.

“Ser Tomaso,” she said. “It is very likely we will all die.”

“Or worse,” said Brown, the first words he’d said in days. Ser Tomaso made a brave face.

“Perhaps,” he said. “But we will eat well.”

A Plague of Swords has the addition of some intriguing and enjoyable features, such as SEA MONSTERS – and yes, they are terrifying and glorious. We also have the addition of a certain Gryphon that is now rideable by a certain knight – Ariosto is one of my favourite characters, I really want my own Gryphon. Even if they are hungry all the time. He’s so polite too! Yeah, I like Ariosto.

We also see a thread that resembled the final chase in The Last of the Mohicans. Miles Cameron has taken influence from various cultures, and I loved reading about the tribes that were obviously inspired by Native Americans.

“You said you’d lead us to hell,” Tom said. He laughed. “Oh, we will make such a song!”

Being four books into a series some readers would expect A Plague of Swords to be similar to the previous three reads, with small changes. But no, Miles Cameron has clearly developed as a writer and has enjoyed taking risks. We know there are gritty and bloody battles with knights in full plate, heavy cavalry charges, vile boglins and pageantry. But there are twists here, like spy threads, new creatures, celebrations, new alliances. There is something extremely new to this fantasy world that keeps you on your toes.

“Since when does war only have two sides?”

5/5 – I am loving my foray into The Traitor Son Cycle and cannot believe I am so close to the end. A Plague of Swords is a fantastic addition and has proven what an excellent writer Miles Cameron is (yet again, I know!)

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REVIEW: Stoker’s Wilde by Steven Hopstaken & Melissa Prusi

I received an advance reading copy of Stoker’s Wilde in exchange for an honest review. I would like to thank Steven Hopstaken, Melissa Prusi, and Flame Tree Press.

The concept of Stoker’s Wilde intrigued me straight away. It is an epistolary novel that is set in the late nineteenth century and sees Bram Stoker and Oscar Wilde, who actively dislike each other, begrudgingly working together to thwart a vampire cult masterminded by the mysterious Black Bishop. Much like Bram Stoker’s Dracula, Stoker’s Wilde features numerous narrators presenting the events chronologically through diary and journal entries, letters, police reports, newspaper articles etc…

Stoker’s Wilde is a finely composed mix of horror, historical fiction, and the supernatural written in a classic style that borrows elements from both Dracula and Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray in its presentation, writing style, flair for language, and events that take place. It features many famous faces from the Victorian-era including Henry Irving, Ellen Terry, Sir Richard Burton, Robert and Teddy Roosevelt, as well as a Lord Wotton, and a Dutch vampire-hunter who has a lot in common with Van Helsing.

The main point of view perspectives were Stoker’s journal and Wilde’s diary. Both were a joy to read albeit completely different presentations with Stoker’s writing being factual and thought-provoking in his commentary whilst Wilde’s recording of events is full of style, wit, charisma, and is extremely quotable. The way Wilde’s sections flow and the lexical choices made me think that certain sections could have been written by the great man himself.

Stoker’s Wilde is a haunting gothic horror love letter to the titular authors. Hopstaken and Prusi have dedicated a lot of time, care and effort into their research and the subject matter and it shows. The novel has many exciting moments and reads like an extremely skilfully crafted classic horror tale. It’s the unlikely pairing of Stoker and Wilde that steal the show. Stoker’s relationships, finding out about his powers and past, and Wilde’s wit, place in society, and sexuality are all a joy to read about. They are two opposites of the era which makes them such a fine pairing.

There are some excellent suspenseful moments, pretty gory incidents, and a fair few decapitations and vampires turning into goop. The ending features a fantastic set-piece at stone henge that approaches dark fantasy territory and events are set up perfectly for the sequel, Stoker’s Wilde West, where the unlikely duo venture to America to help their ally, Robert Roosevelt. I will be checking out that book very soon.

The only real negative I have is that occasionally some of the letters written by less interesting characters such as Florence Stoker were not as exciting to follow as Bram’s and Oscar’s moments so I occasionally rushed these sections to get back to what I considered the best parts. That being said, overall I recommend this book to fans of horror, vampires stories, the paranormal and Victorian classical fiction.

Buy Stoker’s Wilde by Steven Hopstaken & Melissa Prusi

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