Beth Tabler's Blog, page 153

Review – Star Trek Drastic Measures by Dayton Ward

“It doesn’t matter what planet you’re on, there’s nothing like biting into a crisp Fuji apple first thing in the morning.”

I just finished DRASTIC MEASURES about an hour ago and decided to do my review immediately rather than wait for it to digest in my brain like I do with most of my books. As anyone who checks my Amazon or Goodreads account knows, I’m a huge Star Trek book fan and have reviewed over fifty books on the subject. This is a drop in the bucket of the number actually produced and also the number I’ve read. It’s just now that I’ve started making a habit of writing down my thoughts on every one of the books I read.

STAR TREK: DISCOVERY has been a somewhat controversial entry into the series but that’s nothing new for longtime Trekkies. Every series has its critics and every one of its changes got torn to shreds by the original fandom nerds (of which Trekkies used to have a copyright on). While I have complaints, I’ve overall enjoyed it and especially liked the characters of Captain Lorca and Captain Phillipa Georgiou that represent binary differences on how two Federation heroes might act. I also was a fan of the previous novel, DESPERATE HOURS, which seems to have already been decanonized given it’s hard to reconcile with Michael Burnham/Spock’s relationship in Season Two.

The premise for this novel is it chronicles the events of the Tarsus IV massacre. In the original Star Trek series, “The Conscience of the King”, Governor Kodos massacred 5,000 of his citizens in order to stave off a famine that would have killed the entirety of the colony. Unfortunately, this was an enormous mistake not just on moral grounds but on practical ones. It turned out Starfleet relief ships were able to get there much faster than expected and if he’d waited just a day longer, no one would have had to die.

This episode is, in my opinion, probably the best Star Trek episode of the original series other than “City on the Edge of Forever.” It was a dramatic Shakespearian revenge plot with guilt, lies, betrayal, and intrigue. Captain James T. Kirk was a child on Tarsus IV when this massacre happened and it weighed upon him his entire life. It probably didn’t happen in the Kelvin timeline of Star Trek (you’ll get that reference if you’re a nerd like me) and episodic television means it was never brought up again but it always stuck with my vision of who James Tiberius Kirk was.

Drastic Measures postulates that Captain Phillipa Georgiou (then Commander) is there to be the first responder for the famine relief, only to find a massacre’s aftermath instead. Also, Lieutenant Commander Gabriel Lorca is planetside, chilling with his girlfriend and buddies when events turn nightmarish. Putting both of them in such a pivotal Star Trek event pushes credibility but not too much. It also fits Gabriel Lorca, at least as how Discovery treats him, that he’d be witness to such a terrible event.

Overall, I enjoyed the novel and had fun reading it but it does feel like it had a few missed opportunities. The majority of the book deals with the manhunt for Governor Kodos who, we know, will survive for decades until Captain James T. Kirk discovers him. The problem is that the most interesting part of the story, the decision to incinerate the colonists and build-up to it, is more or less skipped over.

I also feel like Kodos’ personality is a bit off. While it’s certainly possible that a man could change drastically in twenty years, the sheer dark dramatic irony of his situation barely seems to affect him. He has a bunch of followers and is primarily concerned with their escape like they’re terrorists. Given the massacre was completely and utterly unnecessary, I feel like the horror and regret of events would be weighing on Kodos much more.

Even so, it’s entertaining and has an epic twist at the end I didn’t see coming. The best parts of the book are probably the interview sections that create the fictional premise that this is a documentary being done on the massacre a good decade in the future. I felt that added a gravitas to the whole thing that would be otherwise absent.

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Review – Blood Debts by Terry J. Benton Walker

Thirty years ago, a young woman was murdered, a family was lynched, and New Orleans saw the greatest magical massacre in its history. In the days that followed, a throne was stolen from a queen.

Have you ever come across a book that just felt MADE for you? As if the author has reached inside your literary mind and created a story that seems to cater to your every whim and thought process? I’m sure that has happened to you at least once, reader. It’s the reason we love reading so much, the reason we dive from story to story in search of that one book that stands out and gives us an enthralling experience like no other.

I have come across such a book, dear friends, and I want to share it with you. That book is Blood Debts by Terry J. Benton Walker. Set to be released April 4th, 2023, I was lucky enough to be sent an ARC through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Now, I have been following terry on Twitter for a while, and have loved his personality, his jokes, the pictures he’s shares of his adorable son, and the snippets of his writing he has shared with us on there. I had a really good feeling about Blood Debts the more he talked about it, but I was unaware at how blown away I was going to be by this amazing book.

Here’s a link to the synopsis if you are inclined to check it out: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/60784432-blood-debts?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=Ti6VIjwKKJ&rank=1

When I picked this book up, I was super excited, but also a tad bit nervous because i was in the midst of a 2 month long reading slump, and I was worried that my mood would affect my experience with this book that I was highly anticipating. I am more than happy to announce that this book gripped me by the throat and single handedly pulled me out of my slump and didn’t let go until the very last page.

“For every child of color who was denied the justice they deserved. You always matter.”

This is the dedication that was in the beginning of the ARC I received of this absolutely phenomenal book, and what an important dedication it is.

This story is a love letter to Black kids as well as an intriguing mystery full of Black magic, family drama, revenge and messiness all blended into the fantastical setting of New Orleans.

It’s been a long time since I have read a book in which every single character has jumped off the page and come alive. Even characters that I was set against felt real, and I understood their complex emotions and reasoning. I fail to see how this book is just a debut; it stands out so well on its own that it feels like a third or fourth book.

I love how Terry always mentions on his socials that this book is for Black readers to feel seen and like this is their story, because this book feels exactly like that. There was some trauma in Blood Debts, but there was also the strong sense of familial bond, the deep intense love that every Black family knows. This family went hard for each other and even during moments when they were at odds with one another, they still had each other’s backs.

So much detail went into this book, from family history to past betrayals to current rivalries. I was on the edge of my seat the whole time.

I went through all the emotions reading this book. I was rooting for these characters, crying over them, hyping them and cursing them out all at the same time. Trust me when I say each character in this book is gonna make you feel some type of way.

My favorite thing about this book was how unapologetically Black it was. It was so refreshing to just immerse myself in this story and see myself (specifically my YOUNGER self) in every aspect. i am so excited that younger Black readers get to experience this story and see themselves as well.

I am 100% in support of anything Terry J. Benton writes from here on out; this debut was a masterpiece, and I don’t say that lightly. My only gripe is that I needed the sequel YESTERDAY!

I can’t wait for more of these characters and to get more answers because the ending had me shook to my core.

This is a book I can definitely see flying off the shelves upon its release date, so if you haven’t already already, do yourself a favor and pre order Blood Debts by terry J. Benton Walker (and why not follow him on his socials as well? I promise he’s a lovely human being.).

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Review – Drunk on All Your Strange New Words by Eddie Robson

Eddie Robson, of the comic book ( 2000 AD, Transformers: Prime, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Captain America: Living Legend) and short story (mainly from his work in the mesmerizing Dr. Who series) brings us his third novel entitled, Drunk on all your Strange New Words. A book that I was thoroughly engrossed in until at 60%, in which I became hopelessly lost for a bit. 

“The world has enabled so many bullshitters. It’s exhausting.”

The narrative is a locked room murder mystery, a “who done it,” if you will. The idea of the story is relatively straightforward; Lydia, who works as a translator for the alien cultural attache, becomes embroiled in political schemes, xenophobia, and more. All she wants is to keep her job and stay out of jail. The political machinations are not at the forefront of the story as in other science fiction novels. Instead, this is a light-hearted science fiction comedy with politics and a locked-door mystery. 

The Logi is a species of first-contact aliens here on Earth, learning about our culture and who we are as a people. They are decidedly different than us; they speak via mind-to-mind communication, are more robust, and cannot abide our electronic technology. They prefer the tangible paper book to the electronic VR technology that is prevalent and used everywhere. 

The protagonist Lydia is a wholly likable, flawed character. She is a little frazzled when an ordinary person should be distressed, and a bit lost when all the pieces don’t make sense. I appreciated that about her character. I find that often when you read this kind of murder mystery novel, the protagonist or lead “detective” has an extraordinary level of perception. One is not believable in any other character than Jane from The Mentalist and Sherlock Holmes. Lydia is no Sherlock or Jane. She is winging it as best as she can with the wits she grew up with and her education at the language institute.  

The relationship between the Logi and their interpreters is exciting and well done. I have never thought about mind-to-mind communication that would make one of the parties drunk. They become “drunk on all your strange new words.” 

The Logi are not dressed up as humans with human reactions; they are very much a different species than humans, although humans and Logi have figured out how to live and together. But there are responses and interplay between the humans and Logi that I can see happening, people being people and as varied as human beings are, a group would inevitably develop xenophobic reactions to the Logi and creatures that are so “alien.”

In the background, there is a climatic disaster. This story is taken place long after the seas have risen, large swaths of land are unusable, and few significant cities still exist. This backdrop is not done in a hamfisted way and is a nod to the real climatic concerns humans are dealing with now. This story is grounded in a possible future. One, I hope that will not happen. 

Drunk on all Your Strange New Words is a new and entertaining novel by Author Eddie Robson. It is a wonderful way to laze the day away and learn about The Logi, their love of books made of paper, and the unfortunate occurrence that sets Lydia into a tailspin. 

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First Chapter, First Paragraph – Firestarter by Stephen King

First Chapter, First ParagraphFirestarterby Stephen King

“The world, although well-lighted with fluorescents and incandescent bulbs and neon, is still full of odd dark corners and unsettling nooks and crannies.”

What is Firestarter About?

The Department of Scientific Intelligence (aka “The Shop”) never anticipated that two participants in their research program would marry and have a child. Charlie McGee inherited pyrokinetic powers from her parents, who had been given a low-grade hallucinogen called “Lot Six” while at college. Now the government is trying to capture young Charlie and harness her powerful firestarting skills as a weapon.

First Chapter, First Paragraph of Firestarter

“Daddy, I’m tired,” the little girl in the red pants and the green blouse said fretfully. 

“Can’t we stop?” 

“Not yet, honey.”  He was a big, broad-shouldered man in a worn and scuffed corduroy jacket and  plain brown twill slacks. He and the little girl were holding hands and walking up  Third Avenue in New York City, walking fast, almost running. He looked back over  his shoulder and the green car was still there, crawling along slowly in the curbside  lane. 

“Please, Daddy. Please.” 

He looked at her and saw how pale her face was. There were dark circles under  her eyes. He picked her up and sat her in the crook of his arm, but he didn’t know  how long he could go on like that. He was tired, too, and Charlie was no light-  weight anymore. 

It was five-thirty in the afternoon and Third Avenue was clogged. They were  crossing streets in the upper Sixties now, and these cross streets were both darker  and less populated. . . . But that was what he was afraid of.  They bumped into a lady pushing a walker full of groceries.

“Look where you’re  goin, whyn’t ya?” she said, and was gone, swallowed in the hurrying crowds. 

His arm was getting tired, and he switched Charlie to the other one. He  snatched another look behind, and the green car was still there, still pacing them,  about half a block behind. There were two men in the front seat and, he thought, a  third in the back. 

What do I do now? 

First Chapter, First Paragraph &- The Deep By Rivers Solomon, Daveed Diggs, William Hutson and Jonathan Snipes

First Chapter, First Paragraph -; Cryptofauna by Patrick Canning

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Review – SHIFTING DIRECTIONS by Eve Koguce

Well, the journey is concluded. “Shifting Directions”, the final installment of the multi-award winning “Neglected Merge” trilogy, was a gratifying ending to one of my favourite romantic-fantasy series, by the author Eve Koguce.

Tying together all the threads from the first two books, “Neglected Merge” & “Tangle of Choices”, “Shifting Directions” does feel like a different type of book, almost like an epilogue, to the main series. Regardless, the novel really worked for me.

The novel is set several years after the events of “Tangle of Choices”. The Wingless Ones and the Wingless are intermingling more than ever. Intense and intimate relationships continue to form between the two races.

Tauria is still the heart and soul, it would seem, of the Wingless Ones, and the binding leader between the Winged Ones and the Wingless, even though Tauria’s own husband and soulmate, Doron, is the actual Ruler of the Winged Ones.

The gruff and tacturian Grayson is still the titular head of the Wingless, and he confronts internal issues within his ranks. Though his admiration for Tauria is perceived by some to be inappropriate, and their friendship is fraught with surface animosity, there is a deep and mutual abiding respect, rather than any real romantic tension. Tauria is completely besotted with her husband, and he with her.

Grayson actually has a very formidable woman in his life, and keeps this love affair low key.

Still, this novel is really about other trysts, mostly among the younger generation, but also among the more mature. Central to these are Sandra and Darragh. Sandra is innocent, Darragh bitter and misguided. Their involvement will have huge repercussions for the future of the fragile co-existence of two races who are still working on trusting one another, and working towards melding into one seamless society.

As with the previous books in this series, Koguce’s character work is stellar. Still, for me the standout in “Shifting Directions” was not one of the new up and comers but an old hand.

Alfred, the sage politician, nearing the end of his life, is still one of my favourite characters, and he really shone in this book despite a reduced role. Alfred’s wisdom and grace in helping to still provide sage guidance to those struggling with change while coping with his own mortality was amazing to watch. Seeing someone like Ferrus lose some of his austerity, and become more likeable and warm, was also pleasing. But the best characters in the book were the strong female ones, including Abelia, Sophia, and of course Tauria.

Tauria still makes this series go, and her complexities, her fierceness, and her innate goodness, make her a protagonist to root for. Her love, Doron, grows into his role, but to me is not as much of a natural leader as his wife, though he is pragmatic, capable, and has a real capacity for justice and equanimity.

With themes of found family, loss, newfound love, change and evolution, sacrifice, and coming-of-age, I found lots to compel me in this read, outside of the wonderful, touching, and often heart-breaking romance.

No one writes like Eve Koguce that I have ever read. Part lyrical, part philosophical, with a real appreciation for rich storytelling, reminsicent of a more classical style of writing, I have truly enjoyed Koguce’s lovely prose. This has been one of my favourite aspects of this incredible series.

My least favourite aspect of this book, and this series is that, with “Shifting Directions”, it’s over!

Another five-star triumph for the author in “Shifting Directions”, and I’m hoping to read a lot more of Eve Koguce in the future, because she is a rare talent in the romantic-fantasy sphere.

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Book review – SPINDRIFTS by A.M. Mawhiney

An uplifting and beautiful sci-fi novel, “Spindrifts” by A.M. Mawhiney explores how the jarring lessons of catastrophes such as worldwide pandemics and the prospect of utter catastrophe brought on by such human-made calamities as global warming can potentially forge a more optimistic tomorrow.

The novel is set approximately fifty years from now, after the world has barely survived repeated epidemics and ecological apocalypse. Largely, the saviours of earth via an advanced technological project called the “Earth Project”, were a scientist named Alicia, and her husband Nide. A return to a more rural, agricultural-based existence, and renewing the earth, has spawned the Land of Hope. This area, the source of the original project, has become a haven, where successive generations of Alicia and her extended family reside.

Earth is still in danger, however, yet the aging matriarch Alicia believes that her progeny holds the key to ultimate survival. The youngest members of Alicia’s family seem to hold particular promise. Two sisters, Alicia’s great-granddaughters Fania and Nuna, have not yet come into their own. For what path one follows in life, in Mawhiney’s world, is determined by “Immersion”. Immersion is something of a two-year retreat for those who have turned thirteen years of age, where such youngsters leave their families and spend two years secluded away, trying to refine their talents and ascertain what vocation they should pursue.

Fania returns from Immersion still uncertain about what path she should follow. While she loves her sister, she is also envious that it seems Nuna will be spared Immersion, because Numa appears to be a musical prodigy, and is offered a prestigious placement accordingly. Yet one of the reasons why Fania has not found her way is because she seems to have almost unlimited potential, and special powers, with a capacity to affect the world as a whole.

As Fania comes to understand more about earth’s troubled past through her sometimes difficult relationship with her great-grandmother, she may learn enough, and be able to harness her latent talents enough, that she may positively impact earth’s future. But the Earth Project is not without its controversy and secrets. A project dedicated to salvation, it may also hold the key to the destruction of all it’s trying to save.

The characterization in the novel is wonderful. The story is told via straight narrative, from the perspectives of multiple characters – but mainly Alicia, Nuna, and Fania – and through journal entries by Fania. Inherently, the characters one will find in “Spindrifts” are all highly noble, though not without their flaws. Impatience, selfishness, immaturity, and sometimes hubris are evident among them, but they are all focused on overcoming their own desires and wants for the sake of those they love, and for the greater good of humanity itself. They are characters who are all easy to root for, and their deep and abiding love of their family (despite some dysfunction) in particular, makes them highly endearing.

The writing was lovely, with incredibly vivid descriptions of the landscape. I add one such passage here for pure reading enjoyment:

“A wraithlike lightshow of vibrant neon and lime greens waved in swells of colour then shifted into deep purples, reds, flashes of bright yellow, and indigo. The stars shone through them as the aurora danced and sparkled, expanding, disappearing, and reappearing in wide swathes of glorious counterpoint against the inky night sky. Their fluid movements reminded Nuna of Kizhep’s watercolours when pigments blended with water over the surface of the paper, sometimes overlapping and turning complimentary colours.”

The themes in “Spindrifts” are obviously inspired by recent world events. The society depicted in the novel is somewhat Utopian  – not perfect, but a world that has moved past pervasive issues such as racism, homophobia, sexism, and thus been able to address in a determined and focused fashion overarching concerns like climate change.

The author makes her characters deeply connected to the earth, respect and revere the environment, and have a high level of care and concern for their fellow humans. She envisions a society where everyone’s contributions, talents, perspectives, and differences matter, and where everyone uniting for social and environmental change to preserve the planet is not just a platitude, but something put into action. It is such an inspiring vision of hope, love, and family, that as a reader and person living on this earth, I could not help but wish for the ability to live in such a time.

I may love to read a lot of dark fantasy and sci-fi fare, but it was wonderful to bask in the light for a moment, and that is the feeling I had while reading this novel.

This is a book where the conflict and antagonist is ourselves as humanity, and the havoc we can wreak on our planet, though we possess the enormous potential for greatness and saving ourselves in the same breath. I loved “Spindrifts”, and it is an important book that deserves to be read, a book that I feel we need right now, more than ever, in the face of what we are grappling with as a human race.

Read “Spindrifts” to be encouraged and motivated to see how great we could become.

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Review: Priest of Lies by Peter McLean

“Kneeling in the temple doesn’t make you godly any more than standing in a stable makes you a horse, to my mind.”


Synopsis

Tomas Piety has been many things: soldier, priest, gangster…and spy. As Tomas’s power grows, the nobility better watch their backs, in this dark and gritty epic fantasy series.

People are weak, and the poorer and more oppressed they are, the weaker they become–until they can’t take it anymore. And when they rise up…may the gods help their oppressors.

When Tomas Piety returned from the war, he just wanted to rebuild his empire of crime with his gang of Pious Men. But his past as a spy for the Queen’s Men drew him back in and brought him more power than he ever imagined.

Now, with half of his city in ashes and the Queen’s Men at his back, the webs of political intrigue stretch out from the capital to pull Tomas in. Dannsburg is calling.

In Dannsburg the nobility fight with words, not blades, but the results are every bit as bloody. In this pit of beasts, Tomas must decide once and for all whether he is truly the people’s champion…or just a priest of lies.

Review

Hello again dear reader or listener, I hope you are well!

I’m back for my next review in the War For The Rose Throne series with Priest of Lies, and let me just say right off the bat, it gets bigger, it gets better, it gets darker! Continuing to follow the narration of Tomas Piety and his story full of spies, gangsters, and harsh justice, felt great, especially as I read the first two books practically back-to-back. In fact, with book one, Priest of Bones (whose review you can find here), McLean introduced the reader to his world, his characters, and mostly hinted at what was yet to come with some great action. But with book two, he really gets down to business. Everything I enjoyed from before was made better here, be it the well woven characters and their arc development, or the cleverly and speedily unfolding story. I also found its relatively episodic nature comfortable to read from a technical point of view, in that even if I left the book for a couple of days for whatever reason, it didn’t feel like I had interrupted the plot midway. Magic is also more prevalent now than before and its added threat raised the stakes considerably.

Tomas has to deal with his PTSD more actively in book two moreover, he becomes more vulnerable in more ways than one, and the way the reader gets to see all this made for some edge of your seat/nail biting moments. With the setting that expands to look past the known Ellingburg streets, the reader meets new allies and new kinds of foe that Tomas and his Pious Men will have to deal with. And while I definitely missed Bloody Anne while Tomas has to move to Dannsburg for a while, following him as he has to figure out and understand a different brand of criminal than what he is used to, was extremely fun as it allowed me to appreciate his character more in how he evolves and learns.

To further sweeten the deal, I was delighted at the amount of tenderness and softness I found in this book as well, which was what endeared me to the protagonists and plot even more so than before. There is just so much to the relationships among the characters that there is a very good amount of hefty feels to be had, both good and bad. But at the same time there were a couple of plot twists I totally didn’t see coming and ultimately precipitated the plot towards a powerful ending that has me equal parts concerned and excited for what is to come next. If the progression from book one to book two is anything to go by in fact, I am confident that book three, Priest of Gallows, is going to continue on this path and be even greater!

Until next time,

Eleni A. E.

Check Out the Original Review here

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Review: Priest of Bones by Peter McLean

“One thing I have noticed in life is that the men who speak the most of honor are usually those who have the least of it.”


What is Priest of Bones About?

The war is over, and army priest Tomas Piety heads home with Sergeant Bloody Anne at his side. But things have changed while he was away: his crime empire has been stolen and the people of Ellinburg–his people–have run out of food and hope and places to hide. Tomas sets out to reclaim what was his with help from Anne, his brother, Jochan, and his new gang: the Pious Men. But when he finds himself dragged into a web of political intrigue once again, everything gets more complicated.

As the Pious Men fight shadowy foreign infiltrators in the back-street taverns, brothels, and gambling dens of Tomas’s old life, it becomes clear:
The war is only just beginning.

Review

Hello again dear reader/listener!

It’s been a while since my last review and the main reason why is that I’d been on rereads and, after that, because I hardly read much of anything for a few weeks. When this sort of lull happens, I’ve learned it is because I need a change of pace with what I’m reading. So I finally turned to a book I bought quite a while ago after having read an author interview with Peter McLean.

Turns out that Priest of Bones was exactly the change of pace that I needed, and I’ve already bought the sequels, Priest of Lies, and Priest of Gallows, to get into soon as can !

Following the story as told/written by Tomas Piety in first person, the reader is met with a matter of fact recounting of events that reveals a character who is choosing to share his story, while also keeping some of the details to himself. This is all done while commenting on it all in a manner that, I don’t want to say is bleak, cause it’s not really that, more like with very few fucks left to give and heavily influenced by the protagonist’s principles. This sort of unreliable narrator is the kind that fascinates me the most, especially because when done well, and I’d argue that McLean did it brilliantly, it reveals more about the characters themselves than what they’re actually telling the reader. At the same time, this makes for a fast moving story that doesn’t waste time on world building through long expositional paragraphs, but rather only focuses on the relevant details and events.

That said, Tomas’ narration is admittedly also fairly repetitive throughout, but I found it added to the charm and rendering of his voice eventually. A few choice phrases especially gave the whole thing a certain cadence which I believe would work even better when listened to in audiobooks (a trusted source tells me it is so as well)!

As for the plot, I was expecting grim and I was expecting dark, and hoooo boy did I get both!! But here’s the thing, McLean’s grimdark is the kind that I enjoy because while intrinsic to the setting and plot, it wasn’t the overwhelmingly bleak kind of ambience that really drains any good feelings you had before opening the book. I won’t go down that rabbit hole but suffice it to say that while this story and its characters very much aren’t fluffy unicorns and kittens on a picnic, there are hopes and dreams for a better future, and characters that persevere. They all have their psychological scars to deal with, be it because of past trauma or ptsd from the recent war, and the way it is all navigated was rather honest (sometimes brutally) in its severity and weight, while also not being romanticized in some odd way or ridiculed/made light of.

This finally, is also what made this book for me along with the characters! There’s a varied and multifaceted cast of them, with Bloody Anne (my new queen, long may she reign – she and Tomas are a new favorite duo), the clever and loyal Luka, and Billy the Boy with his magic, among my favorites! Moreover, the way the reader gets to know them through Tomas’ eyes added that subjective lens to them that guarantees my attention is most piqued so that I try to discern how much Tomas sees but doesn’t understand or viceversa how much he observes but then picks and chooses how to act on.

All said, I’m super eager to continue reading this series to see how Tomas and his Pious Men will continue in their fight to make a better life for themselves while also fighting a foreign threat through a hidden war!!

Now, excuse me while I go fight the urge to binge watch all of Peaky Blinders again because I find myself in the sudden mood to watch my favorite gangster -ahem businessmen- series!

Until next time,

Eleni A.E.

Check Out the Original Review Here

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Review – Blood of a Novice: An Anchored Worlds Novel by Davis Ashura

What is Blood of a Novice About?

Cam Folde will shake the very fabric of creation… or see all his hopes turn to ash.

The son of the town drunk, Cam never figured on letting his family name hold him down. He always strove to dream bigger, to fight for something better, to achieve more than what everyone else expected of him.

But, as they say, ‘once a Folde, always a Folde’, and when a decision to rescue a friend leads to disaster, fortune’s favor is lost. Cam spirals away from his dreams and ambitions; his fall finally ending at the bottom of a bottle.

But all hope is not lost. Cam rises, supported by family and friends. And when a powerful Master of Ephemera offers him a chance to walk the Way into Divinity and achieve redemption, Cam seizes the opportunity. All he has to do is survive the Ephemeral Academy, the very school where the next generation of Masters are trained. There, Cam just might achieve the greatness he’s always sought, and with friends at his side, including an irrepressible Awakened panda, it even seems possible.

But Cam will soon discover that the Way into Divinity is as steep as it is arduous, and there are more fearsome things than humans who brave its perilous climb…

Review

While I have not been hugely into the cultivation fantasy scene, I have read some, mostly from authors like Tao Wong and Harmon Cooper, which I did enjoy. I know there is a much wider world of cultivation fantasy out there, but it hasn’t been a focus for me. However, when I heard that Davis Ashura, whose Castes and Casteless series I enjoyed, had written a cultivation novel, I volunteered to review it for Before We Go Blog, which Beth Tabler, the head reviewer wrangler over there, happily provided me. So now that I’ve covered the background, let’s answer the all important question of, is it any good?

The answer to that question is yes. As far as plot, it is a take on the coming of age story, with young Cam Folde starting as a young teen looking to overcome his troubled family history in their small village, who takes a chance at power that will allow his to better his lot and life, but has it all go disastrously wrong, with consequences that will affect him for the rest of his life, or until he gains enough power to basically become a demigod and offset it, which seems like the impossible quest. Tragedy seems to follow Cam, and its intriguing how the author sets it up so the reader is never sure if he will be able to overcome it. This is not some OP superman type that is never in danger. Cam has to earn his way through every situation, and fight hard for it, which leads to failures and successes throughout the story for Cam and his friends, leading to the climactic battle at the end of the story, with possible world altering consequences if things go sideways for Cam and Co.

The world building is very solid. Seeming like a typical fantasy world, the inclusion of ephemera changes everything. Ephemera is energy that can be absorbed and channeled for a variety of effects, everything from making crops grow better to increasing physical abilities to superhuman levels, as well as effects such as throwing elemental magic and even healing from near death. The cities are run by Sage-Dukes, who are basically demigod levels of power, having cultivated their ephemeral power over hundreds of years to unbelievable levels, and deal with challenges to their authority harshly. Outside of the cities are smaller villages that have much less powerful people, living a fairly typical medieval existence, with a few advantages due to ephemeral magic. The big threat to this existence is the Rhaksashas, Humans and Awakened beasts (anthropomorphized intelligent animals) that have chosen what amounts to the dark side way of accumulating ephemera, stealing it from others, which kills them. It is faster and easier, like a certain other Dark side. It’s the difference in how power is accumulated, either slower cultivation or theft and death, that drives the conflict between the two sides. It’s very much a classic battle.

The characters are really well done. Cam Folde is the main protagonist, and he is such a complicated character. He is driven to succeed beyond what his family has ever achieved. Considering they are unemployed drunks, he certainly isn’t expected to succeed. When the aforementioned try at power ends up with Cam advanced in Ephemeral level but in a way that leaves him weak and powerless, he ends up falling into the same bottle his family is in. It is an interesting story how he overcomes the addiction that will plague him for the rest of the story and beyond, starting on an epic journey in a most inauspicious way, being run out of town, and ending up through a fortuitous series of events at the Ephemeral Academy, to hopefully be able to learn to progress his abilities. Along the way he learns a lot about himself, and comes into his own as an ephemeral user and as a person, and his failures and triumphs lead him on a path he could never have expected.

The supporting cast is a real strength. It has such a wide diversity of characters, who are fully fleshed out with interesting personalities and backstories. There’s Pan, an Awakened panda who is Cam’s best friend, and has his own destiny to discover, with a mysterious prophecy hovering over that destiny. There’s Jade, who is looking to redeem the prestige of her fallen House. Avia, an Awakened orca in human form, is the heir to one of the Sage-Dukes, and has to accumulate enough power to replace her stepfather. And then there is Weld, a braggart and Cam’s main rival, who goes though his own journey of self discovery. This is the team that Cam will learn to grow and discover with, and face the biggest threat of his life. The remaining cast of mentors and teachers is also well written, and really add another layer to the story.

I have to admit this story really hooked me more than I expected it would. The mix of excellent characters and world building was expected, and the plotting is rock solid. I can see this story having appeal for a wide range of fans, new and old. While it has a lot of the cultivation elements, I think fans of more traditional fantasy will find lots to enjoy as well. I would definitely recommend this book, and I am intrigued to see where he takes the story from here.

Rating: 8.5/10

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Review: Our Crooked Hearts by Melissa Albert

“There’s magic born out of pure will, voiceless. No, not pure: will muddied and thickened with grief and terror, and love in all its forms.”

Synopsis
The suburbs, right now . . .
Ivy’s summer break kicks off with an accident, a punishment, and a mystery: a stranger whose appearance in the middle of the road, in the middle of the night, heralds a string of increasingly unsettling events. As the days pass, Ivy grapples with eerie offerings, corroded memories, and a burning question: What if there’s more to her mother than meets the eye?
The city, back then . . .
Dana has always been perceptive. And the summer she turns sixteen, with the help of her best friend and an ambitious older girl, her gifts bloom into a heady fling with the supernatural. As the trio’s aspirations darken, they find themselves speeding toward a violent breaking point.
Years after it began, Ivy and Dana’s shared story will come down to a reckoning among a daughter, a mother, and the dark forces they never should’ve messed with.

Review

Thank you to Ms. Cat Kenney at Flatiron Books for the eArc copy of this book! Receiving it did in no way affect my review.

Hello again dear reader or listener, I hope summer has been treating you well so far, aside from gestures vaguely at things happening in the world. For my part I have been feeling witchy so this promising piece of YA that I requested a while back was just what I needed.

Our Crooked Hearts is a double tale of mother and daughter coming into magic and its consequences, when they were each 16-17 years old. The mother’s half of the story is told in flashbacks so as to create parallelisms with her daughter’s present storyline, cleverly woven in such a way that what happened in the past is slowly revealed to optimally fit and complement what is happening in the present. Albert truly entwined her two plots brilliantly, filling in the blanks in the right moments or leaving them empty for even greater effect in select instances. I found this worked really well with the building up of both anticipation and dread as the whole tone of this novel is of something eventually going severely wrong, and the reader can’t help but hold their breath waiting for the other shoe to drop. When it does finally happen though you are rewarded with a satisfyingly wrapped conclusion that gives you the feeling of seeing the faraway light of dawn slowly break the darkness.

Albert’s prose is also absolutely beautiful yet simple, coming up with metaphors that I found to be exceedingly unique and sometimes weirdly specific but rendering the idea she wanted to send across so perfectly, that I often did a double take of ‘how this is so right?’. Using turns of phrase you’d never think of and yet creating the most crystal-clear image in your mind’s eye. In fact, while I tend to be more of a character driven reader, and this novel does have some very fascinating and nuanced character work as well, in this instance, I think that prose and ambiance was what shone the most for me. It made a relatively simple plot more memorable and the events and action flow uninhibited.

As for the characters there’s lots that you could focus on but I’m going for spoiler-free, so I’ll say this. Albert created some really flawed and lonely characters who in their almost desperate hope to find out who they are, and who are looking for a connection of some kind – be it between mother and daughter, or between friends – go to extreme lengths. Misguided actions, guilt, hope for something better, accepting that sometimes relationships can be maintained even when there’s walls between you and that you need to slowly work together to dismantle, if not completely, at least lowering their height a little. These are all themes in this book, as well as the importance of memories and our life experiences making us who we are.

At the same time however, I also can’t say that I was rushing to get to the end of this story either and I could’ve taken my leisurely time getting through it. To put it another way, this novel was overall lovely and with the upsides that I mentioned, but it is also the kind of book where, if you tell me you are specifically looking for certain elements that I know are in it, I’ll tell you, hey you can read this, but otherwise it’s not at the forefront of my mind.

So, dear reader or listener, if you are looking for a witchy book with no damsel in distress moments, with flawed characters who nonetheless persevere and try to do their best, while also fighting that feeling of disconnect from others, all rendered through beautiful prose and the occasional eerie moment, then this is the book for you.

Until next time,
Eleni A. E.

PS: I hope you’ll forgive my rambling sentences, this is the result of two days’ worth of nonstop headaches.

Read the Original Review Here

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