Sarah Chorn's Blog, page 105

An Inquiry into Love and Death – Simone St. James

About the Book

From the acclaimed author of The Haunting of Maddy Clare —and “a talent to watch” (Anne Stuart, New York Times bestselling author of Shameless)—a spellbinding ghost story set in 1920s England.

After her uncle Toby, a renowned ghost hunter, is killed in a fall off a cliff, Oxford student Jillian Leigh must rive to the seaside village of Rothewell to pack up his belongings. Almost immediately, unsettling incidents – a book left in a cold stove, a gate swinging open on its own – escalate into terrifying events that convince Jillian an angry spirit is trying to enter the house and is haunting the woods around Blood Moon Bay. If Toby discovered something sinister during his investigations, was his death no accident?

The arrival of handsome Scotland Yard inspector Drew Merriken leaves Jillian with more questions than answers – and with the added complication of a powerful mutual attraction. She suspects someone will do anything to hide the truth and begins to discover secrets that lie deep within Rothewell… and at the very heart of who she is.

368 pages (paperback)

Published on March 5, 2013

Published by NAL Trade

Author’s webpage

This book was provided for me to review by the publisher.

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One of the things I love about reviewing is how many different books I come across that I probably wouldn’t have read otherwise. Whether I love them or hate them, reviewing truly has expanded my book horizons in ways that I never dreamed of before. Another thing that is making me expand my horizons a bit is coming out of cancer treatment. Cancer treatment was very serious, and in some ways I think I’m looking for a mental vacation from all of that, so I’ve been gorging myself on books I’d typically stay very far away from, namely urban fantasy and books with romance in them. While these aren’t my typical dish, they are providing me with the mental break I really, really need right now, while giving me the thrill of discovering something new that only reviewing can provide me.

Case and point, An Inquiry into Love and Death. This is one of those books I probably wouldn’t have touched with a ten foot pole a few months ago, however, the publisher contacted me about reviewing it at the perfect time. While a few months ago I wouldn’t have read it, it seemed like the exact sort of thing I needed right now, so I jumped on it. And, the thing is, I actually ended up enjoying it a hell of a lot more than I ever expected to. That’s the other thing that’s great about reviewing – I learn that I like stuff that I never imagined I would have liked unless a publisher had sent it to me.

An Inquiry into Love and Dead is a sort of cross-genre book that will tickle the historical romance reader’s fancy while containing just the right amount of fantastic too catch the urban fantasy reader’s attention. This book takes place in the 1920’s with a protagonist who is one of the first women to attend Oxford university, which is interesting in its own right. The protagonist’s uncle passes away, and she has to travel to his house to take care of his affairs. Enter an interesting ghost story, a potentially haunted house and a hunky Scotland Yard detective and you have yourself a little historical/fantasy romance.

The plot itself isn’t really anything unique or eye catching. It’s a pretty stereotypical thing that follows all the right steps and the ending is pretty predictable. Yet despite all of that, the book itself is incredibly enjoyable. It’s a rare treat when I read a book that is both amazingly predictable and highly enjoyable at the same time. One of the reasons for this unique balance was the author’s historical details. It’s quite fascinating to read about a woman brave enough to attend university in an age when women just didn’t do that. The reactions that pepper the book when villagers learn that she’s an educated woman and traveling alone are genuine and give the book a very grounded feel. Furthermore, the ghost story itself, while kind of cheesy, is actually rife with historical details and showcase a portion of England’s rich history. It’s believable, and that’s part of what makes this book so charming. This isn’t incredibly far fetched, it’s something that the reader can actually picture happening.

Another thing that makes An Inquiry into Love and Death so charming is the author’s writing style. There’s a lot that can be said for St. James writing, not the least of which is her ability to bring an interesting, if fairly underrated period of history to life for the reader. Her prose are lyrical and flowing, with just the right amount of description. The plot might be predictable, but St. James infuses her book with enough emotion to make you truly care about the protagonist and her plight.

It should be noted that romance is heavily focused on in An Inquiry into Love and Death. While I expected this, readers who are looking for more of a good old-fashioned haunting might find themselves a little weighed down by the romantic aspects. That being said, the romance is handled well, and it has a sweet feel rather than smarmy. Though it does have a tendency to overpower the plot at certain points, it will probably hit the right notes for people looking for a nice, believable romance without all the graphic, porn-style sex that tends to fill so many urban fantasy books these days.

If I had to compare this book to others I’ve read, I’d say An Inquiry into Love and Death reminds me a bit of Among Others by Jo Walton, with a touch of Freda Warrington thrown in for good measure. The historical research and detail is incredibly well done, the romance is sweet and the writing really works to bring everything to life. St. James has an uncanny ability to balance a fairly stereotypical and rather predictable plot with some excellent writing and characters you truly care about. An Inquiry into Love and Death is a short book and a quick read, but it’s a charming one – some rather educational, believable brain candy. It’s a book that deserves far more attention than it has received so far.

 

3.5/5 stars

Garrett for Hire – Glen Cook

About the Book

Meet Garrett, P.I. He’s a hardboiled human detective who stands out in a crowd of elves, trolls, and other otherworldly denizens in the magical city of TunFaire. Garrett For Hire is “fantasy noir at its best” (Library Journal), collecting three novels from Glen Cook’s classic urban fantasy series.

Deadly Quicksilver Lies

A rich woman hires Garrett to find her missing daughter…or to act as her hitman. In TunFaire, sometimes it’s hard to tell the difference, leaving him no choice but to sift through the sex, intrigue, and murder to uncover the truth behind this case…

Petty Pewter Gods

With TunFaire real estate at a premium and prayer palaces at a minimum, the big gods on the block hold a contest: find the “key” to the one temple still available for worship. And when two rival pantheons try to hire Garrett to find it on their behalf, he finds himself facing the wrath of gods…

Faded Steel Heat

Riots between humans and non-humans have turned TunFaire into a war zone. And when a powerful gang of “human rightists” drag Garrett into the fray, he defends himself with a circle of friends no one would wish on their worst enemy…

880 pages (Paperback)

Published on March 5, 2013

Published by Roc Trade

This book was provided for me to review by the publisher.

You can purchase a copy of this book by clicking on the following links: Garrett For Hire, Garrett For Hire – Kindle

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I have a process I go through when I get books to review. I read the publisher’s sheet on the book. Then I read the back of the book. Then I go to Goodreads and look up said book. I don’t read any reviews on the book. In fact, I don’t scroll lower than the basic information at the top of the page. I just go over there to see how popular the book is, and then I make a mental note on about when to review it based on all of that.

Garrett for Hire is an omnibus by Glen Cook. Being a book by the incredibly popular Cook, I was expecting to see a ton of reviews for this already. However, I was surprised to see that there really aren’t any. This got me wondering why. Today I decided it was time to do a bit of research. Garrett for Hire is actually comprised of three books in Cook’s popular Garrett Files series. These books are Deadly Quicksilver Lies, Pretty Pewter Gods and Faded Steel Heat. These are books seven, eight and nine in the series, respectively.

Now, I try to keep myself in the dark about books until after I read and review them so I should note that I honestly had no idea about this omnibus being part of an older series (Deadly Quicksilver Lies first published in 1994) until now. Neither did I know that this omnibus is firmly located somewhere in the middle of this series. However, it seems as though each book is fairly stand-alone. I never felt that I was missing out on any important details by joining the series at the halfway point. Nor did I feel like I could have used a bit more background to fully appreciate the characters, events or location. Therefore, don’t let the fact that this omnibus isn’t comprised of books one, two and three keep you from reading it.

Garrett for Hire reads like a noir novel with a little bit of a Terry Pratchett feel to it. The main character is a private investigator, which is nothing new to the noir sub-genre.  Deadly Quicksilver Lies also starts out fairly stereotypical as noir plots go, with Garrett taking on a case to look for someone’s missing daughter. However, this is Glen Cook, and Glen Cook doesn’t fool around. What looks like it might be stereotypical on the surface, quickly turns into something a bit more. While this omnibus never really loses it’s fun, fast and furious vibe, Cook doesn’t really write your typical noir fair.

One thing that really sticks out is the city of TunFaire, which really isn’t your typical pseudo-medieval bastion that seems to flood many fantasy novels. No, TunFaire is quickly established as something completely different. It’s a sprawling metropolis that is an incredibly vibrant cultural melting pot, and Cook spends plenty of time in Deadly Quicksilver Lies establishing just how new, unique and important TunFaire is. While he lays the groundwork in the first book, he grows upon it in Faded Pewter Gods and Faded Steel Heat.

Garrett for Hire is told in the first person. Usually first person narratives are sort of a turn off for me, but Cook makes it work. Garrett is an interesting person to live through. He’s got a wry, dark sense of humor that has a tendency to brighten up many of the situations he finds himself in so they don’t become oppressive for the reader. Accompanying Garrett is his Goddamned Parrot, which I loved (probably because that’s exactly how I think of all things avian, and the bird is just hilarious.), though he did steal the stage on occasion. This rather dark, sarcastic humor did a lot to keep the book moving and will work well to keep the reader enjoying the protagonist as much as they will inevitably enjoy the plot.

Petty Pewter Gods is a different sort of book than Deadly Quicksilver Lies. Petty Pewter Gods is a bit more serious, in some respects, and toys with some deeper themes. In some ways it reminded me a bit of Small Gods by Terry Pratchett. Garrett is still the snarky, sarcastic detective readers will learn to love in the first book, but here Cook deepens things a bit by exploring how belief is required for gods to exist. This installment of the omnibus was, perhaps, my least favorite. While the themes are interesting and I always enjoy when authors toy with more philosophical aspects of, well, almost anything, Garrett as a character doesn’t seem like he’s deep enough to handle the weighty themes that Cook is toying with. This gives Petty Pewter Gods an odd feel, sort of unbalanced in some ways.

In Faded Steel Heat Garrett has to infiltrate a racist militia, and in doing this he rubs shoulders with the city’s elite. While this book has the quick action and wry wit that fans of the series will be looking for, the plot seems fairly half-baked. Some readers will probably find the mystery to be fairly predictable and while the ending is satisfying, the details don’t completely make sense (I’d elaborate, but I don’t want to give anything away. Let’s just say there are some plot holes.). In Faded Steel Heat, Cook seems to use his incredibly diverse cast to his advantage, and this is what will really pull readers in. The Goddamned Parrot is nothing short of hilarious. Mixed with that, Garrett’s girlfriend is also a unique character to behold, and there are plenty of others that will stick with you. While the plot seemed rather unimpressive, the cast and crew were truly worth reading the book for.

Garrett for Hire is an interesting mix that really worked for me on some levels. Garrett is an incredibly entertaining noir protagonist to follow, but it seems like it’s the supporting characters that really make the book pop for me. The Goddamned Parrot, while stealing the spotlight on occasion, is a hilarious addition to the series. As are Garrett’s friends and associates, who are all truly and wonderfully weird in their own ways. Garrett’s adventures are really imaginative, quick moving and amazingly fun. While Cook keep levity and entertainment his primary concern with these books, he also toys with some deeper themes as well. While the levity and entertainment might overpower the deeper themes, they are there, and they are also fairly satisfying for readers who enjoy that kind of thing. However, one thing is obvious, Garrett for Hire is a book you want to read if you want to laugh a lot, and take a break from reality and all things serious.

 

4/5 stars

Fade to Black – Francis Knight

About the Book

From the depths of a valley rises the city of Mahala.

It’s a city built upwards, not across—where streets are built upon streets, buildings upon buildings. A city that the Ministry rules from the sunlit summit, and where the forsaken lurk in the darkness of Under.

Rojan Dizon doesn’t mind staying in the shadows, because he’s got things to hide. Things like being a pain-mage, with the forbidden power to draw magic from pain. But he can’t hide for ever.

Because when Rojan stumbles upon the secrets lurking in the depths of the Pit, the fate of Mahala will depend on him using his magic. And unlucky for Rojan—this is going to hurt.

384 pages (paperback)

Published on February 26, 2013

Published by Orbit

Author’s webpage

This book was provided for me to review by the publisher.

You can purchase a copy of this book by clicking on the following links: Fade to Black (A Rojan Dizon Novel), Fade to Black (A Rojan Dizon Novel) – Kindle

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I’ve been rather inundated with noir books from publishers and author’s recently. There’s nothing wrong with that, but usually the books I receive, while numerous, tend to span a variety of styles and sub-genres. It’s very rare that I receive so many similar books at once. I’m not sure if I’m just being pegged to review noir books, or if there is an abnormal amount of them being published right now. While I usually don’t mind this, it does mean that the noir author has to work doubly hard to impress me. After reading enough noir books back-to-back, I really watch for new and different more than I otherwise would.

In all reality, this overflowing of noir books works against publishers and authors, probably unfairly. The thing is, I’ve been reading so much noir recently that I feel like each book is incredibly similar. Yes, locations and names change, the characters are a bit different in each book, but the basic plot and the main character are all usually very alike. It’s unfortunate because I almost feel like I’m losing my zeal for the genre. I’m getting tired of reading about the jaded private investigator/detective/vigilante that seems to appear in every book, and I’m getting tired of their personal quest to (insert heroic thing here that they’d rather not be doing but inevitably have to do because they feel guilty here).

There’s a review Stefan Raets wrote called “Noir by the Numbers”. I still haven’t read it (I refuse to read reviews until after I write my own) but I saw the title on my Goodreads and it stuck with me. Why? Not only is it a clever title, but it’s also accurate. “Noir by the Numbers” – that’s what so many noir books feel like to me and sadly, Fade to Black isn’t exempt from that. You have everything a solid noir needs: a jaded protagonist who is down on his luck, a secret government agency/plot, a nice drama that leads the protagonist on a quest which, inevitably, uncovers things much larger than he expected. Mix all of this together, put it in a very unique city and you are good to go.

Rojan Dizon, the protagonist, basically fits every cookie-cutter mold you could throw at him. This is, probably, my biggest complaint. He’s the private detective guy who has a snarky quip for just about everything. He loves the ladies (and they love him… kind of. There is a scene that reminds me a bit of Pirates of the Caribbean at the beginning of the book). He is basically fearless, and has no issues really rushing head first into any situation (as long as it benefits him somehow). This is all fine, but I’ve read that before about a hundred times. Every noir character is built like that, and only the unique ones, the truly well done noir characters, step away from that mold and dare to be different. As it is, the basic bones of Rojan are the same as so many others. That’s incredibly disappointing and it makes Knight need to work twice as hard on a plot that is incredibly unique to make up for her stereotypical protagonist. Unfortunately, the plot isn’t that unique, either. Maybe I’m just jaded, but the whole family member has been kidnapped thing is a bit overdone. So right there Fade to Black gives you two big issues: a typical protagonist and a fairly uninteresting plot.

It might sound like I hated this book, but the truth is, I really didn’t. There’s some stuff that Knight did really well. For example, the city of Mahala is absolutely fascinating. It’s an incredibly unique place that almost becomes a character itself. It’s obvious that Knight put a lot of thought into Mahala, and all the issues a city that grows up instead of out would present the people that live there. Knight really goes into detail, bringing the culture and the unique challenges the citizens of Mahala face to vibrant life. Mahala and its culture really are worth reading the book for. Knight took a huge chance creating a city that unique and a culture that diverse, and it truly did pay off. Another area that Knight seems to excel at is with the magic system. While some of it was a little confusing to me (I’m blaming my cancer treatment brain for that, not the author), the pain magic that Rojan uses is an incredibly unique and very interesting type of magic that I’ve never read about before.

Perhaps that’s why I found the lack of creativity with Rojan and the plot so upsetting. Knight proves that she’s capable of incredibly unique, inventive fantasy with Mahala and her magic system(s). It just didn’t spread further than that. If the rest of the book had been as unique as the city and the magic, Fade to Black would be something amazing to behold. As it is, Knight shows a ton of potential and a fascinating ability to imagine and conjure her imaginings into life with some vivid prose, but she backs away from doing the same with her characters and plot, and that’s just unfortunate.

Sadly, a unique setting and a fascinating culture really isn’t enough to make Fade to Black stand on its own. While this is a solid book, with a fast moving plot and some great prose that bring Mahala and the events that transpire to life, Fade to Black just lacks the imaginative qualities I look for. The protagonist is incredibly stereotypical and the plot is also very predictable due to its own been-there-done-that qualities. That being said, I realize that not everything has to be new, fresh and inventive to be enjoyable. Fade to Black is a fun read that would scratch a noir fan’s itch – just don’t expect something genre shattering.

3/5 stars

King of Thorns – Mark Lawrence

About the Book

The second book in the Broken Empire series, Lawrence takes his young anti-hero one step closer to his grand ambition.

To reach greatness you must step on bodies, and many brothers lie trodden in my wake. I’ve walked from pawn to player and I’ll win this game of ours, though the cost of it may drown the world in blood…

The land burns with the fires of a hundred battles as lords and petty kings fight for the Broken Empire. The long road to avenge the slaughter of his mother and brother has shown Prince Honorous Jorg Ancrath the hidden hands behind this endless war. He saw the game and vowed to sweep the board. First though he must gather his own pieces, learn the rules of play, and discover how to break them.

A six nation army, twenty thousand strong, marches toward Jorg’s gates, led by a champion beloved of the people. Every decent man prays this shining hero will unite the empire and heal its wounds. Every omen says he will. Every good king knows to bend the knee in the face of overwhelming odds, if only to save their people and their lands. But King Jorg is not a good king.

Faced by an enemy many times his strength Jorg knows that he cannot win a fair fight. But playing fair was never part of Jorg’s game plan.

449 pages (Hardcover)

Published on August 7, 2012

Published by Ace Books

Author’s webpage

You can purchase a copy of this book by clicking on the following links: King of Thorns (The Broken Empire), King of Thorns (THE BROKEN EMPIRE) – kindle

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Warning: This isn’t really a review. It’s more of a rant and rave about how wonderful this series is. 

I have had an interesting relationship with Mark Lawrence’s The Broken Empire series. The first time I read Prince of Thorns, I found it enjoyable, but otherwise rather unbelievable. Then I got to know the author a bit and read a few random passages he’d put up on Facebook from whatever book he was working on at the time. I realized I missed something. I gave Prince of Thorns another go, and this time I ended up loving it, so I ravenously continued on to King of Thorns. I’m glad I did.

King of Thorns is just as gritty, grimy, raw and uncomfortable as Prince of Thorns. The difference is that Jorg is older now, with more experience with legitimate leadership under his belt. While he still makes rash decisions, he has also had some time for inner reflection and growth which makes him a more mature, yet still somewhat insane, and very morally gray, protagonist.

It’s often said that genius flirts with insanity, and Lawrence does a wonderful job at showing both the genius of Jorg and his own subtle insanity. Mixed with this are some scenes where Jorg spends time alone, lost in his own thoughts. These moments are quiet, and really allow Lawrence to show off his ability to write some truly amazing, emotional and descriptive scenes. This interesting mix of intelligence and crazy in one protagonist has a tendency to keep readers on the edge with regards to Jorg. He’s a character that you can’t really pin down. He’s done horrible things, and he’s pretty unapologetic for it. He is stubborn and this gets him into quite a few big messes. Half the time the reader will think that Jorg asks for all the bad luck he runs across. Then, you encounter Jorg on the mountain, quietly remembering his life, or thinking about what could be, and you maybe realize that this guy is completely misunderstood. Lawrence keeps the pendulum swinging. Right when you think you have Jorg figured out, everything changes.

That’s part of the true genius behind this series.

Lawrence uses flashbacks, like he did in Prince of Thorns, to not only fill readers in on what has happened in the four years between the first book and the second, but also to move the plot along. These flashbacks are very well done, and while they can be a bit lengthy, they don’t ever have the wasted space feel that some flashbacks do (I tend to almost completely hate flashbacks in the books I read, so that’s a pretty huge compliment coming from me). They are just as useful in filling readers in on the history of Jorg and his rise to being king, as well as his current situation and why certain things are happening the way they are. Lawrence measures the flashbacks out well, and keeps the plot moving no matter what timeframe he’s dealing with. Flashback or not, it doesn’t really matter. Every detail is just as important as every other detail. My suggestion? If you are an author who wants to write a good flashback, you need to study how Lawrence does it.

Readers will also be introduced to new characters, as well as the old that they will remember from Prince of Thorns. Lawrence does a great job at making each character unique and believable. Character development seems to be the author’s talent. While Jorg will stand out most to readers, every character is just as craftily developed, and just as complex in their own ways. Yes, Jorg can overshadow some secondary characters  but it’s worth focusing on the ones that might seem a bit unimportant. Lawrence colors them with stark realism and it’s absolutely fascinating. There isn’t any wasted space in King of Thorns, not even with secondary characters.

That is, perhaps, what King of Thorns excels at. Lawrence’s superb prose will ensure that everyone who reads this book will be emotionally invested somehow. No matter how twisted and uncomfortable Jorg makes you, you can’t help but admire his absolute genius, or how he handles the incredible, almost improbable situations he finds himself in. His sick sense of humor has a tendency to make my skin crawl (which is a feeling that I absolutely love and don’t feel nearly often enough with the books I read. But hey, I’m a sucker for a little insanity and a lot of gray morality), but under all of that, Lawrence infuses this book with such deep emotional turmoil that you can’t turn away. It’s impossible. Jorg is one of those haunting, tragically emotional characters that you can’t ignore.  King of Thorns is full of such raw emotion that the pages practically turn themselves. Each character has their own personality, their own emotional baggage and flaws and it’s these flaws and this baggage that will keep readers absolutely captivated, despite how uncomfortable some scenes might make them.

Isn’t it a true mark in the author’s favor that he can make readers so incredibly uncomfortable?

In the end, King of Thorns is a step up from Prince of Thorns. Lawrence has grown as an author, and his story grows along with him. The plot is complex and Jorg is still a really uncomfortable character to follow (in the best possibly way), but he’s humanized and mellowed a bit in King of Thorns. He’s growing up, and while he’s still a good mix of genius and insane, it’s that interesting mix that tempers him enough to make him palatable to a wide range of readers. While King of Thorns is just as graphic as it’s predecessor, and some of the scenes could easily make your stomach churn, Lawrence balances all of that with some truly poetic prose and some calm moments of reflection and inner development that are honestly quite stunning. Furthermore, King of Thorns advances the plot of the series, answering some questions but leaving plenty unanswered for the next installment.

5/5 stars

Blood’s Pride – Evie Manieri

About the Book

Rising from their sea-torn ships like vengeful, pale phantoms, the Norlanders laid waste to the Shadar under cover of darkness. They forced the once-peaceful fisher folk into slavery and forged an alliance with their former trading partners, the desert-dwelling Nomas tribe, cutting off any hope of salvation.

Now, two decades after the invasion, a rebellion gathers strength in the dark corridors of the city. A small faction of Shadari have hired the Mongrel, an infamous mercenary, to aid their fledgling uprising—but with her own shadowy ties to the region, she is a frighteningly volatile ally. Has she really come to lead a revolution, or for a more sinister purpose all her own?

This thrilling new epic fantasy is set in a quasi-Medieval Mediterranean region, drawing together the warrior culture of Vikings, the wanderlust of desert nomads, and the oracles of ancient Greece. Evie Manieri’s Blood’s Pride is an intricate, lush fantasy novel full of taut action, gut-wrenching betrayal, and soaring romance.

528 pages (hardcover)

Published on February 19, 2013

Published by Tor

Author’s webpage

This book was sent for me to review by the publisher.

You can purchase a copy of this book by clicking on the following links: Blood’s Pride (Shattered Kingdoms), Blood’s Pride (The Shattered Kingdoms) – kindle

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Blood’s Pride is one of those thick books that makes every epic fantasy fan salivate. It’s thick, so there must be something wonderful in it, right? At least, that’s the way my mind works. With epic fantasy, generally the bigger the book, the more excited I get about it. So, despite the cover art (that really did absolutely nothing for me), I got excited about this one. It’s big. It’s epic. It’s also written by a woman (which gets me excited). There was plenty here to get me going.

Maybe I’m just getting exhausted with epic fantasy. Blood’s Pride takes place in (yet another) country ripe for rebellion, full of a native and downtrodden people being ruled by foreigners who have, by and large, never even set foot in their homeland. There are plenty of complex cultural nuances that Manieri does quite well. For example, the Norlanders are a race from the far north, and basically burn in the sun. Sounds rather vampire-ish, right? Well, yeah, but there’s an interesting weakness there that Manieri exploits quite well throughout the book. And there’s no blood sucking. Bonus. Another example is the king of the Nomas, who is only king because he can weld fire.

These interesting cultural nuances keep the book fresh and interesting. It’s nice to read about cultures and peoples that are unique and well thought out. Manieri does a great job at exploiting the strengths and the weaknesses of each group. What may be a strength in some situations, might easily be an individual’s undoing in another. The author handles this well and avoids playing favorites despite how easily that could be. Perhaps telling the story from multiple perspectives, each in different social groups, keeps her from playing favorites. Whatever the case may be, the cultural nuances are a definite strong point for Blood’s Pride.

That being said, a lot of Blood’s Pride is rather stereotypical for epic fantasy. As I mentioned above, there are the downtrodden locals who have been turned into servants by the oh-so-powerful invading force. The land is ripe for rebellion. Mixed into this is a dysfunctional ruling family, some awkward romantic relationships, and a person that you can’t really pin down (even though she becomes discouragingly predictable due to how stereotypical much of the plot is). This is, perhaps, the biggest downfall of this book. It’s all been done before. Aside from the cultures, there really isn’t anything new and earth shattering here.

Blood’s Pride is incredibly character driven. Some people might like that about the book. While that normally wouldn’t bother me in the least, it doesn’t really work with Blood’s Pride. The problem is, the characters are the same as the plot: stereotypical. While their names might be unique, you’ve read about all of them before. I guarantee it. This tends to make the characters themselves read a little two-dimensional and, at times, uninteresting.

While there’s something always happening with Blood’s Pride, the plot really isn’t as fast moving as you’d expect.  Multiple viewpoints can become rather clunky at points, making the reader experience the same event multiple times through multiple perspectives before the author moves on to something else. Secondly, much of the action drags on and on and on and on and… well, you get the idea. In fact, this was such an issue that I easily skimmed vast portions of the book and didn’t feel like I missed out on any important details or events at all. This makes the first fourth of the book interesting while the rest of it feels like the Longest. Ending. Ever.

Blood’s Pride, in the end, left me incredibly frustrated. The world and cultures show incredible potential, but the plot and characters are completely lacking. Awkwardly paced, with events that never seem to stop happening and characters that you’ve probably read about in a hundred other books before, Blood’s Pride never really surfaces. Too many events, too many battles, uninteresting characters, and a clunky plot bog down this book, which is unfortunate because juxtaposed to that is some great writing and a fantastically unique world. Sadly, the wonderful cultures just aren’t enough to revive this work.

 

3/5 stars

2 years, 4 months, 3 days

‎2 years, 4 months, 3 days.

That’s how long I’ve had cancer.

That’s 2 years, 4 months, 3 days of learning two very important life lessons:

1. You really have no idea how strong you are until being strong is your only option.

2. Sometimes you just have to laugh because if you don’t, you’ll fall apart.

2 years, 4 months, 3 days of deciding that I won’t be a victim, but I’ll use my experiences to improve and learn from. That’s a 50 pound weight loss, a beautiful (surprise!) baby, a new house and a new car, editing a few (now published) books, a few vacations, a few photography contests won…. life goes on because I refused to let it stay still.

2 years, 4 months, 3 days….

“Sarah, I think today is a good day to celebrate. It looks like treatment worked. There’s no evidence of cancer in your body.”

Today I graduate from ‘cancer patient’ to ‘cancer survivor.’

The Passage – Justin Cronin

About the Book

“It happened fast. Thirty-two minutes for one world to die, another to be born.”

First, the unthinkable: a security breach at a secret U.S. government facility unleashes the monstrous product of a chilling military experiment. Then, the unspeakable: a night of chaos and carnage gives way to sunrise on a nation, and ultimately a world, forever altered. All that remains for the stunned survivors is the long fight ahead and a future ruled by fear—of darkness, of death, of a fate far worse.

As civilization swiftly crumbles into a primal landscape of predators and prey, two people flee in search of sanctuary. FBI agent Brad Wolgast is a good man haunted by what he’s done in the line of duty. Six-year-old orphan Amy Harper Bellafonte is a refugee from the doomed scientific project that has triggered apocalypse. He is determined to protect her from the horror set loose by her captors. But for Amy, escaping the bloody fallout is only the beginning of a much longer odyssey—spanning miles and decades—towards the time and place where she must finish what should never have begun.

With The Passage, award-winning author Justin Cronin has written both a relentlessly suspenseful adventure and an epic chronicle of human endurance in the face of unprecedented catastrophe and unimaginable danger. Its inventive storytelling, masterful prose, and depth of human insight mark it as a crucial and transcendent work of modern fiction.

784 pages (hardcover)

Published on June 8, 2010

Published by Ballantine Books

Author’s webpage

You can purchase a copy of this book by clicking on the following links: The Passage: A Novel, The Passage: A Novel (kindle)

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I tend to put off reading the books that “everyone” is reading as long as possible. I go through some sort of weird “I’m sick of hearing about this book so much that, even though I haven’t read it yet, I’m already SICK OF IT” knee jerk reaction toward most hot releases. I put off reading these books for months, if not years. When the world has stopped talking about them, I’ll usually give them a try. Such is the case with The Passage. It’s a book that there’s really no point in me even reviewing because I might be the last person alive to actually read it, but I’ve wanted to read it for a while now. I was just sick of hearing about it. So, once the world shut up about it, I decided it was time for me to get my vampire on, and I sat down with Justin Cronin. I’m glad I waited.

Horror is a genre I either love or hate. There really isn’t any middle ground for me. It’s hard for me to find a horror book I really enjoy because most of them come across as campy and predictable. This is probably due to the fact that I read a huge volume of books each year, which makes it doubly hard for authors to crawl under my skin the way I really expect a horror book to. Then, there are authors like Stephen King, who is the master of the horror genre. I absolutely love his writing style, but about halfway through each book I lose my steam. How long do his books really need to be? Anyway, I digress. Horror is a genre that I have a hard time with. That’s what I’m going on and on saying.

The Passage is dark. Incredibly dark. Hauntingly dark. It’s the kind of dark you really have to be in the mood for or it can easily come across as oppressive and exhausting rather than haunting. The thing is, if you are in the mood for something dark and gritty, Cronin hits all the right notes. He doesn’t just throw you into some freaky situation; he gives the reader plenty of background with history and characters. This background brings the numerous threads of The Passage to life for the reader. It also helps the reader with their empathy, which also helps Cronin wiggle his way under your skin.

The Passage is, essentially, two stories: the “before” story and then the “after” story. While each section of the book focuses primarily on two different sets of characters, they are each strong and weak for their own reasons. In the first story, the main fault with characterization is that some of the “bad guys” are a bit excessive and thus, come across rather campy in the face of so much stark and obviously thought out reality. In the second half, some of the various plot threads can get bogged down by a sort of fatalistic soap opera that, while bringing a bit of light to the darkness of Cronin’s world, can give the book an overall “churning of the wheels” feeling.

This is, perhaps, one of the greatest strengths and flaws in The Passage. Cronin has an uncanny ability to use his incredibly detailed and very thought out world to really get under a reader’s skin. He doesn’t really answer questions so much as present scenarios that will inevitably make you wonder “what if.” That’s really what I love about some horror books (and what I have a very hard time finding with horror, which causes my love-hate relationship with the genre). I love the “what if” questions, because it’s those questions that keep me up at night and haunt my dreams after I fall asleep. That being said, Cronin can go a bit over the top with some of his characters, and this can give the book a tinge of predictability or even, at times, bog down the plot. The Passage isn’t a short book, and some of the sections, especially in the second part of the novel, might easily have been either cut, or narrowed down a little to keep the plot tight moving and flowing. What is, perhaps, most unfortunate is how much these nuances with characters, or (on occasion) the plot, really stick out. In a world so incredibly thought out and a plot so meticulously planned, these tiny, easily overlooked issues really stick out.

In a way, that’s a mark in Cronin’s favor. When a book is so good that the details you’d otherwise overlook are the only details you can pick on in a review, that says something. It also says something about Cronin’s writing. There are some books I’ve run across recently that I halfway read just because I can’t get enough of how well the author writes. One of them was The Magicians by Lev Grossman. The Passage quickly joined those ranks. There’s something to be said for an author who is so amazingly poetic with their style in the face such gruesome, bloody darkness. Really, if there’s one thing you need to take away from this review, it’s that Justin Cronin can write.

Whatever you think The Passage might be, I can almost guarantee you that it’s not that. Cronin takes every kind of trope you can throw at him, turns it on its head, tortures it a bit, and then releases it for your enjoyment. His incredible gift with writing just aids the haunting quality of his work. Despite the fact that some of the characters are little over the top, and some of the plot can feel a little bogged down toward the second half, The passage is sure to haunt. It’s one of those incredibly dark books that you really have to be in the mood for to appreciate, but if you are, give it a try.

I think horror has a new master.

 

4.5/5 stars

It’s time for an update

Ah, here I am, on the other side of treatment. It seemed so far away, but now that it’s here, it’s kind of surreal.

The whole event itself was rather anticlimactic. I spent six weeks going through absolute physical and emotional hell to prepare my body to swallow one radioactive pill that was about the same size as an amoxicillan. Well, okay, here’s how it went down, for those who are curious about what it’s like to be radioactive.

I got to the hospital on Tuesday morning and checked in. Blood work was ordered. Blood was drawn. We waited for about 30 minutes while they got all the numbers they needed. We spoke with a doctor who gave me my list of restrictions and told me I’d need “three days of separation.” For example, I couldn’t be within six feet of anyone. I couldn’t be around pets. I had to flush the toilet twice each time I used it, and drink as much water as I possibly could, constantly, to flush the extra radiation out of my system. The doctor wanted me to “burn a hole in the carpet by the bathroom door.” Too much information? Probably. I had to shower, not take baths. I had to eat off of plastic plates and silverware. I couldn’t dish up, or touch food that others were sharing so my mom dished up all my food, put it on a plastic plate and had me eat in a different room. All the sheets and clothes I used have to be washed separately but otherwise I’m good to go. The hardest part was that I had to keep on my diet for another day after I swallowed the pill. This pissed me off quite a bit, because that diet is horrible and I hated every second I was on it.

The doctor anticipated my first question (I guess everyone asks it): When can I eat normal food again? Then he said, “Let me guess. The first thing you want to eat is a bacon cheeseburger.” Yep. Hit the nail on the head with that one. For two weeks I’ve been dreaming about a bacon cheeseburger, which is weird because I haven’t eaten that kind of food in YEARS and I’ve lost 50 pounds, which I did NOT lose by eating crap. After two weeks of minimal salt and eating only 10 different foods, all I could think about was eating a damn burger. The doctor said, “I’ve been doing this for twenty years and I have yet to meet a patient who doesn’t dream about eating the same exact thing when they go off the diet.” Kind of funny. I still haven’t eaten my burger. I probably will this weekend.

Anyway, I signed all the papers and the doctor informed me that I had to wait 30 minutes while the radioactive pharmacy (I didn’t even know there was such a thing) drew up my dose and brought it to them. 30 minutes later, some guy brought up my pill in a metal suitcase. It was all very SciFi. The nurse called me back to the room where they dose people and gave me a cup of water. She had me stand behind a really thick wall of glass to take my pill, which I had to tip from the cup into my mouth – I wasn’t allowed to actually touch it – and wash it down with a ton of water. When she was sure it went down all the way, I had to walk past a geiger counter to make sure all was good and I was done. It took about 30 seconds. Six weeks of preparation to swallow a little gray pill you’d never guess was radioactive. Fun aside, my brother is a Nuclear Medicine Tech and he told me that the reason I had to stand behind a thick wall of glass to take the pill is if I had thrown up on the nurse, she wouldn’t have been able to work for two weeks after.

My husband drove me (I had to sit in the back seat, as far away from him as possible) to my parents house, about an hour north, where I’ve been holed up in the basement passing the days and hours basically not talking to a soul unless I have had to. He’s “FaceTimed” me a few times so I have been able to talk to him and Fiona while I’ve been up here, but I miss them dearly. They are driving up here today to get me (Quarantine is over. Yay!) and I positively cannot wait to go home and see my kid again.

Other than that, the hardest part of this treatment has been the boredom. Thankfully, I haven’t been restricted from my computer. Yesterday I started writing, and in one day I wrote roughly 26,000 words in a book I didn’t anticipate starting. It’ll never see the light of day (No books I ever write do. I seem to write novels more for myself than anyone else and I have no desire to ever get them published.) The first two days I was feeling pretty sick (a side effect of being radioactive) so I watched House of Cards on Netflix Streaming all day. Great show, by the way. The nausea is gone, but I am left with some pretty bad pain in my neck, on the left side, right where the doctor was watching all my cancer cells do weird things. I guess that’s what it feels like when you kill off part of your body. I don’t mind. It makes me feel like all of this was worth it. It’s the kind of pain that makes me feel so incredibly satisfied and pleased. It’s the pain that means that important things are dying, just like everyone hoped they would. Plus, it’s normal. I have also had some decreased saliva, which isn’t fun or comfortable. It’s normal, though, and I’ve been sucking on sour candies to stimulate saliva production. The pain and saliva thing could last a few days, or a few weeks. Who knows.

On Tuesday I go for my scan. I am very, very excited to be told that, for the first time since I was diagnosed in October 2010, I am 100% cancer free. There is a small chance that that won’t be the case, but I highly doubt it. I refuse to take anything less than cancer free as an answer. I’m done with this. I’m ready to graduate from Cancer Fighter to Cancer Survivor. It’s time to take my life back.

Perhaps the most amazing part of all of this is how incredibly different I feel right now. While I still have absolutely no energy, the fog that has been plaguing my mind is lifting. I can think clearly again. It felt like I was being held underwater and moving in slow motion before. Now my head has broken the surface, and while I still feel like I’m moving in slow motion, at least I can think clearly again and the miasma of illogical depression is a thing of the past. It feels great. Plus, I never realized how wonderful eating food was until I could start eating it again. Wow. Everything I was sick of before is like mana from Heaven now. Two days ago I started taking my hormones again, which is the main reason I’ve been sick. They are slow acting, so it will take weeks for me to fully feel them, but at least I can take them again. This is a huge step for me, because it means that I’m on the downward slope of this fight. While I don’t feel the hormones kicking in yet, at least they are in there, churning in my system, building up and waiting to kick in. Soon, very soon, I’ll be a functional human being. The light at the end of the tunnel is so close it’s blinding, and it’s the best damn feeling I’ve ever felt.

Hope. It’s infectious and incredible and all I want to do is bathe in the sensation of it flooding my system.

What does this mean for the blog, reviewing and the like? Well, I have a lot to catch up on. There’s a lot I’ve kept waiting in my inbox because I was too sick, and struggling too much to focus on it. It will take days and days to catch up on all of my email, as I easily have a couple hundred waiting for me. So if you’ve written me, please be patient. It also means that I need to catch up on reviews. However, to keep myself from being overwhelmed by all of this, I’m going to take it slow. I’ll get there, I promise. But it will take some time.

I’m also starting to plan my theme month, which is going to focus on the importance of non western cultures in SFF. I’m getting a list together of people to bug, so a bunch of you can be expecting THAT email sometime in the coming weeks.

And that’s pretty much that.

I fought. I endured. I conquered.

The Queen is Dead – Kate Locke

About the Book

When her brother Val gets in over his head in an investigation of Half-Blood disappearances and goes missing himself, it’s up to Xandra, newly crowned Goblin Queen, to get him back and bring the atrocities to light. Xandra must frequent the seediest parts of London, while also coping with what she is, the political factions vying for her favor, and the all too-close scrutiny of Queen Victoria, who wants her head. Add this to a being a suspect in a murder investigation, a werewolf boyfriend with demands of his own, and a mother hell bent on destroying the monarchy, and Xandra barely knows which way is up. One thing she does know is that she’s already lost one sibling, she’s not about to lose another.

Xandra Varden is the newly crowned Goblin Queen of England. But her complicated life is by no means over.

There are the political factions vying for her favor, and the all too-close scrutiny of Queen Victoria, who for some reason wants her head. Not to mention her werewolf boyfriend with demands of his own, and a mother hell bent on destroying the monarchy. Now she’s the suspect in a murder investigation — and Xandra barely knows which way is up.

What she does know is that nothing lasts forever—and immortality isn’t all its cracked up to be.

336 (hardcover)

Published on February 5, 2013

Published by Orbit

Author’s webpage

This book was provided for me to review by the publisher.

If you’d like to purchase a copy of this book, click on the following link: The Queen Is Dead (The Immortal Empire)

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The Queen is Dead is the second installment of the The Immortal Empire series. As such, you kind of know what to expect and it does, therefore, lose some of its surprise. In God Save the Queen, our protagonist, Xandra was established to be a tough-as-nails heroine who couldn’t seem to sit still for so much as a minute without finding some sort of chaos to get involved in. She’s always running from one disaster and into another, and that’s pretty much what you can expect from The Queen is Dead, as well. Xandra is still Xandra, despite her Goblin Queen status. She still somehow manages to accomplish more in an hour than I probably will in my entire life and chaos must be glued to her.

While much of the plot and characters will remain the same as you expect, based on developments from God Save the Queen, there is plenty of character development that will really please readers. For example, Xandra now knows more about who and just what she is and Locke isn’t shy about spending a good portion of the book exposing readers to Xandra’s inner turmoil regarding her new goblin status as well as the changes in her own personality that it brings along. For example, her temper is shorter, and her desire to consume flesh is all encompassing. It’s interesting to watch Xandra deal with these feelings while dealing with the (inevitably) chaotic world around her.

Secondly, the implications of Xandra’s new status are, largely, political and with a boyfriend who is a high ranking werewolf, the political implications are that much more important for their relationship as well as everyone else. Luckily, The Queen is Dead isn’t completely overrun by a boy-meets-girl story. They already met and they are already in a relationship. While it’s obvious that the relationship is rather strained, it’s nice that it can take a backseat to the plot itself. This allows readers to really enjoy Xandra’s story and her evolution over the course of events without being sidetracked by useless sexual tension.

Though much of The Queen is Dead is taken up by Xandra’s search for her missing brother; it is, perhaps, the most uninteresting part of the book. This is unfortunate, because it does make the book feel rather oddly balanced. Many of the side stories and the like are much more interesting than anything involving Xandra’s brother. In fact, that whole huge plot point had a very been-there-done-that feel to it. It’s not surprising, as you pretty much know how it’s going to end and the predictability involved really forces the book to lose some panache it could have used. Yet, you have to go through the motions so you can read and enjoy the other stuff that Locke does so well, like expanding on goblin culture, and the politics that readers weren’t really deeply exposed to in the first book.

Of course, there is plenty here that is stereotypical. While the world is interesting and the steampunk elements are nicely done, there is still the issue of Xandra, being the one woman who can somehow save the planet. Xandra, who seems to find herself everywhere all at once. Xandra, who is tough as nails and so sexy it hurts with her delicious boyfriend who also seems to make everyone drool. While I can expect these things from urban fantasy books, I always seem to mention them in reviews, probably because they are so cookie-cutter. In a world as unique as Locke’s, these cookie-cutter points really stick out.

That being said, The Queen is Dead is a fun, fast moving follow up to God Save the Queen. The characters are easy to sympathize with, and the series is, overall, turning into one of those fun series that somehow manages to be brain candy, despite (maybe “because of” would work better here) its stereotypical notes. Xandra is a character that is easy to love, and though I find the sheer volume of her accomplishments rather unbelievable. While many of the other plot points are fairly been-there-done-that, if you need a vacation from reality, this series might be a good place to start. Locke seems to brilliantly weave her unique vision with enough typical urban fantasy notes to allow this series to appeal to UF aficionados and those new to the genre, alike.

 

3/5 stars

Feb 18-26th

This upcoming week will be… interesting. I don’t really know what to expect.

On Tuesday I go to the cancer institute and drink a bunch of radioactive poison in the hopes it will kill off the part of my body that is cancerous. It’s been six very, VERY long weeks working up to this. Due to the fact that I will be radioactive, and could thus poison my family and anyone else I come into contact with, I basically have to be in a sort of quarantine for an unknown (up to 10 days, depending on the dose, which I won’t know until they run my blood work on Tuesday morning) amount of time so the RAI can get out of my system.

There are fun side effects, like an intense amount of boredom that comes from not being able to interact with anyone for days on end (I’m bringing a ton of ARCs to read and catch up on, the kind that I can throw away right after I read them so my various toxic levels of whatever won’t really matter). Loss of taste, swollen saliva glands, lack of saliva, sore throat, nausea, dizziness, general sickness, throwing up, sweating, fatigue, etc. I’m basically poisoning my body, so I expect that sort of thing. I don’t think it will be a walk in the park, but I don’t really care. I’m just ready to be DONE and feel alive again. All of these side effects are only temporary, and hopefully by the time they are gone, my cancer will be, too.

It’s actually quite fast acting. The longest part of this treatment is the absolute hell a person goes through during the six week process to get your body ready for it. On February 26th, I go back to the cancer institute and do a fully body scan to make sure that they “got it all.” So I drink the stuff on the 19th, and one week later I learn if, after two incredibly difficult, emotional, shitty and educational years with cancer, I am finally cancer free.

It’s been a LONG road to get to this point and I am so ready to be done.

This weekend I will be writing and scheduling up reviews to post next week. I’m not sure how many I will actually write. My goal is four, but who knows. I’m pretty sick right now so I’m having a hard time just getting daily stuff done, much less writing reviews. You can expect to see a few reviews posted through the week. I’d tell you what they are and when to expect them, but I don’t have a clue. I also have no idea if I’ll be online to tweet/facebook/update people here or not. Some doctors don’t let their patients touch technology while they go through this. Some do. I really won’t know anything until they do my blood work and let me know how high of a dose of this junk I need.

So that’s that. I plan on enjoying my weekend as much as I can. You may or may not actually interact with me before the 26th. If not, I’ll see you after the 26th. If my dose is fairly low, I’ll probably be online bugging people during next week because I will be B-O-R-E-D and I’ll be missing my kid and probably trying to distract myself from going insane. Regardless, keep checking here. I’ll have reviews up at various points during the week.

See you on the flip side.