Sarah Chorn's Blog, page 31

Jade City – Fonda Lee

About the Book

FAMILY IS DUTY. MAGIC IS POWER. HONOR IS EVERYTHING.

Magical jade—mined, traded, stolen, and killed for—is the lifeblood of the island of Kekon. For centuries, honorable Green Bone warriors like the Kaul family have used it to enhance their abilities and defend the island from foreign invasion.

Now the war is over and a new generation of Kauls vies for control of Kekon’s bustling capital city. They care about nothing but protecting their own, cornering the jade market, and defending the districts under their protection. Ancient tradition has little place in this rapidly changing nation.

When a powerful new drug emerges that lets anyone—even foreigners—wield jade, the simmering tension between the Kauls and the rival Ayt family erupts into open violence. The outcome of this clan war will determine the fate of all Green Bones—from their grandest patriarch to the lowliest motorcycle runner on the streets—and of Kekon itself.

Jade City begins an epic tale of family, honor, and those who live and die by the ancient laws of jade and blood.

498 pages (hardcover)

Published on November 7, 2017

Published by Orbit

Author’s Webpage

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This book was an ARC sent by the publisher. It was also a library loan (explained below).

—

Jade City is a book I’ve been meaning to read for a while. In fact, I got an ARC of this from the publisher, but my children got their hands on it and before I realized what happened, it was ruined. Life moved on, and I forgot until I was at the library last week and saw it on the shelf. I picked it up, and started to read.

Best. Decision. Ever.

Jade City is set in a secondary world. However, rather than being historical feeling, like most fantasy, this one is roughly modern day. There are some differences. For example, as far as I could tell there are no cell phones, and there’s a part where someone goes and buys a typewriter to update her resume, so I don’t think there are computers either. That being said, it’s modern enough to say it’s modern. It’s also got a Far East vibe that I just loved.

The island nation of Kekon has its own flavor, but it’s the sort of place that is so vivid I could picture Anthony Bourdain walking on those streets, eating at those noodle shops, snarking away his profound observations as he sits on rickety plastic chairs and watches local life pass him by.

Kekon thrives on jade, and the power it gives people. Those who live in Kekon, and have “strong blood” can wear the jade and get special abilities of it, increased strength, better perception, increased speed, etc. The jade trade is largely controlled by families, think mafia here and you won’t be that far off. Of course, these families, two large and a few smaller, are always carving up the island into territories, having turf wars, fighting to keep control of the jade and anything else you can imagine these people would do.

Insert a new drug here that allows people who aren’t local to the island of Kekon to wear jade and gain abilities from it, a family who sees an opportunity here, and a whole bunch of infighting, power grabbing, and backstabbing, and you’ve got quite an interesting stew of simmering events that are preparing to blow in some rather surprising ways.

So, as you can tell, I loved this book. I loved just about everything about it, from the otherworldly and vivid fight scenes to all the scheming, to the merciless and realistic ways these family’s function and the absolutely incredible world building.

Something I haven’t touched on yet, however, is the incredible way the characters were crafted. These people appear to be one way on the surface, but slowly Lee peels away the layers and you soon realize that the front they are showing is just a front, but who that person really is, is another animal altogether. This added an interesting dynamic, because these incredible, intense things happen, and as the reader you kind of get a front seat into how these events affect every part of the character, from the face they show the world, to the person they are when the doors are closed. For example, you see how strong and stoic Lan is, but you are also treated to what a stressed out, conflicted mess he is as well.

It takes these incredible events and makes me feel like they are happening to me. This isn’t just some weird person who is going through this stuff, suddenly I feel like I’m that person, and I wonder how all the layers of me would react. That’s some incredible character development, rivaling the phenomenal world building.

The action, as you can imagine, starts out with a theft, an impressive takedown, and just goes on from there, gaining steam as it does. There are some quiet moments, there’s drama between families, but there’s also drama inside the family. However, it all builds up toward an incredible, surprising, jaw-dropping finish that left me begging for more.

Jade City is one of those books where not a word is wasted. The world building is intricate and incredible. The character development is some of the best I’ve run across recently. It’s a book where every scene has a purpose, and even the twists and turns surprised me the way they should have. There isn’t a single part of this story that was less than incredible. Fonda Lee set the bar high, and then vaulted over it. Jade City is basically an example of everything I want to see in the books I read.

 

5/5 stars

#SPFBO 2018 | The Jericho Prophecy – Fiona Tarr

About the Book

The battle for divine power rages within the Eternal Realm.

As the conflict escalates a prophecy is born that will set god against god amidst the mortal world below.

When the young priestess Rahab saves two foreigners from execution, she sets in motion a sequence of events that could see the death of everyone she knows and loves.

The future of humanity hangs in the balance as two bloodlines converge to battle over the city of Jericho. Now the Goddess Asherah must protect the prophecy and ensure both ancestral lines survive.

If either bloodline dies, the Host of Heaven will continue to battle for eternity.

200 pages (kindle)

Published on April 30, 2018

Author’s webpage

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This is an SPFBO book.

— 

The Jericho Prophecy is one of those books you’ll enjoy reading if for the history alone. It is based on a story from the Bible, but things don’t really happen in the way readers expect it to. So, forewarning, if it bothers you when biblical stories stray from the biblical path, you might want to avoid this one. However, if a creative twist on well-known history is something that gets you going, then you will probably want to check this one out.

Now, this book tells the story of Rahab, a plucky barkeep in the city of Jericho. She’s a strong willed, single woman who knows how to take care of herself and those she cares about. She saves two men from the twelve lost tribes of Israel, and sets events in motion that you’ll follow for the remainder of the book.

The Jericho Prophecy has a bit of everything in here. There’s gods and goddesses, war, battles, bloodshed, prophecy, romance, strife, and so much more. There is a ton here, and a lot of ground that’s covered. Rahab, as a character, is established very quickly. It’s clear from page one that she’s a strong female who thinks for herself and isn’t afraid to stand against a tide of people who think differently than she does. This sort of sets the tone for the rest of the characters. It’s pretty easy to instantly peg who to root for, and who to root against, and why.

The action is nonstop. In a book like this, it has to be, just because there is so much covered. Now, like I’ve said before, things don’t happen in the way that you’d expect if you’re familiar with the bible story. The wall falls, but otherwise, there’s plenty that’s different here, while some of the details stay the same. For example, dietary restrictions are covered. Moses is mentioned. The Lost Tribes of Israel play a big part in this. However, mixed into this is a rife fantasy world full of gods and goddesses, and even a bit of magic.

Tarr excels at conversation and dialogue. She does a great job at keeping events flowing in this way, and makes discussions realistic and easy to follow. The downside of this was, parts of the book felt bogged down by too much discussion, which was paid for by not enough action. The other thing I mentioned (and maybe this is my editor brain showing) is some clunky prose outside of the conversations. There were a few times I thought, “Just a simple rewording of this sentence would make this entire paragraph flow feel more natural.”

This discussion/action imbalance I mentioned above is reflected by a bit of a wonky plot, pacing wise. Some events seemed to happen really, delightfully quickly, while others felt like they were brewing and being talked about for longer than necessary.

I’m also going to be that person who picks on relationships a little bit. There are a few here, some friendships, some romances and all that. The romance/relationship that brews up with Rahab is so quick it’s almost unbelievable. They meet, and then by (I think) 25% into the book they are discussion serious with each other, leaning toward marriage, and I just… I really struggle with that. I mean, there were reasons, and the speed is explained, but still. This strong-willed woman who has spent a lifetime taking care of herself in this relationship with a dude she basically just met so quickly really made me struggle with my suspension of disbelief.

So, there are issues in this book, but despite all of that, I really enjoyed the story being told. The writing was solid, and the characters were easy to understand. There’s a lot of emotional intensity here, and a story that doesn’t stop, with a historical foundation that will interest many people. Tarr has a truly creative take on biblical events that will appeal to religious and nonreligious alike. This book tells a broad story, a sort of divine clash, which boils down to a battle for power, as fought for by people who represent the ones they worship. It’s quite a story, and it’s told well, but I ultimately feel like 200 pages were just too short for the meaty tale being told.

 

3/5 stars

#SPFBO 2018 | Integral – Adam Thielen

About the Book

Alive since before the Great Collapse, Matthias and Frank are coasting through life as agents for the Noxcorp investigations division when a strange murder jeopardizes nocturnals’ place in the new world order. Polar opposites, the two vampires must work together to find the real killer else face the wrath of the council.

Charles is a warden of the university tasked with recovering one of its students, one of its prisoners, one of its mages. But Sandra is no ordinary mage. Her body defies the laws of physics, and she has been preparing for this moment for her entire life.

Paths cross when the university requests the assistance of Noxcorp. But when the agents discover that Sandra had outside help, a simple fugitive recovery quickly turns complicated, and all four find themselves caught in the middle of a deadly power grab.

All the while, a darker malignancy grows, showing itself only in strange dreams and machinations, waiting for its moment to rise again.

320 pages (kindle)

Published on April 27, 2018

Buy the book

This is an entry in the SPFBO 2018.

—

I’m going to admit something to you, dear reader. I was really excited to read this book, and then I saw that it was about vampires, and I had the loudest eyeroll ever (I’m a bit sick of vampires). However, I gave it a go anyway, and guess what? These vampires didn’t bug me as much as I anticipated. In fact, they hardly bothered me at all. I actually kind of liked them.

Integral is a who-done-it story told in a near-future world with a distinct noir thrust. The year is 2029, and the world has undergone some changes. Governments have collapsed, and corporations have taken over the management of countries, people, and basically everything else. Mixed into all of this is the fact that vampires have come out in previous years, so they are a factor in this new civilization.

When some human is murdered, two vampires, Matthias and Frank, are sent by Noxcorp, the face of the ancient vampire counsel, to investigate and see what happened. While they are investigating, a university asks them for help to find one of their escaped mages, Sandra. Soon a power grab enters the works, and these two vampires with very different pasts and temperaments, appear to be in the middle of it all.

As you can probably tell, this book is full of action and intrigue. Each chapter is told as an “episode” which gives the whole thing the vibe of having installments. It also makes sure that each chapter sort of functions as its own mini-story within the overarching story. The downside of this is that the timeline felt a little discordant at times, events felt like they jumped around a little bit. In the end, it worked, but sometimes it felt a little chaotic, and the “short story” feel to some of it might bounce off of some readers.

The who-done-it aspect of the book was very well done, and Thielen doesn’t hide from brutality, violence, or those deaths that tend to catch me off guard. This isn’t a light and fluffy book, but it does feel like something is always happening, and it usually has a dark or even violent edge. Events move fast, and I will say that Thielen was very good at keeping me guessing. Even when I figured out who did what, and why, I wasn’t quite sure how it would all work out in the end.

I did feel like some of the pacing was off in this book. There was a long fight scene toward the end that I felt could have been cut. Some events felt like they went on a little too long, while some of the important details felt kind of glossed over. It did take me some time to connect to our two protagonists, which kept me from being instantly interested. The ending was a bit messy, with some logical holes that I couldn’t quite manage to jump through. And I do think that the way this is written, in episodes, with a timeline that feels kind of hard to follow might be off-putting to some readers.

That being said, Integral was a solid noir story that kept me hooked. I really enjoyed the darkness of the whole thing, from the dark feel to the story, to the characters, who really grew on me. There is a lot here to chew on, and it’s the first book in the series, so I expect the others will be even more impressive. I will say that the world and setting were what ended up impressing me the most. The future Thielen wrote was very interesting, and pretty believable.

I don’t typically enjoy noir books that much, but I ended up liking this one despite myself. Yeah, there were issues here, but I enjoy dark books and authors who aren’t afraid to explore the underbelly of society, especially when that happens in a futuristic world.

No, this book isn’t perfect, but it was a hell of a lot of fun.

 

3/5 stars

#SPFBO 2018 | Nectar and Ambrosia – E.M. Hamill

About the Book

Callie, a Classics major, flees home to protect her family from a monster straight out of mythology. Visions lead her to Nectar and Ambrosia: the weirdest pub on Earth, where inter-dimensional travelers with attention seeking issues get drunk in between the A-list celebrity lives they create. They can’t pretend to be gods anymore—not since a treaty with the current Supreme Deity promising they won’t intervene in human affairs.

The Doorkeeper of this threshold, Florian, rides herd on the rowdy Amaranthine and offers her shelter and a job. Callie likes the lonely, mysterious bartender more than she should. For Florian, her presence is a ray of light in the gray monotony of his sentence behind the bar, but he keeps a cautious distance—the truth of how he became Doorkeeper could change Callie’s perception of him forever.

When angels show up for a war council over Zeus’s irrational mutters about a comeback, Callie has uncontrolled visions of an apocalypse. Ex-gods realize she’s the first Oracle Priestess in generations. All Callie wanted was keep her parents safe, and now it seems she must sacrifice her future to keep the rest of humanity safe, too. Ambrosia could be the key to harnessing her visions— or it could cost her life.

War is coming. The threshold between worlds has never been more fragile. Callie must discover who is pulling Zeus’s strings and avert the final battle—before the immortal vying to become the next Supreme Deity kills her first.

276 pages (ebook)

Published on June 30, 2018

Author’s website

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This book is part of the SPFBO 2018.

—

You know, I didn’t know what to expect going into this. I try really hard to stay away from reading just about anything (even the synopsis) of SPFBO books. I stay away from them on Goodreads until after I read them, and when I mark them as “read” I do it from the main search screen and do my damndest not to look at the star ratings. I go into these books as neutral as I possibly can, and I think in this book’s respect, it really paid off. I found myself delightfully surprised, and friends, I love being delightfully surprised.

Nectar and Ambrosia certainly is its own creature. A sort of hodgepodge of religious lore, urban fantasy, social media issues, and even war, it’s hard to really peg this book as just one thing, and that’s part of what made this book so damn addicting.

Callie, our protagonist, ends up fleeing from her adoptive parents’ house due to being in danger. She finds herself in a strange place, out of her seizure medication, with no friend in sight, and strapped for cash. This huge, screaming danger has followed her, and one thing leads to another and she finds herself tripping (literally) her way into this dive bar called Nectar and Ambrosia.

Nectar and Ambrosia isn’t your average bar. This one is for supernatural creatures only, and soon Callie is introduced to an alcoholic Zeus, some of the sidhe, a few members of the Norse pantheon and some others. She handles all of this with aplomb and quickly finds herself falling into the rhythm of life in Nectar and Ambrosia.

Florian, her boss, was someone I pegged as her romantic attachment from the start. It was pretty easy to smell that one coming, however, I really have to hand it to Hamill, because she took what could have been an angsty, trope-ridden relationship, and kind of turned it on its head. Due to what Callie is, their relationship has to be a bit different, and a lot of the “you will be together until the end” prophecies foreseen by Florian’s senile old grandmother take on a different light. This ended up being a romance/relationship development that I really enjoyed, and I tend to struggle with the believability of these sorts of things.

The main thrust of the novel is this. Zeus, or Z, as he prefers to be called, decides that he’s kind of sick of not being the hardcore god he used to be, so he decides to launch a reality television show, and social media campaign. The other gods see this as a breach of the divine contract they all drew up together, and a war starts. If that sounds quirky, it kind of is, but that’s also why it was so awesome. It just worked. It fit in this quirky, weird world that Hamill has created, and I just loved this take on the gods being bored, and mundane, and attention-starved. They were oh-so-human, while still managing to be completely out of touch with reality.

Now, if I did have some complaints, I felt like the pacing was a bit off. It took some time for things to get going, and events to really move forward. The start is a little drip-drip-drip with information and events, the action and fast-paced plot don’t really swing into full gear until the second half of the book. Now, that’s not to say that the first half is wasted. There’s a lot going on here, lots of development and crafting, lots of setup so what happens later makes sense, but it is worth noting.

Furthermore, I will say that Callie’s little parentage reveal wasn’t really that big of a shock to me. It made sense, but it wasn’t the “wow” I really expected it to be. To tell you the truth, I felt that way about a few of the reveals that come along in the book. Though, I will admit that I’m not exactly sure this is the kind of book that’s supposed to shock my socks off, if you get my drift. So, I’d take this more as a neutral observation rather than any real mark of favor or disfavor.

However, Hamill makes up for that with her writing, which is direct, but just descriptive enough without going overboard. The scenes she wrote, and especially the characters (which seems to be her real skill) really came to life as I read the book. I will also give her a huge shoutout for representation. There are openly bisexual characters in this book, and a gay couple that features prominently, along with their children, in the second half of the book. I will also give her huge props for taking this book in a direction that I completely and absolutely didn’t expect going into it.

So, where does this leave you? This book was fun, fast, and completely unique. It’s an easy read, especially if you like quirky characters and gods that are somewhat less than divine. If the pacing is a little skewed, and some of the reveals underwhelmed me, the rest of the book made up for it.

In the end, Nectar and Ambrosia made me wish that this bar was a real place that I could actually go and spend time in. I wanted these people to really exist, because they were just that awesomely fun. To be honest with you, dear reader, I hope this is the first book in a series. There was a ton of setup here, a sort of feeling of cleaning off the beach before we can explore than land more – feeling, and with how much fun this book is, I just think it would be a waste to be the only one written in this world.

Also, I’m totally pro-Zeus Reality TV show.

 

4/5 stars

The Song of Achilles – Madeline Miller

About the Book

Greece in the age of heroes. Patroclus, an awkward young prince, has been exiled to the court of King Peleus and his perfect son Achilles. Despite their difference, Achilles befriends the shamed prince, and as they grow into young men skilled in the arts of war and medicine, their bond blossoms into something deeper – despite the displeasure of Achilles’ mother Thetis, a cruel sea goddess.

But when word comes that Helen of Sparta has been kidnapped, Achilles must go to war in distant Troy and fulfill his destiny. Torn between love and fear for his friend, Patroclus goes with him, little knowing that the years that follow will test everything they hold dear.

384 pages (paperback)

Published on March 6, 2012

Published by HarperCollins

Author’s website

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This book was borrowed from the library. Yay libraries!

—

I decided to get The Song of Achilles due to how much I loved Circe, by the same author. I loved her writing, and I knew I just had to read the rest of her books. As it turns out, this one was highly recommended.

The Song of Achilles tells the story of Petroclus, an awkward boy who ends up getting exiled from his family due to a tragic accident. Petroclus leads an interesting life. Gawky and awkward, his father, a king who has high aspirations, takes his young son to another kingdom, Helen’s, as it happens, to put him forward as a suitor. This ends up binding him to Helen’s defense when events rise up later in the book. This is sort of the foundation for the infamous Battle of Troy.

Fast-forward a few years, and Petroclus is a young, gawky, exiled boy living in a foreign kingdom. He’s got no family, no friends, and no real skill at anything that the other boys enjoy, like throwing spears. He’s out of place, and miserable. He meets another young boy, Achilles, who is just as awkward and out of place, albeit for different reasons.

Achilles is the son of a mortal king, and the goddess he ultimately raped. Due to this, he’s beautiful, and good at just about everything. He has boys vying for his attention, but they all seem below his notice. He’s also been prophesied to be the best fighter in his generation. Slowly, Miller paints him to be just as awkward, and just as outside of the norm as Petroclus, though in a very different way.

Things happen, and these two gawky young boys meet up. Their friendship is slow to develop and stutters along a bit in a natural way. They grow up together, and develop and bond and loyalty, and a deep friendship. When they get into their teenage years, the boys have grown close, their friendship goes deep. Their awareness is changing, and so are their lives. The world is getting a bit bigger, and their roles in it are likewise shifting. Achilles, as a prince, has certain obligations, and Petroclus, as his companion, is always there with him.

Their romantic relationship develops slowly, and it isn’t until the middle of the book where any real romantic interest is established. It’s not graphic, but the relationship has been so well developed, and so realistically, emotionally crafted, that it feels so very real. Miller has a way of playing on all of my emotions, drawing them out, and making the book so much more absorbing and powerful due to how incredibly engaged I was.

The mixture of fantasy and reality, myth and history were quite well done. It’s obvious that Miller knows her topic. The perspective of Petroclus was wise, rather than Achilles. He is so very human compared to his partner. His emotions are raw and vivid, and their journey together is so very real and gripping that the events they both go through are like a punch in the gut.

I love it when books impact me so much they make me cry. This book is a beautiful tragedy, and I was wiping away tears quite a few times throughout the novel. To be honest, the ending just about ruined me, but that should tell you something about just how powerful this story really is. Flawless writing, a shockingly real protagonist, and emotions that were drawn so well, I felt them keenly.

The Song of Achilles ruined me in the best possible way. When I read a book, I don’t want to feel like I’m reading a book. I want to feel like I’m living that story, and this book accomplished that in spades. This is one of those books I might not have read unless it was recommended to me, but I’m so very glad I did. It’s transformative, a true odyssey, and it changed me.

Read it.

 

5/5 stars

City of Lies – Sam Hawke

About the Book

I was seven years old the first time my uncle poisoned me… 

Outwardly, Jovan is the lifelong friend of the Chancellor’s charming, irresponsible Heir. Quiet. Forgettable. In secret, he’s a master of poisons and chemicals, trained to protect the Chancellor’s family from treachery. When the Chancellor succumbs to an unknown poison and an army lays siege to the city, Jovan and his sister Kalina must protect the Heir and save their city-state.

But treachery lurks in every corner, and the ancient spirits of the land are rising…and angry.

560 pages (paperback)

Published on July 3, 2018

Published by Tor

Author’s webpage

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This book was borrowed from the library. Yay libraries!

—

City of Lies is one of those books that had me from the get-go. First, there’s a blurb by Robin Hobb on the back cover. Secondly, the first line of the book is basically a lesson in how authors hook readers fast.

Still, I went into this a bit skeptically. I tend to always be a little reluctant about books that are getting a ton of praise, regardless of blurbs, or first lines or anything else. There’s a lot of room in a book this long for things to take a turn that is less than pleasing.

Anyway, City of Lies was instantly addictive. It took me a little while to warm up to it. The first few chapters were great, but I didn’t really feel that “must continue reading” urge until I was about 100 pages into it. Not for any huge reason. I can’t even blame a slow start because things pretty much start moving at lightning speed from the first few pages, on. I think those hundred pages probably reflects how long it took me to get used to the city, the government system, the lingo, and the characters themselves.

Now, this isn’t one of those books that wastes a lot of time with nothing happening but development. City of Lies, like I said, gets going just about instantly. It starts with that awesome hook, and then after a few pages, people start dying, and after that, the city is besieged.

The story is told from two points of view, a brother and a sister. Jovan works as master of poisons, testing all the food and beverages brought to his best friend, the heir. This role of his is secret. His façade, the affable, friendly but forgettable friend of the heir is how most people know him. It takes almost no time for readers to realize that Jovan sees just about everything and is quick on his feet. His loyalty and love for his best friend, and his sister, is obvious and sometime sit can cloud his perspective, but I think that’s part of caring about people, and loyalty in general, and that just made him more realistic to me.

Kalina is, hands down, my favorite character. She’s Jovan’s older sister. After a failed poisoning when she was a child, her role as master of poisons went to her little brother, Jovan, and she was left with a myriad of health issues that she struggles with throughout the book. I loved, loved, loved that about her. Despite her health, her uncle taught her to be useful within her limitations, and she’s an excellent spy, and very good at ferreting out information. She’s instrumental in figuring out what is going on. Furthermore, as someone who feels a lot of her symptoms in my daily life, I was really impressed with how realistically she was crafted, and small details like her joints aching like the devil when it rains, were sprinkled in her narrative liberally, and it was just awesome.

More than that, though, it really was cool to see a character who deals with a lot of physical ailments be awesome anyway. There isn’t enough of that in books, and when I see that sort of representation, and when it is done so well, I get really excited.

So, Kalina was awesome. She was a powerhouse of a character and had a very nuanced voice due to her personal experiences being so different than her brother’s. She saw things he didn’t and understood things in unique ways, and expressed frustration at her limitations (along with an acceptance of them), and frustration with people who didn’t understand her capabilities (as well as an understanding of how to use that to her advantage). Ultimately, the two perspectives balanced each other out well and worked in tandem to explore the drama of what is going on, on multiple levels. This allowed the story to unfold in a way that left me feeling like no stone was left unturned.

The drama, the besieged city sort of surprised me. I mean, I know that’s part of the back-cover blurb, but it happened so fast in the book that I was just kind of shocked. There was no wasted time between the first line, and the siege itself, and part of that lack of a buildup is what makes the whole central drama so incredibly compelling and real. Now, the siege wasn’t your typical siege, and due to how it’s undertaken, it takes most of the book to figure out who is attacking, and why.

I really enjoyed that. This is probably the first book I’ve read where there is this huge military event, and no one really knows who is doing it or why until close to the end. So much time is spent investigating the political situation that has been inherited by all of these primary characters. It’s quite a clever twist on your typical who-done-it mystery, and all of the treachery and double-dealing is really woven in gracefully, lots of it taking me by surprise as things gathered steam toward the ending.

The answers aren’t what I expected, either, and the way they are uncovered and slowly rolled out is really done quite well. I never felt like I was left hanging, but I did feel incredibly sucked in and I loved all the “ah ha” moments I felt when things slid into place and all these details that had been peppered throughout the book suddenly clicked together and made perfect sense. The duel first-person POVs were instrumental in that, as I experienced this book through the eyes of Kalina and Jovan, events mattered more to me. They were so very alive and real.

There are twists and turns along the way. The ending took me by surprise, though some of the answers to various riddles was a tad predictable. As all things must, this book ended, and now I’m personally offended (not really) that book two isn’t ready for me to read like RIGHT NOW, DAMN IT.

Ultimately, City of Lies lives up to its hype. The writing is fantastic, the world building is wonderful, and the characters were so intricately crafted they leaped off the page. The answers that you’ll be seeking as you read this book aren’t what you expect, but that’s part of the genius of the author, I’m learning. This book could have so easily been mundane, typical, predictable, and generally rather “meh.” Instead, Hawke took her story, and made it her own creature, and wow, what a creature it is. She gave City of Lies wings.

I am hungry for book two.

 

4/5 stars

The Traitor God – Cameron Johnston

About the Book

A city threatened by unimaginable horrors must trust their most hated outcast, or lose everything, in this crushing epic fantasy debut.

After ten years on the run, dodging daemons and debt, reviled magician Edrin Walker returns home to avenge the brutal murder of his friend. Lynas had uncovered a terrible secret, something that threatened to devour the entire city. He tried to warn the Arcanum, the sorcerers who rule the city. He failed. Lynas was skinned alive and Walker felt every cut. Now nothing will stop him from finding the murderer. Magi, mortals, daemons, and even the gods – Walker will burn them all if he has to. After all, it wouldn’t be the first time he’s killed a god…

426 pages (paperback)

Published on June 5, 2018

Published by Angry Robot Books

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This book was borrowed from the library. Yay libraries!

—

This book was recommended to me by a friend of mine, who said that it had one of the most interesting magic systems he’s read in a while. Intrigued, I put it on hold at the library, and decided to give it a whirl.

A few things stuck out almost instantly. First, the worldbuilding is fantastic. By the time our protagonist, one Edrin Walker, gets back to the city of Setharis, it becomes obvious that worldbuilding might be the author’s forte. In fact, the city itself is painted in such vivid colors, with each street and alleyway accounted for, as well as the people who live on it (gangs, and turf wars, and underbelly city culture all accounted for in spades), I felt like I could actually find my way around this city if I needed to. It’s rare that a place is painted that vividly for readers.

Along with that, the magic system is quite interesting, and Walker’s specific brand of magic is not only unique, but also quite dangerous. Mixed with his moral ambiguity, and the vivid worldbuilding, this creates a really interesting cocktail for readers, with a ton of potential.

The book opens with a bang. In the first chapter, there’s an attack, in the second something happens that sort of puts the whole book on its tracks. Then Walker goes back to the city he’s been banned from for ten years, and readers are brought along with him while he travels the streets and bangs his way through one situation to the next while he tries to find out who killed his friend and eventually travels down a wormhole that makes him question just about everything he ever thought he knew.

In a lot of ways, this book felt a lot like a noir, with a grimdark fantasy bend. The magic system is really interesting, and so is the religion, with a twist on the idea of gods and goddesses that I frankly didn’t expect and left me sort of gaping at Johnston’s imagination. (On an aside, the moon cries actual tears, and there are myths about them and what they mean, and that’s just really freaking cool).

The Traitor God is grungy, dark, and full of gore. Walker, as I said, has a lackluster moral compass, and is just the sort of character I love. He thrives on the underbelly of a city that has quite an impressive underbelly. He has a long and illustrious history, and he exudes danger. He isn’t afraid to mess someone up, and that becomes more and more obvious as the book progresses, and the layers and layers of the situation(s) he finds himself in becomes clear. While he’s very good at seeming self-assured, he’s very conscious of his vulnerabilities, and does a lot to protect himself from those things that could easily hurt him, or damage him. Also, there’s a (kind of) sentient knife, and friends, that’s just pure badass, thankyouverymuch.

There is a bit of a mystery here, not just a “who done it” type thing, but there’s also a gaping hole in his memory that is so very important, and as details about this become clear, it really shakes the foundations on the understandings that Walker has built his life on. It’s interesting to watch this self-assured asskicker grapple with himself, and the world he lives in, as well as all the people in it that he thought he knew. So, aside from being outwardly noir-ish and dark, it also gives readers a view on Walker’s evolution along the path of events.

The Traitor God is full of action. I mean, nonstop. There were points when I actually kind of felt like maybe this guy needed to have a few minutes to catch his breath, but it all panned out. In some ways, it kind of reminds me of a video game, where Walker is always going from one situation to the next with very little downtime, and very little time to pause and really take stock of what’s going on. Sometimes it felt like he was reacting, without much thought or insight into why, and occasionally the action got to be so thick I kind of felt lost in what was going on and why. Overwhelming at points, I guess.

The other thing I should mention is that it took about three chapters for me to really get into what was going on. The first chapter was incredibly confusing to me, and the events that happened there didn’t really make sense until Walker gets to Setheris and starts wandering around, giving readers the lowdown on the magic system and the city itself. Then, the events in the first chapter sorted themselves out in my mind. The second chapter was really interesting, and it gripped me, but I thought the thing he was visualizing was a memory, not a current event, and once I figured that out, it made a lot more sense.

That being said, a lot of this book was very surface level action-adventure-mystery-thriller, but there’s quite a bit under the surface. There’s a lot of relationship exploration happening, not just between Walker and various people he comes into contact with, but with Walker and the man whose murder he’s investigating. These ties go deep and impact the protagonist in very profound ways. In a certain light, relationships are what motivates everything that happens here, and that just interested me. It’s not just a book that takes readers on a high-octane thrill ride, but it’s one where that thrill ride is based on a pretty solid, personal, intimate foundation, and that right there seemed to balance out a lot of the dark action/adventure aspects that sometimes felt like they overwhelmed the plot.

So, in the end, The Traitor God was a really fast read, incredibly addictive, and full of nonstop action and adventure. It’s dark and gritty, in a world that was so well developed it quite honestly leapt off the page, with characters that are just as vividly drawn. Worth a read? Absolutely.

 

4/5 stars

Audiobook Review | Ghosts of Tomorrow – Michael R. Fletcher

About the Book

The Brain Trade: Grown in crèches and programmed with a tribal warrior code, the minds of children are harvested by the black market. Sold to the highest bidder, they’re installed in deadly combat machines and assassin chassis.

Griffin, a junior Investigations agent for the North American Trade Union, is put on the case: Find and close the illegal crèches. Installed in a combat chassis, Abdul, a depressed 17-year-old killed during the Secession Wars in Old Montreal, is assigned as Griffin’s Heavy Weapons support. Nadia, a state-sanctioned investigative reporter working the stolen children story, pushes Griffin ever deeper into the nightmare of the brain trade.

In the La Carpio slums of Costa Rica, the scanned mind of an autistic girl named only 88 runs the South American Mafia’s business interests. But 88 wants more. She wants freedom. And she has come to see humanity as a threat. She has an answer: Archaeidae. He died when he was eight. At 14, a six-gun slinging, katana-wielding machine of death, he is the deadliest assassin alive.

Two children against the world. The world is going to need some help.

394 pages (paperback)

Published on March 1, 2017

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This audiobook was given to me by the author in exchange for an honest review.

—

A while ago, one Michael R. Fletcher put it about online that he was getting his book Ghosts of Tomorrow turned into an audiobook, but he never listened to audiobooks so he wanted help with the narrator auditions. I, of course, raised my hand and said, “ME! ME! ME!” Anyway, long story short, I heard three (I think) narrators, and one of them was this English woman. He didn’t tell me who anyone was, so I just knew it was some English woman. I listened to her audition, and wrote Fletcher something like, “Dude, I could listen to her read a phone book.”

It turned out, pretty much everyone felt that way, and I’m assuming that that, along with the fact that Fletcher liked her audition (which is the most important part) helped land her the role of narrator. And, long story short, we’ve got R.B. Watkinson’s first voice acting foray with Ghosts of Tomorrow, and she did really, really well. Now, my only complaint regarding her narration was some of the accents were a little… odd. Like the Texas drawl didn’t pan out, but she’s English and I’m pretty sure that if I tried to do a passable English accent, the entire country would probably throw beer in my face and/or laugh me off the island, so I can’t hold it against her.

Anyway, narrator wise, despite some accent issues, Watkinson is super easy to listen to and has a very smooth voice and easy flow. She does a pretty damn good job at reading a book that is this intense and violent and does it in a way that makes it easy to absorb. So, bravo on that front.

Now, onto the book itself.

By this point in my evolution as a speculative fiction reader, I understand that Fletcher does not write books that should be read if you’re faint of heart. He is brutal, and graphic, and oh so dark. He doesn’t hold anything back. Oddly enough, I have never really felt like he’s glorified the violence in the books he writes. It always feels very natural. Yes, it’s dark, and yes, it’s brutal, but it belongs in his books and his worlds.

Anyway, Ghosts of Tomorrow takes place in the near future. Most countries have dissolved and instead turned into trade unions, akin to huge corporations so they can easily compete on the global marketplace. There are a few references of hotter temperatures, wars that had been fought, and various other details that give readers a sense of how things became the way they were, and just how things are now.

Mixed into this are a huge underground crime culture and a virtual reality. Both of these things overlay the whole book. Now, the organized crime is pretty self-explanatory. However, the virtual reality is really where things get interesting, as this book is really told on two fronts, one being in reality, the other being in a virtual sphere. The virtual reality was really the part of the book that ended up interesting me more than I thought it would.

But in order to explain why, perhaps you should understand how this virtual reality mostly works, and how it ties into the crime culture. Also, this is where you’ll get your first sniff as to the why and how of the dark details of this book.

You see, if a person is damaged somehow, but their head can be preserved, their consciousness is kind of downloaded onto these computers, so they lose their body, but become essentially machines controlled by the consciousness that was downloaded. This gives some opportunities, for example, there’s a soldier who dies, but his head is salvaged and he’s essentially given “eternal life” as a machine fighting for the North American Trade Union’s military.

On the other hand, there are illegal creches, where children are either illegally bred, or stolen. Their bodies are disposed of, and they are downloaded onto these computers to live forever in these virtual worlds. It’s, quite honestly, horrifying.

Usually, the most horrific characters in books are ones who are slightly mature – maybe not adults, but almost never young kids. They might have the wrong ideas about things, but they have these ideas through life experience and observation. These kids in Ghosts of Tomorrow were never given that chance to grow up, so they were basically given ‘eternal life’ as computers, or machines, and sent into the world without any of the life experience, or morality that someone even a little older would have. This unmooring gives the whole conflict an incredibly difficult light. First, a lot of these kids are just terrifying, but how do you really deal with a child who honestly probably doesn’t know better, or doesn’t really understand real from pretend? Or which actions are part of some elaborate game, and which are real?

And then there is the issue of that marine I mentioned above, who spends the book giving readers a rather intimate look into the personal conflict of becoming a machine. Most of his narrative is really, genuinely captivating because he’s grappling with what it means to be a human. Does one have to have a beating heart to be human? Or does humanity transcend that? Can he be human if he is essentially a machine?

Then there is the investigator and the journalist, whose jobs are to investigate these illegal crèches and destroy them. Their own moral dilemmas, how do you deal with kids who have done horrible things, but are still just kids – are thrown into the mix. It’s fascinating.

My favorite character ended up being 88, an autistic girl who was sucked into this whole situation via a mafia in Central America. She figures out how to sever her chains with her masters, and sort of spends the book making this virtual empire. While she’s busy dominating this sphere, her core truth is that she just wants to find her mom. The juxtaposition of her character is, quite frankly, incredibly sobering, and its own unique kind of horrifying.

So, we’ve got all these situations, set in a near future world. There’s lots of explosions and bullets flying, plenty of swearing, lots of dismembered heads, and piles of dead bodies, some of them are sold off for fertilizer. Folks, it’s all here.

But what really got me about this entire book, under all this interesting stuff, is the very interesting, very smart way that Fletcher took these complex moral questions and threw them at readers in such a way that it is impossible not to think of them, to ponder their implications, to wonder where you, dear reader, would sit in a world like that one.

Fletcher is a dark author, but he’s also a very smart one, and his books are impossible to put down.

Ghosts of tomorrow honestly blew me away. I wasn’t sure what I expected going into it, but it was so intense and was working on so many layers, that when I finished it I had to sit back and catch my breath.

I’m not sure why Fletcher isn’t a better-known name in the genre. It seems like a travesty that a book this good can be written, and it isn’t a main topic of conversation yet.

5/5 stars

American War – Omar El Akkad

About the Book

An audacious and powerful debut novel: a second American Civil War, a devastating plague, and one family caught deep in the middle a story that asks what might happen if America were to turn its most devastating policies and deadly weapons upon itself.

Sarat Chestnut, born in Louisiana, is only six when the Second American Civil War breaks out in 2074. But even she knows that oil is outlawed, that Louisiana is half underwater, and that unmanned drones fill the sky. When her father is killed and her family is forced into Camp Patience for displaced persons, she begins to grow up shaped by her particular time and place. But not everyone at Camp Patience is who they claim to be. Eventually, Sarat is befriended by a mysterious functionary, under whose influence she is turned into a deadly instrument of war. The decisions that she makes will have tremendous consequences not just for Sarat but for her family and her country, rippling through generations of strangers and kin alike.”

352 pages (hardcover)

Published on April 4, 2017

Published by Knopf

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This audiobook was a library loan. Yay libraries!

—

I’m going to drop another unpopular opinion on you fine people. I love dystopian settings, but I get really tired of the sort of cute-hard dystopian YA books. I mean, they are enjoyable and can be very well done, but when I typically look for dystopian, I want the grimdark kind that makes me hurt just thinking about it. I like the ones that are darker than dark.

Friends, I really enjoy carnage.

Enter American War. Really, you just need to know two things about this book: One, it’s amazing. Two, it’s daaaaaaaaark. Oh, and if you want to add a spontaneous third point, the narrator for the audiobook is fantastic.

American War tells the story of the Chestnut family, though it mostly focuses on Sarat and her metamorphosis. Anyway, the Chestnut family is living in Louisiana when the Second American Civil War breaks out. She’s just six years old, but the America she’s born into is much different than the one we know. First of all, LA is mostly underwater. Fossil fuels are banned. Unmanned drones fly the skies, and fighting is all around them, making work hard. Permits are needed to travel from the Southern States to the North. It’s an impoverished hand-to-mouth existence, but it’s a happy one until her father dies, and fighting comes closer. Sarat’s mother uproots her family from their small home, and they make their way to the Internally Displaced Person’s camp called Camp Patience.

The beginning is sort of slow. The book didn’t really take wings and fly until Sarat got to Camp Patience. It doesn’t take long to get that far, but it is worth knowing that the start drags a little.

Camp Patience takes on a life of its own. Sarat and her family have to change to fit their surroundings. It’s done very well. I’ve read a lot of nonfiction books about life in these refugee camps, and what was written about their experience largely rings true to what I’ve read about these camps. They are harsh, often brutal. There’s very little privacy, almost no hope, and lots of heartache and hardship.

In this camp, Sarat meets a man who starts to teach her about the north and the south. He gives her gifts, good food, errands to run and pays her for them. It happens so subtly that you don’t even realize that he’s buying her loyalty until there’s this one section after a horrible tragedy, and Sarat pledges vengeance to those who perpetrated these tragic events, and this man smiles. The one-two punch of brutal, graphic violence and this man’s pleasure at Sarat’s loyalty is a real fist in the gut.

To tell you the truth, that’s how most of the book is. Sarat starts as a little girl on the banks of a river and turns into a woman hellbent on death so deftly you don’t even realize it’s happening until it’s happened.

Now, this book could have easily turned into a political opinion piece, but it really doesn’t. It hardly touches on politics, and never in great detail. This is the story of a huge war that is ripping apart the lives of millions of people, on an intimate scale. Ultimately, Sarat doesn’t really give a damn about the politics, she cares more about what is happening right around her, and how she can make her mark.

In my estimation, and perhaps it’s the wrong impression I should be getting from this book, but it’s more about radicalization, how subtle it is, and how easy it is to perform if you’re given a little dark luck and the sort of mind that sees an opportunity to manipulate when one is presented to you. In truth, when I was reading this book, I thought a lot about the Middle East, and some of the problems over there, and how easy it is for one thing to lead to another, regardless of good or bad intention. It was a thought that left me very, very cold.

Sarat is a dark character in a dark place, and she leaves a dark mark. There’s a lot of violence here, and a ton of brutality. Sarat kills, and she’s in the middle of a horrible attack, and then she gets caught and tortured. There is some redemption, but this isn’t a book you’ll want to read if you want to feel happy after. It’s a book that will leave you with many heavy thoughts, and a different view of world events that is, frankly, quite worrying.

There is a debate going on about books you read for enjoyment vs. books you read for their message, and which classification is better. At the end of all this, I think American War straddles both lines perfectly. It’s an adventure, living Sarat’s life, but it’s also a profound examination on how events can create a domino effect that can irrevocably alter the course of a person’s life, and how wide those ripples, once thrown into that glassy pond, can spread.

Powerful. Important. Riveting. Beautifully written. This isn’t a book you should read, it’s a book you need to read.

 

5/5 stars

The Poppy War – R.F. Kuang

About the Book

When Rin aced the Keju, the Empire-wide test to find the most talented youth to learn at the Academies, it was a shock to everyone: to the test officials, who couldn’t believe a war orphan from Rooster Province could pass without cheating; to Rin’s guardians, who believed they’d finally be able to marry her off and further their criminal enterprise; and to Rin herself, who realized she was finally free of the servitude and despair that had made up her daily existence. That she got into Sinegard, the most elite military school in Nikan, was even more surprising.

But surprises aren’t always good.

Because being a dark-skinned peasant girl from the south is not an easy thing at Sinegard. Targeted from the outset by rival classmates for her color, poverty, and gender, Rin discovers she possesses a lethal, unearthly power—an aptitude for the nearly-mythical art of shamanism. Exploring the depths of her gift with the help of a seemingly insane teacher and psychoactive substances, Rin learns that gods long thought dead are very much alive—and that mastering control over those powers could mean more than just surviving school.

For while the Nikara Empire is at peace, the Federation of Mugen still lurks across a narrow sea. The militarily advanced Federation occupied Nikan for decades after the First Poppy War, and only barely lost the continent in the Second. And while most of the people are complacent to go about their lives, a few are aware that a Third Poppy War is just a spark away . . .

Rin’s shamanic powers may be the only way to save her people. But as she finds out more about the god that has chosen her, the vengeful Phoenix, she fears that winning the war may cost her humanity . . . and that it may already be too late.

544 pages

Published on May 1, 2018

Published by Harper Voyager

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I got this book from the library. Yay libraries!

—

I heard a lot of praise about this book, and I was thrilled when my library got it in. I ran over there and picked it up, and instantly started reading it.

Now, here’s the point where I need to put down an Unpopular Opinion warning. I almost didn’t make it past the first half of the book. I almost gave up. I really, really had one hell of a time getting through that first chunk. It’s not because it was written poorly or anything like that, but this coming-of-age underdog-becoming-top-dog magic-school thing has been done before, numerous times, and I just found that section to be incredibly… meh.

That isn’t to say that the rest of the book is like that. I’m really glad I pressed on, and there are important things that happen in this coming-of-age-schooling section, but it felt so young adult, like so many other books I’ve read that I just really had to push myself through it. THAT BEING SAID, I actually say a lot of good things about this secton of the book, so READ ON, FRIENDS.

I’m glad I did, though. After that section, the book takes a sharp turn and it’s obvious that this isn’t a young adult book at all. It’s very dark, and very adult with plenty of blood, battles, and gore. War is depicted in uncomfortable, vibrant detail. There are monsters, gods, drugs, implied rape, some scenes that are absolutely noteworthy and relentless with their dark nature. You just have to get through that first section, friends.

Essentially, our protagonist one Rin, is an orphan living as an opium runner/shop girl in the south. Her parents/guardians find a man twice her age to marry her. To get out of this, she studies hard and puts herself through the tests to get admitted to the highest military school in the empire. She passes. Due to her dark skin and southern heritage, she’s seen as an outsider, someone who shouldn’t be in this prestigious school. She makes some friends and plenty of enemies. She works her ass off and gets what she deserves and stands out in some impressive ways.

There are some interesting dynamics in this section. This book works on numerous levels, and I have to really hand it to the author for discussing some heavy topics in some really bold, but even-handed ways. For example, the issue of skin color, and social status play heavily here, but there are more undercurrents, issues that are powerful but get touched on briefly, like conception, and a woman’s choice in the matter.

Then, after this schooling section, things move on to the wider world. This book is based on 20th-century Chinese history. It’s not a time period I’m incredibly familiar with, though I did just finish a 900-page book on Mao, so I know a lot more than I did at the start of the year. That being said, I’m still pretty naive, but it was easy for me to see the basis for certain events in the book. It isn’t nice. Life is hard, and people are brutal, and the author pulls absolutely no punches here. The basis on 20th-century history, transformed into this fantasy secondary world has the added benefit of ramping up some personal interest. I always love it when authors take historical events and make them their own, and Kuang does that in spades.

There is a really intricate weaving of fantasy and reality in this book. Often, the fantasy elements (other than the secondary world) are pretty subtle. Rin’s shamanic abilities are very well done, but they never feel overtly magical. I mean, they are, but they feel more like they are a natural part of the world rather than anything in-your-face, and I appreciated that immensely. It showed a really deft hand with world building. It isn’t until the end of the school section where magic really has any huge part in the book, and after that, it plays an even bigger role in our protagonist’s life, and the conflict at large.

The plot picks up quite a bit after that halfway point. Rin’s relationships take more form and become more solid and real. The book relies less on her as a single character, and suddenly she sort of has backup and people she interacts with and relies on. It makes her a lot more interesting. She has to make some hard decisions, has to take actions that are uncomfortable, has to do things that will leave scars on her, but that’s really where the power of this book happens. Rin has grown up, and now she is in the process of becoming. Becoming is hard, and painful, but she does it, and readers, it’s a wild, unforgettable ride.

Now, as much as I poo-poo the school section, I will heartily admit that the issue is less about the fact something is inherently wrong with that section and more about the fact that I just typically don’t dig school-heavy narratives. I also don’t dig books that take place largely on boats, and it takes an act of god for me to read a book featuring zombies. This isn’t the author’s problem, it’s my problem. However, that being said, there was a really interesting thing that a coming-of-age section lent the book, and it was a huge heaping of intensity.

Usually, books just start out and the character is dark. The book itself had some dark elements, but Rin herself isn’t really dark, per se. She’s just determined. This growth, from a determined girl to a world-weary woman is, well, it’s powerful, and it’s powerful because you get taken along for the ride. The whole ride. The good and the bad parts. The pain and the pleasure. The hard decisions and the easy ones. You are introduced to Rin the shop girl, and then Rin the underdog student, and then Rin, the woman, and all of these transitions, whether they all please you or not, make the story of Rin absolutely unforgettable.

I can’t wait for the next book. Keep your eyes on this author, folks. She’s making her mark.

 

4/5 stars