Sarah Chorn's Blog, page 52

ANNOUNCING: OwnVoice & OwnStory

Okay, wow. I’m really, really nervous about this post.

And it will be long (and personal), because I want to explain things as I go.

First of all, I made a huge mistake last week. Huge. I apologized, and I still feel terrible (I doubt I ever will feel anything but terrible about that) but I also realize that apologizing is only half of the story. A mistake is a learning experience, and I firmly believe that, when mistakes are made, steps must also be taken to make things right. After the whole thing happened, I seriously thought I’d never recover. I thought I could never show my face again because I was so ashamed and felt so horrible about what I’d thoughtlessly done. But then I started thinking and I quickly realized that I can’t walk away from this. My mistake was tragic and horrible, and I never meant to do anything to ever hurt anyone like I did, but it happened and I can either let it defeat me, or I can learn from it. Period.

The point is, I can’t walk away from this. I just can’t. I won’t ever forgive myself if I do. It means too much to me.

My brother was born with part of his brain missing, and is also on the spectrum. He’s the one who got me into speculative fiction. It was a way for him to escape himself, and also a way for him to share something with other people, and connect in a way that is really hard for him to accomplish otherwise. A few years ago he had a horrible seizure and almost died. He has permanent brain damage now, and can no longer read. He has memory problems, is paralyzed, and suffers from frequent seizures. Losing his ability to read and remember what he read has been really hard for him. We were talking once (he can’t read books anymore, but he loves to talk about them), and he said, “I really wish someone would talk about how people like me can be important in books too.” And from that sentence, Special Needs in Strange Worlds was born. I decided to do just that. I wanted to talk about how disabled people play important roles in speculative fiction books, and from what I saw, no one was talking about it. I wanted my brother, and people like him, to realize that they were (and are) important, despite being often overlooked in the genre (which was something I decided to try to fix in my own small way).

I was going to call my column Disabilities in the Genre (thinking of titles is not a skill of mine), but one of my other friends (also disabled) said that title was absolutely horrible, and very stale and asked to rework it. I told him to please do so, and he came up with Special Needs in Strange Worlds. I thought that was a hell of a lot better sounding than Disabilities in the Genre, so I grabbed it. My brother loved it. My friend loved it. I thought it was catchy, and I’ve kept it in homage of those two people all these years.

And then the purpose of my column took on a whole new light when I was diagnosed with Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome a year ago. Though I’ve suffered with this my whole life (and have the cane, splits, tape, and whatever else as lifelong companions due to it), my symptoms, struggles, and degeneration(s) finally have a name, and that made everything a lot more personal. That’s when I started getting ideas for changing my column a bit, for expanding it and making it something more. But I am only one (very busy) person, and time limitations and being only one person makes any sort of expansion hard.

Anyway…

This previous week has proved that that column is no more. It is time for it to graduate and turn into something else, and the process of transformation is going to bring it a new name.

Enter Shana DuBois.

I started talking to Shana DuBois on Saturday, and we were both absolutely shocked by how similar our visions are for this project. It took about 10 minutes for us to realize that what we want is too big for a weekly column hosted by another website. We also realized that, as far as we are aware, there is no website dedicated to discussing the intersection of the disabled and speculative fiction (wait, there is Disability in Kidlit, a site that has inspired us quite a bit). We plan to fix that.

OwnVoice (*Note: The name may change. Think of this as a working title, if you will.)  is going to be a brand new website run by Shana and myself dedicated to discussing disabilities in the genre. We want this to be a bit more personal, a lot more far reaching. We are specifically going to focus on personal essays discussing the experience of being disabled in the genre. I plan to keep discussions about books going, as well. Ultimately when we look at this topic, we realize that it is absolutely huge, and having a website dedicated to fully exploring it will allow us to post personal essays, discuss books, do interviews, eventually get regular contributors, and really dive into this topic, and expand in ways that we wouldn’t be able to otherwise.

I’m not ending Special Needs in Strange Worlds for any other reason than I feel like it is time to move on, to graduate and expand, to learn from my mistake and try to make something absolutely amazing happen for a community that means more to me than words will ever describe. And in truth, I’ve been wanting to do something like this for at least a year now, but its impossible to do alone. It’s too big.

There will be a few things that will be fundamentally different about this project, and these are things that I have learned from my mistake:

We are working on getting together a “jury” of disabled individuals within the genre who will read each piece that will be submitted to OwnVoice and OwnStory (details to come). Each piece must pass a majority vote of the jury before it drops on the website. This should keep anything like what happened on SF Signal from happening again. Plus, checks and balances are always good.
We will make sure that disabled people directly participate in our site and anthology. The purpose of this project is to give the disabled genre community a voice, and we plan to do exactly that. The goal is for this website to be a place for a community that is so often overlooked to be heard.
I am talking to various web developers to get this site to be accessible, with audio files, and text options and other things of that nature.
Shana and I are doing this together. Since Shana is a superhero (more about that later), I feel pretty good about that.

Secondly, Shana and I are working on an anthology, OwnStory (working title, it will probably change) to be a sort of companion to the website. This anthology will be full of personal essays, poetry, stories, and other goodies. I’m guessing this won’t drop until closer to the end of the year, but we are hoping to release it this year. It will be amazing. I cannot wait. More details on this later. We’re squaring away the website first.

Shana is absolutely amazing, and I kind of feel like we share some super cool mental symmetry. She’s the fresh air and fresh perspective I need, and (bonus) she’s not ashamed to have me work with her on this. She’s understanding, and has a diplomacy and perception that I often lack because I’m too close to a lot of this to see the full picture clearly. Shana is exactly what is needed. She’s… damn folks, she’s amazing. I told her last night that I feel like she’s some sort of superhero. If you don’t know her yet, I urge you to get to know her. You’ll see what I mean. She’s passionate, dedicated, and even handed.

Shana is going to take over a lot of the SF Signal stuff for now so I can focus on the website side of things, getting it all set up and ready to roll. Her goal is to fix the problems with SF Signal at their root. She’s working to get disabled contributors on the SF Signal staff. She’s getting together a series of personal essays to combat the damage done by the piece that I notoriously published and shouldn’t have (Sorry. Really, I’ll never say that enough.). I have a few pieces coming in for Special Needs in Strange Worlds that I had scheduled before the whole thing happened, so I will publish them as I promised, and then I will let that column fade away so we can work our transformation and expansion.

I am not leaving SF Signal for any other reason than both Shana and I think that a dedicated website will allow us to explore this complex topic more fully than a weekly column would. In fact, I hope SF Signal will still let me contribute book reviews/whatever on the occasion.

So that’s what we’re working on. There are so many details, and so much that we’re still ironing out and exploring, so expect updates as they come. I will post them here. I hope to get the website up and running soon-ish, but intricate things take time and we both want to make sure everything is absolutely 100% above board before anything launches. It’ll be a little wait, but I think the wait will be worth it.

Mostly, at this point in time, I felt that it was important for the community to know that something is happening, that we are working hard to repair the damage I ignorantly did. I think what will rise out of the ashes has the potential to be truly incredible. I am trying very hard to make things right, to learn from my mistake, and I’m so very glad that I have Shana beside me while I do that.

Also, get to know Shana. She’s a force of nature, folks.

(Note: My comments are moderated. I rarely check my website on weekends, and I work/have kids, so if you leave a comment and it’s stuck in moderation for an eternity, feel free to email me/poke me on Twitter or Facebook so I pay attention.)

Going Dark

A thing happened yesterday, and I am at fault. A heartfelt apology was released, but after checking my email this morning, I have learned that apparently I haven’t apologized hard enough/I am the worst person who has ever been born, and I just can’t deal with it. So I’m going dark. I have a few irons in a few fires, but I am pulling them all out and letting them cool off. I have uninstalled Twitter (but kept my account open) and turned off all notifications on Facebook. My posts for Special Needs in Strange Worlds are being forwarded to others to deal with because at this point I really, really doubt I’ll ever go back to it.

I went to sleep last night thinking I’d wake up and feel better about this whole mess, but I feel worse, and it’s making me really question my place in the genre community and whether or not I should even be here anymore.

So I’m going dark to lick my wounds, and to figure out where/if I still fit and if I even should.

Sorry, folks. My eyes are red and swollen from a night and a morning of tears, but that’s not enough, and I’m sorry. My email is flooded with anger still, to the point where I don’t even know if I will be able to check it anymore. So if you email me, I don’t know if I’ll respond. Going through my inbox this morning was like being ritualistically flayed.

I may be back writing up a few reviews next week, because I do owe things to people, but other than that, give me two weeks or so to heal.

Announcing Thrawn and On and On

Did you guys know that Star Wars is a thing? I’m sure you did. I, however, avoided it until I saw Episode VII, and then I wanted to read ALL THE STAR WARS THINGS (I am currently doing a read through of the first trilogy, my first write up is here). Well, I went online shortly after I saw that movie, and discussed my vast ignorance and how I wanted to take care of that problem. I got a ton of reading and watching advice, and a few offers to do various projects. One, however, stuck out to me more than others, so I hitched my star (faded and chipped as it may be) to Shaun Duke’s wagon and I am pleased to announce Thrawn and On and On.

So, here’s the deal.

Thrawn and On and On will be a monthly (unless that changes) podcast hosted by the Skiffy and Fanty Show. This will be a podcast where a group of us (which I will introduce in a minute) will get together and discuss whichever Star Wars book(s) we have read that month. We are starting with the Thrawn Trilogy, hence the name of this podcast, and will move on from there. Our first day to record is this Sunday, which I hear happens to be some big Sportsball Event. Yay Sportsball! I’m not sure when it will be available to listen to, but I’m guessing not too long after. I will keep you folks updated.

There will be four of us podcasting. Here’s a little write up about each of us.

Shaun Duke: A graduate student at the University of Florida, Shaun studies science fiction, postcolonialism, posthumanism, and fantasy. He is an avid reader of SF/F, a would-be writer who recently had his first story accepted for publication, and an all around SF/F lunatic. He can be found on his blog, The World in the Satin Bag, and on his Twitter account.

Kate Sherrod: Poet (current project: PULP SONNETS!), fictioneer, podcast crasher, entomophile, practitioner of cultural reportage and stuff. You can learn more about her on her website, and follow her on Twitter.

Rachael Acks: Rachael Acks is a writer, geologist, and sharp-dressed sir. In addition to her steampunk novella series, she’s had short stories in Strange Horizons, Lightspeed, Daily Science Fiction, Shimmer, and more. She’s an active member of SFWA, the Northern Colorado Writer’s Workshop, andCodex. You can learn more about her on her website, and follow her on Twitter.

And me.

Admittedly everyone participating in this event knows more than I do, so that should be interesting. I’m already really enjoying reading the Star Wars books (though I will admit that the Thrawn stuff is holding my interest a LOT more than Attack of the Clones is. I’m struggling quite a bit with that book.) Regardless, this podcast will be a ton of fun, and I think it will really up my enjoyment of immersing myself in the Star Wars experience if I’m doing it with others.

So that’s that. Thrawn and On and On is a thing that is happening. I’m incredibly excited about this podcast, so I hope those of you who feel so inclined will take a listen when it’s live, and check for regular updates here.

SPFBO | Sins of a Sovereignty – Plague Jack

About the Book

From their prisons, the old gods watch, and wait.

Calcifer, the arrogant and obtuse sorcerer turned monster hunter, wants nothing more than to bleed his country of its gold, and return to his lover. When she is assaulted and her mind is left in tatters, Calcifer seeks vengeance by any means necessary.

Sir Clark Pendragon has murdered more men than he cares to remember. Tired and battle scarred, the old knight just wants to live out his last days in peace. When he is needed to stop an assassination, Pendragon is ripped from his retirement and sent north to save his country one final time.

Shrike, keeper of Amernia’s secrets, spends his days combing through letters in search of blackmail. Cunning, and with a mind sharper than a blade, Shrike’s luck is slowly running out, as sinister shadows conspire against him.

War is coming to Amernia, and the Blood Queen stands at the heart of the chaos. A wave of hatred ripples across her country, and she maintains order with fire and fear. The rift between rich and poor, human and nonhuman, divides the kingdom more everyday, as a spectral rider streaks across the sky, heralding the death of kings.

The fates of Calcifer, Pendragon, Shrike, and the Blood Queen are hopelessly intertwined, and new alliances will be forged and broken as war threatens to tear Amernia asunder.

Buy the book

This book was provided as part of the Self Published Fantasy Blog Off.

—

If you like your epic fantasy dark, bloody, and brutal, you really need to read Sins of a Sovereignty. If you enjoy guessing which character will be killed off next, you really, really need to pick up this book. The truth is, this is one of the most brutal, darkest books I’ve read in a while, but he does it so well.

Plague Jack (isn’t that the best author’s name ever?) has no fear of putting his plot, world, or characters through the ringer. However, despite that it only occasionally felt gratuitous. The fact that he stayed away from that gratuitous violence feel as much as he did impress me quite a bit.

Sins of a Sovereignty is different than just about anything else I’ve read in epic fantasy. It does have a sort of pseudo-European feel with royalty, lords and ladies. There is a queen and wars and whatever else that you’d expect in that sort of setting. The difference is in the details. There is magic, a sort of super weapon that has left all the major cities shrouded in fog, and characters that are a far cry from being heroes or really noteworthy at all.

The world itself felt like it was on the tipping point between what has been, and what will be. There is a very revolutionary vibe in the air, and things are obviously moving in numerous and unpredictable directions. Society is strained, and the characters we follow all show readers different dimensions of that change in ways that paint a really well rounded picture of the world and all of its intricate issues.

The plot is fast moving, and surprisingly addicting. It’s obvious from page one that nothing really is what it seems to be, and no one is who they say they are. Loyalties are tested, and people are divided as a world on the brink of war and inevitable change tips in some unexpected and surprising directions.

This is quite an intricate book, and there are a lot of layers and depth in these pages. The book itself is absolutely relentless and completely brutal, so readers should be aware of that before going into it. No one is safe here, and that’s part of the beauty of it. Plague Jack has created a fascinating world full of really dark, flawed characters, and he takes them to the absolute edge. I truly enjoyed how completely fearless the author was to do just about anything he could for the plot to progress.

Sins of a Sovereignty surprised me. It isn’t perfect, and the ending was rather open, which hints at more to come, but leaves it without any real resolution for readers. Sometimes it felt a little over-the-top, and some plot points seemed to leave some minor holes that could be picked at. There were some editing issues, and the ending really, in my estimation, was the biggest issue I had with the whole novel as it left almost no resolution for me and was almost completely open.

That being said, there are a lot of strengths in this novel. The writing was superb. The world was unique. The characters are delightfully flaws. The plot is addicting and unexpected. Sins of a Sovereignty was a huge surprise. Plague Jack created something quite noteworthy here. Fans of George R.R. Martin and various other bloody books where no one is safe should pay attention to this one.

 

4/5 stars

Dreaming Death – J. Kathleen Cheney

About the Book

Shironne Anjir’s status as a sensitive is both a gift and a curse. Her augmented senses allow her to discover and feel things others can’t, but her talents come with a price: a constant assault of emotions and sensations has left her blind. Determined to use her abilities as best she can, Shironne works tirelessly as an investigator for the Larossan army.

A member of the royal family’s guard, Mikael Lee also possesses an overwhelming power—he dreams of the deaths of others, sometimes in vivid, shocking detail, and sometimes in cryptic fragments and half-remembered images.

But then a killer brings a reign of terror to the city, snuffing out his victims with an arcane and deadly blood magic. Only Shironne can sense and interpret Mikael’s dim, dark dreams of the murders. And what they find together will lead them into a nightmare…

400 pages (paperback)

February 2, 2016

Published by Roc

Author’s webpage

Buy the book

This book was sent by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

—

I absolutely adore J. Kathleen Cheney’s writing. When I saw that Dreaming Death was a thing that was happening, I was about to sell my soul to get a copy to read. Luckily, the publisher sent me an ARC, and then the author herself sent me a signed book (which absolutely thrilled me!).

Dreaming Death is different than Cheney’s other series. She still has the same easy flowing writing style, and her world, if possible, is even more vivid and well realized here, but at it’s heart, it’s still Cheney writing, and that’s a huge reason why it is so easy to sink into.

This book does start out rather slow, as the first hundred pages or so are spent building up the world in minute, occasionally overwhelming detail. It’s obvious that Cheney really mapped this sucker out. I admire that, but on the other hand it did bog down the plot a little, and, like I said, the sheer volume of information to absorb got a little overwhelming.

That being said, once readers move past those first hundred pages, things really get going. You’ve been introduced to the characters, and you understand the world and the social structure in minute detail, so at that point you can just sit back and really enjoy how things proceed without really needing to ask many questions.

The characters, in my estimation, are really where this book shines. The magic system is quite unique, but the place of the two protagonists within it is even more remarkable. Shironne is blind, but her world is just as vibrant, perhaps even more so, than any other character’s in the book despite her inability to see. She quickly became the most interesting character in the novel due to her heightened ability as a sensitive, and her remarkable way of standing on her own two legs when just about everyone else is left confused and reeling.

Mikael is the young man who spends many of his nights dreaming murders, and Cheney likewise handles him well. One thing I really enjoy is when authors show the negative implications of these super abilities characters have, and Cheney does that so well here. Shironne lost her ability to see due to her super sensitive abilities. Mikael’s personal life is basically in tatters, and he has an alcohol issue because the only way he can sleep is to isolate himself and drink himself numb each night. Yes, these abilities are fantastic, but I truly applaud how not ever fantastic ability comes without limitations, and the limitations she gives her protagonists served to make them even more real, and more vivid in my estimation.

Once Shironne and Mikael meet, things really get going. It’s delightful to see how the two feed off each other, seeing as how their abilities are so intricately linked. They’ve only known the world apart up to that point, and once they meet each other, they realize there is a whole new dimension to what they can do. It’s fun to watch them learn to navigate the world together, and realize how well they balance each other in the face of so much that has gone wrong.

The mystery is fantastic, and once you get past those first hundred pages, the novel is propelled by its own steam. Hints are dropped along the way, but it’s hard to discover who is doing what, why. For that, readers will discover what is going on along with the characters in the book. This novel is fairly self-contained, but Cheney leaves enough open for exploration in further novels. While we are given a lot of world building, a lot of it really doesn’t play heavily in the novels quite yet. It felt like Cheney built a great foundation for a series, and I’m anxious to see how she expands on much of this in further books.

Dreaming Death was delightful, and surprising. Despite a slow start, the novel really took off and was propelled forward pretty quickly when left to its own devices. The mystery was well done, but it was the two protagonists who surprised me most. Cheney’s easy writing and intricate world make this an easy novel to sink into, and just serve to underscore why she is one of the authors I watch closely.

4/5 stars

Adult Coloring Books – A Review (sort of)

Adult coloring is the new Big Thing. It’s something that I never thought I’d actually get into doing, and then life happened and I realized that having something to kind of zen me out while I was in the middle of a storm would be valuable, and probably keep my family from hating me. I decided to give it a whirl, and here I am, an adult coloring addict.

Then I got lucky, and the amazing Ardi Alspach sent me two adult coloring books to add to my stash of one (yeah, now I have three) and I decided it’s time for me to write a little something-something about these coloring books to perhaps illuminate some new coloring books for the rest of you who do as I do, or who are interested in this sort of thing.

First things first, the setting is important. My favorite way to zen out while coloring is at my kitchen table, at night (always in my pajamas for maximum personal comfort). I get a huge pot of peppermint tea going, and my biggest mug. I plug myself into an audiobook (I’m currently listening to The Rook by Daniel O’Malley) and completely lose myself for hours. So the setting is about 75% of the battle. Once you’ve got your setting down, crack your knuckles, get into that one position that will allow you to do what you do so well, and let go.

I was sent two of Millie Marotta’s coloring books, Tropical World and Animal Kingdom. They are both absolutely fantastic. The pages are large, the lines are small, and there is a ton of detail to lose yourself in and each book is roughly 100 pages. One thing that I really love about these books is how they are somewhat interactive. Marotta added ideas on most pictures to add your own details, or draw something in the white space on the page, or even tips to take time on certain areas. It’s fun. While I can’t draw to save my life, for someone who can, that would be a huge appeal.

I decided to name the animals in this book after characters in the Malazan series. Next up are two fish I’ve named Bauchelain and Korbal Broach.

Marotta’s coloring books are hugely detailed, and it’s a lot of fun to see how she’s taken some animals that I don’t think of as exciting, and made them exciting. Like a turtle, for example. I never thought I’d be one to say, “Hell yeah, I want to color a turtle and spend three days doing it,” but I did. It was a lot of fun, and that shell took me at least two days because of all those lines and all the patterns I could create with them. That’s the sort of thing I love, though. Lines and patterns, and Marotta has a way of elevating her subjects with these details.

There are a ton of different subjects in both of her books, from animals like turtles, fish, elephants, to bugs like beetles (which will be my next subject), butterflies, birds, cacti, and so much more. I keep coming back to how interesting and varied her subjects are, and how she manages to make things like bugs pretty, fun, and interesting. And oh, those details. I love all her details. I’ve said that already, but I can’t seem to say it enough. I love details in the books I read, and I love details in the books I color. An illustrator who can give me those details I crave is an illustrator I adore.

My current Millie Marotta work in progress, yet to be named. 

The other coloring book I own is Enchanted Forest by Johanna Basford. This is the first one I bought (well, my husband bought for me). I love it. The book kind of tells a story. There are hidden objects you can find, and you journey through different forest settings until you reach a castle. Each page is intricate, and just as detailed as Marotta’s, but in a different way. I don’t think I’ve spent less than four days on any of the pictures in this book, and it’s just because there is so much in them to focus on, and I love the flowing style of the book itself. Each picture compliments the picture before and the picture after. It’s really quite stunning.

From The Enchanted Forest

It is kind of impossible to compare and contrast the two authors. They are completely different animals stylistically speaking, and that’s part of what makes it so much fun to have both to go between them. They both love details, and I absolutely adore coloring pictures that sort of tell a story like these do. I love how interactive (I think that’s probably the wrong word to use) Marotta’s illustrations are, and how she manages to make everything so interesting. Her illustrations have made me look at things a bit differently. If she can manage to make beetles beautiful, then maybe there are beautiful things all around me that I’ve been too busy to notice.

I love how Basford’s illustrations tell a story. I enjoy their swirling, natural look and the easy flow of her book. I can lose myself for days in The Enchanted Forest, and that’s okay. Her book tells a story, and the details serve to suck me in deeper. I love how she’s taken forest scenes, and made them so artistic and intricate. Her book sort of transports me, and that’s part of the magic of it.

My only real comparison between the two is, I think the quality of paper used for Enchanted Forest is a little better than that of Marotta’s books, but that’s a small thing that most people probably won’t notice unless they have the books side by side and care enough to rub the paper between their fingers a lot and ponder the minutiae of texture.

At the end of the day we all do what we do to relax, unwind, and unplug. Some of us kill aliens in video games. Some of us drink beer. Some of us take baths. I color, drink tea, and listen to audiobooks. Coloring really is meditative, and it absolutely centers me. Regardless of your skill (I am not world class, by any means), it’s fun and there is some pride involved in finishing something this detailed and knowing that it is undeniably yours. All of the books I have are fantastic, and they each serve to transport me, and focus me in different ways. If you are into adult coloring, you really should check out these three books. They are incredible, big, full of small lines, larger than life images, and plenty of those details I love so damn much.

From The Enchanted Forest

I am not ashamed. I color. I like it. It likes me. And if you are one of those people who needs something like this to relax you when you need it most, then do yourself a favor, and give adult coloring books a try.

Buy Enchanted Forest

Buy Tropical World

Buy Animal Kingdom

Obligatory 2016 Hugo Eligibility Post

I am realistic. I know I don’t have a bat’s chance in hell of ever getting shortlisted for the Hugos. Regardless, I figure I have a few things out there that are eligible, so I figured I’d make a list for those who care.

—

Special Needs in Strange Worlds on SF Signal is eligible as a Related Work. This is my column focusing on disabilities in the genre.

My writing here qualifies me as Best Fan Writer (though it’s just reviews, so not nearly as exciting as the other stuff out there).

Jim C. Hines published a book called Invisible 2, which I have an essay in, where I talk about disabilities in the genre. This book qualifies as well. Clarification: This is not my book, this is Jim C. Hines book, I’m just in it so it’s cool and I’m mentioning it.

And that’s the last you’ll hear of it from me!

If you liked this, read that…

Recently I’ve been getting some requests from readers, mainly books suggestions. They usually go something like this, “I really enjoyed reading (insert book here) but I don’t know what to read next. What do you suggest?” I decided that, when I feel the burning desire, I will take these requests and make a blog post out of them. Today’s edition is, if you liked Wake of Vultures by Lila Bowen, you might want to check out these other books.

A rich, dark fantasy of destiny, death, and the supernatural world hiding beneath the surface.

Nettie Lonesome lives in a land of hard people and hard ground dusted with sand. She’s a half-breed who dresses like a boy, raised by folks who don’t call her a slave but use her like one. She knows of nothing else. That is, until the day a stranger attacks her. When nothing, not even a sickle to the eye can stop him, Nettie stabs him through the heart with a chunk of wood, and he turns into black sand.

And just like that, Nettie can see.

But her newfound sight is a blessing and a curse. Even if she doesn’t understand what’s under her own skin, she can sense what everyone else is hiding — at least physically. The world is full of evil, and now she knows the source of all the sand in the desert. Haunted by the spirits, Nettie has no choice but to set out on a quest that might lead to her true kin… if the monsters along the way don’t kill her first.

—

 

You might want to check out…

Blackbirds – Chuck Wendig

Buy the book

The reason these two books remind me of each other is the no-holds-barred writing style. They are dark and mysterious, and full of intense emotion. The setting is just about as different as it gets, but the tone felt very similar to me.

Silver on the Road – Laura Ann Gilman

Buy the book

If you’re looking for a Weird West book, then look no further. Dry and barren and full of magic that really hasn’t ever been seen before, if you liked Wake of Vultures you’ll probably want to hit up Silver on the Road any minute now.

Karen Memory – Elizabeth Bear

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This book has a memorable, strong female protagonist in a social class that often gets overlooked and looked down upon. There is a Wild West feel here, as well, but really what reminds me of Wake of Vultures is our protagonist, Karen Memory who is though-as-nails and absolutely unapologetic about who she is.

The Builders – Daniel Polansky

Buy the book

You know, honestly I can’t even put my finger on what in Wake of Vultures makes me think of The Builders, but there’s something that the two books (well, one novella) shares, and it’s fantastic. The Builders is what it is, it’s rough around the edges and hard all the way through and absolutely true to its nature. Maybe that’s what the two books share.

The Six-Gun Tarot – R.S. Belcher

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Another book set in the west, but that’s not really the thing that reminds me of Wake of Vultures. In fact, the thing that reminds me of Wake of Vultures is the interesting magic system and a world steeped in mythology and lore. It’s deep and raw and well researched, full of emotion and plenty of tension and characters that live on the fringes. Just like Wake of Vultures.

All the Birds in the Sky – Charlie Jane Anders

About the Book

Childhood friends Patricia Delfine and Laurence Armstead didn’t expect to see each other again, after parting ways under mysterious circumstances during high school. After all, the development of magical powers and the invention of a two-second time machine could hardly fail to alarm one’s peers and families.

But now they’re both adults, living in the hipster mecca San Francisco, and the planet is falling apart around them. Laurence is an engineering genius who’s working with a group that aims to avert catastrophic breakdown through technological intervention into the changing global climate. Patricia is a graduate of Eltisley Maze, the hidden academy for the world’s magically gifted, and works with a small band of other magicians to secretly repair the world’s ever-growing ailments. Little do they realize that something bigger than either of them, something begun years ago in their youth, is determined to bring them together–to either save the world, or plunge it into a new dark ages.

A deeply magical, darkly funny examination of life, love, and the apocalypse.

320 pages (hardcover)

Published on January 26, 2016

Published by Tor

Author’s webpage

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This book was sent by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

— 

All the Birds in the Sky is… something else. It’s one of those books that doesn’t really fit anywhere, and it kind of fits everywhere. It’s a book that really hinges on relationships – relationships between people, and relationships with the world around us. It’s fantasy, but its science fiction, but it’s contemporary, but it’s… really, it’s whatever.

This was a book I was highly anticipating, and when I got a review copy I felt like sending Tor a letter of gratitude. Despite the fact that I was really looking forward to reading this one, I honestly didn’t know what to expect from it. I’ve never read anything that Charlie Jane Anders has written before, and I honestly didn’t know much about it before I read it. That was part of the thrill. It’s very rare that I go into a book knowing next to nothing about it, and that makes an interesting reading experience. Therefore, it is why I am trying to preserve my ignorance more and more these days. I like being surprised.

I liked how All the Birds in the Sky surprised me.

This book is told from two perspectives, and it’s rare that two people are this different. Patricia is sort of a dreamer, head-in-the-clouds type of girl. Laurence is a computer genius, a sort of prodigy. He figured out how to build a two-second time machine. He built an AI in his bedroom. Whereas Patricia is learning how to talk to animals and trying to figure out what it means to be a witch. Both of these protagonists meet up in middle school, which is a horrible time of bullies and misunderstandings for them. Their relationship is more out of convenience than actual friendship.

Throughout the years, they run into each other again and again, and each time their relationship changes and evolves. Regardless of how different they are, they never stop caring about each other, and their differences help each other see the world in different ways. They influence each other, and force each other to grow and evolve in some unexpected ways. It’s truly marvelous how Anders worked the constant evolution of their relationship. In fact, their relationship was just as interesting as the plot.

In middle school, the two grow apart. Laurence gets put into military school, and Patricia runs away and enters a school for witches. They meet again after they both graduate and are living adult lives. Patricia is healing unsuspecting people through her magic, and Laurence is working as a high profile science guy doing various techy things. They meet up again, and their friendship starts over, a little different now that they have age and life experiences behind them. They fall into a sort of warmer thing, and easily talk about their science and witchery.

They are opposites, so much so that they almost belong in different books – fantasy and science fiction, but it’s interesting how they work together and grow from one another as the book progresses. When all the things that are slowly boiling under the surface come to light, and things get down to the wire, their relationship evolves again, and they almost become the yin/yang to each other.

The writing is fantastic. Anders doesn’t waste words. Her sentences are direct and to the point, almost so much so that you don’t really realize how much she is packing into her novel with her sparse sentences. That’s half the genius. She tricks you into thinking that you’re reading what you’re reading, and you don’t realize how much is going on along the sides and below the surface until it’s too late. So, it’s direct, but it’s also cannily subtle and absolutely brilliant.

This book won’t be for everyone, but really no book is. This is hugely character driven, and not everyone will like the characters that drive this. It’s also incredibly different than just about everything else, a true mashing of two very different genres. It works beautifully, but I can see where it would put some people off. It’s clever, and it’s intriguing, and plenty interesting, but this is a formula that might end up not being interesting enough for some readers. There is a lot going on, but so much of it is under the surface, and if the two protagonists don’t grab you, then it might end up not charming you nearly as much as it charmed me.

That being said, All the Birds in the Sky was incredible. It was well worth my anticipation, and the sort of book that I think I can read numerous times and interpret it different each time. Anders is an incredibly clever writer, and her book is so incredibly human and genre bending at the same time, I couldn’t help but be amazed.

This book is something different. This book is remarkable.

 

5/5 stars

My Life as a White Trash Zombie – Diana Rowland

About the Book

Angel Crawford is a loser.

Living with her alcoholic deadbeat dad in the swamps of southern Louisiana, she’s a high school dropout with a pill habit and a criminal record who’s been fired from more crap jobs than she can count. Now on probation for a felony, it seems that Angel will never pull herself out of the downward spiral her life has taken.

That is, until the day she wakes up in the ER after overdosing on painkillers. Angel remembers being in an horrible car crash, but she doesn’t have a mark on her. To add to the weirdness, she receives an anonymous letter telling her there’s a job waiting for her at the parish morgue—and that it’s an offer she doesn’t dare refuse.

Before she knows it she’s dealing with a huge crush on a certain hunky deputy and a brand new addiction: an overpowering craving for brains. Plus, her morgue is filling up with the victims of a serial killer who decapitates his prey—just when she’s hungriest!

Angel’s going to have to grow up fast if she wants to keep this job and stay in one piece. Because if she doesn’t, she’s dead meat.

Literally.

320 pages (paperback)

Published on July 5, 2011

Published by DAW

Author’s webpage

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—

I have sat down to write this review at least four times, and each time I either get distracted, or I distract myself. This time I’m not letting myself out of it. I will write this review, and I will do it now. I will do it for you, dear reader, because you deserve to know about what an incredible, unexpected gem this series has turned out to be.

I have heard about this series quite a few times, but my interest in zombies ranks somewhere around my interest in reading about cockroaches, so I just never really got around to reading it. Then I saw the Black Friday deals on Audible, and this book was one of them. I decided to splurge and give it a try.

Best. Decision. Ever.

My Life as a White Trash Zombie is completely unexpected and an absolute surprise in just about every respect. First of all, the audiobook is the only way to enjoy this series. The narrator Allison McLemore is perfect. Apparently she is from this neck of the woods, and she does the accent perfectly. She seems to slip effortlessly into the role of Angel. It’s absolutely unforgettable. I read the second book in the series, and while it was just as wonderful, it wasn’t nearly as much fun as listening to Allison McLemore read to me. It felt like she was born to read these books. Therefore, my first rule of advice is: Listen to the audiobooks!

My Life as a White Trash Zombie is a lot of fun. It’s a bit of a murder mystery, but the real juice in the story is Angel, and learning about her life and experiencing all the ways she is changing as she gets used to life as a zombie and all the things that entails. It’s unusual to read a book about a protagonist who obviously struggles with so much, from drugs, to being on the wrong side of the law, to her abusive dad and her scummy boyfriend. You manage to feel sorry for her, but you also realize that a good helping of her situation she did to herself. Regardless, she is absolutely real and so completely different than a typical protagonist that it is rather awe inspiring.

In that respect, half the enjoyment of the book is about her life as a driver for the morgue, and her effort to figure out the various murders in her area. The other part of the book is Angel’s struggle to embrace her new life. And it’s quite amazing just how effortlessly and excitedly she is embracing her change to her new life. She has to give up her drugs, and alcohol and it really makes her look at life differently. It’s just as fascinating and even a little inspiring to read about her changes. Dying isn’t always a bad thing. In a lot of ways, dying saved Angel’s life.

Each character in the novel is fleshed out beautifully, from Angel and her struggles, to all the secondary characters and the various people she works with. It’s not like a lot of these people she knows before the book starts. She’s getting to know them as the readers get to know them, and it’s a lot of fun to experience. They all have unique voices, and add a nice spice to an already completely different and absolutely addicting story.

Things go really quickly, and there is a lot going on both personally in Angel’s life, as well as around her. There is a lot of fun, a lot addicting, but there is also quite a bit of emotionally jarring, rather painful scenes, for example when Angel’s dad gets arrested by a cop who isn’t a stranger to her anymore. There are scenes where Angel is confronted by trying to change her life, and having to face the painful truth of her past. It isn’t all laughter and fun times, there is quite a bit here that is jarring and emotionally poignant. That’s part of what makes it so grand. While the plot zips forward relentlessly, there is so much going on along the sidelines that it is impossible to find any slow moments. They just don’t exist.

My Life as a White Trash Zombie is quite amazing. It’s a book I never wanted to read, but it’s one of the books that I’m the gladdest I took a chance on. It’s a lot of fun, thoughtful, perfectly written, with a relentless plot that doesn’t give up. I was addicted to this book, and I have a feeling this is a series that I’m going to blow through shockingly fast. I can’t get enough. If you’re in the mood for something light hearted and full of mystery, steeped in a setting that is just as unforgettable and lush as just about everything else in the book, give this one a try. I promise you won’t regret it.

5/5 stars