Sarah Chorn's Blog, page 76

I was Interviewed (on the Hide and Create Podcast)!

I know, weird, right? I mean, who would want to actually interview me? I’m pretty boring.

Well, the people at the Hide and Create podcast were suckered into it. Poor guys. I tried to be interesting… but…

They interviewed me about writing characters with disabilities. We talked about my column at SF Signal, what sort of things should/does go into reading and writing believably disabled characters and other relevant things. It’s a touch over 30 minutes long.

Feel free to check it out… or not…

I learned a few things about myself.

1) This was my first ever podcast where I was interviewed rather than just chatting with people, and it probably shows. I don’t think I’m very good at interviews.

2) I had a cold. I probably kind of sound like a man.

3) Sometimes I suck at actually answering questions.

You have been warned.

Here’s the link to learn more and/or listen to it. 

Veil of the Deserters – Jeff Salyards

About the Book

History, Family and Memory… these are the seeds of destruction.

Bloodsounder’s Arc continues as Captain Braylar Killcoin and his retinue continue to sow chaos amongst the political elite of Alespell. Braylar is still poisoned by the memories of those slain by his unholy flail Bloodsounder, and attempts to counter this sickness have proven ineffectual.

The Syldoonian Emperor Cynead has solidified his power base in unprecedented ways, and demands loyalty from all operatives. Braylar and company are recalled to the capital to swear fealty. Braylar must decide if he can trust his sister, Soffjian, with the secret that is killing him. She has powerful memory magics that might be able to save him from Bloodsounder’s effects, but she has political allegiances that are not his own. Arki and others in the company try to get Soffjian and Braylar to trust one another, but politics in the capital prove to be far more complicated and dangerous than even Killcoin could predict.

Deposed emperor Thumarr plots to remove the repressive Cynead, and Braylar and his sister Soffjian lie at the heart of his plans. The distance between “favored shadow agent of the emperor” and “exiled traitor” is an unsurprisingly short road. But it is a road filled with blind twists and unexpected turns. Before the journey is over, Arki will chronicle the true intentions of Emperor Cynead and Soffjian. And old enemies in Alespell may prove to be surprising allies in a conflict no one could have foreseen.

464 pages (hardcover)

Published on June 3, 2014

Published by Night Shade Books

Author’s webpage

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

—

While many reviewers waxed philosophical about the Night Shade debacle, I really spent all of my time over here worrying about how some of my new favorite authors would fare. Would they be sucked into bankruptcy hell, or would they somehow tread the waters and find a better time to make a go of it? I’m beyond pleased that most, if not all, of the authors I was worried about have moved on to bigger and better things – releasing books, writing books, doing their authorial thang.

What really got me about the Night Shade things was how many new authors, people that I had just been introduced to, were in such precarious situations. While the blogosphere was pontificating on the finer points of publishing business, I was worrying about Stina Leicht, Zachary Jernigan, and Jeff Salyards.

Salyards released his first book, Scourge of the Betrayer, hit the SpecFic community with a splash that, quite honestly, surprised me. I’m not saying that it wasn’t a good book, but I am saying that I don’t think I remember many first-time authors finding such a passionate fanbase that quickly.

Scourge of the Betrayer was a slow burn, and the world building seemed rather nebulous to me. Many plot points felt a little overly-mysterious. I wasn’t really sure where everything was going, and while that really works sometimes, I remember feeling a little frustrated with it in that book.

Years have passed, and finally it was announced that Mr. Salyards is going to, at long last, release the second book in this series that stirred up some noise. I will be honest with you, dear readers, I opened this one with some trepidation. I was worried regarding how much time had passed. Has Salyards lost his game? I remembered the things that frustrated me with the previous book, and worried that he’d do that again in this one to recap and make up for lost time.

Honestly, I was worried that I’d be reading Scourge of the Betrayer V 2.0.

The thing is, this one surprised me, and I really wasn’t expecting that. Salyards really upped the tension, and he quickened the plot. I didn’t feel like anything dragged. In fact, the book itself opens with quite a bang and there’s a no-words-wasted feel to it. The world is real, fleshed out, whole, and full of chaos and diversity. Arki felt like a different person, in the best possible way. He almost leapt off the page. His perspective was engaging and complex, and it had a realness to it that I really didn’t feel in the previous book.

Basically, if you can’t already guess it, Veil of the Deserters leaps off the page. Salyards really poured a lot of time and effort into making his world better, and it pays off. I felt far more engaged in the plot and the conflict(s) due to this. Furthermore, Salyards adds a lot of personal and world history that lacked before. Color me crazy, but I enjoy feeling like the secondary world I’m reading about didn’t just drop onto the page. History makes me feel invested, and Salyards really gives his readers heaping’s of it with finesse. In a lot of ways, Arki and his role as a scribe, is a perfect tool for dropping in doses of information without it feeling infodumpish, and he utilizes this tool liberally.

The world itself has a much larger feel to it, not just because of the things I’ve mentioned before, but because we get to explore a bit more of the map, and the cultures that live in various lands as well. Salyards doesn’t really pretty anything up. Everywhere and everything has a good and bad side. The background characters are great, some are dark, and some add a really nice dollop of humor. All in all, the tone and the expansion of the world really impressed me, and the fact that everything balanced out so well made Veil of the Deserters so easy to sink into.

Arki’s development is perfect, and believable in regards to what happens as the book progresses. He really steps into his own role as a responsible, if conflicted, adult. The situations he finds himself in really forces him to have some emotional conflicts, which are handled just as well as the outward conflicts are handled. In fact, I found Arki’s development to be just as interesting as everything else in the book. In Veil of the Deserters, he changed from a good protagonist, to a fascinating one.

As I mentioned above, the plot starts out with a bang, and it really doesn’t stop rolling. If there is a lull in the action/adventure/intrigue, then there’s enough personal stuff going on behind the scenes to keep you hooked. In fact, between the internal and external conflicts, there really aren’t any speed bumps to be aware of. Things move forward at a fast clip, and there’s so much complexity woven into the plot and side plots that your head will reel (in the best possible way). The ending ties everything up much better than I expected it to, with a bang that impressed and surprised me, and has me hanging on by my fingertips for the next book.

If you read nothing else, understand this, dear reader:

Salyards impressed the holy hell out of me. There’s no other way to say it. The first book was good, but it didn’t really blow me away. I can tell that Veil of the Deserters was a labor of love. Salyards really pushed himself to be the best that he could be. He used Scourge of the Betrayer as a steppingstone, a good start. He turned that good, solid start into something quite amazing. Honestly, in regards to epic, military fantasy, this is some of the best. Salyards really proves himself with this book. He’s got some incredible talent, and he’s tapping into it, and honing it, and it is an absolute delight to watch.

 

5/5 stars

GUEST POST | Just a small-town boy – an Icelander’s journey into Speculative Fiction by Snorri Kristjansson

I’m friends with Snorri on Facebook, and the man is absolutely hilarious. For example, he once sent me the best query letter in the history of the world (I get some truly amazing review request letters):

DeAR Mister Chorn.

I am has write book. It is with Vikings about it, and I think it is the best Viking book. You have a blog on which you write reviews on which books are the best books. I think my book would look good with a review written on it on your blog because they are bot hthe best book and blog about books. I will write messages to my publisher whose name is Nathaniel Publisher. He is the going to send you the copy of the book. Do you have preferential emails for contacts for trading of addresses for US shipping and such?

With great axe greetings

Foreign Writer Snorri Kristjansson Viking Man.

Honestly, who can’t love that? 

I asked him to grace my website with some details about his past. I think my basic words were, “I’d like to have you on Bookworm Blues. I have no idea what you should write about, but I don’t know anyone else from Iceland. I think that’s interesting. Care to elaborate?” Or something like that. Thankfully, he was kind enough to not tell me how stupid my request was, and he wrote this (rather hilarious) piece.

I sincerely hope you enjoy it.

About the Author

Snorri writes things. Sometimes they are books about Vikings, sometimes they are films (about other things) or silly stage plays (you probably don’t want to know, to be honest).

He spends his days working with words, eating cakes and occasionally teaching at an international school.

He has published two books, Swords of Good Men (Out on shelves now), and Blood Will Follow (Soon to be released).

Just a small-town boy – an Icelander’s journey into Speculative Fiction

Hello, all!

My name is Snorri Kristjansson. The correct pronunciation of that is roughly similar to the noise you get when you pull-start a lawnmower, but you may say it any old way you like. I’m from Iceland, which is an island with about a 9th of the population of Rhode Island stuck prohibitively far into the North Atlantic. I’m not saying it is small, necessarily, but you could pretty much fit the population of my country into Jay-Z’s house. And true to type – aggressive-sounding name, hailing from the cold, dark North – I write about Vikings.

A lot of people ask me ‘why Vikings?’ and I sometimes find it hard to explain. You people from the ‘world’ with your fancy ‘electricity’ and your ‘cars’ and ‘tinned food’ sometimes go hunting for cool stuff, find Norse mythology and Vikings, and go into a fan-spin of ‘ehrmagehrd merewders! Rehrp and Perlerg! Therr! Lokerr! Erdern!’, which is all well and good – but for an Icelander, Vikings are just always there, sort of. So when I got my idea about two dudes who were kind of opposites that complimented each other*, setting it in the Viking age just came naturally.

‘But of course,’ I hear you say. ‘The Icelandic publishing industry is all about their slightly-almost-historical-fiction-thriller-but-with-a-dash-of-fantasy-and-some sweary-bits stuff! They must have been all over your book like a cheap suit, launching oddly fish-decorated currency at you from a cannon!’ To which I’d say ‘..well, not quite.’ After being talent-spotted by a literary agent while on stage doing stand-up comedy in London’s West End, I started writing Swords of Good Men in November 2008 and finished it in November 2009. Then I finished it about 7 times more over two years, learning an awful lot about writing in the process, and then it got picked up in 2012 by the legendary Jo Fletcher of Jo Fletcher Books. This is very unusual for Icelandic authors**, whose path to market is usually through Icelandic publishers who then sell on the rights to publishers abroad. However, as the definition of ‘going Viking’ is pretty much ‘going abroad to do implausible things and seek your fortune’, I would say this is a completely logical chain of events.

Swords of Good Men is book 1 of the Valhalla Saga, which happens at the very peak of the Viking Age. It is historically accurate up to a point – King Olav Tryggvason did exist and bring Christianity to Norway through methods that were sometimes quite thoroughly non-Christian. Other characters and locations are temporally accurate but created with some poetic licence. The language is most certainly not historically accurate, and if my dear readers have problems with that I will quite happily direct them to the actual Sagas, which are made-up stories occasionally about King Olav Tryggvason, written 800 years ago by a guy named Snorri. Book 2, Blood Will Follow***, is out terrifyingly soon in the UK (Feb 15 in the US, I believe) and should be about to be reviewed here and there.

If you have any questions, do comment – I love a good comment thread, me – or look me up (Twitter, Facebook, Website, Goodreads ). I live on the Internet.

With Beard and Brimstone,

Snorri

*and funnily enough, that had never been done before.

** or any author, I am given to think, by writers to whom I tell this story. They tend to go oddly quiet and ask for my home address while slowly and deliberately sharpening garden tools.

*** next time I’m going to google prospective titles and make sure they’re not accidentally part of Metallica lyrics before I choose them.

Lamenting the End of A Series I Love: Steles of the Sky – Elizabeth Bear

There’s something I need to get off my chest. When this book was announced, I just about offered to cut off my right arm to get a copy of it. I was bugging the people at Tor almost constantly. I wanted this book so bad it hurt. This series has absolutely rocked my world. Bear hit all the right notes, and I just couldn’t wait to see how it ended.

Then I got the book in the mail, and it took me (I’m not kidding you) about a week before I was willing to crack the spine and open the damn thing. Another week before I came to grips with the fact that this incredible series was actually ending. And an interview with Elizabeth Bear herself before I kicked my own ass and decided it was time to get over it, and just read the damn book.

My problem, darling readers, is that I never want a series to end, and when it’s a series I love as intensely as I love this one, getting myself to read the last book was a psychological exercise. This was it. There was no first-time reading The Eternal Sky trilogy again. There’s a magic in that first read-through of a book that you just can’t ever have back. When it’s the last book in a series that is this incredibly amazing, I feel a bittersweet happiness. This is the last time I’ll ever read an Eternal Sky book for the first time.

How pathetic is that?

I really, really love my books.

I can’t really review this book, because it’s the last book in a series. You have to read the other two before you can get to this one. I can’t say anything about the plot that won’t ruin previous books for readers, or ruin this book for potential readers.

This book is a journey. It’s the kind of series conclusion that I so often want, and rarely ever find. The plot is tied together nicely. The characters are just as intense and develop just as much (and still manage to surprise me) in ways that I really didn’t anticipate in the last book of a series.

I could say a lot about this book. I could say a whole lot, but I don’t really want to. I want readers to be just as surprised, as sad/happy as I felt when I read it. This series is a true treasure, and it is so rare that a book literally moved me to tears. It made me feel things that books so rarely make me feel.

Steles of the Sky is an absolutely beautiful book in every possible way. Elizabeth Bear really outdid herself here. It’s pure art. The world has been so well established in previous books that I could really just sit back and enjoy how things were unfolding. The emotional suckerpunch was unexpected and hugely surprising. And most of all, everything just felt so damn right. It was perfect. I couldn’t have been more pleased with the last book of a trilogy.

While I am sad that I can’t read this brilliant trilogy for the first time ever again, I am really happy that I chose to pull my head out long enough to actually finish this book. It was so worth my time, and my effort.

Honestly, this is one of the most pleasing epic fantasy series I have read in a few years. I’m kind of getting burned out on epic fantasy. I’m tired of the tropes, the European-esque setting with the king/queen/people in big dresses who live in old castles and have plenty of servants. There is a time and a place for that, but the Eternal Sky trilogy hit me right when I was looking, searching for that one epic fantasy series that could take everything I associate with epic fantasy and turn it on its head.

This series made me love epic fantasy again. Steles of the Sky is surprisingly powerful. Elizabeth Bear is a master of the craft.

I’m sad that it is over. I’m happy that I read it.

I’m thrilled that she’s planning another series in this world.

It can’t drop soon enough.

Hot Lead, Cold Iron – Ari Marmell

About the Book

Hot Lead, Cold Iron is the first novel in a brand-new fantasy detective series that will appeal to fans of Rivers of London and The Dresden Files

Chicago, 1932. Mick Oberon may look like just another private detective, but beneath the fedora and the overcoat, he’s got pointy ears and he’s packing a wand.

Oberon’s used to solving supernatural crimes, but the latest one’s extra weird. A mobster’s daughter was kidnapped sixteen years ago, replaced with a changeling, and Mick’s been hired to find the real child. The trail’s gone cold, but what there is leads Sideways, to the world of the Fae, where the Seelie Court rules. And Mick’s not really welcome in the Seelie Court any more. He’ll have to wade through Fae politics and mob power struggles to find the kidnapper – and of course it’s the last person he expected.

400 pages (paperback)

Published on May 13, 2014

Published by Titan Books

Author’s webpage

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

—

There are some authors who perpetually don’t get the attention they deserve. They pump out quality, incredibly enjoyable books on a regular schedule, and the have plenty of fans, but they never seem to hit the spotlight like I think they should. Ari Marmell is one of those authors. His books tend to make a buzz, and they are always amazing, but he never quite gets the attention that he deserves.

Hot Lead, Cold Iron is a new sort of book for Marmell. It’s urban fantasy, set in our world, and involves the fae. That’s totally new for Marmell. He’s known for fantasy, and his recent successful books, the Widdershins series, which is young adult and secondary world fantasy.

Hot Lead, Cold Iron reminded me a little bit of Ian Tregillis’s new book, Something More Than Night, in the fact that the protagonist is older than old, but stuck in a fairly young body, and lives in the 1930’s and talks like it. In fact, the reality of the world that Marmell has created, Chicago in the 1930’s feels more real than real. People talk the way that you’d expect a rough-and-tough detective in the ‘30’s to talk, and Marmell has woven in all the details that make up the period and the city seamlessly. It’s just about as fun to read about the city and the setting as it is to read about Mick Oberon himself.

Mick Oberon himself is the kind of protagonist that I love to read about. He’s a lot of fun. He’s old and jaded and the kind of “get off my lawn you crazy kids” cranky that makes me laugh. The things that make him happy are simple, a warm glass of milk, and some time alone. He does jobs for trinkets, whatever strikes his fancy, and places almost no value on money. In fact, when he needs to start earning money, he feels rather out of his depth, which I found endearing. He talks tough, and walks tough, and can find himself a way in and out of situations easily, but all of that is really covering this inner softie that breaks through occasionally.

The plot is fast paced. Hot Lead, Cold Iron starts out with a knock-em-down-rumble and it really doesn’t let up after that. Being a Chicago PI, you can expect a mystery and you get one. Not only the mystery of finding who Oberon is trying to find, but the mystery of Oberon’s past, which slowly unravels as the book unfolds. That being said, there is plenty left a mystery to keep readers wanting to know more, and anxious to do so in further installments of the series.

The magic is sort of subtle, and a nice touch without being overpowering. It adds to, causing a wonderful effect to certain plot points. It is believable and unique. It kept me wondering and made me really appreciate the finesse that Marmell used when he crafted this world of his. Furthermore, that can be said for the fae elements in general. They are rather subtle, rather understated element that made me appreciate their otherness even more.

In fact, much of the novel is like that, and that’s what surprised me, and what I enjoyed about Hot Lead, Cold Iron the most. It’s kind of flashy, kind of in your face, with a wham-bam plot that will hook you, but there are a lot of subtle tones here that readers will really appreciate.

In terms of the plot, there isn’t a whole lot involved in the mystery/adventure that will shock the hell out of many readers. It’s kind of predictable in a lot of ways, but that isn’t really a bad thing. There are enough subtle and surprising elements involved in the world to enchant readers, and Oberon is an absolutely delightful protagonist.

Hot Lead, Cold Iron is the first book in a brand new series by Ari Marmell, and it really shows his strengths. He has an uncanny way of paring opposing elements – a strong, fast, bold and slightly predictable plot, with stunningly subtle and incredibly well crafted world building elements. Mick Oberon is a delight and by the time the book was over, I felt like I made a hilariously grumpy friend. It’s a lot of fun, and Marmell is an author I really want to hit it big. He deserves it, and this book shows a lot of his strengths.

 

4/5 stars

House of the Rising Sun – Kristen Painter

About the Book

Augustine lives the perfect life in the Haven city of New Orleans. He rarely works a real job, spends most of his nights with a different human woman, and resides in a spectacular Garden District mansion paid for by retired movie star Olivia Goodwin, who has come to think of him as an adopted son, providing him room and board and whatever else he needs.

But when Augustine returns home to find Olivia’s been attacked by vampires, he knows his idyllic life has comes to an end. It’s time for revenge—and to take up the mantle of the city’s Guardian.

403 pages (paperback)

Published on May 13, 2014

Published by Orbit

Author’s website

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

—

House of the Rising Sun isn’t my typical book. It’s more urban fantasy with a romantic bend than I’m usually into. However, sometimes that’s exactly what the doctor ordered. This was also the first book I’ve read by Kristin Painter. I’ve heard her name a lot, and I know people typically love her books. The mood struck me just right, and I sank into this one like a stone.

Unless you broaden your horizons, you’ll never know what gems are out there that you’re overlooking.

House of the Rising Sun was different for a few reasons. First, it takes place in a sort of alternate (maybe) future (or perhaps it is just an alternate version of our world?). The world knows about fae and vampires and the like, so you won’t have any long drawn out moments where an important characters says something like, “OMGWTFBBQ” for 124 pages. Secondly, most of the characters in the book are other (meaning ‘not human’) and thankfully, not all of the other-than-human characters are drop dead, pulse pounding, more gorgeous than possible.

Right there Painter got rid of a huge chunk of the urban fantasy tropes that drive me batty.

The other thing I enjoyed was that the characters were rather uncertain, and they both tried to make up for it in different ways. Augustine is the kind of womanizer that would make me kind of sick in real life. He wears his confidence like a shield of armor against the uncertainties that he deeply feels from his past. Harlow, the other main perspective and her insecurities are more obvious. Her questions regarding her father are repeated often, and she’s lived a rather isolated life because she’s never felt like she’s fit in.

Both characters are rather broken on a psychological level, and their ideas of family and friendship are dramatically influenced by their histories. It was a fantastic, and rather deep, take on characters in a genre that usually doesn’t appeal to me because it’s not typically that deep.

That being said, while Augustine and Harlow are very unique and alive in their uniqueness, they did get to be a little too much sometimes. Augustine’s man-whore ways and charm are incredibly obvious, and if they aren’t obvious to the reader, don’t worry, he talks about what an amazing charmer and how fantastic he is in bed quite frequently. Harlow almost never stops thinking or talking about who her father is. While these are important plotlines, it’s obvious enough from the character’s actions that they didn’t need to be repeated in dialogue and thoughts so often.

House of the Rising Sun has a rather fast paced plot, full of plenty of intrigue and action. There are surprises and twists that come in rapid succession. The world politics are very well thought out and incredibly enthralling. Though the book is set in a fairly stereotypical place for urban fantasy (New Orleans), Painter does a really good job at making it her own, and the plot is realistic enough and fast paced enough that it is easy to picture it taking place in such a location. While New Orleans might be overused in speculative fiction, Painter makes it her own and she does it with aplomb.

There is some romantic tension, and yes, I did get kind of sick of it. Color me jaded, but I get pretty tired of the I-shouldn’t-find-him-so-damn-attractive-or-want-him-so-much-but-I-do thing that lasts two-thirds of so many books. It’s pretty obvious how things are going to end up, so lets get there already. That being said, the romance, while being pretty paint-by-numbers, has a soft, almost natural feel to it that I didn’t expect. There is no wham-bam-lets-get-horizontal action here. It’s a softer, more subtle falling in love and I appreciated it more for that (despite the predictable romantic tension that goes on for a while).

So, let me boil this down to its roots.

House of the Rising Sun is a strong start to a series that has huge potential to be unique and absolutely captivating. This book is a pretty even balance between tropes and unique elements. Painter took some risks here, and they paid off. What could have been a pretty hum-drum type book ended up being a really fun, fast, and furious read. While I wasn’t absolutely blown away, I was excited enough that I’m anxious to read the next book in the series. I’m pretty excited about revisiting this very well crafted world, and the unique people that inhabit it.

 

3/5 stars

Press Release | Design Your Own Dragon!

I don’t usually do press releases, but this one looks like a lot of fun and I am so in love with the artwork in the Memoirs of the Lady Trent books by Marie Brennan, I’d just love if some of my creative readers participated in this fun contest.

Here are the details.

P.S. I sincerely hope my formatting doesn’t screw up and make this post look super messy.

—

From the Memoirs of Lady Trent series:
DESIGN YOUR OWN DRAGON

Click the images to imbiggen. 

From the newly released Tropic of Serpents and the first book in the series A Natural History of Dragons, readers know Isabella, Lady Trent, to be the world’s preeminent dragon naturalist. She is the remarkable woman who brought the study of dragons out of the misty shadows of myth and misunderstanding into the clear light of modern science. The world of Lady Trent is home to a myriad of different dragon species, from the fire-breathing desert drakes of Akhia to the tiny draconic cousins known as sparklings. Now you have a chance to expand the borders of dragon naturalism, by adding your own species to the mix!

All you have to do is invent a breed of dragon or draconic cousin that might fit into Lady Trent’s world. Write up a description of no more than two hundred words covering its appearance and habitat, any noteworthy behaviors, and so on. An example of a write up, Marie Brennan’s Wyvern dragon, is below. Then submit your invention to dragons.of.trent@gmail.com , with the header “DRAGON: {name}”. Marie Brennan will select one to three entries and reference them in a future installment of the Memoirs of Lady Trent. Winners will also receive a signed Advance Reader Copy of Voyage of the Basilisk, the third book in the series, when those become available (late 2014).

This contest is open to entrants worldwide. No more than three submissions per entrant; any subsequent e-mails will be deleted unread. The contest will close to entries at 11:59pm EST on May 15, and winners will be announced on May 26.

WYVERN — A reptilian creature native to northern and eastern Anthiope, possessing hind limbs and wings, but lacking forelimbs, which disqualifies it for consideration as a “true dragon” under the criteria of Sir Richard Edgeworth. Wyverns are typically 3-4 meters in length from nose to tail, with a comparable wingspan, and light of build through the chest. Their coloration is mottled brown and green, for protective colouration in the treeless hills that are their usual habitat. They typically hunt by waiting in an elevated position and then launching into the air when prey is sighted. Their venom is paralytic, and kills the prey through asphyxiation. Wyverns are solitary except when they mate, but the male will follow the female until she lays her eggs, after which they incubate in the care of the male, who feeds them and teaches them to hunt after hatching. Juveniles rarely stay with their father for more than three months, by which point they are capable of independent sustenance.

 

Sparrow Hill Road – Seanan McGuire

About the Book

Rose Marshall died in 1952 in Buckley Township, Michigan, run off the road by a man named Bobby Cross—a man who had sold his soul to live forever, and intended to use her death to pay the price of his immortality. Trouble was, he didn’t ask Rose what she thought of the idea.

It’s been more than sixty years since that night, and she’s still sixteen, and she’s still running.

They have names for her all over the country: the Girl in the Diner. The Phantom Prom Date. The Girl in the Green Silk Gown. Mostly she just goes by “Rose,” a hitchhiking ghost girl with her thumb out and her eyes fixed on the horizon, trying to outrace a man who never sleeps, never stops, and never gives up on the idea of claiming what’s his. She’s the angel of the overpass, she’s the darling of the truck stops, and she’s going to figure out a way to win her freedom. After all, it’s not like it can kill her.

You can’t kill what’s already dead.

432 pages (paperback)

Published on May 6, 2014

Published by DAW

Author’s webpage

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

—

I’m really not that into ghost stories. In fact, ghosts interest me just a little bit more than zombies, which really isn’t much (honestly, zombies interest me a little less than reading a book about the biology of cockroaches). The fact that this is a ghost story isn’t what got me to read the book. What got me to read this one is the name of the author. That right there shows you how powerful a name can be (so work your careers wisely, my writerly friends).

Seanan McGuire is a name that really attracts attention. She has written a ton of different books that have rave reviews, and it really shows. She’s had time to polish and really hone her craft, and Sparrow Hill Road absolutely shines for it.

That’s right, people. I actually enjoyed (incredibly enjoyed) a book about ghosts.

One of the things that sets this book apart right from the first page is the fact that this is told from the ghost’s (Rose) point of view. You’d think after her tragic death, and so many years of being stuck a teenager wandering the ghost roads, she’d be bitter and angry, but she’s not. I fell in love with Rose instantly. Instead, she’s used her (after) life as a sort of second chance. She goes where the wind takes her, she eats the food given to her, and borrows the coats people loan her. She helps where she can, and learns and grows with each experience.

Sparrow Hill Road is told in a rather unique fashion, like a bunch of interlocking ghost stories that makes up the whole story. Some readers might get kind of exhausted with the individual story feel to everything, but it really was a smart move for McGuire to make when she told Rose’s story. Each individual section is full of information, emotion and atmosphere, and by the time the book was over, I felt like I lived a nice slice of Rose’s life, rather than having a brief overview of one important moment. She became so real to me, and her pitfalls and successes felt gut wrenching due to that.

Sparrow Hill Road is more of a road trip book than anything else. Where a lot of road trip type books might lose some readers, this one is sure to keep you hanging on. Not only is there a nice mystery (stopping Bobby Cross, and just who/what the hell is he, anyway?) but there is so much development and small stories that fill these pages that there’s something here to keep just about anyone engaged. This isn’t about some protagonist mindlessly wandering while the find out who they are. No. Rose knows exactly who and what she is. She has a firm understanding of her strengths and limitations, and if she doesn’t know exactly where she’s going, she at least has a bright goal shining in her mind’s eye pointing the way for her.

It’s refreshing to read a book about a character who is that in control of herself, that self-assured and certain in the face of so much uncertainty.

But if you want me to really boil down why I loved this book so much, I certainly can. Sparrow Hill Road has a lot in it to make readers thrilled. However, it’s the writing that made me shiver with excitement. I always knew McGuire was one hell of an author, but until I read Sparrow Hill Road, I never really realized how much of an artist she is. She writes about driving a truck in such a way that I felt like the damn truck was about to fly out of the book with a cape and superhero outfit and kiss me. I never really realized how poetic traveling could be until she made the road, the wandering life, and all those who freely live it, so incredibly artistic. The whole book is painted with these words that are so artfully strung together. Even if the story had sucked (it didn’t), I would have devoured this anyway. Anyone who can write like that needs to get your attention.

I was honestly blown away – absolutely floored – by the artistic writing of Sparrow Hill Road.

Wow. Just wow.

The ending isn’t necessarily wrapped up as nicely as some readers would want it to be, but I think (and sincerely hope) that it leaves room for McGuire to revisit this world and these characters. This book was more than just a fun read, it was a soul wrenching journey, a walk through the life of one of the most vibrant and alive characters I’ve read in a long time. It’s full of love and longing, discovery, friends, adventures, situations that you’ll remember for a long time. And the writing. Dear god(s)/(whatevers), the writing is just phenomenal.

I really want more.

If there’s one thing Sparrow Hill Road taught me, it’s that I haven’t read nearly enough Seanan McGuire books.

There’s a reason why the name Seanan McGuire keeps getting mentioned in a lot of literary and genre award circles. Anyone with this much raw, potent, word-skill is a force of literary nature.

 

4/5 stars

Announcement: Publicity and…. Me?

 

Have you heard of Ragnarok Publications?

Well, if you haven’t, you should check them out. They are a small press ran by one Joe Martin and one Tim Marquitz and a whole staff of other very talented people (I’m honestly not sure if I fit in with the crowd, or if I have anything wonderful to offer them). They have published such well known authors as Mercedes Murdock Yardley, Django Wexler, and so many more, along with some anthologies that have made some noise, like Kaiju Rising and Neverland’s Library.

I like them because they are different, and different appeals to me.

So, I’m joining their PR team.

I’m not exactly sure what my primary function will be so far, but I think it’s going to involve me increasing the web presence of Ragnarok, which is right up my alley.

I am very excited (and nervous). I want more hands-on publishing experience, and I truly love Public Relations. I’m very happy to learn, and offer my support to make a publishing company that I truly love grow and expand.

How this will impact my website? Hopefully not at all. I’m going to keep all Ragnarok things completely separate from Bookworm Blues. I will not review any Ragnarok Authors on my website, and I will keep everything I do online-presence-wise for the publisher off of this site. That was the agreement. I can keep Bookworm Blues completely independent of Ragnarok, so I will.

Wish me luck, and hope I don’t fail in a massive, publicly humiliating way.

And feel a little sorry for the poor bastards who will be inflicted with me.

When We Wake – Karen Healey

About the Book

Sixteen-year-old Tegan is just like every other girl living in 2027—she’s happiest when playing the guitar, she’s falling in love for the first time, and she’s joining her friends to protest the wrongs of the world: environmental collapse, social discrimination, and political injustice.

But on what should have been the best day of Tegan’s life, she dies—and wakes up a hundred years later, locked in a government facility with no idea what happened.

The future isn’t all she had hoped it would be, and when appalling secrets come to light, Tegan must make a choice: Does she keep her head down and survive, or fight for a better world?

Award-winning author Karen Healey has created a haunting, cautionary tale of an inspiring protagonist living in a not-so-distant future that could easily be our own.

304 pages (hardcover)

Published on March 5, 2013

Published by Little Brown for Young Readers

Author’s webpage

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

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The first thing I need to address with When We Wake is the cover. Absolutely gorgeous cover. I love it. LOVE. IT. I wanted to read this book as soon as it arrived on my doorstep purely because of the cover. Great artwork, and the second book in the series, While We Run is just as catching. I love this kind of cover art, and I love it on a young adult book. I rarely see such gripping covers on young adult books, and I’m not sure why, but it was an incredibly wise move for the publisher to make a move in this direction. It helped them get someone like me (who isn’t that into YA) anxious to read this book.

So bravo for that.

That’s also shows what really makes When We Wake stand apart from so many other young adult books that I’ve read. It’s not propelled by romantic tension or love triangles. There are no vampires or shape shifters. Most of the book doesn’t take place in high school. No, this book is something else entirely, and I completely appreciate that for so many reasons.

When We Wake tells the story of a young environmental activist in Australia who gets shot at a rally and wakes up a hundred years in the future. This is a rather tricky plotline for any author to deal with, first the book opens up in the near future, and then jumps to a further future. Time travel is hard to deal with, and it is hard to get readers to swallow at the best of times, so props to Healey for dealing with such a hard plot point with such finesse.

Teagen is a character that works perfectly with the plot. She’s independent, smart, self-motivated, and has some interesting hobbies that genuinely made me excited to learn more about her. This is no wilting flower, this is a young, formidable woman, who is grappling with a very hard situation in realistic ways. Perhaps how she dealt with the situation she finds herself in is what impressed me the most about this book. Teagen mourns the loss of the life she knew and loved. She researched the people she knew. While they passed away a generation ago, to her, she lost them yesterday, and she deals with that in very candid, very emotionally charged ways. I instantly felt for her and her plight, and I loved how she cried, got angry, turned to religion for comfort, and basically did all the things a normal person would do if they lost everything they loved and the world wasn’t the place they expected it to be. Teagen is lost, and Healey dealt with that so very well.

When We Wake is a pretty unique book. This isn’t just character based. There are a lot of political, economic, and environmental issues that propel the book forward. There’s a lot going on in the foreground and in the periphery, and Healey keeps the pacing going forward at a nice clip, while involving all the elements that she has developed to fuel the situations and move them forward. The elements that Healey weaves into her plot are unique because they are so real, they are applicable to our everyday lives, and they do, and will, impact us now.

On the other hand, while I realize that Healey is trying to raise awareness about very important issues, I did, at times, feel like I was being hit over the head with them, and I found it hard to believe that a teenager would care so much. On the other hand, in a futuristic world where climate change, rising oceans, and immigration are huge, in-your-face issues, I’m pretty sure a teenager would find them central to their current state of affairs.

There is a love interest that enters the book, and in some ways he felt a little too predictable and easy, but in other ways his appearance was very sweet and a nice, balancing aspect to the book itself. He kept Teagen on point, and evened her out when she probably would have done something far too drastic. She makes some friends, all with good individual voices and skills that help her out when she needs it most. In some ways the friendships and characters fit into nice boxes that I could understand and predict, but in so many others they were a fantastic addition to an already colorful plot.

When We Wake really surprised me because it was brave. The writing was tight, and the plot was different enough to keep me engaged and interested. I’m anxious to start the next book in the series, which isn’t something that I say about young adult books very often. Some plot points were a bit in-your-face, and some were kind of predictable, but in the end, this book is unique enough, engaging enough, and thought provoking enough to be interesting.

Even to someone like me, who struggles with all things young adult.

 

4/5 stars