Sarah Chorn's Blog, page 80

GIVEAWAY | The Barrow AND Blood and Iron

Ah, my lovelies, I know what you are thinking: “Sarah, you just HAD a giveaway. What the hell is this all about? Are you hungry for attention or something?”

(Okay, maybe that’s not what you are thinking…)

Well, here’s the deal. I have a record number of giveaways coming through the website in the next few weeks, which I am truly enjoying. These are all giveaways for books I read and loved, and I think you should read them and love them, too. I enjoy sharing the book wealth. Hell, that’s what this website is all about: the love of reading, and getting YOU to love reading, too.

So, yeah. I’m doing another giveaway. The lovely people at Pyr just contacted me this morning and asked if I’d like to do a giveaway of these two books, and I jumped on it, and asked if I could open it right away. Why? Because I just reviewed Blood and Iron yesterday, so I think today is a good date to jump on that bandwagon. Plus, what’s better than winning one book? Winning two!

Here are the details: 

I am giving away a copy of Blood and Iron by Jon Sprunk AND The Barrow by Mark Smylie to one lucky winner.

This one lucky winner can live anywhere in the world. ANYWHERE. There are No geographical restrictions.

To enter this epic giveaway, leave a comment under this post. You have one week to enter. I will get someone at my work to choose one lucky winner for me (which is just as good as having a random number pulled, because no one at my work has a clue what goes on on my website).

This means that the last day you can enter is Thursday, March 27th at 11:59 pm Mountain Time. 

I will let the winner know who they are and get their address on Friday, March 28th.

Good luck!! 

The Tropic of Serpents – Marie Brennan

About the Book

The thrilling adventure of Lady Trent continues in Marie Brennan’s The Tropic of Serpents . . .

Attentive readers of Lady Trent’s earlier memoir, A Natural History of Dragons, are already familiar with how a bookish and determined young woman named Isabella first set out on the historic course that would one day lead her to becoming the world’s premier dragon naturalist. Now, in this remarkably candid second volume, Lady Trent looks back at the next stage of her illustrious (and occasionally scandalous) career.

Three years after her fateful journeys through the forbidding mountains of Vystrana, Mrs. Camherst defies family and convention to embark on an expedition to the war-torn continent of Eriga, home of such exotic draconian species as the grass-dwelling snakes of the savannah, arboreal tree snakes, and, most elusive of all, the legendary swamp-wyrms of the tropics.

The expedition is not an easy one. Accompanied by both an old associate and a runaway heiress, Isabella must brave oppressive heat, merciless fevers, palace intrigues, gossip, and other hazards in order to satisfy her boundless fascination with all things draconian, even if it means venturing deep into the forbidden jungle known as the Green Hell . . . where her courage, resourcefulness, and scientific curiosity will be tested as never before.

331 pages (hardcover)

Published on March 4, 2014

Published by Tor

Author’s webpage

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

—

If you asked me last year what one of my most anticipated books in 2014 is, I’d say Tropic of Serpents. Brennan really wowed me with A Natural History of Dragons, which is hard to do when you throw Victorian ideals into a book. Victorian anything just doesn’t do it for me, but Brennan managed to take this stuffy, pretentious time period and turn it into something absolutely enchanting. The scientific discovery mixed with personal issues and gripping characters totally sucked me in. I was hungry for more, and I’ve been thinking about (and waiting for) The Tropic of Serpents for (what feels like) a long time.

The Tropic of Serpents starts a comfortable amount of time past A Natural History of Dragons. Plenty of personal growth has been had. Isabella lost a lot in the adventures of the last book, but she also gained a son, and it was rather fascinating to see how she changed as a mother (and not really in the way you’d expect). I appreciated how Brennan stayed true to Isabella’s character, even though the actions she takes, and the rather impersonal mother she is, can be rather uncomfortable. That being said, the way Isabella mother’s her son, and is a relative and friend to those she cares about, is also shockingly candid, and it is true to the period of time that Brennan is obviously influenced by. I appreciated the fact that Isabella didn’t see anything wrong with having another woman basically mother her child. While that’s not a choice I would make, it is a choice many, many women in the past have made, it made the historical setting that much more real and believable.

In fact, that’s how much of the book is, and I always found myself surprised by just how much thought Brennan put into the events and the choices the characters make. While some of these details might annoy readers, or aggravate them, if you read this book like you are reading a bit of history (Jane Austin, for example) you’ll realize that these details, these small annoyances, just enliven the time period and make the setting so much more realistic and viable. Brennan’s ability to weave historical detail into her secondary world is what makes Memoir by the Lady Trent so damn addicting. It’s relatable, and it feels so real it is impossible to separate the fact that this didn’t really happen in our world.

In this book, Isabella and Co. travel to Eriga. Where plenty of people complained about a lack of obvious dragons in the last book, there were plenty of our scaly friends in this one. While a lot of the book is true to its roots and focuses on the study of dragons, and the fascinating tale of a pioneering woman in a world where women do not pioneer, there are also a lot of politics, as well as family and personal issues that Isabella is working out. While I didn’t think this was a bad thing, some readers who might want another book much like A Natural History of Dragons might find themselves a little disappointed.

That being said, the journey into Eriga was rather fascinating in a real clash-of-cultures sort of way. Isabella and company find themselves emboyaled in politics, and seeing how they navigate these politics, and how they, and the natives, deal with the cultural clashes was very well done, very realistic and incredibly interesting. That isn’t to say that everyone will think it is as interesting as I did. This is definitely a book that will strike some people right, and strike some people wrong. While I tend to think politics and cultural clashes are the bees knees, I also realize that plenty of people out there think that sort of thing is boring, and will just want to get back to the dragons, already.

The plot moves pretty fast, but some parts will lag to some readers more than others (due to the interest/lack of interest thing I just mentioned). There is a sort of awkward romantic interest during part of the book, and some of the plot threads were kind of messily tied up. The interpersonal journey, as well as the politics and cultural issues that are raised throughout the book will serve to put off some readers. That being said, this is still a solid entry in the Memoir by the Lady Trent. However, I never quite got over the feeling that this book is more of a set up for whatever happens next than anything else. Don’t get me wrong, this was a great book, but it didn’t feel as complete as A Natural History of Dragons for some reason.

The Tropic of Serpents is one of those books that just really worked for me. It was a lot of fun, and reminded me of all the reasons why Marie Brennan is an author to watch. Her writing is smooth, flowing, and easy to absorb. She manages to really make me feel like I am there, living in Lady Trent’s world, experiencing her life. She gets me frustrated and makes me happy. She gets me excited and makes me look at the world around me in a more scientific way. That’s really cool. However, that’s balanced by a plot that will either really work for readers, or will bore them. The political and cultural focuses were wonderful for me, but they won’t work for everyone. I also had the nagging feeling like this book was a place holder, or a set up for something more and I want that more so very badly.

If you liked A Natural History of Dragons, this one isn’t to miss. This is a very strong installment that will make you fall in love with Lady Trent and Marie Brennan all over again.

 

4/5 stars

Blood and Iron – Jon Sprunk

About the Book

Set in a richly-imagined world, this action-heavy fantasy epic and series opener is like a sword-and-sorcery Spartacus.

It starts with a shipwreck following a magical storm at sea. Horace, a soldier from the west, had joined the Great Crusade against the heathens of Akeshia after the deaths of his wife and son from plague. When he washes ashore, he finds himself at the mercy of the very people he was sent to kill, who speak a language and have a culture and customs he doesn’t even begin to understand.

Not long after, Horace is pressed into service as a house slave. But this doesn’t last. The Akeshians discover that Horace was a latent sorcerer, and he is catapulted from the chains of a slave to the halls of power in the queen’s court. Together with Jirom, an ex-mercenary and gladiator, and Alyra, a spy in the court, he will seek a path to free himself and the empire’s caste of slaves from a system where every man and woman must pay the price of blood or iron. Before the end, Horace will have paid dearly in both.

428 pages (paperback)

Published on March 11, 2014

Published by Pyr

Author’s webpage

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

—

It seems like just yesterday Jon Sprunk finished his debut series Shadow Saga. It seems like just yesterday I devoured that series. Now the man is at it again, starting another series that is landslides away from his first in both tone and content. It’s that switch in gears that might throw some Sprunk fans through a loop. While I tend to enjoy when authors spread their wings and diversify a bit, some readers expecting the Shadow Saga tone will probably be a little confused. This isn’t Shadow Saga. Don’t go into it expecting it to similar to that one.

The truth is, I have Sprunk pinned as an author who writes certain types of books (not bad books, mind you, but when I think of Sprunk, I mentally stick him around Brent Weeks Night Angel trilogy, not near GRRM). Here Sprunk is, taking a chance and writing something more GRRM than Brent Weeks, and his fans will either love it or hate it. He runs that risk, and while I eat that sort of thing up, plenty of the fans he’s gained from his earlier trilogy will probably lament the difference of tone from Shadow Saga. And plenty of other readers will become his fans purely because of the difference in tone. Funny how that works.

Now that that warning is out of the way, lets talk about the book.

Blood and Iron starts out with a guy on a ship, which generally turns me off almost instantly. However, this guy isn’t on this ship for very long. Soon there is a storm. All hell breaks loose, and said guy (Horace) finds himself in a foreign land, with foreign people, a strange culture, and a language he doesn’t understand. The land he finds himself on is ripe for war, rebellion, and all of those delicious political things that make epic fantasy so fantastically epic.

Blood and Iron is told from four main perspectives, two men and two women (Queen Byleth and her handmaiden Alyra). Oddly enough, I felt that the women were the best developed, had the most depth, and were more interesting characters. They had distinctly individual voices, and independent drives and desires. Intermixed in all of this strong womanhood-ness is a fantastic culture which, at times, can be limiting to the those of the female sex, and plenty of politics they may wade through. I found both of these characters, the queen and her handmaid, to be  very charismatic and compelling in the context with which Sprunk created them.

On the other side, you have two men. Horace, an ex soldier and a stranger in a strange land, and Jirom, a slave who is basically a gladiator. While these two characters give the landscape, politics, and turmoil of the time an interesting viewpoint and a fantastically diverse perspective, they didn’t quite pull me in as much as the two women did. Horace is in many ways cookie-cutter. He’s an ex-soldier, men want to be him and women want to be with him. Jirom has the potential to be a fascinating character, but he felt very back-seat most of the time. That being said, both of these characters, like the women I mentioned above, have incredibly unique and compelling pasts that really add nice color to the tapstry that Sprunk is weaving.

Blood and Iron has a slow-ish start, but thankfully you’ll get any lag out of the way as soon as you pass that first hurdle. In fact, the rest of the book moves incredibly fast, considering the depth and the scope of the plot and world that Sprunk has created. There is plenty of battles, sex, violence, and some terrible human beings thrown into the mix. Sprunk does a good job at slowly bringing everything to a rolling boil, and keeping you guessing while he does it. The ending ties plenty of loose ends up, but it leaves a surprising amount hanging. Sprunk left all of his characters at interesting points where they can either hurt or help each other, and readers won’t know which way things will go until the next book in the series.

As I mentioned above, this book is epic in scope and breadth, and one of the reasons why is because of the world Sprunk has created – a sort of Egyptian-esque place that is similar enough to cultures we have all learned about for us to give this land true color and understanding, but different enough to enchant us. Blood and Iron has a heavy focus on magic, and readers will learn a lot about this magic as the characters do. But that’s not the true glory of Blood and Iron. What I truly enjoyed about this book was how incredibly detailed Sprunk was with his world building. This isn’t a book about politics, like so many others. Sprunk adds in a complex culture and isn’t afraid to show it’s good and bad points, religious strife, political issues, characters and throws it all into a vivid landscape that seems so absolutely real I can almost see, feel, and smell it all.

All in all, it sounds like this book just worked for me, and in a lot of ways it did, but sometimes I felt like the smaller parts overwhelmed the story as a whole. The start was a little slow, and felt a little longer than it needed to be, and while the characters were fantastic, the men lacked a little something-something that the women had, and I’m still not exactly sure what the point of Jirom is, but I hold faith that all will be made clear in the future.

The truth is, I have to cut Sprunk some slack here. He’s started one hell of an epic series, the kind of epic that could rival any other epic out there in scope, magnitude, and complexity, and he started it with a book that really isn’t too incredibly long (considering the length of some epics). There’s only so many pages you can use to start a series like this. Due to that, he’s pushed a ton of stuff into one book. It’s actually quite impressive to see how much he packed into Blood and Iron, and just how well he did it, considering everything.

The final verdict? I’m a little torn on this one. I honestly enjoyed it a lot more than I thought I would. I like the direction it is going. I enjoyed about half of the characters a lot more than I thought I would, one character less than I expected, and I can’t quite understand another one. The world is what sold me. Complex and real, vibrant and believable, and all of the magic, religious strife, and politics thrown in were just fantastic. The start is slow, but after that the book itself takes off. It’s a lot of fun, and very thoughtful and diverse.

When I really think about it, I realize that my complaints with Blood and Iron aren’t about the book as a whole, but the smaller parts of the book itself. Should that hold you back from reading it? No. Sprunk has started a series that promises to rival many other epic fantasy series, and has the ability to hook a lot of readers that might not anticipate being hooked. Deep, dark, violent, and full of complex politics and an even more complex culture, Blood and Iron has something for everyone.

 

4/5 stars

Night Broken – Patricia Briggs

About the Book

An unexpected phone call heralds a new challenge for Mercy. Her mate Adam’s ex-wife is in trouble, on the run from her new boyfriend. Adam isn’t the kind of man to turn away a person in need—and Mercy knows it. But with Christy holed up in Adam’s house, Mercy can’t shake the feeling that something about the situation isn’t right.

Soon, her suspicions are confirmed when she learns that Christy has the farthest thing from good intentions. She wants Adam back and she’s willing to do whatever it takes to make it happen, including turning Adam’s pack against Mercy.

Mercy isn’t about to step down without a fight, but there’s a more dangerous threat circling. Christy’s ex is more than a bad man—in fact, he may not be human at all. As the bodies start piling up, Mercy must put her personal troubles aside to face a creature with the power to tear her whole world apart.

341 pages (hardcover)

Published on March 11, 2014

Published by Ace

Author’s webpage

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

—

The Mercy Thompson series by Patricia Briggs is one of those rare urban fantasy series that I’ve enjoyed from the first book. Yes it involves werewolves, vampires, fae and the like, but Briggs puts her own spin on all of it. The characters aren’t cookie-cutter. They stand on their own, and their unique voices give Briggs’ world a wonderful depth and a sense of vibrant reality. The characters are flawed, and memorable, and I love them for it.

Once you hit the eighth book in a series, you pretty much already know who is going to read it. The series diehards, and the people who are new to it, or are thinking about starting it, probably won’t be interested. But the diehards, oh yes, the diehards need to read this one.

Night Broken has a different tone than the other books in the series that I’ve read. First of all, the reintroduction of Adam’s ex wife automatically puts most of the focus of the novel on relationships, both the building and straining of them. It’s actually rather fascinating to see how all of the characters react to each other, and the situations they are in, when they are all so obviously uncomfortable. Furthermore, readers will probably find themselves more aggravated reading this book in the series than any other purely because of the introduction of Adam’s ex wife.

Being aggravated isn’t always a bad thing, though it might make this novel harder to read. The fact is, readers are going to be aggravated because of how connected to the characters they feel, and that is a huge mark in Briggs’ favor. You’ll want to strangle some people as you read, and that’s actually a good thing (who would have thought I’d ever say something like that?). The characters are real, and they are part of you. They are also independent, and they might not do what you or I would do in any certain situation, and that’s aggravating in the extreme, but it is real and it is powerful.

By the eighth book in a series, it’s pretty much understood that Briggs’ knows what she is doing. Her writing feels effortless, and the world she has established has had so much time to gain depth, discover its limitations and strengths, and build on those, that there really isn’t much to add in that department. Briggs’ Mercy Thompson series has become a hit with so many people, and a lot of that is because Briggs is an author who knows how to lead her audience. She knows just when to tell, and just when to show, and she understands the strengths and limitations of the world she has created. Through eight books of experience, she has learned just how to play on all of that.

Night Broken is fast paced, and there is (of course) a bit of a mystery involve in it. The ending wraps up all the loose ends nicely and leaves the readers wanting more (as always). However, as I mentioned above, this book is more about relationships – both the romantic and non-romantic kind – and I found myself more interested in those relationships, their developments and failures, than I did in the actual mystery/adventure plot.

That’s probably why Night Broken had such a different tone to me. It was a bit more mature, a bit more somber, and a lot more introspective. You really get to see these characters you’ve come to know and love, in situations that you won’t enjoy that much, and they obviously don’t, either. It’s one of those novels that really makes me feel, and what I feel isn’t often huggy-kissy-warm-and-fuzzy, but those feelings it evokes are powerful and raw, and real. That’s the best quality of Night Broken. It’s more intimate, more somber, and it will really make your heart muscles work.

 

4/5 stars

Traitor’s Blade – Sebastien de Castell

About the Book

The laws of Tristia, the Greatcoats are travelling Magisters upholding King’s Law. They are heroes. Or at least they were, until they stood aside while the Dukes took the kingdom, and impaled their King’s head on a spike.

Now Tristia is on the verge of collapse and the barbarians are sniffing at the borders. The Dukes bring chaos to the land, while the Greatcoats are scattered far and wide, reviled as traitors, their legendary coats in tatters.

All they have left are the promises they made to King Paelis, to carry out one final mission. But if they have any hope of fulfilling the King’s dream, the divided Greatcoats must reunite, or they will also have to stand aside as they watch their world burn.

370 pages (hardcover)

Published on March 6, 2014 (UK)

Published on July 1, 2014 (US)

Published by Jo Fletcher Books

Author’s webpage

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

—

Recently a wonderful person at Jo Fletcher Books emailed me, asking if I would like to be put on the reviewer list. I basically said, ‘HELL YES’ in no uncertain terms. Jo Fletcher Books consistently puts out books that I want to read, and I enjoy reading. I was beyond thrilled to be put on their reviewer list. When the next email that landed from Jo Fletcher Books was asking if I wanted to review Traitor’s Blade, I almost passed out from an overload of excitement. Traitor’s Blade was a book that first caught my attention from one of my Books I’m Eyeing posts. I was incredibly disappointed to find out it didn’t surface in the USA until July. Oh, the pain! When I was offered this book to review, I think I probably replied with another ‘HELL YES’ in record time.

The book arrived, and it absolutely consumed me.

You see, I am kind of done with the swashbuckling adventures, witty repartees, busty women in taverns and men with gray morality doing something grand for their own predictable purpose. Those books are fun, but I’m kind of sick of them. On the surface, Traitor’s Blood looks very similar to that kind of thing, but I saw how many people were going nuts (in a good way) about the book so I knew there had to be something special about it.

And there is. Despite the fact that many of the elements are fairly similar to many other swashbuckling sword and sorcery adventures out there, Castell adds so much believability that nicely pairs this easy read, humorous book with some darker and much more thoughtful themes. In fact, one thing that Castell does quite well is the world building. There is a lot of history, both political and personal, in these pages The characters are never just surface level, and while the wry banter flies, there is always a purpose and a deeper message being hit on in the dialogue.

I think that’s what I loved about Traitor’s Blade so much. It’s incredibly fun, but it’s more than just a fun romp through someone’s imagination. There is so much thought that obviously went into the writing of this book, that I was just staggered. I learned a lot about fighting technique, so much, in fact, that I think the author himself must be some sort of impressive professional at the whole fighting-with-swords thing. The world was deft and layered, and by the time the book was over I felt a strange kinship with some of the cities, the countryside was alive, and the cultures, while foreign, were believable and nuanced.

Traitor’s Blade is a book you don’t want to start reading unless you have a lot of time to dedicate to it. You won’t want to put it down. Trust me on that.

The plot is also nuanced. There are twists and turns, some grand adventures, and nearly constant action. In the middle of this is our stalwart main character, Falcio, who is trying to do the right thing despite everything set against him. Castell does a great job at showing Falcio as more than just a good sword arm, but also a man with a good head on his shoulders, an intelligence that is needed in their current complex political situation(s). The secondary characters are each just as good as Falcio, though some of them seem to blend together and are less discernable than others. However, each personality works really well to give readers a full and more complex look into the plot as it is playing out.

Some aspects of the plot are pretty obvious, but some seem to unravel and unfold as the story progresses. This can be a little frustrating to some readers, but I enjoyed the suspense. I liked how Castell kept many aspects of the plot unfolding as I read. I felt like I was unwrapping the most incredible present the whole time I read the book. Traitor’s Blade is fast paced, dirty, full of action and complex relationships, twisting political climates, a quest, a group of close friends trying to do the right thing in the middle of so many bad things, and characters that you can really sympathize with. It is deep, funny, entertaining, and incredibly hard to put down.

Most of all, when I read this book, I felt like I was unwrapping a present the whole time. The book required almost no effort to enjoy. I just sank right in. I laughed and smiled, and felt the tension, and the emotional struggles the characters faced. I let go of myself and really sank into one intensely amazing, incredibly well realized world. Yes, this is a book for people who enjoy grimdark and swashbuckling adventures, but there’s also a delicious depth here that just worked for me on every single possible level. I’d almost hesitate to say it, but many of the political and deeper world building aspects of the book reminded me a bit of (hold your breath here) K.J. Parker (and we all know I think of him/her as the god of all things SFF, so you can imagine how hesitant I am to pair that name with any other author). Castell’s writing carried me away. This is a book that I wish I could experience the first time over and over again.

Bravo.

 

5/5 stars

Night Owls – Lauren M. Roy | PLUS A GIVEAWAY

Scroll to the bottom for GIVEAWAY details.

About the Book

Night Owls book store is the one spot on campus open late enough to help out even the most practiced slacker. The employees’ penchant for fighting the evil creatures of the night is just a perk…

Valerie McTeague’s business model is simple: provide the students of Edgewood College with a late-night study haven and stay as far away from the underworld conflicts of her vampire brethren as possible. She’s lived that life, and the price she paid was far too high to ever want to return.

Elly Garrett hasn’t known any life except that of fighting the supernatural werewolf-like beings known as Creeps or Jackals. But she always had her mentor and foster father by her side—until he gave his life protecting a book that the Creeps desperately want to get their hands on.

When the book gets stashed at Night Owls for safe keeping, those Val holds nearest and dearest are put in mortal peril. Now Val and Elly will have to team up, along with a mismatched crew of humans, vampires, and lesbian succubi, to stop the Jackals from getting their claws on the book and unleashing unnamed horrors…

304 pages (paperback)

Published on February 25, 2014

Published by Ace

Author’s webpage

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

—

I’ve been learning a lot about myself recently. One thing I’ve learned is that I don’t really dislike the subgenres I think I dislike as much as I think I dislike them. Case and point, Night Owls, an urban fantasy filled with all sorts of tropey baddies like vampires, werewolf-esque creatures, succubi and the like, set in our modern world, and reeking of all things urban fantasy.

The weird part? I actually really enjoyed it! In fact, I enjoyed it so much, I plowed through it in a matter of hours and found myself slightly upset that I didn’t have more to devour.

The first thing that I want to make perfectly clear here is that there is little to no romance involved in this book, and for that reason alone I feel like tracking down the author so I can kiss her. The impressive part is that Night Owls is better for the lack of romantic tension. Readers will be able to focus on the fast paced story so much easier, without any real distractions. Night Owls is unashamedly what it is, and I absolutely loved that about it.

Secondly, Night Owls is a very fast read. This book weighs in just shy of 300 pages, and moves so quickly that the 300 pages will absolutely fly by. The plot is fairly tight and moves in one solid direction rather than flitting around, like I was afraid of. None of the characters do stupid things for no apparent reason, which is another pet peeve of mine that seems to happen in short/quick books more often than I like. In fact, for being such a fast read, Night Owls is surprisingly tight.

The college town that the book takes place in is well realized, and seems very lifelike, as though I could go visit this place sometime. That’s part of the magic of it. Night Owls takes place in one of those college towns that we’ve all been to – you know, the kind of place that thrives purely because there is a school in the middle of it. It’s sleepy and small, and gives the book a sense of intimacy that I really enjoyed. By the time I was done reading the book, I felt as though I knew the setting as well as I knew my own house.

That sort of familiar feeling extends to the main characters, too. The book is told from the perspective of a few main people (Though Val and Elly were the most memorable for me), and they are well fleshed out with unique voices. The ragtag secondary characters are just as rich and entertaining as the main character perspectives. Each character has his or her own motivations and drives for doing what they are doing, and all of their pasts are rather fascinating. Plus, I have to give this book some props for having the kind of bookstore I’d die to work in be featured prominently in the book.

Night Owls is a solid debut, and a book I enjoyed a lot more than I expected. It has none of the urban fantasy clichés that makes me roll my eyes. In fact, Roy seems to make a point of taking those clichés and sort of poking fun at them. The supernatural creatures are an interesting mix of scary (believe it or not) and humorous. The succubi, especially, added some welcome comedic relief to Night Owls. However, some readers might find the mix of scary/humorous to be a bit lopsided, or occasionally out of place.

As I mentioned above, Night Owls is a fast read, and the short length of it might be its one and only real flaw. It has to be hard for Roy to flesh out her characters and her world in the detailed way I like in such a short amount of time. For the length of the book, I think she does a wonderful job, but I couldn’t help but want a few more details for the world. Though the characters were well developed, some of their behaviors seemed contradictory, or lacked a background to make complete sense to the reader.

In the grand scope of things, these complaints are small and don’t overshadow the rest of the book. Night Owls is an absolutely stunning urban fantasy debut. I loved the blend of reality and fantasy. Roy managed to make this book both serious and fun at the same time, and peppered it with memorable characters that make an impact. The ending nicely resolved the various threads of the plot, and left enough open to make readers anxious for more. Night Owls is fresh and fun and a great blend of old and new.

 

4/5 stars

 

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And, in a grand twist of fate (or something) I am currently running a GIVEAWAY for this book. I am giving away two copies to residents of the US and CANADA only (sorry, rest of the world).

To enter, leave a comment under this post. A week from today (so March 18, 2014) I will randomly choose two winners. Winners have two days (48 hours) to reply to my email. If you don’t reply, another winner will be chosen.

Best luck!

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Guest Post | Choosing A Favorite Historical Period – Miles Cameron

Miles Cameron is an author who has made some waves with his impressive debut book, The Red Knight. I, personally, really enjoyed the book, and I absolutely loved his twist on history. Soon, Cameron is releasing the highly anticipated second book in his Traitor Son Cycle, called The Fell Sword.

I love historical fantasy, and I loved how Cameron made his historical fantasy unique, refreshing, and educational. He really crafted something special with The Red Knight, and I have The Fell Sword looking at me, so I expect to start that one within a few days.

With all of that said, you can probably understand why I am so excited to have Cameron over here on Bookworm Blues today, talking about… well, read it and find out. Cameron has a great perspective, and is a very nice guy for taking the time to write this up. I sincerely hope that you guys give his books a shot. They are worth your time.

(By the way, I absolutely love that cover art.)

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Choosing A Favorite Historical Period

My favorite historical period is hard to pin down because I truly love the whole history of mankind, and the older I get, the fewer racial/gender/national biases seem to affect me.  I love Han China; I love ancient Greece; I love Muromachi Japan and Italy during the time of Boccaccio and France under Richelieu and Charles XII of Sweden and Voltaire’s france and pre-contact America and just about any other period you can name.

I can lose days of my life to finding an interesting book (preferably with pictures of artifacts) in a rummage sale or a flea market.  Vikings?  Cool.  Irish monks?  Also cool.  Trip to Mull (an island in the inner Hebrides and home of my particular variety of Cameron) and an instant interest in crannogs.  And possibly Picts.  Trip to Venice? How about Rwanda?  Really, it just goes on and on.

I gather there are people for whom history is boring or trite or sad, but I’m not one of them.  But if you make me choose I suspect I’d take the late Bronze Age.  We don’t even know what happened to them, but we know they were well on their way to a high standard of living (in some places) and ecological disaster (in others).

Or maybe the mid to late eighteenth century in Europe—the Enlightenment.  The clothes are good for men and women.  The small sword is a beautiful, deadly weapon, as is the flintlock pistol.

Or perhaps the later Middle Ages in Europe—brilliant martial arts (I’m a fan and a practitioner) and good clothes and magnificent high culture.  Not too good if you get the plague or are born a serf.  Classical Greece?  Superb art, great philosophy, magnificent buildings, athletics, and a better than fifty-fifty chance of being born to lifelong miserable slavery and degradation.

All in all, right about now in the western world is probably the best available—health care, tampons, toilet paper, bic lighters and smart phones and international travel via jet plane are strong recommendations, as are our slightly more enlightened attitudes to race and gender and a few other things.  I think that people—especially fantasy readers—tend to dismiss the modern era as ‘unromantic’ and ‘boring,’ but that’s just because they aren’t in the military or born in Somalia or Burma.  There remains plenty of adventure, for those who want it.  My suspicion, though, is that adventures are often best read about at a distance…

—

About the Author

Is a military veteran and historian.

 

He has a degree in Medieval History and lives with his wife and daughter in the most multi-cultural city in the world. There’s also a cat. So far, no horse.

However, there are a great many pieces of armour, swords, pole-axes, tents, camp kettles, bits of horse harness, and other guarantees that the author spends far too much money on reenacting.

In the course of his military career, the author served both in combat roles and on staffs—and had the opportunity to give orders and take them, and to watch the modern equivalents of Kings and Constables and the like make decisions, both good and bad.

The author also served for a while in the deep and dark worlds of electronic warfare, and would be the first to admit that his Neo-Platonic magic system is deeply tinged with personal experiences of detecting an adversary’s transmissions and using his own signals as a beacon for a counter-strike.

And finally, the author loves the deep wilderness—loves to camp six miles from a road—using only 14th century or 18th century camping techniques and equipment. The author feels—right or wrong—that when you are deep in the Metcalf Lake region of the Adirondack Mountains (or the Serengeti) , anything might happen. Everything is possible. Just walk out of the circle of firelight into the waiting darkness, and feel the Wild.

That’s not fantasy.

Author’s website

 

Email… and why it matters.

Dear authors & others who contact me (and other reviewers) for reviews:

 

Please be aware that, though we are not genre professionals (most of us running these websites out of love, passion, and an insane hobby that consumes much of our time), your email, and how you word it, matters.

No, I’m not a genre professional, and I doubt many of the other people who run websites like mine would consider themselves a genre professional either. We all have day jobs that don’t focus on books. We have families, and other things we do. This is fun, and an outlet for our explosions of nerdiness.

I think a lot of people who contact me think that because I’m not a publisher, they don’t have to address me in an even moderately professional manner. I have a feeling the same could be said for many other genre bloggers out there. We all get weird email. It’s part of the game. I find humor in it, but it also concerns me. If you don’t contact me in an even semi-professional way, then imagine what I expect your book to read like.

No, I’m not a publisher, but your email is your chance to sell your book to me. It is your chance to hook me. If you can’t write a proper email, I lose absolute faith in your ability to write a book. An email says a lot to me about you, dear author. I have a much bigger chance of reading your book if you write me a halfway decent query letter.

This is not a query letter:

Have you ever wondered what happens after women get raped? They get magic! Read my book and find out how cool it is!

(Author’s name)*

I’m not tooting my own horn. I realize that in the grand scheme of things, Bookworm Blues is a small website that creates even smaller waves. I’m not a PR guru, and I don’t have all the answers, but I do know that if I am not contacted in a way that makes me want to take a chance on your book, publishers probably won’t want to, either.

Harsh truth, but a truth.

Here are some small bits of advice from my nearly four years of genre reviewing experience:

 

When you contact a website, please be aware of the owner’s name. For example, my name is SARAH (Spelled: S-A-R-A-H), not Sharon, Book, Blue, Reader, Georgina, Paul, or Jane. Yes, I have been addressed as all of those things before, and more. If you don’t call me by my name, I automatically assume you don’t know anything about my website, and I nearly always ignore the email.
Please be aware of the submission guidelines before you submit a query. For example, I don’t review paranormal romance, so please stop sending me queries about your mermaid romance erotica novel. I won’t read it, and the fact that I’m getting the email, again, says that you don’t know anything about my website.I review speculative fiction. Thus, I am not interested in reading your historical study about the very important battle that happened in China in the 1200’s. I’m sure it is fascinating, but it isn’t fit for this website, and you should know that before you send the email to me.
A query letter doesn’t necessarily have to follow any specific formula, but generally, I enjoy knowing a bit about the author, getting a blurb, knowing who your publisher is, and your experience. I want to know who you are. I like feeling like there is a human I can relate to on the other end of this internet connection. I don’t care how you give that information to me, but as long as you give it, I am thankful.

This is not a query letter:

Reader Bookworm,

Here is my book.

(file attached)**

Give reviewers time to get to your book. I aim for a review within two weeks, but keep in mind, I get between 10-20 books a week, so I often don’t hit that mark. Don’t yell at me, or other reviewers, for not getting to your book as soon as you feel they should. I, as well as many other reviewers, work a full time job (40 hours a week), have families, kids, and other things that demand our time. We do what we can, when we can. Yelling at me generally gets me to delete your file/throw away your book very fast.
I do not ever EVER accept payment. Do not write me offering to write my review of your book for me. Do not tell me that you will pay me to read your book. Do not offer to buy me an iPod. Offering me payment or iPods tells me more (negative) about your book than anything else ever could.
Just because I am a reviewer does not mean I am willing to edit your book or take care of your PR for free. Do not ever ask a reviewer to give you professional services (other than reviewing) for free.

 

There are probably other points I could make, and while I’m writing this I fully realize that people will still send me letters like this. I’m hoping that someone will see this and realize that contacting reviewers is part of your professional networking. We are unpaid people who work in the genre out of love and devotion to this insane, time-consuming hobby of ours. Reviews have potential to cause waves, to generate public attention, to get people to buy what you write.

Treat me professionally and I will treat you professionally, and give you professional consideration. Professional communication generally gives me a very positive outlook for an author’s potential career, and that’s without me even reading your book yet.

This post is a little harsh, and I realize that. I’m not averse to talking to people and discussing issues. I have no issues with informal or shucking and jiving. However, if you contact a reviewer for a review, please keep in mind that we are here out of love and passion. We might not be professionals, but we can cause a stir in your writing life. We observe and have advice. We notice things, and have been in the genre long enough to see what works and what doesn’t. Your query, and how you word it matters. The email you send matters. It is your first impression. Consider your email to me an interview. You wouldn’t walk up to a potential employer and say, “Hey dude. Sup?” while wearing pajamas and burping, so don’t do that with genre reviewers.

Consider this. Your book is your baby. You spent endless nights worrying about it, dreaming about it, eating, sleeping, drinking it. You’ve cried over it. You’ve deleted and rewritten it (how many times?), you’ve poured months… years of your life into it. You deserve to send it on with pride, in all the glory you possibly can. You deserve to be noticed, and so does the creation you spend so much time on. Your book should be looked at with pride by you and me. Your email, and the way you present yourself in it, is the first step to getting exactly where you want to be with that baby you worked so damn hard to create.

That’s all I’m saying.

Sincerely,

 

Sarah.

S-A-R-A-H

Not Worm, Book, Blue, or anything else. Just Sarah.

 

*Yes, this was an actual email. Word for word. No joke.

** This was a full email. Absolutely every single word. 

Both of these examples were received within the last 48 hours.

Books I’m Eyeing

Books I’m Eyeing is going to change a little bit. Instead of just books I’m eyeing, I’ll also touch on the books I’m working on this week. As with all things, my full reviews of these books will drop as soon as I finish them, or closer to publication date. You’ll also get to see just how much I flit from book to book all week. I usually read about five books at the same time, but I have so many good ones landing on my doorstep right now, I’m floating between more than I usually read at once. I love it, but I think some people think I am insane regarding how much I read at once.

I haven’t done as much reading as I’d like this past week. it has been insanely busy recently, and my website and my Special Needs in Strange Worlds column has paid for it with a sharp decline in content. I truly apologize for that. I don’t mean to slack off, but by the time Tuesday hit this week, I was a drooling mess. I’m just now starting to feel like I have time to breath a little bit. I love three day weekends and I plan to spend as much of it in my pajamas with a book as possible.

Bonus: I’ve started writing my next Special Needs in Strange Worlds column, as well as a few reviews, so content should pick up here, and hopefully I’ll start being “regular” on SF Signal again. I truly feel horrible for letting that website down with my slacker-ish ways. On a side note, I’ve had absolutely horrible luck having authors pull through with guest posts that they offered to write for Special Needs in Strange Worlds. Actually, I’ve not yet had an author actually send me a guest post that they offered to write for Special Needs in Strange Worlds. This really, really disappoints me and it kind of makes me wonder what I am doing wrong. So, if you want to guest post for me over on SF Signal, please email me at Sarah (at) bookwormblues (dot) net and we can talk details. I’d love to have someone write something about disabilities in SFF related TV, and comics/graphic novels. However, I’ll take anything, and I’d LOVE anything. I really want that column to explore many different aspects of disabilities in SFF as possible.

Anyway, here’s your post. Enjoy!

—

Here are the books I’ve been working on:

Traitor’s Blade – Sebastien de Castell

This book has truly surprised me. I first ran across it on someone else’s website, and it immediately made it onto my Books I’m Eyeing post. Luckily for me, the people at Jo Fletcher Books took pity on my soul and have put me on their reviewer list. This was the first book they sent me and I want to fly over to England and kiss them all. This book has honestly surprised me. I can’t put it down. From the mixture of fascinating politics, dark personal stories, and wry humor, I’m pretty much sold. Mix into that some stunning writing and fantastic world building with shocking depth and you’ve really got something special here. It has already been published in the UK, and the US publication date is set for July 1, 2014. Keep your eyes out for it. This book is… just wow.

 

 

 

—

 

Words of Radiance – Brandon Sanderson

This book has been harder for me to read, not because it’s bad, but because it is so huge. I can’t take it to work with me like I usually do (I read on my breaks). I can’t really read it when my kid is around because she likes to sit on my lap and “read” books with me. However, I have had some time alone where I’ve been able to put this hell of a heavy book on my lap and read, and I love every minute of it. This one will take  me a while to read, but it will be completely worth it. Words of Radiance is, so far, far and away better than The Way of Kings, which is saying something because that book was absolutely enthralling. I am loving the continued world building, and the twisting and often surprising politics. There is a lot of depth here, and I really feel like Sanderson poured a lot of his soul into this book. It’s a true treat. I recommend you read the first book before you start on this one, but really, why wouldn’t you want to? You can’t go wrong with The Stormlight Archive series. I also need to mention that the artwork inside the book is just about as good as the book itself. I absolutely love it. The illustrations aren’t just pointless to add some ‘ta da’ to the pages. They actually help the readers visualize the world or various subtleties of the world better (for example, runes). Very, very well done in every respect.

—

Night Owls – Lauren M. Roy

I’m almost done with this one, and my review (and a giveaway) will be dropping very soon. Suffice it to say, if you’re sick of the same-old-same-old urban fantasy tropes, this is one of those books you’ll want to pick up. Fast paced, well written, engrossing, and a lot of fun. Night Owls is unique in a lot of ways. Told from a few different perspectives, this book somehow manages to remain intimate despite that. Fast paced, absorbing, and lacking any real romantic tension (which is a pet peeve of mine, so I was kind of sold right there). Roy does some interesting things with the typical urban fantasy baddies (vampires, etc) that makes them feel fresh and revived, while steeping them in popular lore so they don’t feel unrecognizable to the readers. Lots of fun and a very fresh punch to a genre that can easily feel way too stale.

 

 

 

—

Unwrapped Sky – Rjurik Davidson

To be fair, I just started this one last night but I feel like I should mention it here because the writing is absolutely gorgeous. While I’m so fresh into it I can’t really say anything about the plot or characters yet, I can say that the world seems to be absolutely unique and I feel like this book might turn into something special. Also, minotaurs. How many books with minotaurs have you read? For me, I can probably count them on one hand. I like fresh, new things and I like beautiful writing, so I have high hopes for this one.

—

 

 

 

 

 

Tropic of Serpents – Marie Brennan

This book arrived at my house on release day. I love Brennan’s writing, and how she shows this Victorian-style society from the point of view of a capable, strong, and out-of-the-box female. I’m enjoying this book quite a bit, but I’ve just started it. I’ve just started this one as well, but so far I don’t seem to feel as captivated as I did with the first. That’s not saying it is bad, but I think this book might have a slower start than I expected. As with the first, I absolutely love the cover art, and Brennan’s writing has a flowing grace that makes me love the stuffy Victorian setting more than I anticipated.

—

 

 

 

 

 

—

Here are the books I’m eying.

Lagoon – Nnedi Okorafor

Discovery blamed on: Civilian Reader

About the Book

When a massive object crashes into the ocean off the coast of Lagos, Nigeria’s most populous and legendary city, three people wandering along Bar Beach (Adaora, the marine biologist- Anthony, the rapper famous throughout Africa- Agu, the troubled soldier) find themselves running a race against time to save the country they love and the world itself… from itself. Lagoon expertly juggles multiple points of view and crisscrossing narratives with prose that is at once propulsive and poetic, combining everything from superhero comics to Nigerian mythology to tie together a story about a city consuming itself.

At its heart a story about humanity at the crossroads between the past, present, and future, Lagoon touches on political and philosophical issues in the rich tradition of the very best science fiction, and ultimately asks us to consider the things that bind us together – and the things that make us human.

—

Malediction – Lisa Morton

Discovery blamed on: Dark Wolf’s Fantasy Reviews

About the Book

In 1863, a young woman’s heritage is stolen from her, and she lays a terrible curse on the City of Angels. Now, in the 21st century, a teenaged girl with lethal psychic abilities arrives in Los Angeles, ready to ally herself with vengeful spirits of the past to feed her insatiable appetite for destruction. Only Gwen Michaelson, a natural healer afraid of her gifts, and Sam West, a broken amnesiac who was once a brilliant historian, stand against the psychotic and increasingly powerful May Blanco. Will Gwen be able to use her skills to restore Sam’s mind, which holds the key to the mystery of May’s unearthly companion? Together, can they find a way to stop May before she unleashes a wave of death?

MALEDICTION is a novel about magic and darkness, power and lust, folklore versus fact, love against rage, and the secret history of Los Angeles.

—

The Enchanted – Rene Denfeld 

Discovery blamed on: Fantasy Book Critic

About the Book

A wondrous and redemptive debut novel, set in a stark world where evil and magic coincide, The Enchanted combines the empathy and lyricism of Alice Sebold with the dark, imaginative power of Stephen King.

“This is an enchanted place. Others don’t see it, but I do.”

The enchanted place is an ancient stone prison, viewed through the eyes of a death row inmate who finds escape in his books and in re-imagining life around him, weaving a fantastical story of the people he observes and the world he inhabits. Fearful and reclusive, he senses what others cannot. Though bars confine him every minute of every day, he marries magical visions of golden horses running beneath the prison, heat flowing like molten metal from their backs, with the devastating violence of prison life.

Two outsiders venture here: a fallen priest, and the Lady, an investigator who searches for buried information from prisoners’ pasts that can save those soon-to-be-executed. Digging into the background of a killer named York, she uncovers wrenching truths that challenge familiar notions of victim and criminal, innocence and guilt, honor and corruption-ultimately revealing shocking secrets of her own.

Beautiful and transcendent, The Enchanted reminds us of how our humanity connects us all, and how beauty and love exist even amidst the most nightmarish reality

—

What books are you eyeing?

Hyde – Daniel Levine

Discovery blamed on: The Ranting Dragon

About the Book

A reimagining of The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde from the monster’s perspective, Hyde makes a hero of a villain. As a bonus, Stevenson’s original novel is included at the back. 

Mr. Hyde is hiding, trapped in Dr. Jekyll’s surgical cabinet, counting the hours until capture. As four days pass, he has the chance, finally, to tell the story of his brief, marvelous life.

We join Hyde, awakened after years of dormancy, in the mind he hesitantly shares with Jekyll. We spin with dizzy confusion as the potions take effect. We tromp through the dark streets of Victorian London. We watch Jekyll’s high-class life at a remove, blurred by a membrane of consciousness. We feel the horror of lost time, the helplessness of knowing we are responsible for the actions of a body not entirely our own.

Girls have gone missing. Someone has been killed. The evidence points to Mr. Hyde. Someone is framing him, terrorizing him with cryptic notes and whisper campaigns. Who can it be? Even if these crimes weren’t of his choosing, can they have been by his hand?

Though this classic has been often reinvented, no one ever imagined Hyde’s perspective, or that he could be heroic. Daniel Levine changes that. A mesmerizing gothic, Hyde tells the fascinating story of an underexamined villain.

—

 

Who Fears Death – Nnedi Okorafor

About the Book

An award-winning literary author presents her first foray into supernatural fantasy with a novel of post- apocalyptic Africa. 

In a far future, post-nuclear-holocaust Africa, genocide plagues one region. The aggressors, the Nuru, have decided to follow the Great Book and exterminate the Okeke. But when the only surviving member of a slain Okeke village is brutally raped, she manages to escape, wandering farther into the desert. She gives birth to a baby girl with hair and skin the color of sand and instinctively knows that her daughter is different. She names her daughter Onyesonwu, which means “Who Fears Death?” in an ancient African tongue.

Reared under the tutelage of a mysterious and traditional shaman, Onyesonwu discovers her magical destiny-to end the genocide of her people. The journey to fulfill her destiny will force her to grapple with nature, tradition, history, true love, the spiritual mysteries of her culture-and eventually death itself.

386 pages (hardcover)

Published on June 1, 2010

Published by DAW

Author’s webpage

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

—

Have you ever put off reading a book because you know you’d love it so much you had to wait for the perfect moment to savor each and every word?

That’s how it was with Who Fears Death. This book has been on my to-read list since it was first published. It took Penguin sending it to me to get me to finally bite the bullet and read it. I didn’t put off reading this book because I thought I’d hate it. In fact, I put off reading it because I knew it would blow my mind.

This book did something to me. It took me on one of those gut wrenching visceral journeys of self-discovery that left me feeling like I had just been through ten years of therapy. That might sound extreme, and it probably is, but you get the idea. This isn’t a book you read lightly. This is a book that will do something to you. The person you start out as when you open Who Fears Death is not the person you end as.

No wonder Who Fears Death has won a bucket ton of awards. This book deserves every one of them.

Who Fears Death is beautifully written, with some incredibly evocative prose which really helps pull the readers into this amalgamation of culture, setting, and content that readers probably have never encountered before. This isn’t just unique; this is truly different from anything else. First, this is set in post-apocalyptic Africa. As you’d expect in Africa, the culture really isn’t like anything I encounter around where I live. That’s part of the gut-punching glory of this. Okorafor really brings you into a new and different time and place, and the cultural realism just makes it all so much more intense. You’re not just reading about this place, this time, and these cultures. You’re truly experiencing them.

It’s really enlightening. I honestly can’t even put into words just how profoundly the world and cultural development moved me. Okorafor somehow managed to make what seems so far away and distant, seem real and present. That’s not just a gift she’s given me, but it is also an education, and quite a bit of enlightenment. The world is a huge, sprawling, fascinating place, and I always cherish the authors show me just how huge and sprawling it really is.

The real reason I love this novel so much is because Okorafor has no problems painting her book in dark and light colors. Onyesonwu is a lonely character, and through the author’s vivid prose, you feel that loneliness keenly. However, she is also amazingly hopeful and rather bright in contrast to so much of what happens around her, and to her.

On the other hand, many of the themes that are dealt with in this book, like sexual and racial violence. Okorafor deals with all of this unflinchingly, and it not only brings some dark reality to the world she has created, but it also puts me in the mind of things that happen in our own world. In this way, Okorafor’s stunning novel has the ability to make readers more conscious of the world around them, and the people in it.

Like I said, this book is a gift.

I have mentioned the prose several times, and I also just mentioned how the darkness seems almost perfectly balanced with all the light in the book. The truth is, Okorafor’s writing is, well, stunning. So much of Who Fears Death is incredible descriptions of gorgeous landscapes, beautiful scenes, intense and gorgeous character development. The violence is handled really well. While it exists, Okorafor’s writing never glorifies it, or elaborates on it. It felt almost like Okorafor is telling the reader to focus on the beauty. Violence happens, but it should never oppress the beauty (even though sometimes it does).

There is magic in this novel, and the basis, the reason the protagonist has magic is also rather tragic. This harkens back to so much of the novel. There are good things, but they are always balanced by a little bit (or a lot) of darkness. The magic, however, fits seamlessly into the novel itself. It never felt unbelievable or out of place. The world just worked and the magic was just the right touch to remind readers that this world isn’t ours, but it could be.

I don’t know what else to say. I really don’t. Who Fears Death just did something to me on a level that very few books have ever managed to touch. Everything about it worked. The writing was intense and amazing. The balance was perfect. The plot was engrossing and the characters were believable. Yes, this book is uncomfortable, but beautifully so. Sometimes readers need to feel a little uncomfortable. Sometimes books need to push us out of our comfort zone a little, to remind us that us that we are not islands. The world is a huge, sprawling place, and while I read this book, Okorafor reminded me of that fact.

Everyone should read this. It’s not fantasy. It’s not science fiction. It just is. Who Fears Death refuses to be defined. It is too grand, to epic, too intense to pin down. It’s too human. It shows us an uncomfortable world, and reminds us that, despite the ugliness all around us, this world still is a beautiful place, and every person in it has an incredible story to tell.

 

5/5 stars