Sarah Chorn's Blog, page 81

The Barrow – Mark Smylie

About the Book

Action, horror, politics, and sensuality combine in this stand-alone fantasy novel with series potential. Set in the world of the Eisner-nominated Artesia comic books.

To find the Sword, unearth the Barrow. To unearth the Barrow, follow the Map.

When a small crew of scoundrels, would-be heroes, deviants, and ruffians discover a map that they believe will lead them to a fabled sword buried in the barrow of a long-dead wizard, they think they’ve struck it rich. But their hopes are dashed when the map turns out to be cursed and then is destroyed in a magical ritual. The loss of the map leaves them dreaming of what might have been, until they rediscover the map in a most unusual and unexpected place.

Stjepan Black-Heart, suspected murderer and renegade royal cartographer; Erim, a young woman masquerading as a man; Gilgwyr, brothel owner extraordinaire; Leigh, an exiled magus under an ignominious cloud; Godewyn Red-Hand, mercenary and troublemaker; Arduin Orwain, scion of a noble family brought low by scandal; and Arduin’s sister Annwyn, the beautiful cause of that scandal: together they form a cross-section of the Middle Kingdoms of the Known World, brought together by accident and dark design, on a quest that will either get them all in the history books, or get them all killed.

613 pages (paperback)

Published on March 4, 2014

Published by Pyr

Author’s webpage

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

—

The Barrow, my lovelies, is one hell of a book.

First things first, if you aren’t comfortable with incredibly graphic sex and violence, along with some incredible adult language, you might not want to try this book. This isn’t a PG 13 read. If you don’t mind a book that lacks a little bit of a filter, than give this one a go. If you are easily offended, then you’ll probably want to pass on The Barrow.

Now, to the real juice of the review.

The Barrow is a book that I didn’t expect to enjoy at first. The back cover blurb looked a bit like an Indiana Jones and Dungeons and Dragons mash up. While I enjoy my D&D, I’m kind of past the point where reading D&D books appeals to me. And, shoot me if you want, but I really don’t like Indiana Jones.

It takes about three paragraphs for a reader to realize that this isn’t Indiana Jones, and if it is anything like D&D, it is D&D on steroids. Smylie takes the action/adventure/quest plot line that makes fantasy so great, and really ups the ante. He infuses The Barrow with emotion, tension, and suspense.

But the thing that really makes this book stand out to me is the epic, incredibly impressive, and very noteworthy world building. You know, I sat down to read this book, I expected something a lot different from what it ended up being, and perhaps the area that really surprised me the most was the world building. Readers will almost get a Steven Erikson sort of depth and detail, as well as diversity to the world. There is no surface level here. This world has been battered, burned, and beaten, and the people that inhabit it are just as interesting and diverse as you’d expect.

The thing is, The Barrow is sprawling, and I didn’t really expect that from the back cover blurb. The scope is absolutely epic, and while the main plot centers on a quest of some sort, there is so much that happens in the sidelines, and in the background. But nothing is really cheaply done. Smylie seemed to see what the typical dark, graphic fantasy book contains, and took a left turn almost constantly. You won’t encounter any cheap tricks, or any graphic content that doesn’t really have a purpose. The really impressive thing is, every bit of this novel goes into building one of the most incredible worlds I’ve run into in a long time, as well as developing characters and furthering the plot.

As for the characters, they are all somehow broken or imperfect, which speaks volumes to this heart that finds Special Needs in Strange Worlds so important. There are many ways to be broken and even more ways to be imperfect, but Smylie makes these characters shine, and their imperfections are what makes them memorable and strong. Perhaps the more incredible thing is how Smylie makes all of the voices so unique and individual, and how he weaves all of these diverse stories together to make this quest so much more powerful.

The plot moves fast and sucks you in almost immediately. I keep throwing around the word “quest” which, I think, probably makes the plot seem a bit surface level, but that couldn’t be any further from the truth. The Barrow is shockingly complex, full of family drama, political drama, and plenty of self-discovery. All of this, along with the main plot, really makes The Barrow a novel that is just as deep as it is exciting.

Somehow, some way, Smylie did the incredible. He made all of the book’s flaws its many incredible strengths, and that’s what makes The Barrow so wonderful. This novel is intense, and gritty, and uncomfortable, and full of blood, cursing, and sex, with characters that are both wonderful and disgusting in the same breath. It is a book with an epic, well-realized, fantastic world so beautifully done, but also just as broken and battered as the people who inhabit it. The Barrow is a book of contrasts, and it is those contrasts that make me love it so much. Flawed, yet beautiful. The Barrow will probably go on my 2014 favorites list. It hit all the right notes.

 

5/5 stars

 

Purity – Sarah Chorn

Wow, this is… well, awkward.

Here’s the thing. I wrote this stupid short story last year. It’s made it to the second reading and decision round for more magazines and publishers than I care to admit to, but never beyond that. So, let me say right away, I have absolutely no misunderstandings about the quality of this story. If it was wonderful, it would be published somewhere besides here.

I guess this is my official foray into unofficially self-publishing.

Secondly, the reason I’m doing this is because it really bothers me to see how much work I put into this short story, and know that unless I put it here, it’s dead on the vine. I know it probably doesn’t bother anyone else, but it bothers me. Therefore I’m going to put it on this website because I’d prefer it not to rot away forgotten in the black recesses of my computer. And, hey, why not show all you fine folk what a half-baked author I am?

So here it is, “Purity”, the short story I wrote, that Zachary Jernigan helped me refine to its imperfect, rather unedited current state. In all reality, I appreciate Jernigan for all of his help, and I absolutely loved how much he boosted my confidence, and taught me during the process of writing and refining this.

I’m going to go ahead and post this story before I lose my confidence… which is almost certainly going to happen.

Basically what this really boils down to is the fact that I promised myself if I didn’t get this stupid piece of crap story published by the end of February, I’d put it on my website just to shut myself up. It’s March 1, and thus, time for me to call my own bluff.

This is one of the most terrifying things I’ve ever done.

Welcome to my mind.

—

PURITY

By Sarah Chorn

 

Caleb was my best friend, though it was less of a friendship and more of a jealousy-fueled codependency. His mother worked for Purity making designs for the domes. She always got the latest technology and best upgrades for free from her work.

Caleb’s dome was like a castle, huge and sprawling. The walls changed hue to suit a person’s mood. The temperature acclimated to please the people inside. The air smelled like flowers. Caleb’s mother was always gone, so he basically raised himself. I yearned for his independence. I hated him for his posh dome, and I loved him because he let me spend time there.

Caleb didn’t care that my family was dirt poor, or that my parents had to work overtime for weeks on horrible farms to afford the most recent tech upgrades. My family’s dome was a crumbling, windowless, ugly brown half-circle hidden behind a bunch of overgrown trees that hadn’t seen a pruner in generations.

None of that mattered to him. I had a father and he didn’t. The grass is always greener, as the saying goes.

When I was fifteen, my mother and father contracted another insemination. We stood, a family of three for the last time, in a sterile hospital room watching as the doctor inserted a tiny tube into a dish of clear liquid. Mom smiled proudly. My father smiled back at her, and it was done. In nine months I’d have a little brother stealing all the attention.

Even though my little brother was still growing in the tube, I already resented my parents for the attention they heaped on him. I loathed my brother for making our already impoverished situation that much more uncomfortable.

Caleb was mad at me because of how poorly I was handling the impending change in my life. When I asked why he was upset, he’d shake his head, his brown hair falling around his dark eyes and say, “You don’t understand how lucky you are, Hannah.” My parents were all stars and happiness, completely ignorant to the fact that their poverty made me a social pariah; and my only friend didn’t understand, or care, about my emotional torture.

Between school and Caleb, I soon forgot that I had a brother on the way. Time passed in the fleeting way it passes for the young and stupid. Soon my brother was done developing and we had another mouth we couldn’t afford to feed, in a dome that was too small to hold all of us. As I dealt with my new life, another milestone appeared.

At sixteen, all youth in the habitat were tested. This was our one chance to secure a lucrative future, so teenagers usually spent anxious weeks studying and preparing. However, I had been so absorbed in the chaos my brother’s birth heaped upon me that I completely forgot about it.

The morning of the test dawned far too bright, and far too early. I said goodbye to my family, knowing that, no matter what happened, it would be a few years before I saw them again. Caleb and I walked to the testing center together in tense silence. For the next few hours, we sat in identical terminals answering questions on hygienic paper with pencils that would be incinerated as soon as we left. I heard forty other sixteen-year-olds scratching out answers along with me. I could taste the acrid anxiety filling the testing room. When it was over, we were directed to stand in a line, all of us the mandatory two feet apart, while we waited to learn about the next phase of our lives. No one spoke. There seemed to be nothing to say.

We were divided into groups. Caleb was lumped into the tech group, which surprised neither of us, though I knew he secretly wanted nothing to do with tech. I was sent to agriculture. We would both follow in our parent’s damned footsteps.

Caleb’s group looked so posh and put together. In contrast, my group was obviously poor. It showed in our out-of-date nanobots, tattered clothing, and the air of rejection that hung on us like a bad perfume. We protected our anger and disappointment by hiding behind a wall of stony silence.

I said a hasty goodbye to Caleb as an instructor led us down the hall and into a large bus. A medibot positioned us all so we wouldn’t be touching. A mask clipped on our faces so we wouldn’t share the same air. Once we were examined and our sterility was approved, we started moving toward our future.

Most residents never saw the outer edges of the habitat where the agricultural lands were located. It seemed like people were afraid that visiting the farms would spread our poverty like a virus. Agriculture was where the poor and criminal worked. Rumor had it that Caleb’s father had not washed his hands for the proper amount of time and someone turned him in. If his father was still alive, he was probably working on a farm somewhere with the other criminals. That rumor was most of the reason why Caleb was a social outcast. The stench of the unwashed tainted him forever.

The farms were on a sprawling, circular swath of land several miles wide that butted against the cold glass wall of the Purity habitat. Despite the open sky above me, the land felt oppressive. It was flat and endless. Wind never stirred the cornhusks, and the sun was merciless, beating me with an unforgiving fist. I felt like I was standing in the middle of an ocean of green. One wrong move and I would drown.

I was assigned to the cornfields, where I was paired with a partner. James was a tall, dark, and handsome eighteen-year-old who had worked the land for several months and could show me the ropes. He positively wafted anger every time he moved. I was almost instantly infatuated with him.

At first we rarely spoke. James showed me how to pick corn and where to put it. After that, my twelve-hour days were full of brooding silence. Too much time alone with my thoughts helped me sew seeds of bitterness about my unfair fate that I reverently cared for.

The weeks rolled silently by, and then, for no apparent reason, James decided I was worth talking to. The awkward ice between us thawed with four words. “Come eat with me,” he said, his rumbling baritone sliding over my body like the darkest silk.

“Okay,” I plopped down beside him and we ate corn in silence under the stars. A fire popped merrily at our feet. I fell asleep there, two feet away from him, wondering what it would feel like to touch another person. Was his skin as smooth as mine, or rough with work?

A few days later while picking corn in that pitiless field, James decided to speak to me again. “Did you know that a world exists outside of Purity?” His voice surprised me, making me jump and curse, spilling half of my corn with a hasty kick. It lay like glistening nuggets of gold.

“Bullshit.”

A shrug. “I was there.”

“That’s impossible. You know as well as I do that the germs killed off most of humanity,” I muttered as I picked up my spilled corn.

His hand wrapped around my arm almost painfully. His dark eyes burned with frightening passion. “I was there,” he hissed through bared teeth.

“You’re touching me.” No one touched in the habitat. We all stayed a careful two feet apart, minimum. Contact spread germs and put people in jail. It made people disappear. I yanked my arm away and wiped it on my pant leg furiously, as though I could wipe off his touch. I hated the way my hand shook. I was already planning a twenty-minute sterility shower.

“Out there people touch all the time.” He turned back to picking his corn like what had just happened wasn’t a big deal. Like it wouldn’t change my life forever. I wondered if my parents would notice if I disappeared.

Would Caleb care?

“So why aren’t you still there?”

A sigh. “I was born here, but I snuck out a few months ago. Why else do you think I’m here? My family was poor-“

“Was?”

“It was just my mom and I. I was sick of being here, so I left. I found an apple tree and brought back a basket full of them. They were fat, and red. The juice dripped down my chin when I bit into them. They tasted unreal, so much more intense than anything I’ve tasted in here. My mother was furious and the police found out. They took her away and brought me here. I’m being punished for bringing my mother food. Can you believe that? ”

I picked my corn in silence, letting one ear fall after another. The soft plop was the only sound other than the rustle of fabric as we both worked. “Are there others out there?”

“A lot.”

“What about the germs?”

“What about them? I wasn’t there long, but I saw people touching. It makes me wonder. We are taught that the habitat is here to protect us, but I’m not sure it does. Have you ever wondered why we have hospitals, medibots or doctors?” He kept his eyes focused on the stalks of corn, but his voice was dark and filled with untapped anger.

“People get injured. Broken arms. Smashed thumbs.” My mind was racing.

“If Purity really protects us, and germs are really eradicated, then why do we have sick rooms? Sterility showers? Cleansed air? Why are people who leave the dome found and punished if they return? If there are no germs, what are people so afraid of?” He paused meaningfully. “If germs wiped out everything, how come people are still living on the outside?”

“I’ve never thought about it.”

“Of course not. You lived a sheltered life.” His snort was filled with derision. The conversation was over.

James had effectively stirred up my garden of bitterness and sewed in seeds of confusion. I knew that Purity had been erected to preserve and protect what remained of humanity. Our nanobots kept us clean. Our domes provided another wall of protection. Every rule we had was in place to preserve our safety and security against those things we couldn’t see. No one touched, because touching cultivated and spread germs. Kids didn’t play outside, they played in sterile rooms alone and were sanitized before they re-entered society. Lawlessness happened when people didn’t follow specific rules that protected their health and the health of those around them. My whole life was built around germs, and how rapidly they could spread and harm anyone and everyone.

Now James was making me question the foundation on which our society had been built, and my rebellious, angry teenage heart embraced it. I peppered him with questions while we picked corn day after day. I started dreaming of an outside world where the scent of blossoms was carried on a gentle wind, rather than pumped through vents. What did wind feel like? Did rain taste differently than our decontaminated chemical bath inside of Purity? These were revolutionary thoughts, and I loved James for them.

The weeks grew into months, and we were finally given a free day. I expected to spend it sleeping, but a sleek black car stopped beside the field and my childhood friend emerged, blinking his eyes to adjust to the bright light. I drank him in. Caleb was taller than I remembered, pale with skinny arms and legs. He smiled at me that familiar lopsided smile I had seen so often. We said our hellos; the two feet between us stretching like a gulf. I suddenly realized how terribly I had missed him.

He looked at the rows and rows of corn longingly and then sank to the dirt, his head tilted to the sky. “I sit in a dark room by myself and look at code all day,” he finally admitted. “I’d rather pick corn.”

“Couldn’t your mom get you a better position?”

Caleb shrugged. “What’s better? I’d rather be here, but our fate was sealed with that exam. It’s going to kill me, Hannah. It’s been weeks since I’ve said a word to another living person.”

“I thought everyone loved tech.”

“No one who works in tech loves it.”

Silence stretched between us like a living creature. My mind was racing. Caleb was miserable, and no matter what our differences were, I hated that misery more than I hated anything. He was my dearest friend. He deserved a life he loved. He deserved freedom. Now I knew just how to give it to him.

I told him about James and the outside world. I talked in soft tones that wouldn’t be overheard, making sure I kept a careful distance between us. I let the story slip out of my mouth and watched as Caleb absorbed it, his eyes widening, his fists clenching and unclenching nervously in his lap. Finally, when I was done, he whispered, “Why did you tell me that?”

“Because we can leave here. We can leave the habitat and live outside. There is a whole world out there that we can explore. We can be who we want, and do what we want.” Oh, how foolishly ideological I was.

He shook his head. “Nothing is that simple. You only have the word of a convict that any of that even happened. If we do get outside, what’s to say we won’t die? This habitat was built for a lot of reasons, and just for fun wasn’t one of them.”

“Aren’t you even curious?” I hated how my voice cracked emotionally over the last word. Caleb studied me for a minute and shook his head.

“Even if leaving was even possible, do you think you could give up everything you know?” He licked his lips and turned his face back toward the sun. “Hannah, don’t do anything stupid. I know you hate picking corn, but it’s not worth risking everything for. We both have lives here. We can’t risk them on a convict’s story.” The black car was back. It honked once signaling an end to our reunion. We said our goodbyes before it took Caleb away, kicking up a cloud of dirt as it disappeared.

A few days later,  I kissed James. The fact that touching was forbidden just made it that much sweeter. A few weeks later we had sex under the stars, hidden by rows and rows of unyielding corn. After that night my thoughts often turned from my own problems, to memories of our nights together, a tangle of sweat and limbs. Heat would flood my cheeks, our eyes would meet, and my heart would flutter.

Our newfound intimacy also made me realize how often James went missing at night.

Later, when we were both getting ready for another day of hard work, I heard James make a horrible, wet sound in his throat. “What was that?” James made the noise again, louder this time. He was bent double, spit flying from his mouth, his skin white and drawn. He looked awful.

“It’s a cough,” he finally said, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand.

“A cough?” I tested out the word. “What is a cough?” I asked.

“It’s something horrible,” James said softly. I didn’t understand. I picked up my basket and moved deeper into the field, trying to leave my worry behind me. I was completely oblivious to the fact that I was about to destroy everything I had ever known.

That night when we made love he coughed the whole time.

Soon after that, I started coughing, too. My nanobots were moving at a frantic pace, unable to keep me clean as my body fought against its very first virus. In a panic, the overseers pulled us off the fields, and sent us by private bus to the large white hospital downtown. We were covered in plastic suits and ushered inside, coughing and hacking. Nursebots led us into two separate sterile rooms where we were poked and prodded. Outside I heard someone else coughing.

Days passed in that windowless room. I had an IV in my arm pumping fluids into my body. Medibots cared for me. Police were stationed at my door. I was a prisoner in the truest form. When the door opened on those rare occasions that anyone entered, I saw a hallway packed full of sick, coughing, dying people with handkerchiefs pressed to their mouths to catch blood. Each person was a weight on my soul. I had done this. In my ignorance and my love of rebellion, I had done this.

Eventually the hospital grew too crowded and James and I were forced to share a room. He was paying for his sins. He looked yellow and used oxygen to help him breath. He was obviously dying, and dying men didn’t deserve anger, they deserved pity. “I’m sorry,” James whispered when he saw me. He reached out and squeezed my hand. His grip was loose and his skin was clammy. “I’m so sorry for this.”

“How?” It was the only word I could manage. I could barely hear it over the rattling in my chest.

James coughed, a wet, horrible sound that echoed off the walls around us. I saw red flecks of blood when he moved his hand. “I lived on the outside for months, Hannah,” he finally said. “I would sneak back out almost every night. I purposefully brought it in with me.”

“Why?”

“Purity is evil,” he hissed. “A medibot found a tumor in me. Fucking cancer. I can’t help that I have cancer. I didn’t ask for it. The police didn’t care. They kicked me out anyway because cancer is a disease and diseases are illegal. Diseases degrade the security of the habitat. He left my mom to fend for herself. I got sick and snuck it in so everyone could feel what I felt. There’s nowhere to run anymore. Purity is collapsing.” He turned his back on me. His anger was repulsive, and he would die nursing it.

An interesting thing happens when an illness is introduced to a society that has no germs. We learned that our immune systems were basically nonexistent. Our technology had been developed for healthy bodies, not sick ones. We had lived so long without illness, we had lost all knowledge of how to treat it. Nearly everyone was sick, and our ignorance sentenced them to death. James had started a fire and used my infatuation as a tool to spread it.

James was the first to die, and after him, thousands followed. The bodies were burned. The sickness mutated, and those that survived the first strain of the virus were inevitably killed in the second. The few, like myself, who managed to live through it all, were so weak and ravished that we were meek as babes. Our technology had failed. Our world had been ripped apart around us, but there was no anarchy. We were too weak and too few for anything so grand.

I was known as Patient 1. Those still alive had determined that Patient 1 needed to be made an example of. The only question was when it would happen, and how. My days were spent in my hospital bed praying for death. But death never came.

Time passed in a confused mixture of dreams and reality. Then suddenly Caleb darkened the doorway of my room. His face covered in a mask; he was draped in a white suit that made him look otherworldly. His eyes were full of sadness. My relief was overpowering. I felt a tear slide slowly down my cheek to fall from my nose and plop on my pillow.

Caleb pulled a chair up beside my bed and let out a long, low groan. I reached toward him and he backed away like I was made of poison. I couldn’t blame him. “Hannah, your family is dead.” His voice was flat and emotionless. Cold. “All of this happened because of you. Everything has been destroyed. So many people died. Purity is no longer safe. Maybe that’s what you wanted. I know you were miserable. Was this your crowning achievement? Should I applaud you?”

I shook my head, a cough ripped through me. I felt like I was being torn in half. Blood dotted the white sheet that covered me, red and accusing. It was the color of sin.

“I don’t think you realized that we wouldn’t be able to cope with disease. I don’t think anyone did. We’ve been safe for so long, but safety has its price, and we’ve paid it with our ignorance.”

“Caleb,” I rasped. Tears carved a river of pain on my cheeks.

“We need to rebuild, Hannah.”

“I didn’t mean for any of this to happen. I didn’t know. It was James.”

“Yes, I know you two were great friends.” He crossed his arms over his chest and glared at me. This wasn’t my childhood friend. This was a stranger. For the first time since he arrived I realized that Caleb wasn’t here to visit. He was here as the hand of justice and he would bestow my fate upon me. “I did research on your boyfriend after I left the cornfield. He was dying from cancer, Hannah. The police kicked him out because he was unstable and a danger to society. He snuck back in somehow and assaulted his mother. He threw a basket of apples at her. They hit her head and killed her. He was a psychopathic murderer.”

A sob tore out of me. “Caleb, please, I didn’t know.”

He shook his head. “It doesn’t matter. Not anymore. The rules were in place to keep us safe. You blatantly ignored them and look at what happened. If you had stayed away from him like you were supposed to, James would have died from his disease and no one else would have been affected. We’ve lost seventy-five percent of our population, Hannah. In order to move on, we need closure. I wanted to see you one last time.” Sadness filled his eyes before he gained control of himself and steeled his expression.

“What are you going to do to me?” My hands were shaking, betraying the fear that lay coiled like a snake in my belly.

“We are kicking you out.”

“Caleb, no!” I wanted to shout at him, but the words fell like cold stones from my parched lips, barely making a sound. I didn’t know that James was sick. I didn’t ask for any of this. I was just an angry teenage girl in love with rebellion and sucked into something that was deeper than anything she could understand. I wanted to go back to the way things were before we took that horrible test. I wanted to go home and hate my parents again. I wanted to be jealous of Caleb again.

Caleb flicked a finger and two large men in matching white suits entered my room and stuck a needle in my arm. I barely had time to register the pain before sleep claimed me.

 

I woke up on the outside looking in. Rain fell in diagonal sheets. My clothes were stuck to me. I was shivering from the cold. I stuck my tongue out and tasted water, pure and lacking chemicals. It was one last, perfect gift.

“It’s odd, looking in.” Caleb was nothing more than a silhouette pressed against the wall of the dome, trying to puzzle out what lay beyond the wet glass that obscured our old lives.

“Why are you here?” My teeth chattered, turning the words into a staccato mush.

He turned and fixed me with his steely gaze. He wouldn’t ever forgive me; I read that truth in his eyes. “You are all I have now.”

“You hate me.”

“Yes.”

“So why are you here? Why did you leave?”

“I’m so fucking lonely without you,” he said. A cough doubled me over. The salty, iron taste of blood filled my mouth. Caleb took my hand. His skin was smooth and warm; his grip was strong but not painful. He gently turned me away from the dome. “You were a weapon, Hannah, and even weapons should be cared for.”

The rain turned the blood on my hand into tears that slid from my fingers to cover his. We walked away from our old lives and into the unknown.

© Sarah Chorn, 2014

Books I’m Eyeing

Wow, this week has been… well, busy… in a good way.

Usually when I have news, it’s bad news. Cancer, back problems, cancer again, back problems again… You get the drill.

This week it is all good. You see, my husband was offered his dream job with an absolutely amazing company. He just finished signing the papers tonight. We’ve been busy feeling relieved (things were getting scary financially around here. We were on our last leg.) We’ve also been car shopping. When the husband was laid off, we got rid of EVERYTHING we didn’t absolutely need, meaning, we sold his car. We’ve been living off of one car for a while, which is fine when only one person is employed. Now that we are both employed, we’ve been car shopping (he has to get to work somehow) and daycare researching. It’s been fun, stressful, busy… all the things you’d expect and all with a sunny edge.

In all honesty, my lovely readers, the ONLY reason we’ve made it this long with him being unemployed is because of the help and support of strangers. We were inundated with advice (which we both took, which is probably a huge reason why he landed the wonderful job he landed). We also were inundated with the kind monetary donations from perfect strangers, and people I call friends. The honest, embarrassing truth is, with all the health problems we’ve faced recently, this layoff was just about as bad a hit to our finances as anything else we’ve faced. Your help and advice not only helped my husband land an incredible job, but it also kept us clothed and fed.

And the other bit of truth involved in this is the fact that I don’t think I personally responded to many letters I received at that time, and I received a lot of them. I was honestly overwhelmed by the kindness, by the thoughts, the fantastic advice, the commiserating by people who have been there…. I was just overwhelmed, so I wrote everyone one general “thank you” letter (very impersonal and incredibly rude on my part) and sincerely hoped you somehow psychically picked up on how much your thoughts, kindness, and gestures of friendship have made a world of difference to this Bookworm’s family.

I might not have told you personally, but every last one of you touched my heart, and we both read every word all of you wrote, and took every bit of advice to heart and acted on it. No matter what else you think, you truly made our lives better.

With all of that said, I am soooooooo glad that it is over.

So, onto Books I’m Eyeing. These are the books that have been highlighted on websites that I frequent. Check them out. They all have some pretty amazing content on a regular basis.

What books are YOU eyeing this week?

—

The City Stained Red – Sam Sykes

Discovery blamed on: Mad Hatter’s Bookshelf & Book Review

About the Book

Long before he was sent to hell, the Aeon known as Khoth-Kapira was the closest thing to a living god the world had ever known. Possessed of a vast intellect, he pioneered many of the wonders that persist in the world that lingered long after he was banished. Nearly every fragment of medical, economic and technological progress that the mortal races enjoyed could be traced back to him. But with his wonders came cruelty beyond measure: industrialized slavery, horrifying experimentations and a rage that would eventually force the world to bow to him.

Now, as Khoth-Kapira stirs the world begins to shudder with disasters yet to come.The epicenter is the city of Cier’Djaal. A religious war between two unstoppable military juggernauts begins to brew. The racial fury among many peoples of the world is about to explode. Demons begin to pour from the shadows at the head of a vicious cult worshipping dark powers.

And Lenk finds himself in the middle once more, his fate and the fate of Khoth-Kapira interlinked as the demon attempts to convince him of his earnestness.

—

Hang Wire – Adam Christopher

Discovery blamed on: The Skiffy and Fanty Show

About the Book

Ted Hall is worried. He’s been sleepwalking, and his somnambulant travels appear to coincide with murders by the notorious Hang Wire Killer.

Meanwhile, the circus has come to town, but the Celtic dancers are taking their pagan act a little too seriously, the manager of the Olde Worlde Funfair has started talking to his vintage machines, and the new acrobat’s frequent absences are causing tension among the performers.

Out in the city there are other new arrivals – immortals searching for an ancient power – a primal evil which, if unopposed, could destroy the world!

—

 

The Silvered – Tanya Huff

Discovery blamed on: Fantasy Cafe

About the Book

The Empire has declared war on the small, were-ruled kingdom of

Aydori, capturing five women of the Mage-Pack, including the wife of the were Pack-leader. With the Pack off defending the border, it falls to Mirian Maylin and Tomas Hagen—she a low-level mage, he younger brother to the Pack-leader—to save them. Together the two set out on the kidnappers’ trail, racing into the heart of enemy territory. With every step the odds against them surviving and succeeding soar

—

 

 

 

The Happier Dead – Ivo Stourton

Discovery blamed on: A Fantastical Reviewer

About the Book

In the very near future the rich are able to extend their lives indefinitely, but the price of eternal youth is one that they can get others to pay. A political thriller, crime novel and stunning SF story.

The Great Spa sits on the edge of London, a structure visible from space. The power of Britain on the world stage rests in its monopoly on “The Treatment”, a medical procedure which can transform the richest and most powerful into a state of permanent physical youth. The Great Spa is the place where the newly young immortals go to revitalise their aged souls. In this most important and secure of facilities, a murder of one of the guests threatens to destabilise the new order, and DCI Oates of the Metrolpolitan police is called in to investigate. In a single day Oates must unravel the secrets behind the Treatment and the long ago disappearance of its creator, passing through a London riven with disorder and corruption, where adverts are transmitted directly into the imagination. As a night of widespread rioting takes hold of the city he moves towards a final climax which could lead to the destruction of the Great Spa, his own ruin, and the loss of everything he holds most dear.

—

A Cast of Stones – Patrick W. Carr

Discovery blamed on: The Tattered Scroll

About the Book

In the backwater village of Callowford, Errol Stone’s search for a drink is interrupted by a church messenger who arrives with urgent missives for the hermit priest in the hills. Desperate for coin, Errol volunteers to deliver them but soon finds himself hunted by deadly assassins. Forced to flee with the priest and a small band of travelers, Errol soon learns he’s joined a quest that could change the fate of his kingdom.

Protected for millennia by the heirs of the first king, the kingdom’s dynasty is near an end and a new king must be selected. As tension and danger mount, Errol must leave behind his drunkenness and grief, learn to fight, and come to know his God in order to survive a journey to discover his destiny.

A Different Kingdom – Paul Kearney

About the Book

A different kingdom of wolves, woods and stranger, darker, creatures lies in wait for Michael Fay in the woods at the bottom of his family’s farm.

Michael Fay is a normal boy, living with his grandparents on their family farm in rural Ireland. In the woods there are wolves; and other things, dangerous things. He doesn’t tell his family, not even his Aunt Rose, his closest friend.

And then, as Michael wanders through the trees, he finds himself in the Other Place. There are strange people, and monsters, and a girl called Cat.

When the wolves follow him from the Other Place to his family’s doorstep, Michael must choose between locking the doors and looking away – or following Cat on an adventure that may take an entire lifetime in the Other Place.

432 pages (paperback)

Published on January 28, 2014

Published by Solaris

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

—

Here’s the deal. All you really have to do is say, “Ireland” and this bookworm comes running. Now, a book set in Ireland, written by an author from Ireland is…. Well, it’s something that gets my attention right away. Added to that is an amazing cover, and an author’s name that resonates (this dude is well known), and you have something truly special.

A Different Kingdom is, from what I gather, a reprint of one of Kearney’s first novels. The thing is, this doesn’t read like an early novel in an illustrious career. It actually reads like something a well practiced author would churn out after a hell of a lot of work. While the back-cover blurb might put some readers off, as it seems a little been-there-done-that, rest assured, this novel is anything but. In fact, I take some minor issues with the back-cover blurb because it does a very bad job at conveying the sheer depth, scope, and maturity this book contains.

“Maturity?” you ask. A book about a young teenaged kid seems like it would be well, young adult, not adult. You see, that’s where this is misleading. Yes, our protagonist, one Michael Fay, is young, and this book does focus quite a bit on his youth and growth from boy into young man, but the central themes of much of the novel are very, very adult. In Michael’s world, the young have to mature fast. Life on the farm in Northern Ireland in the early 1900’s is nothing to shake a stick at. Life was hard, and it makes the people who live it even harder.

Mixed with that fact is the fact that many of the books central themes are driven, even fueled by desire, including sexual desire. Desire is a common feeling for the teenaged among us to feel, but Kearney’s use of it is a lot more mature than the lust that would fill an angsty young adult book.

With that aside, lets get to the real meat of the novel, and my, what juicy meat….

(I just realized that probably seems a lot “dirtier” than I wanted it to sound. Uh… oops. Note to self: Edit before you hit “post.”)

A Different Kingdom is set in the picturesque countryside of Ireland, and the farm where Michael lives. Alongside this, perhaps on top of it, layered throughout it, is another fantasy world where other creatures live, creatures that seem to spring out of our own myths and legends. The fact that this other world is set in a landscape that has filled many (myself included) with beautiful myths and legends (and truly, I can’t think of a more perfect place to layer with a beautiful fantasy world than Ireland) is just perfect. This is a book for dreamers.

The plot is fast paced, and even when it seems like the only thing you are really learning about is how Michael grows up and his various life experience, things are happening.  Kearney does an incredible job at filling his book with a central, commanding plot, while peppering the book with a ton of background detail. You have Michael, this other fantasy world, and all that drama (sorry, I don’t want to give you spoilers). On top of this you have Michael’s slightly awkward family situation, as well as how society at that time handles awkward situations like pregnancy out of wedlock. How you travel from one location to another. Popular treatment of children, common chores, and all sorts of other things.

You see, Kearney isn’t just telling you a story, but he’s bringing the world alive for you. Ireland under Kearney’s practiced hand isn’t just a country we’ve all heard of, it is a place you live while you read this book, and you’ll love him for it. The world that is layered alongside Michael’s Ireland is truly magical and absolutely intoxicating. But the glory really doesn’t end there. Kearney fills his A Different Kingdom with such incredible emotional intensity it is impossible to put down. So much happens, not just growing pains, but the plot is packed so full of action and developments, and you, the reader, will keenly feel every bit of it.

“Sarah,” you say, “Why don’t you rant a little bit more?”

Sure.

If you ask me what my absolute favorite part of A Different Kingdom is, it is Kearney’s writing. The first few pages of this book are a description of Ireland, starting wide, and narrowing down to the farm itself, and it is probably the most beautiful, realistic landscape description I’ve ever read in my life. It brought me right back to Ireland and my time there, those weeks I toured that island, saw the farms, ate the food, and laughed with the locals. It rocketed me back in time, and it firmly planted me in that “other” place I’ve been obsessed with most of my life. But the truly glorious thing is the fact that Kearney doesn’t turn off his stunning writing after he’s hooked you with the first few pages. The whole book is written like that. If I am being honest with you I have to admit that I would read books full of Kearney’s landscape descriptions just because he is such a powerfully vivid author and his prose are so unbelievably, stunningly beautiful.

So what am I saying?

I loved this book.

That is all.

 

5/5 stars

First Thoughts: Various Books

I don’t think I have ever done this before, but I have a few irons (read: books) in the proverbial fire right now, and I’m quite excited about quite all of them (this is really turning out to be an amazing year for books). I figured I’d tell you my first thoughts to whet your whistle while you wait for my full reviews closer to publication date. Or something.

Note: All of this books will be reviewed, in full, closer to publication date… or as soon as I possibly can get around to writing them. Stay tuned.

—

Afterparty – Daryl Gregory

I’m having a hard time finishing this one, not because it’s bad, but because the book is so damn good I don’t want it to end. I read it voraciously and then I put it down for a few days because I’m getting closer to the end and that is UNFORGIVABLE. Absolutely engrossing, incredibly thought provoking, very, very well thought out, well realized, realistic near-future world. If you like Love Minus Eighty, you will want to keep an eye on this one. Social SciFi at its best. I’m absolutely digging it. Unless something amazing happens pretty soon in the novel, this book will probably be on my “Favorite Books of 2014″ list.

Release date April 22, 2014

 

The Barrow – Mark Smylie

I didn’t expect to like this one. In fact, I read the back cover blurb and thought, “I hate Indiana Jones. Why do I want to read a book that is basically formed on the same idea?” Oh, how wrong I was. This is a different animal, some interesting homoginzation of Steven Erikson’s scope of epic (which surprised me) and some grimdark fantasy of the Abercrombie-esque (but with a lot more graphic sex) sort of book. Despite how much I keep telling myself to not like this one, I keep loving it. Readers should be aware that this book is graphic, in all senses, and it could easily offend or cross the line into way-too-much territory, but if you don’t mind that kind of thing, The Barrow is one of those novels you’ll want to pick up if you’re in the mood for a sprawling epic with fantastic depth and detail mixed with some grimdark.

Release date March 4, 2014

 

A Turn of Light – Julie E. Czerenda

I’m having a love-hate relationship with this one. While on the one hand this is some of the most beautiful writing I’ve run across in a long time, on the other hand, I do occasionally find myself lacking the patience I need to deal with some of the awkward pacing. However, despite my quibbles, A Turn of Light is turning into one of those novels that you really need to read if you just want to appreciate how absolutely artistic the written word can be. The plot is interesting, the characters can be pig-headed, but likeable. Despite all of that, I keep coming back to it. Why? Because it’s good. It has its faults, but it is good despite them.

Release date March 5, 2013 

 

The Forever Watch – David Ramirez 

This isn’t the first SciFi book based on the concept of the whole of humanity stuck on a ship going… somewhere. However, this might be the first one that is this well done. The Forever Watch is absolutely fascinating, and it is one hell of a first novel. While there are some issues with the details of the book overall, by and large Ramirez is quite an impressive author. He weaves together a fascinating future, and when he mixes in all the social and cultural aspects of how society would change if we were all stuck in a tin can hurdling through space together, it actually gets quite thought provoking. There’s some mystery, some romance, and a lot of social commentary. What makes society function? What makes people people? Well done, easy to read, very, very realistic.

Release date April 22, 2014

 

Stolen Songbird – Danielle L. Jensen

This is my first Strange Chemistry novel, and I quite enjoyed it, despite the rather predictable parts. The story is easy to read, the writing is wonderful, and the world building is very well done. That being said, I have some minor plot quibbles, and some issues with the characters being a bit too cookie-cutter. That being said, for my first foray into Strange Chemistry titles, this really wasn’t a let down. It’s an easy read that is easy absorbing. This is a book that is good for getting you away from yourself. It tells a rather charming story that shows how we can all be more than what we seem, and in all reality, it is quite charming for that.

Release date April 1, 2014

 

Blood and Iron – Jon Sprunk

This is one of those books that I’m having a hard time putting on my reviewer map, not because it is bad, but because I have such mixed feelings regarding it. I loved the story, truly enjoyed the characters, but I feel that I am facing a case where the sum is better than the parts. Under close analyzation, some aspects of the book sort of… unravel. That being said, Sprunk knows how to hook his reader.  The book is engaging, but it is much different than his other works. That’s not a bad thing, though. This is the start of a new series, and it truly shows how diverse Sprunk is as an author. Will this book sink or swim with readers? I’m not sure. I think it will be a hit or a miss. It will either scratch your itch or it won’t, and there are plenty of reasons for it to fall into either camp.

Release date March 11, 2014

Moth and Spark – Anne Leonard

About the Book

A prince with a quest. A commoner with mysterious powers. And dragons that demand to be freed—at any cost.

Prince Corin has been chosen to free the dragons from their bondage to the Empire, but dragons aren’t big on directions. They have given him some of their power, but none of their knowledge. No one, not the dragons nor their riders, is even sure what keeps the dragons in the Empire’s control.

Tam, sensible daughter of a well-respected doctor, had no idea before she arrived in the capital that she is a Seer, gifted with visions. When the two run into each other (quite literally) in the library, sparks fly and Corin impulsively asks Tam to dinner. But it’s not all happily ever after. Never mind that the prince isn’t allowed to marry a commoner: war is coming to Caithen.

Torn between Corin’s quest to free the dragons and his duty to his country, the lovers must both figure out how to master their powers in order to save Caithen. With a little help from a village of secret wizards and a rogue dragonrider, they just might pull it off.

384 pages (Hardcover)

Published on February 20, 2014

Published by Viking Adult

Author’s webpage

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

—

This year I am learning that there is a real art involved in an author selling me a happily ever after story in a world where things seldom ever end that way. While romantic fantasy usually isn’t my bag of oats, I decided to give Moth and Spark a shot. Sometimes I need something a bit lighter, a bit easier, and a little less dark to read.

Moth and Spark is a debut novel by Anne Leonard. The cover art is gorgeous, and just hints at even more gorgeous things inside. The novel itself is patterned like a Jane Austin book, and that’s something the author makes no attempt to hide. That’s a good thing. Readers will enter this book knowing exactly what to expect, and for the most part, they will find all their expectations met.

Moth and Spark is one of those books that is mostly romance that happens to contain some fantasy. There are dragons, a sort of vague and undefined magic system, hints at a wider world with sprawling conflicts – you know, all the things good fantasy should contain. However, all of those things are rather nebulous. The wider world is alluded to, but never really painted in much detail. The magic system is undefined and lacks an edge. Furthermore, the secondary characters often seem to come and go without any real purpose. Some of them are cookie cutter, some of them aren’t, and almost all of them are pastel.

Usually these points would be a bad thing, and in some respects, they are. I enjoy more details and a wider world. I do wish the magic had been more fleshed out, and some of the secondary characters were shaken up a bit, but in all reality, Moth and Spark is one of those novels that needs everything besides the main plot to be, well, pastel. The main story, the sweet discovery and love story of Corin and Tam is basically set on a stage in comparison to everything else and, lets be real here, the reasons most people will pick up the book is because they are in the mood to read about two people falling in love. Dragons are a bonus, and that’s how Leonard treats it, and that’s one reason why Moth and Spark is so damn easy to devour.

While I did feel like the book had a narrow focus for much of the novel, it is quite amazing to see just how much cultural and nuanced details that Leonard can pack into her writing. Moth and Spark really comes alive, and, oddly enough, though the novel is very focused in scope, Leonard never really lets you forget that this isn’t just a book about people meeting and falling in love, there is a larger picture that is unfolding that these two people are uncomfortably in the middle of. Life gets in the way. Things don’t always work out the way they should, and that just makes everything seem that much more believable.

Believability is one of the reasons I struggle so much with romantic plotlines in novels. So often the characters are cardboard cutouts, the alpha male and the female who knows everything. Add in some hot sex and BAM, you’ve got it. Leonard never really sells out like that. Her characters are real, and her love story is vivid and heart wrenching, sometimes uncomfortable, but always believable in the scope of the world she has created. And, despite it all, I have to admit that sometimes it is nice to see two characters you can root for, who are good and wholesome, fall in love.

Perhaps my largest gripe about the novel is the ending, which felt a little anticlimactic and predictable, but that is nicely balanced by the personal, in-your-face experience with the dragons and much of the magic that seemed so nebulous and undefined during the rest of the novel.

At the end of the day you’ll want to read this book because you’re in the mood for some touching fall-in-love action between two characters that are inherently good. The added bonus is the vibrant, well-realized, believable, astounding court culture that Leonard subtly crafts throughout her book. The magic system and dragons takes some time to really matter too much, but by the end of the book, that will be as interesting as everything else you’ve read. If the ending suffers a little, Leonard makes up for it with some astounding writing, and a story that you can really sink into. This is one of those powerful debut novels that is unlike anything you’ve ever read before, while being exactly what you expect.

 

4/5 stars

Books I’m Eyeing

A few fun dollops of news.

A few weeks ago in this Books I’m Eyeing, I posted Crossover by Joel Shepherd. A few days ago, the UPS guy showed up at my door with, you guessed it, that book, and a nice note from Lisa, one of the lovely PR Guru’s at Pyr. What a lovely surprise! I started reading the book as soon as I tore open the package. It was a lovely, very surprising treat.

 

Also, a while ago Andrea, from Little Red Reviewer offered to get me an autograph from Ian Tregillis at a Con she was going to. Of course I jumped on it, and guess what showed up in the mail this week? This made my day!! I love how incredibly generous people in this genre are.

 

And lastly, check out this link to see the other cool stuff happening in this Bookworm’s geeky world. Yup, that’s a bookshelf in a bookstore full of Special Needs in Strange Worlds books. That gave me chills.

—

Books I’m Eyeing is a weekly column where I highlight the books that other websites have reviewed that have attracted my attention. It’s my way to point out great content, great books, and the great bloggers who highlight them.

So what books are you eyeing this week?

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The Big Red Buckle – Matthew Allen Thyer

Discovery blamed on: Little Red Reviewer

About the Book

Humanity has survived environmental and atmospheric calamity and begun to move out into the stars. Sport still plays a vital role in our day-to-day affairs. The Big Red Buckle recounts an episode of a single-stage endurance race held between two shield volcanoes on a Mars that is slowly being terraformed. Participants must run and soar over 1,500 kilometers while the solar system watches.

For Marco Aguilar, just being at the starting line represents the culmination of two years of careful preparation and training. He aims to win the Grand Martian Traverse, and take home The Big Red Buckle for himself and for native Martians.

 

—

 

The Raven Boys – Maggie Stiefvater

Discovery blamed on: A Dribble of Ink

About the Book

“There are only two reasons a non-seer would see a spirit on St. Mark’s Eve,” Neeve said. “Either you’re his true love . . . or you killed him.”

It is freezing in the churchyard, even before the dead arrive.

Every year, Blue Sargent stands next to her clairvoyant mother as the soon-to-be dead walk past. Blue herself never sees them—not until this year, when a boy emerges from the dark and speaks directly to her.

His name is Gansey, and Blue soon discovers that he is a rich student at Aglionby, the local private school. Blue has a policy of staying away from Aglionby boys. Known as Raven Boys, they can only mean trouble.

But Blue is drawn to Gansey, in a way she can’t entirely explain. He has it all—family money, good looks, devoted friends—but he’s looking for much more than that. He is on a quest that has encompassed three other Raven Boys: Adam, the scholarship student who resents all the privilege around him; Ronan, the fierce soul who ranges from anger to despair; and Noah, the taciturn watcher of the four, who notices many things but says very little.

For as long as she can remember, Blue has been warned that she will cause her true love to die. She never thought this would be a problem. But now, as her life becomes caught up in the strange and sinister world of the Raven Boys, she’s not so sure anymore.

From Maggie Stiefvater, the bestselling and acclaimed author of the Shiver trilogy and The Scorpio Races, comes a spellbinding new series where the inevitability of death and the nature of love lead us to a place we’ve never been before.

—

And All the Stars – Andrea K. Host

Discovery blamed on: Bibliotropic

About the Book

Come for the apocalypse. Stay for cupcakes. Die for love. Madeleine Cost is working to become the youngest person ever to win the Archibald Prize for portraiture. Her elusive cousin Tyler is the perfect subject: androgynous, beautiful, and famous. All she needs to do is pin him down for the sittings. None of her plans factored in the Spires: featureless, impossible, spearing into the hearts of cities across the world – and spraying clouds of sparkling dust into the wind. Is it an alien invasion? Germ warfare? They are questions everyone on Earth would like answered, but Madeleine has a more immediate problem. At Ground Zero of the Sydney Spire, beneath the collapsed ruin of St James Station, she must make it to the surface before she can hope to find out if the world is ending.

 

—

A Love Like Blood – Marcus Sedgwick

Discovery blamed on: Civilian Reader

About the Book

‘I’ve chased him for over twenty years, and across countless miles, and though often I was running, there have been many times when I could do nothing but sit and wait. Now I am only desperate for it to be finished.’

In 1944, just days after the liberation of Paris, Charles Jackson sees something horrific: a man, apparently drinking the blood of a murdered woman. Terrified, he does nothing, telling himself afterwards that worse things happen in wars.

Seven years later he returns to the city – and sees the same man dining in the company of a fascinating young woman. When they leave the restaurant, Charles decides to follow…

A Love Like Blood is a dark, compelling thriller about how a man’s life can change in a moment; about where the desire for truth – and for revenge – can lead; about love and fear and hatred. And it is also about the question of blood.

—

The Martian – Andy Weir

Discovery blamed on: The Speculative Scotsman

About the Book

Apollo 13 meets Cast Away in this grippingly detailed, brilliantly ingenious man-vs-nature survival thriller, set on the surface of Mars.

Six days ago, astronaut Mark Watney became one of the first men to walk on the surface of Mars. Now, he’s sure he’ll be the first man to die there.

It started with the dust storm that holed his suit and nearly killed him, and that forced his crew to leave him behind, sure he was already dead. Now he’s stranded millions of miles from the nearest human being, with no way to even signal Earth that he’s alive–and even if he could get word out, his food would be gone years before a rescue mission could arrive. Chances are, though, he won’t have time to starve to death. The damaged machinery, unforgiving environment, or plain-old “human error” are much more likely to get him first.

But Mark isn’t ready to give up yet. Drawing on his ingenuity, his engineering skills–and a relentless, dogged refusal to quit–he steadfastly confronts one seemingly insurmountable obstacle after the next. But will his resourcefulness be enough to overcome the impossible odds against him?

What Makes This Book So Great – Jo Walton

About the Book

As any reader of Jo Walton’s Among Others might guess, Walton is both an inveterate reader of SF and fantasy, and a chronic re-reader of books. In 2008, then-new science-fiction mega-site Tor.com asked Walton to blog regularly about her re-reading—about all kinds of older fantasy and SF, ranging from acknowledged classics, to guilty pleasures, to forgotten oddities and gems. These posts have consistently been among the most popular features of Tor.com. Now this volumes presents a selection of the best of them, ranging from short essays to long reassessments of some of the field’s most ambitious series.

Among Walton’s many subjects here are the Zones of Thought novels of Vernor Vinge; the question of what genre readers mean by “mainstream”; the underappreciated SF adventures of C. J. Cherryh; the field’s many approaches to time travel; the masterful science fiction of Samuel R. Delany; Salman Rushdie’s Midnight’s Children; the early Hainish novels of Ursula K. Le Guin; and a Robert A. Heinlein novel you have most certainly never read.

Over 130 essays in all, What Makes This Book So Great is an immensely readable, engaging collection of provocative, opinionated thoughts about past and present-day fantasy and science fiction, from one of our best writers.

448 pages (Hardcover)

Published on January 21, 2014

Published by Tor

Check out Jo Walton’s posts on Tor.com

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

—

First things first, this is less of a review, and more of a how-this-book-impacted-me thing.

You know, before I read this book, I didn’t really know anything about Jo Walton besides the fact that she’s one hell of an author. Now that I’ve read What Makes This Book So Great, I understand a bit more about her. She’s not just a great author, but she’s also one incredibly voracious reader.

Voracious might be a bit of an understatement.

What Makes This Book So Great is less of a book that you read for entertainment, and more of a book that you read to celebrate how incredible reading is (and to be honest here, Walton really broadened my horizons quite a bit, and even talked about plenty of books that I’ve never heard of, but have every intention of tracking down).

It’s hard to review this book, because it’s not really a book but a set of essays. In fact, this really isn’t going to be a review. I can’t review something that made me think about how I read so profoundly.

As a person who dedicated an enormous amount of hours to reading, and an enormous amount of hours to running this website, books about reading, by an author who reads so much, is amazingly valuable. Not only is this book full of recommendations, but it really made me think about the roots of the genre, why I love it so much, and why I started this website at all.

Jo Walton reads on a level that I want to read on. She’s deep, and looks at so many different aspects of the book, and she’s also a devout re-reader (I re-read a lot, too, so I felt kinship with that). Regardless of whether or not our tastes are similar (they are, and aren’t), Walton’s stunning essays, and her obvious passion for the genre, really made me want to read differently.

I honestly find myself absolutely stumped as to what to say about this book because it will mean something different to everyone who reads it. We’ll all see different things in it, and it will all make us analyze the genre, our passion for it, and our love of reading in different ways.

For me, Walton made me really think about the reasons I started Bookworm Blues. This website started as a place for me to read, get excited about what I read, and explore the genre in a more hands-on way. For those of us who run websites like this one, reading is more than a hobby. It’s a passion bordering on, perhaps traipsing into, an obsession. It’s less of a hobby and more of a way of life. However, Walton made me realize just how stuck in a rut I can get with my reading. There are so many ways to enjoy a book, and so many ways to think about the books we read. Walton truly made me realize that sometimes, regardless of my level of excitement, I can lose focus of the foundational reason I started this website (excitement and passion), and read different books the exact same way.

I can’t say that Walton ever seems to fall into that trap. Her excitement is obvious and infectious. The books she reads spans a huge and very impressive range. She reads more books in a week than I could ever dream of. You’d think that she’d get burnt out on it, but it doesn’t seem like she does. It seems like reading just fuels her fire, and it has certainly done wonders on her ability to write. I admire her fearlessness when approaching books. I love her passion, and I am envious of the deep, even handed, and fun-yet-scholarly approach to her analysis of what she reads, and the genre in general.

What Makes This Book So Great is a must read for any genre lover. Walton will astound and amaze you. Her essays are poignant. She often talks about details that I’d skip over or miss, and works them into a larger picture that I’d probably not look at quite as intensely as she does. The bottom line? Walton reminds me of why I love reading, and why I love this genre, and why I started running this pipsqueak website in the first place. Walton makes me want to simplify and get back to my reading roots, and, better than that, she makes me want to read differently.

And the real crux of the matter is the fact that this book is going to make Mount To Be Read turn into a transcontinental mountain range, and the best part of it is that Walton will get you excited. She’ll root you back in that passion that first got you started in speculative fiction.

That’s a true gift. I needed something to bring me back to my genre roots, to remind me of my passion, and to give me the insights and ambition to read differently. This is one of those books that I can read again and again, and always find something different in the text. I love books like that. 

 

4/5 stars

Shadow and Bone – Leigh Bardugo

About the Book

The Shadow Fold, a swathe of impenetrable darkness, crawling with monsters that feast on human flesh, is slowly destroying the once-great nation of Ravka.

Alina, a pale, lonely orphan, discovers a unique power that thrusts her into the lavish world of the kingdom’s magical elite—the Grisha. Could she be the key to unravelling the dark fabric of the Shadow Fold and setting Ravka free?

The Darkling, a creature of seductive charm and terrifying power, leader of the Grisha. If Alina is to fulfill her destiny, she must discover how to unlock her gift and face up to her dangerous attraction to him.

But what of Mal, Alina’s childhood best friend? As Alina contemplates her dazzling new future, why can’t she ever quite forget him.

358 pages (hardcover)

Published on June 5, 2012

Author’s webpage

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Each year I give myself a goal to explore an area of literature that I haven’t ever really explored before. This year I have two goals: One is to explore young adult speculative fiction and two is to read more books with strong female protagonists and/or books written by women. Luckily for me, this book fit well in both goal categories, and reminded me why my goals to explore areas of SFF that I typically try to ignore is an absolutely wonderful, delightful goal.

In all honesty, I was a bit afraid to start Shadow and Bone due to the obvious Russian elements, which I was afraid would come of cheap, borrowed, and campy. However, Bardugo never really let her world feel any of those things. Yes, there are obvious Russian-esque elements, but the world itself is unique enough to stand on its own. The Russian elements are just a nice pepper throughout the book that really allows readers to relate to the text a bit more than they otherwise would. The world has a feel of both familiar and other blended fairly seamlessly into an intoxicating, enchanting stew that readers will quickly find themselves immersed in

That being said, this book is less about the world and more about the characters. There are some typical elements, like the protagonist, Alina has been orphaned, and discovers that she has some incredible power that has yet to be seen. While this is a fairly typical plot point, it was wonderful to see a protagonist who wasn’t out alone, who didn’t know everything, and have some tough-as-nails retort to every statement. Alina is very human, very normal, and her close friendship to Mal adds a fantastic dynamic to the book.

Perhaps it is Alina and Mal’s relationship, and the emotion that Bardugo infuses it with that sets the stage for the truly compelling moments later in the story. Shadow and Bone is a book featuring young characters, but their choices and their life experiences allow Bardugo to really play with a wide range and deep scope of emotions. In fact, it is the emotions and the atmosphere that really kept me going through the book. Alina as a character might have her issues, but readers will instantly feel a kinship with her. Her emotions will become your emotions, which makes Shadow and Bone a surprisingly powerful, emotionally jarring read.

And speaking of things that surprised me about this book, the prose is right up there on the list. Bardugo can write. She doesn’t just write, she paints a picture with her words and I quickly found myself reading the book as much to savor how she put her sentences together, as for any other reason. There aren’t any wasted words, and the fact that every word counts makes every word that much more powerful. Combine that with the atmosphere, and the emotions, and you’ll get a book where every word has the potential to be a punch in the gut, in the most delicious ways.

“What is she to you anyway?”

“Here’s my answer captain. She’s the thing that made this all okay-The threadbare coats and the old boots and the guns that jams when you most need them to fire, the loneliness of knowing that you don’t matter, that you will never matter, the fact that you’re just another body, another uniform to be sent into the fold or the frost, another good boy who knows his place, who does his job, who doesn’t ask questions, who will lie down and die and be forgotten. What is she? She’s everything, you dumb son of a bitch.”

However, nothing is perfect, and the same can be said with Shadow and Bone, though often I felt that the positives of the book far overshadowed the negatives. Shadow and Bone is told in the first person perspective of Alina, which really works well for the most part, but this also means that there is a lot of flip-flopping on whether certain people in the plot are good or bad. Now, I tend to think that’s a good thing. I like it when an author keeps me guessing, and when the “ah ha” moment is a surprise. However, there are plenty of people out there who will find the lack of foreshadowing, and the flip-flopping, annoying. Secondly, the world, while fascinating, felt a little stunted at times, overpowered by the castle and Alina’s time there. The training and education itself wasn’t incredibly detailed, which is a good thing, but I a few more details probably would have made her time there a bit more interesting. As it was, her personal developments were interesting, and the secondary characters that came and went made almost no impact on me. I truly wish that portion of the book felt as real as the rest of the novel.

The ending is really well done. Bardugo draws together all the threads of the novel and weaves a really well drawn conclusion that will leave readers satisfied, but also anxious to read the next book. In fact, I was quite surprised with how well Bardugo drew together many of the aspects of the novel and got some powerful conclusions from them.

Shadow and Bone truly surprised me. While the book isn’t perfect, it really shows just what I’ve been missing while I’ve been studiously avoiding the young adult section of the library. What a fool I have been to not realize, or explore, the many gems hidden on the YA shelves. Shadow and Bone is surprising, powerful, emotional, jarring, and nothing like I expected. This is one of those books that establish the author as someone to watch. Shadow and Bone left me feeling hollowed out, and that’s just how I want a book to leave me. I want to feel like I lived that life, and I want it to leave me exhausted, breathless, and full of intoxicating thoughts and hungry for so much more.

 

4/5 stars

Arcanum – Simon Morden

About the Book

Rome was the center of the most powerful empire the world had ever seen, but that didn’t stop it falling to Alaric the Goth, his horde of barbarian tribesmen and their wild spell-casting shamans. Having split the walls with their sorcery and slaughtered the inhabitants with their axes, the victors carved up the empire into a series of bickering states which were never more than an insult away from war.

A thousand years later, and Europe has become an almost civilized place. The rulers of the old Roman palatinates confine their warfare to the short summer months, trade flourishes along the rivers and roads, and farming has become less back-breaking, all due to the magic, bestowed by gods, that infuses daily life.Even the barbarians’ gods have been tamed: where once human sacrifices poured their blood onto the ground, there are parties and picnics, drinking and singing, fit for decent people and their children.But it looks like the gods are going to have the last laugh before they slip quietly into ill-remembered obscurity.

784 pages (Paperback)

Published on January 28, 2014

Published by Orbit

Author’s webpage

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

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I love alternative history, but alternative history books either thrive or fail for me. The one quality of an alternative history book that almost always makes it thrive is plausibility. The writer can’t just tell a good yarn, (s)he also needs to be able to fit this yarn in a world I recognize, and make me think, “hmm… I could picture that fitting into history.”

Another difficulty? The author needs to sell their history to the reader, and make the reader buy said history. That’s not an easy thing to do. When you are taking well-known, often romanticized period of time, and infusing it with magic, that task is even harder.

Thankfully, that’s not a problem that Morden has. I often face the issue of the Middle Ages being a bit too romanticized for believability. There is no discussion in many books about people with no teeth, dead teeth, dying teeth (sorry for my tooth obsession), body odor (seriously, can you imagine how bad people must have smelled back then?), horrible illnesses, and limbs being cut off from infection. These are details that many authors leave out. The brutal truth is, this period of time is dirty, dusty, infected and disgusting. People lived short lives. Kids became kings and kings were manipulated. A dirty cut got a finger cut off. Women had almost no rights. While Morden doesn’t make a spectacle of these things, they are present in Arcanum, in passing observations and background noise, mostly. However, it is these small details that make the time period so believable and alive. These details give the book an added level of plausibility, depth, and interest that really makes Arcanum thrive.

Mixed into these very real struggles are a host of characters mostly circling around one specific magic-infused city. The main plot point, what if the magic is lost, reminds me a lot of a plot circling around, ‘what if we suddenly all lost electricity?’ The struggles are much the same, though the time period and location makes it a bit more interesting. Mixed into this stew are ideas that are different, arcane, and a bit more historical (for lack of a better term) than ours. Morden does a great job at blending advanced ideas with the ideas that would be common in the Middle Ages. The interesting thing is, in this book, despite the historical setting and period, many of their ideas regarding magic are pretty advanced, but many of their social ideas are very, well, historical. That creates a fascinating mix of “back then” and “wow, that’s a pretty interesting idea” throughout the novel, and Morden mixes it all so very well.

Morden’s writing style makes it pretty easy to sink into this heady stew of ideas and history. The location comes alive and the characters are all real, and realistically flawed. The ideas and the situations are reasonably dealt with when put into context with the social norms of the time. Morden even touches on some harsher, more uncomfortable issues, like the treatment of Jews (which, historically, has always been pretty abysmal), the treatment of women, and the manipulation of the powerful. In fact, it is quite amazing to see how he uses his small cast of primary perspective characters to affect such an epic plot.

That being said, Arcanum is surprisingly long, and occasionally I felt like there was a bit too much fat that could have been trimmed in the editing process. Some scenes go on too long, which makes this book feel like it is longer than it really is. While it is all quite fascinating, a lot of the side plots, side stories, and character perspectives suffered a bit from bloat. And, like all books with multiple perspectives, some will be more interesting to others, and unfortunately, one of the less interesting ones gets quite a bit of stage time. While he does get more interesting as the book goes on, it takes time to get him to move that direction.

Arcanum is an interesting contrast of elements. It’s historical, but it is also, in many ways, cutting edge. It is epic, but the world the book deals with is actually surprisingly small and contained. There are forays into other places, discussions with, and about, other people. History is referenced and there are situations that arise that we all recognize, but by and large, the book focuses on one specific area, with a few specific characters. This novel is a slow burn, which is usually something that my interest level struggles with, but due to the unique bend of history, I found this slow burn to be interesting despite myself. Some of the characters are more interesting than others, but the situations, ideas, and world is interesting enough to make up for them. My biggest complaint, as I said above, is the fact that this book felt a bit too bloated for what it contains.

So what is my final verdict?

Arcanum is the kind of historical fantasy that makes me love historical fantasy. While I loved the book overall, the even blend of positives and negatives made it incredibly palatable. The small world contains an epic story that shows how a small group of people can make a huge impact. Morden deals with a lot of uncomfortable situations with poise and ease. He really brings this dark time period to life, and makes me wish that I could climb up a mountain and find a unicorn. No matter what a book suffers from, that’s the best compliment I could give it. Arcanum makes me want to live in that enchanted world. Arcanum made me hungry. I want more.

 

4/5 stars