Ricky Pine's Blog, page 24

Review: Iron Flame

Iron Flame by Rebecca Yarros
My rating: 3 of 5 stars



I said about six weeks ago or so, when I finally read Fourth Wing after months of hype, that I wasn't gonna continue with the series. But thanks to several friends in one particular Discord chat (#the-void in Z Brewer's Minion Horde server), as well as one of the doctors I'm in a book club with (and her assistant), I was convinced to give Iron Flame a shot when a copy showed up on the Lucky Day shelf at the library up...

Review: Bookshops & Bonedust

Bookshops & Bonedust by Travis Baldree
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

After Legends & Lattes took the fantasy world by storm last year, it seems only fitting that Travis Baldree would return with a new book in that same universe. According to his note at the back of this one, it began as a fantasy takeoff on the cozy mystery genre in the style of Murder, She Wrote, but evolved into something completely different as he realized that particular story wasn't working (though I do...

Review: The Olympian Affair

The Olympian Affair by Jim Butcher
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Eight years have passed since the first book in Butcher's steampunk series, and I thought for a while it would be utterly forgotten while he concentrated on very slowly advancing the plot of The Dresden Files. I didn't realize for a while that Butcher had had quite a lot going on in his personal life these last few years, and that's the main explanation for why he's only released three books since 2015, and two ...

Review: Shutter

Shutter by Ramona Emerson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Longlisted for the National Book Award, but it would've been nice to see this one win something too, because it came across my radar at the perfect time for me to really get into it. The Fort Vancouver Library branch up the street from my workplace was promoting this one for Native American Heritage Month, along with many other titles by Native American writers, and this one stands out for its uniquely thrilling blend of...

Review: Nettle & Bone

Nettle & Bone by T. Kingfisher
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I ordered this one at the library after it won Best Novel at this year’s Hugo Awards, and while Gresham Library has been remarkably quick at getting my orders fulfilled, I would’ve expected a longer wait for the winner of a prestigious genre award. But now I can see why the wait list wasn’t so long for this book - and still isn’t, in fact, with only 16 people waiting for a physical copy at this time, in contrast to ...

Review: Family Lore

Family Lore by Elizabeth Acevedo
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Acevedo’s adult debut is a sprawling multigenerational drama rife with magical realism and lots of interesting dynamics between the ladies of this Dominican family, both on the island and in New York. Shifting between the late 20th century (post Trujillo years, but with a few references to the old dictator and his propensity for forcing himself on women) and the present day, we get to see all sorts of mysterious m...

Review: The Sunlit Man

The Sunlit Man by Brandon Sanderson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The fourth and final Secret Project of the Year of Sanderson is the most clearly Cosmere connected of them all, with a Worldhopper protagonist who views everything around him in terms of Rosharan culture first...and it's definitely appropriate when he's on a planet in the Cosmere that, like Roshar, is uniquely difficult to habitate. Unlike Roshar, where the people have to hunker down against highstorms that rav...

Review: Sword Catcher

Sword Catcher by Cassandra Clare
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Cassandra Clare's first fantasy series for adults has, naturally, already made the bestseller lists, and also gotten a lot of flack from those who think she hasn't put her old plagiarizing ways behind her. Namely, they look at the fact that one of the protagonists is a boy named Kel with a strong connection to a crown prince in a realm where red and gold are the royal colors, and think that he's a ripoff of Kell f...

Review: The Girl in the Eagle's Talons

The Girl in the Eagle's Talons by Karin Smirnoff
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Stieg Larsson allegedly had plans for as many as ten novels with Lisbeth Salander, but ever since his death, and now with a second Swedish publisher taking over rights to this series and handing the reins to yet another author, it's become more clear than ever that this series really should never have continued without its original creator. The trilogy that David Lagercrantz wrote from 2015-19 at l...

Review: The Chalice of the Gods

The Chalice of the Gods by Rick Riordan
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The much-hyped return of Percy Jackson, more than ten years since the last official Percy Jackson and the Olympians adventure and with tons of other stories from Rick Riordan in between, is proof that Riordan is at his best form when he's got the original Persassy Jackson (and his signature silly chapter titles) fully in command of the storytelling. And luckily, this bite-sized little book isn't actually th...