Siavahda's Blog, page 21

Rent My Heart in Twain: Asunder by Kerstin Hall

Asunder by Kerstin Hall
Genres: Adult, Fantasy, Secondary World Fantasy
Representation: Maybe-bi MC, secondary F/F
Protagonist Age: 29
PoV: Third-person, past-tense
Published on: 20th August 2024
ISBN: 1250625424
Goodreads

"Eerie, lovely, and surreal."—Ann Leckie on The Border Keeper

We choose our own gods here.

Karys Eska is a deathspeaker, locked into an irrevocable compact with Sabaster, a terrifying eldritch entity—three-faced, hundred-winged, unforgiving—who has granted her the ability to communicate with the newly departed. She pays the rent by using her abilities to investigate suspicious deaths around the troubled city she calls home. When a job goes sideways and connects her to a dying stranger with dangerous secrets, her entire world is upended.

Ferain is willing to pay a ludicrous sum of money for her help. To save him, Karys inadvertently binds him to her shadow, an act that may doom them both. If they want to survive, they will need to learn to trust one another. Together, they journey to the heart of a faded empire, all the while haunted by arcane horrors and the unquiet ghosts of their pasts.

And all too soon, Karys knows her debts will come due.

I received this book for free from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

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~who needs trains when you have spiders?
~sell your soul, become a saint
~falling in love with your own shadow
~there used to be not-gods, now there’s new not-gods
~you can run, but can you hide?

Asunder is velvet and dust and the softest ashes, salt and copper and crystal. It is twilit. It whispers. It has sharp edges. You must hold it very carefully as you read, or it will slice your fingers open to the bone. When you are finished, you will have its teethmarks on your heart.

It is a treasure.

The task of describing Asunder demands poetry, because mere prose can’t possibly capture the scintillant brilliance of Hall’s writing. I want this book tattooed on my skin. I want to wear it and breathe it and have it with me always; I want it wrapped around my fingers so I can punch it into people’s faces. It’s soft and brutal, clear and secretive, straightforward and intricate. It is dazzlingly original and quietly subversive, magical and horrifying, beautiful and heartbreaking. It hurts, and I want it to hurt me again.

I wanted to turn back to the first page the moment I finished the last, and the second I’m done with this review, I will.

Hall has, yet again, created an impossibly impressive world so real that you can feel its wind on your face, so strange that it feels like a dream, conveyed to us through prose both sharp and somehow delicate, a Fabergé egg with razors inside. It’s a world shaped by otherworldly conflict, but not in the way you might expect; our main character Karys doesn’t wander through a landscape bearing the scars of undivine war, but her culture, and the geopolitical history of her world, are inextricably entwined with the rise and fall of different…pantheons, families, species?…of not-gods. The once-mighty Vareslain empire has fallen, bereft of the nod-gods who once favoured it; Karys’ native Mercia is currently rising in prominence as the bastion of the Ephirite, who slaughtered the not-gods who came before them. The miracles of the deceased Bhatuma linger alongside those of the newer Ephirite, both fulfilling vital services for mortals – everything from public transport to the postal system are the workings of the undivine, or derived from those workings. The result is a setting both dream-like and nightmarish to the reader, but which the characters living in it see as perfectly normal, a dissonance that adds only adds to Asunder’s lustre.

It’s also, brilliantly, a world you have to discover for yourself. I’m used to a certain amount of telling in the books I read – which is fine; it’s only when there’s too much of it, or it’s done clumsily, that it’s a problem. The ‘show don’t tell’ rule is, like probably every writing rule, only applicable some of the time – it’s not a sin to ‘tell’ the reader things! But Hall has taken the rare approach of barely telling us anything at all; instead it’s up to the reader to note and gather together every clue, every fragment of lore, every scrap of backstory, and piece them together – and we very rarely get clear confirmation that the picture we’ve made is the correct one. Puzzling out the history of the Bhatuma, the dead not-gods, and their relationship with different humans and countries, involved a fair bit of reading between the lines, drawing inferences from other bits of the worldbuilding – and yes, I can see some readers being a bit frustrated by this, but you know what, I loved it. It’s somehow incredible immersive, makes it feel like a real world, because in real life there are no info-dumps, you have to learn by experiencing, and that’s very much what reading Asunder is like. None of the worldbuilding feels vague; I’m absolutely convinced that Hall has all the details worked out, has thought all of it through, because everything fits together perfectly, no matter how deep you dig at it. Hand-wavey worldbuilding doesn’t do that; you only get this kind of neat precision when a storyteller knows their world inside-out and backwards, and it’s obvious that Hall really does.

The setting is distinct and vivid, a character in its own right – and the rest of the cast is equally marvellous. Karys herself, our main character, is sharp and brittle and sort of grimly hopeful, stubborn but not at all stupid. Her wariness of the world transfers brilliantly to the reader; she’s closed off from us at first, keeping her secrets to herself, and opens herself up to us only slowly. There’s a clear sense that we have to earn her trust before she’ll reveal herself fully – that only by going through her travails at her side can we l/earn who she is. It’s not so unusual for a character to be keeping secrets from the reader, but I’ve never seen anything like this before; the effect it creates is that of lingering over something unspeakably precious, being patient because it would be criminal to rush and not appreciate it properly. By the time we get to really know Karys, we’re honoured to be allowed to know her.

“I was trying to apologise, actually.”

“That’s new. I don’t think you’ve quite mastered the technique.”

She made a small, rude gesture with one hand.

“That’s not it either.”

“It’s all you’re getting now.”

The supporting cast honestly startled me by being so strikingly real, alive; every single one of them surprised me over and over, and like Karys, they all have hidden depths, so many layers and facets to who they are. It’s very rare for me to care about every major character, but I did here, because all of them are driven by vital passions or interests or secrets that make them so much more interesting than most people, vivacious and vivid even when they were trying to blend into the background! Ferain, whom Karys rescues, is funny and compassionate and desperate, bright as a light in the dark – and even the most minor of characters feel fully realised, so that you know they have their own, full lives happening just out of sight, that they existed before the first page and will continue to exist after the last.

To say nothing of being impossibly relatable, even the deathspeakers and mobsters and–!

“Why is it so . . . morning?” she mumbled.

Not only is nothing about Asunder predictable, Hall subverts the story structure that seems to have become the norm lately: instead of a three-beat narrative, A->B->C, Hall gives us a book that spirals in on itself, a plot that buds new adventures like rich flowers. Within the overarching plot that is rescue Ferain are multiple mini-plots, side-quests, and instead of distracting from the ‘main’ story, they complement it. Like branches of filigree they entwine to make something lovelier and more exquisite than they would alone; like rose vines, the spin-off growth feels entirely natural, not forced. None of them detract from the tension and urgency of Ferain’s situation – they’re all tense and urgent in their own right – and yet, they feel like a reminder to breathe, to pause, to savour instead of hurrying to the next page. They make Asunder into something decadent and luxurious, give us another reason to delight in it, without ever feeling slow or dragging things out. The pacing is perfect on every front, and the prose is sublime, all steel and silver. I lost count of the number of passages I wanted to wear like jewellery.

“Sometimes the places that you love grow teeth. Sometimes, home can swallow you. And even if that hurts, losing it still seems worse–because what if you let go and never find a better place? What if there’s nothing else?

Asunder defies categorisation: it’s not an adventure or a romance or a horror, it’s not a quest-story, it’s not a mystery – but it has adventure and love and horror in it, there are quests, there are mysteries. It’s grim without being grimdark, hopeful without being hopepunk, a standalone richer than a trilogy. It’s the kind of rare, weird, inexplicable gem you find buried at the back of someone’s attic, or in a secondhand bookshop no one’s ever heard of, or at a garage sale for a house that doesn’t exist – but it’s being traditionally published, will be on the shelves of places like Barnes & Noble and Waterstones next week. It’s an impossibility and a contradiction and a marvel, a nonpareil the like of which is seen maybe once a decade, if we’re very, very lucky.

It is easily – easily! – one of the best books of the year.
Don’t miss it.

The post Rent My Heart in Twain: Asunder by Kerstin Hall appeared first on Every Book a Doorway.

I Can’t Wait For…Asunder by Kerstin Hall

Can’t-Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted over at Wishful Endings to spotlight and discuss the books we’re excited about but haven’t yet read. Most of the time they’re books that have yet to be released, but not always. It’s based on the Waiting on Wednesday meme, which was originally hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine. 

This week my Can’t-Wait-For Book is Asunder by Kerstin Hall!

Asunder by Kerstin Hall
Genres: Adult, Fantasy, Secondary World Fantasy
Representation: Secondary F/F
Published on: 20th August 2024
Goodreads

"Eerie, lovely, and surreal."—Ann Leckie on The Border Keeper

We choose our own gods here.

Karys Eska is a deathspeaker, locked into an irrevocable compact with Sabaster, a terrifying eldritch entity—three-faced, hundred-winged, unforgiving—who has granted her the ability to communicate with the newly departed. She pays the rent by using her abilities to investigate suspicious deaths around the troubled city she calls home. When a job goes sideways and connects her to a dying stranger with dangerous secrets, her entire world is upended.

Ferain is willing to pay a ludicrous sum of money for her help. To save him, Karys inadvertently binds him to her shadow, an act that may doom them both. If they want to survive, they will need to learn to trust one another. Together, they journey to the heart of a faded empire, all the while haunted by arcane horrors and the unquiet ghosts of their pasts.

And all too soon, Karys knows her debts will come due.

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Listen. LISTEN. I have read this book. I have been that fortunate. And my friends, you are NOT READY.

(I’m not ready and I’ve read it once already, so imagine how completely unprepared YOU are!)

I don’t usually feature books I’ve already read in these Can’t Wait posts, but Asunder is out next week, and maybe you haven’t heard about it, and my friends, I cannot allow that state of affairs to continue! I must ensure you hear about this book!!!

Maybe you’ve read some of Hall’s earlier books. Maybe you haven’t. It doesn’t really matter, because Asunder outshines ALL OF THEM, so even if you think you know what Hall is capable of: no, you don’t. I promise.

Now: picture a world that doesn’t at all map onto ours, one whose geopolitical history has been shaped by not-gods. Their miracles fill the roles of public transport and the post and a whole bunch of other things; their creations, living and not, are scattered across the lands. Humans learned magic by unravelling those miracles, figuring out how to recreate them or make spin-offs of them.

And then a new ‘pantheon’ swept in, and slaughtered the previous not-gods, upending everything.

Well, not everything, because they don’t actually meddle in human affairs that much. They have their own things going on. Like collecting souls, because that’s a whole Thing. We’re not talking about human-looking gods, by the way, like the Norse or Celtic or Greek gods you’re probably familiar with; these are fucking weird horrifying eldritch things that make you want to run away screaming, and that reflex is your survival instinct and you should listen to it.

Karys soul her soul – kinda – to a not-god who lets her…not speak with the dead, but interact with them a bit. Kinda. And she accidentally rescues someone. And then has to run, far and fast, not just to get this person to safety, but also because there are suddenly a lot of other sell-souls who do not want this person rescued and are very eager to kill anyone and everyone who disagrees with them.

And that doesn’t give you the first CLUE what this book is like, not really, because it’s not the plot that makes Asunder special (although it’s an excellent plot): it’s the WILDLY WEIRD imagination that’s gone into this setting and the magic and the not-gods; it’s the achingly intense relationships between all the characters, wherein every combination of characters has a very different dynamic to any other combination; it’s the prose, which is like lightning and velvet and sharp glass. It’s a book like a punch to the face and the kind of kiss that changes your life. I don’t know how to describe it; I’ve been battering myself black and blue trying to review it, to do it justice, and I am failing, and to be honest I’m not sure anyone can do it justice. There’s nothing I can tell you that will even half-prepare you for this one.

I gasped and ranted and wept over this book, my friends. I can’t get it out of my head. I need it tattooed on my skin. Forget best book of the year, Asunder is one of the best of the decade, and I need everyone to read it.

EVERYONE.

The post I Can’t Wait For…Asunder by Kerstin Hall appeared first on Every Book a Doorway.

Must-Have Monday #199

Must-Have Monday is a feature highlighting which of the coming week’s new releases I’m excited for. It is not meant to be a comprehensive list of all books being published that week; only those I’m interested in out of those I’m aware of! The focus is diverse SFF, but other genres sneak in occasionally too.

TEN books this week!

(Books are listed in order of pub date, then Adult SFF, Adult Other, YA SFF, YA Other, MG SFF.)

US cover; UK coverThe Phoenix Keeper by S.A. MacLean
Genres: Adult, Fantasy, Contemporary or Urban Fantasy, Queer Protagonists
Representation: Bisexual MC with social anxiety, brown trans secondary character, brown sapphic love interest
Published on: 13th August 2024
Goodreads

Against a fantasy backdrop teeming with all your favourite mythical beasts from dragons and unicorns to kelpies and krakens, The Phoenix Keeper combines the cozy fantasy stakes of TJ Klune and Travis Baldree with the heartwarming contemporary romance of Alice Oseman and Casey McQuiston.

As head phoenix keeper at a world-renowned zoo for magical creatures, Aila's childhood dream of conserving critically endangered firebirds seems closer than ever. There's just one glaring caveat: her zoo's breeding program hasn't functioned for a decade. When a tragic phoenix heist sabotages the flagship initiative at a neighbouring zoo, Aila must prove her derelict facilities are fit to take the reins.

But saving an entire species from extinction requires more than stellar animal handling skills. Carnivorous water horses, tempestuous thunderhawks, mischievous dragons... Aila has no problem wrangling beasts. Inspiring zoo patrons? That's another story. Mustering the courage to ask for help from the hotshot griffin keeper at the zoo's most popular exhibit? Virtually impossible.

Especially when that hotshot griffin keeper happens to be her arch-rival from college: Luciana, an annoyingly brooding and insufferable know-it-all with the grace of a basilisk and the face of a goddess who's convinced that Aila's beloved phoenix would serve their cause better as an active performer rather than as a passive conservation exhibit.

With the world watching and the threat of poachers looming, Aila's success is no longer merely a matter of keeping her job... She is the keeper of the phoenix, and the future of a species now rests on her shoulders.

There's just one thing she has to remember: she is also not alone.

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One of my favourite books of the year! The Phoenix Keeper is such a DELIGHT, the kind of book that puts a ridiculous grin on your face, makes you hug the book to your chest and SQUEE. Absolutely flawless, I loved every second of it, should be a must-read for everybody! ESPECIALLY if you’re any kind of animal-lover!

My review!

The Palace of Eros by Caro De Robertis
Genres: Adult, Fantasy, Queer Protagonists
Representation: Queer MC, nonbinary MC, F/NB
Published on: 13th August 2024
Goodreads

Young, headstrong Psyche has captured the eyes of every suitor in town and far beyond with her tempestuous beauty, which has made her irresistible as a woman yet undesirable as a wife. Secretly, she longs for a life away from the expectations and demands of men. When her father realizes that the future of his family and town will be forever cursed unless he appeases an enraged Aphrodite, he follows the orders of the Oracle, tying Psyche to a rock to be ravaged by a monstrous husband. And yet a monster never arrives.

When Eros, nonbinary deity of desire, sees Psyche, she cannot fulfill her promise to her mother Aphrodite to destroy the mortal young woman. Instead, Eros devises a plan to sweep Psyche away to an idyllic palace, hidden from the prying eyes of Aphrodite, Zeus, and the outside world. There, against the dire dictates of Olympus, Eros and Psyche fall in love. Each night, Eros visits Psyche under the cover of impenetrable darkness, where they both experience untold passion and love. But each morning, Eros flies away before light comes to break the spell of the palace that keeps them safe.

Before long, Psyche’s nights spent in pleasure turn to days filled with doubts, as she grapples with the cost of secrecy and the complexities of freedom and desire. Restless and spurred by her sisters to reveal Eros’s true nature, she breaks her trust and forces a reckoning that tests them both—and transforms the very heavens.

Told in bold and sparkling prose, The Palace of Eros transports us to a magical world imbued by divine forces as well as everyday realities, where palaces glitter with magic even as ordinary people fight for freedom in a society that fears the unknown.

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Welp. Um. This is an excellent example of the kind of feminist mythology retellings that Circe made popular; if you love books like that, you’ll adore Palace of Eros – Robertis’ prose is even more beautiful than Miller’s! I did not love it, but I feel that’s more down to me than the book, and I did enjoy reading it.

My review!

Time's Agent by Brenda Peynado
Genres: Adult, Queer Protagonists, Sci Fi
Representation: Sapphic Dominican MC, F/F
Published on: 13th August 2024
Goodreads

“What would you do, given another universe, a do-over?”

Forty years ago, archeologist Raquel and her biologist wife Marlena once dreamed of the mysteries they would unlock in their respective fields using pocket universes— geographically small, hidden offshoots of reality, each with its own fast or slow time dilation relative to Earth time—and the future they would open up for their daughter.

But that was then.

Forty years later, Raquel is in disgrace, Marlena lives in a pocket universe Raquel wears around her neck and no longer speaks to her, what’s left of their daughter’s consciousness resides in a robotic dog, and time is a commodity controlled by corporations squeezing out every last penny they can.

So when a new pocket universe appears, one that might hold the key to her failed calling, Raquel seizes one last chance to redeem herself to her wife, live up to her own failed ideals, and confront what it means to save something—or someone—from time.

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This one, on the other hand, I had to DNF, not because it’s bad, but because it is very tragic, and that hit me much harder than I was expecting. If you’re okay with that, then it’s a very unique story that follows through really well on what it sets out to do and be.

The Fortunate Fall by Cameron Reed, Raphael Carter
Genres: Adult, Queer Protagonists, Science Fantasy
Representation: Sapphic MC
Published on: 13th August 2024
Goodreads

A debut novel of remarkable beauty and invention, The Fortunate Fall is back in print for the first time in almost three decades as a Tor Essential, with a new introduction by Jo Walton

Tor Essentials presents new editions of science fiction and fantasy titles of proven merit and lasting value, each volume introduced by an appropriate literary figure.

On its first publication in 1996, The Fortunate Fall was hailed as an SF novel of a wired future on par with the debuts of William Gibson and Neal Stephenson. Now it returns to print, in advance of forthcoming new work by the same author. It is one of the great underground classics of the last several decades in SF.

Maya Andreyeva is a "camera," a reporter with virtual-reality-broadcasting equipment implanted in her brain. What she sees, millions see; what she feels, millions share.

And what Maya is seeing is the cover-up of a massacre. As she probes into the covert political power plays of a radically strange near-future Russia, she comes upon secrets that have been hidden from the world...and memories that AI-controlled thought police have forced her to hide from herself. Because in a world where no thought or desire is safe, the price of survival is betrayal - of your lover, your ideals, and yourself.

This new Tor Essentials edition of The Fortunate Fall includes a new introduction by Jo Walton, winner of the Hugo, Nebula, and World Fantasy Awards.

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I’ve heard so many good things about this book! This, too, is apparently a grim one, so bear that in mind, but I’m still so excited to read it!

The 23rd Hero by Rebecca Anne Nguyen
Genres: Adult, Sci Fi
Representation: Biracial MC
Published on: 13th August 2024
Goodreads

NEW YORK TIMES essayist and Foreword Indies 2019 award winner Rebecca Anne Nguyen’s stunning debut.

In The 23rd Hero, an ordinary woman with an extraordinary memory travels back in time to sixteenth-century France to stop climate change before it starts and return to the man she loves.

In a world ravaged by climate change, a mysterious time travel agency known as the Program sends carefully selected Heroes back in time on missions to reverse the course of history, preventing environmental damage before it happens.

Sloane Burrows secretly longs to be a Hero and restore the natural world of her childhood, when gulls still soared above Coal Harbor and fish still swam in the sea. It’s a world she can envision with absolute clarity because of her superpower memory, which makes her exactly what the Program is looking for in a Hero. But her white father raised mixed-race Sloane to believe her “freak memory” is a shameful flaw that should be hidden from the world.

Sloane stuffs her dream of being a Hero and conceals her memory to the point of making herself sick. Her only respite from the constant nausea and shame is the recurring dream she’s been having for nearly a decade. In the dream, a breathtakingly beautiful man makes her feel accepted and loved in a way she never has in waking life—not despite her memory, but because of it.

But when the man in the dream shows up in real life, Sloane’s world is turned upside down. Not only is Bastian a flesh-and-blood person, but he’s from the Program, and he wants her to do the one thing that will shatter her chances of ever winning her dad’s love: become a Hero, travel back in time to sixteenth-century France, and use her superpower memory to save the world.

Fans of the survival themes in Micaiah Johnson’s The Space Between Worlds will love Sloane’s journey to overcome impossible odds in the near future and distant past, while the passion and humor that bind Sloane to Bastian across the centuries will excite fans of Outlander and The Princess Bride.

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I don’t know what to make of this premise, except that it’s kind of fascinating. I usually don’t care about time travel, but using it to save the world from climate collapse? I’m intrigued. Will they be assassinating politicians and CEOs, or what??? Not sure how else a few individuals could make a difference, but I want to find out!

Netherford Hall (Love in Netherford #1) by Natania Barron
Genres: Adult, Fantasy, Historical Fantasy, Queer Protagonists
Representation: F/F
Published on: 13th August 2024
Goodreads

Pride and Prejudice and Witches

After a mysterious fire at their home in Regency London displaces Gentlewitch Edith Rookwood and her now much-reduced family to their ancestral seat of Netherford Hall in Kent, she faces a new threat in the form of her tenant—the chaotic and lovely Poppy Brightwell.

The repairs on the old pile are prohibitive, Edith’s standing is uncertain, and her inheritance has been challenged by a forgotten American branch of the family. It is clear she needs to marry, soon and wisely—but the lively girl from Harrow House gradually comes to occupy all of her thoughts.

As tenants, rivals, suitors and enemies start to circle Netherford, and dark secrets about both women’s pasts come to light, Edith and Poppy must confront what it means to fight for love and family, and to be their authentic selves.

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I initially thought this was a novella for some reason, but it isn’t, and I’m very happy about that! This sounds like a lovely read, and hopefully will make a fun addition to the streak of wonderful romances I’ve been reading lately!

The Girl in the Bog by Keith Donohue
Genres: Adult, Fantasy, Contemporary or Urban Fantasy
Published on: 13th August 2024
Goodreads

Ancient heroes from Irish mythology and folklore come to life in the modern world in this dark, atmospheric story. At once a thrilling chase novel and a wry reimagining of Ireland’s oldest epic, it is sure to enthrall readers of Neil Gaiman and Cassandra Khaw.

Everybody is after the girl in the bog.

One morning in a field in Connemara, a farmer unearths the body of a young woman, two thousand years old, preserved under layers of peat. Later that evening she awakens in unfamiliar modern Ireland, ripping a hole through space and time and setting awhirl old animosities and long-held grudges.

Shadowy figures follow her from the pagan past, and each emerges with a claim on the girl from the bog. With help from a trio of wannabe teenage witches, she goes on the run. Joining in the chase is an American archaeologist, who wants to keep the discovery for herself, and two befuddled farmers trapped in the plot. Hosts of fairies out for the night work their magic and mischief, and in the blue hour before sunrise, the saga unfolds in a battle for the ages.

Part fantasy, part mystery, part thriller, part send-up, this comic and poignant love song to Irish literature and the gift of gab does not merely bend genres, it braids them into Celtic knots.

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I love everything about this, and it only helps that I’ve enjoyed some of Donohue’s previous books! When I first came across this one, I thought it was horror or horror-y for some reason, but I have been assured that is not the case, and in fact Girl in the Bog is quite comedic. Bring it on!

Dissonance of Bird Song by Alexandra Beaumont
Genres: Adult, Fantasy
Published on: 13th August 2024
Goodreads

In the storm-riven wilds of ancient Cornwall the sea's whisper will charm us all.

Dissonance of Bird Song is the folkloric-fantasy tale of Eseld, a song-weaver fleeing her home to cure the sacred birds of her people and save her sister. Locked between the lies of land-dwellers and the snare of an ancient sea queen, Eseld must fight to find her own path. Amidst a storm of betrayal and heartbreak, what will Eseld sacrifice to save the ones she loves?

Readers who enjoyed Lucy Hounsom’s Sistersong, Naomi Novik’s Uprooted, and Natasha Bowen’s Skin of the Sea will love Dissonance of Bird Song.

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I’m not overly familiar with Cornish folklore, but I’m definitely interested in it! Dissonance of Bird Song popped up on my radar just a little while ago, and I’ve seen almost no one talking about it, but I’m hopeful that the comps for this one aren’t steering me wrong!

The Maid and the Crocodile by Jordan Ifueko
Genres: Fantasy, YA
Representation: West African-inspired cast and setting
Published on: 13th August 2024
Goodreads

The smallest spark can bind two hearts . . . or start a revolution.

In the magic-soaked capital city of Oluwan, country bumpkin Small Sade needs a job—preferably as a maid, with employers who don’t mind her unique appearance and unlucky foot. But before she can be hired, she accidentally binds herself to a powerful god known only as the Crocodile, who is rumored to devour pretty girls. Small Sade entrances the Crocodile with her secret: she is a Curse Eater, gifted with the ability to alter people’s fates by cleaning their houses.

The handsome god warns that their fates are bound, but Small Sade evades him, launching herself into a new career as the Curse Eater of a swanky inn. She is determined to impress the wealthy inhabitants and earn her place in Oluwan City . . . assuming her secret-filled past—and the revolutionary ambitions of the Crocodile God—don’t catch up with her.

But maybe there is more to Small Sade. And maybe everyone in Oluwan City deserves more, too, from the maids all the way to the Anointed Ones.

Fans of the Raybearer series, Howl's Moving Castle, and Beauty and the Beast will enjoy The Maid and the Crocodile–no prior knowledge of the Raybearer series necessary.

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The Maid and the Crocodile shares a setting with Ifueko’s earlier Raybearer duology, but comes later in the timeline – so you ought to read the duology first! (Apparently Maid contains spoilers for the duology.) I will be diving in the moment I get my mits on a copy: Ifueko blew me away with Raybearer, and I’ve been so excited to see what she releases next!

The Scales of Seduction by Rien Gray
Genres: Adult, Fantasy, Queer Protagonists
Representation: Trans MC, sapphic love interest
Published on: 15th August 2024
Goodreads

Seeking to change her body, Petra Kruos, a mercenary and the last living Basilisk, strikes a deal with the goddess Cybele in exchange for recovering Perseus’ divine armaments from his grave.

The hero’s corpse rests within the lair of the legendary Medusa, who lives in exile surrounded by a vicious and deadly gauntlet. Surviving to reach the gorgon is perilous enough, but the potent lure of a fellow serpent threatens to undo everything Petra holds dear.

The Scales of Seduction is a F/F erotic romance novella between a butch trans woman and a feral cis femme, focused on lesbian desire and reclaiming the flesh from those who would destroy it.

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I’ve enjoyed some of Rien Gray’s other work, and I’m hopeful I will this one too! I mean, a basilisk/Medusa story?! Yes please!

(I should note that this might not be available on the usual retailers, as Gray’s stuff is sometimes – not always! – for sale only on itch.io.)

Will you be reading any of these? Did I miss any releases you think I should know about? Let me know!

The post Must-Have Monday #199 appeared first on Every Book a Doorway.

Alight With Joy: The Phoenix Keeper by S. A. MacLean

US cover; UK coverThe Phoenix Keeper by S.A. MacLean
Genres: Fantasy, Contemporary or Urban Fantasy, New Adult, Queer Protagonists
Representation: Bisexual MC with anxiety, brown trans secondary character, brown sapphic love interest
PoV: Third-person, past-tense
Published on: 13th August 2024
ISBN: 0316573108
Goodreads

Against a fantasy backdrop teeming with all your favourite mythical beasts from dragons and unicorns to kelpies and krakens, The Phoenix Keeper combines the cozy fantasy stakes of TJ Klune and Travis Baldree with the heartwarming contemporary romance of Alice Oseman and Casey McQuiston.

As head phoenix keeper at a world-renowned zoo for magical creatures, Aila's childhood dream of conserving critically endangered firebirds seems closer than ever. There's just one glaring caveat: her zoo's breeding program hasn't functioned for a decade. When a tragic phoenix heist sabotages the flagship initiative at a neighbouring zoo, Aila must prove her derelict facilities are fit to take the reins.

But saving an entire species from extinction requires more than stellar animal handling skills. Carnivorous water horses, tempestuous thunderhawks, mischievous dragons... Aila has no problem wrangling beasts. Inspiring zoo patrons? That's another story. Mustering the courage to ask for help from the hotshot griffin keeper at the zoo's most popular exhibit? Virtually impossible.

Especially when that hotshot griffin keeper happens to be her arch-rival from college: Luciana, an annoyingly brooding and insufferable know-it-all with the grace of a basilisk and the face of a goddess who's convinced that Aila's beloved phoenix would serve their cause better as an active performer rather than as a passive conservation exhibit.

With the world watching and the threat of poachers looming, Aila's success is no longer merely a matter of keeping her job... She is the keeper of the phoenix, and the future of a species now rests on her shoulders.

There's just one thing she has to remember: she is also not alone.

I received this book for free from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

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~the zoo I’ve been waiting all my life for
~a giftshop where I want to buy everything
~sort-of-rivals to lovers
~don’t neglect your bestie
~PHOENIXES!

Some books make you fizz and glitter and wiggle your toes and SQUEE, and The Phoenix Keeper is one of them!

That’s my biggest take-away from this book: how much JOY it made me feel, how much delight! I want to hug it to my chest and read it another hundred times and put a copy in the hands of everyone I know, because it is SO wonderful and SO perfect and I want to share it with THE WHOLE ENTIRE WORLD!

Phoenixes were not my favourite magical beasties before this book, but they might be now!!!

You know how sometimes, it’s so clear that the author really loved getting to write the book in your hands? Phoenix Keeper is like that: delight emanates from the pages, catching in your throat and your chest, making everything sparkle and effervesce. This book was written because MacLean loved it, so that you and I could fall in love with it; and how could we not, when every aspect of it is enchanting, geared to gladden? What’s not to love about a big, bright zoo where everyone adores the animals they take such great care of? How are you supposed to resist the charms of literally magical creatures, in all their science-defying glory? Who doesn’t cheer to see an endangered species flourish just a little bit more? And all of it filtered through a sweetheart of a main character, who is unintentionally funny and so very passionate and terrible at public speaking?

YES PLEASE!

The plot is pretty much as described in the blurb, so I won’t go over that too much. But I really have to emphasise that MacLean makes you feel. I was stunned by how intensely I felt everything MacLean wanted me to, from sharing Aila’s anxiety, to utter outrage, to being on the literal edge of my seat as called for. And even though this is clearly a happy book, one where nothing will go really horrifically wrong – where the worst baddest thing definitely won’t happen – fellow readers, I was absolutely terrified when The Thing went down! It didn’t matter how much I told myself that no way, it wouldn’t happen, MacLean wouldn’t: I cared so much about the characters, about the phoenixes, about the zoo, that my reason abandoned me and my stomach was in knots and I was almost in tears from the tension. I would have defenestrated anyone who interrupted my reading just then! THIS IS NOT THE NORM FOR ME! In the ten months of this year, I’ve had this intense a reaction to just one other book!!!

But there’s just no way to not care, to keep any kind of emotional distance between you and the story; it doesn’t pull you in, it wraps around you like warm wings and you don’t even notice until next thing you know, there’s a phoenix-fire where your heart should be and whoops, you live here now.

I REGRET NOTHING.

I admit I was predisposed to love Phoenix Keeper – I’ve been pining for an Adult zoo or vet story about magical creatures for years now, so yes, I lit up like a phoenix when I heard about this one! Still, I’m notoriously picky; it would absolutely be possible to write this kind of story and for it to just not work for me. Whereas this did, for so many reasons. MacLean expertly wields the tone and prose (is this really her debut?!) so that Phoenix Keeper feels light and glittery even while scary things are happening, or sad ones, or when Aila’s anxiety is spiking. The writing dances, bright and quick, making for a wonderfully relaxing, easy reading experience; this is not a book that leaves you exhausted with the effort of reading it, but nor is it shallow. Phoenix Keeper manages to examine friendship and grief and passion, what it’s like to have found the thing you want to devote your life to, what it’s like to devote yourself to a goal so much bigger than you are; even what (romantic) love should and shouldn’t be, all while telling a heart-warming, incredibly joy-full story.

It probably goes without saying that this book is a celebration of conservation and animal-lovers everywhere! But it’s not nearly technical or science-y enough to be elitist about it: even if you’re not especially passionate about animals, you’ll have plenty to enjoy and appreciate in Phoenix Keeper – although it’s hard to imagine that any reader won’t be enchanted by MacLean’s obvious love for beasts, birds, and everything in-between. And if you have, EVER, been that kid who read nonfiction about tigers, or watched documentaries about whales, or went starry-eyed at the zoo – then this is the book that will bring that wonder back, reignite it, even if you thought you’d lost it somewhere along the way.

This might go without saying too, but somehow I wasn’t expecting it: the zoo isn’t just a cute setting, or an excuse to show off all the magical animals. Phoenix Keeper is lovingly pro-zoo: maybe more importantly, it also perfectly verbalises why zoos, and things like animal-shows – as in, when animals perform for audiences at zoos – and live-streams of nesting birds are so necessary. If you’d asked me before I read the book, I would have said that the shows and live-streams was unnecessary, and a bit silly, and I would have understood (albeit not agreed) the argument that things like that are demeaning to the animals. Animals aren’t toys.

And no. They’re not.

“But other people,” Luciana said, the softest yet. “Most people are somewhere in between. Not destructive on purpose, but they don’t have a reason to care yet. They don’t realize why they should care. And no one cares about anything they can’t connect to. That’s our job, Aila. Connecting people to these animals, giving them a reason to care. Whether it’s an exhibit or a show, it’s all the same goal in the end.”

The galaxy-brain moment I had after that passage, my gods.

Speaking of animals: MacLean made a choice that surprised me in not stocking the San Tamculo Zoo with mythological creatures; while there are indeed dragons and unicorns present, most of MacLean’s beasties come from her own imagination, from the water phoenix and disappearing ducks (they teleport) to the adorable carbuncle pups and three-faced marmosets. But after about .2 seconds of being taken aback, I was convinced that making up her own animals was a much better option than scouring through The Element Encyclopedia of Magical Creatures: this way, the zoo’s inhabitants are new to every reader, which means we all get that thrill of encountering something new and beautiful, which wouldn’t be guaranteed if she pulled her beasties from established myth. And as a bonus, there’s no possibility of upsetting or offending anyone with her depiction of a mythological creature they might be quite attached to.

The same rationale might be why this book has a secondary-world setting: it’s functionally urban fantasy, since Aila’s world has the same level of technology as ours, but you won’t recognise any of the place names (even if several are clearly inspired by real countries or regions, like Aila’s ancestral not-Ireland). Again, I think this was a good call, since it neatly avoids any potential cultural appropriation and dodges the need to worry about how real-world international politics might affect the story (since things like zoo breeding programs tend to be international projects) – or the question of whether to set the story pre- or post-Covid or pretend it never happened.

MacLean could have gotten away with just that, but as a worldbuilding aficionado (read: freak!) I massively appreciated that she gave us more. There are so many delightful little details tucked here and there about what how magical creatures fit into Aila’s world: powdered dragon scales, for instance, are a strengthening agent used in modern construction, and griffins make such excellent pest control that farmers build nesting platforms to encourage them to live near their crops! Did we NEED to know that??? I mean, I did, but I accept that most readers don’t. And yet! Does it not add even more joy to this masterpiece? YES IT DOES, PLEASE AND THANK YOU!

All of which increases the book’s escapism factor – we don’t have to worry about ANY real-world nonsense here! Once you open the pages of Phoenix Keeper, you can leave our world entirely behind, with no need to think about it and nothing to remind you of it. MacLean whirls us away to the San Tamculo Zoo and immerses us in the wonderful, passionate realm of Aila and her fellow zookeepers, where the only concerns are the incredible and instantly lovable creatures they care for, and the unfairly appetising beastie-themed snacks in the gift shop (if you don’t want a phoenix-shaped cake pop, you’re lying). You’ll never want to leave!

“Luciana will be here soon. Right?”

Tanya clicked her tongue. “I don’t have a GPS tracker on that woman.”

“You’re right.” Aila squinted, calculating. “That would make things much easier.”

Tanya swatted her. “We aren’t putting a tracker on a fellow zoo employee.”

It is PAST time I talked about the characters, SO: Aila! Aila Aila Aila. I love her. She is, frankly, inspiring, both in her dedication/passion, and in how she does not let her anxiety get in the way when it comes to what’s best for her beasties. Anxiety sucks, clinical anxiety sucks more, and speaking from experience, MacLean’s depiction of it is spot-on. Which is one reason it was so wonderful to see Aila succeeding: as you might expect, anxiety makes you think you’ll never succeed at anything, so even fictional examples of people with anxiety accomplishing their dreams are extremely welcome! And also because Aila works for it: Phoenix Keeper is, as I keep saying, a sparkly, fizzy, joy-full book, but that doesn’t mean things are hand-waved or fixed with magic wands. Aila works for what she wants, to make those things happen, and so do her fellow zoo-keepers, and damn it, I want to take this woman on a date! I adore her. I’ve always thought that characters who have quirks or interests or things they’re passionate about are so much more magnetic (the same holds true for real people too!), and Aila’s love, not just for her phoenixes but for all the birds in her care, shines from the entire book.

But she’s also far from perfect, and I love that. Sometimes she fucks up! She makes mistakes! And then…she takes responsibility and fixes it. *chef’s kiss* Too rare a quality, superlative to see!

a heart attack was the last thing she needed. Who would take care of the phoenixes?

Then we have Tanya – Aila’s bestie and simply magnificent – and Luciana, Aila’s sort-of rival. I am very tired of obvious villains with no depth to them, and the way our expectations were subverted when it came to Luciana was fantastic; I liked the gradual reveal that she wasn’t who, or what, we thought she was, and how MacLean did that with other characters too – never heavy-handedly, always believably.

The romance? Yes. Just. Yes. I approve so much. I ship it. I squeed. If I could draw, I would draw so much fanart. I knew the endgame, and I still cheered when they got together. MUCH YES!

Look, I’m terrible at talking about romance and it shows; all I can say is that the romance here made me ridiculously happy, and if this is Romantasy, then I am officially ready to declare myself a Romantasy fan.

I love everything about this book. It made me FEEL things. It made me HAPPY. Gloriously, glitteringly happy. I am not joyful; I am overjoyed by this book. By Phoenix Keeper. There’s not one single thing I’d change about it; there is not one single caveat I want to give. It’s flawless. I have Illumicrate’s special edition coming and it will be enshrined on my bookcase in a place of honour. Hands down one of the best books of the year, and it has soared, firework-like, to perch with the rest of my all-time favourites.

Make like a phoenix and fly to your retailer of choice to order your own copy!

The post Alight With Joy: The Phoenix Keeper by S. A. MacLean appeared first on Every Book a Doorway.

I Love It, I Love It Not: The Palace of Eros by Caro De Robertis

The Palace of Eros by Caro De Robertis
Genres: Adult, Fantasy, Queer Protagonists
Representation: Queer MC, nonbinary MC
PoV: 1st-person, past-tense; third-person, past tense
Published on: 13th August 2024
ISBN: 1668035251
Goodreads

Young, headstrong Psyche has captured the eyes of every suitor in town and far beyond with her tempestuous beauty, which has made her irresistible as a woman yet undesirable as a wife. Secretly, she longs for a life away from the expectations and demands of men. When her father realizes that the future of his family and town will be forever cursed unless he appeases an enraged Aphrodite, he follows the orders of the Oracle, tying Psyche to a rock to be ravaged by a monstrous husband. And yet a monster never arrives.

When Eros, nonbinary deity of desire, sees Psyche, she cannot fulfill her promise to her mother Aphrodite to destroy the mortal young woman. Instead, Eros devises a plan to sweep Psyche away to an idyllic palace, hidden from the prying eyes of Aphrodite, Zeus, and the outside world. There, against the dire dictates of Olympus, Eros and Psyche fall in love. Each night, Eros visits Psyche under the cover of impenetrable darkness, where they both experience untold passion and love. But each morning, Eros flies away before light comes to break the spell of the palace that keeps them safe.

Before long, Psyche’s nights spent in pleasure turn to days filled with doubts, as she grapples with the cost of secrecy and the complexities of freedom and desire. Restless and spurred by her sisters to reveal Eros’s true nature, she breaks her trust and forces a reckoning that tests them both—and transforms the very heavens.

Told in bold and sparkling prose, The Palace of Eros transports us to a magical world imbued by divine forces as well as everyday realities, where palaces glitter with magic even as ordinary people fight for freedom in a society that fears the unknown.

I received this book for free from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

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~nonbinary Eros
~what would a queen do? do that
~All Men Are All BadTM
~Aphrodite = Mom of the Millennium (mostly)
~no laurel trees anywhere

This is going to be a weird review, because I think Palace of Eros is objectively good in many ways, and definitely deserves four stars – I really enjoyed reading it. But I also kinda hate it. That being said, I know that most people who enjoy feminist mythology retellings are not going to be bothered at all by the bits that drove me up the wall, SO. If you want to read something like Circe, but queer and with even more beautiful prose? Then I think you’ll adore this book.

Take a big pinch of salt with this review, okay? The problem is mostly that I don’t get along with books like this – I shouldn’t have requested it and that’s on me. My dislike doesn’t at ALL mean that you shouldn’t pick it up. Bear that in mind!

*

I’m quite torn over Palace of Eros – it’s not what I wanted, but it’s beautiful. It does a number of things I can’t stand, but some of those things are issues of taste and don’t make the book objectively bad. I highlighted so many passages of absolutely stunning prose, even as I rolled my eyes at quite a bit of the messaging.

Thus – torn.

Palace of Eros leaves the beaten track of the usual feminist mythology retellings by making Psyche and Eros queer, even as the template of the story is very reminiscent of Madeline Miller’s Circe and its ilk. For the most part, the writing also echoes Miller’s; sensual but accessible, although I would say that Robertis’ is grander and elevated and just generally better. But in tone? Palace of Eros is very reminiscent of Circe and its ilk, and if you love one, you’re very likely to enjoy the other.

the hand against my hair was honey on a thirsty tongue. The glint and shudder of fish in a stream. Silk rippling through sunlight. I was sunlight, in the presence of her hand. I had not known, before, that this was possible, that a body could be transmuted into light by another person’s touch. I gleamed, I was lost, I was vast inside. Some part of me must have known even then.

That does mean that Palace of Eros falls into the same weird traps so many of these retellings do: there’s no female solidarity anywhere, despite the ostensible ‘beauty is a weapon of the patriarchy’ moral; all men are wholly evil, without exception (don’t @ me about Hephaestus, he’s on the page for all of two sentences); and in trying to retell the myth, a lot of the worldbuilding gets broken.

Brief plot summary for context: Psyche is so pretty that every man becomes obsessed with her, to the point that they stop worshipping Aphrodite and just stare at Psyche instead. Obviously Aphrodite is not happy about this. A prophecy is made that Psyche will marry a monster; to appease Aphrodite, Psyche is tied to a rock and left for said monster to come claim her. Instead, Eros, Aphrodite’s nonbinary daughter and goddess of desire, swoops in to carry her away, and they fall in love despite only meeting in the dark every night. If you know the myth, you know the general outline of how things go from there; if you don’t, that’s more than you need to know going into the book.

Now let’s take my three big critiques point by point.

No female solidarity: the best relationship we see in the book is Aphrodite and Eros’, and frankly, there are some big, glaring problems between them that aren’t even acknowledged, never mind addressed. Psyche’s mother is supposedly lovely, but after Psyche is ‘sacrificed’ Psyche never sees her again. Psyche’s sisters, on the other hand, are spiteful and vicious – and the relationship between them and Psyche is really the only non-romantic relationship we get to see Psyche in. The gods are no better; all the goddesses of the Greek pantheon are shown as isolated and cut off from each other. The lack of women having friends, or any other kind of relationships with each other, is just weird in the context of the women must support each other message that the book pushes quite strongly towards the end.

All men suck: Zeus is unremittingly terrible, of course – although I admit that, while common, that’s a take on Zeus I find very boring – but the book literally starts with CROWDS of men watching Psyche all day every day, being disgusting because they’re obsessed with her beauty. Hephaestus is held up as a Good Guy, but he’s so briefly on-page that I wouldn’t blame you for missing him, and no other male gods are mentioned in any other context than their histories of rape. Some don’t even appear in the story, but we still get long paragraphs on how they raped this person or that person, just so we don’t forget that all men are evil without nuance or remorse, and I cannot believe I keep getting shoved into the position of yelling But Not All Men when that is the last thing I want to be doing. And yet, here I am, once again pointing out that having all your men be evil isn’t really any different to making all your women into sex-obsessed harlots breasting boobily down the stairs – neither take is good writing. It’s not even an INTERESTING kind of evil! I don’t care about the ethics of it, I care that it’s fucking boring to be hit over the head with this again and again. There are men who don’t rape! I can’t believe I have to say that! And yes, lots of the Greek gods were horrible rapists – but people still worshipped them, so clearly their characterisation was complicated, back in the day? As in, they did bad AND good/helpful things? Could we have some of that, please? I am dying for some complexity, some nuance, some three-dimensional characterisation of male characters instead of these constant caricatures. Authors, you are undermining your own messaging by only writing these simplistic straw men.

Ffs.

Broken worldbuilding: For a start, the prophecy – that Psyche must marry a monster – is never explained. We never ponder whether Eros is the monster, and if so, what it is that makes her monstrous; and if the prophecy WASN’T referring to Eros then hi, wtf? Robertis tries to explore how Eros being nonbinary affects her role as goddess of desire, what that means ABOUT desire as a concept and a force…and doesn’t come to any conclusions. And not in the ‘it’s up to the reader to decide’ kind of way. A point is made that desire existed before Eros was born…this is somehow important…but again, nothing comes of it. There’s no explanation for why the goddesses are submissive to and abused by the gods, when they’re, you know, goddesses with incredible powers, unlike defenseless mortal women. Robertis tries to, or starts to, explain how the gods’ powers work, how they’re connected to the universe, that there’s some sort of ‘web’ – and then drops it, or maybe fails, and it just. What. The gods are freaked out because Eros blurs the lines between male and female, but why the fuck does that matter? Apollo finds it terrifying: WHY? Who knows. Zeus says he never gave Eros her power, but NO ONE’s powers came from him, so, what???

“She’s using more than she was granted. It’s an aberration. She has no right to claim the territory of both goddess and god.”

…

“I’ll strip her of her powers for this!”

How are you going to do that, Zeus? IS that a thing you can do? I doubt it. (But since it’s mentioned, why isn’t it explored?) ‘more than she was granted’ SHE WAS MADE THIS WAY. By whatever force creates gods. What are you on? This is so random and weird and you’re implying things about how the gods work that you don’t explain or follow up on. ARGH.

But most egregiously, [View post to see spoiler]

The worldbuilding does not usually rock in the feminist mythological retellings of the post-Circe era, but I’m especially pissed off because, instead of staying away from the difficult questions posed by the worldbuilding, Robertis pointed out all these questions and issues and then failed to resolve them or do anything with them. That’s honestly kind of worse, for me as a reader, than if you’d just stayed away from the Big Questions like what are the gods even, how do their powers work, etc. You didn’t need to go there! And you shouldn’t go there if you’re going to abandon me there! It was like being teased, over and over, with the possibility of something immensely cool and interesting and unique…only to flat-line every time.

Also, [View post to see spoiler]

HOWEVER.

None of this alters the fact that Palace of Eros is genuinely exquisite. Robertis’ prose is breathtaking, especially in the immersive, emotional stream of consciousness moments–

On some days, I felt so peeled open by the intensity of my nights, so raw and bared to the world, that it felt as though my very soul entered those threads and soared through them, moved through color after color. So much color in this place, no dyes spared. The colors saturated me; lacerated me. As if my skin were dissolved by what we did in the night and there were no more barriers between my pure sensation and the colors of the world. The world spilled in, I could not filter it. A single red or royal purple could whip my soul awake even though sometimes the intensity made me weep–and even this was a great luxury, to make whatever sound my body wanted, to sob, wail, whisper, or croon in response to color. I did not have to stay composed for the sake of others. Or to seem sane. What did it mean, anyway, to be sane? To shut up and be small? I didn’t want it and I didn’t have to do it

And where most of the Circe-and-co retellings are about making women gentler and giving them power (usually power as recognised by the patriarchy), Palace of Eros is instead focused on Psyche’s growth into confidence and her embracing her sexuality – in the sense of discovering that she is herself a sexual creature, and learning to love that instead of being ashamed of it. I will freely admit I wanted a lot more from this story – it’s 2024, a cis woman’s sexual awakening just doesn’t feel that revolutionary or interesting – but it at least this is an approach I haven’t seen before. It was something new(-to-me)! That’s not nothing, and neither is the intense, deliberate sex positivity, which is probably going to make some readers a little uncomfortable, but is, genuinely, absolutely stunning. Robertis writes sex as earthy but divine, simultaneously poetic and frank, open and honest in a way I don’t come across often. And so joyful! I don’t feel qualified to really deeply analyse sex scenes, but I do wish baby!Sia had had Palace of Eros to read, as a counter to all the repressive AFAB sexuality crap that’s so common now and was even worse when I was a kid.

Then again, Psyche repeatedly masturbates with a tree, so. *throws hands in the air*

She clutches the tree and humps it until she orgasms. Repeatedly. I wish I was making that up.

I was pretty pleased that for once, Aphrodite actually got to be a character instead of a stereotype. Too often she doesn’t, but Robertis lets her be reasonably complicated and protective of her kid and able to manipulate Zeus (to a degree) while also having a temper and bouts of pettiness. I didn’t think the pettiness was adequately explained – for example, the big deal in the Psyche and Eros myth are the three trials Aphrodite sets for Psyche, right? Here, it’s done out of spite, even though by that time, Aphrodite is aware that Eros loves this mortal. That seemed to contradict all of the characterisation re Aphrodite and Eros having this incredibly important and wonderful relationship, and I wish Robertis had given Aphrodite another motive, or else laid the groundwork for there being problems between Aphrodite and Eros. Loving parents don’t try to kill the person their kid loves, you know, that’s a whole thing. But even so, at least Aphrodite got to be written three-dimensionally for once. Points for that.

I can’t help wishing that Robertis had combined the ‘beauty is a weapon of the patriarchy’ message with the fact that, you know, Aphrodite being the goddess of beauty. I kind of can’t believe that opportunity was missed. I was SURE something was going to be done, or at least SAID, about that! But alas, no.

What else did I like? Eros. And Psyche. As people and as characters, I really loved them both. Eros has metaphorical blood on her hands; she’s done terrible things, like most (all?) of the gods, and needs to face up to that, as well as to the enormous power imbalance in her and Psyche’s relationship – but she’s still extremely loving, adoring, funny and gentle and eternally accepting of everything Psyche wants and is and wants to become. Whereas watching Psyche discover how beautiful beauty can be, how intoxicating and empowering having freedom and safety are, how good a body can feel, what it’s like to be adored – no, it wasn’t groundbreaking, but it was wonderful, and I’m not over the tree thing, but I still loved how Robertis writes about sex and sexual thoughts and feelings. It’s poignant and accurate and beautiful enough that even my sex-repulsed self was enraptured! THAT DOESN’T HAPPEN VERY OFTEN!

I do wish we’d gotten more of Eros; I wish we’d actually explored, instead of just touched on, how her shapeshifting/gender-fluidity (if that’s the correct term, which I’m not 100% sure of, but then I do think Robertis’ point is that Eros is beyond labels) ties into the nature of desire, what it says about power, the implications for the lines between and power structures of the gods… There was so much you could do with that, and there was pretty little of it, in the end. The focus was much more on how Eros felt she had to hide her shifting because Zeus forbid it – and even THEN, [View post to see spoiler] Most of Eros’ own feelings about all of it were told to us rather than shown – that her POV was in third-person for some reason while Psyche’s was in first- didn’t really help – and overall? It was kind of a letdown, for me personally, after being SO EXCITED to get a nonbinary Eros (which is how I conceptulise Eros in the first place). I didn’t want an Issues book, and Palace of Eros isn’t quite one…but it edged quite close to the line. Much closer than I wanted.

To be whole, to express herself as she saw fit when she saw fit and allow her body its own song, not only for sex, but at other times too, without having to warp herself into a fully male shape or stay in the mold of female, for though she relished each of those forms, neither was the whole of her; she was both of these, she spanned the realms, she held it all. Between female and male, within them and beyond them, lay more than had been given name and more than Zeus himself wanted to see manifest in the world. Play and joy and searching. Ease and art and fluid truth. Body as lake. Body as sky. Body as wind and flow. The unscripted dance of what Eros knew could also be.

The ending was rushed. I think even people who unreservedly adore Palace of Eros will admit that. The trials Aphrodite sets for Psyche are arguably the biggest deal of the myth, but here they’re quick and not really given any importance, especially not to the narrative. One of them doesn’t even happen on-page! Which, come on. I get that the trials are not the part of the story Robertis cares about, but then either don’t include them at all, or choose another myth, or write something that’s not a retelling/not such a close retelling. Practically hand-waving them was not the answer. And as I said earlier, I hated the way Aphrodite went about them, felt about them, her motive and intention for them.

Did I love Psyche’s arc, and where it ended? Yes. I love this Psyche, and I love where she ends up. [View post to see spoiler] But the happy ending is told to us, not shown, which is part of the reason it feels so rushed, and I thought it was a huge shame not to get to see how Eros got permission for everything, not to see the wedding, not to see what Psyche gets to become.

I don’t know. I thought this book would be for me, and it wasn’t, and that’s not its fault, or Robertis’ fault. Is it what Robertis meant for it to be? I think so – I think it’s an excellent example of the feminist mythology retelling sub-genre, easily my favourite, and I already have a bunch of Robertis’ other books lined up to read. But this was definitely my last attempt at enjoying one of these retellings. I officially quit them.

The post I Love It, I Love It Not: The Palace of Eros by Caro De Robertis appeared first on Every Book a Doorway.

I Can’t Wait For…The Fortunate Fall by Cameron Reed

Can’t-Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted over at Wishful Endings to spotlight and discuss the books we’re excited about but haven’t yet read. Most of the time they’re books that have yet to be released, but not always. It’s based on the Waiting on Wednesday meme, which was originally hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine. 

This week my Can’t-Wait-For Book is The Fortunate Fall by Cameron Reed!

The Fortunate Fall by Cameron Reed
Genres: Adult, Queer Protagonists, Sci Fi
Representation: Sapphic MC
Published on: 13th August 2024
Goodreads

A debut novel of remarkable beauty and invention, The Fortunate Fall is back in print for the first time in almost three decades as a Tor Essential, with a new introduction by Jo Walton

Tor Essentials presents new editions of science fiction and fantasy titles of proven merit and lasting value, each volume introduced by an appropriate literary figure.

On its first publication in 1996, The Fortunate Fall was hailed as an SF novel of a wired future on par with the debuts of William Gibson and Neal Stephenson. Now it returns to print, in advance of forthcoming new work by the same author. It is one of the great underground classics of the last several decades in SF.

Maya Andreyeva is a "camera," a reporter with virtual-reality-broadcasting equipment implanted in her brain. What she sees, millions see; what she feels, millions share.

And what Maya is seeing is the cover-up of a massacre. As she probes into the covert political power plays of a radically strange near-future Russia, she comes upon secrets that have been hidden from the world...and memories that AI-controlled thought police have forced her to hide from herself. Because in a world where no thought or desire is safe, the price of survival is betrayal - of your lover, your ideals, and yourself.

This new Tor Essentials edition of The Fortunate Fall includes a new introduction by Jo Walton, winner of the Hugo, Nebula, and World Fantasy Awards.

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I didn’t read The Fortunate Fall when it was first published – I was all of three years old at the time! – but we’re getting a new edition next week, and I am VERY glad, because I don’t know if I’d ever have come across it otherwise!

And that would clearly be a shame, because it sounds amazing. Especially since it was written decades before vloggers became a thing! (Vlogging being the closest comparison to being a camera-reporter that I can come up with.) It is always incredibly cool to me to see fiction that predicted the future!

Since Tor announced the reprint, I’ve seen so many recommendations for Fortunate Fall, heard so much praise for it: it’s been called the quintessential cyberpunk novel in my hearing, which is exciting, and I’ve been promised excellent worldbuilding and massive twists and turns. Plus, it’s a queer love story – I think the MC is a worman in love with another woman, and I’ve even seen mentions of some kind of nonbinary rep?! I didn’t look into that too much because I want to avoid spoilers, but EEE!

Fair warning: Fortunate Fall is also, apparently, a ‘feelbad’ book. Not 100% what that means, but I think it’s safe to assume this won’t be all sparkles and rainbows. Which I had inferred from the blurb, but it might be that we’re looking at the sci fi equivalent of grimdark here…

I still want to read it, though: I checked out the sample on the book’s Big River page and was hooked immediately. And if you’ve hung around here for any length of time, you know how obsessively picky I am about prose! But Reed’s writing is gorgeous, and I must have more of it. Ultimately it’s as simple as that!

Did you read the original edition? Are you interested in reading the new one? Let me know!

The post I Can’t Wait For…The Fortunate Fall by Cameron Reed appeared first on Every Book a Doorway.

Must-Have Monday #198

Must-Have Monday is a feature highlighting which of the coming week’s new releases I’m excited for. It is not meant to be a comprehensive list of all books being published that week; only those I’m interested in out of those I’m aware of! The focus is diverse SFF, but other genres sneak in occasionally too.

TWELVE books this week!

(Books are listed in order of pub date, then Adult SFF, Adult Other, YA SFF, YA Other, MG SFF.)

A Marriage of Undead Inconvenience: A Cozy-Spooky Historical Fantasy Rom-Com by Stephanie Burgis
Genres: Adult, Fantasy
Published on: 5th August 2025
Goodreads

Margaret Dunhaven may have been forced into marriage with the sinister vampire owner of Shadowcroft Manor in order to fulfill a family obligation, but she's not about to stay trapped there for long. The beastly man doesn't even have any decent tea leaves in his kitchen!

However, when she realizes that she's not the only one who's been forced into this marital union, it's time to join forces with her unwanted new husband. If they can combine her scholarly skills with his ancient history, then, working together, they might just manage to reclaim her inheritance, break his curse, and find their freedom.
...Just so long as they don't fall in love along the way.

A witty and sparkling 17,000-word novella that puts a new twist on Beauty and the Beast in an alternate-history version of late 19th century England.

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Burgis will always hold a very special place in my heart (and tbr!) as the author of The Dragon With a Chocolate Heart…and numerous other very sweet fantasies! This one was a very quick, very lovely little read that very much charmed me!

My review!

The Sunforge (The Endsong, #2) by Sascha Stronach
Genres: Adult, Fantasy, Epic Fantasy, Queer Protagonists, Science Fantasy
Representation: Bi/pansexual MC, sapphic MC, F/F, Maori-coded trans MC, trans MC
Published on: 6th August 2024
Goodreads

Sascha Stronach returns in this queer, Maori-inspired Endsong series about a police officer back from the dead who will stop at nothing to save her city from the evil that threatens to destroy it, perfect for fans of Gideon the Ninth and Black Sun.

The steel city of Radovan is consumed by fire, with survivors few and far between. Stranded in its harbor are Yat, Kiada, and Sen, whose Weaving powers are in a badly weakened state. Relying on only their wits, they must plot their way through the ruins of the capitol, which are patrolled by a hostile militia, and disable the technology that prevents them from escaping.

But to navigate the crew, Kiada will have to rely on her own history with Radovan—a place she first landed unwillingly, and one she only survived by falling in with Fort Tomorrow, a band of misfits and ne’er-do-wells led by Vanya, a charismatic pickpocket and a Weaver.

Vanya may hold the key not only to saving Radovan from complete annihilation, but an age-old fight between the gods that threatens their world.

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It’s the sequel to Dawnhounds! GAH. Stronach levels UP in this one, people – Sunforge absolutely revels in big, breathtaking concepts and ideas, all of them distilled down until they hit like cocaine. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone pack so much story into so few pages! It’s like picking up a seashell, only for the entire OCEAN to come pouring out and sweep you away. I AM STAR-STRUCK!

(And strongly encourage you to reread Dawnhounds before jumping in. Definitely don’t try reading this without having read the first book!!!)

My review!

The Dead Cat Tail Assassins by P. Djèlí Clark
Genres: Adult, Fantasy, Secondary World Fantasy
Representation: Black MC
Published on: 6th August 2024
Goodreads

The Dead Cat Tail Assassins are not cats.
Nor do they have tails.
But they are most assuredly dead.

Nebula and Alex Award winner P. Djèlí Clark introduces a brand-new world and a fantastical city full of gods and assassins.

Eveen the Eviscerator is skilled, discreet, professional, and here for your most pressing needs in the ancient city of Tal Abisi. Her guild is strong, her blades are sharp, and her rules are simple. Those sworn to the Matron of Assassins―resurrected, deadly, wiped of their memories―have only three unbreakable vows.

First, the contract must be just. That’s above Eveen’s pay grade.

Second, even the most powerful assassin may only kill the contracted. Eveen’s a professional. She’s never missed her mark.

The third and the once you accept a job, you must carry it out. And if you stray? A final death would be a mercy. When the Festival of the Clockwork King turns the city upside down, Eveen’s newest mission brings her face-to-face with a past she isn’t supposed to remember and a vow she can’t forget.

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I have been assured most faithfully that there are NO dead cats in this novella, thank goodness! And also that it packs a huge punch, with some very cool worldbuilding. Divinely-enforced assassination contracts feature, I believe!

In the Shadow of the Fall (Guardians of the Gods, #1) by Tobi Ogundiran
Genres: Adult, Fantasy
Representation: West African-coded cast and setting
Published on: 6th August 2024
Goodreads

A cosmic war reignites and the fate of the orisha lie in the hands of an untried acolyte in this first entry of a new epic fantasy novella duology by Tobi Ogundiran, for fans of N. K. Jemisin and Suyi Davies Okungbowa.

"The novella of the year has arrived!" ―Mark Oshiro, #1 New York Times bestselling author

Ashâke is an acolyte in the temple of Ifa, yearning for the day she is made a priest and sent out into the world to serve the orisha. But of all the acolytes, she is the only one the orisha refuse to speak to. For years she has watched from the sidelines as peer after peer passes her by and ascends to full priesthood.

Desperate, Ashâke attempts to summon and trap an orisha―any orisha. Instead, she experiences a vision so terrible it draws the attention of a powerful enemy sect and thrusts Ashâke into the center of a centuries-old war that will shatter the very foundations of her world.

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It’s the US release! In the Shadow of the Fall was out in the UK a week or two ago, but it crosses the pond this week! I haven’t had a chance to read it yet, and I’m itching to – tell me what part of that premise doesn’t sound fantastic?

A Sorceress Comes to Call by T. Kingfisher
Genres: Adult, Fantasy
Published on: 6th August 2024
Goodreads

A dark retelling of the Brothers Grimm's Goose Girl, rife with secrets, murder, and forbidden magic

Cordelia knows her mother is unusual. Their house doesn’t have any doors between rooms, and her mother doesn't allow Cordelia to have a single friend—unless you count Falada, her mother's beautiful white horse. The only time Cordelia feels truly free is on her daily rides with him. But more than simple eccentricity sets her mother apart. Other mothers don’t force their daughters to be silent and motionless for hours, sometimes days, on end. Other mothers aren’t sorcerers.

After a suspicious death in their small town, Cordelia’s mother insists they leave in the middle of the night, riding away on Falada’s sturdy back, leaving behind all Cordelia has ever known. They arrive at the remote country manor of a wealthy older man, the Squire, and his unwed sister, Hester. Cordelia’s mother intends to lure the Squire into marriage, and Cordelia knows this can only be bad news for the bumbling gentleman and his kind, intelligent sister.

Hester sees the way Cordelia shrinks away from her mother, how the young girl sits eerily still at dinner every night. Hester knows that to save her brother from bewitchment and to rescue the terrified Cordelia, she will have to face down a wicked witch of the worst kind.

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The Goose Girl is one of my favourite fairytales – solely due to the influence Shannon Hale’s gorgeous novel of the same name had on baby!Sia – and A Sorceress Comes to Call is a retelling of it! This being T Kingfisher, we can expect a very surprising take indeed on this old story…

Better Living Through Alchemy by Evan J. Peterson
Genres: Adult, Fantasy, Contemporary or Urban Fantasy
Published on: 6th August 2024
Goodreads

Kelly Mun is a private detective... with an uncanny sense of smell. She runs Non-Linear Investigations with her cousin Critter, using psychic and esoteric methods to try to earn a living. When a mysterious businesswoman hires them to find the source of a deadly new street drug called bardo, Kelly's life gets even stranger than usual in this occult-noir Seattle.

The monsters are incidental.

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I know almost nothing about this one, but the premise and cover – and that it was featured on a few lists of interest to me – have me very curious. I’m unreasonably tickled by the idea of Non-Linear Investigations!

The Unmothers by Leslie J. Anderson
Genres: Adult, Horror
Published on: 6th August 2024
Goodreads

In this emotionally raw and propulsive folk horror-mystery, a journalist goes to a small town and unravels a dark secret that the women have been keeping for generations.

Marshall is still trying to put the pieces together after the death of her husband. After she is involved in a terrible accident, her editor sends her to the small, backwards town of Raeford to investigate a clearly ridiculous rumor: that a horse has given birth to a healthy, human baby boy.

When Marshall arrives in Raeford, she finds an insular town that is kinder to the horses they are famous for breeding than to their own people. But when two horribly mangled bodies are discovered in a field—one a horse, one a human—she realizes that there might be a real story here.

As she’s pulled deeper into the town and its guarded people, her sense of reality is tipped on its head. Is she losing her grip? Or is this impossible story the key to a dark secret that has haunted the women of Raeford for generations?

Unbearably tense and utterly gripping, this atmospheric tale of female rage, bodily autonomy, and generational trauma hails the arrival of a masterful storyteller.

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I think I read an excerpt of this at some point and was immediately hooked… And I know for sure that this is going to freak me out and I should probably stay the hells away from it, but we all know I’m not going to. HI NIGHTMARES, WELCOME, MAKE YOURSELF AT HOME, YOU’LL BE HERE A WHILE I EXPECT.

The Pairing by Casey McQuiston
Genres: Adult, Queer Protagonists
Representation: Nonbinary bisexual MC, bisexual MC
Protagonist Age: 28
PoV: 1st-person, present-tense; dual PoVs
Published on: 6th August 2024
Goodreads

In #1 New York Times bestselling author Casey McQuiston's latest romantic comedy, two bisexual exes accidentally book the same European food and wine tour and challenge each other to a hookup competition to prove they're over each other—except they're definitely not.

Theo and Kit have been a lot of things: childhood best friends, crushes, in love, and now estranged exes. After a brutal breakup on the transatlantic flight to their dream European food and wine tour, they exited each other's lives once and for all.

Time apart has done them good. Theo has found confidence as a hustling bartender by night and aspiring sommelier by day, with a long roster of casual lovers. Kit, who never returned to America, graduated as the reigning sex god of his pastry school class and now bakes at one of the finest restaurants in Paris. Sure, nothing really compares to what they had, and life stretches out long and lonely ahead of them, but—yeah. It's in the past.

All that remains is the unused voucher for the European tour that never happened, good for 48 months after its original date and about to expire. Four years later, it seems like a great idea to finally take the trip. Solo. Separately.

It's not until they board the tour bus that they discover they've both accidentally had the exact same idea, and now they're trapped with each other for three weeks of stunning views, luscious flavors, and the most romantic cities of France, Spain, and Italy. It's fine. There's nothing left between them. So much nothing that, when Theo suggests a friendly wager to see who can sleep with their hot Italian tour guide first, Kit is totally game. And why stop there? Why not a full-on European hookup competition?

But sometimes a taste of everything only makes you crave what you can't have.

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I wasn’t expecting to love Pairing as much as McQuiston’s previous Adult romances, because I don’t have any special interest in second-chance romances, or food tours – and a hook-up competition doesn’t sound like my thing at all! AND YET! I love, love, LOVED this! SO MUCH!!! So even if you think it’s not for you…I strongly encourage you to give it a go anyway, if you enjoy contemporary romances at all!

This Ravenous Fate (This Ravenous Fate, #1) by Hayley Dennings
Genres: Fantasy, Historical Fantasy, Queer Protagonists, YA
Representation: Black sapphic MCs
Published on: 6th August 2024
Goodreads

The first book in a decadent fantasy duology set in Jazz Age Harlem, where at night the dance halls come to life—and death waits in the dark.

It's 1926 and reapers, the once-human vampires with a terrifying affliction, are on the rise in New York. But the Saint family's thriving reaper-hunting enterprise holds reign over the city, giving them more power than even the organized criminals who run the nightclubs. Eighteen year-old Elise Saint, home after five years in Paris, is the reluctant heir to the empire. Only one thing weighs heavier on Elise's mind than her family obligations: the knowledge that the Harlem reapers want her dead.

Layla Quinn is a young reaper haunted by her past. Though reapers have existed in America for three centuries, created by New World atrocities and cruel experiments, Layla became one just five years ago. The night she was turned, she lost her parents, the protection of the Saints, and her humanity, and she'll never forget how Elise Saint betrayed her.

But some reapers are inexplicably turning part human again, leaving a wake of mysterious and brutal killings. When Layla is framed for one of these attacks, the Saint patriarch offers her a deal she can't refuse: to work with Elise to investigate how these murders might be linked to shocking rumors of a reaper cure. Once close friends, now bitter enemies, Elise and Layla explore the city's underworld, confronting their intense feelings for one another and uncovering the sinister truths about a growing threat to reapers and humans alike.

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This Ravenous Fate has been all over my dash for MONTHS, and you’d better believe I’m hyped. Black queer girls being terrible together? One of them a vampire? YES PLEASE AND THANK YOU, GIMME!!!

The Girl with No Reflection by Keshe Chow
Genres: Fantasy, YA
Representation: Chinese-coded cast and setting
Published on: 6th August 2024
Goodreads

A young woman chosen as the crown prince’s bride must travel to the royal palace to meet her new husband—but her world is shaken when she discovers the dark truth the royal family has been hiding for centuries—in this lush fantasy debut perfect for fans of Song of Silver, Flame Like Night and Violet Made of Thorns.

Princess Ying Yue believed in love...once upon a time.

Yet when she’s chosen to wed the crown prince, Ying’s dreams of a fairy tale marriage quickly fall apart. Her husband-to-be is cold and indifferent, confining Ying to her room for reasons he won’t explain. Worse still are the rumors that swirl around the imperial whispers of seven other royal brides who, after their own weddings, mysteriously disappeared.

Left alone with only her own reflection for company, Ying begins to see things. Strange things. Movements in the corners of her mirror. Colorful lights upon its surface. And when, on the eve of her wedding, she unwittingly tears open a gateway, she is pulled into a mirror world.

This realm is full of sentient reflections, including the enigmatic Mirror Prince. Unlike his real-world counterpart, the Mirror Prince is kind and compassionate, and before long Ying falls in love—the kind of love she always dreamed of.

But there is darkness in this new world, too.

It turns out the two worlds have a long and blood-soaked history, and Ying has a part to play in the future of them both. And the brides who came before Ying? By the time they discovered what their role was, it was already too late.

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Mirrors are NOT my friends, but that only makes the sound of a mirror kingdom more alien and interesting. Reflections being people in and of themselves? And what’s up with the royals – they have reflections, apparently, so they’re not mirror-beings who’ve come into our world, right?

…Right?

You can read an excerpt here!

The House Where Death Lives by Alex Brown, Nova Ren Suma, Gina Chen, Traci Chee, Linsey Miller, Rosiee Thor, Courtney Gould, Kay Costales, Liz Hull, Shelly Page, Justine Pucella Winans, Sandra Proudman, C.L. McCollum, Nora Elghazzawi, Tori Bovalino, g. haron davis
Genres: Horror, Queer Protagonists, YA
Representation: (some) queer MCs
Published on: 6th April 2024
Goodreads

A dance to the death. A girl who’s just as monstrous as H.H. Holmes. A hallway that’s constantly changing―and hungry. All of these stories exist in the same place―within the frame of a particular house that isn’t bound by the laws of time and space.

Following in the footsteps of dark/horror-filled YA anthologies like His Hideous Heart and Slasher Girls and Monster Boys, and Netflix’s groundbreaking adaptation of The Haunting of Hill House, this YA speculative fiction anthology explores how the permanence of a home can become a space of transition and change for both the inhabitants and the creatures who haunt them.

Each story in the anthology will focus on a different room in the house and feature unique takes on monsters from a wide array of cultural traditions. Whether it’s a demonic Trickster, a water-loving Rusalka, or a horrifying, baby-imitating Tiyanak, there’s bound to be something sinister lurking in the shadows.

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So the premise of this is that every story is set inside a different room in a haunted house, which??? I love??? That’s so cool??? And I’m interested to see what traditions and mythos’ the stories draw from – it sounds like we should be seeing some monsters we don’t see so often!

Breaking Hell (The Age of Bronze #3) by Miles Cameron
Genres: Adult, Fantasy, Historical Fantasy, Queer Protagonists
Representation: Sapphic MC
Published on: 8th August 2024
Goodreads

The much-anticipated third installment of the Age of Bronze series, following  Against All Gods  and  Storming Heaven ​!

Before iron helmets and steel swords, when dragons roamed the world, was an age of bronze and stone, when the Gods walked the earth, and people lived in terror. In this era a scribe, a warlord, a dancer, a mute insect and a child should have no chance against the might of the bickering gods and their cruel games. But the gods themselves are old, addicted to their own games of power, and now their fates may lie in the hands of mere mortals . . .

The third in this original, visceral epic series weaving together the mythologies of a dozen pantheons of gods and heroes to create something new and magical, this tale of the revolt against the tyranny which began in Against All Gods is a must-read from a master of the fantasy genre.

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IT’S THE FINALE OF AGE OF BRONZE!!! This isn’t my favourite Cameron series, but that doesn’t mean much when they’re ALL freaking excellent – I’m still massively excited to see how this trilogy wraps up! I have some theories and suspicions re how things might go down, but who knows if I’m right about any of it???

Will you be reading any of these? Did I miss any releases you think I should know about? Let me know!

The post Must-Have Monday #198 appeared first on Every Book a Doorway.

Sunday Soupçons #31

soupçon/ˈsuːpsɒn,ˈsuːpsɒ̃/ noun
1. a very small quantity of something; a slight trace, as of a particular taste or flavor

Sunday Soupçons is where I scribble mini-reviews for books I don’t have the brainspace/eloquence/smarts to write about in depth – or if I just don’t have anything interesting to say beyond I LIKED IT AND YOU SHOULD READ IT TOO!

Three lovely reads!

The Bone Harp by Victoria Goddard
Genres: Adult, Fantasy
Representation: (possibly?) Genderqueer MCs
PoV: Third-person, past-tense; multiple PoVs
ISBN: 1998133109
Goodreads

Thrice-cursed bard and warrior-elf Tamsin wakes up in Elfland after what might or might not have been his death, healed and hale for the first time in millennia. Somewhat confused but not entirely unhappy with this turn of events, he sets off in the hopes of finding a way home ...

A standalone tale of friendship, family, and fair Elfland.

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I’ve been a Victoria Goddard die-hard for a while now, but Bone Harp is the first book of hers I’ve read (and the first she’s published in quite a while) NOT set in her Nine Worlds universe, aka the setting of such beloveds as Hands of the Emperor and the increasingly delightful Greenwing & Dart series (which genuinely gets better and better with every instalment). So I wasn’t sure what to expect from this one.

It turned out to be an incredibly beautiful, very soft and gentle, fantasy of healing and recovery; of coming home from war and learning the ways of peace again. At the same time, it’s an exploration of how Elfland changed while so many of its people went away to war, and how the Elves basically broke into two separate cultures; those who stayed behind, and leaned further into magic and its wonders, and those who went away and came back, who have almost completely forsaken magic and are left uneasy by it – even though it really is their birthright.

The backstory is slightly reminiscent of the Silmarillion – the Enemy (who we learn almost nothing about, really) stole a sacred fire from Elfland, and seven brothers swore a soul-binding oath to retrieve it; many of the Elves followed those brothers, and their prince, away Over the Sea and into a war with the Enemy that lasted centuries and centuries.

But that’s all done with now. Bone Harp is set a long time after all that (although we get looks into the past), and there is not a whole lot of plot – it might be one of the most plot-less books I’ve ever seen. That worked beautifully for me though; Goddard’s gorgeous, introspective, rich prose is on full display, languid and indulgent, and I was more than happy to linger over small, perfect details, or sink into the stunning descriptions of Elven magic and music (and the spellsongs that are both), and watch Tamsin slowly heal from his traumas with the help of two young Elven girls out on an adventure.

I think Tamsin got slightly more page time, but I really liked that the book was divided between him, and Klara – his not-quite-lover, best friend and truest companion, who stayed in Elfland while Tamsin and his brothers and father went to war. Kind of in rejection of the war, kind of in response to so many of her people going Over The Sea, Klara pushed her magic – the same kind of magic Tamsin wields, music-magic and song-magic – further and further, and those other Elves who stayed did the same. Tamsin and Klara were so close when they were young that they would often swap identities (with no one else being the wiser) and even while apart during the war, they continue/d to echo and mirror each other, as Tamsin also pushed his power to greater and greater heights while away. But where Tamsin became a warmage, Klara sought to create beauty, and grew somewhat eldritch and otherworldly even by Elven standards. In this way they both became, not quite leaders of their peoples (the Elves at home and the Elves Over The Sea) but…definitely both prominent, legendary figures. Klara isn’t a queen, but she does stand as a kind of representative or figurehead of the ‘magical’ Elves when the warriors start to come home; not a leader as such, but she holds her people in and under her hand, if that makes sense.

I thought it was beautiful and interesting, the relationship Klara and Tamsin had before the war, the way they grew in similar but opposing directions during it, how their hearts and magic remained linked even while they were separated. Especially the fact that Tamsin and Klara used to swap identities, pretending to be each other so well that no one else knew that they did this regularly; there’s something genderqueer about it, and in Tamsin’s indifference to being mistaken for a woman, that I hope gets explored more in future books (it’s also, potentially/probably, playing with the fact that the ‘classic’ take on Elves portrays them as very androgynous).

I think Goddard mentioned there would probably be a sequel. I hope so! Because Bone Harp is breathtaking, and I definitely want more of this. Not one to read if you’re looking for plot and/or action, but the perfect read if you’re looking for sweet, soft, languid magic.

Nicked by M.T. Anderson
Genres: Adult, Fantasy, Historical Fantasy, Queer Protagonists
Representation: M/M
PoV: Third-person, past-tense; multiple PoVs
ISBN: 0593701615
Goodreads

From the award-winning and bestselling author of Feed comes a raucous and slyly funny adult fiction debut, about the quest to steal the mystical bones of a long-dead saint

The year is 1087, and a pox is sweeping through the Italian port city of Bari. When a lowly monk is visited by Saint Nicholas in his dreams, he interprets the vision as a call to action. But his superiors, and the power brokers they serve, have different plans for the tender-hearted Brother Nicephorus.      Enter Tyun, a charismatic treasure hunter renowned for “liberating” holy relics from their tombs. The seven-hundred-year-old bones of Saint Nicholas rest in distant Myra, Tyun explains, and they’re rumored to weep a mysterious liquid that can heal the sick. For the humble price of a small fortune, Tyun will steal the bones and deliver them to Bari, curing the plague and restoring glory to the fallen city. And Nicephorus, the “dreamer,” will be his guide.      What follows is a heist for the ages, as Nicephorus is swept away on strange tides—and alongside even stranger bedfellows—to commit an act of sacrilege. Based on real historical accounts, Nicked is a wildly imaginative, genre-defying, and delightfully queer adventure, full of romance, intrigue, and wide-eyed wonder at the world that awaits beyond our own borders.

I received this book for free from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

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I really had no idea what to expect of Nicked, but it turns out that as well as being elegantly written about an inherently cool topic – a saint heist! – it’s also funny, wry, hopeful, and clever. And inspired by true events! Excuse me while I go down a rabbit hole of research into the history of saint-stealing!

Nicked says quite a lot without directly saying it – there’s a fair bit of implicit commentary (is that a thing?) on what we’d now call the Catholic Church, not so much on the faith itself (although also that, specifically the obsession with saints and saint-worship) as on the higher-ups who pull the strings and make decisions for everyone else. For example, it’s not poor Nicephorus’ dream that sets this whole thing off – the wealthy of Bari have already decided Bari must have a saint’s relics, and their motivations are certainly not religious. The Church higher-ups who help arrange the expedition are also not actually doing so out of faith; all those movers and shakers are in it for the money and the prestige, or both. Nicephorus’ dream is the thinnest of gauze tissues with which they try to hide their own greed – one wonders who they think they’re fooling, because it’s not each other, and it’s surely not God. Do these people even believe at all? Judging by the way everyone refuses to ever explicitly say they are committing blasphemy (or would it be sacrilege?), I think they know God wouldn’t be happy with them – which they presumably wouldn’t worry about if they didn’t believe?

Or maybe it’s more like, ‘I don’t know if He’s real, but let’s act like He is just in case, and also He totally won’t know what we’re really up to if we never say it outright’.

Which is more than a bit ridiculous, but it’s a very self-aware ridiculousness, wry and charming, that’s woven throughout the whole book. At the same time, there’s a streak of quite lovely earnestness, mostly coming from Nicephorus, who is a dear and a darling with unexpected depth – not because he’s naive (he isn’t) but he may be the only real believer among the cast, and I was surprised to find myself liking him for it. (Probably because he’s not stuffy and arrogant about it.) I adored his growth over the course of the book, and the misadventures he got into, and his ending! I would happily read a whole series about the shenanigans he gets into, but Nicked is perfect as a standalone too.

(…And I only just realised that Nicked, as a title, echoes St Nicholas, as in, you’ve been St-Nicholased! How did I miss that?!)

I don’t know anything about St Nicholas as a saint, so I have no idea if the stories about him contained in Nicked are genuinely part of his lore (…probably not the right way to refer to it!) or if Anderson made them up, but I loved how they were written, and the way Anderson tied them together and pulled morals from them. The prose is gorgeous in those parts – and it’s quite lovely and elegant in the rest of the book, quick and bright.

And the nuns. The not-nuns. I CACKLED.

Anyway, I strongly recommend this if the blurb sounds at all interesting to you, because it’s great fun and very human and the cast is marvellous. Going straight on my favourites shelf – I’m going to have to see what else Anderson’s written!

A Marriage of Undead Inconvenience: A Cozy-Spooky Historical Fantasy Rom-Com by Stephanie Burgis
Genres: Adult, Fantasy, Historical Fantasy
PoV: Third-person past-tense
Published on: 5th August 2024
Goodreads

Margaret Dunhaven may have been forced into marriage with the sinister vampire owner of Shadowcroft Manor in order to fulfill a family obligation, but she's not about to stay trapped there for long. The beastly man doesn't even have any decent tea leaves in his kitchen!

However, when she realizes that she's not the only one who's been forced into this marital union, it's time to join forces with her unwanted new husband. If they can combine her scholarly skills with his ancient history, then, working together, they might just manage to reclaim her inheritance, break his curse, and find their freedom.

...Just so long as they don't fall in love along the way.

A witty and sparkling 17,000-word novella that puts a new twist on Beauty and the Beast in an alternate-history version of late 19th century England.

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I received this book for free from the author in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

A Marriage of Undead Convenience is exactly what it wants to be, short and sweet but with a nice bite to it. I’d almost call it cosy, for all that that Shadowcroft Manor itself is no such thing (it needs a proper scrub-up!); it’s a lovely wish-fulfilment romance, where the stakes are plenty high but nothing really terrible is going to happen, so you can just settle in somewhere comfortable to enjoy the story.

You know exactly what you’re getting from the (fabulous) opening line;

It was Margaret Dunhaven’s opinion that a marriage which constrained her to drink stale tea could not be described as “convenient” in any meaningful sense of the word.

Burgis does a great job at gently making it clear that Margaret doesn’t need a man, or marriage, while letting Margaret realise for herself that it is perfectly acceptable to want one, especially one who supports and appreciates and admires you. And there’s no getting around the fact that this kind of marriage is extremely convenient for a woman in this sort of setting (stale tea aside) – as Margaret herself says, there’s a great deal a married couple can do together that an unmarried woman can’t do at all, and why not avail yourself of that, when the man is a great one?

I love stories about scholars, and characters in general who have intense passions, and Margaret’s deep study of the Rose of Normandy delighted me. Her scholarliness infuses every aspect of her character and never goes forgotten, from her careful handling of age-old texts, to reflexively maintaining the order in which they’re stored, to how wonderfully appalled she is at seeing original sources mistreated – and that’s without going into her rivalry with another, complete asshat of a researcher who I badly wanted to punch in the face. What a despicable, yet depressingly believable, little man!

It’s the attention to detail that elevates A Marriage of Undead Convenience, like the (much better than the real-life version, imo) in-universe explanation for the name of the War of the Roses, or what exactly an ancient gem would look like, having not had the benefit of modern jewel-cutting techniques. It adds just a little bit of sparkle – the details, I mean, not the gem-cutting! – so that a sweet novella also has…a little ginger? I don’t know how to put it, but I suspect most readers know what I mean anyway.

I approve!

What have you been reading this week?

The post Sunday Soupçons #31 appeared first on Every Book a Doorway.

Built Like the Tardis: The Sunforge by Sascha Stronach

The Sunforge (The Endsong, #2) by Sascha Stronach
Genres: Adult, Fantasy, Epic Fantasy, Queer Protagonists, Science Fantasy
Representation: Bi/pansexual MC, sapphic MC, F/F, Māori-coded trans sapphic MC, trans MC, minor nonbinary characters
Published on: 6th August 2024
ISBN: 1982187085
Goodreads

Sascha Stronach returns in this queer, Maori-inspired Endsong series about a police officer back from the dead who will stop at nothing to save her city from the evil that threatens to destroy it, perfect for fans of Gideon the Ninth and Black Sun.

The steel city of Radovan is consumed by fire, with survivors few and far between. Stranded in its harbor are Yat, Kiada, and Sen, whose Weaving powers are in a badly weakened state. Relying on only their wits, they must plot their way through the ruins of the capitol, which are patrolled by a hostile militia, and disable the technology that prevents them from escaping.

But to navigate the crew, Kiada will have to rely on her own history with Radovan—a place she first landed unwillingly, and one she only survived by falling in with Fort Tomorrow, a band of misfits and ne’er-do-wells led by Vanya, a charismatic pickpocket and a Weaver.

Vanya may hold the key not only to saving Radovan from complete annihilation, but an age-old fight between the gods that threatens their world.

I received this book for free from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

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~whatever you’re reading, I raise you: Māori-inspired science fantasy
~be watchful for tigers
~who needs linear time anyway?
~don’t fuck with aunts
~drown

:my review of book one!:

Whaaaaaaaaaat just happened?

What???

WHAT?!

That was pretty much my immediate reaction to turning the final page of Sunforge.

WHAT EVEN?!

But it’s so good! I definitely didn’t understand it all and I’m going to need to reread it at LEAST two more times to fully catch and process everything, but – IT’S SO GOOD!

I am fucking stunned at how much Stronach can fit into so few pages. I was a little disappointed when I loaded my arc onto my ereader and saw it didn’t quite hit 300 pages – I like my books chonky, and also, how much story can you really pack into 200+ pages?

A LOT. A WHOLE LOT. A FUCKTON, ONE MIGHT SAY. (That’s a joke that will make sense once you read the book.)

And I should have known that, because Dawnhounds, the first book in this series, was also super short, and yet was IMMENSE on the inside. These are books built like the Tardis – and OH MY, the things you’ll see once you step inside! The places it will take you! SAY GOODBYE TO LINEAR TIME AND YOUR UNDERSTANDING OF SPACE!

I thought (and still think)that Dawnhounds was an amazing sci-fantasy. But Sunforge proves that Stronach is a freaking GENIUS.

You want my help? I give you instead the strongest curse of my people: yeah nah, I’m good.”

We heard a bit about Radovan in Dawnhounds, and it’s the setting of this book – a setting that, at least at first, seems much less weird than Hainak! Hainak was a living city with mushroom houses; Radovan has, you know. Buildings that aren’t alive and people who haven’t modified their bodies with plants! It has a kind of Cold War vibe, except for the androids all over the place. Not too hard to wrap your head around!

Which is fortunate, because everything else is very hard to wrap your head around. You thought Dawnhounds was weird??? Yeah, not so much, it turns out. Sunforge makes Dawnhounds look like white surburbia with 2.5 kids and a dog – and if you’ve read Dawnhounds, that should give you an idea of what kind of oh shit levels of ABSOLUTELY OUT-THEREness we’re dealing with this time around.

I sprinkled it with sugar and ate it up with a SPOON, and my darlings, it is DELICIOUS.

“Bury me deep,” he spat, “wrap me in ten shrouds and twelve chains and throw me in the ocean; put my carcass in your largest cannon and fire it at the sun; put as much distance between me and your God as possible, because if you don’t, I will come back as a curse. I swear on my blood and the blood of my people, I will be there when your children are buried; I will be there when their children are buried; I will be there a thousand times over, until the stars lose their fires. I bestow my soul to whichever god or spirit is clever enough to find it; I bestow my curse upon Empire and all her vicious children. Now, hurry up and kill me–I’ve got places to be.”

That being said, I have no idea how to sell you on it without MASSIVE spoilers, so.

Hmm.

I guess we can start with: if you don’t like your SFF brain-breakingly odd, then you should probably quit while you’re ahead. Can you deal with a character whose name changes from sentence to sentence, because he’s existed for MILLIONS (if not billions?) of years and is – sort of – switching between the personas/people he’s been in different lifetimes? How about multiple characters sharing the same name for quite alarming reasons? Are you willing to dive into the nature of divinity and examine what gods might actually be (at least these ones)? Are you inextricably attached to your sense of time and reality? Because there really is a great deal of timey-wimey stuff going on here (but not, I hasten to assure you, time-travel. It’s so much weirder than time-travel!

Time-travel I can understand. THIS MAGIC-MUSHROOM JAMBOREE, ON THE OTHER HAND, I STRUGGLE WITH.)

And hey – this book is…lots of painful things happen in this book. The plague in Hainak was nightmarish, but nobody we knew got caught in that; in Sunforge, not everybody makes it out alive, and it hurts. So as well as everything else, you need to be okay with books that gut you.

We like to pretend that pain is a crucible, but that’s just survivorship bias for the soul. Somehow we forgot a very simple truth: most pain just hurts.”

But if you ARE okay with that…then Sunforge is a domino-chain of awesome, with surprise lining up after surprise, with reveals you’ll never see coming and no safety-net anywhere and gods continuing to meddle. We have a living ship and Extremely Important toy cars and a spider I would not want to piss off, and a story split between the present day and glimpses of everything that’s led up to it. Radovan is infected with a growing tide of fascism, and wow is it uncomfortable how familiar and too-easy-to-believe it is, lots of pathetic little people deciding they’d rather burn the world down than let it be something they don’t like, and caught in the midst are a group of very cool people somewhere between activists and rebels, doing the best they can in a rapidly decaying system. I loved these new characters, all of them, I want to keep them all, and I couldn’t help grinning like a loon when I realised Stronach had gone ahead and made this series EVEN QUEERER. Yesssssssssssssssss!

It’s an amazing cast all-around, full of complicated people doing complicated things for complicated reasons. Everybody has a past, everybody has a motive, and everyone is fiercely and powerfully connected to the rest, points in this breathtaking, diamond-strong web of community that has these very different people working together, guarding each other’s backs, fighting for each other. Sibi’s band of misfits are even more misfiting in Sunforge, and I’m glad – it makes them feel human, feel like real people, all messy and full of mistakes and absolutely glorious. I loved that we got to dive deeper into so many of the characters we only glanced at in the previous book; Kiada, as you might guess from the blurb, but also Ajat, the trans woman with her people’s archive in her tattoos, and Luz, who is not to be trusted but has so much to share.

It’s not just the characters; Sunforge is a spiralling deep dive into the worldbuilding and the backstory, the backstory I didn’t even guess was there waiting for us, and if I had guessed I would have guessed wrong because gods, nobody was ever going to guess this.

*FLAILS*

So many sneaky sentences that hit me like an electric shock, tucked away in the middle of long paragraphs as if Stronach meant to slip them past me; so many tiny details planted in exactly the right place; so many lines that sang like poetry, that I want tattooed over my knuckles and up my wrists. Stronach isn’t playing nice; she goes for your throat, your heart, and there’s no beating the bush about it, no slow build-up: the (relatively) low page-count is a whole series’ worth of prose distilled down, so that every word burns on the inside of your eyelids and every scene strikes like lightning right on the bull’s eye. I’ve occasionally seen writing this powerful – but not this freaking efficiently, with zero wasted space because every syllable is vital and precise and perfect. It would have been so easy for someone trying to write this way to end up with a book that felt rushed, a story that felt cramped, but not Stronach, gods; Sunforge is, if there is such a thing, efficiently decadent – and if that’s not a thing well, Stronach has just invented it: moving at light-speed but still with so much time and room for exquisite description and lingering, aching emotion, gorgeous prose that crunches immensely satisfyingly between your teeth and goes down sweet as syrup.

My daughter is a poem written in blood. My daughter is a reckoning. My daughter burns like the sun and you will never catch her.

This book is so queer, and not just in its representation: it’s the found-family and the bared teeth and the absolute indifference to genre tradition and boundaries, gleefully queering space and time and religion and magic. It’s the huge middle-finger to fascism and Empire, especially the British Empire; is there any evil on earth that doesn’t trace back to Empire eventually? It is even, I would argue, the New Zealand-flavoured English, queering the freaking language to anyone used to British or American English – and that’s without even touching on the Māori influences in the worldbuilding, which continue to be absolutely intoxicating; yes, please, blow my mind open, show me something that is not yet another fake-Medieval cishet white-boy wet dream, make me think and double-take and see another point of view. Yes!

Is there anything to not love about Sunforge? No. I mean, it broke my heart multiple times – but this is the kind of book that makes having your heart broken feel like a privilege.

You’ll see what I mean if you read it.

So read it!

The post Built Like the Tardis: The Sunforge by Sascha Stronach appeared first on Every Book a Doorway.

In Short: July

It’s been a pretty excellent book month! Which I am tentatively putting down to new medication that was supposed to cause less brain-fog; I haven’t noticed a change in my day-to-day, but my book numbers make it pretty clear SOMETHING has changed for the better!

ARCs Received

MANY WONDERFUL NEW THINGS TO READ! I may have actually gasped out loud when I got approved for The Nightward – I still haven’t dared start it. (You know when you’re SO excited for a new book that it’s difficult to start when you have it in your hands??? THAT FEELING!)

I was stunned and really touched when Miles Cameron reached out to offer me an early copy of Deep Black, which I’m already a third of the way through! IT’S EVERYTHING I WANTED FROM A SEQUEL!

And though I didn’t include its cover because it’s out already (so not an ADVANCED reading copy?) I received a very promising sci fi – Tactile Therapy – from a very promising self-pubbed author. I have my fingers crossed that it’s going to be excellent!

Read

THE FUCK. The last time I read 30 books in a month was February!!! After months and months of reading fewer and fewer books, this is a HUGE relief, and pretty solid evidence that the new meds are making a big difference. EEE!

Gods, I hope this is a permanent improvement. PLEASE let this struggling-to-read nonsense be over.

For new-to-mes, The West Passage, Relics of Ruin, Domesticated Magic, Rihasi, Asunder, Sunforge, The Pairing and Metal From Heaven are all especial stand-outs – but wildly different! (The Pairing isn’t even SFF, but DAMN, it was delicious fun!) Several are definitely going on my Best of 2024 list – it’s going to be a very long list this year, but since when is that a bad thing?!

Space Opera, His Majesty’s Dragon, and Four Kings were very beloved rereads. (I was reading HMD to the hubby as a bedtime book, and I’m tempted to reread the whole series now. I forgot how much I love Temeraire and Laurence!)

To the best of my knowledge, 10% of this month’s books had BIPOC authors. Aka, 3 books. Ffs.

Reviewed

SO MANY REVIEWS! I do regret that most of them were negative ones – why is it so much easier to write about books you hate? – but I’m very, very proud of my reviews for The West Passage and Long Live Evil. They both turned out so great!

DNF-ed

I accidentally posted my DNFs a day early (usually they go live on the second-last day of the month) which is why there are six here and only three in my DNF post – Interstellar MegaChef, We Are the Crisis and Tangled Lands I DNFed after that post went live. I’ll have to go back and edit it later.

I want to emphasise that I don’t think Time’s Agent, Education in Malice, We Are the Crisis or Tangled Lands are bad books – they just weren’t for me, for various reasons (although I really hope I pick up We Are the Crisis again later and have a better time with it then). Interstellar MegaChef… I really disliked it, but I think most readers will find it very approachable and a lot of people will enjoy it. Just not me!

ARCs Outstanding

Slowly, slowly picking away at my ARCs. I’ve read or am reading quite a few of these, but it’s the writing them up that’s usually the hard part!

Unmissable SFF Updates

My Unmissable SFF of 2024 list is always getting updated, what with cover reveals and new books being announced – or discovering books long-since announced, but which I didn’t hear about until just lately! After several new additions, the end of July brings us to a total of 103 Unmissable books!

How did my predictions/anticipated reads for JuIy go? I declared eight books Unmissable for this month, and–

there were two five star reads (The Failures and The West Passage)one was a four and a half stars read (Long Live Evil)one was a three and a half stars read (The Spellshop)one was a two stars read (The Dissonance)one was a DNF (The Spice Gate)one was a soft DNF I’d like to try again later (The Moonlight Market)one I have not gotten to yet ( In the Shadow of the Fall )

3.5/7! Not bad, but let’s see if August can do better!

Misc

Thing One: I got to beta-read for a friend this month, and was knocked FLAT by how good it was! And I’ve been having a lot of fun interacting with the other betas. I don’t think I should share any details here, but suffice to say I’m looking forward to featuring it on the blog someday soon!

Thing Two: I was selected/accepted to review august clarke’s Metal From Heaven for Ancillary Review of Books! I’m ridiculously excited about this, and more than a little nervous – it’s only my joint-most anticipated book of the year and the book blog I’m most impressed by – no big deal!!!

Looking Forward

Have I read some of these already? Yes. Does that make me any less excited for them? NO IT DOES NOT. August is PACKED with amazing SFF and I am HYPED! The Phoenix Keeper and Asunder are easily two of my faves of the year; Long Live Evil gets its main releases (the Irish and UK ebooks were released this month, everything else comes later!); The Girl in the Bog and The Maid and the Crocodile both promise a lot of fun; and there are some EPIC sequels coming, with Deep Black, The Sunforge, and The Republic of Salt!

May August be awesome for all of us!

The post In Short: July appeared first on Every Book a Doorway.