Siavahda's Blog, page 22

I Can’t Wait For…The Maid and the Crocodile by Jordan Ifueko

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 Maid and the Crocodile by Jordan Ifueko!

The Maid and the Crocodile by Jordan Ifueko
Genres: Fantasy, YA
Representation: West African-inspired setting, West African-coded cast
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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Raybearer blew me away, so when I heard that Ifueko was writing a new book in the same setting??? I MIGHT HAVE SHRIEKED A LITTLE.

(This book will apparently contain major spoilers for Raybearer and its sequel, so if you’re interested in them, you should probably read them first!)

I’m fascinated by the idea of someone whose magic is performed by cleaning – I’ve never heard of anything like that before! How much can Sade affect someone’s life? Do they have to be cursed first? If a very fancy inn wants her on staff, presumably her power is pretty coveted…

And I’m definitely tired of reading about royals and nobles – a country bumpkin working as a servant, a cleaner, is something we don’t see often, a perspective on Big Events that most stories never consider. The Maid and the Crocodile would be interesting for that alone, I think! But also: I’ve been assured there is at least one animal companion I’m going to fall in love with! What kind of animal? No idea, but all the early reviews are very adoring!

We’ve gotta talk about it – a god who wants revolution? We don’t see that often either! Is Crocodile not being worshipped the way he wants? Somehow I doubt it’s that simple, and I am INTENSELY curious about what could be making Crocodile want to upend society. What does he want changed???

I’m looking forward to finding out!

The post I Can’t Wait For…The Maid and the Crocodile by Jordan Ifueko appeared first on Every Book a Doorway.

Convicted of Meh: Talio’s Codex by J. Alexander Cohen

Talio's Codex by J. Alexander Cohen
Genres: Adult, Fantasy, Queer Protagonists
Representation: M/M, important nonbinary character
PoV: Third-person, past-tense
ISBN: 1960247220
Goodreads

Is love worth destroying his reputation?

Ten years ago, the theft of his codex destroyed Talio Rossa’s career as a magistrate in the four cities. But when his ex-wife—finally willing to forgive finding him in bed with a man—presents him a long-shot legal case, he has the chance to get his career back on track.

While fighting to rejoin the legal community, Talio uncovers a conspiracy so big it threatens the origins of the four cities themselves. Their prosperity is only thanks to their connection by magical floating waterways and the brilliance of their legal system, now regarded as near scripture.

To save his career, Talio must work with both the one who doomed his marriage and the hooded, heretical man who sets his heart aflame but is determined to plead guilty to a murder he didn't commit. To stand a chance of winning the case, saving his career and the man of his dreams, Talio will have to uncover an explosive secret destined to blow the legal system apart.

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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.

Highlights

~roads of running water…in the sky!
~very mysterious sentencing guidelines
~remember to wash your fingers

I don’t think it would be completely inaccurate to call Talio’s Codex something of a procedural drama set in a (low-magic) fantasy setting; we’re following the titular Talio as he rejoins the legal sphere after a decade away (and a serious disgrace). There is a case, then some more cases, and the forming of a small law firm; Talio and his business partner are also invited to join a committee that makes recommendations for potential new laws. But it seemed to me that the vast majority of the page-time went to Talio’s developing or renewed relationships, which is why I’d call it more drama than procedural. I found that disappointing, but it’s not an objectively good or bad thing, just a matter of personal taste. Other readers will probably be grateful not to be completely drowned in legal minutiae!

Alas, that’s kind of what I was here for – I wanted meticulous, detailed worldbuilding, and I very much wanted to see what another world’s legal system might look like. But the worldbuilding (with a few exceptions) is simplistic almost to the point of insult, and the only difference between the Western justice system and Talio’s is that Talio’s is too new – and too pre-Industrial – to have all the laws we do. (See the sub-plot wherein this society is only just starting to see the need for copyright and patents.)

Let’s start with the world: a queen – who seems to be the latest in a line of queens – rules over four cities. Each city is known for a different attribute; people from this city are more compassionate, from this city colder and more closed-off, etc. They are linked by the skyways, magical rivers in the sky along which special ships can sail (more or less). In fact, this society has a lot of water around, because they worship a water goddess who requires ritual handwashing when entering and leaving most buildings or private residences. There used to be mages, but what exactly the mages were or did is unclear; at some point, they all went mad or bad or something and were locked out of society by a magical barrier. This period of history was overseen by someone called, I kid you not, the Sleepy Queen.

This epithet is never explained.

Enter the Incarnites; a fringe religion that instead worships a fire god. Their very existence makes most people uneasy at best, not least because Incarnites cover their entire bodies with orange robes, meaning you can never see an Incarnite, or tell them apart. Incarnites aren’t quite persecuted, but they’re definitely oppressed and discriminated against in every way, every chance non-Incarnites get.

This discrimination is one of the biggest themes/focuses of the book, but I still don’t know what Incarnites actually believe, except that they can’t be romantically or sexually involved with non-Incarnites. I have no idea what the central tenets of their faith are, and I really don’t know how they practice, either, aside from wearing the robes. Vespers is involved, but what that term means in this setting is not explained; does that mean sessions of group prayer? No clue.

So worldbuilding wise, this didn’t please me.

How about characters? Talio…did not appeal to me in the beginning, and I liked him less and less as the book went on. I got so tired of him obsessing over the looks of every vaguely pretty man he saw, and I found it unbelievable how he only started asking questions about the system he lived in NOW, not ten years ago when he was ruined because he…lost a book. Specifically, his copy of the laws and punishments of the legal system he worked in. (This is also never really explained: even Talio questions WHY losing the book was such a big deal, eventually, and we never get an answer. Why does it matter? Okay, there’s a Big Secret in the books, kiiiiind of. But nobody knows that, so why does everyone shun him for risking its exposure? Insert shrug here.) He’s not a terrible person, and he even undergoes some growth, but absolutely nothing about him held my interest. That, combined with my not liking him as a person – he can’t wrap his head around nonbinary people, and he tricks Pazli into sleeping with him – didn’t make for a great reading experience.

‘The man of his dreams’, aka Pazli, was interesting but annoying. He was so prickly, and while yes, sometimes Talio really was being insulting without realising it…most of the time Pazli was snapping at genuine good-faith efforts to connect. We get it, you hate everyone who’s not an Incarnite! Enough already! Like Talio, he learns and evolves some over the course of the book, and honestly, it probably would have been a more interesting book if it had been written from HIS perspective – what with the tug-of-war he was going through between his religion and his desire for Talio, and his trying to make a space for himself within the legal system – the first Incarnite to ever do so.

The Big Conspiracy was a letdown, particularly in how it was handled – [View post to see spoiler] – it was all so obvious, and then THE MOST DRAMATIC climax ever, and I just could not.

Writing like this certainly didn’t help;

As he pulled out, it was as if he were taking Talio’s guts with him.

…Sir, if, after anal sex, it feels like your guts are being ripped out, that’s – not a good thing??? That sounds agonising, but in context it’s not meant to be, so – what???

Talio felt the end of the judicial season approaching like the spring thaw; they were running out of time.

The end of the judicial season is something Talio is dreading, but the spring thaw is generally considered something to look forward to, so what am I supposed to take away from this?

And please do not even get me STARTED on how all the magistrates and so on ‘rap their fingers’ on their tables and desks – not their knuckles, not gavels, their FINGERS. Which I can only assume means they’re…tapping their fingertips on the table??? With feeling??? But even so, using your fingers instead of your knuckles is going to make almost no sound, certainly not enough to quiet an excited courtroom. This was not a one-off; that phrase, rap/rapped/rapping their fingers, was used CONSTANTLY. It made no sense, I don’t know what Cohen was thinking, and I can’t believe none of the beta-readers brought it up. ???

All in all, this was a chore to read. Potentially interesting for anyone who likes stories about oppressed minorities in fantasy settings, I guess? But a fantastical legal thriller this is not, and I wasn’t impressed with what it is.

The post Convicted of Meh: Talio’s Codex by J. Alexander Cohen appeared first on Every Book a Doorway.

July DNFs

Probably the fastest DNF of my life, plus one book that is too sad, and one that is too meh. (For me, anyway!)

Her Spell That Binds Me by Luna Oblonsky
Genres: Adult, Fantasy, Historical Fantasy
Representation: F/F
PoV: First-person, past-tense
ISBN: B0CQHGYKML
Goodreads

A spellbinding rivalry unraveled by fate...A sapphic romance born from the ashes of prejudice…A Regency Era tale of lust and magic.

Iona's magic thrives in ways that defy explanation. The threads of fate pull Iona to Lysander College, an illustrious school for aristocratic witches of great renown. Though Iona is only a novice witch with no ancestral claim to old magic, her anomalous power garners the unwanted attention of imperious witches in her class.

Ariadne is a prodigy of magic descended from a prestigious bloodline of witches. Ariadne is her family’s one hope of maintaining their noble status in high society. When Iona arrives at college under mysterious circumstances, wielding magic that somehow rivals Ariadne’s, she makes it her vendetta to put Iona in her place.

The scholarly witches of Lysander College share one common goal: to claim the coveted pendant of Morgan Le Fay. Within the pendant's shimmering stones lies indomitable power, which can only be claimed by the witch who wins Morgan’s arcane trials in Spring. Ariadne must claim the pendant for her family or face the consequences should she fail. Ariadne will not let Iona steal her victory, though she might steal her heart.

Her Spell That Binds Me is an F/F rivals to lovers, dual POV, dark fantasy romance novel. Contains mature themes.

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Welp: I made it exactly four pages in before I slammed the eject button.

That might be a record?

(It’s also why I’m not giving this a rating; I really don’t think it would be fair.)

One: witches in this world get their wands when their magic is finished developing. There is no set age for this, and there’s no external sign that a witch has come into their full power. Which means you just have to…look for your wand, with no idea whether it’s time for it to show up yet or not.

I wouldn’t mind this especially, except – how do they find their wands??? By walking through areas with a lot of sticks and…hoping. The MC’s wand is a branch that literally breaks off when she’s walking by and drops at her feet, and I just. That’s so stupid. And boring. And – that’s not how her mom gets her wand, so, do most witches just have to. You know. Pick up stick after stick after stick, hoping the next one will be their wand??? Stupid and boring and ridiculous, not in a good way (especially since this is not presented as intentionally comedic).

Two: the MC and her mother make money by…magicking up pearls.

Again, not inherently a problem! I was actually enchanted by this at first. Until there was a moment when the mother’s failing magic is shown by her not being able to make ‘perfect’ pearls – only sort of wobbly ones, and.

Wait.

Wait.

So, you sell…perfectly round, flawless pearls? Baskets of them at a time? And you tell people you just find them by luck – you’re not professional pearl-divers or anything?

Ma’am. Ma’am. Do you know how fast this would break the jewellery industry?! If you want people to NOT know you’re witches, then maybe don’t go selling a basket of impossibly perfect natural pearls semi-regularly?! Every jeweller in the COUNTRY would go nuts for perfect pearls (this being set before cultured pearls were a thing, evidently), and they would ALL want to know where you got them. Every other jeweller would be dying to know where the one you sold to got their pearls. Do you not understand how people would GAPE at the first duchess or whatever to swan in with a whole necklace of perfect pearls?! There would be a FRENZY.

I genuinely spent about two hours ranting about this to the hubby. And yes, I know, it is truly ridiculous that something this small could bother me so much – but it does, and I can’t pretend it doesn’t.

Time's Agent by Brenda Peynado
Genres: Adult, Queer Protagonists, Sci Fi
Representation: Sapphic Dominican MC, F/F
PoV: First-person, past-tense
Published on: 13th August 2024
ISBN: 1250854326
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.

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 think Time’s Agent is a perfectly good book – it does what it sets out to do, and does it well, I think. But it was so depressing that I had to walk away from it. I made it a little past the half-way point, and…I’m just not built for this level of awfulness, okay??? Or maybe this particular flavour of awesomeness, which is families being destroyed AND the world being wrecked (in even more sickening ways than we manage in real life) by corporations AND a lot of really horrific non-human death (I was fucking gutted by the whole merpeople thing).

And when I skipped to the ending…well. I think it’s supposed to be what some people call hopeful endings, and I guess it’s technically a win, but from what I could make out nothing’s fixed so!!! No thank you. I’m going to do my best to forget this entire thing exists. There are some images that I really need scrubbed out of my brain, because every time they pop up they make me want to throw up or cry.

Time’s Agent isn’t bad. It’s very well written – I wouldn’t have had such visceral reactions to all the misery and awfulness otherwise. But show me how we fix or avoid the awfulness, if you want to give me a hellscape future. If you’re just going to marinate me in misery, I can’t handle it.

No rating for this one either; I don’t think I could possibly be objective.

An Education in Malice by S.T. Gibson
Genres: Adult, Fantasy, Historical Fantasy, Queer Protagonists
Representation: Sapphic MC, F/F
PoV: First-person, past-tense; dual PoVs
ISBN: 0316501972
Goodreads

Sumptuous and addictive, An Education in Malice is a dark academia tale of blood, secrets and insatiable hungers from S.T. Gibson, author of the cult hit A Dowry of Blood. 

Deep in the forgotten hills of Massachusetts stands Saint Perpetua’s College. Isolated and ancient, it is not a place for timid girls. Here, secrets are currency, ambition is lifeblood, and strange ceremonies welcome students into the fold.  

On her first day of class, Laura Sheridan is thrust into an intense academic rivalry with the beautiful and enigmatic Carmilla. Together, they are drawn into the confidence of their demanding poetry professor, De Lafontaine, who holds her own dark obsession with Carmilla.  

But as their rivalry blossoms into something far more delicious, Laura must confront her own strange hungers. Tangled in a sinister game of politics, bloodthirsty professors and magic, Laura and Carmilla must decide how much they are willing to sacrifice in their ruthless pursuit of knowledge.  

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I think it’s time I admit to myself that I have zero interest in finishing this book.

I adored Dowry of Blood, and I enjoyed Evocation fine, but this novel of Gibson’s is just not for me. I started reading it in February and still haven’t made it to the halfway mark, and it’s not that hard to see why. I love scholarship and learning and stories about those things, but the prestige that seems to go along with Dark Academia – that kind of aesthetic, that revelling in how exclusive and expensive something like a university is – is of no interest to me, and Gibson is very much into The Aesthetic. That’s not an insult; she’s amazing at writing vibes and atmosphere, and I’ve enjoyed it in her other work. It’s just that this particular aesthetic does nothing for me.

And as much as I like being in the head of a femme who’s massively into Domming, Laura as a character isn’t actually very interesting? And neither is Carmilla? De Lafontaine is so obviously manipulative that I’m bored by her too; maybe she gets interesting later, maybe the vampire thing becomes a bigger deal, but there’s just…no incentive for me to find out. I made myself read another chapter today, to see if I could get back into it, and nope, not gonna happen.

So. It’s fine??? But massively underwhelming, and nothing to really recommend it if you’re not already a fan of the aesthetic.

But hey, that’s one less fewer DNF than last month! Here’s hoping for even fewer in August.

The post July DNFs appeared first on Every Book a Doorway.

Must-Have Monday #197

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.

SIX books this week!

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

Navigational Entanglements by Aliette de Bodard
Genres: Adult, Queer Protagonists, Sci Fi
Representation: Autistic queer MC, F/F
Published on: 30th July 2024
Goodreads

Award-winning author of The Red Scholar’s Wake Aliette de Bodard comes for your heart with a compelling tale of love, duty, and found-family in an exciting new space opera that brings xianxia-style martial arts to the stars .

Jockeying navigator clans guide spaceships through the an area of space populated by the mysterious but deadly creatures known as Tanglers. When a Tangler escapes the Hollows for the first time in living memory, each clan must send a representative to help capture it—but the mission may be doomed and the hearts of two clan juniors may be in danger too.

Việt Nhi is not good with people. Or politics. Which is a problem when the Rooster clan sends her on the mission against her will, forcing her to work with an ill-matched group of squabbling teammates from rival clans, including one who she can’t avoid, and maybe doesn’t want to.

Hạc Cúc of the Snake clan has always been better at poisoning and stabbing than at making friends, but she’s drawn to Nhi’s perceptiveness and obliviousness to social conventions—including the ones that really should make Nhi think twice about spending time with her.

But when their imperial envoy and nominal leader is poisoned, this crew of expendable apprentices will have to learn to work together—fast—before the invisible Tangler can wreak havoc on a civilian city and destroy the fragile reputation of the clans. Along the way, Nhi and Hạc Cúc will have to learn the hardest lesson of to see past their own misconceptions and learn to trust their growing feelings for each other.

At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

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Bodard is back with a new sci fi novella! I believe this one is not set in her Xuya universe, but that just means we get to see her invent a new setting! Which is always interesting; Bodard is an EXCELLENT worldbuilder…

Long Live Evil (Time of Iron, #1) by Sarah Rees Brennan
Genres: Fantasy, Portal Fantasy, New Adult
Representation: Sapphic POV character; major Black bi/pansexual character, secondary F/F
Published on: 30th July/1st August 2024
Goodreads

This adult epic fantasy debut from Sarah Rees Brennan puts the reader in the villain's shoes, for an adventure that is both "brilliant" (Holly Black) and "supremely satisfying" (Leigh Bardugo). Expect a rogue's gallery of villains including an axe wielding maid, a shining knight with dark moods, a homicidal bodyguard, and a playboy spymaster with a golden heart and a filthy reputation.  

When her whole life collapsed, Rae still had books. Dying, she seizes a second chance at a magical bargain that lets her enter the world of her favorite fantasy series.  

She wakes in a castle on the edge of a hellish chasm, in a kingdom on the brink of war. Home to dangerous monsters, scheming courtiers and her favourite fictional character: the Once and Forever Emperor. He’s impossibly alluring, as only fiction can be. And in this fantasy world, she discovers she's not the heroine, but the villainess in the Emperor's tale.  

So be it. The wicked are better dressed, with better one-liners, even if they're doomed to bad ends. She assembles the wildly disparate villains of the story under her evil leadership, plotting to change their fate. But as the body count rises and the Emperor's fury increases, it seems Rae and her allies may not survive to see the final page.

THIS IS A TALE FOR EVERYONE WHO’S EVER FALLEN FOR THE VILLAIN…

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The publication of this one is a little complicated; the Irish and UK ebook is out tomorrow, but the paper release isn’t till 1st August, and the US won’t see it until near the end of August!

It’s SO worth the wait though – I’ve followed Brennan’s career obsessively since her very first novel, Demon’s Lexicon, and this, her Adult debut??? Is MAGNIFICENT. So meta, so delicious, so clever!

My review!

Twisted Magic (Knights of the Twisted Tree Book 1) by Barbara J. Webb
Genres: Adult, Fantasy, Queer Protagonists
Representation: M/M
Published on: 30th July 2024
Goodreads

His magic could heal anything, except a broken heart.

Fleeing losses he can't bear to face and a war he doesn't want to remember, Korin has come to Triome, the greatest city in the world, for a fresh start. But Triome holds its own dark secrets, and Korin may not have left all his enemies behind.

A disease stalks the city, a disease made of magic that only a wizard like Korin can cure. But he can't fight it alone, and his new allies may not be as friendly as they seem. Especially handsome Ádan, who awakens feelings and memories that Korin would rather have left behind, and whose smiling face may be hiding the darkest secret of all.

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I’m always interested in stories about magical healers, and this one looks promising! It’s novella-length, too, so, good for anyone looking for a quicker read.

Deep Black by Miles Cameron
Genres: Adult, Sci Fi
Representation: Black MC, autistic-coded love interest, secondary nonbinary character
Published on: 1st August 2024
Goodreads

Marca Nbaro had always dreamed of serving aboard the Greatships, with their vast cargo holds and a crew that could fill a city.They are the lifeblood of human-occupied space, transporting an unimaginable volume - and value - of goods from City, the greatest human orbital, all the way to Tradepoint at the other, to trade for xenoglas with an unknowable alien species.And now, out in the darkness of space, something is targeting them.

Nbaro and her friends are close to locating their enemy, in this gripping sequel to the award-nominated Artifact Space, but they are running out of time - and their allies are running out of patience . . .

Written by one of the most exciting new voices in SF, this space thriller will keep readers on the edge of their seats.

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I NEED IT SO BAD!!! The first book in this series made my Best of 2021 list, and I have been PINING for the next one, AND IT’S FINALLY NEARLY HERE!!! *grabby hands* Gimme gimme GIMME!

Extremophile by Ian Green
Genres: Adult, Sci Fi
Published on: 1st August 2024
Goodreads

Charlie and Parker are punks by night, biohackers by day, living in the stuttering decay of near-future climate-collapse London.

They pay for the beer they don't steal with money from their sketchy astronomy site Zodiac Code, while Charlie's bio-bespoke augments equip the criminals, punks, and eco-warriors of London. They have to deal with disgruntled clients, scene kids who don't dig their band, and a city that's run by corporates and criminals. Their world is split into three Green – who are still trying to save the world; Blue – who try to profit while they can, and Black – who see no hope left.

When a group of extremist Green activists hire them for a series of jobs ranging from robbery to murder, Charlie – who struggles to feel anything except Black – wants to walk away. But Parker still believes they can make a difference, and urges her to accept.

As they enter an escalating biological arms race against faceless corporations, amoral biohackers, and criminal cyberpunks, Charlie will have to choose what she believes in. Is there still hope, and does she have a right to grab it?

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This sounds extremely weird, but in a most interesting way! The reviews are very mixed though; it seems to be a love-it-or-hate-it.

In the Valley, A Shadow by Samantha Tano
Genres: Adult, Queer Protagonists, Sci Fi
Representation: Trans MC
Published on: 1st August 2024
Goodreads

An action-packed sci-fi western tale of revenge, love, and identity.

The frontier planet Celestine, millennia from now. It was supposed to be the furthest Alix could get from the Xypha Corporation, that all-consuming entity at the heart of humanity’s interstellar expansion.

After the Xypha forward station arrives in orbit, Alix, a transgender pilot, finds herself out of work and her ship grounded. She’ll do anything to pay off her mounting debts so she can fly again—even if it means killing for the meanest crime boss in the Isidis Valley.

As Xypha’s influence grows, Alix is trapped in a web of betrayal and politics that threatens more than just her life.

Armed with a pair of Plasveld-7s, a sharp wit, and with the love of her life by her side, Alix embarks on a deadly path across the valley. Can she flee Xypha’s creeping shadow, or is it time to stop running and stand her ground?

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Anti-corporate trans sci fi??? Um, yes please???

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 #197 appeared first on Every Book a Doorway.

Find Me On The Dark Side: Long Live Evil by Sarah Rees Brennan

Long Live Evil (Time of Iron, #1) by Sarah Rees Brennan
Genres: Fantasy, High Fantasy, Portal Fantasy, New Adult
Representation: Sapphic POV character, secondary bisexual brown/Black character, secondary F/F
Protagonist Age: 20
PoV: Third-person, past-tense; multiple PoVs
Published on: 30th July 2024; 1st August 2024; 27th August 2024
ISBN: B0CD3Q6P4C
Goodreads

This adult epic fantasy debut from Sarah Rees Brennan puts the reader in the villain's shoes, for an adventure that is both "brilliant" (Holly Black) and "supremely satisfying" (Leigh Bardugo). Expect a rogue's gallery of villains including an axe wielding maid, a shining knight with dark moods, a homicidal bodyguard, and a playboy spymaster with a golden heart and a filthy reputation.  

When her whole life collapsed, Rae still had books. Dying, she seizes a second chance at a magical bargain that lets her enter the world of her favorite fantasy series.  

She wakes in a castle on the edge of a hellish chasm, in a kingdom on the brink of war. Home to dangerous monsters, scheming courtiers and her favourite fictional character: the Once and Forever Emperor. He’s impossibly alluring, as only fiction can be. And in this fantasy world, she discovers she's not the heroine, but the villainess in the Emperor's tale.  

So be it. The wicked are better dressed, with better one-liners, even if they're doomed to bad ends. She assembles the wildly disparate villains of the story under her evil leadership, plotting to change their fate. But as the body count rises and the Emperor's fury increases, it seems Rae and her allies may not survive to see the final page.

THIS IS A TALE FOR EVERYONE WHO’S EVER FALLEN FOR THE VILLAIN…

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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~time to make a prophecy happen
~no one is who you think they are
~many vipers, one Cobra
~villains do it with style
~“You don’t have to kill if you don’t like it. I’ll kill them for you.” “Kill who?” “Everyone.”

Take a Thing you love about Brennan’s YA. Now, imagine the Thing is a coin. In fact, every Thing you love, have ever loved, about any and all of Brennan’s YA novels, is now a shiny gold coin.

Reader, Long Live Evil is a full-on DRAGON’S HOARD of gold – and mixed in with all the coins are gems and sceptres and ancient magic blades, ie entirely NEW Things that we have not seen before from Brennan, Things that sparkle and seduce in equal measure! TREASURES GALORE, fellow readers, treasures galore!

(And if you are BEREFT and have never read Brennan’s YA, fear not! I believe all her books are still in print, and you can pick up any and all that sound good to you. Plus, Long Live Evil requires absolutely no prior familiarity with Brennan’s works. If this is your first time reading one of her books, then WELCOME, and also, brace yourself, because this may be her best book yet, and it is one HELL of a ride!)

Rae has cancer. It’s…very bad. So when she’s offered an out, however impossible it sounds, she goes for it – and ends up in the world of her favourite series, Time of Iron.

In book one – the book she remembers the least about.

In the body of a minor villainess – and Rae does remember that this particular villain? Is getting executed tomorrow morning.

Cue a most audacious plan.

Only now did Rae see stories needed more romantic interludes and fewer assassins.

Long Live Evil is just so much freaking FUN! Brennan’s signature humour is on full display here, lambasting genre tropes and stereotypes left, right and centre. Fabulous, witty characters run rings around each other, forming plots to forward The Plot, sharing inside jokes and creating secret handshakes in-between battling monsters, politicking, and doing their best to manifest a prophecy.

But it’s balanced by a not-funny-at-all incisiveness, sometimes wry and usually sharp and very often fucking angry. Rae gets to think – and say – a lot of things a lot of AFAB people think and feel about bodies and health and politics and Fantasy, particularly vaguely-Medieval, patriarchal High or Epic Fantasy, and it’s a breath of fresh air in what can sometimes feel like a very stale genre. The number of times I thought FINALLY SOMEBODY SAID IT as I was reading! I lost count.

Because yep, you can absolutely ‘just’ read this book and allow it to entertain you, and I promise, you will be entertained–

“You speak wicked blasphemy,” hissed Emer.

“Fluently,” said Key.

–especially since Brennan is a master of writing ‘easy’ books – ones that don’t require checking a dictionary every few paragraphs, or a conspiracy board of red wool and coloured pins to keep track of everything, or that leave you exhausted after a chapter or two because damn, reading this is WORK. Reading Long Live Evil is not work. Reading Long Live Evil is a relief, and a roller-coaster, and an intensely moreish delight. And the ease-of-reading quality is priceless, okay, we need to talk about it more when we discuss books. I don’t know how someone undergoing cancer treatment would do, but I was able to read Long Live Evil when I didn’t think I could read anything at all, due to pain or ADD or *waves hand vaguely*. That MATTERS.

It matters that this is a book you can just relax into and enjoy…right up until it grabs you by the throat, anyway.

(I mean, you’ll definitely enjoy that too! But I wouldn’t call the experience relaxing.)

People say, I’ll give anything. The universe listens. But the universe doesn’t listen when you say, Wait, not that.

But – to return to my original point – if you have the desire and/or spoons to give Long Live Evil more of your attention, you will be rewarded. You will find sharp edges only barely hidden by the laughter and glamour; the knife strapped to the thigh, the venom in the pretty viper, the guile behind the innocence. Long Live Evil can be read as pure entertainment, and there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that: it is EXCELLENT entertainment, and any book that makes you laugh, brings you joy, is one to treasure. (There is so much laughter and so much joy in this book.) But it’s important that you know that Long Live Evil can also be read as an intricate, thorny, meta knockout; hiding clues in plain sight; containing layers and layers of spiralling depth; scything into complicated issues; unafraid of dark, heavy themes; and as merciless as it is hilarious.

Rahela’s voice cut like a dagger in a lady’s dainty hand. The weapon might be pearl-handled, but it would hurt.

It’s entirely your call how you choose to engage with this book. Neither is wrong – both are fantastic! But it’s not many storytellers who can give you that option of one or the other in the same book, and Brennan deserves so many gold stars for it, for being able to do it. Most of the time, a story is fun entertainment or deep and meaty: few are both, and even rarer are the ones that manage to do both well, to be great examples of both. Long Live Evil is one of those rare cases, proof that you don’t need to sacrifice depth or emotional complexity for ease-of-reading, exhibit A in any argument that high-brow language, dense prose, or an overly convoluted structure isn’t necessary to pull off a deep, and deeply satisfying, story.

It’s marvellous.

She knew how this story went. Moth, meet flame. Compass, meet true north. Cat hair, meet expensive sweater.

There’s so much to dig into, in this book; so much to revel in. Rae’s decision to be a villain is one that doesn’t immediately seem like an okay call – sure, the idea of being a villain is fun, but do you really want to be awful? But it makes perfect sense: Rae has been transported inside a novel, hasn’t she? So none of what she’s experiencing is really real; none of the places, and certainly not the people. Which means it’s totally okay to be a villain – if anything, this is the best possible time to be a villain, because for once you can be as evil as you want and no one will get hurt. You can let loose! No more need to hold back! Go big or (never) go home, Rae!

“For your information, guys, once I saw through a glass darkly, but now I see plain.

And so much of that is clearly a result of her abrupt freedom from cancer, her sudden possession of a healthy and kind of ridiculously sexy body that allows her to do so much that she wasn’t able to before. No wonder she goes a bit manic, a bit wild! Who wouldn’t? Just the relief of not being in pain would do it, even without suddenly being able to think clearly without struggling, having more energy than she knows what to do with, or being cast as the object of desire that she’s never had the chance to be. (And yes, that last one especially comes with a whole slew of new problems, but that doesn’t mean there’s nothing to appreciate about it.)

There’s an almost endless number of things to love about Long Live Evil, but that – the way Rae’s illness, and then its absence, shapes her and her actions – was such an important, personal thing for me. I have never, thank fuck, been in Rae’s position, but I am chronically ill and disabled and insofar as anyone can get it, I get it. I, too, would go a(t least a) little bit around the bend if I was magically healed without warning; I can imagine the rush, the euphoria, how impossible it would be to take anything seriously after that. Probably many people who found themselves in a book would assume none of the characters are real people – it’s not a very illogical assumption! – but it must be even easier to do so when you’re also high on not being sick any more. Almost everything about Rae, and certainly everything she thinks and does inside the book (that being the novel-within-the-novel, ie not Long Live Evil but Time of Iron) comes back to this.

Marius felt his mouth thin like a piece of paper folded sharply in half. “Alcohol is a crutch.”

“Useful things, crutches,” drawled the Cobra. “Ever see anyone using a crutch they didn’t need?”

That being said, don’t get your hopes up for an actual villain – because Rae really isn’t one. Oh, she’s not nice – she has no interest at all in being nice—

Being nice was nice. Being nasty got shit done.

–but she’s not suddenly stabbing people who annoy her; she’s not pro-torture; and while she’s very into mocking people, she doesn’t blackmail anyone. Rae isn’t evil, and I think that’s very much the point, because one of the many questions asked by this book is who gets called a villain, and why, and do they deserve it?

(And the answer is mostly, the powerless, because they’re powerless, and no.)

Everyone wanted to be on the side of the winners. If it was the victim’s fault, no one had to defend her. Nobody had to fear horror could happen to them. It was more convenient if the victim deserved her fate.

So Rae would do everyone a favour, and deserve it.

Rae isn’t evil…but she thinks she is, and that is a tragedy and horror all by itself. Why does she think she’s evil? Because that’s what the world tells you, if you’re AFAB and not-nice. It’s certainly what you hear when you get really, terribly sick, and you’re blamed for – just about everything. For being not-nice about being in pain, or the ‘friends’ who abandon you, or the world that would really prefer you just not exist. Rereading the first couple of chapters after having read the rest of the book, it’s so clear that Rae identifies with the villains because she, too, is angry. And she’s been told that anger is bad. That her anger is bad, specifically. She’s absorbed, at some point – probably gradually, having heard it for far too long – that her anger makes her bad. A bad person. A villain.

It doesn’t, but it’s heartbreakingly easy to see why she thinks so. So if you find yourself thinking that Rae is a very bad villain – it’s because she isn’t one. It’s because her idea of evil has gotten so immensely twisted, that she thinks being nasty is the same as being evil. It’s because she thinks she deserves to be treated the way villains are treated in stories. And she thinks that because she’s had it beaten into her.

If your suffering was ugly, stories said you deserved it.

The question who gets called a villain? is either the heart of the book or very close to it – but what I found really fun was how Brennan takes it in a very meta direction. Because of course this book is meta – how could it not be, with a modern Fantasy fan actually ending up inside her favourite series? She knows the tropes, the archetypes, the genre conventions! And so the book we’re reading (as opposed to Time of Iron which Rae read and is now inside, although maybe that series too…) is/are in conversation with – basically the whole genre. And its fans. Brennan has done this before – most obviously in The Other Lands – but this is much more overt, much more direct, much more pointed. And while all of it – including the who gets called a villain? question – can (and should) absolutely be applied to the real world too, there’s a lot in here about, or pertinent to, how fans view and engage with fiction and fictional people.

“If the Emperor were real, he would be horrifying.”

“Lucky he’s not real,” Rae snapped back.

This was one of my favourite parts of the book – gleefully seeing all the ways in which our conclusions about characters (*cough*people*cough*) can be so utterly incorrect; all the ways in which we can completely misinterpret what we see. For example, the radiant beauty’s adorable clumsiness? She’s not deliberately making herself seem helpless in order to wrap men around her little finger; nor has she been written as clumsy to make her seem cute by the author (if there IS an author…) of Time of Iron.

It’s that [View post to see spoiler] !!!

And there’s a lot of that – not exactly misunderstandings, but…misleadingings?…where the absence of a crucial detail or two, or a misinterpretation of available information, has resulted in an, at best, dramatically incomplete picture of the people Rae is now living among – and more often, the picture isn’t just incomplete, it’s outright wrong. Upending the fictional fandom’s understanding of Time of Iron’s characters, if only they knew – which also mean’s, Rae’s understanding of those characters.

Which is extremely plot-relevant.

It was possible Rae had underestimated the maidens.

(It does beg the question – who is writing Time of Iron, and why have they kept back those crucial details that completely change everyone’s perception of the affected characters? Is it deliberate, or an accident? If it’s deliberate, why? If it’s an accident, does that mean the characters are somehow more than what’s been written? Or maybe there isn’t a writer, maybe Time of Iron is just a kind of record of real events that are happening to real people in some other world – but that just brings us back to the same question slightly rephrased: who or what is doing the recording? And why are they leaving out what they’re leaving out?)

[Spoiler] gazed at her as though catching sight of his own soul in a mirror. As if he were a starving shark, she the only blood in the world, and all else bitter waters.

Now that I’ve covered all my thoughtful, scholarly Deep Analysis: hi, I fucking love the romance. I do. I love it so much. I NEED MORE PEOPLE TO SHRIEK WITH ABOUT IT. You had better believe that come release day, I am diving right back into this book so I get to experience the whole romance ALL OVER AGAIN.

The love story is – oh, it’s fucked-up and so broken and it’s utterly delicious. Brennan GOES THERE, folx, she has officially Gone Where Other Authors Fear To Tread (again) in giving us a genuinely messed-up love interest (seriously, when was the last time you saw one of those??? IT’S BEEN A WHILE) and no, there are no extenuating circumstances, there’s no understandable reasoning, he’s not secretly good. There’s a little bit of a sob story, sure, but that’s not what made him this way.

And I love it. The devotion from a monster, the living nightmare who worships the ground you walk on, who would burn down whole worlds at your word – sorry-not-sorry, that is my EVERYTHING.

YES.

GOOD.

EXCELLENT.

This is the relationship dynamic I’ve been craving, and I am finally Fed. *chef’s kiss*

(I also, you know, literally screamed out loud when The Thing happened, and then I cried and didn’t pick the book up again for days, and hi, I can’t remember ever being so invested in a straight romance, what in the actual hells. WHAT DARK WITCHERY IS THIS???)

Beneath her hand she felt the rhythmic thunder of his heart. As though he were a real living person. As though she held the drums of war in the hollow of her hand.

(oh, right, THAT witchery!!!)

Look. Look. I don’t know what else to tell you. Long Live Evil is amazing. It will make you laugh and shriek and feel All The Things. It is so much fun. It has so much to say. It is a love-letter to the genre and also an indictment of it and it’s right both ways. It’s a book about books and a story about stories and it is exactly what it wants to be, accomplishes everything it wants to accomplish. It is silly and serious and stupendous.

I must insist you preorder it right away.

Trigger warnings: [View post to see spoiler]

The post Find Me On The Dark Side: Long Live Evil by Sarah Rees Brennan appeared first on Every Book a Doorway.

Two Books I Should Have Skipped: The Lost Story and The Dollmakers

They didn’t deserve posts of their own, okay? That’s why I’m sticking these two together. They have nothing in common except that they’re both written in English and they’re both terrible, and I am SO DONE thinking about either of them.

The Lost Story by Meg Shaffer
Genres: Adult, Fantasy, Portal Fantasy, Queer Protagonists
Representation: M/M, asexual MC
ISBN: 0593598881
Goodreads

Inspired by C. S. Lewis’s The Chronicles of Narnia, this wild and wondrous novel is a fairy tale for grown-ups who still knock on the back of wardrobes—just in case—from the author of The Wishing Game.

As boys, best friends Jeremy Cox and Rafe Howell went missing in a vast West Virginia state forest, only to mysteriously reappear six months later with no explanation for where they’d gone or how they’d survived.

Fifteen years after their miraculous homecoming, Rafe is a reclusive artist who still bears scars inside and out but has no memory of what happened during those months. Meanwhile, Jeremy has become a famed missing persons’ investigator. With his uncanny abilities, he is the one person who can help vet tech Emilie Wendell find her sister, who vanished in the very same forest as Rafe and Jeremy.

Jeremy alone knows the fantastical truth about the disappearances, for while the rest of the world was searching for them, the two missing boys were in a magical realm filled with impossible beauty and terrible danger. He believes it is there that they will find Emilie’s sister. However, Jeremy has kept Rafe in the dark since their return for his own inscrutable reasons. But the time for burying secrets comes to an end as the quest for Emilie’s sister begins. The former lost boys must confront their shared past, no matter how traumatic the memories.

Alongside the headstrong Emilie, Rafe and Jeremy must return to the enchanted world they called home for six months—for only then can they get back everything and everyone they’ve lost.

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 remember when everyone in the SFF book space was Very Upset with Kazuo Ishiguro back when his novel Buried Giant came out, and he was worried about it being taken for Fantasy when it was not. This was taken as an insult to SFF, if I understood correctly. Even Ursula Le Guin was mad! (You can read a summary of events, including Ishiguro’s insistence that actually he didn’t mean it that way at all, with links to everything over here.)

What I remember most clearly, though, are the conversations that sprung up in my corner of the SFF world. There was a lot of scorn for and resentment towards Literary Fic authors using SFF ‘toys’ without caring about them, without knowing how they worked, without committing to writing SFF. I remember not really understanding what that meant.

Well, I get it now. Because The Lost Story reads exactly like it was written by someone who has never read a Fantasy novel before, and has no interest in doing so, writing for people who have never read Fantasy before, and don’t want to.

Does that make sense? Because I don’t know how else to explain it. I’ve read plenty of Fantasy that didn’t have a lot of worldbuilding, or had worldbuilding that I thought was poorly done, and I don’t think that’s the problem here. Lost Story feels…it feels shallow. Specifically in its use of fantastical elements. The fantasy part of it is paper-thin and toothless, passionless, hand-waved. All in all, I never lost the impression that this book just could not (would not?) commit; it wanted to be Literary Fiction, it wanted to be a Romance, it wanted to be a portal-fantasy, and because it couldn’t choose, it failed to be any of them successfully.

(It could have been all three. If you’re a good enough storyteller, you can choose all of the above, when someone asks you to pick a genre. I’ve seen it done! But Shaffer didn’t choose all three, she didn’t choose at all, and that’s why it was a mess.)

I think this book was supposed to coast on vibes and queer rep, but it didn’t do anything interesting with either, so???

The fantasy-land in the book (which, nothing magical happens until the 50% mark, so brace yourself for a good long wait if you do decide you want to read this) is like something you might find in a picture book; it’s not very complex, the names are silly, the villains are cartoonish both in tone and threat-level, etc. And that’s not necessarily a problem! Especially once we learn about the origin of this world (although again, you’ll be waiting a long time for that information). It’s something to be explored and thought about and discussed. The Magicians (the book, not the show so much) had adults going to not-Narnia and loving it despite/because of its…what I can only call its childishness, although that’s not really the right word, I think. It can be done. The relationship between adults and – let’s call it childish wonder is something lots of people have told stories about, across all possible mediums. There’s nothing inherently wrong with that at all.

But The Lost Story doesn’t feel like that. It’s not doing that. It’s the difference between LARPing and putting on a costume for an adult’s Halloween party; the latter is either enjoying the aesthetic of a thing or actively mocking it, generally, but either way, it’s not…engaging with it? Is that what I mean? It doesn’t care. It’s a game. A joke. Something to be wiped off like face-paint when you’re done with it, and completely forgotten, discarded, because it doesn’t matter to you.

I’m not saying that’s wrong. I am saying that if that’s your approach, you’re not going to write a great Fantasy novel.

Shaffer is playing dress-up with Fantasy, taking the aesthetic because it’s pretty and sparkly and not giving one single damn about the heart of it. Like someone dressing punk because they think it looks cool, but not even knowing about the philosophy, never mind misunderstanding or ignoring it. The result might be sparkly, but under the glitter it’s completely hollow.

Case in point: once they made it to fantasy-land, none of the adults in Lost Story minded, or even noticed, that they were basically inside a nursery rhyme. They were totally comfortable making out on a kid’s bed surrounded by fairytale-esque figures painted all over the walls. They never raised an eyebrow at the BasicTM villains, but instead took them deadly seriously. They never commented on or thought about the place names. They never cringed.

I am anti-cringe, I hate cringe-culture, but if you put three grown-ass adults into this setting, I don’t buy that NONE of them will EVER think about how weirdly childish it all is. That all of them are unquestioningly eager to stay here forever. That they all sort of…regress to being children, in a lot of ways? Just, instantly? And none of that is explored at all, none of it seems intentional. The characters just are that way because it’s convenient. They don’t think, like we’re not supposed to think, because this story is so incredibly thin that it tears the moment you brush against it.

I have considered that this might have been purposeful; that possibly Shaffer was trying to do something or say something about how abandoning our childishness is bad, that we should embrace our inner children, something along those lines. But if that was the goal, it fell unbelievably flat. It really felt like Shaffer didn’t WANT to be telling this story: at one point, there’s a fifteen-day span that’s supposed to be filled with epic celebrations – and instead of, you know, actually writing the characters living through it, we get a couple of paragraphs summarising each day before we get to the summary of the next.

NO ONE IS FORCING YOU TO WRITE. IF YOU DON’T WANT TO WRITE IT, DON’T PUT IT IN THERE. The summaries were just…gah! Someone wanting to show off the sparkly thing, without having to put the work in of, you know, actually writing it. What the fuck??? WHY? Don’t write it at all, if you don’t want to write it! How is that hard???

The Big Gay Love Story had no passion, no real emotion in it at all. Same with the Instantly Intense relationships everyone has with Skyla – the queen of fantasy-land – when they meet her; why do they love her so much? No clue. Lost Story touches very briefly on various Serious Topics, but doesn’t bother to explore them or use them or engage with them at all. I don’t even know what to say about the whole ‘abusive dad/gay son’ thing, or [View post to see spoiler] Why is it all so shallow? Why is it so simple and so basic?

[View post to see spoiler]

Skip it. RUN IN THE OTHER DIRECTION. This is such a fucking waste of time for anyone looking for a Fantasy novel – instead of whatever the hells this is.

The Dollmakers by Lynn Buchanan
Genres: Adult, Fantasy, Secondary World Fantasy
PoV: Third-person, past-tense; multiple POVs
Published on: 13th August 2024
Goodreads

In this dark and enchanting stand-alone fantasy from debut author Lynn Buchanan--complete with black and white illustrations and a full-wrap illustrated cover--discover a world centered around destructive, all-consuming monsters; the magical dolls designed to fight this force; and the artisans tasked with creating demon-slaying dolls. A touch cozy fantasy and a touch horror, The Dollmakers is perfect for fans of Studio Ghibli films, the works of TJ Klune and Travis Baldree, and readers of Juniper & Thorn and The Goblin Emperor.

In the country called One, dollmakers are vital members of the community. An artisan’s doll is the height of society’s accomplishments, while a guard’s doll is the only thing standing between the people of One and the Shod: vicious, cobbled monstrosities that will tear apart any structure—living or dead, inanimate or otherwise—to add to their horde.

Apprentice Shean of Pearl is a brilliant dollmaker. With her clever dolls, she intends to outsmart and destroy the Shod, once and for all—a destiny she’s worked her whole life toward accomplishing. But when the time comes for her dolls to be licensed, she’s told her work is too beautiful and delicate to fight. A statement that wounds and infuriates her; the Shod killed everyone she loved. How could her fate be anything but fighting them?

In an attempt to help her see a new path for herself, Shean’s mentor sends her on a journey to the remote village called Web, urging her to glean some wisdom from Ikiisa, a reclusive and well-respected guard dollmaker. But Shean has another plan: if she can convince the village of Web of her talents, the Licensor Guild will have to reconsider and grant her a guard’s license. And what better way to convince them than challenging Ikiisa and instating herself as the official dollmaker of Web? Once she’s done that, proving her dolls’ worth in the fight against the Shod will be simple.

As simple, that is, as calling the Shod to Web...

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 can see why some readers are going to love Dollmakers, but for me the reading experience was painful – and culminated in an ending I found completely maddening.

Painful, because Buchanan’s prose is constantly jarring, with clumsy rhythm and terribly awkward phrasing.

Striving in their wrong, violent way to be repaired, healed.

Ikiisa didn’t know what to do, which was why, outside of running, she hadn’t done anything yet.

his limbs had displayed the violence of trampling.

ripping through [the district] like hail through wood

Is. Is anyone going to tell Buchanan that hail doesn’t tear through wood???

the tight grip she had on Shean’s hand relentless, compelling her to run faster

If these examples don’t bother you, great! You shouldn’t have a problem with the prose. Lucky you. I honestly don’t know why I kept reading – I think I was waiting for it to get as beautiful as its cover.

Never happened.

I don’t want to talk about the plot, because it’s mostly quite predictable – long-time Fantasy readers will see the two biggest reveals coming from a mile away. But I do want to rant talk about how stupid and not-thought through the ending was, as well as how horrible the implications of the third big reveal are and how no one in the book cares.

[View post to see spoiler]

All of this – and all the other, more minor inconsistencies and stupid things – itch like a hundred mosquito bites, and I am so freaking angry about it. Were there some very cool moments? Yes. Did it make some beautiful mind-pictures in my head? Yes. If worldbuilding that doesn’t fit together doesn’t bother you, you may very well enjoy The Dollmakers. Maybe you can enjoy the very half-assed plot, and the vague, shallow characters. But as far as I’m concerned, this was poorly written, poorly thought-out, and painful to read. I should have DNFed it, and I really think you should skip it.

Major, major fails.

The post Two Books I Should Have Skipped: The Lost Story and The Dollmakers appeared first on Every Book a Doorway.

The Only Wrath Is Mine: Between Dragons and Their Wrath by Devin Madson

Between Dragons and Their Wrath (The Shattered Kingdom, #1) by Devin Madson
Genres: Adult, Fantasy, High Fantasy, Queer Protagonists
Representation: Bisexual MCs, MLM MC, F/F, M/M, secondary demisexual character
Published on: 27th July 2024
ISBN: 0316418099
Goodreads

From Aurealis Award‑nominated author Devin Madson comes a new rip-roaring epic fantasy full of dragons, alchemical magic, and forbidden romance that unfolds as three people in a shattered empire become entangled in a looming revolution.

The old kingdom of Paicha has been split into city states, but there are those who seek to reunite the shattered realm—by force if necessary. Amidst the turmoil there are three who will find their destinies inextricably tangled. 

Tesha is a glassblower’s apprentice who becomes a tribute bride when her city is conquered by the south. In the enemy’s court, she’s perfectly placed to sabotage them, but her heart has other plans. 

Naili is a laundress in the house of an eccentric alchemist who is awakening to strange new powers. When radicals approach her, she faces a choice between keeping her magic to herself and using it to change the world. 

And in the desolate Shield Mountains, dragon rider Ash protects the cities from the monsters in the Iipao sands beyond. But, soon he'll have to learn how to protect his dragon when hunters unlock the secret to killing them. 

As war sweeps across the land, Tesha, Naili, and Ash must fight for survival against political enemies, dragon hunters, and monsters both within and without.

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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~one dragon, no wrath
~politics that make no sense
~the blurb is a lie

Well, that sucked.

Between Dragons and Their Wrath starts very strong, in a world that seems fascinating, with glass dragons fighting off monsters on the regular to protect cities joined by glass roads. But it all goes downhill pretty fast.

Mostly because the book focuses on all the wrong things. It’s clear that there’s a lot of cool worldbuilding here, but we see barely any of it, because instead of exploring the colonised population, the strange people fighting alongside the monsters in the desert, or the alleged almost-invaders who are behaving very strangely… Instead of any of that, the only culture we get a good look at are the Regency British stand-ins, and that is just MADDENING.

An example: in the very first chapter, we learn that Apaians don’t have marriage in their culture. Two people tying themselves together exclusively is, apparently, something that’s leaking in from the ruling Emorrans.

“Marriage? Family?” I all but spat the words. “You know as well as I do how dangerous those customs are to our communes and care groups.”

!!! I am so interested!!! What’s a commune in this setting? What’s a care group? What does this culture do in place of/instead of marriage? What is the alternative to family? You don’t have families? Please explain!

Spoiler: it is not explained. The no-families thing is mentioned again near the end of the book, but not once is it explained, and I still have no clue what a care group is or how Apaians arrange things without any kind of marriage.

(And I mean – one of our Apaian MCs has a brother who is the love interest of another MC. They use the same surname, call each other family. So…? Were they raised somewhere that had adopted Emorran ideas of family? Or are they not actually blood-related and something else is going on? What???)

The whole book is like this: sprinkled with incredibly intriguing tidbits or hints that are never explained, never mind expanded on or explored. Even details the whole book hinges on – like the concept of an ‘insult bride’ – are just hand-waved. I genuinely couldn’t believe how much of what was interesting and/or FREAKING IMPORTANT was just glossed over.

” The substitution of a commoner in place of a high-born marriage candidate.”

…

A few solemn, thoughtful nods met this, but I’d missed the part that made it all make sense. “But what will it achieve?” I asked. “It sounds like it will just make Reacher Sormei look bad.”

“Looking bad is political death in Emora,”

Okay, wait. You’re telling me that YOU – the conspirators – passing off a commoner as a noble for the purpose of a treaty-marriage…makes the guy who wants the treaty look bad? Instead of making the noble family who pretends the commoner is their daughter? Why aren’t THEY the ones who look bad? How does that work? Why does it even matter who marries who to seal a treaty when there is no monarchy? Why is there ANY marriage to seal a treaty when no monarchies are involved? Why wouldn’t people think it was the conspirators who’d done wrong, when the substitution becomes public knowledge? Huh???

This is chapter one. The fate of all the cities could hinge on this treaty. And in the 439 pages Between Dragons and Their Wrath is on my Kindle, we’re never told why an insult bride is a thing in this culture, why it has any meaning at all, or how or why exactly it would ruin anyone but the people pulling one over on their elected president-person (the Reacher).

Madson does this with plot too, by the way. The number of times we had events described or summarised for us after the fact instead of having them on-page was UNBELIEVABLE! Particularly with the political intrigue parts; don’t go expecting glittering balls full of people politicking, because those are all skipped over. Don’t expect to see how the wedding night of the insult bride goes, despite what exactly happens being INCREDIBLY PLOT-RELEVANT – we’ll hear the all-important Thing summarised the morning after instead. The story another MC is told about the true origin of the dragons and the world-changing history that’s been buried? Told off-page – we don’t hear a single word if it.

WHY IS THIS LIKE THIS???

The blurb is almost painfully misleading on every count. Tesha – our insult bride – her city isn’t conquered, it accepts a treaty, one most of its politicians seem to want. Naili doesn’t join a rebellion; she joins a criminal gang, not to change the world but out of desperation, having nowhere else to go. Ash does absolutely ZERO protecting of ‘his’ dragon – who we barely see; I think she’s bodily in one chapter, and speaks telepathically in one other, right at the end. There are no dragon hunters. In fact, for a book with dragons in the title, there is an appalling scarcity of them. I’d call the title+blurb combo extremely false advertising.

Even leaving aside the blurb (which after all is not written by or under the control of the author)…nothing really happens in this book. We follow Tesha, Naili, and Ash in alternating chapters, and for the first few chapters of each POV, things are happening…and then they just stop. And drag. And go nowhere. Tesha sits around fretting. Naili performs one (1) burglary. Ash…honestly, everything after Ash left the Citadel of the dragonriders (which happens far too soon) is a vague blur for me, none of it has stayed in my memory, which should tell you everything you need to know. All three get truly terrible sex scenes (which I’ll expand on in a moment). But there’s no character development, no relationship development, no action, no exploration. Just…mehness. Up until the last chapter of each character’s POV, all three of which end on Big! Dramatic!! Cliffhangers!!! because of course they do; it’s a last-ditch attempt to get us interested in what’s going on again, enough to make us want to pick up book two, and friends, I will not be doing that.

(It might have been better if there were fewer POVs – maybe the one or ones that were kept would get more room to breathe and develop. As it was, I think the need to alternate chapters meant that nobody had time for actual plot. It’s as if Between Dragons and Their Wrath was actually a third of its length; this book is functionally three novellas stuck together, and not only do they not overlap each other’s stories, but they are really, really boring novellas.)

I don’t usually comment upon sex scenes in my reviews – I’m not super interested in them, and most of the books I read don’t have super explicit ones. But I have to comment on these, because they are so fucking bad.

In Tesha’s sex scene (each POV character gets just one, remember), she and her ex-boyfriend fuck right before/after her wedding (I can’t remember which, and I do not care), and it would be…fine…except for Tesha saying ‘Please don’t’ TWICE and said ex going ahead anyway. That hit me in all the wrong ways, and I actually didn’t touch the book again for weeks after reading that part. It probably goes without saying that I was also really pissed off that it is 2024 and we still get sex scenes that don’t care about consent, but which we’re totally supposed to approve of anyway. It’s supposed to be hot!

Spoiler: it really isn’t.’

Naili’s sex scene is…honestly bizarre: she apparently went house-breaking without any underwear, because after breaking in, she gets finger-fucked on a table by a woman she hates who hates her back, and there is no mention of underwear being removed or pushed aside to make room for said finger-fucking. There’s also an attempt at dagger-at-your-throat kink, but it’s so rushed it falls very flat.

Ash’s sex scene is the one that had me calling up my friend in publishing, asking if there’s a writing version of intimacy coordinators and do editors keep any on staff, because. What. Besides giving no explanation for why Ash’s love interest is suddenly on board with them getting it on, despite having ignored Ash’s feelings for a good while at this point, Madson also manages to lose track of a cigarette. Which is kind of a big deal, because the making out starts with one character holding it in their teeth, with the lit end in his mouth, offering it to the other that way. You know, so the other guy will have to kiss him to smoke it. And then they are making out. Apparently without setting aside the cigarette.

Can you imagine the burns?!

Perhaps the underwear and cigarette will appear in the published version of the book; I read an arc, after all, and those have typos and things in them sometimes. But that still means Madson originally wrote the scenes as I read them, and hi, I hate all of it. It certainly doesn’t help that the prose is very dull the whole way through the book; there’s certainly no sensual description that might lend itself well to writing sex.

I was so, so excited for this book. I loved the first few chapters. But it’s not what I was led to believe it was, and what it actually is is monotonous and frustrating. It’s not a dragon book, never mind a dragon-rider book. It’s not an intrigue book. It’s not a revolution book. Everything interesting was barely touched on or kicked off-page entirely; too much that was important was kept off-page. I have no idea what the point of this story was, when it deliberately avoids all the cool bits and does nothing with its characters or its world. It certainly wasn’t entertaining – just infuriating.

Go ahead and skip this one – we all deserve better.

The post The Only Wrath Is Mine: Between Dragons and Their Wrath by Devin Madson appeared first on Every Book a Doorway.

I Can’t Wait For…Deep Black by Miles Cameron

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 Deep Black by Miles Cameron!

Deep Black by Miles Cameron
Genres: Adult, Sci Fi
Representation: Black MC, autistic-coded love interest
Published on: 1st August 2024
Goodreads

Marca Nbaro had always dreamed of serving aboard the Greatships, with their vast cargo holds and a crew that could fill a city.They are the lifeblood of human-occupied space, transporting an unimaginable volume - and value - of goods from City, the greatest human orbital, all the way to Tradepoint at the other, to trade for xenoglas with an unknowable alien species.And now, out in the darkness of space, something is targeting them.
Nbaro and her friends are close to locating their enemy, in this gripping sequel to the award-nominated Artifact Space, but they are running out of time - and their allies are running out of patience . . .
Written by one of the most exciting new voices in SF, this space thriller will keep readers on the edge of their seats.

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I am SO FERAL for this book and it’s not even here yet!!! The first book in this series, Artifact Space, is one I’ve reread five or six times since it came out in 2021 – and it made my Best of 2021 list, which will surprise no one who has read it (it being the book, not the list!) It was Miles Cameron’s first sci fi, but you couldn’t tell; it was phenomenal, and still one of my faves!

FINALLY THE SEQUEL IS COMING! I actually thought initially that Artifact Space might be a standalone (I am very bad at being able to tell the difference between a ‘we’re done’ ending and a ‘we’re done FOR NOW’ ending) and I’m so glad it isn’t! I need to know what happens next, if Nbara’s ship makes it back to the City and what is going to happen with all the aliens and also all the various plotlines Cameron introduced in his short story collection earlier this year!!!

But mostly I’m just SO READY for a new dose of Cameron’s inexplicably addictive prose – I have tried and failed many times to explain what it is about it that I find soothing but also fun, writing that turns the most technical, munitae-obsessed scenes into something I can’t get enough of. Gollancz – or maybe just whichever team works on Cameron’s books over there – always publishes Cameron’s books full of typos, and I DON’T CARE. Me, the person who twitches when there’s a misplaced comma! I DON’T CARE. It’s so good I can handle the typos.

DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW FEW AUTHORS I SAY THAT ABOUT???

THAT’S HOW GOOD THE WRITING IS.

Deep Black‘s out next week, so you still have time to get aboard this ship before book two arrives!

The post I Can’t Wait For…Deep Black by Miles Cameron appeared first on Every Book a Doorway.

Must-Have Monday #196

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.

FIVE books this week!

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

In the Shadow of the Fall (Guardians of the Gods, #1) by Tobi Ogundiran
Genres: Adult, Fantasy
Representation: African-coded cast and setting
Published on: 23rd July 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 Tomi Adeyemi.

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

A Most Anticipated Pick for The Millions | Book Riot | Gizmodo | IGN

Ashâke is an acolyte in the temple of Ifa, waiting for the day she becomes a full priest and can go out into the world to serve her orisha. But there is just one problem.

The orisha have refused to speak to her. Not for lack of trying. She’s watched her peers enter the Inner Sanctum—where they’re chosen and bestowed favor by the orisha—and emerge as full priests. She’s endured the jeers and ridicule of younger acolytes, she’s suffered the pity of the senior priests, she’s wallowed in self-pity. No more.

In her desperation, Ashâke builds a device to trap an orisha—any orisha. But when she performs the Rite of Summoning, she experiences a vision so terrible it destroys the device in a blaze of fire, draws the attention of a powerful enemy sect, and thrusts Ashâke into the center of cascading events that will shatter the very foundations of her world.

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I think the US has to wait until early next month, but In The Shadow of the Fall is out in the UK this week! This is Ogundiran’s debut novella, and it’s been garnering a lot of love – which doesn’t surprise me, because it sounds EPIC. Definitely pouncing on this first thing tomorrow!

You can read an excerpt here!

Nicked by M.T. Anderson
Genres: Adult, Fantasy, Historical Fantasy, Queer Protagonists
Representation: M/M
Published on: 23rd July 2024
Goodreads

From the award-winning and bestselling author of Feed comes a raucous and slyly funny adult fiction debut. Based on a bizarre but true quest to steal the mystical corpse of a long-dead saint, Nicked is a fantastical, genre-defying, and delightfully queer historical romp

"Miracles, marvels, saints, sinners, love, plague, and treachery! M. T. Anderson has laid out a medieval feast of a novel, stuffed with everything I could have wished for. If I could canonize him for it, I would. But I’ll settle for shouting about how much I love this book."—Kelly Link, author of The Book of Love

"M. T. Anderson is one of our greatest and most precious voices. His books aren't just brilliantly witty and vastly entertaining, they're fixed stars of wisdom and sanity in our increasingly unhinged universe. When lost, I use them to steer by."—Lev Grossman, author of The Magicians Trilogy

The year is 1087, and a pox is sweeping through the Italian city of Bari. When a lowly monk is visited by Saint Nicholas in his dreams, he interprets the vision as a call to serve the sick. 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 are rumored to weep a mysterious liquid that can heal the sick, Tyun says. For the humble price of a small fortune, he 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 sacrilegious theft. Based on real historical accounts, Nicked is a swashbuckling saga, a medieval novel noir, a meditation on the miraculous, and a monastic meet-cute, filled with wide-eyed wonder at the world that awaits beyond our own borders.

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I’m reading this at the moment, and I was NOT expecting it to be so funny! Nicked is a wry, tongue-in-cheek saint heist; it’s not a comedy, and it’s definitely not your typical heist story, but it is surprisingly fun and very clever, and the writing is excellent. Recommended for those who like their historical fiction a little weird; any and all ex-Catholics; and everyone who knows what a cynocephalus is and is excited about it.

The Ragpicker by Joel Dane
Genres: Adult, Queer Protagonists, Sci Fi
Representation: Gay MC
Published on: 23rd July 2024
Goodreads

The Ragpicker wanders the lush, deserted Earth, haunted by failing avatars and fragmented texts. He’ s searching for traces of his long-dead husband but his journey is interrupted by a girl, Ysmeny, fleeing her remote village. Together they cross the flourishing, treacherous landscape towards sanctuary. Yet the signals and static of the previous age echo in the Ragpicker’ s mind and whisper in the girl’ s dreams, drawing them toward the gap between map and territory— while offering precious hope.

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Meerkat Press is an indie publisher with great taste, and my ears definitely pricked when I heard about Ragpicker. Mysterious blurb! And that cover??? I also read a snarky excerpt (which I enjoyed immensely) somewhere that I can’t find now, which is annoying, but you can find the link to several other excerpts here!

The Extravaganza Eternia by Kristin Osani
Genres: Adult, Fantasy
Published on: 23rd July 2024
Goodreads

Supernatural circus performer Leathan doesn't let herself get close to anyone. It's too painful when her curse literally rips those connections out of her heart. That's why she does her best to weed out the friendship sprouting between her and Renni, the gregarious star of the show.

When Renni is murdered, the ringmaster tasks Leathan with catching his killer. But all signs indicate the culprit is one of the Extravaganza's own, and the more she learns about her fellow troupers, the farther she feels from the truth—and the closer she is to forming fatal new attachments.

A darkly fantastical mystery reminiscent of The Night Circus and Even Though I Knew the End, THE EXTRAVAGANZA ETERNIA will enchant and delight.

Praise for The Extravaganza

"The Extravaganza Eternia is a mesmerising journey through a magical circus full of wondrous creatures with friendship and love as our final destination."

—Eugenia Triantafyllou, author of The Giants of the Violet Sea

"A glittering tale of big top murder that will swing you breathlessly from the dark depths of loneliness and betrayal to the sparkling heights of hope and human perseverance. The circus is in town! Get excited. Osani’s work is not to be missed."

— C.J. Lavigne, author of In Veritas

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Between the beautiful cover and an endorsement from C.J. Lavigne, whose In Veritas made my Best of 2020 list, I am VERY willing to check out this novella. I’m not generally into murder mysteries, but unusual curses, a fantastical circus, and the gorgeous prose I’ve been promised? Yessssssssssss!

So Witches We Became by Jill Baguchinsky
Genres: Horror, Queer Protagonists, YA
Representation: Queer MC(s?)
Published on: 23rd July 2024
Goodreads

If boys will be boys, girls will fight back.

For high school senior Nell and her friends, a vacation house on a private Florida island sounds like the makings of a dream spring break. But Nell brings secrets with her—secrets that fuse with the island's tragic history, trapping them all with a curse that surrounds the island in a toxic, vengeful mist and the surrounding waters with an unseen, devouring beast.

Getting out alive means risking her friendships, her sanity, and even her own life. In order to save herself and her friends, Nell will have to face memories she'd rather leave behind, reveal the horrific truth behind the encounter that changed her life one year ago, and face the shadow that's haunted her since childhood.

Easier said than done.

But when Nell's friends reveal that they each brought secrets of their own, a solution even more dangerous than the curse begins to take shape.

Perfect for fans of Courtney Summers and Rory Power and reading like a YA feminist spin on Stephen King’s The Mist, So Witches We Became is a diverse, queer horror about female friendship, the emotional aftermath of surviving assault, and how to find power in the shadows of your past. 

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Not gonna lie, the tagline in the blurb – ‘if boys will be boys, girls will fight back’ – sounds Most Excellent, and I love me some vengeful girls turning to witchcraft. The reviews are very mixed, though, so I might wait and see what some other reader-friends think before I pick it up.

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 #196 appeared first on Every Book a Doorway.

Between How Great It Sounded and How Great It Wasn’t: The Dissonance by Shaun Hamill

The Dissonance by Shaun Hamill
Genres: Adult, Fantasy, Contemporary or Urban Fantasy
Representation: Black MC with chronic pain, secondary gay POV character
Published on: 23rd July 2024
ISBN: 0593317262
Goodreads

From the acclaimed author of A Cosmology of Monsters comes an epic contemporary fantasy: a story of dark magic, terrible mistakes, and second chances.

"You can never go home again," the saying goes—but Hal, Athena, and Erin have to. In high school, the three were students of the eccentric Professor Marsh, trained in a secret system of magic known as the Dissonance, which is built around harnessing negative emotions: alienation, anger, pain. Then, twenty years ago, something happened that shattered their coven, scattering them across the country, stuck in mundane lives, alone.

But now, terrifying signs and portents (not to mention a pointed Facebook invite) have summoned them back to Clegg, Texas. There, their paths will collide with that of Owen, a closeted teenager from Alabama whose aborted cemetery seance with his crush summoned something far worse: a murderous entity whose desperate, driving purpose includes kidnapping Owen to serve as its Renfield. As Owen tries to outwit his new master, and Hal, Athena, and Erin reckon with how the choices they made as teens might connect to the apocalyptic event unfurling over the Lone Star State, shocking alliances form, old and new romances brew, and three unsuccessful adults and one frightened teen are all that stand between reality and oblivion.

From one of the boldest, most brilliant voices in modern fantastical horror, The Dissonance is a thrilling and beautifully written story of magic and monsters, forgiveness and friendship.

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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~fuckups unite (I say with love)
~BFFs for real
~the more you’re broken, the more you’re magic

I gave The Dissonance a spot on my Unmissable SFF of 2024 list, but it turned out to not deserve it.

By a lot.

Hamill’s prose is very readable, his characters extremely believable (if not especially unique or interesting), and the premise is great. And I was really enjoying myself for the first half of the book! It was looking like it was going to be at least a four-star read.

But that ending. That last, what, 20, 25% or so. There were parts where I could guess what Hamill was trying to do, but it was such a train-wreck.

The Dissonance is told via dual storylines; one following the main characters in their teens back in the 80s, the other set in 2019. (And I’ve got to be honest, knowing Covid was about to hit like a hammer kind of undermined the whole saving-the-world thing for me. Which it shouldn’t, really, but…it’s hard to cheer when you know an even bigger disaster is right around the corner, you know?) Splitting the story like this was fantastic; Hamill does an excellent job of keeping the tensions high as you go back and forth between the two time periods – I was on the edge of my seat waiting for answers about how we got from there to here. The dissonance (hah!) between where Athena, Peter, Hal, and Erin started as teenagers as they begin learning magic, and where they ended up as pretty broken adults? WHAT HAPPENED? One of them has died – how?! They’ve all lost their magic – why?! I was extremely invested!

And the answers turned out to be…so extremely anticlimatic and nonsensical. I couldn’t believe that’s what happened to their magic. (Or rather, why that’s what happened to their magic – the motivation for it was so Because Plot Requires It Is Why.) And I was genuinely pissed off at how hand-wavey and random the character death was, and the complete lack of even an attempt at explaining what the fuck. Literally the only time the other characters try to discuss how or why it happened, Hal complains that thinking about it is hurting his head, and that’s it. It’s just hand-waved. We’re not supposed to question it, I guess.

Except that, in the lead-up to the climax and the climax itself, Hamill does nothing but throw questions at us, dropping out-of-nowhere revelations on us left, right, and centre – none of which had any groundwork laid for them, none of which make any kind of sense, none of which were necessary or even interesting. Oh, x character is evil actually??? Undines have kids how exactly??? That’s why Hal can’t use magic??? That’s what happened to the school??? You made a soul out of fucking what???

[View post to see spoiler]

So much was thrown at us at the last possible minute that added nothing to the story, but was clearly just shoe-horned in to leave room for a potential sequel. I have no objections to writers leaving room for sequels, but for crying out loud, don’t bombard me with info-dump oh yeah AND moments in the last thirty pages!!!

[View post to see spoiler]

The hard emphasis on being broken makes you a Dissonant (aka, gives you the ability to use magic) in the Final Battle actually did not fill me with Epic Feels the way I think it was meant to. It ended up underlining a massive wtf in the worldbuilding. See, there’s a whole Dissonant community out of sight of the rest of us. And there are BIPOC and queer Dissonant groups (which makes perfect sense). But the dominant segment of the Dissonant community are white Christians, which???

Sorry, back up. Explain to me how white Christians are in any way broken? In the sense of being out of tune with/rejected from society??? How the fuck does that work, sir? You’re telling me that THIS demographic are – in the US of A – such outcasts that they experience capital d Dissonance?

Yeah, no. I don’t think so.

It’s so frustrating, because there was so much potential in the Dissonant magic system! I was mad as hell to learn that, oh yeah, there are actual marginalised people among the Dissonants – they have their own communities, even! – but we don’t get to see those, just know that they’re there. I wanted to see those! I wanted to be hanging out with them instead of attending an, I swear to all the gods, white Christian magic convention. At which, unsurprisingly, the levels of arrogance and pretension were unbearable.

That was an actual plot point, that stupid convention, and, just – why? Why would you drag the story in this direction when we could have been seeing actual marginalised groups using magic, seeing what they did with it and how it affected their lives and communities? Why didn’t we see more Dissonance among people in poverty? There was just SO MUCH you could have done with this premise that wasn’t done, for no good reason that I can see.

(Except that it would have been too much work. Because if magic is something marginalised people can do, you have to do actual worldbuilding!!! LE GASP! The very idea! /s)

[View post to see spoiler]

I am begging someone to tell me what the point of any of it was.

(I am being facetious, please don’t actually bother me with how this is supposed to make sense or how The Dissonance is great, actually.)

[View post to see spoiler]

The people-y part of this book was great – the friendship between the four characters was wonderful, and they all felt fully fleshed-out. The ‘normal’-life crap they all had to deal with was done so well that I ached for all of them. The prose was good, and really easy to read. But The Dissonance self-destructs in the final quarter to the point that I just hate it. There’s no one I’d recommend it to.

Just skip it.

Trigger warnings: on-page graphic murder of a small child, on-page graphic murder of teenagers, violence resulting in permanent injury to a main character, dubious consent (both characters are effectively drugged), dubious consent (character has no soul/was made with magic to be another character’s Emotional Support Person), supernatural possession of a decaying body, animal attack/death.

The post Between How Great It Sounded and How Great It Wasn’t: The Dissonance by Shaun Hamill appeared first on Every Book a Doorway.