Siavahda's Blog, page 58
August 31, 2022
I Can’t Wait For…To Shape a Dragon’s Breath by Moniquill Blackgoose
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 To Shape a Dragon’s Breath by Moniquill Blackgoose!
To Shape a Dragon's Breath by Moniquill Blackgoose Genres: Fantasy
Representation: Indigenous MC
Published on: 9th May 2023
Goodreads
{ "@context":"https://schema.org", "@type":"Review", "datePublished": "2022-08-31T07:43:00+00:00", "description": "An Indigenous dragon rider vs colonisers??? Sign me UP", "publisher": { "@type": "Organization", "name": "Every Book a Doorway" }, "url": "https:\/\/everybookadoorway.com\/i-cant-wait-for-to-shape-a-dragons-breath-by-moniquill-blackgoose\/", "itemReviewed": { "@type": "Book", "name": "To Shape a Dragon's Breath", "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Moniquill Blackgoose", "sameAs": "" }, "isbn": "" }, "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Sia", "sameAs": "https:\/\/everybookadoorway.com\/" }, "reviewRating": { "@type": "Rating", "ratingValue": false, "bestRating": "5" }}
A young Indigenous woman enters a colonizer-run dragon academy—and quickly finds herself at odds with the “approved” way of doing things—in the first book of this brilliant new fantasy series.
The remote island of Masquapaug has not seen a dragon in many generations—until fifteen-year-old Anequs finds a dragon’s egg and bonds with its hatchling. Her people are delighted, for all remember the tales of the days when dragons lived among them and danced away the storms of autumn, enabling the people to thrive. To them, Anequs is revered as Nampeshiweisit—a person in a unique relationship with a dragon.
Unfortunately for Anequs, the Anglish conquerors of her land have different opinions. They have a very specific idea of how a dragon should be raised, and who should be doing the raising—and Anequs does not meet any of their requirements. Only with great reluctance do they allow Anequs to enroll in a proper Anglish dragon school on the mainland. If she cannot succeed there, her dragon will be killed.
For a girl with no formal schooling, a non-Anglish upbringing, and a very different understanding of the history of her land, challenges abound—both socially and academically. But Anequs is smart, determined, and resolved to learn what she needs to help her dragon, even if it means teaching herself. The one thing she refuses to do, however, is become the meek Anglish miss that everyone expects.
Anequs and her dragon may be coming of age, but they’re also coming to power, and that brings an important realization: the world needs changing—and they might just be the ones to do it.
I don’t usually feature books with teenage MCs – I read them less and less often – but I LIT UP when I discovered To Shape a Dragon’s Breath! And can you blame me?! Look at that description!!!
I’ve wracked my brains, but I can’t come up with another dragon book that takes on colonialism and racism (if you know of any, please share, because I’d love to read them!), or a dragon book with an Indigenous MC. (Again, if you know some, drop me a comment!) So that immediately has my attention!
And mega points to whoever wrote the blurb, because this story already has me by the throat. The flash of pure outrage I felt at the idea of Anequs having to struggle through a damned coloniser school – and her dragon’s life is on the line?! l instantly wanted to burn the school to the ground, and drive the Anglish into the sea to drown.
Hi, I’m already extremely invested, is what I’m saying here.
On another note, I’m very interested in seeing Blackgoose’s dragons, because between the style of the cover art and the mention in the blurb of dragons driving storms away, it sounds like these dragons are not based on the typical fire-breathing, Western European dragons we usually see in fantasy. (Or maybe there are different kinds?) I’m a myth-nerd, okay, I’m excited for dragons inspired by other mythologies – or even if they’re not inspired by any mythology in particular, and ‘just’ invented by the author.
Basically, there is nothing I don’t love about this – I need this book yesterday!!!
The post I Can’t Wait For…To Shape a Dragon’s Breath by Moniquill Blackgoose appeared first on Every Book a Doorway.
August 30, 2022
August DNFs
It’s a miracle – only one DNF this month!!! That’s officially a new record!
Lavender House by Lev A.C. Rosen Representation: Gay Mc, secondary M/M and F/F
Published on: 18th October 2022
ISBN: B09NK7VYGF
Goodreads
Lavender House, 1952: the family seat of recently deceased matriarch Irene Lamontaine, head of the famous Lamontaine soap empire. Irene’s recipes for her signature scents are a well guarded secret - but it's not the only one behind these gates. This estate offers a unique freedom, where none of the residents or staff hide who they are. But to keep their secret, they've needed to keep others out. And now they're worried they're keeping a murderer in.
Irene’s widow hires Evander Mills to uncover the truth behind her mysterious death. Andy, recently fired from the San Francisco police after being caught in a raid on a gay bar, is happy to accept - his calendar is wide open. And his secret is the kind of secret the Lamontaines understand.
Andy had never imagined a world like Lavender House. He's seduced by the safety and freedom found behind its gates, where a queer family lives honestly and openly. But that honesty doesn't extend to everything, and he quickly finds himself a pawn in a family game of old money, subterfuge, and jealousy—and Irene’s death is only the beginning.
When your existence is a crime, everything you do is criminal, and the gates of Lavender House can’t lock out the real world forever. Running a soap empire can be a dirty business.
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.
{ "@context":"https://schema.org", "@type":"Review", "datePublished": "2022-08-30T20:53:00+00:00", "description": "I am shocked. SHOCKED!", "publisher": { "@type": "Organization", "name": "Every Book a Doorway" }, "url": "https:\/\/everybookadoorway.com\/august-dnfs\/", "itemReviewed": { "@type": "Book", "name": "Lavender House", "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Lev A.C. Rosen", "sameAs": "" }, "isbn": "B09NK7VYGF" }, "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Sia", "sameAs": "https:\/\/everybookadoorway.com\/" }, "reviewRating": { "@type": "Rating", "ratingValue": 3, "bestRating": "5" }}This is a perfectly decent book, but it’s not what I was hoping for. One thing that really needs to be emphasised is that this is absolutely not a queer Knives Out, which I’ve seen it described as. Lavender House is a surprisingly cosy murder-mystery, but it doesn’t have the sharp, complex vibes of Knives Out, and there’s no similarity in the casts. There’s no wacky but brilliant Pl, and these characters do not, in fact, all have their knives out ready to backstab each other.
And that’s fine! Taken on its own merits, Lavender House is very readable, a quick little book that flows along nicely. But it’s a lot more about being closeted – and experiencing a safe haven for the first time – than it is the murder. That also would have been fine, but I misunderstood or misread something, because I was expecting more of a commune thing, and in fact this has quite a small cast – Lavender House isn’t a safe haven for lots of unrelated queer people, it’s a single family and a few servants. And to be honest, I wasn’t very interested in any of them.
I can see it being deeply appealing to the right reader, but it couldn’t quite hold my interest, unfortunately – although to be fair, at least some of that is because I went in with the wrong expectations.
Maybe next month we’ll have no DNFs. Wouldn’t that be something?
The post August DNFs appeared first on Every Book a Doorway.
August 29, 2022
Must-Have Monday #100!
It’s the HUNDREDTH Must-Have Monday!!!
And the world seems to know it, because we have appropriately awesome books releasing this week!
A Taste of Gold and Iron by Alexandra Rowland Genres: Fantasy, Secondary World Fantasy, Queer Protagonists
Representation: Brown cast, gay MC, bisexual/demisexual autistic-coded MC, secondary pansexual character, secondary asexual nonbinary character, tertiary nonbinary characters, queernorm world
Published on: 30th August 2022
Goodreads
{ "@context":"https://schema.org", "@type":"Review", "datePublished": "2022-08-29T20:29:00+00:00", "description": "Demons and zombies, quests and magic schools, and royal romances galore! ", "publisher": { "@type": "Organization", "name": "Every Book a Doorway" }, "url": "https:\/\/everybookadoorway.com\/must-have-monday-100\/", "itemReviewed": { "@type": "Book", "name": "A Taste of Gold and Iron", "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Alexandra Rowland", "sameAs": "" }, "isbn": "" }, "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Sia", "sameAs": "https:\/\/everybookadoorway.com\/" }, "reviewRating": { "@type": "Rating", "ratingValue": false, "bestRating": "5" }}
Now an Indie Next pick! A Most Anticipated Pick for BookRiot | FanFi Addict | The Nerd Daily | io9 | We Are Bookish | Buzzfeed
“A delicious tangle of romance, fealty, and dangerous politics.”—Tasha Suri
The Goblin Emperor meets "Magnificent Century" in Alexandra Rowland's A Taste of Gold and Iron, where a queer central romance unfolds in a fantasy world reminiscent of the Ottoman Empire.
Kadou, the shy prince of Arasht, finds himself at odds with one of the most powerful ambassadors at court—the body-father of the queen's new child—in an altercation which results in his humiliation.
To prove his loyalty to the queen, his sister, Kadou takes responsibility for the investigation of a break-in at one of their guilds, with the help of his newly appointed bodyguard, the coldly handsome Evemer, who seems to tolerate him at best. In Arasht, where princes can touch-taste precious metals with their fingers and myth runs side by side with history, counterfeiting is heresy, and the conspiracy they discover could cripple the kingdom’s financial standing and bring about its ruin.
Rowland has been a long-time fave of mine, but I’m not going to lie, A Taste of Gold and Iron excited me more than any of their previous works! And there was no let-down; I’ve read this already, and not only is it Rowland’s best book yet, it’s everything I could possibly want. The prose is gorgeous, I loved the worldbuilding, and I adored the characters and their romance (and all the political intrigue going on around their romance!) It’s an unbelievably beautiful book from start to finish.
You can read my review over here!
The Spear Cuts Through Water by Simon Jimenez Genres: Fantasy, Epic Fantasy, Secondary World Fantasy, Queer Protagonists
Representation: Brown cast, amputee MC, M/M
Published on: 30th August 2022
Goodreads
{ "@context":"https://schema.org", "@type":"Review", "datePublished": "2022-08-29T20:29:00+00:00", "description": "Demons and zombies, quests and magic schools, and royal romances galore! ", "publisher": { "@type": "Organization", "name": "Every Book a Doorway" }, "url": "https:\/\/everybookadoorway.com\/must-have-monday-100\/", "itemReviewed": { "@type": "Book", "name": "The Spear Cuts Through Water", "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Simon Jimenez", "sameAs": "" }, "isbn": "" }, "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Sia", "sameAs": "https:\/\/everybookadoorway.com\/" }, "reviewRating": { "@type": "Rating", "ratingValue": false, "bestRating": "5" }}
A reluctant warrior goes on the run with an ancient goddess through a lush world full of wild magic, wondrous creatures, and hidden enemies in this beautiful epic fantasy from the author of The Vanished Birds .
In the land of the Strangled Throat, the people suffer under the rule of a despotic Emperor. His sons, the Three Terrors, despoil the countryside and oppress its citizens. When Keema Daware--a fierce warrior who lost his left arm in battle--finds the mythic Empress, who has escaped from her royal imprisonment, at his sentry outpost, he must make a choice: turn her in and evade the wrath of the Three Terrors, or help her overthrow the government and free a nation.
This is another masterpiece, albeit very different from A Taste of Gold and Iron! Jimenez does awe-inspiring things with structure and perspective here, and the result is an epic fantasy that defies description. (In the best way!)
For my full thoughts, you can check out my review!
Be the Serpent (October Daye, #16) by Seanan McGuire Genres: Fantasy, Contemporary or Urban Fantasy
Representation: Secondary F/F, queernorm culture
Published on: 30th August 2022
Goodreads
{ "@context":"https://schema.org", "@type":"Review", "datePublished": "2022-08-29T20:29:00+00:00", "description": "Demons and zombies, quests and magic schools, and royal romances galore! ", "publisher": { "@type": "Organization", "name": "Every Book a Doorway" }, "url": "https:\/\/everybookadoorway.com\/must-have-monday-100\/", "itemReviewed": { "@type": "Book", "name": "Be the Serpent (October Daye, #16)", "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Seanan McGuire", "sameAs": "" }, "isbn": "" }, "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Sia", "sameAs": "https:\/\/everybookadoorway.com\/" }, "reviewRating": { "@type": "Rating", "ratingValue": false, "bestRating": "5" }}
October Daye is finally something she never expected to be: married. All the trials and turmoils and terrors of a hero’s life have done very little to prepare her for the expectation that she will actually share her life with someone else, the good parts and the bad ones alike, not just allow them to dabble around the edges in the things she wants to share. But with an official break from hero duties from the Queen in the Mists, and her family wholly on board with this new version of “normal,” she’s doing her best to adjust.
It isn’t always easy, but she’s a hero, right? She’s done harder.Until an old friend and ally turns out to have been an enemy in disguise for this entire time, and October’s brief respite turns into a battle for her life, her community, and everything she has ever believed to be true.
The debts of the Broken Ride are coming due, and whether she incurred them or not, she’s going to be the one who has to pay.
This is the SIXTEENTH book in the October Daye series, and I can’t believe how far Toby (and the rest!) have come since Rosemary & Rue!!! (And how lucky we are as readers. SIXTEEN BOOKS!)
I think this book is the beginning of a new plot arc? Or stuff McGuire has laid the groundwork for ages ago is going to cohere and come up swinging? Maybe both??? Either way, when asked over on Tumblr which books we should reread to prepare for Be the Serpent, McGuire listed
Rosemary & RueAn Artificial NightA Killing FrostWhen Sorrows ComeI have not done my assigned rereading yet, but I do have Be the Serpent preordered and may just jump into it without the refresher…
These Imperfect Reflections: Short Stories by Merc Fenn Wolfmoor Genres: Fantasy, Queer Protagonists, Sci Fi
Representation: Queer MCs
Published on: 30th August 2022
Goodreads
{ "@context":"https://schema.org", "@type":"Review", "datePublished": "2022-08-29T20:29:00+00:00", "description": "Demons and zombies, quests and magic schools, and royal romances galore! ", "publisher": { "@type": "Organization", "name": "Every Book a Doorway" }, "url": "https:\/\/everybookadoorway.com\/must-have-monday-100\/", "itemReviewed": { "@type": "Book", "name": "These Imperfect Reflections: Short Stories", "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Merc Fenn Wolfmoor", "sameAs": "" }, "isbn": "" }, "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Sia", "sameAs": "https:\/\/everybookadoorway.com\/" }, "reviewRating": { "@type": "Rating", "ratingValue": false, "bestRating": "5" }}
What's the price of revolution backed by artificial intelligence? Can you change the past to free ghosts trapped in endless loops? Do fairy tales always end the same way?
Follow a battle poet on aer quest to save a kingdom; witness the last documentary about alien whales; and travel with the Wolf who is prophesied to eat the sun as they look for alternatives to their fate.
From living trains to space stations populated with monsters, these eleven fantasy and science fiction stories from Merc Fenn Wolfmoor will take you on otherworldly adventures that are tethered to the heart.
Since reading Wolfmoor’s The Wolf and the Wild Hunt (review here) I’ve been pouncing on everything of theirs I can get my hands on – and have yet to be disappointed! So I’m really excited for their latest collection – I can’t wait to dive in!
Moon Dark Smile (Night Shine, #2) by Tessa Gratton Genres: Fantasy, Secondary World Fantasy, Queer Protagonists
Representation: Queer MC, nonbinary MC, trans MC, secondary polyamory M/NB/F
Published on: 30th August 2022
Goodreads
{ "@context":"https://schema.org", "@type":"Review", "datePublished": "2022-08-29T20:29:00+00:00", "description": "Demons and zombies, quests and magic schools, and royal romances galore! ", "publisher": { "@type": "Organization", "name": "Every Book a Doorway" }, "url": "https:\/\/everybookadoorway.com\/must-have-monday-100\/", "itemReviewed": { "@type": "Book", "name": "Moon Dark Smile (Night Shine, #2)", "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Tessa Gratton", "sameAs": "" }, "isbn": "" }, "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Sia", "sameAs": "https:\/\/everybookadoorway.com\/" }, "reviewRating": { "@type": "Rating", "ratingValue": false, "bestRating": "5" }}
The fate of an Empire lies with a headstrong Heir and a restless demon in this lush YA fantasy for fans of Laini Taylor and Girl, Serpent, Thorn.
Ever since she was a girl, Raliel Dark-Smile’s best friend has been the great demon that lives in the palace. As the daughter of the Emperor, Raliel appears cold and distant to those around her, but what no one understands is that she and the great demon, Moon, have a close and unbreakable bond and are together at all times. Moon is bound to the Emperor and his two consorts, Raliel’s parents, and when Raliel comes of age, she will be bound to Moon as well, constrained to live in the Palace for the rest of her days.
Raliel is desperate to see the Empire Between Five Mountains, and she feels a deep kinship with Moon, who longs to break free of its bonds. When the time finally arrives for Raliel’s coming of age journey, she discovers a dangerous way to take Moon with her, even as she hides this truth from her travel companion, the beautiful, demon-kissed bodyguard Osian Redpop. But Osian is hiding secrets of his own, and when a plot surfaces that threatens the Empire, Raliel will have to decide who she can trust and what she’ll sacrifice for the power to protect all that she loves.
This was another of my most anticipated books of the year, and it did not let me down; a beautiful, graceful fantasy about freedom and magic and becoming More, it was an instant favorite.
A Taste Of Magic (Park Row Magic Academy, #1) by J. Elle Genres: Fantasy, Contemporary or Urban Fantasy
Representation: Black MC
Published on: 30th August 2022
Goodreads
{ "@context":"https://schema.org", "@type":"Review", "datePublished": "2022-08-29T20:29:00+00:00", "description": "Demons and zombies, quests and magic schools, and royal romances galore! ", "publisher": { "@type": "Organization", "name": "Every Book a Doorway" }, "url": "https:\/\/everybookadoorway.com\/must-have-monday-100\/", "itemReviewed": { "@type": "Book", "name": "A Taste Of Magic (Park Row Magic Academy, #1)", "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "J. Elle", "sameAs": "" }, "isbn": "" }, "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Sia", "sameAs": "https:\/\/everybookadoorway.com\/" }, "reviewRating": { "@type": "Rating", "ratingValue": false, "bestRating": "5" }}
NYT bestseller J. Elle makes her MG debut in the delightful story of a girl who bakes up a plan to save her inner-city magic school.
Twelve-year-old Kyana has just discovered she’s a witch! This means classes every Saturday at Park Row Magic Academy, a learning center hidden in the back of the local beauty shop, and Kyana can’t wait to learn spells to help out at home. The only downside is having to keep her magic a secret from her BFF, Nae. But when the magic school loses funding, the students must pay huge fees at the fancy school across town or lose their magic! Determined to help, Kyana enters a baking contest with a big cash prize. Will she be able to keep up her grades while preparing for the competition and without revealing her magic? What about when a taste of magic works its way into her cupcakes?
Exciting up-and-coming author J. Elle combines the perfect balance of real-world issues and magical mishaps to create real magic.
This sounds very sweet, and I’ve really enjoyed Elle’s prose in the past, so I’ve been looking forward to meeting Kyana and her friends!
Unraveller by Frances Hardinge Published on: 1st September 2022
Goodreads
{ "@context":"https://schema.org", "@type":"Review", "datePublished": "2022-08-29T20:29:00+00:00", "description": "Demons and zombies, quests and magic schools, and royal romances galore! ", "publisher": { "@type": "Organization", "name": "Every Book a Doorway" }, "url": "https:\/\/everybookadoorway.com\/must-have-monday-100\/", "itemReviewed": { "@type": "Book", "name": "Unraveller", "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Frances Hardinge", "sameAs": "" }, "isbn": "" }, "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Sia", "sameAs": "https:\/\/everybookadoorway.com\/" }, "reviewRating": { "@type": "Rating", "ratingValue": false, "bestRating": "5" }}Kellen and Nettle live in a world where anyone can create a life-destroying curse, but only one person has the power to unravel them. But not everyone is happy he can do so and, suddenly, he’s in a race to save both himself and all those who have been touched by magic…
A spell-binding new tale from the master of speculative fiction.
Hardinge is on my list of auto-buy authors, and I can’t envision a future where she isn’t! Even knowing almost nothing about Unraveller, I’ve been pining to get my hands on it!
This is the UK release – I don’t think it’s out in the USA until January – but that’s not gonna stop me!
Timberdark by Darren Charlton Genres: Queer Protagonists, Sci Fi
Representation: M/M
Published on: 1st September 2022
Goodreads
{ "@context":"https://schema.org", "@type":"Review", "datePublished": "2022-08-29T20:29:00+00:00", "description": "Demons and zombies, quests and magic schools, and royal romances galore! ", "publisher": { "@type": "Organization", "name": "Every Book a Doorway" }, "url": "https:\/\/everybookadoorway.com\/must-have-monday-100\/", "itemReviewed": { "@type": "Book", "name": "Timberdark", "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Darren Charlton", "sameAs": "" }, "isbn": "" }, "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Sia", "sameAs": "https:\/\/everybookadoorway.com\/" }, "reviewRating": { "@type": "Rating", "ratingValue": false, "bestRating": "5" }}
With the tide turned against the Dead, Peter and the remaining community on Wranglestone prepare to leave for town, where the comforts of the world before await them. Could this be the home that finally brings both safety and unity for all?
Cooper isn't so sure. He harbours feelings from that terrible night on the lake and worse, a secret... codename, Timberdark.
With Cooper's new found connection to the Dead, Peter's suspicions about what he might do next grow. Faced with losing the boy he loves, Peter must uncover the truth about the mysterious Timberdark before their future together and the world around them is placed in danger.
Timbderdark is the sequel to last year’s Wranglestone, which I haven’t read yet but which is waiting for me on my tbr! Hopefully knowing there’s a sequel now will help me get it read, so I can dive into Timberdark!
Will you be reading any of these? Let me know!
The post Must-Have Monday #100! appeared first on Every Book a Doorway.
August 27, 2022
Hold the Moon Beneath Your Heart: Moon Dark Smile by Tessa Gratton
Moon Dark Smile (Night Shine, #2) by Tessa Gratton Genres: Fantasy, Secondary World Fantasy, Queer Protagonists
Representation: Queer MC, nonbinary MC, trans MC, secondary polyamory M/NB/F
PoV: Third-person, past tense, multiple PoVs
Published on: 30th August 2022
ISBN: B09JPHLF2G
Goodreads
The fate of an Empire lies with a headstrong Heir and a restless demon in this lush YA fantasy for fans of Laini Taylor and Girl, Serpent, Thorn.
Ever since she was a girl, Raliel Dark-Smile’s best friend has been the great demon that lives in the palace. As the daughter of the Emperor, Raliel appears cold and distant to those around her, but what no one understands is that she and the great demon, Moon, have a close and unbreakable bond and are together at all times. Moon is bound to the Emperor and his two consorts, Raliel’s parents, and when Raliel comes of age, she will be bound to Moon as well, constrained to live in the Palace for the rest of her days.
Raliel is desperate to see the Empire Between Five Mountains, and she feels a deep kinship with Moon, who longs to break free of its bonds. When the time finally arrives for Raliel’s coming of age journey, she discovers a dangerous way to take Moon with her, even as she hides this truth from her travel companion, the beautiful, demon-kissed bodyguard Osian Redpop. But Osian is hiding secrets of his own, and when a plot surfaces that threatens the Empire, Raliel will have to decide who she can trust and what she’ll sacrifice for the power to protect all that she loves.
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.
{ "@context":"https://schema.org", "@type":"Review", "datePublished": "2022-08-27T19:27:00+00:00", "description": "Would you risk an empire to set a demon free?", "publisher": { "@type": "Organization", "name": "Every Book a Doorway" }, "url": "https:\/\/everybookadoorway.com\/hold-the-moon-beneath-your-heart-moon-dark-smile-by-tessa-gratton\/", "itemReviewed": { "@type": "Book", "name": "Moon Dark Smile (Night Shine, #2)", "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Tessa Gratton", "sameAs": "" }, "isbn": "B09JPHLF2G" }, "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Sia", "sameAs": "https:\/\/everybookadoorway.com\/" }, "reviewRating": { "@type": "Rating", "ratingValue": 5, "bestRating": "5" }} Highlights~let’s steal a demon
~nonbinary emperors are an inspiration
~unicorns always know
~never go swimming without your gills
~names are everything
Moon Dark Smile is the standalone sequel to Night Shine, aka one of my favourite books of 2020 (and of the last decade, for that matter). You don’t need to have read Night Shine to enjoy Gratton’s latest exquisite fantasy, but I strongly recommend you do – both because it gives you the backstory of and insight into many of Moon Dark Smile’s characters, and because it’s an objectively wonderful book.
But we’re not here to talk about Night Shine.
Raliel is the Heir to the Moon – daughter of the Emperor, one day to be Empress herself. Unlike her three parents, she isn’t able to take off the cool poise of her public self at the end of the day – it’s not a mask for her, but all she has. Which is maybe part of the reason her only real friendship is with Moon, the Great Demon of the palace. And that friendship is a big part (but not the only part) of why she steals Moon away to try and find out how to set it free from its binding to the royal family.
(Demons and spirits in Raliel’s world have nothing to do with good or evil, btw, or any kind of heaven or hell. A spirit is a being of aether – feel free to think of it as magic or energy – and demons are just spirits whose ‘house’ – their anchor to the material world – has been destroyed. A Great Spirit is one who is extremely powerful; a Great Demon is created when a Great Spirit’s house is destroyed. They have differing abilities, but superficially aren’t hugely different.
I say this so you understand that while Moon is extremely unhuman, it isn’t evil, and what Raliel does involves no Satanic bargains or whatever. Toss those kinds of preconceptions aside for this book.)
I went into Moon Dark Smile expecting to love it – it was one of my most anticipated books of the year! – and Gratton MORE than delivered. Between the elegantly shining prose, the expanded look at one of my favourite fictional realms, a plot whose twists and turns I completely failed to predict, and a trio of main characters who defied convention, I was swooning by the time I reached chapter three.
Superficially, the plot sounds fairly conventional; Raliel goes on a quest seeking a magical goal, even if it’s not an object. It is, in large part, a journeying story, both in the literal sense and in the personal growth sense – Raliel goes questing under the cover of the traditional Heir’s Journey, and one of her goals is to figure out who she is, find a sense of self, become more. She doesn’t really know who she is, and she wants to learn. We’ve seen this character arc before.
But it stands out from typical journeying plotlines in a few ways. The first is that Raliel (and Moon, and Raliel’s guard/companion Osian) do not have a set destination, or a specific quest object they’re looking for. Raliel and Moon genuinely do not know how to alter or end the binding between Moon and the imperial family, and they don’t have a single wise individual they can set out to talk to about it. This could have resulted in a very vague, lacking-direction kind of plot, but it didn’t; it felt very believable to me, and made Raliel and Moon even more sympathetic. It’s too easy to imagine being in their shoes and just having absolutely no idea where to even start, despite all their passion and determination to accomplish their goal.
The second thing is the emotional journey aspect, the development of the characters and the dynamics between them over the course of their travels. I adored all three of the main cast – Raliel, Moon, and Osian – but the way the relationships between them evolved? I didn’t see any of it coming. Things I expected or took for granted – because things always go That Way, especially in YA – didn’t happen at all, and I was completely blindsided (albeit delighted!) by other developments. I can’t emphasise enough how much I love to be surprised, how much I appreciate it when storytellers don’t take the expected, conventional approach or route – and I should have known better, because Gratton’s stories are always packed full of the best kind of surprises.
Onto the characters themselves. I had immense sympathy for Raliel, who is cool and reserved because she doesn’t know how not to be – who is aware of her privilege, but also fiercely devoted to her responsibilities, including responsibilities she discovers or takes on for herself; no one ever tells her that Moon’s situation is unjust, but once she realises that it is, nothing is going to stop her from fixing it. As someone who also struggles to emote correctly and quit repressing my feelings, watching her learn how to laugh? Was absolutely wonderful.
Osian is a cinnamon roll. Enough said.
Moon is unabashedly my favourite character; feral, strange, vicious, selfish, and very very alien – what’s not to love? I adore non-human characters who really feel not-human-at-all, and at no point can the reader ever forget that Moon is seriously Other. Sometimes that manifests in lines that make you laugh; sometimes it’ll have your jaw dropping; more than once it made the hair on the back of my neck stand up. Moon is not nice, and dear gods no one should forget that – but Moon is just so fascinating, and this is very much a story of its personal growth too, it figuring out who and what it wants to be, if it does eventually get a say in those things.
And it was a pure joy to see old favourites again; Night Shine and Shadows make reappearances in this book, as do Kirin and Sky – now joined by Kirin’s second consort, Elegant Waters, who is absolutely fabulous in every way – and even the Selegan! I was so happy to get updates on them all, twenty years after the end of the previous book.
But the heart of Moon Dark Smile is, understandably, the relationship between Raliel and Moon, which I long to write an essay on; the possessiveness and the passion, the initially forced codependency that becomes a silky deliciousness for them both, the sensuality of it (and I mean that literally, in how they explore and experience and share physical sensation and stimuli together), the not-insignificant thread of danger winding through it all. It’s a love story, but a love story for those of us who love monsters, who want to be them or embrace them or both, and I loved every second of it.
Plus, seeing Raliel and Moon both come into their power, rising and claiming it, standing defiant together before everything and everyone who said it was impossible? I get goosebumps just thinking about it. It’s this glorious epic triumphant arc of becoming MORE and I cannot even, okay? It’s perfect. It’s just perfect.
I would call this a silken book rather than a slow one; it never felt meandering to me, or like there was nothing pushing the story onwards. There are threats and danger aplenty, monsters and sorcerers and deadly magics; we have a number of what might be called action scenes, and although none of them are conventional battles, they still had me glued to the pages, holding my breath. At the same time, a lot of Moon Dark Smile felt languid, lingering, luxuriating in a kind of decadent richness that flowed between introspection and sensory celebration, magical experimentation and character-and-relationship-development, exploring and discovering the potential of the characters and of magic.
(And the showdown. THE FINALE. There was nothing languid about that. I swear my heart stopped and my breath caught and, just, WOW.)
This is a story that makes you feel; it had me laughing and biting my nails, swearing and cheering, raging and panicking, weepy-eyed and grinning. But most of all, it left me glowing. I am EXULTANT that Gratton decided to come back to this world, and I could not be happier with this book. There’s nothing I’d critique, nothing I’d change; I want to hug it to my chest and spin around with glittery GLEE. Moon Dark Smile is exquisite and extraordinary, idiosyncratic as only a Gratton book can be – and as expected, it’s my newest favourite fantasy.
Give it a chance, and it’ll be your newest fave too.
The post Hold the Moon Beneath Your Heart: Moon Dark Smile by Tessa Gratton appeared first on Every Book a Doorway.
August 25, 2022
Truly, Genuinely Unique Epic Fantasy: The Spear Cuts Through Water by Simon Jimenez
The Spear Cuts Through Water by Simon Jimenez Genres: Fantasy, Epic Fantasy, Secondary World Fantasy, Queer Protagonists
Representation: Brown cast, amputee MC, M/M
Published on: 30th August 2022
ISBN: B08MPV7Z6Q
Goodreads
A reluctant warrior goes on the run with an ancient goddess through a lush world full of wild magic, wondrous creatures, and hidden enemies in this beautiful epic fantasy from the author of The Vanished Birds .
In the land of the Strangled Throat, the people suffer under the rule of a despotic Emperor. His sons, the Three Terrors, despoil the countryside and oppress its citizens. When Keema Daware--a fierce warrior who lost his left arm in battle--finds the mythic Empress, who has escaped from her royal imprisonment, at his sentry outpost, he must make a choice: turn her in and evade the wrath of the Three Terrors, or help her overthrow the government and free a nation.
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.
{ "@context":"https://schema.org", "@type":"Review", "datePublished": "2022-08-25T09:13:40+00:00", "description": "This is, genuinely, like nothing I have ever seen, read, or heard of before.", "publisher": { "@type": "Organization", "name": "Every Book a Doorway" }, "url": "https:\/\/everybookadoorway.com\/truly-genuinely-unique-epic-fantasy-the-spear-cuts-through-water-by-simon-jimenez\/", "itemReviewed": { "@type": "Book", "name": "The Spear Cuts Through Water", "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Simon Jimenez", "sameAs": "" }, "isbn": "B08MPV7Z6Q" }, "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Sia", "sameAs": "https:\/\/everybookadoorway.com\/" }, "reviewRating": { "@type": "Rating", "ratingValue": 5, "bestRating": "5" }} Highlights~stories within stories
~dreams within dreams
~telepathic tortoises
~an inverted theatre
~if it really came to it, what would you sacrifice?
There are no other books like this book.
No, really.
Not because there are no other stories like this story – all stories are like all other stories, it’s a fundamental, sacred mystery of storytelling – but because the way in which Jimenez tells this story is something new and unique.
Really.
*
The Spear Cuts Through Water is not what I expected it to be – and no matter how many in-depth, super-detailed, professionally-analytical reviews you read before you pick it up, this book won’t be what you expect, either. There is no way to be prepared for Jimenez’ latest masterpiece; you can’t possibly imagine everything you will meet, see, and experience on this journey. However you pack your bags for it, you will not be ready.
You can try and play tourist, if you like, with sunscreen and map and phrasebook in your pocket. But by the end of The Spear Cuts Through Water, you’ll find yourself an immigrant instead, drawn in and changed and made a part of the dreamwilds Jimenez has spun into being here.
I don’t think this book would have hit me quite like it did had I had a more detailed idea of what to expect. The short, minimal blurb once frustrated me; now I’m incredibly glad I went in basically blind. And besides, no description can possibly do it justice. The Spear Cuts Through Water is a shapeshifter, morphing from one thing – one kind of story – to another, and another, and back again, quick and graceful as a dolphin dancing through waves. It’s one story, and two stories, and a hundred stories intertwined, sagas and whispers and white hot flashes where they cross and touch. It’s dreamy and visceral, soft and brutal, earthy and mythic, a tapestry of contradictions that nonetheless coheres into an incredible, breathtaking whole.
You can fault the dancer, but more often than not, it is the dance itself that has to change.
There are two young men and their grandmothers; one man is a prince, and one is not. One grandmother is a goddess and empress, and the other very much isn’t. Their stories do not run parallel, but are interdependent, each vital to the other’s existence. This is a book about dreams – dreams of the past, the future, the idealised history we hold to, the gleaming future we want to build. And I think it’s fair to say it’s equally a book about nightmares; this is an unquestionably, objectively excellent book, but it is not nice. It’s magical, ephemeral, one moment; then blunt, crude, graphic the next. There is suffering, torture, death, and some extremely fucked-up people. There is injustice and sadism and cruelty.
(It’s all purposeful, though. It’s sometimes shocking, but never present just for shock-value. This book is very much a brutally honest examination of what a myth looks like before it’s idealised, or under the gilt later generations add to great events. In a horrible way, the awfulness anchors the magic – makes it real.)
But there’s also incredible tenderness, incredible humanity, that nameless celebration of how fragile and wonderful and precious it is that we all exist. There’s hope and humour, people working together, strangers being kind to strangers. Plus…
“This is a love story to its blade-dented bone.”
From the very first page, from the very first line, it is immediately obvious that The Spear Cuts Through Water is something spectacularly special. That impression crystallises further into certainty with every page you turn. Jimenez weaves multiple layers of story together to create a stunning edifice, an unfamiliar but powerful structure which is the framework for the tale(s) being told – and oh, how I want to talk about that! I want to dive in and joyfully dissect his structure in particular; I want to write essays about the constellation of merely-mortal voices that dart, there and gone, across the narrative like shooting stars, illuminating the reality of what it means to be caught in the crosshairs of legend!
(They’re a reminder that the sagas we celebrate have body counts, and that those bodies matter, even when the story’s not about them. We tend to overlook, or skip over, the loss of civilian life when we’re focussed on the enmity between Batman and the Joker – we only care about the injury or death of named characters – but Jimenez makes us care about them all.)
And I can’t go into exhaustive detail, because you need to discover it for yourselves, but I have to say that what Jimenez has done here isn’t just extraordinary; it’s revolutionary. This is storytelling like I’ve never seen it, and I don’t mean that the story he’s telling is a unique one – although it is! I’m talking about the way he tells it, the style and craft and artistry that’s gone into structuring this book. I’m sure some readers are going to call it experimental, but I disagree strongly; The Spear Cuts Through Water is what comes after an experiment, after a successful experiment; it is what a positive, promising result becomes when it is then polished and refined and perfected.
This book is not an experiment because dear gods, Jimenez knows what he’s doing.
“The telling of tales beyond even my knowing.”
I have discarded so many drafts of this review, because no matter what I try, I can’t explain this book to you. I’m serious about the dark awfulness in it – please look up the content warnings; I would try writing them out for you, but I lost track after the cannibalism – but this book is, genuinely, in a league of its own. Reading it, I was mesmerised, I was invested, and I geeked out so hard over the sheer craft that went into it. I don’t know if I liked it, but I loved it, and it feels unfair to call it Jimenez’s magnum opus – how rude and presumptuous to claim he’s peaked, when this is only his second novel! – but I have to admit that I can’t imagine anyone outdoing this book, simply in terms of sheer technical artistry.
I guarantee that you have never seen anything like The Spear Cuts Through Water before – and I doubt you ever will again. This is a once-in-a-lifetime book.
Don’t miss it.
The post Truly, Genuinely Unique Epic Fantasy: The Spear Cuts Through Water by Simon Jimenez appeared first on Every Book a Doorway.
August 24, 2022
I Can’t Wait For…The Heretic’s Guide to Homecoming: Practice by Sienna Tristen
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 Heretic’s Guide to Homecoming: Practice by Sienna Tristen!
The Heretic's Guide to Homecoming: Book Two: Practice by Sienna Tristen Genres: Fantasy, Secondary World Fantasy, Queer Protagonists
Representation: BIPOC cast, asexual MC
Published on: 22nd October 2022
Goodreads
{ "@context":"https://schema.org", "@type":"Review", "datePublished": "2022-08-24T15:43:05+00:00", "description": "The sequel to one of my new favourites!", "publisher": { "@type": "Organization", "name": "Every Book a Doorway" }, "url": "https:\/\/everybookadoorway.com\/i-cant-wait-for-the-heretics-guide-to-homecoming-practice-by-sienna-tristen\/", "itemReviewed": { "@type": "Book", "name": "The Heretic's Guide to Homecoming: Book Two: Practice", "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Sienna Tristen", "sameAs": "" }, "isbn": "" }, "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Sia", "sameAs": "https:\/\/everybookadoorway.com\/" }, "reviewRating": { "@type": "Rating", "ratingValue": false, "bestRating": "5" }}
"All good theory stands up to the test of practice."
Freshly-risen from the underworld of his insecurities, Ronoah Genoveffa Elizzi-denna Pilanovani is halfway through his journey to the fabled Pilgrim State. But the world this side of the Iphigene Sea is not an easy one: violence and subterfuge litter the way forward, and something meaner stalks the edges of Ronoah’s certainty, something that threatens to turn the very reason for his pilgrimage to dust.
To survive, he will have to be clever and kind in equal measure. To ask for help from the acrobats and queens-to-be and foreigners’ gods that cross his path. To confront that beguiling, bewildering companion he travels with, the one whose secrets are so vast and unforgivable. He will have to draw on every story he knows in order to make it to the Pilgrim State with his soft heart intact—and then make it home again.
Mythic and multilayered, the final installment of the Heretic’s Guide to Homecoming duology is a love letter to losing and regaining faith in the ways you move through the world.
Seeing as how my review for Book One: Theory went live last week, of course my next Can’t Wait Wednesday post is going to feature the upcoming Book Two: Practice!
I really, REALLY can’t wait to see how the incredible growth Ronoah underwent in Theory…well, stands up to practice! And I’m so ridiculously excited to finally see the Pilgrim State – and maybe we’ll even find out what on Earth (…or off it???) Reilin’s deal is? I LIVE IN HOPE!
The content warnings make it clear that Practice is going to be a fair bit darker than Theory – it sounds like Ronoah and Reilin will be travelling through a warzone at some point – and I haven’t missed that this time around, the gorgeous cover has knives and a baseball bat on it! (I mean, not a baseball bat. Because Ronoah’s world definitely doesn’t have baseball. But it’s that kind of shape, isn’t it?) But I’m not sure anything could make me hesitate to pounce on a book of Tristen’s, at this point!
It probably makes me a terrible person, but I’m kind of curious to see how Ronoah reacts to/deals with violence? And how the fundamentally optimistic vibe Tristen established in the first book carries over. If it does. I hope it does! But either way…
…I AM SO VERY READY!
The post I Can’t Wait For…The Heretic’s Guide to Homecoming: Practice by Sienna Tristen appeared first on Every Book a Doorway.
August 22, 2022
Must-Have Monday #99
TEN marvellous SFF releases I’m excited for this week! Let’s dive right in.
The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna Genres: Fantasy, Contemporary or Urban Fantasy
Representation: Brown MC
Published on: 23rd August 2022
Goodreads
{ "@context":"https://schema.org", "@type":"Review", "datePublished": "2022-08-22T08:19:00+00:00", "description": "Hopepunk climate fiction, witchy tiktokers, and translation magic fuelling an empire!", "publisher": { "@type": "Organization", "name": "Every Book a Doorway" }, "url": "https:\/\/everybookadoorway.com\/must-have-monday-99\/", "itemReviewed": { "@type": "Book", "name": "The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches", "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Sangu Mandanna", "sameAs": "" }, "isbn": "" }, "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Sia", "sameAs": "https:\/\/everybookadoorway.com\/" }, "reviewRating": { "@type": "Rating", "ratingValue": false, "bestRating": "5" }}
A warm and uplifting novel about an isolated witch whose opportunity to embrace a quirky new family—and a new love—changes the course of her life.
As one of the few witches in Britain, Mika Moon knows she has to hide her magic, keep her head down, and stay away from other witches so their powers don’t mingle and draw attention. And as an orphan who lost her parents at a young age and was raised by strangers, she’s used to being alone and she follows the rules...with one exception: an online account, where she posts videos "pretending" to be a witch. She thinks no one will take it seriously.
But someone does. An unexpected message arrives, begging her to travel to the remote and mysterious Nowhere House to teach three young witches how to control their magic. It breaks all of the rules, but Mika goes anyway, and is immediately tangled up in the lives and secrets of not only her three charges, but also an absent archaeologist, a retired actor, two long-suffering caretakers, and…Jamie. The handsome and prickly librarian of Nowhere House would do anything to protect the children, and as far as he’s concerned, a stranger like Mika is a threat. An irritatingly appealing threat.
As Mika begins to find her place at Nowhere House, the thought of belonging somewhere begins to feel like a real possibility. But magic isn't the only danger in the world, and when a threat comes knocking at their door, Mika will need to decide whether to risk everything to protect a found family she didn’t know she was looking for....
Mandanna won me as a fan forever with her YA debut Lost Girl, and I have been SO EXCITED for The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches! It sounds sweet and escapist but also clever and funny – I love the idea of a real witch hiding in the open by pretending her powers are just special effects! Plus all the found family vibes??? EEE!
Babel, or The Necessity of Violence: An Arcane History of the Oxford Translators' Revolution by R.F. Kuang Genres: Fantasy, Historical Fantasy
Representation: BIPOC MCs
Published on: 23rd August 2022
Goodreads
{ "@context":"https://schema.org", "@type":"Review", "datePublished": "2022-08-22T08:19:00+00:00", "description": "Hopepunk climate fiction, witchy tiktokers, and translation magic fuelling an empire!", "publisher": { "@type": "Organization", "name": "Every Book a Doorway" }, "url": "https:\/\/everybookadoorway.com\/must-have-monday-99\/", "itemReviewed": { "@type": "Book", "name": "Babel, or The Necessity of Violence: An Arcane History of the Oxford Translators' Revolution", "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "R.F. Kuang", "sameAs": "" }, "isbn": "" }, "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Sia", "sameAs": "https:\/\/everybookadoorway.com\/" }, "reviewRating": { "@type": "Rating", "ratingValue": false, "bestRating": "5" }}
Traduttore, traditore: An act of translation is always an act of betrayal.
1828. Robin Swift, orphaned by cholera in Canton, is brought to London by the mysterious Professor Lovell. There, he trains for years in Latin, Ancient Greek, and Chinese, all in preparation for the day he'll enroll in Oxford University's prestigious Royal Institute of Translation — also known as Babel.
Babel is the world's center of translation and, more importantly, of silver-working: the art of manifesting the meaning lost in translation through enchanted silver bars, to magical effect. Silver-working has made the British Empire unparalleled in power, and Babel's research in foreign languages serves the Empire's quest to colonize everything it encounters.
Oxford, the city of dreaming spires, is a fairytale for Robin; a utopia dedicated to the pursuit of knowledge. But knowledge serves power, and for Robin, a Chinese boy raised in Britain, serving Babel inevitably means betraying his motherland. As his studies progress Robin finds himself caught between Babel and the shadowy Hermes Society, an organization dedicated to sabotaging the silver-working that supports imperial expansion. When Britain pursues an unjust war with China over silver and opium, Robin must decide: Can powerful institutions be changed from within, or does revolution always require violence? What is he willing to sacrifice to bring Babel down?
Babel — a thematic response to The Secret History and a tonal response to Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell — grapples with student revolutions, colonial resistance, and the use of translation as a tool of empire.
Oof. I think we all know that this one is going to hit hard. But coming from two cultures who almost lost their native languages to the deliberate efforts of the British (Ireland and Wales) I have a personal interest in the themes here – entirely separate from the fact that this book sounds amazing. Really looking forward to it!
Begin the World Over by Kung Li Sun Genres: Queer Protagonists, Speculative Fiction
Representation: Black gay MC, M/M, Black and Indigenous cast, nonbinary/genderqueer secondary character
Published on: 23rd August 2022
Goodreads
{ "@context":"https://schema.org", "@type":"Review", "datePublished": "2022-08-22T08:19:00+00:00", "description": "Hopepunk climate fiction, witchy tiktokers, and translation magic fuelling an empire!", "publisher": { "@type": "Organization", "name": "Every Book a Doorway" }, "url": "https:\/\/everybookadoorway.com\/must-have-monday-99\/", "itemReviewed": { "@type": "Book", "name": "Begin the World Over ", "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Kung Li Sun", "sameAs": "" }, "isbn": "" }, "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Sia", "sameAs": "https:\/\/everybookadoorway.com\/" }, "reviewRating": { "@type": "Rating", "ratingValue": false, "bestRating": "5" }}
Begin the World Over is a fictional alternate history of how the Founders’ greatest fear—that Black and indigenous people might join forces to undo the newly formed United States—comes true.
In 1793, as revolutionaries in the West Indies take up arms, James Hemings, has little interest in joining the fight for liberté —talented and favored, he is careful to protect his relative comforts as Thomas Jefferson’s enslaved chef. But when he meets Denmark Vesey, James is immediately smitten. The formidable first mate persuades James to board his ship, on its way to the revolt in St. Domingue. There and on the mainland they join forces with a diverse cast of characters, including a gender nonconforming prophetess, a formerly enslaved jockey, and a Muskogee horse trader. The resulting adventure masterfully mixes real historical figures and events with a riotous retelling of a possible history in which James must decide whether to return to his constrained but composed former life, or join the coalition of Black revolutionaries and Muskogee resistance to fight the American slavers and settlers.
This week is the paper release of an alt-history I’ve been excited for since I first heard about it – and can you blame me? BIPOC CAST OVERTHROWING THE COLONISERS, YES PLEASE GIMME!
The Witches of Moonshyne Manor by Bianca Marais Genres: Fantasy, Contemporary or Urban Fantasy
Published on: 23rd August 2022
Goodreads
{ "@context":"https://schema.org", "@type":"Review", "datePublished": "2022-08-22T08:19:00+00:00", "description": "Hopepunk climate fiction, witchy tiktokers, and translation magic fuelling an empire!", "publisher": { "@type": "Organization", "name": "Every Book a Doorway" }, "url": "https:\/\/everybookadoorway.com\/must-have-monday-99\/", "itemReviewed": { "@type": "Book", "name": "The Witches of Moonshyne Manor", "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Bianca Marais", "sameAs": "" }, "isbn": "" }, "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Sia", "sameAs": "https:\/\/everybookadoorway.com\/" }, "reviewRating": { "@type": "Rating", "ratingValue": false, "bestRating": "5" }}
“Bianca Marais is a genius” — Ann Patchett, #1 New York Times bestselling author
A coven of modern-day witches. A magical heist-gone-wrong. A looming threat.
Five octogenarian witches gather as an angry mob threatens to demolish Moonshyne Manor. All eyes turn to the witch in charge, Queenie, who confesses they’ve fallen far behind on their mortgage payments. Still, there’s hope, since the imminent return of Ruby—one of the sisterhood who’s been gone for thirty-three years—will surely be their salvation.
But the mob is only the start of their troubles. One man is hellbent on avenging his family for the theft of a legacy he claims was rightfully his. In an act of desperation, Queenie makes a bargain with an evil far more powerful than anything they’ve ever faced. Then things take a turn for the worse when Ruby’s homecoming reveals a seemingly insurmountable obstacle instead of the solution to all their problems.
The witches are determined to save their home and themselves, but their aging powers are no match for increasingly malicious threats. Thankfully, they get a bit of help from Persephone, a feisty TikToker eager to smash the patriarchy. As the deadline to save the manor approaches, fractures among the sisterhood are revealed, and long-held secrets are exposed, culminating in a fiery confrontation with their enemies.
Funny, tender and uplifting, the novel explores the formidable power that can be discovered in aging, found family and unlikely friendships. Marais’ clever prose offers as much laughter as insight, delving deeply into feminism, identity and power dynamics while stirring up intrigue and drama through secrets, lies and sex. Heartbreaking and heart-mending, it will make you grateful for the amazing women in your life.
Why were we taught to fear witches, and not the men who burned them? might be my new favourite tagline on any book ever. And I’m really delighted to see older witches – for all that witches are stereotyped as old women, we hardly ever see any (although there are some very cool ones around, if you know where to look) so I love that they’re front and centre here! Plus, the idea of them teaming up with a TikToker is just *chef’s kiss*
Ruby Fever (Hidden Legacy, #6) by Ilona Andrews Genres: Fantasy, Contemporary or Urban Fantasy
Published on: 23rd August 2022
Goodreads
{ "@context":"https://schema.org", "@type":"Review", "datePublished": "2022-08-22T08:19:00+00:00", "description": "Hopepunk climate fiction, witchy tiktokers, and translation magic fuelling an empire!", "publisher": { "@type": "Organization", "name": "Every Book a Doorway" }, "url": "https:\/\/everybookadoorway.com\/must-have-monday-99\/", "itemReviewed": { "@type": "Book", "name": "Ruby Fever (Hidden Legacy, #6)", "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Ilona Andrews", "sameAs": "" }, "isbn": "" }, "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Sia", "sameAs": "https:\/\/everybookadoorway.com\/" }, "reviewRating": { "@type": "Rating", "ratingValue": false, "bestRating": "5" }}
#1 New York Times bestselling author Ilona Andrews is back with the newest book in the exciting Hidden Legacy series—the thrilling conclusion to her trilogy featuring fierce and beautiful Prime magic user Catalina Baylor.
An escaped spider, the unexpected arrival of an Imperial Russian Prince, the senseless assassination of a powerful figure, a shocking attack on the supposedly invincible Warden of Texas, Catalina’s boss... And it’s only Monday.
Within hours, the fate of Houston—not to mention the House of Baylor—now rests on Catalina, who will have to harness her powers as never before. But even with her fellow Prime and fiancé Alessandro Sagredo by her side, she may not be able to expose who’s responsible before all hell really breaks loose.
The Hidden Legacy series is one of my not-so-guilty pleasures, and Ruby Fever is the conclusion of Catalina’s trilogy! I need to reread the previous two books to refresh my memory, but I’m so excited to dive into this!
Tomorrow's Parties: Life in the Anthropocene by Jonathan Strahan Genres: Sci Fi, Speculative Fiction
Published on: 23rd August 2022
Goodreads
{ "@context":"https://schema.org", "@type":"Review", "datePublished": "2022-08-22T08:19:00+00:00", "description": "Hopepunk climate fiction, witchy tiktokers, and translation magic fuelling an empire!", "publisher": { "@type": "Organization", "name": "Every Book a Doorway" }, "url": "https:\/\/everybookadoorway.com\/must-have-monday-99\/", "itemReviewed": { "@type": "Book", "name": "Tomorrow's Parties: Life in the Anthropocene", "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Jonathan Strahan", "sameAs": "" }, "isbn": "" }, "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Sia", "sameAs": "https:\/\/everybookadoorway.com\/" }, "reviewRating": { "@type": "Rating", "ratingValue": false, "bestRating": "5" }}
Twelve visions of living in a climate-changed world.
We are living in the Anthropocene--an era of dramatic and violent climate change featuring warming oceans, melting icecaps, extreme weather events, habitat loss, species extinction, and more. What will life be like in a climate-changed world? In Tomorrow's Parties, science fiction authors speculate how we might be able to live and even thrive through the advancing Anthropocene. In ten original stories by writers from around the world, an interview with celebrated writer Kim Stanley Robinson, and a series of intricate and elegant artworks by Sean Bodley, Tomorrow's Parties takes rational optimism as a moral imperative, or at least a pragmatic alternative to despair.
In these stories--by writers from the United Kingdom, the United States, Nigeria, China, Bangladesh, and Australia--a young man steals from delivery drones; a political community lives on an island made of ocean-borne plastic waste; and a climate change denier tries to unmask "crisis actors." Climate-changed life also has its pleasures and epiphanies, as when a father in Africa works to make his son's dreams of "Viking adventure" a reality, and an IT professional dispatched to a distant village encounters a marvelous predigital fungal network. Contributors include Pascall Prize for Criticism winner James Bradley, Hugo Award winners Greg Egan and Sarah Gailey, Philip K Dick Award winner Meg Elison, and New York Times bestselling author Daryl Gregory.
The Anthropocene is a proposed term for the geological period we’re living in right now – a time when human industry is the defining geological factor for the planet. I very much want to read more hopepunk climate fiction, and this sounds like it’s going to be a stunning collection!
The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy by Megan Bannen Genres: Fantasy
Representation: Secondary M/M
Published on: 23rd August 2022
Goodreads
{ "@context":"https://schema.org", "@type":"Review", "datePublished": "2022-08-22T08:19:00+00:00", "description": "Hopepunk climate fiction, witchy tiktokers, and translation magic fuelling an empire!", "publisher": { "@type": "Organization", "name": "Every Book a Doorway" }, "url": "https:\/\/everybookadoorway.com\/must-have-monday-99\/", "itemReviewed": { "@type": "Book", "name": "The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy", "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Megan Bannen", "sameAs": "" }, "isbn": "" }, "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Sia", "sameAs": "https:\/\/everybookadoorway.com\/" }, "reviewRating": { "@type": "Rating", "ratingValue": false, "bestRating": "5" }}
Hart is a marshal, tasked with patrolling the strange and magical wilds of Tanria. It’s an unforgiving job, and Hart’s got nothing but time to ponder his loneliness.
Mercy never has a moment to herself. She’s been single-handedly keeping Birdsall & Son Undertakers afloat in defiance of sullen jerks like Hart, who seems to have a gift for showing up right when her patience is thinnest.
After yet another exasperating run-in with Mercy, Hart finds himself penning a letter addressed simply to “A Friend”. Much to his surprise, an anonymous letter comes back in return, and a tentative friendship is born.
If only Hart knew he’s been baring his soul to the person who infuriates him most – Mercy. As the dangers from Tanria grow closer, so do the unlikely correspondents. But can their blossoming romance survive the fated discovery that their pen pals are their worst nightmares – each other?
This is an objectively wonderful book, even if it wasn’t quite for me – but if you like your weird stuff whimsical, with a grouchy romance and a pretty unique fantasy set-up, I strongly recommend it!
Reluctant Immortals by Gwendolyn Kiste Genres: Fantasy, Contemporary or Urban Fantasy
Published on: 23rd August 2022
Goodreads
{ "@context":"https://schema.org", "@type":"Review", "datePublished": "2022-08-22T08:19:00+00:00", "description": "Hopepunk climate fiction, witchy tiktokers, and translation magic fuelling an empire!", "publisher": { "@type": "Organization", "name": "Every Book a Doorway" }, "url": "https:\/\/everybookadoorway.com\/must-have-monday-99\/", "itemReviewed": { "@type": "Book", "name": "Reluctant Immortals", "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Gwendolyn Kiste", "sameAs": "" }, "isbn": "" }, "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Sia", "sameAs": "https:\/\/everybookadoorway.com\/" }, "reviewRating": { "@type": "Rating", "ratingValue": false, "bestRating": "5" }}
For fans of Mexican Gothic, from three-time Bram Stoker Award–winning author Gwendolyn Kiste comes a novel inspired by the untold stories of forgotten women in classic literature--from Lucy Westenra, a victim of Stoker’s Dracula, and Bertha Mason, from Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre--as they band together to combat the toxic men bent on destroying their lives, set against the backdrop of the Summer of Love, Haight-Ashbury, 1967.
Reluctant Immortals is a historical horror novel that looks at two men of classic literature, Dracula and Mr. Rochester, and the two women who survived them, Bertha and Lucy, who are now undead immortals residing in Los Angeles in 1967 when Dracula and Rochester make a shocking return in the Haight-Ashbury district of San Francisco.
Combining elements of historical and gothic fiction with a modern perspective, in a tale of love and betrayal and coercion, Reluctant Immortals is the lyrical and harrowing journey of two women from classic literature as they bravely claim their own destiny in a man’s world.
Reluctant Immortals ended up not being quite my cup of tea either, but again, it’s an excellent book that the right reader is going to adore!
Tune in Tomorrow: The Curious, Calamitous, Cockamamie Story Of Starr Weatherby And The Greatest Mythic Reality Show Ever by Randee Dawn Genres: Fantasy, Contemporary or Urban Fantasy
Published on: 23rd August 2022
Goodreads
{ "@context":"https://schema.org", "@type":"Review", "datePublished": "2022-08-22T08:19:00+00:00", "description": "Hopepunk climate fiction, witchy tiktokers, and translation magic fuelling an empire!", "publisher": { "@type": "Organization", "name": "Every Book a Doorway" }, "url": "https:\/\/everybookadoorway.com\/must-have-monday-99\/", "itemReviewed": { "@type": "Book", "name": "Tune in Tomorrow: The Curious, Calamitous, Cockamamie Story Of Starr Weatherby And The Greatest Mythic Reality Show Ever", "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Randee Dawn", "sameAs": "" }, "isbn": "" }, "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Sia", "sameAs": "https:\/\/everybookadoorway.com\/" }, "reviewRating": { "@type": "Rating", "ratingValue": false, "bestRating": "5" }}
A funny, thrilling and mysterious adventure into the world of alternate reality television... Perfect for fans of Jasper Fforde and Christopher Moore.
She’s just a small town girl, with big mythic dreams.
Starr Weatherby came to New York to become… well, a star. But after ten years and no luck, she’s offered a big role – on a show no one has ever heard of. And there’s a reason for that. It’s a ‘reality’ show beyond the Veil, human drama, performed for the entertainment of the Fae.
But as Starr shifts from astounded newcomer to rising fan favorite, she learns about the show’s dark underbelly – and mysterious disappearance of her predecessor. She’ll do whatever it takes to keep her dream job – though she might just bring down the show in the process.
Does this look familiar? That’s because I featured it in last week’s post – but that was only the ebook release; this week the paperback is being released into the wild! NAB IT AT ONCE!
The Feast of Panthers by Sean Eads Genres: Queer Protagonists, Historical Fantasy
Representation: Queer MC
Published on: 23rd August 2022
Goodreads
{ "@context":"https://schema.org", "@type":"Review", "datePublished": "2022-08-22T08:19:00+00:00", "description": "Hopepunk climate fiction, witchy tiktokers, and translation magic fuelling an empire!", "publisher": { "@type": "Organization", "name": "Every Book a Doorway" }, "url": "https:\/\/everybookadoorway.com\/must-have-monday-99\/", "itemReviewed": { "@type": "Book", "name": "The Feast of Panthers", "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Sean Eads", "sameAs": "" }, "isbn": "" }, "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Sia", "sameAs": "https:\/\/everybookadoorway.com\/" }, "reviewRating": { "@type": "Rating", "ratingValue": false, "bestRating": "5" }}
Oscar Wilde is pulled into a dark conspiracy led by followers of an ancient Egyptian deity seeking to reestablish her terrifying religion-and she wants Wilde to be her new high priest. But Wilde does not stand alone, and as the coming conflict reveals stunning secrets about those closest to him, he realizes his greatest ally happens to be his fiercest nemesis-the Marquess of Queensberry.
Originally from Kentucky, Sean Eads is a writer and librarian living in Denver, CO. His first novel, The Survivors, was a finalist for the Lambda Literary Award. His third novel, Lord Byron's Prophecy, was a finalist for the Shirley Jackson Award and the Colorado Book Award.
I know very little about Sean Eads, and I haven’t been able to find out much about this book – but you always have my attention when you feature Oscar Wilde!
Will you be reading any of these? Let me know!
The post Must-Have Monday #99 appeared first on Every Book a Doorway.
August 20, 2022
A Magical, Moving Masterpiece: The Heretic’s Guide to Homecoming: Theory by Sienna Tristen
The Heretic's Guide to Homecoming: Book One: Theory by Sienna Tristen Genres: Fantasy, Secondary World Fantasy, Queer Protagonists
Representation: POC cast, asexual MC, secondary gay character
PoV: Third-person, past-tense
Goodreads
{ "@context":"https://schema.org", "@type":"Review", "datePublished": "2022-08-20T07:11:00+00:00", "description": "Sometimes a book is simply perfect.", "publisher": { "@type": "Organization", "name": "Every Book a Doorway" }, "url": "https:\/\/everybookadoorway.com\/a-magical-moving-masterpiece-the-heretics-guide-to-homecoming-theory-by-sienna-tristen\/", "itemReviewed": { "@type": "Book", "name": "The Heretic's Guide to Homecoming: Book One: Theory", "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Sienna Tristen", "sameAs": "" }, "isbn": "" }, "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Sia", "sameAs": "https:\/\/everybookadoorway.com\/" }, "reviewRating": { "@type": "Rating", "ratingValue": 5, "bestRating": "5" }} Highlights
WINNER OF THE 2019 READERVIEWS AWARD FOR FANTASY!WINNER OF THE 2019 IPPY AWARD FOR FANTASY!
“Life is transformation. You change or you die.”
Ashamed of his past and overwhelmed by his future, Ronoah Genoveffa Elizzi-denna Pilanovani feels too small for his own name. After a graceless exit from his homeland in the Acharrioni desert, his anxiety has sabotaged every attempt at redemption. Asides from a fiery devotion to his godling, the one piece of home he brought with him, he has nothing.
That is, until he meets Reilin. Beguiling, bewildering Reilin, who whisks Ronoah up into a cross-continental pilgrimage to the most sacred place on the planet. The people they encounter on the way—children of the sea, a priestess and her band of storytellers, the lonely ghosts of monsters—are grim and whimsical in equal measure. Each has their part to play in rewriting Ronoah’s personal narrative.
One part fantasy travelogue, one part emotional underworld journey, The Heretic’s Guide to Homecoming is a sumptuous, slow-burning story about stories and the way they shape our lives.
~adventure to remake yourself
~creating new myths
~curiosity is a virtue
~find your voice
~perfect!book is perfect
What on Earth are you supposed to say in response to one of the most beautiful books you’ve ever read?
And how do I convince you all that you need to read it???
The Heretic’s Guide to Homecoming (Book One – the final instalment, Book Two: Practice, is forthcoming in just a few months!) is the kind of convention-defying, genre-fluid, unshelvable book that self- and indie-publishing exists for. It’s not neatly one thing or another; doesn’t employ common tropes or conform to a typical three-act structure; and tosses out any notion of traditional narrative conflict – all while using some of the most beautiful prose I’ve ever seen in my life.
I’d like to imagine that any literary agent or editor worth their salt would recognise this book as the exquisite masterpiece it is – but they wouldn’t have the first clue how to sell it, how to market it. It’s too far outside the trad-publishing box for them to make it fit into any neat little niche.
I’m so glad, and so relieved, that Tristen went ahead and published it anyway. The world would be a darker place without this book in it.
Ronoah is marked by the gods to be a trailblazer, an innovator, someone who is meant to change the world – in a culture that avoids conflict and change. That’s not a good mix, and it’s left its mark on him; Ronoah is crippled with anxiety and self-doubt, even as he runs as far out into the world as he can, looking for a way to be worthy of the goddess who chose him.
And runs smack into Reilin – charismatic, confusing, hypnotic Reilin, who is about to embark on a journey to the far-off, almost legendary Pilgrim State. And who invites Ronoah to come along.
Maybes as many as the stars.
Heretic’s Guide is mesmeric, a book that pours itself like stardust and jewels into the cupped hands of your heart. Every page is a poem and a paean; every word emblazons itself on the inside of your eyelids. Tristen’s prose belongs in calligraphic tattoos winding down your arms, soul-strumming quotes tucked into the insides of your wrists; you’ll find them in your dreams, gentle, gem-toned whispers that wake a sense of wonder in you you thought was lost.
This book is a promise that it was never lost at all.
The earth is an orchestra, precisely wrought and written, each animal an instrument, waiting for their turn to play; the stars are sparkling chorus lines, singing tones too low and high for human kind to hear. Gods have long been listening to this cosmic symphony–they are privy to its sheet music, may tweak it as they please. But the minds of mortals are not made to grasp it, their hands not big enough to snap the pieces into place, their eyes not quick enough to catch the calculations scrawled, divine longhand, along the whorls in the tree trunks and the spirals in the seashells and the insides of all your sisters’ elbows.
There is no villain; no quest-object or easily-defined goal; no cinematic finale. The pattern Western readers are so used to – the build-up of tension to a distinct climax in which the source of conflict is confronted and overcome – you won’t find it here. Heretic’s Guide is quiet, tender, meditative; it’s lavish wish-fulfilment; it’s exploratory and thoughtful and joyous. Sometimes that joy is small; sometimes it’s euphoric. This is a story of private revelations, of discovering (or creating) courage, of journeys – both literal and metaphorical – that begin with a single step. It’s a celebration of curiosity and a manifesto on marvels and marvelousness, wonder and awe, how to find something beautiful everywhere you look.
“Loving something fiercely enough to die for it. It doesn’t have to be a boy or a girl–could be a city, a melody, an idea. Some say the boy isn’t even a boy; he’s a metaphor, a maxim. ‘Find what you love, and let it kill you.’”
Without a big bad, is it boring? No! Tristen introduces us to different lands and cultures, philosophies and religions, and most of all stories; stories meant to entertain, stories with morals, stories with different perspectives depending on who’s telling them. Everyone who loves stories (and what are you doing here if you don’t?) will adore the Tellers, a caravan of professional storytellers who embrace the unfamiliar and examine each new story that comes their way like a goldsmith with a gemstone, jeweler’s glass to their eye. Worldbuilding fans will swoon at the effortlessly organic weight of the fictional history of Ronoah’s world, the details of dress and hospitality and belief, the mysteries of the extinct (or are they?) shalledrim who once ruled the planet. There are people to meet, new lands to explore, tales to exchange. How could that be dull?
I’ll admit, this isn’t the book for anyone who wants fast-paced action. Heretic’s Guide is pretty much the exact opposite of that. But if you want sugared silk and starlight, comfort and tenderness and wondrous strangeness? Then this is exactly what you’re looking for.
“A lie uses true details to encircle an untrue essence,” he said, chin in hand. “Stories take fictional details to depict an essential truth.”
And to be clear, there is plenty of conflict – it’s just not the kind we’re used to seeing. Ronoah has crippling anxiety and struggles with self-loathing – and I’ve seen reviews from readers who got fed up with the knots and nooses his thoughts kept tying themselves in. All I can say to that is, as someone who takes meds every morning for clinical anxiety, the depiction here is spot-on, and immensely sympathetic. Heretic’s Guide is very much a story of – I don’t really want to call it self-discovery, when it feels much more like a deliberate effort at self-metamorphosis, -transmutation, -alchemization. Ronoah’s arc is one of unlearning all the beliefs and habits that are strangling him, learning to be open instead – to his own desires, to other people, to the world. I loved that this is shown (accurately!) as something he had to deliberately choose, over and over; that it’s not enough to be brave or bold once, you have to keep at it. And it’s heartbreakingly difficult – the toxic voices in your head don’t go away quickly, if ever.
I feel like that’s the kind of character growth we don’t see very often; usually growth is presented as a natural reaction to the events of the story, whereas here, Ronoah sets out with the intent of becoming a braver, bolder, better person, and fights to accomplish that. (It’s only natural that there are hiccups and stumbling blocks; of course he needs help sometimes. All of us do.) It’s something very special.
We are moulded by the mistakes of those we will never know.
Ronoah is a sweet cinnamon role with a deeply repressed reservoir of passion inside him – sympathetic but not perfect, heart-warming and heart-breaking and very, very huggable. But the other character who dominates each page he’s on is Reilin, who is…honestly like no character (or person!) I’ve ever come across before. I want to call him arrogant, and merciless, but that feels unjust; he’s also incredibly kind and thoughtful and delights in others’ delight. Tristen clearly set out to write a character larger-than-life, and very much succeeded; Reilin is vivid, super-saturated, bright and brilliant. Nice? Not always – I didn’t always love how he handled Ronoah’s anxiety – but he’s deep. Realer-than-real. A mystery I was hungry to unravel.
a constellation of curiosity
Put it this way: Tristen is as skilled at creating characters as they are at crafting prose and worldbuilding – ie, unequalled at all three.
Everyone who’s ever experienced crippling anxiety will find themselves in these pages. But so will those who love words, and those who love stories, and those who want adventure. Heretic’s Guide was a beautiful bright spot when I was caught in a depressive episode; it’s one of those books that washes your eyes and heart clean so you can again see how wonderful the world is. It’s very much a book I’d put in the hands of anyone feeling sad and dispirited and hopeless, especially if they were feeling that way about themselves.
At it’s heart, this is a book about stories, and the nature of stories, and the meaning of stories, and the stories we tell about ourselves. And how to change our self-story into something new, something we more want it to be.
This is a book I will treasure forever, and never forget.
The post A Magical, Moving Masterpiece: The Heretic’s Guide to Homecoming: Theory by Sienna Tristen appeared first on Every Book a Doorway.
August 18, 2022
Caught Between Dragons and Gods: Thief Mage Beggar Mage by Cat Hellisen
Thief Mage Beggar Mage by Cat Hellisen Genres: Fantasy, Secondary World Fantasy, Queer Protagonists
Representation: Queernorm world, achillean MC, achillean amputee love interest, M/M
PoV: Third-person, past-tense
Published on: 13th September 2022
ISBN: 9781739685126
Goodreads
{ "@context":"https://schema.org", "@type":"Review", "datePublished": "2022-08-18T09:09:00+00:00", "description": "Anderson's Tinderbox retold as a queer epic fantasy - I much approve.", "publisher": { "@type": "Organization", "name": "Every Book a Doorway" }, "url": "https:\/\/everybookadoorway.com\/caught-between-dragons-and-gods-thief-mage-beggar-mage-by-cat-hellisen\/", "itemReviewed": { "@type": "Book", "name": "Thief Mage Beggar Mage", "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Cat Hellisen", "sameAs": "" }, "isbn": "9781739685126" }, "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Sia", "sameAs": "https:\/\/everybookadoorway.com\/" }, "reviewRating": { "@type": "Rating", "ratingValue": 4.5, "bestRating": "5" }}
Tet is no longer a priest-mage; thrown out from his temple and cursed by his gods to return a stolen relic. With every passing year, the curse works deeper into his flesh, breaking and twisting him until finally, driven by pain, Tet makes a drastic play to escape the gods.
His luck turns sour, and the escape costs him his soul, drawing his death even closer when he is captured by the despotic White Prince. In order to escape the prince, retrieve his soul and break the curse, Tet must form a fragile alliance with a man he cannot trust. An alliance made brittle by lies and deception; one that may take his heart as well as his soul.
Thief Mage, Beggar Mage is a lush, queer reimagining of Andersen’s The Tinderbox, embroidered with dreams, secret identities, stolen magic, giant spectral dogs, clockwork monsters, prophetic dragons, and the grand games of gods and humans.
I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Highlights~keep your eye on casual gifts
~clockwork horses
~machinating (not mechanical) dragons
~bugs made of jewels
~an extremely pretty prince of thieves
I knew better than to expect anything specific from Thief Mage Beggar Mage, because if there’s one thing a Hellisen book guarantees (besides fabulous writing), it’s that you are never going to be able to predict what shape the story will take.
You just know it’s going to be amazing.
Thief Mage Beggar Mage kept that promise: nothing went the way I thought it would, and every bit of it was brilliant. Not always comfortable and very often not very happy! But brilliant.
I’ve been a fan of Hellisen for years, but I genuinely think Thief Mage Beggar Mage ratchets it up a notch in terms of prose; lush is not an adequate descriptor for this book, okay? To describe the writing as lush undersells it. This book is sumptuous, and sensual, and simply sublime. And it doesn’t hurt at all that this is a book with a lot of beauty in it; canine gods, silken clothes, clockwork beasties made of gems. I am a shallow creature, all right, I like my fantasy pretty, and Hellisen absolutely delivers with rich, descriptive prose blooming into stunning imagery. This is a book you could get drunk on, a book that so seduces your senses that you can smell the incense clinging to the pages after you’ve closed them. It’s gorgeous.
The story Hellisen spins for us manages to feel both languid and urgent, and no, I can’t tell you exactly how that effect was created, because I don’t understand it myself. Thief Mage Beggar Mage walks the knife-thin, knife-sharp line between beautiful dream and terrible nightmare, weaving sweet lassitude and jewelled wonder with sick dread and terror – because the world Hellisen has created here is as beautiful as it is awful, and poor Tet is caught between too many opposing powers, too many horrible deaths, too many bad options. The story turns like a spiral, first lifting Tet up, then bringing him crashing down, and the tension twists tighter and tighter as the loops of the spiral coil in towards the center – the end of it all.
It’s complicated, and vivid, and twists and turns like a dragon.
Tet himself is immensely sympathetic: trapped in curse-caused chronic pain, all he wants is a way out of that agony, and as someone with chronic pain myself, I couldn’t blame him one bit. He’s bitter and cynical and eminently practical, and so damn tired I could feel it in my bones. He’s also more than a little arrogant – I’d argue it’s the real reason he ends up losing his soul – but he has that knocked out of him by the end of the book. I feel like we don’t often see characters who acknowledge they were wrong about something and adjust, but Tet is forced to admit that other magical disciplines than his own are very potent indeed, and change his thinking and his plans accordingly. I really appreciated that, even if I wish it had come about under less painful circumstances for him!
I guess one thing you really need to know is that Thief Mage Beggar Mage is not what I would call a hopeful book. It may actually edge close to grim, depending on your mileage. The majority of Tet’s story in this book is one of fighting desperately for freedom, and being defeated at every turn – a boa constrictor wrapped around you, and drawing tighter with every chapter. Some readers are going to eat up that kind of nail-biting tension with a spoon, and some will want to avoid it like the plague. Speaking as someone who has really struggled with dark, misery-laden stories for a while now… I’m still glad I read this book. It’s not all misery, and the writing really is beautiful enough that I would have stuck with it even if it had been outright grimdark thematically. (Which, again, it is not.)
If anything, thematically this is a book about hope, and freedom, and turning the tables on those in power. It’s just that it’s not a happy book, and I want potential readers to know that going in.
I can assure everyone, though, that the not-happy parts do not involve any kind of queerphobia, or bury your gays, or anything like that. The romance is not a tragedy – although I challenge anyone to predict how it ends in this book!
My one legit critique is to do with truenames. Tet doesn’t know his, and it’s driven home over and over how much that hampers him, limits him. What’s also made very clear is that there’s one way Tet could, theoretically, learn his truename – but it’s probably impossible, and definitely massively dangerous. But what it actually ended up being was massively underwhelming – when it came to it, there was no sense of struggle or difficulty, no impact. It was accomplished so quickly, and seemingly easily, that it didn’t feel like a big deal at all. Which was hugely disappointing.
Did this turn me off the book? No, no it did not. Because there was so much else going on, so many other threads to watch play out, that it was easy to dismiss the disappointment and focus on the rest of the story. I loved how many levels of intrigue were going on simultaneously; I loved the subtle (and then maybe not-so-subtle) struggle between the priesthoods; I loved the take on divinity and the nature of gods; I loved the dragons; I loved every member of the cast. Even the characters with the least amount of page-time feel fully rounded, like complete human beings with their own agency and motivations and desires; and I may not have liked the White Prince (arguably the main villain) as a person, but as a character? *chef’s kiss* And while you don’t need to know Hans Christian Andersen’s Tinderbox fairytale to enjoy Thief Mage Beggar Mage, there are some delightful Easter eggs for those familiar with the story; more than once I was positively gleeful at how close Hellisen’s retelling came to it!
So yes, I was delighted with this book, and I’m incredibly excited that we’re (I think?) getting a sequel, because I want to read a lot more about this world and these characters!
The post Caught Between Dragons and Gods: Thief Mage Beggar Mage by Cat Hellisen appeared first on Every Book a Doorway.
August 17, 2022
I Can’t Wait For…Empire of Exiles by Erin M. Evans
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 Empire of Exiles by Erin M. Evans!
Empire of Exiles by Erin M. Evans Genres: Fantasy, Secondary World Fantasy
Published on: 8th November 2022
Goodreads
{ "@context":"https://schema.org", "@type":"Review", "datePublished": "2022-08-17T18:46:51+00:00", "description": "I have three very good reasons for wanting to read this book.", "publisher": { "@type": "Organization", "name": "Every Book a Doorway" }, "url": "https:\/\/everybookadoorway.com\/i-cant-wait-for-empire-of-exiles-by-erin-m-evans\/", "itemReviewed": { "@type": "Book", "name": "Empire of Exiles", "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Erin M. Evans", "sameAs": "" }, "isbn": "" }, "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Sia", "sameAs": "https:\/\/everybookadoorway.com\/" }, "reviewRating": { "@type": "Rating", "ratingValue": false, "bestRating": "5" }}
Magic, mystery, and revolution collide in this fantasy epic where an unlikely team of mages, scribes, and archivists must band together to unearth a conspiracy that might topple their empire.
“The beginning of a truly epic tale. Deft worldbuilding and wonderful verbal fencing that is a delight to read. In these pages, you are in the hands of a master.” - Ed Greenwood, creator of the Forgotten Realms and internationally bestselling author
Twenty-seven years ago, a Duke with a grudge led a ruthless coup against the empire of Semilla, killing thousands. He failed. The Duke was executed, a terrifyingly powerful sorcerer was imprisoned, and an unwilling princess disappeared.
The empire moved on.
Now, when Quill, an apprentice scribe, arrives in the capital city, he believes he's on a simple errand for another pompous noble: fetch ancient artifacts from the magical Imperial Archives. He's always found his apprenticeship to a lawman to be dull work. But these aren't just any artifacts — these are the instruments of revolution, the banners under which the Duke lead his coup.
Just as the artifacts are unearthed, the city is shaken by a brutal murder that seems to have been caused by a weapon not seen since the days of rebellion. With Quill being the main witness to the murder, and no one in power believing his story, he must join the Archivists — a young mage, a seasoned archivist, and a disillusioned detective — to solve the truth of the attack. And what they uncover will be the key to saving the empire – or destroying it again.
Okay, I have three important reasons that I’m looking forward to Empire of Exiles.
#1: two of my favourite people in the whole wide world are called Erin. I always pay attention whenever an Erin appears, and as a life stratagem it hasn’t let me down yet!
#2: Mages, scribes, and archivists are all of the top of my I Want To Grow Up To Be list. I love getting to read about them – I am infinitely more interested in a fantasy-world scribe than I am in princes or chosen ones! I’m a nerd and want to read about fantasy!nerds, okay?
And mages. Because mages are cool.
#3: When I started looking into Empire of Exiles, I kept finding love and praise for Evans’ worldbuilding – especially with regards the various different cultures and, crucially, her non-human races.
Now, I’m always heart-eyes for intricate worldbuilding – but intricate worldbuilding plus non-humans?! I don’t know if we’re talking elves and dwarves or if Evans has gone ahead and created brand-new non-humans (although I’m betting on the latter, given the mention of ‘wonderfully unique fantasy races’ in the publishing announcement) but either way, my armchair-anthropologist self swoons at the thought of well-thought-out, interesting takes on non-human species!
HI YES THANK YOU I’M TOTALLY SOLD.
Are you???
The post I Can’t Wait For…Empire of Exiles by Erin M. Evans appeared first on Every Book a Doorway.
