Siavahda's Blog, page 65

May 11, 2022

I Can’t Wait For…The Last Stand of Mary Good Crow by Rachel Aaron

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 is The Last Stand of Mary Good Crow by Rachel Aaron!

The Last Stand of Mary Good Crow (The Crystal Calamity, #1) by Rachel Aaron
Genres: Fantasy, Historical Fantasy
Representation: Biracial MC
Published on: 1st June 2022
Goodreads

Deadwood meets The Lord of the Rings in this Epic Fantasy of the West!

Hungry darkness, haunted guns, tunnels that move like snakes—the crystal mines of Medicine Rocks, Montana are a place only the bravest and greediest dare. Discovered in 1866, the miraculous rock known as crystal quickly rose to become the most expensive substance on the planet, driving thousands to break the treaties and invade the sacred buffalo lands of the Sioux. But mining crystal risks more than an arrow in the chest. The beautiful rock has a voice of its own. A voice that twists minds and calls unnatural powers.

A voice that turns men into monsters.

Mary Good Crow hears it. Half white, half Lakota, rejected by both, she’s forged a new life guiding would-be miners through the treacherous caves. To her ears, the crystal sings a beautiful song, one the men she guides would gladly burn her as a witch for hearing. So, when an heiress from Boston arrives with a proposition that could change her life, Mary agrees to push deeper into the caves than she’s ever dared.

But there are secrets buried in the Deep Caves that even Mary doesn’t know. The farther she goes, the closer she gets to the voice that’s been calling her all this time. A voice that could change the bloody story of the West, or destroy it all.

{ "@context":"https://schema.org", "@type":"Review", "datePublished": "2022-05-11T13:39:27+00:00", "description": "One of my favourite authors is going in a new direction!", "publisher": { "@type": "Organization", "name": "Every Book a Doorway" }, "url": "https:\/\/everybookadoorway.com\/i-cant-wait-for-the-last-stand-of-mary-good-crow-by-rachel-aaron\/", "itemReviewed": { "@type": "Book", "name": "The Last Stand of Mary Good Crow (The Crystal Calamity, #1)", "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Rachel Aaron", "sameAs": "" }, "isbn": "" }, "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Siavahda", "sameAs": "https:\/\/everybookadoorway.com\/" }, "reviewRating": { "@type": "Rating", "ratingValue": false, "bestRating": "5" }}

I’d read a few of Aaron’s books before – and enjoyed them! – but she won me as a fan forever with her Heartstriker series about shapeshifting dragons, and I haven’t missed a single one of her books since 2014.

I’M NOT ABOUT TO START NOW.

Does Last Stand sound very different from anything she’s written before? Absolutely. But that makes it exciting! I don’t require my favourite authors to write the same sort of book over and over, and I’m very happy to pivot and see where Aaron’s going next. Epic fantasy meets Wild West is not something I’d pick out for myself usually, but when your faves hop (sub-)genres you’ve gotta hop with them!

Besides, I’ve been craving some good alternate-history books. This definitely sounds like it’ll fit the bill!

I hit the preorder button minutes after the newsletter announcement hit my inbox, and I regret nothing!

The post I Can’t Wait For…The Last Stand of Mary Good Crow by Rachel Aaron appeared first on Every Book a Doorway.

View more on Siavahda's website »

1 like · Like • 0 comments • flag

Published on May 11, 2022 06:39

May 10, 2022

…It’s Complicated: The Ballad of Perilous Graves by Alex Jennings

tree wolf image by chic2view on 123RF.com

The Ballad of Perilous Graves by Alex Jennings
Genres: Fantasy, Contemporary or Urban Fantasy, Queer Protagonists
Representation: Black cast, Black trans MC
Published on: 21st June 2022
ISBN: B09HQLGSSY
Goodreads
three-stars

In a fantastical version of New Orleans where music is magic, a battle for the city’s soul brews between two young mages, a vengeful wraith, and one powerful song in this vibrant and imaginative debut.

Nola is a city full of wonders. A place of sky trolleys and dead cabs, where haints dance the night away and Wise Women keep the order, and where songs walk, talk and keep the spirit of the city alive. To those from Far Away, Nola might seem strange. To failed magician, Perilous Graves, it’s simply home. Then the rhythm stutters.

Nine songs of power have escaped from the magical piano that maintains the city’s beat and without them, Nola will fail. Unexpectedly, Perry and his sister, Brendy, are tasked with saving the city. But a storm is brewing and the Haint of All Haints is awake. Even if they capture the songs, Nola’s time might be coming to an end.

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": "2022-05-10T08:31:00+00:00", "description": "In which I have extremely mixed feelings.", "publisher": { "@type": "Organization", "name": "Every Book a Doorway" }, "url": "https:\/\/everybookadoorway.com\/its-complicated-the-ballad-of-perilous-graves-by-alex-jennings\/", "itemReviewed": { "@type": "Book", "name": "The Ballad of Perilous Graves", "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Alex Jennings", "sameAs": "" }, "isbn": "B09HQLGSSY" }, "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Siavahda", "sameAs": "https:\/\/everybookadoorway.com\/" }, "reviewRating": { "@type": "Rating", "ratingValue": 3, "bestRating": "5" }} Highlights

~music is magic
~there’s more than one New Orleans
~family’s always got your back
~friends stand by your side against the Storm
~beware the sack

I started this book excited. By the middle I was confused. By the end, I hated and resented it.

I probably should have DNF-ed it instead of pushing on through, but I was so sure it was going to smooth out and become epic. But while it tapped into some big, mythic-level themes, it was much too complicated, confusing, and over-full to be epic-like-awesome.

Outside, sunlight fell like rain. It was so thick, so powerful that Perry expected it to ring as it bounced onto Esplande Avenue.

What you need to know going into Ballad is that there are two New Orleanses: the New Orleans of our world, and Nola, which is New Orleans but magic, attached to our world as a kind of pocket dimension. The biggest, most frustrating thing about Ballad is that this is not explained or clear for the first half of the book. We jump seemingly at random between a city that has flying trams, zombies, and Mardi Gras beads growing from trees, to the mundane New Orleans (if NO can ever be described as mundane) where we follow a Black trans man named Casey living a pretty normal life with no apparent relevance to the plot going on in the magical city. I had no idea why Casey mattered, and to be honest, I still think his character and plotline could and should have been entirely cut from the book – it’s boring, it doesn’t add to the story, and it’s confusing in context.

In Nola, the magical city, three Black kids – Perry, Brendy, and Peaches – are tasked with tracking down and recovering the Nine Songs that, to keep it short, power Nola. The songs have escaped – or possibly been set free by some dangerous enemy – and are now manifesting in human shape. They have to be gathered together again as quickly as possible for everyone’s safety – including their own. For Perry and Brendy, this means discovering and tapping into the gifts of their bloodline; Peaches, on the other hand, has had superpowers for as long as anyone can remember and is absolutely ready to mess some bad guys up.

Warning bells started going off for me around this point, because the title is The Ballad of Perilous Graves, aka Perry – but although this is definitely a coming-of-age story for Perry, he’s far from the only one doing the hero-ing. Brendy even says as much at one point, saying it’s not fair that for no apparent reason Perry gets the better magic (or at least, what everyone thinks, at that point, is the better magic). Titles are not always up to authors, but whoever’s responsible for it, I side-eye headlining Perry when Brendy and Peaches are a lot more than helpful sidekicks.

“Perry. You ever try to pick up a car?”

“…No.”

“Then how you know you can’t?”

This would probably have been an excellent book if it went ahead like that; the problem is that it doesn’t. Jennings has stuffed this book with PoVs and an enormous cast of secondary characters, far too many for me to keep track of or care much about. Then more and more plot devices and quest objects kept coming out of the woodwork, and with all the music references, it was just too much for me. I was rapidly overwhelmed, which made me shut down and stop caring about any of it. I kept reading because I fell in love with Nola, but I grew more and more disenchanted (hah) with the quest.

“You know what your problem is? When a grown-up tell you something can’t be done, you just believe ’em. Don’t you know ain’t even no such thing as grown-ups?”

“What?”

“There ain’t,” she said. “They’re all just old kids, pretending.

The worldbuilding of Nola was delightful; I loved the sky-trolleys and music-magicians and capital-a Animals, the schools of magic and the zombies! Jennings’ imagination is amazing, and honestly I would have been so much happier if the entire story had taken place in Nola. But even then, Ballad would still feel so unbelievably overfull with things. All of which were individually awesome, but packed in together, there just wasn’t room for them all to shine; I couldn’t appreciate all of it because just as something new and fabulous appeared, we were whisked to the next thing.

And…I remain uncomfortable with who and what the villain turned out to be. I’m the whitest of snowflakes and am therefore not even a little bit qualified to talk about race, but I hope BIPOC reviewers talk about it and weigh in.

One thing I really do have to commend Jennings on, though, is the family. I hate stories where parents or guardians are either oblivious to what’s happening to their kids or just hand-wave it all as fine, but here we have a good number of awesome grown-ups who demand to know why their kids have to be the ones in danger; who step in to protect and assist as much as they can. This isn’t one of those adventures where kids are sneaking around trying to hide what’s going on; their family is a wonderful, strong support network, even if it’s the kids who take center stage.

By the end of Ballad, I was furious with it and desperate for the book to just be over. Writing this review a week and change later, I can acknowledge that there is an enormous amount of awesomeness in this book; Jennings has an incredible imagination and a great prose style, and Ballad is beautifully unique in a genre that tends to play with the same tropes over and over. I’m not surprised other early reviews are glowing, and I will be looking out for more from Jennings in the future.

I love a lot of what it does, but the reading experience was, by the end, awful. I encourage other people to give it a go, though, if it sounds at all interesting to you. I really do think Ballad is something special. Maybe I’ll come back to it in a year and adore it.

For now, it’s three stars.

The post …It’s Complicated: The Ballad of Perilous Graves by Alex Jennings appeared first on Every Book a Doorway.

View more on Siavahda's website »

1 like · Like • 0 comments • flag

Published on May 10, 2022 01:31

May 9, 2022

Must-Have Monday #85

NINE wonderful books this week, from space travel to futuristic clubbing and magic schools!

Siren Queen by Nghi Vo
Genres: Fantasy, Historical Fantasy, Queer Protagonists
Published on: 10th May 2022
Goodreads

“No maids, no funny talking, no fainting flowers.”

Luli Wei is beautiful, talented, and desperate to be a star. Coming of age in pre-Code Hollywood, she knows how dangerous the movie business is and how limited the roles are for a Chinese American girl from Hungarian Hill—but she doesn’t care. She’d rather play a monster than a maid.

But in Luli’s world, the worst monsters in Hollywood are not the ones on screen. The studios want to own everything from her face to her name to the women she loves, and they run on a system of bargains made in blood and ancient magic, powered by the endless sacrifice of unlucky starlets like her. For those who do survive to earn their fame, success comes with a steep price. Luli is willing to do whatever it takes—even if that means becoming the monster herself.

Siren Queen offers up an enthralling exploration of an outsider achieving stardom on her own terms, in a fantastical Hollywood where the monsters are real and the magic of the silver screen illuminates every page.

Any time I hear Vo’s name I go instantly starry-eyed! Her prose is so beautiful, and her imagination always leaves me breathless. This is one of my most anticipated books of the year and I can’t believe I get to read it soon!!!

[image error]Dark Factory by Kathe Koja
Genres: Queer Protagonists, Sci Fi
Representation: Gay MC, M/M
Published on: 10th May 2022
Goodreads

Dark Factory is a state-of-the-art club where reality is customizable: just scroll down the menu, and change your world. Ari Regon is the club’s floor manager, a wild card who makes things happen, Max Caspar is a stubborn and talented DIY artist. And they’re both chasing the same thing: the ultimate experience, a vision of true reality.

Kathe Koja is another auto-buy author for me, and Dark Factory did not disappoint! You can read my review here!

Someone in Time: Tales of Time-Crossed Romance by Jonathan Strahan, Nina Allan, Zen Cho, Rowan Coleman, Jeffrey Ford, Sarah Gailey, Theodora Goss, Elizabeth Hand, Alix E. Harrow, Ellen Klages, Lavanya Lakshminarayan, Margo Lanagan, Seanan McGuire, Sam J. Miller, Sameem Sadiqui, Catherynne M. Valente, Carrie Vaughn
Genres: Queer Protagonists, Sci Fi
Published on: 10th May 2022
Goodreads

Anthology of inclusive tales of people through time looking for one another and for ways for the world to be better.

Love brought together or torn apart by time travel.

This anthology is the latest collection of time-travel romance sci-fi short stories from prominent, award-winning sci-fi authors including Nina Allan, Carrie Vaughn, and Seanan McGuire. Follow timetravelers of all genders as they go backward and forward in time, sometimes to save the one they love, other times as a sacrifice, and others simply because it's their job. Some travel through memory, others through dreams, and others still through time machines to touch people who would otherwise be out of reach, and to join them together. Some of the stories are funny, some are sad and poignant, some are tales of fresh love and some of love forever lost, but they all are rather wonderful.

Including stories by: Alix E. Harrow, Zen Cho, Seanan McGuire, Sarah Gailey, Jeffrey Ford, Nina Allan, Elizabeth Hand, Lavanya Lakshminarayan, Catherynne M. Valente, Sam J. Miller, Rowan Coleman, Margo Lanagan, Sameem Siddiqui, Theodora Goss, Carrie Vaughn, Ellen Klages

{ "@context":"https://schema.org", "@type":"Review", "datePublished": "2022-05-09T11:52:04+00:00", "description": "Sirens and magic schools and alternate histories!", "publisher": { "@type": "Organization", "name": "Every Book a Doorway" }, "url": "https:\/\/everybookadoorway.com\/must-have-monday-85\/", "itemReviewed": { "@type": "Book", "name": "Someone in Time: Tales of Time-Crossed Romance", "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Jonathan Strahan, Nina Allan, Zen Cho, Rowan Coleman, Jeffrey Ford, Sarah Gailey, Theodora Goss, Elizabeth Hand, Alix E. Harrow, Ellen Klages, Lavanya Lakshminarayan, Margo Lanagan, Seanan McGuire, Sam J. Miller, Sameem Sadiqui, Catherynne M. Valente, Carrie Vaughn", "sameAs": "" }, "isbn": "" }, "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Siavahda", "sameAs": "https:\/\/everybookadoorway.com\/" }, "reviewRating": { "@type": "Rating", "ratingValue": false, "bestRating": "5" }}

Usually I’m extremely way of short story collections, but this has stories from so many of my favourite authors AND I’ve seen nothing but glowing reviews for it, so I’m extremely excited!

Begin the World Over by Kung Li Sun
Genres: Queer Protagonists, Speculative Fiction
Representation: Black gay MC, M/M, BIPOC cast
Published on: 10th May 2022
Goodreads

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.

I got to read the first third or so of this and enjoyed it a lot – definitely looking forward to getting to read the rest!

Equinox by David Towsey
Genres: Fantasy
Published on: 12th May 2022
Goodreads

Everyone is not as they seem in this fantasy novel, replete with war, witchcraft and secrets.

Christophor Morden lives in a world where everybody changes with the rising and setting of the sun. For every person contains two distinct identities – a day brother and a night brother. One never sees the light, the other nothing of night.

One evening Christophor, one of the king's special unit of witch hunters, is woken early by a call to the city prison. A young woman has torn her own eyes out, and the police suspect supernatural causes. The investigation takes Christophor far from home, to a village on the edge of the kingdom.

There he will find his witch – and his night brother will find himself desperate to save her. And as this battle of the self rages, the witch's ancient and apocalyptic ritual comes ever closer to completion...

This is a really interesting premise that I’ve been looking forced to since I first heard about it!

Adrift in Starlight by Mindi Briar
Genres: Queer Protagonists, Sci Fi
Representation: Nonbinary pansexual MC, Black asexual MC
Published on: 10th May 2022
Goodreads

When set adrift in the universe, some things are worth holding onto.

Titan Valentino has been offered a job they can’t refuse.Tai, a gender-neutral courtesan, receives a scandalous proposition: seduce an actor's virgin fiancée. The money is enough to pay off Tai’s crushing medical debt, a tantalizing prospect.

Too bad Aisha Malik isn’t the easy target they expect.A standoffish historian who hates to be touched, she’s laser-focused on her career, and completely unaware that her marriage has been arranged behind her back. This could be the one instance where Tai’s charm and charisma fail them.

Then an accidental heist throws them together as partners in crime.Fleeing from the Authorities, they’re dragged into one adventure after another: alien planets, pirate duels, and narrow escapes from the law. As Tai and Aisha open up to each other, deeper feelings kindle between them. But that reward money still hangs over Tai’s head. Telling Aisha the truth could ruin everything...

Their freedom, their career, and their blossoming love all hang in the balance. To save one might mean sacrificing the rest.

This is very light and fun, the kind of book that doesn’t ask you to work too hard. It wasn’t quite the right fit for me, but if you want a diverse, not-so-complicated read with plenty of hijinks, then you’ll probably love this!

Under Fortunate Stars by Ren Hutchings
Genres: Queer Protagonists, Sci Fi
Published on: 10th May 2022
Goodreads

Fleeing the final days of the generations-long war with the alien Felen, smuggler Jereth Keeven's freighter the Jonah breaks down in a strange rift in deep space, with little chance of rescue—until they encounter the research vessel Gallion, which claims to be from 152 years in the future.

The Gallion's chief engineer Uma Ozakka has always been fascinated with the past, especially the tale of the Fortunate Five, who ended the war with the Felen. When the Gallion rescues a run-down junk freighter, Ozakka is shocked to recognize the Five's legendary ship—and the Five's famed leader, Eldric Leesongronski, among the crew.

But nothing else about Leesongronski and his crewmates seems to match up with the historical record. With their ships running out of power in the rift, more than the lives of both crews may be at stake.

I don’t know much about Under Fortunate Stars, but what I’ve heard has been good! Definitely going on my tbr!

Street Unicorns by Robbie Quinn
Published on: 10th May 2022
Goodreads

Fashion and wisdom from style rebels in New York City and beyondIn a world where stores, clothes, and trends have become increasingly standardized, fashion is one of the most powerful ways to explore and express our personalities, identities, and individuality. For years, renowned photographer Robbie Quinn has come across style rebels and bold expressionists on the streets of NYC and the world’s largest cities, stopping them for impromptu photoshoots and testimonials. He’s even given these eccentric lovers of style a name: Street Unicorns. In these pages, Quinn shares the portraits, viewpoints, and aspirations of more than 250 Street Unicorns with the hopes of inspiring readers to rediscover the most authentic parts of themselves. A vibrant declaration against ageism, racism, homophobia, and all other discriminations, this book is a love letter to those who aren’t afraid to stand out, embrace nonconformity, and share who they are with the world.

I love everything about this and can’t wait to go through all the gorgeous photos!

Wildseed Witch (Wildseed Witch, #1) by Marti Dumas
Genres: Fantasy, Contemporary or Urban Fantasy
Representation: Black MC
Published on: 10th May 2022
Goodreads

Hasani’s post-seventh-grade summer to-do list is pretty simple: get a bigger following for her makeup YouTube channel and figure out how to get her parents back together. What she does NOT expect is that an emotional outburst will spark a latent magical ability in her. Or that the magic will be strong enough to attract the attention of witches. Or that before she can say #BlackGirlMagic, she’ll be shipped off on a scholarship to a fancy finishing school for talented young ladies.

Les Belles Demoiselles is a literal charm school. Here, generations of young ladies from old-money witch families have learned to harness their magic, and alumnae grow to become some of the most powerful women across industries, including politicians, philanthropists, CEOs, entrepreneurs—and yes, even social media influencers. Needless to say, admission to the school is highly coveted, very exclusive . . . and Hasani sticks out like a weed in a rose bouquet.

While the other girls have always known they were destined to be witches, Hasani is a Wildseed––a stray witch from a family of non-witches, with no background knowledge, no way to control her magic, and a lot to catch up on. "Wildseed" may be an insult that the other girls throw at her, but Wildseeds are more powerful than they know. And Hasani will learn that there are ways to use magic and thrive that can never be taught in a classroom.

{ "@context":"https://schema.org", "@type":"Review", "datePublished": "2022-05-09T11:52:04+00:00", "description": "Sirens and magic schools and alternate histories!", "publisher": { "@type": "Organization", "name": "Every Book a Doorway" }, "url": "https:\/\/everybookadoorway.com\/must-have-monday-85\/", "itemReviewed": { "@type": "Book", "name": "Wildseed Witch (Wildseed Witch, #1)", "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Marti Dumas", "sameAs": "" }, "isbn": "" }, "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Siavahda", "sameAs": "https:\/\/everybookadoorway.com\/" }, "reviewRating": { "@type": "Rating", "ratingValue": false, "bestRating": "5" }}

GIVE ME ALL THE DIVERSE MAGIC SCHOOL STORIES! I think this is our second this month, even??? #BLESSED

Will you be reading any of these? Let me know!

The post Must-Have Monday #85 appeared first on Every Book a Doorway.

View more on Siavahda's website »

1 like · Like • 0 comments • flag

Published on May 09, 2022 04:52

May 8, 2022

Sunday Soupçons #10

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

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

I reread a favourite this week to prepare for its sequel!

The Border Keeper (Mkalis Cycle #1) by Kerstin Hall
Genres: Fantasy, Secondary World Fantasy
Goodreads
four-stars

A 2020 Nommo Award FinalistA Book Bub Best SFF Books of the Summer Pick

"A phantasmagorical picaresque through a lushly realised underworld, populated by a grotesque bestiary of fantastical creatures. . . . This twisty example of the new weird genre examines love, loss and loyalty, packing skilful world-building and a powerful emotional punch into a little over 200 pages."—The Guardian

She lived where the railway tracks met the saltpan, on the Ahri side of the shadowline. In the old days, when people still talked about her, she was known as the end-of-the-line woman.
Vasethe, a man with a troubled past, comes to seek a favor from a woman who is not what she seems, and must enter the nine hundred and ninety-nine realms of Mkalis, the world of spirits, where gods and demons wage endless war.

The Border Keeper spins wonders both epic—the Byzantine bureaucracy of hundreds of demon realms, impossible oceans, hidden fortresses—and devastatingly personal—a spear flung straight, the profound terror and power of motherhood. What Vasethe discovers in Mkalis threatens to bring his own secrets into light and throw both worlds into chaos.

Praise for The Border Keeper
"Beautifully and vividly imagined. Eerie, lovely, and surreal."—Ann Leckie

“A labyrinth of demons, dead gods, cranky psychopomps, and broken all-too-human lives. Hall is by turns wry and lush, genuine and venomous. So can I have the next one already?”—Max Gladstone

{ "@context":"https://schema.org", "@type":"Review", "datePublished": "2022-05-08T07:57:42+00:00", "description": "A reread of a beautiful favourite!", "publisher": { "@type": "Organization", "name": "Every Book a Doorway" }, "url": "https:\/\/everybookadoorway.com\/sunday-soupcons-10\/", "itemReviewed": { "@type": "Book", "name": "The Border Keeper (Mkalis Cycle #1)", "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Kerstin Hall", "sameAs": "" }, "isbn": "" }, "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Siavahda", "sameAs": "https:\/\/everybookadoorway.com\/" }, "reviewRating": { "@type": "Rating", "ratingValue": 4, "bestRating": "5" }}

The Border Keeper was one of the first – possibly the first – novella to make a real impression on me. I don’t remember what made me excited for it – Hall was a debut author then, I hadn’t read her before, but maybe some of the early praise got to me? Whatever it was, it lived up to its hype then and it lives up to it now.

This is a beautiful, and beautifully strange, book about a man who seeks the help of the mysterious, nearly all-powerful Border Keeper to cross into Mkalis, the world of wonders and nightmares where people are reborn when they die. It was absolutely Mkalis which enchanted me; this world made up of hundreds of individual realms, each with its own unbreakable rules and strictures set by the realm’s Ruler. Parts of it are horrifying – like the crab with a child encased in its shell – and parts of it are breathtaking – like a palace surrounded by waterfalls that fall upwards. I really, really loved exploring this world Hall created; and, for that matter, hearing about her ‘mortal’ realm too, which we don’t see much of but hear bits about.

I have to confess that the actual plot kind of eluded me, and even reading it for the second time, the ending still hit me out of nowhere – I still have no idea where the revelations and reveals came from, if there were clues dropped throughout the text then I didn’t spot them either time I read it – and that’s kind of frustrating. I almost want to read it for a third time to see if I can finally spot the clues, but if I didn’t see them the first two times I doubt I will on a third read either.

Still, the ending doesn’t change how I felt about Mkalis or how much I loved Hall’s prose, and after reading The Border Keeper again, I’m even more excited than I was before to dive into the sequel!

What have you been reading this week?

The post Sunday Soupçons #10 appeared first on Every Book a Doorway.

View more on Siavahda's website »

1 like · Like • 0 comments • flag

Published on May 08, 2022 00:57

May 6, 2022

A Queer Fantasy of What Fantasy Should Be: A Strange and Stubborn Endurance by Foz Meadows

tree wolf image by chic2view on 123RF.com

A Strange and Stubborn Endurance by Foz Meadows
Genres: Fantasy, Secondary World Fantasy, Queer Protagonists
Representation: Brown cast, gay MCs, M/M, major mute character, secondary nonbinary character, secondary trans character, queernorm culture
PoV: 1st person past tense, 3rd person past tense
Published on: 26th July 2022
ISBN: 1250829143
Goodreads
five-stars

“Many a reader longing for a sense of homecoming in the realm of romantic fantasy will find it in A Strange and Stubborn Endurance.”—Jacqueline Carey

“Stolen me? As soon to say a caged bird can be stolen by the sky.”

Velasin vin Aaro never planned to marry at all, let alone a girl from neighboring Tithena. When an ugly confrontation reveals his preference for men, Vel fears he’s ruined the diplomatic union before it can even begin. But while his family is ready to disown him, the Tithenai envoy has a different solution: for Vel to marry his former intended’s brother instead.

Caethari Aeduria always knew he might end up in a political marriage, but his sudden betrothal to a man from Ralia, where such relationships are forbidden, comes as a shock.

With an unknown faction willing to kill to end their new alliance, Vel and Cae have no choice but to trust each other. Survival is one thing, but love—as both will learn—is quite another.

Byzantine politics, lush sexual energy, and a queer love story that is by turns sweet and sultry, Foz Meadows' A Strange and Stubborn Endurance is an exploration of gender, identity, and self-worth. It is a book that will live in your heart long after you turn the last page.

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": "2022-05-06T09:07:00+00:00", "description": "An instant new favourite!", "publisher": { "@type": "Organization", "name": "Every Book a Doorway" }, "url": "https:\/\/everybookadoorway.com\/a-queer-fantasy-of-what-fantasy-should-be-a-strange-and-stubborn-endurance-by-foz-meadows\/", "itemReviewed": { "@type": "Book", "name": "A Strange and Stubborn Endurance", "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Foz Meadows", "sameAs": "" }, "isbn": "1250829143" }, "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Siavahda", "sameAs": "https:\/\/everybookadoorway.com\/" }, "reviewRating": { "@type": "Rating", "ratingValue": 5, "bestRating": "5" }} Highlights

~knives make the best wedding presents
~political genius + warrior cinnamon roll
~THAT’S NOT WHAT PITCHFORKS ARE FOR
~sweet, intense romance
~oh no they’re out to kill you – or are they???

A Strange and Stubborn Endurance is a beautiful treaty-marriage fantasy that blends intricate political intrigue with idyllic romance and exquisite worldbuilding. Although it has something of a dark start (see the end of this post for the trigger warnings, which I’ve placed under a spoiler tag), this is fundamentally a warm, silken, feel-good fantasy, unquestionably one of the best books of the year for a whole host of reasons!

Velasin is a gay man in the nation of Ralia (which has roughly a Renaissance-esque level of technology and culture); the third son of a technically-not-noble family, he’s been able to play the wastrel a bit and keep his sexuality hidden from his father. But after breaking up with his long-term lover Killic, he suffers a second blow in learning that, in a bid to strengthen ties to neighbouring Tithena, his marriage has been arranged to a Tithenai noblewoman.

When his sexuality is revealed – in the worst possible way – the Tithenai ambassador suggests he marry said noblewoman’s brother, instead.

It’s the best thing that could ever happen to Vel – but it sure doesn’t feel like it at the time. But then, he has no idea that Cae, his future husband, is so perfect a human being that it’s almost ridiculous. Only almost, though, because Meadows does a marvellous job at keeping him mortal and fallible (interestingly, the book switches back and forth between Vel and Cae’s PoVs, and while Vel’s chapters are in first-person, Cae’s are in third. I don’t know what prompted that decision – maybe to emphasise what different people they are, and how different are the cultures they come from and thus the way that they think? – but it works extremely well). The two characters are the best kind of complimentary opposites; which is to say, opposites in a few significant ways, but sharing positions on everything important. Cae is an honest, more straightforward warrior type (not stupid or bad with people, just better with literal swordplay than verbal), while Vel is a genius when it comes to politics, and they meet in the middle with heartwarming trust and openness. Probably my favourite aspect of their developing relationship was that they were honest with each other – open even when it was awkward, or difficult, or painful. Speaking as someone who’s been married for over a decade, that kind of honesty is what convinces me, every time I see it, that a relationship is going to work. And it’s just so damn refreshing to see characters who talk to each other, like grown-ups, rather than acting like dramatic teenagers.

Vel and Cae aren’t teenagers. Their relationship starts small, from a foundation of honesty and trust and a desire to make a good life for themselves together, and grows into something deep and real and heartwarming. I’ll admit it develops quickly, but five days after we met the hubby and I admitted we knew it was forever, so between that and Meadows’ care and skill in telling their story, I have no trouble believing in it. Especially given the circumstances in which their relationship is forged.

And this is, ultimately, a romantic fantasy, which means some suspension of disbelief re falling in love is permitted. Although there’s a good deal of intrigue – someone is not happy about this marriage, presumably for political reasons – there’s no getting away from the fact that Tithena is a queer fantasy of a fantasy realm, an idealised queernorm state that could have come straight (hah) out of my own daydreams. Jacqueline Carey says in the cover quote that “Many readers looking for a sense of homecoming in the realm of romantic fantasy will find it in A Strange and Stubborn Endurance.” and I think that’s what she meant; although we get a brief glimpse of the queerphobia of Ralia, the vast majority of this book takes place in what’s functionally a queer wonderland, and there is absolutely a sense of relief and joy and homecoming in that. We don’t have to think about any of it too hard or too closely; just let it wash over us, and wash our hearts clean in the process.

But of course, if you decide you do want to look at things more closely, you won’t find anything to nitpick. All the worldbuilding prowess that was on display in Meadows’ previous books – the Manifold Path duet – comes through loud and clear in A Strange and Stubborn Endurance. Meadows has thought of everything; not just the different attitudes Ralia and Tithena have towards gender and sexuality – obviously very plot-relevant! – but details like clothing, cuisine, marriage traditions, views and uses for magic, and religion. And by that, I don’t mean Meadows decided one country wears trousers and the other doesn’t; I mean they’ve invented entirely new items of clothing. While there might be slight influences from a couple of real-world cultures, the world Vel and Cae inhabit is entirely Meadows’ own – and I loved it. Especially since Meadows is an expert at not overwhelming the reader with new strange-sounding nouns, or expecting the reader to have them all instantly memorised – and creating idioms that instantly make sense!

“Sorry,” he said. “I was whittling trees out of firewood.”

And you cannot talk about this book without talking about Markel! Vel’s manservant is also his best friend – and they communicate via sign language because Markel is mute. They’re so close that at first some people think Markel and Vel are romantically involved or want to be, and I loved getting to see that strong a relationship – especially between two men! – with no romantic or sexual elements at all. (Listen, we stan Steve/Bucky in this house but we also stan beautiful intense platonic love because THAT IS AMAZING TOO.) Besides which, Markel is just awesome for his own sake – very kind, and also extremely smart and funny, and I will be amazed if anyone walks away from this book not adoring him utterly, okay? He’s that wonderful.

One critique I’ve seen – but don’t share – for this book is that there’s several small plot points that don’t go anywhere: for example, Vel and Markel hide Markel’s knowledge of the local language in the hopes of him overhearing something useful, and he doesn’t. But to me, that just made the story feel more realistic, because in real life, not everything is relevant, or comes up again later. Not every idea you have works out, and not every plot results in ah-hah!clues. I know that’s something we usually don’t let stories do – and I’ve critiqued books for it before. But here it felt deliberate, which is what makes the difference. Here the characters did things that were logical for them to do, or worried about things it was reasonable to worry about – and those things didn’t always pan out, because in real life, they don’t always. It adds a bit of realism to what is otherwise a very idealised story.

Ultimately A Strange and Stubborn Endurance is just – so sweet and sex-positive and big on consent in an effortlessly queernorm setting and how??? do you??? even??? The takeaway is just HAPPY FEELS and bubbly joy through and through. Which is impressive, because the beginning is pretty dark, and yet this really is a book you want to hug to your chest because EEE! It’s idealised and escapist, detailed and delicious, with plenty of plot and a swoonworthy romance – an instant fave.

It’s lovely and you will love it. Preorder it immediately!

I’m hiding the trigger warnings beneath a spoiler tag; click to read if you wish.

[View post to see spoiler]

The post A Queer Fantasy of What Fantasy Should Be: A Strange and Stubborn Endurance by Foz Meadows appeared first on Every Book a Doorway.

View more on Siavahda's website »

2 likes · Like • 0 comments • flag

Published on May 06, 2022 02:07

May 4, 2022

I Can’t Wait For…Darknesses by Lachelle Seville

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 is Darknesses by Lachelle Seville!

Darknesses (Darknesses, #1) by Lachelle Seville
Genres: Fantasy, Contemporary or Urban Fantasy, Queer Protagonists
Representation: Black sapphic MC, F/F
Published on: 19th May 2022
Goodreads

It’s been a year since Oasis stumbled away from Blessed Falls with wings carved into her back and too many scars to count.

A year spent razing delusions of being an angel's vessel, proving to her brother that she doesn’t belong in a psych ward, and mourning the loss of her mother's vinyl pressed ashes.

A year spent struggling to feel human again.

Enter Laura, the mesmerizing stranger who claims to hear Oasis’ heartbeat, who reads her hand-written memoir like scripture, who makes her feel closer to found than lost.

Laura is the most recent face of the eternal Count Dracula, ruler of the shadows, chimera of the Devil, and embittered victim of libel.

The Van Helsing Institute have been waiting for a glimpse of the dragon’s underbelly, and eagerly approach Oasis for her help in a ploy to kill Dracula for good. But not every wound from Blessed Falls has cicatrized, and Oasis realizes she may be a danger to Laura—and to herself.

Yet no one is as dangerous as Laura—the first vampire, the Devil's plaything, and the person with whom Oasis finally feels human.

Oceans of time have passed since she last had a drink, and she will not let Oasis go easily.

{ "@context":"https://schema.org", "@type":"Review", "datePublished": "2022-05-04T19:06:21+00:00", "description": "Black vampires + sapphics is honestly all I need to hear.", "publisher": { "@type": "Organization", "name": "Every Book a Doorway" }, "url": "https:\/\/everybookadoorway.com\/i-cant-wait-for-darknesses-by-lachelle-seville\/", "itemReviewed": { "@type": "Book", "name": "Darknesses (Darknesses, #1)", "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Lachelle Seville", "sameAs": "" }, "isbn": "" }, "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Siavahda", "sameAs": "https:\/\/everybookadoorway.com\/" }, "reviewRating": { "@type": "Rating", "ratingValue": false, "bestRating": "5" }}

This leapt onto my radar as a sapphic fantasy that would feature Black vampires, which immediately had my attention! Seriously, we do not see Black vampires nearly often enough (writers of vamp-fiction, get on that, please!) And then when I actually saw the description, and read the excerpt???

EEE!

I’m dying to know all about the being-an-angel’s-vessel except-not thing, and I’m already in love with Laura, who buys copies of Dracula just to burn them (I feel you, Laura, it’s a terrible book.) Plus, anyone who wears gold rings shaped like bats is immediately someone I want to know better. Insert heart-eyes here!

From the excerpt and description, Darknesses kiiiiiind of counts like a queer, grown-up counter to both Twilight and Dracula, and I am so very here for it.

Just two more weeks!!!

You can read the excerpt I mentioned on the author’s website here!

The post I Can’t Wait For…Darknesses by Lachelle Seville appeared first on Every Book a Doorway.

View more on Siavahda's website »

Like • 0 comments • flag

Published on May 04, 2022 12:06

May 3, 2022

The Fantastic Unknown: 10 Amazing Fantasies You’ve Probably Never Heard Of

tree wolf image by chic2view on 123RF.com

It’s Wyrd & Wonder again! That means a whole month of awesome people sharing their love of all things fantasy, and I’m ridiculously excited about taking part for the third year in a row!

I put waaay too much thought into what my first post for W&W should be, and it occurred to me that a month-long event celebrating the fantastic is a pretty good time to celebrate some books that don’t get enough attention. So behold: ten completely incredible fantasies you probably haven’t heard of! Let’s give them some love!

Inda (Inda, #1) by Sherwood Smith
Genres: Fantasy, High Fantasy, Queer Protagonists
Goodreads

Indevan Algara-Vayir was born the second son of a powerful prince, destined to stay at home and defend his family's castle. But when war threatens, Inda is sent to the Royal Academy where he learns the art of war and finds that danger and intrigue don't only come from outside the kingdom.

{ "@context":"https://schema.org", "@type":"Review", "datePublished": "2022-05-03T14:40:08+00:00", "description": "In a month of celebrating the fantastic, I want to celebrate some fantastic books you probably haven't heard of before!", "publisher": { "@type": "Organization", "name": "Every Book a Doorway" }, "url": "https:\/\/everybookadoorway.com\/the-fantastic-unknown-10-amazing-fantasies-youve-probably-never-heard-of\/", "itemReviewed": { "@type": "Book", "name": "Inda (Inda, #1)", "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Sherwood Smith", "sameAs": "" }, "isbn": "" }, "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Siavahda", "sameAs": "https:\/\/everybookadoorway.com\/" }, "reviewRating": { "@type": "Rating", "ratingValue": false, "bestRating": "5" }}

~~Of course I immediately break the ‘list of 10’ rule by beginning with a series, but it counts as one entry, okay?~~

How is everyone not screaming about this series?! Or did the rest of you scream about it in the early 2000s, when it was being published, and I just missed it???

EITHER WAY PEOPLE NEED TO BE SCREAMING ABOUT THIS SERIES!

It’s intricate high fantasy with all the politicking you could possibly ask for, against a sex-positive, queernorm backdrop, in one of the most fully-realised worlds I have ever read about. Inda, a noble-born second son who happens to be a tactical genius, is ostensibly the main character, but he’s surrounded by a truly incredible cast, many of whom are also POV characters, ranging from Inda’s older sister to the king. This series is just so rich and delicious, with layers and layers interweaving at every point; ancient history and international politics and magic and in-kingdom divides and war, grudges and feuds and secrets and enchanted lockets, pettiness and sweeping vision contrasting against each other, entwining and then coming into conflict.

IT IS LITERALLY FLAWLESS HOW HAVE YOU NOT READ THESE YET???

My review of book one!

Sea Change by S.M. Wheeler
Genres: Fantasy
Goodreads

The unhappy child of two powerful parents who despise each other, young Lilly turns to the ocean to find solace, which she finds in the form of the eloquent and intelligent sea monster Octavius, a kraken. In Octavius’s many arms, Lilly learns of friendship, loyalty, and family. When Octavius, forbidden by Lilly to harm humans, is captured by seafaring traders and sold to a circus, Lilly becomes his only hope for salvation. Desperate to find him, she strikes a bargain with a witch that carries a shocking price.

Her journey to win Octavius’s freedom is difficult. The circus master wants a Coat of Illusions; the Coat tailor wants her undead husband back from a witch; the witch wants her skin back from two bandits; the bandits just want some company, but they might kill her first. Lilly's quest tests her resolve, tries her patience, and leaves her transformed in every way.

{ "@context":"https://schema.org", "@type":"Review", "datePublished": "2022-05-03T14:40:08+00:00", "description": "In a month of celebrating the fantastic, I want to celebrate some fantastic books you probably haven't heard of before!", "publisher": { "@type": "Organization", "name": "Every Book a Doorway" }, "url": "https:\/\/everybookadoorway.com\/the-fantastic-unknown-10-amazing-fantasies-youve-probably-never-heard-of\/", "itemReviewed": { "@type": "Book", "name": "Sea Change", "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "S.M. Wheeler", "sameAs": "" }, "isbn": "" }, "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Siavahda", "sameAs": "https:\/\/everybookadoorway.com\/" }, "reviewRating": { "@type": "Rating", "ratingValue": false, "bestRating": "5" }}

Sea Change is a strange, beautiful book with a kind of dark fairytale vibe, about a young woman whose best friend is a kraken. When said kraken is kidnapped, she has to go on a series of quests to get him back. The writing is beautiful, but the adventures aren’t always; there’s some gore, and definitely some horror vibes…but in a beautiful way??? It’s impossible to describe, but gods, it’s amazing. I love it so much and I need more people to read and love it too!

Half-Witch by John Schoffstall
Genres: Fantasy
Goodreads

In Lizbet Lenz’s world, the sun goes around the earth, God speaks directly to his worshippers, goblins haunt cellars and witches lurk in forests. Disaster strikes when Lizbet's charming scoundrel father is thrown into a dungeon by the tyrant Hengest Wolftrow. To free him, Lizbet must cross the Montagnes du Monde, globe-girdling mountains that reach to the sky, a journey no one has ever survived, and retrieve a mysterious book.

Lizbet is desperate, and the only one who can help her is the unpleasant and sarcastic witch girl Strix. As the two girls journey over the mountains and into the lands of wonder beyond, on the run from goblins, powerful witches, and human criminals, Lizbet discovers, to her horror, that Strix's magic is turning Lizbet into a witch, too. Meanwhile, a revolution in Heaven is brewing.

{ "@context":"https://schema.org", "@type":"Review", "datePublished": "2022-05-03T14:40:08+00:00", "description": "In a month of celebrating the fantastic, I want to celebrate some fantastic books you probably haven't heard of before!", "publisher": { "@type": "Organization", "name": "Every Book a Doorway" }, "url": "https:\/\/everybookadoorway.com\/the-fantastic-unknown-10-amazing-fantasies-youve-probably-never-heard-of\/", "itemReviewed": { "@type": "Book", "name": "Half-Witch", "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "John Schoffstall", "sameAs": "" }, "isbn": "" }, "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Siavahda", "sameAs": "https:\/\/everybookadoorway.com\/" }, "reviewRating": { "@type": "Rating", "ratingValue": false, "bestRating": "5" }}

Half-Witch is weird and wonderful, in one of the best and most unique ways I’ve ever seen. In this world, when you pray, God actually answers – unless you get Jesus or the Holy Spirit on the line instead! Witches exist too, and put would-be rapists through the literal wringer to squeeze out their vices and virtues for use in magic. In the middle of this odd world is poor Elisabet, who must team up with young witch Strix when her father is locked up for fraud. In order to get him out of prison, Elisabet and Strix have to cross uncrossable mountains in search of a very special book. There’s no way to describe this one in a way that does it justice; it’s so wry, so strange, so delightful! It plays with a bunch of old mythologies and philosophies, and ideas like the sun going around the earth, and there are goblins and pixie queens and Strix is just the best, okay? And honestly, so is Elisabet. Despite the age of the main characters, this isn’t YA, although I’d happily put it in the hands of a mature teenager. And everyone else’s, if they’d let me!

The God Eaters by Jesse Hajicek
Genres: Fantasy, Queer Protagonists
Goodreads

Imprisoned for 'inflammatory writings' by the totalitarian Theocracy, shy intellectual Ashleigh Trine figures his story's over. But when he meets Kieran Trevarde, a hard-hearted gunslinger with a dark magic lurking in his blood, Ash finds that necessity makes strange heroes... and love can change the world.

{ "@context":"https://schema.org", "@type":"Review", "datePublished": "2022-05-03T14:40:08+00:00", "description": "In a month of celebrating the fantastic, I want to celebrate some fantastic books you probably haven't heard of before!", "publisher": { "@type": "Organization", "name": "Every Book a Doorway" }, "url": "https:\/\/everybookadoorway.com\/the-fantastic-unknown-10-amazing-fantasies-youve-probably-never-heard-of\/", "itemReviewed": { "@type": "Book", "name": "The God Eaters", "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Jesse Hajicek", "sameAs": "" }, "isbn": "" }, "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Siavahda", "sameAs": "https:\/\/everybookadoorway.com\/" }, "reviewRating": { "@type": "Rating", "ratingValue": false, "bestRating": "5" }}

God Eaters is a book I’ve mentioned before, but damn it, it’s worth mentioning again! This one’s a story of love and revolution in a world reminiscent of the developing USA – kind of Wild West-y, except there’s no cowboys. There are Indigenous tribes who’ve been oppressed like the ones in our world; Kieran, one of the two main characters, is Indigenous, which is more than a little plot-relevant. As a death-witch assassin, he meets Ashleigh, an empath revolutionary writer, in a terrible prison for those criminals with various magical abilities. Kieran and Ashes aren’t planning on staying put, though, and in the process, they uncover a secret about gods and magics that could tear the whole world down. Hajicek’s writing is beyond beautiful, and this so desperately needs to be a classic that it’s not even funny.

You can buy it as a paperback via Amaz*n, or ebook through Lulu.com, or read it for free at Hajicek’s website.

Power and Majesty (Creature Court #1) by Tansy Rayner Roberts
Genres: Fantasy, Queer Protagonists
Goodreads

Aufleur is a city of honey cakes, decadent ritual... and a secret war fought by an army of beautiful monsters. The Creature Court die and bleed to keep the daylight folk safe, but no one even knows they exist.

Who will be the new Power and Majesty of the Creature Court: a man who was broken and exiled from their world, or the woman who knows nothing of their ways? Neither of them wants to rule, but Ashiol is determined to train Velody to take his place, so that he can finally escape his destiny.

Winner of the 2011 Best Novel Ditmar, and the 2011 Best Fantasy Novel Aurealis Award.

{ "@context":"https://schema.org", "@type":"Review", "datePublished": "2022-05-03T14:40:08+00:00", "description": "In a month of celebrating the fantastic, I want to celebrate some fantastic books you probably haven't heard of before!", "publisher": { "@type": "Organization", "name": "Every Book a Doorway" }, "url": "https:\/\/everybookadoorway.com\/the-fantastic-unknown-10-amazing-fantasies-youve-probably-never-heard-of\/", "itemReviewed": { "@type": "Book", "name": "Power and Majesty (Creature Court #1)", "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Tansy Rayner Roberts", "sameAs": "" }, "isbn": "" }, "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Siavahda", "sameAs": "https:\/\/everybookadoorway.com\/" }, "reviewRating": { "@type": "Rating", "ratingValue": false, "bestRating": "5" }}

I’ve said it before and I’m saying it again: Folx. Folx. There are no books like these books. There is no story like the story they tell. They are defiant, they are feminist, they are queer, they are blood and hope and skysilver. You have never seen magic like the Creature Court’s magic. You have never seen the clash of savagery and kindness like Roberts writes it. You have never seen dressmakers become kings and poets shatter death like mirrors, you have never seen mice fight the sky and win, you have never seen flowers and honeycakes save the world and red-red jewels try and break it again. You have never seen a trilogy usurp the conventions and your expectations as thoroughly as these books do.

How they are not on literally everyone’s shelves continues to be completely beyond me!

Hunger Pangs: True Love Bites by Joy Demorra
Genres: Fantasy, Queer Protagonists
Goodreads

In a world of dwindling hope, love has never mattered more...

Captain Nathan J. Northland had no idea what to expect when he returned home to Lorehaven injured from war, but it certainly wasn't to find himself posted on an island full of vampires. An island whose local vampire dandy lord causes Nathan to feel strange things he'd never felt before. Particularly about fangs.

When Vlad Blutstein agreed to hire Nathan as Captain of the Eyrie Guard, he hadn't been sure what to expect either, but it certainly hadn't been to fall in love with a disabled werewolf. However Vlad has fallen and fallen hard, and that's the problem.
Torn by their allegiances--to family, to duty, and the age-old enmity between vampires and werewolves--the pair find themselves in a difficult situation: to love where the heart wants or to follow where expectation demands.

The situation is complicated further when a mysterious and beguiling figure known only as Lady Ursula crashes into their lives, bringing with her dark omens of death, doom, and destruction in her wake.

And a desperate plea for help neither of them can ignore.

Thrown together in uncertain times and struggling to find their place amidst the rising human empire, the unlikely trio must decide how to face the coming darkness: united as one or divided and alone. One thing is for certain, none of them will ever be the same.

{ "@context":"https://schema.org", "@type":"Review", "datePublished": "2022-05-03T14:40:08+00:00", "description": "In a month of celebrating the fantastic, I want to celebrate some fantastic books you probably haven't heard of before!", "publisher": { "@type": "Organization", "name": "Every Book a Doorway" }, "url": "https:\/\/everybookadoorway.com\/the-fantastic-unknown-10-amazing-fantasies-youve-probably-never-heard-of\/", "itemReviewed": { "@type": "Book", "name": "Hunger Pangs: True Love Bites", "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Joy Demorra", "sameAs": "" }, "isbn": "" }, "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Siavahda", "sameAs": "https:\/\/everybookadoorway.com\/" }, "reviewRating": { "@type": "Rating", "ratingValue": false, "bestRating": "5" }}

True Love Bites is as sweet as it is diverse, featuring an OCD vampire and a disabled werewolf getting tangled up in a quest to save the world. It’s enormously feel-good, with plenty of twists and turns to keep things interesting, and bonus supernatural/human politics. When dipping into this book to skim it before adding it to this list, I ended up losing hours: the next thing I new the day was halfway over. Once it sinks its teeth into you, it’s not letting go until you’re done!

The Pyramids of London (The Trifold Age, #1) by Andrea K. Höst
Genres: Fantasy, Queer Protagonists
Goodreads

In a world where lightning sustained the Roman Empire, and Egypt's vampiric god-kings spread their influence through medicine and good weather, tiny Prytennia's fortunes are rising with the ships that have made her undisputed ruler of the air.

But the peace of recent decades is under threat. Rome's automaton-driven wealth is waning along with the New Republic's supply of power crystals, while Sweden uses fear of Rome to add to her Protectorates. And Prytennia is under attack from the wind itself. Relentless daily blasts destroy crops, buildings, and lives, and neither the weather vampires nor Prytennia's Trifold Goddess have been able to find a way to stop them.
With events so grand scouring the horizon, the deaths of Eiliff and Aedric Tenning raise little interest. The official verdict is accident: two careless automaton makers, killed by their own construct.

The Tenning children and Aedric's sister, Arianne, know this cannot be true. Nothing will stop their search for what really happened.

Not even if, to follow the first clue, Aunt Arianne must sell herself to a vampire.

{ "@context":"https://schema.org", "@type":"Review", "datePublished": "2022-05-03T14:40:08+00:00", "description": "In a month of celebrating the fantastic, I want to celebrate some fantastic books you probably haven't heard of before!", "publisher": { "@type": "Organization", "name": "Every Book a Doorway" }, "url": "https:\/\/everybookadoorway.com\/the-fantastic-unknown-10-amazing-fantasies-youve-probably-never-heard-of\/", "itemReviewed": { "@type": "Book", "name": "The Pyramids of London (The Trifold Age, #1)", "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Andrea K. H\u00f6st", "sameAs": "" }, "isbn": "" }, "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Siavahda", "sameAs": "https:\/\/everybookadoorway.com\/" }, "reviewRating": { "@type": "Rating", "ratingValue": false, "bestRating": "5" }}

This one is for those who really love intricate, detailed worldbuilding, because Host goes hard. A Roman empire that never fell and an Egyptian one fuelled by the influence of weather-controlling vampires; steampunk-esque technology powered by mysterious crystals; dragons under the earth and gods being extremely possessive of the souls they lay claim to! And that’s without even getting started on the murder-mystery plotline, which involves one of the oldest vampires around and one of the most sacred spaces in Britain; or the divine politics as not-Scotland struggles to find a divine patron; or the sphinxes that are out to kill for who-knows-what reason! There’s so much going on, and yet Pyramids of London has never felt over-full to me in all the times I’ve read and reread it. It’s casually diverse in a whole bunch of ways – one of the POV characters is queer and another has a prosthetic arm – Britain is a matriarchy, there are spirit-hares and sneakily-moving automatons – what more could you possibly want???

Water Horse by Melissa Scott
Genres: Fantasy, High Fantasy, Queer Protagonists
Goodreads

For the last twenty years, Esclin Aubrinos, arros of the Hundred Hills, has acted jointly with Alcis Mirielos, the kyra of the Westwood, and the rivermaster of Riverholme to defend their land of Allanoth against the Riders who invade from Manan across the Narrow Sea. He has long been a master of the shifting politics of his own people and his independently-minded allies, but this year the omens turn against him. The Riders have elected a new lord paramount, hallowed servant of the Blazing One, a man chosen and fated for victory.

The omens agree that Nen Elin, Esclin’s stronghold and the heart of Allanoth, will fall when a priest of the Blazing One enters its gates. Esclin needs a spirit-bonded royal sword, a talismanic weapon made of star-fallen iron, to unite the hillfolk behind him. But the same vision that called for the sword proclaimed that Esclin will then betray it, and every step he takes to twist free of the prophecies brings him closer to that doom.

{ "@context":"https://schema.org", "@type":"Review", "datePublished": "2022-05-03T14:40:08+00:00", "description": "In a month of celebrating the fantastic, I want to celebrate some fantastic books you probably haven't heard of before!", "publisher": { "@type": "Organization", "name": "Every Book a Doorway" }, "url": "https:\/\/everybookadoorway.com\/the-fantastic-unknown-10-amazing-fantasies-youve-probably-never-heard-of\/", "itemReviewed": { "@type": "Book", "name": "Water Horse", "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Melissa Scott", "sameAs": "" }, "isbn": "" }, "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Siavahda", "sameAs": "https:\/\/everybookadoorway.com\/" }, "reviewRating": { "@type": "Rating", "ratingValue": false, "bestRating": "5" }}

This is not an older book – it was released just last year – so I don’t understand how it seems to have slipped under everyone’s radar. Scott’s prose is always beautifully elegant, and here she draws from Irish myth to spin out a High Fantasy that’s entirely her own, following the alliances and conflicts of three kingdoms – two of which just want to be left alone, and one which is determined to conquer the rest and place their solar divinity in ascendance over everyone and everything. Scott never waters down her intrigue or talks down to her readers; it’s not nearly so simple as rooting for the good guys and booing the enemy – it’s more complicated than that (although you won’t catch me siding with the raiders, no matter how much I appreciate their healing). There are magical harps and portentous swords, water magic and goddesses of darkness, a half-blind trickster king and a polyamorous queen – I’m not going to lie, the normalised queerness is a big draw, and I love how it’s handled here. But I also loved the sentient forest and the mound-forts, the bards and the politics, the complexities of war and pride.

Who am I kidding: I love everything about this book. It’s just all around epic!

Evensong's Heir (Songbirds of Valnon, #1) by L.S. Baird
Genres: Fantasy, High Fantasy, Queer Protagonists
Goodreads

For centuries in the Temple of Valnon, young men have paid a tremendous price to be chosen as Songbirds. Every twelve years, a new Lark and Thrush are castrated for their heavenly voices, but few men have ever been capable of claiming the title of Dove: the holy avatar of Saint Alveron himself. In the six hundred years since the Temple's founding, Willim is only the third to buy the Evensong with his blood. A virtual prisoner of the Temple for the duration of his term, Willim pays little heed to anything but his duty to sing for Valnon. That all changes with the murder of the Songbirds' loyal bodyguard and Willim's rescue by Nicholas Grayson, a sell-sword who brings whispers of Temple scandal and ancient prophecy in his wake.

Plagued by ghosts and nightmares, betrayed by a fellow Temple Bird and forced into exile, Willim struggles to unravel the tangled history of his title in the hopes of understanding what it truly means to be Valnon's Dove. With his friends scattered and Valnon poised on the brink of war, Willim's only hope lies in summoning the ancient power of his saint: to Sing Down from Heaven a music that can fell an army in its tracks, or wipe a city from the surface of the earth. But the song of Saint Alveron is as unpredictable as it is powerful. Whether Willim's Song will bring salvation for his city or the destruction of everything he holds dear, only Heaven knows.

{ "@context":"https://schema.org", "@type":"Review", "datePublished": "2022-05-03T14:40:08+00:00", "description": "In a month of celebrating the fantastic, I want to celebrate some fantastic books you probably haven't heard of before!", "publisher": { "@type": "Organization", "name": "Every Book a Doorway" }, "url": "https:\/\/everybookadoorway.com\/the-fantastic-unknown-10-amazing-fantasies-youve-probably-never-heard-of\/", "itemReviewed": { "@type": "Book", "name": "Evensong's Heir (Songbirds of Valnon, #1)", "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "L.S. Baird", "sameAs": "" }, "isbn": "" }, "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Siavahda", "sameAs": "https:\/\/everybookadoorway.com\/" }, "reviewRating": { "@type": "Rating", "ratingValue": false, "bestRating": "5" }}

Look, I know that cover is…A Lot. I know. But I’m pleading with you to ignore it, because Evensong’s Heir is one of the best books I’ve ever read in my life, and I promise you it’s not kinky smut – or whatever else the cover makes you think of – at all. This is High Fantasy in a kingdom where music is everything – and the ways Baird’s woven that into the fictional culture are just incredible – and the most sacred individuals are holy singers who take on the role of ancient saints. When the church is attacked, those singers flee, seeking either refuge or the secret or trick of ancient holy song-magic.

And the whole thing is just unutterably beautiful. The prose is breathtaking, the worldbuilding is fantastic, the cast is wonderful. Baird writes magic that sends chills down your spine and makes the hair on your arms stand up, and characters so real you forget that they’re fictional. Evensong’s Heir is deep and powerful and breathtaking, and seriously, you need to read it.

The One Who Eats Monsters (Wind and Shadow, #1) by Casey Matthews
Genres: Fantasy, Contemporary or Urban Fantasy, Queer Protagonists
Goodreads

Long ago, before history broke in half, elder gods exiled the vengeful deity Erynis to a far corner of Earth. When Ryn is found weakened after saving the life of an innocent villager, the U.S. military mistakes the battered immortal for a feral teenager and places her in New Petersburg, a decaying city full of monsters.

In her clash with the city’s demons, Ryn is confused by her intense emotional connection with Naomi Bradford, a senator’s daughter she has sworn to protect. But while her claws can kill anything that dies (and a few things that cannot), she must also contend with the human race. They lie, they speak in riddles, and to protect her friend, the immortal must navigate the senseless rules of their flawed civilization. Worse, they are fragile—and giving her heart to one makes Ryn afraid for the first time in her eternal life.

{ "@context":"https://schema.org", "@type":"Review", "datePublished": "2022-05-03T14:40:08+00:00", "description": "In a month of celebrating the fantastic, I want to celebrate some fantastic books you probably haven't heard of before!", "publisher": { "@type": "Organization", "name": "Every Book a Doorway" }, "url": "https:\/\/everybookadoorway.com\/the-fantastic-unknown-10-amazing-fantasies-youve-probably-never-heard-of\/", "itemReviewed": { "@type": "Book", "name": "The One Who Eats Monsters (Wind and Shadow, #1)", "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Casey Matthews", "sameAs": "" }, "isbn": "" }, "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Siavahda", "sameAs": "https:\/\/everybookadoorway.com\/" }, "reviewRating": { "@type": "Rating", "ratingValue": false, "bestRating": "5" }}

Fuck hunting monsters; Ryn is an ancient divine being who straight-up eats them. I always pitch this one as ‘feral primordial goddess falls in love with a human girl’ and I still think that should be all you need to hear. Usually immensely old/teenager pairings strike me as weird at best, but here it works because said goddess is so very, very bad and inexperienced at being human that, in terms of human life experience/development, she and the girl she falls for are kind of at the same level.

Matthews has created a whole eco-system of spirits, benign and definitely-not, and the worldbuilding here is unbelievably unique and fascinating. I also dearly love how Ryn really feels alien and Other, in a way that’s pretty rare in fiction and is utterly convincing.

I do need to warn you that parts of The One Who Eats Monsters are pretty dark, although the worst of it happens off-page or is only referenced in passing. But this is also a really, really beautiful book, one I treasure so much. And like all the others on this list, it really deserves more love!

You can read my full review of it here, if you’re interested!

Have you read any of these? Will you? What are some of your less-well-known favourites???

The post The Fantastic Unknown: 10 Amazing Fantasies You’ve Probably Never Heard Of appeared first on Every Book a Doorway.

View more on Siavahda's website »

Like • 0 comments • flag

Published on May 03, 2022 07:40

May 2, 2022

Must-Have Monday #84

May is starting with a BANG – there are FIFTEEN books that have caught my eye this week, including some contemporary romances and non-fic! Take a look.

The Prince's Poisoned Vow (Infernal War Saga, #1) by Hailey Turner
Genres: Fantasy, High Fantasy, Queer Protagonists
Representation: M/M
Published on: 2nd May 2022
Goodreads

Every country is built on revolution.

THE WARDEN. Soren is a nameless, stateless man, tasked with keeping watch over Maricol’s borders. He isn’t meant for politics, only dealing with the dead. His past was buried in the poison fields, but after a fateful encounter with a prince, Soren comes to realize he can’t keep what magic burns inside him hidden forever.

THE PRINCE. Vanya Sa’Liandel was the spare who survived the Houses’ murderous games to become the Imperial crown prince of Solaria. He has a duty to his country, but he’ll owe his life to the wardens. Payment of any kind is costly, especially when he’s at risk of losing his heart to the man who saved his life.

THE COG. Caris Dhemlan hears the siren song of clarion crystals better than anyone in Ashion. That skill for inventing has enriched her bloodline, but it’s who she can become that will ultimately entangle her with the Clockwork Brigade.

THE PRINCESS. Eimarille Rourke should have been raised to be queen of one country; instead, she is prisoner of another. Guided by a star god, Eimarille bides her time in a gilded cage, spinning a political web to gain a throne and start a war the world isn’t ready for.

From the author who brought you the Soulbound series comes a queer steampunk-inspired epic fantasy.

{ "@context":"https://schema.org", "@type":"Review", "datePublished": "2022-05-02T08:13:00+00:00", "description": "FIFTEEN books this week!!! ", "publisher": { "@type": "Organization", "name": "Every Book a Doorway" }, "url": "https:\/\/everybookadoorway.com\/must-have-monday-84\/", "itemReviewed": { "@type": "Book", "name": "The Prince's Poisoned Vow (Infernal War Saga, #1)", "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Hailey Turner", "sameAs": "" }, "isbn": "" }, "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Siavahda", "sameAs": "https:\/\/everybookadoorway.com\/" }, "reviewRating": { "@type": "Rating", "ratingValue": false, "bestRating": "5" }}

I have been reassured by early reviews that this is much more fantasy than romance, which is how I generally prefer it. I’m cautiously hopeful about this one, I’ve heard many good things!

Morfphology by Liv Reimers
Genres: Sci Fi
Published on: 2nd May 2022
Goodreads

In a dystopian future, Dr. Alix Edison is a jaded, but brilliant, genetic engineer who ruthlessly pulled herself to the top of an industry in a society that is hostile toward women. For those who cling to their autonomy and work outside their "natural and proper sphere" of the home, virulent animus awaits. After working much of her career creating "Designer Babies" for the well-to-do, Alix has now developed a gene-editing sequence with the capability of creating very enhanced human beings known as Morfphs.

Morfphs are engineered to read emotions, thoughts, and desires of a human they have bonded with, but their gifts don't end there. They also have the extraordinary ability and the overpowering need to fluidly, both physically and emotionally, shapeshift into the very embodiment of that desire.

Can Morfphs ease the profound loneliness and alienation that have not only blighted Alix's individual life, but have also become pandemic in society? Alix is betting everything on it.

{ "@context":"https://schema.org", "@type":"Review", "datePublished": "2022-05-02T08:13:00+00:00", "description": "FIFTEEN books this week!!! ", "publisher": { "@type": "Organization", "name": "Every Book a Doorway" }, "url": "https:\/\/everybookadoorway.com\/must-have-monday-84\/", "itemReviewed": { "@type": "Book", "name": "Morfphology", "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Liv Reimers", "sameAs": "" }, "isbn": "" }, "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Siavahda", "sameAs": "https:\/\/everybookadoorway.com\/" }, "reviewRating": { "@type": "Rating", "ratingValue": false, "bestRating": "5" }}

This is such an interesting premise, and the moment I read the description I wanted to know more. I’m not sure what to expect, but I’m intrigued!

Tempest in a Teapot (SerendipiTea, #1) by Kate Valent
Genres: Fantasy, Historical Fantasy
Published on: 2nd May 2022
Goodreads

Charlotte loves tea as much as the next person, but she never expected a magical teapot to choose her husband. When eccentric businessman and magician Martin Steepe hosts a tea party to find a wife, Charlotte doesn’t expect to be chosen. After all she’s only a baker’s daughter aspiring to be a penny blood author and the Steepes want to marry into nobility. Except he does choose her. With enchanted tea leaves.

Unfortunately for Charlotte he doesn’t even know her name let alone that she isn’t nobility. And she isn’t entirely certain having the same favorite tea is a good basis for a marriage.

As their awkward courtship evolves, she finds herself falling for Mr. Steepe’s honesty, his charming magic, and the tea he sells. But then his cousin discovers the truth of her standing and refuses to let Martin marry a commoner. With the fate of the Steepe Family fortune at stake, he is determined to end the engagement through whatever magical and non-magical means necessary. If she doesn’t put an end to his scheming he will ruin her engagement. If the truth doesn’t first.

{ "@context":"https://schema.org", "@type":"Review", "datePublished": "2022-05-02T08:13:00+00:00", "description": "FIFTEEN books this week!!! ", "publisher": { "@type": "Organization", "name": "Every Book a Doorway" }, "url": "https:\/\/everybookadoorway.com\/must-have-monday-84\/", "itemReviewed": { "@type": "Book", "name": "Tempest in a Teapot (SerendipiTea, #1)", "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Kate Valent", "sameAs": "" }, "isbn": "" }, "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Siavahda", "sameAs": "https:\/\/everybookadoorway.com\/" }, "reviewRating": { "@type": "Rating", "ratingValue": false, "bestRating": "5" }}

This sounds super sweet and delightful, and I’m already charmed by the idea of magic tea (and the pun of the series title!)

Maria, Maria: Other Stories by Marytza K. Rubio
Genres: Fantasy
Representation: Latine cast
Published on: 3rd May 2022
Goodreads

“The first witch of the waters was born in Destruction. The moon named her Maria.”

Set against the tropics and megacities of the Americas, Maria, Maria takes inspiration from wild creatures, tarot, and the porous borders between life and death. Motivated by love and its inverse, grief, the characters who inhabit these stories negotiate boldly with nature to cast their desired ends. As the enigmatic community college professor in “Brujería for Beginners” reminds us: “There’s always a price for conjuring in darkness. You won’t always know what it is until payment is due.” This commitment drives the disturbingly faithful widow in “Tijuca,” who promises to bury her husband’s head in the rich dirt of the jungle, and the sisters in “Moksha,” who are tempted by a sleek obsidian dagger once held by a vampiric idol.

But magic isn’t limited to the women who wield it. As Rubio so brilliantly elucidates, animals are powerful magicians too. Subversive pigeons and hungry jaguars are called upon in “Tunnels,” and a lonely little girl runs free with a resurrected saber-toothed tiger in “Burial.” A colorful catalog of gallery exhibits from animals in therapy is featured in “Art Show,” including the Almost Philandering Fox, who longs after the red pelt of another, and the recently rehabilitated Paranoid Peacocks.

Brimming with sharp wit and ferocious female intuition, these stories bubble over into the titular novella, “Maria, Maria”—a tropigoth family drama set in a reimagined California rainforest that explores the legacies of three Marias, and possibly all Marias. Writing in prose so lush it threatens to creep off the page, Rubio emerges as an ineffable new voice in contemporary short fiction.

{ "@context":"https://schema.org", "@type":"Review", "datePublished": "2022-05-02T08:13:00+00:00", "description": "FIFTEEN books this week!!! ", "publisher": { "@type": "Organization", "name": "Every Book a Doorway" }, "url": "https:\/\/everybookadoorway.com\/must-have-monday-84\/", "itemReviewed": { "@type": "Book", "name": "Maria, Maria: Other Stories", "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Marytza K. Rubio", "sameAs": "" }, "isbn": "" }, "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Siavahda", "sameAs": "https:\/\/everybookadoorway.com\/" }, "reviewRating": { "@type": "Rating", "ratingValue": false, "bestRating": "5" }}

I can’t quite remember how Maria, Maria ended upon my radar, but I’m glad it did because it sounds incredible! I don’t often go for short story collections, but this one has me hooked before I’ve even read the first page.

Seasonal Fears (Alchemical Journeys, #2) by Seanan McGuire
Genres: Fantasy
Published on: 3rd May 2022
Goodreads

Melanie has a destiny, though it isn’t the one everyone assumes it to be. She’s delicate; she’s fragile; she’s dying. Now, truly, is the winter of her soul.

Harry doesn’t want to believe in destiny, because that means accepting the loss of the one person who gives his life meaning, who brings summer to his world.

So, when a new road is laid out in front of them—a road that will lead through untold dangers toward a possible lifetime together—walking down it seems to be the only option.

But others are following behind, with violence in their hearts.

It looks like Destiny has a plan for them, after all….

“One must maintain a little bit of summer even in the middle of winter.” —Thoreau

{ "@context":"https://schema.org", "@type":"Review", "datePublished": "2022-05-02T08:13:00+00:00", "description": "FIFTEEN books this week!!! ", "publisher": { "@type": "Organization", "name": "Every Book a Doorway" }, "url": "https:\/\/everybookadoorway.com\/must-have-monday-84\/", "itemReviewed": { "@type": "Book", "name": "Seasonal Fears (Alchemical Journeys, #2)", "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Seanan McGuire", "sameAs": "" }, "isbn": "" }, "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Siavahda", "sameAs": "https:\/\/everybookadoorway.com\/" }, "reviewRating": { "@type": "Rating", "ratingValue": false, "bestRating": "5" }}

Seanan McGuire is on my auto-buy list regardless of what she writes, but I admit to being especially excited for this sequel to Middlegame! Which I think I need to reread before diving into Seasonal Fears…

When Women Were Dragons by Kelly Barnhill
Genres: Fantasy, Historical Fantasy, Queer Protagonists
Representation: Sapphic MC
Published on: 3rd May 2022
Goodreads

Learn about the Mass Dragoning of 1955 in which 300,000 women spontaneously transform into dragons...and change the world.

Alex Green is a young girl in a world much like ours. But this version of 1950's America is characterized by a significant event: The Mass Dragoning of 1955, when hundreds of thousands of ordinary wives and mothers sprouted wings, scales and talons, left a trail of fiery destruction in their path, and took to the skies. Seemingly for good. Was it their choice? What will become of those left behind? Why did Alex's beloved Aunt Marla transform but her mother did not? Alex doesn't know. It's taboo to speak of, even more so than her crush on Sonja, her schoolmate.

Forced into silence, Alex nevertheless must face the consequences of dragons: a mother more protective than ever; a father growing increasingly distant; the upsetting insistence that her aunt never even existed; and a new "sister" obsessed with dragons far beyond propriety. Through loss, rage, and self-discovery, this story follows Alex's journey as she deals with the events leading up to and beyond the Mass Dragoning, and her connection with the phenomenon itself.

{ "@context":"https://schema.org", "@type":"Review", "datePublished": "2022-05-02T08:13:00+00:00", "description": "FIFTEEN books this week!!! ", "publisher": { "@type": "Organization", "name": "Every Book a Doorway" }, "url": "https:\/\/everybookadoorway.com\/must-have-monday-84\/", "itemReviewed": { "@type": "Book", "name": "When Women Were Dragons", "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Kelly Barnhill", "sameAs": "" }, "isbn": "" }, "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Siavahda", "sameAs": "https:\/\/everybookadoorway.com\/" }, "reviewRating": { "@type": "Rating", "ratingValue": false, "bestRating": "5" }}

I’ve read and reviewed this one, and it’s just as fabulous as that amazing title!

The Change by Kirsten Miller
Genres: Fantasy, Contemporary or Urban Fantasy
Published on: 3rd May 2022
Goodreads

Miller triumphs...THE CHANGE is that rare treat: a suspenseful story with great pacing, memorable characters, and an engaging voice. Fantastic in every way, this fierce anthem against misogyny is a smash.--Publishers Weekly (starred review)

Big Little Lies meets The Witches of Eastwick--a gloriously entertaining and knife-sharp feminist revenge fantasy about three women whose midlife crisis brings unexpected new powers--putting them on a collision course with the evil that lurks in their wealthy beach town.

In the Long Island oceanfront community of Mattauk, three different women discover that midlife changes bring a whole new type of empowerment...

After Nessa James's husband dies and her twin daughters leave for college, she's left all alone in a trim white house not far from the ocean. In the quiet of her late forties, the former nurse begins to hear voices. It doesn't take long for Nessa to realize that the voices calling out to her belong to the dead--a gift she's inherited from her grandmother, which comes with special responsibilities.

On the cusp of 50, suave advertising director Harriett Osborne has just witnessed the implosion of her lucrative career and her marriage. She hasn't left her house in months, and from the outside, it appears as if she and her garden have both gone to seed. But Harriet's life is far from over--in fact, she's undergone a stunning and very welcome metamorphosis.

Ambitious former executive Jo Levison has spent thirty long years at war with her body. The free-floating rage and hot flashes that arrive with the beginning of menopause feel like the very last straw--until she realizes she has the ability to channel them, and finally comes into her power.

Guided by voices only Nessa can hear, the trio of women discover a teenage girl whose body was abandoned beside a remote beach. The police have written the victim off as a drug-addicted sex worker, but the women refuse to buy into the official narrative.

Their investigation into the girl's murder leads to more bodies, and to the town's most exclusive and isolated enclave, a world of stupendous wealth where the rules don't apply. With their newfound powers, Jo, Nessa, and Harriet will take matters into their own hands...

{ "@context":"https://schema.org", "@type":"Review", "datePublished": "2022-05-02T08:13:00+00:00", "description": "FIFTEEN books this week!!! ", "publisher": { "@type": "Organization", "name": "Every Book a Doorway" }, "url": "https:\/\/everybookadoorway.com\/must-have-monday-84\/", "itemReviewed": { "@type": "Book", "name": "The Change", "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Kirsten Miller", "sameAs": "" }, "isbn": "" }, "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Siavahda", "sameAs": "https:\/\/everybookadoorway.com\/" }, "reviewRating": { "@type": "Rating", "ratingValue": false, "bestRating": "5" }}

I love the idea of reframing menopause as something that gives you magical powers rather than as something that is a loss, an end! Definitely going to be giving this one a try.

Book of Night by Holly Black
Genres: Fantasy, Contemporary or Urban Fantasy
Published on: 3rd May 2022
Goodreads

#1 New York Times bestselling author Holly Black makes her stunning adult debut with Book of Night, a modern dark fantasy of shadowy thieves and secret societies in the vein of Ninth House and The Night Circus.

In Charlie Hall’s world, shadows can be altered, for entertainment and cosmetic preferences—but also to increase power and influence. You can alter someone’s feelings—and memories—but manipulating shadows has a cost, with the potential to take hours or days from your life. Your shadow holds all the parts of you that you want to keep hidden—a second self, standing just to your left, walking behind you into lit rooms. And sometimes, it has a life of its own.

Charlie is a low-level con artist, working as a bartender while trying to distance herself from the powerful and dangerous underground world of shadow trading. She gets by doing odd jobs for her patrons and the naive new money in her town at the edge of the Berkshires. But when a terrible figure from her past returns, Charlie’s present life is thrown into chaos, and her future seems at best, unclear—and at worst, non-existent.

Determined to survive, Charlie throws herself into a maelstrom of secrets and murder, setting her against a cast of doppelgangers, mercurial billionaires, shadow thieves, and her own sister—all desperate to control the magic of the shadows.

With sharp angles and prose, and a sinister bent, Holly Black is a master of shadow and story stitching. Remember while you read, light isn’t playing tricks in Book of Night, the people are.

{ "@context":"https://schema.org", "@type":"Review", "datePublished": "2022-05-02T08:13:00+00:00", "description": "FIFTEEN books this week!!! ", "publisher": { "@type": "Organization", "name": "Every Book a Doorway" }, "url": "https:\/\/everybookadoorway.com\/must-have-monday-84\/", "itemReviewed": { "@type": "Book", "name": "Book of Night", "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Holly Black", "sameAs": "" }, "isbn": "" }, "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Siavahda", "sameAs": "https:\/\/everybookadoorway.com\/" }, "reviewRating": { "@type": "Rating", "ratingValue": false, "bestRating": "5" }}

I’ve loved Holly Black’s YA forEVER, so of course I’m going to read her Adult debut! I really liked the sample that was published, and I can’t wait to get started on the rest!

The Marvellers by Dhonielle Clayton
Genres: Fantasy, Contemporary or Urban Fantasy
Representation: Black MC
Published on: 3rd May 2022
Goodreads

Author Dhonielle Clayton makes her middle-grade debut with a fantasy adventure set in a global magic school in the sky.

Eleven-year-old Ella Durand is the first Conjuror to attend the Arcanum Training Institute, where Marvellers from all around the world come together to practice their cultural arts like brewing Indian spice elixirs, practicing Caribbean steel drum hypnosis, and bartering with fussy Irish faeries. Ella knows some people mistrust her Conjuror magic, often deemed "bad and unnatural," but she's eager to make a good impression—and, hopefully, some friends.

But Ella discovers that being the first isn't easy, and not all of the Marvellers are welcoming. Still, she connects with fellow misfits Brigit, a girl who hates magic, and Jason, who is never found without a magical creature or two. Just as Ella begins to find her way at the A.T.I., a notorious criminal escapes from prison, supposedly with Conjurors’ help. Worse, her favorite teacher Masterji Thakur never returns from a research trip, and only Ella seems concerned about his disappearance.

As tensions grow in the Marvellian world, Ella finds herself the target of vicious rumors and growing suspicions. With the help of her new friends, Ella must find a way to clear her family's name and track down her beloved mentor Masterji Thakur . . . before she loses her place at the A.T.I. forever.

{ "@context":"https://schema.org", "@type":"Review", "datePublished": "2022-05-02T08:13:00+00:00", "description": "FIFTEEN books this week!!! ", "publisher": { "@type": "Organization", "name": "Every Book a Doorway" }, "url": "https:\/\/everybookadoorway.com\/must-have-monday-84\/", "itemReviewed": { "@type": "Book", "name": "The Marvellers", "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Dhonielle Clayton", "sameAs": "" }, "isbn": "" }, "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Siavahda", "sameAs": "https:\/\/everybookadoorway.com\/" }, "reviewRating": { "@type": "Rating", "ratingValue": false, "bestRating": "5" }}

HI YES I’LL TAKE TEN THANK YOU! Clayton’s prose has been consistently gorgeous, and I’m so excited to get to read her magic school story!!!

Chef's Kiss by T.J. Alexander
Genres: Queer Protagonists
Representation: Queer MC, nonbinary love interest
Published on: 3rd May 2022
Goodreads

A high-strung pastry chef’s professional goals are interrupted by an unexpected career transition and the introduction of her wildly attractive nonbinary kitchen manager in this deliciously fresh and witty queer rom-com.

Simone Larkspur is a perfectionist pastry expert with a dream job at The Discerning Chef, a venerable cookbook publisher in New York City. All she wants to do is create the perfect loaf of sourdough and develop recipes, but when The Discerning Chef decides to bring their brand into the 21st century by pivoting to video, Simone is thrust into the spotlight and finds herself failing at something for the first time in her life.

To make matters worse, Simone has to deal with Ray Lyton, the new test kitchen manager, whose obnoxious cheer and outgoing personality are like oil to Simone’s water. When Ray accidentally becomes a viral YouTube sensation with a series of homebrewing videos, their eccentric editor in chief forces Simone to work alongside the chipper upstart or else risk her beloved job. But the more they work together, the more Simone realizes her heart may be softening like butter for Ray.

Things get even more complicated when Ray comes out at work as nonbinary to mixed reactions—and Simone must choose between the career she fought so hard for and the person who just might take the cake (and her heart).

{ "@context":"https://schema.org", "@type":"Review", "datePublished": "2022-05-02T08:13:00+00:00", "description": "FIFTEEN books this week!!! ", "publisher": { "@type": "Organization", "name": "Every Book a Doorway" }, "url": "https:\/\/everybookadoorway.com\/must-have-monday-84\/", "itemReviewed": { "@type": "Book", "name": "Chef's Kiss", "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "T.J. Alexander", "sameAs": "" }, "isbn": "" }, "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Siavahda", "sameAs": "https:\/\/everybookadoorway.com\/" }, "reviewRating": { "@type": "Rating", "ratingValue": false, "bestRating": "5" }}

It’s not SFF, but last year I discovered I have a definite Thing for cooking-related romances, and this one’s been on my radar for a while! Very much looking forward to curling up with it!

Queerly Beloved by Susie Dumond
Genres: Queer Protagonists
Representation: F/F
Published on: 3rd May 2022
Goodreads

A people-pleasing baker tries to find her place as a bridesmaid-for-hire . Will she finally find her happily ever after—and her own voice?

Amy, a semicloseted queer baker and bartender in mid-2010s Oklahoma, has spent a lifetime putting other people’s needs before her own. Until, that is, she’s fired from her job at a Christian bakery and turns her a one-off gig subbing in for a bridesmaid into a full-time business—thanks to her baking talents, crafting skills, and years watching rom-coms and Say Yes to the Dress. Between her new gig and meeting Charley, the attractive engineer who’s just moved to Tulsa, suddenly Amy’s found something— and someone—she actually wants.

Her tight-knit group of chosen family is thrilled that Amy is becoming her authentic self. But when her deep desire to please kicks into overdrive, Amy’s precarious balancing act strains her relationships to the breaking point, and she must decide what it looks like to be true to herself—and if she has the courage to try.

{ "@context":"https://schema.org", "@type":"Review", "datePublished": "2022-05-02T08:13:00+00:00", "description": "FIFTEEN books this week!!! ", "publisher": { "@type": "Organization", "name": "Every Book a Doorway" }, "url": "https:\/\/everybookadoorway.com\/must-have-monday-84\/", "itemReviewed": { "@type": "Book", "name": "Queerly Beloved", "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Susie Dumond", "sameAs": "" }, "isbn": "" }, "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Siavahda", "sameAs": "https:\/\/everybookadoorway.com\/" }, "reviewRating": { "@type": "Rating", "ratingValue": false, "bestRating": "5" }}

Another bakery-adjacent romance! Also, it’s another punny title!

I Kissed Shara Wheeler by Casey McQuiston
Genres: Queer Protagonists
Representation: Queer MC
Published on: 3rd May 2022
Goodreads

From the New York Times bestselling author of One Last Stop and Red, White & Royal Blue comes a debut YA romantic comedy about chasing down what you want, only to find what you need...

Chloe Green is so close to winning. After her moms moved her from SoCal to Alabama for high school, she’s spent the past four years dodging gossipy classmates and a puritanical administration at Willowgrove Christian Academy. The thing that’s kept her going: winning valedictorian. Her only rival: prom queen Shara Wheeler, the principal’s perfect progeny.

But a month before graduation, Shara kisses Chloe and vanishes.

On a furious hunt for answers, Chloe discovers she’s not the only one Shara kissed. There’s also Smith, Shara’s longtime quarterback sweetheart, and Rory, Shara’s bad boy neighbor with a crush. The three have nothing in common except Shara and the annoyingly cryptic notes she left behind, but together they must untangle Shara’s trail of clues and find her. It’ll be worth it, if Chloe can drag Shara back before graduation to beat her fair-and-square.

Thrown into an unlikely alliance, chasing a ghost through parties, break-ins, puzzles, and secrets revealed on monogrammed stationery, Chloe starts to suspect there might be more to this small town than she thought. And maybe—probably not, but maybe—more to Shara, too.

Fierce, funny, and frank, Casey McQuiston's I Kissed Shara Wheeler is about breaking the rules, getting messy, and finding love in unexpected places.

"Raise your hand if you’ve been personally victimized by this funny, weird, razor-sharp, intensely compassionate, subversive, sweet, electrifyingly romantic knockout of a book. Casey freaking McQuiston, you’ve done it again.” - Becky Albertalli, New York Times bestselling author of Kate in Waiting and Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda

{ "@context":"https://schema.org", "@type":"Review", "datePublished": "2022-05-02T08:13:00+00:00", "description": "FIFTEEN books this week!!! ", "publisher": { "@type": "Organization", "name": "Every Book a Doorway" }, "url": "https:\/\/everybookadoorway.com\/must-have-monday-84\/", "itemReviewed": { "@type": "Book", "name": "I Kissed Shara Wheeler", "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Casey McQuiston", "sameAs": "" }, "isbn": "" }, "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Siavahda", "sameAs": "https:\/\/everybookadoorway.com\/" }, "reviewRating": { "@type": "Rating", "ratingValue": false, "bestRating": "5" }}

Not just not-FF, but YA not-SFF??? Yep! Because I’ll read anything and everything McQuiston writes, and I encourage everyone else to, too!

This Has Always Been a War by Lori Fox
Published on: 3rd May 2022
Goodreads

Capitalism has infiltrated every aspect of our personal, social, economic, and sexual lives. By examining the politics of gender, environment and sexuality, we can see the ways straight, cis, white, and especially male upper-class people control and subvert the other—queer, non-binary, BIPOC, and female bodies—in order to keep the working lower classes divided. Patriarchy and classism are forms of systemic violence which ensure that the main commodity of capitalism—a large, disposable, cheap, and ideally subjugated work force—is readily available. There is a lot wrong with the ways we live, work, and treat each other.

In essays that are both accessible and inspiring, Lori Fox examines their confrontations with the capitalist patriarchy through their experiences as a queer, non-binary, working-class farm hand, labourer, bartender, bush-worker, and road dog, exploring the ugly places where issues of gender, sexuality, class, and the environment intersect.

In applying the micro to the macro, demonstrating how the personal is political and vice versa, Fox exposes the flaws in believing that this is the only way our society can or should work. Brash, topical, and passionate, This Has Always Been a War is not only a collection of essays, but a series of dispatches from the combative front lines of our present-day culture.

{ "@context":"https://schema.org", "@type":"Review", "datePublished": "2022-05-02T08:13:00+00:00", "description": "FIFTEEN books this week!!! ", "publisher": { "@type": "Organization", "name": "Every Book a Doorway" }, "url": "https:\/\/everybookadoorway.com\/must-have-monday-84\/", "itemReviewed": { "@type": "Book", "name": "This Has Always Been a War", "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Lori Fox", "sameAs": "" }, "isbn": "" }, "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Siavahda", "sameAs": "https:\/\/everybookadoorway.com\/" }, "reviewRating": { "@type": "Rating", "ratingValue": false, "bestRating": "5" }}

I don’t read a lot of non-fiction, and I will probably keep this on my tbr for a while because I don’t think I can handle it right now – but this is a book I way much want to read when I’m ready for it.

The Fairy Tellers by Nicholas Jubber
Published on: 3rd May 2022
Goodreads

Fairy-Tales are not just fairy-tales: they are records of historical phenomena, telling us something about how Western civilisation was formed. In The Fairy-Tellers' Trail, award-winning travel-writer Nick Jubber explores their secret history of fairy-tales: the people who told them, the landscapes that forged them, and the cultures that formed them.

While there are certain names inextricably entwined with the concept of a fairy-tale, such as the Brothers Grimm and Hans Christian Andersen, the most significant tellers are long buried under the more celebrated figures who have taken the credit for their stories - people like the Syrian storyteller Youhenna Diab and the Wild Sisters of Cassel. Without them we would never have heard of Aladdin, his Magic Lamp or the adventures of Hansel and Gretel.

Tracking these stories to their sources carries us through the steaming cities of Southern Italy and across the Mediterranean to the dust-clogged alleys of the Maghreb, under the fretting leaves of the Black Forest, deep into the tundra of Siberia and across the snowy hills of Lapland.

From North Africa and Siberia, this book illuminates the complicated relationship between Western civilization and the 'Eastern' cultures it borrowed from, and the strange lives of our long lost fairy-tellers.

{ "@context":"https://schema.org", "@type":"Review", "datePublished": "2022-05-02T08:13:00+00:00", "description": "FIFTEEN books this week!!! ", "publisher": { "@type": "Organization", "name": "Every Book a Doorway" }, "url": "https:\/\/everybookadoorway.com\/must-have-monday-84\/", "itemReviewed": { "@type": "Book", "name": "The Fairy Tellers", "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Nicholas Jubber", "sameAs": "" }, "isbn": "" }, "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Siavahda", "sameAs": "https:\/\/everybookadoorway.com\/" }, "reviewRating": { "@type": "Rating", "ratingValue": false, "bestRating": "5" }}

Another non-fic! This sounds absolutely marvellous, and I can’t wait to dive in!

Rebel Skies (Rebel Skies, #1) by Ann Sei Lin
Genres: Fantasy
Representation: Asian-coded setting and cast
Published on: 5th May 2022
Goodreads

Teen fantasy adventure set in a world of flying ships and sky cities, where chosen ones have the ability to bring paper to life and work as Crafters - people who hunt wild paper spirits called shikigami. Inspired by Asian culture and exploring themes of empire, slavery and freedom.

Kurara has never known any other life than being a servant on board the Midori, but when her party trick of making paper come to life turns out to be a power treasured across the empire, she joins a skyship and its motley crew to become a Crafter. Taught by the gruff but wise Himura, Kurara learns to hunt shikigami - wild paper spirits who are sought after by the Princess.

But are these creatures just powerful slaves for the Crafters and the empire, or are they beings with their own souls - and yet another thing to be subjugated by the powerful Emperor and his Princess?

{ "@context":"https://schema.org", "@type":"Review", "datePublished": "2022-05-02T08:13:00+00:00", "description": "FIFTEEN books this week!!! ", "publisher": { "@type": "Organization", "name": "Every Book a Doorway" }, "url": "https:\/\/everybookadoorway.com\/must-have-monday-84\/", "itemReviewed": { "@type": "Book", "name": "Rebel Skies (Rebel Skies, #1)", "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Ann Sei Lin", "sameAs": "" }, "isbn": "" }, "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Siavahda", "sameAs": "https:\/\/everybookadoorway.com\/" }, "reviewRating": { "@type": "Rating", "ratingValue": false, "bestRating": "5" }}

I think this might be a UK-only release, but that won’t stop me getting my hands on it! Have you read that description??? Gimme!

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

The post Must-Have Monday #84 appeared first on Every Book a Doorway.

View more on Siavahda's website »

1 like · Like • 0 comments • flag

Published on May 02, 2022 01:13

May 1, 2022

Strap In For a Wyrd & Wonder-full Time!

tree wolf image by chic2view on 123RF.com

Wyrd & Wonder is a celebration of all things fantasy, a blogathon that takes place every May – which obviously makes it one of my favourite times of year! There’s so much amazing content from so many amazing people – and I love getting to join in!

This year May is also the final push of the promo campaign for KD Edwards’ The Hourglass Throne – and then the aftermath! So it’s already going to be quite a busy month for me, but I’m determined to still take part in Wyrd & Wonder.

My plans are to post sequels to my now-annual cool magic systems and cool magical abilities lists; rec lists for fantasy fans looking to get into scifi, and fantasy for scifi fans; and I have a number of reviews for some very cool books scheduled!

Then there are the reviews I’m currently working on, and intend to have up this month…

I’ve got my fingers crossed that I can also manage to write some more rec lists, an essay or two, and pounce on at least some of the Wyrd &Wonder prompts! But no promises.

And what about my tbr? My focus will definitely be on the ARCs whose deadlines are next month…

But there’s plenty else I want to get to as well!

All in all, I’m super excited – and you can bet I’ll be stalking the W&W Master Schedule to make sure I don’t miss anyone else’s fabulously fantastical posts!

It’s Wyrd & Wonder time – here we go!

The post Strap In For a Wyrd & Wonder-full Time! appeared first on Every Book a Doorway.

View more on Siavahda's website »

Like • 0 comments • flag

Published on May 01, 2022 09:49

Sunday Soupçons #9

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

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

Two mini-reviews this week!

Riot Baby by Tochi Onyebuchi
Genres: Fantasy, Sci Fi
Representation: Black cast
ISBN: B07QDHR8SG
Goodreads
four-stars

"Riot Baby bursts at the seams of story with so much fire, passion and power that in the end it turns what we call a narrative into something different altogether."—Marlon James

Rooted in foundational loss and the hope that can live in anger, Riot Baby is both a global dystopian narrative an intimate family story with quietly devastating things to say about love, fury, and the black American experience.

Ella and Kev are brother and sister, both gifted with extraordinary power. Their childhoods are defined and destroyed by structural racism and brutality. Their futures might alter the world. When Kev is incarcerated for the crime of being a young black man in America, Ella—through visits both mundane and supernatural—tries to show him the way to a revolution that could burn it all down.

{ "@context":"https://schema.org", "@type":"Review", "datePublished": "2022-05-01T14:55:48+00:00", "description": "A novella and a novelette!", "publisher": { "@type": "Organization", "name": "Every Book a Doorway" }, "url": "https:\/\/everybookadoorway.com\/sunday-soupcons-9\/", "itemReviewed": { "@type": "Book", "name": "Riot Baby", "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Tochi Onyebuchi", "sameAs": "" }, "isbn": "B07QDHR8SG" }, "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Siavahda", "sameAs": "https:\/\/everybookadoorway.com\/" }, "reviewRating": { "@type": "Rating", "ratingValue": 4, "bestRating": "5" }}

Riot Baby is not escapism, but that feels fair when you’re writing about systemic violence a group of people can’t escape.

By which I mean, this is a hard book to read because of its subject matter – racism, violence, oppression – but it is an excellent book, one that pulls no punches, and paints a picture of a disturbingly plausible near-future. It’s powerfully and addictively written, and very much makes me want to read more from Onyebuchi.

I can see why some readers would be frustrated with the lack of explanation for Ella’s powers – where did they come from, and what are her limits? – but for some reason that didn’t bother me; I was able to just go with it.

What did bother me was that, like Emezi’s Bitter, Riot Baby wraps up with a magic-will-force/make-change ending, which is pretty depressing to me. I don’t want the solution to be magic because we don’t have that kind of magic in the real world, and the implication is that without it, things will stay as they are, or get worse. It’s the kind of ending that tries to paint itself as hopeful, but I can’t help seeing right through it.

The Long View by Susan Palwick
Genres: Fantasy, Contemporary or Urban Fantasy
Representation: Major character with ADHD PTSD & BPD
ISBN: 1250849772
Goodreads
two-stars

A university student seeks special accommodations for her new support animal, causing havoc all around her.

{ "@context":"https://schema.org", "@type":"Review", "datePublished": "2022-05-01T14:55:48+00:00", "description": "A novella and a novelette!", "publisher": { "@type": "Organization", "name": "Every Book a Doorway" }, "url": "https:\/\/everybookadoorway.com\/sunday-soupcons-9\/", "itemReviewed": { "@type": "Book", "name": "The Long View", "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Susan Palwick", "sameAs": "" }, "isbn": "1250849772" }, "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Siavahda", "sameAs": "https:\/\/everybookadoorway.com\/" }, "reviewRating": { "@type": "Rating", "ratingValue": 2, "bestRating": "5" }}

I was so excited for this story, but ended up feeling pretty hurt by it. It might be one of those times I’m not smart enough to recognise satire or something, but up until near the end the entire story felt like it was mocking people with mental and emotional disorders, and critiquing ‘wokeness’ in general. I’m not sure it’s redeemed by the MC’s last-minute realisation that ‘he’d been too blind to see’ the truth of things.

The dragon was beautiful, but the story left me feeling bruised.

What have you been reading this week?

The post Sunday Soupçons #9 appeared first on Every Book a Doorway.

View more on Siavahda's website »

1 like · Like • 0 comments • flag

Published on May 01, 2022 07:55

← Previous 1 2 … 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 … 105 106 Next →

Siavahda's Blog

Siavahda's profile
292 followers