2021 - 11 - fae - What did you read?

[PAS, Moderator AC]

November Shelf is fae

What did you read? Any particular 'fae' attributes you like or dislike from this read?

[Meg]

The Invisible Library
3 or 3.5 stars

This was fine but maybe not for me. I am a bad fantasy reader these days, I think I read too quickly and don't process all the details. I deliberately slowed myself down for this one and enjoyed the ending quite a bit. There was a lot going on though - alternate worlds, a library I still don't understand, different types of magic rules and technologies, and every type of magical being you can think of (including Fae referred to often but not really featured). I will give the second in the series a try.

Used for Trim that TBR
I nominate novella

[Lisette]

A ​Court of Silver Flames [10-nov-2021] ★★★★

Nesta is a character who is not easy to like or understand. She shows character growth in this book and I am starting to like her. This was an enjoyable book

Used for:
- Let's Book It November
- Seriously Serial

I'd like to nominate: 4 5 Stars Books

[Tawallah]

Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik
4 stars

I really enjoyed this book, for its reimaging of folklore. The fae in here are definitely not friendly and will happily kill humans to ensure their survival. I didn't quite mind this characterisation as this one is what most fantasy, the non-romance kind tend to use.

Used for Let's Book It

I also nominate https://www.goodreads.com/genres/novella

[Susan]

I also read Spinning Silver. I gave it 5 stars, which is even better than the 4 stars I've given to the other two Naomi Novik books I've read. I thought the world-building of the fae part of the story was particularly good, and I was impressed with the sense of honor of the Staryk. I don't read a lot of fae stories, so I'm not sure whether that's common or not. In any case. I didn't think Miryem's Staryk would try to trick her to get out of a contract he'd made. One thing I haven't liked in many stories where fae are involved is how tricky they are, in a way that ends up cheating the humans because the human's can't anticipate how the fae are twisting what they agree to when making a promise.

I used it for LBI-September.

[Joyce]

I read Touch the Dark
Finished: 11/12/21
Rating: 4 stars
Review:
Cassie Palmer can talk to the dead and has a ghost sidekick, Bille Joe. He is funny and helps her when she gets in a pickle with the vampire Mafia type people. She escaped them many years ago but they have found her and want to use her abilities for their gain. I will read more of this series. It seems there was a series before this but I don't think you have to have read them .

I used it for: Seriously Serial 21, Bookopoly, Lets Book it
I nominate: Weird

[Beverly]

I read Clockwork Angel.
★★★★

In 1878, Tess arrives to Southampton from New York after the death of her aunt. She is supposed to meet her brother Nate, but is kidnapped by Mrs. Black and Mrs. Dark. They force her to learn to shapeshift and is later rescued by the Shadowhunters. This is the first book of the Infernal Devices trilogy and I plan on reading the next installment for next months challenge.

I nominate: post-apocalyptic

[Tien]

I read The Kingdom of Back
★★

It's a little bit disappointing, really, I really liked this author and am surprised that the protagonist is so passive in comparison to her other characters. The premise sounds pretty good and the otherwordliness was somewhat interesting but the protagonist really got the book down. Protagonist is based on real historical personage for which not much is known so while there's a little constraint, I think there's room for more?!

[Bea]

I read River Marked by Patricia Briggs. 4*

I really enjoy this series. This story involved the fae, the intersection of two worlds ~ death and life, and Indian mythology. It is the honeymoon of Mercy Thompson and the Alpha werewolf Adam.

Although this book itself was not on the list, the series was...and 300 users labelled it fae.

I read this book for the monthly shelf.

I nominate Sci-Fi Fantasy.

[Tien]

I managed to tackle another one :)

Black Swan Rising (Black Swan Rising #1) ★★

It's just an ok read. Interesting setup of the world, really, but I found the book just a tad boring... I don't know if I'd read the next book -maybe if it fits in a challenge

[Elvenn]

I read The Paradise War (1991) by Stephen R. Lawhead, the first book of an old school fantasy trilogy, which I also read for Let's Book It!.

What would happen if the balance between our world and the Otherworld became unstable? Could the line dividing them also become unstable? Could animals "fall" through the gaps? Could people...? One weekend, two Oxford students travel north to look at what the newspaper has called "an aurochs" but on Monday only one of them attends his lectures. As weeks pass, unusual sightings make the main character believe he's going crazy, only his madness seems to have a distinct Celtic pattern...

This book was one of my first teenage fantasy reads after Tolkien and Dragonworld and I had fond memories of it, so I was afraid to read it after so much time- in case it hadn't aged well- but I was pleasantly surprised.

The author's vision of the fae and their world is taken right from the ancient Celtic myths, ignoring all the embellishments added during the past millennium. So when we meet the sidhe, we find Celtic warriors, kingdoms and bards, and magic that is subtle but runs deep and affects the very fabric of reality. And we understand the protagonist's reactions to their culture, fears, rites and rules, because many times they are our own: especially as the violence he finds clashes with his own experience.

The story isn't fast paced but I enjoyed it a great deal. How Lewis tries to learn enough about this world to survive, how he trains to be able to defend himself and become more aware of what's going on around him, until he finds himself completely entangled in the worst problems of the land, how the bard Tegid becomes a more complex character as the story progresses.

As a caveat I'll say it's full of fantasy tropes, especially "the hero's journey" and "the prophecy", and of allusions to Celtic mythology and philology, which I happen to like but that aren't everyone's cup of tea...

Rating: Not sure... 4 stars? 4.5? ~ Shelf nomination: Space

[Christina]

For this month I read Radiant Shadows. It took me a bit to get into it but that was most likely because it has been a LOOOOOONNNNGGG time since I read the one that came before it. But once I got back into the hang of the world and characters I enjoyed it. I do wish that I had seem more of some of my favorite characters, but they were not the focus of this book. Still gave 4 stars.

Was also able to use in the seriously serial challenge.

This month I nominate animals for the shelf.

[Marina]

Elvenn wrote: "I read The Paradise War (1991) by Stephen R. Lawhead, the first book of an old school fantasy trilogy, which I also read for Let's Book It!.

What would happen if the ba..."

Goes straight to my wishlist :D

[Jamie]

I read Skin Folk by Nalo Hopkinson and gave it 4.5 stars.

While I don't think it necessarily fit into the category, this was a fantastic collection of stories and I greatly admire how the author brought a new voice and style to each one. My favorites were Riding the Red, Money Tree, and Precious.

I nominate animals as well.

[LaurLa]

A little late but I did get one read this month!


Book: Bayou Moon - 11.20 ★★★★
# Tags: 10

Review:
I like this series, not as much as the Kate Daniels series, but Ilona Andrews creates some crazy worlds! I'm enjoying this one though I felt minimal connection to the first book. But that may have been by design.

Challenges: September Let's Book It
Nomination: shapeshifters