Category Archives: Reviews

books, Dark fantasy, epic fantasy, Fantasy, Reviews

A Tide of Black Steel (Age of Wrath 1) by Anthony Ryan

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Stars: 4.5 out of 5

This is epic fantasy at its best – dark, gripping, with compelling characters facing hard challenges.

I love stories based on Nordic and Viking settings, but I read a few disappointing ones as well. Crafting a compelling world based on an existing mythology requires a lot of research and respect for the original setting. I bounced off a few books that did this poorly. Thankfully, Anthony Ryan managed to take the Nordic elements that we know and love and make them his own. The result is a living, breathing world with different nations that feel different in culture, religion, and worldviews. I had fun discovering the different corners of this world along with our protagonists.

I also grew to really care about all four of the narrators we follow in this book. Each of them is different, with a distinct personality, flaws, dreams, and fears. They felt alive and complex. Not always good and righteous, but I could empathize with all of them. And since I grew to care for them, I was also invested in their fates. Whether it was Thera trying to do her duty to the Sister Queens, or her brother Felnir chasing an impossible errand in the hopes of regaining lost honor, or Ruhlin, who has to fight other prisoners to survive, but also fight with the beast within him to keep his humanity.

As far as the story goes, this is the first book in the series, so it serves more to set up the stage than give us any kind of resolutions, but from what I see, the story will be brutal, because the enemy is ruthless and relentless, and the only goal they have is to subjugate and destroy. It is rather fascinating to see how two nations that started believing in the same gods and having a similar culture could turn out so different. 

My only issue with the story is that I find it hard to believe that the enemy has so many spies everywhere. This points towards a campaign that was years in the making, because some of those spies ended up in very high places, so they must have been sent to infiltrate all the power structures in the target countries at least a decade or two before the events of this book. Yet nothing that we have seen from Ruhlin’s point of view indicates an authority structure capable of such advanced planning. Granted, he has only seen gladiator arenas and slave pens (and people who run those), so his experience is not all-encompassing. 

I am definitely looking forward to picking up book 2 and learning more about this world. I also very much hope that our four protagonists will be okay, even if we left several of them in rather dire straits at the end of book 1.

PS: I received an advanced copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

books, Fantasy, Historical Fantasy, Reviews

The Market of 100 Fortunes (The Legend of the Five Rings) by Marie Brennan

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Stars: 5 out of 5

I never played the Legend of Five Rings games before or even heard of them, but you don’t have to do that to enjoy this book. The story stands on its own two feet even without being attached to a larger franchise. I also didn’t know that this was book 3 in Sekken and Ryotora’s adventures, so I will definitely go back and read the previous two books, because I like the characters and want to know how they got to the point they are at now.

I enjoyed this book tremendously! I love Japanese culture and folklore, and this world is heavily inspired by it, so reading about different Fortunes, spirits, and yokai was an absolute delight. The Market of 100 Fortunes was a delightful place to explore, both the human side of it and the supernatural one. I must admit that I hadn’t heard of the tsukumogami before I read this book, but the idea that objects used for 100 years can gain consciousness or even a soul is interesting. Makes you think twice before being mean to your umbrella, huh?

I think the biggest strength of this book is in its characters though. Sekken and Ryotora are complex individuals with their own quirks, needs, and wants, but it’s their interactions that bring the spark to this book. You can feel the care and love they have for each other. They are trying to navigate this very difficult condition they are in, where they literally share one life force between the two of them, so they have to be very careful how they draw on that power so as not to drain the other person. I like that the best solution to live with this condition is acceptance and harmonization between the two. And they do it through performing tea ceremonies! All tea lovers around the world unite!

The supporting characters are just as likable. The small but stubborn Kuzu, as resilient as the weed she is named after. Or Meiro, who risked everything, including her career with the Emerald Magistrate, to follow an obscure prophecy and helped our heroes immensely along the way. Even some of the tsukumogami have distinct personalities.

All in all, this was a very fast and delightful read, and I enjoyed every minute of it. I will definitely go back and read more about Sekken and Ryotora, and I will check out other stories set up in the Legend of the Five Rings universe as well.

PS: I received an advanced copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

books, murder mystery, Reviews

The Donut Legion by Joe R Landsdale

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Stars: 2 out of 5.

DNF at 54%.

This was my first encounter with this author, and it didn’t go as well as I would have hoped. This book just felt… off. 

While I was quite excited to read about a small town in East Texas and discover some of the quirky characters that call it home, something about those characters just felt… unnatural. They didn’t read like fleshed-out people but more like an amalgamation of quirks and one-liners that the author wanted to put there. That wouldn’t have been a problem for supporting characters that we only see for a couple of pages and never hear from again. But here even the main protagonist doesn’t read like a fleshed out character. 

Also, the main plot is to find the protagonist’s ex-wife, right? Well, for the first 200 pages or so, this is barely mentioned. Yes, he makes some enquiries, but our protagonist does not feel any urgency, dread, or emotion about it. He tells his brother that he thinks he is still in love with her, but none of his actions show it. If my ex went missing and showed up as a ghost, I would have been moving heaven and earth to find out what happened, but Charlie just kind of… takes his time to look into that in between long discussions about the nature of religion and cults with his brother, or other philosophical meanderings along the way. 

And that brings me to the next part that didn’t work for me – the tone of this book is definitely not my cup of tea. Is this supposed to be a serious thriller? A satire? A parody? There are jokes throughout, but to me, they fall flat, especially when put alongside graphic descriptions of some pretty gruesome murders. I mean, a guy Charlie talked to is basically dismembered and burned, and Charlie’s reaction to learning this is… nothing. Not even horrified, or feeling guilty about it, because his interrogating this guy might have been the cause for this. His reaction is just to shrug and move on. That doesn’t make me like the protagonist any better, sorry.

Then “Scrappy” comes to the scene and the book fell apart for me. She is not a likable or believable character. In fact, she comes across as extremely rude and self-serving. And again, Charlie says he might still have feelings for his ex-wife, yet he falls for her almost from the get go. 

All in all, the jarring juxtaposition of humor that mostly fell flat for me and depictions of some pretty graphic and horrible murders made me gradually lose interest in this book. Added to that some irritating characters, and I am calling it quits. I might try another book by this author, since some reviewers say that this wasn’t his strongest offering.

PS: I received an advanced copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

books, murder mystery, Reviews

Deep and Deadly: Murder on the Scottish Coast (Inspector Torquil McKinnon 7) by Keith Moray

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Stars: 3.5 out of 5

I must admit upfront that I wasn’t aware that this was book 7 in an ongoing series when I picked up this book, and I haven’t read any of the previous instalments. This, however, isn’t that big of a deal. The story can be read as a standalone, since all the characters get sufficiently well-done introductions. There are references to events that, I suppose, happen in previous books, but they are fleeting and don’t confuse the reader.  

With that out of the way, let’s dive into the book itself. 

I loved the setting! I lived in Edinburgh for a year when I was in college, and visited the Scottish highlands and the Isle of Skye. It’s beautiful and rugged terrain that feels unchanged from the previous centuries. The scenery is breathtaking, and the weather is capricious to say the least. I was looking to recapture that sense of wonder I had when I was there in person, and the book has that in spades.

I also loved all the characters. They feel real, multidimensional people, with their own flaws and quirks, but ultimately pretty relatable. However, I must admit that the newspaper editor got on my nerves a few times. He seems like the person who just shrugs off all bad experiences and never learns his lessons from them. I mean, that’s a good quality to have for a news reporter, but it must be hard to be his friend or girlfriend.

You could feel the history between all the characters, and their relationships felt organic. In fact, that whole island community where everyone knows everybody else’s business is very well done. It was a pleasure to get to know the residents of West Uist. 

My issue is that there are too many red herrings and extraneous plots that don’t bring much to the story. The story is about Mungo and his crusade against the inhabitants of the island for real or perceived sins. What did the Irish actor and his cronies even add to the narrative? Also, what was Mungo’s motive for trying to poison them? They had nothing to do with what had happened to his family, so they shouldn’t even have been on his hit list. The book is short as it is, so adding this storyline took page count that could have been spent on diving more into the lives of the various people on Mungo’s list. As it stands, a lot of them are mentioned in passing, but not developed enough for us to care. 

And speaking of Mungo himself. He is the reason I didn’t rate this book higher. In fact, I think he is the weakest link in this story. He is a very unconvincing main villain. He comes across as the typical delusional mustache-twirling kind, along with the mandatory monologue about his plans and reasons for doing what he is doing. Honestly, that monologue had me rolling my eyes and skimming ahead.

But all in all, this was a very enjoyable murder mystery book set in the Scottish island setting that I loved to revisit. I might even go back and read the other books in the series.

PS: I received an advanced copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

books, Post-Apocalyptic, Reviews

Station Eleven by Emily St John Mandel

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Stars: 3 out of 5

This is a difficult book to rate or review. I really liked parts of it, but other parts left me indifferent to mildly irritated.

I liked the melancholy vibe of the book, and that’s best translated in the chapters detailing Arthur’s life as well as what happened to all the people whose lives he touched. It was interesting to see how they spent their last days before the world as we know it ended… and what those who were lucky enough to survive made of themselves in the new world that rose from the ashes.

I admit that I was less attached to the characters from the Traveling Symphony. Where people from Arthur’s time seemed pretty well developed, the members of the Symphony didn’t have much depth past their names and functions. I mean, I can’t even remember who was who, apart from Kirsten and Arthur, and I just finished the book. So to me, those chapters dragged, and I found myself loose interest more often then not and putting the book aside.

My biggest problem is that I don’t get the point of the whole Prophet subplot. Even with the spoiler discovery of the Prophet’s identity, his existence in this book doesn’t particularly make sense. He is way too milquetoast to be an antagonist in this book, and the way this whole situation ended is rather… anticlimactic. There was this whole buildup to this confrontation between the Symphony and the Prophet that didn’t happen in the end.

All in all, it was a decent story about loss and grief, and lost dreams, and how different people cope with surviving the end of the world, but to me, it was lacking a secret ingredient that would have made it perfect.

books, Fantasy, Reviews, Urban fantasy

Dead Witch on a Bridge by Gretchen Galway

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Stars: 3.5 out of 5

Though I wasn’t particularly fond of the protagonist initially, she grew on me by the end of the book. This is a pretty cosy urban fantasy story about witches, wellsprings, fae, and murder. Yes, there is murder(s), but there are no gory descriptions, so it’s all pretty PG-13.

All in all, it was an enjoyable read, though I found Alma to be very gullible and rather clueless for the better part of this book. You would think that with her horrible upbringing, she would be less trusting of people. And speaking of upbringing, dear old dad doesn’t win any awards there. But when your only parent is a known thief who only cares about himself, I would think you would develop a healthy distrust of other people, seeing how even your dad probably lied to you and betrayed you over and over again in the past.

I did like that Alma stopped wallowing in her self-pity and actually started developing her magical abilities as the story progressed, and that she finally decided what kind of witch she wants to be. Which is one that doesn’t need the approval of the Protectorate to feel important and worthy.

The central mystery wasn’t particularly complicated, and I admit that I knew right around the memorial service scene who the villain of the story was, but it was still pretty entertaining. And the dog survives until the end, so that’s an added bonus!

I had a pleasant time reading this book, but I don’t know if I am invested enough to continue with the series.

books, Fantasy, Reviews

The Soul of Chaos (Litanies of the Lost Star 1) by Gregory Wunderlin

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DNF at 30%

It’s not a bad book, but I just couldn’t get into it. The worldbuilding is almost non-existent, and I didn’t mesh with the characters.

I don’t mind being thrown into a story off the deep end and having to figure out the world and the rules… as long as the author provides that information eventually. But 30% of the way in, I still don’t know how magic works in this world. Or what those ancient cities Rurik and his crew dig up mean in the grand scheme of things. Or how it relates to his sister’s chapters and the attempted coup that’s happening there. Who are the Voidtouched? Where do they come from? What is that ancient city and the magic ring Rurik puts on? No clue.

I don’t even know the political system of this world. Up until the ambush, I was convinced that Solara was the marshall for the Iskarion family. Or why the only heir to the family had to flee her home in order to save them all.

It’s hard to follow a story when you don’t know the stakes. And you can’t determine the stakes if you don’t know how this world is organized. Are the runes and portals a normal occurrence in this world? Is Rurik’s ring something special that grants him extraordinary abilities? What are shapers and what do they do? No clue, because I don’t know how magic works in this world.

I also wasn’t particularly interested in either of the two POVs – Rurik and his sister, whose name I can’t even recall anymore. I could have sat through confusing worldbuilding if I was invested in the characters, but I wasn’t.

The writing is also rather stilted, especially when it comes to dialogue. I caught myself rolling my eyes a few times at how unnatural the dialogue sounded, but I decided to quit when I found myself skimming through fight scenes. If even that wasn’t enough to keep me engaged, it was a lost cause.

PS: I received an advanced copy via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

books, Horror, Reviews

Reunion by Christopher Farnsworth

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Stars: 4.5 out of 5.

This is one darn good book! It’s a bit of a cross between Stephen King’s It and a superhero story, as the protagonists are children that had to fight an unimaginable evil in their high school year. That experience changed them in ways that, even twenty years later, still weigh on them. But those are not ordinary children. All four have superpowers. One has a photographic memory and absolute recall, and also phenomenal powers of deduction. One is a genius inventor with an almost computer-like brainpower. One is half Fair Fold prince who is stronger, faster, and more ruthless than any adult. And finally, one is a literal magician.

It was interesting to get to know these children and their adult versions. I loved that the chapters were split between THEN and NOW, so we got to gradually uncover both what happened during that fateful night of New Year’s Evil during their high school year and what is happening in the present when they are all called back into Middleton for the 20-year reunion. We are gradually introduced to each of the four protagonists and shown what makes them special, but we also discover what drew them together and allowed them to defeat Colchester the first time.

I must admit that the NOW chapters were rather depressing, especially when showing their lives before they came back for the Reunion, because all of them, except for Alana, maybe, seemed to have lived in a holding pattern. They had so many dreams and goals before New Year’s Evil, and they just let those turn into ash. It’s especially apparent for Eric who lost his real magic and spent 20 years being a stage magician in Las Vegas, and drinking himself into an early grave.

So while returning to Middleton isn’t something none of them wanted, that return allows them to finally kill the past once and for all. To resolve issues that were left hanging. To defeat the evil that was left to linger and fester because of cowardice. And by doing that, they can let go of that past and finally start living the lives they were destined to have. That’s a powerful message right there.

My only complaint is that the Followers are a very stupid bunch for an evil death cult. I know that humans can be cruel, petty, and selfish, but come on, are you telling me that so many people went along with literally bringing about the end of the world and expected to survive it? Or even gain anything from it? And not kids. Normal adult people who should know better.

But that’s just a small gripe. If you want a good character-driven book and you loved It, then I suggest you go and get Reunion. You won’t regret it.

PS: I received an advanced copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

books, Ghost Story, Reviews

The Ghosts of Beatrice Bird by Louisa Morgan

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Stars: 2.5 out of 5

This book started with a bang, and I really liked the character of Beatrice and her genuine desire to help people. She is a compelling character and easy to like. Though I must admit that I couldn’t quite suspend my disbelief that dropping acid a couple of times would somehow unlock her latent ability to see other people’s ghosts. However, I was willing to let that slide because I liked Bea, and I wanted to see where this story would go. I wanted to see Bea conquer her ghosts and come triumphant on the other end of her ordeal.

I also loved the island and the nuns who run the ferry. Mother Maggie was a pleasure to read about, and I would have loved to hear more about her life and her very pale and washed-out ghosts. Unfortunately, we don’t get nearly enough of her in this story.

The descriptions of island life are also very calming. I wouldn’t have minded living in Bea’s cottage with the cows and the views of the tumultuous sea. So I was fully engaged with the story and read the first 50% of the book in one sitting. Then Anne arrived at the island, and the book went downhill from there.

See, the story shifted from being about Bea to being about Anne and her abusive and controlling husband. Bea was relegated to a side character who was there to build up Anne’s confidence and be a receptive ear for Anne to tell us her story. It would have worked hadn’t Anne been such a meh character. I understand what the author tried to do here – the battered wife who carries all the guilt about being in this situation in the first place and thinks it’s her fault. However, this is written a bit on the nose here. Her husband is a caricature of an abusive and controlling psychopath. He is so over-the-top evil that I couldn’t take him seriously as a character or as a threat to Bea and Anne. There are better books written about this topic. Heck, even Stephen King wrote a book about a battered wife who ran away from her abusive cop husband and managed to build a new life for herself, and that book was more compelling than Anne’s story.

So after the focus shifted to Anne, I slowly lost interest in the book. In fact, I put it down for a few weeks and only came back to it because I don’t like DNFing books unless I absolutely don’t jell with them. But I skimmed till the end more than I read, hitting the major plot points. And even then I can tell that the ending is very overwritten. It should have stopped several chapters before it did. In fact, it should have stopped after James left the island the second time. Everything else could have been summarized in a brief epilogue. 

As it stands, this book had a lot of promise but ended up a disappointment for me, but I am willing to give it 2.5 stars because in the beginning I really thought I would love it.

PS: I received an advanced copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

books, Horror, Reviews

The Atrocity Engine (Custodians of the Cosmos 1) by Tim Waggoner

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Stars: 2 out of 5

I was ready to love this book. On a side note, love that cover! That’s what drew me to the book in the first place. 

The idea behind this series is very intriguing – the world is basically dying (albeit slowly) because there is a giant black hole in the center of the universe called the Geir that is devouring it. Our protagonists work for the Maintenance whose sole purpose is to slow down the destruction of the known universe and delay the inevitable collapse. Our antagonist is an aspiring member of the Multitude, whose purpose is the exact opposite – precipitate the end of the universe and inflict as much death and destruction as possible in the process.

The premise is excellent, and I was all onboard to enjoy a thrilling ride… but I was sorely disappointed. 

There are several issues, but the biggest one is the lack of worldbuilding, or the inconsistency thereof. The author mentions that the Maintenance has existed since at least the Roman empire and that they know everything it’s possible to know about Corruption and entropic energy… Yet they miss some pretty big clues during this book. 

Their agents are supposed to be trained in fighting the Corruption and the corrupted people, yet in all the fights we see, they freeze or behave like this is their first time on the job. The most glaring example is when 4 Interventionists just froze and let their enemies swat them with a car like flies. These people are supposed to be professionals, so why is it that the only two people who know what they are doing are our protagonists? Also, whose stupid idea was it not to arm the agents that are the first in the field? Yes, they their role is to observe and call for backup, but they have a right to defend themselves while backup is getting there. 

But my biggest issue were the characters. They are very one-dimentional. The bad guys are so bad they are almost caricatures of themselves. I mean Rachel takes the cake of psycho bitch who loves making her victims suffer. But she is also not very bright… I would even say stupid. All her actions show a lack of planning and an inability to predict the consequences even two steps in advance.

And Neal and Gina… well, we have the grizzled veteran and the special snowflake. Neither of them are interesting or relatable. 

Neal knows everything better than anyone else at Maintenance, and is always proven right. Constantly goes against the authority of his superior, but somehow never gets even a slap on the hands for it. Then why is he still at the bottom of that ladder?  If he is so great, shouldn’t he be running the joint by now?

Gina comes across as naive to the point of stupidity. Oh, you only now start to wonder if your family is maybe pursuing their personal gain instead of the goals Maintenance has? What, you never noticed that none of the other Maintenance workers lived in mansions and drove expensive cars and wore luxury clothes? You never once stop to consider why your family thinks that is normal when the very core of Maintenance is to live modestly and only take what you need? Yeah, I didn’t connect with her at all, and her POVs were a chore to read through.

The plot itself is full of contrivances and conveniences that drive it to where the author wants it to go instead of letting it evolve naturally as a consequence of the actions characters take. I’m guessing that’s why the villain comes across as brain-dead and making such stupid decisions.

All in all, this was a complete disappointment for me, and I will not be continuing with this series. This was also my first book by this author, and now I’m not even sure if I want to give him another try.

PS: I received an advanced copy via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.