Books Archives - Page 50 of 71

Yzabel / July 8, 2014

Review: Soulwoven

My rating: [rating=2]

Summary:

Litnig Jin has spent his life yearning for the power to weave the souls of the dead into magic. His brother Cole has spent his believing in nothing bigger than his own two hands.

When a dragon sinks its claws into their nightmares, their lives will change forever.

A dream of moving statues, shattered chains, and seething clouds of darkness sets the brothers on a journey into the unknown. A prince asks for their help. A necromancer hunts them. The bloom of first love gives Cole something to believe in.

As the brothers travel the world of Guedin seeking to prevent the hatred of a god from coming to life, Litnig discovers he has more power than he ever thought possible. But learning why may cost him his brother, his best friend, and everything he is.

Soulwoven was serialized on the story-sharing site Wattpad in 2012. It went on to garner half a million reads while being featured there for over a year. A 2013 Kickstarter funded additional editing, artwork, and polish for the book, which is now available commercially for the first time.

Review:

(I got a copy through NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.)

I’m adding this novel to my list of books I’m not exactly sure what to make of. I guess it might sit better with readers who really like fantasy stories with typical tropes, which I’m not at the moment, so take my review with a grain of salt.

I found Soulwoven to be full of interesting ideas, especially when it comes to the characters and their relationships. The plot itself is of the fairly straightforward, “typical fantasy” kind: an ancient (evil) god on the verge of waking up, with a group of characters traveling to prevent this from happening. However, this bunch of people gathered through circumstances must go through its own issues of trust, friendship and love, and a sense of duty isn’t always enough to keep things going smoothly—far from it. I really dug this aspect of the novel. Everyone in the group has at least one person of interest s/he wants to follow, for various reasons, and this creates a good dynamics.

However, at times, I found the narrative lacking in showing this very dynamics. Some events were shown from different points of view, but I’m not always sure the choice of scenes was the best (fight scenes, for instance). After a while, it felt as if part of the cast of characters was given more prominence over the others. While Dil’s and Litnig’s stories were pretty interesting to read (both had to deal with the secret behind their true natures, and face the prospect of being rejected by the ones they loved), other characters got the short end of the straw. Quay mostly became the leader and nothing more, and Ryse and Leramis didn’t get as much screen time as their past should’ve warranted them, in my opinion. Maybe their relationship will be developed in the next book, but I thought it would’ve been interesting to see more of it here, because of how Litnig saw it, and how it might have affected his own evolution. (I liked his progress, by the way. He wasn’t so much the oaf he seemed to be, and the story didn’t want for opportunities of making him turn towards the dark side, so to speak.)

Another issue for me was the pacing. Granted, I must admit I’m not always keen on the traveling parts in fantasy novels in general (yes, even in widely acclaimed novels), but I don’t know if this was what caused the problem in the first place. Sometimes I wanted to keep reading, and at other times, suddenly, I didn’t feel like picking up the book again. A few scenes were rather confusing, and I had to go back and read a second time to make sure I hadn’t missed something, and understand properly what was going on. I’m tempted to chalk this to a few strange reactions on the characters’ behalf. Among other things, I’m still not sure why the Sh’ma brought the group to his leader, knowing all too well how it may end. I’m also not convinced with the potential political intrigue back in Eldan City: this is the kind of thing that would deserve a plot in and of itself, so either there was too much or too little of it here. Although it provides an interesting backdrop for later novels, it still felt a little artificial (perhaps because the group had to hide because of it, which paved the way for the death of one specific character, which fell into the cliché category for me).

Good ideas, definitely (if on the typical fantasy tropes side), though not always executed in a way that would really emphasise their worth. Nevertheless, it’s good to see a novel whose characters all have their own, often touching background stories, and whose journeys to save the world are also addled with very human relationships.

Yzabel / July 7, 2014

Review: Tales of the Hidden World

Tales of the Hidden World by Simon R. Green

My rating: [rating=2]

Summary:

Seventeen delightfully unexpected stories from Simon R. Green–including a brand-new adventure of the Droods–take us deep into the Darkside, embroil us in the Secret Histories, and lead us into the shadowy places where monsters and demons roamWelcome to the worlds of Simon R. Green. In this wide-ranging collection, the “New York Times”-bestselling urban fantasist opens doors into hidden places: strange realms bordering our own mundane existence and prowled by creatures of fancy and nightmare. Here are the strange, frequently deadly–and sometimes even dead–things that lurk in garbage-strewn city alleyways and grimy subway stations after midnight, visible only to the most perceptive human or inhuman eye.In these tales, Green revisits the ingenious worlds within worlds that he created for his wildly popular novels. Take a stroll on the Darkside with a jaded street wizard, an underpaid government functionary responsible for keeping demons, vamps, and aliens in line. Enter the hidden recesses of Drood Hall, where the aging family member who creates powerful weapons that protect humankind recalls his long and bloody career. Join a squad of no-longer-human soldiers dispatched to combat the all-consuming jungle on a distant planet. Visit a house at the intesection of two realities that serves as a sanctuary from the evil of “all” worlds. Confront the unstoppable zombie army of General Kurtz in a brilliant homage to “Apocalypse Now.” And whatever you do, never forget that there “are” monsters out there. Really.Each story includes a new afterword by the author.

Review:

(I got a copy through NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.)

I’m not quite sure what to make of this anthology. I only know Simon R. Green through his Hawk & Fisher series, of which I only read the first volume, so I applied for this one thinking it’d make a good introduction to his writing in general, but… I’m not so sure anymore. For instance, the first story, for instance, deals with the Armourer of the Drood family, and while I mostly got what it was about, it feels like not knowing the corresponding series is a slight problem. Or maybe it’s just me.

Also, I admit I skipped the second story (“Street Wizard”), because I had already read it a few weeks ago in another anthology.

Most of those stories were rather dark, which was all right with me, since I was in a mood to read about characters put in such situations. I guess mostly my problems with this anthology stemmed from the choice of stories, whose plots in general didn’t seem so thrilling, and whose twists were fairly predictable (“Dorothy Dreams”), or kind of flat (“Down and Out in Deadtown”). The last third of the book is made of older shorts dating back to the 70-80s, and they feel different, incomplete, somehow… unfinished? The last two in particular puzzled me: the prequel was printed after the “main” story, and it removed all suspense as to whether the characters would survive their adventure. I don’t really understand that choice.

I read Hawk & Fisher in French, not in English, so I can’t compare the author’s style here with that in his novels. When it comes to this specific collection, I thought it was heavy on the adverbs.

All in all, lots of good ideas, but not so well executed.

Yzabel / July 2, 2014

Review: Greene’s Calling

Greene’s Calling by A.D. Starrling

My rating: [rating=3]

Summary:

An immortal healer.
An ancient legacy reborn.
A chain of cataclysmic events that threatens to change the fate of the world.

When a plane crashes in the Amazonian swamp where Conrad Greene is attempting to live out the rest of eternity, the jaded immortal who was once one of the Bastian First Council’s greatest assets stumbles across a conspiracy involving the recently elected president of the United States.

Caught in the middle of the intrigue is US Secret Service agent Laura Hartwell, the one immortal on Earth most likely to put a bullet through Greene’s skull.

Greene is coerced into returning to the life he had left behind by the leader of the Bastians and reluctantly agrees to assist the Americans in their investigation. As disturbing incidents start to unfold around the globe, Greene and a team of elite human and immortal agents must track down an elusive organization hell-bent on shifting the power balance of the world.

Can Greene stop the deadly countdown that threatens to alter the course of human history and regain the trust of the woman he loves?

Review:

(I got an e-copy of this novel through NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.)

This is the third book in this series (“Seventeen”) I read, and even though I haven’t rated those any higher than 3/3.5 stars so far, I must say they do all fall in the “I liked it” category: there are slight changes in the genre itself (man-hunt, artifact/ancient secrets, special services…), things sometimes go too fast for serious character development, but all things considered, whenever I want an action-packed story with guns, helicopters, wild chases and people with powers (immortals), these novels deliver.

Both merit and flaw here: each novel focuses on a different character. Merit, because it allows the author to put these people (immortals as well as their human allies) into situations for which they are more suited than others, and have a bigger picture slowly come together—something tells me there should be at least two more installments to this series. Flaw, because said characters can’t be explored as deeply as they would if they were the heroes of two, three, four books. Somehow, we get a glimpse and back-story elements, but there are times when I’d like to see more.

However, as I mentioned above, the “Seventeen” books are pretty good in terms of action, lively fights, and from what I know, believable research, if a little over-the-top now and then (I tend to like a bit of over-the-top, by the way). Picturing each scene is fairly easy, and I’m positive they’d also do great as movies. Hardened secret services agents, assasination attempts, political play on a worldwide level, antagonists that go back to older days, an investigation taking place in several European cities… Mostly those elements make for an entertaining read. Not something I’d discuss at length for a book club, sure, but then, this isn’t what I expect from such novels. I expect to be entertained and awed with good action scenes—and those I get.

One interesting thing: the kickass medic. I haven’t seen that kind of combination too often (a healer-type character who can also hold his/her own and doesn’t have to be protected by the others). All right, Conrad’s power is kind of unique, in that all the others who had it are now dead, from what I understood, but it ties into the red thread intrigue going on from novel to novel. I really hope there’ll be more about that in the next volume, about those immortals with a specific mark on their skin, and what their role is supposed to be (because there must be one, right?). Both Crovir and Bastian societies are somewhat tied into working with each other, and it sort of hints at a bigger threat looming in later.

There’s one side of the story I would’ve liked to see explored more, though: the consequences of so many heads of state being targeted. The characters realise what’s at stake, and do their best to prevent it, but I thought we didn’t get to see exactly how things played out for regular people. Did they care? What about the lockdown on airports? How did international diplomacy unfold? It was here, but somehow “in the background”, and it made the threat less… tangible.

This qualm put aside, it was a pleasant read. Not too deep, but definitely entertaining.

Yzabel / June 27, 2014

Review: Paradigm

Paradigm by Ceri A. Lowe

My rating: [rating=1]

Summary:

What if the end of the world was just the beginning?

Alice Davenport awakens from a fever to find her mother gone and the city she lives in ravaged by storms – with few survivors.

When Alice is finally rescued, she is taken to a huge underground bunker owned by the mysterious Paradigm Industries. As the storms worsen, the hatches close.

87 years later, amidst the ruins of London, the survivors of the Storms have reinvented society. The Model maintains a perfect balance – with inhabitants routinely frozen until they are needed by the Industry.

Fifteen-year-old Carter Warren knows his time has come. Awoken from the catacombs as a contender for the role of Controller General, it is his destiny to succeed – where his parents failed.

But Carter soon discovers that the world has changed, in ways that make him begin to question everything that he believes in. As Carter is forced to fight for those he loves and even for his life, it seems that the key to the future lies in the secrets of the past…

Review:

(I got this novel through NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review. My copy being an ARC, some things in it may be different than they are in the published book.)

I’m not sure what to make of Paradigm. On the one hand, while its cover is terribly reminiscent of Divergent, and while it also deals with a dystopian world, it does so in a different way than what is usually seen in similar novels: the reader is actually given to see both the dystopian society and its origins, through the eyes of Carter (“present” time) and Alice (“past” time). On the other hand, I did find the story confusing in several places, and its good ideas not exploited enough.

What I liked:

* Two timelines with their own characters. I’m fond of books that make use of different timelines, because I always hope this will give me a deeper insight on what’s happening to whom, and where and when it’s happening. It opens up a lot of possibilities, and the one here—seeing what led to the “present time” dystopian state led by the Industry—is definitely interesting. The thought process involved is somewhat logical enough: “the old world failed us and we failed it, so if we are to survive, we must destroy what’s left and reinvent something new, not try to recreate our old lives.”

* Alice’s bleak background, and how she decided to shape a life for herself. She lost her father when she was still quite young, her mother had to sleep with men to earn money (it’s heavily implied that the forbidden room was where she would welcome customers at times, or at least, that’s how I understood it), her daily life and surroundings were far from brilliant. When the Storms hit, when she was brought underground with other survivors, she decided that she was given a chance to start all over, on equal footing with people who, before the catastrophe, had more money, weren’t bullied at school, had better prospects than her… She didn’t dwell on the misery, on the lost world, and when she did, she realised she had to come to terms with it, because it would never come back, and moping wouldn’t change anything, except set her back. The way she grew up after that, the way her mind shaped itself, was fascinating both for its positive take and for its wickedness, as contradictory as it may seem: she started from a “now I have the same chances as everyone else” approach to go through a process that would make her a perfect candidate for establishing a dystopian society.

* The setting. No USA this time, but London. I love London. I’m totally biased about London. And the Black River definitely lives up to its name. (Every person who’s been to/living in London must know by now that the Thames isn’t fit for diving, even now. ;))

* No romance, or so little (a couple of kisses, a few memories) that it didn’t really matter. Don’t misunderstand me, I can appreciate romance, but YA novels, whether dealing with dystopia or not, so often end up with stories boged down by love triangles and lovey-dovey scenes that it quickly gets old. Love wasn’t the focus here, it never was, there were so many other things to tackle first, and that’s exactly what the author did.

What I didn’t like:

* The world building started off on an intriguing footing, but some things didn’t make much sense. I would’ve liked the Storms phenomenon and its origins to be better explained—more than “we ruined our planet with pollution and now it’s too late.” Was it the same in every country? Can it only be the same everywhere? Where are the other countries, anyway (because it seems London is the only place left in the world here)? How come the Storms happened so fast? What about the government’s actions, the Army’s, the Navy’s, the police’s (it looks as if they didn’t do anything, and just died like everyone else)? Also, hurricanes by definition can’t hit Northern Europe; windstorms, sure, but not technically hurricanes. Another thing that bothered me: why were the Scouts affected by the water when they were equipped with hazmat/anti-radiation suits? From what I know, those are supposed to block particles, and I doubt whatever was in the water was tinier than alpha and beta particles—and there was heavy radiation around, since exposure was shown to lead quickly to radiation poisoning, with hair falling in clumps, bleeding, etc. If the water could affect them, then shouldn’t they have died of such poisoning pretty fast, too? (Which still happens too fast, by the way. Radiation sickness develops in 24-48 hours, not a few minutes only.)

Although it’s something younger readers might not pay attention to, you can never tell what they know exactly, and I think those things will clearly lead to questioning.

* Carter’s arc went too fast in places, and I found his character inconsistent. He started like the perfect brainwashed candidate for Mr. Dystopian World Of The Year, having worked all his (short) life to become Controller General, which is totally all right with me in such a setting… but then, he seemed to be affected too quickly by what he discovered, to be swayed and changed too drastically. His development may have been more believable to me if he had had more contact with Ariel and Lucia, with Isabella, with Iseult, and hadn’t been influenced so easily.

* Speaking of which, the characters in general didn’t feel very developed. I think the problem might’ve stemmed from the use of two timelines, demanding that the focus be on many things. As a result, we’d probably have needed a longer novel, in order for most of those people to be given their chance at development.

* A lasting feeling of confusion. It somehow worked in the beginning, in that it reflected Carter’s own confusion upon waking up, but after a while, I wasn’t sure anymore why the story jumped to this or that scene, and I always wondered if I had missed a chapter in between.

* The whole process of waking up people 15-20 later for them to contribute to society wasn’t too clear in its origin and goals. In a way, I can understand the desire to keep people with specific skills in cryo-sleep if they’re not absolutely needed in the now, in order to wake them up at a time when their skills are more in demand. However, why wake up a few kids and make them compete for Controller General position when they haven’t even had time to get adjusted to a world 15 years older than the one they knew? The Industry knew things had been changing, they wanted someone to right them, and I can’t decide if this made sense (keep the kids in the dark so that they compete the way they would have 15 years ago, and “bring back” ways considered as more appropriate) or not (having more data in hand could help contenders to grasp the situation and adapt their actions in order to make society the way they had known it).

* The writing style: overall an easy read, but sometimes I found sentences that didn’t make much sense, clauses with missing words, or descriptions that were way too vague (“There was something about him, thought Alice, that reminded her of something, but she couldn’t quite place it.”) As said, though, this was an ARC, so those problems might have been edited out of the final version.

I’m rating this book 1.5 stars because I really appreciated it not giving in to the pressure of “YA must have romance” and for dealing with the making of a dystopian world, not only its current existence. But it still left me frustrated on way too many accounts.

Yzabel / June 24, 2014

Review: Shield and Crocus

Shield and Crocus by Michael R. Underwood

My rating: [rating=4]

Summary:

In a city built among the bones of a fallen giant, a small group of heroes looks to reclaim their home from the five criminal tyrants who control it.

The city of Audec-Hal sits among the bones of a Titan. For decades it has suffered under the dominance of five tyrants, all with their own agendas. Their infighting is nothing, though, compared to the mysterious “Spark-storms” that alternate between razing the land and bestowing the citizens with wild, unpredictable abilities. It was one of these storms that gave First Sentinel, leader of the revolutionaries known as the Shields of Audec-Hal, power to control the emotional connections between people—a power that cost him the love of his life.

Now, with nothing left to lose, First Sentinel and the Shields are the only resistance against the city’s overlords as they strive to free themselves from the clutches of evil. The only thing they have going for them is that the crime lords are fighting each other as well—that is, until the tyrants agree to a summit that will permanently divide the city and cement their rule of Audec-Hal.

It’s one thing to take a stand against oppression, but with the odds stacked against the Shields, it’s another thing to actually triumph.

Review:

(I got a copy of this book through NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.)

3.5* for an interesting read. Quite special at first: I must admit I was expecting more classical fantasy, yet this novel deals in fact more with superheroes in a fantasy world than with a typical “band of brothers” à la Robin Hood. So, with this in mind, it depends on the reader’s take on such stories: if superheroes aren’t your thing, getting into Shield and Crocus might be difficult. For instance, the characters have their normal identities and their heroes’ identities, which can be confusing in the beginning before you get used to Wonlar being also called First Sentinel, Rova being Sapphire, and so on. (Of course, I only noticed the presence of a glossary at the end after I had finished reading the novel. The beauty of ebooks on a Kindle app on a smartphone…)

The story’s set in an intriguing city by the name of Audec-Hal, a city that developed within the skeleton of a fallen Titan, twenty miles from head to toe. Its inhabitants live in his ribcage, along his legs and arms, streets are called “veins” as if they were still carrying his blood, and so on. Some fifty years ago, it was protected by the City Mother, a being whose power was however enslaved by a tyrant; since then, the faith and compassion bestowed on the inhabitants have turned to fear and servitude. The place is also regularly stormed by, well, literal storms (Spark-storms), possibly magical in origin, since they turn people and even buildings into strange things, mostly living. The lucky ones end up with couple of physical changes and/or a specific power; the others lose their humanity, so to speak—the people of Audec-Hal are humanoid in looks and behaviours, but their races aren’t called “human”. Six of them dwell in the city, all with their specific characteristics: the fast (and fast-aging Pronai); the Ikanollo, who can see the threads of emotions bonding people (oh the possibilities); the Freithin, created through alchemy to serve as slaves, empowered with empathy with their blood-kin; the Jalvai, who control stone; the Millrej, sharing features with animals (bear-kin, fox-kin…); and the eyeless, mouthless Qava, who feed on thoughts and communicate and feel through telepathy and telekinesy.

This may seem complicated, and it was in the beginning, but the novel’s detailed enough in its descriptions to make it clear after a couple of chapters. At least, I didn’t find it so complicated that I had to stop reading or check the glossary (as said, I didn’t even notice there was one). It was imaginative enough to my liking, and different from the usual elves-like, dwarves-like, and others-like species seen in fantasy in general.

In fact, the diversity is one of the reasons I liked this novel. Three of the six Shields are women, two of them are an item… and it just “is.” Not a major plot point, not a plot device, not a way of passing a message. I didn’t feel any judgemental attitude nor any preaching to the choir, which is pretty refreshing, and fits with my own take on people in general. (I consider people first as human beings, not as gendered beings. This is exactly how it felt here.) What mattered were those heroes’ strength, their ideas, their fight, their wishes for a better city for their fellow inhabitants. Species, gender, sexual orientation: those weren’t important, just background elements that happened to be, and didn’t take precedence on more intrisic, fundamental qualities.

The “super-hero fantasy” aspect beckons for an action-filled narrative (told mostly from First Sentinel’s, Sapphire’s and Aegis’s points of view); however, political undertones still permeate the story, in that five tyrants seized power decades ago, are keeping the city under their thumb, and are trying to gather for a summit that, if it succeeds, would make their stranglehold on Audec-Hal even stronger that before. They’re all vying for power, and are definitely not above striking alliances only to backstab their new allies at the first opportunity; on the other hand, the six Shields have to take their moves into consideration, anticipate, and as always in such cases, sometimes you’re victorious, and sometimes you get played. Consequently, although action and fights still make up two thirds of Shield and Crocus, the story’s a little more complex than “a group of heroes fight crime/one evil overlord”. This is something I tend to appreciate, especially since the Shields have to plan around, and are sometimes forced into moves that lead to loss of life (they can’t be everywhere to save the people who support them).

Speaking of the tyrants: the Smiling King. I so, so want to call this guy Hastur. Or the King in Yellow. Or something to that extent. I have no idea if it was the author’s intent, it’s just the way he resonated with me.

The writing was somewhat redundant. I didn’t have any problems when it came to picturing the city and the fights, but regularly, I found the style repetitive, probably because of names/nicknames that were dropped too often. (You can only read “First Sentinel” so many times in two paragraphs.) The book could’ve done with some tightening in that regard.

Another thing: the story didn’t leave that much room for character development, and I would’ve liked to see a little more of this as well. Mostly because of what revolution-related themes tend to involve: people dying. And their death usually impacts me more when I’ve gotten to know those characters first, not just see them in action. It’s not a big turn-off in this specific story, but it’s worth mentioning.

Although it seems like a standalone for now, the ending is open enough for a follow-up, so if there’s one, I’d gladly pick it. A few things were left wanting in my opinion—not enough to diminish my enjoyment of the story, just enough to make me wonder. Fahra’s existence, among other things, could pave the way to some interesting scenario about the Spark-storms. I’d also like to know more about the Titans, the storm’s origin, the world outside Audec-Hal. (As a microcosm, it works fairly well; only I tend to be curious about what’s outside “pocket-worlds” in general, so to speak.)

To be honest, I think this novel would shine more as a graphic novel/comics. Nevertheless, it wasn’t such an easy mix to come up with at first; it’s imaginative; and as it is, I still enjoyed it.

Yzabel / June 20, 2014

Review: The Bone Church

The Bone Church: A Novel by Victoria Dougherty

My rating: [rating=3]

Summary:

In the surreal and paranoid underworld of wartime Prague, fugitive lovers Felix Andel and Magdalena Ruza make some dubious alliances – with a mysterious Roman Catholic cardinal, a reckless sculptor intent on making a big political statement, and a gypsy with a risky sex life. As one by one their chances for fleeing the country collapse, the two join a plot to assassinate Hitler’s nefarious Minister of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda, Josef Goebbels.

But the assassination attempt goes wildly wrong, propelling the lovers in separate directions.
Felix’s destiny is sealed at the Bone Church, a mystical pilgrimage site on the outskirts of Prague, while Magdalena is thrust even deeper into the bowels of a city that betrayed her and a homeland soon to be swallowed by the Soviets. As they emerge from the shadowy fog of World War II, and stagger into the foul haze of the Cold War, Felix and Magdalena must confront the past, and a dangerous, uncertain future.

Review:

(I got a copy through NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.)

I wanted a change of pace with this book; I seldom read Cold War era fiction, which is definitely something I should remedy to. In a way, I got that, and something else, too.

The novel weaves two timelines, 1943-44 and 1956, that end up meeting each other, bringing loose threads together. The author always provided time and location, so keeping track of what happened when wasn’t too hard. I found the beginning of the story a little confusing, and still don’t know if it was because of the writing style, the changing timelines, or if it was just me; after a short while, things fell into place, and it was all right.

As for the historical context, I must admit I know next to nothing to Prague’s history, and I probably missed a few subtleties here when it came to the Infant of Prague and its importance in the plot. On the other hand, I had no problems piecing out those details, and I think the author provided enough information for me to enjoy it without having to stop reading, go learn a few things, and come back later.

Some scenes bordered on the “too much” at times; readers who don’t like that may be put off by those. For instance, Felix and Srut stealing a fire lorry to escape the Germans, then making their exit skating on the Vltava river. I quirked an eyebrow, while grinning at the same time. Part of me was “what the heck?”, and the other part went “nice one, guys!” It was a strange, somewhat elating feeling.

The atmosphere was permeated with a heavy sense of foreboding, with distrust, danger, suspicion, featuring potential traitors, unsuspected allies, and half-hatched plans thwarted at the last moment, always forcing the characters to get back on their feet, to react to the unexpected. However careful their plans, it was obvious they wouldn’t be able to go through them seamlessly, and this added to the paranoia and tension. Sometimes, too, surrealistic descriptions gave an extra edge to the action, especially when Felix was concerned: you never know at first if the people he sees are friends or enemies, real or only in his mind. It reinforced the feeling of something not right going on.

My main gripes with this story:

1) Some of the plot twists rested on characters that are seldom seen or, worse, appear once only. For instance, the nun, or the bishop, who’re mentioned once: when they do their particular deed. Such things don’t sit well with me in general. Here, they made the twists feel contrived, and I think the latter would’ve had more of an impact on me if said characters had been introduced beforehand, even in a couple of scenes only (like Andrea). As a result, those threads confused me, and threw me out of the story a few times.

2) Magdalena’s involvement, compared to Felix’s, felt like a secondary role. I would’ve enjoyed seeing more of her, more of the path she had to walk alone. She seemed to stand in the background, more spectator than actor, and this made her character less “real” in my eyes.

An interesting story all in all, but not exactly an easy read, and one that might have benefitted from a little more development when it came to some of the secondary characters.

Yzabel / June 18, 2014

Review: Reckoning

Reckoning by Kerry Wilkinson

My rating: [rating=2]

Summary:

In the village of Martindale, hundreds of miles north of the new English capital of Windsor, sixteen-year-old Silver Blackthorn takes the Reckoning. This coming-of- age test not only decides her place in society – Elite, Member, Inter or Trog – but also determines that Silver is to become an Offering for King Victor.

But these are uncertain times and no one really knows what happens to the teenagers who disappear into Windsor Castle. Is being an Offering the privilege everyone assumes it to be, or do the walls of the castle have something to hide?Trapped in a maze of ancient corridors, Silver finds herself in a warped world of suspicion where it is difficult to know who to trust and who to fear. The one thing Silver does know is that she must find a way out . . .

The heart-stopping first book in a new trilogy by UK author Kerry Wilkinson, Reckoning is the story of one girl’s determination to escape the whims of a cruel king, and what she must do to survive against all odds.

Review:

(I got an ARC through NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.)

2-2.5 stars. In itself, it was a decent enough read, only I couldn’t help but be reminded of many other dystopian YA stories… and after a while, those start to blend together. Among other things, it felt quite reminiscent of The Hunger Games and similar stories, except that the people involved weren’t actively trying to kill each other, but were doing so in underhanded ways, notably being cowards and telling on others.

I was drawn towards this story because of its setting (post-war UK, or rather England/Wales—Scotland, well, nobody talks about Scotland, there must be something fishy with Scotland) and the promised mix of technology and mediaeval buildings/structures. However, such a mix is usually kind of hard to achieve, and I’m not sure it always worked here. The idea of a King totally fits the United Kingdom (much more than it would a US setting, for sure), and I think oppression resting on the ashes of a lasting civil war might be believable for a time. I can see people being so wary that they just want to close their eyes and ignore their current predicament, because at least they don’t have to fight anymore.

On the other hand, I’m not sure that “oil ran out” could be used as the sole justification behind wars on the world level; I keep wondering what else should’ve been involved to make the situation as desperate. Also, the class society in the novel didn’t really convince me: it remained too vague. What do Elites do, except being “the upper class”, with the Members and Inter being, let’s say, “upper-middle” and “lower-middle”, and the Trogs being the “working class”? It seemed to me that no matter their status, those people kind of did the same jobs: an Elite guy and a Trog girl both end up working in the kitchens, for instance, and this system seemed to clash with how the Offerings were assigned to their jobs depending on skills (Silver ends up in a technology-related environment, because she was picked a tech-savvy during her Reckoning, but whether she was a Member or a Trog didn’t seem to matter at this point). So in the end, I didn’t really understand the point. I suppose it would’ve made more sense if I had seen society as a whole depicted here, with non-Offerings going about their work. Whenever I saw some, those were people who hadn’t gone through the Reckoning (like Silver’s mother, or the Head Kingsmen, who were already there before Reckonings first took place). They were outside the new class system, so to speak, and it didn’t help me understand the latter.

Another problem was that I found a lot of things predictable. It might be just me, it might be due to similar stories I’ve read before, I don’t know. It was obvious from the beginning that the King was completely mad, to the point of killing Offerings on a whim, which sure explained why nobody ever heard of them again, hah. The “let’s try to escape” part was obvious as well, just like the romance part, and what actually happened to the families of those who didn’t keep a low profile.

Silver Blackthorn: let’s not dwell on that name; I still can’t stand it. I had mixed feelings about her. In some ways, she came off as a coward, but at the same time, this attitude was also clever: don’t get noticed, so that you live longer, and if you live longer, you have a chance of actually doing something. She limited her interactions with, and therefore her understanding of, other characters, who mostly remained bland and stereotypical. On the other hand, she also kept other people in mind: her family, Opie’s, as well as the other Offerings. She’s not planning a selfish escape just for herself and The Boy (OK, she does at first, and then she considers the bigger picture). I think what bothered me was that I would’ve expected her to do more tech-related stuff. Well, she does, but… in such a way that it’s only seen afterwards.

And here’s where I must touch upon something that really hindered the novel in my opinion: the first person point of view. There’s a moment when a big twist unfurls, and the reader is led to believe something, while something else altogether is brewing. However, I think that the first person narrative is problematic in such cases, because once the twist is revealed, the reader immediately thinks: “Hey, the character knew about it, so how come s/he withheld the information, both from me and from him/herself?” This is what happened here. Before that point, the narrative was all right. After it, I couldn’t get back into it anymore. For those who’ve already read the book: I’m talking, of course, about how we’re led to believe Imrin has betrayed Silver, but in fact this was all part of an act, and the other boys and girls were plotting in the background so that everybody could escape. Which Silver knew, yet deliberately “withheld” from herself, and therefore from me, reader. Tough there are a couple of hints here and there, they’re not enough. In any case, what followed was a recap of who did what, and then only Silver’s role was made more apparent… but by then, I felt cheated.

I would add to this a mild case of convenient chains of events, such as this or that character forgetting to lock a door on a regular basis. It didn’t sit so well with me when it came to a place where paranoia was a rule.

Bonus point, though, for the romance, in that:

1) It doesn’t dwell too much on a potential love triangle. This might come back in the next book, but for now, I’m going to ignore such a possibility, because I can and I want to.

2) The characters are attracted to each other while they do and think of other things. They mostly meet to find a way out, not merely to kiss and grope in the dark. The attraction comes later—and it doesn’t take too much space, contrary to what I’ve seen happen in too many other stories.

I somewhat enjoyed this novel; I’d probably have enjoyed it more if it didn’t feel and taste like many others in the same genre.

Yzabel / June 17, 2014

Review: Child of a Hidden Sea

Child of a Hidden Sea by A.M. Dellamonica

My rating: [rating=2]

Summary:

One minute, twenty-four-year-old Sophie Hansa is in a San Francisco alley trying to save the life of the aunt she has never known. The next, she finds herself flung into the warm and salty waters of an unfamiliar world. Glowing moths fall to the waves around her, and the sleek bodies of unseen fish glide against her submerged ankles.

The world is Stormwrack, a series of island nations with a variety of cultures and economies—and a language different from any Sophie has heard.

Sophie doesn’t know it yet, but she has just stepped into the middle of a political firestorm, and a conspiracy that could destroy a world she has just discovered… her world, where everyone seems to know who she is, and where she is forbidden to stay.

But Sophie is stubborn, and smart, and refuses to be cast adrift by people who don’t know her and yet wish her gone. With the help of a sister she has never known, and a ship captain who would rather she had never arrived, she must navigate the shoals of the highly charged politics of Stormwrack, and win the right to decide for herself whether she stays in this wondrous world . . . or is doomed to exile.

Review:

(I got an ARC through NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.)

2.5 stars. This book gave me trouble, although I should’ve liked its setting and themes. When I had to put it down, and then wanted to pick it up again, geting back into the story was a little hard.

I quite liked the world of Stormwrack, which seems fairly rich and complex, full of political intricacies, bureaucracy antics, and red tape tactics. There’s a lot of potential in there, a potential that doubles up with the Fleet—a literal fleet of ships representing every nation, basically a federation existing on sea only, and acting as a central government of sorts. I don’t doubt readers who like stories with a lot of sea travel and exploration will enjoy this side of the novel. A lof of Stormwrack’s system rests on notions such as honour, giving one’s word, having one’s origin speak for their character; this is partly cliché (“the Sylvanners are thieves”, “the Tiladenes are promiscuous”), yet also leaves room for misinterpretation, culture clashes, and having to speak up for oneself, without resorting to family support.

My main problem lay with Sophie. I couldn’t warm up to this character, and thought her rather immature for a 24-year-old woman who’s had experience in “delicate” situations such as diving, which for me implies knowledge and responsibility. While this was part of her character development, I was constantly reminded of what I’m going to call her “tourist mentality”, and in the end, she was still going strong enough about it (obssessed with bringing back samples and pictures, etc.). She first ended up on Stormwrack after saving the life of Gale, a woman who had turned out to be her biological aunt, and that chain of events already hinted at a dangerous world. I could understand Sophie’s desire to go back there and learn more; I had less understanding for the way she did it, ignoring everyone’s recommendations, and involving her brother Bram in the muddle. It felt as if she just didn’t think, only considering the pretty shiny things in the sea, and never the bigger picture and the potential dangers she might put Bram in.

And this very attitude indeed put people in danger, and/or ruined lives. Granted, said people never really explained either how she was such a “threat” to them, not until it was too late, so I don’t blame Sophie for not getting it sooner. However, I do blame her for not thinking it through. For instance, when the bad guys threatened her with magic, demanding she retrieved an item for them, not once did she consider that they may get after other people if she didn’t move fast enough to their liking. Guess what? Someone got kidnapped, and put in harm’s way. The “I have your wife” trope is already tricky enough as it is, since it forces characters to make callous choices (let the loved one die, or let the rest of the world suffer), but when the character herself dive into it head-first, it’s even harder.

Moreover, Sophie had a meandering mind, and after a while, it became distracting (perhaps this was part of the reason why I could never get back into the story easily?). She’d be doing something important to free the aforementioned person, but thinking of the flora and fauna right in the middle of the “mission”. I don’t how it goes for other people; my own mind tend to wander a lot, too; but when something really important pops up, I focus on the task at hand. Maybe I shouldn’t expect characters to react like that, but… I can’t help it. If Mum gets kidnapped, who would be worrying about hiding wasp samples and whatnot inside their skirts? Not me. Similarly, in the beginning, Sophie goes about voicing out whatever goes through her head, when she’s in the middle of an unknown sea, trying not to drown with Gale. Her narrative voice was therefore a little troublesome, although I finally got used to it.

Another problem was how she managed to investigate. As a person thrown in a world whose geopolitical complexities she didn’t know, sometimes she did the math too quickly, more quickly than people who were born and raised on that world. This didn’t strike me as very logical, and made the other characters seem a little dumb. It felt as if they had been dumbed down for the protagonist to show how clever she was, instead of Sophie just being, well, smart. (The connections she made could’ve been made by Verena, who knows Earth technology, and would’ve been just as able, if not more, to connect the dots.)

World-building quibbles of mine:

1) The time travel aspect. It is heavily implied that Stormwrack is future!Earth, but I didn’t see the point. The story would’ve worked just as well if it had been a bona fide other world, and this left me wondering, only to close the book with no more answers about that in the end. Was it really important? Is there going to be a sequel, resting more on this specific matter?

2) The secrecy. Stormwrack people aren’t supposed to know about Erstwhile (Earth), but some of them had the portal magic/technology, and seemingly Gale was acting as courier between both worlds, which also implied that other people from Stormwrack lived in Erstwhile. Why? Who were they? If there’s a post service, it means there’s a need, so how many of them were there? Why the secrecy? As a reader, I don’t want to be told “it’s hush-hush business”: I want to know why it is.

On the other hand, bonus point for deconstructing “the Chosen One/Destroyer of Worlds” trope here.

All in all, an interesting setting, but one I would’ve liked more answers about, just I would’ve liked Sophie to be less of a “tourist”.

NB: ARC version, with a few errors that may be gone by the time the book hits the shelves. (Verena is called “Thorna” a couple of times: a remnant of a former version, or some subtlety I didn’t catch?)

Yzabel / June 13, 2014

Review: Crushed (Soul Eaters 2)

Crushed by Eliza Crewe

My rating: [rating=5]

Summary:

Meda Melange has officially hung up her monstrous mantle and planted her feet firmly on the holy and righteous path of a Crusader-in-training. Or, at least, she’s willing to give it a shot. It helps that the Crusaders are the only thing standing between her and the demon hordes who want her dead.

The problem is, the only people less convinced than Meda of her new-found role as Good Girl are the very Crusaders she’s trying to join. So when a devilishly handsome half-demon boy offers escape, how’s a girl supposed to say “no?”

After all, everyone knows a good girl’s greatest weakness is a bad boy.

Review:

(I received an ARC of this novel through NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.)

4.5 stars, rounded to 5 because this book did something other books seldom do: eliciting feelings in me.

You see, I’m a cold-hearted person. Not as in cruel and mean, but as in, someone who very seldom cries, who’s seldom moved by emotional scenes, and so on. The few things that make me reach such a state aren’t the usual kind of triggers; I don’t shed tears over characters dying, romantic scenes, happy-ever-after moments. In fact, it’s so random I couldn’t even explain what may or may not trigger a reaction, whatever reaction, in me.

Meda’s voice does. I don’t know how, I don’t know why. Perhaps it’s her acceptance that she’s bad, that something in her is utterly rotten (she’s half-demon, after all). Perhaps it’s the fact she doesn’t delude herself when it comes to being liked by others, or to the guy she may or may not fall in love with. Perhaps it’s how she feels she tries hard, but realises in the end that she should also have tried to understand others. She’s not perfect, she knows it, she’s not trying to be—just being “good enough” would already be a great step, but can someone who needs to ear souls ever be “good enough”? Her eating the souls of bad guys only could seem a rationalisation… or simply a fact: when the only other solution is starving yourself, how many of us would actually be “good enough” to do that? So she goes after bad guys—psychopathic killers, child molesters—and eat their souls, because it’s the least of two evils, yet while she jokes about being a super heroine, going about vigilante business, she still acknowledges that she’s part monster, and will always be.

She’s not perfect. She makes mistakes. She misunderstands people, people misunderstand her. But she learns. She accepts facts in the end, seeing them for what they were, for something she failed to notice. She owns up to her mistakes, tries to correct them, takes responsibility for her actions. And she’s also angry and frustrated, so much that I could feel her anger poring through the pages. I especially liked that contrary to a lot of teens in YA fiction, her reasons were both selfish (it was about “me, me, me” at first, in that she saw things from her side of the barrier only) and understandable: the bullying, people automatically disliking her at school because she’s a half-demon, the adults seemingly turning a blind eye on it, humiliating punishments that only furthered the bullying… She was under scrutiny because of her nature, but it felt as if she was expected to do better than any other “good” person in the world, while being set up for failure. (I don’t know, but if someone’s half-demon, expecting them to be Mother Teresa is kind of asking for them to fail, isn’t it?) Meda was self-centered and didn’t understand Jo’s attempts at warning her, at protecting her; however, I think a lot of people would’ve felt the same in her situation. And later, when she discovers the true reasons behind what happened, she accepts them, accepts that she has to understand.

Meda’s friendship with Jo: another beautiful thing in this story. They both have their own very special personalities, they’ve been through fire together, they don’t entirely trust each other, and paradoxically, the latter grounds their relationship into something deeper, stronger, because it holds one important promise: the day real trust is born, is the day their friendship knows no bounds. In the meantime, they’re kidn of circling each other, watching each other. It’s not a girly kind of friendship. They don’t bond over boys, over one common interest that may or may not last. But it runs deep, to the point of self-sacrifice… not only on Jo’s part (knowing her character, that must’ve been one hard thing to do for Jo, by the way).

And when a half-demon is led to self-sacrifice, this also tells you something about her, about whether her nature binds her so much, whether Armand is right in telling her Hell is the only place for her… or not. Meda knowing she’s a monster, and not refuting it, Meda teetering on the brink of that one important decision (join the demons or remain faithful to the Crusaders, even though they want her dead), are, in my opinion, what could make her achieve her own “goodness”: not a saintly one, but one that defies her origins.

Love interest: there is one, but not too much. Here, we don’t go through the “redeem the bad boy” trope, or starry-eyed love. While Meda and Armand are clearly attracted to each other, they also know that sooner or later, they may stand on different sides. Meda is aware she may have to kill him someday; indeed, no delusions here, and no glorious promises of Love Eternal either. They both hang out together for their own selfish reasons, they both say it openly, they both accept it in each other. It’s a really nice break from the usual teen romance I see in YA books nowadays.

Also, they kill. They go through with their murders, they don’t bail out at the last moment. Another nice break from all the “assassins who fail to kill” stories.

The Crusaders: horrible in many ways, justified in others. What they did to Meda, refusing to give her a say when it was time to test one specific kind of magic on her, was shocking; however, when Meda had a choice, the person who seemed so bad, so cruel at first turned out to be pretty decent—and he wasn’t the only one. It’s never sp black and white with them as you think it is.

The one qualm I have with this book is that it felt slow in the beginning, especially compared to the first novel in the series. Meda’s voice and what I could sense between the lines prevented this from being too much of a problem, but I was still glad when the pace picked up.

Yzabel / June 12, 2014

Review: Seven Kinds of Hell

Seven Kinds of Hell by Dana Cameron

My rating: [rating=2]

Summary:

Archaeologist Zoe Miller has been running from a haunting secret her whole life. But when her cousin is abducted by a vicious Russian kidnapper, Zoe is left with only one option: to reveal herself.

Unknown to even her closest friends, Zoe is not entirely human. She’s a werewolf and a daughter of the “Fangborn,” a secretive race of werewolves, vampires, and oracles embroiled in an ancient war against evil.

To rescue her cousin, Zoe will be forced to renew family ties and pit her own supernatural abilities against the dark and nefarious foe. The hunt brings Zoe to the edge of her limits, and with the fate of humanity and the Fangborn in the balance, life will be decided by an artifact of world-ending power.

Zoe’s mission takes her and her friends across the globe on a frenetic quest for no less than Pandora’s Box.

Review:

(I got a copy through NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.)

Although this novel contained a few things I liked, I’m afraid it won’t leave me with a lasting impression, mostly because of the characters themselves.

I enjoyed the archaeological-related plot: ancient artifacts whose purpose isn’t known in the beginning, a “relic” (Pandora’s box) that I’ve seldom seen in urban fantasy and other contemporary books, travelling through Europe in search of clus, trying to find out sites to dig in (literally)… I’ve always had a soft sport for Indiana Jones-like stories, and for what it’s worth, I think the level of details in “Seven Kinds of Hell” was just the right amount for me: believable without turning into lessons. A real archaeologist might disagree, I don’t know; it’s not my area of expertise.

There’s a lot of action going on, too, and while I may not have wanted to read such a story in one of my most introspective periods, right now this kind of reading agrees with me. Someone looking for characters running away, fighting unknown enemies, finding unexpected allies in the middle of a fight, and so on, will likely appreciate this side of the novel.

On the other hand, the characters didn’t work for me. Zoe had her shortcomings and her good moments, like any proper character should, should I say, but I was extremely annoyed with her for a couple of decisions she made, that had catastrophic consequences. The guy who gets abducted? She led her enemies to him, instead of immediately leaving town, like her mother told her to do on her deathbed (and like she had done for most of her life). I could understand a “normal” person hesitating, trying to see her friends a last time. Someone used to doing that? Not so much. Then, later, a character dies, who wasn’t saved because Zoe missed a big time opportunity—somewhat understandable, considering the circumstances. Less understandable is how she basically ditched said character at some point, even though she knew something fishy was going on; if she hadn’t, I’m positive things would’ve turned out very differently. From the beginning, I had a hunch this poor person was here only to die, and unfortunately, I was right. Zoe’s decisions sometimes bordered on the Too Stupid To Live—or to allow other characters to live.

The secondary characters looked interesting, but I never got the feeling I “knew” them enough to really care, especially Ben and Ariana, who seemed to be dropped in there. (Gerry and Claudia “felt” like they had some kind of back story, at least.) As for the bad guys, they were the classic kind. No surprises here. I admit I rolled my eyes at the Russian villain.

The plot, mostly in the beginning, is slowed down by a few flashbacks. While not uninteresting per se, they distracted me, and enforced my “will you get out of town at last, Zoe?” reactions. I also found the ending a little too convenient to my liking, with Zoe getting help from someone she briefly met years ago. That person had reasons to act in such a way, but it still came out of the blue.

I have mixed opinions about the mythology. Fangborn society had a nice “we’ve been watching over you for ages” aspect, and I would’ve liked to know more about it, about its vampires that are more like shapeshifting snake-like creatures, about its oracles, too. On the downside, they seemed just a little too perfect and deluded sometimes, which mad them somewhat bland.

In the end, this novel held my attention mainly because of its “race for artifacts” side, but definitely not for its characters.