In Wondering Sight (2017), the second book in Melissa McShane’s THE EXTRAORDINARIES series, we return to a fantasy-touched version of Regency-era England where some people have magical talents ― throwing and extinguishing fire, shaping one’s appearance, flying, teleporting, and more. Sophia is an Extraordinary, one of the very few people who have particularly strong magical abilities. As a Seer, she can cast herself into Dreams, which show her future events as a series of doors in her Dreams that she can open and explore, as well as Visions, where she can see past and current events by holding an object that has a significant history with a particular person.
Before this book begins, Sophia, like Elinor in the first book, Burning Bright, was working for the British military in the Caribbean, where she was instrumental in helping the British fight against pirates. But when she told the War Office that her Dreams also showed a powerful British lord embezzling from the Army, she was dismissed when the evidence didn’t support her accusation against him. Though the War Office didn’t make public the reason for her severance, everyone there believed she had a false Dream or, worse yet, was lying about having a Dream showing Lord Endicott embezzling supplies. Now Lord Endicott has followed her back to England, dividing his time between subtly harassing Sophia and engaging in a new and different criminal enterprise.
Sophia is deeply embittered by her disgrace, even though the War Office kept the reason for her leaving them non-public, especially since she knows her Dream of Lord Endicott was a true one. She turns to her Dreams again (and again and again) to try to catch him in his crimes, expose him as a fraud and criminal, and prove her talent is true and that she was Right. All. Along.
Sophia gathers some allies in her single-minded quest for justice and revenge: her best friend Cecy, with whom Sophia is staying in London; her cousin Lady Daphne, who has the useful talent of Bounding, instantly teleporting from place to place (as long as she’s familiar with the place she is Bounding to); and Mr. Rutledge, whose offer of employment Sophia angrily rejects when she realizes he doesn’t believe that her initial Dreams about Lord Endicott were true. Despite getting off to a bad start, she and Mr. Rutledge gradually develop a friendship tinged with romance, even though they’re both keeping secrets. But Lord Endicott has talents and some unexpected resources of his own in connection with his new criminal enterprise. Sophia discovers some entirely new aspects to the Seer Talent, but she also tips over into obsession, sliding toward ruining her health and her friendships in her efforts to bring down Endicott and have her revenge ― even if it’s the last thing she does.
Wondering Sight focuses on an entirely new set of characters than Burning Bright, though there are a few brief references to the main characters and events in that book. Wondering Sight also takes a different and unexpected path for a Regency-era fantasy, with less time spent on society events and romance, and more time exploring the way Sophia’s visionary talent work and how she is using them to try to entrap a bitter enemy. It’s more of a detective story. There’s no real mystery here ― it’s clear from the outset who the villain is and what he’s up to ― but there is suspense in the cat-and-mouse game that the two of them play, and in seeing how it all plays out.
The heroine is a rather prideful, prickly person, sometimes difficult to empathize with, as she endangers her health by Dreaming too much and repeatedly lies to her concerned friends about what she’s up to, because she knows they won’t approve. She tells herself she wants justice, but it’s clear that it’s revenge she’s really looking for. The love interest for the widowed Sophia, Mr. Rutledge, is an interesting person in his own right, but I never really felt any real spark or heat between them.
So as a romance it’s a little underbaked, but as the tale of a chase to bring down a dangerous criminal using some unusual magical powers (which, though powerful, have their limitations), and as an exploration of obsession and revenge, and examining the personal costs of following that path, Wondering Sight is an intriguing and worthwhile read. One of the more delightful characters was Sophia’s exuberant cousin Daphne, the Extraordinary Bounder, who will be the main character in the next book of this series.
I received a free copy of this ebook from the publisher, Curiosity Quills, in exchange for a review. Thank you!
In Wondering Sight (2017), the second book in Melissa McShane’s THE EXTRAORDINARIES series, we return to a fantasy-touched version of Regency-era England where some people have magical talents ― throwing and extinguishing fire, shaping one’s appearance, flying, teleporting, and more. Sophia is an Extraordinary, one of the very few people who have particularly strong magical abilities. As a Seer, she can cast herself into Dreams, which show her future events as a series of doors in her Dreams that she can open and explore, as well as Visions, where she can see past and current events by holding an object that has a significant history with a particular person.
Before this book begins, Sophia, like Elinor in the first book, Burning Bright, was working for the British military in the Caribbean, where she was instrumental in helping the British fight against pirates. But when she told the War Office that her Dreams also showed a powerful British lord embezzling from the Army, she was dismissed when the evidence didn’t support her accusation against him. Though the War Office didn’t make public the reason for her severance, everyone there believed she had a false Dream or, worse yet, was lying about having a Dream showing Lord Endicott embezzling supplies. Now Lord Endicott has followed her back to England, dividing his time between subtly harassing Sophia and engaging in a new and different criminal enterprise.
Sophia is deeply embittered by her disgrace, even though the War Office kept the reason for her leaving them non-public, especially since she knows her Dream of Lord Endicott was a true one. She turns to her Dreams again (and again and again) to try to catch him in his crimes, expose him as a fraud and criminal, and prove her talent is true and that she was Right. All. Along.
Sophia gathers some allies in her single-minded quest for justice and revenge: her best friend Cecy, with whom Sophia is staying in London; her cousin Lady Daphne, who has the useful talent of Bounding, instantly teleporting from place to place (as long as she’s familiar with the place she is Bounding to); and Mr. Rutledge, whose offer of employment Sophia angrily rejects when she realizes he doesn’t believe that her initial Dreams about Lord Endicott were true. Despite getting off to a bad start, she and Mr. Rutledge gradually develop a friendship tinged with romance, even though they’re both keeping secrets. But Lord Endicott has talents and some unexpected resources of his own in connection with his new criminal enterprise. Sophia discovers some entirely new aspects to the Seer Talent, but she also tips over into obsession, sliding toward ruining her health and her friendships in her efforts to bring down Endicott and have her revenge ― even if it’s the last thing she does.
Wondering Sight focuses on an entirely new set of characters than Burning Bright, though there are a few brief references to the main characters and events in that book. Wondering Sight also takes a different and unexpected path for a Regency-era fantasy, with less time spent on society events and romance, and more time exploring the way Sophia’s visionary talent work and how she is using them to try to entrap a bitter enemy. It’s more of a detective story. There’s no real mystery here ― it’s clear from the outset who the villain is and what he’s up to ― but there is suspense in the cat-and-mouse game that the two of them play, and in seeing how it all plays out.
The heroine is a rather prideful, prickly person, sometimes difficult to empathize with, as she endangers her health by Dreaming too much and repeatedly lies to her concerned friends about what she’s up to, because she knows they won’t approve. She tells herself she wants justice, but it’s clear that it’s revenge she’s really looking for. The love interest for the widowed Sophia, Mr. Rutledge, is an interesting person in his own right, but I never really felt any real spark or heat between them.
So as a romance it’s a little underbaked, but as the tale of a chase to bring down a dangerous criminal using some unusual magical powers (which, though powerful, have their limitations), and as an exploration of obsession and revenge, and examining the personal costs of following that path, Wondering Sight is an intriguing and worthwhile read. One of the more delightful characters was Sophia’s exuberant cousin Daphne, the Extraordinary Bounder, who will be the main character in the next book of this series.
I received a free copy of this ebook from the publisher, Curiosity Quills, in exchange for a review. Thank you!...more
I picked up this suspense thriller as a Kindle freebie a little while ago, but just got around to opening it up. Once I started reading, it was reallyI picked up this suspense thriller as a Kindle freebie a little while ago, but just got around to opening it up. Once I started reading, it was really tough to put down, so props for that! In this adventure from Moore's Omar Zagouri spy novel series, Aamira, a young woman from a prominent family of Al-Karak, Jordan who's been going to college in Britain, is in deep trouble (though she doesn't know it yet) from the very first chapter: Her father, a prideful and traditional man, has been having her watched and knows she's been sneaking out at night on dates with a man, when she's promised in marriage to her cousin. That's enough for Dad: he picks up the phone and orders an honor killing of his daughter, to take place when she returns to Al-Karak within the next ten days.
Meanwhile, Omar Zagouri is uneasy because his cousin Chad is dating Aamirah, and Omar knows that her family is involved in some high-profile art thefts that Omar's been investigating. He moves to confront Chad and Aamirah, thinking she must be aware her brother is an art thief, and ends up far more deeply involved than he ever would have guessed!
This modern timeline alternates with one from the year 1187, in the thick of the Crusades and the Europeans' battles with Saladin. This earlier timeline focuses on a young woman, Eleanor, who is the stepdaughter of Raynald of Châtillon, a French nobleman and prominent leader in the Crusades. Her mother was Stephanie of Milly, a wealthy heiress. (Raynald and Stephanie are actual historic people, although Eleanor is fictional). Eleanor is supposed to obediently become engaged to a nobleman, Azzo, but she meets a handsome Muslim warrior while she's sneaking out of the castle for a walk. Of course, there are links between Eleanor's story and the one set in modern times.
Though this is part of a series, it works fine as a stand-alone read. There were a few slower parts, and a few eyebrow-raising coincidences, and the novel didn't have quite the depth I would have liked. It's a little lightweight, PG rated. So it's a bit of a soft 4 stars for me. But overall it was a compelling story, and I learned a lot about a rather obscure historic time and place. The whole honor killing tradition is such a terrible one that still continues today. Props to Heather Moore for taking it on in this novel.
Merged review:
I picked up this suspense thriller as a Kindle freebie a little while ago, but just got around to opening it up. Once I started reading, it was really tough to put down, so props for that! In this adventure from Moore's Omar Zagouri spy novel series, Aamira, a young woman from a prominent family of Al-Karak, Jordan who's been going to college in Britain, is in deep trouble (though she doesn't know it yet) from the very first chapter: Her father, a prideful and traditional man, has been having her watched and knows she's been sneaking out at night on dates with a man, when she's promised in marriage to her cousin. That's enough for Dad: he picks up the phone and orders an honor killing of his daughter, to take place when she returns to Al-Karak within the next ten days.
Meanwhile, Omar Zagouri is uneasy because his cousin Chad is dating Aamirah, and Omar knows that her family is involved in some high-profile art thefts that Omar's been investigating. He moves to confront Chad and Aamirah, thinking she must be aware her brother is an art thief, and ends up far more deeply involved than he ever would have guessed!
This modern timeline alternates with one from the year 1187, in the thick of the Crusades and the Europeans' battles with Saladin. This earlier timeline focuses on a young woman, Eleanor, who is the stepdaughter of Raynald of Châtillon, a French nobleman and prominent leader in the Crusades. Her mother was Stephanie of Milly, a wealthy heiress. (Raynald and Stephanie are actual historic people, although Eleanor is fictional). Eleanor is supposed to obediently become engaged to a nobleman, Azzo, but she meets a handsome Muslim warrior while she's sneaking out of the castle for a walk. Of course, there are links between Eleanor's story and the one set in modern times.
Though this is part of a series, it works fine as a stand-alone read. There were a few slower parts, and a few eyebrow-raising coincidences, and the novel didn't have quite the depth I would have liked. It's a little lightweight, PG rated. So it's a bit of a soft 4 stars for me. But overall it was a compelling story, and I learned a lot about a rather obscure historic time and place. The whole honor killing tradition is such a terrible one that still continues today. Props to Heather Moore for taking it on in this novel....more
I really enjoyed Edith Pattou's first fantasy novel, East, which is an award-winning YA retelling of "East of the Sun and West of the Moon," a NorwegiI really enjoyed Edith Pattou's first fantasy novel, East, which is an award-winning YA retelling of "East of the Sun and West of the Moon," a Norwegian folk tale that kind of mirrors the Snow Queen folk tale, except with More. Trolls.
[image]
Actually, in Pattou's world trolls are attractive and look like humans, except they have hard, woody skin. Anyway, you do NOT want to mess with the Queen Troll and her magic, but at the end of East (spoiler for East)(view spoiler)[everyone thinks she's comfortably dead (hide spoiler)].
Fifteen years later, Pattou has finally followed up East with this sequel, appropriately titled West. West picks up three years after the end of East. Rose has married Charles (aka the White Bear), they have a baby boy they call Wynn, and life is pretty good ... until Charles is lost at sea in a suspiciously odd storm. Rose refuses to believe Charles is dead, even though they get a direct report from someone who says they saw him die, and hands over his wedding ring to Rose.
So Rose leaves baby Wynn with her family in Norway and takes off to try to track down her husband. Trolls ensue.
[image]
West isn't a bad story, but it's basically a theme and variation on the first book, East. Though the details are different, it tracks the same basic plot a little too closely. Add to that the rather simplistic writing, kind of on a middle grade level, and West just never really engaged me.
It was clean as a whistle, though.
Full review to come. I received a free copy of this book through the publisher and Netgalley. Thanks!
Merged review:
I really enjoyed Edith Pattou's first fantasy novel, East, which is an award-winning YA retelling of "East of the Sun and West of the Moon," a Norwegian folk tale that kind of mirrors the Snow Queen folk tale, except with More. Trolls.
[image]
Actually, in Pattou's world trolls are attractive and look like humans, except they have hard, woody skin. Anyway, you do NOT want to mess with the Queen Troll and her magic, but at the end of East (spoiler for East)(view spoiler)[everyone thinks she's comfortably dead (hide spoiler)].
Fifteen years later, Pattou has finally followed up East with this sequel, appropriately titled West. West picks up three years after the end of East. Rose has married Charles (aka the White Bear), they have a baby boy they call Wynn, and life is pretty good ... until Charles is lost at sea in a suspiciously odd storm. Rose refuses to believe Charles is dead, even though they get a direct report from someone who says they saw him die, and hands over his wedding ring to Rose.
So Rose leaves baby Wynn with her family in Norway and takes off to try to track down her husband. Trolls ensue.
[image]
West isn't a bad story, but it's basically a theme and variation on the first book, East. Though the details are different, it tracks the same basic plot a little too closely. Add to that the rather simplistic writing, kind of on a middle grade level, and West just never really engaged me.
It was clean as a whistle, though.
Full review to come. I received a free copy of this book through the publisher and Netgalley. Thanks!...more
Toby Benson was a wheelchair-bound, sixteenA touching Tor online short story, free online here at Tor.com. Review first posted on Fantasy Literature:
Toby Benson was a wheelchair-bound, sixteen-year-old African American, with a terminal condition, when he was given the chance to leave his dying body behind and become a part of the space program. Now Toby is nineteen, the bodiless intelligence operating an experimental spacecraft that is circumnavigating the moon. But he’s still human in his thoughts and emotions, and panic hits as he approaches the point where he’ll have radio silence for thirty minutes. It’s possible to abort the mission and circle back to earth, but his failure would set the program back years. Houston advises him and Toby’s mother comforts and encourages him, but he’s not sure if he has the strength to complete the mission.
“Loss of Signal” is a short and fairly straightforward story, but Toby’s internal struggle and his deep and loving relationship with his mother gives it depth. She’s a strong single mother who has always been an example of love and determination to Toby:
Heroes aren’t bothered by the cold. They don’t complain. My mother never did. She would come home at night and rub bag balm onto her hands. Chapped skin would curl away, powder white against coffee black, especially after she’d pulled a double dishwashing shift.
On one of those nights, years ago, I asked her, “Does it hurt?”
“Like the devil on Sunday, baby, but it’s only pain. Buckle down and push through. Get the job done.”
There’s more than one hero in this story. Her assurance to Toby that her love for him is unconditional, whether or not he’s able to complete the lunar mission, is part of what gives Toby strength. It’s a heartwarming tale, a tribute to bravery of different types.
Toby Benson was a wheelchair-bound, sixteen-year-old African American, with a terminal condition, when he was given the chance to leave his dying body behind and become a part of the space program. Now Toby is nineteen, the bodiless intelligence operating an experimental spacecraft that is circumnavigating the moon. But he’s still human in his thoughts and emotions, and panic hits as he approaches the point where he’ll have radio silence for thirty minutes. It’s possible to abort the mission and circle back to earth, but his failure would set the program back years. Houston advises him and Toby’s mother comforts and encourages him, but he’s not sure if he has the strength to complete the mission.
“Loss of Signal” is a short and fairly straightforward story, but Toby’s internal struggle and his deep and loving relationship with his mother gives it depth. She’s a strong single mother who has always been an example of love and determination to Toby:
Heroes aren’t bothered by the cold. They don’t complain. My mother never did. She would come home at night and rub bag balm onto her hands. Chapped skin would curl away, powder white against coffee black, especially after she’d pulled a double dishwashing shift.
On one of those nights, years ago, I asked her, “Does it hurt?”
“Like the devil on Sunday, baby, but it’s only pain. Buckle down and push through. Get the job done.”
There’s more than one hero in this story. Her assurance to Toby that her love for him is unconditional, whether or not he’s able to complete the lunar mission, is part of what gives Toby strength. It’s a heartwarming tale, a tribute to bravery of different types....more
This is a charming Tor.com short story set in the "Wild Cards" universe.* T.K. attends a privileged high school and feels like an outsider in the sociThis is a charming Tor.com short story set in the "Wild Cards" universe.* T.K. attends a privileged high school and feels like an outsider in the social scene. This shows up the most in her PE class, where a couple of mean girls deliberately target her during the weekly dodgeball games, perhaps partly because T.K. has one disabled arm.
T.K.'s frustration at being targeted leads to a sudden discovery of an interesting "ace" superpower: she can control any spherical object with her mind. (T.K. = telekinesis, hah) This new skill proves to be quite useful in getting revenge against catty girls in dodgeball games ... but should T.K. be doing more with it?
Some nice insights into high school social scenes as well as the fallout from becoming a newsworthy story and having superpowers that can be used as a weapon.
*A virus has spread worldwide, killing some, giving others useless and often grotesque mutations (jokers), disfiguring others but giving them useful superpowers. A very few lucky people get mutations that don't disfigure them at all, along with superpowers that are really useful (aces).
Merged review:
This is a charming Tor.com short story set in the "Wild Cards" universe.* T.K. attends a privileged high school and feels like an outsider in the social scene. This shows up the most in her PE class, where a couple of mean girls deliberately target her during the weekly dodgeball games, perhaps partly because T.K. has one disabled arm.
T.K.'s frustration at being targeted leads to a sudden discovery of an interesting "ace" superpower: she can control any spherical object with her mind. (T.K. = telekinesis, hah) This new skill proves to be quite useful in getting revenge against catty girls in dodgeball games ... but should T.K. be doing more with it?
Some nice insights into high school social scenes as well as the fallout from becoming a newsworthy story and having superpowers that can be used as a weapon.
*A virus has spread worldwide, killing some, giving others useless and often grotesque mutations (jokers), disfiguring others but giving them useful superpowers. A very few lucky people get mutations that don't disfigure them at all, along with superpowers that are really useful (aces)....more
Jay Kristoff’s latest novel TRUEL1F3 wraps up his YA dystopian LIFELIKE trilogy with a lo3.25 stars. Final review, first posted on Fantasy Literature:
Jay Kristoff’s latest novel TRUEL1F3 wraps up his YA dystopian LIFELIKE trilogy with a long buildup to an epic battle, set in a nuclear-blasted future version of the “Yousay.” Some humans have (presumably due to radiation-induced mutations) developed superpowers and are often treated as deviants by normal humans; most of our main characters, like Lemon Fresh (named after the detergent box she was found abandoned in as a baby) are in this group. Intelligent robots are everywhere and are bound by Asimov’s Three Laws of Robotics … other than a rebel group of advanced “Lifelike” robots, who were treated years ago with a Libertas virus that reprograms them without the Three Laws.
Several of the Lifelikes have been destroyed over the course of the series, but the remaining ones, led by the mentally unstable Gabriel, are determined to set all robots free and, by the way, use that new freedom to annihilate humanity. One of the Lifelikes, Ezekiel, is determined to thwart their plan to wipe out humans, and is doing his best to convince some of the other Lifelikes, particularly his one-time love interest Eve, to switch sides. Meanwhile two mega-corporations — Daedelus, based on cybernetics and high technology, and BioMaas, based on biotech, genetic modification and cloning, but both equally oppressive — are gearing up for a battle to overthrow the other and take control over the entire country.
TRUEL1F3 begins immediately after the end of the second book, DEV1AT3. Lemon Fresh has been taken captive by BioMaas, which wants to use her superpower to destroy the technology of Daedelus. For its part, Daedelus has taken Eve and Gabriel prisoner, and is experimenting with Eve in an effort to unlock the multi-layered security vault that hides the Veritas virus and other trade secret technology. After narrowly averting a nuclear missile attack, the remaining main characters — Ezekiel, the loyal robot Cricket, the Lifelike robot Faith who’s nursing an unrequited love for Gabriel, and several “deviates” that Lemon had befriended — regroup at their not-so-hidden hiding place, a former missile silo, and determine to rescue their friends from Daedalus and BioMaas.
The LIFELIKE trilogy is an action-packed, hard-hitting SF series aimed at older teens and young adults. There are some painful deaths and a good deal of blood and gore along the way, but in standard YA novel style, hope and love prevail in the end. Lemon Fresh has grown from Eve’s sidekick to a strong character in her own right, a damsel who’s determined to rescue herself and burn down the tower, rather than wait for the handsome prince to liberate her. Eve, on the other hand, remains to all appearances firmly on the side of Gabriel and the robots, committed to wiping out all of humanity, and she has the body-count to back it up. It’s difficult to sympathize with her at this point.
The endless made-up slang and jargon can get tiresome, and I think the whole series dragged on for a little too long. Though I was engaged with the characters for most of the series and determined to see how it would all wind up, by the time of the great climactic battle at the end of TRUEL1F3 I was starting to skim.
Overall, though, Kristoff has created a pleasingly complex dystopian world with engaging characters and some intriguing philosophical questions about the nature of humanity and the importance of choices. TRUEL1F3 is a fitting end to the series. I’d recommend it to younger (but not too young, or squeamish) readers who enjoy post-apocalyptic science fiction.
I received a free review copy of this ebook from the publisher through NetGalley. Thanks!
Jay Kristoff’s latest novel TRUEL1F3 wraps up his YA dystopian LIFELIKE trilogy with a long buildup to an epic battle, set in a nuclear-blasted future version of the “Yousay.” Some humans have (presumably due to radiation-induced mutations) developed superpowers and are often treated as deviants by normal humans; most of our main characters, like Lemon Fresh (named after the detergent box she was found abandoned in as a baby) are in this group. Intelligent robots are everywhere and are bound by Asimov’s Three Laws of Robotics … other than a rebel group of advanced “Lifelike” robots, who were treated years ago with a Libertas virus that reprograms them without the Three Laws.
Several of the Lifelikes have been destroyed over the course of the series, but the remaining ones, led by the mentally unstable Gabriel, are determined to set all robots free and, by the way, use that new freedom to annihilate humanity. One of the Lifelikes, Ezekiel, is determined to thwart their plan to wipe out humans, and is doing his best to convince some of the other Lifelikes, particularly his one-time love interest Eve, to switch sides. Meanwhile two mega-corporations — Daedelus, based on cybernetics and high technology, and BioMaas, based on biotech, genetic modification and cloning, but both equally oppressive — are gearing up for a battle to overthrow the other and take control over the entire country.
TRUEL1F3 begins immediately after the end of the second book, DEV1AT3. Lemon Fresh has been taken captive by BioMaas, which wants to use her superpower to destroy the technology of Daedelus. For its part, Daedelus has taken Eve and Gabriel prisoner, and is experimenting with Eve in an effort to unlock the multi-layered security vault that hides the Veritas virus and other trade secret technology. After narrowly averting a nuclear missile attack, the remaining main characters — Ezekiel, the loyal robot Cricket, the Lifelike robot Faith who’s nursing an unrequited love for Gabriel, and several “deviates” that Lemon had befriended — regroup at their not-so-hidden hiding place, a former missile silo, and determine to rescue their friends from Daedalus and BioMaas.
The LIFELIKE trilogy is an action-packed, hard-hitting SF series aimed at older teens and young adults. There are some painful deaths and a good deal of blood and gore along the way, but in standard YA novel style, hope and love prevail in the end. Lemon Fresh has grown from Eve’s sidekick to a strong character in her own right, a damsel who’s determined to rescue herself and burn down the tower, rather than wait for the handsome prince to liberate her. Eve, on the other hand, remains to all appearances firmly on the side of Gabriel and the robots, committed to wiping out all of humanity, and she has the body-count to back it up. It’s difficult to sympathize with her at this point.
The endless made-up slang and jargon can get tiresome, and I think the whole series dragged on for a little too long. Though I was engaged with the characters for most of the series and determined to see how it would all wind up, by the time of the great climactic battle at the end of TRUEL1F3 I was starting to skim.
Overall, though, Kristoff has created a pleasingly complex dystopian world with engaging characters and some intriguing philosophical questions about the nature of humanity and the importance of choices. TRUEL1F3 is a fitting end to the series. I’d recommend it to younger (but not too young, or squeamish) readers who enjoy post-apocalyptic science fiction.
I received a free review copy of this ebook from the publisher through NetGalley. Thanks!...more
Tor fantasy short story, free to read online at Tor.com. Review first posted on Fantasy Literature (click on the link for several more online short fiTor fantasy short story, free to read online at Tor.com. Review first posted on Fantasy Literature (click on the link for several more online short fiction reviews):
Ansel, age 17, is playing a homemade board game with his parents. It’s a type of detective game, a little like Clue, and it once was a favorite game of Ansel and his younger sister Louise. Louise has been missing for some time, and Ansel, who was the last person to see her, has been racking his brain, trying to figure out a way to find her. In his desperate grief, he finds himself inside of the game, playing the part of a detective, seeking clues to Louise’s whereabouts from the characters in the game.
“Red” is a fascinating story: The gradual disclosure of the story of Louise’s disappearance in the real life scenes, and its effect on Ansel’s family, interweaves so well with Ansel’s investigation inside of the game. It’s never clear whether he is actually magically inside the game, having found a portal into another world, or whether it’s in his imagination, or is a psychotic effect of his guilt and sorrow. The characters he meets inside the game have many of the same limitations that they do in the actual board game, but there’s some flexibility there, as with the LIBRARIAN:
They’d drawn her as a kind of caricature. She had a large undifferentiated shelf of breasts, bee-stung lips, absurdly high heels. But she was philosophical about it. They just made me, she always said. I am me.
I loved everything about this story … except the ending. It’s abrupt and annoyingly ambiguous, though perhaps I’m simply not perceptive enough to get the author’s subtle clues. Confusingly, there are both positive and negative images and hints, both light and dark. Despite multiple rereadings of the ending, it’s simply not clear to me whether Ansel’s direction at the end is a positive step for him or a nihilistic one. Ansel says, in the end, “Ok, I get it” … but I don’t. (view spoiler)[I'm leaning toward the nihilism theory, because the ending feels downbeat, but I'd love to be shown that I'm wrong. (hide spoiler)]
But this very bittersweet story is still really appealing to me.
Merged review:
Tor fantasy short story, free to read online at Tor.com. Review first posted on Fantasy Literature (click on the link for several more online short fiction reviews):
Ansel, age 17, is playing a homemade board game with his parents. It’s a type of detective game, a little like Clue, and it once was a favorite game of Ansel and his younger sister Louise. Louise has been missing for some time, and Ansel, who was the last person to see her, has been racking his brain, trying to figure out a way to find her. In his desperate grief, he finds himself inside of the game, playing the part of a detective, seeking clues to Louise’s whereabouts from the characters in the game.
“Red” is a fascinating story: The gradual disclosure of the story of Louise’s disappearance in the real life scenes, and its effect on Ansel’s family, interweaves so well with Ansel’s investigation inside of the game. It’s never clear whether he is actually magically inside the game, having found a portal into another world, or whether it’s in his imagination, or is a psychotic effect of his guilt and sorrow. The characters he meets inside the game have many of the same limitations that they do in the actual board game, but there’s some flexibility there, as with the LIBRARIAN:
They’d drawn her as a kind of caricature. She had a large undifferentiated shelf of breasts, bee-stung lips, absurdly high heels. But she was philosophical about it. They just made me, she always said. I am me.
I loved everything about this story … except the ending. It’s abrupt and annoyingly ambiguous, though perhaps I’m simply not perceptive enough to get the author’s subtle clues. Confusingly, there are both positive and negative images and hints, both light and dark. Despite multiple rereadings of the ending, it’s simply not clear to me whether Ansel’s direction at the end is a positive step for him or a nihilistic one. Ansel says, in the end, “Ok, I get it” … but I don’t. (view spoiler)[I'm leaning toward the nihilism theory, because the ending feels downbeat, but I'd love to be shown that I'm wrong. (hide spoiler)]
But this very bittersweet story is still really appealing to me....more
$2.99 Kindle sale, July 16, 2016, for this collection for four British comedy of manners novels from mid-20th century author Margery Sharp. Sharp has $2.99 Kindle sale, July 16, 2016, for this collection for four British comedy of manners novels from mid-20th century author Margery Sharp. Sharp has some distinct feminist sensibilities so, though there are at least some HEAs here, it's not all sweetness and fluff.
Merged review:
$2.99 Kindle sale, July 16, 2016, for this collection for four British comedy of manners novels from mid-20th century author Margery Sharp. Sharp has some distinct feminist sensibilities so, though there are at least some HEAs here, it's not all sweetness and fluff....more
This is a fun, clean, light contemporary romance that mixes both humor and some meaningful ideas about family in with the romantic feelz. Also:[image]
This is a fun, clean, light contemporary romance that mixes both humor and some meaningful ideas about family in with the romantic feelz. Also: Cancun setting! [image] ... and a really hot guy who's trying to keep our heroine away from his equally hot twin brother. If you're in the mood for a romantic escape, what's not to like?
Isabelle Lind had one of those crushes on her old college friend Marco Dawson ― the kind that lasts for years. The kind where the guy never sees you as more than a friend, because you're too shy and understated. And, most painfully, the kind where the guy dates and marries your roommate and best friend, Daisy.
It's about seven years later now. Belle has gained in confidence and style, and now has a successful career as a fashion designer, but she's never forgotten Marco. When a mysterious and helpful matchmaker (Pearl) happens to mention Marco is now divorced and will be at a week-long family reunion at a Cancun resort the next week, Belle decides it's time to take matters into her own hands and take a vacation (she needs one anyway, right?) and accidentally-on-purpose run into Marco.
It works like a charm, apparently, except the one she runs into first is Flynn, Marco's charming twin brother ... who Daisy has recently contacted, begging him to help her to get the chance to patch things up with Marco. What's a loyal brother to do? Especially when there's a sexy blond girl making eyes at him. Even if she thinks he's his brother. Duh: pretend to be your twin brother and keep her away from him! Of course!!
Flynn's impersonation scheme gets exploded a lot sooner than I expected, which actually made this book a lot of fun. He and Belle continue to maneuver, each trying to put their plans into play and block the other's, while fighting the attraction they have for each other. Flynn's surrounded by the rest of his family ― parents, sisters, nieces and nephews, and more, not to mention Marco ― and they're adorable. Meanwhile, Daisy is staring daggers at Belle.
A few things happened toward the end a lot more quickly than I thought made sense(view spoiler)[, especially when Belle suddenly realizes that Marco isn't as perfect as she remembered and then, in very quick succession, that Flynn is the one she really wants anyway (hide spoiler)]. I also could have lived without the Big Misunderstanding trope coming into play, but its role is very short-lived so I could deal. Generally, though, this is a great escape, with some satisfyingly hot kisses.
Now I need to go to Cancun, or Cabo, or somewhere ...
I received a free copy of this book from the author in exchange for ... not a review, actually, but some copyediting. But she gets the review too. :)
Merged review:
[image]
This is a fun, clean, light contemporary romance that mixes both humor and some meaningful ideas about family in with the romantic feelz. Also: Cancun setting! [image] ... and a really hot guy who's trying to keep our heroine away from his equally hot twin brother. If you're in the mood for a romantic escape, what's not to like?
Isabelle Lind had one of those crushes on her old college friend Marco Dawson ― the kind that lasts for years. The kind where the guy never sees you as more than a friend, because you're too shy and understated. And, most painfully, the kind where the guy dates and marries your roommate and best friend, Daisy.
It's about seven years later now. Belle has gained in confidence and style, and now has a successful career as a fashion designer, but she's never forgotten Marco. When a mysterious and helpful matchmaker (Pearl) happens to mention Marco is now divorced and will be at a week-long family reunion at a Cancun resort the next week, Belle decides it's time to take matters into her own hands and take a vacation (she needs one anyway, right?) and accidentally-on-purpose run into Marco.
It works like a charm, apparently, except the one she runs into first is Flynn, Marco's charming twin brother ... who Daisy has recently contacted, begging him to help her to get the chance to patch things up with Marco. What's a loyal brother to do? Especially when there's a sexy blond girl making eyes at him. Even if she thinks he's his brother. Duh: pretend to be your twin brother and keep her away from him! Of course!!
Flynn's impersonation scheme gets exploded a lot sooner than I expected, which actually made this book a lot of fun. He and Belle continue to maneuver, each trying to put their plans into play and block the other's, while fighting the attraction they have for each other. Flynn's surrounded by the rest of his family ― parents, sisters, nieces and nephews, and more, not to mention Marco ― and they're adorable. Meanwhile, Daisy is staring daggers at Belle.
A few things happened toward the end a lot more quickly than I thought made sense(view spoiler)[, especially when Belle suddenly realizes that Marco isn't as perfect as she remembered and then, in very quick succession, that Flynn is the one she really wants anyway (hide spoiler)]. I also could have lived without the Big Misunderstanding trope coming into play, but its role is very short-lived so I could deal. Generally, though, this is a great escape, with some satisfyingly hot kisses.
Now I need to go to Cancun, or Cabo, or somewhere ...
I received a free copy of this book from the author in exchange for ... not a review, actually, but some copyediting. But she gets the review too. :)...more
3.5 stars. I recently reread the first two books in this fun self-published series, a mix of crime heist and conspiracies with a little SF and fantasy3.5 stars. I recently reread the first two books in this fun self-published series, a mix of crime heist and conspiracies with a little SF and fantasy thrown into the mix, and found myself interested enough to buy this third book ... and hoping that we'd get some resolution on the cliffhangers at the end of the second book. That last hope wasn't satisfied - this book kind of goes off on a side trail and focuses on a separate story that's very tangential to the main plot arc. But it was an interesting romantic suspense novel that kept me engaged until the end. Theme- and style-wise it's kind of in a middle ground between the first book, Pimpernel, which I really liked, and the second book, Royal Ball, which was somewhat less appealing to me.
Jack, the Pimpernel of the series, is asked by Margot, a "Cupid" in their hidden society (which is a Venus-type of semi-magical character) to help two "soulmates" come together, Sebastian (Seba), a rich forger/semi-conman, and Victoria (Vic), a high fashion model with dreams of being something more, but who's been boxed in by her mega-wealthy and harsh adoptive father. The biggest problem is that an international assassin, the Starbreaker of the title, has been hired to kill Vic within the week.
Jack, with the help of the shady fighter Kali, takes on the task of saving Vic. Their plan: get Seba involved to take the lead on saving Vic from whoever is threatening her, with their secret assistance in the background. Bringing down a Starbreaker in the process is the icing on the cake.
When Seba gets an anonymous letter (from Jack & Co.) asking him to save Vic, who he shared a memorable kiss with a few years ago and then never saw again, it's an irresistable lure.
Fun times, though the ending was a bit anti-climactic; I think it needed another scene or two with the main characters. And, as I said, I was a bit disappointed that there was no progression here on the overall story arc with Jack and Claire. But this is still a fun read for those invested in the series. Don't start here; though; start with Pimpernel, which really is a roller-coaster of a ride.
Merged review:
3.5 stars. I recently reread the first two books in this fun self-published series, a mix of crime heist and conspiracies with a little SF and fantasy thrown into the mix, and found myself interested enough to buy this third book ... and hoping that we'd get some resolution on the cliffhangers at the end of the second book. That last hope wasn't satisfied - this book kind of goes off on a side trail and focuses on a separate story that's very tangential to the main plot arc. But it was an interesting romantic suspense novel that kept me engaged until the end. Theme- and style-wise it's kind of in a middle ground between the first book, Pimpernel, which I really liked, and the second book, Royal Ball, which was somewhat less appealing to me.
Jack, the Pimpernel of the series, is asked by Margot, a "Cupid" in their hidden society (which is a Venus-type of semi-magical character) to help two "soulmates" come together, Sebastian (Seba), a rich forger/semi-conman, and Victoria (Vic), a high fashion model with dreams of being something more, but who's been boxed in by her mega-wealthy and harsh adoptive father. The biggest problem is that an international assassin, the Starbreaker of the title, has been hired to kill Vic within the week.
Jack, with the help of the shady fighter Kali, takes on the task of saving Vic. Their plan: get Seba involved to take the lead on saving Vic from whoever is threatening her, with their secret assistance in the background. Bringing down a Starbreaker in the process is the icing on the cake.
When Seba gets an anonymous letter (from Jack & Co.) asking him to save Vic, who he shared a memorable kiss with a few years ago and then never saw again, it's an irresistable lure.
Fun times, though the ending was a bit anti-climactic; I think it needed another scene or two with the main characters. And, as I said, I was a bit disappointed that there was no progression here on the overall story arc with Jack and Claire. But this is still a fun read for those invested in the series. Don't start here; though; start with Pimpernel, which really is a roller-coaster of a ride....more
Wow. This started off reading like a fairly straightforward novelization of The Fall of the House of Usher and then veered off in a direction I TOTALLWow. This started off reading like a fairly straightforward novelization of The Fall of the House of Usher and then veered off in a direction I TOTALLY was not expecting. It's certainly more of an explanation than Poe gave in his original story, hah.
There are some other interesting differences here: more characters, including a non-binary narrator with an intriguing background and unusual personal pronouns (which pronouns actually comes into play in a surprising way much later in the story), a mushroom scholar and artist who appears to be Beatrix Potter's maiden aunt, and the narrator's horse who has personality to spare. Madeleine Usher is a more fully developed character, which is all to the good. And there's a tarn around the Usher mansion with odd lights in the water ...
Excellently creepy.
Full RTC! Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.
Merged review:
Wow. This started off reading like a fairly straightforward novelization of The Fall of the House of Usher and then veered off in a direction I TOTALLY was not expecting. It's certainly more of an explanation than Poe gave in his original story, hah.
There are some other interesting differences here: more characters, including a non-binary narrator with an intriguing background and unusual personal pronouns (which pronouns actually comes into play in a surprising way much later in the story), a mushroom scholar and artist who appears to be Beatrix Potter's maiden aunt, and the narrator's horse who has personality to spare. Madeleine Usher is a more fully developed character, which is all to the good. And there's a tarn around the Usher mansion with odd lights in the water ...
Excellently creepy.
Full RTC! Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC....more
This Greek mythology-inspired novelette alternates between the voices of two nameless narrators. The first, the guardian of the Orangery, lives a solitary life, caring for and protecting the trees that are in her keeping, who were once human women. The trees’ startled shrieking one day warns her of an intruder: Apollo has come, searching for Daphne, whom he still longs for, though he’s more than willing to have sex with the guardian (or any other woman). The second narrator is the guide, who shows visitors through the Orangery and tells the stories of the women who now live there as trees, and their fraught dealings with the men who wanted them, but too often were abusive in the process. Not coincidentally, Apollo plays a role in all of these tales she tells to the visitors.
Bonnie Jo Stufflebeam’s story focuses on the relationships and issues between men and women, with a strong feminist message, woven together with the guide’s stories, which are variations on ancient Greek myths. It’s a disturbing story, with the ruthless Apollo symbolizing the men who are unwilling to take no for an answer. On the other hand, one of the stories features Dryope, a married woman who engages in an affair with Apollo to her ultimate sorrow, giving the story an interesting element of complexity.
The guardian makes some questionable choices: instead of leading Apollo to Daphne, she sacrifices another nameless woman, telling him this woman’s tree is Daphne, to try to protect the real Daphne. And she ultimately breaks away from the isolated Orangery to explore the world and herself:
Time had not been as kind to me, for I’d lived the kind of life some would be ashamed of. I’d known a hundred men, women too. I’d embraced Dionysus and explored other states of reality. I’d exhausted many of the world’s possibilities. I wasn’t ashamed.
Yay? For me that message doesn’t resonate, but others may find it, and this story, more appealing.
This Greek mythology-inspired novelette alternates between the voices of two nameless narrators. The first, the guardian of the Orangery, lives a solitary life, caring for and protecting the trees that are in her keeping, who were once human women. The trees’ startled shrieking one day warns her of an intruder: Apollo has come, searching for Daphne, whom he still longs for, though he’s more than willing to have sex with the guardian (or any other woman). The second narrator is the guide, who shows visitors through the Orangery and tells the stories of the women who now live there as trees, and their fraught dealings with the men who wanted them, but too often were abusive in the process. Not coincidentally, Apollo plays a role in all of these tales she tells to the visitors.
Bonnie Jo Stufflebeam’s story focuses on the relationships and issues between men and women, with a strong feminist message, woven together with the guide’s stories, which are variations on ancient Greek myths. It’s a disturbing story, with the ruthless Apollo symbolizing the men who are unwilling to take no for an answer. On the other hand, one of the stories features Dryope, a married woman who engages in an affair with Apollo to her ultimate sorrow, giving the story an interesting element of complexity.
The guardian makes some questionable choices: instead of leading Apollo to Daphne, she sacrifices another nameless woman, telling him this woman’s tree is Daphne, to try to protect the real Daphne. And she ultimately breaks away from the isolated Orangery to explore the world and herself:
Time had not been as kind to me, for I’d lived the kind of life some would be ashamed of. I’d known a hundred men, women too. I’d embraced Dionysus and explored other states of reality. I’d exhausted many of the world’s possibilities. I wasn’t ashamed.
Yay? For me that message doesn’t resonate, but others may find it, and this story, more appealing....more
3.5 star average for the two stories I've read in this issue so far, which are both free online here at Clarkesworld magazine. Reviews first posted on3.5 star average for the two stories I've read in this issue so far, which are both free online here at Clarkesworld magazine. Reviews first posted on Fantasy Literature:
3 stars for "Fire in the Bone" by Ray Nayler, a humans-vs.-robots tale: While robots work in the field harvesting pakata for the great harvest ship that looms overhead, the unnamed narrator watches them. He somewhat impatiently listens to the philosophical musings of an acquaintance, Albert, who obliquely warns him of youthful desires that should be put away. But the narrator isn’t listening; he’s much more interested in his upcoming clandestine meeting with his forbidden lover … a robot. She meets him in the hallway, and they make arrangements to meet after the upcoming “ritual meal.”
The little church where they meet has stained glass windows that tell a story of his ancestors’ landing on this planet and their dealing with an uprising of the robots. (Some strange Christian symbolism here, BTW.) Despite his love for the robot, the narrator is uneasy about the future. But there are more reasons to be uneasy than he realizes.
It’s an interesting story, but relies too heavily on the surprise factor of an event toward the end, building up to that climactic point. It wasn’t a particularly successful build-up for me, because several events in the story seemed either highly improbable in light of the final reveal (view spoiler)[why would robots need a giant harvest ship? (hide spoiler)]or simply innately unlikely.
4 stars for "They Have All One Breath" by Karl Bunker. It's a reprint from the Dec. 2016 issue of Asimov's Science Fiction and I've posted my review there, but I'll copy it here for convenience:
James is walking down the street late one night when he meets an old friend, Ivan. They walk together toward their apartment building, talking about the huge changes that have occurred ever since the AIs started taking over. It began with weapons falling apart in soldiers’ hands and missiles and tanks fizzling out and dying, averting a war in the Middle East. At the same time, flying bots were dropping tons of food and other necessities on refugee camps to alleviate the suffering.
No one claimed ownership of these Good Samaritan cargo-bots, nor of the gremlinesque nanoes that were screwing up the mechanisms of war. It soon became known that these were machines built and run by other machines. It was becoming undeniably evident that something new was moving upon the face of the land. Indeed, that the world was being rebuilt around us, disassembled and reassembled under our feet. The AIs were taking over, and they were changing the rules.
Over the next months and years the AIs continue changing our world in ways that seem clearly benevolent, or at least intended to improve society. They create nano-bots that cure disease, they solve worldwide problems of hunger and needs, and resolve other problems … often in surprising ways. But not everyone is fully on board with the actions of “the Machine.”
“They Have All One Breath” is strongly reminiscent of Jack Williamson’s well-known classic 1947 novelette With Folded Hands..., but takes a somewhat more ambivalent, nuanced approach to the takeover of society by robots. Karl Bunker effectively uses flashbacks to relate the details of the takeover by the AIs, with the division of opinion about the benefits of the takeover being represented by James and his former partner Lisa. Though Bunker owes a major conceptual debt to Williamson, his story is a thought-provoking and well-written one that’s worth reading.
3 stars for "Fire in the Bone" by Ray Nayler, a humans-vs.-robots tale: While robots work in the field harvesting pakata for the great harvest ship that looms overhead, the unnamed narrator watches them. He somewhat impatiently listens to the philosophical musings of an acquaintance, Albert, who obliquely warns him of youthful desires that should be put away. But the narrator isn’t listening; he’s much more interested in his upcoming clandestine meeting with his forbidden lover … a robot. She meets him in the hallway, and they make arrangements to meet after the upcoming “ritual meal.”
The little church where they meet has stained glass windows that tell a story of his ancestors’ landing on this planet and their dealing with an uprising of the robots. (Some strange Christian symbolism here, BTW.) Despite his love for the robot, the narrator is uneasy about the future. But there are more reasons to be uneasy than he realizes.
It’s an interesting story, but relies too heavily on the surprise factor of an event toward the end, building up to that climactic point. It wasn’t a particularly successful build-up for me, because several events in the story seemed either highly improbable in light of the final reveal (view spoiler)[why would robots need a giant harvest ship? (hide spoiler)]or simply innately unlikely.
4 stars for "They Have All One Breath" by Karl Bunker. It's a reprint from the Dec. 2016 issue of Asimov's Science Fiction and I've posted my review there, but I'll copy it here for convenience:
James is walking down the street late one night when he meets an old friend, Ivan. They walk together toward their apartment building, talking about the huge changes that have occurred ever since the AIs started taking over. It began with weapons falling apart in soldiers’ hands and missiles and tanks fizzling out and dying, averting a war in the Middle East. At the same time, flying bots were dropping tons of food and other necessities on refugee camps to alleviate the suffering.
No one claimed ownership of these Good Samaritan cargo-bots, nor of the gremlinesque nanoes that were screwing up the mechanisms of war. It soon became known that these were machines built and run by other machines. It was becoming undeniably evident that something new was moving upon the face of the land. Indeed, that the world was being rebuilt around us, disassembled and reassembled under our feet. The AIs were taking over, and they were changing the rules.
Over the next months and years the AIs continue changing our world in ways that seem clearly benevolent, or at least intended to improve society. They create nano-bots that cure disease, they solve worldwide problems of hunger and needs, and resolve other problems … often in surprising ways. But not everyone is fully on board with the actions of “the Machine.”
“They Have All One Breath” is strongly reminiscent of Jack Williamson’s well-known classic 1947 novelette With Folded Hands..., but takes a somewhat more ambivalent, nuanced approach to the takeover of society by robots. Karl Bunker effectively uses flashbacks to relate the details of the takeover by the AIs, with the division of opinion about the benefits of the takeover being represented by James and his former partner Lisa. Though Bunker owes a major conceptual debt to Williamson, his story is a thought-provoking and well-written one that’s worth reading.
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