Tag Archives: Fantasy Review

Review: Touch of Frost by Jennifer Estep

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Touch of Frost
by Jennifer Estep
Kensington Teen
YA – Fantasy

 

Wow–I’ve read every book Jennifer Estep has ever published. Well, I’m a little behind on the Elemental Assassin series, but I’m still reading them–I tend not to read books in series back t0 back. I admire how prolific she is. Things can only get better as her career progresses.

As evidenced by Touch of Frost. This is my favorite novel by her. Gone is the campiness from the Bigtime books. Gone is the grittiness from the Elemental Assassin. (Well, mostly). What isn’t gone is the voice, which has remained distinctive throughout all her novels.

Touch of Frost is about Gwen Frost, a girl of Gypsy lineage who is a new student at the Mythos Academy, a school for descendents of ancient world heroes like Vikings, Spartans, Sumerians, Samuari, Amazons–you name it. As a Gypsy, she doesn’t really fit in, or at least she doesn’t think she does.

It opens with this scene where we get to learn just what Gwen’s special gift is. She uses her gift in a novel way, charging rather steep fees to locate lost things. It leads her to popular mean girl Daphne Cruz, an unexpected friendship, and a supernatural murder mystery.

I’m a sucker for boarding school novels. Always have been. However, it does always seems rather heartless of the parents to shlep their kids off to boarding school, and you can’t imagine that they have good relationships with their parents. (Remember in The Sound of Music when the Baroness said, “Darling, haven’t you ever heard of a delightful little thing called boarding school?” Deliciously evil!) The cool thing about this novel is the school just happens to be located in Gwen’s home town. So, most afternoons, she sneaks off campus to visit her grandmother, her only living relative. What a great way to get around the limitations of the boarding school trope!

If I had encountered this novel when I was a teenager, I would have fallen in love with it. As an adult, I was enthralled enough to read this rather thick novel in a matter of days. The worldbuilding is fantastic. The character building is superb. Daphne, for instance, turns out to have a hidden vice–she is a closet computer geek. The leading guy–a Spartan bad boy named Logan Quinn–is rumored to sign the mattress of every girl he sleeps with. However, by the end of the book, we still aren’t sure if that rumor is true. I’m guessing (and hoping!) not.

As you might have guessed, this is a novel for older teens. The age range of the school is from sixteen to twenty-one, and it seems more like a college campus than a high school–with minimal supervision and lots of hanky-panky going on, strictly off the page. However, for the purposes of the story, the older students are hardly visible.

And as usual, Ms. Estep includes Easter Eggs of her earlier stories–both Bigtime and Elemental Assassin. Keep a lookout for them!

Obviously, I enjoyed this novel a great deal. I look forward to seeing where Ms. Estep takes this story in the next book in the series, Kiss of Frost.

Series Review – Brandon Sanderson’s Mistborn Trilogy

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I went to the bookstore a few months ago looking for someone I had not read yet. My eye settled on Brandon Sanderson, the hot young author who is finishing Robert Jordon’s The Wheel of Time. His first book, Elantris, looked good but I decided on the second book because it was the start of a series that actually only had three books. And because it looked good.

Mistborn

Billed as a heist story in a world in which the dark lord killed the hero centuries ago, Mistborn is full of the unexpected. Vin is a street thief raised by her brother, who taught her never to trust anyone. Vin is hard to like at first, but she is compelling. It’s also a story about Kelsier, who is the mastermind behind the heist. Kelsier–otherwise known as The Survivor–is the only one who has been sent to the atium mines and returned to tell the tale. Kelsier is a Mistborn, which is one who can work magic by burning metals within them. He learns about Vin, and he recruits her to join his gang. Vin, of course, is a Mistborn as well.

The magic system is magic. Because it involves burning metals, it doesn’t really seem like magic at all. It’s very scientific and predictable, based on a Push or a Pull, which is the very definition of a force. There are two types of metal burners–Mistborn, who can burn all the metals or Mistings, who can burn only one. They become specialists with names such as Coinshots and Thugs. Collectively, they are call Allomancers. The only problem I had with this magic system is that coins became the weapon of choice for those who can push metal. Why throw coins instead of edged weapons of some sort? Nails, for example, would be much deadlier than a flung coin.

Feruchemy is a parallel magic system where the magic user wears metal and uses it to store various attributes, such as health, weight and memory. The storage of memory is an important method of passing along lore, but it has unexpected traps.

In this world, Kelsier’s gang of gentleman thieves decide to take on the Lord Ruler, who has been ruling the world with an iron fist for a thousand years. Part of the heist involves injecting Vin into the world of the nobility, where she meets and falls in love with an idealistic young Elend Venture. Mr. Sanderson blends detailed worldbuilding, a compelling plot and likable characters into a great story. It’s full of the unexpected, with major characters that I have not even mentioned. It is well worth reading.

The Well of Ascension

Gosh, it’s hard to write a review of this that isn’t spoiler-y, but I’ll do my best. The Lord Ruler is dead (sorry, I couldn’t avoid that one), and now the gang of gentlemen thieves are in charge. Elend becomes King, and boy is he ever unprepared for such a role. In the aftermath of the death of the Lord Ruler, several other kings have popped up, including Elend’s father, who is just awful. You learn about a third–and very macabre–magic system called hemalurgy, which explains some of the more chilling creatures from book one, the Iron Inquisitors, who have spikes where their eyes should be.

This book was frustrating in many ways, but overall was still pretty good. I just had the sense through most of it that the author was just passing time. There are all sorts of conflicts that just don’t matter in the end. Clues are dribbled out to the reader, but most of them turn out to be untrue. Most of the time, the characters seem directionless.


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But we get to know Sazed, one of the  gentlemen thieves from book one, quite well. Sazed is a eunuch, which is certainly an unusual state of being for a fantasy hero. He is a Keeper, a feruchemist who by joining Kelsier’s gang has broken the laws of his people. He falls in love. And he tries desperately to learn what they need to know to defeat the Deepness, which turns out to be the thing that the Lord Ruler was keeping at bay.

As usual with second books, it ends on a downturn. Lies are revealed, characters die, a horrible mistake is made, and the end of the world is hastened. Of course at that point, I had to read book 3!

The Hero of Ages

At this point, Eland has finally become an effective king. Or rather, an emperor. The author also had the good sense to make him a Mistborn at the end of book 2. He needed this. He is now an effective and inspiring leader. And he needs to be, because the world is literally falling apart. His mantra is now survival.

Vin, too, has changed. Since she did what she did at the end of book 2, she’s rather obsessed with fixing things.

A gap of time has occurred between book 2 and book 3, and by the time we catch up with the characters, they have a firm mission in mind. The Lord Ruler–who is now viewed as an almost benevolent ruler who was only doing his best to keep the end of the world at bay–left iron plates inscribed with certain instructions in various place. Why iron? Because only something inscribed in metal can be trusted. Why is that? Well, that’s the whole focus behind this third book. We finally learn what the Deepness is, what the Lord Ruler was trying to do, and a whole host of other things.

In fact, it was so complicated that I started to get some suspension of disbelief issues. It was rather too much detail, and I just wanted to get to the story, already. The author does a VERY good job tying up loose ends–but almost to a fault. Almost.

Another previously minor character gets to shine here–his name is Spook, and he was a character all the way from book 1, but he sort of comes to the forefront here. He figures out hemalurgy, and sends a clue to Vin, who desperately needs it. Alas, it is intercepted, but unexpectedly, it finds its way to her anyway. By then, I was quite impatient for Vin to get the clue. We also get to learn why a certain character from book 2 behaved the way he did.

I’ll have to warn you–the ending is a downer. Satisfying, but sad.

I really enjoyed this series, and I’ll be keeping these books because I want to reread it one day. This is the type of story that, I think, will reveal additional nuances upon a rereading. If you have not read it yet, by all means, do so! I thought it was great. The author has a new book coming out, The Alloy of Law, that looks very intriguing because it brings the world into the era of steampunk! Sounds like a must-read to me.

Debut Review: Prospero Lost

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Prospero-Lost
Prospero Lost

by L. Jagi Lamplighter
Tor Books

Available in hardcover, MM Paperback and ebook form

A while back, I mentioned that I was hungry for a meaty epic fantasy. I got what I asked for in a novel with an usual premise: it is set in a modern-day earth based on the writings of Dante, Shakespeare’s play, The Tempest, Dante’s Inferno, Gnostic writings, various legends and fairy tales–and even children’s stories. I received this book in August, courtesy of Tor. They actually sent me the second book in the series, Prospero in Hell, but I had not read the first. So I wrote to the publicist who sent it to me and requested the first book in ePub format. therefore, I read Prospero Lost on my Nook.

Miranda is the Miranda of The Tempest. I meant to reread The Tempest before writing this review, but I’ve been swamped and so I decided to go ahead and write it. As the author mentions in an interview or FAQ that I read somewhere, she gives a recap of the whole play in the early chapters, anyway.

The novel begins with a premise that is absolutely fascinating. Miranda finds this secret message left by her father, which could only be read by the light of a phoenix lamp. Woah, I said to myself. A phoenix lamp? I’m hooked! Her father instructs her to locate her brothers and sisters–six, in all, but only five are still alive–and warn them that “the three shadowed ones” are after their magical staffs.

So yes, I was completely intrigued. But then, as I mentioned above, the book dives into lots of backstory. One of Miranda’s airy spirit servants is named Mab, and he’s in the guise of a 1940-s dime novel detective. Armed with his notebook and stubby pencil, he begins to question her. Not only are we given the story of The Tempest, but I discover that Miranda is the handmaiden of a divine being called Eurynome, whose symbol is a unicorn, and as such Miranda has been a virgin for her entire life–some 500 years.

It took me over a month to read the opening chapters. As I mentioned in earlier posts, I needed Miranda to save a cat or something, because she seemed cold and unlikable. I read Susanna Ive’s Rakes and Radishes and Julie Moffett’s No One Lives Twice, and finally I picked this up again.

Miranda decides to go after her brother Mephistopheles, first. Last she knew, he was in Chicago. After a few false leads, a prayer to Eurynome leads her to her brother. And at this point, she at last has her save the cat moment as she rescues him out of the gutter. Mephistopheles is now considered to be “mad”, but he also claims to know where all the rest of the brothers and sisters are.  Next they go after Theo, and when I met Theo, I finally became emotionally invested in the story, stopped setting it aside, and started really liking it. If only I could have had more of him!

The rest of the story consists of Miranda making contact with several of her siblings and trying to convince them to help. She’s also telling backstory to Mab, who like a good detective, is trying to come up with a motive that will lead him to the perps. There are a lot of twists and turns. If you read this story, pay attention to the episodes of backstory, which are usually conversations between Mab, Mephisto and Miranda. They are actually rather intriguing little side stories, and it seems like every detail is vital. Father Christmas makes an unexpected appearance in the story, and even he turns out to be quite important. There are elves, too–one of whom Mephisto was trying to get to marry Miranda. However, not only is Miranda sworn to remain a virgin, but she’s still hung up on the guy she met in The Tempest–Ferdinand–who she never actually married, and he makes an unexpected–although at this point, I should have expected it!–appearance as well.

I do have some nitpicks. There are entirely too many explanation points and dialog tags, especially when Mephisto is talking. Mephisto doesn’t come across as “mad” at all, merely eccentric–and no more eccentric than Miranda, herself. And Ms. Lamplighter did not handle her chapter endings well–she would build up to a cliffhanger or some emotional point, have a chapter break, and then resume the story after the point that the cliffhanger built up to. Therefore, we never got to experience the point of the cliffhanger, or we experienced it only as a recollection. Also, at first the book seems hostile to Christianity in general and Catholicism in particular, but this turns around the deeper you read, with one character saying that the family “never should have converted from Catholicism”. In fact, the story depends on the belief in many Christian concepts, albeit from a Renaissance worldview. I initially assumed that Eurynome was a goddess, but it turns out she was not–but what she is is nothing you would expect.

My last critique is that I had some suspension of disbelief issues toward the end when certain things were revealed that didn’t make much sense. Here is a spoiler that explains the problem in white text. Highlight it if you want to read it.:

When Prospero enslaved the winds, it seems that he also enslaved the spirits that control electrical power, and it is only due to Prospero’s binding of these spirits that the world can use electricity at all. He keeps them bound to make electricity behave as it does. However, this does not seem logical. Unless Prospero possessed the secrets of the universe when he enslaved the spirits, he would not know how to make the spirits behave when we reached the point where we harnessed electricity. So in this case, my suspension of disbelief is pushed to the point where I am forcing myself to buy into this premise.

By the end of the story, I loved Miranda and her brothers and sister, even Mephisto, who is rather annoying at first. I am ready to jump into the second story, Prospero in Hell, which has an intriguing image of a sword-wielding Miranda on the cover, and promises to introduce the rest of the Prospero children and reveal many secrets.

Prospero Lost is highly imaginative and packed with wonder. I am giving it three stars, however, I am placing it on my Keeper shelf. I recommend it if you have the patience to stick with a character who is compelling without being likable, and if a modern-day fantasy based on Renaissance Christian beliefs would appeal to you.

ThreeStars

AKeeper

Classic Reread: Dragons of Winter Night

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I finished up Dragons of Winter Night, even though I said I wouldn’t be reading any more right away. The weird thing is I really didn’t spend a lot of time reading it–I seemed to spend more time reading Prospero Lost. But somehow, I managed to finish it. I can’t explain it. Some books just read easily.

In many ways, Dragons of Winter Night is a train wreck,  but it really works well. The group – Tanis, Sturm, Caramon, Raistlin, Tasslehoff, Fint, Goldmoon, Laurana, Riverwind, Tika – splits up early in the story. One group proceeds to have adventure after adventure, while the other group wanders the continent. In fact, the first group — consisting of Laurana, her brother Gilthanis, Sturm, Flint, Tasslehoff and some knights — has so many adventures that one of them e is simply given as backstory.

The star of the previous book–Goldmoon–is barely given a prominent scene. Laurana is the new star, and she makes a pretty good star. Tasslehoff continues to be front and center, the unexpected hero who thinks everyone else is more important than he is. Fizban apparently comes back from the dead and confounds and confuses everyone. Tanis is on a back burner, haunted by his sundered heart (wasn’t that the name of a romance novel?).

We finally get to meet Kitiara in this novel, and the authors bend over backwards trying to hide her sex before she makes her surprise appearance. In my opinion, they cheated. When she spoke, they never hinted whether the voice was male or female. Even when her dragon thinks of her (yes, she has a dragon), he refrains from using pronouns while doing so. It was rather awkward. But, during my first reading I was duly surprised.

The ending is tragic and suitably dark for a middle novel. However, it’s my least favorite of the novels. I already started Dragons of Spring Dawning, but really, I know the story so well that I could write a synopsis of it right now. As far as classic rereads go, it’s pretty good, but I bet this is the last time I read them. For another ten years, anyway.

Here is a Dragonlance Wiki.

Review: Shadow Fall

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Shadow Fall
by Erin Kellison
Dorchester Publishing

MM Paperback

First book in the series was Shadow Bound, also reviewed by Superwench.

Deep in Twilight, in the forested realm where fey rule beneath the shadowed trees, a predator stalks the graceful mortal Annabella, hungry for her power. For Annabella’s talent with ballet is indeed magical, transcending the mortal realm until her dance calls Twilight near–and brings into her world both her wolf stalker and a man who appoints himself her guardian angel.

Custo Santovari was last seen in Erin Kellison’s Shadow Bound, where he passed through the Twilight Shadowlands to what lay beyond. Now he’s back in Shadow Fall, eager to continue his fight with the wraith, but more important, eager to banish Annabella’s stalker from the mortal world before Annabella, too, vanishes into Twilight–forever.

Since Shadow Bound didn’t give me enough of this very interesting Custo character, I was pleased to see him as the protagonist of Shadow Fall, and I wasn’t disappointed at that. Not only do Custo and Annabella have conflicts, but their conflicts feel real. So many times, I run across characters whose inner conflicts come across as staged, only present because that’s “the rule” for making complex characters. Not so here. These characters are realistic, a challenging task. And likeable, too, which still astonishes me, as urban fantasy so often disappoints on that front for me. No bitchy, kick-ass heroines or tough-guy jerks in sight. Custo and Annabella can hold their own without an attitude problem. This continues to be my favorite aspect of Kellison’s books.

Another thing I looked forward to in Shadow Fall was spending more time in Twilight, and her again I was pleased. The vehicle through which we get to Twilight in this book was such a perfect way to enter into the land’s macabre beauty. I have always been awed by ballet (perhaps because it’s a mystery to me how one can be so graceful, as I am the world’s clumsiest person). It’s so etheral almost, so strong and airy all at once, and its delicate grace is a perfect complement to the land of the fey. The concept of artistic mediums as a gateway to another world is another continuing aspect of this series that I love, and I’m really excited to see where that thread leads in later books.

As with Shadow Bound, I find it hard to find complaints about Shadow Fall. The one nitpicky detail that sticks out is that I didn’t think Custo’s own artistic talent (I won’t say what it is), which we learn about closer to the end of the book, was adequately set up. It seemed a bit sudden that he should have this interest and talent when it never appeared in his thoughts before. To reach that level of mastery, you must be consumed by it enough that not a day goes by when it doesn’t cross your mind. But that’s hardly any reason not to read this book. A nitpick, like I said.

With its ventures into the fey’s brooding and beautiful Twilight woods, the wolf stalking the lovely ballerina, and one man’s quest to save her, Shadow Fall reads like a New York fairy tale. As with its predecessor, Shadow Fall is part of Dorchester’s Guaranteed Read program, which means if you’re not satisfied, you can return it by September 27 for a full refund. But also like its predecessor, you may want to forget the refund and make room for it on your shelf. I know I have!

Reviewed by Superwench83.

Katie Lovett, better known around these parts as Superwench83, is an aspiring novelist and published short fiction author. She blogs about writing, books, and the fantasy genre at her website, www.katie-lovett.com.

Tia here. I wasn’t hooked until I read about the ballet. I just love when authors combine some art with magic. Now I’m thinking I need to read these.

Paranormal Review: Insatiable

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Insatiable
by Meg Cabot
William Morrow

Hardcover

Insatiable by Meg Cabot is what I’d call paranormal chick lit. Who’d have thought such a thing would ever exist? But Insatiable’s protagonist, Meena Harper, is every inch the chick lit heroine. A designer purse-coveting dialogue writer for a soap opera with falling ratings who has issues with men and a certain female coworker, she is the typical chick lit protagonist but for one thing: she can shake your hand and know exactly how you’ll die.

Unless you’re a vampire, of course. Vampires are already dead. But vampires don’t exist…or so Meena thinks until her life is overrun by them.

Sick of vampires? So am I. Not that I don’t like vampires, just that they’re so overdone, and often feature bad-tempered heroines who I actually want the vampire to kill. But every once in a while, a vampire book or movie grabs me. Insatiable was one of these. (And not just because a free hardback came with admission to RWA Nationals.)

The light humor in Insatiable is what hooked me, thanks to an excerpt on the back cover. When Meena falls for a handsome vampire and lets him bite her, he finds that he, too, knows how people will die. Meena reminds him that he drank her blood. “You are what you eat, you know.” This sense of humor permeates Insatiable, putting a smile on your face or forcing a wry laugh every few pages. If you’ve never read Meg Cabot, you may still be familiar with her humorous style from movies based on her books (The Princess Diaries 1 and 2). This is what you’ll find in Insatiable–though, unlike The Princess Diaries, this is adult, not YA. Meena is a plucky, relatable character (minus her desire for $5000 purses—really, who spends that?!) with whom it’s easy to sympathize.

Regarding other characters, Alaric the vampire slayer was in my opinion the most interesting. Not that heartthrob vampire Lucien wasn’t interesting, but Alaric’s character arc is really great. He’s a bit close-minded, yet not too much so, as we see as the story unfolds. His changing perspective is, most importantly, realistic, due to the fact that it is slow and full of baby steps, so perfect given his strong character. I really did like Alaric more and more with every page. I guess I’m not as drawn to melancholy but still smiling men with soulful eyes who fix you breakfast and buy you stuff and are too, too perfect until you learn that they’re vampires as I am to egotistical, irreverent, impatient men who break down doors and don’t follow rules and are chided by their superiors for being too abrasive, yet who you can somehow grudgingly come to care for all the same. Personal tastes, I suppose.

Insatiable also has a couple neat takes on vampire lore, explaining why vampires have historically been unable to enter homes unless invited or appear in mirrors or on film.

Insatiable worked for me because it offered something different. A vampire novel, yes, but also a chick lit book. Two things I rarely read, blended into one, with a likable protagonist whose strange ability earned her the name You’re-Gonna-Die Girl in high school. That just sounds fun to me, and it was. It’s probably not for fans of the gritty, kick-ass vampires of urban fantasy, but it’s not all sparkly, romanticized Twilight-style vampires, either. If you’re looking for something in between, something just a shay different, Insatiable may work for you, too.

Reviewed by Katie Lovett

Katie Lovett, better known around these parts as Superwench83, is an aspiring novelist and published short fiction author. She blogs about writing, books, and the fantasy genre at her website, www.katie-lovett.com.

Debut Review: Shadow Bound

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Shadow Bound
by Erin Kellison
Dorchester Publishing

Mass Market Paperback – 7.99

Imagine if your father was what the world fears most. Imagine if your father was Death.

Talia O’Brien doesn’t have to imagine in Erin Kellison’s Shadow Bound. Hunted by inhuman monsters all her life with no knowledge of why, regarded strangely for her unique combination of white-blone hair and jet-black eyes, and with the ability to manipulate shadows, Talia is alone in a world that doesn’t understand her–not that she understands herself. But she won’t be alone for long, because Adam Thorne is looking for her.

After reading Talia’s dissertation on near-death experiences, Adam believes Talia is the key to destroying the monstrous, soul-sucking wraith he keeps in the basement of Segue Institute–a monster who was once his brother. But when he discovers Talia’s strange talents and past, he believes she is much more–not just the key to destroying his brother, but putting an end to all wraithkind.

I’m having trouble finding criticisms for this book. I’m not a big fan of urban fantasy, but I really, really, really liked this one. First of all, it’s a breath of fresh air in a subgenre where vampires and werewolves rule. I know the fey are filtering into urban fantasy, but Shadow Bound still keeps it fresh, finding new twists and introducing characters who break the stereotypes for characters in urban fantasy books. If you’re getting tired of sassy, bad-ass urban fantasy heroines (the main reason I don’t read much urban fantasy), Shadow Bound is one to try. Talia isn’t the norm, and I love her for it.

But having unique twists, characters, and concepts isn’t enough. A novel like this need suspense, and Shadow Bound is indeed riveting. The author knows just how to push the characters into the impossible, then pull a miracle out of thin air and make it completely believable. There were several times where I thought, “Oh, they’re never going to get out of this,” and then to my complete surprise, they made it out alive. This wonderful ability to keep suspense high and tension boiling is what truly makes this book such a success.

If you’re turned off by racy scenes, let me go ahead and warn you that one of these appears very early in the book. But–and I know this may sound strange–it’s such a beautiful scene, and it really sets up the entire story; I don’t see how the author could have written things any other way. So while I warn you that it’s there, I’m also recommending that you not let this deter you. This is a book well worth reading.

Shadow Bound‘s sequel, Shadow Fall is already on shelves, released only a month after its predecessor. Both books are part of Dorchester’s Guaranteed Read program, which means that if you don’t like Shadow Bound, if you return it by 8/29/10, you’ll get a full refund from the publisher. So if it sounds interesting, you still have a little bit of time to try it risk-free. (Wow, I sound like an info-mercial!) But even with this guarantee, plan on making room for this one on your shelf, because it’s a compelling read.

Myself, I’m looking forward to reading Shadow Fall, so plan on that review coming soon.

Reviewed by Superwench83.

Katie Lovett, better known around these parts as Superwench83, is an aspiring novelist and published short fiction author. She blogs about writing, books, and the fantasy genre at her website, www.katie-lovett.com.

Debut Review: Shades of Milk and Honey

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Shades of Milk and Honey
by Mary Robinette Kowal
Tor Books

Hardcover, provided by Tor books (along with an advance ARC copy) — thank you!

While this will mostly be a positive review, I had one major problem with Shades of Milk and Honey that threatened to destroy my enjoyment of it altogether. And that was the impossible-to-ignore association it has with the writings of Jane Austen.

All the reviews I’ve read of this novel have been overwhelmingly positive. But how many of those reviewers are die-hard Jane fans, like myself? I really don’t know. I’ve read all six of Jane Austen’s novels multiple times, plus I have multiple movie adaptations: two of Pride and Prejudice, three of Emma (counting Clueless), two of Sense and Sensibility, and one each of the others. I looked forward to this novel with great anticipation.

This novel’s major hook is that it is “the fantasy novel that Jane Austen might have written.” However, Jane Austen gave her novels simple titles like Persuasion, Northanger Abbey and Mansfield Park. Jane Austen’s works never (that I can recall) included terms like modiste or ton. Jane Austen mostly wrote about country gentleman families, not the nobility, except to make gentle fun of them (Sir Elliot, Lady Dalrymple, Lady Bertram, Lady de Bourgh). Jane Austen never wrote about duels, or secret identities, men with murder on their consciences, even very many alarming situations. This novel has all of the above.

Sound pretty good? Actually, it is. But the whole Jane Austen thing was an incredible distraction for me. I realized it was interfering with my enjoyment of the novel, but the fact that the author preserved Jane Austen’s spellings (surprize, chuse, shew) kept jarring me out of the story. And the author is Mary Robinette Kowel, who won the Campbell award and whose short stories I’ve always enjoyed. With an extreme effort, I pushed — no, shoved — the whole Jane Austen thing aside and finished the book on its own merits.

And on its own merits, it’s a pretty damned good book.

Shades of Milk and Honey is about Jane, a plain young woman who is growing older, and who is resigning herself to life as a spinster. Her much-younger sister Melody is quite beautiful, but lacks in talent. Jane is the talented one, and has remarkable skill with the magical ability known as glamour. Both sisters are attracted to their neighbor, the gentle Mr. Dunkirk. Other people in the neighborhood include Mr. Dunkirk’s younger sister, Beth, Captain Livingston and his aunt, Lady FitzCameron, and Beth’s glamour tutor, Mr. Vincent.

I can certainly see heavy Jane Austen influences. An entailed estate. A ridiculous noblewoman. A leading man who is quite unremarkable at first. Jane Austen influences don’t bother me. I’ve written a novel that was influenced by Jane Austen (and James Bond!) myself. It’s when it ventures into becoming a homage or fan fiction when I seem to have a problem. And since such novels are popular, it’s probably just me.

In spite of my struggles, I had a hard time putting this novel down. I finished it well in advance of today’s date, which is the release date. Ms. Kowal’s concept of magic is wonderfully imaginative. You pull folds out of the ether and use them to create three-dimension virtual worlds (forgive the modern term) that are complete with sounds, smells and sensations (such as a gentle breeze). People often decorate their mansions with glamour, but it is not considered to be in good taste to overdo it. Nor is it in good taste to use glamour to increase one’s physical beauty, but of course people do it anyway. How fun is that!

The romance aspect of this novel was a stealth romance, because the main male protagonist is not at all evident, at first. And toward the end, he reveals his love in a way that is truly novel and unexpected. Up until that point, Jane and he (whose name I will not reveal) butt heads continually, and not necessarily in that sparkling Jane Austen style. They really are butting heads. But as it turns out, that’s only because they end up having so much in common. I could see the concept of the foil in this novel. Jane appears sweet and thoughtful next to her selfish sister. The self-absorbed Captain Livingston makes Mr. Dunkirk look good. And so on.

All in all, this is a fun fantasy, thought-provoking, not too heavy in drama, and with stakes that are personal rather than world-threatening. I can happily recommend it, along with Ms. Kowal’s short fiction. For a fun taste of her work, try the delightful “First Flight“, published at Tor.com. You can also read her award-winning story, “Evil Robot Monkey” — which is very touching and sad — and many of her other short stories at her short fiction page.

Debut Review: Redemption in Indigo

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Redemption in Indigo
by Karen Lord
Small Beer Press
Trade Paperback – $16

I have often said that I love novels that can take me to a different time, or a different place, or both. Redemption in Indigo does that and more–it takes me to a different culture. These are the best of all. Novels like Clavell’s Shogun are in this class, along with Kaye’s The Far Pavilions (which my father recommended to me but I have never read), and Grave’s I, Claudius. Redemption in Indigo takes the tradition of all of these and adds the sparkle of fantasy.

I realize that I’ve placed this novel in lofty company. But Redemption in Indigo is wonderful. It begins after Paama has left her husband Ansige, and returned to her parent’s village. Ansige has hired a legendary tracker to find her and when the tracker reports her location, Ansige goes looking for her.

Ansige is a glutton to an extreme degree. Although he doesn’t know it, he is bedeviled by tiny tricksters who whisper temptation and self-destruction into his hear. He has no will to resist and will do the most amazing things to get and keep food for himself. When he finally gets to Paama’s village, she tries to cover for his glaring acts of idiocy. Eventually, they prove beyond even her skills and she tells him that she has left him for good.

The tricksters have no effect on her. And mysterious deity-like watchers decide that she is the right person to be custodian of the Chaos Stick.

Of course, the previous custodian will do anything to get it back. And did I mention he’s a god? The gods are called djombi, and they can travel effortlessly between time and space. And very soon, Paama finds herself facing him.

Ms. Lord writes in an unusual storytelling style that surprised me at first–especially when she addressed the reader, directly. Some call this authorial intrusion, but I’ve always enjoyed this style, and the unknown narrator becomes another character in the book, especially in the very end.

Although the woman on the cover is dark-skinned, race never plays a large factor in this story. Ms. Lord leaves skin color entirely up to the reader, with the exception of the Indigo Lord. But the culture, she does describe. The village where Paama lives is a dusty farming community. Water must be fetched. To make dumplings, you must first grind the meal with mortar and pestle, and grinding is done in the village court. And a wedding feast is held in a tent.

Redemption in Indigo will whisk you to the other side of the world, immerse you in another culture and take you back in time. It was a dreamy voyage through the senses. I highly recommend it. And when you have finished reading it, be sure to tip the storyteller.

Review: The Alchemy of Stone

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3


The Alchemy of Stone
by Ekaterina Sedia
Prime Books
Trade Paperback – $14.95

Reviewed by Superwench83

The Alchemy of Stone by Ekaterina Sedia introduces us to a world where the class lines are set in stone–in some cases literally. There are the Alchemists, whose draughts can heal and hurt; the Mechanics, whose engineering feats perform countless tasks and propel the city dwellers through the streets; and there are the gargoyles, who brought the city into being long ago and are in danger of becoming one with those buildings as their bodies become unmoving stone. The gargoyles believe that Mattie, an automaton and an Alchemist, can help them thrive once again. And there are others in the city’s shadows and hidden places who seek Mattie’s help as well.

As an automaton, Mattie had never belonged to a social class until she was freed and joined the Alchemists’ ranks. Unlike other automatons, Mattie can think and feel. Her maker, Loharri, has given her the ability to perceive both pleasure and pain, and he is often the cause of both. Imbued with such humanity but not part of that race, Mattie’s life is full of longing, of unfulfilled dreams, and of knowing she will never truly belong. Her one true aspiration is to win complete freedom from Lohari, who controls whether she lives or dies with the key to her clockwork heart. When a mysterious aquaintance of Loharri’s hires Mattie to mix her a potion, she sees this as an opportunity to take the key from Loharri and finally control her own destiny.

Ekaterina Sedia does a good job of making Mattie seem human, of displaying the many ways in which she is human despite her metal form. Mattie has all the emotions and desires of any other woman. She even has a woman’s sensibilities, show in one scene where she has to hold her skirts up to hurry after someone, and is self-conscious about the scandal of exposing her legs. A sympathetic and endearing character, Mattie experiences a range of emotions which many of the humans in her life seem to be without.

The Alchemy of Stone has a beautiful literary style and a plot full of intricacies. It’s an intriguing read, and it manages to make fresh the story of a robot who is human at heart. Reading scenes detailing Mattie’s scant romantic encounters with humans is a little strange, but these scenes further demonstrate how Mattie’s desires will never be in communion with her body of metal and porcelain and springs.

The Alchemy of Stone is a little…melancholy for my tastes, but a worthwhile read nonetheless, and I think a number of you would enjoy it. A well-written steampunk novel, this book will appeal to those who like a literary style in their genre fiction and who don’t mind endings which are bittersweet.