The Cleric Chih accompanies a young bride and her parents to her aging, future husband‘s estate. Once there, the situation turns into a darker, gothic tale. The husband might have been married several times before and it‘s a mystery what became of his wives. Bluebeard? There is a half-crazed son wandering the grounds and something supernatural haunts the shadows.
The story doesn’t turn out the expected way. I should have paid more attention to the cover. The twist snuck up on me quite abruptly. Maybe a bit too abruptly. It was all very subtle, until it very much wasn’t. Dangerous, with a touch of horror.
I liked it, although my favourite of the five currently available novellas remains Into the Riverlands. It just had the best, most adventurous plot. Maybe even start with that one. Or go by publishing order. Although they are all standalone stories.
I received an advanced copy of this book from Tordotcom through NetGalley. Thank you kindly! All opinions are my own and I was not required to give a positive review.
Recommended. I will definitely continue with the series.
Not enjoying this, sorry. Slow. Not connecting to the characters. Struggling to tell them apart, especially if more and more of them keep popping up. Plot not moving along fast enough. I made it to the part where the main character joins the bandits and starts to train them. Don‘t care what happens next. I‘m assuming that a typical heist story is just around the corner. Antiheroes saving the day.
I see reviews mentioning „a breakneck, adrenaline-filled pace“ and „Non-stop action“. I don’t get it. There are some fights, but even they didn‘t excite me much.
Dark, depressing, looming violence and potential cannibalism. This is just not doing it for me. I was bored and couldn‘t maintain much interest almost from the start. 🤷
Pity, because I really, really wanted to like this. DNF at 30% in Chapter 10. Returning this to my library.
Disgraced, tattooed as a criminal, and on the run from an Imperial Marshall who will stop at nothing to see her dead, Lin Chong is recruited by the Bandits of Liangshan. Mountain outlaws on the margins of society, the Liangshan Bandits proclaim a belief in justice—for women, for the downtrodden, for progressive thinkers a corrupt Empire would imprison or destroy. They’re also murderers, thieves, smugglers, and cutthroats.
Apart, they love like demons and fight like tigers. Together, they could bring down an empire.
A witch builds a tower with forty flights and puts scary monsters in each of them. On the ground floor is a dragon with diamond scales. There are goblins and spiders and plenty more. There is also a golden sword for the prince that makes it to the top and rescues the lovely Princess Floralinda.
“He did not come out!“
Many princes enter the tower, but none make it to the top or come back out. Time passes. What is a princess to do but make her own way down? With a bread knife? Idle Tower Defense, top down. Amusing! And once Floralinda gets her groove, pretty murdery…
🐉🐉🐉½
Novella, 146 ebook pages or a little over 4 hours of audio. The audio is very well done.
Gideon has a sword, some dirty magazines, and no more time for undead bullshit.
Tamsyn Muir’s Gideon the Ninth unveils a solar system of swordplay, cut-throat politics, and lesbian necromancers. Her characters leap off the page, as skillfully animated as necromantic skeletons. The result is a heart-pounding epic science fantasy.
It‘s not all niceties though, our main character lives on a moon that has been annexed by an empire that considers violence as a necessary evil. Empire means pain and subjugation.
Within those circumstances our main character Enitan lives a relatively uneventful life. She is a lowly scribe. In her free time she tries to set-up her tea business. Then her lover is killed and her brother is abducted and Enitan embarks on a journey of discovery and revenge.
This takes a hard look at colonialism, stolen art and racism. But there is also fluff, humour, queer romance, diversity, espionage and a relatively simple plot. All the mysteries are solved almost as an aside. I would class this as light reading.
Good audio narration.
PS: Apparently the gender pins appear in A Memory Called Empire, not Imperial Radch… oh well, anyway, they are all very good books… 😏
Epic worldbuilding at its finest, The Splinter King is the second book in the unmissable series started with The Black Coast. Filled with war-dragons, armoured knights, sea-faring raiders, dangerous magic and battle scenes.
Still reeling from the events of The Black Coast, and the rise of the daemonic warlord, the political machinations, betrayals, new friendships, duels and battles continue to unfold as new characters appear and old return.
book blurb
Because of the book‘s title I was a little worried that the book would focus a lot of attention on the Splinter King, but the POVs from the first book continued nicely. I enjoyed this a lot. There were plenty of unexpected revelations and plot developments. Some fascinating ones, some scary ones. Revolution and fighting on all fronts. I am really looking forward to the next book and how their stories will continue.
My review for the first book, The Black Coast, is here.
As far as I can tell the author is of Malaysian origin and the story involves people from South-East China that are a large Tai-speaking ethnic minority group in that region (Tong/Zhuang). I could be wrong though and this might be set in Malaysia. They are talking about sarongs, so maybe Malaysia is more likely…
Anyway, entertaining. I had fun! Nice amount of snark. Good audiobook narration. My first story by the author. Probably not the last.
Zen Cho returns with a found family wuxia fantasy that combines the vibrancy of old school martial arts movies with characters drawn from the margins of history. A bandit walks into a coffeehouse, and it all goes downhill from there. Guet Imm, a young votary of the Order of the Pure Moon, joins up with an eclectic group of thieves (whether they like it or not) in order to protect a sacred object, and finds herself in a far more complicated situation than she could have ever imagined.
from the book blurb
The heroes in wuxia fiction typically do not serve a lord, wield military power, or belong to the aristocratic class. They often originate from the lower social classes of ancient Chinese society. A code of chivalry usually requires wuxia heroes to right and redress wrongs, fight for righteousness, remove oppressors, and bring retribution for past misdeeds.
The Black Coast is the start of an unmissable series filled with war-dragons, armoured knights, sea-faring raiders, dangerous magic and crowd-pleasing battle scenes.
…a good fit for those seeking an immersive and action-packed fantasy adventure that explores the challenges of building a new society in the face of adversity, with a focus on overcoming differences and the power of unity in the face of impending war.
…complex power struggles between different factions and nations, as well as the rise of a daemonic despot who prophesies the end of the world, all of which promise to deliver a gripping and intense reading experience.
book blurb and StoryGraph preview
Epic Fantasy, dragons, a god-king, criminals, battles, thieves, rich and poor, feudal and tribal, straight, queer and everything else.
In terms of settings and society/cultures this is an interesting mix. We are somewhere in medieval times, reminiscent of the vikings raiding English shores. Not really, but based on names and early narrative it feels like that. A tribe of not-vikings/Icelanders are fleeing their home and want to settle on not-English-flatlands. The Flatlanders are understandably not to keen to let a tribe settle amongst them, that has been raiding their shores for generations. Can old enemies find common ground and live together? And what made the Tjakorshi flee their ancestral lands?
Every chapter heading is another name and indication of the chapter’s POV. I started taking notes early on, because I realized that I would struggle to keep the many names and settings straight. I did that well into Part Two, see below.
The various societies, each with their own particularities, were a little challenging at first, down to religion, belief systems, style of dress, types of weaponry and fighting styles, gendering and sexual identities. It‘s all well fleshed-out and believable.
Good character development, even for side characters and the bad guys and gals.
Well drafted action sequences.
Loved the dragons / dinosaurs. The main ones reminded me of Velociraptors and a feathered Triceratops/Ankylosaurus mix. Not the kind of dragons I was expecting. Nicely done!
There was enough there for me to want to continue with the next book. This man has already procured it!
Here are my notes from the beginning of the book, mainly names and locations. Do not read them, obviously, if you want to find out for yourself.
The Black Coast (Anglo-Saxon) Narida, „centre of civilisation“, lands between the Catseye mountains and the ocean Idramar, the Sun Palace Nari, the God-King Princess Tila Narida, his sister Livnya The Knife, undisputed head of Idramar‘s criminal underworl Barach, her bodyguard High Marshal Brightwater Copper skinned
Black Keep (Black Coast) Daimon Blackcreek Lord Asrel Blackcreek, his law-father Darel, his older brother
Alaba (Indonesian) Kiburu Ce Alaba, City of Islands The Splinter King The seven hierachs Jeya, a little thief Kurumaya, a criminal shark Grand Mahewa, the court of the deities Ngaiyu‘s place on stilts Skhetul, Livnya‘s informant
Morlithia, far west beyond the Catseye mountains, desert, silk, dark skinned Adrania, deserts of the East, dark skinned Sailing tribes of the Northern Seas, leather-skinned Fishing folk from the islands to the South
Tolkar, the last sorcerer
Koszal, the Tjakorshi (Vikings / Icelanders) Saana Sattistutar, chief of the Brown Eagle clan Ristjaan the Cleaver, her friend Zhanna, her daughter Tjakorsha (their lands) The Golden, a draug Rikkut, from an enemy tribe Amal Tyaszhin, warrior and sailor „Milk-faces“ Deadly blackstone weapons
Top Ten Tuesday moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.
Topic for December 26: The Ten Most Recent Additions to My Bookshelf (Maybe share your holiday book haul?)
Hi there, I hope you had enjoyable and restful days over Christmas, if you are celebrating it. I spent the last few days at my parents‘ place, like every year. It was quiet and restful and I got a nice amount of reading done. No book haul though, as we stopped giving each other presents years ago. Well, ok, that‘s not quite true—I am taking two of my dad‘s books home with me, as my favourite online buddy reading group plans to read all Harry Hole novels by Jo Nesbø. I will join them for those and then decide if I want to continue with the series. I really want to broaden my genre reading though, as I have pretty much exclusively read Specfic over the last few years and I really need to mix it up.
The Bat (Harry Hole, #1) by Jo Nesbø — Inspector Harry Hole of the Oslo Crime Squad is dispatched to Sydney to observe a murder case.
Cockroaches (Harry Hole, #2) by Jo Nesbø — When the Norwegian ambassador to Thailand is found dead in a Bangkok brothel, Inspector Harry Hole is dispatched from Oslo to help hush up the case.
Winter’s Gifts (Rivers of London, #9.5; Kimberley Reynolds) by Ben Aaronovitch — When retired FBI Agent Patrick Henderson calls in an ‘X-Ray Sierra India’ incident, the operator doesn’t understand. He tells them to pass it up the chain till someone does. — I added this one to my Peter Grant backlist. Time to catch up with those missing one next year.
Silk and Steel: A Queer Speculative Adventure Anthology — Princess and swordswoman, lawyer and motorcyclist, scholar and barbarian: there are many ways to be a heroine. In this anthology, seventeen authors find new ways to pair one weapon-wielding woman and one whose strengths lie in softer skills. — Storygraph recommended this one to me with their new recommendations feature, presumably because I read quite a few LGBTQIA+ books recently. The cover looks fun and one of the stories is by Aliette de Bodard, so I might give it a shot.
Ghost Station by S.A. Barnes — A crew must try to survive on an ancient, abandoned planet in the latest space horror novel from S.A. Barnes, acclaimed author of Dead Silence. —This popped up in my libby feed and I did not hate Dead Silence (my review), so I might give it a try.
In Ascension by Martin MacInnes — Leigh grew up in Rotterdam, drawn to the waterfront as an escape from her unhappy home life and volatile father. Enchanted by the undersea world of her childhood, she excels in marine biology, travelling the globe to study ancient organisms. When a trench is discovered in the Atlantic ocean, Leigh joins the exploration team, hoping to find evidence of the earth’s first life forms – what she instead finds calls into question everything we know about our own beginnings. — Literary fiction is usually not my thing and a Booker Prize nomination sounds even more boring (sorry!), but this sounds interesting. Another addition to my libby list.
Heartsong: A Green Creek Novel (Green Creek, 3) by T.J. Klune— Heartsong is the third book in the Green Creek Series, the beloved fantasy romance sensation by New York Times bestselling author TJ Klune, about love, loyalty, betrayal, and family. — I really enjoy TJ Klune and the first book in this series was a 5-star read for me. Next time I am in the mood for some nice werewolves, this might be the one. Another libby addition.
Service Model by Adrian Tchaikovsky — Murderbot meets Redshirts in a delightfully humorous tale of robotic murder from the Hugo-nominated author of Elder Race and Children of Time. — Tchaikovsky is an instabuy for me. Or an insta-add in this case, thanks to Netgalley. Fingers crossed that they will grant the request, it‘s still open.
Emily Wilde’s Map of the Otherlands (Emily Wilde, #2) by Heather Fawcett — When mysterious faeries from other realms appear at her university, curmudgeonly professor Emily Wilde must uncover their secrets before it’s too late in this heartwarming, enchanting second installment of the Emily Wilde series. — Listening to the audio of the first book right now, should finish it soon. So delightfully charming!
Among the Living by Tim Lebbon — From the New York Times bestseller and author of Netflix’s The Silence comes a terrifying horror novel set in a melting Arctic landscape. Something deadly has lain dormant for thousands of years, but now the permafrost is giving up its secrets… — This is an upcoming horror group read by my favourite reading buddies. Have to check out the Netflix series. By I am always in for scary things in the Arctic or underwater…
This is the sequel to Mindtouch, which I read in 2020. It was about time that I picked this up. According to M.C.A. Hogarththis is the most pastoral story arc in her Peltedverse.
The story of Jahir and Vasiht’h continues. Jahir has gone to another planet to start his residency at a famous hospital. He does not only have to battle the crippling effect of the planet’s higher gravity on his health, but is also confronted with a mysterious series of comatose and dyeing patients in the hospital. Vasiht’h eventually follows Jahir and their deepening mental connection might be the saving factor in the growing crisis.
I wouldn‘t exactly call this cosy SF, there is a fair amount of drama. But despite that it feels quiet and introspective. It’s just as driven by character development that by the plot. It was a mostly relaxing read. I will probably pick up #3 in this series at some point and hopefully it won’t take me three years this time. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Arthurian legend. LGBTQIA+, some magical elements, some ancient gods, early Britain.
A girl without a name (or many) grows up in a hidden valley, with her mother as her only company. She dreams of a lake and hears travellers talk of a king and his court. So she eventually leaves her mother with nothing much besides a skinny horse and an old spear. Pretending to be a man, she has adventures, meets knight, joins into battles and eventually makes it to Caer Leon, the court of King Artos. That‘s just another waypoint of her journey though.
I liked it. The style is very similar to Hild (my review), although less complex and more accessible. Peretur (Welsh version of Percival) is a likeable character. A little non-plussed about the world. Experiencing and exploring a foreign world through her eyes worked well. All the other characters come to life easily. I had to brush up a little on my Arthurian character knowledge.
The story is around 200 pages, depending on the edition. Considering the relative shortness, this is a well realized world with vivid settings. Very athmospheric, with a plot that tends to wander off into the blue here and there. I wasn‘t in a hurry, so the glimpses at scenes unrelated to the overall plot were charming. Lyrical. It didn‘t come across as a massively emotional book to me, but I liked the gentler tones. To round it all off there is a light dash of queer romance without drama and some interesting, relaxed relationship dynamics.
The audiobook is narrated by the author herself and she does a very good job.
I think I talked myself into 4.5 stars… 🗡️🗡️🗡️🗡️½
About the book on the author‘s page: “Spear is set in sixth-century Britain: like Hild, but with magic—not only the wild magic of the landscape, and of love and the human heart, but also the sword-swinging, monster-killing magic of myth and demigods. … Think of Spear as Hild let off the leash, unbound by those pesky historical constraints—and set a hundred years earlier, in Wales rather than England. … What takes centre stage is the journey of Peretur, a girl and then young woman who leaves home to find out who she is.“
Cathy's Reading Bonanza 