Millers’ daughters do not traditionally spend a great deal of time engaged in single combat.

The Seventh Bride
by T. Kingfisher

237 pages (kindle), published by 47North

In fairytales the number seven is often considered magical. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, the seven-league boots and others. A seventh bride therefore foreshadows something significant. Rhea is definitely significant. And her hedgehog as well… 

Rhea is a simple miller‘s daughter, but she‘s plucky and not easily frightened. 

“Her name was Rhea. Her father said that she had been named after a great and powerful goddess of the old days, the queen of all the gods, but in that country at that time, there weren’t many books about gods.
There was no reason that a goddess had to look human, of course—plenty of them had never been human, which was part of the reason that the saints were safer—but if an immortal had to pick a shape, a giant long-necked chicken seemed like an odd choice.
Rhea the girl felt that, had she been Rhea the goddess, she would have done a better job there.“

And when she has to marry a Lord, it is immediately clear that something is off. Once she reaches the magical manor in the woods, things take on a sinister turn…

Did I mention the hedgehog? I did… The hedgehog is fabulous. I want one. 

“She was still going somewhere terrible, but she had a hedgehog, dammit.“

Loved the clock wife, loved all the unique female characters in this. Great stuff. 

I will have to re-read this novella in one go at some point, because my reading experience during my holiday was way to scattered and I didn‘t give this the attention it deserved. 
Four hedgehogs for now… 🦔🦔🦔🦔

P.S.: I have a pretty impressive T. Kingfisher backlist on my library wishlist and Audible as well, I think. I will get there. It‘s a lot of fun!

PSS: this is listed as YA, but didn‘t feel like that for me. Definitely has the feel of a traditional fairytale, with a touch of horror. Here is what StoryGraph had to say:

The Seventh Bride by T. Kingfisher is a perfect fit for readers who crave a dark, suspenseful, and empowering tale of self-discovery, as it weaves together themes of feminist resistance, fairy tale magic, and the struggle for autonomy, making it a must-read for fans of atmospheric and thought-provoking young adult fantasy.

Death by sourdough is not a pretty way to go.

A Wizard’s Guide to Defensive Baking
by T. Kingfisher, Patricia Santomasso (Narrator)

Mona is a 14 year old girl, working in her aunt’s bakery. She has a minor gift, imbuing baked goods with magic. Her sourdough starter Bob is a delightful menace. 

One morning she finds a dead body in the bakery and is framed for the murder. Things go sideways from there and morph into a story of court intrigue, treason and armed conflict. It‘s nothing deep and not everything makes total sense, but it is an entertaining, fluffy read.

Delightful, I laughed quite a lot. A cozy read ending on a slightly darker note, aimed at middle grade (I guess). My first T. Kingfisher, but not my last. 🍞🍞🍞🍞

Fourteen-year-old Mona isn’t like the wizards charged with defending the city. She can’t control lightning or speak to water. Her familiar is a sourdough starter and her magic only works on bread. She has a comfortable life in her aunt’s bakery making gingerbread men dance.

But Mona’s life is turned upside down when she finds a dead body on the bakery floor. An assassin is stalking the streets of Mona’s city, preying on magic folk, and it appears that Mona is his next target. And in an embattled city suddenly bereft of wizards, the assassin may be the least of Mona’s worries…

From the book blurb

Steampunk sword-and-sorcery with insect-like humans

Empire in Black and Gold (Shadows of the Apt, #1)
by Adrian Tchaikovsky

First book in a series off 10 novels. It feels very much like epic fantasy, but it has many steampunk elements. Probably something to be expected from Tchaikovsky. We seem to move from a city state that feels very much like antique Greece to a very Dickensian city in the grasp of an industrial revolution to an enemy that I can‘t quite put my finger on yet. Persia? The Ottoman Empire? The build-up to WWII, if just anybody had listened? On the way we take a detour through Lord of the Rings territory. There seems to be a bit of everything.

People appear insect-like. There are ants, beetles, people with wings… Human-insect hybrids? The bad guys are wasp-like, organized and aggressive. And there are other „kinden“ around. Some are more mystical and dwell in the old times of sword-and-sorcery, others are Apt and have a knack for the mechanical. One wonders how this evolution came to pass.

In the first chapter we meed Stenwold, embroiled in a battle. He returns home and warns of the encroaching threat that nobody wants to hear about. So he makes his own plans. A mixed group of characters and „kinden“ are introduced and led along a plot that increases in tension. Eventually the characterizations are deepened, background is added and relationships develop. Nicely done. The enemy is made tangible as well by introducing a presumably bad guy with more than one dimension. There are various trials and tribulations for our main characters, that all converge in a climactic fight. 

Unfortunately there was another 200 pages after that and I really struggled to keep my momentum going. Another one of those needlessly overlong epic fantasies. I was pretty much done after the first 400 to 450 pages. I couldn‘t wait to finish the book—not because I found it so exciting, but because I needed it to be over. Saving grace: Tchaikovsky writes well, always has some unusual ideas and doesn‘t care about fitting into a specific genre.

The next book, Dragonfly Falling, is another 670 pages of dense and small print. I read the also pretty lengthy text on the back flap and then proceeded to read the blurbs of the other eight novels. Phew, I don‘t have the patience for that much drawn out epic fantasy. I tossed Dragonfly off my virtual TBR pile and put the paperback in my give-away basket. I doubt that I will ever struggle through all 10 books of this series.

Next: I will continue with The Immortality Thief (The Kystrom Chronicles, #1) by Taran Hunt and then return to Adrian Tchaikovsky with And Put Away Childish Things.

Kate rides again…

Here is one that I missed for my post of most anticipated books releasing in 2023…

Magic Tides (Kate Daniels: Wilmington Years, #1; Kate Daniels, #10.5)
by Ilona Andrews

Kate and Curran have moved to Delaware with Conlan, trying to keep a low profile. They are renovating a house—well, who are they kidding, it‘s a fort—and one of the people working on their house has a problem. Kate goes to help. There goes the low profile.

This novella has all the elements we know from Kate Daniels. Magic, shapeshifters, vampires, various other magical creatures and deities. Hugh makes a brief appearance. It‘s humorous and there is too much information about the hair styles and clothing of everybody we meet. Great comfort reading for fans.

This was fun. I would have read it in one sitting, if I didn‘t need to sleep occasionally. The subtitle of the book, Kate Daniels: Wilmington Years #1, is promising. Looking forward to more!

Who is the chosen one? Not always the one you expected it to be!

Chosen (Alex Verus, #4)
by Benedict Jacka

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 5 out of 5.

The 4th Alex Verus novel. I wasn‘t entirely sure if I still wanted to read this, but it was really good and I am glad I did. Although I only read #3 in May, I was struggling to remember who everybody was during the first few pages.

The tone of this novel is darker still than the previous ones. Alex has to finally deal with his past and the horrible things he was forced to do back then. He has to face someone wanting revenge for his past actions. The good times of the previous book are gone and he might even loose some of his friends, when they finally realize what he is willing to do to survive.

I really enjoyed the final confrontation and I was stunned how forceful Alex became. He is going through some really good developments as the main character of this series. Which I missed in the series he is compared to quite often, the Dresden Files.

There is a big cliffhanger at the end, obviously. Let‘s see when I will get to the next book in the series, I added Hidden to my shelf already. More about that here. One of these days I will have to crosspost my reviews of the Dresden Files book here in my blog as well…

Hidden Legacy, another sister has been squared away…

Ruby Fever (Hidden Legacy, #6)
by Ilona Andrews

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 4 out of 5.

“Nevada first trained me in investigative work, she taught me to trust my instincts. If it didn’t look right, it probably wasn’t. If the hair on the back of your neck stood up, you needed to get the hell out of there. She taught Arabella the same thing. My younger sister called it listening to the lizard brain. I trusted my lizard brain. It kept me breathing.“

Classic Ilona Andrews. Things go downhill fast in inventive ways and graphic detail. It all gets going with a gruesome murder and an attack on the Warden‘s house. Oh, and the family moves into a new home that sounds a bit like Disneyland. 

Lots of magic, action, weapons, blood, exploding hardware and magic users gone bad.

Catalina still feels and sounds like Nevada. Sadly, the characters in IAs books have become pretty interchangeable and all seem to be the same person. Alessandro is pretty one-dimensional. Mom and Grandma Frieda sadly don’t get a lot of page-time. 

I am guessing that the next book will be about Arabella and her love interest. Considering the last chapter and epilogue, that‘s where I am putting my money.

And yes, despite my complaints I will very likely get the next book. I read this fast, it was very entertaining.

I wonder if we will meet Jadwiga again in the next book?

Playlist:
A Fistful of Dollars Theme (Ennio Morricone)
Triumphal March from Aida (Giuseppe Verdi)

And I just saw that I missed a 12-page short story….

The Cool Aunt (Hidden Legacy, #5.1)
by Ilona Andrews

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Apparently I should have read this straight after Emerald Blaze. Set directly afterwards, bonus short story from Arabella‘s point of view.

The birth of Nevada‘s and Mad Rogan‘s baby, short and fun.

Free online at the authors’ website: https://ilona-andrews.com/the-cool-aunt/

Here is my review of Emerald Blaze.

Middling to Good

Middlegame (Alchemical Journeys, #1) by Seanan McGuire

Reed is an alchemist. He created twins with special powers, with the aim to attain dominion over the world, as one-dimensional villains are wont to do. The book starts off in the late 19th century, but moves into the 1990s and 2000s right away, telling the story of the two siblings, Roger and Dodger. 

The concept and central idea is good, but this was not my kind of book. I get it, but it all felt like a never-ending set-up, peppered by convenient escapes and do-overs. 

Roger and Dodger felt like interesting characters at first, but they never really got past their defining features. And in Roger‘s case not even that was well explored until almost the end. Their dynamic and on-and-off again relationship irritated me and they never really matured as characters, despite being 30ish by the end of the story. Of the other characters only Erin ever evolved past her blueprint.

This book was definitely too long, with too little happening plot or characterwise. By the midway point I lost interest. The road to the climax was too aimless. I basically skimmed the third quarter of the book, just reading first sentences of paragraphs. Frankly, I don‘t think I missed much. The last quarter of the book was ok, I just wish it had happened a lot faster.

I made it to the end and liked the general idea, 2.75 stars rounded up. I won‘t be getting anything else in this world.

I did like her zombie horror Feed, written under her other name, Mira Grant. And her underwater horror with evil mermaids was fun: Rolling in the Deep and Into the Drowning Deep. I own the first five books of her Wayward Children series, written as Seanan McGuire—I do hope that I will like them better than this one here.

Dueling Wizard…

Taken (Alex Verus, #3) by Benedict Jacka

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 5 out of 5.

Alex Verus #3. It was fun. Probably the best so far? Urban Fantasy with a mature tone. People are actually treated as adults, there is no gratuitous sex just for the heck of it, the bad guys are not cardboard cut-outs, there is a lot of grey areas and Jacka writes good action sequences.

The mystery plot was good, although the additional, final revelation was a bit too detached from the main story for my taste. Set-up for later shenanigans, maybe? 

The dueling apprentices is a fun idea and a nice way of explaining the magical mechanics of this world. I appreciated the juxtaposition to Alex‘s duel towards the end.

The tone still reminds me a little of Peter Grant, but grittier, with less focus on being funny (though it is).

This series should definitely be read in order and I have the next one lined up to read in a few months…

A wee bit of Magic…

The Sweet Rowan by Keira Dominguez

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Regency romance with a touch of magic. Governess trope! False identity! Scotland! Rugged Scotsmen! Damsel in distress! Treacherous antagonist! Drama!

A young woman runs away from her English home, to find something she has lost, and goes to Scotland under a false name, pretending to be a governess. The master of the house is immensely interesting, as he is wont to be in a sweet romance of this type. The situation gets complicated, with that lie of her assumed identity hovering in the background. And what is happening to that magic?

The writing was a little rough in the first chapter. And the tiny amount of magic felt like a gimmick at first, propelling the story from pure historical romance to something a little different. 

The plot didn‘t hold any big surprises for most of the book. However, when the requisite amount of drama occurred, it was well done and the expected reveals were very entertaining. Good amount of action and the above mentioned damsel in distress was not a wimp.

The characters were likable and lively. The switching points of view added a nice layer to the story telling. The characters from her other two books, Her Caprice and The Telling Touch, are related to this book and should probably be read first. The books are standalone though, it didn’t feel as if I was missing anything.

Bottomline, this was a lot of fun! I might read more by the author at some point.

How to deal with your curse 101

Cursed (Alex Verus, #2) by Benedict Jacka

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

The second Alex Verus novel. I read the first one a few years ago and didn‘t like it, then tried again recently and changed my mind. 

So I am back in London, in a magic shop that reminds me of the Iron Druid‘s shop, with a mage that is definitely not Harry Potter. Alex gained a small amount of fame after the events of the first book. He went back to his old life, with Luna in tow as his sort-of-apprentice. Training her is not going terribly well and then something turns up dead, someone need his help and people start trying to kill Alex. He doesn‘t take that well.

The first two chapters rehash the set-up of this world, the magic system and the events of the first book. Especially the first chapter was pretty dry reading for me. But I guess you are not supposed to read these books back-to-back, so the reminder should work in most cases. The action started to pick up in the second chapter though and from then on it was quite a rollercoaster. If you like plot-driven books with a lot of action, that also have well developed characters, this is a winner.

At the end of my kindle edition is a preview to Hounded by Kevin Hearne, which is very fitting. They are both similar in tone. Alex Verus is the more mature one, with a world that feels more solid and well-developed. However, if you like Verus, you might have a lot of fun with the Iron Druid Chronicles as well. I did, at least for quite a few books.

If the first one-an-a-half chapters hadn‘t been so dry, this would have been 5 stars. The next books is on my shelf already.

After posting my review, I always look at other reviews, to see what my GR friends thought of the book. To my amazement one of my buddies really flamed this book as being very sexists, women just being helpmeets, etc.

Yes, Luna and Meredith only serve as facilitators. Well, at least Meredith does. And the book probably doesn‘t pass the Bechdel test, but it didn‘t bother me terribly much. And you?

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Currently still reading:

Life on Earth by David Attenborough (audiobook)

Activation Degradation by Marina J. Lostetter (audiobook)

Reading next:

Black Powder War (Temeraire, #3) by Naomi Novik, buddy read, part of my TBR-pile, ebook