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.
And whilst I am not a massive poetry fan, I have read the odd speculative fiction poetry. Emphasis on odd. Still, I have a reading buddy who loves specfic poetry, so I had to send her this blog post, the link to the eventbrite ticket thingy (free) and… then I checked the big, bad online seller and Netgalley. Et voilà, I got the free and „read now“ Netgalley of this book.
I will probably torment you with a lot of poetry in the future! 122 pages… Expected publication: April 1, 2024 by Interstellar Flight Press
Throughout the collection, we move from the largest cosmic events to the smallest particles, inhabiting mathematicians, scientists, and astronauts, traveling through time via fossil and starship and good old-fashioned time travel, and then to the mysteries of the human heart and quantum entanglement. […]
May all poetry continue to speculate, and may speculative poetry shine a light not only on possible futures but our lives, grounded and mundane and full of magic.
from the editor‘s introduction.
I can‘t resist. Here is the first poem of this collection as a teaser:
MOSTLY HYDROGEN Jack Martin
Somewhere between Earth’s axis and the hippocampus, a line draws swimmers into water. This is outer space, blue cloth over borders with music notes in black enameled writing. This is how memory works. This is how: a large system of stars, gas, dust, and dark matter orbits a common center. Deep in the ice, bodies get stuck reaching for the anterograde. Each meadowlark song is a series of green sparks. Oh, vastness, I’ve forgotten how to be where I am.
Ongoing!
I received an advanced copy of this book from the publisher or author through NetGalley. All opinions are my own and I was not required to give a positive review.
I read the first four stories of this in 2020 (16%). Not bad, but I lacked context. I thought I might pick this up again at some point, but without the main novels I never felt compelled. I am finally calling it a day. Maybe I will revisit this one day, if I should ever decide to read Ninefox Gambit, etc.
———— From 2020:
I picked this up after having read and liked Extracurricular Activities. No, I still haven‘t read Ninefox Gambit. I am pretty sure I should read the novel(s) first, but this fell into my hands, so here we go. Apparently the last story is a spoiler for the trilogy and I should probably avoid it for now.
THE CHAMELEON’S GLOVES, ★★★★☆
“Rhehan hated museums, but their partner Liyeusse had done unmentionable things to the ship’s stardrive the last time the two of them had fled the authorities, and the repairs had drained their savings. Which was why Rhehan was on a station too close to the more civilized regions of the dustways, flirting with a jeweled woman and feigning interest in pre-Devolutionist art.
Things go wrong, Rhehan‘s past catches up with them and we end up with a fairly classic and fun heist story, with a weapon of mass destruction thrown in for good measure. Very good, I liked it.
The use of personal pronouns threw me at first, but I caught on pretty quickly.
———— I received an advanced copy of this book from the publisher or author through NetGalley. All opinions are my own and I was not required to give a positive review.
Stacking The Shelves is all about sharing the books you are adding to your shelves, may it be physical or virtual. This means you can include books you buy in physical store or online, books you borrow from friends or the library, review books, gifts and of course ebooks! And audiobooks. …please link back to Reading Reality so more people can join the fun!
Today downloaded from Netgalley, it is a „Read Now“ title. I read Elatsoe #1 in 2021 and liked it. This is a sequel.
Darcie Little Badger’s Elatsoe launched her career and in the years since has become a beloved favorite. This prequel to Elatsoe, centered on Ellie’s grandmother, deepens and expands Darcie’s one-of-a-kind world and introduces us to another cast of characters that will wend their way around readers’ hearts.
Young Adult, magical realism, Lipan Apache author.
The Dead Cat Tail Assassins are not cats.Nor do they have tails. But they are most assuredly dead. Nebula and Alex Award winner P. Djèlí Clark introduces a brand new world and a fantastical city full of gods and assassins. 2024. Are you ready?
Now, this is an instabuy… if I don‘t get it from Netgalley (pending!) or my libby wishlist.
The Hugo Award-Winning Series returns with its newest standalone entry: a gothic mystery involving a crumbling estate, a mysterious bride, and an extremely murderous teapot.
The Cleric Chih accompanies a beautiful young bride to her wedding to an aging lord at a crumbling estate situated at the crossroads of dead empires. But they’re forgetting things they ought to remember, and the lord’s mad young son wanders the grounds at night like a hanged ghost.
One of my reading buddies pointed us towards this list of 2024 speculative fiction releases…. I tried to ignore it for the past two days, but I just caved. So here just an excerpt of those books that tickle my fancy. Check out the full list at your own peril.
Told through the eyes of a murdered scientist whose consciousness has been implanted in a resurrected wooly mammoth and this story speaks to the folly of forcing nature down an unnatural path.
Yep, this novella is already on my to-read-pile for February. Sounds wacky. I have never read anything by the author before.
The Principle of Moments by Esmie Jikiemi-Pearson
A love letter to Black readers of science-fantasy, The Principle of Moments is a symphonic, centuries-spanning adventure – unmissable for fans of the spacefaring found family of Becky Chambers, the alternate London of V. E. Schwab, and the virtuosic climate-craft of N. K. Jemisin.
Not sure, but it would definitely add to my reading of bipoc authors, which was not good last year.
It’s an average Thursday for Carter Cho… until the particle accelerator explodes and sends him back in time. Carter continuously relives the week never making it to Friday. Lonely and in need of help, he manages to pull Mariana into the time loop, and together they must find a way to finally reach the end of the week.
Sounds as if it could be a nice palate cleanser? Added it to my libby-request list.
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.
Yep, reading this in February!
FEBRUARY 2024 BOOK RELEASES
Fathomfolk by Eliza Chan
Revolution is brewing in the semi-submerged city of Tiankawi, between humans and the fathomfolk who live in its waters. This gloriously imaginative debut fantasy, inspired by East Asian mythology and ocean folk tales, is a novel of magic, rebellion and change.
Water, underwater, someone living in the water — all tempting, but I would be keener if this was SF rather than Fantasy. Not sure yet.
A Holmes and Watson–style detective duo take the stage in this fantasy with a mystery twist, from the Edgar-winning, multiple Hugo-nominated Robert Jackson Bennett.
Holmes & Watson is tempting, but the book blurb did not really sell this to me. Undecided.
Exit Black by Joe Pitkin
Die Hard meets The Martian–with a dash of Knives Out–in this action-packed sci-fi thriller.
Okay, bring it on! Well, anyway, sounds as if it could be right down my alley. Knives Out was weird, though… Requested it from Netgalley.
Nebula and Alex Award winner P. Djèlí Clark introduces a brand-new world and a fantastical city full of gods and assassins.
Not sure, but it‘s P. Djèli Clark! I did request this on Netgalley, but Tor rejected me. I don‘t know, I like them, but they don‘t seem to like me… 🤷 Added to my libby-request list.
A year after the Commonwealth won the war with the Theocracy, the interstellar cruise liner Supreme is on its maiden voyage, carrying a host of aristocrats thrilled to be sharing in a wondrous adventure among the stars. The passengers include the owner and his daughters, Angela and Nancy. Growing up with all the luxuries in the world, neither sister has ever known true struggle, but that all changes when a collision with a pirate ship leaves the cruiser powerless and becalmed in hyperspace. And they’re not alone.
A Netgalley backlist title. The prologue did not inspire excitement — a tentacled being crawling through a spaceship. Why no excitement? Because the octopuslike alien sounded like Bob from next door. All the main actors in this story were humans. Humans defined by conservative, old-fashioned gender stereotypes.
A weird aristocratic setup. A destroyed Earth and hierarchical society after religious wars. A cruise ship that sounds like the Titanic. Rich people and the poor peple serving them. Very unlikable characters. One-dimensional clichees. Not that an aristocratic setting can‘t work. It‘s been done well by others, just not here.
Very simple writing style without depth. Very slow pace. Half of the book was set-up with nothing much happening. Based on the book blurb, I had expected horror in space along the lines of S.A. Barnes. Unfortunately, there was nothing of the sort. No suspense, just setup and society blabla.
The characters don‘t communicate like real people and not talking with each other like grown-ups is used as a vehicle to cause drama to further the plot. I really dislike this in romance novels and I didn‘t like it any better here.
Not recommend for anybody who reads Science-Fiction regularly. This is like a bad version of a Star Trek ripoff meeting Titanic or Downton Abbey, with antiquated gender roles written from a very cis-male white perspective, without humour, good plotting or decent suspense.
I skimmed A LOT. Normally I would have DNFd this, but I wanted to know what happens. As a horror novel this fell just as flat. Don‘t waste your time with this. 🚀🚀
I received an advanced copy of this book from the publisher or author through NetGalley. All opinions are my own and I was not required to give a positive review.
So, what am I up to? I have the usual combination of one ebook and one audio on the go. Work is getting busier again in the 2nd week of January and I am catching up with friends after the Christmas/New Year holiday. Reading progress is slow. For my eye reading I picked one of my very old Netgalleys. It is not a winner, but I am not ready to give up on it yet.
A year after the Commonwealth won the war with the Theocracy, the interstellar cruise liner Supreme is on its maiden voyage, carrying a host of aristocrats thrilled to be sharing in a wondrous adventure among the stars. The passengers include the owner and his daughters, Angela and Nancy. Growing up with all the luxuries in the world, neither sister has ever known true struggle, but that all changes when a collision with a pirate ship leaves the cruiser powerless and becalmed in hyperspace. And they’re not alone.
It‘s a bit like Titanic or Downton Abbey in space, with unsatisfactory writing. The gender roles are so old fashioned in an un-fun way, the writer looks at everything from his very male and dated perspective, gender roles are really stereotypical, women are reduced to silly spoiled brats or something with boobs or bodies that need covering up to be taken seriously. It‘s very exasperating. Plus that collision with the pirate ship still hasn‘t happened and I am halfway!!! I will continue a little bit longer, but if that really childish female MC doesn‘t toughen up soon or there aren‘t any creepy/scary alien horror vibes soon, I will toss this thing!
From the critically acclaimed author of The Toymakers comes an imaginative retelling of the legend of the Minotaur, full of myth and magic and steeped in the grime of Victorian London; perfect for lovers of historical fiction with a mythical twist.
Oliver Twist meets Minos from Greek legend. This is my current audiobook pick. The narration is good, but it‘s not a fast book. Not quite 4 hours into the audio it‘s also depressing. I will need to be patient for this one.
A WordPress friend pointed out a Locus Magazine article, The Stormy Age of SFF Magazines by Neil Clarke. I do like to read speculative short stories and like many others I read the free online version instead of buying the magazine issue that the story was published in. Every now and then I decide to buy the whole issue to show some support and help those magazine to keep going. Because I do not want them to go broke and disappear. I need to do that more often.
The frustrating part about buying it? I ended up having to buy this issue through that big online bookseller that has been part of the problem, because none of the other options for epub versions worked with my paypal account. So, nice people at those magazines, you really need to make this work for people outside of the US, if you want to ensure that we don‘t give up in frustration after seeing several error messages when trying to give you our money! *end of rant*
What else? Oh yes, Netgalley granted a wish and gave me an ARC for this one:
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.
The book is published in February. I‘m doubtful about reading it on time, but we‘ll see.
Murderbot survived, found out about its past and now… what?
Murderbot decides to travel to a planet where GrayCris abandoned a terraforming project. Our rogue SecUnit suspects a hidden agenda and plans to collect incriminating data. On the trip it gets involved with an assessment team from a different corporation wanting to take over the abandoned planet.
Part of the assessment team is Miki, a human-shaped bot. Murderbot once again has to come to terms with how it was treated in the past, compared to Miki and its treatment by its human friends.
“Or Miki was a bot who had never been abused or lied to or treated with anything but indulgent kindness. It really thought its humans were its friends, because that’s how they treated it. I signaled Miki I would be withdrawing for one minute. I needed to have an emotion in private.”
Once the team and their secret stalker (Murderbot) arrive on the station above the planet, things go downhill fast. There is violence, betrayals, combat bots and Murderbot has to get involved, because it started to care about the humans.
“I was getting an idea. It was probably a bad idea. (When most of your training in tactical thinking comes from adventure shows, that does tend to happen.)”
Another fun entry to the series. With a very sad ending.
All the stars constructs! 🤖🤖🤖🤖🤖
First read in August 2018:
I tried hard to keep this free of spoilers, but I might have failed a little.
“There needs to be an error code that means ‘I received your request but decided to ignore you.‘“
Sassy bot is back! This newest novella is full of increasing levels of snark, sarcasm and mental eye rolls by one of the most engaging AIs I have met so far.
“Who knew being a heartless killing machine would present so many moral dilemmas.“
Murderbot is still struggling with… emerging emotions? Becoming more human? Trying and failing to understand those pesky humans? And really getting fed up with pretending to be one.
I really liked Murderbot‘s interactions with other bots, from remembering and missing ART to meeting transport bots that are either too demanding or too simple and unaware to present adequate sparring partners.
I really liked the combat bots, too. Wells painted a great picture with her description of them. And how smart to put the main processing units where they are. Makes perfect sense.
“I hate caring about stuff. But apparently once you start, you can‘t just stop.“
As if hacking yourself and running away isn‘t bad enough, now there is also caring for pesky humans (again!) and their pets.
Miki was an interesting addition. Not as fun as ART, but a great exploration of where intelligence can take you and how treatment by others can shape your personality. Nature or nurture. And envy and anger. Murderbot is learning more every day.
Great addition to the series, can‘t wait for the next one and I am really looking forward to the full-length novel!
I received this free, uncorrected digital galley from Tor via NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review. Thank you so much!
The Murderbot Diaries in chronological order / not publishing order – Obsolescence, #0.1, short story published in Take Us to a Better Place, not read yet. Got the kindle freebie to catch up. – Compulsory, #0.5, short story published in Wired Magazine after Exit Strategy – All Systems Red(start the series with this one), #1, novella. My updated review. – Artificial Condition, #2, novella. My updated review. – Rogue Protocol, #3, novella. – Exit Strategy, #4, novella. Next! – Home: Habitat, Range, Niche, Territory, #4.5, short story – Fugitive Telemetry, #5, novella. Although this book was the sixth published in the series, it is a prequel to book 5, Network Effect. – Network Effect, #6, novel (my least favourite, might have to re-read this as well) – System Collapse, #7, novella, set directly after Network Effect. My review.
“Before everything that happened, before the towers, before the site plans, before the deeds, before the failing sports bar and two-bedroom apartment above it that often operated like another, more financially successful, unlicensed sports bar until the police shut it down after that one Polish kid got strangled with a pair of pink stockings behind the abandoned Shoppers Drug Mart a block or two south, there were trees here.“
That is the first sentence. Are you kidding me? I should have stopped reading right away.
Confusing story telling, long winded and verbose. Oddly directionless, episodic, not much of a plot. Bleak, grim, with a seemingly endless stream of characters and constantly changing POVs. It was all pretty sterile. I did not much care for any of the characters. The body horror was pretty limp as well and lacked tension.
What is it about? We are in a near future Toronto, post-climate disaster, plagued by mold spreading through a city that has been flooded repeatedly (I presume), with a crumbling infrastructure. It seems to be commentary on the current state of the city‘s political and administrative situation.
Plenty of social commentary. Actual story telling would have been nice. Instead there are snapshots, crab walking us along to a lackluster comedic interlude instead of a satisfying ending.
Characters are luckless freelance taxi drivers, bicycle messengers delivering food, failed business men, etc., moving around a building called The Marigold. Every few chapters we get a chapter named „Suite xyz“, set in one of the building‘s suites, where we meet its inhabitant. Those characters are have-beens, rich people, wannabes etc. reflecting on their lives, their plans, how the world works. Whatever.
Then there is the owner of the Marigold with his wife and entourage as the epitome of the horrible people and two female public health inspectors dealing with the mold-infestation in the city. The mold/fungus is destroying buildings, killing people and becoming more aware. Then there are mysterious sinkholes slowly destroying the city as well.
“This impressively bleak vision of the near future is as grotesquely amusing as it is grim.” — Publishers Weekly STARRED REVIEW
Bleak, very. Amusing, not so much. Mostly depressing and vaguely disgusting. The author seems to be trying hard to show us the ugly sides of humanity and all the characters are pretty despicable or defeated by life. Not my cup of tea.
“A bold dystopian novel that captivates with its dread and depth. The Marigold is unhinged literary horror that goes right to the source of decay.” — Iain Reid, award-winning author of I’m Thinking of Ending Things, Foe, and We Spread
I should have read the blurb more closely, “literary“ anything seldom leads to enjoyable experiences for me. This book didn‘t go right to anywhere.
“Weaving together disparate storylines and tapping into the realms of body horror, urban dystopia, and ecofiction, The Marigold explores the precarity of community and the fragile designs that bind us together.“
Besides the sporror and climate fic we also have a queer relationship, so all boxes are ticked.
Pretty cover.
Bottomline, I did not care for any of the characters. The story stayed on the surface, I lacked emotions and meaningful character development. It was all very episodic and the plot, as little as there was, moved glacially slow. Boring, bleak, depressing, with a silly ending. I hope the Toronto administrators and property developers will be forced to read this as punishment.
I received an advanced copy of this book from NetGalley and ECW Press. All opinions are my own and I was not required to give a positive review. I am sorry I didn‘t like this.
Toronto Apocalypse? Andrew Sullivan on his new horror book ‘The Marigold,’ an oozing life form, and the terror of alienation and isolation.
First Line Friday is a weekly linkup hosted at Reading is My Superpower. … share the first line of a book of your choice, add the link on the host’s page…
The cover and book blurb drew me in — I should have read that description more closely, I think. I am 30% into this bizarre thing and not ready to give up on it yet:
Before everything that happened, before the towers, before the site plans, before the deeds, before the failing sports bar and two-bedroom apartment above it that often operated like another, more financially successful, unlicensed sports bar until the police shut it down after that one Polish kid got strangled with a pair of pink stockings behind the abandoned Shoppers Drug Mart a block or two south, there were trees here.
I wonder if the author was serious about this sentence? My reading buddy‘s suggestion: Maybe it’s the author’s entry into the Bulwer-Lytton Contest for this year.
Since 1982 the Bulwer Lytton Fiction Contest has challenged participants to write an atrocious opening sentence to the worst novel never written. Our whimsical literary competition honors Sir Edward George Bulwer-Lytton, whose 1830 novel Paul Clifford begins with “It was a dark and stormy night.”
I started this novel 3 days ago and actually made it a third into it. Yes, I thought of DNFing it daily. It‘s a bit like a train wreck, it‘s horrible but you can‘t look away. I will be travelling most of tomorrow, so I should get a good chunk of reading done. We‘ll see how far that takes me. As usual, I started taking notes and drafting my review as soon as I started the book. Here is what I have so far, which is just a snapshot and might change considerably, by the time I finish or DNF this one:
Confusing story telling, long winded and verbose. Oddly directionless and a quarter into the book still without much of a plot. We are in a near future Toronto, post-climate disaster-ish, plagued by mold spreading through a city that has been flooded, with a crumbling infrastructure. It started interesting enough, but went nowhere fast.
Plenty of social commentary. Plenty of commentary and descriptive prose, anyhow. Actual story telling would have been nice. It happens every now and then, but not enough to make this a readable novel with suspense and narrative tension.
Characters are either luckless freelance taxi drivers or bicycle messengers delivering food, most of it set in or around a building called The Marigold. Every few chapters we get a chapter named „Suite xyz“, set in one of the building‘s suites, where we meet its inhabitant. Those characters are mostly have-beens, richer people, etc. reflecting on their live, their plans, how the world works. It‘s all about progress and developing something further, to become richer or more powerful.
Then there is the owner of the Marigold and two female public health inspectors dealing with the mold-infestation in the city. The mold/fungus is destroying buildings, killing people and becoming sentient? Then there are mysterious sinkholes slowly destroying the city as well. It‘s all very odd and in a writing style that I don‘t like.
“This impressively bleak vision of the near future is as grotesquely amusing as it is grim.” — Publishers Weekly STARRED REVIEW
Bleak, very. Amusing, not so much. I find it mostly depressing and vaguely disgusting. The author seems to be trying hard to show us the ugly sides of humanity and all the characters are pretty despicable or defeated by life. Sorry. Where is the fun in that?
“A bold dystopian novel that captivates with its dread and depth. The Marigold is unhinged literary horror that goes right to the source of decay.” — Iain Reid, award-winning author of I’m Thinking of Ending Things, Foe, and We Spread
I should have read the blurb more closely, “literary“ anything seldom leads to enjoyable experiences for me. And I guess we are the source of decay.
“Weaving together disparate storylines and tapping into the realms of body horror, urban dystopia, and ecofiction, The Marigold explores the precarity of community and the fragile designs that bind us together.”
Besides the sporror and climate fic we also have a queer relationship, so all boxes are ticked.
Pretty cover.
I received an advanced copy of this book from the publisher or author through NetGalley. All opinions are my own and I was not required to give a positive review.
On the plus side I am listening to this utterly delightful audio:
Adjoa Andoh does a spectacular job again as narrator. First paragraph:
The last stragglers in the funeral procession were barely out the ghost door before the mason bots unfolded their long legs and reached for the pile of stones they’d removed from the wall so painstakingly the day before. Enae hadn’t looked back to see the door being sealed up, but sie could hear it for just a moment before the first of Aunt Irad’s moans of grief rose into a wail. One or two cousins heaved an experimental sob.
Cathy's Reading Bonanza 