Review: The Wolf Road

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the-wolf-road-coverTitle: The Wolf Road (2016)
Author: Beth Lewis
Pages: 368

Review: This is a stunning debut novel. The story follows Elka, a rugged orphan girl who is on the lam due to her association with the murderous brute who raised her. Set in a post-apocalyptic wasteland, where modernity has been reset to something mirroring the Old West, Elka must traverse a brutal landscape to bring her former caretaker to justice.

The story lives and dies with Elka–she is the narrator, setting a gripping tone that carries the novel. Her outward strength paired with her naiveté of the world makes for a compelling combination. She has little interest in the apocalyptic event that is the basis for her environment, which creates a similar disinterest from the reader and allows the characters to shine.

Author Beth Lewis structures the novel with the opening chapter revealing the ending to the story, but it is a hollow event to the reader. It is not until we reach that same moment again at the end of the novel that we understand how much meaning is imbued in a moment that once meant nothing to us. It is a choice that worked to maximum effect for me and made me appreciate the ride even more.

★★★★¼ out of 5

Review: Crossroads of Canopy

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canopy-fullTitle: Crossroads of Canopy (2017)
Author: Thoraiya Dyer
Pages: 336
Series: Titan’s Forest #1
My thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

I maintain that if a book has tree-centric 26863057cover art, designed by Marc Simonetti (see right), I will drop everything to read it. Unfortunately, I was much less enamored by the pages beneath the beautiful cover.

Conceptually, the novel intrigued me — there is a societal hierarchy that is based on where you live within the trees that make up the world. It feels like a fairytale, following the exploits of a girl who lives amongst the trees and the gods that rule them. Execution-wise, it just did not work for me. I found the protagonist, Unar, to be frustrating, unlikable, and whiny for most of the book. My issues with the main character created a feeling of detachment from the overall proceedings and I had a hard time caring about what was happening.

The setting made me think that there would be some sense of whimsy or joy present in such a fantastical world, but instead there is a gloomy energy that I never quite connected with. What should have been a 336-page jaunt feels like a 750-page slog.

★½ out of 5

Review: Senlin Ascends

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senlin-ascendsTitle: Senlin Ascends (2013)
Author: Josiah Bancroft
Pages: 361
Series: The Books of Babel #1

Review: I was completely taken with Senlin Ascends right from the outset. Author Josiah Bancroft’s words paint a vivid picture of a peculiar world where nothing is as it seems. It’s Tim Burton meets Wes Anderson meets something completely its own.

The story follows Thomas Senlin as he climbs the massive Tower of Babel in search of his missing wife. Senlin encounters a compelling cavalcade of characters who he uses as stepping stones to reach his ultimate goal, while they use him to further their (often) nefarious aims. These symbiotic relationships teach Senlin about the true nature of the tower and about the man he must become in order to succeed.

Bancroft’s prose is lyrical and conveys a sense of grand adventure that I rarely find in my reading life. I am perplexed about the lack of mainstream attention Senlin Ascends has received since its release several years ago, but I plan to keep the positive word-of-mouth going as much as I can.

★★★★½ out of 5
✪ SPECULATIVE SHELF STARRED BOOK

Review: Too Like the Lightning

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81hifvbq-4lTitle: Too Like the Lightning (2016)
Author: Ada Palmer
Pages: 432
Series: Terra Ignota #1

Review:  Too Like the Lightning chronicles several days on Earth in the distant future, where flying cars zip through the sky, country borders have been dissolved, and war is non-existent.

This is a unique and challenging book that left me feeling quite conflicted. I will never complain about straightforward novels that spoon-feed information and exposition, but this was so far towards the opposite end of that spectrum that it made my head spin. Careful reading, backtracking, and re-reading were necessary to understand what exactly was going on. Author Ada Palmer makes you work for each revelation and concept contained in her deeply fleshed-out future world. And while the ideas presented and communicated feel prescient and thought-provoking, the work I put in far exceeded the enjoyment I took away.

There are shimmers of brilliance throughout, but it frequently crumbles under the weight of its own inaccessibility. The thoroughness required in reading actually left me so enmeshed within the world that, upon coming to the final page, I was disappointed that there was no definitive resolution. The story will continue in a sequel coming this February, but I may not be along for the ride.

★★¾ out of 5

A Year in Review: 2016

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I committed to reading more this year and was very happy with the results. I read some great standalones, series starters, and series finales in 2016. Here are six of my favorites:

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“Buoyed by a strong third act filled with twists and monumental confrontations, the Age of Myth tells a satisfying tale that I would be interested in revisiting in the future…” see full review here.

 

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“…City of Blades is an excellent sequel. It’s not just a retread of the first book. It builds and expands on themes we saw before, changes the setting, spotlights different characters, dials down the melodrama, and turns up the mystery.” see full review here.

 

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Sleeping Giants presents a compelling mystery that is unspooled through interview transcripts and other unconventional narrative means. Intrigue abounds and the ending has me looking forward to the upcoming sequel.

 

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“…author Ian Tregillis continues his brilliant alternate history tale with a tense build-up and an explosive payoff…this is a deeply satisfying conclusion to one of my favorite series of all time.” see full review here.

 

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“Frederic S. Durbin creates a setting filled with such beautiful imagery that opening the book felt like being transported to the nameless countryside each and every time. He writes a simple, yet profound story that I enjoyed immensely.” see full review here.

 

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“…this was a gripping, edge-of-your-seat, popcorn movie thriller that easily positions itself as one of my favorite books of 2016.” see full review here.

One regret I have from 2016 was not reading enough books authored by women (as evidenced by a lack of representation in my top 6 list). My total 2016 reading split was 77% male-authored vs. 23% female-authored. I would like to close the gap in those percentages in 2017.

canopy-fullSpeaking of 2017, here is a list of works I’m looking forward to in the new year:

Crossroads of Canopy by Thoraiya Dyer, Titan’s Forest #1 (January 31)*

27405006All Our Wrong Todays by Elan Mastai (February 7)**

Waking Gods by Sylvain Neuvel, Themis Files #2 (April 4)

City of Miracles by Robert Jackson Bennett, The Divine Cities #3 (Aprilcity-of-miracles_final 20)

Borne by Jeff Vandermeer (May 2)

18052164Age of Swords by Michael J. Sullivan, The Legends of the First Empire #2 (June 28)

The Stone Sky by N.K. Jemisin, The Broken Earth #3 (August 15)

Oathbringer by Brandon Sanderson, The Stormlight Archive #3 (November)

Barbary Station by R.E. Stearns, Barbary Station #1 (December 5) 31932810

The Thorn of Emberlain by Scott Lynch, Gentleman Bastard #4 (TBD)

*Currently reading an advanced copy
**Read an advanced copy, look for it on the 2017: A Year in Review list!

 

See you next year!

 

Review: The Liberation

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tregillis_liberation-tp1Title: The Liberation (2016)
Author: Ian Tregillis
Pages: 464
Series: The Alchemy Wars #3

Review: Robot sentience dawns and engulfs the world like a plague. In the third and final volume of the Alchemy Wars trilogy, author Ian Tregillis continues his brilliant alternate history tale with a tense build-up and an explosive payoff.

Tregillis is a master at framing and answering the “what if?” questions inherent in the genre. “What if human-created robot slaves obtained Free Will?” Multiple answers are presented, as separate factions of free “Clakkers” split off. What is so captivating about this novel is how Tregillis uses the chess pieces that he’s laid out in the first two novels (The French underdogs, the Dutch overlords, the free Clakkers, the slave Clakkers, the messiah-like Clakker named Daniel, Queen Mab and the Lost Boys, etc.) to show which strange bedfellows will align to better serve the end goals of their specific group.
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Review: The Obelisk Gate

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26228034Title: The Obelisk Gate (2016)
Author: N.K. Jemisin
Pages: 448
Series: The Broken Earth #2

Review: This continues to be unlike any book series I’ve read. N.K. Jemisin’s use of language is wholly immersive and imbued with so much brutality. Her imagery pulls you in and communicates the nature of the world so effectively that it’s draining to read in long sittings. Compared to the first book, this one seemed less focused and had a more meandering story to tell. It’s the sort of book I appreciate more than I enjoy, as its unrelentingly harsh and moments of levity are few and far between.

★★★¼ out of 5

The Broken Earth series:
1. The Fifth Season (2015) – 3.5 stars
2. The Obelisk Gate (2016) – 3.25 stars

Review: The Bone Clocks

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the-bone-clocksTitle: The Bone Clocks (2014)
Author: David Mitchell
Pages: 624

Review: This has been sitting on my TBR shelf for quite some time. I had it in my head that it was a generic time-travel novel, but I was pleasantly surprised to find David Mitchell’s signature interwoven narratives, beautiful prose, and a time-travel undercurrent that slowly unraveled as the book came to a head.

David Mitchell’s use of language to immerse the reader in a setting is unlike any other author I’ve read. He deftly moves between genres, narrators, and time periods, while always presenting something that feels simultaneously literary and engrossing. The sextet story structure would translate extremely well to a 6-episode limited television series on Netflix or HBO.

The plot moves forward at such a slow pace, but then the conclusion in the penultimate chapter ends up feeling rushed and gratuitous. Fortunately, Mitchell brings the novel to an end in a quiet, satisfying way that is both hopeful and bittersweet.

★★★★½ out of 5
✪ SPECULATIVE SHELF STARRED BOOK

Other David Mitchell ratings:
Cloud Atlas (2004) – 5 stars
The Bone Clocks (2014) – 4.5 stars
Black Swan Green (2006) – 4 stars
Ghostwritten (1999) – 3 stars
Slade House (2015) – 2 stars

Review: The Crown Conspiracy

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146902Title: The Crown Conspiracy
Author: Michael J. Sullivan
Pages: 324
Series: The Riyria Revelations #1
Read via: Kindle

Review: Michael J. Sullivan writes some really delightful fantasy stories. Having now finished two of his novels (see my review of Age of Myth) I have a better sense of his overall writing style–charming characters, witty dialogue, swift-moving plots, adventure, humor, wizards, political intrigue, etc. I’ll take that combination any day of the week.

Something else I noted in my prior reading of Sullivan was his ability to construct interesting side characters. Myron, the wide-eyed monk, is another instant classic. Similarly, Royce and Hadrian, the novel’s protagonists, are a very charismatic duo. Their absence from any scene immediately makes it less compelling.

There is certainly a sense of a “long game” being set up in The Crown Conspiracy that will span the six novels of the series, and I’ll certainly be following things through to the end to see how it all unfolds (assuming the books maintain this level of quality).

★★★★¼ out of 5