Tag: 2017

Review: Avengers of the Moon

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9780765382184Title: Avengers of the Moon (2017)
Author: Allen Steele
Pages: 304

My thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

Allen Steele’s Arkwright popped up on many “Best of” lists in 2016 and I gave it shot, but it was not to my liking. Steele’s writing style was tough to engage with. Luckily, I found Avengers of the Moon to be much more palatable. I was coming in blind to Steele’s previous work as well as the source material for which this novel is based — Captain Future, a 1940s pulp sci-fi hero made famous by Edmond Hamilton.

Captain Future is an orphaned renegade who seeks revenge for the death of his parents along with his trusty android sidekick, a disembodied brain, and a hulking robot. It is a fun group, but there’s not a great deal of nuance to these characters. I understand that Steele was operating within the confines of a previously established cast, so I do think he does well with what he’s given.

I very much enjoyed the classic sci-fi vibe of this world — plasma guns, rocket ships, and robot companions abound. In many ways it feels like a B-movie in book form, and as such, the story doesn’t take many creative risks. Throw in an over-the-top mustache-twirling villain and you have the makings of fun, but otherwise ephemeral story.  

★★½ out of 5

Review: Waking Gods

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30134847Title: Waking Gods (2017)
Author: Sylvain Neuvel
Pages: 320
Series: The Themis Files #2 (Series Tracker)

My thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

Last year, Sleeping Giants made my Best of 2016 list and I’m fairly confident Waking Gods has secured a spot on the 2017 list. While Sleeping Giants dealt with the discovery, assembly, and control of Themis, the buried robot relic of unknown origin — book #2 shows how a newly emboldened Earth deals with a threat far beyond what they are prepared to handle. Author Sylvain Neuvel takes the overall story in a bold direction that sees our returning protagonists confronted with a dozen new giant alien robots with unclear aims. Waking Gods is larger in scale, yet more personal in nature.

I love the continued use of interviews with shadowy characters who know much more than they are letting on. By slowly feeding crumbs of intel to the protagonists (and to us, by extension), they’re able to guide them into finding solutions for seemingly unsolvable problems; this serves to drive the narrative forward in a compelling way.

The epistolary format combines with Neuvel’s sharp writing to make for an infinitely readable sci-fi adventure that twists and turns its way to a big cliffhanger ending. I’m excited to see where the series goes from here.

★★★★¼ out of 5

Review: Kings of the Wyld

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kings-of-the-wyldTitle: Kings of the Wyld (2017)
Author: Nicholas Eames
Pages: 544
Series: The Band #1
My thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

In this rock’em sock’em epic fantasy tale, Clay Cooper reunites with his band of mercenary misfits to do battle with a dangerous horde of monsters. It is an undeniably fun journey across a brutal landscape that feels overstuffed with seemingly every fantasy creature…ever. Since the story follows the reunion of the since-retired band Saga, there’s a full career retrospective that has to be explored and explained. This will serve subsequent books in the series well, but it was a lot of information to process while the main story was ongoing.

One fun aspect of Kings of the Wyld was the readily-apparent influence of rock band culture. It became a fun scavenger hunt to identify the parts of the mercenary band world that paralleled the world of rock — from going on tour, to groupies, frontmen, opening acts, headliners, tour bus skyships, battle of the bands, and many more. This was an amusing twist on a genre that often hits similar notes time and time again. While I never quite crossed the threshold from ‘like’ to ‘love’ on this novel, it was an entertaining ride, nonetheless.

★★★ out of 5

Review: Brother’s Ruin

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brothers-ruinTitle: Brother’s Ruin (2017)
Author: Emma Newman
Pages: 160
Series: Industrial Magic #1
My thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

The Royal Society of Esoteric Arts provides stability and prosperity to Great Britain through the tireless work of their Magi. Latent magi are highly sought after, but, once discovered, must forgo their normal life for one solely in service to the Crown. With her autonomy threatened, Charlotte, a young mage, hides her abilities from the world. When her father foolishly offers Charlotte’s feeble brother up to the Royal Society in desperate hopes of landing the large windfall that comes with selection, Charlotte must use her abilities to save brother, her family, and her entire way of life.

This novella, very much a Part 1 to a larger story, did not hook me from the start. It seemed that Emma Newman’s flair for storytelling was not on full display at the outset and may have been hampered by the novella format. Slowly, but surely, as the narrative unfolded, I was more and more invested…until it all ends abruptly — just when I was ready for more!

With such an interesting gaslamp sandbox to play in, I had hoped for more worldbuilding and a wider scope. Hopefully that comes in future installments, as Brother’s Ruin feels like the appetizer to a (potentially delicious) five-course meal.

★★★ out of 5

While I was reading this I was delighted to see the news that Emma Newman will pen two more Planetfall novels. I first discovered Newman through those novels, and I look forward to seeing where she goes next in that world.

Review: Passing Strange

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passing-strangeTitle: Passing Strange (2017)
Author: Ellen Klages
Pages: 220

Passing Strange is a story of love and friendship among six women in 1940s San Francisco. Author Ellen Klages employs elegant prose, a straightforward plot, and a splash of magic to construct this beautiful and well-told story. Everything here works well, but nothing about it blew me away. That being said, I would read an entire book of Klages describing pastries!

★★★½ out of 5

Review: Lincoln in the Bardo

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19-lincoln-in-the-bardo-w245-h368Title: Lincoln in the Bardo (2017)
Author: George Saunders
Pages: 343

After mastering the art of short fiction storytelling, author George Saunders has written Lincoln in the Bardo, his first full-length novel. It is one of the least conventional novels you will ever come across. Chaotic in both form and story, Saunders employs a mix of primary and secondary sources (some authentic; some completely made up) interwoven with the conversations of loitering, spirit-like entities trapped in the “bardo,” where the manifestation of their consciousness waits for their next birth. Very straightforward, right?

The story at the forefront of this madness is the death of Abraham Lincoln’s son Willie, and Lincoln’s mournful visits to his grave. Simultaneously, Willie’s spirit is floating around with all the other residents of the cemetery, as they each seek absolution in their own way. It is a powerful meditation on grief and loss, with a welcome dash of biting humor.

The unsystematic patchwork of storytelling modes is often bewildering in its construction, so, as the reader, you must (cliche alert) make it more about the journey than the destination. Despite the oodles and oodles of originality, the experience is too bizarre and unnerving for the ride to be worth it. I hope to revisit this story in audiobook form, as the star-studded voice cast may add a layer of familiarity to what is, in practice, a very alien novel.

★★★ out of 5

Review: City of Miracles

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city-of-miraclesTitle: City of Miracles (2017)
Author: Robert Jackson Bennett
Pages: 448
Series: The Divine Cities #3 (Series Tracker)
My thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

In this final volume of Robert Jackson Bennett’s brilliantly inventive Divine Cities trilogy, the focus shifts to Sigrud je Harkvaldsson — for my money, one of the best characters in the series. Seeing him get the spotlight was a welcome sight, but I didn’t end up enjoying his POV as much as Shara’s and Mulaghesh’s before him. He may be better served as a supporting character being peppered-in sparingly rather than having full star-status, but as the plot unfolds you come to realize that he was the necessary choice for this role. While he struggles to carry parts of the novel, Bennett builds up a strong supporting cast around him that mostly negates this deficiency.

Bennett’s writing is as strong as ever here, as the novel sets off with a propulsive pace. I’ll set the scene — against the backdrop of a gloomy metropolis, a hulking, lone-wolf vigilante, stealthily picks off baddies one by one in the dark, fueled by the deaths of those he loved. He’s basically Batman for the first part of the novel and I loved it. Despite a middle portion that could have been tightened up as my interest started to wane, Bennett ratchets everything back up for the big heart-pounding finale that each of his books have done so well.

Overall, this was a worthy addition to the Divine Cities series, but not my favorite. That said, Robert Jackson Bennett nailed this trilogy and did a wonderful job with the interplay of gods & mortals, modernity & traditional fantasy worlds, and great characters & an imaginative story. I look forward to seeing what he puts out next.

★★★¾ out of 5

Review: Amberlough

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9780765383815Title: Amberlough (2017) – Preview Excerpt
Author: Lara Elena Donnelly

My thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced reader preview in exchange for an honest review.

This excerpt represents the first quarter of Amberlough and I’m unsure whether it piqued my interest enough to continue with the full novel. Amberlough City is a lush cityscape filled with rusting pipes, cigarettes, and sex. The setting is fascinating, but I never quite connected with the political narrative that drives the main story. Ultimately, I got the exact same amount of plot detail from the description on Goodreads that I did from this sample, so it is tough to judge how useful this excerpt is. The relationships are titillating and the characters unique, but I am not sure the story gripped me enough to see it through to the end. How cool is that cover, though?

★★★ 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