Tag: mystery

Review: King Nyx

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Title: King Nyx
Author: Kirsten Bakis
Pages: 320
Release: February 27, 2024

A tightly woven and haunting gothic mystery that left me supremely satisfied.

A creepy island, a reclusive benefactor, and three young girls vanished into thin air. If those ingredients weren’t enough to hook you, the evolving mystery at the heart of the book does a tremendous job of pulling you deeper and deeper into the abyss as important answers always seem tantalizingly out of reach.

It’s more eerie than it is scary, but Bakis sets the atmospherically rich and period-specific tone incredibly well, as the dialogue and imagery effectively evoke the the haunting quality that brings the plot to life.

The story itself tackles contemporary issues through the lens of life in 1918 – the rejection of science, toxic men in high places, and even a disease outbreak requiring quarantine! Timeless themes, an alluring mystery, and beautiful prose make this a supremely satisfying read.

★★★★½

My thanks to the public library for providing me with a post-release copy in exchange for a promise that I’ll return it within 14 days. (I did).

Review: The Hexologists

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Title: The Hexologists (September 26, 2023)
Author: Josiah Bancroft
Pages: 386
Series: The Hexologists #1

How does Josiah Bancroft fare once he leaves the comfortable confines of the Tower of Babel? Pretty well, in fact! Bancroft leans into the charming voice and delightful prose that brought The Books of Babel to life in order to kickstart this delightful new series. 

Bancroft effortlessly establishes the new setting, the stakes, the lovable main characters, and the magic system all while employing his trademark wordplay flourishes and clever turns of phrase. The Hexologists shares plenty of structural DNA with his previous novels, so longtime fans will surely feel right at home while Bancroft charts a slightly different course here.

While I initially felt that a 5-star review would be in order, the story lost some steam in the back half and I was not wholly invested in the mystery at the heart of things, so we settled into a very solid 4.0. Our lead pair, Iz and Warren, are a great duo and I hope to follow their adventures for several more books to come!

★★★★

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

Review: Camp Zero

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Title: Camp Zero (April 4, 2023)
Author: Michelle Min Sterling
Pages: 304

This was a pleasant surprise. Camp Zero is swiftly paced, has solid twists, and features multiple compelling interwoven storylines. Michelle Min Sterling’s vision of the future is intriguing, alarming, yet totally plausible.

The separate POVs are well-differentiated, as each character brings a unique perspective to the story and they intersect in surprising ways. Each narrative thread has mysteries to unspool and Sterling doles those out in a consistent and continuous manner so you’re never waiting too long for the next reveal. Sterling’s utilitarian prose is effective at moving the story forward, as well.

I had hoped for a tidier ending, but the conclusion sticks to the book’s themes of societal disarray and desperation that all the characters confront throughout, so I can’t complain too much.

★★★★

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

Review: Empire of Exiles

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Title: Empire of Exiles (2022)
Author: Erin M. Evans
Pages: 432
Series: Books of the Usurper #1

A ruined civilization. A sequestered city. And a story told through the eyes of archivists who study the collected works of those cultures lost to time and war. 

You can tell that Evans poured all of her nerdery into this book and it’s impressive to behold. She throws everything under the sun into the worldbuilding and while that sometimes overshadows the murder mystery and character work, it all gels nonetheless.

The world Evans has built up feels ripe for exploration and it’s setting up for a great trilogy. With the murder mystery solved and a larger conspiracy laid bare, I’m intrigued to see what shape the next book will take.

The book is worth it for the incredible maps by Francesca Baerald alone.

★★★¾

Review: The Bone Orchard

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Title: The Bone Orchard (March 22, 2022)
Author: Sara A. Mueller
Pages: 432

The Bone Orchard is an ambitious and inventive novel about the lengths someone will go for self-preservation amidst extreme trauma. 

While the main plot concerns a poisoned emperor and the subsequent whodunit – the real stars here are Shame, Justice, Desire, Pride, and Pain. These five “boneghosts” are richly drawn and complex characters who answer to Charm, our central protagonist. Their relationship to Charm is fascinating and evolves in unexpected ways throughout the course of the novel. And, once I could keep all of the characters straight, I really enjoyed the world Sara A. Mueller conjured up – even if sometimes it felt like the narrative could have been tighter. Bonus points for an outstanding cover!

★★★¾

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

Review: The Justice of Kings

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Title: The Justice of Kings (February 22, 2022)
Author: Richard Swan
Pages: 496
Series: Empire of the Wolf #1

An odd thing about this book is that the only character on the cover and the character mentioned in the book’s description as an “unforgettable protagonist destined to become a fantasy icon” is not the main character of the story! It’s certainly an interesting choice and I’m unsure whether or not it is an effective one. Helena, our actual main first-person POV character, is likable and authentic. We see Sir Konrad Vonvalt (the aforementioned coverboy/man) and the story itself through her eyes. It was a tad distracting trying to puzzle out how this served the greater narrative, and I can’t say I ever arrived at an answer.

Luckily, Richard Swan’s writing flows nicely and made for a pleasant reading experience. The murder mystery nestled inside the larger, empire-spanning conspiracy was compelling and left me curious to explore this world beyond what is shown in this specific story. I’m on the fence over whether I’ll continue on to book #2, but this was a solid start to an intriguing new series.

★★★¾

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

Review: Piranesi

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PiranesiTitle: Piranesi (2020)
Author: Susanna Clarke
Pages: 272

It was a real delight to be lost in the labyrinthian walls of Susanna Clarke’s Piranesi. Clarke’s dizzying descriptions of endless hallways, vestibules, and staircases was disorienting but also mesmerizing.

Piranesi, our kindhearted and peculiar main character, is a wonderful window into this world. There are many mysteries that surround him and the maze he finds himself in. Clarke answers more of these riddles than felt necessary, but ultimately, this is a cracking good read that I’d recommend to anyone looking for a brief escape to a more hopeful world.

★★★★¼ out of 5

Review: Unseemly Science

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UnseemlyScience-144dpiTitle: Unseemly Science (2015)
Author: Rod Duncan
Pages: 368
Series: Fall of the Gas-Lit Empire #2 (Series Tracker)

Unseemly Science picks right back up with Elizabeth Barnabus attempting to solve a new mystery involving blocks of ice, body-snatchers, and an enigmatic charitable foundation. I found this to be a worthy sequel that lost only a bit of the magic from the first book. Author Rod Duncan has crafted an amusing, well-drawn story with a wonderful protagonist. The overall story has yet to feature much in the way of empires falling, as the series title suggests, so perhaps the third book is more towards that end. I look forward to finishing out this series in time for Rod Duncan’s new Elizabeth Barnabus series coming in 2018.

★★★¼ out of 5

Review: After Atlas

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28361265Title: After Atlas (2016)
Author: Emma Newman
Pages: 384

Planetfall (2015) has stuck in my mind since reading it last year. It had a haunting quality that I could not shake. After Atlas is a pseudo-sequel that takes place after the events of that novel, but exists adjacent to the original story. It certainly can function as a standalone novel, but knowing the backstory and outcome of Planetfall adds another layer to the reading experience that ended up being quite satisfying.

In the near future, technology has advanced to a point where everyone has their own virtual assistant, food comes out of printers, virtual reality is ubiquitous, and corporations (overtly) control governments. Some long for a simpler time, including those in the Circle, an anti-tech cult. When their messiah-like leader is found dead under mysterious circumstances, Carl Moreno, a detective and former Circle member, must solve the case while multiple nefarious factions attempt to stop him.

In this police procedural, let’s call it CSI: VR, author Emma Newman deftly lays out the clues and mysteries in a straightforward way, but the way the puzzle and solution come together is unexpected, yet makes perfect sense. The pieces fit together snugly and the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.

Another strength of After Atlas lies in Detective Moreno, the chief protagonist. He has so many forces acting and pulling on his psyche, from his own internal demons, to his tragic past, to his unending indentured servitude to his employer, and to unseen external forces that are conspiring against him. He is a complex hero who has a gratifying character arc.

The ending of After Atlas was final in a certain sense, but opened the possibility for a follow-up that would explore the continuation of the same story, but would switch up the genre yet again. I, for one, hope that comes to fruition. Emma Newman has emerged as an impressive voice in science fiction who writes interesting stories with depth and nuance. I look forward to seeing whatever else she cooks up in the future.

★★★★ out of 5
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