| Book Review: "Silence" by Michelle Sagara |
[May. 23rd, 2012|02:09 pm] |
Silence is Michelle Sagara's first book in the new Queen of the Dead urban fantasy series. As most of you know, I'm not a huge fan of urban fantasy, but I love Michelle's other fantasy books, so I decided to give this one a try.
The main story revolves around Emma, who lost her father a while ago, and has recently lost her boyfriend in an accident. Grief-stricken, she's taken to visiting the graveyard at night to relax. However, on this night, she's not alone. Erik, a new student at her school, is there, and he's hunting Necromancers--people who can use the power of the dead to essentially perform magic. the only problem is that Emma is beginning to show signs that she could be a Necromancer herself.
The book continues with Emma coming into her power, Erik constantly on edge waiting for her to become what he fears the most, all while they try to help a four-year-old boy escape an eternity trapped in the house fire that killed him. And, oh yeah, the real Necromancers show up to try to bring Emma to their side.
The book has the standard urban fantasy feel--a darker atmosphere, some harsh realities about life and death, etc. The only paranormal touch is the existence of the dead and how they are used and how they interact with the world. There is no hint of other creatures, such as vampires, werewolves, etc. Because of the ages of the characters, this also has a significant YA feel to it. I thought Emma, Erik, and there rest of their friends were especially well drawn out and their interactions with each other were realistic and believable. I especially liked Michael's character--an autistic friend who ends up being more significant than most of Emma's other friends.
I did have some issues: There was a strong case of "we aren't going to tell you" here, meaning that Emma is trying to figure out her new world as it changes, Erik (and others) have answers, but they refuse to tell her for no real or apparent reason whatsoever. I find this annoying--just TELL ME ALREADY!--especially when one of the characters literally says that what Emma doesn't know can kill her . . . so why not tell her and forewarn her! I so no reason they couldn't, except it meant that there would be no "mystery" about her power any more and that might cut the dramatic tension.
Another issue was that I'm still not quite certain exactly how Emma's power works in the end. I read the scenes where she's figuring things out a couple of times and I still don't understand what it is that she's doing. The Necromancers power is kind of obvious, and Emma is not doing what they're doing, but I don't see the "rules" that Emma is operating under and how it all ties together. Granted, she's new at this and those rules probably aren't clear to anyone, but I should still get a "feel" for those rules, moreso than I got here. I assume that what she has become will be made clearer in future books.
So, overall, I thought it was a good entry into the urban fantasy field, but I have to say the "just tell me already" aspects of the story were a significant drawback, more frustrating than mysterious for me. I'll be reading the sequels when they arrive, but I much prefer (not surprisingly) Michelle's epic fantasy. |
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| Book Discussion: "Chicory Up" by Irene Radford |
[May. 21st, 2012|09:30 am] |
The next book discussion for the May books is Chicory Up by Irene Radford, the second book in the Pixie Chronicles. I haven't gotten to the first book yet, so how about you guys? Who here's started this new series by Irene Radford? What did you think of this second book?
Cover Copy: The leader of her tribe had exiled Thistle Down from Pixie. Trapped in a human body and deprived of almost all her Pixie magic, Thistle had made a life for herself with the help of her human friends--Desdemona "Dusty" Carrick and her brother Dick. But trouble was brewing among all the Pixie tribes, fueled by Haywood Wheatland, a half-Pixie/half-Faery, who was determined to seize control of The Ten Acre Wood for the Faeries.
Thistle, Dick, Dusty, and her fiance, police Sergeant Chase Norton, thought the threat to the town of Skene Falls and The Ten Acre Wood had ended with Haywood's arrest and imprisonment, but they were wrong. For even as they turned their attention to romance and weddings, the Pixie tribes were preparing for war. Only a young, inexperienced Pixie named Chicory was taking a stand against the growing Pixie army in The Ten Acre Wood. And even if he could convince Thistle and her new human family to help him, it might already be too late to avert the destruction of all Pixies. . . . |
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| Book Discussion: "Life Guards in the Hamptons" by Celia Jerome |
[May. 18th, 2012|01:06 pm] |
Our next May book discussion is Celia Jerome's Life Guards in the Hamptons, the fourth of the Willow Tate novels. (Great last name for the protagonist by the way. *grin*) I read the first book in this series, but have fallen behind on the others, mostly due to time, not any lack of enjoyment of the story. Celia's getting a little far ahead of me, though, so I need to catch up this summer, now that the Spring semester is over and I have more reading time. How about all of you? Who's read this one and what did you think?
Cover Copy: Graphic novelist Willow Tate is a Visualizer, able to draw images of beings from the realm of Faerie and possibly to "draw" them from their world to ours in the process. Maybe she shouldn't have decided to make her latest book about the god from Faerie whom she'd "rescued" when the fire bugs came to her for help. Or maybe she just shouldn't have given him a part fish/part fowl sidekick. Had the creature shown up in Paumanok Harbor because she'd drawn it, or had she drawn it because it was calling out to her for assistance?
Either way, more weird things were happening in the Hamptons: robberies, embezzlement, rare bird sightings, rogue waves, and dolphins keeping the surfers out of the water. And though Willow swore she had nothing to do with any of it, none of the locals really believed her. She'd protested to anyone who'd listen that she wasn't even in Paumanok Harbor when it all started. Except, of course, the hero of her latest book--patterned after the new man in her life, a handsome Harbor veterinarian--happens to be a sea god. . . . |
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| Book Discussion: "Silence" by Michelle Sagara |
[May. 16th, 2012|09:51 am] |
We're now ready to start discussing the May releases from DAW and the first up is the hardcover release of Michelle Sagara's Silence, the first book in The Queen of the Dead series. I haven't gotten to this one yet, but what about you guys? It's certainly looks significantly different from Michelle's other books.
Cover Copy: Ever since her boyfriend Nathan had died in a tragic accident, Emma had been coming to the graveyard at night. During the day she went through the motions at her prep school, in class, with her friends, but that's all it was. For Emma, life had stopped with Nathan's death. But tonight was different. Tonight Emma and her dog were not alone in the cemetery. There were two others there--Eric, who had just started at her school, and an ancient woman who looked as though she were made of rags. And when they saw Emma there, the old woman reached out to her with a grip as chilling as death. . . .
Emma was not quite like other teenagers. It was true that other girls had experienced grief. Other girls had also lost their fathers or had their boyfriends die in a senseless accident. But though she hadn't known it till that night in the graveyard, unlike those other girls, she could see, touch, and speak with the dead. In fact, Emma could draw upon the essence of the dead to work magic. That was what Necromancers did. But Emma had no desire to be a Necromancer. She just wanted to help the ghosts who walked the streets of Toronto, unable to escape from the land of the living. And that was just as well, because had she chosen the path of the Necromancer, Eric would have had to kill her.
Instead, Eric and his fellow Necromancer hunter Chase found themselves violating every rule they were sworn to follow, becoming part of Emma's group, helping her to stand against those who preyed upon the dead. But whether Emma and her friends could survive such a battle was anyone's guess. And whether Emma could learn to use the magic of the dead against her enemies without herself falling victim to the lure of such power remained to be seen. Eric seemed to think she could, and her living friends would never abandon her. But only time would tell what Emma's true destiny was. . . . |
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| Book Discussion: "The Helix War" by Edward Willett |
[May. 14th, 2012|03:31 pm] |
This is the last book discussion for the April releases (and yes, I realize it's now May 14th). It's for the omnibus edition of Edward Willett's The Helix War, which comprises the two novels Marseguro and Terra Insegura. I have the two original books (not the omnibus), so I'll give you the back covers to those books instead, since they probably give you more details about the books. I haven't managed to read these yet, but I've now moved them up on my TBR stack, so will get to them shortly. They're SF novels, which is why they sometimes get lost in the shuffle of all of the fantasies. *grin*
Cover Copy: Marseguro: Marseguro, a water world far distant from Earth, is home to a small colony of unmodified humans known as landlings and to the Selkies, a water-dwelling race created by geneticist Victor Hansen from modified human DNA. For seventy years the Selkies and the unmodified landlings have dwelled together in peace, safe from pursuit by the current theocratic rulers of Earth--a group intent on maintaining human genetic and religious purity.
Then landling Chris Keating, a misfit on any world, seeks personal revenge on Emily Wood and her fellow Selkies by activating a distress beacon taken from the remains of the original colony ship. When the Earth forces capture the signal and pinpoint its origin, a strike force, with Victor Hansen's own grandson Richard aboard, is sent to eradicate this abomination.
Yet Marseguro will not prove as easy to conquer as the Earth force anticipates. And what Richard Hansen discovers here may alter not only his own destiny but that of Marseguro and Earth as well.
Cover Copy: Terra Insegura: Marseguro, a water world far distant from Earth, is home to a small colony of both unmodified humas and the Selkies, a water-dwelling race created by geneticist Victor Hansen from modified DNA. For seventy years the Selkies and the unmodified landlings have dwelled together in peace, safe from pursuit by the current fanatical theocratic rulers of Earth.
But everything changes when Earth discovers Marseguro, and a strike force--with Victor Hansen's own grandson Richard aboard--is sent to eradicate this abomination.
Yet Marseguro has devised a defense against Earth's Holy Warriors, a plague genetically tailored to destroy unmodified humans. With the Holy Warriors defeated, the people of Marseguro are ready to put their world back together and heal the wounds of war. But no one has anticipated the actions of the traitor, Chris Keating. Chris was the one who signaled Marseguro's location to Earth. And now he is aboard a ship returning home to Earth, unknowingly carrying within him the plague that can destroy all life on the mother planet.
Richard Hansen and the Selkies feel they have no choice but to send their own mission to Earth to deliver a lifesaving vaccine. Only time will tell what awais them when they reach their destination. . . . |
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| Book Discussion: "The Shining City" by Fiona Patton |
[May. 4th, 2012|08:54 am] |
We still have two book discussion for the April book, and the first one is for The Shining City by Fiona Patton, the third novel in the Warriors of Estavia series. I discovered Fiona Patton through one of her short stories in a DAW anthology, and bought her books based on that. I'd been aware of the books before that, but had never tried one of them. But what about all of you? Any thoughts/comments on this series or her other books?
Cover Copy: Anavatan, the City of the Gods, rests on the shore of shining Gol-Beyaz, the Silver Lake. The city, and its outlying villages, are surrounded by the God-Wall, a magical barrier that protects all who dwell here from both the nomadic human invaders that attack each year, and the hungry spirits which are drawn to the living energies of the Silver Lake yet can't break through the spell wall to claim this life force for themselves. It is here in the heart of Gol-Beyaz that, long ago, the Gods were born--the six Immortal Patrons of Anavatan, and of most who dwell within the city.
The three children of prophecy--the seers Spar and Graize, and the warrior Brax--are all grown now and each has come into his full power.
And with the young God Hisar ready to stake his claim to a place in the pantheon of Anavatan, a long-prophesied time of chaos and change is fast approaching. Sworn enemies, Spar and Graize both had a part in Hisar's creation and his growth. If they can overcome their mutual hatred and distrust, perhaps together they can help the young God to survive the coming battles with both the hungry spirits seeking to devour him and the mortal invasion fleet which is even now sailing for Anavatan.
Brax, the sworn champion of the Goddess Estavia, may be forced to do the unthinkable, and divide his allegiance to the Gods, a course of action which could not only destroy the young warrior himself but which might disastrously shift the balance of power--and lead to the downfall of the Shining City. . . . |
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| New Releases: May 2012!!! |
[May. 1st, 2012|01:29 pm] |
The new releases from DAW Books are hitting the shelf right now! We have new Michelle Sagara, Celia Jerome, and Irene Radford this month, plus a paperback release from Margaret Weis and Robert Krammes. Which of these books are you waiting to get your hands on?
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First up is the hardcover release of the first book in a new series from Michelle Sagara. There isn't a description up on the Penguin site of the book, but it looks like it's an urban fantasy. The book is called Silence and its the first book in the series Queen of the Dead.
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Next up is the paperback Life Guards in the Hamptons, a Willow Tate novel from Celia Jerome. I've fallen behind on this series. Again, no description of the book up on the Penguin site, but here's the cover art:
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The next brand new book this month is Chicory Up from Irene Radford, sequel to Thistle Down, both part of the Pixie Chronicles. Still no descriptions on the Penguin site. What's up with that? In any case, here's the cover:
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And the last release for May is the paperback of Margaret Weis and Robert Krammes' Shadow Raiders, part of the Dragon Brigade series. This one has a description, given below.
The known world floats upon the Breath of God, a thick gas similar to Earth's oceans, with land masses accessible by airship. The largest of these land masses are ruled by the rival empires of Freya and Rosia. Magic is intrinsic to the functioning of these societies, and is even incorporated into their technological devices. But now a crucial scientific discovery has occurred that could destroy the balance of power-and change the empires forever.
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And those are the new releases from DAW for May! Head on out to that bookstore (or online) and snag them before we begin discussing them later this month. Then stop by and leave a comment! |
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| Book Review: "Discount Armageddon" by Seanan McGuire |
[Apr. 18th, 2012|11:11 am] |
This is the first book in a new series from Seanan McGuire, best known for her October Daye urban fantasy novels featuring Toby Daye and the fae living among us. Those novels are rather dark in tone and nature, with nearly all of the fae creatures tending toward their more wicked and tricksy original roots.
Not so with the new Incriptid series. The premise is that Verity Price, a member of a family intent on saving the crytids of the world from destruction by the fanatical group called the Covenant, is in New York City to decide whether she wants to continue with the family business she's been trained for since birth . . . or to become a professional dancer. Between dance competitions and her job at a stripper bar, she hunts down cryptids who are preying on humans, while helping to keep the rest of the less deadly cryptids hidden. Everything's fine until a new member of the Covenant shows up to determine if NYC needs a purge . . . and cryptids begin disappearing. It doesn't help that Verity is attracted to the enemy. Only far too many cryptids are disappearing--too many to lay at the Covenant's doorstep anyway. Something else is going on, and it might just take both Verity, the cryptids she's protecting, and the Covenant member to find out who and what is going on.
As you can guess from the description, the tone of this series is much lighter than that of the October Daye books. Oh, there are dark moments--people die, there's fighting, etc--but overall the atmosphere is much less dreary and a lot more fun. And that's how I'd describe this book: fun. There are a slew of new cryptids, including talking mice that celebrate . . . well, everything, and a bunch of creatures from other lands and folklore. It runs across cultures, which is appropriate for a melting pot like NYC. Verity is a strong character and is totally believable as a cryptid hunter (when necessary) and protector. And she's supported by a whole crew of individual and interesting characters, both human and non-human. There's also a much stronger streak of romance in this series.
I did have a few complaints, mostly dealing with the Covenant agent. It's emphasized over and over again that the Covenant is huge and powerful and deadly . . . and yet the agent sent to NYC to determine if the cryptid population there has grown so large that it needs to be purged comes across constantly as weak, uninformed, and honestly, not all that intelligent. After the buildup of the Covenant's reputation, I expect their agent to be just as powerful and deadly as Verity can be, but he doesn't come across that way. Sure, he kills some cryptids, but he doesn't seem to know much about anything regarding the cryptids overall. I wanted him to be a more competent and stronger individual, so that what happens between him and Verity is that much more powerful. You can still have a strong character with certain beliefs waver over the course of a book.
My other issue was with Verity herself: perhaps she's too strong. She has weak moments, gets hurt, and can be vulnerable, but overall her conviction is so strong that moments of doubt are just that--moments. She doubts herself for perhaps a breath or two, and then she's back storming away. I didn't get the sense that Verity changed herself during the course of the book. In fact, I felt that the story was really the Covenant agent's story, since he's the one that changed the most. Which is probably why I wanted him to be a stronger character.
In any case, that doesn't matter. The book is thoroughly enjoyable regardless and, as I said, a ton of fun. If you liked the October Daye books, I'd say you'll also love Verity Price and this new Incryptid series. |
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| Book Discussion: "Alien Diplomacy" by Gini Koch |
[Apr. 16th, 2012|09:05 pm] |
Time for the next book discussion! Alien Diplomacy is the fifth Alien novel from Gini Koch. One of the things I like about this series (I've read up to book four) is that the world changes from book to book, so it feels alive rather than static. The relationship between the two main character continues and expands from book to book, rather than just cycling back and forth like some urban fantasy relationships. Here's the cover and description! Who's already devoured this one?
Cover Copy: Being newlyweds and new parents is challenging enough. But nothing's ever easy for Jeff and Kitty Katt-Martini, particularly not when they have to switch from being super-being exterminators and Commanders in Centaurion Division to mastering the political landscape as the new heads of American Centaurion's Diplomatic Corps.
Kitty's brand of diplomacy and lobbying isn't quite as smooth as Jeff's--Washington parties, lobbyists of all stripes, and politicians from all states and countries present challenges a well-stocked iPod and quirky sense of humor aren't always up to handling. But when a shadowy assassination plot and a new set of anti-alien conspirators are identified, Kitty's the diplomat for the job--in between "Mommy and Me," "Diplomacy for Beginners," and the dreaded "Washington Wife" classes.
As explosions, assassination attempts, and murders pile up, the question shifts from "who's the target" to "will we all survive to see next week"?
Armed with only their wits, and dressed to kill, it's up to Kitty and the Diplomatic Corps to stop the bad guys from unleashing mayhem on all the world's leaders. But will Kitty trust the right people, at the right times, or will her own way prove deadly--not just to her, but to her daughter, Jamie? |
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