Ellen Klages, Passing Strange, St Martin's Press, 2017.
I'm pretty sure there are many readers of this blog who will look at the cover of Passing Strange with raised eyebrows, wondering how come I'm reviewing a novella that, quite evidently, features heavily a romance, since romance isn't my cup of tea at all. Let's face it: I'd never have read Passing Strange had it not ended up on the SCKA shortlist. And my initial reaction was "Meh". It took some conversation with fellow readers of the SCKA to go past my disinterest to consider the objective qualities of this fantasy story, which, in the end, make it a novella well worth reviewing.
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Jeannette Ng, Under the Pendulum Sun, Angry Robot, 2017.
Under the Pendulum Sun is a Brontë hommage on LSD and it's very, very, good. This is, as usual, an entirely spoiler-free review. Jeannette Ng was extremely kind in accepting to answer some of my questions, so at the end of the post, after some suitably big and red and very visible warning, you'll also find a spoiler full Q&A with the writer. Art by Josh Kirby for the cover of Hogfather. Christmas is coming and you want to fill the world with your love of scifi and fantasy? Alas! The ruffians that are your family and friends used The Lord of the Rings to start a chimney fire, they think that Foundation is the name of a beauty product and they said that Earthsea would be nice if only there wasn't so many spells and invented stuff in it.
But here is a way to sneak upon them science fiction and fantasy novels! All the following books have been tested and approved by people who are usually allergic to space ships and magic. As usual in the collections, they are by chronological order. JY Yang, The Tensorate series,
The Tensorate series comprises so far two fantasy novellas. I finished reading them, unsure whether I'd review them or not, but on balance, I think what were to me the weakest points were very subjective whereas I felt that the strong points weren't. Will you agree with me? That is the question. Verity Holloway, Pseudotooth, Unsung Stories, 2017.
Weird... Very weird... Weirder... Weirdest... Those words very much defined my reading of Pseudotooth, a fantasy novel that isn't easy to categorise. Nonetheless, it was a very engrossing read and a very satisfying one. Max Gladstone, The Craft Sequence, Tor,
"My oh my, C..." are you thinking, "Do you really think I have time enough to read something as long as a series with 6 volumes published?" That's the beauty of The Craft Sequence, a fantasy series by Max Gladstone: each book can be read independently from the others and you could pick one and not go back to the next one for months. Unless, that is, you end up as engrossed into it as I was. Nicky Drayden, The Prey of Gods, Harper Voyager, 2017.
You don't judge a book by its cover. Except in reality, you often pick a book by its cover. The Prey of Gods' cover was what instantly drew me: it's beautiful and invites curiosity about the story. The novel wasn't such an instant hit with me, but it's a great blend of scifi and fantasy in a story packed with action. A. Igoni Barrett, Blackass, Graywolf Press, 2016.
Sometimes, you speak of novels blurring the genres, when scifi or fantasy is in the background. Blackass definitely blurs them, very much so. The fantasy element is mainly the starting point to the story and doesn't come back much. But as the novel has been shortlisted for a Nommo Award, it felt only right that, having liked it, I'd review it too. Emma Newman, The Split Worlds,
Myself: "I thought we said 'Never two reviews for the same author, except in the Collections'!" Me: "Excuse Me? Are you telling Me off because I'm breaking rules? Furthermore rules of my own making?" Myself: "But there are so many authors out there, all worth discovering!" Me: "If I read this five books fantasy series in five days, it's probably for the good reason that I loved it. And we also said that this blog was only for books I loved." Myself: "But you reviewed an Emma Newman series barely 6 months ago! Couldn't you have waited a bit at least?" Me *blows a raspberry at Myself and keeps on with the review because that series is too bleeding good to not review it* Vincent Holland-Keen, The Office of Lost and Found, Fox Spirit Books, 2016.
The Office of Lost and Found wasn't what I expected. But I lost expectations and found a couple of great characters in an unusual world. Robin Hobb, Fitz and the Fool,
I started reading the Farseer trilogy in 2000. Over the years, and after the completion of the Tawny Man trilogy, Fitz and the Fool became "old friends", the kind we readers have when we often re-read books, old friends we like, sometimes dislike, but always come back to. When this new trilogy began being published, I waited. Three years until it was completed at which moment I started on it, read it all in six days and ended in tears. In order that there wouldn't be any spoilers (except for one thing happening in the Tawny Man trilogy), this review deals mainly in feelings and impressions: it may feel a bit frustrating at how vague it is. But better vague than spoilerish. Victor LaValle, The Ballad of Black Tom, St Martin's Press, 2016.
Audio version available on Audible and on Kobo. Almost ten years ago, I had read Big Machine by Victor LaValle. I had found it ok. Because of this lack of enthusiasm, I didn't really followed what LaValle did after that. But one person told me I had to read The Ballad of Black Tom. Then another. Then another. Guess what? They all were right. I had to read it, and so do you. Short stories... I don't like short stories... Mainly it's because I read too fast: I barely have time to get into the story that it's over. It's a bit like going to a gastronomic restaurant when you haven't eaten for two days.
But sometimes, however short, a story grabs you and the world and characters it depicts remain with you for a long long time. So, there. I don't like short stories and stories that are short, except when I like them. Those are all short stories (and two novellas.. and two anthologies) I've read and liked in the past twelve months or so, and, as usual, they are by chronological order. Alexis Wright, The Swan Book, Constable, 2015.
Audio version available on Audible. The Swan Book is by more way than one a novel that blur the genres. It is also something quite unique and if you are the right reader for it, this politically and ecologically engaged fantasy novel from Australia set in the near future will be a delight to read. Dan Grace, Winter, Unsung Stories, 2016.
In the last year, Unsung Stories has become fast one of my favourite SFF publishers as I have yet to find a story they have published and that I didn't like. And Winter, a fantasy novella set in the near future but steeped in the supernatural, is no exception. Jen Williams, The Copper Cat trilogy,
Epic and heroic fantasy trilogies are my best frenemies. When I pick up a new one I always long to find back that sweeping sensation I felt the first time I read Lord of the Rings but I usually end up casually throwing the book above my shrugging shoulders: "Been there, done that, read it to death a thousand times". Having read Diana Wynne Jones' Tough Guide to Fantasyland (with accompanying novels of Derkholm) doesn't help either. So, by the end of the fifth chapter of the Copper Promise, I was eyeing it pretty dubiously wondering if I should really need going any further. But read on, dear reader, because my adventure with the Copper Promise has a happy ending that includes a happy me... Oliver Langmead, Metronome, Unsung Stories, 2017.
"And then he woke up and it was all just a dream..." is probably the most pointless and infuriating sentence I can read. Except that it's the premise of Metronome, by Oliver Langmead and that, far from being pointless and infuriating, it leads to a poetical and gripping fantasy tale. To keep it short: it's made of awesome... Helen Oyeyemi, White is for Witching, Pan McMillan, 2009.
I was grabbed from the first page. By the second page, I knew I would review it. At the third page, I was tweeting "Wow". By the fourth page I wasn't doing anything else but reading because I was too engrossed in the book. Indra Das, The Devourers, Del Rey, 2016.
Here was The Devourers, popping up on a few of "Best of scifi 2016" lists. I'm always wary of those lists on which I often find the latest thing everyone raves about and that I barely managed to finish. Only one way to find out: I picked it up, started reading... argh, no, werewolves! Is it going to be Twilight all over again? But I kept on reading and I loved it. (And it's definitely not Twilight!) Jo Walton, Thessaly,
Plato's Republic, Greek gods, Socrates, time travel and robots. Honestly, what's not to like? ... |
All reviews are spoiler free unless explicitly stated otherwise.
I only review stories I have liked even if my opinion may be nuanced. It doesn't apply for the "Novels published before 1978" series of blog posts. Comments are closed, having neither time nor the inclination to moderate them. |