Review: Children of Earth and Sky by Guy Gavriel Kay

Review copy provided by the publisher via NetGalley.

Let's begin with a brief primer for those of you new to Guy Gavriel Kay's work.

Many of Kay’s books, including CHILDREN OF EARTH AND SKY [Amazon | The Book Depository], take place in a secondary world that’s followed a similar historical progression to ours. Similar is the key word there; while certain events and characters have their roots in historical fact, all the place names are different, the key players aren’t necessarily the same people as their real-world counterparts, and the geography doesn’t quite match up with ours.

I often recommend Kay to litfic readers who’d like to try fantasy but are leery of the genre. He adopts a traditionally literary approach to plot and character, while the fantastical elements tend to emerge organically once the reader's accustomed herself to the rest of the setup. One might find a ghost lurking between the pages, or an old god the contemporary religions can’t quite seem to oust. Occasionally, a character does outright magic, but such scenes have become increasingly less common in the sorta-alternate-history section of Kay’s bibliography. He’s interested in the circumstances that might cause magic to fade from the world, and in the ways magic finds to cling on even as its influence becomes less than it once was.

He’s also a prime pick for fantasy-shy readers because he doesn’t really write series. You should read the three-volume Fionavar Tapestry and the two-volume Sarantine Mosaic in publication order, but everything else works perfectly well as a standalone--with the caveat that those of his books that take place in the same world are richer if you know something about that world’s history.

Review: Prophecies, Libels, and Dreams by Ysabeau S. Wilce

I don’t spend nearly enough time telling y’all to read Ysabeau S. Wilce. Oh, I’ve gushed here and there, and I’ve bought copies of FLORA SEGUNDA for a couple of folks, and I somehow managed to convince a couple more to buy copies their own selves. But my efforts have all been low key, you know? And it’s been ages since I made a concerted effort to spread the word about one of my favourite authors.

That just won’t do.

A few words on what I consider a “favourite author,” so’s you know where I’m coming from. There are plenty of people on my mental list of authors whose work I regularly enjoy, but a favourite goes above and beyond that. Most of the time, I want to have at least three or four of a writer’s books under my belt before I’ll cautiously declare they’re a favourite, maybe, unless the wind shifts. It takes something pretty durned special to make me leap straight into the reader/favourite author relationship.

Ysabeau S. Wilce got on the list by virtue of one novella, one short story, and one novel. She’s that fucking good.

The novella in question--“The Lineaments of Gratified Desire”--served as my gateway into her work. By the time I’d spent three pages immersed in Wilce’s twisty-turny prose and the brutal, glorious world it described, I knew I had to seek out and devour everything this woman had ever written.

Review: Liberty & Other Stories by Alexis Hall

Review copy provided by the publisher via NetGalley.

LIBERTY & OTHER STORIES is Alexis Hall’s follow-up to PROSPERITY, a novel of queer misfits in an alternate nineteenth century where aetherships sail skies plagued by vicious kraken. Two of the stories contained herein are prequels to PROSPERITY, one is a sequel, and one is a prequel wrapped in a sequel. An additional, shorter piece deals with a previously unknown character who becomes important to the collection's final offering.

I imagine you could read the collection's first two stories as standalones if you're just after a taste of Hall's writing (each novelette or novella contained herein is also available for individual purchase), but you'll enjoy the complete package a lot more if you've already read PROSPERITY. The earlier book introduces the characters and their world, while this one expands upon them by showing us who they used to be and where they're headed next.

Review: Prosperity by Alexis Hall

Review copy provided by the publisher via NetGalley.

Streetwise Picadilly needs a change, so he stows away on an airship bound for Prosperity, a lawless town strung high above the earth. There, he quickly draws the ire of Milord, a posh thug intent on mining a sky claim for valuable phlogiston--provided he and his associates can dodge the pirates and leviathans that threaten to tear them out of the sky.

Dil isn't too keen to linger in Milord's presence, but he has little choice after he incurs a large debt to Byron Kae, captain of the mining enterprise's aethership. At least serving aboard the ship gives him a chance to get close to Ruben, the gorgeous clergyman who dogs Milord's every step. And even though Ruben proves less seducible than Dil might wish, the aethership itself soon exerts a strong pull over the streetwise young drifter.

Until the leviathans threaten Prosperity itself, and Dil is forced to choose between happiness and heroism.

I first heard about PROSPERITY months and months ago when the editor took to Tumblr to gush about it. Within minutes, it was on my great big list of Books I've Gotta Read. And the moment it hit NetGalley, I hit "request" and crossed my fingers.

It lived up to all my expectations. PROSPERITY is a gem, though it's not necessarily a quick or easy read.

You see, my dears, PROSPERITY is strongly reminiscent of a nineteenth century novel; a fine thing, given that it purports to be just that, but a potential barrier for those of us who occasionally struggle with pre-20th century syntax. While there's action aplenty, it's often eclipsed by a wealth of detail and a strong focus on voice. It's easy to imagine PROSPERITY serialized within the pages of a a late Victorian periodical.

Or it would be if Victorian periodicals had published profanity-laden stories involving airships, cities suspended in the sky, aerial leviathans, and overtly queer folks.