Review: Looking For Group by Alexis Hall

Review copy provided by the publisher via NetGalley.

It’s been ages since Drew actually had fun playing Heroes of Legend, his MMO, so he ragequits his high-ranked guild and joins a more casual group with a reputation for tolerance and friendship. His new guildmates include Solace, a Healer who spends a lot of time enjoying the game’s little details. Drew starts exploring the game world alongside Solace, and it’s not long before he’s got a major crush on this awesome girl--so it throws him when he learns Solace is a local boy named Kit. It doesn’t take him long to adjust, though, and the two begin dating offline and on; a fabulous arrangement, until Drew begins to worry about the sheer amount of time he and Kit spend in online spaces.

The moment I learned LOOKING FOR GROUP [Amazon | Scribd] existed, I knew I had to read it. I adored Alexis Hall’s PROSPERITY and LIBERTY & OTHER STORIES, and I’ve recently discovered gaming stories delight me in the same way sports stories do. I don’t watch sports and I don’t game¹, but I love media about these topics because the people who engage in them do so with their whole souls. I’m always up for a story about someone who’s passionate about something, and it’s all the better if this passion plays out within a romance novel.

Because passion for games (or sports) easily feeds into passion of another sort, dontcha know.

Review: Central Station by Lavie Tidhar

Review copy provided by the publisher via NetGalley

Lavie Tidhar’s CENTRAL STATION [Amazon | The Book Depository] centres on a futuristic space port and the surrounding community. Central Station--both the massive structure and the neighbourhood to which it lends its name--lies between Israeli Tel Aviv and Arab Jaffa and is home to a diverse group of people: racially, economically, religiously, and technologically. Prominent families, notorious groups, and established social fixtures abound, and the story herein gives everyone plenty of opportunity to hobnob with others (and Others) from across Central Station’s width and breadth.

CENTRAL STATION began life as a series of short stories published in a variety of magazines and anthologies between 2011 and 2014, with two chapters being original to this volume. Tidhar has reworked the stories so they form a novel, but I’d caution you not to expect much in the way of a traditional plot. Proximity and familiarity, not a common goal, draw these characters together. Tidhar isn’t interested in providing the reader with many answers. Instead, his work issues an invitation to consider the many ways people might come together in a futuristic society that’s traveled to the stars but still has firm ties to Earth.

Review: Monstress Volume One: Awakening by Marjorie Liu and Sana Takada

Review copy provided by the publisher via NetGalley.

Marjorie Liu and Sana Takada’s MONSTRESS [Amazon | The Book Depository] was one of my most anticipated trade collections of 2016. I loved the creators’ work on X-23, a Marvel property about young Wolverine clone Laura Kinney, and I couldn’t wait to see what they’d come up with in a creator-owned title, free from publishers’ restrictions and established canon.

Turns out, the results are impressive indeed.

MONSTRESS takes place in an alternate, matriarchal version of early twentieth century Asia. The war between Arcanics and humans is currently stalled thanks to a devastating weapon the Arcanics unleashed during the last major battle. The Cumaea, an order of scientist-nuns, are desperate to find a way to harness this technology for themselves and have stepped up their experiments on enslaved Arcanics, partly in search of answers and partly to mine the Arcanic essence that grants them their greatest power.

Maika, a teenage Arcanic, needs answers of her own, so she arranges to have herself sold to the Cumaea as a slave. But her bloody foray through their compound complicates everything and sends her on a journey in company with a fox-aspected young Arcanic and a two-tailed talking cat, plus a dark force that’s lodged itself in her soul.

It’s possible MONSTRESS isn’t entirely unique on the world’s stage, but I don’t believe anyone else working in English has put together a comic quite like this. Liu and Takada tackle concepts and issues that receive little thoughtful page time in mainstream comics, and they do so against a stunningly gorgeous backdrop.

Review: The Lie Tree by Frances Hardinge

Review copy provided by the publisher via NetGalley.

Fourteen-year-old Faith is a gifted natural scientist committed to decoding the world around her--but Faith lives in 1860s England, and girls of her social class aren’t allowed to be anything more than attractive, soft-spoken burdens on their loved ones.

When her family relocates to an island that houses an important archaeological dig, Faith sees her chance to grasp the engaged life she’s always wanted; however, tragedy and Faith’s subsequent discovery of a mysterious plant changes everything. The Lie Tree grants true visions to those who whisper potent lies to it, and Faith is certain she can use it to unravel the mystery of her family’s misfortunes and bolster her own desperate desire for more.

Assuming the lies don’t drag her under before she gets the answers she needs.

THE LIE TREE [Amazon | The Book Depository], Frances Hardinge’s latest offering, received high praise upon its UK publication last year. Now North American audiences can get their hands on it, and I’ve got four reasons you should do just that:

The Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson

First, I must inform you I’m about to talk about a fourteen-book series in its entirety. There are some implied spoilers for the early books, though I’ve made an effort not to venture into what I’d consider seriously spoilery territory overall. General opinions and observations abound, but I promise I'll never be all, "Lemme tell you the results of so-and-so’s attempt to resolve this vitally important plot point."

Second, this isn’t really a review. It’s a reminiscence; me talking about a story that meant a lot to me when I was a young fantasy fan, and that has surprised me by still meaning a lot to me now I’m a somewhat older fantasy fan. There are subheadings and tangents below, plus footnotes.

The Wheel of Time was with me for almost twenty years, hovering unfinished in the background. It had a huge influence on Young Me, and Current Me looks forward to rereading it now she knows how it ends.

That won’t happen for a decade or so, though. I ain't that eager.

(Okay, I sort of am, but I’ll resist. This latest reread/catch-up took me a solid year. I need time to recover.)

Now that we’re all clear on what this post is...

Review: Darkhaven by A.F.E. Smith

Review copy provided by the publisher at the author’s request.

The shapeshifting Nightshade family has ruled the country of Mirrorvale for centuries, but their fortunes have begun to waver. Myrren, the eldest scion, can’t Change at all, while his half-blood sister, Ayla, assumes a hybrid creature-form that has their father fuming. Things are already tense within the family domicile when a Changer attacks a priestess. Ayla falls under scrutiny as the only known Changer aside from her father, and the evidence against her mounts when the family patriarch is himself killed by the same being.

Desperate to prove her innocence, Ayla flees the family compound at Darkhaven and allies herself with a disgraced guardsman, while Myrren turns to the injured priestess for help with his own investigation. And all the while, the rogue Changer continues their hunt through Darkhaven.

DARKHAVEN hooked me quickly with its assured prose, nonstandard secondary world, and willingness to explore shapeshifting from another angle. Ultimately, though, it proved to be a mix of things I’m keen to see more of in fantasy and things I’d love the genre to move away from.

We shall start, of course, with the good stuff.

Review: Alex + Ada, Volume One by Jonathan Luna and Sarah Vaughn

Alex has an entirely average, mostly pleasant life. His automated house wakes him up and delivers his breakfast at the same time every morning. His job is fairly predictable. He has a nice group of friends who bake him birthday cakes and let him pet their Corgi. He is pretty bummed out about his love life, though, and his wealthy grandma is downright worried about it. In a bid to cheer him up (and help him get some), she buys him an android for his twenty-seventh birthday.

Alex is horrified. He does not want a sexbot. The whole thing creeps him out.

He’s fully prepared to return the android, but she looks so much like a person that it feels wrong to ditch her. So he keeps her, and spends time with her, and begins to wonder if the factory programming is really the limit of her personality. The news is full of stories about androids who seem sentient, but Ada is so... flat. Alex's quest to uncover the truth takes him deep into the the underground world of android rights, and forces him to question how far he’s willing to go to help Ada discover who she really is.

Let’s get the big, squicky issue out of the way first: Alex does not sleep with Ada.

Whew, right?

In that respect, and so far as the general situation goes, ALEX + ADA reminded me very much of CHOBITS, Clamp’s 2001/2 manga about a student who finds a persocom--that is, an android who takes the place of a personal computer, and whom many users treat as sexbots as well. The two series cover similar ground, but they tackle their subject matter with enough differences that there’s plenty of scope for crossover readership. Please don’t feel you should ignore ALEX + ADA just because you’ve read CHOBITS, or vice versa. They work well in conversation with one another.

Review: Mr Kiss and Tell by Rob Thomas and Jennifer Graham

Review copy provided by the publisher via NetGalley.

MR KISS AND TELL is the second Veronica Mars novel, following THE THOUSAND DOLLAR TAN LINE. Like any mystery, it can be read as a standalone if you’re just in it for the plot; however, Rob Thomas and Jennifer Graham are clearly interested in expanding their characters’ relationships alongside the mystery du jour, and in developing a few threads set to stretch through the whole series. I’d recommend you read it after THE THOUSAND DOLLAR TAN LINE for maximum effect.

Also be forewarned that it spoils a couple of the big mysteries of TTDTL, even though it says little about how Veronica solves the case.

Veronica is now a fully-integrated partner at Mars Investigations, and she’s developing something of a reputation after two high-profile successes. She’s also gained a valuable contact in Petra Landros, owner of the Neptune Grand, who encourages her insurance company to hire Veronica to discover if the hotel is liable in the brutal rape of a nineteen-year-old woman. Veronica has deep reservations about how the case forces her to question the victim’s story, but as her investigation unfolds it becomes clear she’s the only one interested in getting justice on the victim’s behalf. And she's determined to do just that.

Review: Traitor's Blade by Sebastien de Castell

Review copy provided by the publisher.

TRAITOR'S BLADE [Amazon | The Book Depository] has garnered heaps of positive reviews over the last few months; so many that I came to regret declining a review copy from its UK publisher. A swashbuckling fantasy with shades of Alexandre Dumas and K.J. Parker? It sounded like my über-book.

I promptly requested it from the library, but before it could so much as wend its way through processing, let alone make it into my greedy hands, the author put me in contact with his Canadian publisher via Twitter. They generously mailed me a copy that very day.

Authors and publishers can be pretty awesome.

I read TRAITOR'S BLADE almost immediately, then sat on it for a while because I didn't know quite what to think. I enjoyed it, but I had several large problems with it and I wasn't sure I wanted to hash them out on here. There's a lot to be said for critical reviews, but I no longer want to dwell on the books that didn't quite work for me¹. It's far more fun to highlight books I can rave about.

And let's be honest--it's always more difficult to write a not-entirely-positive review when the book came to you at the author's request.

That considerable reservation aside, I've decided I do want to discuss my issues with TRAITOR'S BLADE, partially because they've stuck with me in the months since I finished it and partially because I haven't seen them mentioned in any of the other reviews I've come across.

So, here we go.

Review: Girl Genius Volumes 1-13 by Phil and Kaja Foglio

The Short, Gushy, Ungrammatical Version:

OMG YOU GUYS GIRL GENIUS IS SO AWESOME why did it take me this long to come back to it whyyyyyy it's got mad science and people exercising their awesome powers of invention and none of the characters are all the way good or evil they've all got great depth and they face challenges and sometimes they make poor choices but sometimes they make up for those poor choices so that's good and hey did I mention the MAD SCIENCE it's basically like magic except they use it to make machines and THOSE MACHINES ARE SO AWESOME LIKE AGATHA HAS A SENTIENT CASTLE THAT TALKS I AM WAY TOO FOND OF BUILDINGS THAT TALK and also I really like Gil I'm probably Team Gil although I wouldn't exactly be upset about Team Threesome either and of course Agatha really only needs a dude if she decides she wants one which it seems like she does except no wait she wants two and like I said I'm okay with that and ooh there's a talking cat and a girl with green hair and y'all maybe don't know this about me but I'VE ALWAYS WANTED GREEN HAIR and also there are AIRSHIPS and AUTOMATA (which are called clanks but that's okay) and oooh not everyone in this alternate Europe is white which is GREAT though it must be said most of the main characters are white and most of them are still fairly skinny albeit with larger thighs but anyways it's awesome y'all it's so great you need to go read it please you can thank me later maybe with chocolate or just an enthusiastic tweet it's up to you just READ IT AND BE ENTERTAINED.

Review: The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov

i.

When I was a young person, I had a pen pal who described herself as "well read in Russian literature."

I at once wished I could make the same claim. How elegant, to be well read in Russian literature; how posh.

The kicker is, of course, that in order to become well read in Russian literature, one must actually read some Russian literature.

I sucked at that bit.

Over the years, I’ve read a little Chekov and a little Dostoyevsky, with a brief peek at Ayn Rand¹ and a most enjoyable foray through Sergei Lukyanenko. That's it. I am in no way qualified to call myself well read in this area.

I guess part of the problem is that the most famous Russian novels and plays are a) from the 19th or early 20th centuries, meaning their syntax is not particularly friendly to my eyeballs, and b) by dudes, whereas I gravitate more strongly towards female-authored fiction.

There’s something to be said for reading work that’ll enrich your mind and expand your knowledge of the literary canon, even if you don’t necessarily like it; however, I believe that once you reach a certain point in your life, there’s a great deal more to be said for reading shit you’re reasonably confident you’ll enjoy.

Okay, then. I needed a Russian novel (or play, or essay collection, or whatever) that fit the bill.

Review: The Rise of Ransom City by Felix Gilman

Some thirty years ago, the (in)famous Professor Harry Ransom penned his autobiography and mailed the various parts to friends and acquaintances who might wish to hear his side of the story. Elmer Merrial Carson, newspaper man and one-time friend to Ransom, has spent the intervening decades tracking down the fragments and editing them into a form that makes sense. Now, for the first time ever, the complete text is available so the public may judge whether Harry Ransom, inventor of the Ransom Process, hero of the Jasper City conflict, and founder of the stupendous Ransom City, is the hero or the villain of his own tale.

If THUNDERER was Dickensian, THE RISE OF RANSOM CITY is pure Mark Twain. This story of a young man trying to make his way in an embattled world simply reeks of the sort of wild, sprawling, fifteen-tales-for-the-price-of-one novel at which Twain excelled. Even though the novel appears to be secondary world (the dates match ours, but the geography strikes me as pretty durned different), Gilman limns his pseudo-nineteenth century novel with such a sure hand that it’s easy to believe in it as a story of pluck and verve set against the backdrop of westward expansion.

To be honest, I had a bitch of a time with it.