This enormous tome was really two separate books, but with the same characters. The first is a collection of short stories, each about a character and how their story is tied to a tree; further stories are sometimes about the original character’s child or descendant, but the trees remain the heart of the stories. (The depiction of the blight of the American chestnut, and the steamrolling impact it had on American lives, is beautifully conveyed.) In the second part of the book, the stories of some (but not all) of the characters begin to converge, each in their own way moved to take action against humanity’s selfish, careless assault on nature. Although the writing was polished and beautiful, the overall book was very uneven for me; after the sharp focus of each of the introductory stories, the plot moved jerkily between the nine (!) protagonists’ viewpoints, staggering from one story to the next, eventually breaking off without really reaching a solid conclusion.
Author: librarykat
Stories of the Raksura vol. 2, by Martha Wells
The two stories in this collection are “The Dead City” and “The Dark Earth Below.” The first is a prequel, which is an interesting adventure but doesn’t honestly add much to Moon’s character that we don’t already know about; we see yet again that he is slow to trust but quick to defend. The second deals with a threat to the neighbors of Indigo Cloud that coincides with Moon and Jade’s first clutch being born; the tension is kept high by Moon’s parenting issues and the real danger being presented by the attackers.
Stories of the Raksura vol. 1, by Martha Wells
The two stories in this collection are “The Falling World,” in which Moon has to mount a rescue party when Jade disappears; and “The Tale of Indigo and Cloud,” about the founders of Jade and Pearl’s court. In the world of the Raksura, queens are the biggest and baddest, with the biggest teeth and claws, so touchy that negotiations between courts are carefully ritualized dances of insult calibrated to fall just shy of actual violence; their counterparts, the male consorts, are expected to be more docile and nurturing, and find their way through negotiation and diplomacy. The first story explored the delicacy of the power balance in Indigo Cloud, and I liked seeing how everyone had to balance their desire for stability against their need to go after Jade; the second story was my favorite, as it was all about people trying their best to do the right thing without falling afoul of politics and the Raksura version of honor.
book collage, November 2022
Nona the Ninth, by Tamsyn Muir
Dark Arts and a Daiquiri, by Annette Marie, read by Cris Dukehart
Shades in Shadow and The Awakened Kingdom, by N.K. Jemisin
A Prayer for the Crown-Shy, by Becky Chambers
All the Murmuring Bones, by A.G. Slatter
Warrior, by Marie Brennan
Legends & Lattes: A Novel of High Fantasy and Low Stakes
Two Witches and a Whiskey, by Annette Marie, read by Cris Dukehart
The Trials of Nina McCall, by Scott W. Stern
Plum Duff, by Victoria Goddard
A Man Called Ove, by Fredrik Backman
Empire of Pain: the Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty, by Patrick Radden Keefe
Someone in Time: Tales of Time Crossed Romance, ed. Jonathan Strahan
This Poison Heart, by Kalynn Bayron
Daughter of the Moon Goddess, by Sue Lynn Tan
At the Feet of the Sun, by Victoria Goddard
Honey & Spice, by Bolu Babalola
For All the Tea in China: Espionage, Empire and the Secret Formula for the World’s Favourite Drink, by Sarah Rose
Gallant, by V.E. Schwab
The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea, by Axie Oh
The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea, by Axie Oh
The title is pretty, but should really reference the girl who jumped into the sea. Every year a beautiful woman is sacrificed to pacify the Sea God, whose storms ravage the villages; this year, the woman selected to be the Sea God’s bride is Shim Cheong, beloved of Mina’s brother. In anger and indignation, Mina throws herself into the sea in Shim Cheong’s place. Once in the spirit world, she finds unlikely allies who help her tell the gods exactly what she thinks of their neglect of humanity’s prayers. Mina’s narrative voice is wonderful, and the story moves along well.
Gallant, by V.E. Schwab
Spooky and atmospheric. Olivia, who cannot make sounds and has to communicate through sign language, is being raised at an orphanage for girls; she has nothing of her parents except her mother’s old diary. Unexpectedly, a letter arrives inviting her to her ancestral home of Gallant, a place her mother’s diary explicitly warns her against visiting. Of course she goes anyway, and uncovers deep dark family secrets. Although the writing is beautiful and creepy, the plot itself is fairly straightforward and predictable; the one little twist was the identity of Olivia’s father, which I thought was a nice touch. None of the characters grow or change much as they march through this gothic tale; the point is to defeat the monster, not to explore anyone’s inner development.
For All the Tea in China: Espionage, Empire and the Secret Formula for the World’s Favourite Drink, by Sarah Rose
History, an absolutely fascinating look at the lengths the British went to in order to gain access to Chinese tea, and the ways in which tea made empire possible. The story is centered around Robert Fortune, a real life frontier botanist employed by the East India Company, who (despite internal wrangling within the Company as well as within the botanist world) ventured deep into the hinterlands of China and smuggled out tea plants and seeds to the rest of the world, breaking China’s monopoly. Rose also uses Britain’s tea trade as a jumping-off point to explore colonization, opium, and how tea made empire possible. My favorite quote: “What the world has sought when it sips a cup of tea is a mild effect, a high with neither lift nor letdown, a calming alertness, a drink of moods. What Fortune found in Wuyi Shan was Britain’s reigning temper: the thrill to conquer, but politely.”
Honey & Spice, by Bolu Babalola
Sassy, delightful rom-com. Undergrad Kiki, smart and cynical, runs a radio show encouraging women to stand up to toxic masculinity… which is why it’s problematic when she’s seen kissing Malakai, one of the more notorious players on campus. When she tries to figure out how she can finagle her relationship with him to best protect her image, she finds him to be unexpectedly helpful. The characters trade brilliant barbs and snappy comebacks at a dizzying pace, and although the story follows a very typical romance arc, it also manages to explore themes of race, identity, self-image, public image, and friendship along the way. Super fun.
At the Feet of the Sun, by Victoria Goddard
Sequel to The Hands of the Emperor, which is one of my favorite books of all time and therefore admittedly a hard act to follow. Sadly, I found this one a bit of a drag. Both Cliopher and the former Emperor, layered and powerful characters from the previous books, find themselves struggling to come to terms with their new circumstances and relationship, which is doubly frustrating when you consider how effortlessly they managed to communicate in the prequel. Cliopher’s journey also expands, from reclaiming the myths of his heritage to actually expanding them, which (although beautifully rendered by Goddard) didn’t really work for me either. Although I liked the characters’ arcs, I feel like they could have gotten to the same place with half the melodrama.
Daughter of the Moon Goddess, by Sue Lynn Tan
Uses the legend of Chang’e, the Chinese Moon Goddess, as a jumping-off point. Xingyin, daughter of the imprisoned Chang’e, sets off on a quest to free her mother. I almost didn’t get past the beginning, in which Xingyin’s escape felt overwrought and melodramatic; however, as she bravely inserts herself into the court of the Celestial Empire, learns to be a warrior, and forges her own uncompromising way forward, I found myself really enjoying the story. The book reads like a wuxia drama, all silk and steel and smoldering glances, with the characters preoccupied with plotting and honor, and it’s such fun. Slow start, great finish. Apparently there’s a sequel but this book stands alone well.