This book peers into the corners and shadows of established history and unfolds into an absolutely stunning and fantastical premise. It’s not the first time I’ve read a book about shadow intelligence agencies focused on the supernatural, but this is by far the most ambitious and dare I say successful insertion of magical weird (in this case, djinn with almost alien psychologies) into actual history. The characters, both real and imagined, are established beautifully; their interactions are layered and tense; the descriptive writing is gorgeous. I did find the plot development to be a bit confusing and the pacing uneven; for a while the book didn’t seem like it didn’t know where it was going (or didn’t bother to tell you) and basically let you flounder around for a while. The last quarter or so was the best though and it absolutely stuck the landing. Fantastically good finish.
Author: librarykat
The Last Graduate, by Naomi Novik
Picks up exactly where A Deadly Education left off, with prickly main character El still trying to figure out how to survive graduation while preserving what is important to her (and figuring out what is important to her, which is also a moving target). I still love the nerdy explorations of the nitty-gritty behind a monster-haunted self-study magical school, the tragic way it traumatizes sweet kids and makes them into steely tacticians who prioritize politics and survival over friendship, and the continuing exploration of class differences and its generational benefits. I really liked how the school itself developed into a character over the course of the story, and the buildup and climax were super satisfying. Warning: absolutely argh ending, and of course the last book of the trilogy isn’t out yet.
Iron Widow, by Xiran Jay Zhao
Part mecha monster battles, part Chinese alt-history, part propaganda warfare, 100% unbridled feminist rage. Wu Zetian is being groomed by her family to follow in her sister’s footsteps, as a concubine for the mecha-pilot warriors that protect the population from the hordes of “Hundun” monsters beyond the Wall. Zetian, however, is resistant to the idea; not just because she already chafes at her assigned gender roles (foot binding, illiteracy, general submissiveness), but because the fate of concubines is to be the qi battery that the pilots use to power the mecha fighters… and when the battery is drained, the concubine is dead, hence the constant need for replacements. Zetian rampages through this book in a constant primal scream of fury at the unfairness of everything around her. There’s a lot of background politicking, a great nod to information warfare, and a truly unsettling reveal near the end. Unfortunately, the plot is at times confusing, the development uneven, the characterization flat or inconsistent; definitely a book that wants you to rush through without thinking too hard about the details. Mostly though, this book is Zetian taking out her righteous anger on the misogynist cruelty around her, and it’s hard not to enjoy that. Mad kudos for the love triangle aspect, the equal and opposite power balance providing a refreshing change from the norm. Warning: cliffhanger epilogue.
Aurora Rising, by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff
This book reads so much like a video game that I actually checked to see whether or not it was based on one. The action, characters, and dialogue feel like they would be right at home in a Final Fantasy game (ok, maybe the dialogue is a smidge better). The night before graduation, a space cadet decides to take a joyride, detours to rescue a cryogenically frozen damsel in distress, and misses the all-important, career-defining opportunity to choose his own team members, getting stuck instead with the dregs and interesting outcasts of the academy. Said team members even have character classes which map easily onto stats – “tanks” have max STR, “faces” have max CHA, also “brains” and “gearheads” etc – and each battle party, I mean “squad,” consists of exactly six members, one of each class. See, it’s totally an RPG! The rescued damsel turns out to be the key to unlocking dangerous secrets with galactic consequences – shocker! – and before you know it, the motley crew is off racing across the galaxy in search of answers and safe haven. Oh and did I mention that the “tank” in the squad is an alien that looks exactly like a Tolkien elf; one character even calls him “Legolas” (clearly some aspects of 21st century pop culture have improbably survived into the far future). It’s shallow reading, light and fun, especially enjoyable for those whose main goal in playing science fantasy video games is to get to the next gorgeous cutscene as quickly as possible.
book collage, November 2021
It’s end of month book collage time! Some amazing reads this month.
What Strange Paradise, by Omar El Akkad
Radiance, by Catherynne Valente
Gods of Jade and Shadow, by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
A People’s Future of the United States, edited by Victor LaValle and John Joseph Adams
Devolution: A Firsthand Account of the Rainier Sasquatch Massacre, by Max Brooks
The Order of the Pure Moon Reflected in Water, by Zen Cho
Pumpkin Heads, by Rainbow Rowell and Faith Erin Hicks
Sharks in the Time of Saviors, by Kawai Strong Washburn
The Library of the Dead, by T.L. Huchu
Spirits Abroad, by Zen Cho
Fireheart Tiger, by Aliette de Bodard
The Black Tides of Heaven, by Neon Yang
The Unbroken, by C.L. Clark
She Who Became the Sun, by Shelley Parker Chan
The Chosen and the Beautiful, by Nghi Vo
The Chosen and the Beautiful, by Nghi Vo
This was amazing, a treatment of The Great Gatsby which recasts socialite Jordan Baker as a queer adoptee from Vietnam. As a visibly Asian person in white spaces, her character traits from the original — her avoidance of attachment, her blithe dismissal of others’ opinions — all make sense from someone preemptively protecting herself from racism. As if that weren’t enough, there is also magic, beautifully and lyrically presented: the weather responds to Daisy Buchanan’s emotions so that she moves through the world as literal pathetic fallacy; Jordan cuts paper dolls that come to life; Gatsby plies his guests with crystal glasses of literal demon’s blood. As for Nick Carraway… well, I won’t ruin it, but I will say this book had one of the best, most well-developed endings I’ve read in a while; it also contained delightful surprises, which was quite a feat considering that this book actually follows the original quite faithfully. Oh, and the writing was stunning.
She Who Became the Sun, by Shelley Parker Chan
I do not have words for how awesome this book was. It’s about fate, and how you make your peace with it (or not). A girl from a rural village in China, so poor and unvalued that she was not even given a name, is told that her brother is fated for greatness. When he dies, she assumes his identity and goes on to doggedly pursue his glorious fate as well, disguising herself as a boy and getting admitted to a monastery. In time, she finds herself set against the Mongol conquerors that are ruling harshly over the land, one of whom is struggling to accept the fate that he has decided upon for himself. The book is just brilliant, full of piercing insights about gender, destiny, and self-determination, and characters who don’t let the other characters get away with anything. I loved every moment.
The Unbroken, by C.L. Clark
I really liked almost every concept in this book: downtrodden slave caste with a secret rebellion, a child raised by the colonizers struggles to find her place; warrior/princess romance with respect paid to power imbalance, hidden magic users wielding secret powers… but the characterization was flat, the villains were paper cutouts, the characters made weird and stupid unforced errors, the plot dragged and rushed by turns, and at the end I feel like nothing got resolved and more messes were made. I get that it’s the first in a series, but with this kind of pacing and development, I’m not in a hurry to see where it goes.
The Black Tides of Heaven, by Neon Yang
First in a series: magic, prophecy, family guilt trips. I really liked the concept of a race whose gender is literally undecided until around when puberty hits, at which point they can choose to be male or female (or perhaps neither?), and their body will adapt to their decision. A pair of powerful twins need to figure out a path forward through political unrest, their manipulative and cruel mother, and their bond with one another. I like show-don’t-tell worldbuilding but this one was a little too vague sometimes.
Fireheart Tiger, by Aliette de Bodard
Novella, fantasy with court politics. Thanh was raised in the royal court as a political hostage; she is now back home, but her old flame, Princess Eldris of the neighboring predatory kingdom, is visiting with an eye towards alliance by marriage, or conquest, the same threat under a different name. Thanh eventually also makes friends with a fire spirit, whose history turns out to be tied closely with her own. Beautiful writing and a satisfying ending, but very flat characters.