I thought from the title this might be some sort of dystopian SF ecological planetary disaster, but instead it’s a trippy urban fantasy in which each Arcana of the Tarot is personified as a supernaturally powerful mobster. The Arcana reside in the gritty, violent city of New Atlantis, existing in an unsteady power balance, each answerable only to the others. Rune Saint John, last surviving scion of the fallen Sun court, fights for survival and sanity in a world determined to make it difficult for him, picking up friends and enemies along the way. I loved the portrayal of the interpersonal relationships in this book, as well as the characterizations of the powerful Arcana. Good wrap-up at the end with plenty of threads left hanging for the sequel.
Tag: genre-fantasy
Lost in the Moment and Found, by Seanan McGuire
By now I’d thought I had the hang of McGuire’s Wayward Children series: child escapes untenable home situation via magic door, steps into an environment uniquely suited to test their mettle and build vital aspects of their character, and returns (or not) as their situation warrants. In this one, heroine Antsy escapes a truly scary scenario that could well have led to abuse (sketched with terrible, aching realism by McGuire), but finds herself in a different type of world: an in-between place of endless variety, which she only slowly begins to realize comes at a very dear cost.
Paladin’s Grace, by T. Kingfisher
First of the Saint of Steel series, which I’m characterizing as “cutesy fantasy romances with a background of macabre murders.” The Saint of Steel (a god, even though he’s called a saint) abruptly dies, which has the unfortunate effect of sending his beserker paladins into sudden mental breakdown. Years later, Stephen and a few of his surviving fellow paladins have found refuge in the Temple of the Rat, acting as bodyguards for the order of do-gooder lawyers, doctors, and other public servants. He has a meet-cute with Grace, a perfumer who finds herself embroiled in a scheme of political intrigue. Grace’s awkwardness and Stephen’s determined morality, along with the practicality of the people of the Rat, make this a very enjoyable book to read.
A Taste of Gold and Iron, by Alexandra Rowland
This is a super cute prince-and-warrior queer romance fantasy that feels like it was also written by an economics nerd. Prince Kadou, extremely insecure and given to panic attacks, gets into hot water and his sister the queen must exile him from court. Evemer, one of the royal family’s scholar-bodyguards, reluctantly accepts the duty of guarding the flighty prince, and they find themselves investigating a mystery involving political scheming and counterfeit currency. The currency bit is particularly relevant because Kadou, like certain others in the kingdom, has the ability to tell the purity of a metal by touch, a fact integral to guaranteeing the trustworthiness of his country’s currency (and which makes the issue of counterfeits particularly fraught). I liked the romance, but I loved the worldbuilding.
The Burning Sky, by Sherry Thomas
Solid YA fantasy, refreshing gender twists. Heroine Iolanthe ignores her guardian and puts on a showy display of magic, which immediately makes her a target of the dictator-king’s secret police. She is rescued by an exiled prince, who has been preparing for the appearance of a prophesied elemental mage. Undeterred by her gender, he promptly installs her in the spot which he’d prepared for a fellow student in the decidedly nonmagical and male-only Eton, and proceeds to train her in magical skill and combat. Solid series beginning, and I like how the main characters approach each other as equals despite their differences in gender, rank, and magical power.
A Conspiracy of Truths, by Alexandra Rowland, read by James Langton
This book had one of the best beginnings I’ve ever read, followed by one of the slowest and most boring middles, before it ramped slowly upwards towards a pretty decent ending. This is another Thousand and One Nights type nested-stories book, except the storyteller is a crochety old man, unjustly imprisoned in a foreign country, whose only friend is his extremely sweet and naive apprentice, and whose only weapon is the vast library of stories in his brain. From his prison cell, he grasps at any bits of news of the outside world that he can get, slowly weaving them into an almost unbelievable escape plan. This book has a lot to say about stories, about the stories that we tell ourselves both individually and collectively, and how we use them to shape our lives and our fates. It’s a truly interesting framing device, but personally I got tired of the narrator pretty quickly; he’s extremely unlikeable and makes very questionable decisions, and you never get to leave his head. I did love the cast, which included a lot of extremely strong female characters (though not many of them were likeable either). There was a lot of politics and it was a bit difficult to keep track of all the players; also, some of the stories were clearly meant to convey an underlying point but that point was often lost on me. I eventually made it through (as does the storyteller, who obviously lives to tell the tale) but, like the storyteller, I also feel like I suffered unduly in the process. I recommend the audiobook; Langton does a very good grumpy old man and it’s probably thanks to his narration that I got through the boring bits of the book at all (I would likely have abandoned a print copy partway through). The oral storytelling format also works really well with the first-person narration.
The Djinn Falls in Love & Other Stories, ed. Mahvesh Murad, Jared Shurin
There are some big names in here (Nnedi Okorafor, Neil Gaiman) and some that I love but may not be so famous (Amal El-Mohtar, Claire North, Saad Z. Hossain), but for me the standout stories were by authors I hadn’t previously encountered. “Reap” by Sami Shah is written from the viewpoint of a drone operator who is surveilling the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, and who begins to witness some freaky supernatural goings-on. It’s brilliant, combining frightening djinn behavior with the weird disconnection of war at a distance, and the feeling of being under threat by forces you can’t comprehend. I’d give second place to “The Congregation” by Kamila Shamsie, a gorgeous and spiritual piece about longing and brotherhood. Honorable mention to “Duende 2077” by Jamal Mahjoub, in which an exorcist is called to visit a haunted spaceship. Mostly a strong collection, put together in a way that started out whimsical and got really creepy towards the end.
Heart of the Sun Warrior, by Sue Lynn Tan
Perfectly decent followup to Daughter of the Moon Goddess, with the same flowery melodramatic writing style. Where the first book focused on Xingyin’s fight to prove herself a worthy warrior, this one focuses outward, on politics and her family dynamic. There are a few fight scenes, but not as many as in the first book; to make up for it, we get lots of love triangle angst and tense, layered conversations. I appreciated the main antagonist, whose backstory and motivation came together to create a true monster.
The Wonder Engine, by T. Kingfisher
Second in a duology, sequel to the excellent Clockwork Boys. This installment takes advantage of the unique strengths of the motley party to combat the seemingly unstoppable forces of giant golems, evil mobsters, and an uncaring bureaucracy; meanwhile, the party’s unique disadvantages (fraught interpersonal relationships, small numbers, lack of allies) continue to work against them. As with the first book, the addictive interplay between the characters is what draws you through the book, even as events get ever more dramatic. Really great finish with a surprising amount of angst, given the lighthearted way in which the series began, but I loved it all and wouldn’t change a thing.
The Saint of the Bookstore, by Victoria Goddard
Sister Mirabelle is sent to a town to investigate mysteries of saints and miracles, and finds far more than she expected. A sweet, cozy little addition to the series that works well as an introduction, even though it occurs late in the series timeline; it adds dimension to the characters to see them through the eyes of a newcomer, and gives perspective to the crazy things they’ve been through. (And it really makes me wish there were more novels in the series! I’m not usually the kind of fan who bothers authors to write more faster, but this really does whet the appetite for more Greenwing and Dart books. Especially as she hints at a relationship that wasn’t obvious in the main storyline.)