December 2022 Reading Round Up

The 4 book reviews at SFFWorld in December made up for the the lack of any book reviews I posted in November. However, two of these books mentioned in my November post. There was also a 2023 release I read, the review of which I’ll be posting in January, but I’ll just say it was from a favorite horror author.  The standard drill follows...excerpts of what went up at SFFWorld this past month followed by brief review/reactions to the other books I read in December 2022.

The Art of Prophecy (The War Arts Saga #1) by Wesley Chu - What the novel then turns out to be is a lengthy and entertaining answer to the question of “What if the Prophecy was wrong?” Well…it turns out the true nature of the Eternal Khan was very misunderstood by Jian’s people, but we learn more about the Eternal Khan and the Katuia Hordes of the Sea of Grass who worship him through the character of Salminde (Sali). Sali finds herself on a quest to a new Eternal Khan. This also allows readers to gain a sympathy with the “other side” because Sali is a fantastically realized character. I appreciate when characters buck the “expected” in favor of logic and reason and Sali has a great wit about her that makes her particular journey quite enjoyable.

 The Spare Man by Mary Robinette Kowal - Perhaps the word that I can best use to describe this book (and it has already appeared in this  review) is the word charming. Tesla and Shal are charming, so is Gimlet, and the story is just a fun romp that itself is charming. Charming can sometimes come across as “too cute” for its own good, but MRK is a smart enough writer to keep that charming element that is a comforting blanket over the whole novel at just the right level. Although The Spare Man is not marked as the first book in a series, it certainly can work that way. I for one would love to follow Tesla and Shal throughout the galaxy solving crimes and having adventures.

The Bladed Faith (The Vagrant Gods #1) by David Dalglish - David Dalglish has published over 25 novels since 2010, many of them in the same secondary world of Dezrel (The Half-Orcs, Shadowdance). With The Bladed Faith, Dalglish launches a new world and a new series entitled Vagrant Gods. In it, young prince Cyrus of Thanet watches his parents and gods Endarius the Lion and Lycaena the Butterfly murdered by an invading army of the Everlorn Empire. Cyrus is shocked to see this transpire before his eyes. ... A lot happens in this novel, The Bladed Faith very much fits the term Epic. But is only the first installment of a trilogy! Dalglish reveals his story and characters at a measured pace I very much appreciated, with a balanced approach to character, action, backstory, and worldbuilding. It was fun, it was epic, energetic, and addictive. In short, The Bladed Faith is very strongly in my Epic Fantasy wheelhouse. Even before I finished the novel, I knew the second book in the series, The Sapphire Altar would be very high on my anticipated reads list.

Lucky Girl: or How I Became A Horror Writer: A Krampus Story by M. Rickert - This is by no means an uplifting Christmas ghost story, but it is gripping and rife with dread and tension. The only minor issue I had with the story was that for a horror writer, Ro was not quite genre-savvy to recognize some of the horrific elements she was experiencing. That in itself is a trope, characters of horror stories being somewhat unaware of the nature of the darkness plaguing them so perhaps that is what Rickert was playing with in this story.

 

T. Kingfisher published two genre works this year, and I read both of them, moist recently What Moves the Dead, which is a retelling of Poe’s “The Fall of the House of Usher” with a non-binary character who happens to be a retired lieutenant named Alex Easton. Alex visits the Ushers to help her friend, Madeline thanks to Roderick (Madeline’s brother) request. The Ushers are not in good shape, they seem to be affected by a strange affliction. Adding another layer of creepiness are a few factors constantly seen on the grounds of the Usher mansion – staring, white rabbits, the strange lake on the grounds, and the proliferation of fungi. 

 There is a quirky cast of characters who surround Alex: Eugenia Potter, the mycologist (a scientist who studies fungi) and the American doctor James Denton. The three of them try to figure out what is plaguing the Ushers and if it can be remedied. 

 This was a strange, weird, and fascinating story. Largely because of the fungus element, I was reminded of Jeff VanderMeer’s Ambergris stories. Kingfisher has one of the more unique and enjoyable points-of-view in the genre and I’ll continue to read her work as it publishes. 

Rachel Harrison’s Such Sharp Teeth is a Mount Rushmore-level Werewolf novel. I read Harrison’s debut novel The Return earlier in the year and I was very impressed so I was excited to try her new (in 2022) novel which was about werewolves. Well, one werewolf in particular. Harrison tells the tale of Rory (short for Aurora) Morris, who returns to her hometown to be by the side of her twin sister Scarlett during the last weeks of her pregnancy. On the way there, Rory is bitten by a creature and she finds her body going through changes. She’s stronger and transforms during the full moon. Harrison does a fantastic job of paralleling the experiences of the twin sisters, and telling a compelling, addictive story. I read it over the course of two days. 

I had to bail on the second book in an epic fantasy series I was really looking forward to reading, I just couldn't connect as the narrative felt very scattered. I think it may have been a case of “me, not the book,” but a book that size (and the predecessor was just as large) would very much benefit from a recap page and cast of characters page. 

After that unfortunate book, I moved onto R.S. Belcher’s Six-Gun Tarot, which is the first book in his Golgotha Weird-Western fantasy series. This guy is criminally under-read, he writes wonderful, genre-bending stories. The kinds of books/stories that when you look at the superficial ingredients, you shake you head and ask yourself, how in the hell is this going to work. But he makes it work. I read the third book, Queen of Swords five(!) years ago and liked it very much. This one introduces readers to a young man named Jim on his way to Golgotha. Jim’s got a magic eye from his deceased(?) father and somehow gets deputized shortly before arriving at Golgotha. Maude, a young witchy woman, is another featured character. Belcher tells the novel going between the “current” storyline as well as Flashbacks that show the “origins” of Maude and Jim. There’s also a powerful, dark presence (maybe it is an Elder God like Cthulhu?) on the outskirts of Golgotha and oh yeah, we see chapters that peek into the War in Heaven or what lead to the War in Heaven and Lucifer’s fall. Heady, all over the place stuff, but it makes sense within the pages. 

All of my Audiobook time in December was dedicated A Crown of Swords, the seventh Robert Jordan Wheel of Time novel. I’m still enjoying the trek through Randland.

July 2022 Reading Round Up

July was another great month for reading, I read a couple of authors for the first time as did many people recently, they were debut novels. Three of the books I read in July were review books for SFFWorld (one of which will post in August so I'll note that next month), but the review of a book I read in June was posted in July. The short of that sentence - I posted 3 reviews to SFFWorld in July: 

Kagen the Damned by Jonathan Maberry: Horror and Epic Fantasy tend to intermingle, just read some of the passages of Tad Williams’s The Dragonbone Chair and you’d be forgiven for thinking you’re reading a horror novel. More recently; however, some big chonker Epic Fantasy novels don’t just have horror passages, or dashes of horror, they can be considered Epic Horror novels outright – Jay Kristoff’s Empire of the Vampire and Christopher Buehlman’s Blacktongue Thief immediately come to mind. Of course, this novel could be considered Grimdark – and it will definitely appeal to Grimdark readers – but the horror DNA of Kagen the Damned is pretty potent. 

A Mirror Mended by Alix Harrow: Powerful prose, modern sensibilities, and a great sense of fun make A Mirror Mended a great follow-up to A Spindle Splintered. There are many other fables/fairy tales Harrow can explore with her fine-tuned pen and sensibilities, I for one would welcome more stories in this vein with these characters. 

Black Tide by K.C. Jones: I also like how Jones injects humorous passages into the otherwise dark and horrific tale. The best horror novels, and movies, have a laugh here or there to balance out the tension and the same can be said for Black Tide. That humor and balanced approach…i.e. not every chapter/passage being a conflict with an alien monster…helps to keep the pages and story moving at a great pace. 

In books I read that weren't reviewed at SFFWorld, I continued with Marshall Ryan Maresca’s Maradaine super series with Lady Henterman’s Wardrobe, the second in the Streets of Maradaine sub-sequence. This trilogy within the big series has a heist-like/caper feel and focuses on The Holver Alley Crew. The crew is still trying to get some kind of revenge or recompense for their homes and base of operations being burnt down. The street-wise group needs to infiltrate a high-society party to learn who was pulling the strings lead to a surprise. I’ll admit, a book with a title about a woman’s closet may be peculiar, but the book was lots of fun and was a great “episode” of the overall Maradaine saga. 

Paul Tremblay is one of the more impressive horror writers to emerge into the genre the last decade or so. A Head Full of Ghosts is one of the most perfect horror novels I ever read. Slowly, I’ve made my way through his books and this past month, landed on Survivor Song which is set during a pandemic as a new, deadly strain of rabies emerges. Although published in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic, Tremblay wrote it before. Timing can be interesting. Anyway, this was a pretty gripping novel focusing on the plight of Natalie, a pregnant woman who was bitten and asked her friend, a Doctor, to help her. The novel follows their journey across a small region of Massachusetts over the course of a few hour. An intense, emotional and unsettling novel. 

As the month came to a close, I cracked open Into the Narrowdark the third book in Tad Willams’s latest 4-book trilogy, The Last King of Osten Ard. Hard to say too much at this point, but I eased right back into the world and these characters. Small print at 500+ pages means I’ll be occupied with this book for a while. That is NOT a complaint. 

For my audiobook readings, all of July was consumed by Lord of Chaos, the sixth installment of Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time. I’m enjoying it as a very comforting return to friends and familiarity, but I’m beginning to see hints of the dreaded “Slog.” Some fantastic character moments in the novel, more perspective from the Forsaken and dark side. 

Only one book didn’t work for me in July, Ruthanna Emrys’s A Half-Built Garden. I found the pacing to be rather slow. I didn’t’ connect with the characters and was simply not feeling the book.

Women in Horror Month (2022)!

March is Women in Horror Month, a celebration of women's contributions to the Horror Genre. A few of the bookstagrammers and bloggers I've been following are highlighting works by women in the horror genre during the month of March. This includes the Ladies of Horror Fiction, who is hosting a readathon, which functions as a pretty good "to-read" list. 

Another great way to find some goods books to read in the spirit of this month is to follow the  #WomenInHorrorMonth and #WiHM hashtags on twitter or Instagram. You could als follow Ladies of Horror Fiction on Instagram & Twitter and Mother Horror/Sadie Hartmann on Instagram or Twitter for good recommendations. Hell, those accounts should be followed regardless if you happen to enjoy horror.

For my part, I've got a review posting here on Wednesday (03/09), of an excellent, spooky novel I recently enjoyed as an audiobook. I may have one more audiobook review of a book I just started enjoying recently; a non-audio book review of another recent favorite writer, and perhaps an author profile going live over the course of this month. Life outside the pages (and earbuds for the audiobooks) may dictate what happens 'round here. Could be more, could be less.

All that said, here's a picture of my puppy, Dusty, sitting with me while I read the excellent Dead Silence by S.A. Barnes (a.k.a. Stacey Kade), which I reviewed for SFFWorld.