Review: Ice Upon a Pier, by Ladz

Ruta Pawlak is one of the most successful contract killers Pier-Upon-Pier City has ever seen. Convicted of five murders that landed her multiple life sentences, her kill count allegedly sits between fifteen and two hundred people. Some were just for practice, others for revenge, and others she executed for money to keep her potentially world-record setting reading collection going.
For the first time, a biographer sits down with the legendary killer to hear her story in her own words. Get the details on her relationship with her depraved bosses and her eclectic arsenal of murder weapons from ice magic to poison to even the sun itself. From her impoverished upbringing to her introduction to the Syndicates to her bizarre affair with fellow killer Frieda Masters to Ruta’s eventual downfall, this account goes beyond headlines and court proceedings, weaving a story of love, family, survival, and murder.

"My warped sense of morality embarrasses me."

Ladz's Ice Upon a Pier is a sparse novella chronicling the life of a sapphic contract killer with ice powers. The narration jumps from past to present as she recounts her first kills, her romance with a fellow assassin, and how she eventually ended up in prison. She's unapologetic in her stories, with a caustic tone that works well, and ends up being very sympathetic, given her backstory and her self-imposed rules.

The worldbuilding is truly minimal, but this is a nice palate cleanser, a story with a noir feel and an Interview with the Vampire vibe. Coincidentally, vampires do exist in this world where crime syndicates make war on one another, and one makes an appearance. One gets the feeling that a sequel could be in the works, but the story is perfectly self-contained.

Ice Upon a Pier is a compact novella.

✨ 3.5 stars

Review: The Saint of Bright Doors, by Vajra Chandrasekera

Nestled at the head of a supercontinent, framed by sky and sea, lies Luriat, the city of bright doors. The doors are everywhere in the city, squatting in walls where they don’t belong, painted in vivid warning. They watch over a city of art and avarice, of plagues and pogroms, and silently refuse to open. No one knows what lies beyond them, but everyone has their own theory and their own relationship to the doors. Researchers perform tests and take samples, while supplicants offer fruit and flowers and hold prayer circles. Many fear the doors as the source of hauntings from unspeakable realms. To a rare unchosen few, though, the doors are both a calling and a bane. Fetter is one of those few.
When Fetter was born, his mother tore his shadow from him. She raised him as a weapon to kill his sainted father and destroy the religion rising up in his sacred footsteps. Now Fetter is unchosen, lapsed in his devotion to both his parents. He casts no shadow, is untethered by gravity, and sees devils and antigods everywhere he goes. With no path to follow, Fetter would like to be anything but himself. Does his answer wait on the other side of one of Luriat’s bright doors?

"Is the chain ever free?". Vajra Chandrasekera's The Saint of Bright Doors is a lyrical marvel of a novel, a richly detailed exploration of agency, cults, and familial abuse. In this standalone, fantastical story, we follow the son of a major cult leader as he leaves home and finds himself in a city with a thousand strange doors. Not everything is clearly explained, but the nebulous nature of some things really sells the atmosphere. The major questions are answered, though, and some more, letting the reader glimpse some tantalizing truths.

The worldbuilding is immaculate, detailing a complex world that's so much more than what it's shown, as clearly said in the surprising final part of the novel, which is exhilarating with its paradigm shift. We explore the city and then the world with Fetter, uncovering secrets and trying to overthrow a tyrannical government that vanishes people into prisons as big as a country. We see him lose himself in many identities as he tries to be many people at once, uncertain of his place in the world, molded by his mother's abuse and by his powerful father's absence. The doors are a riveting mystery that remains partly unexplained.

The supporting cast is a delight, from the jaded revolutionary to the door scholar to his fellow Unchosen. Fetter's mother gets some more spotlight in the second half, and her story sheds some light on the nebulous nature of this world. She is a formidable character, looming large in the narrative, perhaps more than Fetter's father, who's still masterfully painted when we finally get to know him. And then the twist leads to a payoff that, while feeling somewhat abrupt and sudden, still works.

The narrative normalizes queer relationships, although in-story queerness is formally against the law. Fetter is bisexual, and he has to navigate what his relationships mean when he struggles to be someone that he's not. There's an intriguing glimpse of a wlw relationship in the background, which in some way ends up shaping the story.

The Saint of Bright Doors is a stunning debut, a lyrical delight.

✨ 4 stars

Review: Dragonfall, by L.R. Lam

Long ago, humans betrayed dragons, stealing their magic and banishing them to a dying world. Centuries later, their descendants worship dragons as gods. But the gods remember, and they do not forgive. Thief Arcady scrapes a living on the streets of Vatra. Desperate, Arcady steals a powerful artifact from the bones of the Plaguebringer, the most hated person in Lumet history. Only Arcady knows the artifact's magic holds the key to a new life among the nobles at court and a chance for revenge.
The spell connects to Everen, the last male dragon foretold to save his kind, dragging him through the Veil. Disguised as a human, Everen soon learns that to regain his true power and form and fulfil his destiny, he only needs to convince one little thief to trust him enough to bond completely--body, mind, and soul--and then kill them. Yet the closer the two become, the greater the risk both their worlds will shatter.

"Truth was a wound that could bite". L.R. Lam's Dragonfall is many things: a queer enemies-to-lovers romance, a heist book, a high-stakes epic. None of these things take center stage, instead striking a perfect balance and creating a novel that works well, where not all is as it seems and you keep questioning who's right. Who betrayed whom? The dragons, or the humans? The bond between the two certainly seems to work a certain way. Can we even trust the dragons' chronicles, since so few survived the fire that destroyed their library?

The world-building is on point, the magic system well-developed, even if some things are still a mystery or maybe don't work as we're told. The dragons, banished generations before to a dying world, are only bent on revenge. The humans, having forgotten everything, now worship them as gods: this creates a truly interesting dynamic when the two perspectives collide. There's a black market for dragon relics, a secret sect of assassins bent on punishing those who desecrate these relics, and hints of a larger world and an existential threat.

The POVs are phenomenal. Two of the POVs feature the two halves of the romance: Everen, the dragon prophet with a terrible mission, and Arcady, the nonbinary thief with a big secret. It's delicious to watch these two wallow in angst and slowly peel away the layers that protect them, learning to trust each other until disaster strikes. While Arcady's POV is a simple first person narrative, Everen's POV is much more interesting, with its first person that almost morphs into a second person, as he's addressing his whole narration to Arcady.

The other POV character is one of the assassins tasked with punishing heretics: the young woman is reluctant to do her job and has a terrible relationship with her father figure, who molded her to his purposes and has her wrapped around his little finger. The latter, a high priest, seems to know more than he lets on about the conflict brewing. The rest of the cast pulls its weight, especially Everen's sister and Arcady's father figure, to create a vibrant narrative.

Dragonfall is an incredible tale about love and sacrifice.

✨ 4.5 stars

Review: The Impossible Contract, by K.A. Doore

 

Thana has a huge reputation to live up to as daughter of the Serpent, who rules over Ghadid’s secret clan of assassins. Opportunity to prove herself arrives when Thana accepts her first contract on Heru, a dangerous foreign diplomat with the ability to bind a person’s soul under his control. She may be in over her head, especially when Heru is targeted by a rival sorcerer who sends hordes of the undead to attack them both. When Heru flees, Thana has no choice than to pursue him across the sands to the Empire that intends to capture Ghadid inside its iron grip.
A stranger in a strange city, Thana’s only ally is Mo, a healer who may be too noble for her own good. Meanwhile, otherworldly and political dangers lurk around every corner, and even more sinister plans are uncovered which could lead to worldwide devastation. Can Thana rise to the challenge—even if it means facing off against an ancient evil?

"She was more than just the Serpent's daughter". K.A. Doore's The Impossible Contract is the second book in a trilogy of standalones set in a wondrous city standing high from the sands. Ghadid is the true protagonist, its setting rich and interesting, the book showing us even more of the city, but also what lies beyond the sands. Ghadid houses a family of elite assassins, and each novel follows a different one.

This second volume is focused on the journey of Thana, with her heavy heritage of being the daughter of a legend. The book explores her struggles well, but also her forging of her own path as she stumbles upon a plot that could destroy the world as she knows it. She also finds a delightful romance in the meanwhile, a sort of meet-cute with a kind healer, a woman with a big heart and clear morals. The love interest's profession sparks an interesting and compelling conflict with Thana, whose own profession after all, means she has to end lives.

The world-building is truly phenomenal, with an interesting water-based magic system and its more sinister possible use. This is a land were necromacy is real, while deemed blasphemous, and where souls can be swallowed or possessed; where zombies can be created. But things aren't black and white, and when we spend some time with Thana's mark, the en-marabi Heru, we may find him too compelling and wickedly funny to want him dead. We also meet again the previous book's protagonist, and it was definitely interesting to see how he was faring.

The pacing was a little weird towards the last third, but the book made up for it with its fast-paced, exhilarating conclusion.

The Impossible Contract is a fun adventure with a fascinating setting.

✨ 3.5 stars