Review: Thief Acolyte Consort, by James Robert Paige

A new city and a fresh start was what former thief Catt Zago was looking for, but what she found instead was Great Bakak, a city-state ruled ancient tradition and full of everyday magic. A place full of many gods and many people. A place where the King rules supreme, but the royal executioners seem to be calling the shots.
What Catt didn't expect was to meet a fascinating woman, a professor of magic at the local wizard university, doomed by a strange bit of luck to become the next King. Catt wasn't planning on committing any crimes, this was supposed to be a safe place to start over, but now, could she really be contemplating stealing a King?

"The new king might be anyone." 

James Robert Paige's Thief Acolyte Consort is a fun sapphic novella that oscillates between cozy and horrific, with a strong disconnect between the themes and the tone of the book. It reminds Pratchett, in a sense, but the prose is very simple, almost elementary. It's a bit of a shame, because the worldbuilding is wonderful, rich, with attention to detail and some very nice ideas that subvert expectations, and some twists and turns that add depth.

Catt and Segna are a lovely couple, especially when they start working together. Their relationship starts in a subdued way, but by the end you really root for them to find a way out. The ending wraps up everything very nicely while keeping the door open, and it drives home the commentary about organized religion.

Thief Acolyte Consort is a nice palate cleanser.

✨ 3.5 stars

 

 

 

Review: The Lost Future of Pepperharrow, by Natasha Pulley

1888. Five years after they met in The Watchmaker of Filigree Street, Thaniel Steepleton, an unassuming translator, and Keita Mori, the watchmaker who remembers the future, are traveling to Japan. Thaniel has received an unexpected posting to the British legation in Tokyo, and Mori has business that is taking him to Yokohama. Thaniel's brief is odd: the legation staff have been seeing ghosts, and Thaniel's first task is to find out what's really going on. But while staying with Mori, he starts to experience ghostly happenings himself. For reasons Mori won't--or can't--share, he is frightened. Then he vanishes.
Meanwhile, something strange is happening in a frozen labor camp in Northern Japan. Takiko Pepperharrow, an old friend of Mori's, must investigate. As the weather turns bizarrely electrical and ghosts haunt the country from Tokyo to Aokigahara forest, Thaniel grows convinced that it all has something to do with Mori's disappearance--and that Mori may be in serious danger.

"Grace is not a thing you performed, but a weight you carried".

Natasha Pulley's The Lost Future of Pepperharrow is the stunning conclusion to the duology that began with The Watchmaker of Filigree Street. The journey of Thaniel and Mori, together with their adoptive daughter, reaches new highs and lows as we learn more about Mori, his morality and the lengths he's willing to go to to protect who he loves.

Mori is such an intriguing character because in another book, he could easily be a villain (in fact, some characters think he is). But we see him through Thaniel's loving eyes, we see his vulnerabilities and strengths, and we can't help but be completely enamored with him, with his quiet strength and his resolve. His are the lines that make us dissolve into a sobbing mess, his the trials and tribulations, in the pursuit of something he eventually can't even remember.

Thaniel gets a much needed depth too, and it's fascinating to see how he navigates his relationship with Mori, with the orphan Six, and with the new character Pepperharrow, a tragic and compelling figure. All the new characters felt alive and believable, with complex motivations of their own, and I was delighted to even find some old faces from the first book.

This sequel was so much better, both in composition and pacing. The prose was of course lovely already in the first book, but the author has such graceful writing, like a warm hug even in the direst circumstances. I loved that we got some more information about how Mori's clairvoyance works, and the ether, and glimpses of this alternate history. I especially loved the change in setting, with the author taking us to Japan and demonstrating a deft hand in painting the country through the eyes of a stranger. I enjoyed her choices in terms of dialogue and her note about it at the end.

The Lost Future of Pepperharrow is a masterful conclusion to a lovely duology.

✨ 5 stars

📚📚📚 IF YOU LOVE THIS, YOU MIGHT LIKE:

* The Kingdoms, by Natasha Pulley

for: memory, time

List: Best Books of 2023

2024 is coming! Here are my favorite books of this year, with links to my reviews.

 

 

 

✨ 4.5 stars
You can find my review here.

 

 

✨ 4.5 stars
You can find my review here.

 

   ✨ 4.5 stars
    You can find my review here.

 

 

   ✨ 4 stars
   You can find my review here.

 

 

 

✨ 5 stars
You can find my review here.

 

 

 

✨ 4.5 stars
You can find my review here.

 

 

 

✨ 4.5 stars
You can find my review here.

 

 

   ✨ 5 stars
   You can find my review here.

 

 

   ✨ 5 stars
   You can find my review here.

 

 

   ✨ 5 stars
   You can find my review here.

 

 

   ✨ 4.5 stars
   You can find my review here.

Review: Queen of Coin and Whispers, by Helen Corcoran

When teenage queen Lia inherits her corrupt uncle’s bankrupt kingdom, she brings a new spymaster into the fold ... Xania, who takes the job to avenge her murdered father. Faced with dangerous plots and hidden enemies, can Lia and Xania learn to rely on each another, as they discover that all is not fair in love and treason?
In a world where the throne means both power and duty, they must decide what to sacrifice for their country – and for each other.

"Fierce as a bloodied blade". Helen Corcoran's Queen of Coin and Whispers is a sapphic YA fantasy with an intriguing premise; the dual narration allows us to follow both the idealistic monarch and her spymaster as they navigate threats, ruling, and their feelings for each other. Lia and Xania are young and untested and ultimately, their youth is too off-putting in the context of what they manage to do. We are supposed to believe that a mostly untrained seventeen-years-old is able to create her own web of spies, even in foreign countries, over the course of a few months.

The court intrigue is handled better, with believable threats and interesting characters and twists in the development that inject life into the narration; but some scenes seem disconnected, and one finds oneself confused as to the reasoning of the characters in some cases. In some instances, the development is left to throwaway paragraphs that aim to bring readers up to speed, but they're wholly confusing.

The relationship between the main characters is the highlight of the book, with its delicate new state and the problems that come when you put love and duty together, when you put an idealistic person through the realities of ruling. The conflict feels believable, and it's handled maturely.

The final third, while fascinating with its sudden change of pace, scope, and general atmosphere, was terribly rushed and, most importantly, left a pretty big development to the other main character's POV; perhaps it would have benefitted from being handled more respectfully, instead of just being fuel for angst that is handled mostly offscreen.

Queen of Coin and Whispers is a solid adventure for readers on the younger side.

✨ 3.5 stars

📚📚📚 IF YOU LOVE THIS, YOU MIGHT LIKE:

* The Priory of the Orange Tree, by Samantha Shannon

for: fealty, difficult decisions

Review: Shorefall, by Robert Jackson Bennett

Having narrowly saved the metropolis of Tevanne from destruction, Sancia Grado and her allies have turned to their next task: sowing the seeds of a full-on magical-industrial revolution. If they succeed, the secrets behind scriving—the art of imbuing everyday objects with sentience—will be accessible to all of Tevanne’s citizens, much to the displeasure of the robber-barons who’ve hoarded this knowledge for themselves.
But one of Sancia’s enemies has embarked on a desperate gambit, an attempt to resurrect a figure straight out of legend—an immortal being known as a heirophant. Long ago, the heirophant was an ordinary man, but he’s used scriving to transform himself into something closer to a god. Once awakened, he’ll stop at nothing to remake the world in his horrifying image. And if Sancia can’t stop this ancient power from returning? Well, the only way to fight a god… is with another god.

"What a wondrous thing, to share my life, and be loved". Robert Jackson Bennett's Shorefall pulls no punches. The stakes couldn't be higher as a new menace comes to the city, a threat that must be dealt with in a mere matter of days. Set a few years after the first installment of the series, this books is brimming with action and heart, and it's an emotional journey that makes you grapple with what it means to be human. It's about found families, and choices, and the cost of innovation.

The world-building is superb, expanding the threads in the first book to create an immersive experience. The magic system is terrific, of course, and new applications of it are reavealed, making for gripping scenes. Gregor's backstory is fully revealed, and suffice it to say that it pulls at the heartstrings for the injustice of it all. The villain is extraordinary, set on change and terrifying and not entirely wrong in his assessment.

Sancia and Berenice are still together, and we even get a few chapters from Berenice's POV. Their relationship is solid and sweet, but they never lose track of the goal; they know that the fate of the world is in their hands, and they aren't going to ruin their chances by worrying about each other. After all, they're both extremeley competent.

Shorefall is a stunning sequel to Foundryside.

✨ 4.5 stars

Review: Stone and Steel, by Eboni J. Dunbar

 

When General Aaliyah returns triumphant to the city of Titus, she expects to find the people prospering under the rule of her Queen, the stone mage Odessa. Instead, she finds a troubling imbalance in both the citizens’ well-being and Odessa’s rule. Aaliyah must rely on all of her allies, old and new, to do right by the city that made her.

“Gods forbid you should be your own sword”. Eboni J. Dunbar's Stone and Steel is a very short novella about the corruption of power. Aaliyah returns to the city whose King she helped usurpe to find that her adoptive sister (and lover) made Queen isn't taking care of the people. What follows is a fast journey as the author speeds through what could have made a really intruiguing novel. The bare bones are interesting enough, with a love triangle with another orphan who grew up beside Aaliyah as well, and a background that might feel generic but has some depth.

The novella excelled in showing the relationship between characters in a few strokes, building a believable camaraderie between Aaliyah and her retinue, and a toxic romance with her Queen; you can feel that Odessa is used to have her way by any means necessary. Her magical tantrums are mentioned as happening since early childhood. The political side of things could have used some more work, especially as the narration turned to another country. There's a few typos here and there, and a few lines of dialogue seem to be in the wrong paragraph so that it's not exactly clear who's speaking, but these problems could be easily waved away with a good editor.

Stone and Steel is a good stepping stone for readers interested in exploring afro-fantasy.

✨ 3.5 stars

Snippet: Burning Roses, by S.L. Huang

 

When Rosa (aka Red Riding Hood) and Hou Yi the Archer join forces to stop the deadly sunbirds from ravaging the countryside, their quest will take the two women, now blessed and burdened with the hindsight of middle age, into a reckoning of sacrifices made and mistakes mourned, of choices and family and the quest for immortality.

"We are just two old women… Old women who have hurt their children". S.L. Huang's Burning Roses is a novella on the short side that manages to package so much in so few pages, weaving retellings of many Western fairy tales with a Chinese myth into a queer story that explores how flawed parents can damage their children, and how to come back from there and atone for it. It's a beautiful gem that also presents and explores multiple wlw relationships.

✨ 4 stars

Review: Bestiary, by K-Ming Chang

 

One evening, Mother tells Daughter a story about a tiger spirit who lived in a woman’s body. She was called Hu Gu Po, and she hungered to eat children, especially their toes. Soon afterwards, Daughter awakes with a tiger tail. And more mysterious events follow: Holes in the backyard spit up letters penned by her grandmother; a visiting aunt arrives with snakes in her belly; a brother tests the possibility of flight. All the while, Daughter is falling for Ben, a neighborhood girl with strange powers of her own. As the two young lovers translate the grandmother’s letters, Daughter begins to understand that each woman in her family embodies a myth–and that she will have to bring her family’s secrets to light in order to change their destiny.

Unfortunately, this wasn't for me. K-Ming Chang's Bestiary is a diaspora novel permeated with magical realism and overflowing with folk tales. I was really entranced with the subject matter, but the language used was too much of a barrier; it was a constant flow of imagery that described bodily fluids, or compared things to bodily fluids, and it got to the point where I couldn't stand it anymore. The prose is very creative and poetic, but the imagery wasn't working for me. I don't want to say it should be sanitized, it was obviously a precise choice by the author.

The author also wrote that she "wanted to write a story about queerness not as a source of pain but as something that saves her [Daughter] life". The girl's relationship with Ben is a beacon of light in the darkness of the novel, which also features generational abuse and, in general, dark subject matters.

Bestiary is a queer tale of diaspora that had some really upsetting imagery.

✨ 3 stars

Review: Lady Hotspur, by Tessa Gratton

 

Hal was once a knight, carefree and joyous, sworn to protect her future queen Banna Mora. But after a rebellion led by her own mother, Caleda, Hal is now the prince of Lionis, heir to the throne. The pressure of her crown and bloody memories of war plague her, as well as a need to shape her own destiny, no matter the cost.
Lady Hotspur, known as the Wolf of Aremoria for her temper and warcraft, never expected to be more than a weapon. She certainly never expected to fall in love with the fiery Hal or be blindsided by an angry Queen’s promise to remake the whole world in her own image—a plan Hotspur knows will lead to tragedy.
Banna Mora kept her life, but not her throne. Fleeing to Innis Lear to heal her heart and plot revenge, the stars and roots of Innis Lear will teach her that the only way to survive a burning world is to learn to breathe fire.

“The arrow of her heart forever pointed there.” Tessa Gratton's Lady Hotspur is a queer fantasy gender-swapped retelling of Shakespeare's Henry IV, set a few centuries after another book, The Queens of Innis Lear, another shakespearian retelling; events of the previous book are mentioned quite a few times, but I was able to easily follow even if I never read the first one. The retelling follows closely enough the plot of Henry IV before veering towards a gentler end than the play's, where the magical aspects of the novel also take center stage in stunning and lyrical moments of courage and sacrifice.

First and foremost, it's a tale of women trying to carve their place in the world. The narration takes its time to make us really know the characters, to make us love them and be vexed by them; it doesn't shy away from making them complex and real. The love story at the center of the novel is quite complicated, marred by conflicted loyalties and political machinations; revenge and betrayal move the plot along for a good portion of the story.

What starts as a subplot with more magical elements - and even features some (very tragic) mlm representation and truly heartbreaking moments - then takes center stage as the war for the crown becomes a war to reunite the magic of two lands that were torn from each other ages before, a war to return balance to the world. The magic of the island of Innis Lear is feral and dangerous in parts, elemental and grounded in the earth; it's broken because it's separated from the land it once came from. The deeds done to achieve balance will shape the course of the war.

Queer readers should be advised that, while two of the three female protagonists share a beautiful romance, the above political machinations also include political marriages to continue the dinasty and, in one instance, the union of a lesbian character with a man. While potentially triggering, the matter is treated with respect and little detail; it helps that the man in that relationships gets a few chapters from his point of view and is depicted as a respectful character, willing to compromise. That's really the only thing that didn't make me give this full 5 stars, because I did end up feeling queasy at times.

Lady Hotspur is a complicated tale of love and revenge, perfect for Shakespeare lovers.

✨ 4.5 stars

Review: The Faerie Hounds of York, by Arden Powell

 

William Loxley is cursed. A pale and monstrous creature haunts his dreams, luring him from London to the desolate, grey landscape of his forgotten childhood. There, it will use him to open a door to Faerie—a fate that will trap Loxley in that glittering, heathen otherworld forever.
His only hope of escaping the creature's grasp lies with John Thorncress, a dark and windswept stranger met on the moors. The longer Loxley stays in Thorncress' company, the harder it becomes to fight his attraction to the man. Such attraction can only end in heartbreak—or the noose.

This was terrifying, for me, personally. The pale and monstrous creature? Its descriptions are so vivid that I was about to throw my kindle away. Arden Powell's The Faerie Hounds of York is an atmospheric novella that I couldn't enjoy fully because that thing just kept creeping me out. It's not classified as a horror, but uhhh for me it was! I couldn't focus on the intriguing plot because that thing kept lurking. The romance was bittersweet, with unexpected twists and turns. The conclusion was fantastic.

The Faerie Hounds of York is a solid novella for horror enthusiasts.

✨ 3 stars