strange and random happenstance

Leviathan Wakes by James S.A. Corey
Published by: Orbit
Publication Date: August 30th, 2016
Format: Paperback, 592 Pages
Rating: ★★★
To Buy

Little does Julie Mao realize that when The Scopuli was taken it would set in motion a chain of events that will forever change the solar system. Jim Holden and his crew make their living as ice miners. Their ship, The Canterbury, receives a distress call from The Scopuli and they go to investigate it. Holden, Naomi, Amos, Alex, and Shed board their ship to ship vessel, The Knight, to go get a closer look. The Scopuli is derelict. There are no signs of any life. No signs of Julie. But Holden knows something is wrong, so they head back to The Knight and that's when The Canterbury is blown out of the sky by what Holden assumes is a stealth ship belonging to Mars. In his rage at such senseless waste Holden broadcasts the destruction of The Canterbury to the whole solar system, not caring if this triggers a war between Earth and Mars. Not caring about any ramifications, just hoping for justice for the friends he lost. But Holden hasn't quite connected the dots. He and his four crew members should have died on The Canterbury because whatever they found on The Scopuli is worth killing for. He's determined to find out exactly what it all means, damn the consequences. Detective Miller has been taken off his usual beat on Ceres. His higher ups have given him the case of a missing girl to be investigated as a favor to her wealthy Lunar family. The girl is Julie Mao. She was a decorated pinnace pilot who gave it all up. She became active in politics and moved to Ceres and joined the OPA. The Outer Planets Alliance is a thorn in the side of Detective Miller, but a thorn he can deal with. He understands their desire to not be controlled by Earth. People on Earth can't comprehend what it's like out in the belt so why should they be allowed any say? He might not be the best at his job, and he might drink a little too much, but he's also like a dog with a bone, he will figure out what happened to Julie, even after his boss demands he drops the case, damn his job and his sanity. It's not long before he learns about The Scopuli and realizes that Holden might be the only one who can answer his questions. But when they finally meet at Eros Station things are much more complicated than either of them imagined and everything is about to change.

It's rare that I pick up a straight up science fiction book. And Leviathan Wakes is a weird one to pick up because it's an amalgam of all that came before. Yes, it stands on its own, but so much is borrowed or re-interpreted that it's sometimes hard to let it stand on its own. You can't help thinking what else it reminds you of. Here's a little Firefly, here's a little Battlestar Galactica, here's a little Doctor Who, here's a little Red Dwarf, here's a little Blade Runner. Each and every one of these instances pulls you out of the book. I can almost forgive Fred Johnson being Yaphet Kotto from Alien, but when Kaylee literally walks onto Holden's ship, well, that's a step too far. Yet of ALL the references crammed in the most obvious is Blade Runner. Because Detective Miller is just Rick Deckard under another name and without the whole is he, isn't he a replicant controversy. Now, I'm not saying this is a bad thing, I'm just saying it's a thing. It's actually the Noir aspect of this book that is a little divisive, not the Blade Runner homage. It's hard to get a Noir story right. You have to have just the right amount of hard drinking, bitterness, and delusions, which Miller does have. But the problem is balancing Miller's plot with Holden's plot. While they do eventually connect and Holden's plot has a mystery at its center, it is in no way Noir. And when the two storylines merge, the Noir aspect is sacrificed to the bigger storyline. So then why do it at all in the first place if you're going to eventually ditch it? I just feel that this dichotomy between the two narrators should have been thought out more in advance. Yes, it's good to have two very distinct narrators, but they shouldn't feel like they inhabit two different genres. A book needs to be some sort of cohesive whole to work and the styles of these two characters seem to be constantly fighting. In fact I wonder if perhaps this book was written more like the letter game, seeing as James S.A. Corey is actually two people. That might account for the two narrative styles being at such odds. They really needed an editor to fix this. And to fix the inner monologues, the overblown space politics, and the space battles that go on too long. But they got the future right. They made it believable, and that means I'll stick around for a few more volumes.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Alien, Battlestar Galactica, Blade Runner, Detective Miller, Doctor Who, Firefly, For the Love of Book Clubs, James S.A. Corey, Jim Holden, Julie Mao, Letter Game, Leviathan Wakes, Noir, Red Dwarf, Science Fiction

Star Wars: Doctor Aphra, Vol. 1: Aphra by Kieron Gillen
Published by: Marvels
Publication Date: July 3rd, 2017
Format: Paperback, 144 Pages
Rating: ★★★★★
To Buy

Doctor Aphra, thanks to her own ingenuity, was able to escape her servitude to Darth Vader by the handy expedient of faking her own death. But the galaxy is big and so long as she stays off his radar think of all she can do with this newfound lease on life? Think of all the artifacts waiting to be liberated. Think of how the sale of those artifacts using her archeological accreditation can get her out of debt to some rather unscrupulous characters. Think of all the humans waiting to be killed! Hang on... that's what her two murderbot droids pilfered from Vader, Triple Zero and BT-One, hope for on these adventures. But things never go to plan. Here she is with a relic ready for it's new owners and somehow all her bonafides have disappeared like Alderaan. Turns out her father is behind this newest wrinkle. He has an obsession with the Jedi and needs her help. Between family drama, an Imperial agent hot on her tail, and nothing ever being what is expected, Aphra will have a hell of a time surviving this new adventure. And she thought working for Vader was dangerous!

I have an enormous love of Star Wars but have been disappointed in recent years. The prequels? The retconning of the EU? So many missteps. The new trilogy is fine, but this isn't the path I viewed these characters I grew up with taking. Therefore my Star Wars is basically the original trilogy and Solo, because seriously, that movie rocks and I will cape fight anyone who disagrees with me. Also cape fighting is very similar to the walk off in Zoolander if you were wondering. Feeling many of the same feels as me a member of my book club handed me Doctor Aphra Vol. 1 and told me I MUST read it. When I received the book I was down and sick and was worried Star Wars would in some way let me down again. But THIS is what Star Wars should be! A glorious mashup of old school Star Wars and Indiana Jones, because, come on, who hasn't dreamt of that Harrison Ford mashup? Add in bloodthirsty droids, questionable motives, family issues, and more than a dollop of Firefly and Guardians of the Galaxy, and this is a near perfect comic. As my friend told me, Aphra is who Han Solo wishes he was and I couldn't agree more. I want to be Doctor Aphra. 

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Book Clubs, Comics, Darth Vader, Doctor Aphra, Doctor Aphra Vol. 1: Aphra, Firefly, Graphic Novels, Guardians of the Galaxy, Han Solo, Harrison Ford, Indiana Jones, Prequels, Solo, Star Wars, Zoolander

The Queen of Nothing by Holly Black
Published by: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Publication Date: November 19th, 2019
Format: Hardcover, 320 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"From the #1 New York Times bestselling author Holly Black, comes the highly anticipated and jaw-dropping finale to The Folk of the Air trilogy.

He will be the destruction of the crown and the ruination of the throne.

Power is much easier to acquire than it is to hold onto. Jude learned this lesson when she released her control over the wicked king, Cardan, in exchange for immeasurable power.

Now as the exiled mortal Queen of Faerie, Jude is powerless and left reeling from Cardan's betrayal. She bides her time determined to reclaim everything he took from her. Opportunity arrives in the form of her deceptive twin sister, Taryn, whose mortal life is in peril.

Jude must risk venturing back into the treacherous Faerie Court, and confront her lingering feelings for Cardan, if she wishes to save her sister. But Elfhame is not as she left it. War is brewing. As Jude slips deep within enemy lines she becomes ensnared in the conflict's bloody politics.

And, when a dormant yet powerful curse is unleashed, panic spreads throughout the land, forcing her to choose between her ambition and her humanity..."

I will be (fingers crossed) finally seeing Holly Black this week... but there is A LOT of things up in the air at the moment... I feel like I should put a Folk of the Air joke in here somehow...

The Dark Days Deceit by Alison Goodman
Published by: Penguin Books
Publication Date: November 19th, 2019
Format: Paperback, 544 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Bath, 1812. As Lady Helen prepares for her grand wedding to the Duke of Selburn, she must juggle her new responsibilities with her duties as a demon-hunting Grand Reclaimer. Now a dyad with Lord Carlston, bonded in blood, the two prepare to confront their nemesis, the Grand Deceiver. Set against the glittering background of Regency society, Helen and Carlston's story hurtles to a shocking conclusion full of passion, betrayal, and heartbreak."

If you're one of those crazy people who waits for books to be in paperback, you're in luck because the final book in the Regency Magic series by Alison Goodman which I DEVOURED earlier this year is out now. Go go, get it!

The Mermaid's Call by Katherine Stansfield
Published by: Allison and Busby
Publication Date: November 19th, 2019
Format: Hardcover, 320 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Cornwall, 1845. Shilly has always felt a connection to happenings that are not of this world, a talent that has proved invaluable when investigating dark deeds with master of disguise, Anna Drake. The women opened a detective agency with help from their newest member and investor, Mathilda, but six long months have passed without a single case to solve and tensions are growing. It is almost a relief when a man is found dead along the Morwenstow coast and the agency is sought out to investigate. There are suspicions that wreckers plague the coast, luring ships to their ruin with false lights - though nothing has ever been proved. Yet with the local talk of sirens calling victims to the sea to meet their end, could something other-worldly be responsible for the man’s death?"

I know, like me, you are keenly feeling the loss of Poldark and the siren call of Cornwall. May I offer you this series as a humble suggestion? 

Firefly: The Sting by Delilah S. Dawson
Published by: BOOM! Studios
Publication Date: November 19th, 2019
Format: Hardcover, 128 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Saffron unites the women of the Serenity crew to join her on a heist in this all-new original Firefly graphic novel.

Saffron - the enigmatic rogue who captured the hearts of Firefly fans worldwide, as well as the heart of Capt. Malcolm Reynolds - returns to the Serenity. But this time, she’s got no time for Mal, as she’s there to recruit the women of the ship to join her on a heist that has personal stakes for all involved.

New York Times Bestselling writer Delilah S. Dawson (Sparrowhawk, Star Wars: Phasma), along with a team of artists including Pius Bak, Rodrigo Lorenzo, and Taj Tenfold, enter Joss Whedon’s Firefly to reveal an untold chapter of the fan-favorite saga."

Beloved shows turned into comics are rather hit-or-miss, but the newest incarnation of Firefly has been more on than off, so I'm hoping that the continuing journey of Yo-Saf-Bridge is entertaining.

Greta and the Giants by Zoe Tucker and Zoe Persico
Published by: Frances Lincoln Children's Books
Publication Date: November 19th, 2019
Format: Hardcover, 32 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"This inspiring picture book retells the story of Nobel Peace Prize nominee Greta Thunberg - the Swedish teenager who has led a global movement to raise awareness about the world’s climate crisis - using allegory to make this important topic accessible to young children.

Greta is a little girl who lives in a beautiful forest threatened by Giants. When the Giants first came to the forest, they chopped down trees to make houses. Then they chopped down more trees and made even bigger homes. The houses grew into towns and the towns grew into cities, until now there is hardly any forest left. Greta knows she has to help the animals who live in the forest, but how? Luckily, Greta has an idea…

A section at the back explains that, in reality, the fight against the “giants” isn’t over and explains how you can help Greta in her fight."

And if you want to read about a REAL woman kicking ass, I give you Greta Thunberg! 

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Alison Goodman, Cornwall, Firefly, Great and the Giants, Greta Thunberg, Holly Black, Katherine Stansfield, Poldark, The Dark Days Deceit, THe FOlk of the Air, The Mermaid's Call, The Queen of Nothing

The 18th Abduction by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro
Published by: Little, Brown and Company
Publication Date: April 30th, 2019
Format: Hardcover, 416 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Detective Lindsay Boxer's investigation into the disappearance of three women teachers quickly escalates from missing persons to murder in the newest Women's Murder Club thriller.

For a trio of colleagues, an innocent night out after class ends in a deadly torture session. They vanish without a clue - until a body turns up. With the safety of San Francisco's entire school system at stake, Lindsay has never been under more pressure. As the chief of police and the press clamor for an arrest in the "school night" case, Lindsay turns to her best friend, investigative journalist Cindy Thomas. Together, Lindsay and Cindy take a new approach to the case, and unexpected facts about the victims leave them stunned.

While Lindsay is engrossed in her investigation, her husband, Joe Molinari, meets an Eastern European woman who claims to have seen a notorious war criminal - long presumed dead - from her home country. Before Lindsay can verify the woman's statement, Joe's mystery informant joins the ranks of the missing women. Lindsay, Joe, and the entire Women's Murder Club must pull together to protect their city, and one another - not from a ghost, but from a true monster."

Easily my favorite, and my mom's, James Patterson series. 

The Invited by Jennifer McMahon
Published by: Doubleday
Publication Date: April 30th, 2019
Format: Hardcover, 3568 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A chilling ghost story with a twist: the New York Times bestselling author of The Winter People returns to the woods of Vermont to tell the story of a husband and wife who don't simply move into a haunted house - they build one...

In a quest for a simpler life, Helen and Nate have abandoned the comforts of suburbia to take up residence on forty-four acres of rural land where they will begin the ultimate, aspirational do-it-yourself project: building the house of their dreams. When they discover that this beautiful property has a dark and violent past, Helen, a former history teacher, becomes consumed by the local legend of Hattie Breckenridge, a woman who lived and died there a century ago. With her passion for artifacts, Helen finds special materials to incorporate into the house - a beam from an old schoolroom, bricks from a mill, a mantel from a farmhouse - objects that draw her deeper into the story of Hattie and her descendants, three generations of Breckenridge women, each of whom died suspiciously. As the building project progresses, the house will become a place of menace and unfinished business: a new home, now haunted, that beckons its owners and their neighbors toward unimaginable danger."

Because even with the best intentions, things can go to the bad.

The Lazarus Files by Matthew McGough
Published by: Henry Holt and Co.
Publication Date: April 30th, 2019
Format: Hardcover, 608 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A deeply-reported, riveting account of a cold case murder in Los Angeles, unsolved until DNA evidence implicated a shocking suspect - a female detective within the LAPD’s own ranks.

On February 24, 1986, 29-year-old newlywed Sherri Rasmussen was murdered in the home she shared with her husband, John. The crime scene suggested a ferocious struggle, and police initially assumed it was a burglary gone awry. Before her death, Sherri had confided to her parents that an ex-girlfriend of John’s, a Los Angeles police officer, had threatened her. The Rasmussens urged the LAPD to investigate the ex-girlfriend, but the original detectives only pursued burglary suspects, and the case went cold.

DNA analysis did not exist when Sherri was murdered. Decades later, a swab from a bite mark on Sherri’s arm revealed her killer was in fact female, not male. A DNA match led to the arrest and conviction of veteran LAPD Detective Stephanie Lazarus, John’s onetime girlfriend.

The Lazarus Files delivers the visceral experience of being inside a real-life murder mystery. McGough reconstructs the lives of Sherri, John and Stephanie; the love triangle that led to Sherri’s murder; and the homicide investigation that followed. Was Stephanie protected by her fellow officers? What did the LAPD know, and when did they know it? Are there other LAPD cold cases with a police connection that remain unsolved?"

I'm all about true crime in California!

A Veil Removed by Michelle Cox
Published by: She Writes Press
Publication Date: April 30th, 2019
Format: Paperback, 400 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Murder is never far from this sexy couple...even during the holidays!

Their honeymoon abruptly ended by the untimely death of Alcott Howard, Clive and Henrietta return to Highbury, where Clive discovers all is not as it should be. Increasingly convinced that his father’s death was not an accident, Clive launches his own investigation, despite his mother’s belief that he has become “mentally disturbed” with grief. Henrietta eventually joins forces with Clive on their first real case, which becomes darker - and deadlier - than they imagined as they get closer to the truth behind Alcott’s troubled affairs.

Meanwhile, Henrietta’s sister, Elsie, begins, at Henrietta’s orchestration, to take classes at a women’s college - an attempt to evade her troubles and prevent any further romantic temptations. When she meets a bookish German custodian at the school, however, he challenges her to think for herself...even as she discovers some shocking secrets about his past life."

The bookish German custodian has some Little Women overtones!

Murder Knocks Twice by Susanna Calkins
Published by: Minotaur Books
Publication Date: April 30th, 2019
Format: Paperback, 320 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The first mystery in Susanna Calkins’ captivating new series takes readers into the dark, dangerous, and glittering underworld of a 1920s Chicago speakeasy.

Gina Ricci takes on a job as a cigarette girl to earn money for her ailing father - and to prove to herself that she can hold her own at Chicago’s most notorious speakeasy, the Third Door. She’s enchanted by the harsh, glamorous world she discovers: the sleek socialites sipping bootlegged cocktails, the rowdy ex-servicemen playing poker in a curtained back room, the flirtatious jazz pianist and the brooding photographer - all overseen by the club’s imposing owner, Signora Castallazzo. But the staff buzzes with whispers about Gina’s predecessor, who died under mysterious circumstances, and the photographer, Marty, warns her to be careful.

When Marty is brutally murdered, with Gina as the only witness, she’s determined to track down his killer. What secrets did Marty capture on his camera - and who would do anything to destroy it? As Gina searches for answers, she’s pulled deeper into the shadowy truths hiding behind the Third Door."

Chicago during the 1920s has always fascinated me, mainly because that's when my grandmother used to sneak away from school and hang out at all the speakeasies... I'm sure if she would approve of this new series. Also can we say cover lust?

The Almanack by Martine Bailey
Published by: Severn House Publisher
Publication Date: April 30th, 2019
Format: Hardcover, 304 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The philosophy of time, destiny and the stars pervade this intricate historical mystery in which a young woman determines to avenge her mother’s death. 1752, Midsummer. Following a desperate summons from her mother, Tabitha Hart departs London for her home village of Netherlea - only to discover that her mother has drowned. Determined to discover the truth about the Widow Hart’s death, Tabitha consults her almanack and uncovers a series of cryptic notes describing her mother’s terror of someone she names only as ‘D’. Teaming up with young writer Nat Starling, Tabitha begins a race against time to unmask ‘D’ before more deaths follow. But as the summer draws to a close and the snow sets in, cutting off Netherlea from the outside world, Tabitha and Nat are forced to face the darkest hours of their lives. With the year predicted to meet a ‘violent, bloody end’’ will Tabitha survive long enough to bring her mother’s killer to justice?"

I wish that we still lived in a time when almanacks ruled how we viewed the world and how we passed on information.

Warrior Prime by Victor Gischler
Published by: 47North
Publication Date: April 30th, 2019
Format: Paperback, 361 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Peyne Erlich’s mission from the king is to learn everything he can about the rival kingdom’s magical ink mage warriors. What he finds is Zayda Yond.

Ever since Zayda was sold into servitude by her financially destitute father, her masters have taught her a punishing lesson: erase the past. Collared with an unmovable band of exotic metal, she faces a future of slavery. She’s also become an ink mage, marked with a tattoo that enables her to experience the world as no one else can - a powerful honor, yet one out of her control. Now, Zayda dreams only of escape.

She gets her chance when a scuttled ocean passage leaves her in a longboat, and in the company of another lone survivor, Peyne, a foreign envoy - spoiled, noble, a libertine, and a gambler. He’s also a skilled fighter. And when they make it to land, in wild and unfamiliar jungle territory, he’s the only person Zayda can trust.

Then come rumors of a lost desert city said to hold the key to removing Zayda’s collar. Shadowed by enemies who want to use her power to win their own war, Zayda must fight for her freedom - whatever the cost. And Peyne will do anything to help her."

The cover screams "space opera" but what intrigues me is the ink magic. 

Firefly: The Unification War Vol. One by Greg Pak
Published by: BOOM! Studios
Publication Date: April 30th, 2019
Format: Hardcover, 144 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A new era of Firefly starts here, as the secret history of the Unification War is revealed at last!

From Joss Whedon (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Avengers) comes a new era of Firefly, as the definitive story of the Unification War is told at last!

Captain Malcolm Reynolds thought he could outrun his past, but when a simple heist goes wrong, he’s forced to confront it. With the fabled Traitor of Serenity Valley in his sights, Mal’s quest for revenge will put him at odds with his own crew, forcing him to make a choice: fix the past or fight for the future.

Along with Whedon, writer Greg Pak (Mech Cadet Yu, Totally Awesome Hulk, Weapon X) and artist Dan McDaid (Judge Dredd: Mega City Zero) take you back to the battleground where it all began...and reveal a secret history that might end it all."

Literally the FIRST of all the Firefly comics to actually capture the feel of the series without ruining it with a stupid ending.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: A Veil Removed, Firefly, Greg Pak, James Patterson, Jennifer McMahon, Martine Bailey, Michelle Cox, Murder Knocks Twice, Susanna Calkins, The Almanack, The Invited, True Crime, Victor Gischler, Warrior Prime

Murder by the Book by Clare Harman
Published by: Knopf
Publication Date: March 26th, 2019
Format: Hardcover, 272 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"From the acclaimed biographer - the fascinating, little-known story of a Victorian-era murder that rocked literary London, leading Charles Dickens, William Thackeray, and Queen Victoria herself to wonder: Can a novel kill?

In May 1840, Lord William Russell, well known in London's highest social circles, was found with his throat cut. The brutal murder had the whole city talking. The police suspected Russell's valet, Courvoisier, but the evidence was weak. The missing clue, it turned out, lay in the unlikeliest place: what Courvoisier had been reading. In the years just before the murder, new printing methods had made books cheap and abundant, the novel form was on the rise, and suddenly everyone was reading. The best-selling titles were the most sensational true-crime stories. Even Dickens and Thackeray, both at the beginning of their careers, fell under the spell of these tales - Dickens publicly admiring them, Thackeray rejecting them. One such phenomenon was William Harrison Ainsworth's Jack Sheppard, the story of an unrepentant criminal who escaped the gallows time and again. When Lord William's murderer finally confessed his guilt, he would cite this novel in his defense. Murder By the Book combines this thrilling true-crime story with an illuminating account of the rise of the novel form and the battle for its early soul among the most famous writers of the time. It is superbly researched, vividly written, and captivating from first to last."

If you've finished watching the recent season of Victoria and love the time period but thought the show could use some murder, this book is for you! 

Murder in Midtown by Liz Freeland

Published by: Kensington
Publication Date: March 26th, 2019
Format: Paperback, 304 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"In 1913, while the women’s suffrage movement gains momentum in the nation’s capital, the thought of a woman joining the New York City police force is downright radical, even if recent transplant Louise Faulk has already solved a murder...

Louise has finally gathered the courage to take the police civil service exam, but when she returns to her secretary job at the midtown publishing house of Van Hooten and McChesney, she’s shocked to find the offices smoldering from a deadly, early morning fire. Huddled on the sidewalk, her coworkers inform her that Guy Van Hooten’s body has been found in the charred ruins. Rumors of foul play are already circulating, and the firm’s surviving partner asks Louise to investigate the matter.

Despite a number of possible suspects, the last person Louise expects to be arrested is Ogden McChesney, an old friend and mentor to her aunt Irene. Louise will have to search high and low, from the tenements in the Lower East Side to the very clouds above the tallest skyscrapers, to get to the bottom of an increasingly complex case..."

A little female gumption and know-how in New York!

The American Agent by Jacqueline Winspear
Published by: Harper
Publication Date: March 26th, 2019
Format: Hardcover, 384 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Beloved heroine Maisie Dobbs, “one of the great fictional heroines” (Parade), investigates the mysterious murder of an American war correspondent in London during the Blitz in a page-turning tale of love and war, terror and survival.

When Catherine Saxon, an American correspondent reporting on the war in Europe, is found murdered in her London digs, news of her death is concealed by British authorities. Serving as a linchpin between Scotland Yard and the Secret Service, Robert MacFarlane pays a visit to Maisie Dobbs, seeking her help. He is accompanied by an agent from the US Department of Justice - Mark Scott, the American who helped Maisie escape Hitler’s Munich in 1938. MacFarlane asks Maisie to work with Scott to uncover the truth about Saxon’s death.

As the Germans unleash the full terror of their blitzkrieg upon the British Isles, raining death and destruction from the skies, Maisie must balance the demands of solving this dangerous case with her need to protect Anna, the young evacuee she has grown to love and wants to adopt. Entangled in an investigation linked to the power of wartime propaganda and American political intrigue being played out in Britain, Maisie will face losing her dearest friend - and the possibility that she might be falling in love again."

Since the beginning I've always wondered if Maise Dobbs would make it to WWII, and this book answers my question.

What Would Maisie Do? by Jacqueline Winspear
Published by: Harper Perennial
Publication Date: March 26th, 2019
Format: Paperback, 176 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A one-of-a-kind illustrated companion to the best-selling Maisie Dobbs series, which invites readers into the beloved heroine’s world - and shares her wisdom and inspiration.

Through fourteen books, the Maisie Dobbs series has had a resounding impact on fans. Readers have shared with author Jacqueline Winspear how Maisie’s stories have resonated with them or helped them through difficult times. Fans have been inspired by the heroine’s resilience and endurance, repurposing her strength in their own lives in a way perhaps best embodied by the phrase “What Would Maisie Do?”

Anchored by thirty of Maisie's most timeless quotes, coupled with Jacqueline Winspear’s inspiration for each nugget of wisdom, these reflections offer readers additional insight into the world of Maisie Dobbs and invite them to reflect on favorite moments and memories. Here are just a few:

On the value of respect: “Liking a person we are required to have dealings with is not of paramount importance. But respect is crucial, on both sides, as is tolerance and a depth of understanding of those influences that sculpt a character.”

On grieving: “Grief is a pilgrimage along a path that allows us to reflect upon the past from points of remembrance held in the soul. At times the way is filled with stones underfoot and we feel pained by our memories, yet on other days the shadows reflect our longing and those happinesses shared.”

On the importance of departure: “Leaving that which you love breaks your heart open. But you will find a jewel inside, and this precious jewel is the opening of your heart to all that is new and all that is different, and it will be the making of you - if you allow it to be.”

The perfect supplement to the Maisie Dobbs series, What Would Maisie Do? also features the iconic jacket art that has graced the series, as well as period photographs and prompts for readers' own observations and inspiration - making this a unique journal that fans will turn to and treasure for years to come."

If you were thinking, one Maisie Dobbs book isn't enough this week? Well I have good news for you!

Killing November by Adriana Mather
Published by: Knopf Books for Young Readers
Publication Date: March 26th, 2019
Format: Hardcover, 416 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of How to Hang a Witch comes a thriller set at a secretive boarding school where students are trained to carry on family legacies that have built - and toppled - empires.

November is trapped.

At the mysterious Academy Absconditi, a school that's completely off the grid, there's no electricity, no internet, and a brutal eye-for-an-eye punishment system. Classes include everything from knife-throwing and poisons to the art of deception. And the other students? All children of the world's most elite strategists, in training to become assassins, spies, and master manipulators. November Adley doesn't know why she's been sent to this place, or the secrets that make up its legacy, but she'll quickly discover that allies are few in a school where competition is everything. When another student is murdered, all eyes turn to November, who must figure out exactly how she fits in before she is found guilty of the crime...or becomes the killer's next victim.

From the #1 New York Times bestselling author Adriana Mather comes a captivating thriller that will leave you breathless."

It's like a prose version of Deadly Class!

Murder Lo Mein by Vivien Chien
Published by: St. Martin's Paperbacks
Publication Date: March 26th, 2019
Format: Paperback, 304 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The third in a tasty series, Murder Lo Mein by Vivien Chien is a delight!

Everyone agrees that the food at Ho-Lee Noodle House is delicious - unless it happens to be deadly.

Lana Lee’s stake in her family’s Chinese restaurant is higher than ever now that she’s been made manager. So when she enters Ho-Lee into Cleveland’s Best Noodle Contest, Lana makes it her business to win - at all costs. But when a local food critic receives a threatening note in a fortune cookie and is later found dead, face-down in a bowl of lo mein, all bets are off...

Now, along with her sweet-and-sour boyfriend Detective Adam Trudeau, Lana decides to take matters into her own hands and dig into the lives of everyone involved in the contest. But when she receives an ill-fated fortune, Lana realizes that in order to save the reputation of her restaurant, she needs to save herself first..."

My friend Johnnie never steers me wrong on books and this series is HIGHLY recommended by him!

Timat's Wrathby James S.A. Corey
Published by: Orbit
Publication Date: March 26th, 2019
Format: Hardcover, 544 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The eighth book in the NYT bestselling Expanse series, Tiamat's Wrath finds the crew of the Rocinante fighting an underground war against a nearly invulnerable authoritarian empire, with James Holden a prisoner of the enemy. Now a Prime Original series.

Thirteen hundred gates have opened to solar systems around the galaxy. But as humanity builds its interstellar empire in the alien ruins, the mysteries and threats grow deeper.

In the dead systems where gates lead to stranger things than alien planets, Elvi Okoye begins a desperate search to discover the nature of a genocide that happened before the first human beings existed, and to find weapons to fight a war against forces at the edge of the imaginable. But the price of that knowledge may be higher than she can pay.

At the heart of the empire, Teresa Duarte prepares to take on the burden of her father's godlike ambition. The sociopathic scientist Paolo Cortázar and the Mephistophelian prisoner James Holden are only two of the dangers in a palace thick with intrigue, but Teresa has a mind of her own and secrets even her father the emperor doesn't guess.

And throughout the wide human empire, the scattered crew of the Rocinante fights a brave rear-guard action against Duarte's authoritarian regime. Memory of the old order falls away, and a future under Laconia's eternal rule - and with it, a battle that humanity can only lose - eems more and more certain. Because against the terrors that lie between worlds, courage and ambition will not be enough..."

If you're thinking, wait, this is March I was expecting this book in December, well, you're not the only one... 

Firefly - Magnificent Nice  by James Lovegrove
Published by: Titan Books
Publication Date: March 26th, 2019
Format: Hardcover, 384 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The second original novel tying into the critically acclaimed and much-missed Firefly series from creator Joss Whedon.

An old flame of Jayne Cobb's, Temperance McCloud, sends a message to Serenity, begging him for help. She lives on the arid, far-flung world of Tethys, and bandits are trying to overrun her town to gain control of their water supply: the only thing standing between its people and dustbowl ruin. Jayne tries to persuade the Serenity crew to join the fight, but it is only when he offers Vera, his favourite gun, as collateral that Mal realises he's serious.

When the Serenity crew land at a hardscrabble desert outpost called Coogan's Bluff, they discover two things: an outlaw gang with an almost fanatical devotion to their leader who will stop at nothing to get what they want, and that Temperance is singlehandedly raising a teenage daughter, born less than a year after Temperance and Jayne broke up. A daughter by the name of Jane McCloud..."

Yes, I'm glad that they're creating more in the 'verse, but could they hire a cover artist instead of using bad Photoshop filters on old promotional stills?

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Claire Harman, Firefly, Jacqueline Winspear, James S.A. Corey, Killing November, Liz Freeland, Maisie Dobbs, Murder by the Book, Murder in Midtown, Murder Lo Mein, The Expanse, Victorian, Vivien Chien

The Last Tudor by Philippa Gregory
Published by: Touchstone
Publication Date: August 8th, 2017
Format: Hardcover, 528 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The latest novel from #1 New York Times bestselling author Philippa Gregory features one of the most famous girls in history, Lady Jane Grey, and her two sisters, each of whom dared to defy her queen.

Seventeen-year-old Jane Grey was queen of England for nine days. Her father and his allies crowned her instead of the dead king’s half-sister Mary Tudor, who quickly mustered an army, claimed her throne, and locked Jane in the Tower of London. When Jane refused to betray her Protestant faith, Mary sent her to the executioner’s block, where Jane transformed her father’s greedy power-grab into tragic martyrdom.

“Learn you to die,” was the advice Jane wrote to her younger sister Katherine, who has no intention of dying. She intends to enjoy her beauty and her youth and fall in love. But she is heir to the insecure and infertile Queen Mary and then to her sister Queen Elizabeth, who will never allow Katherine to marry and produce a Tudor son. When Katherine’s pregnancy betrays her secret marriage she faces imprisonment in the Tower, only yards from her sister’s scaffold.

“Farewell, my sister,” writes Katherine to the youngest Grey sister, Mary. A beautiful dwarf, disregarded by the court, Mary keeps family secrets, especially her own, while avoiding Elizabeth’s suspicious glare. After seeing her sisters defy the queen, Mary is acutely aware of her own danger, but determined to command her own life. What will happen when the last Tudor defies her ruthless and unforgiving cousin Queen Elizabeth?"

For anyone else suffering from The White Princess withdrawal... even if it was nowhere near as good as The White Queen. 

The Paris Spy by Susan Elia MacNeal
Published by: Bantam
Publication Date: August 8th, 2017
Format: Hardcover, 320 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"American-born spy and code-breaker extraordinaire Maggie Hope secretly navigates Nazi-occupied France to find two brave women during the darkest days of World War II in the latest novel in this New York Times bestselling series—“a treat for WWII buffs and mystery lovers alike” (Booklist, on The Prime Minister’s Secret Agent).

Maggie Hope has come a long way since serving as a typist for Winston Churchill. Now she’s working undercover for the Special Operations Executive in the elegant but eerily silent city of Paris, where SS officers prowl the streets in their Mercedes and the Ritz is draped with swastika banners. Walking among the enemy is tense and terrifying, and even though she’s disguised in chic Chanel, Maggie can’t help longing for home.

But her missions come first. Maggie’s half sister, Elise, has disappeared after being saved from a concentration camp, and Maggie is desperate to find her—that is, if Elise even wants to be found. Equally urgent, Churchill is planning the Allied invasion of France, and SOE agent Erica Calvert has been captured, the whereabouts of her vital research regarding Normandy unknown. Maggie must risk her life to penetrate powerful circles and employ all her talents for deception and spycraft to root out a traitor, find her sister, and locate the reports crucial to planning D-Day in a deadly game of wits with the Nazi intelligence elite."

Is this the first in the series to be released as hardcover? I think it is, so bravo to Susan Elia MacNeal for reaching the "making it" category. 

Emma in the Nights by Wendy Walker
Published by: St. Martin's Press
Publication Date: August 8th, 2017
Format: Hardcover, 320 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"One night three years ago, the Tanner sisters disappeared: fifteen-year-old Cass and seventeen-year-old Emma. Three years later, Cass returns, without her sister Emma. Her story is one of kidnapping and betrayal, of a mysterious island where the two were held. But to forensic psychiatrist Dr. Abby Winter, something doesn't add up. Looking deep within this dysfunctional family Dr. Winter uncovers a life where boundaries were violated and a narcissistic parent held sway. And where one sister's return might just be the beginning of the crime."

I mean, seriously, does anyone reading that description say no to picking up this book?

Serenity: No Power in the 'Verse by Chris Roberson and Georges Jeanty
Published by: Dark Horse Books
Publication Date: August 8th, 2017
Format: Hardcover, 152 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Tough times haven't ended for Mal Reynolds and his crew aboard the Serenity. When a call for help to find a missing friend takes them to an Alliance post on the Outer Rim, they encounter a new force building strength to fight the battle of the Browncoats--soon leading the crewmembers to question their individual values . . . Discovering that their friend is in Alliance custody and that an Alliance Operative is on the way, Mal concentrates his energy on the problem at hand and strikes an uneasy partnership for a daring rescue. But this is only the beginning of the story. Success will be when the Serenity's crew makes it off this planet alive and all accounted for..."

This is THE FIRST Firefly comic that I actually felt captured, for the most part, the feeling of the show. Though a whole run it only is really the length of an episode... 

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Chris Roberson, Emma in the Night, Firefly, Georges Jeanty, Philippa Gregory, Serenity, Susan Elia MacNeal, The Last Tudor, The Paris Spy, THe White Princess, The White Queen, Tuesday Tomorrow, Wendy Walker

Of course I'd heard of The Sandman. Anyone with a passing interest in comics or who had visited a comic book shop knew what he looked like from comic covers to posters to statues. So I was obviously familiar with the iconography if not the story. Because, strange as it seems, at the time my story takes place I wasn't really into graphic novels. Nowadays I read a lot of them but am very particular as to what makes it into my permanent collection. But thanks to a well stocked public library I'm able to have a wide range of options, The Sandman included. At the time being fairly recently introduced to Neil's writing I hadn't yet made the leap from his prose when this story takes place. The year was 2005 and I had beyond all logic secured four tickets to a special sneak peek of Serenity in Chicago. The movie wasn't even done! Just a temporary score lifted straight off The Fifth Element. But that didn't matter, because Firefly lived again! The question was, which of my friends to take? Matt was my best friend and fellow Joss Whedon aficionado, so one ticket went to him. Another went to my friend Ann who tried to get one for her husband Bill but the show was already sold out.

The final ticket was obvious. My friend Orelia was shipping off to Africa to join the Peace Corps in a few short months and wouldn't get a chance to see the movie when it was released in the fall. After all those years spent in Rivendell co-op watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer and later Angel I had my posse back for one last glorious adventure. Matt gets extremely car sick so for once I was ensconced in the back seat with Orelia, driving duties handed over to Ann. Orelia was in the process of re-reading all The Sandman comics before Africa and spent the afternoon while Ann drove us to Chicago telling me all about the series and in particular the volume she had brought along, The Sandman: The Doll's House. Even if I hadn't been familiar with Neil's work his sense of humor of having a Serial Killer Convention disguised as a "Cereal" Convention made me know that he was my kind of writer. I always look back on that day not as the day Joss callously killed off Wash, but of those quite moments in the backseat with Orelia talking about comics, or the amazing lightning storm we witnessed on the return journey. It was one of those days that I will always remember.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Angel, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Chicago, Comics, Firefly, Gaiman Gala, Gaiman Reminiscence, Graphic Novels, Joss Whedon, Lightning, Neil Gaiman, Peace Corps, Sandman, Serenity, The Sandman: The Doll's House, Wash

Leviathan Wakes by James S.A. Corey
Published by: Orbit
Publication Date: August 30th, 2016
Format: Paperback, 592 Pages
Rating: ★★★
To Buy

Little does Julie Mao realize that when The Scopuli was taken it would sent in motion a chain of events that will forever change the solar system. Jim Holden and his crew make their living as ice miners. Their ship, The Canterbury, receives a distress call from The Scopuli and they go to investigate it. Holden, Naomi, Amos, Alex, and Shed board The Knight to go get a closer look. The Scopuli is derelict. No signs of any life. No signs of Julie. But Holden knows something is wrong, so they head back to The Knight and that's when The Canterbury is blown out of the sky. The Canterbury, the rest of their crew, gone in an instant, by what Holden assumes is a stealth ship belonging to Mars. In his rage at such senseless waste Holden broadcasts the destruction of The Canterbury to the whole solar system, not caring if this triggers a war between Earth and Mars. Not caring about any ramifications, just hoping for justice for the friends he lost. But Holden hasn't quite connected the dots. The five of them should have died on The Canterbury because whatever they found on The Scopuli is worth killing for. He's determined to find out exactly what it all means, damn the consequences.

Detective Miller has been taken off his usual beat on Ceres. His higher ups have given him the case of a missing girl to be investigated as a favor to her wealthy Lunar family. The girl is Julie Mao. She was a decorated pinnace pilot who gave it all up. She became active in politics and moved to Ceres and joined the OPA. The Outer Planets Alliance is a thorn in the side of Detective Miller, but a thorn he can deal with. He understands their desire to not be controlled by Earth. People on Earth can't comprehend what it's like out in the belt so why should they be allowed any say? Of course they're also the ones who call the OPA terrorists. But none of that matters to Miller, he is consumed with the disappearance of Julie. He might not be the best at his job, and he might drink a little too much, but he's also like a dog with a bone, he will figure out what happened to Julie, even after his boss demands he drop the case. But it's too late for Holden, he's a man possessed by Julie. He must find Julie even at the cost of his sanity. It's not long before he learns about The Scopuli and realizes that Holden might be the only one who can answer his questions. But when they finally meet at Eros Station things are much more complicated than either of them imagined and everything is about to change.

It's rare that I pick up a straight up science fiction book. Usually there's some kind of aspect that draws me to the book, a favorite author like Douglas Adams wrote it or it's Star Wars. So out and out science fiction usually gets pushed aside for books with more paranormal elements, thus pushing them into the fantasy end of the spectrum. Leviathan Wakes was actually a book that was thrown in the hat for book club and I can honestly say that when it arrived from Amazon it's heft made me a little hesitant to dive in. Yet I was quickly sucked in, even preaching to other members of my book club that it was a surprisingly fast read that overcomes it's flaws. Because Leviathan Wakes does suffer from a typical science fiction problem, it wants to be the pinnacle of science fiction and to that extent it incorporates so much of everything that has come before it's hard to really laud it on it's own merits. Yes, it stands on it's own, but so much is borrowed or re-interpreted that it's sometimes hard to let it stand alone. You can't help thinking what else it reminds you of. Here's a little Firefly, here's a little Battlestar Galactica, here's a little Doctor Who, here's a little Red Dwarf, here's a little Bladerunner. Each and every one of these instances pulls you out of the book. I can almost forgive Fred Johnson being Yaphet Kotto from Alien, but when Kaylee literally walks onto Holden's ship, well, that's a step too far.

Yet of ALL the references crammed in the most obvious is Bladerunner. Because Detective Miller is just Rick Deckard under another name and without the whole is he, isn't he a replicant controversy. Now, I'm not saying this is a bad thing, I'm just saying it's a thing. It's actually the Noir aspect of this book that is a little divisive, not the Bladerunner homage. And it's not among readers but among the story itself. It's hard to get a Noir story right. You have to have just the right amount of hard drinking, bitterness, and delusions, which Miller does have. But the problem is balancing Miller's plot with Holden's plot. While they do eventually connect and Holden's plot has a mystery at it's center, it is in no way Noir. And when the two storylines merge, the Noir aspect is sacrificed to the bigger storyline. So then why do it at all in the first place if you're going to eventually ditch it? I just feel that this dichotomy between the two narrators should have been thought out more in advance. Yes, it's good to have two very distinct narrators, but they shouldn't feel like they inhabit two different genres. A book needs to be some sort of cohesive whole to work and the styles of these two characters seem to be constantly fighting. In fact I wonder if perhaps this book was written more like the letter game, seeing as James S.A. Corey is actually two people. That might account for the two narrative styles being at such odds. They really needed an editor to fix this.

But then Leviathan Wakes needed an editor in general. There are long sections of the book that could have been excised and the story would have still have been successfully conveyed. This book clocks in at almost six hundred pages and probably two hundred pages could have been omitted. Two hundred pages of battles in spaceship corridors and hiding in spaceship corridors and just hanging in spaceship corridors. And the Amos/Alex thing should have been fixed, because their names are too similar. Oh, and internal monologues! Yes, I know Noir needs these, but as I've already said, the Noir was sacrificed so why not sacrifice a few of these monologues? Oh, and don't think the irony is lost on me that half of James S.A. Corey, the Ty Franck half, is the assistant to George R. R. Martin, an author known for mighty tomes that could use a little tightening up. The extra irony is that he claims he doesn't want to write like his boss... um, ok, so you've totally failed there. But where the editing could have really been used is in the space politics. Yes, I get that with the conflict between Mars and Earth politics have to be included, to an extent, but please, as I've said time and time again, don't bog down your book with politics I don't care about. Contain what needs to be contained and omit the rest. I get too much of regular politics, I don't need to add space politics to this as well. In fact this was a flaw that always grated on me with Battlestar Galactica, too much politics! There's only so much I can take and only so much needed. So bring on the editor!

Though the faults of the book don't take away from the fact that in the end it was still enjoyable and I look forward to reading Caliban's War. The reason for this is that James S.A. Corey has created a believable future. Sometimes when writers imagine the future and how our future will look like in outer space it's just ludicrously wrong. They think too big, too broad, too many aliens. Instead mankind has had about two hundred years in outer space and human genetics, language, and politics are shifting, but not radically, instead at a normal pace that we can see as possible. Outer planets resent the control exerted by Earth, we still can't go beyond our own galaxy to the far reaches of the universe. Mining the other planets for ice to have enough water is big business. These little things like survival and control are big concerns. As for humans themselves, it's interesting to read about what would hypothetically happen to people born outside the confines of gravity, known here as Belters. How it would effect not just their genetic makeup but how their bones would be effected. They are taller and thinner because of this lack of gravity. Reproduction is more difficult. They've developed sign language from the necessity of spacesuits, and therefore their own linguistic mutations with the Belter patois. They are also viewed as different and therefore racial tensions erupt. But this is all believable. This could happen. This might happen. This makes me really need to start the next book.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Alien, Backlog Bonanza, Belters, Bladerunner, BSG, Caliban's War, Deckard, Doctor Who, Firefly, GRRM, Holden, James S.A. Corey, Julie Mao, Kaylee, Leviathan Wakes, Miller, Noir, Outer Space, Red Dwarf, Science Fiction

A Deadly Measure of Brimstone by Catriona McPherson
Published by: Minotaur Books
Publication Date: November 18th, 2014
Format: Hardcover, 304 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"In A Deadly Measure of Brimstone, Dandy and the whole Gilver clan travel to a spa town for a weekend of relaxation which is quickly interrupted by a slew of mysterious— and deadly—events.

The men of the Gilver family have come down, between them, with influenza, bronchitis, pneumonia and pleurisy. The family repairs to the town of Moffat, there to submit to the galvanic wraps and cold salt rubs of the splendid Laidlaw Hydropathic Hotel.

But all is not well at the Hydro, and the secret of the lady who arrived but never left cannot be kept for long. And what of those drifting shapes in the Turkish bath? Just steam shifting in the air? Probably. But in this town the dead can be as much trouble as the living."

I am very excited for a new Dandy Gilver book but I am heartbroken that it doesn't have a cover by Jessica Hische, aka the reason I picked the series up in the first place because of the striking covers!

The Paris Winter by Imogen Robertson
Published by: St. Martin's Press
Publication Date: November 18th, 2014
Format: Hardcover, 368 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"There is but one Paris. -Vincent Van Gogh

Maud Heighton came to Lafond's famous Academie to paint, and to flee the constraints of her small English town. It took all her courage to escape, but Paris, she quickly realizes, is no place for a light purse. While her fellow students enjoy the dazzling decadence of the Belle Epoque, Maud slips into poverty. Quietly starving, and dreading another cold Paris winter, she stumbles upon an opportunity when Christian Morel engages her as a live-in companion to his beautiful young sister, Sylvie.

Maud is overjoyed by her good fortune. With a clean room, hot meals, and an umbrella to keep her dry, she is able to hold her head high as she strolls the streets of Montmartre. No longer hostage to poverty and hunger, Maud can at last devote herself to her art.

But all is not as it seems. Christian and Sylvie, Maud soon discovers, are not quite the darlings they pretend to be. Sylvie has a secret addiction to opium and Christian has an ominous air of intrigue. As this dark and powerful tale progresses, Maud is drawn further into the Morels' world of elegant deception. Their secrets become hers, and soon she is caught in a scheme of betrayal and revenge that will plunge her into the darkness that waits beneath this glittering city of light."

This looks very intriguing!

Serenity: Leaves on the Wind by Zack Whedon
Published by: Dark Horse Books
Publication Date: November 18th, 2014
Format: Hardcover, 152 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"In the film Serenity, outlaw Malcolm Reynolds and his crew revealed to the entire 'verse the crimes against humanity undertaken by the sinister government--the Alliance. Here, in the official follow-up to the film, the crew has been in hiding since becoming everyone's most wanted, and now they are forced to come out. River uncovers more secrets, leading these former Browncoats on a dangerous mission against the Alliance that, with hope, will bring them together again..."

Ah, who am I kidding. Sure I hated the movie but I adore Firefly so much I'll probably read this too.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: A Deadly Measure of Brimstone, Catriona McPherson, Dandy Gilver, Firefly, Imogen Robertson, Jessica Hische, Joss Whedon, Leaves on the Wind, Serenity, The Paris Winter, Vincent Van Gogh

Ruin and Rising (The Grisha Book 3) by Leigh Bardugo
Published by: Henry Holt and Co.
Publication Date: June 17th, 2014
Format: Hardcover, 432 Pages
Rating: ★★★★
To Buy (Different edition then one reviewed)

The Apparat's plan to win the war is to bide his time underground in his white cathedral with his disciples and rise victorious when all Alina's enemies have killed each other. While this kind of strategy has led to his long and successful career in the halls of Os Alta, Alina is going crazy underground as his prisoner. Her illness after the battle with the Darkling has left her sick and frail, but being so far away from the light she summons means she is unable to fully heal, unable to escape the Apparat and her growing fear that he might realize a dead saint is less work then a living saint. Luckily for Alina her fellow Grisha are concocting a plan to release her from this underground tomb and resume their hunt for the final amplifier in the hopes that then Alina will have the strength to defeat the Darkling.

Escaping though is the first and easiest step, and in truth, it wasn't easy at all. But working their way out of a labyrinth of underground caverns is quite easier then locating a rebel prince who has become a sky pirate employing guerrilla tactics or hunting down a mystical creature that may not even exist. All this just in the hopes that they might succeed. Yet with the Darkling striking out faster, sooner, and unexpectedly at every turn, Alina wonders how her misfit bad of Grisha can survive and how they even became compatriots in the first place. With despair driving them more then hope, Alina wants to be the light in the darkness but fears that her lust for power might make her more similar to the Darkling then she dares admit to anyone, even Mal.

A satisfying conclusion is the hardest thing to achieve. A delicate balance of all the possible outcomes while remaining true to the characters and giving the readers closure. Some might say it's impossible, others improbable, but Leigh Bardugo came very close to a perfect ending with non stop action and wit. Mal becoming even more Malcolm Reynolds as he paraphrases Nathan Fillion's character from the Firefly episode "The Message" to my delight. Though I do have issues with the improbability of the happily ever after, I still felt a satisfaction wash over me, with maybe a little eye rolling at the convenience of things. Yes, after a bleak tale almost everyone wants love to prevail, cue the happy welcome home to the Shire music and end credits, but there's me going, but can't it still be a little dark? Perhaps I should stop falling for the baddies and the rogues so that when they are vanquished or cast aside I won't be left there brokenhearted.

Yet my inability to stop falling for the bad guys was a foregone conclusion with the Darkling. What made Ruin and Rising so amazing and so fully rounded a book was the insight Bardugo gave us about him. Here we don't have just a mindless baddie whose sole goal is power and destruction. We don't have a cookie cutter villain with a goofy gimmick, like a bullseye iris (don't ask me why I'm thinking of Charles Dance in Last Action Hero, I honestly don't know). Bardugo gets that bad guys can't be all that bad, there has to be more. Here we have a multifaceted villain. He's not black like Spinal Tap none more black, he's black like an oil slick or the night sky, there's rainbows and depth, there's hints of blue that make the black blacker, but a splash of light every now and then. His back story is gut wrenching, especially if you read this edition with the prequel story "The Demon in the Wood." To the rest of the world he's this improbable being of such destructive force that he is terrifying, but to Alina, he's just a boy, like calling to like. What wouldn't we do if we spent lifetimes alone and persecuted? Your only wish to be loved and safe and have someone tenderly say your name. Your true name. To learn at the end that you are in fact truly alone, that would destroy anyone.

Aside from the whole wanting to go off with the Darkling, I also kind of really want to just move into the world of this book. Because I don't want this to be the end. I can't accept it for some reason and this has spurred me and my overactive brain on to start asking fifty million questions about the world Bardugo has built. I have so many thoughts on the worldbuilding that I can't sit still. I don't think it's a lack on Bardugo's part either as to insufficient information, but more my insatiable curiosity. Unless of course you have the same questions, then perhaps we all need to sit down with Leigh and work things out. The exception to this is the distances. I really don't think that Bardugo worked out her distances on her map very well. In the first book it took far longer to get anywhere, and as each book progressed it took less and less time to get from one place to another, yes, I know they had improved transport... but still, it's off. Make a key, stick to it, alright?

As for my other questions, I'd have to be like the Darkling and have a really long lifespan because, well, some things I want to know are past, some are present, and some are future, unless I had the ability to time travel, that would make this faster. Firstly I want to know if Morozova just created the applifiers or did he plan on using them. It seems like a lot of work to go around and make them and not use them. But if he used them, well, did they respawn on his death? But then they thought, maybe he didn't die, so then, well, it makes no sense. Though I really want to know more about the physics of the fold. So it's this big blackness dividing the country and it's the blackest black inside. Well, the sun rises in the east and sets in the west, this is a north south divide. How is there dawn in West Ravka or a sunset in East Ravka? Just how? See, I just need more and more books in the world to work this all out once and for all. Leigh's got to get on this ASAP.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Alina, Apparat, Charles Dance, Darkling, Firefly, Grisha, Grisha Trilogy, Last Action Hero, Leigh Bardugo, Mal, Nathan Fillion, Ravka, Ruin and Rising, Spinal Tap, The Fold

Shadow and Bone (The Grisha Book 1) by Leigh Bardugo
Published by: Henry Holt and Co.
Publication Date: June 5th, 2012
Format: Hardcover, 368 Pages
Rating: ★★★★
To Buy

Alina and Mal only have each other. Orphaned in the wars they grew up looking to each other for everything. Now they are in the first army together, Mal's a tracker and Alina's a cartographer. But little does Mal know Alina's true feelings for him. The way her heart thumps when he's near or how she worries that they might be parted. Their parting is near at hand. The land of Ravka is divided by a darkness, a nothing. The capital is cut off from the ports and the country has been vulnerable for hundreds of years while creatures roam the blackness killing those who try to cross. Mal and Alina are about to attempt the crossing with their units; only everything goes wrong. The evil creatures with their blind eyes attack and it looks as if they are both going to die, but then a light as bright as the sun shines out and cuts the creatures down. Little does Alina realize that the light emanated from her.

Being called before the leader of the second army, the Darkling, Alina thinks that for some reason she is in trouble, but doesn't know why she is brought before the Grisha. The Grisha are masters of the small science, innate abilities in them that classify them as Corporalki, Etheralki, or Materialki, with powers ranging from stopping a human heart to metallurgy. Summoning the Sun means that Alina is a Etheralki who somehow avoided detection. Finding out that she isn't in trouble but is in fact what their country has been praying for since the arrival of this dark rift puts pressure beyond measure on Alina. Not only is she trying to forget being separated from Mal, but dealing with the cosseted little world of backbiting Grishas, all while she's trying come to gripes with a power she never knew she had and hoping that it's all a big mistake or joke. Yet what if the Darkling has a different purpose in mind for Alina's powers the banishing the darkness? Will she be able to withstand his magnetism and the allure of life at court?

I remember reading a review about Shadow and Bone wherein they said it was dark, Russian, and left a vivid impression on me of a girl wandering a desolate landscape of evil shadows. Now that I've read the book I wonder if the reviewer had actually bothered to pick it up because this isn't some Russian Dorthy Gale lost in the wilderness, but the reviewer I guess could be said to have done their job because it did make me pick it up. And you know what? I wasn't disappointed that the only thing the reviewer really got right was the Russian and the darkness because it was a fun fast read. There's nothing overly original or revolutionary in this book, it is too obviously like other books then like itself to be called first rate literature. The plot set up is typical YA in structure, outcast has an ability they never knew they had and can save everyone... sounds familiar right? It's Tamora Pierce meets Buffy meets Harry Potter meets The Hunger Games meets The Neverending Story meets on and on and on. But somehow Bardugo makes it work more for her then against her. Even if Mal is too obviously Nathan Fillion in Firefly, name and all, it just works. Plus, I've a habit of wanting Nathan Fillion in all my books, so here I didn't even have to make an effort!

The real reason this book works more then it fails is that it was fun having a different setting then usual. YA literature tends to break down into a few distinct categories; post apocalyptic society, fairy tale re-tellings, or fantasy world. You rarely get to see re-imagings of past time periods but with fantastical elements, their are of course exceptions to this rule like Robin LaFevers' His Fair Assassin Series, but Russia, Russia is rarely tackled. Yet, with all things there are the parts that work and the parts that don't. I was enthralled with the court life and how Bardugo took a simple coat and was able to hint at the culture, but also was able to break down that culture with the use of colors and the distinctions in the threading. It was the little things, the details that she got just right. But she also got some big things quite wrong. Sometimes the place names or wordings, well, it was kind of overly kitschy or bang your head dumb. Kind of a when in doubt add a "ki" or a "nik" to the end of the word worldbuilding. No, I'm sorry, that doesn't make it Russian. Also Tsibeya for Siberia... not really feeling that. Funny spellings, no. The worst is Fjerda, which I'm taking to be Norway, because of the Fjords that the country is noted for. The problem I have with this is every time I see the word Fjerda or Fjerdian, the way it sounds in my head is like the Swedish Chef trying to talk, so it's the land of Børk Børk Børk.

But it's the subtler undertones of Mother Russia that coheres the book versus the more absurd elements (Børk). The mirroring of the political situation of Russia at the beginning of the last century was spot on. Strip out all the Grishas and the magic, take out an evil nothing and what have we got? We have a country with a widening gap between the haves and the have nots. The King is just a figurehead that no one respects and has a mysterious religious leader as counsel. The power of the country resides in the army and out of this a megalomaniac leader will take the country's reigns for his own will. So the Darkling is Stalin or Lenin, with the Apparat as Rasputin. I would not be the least bit surprised to see the Tsar and his family hurried into a cellar in the next book so that they can never be a threat to the Darkling ever again. Yet by seeing this through a filter of fiction and fantasy it somehow makes it more real then less real. When we travel with Alina from her life of drudgery in the army to her life of splendor in the Little Palace, we get to see in stark relief the widening gap between the haves and the have nots. Sometimes it takes another medium to filter events for us to get at the truth of something, and that is what Leigh Bardugo has done in Shadow and Bone. It might not be perfect, but it is memorable and echoes down the ages to our shared history.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Alina, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Darkling, Firefly, Grisha Trilogy, Harry Potter, Leigh Bardugo, Nathan Fillion, Ravka, Robin LaFevers, Russia, Shadow and Bone, Swedish Chef, The Hunger Games, The Neverending Story

Scarlet (The Lunar Chronicles Book 2) by Marissa Meyer
Published by: Feiwel and Friends
Publication Date: February 5th, 2013
Format: Hardcover, 464 Pages
Rating: ★★
To Buy

Scarlet Benoit’s Grandmother has been missing for awhile. Yet no one seems to be willing to help. So Scarlet is not only filled with worry and no leads, but she also has to keep the family farm running in her Grandmother's absence. Yet her Grandmother's past and her connection to the Lunar Cyborg girl Cinder, who is on all the news feeds, not just for the commotion at Emperor Kai's gala, but then for her subsequent escape from prison, might just be the reason behind everything. While Scarlet sympathizes with poor Cinder, if Scarlet could find any link, no matter how tenuous, any information to find her Grandmother, she would use it. Enter Wolf. He is a street fighter, and he has a lead. Scarlet's Grandmother is being held in Paris and he will help Scarlet get there. While trusting Wolf might be a horrible mistake, it's a risk Scarlet is willing to take.

Scarlet picks up mere days after the events of Cinder, though refocusing on Scarlet Benoit, the granddaughter of a lady who has some connection to Cinder's shrouded past and now relocating the focus of the story to France. I have spent a year pining for this book to come out. Leaving me hanging on a cliff was not the nicest thing for Marissa to do, but seeing as I was still expectantly waiting a year later shows the power of her world building. Therefore I think this book became too built up in my head. After that long of a wait and then having to search for quite a long period of time at Barnes and Noble to actually find a copy of the book (what stupid bookstore only gets two copies and then hides them on the bottom shelf near the door I ask you) I was, I don't know, expecting something just as unique and wonderful as Cinder was and in the end I was thoroughly disappointed. I really should start a list of books that were better than the first, because really, I think I almost set myself up for these falls with unrealistic expectations... but then authors like Mary Robinette Kowal and Laini Taylor have raised the bar so high for second outings that this book really had to be something wonderful to measure up, instead I felt like I was slogging through just to get to the end.

My main problem was all the unnecessary shit that was thrown in. New settings, new characters and new creatures. I admire Marissa for expanding her world, but there was some magic in the Eastern Commonwealth that was not only lacking in France, but made France boring. How can you make France boring you ask? By having it not be futuristic. By having me feel like if I where to get on a plane and go there RIGHT NOW I could be in Scarlet's world. Cinder's world was a flight of fancy, an easy to imagine possible future, yet France was just France. Yet France being just France wasn't nearly as boring as Scarlet and Wolf. I'm sorry, but they where boring. Scarlet was flat and two dimensional. I didn't care if she found her grandmother or not. As for Wolf, whatever. He reminded me of Tom from Being Human with his old fashioned manners and, well, the wolf bit, but unlike Tom, Wolf was just a dull dull character whose attraction to Scarlet seemed to be a plot contrivance than actually real attraction. They needed to be relegated to the background. The book came alive when Cinder was around, so by making Scarlet and Wolf just people who forward Cinder's story would have sat far better with me than having to excruciatingly journey with them across France while we where to be rooting for them with their false chemistry. Though the "wolves" is what really put the nail in the coffin for me. Really, "werewolves?" After much thinking, ok, having wolves in thrall to the Lunars does make a bit of sense because in mythology werewolves are governed by the moon... but there's just too much shit populating this world. Lunars, cyborgs, viruses, world wars, plagues... enough already. NO MORE. This world is full enough. Stop it.

The big thing though that was totally unsatisfactory to me was the handling of the "Little Red Riding Hood" story. With Cinder it was a totally new and fresh spin. Cinderella as a cyborg... she doesn't leave a shoe behind but her old foot!?! How cool is that? Very is my answer.  Here... well... um, it was like almost every retelling I've read of "Little Red Riding Hood" in years. The Big Bad Wolf that is just misunderstood and reforms and falls for the girl... isn't that the Fables comics? Or Sisters Red? This was just predictable and done before. Also, stop switching up how Scarlet refers to her Grandmother, Grand-mere... I'm assuming she is actually talking in French the whole time, so then Grand-mere is what, doubly French? And that stupid red hoodie! Ug, it was just a crutch so that if you weren't already being beaten over the head with Red Riding Hood imagery, let's just mention it over and over. There was one thing that Marissa nailed with regards to the original story. The "reveal" when Red Riding Hood realizes her grandmother isn't her grandmother (what big eyes, you get the idea) is so awesomely cool that I realize this book could have been as good as Cinder. So extra demerits... I now know how awesome you could be so this sub-par effort pisses me off more.

One good thing, everything Cinder. The book was mildly redeemed by the fact that Cinder was around and her story remained interesting... even if it veered ever closer to Firefly land, at least she was there to buoy up the book... if not, do I dare suggest that I don't think I would have finished it and might have even violently thrown it across the room? Yes I do suggest that. The cover is ugly anyway, wouldn't have been a loss.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 2 comments  

Labels: Being Human, Big Bad Wolf, Cinder, Cinderella, Cyborg, Fables, Firefly, Little Red Riding Hood, Marissa Meyer, Scarlet, Sisters Red, Summer Series, The Lunar Chronicles