Category Archives: Book Reviews

Review: Mercedes Lackey – Closer to Home

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Closer to Home
Mercedes Lackey

Despite having a somewhat unorthodox upbringing and a shiny life respectively, Mags and Amiliy have gone though a variety of challenging situations together. Upon their return to Haven and their Whites, they have to balance their private and public selves to provide a stable face for the kingdom.

20893366Ok, so the summary I just gave you is probably a little too rosy. To confirm your dismay, once again this novel has Mags at its centre. If only this Lackey novel could have had a different hero. There’s plenty of minor meaty bits to work with, but Mags eats them all up with his low-levelview of life and his expectations.

Mag’s terrible speech continues as an ongoing annoyance. I know it’s part of his street persona, but he doesn’t need it to make him stand out from the other characters at all. The other characters seemed defined by their words, rather than their actions, even though a new mind-power mean that more actions could have been described with a hint of emotion.

It took me a little while to get around to writing a review for this novel, simply because I was searching around for other things to read that might be more compelling! I did make a note to jump start my mind for the review though – Another lackluster Lackey offering.

I’ve seen other reviewers complaining that Lackey is simply coming up with ideas for novels from things that have worked previously. In this case, it’s a Romeo and Juliet-esk drama, seen through the eyes of a small dog. Nothing against the small furry dog, just a lot against idiotic noblewomen.

I borrowed this novel from the library. Unless it’s super on sale, I wouldn’t even buy it as a mass-market paperback – nothing new to read here. 2 to 3 stars from me – a bare pass.

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Review: Matthew Reilly – Troll Mountain

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Troll Mountain
Matthew Reilly

Raf’s only family has come down with a fatal disease that no human knows how to cure. The secret rests with the trolls of Troll Mountain – the very animals that killed the rest of Raf’s family. When the authorities of his tribe fail to make progress on helping Raf’s sister, he sets out on a quest.

21882602While at first glance things in society seem very simple, the questioning voice of Ko and Raf’s quick learning expose universal truths. Adults will probably see most things coming, but younger readers will appreciate the unveiling of the potential ugliness of society. It also seems as if Reilly is having a quick stab at the current state of politics (but it’s not intrusive).

This is a novel of the journey, the plot, the scenery and lastly the characters. Raf undergoes character development, but it’s really just a side effect of the journey. It certainly isn’t enough to drive the story. But the plot is swift and doesn’t let the reader or Raf catch their breath, ending up in a short read for me that took around a half hour.

I’m not sure what I was expecting from this novel, but I don’t think it was what I expected from knowing about some of Reilly’s more popular works. I expected a gritty, heavy fantasy novel suitable for long-time converts, and instead got an accessible novel for all ages.

This novel was originally published in successive chapters as an ebook. I have to say, I probably never would have picked them up. I’m not very patient, and although each chapter wraps itself up nicely, and doesn’t form too much on an impatient cliff-hanger, I wouldn’t be good at remembering to keep reading it. I received this novel in a beautiful hardback from Macmillian. I’d suggest buying it for your young person in your life though – I think it would be worth reading and discussing. 3.5 stars from me.

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Review: Karelia Stetz-Waters – The Purveyor

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The Purveyor
Karelia Stetz-Waters

Helen and Wilson have been forcibly separated in the wake of The Admirer‘s thrilling conclusion. As Wilson suffers from a disorder with no cure, Helen finds herself increasingly lost and uncomfortable, not knowing why Wilson is not returning to her college.

23120239This novel is just as entrancing as the first novel. It is written more from Wilson’s perspective which is a refreshing change after Helen’s insecure narration in the first novel. At the same time, it is obvious that Wilson suffers from the same insecurities. I felt frustrated that they weren’t communicating well, because surely they should have gotten over it in the first novel? But that is what makes this novel more life-like and less like a fiction.

That being said, the things that go wrong that are really random things that get wrong. How likely is it that these things would happen in real life? The whole hierarchy in Wilson’s family seems off, but then again, these atrocities to occur in modern life, and what better way to expose it than in a novel? Her family is seriously interbred and messy, made more so by the questionable sexualities of its members. I wonder how much of this actually goes on…

I had such differing levels of disgust and horror and discomfort all about one person, but I didn’t know that they were someone else until it was too late! I didn’t feel tricked, instead I felt like I’d had an actual expose go on, just like Wilson feels. It’s a clever technique that Karelia uses with expertise in both of her ‘Wilson and Helen’ novels.

I couldn’t make the final connection for what happened to the girls. They’re basically surrounded by myth the whole time. They’re completely legendary, and remain that way. I’d love to hear more from them. I want to know whether they are both happy, whether they decide to study more, and what the collector wanted from them (if it wasn’t sex or religious purposes).

Once again I was left feeling like I’d been walking along hot coals and found myself loving them so much that it felt more painful when it ended. I was pushed along by how things were interconnected and messy and yet not obvious all at the same time. Love, love, loved this novel. Not only did I connect with the characters, the plot didn’t miss a beat and kept moving forward with no inconsistencies.

When I interviewed Karelia, she mentioned that many people seem uncomfortable with the sex scenes in her novels. I think that the majority of them are tastefully done, and actually offer insight into the characters. That is particularly the case in this novel. It’s certainly not a gratuitous pledge to her readers.

I bought this novel for myself after reading Karelia’s other novels, The Admirer, Forgive Me If I’ve Told You This Before and Something True. Let that be a mark to you that I now proudly own all these novels after buying them with my own cash, and would confidently promote them to everyone.

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Review: Mercedes Lackey & James Mallory – The House of the Four Winds

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The House of the Four Winds
Mercedes Lackey & James Mallory

Clarice, or Clarence as she prefers to be known, has been sent out from home to seek her fortune as a swordswoman. Determined to explore more of the world before settling down, she finds herself on a ship to the New World. After a mutiny by the crew, Clarence and her Captain find themselves running out of food and water – and instead heading towards an unknown destination.

16059529Clarence is a traditional female-hiding-as-male character. Not only does she pretend to be a passenger when she’s perfectly capable of looking after herself, she predictably falls in love with the Captain – who is understandably confused about having feelings for a young man…

It’s pretty much black and white what each person is feeling and doing. You know some characters are being sneaky, and it’s almost 100% positive that they are ‘bad’. ‘Bad’ dies out, and ‘good’ wins. Even when you put an all-powerful sorceress in the mix.

This novel was the highlight of the ones I borrowed from the library recently by Lackey. Mallory pulls up Lackey’s slack, and makes the story work. That being said, the execution is improved, but there’s not really any real variation from a known and best-selling story-type. I long for something new and unique – and I think I’m going to have to step away from

I’m interested to see what becomes of the next sisters in the series. They can’t all be firey princesses dreaming of adventure surely? Or perhaps this book won’t be successful enough to demand the writing of those… 4 stars from me.

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Review: Brandon Sanderson – Steelheart

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Steelheart
Brandon Sanderson

David has been hunting Epics his whole life. Well, not all of them. But enough of them that he can classify them, and knows how to take them down. But there’s only one he wants to take down. And that’s Steelheart, who killed his father. Somewhere in David’s mind is the clue to take him down. He can’t do it on his own though…

17182126Metaphors in a world gone mad. I think that setting up difficult ones is just as hard as setting up good ones! I can’t decide whether it’s overkill, or just adding depth to David’s character. I guess it shows his out-of-contact social skills from living alone for too many years.

Sanderson always picks an interesting idea, and moves away from it in an odd direction. Take a concept that you think you understand, then turn it upside down. Too many times are there heroes and villains as super-people. Sometimes the balance is out. And what happens when they’re always mad and grumpy? Normal humans don’t have a chance.

I would have liked to see a bit more variety in the perspectives offered. David offers a pretty narrow world view to see the whole novel through. But it would have ruined some of the surprises because each person has their own secrets that the hold that are both their own and for others.

Something I love so much about this novel, and others, is that the person you might empathise with the most might turn out to be someone different or die on you! His twists and deaths are real deaths – people stay dead. Not like some series I can mention… *Game of Thrones* cough cough.

Oh Sanderson. You’ve done it again. I felt so shattered by the ending, and it wasn’t what I expected at all, so it was totally awesome. I can’t possibly recommend this novel enough. I’ve loved his work since much earlier, since borrowing novels while I was overseas on vacation (I now own them, not that they are out of their pristine plastic wrap).

I forgot to say thank you to my amazing girlfriend for surprising me with this novel! I have the bestest girlfriend ever.

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Review: Leah Raeder – Black Iris

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Black Iris
Leah Raeder

I’m not even sure I can write a blurb for this novel, it was so unsatisfying. Complex relationships and a F/F/M love-triangle combined with copious amounts of drugs and a couple of mental illnesses thrown in does not make a good book.

9781476786421This book was raw, rough and sometimes hard to follow. I am a serial ignorer of chapter titles and headings, particularly when reading an e-book. It took me a couple of chapters before I realised that yes, it was all from one perspective, but no, the time wasn’t proceeding in a linear fashion, and yes, some of those were flashbacks, and no, I couldn’t work out from Laney’s unreliable narrating whether things actually happened. It all came across with the same level of importance and the same amount of crudity.

I feel like I am betraying the queer community for saying this, but I don’t think it’s a supportive book for those going through acceptance issues. I appreciate what this novel is doing in terms of trying to expose sexualities and gender balances to a wider community of readers. However, I felt that the execution of this was too extreme for most people to relate to. The important messages were drowned by the characters’ sex and drugs.

There was sex and drugs and sex and abuse left, right and centre. I’ve read other novels with those things in it, and it hasn’t bothered me. Some of the best books I have read manage to make those things available to the reader, by not scaring them off. If anything, this novel seemed to enjoy disquieting the reader for no purpose,

Something that I didn’t agree with at all was the treatment of serious mental illnesses. Two of the characters had bipolar disorder, and the other had borderline personality disorder. No-one made an effort to medication professionally, instead they abused the medications they had and combined it with as many drugs as possible. If it was just them affecting themselves, I’d be ok with that – it’s their business. But when they are affecting close family members and causing deaths, there’s something seriously wrong.

I felt entirely confused and turned around by the time I got to the end. And I never felt any satisfaction. Laney seemed happy ripping holes in as many other people’s lives as possible, but I wasn’t happy with the way things turned out. The things she gets away with, the forgiveness she demands from other people, everything was wrong.

I had to let the book sit for a while before I could review it. Even now, I can feel the rotten taste of it in my mouth. I literally felt dirty once I had read it. I didn’t walk away from it feeling like I had gotten positive out of it – all I’d seen was what the worst of the world had to offer.

Yes, I kept reading it to the end. Yes, I didn’t want to walk away from it. But no, I shouldn’t have started reading it in the first place. Stay far, far away and shop for something with similar themes but a more satisfying ending (I’d suggest Scars, The Burn Journals, The Admirer and Keeping You a Secret). In fact, even the worst of the queer/mental illness novels that I have reviewed on this blog so far are better than this one.

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Review: Mercedes Lackey – Blood Red

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Blood Red
Mercedes Lackey

Rosamund is the first female Hunt Master. When her first elemental teacher is killed by a werewolf, Rosa is spirited away to a Hunt Lodge where she will make her fame and fortune hunting down others like it. She doesn’t expect to met anyone friendly who might ever have been a werewolf, and holds this prejudice against all werewolves – even cute ones 😉

23296687Nothing breathtaking to see here. Another elemental masters series novel, nothing new and exciting. It covers a new range of geography than previous novels, but didn’t really give me enough to hang on to. A long uncomfortable train ride is nothing new, and a tree falling on the tracks isn’t exactly something that tells me fascinating details about the surroundings.

All of Lackey’s females tend to be of the fighting type, so it’s not like Rosa is adding anything to the stable. Personally, I much prefer the protagonist in The Fire Rose. You don’t have to be all brawny and mannish in order to win your way through obstacles!

I felt myself grasping for something more. The first half of the novel was nothing but social backchat, and I felt like I hadn’t gotten anything! The action occurs right near the end where you’ve basically already give up hope of anything happening. Something that could have been a ‘twist’ just seemed inevitable.

No magic basically, only what you can do with silver shot. I wonder what Rosa does when forced to combat with normal enemies – she doesn’t appear to have any body strength in her besides what it takes to deal with the backlash from her gun. Since one of the favourite parts of these novels is seeing what magic can do next, it’s pretty boring from that perspective. And it was never really explained how the Earth magic that Rosa has lends itself to attack.

Yes, it’s an eligible addition to the Elemental Masters series, but I don’t think it adds anything significant to the body of Lackey’s other works. Pleasurable to read like a sweet candy, but leaves your tummy hungry for something a little more substantial. I’ve got two more Lackey books lined up from the library, so I still have hope.

I didn’t find myself disappointed by what this novel had to offer, but that was mainly because I was already primed to have low expectations. Lackey has been losing her style lately, and dragging novels out to where they are no longer sustainable. If you’re like me, and determined to hang on to the romantic notion of all Lackey’s novels being good, borrow it. Don’t buy it – I don’t think you’re going to want to read it more than once.

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Review: Sarah Vincent – The Testament of Vida Tremayne

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The Testament of Vida Tremayne
Sarah Vincent

Vida has become trapped in her own mind, while Dory is trapped in the suburbia of her job. When Dory comes to clear out her mother’s house, in preparation of Vida never recovering, she finds a house-guest who witnessed Vida’s demise – but the truth is to be found in a series of journals.

23583770The novel starts out with Dory’s perspective, and you feel yourself thrust into her busy mindset. Dory is a woman who knows her own mind, and is determined to succeed in all of the ways her mother failed. The other chapters are excerpts from Vida’s journals, exposing both Dory’s childhood and Vida’s decline.

Honestly, it took me a while to write this review. This was a novel I needed to think deeply about and prod myself to dig into it. Initially I struggled to get into this novel. The prose put me a little bit off balance, and then, about 20 pages in, I suddenly got hooked. By about half-way through the novel, I couldn’t put it down, and spent time thinking about it while I wasn’t touching that gorgeous cover.

Vida. Dory. Vida. Dory. Rhiannon. They were all brilliantly characterised and had very separate voices. I never felt confused as to who was speaking. I was unfamiliar with the countryside, and the external world-building was good, but oh my, the characters were just so good.

I wanted to talk about this book having finished reading it, almost to anyone who would listen. I doubted my own reading of it. I wondered if I had missed something. Somewhere, the lines of fiction and fantasy get blurred, and I couldn’t tell where that point happened. Arg! How could that happen! The action drove me to keep reading, and perhaps I missed some of the nuances. Or maybe, just maybe, the author tricked me into thinking I should know more, but leaving me wanting more instead. Either way, really compulsive reading.

The ending was haunting. Especially as it wasn’t clear what was actually wrong with ‘the monster’ or what had happened to ‘the animal’.

It’s a definite re-read for me. And I have a family member in mind who would absolutely LOVE to get her hands on this kind of novel, so I might offer it to her for a read.

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Review: Alexander Key – Escape to Witch Mountain

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Alexander Key

Escape to Witch Mountain

Tia and Tony have been different all their lives. With abilities that seem to only get them into trouble, and branded as aggressors and thieves, Tony and Tia are alone in the world with only each other for support. When someone from their past comes looking for them, they know it is time to move into the future.

6576481I only picked up this novel because its listing in my digital borrowing app from my local library said it was a ‘blindingly brilliant piece of sci-fi’. I thought it couldn’t be that bad. And it wasn’t horrific, but nor would I recommend it.

Everything is completely see-through. Tony and Tia always have to succeed, even as it seems like they will be ruined forever. It’s a children’s fiction book as far as I am concerned, and that makes it all the more likely that everyone will escape without a scratch.

The reader on this one (and perhaps Tia’s character) drove me mad. Ugh! I hated the way Tia spoke, and the way she was all ‘don’t make me tell the hurty things’ Tony. Suck it up princess! I could barely listen to her. Tony wasn’t much better, and Father O’Dey could have done with a deeper and more commanding voice (especially since he’s the priest that adds validity to their claim that they aren’t the devil’s work).

What redeems this novel? None of the ideas are new. Or they aren’t new now. As another reviewer said, this feels like a predecessor to Harry Potter! If there is a child in your life, and you think they might be ready for some ‘gentle’ sci-fi, let them have this novel. There’s nothing offensive, the good God remains prominent, and it fits in nicely with tales of UFOs.

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Review: Jessica Shirvington – Corruption

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Corruption
Jessica Shirvington

Maggie Stevens has lost track of time. It’s easy to do that when you have been shut in the dark with limited food and absolutely no light. Wasted away, and pining for someone that Maggie believes she has irrevocably harmed, Maggie still tries to keep her fitness up for the first chance of escape.

19035609I remember finishing the first book in this duology last year, and feeling incredibly pained at its ending. How could that happen? What chances are there for the next time? Will there be a next time? Of course there had to be another chance, otherwise Maggie would be good and gone forever!

This novel has just as many amazing cliff-hangers and scary parts as Disruption. Gods! I felt myself pulled every which way, and I wanted to keep listening and listening and listening to it. As a talking book, the narrator was excellent at captivating her audience and I felt a particular connection with Gus. Gus, I love you!

Let me say something here. Maggie inspires a loyalty that is quite frightening. It’s not surprising that her father has a similar pull on people. If Maggie ever has offspring (and I hope she does!), then I want them to be the same self-aware, self-punishing individuals that she is.

When you consider that an ‘M-band’ is likely to be produced in our near future, novels like this one are warnings of how things shouldn’t be done. If it was me, I’d want to exploit ‘Perfect Matches’. Instead of going for lust enhancers, I’d travel the world trying to find my Perfect Match. I’m not in the least surprised that this dystopian interpretation of the future also involves a society whose running is based on sex.

Something that Shirvington does extremely well is character building and maintaining characterisation. There isn’t any time where you feel like you’ve jumped into a character’s head and found that everything in there is mixed up from what you expected. What you feel, is what you get.

Tell me this is an Australian author, and I’ll try and reject your claim – it is just that good! I haven’t seen many authors lately that are inspiring and enjoyable to read as Shirvington’s works. Highly recommended. 5 stars.

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