Showing posts with label orbit books. Show all posts
Showing posts with label orbit books. Show all posts
Book Review: The Last Hour Between Worlds by Melissa Caruso
OFFICIAL AUTHOR BIO: Melissa Caruso writes books of murder, magic, and mayhem. Her published fantasy novels include the Swords & Fire trilogy (THE TETHERED MAGE, THE DEFIANT HEIR, THE UNBOUND EMPIRE) and the Rooks & Ruin trilogy (THE OBSIDIAN TOWER, THE QUICKSILVER COURT, THE IVORY TOMB), all from Orbit Books. Her debut novel was shortlisted for the Gemmell Morningstar Award in 2017, and her books have received starred reviews and made countless Best Of lists. Melissa is a tea drinker, larper, and mom, and lives in Massachusetts with her video game designer husband, two superlative daughters, and assorted pets.
OVERVIEW/ANALYSIS: This is a reality bending world with a mom who thought she would get one evening away from her baby being thrust into a time loopy adventure. It’s not very long, and it’s pretty much the setting that kept me hooked. To describe terribly, there are layers of realities that get more and more unhinged as you step from Prime layer to deeper and deeper echoes, and there aren’t many people who survive, or even want to consider stepping away from the layer that serves at ground truth. A new year party goes haywire and our protagonist Kembral is stuck trying to prevent murders, understanding why things are happening and what the stakes are for her and her baby, and just trying to get back home safe.
Kembral is shown to be an extremely competent Hound on maternity leave. There are people who want her back at work to do some challenging things, and she’s just trying to get them to understand that she’s not back at work yet. What a Hound (or a Cat, as you shall see if you read the book) does I think I’ve understood, but I couldn’t explain satisfactorily with a gun to my head, or worse. She’s like a magical investigator. You’ll just have to read the book and see for yourself.
You know those movies, where there’s a party or social gathering, and that’s used to introduce the viewer to different characters who may or may not matter to the story? The first two chapters are that, and it’s a bit dizzying in how much information is given to the reader at the get go. Quite a lot of it is useful, but I just couldn’t hold it in my head as the story progressed, and I just relied on the author’s competence to remind me of something important if it mattered. It did work out, and I really enjoyed watching the main character put things together and make her alliances. Now, it’s not necessarily a bad thing, but I am not sure if this makes the book friendly to newbies of the genre.
As for the magic, I really enjoyed how the different layers of echoes added awe but also stakes to the adventure, and loved watching things go more and more insane as Kembral got deeper in. The setting is what got me to pay attention to this book, and while it can be a wholly of information initially, I don’t think there was a way to smoothen it out, and get the impression that the author did the best she could. Beyond that point though, there’s a steady drip of the setting given throughout the book, and that was done very impressively.
A prominent theme of in book that gives it a niche target audience would be motherhood. Like I said, new mom away from baby for a night, and while we have seen it before in TV shows or movies or even books (I haven’t so if you know any that do this, feel free to drop a recommendation in the comments), but I liked how every other action taken by the main character was colored by her new responsibility or concern for the world that her baby Emmi would inherit, as well as her conflicting emotions in taking time away for herself, or trying to decide how she would balance what she wanted in her career/job and with her daughter. I do wish the resolution wasn’t abrupt here. When I mean abrupt, there’s a drastic change in like three paragraphs, and this needed to be done better, and more convincingly. As for repetition, you know how much I loathe it in books. There were a lot of the same phrases or words used (we could’ve done with one or more less mentions of her insides being rearranged during pregnancy etc), and I think the concentration on some aspects of motherhood was overly done in pockets, and there had to be stronger editing to spread it across the book in a less making-a-point-in-your-face way. I realize I’m not in a position to critique the content, but it’s the delivery here that I’ve an issue with. Just copyedit better next time?
Extending on my feelings about the motherhood theme, I enjoyed how the romance and pining (if you like a book with pining) worked its way into it and her need to be able to ask for help when needed. Now, the miscommunication, it wasn’t bad here. There is some. But you get to watch it being worked out by the end. So just keep that in mind.
CONCLUSION: I said a lot and have trouble pinning down my feelings for this book, but just know, I do recommend it. If you review, it’s definitely worth a request, and if you don’t, worth a purchase. Or talk to your library. I think a lot of you will enjoy this one.
Kembral is shown to be an extremely competent Hound on maternity leave. There are people who want her back at work to do some challenging things, and she’s just trying to get them to understand that she’s not back at work yet. What a Hound (or a Cat, as you shall see if you read the book) does I think I’ve understood, but I couldn’t explain satisfactorily with a gun to my head, or worse. She’s like a magical investigator. You’ll just have to read the book and see for yourself.
You know those movies, where there’s a party or social gathering, and that’s used to introduce the viewer to different characters who may or may not matter to the story? The first two chapters are that, and it’s a bit dizzying in how much information is given to the reader at the get go. Quite a lot of it is useful, but I just couldn’t hold it in my head as the story progressed, and I just relied on the author’s competence to remind me of something important if it mattered. It did work out, and I really enjoyed watching the main character put things together and make her alliances. Now, it’s not necessarily a bad thing, but I am not sure if this makes the book friendly to newbies of the genre.
As for the magic, I really enjoyed how the different layers of echoes added awe but also stakes to the adventure, and loved watching things go more and more insane as Kembral got deeper in. The setting is what got me to pay attention to this book, and while it can be a wholly of information initially, I don’t think there was a way to smoothen it out, and get the impression that the author did the best she could. Beyond that point though, there’s a steady drip of the setting given throughout the book, and that was done very impressively.
A prominent theme of in book that gives it a niche target audience would be motherhood. Like I said, new mom away from baby for a night, and while we have seen it before in TV shows or movies or even books (I haven’t so if you know any that do this, feel free to drop a recommendation in the comments), but I liked how every other action taken by the main character was colored by her new responsibility or concern for the world that her baby Emmi would inherit, as well as her conflicting emotions in taking time away for herself, or trying to decide how she would balance what she wanted in her career/job and with her daughter. I do wish the resolution wasn’t abrupt here. When I mean abrupt, there’s a drastic change in like three paragraphs, and this needed to be done better, and more convincingly. As for repetition, you know how much I loathe it in books. There were a lot of the same phrases or words used (we could’ve done with one or more less mentions of her insides being rearranged during pregnancy etc), and I think the concentration on some aspects of motherhood was overly done in pockets, and there had to be stronger editing to spread it across the book in a less making-a-point-in-your-face way. I realize I’m not in a position to critique the content, but it’s the delivery here that I’ve an issue with. Just copyedit better next time?
Extending on my feelings about the motherhood theme, I enjoyed how the romance and pining (if you like a book with pining) worked its way into it and her need to be able to ask for help when needed. Now, the miscommunication, it wasn’t bad here. There is some. But you get to watch it being worked out by the end. So just keep that in mind.
CONCLUSION: I said a lot and have trouble pinning down my feelings for this book, but just know, I do recommend it. If you review, it’s definitely worth a request, and if you don’t, worth a purchase. Or talk to your library. I think a lot of you will enjoy this one.
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Echo of Worlds by M. R. Carey
Buy Echo of Worlds here - U.S. | U.K.
OFFICIAL AUTHOR BIO: M. R. Carey has been making up stories for most of his life. His novel The Girl With All the Gifts has sold over a million copies and became a major motion picture, based on his own BAFTA Award-nominated screenplay. Under the name Mike Carey he has written for both DC and Marvel, including critically acclaimed runs on Lucifer, Hellblazer and X-Men. His creator-owned books regularly appear in the New York Times bestseller list. He also has several previous novels including the Felix Castor series (written as Mike Carey), two radio plays and a number of TV and movie screenplays to his credit.
FORMAT/INFO: This title was published by Orbit Books in June 2024, in hardback, ebook, and audio formats. This is the concluding book in the Pandominium Duology.
Thursday, January 18, 2024
Emily Wilde's Map of the Otherlands by Heather Fawcett (Reviewed by Shazzie)
Book Review: Emily Wilde's Map of the Otherlands by Heather Fawcett
Book Review: Grievar's Blood by Alexander Darwin
Buy Grievar's Blood HERE
Read Shazzie's review of The Combat Codes HERE
Read Caitlin's review of The Combat Codes HERE
OFFICIAL AUTHOR BIO: Alexander Darwin is an author living near Boston with his wife and three daughters. Outside of writing, he teaches and trains martial arts (Brazilian Jiu Jitsu). He’s inspired by old-school Hong Kong action flicks, jRPGs, underdog stories and bibimbap bowls.
Outside of writing fiction, Alexander has written for publications such as Rolling Stone Magazine and SF Signal. His latest piece - "The Lost Diary of Anthony Bourdain" - was a featured piece in Rolling Stone’s January 2022 issue.
Book Review: The Hexologists by Josiah Bancroft
Official Author Website
Buy The Hexologists here - U.S. | U.K.
Read Caitlin's review of the book here
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epic fantasy,
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Josiah Bancroft,
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Book Review: The Phoenix King by Aparna Verma
Buy The Phoenix King here - U.S. | U.K.
Read an interview with the author along with the cover reveal here
OFFICIAL BOOK INFORMATION: In a kingdom where flames hold magic and the desert hides secrets, an ancient prophecy comes for an assassin, a princess, and a king. But none are ready to face destiny-and the choices they make could burn the world.
"If we carry the burdens of our fathers, we'll never know what it means to be free."
For Elena Aadya Ravence, fire is yearning. She longs to feel worthy of her Phoenix god, of her ancestors who transformed the barren dunes of Sayon into a thriving kingdom. But though she knows the ways and wiles of the desert better than she knows her own skin, the secrets of the Eternal Flame elude her. And without them, she'll never be accepted as queen.
For Leo Malhari Ravence, fire is control. He is not ready to give up his crown-there's still too much work to be done to ensure his legacy remains untarnished, his family protected. But power comes with a price, and he'll wage war with the heavens themselves to keep from paying it.
For Yassen Knight, fire is redemption. He dreams of shedding his past as one of Sayon's most deadly assassins, of laying to rest the ghosts of those he has lost. If joining the court of flame and serving the royal Ravence family-the very people he once swore to eliminate-will earn him that, he'll do it no matter what they ask of him.
But the Phoenix watches over all and the fire has a will of its own. It will come for all three, will come for Sayon itself....and they must either find a way to withstand the blaze or burn to ash.
.
"If we carry the burdens of our fathers, we'll never know what it means to be free."
For Elena Aadya Ravence, fire is yearning. She longs to feel worthy of her Phoenix god, of her ancestors who transformed the barren dunes of Sayon into a thriving kingdom. But though she knows the ways and wiles of the desert better than she knows her own skin, the secrets of the Eternal Flame elude her. And without them, she'll never be accepted as queen.
For Leo Malhari Ravence, fire is control. He is not ready to give up his crown-there's still too much work to be done to ensure his legacy remains untarnished, his family protected. But power comes with a price, and he'll wage war with the heavens themselves to keep from paying it.
For Yassen Knight, fire is redemption. He dreams of shedding his past as one of Sayon's most deadly assassins, of laying to rest the ghosts of those he has lost. If joining the court of flame and serving the royal Ravence family-the very people he once swore to eliminate-will earn him that, he'll do it no matter what they ask of him.
But the Phoenix watches over all and the fire has a will of its own. It will come for all three, will come for Sayon itself....and they must either find a way to withstand the blaze or burn to ash.
.
OFFICIAL AUTHOR INFORMATION: Aparna Verma was born in India and immigrated to the United States when she was two-years-old. She graduated from Stanford University with Honors in the Arts and a B.A. in English. The Phoenix King is her first novel.
When she is not writing, Aparna likes to ride horses, dance to Bollywood music, and find old cafes to read myths about forgotten worlds. You can connect with Aparna on Twitter and Instagram at @spirited_gal.
When she is not writing, Aparna likes to ride horses, dance to Bollywood music, and find old cafes to read myths about forgotten worlds. You can connect with Aparna on Twitter and Instagram at @spirited_gal.
FORMAT/INFO: The Phoenix King is the first book in The Ravence Trilogy, and is published by Orbit books (29th August 2023 in the U.S. and 31st August 2023 in the U.K.) in paperback, ebook, and audio formats. It was previously self-published as THE BOY WITH FIRE.
OVERVIEW/ANALYSIS: The Phoenix King by Aparna Verma is the first entry in an Indian-inspired adult epic fantasy series set in a desert kingdom. There's a tyrant king, an assassin, and an heir about to be coronated, all at odds with each other in some way, but forced to work together.
Have I already told you all that I'm not an epic fantasy person? And that I was not one for books longer than 450 pages? Maybe a few million times. But none of that really mattered when I read this book because the pages flew by so quickly. I missed a squat workout so I could read this, you guys. If that doesn't tell you how engrossed I was, I doubt the rest of this review will. But from here goes what I liked, and what I want to see done in the next books in the trilogy.
This has to be one of the most original and creative books I've read. It's bloody, full of conflicted characters, and moves fast. The narration is in third person, and the story is told from the perspectives of Leo Malhari Ravence, the king of the Ravani kingdom whose reign is coming to an end, his daughter and heir Elena Aadya Ravence, and Yassen Knight, an infamous assassin willing to do anything to secure his freedom. It is primarily set in Ravani, the desert kingdom ruled by the Ravence dynasty, and the story of how the kingdom is founded is slowly revealed to the reader over the course of the book.
Leo was my favourite character to follow. He's seen as a tyrant, Elena and he don't necessarily see eye-to-eye when matters of governance is concerned, and he's a complicated man with a tragic backstory. Elena and Leo carry some shared trauma, and it was fascinating to see them deal with it, because they don't talk about it, and it was only exacerbated in the days leading to her coronation. It is a difficult parent-child relationship, they have some unspoken understandings and some degree of trust in each other, but there's a believable amount of friction, specially with Leo's misguided attempts to keep information from her because he believed it was in her best interests. There's a lot of room for Elena to grow/change, and I eagerly wait to see what she does in the sequel. She has her own misgivings about her abilities, but her determination to do what's best for her kingdom makes her very easy character to root for. She can be brash, violent, but also kind and considerate.
Yassen's character, however, fell a bit flat for me. He's gentle, silent, and compliant, but with a backstory that's also quite compelling. But, a lot of what he's involved in was off-page, and even at the risk of increasing the word count, I wish it was explored, along with the reasoning for some of his actions. There's also a subtle enemies-to-lovers arc that I wished was built better, but I liked that the author unapologetically indulged in portraying a large part of it using iconic Bollywood moments. If you like a tense sword fight that's just the right bit of playful and sensual, or her accessories caught in his garments, it's all right here. I loved it.
The setting is a smooth blend of science fiction and fantasy, in a world where an group of people are trying to challenge and change the world order by toppling kingdoms ruled by dynasties and establishing a different form of governance, but the Ravani kingdom has an entire lineage of kings and queens that work with the eternal fire, whose authority is based on the myth and legend that surrounds it. Most of the locations featured seem quite cosmopolitan in nature, and the author relies on excerpts from various sources to dispense some information to the reader, and the rest is delivered through the narration, without any expositions. Now that I think about it, I wish the author was slightly more indulgent in her descriptions of the setting. The way certain scenes were set made it easy for me to feel immersed in the world, and for the desi (Indian subcontinental) reader like me, the bonus would be that it feels like a setting close to home, with all the South Asian elements woven in. How often will we see a powerful, well-trained protagonist ready to get into a fight when wearing a nath and a lehenga, or a God reminiscent of the often misunderstood Kali from our own myths, who can ravage and create, and risk destroying what she loves when she goes on a rampage?
CONCLUSION: The Phoenix King is a snappy sci-fantasy debut with themes of love, loss, resilience, sacrifice, and the importance of balance in power. There's political scheming, morally grey characters, and a kingdom just ready to fall to shambles. A highly recommended read.
Book Review: Blood of Elves by Andrzej Sapkowski
OFFICIAL AUTHOR INFORMATION: Andrzej Sapkowski was born in 1948 in Poland. He studied economy and business, but the success of his fantasy cycle about the Witcher Geralt of Rivia turned him into a bestselling writer. His work has received Poland’s Janusz A. Zajdel prize five times, as well as Great Britain’s David Gemmell Award for Fantasy, in 2009. In 2016, he received the World Fantasy Award—Life Achievement. The Witcher has been adapted to a successful video-game franchise, and is now a series on Netflix.
Book Review: The Lost War by Justin Lee Anderson
Buy Infinity Gate here - U.S. | U.K.
OFFICIAL AUTHOR BIO: M. R. Carey has been making up stories for most of his life. His novel The Girl With All the Gifts has sold over a million copies and became a major motion picture, based on his own BAFTA Award-nominated screenplay. Under the name Mike Carey he has written for both DC and Marvel, including critically acclaimed runs on Lucifer, Hellblazer and X-Men. His creator-owned books regularly appear in the New York Times bestseller list. He also has several previous novels including the Felix Castor series (written as Mike Carey), two radio plays and a number of TV and movie screenplays to his credit.
OFFICIAL BOOK BLURB: INFINITY IS ONLY THE BEGINNING.
The Pandominion: a political and trading alliance of a million worlds – except that they’re really just the one world, Earth, in many different realities. And when an AI threat arises that could destroy everything the Pandominion has built, they’ll eradicate it by whatever means necessary, no matter the cost to human life.
Scientist Hadiz Tambuwal is looking for a solution to her own Earth’s environmental collapse when she stumbles across the secret of inter-dimensional travel. It could save everyone on her dying planet, but now she’s walked into the middle of a war on a scale she never dreamed of.
And she needs to choose a side before it kills her.
FORMAT/INFO: Infinity Gate is the first book in the Pandominium duology. It was published by Orbit Books in the U.S on March 28th, 2023 and in the U.K. on March 30th, 2023 in hardback, ebook and audio formats.
OVERVIEW/ANALYSIS: If a book has anything to do with the multiverse, I'll want to read it. If it is M. R. Carey writing a book, I will read it. This book ticked so many boxes, and taught me to add a few new ones as well.
Where do I begin? I have a very hard time collecting my thoughts about this one, and I mean this as a compliment. First let me get it out of the way that I did have a hard time settling into this book, and it only worked for me on the second try. But this is also how I've found some of my best reads, and this was no exception. It's a bit of work since there's a lot of ground to cover before everything clicks into place, and I did find that I needed to take a few breaks to let everything I read sink in, and then it truly became enjoyable.
The author presents a world (or existence?) in which there are infinitely many earths that are part of an alliance called the Pandominion, which governs trade and resource flows between them. I applaud the author for the way he simply explains the mathematical concept of infinity. This is done in a particular conversation between two characters in the book, scientist to layman, in a way that impresses upon the latter the vastness of the this alliance. Throughout the book, he very beautifully constructs his multiverse to represent other associated ideas without throwing mathematical jargon at the reader. He tackles the concept of countability with the Pandominion being able to assign identifiers to each of these known worlds. Continuity is also very impressively represented by showcasing how each of them can have very minute differences. The idea is that travel to all of them is possible by changing the size of the step you'd take, and the smaller it is, the less you'll have to acclimate to the Earth you stepped into, and there are just as many of them as there are continuous numbers on a scale between 0 and 1: infinite. Forgive me if I got a bit too math-ey on this one, this book uses many concepts in a way that I never thought I'd see happen.
The story starts in Nigeria on Earth, where scientist Hadiz Tambuwal is stuck in a research facility. All she wants is to survive in a planet effectively destroyed by multiple factors like war and climate change, and resource contention is so high that there seems to be no hope for the planet, or humanity as a species. She starts experimenting and invents step-travel, or teleportation, and invests in establishing that to solve everybody's resource issues. Small problem, the Pandominion is already aware of what she discovered, and does not like it.
While this story starts with Hadiz, it quickly escalates into one that involves a large set of characters from different Earths. Some of them are similar, others very different, and they all have such different life experiences. They're of different ages, and are all not even human. The book is told in chunks of consecutive chapters that follow each of them, by an omniscient and mysterious entity, and this works well because the narration is distanced enough that it can be concise, and yet paint a good picture of the lives they led, and everything they go through. Sure, parts of it are heavy on other kinds of science, and I'm not sure how much of it will stand up to scrutiny. I didn't even understand all of it, it was a bit dense in places and might not be for everybody, but I enjoyed how the author dug his heels in, and still managed to cover so much ground in just over four hundred pages. It definitely felt longer, and at times, I did question if this book is really only part of a duology.
It's a complicated setting, has complicated characters, and comes with complicated conflicts - intrapersonal, interpersonal, known, previously unknown. No matter what the Pandominium thinks they know, do they really know everything? There are so many conflicts on different levels in this book. Each of the characters have deeply personal reasons to want certain things, but it is clear that they don't know who the real enemy is, or what's actually coming for the alliance. I knew they had to interact with each other at some point, I could just never imagine how. Since a lot of the worlds and cultures involved in the story are very technically advanced, there are constant discussion around the subjects of conscience, sentience, and ethics.
The beginning of the book might seem a bit exposition-heavy, but trust me when I say that sticking with it helps. Given the huge cast of characters, I believe the author did his best to condense as much information as possible to make the story seem extra real, and honestly, I'm not sure anyone can do this better. I read the book over a long time myself, and the payoff was worth it. It is clear that a lot of research has gone into writing this, and I respect not just M. R. Carey, but the full team that worked on it, given the sheer audacity of this setting. And given the way the book ended, I am impatient to get my hands on the sequel.
CONCLUSION: For the math-loving reader, this book is an extravaganza.
Don't care about it as much? There's enough here, and a lot more, to impress you and make you hope that pre-orders for the sequel are already available. I am personally glad I took my time to marinate in it, and it has cemented M. R. Carey as one of the most versatile authors I've read.
What he has done in just this book is as immeasurable and overwhelming as the concept of infinity.
OFFICIAL AUTHOR BIO: Anthony Reynolds was a Games Developer and manager at Games Workshop in the UK. Since then he's written freelance for a number of companies, including Black Library Publishing, Mantic Games, THQ, Bandai-Namco, Behaviour Interactive, and River Horse Games. He currently lives in California.
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