Review: A Canticle for Leibowitz

A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter M. Miller Jr.
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I first heard of this book several years ago when Charlie Jane Anders used it as an example for a Star Wars book she wanted to write, as an exploration of how the Empire could successfully wipe out all historical records of the Republic and the Jedi could be considered a myth less than a decade after they were purged. It took years before I finally found a library copy - in Beaverton, whereas it was unavailable in Vancouver or Portland before - and I had no idea how expansive the scope of this novel would be. Spanning many post apocalyptic centuries, this is exactly the novel that doesn’t lend itself well to optimism in a nightmarish time of history. But then, remember - it was even bigger atrocities, namely those of WWII, that inspired this book to begin with.

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Review: Better in Black

Better in Black by Cassandra Clare
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Though Cassie Clare has been on a long hiatus from the greater Shadowhunter world, and emphasizing The Chronicles of Castellane far more, this collection of romantic short stories is a welcome trip back to her signature series. Couples from every Shadowhunter era are represented, although my faves are definitely the ones from TMI and TID. Particularly when Tessa is involved. And Clary. And Simon and Izzy. And there’s a nice change of pace with a story narrated by Luke, with Jocelyn as second person POV. I wasn’t nearly as much into the pairings from TLH, but it was great to see what Emma and Julian get up to after TDA ends - although I’m still salty that Clare wrote it so the good Shadowhunters abandoned their homeland to the Cohort. It’s a good thing this series isn’t super influential politically like The Hunger Games, because the last thing we need is for progressives and liberals to copycat that and abandon America to the fascist right wing…but I digress. What piques my interest the most, though, is the sneak peek to the long awaited next novel in the saga, the first of the final trilogy…well played, Cassie. That’s a very interesting setup, to say the least.

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Review: Brigands & Breadknives

Brigands & Breadknives by Travis Baldree
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

By his own admission, Travis Baldree often has trouble writing the next book in this series, and this time it really showed more than before. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a welcome change to see Fern, that adorably foul mouthed rattkin, as the principal POV character this time around. She sure grew on me a lot in Bookshops & Bonedust, and clearly on Baldree himself too. But this book also takes the chance of being massively different from its predecessors in that we don’t get to see Fern establish a new business to this world the way Viv often does. No, Fern is basically on a midlife crisis adventure, and the storyline feels like it has to take more leaps of logic from beat to beat. Then again, don’t go by me. I never played D&D.

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Review: The House Saphir

The House Saphir by Marissa Meyer
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Marissa Meyer, after a few years pivoting away to contemporary YA, returns to her fantasy and fairytale retelling roots with a new standalone piece that’s très français, and unexpectedly dark on top of that. Inspired by the old tale of Bluebeard, this book follows a young witch with limited powers as she takes on a job from a guy said to be related to Monsieur le Bleu himself, and Monsieur is, how you say, maybe not so dead and gone as you might think. Though it doesn’t quite command the heights of previous Meyer fantasy books, it’s a damn sight better than her more recent 2020s work in the genre. She’s not the titan she used to be, but she’s clearly revving up for an even bigger comeback very soon, I hope…

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Review: Maieman: Paradox

Maieman: Paradox by D.L. Hannah
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

D.L. Hannah is back with the start of a fourth series in her universe of interplanetary royal drama, now focusing on a new young king, Jonah, rising up to rule the world of Maieman. This new world is probably the closest we’ll be able to get to old Coldarius at this point in the timeline, particularly with its blue-forward aesthetic - especially the blue lemons and other fruit of a different color. (Giving me flashbacks to my own eighth grade short story writing assignment where a guy’s plane crashed and he had to survive in a grove full of experimental fruits, like ultra sweet blue strawberries and flammable bitter purple lemons…) As with Hannah’s previous books, this one is pretty heavy on the extended flashbacks, resulting in a short but slow burning story with lots of mind-screwy moments, because even a king can’t trust his own senses sometimes. Soon I’ll be preordering the next book, Revelations, to complete the collection up to now…

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Review: The Rebel and the Rose

The Rebel and the Rose by Catherine Doyle
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The très français sort of YA romantasy saga continues, and as with its predecessor, Catherine Doyle’s newest tale had a very long waitlist at the library for me. In the end, this one is not ending a duology, and thank God for that…but this book definitely feels like it caught a classic case of Sophomore Slump Syndrome. It’s lovely and French, but it’s also long in its lavishness and moves events forward with surprisingly slow pacing. But where this book excels is its increased emphasis on the saints of this world, and how some of them have cults in their name that have really developed their business acumens over time. I’m sure by this time next year, Doyle will be gracing the world with one more book to wrap this series right up…

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Review: The Strength of the Few

The Strength of the Few by James Islington
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

James Islington’s long awaited return to the world of the Hierarchy…well, more accurately, worlds, after that big time multiversal twist at the end of the first book. But yes, we’re now following Vis across three separate universes, his original Romanesque one plus two additional timelines modeled on Celtic (particularly Welsh and Irish) traditions, and one modeled on the ancient Egyptian underworld (I half expected Anubis to show up, or a weary Taweret forced into his role like on Moon Knight, perhaps?) I should’ve heeded Piéra Blackthorn’s review a bit better and tempered my expectations, but with the three universes and wildly different POVs as a result, it took a lot of getting used to. Islington does tend to start his series strong but then bite off more than he can chew. However, despite my initial fears, this is not the end of the series, and I’m hoping that the eventual third book actually wraps everything up…as tall an order as that may be.

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