Review: The Last Kingdom

The Last Kingdom by Steve Berry
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Steve Berry returns to his signature character Cotton Malone after a brief hiatus (he took last year off) with a new story that takes a very unique spin on US history, but also world history this time around once again. It's pretty clear from the start of the book, a prologue set in the royal halls of Mad King Ludwig of Bavaria, what other historical kingdom is going to be involved in the story this time - after all, his visiting king is a stout man, brown of skin, whose favorite hobby is playing the ukulele. It's a book that reminds us all that Hawaii was illegally annexed by the US in the late 19th century, while presenting a scenario that could shake the geopolitical table of the whole world once again, if allowed to be enacted. Unfortunately, Malone as a character falls by the wayside a bit in this one, overshadowed by the unique history and the lack of several of his usual traveling companions (no Cassiopeia Vitt, and no Stephanie Nelle because the asshat President Fox is hamstringing her, though at least Fox is presented as far less of a Trump-like idiot in this book compared to previous Berry novels.) I'm sure this one, though, will stick in my mind pretty well for quite some time afterwards.

View all my reviews

Review: The Wicked Bargain

The Wicked Bargain by Gabe Cole Novoa
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Gabe Cole Novoa was one of my favorite authors whose works I could sell at the Stanford Bookstore, back when he'd first come out with the Beyond the Red trilogy under his former pseudonym. If I were still there, I'd be happy to keep the tradition alive, selling this book as well. Though I've recently seen it grace a table full of books by trans and nonbinary authors at the newly remodeled Waucoma Bookstore in Hood River, and I know a kid or two in the Gorge who might like this one, especially for its nonbinary protagonist. Picture an even more diverse Pirates of the Caribbean from the perspective of those colonized by the Spaniards, with El Diablo and a demonio named Dami putting our heroes in harm's way with a bunch of bad deals, and Mar, our nonbinary protagonist, having similar fire-and-ice powers to Todoroki in My Hero Academia. Naturally, there's a lot of emphasis on the conflict between the Spanish colonists' traditions and religion and fear of the Other vs. the Indigenous way, freedom to be one's true self (which Mar embodies not only with their powers, but also their Maya side, and the connection they feel to the nonbinary people of their late mother's culture.) For his first novel under his true name, Novoa gives us a fast-paced historical adventure, and while there's hope for further adventures for Mar and their family, both blood and found (I especially loved their romance with Bas, as sweet as Eros and Deimos and just as slow burn as that ship was in its early days), I'll instead be waiting mostly for Novoa's return with his upcoming trans-centric Pride and Prejudice remix, Most Ardently.

View all my reviews

Review: Arch-Conspirator

Arch-Conspirator by Veronica Roth
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

When I saw Veronica Roth at Powell's in Beaverton last fall, all copies of Poster Girl in stock included a bookmark advertising this, Roth's next book, a dystopian sci-fi novella retelling of the ancient Greek play Antigone. Something else I have in common with Roth, in addition to having written my first manuscripts while I was supposed to be doing college work - we both read the old play in high school. For me, it's been about 15 years now - God, I'm old - so I'd largely forgotten most of it, but a lot of it came back to me as I read this book.

Review: Chain of Thorns

Chain of Thorns by Cassandra Clare
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Hey, there are actually some peeps who do want more Shadowhunters stories. This boy included. Bring it on, Cassie! Don't let the negativity and teh angryzorz get you down.

By writing these words, Clearly I Have Made Some Bad Decisions.

Review: The One Impossible Labyrinth

The One Impossible Labyrinth by Matthew Reilly
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The biggest series Matthew Reilly has written yet comes to its long awaited Grand Finale. Even as the first three books formed a Two Part Trilogy, it was still pretty clear that there would be more to come given the countdown nature of the books' titles, and when Reilly began work on the middle entry in the series, the fourth novel, he made it clear that that would be merely the first of a four-part narrative bigger than any he has attempted before. Well, the last part of this increasingly apocalyptic four-part arc is here, and Reilly has delivered some of the best set pieces in his literary career. Though there are multiple labyrinths in this book, each one among the most imaginative such examples of that particular noun (there has to be something in the water in Australia, because Garth Nix also gave us the excellent Great Maze in Sir Thursday), there is one in particular that stands out head and shoulders above all others. You'll know it when you see it. And when you finish this book, you, like me, will declare ave atque vale to one of the finest heroes in modern action literature. A hero who deserves a film adaptation to become the next big franchise now that we're approaching an ending point on the likes of Indiana Jones and Mission: Impossible. Even if those movies would easily have budgets bigger than Avatar.

View all my reviews

Review: The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi

The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi by S.A. Chakraborty
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Shannon Chakraborty returns with a new series set in the Indian Ocean of the 11th century, and in the same universe as her star-making Daevabad Trilogy - unsurprisingly, a Daeva or two makes a cameo appearance in this story. But here, we focus instead on a more unconventional heroine than Nahri ever was: Amina Al-Sirafi, once a pirate, now a mother, and once again called to action, this time to help an important lady get her missing grandkid back.

Review: The Cabinet of Dr. Leng

The Cabinet of Dr. Leng by Douglas Preston
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Only now, after reading the whole thing, is it clear that this latest Cabinet from Preston & Child, The Cabinet of Dr. Leng, is part of an official new sub-series of the Pendergast novels, now to dubbed the Leng Quartet. It began in The Cabinet of Curiosities and continued quite subtly in Bloodline, whose surprise cliffhanger led to this book and its peculiar story in Four Lines, All Waiting format. Constance in the past, in an era strongly reminiscent of The Alienist (albeit 15-20 years prior to the time period of that series), Pendergast desperate to recover her despite the Arcanum no longer being in working order, D’Agosta on a strange death in cold storage at the Museum of Natural History, Coldmoon on a peculiar murder on a Lakota reservation with a connection at least to D’Agosta’s side of things…needless to say, it becomes very clear by about halfway through that Preston and Child have too much story for one book. At least they promise the next one will conclude the Leng arc, and not a moment too soon after yet more insidious cliffhangers…

View all my reviews

Review: The Cradle of Ice

The Cradle of Ice by James Rollins
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Rollins has big, big plans for his high fantasy MoonFall series for sure. When the first book came out, and a bookseller at Klindt's in The Dalles told me that there were already plans for four books in the series, I did wonder at the time how Rollins would stretch out an apocalyptic scenario that long. With this book, it's pretty clear that Rollins is playing a long game on the level of A Song of Ice & Fire, but unlike George R.R. Martin, I trust Rollins to make the landing, let alone stick it. After all, he did cite Brandon Sanderson as an influence on the first book, and with this new series, he's approaching Sanderson levels of productivity. Not quite close, but about as close as anyone can get, really.

Review: Hell Bent

Hell Bent by Leigh Bardugo
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

It's been over three years since Leigh Bardugo began her twisted journey into the secret societies of Yale with Ninth House, riding the wave of dark academia long before it started cresting to the heights seen today. Her deadliest book yet by far, certainly not at all for kids or even teens with its violent hellish scares. And now, after a long, long hiatus, Bardugo is back with the long-awaited sequel, promising to resolve the previous volume's infamous cliffhanger ending.