Review: Ashes at the Altar

Ashes at the Altar by LaDarrion Williams
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

As expected, LaDarrion Williams concludes his debut trilogy with as much explosive action and magic as the students and faculty of Caiman U could ask for. Five hundred more sprawling pages of family drama and warring magical factions build to all the heads, at Caiman and at small towns across Mississippi and Alabama, and of course the Big Easy herself, and it truly does take it all for Malik, Taye, Dom, D Low, Savon, and all their friends and families to put things right for this generation and all their followers. To this trilogy, I now bid ave atque vale, but with that epilogue, I do hope to see a great follow up in the future, someday…

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Review: Empire

Empire by Sabaa Tahir
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Well, thank you, Sabaa Tahir. Thank you for the heartbreak, and the complex plotting, and the heartbreak, and the ever darkening wartime morality, and the heartbreak, and the wide ranging perspectives of what it means to save the world, and did I mention the heartbreak? Because it’s not just the familial and romantic losses that set the stage here, it’s the death of a character I have a feeling you’ve been looking for a chance to kill off for years. Almost a decade at this point, even. And their time has finally come, and I for one am devastated about it. But if there’s one thing I can trust you, Tahir, to pull off, it’s wrapping everything up with just the right amount of sacrifice to our hearts and to our favorite characters. For now, I again bid this Empire ave atque vale, but I am once again ready to read whatever comes next, no matter what.

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Review: A Trade of Blood

A Trade of Blood by Robert Jackson Bennett
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Ana and Din return for their third mystery, and unlike with Robert Jackson Bennett’s other stories, it looks like this will not be a trilogy conclusion. And thank God for that, because each book in this saga has given us just another little taste of the secrets of the empire, and I hope to see at least one or two more books to extend deeper into its heart. But for now, we’re now progressing into a middle ring of the imperial land, with a most insidious mystery involving a pair of feuding families in the style of Romeo & Juliet - with Din’s previously unseen sister Fotia, Fo for short, now betrothed to a young man in one of those families - and some terrifying mind controlling fungus that isn’t supposed to infect humans, and yet. For this book, Bennett is giving us The Last of Us with a Clue expansion pack, and I’m really hoping this one gets another Hugo like the first book because it bloody deserves one.

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Review: Firestorm

Firestorm by Nevada Barr
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

"Some say the world will end in fire, some say in ice..." And for this fourth Anna Pigeon novel, Barr couldn't decide on one or the other, so why not both? Set at Lassen Volcanic National Park, the book begins with a fire raging through the woods, quickly followed by a winter storm to trap Anna with several other wildland firefighters, one of whom is almost certainly a murderer. With its particular setting in far Northern California, it almost feels prophetic, having a wildfire so close to winter in the same region as the Camp Fire that devastated the town of Paradise in 2018. And unlike the previous book, this one, with its mountain setting and volatile weather, could easily be adapted into an episode of the USA/Crave series with a simple setting switch to Glacier National Park.

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Review: Ill Wind

Ill Wind by Nevada Barr
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The third Anna Pigeon novel returns to the same sort of environment as the first book in the series, this time set at Mesa Verde National Park in Colorado, where Anna comes to appreciate the remains of the old Native culture (this book still calls them by an old name now considered outdated, though it wasn’t seen as such in 1995), while also having to deal with a strange sickness befalling park visitors. With a more urgent case and its desert southwest setting, this book feels like it calls forward to some of those New Mexican thrillers of latter day Preston & Child. Though it’d be tough to adapt for the USA/Crave series unless they decided to move settings to Colorado in a future season, this one is going to stand out for me among Barr’s books by the time I’ve caught up on her backlist.

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Review: A Superior Death

A Superior Death by Nevada Barr
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Anna Pigeon’s second story trades in the Texan desert heat of Guadalupe Mountain National Park for the eerie chills of Isle Royale, and all the shipwrecks in Lake Superior surrounding the park. This story probably won’t be so easily adaptable for the USA/Crave TV series, since I can’t imagine a place as landlocked as Glacier would have too many shipwrecks to spare. But it’s a good shift in tone away from the first book, and shows the promise of how diverse the environments in this series will be as it covers park after park across the country.

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Review: The Devil by Name

The Devil by Name by Keith Rosson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Fever House ended with the promise of a nearly uncontrollable apocalypse as the riots that inflamed Portland spread all around the world, and this book concludes the duology with the survivors struggling to piece together what's left, and potentially track down someone who may be able to fix the devil's damage. In order to that, they have to get the chosen one out of France - which makes me wonder how much of The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon Rosson had been watching while he wrote this book. Though this book is a bit repetitive of some of its predecessor's in-universe corporate and governmental record-keeping, it's still a fast paced dark thriller, and while there's definitely room to see where a third book would go, Rosson nevertheless did a great job sticking the landing in this book. Therefore, to Fever House, I now bid ave atque vale.

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Review: Fever House

Fever House by Keith Rosson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The first of a duology set in Portland that helps make Keith Rosson the truest heir apparent to Stephen King's empire of Northeastern horror, with Rosson heading up the Northwestern outpost of King's style. It's like if The Stand was split into two books, with Randall Flagg largely hanging in the periphery, and a particular angel held under the corporate auspices of the US government, all while a whole bunch of regular people stuck in various seedy underbellies are forced to contend with a cursed artifact poised to wreck the world. For more details, see Book 2...

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Review: The Dorians

The Dorians by Nick Cutter
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book caught my eye at Indigo on my trip to Vancouver, BC (the Granville store to be precise), and I put down a nice red C$50 note on this, plus a goosey little bag to store my souvenirs. And let me tell you, it was money well spent. A uniquely Canadian spin on certain Frankenstein tropes, with a touch of Jurassic Park and Cocoon in the DNA, it’s a fast paced and very creepy sci fi horror story about a group of oldsters pulled out of their MAID consultations (yes, in the event of a film adaptation it’ll have to be Canadian or else that part will really have to be changed) to be subject to the experimental whims of a teenage super genius. It’s perfect for spooky season, and only after I got my copy up north did I see that Beaverton library had it too. But I’ll be using the library to instead work my way through Cutter’s backlist…

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Review: Heaven's River

Heaven's River by Dennis E. Taylor
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The Bobiverse was starting to lose me with Book 3, but this book, nearly double the length of its predecessor, nevertheless held my interest far better than All These Worlds ever did. Part of the reason for that, I think, was because it predominantly follows the Bobs on one particular world, getting a deep dive into the culture of the seemingly cute and cuddly - but also very smart and cunning - Quinlan species. But also, part of it was the fact that I brought my library copy of the book on a road trip to the author's homeland, and I was able to sit and read some bits and pieces of it up near the scenic views of the Capilano Reservoir above North Vancouver, BC. Though the book did drag on a bit longer than it should have, it was the intricacies of Quinlan culture that made me appreciate it the most, and now I can safely say I'm truly ready for the fifth (and final?) book.

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Review: All These Worlds

All These Worlds by Dennis E. Taylor
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

So…originally, this was the end of the series? Before Saga Press bought it up and reissued all the hardcovers, plus text editions of the follow up Audible originals? That is, if I have my understanding of this series and its jump from indie to mainstream correctly. I probably don’t, but then again, I can say the same about Dungeon Crawler Carl. Similarly to that series, just as I suspected, this one is starting to very slowly lose me, but for the opposite reason. Whereas Dinniman’s books sprawl like a Southern California metropolis, this series has turned into less of a single story and more of a collection of vignettes that happen to take place over a long period of time. And over that time, the whip smart social commentary of the earlier books fades away, even while the book tries to explore more of the alien societies the Bobs meet. I’ll keep reading at least through book 4, but I may just find myself giving up after that. We’ll see.

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Review: Track of the Cat

Track of the Cat by Nevada Barr
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The first entry in this long running series that’s been on my periphery for years, it only crossed my radar for real with the release of the new USA/Crave TV series adaptation, whose first episode takes the story of this book and transplants the setting from Guadalupe Mountain National Park in Texas to Glacier National Park in Montana. The series got me good because of how much it throws back to the Blue Sky era on USA Network, but this book is definitely a bite sized bit of darkness in comparison. It definitely has a certain Western eye for detail, especially with certain bits of political commentary about Texans and their conservatism and disdain for big government - some of which still hold up today, despite the right wing becoming the very big government they love to preach against. Unlike the TV series, these books, as I understand it, take place in different parks on each installment, which will be a fun vibe to see - especially since it makes me think of Reacher, but make him a lady ranger instead.

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Review: Coastal Views to Die For

Coastal Views to Die For by Sam Lumley
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Oliver and Ricky are back for a second travel assignment that turns into a murder mystery, this time set in the fictional Rose Beach on the Oregon coast. While the first book somewhat riffs on Glass Onion by dealing with a stupid and obnoxious tech bro CEO, this book is much more Knives Out as it deals with a toxic family whose secrets are coming out in the will. Additionally, the relationship between Oliver and Ricky develops in unexpected ways, not as sunshine and roses as the book’s cozy vibe would have you expect…but stick with it, and we’ll all be rewarded. This series is definitely one I’ll be following as long as it continues!

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Review: How to Have a Killer Time in D.C.

How to Have a Killer Time in D.C. by Sam Lumley
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Here’s a series that’s just right for me: a gay, autistic travel writer based in the Bay Area gets an assignment in DC and becomes an unlikely detective after witnessing a death involving a self driving car. Being set in DC, there’s no shortage of political references, including some veiled jabs in the eye at Trump and his traitorous acts, but also a bit at Elon Musk, lampooned (as it were) by Moonshot Motors CEO Kelso King. Though King more closely resembles Musk’s brother Kimball with his Texas aesthetic (and he’s allegedly the son of an oilman), the faulty EV’s and absolutely obvious lack of critical thinking skills are so Musk, it hurts. But hey, this book gives us a far more positive autistic role model with Oliver Popp (DON’T call him “Ollie”), and his love interest Ricky (aka Tariq) is a very well fleshed out character too. Being biracial, Ricky’s very name is an example of code switching. And unlike the reserved Oliver, he’s gregarious enough to perfectly match his energy in an “opposites attract” way. I’ve already got the sequel coming soon on my TBR too, promising a trip to the lovely Oregon coast…

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Review: Stumptown, vol. 4: The Case of a Cup of Joe

Stumptown, vol. 4: The Case of a Cup of Joe by Greg Rucka
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The fourth and (sadly) final volume of Greg Rucka's Stumptown saga is absolutely the most Portland of them all, not least of which because it deals in a Barista Mafia whose members are all trying to outdo one another on the world-class PDX coffee scene. This book, more than either the second or third before it, would've made a terrific episode or arc in the ABC series - and it also makes the strongest case for why there needs to be a full fledged film series adaptation of Stumptown getting all four graphic novels properly adapted and then some. This series, this franchise, does not get enough love in the world, and I should've read these years ago when the ABC show first came out.

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Review: Stumptown, Vol. 3: The Case of the King of Clubs

Stumptown, Vol. 3: The Case of the King of Clubs by Greg Rucka
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Dex Parios returns with another kickass Stumptown case, this one rooted in the world of Portland soccer and its consistent rivalry with Seattle, represented by the tension between herself and Seattle PI, C.K. Baines. The ongoing storyline with Marenco's men also stands out as the kind of storyline that would've made engaging viewing on the ABC series, even if that series gave much more emphasis to Sue Lynn and her tribal matters. In the event of a film series picking up ABC's slack - and again, I must say, Stumptown reboot when? - that's a difference I hope the eventual film series splits by giving both Marenco and Sue Lynn's crews equivalent screen time.

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Review: Stumptown, Vol. 2: The Case of the Baby in the Velvet Case

Stumptown, Vol. 2: The Case of the Baby in the Velvet Case by Greg Rucka
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Reading my way through Rucka's original Stumptown graphic novels, with a storyline that would've been great to see on the show - rock 'n roll mystery, with a bit of ongoing drama from Dex's refusal to engage with Hector Marenco and his hydra of interests - makes me demand more than ever, Stumptown reboot when? And this time, it needs to be a series of films, one for each volume in the series, and actually properly filmed in Portland too the way the ABC series didn't get the chance to be.

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Review: Eyes of Kings

Eyes of Kings by Chloe Gong
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Chloe Gong finishes her first officially adult series, her first trilogy, with a long-promised epic war between the forces of Calla and Anton, and August and Otta...but after two books of frankly uninvestable characters, this third and final book feels like it never had a chance to get off the ground and be as amazing as it ought to have been. The worldbuilding was always slow to make itself known, and while Gong was always big on sharp sociopolitical commentary - especially about the state of China throughout history and today, too - the moments of insight were never great in number themselves. I'm amazed I picked up this series to begin with, but at least it ended more or less like how I expected. But as much as I'll always go to bat for Chloe Gong, it's not going to be for this series, I'm afraid.

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Review: Stumptown, Vol. 1: The Case of the Girl Who Took Her Shampoo

Stumptown, Vol. 1: The Case of the Girl Who Took Her Shampoo by Greg Rucka
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Almost seven years after this series of graphic novels was adapted into a TV series on ABC (with the pilot episode being loosely adapted from this first case), I've finally found all of the books at the libraries in Washington County outside Portland. And reading these books again, it reminds me of just how salty I still am that ABC went and canceled the series after initially planning to renew it for a second season, only for the pandemic to throw a wrench in things...but they kept several other shows on air, didn't they? Including The Rookie which went ahead to become a whole franchise with at least two spinoffs and counting to date, and yet Stumptown, an imaginative and fertile spin on the genre set in Portland, couldn't get that renewal? Well, I'm living in Oregon now and appreciating this series and its characters more than ever, and hoping to see some of my own mystery work get adapted to film and/or TV for all the salty Stumptown fans like myself.

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Review: Deathless

Deathless by Julie Kagawa
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Julie Kagawa isn't hopping on the duology trend yet like so many other authors in the YA business have done in the last ten years, and I'm very glad to see that she hasn't lost her gifts for burning romance and breakneck pacing in this trilogy's middle book. Which does not suffer from classic Middle Book Syndrome, not when this book advances the plot with its Dune and Moonfall and Gideon the Ninth influences proudly worn on its sleeves. I was able to read almost the entire thing in one sitting, and I'm hoping to see Book 3 finish things off in terrific fashion next year, further cementing Kagawa's status as one of the most consistently awesome writers on the scene these last 20 years...

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Review: For We Are Many

For We Are Many by Dennis E. Taylor
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

It’s Bobs, Bobs, and more Bobs in this second part of the Bobiverse, which, though not entirely doing away with the monumentally screwed up apocalyptic politics that got humankind in its current mess, nevertheless shifts its focus to learning more about the indigenous peoples of various worlds which humankind now wants to potentially colonize. That is, if the voluntary extinctionist group VEHEMENT doesn’t have their way. Though not quite as laugh out loud funny as its predecessor, this book still carries a certain sharp wit and nerdy way about it, enough to give me reason to generously raise it from 2.5 to 3 stars. Still hasn’t lost me like Dungeon Crawler Carl, so at least there’s that too.

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Review: Out Law

Out Law by Jim Butcher
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

It's nice to see Butcher give us a little treat of a novella to tide us fans over a bit after Twelve Months and its depiction of the aftermath of the Battle of Chicago. As a magical novella in Chicago, it also feels like Butcher's version of the style that Veronica Roth was going for in When Among Crows, just not Polish in flavor. While Goodreads still thinks we're getting the next full length Dresden novel next year, knowing how Butcher's pace has significantly slowed these last few years, I find that quite unlikely. But in the meantime, there's this little book and its whip-fast action and bloody good fun.

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Review: There Is No Antimemetics Division

There Is No Antimemetics Division by qntm
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I can see why this one had a long waitlist at the library: it’s a little mind bender worthy of Christopher Nolan, particularly Inception, but antimatterized. The idea of antimemes, in universe, began with the noble purpose of experimentally eradicating Nazi thought, but like many other fictional AI’s or similar experiments, it quickly proved to be far more difficult to control, and now there is no Antimemetics Division except that which this book follows, along a wild and unpredictable path. It’s ultra relevant now, and way too much so, in a world perfectly content to hide in bubbles of lies for comfort, or just to think it’s right. And it’s as good an explanation as any for the mindlessness that surrounds us too closely.

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Review: Divine Ruin

Divine Ruin by Margot Douaihy
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The book that got me to notice the Sister Holiday series to begin with, being on the New Book shelf at Beaverton Library, and with that I’m now caught up on her New Orleans nunnery mysteries. Though each book has had personal stakes for Sister Holiday, threatening her place of unlikely peace and much-deserved redemption, this one feels extra devilishly personal as a sneaky drug dealer targets the schoolchildren she cares for with fentanyl. And it’s not just the children either: Sister Holiday might just lose someone with whom her connection has always been complicated. Though not as tightly paced as its immediate predecessor, this book keeps all the unique style of the series intact, and while I won’t be living in Beaverton anymore when the fourth book drops, I’ll still be ready to pick it up from the library all the same.

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Review: Blessed Water

Blessed Water by Margot Douaihy
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The second Sister Holiday mystery benefits from a tighter pace and its Easter weekend setting - covering all three days from Good Friday to Easter itself - all in a package of less than 300 pages. And it ain’t no bunny hop of fun, not when we’ve got one priest dead, one missing (and being made to reenact stations of the cross out of order for maximum humiliation), and a mother of a rainstorm befalling New Orleans outside of hurricane season. Though the first book was good in its own right, this sequel is an improvement in almost every metric.

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Review: House of Margins

House of Margins by Tlotlo Tsamaase
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This book is an unforgettable masterpiece. A gripping gothic tale of colonization and cultural appropriation, set against the backdrop of an African writing fellowship that’s run by white people still hoping to capitalize on Black trauma, in a Huis that’s haunted beyond belief with the spirits slain in centuries of genocide, and presented in the style of a true crime podcast hosted by the one white Afrikaner selected for this fellowship, while also exploring the traumas within the indigenous communities of the nations of Southern Africa…this is a novel anyone who reads it won’t soon forget, and for good goddamn reason.

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Review: Scorched Grace

Scorched Grace by Margot Douaihy
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The first in this series introduces a singular new protagonist to the world of the mystery genre: Sister Holiday, a rough and tumble New Orleans nun with a dark and troubled past, and still prone to various vices and sins - hell, she’s smoking right there on the beautiful cover art, an early indication of this book’s massively blasphemous style. It’s a mystery, to be sure, but it’s much less about the arson plot and more about the tension between each and every character, especially as Sister Holiday has to reckon with her past. I’ll be reading the next two books very soon, that’s for sure.

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Review: Doing Time

Doing Time by Jodi Taylor
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I picked up this book thinking it would be a great time-travel adventure kind of story, and somehow...I don't know, it just fell flat for me, for some reason. The concept is a strong one - eerily predicting the TVA from Loki several years before that show first streamed on Disney+, and I'm surprised the notoriously litigious producers of El Ministerio del Tiempo didn't try to accuse Jodi Taylor of ripping them off the way they did with Timeless (which is how I first heard about them, and it's a shame the writer loves to sue the pants off everyone because that show was damn good stuff.) I think for me, what really brings this book down is the cast of characters, who feel like they belong more in a sitcom than anything else, but the humor just doesn't really land for me. Shame, that. I guess I won't be continuing with this series after all.

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Review: Remain in Love: Talking Heads, Tom Tom Club, Tina

Remain in Love: Talking Heads, Tom Tom Club, Tina by Chris Frantz
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Talking Heads may be known for their chunky, complex music, but drummer Chris Frantz’s rock memoir is refreshingly unpretentious and straightforward. Primarily focused on the band’s early days - lots of dreadful NYC lofts to live in, grueling tours with the Ramones, Frantz meeting the love of his life in bassist Tina Weymouth - and eventually working up to Tom Tom Club as well, there’s definitely one recurring theme that anyone familiar with Talking Heads can tell you right off the bat. It’s that David Byrne is a dreadful role model for autistic people, not in terms of talent - his is undeniable - but in terms of personality, as Frantz recalls numerous occasions where Byrne went behind everyone else’s backs to ensure he would be the only credited writer on the band’s biggest hits. It’s too bad Byrne’s an asshole, because without Frantz and Weymouth’s rhythm section, that’s where the band’s legacy wouldn’t exist.

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Review: We Are Legion (We Are Bob)

We Are Legion (We Are Bob) by Dennis E. Taylor
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Not unlike Dungeon Crawler Carl in how a major publisher picked up the series years after it started out as an indie piece, this Bobiverse has now come to my attention as a wacky piece of sci-fi satire. Bizarrely managing to serve as the missing link between Old Man's War and Ancillary Justice, with its main character getting a new lease on life as an AI with many clones of himself in a ship's computer, it also plays out with some clear influence from Parable of the Sower in the DNA. Between Bob's 21st century death and 22nd century revival, America falls to a religious nutcase fascist who is actually successful in his coup against his legitimate successor, precipitating lengthy wars and several countries sending colony ships out into deep space. It's a combination of dorky humor and the kind of politics we all need to keep down in order to get to the Star Trek universe humanity really needs to live, and while the marketing is angling for the legions of DCC fans, as one of the few DCC anti-fans, it's working for me, for now. At least I know this series has an ending...

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Review: A Song Only We Can Hear: A novel about cancer, music & love

A Song Only We Can Hear: A novel about cancer, music & love by Elliot Wake
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

After ten years away from the scene, Elliot Wake has returned at last with a new book that plays just a little bit lighter than the dark thrillers he was known for when he was getting started, but it's also got a foot in the well of black comedy and a foot in the well of relationship drama. Centering on a musical young man named Cam who's been struggling to break away from a very toxic relationship - his narcissistic influencer ex Tara being exactly the type to manipulate not only him, but also an entire social media following, painting herself as an abuser's victim in a perfectly infuriating example of DARVO - he's now dealing with cancer and chemo on top of everything else. Wake's previous books predate #MeToo, but this book incorporates it into the storyline as part of Tara's sinister social media grifting in ways that wouldn't be out of place in Black Iris or Bad Boy, and I'd be willing to bet Black Iris themselves would have their eye on Tara once they figure out the truth.

Review: Field Guide for the Formerly Villainous

Field Guide for the Formerly Villainous by Autumn K. England
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I didn’t realize until after I actually opened this book that it came from the author of one of my old faves from back in my bookstore ARC collecting days: The Disasters. Like that book, this one is a casually hyper inclusive narrative, this time in a cozy fantasy setting where queerness is accepted and encouraged. But there’s still a certain undercurrent of awfulness in the society of this little village, with a dread Inquisitor still chasing down the former acolytes of the evil Enchantrix (on which note, I have to say, this book is so queer-normative that the villain is nonbinary and even the local church doesn’t have a problem with that specifically), and unfortunately protagonist Oaklin is one of them. But the book is all about Oaklin learning to move on from their trauma, and make no mistake, the Enchantrix used them and countless others, while the church had the paladins kill first and ask questions never. But now that everyone’s in a sleepy farming village after the war, it’s time they all got along…and while this book stands alone, the note at the end suggests England is planning to write at least one more anthological entry…

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Review: The Caretaker

The Caretaker by Marcus Kliewer
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

My friend, when he came back from Canada, bought this book at YVR Airport and recommended it highly. It seemed like it'd be perfect for me too, so I bought a copy from B&N - half price after working in my membership discount, 20% off, plus a $5 reward. After reading it, though? I'm glad I didn't pay full price, because as much as it looked like my kind of book, it really, really wasn't.

To be fair, the author includes a content warning about how much this book doesn't sugarcoat its dealings in mental illness - depression, OCD, suicide. He indicates in the acknowledgments too that he's got some history with these issues himself. And yet, his execution of this book, as an allegory for mental illness, crosses into outright offensive territory for numerous reasons.

Review: Songs of the Dead

Songs of the Dead by Brandon Sanderson
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This one definitely doesn’t feel much like Sanderson, aside from the presence of a strongly defined magic system. Otherwise, it feels like he’s the executive producer at best, and this is truly Peter Orullian’s brainchild, which makes sense given how hella metal it is. Laden with references to rock and metal music alike, with an angelic type character who feels like a knockoff of Castiel from Supernatural - seriously, he’s called Cassius, and his arch af way of speaking contrasts sharply with the more down to earth protagonist Jack - I can see why the GR rating is so low for this one, but it still managed to keep my interest well enough to read in almost one sitting.

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Review: Persians: The Age of the Great Kings

Persians: The Age of the Great Kings by Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

As a modern history of the ancient Persians, this book tries to accomplish a tricky balancing act of being as accurate as possible, despite a general dearth of primary resources outside the ruins of Persepolis, and rejecting the early Orientalism of Greek histories that had every reason to paint an enemy nation in the worst possible light. Of course, the professor behind this text does acknowledge that there’s certainly some unsavory truth to even the distortions of Herodotus. We’re talking about an imperial power, after all. They put on a veneer of being tolerant and cosmopolitan, but they kept slaves all over the place, they had eunuchs and harem wives constantly making power plays in court, and the kings themselves were prone to grandiosity and disturbing sexual excess worthy of Game of Thrones. But also, this book shows how the Persians didn’t just spring from Ahuramazda’s head fully formed (sorry, wrong mythos), but formed instead as descendants of truly ancient Steppe peoples, branching off from the same tribes that would later give us the likes of Genghis Khan. And now, I also understand a few more of Shannon Chakraborty’s historical references- namely, the Daevas being named for a type of supernatural figure in ancient Persian folklore.

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Review: The Rainshadow Orphans

The Rainshadow Orphans by Naomi Ishiguro
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Unlike her father Sir Kazuo Ishiguro in terms of style, Naomi Ishiguro makes her mark with a sprawling, lavish cyberpunk fantasy that owes much to not only its anime inspirations, but also to the likes of the leading fantasy ladies of the 21st century who came before her. Leigh Bardugo in particular comes to mind, as does Hafsah Faisal. But it also feels like a slow-burning Ghibli masterpiece in text form, ready and waiting for its own eventual film adaptation - and if Naomi Ishiguro is half as successful as her father, it won’t be long before that adaptation comes along to bring this book even more to life than ever.

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Review: Cleah's Bequest

Cleah's Bequest by Mari Matthias
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Mari Matthias shifts away from the historical fiction of her debut novel, in favor of a more contemporary piece (technically still a period piece, though, as it's set in 2014-15) following the adult children of Cleah Lucky as they carry out the intensely detailed requests in her will for a year in order to receive their intended inheritances. On the surface, Cleah makes it seem as if her sole goal is to get her children to have a good strong family relationship once again, but we're seeing the whole thing from the perspectives of her children, whichever one has to carry Cleah's urn as part of the Bequest. They were estranged from Cleah for a reason, and to them, the Bequest feels like a string of final middle fingers from a cold, controlling, egotistical mother, whose urn lurks in the background of most scenes and creeps the hell out of the kids and even their own kids.

Review: The True True Story of Raja the Gullible

The True True Story of Raja the Gullible by Rabih Alameddine
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I hadn't realized that this book was a National Book Award winner, but I did find it on a staff pick display at the Beaverton Library, and it interested me enough that I picked it up and checked it out. Playing like a Lebanese version of Less and Tales of the City, Raja's story is wickedly funny, but also wickedly tragic as he has to contend with not only family drama, but the horrors that have befallen Beirut throughout his lifetime. Told in anachronic order, the book relates Raja's experiences with the collapse of the Lebanese economy, Covid, the port explosion, invasions, and - in the most detail - the Lebanese civil war, the ramifications of which for Raja prove to be the most far reaching when he finally gets a chance to come to America for a prestigious workshop. It's a book that when you read it, you'll never forget it, especially if you also get the chance to read it during Pride Month.

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Review: A Gentleman's Murder

A Gentleman's Murder by Christopher Huang
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The library had the sequel to this book on display since it was published in the last month or two, and I was able to order not only the two Eric Peterkin mysteries, but also Huang's other standalone story as well. However, as Huang's first book, this is the one I read first, the debut of Eric Peterkin - a unique kind of amateur detective in the Golden Age of mysteries, late of the British military from the days of the Great War, hailing from a long line of English soldiers while also carrying the legacy of his Chinese mother - and naturally, strongly disliking the open anti-Asian racist sentiments of the time. 

Review: The Last Contract of Isako

The Last Contract of Isako by Fonda Lee
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I saw Fonda Lee speaking at Powell’s in Beaverton in 2023, on which day she announced that her next project would be this cyberpunk assassin thriller. Now that I’ve read the finished product, she acknowledges that it’s one of the most difficult projects she’s ever written, due to a lot of personal and professional changes. But it definitely meets the promise of the book she announced that day in Beaverton - a twisty, high octane, excellently built world with an aging ronin of the future confronting the very system that kept her employed all these years. It’s a weird blend of Looper and Altered Carbon, with a dash of Firefly if that had been written authentically Asian (Lee called out that show in Beaverton for its “flavortext” and lack of cultural authenticity.) If not for the second act switch to a certain annoying (yet plot-relevant) new POV running roughly in parallel with Isako in the first act, this would’ve gotten rounded up, but for me it’s a 4.5 rounded down to what Chef Ramsay would call “a very strong 4.”

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Review: Escape!

Escape! by Stephen Fishbach
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Leave it to a former Survivor castaway to write a story that darkly parodies the long running reality series, while insisting that none of it is based on real events…and yet, it clearly plays to superfans with Easter eggs galore, characters very obviously inspired by other real-life castaways, lots of factoids being dropped about the show (because while the show focuses on the fictional Endure and Escape!, Survivor also still exists in this universe), and especially the perceptions of outsiders. The obvious typecasting, production rigging certain incidents, the showrunner being desperate for reinvention of the game…if only Kent, the seasoned vet, could’ve gotten that first person POV instead of Beck, the producer. Fishbach gives it the old college try, but if I’m to read another book of his, I hope he tries something completely different.

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Review: This Kingdom Will Not Kill Me

This Kingdom Will Not Kill Me by Ilona Andrews
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I picked this one up because Barnes & Noble had it on display, and Veronica Roth was singing the praises of this book when I saw her at her Beaverton appearance on tour for Seek the Traitor’s Son. I didn’t really realize until I opened the book for the first time that it wasn’t just a straight up fantasy piece - it’s a western isekai with a young woman from modern day Austin who winds up in the world of her favorite fantasy series. In that sense it’s a bit similar to Sarah Rees Brennan’s Long Live Evil, but this protagonist isn’t ill in the real world and happy to embrace a villainous role for her own pleasure. Instead, Maggie is a pretty ordinary young woman of good morals, and great knowledge of this world…or, at least, the two books that were published, whereas the third book is still vaporware after over a decade. There’s a lot going on here, but the story quickly makes an effort to streamline its focus onto Maggie navigating courtly politics and medieval bureaucracy alike, with less focus on the weird time loop that keeps her from dying, or on why the series was never finished. I bet those, however, will be in greater focus in the sequels.

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Review: She Knows All the Names

She Knows All the Names by Michelle Jabès Corpora
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The second book in the Throne of Khetara series is definitely at least the middle book of a trilogy, but it absolutely averts Middle Book Syndrome and keeps up the first book's sprawling momentum but good. Picking up where we left off with our four POV characters - and a fifth who appears only in sparing interludes - this book once again earns the same comparisons to Bardugo and Chakraborty as its predecessor, but also to Rebecca Roanhorse with an Ancient Egyptian version of Between Earth and Sky. Perhaps the biggest surprise to me is the ending, where a character death I didn't expect to see until the very end suddenly comes up, and leaves me wondering exactly what Corpora plans for the third and final book. Either way, that third and final book better happen, because this series just isn't getting the cultural love it deserves. Readers, don't let your souls be found wanting when they're weighed.

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Review: Downfall

Downfall by Marc J. Gregson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Marc J. Gregson completes his debut trilogy and proves himself, beyond a shadow of a doubt, a great successor to James Dashner’s formerly glowing reputation as the king of action packed YA dystopian adventures. (Veronica Roth is the empress, and Suzanne Collins is the overlord.) In a world where Uncle keeps his iron fist tighter than ever, birdshitting on the very society he rules, Conrad finally completes his training in intense, grueling fashion, leading up to his long awaited final battle - and since it comes almost at the very end of this book, and plays out like Gregson’s been brushing up on his Pierce Brown lately. (Well, his next book will be geared for adults, so…) To the world of Above the Black, I hereby bid ave atque vale.

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Review: Seek the Traitor's Son

Seek the Traitor's Son by Veronica Roth
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

VRoth returns with her first full length novel since Poster Girl, and the first full length book since then to be starting a whole new series from the jump. She said she spent six years working on this one in between her other adult SFF novels and novellas, but it was what brought her the most joy, and it shows. Going back to the Battle Couple trope she so loved in her YA days in particular, with a sci-fi worldbuilding level reminiscent of Carve the Mark (though with alternate Earth nomenclature that reminds me of the works of Marie Lu and Victoria Aveyard in particular), and some space station drama and apocalyptic desert and mountain settings that feel ready to jump off the page and gain visualization on the silver screen. I was lucky to meet Roth herself again last night and get a signed copy of this book to grace my shelf, and hopefully soon the second will follow. But that might be a while given she’s got her new Sixth Faction duology on the way…

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Review: Weavingshaw

Weavingshaw by Heba Al-Wasity
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The first in a new trilogy, Heba Al-Wasity's debut novel pairs very well with the works of her fellow hijabi fantasy writer Hafsah Faizal - particularly A Tempest of Tea and A Steeping of Blood, being that this book is set in a fantasy counterpart of Victorian England with a significant minority community of a MENA fantasy counterpart culture, the Algaarans. Though this book is less a vampire story about colonialism and more of a straight up gothic ghost story, it's no less great for it, with the pages flying fast in this compulsively readable atmosphere. I hope to see the second book drop as soon as possible, and that this series does maintain its original trilogy promise in a world increasingly dominated, for whatever reason, by duologies.

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Review: The Tapestry of Fate

The Tapestry of Fate by Shannon Chakraborty
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

"This ain't no Shangri-La
To you, no Shangri-La
This ain't no Shangri-La
Nobody knows no Shangri-La..."
-Don Henley

After a long, long hiatus (especially by her standards), Shannon Chakraborty returns with the second adventure of Amina al-Sirafi, in which she and her crew get sidetracked while tracking down a string of powerful artifacts for the peri council and wind up on a mysterious island that looks like paradise but is anything but. It's a relatively slow-moving story compared to its predecessor, but Chakraborty absolutely maintains Amina's weapons-grade sarcasm and narrative style, while balancing with interludes that explain the story behind Queen Lab and her woven enchantment isle from which no one can escape. As usual, Chakraborty admits to having gone down a ton of research rabbit holes while writing this book, particularly where textiles are concerned. And as a longtime reader of hers, I should've seen the ending to this book coming because it proved shockingly reminiscent of that of The Kingdom of Copper...iykyk. Here's hoping it's not another three year wait before we get the third and final projected Amina al-Sirafi adventure, but when that day comes, I shall preorder regardless.

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Review: River of Bones and Other Stories

River of Bones and Other Stories by Rebecca Roanhorse
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A few years ago, N.K. Jemisin published an impressive collection of short stories, How Long ‘Til Black Future Month?, further showcasing her great grasp of the scale of space and time which all the best genre writers need. Now it’s Rebecca Roanhorse’s turn to impress with her own short story collection, with stories rooted in both Native American and Black culture befitting her unique background, and crossing through all the speculative genres and subgenres you can think of. And being radically inclusive in ways that may seem contradictory to what we know of history, and Roanhorse knows a certain type of reader may feel that way, so she challenges them in the acknowledgments section. All in all, here’s proof again: never let it be said that Roanhorse isn’t one of the best in the business, now or ever.

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Review: Paradox

Paradox by Douglas Preston and Aletheia Preston
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Douglas Preston's Extinction promised potential follow ups with its plot threads left hanging - namely, the disappearance of the newly recreated Neanders into the Colorado mountains. While this book mostly doesn't bring the Neanders back - saving them instead for a well placed sneak peek to the planned third book, Resurrection, which still needs a Goodreads page of its own - here, Douglas and Aletheia Preston team up instead to write a Catholic relic conspiracy/serial killer thriller worthy of tiding over us Sigma Force fans while we wait for James Rollins to end that series's interminable hiatus. Running on theories about Jesus, Buddha, and other historical religious figures being secret aliens, this book improves on its predecessor in every way, and someday I hope to see Aletheia Preston either take over this series entirely or start something new. She's definitely honed a talent on par with her father's.

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Review: The Snowman

The Snowman by Jo Nesbø
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

And I thought The Redeemer was dark, but this one takes the devil’s food cake. I have a feeling that Nesbø might want to have this one follow up on The Devil’s Star for his Netflix adaptation of Harry Hole, not only because it’s so much darker and colder than that book in contrast, but also because there is no Snowman in Ba Sing Se, if you know what I mean. Looks like the next one will be again in a tropical locale, but this time I’ll be reading a ton of other books first, because my reading palate could use the cleansing.

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