Review: The Will of the Many

The Will of the Many by James Islington
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Up to now, I haven't read any of James Islington's books before, but I think that'll have to change now that I've finished this one. I believe it was recommended in the Red Rising subreddit, in part because of its similar Romanesque styling and propulsive story arcs. But Vis Telimus, our protagonist here, is nowhere close to a copycat of Darrow. In fact, in some ways, he's Darrow's opposite, but also they could probably relate to each other because of how much their respective empires have taken from them. Vis grew up as a prince named Diago, but he's been in hiding since his family's homeland became just another colony of the Catenan Empire. And he's not sneakily infiltrating the academy to bring down the Empire, but because there's a mystery that he needs to solve. A mystery whose answers, when they come...well, not everything is solved in this book. In fact, there's a hell of a lot of story threads left hanging. But thankfully Islington is already working on the second book, because while the book does take its sweet time building up to its ending, that ending is a massive mind blower on multiple levels, and I, for one, demand resolution on all those levels ASAP.

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Review: A Labyrinth of Scions and Sorcery

A Labyrinth of Scions and Sorcery by Curtis Craddock
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Craddock returns to his gaslamp steampunk fantasy world with a new novel full of intrigue - and at least one cheeky little reference to one of the biggest name authors who helped bolster this book with his blurb, Brandon Sanderson, getting tuckerized into "Lord Brandon Mistwaithe." While the book does a pretty good job continuing the story from where its predecessor left off, with Jean-Claude and Isabelle trying to solve the great ontological mysteries of their weirdly spinning Franco-Spanish-styled worlds, it also proves surprisingly slow paced and repetitive, with not much to make the book stand out compared to its predecessor. It doesn't help that Craddock seems to have gotten some bad translation advice on the French language in this one, with a few pretty glaring errors that kept taking me out of it (most notably, "Le Ville Celeste" - insert Colin Farrell's Penguin doing his rant about the worst Spanish he ever heard, "EL RATA ALADA?!?!") But the finale of this book proves a pretty shocking one - let's just say devout Catholics are gonna take some serious exception to this book's version of the Virgin Mary, even more than, say, any of Jay Kristoff's blasphemous takes on Catholic mythology in Empire of the Vampire. What really surprised me, though, was how the very end set up a case of And Now For Something Completely Different for the finale, which I've already ordered at the library and will soon be reading. Probably after I move, though...

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Review: Huge

Huge by Brent Butt
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Who would've guessed that the deadpan Canadian comedian behind Corner Gas had such a deadly good thriller in him? Well, it's the sort of book that you can almost read in Brent Butt's own distinctive voice, until it starts mutating into a uniquely demented take on the slasher genre, with a serial killer who only wants to make the world laugh with him instead of at him. If only he was actually funny, because it's not so funny anymore when he's getting the drop on anyone and everyone who pisses him off. But to balance out the major league darkness of Hobie Huge and his warped ways, there are a couple of well developed good guy comedians in this 90s-era Canadian Prairie circuit. Dale, the middle-aged American with a strained relationship to his family, and Rynn, a young Irish lass with a hell of a funny bone, especially when it comes to roasting Canada for its horrendously cold winters. I really hope Butt writes more good books now that the Corner Gas franchise is dormant, because the world needs more of his brand of entertainment.

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Review: The Watchers

The Watchers by A.M. Shine
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This one is getting a 2.5 rounded generously up to 3 in large part because of the promise of the upcoming film adaptation this summer, written and directed by Ishana Night Shyamalan, daughter of M. Night. But also because of the creepy af incorporation of Irish faerie mythology - these Fair Folk have teeth in all the ways. Unfortunately, this book suffers from a preponderance of characters I can't bring myself to care for all that much, but I think Ishana Night Shyamalan's movie version will be all the better for it because it'll be adding striking visual elements, and what I'm sure will be a command performance from Dakota Fanning in the lead role. And since the Shyamalan family business is notorious for twists (seriously, it's a family business - M. Night personally funded the production for this one so it was able to get interim waivers during last year's strikes), I suspect that Ishana's idea of a twist for the film will be that unlike the book, there will be no sequel. Even though Shine is soon to come out with a sequel called Stay in the Light, which incidentally calls to mind M. Night's earlier hit Split...but who knows? I guess we'll find out Ishana's twist next month when the movie comes out, and guaranteed I'll have my butt in a theater seat opening weekend for it.

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Review: Base Notes

Base Notes by Lara Elena Donnelly
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I can see why this, the only novel Lara Elena Donnelly's come out with since her well-crafted Art Deco war story that wasn't a war story, the Amberlough Dossier, is so much lower rated here. It could've been a much better story, and it's certainly darkly fascinating for its depiction of a depraved perfume maker in New York. After all, if you really think about it, you can't make an omelet without breaking a few eggs, and the same goes for perfumes, which historically have been made from all kinds of plant and animal resources without care for obtaining them ethically. But Vic Fowler, who has figured out a vaguely supernatural method of bottling memories in perfume, really has to resort to that old black magic to make it work.

Review: Aftermarket Afterlife

Aftermarket Afterlife by Seanan McGuire
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

As much as I've been a fan of Seanan McGuire for many years, and of this series in particular, I'm sorry to say that McGuire has been slowly losing me with this series, and it's never been more apparent than with this latest novel. The unlucky thirteenth in the series, it shifts gears to yet another POV protagonist, the sixth one so far by my count. Props to McGuire for seeking to keep things fresh with another perspective, especially one who would have known all the Price sibs (by blood or by adoption) as long as they've been alive. But Mary just isn't as engaging as Verity or Antimony or even Alex, which is a shame because all their adventures and personalities were the main draw for me in the first place. She may have been a constant figure in the lives of the Price family, but somehow her narrative comes off extremely detached and makes it hard for me to get into this book.

Review: An Alchemy of Masques and Mirrors

An Alchemy of Masques and Mirrors by Curtis Craddock
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Somewhere in the ether between Brandon Sanderson's Mistborn and Jim Butcher's Cinder Spires lies this unique spin on gaslamp airship steampunk fantasy, heavily inspired by days gone by in France and Spain in particular. It's a world that uses religion as an excuse to punch down on the other - as Isabelle, one of our protagonists, finds out the hard way, being a woman with a disability, and no magic even though she's supposed to be from a magical elite family. Luckily, she's got a powerful intellect on her side - this book is just as heavy on the math as it is on the magic, with the brawn represented by her protector, the smartass aging musketeer Jean-Claude. As a Spanish-style rival kingdom seeks to arrange a marriage for her with a romantically cursed prince, this book is loaded for bear with imperial intrigue, building to an ending that I really should've seen coming. Part one of a promising trilogy? Yes, I can see why one of the Vancouver library branches had this one on a special shelf for first installments in great series.

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