Book Review: Empire in Black and Gold

The days of peace are over . . .

The city states of the Lowlands have lived in peace and prosperity for decades: bastions of civilization and sophistication. That peace is about to end.

In far-off corners, an ancient Empire has been conquering city after city with its highly trained armies and sophisticated warmaking . . . And now it’s set its sights on a new prize.

Only the ageing Stenwold Maker, spymaster, artificer and statesman, can see the threat. It falls upon his shoulders to open the eyes of his people – as soon a tide will sweep down over the Lowlands and burn away everything in its path.

But first he must stop himself from becoming the Empire’s latest victim.

Summary: Empire in Black and Gold by Adrian Tchaikovsky is the first novel in the ten part Shadows of the Apt series, and Tchaikovsky’s debut. While I found the prose a little lacking, the book does the hard work of introducing a rich and varied setting, as well as setting up a plot that only expands from here.

Book Review: The Fall of Babel

Potential Spoilers Ahead: The Fall of Babel is the final book in The Books of Babel series. As such, the blurb for this book and the following review will inevitably have some level of spoilers for the previous book/s. I’ve tried to keep those spoilers to a minimum, but you have been warned.

As Marat’s siege engine bores through the Tower, erupting inside ringdoms and leaving chaos in its wake, Senlin can do nothing but observe the mayhem from inside the belly of the beast. Caught in a charade, Senlin desperately tries to sabotage the rampaging Hod King, even as Marat’s objective grows increasingly clear. The leader of the zealots is bound for the Sphinx’s lair and the unimaginable power it contains.

In the city under glass at the Tower’s summit, Adam discovers a utopia where everyone inexplicably knows the details of his past. As Adam unravels the mystery of his fame, he soon discovers the crowning ringdom conceals a much darker secret.

Aboard the State of Art, Edith and her crew adjust to the reality that Voleta has awoken from death changed. She seems to share more in common with the Red Hand now than her former self. While Edith wars for the soul of the young woman, a greater crisis looms: They will have to face Marat on unequal footing and with Senlin caught in the crossfire.

And when the Bridge of Babel is finally opened, and the Brick Layer’s true ambition revealed, neither they nor the Tower will ever be the same again.

Summary: The Fall of Babel by Josiah Bancroft is a triumphant end to a beloved series, answering mysteries, providing epic final confrontations, and reuniting characters for the final act.

Mini Book Reviews: The Masters and Discount Armageddon

Sometimes I don’t have a whole lot to say about a book, so to save time and mental effort, I bundle them up into mini reviews – here are two such reviews.

Quick Book Review: Priory of the Orange Tree

A world divided. A queendom without an heir. An ancient enemy awakens.

The House of Berethnet has ruled Inys for a thousand years. Still unwed, Queen Sabran the Ninth must conceive a daughter to protect her realm from destruction – but assassins are getting closer to her door.

Ead Duryan is an outsider at court. Though she has risen to the position of lady-in-waiting, she is loyal to a hidden society of mages. Ead keeps a watchful eye on Sabran, secretly protecting her with forbidden magic.

Across the dark sea, Tané has trained to be a dragonrider since she was a child, but is forced to make a choice that could see her life unravel.

Meanwhile, the divided East and West refuse to parley, and forces of chaos are rising from their sleep

Summary: Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon is a single volume epic fantasy, with staples of the genre such as dragons, long perilous journeys, politicking, secret magical societies and ancient threats. While it’s very readable, I wasn’t wholly invested in the characters, and the pacing did not work for me.

Book Review: The House in the Cerulean Sea

Linus Baker leads a quiet, solitary life. At forty, he lives in a tiny house with a devious cat and his old records. As a Case Worker at the Department in Charge Of Magical Youth, he spends his days overseeing the well-being of children in government-sanctioned orphanages.

When Linus is unexpectedly summoned by Extremely Upper Management he’s given a curious and highly classified assignment: travel to Marsyas Island Orphanage, where six dangerous children reside: a gnome, a sprite, a wyvern, an unidentifiable green blob, a were-Pomeranian, and the Antichrist. Linus must set aside his fears and determine whether or not they’re likely to bring about the end of days.

But the children aren’t the only secret the island keeps. Their caretaker is the charming and enigmatic Arthur Parnassus, who will do anything to keep his wards safe. As Arthur and Linus grow closer, long-held secrets are exposed, and Linus must make a choice: destroy a home or watch the world burn.

Summary: The House in the Cerulean Sea is a heartfelt story about learning to accept differences and standing up for what you believe in. It’s a comfort blanket that doesn’t shy away from the harder questions, although some might find its comfort undermined by the bleaker real world equivelants.

Collection Review: From the Neck Up and Other Stories

The new collection of beautiful, strange and disarming short stories from the award-winning Aliya Whiteley, deftly unpeels the strangeness of everyday life with her trademark wit. Witness the future of farming in a new Ice Age, or the artist bringing life to glass; the many-eyed monsters we carry and the secret cities inside our bodies.

Summary: From the Neck Up by Aliya Whiteley is a wild and wonderfully weird short story collection. Over sixteen stories it takes us into worlds not unlike our own, but with sometimes shocking differences.

LitRPG Round-up: Divine Dungeon, Bone Dungeon, Level Up Or Die

LitRPGs are the books I read when I want to read, but struggle to focus on the books I’m currently working through. I’d say they’re my guilty pleasure, but I feel no actual guilt over reading them. Generally, LitRPGs tend to be fun and easy to pick up, with relatively predictable plotlines (often due to the restrictions of the genre) and gratifying progression curves.

Because of all that however, I tend to have less to say about them – which is the reason I’m reviewing three at once, in this LitRPG round-up.

Book Review: The Bone Ship’s Wake

Potential Spoilers Ahead: The Bone Ship’s Wake is the third and final book in The Tide Child trilogy. As such, the blurb for this book and the following review will inevitably have some level of spoilers for the previous books. I’ve tried to keep those spoilers to a minimum, but you have been warned.

Joron Twiner’s dreams of freedom lay shattered. His Shipwife is gone and all he has left is revenge. Leading the black fleet from the deck of Tide Child, he takes every opportunity to hurt the Hundred Isles he is given. But his time is limited.

His fleet is shrinking, the Keyshan’s Rot is running through his body, and he’s hiding from a prophecy that says he and the avian sorcerer, the Windseer will end the entire world.

But the Sea Dragons have returned, a miracle in itself, and who is to say that if you can have one miracle, there cannot be another?

Summary: The Bone Ship’s Wake is a tense and exciting final act to a stellar trilogy. Barker pulls off the ending with aplomb, excellently rounding out the themes introduced up to this point.

Book Review: The Once and Future Witches

In 1893, there’s no such thing as witches. There used to be, in the wild, dark days before the burnings began, but now witching is nothing but tidy charms and nursery rhymes. If the modern woman wants any measure of power, she must find it at the ballot box.

But when the Eastwood sisters–James Juniper, Agnes Amaranth, and Beatrice Belladonna–join the suffragists of New Salem, they begin to pursue the forgotten words and ways that might turn the women’s movement into the witch’s movement. Stalked by shadows and sickness, hunted by forces who will not suffer a witch to vote-and perhaps not even to live-the sisters will need to delve into the oldest magics, draw new alliances, and heal the bond between them if they want to survive.

There’s no such thing as witches. But there will be.

Summary: The Once and Future Witches by Alix E. Harrow is a tale of feminist witches, the healing bond between estranged sisters, and the power of an angry woman who refuses to be pushed around any more, in the backdrop of late 1800s America.

Sequel Reviews: Exodus of Gnomes and Charmcaster