Shadow Gate by Kate Elliott

I quite enjoyed Shadow Gate. It suffered a little from middle-book-itus, but not too much. There was a lot going on and new characters to keep track of, along with the ones we got to know in Spirit Gate. I am very interested to see where the story goes next.

So… Keshad wasn’t super likable in the last book, but he’s even worse now. Bai’s a goddamn adult at this point, no longer the child you were attempting to rescue. Grow the fuck up, my dude. And then the plan to “rescue” Miravia after a single look at her and not even knowing her name… my dude. Keshad is just so very caught up in his own shit and apparently too serious to understand how a friendlier demeanor could be helpful.

I kind of like the world-building of “unknown thing/person/race = demons.” It amuses me, even if it kind of kills the curiosity of some characters and some discussions altogether. It does feel very human, though, which is part of why I like it. It also crosses pretty much all the cultures, which is, again, very human.

We finally officially meet the main antagonist. Such fun, one of those “order through oppression” types. Technically, I guess the logic is sound, but oppression is never the right answer when humans are involved. Definitely gonna speculate the dagger is Marit’s “staff.” I seriously doubt anything that comes out of that woman’s mouth so Marit’s staff being lost… gonna call bullshit on that one. I was wrong.

It was very nice getting Marit back. I enjoyed her character in the first part of Spirit Gate and was very glad to see her return here. Her journey from Reeve to Guardian has been an interesting one. Joss’ journey has also been interesting. Who would’ve known he was destined for such leadership.

I initially thought Kirit’s story was a rather long detour, as we know where she ends up. However, I think getting her backstory serves to explain her motivations and the reason her staff takes the form it does. Moving (being shoved violently, really) from a mostly peaceful, matriarchal society to a patriarchal one sown with violence of the worst kind was clearly traumatic… plus her treatment at Girish’s hands… this world really is quite small for all it feels so large.

So yeah… I mostly enjoyed Shadow Gate. It moved well and was decently entertaining. I can’t wait to see how this ends in the next one.

Briar's Book by Tamora Pierce

I really thought Briar’s Book was going to hit differently because of COVID. I’m not sure if it did because of that, really. I am going to say I was probably more emotionally invested this time, which made certain bits hit harder, but… yeah. Briar’s Book is quite good. I feel like the science-y bits are very true-to-life (which I get into later) and parts were definitely heart-breaking.

Tris getting upset about The Mire had me tearing up. Poor girl’s worried as fuck and doesn’t know how to deal with it… not to mention how her personality is. Woof. Honestly, Tris’ reactions to things in this book had me tearing up this read-through. She’s so caring and prickly at the same time. I love it.

I think this book is where I learned about how disease is tracked and how cures are devised. I mean, it was a very general knowledge, but it’s where I learned it first, even if I didn’t fully internalize that information until later. I think it’s a rather good primer, actually… for the general public. Again, this is one of the spots where Tamora Pierce excels at writing realistically for her audience, even with the magic involved.

I am forever grateful to Tamora Pierce for writing truthfully and not dumbing things down for younger readers. In this one especially, the importance of quarantine and disease tracing are well written and as true to life as they can be. What happens in the quarantine is also written realistically, though not going beat-by-beat but still managing to convey just how horrible having, dying, and caring for those with the disease is. Oh, and having at least one person with tuberculosis in there… that’s some fun (not really) icing on the disease cake right there. Having now learned a lot about tuberculosis (thank you, John Green of Vlogbrothers) it uh… yeah… icing on disease cake.

I think Moonstream’s reaction to the climax was both funny and sobering. These kids just broke one of the cardinal RULES and definitely don’t need to be bandying about that they could technically do it again… Plus there definitely should be limits on what magic can do.

So yes, I thought Briar’s Book was excellent. It’s honestly probably my favorite of this quartet.

Favorite Line

"You needn't adore humanity to feel bad for someone in this fix," - Rosethorn

In Other News

I completed another OviPets project. This is Cherubimon (Vice), based on the Digimon. Took me about 7 months to complete. Part of my Mega Digimon Project line.

 

Daja's Book by Tamora Pierce

I quite enjoyed Daja’s Book. I always enjoy world-building and this book has it in spades. We get a good look at differing parts of the physical world and the Trader culture.

Speaking of, something I didn’t talk about while reviewing Sandry’s Book was my feelings about how the Traders treated Daja. What do you mean you’re literally kicking a child out of society for surviving a ship wreck? The fuck is wrong with you people. Niko was mad about it, too. It’s also lucky he was there to take her. That whole thing was just fucked up and still is. Polyam admits as much, during the forest fire crisis.

I also enjoyed the expansion and subsequent calling back of the Circle’s power sets. I always think it’s nice when there are actual consequences that have to be dealt with rather than just hand-waved away. There’s also a lot of mental/magical traveling happening that was neat. The interconnectedness of the Circle’s powers versus the more rigid academic style magic was also interesting. I felt like Yarrun’s issues were somewhat on par with Climate Change deniers. The experts in an area other than your own are telling you there are going to be issues, but you ignore them because your own hubris and singular experiences are telling you otherwise… it’s rather prescient.

So yeah, Daja’s Book is a very solid entry. I very much enjoyed it. 

Tris's Book by Tamora Pierce

Ah yes, Tris's Book, the one with the pirates. That and Tris's cousin Aymery were the only things I really remembered before my reread. Upon reread, I realized why. Not a lot happens here, aside from the kiddos dealing with pirates and learning a bit about hooking up their magic to other mages'. That's not exactly a bad thing, but Tris's Book really does feel filler-esque.

Really, Aymery was the most obvious antagonist adjacent character. He's shifty from the start and extremely unsubtle in his single attempt to get Tris to leave Winding Circle.

All that aside, I do kind of like the slow-burn of Tris and the others learning their powers. They'd barely had any time in the last book to do much more than start training. Hardly any time has passed between Sandry's Book and Tris's Book, so the fact they're still slowly feeling out exactly what it is they can do makes sense. I also very much appreciate that, again, Tamora Pierce doesn't shy away from the realities of things like pirate-attack-aftermath. People are going to get hurt and rather brutally at that.

Overall, I think Tris's Book is a solid entry in the Circle of Magic series, despite not really being super memorable. 

Spirit Gate by Kate Elliott

Spirit Gate was an interesting beginning. We’re dropped into a world that is not explained to us in a very straightforward way. The story is fairly character-driven and so we know no more than the characters do. I found it intriguing.

The Reeves and their eagles reminded me very much of the Heralds and Companions of Mercedes Lackey’s Valdemar, though without the magic and speech they posses. Even the mistrust that is sown in regard to them reminded me of certain bits of Valdemar that distrust Heralds.

I’m interested in finding out more about the Guardians, through this trilogy, since that is (but of a spoiler) where this is apparently going. It seems quite strange to be so in the dark as to the overall aims of the antagonists. Just sowing darkness and apparent chaos feels a bit… meh as far as goals go.

I really liked how big the world is made out to be pretty immediately. The different customs and gods of the countries Mai, Shai, and Anji pass through are neat. It’s also nice to be reminded every so often that not a one of the characters are white. Not a single person of European-ish heritage to be found here. It’s also a little annoying to have pretty much all of the cultures be Patriarchies that would rather have their women completely hidden away than let them be part of the rest of society. It seems Mai is very lucky she ended up married to Anji and they landed in The Hundred, which seems more egalitarian than the rest.

I actually think it’s rather neat a different (at least from what I’ve been reading) to have the protagonists be rather disparate. There’s not the usual band of heroes here. The protagonists actually have very little to do with each other, even despite Mai and Shai being related. I also thought seeing the final battle of the book largely from outside the battle was novel. Usually readers are right in the thick of things.

So yeah… Spirit Gate was pretty good. I was fully engrossed in the world during my reading sessions. I largely liked the characters and how their individual stories overlapped to form the whole. Here’s hoping the rest of the trilogy is as engrossing.

And With That

I have smashed my Reading Goal for the year!

 

Sandry's Book by Tamora Pierce

Want a middle-grade fantasy school book that still holds up and whose author continues to be an awesome person? This is it.

I was first introduced to Circle of Magic in Junior High, almost 30 years ago at this point. Almost. Sandry, Briar, Tris, and Daja are some of my oldest friends, book-character-wise. Their characterization is solid from the start. Their magic is actually more on the solid side than I had remembered. The magic system is well explained in the short amount of time it's given. I'm actually a little in awe of the amount of information Tamora Pierce is able to cram in here without it feeling at all rushed.

I also really love that the trauma Sandry and Daja experienced is not shied away from or dumbed down at all. It's also not egregious in the way its described. I'm not sure if I fully grasped the horrors of what they went through when I read it the first time, but the language definitely evokes the true terror of it in my adult brain.

I'm also very impressed with the amount of diversity Pierce wove into the very fabric of this story. Each of the characters is from a different country and background and feels like it. The prejudices against them are also on full display, as well as how they handle it. This is definitely something I didn't super clock when I was younger that just leapt off the page at me this time.

Anyway, I frickin' love Circle of Magic. I'd forgotten just how much as it's been a very long time since I reread them. Sandry's Book is a very good start to the series and I can't wait to dive back in again. 

House of Many Ways by Diana Wynne Jones

House of Many Ways is a mostly cozy fantasy with what I feel is a ridiculously rushed ending. It was charming enough with a lot of moving parts that were solved via deus ex Calcifer and hurried explanations right at the end. Sorry to spoil it a bit, but... ehhhhh. I'm left quite bewildered and in a state of "wtf did I just read?" by that ending.

I quite like the idea of a crazy wizard house that takes certain actions to get around. Reminds me very much of Morwen's doors in The Enchanted Forest Chronicles by Patricia C. Wrede. That part, I had little problem with. Charmain's magic seems very like Sophie's. Also, not a problem. The kobolds were semi-interesting. The whole lubbok and lubbokin bits... eh. Not a fan. Seem to be there because we apparently needed some over-arching reason for Howl and Sophie to be around. I feel like there could have possibly been a plot with much lower stakes that would have fit just as well... revolving around the actual House, but here we are.

As a side note... I hate Charmain's mother. Coddled Charmain into being an almost helpless person. Can't cook, can't clean... lucky the girl can read and write because really... just ugh. I also hated Twinkle's lisp as much as Sophie did. I was annoyed at it the entire time.

But yeah... I really feel like I may have properly enjoyed House of Many Ways had I read it at a younger age. A good chunk of the world-building around the House was quite nice. I feel the kind of rushed and perfectly bow-tied ending is a Diana Wynne Jones thing I don't really enjoy. 

Castle in the Air by Diana Wynne Jones

I am really not sure how I feel, exactly, about Castle in the Air. I'm also not sure what I was expecting, but... yeah. Not sure. I'm not even sure if the portrayal of the Middle Eastern-esque characters and initial setting is problematic or not. As far as I can tell, it's straight out of Arabian Nights so... again, I don't know.

Castle in the Air was enjoyable enough. It meandered its way along, truth be told, in a sort of epic-fantasy way, but not super detailed apart from the massive amount of complimentary speech Abdullah tends to lead with. Then the last third of the book just rushes along toward the ending, which is wrapped up with a neat bow for everyone.

I probably would have loved Castle in the Air when I was younger. Right now, it was a quick, easy enough read and a palette cleanser after Sucker Punch by Laurell K. Hamilton. Oh! It also had kind of Patricia C. Wrede vibes... similar to Calling on Dragons in the overall shape of the adventure. So that's definitely a point in its favor.

Sucker Punch by Laurell K. Hamilton - 2026 Reread

Oh... good... lord... this book is a slog. I hate it, so, so much. I hate it so much that having to reread it for completionist sake made me skip Serpentine on accident. Sucker Punch's looming reread just took up all my headspace. The funny thing is, I did not actually remember it as being so much of a slog. I was just remembering how much Olaf was front and center and how much I fucking hate him.

Seriously, the amount of "No" Anita should have come out swinging with in Olaf's direction is staggering. But instead we're still humoring the SOB and making other people humor him in conjunction. Anita and Edward need to just kill him already. I'm tired of knowing Anita has absolutely zero interest in actually sleeping with him and her also entertaining the idea of a relationship with him. Should have kept that shit at a professional level if you have to have any kind of relationship at all. I'm firmly of the belief that this whole leading him on bullshit is going to spectacularly backfire at some point in the future. It really is leading him on at this point and, as I'm fairly certain Olaf has maintained, women leading men on is one of the reasons he hates them so much.

Other than Olaf's mere presence, the actual slogging part of the book is how many times Newman and Anita have to explain, often to the same characters, why Newman is refusing to "do his duty" and kill Bobby. Over and over and over. Same argument. Every time. Introduce or add a character: "Why haven't you done your duty yet, Win?" I started skipping the conversations after the second time. Skipped a good portion of this book, actually. I would have DNF'd this reread if I hadn't been waiting on another book to be shipped to me.

Last thing, just to reiterate what I said in my first read review: The mystery part of Sucker Punch was incredibly convoluted. The fact that it was largely side-lined did not help. Every single side character from this little town is on my shit-list. They are all unlikable to say the least. Duke is probably the worst and that's only because Muriel and Jocelyn are barely there. Just... ugh.

You can read my first review HERE.

The Kaiju Preservation Society by John Scalzi

Absolutely delightful. I loved it so, so much. Relatively low stakes, just shy of cozy, I would say, assuming your cozy includes the occasional little adventure. This was just the right blend of realism and sci-fi.

I will say, I was expecting more description of the Kaiju and their parasites, though I guess ultimately my brain would not have done them justice. A rough sketch is good enough, I think. I feel like, unless you’ve actually got a visual, description just won’t do what’s in your head justice. It’s the whole movie monster thing: scarier when you haven’t seen it.

I also really liked Jamie and her friends. Even frigging Sanders had his moments. Scalzi’s character work was quite good.

The Kaiju Preservation Society is honestly one of those books I didn’t have any deep thoughts about. It was fun. It was mostly light. I definitely recommend giving it a read. 

 

Favorite Lines

"I like land," I said. "I don't drown there." - Jamie Gray

"No, they don't. They have shredded orange and white sadness that mocks cheese and everything it stands for." - Jame Gray

"Angrily consume your bacon on the toilet, is my advice." - Dr. Lee 

Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones

Well... that was a good deal more chaotic than I was expecting. I have seen the Studio Ghibli adaptation a fair few times, so I knew the rough outline of the plot going into reading the book. I also knew that, as usual, things had to be trimmed for the adaptation so I was expecting more in terms of detail. I was not expecting a whole rather important chunk of plotline to have been cut for time/content.

Howl's Moving Castle is wonderfully magical and quite fun. I enjoyed most of the stuff that got trimmed for the movie. The tether to the "real world," as it were, was wholly unexpected. I love Sophie's sisters. I do find it a little odd that Martha wouldn't have told Michael to stop calling her Lettie at some point, but apparently that's not a thing for some reason. But otherwise, their inclusion and deceptions were cute.

I found the Witch of the Waste and her demon rather one-note, as far as antagonists go. They really weren't all that interesting in the long run. Now what they did was horrifying. I also feel like the sudden "and then everything just sorted itself out"-ness of the ending was somewhat jarring. Kind of expected more out of that, but I guess I'll just have the wait for the sequels to see.

Mostly, the book was just about as cozy as the adaptation. I quite enjoyed the ride. Also, my edition (The 20th Anniversary Deluxe Limited Edition) of the book is absolutely gorgeous. I love the end-paper art, even if I will never see Calcifer in any other form than the Ghibli version, no matter how often his green hair is mentioned. 

Aurora Vols 1&2 by Red

Aurora Volume 1

Delightful start to a series. Familiar art style as I'm a fan of Overly Sarcastic Productions. Not the best, perhaps, but I like it. I will say, the dark pages were particularly dark, which I'm sure worked better in webcomic form. But yeah. I'm liking where this is going. 

Aurora Volume 2

New characters and world-building and epic battles galore! I am definitely invested in the story of Aurora and can't wait to see how everything fits together for further adventures. We've got a full team together whose dynamics have yet to be completely worked out by the end of this one, but they're getting there. Also the actual abilities of the team are still being explored. On that count, it does seem a little bit random how Dainix and Falst's power sets are explored... what with a god popping in and then Dainix just being really impressed how quickly Falst is healing. I fine with it, just... felt a little weird as I was reading. I know Red's got her magic-system worked out down to the itty-bitty science-y bits (Because I listen to the OSPod), I just have to trust the system by which we as readers are being shown that.

But yeah... I'm enjoying the series so far. Probably going to have to reread in a less spread-out fashion that my first read went to really catch everything. I'm certain I skimmed some stuff... at the same time, every time I grabbed the book to read, I was sucked into longer reading sessions than I meant to have, which tells me the story was good. Dragged me along in a pleasant fashion, even if my brain didn't catch all the details.

I will also say, I hope the next book doesn't have so much happening in the dark. The art is good and I could keep up with what was happening during those scenes a bit more easily this time, but... those bits are really visually dark. 

Tales from the Hinterland by Melissa Albert

Tales from the Hinterland was quite enjoyable. I don't usually enjoy reading anthologies, but something about fairytales, especially these ones, is an exception. Each story had its own vibe and were mostly delightfully dark in the best ways. I really like the illustrations. The red and black prints are quite the vibe. Below are my little reviews of each story.

"The Door that Wasn’t There": Liked it. One of the ones told in the series, though perhaps with more detail? Still good.

"Hansa the Traveler": Huh, neat. I wouldn’t have guessed Hansa’s tale would go like that. The main books made it seem like she was eternally a child. But, I guess cycles and all that… I liked it a lot.

"The Clockwork Bride": Uhm… yeah that was pretty neat, until the end. I don’t think there was enough characterization of Arden as a free spirit to justify that, exactly. But hey, fairytale, right?

"Jenny and the Night Women": Well… that was.. disturbing and gross. There are reasons we don’t spoil children. I was also expecting more from The Night Women, or at least some explanation as to what they actually were... sadly disappointed, but I've got this image in my head of a cross between a vampire and a banshee with a bit of fairy thrown in, if that makes sense.

"The Skinned Maiden": Nice twist on the Selkie story. Delightfully macabre.

"Alice Three Times": Much the same as in the main books, though definitely more detailed. We also finally learn the end of Alice’s tale, which was neat.

"The House Under the Stairwell": Really enjoyed that one. Sort of a cross between a “Beauty and the Beast,” “Twelve Dancing Princesses,” and some sort of more wild folklore. Pretty neat.

"Ilsa Waits": Another tale told in the main series, though fleshed out wonderfully here. I found myself kind of wishing Mort by Terry Pratchett had been more like this, with Mort learning what it actually is to be Death.

"The Sea Cellar": This one was neat. Shades of “Bluebeard” and “The Little Mermaid.”

"The Mother and the Dagger": Lovely and creepy.

"Twice-Killed Catherine": Given the context of this story in the main books, I was really expecting Katherine to be much more blood-thirsty than she ends up being. I did like this one, though.

"Death and the Woodwife": Hmmm… interesting. Quite the chill Death, here. I’m really not certain how I feel about this one, though it does at least seem to have a happy ending.

Favorite Line

"From the port she watched the water smooth into glass and purl into lace and worry itself into great waves beyond the cove."

At the Dark End of the Street by Danielle L. McGuire

I honestly had a hard time staying focused while reading At the Dark End of the Street. I'm not used to reading nonfiction books and really do better with ones that stick to a single narrative thread rather than one with several, as this is. In addition, the popping out from the narrative being told to round out the historical setting and tell other, smaller narratives was distracting to me. That's all structure-related and doesn't actually reflect badly on the subject matter, which I actually believe is extremely important. At the Dark End of the Street highlights a part of history that is largely swept over for most Americans. I know The Civil Rights Movement was barely covered in any of my High School History classes. We learned the names of Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King Jr. and I'd heard of Malcolm X, but that was pretty much it. Also the time span over which The Civil Rights Movement actually happened is glossed over, so I think this is really the first time I really internalized just how long this shit took and is, in a lot of ways, still taking. At the Dark End of the Street really highlighted all that for me, so I truly thank Ms. McGuire for that.

I found a lot of the content both shocking and unsurprising at the same time. We see a lot of the same shit repeating itself in 2026, just with a different set of non-White people, and hell, with the same set in some cases. Definitely highlighted here was the police brutality that went on. The police have been on power-trips for a long, long time and it's gross. They also seem to be getting away with a lot of the same sort of crimes, too. Definitely not a good look.

I wrote in my notes about the Montgomery Bus Boycott and how it was brushed over in my schooling. I definitely heard about it, but didn't actually learn about it before now. I read about this stuff as an adult and am repeatedly reminded how schooling in the US is just so, so inadequate. We focus on the Revolutionary heroes and maybe a bit more on World War II (thought clearly not enough with the way this country is going at the moment). But the more recent history? Not a damn word.

It is absolutely hilarious (in a very not hilarious way) how White Supremacist men are all fear-monger-y about Black men going after White women and yet have no problem kidnapping and raping Black women. Seriously, wtf, you POS. The cognitive dissonance is astounding.

Somehow surprised and yet not, given how states were about abortion laws before Roe v. Wade was overturned, to learn states also passed laws to nullify Brown v. Board of Education. All of this stuff just makes me shake my head in “wtf are we doing?” and “don’t we have better things to be legislating about?” Ugh.

I’m sorry… “interracial incubi”? And “Armageddon [was] just around the corner.” Because… wtf. I know this shit was deadly serious in the moment, but the lengths White Supremacists went to in their own heads and in real life in order to degrade and stop Black people from voting or from interracial marriage is a fucking joke. So very unserious. And yes, I know the lens I’m looking at it through is as a 30-something white woman in 2026, where some of this shit is still rearing or re-rearing its ugly head… still. So. Fucking. Stupid. Racism is very fucking stupid. The obsession with sex by all of these "morally upstanding" people is also very fucking stupid.

So yeah... I really do appreciate At the Dark End of the Street for teaching me more about a part of history the US just wants to sweep under the rug. I sincerely hope that more people pick up this book and take the messaging to heart. We need to do better and keep moving forward... all I've got is platitudes at this point. Well, that and Listen to Women damnit.

Quotes that Stuck Out

My commentary in blue 

"For surely those who perpetuate these ugly prejudices here are seeking to destroy our democratic form of government just as surely as the Axis forces." - Courier reader 

"This of course will be very bad for the war effort," he argued, "for it is senseless to fight fascism abroad is fascisitc influences are to be protected here at home." - Charles S. Seely 

"Blacks in Montgomery knew better. The city's police force had a reputation for physical and sexual violence. Police brutality plagues the black community." - Narration

     Like I've said, not a great look, historically, for police forces, even if this is specifically referencing Montgomery, Alabama. - Me

 

"Whether that had been a white girl involved or a colored girl, a jury is very reluctant to pass a death sentence or life imprisonment for that charge upon a man" - Mayes McGehee

     I think it's gross how White Men have been getting away with lesser sentences for rape since, ya know, forever. Pisses me off, quite frankly. - Me

"there is no human being on the face of the earth" who had the right to violate or abuse another person, "no matter who you are or where you think you come from or whatever possession or control you have," - Jerry Paul 

 

In Other News

Well, now that I've finished with the heavy subject matter we can move on to a little levity. I finished my Impmon Project over on OviPets. Based on the Digimon of the same name. Tattoos on the face and stomach were done by me in GIMP. Impmon took me approximately 11 months to complete.

Probability Sun by Nancy Kress

Probability Sun was definitely less segmented than Probability Moon, which made being more interested in one part versus the other less of a thing. It did, however, present some interesting ethical quandaries. We also found out more about the Fallers, but not significantly more. Probability Sun was entertaining enough and it was kind of nice to know what Enli got up to once she returned to Shared Reality.

I honestly think the humans were in the wrong, stealing the artifact out from under the Worlders’ noses. We’re a damn shady people when we wanna be. It was damn lucky the Worlders didn’t actually know what they had or that it even existed. That they now have to deal with the complete disappearance of Shared Reality is kind of horrible. Not that I think basically being hive-minded was a fantastic thing, but it’s what they knew and, as Ann pointed out a bunch, adapted to deal with.

Moving on to the Faller stuff with Marbet… Grafton was an idiot. I understand you don’t want the Faller to kill itself, but how the hell is it supposed to communicate when you’ve basically taken away body language and it doesn’t speak our language? So dumb and ultimately short-sighted.

I thought Capello and his girls were an interesting addition. Bit of color in an otherwise very adult-centric narrative. Essa was also a fun addition. I like that Enli’s basically become her surrogate mother. I think it’ll do them both good in the long run.

Speaking of the long run, I don’t at present have any desire to read the third book in this trilogy. I feel like Probability Sun left off at a fairly good place. Maybe not the best, but satisfying enough.

In Other News

I finished 2, count 'em 2!, OviPets projects since the last one. We have the Diver Cat and Lavendeer. Both original critters designed by me and not based off anything else. Well... the Diver Cat is based off a previous project of mine, but other than that... Yay!

 

The Night Country by Melissa Albert

The Night Country is honestly not as compelling as The Hazel Wood. It's not bad, but the feeling I had while reading The Hazel Wood just doesn't exist with The Night Country. I think that's as it should be, The Hazel Wood feeling as complete as it did in the end and all. While The Night Country picks up where The Hazel Wood left off, I don't feel like The Night Country is as necessary to the whole story as it would like to think. It was a fun enough romp through the next steps in Alice and Ellery's stories. I did enjoy meeting Sophia and getting her story and the story of The Night Country in universe. I also really loved Edgar and his bookshop. I would like to go to there. I just wasn't as drawn into the world as I was with The Hazel Wood.

I did have a single note as I was reading: "Be sure" always, always that refrain. Every fairytale world. Walk through the door, take the power offered you, be sure. When I said The Hazel Wood has Seanan McGuire vibes, I wasn't expecting the second book to throw "Be Sure" in my face. It's not bad, and McGuire doesn't have the rights or whatever to the phrase, but damn.

But yeah... The Night Country had some enjoyable bits. The characters from The Hinterland are, ya know, a mixed bag of weird and wonderfully creepy. I hope to get to know some of them better when I read Tales From the Hinterland. But for now they're just set-dressing in Alice's story.

Favorite Lines

"If you poke around too long in the dark, you've only got yourself to blame for what you find." - Alice Prosperpine

"A book is always a door." - Iolanthe 

 

 The Boy Who Didn't Come Home

I was expecting and Ellery Finch post-The Hazel Wood story. This is not that. This is his story during The Hazel Wood. It has the same feel I was missing in The Night Country. I definitely enjoyed it.

Probability Moon by Nancy Kress

I wasn't sure what to expect with Probability Moon. I don't read a lot of sci-fi and my last foray led to a DNF so... yeah. I actually enjoyed Probability Moon.

I found this exploration of reality quite interesting, if not compelling at times. I definitely feel like a society in which everyone shares the same reality is problematic af, as Bazargan knows and David can't quite understand, especially in terms of introducing such a thing to humans. The fast that it managed to be home-grown on World is definitely a slightly different animal. There don't seem to be any, shall we say, large personalities taking over the entire mechanism, like I and Bazargan imagine there would be for humans. I do wonder how prevalent mental illness is on World, given they literally kill anyone who doesn't share reality, especially if they never develop empathy. It also isn't explored how Worlders deal with scientific advancement aside from the brief foray into the antihistamine thing... would head-pain prevent delving too deeply into the science or what?

Along with how World's shared reality mechanism, we also get a glimpse into how future humans might deal with some of these things via chemical alteration. That isn't delved into as much, though it does play a large part in David's character arc. I had twigged he wasn't exactly neurotypical to begin with... he was just too set in certain mind-sets regardless of his chemical alteration thingy... didn't imagine he was a bad off as it turned out he was, but... yeah.

Enli's progression was honestly something I think she needs to have a very frank but obviously very private discussion with one of the priests about. Figuring creatures without a shared reality into Worlder reality just seems like something that should be done. Understanding that a creature could be that different from you and still function or be "real" just seems like an overall good thing. Maybe that's a very human-centric thought process but when the consequence with basically "death to anyone without a shared reality"... seems like a not-great way to go about life in a universe full of such different people. I do hope Enli finds someone to talk to about that at some stage in her life without being forced into "unreality" again.

I was much less invested in the space part of the plot. It felt like more or less bog-standard sci-fi space stuff. The characters dealing with that weren't developed as much and not very interesting as a result. Setting up the weirdness of the artifact coupled with the one buried in World was vaguely interesting, but only vaguely. I am kind of wondering if the Fallers have a similar kind of shared reality thing to the Worlders and just decided that everyone outside of them is unreal and worthy of death as a result... seems like it's either that or they're like Daleks. If you're not a Faller, you're unworthy of life. Actually, yeah... space-faring Worlders who haven't accepted the idea of multiple realities would act exactly like Fallers have done. So... that's a thought I came upon while writing this review.

That's one of the things I actually quite like about Probability Moon. It's thought-provoking. I don't know that I'll be sitting with these thoughts for a long time, but they're there and making my brain itch. 

Wilder Girls by Rory Power

I don't think I've had a book grab me like this one did for a long while. It's not my usual cup of tea, but it hit the spot and then some. Wilder Girls brings together the coming-of-age school girl story with some X-Men-ish-ness thrown in with Government conspiracy with dystopian plague in such an intriguing way. I had a hard time putting it down, to be honest. I also went on a bit of a rant about something Hetty finds out to my Boyfriend earlier today which my perspective on turned out to be wrong about, given what's revealed later in the book. It was one of those "well that definitely changes things" moments. Almost a blink-and-you'll-miss-it thing. Definitely safe to say I was not expecting what eventually went down.

The last time I read a school-based post-apocalyptic type story, it just ended up being really bleak. Wilder Girls initially had the same kind of vibe, but I think I'm overall hopeful for Hetty and her friends at the end. Probably misplaced, knowing the circumstances they're technically heading into, but I don't feel like it was all for nothing. Hope really runs through the entire novel. Hope for a cure, ultimately, but other bits of hope, too. Reese, hoping her father is still alive; Hetty hoping to find Byatt after she disappears; even Byatt hoping somewhere along the line to get back to her friends...

Of course, there's also the through-line of the Government conspiracy aspect. I twigged fairly early on the Government was using the girls of Raxter as an experiment. For what, I wasn't super sure about, but you don't just quarantine an island and slowly cut that island off completely while still feeding the inhabitants for a reason. And of course it was a bunch of girls they decided to experiment on. Part of that was the bad luck of proximity, but still... innocent, disposable girls shouldering the terrible things the Tox did to them without any explanation whatsoever. I couldn't figure out why the food and general supply situation was so fucked, though. That didn't make any sense. Couldn't even be bothered to send more than the bare minimum and apparently can't be bothered to make sure the girls are kept in some modicum of comfort while actively suffering... but that's also explained later, so I feel vaguely better about it.

There's a quote from Jeff VanderMeer on the front of my copy of the book talking about the emotion packed into the book. There is, at that, though it's not overwrought. It's very tightly controlled and doesn't at any point feel forced. If anything, it feels as though the characters are just burnt out while being in shock at the same time. They've seen too much death and dealt with too much pain while at the same time being so isolated, even among their peers. None of it feels like too much, while at the same time feeling like a lot. I honestly don't know how else to describe it.

I won't say I had fun, exactly, but Wilder Girls definitely gripped me. It's been a hot minute since I finished a book in under 24hrs. Definitely a fantastic read. 

The Hazel Wood by Melissa Albert

I absolutely loved The Hazel Wood. It felt very much along the same vein as a cross between Seanan McGuire's Wayward Children series and her Indexing series, though it definitely has its own vibe. Got both the kiddo out of their own world thing and fairy tale characters interacting with the "real world" thing going on, but enough twists and story beats to be interesting in its own right. The Hazel Wood is also one of the few stories I've read recently that feels finished and doesn't end abruptly. Even knowing there's a second book doesn't mar that at all. Definitely a plus.

I liked Melissa Albert's use of fairy tale tropes. Expertly crafted together in ways I both expected and didn't. I also enjoyed the couple of stories from the in-universe Tales From the Hinterland we got to experience. They were delightfully dark and twisted in just the right way. I cannot, though, quite wrap my head around why a character with god-like powers, like the Spinner, would want to craft a world where all the terrible things just keep happening over and over... but, then, she is described as sociopathic so... yeah. That's a whole... other thing.

It really feels like discussing The Hazel Wood without spoilers is hard. Even looking back on the first half of the book with knowledge gained by actually finishing it feels like a mine-field. I think The Hinterland is neat and an interesting way to look at fairy tale universes. They do always seem to come from some really twisted brains.

I feel like I have to talk a little about Ellery Finch, though he does disappear for reasons for most of the second half of the book. At first, I was all on-board with his character and then his fate befell him and a bit of an icky feeling set in. Not because of his character, but because of what happened to his Character, if that makes sense... ah, that nasty spoilers thing rears its ugly head... anyway... perils of being Black in a horror-bent story... yeah. That was a thing for a minute, although its not dwelt upon by Alice in the way my brain dwelt on it at all. She grieves, I do a little wince. But it's overall fine... *clamps down on spoilers* Ellery was fine. Very not-like-other-popular-boys coded with a tang of fanboy thrown in.

The Hazel Wood is very good. Definitely fun for fairy tale nerds (like me) and probably the scholars among us, too. I cannot wait until my copies of The Night Country and Tales From the Hinterland arrive. 

Glimmering by Elizabeth Hand

Glimmering was honestly not my cup of tea. It was engrossing enough and kept me reading, but I feel more put off by it than anything else. It felt chaotic, in all honesty, and not entirely cohesive. Sure, Leonard Thorpe was there, threaded through everything, but... and then it just trailed off suddenly at the end... I'm left with this really unsatisfied feeling. I don't even have anything else to say about Glimmering. I'm not sure it really did what Elizabeth Hand says it does or did in her Author's Note in the beginning. Just felt like it was going somewhere and then... didn't.

In Other News

I finished my Upamon project! Part of my Village of Beginnings Project Line.