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Soulless

August 26, 2009 in Fantasy, Urban | 3 comments

PrintAlexia Tarabotti is a fatherless spinster living with a self serving mother, stepfather, and two half sisters. To add insult to injury, Alexia has inherited her father’s Italian blood, making her much darker than is considered “fashionable”. Oh, and she has no soul. This doesn’t make her much different from other people, except that she can negate supernatural abilities, and she often speaks her mind in a very unladylike way, occasionally even using such terms as “You pea-brained lack-witted ninny-hammer!”

Alexia is quite used to being ignored on the fringes of the ballroom, and often escapes to the library in avoidance of such social prejudices. However, things go from bad to worse when her sanctuary is disturbed by a vampire who attempts to bite her (without an introduction!!). In a combination of self defense and anger at her attacker’s advances, she smartly taps him with her trusty parasol, thus killing her attacker. When the arrogant Lord Maccon (who is also a werewolf) appears at the scene to investigate on behalf of the queen, Alexia isn’t sure which is worse: his bark or his bite. So she fakes a faint (but not before comfortably inserting a pillow between her and the floor). From then on, the relationship between Alexia and the insufferable Lord Maccon begins to get stickier than treacle tart. Further, werewolf loners and vampire roves all over London have been disappearing at a most alarming rate. To make Lord Maccon’s job even more difficult, Alexia begins to investigate on her own. Who is behind the disappearances? And where did Alexia last leave her trusty parasol?

Soulless is an absolutely delightful debut that combines “urbane” fantasy, romance, and a hint of steampunk. The world building is well done, and I expect it will be fleshed out even more in future books. Victorian era London houses vampires, ghosts, and werewolves, along with its high society. The characters were enjoyable–from a flamboyantly gay vampire who speaks in italics to Alexia’s stoic butler (inherited from her dead father) who quickly and efficiently ushers the “Young Miss” out the servant’s door during her escapades.

Soulless is a laugh out loud ride for the thrill seekers among us–full of  twists, turns, and werewolf fur. Just don’t spill your tea.

Gail Carriger’s Soulless will be released in the US September 29, 2009, though many copies were given out at this year’s BEA. Two more books are slated to be part of the Parasol Protectorate series, with Changeless (Book #2) coming out in April of 2010.

I know, I know…

August 18, 2009 in Fantasy | Comment

You’ve already seen this. But I love it so much I’d just like to share..

You can watch episodes of the Guild either on YouTube or directly at The Guild website!

The Dragon Whisperer

August 6, 2009 in Children's, Fantasy | Comment

Untitled1Lucinda Hare’s debut novel, The Dragon Whisperer, follows Quenelda, daughter of the Earl Rufus DeWinter, commander of the SDS (Stealth Dragon Services). Her greatest wish is to follow her father’s footsteps as a battledragon commander, instead of a court life of unwieldy skirts and gossip. She has an odd affinity for dragon husbandry, and can coax even the most crotchety battledragon to allow her near enough to care for its injuries. The roostmaster, Tagnarost, sees her skill and allows her to aid in caring for the dragons, and it soon becomes a way of life for her.

However, as winter approaches, the battle against the hobgoblins grows dire. More and more dragons are lost in battle, and esquires cannot be trained fast enough to take to the skies.

Quenelda’s father, the Earl DeWinter finally realizes how adept, but snobbish Quenelda is about flying. Since she has flown as a child, she scoffs at those esquires who do not have a natural talent for flying. The Earl makes a deal with Quenelda: she may have her very own battledragon, as long as she can teach Root, a gnome esquire, to fly. It just so happens that Root not only has a fear of dragons, but he is completely inept. Slowly an unlikely friendship blooms and together Quenelda and Root must unravel a conspiracy designed to strike at the very heart of the SDS itself.

The Dragon Whisperer is a completely entrancing children’s tale. Every spare moment I had I searched out this book so that I could continue reading. I love that our young protagonist is a girl, and the prejudices she encounters reflect many a young girl’s dream to break into a male dominated industry. Quenelda’s character is refreshing since she too is flawed, and over the course of the book begins to overcome her personal biases. Ms. Hare does an excellent job balancing her world of fierce dragons and rabid hobgoblins with a more whimsical side, such as naming Quenelda’s battledragon Two Gulps and You’re Gone.

The sequel, Dragon Isle will be published in 2010. Quenelda’s special talents hint at a much larger destiny for her, and I’m guessing we will see our slowly maturing heroine overcome ever more drastic situations with Root’s help. The Dragon Whisperer is an excellent debut novel, and can be enjoyed by all ages!

A Madness of Angels

July 8, 2009 in Fantasy, Urban | 2 comments

9780316041256_388X586Matthew Swift is awake. While this may be run of the mill to most of us, it isn’t if you have been dead the past two years. Mr. Swift is an urban magician who was brutally attacked by a shadowy creature known only as Hunger. We meet Matthew Swift without knowing anything about him, but through his actions and occasional hints in his dialogue, we piece together what he is. Matthew has come back with funny case of pronoun confusion: he replaces I and me with we and us, which has to do with his talent to hear the “electric blue angels” in the telephone lines. His former mentor has built a massive organization called the Tower, and Matthew begins to dismantle it, brick by brick, in the search for the truth. Essentially, A Madness of Angels is a story about vengeance and retribution. It is also Kate Griffin’s debut from her usual YA category writing into writing for adults.

As an urban magician, Matthew pulls magic from the mundane: the city streetlights, the fumes of cars, etc. He is able to weave spells by simply reading a railway ticket and lay curses with just a touch (if that). Kate Griffin’s world has so many new twists on “Urban Fantasy”, such as the clan of bikers and the Beggar King, all of whom have very excellent (and sometimes scary!) passages.

Read More!

Santa Olivia

June 17, 2009 in Fantasy, Misc., Thriller, Urban | 1 comment

n296917Santa Olivia by Jaqueline Carey defies description. It’s best categorized as a hybrid YA-romance-urban fantasy-thriller. I have heard excellent things about Ms. Carey’s writing and so decided to up this book on my reading list. While it is enjoyable, I didn’t find it completely believable.

Santa Olivia is located in a “no man’s land” between Mexico and the US, when it was cordoned off during a pandemic. Santa Olivia is a military outpost and the locals have no hope of ever leaving this highly secured area–in fact, the rest of the world doesn’t even know they exist. Computers, television, and other luxuries are practically mythical.

The story begins with Carmen Garron, a waitress who falls in love twice. The first time she bears her son Tommy, and the second time her daughter Loup. However, her daughter is very different–she is stronger, faster, and feels no fear–traits she inherited from her father Martin. Martin is a legendary “Lost Boy”, the victim of genetic experimentation in Haiti. He is clearly different from the other villagers and when suspicions arise, Martin is forced to leave town, though not before he explains to Carmen and Tommy what Loup will become and how to best protect her. As she grows, Tommy does his best to tell her to be careful. This involves not telling anyone about her father, and watching her actions. Loup moves preternaturally fast and must slow down in order to look like a regular person. She also has to think about consequences, since she lacks fear.

Eventually, Carmen dies, and Loup must live in the local orphanage.  She creates a sort of vigilante team, with herself doing the most dangerous feats while taking up the mantle of “Santa Olivia”, the city’s patron child-saint.

Santa Olivia is also centered on boxing, which is the only way to get a ticket out. There are regular boxing matches held by the general, and the winner is given two tickets out of Santa Olivia. Many locals try for this prize, but the story really turns when Lou begins training for it herself. There are some excellent scenes, like when Loup is finally unveiled as the “mystery contestant”:

The crowd quieted, uncertain, seeing only a smaller-than-expected figure in a vivid blue robe. She pushed back her hood. It could have been a loose white kerchief slipping from her hair.

The soldiers in the bleachers erupted in howls of laughter, hoots of derision, and catcalls of disappointment. But among the Outposters in the square, there was a hush as her name went around, its meaning dawning on them…

And on the heels of that revelation, a second significance dawned. A girl in a blue dress; a girl in a blue robe.

“Santa Olivia!” someone shouted.

Others took up the cry. “Santa Olivia! Santa Olivia!”

I thoroughly enjoyed Ms. Carey’s twist on the whole werewolf theme. Tommy affectionately refers to Loup as lou garou (french for werewolf), and she is stronger, faster, etc., but from genetic mutation rather than any sort of supernatural means.  Loup’s attraction and eventual relationship with Pilar is absolutely beautiful because it is so different from the standard, and Ms. Carey simply treats it as it should be–absolutely normal.

The downside was that I felt the characters were cliched. Tommy plays the concerned and good-natured “big brother”, becoming embarrassed when Loup unabashedly tells him she learned about sex. Loup’s coach is a gruff, taciturn man whose only love is boxing. Miguel Garza is a street-thug-turned-friend, who slowly warms up to Loup as they becoming sparring partners. Further, it was repeated over and over how Loup had to be “careful” and keep her identity secret–only to have her blab to the first kid that’s nice to her at the orphanage, who of course turns around and tells the rest of the orphans. Later, as she begins training, she nonchalantly tells both her coach and and another boxer about her big secret: “I dunno exactly..It’s some kind of genetic engineering thing. My dad was an experiment who ran away…”

Finally, Loup’s first act as Santa Olivia is vengeance for fellow orphan Katya, who is raped by a solider. I understand it would have to be something huge in order to push her (and the other orphans) towards their first vigilante act, but I thought it was a cheap way of achieving those means.

This is especially true as another act of “Santa Olivia” is to punish a dog killer. Yup, a soldier who maliciously killed a dog. An evil dog killer. If the vigilante acts continued to punish rapists, murderers, etc., that would be one thing, but the sudden downgrade from humiliating a rapist to punishing a dog killer leaves quite a bit in between.

Overall, an average read but extra points for simply being so different (werewolf-esque, boxing, etc.). I wonder if the author’s clout alone makes this a popular book–fans will definitely be flocking to pick this up, though I wonder if it will be as acclaimed as the Kushiel series.

The Name of the Wind

June 4, 2009 in Fantasy | 8 comments

cover_277So I just completed a marathon book reading last night of Patrick Rothfuss’(Rothfusses? Rothfuss’s? Rothfussssss’) The Name of the Wind. Since I completely bit off more than I could chew, I needed to let it stew overnight and digest.
So first: I chose to read this book because of a.) the book’s insert (see below) and b.) the ridiculous amount of excitement surrounding it.

My name is Kvothe, pronounced nearly the same as “quothe.” Names are important as they tell you a great deal about a person. I’ve had more names than anyone has a right to. The Adem call me Maedre. Which, depending on how it’s spoken, can mean The Flame, The Thunder, or The Broken Tree.

“The Flame” is obvious if you’ve ever seen me. I have red hair, bright. If I had been born a couple of hundred years ago I would probably have been burned as a demon. I keep it short but it’s unruly. When left to its own devices, it sticks up and makes me look as if I have been set afire.

“The Thunder” I attribute to a strong baritone and a great deal of stage training at an early age.

I’ve never thought of “The Broken Tree” as very significant. Although in retrospect, I suppose it could be considered at least partially prophetic.

My first mentor called me E’lir because I was clever and I knew it. My first real lover called me Dulator because she liked the sound of it. I have been called Shadicar, Lightfinger, and Six-String. I have been called Kvothe the Bloodless, Kvothe the Arcane, and Kvothe Kingkiller. I have earned those names. Bought and paid for them.

But I was brought up as Kvothe. My father once told me it meant “to know.”

I have, of course, been called many other things. Most of them uncouth, although very few were unearned.

I have stolen princesses back from sleeping barrow kings. I burned down the town of Trebon. I have spent the night with Felurian and left with both my sanity and my life. I was expelled from the University at a younger age than most people are allowed in. I tread paths by moonlight that others fear to speak of during day. I have talked to Gods, loved women, and written songs that make the minstrels weep.

You may have heard of me.

The Name of the Wind is an immense book. In the wrong hands, it could very well be a deadly weapon. While some may say it is simply too long with little action, I say that Mr. Rothfuss is setting the stage for what I’m sure is to be an excellent series. As I cracked open the book, I noticed it had a map..usually I get the impression that maps are a little stuffy, but the funny little image of a fat man and overburdened donkey in the corner was a sign: It was going to be a Good Book.

Read on!

Pride & Prejudice & Zombies

May 28, 2009 in Fantasy | 1 comment

prideprejudicezombies-214x300Well, the title says it all, doesn’t it? Pride & Prejudice & Zombies is Jane Austen’s classic novel tossed with zombies. I would definitely recommend it to open minded Jane Austen fans (I would think it would make more sense if you read the zombie-less version first), but that’s not to say that only Jane Austen fans should read it.

The world as the Bennets know has already been plagued with the undead for many years, and Mr. Bennet has gone through great pains to ensure that his daughters are “brides of death” with severe Shaolin discipline and training. While Mr. Bennet is perfectly content with this arrangement, Mrs. Bennett simply wants to see her daughters as brides. Minus the death.

Seth-Grahame Smith maintains Austen’s voice and stays true to practically all the dialogue, except when he throws in ninja fights and hordes of undead. And for the most part, it works. At first it’s fairly obvious that Grahame-Smith has stitched dialogue onto Austen’s, but as the book progresses, it becomes more seamless. After all, it’s not meant to be foisted as a “higher level” of literature–it’s about zombies!

However fun and lighthearted the book may be, there were a few things that I do have to complain about.

First, I am fairly certain Elizabeth is a sociopath. While she has been schooled in martial arts, she doesn’t seem to have much of a conscience. At one point upon first meeting Darcy she considers beheading him, and a later scene she spars with Lady Catherine’s ninjas (I thought sparring meant NOT killing?) and disembowels a ninja and STRANGLES him with his own colon. She goes even further to take a bite out of a still beating heart she has pulled out of another ninja. WHHAAAA?? I would think, given that the current “plague” makes zombies eat people, that it would be pretty suspicious, or at least looked down upon to be feasting on human flesh.

Finally, my last little nitpick–one of the added “prejudices” between the Bennets and upper crust Mr. Darcy/Lady Catherine is that the Bennets are schooled in the Shaolin way in China, rather than in Japan. This is mentioned several times as a source of disagreement, yet the Bennets have a DOJO. Yes, a japanese dojo. I don’t know where Shaolin monks are supposed to train, but I sure as hell know it’s not a japanese dojo. This particular mashing of two very different cultures really irritated me–it leads to ignorance. Not all Asians are the same, Mr. Smith! I would think a group of beta readers or at least an editor would have caught that one.

Minor things aside, Pride & Prejudice & Zombies is a fun ride through England (with Satan’s Army). The characters have new twists that make them all the more exciting–the elderly dowager Lady Catherine is one of the best known female zombie-killers to date, Charlotte succumbs to Mr. Collins’ charms due to herself succumbing to the plague, and Mr. Wickham has new grievances against Mr. Darcy.

Read more zombie mayhem!

Free Fiction from Angry Robot

May 22, 2009 in Fantasy, Media, Misc. | Comment

Angry Robot is planning to release sample chapters of all their books! They will also be launching e-books worldwide.

Currently, a sample chapter from Slights by Kaaron Warren is available on the Angry Robot website!

Orcs: Bad Blood

May 18, 2009 in Fantasy | Comment

Bad Blood is the sequel to Stan Nicholl’s Orcs: First Blood trilogy, which I reviewed last year.

Nicholls supplies the reader with a quick recap, so it’s very probable one could read Bad Blood without having first read First Blood.

Bad Blood begins with Stryke and the warband (the Wolverines) happily living in their homeland, answering to no master. Stryke, while happily settled with two hatchlings, hungers for the old days, where bloodlust and adventure were common happenstance. When Stryke gets a mysterious message from Serapheim, a powerful magician, that Jennesta, the Wolverine’s old mistress (read: Evil Overlord) may still be alive and subjugating Orcs in another world, he immediately rounds up the Wolverines for a revenge mission.

bbStryke and the band enter another world where Orcs are little more than slaves and their bloodthirsty nature devolved so much it can only be called meek–but a small Resistance tries to keep the humans from gaining total control. For the Wolverines, the ill treatment of Orcs in this world is more than enough to ensure their aid, but when they hear Jennesta may be at the heart of the Orcs’ livestock-like status, they commit to assassination–and knowing Jennesta, very possibly suicide. The book flows at a fairly good pace, and the action simply unfolds.

Unfortunately, right when things really start getting good the book ends, which is the way I suppose it goes with trilogies. Nicholls rips out the still-beating heart of traditional fantasy and puts in its place something less than human. I only wish I had the next book to jump right into!

Welcome to the Jungle

May 14, 2009 in Fantasy, Graphic Novels, Urban | 2 comments

I picked up Jim Butcher’s graphic novel, Welcome to the Jungle last weekend at my local Downtown Comics store.

welcome-to-the-jungle-3My excitement was so great I began reading it on the way home (Not to worry, the honey was driving, while shaking his head that anyone could be so excited about ‘a comic’). It can definitely be devoured in the course of 30 minutes or so, but I took my time, examine the panels, and probably took closer to 45 :-) .

In terms of a time line, the novel takes place before the events of Storm Front (Book one of the Dresden Files). Harry Dresden, Wizard, Sleuth, and All-Around-Awesome-Guy, is called in by Lt. Murphy of the Chicago PD to investigate the mauling of a night security guard at the Lincoln Park Zoo. Using his “third eye” or Wizard’s Sight, he sees that this is no ordinary animal attack and begins searching for the supernatural cause of death.

A number of characters are also present–Murphy, Carmichael, and even Mister. I especially enjoyed the dialogue between Murphy, Carmichael, and Harry. Remember, this is before Murphy warms up to Harry! Another panel I enjoyed was Harry, alone, brainstorming possible culprits and discarding each one when they didn’t fit the M.O. welcome-to-the-jungle-2

Overall, the artwork is excellent, as is the writing: perfectly Dresden-esque, especially for Jim’s first foray into ComicBookLand. While the story isn’t as deep and multifaceted as the books, Butcher still delivers Classic Harry with the humor and cynicism we know and love. For those who are curious about The Dresden Files, Welcome to the Jungle is an excellent introduction/jumping off point.

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