Destiny’s Song

Destinys_SongI’ve known Audrey Faye for a long time in internet years. I’ve followed her career from her earliest days under a different name. When I heard she was turning to space opera, I did a big dance because this woman has some serious chops.

Destiny’s Song is the first act in what I hope will be an extended symphony of space opera.

As with all of Audrey Faye’s work, the characters drive the story and Lakisha Drinkwater is no exception. Her job takes her to an out of the way planet where she must figure out why she’s been sent there. The characters she meets help her learn as much about herself as she does about why she’s been sent there, but she has more than enough adventures to get her into trouble with the boss back at KarmaCorps.

I’ve thoroughly enjoyed all the books in the KarmaCorps series (Book 3, Fortune’s Dance just dropped).

If you like your science fiction with a healthy dose of woo, grab yourself a sample of this and buckle in for a very enjoyable ride.

About the reviewer:

NathanLowell_150x150Nathan Lowell has been writing science fiction and fantasy most of his life. He started publishing in 2007 and has no intention of stopping any time soon.

Learn more about Nathan Lowell and his works at http://nathanlowell.com

The Alchemist’s Touch

alchemists_touchCombining his own spin on a school for sorcerers with the paranoia of a political thriller, Robinson has created a tale that will appeal to fans of both character- and plot-driven fantasy.

Ebon Drayden discovered as a child that he possessed the gift of transmutation, one of the four schools of magic. However, his father forbade him to learn; a prohibition that only grew stronger after the death of Ebon’s older brother left Ebon heir to his father’s share of the Drayden merchant empire. Finally, just before his seventeenth birthday, his aunt convinces the family to let him join the Academy. Over a decade older than the other first year students, he is alternately mocked for his ineptitude and feared for his connection to one of the most distrusted families in Underrealm; a situation that only deteriorates when his father demands he perform a few simple tasks in exchange for continued study.

Certain events in this book overlap events from the Nightblade arc. However, they are presented with sufficient surrounding detail that they will not lack weight or clarity to readers who enter Underrealm here.

All of the events take place within the King’s Seat, capital city of the realm, with most taking place within the Academy itself. As such, the background focuses on depth where Nightblade displayed the width of the world. However, Robinson maintains his lightness of exposition, preventing this focus from turning the story into a lesson.

Indeed, Robinson makes the actual lessons that Ebon attends free of lectures. In addition to serving as a powerful vessel for Ebon’s sense of lacking the understanding other mages have had since childhood, this mystical “feel the magic rather than follow the steps” approach skilfully avoids the issue of writing a set of instructions that both sound like rules of magic and don’t make that magic seem as mundane (in process if not in ingredients) as any other subject.

While the curriculum differs strongly from that of most real world schools, student life is immediately recognisable. Students form hierarchies and cliques based on a school of magic being better or worse, respect and power within the student body goes to those who are the most forceful not the most worthy, and the bookish and odd are outsiders still.

However, what differentiates this from many “ill-at-ease youth enters a school/society/paramilitary force for those with magical gifts” tales, is that Ebon is – apart from starting his training much later than usual – not that special. Although he is a scion of a powerful family, he does not bear the traits of a destined hero; he shows no unusual gift lost to the ages; he is – for a mage – a decent and dutiful but unremarkable youth.

His only potential advantage – that of the Dreyden lineage – is a burden to him, as he is too decent to be the man who would use its power while still bearing the reputation of one marked by unpleasant deeds. A reputation made closer to the truth by his father’s demands.

Ebon’s lack of a manifest destiny renders him a highly empathetic character. While his options include those not available to the reader, his choices must be made with the same lack of a universe conspiring for his success that readers face. As such, he is likely to seem as familiar to those who had pleasant school days as those who were consigned to the periphery.

The supporting cast share the same qualities as both Ebon and the background. Similar, rather than a broad mix, they are distinguished not by the unique roles and skills that Loren and her companions displayed through the Nightblade arc, but by differences of character and viewpoint. While each mage is shaped by their magical school, even the most briefly mentioned of mages is defined by more than their spells.

Overall, I enjoyed this novel greatly. I recommend it to readers seeking a fast-paced fantasy with an interesting, but not overpowering, magic system.

I received a free copy from the publisher in exchange for a fair review.

About The Reviewer

Dave_Higgins

Dave Higgins writes speculative fiction, often with a dark edge. Despite forays into the mundane worlds of law and IT, he was unable to escape the liminal zone between mystery and horror. A creature of contradictions, he also co-writes comic sci-fi with Simon Cantan.

Born in the least mystically significant part of Wiltshire, England, and raised by a librarian, he started reading shortly after birth and hasn’t stopped since. He lives with his wife, two cats, a plush altar to Lord Cthulhu, and many shelves of books.

It’s rumoured he writes out of fear he will otherwise run out of books to read.

Learn more about Dave and his work at http://davidjhiggins.wordpress.com/

The Cogsmith’s Daughter

cogsmiths_daughterDesertera is a world without water, or at least without much. Imagine a steampunk world in which the steam has dried up, and the denizens are living without their technologies.

There’s a huge division between the rich and the poor—like pre-Revolutionary France levels of disparity. The king, a despot who has set himself up as the only voice of law in the kingdom, has just married for the tenth time–the first nine wives having been executed for adultery. Adultery is a high level crime in Desertera since people believe that a scorned goddess has caused the drought as a punishment for the sexual misbehavior of former monarchs.

Aya Cogsmith had a happy life with her father, until the day that he disappointed the king and was summarily executed. With no other family, she ended up on the streets, and eventually at The Rudder, a house ill repute doing the kind of work that “illed” the repute. Then, she gets an opportunity. A Lord approaches her with a plan to take down the king, and promises to help get back her father’s old shop if she’ll assist him in trapping the king.

Of course, it’s more complicated than it seems on the surface. Not everyone’s motivations are what they say they are. Some people’s word is worth more than others. And Aya is risking her life, heart, and happiness on a chance for something better.

I really enjoyed this story. Aya was an intriguing and complicated woman, with believable motivations. Watching her navigate the intrigues of court life was fascinating, and allowed the author to show us the world without losing the story to the world-building, always a tricky balance in created-world stories like this one. There was a good balance of romance, mystery, and conspiracy. The bleakness doesn’t overwhelm the hope, nor does it feel like the struggles of the characters are pushed aside too easily. Everyone, even the villains, is complex and nuanced. In this way it’s a book with something for everyone.

If I have one complaint, it’s that a surprise at the end was not a surprise to me. But it was a surprise to Aya–believably so–so it still worked. I recommend this one for readers with an interest in steampunk and court intrigue.

About The Reviewer:

BRYANT-CroppedSamantha Bryant is a middle school Spanish teacher by day and a mom and novelist by night. That makes her a superhero all the time. Her debut novel, Going Through the Change: A Menopausal Superhero Novel is now for sale by Curiosity Quills.

Learn more about Samantha and her work at http://samanthadunawaybryant.blogspot.com/

Endurance

endurance.I loved this book.

ENDURANCE captures the atmosphere of a gritty Western with the painful beauty of a work of magic realism, in a fantasy setting of a world several universes away from our own. A universe where shapeshifters live a hidden existence, pushed into a vanishing frontier and where the dominant culture and religion considers them an abomination.

Into this world, a preacher’s wife gives birth to what appears to be a live wolf pup.

Each character in this story is finely drawn and not one is exactly what he or she appears to be. There is an urgency that drives each to make choices that culminate in events none will escape unchanged. My worry for the preacher, his wife, the town doctor, and the schoolteacher kept me up reading long past the time I should have gone to sleep.

The writing is spare and haunting. The setting is so well-drawn that it, too, becomes a character. There are no easy answers and the ending haunted me in the way that Pan’s Labyrinth haunted me. Weeks later, I am still thinking about it. A highly original,  bittersweet, and moving story.

Disclaimer – I know both these writers casually through an extended writing group in the Boston area. I purchased the book because the description looked intriguing, and I’ve read and enjoyed short stories written by both of them. Anyone who knows me, knows I only recommend books love, regardless of any connection to the writer.

About The Reviewer

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OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

LJ Cohen is a novelist, poet, blogger, ceramics artist, & relentless optimist. After 25 years as a physical therapist, LJ now uses her anatomical knowledge and clinical skills to injure characters in her science fiction and fantasy novels. She lives outside of Boston. The 3rd book in her Halcyone Space SF series, Dreadnought And Shuttle, was published June of 2016. LJ is active in SFWA and Broad Universe.

Learn more about LJ and her work at www.ljcohen.net

Fortune’s Rising

fortunes_risingI was totally caught up in this book. The cast of characters was broad and captivating. Did I like each one? Absolutely not. But I don’t like everyone I meet, either.

I rather detest Anna, and while she was obviously a protagonist as the book started out, with Dobie as her foil, I am beginning to wonder if in future volumes, she will shift to be an antagonist, which would be a nice turn not often seen in literature. Tatiana was a little too crazed for me, Magali too self-hating. But this is what makes an interesting cast of characters, and this is what breathes life into a novel. Too often, all the protagonists are the quintessential goodies and the antagonists the quintessential baddies. Milar and Dobie were perhaps the most likable characters, but the breadth of the cast is what makes this book special.

One point I would like to make is that a reader does not have to “like” a character to like reading about him or her. I have read elsewhere some people complaining about a book because they did not “like” the protagonist. I did not “like” Gollum in LOTR, yet I certainly liked reading about him.

One literary device that I simply loved was the first chapter told from Dobie’s (Ferris’) point of view. This was clever, but not clever for clever’s sake. There was a purpose to this chapter and the few that followed, and it served to help show the change in Dobie once he became Dobie.

One very moving piece of pathos right out of the Greek tragedies was when one protagonist killed a child. The guilt associated with that, despite the intentions, has to tear that character apart. This is the type of internal conflict that creates full-bodied characters rather than trite cardboard cutouts.

There was a subtle sense of humor that helped give a little variance to the more serious nature of the storyline. I laughed out loud when one character complained that two hours into a romance novel, there was no sex.

The pace of the novel was fast, and it flowed well. I am not sure I bought every aspect of the universe as created by the author, but she was able to pull me in so that I didn’t care if not everything seemed logical to me. This is the author’s universe, after all, and I was merely a visitor to it.

I plan on remaining a visitor, though. I will be reading the next volume, and that is probably the bottom line in any book. Does the reader want more? If he or she does, then the book is a success.

About the reviewer:

larryscatJonathan Brazee is a retired Marine infantry colonel who after years of writing non-fiction, wrote his first novel while serving in Iraq. He independently published it, hoping to sell a few copies to friends and family, and was pleasantly surprised when the book gained traction among the general reading public. Twenty-three novels later, he is now winding down his post-military career overseas to become a full-time writer. A majority of his books have a military bent in science fiction, paranormal, historical fiction, and general fiction, but he has also written non-military scifi and paranormal. He writes three to four hours each day with the help (or despite) the attention of two rescue cats who insist on sitting on his lap or keyboard.
Jonathan is a member of the Science Fiction Writers of America, the US Naval Academy Alumni Association, the Disabled Veterans of America, and is an officer in the VFW’s Department of the Pacific.

Learn more about Jonathan and his work at http://www.jonathanbrazee.com

Bad Wizard

bad_wizardI’m not a huge Wizard of Oz fan, but I’ve seen the movie and read at least some of the books as a child. That was plenty of background to enjoy this book. I suspect it’s even better if you are more steeped in this particular lore. The novel is part fantasy and part historical fiction, with strong attention to time period detail.

Some ten or fifteen years after Dorothy first visits Oz, she’s back in Kansas, working as a reporter covering, among other things, the Wizard, known in Kansas as Oscar Diggs. When the last of her family dies, Dorothy is losing her childhood home and struggling to find her way in the world. That’s when she rediscovers the magic shoes that brought her back from Oz so many years ago, from the adventure she has long since written off as a flight of fancy.

Little does she know, she’s about to be drawn into Diggs’s plot to get back to Oz and take over. 

I’ve read several of his books and Maxey always has engaging characters. This novel was no exception. Dorothy and Oscar were both fully realized with mixed motivations and biases. I always love a gray villain who has my sympathy even while he oversteps bounds. Diggs fits that bill perfectly. Dorothy, who always struck me as rather cardboard in the original story, was much more fully realized and I liked her a great deal. She’s one of those depression era women who get described with words like “spirited” or as having “moxie.”

The second-string characters, including some favorites from the Oz I remember from childhood (the Tin Man, the Cowardly Lion, and the Scarecrow, of course, as well as Munchkins and Flying Monkeys) and new creations, like Esau “The Flying Monkey” and Cain, are appropriately developed and intriguing. I especially liked Esau.

Speculative fiction can be an excellent playground for exploring morality and philosophy and Maxey does so here, without becoming pedantic or dry. I would say the book is both deep and fun, a hard balance to strike. I hope Maxey returns to this world for more books in the future.

About The Reviewer:

BRYANT-CroppedSamantha Bryant is a middle school Spanish teacher by day and a mom and novelist by night. That makes her a superhero all the time. Her debut novel, Going Through the Change: A Menopausal Superhero Novel is now for sale by Curiosity Quills.

Learn more about Samantha and her work at http://samanthadunawaybryant.blogspot.com/

Black Magic

black_magicAlex Black is a mage who, while capable of things that would impress an ordinary person, isn’t particularly powerful among her own kind. She does a bit of consulting work, but it’s hard to find jobs when you’re part of a secretive subset of the population. When she’s hired to find a magical murderer, she might have taken on a job that’s too much for her to handle.

Set in Vancouver, it was refreshing to read something set in Canada. The idea that fae (a term given to all magical creatures) live among us in not-small numbers is fun. Seeing how Alex interacts with them, and mundane humans, acting like a bridge between worlds adds to the complexity of her character. The pacing was excellent, with plenty of drama and action to keep my head in the story.

My only quibble (and it’s a small one) was that the magic seemed uneven. At the start of the book, a big deal is made of using magic. It has some unpleasant aftereffects, and can’t be used for long without draining the mage. Replenishing magical energy is not trivial for Alex, taking a very long time to re-energize without aids. She spends much of the book tired or even exhausted, yet continues to cast spells. By the end of the book, she’s casting quite a few more spells, and holding them for longer periods of time. Given that it was stated earlier in the book that it takes a great deal of studying to improve your control over magic, it felt like she was gaining strength at an unnaturally quick pace. Also, I can’t figure out why mages would use wards if they’re so easy to disable. Or maybe Alex is just very good at that sort of magic.

Either way, the plot of the book was good, with a few surprises along the way. The characters were entertaining, with almost everyone you meet having a deeper background that unfolds over the course of the story.

I liked the eventual pairing of the two characters who work together at the end. While Alex says she couldn’t have succeeded without her partner, if you reverse the camera, there’s no way in hell he could have dealt with the problems. Non-magic people just aren’t a threat to mages at all. But her partner isn’t useless, either. It’s nice to see two characters who both have their virtues, instead of having one come off as useless while the other saves the day.

I’d recommend this book if you’re looking for something fun to read, and I’m looking forward to reading the next book in this series!

About the Reviewer

ToxopeusRyanmedHusband, father, and researcher, Ryan Toxopeus spends his free time working on his epic fantasy trilogy, Empire’s Foundation. He started writing the first book, A Noble’s Quest, in 2010 and fell in love with all aspects of storytelling. He focuses on fast paced, character driven plots. His motto: “If I’m bored writing it, others will be bored reading it.”

Learn more about Ryan and his work at https://prcreative.ca/ryan/

The Villain’s Sidekick

villains_sidekickWhen I was first introduced to this book, I thought it might fall alongside books such as Grunts, by Mary Gentile, books that show a story from the “other side.” Sidekicks of villains rarely have a place in the sun and usually end up in dire straits as the good guys triumph. When I started reading, though, I saw a lot more of Terry Pratchett in it, but if this book is any indication, Stephen Brophy can give the esteemed Mr. Pratchett a run for his money.

This book is taut, well-edited, and well-crafted. Characterization is detailed without being tedious, and the storyline quickly draws the reader in. There is a good deal of literary tension that qualifies this book as a page-turner. On top of that, it is darn funny. The humor, though, does not get in the way of the plot, as it does in so many other books, but rather supports it. While it echoes Pratchett to an extent in the feel of the humor, where Pratchett elicits his humor in action and general observations, Brophy’s humor centers on the personal thoughts and attributes of the protagonist. To me, that brings a deeper relevancy to the humor. I could identify with it.

Duke “HandCannon” LaRue is a bad guy, have no doubt about that. He is an ex-con, a crook, a killer (although he’s killed fewer times than someone might suspect.) He isn’t concerned about what his boss, Dr. Eye, might do with an item he’s sent to retrieve. On the other hand, he dotes on his diabetic cat, Miss Lady, and loves his six-year-old daughter. He has the same problems as so many of us have—an ex-spouse, paying for a mortgage for a house in which he no longer lives, a job that interferes with his domestic life. He may be a baddie, but we can relate to him. I think that is a key to the book, and when Handcannon says he’s a bad dad for something he’s about to do, we’ve all been in that type of situation.

This is a funny book, but it is not just a platform for one-liners. There was nary a weak spot, and I enjoyed every page. This is one of the very best books I’ve read this year, and I give it my highest recommendation.

About the reviewer:

larryscatJonathan Brazee is a retired Marine infantry colonel who after years of writing non-fiction, wrote his first novel while serving in Iraq. He independently published it, hoping to sell a few copies to friends and family, and was pleasantly surprised when the book gained traction among the general reading public. Twenty-three novels later, he is now winding down his post-military career overseas to become a full-time writer. A majority of his books have a military bent in science fiction, paranormal, historical fiction, and general fiction, but he has also written non-military scifi and paranormal. He writes three to four hours each day with the help (or despite) the attention of two rescue cats who insist on sitting on his lap or keyboard.
Jonathan is a member of the Science Fiction Writers of America, the US Naval Academy Alumni Association, the Disabled Veterans of America, and is an officer in the VFW’s Department of the Pacific.

Learn more about Jonathan and his work at http://www.jonathanbrazee.com

The Devil You Know

devil_you_knowOld Hollywood intermixes with demon hunting to make a pulp adventure well worth the read.

Our heroine, Marie, is a good woman, widowed in the war, living a quiet life as a church secretary, and getting her small thrills by reading Weird Tales in magazines. That is, until a friend drags her along to a Hollywood party and, as a result, changes her life forever. While there, both women come into contact with some very unusual men—men who aren’t really men at all, but demons. Incubi in the service of a rich and dangerous man. Incubi that Marie eventually has to hunt.

The novel is rich in time period details and pulp tropes while still presenting characters sympathetic to a modern reader. Despite potentially dark material, such as demons, widowhood, and post-traumatic stress disorder, the story has a light touch and reads quickly and smoothly.

Given that the main baddies in this story are incubi who find their victims while walking around in the guise of Hollywood stars like Errol Flynn and Cary Grant, there is, of course, a fair amount of sex. So, buyer beware if that’s not your cup of tea.

While I liked the ending very much, some parts of the story dragged a bit for me. Marie spends maybe a bit too much time dithering and coming up with a plan before she finally starts fighting, but once she does, the story takes off. It’s a real page-turner in the end.

About The Reviewer:

BRYANT-CroppedSamantha Bryant is a middle school Spanish teacher by day and a mom and novelist by night. That makes her a superhero all the time. Her debut novel, Going Through the Change: A Menopausal Superhero Novel is now for sale by Curiosity Quills.

Learn more about Samantha and her work at http://samanthadunawaybryant.blogspot.com/

Ash

ashSometimes you want a book that’s non-stop action, without a lot of thought to deeper meanings. This is the book you want to read in that case.

So long as you’re not easily offended. The protagonist, Ash, is a jackass: highly unlikable, with his sexist, racist attitudes. But the story was pretty entertaining, in an action movie sort of way. Sure, no real human being would be able to sustain the injuries he takes and continue on. Sure, no real human being would stand beside this guy through all the crap that happens. But that’s all part of the fun. Oh, and he has telepathic abilities from a head injury (of course) and needs a lot of alcohol to block out everyone’s awful internal voices. I think the inner dialogue of other people was probably the funniest part of the book.

The story is loaded with snark, pop culture references, and action. So much action.

It’s a pretty quick read, and after finishing it, I figure this is a series that I might look into further. I’ll want to read something meaningful first, to come down from the adrenaline rush from this book … and I want to read about a character that I actually like. But some time in the future I want to see what happens next!

About the Reviewer

ToxopeusRyanmedHusband, father, and researcher, Ryan Toxopeus spends his free time working on his epic fantasy trilogy, Empire’s Foundation. He started writing the first book, A Noble’s Quest, in 2010 and fell in love with all aspects of storytelling. He focuses on fast paced, character driven plots. His motto: “If I’m bored writing it, others will be bored reading it.”

Learn more about Ryan and his work at https://prcreative.ca/ryan/