New Books for a New Year!
Well it’s been a great month for content; I’ve been diving into a re-watch of my all time fave show: The West Wing as well as enjoying the latest season of True Detective and watching a little known show called Breaking Bad. Musically I’m preparing for a couple of big concerts: Taylor Swift and The Magic Flute, so have been alternating Mozart and Midnights all month. Bookwise there have been a couple of gems but also some filler. I’m waiting to find something that grabs me and won’t let go, that shakes me to my core and leaves me laughing and crying. The search continues…
Saevus Corax Deals With The Dead
Finishing a book I started in 2023. The first installment in KJ Parker’s newest trilogy did not disappoint, providing all the logistical fantasy I have come to expect from this excellent author. I am increasingly desperate to get hold of a map of Parker’s world. It’s omittance must be a deliberate choice at this point but I really wanted to consult a sea chart and place myself in time and space. Alas I will have to stumble blindly on.
The List
Picked this up purely based on the delightful purple of the front cover and read in a day. The List tells the story of a young black couple living in London and working their way up the pop culture ladder. The man is named on The List, a spreadsheet full of abusive men in the British media landscape. The book follows the repercussions of this ‘out-ing’ through their lives and those they know. I can’t say I enjoyed reading this book but it was goof. It had a very interesting concept and the characters felt realistic. I struggled to find any of them likeable, which I assume was a deliberate choice by the author, but made it difficult for me to care if the big set piece wedding went off as planned. I do think the author is a talented writer and I will definitely read anything else she publishes.
Sisters of the Vast Black
Very good SF novella in which a living ship carries a small convent of nuns between backwater space stations in order to tend to the needs of the colonists. I enjoyed all of the Sisters POVs and particularly liked the reveal of the Mother Superior. I found this book deeply rooted in the evils of capitalism and colonisation which made it feel real even in the vastness of space and science that it explored.
Yellow Jessamine
Novella focusing on a young shipping heiress as she navigates a mysterious new disease that has invaded her collapsing city. I found this to be all style and no substance. There was a magnificent concept and setting to play with here but the storyline petered out without providing a satisfactory ending. Perhaps I am jaded having read multiple stories recently about villainous vegetation but this struck me as needing a full restructure of the plot to reveal the true potential of the idea.
Artemis Fowl and the Lost Colony
Re-read. Here I shall finish my AF audiobook binge with the fifth in the series. Overall this is one of the weaker books and it has that classic shark jumping twist of adding time travel into the mix but there are still some fabulous set pieces: Doodah Day’s buggy ride makes me laugh twenty years after I first read it.
Sign Here
I love books set in hell. I have a whole goodreads shelf called “hell” where I list such favourites as Good Omens, Lent, Inside Men, Hellbent and The Gargoyle. I find an unendingly interesting setting that allows for a limitless imagination to play with morals and madness. When I read the blurb for this book I added it to my TBR instantly and eagerly awaited its arrival. Man was I disappointed. This is The Girl on the Train meets The Office. Neither storyline made much sense and the characters actions had no bearing on the plot, eg. we spend chapter after chapter with Mickey, the grumpy teenager, only for her to have no agency in the story. I disliked this both as a thriller and a SF book and would not recommend to anyone familiar with SFF. If you're more a of a thriller person then you might enjoy this twist.
Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries
Finishing the month with the best read! I was charmed by this tale of academic adventure in the far north. As a grumpy STEM lady myself I connected well with Emily and I liked how the love interest/rival Wendell was complicated and flawed. I also enjoyed the importance stories had to the fae, how they were almost a part of the metaphysics. This seemed a very clever way to utilise the readers knowledge and expectation of a fairy story whilst keeping the ideas fresh. I look forward to reading the next Emily Wilde adventure.
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