Jin-Dae is an imugi, a magical serpent that can - if it learns and grows in the right way - turn into a dragon. But Jin-Dae has no particular interest in becoming a dragon; she's just fine with her life the way it is. Except that there aren't as many wild animals around to eat as there used to be, so occasionally she has to resort to eating a human. ("Humans were infinitely preferable to snakes as dinner, but the disadvantage of eating humans was how personally they took it.")
Unfortunately the human she's planning to eat for dinner talks loudly enough to catch the attention of a dragon named "Aspire to Heaven." Aspire to Heaven announces that he wants to instruct Jin-Dae in the Way to become a dragon (which, he tells her, does NOT include eating humans, especially teenagers). But Jin-Dae really isn't interested in anything Aspire to Heaven has to say to her.
It's an amusing story - I really enjoyed the bits with Tyrone, the human dinner for the imagi, who doesn't react to his situation in any of the ways you might expect. And there's a good if somewhat heavy-handed message about accepting others for who they are without trying to change them.
Read it online here on the author's website. But you really need to read the novelette first, or you'll miss a lot of what's going on in this story....more
This pleasant novelette won the 2019 Hugo Award, and it’s free online. An imugi (a magical serpent that’s an earlier stage of a dragon, at least in thThis pleasant novelette won the 2019 Hugo Award, and it’s free online. An imugi (a magical serpent that’s an earlier stage of a dragon, at least in this world’s mythology) wants nothing more than to become a full-fledged dragon and live in the heavens. Every thousand years the imugi, Byam, gets a chance to fly up into the sky and try to achieve its transformation, but something always goes wrong.
The third time, when Byam’s transformation is interrupted by someone taking a selfie, Byam decides to give up. Or eat the person who so rudely interrupted it. Maybe both. But something goes wrong with that plan too...
It’s a soft 4 stars for me (I tend to think it won the Hugo for its queer representation as much as anything else), but it has a good message. Which ... I mean, it’s right there in the title. :) But it’s not as simplistic as it might sound.
Update #2: Review added for "How to Swallow the Moon," a Locus Award nominated short story.
Two 2019 Hugo award nominees and a Locus Award nominee in tUpdate #2: Review added for "How to Swallow the Moon," a Locus Award nominated short story.
Two 2019 Hugo award nominees and a Locus Award nominee in this issue of Uncanny magazine, free to read online! 4 stars for each of these stories, which are very different: a sex comedy type of fantasy (Kingfisher's), a poignant story about ghosts, love and loss (Kritzer's), and a queer love story set in a mythic Philippine culture (Yap's). Reviews first posted on Fantasy Literature:
"The Rose MacGregor Drinking and Admiration Society" by T. Kingfisher: A half-dozen faerie men, a bull selkie and a black pooka in the shape of a horse (except when he wants more beer) morosely gather around a campfire to commiserate. Each of them has a history with one Rose MacGregor, a lusty human who has unexpectedly turned the tables on them. Human women are supposed to pine after them, right? But somehow Rose never got that message.
“The Rose MacGregor Drinking and Admiration Society” is a short but very amusing sex comedy type of story (lots of innuendos in this one!). There’s a running joke about Rose’s lost sheep that adds to the humor, and as the men around the campfire share their stories, one can’t help but admire Rose’s strength of character while grinning at her disregard for the feelings of the guys … most of whom were planning to treat her worse than she treated them, so there’s that.
“Excuse me! I am a pooka! We drown people! None of this waiting around for them to die of a broken heart! We are efficient!”
“Yer a bunch of cads,” said the selkie. “At least we don’t go killin’ the ladies after.”
It’s a one-joke kind of tale, but a clever twist on the standard trope, and well-told (as always) by T. Kingfisher.
"The Thing About Ghost Stories" by Naomi Kritzer: Leah has been collecting ghost stories from people for years; mostly ordinary people, though with a few mediums in the mix (who Leah views with suspicion). These ghost stories were the basis of her doctoral dissertation for her PhD in folklore, and now she’s looking to write a book based on the stories she’s collected, analyzing their types, geographic variations, connections to popular culture, and so forth. Leah briefly retells some of the ghost stories she’s assembled as she narrates this tale, and they intermingle with Leah’s own story about the loss of her mother ― first to Alzheimer’s and then to death ― and the loss of an heirloom ring that Leah assumes was taken by one of her mother’s caregivers.
Mom had moved to Indiana with me, even though it was just for a year, because she said she thought I’d write my dissertation faster with someone there cooking for me. I figured she was just feeling lonely after Dad’s death. In retrospect, I wondered if she’d felt the first whispers of dementia, and figured that if she wrapped herself around my ankle early, it would be that much harder for me to shake her loose later on.
The Thing About Ghost Stories is a rather meandering tale at first, but it gradually gains focus as Leah’s own experiences begin to tie together with a few of the stories she’s being told by some of the people she meets. It’s far more poignant than spooky. Leah’s practical-minded narration strikes just the right balance between skepticism and belief. Naomi Kritzer has written a lovely, heartfelt story about ghosts, love and loss.
"How to Swallow the Moon": Isabel Yap, born and raised in the Philippines, makes great use of its traditional culture and mythology in this Locus award-nominated novelette. Anyag, not quite sixteen, is a binukot, a young women kept sequestered and pampered since early childhood in order to increase her beauty and her value in the marriage market, a practice that still persists. (Somewhat surprisingly, young men also occasionally have been binukots. But mostly, of course, it’s women.) The only people allowed to set eyes on her are her family and her servant, Amira, an orphan two years older than Anyag. Amira has served and loved Anyag since they first met nine years ago, though in recent years her love has grown into something more passionate. Amira doesn’t know if Anyag returns her romantic feelings, however, and in any case she knows Anyag is destined for a marriage that will bring honor and rewards to her family.
I also appreciated the way Yap weaves Philippine mythology into this tale. The Earth once had seven moons, but the bakunawa, a dragon-type monster, has eaten all but our one remaining moon. The bakunawa has been sated for many years by another binukot’s self-sacrifice to its appetite. But nothing lasts forever, and when a sly-eyed suitor appears, he represents a threat to Anyag and Amira on several levels.
“How to Swallow the Moon” emphasizes Amira’s feelings and the evolving relationship between the two girls; it lost some of its impact for me in its focus on romance and All. The. Feels. that Amira has. Still, Yap is a fine writer, and her twist on Philippine mythology and culture is an intriguing one....more
This is a short story about a feisty, loving dragon family. It’s a prequel to The Dragon with a Chocolate Heart, which is a delightful middle grade noThis is a short story about a feisty, loving dragon family. It’s a prequel to The Dragon with a Chocolate Heart, which is a delightful middle grade novel about the adventures of Aventurine, a young dragon with a weakness for chocolate.
In this very brief prequel story, Aventurine is causing mischief for her proper, poetic older sister, Citrine. Citrine considers burning up everything Aventurine owns in revenge, but a better plan is suggested. Nice family dynamics with a good (if not very subtle) moral.
Just published! 3.5 stars. Final review, first posted on Fantasy Literature:
Marking the fiftieth anniversary of Peter S. Beagle's gorgeous, iconic faJust published! 3.5 stars. Final review, first posted on Fantasy Literature:
Marking the fiftieth anniversary of Peter S. Beagle's gorgeous, iconic fantasy The Last Unicorn, he unearthed this long-buried first version of that novel, written one memorable summer in 1962 when twenty-three year old Beagle was renting a cabin in the Berkshires with an artist friend, Phil, and working on his writing craft. The Last Unicorn: The Lost Journey starts off nearly identical to the novel, painting a beloved character with these familiar words:
The unicorn lived in a lilac wood, and she lived all alone. She was very old, though she did not know it, and she was no longer the careless color of sea foam, but rather the color of snow falling on a moonlit night. But her eyes were still clear and unwearied, and she still moved like a shadow on the sea. … [T]he long horn above her eyes shone and shivered with its own seashell light even in the deepest midnight. She had killed dragons with it, and healed a king whose poisoned wound would not close, and knocked down ripe chestnuts for bear cubs.
But after the first couple of pages, The Lost Journey veers off from the path of the novel, heading down a road that is new and unfamiliar to both readers and the unicorn. It begins with the oily, sulphurous reek of a maudlin dragon, who informs the unicorn that all of the other unicorns have disappeared. So the unicorn sets off on a journey to try to find the others and (after a couple of additional familiar scenes from the later novel) comes across a two-headed demon, who accompanies her on her travels. The dizzily mad butterfly makes his appearance, but there’s no red bull (notwithstanding the cover image on this book), no wizard named Schmendrick, nor insightful woman named Molly Grue - the “true heart of The Last Unicorn,” according to Beagle in his afterword.
The setting of The Lost Journey is modern times: the unicorn is mystified, and disturbed, by paved roads and cars and dirty cities. This different setting lends itself to some social commentary about the shortcomings of modern society.
Whatever it was that screamed in the city had broken its prison long before and invaded them all. It was their screaming now, their own crushing rhythm, and if it had suddenly stopped and they had stood still to hear themselves speaking, to understand what others were saying to them, they would have gone mad with fear instantly, instead of slowly.
The disturbing imagery of a great, dark city is reflected, in somewhat lighter fashion, in the ancient two-headed demon who keeps the unicorn company. One head, Azazel, is the more traditional demon, bound to the old ways they did things in Hell and disturbed by change; the other head, Webster, cheerfully thrives on anarchy (his destructive actions got them both exiled from Hell). Beagle comments in his afterword that their snarky interactions with each other reflect the way he and his friend Phil talked with each other (still do, in fact).
It’s interesting to see the seeds of the later novel in this shorter work. Personally, I think Beagle kept the best bits from The Lost Journey in the novel; you can see the reasons why he later abandoned the rest of its plot. Azazel and Webster are amusing, but not ones to engage my heartstrings, and the story overall is bleaker. Also, The Lost Journey really doesn’t have an ending, more or less stopping mid-stream. It reads exactly like what it is: an unfinished story. So set your expectations accordingly.
But the sense of whimsy is still here, though slightly darker and more muted, and Beagle’s writing is often entrancing. There are some gorgeous pen-and-ink illustrations by Stephanie Law, and those, along with Beagle’s afterword reminiscing about the sixties and the process of writing of The Last Unicorn, are almost worth the price of admission by themselves.
And in the end, any chance to spend more time with the wonderful unicorn is time well spent.
I received a review copy of this book from Tachyon Publications. Thank you!!...more
Stephanie Burgis follows up last year’s award-nominated middle grade fantasy The Dragon with a C3.5 stars. Review first posted on Fantasy Literature:
Stephanie Burgis follows up last year’s award-nominated middle grade fantasy The Dragon with a Chocolate Heart with The Girl with the Dragon Heart, the second book in her TALES FROM THE CHOCOLATE HEART series. The Dragon with a Chocolate Heart followed the escapades of Aventurine, a chocolate-loving young dragon enchanted into the shape of a young girl. The focus now shifts to Aventurine’s friend Silke, a dark-skinned girl with short black curly hair. More importantly, Silke is also brave, quick-thinking and fast-moving, and has a great talent for creating stories, including her own.
Silke, an orphan, spends most of her time waitressing at the Chocolate Heart, one of Drachenburg’s finest chocolate houses (where Aventurine is an apprentice), helping to market their shop by creating and passing out promotional handbills, and keeping the hot-tempered Aventurine out of trouble. But Silke, who’s lived on the streets for years, feels compelled to create a life that has more security and permanence. So when the crown princess of Drachenburg offers Silke a challenge ― pretend to be one of the relatives of the royal family, spy on a delegation of visiting fairies from Elfenwald, and find out what they’re up to and why they’re visiting humans for the first time in over a century ― Silke is delighted to accept, and make herself over as one of the nobility. But is she really ready to leave her friends at the Chocolate Heart behind?
Also, what Silke doesn’t tell Princess Katrin is that six years ago, when Silke was only seven years old, she traveled through Elfenwald with her parents and older brother Dieter in a caravan of refugees. In the middle of the night the group had an encounter with the fairies that ended badly. Dieter and Silke’s parents suddenly disappeared, and the rest of the group rushed out of the forest, taking Dieter and Silke with them. This assignment from Princess Katrin is just the chance Silke has been waiting for, to find out what became of her parents and whether they’re still alive.
The Dragon with a Chocolate Heart is a solid sequel to The Dragon with a Chocolate Heart. The fairies are perhaps not quite as exciting as the dragons in the first story, but they’re a devious group that presents some unexpected challenges for Silke, particularly when her sometimes-dragon-sometimes-girl friend Aventurine gets involved. The story emphasizes the importance of love, acceptance, and loyalty to both friends and family ― both biological and “made” families.
There’s lots of racial diversity in Drachenburg, not only a minority heroine with a can-do attitude, but characters from both the lower and upper classes of society. Horst and Marina, the couple who run the Chocolate Heart, are a mixed-race couple, as are the king and queen of Drachenburg. Skin color is mentioned in passing but doesn’t ever play a role in how people are viewed and treated by others; it’s a refreshingly color-blind society.
I appreciated Silke’s story-telling point of view, and her determination to create her own story.
I wouldn’t feel this helpless again. I had sworn that a long time ago.
I’d been seven years old the first time I’d felt that taste of sick danger in the air: the feeling of an angry crowd transforming into a mob. By then, I’d already lost my parents and any illusion of safety. … But I wasn’t that powerless girl anymore. I was not. I was the heroine of my own story, and I would make my story work.
It’s a powerful theme in the story, and young readers will enjoy Silke’s adventures and appreciate her courage.
For fans of this TALES FROM THE CHOCOLATE HEART series, Burgis also has a couple of cute short stories set in this world that are available to read for free on her website: “A Chocolate-Flavoured Bargain” and “The Dragon with an Unbearable Family.”
Thanks to the author and publisher for an ARC of this book!...more
A young, golden-eyed dragon named Aventurine is chafing at the restrictions her family has plac4.25 stars. Review first posted on Fantasy Literature:
A young, golden-eyed dragon named Aventurine is chafing at the restrictions her family has placed on her: dragons aren’t allowed outside of the caverns until they’re 40 or 50 years old, when their wings are strong enough for flight and their scales have hardened enough to protect them against arrows and swords. Aventurine’s mother encourages her to “find her passion” in studying history, math or philosophy, but Aventurine just wants to go explore and be free. How can she not, with a name like Aventurine?
So one day she sneaks out of their caverns. When she finds a stray human on their mountain she thinks she’s in luck: bringing a tasty human back to the cavern will surely impress her family! The human is suitably terrified of her and Aventurine is about to pounce when … wait … what’s that delicious-smelling food he’s cooking? It’s hot chocolate, which Aventurine has never heard of before. She agrees to wait to eat the human until he can finish making the chocolate. Unfortunately for Aventurine, though not for the human, he’s a food mage, and the spell that he quickly puts on the hot chocolate turns Aventurine into a twelve year old human girl when she drinks it.
Aventurine is distraught: the mage won’t change her back, despite her (now not-so-scary) demands, and she can’t go back to her caverns in human form ― her family will eat her before she’s able to talk to them. But since she’s stuck in human form, she decides to travel to the big city and find more of this delicious chocolate stuff. Mmmmm …
Lots of adventures await Aventurine in the city: The difficulties of finding an apprenticeship at a chocolate house, Aventurine’s dream job. Encounters with a greedy, conniving woman who tries to shame and discourage Aventurine so she’ll accept a position with her as an unpaid servant. And unusual sightings of dragons in the air, which bring the king’s battle mages out in force.
The Dragon with a Chocolate Heart (2017), the first book in Stephanie Burgis’s new TALES FROM THE CHOCOLATE HEART series, is a delicious confection, a middle grade/YA fantasy novel that blends dragons and the art of chocolate-making with adventure and some significant life lessons. The tale started off a little slow, but gelled once Aventurine finds her place in the city. It all went down smoothly in one evening’s reading, though the wonderful descriptions of chocolate creams, chocolate tarts and spicy hot chocolate made me a little hungry by the end of it.
Aventurine’s dragon family members are enjoyable characters: brave, intelligent and learned, if sometimes quick to anger, as one might expect of dragons. I appreciated how Aventurine kept many of her dragon characteristics even when she was in human form. When she gets angry she roars, or tries to, and is inclined to leap at enemies with her hands stretched out like claws. Aventurine’s name is delightful: it’s a green semiprecious stone (all of her dragon family is named after jewels: Jasper, Citrine, Tourmaline, and so on), it’s reflective of her adventurous heart, and it’s also wonderfully original. Aventurine learns about friendship from Silke, a dark-skinned girl she meets in the city; about not giving up when disasters happen from Marina, a feisty chocolatier; and about finding something in life that she can be passionate about through her own experiences.
The Dragon with a Chocolate Heart has been nominated for the 2018 Locus Award for Young Adult Books as well as the 2018 Mythopoeic Fantasy Award for Children’s Literature. I enthusiastically recommend it for older elementary and middle grade readers, and it’s interesting enough to engage adults who enjoy fantasies that skew a little to the younger side of the YA spectrum.
Kindle freebie, Jan. 9, 2018, for this collection of the first three books in this series. Dragons! Lindsay Burokar is one of the better self-publisheKindle freebie, Jan. 9, 2018, for this collection of the first three books in this series. Dragons! Lindsay Burokar is one of the better self-published authors of adult fantasy, from what I've read of hers before. It's worth a shot.
ETA: Hah, turns out I downloaded this the last time it was a freebie in 2017 and promptly forgot all about it. What can I say? My Kindle is overstuffed....more
Roadmarks is a fragmented, experimental type of SF novel, tied together by a Road (with a c3.5 stars. Full review first posted on Fantasy Literature:
Roadmarks is a fragmented, experimental type of SF novel, tied together by a Road (with a capital R) that leads to all times and places and alternative timestreams in our world’s history, for those who know how to navigate it (a certain German named Adolph briefly pops up in an early chapter, eternally searching for the timeline where he won). The other constant is the character of Red Dorakeen, who has been traveling the Road for years, trying to find something, or somewhen. Sometimes he’s in company with Leila, a woman with precognitive talents. He’s also generally accompanied by one of two sentient AIs in the form of books, called Leaves (of Grass) and Flowers (of Evil) (Les Fleurs du Mal).
But life has gotten more complicated for Red since he had a falling out with his old partner Chadwick for some reason. Now Chadwick has paid ten highly skilled assassins ― known as the “black decade” ― to kill Red, hunting him down through space and time. Meanwhile, a young man called Randy Dorakeen is also on the Road, led there by a copy of Leaves of Grass, which introduces itself to him (“I am a microdot computer array”) and lures him onto the Road in search of his unknown father. And then there are the time-traveling dragons of Bel’kwinith, who originally made the Road …
In what frankly struck me as a rather gimmicky move by Roger Zelazny, the chapters of Roadmarks are all titled either One or Two; the first chapter is called “Two” and they alternate from there. The One chapters are linear and relate Red’s ongoing adventures. The Twos, about his would-be assassins and other characters that Red meets up with on the Road, are nonlinear and almost completely random. Zelazny told the story that he put all of the Two chapters on pieces of paper, shuffled them up and simply inserted them into his draft of the book in that order, although he admitted that his publisher eventually convinced him to put at least a few of these chapters in an order that made a little more sense.
Like the other two experimental novels I’ve read by Zelazny in recent months, A Night in the Lonesome October and Doorways in the Sand, Roadmarks is essentially one big mental puzzle, where Zelazny is hiding the ball from the reader on exactly what’s going on until you get quite deep into the novel. To get any real enjoyment out of these quirky and rather humorous novels, you just have to be on board with that approach and roll with it. For Roadmarks I had an entire page of notes that I took on each chapter of the book, just to try to keep all of the players and moving parts straight in my mind. It was definitely a challenging mental exercise!
The concept of the time-traveling Road is very much like that in Peter Clines‘s latest book, Paradox Bound; in fact, I think Clines owes Zelazny a rather large tip of the hat. The kaleidoscopic and non-linear nature of Roadmarks can be fairly confusing, though, and in the end I found it not as intrinsically appealing as A Night in the Lonesome October. But the many colorful characters ― both fictional (some, like Doc Savage, borrowed from pulp novels) and historical ― and Zelazny’s sheer inventiveness are impressive. Roadmarks strikes me as the type of novel that may improve greatly on reread, and at less than 200 pages, I’m sure I’ll be tempted to give it another shot sometime.
Feb. 2018 buddy read with the Zelazny group. Thanks to Evgeny (who formed the Roger Zelazny Newbies group and urges us on) and the buddy read gang!...more
On sale now! Unfortunately it's a weak 3 stars for me, maybe 2.5. I'm an outlier here, so if you love the idea of a young, idealistic, and passionatelOn sale now! Unfortunately it's a weak 3 stars for me, maybe 2.5. I'm an outlier here, so if you love the idea of a young, idealistic, and passionately impulsive gay character fighting against evil religious oppression in a medieval setting, this book will be right up your alley. Full review, first posted on Fantasy Literature:
In Heloise’s land, the foremost rule of the Order is clear: “Suffer no wizard to live.” For the exercise of magical powers, it is said, will open a portal to hell through the eyes of the wizard, allowing devils to come through and wreak destruction among men. But all sixteen year old Heloise can see is the oppression of the religious Order, which allows its Sojourners and Pilgrims to bully and oppress the common people. Anyone even suspected of using magical powers, or protecting those who have such powers, is immediately executed by the flail- and chain-bearing Order members, who act in the name of the Emperor.
Heloise Factor lives with her parents in the small medieval-type village of Hammersdown, where families are named for the father’s profession: Factor, Trapper, Fletcher, Grower, and so forth. Heloise’s best friend Basina Tinker comes from a family of metalworkers, who form metal ox yokes and other items for the villagers. But the Tinkers also create secret weapons and war-machines under Imperial commissions, like giant suits of armor that give the wearer immense strength, speed and endurance.
When a cruel Sojourner, Brother Tone, forces the villagers to participate in a manhunt, killing innocent people accused of engaging in (or harboring sympathy toward) wizardry, or even just being a person with a mental disability or such a person’s relative, Heloise rebels against Brother Tone and the Order. Her actions spark a village rebellion that may prove the destruction of her family and even her entire village.
Myke Cole’s The Armored Saint (2018) is a magical fantasy set in a harsh, unfair medieval world. It’s a familiar type of setting and, personally, it wasn’t a world I particularly cared to experience. The sadistic, quasi-religious Order members who embody the Emperor’s brutal government were distasteful and play into anti-religious stereotypes. Like Inquisition agents run amok, the Order terrorizes and murders villagers in order to enforce the social order. The religious oppression theme is continually hammered home, bolstered by scripture-like quotes at the beginning of the book’s chapters.
Heloise is a rather frustrating protagonist. She makes several questionable choices due to her immaturity and impetuosity, gravely endangering her family and her entire village as a result. She’s tremendously passionate, but not terribly bright, at least not in a practical sense. Heloise is nonetheless a sympathetic character, coming of age in this story and coming to terms with her feelings toward her best friend Basina, which is all in a furtive Love That Dares Not Speak Its Name kind of way, due to their culture. Basina is betrothed to a village lad, and it’s not at all clear that she feels anything more for Heloise than deep friendship. But The Armored Saint is ultimately very affirming of Heloise’s sexuality:
Never be sorry for loving, Heloise. No matter who it is, no matter how it is done, no matter how the person you love receives it. Love is the greatest thing a person can do. Most go their entire lives knowing only ritual and obligation, mistaking it for love. But you have loved truly, as few can ever hope to do. This pain you are feeling is a triumph, Heloise.
This is Message Fiction, which clearly has its place, but it’s not a subtle message. Still, The Armored Saint is a novel that may be helpful to the self-acceptance of teens who are gay or otherwise feel marginalized.
I give The Armored Saint props for one seriously eyebrow-raising twist that I in no way expected. Unfortunately the reader isn’t given a full explanation for why and how this event occurs, but maybe that will be disclosed in the sequels. The second book in THE SACRED THRONE series, The Queen of Crows, is scheduled for publication in October 2018.
I was given an advance copy of this book by Tor for review. Thank you!...more
Seika and Ji-Lin are the twelve year old twin princesses of the Hidden Islands, a group of a hundred iFull review, first posted on Fantasy Literature:
Seika and Ji-Lin are the twelve year old twin princesses of the Hidden Islands, a group of a hundred islands cut off from the rest of the world by a magical barrier created by an ancient volcano dragon. Seika is the heir to the throne, while Ji-Lin is being trained as an imperial guard, dedicated to protecting her sister from any danger. For the past year they’ve been separated while Ji-Lin is in training at a mountain temple, with the winged, talking lion Alejan as her partner and closest friend.
Ji-Lin’s training is unexpectedly cut short when she is called to return to the imperial city. The emperor, their father, tells Seika and Ji-Lin that the next day they will begin the ritual five-day-long Emperor’s Journey to visit the Dragon’s Shrine. There they will renew the traditional bargain with the volcano dragon to keep the barrier around the islands, which protects their land against invaders and koji, vicious magical monsters feared by the people. Seika and Ji-Lin are mystified ― they didn’t expect to take the Emperor’s Journey until they were much older ― but obedient. Besides, they’re thrilled to be able to spend time together again after a year apart, and they’ll be flying through the air on the back of Alejan as they journey.
But their epic journey turns unexpectedly dangerous: the islands are being shaken by earthquakes, and their magical barrier is beginning to break down. As Ji-Lin, Seika, and Alejan travel from island to island, they tangle not only with flying koji monsters and some semi-piratical explorers who’ve slipped through the failing barrier, but also with the expectations of their strict royal father and the breaking of traditions and expectations.
Journey Across the Hidden Islands (2017) is an enchanting middle grade fantasy, a journey adventure that celebrates the bond of sisterhood and the need to take chances in life. The setting is inspired by feudal Japan, but elements of Venice, Italy, and Polynesian island culture have found their way into the mix of creating this unique fantasy world.
The two young sisters are a contrast in their characters: Seika is softer and more deliberate, careful and concerned about the people of the kingdom; Ji-Lin is more fierce, physical and adventurous. But both show great courage in their different ways, and both gain in wisdom and maturity as they deal with the trials of their journey. The girls are joined by Kirro, a ship captain’s son, for most of their journey, which is initially a trial for all three of them, with Kirro’s different background and occasionally abrasive personality. Ji-Lin’s flying lion Alejan will charm readers with his delightful sense of humor and love of flying and adventure. Although he has a more youthful personality, he reminded me of my beloved Monster in Durst’s book The Girl Who Could Not Dream: slyly humorous, always loyal, and wise.
Journey Across the Hidden Islands blends in some insights and life lessons with the adventures. A waterhorse (not a hippopotamus-type of animal like I first envisioned, but a magical horse literally made out of water, with whirlpool eyes and sprays of foam for his mane and tail) informs the young travelers:
Stories are how we understand who we are and who we wish to be. Heroes. Traitors. Both at once. We define ourselves by the stories we tell. We shape ourselves by the stories we hear.
The children come to realize that life can be complicated, and that others’ motives and even personalities may not be as easily categorized ― good or bad, traitorous or heroic ― as they initially thought.
I recommend Journey Across the Hidden Islands for young readers in the 10-14 age range, as well as older readers who enjoy middle grade fantasy adventures with a coming-of-age element. It’s a delightful and enchanting journey.
I received a free copy of this book from the author for review. Thank you!!...more
Kindle freebies, May 16, 2017, for the first three books in this fantasy series. They sound interesting. I have no idea when I'll actually read them, Kindle freebies, May 16, 2017, for the first three books in this fantasy series. They sound interesting. I have no idea when I'll actually read them, but into the Kindle freebie black hole they go.
Dragon and Thief blends dragons and space opera in an exciting middle grade science fictional adventFinal review, first posted on Fantasy Literature:
Dragon and Thief blends dragons and space opera in an exciting middle grade science fictional adventure. The dragon in the title is Draycos, a warrior-poet of an alien species called the K’da, who are able to shift from a three-dimensional being to a two-dimensional tattoo that attaches to your skin, moving around your body at will. The K’da are also a symbiont species, requiring a host to attach themselves to at least every six hours, or they fade away and die. In return, they offer their host protection and companionship.
The K’da have been linked with the humanoid Shontine people for years, but recently both have been under attack from a vicious people called the Valahgua, who are doing their best to exterminate the K’da and the Shontine and gain control over their part of space. Fleeing the Valahgua and their powerful weapon of mass destruction, the Death, the K’da and Shontine are seeking to colonize an empty planet when they run into an enemy ambush. Draycos’ ship crashes on the planet Iota Klestis, where he is the sole survivor … but not for long, if he can’t find a new host.
Enter Jack Morgan, the 14-year-old thief ― or, more accurately, reformed thief, since his Uncle Virgil, a lifelong con man and Jack’s sole family member, died and Jack decided to go straight. Before his death, Uncle Virge uploaded his personality into their shipboard computer, where his voice keeps Jack company and helps him to avoid being forced into foster care. Despite his reformed ways, Jack has been falsely accused of theft by a megacorporation, and he is temporarily hiding out on Iota Klestis while he and Uncle Virge try to figure out who has framed Jack and what they should do next. When Jack sees the wreck of Draycos’ spaceship and goes to explore it, Draycos literally leaps at the chance to adopt him as a new host. The two of them have a lot to get used to with their drastically different ways of life, but perhaps they can help each other with their respective problems.
Dragon and Thief is a fast-paced adventure, moving from spaceship to planet to spaceport and back to spaceships, with dangerous villains stalking our heroes while they try to evade capture and resolve their troubles. Jack is an enjoyable main character, quick-thinking and courageous, and Uncle Virge’s cynical virtual personality provides some humorous relief as well as adding to the tension of the story. The real star of the book, however, is clearly Draycos. Young readers will be enchanted with this fierce but noble warrior who shifts into a flat gold-and-red tattoo, and Jack and Draycos figure out some creative uses for Draycos’ unusual abilities during the course of their adventures.
Dragon and Thief is a quick read at less than 250 pages. I especially recommend it for younger teen boys, but anyone who enjoys YA space adventures is likely to appreciate this book. Even though the main character is a 14-year-old boy, Timothy Zahn writes with enough complexity to engage older readers, while keeping the plot and language clear enough that younger readers won’t get lost. While Dragon and Thief doesn’t end on a cliffhanger, not all of Jack’s and Draycos’ problems are resolved by the end of this volume, and enthusiastic readers will want to check out the remaining five books in this DRAGONBACK series.
Dragon and Thief is a 2003 book that was recently reissued in trade paperback. I received a free copy of this book from the publisher for review. Thanks!...more
In this story, Theodora Goss weaves together past and present. The past is an Asian folk tale type of story about a young woman named Kamora, the favorite maiden of the Empress Nasren. Kamora wishes to marry the Cloud Dragon, who turns into a handsome man at night. In return the Cloud Dragon will give his whiskers to Kamora’s uncle Alem Das, a blind instrument-maker, to use as strings for a dulcimer. The Empress, however, refuses to give Kamora permission to marry unless she can find someone who amuses the Empress more than Kamora does.
The present-time part of this story follows Sabra, a student and teaching assistant at a university in Boston. She was born in Ethiopia (once Abyssinia) to a powerful and wealthy man who died in the revolution against the Emperor, and his still-lovely but rather heartless wife.
I insisted on providing for myself, and living in a city that was too cold for her, because it kept me from feeling the enchantment that she threw over everything around her. She was an enchantress without intention, as a spider gathers flies by instinct. One longed to be in her web. In her presence, one could not help loving her, without judgment. And I was proud of my independence, if of nothing else.
Sabra begins a relationship with Michael, her co-TA, who introduces her to Samuel Taylor Coleridge and his evocative poem “Kubla Khan.” But she fears that if her mother ever comes to visit, she will steal Michael away, even though her mother is far older. One day Sabra begins to write a term paper on Coleridge in her ice-cold apartment, and suddenly she finds herself in the cold, stone palace of Kubla Khan, alone … except for Coleridge. They chat, and at his request Sabra picks up a dulcimer and sings for him.
A damsel with a dulcimer In a vision once I saw: It was an Abyssinian maid And on her dulcimer she played, Singing of Mount Abora.
These two stories are both intriguing: Kamora’s story reads like an authentic fairy tale, and Sabra’s story is brimming with the small, sometimes painful details that make her human and sympathetic. As the two stories to connect together through Coleridge, a woman with a dulcimer, and a name of an empress, I was caught in the enchanting web Goss wove. It’s a lovely work.
I recommend taking a few minutes to read “Kubla Khan” first (it's quite short, and here's an online copy of it) … and don’t forget the “person from Porlock,” the now-legendary unexpected visitor who interrupted Coleridge’s creative spell while writing “Kubla Khan.” Also, in Goss’ Author Spotlight on Lightspeed, she relates a fun story about how “Singing of Mount Abora” came to be, which involves an anthology of spelling-bee inspired stories, a list of words including “dulcimer,” and a fascination with minor characters in others’ stories.
This third installment in Ilona Andrews' THE EDGE series may be the best one I've read yet! The Edge is a semi-magical border land that lies between tThis third installment in Ilona Andrews' THE EDGE series may be the best one I've read yet! The Edge is a semi-magical border land that lies between two dimensions: a magical version of our world (the "Weird") and our normal world (what the Weird and Edgers call the "Broken" because their magical powers don't work here). Only a few people can cross over the magical borders in either direction, and Audrey Callahan is one of them.
Audrey is one of an Edge family of gifted and dedicated con artists, but she's trying to leave that life behind her and go straight, living in the Broken and working as a private investigator. Her magical talent: opening any lock, no matter how complex. When her grifter father begs her to do one last job with him and her no-good brother (NGB) so they can, once again, get NGB into rehab, she caves. Too bad the item she helps them steal has a lot of extremely dangerous killers after it ... as well as Kaldar Mar, a gifted con man himself, not to mention a thief and spy.
It's great fun to see Audrey and Kaldar clash with each other and burn for each other at the same time, while they're running elaborate cons in an effort to re-steal the item whose theft got Audrey's family into trouble in the first place. And I was delighted to see the young brothers George and Jack from the first book get some major on-the-page time here. The plot was gripping, and made excellent use of everyone's magical talents....more
In an ironic twist, The Black Witch (2017), a book expressly dedicated to explorin3.5 stars, rounding up.* Review first posted on Fantasy Literature:
In an ironic twist, The Black Witch (2017), a book expressly dedicated to exploring the problem of prejudice and promoting diversity and tolerance, has been accused by many voices of being the very thing it is most devoted to showing as wrong. Words like “offensive,” “racist,” “ableist,” and “homophobic” have been hurled at the author and this book. It’s understandable, because the society and most of the characters depicted in The Black Witch ― including the main character, Elloren, a beautiful and otherwise kindhearted girl ― are prejudiced and dismissive, even cruel, toward other races. It’s also deeply unfortunate and unfair, because obviously the author’s primary purpose is to show how even a nice person can be steeped in prejudice because of their culture and upbringing, and how that can change gradually as they meet new people, have new experiences, and slowly come to know better. It’s actually a great idea for a young adult fantasy novel.
Seventeen year old Elloren Gardner is a member of one of the most prominent families in the country of Gardneria. She has the black hair, forest green eyes and white skin with a subtle shimmer that characterize her people, the Gardnerian Mages, and is also the spitting image of her famous grandmother, Carnissa Gardner, a powerful mage known as the Black Witch who saved her people during a bitter war. But Elloren seems to be lacking in any magical talent at all. Orphaned at a young age, her Uncle Edwin has raised her and her two brothers in the country, far away from the capital city of Valgard and its power politics … and Elloren’s Aunt Vyvian, a member of the High Mage Council.
But now Aunt Vyvian has come to bring Elloren to the city, and from there to the prestigious Verpax University in the neighboring country of Verpacia. Elloren wants to become an apothecary; her aunt is insistent that she first “wandfast” (the Gardnerian form of marriage) with a powerful young mage, Lukas Grey. Elloren resists, even though she’s strongly attracted to Lukas; she’s just met him, and she promised her uncle that she’d wait to wandfast for a couple of years, until she finishes her education. Aunt Vyvian is highly displeased ― and once Elloren gets to the university, she finds out just how many ways her powerful and well-connected aunt can find to show her displeasure, make life difficult for Elloren, and convince Elloren to do what her aunt wants.
Verpax University is a colorful and diverse place, a melting pot of many races: there are various types of fae (water, air, fire, and more), Kelts (a non-magical human race), Lupines (wolf shapeshifters), Icarals (bat-winged shapeshifters with fire-wielding power), elves, selkies, and more. (It’s a bit confusing, actually.) Elloren is assigned two Icaral-type roommates as part of her aunt’s punishing regime, and is forced to work in the university’s kitchen amongst humble non-Gardnerian workers of various races ― most of whom hate her on sight, just because she’s a Gardnerian and part of the oppressive ruling class. More hatred comes Elloren’s direction from Fallon Bane, a talented Gardnerian Mage and a romantic rival for Lukas’ attention.
At Verpax University Laurie Forest begins delving more deeply into the theme of prejudices, particularly the lies that people can tell each other and themselves about their history, how awful people are who are different from them, and how their own race or nationality is better than any other type. The Gardnerians think they’re best and are disdainful toward other races … but we also see prejudice and unkind treatment based on racial stereotypes from practically every other group. Prejudice isn’t limited to just the Gardnerians, the ruling class. But they are the ones currently in power, and their leaders are actively looking to become more powerful.
Elloren narrates this story in first person present tense, and some readers will find it just too painful or off-putting to be inside Elloren’s head and hearing her voice as she says all kinds of bigoted things, which she does very frequently, especially in the first half of the book. But it gradually becomes clear to Elloren that she and her society have been wrong. It takes most of the book, and even as she’s slowly changing she still says and thinks a lot of stupid things. But that’s entirely realistic. Change is not an immediate, magical process, and not all prejudiced people are evil and ugly and villainous … and they shouldn’t be depicted as such, even in a YA novel. Many people are biased just because they don’t know and have never been taught any better, and that’s what is going on with Elloren in The Black Witch.
The world created by Laurie Forest in The Black Witch is a fairly traditional fantasy world with races and types that are largely recognizable, with a few original twists like the Urisk, a people with a magical affinity for gemstones. The university setting owes a fairly large debt to Hogwarts and the HARRY POTTER series. There are a fair number of broad hints that, despite Elloren’s current lack of magical power, at some point she’ll have a breakthrough and become the new Black Witch of the prophecies, so The Chosen One trope is definitely in play here as well. It’s the additional factor of the widespread prejudice, bigotry and cruelty in this world, and Forest’s focus on that problem, that set The Black Witch apart from otherwise similar books in the YA fantasy genre. It’s encouraging to see not just Elloren, but many other characters of different races, come together and learn to be more accepting of each other. The climax of the story is a perfect example of interracial cooperation, where multiple characters play a vital role.
The Black Witch has a few other literary weaknesses: There are some key characters who are strictly cardboard portraits of hatred and bigotry. Elloren’s enemy and rival Fallon is one: a standard vicious queen bee character who is desperately jealous of Elloren’s relationship with Lukas. It would have been preferable to see a rival for Elloren who has some good points (other than her great magical power) and some subtlety as a character. Lukas’ character may offend readers who don’t like romantic interests in the form of hot guys who are alpha jerks, though this can be excused given the way their relationship shifts over the course of the novel. Additionally, Forest’s inexperience as an author shows through occasionally with “saidisms” and other trite or overused phrasing. In Chapter 14, for example, I counted six times in eight pages where a character “spits out” a laugh, a comment, or a sound of derision.
As much as anything else, The Black Witch is the story of a young woman who is slowly clearing the webs of prejudice and bigotry from her head. Being forced together with Icaral roommates, the most despised of all other races, beginning to fall for someone who is of another race … and who is perhaps even more different than she initially thinks, and watching some of those who are closest to her do the same, all help that process along. This change process may happen too slowly or painfully for some readers, but it does add a different flavor to this romance- and adventure-oriented YA fantasy, the first in a planned series of four books.
*Re rounding up my 3.5 rating: To be honest my first inclination was to round down; it's closer to a 3 star read for me than 4 stars. But (a) I give the book some extra credit for taking on the very difficult subject of prejudice, however imperfectly it handles it, and (b) with all the 1 star ratings out there based solely on jumping on the bandwagon, I felt like doing my very small part to help offset that.
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a review. Thank you!...more
Fans of Brandon Mull’s FABLEHAVEN middle grade fantasy series now have a chance to revisit that world with DReview first posted on Fantasy Literature:
Fans of Brandon Mull’s FABLEHAVEN middle grade fantasy series now have a chance to revisit that world with Dragonwatch (2017), the first book in his new FABLEHAVEN ADVENTURE series. In the world of FABLEHAVEN, mythical beings like fairies, centaurs, dragons and demons actually exist, living in hidden, protected sanctuaries where most humans are unaware of their existence. Even if you enter a preserve, unless you drink the milk of a magical milch cow, fairies look like dragonflies or butterflies, nipsies seem to be mice, satyrs appear as goats, and so on.
In the original FABLEHAVEN series, Kendra and her younger brother Seth helped protect their grandparents’ estate, Fablehaven, and the other sanctuaries against the evil magical forces that threatened them. This battle against evil culminated in the fifth book, Keys to the Demon Prison, in which dragons assisted the humans and good magical creatures in fighting demons before returning to their (very spacious) dragon sanctuaries.
Dragonwatch begins a new set of adventures for Seth and Kendra, now ages thirteen and fifteen. The dragons are now getting restive in their preserves and want their freedom … which would include minor things like, say, terrorizing the world. In the dragon sanctuary of Wyrmroost, Celebrant the Just, king of the Dragons, is on the offensive, trying to break free of the magic that binds him and his dragons to remain in the sanctuary. The binding magic is weakening, and the Dragonwatch organization, a group of wizards, enchantresses, and others devoted to ensuring that dragons never tyrannize the world again, believe it’s because the treaty with the dragons requires a human caretaker ― which the current wizard caretaker is not, exactly. The caretaker also needs to be a “dragon tamer,” someone who is not paralyzed by fear when conversing with a dragon.
When they are physically touching each other, Seth and Kendra are a dragon tamer. Though they’re young, they also have rare magical abilities (gained through their prior adventures) that may make them the best hope for saving the world from destruction by dragons. Of course, the answer to keeping the dragons safely bound is not as simple as everyone hoped, and Kendra and Seth end up going on a quest within Wyrmroost to find the magical item that will restore the spell to its full power.
The FABLEHAVEN universe is a hugely appealing one for young readers who like magical adventures. Kendra is the cautious one who always wants to keep the rules; Seth is more reckless and willing to take a crazy chance, even if it’s dangerous, which has often gotten him into trouble in the past. But now the only way to defeat the dragon threat may be to take chances and think outside the box. Seth also has a quick wit; his often funny dialogue supplies most of the humor in Dragonwatch.
The plot periodically gives off a whiff of going down a predictable path, the magical quest where the main characters must overcome one obstacle or test, then another, then another, to achieve their goal and find the McGuffin, excuse me, the magic scepter that will solve their dragon problem … at least for the time being. But there was enough creativity in the setting and in the nature of the obstacles Seth and Kendra encounter that even as an adult reader I didn’t get bored, and middle grade readers should find it engaging.
Dragonwatch picks up right where (and when) Keys to the Demon Prison left off, and there are many, many references to events and characters from the prior books in the FABLEHAVEN series. Although Brandon Mull fills in much of the backstory, I’d strongly recommend reading the entire set of FABLEHAVEN books before beginning this one. Speaking from personal experience ― I have three children who were rabid fans and dragged me to more than one FABLEHAVEN book launch party when they were young teens, where there were hundreds of young, screaming fans ― it’s a great, imaginative series for middle graders who like magical fantasies with exciting and perilous adventures....more
More dragons! Reviews for the following fantasy short stories first posted on Fantasy Literature:
4 stars for “The Dragonslayer of Merebarton” by K.J.More dragons! Reviews for the following fantasy short stories first posted on Fantasy Literature:
4 stars for “The Dragonslayer of Merebarton” by K.J. Parker, online here at Clarkesworld: Dodinas le Cure Hardy, a 56 year old knight, was a moderately successful knight in his day (“three second places in ranking tournaments, two thirds, usually in the top twenty out of an average field of forty or so”), but now he has retired to his rather dilapidated estate. He’s attempting to mend his own chamber pot when he’s informed of a dragon and asked to kill it. Dodinas is extremely reluctant to go ― he’s too old, and his wife is angrily worried that he’ll be killed ― but he’s the knight, and in the end he feels responsible for dealing with the dragon problem.
… in all those old tales of gallantry and errantry, when the poet sings of the knight wandering in a dark wood and encountering the evil to be fought, the wrong to be put right, “knight” in that context is just shorthand for a knight and his squire and his armor-bearer and his three men-at-arms and the boy who leads the spare horses. The others aren’t mentioned by name, they’re subsumed in him, he gets the glory or the blame but everyone knows, if they stop to think about it, that the rest of them were there too; or who lugged around the spare lances, to replace the ones that got broken? And who got the poor bugger in and out of his full plate harness every morning and evening?
So dragon-fighting is a group effort, for good or ill, and in the end it will take the efforts of many, and exact a high price. Dodinas is somewhat an anti-hero, fully aware of his shortcomings, but he has a core of honor that motivates him. He tells this story with weary humor, clearly wishing he could be doing anything but dragon-fighting, for which he and his men are poorly equipped. But he’s compelled by his sense of responsibility to take action.
It’s a somewhat farcical but gritty tale. I appreciated Dodinas’ wry voice and the realistic spin on the responsibilities of knighthood and the vagaries of dragon-hunting.
3.5 stars for "Dragon's Deep" by Cecelia Holland, online here at Clarkesworld: Perla’s small fishing village is visited one day by the Duke and fifty of his knights, who inform the villagers that because they are the best fishermen in the country, their taxes will now be doubled. The knights then pillage the village, raping Perla’s sister. In desperate need, the villagers mount a late season fishing expedition, heading north to Dragon’s Deep, where the fishing will be better, instead of south to their normal (now fished out) area. They pay for their temerity: a dragon attacks, killing the men and capturing Perla. She ends up trapped in his lair, fed by the dragon in exchange for telling him stories, but desperate to escape if she can.
“Dragon’s Deep” is a moralistic tale, where good and evil collide, but are not always found where you expect them to be. Greed and cruelty, which seem to be personified by the dragon, are found not only in the Duke and his men, but also in Perla’s village, in people Perla thought she could trust. I was intrigued by how often, in several different contexts, the word “deep” is used here, reminding me of the dark depths that are in the waters, in the dragon’s lair, and in men’s hearts.
I've also read the cyberpunk short story "Prosthetic Daughter" by Nin Harris, set in a future where humans' brains are all connected to technology, with memories that can be downloaded and augmented. Our main character makes the mistake of challenging a hostile woman's ability to jack into her and her family's notes and erase their memories. An interesting if not really original idea, but too fragmented and superficial to have any impact on me. Maybe someone who's really into computers will get more out of this story than I did. 2.5 stars....more
In my search for dragon fantasy short stories for my 2/20/2017 SFM column (Short Fiction Monday) at Fantasy Literature, I found Aliette de Bodard's stIn my search for dragon fantasy short stories for my 2/20/2017 SFM column (Short Fiction Monday) at Fantasy Literature, I found Aliette de Bodard's story "The Dragon's Tears." This story is free online at here at Lightspeed magazine:
In this Chinese fairy tale-inspired short story, every year three unstoppable horsemen scour Huan Ho’s city of Fei Weng, taking whatever and whomever they please. One horseman is dressed in gold, the second one in silver, and the third in purest black. Huan Ho, who lives with his ailing mother, is determined to enter the door on the hillside that the horsemen come from, looking for a cure for her sickness … as long as the horsemen pass by their home first. Huan Ho is certain that on the other side of the mysterious door he will find the Dragon’s Tears, an enameled flask that holds the full power of the Dragons: the power to instantly heal.
Aliette de Bodard channels the Chinese fairy tale traditions, with dragons, ghosts, and brave adventurers going to strange places for a noble cause, and weaves into them a story based on the Confucian value of caring for your parents when are old. This story is rich in symbolism, weaving together disparate feelings and values like hope, fear, sorrow, sacrifice and love, and exploring how our choices and values may change us.
The more I looked at this story and thought about it, the more I liked it. 4.5 stars - recommended....more
Tadiana ✩Night Owl☽
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