booksthatburn's Reviews (1.46k)

The opening hooked me immediately. I was intrigued instantly and wanted to see where things would go. The rest of the book did not disappoint. SALT MAGIC, SKIN MAGIC is a mysterious and sexy book where the man try to unravel why Lord Thornby is trapped on his father’s estate. I enjoy books which drop me right into the world and show the worldbuilding through the characters actions and conversations. This did a step further and placed me alongside Lord Thornby who doesn't have any reason to think magic or anything supernatural exists... except that he hasn't been able to leave when he desperately wants to be anywhere but here. John knows about magic, but the way he learned was tied up in issues of class and gate-keeping by the upper crust, which means that he has a mix of what he was told and what seems to be happening. 

I enjoyed the relationship between the main characters. There's a bit of a rocky start and then they come to trust each other. The main issue I had with the narrative is that one of the characters is revealed late in the book to have a physical disability due to a childhood injury, then at the end it's cured as a side effect of other things happening. Magical cure narratives for disabilities are frustratingly common, and the instance here mars an otherwise very enjoyable story. I liked basically everything else, but unfortunately this keeps me from highly recommending it.

I do intend to read this later, it just wasn’t the right time and had been too long since I read the first book.

The stress of my own TBI is still too recent for me to be okay reading about one right now. I will try this again later.

THE WINTER KNIGHT is an Arthurian murder mystery told through several narrators, primarily through a Valkyrie (Hildie) and the current incarnation of Sir Gawain (Wayne). One of my favorite things about Arthurian retellings is that due to the elasticity of their cannon, they absorb and except the existence of other entries in a way that retellings of other stories often would be harder pressed to do. One such case is Vera’s identity as a professor who discusses, among other things, Guinevere's place in the Arthurian cannon, all whilst her students are unaware that she is the current incarnation of that queen. 

I enjoyed this, and had an excellent time. It’s very queer, with canonically neurodivergent characters in a way that is specific to their individual identities. Some parts of this felt very online, but generally in a good way. There are a lot of pop culture references in a way that I think will pin it very precisely to the early 2020's before much more time passes. I tend to read either high fantasy or urban fantasy which only tangentially deals with modern concerns, so this was a bit more contemporary than I generally like. There's a character who felt exactly like a certain someone from the movie KNIVES OUT (2019) so I was able to correctly guess how things would turn out for them. 

I like the plot, I like the ending, and I love many of the characters. The first part of the mystery was really good, but how easy it was to guess the trajectory meant towards the end it felt a bit like it was playing cleanup. Then it got to the very end and became excellent, so I'm pleased overall.

If you like very modern queer/neurodivergent Arthurian retellings, don't miss this one!

THE WITCH KING is excellent and I had a great time reading it. The worldbuilding is nuanced and well-developed, with factions and history in a way that implies much more going on, but not getting bogged down in little details that don’t matter to this particular story. It deals with colonization and empire from the perspective of a quasi-immortal character (Kai) who has not been around forever, but has been around long enough that things which are part of his culture and history are now details that would fascinate only historians. The narrative shifts between two time periods in his life. This means that some events are mentioned before they were actually shown, but it was generally in a way that made the whole thing easier to follow. The two timelines are connected, as the main characters are trying to figure out whether the plan they were working on when they were betrayed is still salvageable. 

I like the friendship between the two main characters, with zero hints of any romance. Kai is trying to figure out their next moves, piecing together what changed in the years since they were shut away. They’re stalwart companions in a way that is frustratingly rare in an opposite gender pairing of protagonists, but is very good here. I love the worldbuilding and characterization, and especially how those are intertwined in the person of the Witch King. He explains things in a way that inform the current plot points without slowing down the story. Kai's method of quasi-immortality is a neat bit of worldbuilding, one of several kinds of magic which are practiced by different groups. There's the feeling that they're all part of one world but are following different culturally-specific pathways to magic. Kai's work-around for accessing magic which should be off-limits to him helps to bolster this initial impression. I want there to be more in this world, I want more time with these characters. The story is very self-contained and, narratively speaking, doesn’t need a sequel, so I just have to read some of this author's earlier fantasy books to get what I’m looking for.