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962 reviews by:
speculativebecky
I was so excited to read A Planet For Rent by Yoss, enticed partly by the intriguing premise and (even though this is a silly reason) partly because of how much I’ve loved other Cuban sci-fi titles by Agustín de Rojas also published by Restless Books
Rati Mehrotra’s debut, Markswoman, was one of my favorite reads of 2018, so I was excited to read Mahimata, the conclusion of this epic Fantasy duology set in a post-apocalyptic India complete with telepathic weapons and the assassins who wield them. Though Mahimata takes the story in far reaching directions and reveals much intriguing worldbuilding, it didn’t quite live up to my love for its predecessor, mostly due to a greater foregrounding of a romance that didn’t totally work for me. Still, this is a strong duology and I’d definitely recommend it.
One of my favorite things about the Asiana books is the setting. It’s like a post-apocalyptic urban fantasy, set in a future that feels more like Earth’s past except for the presence of magical technologies left here by the mysterious departed Ones. This technology includes the telepathic metal kalishium that’s forged into blades which bond with their custodians, and the inscrutable transport hubs that allow teleportation across the desert with sometimes mixed results. The central conflict of Mahimata revolves around the production of a weapon that's basically a gun also imbued with some kind of psychic abilities. Several books I’ve read lately have played with this trope of the reintroduction of guns to a post-apocalyptic world that was happy to have lost that technology. The depiction of the psychic influence towards evil and destruction of these weapons further exaggerates the narrative that depicts killing with a blade as somehow more ethical than with a gun
One of my favorite things about the Asiana books is the setting. It’s like a post-apocalyptic urban fantasy, set in a future that feels more like Earth’s past except for the presence of magical technologies left here by the mysterious departed Ones. This technology includes the telepathic metal kalishium that’s forged into blades which bond with their custodians, and the inscrutable transport hubs that allow teleportation across the desert with sometimes mixed results. The central conflict of Mahimata revolves around the production of a weapon that's basically a gun also imbued with some kind of psychic abilities. Several books I’ve read lately have played with this trope of the reintroduction of guns to a post-apocalyptic world that was happy to have lost that technology. The depiction of the psychic influence towards evil and destruction of these weapons further exaggerates the narrative that depicts killing with a blade as somehow more ethical than with a gun
There are infinite parallel universes, and cutting edge technology has enabled travel across the multiverse to other Earths with sufficiently similar world conditions. But it turns out in order to traverse to another world, the original “you” from that place needs to be dead, otherwise the journey brutalizes you. So the well-off science types of Wiley City rely on folks who’ve had hard lives on the other side of the Wall, those who’ve scraped together an unlikely survival serve as their interdimensional couriers, at least until the transfer of information across worlds can be automated. Cara is such a traverser, the most valuable at her organization for the high number of worlds on which she’s deceased.
The premise of this novel is one of those so-perfectly-tailored-to-my-interests blurbs, riffing on quantum theories with the gritty underpinnings of examining class
The premise of this novel is one of those so-perfectly-tailored-to-my-interests blurbs, riffing on quantum theories with the gritty underpinnings of examining class
Tremendous gratitude to @rebellionpublishing and @netgalley for the opportunity to read this advanced copy of one of my most anticipated 2020 releases, Phoenix Extravagant by Yoon Ha Lee!
Phoenix Extravagant is a stand-alone fantasy novel set in a magical version of Korea during the Japanese occupation. The story follows Gyen Jebi, a nonbinary Hwagugin painter who’s swept into a struggle for revolution against the Razanei Empire alongside an unlikely ally, a delightfully earnest pacifist dragon automoton named Arazi.
I loved reading this book, especially because I instantly resonated with Jebi, through all their flaws and strength. Many fantasy epics center the stories of heroes or revolutionaries, and Lee subverts that expectation in this novel by giving it life through the eyes of a conflict-shy painter. Jebi feels so real in their limited grasp of the large-scale power struggles playing out beyond their purview, and in their interrogation of the role they can/want to play. Arazi’s charming personality adds humor and levity to the story, a dash of buddy-cop vibes in an otherwise often somber tale of colonization and the untidy cost of revolution.
Readers familiar with Lee’s Machineries of Empires trilogy will likely find the world building of Phoenix Extravagant much more straightforward. Ninefox Gambit is one of my all time favorite books but it asks a lot of the reader in understanding complex politics and fantastic magical technologies. The political machinations here are largely off-screen in this novel as Jebi skirts the sidelines of the conflict rather than frontlining it, and the magic is easily digestible, and furthermore completely genius in how Lee calls to account real practices of colonizers throughout human history.
I hope this book finds a wide and well deserved readership. I'd recommend it to fans of epic fantasy, dragons, robots, dragons that are robots, worlds effortlessly populated with queer characters, and maybe even lovers of historical fiction or art history. Mark your calendars for October, 2020!
Phoenix Extravagant is a stand-alone fantasy novel set in a magical version of Korea during the Japanese occupation. The story follows Gyen Jebi, a nonbinary Hwagugin painter who’s swept into a struggle for revolution against the Razanei Empire alongside an unlikely ally, a delightfully earnest pacifist dragon automoton named Arazi.
I loved reading this book, especially because I instantly resonated with Jebi, through all their flaws and strength. Many fantasy epics center the stories of heroes or revolutionaries, and Lee subverts that expectation in this novel by giving it life through the eyes of a conflict-shy painter. Jebi feels so real in their limited grasp of the large-scale power struggles playing out beyond their purview, and in their interrogation of the role they can/want to play. Arazi’s charming personality adds humor and levity to the story, a dash of buddy-cop vibes in an otherwise often somber tale of colonization and the untidy cost of revolution.
Readers familiar with Lee’s Machineries of Empires trilogy will likely find the world building of Phoenix Extravagant much more straightforward. Ninefox Gambit is one of my all time favorite books but it asks a lot of the reader in understanding complex politics and fantastic magical technologies. The political machinations here are largely off-screen in this novel as Jebi skirts the sidelines of the conflict rather than frontlining it, and the magic is easily digestible, and furthermore completely genius in how Lee calls to account real practices of colonizers throughout human history.
I hope this book finds a wide and well deserved readership. I'd recommend it to fans of epic fantasy, dragons, robots, dragons that are robots, worlds effortlessly populated with queer characters, and maybe even lovers of historical fiction or art history. Mark your calendars for October, 2020!
Review to follow
Cw for domestic abuse, child abuse, alcoholism, rape, suicide, death, drug addiction
Cw for domestic abuse, child abuse, alcoholism, rape, suicide, death, drug addiction
Adam Silvera is one of my favorite authors for his gorgeous Contemporary YA sadness bombs. Knowing that publishing his first work of Fantasy was super meaningful to him, I was geeked to dive into this foray, even though YA Fantasy is often hit-or-miss for me. Happily, this one was a hit! Infinity Son is an urban fantasy with big super hero vibes, centering twin brothers in a world peppered with naturally magical people called Celestials, and the Specters who’ve stolen power for themselves by killing magical creatures. The worldbuilding is thrilling, with political machinations and a complex history of good and bad people on all sides of the Celestial/Specter/normal person divide. I loved the diverse cast of characters and the way Silvera engages with Chosen One tropes. I listened to most of the book on audio, which was narrated by Robbie Daymond, Kirby Heyborne, Maria Liatis and Elliot Knight. Highly recommended, but fair warning the book ends on quite the cliffhanger! The sequel is set to come out early 2021 and I cannot wait to get back into this story.
Cw for violence and death, suicide mentions, body image struggles.
Cw for violence and death, suicide mentions, body image struggles.
First published in 1948, The Tunnel by Argentine author Ernesto Sabato is a first person account from the artist Juan Pablo Castel of his relationship with, and subsequent murder of a woman named Maria Iribarne. The infamous murder is known to the reader from the beginning, and the narrator aims to justify his actions and unravel the path that led to the murder. I think of this book as a dark condemnation of the “manic pixie dream girl” trope, as Sabato explores Juan Pablo’s obsession with Maria, and his utter inability to allow her to have her own story.
Cw for murder, suicide, violent misogyny
Cw for murder, suicide, violent misogyny
Aura by Carlos Fuentes is a Mexican classic work of Horror first published in 1962. It’s a chilling second person POV that I couldn’t put down. After answering a newspaper ad looking for a young historian fluent in French, Felipe Montero is set up in the home of a widow and her young niece, employed to edit and compile the memoirs of her late husband. The creepy atmosphere and steady teases of information kept me gripped, my only complaints were one scene that needs a cw for intimations of rape, and that it was a touch too short.
Pedro Páramo by Juan Rulfo is another classic first published in 1955. It’s a ghost story about the history of Mexico that’s quite hard to follow but well worth investing effort. The novella opens with the protagonist traveling to Comala to satisfy his mother’s dying wish for him to seek out the father he’s never met. Things seem straightforward at first but the people he meets keep turning out to be long-dead, and over time the book descends almost entirely into conversations stripped from the town’s past, as the narrator stumbles through a world haunted by memories. I already know I need to reread this book to understand it with even a little confidence, but the writing is exceptional.
Y’ALL. My goodness, this book is SO good. I’ve been waiting for Darcie Little Badger to publish a full length novel since seeing her speak at an SFF convention years ago, and her debut YA Fantasy, Elatsoe, still completely surpassed my expectations. I can’t wait for everyone to be reading this beautiful, special novel.
Elatsoe is set in a world like our own, but all of the monsters and magic from myth and legend are real. Think ghosts, vampires, animated scarecrows, coyote people, and the fae and you’ll start to get there. Intrepid Ellie is a young Lipan Apache woman who guards a family secret that allows her to wake the spirits of deceased animals, passed down through generations of women beginning with her heroic Six Great Grandmother. When her beloved cousin is murdered by a powerful man in a mysterious nearby town and the police deem the death an accident, Ellie sets off to take justice into her own hands, with the help of her ghost dog best friend (Kirby), her best human friend (Jay), and her parents.
Although the narrative arc is more murder mystery than fantasy, Little Badger astonishes with her deft and exciting worldbuilding. I could not get enough of the details she packed into the world, and I would love more books to explore greater facets of this fascinating and so well executed concept. The characters also soar as high as the worldbuilding, Ellie is a brave and smart kid, and I loved her friendship with Jay, and how she worked with and relied on her family in her pursuit of justice rather than going rogue.
ALSO Ellie is #ownvoices asexual, a pretty casual but well done element of the novel. In an interview Little Badger explains, “It’s rare to see asexual characters in general. And when they do appear, they tend to fall into certain categories. Like, they’re robotic or they’re trying to come to terms with their asexuality, and that’s the entire focus of the book. I wanted to write a fantasy adventure with an asexual main character ‘cause I myself am asexual, and I’m getting married to another asexual Native, and we’re both big nerds who play tabletop roleplaying games on the weekend. So, we’re out there!”
Elatsoe is set in a world like our own, but all of the monsters and magic from myth and legend are real. Think ghosts, vampires, animated scarecrows, coyote people, and the fae and you’ll start to get there. Intrepid Ellie is a young Lipan Apache woman who guards a family secret that allows her to wake the spirits of deceased animals, passed down through generations of women beginning with her heroic Six Great Grandmother. When her beloved cousin is murdered by a powerful man in a mysterious nearby town and the police deem the death an accident, Ellie sets off to take justice into her own hands, with the help of her ghost dog best friend (Kirby), her best human friend (Jay), and her parents.
Although the narrative arc is more murder mystery than fantasy, Little Badger astonishes with her deft and exciting worldbuilding. I could not get enough of the details she packed into the world, and I would love more books to explore greater facets of this fascinating and so well executed concept. The characters also soar as high as the worldbuilding, Ellie is a brave and smart kid, and I loved her friendship with Jay, and how she worked with and relied on her family in her pursuit of justice rather than going rogue.
ALSO Ellie is #ownvoices asexual, a pretty casual but well done element of the novel. In an interview Little Badger explains, “It’s rare to see asexual characters in general. And when they do appear, they tend to fall into certain categories. Like, they’re robotic or they’re trying to come to terms with their asexuality, and that’s the entire focus of the book. I wanted to write a fantasy adventure with an asexual main character ‘cause I myself am asexual, and I’m getting married to another asexual Native, and we’re both big nerds who play tabletop roleplaying games on the weekend. So, we’re out there!”