Ahoy there me mateys!  This book's premise drew me in - multiverse travel with a murder mystery and a queer protagonist.  Cool.  While this book was enjoyable, I did have some issues that led to it not being a favorite.

So the story follows Cara who is one of the few people who can travel between the multiverses.  People on Earth Zero can access 380 other versions of Earth but only if their doppelganger on that world is dead.  Cara's other selves are very good at dying.  So much so that that there are only eight of her selves left.  So when one of those eight is murdered she gets concerned.

I really did love the set up for this book and the idea of how the multiverses worked and how they were used by the major corporation.  The science has no real explanations about how it works but I was okay with that.  I really enjoyed the limitations on multiverse travel.  The main character, Cara, was fun and I loved the hints of mystery about her from the very beginning.

The major problem was that the book was exciting and interesting in the beginning and then basically half-way through has a false ending where it felt like the story was mostly done.  I got confused about where it could go next.  The second half was bogged down in uninteresting politics, Cara making bad choices, boring relationship drama that could have been solved by just talking, and predictable bad guy actions.

This was a book that when finished just felt unsatisfying.  The more I think about how it all went down, the more I find unanswered questions, plot holes, nonsensical technology and ridiculous character choices.  For example they can endlessly recycle plastic and have parallel universes but nobody knows how to build guns.  And the gun subplot is just weird.  Also how society and class are structured don't really make sense either.

So ultimately, I don't think I could personally recommend this book to anyone even if I am not upset that I read it.  I just wish it weren't so flawed.  Arrrr!

Ahoy there mateys! This was me first book by the author.  It is short and yet I was left shaking me noggin in complete confusion when done.  I had no idea what the point of the book was and the world building was nonsense.  The story follows scribe Lana whose life revolves around drinking and flirting and doing the least amount of work possible.  She inadvertently (and for no real reason) gets sent to Angland's session of Parliament to take minutes of the proceedings.  If Parliament does not come to an agreement then the fairies will make the world flood and start over.  Aye, fairies.  I am not sure what Parliament is discussing because Lana doesn't care and only wants to be high and flirt.  The only reason Lana ends up getting involved is because she lusts after a politician.  And how the day is saved makes NO sense.  Seriously.  The only good part of this book was that men don't exist.  However, the women seem to make a botch of everything anyway.  In trying to figure out what I missed in this novella, I was told the author described this book as a “lesbian stoner buddy comedy” and it is supposed to be a comment on Brexit.  Like Brexit this book makes no sense and maybe ye have to be high to enjoy it.  Arrrr!

Ahoy there mateys! I love this author's work.  This is a standalone novella set in the Dominion of the Fallen world which takes place in Gothic devastated Paris. I have not read the trilogy and wasn't sure if I wanted to read it as it deals with the fall-out of a war in Heaven.  I was happy to get this eArc to see if the setting would work for me.  This story follows married couple Thuan (dragon prince) and Asmodeus (ruthless killer angel) who go on vacation to see Thuan's family.  What they find instead is a ghost from a forgotten shine who is the only witness to a murder.

I really loved the ghost story and murder aspects.  I also found much of the writing style to be lovely.  I even enjoyed the setting and some of the politics.  I was not a huge fan of Thuan and Asmodeus as a couple even though I liked them individually well enough.  They seem to have gotten together in an enemy to lovers trope.  Their relationship in this novella still felt very fraught and how they dealt with each other just made me uncomfortable.  They don't communicate well enough and I just didn't like them together.  I am not a fan of roller coaster relationships.  Shame because I liked the elements of this one. . . Oh and the bad guy was one-dimensional and the reason for the murder was silly.

In reading reviews of both the series and the other novella, it is clear that this world is one I will skip.  I will continue reading the delightful Xuya stories and I still want to read the Obsidian and Blood trilogy (which I own).  Arrrr!

Ahoy there mateys! This was a decent conclusion to the Lotus Kingdoms trilogy.  The plus side has the reader getting some answers for why the worlds worked the way they do (interesting if not completely fleshed out).  I also continued to love the strong female characters.  The downsides were too many characters so that not all were given adequate page time or resolution. Plus there was a slow start to the novel in general.  I really wanted more time with the scientist magicians and the Gage.  I wasn't completely satisfied by the ending and who the bad guys were.  I admit that I preferred the first trilogy set in the Eternal Sky world but am still glad to have read this one.  Arrr!

Ahoy there mateys! Amazing and wonderful retelling of Poe's "the fall of the house of usher."  Creepy house, creepy hosts, and creepy hares.  I absolutely loved the narrator Easton who is a soldier with an unusual background.  This took a story that I really enjoyed as a child and twisted it in a way that made it even better.  I don't want to give too much away because the reader should watch the story unfold.  The novella contains Kingfisher's mix of humor and exquisite writing. The author's notes at the end were a delight in terms of explaining her writing process and her commentary on the original.  After reading this, I immediately went back to reread Poe's version.  The juxtaposition of the two was so delicious and enriched the horror of both.  It made me tingly with dread and I will reread this for sure.  Arrr!

Ahoy there mateys! The entire time I was reading this book, I felt like I was missing something and had been tossed in over me 'ead.  Apparently this was the second book in the Mkalis Cycle.  This takes place in the "nine hundred and ninety-nine realms of Mkalis, the world of spirits, where gods and demons wage endless war" according to the blurb of the first book, the border keeper.  I wish I would have read that book first because this novella had no real descriptions about how and why this world worked the way it did and other reviews say this is a direct follow up to the events in the first book.  I did really enjoy the main character Tyn, a warrior, who finds herself at the center of trying to keep her realm safe.  I enjoyed the plot while I read this book because I wanted to know what was going on.  Upon finishing it, I will still scratching me noggin.  I don't plan on going to read book one.  Not sure if I would read more of the author's work. Arrrr!

Ahoy there me mateys!  I shouldn't be surprised that SMG's debut is a five-star read.  I do understand how many of the crew consider this book to be their favorite.  This novel has dual timelines, 1988 and 2009, and follows Meche in Mexico City.  Fifteen year old Meche and her two friends, Sebastian and Daniela, are social outcasts who find themselves thrown together by lack of other options.  Later, thirty-six year old Meche is back in her hometown for her father's funeral and has to confront what happened 20 years before.  Magic was involved.  Things went very wrong.  Maybe Meche should have listened to her grandmother's warning.  Maybe not.

Ultimately this novel involves coming-of-age and making bad choices and having to live with the consequences.  I loved how the story unfolded.  I spent most of the time trying to figure things out only to have an ending that felt surprising and yet inevitable.  I love when that happens.

Meche is a hard character to sympathize with because she is selfish, prickly, and thoughtless.  Sebastian is slightly better because he is thoughtful and caring but he is a pushover.  I loved Daniela and thought she was the most compelling character.  She is a dreamer and not smart but understood what friendship should mean.  Ultimately this novel shows how many teenagers can feel fraught with emotion and filled with the wish to just fit in.  The passing of time can add perspective and clarity to choices of the past.  The only minor quibble is that Meche really didn't seem to ever improve or truly reflect on her bad choices.  She remained as stubborn as ever.

Music is almost another character in the novel.  I am not musically-oriented but can imagine that for those that are, this book could be even more magical.  Highly recommended.  I love this author's work so much.  Arrrr!

Ahoy there me mateys! I had read the book ghost talkers by this author last year and loved it. I was checkin' other works of hers from the library when I saw this title. Lady astronaut . . . sign me up. I clicked it immediately and began reading only to be startled when it shortly ended! Once again, me wish to not be spoiled by the blurb meant that I had inadvertently picked up what happened to be book 2.5 of a series and a novelette at that!

But not just any novelette. It won the Hugo Award for Best Novelette (2014). And I completely see why. These 19 pages packed an emotional punch. I was immediately wrapped up in the characters and the plot and the small amount of world-building that was here. It didn't matter that I didn't read the two books in the series. I was completely bowled over by the Lady Astronaut, her current predicament, and the ending. It was not an easy read due to the emotional toil 2017 gave me, but it was very much a wonderful story that I am glad was me first read of 2018. I do plan on reading the other books in the series and more of this author's work!

Check out me other reviews at https://thecaptainsquartersblog.wordpress.com/

Ahoy there mateys!  Though the First Mate and I have very different reading tastes, occasionally we do recommend books to each other.  Books the First Mate introduced to me included xom-b, holes, and the perks of being a wallflower.  He and I both read the following:

death on a high floor (Charles Rosenburg)

We read and talked about the book and I enjoyed his viewpoint so I ordered asked him to write a review.  So you get one from me and a bonus additional review from me crew.  Please note that I write like I talk and the First Mate writes like he thinks.  Hope you enjoy!

From the Captain:

Robert Tarza is a partner in a large law firm who arrives at work one morning to discover his managing partner dead on the floor with a knife in his back.  And, of course, he becomes the main suspect.  I listened to this one on audio book read by Christopher Lane.  It was a ton of fun.  To be fair, ye have to take the trial and legal elements with several grains of salt.  Also the ending is not the best.  The characters and zany plot are the highlights.

Robert is in his 60s and ends up getting in the way of his own investigation by not following his own rules despite his decades of a successful legal career.  He knows he is innocent and has a lot of trouble fathoming the true mess that he finds himself in.  He makes for an excellent and funny narrator of his own story.  I loved the majority of the other characters through Robert's assistant Jenna was a bit much most of the time.  "Top Quark" was one of my favorite characters.

I also surprisingly liked the side plots involving coin collecting.  This book is silly but I am very glad I read it.  Arrrrr!

Side Note: Apparently this book was the first in a series.  The First Mate has not read those but has read the author's "Write to Die" which he enjoyed and owns on audio book.  I will give that a shot at some point.

From the First Mate:

Not being a huge fan of legal procedurals, I found Death On a High Floor to be a surprisingly fun adventure through the twisting corridors of a high-power Los Angeles law firm, the fascinating weirdness of historical coin collecting, elements of the pacific drug trade, and eccentric characters who populate all of those worlds.  Witty, fun, often absurd but always compelling, the book kept a smile on my face for almost the entirety of my reading.

Our protagonist, Robert Tarza, is a sixty-year-old partner at a law firm and he’s just stumbled into a significant problem. He’s come to work one morning to discover the managing partner dead and Robert is the prime suspect. It takes Robert a surprisingly long time to start taking the situation seriously; after all, he didn’t do it, so what does he have to fear? And though he’s a skilled attorney with decades of experience, Robert can’t stop himself from continuously making his situation worse. Much of the hilarity of the book comes from our protagonist knowing he shouldn’t be doing what he’s doing, having his legal counsel question him why he did what he did, and him having no good answer other than it seemed like a good idea at the time.

Robert is a bit of an arrogant snob, but he’s also quirky and very loyal to his people. We get the impression that he’s more or less been coasting on past success for a while. He’s comfortable in his life and the chaos that a very public murder trial adds is amusingly disruptive. Robert doesn’t take the disruptions without a fight.

In addition to the weirdly fascinating protagonist, Death On a High Floor is populated with a bizarre collection of characters that range from Robert’s almost impossibly brilliant and effective protégé, Jenna, to a unique gentleman who once went by the name “Top Quark” but no longer does so. We meet an ancient antique coin dealer who may have key knowledge about the motive for murder, but who also wants to talk about fifty-year-old baseball games. Robert hires the defense attorney who does calisthenics to prevent himself from physically assaulting his clients. And there’s also one of the most enjoyably affable private investigators I’ve encountered in fiction in quite some time.

Prior to writing fiction, Rosenberg was a legal consultant on Boston Legal and, if you’re familiar with that show, the absurdist legal elements of this novel won’t surprise you. While I wouldn’t say there’s anything here that’s legally absurd, it would be polite to describe some of what happens in the novel to be a little far-fetched. Although, I have to admit that I am not too familiar with the Los Angeles legal system, so it could also be right on the money. I just know that I found it all highly entertaining.

Death On a High Flood feels in some ways like the synthesis of decades of anecdotes from working in a multinational law firm. The stories of backstabbing, the affairs, the quirky hobbies, the strained relationships with lawyers who attempted to join the firm but were denied, the uneasy relationship between the police and defense counsel, and the endless politics inherent to any loci of power and money. I just found it surprising that the author had been law t.v. adjacent since being a commentator on the O.J. Simpson trial. Just not what I was expecting from the feel of the book.

If the book has a major flaw, though, it’s the ending. Really good build up that doesn’t quite pay off. I don’t feel that the soft ending overly hurts the book, as the rest of the book is so much fun.

Recommended for fans of legal procedurals or anyone who enjoyed the tone of Boston Legal. Avoid if a soft ending ruins a book for you or dubious reality in legal matters annoys.

Ahoy there me mateys! This novella won the World Fantasy Award for Best Novella in 2021 and was a finalist in the novella category for both the 2020 Nebula and Locus awards.  I loved this introduction to the Birdverse.

The Four Profound Weaves. A carpet of wind, a carpet of sand, a carpet of song, and a carpet of bones. Change, wanderlust, hope, and death.

In this story, the two main characters are mid-sixties transgendered characters.  Uiziya is a desert weaver who has been longing to learn how to weave using death.  Her famous aunt Benesret was supposed to teach her but was exiled 40 years ago.  The Nameless Man, a trader, transitioned late in life and is longing to discover his true name and how he belongs in the world.  By transitioning, his sex now matches his gender but he does not fit in his culture's fiercely gendered world.  The bad guy in the story is "The Collector" who takes whatever he wants and rules with an iron grip.  When Uiziya and the Nameless Man set off to answer their questions, they both inadvertently have to deal with The Collector too.

It took me a little bit to settle into how the world worked but it ended up being fascinating.  The world building is lovely.  I loved the deity, Bird, and how it appears differently to each person.  I loved the descriptions of the various cultures.  I adored the desert culture in particular.  The magic system deals with "deepnames" and I find the concept fascinating.  Also I loved the characters so very much.  The writing style was wonderful.  Just be prepared that there is not a lot of explanation for how things work and the reader picks up hints and concepts as they go.

The only minor quibble I have is that the ending was not satisfying to me as it felt a little too philosophical in a way that I didn't enjoy.  But really I do recommend this one to the crew who like stories that feel like ye be reading a myth or fairytale.  Arrrr!

I loved this review by Matey Andreas.  He explains this book much better.  Check it out.