Obviously, I couldn’t go on vacation without throwing at least one book by T. Kingfisher on my vacation read pile, and since I am a completist at hearObviously, I couldn’t go on vacation without throwing at least one book by T. Kingfisher on my vacation read pile, and since I am a completist at heart, the first one I thought of was the last book from the White Rat universe I still hadn’t gotten around to, “Swordheart”. I had avoided that one because the summary seemed to indicate it leaned further into the romance aspect than the other books she wrote which are set in this universe, but hey, I was going to be chilling by the lake with a glass of wine, a little romantic crap won’t hurt.
Well, first off, the summary mislead me: this is as much a romance as any of the “Saints of Steel” books, so yeah, it’s a central element, but the setting and the characters are so strong and interesting that the romance never feels silly or forced or unrealistic.
Halla is a middle-aged widow and has been taking care of her ailing uncle (by marriage) for years, and when he dies, he leaves his estate to her instead of leaving it to his other relatives, who are not too happy about that. They lock Halla up and plan to force her to marry her late husband’s brother in order to keep the house and the money in the family. Finding no solution to this situation, she takes a old sword her late uncle had hung up on a wall of her bedroom, with the intention to kill herself. But when she pulls the blade out, a man appears out of thin air. Apparently, the sword was enchanted with a guardian, and the act of wielding the sword means Halla is now the person he must serve and protect…
Halla can certainly be annoying and comes across as dim-witted because she is sheltered and inexperiened, but she’s a lot smarter than she lets on, and for very good reason. Kingfisher is very insightful, and I love the way she managed to write about the way women have to develop weird coping mechanisms in order to not be killed and/or rapped – even in a fantasy universe as cozy as hers. Her dynamic with Sarkis, who has the mercenary with a heart of gold thing down to an art, is hilarious and eventually really tender. I know it’s fluffy as fuck, but I did enjoy how they are better working together than apart because their strengths compliment each other and all that pap. It's cute and wholesome.
I was also quite happy to see Brindle the gnole again, and I was glad he had an ox to take care of (that gnole loves his ox), and Zale is a perfect example of why I love the Temple of the White Rat so much: help people and get things done should be the motto of any religious institution worth it’s salt. And the not-possessed-but-definitely-not-normal bird deserves a special mention as the weirdest pet I ever read about.
This is a Kingfisher book, so it’s funny and inventive, her characters are awkward and realistic, her world-building is a great riff on the usual fantasy tropes, managing to be both familiar are alien at the same time – and like her other “White Rat” books, reading it felt like drinking a lovely mug of hot chocolate with plenty of marshmallows. Also, I want to go live there: there are jerks, but it seems like a generally great place to live.
Don’t skip this one if you love this woman’s work: it deserves a space on your cozy but smart fantasy shelf!...more
This was the book that got my friend Erika hooked on T. Kingfisher, and she is the one who got me reading the “Saints of Steel” novels, so I felt likeThis was the book that got my friend Erika hooked on T. Kingfisher, and she is the one who got me reading the “Saints of Steel” novels, so I felt like I should check it out, as this is basically patient zero of this cozy fantasy epidemic I have been spreading all year. Now a word of warning: this is definitely more of a YA novel than the other Kingfisher works I have been reading and reviewing! But it’s still loads of fun, completely original and features a plucky heroine who has no idea what she’s doing, but she’s going to do her best!
Mona works in her aunt’s bakery as an apprentice, but she is not an ordinary baker: she is a magician, and she can do some very unusual things with dough! Nothing she considers to be especially remarkable, but it certainly makes her work more interesting. Until the morning when she finds a dead body in the bakery, of course. Too much summary would spoil this very fun little book, so I won’t go into details, but sufficed to say that Mona will uncover a conspiracy festering at the heart of her city-state and will have to be inventive and brave to save herself and those she loves.
Mona is a fantastic heroine, very aware that she is 14 and that none of this is supposed to be happening to her and that she has to do this because grown ups have failed – and I loved her so much. I also envy her relationship with her sourdough starter, Bob, because I was never an ambitious enough baker to go near sourdough – even after years of making my own no-knead bread at home.
This is a fun little romp, but I do prefer Kingfisher’s work aimed at so-called grown-ups. However, her ideas, humor and insight is present in every page, and it’s well-worth checking out if you enjoy her work....more
Early this year, I got a nasty cold and spent a couple of days on the couch in a NyQuil haze. This seemed like a good time to my severely addled brainEarly this year, I got a nasty cold and spent a couple of days on the couch in a NyQuil haze. This seemed like a good time to my severely addled brain to watch "Elvis" and "Priscilla" back-to-back. Both are incredible, albeit wildly different works of art. The first is bombastic, loud, glittery, and borderline hallucinogenic (or maybe that was the cold medicine) and the second is quiet, subdued and elegant. I don’t have a favorite, in case you are wondering: I never thought of those movies as competing to tell the same story, that’s really not what’s going on here. But "Priscilla" made me very curious about the book it was based on, Priscilla Beaulieu Prestley’s memoirs of meeting, falling in love with and living with Elvis. I wanted to see what Sofia Coppola had not put on the screen.
I want to clarify that while I really enjoy a lot of his music, I am a very moderate Elvis fan. His musical legacy is massive, but it’s also complicated, so I enjoy his work, but I never really idolized him.
While I read this book, I kept thinking: "poor, sweet little Cilla…"
The term ‘grooming’ is kind of weird, isn’t it? English is not my first language, and the first time I heard it, I thought of the lovely lady who used to trim my long-haired cat’s fur into a lion cut every summer. That’s not what it means, of course: it means to subtly (or overtly, in some cases) manipulate a generally young and inexperienced person into an idealized partner, the implication being that they don’t know any better, which puts them in a position where they are almost always being taken advantage of, if not simply abused. I thought about that term a lot while reading this, because dang! What Elvis did here is kind of textbook…
Priscilla was 14 years old when she first met Elvis. I tried to remember what I was like at 14, and I admit that’s far enough to be quite fuzzy now. I know I would have loved the attention, especially if it came from the biggest heartthrob of my generation. But even at that age, a ten-year difference would have felt like a lot… And while she insists, repeatedly, that Elvis was always nothing but a gentleman to her, that nothing he ever did was weird or perverted and that they didn’t have penetrative sex until they were married… she also often says that he taught her how to dress, how to do her hair and make up, how to keep house, and shared his drugs with her very liberally. I believe her when she says that he would never have hurt her or let anything bad happen to her, but at the same time, what he did was still manipulative and controlling. He didn’t like it when she talked back, when she behaved (in his words) like a man, by being strong and fighting back, he didn’t want her to go to college or get a job. Poor Cilla basically had to divorce him to have the space and the freedom to discover who she was, and I can’t help but find that tragic.
The book is strangely paced: they only get married in the second half of the book, and while they weren’t married very long, it still feels uneven. Priscilla loved Elvis with her whole heart (and probably still does) and she clearly wants to keep all her memories of him good, and that’s the way she spins – consciously or not. I don’t not get it; it must be difficult to think of such a major part of your life having been abusive. But from an outsider’s perspective, there is something off about what she thinks of as a great love story.
That said, her writing is sweet, if not terribly sophisticated, and while I often felt sad for how isolated she was during her years in Graceland, I also enjoyed learning what it was like living at the heart of this almost legendary place. It’s a shame that Elvis kept her so sheltered, because I think he might have been impressed with the woman she became....more
I’m not sure how this novella by Kealan Patrick Burke slipped under my radar, but ‘better late than never’ will be my epitaph, as I am constantly catcI’m not sure how this novella by Kealan Patrick Burke slipped under my radar, but ‘better late than never’ will be my epitaph, as I am constantly catching up! I have been a fan of Burke’s work for a long time; he is an amazing storyteller, he really knows how to find the horror in the mundane and grief is a theme he has explored often, with chilling results.
Mark’s grandmother passed away, and between this lost and the realization that the girl he loves will never love him back, he decides he is done with this small town and needs to move on. He decides that spending the evening alone at home after his grandmother’s funeral is a bad call, so he decides to go into work, as a bartender at a seaside resort past his prime. An epic snowstorm rolls into town, and while the guests and staff start going home, those who stay behind are surprised to welcome a last-minute group reservation…
Sure, Burke spends some time setting up the story, and maybe a few details could have been dropped, but once it gets going… If you’ve read other works by Burke before, you know he cranks up tension and horror elements very skillfully. I think he is also especially good a shorter form stories, and this novella is perfectly sized for an evening – though I would recommend reading it in summer…
As is often the case with him, Burke wraps up his story with a strange and unsettling twist. While this novella may not be his best work, it would be a wonderful introduction if you’ve never read his stories before, and if you have enjoyed his twisted imagination in the past, don’t miss this one!...more
This might be a cliché, but “The Last Unicorn” is one of my favorite books. I have watched the beautiful movie more times than I can count, I have theThis might be a cliché, but “The Last Unicorn” is one of my favorite books. I have watched the beautiful movie more times than I can count, I have the gorgeous graphic novel adaptation and I even have, yep you guessed it, a tattoo of the unicorn leaving her forest to try and find others like her on my right arm. It’s a very special story for me, obviously, and when I heard that Peter S. Beagle had written a book about dragons, I lost my mind with excitement. Quick confession: I like dragons more than unicorns. Not that unicorns aren’t badass, but… dragons are badass-er…
Beagle has a wonderful gift for subverting fantasy tropes (his middle-aged - unmarried! - damsel and incompetent magician are nothing if not iconoclastic) and his dragons are not the menacing beasts knights must vanquish in order to win favors from fair ladies. No, his dragons are house pests, basically like big, annoying rats that breathe fire and lay eggs in your walls. And his main character here is not a fearless hero, but a dragon exterminator with strong views about compassionate killing. He is hired by a princess who wants to rid her castle of a dragon infestation before a prince she means to woo comes to visit. As you can expect from Beagle, none of them quite fit the mold that they are meant to conform to, and it is a pleasure to watch them grow into themselves.
This book was at the very top of my vacation read pile, and I gobbled it up greedily. Robert, Cerise and Reginald were so lovely to spend time with and watch grow, and I loved every minute spent in their company. Not unlike “The Last Unicorn”, this book is a lot about transformation, about figuring out who you are and what you want your life to be. Beagle understands what makes fairy tales universal and manages to distill that quality into his stories through lovely prose and unique characters. He has a definite old-fashioned edge to him, though, so this would be best for people who love his unicorn stories, but also for the kind of people who still love “The Princess Bride” even if they are now solidly middle-aged.
It only lost a star because it was over too soon, and I would have loved to explore that world a bit more fully, spend more time with the dragons Robert rescues, and to see what Cerise will accomplish. A sweet and cozy fantasy from a master, not to be missed!
I have a tiny bone to pick with the publishers: a paperback version of this book was supposed to come out, with a lovely cover illustration, and I had pre-ordered it and then the edition got cancelled. What gives, Simon & Schuster? I’ll manage with the Kindle version for now, but it would be great if we could get a paperback eventually!...more
Robert Jackson Bennett is one of those writers in whom I have total and blind faith: if he has a book coming out, I am pre-ordering it and that’s thatRobert Jackson Bennett is one of those writers in whom I have total and blind faith: if he has a book coming out, I am pre-ordering it and that’s that. While his most recent series, the “Founders” trilogy was not quite as awesome as his “Divine Cities” trilogy, it was still incredibly unique and fun. This new offering has been described as a Sherlock Holmes style mystery within a fantasy setting. And that is more than enough to get my attention!
I made the mistake of taking the book with me to the office and cracking it open during my lunch break. I was never so annoyed with having to go back to work after lunch, because 2 chapters in and I was already totally hooked. Bennett has a gift for incredible world-building that he sort of gently eases the reader in, giving you a wonderful feel for his setting before he’s even really described it.
As this is a murder-mystery, I will keep it brief and spoiler free, but here is what you need to know:
-The world-building is (as I have come to expect from Bennett) both weird and unique, drawing inspiration from familiar sources but flipping them on their heads to give the reader a glimpse of a place unlike any they have visited before. An entire society built around the idea of defending itself from threats that rise from the ocean every year and a surprising approach to transhumanism make the world of Daretana much closer to sci-fi than to fantasy, despite being a pre-industrial society, and I loved it! I actually wished he would have expanded that world-building even more: hopefully, the world expands in volume 2 and 3 of this trilogy!
-Bennett’s characters are never stereotypical, regardless of genre standards, and I find that refreshing every time. Ana and Din are obviously the most fleshed out, and maybe the supporting characters could have used a little more time and development, but they were intriguing creations I was happy to spend time with them, see how they react to the events and interact.
-The mystery has very interesting twists and turns that surprised me and kept me glued to the page and curious to see what the investigation would uncover next. The way it all unfolds sets up an interesting future in this world, and I am greatly looking forward to the next installment!
Now you might be wondering why 4 stars instead of 5. I think that compared to other books that Bennett wrote, this one feels a bit rushed. I think that he could have made it even better by giving it more breathing room, and letting us get better acquainted with his world, it’s baroque social structure and politics and the characters. I will be back for more, of course, but this one left me wanting just a little bit more than I would have liked for the first part of a trilogy.
If you have enjoyed Robert Jackson Bennett’s other works, you will certainly love this one too! If you are new to his work, this is a good place to start and see if his (totally underrated, in my opinion) imagination is for you!...more
I have to start pacing myself with these books: I originally meant to save them for vacation reading, but there I went and gobbled one up during a worI have to start pacing myself with these books: I originally meant to save them for vacation reading, but there I went and gobbled one up during a work week. Oups. Back to 17th century Bavaria I go!
In the third book of Oliver Potzsch’s amazingly entertaining and well-written series of historical murder-mysteries, we follow Jakob Kuisl away from his home in the small town of Schongau to the city of Regensburg: he is summoned there by a letter from his brother-in-law, explaining that his sister is dying, and would like to see him before she passes. But when he gets to the city gate, he is arrested and help overnight by the guards. When they finally let him go, he arrives at his sister’s house only to find her and her husband murdered, their throats slashed open – and of course, he is immediately arrested for the crime. Meanwhile, his daughter Magdalena gets fed up with the laws that won’t allow her to marry Simon, her long-time suitor, and they decide to run away together to the city… of Regensburg. Of course, when they get there, they soon find out that Jakob has been imprisoned for a crime Magdalena cannot believe him to have committed, and decide to find out who really is behind this set-up before her father is tortured and executed.
This book was just as much fun as the previous two: Potzsch is a talented story-teller, and has created brilliant characters with the Kuisl (though created might be the wrong word, and his actual ancestor was a Jakob Kuisl who was the executioner in the small town of Schongau in the late 1600s) and their friends and allies. In the second book, Magdalena was the one who experienced fierce jealously when Simon befriended a woman, and in this one, the tables have turned; I personally really enjoy that these two lovebirds have a complicated relationship and wrestle with insecurities even if they have strong feelings for each other.
I think I can be good and wait for my next vacation to crack open the 4th book. I think. Very recommended for fans of pre-forensic science mysteries!...more
I devoured “The Hangman’s Daughter” over a couple of days during a week off, and I had to get the second book of this series almost as soon as I finisI devoured “The Hangman’s Daughter” over a couple of days during a week off, and I had to get the second book of this series almost as soon as I finished the first one. Oliver Potzsch historical murder mysteries are absolute catnip to me, and the second book of this series is just as fun as the first!
The priest of a quiet village dies of poisoning, leaving a strange and cryptic clue behind in his last moment. Jakob Kuisl, the Schongau hangman, tries to figure out what the priest meant for people to find out, aided by his daughter, her suitor and the priest’s sister. As they realize that they may be after a fabled Knights Templar treasure, they also realize that they are not the only ones looking for it, and that the others in pursuit of this treasure are leaving a trail of bodies behind.
Those books are difficult to summarize further without giving anything away, and the plot twists are simply too much fun to spoil. This book might bring to mind a certain mediocre best-seller about following weird cryptic clues leading to a treasure, but believe me, this is infinitely better written and more interesting! I am amazed with how fascinated we still are with the Templars and all the rumors surrounding the organization. I made a special detour the first time I went to Paris to visit the spot where Jacques de Molay was executed, so yeah, give me all the Templar stories, thank you!
Potzsch continues to use the character of Magdalena as the center of his stories, and she definitely becomes more active in his installment, though that also means she gets into a lot of trouble. She is stubborn, smart but also much too impulsive and emotional, and I enjoyed her character development as a strong but flawed woman trying to find a place for herself in a society that doesn’t accommodate people like her well.
These are super fun, historical page-turners, and I had to read the third one very soon after I wrapped this one up. Consider me hooked!...more
I appear to be an outlier with my rating of this book… I should mention that I don’t recall why I downloaded a copy of it on my Kindle: this is not usI appear to be an outlier with my rating of this book… I should mention that I don’t recall why I downloaded a copy of it on my Kindle: this is not usually the sort of books I read, but I imagine I must have been curious. The subtitle “A stunning exploration of relationships and sexuality in the modern world” is certainly catchy! And as I read it, I soon realized what bothered me about it: it’s too perfect.
Let me explain.
Sophie Valentine is in her early 30s, she lives just outside of London with her husband Paul, who travels a lot for work. She works as a receptionist at the gym she frequents, which is not what she wanted to do for a living, but her career had a lot of false-starts and she ended up settling in her stop-gap gig. Her and Paul are happy, but they are stuck in a rut, has becomes evident when he points out that their sex life has become predictable. This sends Sophie into a spin, but when she cools off, she begins to reflect on her life, particularly the fact that she feels she has not really explored her sexuality in a way that would lead her to a fulfilling sex life. She discusses this with Paul, who is very supportive of her decision to figure out what her fantasies are and to explore them, and see if she can make them a reality. Along the way, the new-found confidence leads her to a great job interview and trial event in the industry she has always wanted to work in.
So.
In theory, all of that is amazing. I love sex, I read and write a ton of smut, I strongly believe there is no age limit to sexual exploration and experimentation. It is, of course, all about communication, and Sophie and Paul’s conversations, that pick apart her curiosity and her interests, are the textbook example of how these things should be discussed with a partner. And this is where my brain went “wait a minute”. Those conversations. Go. So. Well. Surreally well. Paul is so chill with Sophie deciding to take nude selfies and post them online, to hop on dating sites and meet men. As long as he gets pictures of it all, he’s happy as a clam. I’m not saying that’s impossible, I’m saying that’s awfully convenient (it must also be noted that as the story is told entirely from Sophie’s perspective, we never really get to see how Paul feels about any of this beyond what he tells her).
Add to that the fact that Sophie is a beautiful blonde with big boobs, who works out a lot, so she has a great body. That’s awesome, except that I have never met someone who had zero insecurities about their bodies. I also noted the numerous mentions of her perfectly smooth… ahem, lady parts. It’s hard for me to think of her very realistically when she is constantly (self) described as so flawless. Not really relatable!
Speaking of perfection, every man she meets is handsome, fit, well-hung and perfectly happy to be photographed and filmed in the act. She has one bad date, which is not really that bad, it’s just a close encounter with a cad.
Maybe it’s just me, but I like my erotica a bit more realistic and gritty. I like the psychological aspect of human sexuality to be explored a bit more in depths. Sure, it’s feminist as hell that she decides that she is going to take control of her body and sex-life, it’s awesome that she has the opportunity and support of a loving spouse, but there no conflict or resistance at all on Sophie’s journey, and that doesn’t really make for a compelling story, in my humble opinion. I would have loved this if it had explored her hang-ups, her trauma, her insecurities, if it had described bad experiences, stumbling blocks along the way of her sexual awakening. But this was basically a smooth-sailing fantasy fulfillment.
On the plus side, the smut was fun! Sophie's fantasies are actually quite common, and it's nice to see them discussed honestly - and shamelessly!...more
I may have discovered my perfect vacation read with this series! I remember it being on sale for Kindle, and thinking that a murder mystery set in 17tI may have discovered my perfect vacation read with this series! I remember it being on sale for Kindle, and thinking that a murder mystery set in 17th century Bavaria sounded cool… and then not really giving it a second thought for ages. When we left for a week by the lake, I decided to try and read everything still unread on my Kindle and I was reminded of “The Hangman’s Daughter”. As soon as I was done, I immediately downloaded the second book and devoured that one, too!
In the village of Schongau, the hangman, Jakob Kuisl, leads an interesting life: his work keeps him on the fringe of society, but people discreetly visit him and his daughter Magdalena, as they are better healers than the town’s physician. When a small child is fished out of the river, beaten to death, with a strange mark inked on his skin, people immediately suspect the local midwife. Kuisl know she had nothing to do with it, but he is charged with torturing her until she confesses. When more similarly marked children are found dead and the villagers’ paranoia increases, the hangman, his daughter, and Magdalena’s suitor (ironically, the son of the useless local physician) realize they have very little time to find the actual murderer and bring him to justice to save the midwife’s life.
If I had to review it in four words, I would just say: this was so cool. The description of life in a small German town in 1659 was fascinating, the characters are well-drawn out and the pacing kept me completely hooked. I was so excited when I realized that the author based this entirely fictional story on his ancestor – who was actually a hangman named Jakob Kuisl! So flipping rad! I knew little about this historical period, and was fascinated to learn about the social status of executioners and how their trade actually works. Of course, Potzsch has no idea what his ancestor was actually like, but he made Kuisl into an interesting and layered man, haunted by his past, living his life as honestly as he can, with a strong moral compass. And of course, the spirited Magdalena is just as clever as him - a strong female character that nevertheless remains perfectly believable for the time period.
Obviously, I had so much fun reading this, and I recommend it to anyone who enjoys historical murder-mysteries; you will not be disappointed with “The Hangman’s Daughter”!...more
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