Jessica Strider

Pros: lots of intrigue, interesting fleshed out characters with realistic motivations, multiple forms of magic, good fight scenes

Cons: /

The city of Nexus sits at the crossroads of the realms of the four gods. Since the Sealing 500 years ago they’ve been cut off from the other realms and their world is slowly dying because of it. The four houses are descendants of liaisons between past royals and the gods, and use their magic to help the people as they vie for the throne. Two of the house heirs want to unseal the pathways to save their realm, while the other 2 want political power and the ability to master their gods’ magic. Meanwhile, conjurors, practitioners of forbidden demon magic, have started creating havoc in the city. Godsnight is approaching, when the planets align and with it the heirs’ best hope of breaking the sealing. But what can four humans achieve when the gods have other plans?

There’s a lot going on in this book and you’ll spend the first few chapters trying to get a handle on the heirs, their houses, their various forms of magic, the political intrigues everyone is involved in and the characters various personal goals and problems. There is a handy guide at the start of the book that gives the house name, their god, the family members, and form of magic. Refer to it often until you get to know who’s who.

The characters were all fully fleshed out with varied motivations. Things rarely went in directions I expected and it was a delight seeing what each one would do next. Two of the heirs had overbearing parents and trouble mastering their magic. The other two had easy mastery but other problems to deal with. It was fun watching the various sibling relationships as well, some loving and others confrontational. The different family units felt realistic, including the dysfunctional ones.

The magic was cool. My favourite power was House Vakara’s necromancy, but seeing the light and shadow magics was fun. You don’t see as much of the elemental magic, given Angelica’s difficulties, though you do see others wield the power. The conjuration circles and learning how demon magic worked in this world was also interesting.

The worldbuilding was well done. In addition to the realms and magic, the principle world has several cultures, all represented in Nexus.

The plot is very complex and when the revelations started happening at the end I’d figured out a few twists while others were a complete surprise. There are some great battles, including a massive, multi-chapter one at the end.

If you like dark fantasy with complex characters and multiple plot threads, interesting magic with great worldbuilding, then give this a go. Just be aware that it’s the first of a series and the ending will leave you wanting more.

Pros: economic and political intrigue, utterly fascinating protagonist, interesting pov, keeps you guessing

Cons: not sure the rebel dukes gave their plans proper consideration

Daughter of a huntress, and a blacksmith, and a shield-bearer, Baru Cormorant grew up in Taranoke. Her world changes when the Empire of Masks uses its trade agreement with Taranoke to slowly conquer the land, educating her and other native children in their schools. Horrified by what has been done to her homeland but knowing that the Empire is too vast to fight, Baru resolves to destroy it from the inside. But first she must prove her loyalty and worth to the Empire by using her intelligence to uncover revolt in another conquered land, Aurdwynn.

Before you start reading the book you're greeted by a map. After a quick cursory glance I turned the page. Maps are common in fantasy books and this one wasn't that detailed or complex. But something had caught my eye so I turned back and examined the map in more detail. It's a map of Aurdwynn, showing the duchies and - more interestingly - Baru's comments on the various dukes and what each duchy is known for. There aren't many comments, but the sheer honesty they portray is refreshing and drew me into the story before it had even begun. Through the map we learn that the people of Oathsfire have awful beards, Radaszic is a complete moron, and Erebog is probably going to starve. It's a clever and fun map that peaked my interest.

The novel starts with Baru's childhood and education before heading to Aurdwynn where the rest of the book takes place. This is a book driven by Baru's character and her attempts to understand, control, and outmaneuver the dukes as she tries to organize the country's finances while rooting out rebellion. While there is some fighting, most of the book is concerned with political and economic intrigue.

Baru's a wiz at economics and seeing the big picture of cause and effect. Where she falters is in recognizing that individual people have the ability to cause change outside of the larger picture, meaning she sometimes gets blindsided by not taking individual passions and choices into consideration. It's a wonderfully tense book with a protagonist who's always thinking so many moves ahead you're struggling to understand her current plays. At one point I had to reread a conversation to figure out what she'd read between the lines during it, in order to understand why she was doing certain things. It's a book that will keep you on your toes, second guessing her and everyone else's motives.

I've never read a book that goes over, however briefly, the conquest of a country, so I really appreciated the point of view. It's both fascinating and horrifying, how - and how quickly - the Empire gained power in Taranoke.

After thinking about the book for a few days I find myself wondering how much the rebel dukes considered their plans. They end up making at least once decision that seems to go against their individual interests. A decision I'm not sure they'd be willing to make as it reduces their own power.

I'm not sure I agree with one aspect of the ending, but I really enjoyed the book. I had to read it quickly, but I'd advise taking time to really think about what's going on - to appreciate the decisions Baru makes and the circumstances she finds herself in. It's a fascinating read and I cannot wait to see what happens next.

Pros: fast paced, good world-building, romance elements

Cons:

Due to a power decrease that means the colony won’t last through the next winter, Mickey7 is tasked with retrieving the anti-matter bomb he supposedly left with the creepers two years ago. But when he goes to get it, it’s not in the rock pile where he left it.

This is a fast paced continuation of Mickey7. I loved learning more about the new world and seeing a few more alien species. Mickey has to make a lot of difficult decisions and it’s fascinating seeing what he’ll do.

I loved Mickey’s relationship with Nasha. It was nice seeing a committed couple work together to save their colony.

There’s a fair amount of action as well as some attempts at diplomacy. I thought the author did a good job of showing that different species think in different ways and that communication isn’t always straightforward.

If you like light-hearted science fiction these books are fantastic.

Pros: interesting characters, compelling drama

Cons: takes several chapters to learn necessary vocabulary

Centuries ago humanity nearly destroyed earth and made a hash of terraforming Mars. Since then, they’ve been confined to earth while their distant offspring, alloys, exploring the universe. When a human habitable planet is discovered, a vote to decide whether humans should be allowed to expand into the universe again is proposed. Jayanthi wants to be more than a human raised by alloys, confined to earth. When she discovers that her sickle cell disease makes her suitable to live in the higher oxygenated air of Meru, she petitions to be allowed to live there for a year as an experiment. Only a newly graduated alloy pilot agrees to bring her there. But some alloys remember what humans did the last time they were allowed to expand past Earth. And they’ve got plans to make sure this experiment fails and the vote goes their way.

There’s quite a learning curve as the book throws a lot of new vocabulary and concepts at you with no info dumps. It takes a few chapters to get a real grip on this future world and how humans and alloys co-exist. It can feel overwhelming, but once you understand the background and have been introduced to the characters, the plot kicks in and the story moves on to the titular planet. The world-building is astonishing.

The plot centres around the personalities of Jayanthi and Vaha and their developing relationship. It’s a forbidden romance that faces a lot of complications. Though young and full of self-doubt, they’re both delightful and I thoroughly enjoyed seeing them try to solve various problems.

According to the acknowledgements, the story is based on the Indian epic, the Mahabharata. I’ve never read it and so cannot comment on how the author handled the source material, but I did appreciate all of the Indian inspired names, scents and foods used throughout the book. Each chapter is named after a Sanskrit word.

There are variously gendered entities, which can take some getting used to and adds to the alienness of the alloys.

After the first few chapters, I found this a quick, compelling read.

Pros: thought provoking, unique mechanic

Cons:

When people move between boarders there's a chance that their curiosity and uncertainty will create an instance of themselves, a version that stays behind while they move forwards, allowing them to, in essence, live both possible futures. When Soyoung and her mother moved from Korea to the United States, they left instances behind. Twenty years later, now going by Rose, she's invited to visit Korea for her grandfather's funeral where she meets her instance that stayed in Korea for the first time. She doesn't know that her grandfather has left her some possessions in his will. She doesn't know that her instance is considering his dying wish, for them to reintegrate.

The book is told from the alternating points of view of Rose and Soyoung, with Yj and Yujin also getting chapters later in the book. Chapter headings explain whose point of view you're inhabiting. The narratives are first person present, which gives the book a feeling of immediacy. It's strange to read though, and took a while to get used to.

I love how the author uses historical literature to give intancing a historical precident. It makes the idea feel weightier. The idea of instancing itself is a unique mechanic for examining how people act and how their own histories change them. It's especially interesting to see how the characters actions and desires change as they learn more about themselves as the book progresses. The book seems to propose that the conditions that lead to forming an instance upon crossing a border also leaves both parts less decisive moving forward. They end up in a state of stasis, unable to move forward with their lives. The book's premise poses a lot of thought provoking questions.

I wasn't really a fan of Rose or Soyoung, as they're not the nicest people. But I found them compelling characters to follow. At times I wanted to take one or both of them aside and tell them to think about the consequences of their actions before they did something drastic. I started out liking Yj and Yujin more, though my feelings toward them became complicated as their relationship became more complex

The book includes a lot of untranslated and unexplained Korean terms. They're mostly food items, but some cultural terms are used too. I felt a little left out as a result, as I couldn't fully understand the text, but I don't think it harms the book at all. And honestly, feeling a little left out gives me a window into how all of the protagonists in the book feel. That the other version of themselves had what they lack. Obviously there will be some readers who know all the Korean, so I suspect this was just a thematically lucky coincidence.

The more I think about the book the more layers I uncover. And there's a lot to think about. It's a challenging, brilliant first novel.