Jessica Strider

Pros: lots of twists, great characters, interesting magic system

Cons:

Three years have passed since the events at the Mountain. Orso, Berenice, Sancia and Gregor have created a library for scrivers in Foundryside. But after celebrating a major acquisition, Valeria, the hierophantic construct, warns them that Crasedes Magnus, first hierophant, is being reborn. The gang jumps into action, using their various skills to stop the most powerful entity in existence from enacting his plan.

This is a real rollercoaster of a read. There are so many twists as the group faces off against several powerful enemies. I was really shocked by some of things that happened.

The characters were great and felt fully developed. Berenice and Sancia have such a loving relationship. While it was unfortunate seeing Gregor's pain, I appreciated that his unresolved trauma was dealt with.

The author continues to do interesting things with the unique magic system. I loved seeing the various ways twinning could be used.

This book didn't wrap us as nicely as the previous one, nor does it end on a similar positive note. While it's not exactly a cliffhanger, it will leave you wishing the third book in the series was already out.

Pros: lots of intrigue, thought provoking, nuanced

Cons: /

This is the third book in the Masquerade series, with a 4th book on the way. If you haven't read the previous two books recently, it's worth doing a reread as there's so much nuance that you'll be lost if you don't remember the details of all that's happened.

The book is told from several points of view including: Baru, Xate Yawa, Aminata, and Svir. There are scenes set in the ‘now', contrasted with a direct continuation of the events from book 2 as well as scenes set 23 years prior, continuing Tau-indi's story of when Cosgrad and Farrier stayed with the Mbo princes.

It's not a quick read. There's so much going on and so much nuance that I often had to stop to process what the characters were doing and what that might mean for their future. It's easy to fall into Baru's trap of forgetting there are other players on the board when she acts. Each time I assumed things would go the way she'd foreseen because she's a savant, but everyone in the story has their own motivations and few align with hers, so there's generally a mess of consequences you don't expect.

It's a book filled with hard truths about colonialism, racism, sexism, and what people and nations will do to gain power over others, and what they'll do to keep that power. As such, it's very thought provoking, forcing you to see people and ideas from varied perspectives. In several instances the author uses reversed language to get these ideas across, so 'matronize' instead of ‘patronize', ‘anti-mannist' instead of ‘feminist', etc.

I was surprised that I still found Baru a sympathetic and likeable character after all she's done. I still want her to succeed. With all the horrors going on (and there are a lot of them) there's still a sense of hope to the story, that in the end things just might work out the way Baru wants. I even started to like Yawa, which was kind of a shock given her previous actions. I really enjoyed seeing Tau-indi's growth, overcoming what happened to them at the end of the last book. It felt like the various characters were all growing as people, learning more about the world and themselves and really taking a look a the world they were making and deciding if their choices had helped or not.

While this isn't the series end, this book does tie up several plot threads into a satisfying climax. I can't wait for the final book to wrap up all the remaining loose ends.

Pros: good worldbuilding, interesting setting and characters

Cons: opening felt a bit slow

When the newly trained assassin Amastan discovers a drum chief's body hidden on a rooftop, he's tasked with proving that his clan of assassins wasn't responsible. But the unknown killer isn't the only danger, as the unquieted jaani (souls) of the murdered are restless, not dissipating as they ought, and trying to possess new bodies. With few leads Amastan's time is running out, even as he befriends the servant of the first victim and begins to feel love for the first time.

It took me a while to warm to Amastan. The first few chapters show how undecided and hesitant he is, trying to plan things to perfection. As his relationship with various characters grew, I started to like him a lot more. It was interesting seeing the assassin clan portrayed as merely helping the city get rid of bad people. It makes the concept and characters easier to sympathize with.

I was surprised Tamella, his trainer and head assassin, left him to solve the murder without any advice or consultation. I can understand that she couldn't investigate things herself, but she had knowledge that would have aided Amastan. Instead she simply blamed him for not solving it fast enough despite his having no training in detective work.

The worldbuilding was really good. I did like that Amastan and the other assassin trainees had real jobs to pay bills and keep occupied around their secondary craft. I also liked that they actually worked at those jobs. Menna's work with the elders, quieting jaani was interesting. The jaani themselves were cool and terrifying. I also liked seeing the healers dependent on water for their work, and how towards the end of the season that's problematic as the desert city must ration it. Reading characters running across rooftops and down narrow alleys was entertaining.

While I figured out who the killer was fairly early, it was still interesting seeing the story unfold.

It was a fun, quick read.

Pros: historical accuracy, shows both sides of the conflict

Cons: some graphic violence

During the eruption of mount Vesuvius, Lucius Quinctillius Claudianus rushes to record the events of his time as a Roman legionary serving in Germania.

The frame story of the old Lucius is told in the first person, present tense. But when the narrative switches to the past, it's third person and occasionally alternates to the point of view of a female barbarian he befriends, Freya.

As far as I can tell the author did a remarkable job of maintaining historical accuracy. There's more detail at times than I needed about the various Roman legions and where Lucius was marching in relation to other groups, but on the whole I loved the depth of detail in this novelization.

Bringing in Freya as a point of view character allowed the author to examine several issues from both the Roman and Germanic perspective. Lucius questions the Roman way a fair bit (largely due to Freya's influence) but it's still nice to see the various Germanic tribes humanized and shown off as being different from rather than lesser than the Romans. The author also does a great job of showing that neither side is inherently evil or good, and that when necessary, both are capable of horrific acts of brutality.

There are some graphic descriptions of brutal events. Some people are crucified, decapitated heads are staked to trees, there's mention that one group of female prisoners will likely be raped before being sold into slavery. While mentioned once or twice, there's no sexual content in the book.

If you're interested in the Roman military and its interactions with different tribes, this is engaging and accurate.

Pros: good world-building, interesting characters

Cons: the world is brutal, begins with a rape

Gilene is the village of Beroe's sacrifice for the Rites of Spring, and due to her ability to control fire, has been for the past few years. Her actions keep the other women in her village safe from harm but extract a severe price from her. When she's recognized through her illusion spell by the Gladiator Prime Azarion, he blackmails her into helping him escape the coliseum and the Empire itself. As a fire witch, he needs her to reclaim his rightful place as heir to his clan.

This is a fantasy novel that follows the beats of a category romance novel. Despite it's happily ever ending though, the world is brutal and the book itself begins by explaining that the heroine has been raped in the past as part of her duties as a sacrifice, while graphically showing the rape of the hero by the Empress, a scene I could have done without.

These actions set a tone for the book that I was never able to recover from. The author does a great job of showing how, over time, the couple begins to overcome their meeting (Azarion's abduction and threatening of Gilene) to slowly kindle romantic feeling for each other. A fair amount of time passes over the course of the book, making this feel believable.

I really liked both Gilene and Azarion as characters. Gilene is responsible and pragmatic, even in the face of her imposed ‘duty'. The scene at the beginning where she disrobes, ready to be raped and done, is heartwrenching but really does show what a survivor she is. Azarion has lived through similar horrors and I was surprised that this was never used as a way to bring them closer together emotionally - that they never talked to each other (or other characters) as a way of dealing with and trying to heal from their traumas. I did like his determination and spirit and learning about his tribe was interesting.

Their rape is never formally addressed between them and thus hangs over everything they do. When they finally make love, Gilene thinks back to the last man she was with (ie, her previous rape). Not only is this off-putting to the reader it shows that she's never really dealt with the trauma of the horrors she's been through. Thinking back on this later, I wish the author had eased them into the physicallity of sex as much as she'd eased them into their emotional connection. Yes, they share a bed and end up cuddling, but there's no measure of, this is how sex with a willing partner differs from an unwilling, and I think the characters (and I as a reader) needed that. I also think it would have been interesting to see Azarion discuss how his only (only recent at any rate) experiences of sex were violent and filled with fear and anger, asking for advice on how to give (and feel) pleasure. I found it bizarre that the author would bring up such a heavy emotional event and then not try to show actual healing via therapy of some sort. Because as much as Gilene's pragmatism makes her willing to undergo rape, that's not the same as healing from it and being ready for an actual emotional and physical connection.

The world-building was very good. I liked that there are several types of magic and that some magics come with a cost. There are several interconnected political and economic groups (the Empire, various tribes, guilds, tradesmen). The Savatar were fleshed out as a people with a lot of customs setting them off from the Empire.

I loved that both characters get satisfying climaxes for their different plot arcs. The ending was great.

If you're looking for a feel good, fluffy read, give this a pass. If you like grimdark fantasy but want more romance, this is for you.

Pros: lots of large illustrations and photographs, goes over the entire process, easy to read

Cons: some extraneous information, refutes bad information by first teaching it to the reader

The book consists of six chapters: The Age of the Cathedrals; Patronage, Financing, and the Workshop Committee; The Architect; Before Reaching the Cathedral Construction-site; The Cathedral Construction-site; and The Memory of the Builders. I was hoping for a more in depth explanation of how cathedrals are built, from beginning to end. This turned out to be a very basic primer of the process. Turns out that's all I really needed. There are over 200 colour photos, making this is a luscious book. It's oversized so the photos are also quite large. There's a good mix with a lot of building images and photos from various cathedrals.

The emphasis here is on French cathedrals and guilds, branching out briefly to touch on other places. I found it a bit annoying how the author kept refuting beliefs. Yes, it's important to correct misconceptions but I'd prefer that be done by simply explaining the correct answer rather than taking up room to teach the bad information first. I also found the short chapter on whether a modern French confraternity descends from the medieval guilds unnecessary.

The last chapter includes information on a sketchbook that survives from the middle ages which reproduces many cathedral design elements. That was fantastic. I also appreciated the translations of some of the guild regulations for stonecutters.

This is a basic guide to the construction of cathedrals - from start to finish - whose illustrations really make it worth the price.

Pros: lots of images, covers a range of topics

Cons: no glossary for vestments

This is part of a series of books by the J. Paul Getty Museum where works of art (mostly paintings) have aspects highlighted to give a deeper appreciation of the artworks and their meanings. After the introduction there are 5 chapters in this book: Liturgical Objects and Furnishings; Clothes, Vestments, and Status; Worship and Images; Episodes in the History of the Western Church; and Historical Figures in the Roman Church Tradition.

This book is not a linear history of the Catholic Church. It is a guide to help you identify items of Catholic worship (clothing and implements) as well as important people and events in works of art.

I enjoyed learning about the various church implements, some of which I've learned to recognize and some of which I was unfamiliar with. This section was great as each implement was dealt with individually with at least one or two images.

I was hoping the section on vestments would go over each item of clothing so I could get a better understanding of what each one was. Instead the chapter dealt more with status, showing different orders (monks, priests, cardinals) and what they would wear. While there were some textual notes pointing out the various individual items of clothing (alb, cope, etc) it would have been nice to get a glossary of terms with simple images to better teach these terms.

The paintings used as examples were mostly from the later middle ages to the 1800s and covered a good mix of topics and people. I appreciated the number of explanatory notes each one received.

The chapters on historical episodes and figures covered a fair range of topics. There were a few I'd have added, but on the whole I thought they did a good job.

If you are interested in Christian art or the history of the Catholic church, this is a great book.

Pros: good exploration of a challenging topic, lots of examples, thoroughly examines sources

Cons: sometimes uses fictional narratives as if they were accurate historical works, didn't properly clarify that Ethiopia does not mean the current country, repeats information

The book consists of 8 chapters: Beginnings, Inventions/Reinventions (race studies), State/Nation (Jews), War/Empire (Islamic “Saracens”), Color (Africans), World I (Native Americans as mentioned in the Vinland sagas), World II (Mongol Empire), World III (Romani). There is no conclusion but there are a lot of notes after each chapter.

The ‘Beginnings' introductory chapter gives a brief overview of what each chapter covers. Chapter one deals with the idea that race is a modern construct and that racism as understood today didn't exist in the Middle Ages. The author pulls that argument apart with a few quick examples of how Jews were treated in England (wearing a symbol on their clothes, accusations of blood/murder libel, the Jewish exchequer). She also quickly goes over the mappamundi that gained popularity in the 13th century, with their ‘monstrous races' around the edges of the known European world and how the English wrote about the Irish, Welsh, and Scottish closer to home. She concludes this chapter with a quick example of race as it pertains to colour, specifically black Africans.

With the foundation set, the author moves to the heart of the matter starting with how the Jews were perceived in Medieval England specifically. The first two chapters were a struggle for me as the language was hard to parse, being very academic and dense. As the book progressed the language became more accessible and I found the rest of it easier going. The author repeated some information within chapters, which is great if you're only reading one section but could get annoying at times when reading the whole thing.

I was impressed with the extent to which the author dissected her sources.

The author had the habit of giving very brief mention to things that should have been emphasized more. For example, in the chapter on black Africans there's little reinforcing of the fact that “Ethiopia” referred to anywhere in Africa south of Egypt, and often included India (as goods from India traveled to Europe via ports in Africa). It would be easy to assume the term deals with the modern country. Similarly, while the same chapter uses fictional works to show the European attitudes towards black characters the author later uses other fictional narratives as if they were pure historic documents (while the Norse sagas might have a high level of accuracy, taking minutae written 200 years after the fact at face value is unwise).

There was a lot of great information imparted, and some interesting works broken down. I learned a lot from this book, especially on topics I have less background in. For example it was great that the author brought in archaeological information about Native American tribes that supported information from the Norse sagas. But there were times when had I not had the grounding on a certain topic (having read several books on ancient/medieval Ethiopia, taken a course in university on the challenges of using fictional primary sources for accurate historical information) I might have come away with the wrong conclusions.

This is a good book that discusses an important topic, but it's not for beginners and should be read with care.

Pros: fast paced, focused, interesting worldbuilding

Cons:

It is 1932 and tensions between Germany and France are on the rise. Diagos nightmares of the Great War and sharp violin music are getting worse and he fears los Nefilim will cast him out unless he can prove himself trustworthy. So when his lost violin case is discovered he offers to track down the instrument in Germany. But a past life connection implicates Guillermo's half brother and a fallen angel.

I really enjoyed this. The plot is quick paced and engaging making the book hard to put down. Everything is focused on the plot, so while there is some groundwork being set for the next book in the series (with regards to the Spanish Civil War and World War II), most of what goes on is directly related to what's happening at this period of time.

I love the characters and how they support each other. Even the scenes from one of the antagonist's point of view showed that he has what he feels are noble motivations for his actions. Since Diago is gone for most of the book there isn't as much family time, which is a shame as their personal dynamics are so wholesome and loving - and hard to find in media.

The alternate history additions of angels and daimons continues to be interesting. I love that the magic system is built around symbols and music.

I'm looking forward to the next book.

Pros: great relationships, tight plots

Cons: not enough background!

Several years ago Diago had a short “affair” with an angel, a betrayal he hid from his husband. Now another angel threatens to kill his husband if he doesn't sacrifice the son he didn't know existed to a daimon.

This is a collection of 3 novellas dealing with Diago, his husband Miquel, and his son, Rafael and how the Nephilim (offspring of humans and either angels or daimons) interact with each other. The stories take place within a short time frame.

I've put “affair” in quotation marks because as the story goes on it's revealed to be a rape. There are no graphic details but if this will trigger you you may want to avoid the book. I thought the author handeled it well, though the characters don't dwell on the emotional aftermath that would result from this revelation as much as I suspect real people would.

I liked the interactions between the three principle characters. The relationship between Diago and Miquel was so loving and considerate. Seeing Miquel caring for Rafael was very touching, especially given Rafael's origin. There were some great family moments, especially with the later stories.

Each novella has a tight plot that gives you the necessary information and characters and little else.

I'd love to learn more about Diago's past, his time with King Solomon in particular. Hopefully one of the novels the author has written as follow-ups will go into that period and fleshes out the world some more.

I enjoyed this and am looking forward to reading more in this world.

Pros: good artwork, interesting set-up, interesting characters

Cons:

Still angry that as child refugees they received no aid from their neighbours, the now adult Children of Tzalekuhl go to war determined to make the Huax'kin submit to their rule - or wipe them out.

This is a fantasy graphic novel inspired by Mesoamerican history and mythology, in particular that of the Maya and Aztecs.

I loved the artwork and how the various tribes look distinctly different, with their own hairstyles, clothing and adornments (jewelry, piercings, body art), weaponry, etc.

This is an opening act, so there's mostly some character introductions, set-up for the various conflicts, and some background on how the various groups ended up where they are. It starts with a battle, so that's not to say there's no action. I found the different protagonists compelling. I felt conflicted about Roden, who seemed like a decent guy doing things to protect his family and home. But some of those things are kind of horrible when seen from the other side.

I was curious how much of the story was based on actual history (if any) and so was overjoyed the author included a ‘historical notes' section at the end going over this, including a few book recommendations for those wishing to learn more.

This is an era of history that isn't often used for fantasy storytelling so I found it fascinating and would love to read more.

Pros: interesting mythology, sympathetic protagonist

Cons:

Yetu is the Historian of the wajinru, sea dwelling descendants of pregnant slave women cast overboard. The memories of the ancestors overwhelm and pain Yetu, so they conceive a plan to leave the memories behind.

The Afterward mentions that the idea behind the wajinru comes from the mythology written by the music group Drexciya (James Stinson and Gerald Donald). Another music group, Clipping (rapper Daveed Diggs and producers William Hutson and Jonathan Snipes) wrote the song “The Deep” (nominated for a Hugo award in 2018) based on that mythology. The narrative of Basha, one of the ancestors whose story is told in this novella, incorporates the war with the two-legs that “The Deep” speaks of.

The mythology of the story is strangely poetic as it takes something horrifying and turns it into something beautiful. And while the story is fairly short, there's a lot to take in. There's a real weight to it, a depth that makes the underwater world feel real and lived in.

The idea of a singular memory keeper reminded me of Lois Lowry's The Giver, but I much preferred the ultimate solution the protagonist comes up with here for how to deal with memories as a population that wishes to forget the past while having it accessible, without having a singular member of the group subsumed by those memories. I appreciated that Yetu had anxiety and this caused the memories to weigh on them even more than on past historians.

It's a sad, touching, and ultimately hopeful story that's definitely worth the read.

Pros: very thorough, lots of endnotes

Cons: not many photos

This was a very interesting book about how peoples in the past thought about the concept of evil and how those philosophical musings and religious beliefs slowly morphed into the idea held by Christians that there is a single force that causes evil: the Devil.

After the preface the book consists of 7 chapters: The Question of Evil, In Search of the Devil, The Devil East and West, Evil in the Classical World, Hebrew Personifications of Evil, The Devil in the New Testament, and The Face of the Devil. There's a select bibliography and an index.

The book starts with a discussion of what evil is. This book traces how ancient societies thought of ‘evil', whether it was part of the gods, human nature, imposed from the outside or something within us. It examines both religious and philosophical beliefs from various cultures and periods whose peoples wanted to know why good things happened to bad people. Why, if there's a god (or gods) who is good, who created a world of good, is there evil in the world?

We're so used to categorizing things that it's easy to forget just how interconnected the world really is. I tend to think of Greek mythology as independent from other religious practices, even though I know the Romans modified the beliefs to fit with their own pantheon of gods. So it was eye opening learning how the Greek gods were turned into evil spirits by early Christian thought, and how Pan was used as a template when artists started visualizing the devil as a personification of evil.

I only knew bits and pieces of other ancient religions so leaning more about them and how they intersected and built off of one another was fascinating. I also loved learning side information like why people with red hair were considered evil.

The most interesting section for me was on the Persian Zoroastrian religion, whose basic mythology is similar to the one Christianity ultimately settled on. I also enjoyed learning more about the apocalyptic Jewish writings and how they impacted the Gospels in the New Testament.

There aren't that many photos, but the ones included help visualize how the devil gained certain attributes (like wings, horns, etc).

This is an older book (it came out in 1977), but it's still highly relevant to Christian and general religious studies.

Pros: great characters, interesting story

Cons:

On the run from her past, Rosalyn Devar took a job with Merchantia, cleaning up ships when missions go bad. Excessive drinking means this next mission is her last chance. But the Brigantine's not the dead, drifting ship the company believes. To survive, she'll have to face her past and a new alien threat.

If you like the claustrophobia of Alien and the mysterious alien element from The Expanse, you'll love this book. My only complaint was that the holidays cut into my reading time so the paranoia had time to wear off between reading sessions. Otherwise, it gets very intense.

The characters were all quirky and interesting. The storytelling tight and focused. I did figure out one aspect of the mystery a lot sooner than the characters. The ending is a rollercoaster ride of emotions.

I really enjoyed it.

Pros: interesting characters, fascinating world, various necromantic magics

Cons: slow pacing at start, hard to keep characters straight

It took me a while to get into this book. I really enjoyed the characters and there's conflict immediately, but there's so much to take in with regards to their history and the setting that it just felt kind of slow. The main plot takes a fair bit to get underway which contributed to the feeling that the pacing was on the slow side, even though there was a lot of action.

The worldbuilding is rather neat, with different houses (each on their own planet) having their own style of necromancy. You really get to see the powers on display towards the end of the book. You only learn as much as you need to in order to understand this story, so there are no info dumps and a lot of unanswered questions regarding the larger universe.

The characters were highly varied and interesting. I did have some trouble keeping the various house members apart so I'm glad there was a list of characters by house at the front of the book. You're introduced to everyone all at once which made it hard for me to remember who was who.

The book is told from Gideon's point of view and she's a cool character. There's a fair bit of profanity and sarcasm. I really enjoyed seeing her develop as the story went on. I'm not entirely sure I believe how quickly she adjusted to a few revelations, but there was some emotional punch to the story.

The mystery of how to obtain Lyctorhood (immortality) was interesting and the story really kept me guessing regarding the murders.

It's a unique book and worth picking up.

Pros: interesting character, evocative writing, quick paced

Cons:

Katherine Victoria Lundy is content to be the friendless principal's daughter so long as she can read her books. When a mysterious door appears before her one day, she opens it and finds a new world, one with strict rules of fairness. She has until she turns 18 to decide which world she wants to live in, a choice that gets harder the closer the deadline comes.

This is a novella and so can be read in a couple of hours. It's a great, fast paced story that's hard to put down. I liked Katherine's no nonsense behaviour and the world where people state what they want and try to deal fairly with one another (or risk discipline). I can understand why she'd want to live there as there's something comforting in the idea of knowing that no one can take advantage of you.

I thought her choice at the end was believably difficult, with several sides to consider.

The writing was quite beautiful at times. Almost lyrical even.

While part of the Wayward Children series it easily stands alone and you don't need to have read any of the others to fully grasp the story.

This is a great series and a good alternate starting point.

Pros: fun characters, lively story

Cons:

Evie loves healing people and her favourite patient is her best friend, Wormy. But at 15 she thinks they're both too young to marry, so when he proposes she says ‘no'. They're both shocked when an angry fairy turns Evie into an ogre because of it. Now Evie has 62 days to find true love or she'll remain an ogre forever.

This book takes place in the same worlds as Ella Enchanted, one generation before the events of that novel.

I loved Evie. She's smart and determined. And she has a lot to learn about people, and love, and not much time in which to learn it all. The book is fast paced and lively.

I enjoyed learning more about the ogres and how they interact with each other.

I was a little sad seeing Lady Eleanor, considering how her story ends, though I thought the author handled her inclusion well.

As an adult I would have liked some commentary on how using a love potion or persuasive magic to get someone to fall in love with you is morally wrong (and won't bring you happiness as you'll always be afraid of the effects wearing off).

On the whole it was a fun read.

Pros: gorgeous pictures, informative text

Cons: less information than expected, some sites get one or two photos while others get several

The book starts off with an introduction on the Ethiopian Tewahedo Church, which differs in may respects from other Christian denominations both in practice and beliefs (their version of the Bible contains 81 books. Contrast this with the 66 books in the King James Version used by Protestants, the fewest number of books used by a Christian denomination). There's also a short section on some of the important Ethiopian saints, whose images decorate the churches.

The churches themselves are separated by geography: Aksum and Tigray, Lalibela and Lasta, Gondar and Lake Tana. It covers 66 churches. There's a short section with amazing photographs of the major religious festivals. The books ends with a useful glossary of terms and some notes (the notes on photography are interesting as they point out how challenging getting such complete and well lit photographs was).

This is a gorgeous coffee table book. It's massive (10” x 13.5”, and 2” thick). There are 520 glossy pages full of photographs. There's minimal text on each church, just enough information to introduce it. Some of the photo captions mention fascinating tidbits that are worth reading (like notes on when certain images started being portrayed in churches. For example, images of the Deposition of Christ (Christ being taken down from the Cross) only show up after the Jesuits started preached in the country in the late 1500s).

In a few cases I was disappointed by how few photos there were of a particular monument. Abba Garima, an important monastery and forbidden to women does not have a single image from inside the church, nor is there an explanation for this (like they were unable to enter/photograph it). In contrast, the monastery of Debre Damo, also off limits to women, has some excellent photographs of the buildings and ceiling.

The photos themselves are clear with a lot of detail. It's obvious a lot of work went into them.

If you are interested in Ethiopia, the expanded Christian church, architecture or religious art, this book is worth the price.

Pros: atmospheric, interesting characters

Cons: somewhat predictable

Junior and Henrietta's lives change the day Terrance shows up at their country house. Junior has been chosen by lottery to participate in the installation, meaning he'll be away for an undetermined amount of time. But the company has decided that Henrietta won't be left alone while he's gone...

The book is very atmospheric. The chapters are short and punchy and leave you feeling unsettled. Junior asks Terrance questions and it's fascinating how easily Terrance deflects the conversation or speaks a lot without saying anything. There's a level of frustration you feel, along with Junior.

The first person perspective was a little peculiar, as both Junior's thoughts and spoken words were done without italics or quotation marks. A few times I wasn't sure if he'd said something out loud or just in his head.

I liked Junior and Henrietta. It was interesting seeing their lives. The book mostly takes place in their home, with only occasional jaunts to where they work or the fields outside their home. It gave the book a claustrophobic feeling.

The book is set in the near future but the world is largely ignored. There are a few SF elements but the book mostly feels like a suspense novel.

I figured out the ending around the half way point, but it was still interesting to see how the book would reveal what was really going on. It was also a quick read, which helped maintain the creepy mood.

If you like books with mystery and a touch of horror, this is a good read.

Pros: essays on a wide range of places and periods

Cons: dense prose, some essays a challenge to read

The book begins with a prologue followed by an introduction. The introduction starts with highly academic prose in its explanation of why it's important to broaden the field of medieval studies into a global discussion, acknowledging that the field has centred heavily on Europe and ignored the many points of contact (via trade, religion, war, etc.) with nations outside Europe. The editor points out that the world has always been global, and at a time when nationalists and white supremacists are turning history into polemics on segregation it's past time medievalists broadened their studies to show how interconnected peoples of the past truly were. He then gives short descriptions about manuscript traditions throughout the world during this period.

This is followed by a quick time line of the items mentioned in the essays to follow. The book is separated into four parts, each with an introductory essay: Glimpsing a Global Middle Ages (5 essays and 1 case study), The Intermediality of “the book”: Bound, Rolled, and Folded Textual Objects (3 essays and 2 case studies), Identity: Finding One's Place in the Medieval World (3 essays and 3 case studies), and Itineraries from the Atlantic to the Pacific: Travel, Circulation, and Exchange (3 essays and 3 case studies). The book ends with an Epilogue that goes over the importance of museums in creating collections and exhibitions that foster a more global outlook.

This is a book for academics. While the case studies are accessible to a wider audience, most of the essays are not. I struggled through several of them due to dense prose. Having said that, the struggle was worth it as I learned quite a lot about the challenges of including certain areas of the world in a medieval discourse (like how most artifacts containing writing as well as wooden carvings in tropical climates have decomposed, making it difficult to study pre-modern eras). I loved that the essays spoke of wildly different areas including Ethiopia, China, India, and Mexico.

Several of the case studies mentioned a lot of interesting details and I finished the book with the intention of looking up several of the manuscripts mentioned (the end notes give web addresses if they've been digitized).

The standouts for me were the case study: “Traveling Medicine: Medieval Ethiopian Amulet Scrolls and Practitioners' Handbooks” by Eyob Derillo and the essay by Sylvie Merian, “Reproducing the Resurrection: From European Prints to Armenian Manuscripts”, which both dealt with topics I find fascinating.

The globalization of medieval studies is important and it's great seeing a collection that brings researchers from different disciplines together. This is a challenging book to read, but worth the effort you put in.

Pros: brilliant worldbuilding, interesting magic and mythology, interesting characters

Cons:

Two hundred cycles ago, Omehi refugees landed on the shores of Xidda and fought off the natives to claim a peninsula. They hold it through the force of their army and their Gifted. Tau Solarin is a High Common, nearing manhood and the test that will either let him train for his mandatory military service or force him to become a drudge. Neither future appeals to him, but a series of tragedies leaves him burning for revenge. Suddenly military training is the only future that matters.

The worldbuilding in this book is brilliant. There's a lot of vocabulary to learn in the prologue and first chapter, but by chapter two I knew what everything meant. There is a glossary at the back of the book if you need it though. I'd heard online the book had African influences. After reading it I looked up some of the words and they are from the Xhosa language, though the meanings don't all seem to translate to how they're used in the book.

I loved the intricacies of how everything fit together: the military, the Chosen, the Gifted, the castes. There's history on the peninsula as well as a mostly forgotten history of why they fled their homeland. A lot is left unsaid and I'm hoping some of that history will come up in the sequels. The world felt so real at times that I burned for the injustices felt by the Lessers and the often arbitrary justice the Noble castes could inflict on them.

Magic is sparingly used but I loved learning about it. I also liked that there are different beliefs in magic by the natives and invaders. There are limits to its use, which meant the stakes stayed high during battle. I also enjoyed learning about their underworld, the demons, etc.

The characters were all unique. Tau wasn't the most likeable character. At times I felt sorry for him, at others I wanted to shake some sense into him. I loved some of the supporting cast members - especially the members in his core training group. I was impressed that the author introduced characters slowly, so you could really get to know them before adding more people to the group. It made it easy to remember who everyone was.

There's a light romance. So light at the beginning of the novel that I expected the woman to disappear from the narrative entirely and was very happy that she not only came back in but had her own interests and goals (ie, wasn't just the ‘love interest') and played an important role at the end of the book.

Speaking of women, among the Omehi they are the rulers and Gifted (though have little import outside of those roles) while among the natives women are fully integrated into the military. It was cool to see some different social norms.

The book gets pretty brutal at times and very intense. Towards the end I needed a few breaks even though I wanted to know what would happen next. I'm not a huge fan of grimdark as I find the books can go too far in their attempts to be edgy and shocking, and so was happy there were no rape scenes in this (though there is mention that it does happen in the world).

If you're looking for something different and like grimdark fantasy, give this a go.

Pros: intense, interesting characters

Cons:

Gyre Price lied on her application and took the caver job expecting to earn enough money to leave the planet and find the mother who abandoned her when she was a child. She didn't know she would only have a single handler on the surface, one who can't be trusted. Nor did she expect that spending so long in the darkness and isolation would make her see things... hear things...

I bought this book on the recommendation of some authors I follow and so never read the back cover to find out what the book was about. I assumed - from the cover and random comments - that it was about zombies on an alien planet. It's not.

Once I realized what the book actually was, the story of what happens to a person when they are isolated and afraid, I settled in for a different kind of horror. Gyre's paranoia ramps up when she realizes she can't trust the only human link she has, kicking off an intense love-hate relationship with the only person who can save her life if things go bad. And things go bad.

In addition to the natural cave environment and the dangers it poses (climbing, falling, equipment failure, swimming, etc) there's also a creature on the planet that can swim through rock. No one understands what calls the tunnelers, but calling one is usually a death sentence.

This is a very intense read. At times Gyre isn't sure what's real and what isn't and waffles between rational decision making and pure paranoid outbursts. The ending is especially tense and I really wasn't sure what would happen to her.

If you like survival stories, this is great.

Pros: interesting characters, fast paced, thought-provoking

Cons:

Gibson Wells, founder of the Cloud tech empire that dominates the US economy, is dying. After Cloud puts Paxton's business under, he applies to work at one of their MotherCloud facilities, where people work and live. He expects this to be a temporary gig, to earn enough money so he can be his own boss again. Zinnia has been hired to infiltrate a Cloud facility and steal proprietary information.

Their paths collide inside the company in a novel that explores how far corporate America will go to ‘make the world a better place'.

The book takes place during the slow economic and environmental collapse of America. The world is not as apocalyptic as Octavia Butler's The Parable of the Sower, but it's getting there. With fewer and fewer options, more people are opting to work for Cloud, which has both caused many of the problems mentioned in the book even as it tries to (claims to) make things better.

At the start of the book I felt sympathy for Wells, but as I learned more about him, and saw the predatory nature behind his smiles and the abusive personality behind his policies I started to despise him. Though Zinnia is also manipulative I found I still liked her at the end of the book. She's feisty and smart and I wanted her to be happy. I thought she and Paxton made a good couple and hoped they'd stay together, despite some of her choices towards the end. Paxton was a mixed bag. I liked him but he was easily manipulated by everyone around him, which made me feel less sympathetic towards him.

The book was surprisingly fast paced. Adult dystopian fiction generally drags a bit due to excess worldbuilding or political sentiment. The focus here really is on the characters so it was a quick read - and hard to put down towards the end.

That's not to say there weren't some poignant moments where you can see how our own world is heading in this direction. The company is obviously modelled after Amazon and Walmart and their practices of forcing producers to cut costs so they can sell products a the lowest price possible. It does end of a slightly more positive note than other dystopian books as well.

This is definitely worth checking out.

Pros: short essays are easy to read, covers a wide variety of topics

Cons: short essays don't go into much detail

This is the second book of essays compiled from Brennan's Patreon. There's an introduction, 52 themed essays and an afterward. The themes from this book encompass weaponry, honor, cosmetics, clothing, wedding customs, literacy, time keeping, religious practices, superstitions, and some general worldbuilding tips.

I loved that there were a variety of topics, broken down into more specific essays. Each essay is only a few pages long so you can easy read one in a few minutes. Brennan gives several examples per essay showing how cultures differ, so as to get the reader thinking of applications beyond the common. The downside here is each essay is very basic and is more of a way to get you thinking about applications than showing you how to apply each aspect to your own world.

As with the first book, it's a great collection and points out a lot of worthwhile tidbits for making your fictional worlds feel more lived in.

Pros: brilliant world-building, interesting characters, challenging plot, thought provoking

Cons:

Dietz joins the Tene-Silvia Corporate Corps after the Blink wanting to be a hero, wanting to make the Martians pay. But military life is hard and the combat drops that break soldiers down into light molecules to transport them to mission locations... change some of them. Dietz doesn't always land at the right location, or with the right people. Dietz's jumps also reveal that the war isn't what they've been told. Can one be a hero if no one knows what's right anymore?

This is an absolutely brilliant novel and I can understand why Hurley had such trouble writing it. There were times as a reader that I got confused as to when Dietz was in the timeline, I can only imagine how difficult it was as the author keeping who knew what, when, straight.

The world-building it top notch. This is a future where mega corporations rule and there are layers of citizenship. Dietz began life as a ghoul, living outside the corporation, living off of refuse, and gained residency status through their parents. But full citizenship requires service. Throughout the book you see how ingrained the idea of earning citizenship is held by full citizens, even those born into it who did nothing to earn their place. There's a lot of thought provoking commentary here.

The characters are great. I loved that the first person perspective cloaked Dietz's gender (until the end, when you learn their first name), and that the protagonists all seem to be fairly fluid in their sexualities (or at least, fairly open about their partners). Dietz starts off as hot-headed, stubborn, and not the smartest in the group, but is forced to learn - and learn fast - when things get tough.

It's a brilliant fast paced novel that will keep you on your toes.