March Reviews

Did I spend the entirety of March reading Fantasy books because the real world was suddenly terrifying? Yes. And because I've been ordered by the state of California to stay at home for next unspecified amount of time, I'm going to do it again next month. And hopefully not the one after, but I'm willing to do what it takes to protect the people around me (and everyone else very far away!)

Anyway, if you too are looking for something to read during quarantine, look no further, because I've got some recommendations!

Ruin of Stars by Linsey Miller

The sequel to Mask of Shadows, this book took all the political stuff I disliked and world building stuff I struggled to follow from the first book and made them the biggest plot points.

Finally in the coveted position of Opal, Sal has a list of the people they want dead and the permission to see it through. But things aren't always what they seem, and magic and shadows, supposedly banished, seem to be cropping up at every turn. But Sal has to lose everything in order to finish their list, and the end result may not be worth the loss.

I didn't really enjoy this book. That feels mean to say and I genuinely dislike saying that I didn't enjoy somebody's book, but if I can't be honest in reviews no one reads then where can I be? I liked the first one enough to finish the duology, but this sequel didn't do it for me. I love the heist/competition aspect of the first book, and there was none of that here. Instead it was all revenge and murder and politics. With 2020 being an election year, I get enough of that in real life.

I struggled with how to say this delicately, mostly because I am cisgender and privileged, but a lot of Sal's internal and external monologues about Erlend views on gender and restrictions felt like too much. 100% Sal was right, but at a certain point they all started to feel a little preachy and/or excessive. Like, I get it, Erlend sucks, their beliefs are flawed and binary, you don't have to say it every six pages. Now I just sound whiny, I'm so sorry.

Overall I just wasn't the most impressed by this book.

Similar to: Game of Thrones? kind of?

Annihilation by Jeff Vandermeer

This book was recommended to me by a coworker a long time ago, actually around the time the movie based on it came out. I never watched the movie (and still might not, despite my deep love of both Natalie Portman and Gina Rodriguez) but the book has been one of the strangest things I've ever read.

Four women have been selected to go on the most recent expedition into Area X, a coastal area overrun by some sort of unknown mutation. The women, known only by their titles, (psychologist, surveyor, biologist, and anthropologist) are to enter the area, map and assess any abnormalities, and then report their findings and thoughts in a journal. The narrator, the biologist, records her increasingly strange findings regarding a Tower that stretches into the earth, lined with a living sentence that stretches deep, deep underground. Contaminated and increasingly paranoid by the unknown nature of both the expedition and Area X itself, Annihilation follows the biologist through an exploration of land and self, all with the understanding that survival may very well not be an option.

This book was incredibly unsettling. I read the first half of it on a plane in a matter of hours and the second half took me nearly a week to finish, because I kept getting freaked out reading in the dark and had to put it down. The tone is clinical and disturbing all at once, providing a clear and muddied view of the other members of the expedition, the biologist herself, and the actual area of study, Area X. The book, written as the biologist's field journal, is filled with acceptance of the inevitable. The narrator describes any initial fear with the critical voice of someone rationalizing away from it, even as it pierces into her.

There is a purposeful sense of unreliability from the narrator, who chooses to reveal things at certain times so as to provide more merit for her explanations and explorations, despite the deterioration of both her body and our trust for her account. There's no sense of identity for any of the women within the book. We never learn their names, only know them as their job descriptions. The biologists hands us small truths about herself and her work, but only to use those memories and senses to convey the immense feeling of certain aspects of Area X. Her reluctance to reveal parts of herself except for in relation to her job is telling, in and of itself, but also provides needed context for the unexplainable phenomenon of the place in which the book takes place.

I spent half this book creeped out and hating it and the other absolutely fascinated. I can't help but feel like that was most likely Vandermeer's intention. Even the language of this review is affected by the tone of this book. The descriptors left me feeling watched and uneasy, and so much of the horrifying aspects of it are not so much Area X mutations and strange happenings, but the human interaction and involvement. Of course Area X is terrifying, filled with human-looking creatures that shed their skin and moan through reeds, dolphins with human eyes, the Crawler. But it was the human interactions, the way the reader was shown how much Area X is affecting the people within it, that was truly terrifying. The accounts of violence and fear from previous expeditions the biologist found in the lighthouse only added to the horror.

I'm reminded a little bit of one of my higher level classes in college. We discussed how human it is to be fascinated and intrigued by the grotesque, and how the sublime is often not beautiful, but terrifying and interesting all at once.

There are two more books in the series, all connected by Area X but with different narrators. I have yet to decide if I want to keep reading, but am leaning towards yes. We'll see.

Similar to: in a similar sense of sentence structure style sense, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams, funnily enough, and in a horrifying subject matter sense, Arrival (2016) dir. Denis Villeneuve

Infinity Son by Adam Silvera

I love Adam Silvera's work and was probably almost too excited about his foray into fantasy. I love a good contemporary fantasy, seeing how authors mix myth and technology, and while there were parts of this book where I felt a bit of a disconnect, I still enjoyed it.

Emil and Brighton Rey couldn't be more different. Despite being twins and best friends, Brighton loves the spotlight and very sincerely hopes their bloodline reveals their powers on their eighteenth birthday, while Emil just wants to stay away from all the fighting between celestials and specters. And whether it's luck or irony, it's Emil that has a phoenix fire power awoken within him, setting of a chain of events that could start or stop a war on humanity. On the run, the brothers have to decide where their loyalty lies, and whether their relationship can survive this unexpected role reversal.

All Silvera's previous books can be classified as 'sad gay books,' and this book deviates from that to become a 'potentially sad mostly gay fantasy book.' Which isn't exactly a great organization strategy for Barnes n Noble, but it works for my internal classification.

Silvera is especially great at two things: character creation and tragedy, and this book has them both. Even when I was struggling to connect with the fight scenes and violence, I was still fond of Emil and co. Both the main brothers are complicated people with complicated desires and beliefs, which lend to a very interesting look at morality and power. It also made for an interesting look at relationships, both platonic and romantic.

Brighton and Emil's brotherhood is obviously the biggest and most important relationship in the book, and their support of one another combined with their arguments made for a very realistic look at sibling bonds under stress. I was also fascinated by the Spell Walker dynamics; the Maribelle/Atlas and Eva/Iris romances, Iris and Maribelle's feud, and the way their team functioned built of so many young, discouraged people. My favorite relationship, one that felt so unexpected until suddenly it was obvious, was Ness and Emil. Two broken people stuck in circumstances outside of their control, finding solace in one another simply because they expected nothing from the other. Ugh. And when Emil talks about his body issues with Ness? That's what intimacy and trust is made of.

Some of the world building got to be a little complicated and info-dumpy at times, but that kind of comes with the fantasy genre, and Silvera kept things interesting even when I didn't completely understand everything. Overall, this was an enjoyable read, even if it wasn't my favorite Silvera novel. I'll be eagerly awaiting the sequel!

Similar to: Not Your Sidekick by C.B. Lee and The Rest Of Us Just Live Here by Patrick Ness

King of Scars by Leigh Bardugo

A continuation of her Grisha verse, King of Scars follow King Nikolai Lantsov trying to bring peace to Ravka. His general, Zoya Nazyalensky, is mostly just trying to keep the king alive and safe from the dark beast within him, one that could ruin the delicate peace they've built and destroy both the king and his country. Far away, in enemy territory, Nina Zenik is still grieving the loss of her lover and struggling with her new, distorted power. If she can save the grisha trapped in Fjerdia, maybe she can make peace with her loss and herself. But none of them are prepared for the sudden appearance of new miracles and new saints, and nothing is what it seems on either side of enemy lines.

Sometimes the shifting POV was a little overwhelming because of so much happening, but I got used to it as time went on. I also had some trouble remembering everything (who people were, where things are, events that have happened) but that's mostly because it's been a while since I've read the other books, and Bardugo did well explaining things in a non-info dumpy way.

Bardugo's world building is very impressive, I've thought that for all her books, and this one is no different. She's created a world with complex politics and beliefs and magic that is complex and intricate but not impossible to understand.

Fabulous characters are a Bardugo Trait, and she knows how to wield tragedy and last minute disruptions. I fell a little bit in love with the new character Isaak, and continue to adore the other, more familiar ones (and there were a Lot of familiar faces making a reappearance in this book). King of Scars felt like a lovely marrying of both her previous Grisha verse series (Six of Crows and Shadow and Bone), since it had characters from both. A continuation of both the high stakes heist and spy work with Nina Zenik and the political intrigue and warfare of Nikolai and Zoya.

I'm excited for the next book, because surprise cliff hangers always mean sequels with Bardugo (how dare you get me emotionally invested in multiple books), and I'm looking forward to Nikolai's grand return (even if I'm also very nervous about the reappearance of a certain dark figure on the very last page).

Similar to: The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch and all the other Grisha Verse Leigh Bardugo books

There Will Come A Darkness By Katy Rose Pool

It took me longer to get into this book than I hoped it would. Do you ever get that feeling when you're reading a book where you're just waiting for the plot to actually kick in, but then you realize you're like a third of the way into the book and this is the plot? And that's not necessarily a bad thing, more that you have to adjust your expectations, but it's still kind of jarring.

The age of darkness has begun, and only the last prophet knows how to stop it. Jude Weatherborne has been training his entire life to take his place as the leader of The Order and serve the last prophet, wherever they may be, but his heart and doubts are drawing him in a different direction. Anton's spent the past five years running from his brother and a darkness he can't face, hiding from his own Grace and the shadows that twist below the surface. Prince Hassan has been forcibly removed from his country, barely escaping the heretic threatening his people and their home. Beru and Ephyra are two sisters trying to outrun death. Ephyra's stint at the murderer The Pale Hand is the only thing keeping her sister alive, but also the thing driving them toward darkness. These five have nothing in common, except that their decisions and lives are intertwined in a prophecy that could spell the end of the world.

I went in wanting immediate connection between the characters, a Six of Crows style grouping, if you will, and I just finished the book and several of the main characters still haven't met. The five main characters all have chapters from their point of view, which works in some cases and doesn't in others. In this case, I just thought Prince Hassan was boring and wanted to skip all his chapters in favor of the others. Jude and Anton were much more fun, and Beru and Ephyra had their moments, but those were also mostly moments in conjunction with Jude or Anton. I have favorites, what can I say?

The world building was fascinating, though a little bit confusing at times with all the city names and temples. I wasn't good at keeping up with the travel and politics, but I did really like the lore of the prophets and the Order of the Light (again, all the Jude and Anton stuff). I was also fascinated by the necromancer and Grace stuff, which felt very similar to Leigh Bardugo's Grisha verse, and we all know I'm a sucker for that.

The descriptive language Pool used in this book was beautiful, and she did a great job setting up scenes and delivering a well-composed fantasy world. Overall, I liked aspects of this book, but I don't know if I'm attached enough to the story to read the sequel? Hmmm...who am I kidding, I'm probably going to read the sequel.

Similar to: Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo and Timekeeper by Tara Sim

That's all I've got for this month, but I hope you're all staying safe, healthy, and sane! (And also washing your hands and practicing social distancing!)

Keep writing, friends!

Sam

Literary Recommendation: Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi

Movie Recommendation: Emma (2020) dir. Autumn de Wilde