book post!
Embers by Laura Bickle (Anya Kalinczyk #1)
I heard about it through one of the four book bloggers I follow (DearAuthor, Tempting Persephone, Janicu, Angieville). Read the first chapter, re-read the back of the book blurb, and the only reason I didn't put it down was because I remembered (IIRC) Tempting Persephone giving it a glowing review. Alas, I'm pretty sure I mixed up the review in my head with Mind Games, because I was expecting mental illness and there is none.
So, what I liked: for lack of better word the book is in media res. Not the Twilight-y kind, but we as readers plop into Anya's life as, well, life happens. Most novels usually have Chosen One, Love Interest, Arch Enemy, Character Growth all starting at the same time. Here, we already have Anya with baggage from her jobs, a full-blown love interest, and unanswered questions she's had for awhile. I also loved the chemistry between her and Drake Ferrer. Perhaps it was a bit of self-interest in how smoking, no pun intended, I found Drake. Also loved Sparky's character and the descriptions we get of him. Out of all the characters, he's the stand-out for me.
Despite that though, I don't feel very strongly about the book. I didn't love it. It's just very solid. It's good, it's ok. The sequel has better cover art, btw. Ah, story gets some points dinged for lack of condoms. All in all, Embers is a solid book, and sets itself up quite nicely for a sequel. I don't think I'll read the sequel though, despite how curious I am about Anya's Lantern potential and the mystery of Sparky's appearance.
Heartsick by Chelsea Cain (Don't Know What The Series is Called #1)
This got rec'd while I was reading Playing With Fire on the XMFC kink meme. So I was expecting more porn, or at least scorching UST. I got neither, but I'm ok with that. Heartsick capitalizes on my interest in power play, and my Alice/Luther withdrawals from the BBC drama Luther (which also features a cop and murderer with chemistry). I definitely kept imagining Gretchen as Alice Morgan from Luther the whole time (ohhhhhhhh Ms. Ruth Wilson~~~!).
As a rule of thumb, I usually don't read anything that's not fantasy of some sort. So this was the very first thriller I've ever read. And I rather liked it. Both Archie and Susan are interesting characters, and I like them enough that I'm fairly certain I'll check out the next book in the series. I guess it might be a trait of thrillers, but neither of our heroes are Bright and Shiny Heroes with Few Flaws. They each have some rather large vices, and in Archie's case a pill addiction. The descriptions of Archie's torture and his drug use... for lack of better word, I liked them, and found them interesting (couldn't tell you if they were realistic though).
A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness, inspired by an idea from Siobhan Dowd
I'm unfamiliar with Dowd, but the story goes that before she died she had notes for this story. Ness took the notes and ran with them. Technically this is JFic I think, and I read it because one of the book bloggers gave it another glowing review. If you like the book, I say buy the thing. At $17, it's cheaper than most hardback books nowadays and you get the added bonus of some nice quality, glossy paper with tons of artwork.
It definitely wasn't what I was expecting though. It's definitely a story about loss and grief and children's resilience. I did enjoy the mythic/folktale feel of it that the Monster imbues. Although I did confess I imagined the Monster as that one Boss Monster on Destiny Island from Kingdom Hearts.
The Kingdom of Gods by NK Jemisin (The Inheritance Trilogy #3/3)
It's been quite awhile since I read through a whole series. I've never liked the subtitles they've stuck on these book covers; they read like bad fic to me. The cover art this time around definitely gave me an OH, as I figured out its relevance towards the end of the book. As other bloggers have mentioned the book's cover and back of the book blurb is misleading. From what I understand, they were created when the manuscript heavily emphasized Shahar's role. Rather than the women narrators we've had in the last two books, we have Sieh telling the story here.
I usually don't like men/boys in 1st person narration. It's a sign of either Jemisin's skill in making me love Sieh too damn much to even care about that. Ah, right! So Sieh is a godling, and through his perspective we get a lot more info about the inner workings of them. We also receive some interesting new info about the catalyst of the Gods' War; loneliness, then, is revealed to be a central theme throughout the series I think. We also get his perceptions of other characters in a new light, such as Yeine. He describes her as pretty brutal, which I totally did not get from her narration in The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms. His voice is wonderful though, childlike, unapologetic, whiny at times, and just a delight to read. I particularly loved his description of adolescence, which involved his exasperation at all the "furious caressing." XD
I'm not quite sure how to sort my feelings about the book without spoilers, so have some disjointed ramblings.
I disagree with the one blogger who said Deka's character came off as shallow. For me, it was the other way around, Shahar fell quite flat for me. Perhaps it's because I like characters like Deka who chase after their dreams with intensity and focus and will not be deterred. In this case, Deka striving to be worthy of Sieh and becoming a BAMF while doing so. On that note, I was surprised the Sieh/Shahar sex scene received more wordage than the Sieh/Deka one. On a fangirl note, I was reallllllllllllly looking forward to some hot sexxing between Sieh and Deka, but alas, we get literature and not porn. Alas.
On the title. I think the title is quite clever. I kept misreading it as "Kingdom of THE Gods" and the whole absence of that THE makes a large difference. We're not talking about Kingdom as in Land, but as in Kingliness. It's just that The Kingliness/Godliness of Gods is a silly title.
I also didn't have problems with the End of the World plot like the other blogger did. However, relatedly, the one thing that didn't make sense to me was why even throw in the plot device of Sieh having a son? I don't see how this is relevant to him become a god in his own right. I mean, sure, it forces Sieh's nature to become something else, but as it's already implied that it is the nature of all godlings to eventually become gods in their own right.
Oh, right, this whole thing is pretty much an extended metaphor for growing up.
Anyways, I felt the whole story could easily have been Sieh just learning to navigate his relationship with the Twins. I really would have loved to see more interaction and negotiation between the three. Because throughout the series, Jemisin has had polyamory, same-gender loving, and incest, all of which occur in this novel too. For me, I read between the lines that Sieh, Shahar, and Deka would procreate the same way Naha, Tempa, and Yeine do. To that end, I really wanted to see how the twins worked out the incest, and how the whole polyamory/sharing aspect is negotiated. Because the fail!sharing is what led to the Gods' War to begin with.
One thing I did agree with the blogger after thinking about it. I want to see how Sieh, Shahar, and Deka are living as gods now. Aand I need moar Sieh/Deka. or Deka/Shahar. Or Sieh/Deka/Shahar. Ok, yeah, I want to find out how they all live in threesome happiness. Hey, wait a minute, how come the Three never had a threesome? No, seriously, outside of wanting to read smut, the series has been pretty awesome about having polyamorous, interracial*, lesbian/gay relationships. So how come the Three didn't have sex together? Hmmmmmm.
*I have a hard time remembering what nations correspond to RL races. So it's pretty awesome that Oree's black and her daughter (black also!) occupies the image of clothes in white, haloed in rings, and wielding one BAMF sword to save the world.
I am curious if Nahadoth came about the same way that Sieh's god-ness came, probably not since he wasn't aware of Sieh's condition. Also, I find it interesting that Nahadoth and Itempas' relationship is the most fragile of the Three, but in the new Three, Sieh and Deka's is the strongest. I wonder if the eventual third set of Three will finally have an equal triage.
Oh, and En. En is fucking awesome and I never thought I would love a sun that much. That's another thing Sieh's POV expands on; his planetary that's mentioned in The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms suddenly becomes a cast of characters unto theirselves.
All in all, I liked it, Sieh shone, and my newfound slasher heart was happy. My favorite book of the trilogy remains The Broken Kingdoms though. In that vein, it's not surprised that I absolutely adored the bonus short story, "Not The End." In fact, "Not The End," outshone the whole novel, and I didn't wait to finish the novel before I read it. And when I finished the novel, I read it again.
There's also an annotated/illustrated by Sieh glossary in the back of the book! I was disappointed he only annotated the first two pages though.
I want to be Oree Shoth when I grow up. Even at 100+ she's plucky as ever. And what I would give for Itempas' POV in this if just for the lulz. And Oree and Itempas as a cute old married couple! <3333333333333333333333 I really enjoyed the whole exchange where Oree says she's "never needed you," and Itempas is a-ok with it, and it was just the sweetest I Love You ever.
Oh, and the whole revelation about Oree being a demon. I definitely missed that if it was revealed in her book.
ETA: by the way, like book 2 was about what happens when the colonizer is overthrown, this book deals with how the remnants of the colonizer are what's keeping chaos at bay.
Currently to be read:
Modelland by Tyra Banks (I've gotta know if that review that said it was Literature is true)
The Gaslight Dogs by Karen Lowachee
The Thief by Megan Whaler Turner (ok, yeah, I know, some fantasy fan I am for never reading it)
Go Tell It On The Mountain by James Baldwin (my Literature book of the break)
That One Book purplebloom500 rec'd that's a cross between Twelfth Night and The Importance of Being Earnest
and maybe all those books on the shelf-and-a-half of books-i-own-but-haven't-read
I heard about it through one of the four book bloggers I follow (DearAuthor, Tempting Persephone, Janicu, Angieville). Read the first chapter, re-read the back of the book blurb, and the only reason I didn't put it down was because I remembered (IIRC) Tempting Persephone giving it a glowing review. Alas, I'm pretty sure I mixed up the review in my head with Mind Games, because I was expecting mental illness and there is none.
So, what I liked: for lack of better word the book is in media res. Not the Twilight-y kind, but we as readers plop into Anya's life as, well, life happens. Most novels usually have Chosen One, Love Interest, Arch Enemy, Character Growth all starting at the same time. Here, we already have Anya with baggage from her jobs, a full-blown love interest, and unanswered questions she's had for awhile. I also loved the chemistry between her and Drake Ferrer. Perhaps it was a bit of self-interest in how smoking, no pun intended, I found Drake. Also loved Sparky's character and the descriptions we get of him. Out of all the characters, he's the stand-out for me.
Despite that though, I don't feel very strongly about the book. I didn't love it. It's just very solid. It's good, it's ok. The sequel has better cover art, btw. Ah, story gets some points dinged for lack of condoms. All in all, Embers is a solid book, and sets itself up quite nicely for a sequel. I don't think I'll read the sequel though, despite how curious I am about Anya's Lantern potential and the mystery of Sparky's appearance.
Heartsick by Chelsea Cain (Don't Know What The Series is Called #1)
This got rec'd while I was reading Playing With Fire on the XMFC kink meme. So I was expecting more porn, or at least scorching UST. I got neither, but I'm ok with that. Heartsick capitalizes on my interest in power play, and my Alice/Luther withdrawals from the BBC drama Luther (which also features a cop and murderer with chemistry). I definitely kept imagining Gretchen as Alice Morgan from Luther the whole time (ohhhhhhhh Ms. Ruth Wilson~~~!).
As a rule of thumb, I usually don't read anything that's not fantasy of some sort. So this was the very first thriller I've ever read. And I rather liked it. Both Archie and Susan are interesting characters, and I like them enough that I'm fairly certain I'll check out the next book in the series. I guess it might be a trait of thrillers, but neither of our heroes are Bright and Shiny Heroes with Few Flaws. They each have some rather large vices, and in Archie's case a pill addiction. The descriptions of Archie's torture and his drug use... for lack of better word, I liked them, and found them interesting (couldn't tell you if they were realistic though).
A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness, inspired by an idea from Siobhan Dowd
I'm unfamiliar with Dowd, but the story goes that before she died she had notes for this story. Ness took the notes and ran with them. Technically this is JFic I think, and I read it because one of the book bloggers gave it another glowing review. If you like the book, I say buy the thing. At $17, it's cheaper than most hardback books nowadays and you get the added bonus of some nice quality, glossy paper with tons of artwork.
It definitely wasn't what I was expecting though. It's definitely a story about loss and grief and children's resilience. I did enjoy the mythic/folktale feel of it that the Monster imbues. Although I did confess I imagined the Monster as that one Boss Monster on Destiny Island from Kingdom Hearts.
The Kingdom of Gods by NK Jemisin (The Inheritance Trilogy #3/3)
It's been quite awhile since I read through a whole series. I've never liked the subtitles they've stuck on these book covers; they read like bad fic to me. The cover art this time around definitely gave me an OH, as I figured out its relevance towards the end of the book. As other bloggers have mentioned the book's cover and back of the book blurb is misleading. From what I understand, they were created when the manuscript heavily emphasized Shahar's role. Rather than the women narrators we've had in the last two books, we have Sieh telling the story here.
I usually don't like men/boys in 1st person narration. It's a sign of either Jemisin's skill in making me love Sieh too damn much to even care about that. Ah, right! So Sieh is a godling, and through his perspective we get a lot more info about the inner workings of them. We also receive some interesting new info about the catalyst of the Gods' War; loneliness, then, is revealed to be a central theme throughout the series I think. We also get his perceptions of other characters in a new light, such as Yeine. He describes her as pretty brutal, which I totally did not get from her narration in The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms. His voice is wonderful though, childlike, unapologetic, whiny at times, and just a delight to read. I particularly loved his description of adolescence, which involved his exasperation at all the "furious caressing." XD
I'm not quite sure how to sort my feelings about the book without spoilers, so have some disjointed ramblings.
I disagree with the one blogger who said Deka's character came off as shallow. For me, it was the other way around, Shahar fell quite flat for me. Perhaps it's because I like characters like Deka who chase after their dreams with intensity and focus and will not be deterred. In this case, Deka striving to be worthy of Sieh and becoming a BAMF while doing so. On that note, I was surprised the Sieh/Shahar sex scene received more wordage than the Sieh/Deka one. On a fangirl note, I was reallllllllllllly looking forward to some hot sexxing between Sieh and Deka, but alas, we get literature and not porn. Alas.
On the title. I think the title is quite clever. I kept misreading it as "Kingdom of THE Gods" and the whole absence of that THE makes a large difference. We're not talking about Kingdom as in Land, but as in Kingliness. It's just that The Kingliness/Godliness of Gods is a silly title.
I also didn't have problems with the End of the World plot like the other blogger did. However, relatedly, the one thing that didn't make sense to me was why even throw in the plot device of Sieh having a son? I don't see how this is relevant to him become a god in his own right. I mean, sure, it forces Sieh's nature to become something else, but as it's already implied that it is the nature of all godlings to eventually become gods in their own right.
Oh, right, this whole thing is pretty much an extended metaphor for growing up.
Anyways, I felt the whole story could easily have been Sieh just learning to navigate his relationship with the Twins. I really would have loved to see more interaction and negotiation between the three. Because throughout the series, Jemisin has had polyamory, same-gender loving, and incest, all of which occur in this novel too. For me, I read between the lines that Sieh, Shahar, and Deka would procreate the same way Naha, Tempa, and Yeine do. To that end, I really wanted to see how the twins worked out the incest, and how the whole polyamory/sharing aspect is negotiated. Because the fail!sharing is what led to the Gods' War to begin with.
One thing I did agree with the blogger after thinking about it. I want to see how Sieh, Shahar, and Deka are living as gods now. Aand I need moar Sieh/Deka. or Deka/Shahar. Or Sieh/Deka/Shahar. Ok, yeah, I want to find out how they all live in threesome happiness. Hey, wait a minute, how come the Three never had a threesome? No, seriously, outside of wanting to read smut, the series has been pretty awesome about having polyamorous, interracial*, lesbian/gay relationships. So how come the Three didn't have sex together? Hmmmmmm.
*I have a hard time remembering what nations correspond to RL races. So it's pretty awesome that Oree's black and her daughter (black also!) occupies the image of clothes in white, haloed in rings, and wielding one BAMF sword to save the world.
I am curious if Nahadoth came about the same way that Sieh's god-ness came, probably not since he wasn't aware of Sieh's condition. Also, I find it interesting that Nahadoth and Itempas' relationship is the most fragile of the Three, but in the new Three, Sieh and Deka's is the strongest. I wonder if the eventual third set of Three will finally have an equal triage.
Oh, and En. En is fucking awesome and I never thought I would love a sun that much. That's another thing Sieh's POV expands on; his planetary that's mentioned in The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms suddenly becomes a cast of characters unto theirselves.
All in all, I liked it, Sieh shone, and my newfound slasher heart was happy. My favorite book of the trilogy remains The Broken Kingdoms though. In that vein, it's not surprised that I absolutely adored the bonus short story, "Not The End." In fact, "Not The End," outshone the whole novel, and I didn't wait to finish the novel before I read it. And when I finished the novel, I read it again.
There's also an annotated/illustrated by Sieh glossary in the back of the book! I was disappointed he only annotated the first two pages though.
I want to be Oree Shoth when I grow up. Even at 100+ she's plucky as ever. And what I would give for Itempas' POV in this if just for the lulz. And Oree and Itempas as a cute old married couple! <3333333333333333333333 I really enjoyed the whole exchange where Oree says she's "never needed you," and Itempas is a-ok with it, and it was just the sweetest I Love You ever.
Oh, and the whole revelation about Oree being a demon. I definitely missed that if it was revealed in her book.
ETA: by the way, like book 2 was about what happens when the colonizer is overthrown, this book deals with how the remnants of the colonizer are what's keeping chaos at bay.
Currently to be read:
Modelland by Tyra Banks (I've gotta know if that review that said it was Literature is true)
The Gaslight Dogs by Karen Lowachee
The Thief by Megan Whaler Turner (ok, yeah, I know, some fantasy fan I am for never reading it)
Go Tell It On The Mountain by James Baldwin (my Literature book of the break)
That One Book purplebloom500 rec'd that's a cross between Twelfth Night and The Importance of Being Earnest
and maybe all those books on the shelf-and-a-half of books-i-own-but-haven't-read