Adrift in Currents Clean and Clear by Seanan McGuire (audiobook)

I was already a big fan of Ms. McGuire’s when the first wayward children book, Every Heart a Doorway, came out, and I loved it! As a kid who grew up loving the Oz series and resenting the Christian imagery in Narnia, it was right up my alley. It is a wonderful book and this is an excellent series, definitely deserving of its Best Series Hugo win.  In this series, the odd numbered books are the main timeline, and the even numbered books tell stories outside the main timeline - sometimes introducing us to new characters when they travel through their Doors, and other times showing up backstory of preexisting characters. 

I was overjoyed when NetGalley awarded me an eARC of the audiobook of Adrift in Currents Clean and Clear!

This story is an even numbered book, so it is not advancing the main story forward - it more of a character study of Nadya. We met Nadya way back when the gang went on a journey to resurrect Sumi. We hadn’t learned that much of her story except that her Door led to a world of water with turtles in it, and that she eventually made it back there. 

This story is heartbreaking - we learned that Nadya was abandoned at a Russian orphanage by a teenager who was planning on giving her up even before she saw that she was born with a missing arm. The orphanage part isn’t the heartbreaking part - it is the way Nadya is treated by the right wing religious couple who adopt her as an act of charity, not love. Nadya’s time in her world is wonderful but too brief, and I was so sad when she was ripped away at the end of the novella, heartened only by my memory of her ultimate happier ending. 

I enjoyed this narrator a great deal. 

I cannot wait to devour the next one!

The Tomb of Dragons by Katherine Addison

This book was fantastic! So worth waiting for!!!!

Like many people, I first encountered Katherine Addison when I found the Goblin Emperor on a bunch of awards ballots and was immediately enchanted. Within six months of reading it, I doubled back and listened to the audiobook  - that novel was charming and delightful and wonderful.  (I also adored her unrelated book, the Angel of the Crows, and I think more people need to read that.) I was thrilled beyond belief when Tor and NetGalley gave me an eARC for The Witness For the Dead, a related book in the same universe as The Goblin Emperor.  That book was a book of my heart -  It was the most enjoyable reading experience I had in months when I read it the first time.  I was even more exited two years ago when Tor and NetGalley gave me an eARC for The Grief of Stones, the direct sequel to the Witness for the Dead which I described at the time as “perfection itself” - a description I still stand by. 

In anticipation of the Tomb of Dregons, the long awaited, third book in the Cemeteries of Amalo trilogy, I recently re-listened to audiobooks of the other books in this universe, so I have been soaking in it for weeks now. I was ecstatic when Tor and NetGalley gave me an eARC in exchange for an honest review. 

This book was a joy from beginning to end. It picked up right where The Grief of Stones ended, with Thara Celehar still suffering from the loss of his ability to speak to the dead after his encounter under the hill of werewolves in the last volume. The treatment of his pain and loss feels true without being maudlin or overwhelming. Without spoiling things, the resolution to that plot point is quite satisfying. This story takes unexpected twists and turns that keep you invested in the characters and their problems. The return of some characters and plot points from prior books is perfectly done without swamping Celehar’s story. I loved this book madly and am so so so sorry it is over. I take from the marketing that this is wrapping up the Cemeteries of Amalo trilogy, but I hope this is not the last we see of these characters. 

The Orb of Cairado by Katherine Addison

 

Wohoo! Unexpected novella in a universe I cannot get enough of!

Like many people, I first encountered Katherine Addison when I found the Goblin Emperor on a bunch of awards ballots and was immediately enchanted. Within six months of reading it, I doubled back and listened to the audiobook  - that novel was charming and delightful and wonderful.  (I also adored her unrelated book, the Angel of the Crows, and I think more people need to read that.) I was thrilled beyond belief when Tor and NetGalley gave me an eARC for The Witness For the Dead, a related book in the same universe as The Goblin Emperor.  That book was a book of my heart -  It was the most enjoyable reading experience I had in months when I read it the first time.  I was even more exited two years ago when Tor and NetGalley gave me an eARC for The Grief of Stones, the direct sequel to the Witness for the Dead which I described at the time as “perfection itself” - a description I still stand by. 

In anticipation of the long awaited, third book in the Cemeteries of Amalo trilogy, I recently re-listened to audiobooks of the other books in this universe, so I have been soaking in it for weeks now. Which is why I was so surprised when Subterranean Press announced a standalone novella in the same universe! I was ecstatic when Subterranean Press and NetGalley gave me an eARC in exchange for an honest review. 

This book was absolutely fantastic. It introduced a whole new set of characters in a whole new place in another tale set into motion by the destruction of the emperor’s airship - the same explosion that began the story in the Goblin Emperor.  The protagonist was a scholar accused of stealing an artifact believed to be the key to an even greater treasure, but he knows he is innocent. The story eventually solves the mystery of who is the real thief and, in the process, tells us about scholarship, love, duty, and betrayal. It is hard to describe without spoiling the story. I heartily recommend this to anyone who likes Katherine Addison and to anyone who hasn’t read anything by her yet. This book is wonderful.