Green City Wars by Adrian Tchaikovsky

 

I have said in the past that I used to think I didn’t like Adrian Tchaikovsky’s books. I mean, I was told that I SHOULD like them since I’m a big fan of Peter F. Hamilton’s space opera doorstoppers. But when I tried to read one of his books a few years ago I rage-quit it like 12% of the way through. 

But then when his novella Elder Race was nominated for a Hugo, I read it and enjoyed it. I also read Ogres when it was nominated, and it wasn’t half bad. I enjoyed Service Model when the publisher and NetGalley gave me an eARC in exchange for an honest review. My main complaints were too many pop culture references and some incoherent worldbuilding. His other big novel from last year, Alien Clay, really didn’t do much for me. I hated the protagonist and felt it was dreary. 

So I was optimistic when I got a copy of Green City Wars from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review. It is a standalone (as far as I know) with an interesting concept - noir mystery with uplifted animals. 

Sadly, the concept was the best part of this book. I didn’t love the characters of the plot. The world building was fine but it was not an enjoyable enough or interesting enough world to want to spend a novel’s amount of time in. I would have enjoyed it more as a short story or novella. 

Daggerbound by T. Kingfisher

 

In the past 5 years or so, I have become a HUGE fan of T. Kingfisher (a/k/a Ursula Vernon). 

Ms. Vernon is the author of the Hamster Princess books, which both of my daughters have enjoyed (as have I!). Those books were my introduction to her, along with her social media presence, which I found through Seanan McGuire. 

Ordinarily, I don’t like horror. I never wanted to watch scary movies as a kid. I got nightmares from E.T.  But based on recommendations I read the Twisted Ones and The Holllow Places and I realized that I loved Ms. Vernon’s writing and I could make it through the scary parts unscathed with her as my guide. 

I started devouring her back catalog and putting all new releases on hold at the library.  I have subscribed to her Patreon and I convinced my wife to read Nettle and Bone, which she loved (as did I). I even backed the kickstarter for the rerelease of Digger, which was wonderful.  Her Paladin books are my absolute favorites, but I also very much loved Swordheart, so I was thrilled when I found out her contract with Tor included not only reprinting Swordheart but also the two long promised sequels starring the other two people bound into swords. 

I was delighted when I got an audio eARC from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review. 

This book was fabulous! I had reread Swordheart before listening to this book, but I hadn’t reread the Clocktaur War duology, so I didn’t remember every detail about Learned Edmund when he showed up in the first chapter but I quickly realized how much I loved him. And the Dervish was everything I hoped for! But my heart belongs to Large Francis, who does not eat human meat. The only thing I disliked about this book was that it had to end! Very satisfying!

Radiant Star by Ann Leckie

I loved Ann Leckie’s writing from the first time I read Ancillary Justice (which I have reread and listened to the audiobook of several times). I so enjoyed the Imperial Radch universe and adored each book in that trilogy. Provenance surprised me by being so different while still being in that universe and being so wonderful. And Translation State felt like a book of my heart - I loved it so much! So I was utterly delighted when Orbit and NetGalley gave me an eARC of Radiant Star in exchange for an honest review. 

I bounced off the first chapter the first two times I tried to read this book. But then I remembered how all of Ann Leckie’s prior books had a barrier to entry, and once I broke the meniscus I could dive right in and never look back. (Provenance is a particular example of this.) So I tried it again a few days later and I fell in love with the narrator - the pointed commentary and little asides felt like reading a book from the 1800s in the best possible way. This was a standalone book while also slightly advancing the storyline of the fracturing empire. I do hope that the next book gives us more insight into what is going on with that story, but that is not to denigrate this book at all. My one complaint about this book is the multitude of point of view characters made it hard for me to sink my teeth into the book - whenever I got invested in a person things shifted. But all in all I really enjoyed this. 

Kill All Wizards by Jedediah Berry

 

Sometimes you pick up a book because the cover is cool and the premise sounds interesting. Sometimes you are rewarded. Sometimes you are not. I got an audio eARC of Kill All Wizards from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review because it had a great title and a neat cover. Sadly, after finishing it, the title and cover were the only things I enjoyed about it.  While individual sentences were well crafted, I found the book boring from beginning to end.  Not for me! 

The Beautiful Ones by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

 

A while back, I got a eARC of Silver Nitrate by Silvia Moreno-Garcia and I really enjoyed it! Before that, I’d seen her name around on best of lists and upcoming books to look forward to, but it wasn’t until the Hugo nomination for the Daughter of Dr. Moureau that I decided it was time to put her to the top of my to-read pile. I enjoyed it and also really enjoyed Silver Nitrate and The Seventh Veil of Salome, so I happily requested and received an eARC of her newest novel, The Beautiful Ones, in exchange for an honest review. 

This book was the first book by Ms. Moreno-Garcia that I read that was a disappointment. It is a very light fantasy romance novel set in a regency-esque time frame. I say “very light” because both the story and the amount of magic in this world is slight. Some people have a spot of telekinesis, but it has had no effect on society.  The story is of a young girl who falls in love with a man who it turns out had, a decade ago, been engaged to her cousin’s now-wife. The romance felt strained and unbelievable and the cousin-in-law cartoonishly villainous. I’d skip this book in favor of her earlier work. 

Under the Falls by Richard Russo

As I have mentioned before, I have loved everything Richard Russo has written in the past.  I first learned about him when looking for a birthday present for a friend.  I saw Empire Falls in paperback in a Boston Barnes and Noble in like 2003 or so and it looked so good, I bought two copies - one for him and one for me.  (I think this was before it had won the Pulitzer Prize. ) I found it unputdownable.  His characters were so real and relatable, and the world was so perfectly drawn. My only complaint there was the time jump. 

I went back and started reading his entire back catalog and loved it all (though a few of his other books also used a time jump to skip past difficult parts). I was very excited to see that he had a new book out this summer and I eagerly requested an advanced reader copy from the publisher. I also shared the physical advanced reader copy that I got with my mother, who also has loved Richard Russo’s books in the past.

She returned the copy to me unfinished. She couldn’t get into it, and when I read it, I see why. In a huge contrast to most of Mr. Russo’s earlier work, the characters are flat and not believable.  Their motivations are weak and not fully explored and scenario is frankly ludicrous. There are a few kernels of good ideas in here and the way that Mr. Russo writes about men longing for the close friendship of their youth reminded me a bit of some of the parts of Bridge of Sighs (which I really should re read) but all in all this book was a huge disappointment. 

In the acknowledgments, Mr. Russo admits that this book started out as a TV pilot. That Genesis does, I think, explain many of my problems with this short novel. It seems like streaming TV these days often requires broader characters with more outlandish set ups and plots to entice a jaded viewer.  I can picture in my head, The 60 second ad for this show on Paramount +, and I would want to watch it just as much as I would want to recommend this book - not very much.  I may go back and reread one of Mr. Russo‘s older books to get the taste out of my mouth.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review. 

If We Cannot Go at the Speed of Light by Kim Choyeop

 

I really enjoyed this short story collection! I had never heard of this author before, but I have been trying to broaden my horizons and read more SFF in translation, so I was happy to get an eARC from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review. The stories in this book were fascinating and haunting - I find myself still thinking about the emotion-inducing collectibles and the one about the astronaut who learned a secret about her astronaut-predecessor relative. I highly recommend this collection.