Mini Reviews: The Saint of Bright Doors, The Ruthless Lady’s Guide to Wizardry, The Beast Player, A Season of Monstrous Conceptions

For once, the crop of mini reviews is mostly novels with only one novella in the mix. Currently, I’m reading far faster than I can write, as if trying to make up for my long hiatus, and it makes writing full length reviews for every novel impossible. On the other hand, I still like to review everything, just so I’m able to look up what I thought about which book years down the line, if nothing else.

So, a compromise: somewhat shorter reviews even for longer books.

Review: To Shape a Dragon’s Breath by Moniquill Blackgoose (Nampeshiweisit #1)

– goodreads –

Thanks to the publisher (Del Rey) for the ARC of this book.

I have a huge nostalgic soft spot for both dragon riders, magic schools, and stories where women say “fuck you” to restrictive societal expectations. Add an anticolonialist and queer twist to all that and of course I absolutely loved it. How could I not? It’s nostalgic yet refreshing, and even cozy.

March 2024 Monthly Wrap-Up

The days are longer, the trees are blooming, and I finally mostly snapped out of my funk and feel like reading again. And reading a LOT. All listed as read was read within the last week and a half, aside from the manga which was read over the course of about three or four binge sessions throughout the first half of the month. Unfortunately though, it was still not enough to complete the 2023 Bingo in time, and all I could do was try to get as many rows as possible (four!) but I will continue unofficially.

Read:

• Dungeon Meshi #1-14 by Ryoko Kui: I’m not at all into D&D stuff, but I am into cooking, and this was extremely fun. Good art, well-written characters, generally positive and non-restrictive attitude towards food.
• Carved From Stone and Dream by T. Frohock (Los Nefilim #5): Amazing but STRESSFUL. If you like books where nothing goes right for the protagonists, this will be perfect for you.
• To Shape a Dragon’s Breath by Moniquill Blackgoose (Nampeshiweisit #1): The dragon school book my younger self would have killed for, with an anticolonialist twist. Delightful.
• The Woods All Black by Lee Mandelo: Come for the monsterfucking, stay for the cathartic trans rage.
• Of Sorrow and Such by Angela Slatter: Somehow ended up reading a second revenge story in a row, this one from a witchy, feminist viewpoint. Liked it, just not as much.
• The Saint of Bright Doors by Vajra Chandrasekera: One of those wonderfully strange literary fever dream books. Somewhat distant narration aside, very up my alley.
• Failure to Communicate by Kaia Sønderby (Xandri Corelel #1): Space diplomacy is my catnip and I loved the explicitly autistic MC, but the plot was…less well done. Still, there is promise and I will continue the series.
• The Ruthless Lady’s Guide to Wizardry by C.M. Waggoner (Unnatural Magic #2): So much fun. Perfect bi disaster MC and humorous in a way that I liked for once.

2023 r/Fantasy Bingo Challenge progress: 16/25 (64%)

2024 r/Fantasy Bingo Challenge: Initial Plan and First Impressions

Official announcement thread HERE

Another April, another new installment of my favourite reading challenge. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to complete the 2023 one for the first time ever since I spent much of the year plagued by depression and other inconveniences, but I’m better now. I’m confident I’ll be able to complete this one and I’ll continue to unofficially cross off the 2023 Bingo squares until I have a full card. My plan had a lot of good picks I was looking forward to, and it would be a shame not to.

My first impression of the 2024 card is that it’s one of the more difficult ones for me personally. There’s a lot of highly specific squares, some of which are extremely not to my taste (Orcs…), and some that are not uncommon, but an absolute pain in the ass to research (Dreams, Reference Materials, Prologues & Epilogues). But I was able to put together a plan I’m happy with within the first two days, and I’m excited to start reading.

As always, detailed commentary below!

Review: Failure to Communicate by Kaia Sønderby (Xandri Corelel #1)

– goodreads –

Space diplomacy is one of my absolute favourite subgenres of sci-fi, so even though reading consistently is still difficult for me, Failure to Communicate was a real treat. It reminded me of The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet crossed with A Desolation Called Peace and I could not put it down. Even if I have a few quibbles when it comes to the plot, the premise, readability, and the wonderfully well written autistic protagonist made it worthwhile.

Review: Of Sorrow and Such by Angela Slatter

– goodreads –

Since this is a novella, and not a very long one at that, I honest to god thought this would be a normal, quick mini review. But then it got away from me. I kept typing. And typing. A paragraph, then two, then more, and here we are.

It’s funny that coincidentally, both novellas I read recently, this and The Woods All Black by Lee Mandelo, are revenge stories. Both about people who have been wronged and oppressed getting back at a bunch of religious bigots. Of Sorrow and Such perhaps a little more typical, and not quite as well done (if I 100% liked it, there’d be less to write), but still very angry and very enjoyable.

Mini Reviews: Regeneration, Deeplight, Witch in the Lighthouse, The Woods All Black

I really should look in my drafts before I start a new post. Because what did I find the last time I posted mini reviews? Another, 3/4 completed mini reviews post! Just one more novella and now it’s ready to go.

This is quite an interesting mix, too. A historical fiction novel I liked, a DNF, a novella I disliked, and another novella I absolutely loved.

Review: Carved from Stone and Dream by T. Frohock (Los Nefilim #5)

– goodreads –

Whew! This was one of the most stressful books I ever read. The whole series is some of the best historical fantasy out there and Carved from Stone and Dream is no different. But wow it does not pull any punches. Funnily enough, I originally got it as an ARC, but even though I was sure it was going to be good, I avoided it for ages because I wasn’t in the right headspace for something as anxiety-inducing as the summary implied. Some books just need the right moment.

General Update + Mini Reviews: The Red Scholar’s Wake, Of Wars and Memories and Starlight, Bone Gap, The Word for World is Forest

First, a bit of an update on how I’m doing and why this blog has been pretty dead lately. Apart from a brief period in the summer, I’ve been suffering from increasingly worse depression and fatigue for most of the year, and while I’ve been making some progress on figuring out what treatment I need recently (it’s all tangled up with some recurring health issues, so I really want to go through the checklist first), I expect I still have some time to go before I’ll be better.

But I’ve been trying to ease myself back into reading and there might be some more mini review posts soon. We’ll see. Still, there will be no monthly wrap-ups until I’m better, and no yearly wrap-up either (aside from a short list of 2023 favourites, probably) because looking at the stats of how much less of my favourite hobby did I get to do this year would only make me feel worse.

Now, the reviews! This post is half standard mini review fare, a novella and a short story collection, and half an attempt to deal with my review backlog. And all of them books I quite enjoyed 🙂

June and July 2023 Monthly Wrap-Up

Another couple months I have to post merged. June was absolutely dismal for reading, even more so than any of the months before, but in July, I went on vacation, which did a lot to pull me out of my reading slump (it helped a lot that I did not take my phone with me to the beach). I’m a little behind on reviews, but otherwise, I really hope this trend holds!

June:

• The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi by Shannon Chakraborty: I had to switch formats three times (kindle to phone to physical) to be able to finish it, but that’s on me and my slump, not the book. The book is excellent and fast paced and a great pirate-y summer read.
• Trigun #1-2 and Trigun Maximum #1-6 by Yasuhiro Nightow: I won’t lie, it starts rough. Really really rough. The first two volumes are a total mess. Piss poor pacing, unreadable fight scenes. But once you hit Trigun Maximum (the post-reboot sequels) it gets exponentially better very fast.
• At least five partial re-reads. I lost count, and I don’t exactly remember the titles either. I just reread bits and pieces of some of my favourites.

July:

• If Found, Return to Hell by Em X. Liu: Loved loved LOVED this so much. Bureaucracy in fantasy books my beloved. Burnt-out wizard intern accidentally adopts a demon-possessed teen. And it’s so cozy and sweet.
• Hungry Ghost by Victoria Ying: Picked it up on overdrive after hearing about it from one of the artists I follow on twitter or bluesky. A beautiful graphic novel about eating disorders, family, friendship, and grief.
• The Etched City by K.J. Bishop: Well-written, excellent setting in the vein of Vandermeer or Mieville, but man. I’m so tired of narrative cynicism.
• Regeneration by Pat Barker: Blew through it way faster than I thought I would. The theme is not particularly my thing (though I read some of Sassoon’s and Owen’s poetry), but the characters are so well written it ends up really compelling. Will continue the series.
• Bone Gap by Laura Ruby: So, so very up my alley. Literary and low-key fantasy and just a delight.
• Deeplight by Frances Hardinge (DNF 46%): Well written enough, with fantastic worldbuilding, but so extremely unenjoyable. Didn’t like Hark, hated Jelt, didn’t care much about the plot either.
• Of Wars, and Memories, and Starlight by Aliette de Bodard: Short stories are far from my favourite format, but this was fine. The excellent Xuya worldbuilding helped.
• The Bone Ships by R.J. Barker (reread): Had to refresh my memory since I need book 2 for Bingo. Still good. Completely forgot about the excellently foul mouthed bird.
• Trigun Maximum #7-10 by Yasuhiro Nightow: Heartbreak, heartbreak, and more heartbreak. Need a break before I tackle the final stretch. It’s amazing and getting better with each volume, but oof.

Currently reading:

• Call of the Bone Ships by R.J. Barker: Just started it.

Books read in 2023: 30 (+ 11 rereads)
2023 r/Fantasy Bingo Challenge progress: 8/25 (32%)