If you know me, you know that I am an avid reader of all things fantasy. So when the r/Fantasy subreddit released their Book Bingo list for 2021, I thought it would be a fun way for me to expand my reading horizons and present a fun challenge.
There are three levels to winning bingo, the highest level being that you write a review for every book that you read. I've already been working on my list of books since the beginning of the year, so I decided to write short reviews of all the books I read for the challenge this year and keep them here in one blog post. So without further ado, here are my reviews for the 2021 r/Fantasy Book Bingo challenge!
Cat Squasher: Rhythm of War by Brandon Sanderson
Hard mode: 800+ pages - completed (1230 pages)
Plot: 4/5
Characters: 5/5
Worldbuilding: 5/5
Writing: 4/5
Overall: 5/5
Darkness level: Standard epic-fantasy dark. A few important characters die and many traumas are addressed, but hope is always found in the end.
As the fourth book in the Stormlight Archive saga, I already knew a lot of what to expect from Brandon Sanderson's writing: cool worldbuilding, heart-pounding plot twists, and beautiful moments of character growth. Rhythm of War had all of this. Since this is the 4th book in the series, I won't summarize it so that I don't accidentally spoil it for anyone.
The characters in this book continue to grow and develop in amazing and unexpected ways. From finding the bravery to ask for help with depression, to confronting repressed traumas, to accepting their inner strength, these characters go through some of the hardest moments in their lives and yet come out stronger and kinder because of it.
Sanderson's worldbuilding also continues to deliver. Since one of the main viewpoint characters for this book is a scientist/inventor, it was really cool to learn more about Sanderson's world through the lens of someone actively making scientific discoveries. The cultures of two major ethnic groups were also explored more, giving a lot more depth to the world of Roshar.
My one complaint with this book is that it follows three fairly unrelated plotlines, with each plotline having at least two major viewpoint characters. Two of the plots heavily outweighed the third in terms of both page count and tension, and I would have been okay with that third plot being cut entirely (or relegated to the 5th book).
First Contact: The Three-Body Problem by Liu Cixin
Hard mode: War does not break out as a result of contact - partially completed*
Plot: 4/5
Characters: 3/5
Worldbuilding: 5/5
Writing: 3/5**
Overall: 4/5
Darkness level: Multiple deaths, but a somewhat hopeful ending
The Three-Body Problem takes place in China, with the Cultural Revolution serving as the backdrop for complex political and personal relationships between all the characters. A secret government program attempted to make contact with aliens thirty years ago, and now terrifying and inexplicable events are happening to physicists around the world. The answers seem to lie in a VR video game about a dying planet, but will solving the mystery of it be enough to save humanity? And, more importantly, is humanity worth saving?
I've read very few fantasy texts in translation, and reading one from a Chinese author was a bit of a learning curve, especially since I'm not super familiar with the details of the Cultural Revolution. However, the translator had several helpful footnotes, and despite the slow beginning, there were many moments of beautiful writing that convinced me to keep going. Once I hit the hundred-page mark, the plot really picked up, and I couldn't wait to find out what happened.
This book is a love letter to physics. It's clear that the author was using science to craft the plot and not just layering scientific lingo on top of a fantastical story. Not only did this lead to some incredible worldbuilding, but I also felt like I learned quite a bit about physics concepts in the process!
I did not feel a big connection to the main characters; they are pretty emotionally withdrawn throughout the book. They didn't hinder my enjoyment of the book, but they didn't augment it either.
Overall, this was a very impressive science-based first contact book, and I'm definitely going to read the other books in the series.
*(Spoiler alert!) Hard mode partially completed because war has not broken out yet, but it is looming.
**Because this was a translated text from Chinese, it had some writing conventions that I wasn't familiar with, so this lower score was more a personal preference rather than a judgment of the quality.
Genre Mashup: Saga: Compendium One by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples
Hard mode: 3 or more genres - maybe completed? Fantasy + space opera + refugee story?
Plot: 5/5
Characters: 5/5
Worldbuilding: 5/5
Writing: 5/5
Overall: 5/5
Darkness level: Very, very dark. Graphic depictions of violence, sex, human trafficking, and drug abuse.
Saga is a fantasy space opera comic series that is currently halfway through its overall story arc. I read all the issues that have been published so far in one large book, the Saga Compendium. Saga follows a young couple, Alanna and Marko, as they flee from the governments of their respective home worlds that have been at war for decades. Alanna and Marko have committed the ultimate crime: falling in love and having a baby. All they want is to raise their daughter peacefully, but the rest of the universe wants them dead. Along the way, they encounter ghosts, bounty hunters, vengeful lovers, disgraced princes, reclusive authors, and more.
I cannot express how much I love Saga, and I am eagerly awaiting the day that the authors announce when the next issues will start being published. From Fiona Staple’s gorgeous artwork to the complex characters to the gripping plot, this series has everything. Above all, it is a rumination on just how far reaching the effects of war are. No one is spared from its horrors, and often, the most innocent are the ones who lose the most. At the same time, though, Saga is about finding love and a will to live even amongst all the horrors in the universe. It is a beautiful and heartbreaking tale.
New to You: The Charmed Wife by Olga Grushin
Hard mode: Never heard of the author before reading this book - somewhat completed
Plot: 5/5
Characters: 5/5
Worldbuilding: 5/5
Writing: 5/5
Overall: 5/5
Darkness level: Emotionally dark, with insinuations of drug abuse
The Charmed Wife is written as an epilogue to the classic Cinderella story—what happens after Cinderella marries her prince and lives happily ever after? In Grushin’s telling of it, Cinderella and her prince drift further and further apart, until Cinderella is compelled to seek out a witch and ask for the prince to be killed so that she can be freed of her misery. But that’s just the beginning of the story. To find true happiness, Cinderella must look deep inside herself and understand what she’s really been looking for all these years.
I heard about The Charmed Wife through a Dominic Noble YouTube video, where he and his friend debate whether The Charmed Wife is a sad story or a hopeful one. In my opinion, it’s both. Cinderella certainly goes through some heart-wrenching events and gets kicked down multiple times throughout the book. Yet she keeps going on, and I’d say the ending leans more hopeful than sad.
This book did a great job of re-telling the Cinderella story with truly original touches. The mice that Cinderella befriends have an entire sub-plot, unbeknownst to her. Many other fairy tales are woven into Cinderella’s story, each with their own unique twists. And Grushin deftly weaves together flashbacks with the present day, which keeps the plot at a rapid pace.
Grushin also uses language beautifully. Her words are fitting for a fairy tale, and I couldn’t get enough of them.
Set in Asia: Kiki's Delivery Service by Eiko Kadono
Hard mode: Written by an Asian author - completed
Plot: 4/5
Characters: 4/5
Worldbuilding: 5/5
Writing: 3/5**
Overall: 4/5
Darkness level: Pure joy and innocence
You might have already heard me wax poetic about my love for Studio Ghibli's adaptation of Kiki's Delivery Service, so imagine my excitement when I got my hands on the children's book the movie was based on! This book is short and quick (I read it in one day) and is targeted toward late elementary school readers. The story follows Kiki, a witch who has just turned thirteen, as she travels to a new city and tries to find her place there. Her only witch power is the ability to fly, so she has to be creative in order to solve the problems she encounters.
Almost every chapter in this book is written like a short story. Kiki meets many colorful characters throughout the chapters, some of them over-the-top, but all memorable. As she meets these people and finds ways to help them, Kiki gains confidence in herself and her abilities.
This is a very sweet children's book and was a great way to grow my love for Kiki's story. Sometimes the characters and plotlines were a bit to simple and silly for my tastes, but it is a children's book after all!
Backlist Book: Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones
Hard mode: Published before the year 2000 - completed (published 1986)
Plot: 4/5
Characters: 4/5
Worldbuilding: 5/5
Writing: 4/5
Overall: 4/5
Darkness level: Little bit of darkness, but all is well in the end
This classic fantasy book is about a young woman named Sophie Hatter. As the eldest of her sisters, she's destined for failure if she ever tries to go on an adventure. However, she accidentally draws the wrath of the Witch of the Waste, who turns Sophie into an old lady, forcing Sophie to set out on a quest to break her curse. To do so, she goes to the wizard Howl in his magical moving castle and makes a deal with a fire demon. As she travels with Howl, she learns a great deal about the mysterious wizard and about her own abilities.
This book was a true joy to read. It's full of fun fantasy tropes but also turns many of those tropes on their head. Sophie, as a shy-teenage-girl-turned-elderly-woman, is a delightful protagonist. Watching her march into the castle and upend Howl's life was great fun. Howl, with his penchant for fancy fashion and moping, was a great twist on the classic wizard.
The plot did start to meander and drag on a bit in the last quarter of the book, with multiple climaxes leading up to the actual climax. There were also some moments where Jones didn't describe key events as much as she could have, which led me to re-read paragraphs a few times to understand the significance of what had just happened. All in all, though, this was a very enjoyable read!
Mystery Fantasy: Elatsoe by Darcie Little Badger
Hard Mode: Not urban fantasy - completed
Plot: 3/5
Characters: 3/5
Worldbuilding: 4/5
Writing: 3/5
Overall: 3/5
Darkness level: Darker than average - a murder begins the main plot, and several more deaths take place
Elatsoe takes place in a world almost identical to our own, except magic and magical creatures are common and accepted. Many families have magical gifts, such as being able to make lights appear, or travel through faerie rings, or in the case of the protagonist Ellie's Lipan Apache family, to raise the dead. Ellie's experience with the dead so far has mainly been limited to raising small animals, and her beloved dog. But after her cousin dies unexpectedly in a car crash, Ellie must get much closer to death than she ever has before. Her cousin comes to her in a dream, telling her that he was murdered. Now, Ellie has to track down the murderer and bring him to justice.
I really like the premise of Elatsoe - a contemporary world infused with magic and the lore of many different cultures, including Indigenous ones. Seeing how the author wove the history of her tribe and its interactions with white colonizers into the worldbuilding was really interesting. Unfortunately, the story didn't go into as much of the worldbuilding as I would have liked. Sometimes things would be mentioned that sounded really cool, but they were never explored again. For example, the characters allude to magic being irresponsibly used, somewhat akin to our current environmental crisis, but it's never explained how or what the results of this misuse are.
I also got the sense that the author couldn't figure out whether this book should be middle grade or YA fantasy. The darkness level and the ages of the characters make it seem more YA, but the dialogue between the characters sounds much younger than how high school seniors actually speak. The clash of the dialogue and darkness level frequently took me out of the story. Overall, it was an interesting book, but not a great one.
Comfort Read: A Closed and Common Orbit by Becky Chambers
Hard Mode: A book you haven't read before - completed
Plot: 5/5
Characters: 5/5
Worldbuilding: 5/5
Writing: 4/5
Overall: 5/5
Darkness level: A pretty dark backstory and one sad death, but mostly warm fuzzies
I aspire to write stories that fill people with as much joy as Becky Chambers' stories fill me with joy. This book is the sequel to one of my favorite books, The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet, but it follows two secondary characters from the first book, so it's more of a spin-off than a sequel. Sidra is a sentient AI who used to be installed in a spaceship but has recently been transferred into a humanoid body. Now, she must learn to navigate society without revealing the fact that she's an AI. Luckily, she has the help of Pepper, a human woman who's one of the best mechanical technicians the galaxy knows. Pepper has her own troubles to deal with though, and she'll need Sidra's help to find peace with her past.
I absolutely adored this book. Chambers is an amazing worldbuilder and an amazing character developer, and those two abilities build off each other constantly. Her alien species are nuanced and believable, and her characters are complex and compelling. When writing from Sidra's perspective, Chambers has considered how an AI would see the world in a fascinating way.
The thing I love the most about Chambers' writing, though, is that even though her story takes place on far-off planets with aliens and AI, her story is very comforting for modern-day readers. Her characters make mistakes and argue, but it's clear that they love each other deeply and are doing their best to become better people every day. You'll wish deeply for the characters to find what they want and need, and Chambers doesn't disappoint. Her writing is also some of the most LGBTQ+ friendly writing I've ever read, which is great to see in a sci-fi book.
Found Family: The House in the Cerulean Sea by T.J. Klune
Hard mode: Featuring an LGBTQ+ character as a member of the family - completed
Plot: 5/5
Characters: 5/5
Worldbuilding: 4/5
Writing: 5/5
Overall: 5/5
Darkness level: Some dark backstories, but lots of love and warmth overall (trigger warning: insinuations of past child abuse)
I am a sucker for the found family trope, so this book was already off to a great start when I first picked it up. Klune's story features an alternate-universe world where magical beings are common, but they must be registered with the government and are often treated like second-class citizens. Many magical children are sent to "orphanages" until they grow up. The protagonist, Linus Baker, works for the government as a caseworker. His job is to make sure these orphanages are up to regulation and the children are well cared for. His latest assignment, however, is at an orphanage that hosts particularly dangerous children, and their caretaker will do anything to protect them. Linus will have to confront his own assumptions and prejudices in order to make sure the children can remain safe and loved.
This book is so lovely and pure. The characters are whimsical yet relatable, with the relationships growing between them with every chapter. The writing was also very fun; it reminded me of the tone of Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and Good Omens. This book is about the importance of adventure, bravery, acceptance, and love, and I couldn't get enough of it.
Title: ___ of ___: House of Salt and Sorrow by Erin A. Craig
Hard mode: Title: ___ of ___ and ___ - completed
Plot: 2/5
Characters: 2/5
Worldbuilding: 3/5
Writing: 3/5
Overall: 2/5
Darkness level: Very dark. Several gory deaths and disturbing hallucinations
The House of Salt and Sorrows is described as a gothic retelling of the fairytale The Twelve Dancing Princesses. The story takes place on a cluster of small islands inhabited by the People of the Salt - people who were supposedly created by the god of the ocean. The lord of the islands once had twelve daughters, but four of them have died so far, leading to rumors that the family is cursed. The most recent death raises suspicion in the mind of the middle daughter, Annaleigh. She suspects that her sister's death was not an accident, but instead murder. As she tries to find the truth, though, her sisters find a magical portal that takes them to beautiful balls all over the world, where they dance the night away. Annaleigh must push through the temptation of the balls and the increasingly horrific visions she experiences in order to find out the truth about her sisters' deaths.
The first chapter of this book definitely hooked me. The gothic vibe was cranked up to 11, with an eerie funeral in a sea cave and prayers to the god of salt rising from the people. However, after the first chapter, the gothic element just kind of...went away. There were definitely creepy visions and gory deaths, but these were interspersed with your average fantasy prose and plot. I never once felt scared or on the edge of my seat. Additionally, the actual plotline of The Twelve Dancing Princesses took a backseat to everything else happening in the book. It felt more like a side plot than the inspiration for the entire story. So it felt like false advertising on both counts. This might not have bothered me if the actual plot was creative and exciting, but mostly it fell flat. There were plot twists, but none of them felt earned. The reveal of who was behind all the creepy stuff felt so random and deus ex machina that I wondered at first if it was a red herring. Pretty much any other climax would have been more interesting than what the author settled on.
The other thing that bothered me about this book was the romance. I really dislike badly-written YA romance, but I didn't realize this book was YA when I picked it up, so I thought I was in the clear. But a third of the way through the book - BAM! - wonder boy comes along and the protagonist falls head over heels for him. He has literally no flaws except his mysterious backstory, which turns out to make him even more alluring and perfect. He also becomes weirdly possessive of the protagonist very quickly, even getting into a fistfight at one point with another guy over her. Teenage readers deserve better when it comes to their romance plotlines!
Trans or Non-Binary Character: Dreadnought by April Daniels
Hard mode: The protagonist is trans or non-binary - completed
Plot: 4/5
Characters: 5/5
Worldbuilding: 5/5
Writing: 4/5
Overall: 5/5
Darkness level: Standard superhero darkness - a few deaths, but victory in the end
Dreadnought presents a pretty familiar plotline: an average teenage girl comes across a dying superhero. In his last moment, he passes his powers to her, and suddenly she's one of the most powerful people in the world. Now she has to juggle everyday teenager problems with being a superhero. There's a twist, though: Danny, the protagonist, is a closeted transgender girl who's grown up in an extremely conservative and emotionally abusive family. When the dying superhero, Dreadnought, gives her his powers, the powers give Danny her ideal body - in this case, that of a beautiful teenage girl. Danny is ecstatic, but now she has to explain to her family and friends why she's ok with suddenly having a female body.
I've always been a pretty casual superhero fan; I know the big names, I've seen the movies, and I've read a few comics, but that's about it. I can't wait for more Dreadnought books, though. For one, the worldbuilding feels realistic and exciting. The book takes place in an alternate America where superheroes and supervillains have been around since the beginning of the 20th century. Because of this, certain elements of society have adapted to the presence of these uber-powerful beings. For example, every major city has several bomb shelters in case a hero-villain battle turns particularly destructive. It was these details that made me feel like the author not only thought about what it would be like to be a superhero, but also about the impact that these people would have on society.
The main thing I loved about this book, though, was how well the author balanced Danny's personal story with her hero story. Danny never regrets gaining a female body or her superpowers, but she certainly has to grapple with the pressure of being the new Dreadnought in a world where she isn't accepted, and learn to stand up to her abusive father. I was rooting for Danny in both cases every step of the way. She makes mistakes, as all teenagers do, but I was still proud of how brave she was the whole time. After years of abuse from both family and society, it can be incredibly difficult to accept that you deserve to take up space. Seeing Danny go on that journey was very powerful, and I'm guessing that having that sort of representation in the superhero genre will positively impact a lot of trans kids who read Danny's story.
Latinx or Latin American Author: When the Moon Was Ours by Anna-Marie McLemore
Hard mode: Book has fewer than 1000 Goodreads reviews - not completed
Plot: 5/5
Characters: 5/5
Worldbuilding: 5/5
Writing: 5/5
Overall: 5/5
Darkness level: Somewhat dark. Some graphic descriptions of violence, racism, and transphobia
When the Moon Was Ours is a magical realism novel about two teenagers, Miel and Sam. Miel was found inside an old water tower when she was five years old and has roses that grow from her wrist. Sam paints beautiful moons that he hangs up around his town, and he carries the weight of trying to find his identity while also respecting the traditions of his family. As Miel and Sam grow closer, their relationship and their secrets are threatened by the Bonner girls - four sisters who can make any boy in town fall in love with them. They're convinced that Miel's roses can make them even more powerful, and they'll go to any lengths to get those roses.
This book. This book is so beautiful. I cannot fully express how beautiful this book is. From the very first page, it felt like a cross between a fairytale and an epic poem and a dream. Every paragraph was a poem. The plot itself was fairly simple, but it was still incredibly impactful. Each event made me hunger for the next one.
Even though the protagonists are teenagers, the love story in this book was unlike any YA romance I've ever read. Their love is deep and innocent, a relationship that has existed for most of their lifetimes and yet brimming with newness at the same time. This book is an ode to love - loving a romantic partner, a friend, a family member, a home, and most important, loving yourself and your identity. I will remember this book for a long time, and I'm sure I'll be reading it again.
Gothic Fantasy: Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
Hard mode: Not one of the 10 books listed in this Book Riot article - completed
Plot: 4/5
Characters: 5/5
Worldbuilding: 5/5
Writing: 5/5
Overall: 4/5
Darkness level: Very dark. Lots of psychological horror as well as some gore at the end (trigger warning: rape, incest, emotional and physical abuse, murder)
This is only the third gothic fantasy book I've ever read (this first being The Three Imposters, written in 1895, and the second being House of Salt and Sorrows, which was...not really that Gothic.) After reading the reviews of this book, I had high expectations but not a lot of predictions of what this book would deliver. But it definitely delivered. The book begins in 1950s Mexico City, with young debutante Noemi receiving a frantic letter from her recently married cousin. Her cousin claims that her husband's house is haunted, and she needs Noemi's help. Worried for her cousin's health, Noemi agrees to go. She finds her cousin in a decrepit, English-style mansion owned by her husband's family. Everything is rotting and falling apart, the family members range from odd to creepy to downright hostile, and her cousin ranges from thinking everything is alright to being convinced that there are ghosts in the walls. Meanwhile, Noemi begins to have strange dreams as she learns the backstory of the house and the family that resides within.
This was a great read. There was a consistent level of creepiness that never quite verged into downright horror, the characters were intense and memorable, and the twist at the end was both unexpected and well-foreshadowed. The book also contained an excellent commentary on colonialism in Mexico and how science in the early 20th century was used to justify intense racism. I also appreciated that the protagonist of the book was not your typical horror novel heroine. Noemi is a young woman who is very smart and studious but also loves parties, flirting, and driving her convertible. She is torn between wanting to express her sexuality while also not wanting to do anything that might bring shame to her wealthy family or put her in a dangerous position. Navigating these gender expectations is a core theme of the novel, and it was really refreshing to see a female character who is so complex.
My one complaint about the book was that the beginning was a bit slow. The action didn't really pick up until 2/3rds of the way through, and there were a few scenes that I felt were unnecessary to the overall plot. However, the ending was exciting enough to make the slower beginning worth it.
First Person POV: Beasts of Extraordinary Circumstance by Ruth Emmie Lang
Hard mode: Multiple characters' perspectives - completed
Plot: 4/5
Characters: 4/5
Worldbuilding: 5/5
Writing: 5/5
Overall: 4/5
Darkness level: Overall filled with wonder and love, but a few moments of sadness and deaths of some secondary characters
This was a book that I put on my To Be Read list many years ago and then forgot about until recently. It falls somewhere between the genres of magical realism and contemporary fantasy, which is a genre that I'm really starting to love. The book is about Weylyn Grey, a boy who seems to have a strange connection to the natural world around him, and the people whose lives he impacts on his travels. From storms suddenly appearing and stopping, to a pig with a unicorn horn, to phosphorescent honey, Weylyn's appearances never fail to make a big impression. But after helping so many people throughout his life, Weylyn has to find the courage to help himself, too.
I really liked the overall structure of this book. By creating a powerful main character but telling the story of him through all the people he meets, the book feels like a collection of folktales. Like you've walked into a bar on a cold night and someone mentions this strange person they met once, and pretty soon everyone is sharing stories about the times they met that person too. It fit the level of magic in the book perfectly, always just beyond the realm of the real.
The pacing of the book was a bit slow at times, and near the end it focused a lot on the "I'm too dangerous to be loved" trope, which I'm not a fan of, but overall I really enjoyed this book.
Debut Author: Raybearer by Jordan Ifueko
Hard mode: r/Fantasy AMA guest author - completed
Plot: 4/5
Characters: 4/5
Worldbuilding: 4/5
Writing: 4/5
Overall: 4/5
Darkness level: Standard fantasy darkness - dark backstories and a couple of side character deaths
After my disappointment in reading some other YA fantasy books recently, I was starting to give up on the YA genre, which made me sad, since YA fantasy made me the reader I am today. Luckily, Raybearer restored my faith in the genre! Raybearer takes place in a fantasy world on a Pangaea-like continent, with one emperor ruling over 12 united cultures. Tarisai is a young girl who has always hungered for a family's love and to see the outside world, after being kept in a gated compound her whole life. She gets the chance to gain both of her dreams, but to do so, she must journey to the empire's capital and attempt to become a member of the next emperor's Anointed Council. If she's chosen, she'll get to rule the empire by the emperor's side, and more importantly, she'll have a family bonded by love and by magic. But her mother has a plan - Tarisai must kill the emperor she is sworn to protect. Tarisai must figure out how to escape her fate and bring justice to the land before it's too late.
Raybearer has some awesome worldbuilding. Many different cultures, loosely based on real-world cultures, are featured throughout the novel, but the most prominent ones are West African-inspired. This meant seeing a lot of clothing, music, cuisine, and stories that are often absent from American fantasy books. Additionally, the world lore was original and fascinating without ever dominating the plot or the characters. (One particular detail I loved that was only briefly mentioned: when people die in this world, they believe their spirits will walk in a slow procession toward the center of the earth. While walking, they'll experience all of the pain they ever caused in life, so they can go through a sort of confession/atonement. At the end of the walk, they get to join a paradise-like kingdom at the center of the earth.)
The plot was a bit slow and meandering at times, and the protagonist also suffered from the "I'm too dangerous to be loved" trope, but overall I really enjoyed reading this book, and I can't wait to read the sequel. Also, there was a love plotline that was actually realistic and didn't completely dominate the plot of the book!
Published in 2021: The Bone Spindle by Leslie Vedder
Hard mode: Debut novel - completed
Plot: 2/5
Characters: 3/5
Worldbuilding: 4/5
Writing: 3/5
Overall: 3/5
Darkness level: Standard fantasy dark. Offscreen minor character deaths. Trigger warning: emotionally abusive relationship
It took me a while to write the review for this book. I was sent an advanced reader copy (ARC) of it, and asked to write a review on Goodreads if I enjoyed it. This was my first time reviewing an ARC, so I was pretty excited. I realized halfway through reading, however, that I wasn’t really the target audience for this book. I abstained from writing a Goodreads review, since I don’t think I would have contributed anything helpful to the debut author’s release, but I wanted to review it here as part of the Book Bingo challenge.
The Bone Spindle is a genderbent re-telling of the Sleeping Beauty story. Fi is a young archeologist of magical items. When a former adventuring partner surfaces with a map to an old witch’s tower, Fi can’t refuse the opportunity. The witch’s tower holds a lot more than just treasure, though. It also holds the spindle that cursed Prince Briar Rose a hundred years ago and put him and his entire kingdom into an endless slumber. Now Fi is fated to be the one to rescue Briar Rose, but to do so, she’ll have to face enemies both old and new.
This book has some good things going for it. Cool worldbuilding (I always love reading about witches and unusual ways of casting spells), good representation of LGBTQ+ characters, and it definitely lives up to its goal of being an Indiana Jones-style fairytale retelling.
My issues with this book were twofold. First, the protagonist has a big secret that doesn’t get revealed to the reader until about a third of the way through the book. The secret wasn’t as exciting as I hoped it would be, but more importantly, 50% of the conflict in the book could be averted if Fi was just honest with her loved ones. I’m guessing that this will be part of Fi’s growth over the series, but it was frustrating to see the plot get dragged out simply because Fi was embarrassed to admit she made a mistake. At the same time, the author downplayed an abusive relationship Fi had been in for most of the book, acting like her ex-boyfriend was just annoying or embarrassing. It felt very weird to later discover the reason they broke up was incredibly dark.
My second issue with the book was less to do with the quality of the plot or the characters and more just my personal preference. I’m not a big fan of action-adventure stories. The character who I found to be most interesting in the book was Briar Rose, the prince cursed to forever sleep. I think it would have been really cool to see the story from his point of view, alternating between his dreams of watching over Fi and him battling with the Spindle Witch who cursed him. But that would have been a very different book!
SFF-related Non-Fiction: Wonderbook by Jeff VanderMeer
Hard mode: Published in the last five years - not completed
Overall: 3/5
Wonderbook is a writing guide for authors, specifically authors of fantasy, sci-fi, and other speculative fiction stories. Unlike most other writing books, it contains an abundance of graphics to help illustrate its points.
I appreciated many of the ideas in Wonderbook. In addition to VanderMeer’s writing advice, it also features the advice of many other famous speculative fiction authors. I especially appreciated the chapter on writing beginnings, and the case study of one of VanderMeer’s novels in order to illustrate the lesson.
As fun as the illustrations were, it was sometimes frustrating how they would show up in the middle of a paragraph, forcing me to flip to the next page to finish the section I was reading before going back to look at the graphic. Overall, though, it was an enjoyable and useful writing book.
Five Short Stories: Welcome to Bordertown, edited by Holly Black and Ellen Kushner
Hard mode: An entire anthology/collection - completed
Plot: 3/5
Characters: 3/5
Worldbuilding: 5/5
Writing: 4/5
Overall: 4/5
Darkness level: Varies depending on the story. Several deaths and some grappling with mental illness and addiction.
Teri Windling began the Bordertown series in the 1990s, when urban fantasy was just starting to become a thing. She gathered together the first big urban fantasy authors to write a collection of short stories set in a place called Bordertown - a city on the border between the human world and the faerie world, where technology and magic combine and clash in weird and fantastic ways. Welcome to Bordertown was published over two decades later, with many of the original authors returning plus several new ones being added to the mix.
Most of the pieces are traditional narratives, but there are also a few poems and one graphic novel thrown into the mix. I loved all the poems, especially Neil Gaiman's "The Song of the Song". The stories ranged from really creative ("Shannon's Law" by Cory Doctorow) to heart-wrenching ("A Voice Like a Hole" by Catherynne M. Valente) to run-of-the-mill ("The Rowan Gentleman" by Holly Black and Cassandra Clare). The most fun thing about reading the collection was that even though each story was written by a different author, they all built upon the same world, so it was like turning a faceted gemstone in your hand as you read, each surface slightly different.
Chapter Titles: The Color of Magic by Terry Pratchett
Hard mode: All chapter titles are more than one word - completed
Plot: 3/5
Characters: 3/5
Worldbuilding: 4/5
Writing: 5/5
Overall: 3/5
Darkness level: Pretty lighthearted overall.
I've often heard that when it comes to Discworld books, the first one you read shouldn't be the first one that Pratchett wrote, The Color of Magic. Alas, that was the only Pratchett book I happened to own (I got it at a garage sale several years ago) so that was the one I started with. The Color of Magic is about a down-on-his-luck wizard who only knows one spell (that he's not allowed to say) who ends up playing tour guide to the first tourist in his kingdom. The tourist comes from a land with much more modern technology and works a boring job in an insurance office, so he finds tavern brawls and temples to evil gods and dangerous dragons to all be wonderfully exciting. The wizard does not quite feel the same way, but he has to keep the tourist out of trouble as best he can.
Terry Pratchett is definitely a master of comical fantasy. The tourist was naive without ever being frustrating, and the few interlude scenes with the gods of Discworld added a really interesting existential aspect to the book. As fun as the characters were, though, they didn't really grow in any way, and some of the background characters were too stereotypical 90's fantasy for my taste. The plot was also fairly meandering - it felt more like a tour of Discworld than anything else. Still, it was an enjoyable read, and I have a feeling that Pratchett's later Discworld books will be much more satisfying.
r/Fantasy Book Club or Readalong Book: Pet by Akwaeke Emezi
Hard mode: Participate in a readalong as it's happening - not completed
Plot: 4/5
Characters: 4/5
Worldbuilding: 4/5
Writing: 5/5
Overall: 4/5
Darkness Level: Dark. Deals with child abuse and has some graphic violence at the end.
Pet is a short middle-grade/YA novel set in a near-future utopia. "Monsters" (abusers and corrupt individuals) have been eradicated by "angels" (the heroes who brought the monsters to justice). Jam, a teenage girl, has grown up in an amazingly safe, accepting, and loving world. So when she and her mother accidentally summon a monstrous-looking being called Pet who is on a mission to hunt a monster, Jam has to confront the unbearable idea that there are still people in the world committing acts of evil, and the people she cares about might be the victims. Or the monsters.
The first thing I have to say about this book is that the diversity is amazing. It's written by a Black nonbinary author; all the main characters are Black, the protagonist is a trans girl who is selectively non-verbal and uses sign language, and her best friend's parents are in a polyamorous three-person relationship, with one of those people being non-binary. All this diversity fit so well in a utopia-like setting, because it helps a reader envision a future where this much diversity isn't remarkable. It's just the way people are. Also, there's a scene where Jam walks home at night from a movie theater and isn't worried about her safety at all. That, more than anything, channeled the message that this is a world where evil has seemingly been eradicated. If teen girls can walk alone at night without being harassed or assaulted, it must be a utopia.
I also adored Emezi's prose. She writes in an African American Vernacular, which is cool to see in a fantasy YA novel, and some of the metaphors she uses to describe things are achingly poetic.
The end of the novel did feel a little abrupt, especially since it goes from mildly dark to intensely, graphically dark in the span of a chapter. I also wish we'd gotten some more background and worldbuilding. Overall, though, a beautiful and refreshing YA novel.
Forest Setting: Wildwood Dancing by Juliet Marillier
Hard Mode: Entire book takes place in a forest - completed
Plot: 3/5
Characters: 2/5
Worldbuilding: 3/5
Writing: 3/5
Overall: 3/5
Darkness level: mildly dark, but one scene of sexual harassment that verges on assault
Wildwood Dancing is a retelling of "The 12 Dancing Princesses" (weird that I read two of those this year...) set in 15th century Transylvania. The main character, Jena, is one of five sisters who travel to the faerie realm every full moon to dance with the people of that land. When her father falls ill and has to leave for the winter and her sister falls in love with a dangerous stranger, though, Jena has to protect her family from threats both human and fey.
This book felt like a pretty standard fantasy story. I didn't dislike the characters, but I didn't really love them either. The world was cool, although I would have liked even more Transylvanian mythology thrown in. The writing was a little flowery, but that seems to just be this author's style. The one thing that really frustrated me was the theme of sexism throughout the book. Not that we shouldn't talk about sexism, it's just frustrating as a woman to read a story about a woman who has all of her power taken away from her for 90% of the book. I wanted to punch the villain in the face so. many. times. And not in a fun way. In a "why does fantasy always have to come with a slice of patriarchy" kind of way. And Jena didn't even get to overcome him in the end through her wits and power. He just....disappears. So yeah. Not as bad as the other 12 dancing princesses adaptation that I read, but still not great. Come on, authors!
Revenge-Seeking Character: The Library at Mount Char by Scott Hawkins
Hard Mode: Revenge is central to the plot - completed
Plot: 5/5
Characters: 5/5
Worldbuilding: 5/5
Writing: 5/5
Overall: 5/5
Darkness level: VERY dark. Graphic violence and death, mentions of sexual assault
I read this book because of a joke post on the r/fantasy subreddit. The prompt was to badly describe a fantasy book you've never read based only on how you've heard others describe the book. One person wrote absolutely hilarious descriptions, and the one for The Library at Mount Char was "I have no idea what this book is about, but I wish they would hurry up and publish it in the UK already!" That alone intrigued me enough to put it on my reading list, and I'm so glad I did. This was one of the best books I read this year, if not one of the best books I've ever read. Imagine if God adopted a bunch of human children and trained each of them in an area that he has dominion over - war, time, healing, animals, languages, etc. Now imagine that God disappeared, and the children had to figure out where he went and how to get him back before the world is destroyed by his enemies. Not Lucifer. Much, much weirder enemies. Like, sentient iceberg weird.
This book has it all. Characters that are strange and complicated that you keep wanting to learn more about. A plot with fantastic twists. Great prose. Absolutely bonkers worldbuilding. My only complaint about this book was that the worldbuilding was so good, I wanted another 100 pages just to learn more about it. Tell me more about the sentient iceberg, goddammit!
Oh, and if you're wondering why this book is in the "revenge" category (or why it's called The Library at Mount Char) you're just going to have to go ahead and read the whole book, because you won't find out why until the end!
A-Z Genre Guide: Upright Women Wanted by Sarah Gailey
Hard Mode: BIPOC author - not completed
Plot: 3/5
Characters: 3/5
Worldbuilding: 3/5
Writing: 3/5
Overall: 3/5
Darkness level: Somewhat dark. A few deaths of unnamed characters plus an execution. Homophobia.
Upright Women Wanted is a Western fantasy novella. It takes place in a future United States where a disaster has caused almost all oil to be used up. What little is left is dedicated to an unending Civil War. The lack of oil means that most technology has regressed to pre-electricity level, aka mid-1800's. Along with the technology regression has come a regression in gender roles and acceptance of LGBTQ+ individuals. Women are expected to marry young, have lots of kids, cook and sew, etc. The only women who have "adventures" are the librarians who distribute propaganda and other government-approved reading materials around the country. Except there's a twist. Those women are actually rebels who are smuggling people and resources to the resistance that's fighting against the new US government. And they're queer.
This book wasn't bad in any way. It was just too short for my tastes. There wasn't enough time for the protagonist to be fleshed out beyond grappling with her sexuality. None of the other characters were rounded out or developed. The worldbuilding hinted at interesting things, but there wasn't time to delve into any of it. And the plot was anticlimactic, probably due to a lack of time to build up to anything bigger. So it was fine. I'm interested to read one of this author's full-length novels to see how it compares.
Self-Published: The Lightning's Claim by K.M. Fahy
Hard Mode: Less than 50 Goodreads reviews - completed
Plot: 3/5
Characters: 3/5
Worldbuilding: 4/5
Writing: 3/5
Overall: 3/5
Darkness level: Very dark. Several gruesome deaths.
The Lightning's Claim is a solid dystopian fantasy YA novel that fans of books like The Hunger Games would enjoy. The setting is a city where many people have element-based powers. The protagonist has lightning-based powers, which is taboo, especially because deadly lightning frequently strikes the city at random, always killing whoever it hits. The lightning is getting worse, and the two churches that are supposed to protect the citizens of the city seem to be doing nothing about it.
I thought the concept of a deadly natural force eating away at a city was a great premise, and the rivalry of the two churches was interesting. The book was definitely a little dark for my taste, with a lot of gruesome death in the first third of the book. Every time you think things are getting better for the protagonist, they get even worse, to the point where it was hard to have the mental energy to keep reading. I also thought the ending was a bit rushed and the lighting and gods could have been explained better. Without a good explanation, the ending seemed like a deus ex machina. However, all-in-all I thought this was an impressive first book for an author, especially since the author didn't have the resources that a traditionally-published author would.
Witches: The Ex Hex by Erin Sterling
Hard Mode: A protagonist is a witch - completed
Plot: 4/5
Characters: 4/5
Worldbuilding: 3/5
Writing: 3/5
Overall: 4/5
Darkness level: Not very dark. One scary haunted house-esque scene and a description of how a ghost died. However, rated R for some graphic sex scenes
This year, I've been on the lookout for fantasy books that don't follow traditional epic fantasy conventions. No big quests to defeat a world-ending villain. So I was really excited to see a modern fantasy romance book come up as a recommendation for this category. I can count the number of romance books I've read on one hand, which made this book an exciting change for me. Vivienne is a college student studying witchcraft with her aunt and cousin. After her summer fling breaks her heart, she drunkenly curses her ex. Ten years later, Vivienne's ex reappears in her hometown to renew the ley lines that power her family's magic. It turns out that the joking curse she cast on him was a real curse, and now the entire town is going haywire. Vivienne and her ex have to fix the town's magic and resolved their messy feelings for each other.
This book was very fun. I loved the lighthearted, everyday approach to witches and magic. The characters were memorable and easy to like. My biggest complaint was that there was a lot of lust in this book. I know that it's a romance, but the main characters probably devoted 75% of their mental energy to thinking about how hot the other one was. It was cute/funny at first, but got old after a while. Even people who are in the honeymoon stage of a relationship don't think about each other that much!