REIGN OF ASH – Gail Z. Martin

Posted by Daniel on August 9, 2017
Posted in: SF/FANTASY, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , . Leave a comment

Gail Z. Martin continues her ‘Ascendant Kingdoms’ series with this second book: Reign of Ash.

In my review of the fist book I wrote: “These aren’t intelligent savages hacking and slashing their way through the world, these are civilized men and women in a world of war, agriculture, and magic.”  It was this aspect of this epic fantasy that set it apart for me from all the other epic fantasies that are out there.  But with Reign of Ash, we’ve fallen back to relying on the usual fantasy tropes and constant battle sequences or at least preparations for battle.

I also previously wrote that I wasn’t sure how I felt about having vampires included in this sort of fantasy.  Here, I actually liked it.  Perhaps this is because they were now established in this world whereas they took me by surprise in the first book.  But then… are vampires a feared enemy?  Is the fact that both sides in the battles have a vampire a form of ‘equal power’?  The vampires (Penhallow with our hero, Blaine, and Reese with the cruel Lord Pollard).  Both vampires seem mighty powerful, but neither really does much other than frighten people with their presence.

Our hero, Blaine McFadden, recognizes that he is probably the only one who can save and restore the magic that has kept his community alive.  So, even though they had banished him in the previous book, he’s off to set things ‘right.’  There are, of course, those trying to stop him (Pollard, mentioned above) and he brings on a few friends to help him in his quest.  And of course, because this is an epic fantasy, it’s not so simple as o in, fight, win.  There are a series of quests/tasks that must be performed.  And a lot of wandering through open, desert countryside, where it’s hard to hide from enemy forces.  But just when things seem bleakest, a friend happens along to help Blaine out.

This was one of my complaints about the first book … Blaine’s charmed life.  He never really has to work too hard, himself, at anything.  There’s even a whole covey of vampires that come to help him at one point.

And because of this…I got bored.

This is a lot of book to be going from one mini-crises to another only to be saved at the last moment each time, but deus ex machina.

Most of the supplementary characters only appear when necessary – not always present – and so it’s easy to lose track of them.  More than once I’d stop to think, “Now who was that?” And the same goes for the locations.  Where are they now?  Where is this in relation to that?

I’ve come to realize that I’m not a big fan of the epic fantasy story, though there have been exceptions.  Martin’s writing style is very readable and enjoyable, but the plotting and over-population of characters who don’t really matter, made this a tedious read.

Looking for a good book? Reign of Ash by Gail Z. Martin is the second book in an epic fantasy series, that could have been half the length and told the same story without losing anything meaningful.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

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Reign of Ash

author: Gail Z. Martin

series: Ascendant Kingdoms #2

publisher: Orbit

ISBN: 0316093637

paperback, 656 pages

IVY GET YOUR GUN – Cindy Brown

Posted by Daniel on August 8, 2017
Posted in: MYSTERY, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , , , . Leave a comment

We’re back in an Ivy Meadows Mystery with Cindy Brown’s Ivy Get Your Gun.  This time Ivy takes to the road for some out-of-town acting work, but she can’t escape the need to solve a mystery.

The character of Ivy Meadows (aka Olive Ziegwart) is really growing now that we’re in this, her fourth mystery tale.  She’s out of town, working at the Gold Bug Gulch in Arizona where she’s hoping for the role of “Annie” in Annie Get Your Gun.  But of course Ivy wants people to know the real Annie, and not the phony character from the play.  Which could be a problem since the director just wants some flashy entertainment.

But when Ivy gets to Gold Bug Gulch she immediately gets caught up in a missing persons … er… animal case.  A local pug named “Lassie” has run off with a pack of wild Chihuahuas and the owner fears that the wild coyotes will grab her.  If only that were the worst of things to happen at the gulch…. An actor by the name of Mongo is killed during a ‘fake’ shootout when someone swaps the blanks for real bullets.  Ivy goes undercover and channels as much of Annie Oakley as she can to get to heart of the mystery.

This was a great step for Ivy … to get away from her uncle (even though she gets in touch with him a few times) and really be on her own as an investigator.  We needed to see her step up and we did.  But we also see her grow a little in personality.  She’s still eager, enthusiastic, and reactive, but she appears to be stopping and thinking a little more.  Her research into the real Annie Oakley, to prepare for her audition, also shows a maturity in theatre that we haven’t seen before this as well.

But the maturity does not come at the expense of the fun.  Author Cindy Brown keeps the entertainment level high while also making a stronger mystery.  My only ‘complaint’ here is that I didn’t feel that the unraveling of the mystery was smooth enough.  Too much came all at once, though we were being distracted along the way to notice it.  It was only after, while thinking about what happened, that I wished I’d had a few more hints along the way.

I work in professional theatre and have for much of my career and it is so nice to read a story that incorporates theatre so well.  Cindy Brown clearly has experience in the theatre world beyond a small-town community theatre.  I greatly look forward to the next Ivy Meadows mystery.

Looking for a good book? Ivy Get Your Gun is the fourth installment in the Ivy Meadows Mystery series by Cindy Brown and it’s a fun-filled, humorous mystery worth reading.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

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Ivy Get Your Gun

author: Cindy Brown

series: An Ivy Meadows Mystery #4

publisher: Henery Press

ISBN13: 9781635112092

paperback, 234 pages

THE BEAR AND THE NIGHTINGALE – Katherine Arden

Posted by Daniel on August 7, 2017
Posted in: MYTHOLOGY, ROMANCE, SF/FANTASY. Tagged: , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

I don’t normally talk about a cover, but let’s face it … this cover art is beautiful.  What it suggests is a lyrical fairy tale, and that’s precisely what we get with the story inside.

Author Katherine Arden (whose very name conjures up fairy tale princesses) has written a Russian fairy tale, drawing on her own interest and education in Russian literature and language.  But the story doesn’t require the reader to know Russian or even the history of Russian literature. The story requires only that you be willing to sit back and be willing to be mesmerized by the poetry of the writing and the descriptions of the countryside.

Vasilisa lives in the Russian countryside.  It’s a harsh living, where it is winter most of the year, but Vasilisa is accustomed to the life and very satisfied.  When her mother dies, her father travels to Moscow and brings back a new wife.  This step-mother is a religious women and she forbids the family to worship in their pagan ways.  But the way of life in the Russian wilderness is uniquely tied to the land and spirits who inhabit the land and those spirits won’t be dismissed without a fight.  Vasilisa, who has the unique ability to peer into the spirit world is caught in the crossroads between the old, familiar way of life and the new regime.

Arden gives the reader an allegorical tale of the conflict of Christianity and paganism wrapped in a veil of fairy tale.  it is an entrancing tale, but I will admit that I wanted the story to develop a bit faster than it did.  The action of the tale really doesn’t start until two-thirds of the way into the book.  It is all set-up before that, and then the action begins quite suddenly and a little more blending of the two would have made for a smoother story.

I enjoyed my reading of this book and if I were to have a copy of the next book in the (planned) trilogy I would read it as well.  But … at the same time, I’m not in a rush to get the next book.  I am not so totally enthralled that I can’t wait and if I don’t read the next installment, I likely won’t miss it.

Looking for a good book? The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden is a lyrical fairy tale set in the romantic past in the Russian countryside and is engrossing in the language but not quite as much so in the story itself.  It is recommended.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

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The Bear and the Nightingale

author: Katherine Arden

series: The Bear and the Nightingale #1

publisher: Del Rey Books

ISBN: 1101885939

hardcover, 322 pages

NOAH’S RAINY DAY – Sandra Brannan

Posted by Daniel on August 4, 2017
Posted in: MYSTERY, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , . Leave a comment

I have a long back-log of ARC books that I’m trying to catch up on and as I write this, Noah’s Rainy Day by Sandra Brannan is the oldest book in my queue.  One of the reasons I kept putting it off, I think, is because of the title, which sounds more like an Easy Reader Chapter Book than a captivating mystery.

But this is a captivating mystery.  It’s a page-turning thriller and author Sandra Brannan really turns up the tension, building the book, layer by layer.

Liv Bergen is a recent Quantico-trained FBI agent.  When the five-year-old son (Max) of a very wealthy, connected New York mogul goes missing between connecting flights from New York to Los Angeles, Liv is requested to work the case.  Her connection to the wealthy man is tenuous (her sister briefly dated him) but it’s enough to make local agent Streeter Pierce suspicious.  Agent (and lover) Jack Linwood is also on the case.

Given Max’s wealthy father, and the separation of Max’s mother and father, Agents Bergen, Pierce, and Linwood follow up on the most obvious of crimes: kidnapping for money or kidnapping for parental care.  But Noah Hogarty learns another possibility.

Noah is the nephew of Liv Bergen.  Born with severe cerebral palsy, Noah’s an intelligent young boy trapped inside his own skull, working hard to find ways to get attention and to communicate with those around him.  He’s managed to find a way to communicate with his parents, though most might not believe that his complicated system of “yes” “no” and spelling out he alphabet is anything more than his mother’s imagination.  But now he must get his mother’s attention and then convince others to get in touch with his Aunt Liv, because he believes he knows something important about the missing boy case.

Author Brannan really does a great job of building tension, especially when we are inside the mind of Noah.  Near the climax of the book I was reading at a fevered pace, willing the information to come faster in order to save young Max.  I recognized and appreciated the beautiful prose, leading me in this direction.

Liv Bergen is an interesting, strong female agent and I find it interesting to learn after the fact that this is the fourth book in a series (no worries … there doesn’t appear to be anything crucial to know prior to this to enjoy this book). If this is her first FBI case, what happened in the first three books?  I definitely want to know, and I am very curious to read more of her adventures following this as well.

But as well-built as the suspense and tension is, all is not well with this book.

The story comes from multiple points of view.  Sometimes Noah, sometimes Agent Bergen, sometimes the kidnapped boy, sometimes the kidnapper.  It’s a bit of a mess, stylistically and slowed my reading when I was wanting to really get in to the story and read faster and faster.

There is also the fact that the mystery is solved not so much by great detective work, but a lot of happen-stance and coincidence.  And the final moments are almost laughably poorly managed by three FBI agents, all to try to draw out the suspense just a little bit longer.  This is a case where I feel a stronger editing hand would really have helped an otherwise nicely written suspense.

Looking for a good book? Noah’s Rainy Day by Sandra Brannan shows a lot of promise and delivers some intense suspense, but a few choices along the way derail an otherwise fine read.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

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Noah’s Rainy Day

author: Sandra Brannan

series: A Liv Bergen Mystery #4

publisher: Greenleaf Book Group Press

ISBN: 162634017X

paperback, 392 pages

GREAT SHORT STORIES BY CONTEMPORARY NATIVE AMERICAN AUTHORS – Bob Blaisdell, editor

Posted by Daniel on August 3, 2017
Posted in: SHORT FICTION, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , , , . Leave a comment

Ever since I had a class back in the 1980’s I’ve been fascinated with Native American literature.  The themes and styles, while certainly unique to the individuals, have a characteristic that identifies the writer with the Native American culture.  Only two of these authors (Leslie Marmon Silko and Sherman Alexie) were familiar to me before reading this.

Dover Publications has a tradition of releasing out of print books or cobbling together collections without much annotation, but when you come across a gem like this, it really doesn’t matter where the stories came from.  I got the chance to read some really tremendous fiction, by Native American authors, that I would likely never have seen if not for this ‘Dover Thrift Edition.’

My favorite stories here were Sherman Alexie’s “War Dances” which takes up the bulk of this slim volume and has a tendency to wander, but that is part of the charm as well.

“The Dog Pit” by Eli Funaro was not necessarily a ‘fun’ read but it definitely evoked images that I’m still seeing.

“Only Approved Indians Can Play Made in USA” pays powerful attention to the racial bias of the Native American as only ‘American’s’ can do it.  Author Jack D. Forbes addresses the issue ‘what makes someone an ‘Indian’?’ in the story.

Leslie Marmon Silko’s “The Man to Send Rain Clouds” was part of my reading back in college.  I loved it then and it’s still a tremendous work.

I liked that the works stretch back a few decades and “The Soft-Hearted Sioux” by Zitkala-Sa was written in 1901 and tells a fascinating story of a young man returning to his Sioux reservation as a missionary.

If you’ve ever wondered how Native American authors might tell stories differently than the whites on their land, then this is a great place to start.

This volume contains:

Note – Bob Blaisdell
“A Red Girl’s Reasoning” – Pauline Johnson
“The Soft-Hearted Sioux” – Zitkala-Sa
“The Singing Bird” – John M. Oskison
“Train Time” – D-Arcy McNickle
“The Man to Send Rain Clouds” – Leslie Marmon Silko
“Turtle Meat” – Joseph Bruchac III
“Only Approved Indians Can Play Made in USA” – Jack D. Forbes
“High Cotton” – Rayna Green
“Snatched Away” – Mary TallMountain
“Crow’s Sun” – Duane Niatum
“Borders” – Thomas King
“The Dog Pit” – Eli Funaro
“Beading Lesson” – Beth H. Piatote
“War Dances” – Sherman Alexie

Looking for a good book? Great Short Stories by Contemporary Native American Authors (edited by Bob Blaisdell) is a slim volume and it won’t take you long to read, but the stories and ideas may stay with you forever.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

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Great Short Stories by Contemporary Native American Writers

editor: Bob Blaisdell

publisher: Dover Publications

ISBN: 0486490955

paperback, 144 pages

SWING – Rupert Holmes

Posted by Daniel on August 3, 2017
Posted in: MYSTERY, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , , . Leave a comment

I was walking through one of my local libraries recently, just looking to see what caught my eye when this book popped out at me.  Rupert Holmes…a name with which I am familiar, and ‘Swing’ … one of my favorite styles of music.  This looked tailor-made for me.

Ray Sherwood is a jazz saxophonist.  He also happens to be an accomplished arranger.  Currently, Ray is in the San Francisco area with the Jack Donovan Orchestra for the Golden Gate Exposition and there is no shortage of attractive co-eds to add to the excitement of the World’s Fair. One such beguiling co-ed, Gail Prentice, seeks Ray’s help.  A composition she wrote has been selected as a composition winner and will be performed at the exposition.  Now Gail needs someone to arrange her piece for a full band.

It’s a lot of work, and Ray looks to lose money on his time investment, but music (and women) are his life and he’s impressed enough with Gail’s composition that he looks forward to the challenge.  It will also take his mind off another young woman he encountered about that same time – a woman who leaped to her death from Treasure Island’s Tower of the Sun.

What I was hoping for … and got … was a mystery in which music played a key role.  I can’t say too much about it without giving a lot of the mystery away, but trust that music is key.

While the mystery itself starts off pretty spectacularly, much of the book is a slow process of character introduction and establishing location and talents.  The meat of the mystery doesn’t really develop until three-quarters of the way through and most who’ve read a fair number of mysteries can probably anticipate where this story is going.  Still, it is, in fact, Holmes’ character development and knowledge of music that keeps the story interesting.  The chapters are quite short, making this a very easy read.

Anyone who can get a copy of the book that includes the CD will be rewarded with some fine music.

This was just what I was looking for while trolling the local library and I enjoyed the read.

Looking for a good book? Swing, by Rupert Holmes, is a delightful read and the perfect sort of mystery to read on a beach in the summer or while settling down in front of a fire in the colder months.

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Swing

author: Rupert Holmes

publisher: Random House

ISBN: 140006158X

hardcover, 384 pages

DUSK OR DARK OR DAWN OR DAY – Seanan McGuire

Posted by Daniel on August 2, 2017
Posted in: SF/FANTASY, SHORT FICTION, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , , . Leave a comment

If I had to select one book to be labelled the perfect supernatural fantasy (and fortunately, I don’t), I would choose Seanan McGuire’s Dusk or Dark or Dawn or Day.  There is more story, more power, more poetry, and more creativity in this novella than just about anything I’ve ever read.

Jenna blamed herself for her sister, Patty’s, death.  Then Jenna blamed herself for her own death.  But Jenna died too soon and so she spends her remaining time volunteering at a suicide prevention hotline in New York. One day Jenna realizes that the ghosts of New York are vanishing until she realizes that she is all there is holding the city in place.  Jenna is unintentionally pitted against a corn witch that manages to trap Jenna in glass (a ghost prison of sorts).  But Jenna isn’t one to sit by and instead takes matters into her own hands.

The only drawback to this book is that it is too short.

McGuire has created a world that feels so real and natural that I half expect to see a ghost as I head in to work. She has created some new ‘rules’ for the behavior of ghosts in literature (though I’m still personally fond of Jonathan Stroud’s Lockwood and Co series’ rules) and while establishing these rules McGuire has given us some interesting characters and a mystery that we get caught up in.  And she gives us beautiful, lyrical language.

Again…the book is too short to absorb everything that McGuire has put in here.  A little more time with the mystery and a little more time to get to know Jenna and those around her wouldn’t hurt the book at all, and very likely would draw more people to the book.

This book is number one on my recommendation list and it seals my appreciation for Seanan McGuire and her work.

Looking for a good book? Dusk or Dark or Dawn or Day by Seanan McGuire may just be the perfect urban fantasy novella and its only shortcoming is that it is too short.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

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Dusk or Dark or Dawn or Day

author: Seanan McGuire

publisher: Tor 

ISBN: 0765391422

paperback, 182 pages