MASK OF SHADOWS – Linsey Miller

Posted by Daniel on January 4, 2019
Posted in: SF/FANTASY, YA. Tagged: , , , , , . Leave a comment

If you’re reading a book and you read only in the morning but when you go to bed at night you are thinking about the characters in that book, and wondering what is about to happen next, you probably really like that book.

If you’re reading a book and you tend to always read that book in the same fashion (physical copy, or on a Kindle or Nook) and you download a copy onto your phone because you want to read a little more when you have even a brief moment … you probably really like that book.

Both of these happened to me with Linsey Miller’s Mask of Shadows.

Sallot Leon is a thief – s/he has found a way to survive in a world where s/he is the last of his/her people – his/her home destroyed when the soldiers, who had promised to stay and protect the city, retreated, leaving the defenseless citizens to be slaughtered by a vicious enemy.  Now Sal wants revenge against all the cowardly military leaders who lied and let the city be ravaged.

Sal is invited to audition to become one of the elite assassins to the queen, known as the Left Hand.  Sal, and the others invited to audition, could become the next Opal, to fight and kill alongside Ruby, Emerald, and Amethyst. The odds are against Sal, who becomes known only as ‘Twenty-three,’ as others who have more practice in killing, and are sometimes bigger, or faster, or better trained with weapons.  But Sal is quick-thinking and determined. Unfortunately getting through auditions is only the beginning as audition-er will kill audition-er in the first couple of tests.

Okay … first things first … this is very CLEARLY a Hunger Games sort of story.  One might say ‘rip-off’ and be correct.  One might say ‘homage’ and be correct.  Since Hunger Games‘ popularity was so dynamic, there have been plenty of books trying to capitalize on that success.

The book is full of action and Lynsey Miller handles this well.  I definitely got caught up in the thrill of the kill and survival techniques and action point jumps to action point rapidly.

But we also get caught up in Sal.  Sal is gender-fluid.  Male? Female? Sal’s physical appearance suggest one gender, but Sal identifies with another.  This is a twist in such a popular fiction format but quite topical and likely to gain some traction with many YA readers. Sal’s attraction to a teacher is a delightful sub-plot, and Sal’s reason for revenge is revealed slowly though the story and definitely kept me hooked.

I understand the problems with the book … Sal really has no reason to be invited to audition for Opal, but there’s a certain amount of willing-suspension here.  The Left Hand sees all, as we come to learn during the auditions and so it’s believable (if you let yourself) that they see talents in a thief that might become useful. And of course Sal really doesn’t have what it takes to become an elite assassin … but if s/he did, there would be no drama or reason for a story.

Yes, this is a retread of The Hunger Games, but Miller handles it well and it’s very exciting. It’s a YA novel and the YA reader will likely really get into this. For action and excitement that I couldn’t wait to get back to, I rate this well.

Looking for a good book? Mask of Shadows by Linsey Miller is a riveting, fast-paced YA novel that fans of The Hunger Games will enjoy.

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

* * * * * *

Mask of Shadows

author: Linsey Miller

series: Mask of Shadows #1

publisher: Sourcebooks Fire

ISBN: 1492647497

hardcover, 352 pages

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WHY WE WRITE – Meredith Maran, editor

Posted by Daniel on January 3, 2019
Posted in: NON-FICTION. Tagged: , , , , , . Leave a comment

There’s no shortage of books about writing and hopeful writers will devour not only ‘how to’ books, but books by and about ‘famous’ authors to hopefully glean that little nugget of information that will lead the hopeful onto a path of publishing and fame.

In Why We Write, editor Meredith Maran has collected short bios and Q&A’s with twenty writers of varying styles. Anyone picking up this book is likely familiar with most of these authors, if not all of them.

The book really offers nothing new except that the common mantra (“I write because I can’t imagine doing anything else”) comes straight from the individual.

We see here that writing is tough.  It’s a hard job and a publishing contract doesn’t mean instant success. Only those truly new to writing will be surprised by anything offered here. That’s not to say that there weren’t little moments that I found delightful.  For instance … while I’ve never read anything by Armistead Maupin, I enjoyed his little truthful moment:

I don’t mean to say that I don’t have those glorious moments when I look at a paragraph and find it every bit as graceful and illuminating as I wanted it to be. I’ve been known to do a little jig around the room when that happens. The problem is, I can’t let myself proceed until I’m thoroughly happy with that paragraph. Every writer’s manual on the planet tells you to just spill it all out and polish it later. I haven’t been able to do that since the late seventies, when I was writing the serial on carbon paper, choosing my words and moving on immediately because of the daily newspaper deadline. The word processor, as much as I can’t imagine life without it, has only made me pokier, since it enables me to polish endlessly. At best, I’ll write only a page or two a day when working on a novel. I want my books to read like a brisk run through the woods, so my job is to get the obstacles out of the way. That takes time and sweat. A lot of people assume that a fast read is a fast write. Oh, if only that were true.

Or Mary Karr’s words of wisdom: “Most great writers suffer and have no idea how good they are. Most bad writers are very confident.”

And for all the advice offered here (which, honestly, isn’t that much) Kathryn Harrison (another author here whom I’ve never read) boils it all down: “It’s good to have talent and discipline, but there’s really no substitute for discipline.”

There are twenty authors here and each gets 10-11 pages which includes a short bio, a vital stats (including awards), a bibliography of their works, a few paragraphs that read like responses to questions, and a “Wisdom for Writers” bullet-point list. It all comes across as pretty generic. Most of these writers are pretty busy with whatever projects they are working on and they likely shot off their responses without a great deal of in-depth thought … or at least that’s how it comes across.

There’s nothing ‘bad’ or ‘wrong’ here. It’s a pretty average book that I wouldn’t steer you away from nor would I encourage you to read it.

The authors included here are:

Isabel Allende
David Baldacci
Jennifer Egan
James Frey
Sue Grafton
Sara Gruen
Kathryn Harrison
Gish Jen
Sebastian Junger
Mary Karr
Michael Lewis
Armistead Maupin
Terry McMillan
Rick Moody
Walter Mosely
Susan Orlean
Ann Pratchett
Jodi Picault
Jane Smiley
Meg Wolitzer

Looking for a good book? Why We Write, edited by Meredith Maran, is a collection of material, including some very brief essays from working writers on why they write. It’s pretty safe fare and not likely to provide much insight.

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

* * * * * *

Why We Write: 20 Acclaimed Authors on How and Why They Do What They Do

editor: Meredith Maran

publisher: Plume

ISBN: 0452298156

paperback, 228 pages

THE GIRL IN THE GREEN SILK GOWN – Seanan McGuire

Posted by Daniel on January 2, 2019
Posted in: Dark Fantasy/Horror, SF/FANTASY. Tagged: , , , , , . Leave a comment

Seanan McGuire, that talented and productive author, treats us to another installment in Ghost Roads series with The Girl in the Green Silk Gown.

Rose Marshall is dead.  She’s a ghost – a hitch-hiking ghost to be more precise – and she wanders the highways, catching rides with the living in order to help them as they pass from one realm to the next.  She’s been a ghost for sixty-some years and over time she’s developed a reputation.  She’s sometimes known as the Ghost in the Green Silk Gown and sometimes as the Phantom Prom Date, but she’s just Rose.

Rose was killed by Bobby Cross, a once-famous actor who made a bargain and now drives through eternity, killing innocents in order to keep his demon car fueled.  He killed Rose, but she accidentally escaped being consumed by him and now Bobby has a grudge against Rose and he’s bent on finishing her off.

There are rules in the Ghost Realms by which to live (or un-live) by and even those who are governed by the rules don’t always seem to understand them.  Rose’s escape from Bobby was one such rule and now, when Bobby manages to make Rose mortal again, so is another.  The dead aren’t supposed to be alive.  Rose can die again, but to do so might completely change what type of ghost she is to become, if a ghost at all.  Rose needs help to return to the dead and it’s possible that only the living can make this happen.  But who do you turn to when all your relatives have died?

I greatly enjoyed this journey into the ghost realms.  McGuire does such a fine job of creating a world with unique rules that feel so right and appropriate. She also manages to deliver these rules smoothly and in the course of story-telling rather than just giving us a big info-dump session.

Additionally, McGuire gives us compelling characters.  Rose Marshall comes across as so real and alive, which is why we get caught up in her story and care about what happens to her. Never mind that she’s a ghost … that she’s fictional. We care about her.

One sentence surprised me, coming from Seanan McGuire. At one point our narrator (Rose Marshall) says to the reader “That speaks well of her intelligence, since I’m literally talking out of my ass.”

Really?  “Literally” talking out of her ass?  I read this and imagine a high, squeaking voice, like the air being let out of a balloon between the fingers. Had our narrator character said this out loud, I might have forgiven her, since people do say this, even though it is so incorrect.  But to have written this as part of the narrator-to-reader it just really bugged me.  Sorry Ms. McGuire – you’re better than this!

I loved the ending of this book.  Too often I get to the end of a book I’ve enjoyed only to be let down, but McGuire gives us just the perfect conclusion.

But one sentence won’t really ruin a read and I highly recommend this book.

Looking for a good book? The Girl in the Green Silk Gown continues the ghost adventures of Rose Marshal, by Seanan McGuire, and is a recommended read.

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

* * * * * *

The Girl in the Green Silk Gown

author: Seanan McGuire

series: Ghost Roads #2

publisher: DAW

ISBN: 075641380X

paperback, 325 pages

Looking For the Best Books of 2018 – a year end review

Posted by Daniel on December 31, 2018
Posted in: OTHER. Tagged: , , , . Leave a comment

It’s time for the year-end wrap-up.  Which books stand out of those that I read and reviewed in 2018?  We’ll look at them by genre.

Starting off with Fantasy and Science Fiction…

I read some really great sci-fi/fantasy books in 2018.  Jay Posey is a writer I will keep an eye on and his books are some that I am always eager to read, but none of his books garnered a full five stars from me this year.

Four books rated a full 5 stars: Bannerless by Carrie Vaughn, City of Miracles by Robert Jackson Bennett, City of Blades by Robert Jackson Bennett, and Into the Drowning Deep by Seanan McGuire.

As you would hope, I remember each of these books vividly and it is hard to narrow them down to a favorite. I will label Into the Drowning Deep a favorite in another category and since I can still feel my heart pounding with excitement while reading Robert Jackson Bennett, I think it’s easy to say:

The best Science Fiction/Fantasy book of 2018 is

 

CITY OF MIRACLES by Robert Jackson Bennett

Runners-up:

Bannerless by Carrie Vaughn
City of Blades by Robert Jackson Bennett
Sungrazer by Jay Posey

 

Although I’ve enjoyed reading mysteries lately, there weren’t very many that stood out for me.  Nancy Cole Silverman’s Room For Doubt received 4.5 stars and I gave Chris Orcutt’s A Real Piece of Work five stars.  Sometimes ratings reflect the mood the reviewer was in when reading the book or writing the review and as I think back on these two books, Silverman’s story stands out as much more powerful, even if the writing was a tad smoother with Orcutt which is why

The best mystery book of 2018 is

ROOM FOR DOUBT by Nancy Cole Silverman

Runner-up:

A Real Piece of Work by Chris Orcutt
Death in D Minor by Alexia Gordon

In Romance/Erotica only one book receive 4.5 stars, but I think the label of ‘romance’ was tenuous at best and it’s safe to say that no romance/erotica books that I read are deserving of the label “best of” for 2018.

While not particularly a western, and not even a finished collection of stories, I enjoyed this book enough to give it my “best of” nod.

The best Western of 2018 is

LOUIS L’AMOUR’S LOST TREASURES VOLUME 1 by Louis L’Amour and Beau L’Amour

In Horror/Dark Fantasy one book stands head and shoulders above the rest and it’s easy to say:

The best Horror/Dark Fantasy book of 2018 is

INTO THE DROWNING DEEP by Mira Grant

Runner-up:

Strange Weather by Joe Hill

I’ve enjoyed Young Adult books for a long time because this is the age when we can make life-long readers if we can get youngsters reading. My best book here is not your usual YA novel and fortunately for the YA reader there are some really great books out there, such as Dear Evan Hansen, and the Heroine Complex series. I went a slightly different route.

The best Young Adult novel for 2018 is

LOST BOY: THE TRUE STORY OF CAPTAIN HOOK by Christina Henry

Runner-up:

Everton Miles is Stranger Than Me by Philippa Dowding
The Cheerleaders by Kara Thomas

I’ve cut back on my Graphic Novel reading in 2018, but what I did read was generally pretty strong and it’s a tough call between my top two reads in the category this year and my first runner-up could easily have taken top choice.

The best Graphic Novel of 2018 is

EAST OF WEST, THE APOCALYPSE: YEAR TWO

Runners-up:

Monk!
Jazz Maynard Vol. 2 The Iceland Trilogy

Children’s Books are always enjoyed here at Looking For a Good Book and I like recommending them. The category encompasses a wide range of readership.  Sometimes my best children’s books are picture books but this year my choice would more likely fall in the Middle School readership. This choice, and the runners-up are all powerful books that deserve a wide readership.

The best Children’s Book of 2018 is

WHY THE MONSTER by Sean and Rachel Qitsualik-Tinsley

Runners-up:

Those Who Run in the Sky by Aviaq Johnston
Running on the Roof of the World by Jess Butterworth
Irving Berlin, The Immigrant Boy Who Made America Sing by Nancy Churnin

I love reading short stories but they generally aren’t received well by a reading public (ask any publisher) so I’m always pleased when I can find a good collection of short stories.  This year my top choice really came out of the blue – an author I was not familiar with prior caught my attention with some powerful stories.

The best collection of Short Fiction for 2018 is

WICKED WONDERS by Ellen Klages

Runner-up:

Konundrum, Selected Prose of Franz Kafka

General, or Literary, Fiction is a category in which the story can’t really be defined by a special label.  Only one book I read this year that fits the description deserves a “best of” label.

The best General/Literary Fiction of 2018 is

THE CHILBURY LADIES’ CHOIR by Jennifer Ryan

In the course of writing the reviews for this blog over the past four or five years I’ve come to realize how much I enjoy non-fiction books – which I would not have guessed when I started this journey.  There were a number of non-fiction books that I really enjoyed in 2018 but it is easy to make this selection.

The best Non-Fiction book of 2018 is

THE VIKINGS: FROM ODIN TO CHRIST by Martyn Whittock and Hannah Whittock

Runners-up:

Looted Beauty by Anthony Amore
Diary of a Beatlemaniac by Patricia Gallo-Stedman
Life is Like a Musical by Tim Federle

There were a lot of great books this year, and each of these “best of” selections are quite memorable, which makes it just a little bit difficult to select a Best of the Best. But as I look over this list, the most powerful of emotions come back to me as I recall my journey into this novel which is why I choose

The Best Book of 2018 is

INTO THE DROWNING DEEP by Mira Grant

Let’s hope that 2019 proves equally exciting.

DEAR EVAN HANSEN – Val Emmich

Posted by Daniel on December 28, 2018
Posted in: ENTERTAINMENT, Uncategorized, YA. Tagged: , , , , , . Leave a comment

I have heard of Dear Even Hansen, the Broadway musical, and I know it’s been very successful, but beyond that I was pretty clueless. When I saw that there was an ARC available of a book, based on the hit show, I put in my request right away.

Dear Evan Hansen is a Young Adult novel and as such, hits all the right notes. It is easy to see why this is such a popular show and likely to be a very popular book – especially in the YA crowd.

Evan Hansen is a high school teenager with a lot of struggles. His parents are divorced and he lives with his mother who works often and takes night classes in order to get a better job to support herself and her son. Evan is in therapy and one of the things he has to do is write letters to himself to bolster or comment on his day.  Each letter begins, “Dear Evan Hansen.”

These letters, of course are private memos, like diary or journal entries, but in letter form.  On one particular day, the school bully, Connor Murphy, grabs a letter from Evan’s hands. In addition to mocking Evan for the letter, Connor wants to know why Evan is writing about his (Connor’s) sister.  Telling Connor that he has a crush on her would be even more embarrassing for Evan.  Connor walks off, taking the letter with him.

Connor doesn’t show up in school for days after the incident, and when Evan is called to the principal’s office, he’s worried about having to confess to the letter and his crush on Zoe. Instead, Evan is informed that Connor took his own life and one of the things found with him was a letter he wrote to Evan.  No one realized that Connor and Evan were such friends.  And so begins a series of lies from Evan, to Connor’s parents, to Zoe, to his own mother, mostly with good intentions.

Despite having been a bully and a loner, Connor’s legacy builds and grows as a misunderstood young man with a secret life as a kind heart.  A truth that doesn’t come out, because of Evan’s lies, is that Connor did indeed have a secret relationship with another young man.

The writing of this book is smooth and very easily readable. We move from chapter to chapter so nicely that it is easy to get caught up and keep reading longer than you intend to.

Evan is seriously flawed, but what teenager isn’t?  It’s all about finding their own way, often with mistakes.  It is what they learn from those mistakes that determine the adult they will become.  In a YA novel like this, the mistakes are on a grand scale and yet everything feels plausible.

There was a point, perhaps two-thirds of the way through, that I started to worry about where this was headed and I absolutely did not want to go there.  Had it gone in the direction I thought it would take – and a direction that so many YA novels WOULD have gone – I would have given this a very low rating.  As it is, it’s tough to give a high score to a book in which a person lies so much and so often, but it’s what Evan does to redeem himself that provides the strong backbone for this story.

Looking for a good book? Dear Evan Hansen by Val Emmich is a strong, wonderful YA book that should be enjoyed by fans of the genre.

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

* * * * * *

Dear Evan Hansen

author: Val Emmich, with Steven Levinson, Benj Pasek & Justin Paul

publisher: Poppy

ISBN: 0316420239

hardcover, 368 pages

WILLFUL CHILD – Steven Erikson

Posted by Daniel on December 27, 2018
Posted in: ENTERTAINMENT, HUMOR, SF/FANTASY, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , , , , , . Leave a comment

I requested this book four years ago and over time I’ve forgotten what it might have been about so I began to read this ‘blind’. Lately I’ve also been interested in reading some humorous fiction, so imagine my delight to begin reading and discovering that this isn’t just a humorous story, it’s a parody that straddles that fine line of being over the top but manages to stay just inside the line.

The Willful Child is a spaceship. It is crewed by professionals and captained by Hadrian Sawback – an egotistical frat-boy type who likes to push peoples’ buttons. He is Captain James T. Kirk times ten. The ship has an AI computer by the name of Tammy – short for Tammy Wynette. And the story…? Take your top ten favorite Star Trek episodes, mash them up and fill them with infantile, sexual humor and we almost have Steven Erikson’s homage.

And let me be clear … in this particular case ‘infantile, sexual humor’ is a good thing.

Star Trek has been parodied countless times, so we’re not exactly in new territory here. This could easily be compared to one of the better known parodies, Galaxy Quest (or even the more recent The Orville) and the reason these parodies work is because the parody aspect is a launching point for the story. The characters we recognize already because they are each a pastiche of the crews of the U.S.S. Enterprise.

There is an overall story arc here, but the book reads more like a series of television episodes and I rather liked this experience. It made it easier to read this book in smaller chunks. These shorter ‘episodes’ are often recognizable as spoofs of Star Trek episodes. And like the show it’s based on, there is a hint of a message – applicable to today’s reader, but hidden within a humorous future.

The one down-side to the story is Captain Sawback. His gallivanting seemed appropriate to the story, but he came across as just a tad too much of a jerk. By itself that would be fine, but it does then call into question why others follow him so blindly.  Fortunately, I felt Sawback redeemed himself as one point.

I enjoyed this as lighter diversion and when I saw that there was a series, I’ve set out to read more.

Looking for a good book? Willful Child by Steven Erikson is a playful parody of Star Trek and well worth reading if you enjoy a laugh with your science fiction.

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

* * * * * *

Willful Child

author: Steven Erikson

series: Willful Child #1

publisher: Tor Books

ISBN: 0765374897

hardcover, 352 pages