Book Review: The Moonlit Maze | Zoë Marriott

The Moonlit Maze by Zoë Marriott
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I'm beginning to think that timeslip novels are just not for me. In concept, it's cool, but for some reason, there's always something that leaves me not-quite-satisfied.

What's there not to love about this story? There's modern-day Juliet (Jude) Stewart inheriting a cottage in a cozy British village giving her enough money to turn her life around and a chance to catch her breath. There's young Lady Xanthe Kearsley in the 1920s torn between her betrothal to horrid cousin Jonathan (who will inherit all her father's possessions due to entailment) and wanting to live her life on her own terms.

Two separate, entrancing stories, connected by space (Winterthorne) and somehow bleeding through time. I should have loved it, but...

In Elaine Chiew's The Light Between Us, I felt I couldn't quite grasp how the two protagonists were connected by time travelling letters with a fancy mathematical theory, so I quite appreciated the simplicity of this connection through time - and even the lack of any solid explanation. There's a mystical quality to how Jude keeps dreaming of Xanthe, and how Xanthe catches glimpses of Jude at odd times.

There's enough in both timelines to keep me going - rooting for Jude as she tries to figure out her future and being angry on Xanthe's behalf because she's stuck in a society with little options. And Jonathan is a manipulative abuser being enabled by Xanthe's parents - there, I said it. You want to believe that Xanthe will overcome, that Jude will somehow find a way back in time to help her...

One little thing that really bothered me was the strange love triangle between Jude and the two men in Winterthorne, where for a moment it was like Jude HAD to fall in love with one or other of them because a woman cannot just be friends with a man!!! Marriott resolves this as part of the plot, but it was just very annoying while it was happening.

The ending itself - and its revelations - felt satisfying to me. Like yes I'm glad it resolved that way.

I want to say I loved this story. And yet... like I said, maybe I'm not configured to really enjoy timeslip stories, the same way time travel and multiverses give me a headache (looking at you, Avengers: Endgame).

Note: I received a digital ARC of this book from Headline via NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

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Sounds like something you'd like to read? The Moonlit Maze releases tomorrow, 5 June. Preorder from Amazon! (Affiliate link)

Book Review: Queen of Mercy | Natania Barron

Queen of Mercy by Natania Barron
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Oh, such a brilliant, brilliant ending to The Queens of Fate Trilogy.

I think it's been noted somewhere that while you can read the second book, Queen of Fury, as a standalone, you really need to have read both that and Queen of None before you read this one as all the overarching threads and events in those books culminate in this one. (I did a re-read of Queen of None after reading this to remind myself of some key points, since I'd forgotten who Nimue was, lol)

Queen of Mercy begins ten years after Queen of Fury, and everything that Anna Pendragon set into motion in Queen of None is now bearing fruit. The glimpses we had of Morgen le Fay were varied and scattered in the earlier books, her true motives unclear, but here, we finally get to see from her perspective. We struggle with Morgen as she fights to retain her magic and protect Carelon in the wake of the loss of Vyvian du Lac, amidst a struggle for supremacy between the rising Christian faith and the dying old (magic? pagan?) ways of Avillion.

With each successive book, Barron increases the POVs - and here, whilst Morgen is the primary focus, there's a lot going on elsewhere. Morgen's daughter, Llachlyn le Fay, returns to court, along with Galahad - Lanceloch & Anna's son - and Percival - a squire who is purportedly a random king's bastard - and kicks off a quest for a new graal. Gawain & Hwyfar find themselves swept up in court events again in their bid to protect their young cousins, whilst Queen Mawra and Lanceloch scheme against Arthur in the background. It almost seems too much is going on, but Barron weaves it all together so tightly that you don't actually get overwhelmed.

Whilst it's a story of consequences, it's also one of redemption. Morgen faces her past and redeems it, finding peace with all the things that had been done to her and all the things she'd been compelled to do to others. Barron's Arthurian world is a bleak one for noble women, but she also shows how the women close to Arthur (Anna, Hwyfar, Morgen) find ways to shift things in their favour. There's also growing support from their loved ones - Bedevere, Gawain, Coel - as they learn to understand and depend on each other.

And because I'm always interested in representations of faith in novels, Barron presents a growing Christianity which is corrupt in its grasping for power, with adherents who are in it mostly for what they can get. Not much is said about the source of magic - its representation of good and evil is primarily based on what it is used for - though it's set against Christianity as a clash of religions/gods. In the midst of this, there is a beautiful passage from Galahad that encapsulates a true, pure encounter with God perfectly, at least in my mind. Barron mentions something in her afterword about her struggles with Christianity, so make of that what you will.

Note: I received a digital ARC of this book from Solaris/Rebellion Publishing via NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

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Other books in the series:

Book 1: Queen of None 

Book 2: Queen of Fury

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Wanna get hands on a copy?

Amazon affiliate link: Queens of Fate Series page

PBAKL GIVEAWAY

I'm procrastinating HARD, so I decided to revive a very, very old method of building my mailing list, which has been languishing for a while.

I mean, I'm also in the midst of refreshing my e-book freebie (the very thing I'm procrastinating on), so here's how you get a headstart on it! 

Do the six (6) things on this rafflecopter (embedded below) for entries to win paperback & ebook copies of the Absolution series! If you've ALREADY got The Making of a Jurusihir, which was launched at last year's PBAKL, you can already do like three tasks. Note that each task completed gives you a different number of entries... 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Besides the procrastination and the mailing list shenanigans, I'm also doing this because I had last minute plans to do a Meet & Greet at PBAKL which were derailed by the ASEAN summit because the actual (paid) work meeting that was being scheduled is now deferred. So now I sad. lol

Anyway, everyone else benefits and I get to send out some books to new readers.

The last rafflecopter option asks you to share your favourite Malaysian book/author. Looking forward to hearing about them!

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Some T&Cs: 

• The ebook giveaway is open internationally, so you can try your luck wherever you are! 
• However, the paperback giveaway is restricted to MALAYSIAN ADDRESSES. 

Book Review: OBJECTS OF DESIRE: 10 Malaysian Chinese Short Stories in Translation

OBJECTS OF DESIRE: 10 Malaysian Chinese Short Stories in Translation by Lee Hao Jie


Interesting things I have learnt about Mahua, which I think is different from English lit:
- naming the main protagonist is, apparently, almost unheard of. OMG like 8/10 stories do not name the MC and sometimes not even the other characters T.T And one of them, I'm not actually sure if the MC was named or not, so maybe that's 9/10 lmaoooo
- the writers reference English classics, which is interesting, because I wouldn't expect any English works to reference Chinese lit!
- there are a lot of stories around memories and losing the past. Maybe this is an outflow of how Malaysian Chinese feel like we're slowly losing our culture to time and modernisation.
- also a lot of family feels.
- maybe also a preoccupation with death... idk, I feel like only 2 stories don't mention death (or a dead person) in any form.

How Mahua is similar to English literary short stories:
- the writers have an obsession with affairs, sex, and the penis. 
- some of them have really weird endings? Like what? What am I supposed to get from this? Is this story even complete? IS THIS A FEVER DREAM.
- these are the same reasons I rarely read (or write) in the "literary" genre lol.

Anyway, notable stories, or stories I thought were really strong:
Xia Mei’s Clock by King Ban Hui, Yee Heng Yeh (Tr)
This is the story where the title comes from:

“At one point, he had swiped through the photos of these girls who, through the way they dressed, presented themselves as objects of desire on the website. Whoever they once were had been reduced to just their name, age, body measurements, and nationality.”

Xia Mei’s Clock is a pandemic story, where interpersonal connections are fraying and time has lost its meaning. The protagonist (also unnamed, unless that stray mention of ‘Xing Ye’ towards the end is his name?) requests for a human prostitute at the clock hotel instead of a silicone doll. Yet as the story slips from the protagonist, to Xia Mei, then back again; and as COVID rages and time skips; there’s an underlying surrealness to the story, making you question if Xia Mei is actually human.
As much as I thought this was a really iffy premise, this is a solid story on connection, the male loneliness epidemic, and the ravages of time.

Our Years on the Mountain Top by Tew Pak Ching, Lai Suk Yin (Tr)
If I had to make a snap judgement on Mahua based on this book, it would be the fact that Malaysian Chinese writers are somehow obsessed with penises. This heartwarming story of sibling love (and rivalry) as well as a mother’s sacrifice for her children (both evident in the mother and grandmother in this story) is framed by the very strange peeing competition in the morning, and the younger sister’s preoccupation for looking at her brother’s pee-pee. Like why.

Yesterday’s Sunken Fragrance by Chan Yeong Siew, Foo Sek Han (Tr)
A chance look at a Malaysian news headline reveals the truth behind the long silence from Liu Chen Xiang’s lover, Ma Yao Han.
Actually, the most exciting thing about this story is that finally, finally EVERYONE IS NAMED. It’s a weird thing to note, because like a predominant writing advice in English is to name your characters upfront and all these stories so far have gotten away with having a lot of unnamed characters. But I digress.
Yesterday’s Sunken Fragrance dwells in memories and loss, and also secrets and the grief that comes from them. It’s bittersweet, and yet also tinged with practicality as Chen Xiang says her goodbyes in the city she’s long left behind.

Panas by leemuzmuz, Ooi Yining (Tr)
Panas is a hard-hitting story of sexual assault in school, flitting from her present trauma to the past events that created them. It’s a painful look at how the perpetrators are often protected and victims told to just suck it up and move on. And that last haunting question: would none of this have happened if she were a boy?

All in all, this was a fascinating exploration of literature that I would normally never read, either because of the genre or because of the language.

Looking forward to the next in the series!

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Wanna grab your own copy? It's available on Amazon! (Affiliate link)

Book Review: Bright Green Futures: 2024 | Susan Kaye Quinn (ed)

Bright Green Futures: 2024 by Renan Bernardo
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I'm going to review this in order of the stories I liked the most.

Coriander by Ana Sun - 5 stars
There's possibly a lot of bias in me liking this story best, because well, Ana Sun seems to be a fellow Malaysian. Corianderis the story of Aster, a young woman returning to her great-grandmother's homeland, chasing a cultural inheritance that has been lost along the way to westernisation, colonisation, and the need for assimilation. The details are semi-familiar, an ancestor fleeing this land for greener pastures elsewhere, their descendants return as mere tourists. There's the heat of the equator, the tang of spices and mud, a long description of food. Laksa, in this instance. And omg DOULOS! WHO REMEMBERS DOULOS, I loved Doulos (which has now apparently been converted from a floating bookstore to a hotel??). I spent way too long distracted, trying to figure out which island Aster's great-grandmother was from. Not Singapore, too much Malay; not Penang because dangit Penang Laksa does NOT have prawns, chicken or coriander, that's... AH, that's Sarawak Laksa, and this has to be Sarawak, but it's an island and... dangit Anna, Borneo IS an island. A very big one.
At any rate, Coriander is a story of connection - reconnecting to one's roots, making new connections, rediscovering your place in the world - and being kind and giving to everyone. It's also a story of adaptation - of rebuilding after devastation, of creating new ways to deal with the changing climate, of regreening the earth - and preservation.

What Kind of Bat is This? by Sarena Ulibarri - 4.5 stars
Is this a BAT or is this a DINOSAUR? Is the AI crazy or did a PTEROSAUR really survive in hiding all these years? It's a slightly crazy scenario, but I feel like I like this one quite a bit because the characters are active. They're doing something now to save the world, and they're teens/young adults still learning and growing (even if they're being petty to each other while doing it). Maybe I also like the slight Jurassic Park vibe, without the killer raptors.

Centipede Station by T.K. Rex - 4 stars
What's there NOT to like about interstellar travel and alien contact? And a reminder that sentient aliens might not look humanoid. They may look like clicky space centipedes. Let's try not to murder sentient species on first contact, m'kay?

A Merger in Corn Country by Danielle Arostegui - 3.5 stars
This comes back to community, exploring what it's like to live in a commune - from their confused, old neighbour's point of view. I like the slow shift from curiosity to understanding to acceptance from both sides. It's charming, but it's a little too foreign (lol) for it to truly resonate with me.

The Doglady and the Rainstorm by Renan Bernardo - 3 stars
In a flooded future Rio de Janeiro, Joseane (also known as the Doglady) gets stuck in a thunderstorm while trying to send the dogs she walks back to their owners. She thinks she's alone, ever since she lost her father, but she slowly discovers that she's not, not really. I think where it doesn't quite connect for me is where Joseane keeps making weird (to me) decisions... just very much why on earth would you do that? I know panic and dumb decisions are things, but... idk.

Ancestors, Descendants by BrightFlame - 3 stars
There are sentient trees in this one - and an integrated network of resources previously denied to humans (because you know, humans chop things down and hunt other things). What would integration with nature look like? And how would humans change if they went back to nature? It's a story of integration and ingenuity - and also sacrifice, to protect what these select humans have found while the world outside collapses on itself. The premise was just a little too far out for me to truly enjoy.

The Park of the Beast by T.K. Rex - ??
I dunno what to think of this story of trees in cages and invisible beings??? I cannot tell if this is a fever dream. I think I'm missing something here. I'm assuming this is the prose-poem, which goes to prove that really, poetry confuses me.

Note: I received a digital ARC of this book from the publisher. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

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Bright Green Futures 2024 releases next week! You can get it here!  

Book Review: The Only Song Worth Singing | Randee Dawn

The Only Song Worth Singing by Randee Dawn
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Ooof, what can I say about this book? Randee Dawn first lured me in with tea at Glasgow Worldcon 2024 and her brilliant Tune in Tomorrow - and she definitely delivers again with The Only Song Worth Singing. There's much more beer than tea in this one, but it's a fantastic dive into Irish mythology and the lives of these three young rockstars from Dublin.

Ciaran (C) is the extroverted face of the band, Malachi (Mal) is the genius behind their musical arrangements, and Patrick (Patch, previously Padraig) often feels like the hanger on tagging along to support the dynamic duo. But what if, when they run into trouble with the sidhe, he's the only one who can save them? To do that, Patrick must face the past he's left far, far behind, and reconnect to the stories and superstitions he'd once been told to discard.

Part of Patrick's conflict in reconnecting with the traditions he'd grown up with as a boy is his later schooling and upbringing by the monks. Brother David tells him that it is possible to believe in both sets of stories - to believe in Jesus and also to honour and believe in the stories of his youth - but Brother David is sent away after that, and Patrick is made to leave the monastery the day he turned sixteen. Obviously this isn't the core of the story - but it's a thread that I would have loved to explore more.

For the underlying premise of The Only Song Worth Singing is actually quite an old trope - that the belief of humans is what gives the sidhe, or fairies, and other supernatural creatures their form. Dawn twists it and layers it, so it becomes much more than that - and the twists and turns are in turns delightful in their revelation and terrifying in their outcomes.

Ultimately, there's magic and music, and love and loss, and the power of friendship and loyalty to hold each other up. What's not to love?

Note: I received a digital ARC of this book from the CAEZIK SF & Fantasy via Edelweiss. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

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The Only Song Worth Singing released yesterday! (Or today, depending on where you are). Get it here. 

Book Review: Girls: Life isn't a Fairy Tale | Annet Schaap, Laura Watkinson

Girls: Life Isn't a Fairy Tale by Annet Schaap
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

These are familiar fairy tales retold, and mostly modernised in some way: Rumpelstiltskin, Red Riding Hood, Hansel and Gretel, The Frog Prince, Bluebeard, Sleeping Beauty, and Beauty and the Beast. (Well, at least I think "Monster Girl" is a gender flipped Beauty and the Beast, since I can't figure out any closer comparison.)

There's a wry humour that runs through these stories, and it's especially amusing to me how Schaap twists the original stories to new and unexpected endings. Whilst all the stories are pretty dark, there's also a thread of hope - and if not hope, a kind of resilience - that turns up at the unexpected times and in unexpected places in most of them. There's also a stark realism to them; I'd like to imagine that these retellings would have the same impact on us as the originals did in their time, in warning the readers about the dangers of the world. And also in telling us how to overcome them.

Note: I received a digital ARC of this book from Pushkin Children's Books via Edelweiss. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

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