#bookreview: Warp by Lev Grossman

Warp by Lev Grossman
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Books like these are why I think I'm a terrible literary fiction reader.

I requested Warp for review because hey, everyone says Lev Grossman's The Magicians and its sequels are really awesome books. Reading the description and the author's note, I did already have in mind that it is *not* a fantasy book and had already adjusted that expectation in my head accordingly. Or so I thought.

Warp is a very meandering story. You're introduced to Hollis, who doesn't know what he wants to do in life. He wanders around places in the USA that I can't immediately place (because I'm not American and my geography sucks, even locally), he and his friends do some marginally criminal things, there's strange narratives that pop up in the story... and then it ends. And I'm like... *tap tap tap* why is my Kindle not responding? Oh. Book completed. What? WHY DOESN'T IT ENDDDDDD

Yeah, so the best I can say is I kinda enjoyed the writing, the little narrative stuff was actually quite amusing, but I don't understand the story.

Maybe I should stick to reading genre. LOL.

Note: I received a free review egalley of Warp from St Martins Press via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

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#musicmonday: More than Conquerors | Rend Collective

The church needs more victorious songs.

And I maybe need to write more. Or at least faster.

#bookreview: Giant Slayers by Jeff Altabef

Giant Slayers by Jeff Altabef
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

To be fair, as fiction, Giant Slayers isn't half bad. It's got all the ingredients of a really exciting story. There's young David, a shepherd boy who's fallen in love with a Princess. There's King Saul, afflicted by demons that he doesn't dare tell anyone about for the sake of keeping his kingdom. And there's Michal, headstrong young princess, who's not content with just accepting the status quo. On the enemy's side, the Witch of Endor is calling on dark powers to assist her in getting revenge against the hated Israelite King. And there's Goliath - strong and beautiful - who is challenging the armies of God.

... I actually did like the characterisations of the Witch (I'm too lazy to look up how to spell her name now) and Goliath, and how the tension is built between the dark power of Molech and the power of God. It's a pretty good story-telling technique, fleshing out the "evil" characters which usually get passing mention. (Well, the Witch is an invention, so obviously she doesn't get ANY mention.)

[NOTE THE REST OF THIS REVIEW IS A THEOLOGICAL/RELIGIOUS RANT, SO IF YOU'RE NOT A CHRISTIAN/NOT INTERESTED IN THEOLOGY, YOU CAN STOP READING HERE. If, however, you are interested in accuracy and canon whilst retelling religious-based stories, do read on.]

Where it fails is as a Biblical retelling. Making God's power overly magical and mystical? Meh, not a favourite of mine but it's been done, not a big issue. Adding in a forbidden romance? Sure, why not? It's canon anyway. I don't know if it started then (it's mentioned only much later), but it could have. Random access to the Ark of the Covenant at King Saul's palace AND King Saul being able to plate it with "tainted gold"? What? Did you not do research? Saul would already be dead. You're not supposed to touch that thing! Painting Samuel the Prophet as an outcast/rebel? Um, well, I suppose it's within the bounds of plausibility; Samuel did not ever see Saul again after rejecting Saul as king, apparently. But recasting David's motivation for facing Goliath as being just to win Michal's hand is pure character assassination. And then forcing him to choose between saving the kingdom or being with the girl of his dreams in some magical time-stopping event?? Eh. No. Just no.

And that's my main gripe.
Biblically, God has rejected Saul as King because he's disobedient to God. There's that whole bit in 1 Samuel 15:22-23 where prophet Samuel scolds Saul:

“Does the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices
as much as in obeying the Lord?
To obey is better than sacrifice,
and to heed is better than the fat of rams.
For rebellion is like the sin of divination,
and arrogance like the evil of idolatry.
Because you have rejected the word of the Lord,
he has rejected you as king.”

David was anointed to replace Saul, because "the Lord looks at the heart" (1 Samuel 16:7). He's described in 1 Samuel 16:18 as "...a brave man and a warrior. He speaks well and is a fine-looking man. And the Lord is with him." Which basically means that David is a fervent believer. He's not one of those I'm-just-doing-this-culturally Israelites. If you want to put it in modern terms, he's a practicing Jew. Or, if contextualised, a born-again, church-going, tongue-speaking Christian. He's chosen and anointed because he knows who his God is.

In this story, David has no concept of who God is from the very start. He fights the lion and the bear to save his sister and is "magically" saved by some bizarre white flash of light whose source is unknown. If he were to build that "coming to know God" into the story as it unfolds, fine. Shaky, but fine. Instead, David is crazily impressed WITH HIS OWN SELF AND HIS OWN LUTE PLAYING which summons "birds of light" to fight the "dark snakes" plaguing King Saul. AGAIN, with no concept of God, except something along the vague lines of... "maybe it's God? But I don't know. There's some strange power thing that happens when I play" and "I'm special. Some higher power is saving me for something. Oh wait, yes, that random tatty seer who looks like Samuel says I'm going to be king."

Oh, but randomly, before the battle, he is able to spout stuff about fighting for God and God saving them, even though when he goes to Saul to insist he should fight Goliath, the only thing that's on his mind is "I must do this so I can marry Michal." God wasn't even a consideration. Which is so totally off course, because David's true reaction is one that's more towards righteous anger: "Who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God?"
And making him steal a horse?? And lie through his teeth?

I usually don't mind minor variations or little tweaks for the story's sake, because that makes a retelling all that more interesting. (There were quite a few of those which I haven't mentioned because eh, who cares.) Humanising Biblical characters with a little bit of doubt and wavering and adding romance is fine. There's room enough in the stories for you to add those, especially when it hasn't been said/inferred/spelled out in any way because you don't know ANY of their thoughts anyway. All you know are their actions and words as written. But changing a fundamental principle of the story? Total character assassination of the main character himself? No. Just no.

Other annoying bit - not so very much theological - is the fact that David, as a shepherd boy, has no fighting skills whatsoever. He literally can't use a sling or a staff to defend himself... which doesn't make sense because he has to protect his flock. This story makes it seem like the one lion and one bear that attacked him was a fluke, and it has never happened before. Yet he boasts of never having lost a sheep. Uh, right. Besides wild animals, there are raiders and bandits and such. I'm sure that even as a shepherd boy he should already have developed some defensive skills, even if he's not depicted as a soldier with sword and armour. (Also note "warrior" description above.)

Ah. I should stop here. To summarise, eh, needs more research.

Note: I received a free digital ARC from the author in exchange for an honest review.

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#musicmonday: Here's My Heart (Cover) | I AM THEY

[because this is an awesome cover]

[and also an awesome song]

#bookreview: One World Two: A second global anthology of #shortstories

One World Two: A Second Global Anthology of Short Stories by Aminatta Forna
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

What do I think?

I think that this anthology is way more literary than I'm used to, and way more... coloured as well. The first of which turned out pretty well, considering, and the second of which was quite a deliberate choice. I mean, I did request this book for review solely because it purported to be one of those diverse books.

Diverse in this case, sounding rather black and tribal and refugeeish and war-torn. I am not sure why I expected otherwise. I suppose a pervasive theme in such stories is a sense of identity - who am I when I am not white? - which, I admit - is something I too struggle with. Maybe it's an identity of language. Who am I when I speak the white man's tongue but not my own? How do I exist in-between cultures, where the one I live in will never accept me fully, and the one I have left will never let me go? Am I doomed to always be an immigrant, even if I was born in this land?

There's a dream-like quality to most of these stories; something I've come to associate with literary pieces-presenting you a slice-of-life which is real life but not quite. They're gritty (as death and war and loss tends to be) and yet unreal, as if presented through a fog, a dream, or maybe just through the lenses of remembrance. And we know how unreliable our memories are. They betray us with our child-like innocence and surprise us with youthful resilience and tug at us with that longing just to know and be known.

Ethereal was the word I was looking for. Gritty and ethereal, both at once, as literary works are wont to be.

Note: I received a digital ARC of this book via Edelweiss for review purposes.

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Get your copy now:
 

#musicmonday: Like Incense (Sometimes by Step) | Hillsong

#bookreview: Moments and Days

So I kind of missed my Wednesday deadline (there was some sending to Kindle snafu I didn't discover until late), but here's my review anyways. Better late than never? Heh.

Moments & Days released on Sept 1. Get it here. (Affiliate link)

Moments & Days: How Our Holy Celebrations Shape Our Faith by Michelle Van Loon
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

In Moments & Days, Michelle Van Loon takes us through celebrations in the Jewish and Christian calendar, highlighting its significance in the past as well as its meaning for the present. All this is presented from the unique lens of a Messianic Jew, tying together the Jewish roots of Christianity to its Gentile, almost secular present.

The material is presented in a very conversational, easy-to-read manner whilst retaining a wealth of historical and Biblical information. I found the Jewish feasts and celebrations interesting, but I was most surprised to find a lot of practices/liturgy in the Christian calendar new to me!

I read through this book much faster than I would have liked (silly self-imposed review deadlines) and I fully intend to study/meditate some of these again more deeply when time allows. (On a selfish note: research for Christmas & Easter programs is partially done. lol!)

Note: I received a digital ARC from the publishers for review purposes via Edelweiss.

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#musicmonday: Your Love is a Song | Switchfoot

(I've been listening to old playlists, I have)

#bookreview: Gloaming series by JB Simmons

Light in the Gloaming by J.B. Simmons
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I'd put this somewhere between a 3 and a 4 star - it was interesting enough to catch my attention and I did like the story very much. It's classic fantasy - bad prince usurps the throne, good prince fights to win back his throne and his bride (though his bride wasn't really in any danger, I think?)

Throw in family relationships and make it convoluted - Andor is a half-brother to Tryst, though there was a mention of an orphanage and adoption - so he could just have been an adopted brother. Ravien is Tryst's full sister... Lorien is (somehow) a half-sister? At first, I interpreted this for her to be Andor's full sister, but this didn't quite make sense, and also they were... betrothed? This was one of the things that confused me actually - how everyone was related to everyone else, and a family tree would have helped. Or them not being related at all might have worked better, because Andor's lineage apparently has some repercussions for the second book...

The weakest point in this novel, I think, is the constantly changing point of view. Simmons jumps from third to first between chapters, changing viewpoints from Andor to Tryst to I think Lorien at one point. There's no indication of this in the chapter headings (I checked because I was confused) so that doesn't really help you along.

At any rate, Andor makes for a good, complex character, even if he plays into the trope - the broken prince trying to reclaim his own, walking the tightrope between strength and weakness. Ravien is full of intrigue - I would like to know much more about her, actually. Tryst is pompous, proud and idiotic - he felt almost one-sided, but not quite. There were a few glimpses into his character that proved otherwise, but we don't know much more about him.
Of the other characters, I like Jon and Wren quite a lot. Father Yates was quite annoyingly preachy, but I suppose, in character. The Gloaming could be a character on its own, though it's a place, and exploring its origins and its purposes would have been fun.

So yeah. I guess somewhere about a 3.5 star.


Breaking the Gloaming by J.B. Simmons
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Prince Andor has much to do to rebuild Valemidas in the aftermath of Tryst’s coup. With Tryst languishing in the Gloaming and Ramzi dead, Andor must forge a way forward in the midst of an uncertain nobility and the threat of war from Sunan. Secrets are being revealed and plans are being laid bare - how true is Sebastian and what is his true motive? In the background, the priests plot - from the still-preachy Yeats, to the tandem Sunan priests, Malam and Ilias.

Simmons ups the complexity in Breaking the Gloaming, with many little mysteries and allusions in Light in the Gloaming now coming to light (or fruition?). Redemption is a recurrent theme - from Andor’s to Tryst’s to the smuggler.

The changing point of view is still a weakness in this sequel, with the story jumping from a third-person point of view to first person (usually Tryst, sometimes Andor) without indication, though this seems to happen less than in the first book.

All in all, Breaking the Gloaming is a pretty solid 3-star story. It doesn’t push many boundaries and there aren’t any spectacular twists to look out for, but it plods steadily on to a satisfying conclusion.

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#musicmonday: This is Home | Switchfoot

Because eeeeeeeeee Silver Chair is going to be made!

*hearts Puddleglum my favourite grump*

#bookreview: Mesilithia by @KDDelgado123

Mesilithia by K.D. Delgado
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

When Katie is kidnapped by a stranger, her husband jumps into the weird hole-in-the-wall portal to save her. However, his brief hesitation lands him in Mesilithia 50 years after his wife. She's grown wings and she's married to Lord Wicket. Even without this complication, how would they get home when she hasn't found a way in 40 nyias?

Delgado has built a pretty fascinating world filled with new creatures. There's the Zothan Clan who are human-like with wings. There's the Shendoot Clan who have dark green skin and live in the water. Then there are the Bandorges - giant wolfish beasts with purple skin and black fur, Wistons - who are shape shifters, and Seleens - small fairies. Then there are the Snites who eat your heart, absorb your soul, and are intent on taking over Mesilithia.

There's a lot to explore here - so much so that the story felt a little rushed. You're pulled from one scene to another - probably to be expected in a world at war - leaving little time for introspection, reflection, or exploration of the world for the sheer joy of it. Then again, I like long epics, so this might just be preference; this brevity is also due to her stated intention of not making it "a Large or Wordy book" so that it can be enjoyed by all ages. It's also written in present tense, which does counter the quick pace just a little.

Personally, I'd rate it at a 3-star (I liked it, but it didn't really capture me) though I think a younger/MG reader might put it at a 4.

Note: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

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Not in the official review: Oh, look, pretty pictures!

#musicmonday: Wonder | Delirious?

Is it any wonder that my heart is on the line?
Is it any wonder that my words are out of time?
Is it any wonder that I miss you like you're mine?

Oh sweet heart, you've broken me sweet heart

Oh sweet heart, you've broken me

And you set my world on fire 

I'm turning inside out to be with you

So I'll be waiting here

And our love can live forever 

'Cause in your eyes I've seen who I could be

So I'll be waiting here

Is it any wonder that you stole this heart of mine?
Is it any wonder that our worlds are now entwined?
Often I have wondered if I need a redesign

Oh sweet heart, you've broken me sweet heart

Oh sweet heart, you've broken me

And you set my world on fire 

I'm turning inside out to be with you

So I'll be waiting here

And our love can live forever 

'Cause in your eyes I've seen who I could be

So I'll be waiting here

You are, you are
Turning me upside down, woah

Oh sweet heart, you've broken me sweet heart

Oh sweet heart, you've broken me sweet heart

Oh sweet heart, you've broken me sweet heart

Oh sweet heart, you've broken me

And you set my world on fire 

I'm turning inside out to be with you

So I'll be waiting here

And our love can live forever 

In your eyes I've seen who I could be

So I'll be waiting here

#stuffonloop

#fridayflash: The King of the Files (in memory of Mr Mok)

It creaked.
She stared at the tall cabinets that surrounded her, unsure which one had moved.
The light flickered.
"Chuay ha mi?" The voice was loud. Strident. Annoyed.
"Ummmmmmm... Fairchild?" she squeaked, holding out the piece of paper with a list of files that her senior had requested as an offering.
"Not there la. The other side." The voice moved away, still grumbling to himself.
She headed over to the other row of filing cabinets and peered at directory that hung from one handle.
"Why you dunno how to on light?" the voice grumbled again as the fluorescent lights flooded the area.
She gulped, grabbed the files and started to leave. Then she stopped. Leaning the files against her body and the shelf, she dug in her pocket for a pen to record which files she'd taken, entering her senior's initials for safety.
Then she fled with the files back to the first first floor, feeling his glare all the way out the door.

---

In memory of Mr Mok, our beloved, ultra-scary, sometimes kaypo, always fussy Ruler of the Second Floor and All Its Files.
Do Not Take A File Without Permission.
Do Not Simply File Things In The Wrong Place.
Just Do Not Come Here Take Things Without Reason. Or Appropriate Approvals.
The Files Are Missing Because You All Simply Take.

May your heaven be filled with files that won't walk away, and everything in its place.

---

A little more...

Back when I worked in KPMG Penang, our audit office was on the first floor of Wisma Penang Garden. A quarter of the second floor was taken up by our filing cabinets, which was zealously guarded by Mr Mok. I have no idea what his official title was, but it was probably something stupid like "office boy".
He was a fixture in the office - been there for years and years and years, taking charge of all our files and the filing system, as well as mailing and dispatch. He was also the one who printed and bound your accounts. Actually, he did a lot of things. Haha. He was usually the first one in the office, and stayed back late too - though not as late as some of the auditors. When I left KPMG, he was still there.
Most of us were a little afraid of him, I think. He was tremendously sarcastic (in Hokkien at least) and liked to grumble at us. I used to dread going up to look for files, especially files that *other people* couldn't/were too lazy find (nah, you go look lah!), because then you'd have to expect a tongue-lashing for being careless. (But then later on, he'd find it for you anyway.)
I think he mellowed in later years, or maybe he became friendlier once he got to know you better - at least he didn't scold you as much and could laugh with you.

From what I hear, he was still in office last Friday, but had slipped into a coma on Sunday. Yesterday, the doctors decided to take him off life support. :(

#bookreview: Order of the Eternal Sun

The Order of the Eternal Sun: A Novel of the Sylvani by Jessica Leake
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Lucy Sinclair is making her big debut in London Society. Everything is going well - her presentation to the King and Queen is as wondrous as she hoped - and her brother-in-law, Lord Thornewood, is scritinizing everyone and everything to make sure that she's protected from The Order of the Eternal Sun. Yet, Lord Alexander Radcliffe, Earl of Devonshire, manages to attend her debut ball, unknown and uninvited, managing to steal her heart - and exposing her to danger - all in one slick move.

On the surface, The Order of the Eternal Sun felt a little run-of-the-mill. After all, you have a young female protagonist who is coming of age and has new powers she's still learning to control, there's a love interest and another potential love interest (both very young and handsome), dangerous enemies who are after her (and her family), an overbearing/overprotective father-figure and an old mentor who steps into the picture.

And yet, Leake makes it fresh and exciting. Lucy is no shrinking lily - she's half Sylvanian with dangerous enemies after her and a growing power she's still learning to control but she's not sitting around freaking about it. She's taking decisive action, mostly rational, though sometimes too trusting - like any eighteen year old tends to be when they're in love (or at least when they think they are).

Alexander starts off as an enigma. Leake masterly fills you in with pieces of his history so you think you know his motives and yet at the same time, you're left confused - as confused as Lucy - because you can't tell if he is good or bad. You want him to be good, because you don't want Lucy to be hurt, but at the same all information points the other way and you think that she's being overly naive and trusting.

Because she's a teen and I suppose this is YA fantasy (maybe?) there's a love triangle and whilst I'm tired of this, it was quite well set up and not simply a sappy girl who can't make up her mind.

The Sylvanian world is well-constructed. You're drawn into a place of wonder and excitement. It feels as if Leake has created a real world with very real rules and consequences. The only thing I really want to know is why those with lesser Sylvan blood (such as Lucy's niece) seems to be growing stronger powers than their full-blooded or half-blooded Slyvanian relatives - it's something not quite explained in the book, and something the Queen also wants to find out, so I'm guessing this might be the topic (or at least the driving force) of the next story set in this wonderful world.

One slight detraction - from a story set in the 1800s Victorian English, most of the events of the story felt like it was set in the right period. However, some phrases used and spoken expressions felt a little too modern. Then again, I'm not an expert on the period, so I can't say for sure.

I should probably get round to finding the first book (because it appears there is one called Arcana, in which exciting things happen to Lucy's older sister).

Note: I received a digital ARC of this book for review via Edelweiss.

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The Order of the Eternal Sun is currently available on Amazon in hardback - or you can preorder the Kindle version which releases on August 23!

#bookreview: Writers of the future

Writers of the Future Volume 31 by L. Ron Hubbard
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I've known about Writers of the Future for a long time - I spent a lot of my younger years thinking of things to submit, but never got round to writing anything I thought worthy of submitting. It was, however, an anthology I have never gotten round to actually reading until now, mainly because I don't think I ever saw it in bookshops.

I picked up Volume 31 from NetGalley, expecting to be wowed. I mean, after all, so many awesome writers got their start from Writers of the Future, right? (Even if I didn't really like Hubbard's Battlefield Earth.)

This is where I admit that I'm perplexed. I've just skimmed through all the stories in the anthology to refresh my memory, and other than Purposes Made for Alien Minds (which I thought was crap and difficult to read) and maybe The God Whisperer (which I thought was short and a little trite) I had overwhelmingly good thoughts about them. As in, I thought most of them were great. They were complex. New. Exciting. Interesting.

And yet... when I think back on the anthology as a whole, all I felt was meh, okay. Which doesn't make sense because if the individual parts were great, the whole should be greater? I should be more excited about what I just read than I am right now?

I don't know. All I have to say was that while most of the stories were individually gripping, there was no momentum or impetus for the anthology as a whole.

I hope that makes sense.

[updated to include review of #32!]

Writers of the Future Vol 32 by L. Ron Hubbard
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Trying to read a book within two to three days isn’t a big deal for me. I was just defeated by fatigue and horrible formatting which made me want to tear my eyes out (though it is a digital ARC, so I can’t complain). The stories contained within Writers of the Future #32 are the best 3 of each quarter’s submissions for 2015, including 1 notable entry. I’ll try to summarise here my thoughts on each one.

The Star Tree (Jon Lasser) - Chiq collects star system cards, what he believes to be deeds to destroyed stars and planets now rebuilt by The Unexpected Delight Company. When he finds a whole deck missing on their journey to their new home, he insists on going back to find them. The Star Tree explores the relationship between two brothers and their father in the wake of their father’s separation - is it divorce? - often wobbling back and forth between understanding and sibling rivalry. Chiq’s revelation throws them all off-course. (3 stars)

Images Across a Shattered Sea (Stewart C Baker) - Driss and Fatima are chasing message-globes on the cliffs above the Shattered Sea, excited for the chance to discover what new meaningless (or maybe meaningful) messages they’ll be able to gleam from the long-dead past. But hidden amidst the harmless globes are some not-so innocuous ones: shards that allow people from the past to see the state of society in the future. I found this a little confusing, probably because I read this in between falling asleep. So I don’t know if it was confusing because I was sleepy or I was sleepy because I was confused. (2-ish stars)

Mobius (Christoph Weber) - Detective Elizabeth Arus chases down illegal gene-tweakers - but the latest criminal is the one she least suspects… Mobius (and I don’t know how to do those dots above the o) is a compelling medical thriller with very high stakes. (4 stars)

The Last Admiral (L. Ron Hubbard) - this is a reprint of Hubbard’s old story, but it’s a good one. Admiral Barnell is about to witness the death of his beloved US Navy when the Johnsonville colony on Twain is utterly destroyed. Barnell is galvanised into action, sending the Navy into space to do what it’s good at: navigating and running down pirates. (4 stars)

The Jack of Souls (Stephen Merlino) - Harric, the gentleman bastard, is cursed to die tonight. In a last bid attempt to gain the attention of a god and maybe live a little longer, Harric sets out on a dangerous gamble to win the life of a slave from the hands of the West Isle Lord Iras. I loved this piece - a delicate blend of Greek mythology, medieval fantasy and tinge of the Wild West. (5 stars)

Swords Like Lightning, Hooves Like Thunder (K.D. Julicher) - Yvina is running for her life, betrayed in the middle of negotiations with the Methlan Khan. But Mahkah, the Methlan warrior who defeats her, seems to be at odds with his own Khan. As they travel over the steppes into the heart of Methlan’s homeland, Yvina must decide if they are on the same side - and if not, what she should do about it to save her people. This is my favourite story of the whole anthology. (5 stars)

Hellfire on the High Frontier (Dave Wolverton) - I suppose this is Wild West Steampunk? It’s… okay. (2 stars)

Squalor and Sympathy (Matt Dovey) - Society is built on the Squalor of the poor, their machines powered by their feelings of misery. But things are changing and Nelly Ludd is leading an uprising to free them. Squalor and Sympathy evokes memories of A Little Princess (and maybe some Dickens) in its traditional British style and themes. (4 stars)

Dinosaur Dreams in Infinite Measure (Rachael K. Jones) - Liza is trying to convince her aged mother to vacate the old farm. Instead, her mother convinces her to stay and help when she reveals that she’s created a dinosaur engine - a large, clunky machine that creates real life dinosaurs out of garbage. It’s quite a silly romp - hasn’t Liza (or her mother) watched Jurassic Park? - but amusing enough. (3 stars)

Cry Havoc (Julie Frost) - Nate’s entire pack has been eliminated and now the hunters are after him. But Iann MacKinnon, the strange old man who just watches, keeps asking him this same question, “What do you want?” I’m not a big fan werewolf stories, so this was just okay. (3 stars)

A Glamour in the Black (Sylvia Anna Hiven) - Keani lives with a parasite - one that changes her appearance and abilities according to the wishes of the people around her. Nahoa, a straight-talking clammer from the caves, strengthens her resolve to get it removed. Glamour is the story of the lies we tell ourselves, the lies we tell each other, and the wishes we harbour that may be more dangerous than we know. (4 stars).

The Broad Sky Was Mine, And The Road (Ryan Row) - In a post-apocalyptic world, David and Samantha drive into town hunting stage fours. There’s a lot of death and running and memories. (2 stars)

The Jade Woman of the Luminous Star (Sean Williams) - Hugh Gordon, accused of murdering his wife, tells the ghoulish story of a strange woman from another world who visited him on the fateful night. Its a little to wordily philosophical for me. (3 stars)

Freebot (R. M. Graves) - Danny Clark’s wife has just given birth. But he’s lost his job and his benefits and now an ugly old freebot in the bar is giving him life advice. Freebot is dark, gritty cyberpunk in a desperate future world. (3 stars)

Last Sunset for the World Weary (H. L. Fullerton) - Fida has just watched the Earth end from the observation deck of a star cruiser with her poet/boyfriend, Jawry, and Pickets, their insanely rich patron. I didn’t really get the point of this, especially with its weird ending. (2 stars)

The Suns Fall Apart (J.W. Alden) - All Caleb wants it to go outside and see the sun. But he can’t pass the tests that will allow his freedom. When he makes a desperate escape, he soon finds that the outside world is very different from what he expected. The Suns Fall Apart starts off very innocently - you wonder at this strange prohibition, and this magic that the family seems to have. Then clues filter in and you’re left reading in horror. (3 stars)

Overall - I think I pretty much enjoyed this one. Was probably in a better frame of mind than when I was reading #31.

View all my reviews

#musicmonday: When You Walk Into the Room | Bryan & Katie Torwalt

#bookreview: The Timeloopers series by Dan Rix

I've probably posted reviews of some of the books here already, but I thought I'd get them all on one page. :)

A Strange Machine by Dan Rix
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

A Strange Machine starts off with the mysterious disappearance of Franklin Thomas, who walks into the prototype Chronos Quantum Computer and never comes out again. Edgar Faye, the head of the project, closes down the jinxed project and donates the computer to his alma mater - Lakeside Upper. Cory Holland, computer whizz, spoiled rich brat, and all-round annoying jerk, (sounds rather like Tony Stark's playboy, philanthropist, billionaire?) then gets his hands on it after breaking into the school compound. From there, Dan Rix works his quantum physics and time travelling magic, plunging Cory, Noah, and Iris into a crazy loop as they try to change the future in order to change the past. (Time travel paradox, anyone?)

It does Rix credit that his characterisation of Cory Holland is good enough that I really wanted to slap this idiotic teenager several times over. Cory was a very well-rounded character - cocky and egotistical, sometimes even brash, and yet still vulnerable in areas of his life. His two side-kicks, Noah Wright and Iris Strasser (somewhat reluctantly), also manage to live in your imagination as they struggle through the pains of high school, Advanced Physics, and the way Cory bullies them both. (I'm suspecting two possible romances to emerge in the next book from the way it's being set up. Hah.)
On the other hand, Cory's crush, Samantha Silvers, felt a little like a throwaway character - as if she's just there to be his distraction in the book. Part of the reason could be her strange behaviour towards Cory's nemesis, Dante Laurenti (mmm delicious). Her vacillation between the two would have been a perfectly normal confused reaction of a hormone-driven girl with two simultaneous crushes (which can happen!) except for the drugs and her parents' awkward lack of protectiveness and absence, despite knowing that she has a problem.

And that brings up a YA trope Dan Rix has allowed into his book - absentee parents. I didn't quite notice this as strongly in his other books [In [book:Triton|20823076], everyone except the four teens had disappeared - though there was a hint of family dysfunction; In God's Loophole and Eternity’s End, the Rockwell's parents had died (there were an uncle and an aunt) whilst Raedyn was a runaway, however there was the professor who was, in a way, kind of a stand-in parent/mentor]. In A Strange Machine, however, it feels as if the story is littered with absentee/distant parents. Cory's father is too busy with work to pay attention to him, Noah's mother appears to be addicted to the lottery. Samantha's parents conveniently disappear on an anniversary trip just when her ex-boyfriend comes back from juvie and Edgar Faye seems to be drifting too much in and out of reality to be much of a father to Anneliese. Iris' parents weren't mentioned much at all.
I guess it's not ALL bad - certain lack of parental knowledge has to take place in order for the teens to get themselves into trouble, right? - but maybe having so many at once felt a little like overkill.

At any rate, Rix has a good thing going. In most of his books, it's really the way he gets you to identify with his characters and the struggles they go through that makes the story comes to life. That really is his strength, and he manages to continue to harness it, even while improving on his overall writing chops.

I received a pre-release copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

The Ghost At Retreat Lake by Dan Rix
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Fresh out of the crazy, unnerving, time looping events in A Strange Machine, Iris, Cory and Noah watch with horror as a future Iris Strasser crawls out of the machine and dies in front of their eyes.
Still, Cory Holland, like the annoying prick he is, insists that they go for the senior class lake retreat, because... it will be extremely fun.

Except it's not. A series of close calls and strange happenings further unnerve Iris Strasser, and it's all she can do to convince Cory to stop ogling girls and flirting to listen to her concerns. However, Cory's not as clueless as he pretends to be - even whilst he's enjoying himself zip-lining and swimming (and annoying Iris), he's also trying to work through the events to figure out just what's happening with the Chronos and the strange codes he's found.
Getting the two of them to work together is a huge problem - one that may end up in both of their deaths. But that's not enough. If they don't get Anneliese Faye's cooperation, they may never solve the mystery of the ghost at retreat lake.

Reading The Ghost at Retreat Lake had me confused at times - it honestly felt as if there were dual story lines, or at least dual versions of Cory in the book. Part of it, I suppose, was because of the extremely opposite viewpoints used - between Iris' perception of Cory and his own perception of himself, I was beginning to wonder whether the timeloop had created another version of Cory! There didn't seem to be a similar duality with Iris though. Maybe because Iris sees herself more clearly than Cory does?

Rix again shows his mastery at meshing seemingly random and unrelated events and story lines so that they begin to make sense - and he addresses at least one concern I had from the first book - Edgar Faye. (One thing I'm hoping very hard does not happen though is this burgeoning "romance" thing between Cory and Iris. It's just no no no no no, you are NOT right for each other.)

Of course, he just *has* to end at a cliff hanger and ask you to wait for book three...

I received a pre-release copy of this book in exchange for an honest review


An Infinite Loop by Dan Rix
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Oh gosh. This book was tantalizing from start to finish. I would like to gush, but I don't gush (right).

Cory, being Cory, lands himself and Iris in big trouble when he accidentally sends her into an infinite timeloop. What that means, really, is that she's stuck in the stupid time machine and can't escape because Cory made an error in the code. Which means... she's dead.

What results is a heartbreaking story of a Cory trying to make amends, and trying to figure out how to save the girl he finally realises that he doesn't actually hate. (Ah, I guess I'm a little more okay with this now than I was when reading The Ghost At Retreat Lake)

Rix is getting better at this alternate timeline stuff too. Where in The Ghost At Retreat Lake it felt like there were dual story lines that didn't jive (whether on purpose or not, it just felt jarring), it just seems to flow one after another in this book. There's still the inevitable repeating timelines, told from past and future Cory/Iris, but it seems to pick up seamlessly from where the other story line let off.

And seriously, I'm glad that Cory isn't as annoying a jerk as he used to be. Though what's with all the annoying girls? I'd like to slap Sam, Anneliese and Pris and tell them to grow up. I'd also sometimes like to slap Iris as well, though I kind of get where she's coming from with Cory being an idiot.

*I received a pre-release copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Though to be honest I just like his stuff. Lol.

The Man with Two Pasts by Dan Rix
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I am surprised I did not review this book the minute I finished it. (I'm still not sure why)

The Man with Two Pasts is a superb ending to the Timeloopers series. Cory and Iris have gone back and forth in time so many times, it comes as no surprise that now, Cory is dead, AGAIN. It seems that Rix has written himself into a corner, but a-ha! something changes again and Cory is alive! But then someone - a certain dead someone - changes time again... ensuring that Cory stays dead. There's no win in this. Either Cory dies, or Iris dies, or Cory dies. Usually Cory. And as much as I love to hate Cory (ever since the start; A Strange Machine), I've too much invested in this love-hate Iris/Cory relationship to really want him to die.

Just a word of advice: keep note of the dates in each chapter. Or you'll constantly be going, "eh what? When is this again?

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#musicmonday: Pursuit | Daniel Bashta

/strip everything away until all I have is You/

and I wrote a related thingy here.

#fridayflash: Never Ending

It's not that it's heavy, just that it's never-ending. 

It starts as a light drizzle, and you welcome it. You want to stand in the rain, revel in the cool air that now blows through your wet clothes. Singing in the rain, indeed.

By the second hour, when it gets heavy enough that each drop stings - and you wonder if this is just rain or is it something else? - you're already in the house, curled up in bed, your hair damp from the shower you took to chase away any illness you could have caught from being caught in the rain. Though you weren't caught in it. And you don't believe in such superstition. But the rain beats a heavy pattern on your roof, and it's nice and cold as you snuggle up in your comforter with a book in hand and a steaming mug of tea on your side table. 

The tea is now cold because you've been too absorbed to remember it's there, and besides, you tell yourself, you're too comfortable to get out of bed to go to the loo, so you shouldn't be drinking anymore at this hour. Your book is almost slipping out of your fingers, your eyes are almost closed, but you're hanging on because, darn it, you want to know how it ends.

When you wake up the next morning, you find that you've only a few pages left to the end, but you're going to be late for work if you don't get up now. The howl of the wind and the torrents that beat against your window make you wish you could skip work for "weather-related circumstances" but you know that while that may work if you were snowed in (fat chance in tropical Malaysia), it's not going to work for this rain. Weather-related excuses are only tolerated up to "I was stuck in the jam because the road flooded." You'd be late, no doubt, but you still have to show up.

The rain is gloomy now, no longer refreshing, and you wish it would just stop. Because you want to go out for lunch and actually stay dry. Because you don't want your jeans to get wet because then you'd have to wash it, but it wouldn't dry because of this blasted rain. You hear horror stories of people being stuck at work because the car park flooded and water got into their exhaust and you thank God, oh thank you God, that you haven't driven - and will not have cause to drive - to any of the affected areas.

You beg off work early - as do most people - because it's still raining and everyone is afraid that today might be the day our car park would flood. There's a smell of damp in the car from when you ran out in the rain to open and close the gate earlier this morning; you can't do anything about it now and it's only going to be exacerbated later when you arrive home, so you ignore it.

Later at night, you curl up in bed again, reveling in the cool air and the feel of comfort. You finish off the previous book and curl up with a new one. The torrents have stopped now, though the sky is still dark. You look out the window and find that it's still drizzling. A smile spreads across your face.

It doesn't matter if the rain doesn't stop now, or if it's never ending. You have what you need for the weekend. 

#bookreview: The Dragon Round

The Dragon Round by Stephen S. Power
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Jeryon, captain of the Comber, is a strict, by-the-book man driven to bring the apothecary and the medicine they've sourced back home to plague-ridden Hanosh - until a dragon attack and a mutinous second mate sees both him and Everlyn cast out to sea on the captain's chance. Luck is with them and when the island they're marooned on gives them an additional surprise in the form of a rare baby dragon, Jeryon jumps at the chance of rescue - and revenge.

The Dragon Round is one of those books that grow on you.

It starts off slowly - almost too slowly - with its ponderous present tense. The subject matter is too practical - head hopping between the Captain, Jeryon, his first mate, Livion, and Everlyn, the apothecary - for Power to achieve the dream-like state I think he's trying to create, so you'll just have to slog through it until you get to the parts where it starts working.

It's on the island itself that Power constructs a thing of beauty. The dynamics between Jeryon and Everlyn are delicately balanced, giving it a rather sweet romance feel as they work through their racial, national and gender prejudices and learn to work together and trust each other as they struggle to survive.

The second half of the book, from Part Two onwards, is quicker paced - or maybe it seems so because you're already invested in Jeryon and his schemes. It continues to build, action upon action, all the way to its devastating end.

For devastating it is. You want to hate Power for what he's done, but something inside you tells you it's inevitable. Revenge is a cold, bitter poison - and that is what The Dragon Round is all about.

Note: I received a review copy of this book via Edelweiss.

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The Dragon Round releases on July 19, 2016. Get it HERE.