#bookreview: In Real Life | Elisabeth Warner

 This is a slightly delayed book review because I was distracted on Wednesday by AstraZeneca pit fights and on Thursday by client's who cannot tech or English. 

In Real Life by Elisabeth Warner

I'm not going to give this a star rating because I was involved in critiquing this story, so that doesn't seem quite fair.

In Real Life is set in a near dystopian future - the United States of America has isolated itself and built its own Internet where they are safe from terrorists, religion, and the rest of the world. But then the Internet shuts down, USA is thrown into disarray, and Lin has to rediscover how to live life without her AI assistant, Tobi, handling everything from her household appliances and her schedules to her very life. When patrol officers take her mother away for questionable social media activity, she has to figure out if she can trust the one person she has raged against for the past five years: her ex-husband, Don.

In Real Life is very much about hope. Hope when things turn dark, when nothing in life seems to make sense. It's also about forgiveness, and faith, and finding Jesus. Yes, it's an explicitly Christian book, so there's some preaching involved - if you don't like come-to-Jesus moments, this probably isn't the right book for you, though it is relatively light, short, and 100% story/plot appropriate.

A strong theme is also about making connections - or re-making them in some cases - and about rebuilding your life from the shambles it has become. And how community helps you do that in many ways, whether it's being a sounding board when you're worried, helping you let go of the past, or supporting you despite your failures.

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BUY IN REAL LIFE NOW!

#CoverReveal: Amok

EVERYONE! IT'S AMOK'S COVER REVEAL DAY!

What is faith, except hope in desperation?

All Putera Mikal wants is to gain the Amok Strength, the supernatural power granted by Kudus to the Mahan royal family. No matter how religiously Mikal keeps his vows, Kudus still denies him the Strength—whilst his father, Sultan Simson, flaunts the Strength despite his blatant defiance of the Temple and the priests’ visions of coming doom.

Then the prophecies come true.

Taken captive, Mikal must find a way to liberate his people and restore his throne in Maha—and the key to this is the Amok Strength. But what does it take to gain Kudus’ favour?

***

Amok releases in one month, on 24 June 2021, but you can preorder your copy now!

  

Amazon | Teaspoon Publishing

***

Love the cover? Check out our cover artist's website for more: Jiwosophy

Jiwo also explains his process in this thread:

@natzers approached me to illustrate and design the Cover for her "Absolution" Series, starting with the 1st of the trilogy, "Amok". Here's a thread documenting the creation process from beginning to completion.@teaspoonpub #CoverReveal #coverart #bookcover pic.twitter.com/SMdKxdUmYy

— jiwosophy (@jiwosophy) May 24, 2021

***

About the Author (aka me!)

Anna Tan grew up in Malaysia, the country that is not Singapore. She is interested in Malay/Nusantara and Chinese legends and folklore in exploring the intersection of language, culture, and faith.

Anna has an MA in Creative Writing: The Novel under a Chevening scholarship and is the President of the Malaysian Writers Society. She can be found tweeting as @natzers and forgetting to update annatsp.com.

Find her online: Website | Instagram | Facebook | Twitter

***

Visit other stops on the Cover Reveal! Their posts will be going live throughout the day, so I'll update the links as and when I see them. But you can go ahead and see all their other bookish posts too :)

C.O. Bonham

Moments For My Thoughts

Sholee's Sphere

Mermaird | Mermaird on Instagram!

a Sith reader

Runalong The Shelves

H. L. Burke | burkesdragons

L.A. Thornhill

Kara J Lovett

Jason Joyner

Abigail Falanga

#musicmonday: Make Room | Community Music

Here is where I lay it down 

Every burden every crown 

This is my surrender 

This is my surrender 

Here is where I lay it down 

Every lie and every doubt 

This is my surrender 

And I’ll make room for you 

To do whatever you want to 

Do whatever you want to 

Shake up the ground of all my tradition 

Breakdown the walls of all my religion 

Your way is better 

Your way is better 

Here is where I lay it down 

You are all I’m chasing now 

This is my surrender

---

CCLI #7122057 | Evelyn Heideriqui, Josh Farro, Lucas Cortazio, and Rebekah White © 2018 | Praise, Supplication, Surrender, Worship Mike Curb Music, FYWBTG Publishing, A New Song For A New Day Music, Father Of Lights Publishing

Join the #AmokNovel Cover Reveal and Release Tour!

OKAY okay okaaaayyyy.

So I'm finalising the cover and I'm SO EXCITED to share it with you! And I'd like to get you excited along with me!

If you'd like to join my cover reveal party and online launch tour, here's where you can sign up! 

In the meantime, check out Jiwosophy's website! 

#bookreview: KL Noir: Magic | edited by Deric Ee

KL NOIR: MAGIC by Deric Ee

I'll forgo the star rating on this one, mostly because it felt pretty evident that Noir is still not my thing, so I'd hardly give a fair rating.

There's a level of magical realism to most of the stories (hello, supernatural Malaysia) here that made the anthology more palatable to me as a whole than some of the earlier books in the KL Noir series. On the other hand, there's also a level of obliqueness to quite a few stories that makes for a rather overall 'eh' feeling for me.

As of now, here's a short list of stories I really enjoyed:
Dastar - Sukhbir Cheema - THIS!!! This is the one story I would read over and over again. I would probably recommend you buy this anthology just for this story.
The Radio - Lily Jamaludin - This was a great start to the book, actually. Simple, understated.
Tooth and Consequences - Terence Toh - lol Terence, as usual, starts off dark and grim and then goes in unexpected directions. (Looking forward to TOYOLS 'R' US)
Pontianak, Risen - Nadia Mikail
Jaga Diri, Jaga Hati - Hong Jinghann
We Are Young - Joshua Lim - I don't know if I really "enjoyed" this, but it did stand out.

View all my reviews

#musicmonday: Nothing Without You | Will Reagan, United Pursuit

 

When I am tired and weak

Lord, will you carry me?

And when I'm feeling low

Hold me close

When I am tired and weak

Lord, will you carry me?

When I am broken in two

Pull me through

#Flights2021 live tweet notes embed [closed 19/4]

Doing a mix of taking notes and tweeting, so am going to embed the start of my live tweets so I can find them again myself. 

It should be noted that these are my interpretations of what has been said (as processed and condensed at time of tweeting) & not verbatim notes. Hopefully, I do not misrepresent what any of them said! 

The Ingredients of a Breakthrough Short Story:

The Ingredients of a Breakthrough Short Story:
Mod: Coral Moore
Panel: Eliana Ugarte, Ande Dudak, Salik Shah, Valerie Valdes
Starting with intros and a short story they loved. #BreakthroughShorts #flights2021

— Anna Tan (@natzers) April 17, 2021

Publishing outside the US

Alright, next up is #PubOutsideUS with Darusha Wehm, Kat Clay, Zhui Ning Chang, Sascha Stronach.#Flights2021

— Anna Tan (@natzers) April 17, 2021

Beyond the Western Lens

#BeyondWesternLens is moderated by Phong Quan (PQ), with speakers Ng Yi-Sheng (NYS), Zhui Ning Chang (ZNC), and Yudhanjaya Wijeratne (YW).#Flights2021

— Anna Tan (@natzers) April 17, 2021

Short Stories are Not Baby Novels

May or may not be awake enough for Short Stories are Not Baby Novels with Jaymee Goh, Erin Roberts, Todd Sanders, Jose Pablo Iriarte and SB Divya in a couple of minutes. #NotBabyNovels #Flights2021

— Anna Tan (@natzers) April 17, 2021

Sensitivity Reading as Developmental Editing

Alright! Next is Sensitivity Reading as Developmental Editing which has a really long hashtag: #DevEditsAsSensitivityReads

Nicasio Reed (NR), Zhui Ning Chang (ZNC), Marlee Jane Ward (MJW), Yilin Wang (YW).#Flights2021

— Anna Tan (@natzers) April 18, 2021

How to Give and Receive Critiques Like the Best

And so my super super last #Flights2021 session is How to Give and Receive Critiques like the best, and I am up and awake and have had breakfast. #GoodCritique.
Mod: Cliff Winnig (CW)
Panel: Monte Lin (ML), Jane Funk (JF), Rashida Smith (RS)

— Anna Tan (@natzers) April 19, 2021

#bookreview: Of Kindness and Kilowatts | Susan Kaye Quinn

Of Kindness and Kilowatts by Susan Kaye Quinn
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Ok, first up, I feel kind of mean that this is only a 3 star? But it is what it is. [It's a very personal-reason rating though, as in I liked it but not SUPER liked it mainly cos there was too much physics in it haha]

We're moving up the ladder in this series, where the problem of shady bosses in When You Had Power and nasty power outages in You Knew the Price have escalated to reach Southern California's Public Utilities Commissioner, Akemi Sato. Is this threat real? Or is the Regional Director going off the rails? In a pandemic? (Well, a new virus outbreak anyway.)

I feel like Of Kindness and Kilowatts suffers from "second book syndrome" (even though it's the third), where the strong buildup from the first two books have reached a bit of a plateau. There's a lot of physics in this one (which went a little over my head) and they make some cool (and disturbing) discoveries, but the tension isn't as high as the previous one, and it feels more plotty (idk if this is a word, but it now is). But you gotta get through this one to get to the final book, Yet You Cry When It Hurts!

Relationship wise, this one focuses on Akemi and his relationship with his estranged father, Dai - which again was personally not as relatable for me as the themes of found family and community were in the first two books.

Plus points: it has tea! <3

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

View all my reviews

The Nothing is Promised series:

#bookreview: Slow Brewing Tea | Randy Loubier

Slow Brewing Tea by Randy Loubier
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

80% of why I picked this up was the title; the other 20% was because well, it did sound intriguing.
To be honest, when I started reading, I wavered between "I hope he does it well" and "how terrible can this get?"

Loubier does quite well in the beginning. Itsuki's teachings start off mysterious and enticing, wrapped in Japanese sayings and Taoist words (I don't know how accurate this is) - though if you've been a long time Christian, it's obvious that it has a Christian source, no matter what other trappings are added to it. There's a tension in Isaiah's search for God - his reactions and anger come from a place of truth. I'm sure many who have been hurt by the church can relate.

As you proceed through the story, however, and Itsuki's teaching gets clearer and more explicit, the narrative itself starts to get just a little too preachy - especially during, you know, the expected conversion scene. (Is this a spoiler? It can't be a spoiler - it's key to every Christian fiction.) I suppose, as a pastor, Loubier didn't quite manage to stop from sermonising just a little. It IS, however, a story about coming to faith - so it's not anything unexpected or anything that might blindside you.

I suppose if you like a little dose of apologetics with your fiction, this is the sort of thing that you'll like. I think it will appeal more to those who are already Christians or people who are struggling with faith & the church. It was just a tad to slow (lol) and on-the-nose for me to truly enjoy it.

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

View all my reviews

#bookreview: Future Perfect | Felicia Yap

Future Perfect by Felicia Yap
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

On 8 June 2030, iPredict informs Police Commissioner Christian Verger that he has a 99.74% chance of dying tomorrow. A model was blown up at Alexander King's fashion show in New York City yesterday, the same show that's going to be at Old Billingsgate tonight - and he has to find the killer in time to make sure it doesn't happen again. Of course, this just has to happen on the day his fiancee leaves him.

Yap keeps you guessing with each new revelation that comes to light. Three different people tell three different stories of the same event. Viola's program, CriminalX, is spitting out results that don't make sense. Everyone has secrets to hide - but are they secrets worth killing for? Will Christian be able to pull the answers - and himself- together in time to prevent another death from happening? Is he even looking in the right place? Is this a helpful clue? Or is this another misdirection?

Future Perfect is not just a crime thriller, though. Yap explores the impact of technology on our lives, taking trends in tech and pushing it forward ten years to a plausible future. Alexa not only manages the household, it also directs Christian's & Viola's lives even when they don't want it to. Predictions of the future become self-fulfilling when the tech themselves make it happen because it was predicted. Only people who have something to hide use cash. And maybe, just maybe, software can be programmed to be creative enough to create art, denying the need for humanity's creative eye and spark.

With a deft hand, Yap brings you through a harrowing day as told from four main perspectives: Verger, his fiancee Viola, the designer Alexander King, and an unnamed person from the past whose story may be the key to unravelling this dense web of lies. And haunting them all is the spectre of another dead model, the same one Xander is dedicating his show to.

Future Perfect is just... perfect.

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

View all my reviews

#musicmonday: So Afraid | Bebo Norman

That's not what you said
It's all in my head
And I throw my anger at you instead
So don't give up on me
I want to believe
That you'll never leave me

But I am so afraid
That I'll find myself alone
Looking for a saviour, looking for a home
I am so afraid
That I'll find myself alone
Deep into the ages, deep into the foam
I am so afraid
That I'll find myself alone

Looking for a saviour, looking for a home

So don't leave me here alone
Don't leave me here alone

On Publishing: How do you do it?

I met up with a secondary school classmate last Sunday for high tea. Meeting up was great, the high tea was so-so (real British high tea has spoilt me, sigh). 

We talked about various things, but one of the things that came up, as it tends to do nowadays, was the question "how do you do it?" in relation to the confidence of getting your work out there, and self-publishing - or at least that's how I've been thinking about it this past week. 

And the answer is... 

I don't. 

I don't have confidence.

I just do it because I am tired of waiting, and tired of begging, and dammit it's time, and THIS THING IS GOING OUT SCREAMING AND YELLING. 

And then I hide in my room because I'm 100% sure that everyone will hate it, but it's out there, and it's DONE. And I just want it done. 

Is it the best reason to self-publish?

Probably not. 

But this thing is as ready as it will ever be. 

Click image for more info! 

Oh God, grant me the confidence of the mediocre white man.

#bookreview: Songs of Insurrection | JC Kang

Songs of Insurrection by J.C. Kang
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Princess Wang Kaiya is just a pawn. The foreign (and very handsome) Prince Hardeep Vaswani wants her to wield her new-found magic to save his beloved country, Ankira. Her father needs to marry her off to the right noble to stabilise Cathay and his grip on the throne. What can a sixteen-year-old still learning to use her powers do in the face of such confusing politics and constantly-shifting allegiances? Are her powers even real?

I'd put this at something like a 3.5, honestly, because there are some bits that I liked quite a lot, but others that I didn't so much.

Kaiya is young and female in a very misogynistic culture, which also means she is underestimated once she learns of her magic and starts standing up for what is right. She's well-educated, but very inexperienced and awkward, making her the underdog in this story. You come to root for her despite her very stupid decisions because of the strength of her convictions and good intentions. I'm not quite a fan of this instalove or puppy crush thing she has on Hardeep, though I suppose it's... understandable? Maybe? (Mark this down as I'm-too-old-for-this-shit) Personally, my verdict is that she's stupid, but not Too Stupid To Live. Part of this is also the third person POV, I think, which gives a more balanced perspective to her actions and reasoning plus also makes it pretty clear when she's blatantly being manipulated without her realising it.

The politics of Cathay are complex. There's the Mandate of Heaven to think of, repercussions of Hellstorm if the Emperor were to renege on an agreement sworn on the imperial plaque. The neighbouring countries of Madura and Ankira are fighting in the South, rebellion fermenting in the North, and the Tianzi needs to balance all of that while keeping the hereditary Lords happy. Which means compromise. And bribes. And marrying off the princess for political gain. There's a bureaucracy to appease and the military to pacify. All of which makes for pretty dense politics for Kaiya to navigate without proper training.

No, actually, I think Kaiya's part of the politics were easier to read than what Zheng Tien and Yan Jie, agents of the Black Lotus Clan, start uncovering. There's so much underhanded dealing (Bribes! Murder! Betrayal! Weird business deals!) that I got a little cross-eyed and skimmed a little (Sorry, bad reading habit). I think there was a point where some goods were substituted for other goods and if you trace these goods you'll find out who was rebelling and who was betraying who and then I couldn't remember what goods were from what province so I just moved on.

Some content warnings might be necessary, I suppose.
- One of Kaiya's suitors is known to torture women, and there is a brief scene of sorts. (Not graphic, but a little unsettling.)
- The concept/typology of the Bovyan might offend some Christians, though they're mentioned only very briefly in the story itself. (It was a "lol, what?" moment for me)
- The misogyny and racism of the culture are never directly addressed. Some offhand statements which come across as insulting, while true to the culture/worldbuilding, are not dealt with/addressed within the story.

Still, it was overall quite an interesting read.

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

View all my reviews

#bookreview: The Second Bell | Gabriela Houston

The Second Bell by Gabriela Houston
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Salka is a striga who has spent all her life suppressing her second heart, which, if given any power, would turn her into an evil monster. It's their way of life, and the only way to keep their community safe. But when Salka is sent away, it comes down to a matter of survival: continue starving the monster and die or finally tap into her striga nature and live.

The Second Bell is a story of choices - not just the choices Salka has to make, but how the choices of others in their community have direct and lingering impact on her life. As Salka is forced into increasingly limited and difficult choices, she needs to decide if she will continue living within the boundaries of the community that has sheltered her so far, or if she should strike out and make a new way for herself.

This brings us to the question of nature versus nurture. In the striga village, the conventional wisdom is to starve the second heart, the source of both power and evil; yet the most experienced at - and legalistic about - starving their second heart turn out to be those whose choices cause the most harm to others. Are all strigas evil just because they have a second heart? Or is it what they do with the power that they are born with that makes them dark? What if Salka's experience is something totally different? And what if there was a way to tap on to that power and still remain good?

What is the balance between personal responsibility for your actions and the sinful nature of a person?

The story starts off well - Chapter 1 draws you into the history of Heyne Town, Salka's birth, and the stigma around strigas, then jumps 19 years into the future in Chapter 2 to see Salka all grown up. However, Chapters 3 - 6 hits you with a choppy series of POVs that read like a series of short stories that are somewhat related to the plot but not quite. Houston seems to hit her stride around Chapter 7 - whilst we still get multiple points of view, they start to flow together in a cohesive narrative to its heart-wrenching end.

Overall, The Second Bell is an enchanting and thoughtful read.

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

View all my reviews

#musicmonday: Yesus Memegangku | Symphony Worship

#bookreview: You Knew the Price | Susan Kaye Quinn

You Knew the Price by Susan Kaye Quinn
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Regional Director Zuri Hill-Gray has it all - yet nothing feels right after the death of her twin sister. Then power engineer Lucia Ramirez comes stumbling into her life, bringing with her a threat to the power grid that puts her job - and last shred of identity - on the line.

Is it weird to say that You Knew the Price feels strangely prescient? I doubt Quinn could have predicted the power shortages in Texas right at the time she's launching the book, but time is just weird nowadays anyway! The main difference is, the power shortages in the book are done on purpose for nefarious reasons instead of being a result of poor planning through climate change.

Still, the overall premise for the Nothing is Promised series is a timely and relevant one: pandemics, climate change, and the price society has to pay collectively to fix things. Where Quinn focuses very much on found family in When You Had Power, it's the community gathering support each other - whether they're colleagues or unknown protesters - that comes to the fore here. As much as Zuri is able to rely on the support of her close-knit family, she also needs to step up and face the very real evil of people bent on power. And she can't do it alone.

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

View all my reviews

The Nothing is Promised series:

#bookreview: What's the Tea with Gen Z

What's The Tea With Gen Z by G.Z. Manuel
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

What's the Tea with Gen Z is a guidebook to understanding Gen Z, written by communication students from IACT College, Gen Z-ers themselves. It's a huge effort - the book is filled with lots of information, from research and surveys, as well as personal anecdotes.

Content-wise, I'd give them an A (or 5 stars) for effort. The book covers everything from who the Gen Z are and how they grew up to what they're currently facing in the Covid-19 pandemic. It sometimes feels like the majority of the statistical information quoted has an implicit White USA bias. In a way, this makes sense because of how global the world is and what kind of information is readily available on the Internet (as well as the limits of college students carrying out surveys during MCO - this begs the question, who are they surveying?). At some points, the question "is that really true here?" kept coming up while reading, so I'd have appreciated a little bit of analysis on how this translates to the Gen Z in Malaysia. Is it absolutely the same, or would there be variation due to culture? Is there a difference in the way the same global events are perceived & reacted to by Gen Z in White/Western surveys vs the average Malaysian youth? Or is this generation truly so global that cultural backgrounds don't play as big a role as they used to?

On a more personal interest level, a lot of what was said that defined this generation was technology. Yet everything mentioned seemed very urban English-speaking middle-class - what about B40 without the same level of access to tech & the Internet? What about those whose primary language is Malay or Chinese or Tamil? Do they also fit in the demographic, or are they some sort of subculture within Gen Z? [Other side thought - do these generational analyses only apply to the English-speaking world? How does language change generational experiences?]

On a more or editorial level, the book would have benefited from tighter editorial control. If I understand the format correctly, each chapter is written by a different team of 3 students. This has resulted in varying levels of readability. There are some chapters that are a breeze to read and others that are filled with grammatical mistakes and extremely confusing sentences. Some seem to go a little more in-depth into why things are the way things are, others seem just to summarise and present whatever they found or are just extremely anecdotal.

Overall, What's the Tea With Gen Z is an informative read, though it could have benefited from more thoroughly thought out analysis. It contains a lot of information, but what it lacks is a strong narrative that pulls all this into a cohesive whole. However, as these are communications students and not researchers or analysts, I suppose I'll give them a pass on that.

View all my reviews

#bookreview: The Long, Long Afternoon | Inga Vesper

The Long, Long Afternoon: The most atmospheric and compelling debut novel of the year by Inga Vesper
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I haven't sat down and finished a whole book in one sitting recently, mostly because I've been reading (or trying to anyway) thick SFF works that are a gazillion pages long or something like that. But I picked up this wonderful mystery and finished in one go.

Sunnylakes, California is the picture-perfect rich, white American neighbourhood - until Joyce Haney disappears, leaving behind a bloody kitchen. The only ones who might know anything are little Barbara Haney and the help, Ruby Wright. But who's going to listen to them, a little girl and a black woman? Disgraced Detective Mick Blanke, apparently, since he has nothing else to lose.

Vesper paints a vivid picture of Joyce Haney and the darkness that lurks behind her picture-perfect life. But as much as it is about solving the crime, The Long, Long Afternoon is also about Ruby Wright, her dreams and ambitions, and all the things that stand in her way as a black woman in the fifties.

I'm not a huge fan of shifting POVs, but Vesper does it well, mostly shifting between Ruby and Mick, but also dropping in little snippets of Joyce's voice at apt moments.

In conclusion, The Long, Long Afternoon is a perfect Sunday afternoon read. I really enjoyed it.

View all my reviews

#coverreveal: Refined by HL Burke (@hlburkewriter)

Refined: Supervillain Rehabilitation Project Book 4, the final book in the SVR series by H. L. Burke releases March 5th 2021!

The book is on a special pre-order sale from February 4th through 14th, available for only 99 cents. This book is the endgame of the Marvelous superhero series, featuring adventure, humor, and a whole lot of heart.

Are you ready to save the day?

~

It’s hard to be a hero when crime is in your DNA.

Now a full-time hero with a beloved wife and treasured daughter, former supervillain Fade is certain nothing could take him down a dark path again. However, a mystery from his past lies in wait, a mystery tied to a part of his life he’d rather forget.

When DNA evidence reveals that Fade’s biological father is the elusive and enigmatic assassin known only as Syphon, Fade wants nothing to do with that mess.

Unfortunately, Fade can’t shake the target this newly discovered connection puts on him—and the backs of his friends and family.

Fade's only chance to fix things is taking down Syphon himself.

But Fade’s long-absent father has his own plans for their reunion.

Plans that could cost Fade everything he’s fought and bled to create.

~

About H. L. Burke

H. L. Burke has written more books than she can count—because she's written a lot of books, not just because she can't count very high.

Easily distracted by shinies, she has published in many sub-genres including fantasy romance, Steampunk, and superhero, and always creates story worlds with snark, feels, and wonder.

Married to her high school crush, she spends her time writing, spoiling her cat, and supervising her two supervillains in training (aka her precocious daughters).

An Oregon native, she wilts without trees and doesn't mind the rain. She is a fan of delicious flavor, a follower of the Light, and a believer in happily ever after.

Sign up for her monthly newsletter at www.hlburkeauthor.com

Ways to Connect with H. L. Burke

• twitter.com/hlburkewriter (for random snarkiness and occasional book snippets)
• facebook.com/hlburkewriter (for longer form random snarkiness, occasional book snippets, and #dailydragon posts where she shares her favorite dragon-related finds)
• website (and mailing list) for news and deals www.hlburkeauthor.com
• instagram.com/burkesdragons for #TheodoretheDragon awesomeness 
• and her reader group if you want to be the first to hear about beta and ARC reading opportunities as well as her day-to-day struggles and weekly live videos. https://www.facebook.com/groups/hlburkereaders/

#bookreview: Reaper of Souls | Rena Barron

Reaper of Souls by Rena Barron
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Arrah has magic now, the only one who does. She's the last witchdoctor. She carries the voices of the chieftains and the burden of the murdered tribes. But what if some of them survived? She needs to visit the tribal lands, to try to find them - in hopes that they can help stop the Demon King's impending return. Add politics into that mix, with the acting Almighty One doing all he can to stay in power, and you have a mind-blowing fantasy epic.

Okay, I jumped into this one without rereading the Kingdom of Souls, which may or may not have been a good idea because I don't quite remember anything that happened in the first book except that I liked it (oops). I did reread my review, so that helped a little! This was probably the reason why I floundered a little in the beginning, trying to remember who was who and who did what! I kept thinking, 'there's something more to this, isn't there?' but couldn't remember what.

Reaper of Souls is a story of love and sacrifice, both the sacrifices made for the sake of love, and the love that is sacrificed for the sake of others. Arrah and Rudjek face terrible choices, but so too did the gods themselves. And it is this past immortal drama, full of secrets and stark choices, that has landed all of them in this current predicament.

But oh God (gods?) - and this is really the good part - even with my slow, struggling start, each layer builds on each other, with each fresh revelation, each new twist tying together into this really inevitable ending. Barron keeps you guessing at some parts (ha, and I guessed wrong a couple of times), but she leads you so well that when you reach the end, you can only react in both awe and horror.

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

Note to self: It's a good idea to reread these first two books before Untitled

View all my reviews

#musicmonday: A King and a Kingdom | Derek Webb

Who's your brother, who's your sister

You just walked passed him

I think you missed her

As we're all migrating to the place where our father lives

'Cause we married in to a family of immigrants

My first allegiance is not to a flag, a country, or a man

My first allegiance is not to democracy or blood

It's to a king & a kingdom

There are two great lies that I've heard:

"The day you eat of the fruit of that tree, you will not surely die"

And that Jesus Christ was a white, middle-class republican

And if you wanna be saved you have to learn to be like Him

My first allegiance is not to a flag, a country, or a man

My first allegiance is not to democracy or blood

It's to a king & a kingdom

But nothing unifies like a common enemy

And we've got one, sure as hell

But he may be living in your house

He may be raising up your kids

He may be sleeping with your wife

Oh no, he may not look like you think

2020: A Year in Review

I suppose, in keeping with the Joneses, or whoever it is who lives near me (Lees? Oois? Lims? Yims?), I should do a year-end review. I used to do one every year until I got lazy. 

2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016

But since I can't seem to concentrate on getting anything done, I suppose I should have one last hurrah on this year-end thing, then go and read in bed (currently reading: A River Called Time) until the new year dawns. 

Things I Have Accomplished This Year

Writing-related

• Finished final edits for The Weight of Strength, variously known as Berserker and maybe now Amok? Since I decided to localise the term. 
• Also finished two-ish rounds of edits on The Weight of Secrets, also known as Hostage, which I should probably get round to sending off to beta readers.
• Finally rewrote The Weight of Sin, also known as Absolution, during my residency at Rimbun Dahan. 
• Reprinted (!!) Coexist and Dongeng, and distributed them for sale via MPH.
• Edited and published Home Groan: A NutMag Anthology.

(Keep in mind that I haven't actually published anything this year, other than that one short story in the Home Groan anthology. But this also means that I *may* have multiple things to publish next year, funds permitting.)

Reading-related

Here's My Year in Books! I credit the high number to several rounds of binge-reading during MCO.

I suppose my top 5 reads this year would be:

• The Empire of Sand, Tasha Suri
• The Order of the Pure Moon Reflected in Water, Zen Cho
• The Last Mystic, Susan Kaye Quinn
• The Skylark's Sacrifice, JM Frey
• ehhh I suppose the last is a tie between Strange Ways, Gray Williams and The House in the Cerulean Sea, T.J. Klune. 

How did I choose these? Well, I went back to see my 5-star ratings in Goodreads this year. The top 3 were obvious choices. Then I discounted those that I liked enough to give 5-stars but wasn't bothered enough about to actually write a review. Then I whittled it down from there. 

Blog-related

These are the top 5 posts for the year, that I'm too lazy to link to. 

And here's my all-time most popular post: Why Your England So Bad?

Other Miscellaneous

• Became the President of the Malaysian Writers Society in November (2020-2022)
• Assumed an editorial role at Penang Art District also in November
• Had a taste of my first residency at Rimbun Dahan in August to September (apply for the 2021 session)

I can't think of anything else to, I guess I'll end it here. 

Have a great 2021, or at least a not-so-awful one. 

#bookreview: Captain Arnold and Other Tales of the Abnormal | Arthur M. Doweyko

Captain Arnold and Other Tales of the Abnormal by Arthur M. Doweyko
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

You know that feeling when you finish reading a story and you're kind of left wondering... what really happened there? Sometimes that feeling is one of wonder and open possibilities. Sometimes, it's just a vague feeling of disconnect, like there was something that you were supposed to get, but you missed. 

Captain Arnold and Other Tales of the Abnormal was a mix of both for me. The short stories were amusing and intriguing--and some unsettling and scary--but there were quite a few that left me feeling like I would have liked them more if I could just...get...whatever "it" was.

Several that I quite liked:
Nothing to See Here
Billy and the Time Machine
What Goes Around
The Translator
Retirement
The Zoo
Son
Lost and Found

8/17 - not quite that bad a ratio.
The collection includes Doweyko's original art, so that's pretty cool, I guess.

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

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#musicmonday: Kuasa SalibMu | NDC Worship

#fridayflash: Regrets (excerpt) from #homegroan: A #nutmag anthology

Catherine Chong stood in the middle of the road on Puncak Bukit Mutiara and stared at the house in front of her. It was a squat, blocky thing that didn’t look like much from the outside—standing at road level, it appeared to be a very small single-storey house with a tiny front porch.

She frowned at it, then checked the address again.

It was the right house…

But it wasn’t what she’d expected to see, not with the vague memories she still held of this place. It was supposed to be huge, palatial. Three-storeys high, a wonderland she and Julia had roamed, going from room to ever larger room, conquering balconies that overlooked the sea, snuggling in the white wicker swing.

Maybe it’s bigger on the inside. Catherine snorted as she stepped off the road and approached carefully. It’s not a Tardis.

Walls spread out on both sides, blocking the rest of the house and its grounds from sight. That, at least, felt right. 

She knocked on the door. A minute later, Catherine slapped her forehead. Obviously, no one was going to answer because no one was currently living there. She had the keys in her pocket. Still, her school friends had once told her it was courtesy to knock anyway, to let any spirits living in there know you were entering. Catherine wasn’t sure if she believed in spirits, or if that rule applied to anything other than hotel rooms. She dug in her pockets and pulled out the keys.

A soft “hello” still slipped off her tongue as the door creaked open to a mid-sized room with sagging racks and shelves. For a moment, she was transported back into the past, a seven-year-old clinging to her mother’s hand as she visited a new school friend for the first time. Julia had been sitting in the wicker swing, her twin, James, perched somehow on its rounded back, both staring with identical large, brown eyes.

She blinked.

The swing now lay on the floor, the sad, rusty chain dangling from the ceiling.

Catherine stepped in without taking off her shoes or closing the door. Despite the still-bright daylight, the interior of the house was rather dark. She fumbled along the wall until she found the light switch. There was a faint fizzle and then nothing. With a sigh, she pulled out her phone from her pocket and turned on the torch.

The room didn’t open out to a bigger living room; it led instead to a circular stairway heading downwards.

Of course, you dummy.

She’d remembered the three floors right, just not the direction. The house went downwards, not up.

Catherine hesitated at the top of the stairs, looking down into the dark hole that gaped before her. She glanced at her phone. It was already six in the evening. If the house was already this dark now, she didn’t want to be inside when the sun set without a proper torch, or working lights. She made her way back out of the house, turned off the phone torch, then locked up.

“I’ll be back,” she said aloud, though she wasn’t sure who she was speaking to—herself or the house. Maybe both.

---

Check out our NutMag blog tomorrow for another excerpt!

Want to get your hands on a copy? PREORDER NOW for special rates and packages! 

#bookreview: Domesticating Dragons | Dan Koboldt

Domesticating Dragons by Dan Koboldt
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Noah Parker needs to get into Reptilian Corporation - the genetic engineering firm headed by inventor Simon Redwood that has cracked the code to hatching real-life dragons. Or, well, synthetic reptilian predators designed from genetically-engineered reptilian genomes, but who wants to say all that?

So. Dragons.

And with his biological simulator plus an added behavioural module, Noah can help the company design family-friendly pet dragons to replace the dogs they lost in the canine epidemic. On the side, Noah's hard at work trying to find a way to secretly use Reptilian's resources and advances in genetic sequencing to help fix one problem that's close to his heart... besides dodging scrutiny for, uhm, Octavius.

Domesticating Dragons was an enjoyable read. Koboldt put his training as a geneticist to good work, but as he assured me, it's not SO hard-sciencey that you can't follow along. It's not all about the dragons, though - what drives Noah is his loved ones, especially the welfare of his brother Connor. And it's not just family. Noah comes across as a guy who just... cares for people in his own way, whether it's his team at work - working collaboratively and sharing credit - or that slightly annoying roommate of his ex who's fighting him for the top spot in their geocaching race.

Anyways, back to dragons, I went into this thinking, what, haven't we learnt from Jurassic Park yet? And it seems we have. Reptilian Corporation takes safety of their dragons veeerrryyyy seriously even if their owners don't (the customer service call logs are hilarious!) and if we were anywhere close to this in the real world (are we? I have no clue), we might actually have a chance to get our own little pet dragons. How fun!

Note: I received a complimentary digital ARC from the author. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

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Domesticating Dragons releases on 5 Jan 2021! You can preorder your copy now. :D

#bookreview: Payoh | Jim Tan

Payoh by Jim Tan
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I was bored and didn't want to read something long, so I picked this up while surfing PNM on Libby. It's a pretty quick read (Libby tells me I finished it in 1 hour 50 mins) and, other than a few bombastic words assigned to the pompous Leonardo Owl, a really easy read. It's shelved in YA, at any rate.

Payoh is about JG Chan, a retired professor, and how he met the food court cleaner, Alphonsus Goh, at the first Changi Prison Writing Workshop. Interspersed between JG's narrative and musings is Alphonsus's novel, "Payoh".

We are less equal only because we allow ourselves to be
Goh's "Payoh" reads like a modernised, Singaporeanised retelling of Animal Farm in some ways, where a community of birds take over a protected bird sanctuary from the humans. They set up a leadership team. Which turns into a political party. And then... well, it's not hard to predict.

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Coming Soon - Home Groan: A #NutMag Anthology! #mywriterspenang

 

We're launching Home Groan in 20 days! 

I'm especially excited since I have technically been working on this since 2019. Really. The first iteration of this project started as a combined writing workshop + writing retreat + anthology for MYWriters Penang and was written as part of my Writers at Work assignment for my MA. (P/S, I got an A okay!)

Since then, we had to split the workshops & retreat (ultimately funded by Chevening's alumni fund) from the anthology project (now in its funding period). 

Home Groan features 22 authors and 3 illustrators, all with strong, tangible links to Penang--in fact, only 3 of them are "Honorary Penangites", and for quite a few of them, this is their first story or poem in an anthology! 

We're raising funds at the moment and have various digital and print "rewards" for you to choose from, so if you have money to spare, do grab your copy now! If you have no money to spare, or you don't read (why not?!) you can still help us by sharing our funding page. 

We launch in 20 days. SEE YOU AT THE LAUNCH! 

---

A deity laments her lost loves. A pickpocket steals more than just money. A young man wrestles with the colour of the homes he builds.

In Home Groan, we take a deep look at Penang. From idyllic beaches to dangerous jungle, reflections on the past to current issues, island living to mainland life, we explore our beloved home state in both prose and poetry, spinning tall tales and telling it as it is.

This is your Penang. This is your home. Come groan with us.

#bookreview: A Castle Awakened | Sharon Rose

A Castle Awakened by Sharon Rose
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A mysteriously abandoned castle claimed by an usurping foreigner. An injured lady who refuses to divulge her identity. Strange-looking monsters that threaten their safety. Lord Tristan Petram has finally found lands he can claim as his own--but it's hard to say if he can hold on to it. Beth has found temporary safety--but at what cost?

Filled with intrigue, A Castle Awakened offers an entrancing read for anyone looking for a medieval-style adventure. The first novel in the Castle in the Wilde trilogy, Rose offers a clean, slow-budding romance full of Honour and Virtue and Very Complicated Circumstances. There's an underlying current of mystery and political manoeuvring throughout the novel, all very subtly done.

Whilst the style of the prose is slightly archaic, inline with the eurocentric medieval setting, the narrative itself looks quite deeply into cultural clashes and misunderstandings. Both Tristan and Beth misread each others cues, judging the other's actions by their own standards, without realising that what one does and says means something totally different to the other. Rose delicately reveals this layer by layer, uncovering more mystery and surprising twists the more you get absorbed into their world.

The prequel, A Castle Sealed, was a great jump into the trilogy, and I'm looking forward for the next book, A Castle Contended, as well!

Note: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the author. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.


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#musicmonday: Truth Be Told | Matthew West

#bookreview: When You Had Power | Susan Kaye Quinn

When You Had Power by Susan Kaye Quinn
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

When You Had Power is a story of found family in a post-pandemic world.

Taking oft-repeated wedding vows, Quinn builds a near-future dystopia struggling through frequent pandemics, energy problems, and climate plagues, where families are formed around a legal vow of care: for better, for worse; in sickness and in health . And Lucia Ramirez desperately wants this--a family that she has chosen and has chosen her in return--in a place where she can use her power engineer training to make the world a better place. But one day into her new job and she's already embroiled in a mystery that threatens to rip the dream apart.

The start of new series, what Quinn labels as HopePunk, feels like a shift from her previous high-stakes, high-action series. Yes, there is danger, but it's more of a slowly looming shadow than a sharp, swift avalanche. And maybe it's more menacing for that. Because when you push missing turtles and threatening bosses aside, what Lucia wants is what so many of us are looking for: safety in a family that accepts us and cares for us as we are, troubles and all. Especially during troubles.

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

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When You Had Power is now available on Amazon! 

#musicmonday: Psalm 45 (Fairest of all) | Shane & Shane

#musicmonday: The Day That I Found God | Switchfoot

v

The morning comes like an enemy soldier

I feel the weight across my shoulders

I feel the shadows getting colder

But that ain't you

This noose ain't getting any looser

I get so fearful about the future

I hear the shame of my accuser

But that ain't you

I found strength but it wasn't what I thought

I found peace in the places I forgot

I found riches ain't the things that I had bought

I found out

The day I lost myself was the day that I found God

I get caught chasing my own illusions

I get so lost in these confusions

I keep on looking for my own solutions

But that ain't you, that ain’t you no

My enemies weren't the ones I had fought

My liberties weren't the freedoms I had sought

What I learned weren't the lessons I'd been taught

I found out the day I lost myself was

The day that I found God

Where is God out in the darkness?

Cause the voices in my head ain't talking honest

They're saying maybe you made us then forgot us

But that ain't you, that ain’t you no

And all I know is that I still don't know a lot

I don't know how it ends I'm in the middle of this plot

Yeah and I found grace for the man that I am not

Yeah, I found out the day I lost myself

Yeah, I found out the day I lost myself

Yeah, I found out

The day I lost myself was the day that I found God

#bookreview: The Girl and the Ghost | Hanna Alkaf

The Girl and the Ghost by Hanna Alkaf
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I don't quite know how to review this book.

On one hand, I enjoyed it--it is unabashedly Malaysian, it plays deeply on feelings of friendship and betrayal, loss and grief--yet, on the other hand, I put it down after the first half to go do something and I had no real desire to pick it up again to finish it off. And I really don't know why.

It's not the creepy/horror factor. However horrible or terrible the original creatures are (and are hinted to be), Pink doesn't stray too far from being just mischievous. Suraya's grandmother and the Pawang are people of power and who do nasty, evil things, but it's not described much in the book; it's MG, after all.

Maybe it's just because it's MG and I haven't read an MG book for a long time?

(It could just be my current reading mood; it probably IS just my current reading mood.)

Whatever it was, Suraya is the loner who finds a friend in the pelesit her grandmother bequeathed her. Then Jing comes into her life, and with this talkative new girl full of Star Wars references, a rift opens between Suraya and Pink. A story of friendship and bonds, light and dark, set against the backdrop of a Malaysian kampung and small-town life. Slight shades of Gaiman's The Graveyard Book towards the end, plus a super-touching ending.

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#musicmonday: The Spirit vs. The Kick Drum | Derek Webb

Cycling through the old CDs.

Yes, CDs.

--

I don't want the Father, you know I want a vending machine

I don't want the Son, you know I want a jury of peers

I don't want the Spirit, you know I want the kick drum

#bookreview: A Castle Sealed | Sharon Rose

A Castle Sealed by Sharon Rose
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is an amusing old-style novella of Lord Tristan hearing about a mysterious secret castle and then digressing to find it, despite the stories of terrible beasts and adventurers who never return. There's an odd formality to the writing style, which works most of the time.

The story is so heavily focused on Tristan's adventures, that the two chapters featuring Beth felt a little shoehorned in. I suppose it's important to find out who she is and why it matters, but I think the novella could have been fine on its own without ever introducing her.

But seeing as this is a prequel novella leading on to the main course... it does pique your interest!

Note: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the author. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

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