A History of What Comes Next by Sylvain Neuvel

A History of What Comes Next by Sylvain Neuvel is a more historic novel than I expected from the title. Most of the book is set during the end of WWII and the immediate aftermath, though there are also flashbacks to moments further back in history.

Always run, never fight.
Preserve the knowledge.
Survive at all costs.
Take them to the stars.


Over 99 identical generations, Mia’s family has shaped human history to push them to the stars, making brutal, wrenching choices and sacrificing countless lives. Her turn comes at the dawn of the age of rocketry. Her mission: to lure Wernher Von Braun away from the Nazi party and into the American rocket program, and secure the future of the space race.

But Mia’s family is not the only group pushing the levers of history: an even more ruthless enemy lurks behind the scenes.

The story here follows a mother and daughter who are from some alien(/semi-magical) line of women whose sacred duty is to make sure humanity develops space travel. So they have historically been nudging people in the appropriate scientific direction. Most recently and in the context of this book, that has involved getting Von Braun out of Nazi Germany at the end of the war and making sure the space race got started. Other plot lines were the Trackers who wanted to kill the women (for reasons that aren't very clear until the end and even then, eh) and a vague worry about climate change.

Overall, this book didn't work for me. I found it a bit dull and tedious and if it hadn't been a review book I would not have finished it. I certainly have no interest in reading the sequels. Although I don't generally mind WWII or the space race/Cold War as topics of books and media, I found their treatment incredibly uninteresting here. There were a few interesting moments but also a lot of somewhat patronising moments (e.g. frequent suggestions that humanity wouldn't get to the appropriate technological level without behind-the-scenes manipulation). The most interesting scenes were the short historic interludes, giving us snippets of history of the line of women.

I found the writing style of A History of What Comes Next to be fairly good; it was mainly the content that didn't work for me. If the above story sounds interesting to you, then I recommend picking up this book. 

3.5 / 5 stars

First published: February 2021, Tor.com
Series: Take Them to the Stars, book 1 of ?
Format read: eARC
Source: Publisher via NetGalley

The Enigma Game by Elizabeth Wein

The Enigma Game by Elizabeth Wein is another World War II YA thriller, following some of the same (fictional) characters as Code Name Verity, Rose Under Fire, and the pre-war prequel, The Pearl Thief. I enjoyed and reviewed all of the previous books, as well as the companion Black Dove, White Raven, which followed unrelated characters in Ethiopia. It is not an exaggeration to say that this is my favourite non-SF series of all time.

Windyedge Airfield, Scotland. World War II.

Louisa Adair, newly orphaned and shunned for her mixed-race heritage, has come here to the edge of the world to look after an old lady with a dark past. Jamie Beaufort-Stuart is a flight lieutenant whose squadron is posted to the airfield over winter. Ellen McEwan is a young woman held hostage by the German pilot who lands at Windyedge one wild stormy night carrying a terrible secret.

Three young people desperate to make a difference in a war that has decimated their families, friends and country. When the means to change the course of history falls into their hands, how will they use it? And when the enemy comes looking for them, who will have the courage to strike back?

The Enigma Game is not set at Bletchley Park, which I thought it might be when I first saw the title. It is set near the start of the war, 1940-41, and mostly in the vicinity of an airbase in Scotland. Our in to the story is Louisa, a half-English, half-Jamaican girl, that takes a job looking after an elderly lady near the airbase after both her parents are killed. There she meets female enlistees and the squadron and accidentally gets caught up in wartime secrets concerning an Enigma machine.

My favourite thing about this book was the way in which it addressed identity and perception. Three of the characters do not fit in because of their backgrounds, but only Louisa, the half-Jamaican, is unable to hide it, thanks to her skin colour. The other two — Ellen the Scottish Traveller and Jane the elderly German woman — can pass as British without having to try too hard. And yet, they are both constantly terrified that others will find out their secret (they're not spies, so it's not secret to everyone) and ostracise them for it. Meanwhile, the only reason Louisa got her job near the start of the book was because she was hired over the telephone and her new employer couldn't tell the colour of her skin from her posh English accent. And even better than just having these characters with similar problems in the book is that they all recognised the similarities in each other, which I really appreciated.

The point of view in The Enigma Game is split fairly evenly between Louisa, Ellen and Jamie, the pilot/flight lieutenant. Jamie was a minor character in Code Name Verity and appeared in The Pearl Thief, and Ellen was a minor character in the latter. But all the books stand alone and you don't have to have read any of the others to enjoy The Enigma Game. In fact, since The Enigma Game is set before Code Name Verity, most of the time I was reading, I was dreading/anticipating a crucial event that's mentioned in passing in Code Name Verity. But unlike some prequels which lose tension through predictability, Wein maintained a tense atmosphere throughout basically all the flights we saw the squadron undertake. Especially the climactic part near the end. One bit was so ridiculously tragic that I just knew it had to be based on something that really happened (and the afterword confirmed that it was).  A lot of the book is upbeat and there are even some funny bits, but Wein sure knows how to punch a reader in the feels.

I highly recommend The Enigma Game if you enjoyed any of Wein's other WWII books. If you haven't read them but the description and premise sound appealing, then you can absolutely jump right in with this one. And if you do and enjoy it, there are several more books waiting for you! Sucker for punishment that I am, I hope we get more books set in this "world".

5 / 5 stars

First published: May 2020, Bloomsbury / Little, Brown Books
Series: Code Name Verity series. Set between The Pearl Thief and Code Name Verity.
Format read: ePub
Source: Purchased from Kobo

#ReadShortStories that are technomagical (16 to 20)

This batch includes the last piece from Meet Me at the Intersection, which I have already reviewed in full, but I didn't want to skip including the last story in my roundups. I also have for you this week the first three stories from a new anthology, New Suns: Original Speculative Fiction by People of Color edited by Nisi Shawl. Then I accidentally started reading the John Chu story when I was having a look at the new epub format Tor.com is using to put out bimonthly groups of their published short stories (for example, January to February is here). And that's the story of how I came to read these stories.

Border Crossings by Rebecca Lim — Another autobiographical essay, this morning me focusing on our interactions and reactions to the world, especially with respect to language. Source: Meet Me at the Intersection edited by Rebecca Lim and Ambelin Kwaymullina

The Galactic Tourist Industrial Complex by Tobias Buckell — What if a lot of different aliens all decided that Earth was a perfect tourist destination? Find out how mere humans live on the edges of a society that mainly relies on tourist income to Manhattan. Interesting parallels as well as interesting aliens. Source: New Suns edited by Nisi Shawl

Deer Dancer by Kathleen Alcalá — A story about a collective living arrangement in some sort of post-apocalyptic future (climate change I think). It was mostly slice-of-life, interesting but lost me a bit towards the end. Source: New Suns edited by Nisi Shawl

The Virtue of Unfaithful Translations by Minsoo Kang — I originally started reading this story on the second of two long-haul flights and it transpired that I was far too tired to take the story in. When I restarted it later, better rested, I realised I had had no idea what it was about from the first attempt. It doesn’t help that it’s written in a very dry style, in the manner of a non-fictional historical essay, and that the story itself emerges gradually. Once established it was a very interesting and amusing read, if not exactly an exciting one. Source: New Suns edited by Nisi Shawl

Beyond the El by John Chu — A story about crafting food (technomagically?) and the scare family can leave us with. And moving on. A gorgeous story, as I have come to expect from John Chu. Source: https://www.tor.com/2019/01/16/beyond-the-el-john-chu/

#ReadShortStories that almost all come from the same book (11 to 15)

It feels strange to review an autobiographical essay, even if it's in an anthology with a few of them and surrounded by fiction. I have mostly gotten around this by not doing it. If you want to know my thoughts on the autobiographical essays in Meet Me at the Intersection, you will have to wait for my full review of the anthology, which should be coming very soon.

School of Hard Knocks by Amra Pajalic — A Bosnian girl moves to Australia and starts high school in a rough suburb, where she is bullied. Another autobiographical story. Source: Meet Me at the Intersection edited by Rebecca Lim and Ambelin Kwaymullina

Autumn Leaves by Wendy Chen — A nice, if bittersweet, story about a Chinese family in Melbourne around the time of Federation. I quite liked it. Source: Meet Me at the Intersection edited by Rebecca Lim and Ambelin Kwaymullina

How to Be Different by Michelle Aung Thin — An autobiographical essay about being different, especially as a young child in primary school. Source: Meet Me at the Intersection edited by Rebecca Lim and Ambelin Kwaymullina

The Last Stop by Alice Pung — This story wasn’t at all what I expected. Told from the point of view of a bogan or “feral” teenage boy who enters a competition for a laugh and wins a Rotary Club trip to China. Discovering that the ordinary high school kids in China are just like him significantly changes his world view and opens his eyes to racism. A really good read, in the end, though you had to get past some racism near the start to appreciate the change in the character’s perspective. Source: Meet Me at the Intersection edited by Rebecca Lim and Ambelin Kwaymullina

The Princess of the Perfume River by Aliette de Bodard — A very short story about a couple who had been separated by the investigation of an alien artefact attempting to reunite. Source: http://dailysciencefiction.com/hither-and-yon/the-numbers-quartet/aliette-de-bodard/the-princess-of-the-perfume-river

#ReadShortStories to kick off 2019 (1 to 5)

A mixed bag of stories in this batch, although most of them are from Meet Me at the Intersection edited by Rebecca Lim and Ambelin Kwaymullina, an anthology I am approaching the end of. I've also thrown in a few miscellaneous stories since I have quite the backlog of free-floating stories awaiting my attention (as in, not part of an anthology or collection).

Trouble by Kelly Gardiner — A story of non-conforming girls in 1950s Melbourne. I enjoyed the local colour even if the end was not quite as I had hoped/shipped. Source: Meet Me at the Intersection edited by Rebecca Lim and Ambelin Kwaymullina

Sweet as Sugar Candy by Seanan McGuire — For a story billed as ruining marshmallows, it wasn’t quite what I expected. I’m not sure it was marshmallows, per se, that were “ruined” or the source of the horror. In any case, despite expecting something strange to happen I was a little surprised when it did. A delightful read. Source: Seanan McGuire’s Patreon

Planet of the five rings by Marissa Lingen — A funny flash story about first contact that I found quite unexpected (but was probably quite topical when it was first published). Source: https://www.nature.com/articles/549302a

Sheer Fortune by Jordi Kerr — A more Australian story that I would have expected from a short summary of it, with some strong New Zealish elements thrown in via the second character. Shifters, lesbians, high school. A nice read.  Source: Meet Me at the Intersection edited by Rebecca Lim and Ambelin Kwaymullina

Telephone by Yvette Walker — A timey-wimey story in which the main character receives a phone call from her teenage self. As she talks to this version of herself that had been trying to call and LGBT support hotline, she reflects on her life and how she got to where she is now (happily living with her wife). A sweet story, overall. Source: Meet Me at the Intersection edited by Rebecca Lim and Ambelin Kwaymullina

#ReadShortStories (106 to 110)

This batch sees me finishing off Not So Stories — full review of the anthology coming very soon — and start in on Uncanny issue 21. I am looking forward to having a short break from themed anthologies (I do have more lined up, so it will be short) and reading a general mix of stories without obligations.

Strays Like Us by Zina Hutton — A story about Bastet, the Egyptian cat goddess, who no longer has a place in the world, and a stray kitten. The story was fine, but I’m not sure how well it fits with the other stories in the anthology. It put me more in mind of various forgotten/unworshipped god stories more than colonialism per se. Source: Not So Stories edited by David Thomas Moore

How the Simurgh Won Her Tail by Ali Nouraei — A lovely story within a story. A grandfather visiting his sick (cancer, I think) granddaughter in hospital and telling her the titular story. It was very heartwarming, despite the depressing hospital setting and the hints of life outside the hospital. Source: Not So Stories edited by David Thomas Moore

There is Such Thing as a Whizzy-Gang by Raymond Gates — A story about a boy in Australia, his uncle that likes to (mostly) benevolently tease him and the Whizzy-Gang that attacks him. Not a bad read, but I didn’t really spot any direct engagement with colonialism. Source: Not So Stories edited by David Thomas Moore

How the Camel Got Her Paid Time Off by Paul Krueger — If not for the title itself, this story would feel quite unresolved, which I have mixed feelings about. I didn’t mind the story overall, but I again didn’t find it to be quite what I expected. It’s about animals fighting (or not) for worker rights. Source: Not So Stories edited by David Thomas Moore

I Frequently Hear Music in the Very Heart of Noise by Sarah Pinsker — Part story, part history of the early 20 century music and art scene in New York. I didn’t love it. A lot of references went over my head and those that didn’t — meh. Source: https://uncannymagazine.com/article/frequently-hear-music-heart-noise/

The Other Einstein by Marie Benedict

The Other Einstein by Marie Benedict is a fictionalised account of the life of Mileva Marić, who was Albert Einstein's first wife. It's based partly on historical records and letters sent between the couple, but also includes a dollop of conjecture, as the author notes in her afterword.

A vivid and mesmerizing novel about the extraordinary woman who married and worked with one of the greatest scientists in history.

What secrets may have lurked in the shadows of Albert Einstein’s fame? His first wife, Mileva “Mitza” Marić, was more than the devoted mother of their three children—she was also a brilliant physicist in her own right, and her contributions to the special theory of relativity have been hotly debated for more than a century.

In 1896, the extraordinarily gifted Mileva is the only woman studying physics at an elite school in Zürich. There, she falls for charismatic fellow student Albert Einstein, who promises to treat her as an equal in both love and science. But as Albert’s fame grows, so too does Mileva’s worry that her light will be lost in her husband’s shadow forever.

A literary historical in the tradition of The Paris Wife and Mrs. Poe, The Other Einstein reveals a complicated partnership that is as fascinating as it is troubling.

This book caught my eye because— well why wouldn't it? As a woman and as an (astro-) physicist myself, why wouldn't I be interested in reading about a lesser-known woman who was so close to some of the most fundamental progressions in physics a century ago? And while I don't generally read non-fiction outside of work, this was a novelised account, so it didn't count as non-fiction, right? That's not to say I didn't have some problems with it.

First off, I didn't like the first person narrator voice of Mileva. I thought that as a woman in the same field — albeit more than a century later — I should at least have something in common with her. But aside from her professed love of physics I couldn't find any commonalities. I was also surprised at how much discussion of hair and appearance there was from someone who I would have expected to not care about those things beyond what was strictly necessary as mandated by society. I did not connect with the character at all, although I do admit I became invested in her plight as I read further.

That investment mainly paid off in making me want to shout at the page and tell her not to make certain poor decisions. That said, I was a bit disappointed to read, in the afterword, that the story was more fictional than I had hoped (some of the less consequential and/or more mysterious events were made up/extrapolated). This of course includes all the private interactions with Albert that weren't referenced in their letters to each other. Which brings me to the most controversial part of this book: Albert's treatment of Mileva. The way the author writes it, there were a lot of red flags in the beginning, but I can see how they were easy to overlook in a state of youthful inexperience. That didn't stop me being angry at Albert on Mileva's behalf, especially when he grew resentful of her for both being a housewife and daring to want to be more than a housewife. Those interactions, while somewhat upsetting, were the more interestingly written part of the book.

The other thing that bothered me, fiction aside, were some of the descriptions of physics. I generally didn't find them to be that great. I mean, the first description of special relativity was terrible, although the second one (when it came up again later) was an improvement. It was disappointing since it ought to have been quite central to the story. Some of the general physics chatter was superficial enough to not feel actively wrong, but... well, not everyone can be everything, but it was still disappointing.

Perhaps this book is best taken as historical fiction and not read for the physics aspects. As I said, I didn't find the characterisation of the protagonist very satisfying (and I didn't find her voice at all believable at first), but others might not have the same issues. It was overall an interesting read and I can imagine a passable Hollywood movie being made of it. I recommend it to readers that find the premise interesting, but with the caveats discussed above.

3.5 / 5 stars

First published: 2016, Sourcebooks
Series: no
Format read: eARC
Source: Publisher via Netgalley

The Pearl Thief by Elizabeth Wein

US cover

The Pearl Thief by Elizabeth Wein is a prequel to her much-renowed Code Name Verity. Hence it is also set in the same universe of plausible World War II events as Rose Under Fire and Black Dove, White Raven, all of which I have read and enjoyed. None of those books are required reading before picking up The Pearl Thief, but I can attest to increased sentimentality while reading The Pearl Thief after having read Code Name Verity. I teared up almost every time roses were mentioned (and they were the same roses). 🥀

When fifteen-year-old Julia Beaufort-Stuart wakes up in the hospital, she knows the lazy summer break she’d imagined won’t be exactly like she anticipated. And once she returns to her grandfather’s estate, a bit banged up but alive, she begins to realize that her injury might not have been an accident. One of her family’s employees is missing, and he disappeared on the very same day she landed in the hospital.

Desperate to figure out what happened, she befriends Euan McEwen, the Scots Traveller boy who found her when she was injured, and his standoffish sister Ellen. As Julie grows closer to this family, she experiences some of the prejudices they’ve grown used to firsthand, a stark contrast to her own upbringing, and finds herself exploring thrilling new experiences that have nothing to do with a missing-person investigation.

Her memory of that day returns to her in pieces, and when a body is discovered, her new friends are caught in the crosshairs of long-held biases about Travellers. Julie must get to the bottom of the mystery in order to keep them from being framed for the crime.

UK cover

Before I started reading, I had misremembered names (and the last line of the blurb didn't help) and was expecting The Pearl Thief to be about the other protagonist in Code Name Verity, Maddie. I was not emotionally prepared for it when I realised that, of course, Julie was the Scottish one, with the French grandmother and great aunt who had been sent to boarding school in Geneva. That said, if you haven't read Code Name Verity and the shadow of the future isn't hanging over Julie for you, then The Pearl Thief is a fun, coming-of-age, historical YA novel set in the 1930s with a surprisingly bisexual protagonist. Surely worth a read just for that.

The story is told from Julie's point of view, more or less in the tone of a diary, but with pretty normal prose formatting and dialogue. Other major characters are Julie's closest brother Jamie (who readers of Code Name Verity may remember) and a couple of her Scottish Traveller friends. The latter two provide a launching point for a key aspect of historical life explored in the book, namely the discrimination faced by Travellers from otherwise perfectly nice and reasonable people. Julie is a bit of a sheltered outsider who, over the course of the book's adventures and misadventures, experiences and gains a greater appreciation for the differences between her privileged life and the lives of the nomadic Travellers she befriends.

The overarching plot links the above ideas with a few mysteries and other historical details, as well as Scottish river pearls. For the most part, the events of the book aren't too dire (it's not all sunshine and roses — oh, the roses! — but the main point of comparison is World War II) although there are some tense moments. There are also injustices which can hardly be said to be cheerful. But overall this was a fun and enjoyable read that I had difficulty putting down. I highly recommend it to fans of historical YA and of Wein's other books (especially Code Name Verity). In many ways The Pearl Thief made me want to reread Code Name Verity, but it's probably just as well that I own it as a paperback residing on another continent since I don't quite need the heartbreak right now.

5 / 5 stars

First published: May 2017, Bloomsbury UK / Disney-Hyperion US
Series: Code Name Verity universe, first book so far chronologically, fourth to be published
Format read: eARC
Source: Publisher via NetGalley

The Perilous Life of Jade Yeo by Zen Cho

The Perilous Life of Jade Yeo by Zen Cho is a novella about a Chinese-Malaysian writer set in 1920s London (mostly).

For writer Jade Yeo, the Roaring Twenties are coming in with more of a purr — until she pillories London's best-known author in a scathing review. Sebastian Hardie is tall, dark and handsome, and more intrigued than annoyed. But if Jade succumbs to temptation, she risks losing her hard-won freedom — and her best chance for love.

This novella was another delightful read from Zen Cho. It's written as diary entires, for the most part, from Jade, who is living in London, far from most of her family. The only family she has nearby is an intolerable rich aunt who Jade would rather avoid. Jade is making a living in London by writing articles for magazines and journals. The story really begins when she writes a scathing review of a well-known author's book.

As far as problems (and perils) go, Jade's seem to be mostly born out of her desire for adventure and new experiences. And mostly they are more inconvenient than insurmountable. Either way, Jade's attitude towards them and her turn of phrase make this a delightful read. I have seen Zen Cho's writing compared to Gail Carriger's and, while it is is of course not quite the same, I agree that Cho's work would appeal to fans of Carriger's.

I enjoyed The Perilous Life of Jade Yeo a lot. In fact, shortly after finishing it, I started listening to Cho's novel, Sorcerer to the Crown, and bought her short story collection, Spirits Abroad. That's how much I want to read as much of her stuff as I can. I highly recommend Cho's work to all fans of historical fantasy. In the specific case of The Perilous Life of Jade Yeo, I recommend the novella to fans of historical fiction, particularly set in the 1920s. I'm not sure I'd call this a capital-R-romance, but it does have a romantic storyline and I think it would appeal to readers who also enjoy that genre. It's not spec fic — which is what I usually read — but I didn't even notice until I was tagging it after I'd finished. Make of that what you will.

5 / 5 stars

First published: 2012, self-published
Series: Not yet
Format read: ePub
Source: Purchased from iBooks

Cranky Ladies of History edited by Tansy Rayner Roberts and Tehani Wessely

Cranky Ladies of History edited by Tansy Rayner Roberts and Tehani Wessely is an anthology of stories about historical women who were not content to leave the status quo be. The stories cover pirates, queens, nuns and warriors and come from a variety of authors, many of whom I've reviewed here before.

Warriors, pirates, murderers and queens...

Throughout history, women from all walks of life have had good reason to be cranky. Some of our most memorable historical figures were outspoken, dramatic, brave, feisty, rebellious and downright ornery.

Cranky Ladies of History is a celebration of 22 women who challenged conventional wisdom about appropriate female behaviour, from the ancient world all the way through to the twentieth century. Some of our protagonists are infamous and iconic, while others have been all but forgotten under the heavy weight of history.

Sometimes you have to break the rules before the rules break you.

This was a fascinating collection of women, many of whom I hadn't heard of before, or didn't know much about before reading. The collection is framed by two stories of the women and children of Henry VIII, about whom I probably knew most before reading, which give a pleasant effect of tying the collection together.

My favourite stories were "Bright Moon" by Foz Meadows,  "Neter Nefer" by Amanda Pillar and "Due Care And Attention" by Sylvia Kelso, all very different tales — especially the latter — which are a good example of the breadth of the collection.

The only thing negative from which the collection suffered was a tendency for some of the stories to fall into a pattern of recounting their subject's life events. Sometimes this was done to fill in gaps, sometimes not, but it resulted in more telling rather than showing and came across as a bit dry at times. On the other hand, this was made up for by the stories which threw us into key events in a more active way.

Overall, interesting and fascinating are the two words that best describe this collection. I would highly recommend it to anyone wanting to dip into the lives of a variety of historical women. Although it's not technically a speculative fiction anthology, I strongly feel it will appeal to readers of spec fic as well as readers of main stream and historical fiction. As always, some notes on individual stories follow.

~

Queenside by Liz Barr — A scene among Henry VIII's women.

The Company Of Women by Garth Nix — Bees and Lady Godiva and unpleasant magic.

Mary, Mary by Kirstyn McDermott — A tale about Mary Wollstonecraft's life, especially her darker moments. While interesting, I found it a bit too depressing to really enjoy.

A Song For Sacagawea by Jane Yolen — a poem or, I suppose as the title says, a song.

Look How Cold My Hands Are by Deborah Biancotti — An account of the end of Countess Erzébet of Báthory, the most prolific known female serial killer. Interesting and dark.

Bright Moon by Foz Meadows — My favourite story so far. About the Mongolian princess who refused to marry any man who couldn't beat her in wrestling.

Charmed Life by Joyce Chng — About the empress who discovered silk to make women's lives easier.

A Beautiful Stream by Nisi Shawl — I think this story could've been tighter. Although I got the drift — a wartime spy fearing those around her might be used as leverage — I found it difficult to follow.

Neter Nefer by Amanda Pillar — the story of Hatshepsut taking the throne, told front eh pint of view of her daughter. An enjoyable story and one of my favourites.

The Dragon, The Terror, The Sea by Stephanie Lai — Chinese pirate lady who commands a large fleet. She tries to stop opium taking over China but fails obviously. I liked this one.

Due Care And Attention by Sylvia Kelso — A lady doctor and much angst about speeding at the turn of the century. A very fun story. (Alarming how recently the benefit of putting cold water on a burn was discovered.)

Theodora by Barbara Robson — The story of a Roman empress, framed by a historian's scathing commentary of how she was bringing down the Roman Empire (by, y'know, being nice to women and stuff). An enjoyable read.

For So Great A Misdeed by Lisa L. Hannett — a rather long story about an island of woman who had several husbands, all of whom died. Although the length was necessary to cover all the key events in her life, it felt a little drawn out.

The Pasha, The Girl And The Dagger by Havva Murat — A girl is abandoned by her father for being born a girl but secretly rescued by her aunt. She grows up to be a kick-arse knight.

Granuaile by Dirk Flinthart — Irish pirate queen who has a run in with Poseidon.

Little Battles by L.M. Myles — A story about Queen Eleanor at age 70, who was still kicking are. A nice tale about a lady who knew what was what.

Another Week In The Future, An Excerpt by Kaaron Warren — Written in the style of Catherine Helen Spence who wrote a book about time travel into the future (1988), this considers the same character going another 100 years forward. The foreword explains that it is written as though the author wrote it in the final years of her life when she was feeling less hopeful about the world. It’s a very engaging and interesting read. I liked it more than I expected to from the description.

The Lioness by Laura Lam — story about a French pirate queen and a young man that crosses her path.

Cora Crane And The Trouble With Me by Sandra McDonald — told from the point of view of Cora's diary, languishing forgotten in some archive. Quite a clever way of telling. I enjoyed it.

Vintana by Thoraiya Dyer — A queen of Madagascar who olives both her husband the king and her lover. Set at a time when French Christians were insinuating their way into the king's graces and the traditional ways were under threat. A good read.

Hallowed Ground by Juliet Marillier — A having reached old age reflects upon her life and upon new hardships she and her sisters face. A very enjoyable story.

Glorious by Faith Mudge — A story about princess Elizabeth, daughter of Anne Boleyn, and her life in the confusing English court (and out of it) of the time. An enjoyable read. 

4 / 5 stars

First published: March 2015, FableCroft Publishing
Series: No
Format read: ePub
Source: I received an eARC but I ended up reading the nicer-formatted backer epub edition which I received for backing the Pozible campaign of this project last year
Challenges: Australian Women Writers Challenge

Black Dove, White Raven by Elizabeth Wein

Black Dove, White Raven by Elizabeth Wein is the third book by the author set, loosely speaking, during World War II. The other two, in order of being written are Code Name Verity and Rose Under Fire. Black Dove, White Raven is set in Ethiopia before and during the start of the Italian invasion of Ethiopia in 1936.

Emilia and Teo's lives changed in a fiery, terrifying instant when a bird strike brought down the plane their stunt pilot mothers were flying. Teo's mother died immediately, but Em's survived, determined to raise Teo according to his late mother's wishes—in a place where he won't be discriminated against because of the color of his skin. But in 1930s America, a white woman raising a black adoptive son alongside a white daughter is too often seen as a threat.

Seeking a home where her children won't be held back by ethnicity or gender, Rhoda brings Em and Teo to Ethiopia, and all three fall in love with the beautiful, peaceful country. But that peace is shattered by the threat of war with Italy, and teenage Em and Teo are drawn into the conflict. Will their devotion to their country, its culture and people, and each other be their downfall or their salvation?

Black Dove, White Raven had a lot less war in it than the other two books I mentioned above. I was expecting more, really, but the war didn’t actually start until something like two thirds of the way through and didn’t really have a strong impact on the main characters until the last quarter or so. It was compelling when it came, I just wasn’t expecting to have to wait so long.

On the other hand, if you’ve been reading Wein’s books for the early aircraft and piloting elements, then this is the book for you. The two main characters are the son and daughter of two female stunt pilots that start off making their living doing daredevil air shows. The women are also best friends (I read them as lovers, but this wasn’t explicitly stated in the text) and closer to each other than to the fathers of their children. Delia is African American and her son’s (Teo’s) father was Ethiopian. After a tragic accident kills her, the other woman, Rhoda, continues to look after both children as her own and relocates the family to Ethiopia.

The story recounts a lot of Teo and Em’s childhood and their lives in Ethiopia before war started. There’s a lot of flying around in the family plane (and eventually when the kids are old enough Rhoda teaches them to fly) and fitting in with the locals after they all learn Amharic. The kids also make up stories to tell each other in which they play Black Dove and White Raven, spies. When things get more serious, we have Teo learning about his father's background and wresting with the issue of seeming to fit in while not fitting in (he always sounds American, whereas Em, the white girl, can speak Amharic like a native). The book deals with the issue of Em's father being Italian while she feels her own allegiance is to Ethiopia (but looks obviously foreign).

I found it a gentler story than the other books of Wein's I read, mostly because the horrible war-related things were confined to the last portion of the book. Not that nothing else bad happened; there were certainly sad and confronting moments. I also ended up reading it over a longer period of time. It wasn't boring but it was much easier to put down than Wein's other books. And some of the times I put it down because there was something else I had to read, but I didn't necessarily pick it straight up again either. I enjoyed the Ethiopian bits, but found the earlier childhood bits slower going. Your mileage may vary. I suspect I also would have enjoyed the book more if I'd known going into it that there wouldn't be much war and that it was mainly about the family's life in Ethiopia. But if you've enjoyed Wein's other books or if the subject matter sounds interesting, I definitely recommend reading Black Dove, White Raven.

4 / 5 stars

First published: March 2015, Disney Book Group
Series: Stand alone but other books written in the same vein.
Format read: eARC
Source: Publisher via NetGalley

Langue[dot]doc 1305 by Gillian Polack

Langue[dot]doc 1305 by Gillian Polack is a time-travel novel set mostly in 1305. It basically documents the expedition's stay in 1305 and the contemporaneous goings-on in the town of Languedoc. It is the second novel I've read by the author, the other was Ms Cellophane, which is unconnected.

There are people involved. That's the first mistake.
Scientists were never meant to be part of history. Anything in the past is better studied from the present. It's safer.
When a team of Australian scientists — and a lone historian — travel back to St-Guilhem-le-Désert in 1305 they discover being impartial, distant and objective just doesn't work when you're surrounded by the smells, dust and heat of a foreign land. They're only human after all.
But by the time Artemisia is able to convince other that it's time to worry, it's already too late.

Langue[dot]doc 1305 is an unusual book. It's told in a series of short scenes, switching between characters from the present (or, I suppose, near future, since they can time travel) and townsfolk in 1305. Commonly such short scenes would be an indication of a fast-paced, action-heavy plot, but that is not the case here. It is not a long book, coming in at just under 300 pages, but it is a slow, languorous read. The short scenes (and I should note, not all of them a super-short, but many are) give snapshots of minor events both in the lives of the expedition and the locals. Although seemingly unconnected at first, these do tend to lay down context for later happenings.

The characters are not at all what I expected. Artemisia, the only historian on the mission, is positioned very much as the main character, even as she is isolated from the rest of the expedition due to a clash of personalities and (research) culture. The scientists, quite frankly, often acted very pettily and put me in mind of the public servants in Ms Cellophane (in particular, I found similarities between the two antagonist characters). I felt like I should be on the side of the scientists (because I am one) but they were mostly such annoying people that I was very much on Artemisia's side throughout.

Gillian Polack is a historian, specialising in Medieval France, so I have no doubt that all the history included was as accurate as possible. I am also quite sure that there were jokes that I didn't pick up on because I am not a historian, but that did not make it an unenjoyable read. Instead, I suspect others with a stronger medieval background will get more out of it than I did.

I recommend Langue[dot]doc 1305 to anyone with a passing interest in history (especially Medieval France), speculative fiction reader or not. On the other hand, those looking for action and adventure would be better off looking elsewhere.

4 / 5 stars

First published: November 2014, Satalyte Publishing
Series: No.
Format read: Paper! Uncorrected Proof
Source: LonCon purchase
Disclaimer: Gillian is a friend but — as always — I have endeavoured to give an unbiased review
Challenges: Australian Women Writers Challenge, Australian Science Fiction Reading Challenge

Razorhurst by Justine Larbalestier

Razorhurst by Justine Larbalestier is a YA historical fantasy set in Sydney in the 1930s. I have to admit, I didn't know very much about Sydney in the 1930s until I read this book but it certainly seems like it was an interesting period.

The setting: Razorhurst, 1932. The fragile peace between two competing mob bosses—Gloriana Nelson and Mr Davidson—is crumbling. Loyalties are shifting. Betrayals threaten.

Kelpie knows the dangers of the Sydney streets. Ghosts have kept her alive, steering her to food and safety, but they are also her torment.

Dymphna is Gloriana Nelson’s ‘best girl’, experienced in surviving the criminal world, but she doesn’t know what this day has in store for her.

When Dymphna meets Kelpie over the corpse of Jimmy Palmer, Dymphna’s latest boyfriend, she pronounces herself Kelpie’s new protector. But Dymphna’s life is in danger too, and she needs an ally. And while Jimmy’s ghost wants to help, the dead cannot protect the living . . .

Razorhurst follows two main characters, both of whom can see ghosts: Kelpie, a street urchin and Dymphna, the most expensive prostitute in the city. Kelpie has survived on the streets in large part thanks to some ghost who have taken her under their wings, helped her find food and taught her general survival skills. Dymphna has survived mostly by being good at what she does and having the right appearance and upbringing to impress higher society types.

One of the things I found really interesting was the way the story was told. Alternating chapters were from Kelpie and Dymphna's points of view and in between chapters there were short, semi-omniscient mini-chapters (I'd call them sections but they did have headings, if not numbers) telling the story of someone's past, usually. If not a flashback to one of the main characters' pasts, then the back story of one of the secondary or incidental characters. As a story-telling method it worked really well. The reader gained information that neither Kelpie nor Dymphna knew, which fleshed out the plot and, in some cases, cast other events in a new light. Or gave us back story for the main characters which it didn't make sense to insert into the main narrative. In this way, Razorhurst is as much about the region of Surrey Hills more generally as it is about Kelpie and Dymphna specifically. I found it a really effective way to set the historical scene.

I enjoyed Razorhurst a lot. Larbalestier has a way of revealing information gradually that worked really well for me. There were some things we didn't learn about Kelpie until much later, which other authors may have foregrounded much sooner. I'd be more specific, but I don't want to ruin the reading experience for others. In part, though, I think this is also a reflection of how Kelpie hasn't had much opportunity — until the start of the story — to put her own life into context with those around her who aren't also living in the streets. For example, she doesn't even know how old she is at the start of the story and doesn't understand why people keep asking her that anyway. Dymphna, on the other hand, has always been very aware of her place in life and society and how to play the roles she needs to to survive. More acutely horrible things have happened to Dymphna, but she's also had more opportunities and knows how to make use of them. Kelpie, on the other hand, has mostly only had to worry about finding (barely) enough food and somewhere warm to sleep.

The ghosts are an important element in the story but not actually the driver of the plot in anyway. They're just another form of character and, at times, a challenge for Dymphna and Kelpie to overcome. The main plot is of the "who will try to kill us next and where can we be safe" variety, and the whole novel spans approximately twenty-four hours.

I highly recommend Razorhurst to pretty much everyone. Well, not younger-than-YA readers, since there's several short bursts of acute violence — the story does revolve around razor gangs, after all — but anyone interested in historical fiction as well as the more speculative element. I think the story will work for both types of readers, and for readers who don't usually read YA.

5 / 5 stars

First published: June 2014, Allen & Unwin
Series: No.
Format read: ePub
Source: Purchased from iBookstore
Challenges: Australian Women Writers Challenge

In the Company of Thieves by Kage Baker (and Kathleen Bartholomew)

In the Company of Thieves is a collection of short stories and novellas by Kage Baker, set in the Company universe (link to Goodreads series page). I've previous read all the Company novels (with the exception of The Empress of Mars, which doesn't fit chronologically with the others) and as many short stories as I could easily get a hold of, which was far from all of them. As such, I was coming to this collection already knowing a lot of the Company's back story. That definitely affected my reading.

As usual, notes on each story are included at the end of the review.

The stories seem to be arranged chronologically according to history. The first four stories are probably the most accessible to readers unfamiliar with the Company. My previous knowledge informed my reading significantly, but I think the stories will still work well for new readers. I had forgotten how hilarious Kage Baker's short stories can be; the novels, which stuck more strongly in my mind, are less funny, I think. The last three stories had me laughing out loud several times.

There are two pairs of stories that go together thematically. The first pair is "The Unfortunate Gytt" and "The Women of Nell Gwynne's" both of which feature the pre-Company secret society and have a steampunk setting. The last two stories, "Rude Mechanicals" and "Hollywood Ikons", feature the same two recurring characters, Joseph and Lewis, the former of whom has several novels written about him. Both also happen to be set in Hollywood.

Reading this collection made me want to try harder to get a hold of what Kage Baker stories of the Company I haven't yet managed to. I strongly recommend this collection to fans of the Company novels or stories. To readers new to Kage Baker's work, there are worse ways be be introduced to it. Since the stories cover several characters and time periods, In the Company of Thieves will in some ways give readers a better idea of the series as a whole than a single novel covering just one setting.

~

“THE CARPET BEDS OF SUTRO PARK” — Autistic cyborg used as a camera recorder to capture San Francisco through to roughly the present from the 1800s. His love for the city and one of its inhabitants all that matters to him. Nice story.

"THE UNFORTUNATE GYTT" — A steampunk adventure to retrieve a special object. Featuring Edward and told from the point of view of a new recruit to the pre-Company secret society in Victorian England.

"THE WOMEN OF NELL GWYNNE'S" — Read before and remembered fairly well so I didn't re-read. A novella about women who serve the secret society of the previous story as spies.

"MOTHER AEGYPT" — Ultimately hilarious novella. It grew in me as I read, starting unremarkably and culminating in a pretty hilarious climax. I think there are certain extra nuances to be gained in this one for readers familiar with the Company world, but only in terms of backstory. The main story itself should be accessible (and amusing) to new readers as well as old. Although I can't say the main character was particularly likeable; a conman who, at the start, has fallen on hard times. But his plight and thought-processes are entertaining, so I didn't mind.

“RUDE MECHANICALS” — A hilarious comedy of errors following recurring cyborg characters Joseph and Lewis. Although I'd read this one before, in audiobook form, I had little memory of it (the occasional trouble with audiobooks). Lewis is working for a director in 1930s Hollywood and Joseph is trying to preserve a certain piece of treasure for their future overlords. The universe is against Joseph, however, and everything that can go wrong does, and he drags Lewis into his mess.

"HOLLYWOOD IKONS" — This story, if I interpret the foreword correctly, was researched and planned by Kage Baker but finished by her sister, Kathleen Bartholomew, after her death. The very start of this one didn't grab me because the voice did not sound like the Joseph I remembered. Also, it included more of a introduction to Dr Zeus than any of the other stories and that felt odd in the last story of the collection. But once the plot got started I was sucked in, particularly once the humour kicked in. In a way, it's another comedy of errors, but less so than the previous story. In this one, the errors mostly occurred in the past and Joseph, with a bit of help from Lewis, has to put everything right. Although I was sceptical at the start as to whether I would enjoy reading any other incomplete-at-death Kage Baker stories, this one ultimately convinced me to at least give another one a shot, should it come up. It also had me shaking my fist at cancer for taking her away too soon.

4.5 / 5 stars

First published: November 2013, Tachyon Publications
Series: The Company. Accompanying short stories.
Format read: eARC
Source: The publisher via NetGalley

Rose Under Fire by Elizabeth Wein

Rose Under Fire by Elizabeth Wein is the first book I've read of the author's. I picked it up because I'd heard so many good things about Code Name Verity, another novel set in World War II also about a female pilot.

While flying an Allied fighter plane from Paris to England, American ATA pilot and amateur poet, Rose Justice, is captured by the Nazis and sent to Ravensbrück, the notorious women's concentration camp. Trapped in horrific circumstances, Rose finds hope in the impossible through the loyalty, bravery and friendship of her fellow prisoners. But will that be enough to endure the fate that’s in store for her?

I have a tendency not to read blurbs in the gap between deciding to read a book and then (often months later) actually reading it. So I have to admit, I was a bit surprised when Rose disappeared and ended up in Ravensbrück. For some reason I had been expecting this to be more of a war story and less of a concentration camp story. Which is to say, I thought it would be a cheerier read when I picked it up. It wasn't.

The story is told through the medium of Rose's diary, begun while she was a civilian pilot, ferrying planes and people around the UK (mostly). When Rose accidentally leaves her diary behind on a run to France and then is captured by the Luftwaffe when she gets lost going home, there is a long gap with some letters about her, and then she resumes writing after she's free and safe. It is done to great effect. That we know Rose survives because she's there telling us about it does nothing to alleviate the horrors she has to endure in Ravensbrück.

Rose Under Fire is marketed as a YA book, presumably because Rose is 18 when it begins. That definitely doesn't mean it pulls any punches when dealing with events at Ravensbrück. I suspect teens learning about some of these events for the first time through this novel would benefit from having an adult to discuss some aspects with. That said, it is of course important that everyone is aware of the sorts of things that happened during World War II and that society does not forget. Indeed one of the central themes of the book is that the world must know what happened; a lot of brain energy among the prisoners we see is devoted to memorising the list of names of the Polish girls used in medical experiments at Ravensbrück.

I have to admit, I think this might be the first book I've read which has dealt with the immediate aftermath of the war (as opposed to jumping forward to many years later). The Nazi trials in Nuremberg and elsewhere feature in the denouement, taking place while Rose is still very much on her long journey of recovery. Of course I knew about the trials in the abstract sense, but hadn't thought of them from the perspective of survivors having to give testimony. Wein certainly changed that.

Rose Under Fire was an excellent read. Some parts were quite confronting (even though none of the events were particularly new to me). Wein's writing is incredibly compelling and this book kept me up two nights in a row. I had difficulty putting it down, and then difficulty not thinking about it, to the point where I had to read something else to send me to sleep. I highly recommend it to all readers.

4.5 / 5 stars

First published: 2013 (US edition September from Disney-Hyperion and Canadian edition from Doubleday (with the prettiest cover, in my opinion), UK/ANZ edition June from Egmont)
Series: Sort of. A stand-alone companion novel to Code Name Verity
Format read: eARC, US edition
Source: Disney-Hyperion via NetGalley

Interview with Fiona Paul

As part of the Australian blog tour for her new book, Belladonna, I have an interview with Fiona Paul to share with you. Fiona Paul is a writer and registered nurse from St. Louis, MO. Her first book, Venom, came out last year and Belladonna is the sequel. You can also go and read my review from last week, but in the meantime, the blurb (from goodreads):

Cassandra Caravello is trying to forget Falco, the wild artist who ran off with her heart, as she grows closer to her strong, steady fiancé, Luca. But Luca seems to have his own secrets. When he′s arrested by soldiers in the middle of the night, Cass′s life is once again thrown into chaos. She must save Luca, and that means finding the Book of the Eternal Rose — the only evidence that will prove he is innocent.



So begins her journey to Florence, a city haunted by whispers of corruption, secret soirées, and clandestine meetings of the Order of the Eternal Rose. And home to Falco, who′s working for the Order′s eerily stunning leader, the Belladonna herself.



Can Cass trust her heart to lead her to the truth this time?



Nothing is as it seems in this seductive thriller, where the truth may be the deadliest poison of all.

What made you want to write about Renaissance Italy?

I had actually visited Venice (I started answering this question at an event once and got nervous and said I had visited Renaissance Venice, heh) about a year before I began writing Venom so the beauty of it was still pretty fresh in my head. As far as the Renaissance goes, certain elements of the plot regarding Falco’s ‘second job’ necessitated that the book be set in the Renaissance. I’m kind of an art and architecture geek so I enjoyed exploring the world of 1600s Italy.

It must take a lot of research to write convincingly about not only another place but another time. How much research did you have to do? (And was it a good excuse to visit Italy?)

This is excerpted from a post I did for Rainy Day Ramblings where I discussed the research in depth.

I started out with a fat pdf file put together for me by an amazing intern. It was chock full of pictures of chopines and stays (corsets) and velvet-covered divans. But unfortunately, it just scratched the surface. During the writing process, I did more research than writing. I watched movies, read books, and googled frantically. But still, there were tons of questions I couldn’t answer: I need to know the name of a church in this district. What things were sold at the market? Where was the market? How long did it take to have a dress made? Red dye was made from beetles? Seriously? There was no end to my obsessive questioning. Eventually, the decision was made to consult a Renaissance expert.

The expert sent back a TWENTY-FIVE page edit letter full of suggestions for VENOM and an eight-page letter for BELLADONNA. And though fixing all of the inaccuracies and weaving in additional historical detail was every bit as gruelling as you might imagine, the resulting product was a manuscript that awed the entire editorial team. I didn’t write VENOM to be educational, but I’m proud of the fact that I did my best to ground all of the details—the food, the perfumes, the books, the clothes, the art, the landmarks, etc—in fact. [Exception: San Domenico is a fictional island, due to the difficulty of accurately determining the history of Venice’s many tiny outlying islands, but its location is roughly equivalent to the location of Isola la Grazia, just south of San Giorgio Maggiore.]

Sadly, I did not use this project as an excuse to go back to Italy, though I could have deducted it from my taxes as a research expense. I enjoyed Venice, but there’s a lot of world left for me to see and a place has to blow my mind for me to want to spend time and money going back to it. (I totally want to go back to Australia and NZ, btw :-) )

Will we be seeing another Italian city in book three?

No, most of the major players will be returning to Venice.

What came first, the setting, the characters or the plot?

The setting, believe it or not. The Secrets of the Eternal Rose books were developed collaboratively with Paper Lantern Lit, but it was a recent trip to Venice that really made me want to set a book there, and then some of the major plot points required a Renaissance time period.

And finally a cheeky question, do you like the US or Australian (or other?) covers of your series more? ;-p

This is going to sound like a Miss America pageant answer, but here goes: When I first saw the Australian cover for Venom, my immediate thought was “OOOOOOH. Want that dress. Want that hair. Want that mask. Want that book.” One of my US colleagues was like “But...but...they didn’t have strapless dresses in Renaissance Venice.” To which I responded: “Sorry, I couldn’t hear you because I was thinking about how eye-catching this cover is.” So, like everything else, covers are subjective and one person’s cover gold leaves another person scratching her head. I love all of my covers—the original US, the redone US, the Australian, the (Russian?) one where my named is very coolly translated to Fiona Paulova—A LOT, but for different reasons. I feel grateful that multiple talented designers have spent their time designing for the Secrets of the Eternal Rose series.

Thank-you very much for taking the time to answer some questions, Fiona! And thanks to the lovely Amanda at HC for organising this blog tour.

For more info, you can find Fiona at the following online haunts:
Fiona's Blog: http://fionapaulbooks.blogspot.com
Fiona's Twitter: @fionawritesYA
Fiona's FB: www.facebook.com/fionapaulbooks
Belladonna on GR: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18042405-belladonna

And the other stops on this blog tour are:
July 1st: Badass Bookie
July 2nd: Turner’s Antics
July 3rd: Treasured Tales for Young Adults
July 4th: Speculating on SpecFic
July 5th: Fiction in Fiction in Fiction
July 6th: Here!
July 7th: Book-O-Matic

Belladonna by Fiona Paul

Belladonna is the second book in Fiona Paul's Secrets of the Eternal Rose series set in Renaissance Italy. I reviewed the first book, Venom, last year.

Cassandra Caravello is trying to forget Falco, the wild artist who ran off with her heart, as she grows closer to her strong, steady fiancé, Luca. But Luca seems to have his own secrets. When he′s arrested by soldiers in the middle of the night, Cass′s life is once again thrown into chaos. She must save Luca, and that means finding the Book of the Eternal Rose -- the only evidence that will prove he is innocent.

So begins her journey to Florence, a city haunted by whispers of corruption, secret soirées and clandestine meetings of the Order of the Eternal Rose. And home to Falco, who′s working for the Order′s eerily stunning leader, the Belladonna herself.

Can Cass trust her heart to lead her to the truth this time?

I enjoyed Belladonna much more than Venom. I think there are a few key reasons for this. Venom had Cass taking risks for Falco, the class-inappropriate artist who seduced her, and dwelling on him a lot more. In Belladonna, the love triangle between Falco - Cass - Luca is much less important. Cass does start out moping about Falco but as the story progresses and Luca's life is in danger she tends to spend more time worrying about actual important things. She still takes a lot of risks and doesn't seem to have much of a sense of self-preservation, but I'm willing to forgive this as there wouldn't be much story if she always chose to do the safe thing.

The story takes Cass to Florence as she seeks to absolve Luca and find out more about the mysterious Order of the Eternal Rose. I quite enjoyed what came of that storyline, particularly the mix of alchemy and pseudoscience the Order has been investigating. Although everything is mostly realistic, I think that aspect of the plot will appeal to spec fic fans more than the first book which did not have as many speculative elements. There are, for example, accusations of vampirism. And conspiracies. Gotta love a good conspiracy.

I found that, in Belladonna, Paul has come into her own with her writing style. I remember there were bits in Venom that I felt like skimming over, but this was not the case in Belladonna. In particular, the description was more smoothly integrated throughout. Maybe that's partly because a lot of the setting was set up in the first book. Either way, it was appreciated.

Overall I enjoyed this book. I suggest that if you weren't sure after reading Venom, give Belladonna a go. For new readers, I suggest starting with book one, although I don't think it's quite as necessary as with some series. I imagine if you don't there'll be some confusion but overall the book will still make sense. I recommend this series to lovers of historical YA and I expect readers of speculative YA will also enjoy it, so long as they don't object to a lack of magic.

4 / 5 stars

First published: July 2013, Harper Collins AU (and Penguin US with a much less pretty cover)
Series: The Secrets of the Eternal Rose book 2 of 3
Format read: paper ARC
Source: HC's lovely publicist

Venom by Fiona Paul

Venom is Fiona Paul's debut novel. It's historical YA and, in a slight departure from my usual reading, does not contain any fantasy of SF elements. It's set in historical Venice and does involve a bit of a murder mystery, so I (correctly) presumed that it would not be entirely outside my usual reading comfort zone. A copy of this book was provided to me for review purposes by Harper Collins AU via NetGalley.

Cass — Cassandra — is a Venetian noble young woman who lives with her aging aunt and has been betrothed for many years to a boy she finds a bit dull. The story opens with her friend's funeral and gets interesting when, that evening, Cass discovers her friend's body in her family tomb has been replaced by another, obviously murdered, girl. In the course of making this discovery, she meets the mysterious and somewhat alluring Falco, a painter. Together they set out to try and learn who committed the murder and why. A quest that becomes somewhat more urgent when they discover a second body. And of course, betrothed Cass falls for the roguish Falco, even though he drags her through dangerous and eye-opening situations.

The opening of Venom annoyed me a little bit. It seemed that Cass fell into the cliché of feeling trapped in a noblewoman's life and detesting sewing because it was an easy thing to complain about. I thought she ignored her fiancé's existence too readily and, from comments that her other friend made, running off with Falco on a spur of the moment seemed somewhat out of character. She also complained about corsets a lot — and they do make a good metaphor for her supposed gilded cage — but in the end her corset proved to be rather useful. And the fact that she managed to sneak away several times without too much trouble does somewhat belie the caged part.

By the end, however, Cass was annoying me less. I felt that she ultimately made some sensible choices, even if she had to make some careless and selfish ones along the way. I also appreciated that her lesson learned was a bit subtle and didn't attempt to bludgeon the reader over the head.

The other thing that bothered me was some of the modern American phrases that snuck in to the writing. The setting was pretty genuinely Venetian but there were some phrases which struck me as too modern — in the colloquial sense, rather than explicitly anachronistic — and clashed with the Italian words and phrases also thrown in.

Ultimately, I would recommend Venom to fans of YA or historical fiction. It's the first in a series, but it's quite self-contained. The only loose threads at the end are minor and I don't have much idea which direction a sequel might take. I will be interested to see where it does go.

3.5 / 5 stars

Dodger by Terry Pratchett

Dodger is Terry Pratchett's latest book and not, despite the cover, a Discworld novel. It's set in Roundworld London in the first part for the 19th century, which of course bears no resemblance to Ankh-Morpork, not at all.

The back cover blurb:

Dodger is a tosher — a secret scavenger living in the squalor of Dickensian London.

Everyone who is nobody knows him. Anyone who is anybody doesn't.

He used to know his future; it involved a lot of brick-lined tunnels and plenty of filth. But when he rescues a young girl from a beating, things start to get really messy.

Now everyone who is anyone wants to get their hands on Dodger.

When I first started reading, I found it very difficult to get Ankh-Morpork out of my head. He doesn't mean the Thames, I thought, that's clearly the Ankh! And indeed, Ankh-Morpork has always looked a bit like old London seen in the right light and from the right angle. It didn't actually take me all that long to get into the swing of London as a setting. The different slang and the inclusion of real historical figures such as Queen Victoria and Charles Dickens definitely helped. And if you needed any more evidence that it's set in Roundworld, there was a footnote referring the reader to Google.

I liked the eponymous character. He rises quickly from sewer-searching tosher to someone a bit more respectable, through no intentions of his own, never takes his eye off the ball and never forgets what's important. He has a very strict moral code and, thanks to his room-mate/landlord Solomon Cohen, he knows how to wash to avoid catching anything horrible from the sewers. As a side note, hubby and I were arguing about how old Dodger is. I think he's maybe twenty, give or take a year, but hubby insists that he's a teenager, making Dodger a YA book. My thinking is, he must be old enough to shave regularly and being the stringy type that probably happened a bit later in life. Not that it's important.

My favourite character was definitely Solomon Cohen, Jew living in England after doing a lot of escaping persecution across Europe and the Middle East. He helps keep Dodger on the straight and narrow by forbidding theft, making him wash and helping him spruce up when when the time comes. He's also the character with the best lines, making him enjoyable to read.

Charles Dickens was also an interesting character and, overall, I suspect I might have got more out of Dodger if I'd read more any Dickens. Which isn't to say it wasn't a highly enjoyable read without much prior knowledge of Dickens' history.

I recommend Dodger to any Pratchett fans and to anyone wanting to get into Pratchett that perhaps isn't a fan of fantasy. Written in the style of Discworld but without any magic, I think Dodger would make a good gateway drug to Pratchett's other works.

4.5 / 5 stars