Challenge round-up: Australian Women Writers

This past year I have again participated in the Australian Women Writers Challenge. As well as reading and reviewing books as part of the challenge, I also joined the team running the challenge website and writing "round-ups" summarising the reviews challenge participants had submitted. (You can take a gander here.)

I didn't set myself a set number to review, since I knew I'd be reading more than 10 AWW books by default (as in, without particularly setting out to). Instead my goal was to read and review "as many as I could", which turned out to be 39 books. The full list with links to reviews is below. I'm going to include snippets from my reviews for the books I haven't already talked about in a post-challenge round-up, which means if you want to know more about the horror or science fiction books I read, have a look at my respective Aussie horror and science fiction reading challenges. So it'll be mostly fantasy books discussed below.

Will I be doing the challenge next year? Of course. I'm still part of the organising team and I have no intention of not reading and reviewing books. Again I don't want to set a low goal that won't be a challenge, but perhaps in light of the fact I was so close to a round number this year, I should aim for 40 books next year. For those of you wanting to join the challenge for 2014, you can read more and sign up here.

Remember, you can click on the review link next to any book to read my full review of it.

1. After the Darkness by Honey Brown (review)
2. Through Splintered Walls by Kaaron Warren (review)
3. The Dark Griffin by KJ Taylor (review) 

• The Dark Griffin is a compelling novel. Both the griffin and Arren suffer due to unfair circumstances they cannot be blamed for, and their parallel stories intertwine to powerful effect. Another brilliant fantasy read by a brilliant Australian author. I have read few run-of-the-mill fantasy novels (particularly BFF — big fat fantasy) by Australians, and The Dark Griffin certainly doesn't buck that trend.

4. The Griffin's Flight by KJ Taylor (review) 

•  The Griffin's Flight moves away from the exploration of racism that was The Dark Griffin; it's still there, but it's much less the main theme. In fact, thematically there isn't a single overarching theme tying everything together in The Griffin's Flight, which partly makes it feel a little middle-book-syndrome-y. Which isn't to say I found it boring or pointless, just that it was linking two disparate parts of the story: Arren's life as it falls apart in the first book, and the coming titular war of book three (The Griffin's War).

5. Wolfborn by Sue Bursztynski (review)

• For a short book, there several different aspects of mythology packed in — werewolves, faeries, gods — but not, I think, too many. It's hard to judge since I am relatively familiar with Celtic mythology, but I thought the different ideas were sufficiently fleshed out and tied in well to the story.

6. Rayessa and the Space Pirates by Donna Maree Hanson (review)
7. The Griffin's War by KJ Taylor (review)

• Although the Griffin's War concludes the trilogy well, tying up all the important loose ends, I can see which direction the sequel series might take, without reading the blurbs (and having glanced at one of them, I can see I guessed right). I look forward to reading more stories set in this world in the future.

8. Walking Shadows by Narrelle M Harris (review)

• I really loved this book. I was expecting to enjoy it after having read Harris' Showtime collection, in which the titular story featured Lissa and Gary, and it surpassed my expectations. Walking Shadows was full of amusing narration (in first person) and entertaining exchanges between Lissa and the  people in her life. I laughed out loud many times. The fact that it was set in Melbourne didn't hurt, either.

9. The Opposite of Life by Narrelle M Harris (review)

• The vampire mythos in Harris's world is refreshing in not being overly romanticised. Vampires don't feel much because they're dead. Their brains also don't work as well and they get firmly entrenched in old habits. Modern technology has made it harder for them to not draw attention to themselves and so they're not generally inclined to run around killing people willy-nilly (any more).

10. The Sunlit Zone by Lisa Jacobson (review)
11. Ishtar edited by Amanda Pillar and KV Taylor (review)
12. Asymmetry by Thoraiya Dyer (review)

• Overall the stories deal with themes of identity and belonging in different ways, a trend I noticed only now as I was writing the mini-reviews above. I like how the more I think about them, the more I'm finding things to think about in them. There is nothing simple here. An excellent collection.

13. Stray by Andrea K Höst (review)
14. Rise of the Fallen by Teagan Chilcott (review)

• The ending was strong, setting up the next book in the series well. I read that the last chapter was what inspired the author to write the book, and looking back, I can see how everything was leading up to that point. It was definitely the most clearly drawn scene.

15. Lab Rat One by Andrea K Höst (review)
16. Caszandra by Andrea K Höst (review)
17. Perfections by Kirstyn McDermott (review)
18. The Bone Chime Song and Other Stories by Joanne Anderton (review)
19. Sea Hearts by Margo Lanagan (review)

• Sea Hearts is a thoughtful read rather than a fast-paced adventure. It is marketed as YA, but aside from having mostly young point of view characters, I wouldn't say it deals with uniquely teenage problems; it's a story for readers of all ages. I highly recommend Sea Hearts to all fantasy fans.

20. One Small Step edited by Tehani Wessely (review)

• The theme of One Small Step is addressed quite diversely between the stories. My personal favourites (in a very subjective way) were the ones that dealt with discovery in a more literal kind of way.  "Always Greener" by Michelle Marquardt opened the anthology strongly with human colonists on another planet and I felt it set the tone of expectation for what followed. The idea of deadly grass also stuck with me. "Firefly Epilogue" by Jodi Cleghorn about scientific discovery also struck me. "The Ships of Culwinna" by Thoraiya Dyer is another story that really stuck with me. Very well done, it's a story about old discoveries but, I thought, freshly told. "Morning Star"by DK Mok was another space-based journey of discovery and quite an emotional note to end the anthology on. Although they were quite different stories, there was some symmetry between the opening and closing; a search for safety in a hostile universe.

21. Charlotte's Army by Patty Jansen (review)
22. Hunting by Andrea K Höst (review) 

• An aspect I particularly liked was the way in which so many little threads all came together in the end. There were some things which I took in stride as "just" being part of the set-up or backstory which turned out to be relevant to the main story. Hard to say more on this without spoilers. Also, a small thing but the fact that the main character's mentor was female not male was gratifying. And even though Ash was a girl dressed as a boy in a male-dominated society, there were actual other good female characters in the story (and only one of them was a laundry maid) who showed us other roles women could play in the society without having to dress as a man.

23. Fairytales for Wilde Girls by Allyse Near (review)

• Allyse Near is an author to watch. I will not be surprised if Fairytales for Wilde Girls makes next year's Aurealis shortlist. I look forward to seeing what Near writes in the future. I highly recommend Fairytales for Wilde Girls to all fans of dark fairytales and gothic fantasy. It's not a terrifying read, but it is dark and there are definitely elements of horror throughout. Readers of YA and adult fantasy alike will find much to enjoy in this book.

24. Trader's honour by Patty Jansen (review)
25. The Company Articles of Edward Teach by Thoraiya Dyer (review)

• The story follows [the two teenage protagonists] as they learn how to function in [the world of Blackbeard] and try to survive. Dyer shows us a traumatic and life-changing experience for the teens in a brutal cut-throat (literally) world. I enjoyed reading about how each of them came to terms with their situation and their lives and how their experiences changed them.

26. A Trifle Dead by Livia Day (review)

• I really loved the picture the author painted of Hobart. I've only visited Hobart once, but I had no difficulty imagining the various settings. It also made me want to move to visit Hobart again. The setting also extended to numerous pop-culture references, from obscure super heroes to Tumblr and Twitter. They made me smile many times. It's also this aspect of geek culture that I think makes this crime novel particularly accessible to a lot of spec fic fans. It also makes it a very "now" book, but I'm not convinced that's a bad thing.

27. Black Sun Light My Way by Jo Spurrier (review)

• Black Sun Light My Way was an excellent read. I don't recommend skipping Winter Be My Shield, so if you haven't read the first book, do that first. In general, though, I highly recommend this series to all lovers of epic/high/big fat/whatever you want to call it fantasy. As I said earlier, it's not for the faint of heart, but on the other hand it's not significantly worse (in terms of ick and violence) than a lot of the genre.

28. Jamie Reign: The Last Spirit Warrior by PJ Tierney(review)

• I quite enjoyed Jamie Reign, despite it's predictability. It was a fun, quick read and I recommend it to fans of adventure stories, magic and martial arts. As I mentioned at the start, it's definitely the kind of book that will appeal to younger readers. I look forward to reading more books in this series when they come out.

29. Chasing the Valley by Skye Melki-Wegner (review)

• Chasing the Valley is an excellent tale of growing friendship and camaraderie. In some ways it's a traditional journey type story but Melki-Wegner brings enough originality to the table (in worldbuilding and so forth) to make it stand out. Her writing is polished and, as I said, I could tell as soon as I started that I was in for a good read. I'm glad I read this and I am very much looking forward to the rest of the series. This book is a cut above a lot of the YA renditions of high/epic fantasy I've come across.

30. Life in Outer Space by Melissa Keil (review)

• At its heart, Life in Outer Space is a story about Sam, a year 11 boy, his friends and, to a lesser extent, his enemies. The book tackles a few common teen issues such as parents getting divorced and difficult parents. There's also Sam's best friend, Matt, who mysteriously quits karate after years of loving it and Sam doesn't know how to confront or deal with the issue. Although there were some moments of teenagers being silly, I thought it was all quite realistic, despite Sam navigating his life with constant reference to movies.

31. When the World Was Flat (And We Were in Love) by Ingrid Jonach (review)
32. Madigan Mine by Kirstyn McDermott (review)
33. The Shattered World Within by Patty Jansen (review)
34. King Breaker by Rowena Cory Daniells (review)

• Daniells is particularly good at writing characters that behave in irritating, yet entirely plausible ways. The group of point of view characters and their friends are all intelligent and well-educated (which makes sense since most of them are royalty) but their minor antagonists (as opposed to Cobalt the usurper) tend to be frustratingly short-sighted, ignorant or just horrible people. The utterly believable way in which Daniells wrote them had me heckling the page on several occasions and cheering when they were defeated — and a satisfying number of annoying characters got punched in the face, so that was also quite gratifying. I have said many times before that a mark of a good writer is the level of emotional investment they can get the reader to place in their characters, and Daniells has proved herself, once again, to be more than adept at doing so.

35. Reunion by Jennifer Fallon (review)

• One of the things I've always thought Fallon did quite well is write complexly motivated characters. Not only that, but the way she weaves their story lines together to form an intricate web is masterful. At every turn each character does the thing that absolutely seems most right to them in the situation but that has ramifications they could not have predicted. Generally rather entertaining ones.

36. Mistification by Kaaron Warren (review)
37. The Blood of Whisperers by Devin Madson (review)

• The Blood of Whisperers was an enjoyable read. It took me a little while to become truly invested in the characters, but once I did it became difficult to put down. I would recommend it to fans of Japanese/Asian-flavoured fantasy or anyone who enjoys stories about rebels and political machinations (although I wouldn't say it's heavy on political intrigue per se). I am looking forward to reading the next book which is apparently due out in December, so not a long wait at all (yay).

38. The Skeleton Key by Tara Moss (review)

• I highly recommend this series to fans of not-too-heavy urban fantasy. Although I've said The Skeleton Key is darker than its predecessors, it's still on the lighter side of the urban fantasy genre, in my opinion. It builds on the earlier books more than The Spider Goddess did, so I don't recommend reading it before the others. But all in all, an enjoyable read, particularly in a week when I needed something relaxing to take my mind off business.

39. These Broken Stars by Amie Kaufman and Meaghan Spooner (review)

These Broken Stars by Amie Kaufman & Meagan Spooner

These Broken Stars by Amie Kaufman & Meagan Spooner is Kaufman's début and the first book I've read by either author. I have to admit, the pretty cover and the fact that Kaufman is Australian swayed me to give this one a shot, since the blurb did not sound all that promising to me (or, more accurately, sounded like it could be all romance and not much else). But happily, that was not the case. Blurb:

It's a night like any other on board the Icarus. Then, catastrophe strikes: the massive luxury spaceliner is yanked out of hyperspace and plummets to the nearest planet. Lilac LaRoux and Tarver Merendsen survive. And they seem to be alone.

Lilac is the daughter of the richest man in the universe. Tarver comes from nothing, a young war hero who learned long ago that girls like Lilac are more trouble than they're worth. But with only each other to rely on, Lilac and Tarver must work together, making a tortuous journey across the eerie, deserted terrain to seek help.

Then, against all odds, Lilac and Tarver find a strange blessing in the tragedy that has thrown them into each other's arms. Without the hope of a future together in their own world, they begin to wonder - would they be better off staying in this place forever?

In some ways These Broken Stars reminded me of the Andre Norton book I read earlier this year, Storm Over Warlock. Not stylistically at all, but thematically. Both books are about survival on a mostly empty planet with a "not quite what it seems" vibe. The biggest difference is the modern style of These Broken Stars, which I find considerably more readable than most of ye olde SF. And, honestly, These Broken Stars made more sense.

Although the romantic plot line is prominent, it doesn't really start until maybe half-way through (or a bit more). In the immediate aftermath of crashing on a mysterious planet, both Lilac and Tarver are more concerned with survival and rescue than anything else. And although Tarver is the one with military survival training, Lilac is very knowledgeable about computers, electronics and physics. Their different skill sets mean that both of them save the other a few times throughout the story, which I absolutely loved. Lilac was definitely not a damsel in distress, which was pleasing (and that really is one of my least favourite character archetypes ever).

Although I probably wouldn't go so far as to call the book hard science fiction — since most of it was about on-planet survival and not tech or science — what science was present was accurate or plausible. There were no scientific faux pas to jolt me out of the story, which was a pleasant change, as far as far-future YA SF goes. In fact, the only thing that made me thing "hmm, that's a bit odd" was that backstory about colonies rebelling a lot. We don't really have enough information (and perhaps its forthcoming in later books), but from what we were told, I was thinking that maybe they should rethink their colonisation strategies. This was very much a minor background thing, though.

In terms of plot, we know upfront that rescue will come because the chapters are interspersed with snippets of Tarver being debriefed back in civilisation. Since romance is also somewhat inevitable, you'd think there wouldn't be many surprises left, mysterious nature of the planet notwithstanding. But, quite refreshingly, there was one significant event I didn't see coming, which is all I'll say because spoilers. In short, this is not a "by-the-numbers" YA read. It's thoughtful and genuine and I can't wait to read more. If this book is an example of the future of science fiction, bring it on.

This was an engaging and enjoyable read. The authors combine plausible science with a balanced romantic storyline and a plot which kept me keenly turning pages. I highly recommend These Broken Stars to fans of YA and science fiction, or one or the other. It wouldn't make a terrible introduction to YA for a SF fan and would be an excellent introduction to SF for a YA fan, particularly one who hasn't read much SF (outside of the dystopia subgenre). I am looking forward to getting my hands on the next book, This Shattered World, when it comes out.

4.5 / 5 stars

First published: December 2013, Disney-Hyperion (US) / Allen & Unwin (Aus)
Series: The Starbound Trilogy, book 1
Format read: eARC and paperback (I really was swapping between them)
Source: publisher via NetGalley and purchased from Dymocks (signed by both authors!), respectively
Challenges: Australian Women Writers Challenge, Aussie Science Fiction Reading Challenge

The Skeleton Key by Tara Moss

The Skeleton Key by Tara Moss is the third Pandora English novel. I have previously read and reviewed (and enjoyed!) the first two books, The Blood Countess and The Spider Goddess. This review has only very minor spoilers for the earlier books.

In the third Pandora English mystery, Pandora is still negotiating her double life as a lowly assistant at a New York fashion magazine with the reality that she has great supernatural powers and responsibilities.

With the full moon set to rise once again, Pandora has a very special date looming. Her beautiful spirit guide, Civil War soldier Lieutenant Luke, will be a flesh-and-blood man, if only for the night, and she hasn't been able to stop thinking about it. But a chance encounter with playboy Jay Rockwell sees that very human attraction start all over again – even though Jay doesn't remember their previous relationship, or the fact that Pandora saved him from a gang of ill-tempered undead supermodels.

Meanwhile, Pandora – with her special skeleton key – is slowly unlocking the mysteries of the haunted mansion where she lives with her great aunt Celia. What sinister experiments did the architect Dr Edmund Barrett conduct there before he died? Where is his laboratory? And what are the strange noises emanating from the basement?

On the centenary of the mysterious fire that supposedly killed Dr Barrett, he returns to the mansion. He has a message for Pandora. But he has brought with him a dark force that threatens to tear apart the delicate balance between the worlds of the dead and living...

It's been more than a year since I read the first two books, so I may be misremembering, but I think The Skeleton Key is a little darker than its predecessors. The gist of it is much the same — Pandora dealing with New York, her fashion job, and weird supernatural things — but I thought the evil supernatural threat was a bit darker and more serious this time around. Saving the world on a larger scale, but still not too heavy a read.

Although the blurb implies a love triangle, I wouldn't say it's the kind of contrived and increasingly irritating love triangle we've come to expect from YA. (Also, this isn't YA. I'd call it "new adult" although I think the first ones were published before that was much of a thing and also my opinion of "new adult" isn't terribly high.) The crux of Pandora's love life, really, is that one guy is a ghost, and the other has no memory of their first date. Really it's more logistical, in both cases, rather than a case of "oh golly, which should I choose?" So I liked that.

Being the third in the series (although not the final, as far as I can tell/hope) is, I think, the reason the climax is rather more dramatic than the earlier books. Pandora's abilities and the trouble she gets into and has to get out of (trouble which, I should emphasise, is never her fault) has been building book by books. I think it was in book two that we learnt that Pandora is a Chosen One and it's brought up a lot in The Skeleton Key and is part of the reason (sort of) for things escalating. But I get the feeling they can escalate more, so I look forward to the next book, whenever that's written (I couldn't easily find any info on Moss's website).

I highly recommend this series to fans of not-too-heavy urban fantasy. Although I've said The Skeleton Key is darker than its predecessors, it's still on the lighter side of the urban fantasy genre, in my opinion. It builds on the earlier books more than The Spider Goddess did, so I don't recommend reading it before the others. But all in all, an enjoyable read, particularly in a week when I needed something relaxing to take my mind off business.

4.5 / 5 stars

First published: 2012, Pan Macmillan (AU)
Series: Pandora English, book 3 of ? (three so far)
Format read: eBook
Source: Purchased from iBooks
Challenges: Australian Women Writers Challenge

Ink Black Magic by Tansy Rayner Roberts

Ink Black Magic by Tansy Rayner Roberts is the third book in her Mocklore Chronicles but is written to be accessible to readers who have not read the first two books. I personally read book one, Splashdance Silver, about a decade ago and have only dim recollections of it. I don't think I ever got the chance to read the second book, Liquid Gold, back then either. So rather than re/reading the first two books before starting the third, I thought I'd approach it by itself to see how well it stands alone.

 Kassa Daggersharp has been a pirate, a witch, a menace to public safety, a villain, a hero and a legend. These days, she lectures first year students on the dangers of magic, at the Polyhedrotechnical in Cluft.

Egg Friefriedsson is Kassa's teenage cousin, a lapsed Axgaard warrior who would rather stay in his room and draw comics all day than hang out with his friends. If only comics had been invented.

Aragon Silversword is missing, presumed dead.

All the adventures are over. It's time to get on with being a grownup. But when Egg's drawings come to life, including an evil dark city full of villains and monsters, everyone starts to lose their grip on reality. Even the flying sheep.

Kassa and Egg are not sure who are the heroes and who are the villains anymore, but someone has to step up to save Mocklore, one last time.

It's easy to compare every comic fantasy book to Terry Pratchett. When I read Splashdance Silver, I think I remember comparing it to the earliest two Discworld books (The Colour of Magic and The Light Fantastic). In the case of Ink Black Magic, I can honestly say that only the start — the set up for the rest of the story — put me in mind of Pratchett. And not early Pratchett either, more like middle Pratchett, with Moving Pictures springing to mind as an obvious comparison (with bonus thematic parallels). But once the story in Ink Black Magic really gets going, it becomes very much Tansy-ish and not at all Pratchettesque.

The initial premise is that Egg starts drawing the first comics in Mocklore, and then his dark city that needs hero-saving comes to life and tries to take over the world. (See what I mean?) I found the introduction of Egg and Clio to be a compelling hook, more so than when we first meet Kassa Daggersharp, the heroine of the previous books. I have to emphasise that this was a personal reaction because I couldn't remember why I should like Kassa — due to not remembering the earlier book sufficiently well — but that quickly evaporated once Kassa started being awesome (ie pretty much straight away).

One of the interesting aspects of Ink Black Magic was the structure of the narrative. Instead of the story building up to one obvious climax from the very start, the nature of what the world needed saving from changed several times throughout. The problem was never quite what it seemed, taking the story from "oh, no, doom!" to "well that doom's gone away" to "oh dear, a different doom a-cometh". This is one of the main things (along with the characters and humour) which sets it apart from other books. I ultimately enjoyed the form, although it was a little disconcerting at times not to be able to accurately guess what was going to happen next. (That feeling might come from having read a little too much YA of late...)

Anyway, Ink Black Magic was a fun read and I definitely intend to go back and re/read the first two books. Although that will be interesting since Rayner Roberts' style has definitely changed between Splashdance Silver and the Creature Court trilogy. I was about to say that Ink Black Magic lies somewhere in between — which it does — but it occurs to me that it's not actually that far from A Trifle Dead, except in location. (And of course I'm overlooking a lot of short stories in this comparison as I've only read some.)

So I would recommend Ink Black Magic to all fans of comic fantasy and anyone who has enjoyed the author's work in the past. As should surprise no one, I'll definitely be keeping an eye on her future works.

4.5 / 5 stars

First published: October 2013, FableCroft Publishing
Series: Mocklore Chronicles, book 3 of 3 (but can be read without reading the earlier books)
Format read: e-review copy
Source: the lovely publisher
Challenges: Australian Women Writers Challenge 2013

The Blood of Whisperers by Devin Madson

The Blood of Whisperers is Aussie author Devin Madson's début novel. I have to admit I was ever so slightly hesitant going into a book by a new author and a new publishing house, but  I need not have been concerned. The Blood of Whisperers absolutely lives up to the quality I have come to appreciate from the Australian speculative fiction scene. (And I have since learnt that it's production was funded by a Pozible campaign, which is a risk for a début, but it has obviously paid off.)

They call him the Usurper.

A man of common blood sits on the throne. At his command the last emperor was executed, but now the empire is on the brink of war.
Vengeance is coming.

Endymion is an Empath. He was born with the ability to feel another’s emotions and reach inside their hearts for their deepest secrets. Often despised, he lives a nomadic existence, but when he finds himself imprisoned for sorcery and facing death, it is his past that will condemn him. Born Prince Takehiko Otako, the only surviving son of the True Emperor, Endymion is already caught in the brewing storm. Fast losing control of his Empathy, he seeks revenge against the man who betrayed him, but for Endymion the truth will come too late.

The fight for the Crimson Throne has begun.

In case you missed it from the blurb, this is a Japanese-flavoured/inspired fantasy world. (But not actually historical Japan.)

There are three point of view characters in The Blood of Whisperers and all three's perspectives are told in first person. It was only confusing for the first paragraph of chapter two, when the first perspective shift happened. Then I realised that the symbols at the start of each chapter indicated which character it was about. Mind you, I didn't memorise the symbols until well into the book; the voices were distinct enough to generally make it obvious who was telling the story.

Endymion is the first character we meet and possibly my least favourite of the three. I didn't actively dislike him, and he wasn't a bad character, but I did feel least invested in his plight. I suspect he will become more pivotal in later books, especially given the ending. Endymion has feared magic powers and was raised by a priest who never told him his true identity (which I now realise is revealed in the blurb). For the most part it is his magical ability that gets him into trouble and sets him on the paths he follows. Up until the ending, he didn't have an awful lot of control over his destiny, which I suspect is partly to blame for my lukewarm reaction to him.

The other two characters were much more interesting. Hana is the daughter of a previous Emperor and in many ways has the most legitimate claim to the throne. We first meet her masquerading as a male captain in the rebel army, fighting alongside her cousin, Monarch, who wants to take the throne for himself. One of Hana's defining characteristics is hating her femaleness, which quickly became understandable, given the way women were treated in the society. (That is, poorly. Shock, horror.) She was definitely my favourite character, although I did wish that there were more female characters around to offset her hate of femininity. The only other two named female characters are on the page briefly and I fear that one might not appear in the sequel (just guessing).

Finally there's Darius Laroth, the Emperor's right-hand man. Feared by most because of how well he's learnt to school his face, we quickly find out that Darius has many secrets, including from the Emperor. I think I enjoyed reading about Darius the most (although I was more invested in Hana). Some of his secrets take the longest to come to the forefront and for a lot the book he is balancing on a knife-edge. His close relationship with Emperor Kin is also the primary way we get to know the Emperor. He's also the only character that doesn't want to usurp Kin, which makes a nice change.

The Blood of Whisperers is primarily a story about vengeance. Almost everyone wants revenge, and will stop at nothing to get it. At the back of the book, Madson says that the inspiration for the book came from two sayings, one Confucian and one a Chinese proverb:

‘Before you embark on a journey of revenge, dig two graves.’

‘When two tigers fight one walks away terribly wounded, the other is dead.’

And it's clear to me as a reader, that the way the story is going, vengeance isn't going to go particularly well for anyone. I'm looking forward to finding out just how everything falls apart in the subsequent books and whether anything can be salvaged.

The Blood of Whisperers was an enjoyable read. It took me a little while to become truly invested in the characters, but once I did it became difficult to put down. I would recommend it to fans of Japanese/Asian-flavoured fantasy or anyone who enjoys stories about rebels and political machinations (although I wouldn't say it's heavy on political intrigue per se). I am looking forward to reading the next book which is apparently due out in December, so not a long wait at all (yay).

4.5 / 5 stars

First published: September 2013, Cloudburst Publishing  
Series: Yes. The Vengeance Trilogy book 1 of (duh) 3.
Format read: E-review copy (paperback available here, ebooks here)
Source: Publisher
Challenges: Australian Women Writers Challenge

Mistification by Kaaron Warren

Mistification by Kaaron Warren is a strange book. I'm not sure what I was expecting — perhaps to be scarred for life as with Slights — but it's not really like any of Warren's other books/stories (that I've read so far). I'm including the blurb, but with the caveat that it's a bit misleading.

Marvo is a stage magician. His magic is real.

Marvo grows up without knowing his parents, without knowing his heritage, without knowing much about life.
The magicians have always been with us, since the beginning of civilisation. They fill our heads with the mist, keeping us from witnessing the stark reality of existence. But are things so bad that Marvo will bring it down on all of us, forever?

Marvo begins to understand those around him, and his place in the world; he discovers that his remarkable powers can be put to good, or to evil.

He only has to choose...

The misleading thing is that yes, Mistification is Marvo's story. It is, more or less, his life story. But it's also a book about stories. Marvo is driven to understanding the world and people and magic, and he searches for understanding by searching for stories. The book is interspersed with stories that the people he meets throughout his life tell him. Don't get me wrong though, this is not a thinly veiled short story collection. The stories Marvo gathers are short and in a way more like parables (although not in any biblical sense!). For me this made Mistification a difficult book to consume quickly, much like I find anthologies difficult to read straight through. I ended up reading it over the course of several weeks, with breaks to read other books in between. I don't feel that lessened the experience for me, as it might have with another book.

The setting was a bit odd (not in a bad way). Mostly it felt sort of generically non-specific and a bit Australian. If it weren't for a few references to the UK and America being not Marvo's home, I would've guessed it was vaguely British (although he does travel a lot). In fact, the opening put me in mind of somewhere perhaps South American, when a revolution or military coup (or something) had Marvo and his grandmother confined to a large family house. In the end, I could only conclude that Mistification is set nowhere or anywhere.

From a subgenre perspective, Mistification defies classification. It's not horrific in the same way as other Warren books and stories I've read have been, but it's still a bit eerie. Nothing terribly horrible happened (well, not to the main characters anyway), but it was far from a cheery tale. And there was magic, it could've been magical realism if not for the way the existence of magic was stressed. It's also quite literary — character, not plot, driven — and that might not be for everyone. I think it's a book that will be enjoyed much more by people who can appreciate the writing rather than demanding an action-based plot. I liked it, but it's not the kind of book I want to read every day.

One last thing I want to mention is the depth of research on folklore and folk-healing and so forth that evidently went into Mistification. There are five appendices (not required reading to enjoy the novel!) which add background information and small details to the story. And there are footnotes which also add little titbits. (Well, they were endnotes in the ebook edition, formatted quite well from a navigational point of view, but perhaps they're footnotes in the print version? Let me know in the comments if you have a print copy, I'm curious!) Both of these I think made the book easier to dip in and out of. And I'm dying to know how many of the folk-healing and little history snippets were "real". This is another aspect which I enjoyed because it fit well with the style of the book.

Mistification was an interesting read. Rather different to most of the books I read (and review on this blog). I think it has to be approached with a certain mindset to be appreciated (a conclusion drawn from skimming through some unfortunate goodreads reviews) and it's not going to be a book for everyone. People after a fast-paced plot-driven adventure need not apply. But if a more ponderous read is what you're in the mood for, and if my comments above have piqued your interest or if you really love to read stories about the nature of stories, then this is the book for you.

4 / 5 stars

First published: 2011, Angry Robot
Series: No.
Format read: ePub
Source: Purchased from Angry Robot store
Challenges: Australian Women Writers Challenge, Australian Horror Reading Challenge

Reunion by Jennifer Fallon

Reunion by Jennifer Fallon is the third book in the Rift Runners trilogy. You can read my review of the second book, The Dark Divide, but unfortunately I read the first book, The Undivided, before I started blogging. This review, by the way, contains only minor spoilers for the earlier books.

Jennifer Fallon has long been one of my favourite authors, a fact that I was strongly reminded of as I read Reunion. There is a certain amount of snarky wit to her writing that I didn't realise I had missed until I came back to it. A small example:

 ...in prison, as in great literature, it is much more effective to show than tell.

Clearly, I should read Jennifer Fallon books more often; they used to be on my re-read rotation, before I moved to a different continent to most of my books and also became a book-blogger.

Whereas The Dark Divide picked up quite soon after The Undivided left of, Reunion starts after a three year gap. That and the real-world eighteen month gap since I read the previous book left me slightly disoriented at first, but I quickly remembered who everyone was and why, and was soon able to get on with enjoying the book.

The main thrust of the story in Reunion deals with Ren and friends trying to stop the Matrachaí from killing all the magical creatures in all the parallel dimensions and worse. Of course, as soon as they think they know how to fix everything, something else goes horribly wrong. It's hard to get more specific about the plot without spoilers, unfortunately.

One of the things I've always thought Fallon did quite well is write complexly motivated characters. Not only that, but the way she weaves their story lines together to form an intricate web is masterful. At every turn each character does the thing that absolutely seems most right to them in the situation but that has ramifications they could not have predicted. Generally rather entertaining ones.

The ending of Reunion was satisfying but left some threads open to follow on in a potential subsequent series (but not a cliff-hanger, fear not). I hope there will be more books at some point, but I don't mind waiting (especially since the next Fallon series coming is a sequel to the Demonchild Trilogy and Hythrun Chronicles).

In short, Reunion was an excellent read, as has been the entire Rift Runners series. It's not the kind of series you can read out of order, so if you haven't read the other books, I strongly suggest starting with The Undivided. To readers who have enjoyed the earlier books, this is a no brainer. Readers new to Fallon's work will find this series a less epic fantasy introduction to her works, since it's set partly in our world.

5 / 5 stars

First published: October 2013, Haper Voyager AU
Series: Rift Runners book 3 of 3 (for now...)
Format read: ePub
Source: Publisher thanks to the author
Challenges: Australian Women Writers Challenge

To Spin a Darker Stair by Faith Mudge and Catherynne M Valente

To Spin a Darker Stair is a chapbook published by FableCroft Publishing and edited by Tehani Wessley. It contains two short stories, one each by Australian author Faith Mudge and well-know US author Catherynne M Valente, and gorgeous illustrations by Kathleen Jennings. Both stories are fairytale retellings with a sinister twist.

The first story is "A Delicate Architecture" by Catherynne M Valente. From what I've read of Valente in the past (about half of Palimpsest and maybe a short story or two), I've found her to be on the borderline of the kind of stories I enjoy. For example, I found Palimpsest a bit too literary* for my liking. "A Delicate Architecture", on the other hand, was on the right side of the scale for me to enjoy. Valente deftly crafts a story about a girl with an unusual upbringing. It's surreal in the way that some fairytales are, but it's lovely. The ending made me happy, and I appreciated the foreshadowing leading up to it, evident only in retrospect. I was not, as I read, trying to guess which fairytale was being retold which I think augmented the reveal.

The other story is "The Oracle's Tower" by Faith Mudge. I had only read one other story by Mudge, which appeared in One Small Step, so she is a fairly new author to me (as well as fairly new generally, I gather). "The Oracle's Tower" is a different sort of fairytale. (The start put me in mind of some of Rowling's Tales of Beedle the Bard, interpret that as you will.) The choice of main character, giving voice to a character marginalised in the traditional telling, allows Mudge to put a very different spin on the tale. The original story isn't exactly cheery, so I found Mudge's darker retelling particularly haunting. I will certainly be keeping an eye on Mudge's future output.

To Spin a Darker Stair is a very thin volume that punches above its weight class. I recommend it to fans of fairytale retellings, especially those looking for a quick read. This volume is quite different to other things FableCroft have released and it will be interesting to see what other innovative projects they come up with in the future.

4.5 / 5 stars

First published: 2012, FableCroft
Series: no
Format read: Paper!
Source: Purchased from publisher.
Challenges: Australian Women Writers Challenge (well, half of it)

* A reminder that I define literary as a story which is primarily character-driven rather than plot-driven.

King Breaker by Rowena Cory Daniells

King Breaker by Rowena Cory Daniells is the conclusion to the King Rolen's Kin series. The first three books came out in 2010, so it was a bit of a wait until the last one. Especially since, although the third book in the series could almost be taken as a conclusion to a trilogy sort of, oh my goodness there were a lot of things left entirely unresolved! So of course, I was very eager to read this last instalment, particularly after the tantalising novella released last December, The King's Man.

Speaking of, this is a book four in a four book fantasy series. The series is excellent, but I expect that someone picking up King Breaker without having read the earlier books will be a bit lost (and would not have the same investment in the characters, of course). Start with book one, The King's Bastard. On the other hand, someone picking this book up three years after having read the previous one — as I did — should have no trouble getting back into the story. Maybe it's that the earlier books burned into my brain through sheer excellence, but I think the deft way in which Daniells included reminders about past events definitely contributed.

Although this book picks up shortly after book three, The Usurper, left off, it also follows Gazrik, the main character of The King's Man novella, alongside the three children of old King Rolen and Florin the Mountain girl of the earlier books. I would suggest that Gazrik's storyline is a completion of the arc begun in The King's Man and those not reading the novella first would be missing out. It's not strictly necessary, unlike the earlier books, but I would recommend it. If you disagree, you could always read it afterwards to fill in his back-story. (And another reason to read it is because it's good. If you enjoy Daniells' work, why wouldn't you?)

Daniells is particularly good at writing characters that behave in irritating, yet entirely plausible ways. The group of point of view characters and their friends are all intelligent and well-educated (which makes sense since most of them are royalty) but their minor antagonists (as opposed to Cobalt the usurper) tend to be frustratingly short-sighted, ignorant or just horrible people. The utterly believable way in which Daniells wrote them had me heckling the page on several occasions and cheering when they were defeated — and a satisfying number of annoying characters got punched in the face, so that was also quite gratifying. I have said many times before that a mark of a good writer is the level of emotional investment they can get the reader to place in their characters, and Daniells has proved herself, once again, to be more than adept at doing so.

Readers worried about being left in the lurch again, as with the ending of The Usurper, need not worry. Although Daniells leaves the world open for a possible revisiting, the ending is quite settled. I won't reveal any spoilers, but I will say that it was ultimately satisfying, and some characters even got happy endings. (gasp!)

The King Rolen's Kin series is an excellent read. I highly recommend it to all fans of Big Fat Fantasy, especially the grittier kind. It's probably fair to say that Daniells' books generally are not for the faint of heart (there is violence and rape). But they are excellent. To readers who have read the earlier three books and didn't hate them, I can think of no reason not to go on to read King Breaker.

5 / 5 stars

First published: September 2013, Solaris
Series: Yes. Book 4 of 4, King Rolen's Kin
Format read: ebook
Source: Review copy from author and publisher
Challenges: Australian Women Writers Challenge

Interview with Ingrid Jonach

Today I have an interview with Ingrid Jonach, author of When the World was Flat (and we were in love). You can read my review of her novel, which I loved, here. As part of the blog tour promoting the book, Ingrid is also running a competition to win a signed copy and some other goodies. Be sure to scroll down to the bottom for details on how to enter!

But before we get to all that, a little bit about Ingrid:

Ingrid Jonach writes books for children and young adults, including the chapter books The Frank Frankie and Frankie goes to France published by Pan Macmillan, and When the World was Flat (and we were in love) published by Strange Chemistry.

Since graduating from university with a Bachelor of Arts in Professional Writing (Hons) in 2005, Ingrid has worked as a journalist and in public relations, as well as for the Australian Government.

Ingrid loves to promote reading and writing, and has been a guest speaker at a number of schools and literary festivals across Australia, where she lives with her husband Craig and their pug dog Mooshi.

Despite her best efforts, neither Craig nor Mooshi read fiction.

What inspired you to use a sciencey premise rather than a fantasy/magic-based one?
 
I love fantasy novels. If something goes bump in the night my mind goes to a ghost instead of to a burglar, but I tend to look for scientific explanations for paranormal phenomenon and the like. For example, I am fascinated by magicians, but only because I want to work out how they do their tricks. And I love mediums like John Edwards, but only because I think that they can actually read minds.
 
For this reason, I wanted to create a story that felt like a fantasy, but that could be explained through science.


Of the secondary characters, I quite liked Sylv, who was a bit different to a usual friend-of-main-character. What inspired her? 

I have a theory (based on personal experience) that misfits at school tend to gravitate towards each other and the result is that you end up with friendship groups of vastly different personalities.
 
I wanted to capture this with the friendship circle in When the World was Flat (and we were in love). For example, Sylv (the exhibitionist) is the exact opposite of Jo (the introvert). In addition to this, Sylv reminds me of a few of my friends growing up. I was relatively shy and was constantly drawn to outgoing friends, who were able to bring me out of my shell. I loved these friends for their provocative behaviour and their ability to make me laugh with their irreverence, as well as gasp at their exploits.
 
I also love Sylv because she has all of the confidence that is lacking in the main character Lillie and her best friend Jo. She makes no apologies for her personality, despite the disapproval of others. Again, my own personal experience has been that the teenage years are the most judgemental. It was liberating to create a character who could not give two hoots what others think.


Why set the book in small town USA?

The book was originally set in one of the small country towns I lived in while growing up in Australia. Kurri Kurri was a dry and dusty town on the edge of the world-renowned wine region of the Hunter Valley, which became the Open Valley in When the World was Flat (and we were in love).

The first draft was full of slang like 'knock your block off' and 'bloody hell' and ‘sucked in’, which made it extremely colloquial. But, when I introduced the science fiction elements into the story, I knew I was no longer writing a story about small town Australia. It was global and could have been set anywhere in the world.
 
I chose the US because, in my opinion, it is the most accessible setting internationally. My research showed that there was a cultural barrier between Australia and the rest of the world, which limited the readership of books set in Australia. I also found that international publishers were quite open about not considering books set in Australia (particularly publishers in the US). Many Australian authors seem to get around this by simply referring to a town as The Town or to a city as The City, without naming the location. I had to be specific about my location though, because I wanted it to be completely clear that the town was a part of our world (and not a futuristic world or another planet).
 
It was not a snap decision to set it in the US, but the result of a lot of research. But I was lucky that, aside from having grown up on a diet of US television and literature, I also have a strong connection to the US, as my father and sister are both American citizens, as well as Austrian citizens (we are a mixed bunch!). I chose Nebraska because I felt the climate was similar to that in Australia, but I did create a fictional town called Green Grove, which, in my mind, is located near Chadron. 

 
You're Australian but the book is written in US English and you mention in the acknowledgements the need to "translate" it. At what point did you have to do that? Was it before you started submitting it, or was it at the request of your publishers? (And, is being set in the US the main reason it needed translating?)

I started the translation process before I started submitting to agents. I avoided slang as much as possible throughout the novel, because the aim was to create a universal story, rather than an American story. 

Even so, the translation was an ongoing process and I worked very closely throughout with my sister, who is born and bred in America, and my agent, who hails from New York.
 
I would send my sister a long list of words that I thought were too Australian and she would send me back the alternatives, e.g. bomb cars became crappy cars; mollycoddled became babied; bush became forest, etc.
 
It was not just the language though. It was the spelling, e.g. realize instead of realise; neighbor instead of neighbour, color instead of colour. Thankfully that is mostly picked up by Microsoft Word. The punctuation was the most difficult, I admit. I got the shock of my life when I realized that there was a difference in punctuation, e.g. punctuation is always inside the quotation marks in US English.


Tell us a bit about what books you're currently working on and what we can look forward to reading next. Will you be revisiting the same world or taking your readers somewhere new?
 
I am currently finalising a manuscript that is loosely connected to the concepts in When the World was Flat (and we were in love). It actually explores other scientific theories, but it is unfortunately too early to go into them at this stage. There is a love story and, dare I say it, a love triangle, but not in the sense that you would think. 

I think it will definitely appeal to anyone who enjoyed When the World was Flat (and we were in love), but is also quite different as it also includes a touch of horror! 

~

Thanks Ingrid for taking the time to answer my questions! For more information, you can visit Goodreads, Ingrid's website or the publisher's page for the book. Next up is the promised giveaway!

Enter below for your chance to win one of two awesome prize packages as part of the Around the World in 80 Days Blog Tour for When the World was Flat (and we were in love) by Ingrid Jonach.  

There will be two winners worldwide. Each prize package includes: 

• a signed copy of When the World was Flat (and we were in love)
•  a pair of silver plated key-shaped earrings in a When the World was Flat (and we were in love) gift box
• a When the World was Flat (and we were in love) bookmark.

The competition will run until 21 October 2013 and the winners will be announced on www.ingridjonach.com



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The Shattered World Within by Patty Jansen

The Shattered World Within by Patty Jansen is a novella set in the same universe as Trader's Honour (and others). That said, it's very much a stand-alone story and definitely doesn't require any previous reading to enjoy.

Like three space stations before it, Zhiminda Station has fallen silent. Zhyara and his crew travel to the very edge of settled space to investigate. Will they find the station dead, its corridors exposed to the vacuum of space? Will they find bodies? Will they run into the unknown killers? Or is the reason much more sinister than that?

The Shattered World Within brings us a very different society, governed by the delicate interplay of instincts and networks of trust. Except for when it isn't. Zhyara is the leader of an expedition to investigate a mining station that has failed to report in. When they arrive there, most of the populace is missing and things are very strange among those that remain. Through Zhyara's point of view we learn about the social order and ranking system that operates in his culture. It is as fascinating as it is unfamiliar. For all that the people in this story are humanoid, their behaviour sets them apart as truly alien to us.

This is also highlighted by Zhyara's family. Zhyara comes from a poor family and a undistinguished clan that lives on the outer edge of the city. He expends a lot of energy trying to help his younger brother make something of his life even though, since he became successful, Zhyara suddenly stopped being his mother's favourite. Through Zhyara's burgeoning understanding of what is going on with his brother, the reader is introduced to more conflicts within his society. I really have to applaud Jansen for the complex and other world she has created.

The other great aspect of this novella is the physical worldbuilding. Jansen sticks to science, as I've come to expect from her writing, and creates a believable universe. Without spoiling the ending, she also includes a more unusual but plausible planet, which I hope we will one day get to read more about.

A great read for fans of hard and sociological science fiction alike. Highly recommended.

4.5 / 5 stars

First published: February 2013, Giganotosaurus (my edition from SmashWords)
Series: Sort of. Earth-Gamra universe, but entirely standalone.
Format read: ePub on iPad
Source: Purchased from SmashWords
Disclaimer: Although Patty is a friends, I have endeavoured to give an unbiased review.
Challenges: Australian Science Fiction Reading Challenge, Australian Women Writers Challenge