Yaddith Times

The Book Witch by Meg Shaffer

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


All stories are love stories if you love stories.

This may be my favorite quote from this remarkably quotable cozy fantasy, by an author whose previous two books (The Wishing Game and The Lost Story) also celebrated the power and comfort of storytelling. The Book Witch offers several kinds of love story, ranging from a straight-up romance to family/parental love to the love of a writer for her favorite characters . . . and, at the last, the love of any reader for a book which comes along at the right time.

The twists and turns of the plot make this one hard to summarize without committing Spoiler. Rainy March (save the meteorology jokes, she's heard them all) is a young Book Witch tasked with saving threatened works of fiction. Rainy's main opponents are Burners, whose mission is pretty self-evident. Both Book Witches and Burners have the ability to enter books directly, interacting with the plot to prevent or bring about change. If Burners succeed, the books they infiltrate may vanish or become unreadable.

When Rainy's grandfather (who raised her) and her deceased mother's prized Nancy Drew book both vanish on the same day, she turns to her favorite fictional detective for help. Unfortunately, she's also had a crush on the Duke of Chicago since her teens. When he crushes right back, the pair find themselves in violation of Book Witch regulations -- and on the hunt for answers to still more mysteries, including Rainy's own parentage.

That hunt gets a little tangled from time to time, though all the loose ends are eventually tied up in a last celebration of the healing power of reading. This is one to get lost in. Recommended for anyone who enjoys books about books, or simply needs a therapeutic escape. I'm already waiting for Meg Shaffer's next one!

Many thanks to NetGalley & Ballantine Books for providing me with ARC in exchange for my honest review.




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So who needs dragons when you can hatch a pterodactyl?

Jennifer Mandula's The Geomagician is a richly imagined, solidly researched historical fantasy with both heart and brains. Set in an alternate Victorian England, it features a fictional version of the very real Mary Anning, a humble but self-educated fossil collector and paleontologist. Fossils, it turns out, make excellent storage vessels -- reliqs -- for personal magic, which everyone has to some extent. Unfortunately, the poor often have no choice but to sell their magic to survive. Significant portions of England's Industrial Revolution are fueled by this . . . which, of course, has inspired radical reformers.

Mary steps into the thick of it after she lets the Geomagical Society of London know about her newly hatched pterodactyl, Alex. Toothy, cute, and possibly imprinted on her, the critter may be her ticket to membership in the Society (despite her inconvenient gender). Or it may trigger a series of other adventures -- bringing her to the attention of the Church of England's Inquisitors in the process. And reuniting her with the lost love of her girlhood, who has scientific / political ambitions of his own.

When Mary comes to London (with Alex) the plot shifts into high gear. There's a secret lurking at the heart of the Society she wants so much to join -- and a radical reformer or two among her friends. At every turn, Mary faces questions of loyalty. Does she advance her own ambitions, or support other women? Does she side with her lost love, or her conservative mentor?

There's a lot going on in this novel. Adding magic to a society in the throes of science-based change doesn't simplify anything -- but that's part of the fun. The more the reader knows about Mary Anning and her times, the more enjoyable the read is likely to be. ( Even a quick Wikipedia check enhanced my time with this book.) Recommended for urban fantasy enthusiasts looking for something chewy and different, or anyone fascinated by paleontology.

My thanks to NetGalley for providing me with ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The Adventure of the Demonic Ox by Lois McMaster Bujold

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This Penric & Desdemona novella skews heavily towards domestic concerns rather than high adventure, though it does provide much new information about the religious /magic system in Bujolds's World of the Five Gods. The ox itself -- who actually is demonic, in the Five Gods sense -- provides a central point for a nerve-wracking family exerience. Most of the reader satisfaction here is likely to come from learning more about how Pen's family is growing up, & how the various demons (no spoiler, but there are now more!) associated with them are being trained.

Bujold does a good job of placing reminders about critical past events, but readers should not come to this one cold. Many plot points assume prior knowledge, or are at least more fun for those with prior knowledge.

Recommended immediately for anyone following this series, of course.





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Back in 2020 (I think) when this amazing epic fantasy novel-in-poems first came out in ebook format, I devoured it & gave it a five-star review on Goodreads & elsewhere. Unfortunately, due to the pandemic, it was not available in hardcopy format.

Well . . . we are out of quarantine now, & The Sign of the Dragon has finally been released from electronic-only exile. It is now available in a thick (580+ pages!), well-produced trade paperback, with 40 full-page black & white illustrations by Gary McCluskey.

I can't recommend this Asian-based but multicultural epic too highly, both for folks who love speculative verse & those who simply crave a good story regardless of format. Find it here:

https://tinyurl.com/yckhh26z

Or here :
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-sign-of-the-dragon-mary-soon-lee/1136903418

or wherever you buy your books . . . but if you love immersive, poetic fantasy, do yourself a favor & find it.

The Lost Story by Meg Shaffer

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


[My thanks to NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of this novel in exchange for an honest review.]

Although this novel presents itself as a fairy tale for grown-ups -- and a very effective one -- the magical land at its heart, Shenandoah, turns out to be the creation of a thirteen-year-old girl. A very gifted, troubled thirteen year-old girl, who was kidnapped several years before the start of this novel. When her younger stepsister (separated by adoption) hires a noted missing-persons expert to find her, he turns out to have his own experience of being lost -- and his own connection to Shenandoah. He also has an artist friend who was lost with him in Shenandoah, but no longer remembers the experience. He does, however, remember how to get them all to one possible entrance.

And we're off!

This was a truly delightful reading experience -- though, like all authentic fairy tales, The Lost Story holds its share of darkness. There is plenty of death and more than a little abuse in the back stories of these characters. The artist -- who turns out to be more than a friend to our missing-persons expert -- has unfinished business with his father. The sisters only want to stay together. No one wants to leave Shenandoah, although it offers little of the security of twenty-first century America. As the plot winds tighter, however, it becomes increasingly evident that wishes do not always come true in this enchanted place. Can a rewrite fix it?

As in Meg Shaffer's previous novel, The Wishing Game, the characters here seem slightly off-center from our reality. This doesn't get in the way of them being immediately sympathetic. There are also several pop culture referents (Stevie Nicks, Firefly, Trapper Keepers) which may not hold up well over time. The spirit of true storytelling, though, is another matter -- and The Lost Story has that in spades.

Recommended for anyone in need of medicine for melancholy.




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Small Gods of Calamity by Sam Kyung Yoo

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Thanks to NetGalley for supplying me with an ARC of this novella, in exchange for an honest review.]


This tight, effective combination of urban fantasy and police (paranormal) investigation packs a lot into well under 200 pages. Very little of that is anything I've encountered before in my fantasy reading, which has been centered on Western spirituality / mythology. What I found here was full-on immersion into Korean spiritual tradition. Many of the general problems -- possession, protection from malign sprits, exorcism -- were familiar, but the specifics were entirely new to me. Much of the vocabulary was, as well, which led to much use of my Kindle's Wikipedia function. This worked fine, though a short glossary in some future edition could be helpful..

The plot itself -- which is only one part of this complex and satisfying narrative -- concerns Seoul's only spirit detective, Kim Han-gil. When his work with his department's violent crimes unit leads him to a series of suspicious suicides, he and his bewildered new partner are drawn into the evolving tragedy of a worm spirit infestation. Worse, Han-gil has seen such horrors before. One of them killed his mother, a powerful shaman.

When Han-gil discovers that his mother's last client (whom he blames for her death) is his best hope of cracking the case, the action really begins. The tangled threads of his spiritually complicated past must be woven into a solution his superiors aren't crazy about backing -- and that his partner barely believes in. All this takes place in a modern city, where exorcisms take place after hours in borrowed medical clinics, and consulting practitioners travel at the request of powerful families.

There's a lot of interpersonal drama here, but it never gets in the way of the chills -- which are frequent and occasionally graphic. I had the feeling that there could have been a novel here, or that there was one forthcoming. For now, however, this right-sized Korean occult investigation is a treat for any urban fantasy reader looking for something fresh.




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Tread of Angels by Rebecca Roanhorse

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


The aftermath of the War in Heaven transported to an Old West mining town with Divinity-powered tech? Count me in, I thought . . . & mainly, I'm glad to have been counted. This is a right-sized (novella) blend of dark fantasy, urban fantasy, weird Western, & murder mystery, with Roanhorse's usual talent for detailed worldbuilding. When a half-Fallen songstress at a high-end gambling den is accused of a horrendous murder, it's up to her faro-dealing sister to rescue her from execution & damnation. She calls in a number of favors (including one from her ex-lover, a demon lord . . . ), does some pretty ill-advised though courageous investigation, & learns things she may have never wanted to know in the process.

So far, so fascinating, right? Where this turned from a marginally 5-star listen to a 4-star for me was in the last hour or so of listening (of a 4 hour, 25 min. audiobook), when the believably flawed heroine started becoming a little too flawed. Maybe this just wasn't what I'd signed my ears up for, but the ending of this one -- though completely believable, in a darkly fantastic way -- wasn't so much an ending as a sad fade-out. YMMV, of course.

I'm not sure this novella would be worth a full credit purchase. However, I recall getting access to it free as part of my Audible membership, & I'd definitely say it was worth the listening time for those who've enjoyed other Roanhorse works (as I have), or simply enjoy weird Westerns.





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Impact Winter Season 2 by Travis Beacham

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Continuing Season 1's highly addictive blend of SF, horror, & Buffy style vampire-hunting angst in a dark post-asteroid world, this episodic audio drama is great for car trips with like-minded folks. (But not, perhaps, very young folks. This would carry a solid R rating.)

The plot is nearly impossible to summarize coherently, but suffice it to say that many danging questions from Season 1 (including why Earth got smacked by a life-changing chunk of rock) finally get explained. There are revelations & prophecies, new vampires made, old vampires slain, fight sequences galore, & possibly a little too much melodrama with everyone's personal lives. Even so, this is first-class shadow theater of the mind designed to make the miles roll by -- even if you're stuck in road construction for quite a few of those miles.

Like Season 1, this is available as an Audible Plus free item. The seasons should definitely be listened to in order, & you'll probably be a little confused even with the helpful Season 1 recap provided. Also, I'd be very surprised/disappointed if a Season 3 isn't flapping in the wings -- this had the feel of a middle book.



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The Night Land by William Hope Hodgson

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


Three stars only for the world-building here, which is really remarkable. This novel is an early example of the Dying Earth SF trope, & possibly one of the best worked out. First published in 1912, it uses the device of the POV character falling into a dream (here, in some vaguely medieval period) to bring the reader into a tale of the far future days of Earth, when the sun has gone out & the planet is slowly falling into eternal darkness.

Hodgson's choice of a faux-medieval style gets in the way of enjoying a suspenseful trek across a truly weird landscape, but that's not the worst of it -- or at least, it wasn't for me. The Night Land is also -- possibly primarily -- a romance novel, based on the concept of true lovers being reborn again & again, finding each other, losing each other, repeat. Unfortunately, the sexism and physically abusive behavior of the POV character after he finds his Only One had me gritting my teeth for most of the book.

Granted, this was published in 1912, & perhaps Hodgson was attempting to portray the POV character as a man of his medieval era. Or, perhaps, Hodgson's imagination couldn't move far enough past his own time to create a more egalitarian future society. Either way, I as a 21st century female reader had a tough time making it through.

I'd say this one is worth reading for those seriously interested in the origins of the Dying Earth trope, or those who enjoy early weird fiction in general & are curious. Otherwise, though this has been called a "flawed classic," I'd say the flaws are pretty deep. This was my first experience of Hodgson, & it may be quite some time before I try him again. YMMV, as always.





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The Daughter of Doctor Moreau by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


First of all: readers who haven't read The Island of Doctor Moreau might wish to do so before starting this novel. It's not strictly necessary, but I found myself appreciating many details of Moreno-Garcia's book more for being familiar with the text that inspired it. The differences are at least as important as the similarities, though I'd be committing spoiler if I explained that statement further.

That said, Daughter . . . is a thoroughly enjoyable riff on Wells' tale. Set in the Yucatan peninsula around 1877, it combines fairly fantasy-flavored SF -- &, to be fair, some romance -- with solid historical underpinnings. The title character's viewpoint alternates with that of Moreau's British assistant (possibly a a combination of at least two characters from the original) to explore the perspectives of women & foreign outsiders in this very different corner of the late Victorian world. Moreau's "hybrids" have voices here, too: rather than being monsters or mistakes, they emerge as real people with serious grievances.

There's a detailed author's note included to help curious readers with the history. Otherwise, it's easy to simply immerse yourself in the rich storytelling. I did figure out one "secret" in the plot a bit too early on, but having read the original novel fairly recently probably helped. Recommended for historical fiction fans willing to walk on the wild side, as well as SF/fantasy readers looking to expand their cultural horizons.



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