Review: Child of a Hidden Sea

Child of a Hidden Sea by A.M. Dellamonica

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



I received Child of a Hidden Sea for review from NetGalley shortly before it was released in June. It looked interesting - a seafaring-based portal world with political intrigue, mystery, and magic. It is also not a Young Adult novel, which definitely appealed. The synopsis promised to have plenty for me to love. Well, I liked it ok enough, but I can’t say I loved it. It was entertaining, and I am interested enough to read a sequel if there is one, but I also feel kind of ambivalent about it and am having a hard time putting my finger on why.

I enjoyed the sea-faring aspect, and the descriptions of the natural world were vivid and breathtaking. Sophie is a Marine Biologist in her life on Earth, and her excitement at the new species she encounters is infectious. It’s a world I would love to see for myself during a sea adventure - on a real, old fashioned ship without engines, of course. She is also a diver, which comes in handy a couple times during this adventure (I wonder what would have happened if she didn’t know how to dive or have equipment - but that’s beside the point).

Sophie's curiosity about this new world gets her in trouble, though, because curiosity is not encouraged here at all. The world is full of unfriendly, stuck up, or downright hostile people, so I found it difficult to like anyone or their cultures. This is an aspect of world building that I usually enjoy. Instead, all of the wonder is reserved for the pristine environment, and her difficulties adjusting to the new world are a lot closer to real life culture shock - without anyone sympathetic enough to help her find her way and learn the ways of the peoples. Also without even a common level of politeness. So I struggled to care about the fate of this completely thankless world full of prejudice, the heroine’s newly found family being the worst of them all.

The mystery is about Sophie’s history before she was adopted on Earth, as well as who was trying to kill her aunt and why. She has to learn the politics, history and culture well enough to put it together without much help from the natives, some of whom are jealous, suspicious and aggravatingly condescending. Again, I really just enjoyed the adventure of being at sea more than the intrigue of these incredibly rude and hostile people.

I did like the juxtaposition of magic and technology, and how technology is viewed as inferior on this world but Sophie uses it to help her solve the mystery and force the natives to accept her findings when they would gladly throw her under the bus - er, ship. I do feel as if Sophie is on her way to winning over some of the hostile people so that her future adventures might include some actual friendships and therefore a better appreciation for the more positive sides of the world’s cultures - hopefully.

I also discovered that there's something about portal fantasies in general that bothers me, that I’ve felt before when reading others but couldn’t identify. It's that the ported character has to speak realistically for someone from our world, with accent, slang, cultural references, etc. Obviously this is to be expected, but I find it jarring to have someone with an American accent referring to fast food restaurants, texting, and the internet while in a fantasy world. This is just me, but is another reason I felt some ambivalence about the story.

Overall, it was an entertaining read, a little different from other fantasies I’ve read lately. I will be interested in reading a sequel, if there is one. The ending was left open enough while still feeling complete.

**Received free arc for review.



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Review: The Curse of the Mistwraith

The Curse of the Mistwraith by Janny Wurts

My rating: 1 of 5 stars



I'm not sure how I came across The Curse of the Mistwraith. It must be one of those Goodreads finds that unfortunately is not working out for me. I’ve fought to read this far, and I just can’t face it any longer. I took a break and tried to come back to it several times, only to find my determination to finish it waning with distance. Every time I try to start back up again, I get stuck. I keep trying to force myself through this one telling of the history of a sword, and it’s all very momentous sounding, so I feel like I can’t skip it (I get the feeling that would be like skipping the story of the Ring in LOTR). But I just don’t care and I’m bored and I don’t like anyone, and I don’t even really know anyone after 120 pages. This weighty tale is apparently a roadblock that I don’t have the strength to pass. I need to move on.

So what is so terrible about it, you might ask. The best answer I can give is that the narrative style is too scattered and random and too much is spent on background and history without forging any connection to the present and the main characters. The characters themselves are not very likable, and I really don’t care what happens to them. The POV switches all the time, most often using minor characters such as messengers, captains, servants, etc. to provide an outside view of the main characters. How are you supposed to tell who is important when you never know whether that character will be revisited again or not? How can you grow attached to the main characters when they are only seen through vignettes showing other people’s impressions of them from afar? And when you do actually get the primary viewpoints, it doesn’t help their case much. The two brothers are not very sympathetic when you get inside their heads. I did have hope that they would change, but I just don’t have the patience and don’t care enough to find out.

On top of the lack of character appeal, the world changes about 15% into it - as in, all the effort I’ve put in to getting into this story and learning about the first world is tossed out when the two brothers are sent through a portal to another world. They are apparently stuck there permanently, and this is where the true story begins. But having to start over at this point is disastrous because I haven’t learned to care yet, and I don’t want to wade through more history and portents and legends to find out what they’re doing there and how important they’re going to be. I still don’t like them, don’t know them very well, and POVs are still switching. Instead of building my attachment to the characters and this huge thing that has happened to them, the emphasis is on portents, legends, prophecies, background. I get it already. Make me care. Make something happen now.

I almost forgot to mention the excessive use of prologues and random scenes. Every freaking chapter has its own prologue. I kid you not. The flow of the main story, if it can be called that, is completely derailed by these diversions to other people, times, places that supposedly lend import to what is about to happen hopefully sometime in the next 600 pages. Then after each prologue, we get random flashes of scenes from other people, times, places that we have no idea who or where they are or whether / why they might be important to the whole. It just adds to the boredom, increases distance from the plot and characters that you're fighting to get to know.

It makes skimming difficult because you might miss something that’s actually important. What if a viewpoint that seems random and useless ends up being critical to understanding the whole? Everything has that portentous feeling, and yet somehow feels distant and trivial and is a complete slog to get through. And did I mention there’s not much of an actual story yet?

Clearly this narrative style is not for me.



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Review: His Majesty's Dragon

His Majesty's Dragon by Naomi Novik

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



His Majesty’s Dragon is a historical fantasy set during the Napoleonic wars in the early 1800s. There isn’t really any magic in this alternate history, and there is really only one difference, which is - obviously - the existence of dragons. I love the way that Novik interweaves dragons with what really happened, giving them a place in history as it played out. It’s such a subtle change, really. Humans use dragons in war. They have entire units of them to supplement naval battles. They are not a rarity that gives one side a huge advantage over the other, so the war is pretty much the same, just with dragons as an added factor.

Captain Laurence is a naval officer who finds himself attached to a dragon and having to give up his naval life for a life in the dragon corps. A lot of time in this first book is spent on him and Temeraire training together and learning about aerial maneuvers and battle strategy. They do get to see some real action later in the book, but it takes a while to build up to. Some people might find it slow-moving, but I really enjoyed the pace and getting to know the culture of the dragon corps in training mode.

The dragons are used in much the same way as ships, with rigging and harnesses that host an entire crew for shooting at other dragons. I really felt like I was reading about naval battles, just in the air and with a ship that can think and act for itself.

One thing I should mention is that although this is a Regency era novel, there are not many women at all. It is not a Jane Austen-esque novel, but focuses more on the men (and yes, a couple of non-typical women) in the military and their concerns. There is the typical era stuffiness about manners and etiquette - who can talk first at the dinner table, etc - but without the courtship aspect that many Regency readers are familiar with and may be wishing for. Captain Laurence is one of these stiff, very correct and honorable men, but unlike with his naval experience, his new aerial unit does not “stand on ceremony” and he has to learn that ceremony is ridiculous sometimes. I like this angle that critiques the culture of the time, showing how over-politeness can be a hindrance to sincerity and truth.

The women that do exist in the book are not at all the genteel types that Laurence is used to, which also challenges his concept of what is acceptable. I love that the story takes a typical Regency captain out of his element and gives him a unique view of his own society that he can’t help but begin to criticize. He begins to realize there’s a difference between affecting manners and true honor. As he questions the norms, he brings the parts that do make sense with him into the dragon corps and sparks changes there.

The main thrust of the story plot-wise is the friendship that develops between Laurence and Temeraire as they train for active service. Dragons occupy a low place in this society, and are not respected as sentient beings. They’re treated more as animals - like a horse that needs to be trained and cared for, but never gets brushed down or has its saddle removed. But as the captain gets to know his dragon, he begins to question that aspect of his own society as well. The dragons have wonderful personalities, some of them very intelligent, and the way the humans treat them ends up making them look like animals instead.

All-in-all, I really enjoyed this. I love books set in this time period, though, and am partial to Comedy of Manners as well as Fantasy genres. The combination of the two here is a definite win for me, especially with the satirical critiques of the society. I found the lack of domestic concerns a refreshing change from the usual novels of the period, and didn't even mind the lack of magic, which is usually a 'must' for me in Fantasy.

The 9th and final book in the series is due in 2015, and I’ll be slowly making my way there whenever I get a hankering for this very particular flavor.



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Review: The Girl in the Gatehouse

The Girl in the Gatehouse by Julie Klassen

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



I should have read this book three years ago when I bought it - I think I would have liked it more. Since then my tastes have evolved away from romances like this. I still like the odd romance, but I'm finding I'm a lot more picky these days. Maybe I've read too many and they've gotten too predictable for me. The inspirational ones are often more moralizing than I like as well, even though I like the lack of physical intimacy descriptions.

Anyway, if you like inspirational romances, this is a good one. I found it had far too many coincidences, but it was entertaining at least and not as depressing or judgmental as some 'fallen women' stories I've read in the past. There's also not an overwhelming amount of scripture, prayer or 'God-talk', which is one reason I like this author compared to others in the genre.



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Transformation - Carol Berg

Transformation by Carol Berg
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I’ve been intending to read Transformation for a long time. A friend recommended it to me, telling me to ignore the terrible cover, but I still let it sit on my virtual shelf for far too long. Thanks to my TBR challenge, I finally got around to it. I really loved it, and wish I’d read it sooner! This is a book that deserves more attention, and I agree - ignore the cover! 

 It’s a Fantasy that takes place in a large, greedy empire that gobbles up its neighbors and uses wide scale slavery. The culture(s) and magic system are well developed, but are filled in gradually from one character's viewpoint so you don't get the whole picture at the beginning. This is not the type of Fantasy with a lot of action and battles. There’s no revolution to take down the empire. The action is much more localized, but still engrossing - and there are still threats that become dire and affect the entire empire. 

It’s just that the characters are really the driving force, and the world, conflicts, and intrigues are revealed through their interactions and through the ways they change. This method can only work if the characters are interesting enough, and it worked here because I liked the main character from page one, and was invested in what would happen to him immediately. He is an educated slave whose past is gradually revealed throughout the story, so I won’t reveal it here. He gets purchased by the Emperor’s son, a volatile, selfish, cruel man. As property that thinks too much, he is often punished brutally, but somehow manages to hold on to his sanity and his sense of right, even when he knows it will cost him dearly. 

Learning more and more about the background of the main character kept me hooked until I finally had a sense of an entire world and system and his place in it, and by then I was invested in the larger conflict and the outcome. I loved how the characters changed each other, and I believe there’s potential for larger scale change in future books. I loved it. Recommended for those who enjoy something other than pure action and outright war in their Fantasy. 

Review: A Draw of Kings

A Draw of Kings by Patrick W. Carr

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



A Draw of Kings is a decent ending to a good Fantasy series that I really enjoyed. It wasn't quite as good as I'd hoped, but still decent.

It gets right to the action and never drags. At the beginning, everyone gets scattered again and for a while I really wondered how they were all going to get back and wrap things up. As far as a Fantasy adventure goes, with all hell breaking loose and the fate of the world depending on the tenuous hope of a few people with impossible tasks, it was a fun story and fairly satisfying.

It was not, however, as mature and 'brilliant' as many others where the way everything comes together at the end leaves you breathless and full of admiration. That didn't happen. The thing is, there's a big 'aha' moment where characters figure out something really important, but it's something that I saw coming early in the second book. It didn’t take me that long to consider the possibility, so it wasn't very realistic that it was this great mystery until the end. The discovery was held off too long for a big reveal and it took the punch out of it, for me anyway.

Still, I really enjoyed this series and I think it's one worth recommending to people who aren't necessarily after 'something new' in Fantasy. This isn't genre-shattering. It's just a fun heroic Fantasy with lots of elements that feel familiar yet a little different.



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Review: The Merchant's Daughter

The Merchant's Daughter by Melanie Dickerson

My rating: 1 of 5 stars



The Merchant’s Daughter is a non-magical retelling of Beauty and the Beast, basically a historical romance set in the 1300s. It is also an ‘inspirational’ romance, meaning it’s the kind of book an evangelical Christian can feel safe reading. I’ve enjoyed some inspirational books in the past because you can be sure of getting the romance without the graphic sex, and the romance is usually more emotional than physical.

It does have its downsides, though, with characters who often go off into an aside with prayer or godly thoughts, or wait for God’s will instead of acting. Some inspirational authors are more preachy than others, using their characters to teach you how to live, but some don’t do this at all, and just tell a sweet story. Lately all of the ones I’ve read have had too much of the preachy aspect for me, and I think I’ve reached a point where the risk of the bad outweighs the (slight) chance for good in this type of book.

Because this was, hands-down, the preachiest book I’ve ever read in my life. I think half the book was some kind of sermon coming from the mouth or thoughts of the main character, and even worse, they were modern views being spouted from a supposedly Medieval girl. There’s more God-talk, prayer, Bible verse quoting, and WWJD thoughts than actual plot. The anachronisms made me cringe time and again. How I persevered to the end I will never know, but I do know I’m never going back to this author again.

The romance does have some sweet moments, which is probably how I managed to finish it, but the use of religion is so overpowering that it’s all I remember now. I do not appreciate having a historical fairy tale turn into an evangelical Bible study full of sermonizing. I can see religion having a place when it’s appropriate to the time-period (and not with the goal of teaching me lessons), but what we get here is inappropriate in so many ways - a brashly modern American evangelical view of Christianity completely out of place in 1300s England.

**Spoilers ahead**

It’s all because the heroine, Annabel, supposedly wants to be nun so that she can read the Bible for herself, and the entire book is driven by her consuming desire to know what the Bible actually says. It’s all wrong. Girls in the 1300s didn’t want to be nuns so they could read the Bible themselves. This is not a motivation that a merchant’s daughter in Medieval times would even think of. Prayer and contemplation, yes. Escape from the concerns of the worldly or a disagreeable marriage proposal, yes. Fathers needing to offload one of their daughters somewhere for safety or political reasons, yes. Even a desire to serve God! But the idea of what that meant in those times was not the opportunity for personal daily devotions.

So the girl’s entire character is based around this erroneous desire, and she is unstoppable about it. She is so impatient to read the Bible herself (not even able to wait for the convent), that she begs her local priest to let her borrow his Bible… remove it from the church and take it home for some nice cozy time by the fire... really? This is such unrealistic behavior for a young lady in the 1300s that I couldn’t believe what I was reading. How could this book possibly even masquerade as a historical novel?

What’s even worse is that - guess what! - the lord of the manor has his own Bible when the priest doesn’t. And lucky Annabel, because he asks her to read it to him every night. And she somehow knows Latin well enough to do so! So now we have to read through pages - pages - of Bible passages, along with their personal interpretations of how it all applies to them. So the romance is based on this devotional style reading of the Bible and ‘what does this mean to me’ interpretations between the lord and a maid who fall in love over their godly thoughts together. Kill. me. now.

I don’t care what your beliefs are (or mine), I don’t want bad sermons in my books. Or Sunday school lessons. I’m not reading to ‘learn about how to have a relationship with God’, especially offered through the mouths of characters who have no business spouting these concepts. If I want a sermon (or a Bible study, for that matter), I know where to go for one.

Rant over.



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Review: The Named

The Named by Marianne Curley

My rating: 3 of 5 stars




The first half of this book was just like all the other YA paranormals that I’ve grown so tired of - teenagers in class, passing notes, grumpy teachers, girl & boy working together, one with a crush on the other. Depressing home lives, parent and sibling issues, blah blah. Not a lot actually happens at first, but I could see where it was going and was quickly falling into eye-rolling mode, fighting boredom and frustration. How many times have I seen these clichés play out by now?

When I picked this up, I really thought it would be more about time travel adventures. Although the Named are guardians of the timeline, this story is more about the guardians in the present than what they do when they travel to the past. The teenagers are in training (very vaguely described aside from repeated mention of parent and sibling problems caused by the two spending time together), and the focus is not enough on their lives as guardians, at least at first. Irritated at being sucked into another one of these sorts of books, I forced myself onward, prepared to skim if necessary to finish this thing.

Then something changed. I’m not sure exactly when I stopped having to force myself to read. Probably about the time high school dropped out of it and we actually got past the training and into the missions (yes, this does happen!). Then there were a couple small events that challenged my sense of knowing exactly where it was going, and then stuff started happening and I got interested and then - then the end. Just as it started to get up to speed, it ended, and now I’m going to have to read the next one. I sincerely hope I don’t have to wait through another half book of the daily lives of teenagers before things get interesting again. Please no more high school. If we can stick to the business of the Named, I’ll be happy.



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Review: Magic Under Glass

Magic Under Glass by Jaclyn Dolamore
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

An automaton that plays the piano, fairies, sorcerers and necromancers, and a 'trouser girl' who sings on the stage. Add a Jane Eyre style mysterious madwoman haunting the third floor of the manor, and you have a vaguely gothic steampunk historical fantasy with a dash of sweet romance. Quite an interesting combination.

Some aspects were less developed than I would have liked, leaving me feeling detached from it all. The world-building, the characters, and how their relationships developed were all a bit weak. I find myself not really caring whether I read the second book or not (this is a completed duology). I might feel like it at some point.

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Review: The Yellow House

The Yellow House by Patricia Falvey

My rating: 2 of 5 stars



All I can really say positively about this book is that it somehow manages to have a happy ending after all the crap that Eileen goes through (much brought on herself, but not all). And that the historical backdrop of the early 20th Century in Ireland is interesting. I learned a lot about the conflict between Protestants and Catholics, and the formation of Northern Ireland and the IRA - a bloody, hateful history that Eileen brashly dashes into because of her family's proud warrior history.

I wish I could have liked Eileen (or anyone) in the first place, to care more that they got a happy ending, but Eileen rarely talks to people; she snaps at them. Or yells. She also is obsessed with being an O'Neill warrior, a childhood story that her father told her and she somehow believes she must fulfill without any thought whatsoever throughout most of the book. She is a hot-headed Irishwoman who is dirt-poor, has an extremely sharp tongue, constantly drives the people around her away and threatens her own livelihood by never thinking about the consequences of her actions or of opening her mouth.

Her husband is a complete jerk, her friends are not real friends, her family is fractured from childhood, and the only people who care for her are her late father's loyal friends and someone outside of her social sphere who just causes her a lot more trouble for most of the book. Not that Eileen really is the type of person to inspire great friendships, so I can understand her being isolated much of the time. It's really a miracle that things turn out well in the end.

Actually, the level of dislike I find for all of these people is probably an indication of good writing. These people in all their selfishness and brutality were just too real, and unfortunately there weren't any characters who showed the other side of humanity.

Like I said, happy ending - check. Interesting time period - check. Relief that I can move on - check. 2 stars.



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