Review: Mariana

Mariana by Susanna Kearsley

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



Susanna Kearsley is becoming my go-to for light Gothic dual-time historical fiction / romance. I don't read this type of book often, but when I need something a little different from my usual fare, I find that Kearsley's books hit the spot. There's just the right mix of history, romance, mysterious ghostliness, and an ephemeral sense of times past and present.

Even though the format of Kearsley's books remain similar to each other with the time-slip discovery narrative, the situations that are explored in both time periods are still unique. The similarity is familiar and comforting enough that I'm actually hoping for it when I pick one up, but I also wouldn't recommend reading them back-to-back.

Mariana was the book that launched Kearsley's career, so it wasn't as good as the later ones I've read, but still very good for a debut novel. The time-slip aspect is almost exactly like the one in A Winter Sea, but this was not as polished or satisfying. Both time periods could have used - something - more to make them more compelling. And the present-day romance was not as good as it could have been, and not well tied into the earlier timeline.

Still, it did hit that spot with the dreamy, ghostly echoes of the past trying to make itself heard in the present.



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Review: The Hob's Bargain

The Hob's Bargain by Patricia Briggs

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



The Hob's Bargain is a high fantasy that focuses on a small farming valley and a small town with medieval-type trades. There's supposedly a lord who should be protecting the people, but a magical disaster has cut the valley off and the people are on their own. The disaster awakens old magic, some friendly and some feral, so the townsfolk are suddenly dealing with a resurgence in angry Fae as well as an army of raiders.

What makes the story interesting is the mish-mash of old magical creatures running wild, the strong heroine who is rejected by the town because of her own taboo magic, and the mischievous hob who is the prejudiced town's only hope of survival. There's a tiny little bit of romance - just a touch, and it's very sweet.

I found this an enjoyable, quick read, perfect for a lazy Saturday afternoon. It's the first book I've read by Patricia Briggs - I decided to start with her older works instead of a series that isn't finished yet. So I can't speak to how this compares to the quality of her later work, but I do know I'll be looking for more by her.



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Review: The Chalice

The Chalice by Nancy Bilyeau

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



I've had a hard time categorizing this series. The Crown was nominally a historical mystery, which is why I had picked it up, but ended up being more historical suspense. Now The Chalice drops mystery altogether, focusing instead on a prophecy for Sister Joanna that throws her into danger. So maybe historical suspense is the most appropriate label, at least so far. The fact that it is difficult to categorize is one of the reasons I'm enjoying the series.

The story focuses on a Dominican novice during the time when Henry VIII was dissolving the monasteries and priories and stripping the churches to fill his coffers. Joanna, who took vows to avoid the tumult of politics, has been torn from that peaceful existence and is now trying to make a living in the village near her old priory. A few of the friars and nuns remain together, attempting to continue their observances as well as they can while being reviled by the locals who once came to them for aid and education. They find themselves at the mercy of petty authorities with the weight of King Henry behind them.

This is a great perspective on the time period. It does not deal very directly with the Royals, instead showing how ordinary, loyal papists made their way through the tumultuous changes of the English Reformation. From this angle, it was not a holy enterprise!

At the end of The Crown, I had an idea of where this sequel might be headed. I thought that with the Priory closed and Joanna no longer a novice, she would settle down and find herself a new life - most likely (hopefully!) with Geoffrey. She would maybe run into some new intrigues and mysteries related to his position as a constable. In my experience of historical mystery/fiction with a side of romance, this was the predictable route, and one that I would have been perfectly happy to explore.

I was completely wrong! There was very little about this book that I could have predicted. Although there was part of me wishing for those next steps that I had envisioned, it was refreshing to find myself being led around by the nose without any idea of where it was going to end up. The way that Bilyeau intertwines Joanna's life with actual events of the time, giving this insignificant woman an importance that few people are aware of, is brilliant.

Joanna is once again caught up in politics against her will, dragged into matters beyond her understanding by family ambitions, and tossed about by forces beyond her comprehension. She is confused and changes a lot during the book, betraying her sense of self and struggling with guilt. The prophecy forces her into crises, muddies the waters of right and wrong, and inexorably drags her in a direction she does not want to go. But rather than making the plot predictable, the prophecy plays out with enough twists to bring about a satisfying ending, so that you look back on what happened with new understanding.

Both novels so far have been very well done. I'm looking forward to the next installment but I no longer have any expectations about where it could go next. (I still have hopes for where it might end up eventually.)



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Review: A Curse Dark As Gold

A Curse Dark As Gold by Elizabeth C. Bunce

My rating: 2 of 5 stars



I really wanted to love A Curse as Dark as Gold. A historical fantasy set in a mill during the Industrial Revolution - what a perfect setting for a retelling of Rumpelstiltskin.

Unfortunately, it was really hard work to get through this and I skimmed a lot. The writing is tedious, the details of running the mill too thorough and dry. Plus, I was expecting something a bit more industrial out of the setting with a more Dickensian or Gaskellian feel - a mill in a place like Manchester, not in a superstitious village.

The story itself is extremely slow to take off. A hundred pages of mill management could have been chopped out easily. I didn't really like any of the characters either. Most of them remained fairytale remote the whole time. The ending was decent, at least, but a haunted mill with a generational curse should have been much more interesting.



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Review: City of Jasmine

City of Jasmine by Deanna Raybourn

My rating: 5 of 5 stars



I loved this! It's a historical adventure set in Damascus and the nearby desert during the 1920s. We have an intrepid British female pilot and her scandalous old aunt, a parrot, a dead husband not quite dead, archaeological treasure, and deadly pursuit across the desert.

Once again, Raybourn brought both the place and the time period alive. She put me down right in the desert with the sights and smells, and awoke my sympathies with the personal nature of the cultural conflicts after the Great War.

I liked it even better than A Spear of Summer Grass because it was more full of action and adventure. I also liked it better because there's none of the promiscuity that I disliked in that book, but Evie is still a liberated, willful heroine. I loved both her and Gabriel and their spirited sparring.

A note of caution - don't read the prequel novella before reading this! It gives too much background information. The mystery of Gabriel wasn't much of a mystery to me, unfortunately. I wish I knew how much I would have loved it without knowing anything about him beforehand.



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Review: Whisper of Jasmine

Whisper of Jasmine by Deanna Raybourn

My rating: 3 of 5 stars



I'm not usually a big reader of novellas because they're too short to be satisfying, but this leads up to the actual book I want to read. (Seems like it could have been included as a prologue instead???)

As far as novellas go, I think this was a good one. We see Delilah from Spear of Summer Grass before her husband goes off to the war, so if you've read that book this will mean a lot more. Delilah also introduces us to a new character for City of Jasmine, which I can't wait to read. So this was a nice teaser, I suppose.

It was free when I bought it, but is now $.90. I don't think I would actually pay for it at 50 pages. On to the main feature...

Edit: After reading City of Jasmine, I would recommend saving this prequel for afterwards. This novella gives you some background information that spoils it a bit. I still enjoyed it, but if I hadn't known what is revealed here it would have been even better.

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Review: Hollow World

Hollow World by Michael J. Sullivan

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



If you're a fan of Michael Sullivan's, you've probably heard by now that Hollow World is completely different from his Riyria Revelations series. It has a different tone, setting, and themes. There's a more modern feel with cultural references and modern language tossed about. But the sense of humor is still there, as well as the seemingly simple twists that somehow end up meaning more than I expected.

It starts out in the present-day with a man who has nothing to live for (and is dying anyway) and so decides to try out his time machine. The future that Ellis experiences is really strange, but also cool. There's a sense of wonder at Hollow World - it's not a Dystopia, which I appreciated. But the world is not without its problems, and Ellis finds himself right in the middle of them. Along the way, he discovers what living really is and what he really cares about (too late?).

I liked it. My main complaint is that I'd like to read more. I feel like I just got to know these people and had a small taste of their world, and I want to spend more time there. I hope there will be sequels.

**Received free arc for review



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