Warning: you'll want to read this book again

Here's a look at the second book I remember re-reading immediately after reading it the first time. 

Book Review:  Planetfall by Emma Newman
 
“Someone’s coming toward the colony.  From outside.”

Lee Suh-Mi felt called to establish a colony on a world far beyond Earth and 1,000 people felt called to join her.  Something happened when they arrived at the planet in Suh-Mi’s vision however, and a couple of decades later, Ren is still haunted by it.  She and Mack are the only two who know the truth; whatever happened was considered so potentially devastating that the other members of the original landing team were murdered to prevent them from telling the other colonists.  Or were intended to be murdered.  When Suh-Mi’s  twenty-something grandson approaches the colony, it’s clear that at least some members of the team managed to survive.  What’s not immediately clear is what Sung-Soo knows.

Sung-Soo’s close resemblance to Suh threatens Ren’s ability to continue playing along with Mack’s carefully constructed tale.  Told from Ren’s perspective, hints at what happened are slowly revealed, as she reflects back to the beginning of her relationship with Suh, what she left behind back on Earth, and the events of that first Planetfall.

There’s a lot to love about this story.  To begin with, it’s beautifully written and stunningly subtle.  Set in the future, it features advanced technology including 3D printers capable of printing everything a self-sustaining colony requires, and chip implants capable of connecting individuals to the web and to each other.  It also features an environmentally-friendly, successful colony established on an Earth-like planet.  It’s not a utopia — while there are advantages to being as connected as they are, the story points out that there are disadvantages as well.  And people will always be people.  Add a mysterious alien structure,  a slow reveal from a character slowly cracking under the burden of guilt, and a twist I didn’t see coming, and you have a story worth reading again and again.

The question of religion versus science underlies the story but the reader isn’t pushed one way or the other.

I was exasperated by Ren but that’s not a bad thing.  Tormented by whatever happened, she can’t face it directly, but the arrival of Sung-Soo won’t let her continue to bury it.  Hence the slow reveal.  I like having to work for my mystery so I was hooked even though I was never able to connect with her.   I didn’t pick up on her illness right away and when Sung-Soo discovered it, I knew it was important but I didn’t realize how important it was — I was mostly stuck on not understanding the illness itself. 

I love it when an author can genuinely catch me off-guard and Newman did just that when the book hit its climax.  The clues were there — I just didn’t pick up on them.  Stunningly subtle.  Reading the book through a second time, I couldn’t believe that I’d missed what was so obvious.

I did have a few quibbles with the book but they were minor.  There was a detail that seemed like it would be bigger than it was — ah well.  In addition to Planetfall, there was another “event” that was mentioned but never really fleshed out.  And for all of the description provided, there wasn’t any about the local wildlife — it’s mentioned on a few occasions, so you know it exists, but that’s it.  I want to know what’s roaming the grasslands and why nothing ventures close to God’s City.

The first time I read the book, I thought the ending felt rushed.  The second time, I appreciated it more.  I would love to see a sequel.

*Originally posted on my first blog (Lighthearted Librarian) in February 2016.

The Perfect Ghost? The Perfect Twist

Here's a look at the first book I remember re-reading immediately after reading it the first time.

Book Review:  The Perfect Ghost by Linda Barnes

Em Moore is painfully shy.  As the silent partner of a successful writing team, she’s able to live a mostly solitary and self-sufficient life; she does the writing, her partner Teddy does the information gathering and the PR.  When Teddy dies in a mysterious car accident, her world changes drastically.  Determined to finish their last project together, the biography of reclusive movie director Garrett Malcolm, she leaves the safety of her apartment and resolves to complete the interviews with the man himself, despite everyone’s doubts.

The story unfolds slowly but deliberately, told by Em and addressed to Teddy in absentia.  Details from her past seep into the narrative and they aren’t pleasant.   Em is a survivor, but will she fall victim to a fatal accident herself?  Malcolm clearly has secrets, and it seems more and more likely that Teddy’s accident wasn’t an accident at all.  Did he discover something scandalous?  Was he up to something scandalous himself?

This book was impossible for me to put down and the ending caught me by surprise — I love it when an author can do that!  I immediately began re-reading and became even more impressed.  It takes a lot of skill to show readers everything they need to know but lead them in an entirely different direction.  Linda Barnes just made my “Must Read” list.

*Originally posted on my first blog (Lighthearted Librarian), December 2014

Three parts, four twists, one gripping read

Book Review:  The Wife Between Us by Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen
 

There are four books that I've re-read immediately after reading them for the first time.  This is one of them.

Richard is Vanessa's ex-husband and Nellie's fiancé.  The Wife Between Us begins with alternating chapters between Vanessa and Nellie, each detailing their relationships with Richard.  It's obvious that he is a charismatic but controlling partner.  While his manipulations appear considerate on the surface, they are not.  Richard has a dark side that Vanessa is well-acquainted with and Nellie is soon to discover.

Despite the warnings to assume nothing, there is one assumption that I believe every reader will make and it will lead to Twist 1.  I loved Twist 1 the first time I read the book.  I liked it the second time.  It's a good twist; the only reason that I went from loving it to liking it is that we're dealing with an unreliable narrator.  When I read the book again, immediately after finishing it the first time, I was expecting to notice clues that I'd missed the first time. Instead, I discovered that the version of events was inconsistent -- at least it appeared that way.  Going back through my notes now, as I'm writing this review, I'm reminded that the inconsistency was largely due to my interpretation of the narration.  Very little means what you think it means in this novel.  I may give this book a third read, to fully appreciate the dexterity of the authors in leading us astray.

Twist 2 is closely related to Twist 1.  If Twist 1 was clever, Twist 2 is brilliant. 

Readers more attentive than I may suspect Twist 3 as they are reading.  There are a few hints regarding Twist 4.  There's one more revelation that some might count as a Twist but it's fairly small and it didn't have a huge effect on events, so I'm just counting it as a reveal.

Highly recommended!

Who's playing with whom?

Book Review:  Orca by Steven Brust

Still on the run from the Jhereg, Vlad seeks help for Savn.  It's been a year since the events of Athyra and Savn has been mostly catatonic since he saved Vlad's life by using a Morganti weapon to kill his own lord.  On the outskirts of Northport, a Tsalmoth hedge wizard (whose name Vlad can't pronounce) agrees to help, no questions asked, but asks that Vlad help her in return.  She's being evicted from the home she shared with her husband and she wants to stay.

Who actually holds the deed to the land is much more difficult to determine than it should be.  Vlad pulls in Kiera the Thief to help.  The land appears to be connected to a prominent financier who recently died under suspicious circumstances.  With the paperwork Kiera lifts from his home, they determine that Fyres was a master con artist -- he appeared to be wealthy but his companies were shells -- so many loans were involved from various banks and Houses that the inevitable defaults will have serious consequences for the Empire.  

The seventh book in the series brings us back into the twisted political intrigue of the Dragaeran Empire.  I wasn't all that invested in figuring out the connections between Fyres, the banks, the tenants, etc -- I knew Vlad would eventually spell it out for us -- so I just enjoyed watching him and Kiera in action.  We see a lot more of Kiera this time -- she's present throughout the entire story and narrates most of it.  It was interesting seeing Vlad through her perspective, "Sometimes I forget just how devious he is and how good he is at improvising, and his skill at calculating odds and pulling off improbable gambits.  Sometimes he thinks he's better at these than he actually is, and it is likely to get him killed one of these days."  

We not only see Vlad through Kiera's perspective, but we also see something of her relationship with Cawti.  They remain in contact and through this we learn that Cawti misses Vlad but still believes they can't be together.  And Kiera knows things about each of them that she chooses not to share, some things because they aren't ready to share them with each other, but some things for her own reasons.  Although we learn a lot about Kiera in this book, including her reason for watching over Vlad, her motivations remain mostly mysterious.

Scenes to look forward to:  Vlad tries to disguise himself as a Dragaeran, which involves shaving his mustache, wearing a wig, and swaggering in ridiculously high platform boots.  Big reveals about Kiera and Cawti. 

Everything is worth examining

Book Review:  Athyra by Steven Brust

More than two years have passed between the events of Phoenix and Vlad's arrival in a farming community far from the city.  He's still in hiding from the Jhereg and he's lost a finger somewhere along the way.  His arrival is quickly followed by the mysterious death of a local -- a local who years before had helped Vlad sneak into a certain nearby Athyran necromancer's castle.  Coincidence?  Vlad thinks not.  He determines to take out Loraan, once and for all.  That is, if the villagers don't take him out first.  It seems too big of a coincidence to them, that one of their own dies of no obvious causes, days after an Easterner is seen in town.

The sixth book in the Vlad Taltos series is . . . different.  It's narrated by a young Teckla named Savn.  After a chance meeting on the road, Savn becomes fascinated with Vlad.  He chooses to spend time with the Easterner, despite the cold looks the other villagers give him.  And for the first time in his life, he questions things he had always assumed to be true.  

It's interesting to see Vlad from someone else's perspective but it sets a much slower pace for the story.  Savn is young and thoughtful.  He's intrigued by Vlad and troubled by Vlad's past as an assassin.  He's likeable but lacks Vlad's charisma.

Loiosh is also mostly silent this time around, although we are treated to the thoughts of his mate, Rocza -- for me this was one of the most interesting parts of the story.  Again, we're given a different perspective of Vlad.  To Loiosh, Vlad is a parent -- to Rocza, Vlad is the Provider.  She doesn't mind doing things for him, most of the time, but she's mainly in it for the treats -- and Loiosh.

Not as much world-building this time although we do learn that there is blue sky above the strange overcast of the Empire.  And the overcast is apparently poisonous -- both Rocza and Loiosh hold their breath until they are well above or below it.  

I'm waiting for the next book, Orca, to come in from interlibrary loan.  Although I missed Vlad's narration this time, I'm anxious to see what happens with Savn.  And I'd love to see what's happening with Cawti, Noish-pa, Kragar, and others.

The bridge between worlds hangs on lyre strings

Book Review:  Olympus Bound by Jordanna Max Brodsky

Six months have passed since Selene and her friends thwarted Saturn's ritual on the Statue of Liberty.  Believing it best for him, she allowed Theo to believe she died in the effort.  She mourns his absence and the deaths of her siblings while remaining focused on finding Saturn and ending his threat once and for all.

Theo mourns Selene desperately.  He researches ancient rituals in the hopes of resurrecting her.  They will meet again and it will be painful for both of them; he feels betrayed and she realizes that she didn't do him any favors.  As with the other two books, however, there's a larger story in play.  Saturn has Zeus and he's planning to sacrifice him.  Selene and the remaining gods gather at Mount Olympus for the first time in centuries. 

This is an outstanding trilogy.  Brodsky merges religion, mythology, ancient mysteries, and science into an insightful and compelling storyline.  Her characters are layered and utterly believable.  We meet Athena in this book and I loved the story Brodsky created for her.

I admit that I thought it was best for Theo and Selene to part in the second book.  He's a mortal and she's a goddess -- even if she wasn't carrying millennia of baggage, age will come between them sooner rather than later.  Ruth seemed a better fit for Theo and Flint (aka Hephaestus) seemed a better fit for Selene.  Love is not logical, however.  Brodsky has convinced me that Theo and Selene belong together.  I highly recommend this trilogy.

Some prayers may be better left unanswered

Book Review:  Phoenix by Steven Brust 

                                                                                                                          

When Vlad finds himself ambushed in South Adrilankha, he offers up a prayer to the Demon-Goddess Vera.  She answers.  As it turns out, she wants him to assassinate someone for her.  Vlad's been considering getting out of the business but how does one refuse a goddess?

The assassination begins a war between the Empire and the sleepy outlying nation of Greenaere.  The Empire begins drafting humans and Teckla into its army, which adds to the growing uprising within the Empire.  Cawti is arrested twice.  To save Cawti's life, Vlad goes against his House.

I love this series.  I love the characters, the world-building, the fast-paced plots. 

Cawti has changed dramatically since we first met her, but so has Vlad.  He finally acknowledges that while he may have hated all dragaerans to begin with, most of his close friends are of that race.  He's genuinely friendly to the Orca sailing him from Adrilankha to Greenaere (regular beatings by Orca youth during his childhood inspired, or at least deeply contributed to his early hatred of dragaerans).  He's come a long way but where will he go next?

While Teckla showed us the beginnings of a rift between Vlad and Cawti; Phoenix shows the deepening of that rift.  Their relationship struggles are sparingly told and heartbreakingly real.  They love each other but it's not enough, at least in this book. What will she do with South Adrilankha?  Can they find their way back to each other?


The world-building in this series continues to be exceptional.  Each book reveals or hints at something new.  This time we discover that there are different types of stones which block sorcery and psionic communication -- I wonder what Morrolan and Aliera will do with that information.  We also learn that there are legends of strange lands beyond the sea, perhaps even beneath it.  And while Noish-pa refers to dragaerans as elves, Vlad finds himself referred to as a dwarf by the dragaerans on Greenaere.

We don't learn as much about the House of Phoenix as we have about other Houses in other books -- after all, there is only one living member and she's the Empress of the Empire.   We learn more about her though, and how she regards her role in the scheme of things.