Category Archives: books/book review

Book Review of The Sisters Mederos, by Patrice Sarath

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I received a copy of The Sisters Mederos, by Patrice Sarath, through Netgalley.

Description from Goodreads:
Two sisters fight with manners, magic, and mayhem to reclaim their family’s name, in this captivating historical fantasy adventure.

House Mederos was once the wealthiest merchant family in Port Saint Frey. Now the family is disgraced, impoverished, and humbled by the powerful Merchants Guild. Daughters Yvienne and Tesara Mederos are determined to uncover who was behind their family’s downfall and get revenge. But Tesara has a secret – could it have been her wild magic that caused the storm that destroyed the family’s merchant fleet? The sisters’ schemes quickly get out of hand – gambling is one thing, but robbing people is another…

Together the sisters must trust each another to keep their secrets and save their family.

Review:
This started out well and had a fine ending (though the epilogue seemed unneeded), but it felt like the middle dragged quite a lot. I appreciated the two strong female leads, one of which was disfigured and one brainy, and the writing was perfectly functional. But I felt like things came a little too conveniently for the girls and the ‘mystery’ was a bust. The villain was so obvious as to be painful. Lastly, I thought the cross-dressing ‘mistress’ was just queer-baiting. All in all, not bad, but not a true winner either.

Night Train to Rigel

Book Review: Night Train to Rigel (Quadrail #1), by Timothy Zahn

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I bought a paperback copy of Timothy Zahn‘s Night Train to Rigel. I promised myself I wouldn’t get to December and have books by author with names starting with I, Q, X and Z, this year. This took care of Z for my alphabet challenge.

Description from Goodreads:
It begins when a man delivers a message for former government agent Frank Compton–only to fall dead at his feet. The message is a summons from the Spiders, the exotic and mysterious creatures who run the Quadrail, an incredible transportation system connecting civilizations across the galaxy. The Spiders believe that someone or something is preparing to attack their entire network and the worlds it serves, by smuggling battleships through the Quadrail–something that should be impossible to do. Compton, with the aid of a beautiful but enigmatic agent of the Spiders, is their last hope.

Because nobody else has been able to find the elusive enemy who seeks to enslave the entire galaxy…and Earth is its next target.

Review:
I think it took me a lifetime to read this book. Ok, maybe it just felt that way because I was bored for so much of it. Honestly, it’s not a bad book. But I felt it went on longer than it needed to, considering the plot was just a guy riding a galactic train back and forwards, following handily laid out clues and reacting to things.

I might have just called a ‘meh’ read, except for one major oversight that I’m so tired of seeing. Zahn created a whole galaxy, full of several planets and a ton of different species. Do you know, there’s not a single woman among them? Not one. Not one rides the train. Not one works in any of the stations. Not one was in a restaurant or hotel. Not one passes the main character on the street.

With the exception of his sidekick, the “beautiful but enigmatic agent of the Spiders,” whose sole character trait is her lack of personality, there is not a single female of any sort in all 300+ pages of this book. AUTHORS, STOP DOING THIS.

This doesn’t happen by accident. This isn’t excusable because the book is about aliens. Not including females in your books is a choice you make and it infuriates me. I will most likely never read another Timothy Zahn book again. Because he’s not a new author, and if he hasn’t fixed this bad habit by this point in his career, he doesn’t intend to and I can’t be bothered with it.

Anointed

Book Review of Anointed (The Cantati Chronicles #1), by Maggie Mae Gallagher

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I found a signed copy of Maggie Mae Gallagher‘s Anointed at a secondhand store. We all know how I love signed books, so I bought it.

Description from Goodreads:
My name is Alana Devereaux. I enjoy the simple things in life, walks in the park, sky gazing, and ripping a demon’s heart out though its chest. I am a demon slayer, the last of my kind, and I have been sent back through time to save your world.

How am I doing so far? My time travel went haywire, all the signs I needed to stop the prophecy have passed, and the only way I can save my world is by keeping yours from ending. Then there’s Gaelen, most days I want to deck him. He hides his true motives and if it was not for the intel he had, I would be rid of him. Any day in my life without a demon attack is a good day; I haven’t had a whole lot of those lately. The only problem is, if I don’t stop the Mutari, this world will burn.

Review:
So, this was not very good. I won’t go so far as to say horrible, but not very good. It’s full of plot holes (and a pretty problematic paradox), both the heroine and hero are unlikable, assumptions are made and not supported, and there is no real conclusion.

It was not liking Alana or Gaelen that really clinched it for me. Her entire personality is contrary, angry, full of bluster, and distrust. I promise, authors, a female character can be touch without being so prickly as to be nothing but solid unpleasantness. He is abusive and possessive. Somehow these two horrible people fall in love with each other, though I never saw why or how…or really when. It just suddenly was.

Plus, I want my badass female characters to be badass. Alana was at best inconsistent. Taking on 60 demons one minute and not able to beat 6 men the next. She was constantly making threats she couldn’t or wouldn’t, certainly didn’t follow through with. She was constantly demanding information she was never given and she was constantly given orders she didn’t like, but followed. In the end, she felt like a child rebelling against a parent, but doing as told.

Then there was the author’s use of rape. It a much overused method authors use when they want to make sure readers know a man is really bad. Not just bad, but really bad. And they (the authors) prance out the rape threats. It’s so overdone as to be boring and totally infuriating. Rape should be so much more than a plot device!

Speaking of plot devices, there were far too many major coincidences. Alana developed abilities as needed and, at one point, when locked in a room (by someone who was going to rape her, but was conveniently interrupted by a knock at the door and had to leave) she found he’d dropped the key on the floor! Yes, the author went there.

So, I said it was bad, but not horrible. In writing this review, I think I talked myself into saying this book is horrible. I will not be continuing the series.