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The Prey of Gods

Book Review of The Prey of Gods, by Nicky Drayden

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I borrowed Nicky Drayden‘s The Prey of Gods through my local library.

Description from Goodreads:
In South Africa, the future looks promising. Personal robots are making life easier for the working class. The government is harnessing renewable energy to provide infrastructure for the poor. And in the bustling coastal town of Port Elizabeth, the economy is booming thanks to the genetic engineering industry which has found a welcome home there. Yes—the days to come are looking very good for South Africans. That is, if they can survive the present challenges:

A new hallucinogenic drug sweeping the country . . .
An emerging AI uprising . . .
And an ancient demigoddess hellbent on regaining her former status by preying on the blood and sweat (but mostly blood) of every human she encounters.

It’s up to a young Zulu girl powerful enough to destroy her entire township, a queer teen plagued with the ability to control minds, a pop diva with serious daddy issues, and a politician with even more serious mommy issues to band together to ensure there’s a future left to worry about.

Review:
This book and I had a really strange time together. I liked it. I thought the characters were interesting and diverse. I liked the plot. I liked the humor and the writing. But…BUT, I felt like the book was five billion pages long. I joked that it must be growing pages as I read and I felt like I would never finish it. It seemed to drag in the middle, having a great start and exciting ending.

I’d read more by Nicky Drayden and I can objectively say this was a good book. but I also have to admit I’m just plain happy to be done with it.

River of Teeth

Book Review of River of Teeth, by Sarah Gailey

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I borrowed a copy of Sarah Gailey’s River of Teeth from my local library.

Description from Goodreads:
In the early 20th Century, the United States government concocted a plan to import hippopotamuses into the marshlands of Louisiana to be bred and slaughtered as an alternative meat source. This is true.

Other true things about hippos: they are savage, they are fast, and their jaws can snap a man in two.

This was a terrible plan.

Contained within this volume is an 1890s America that might have been: a bayou overrun by feral hippos and mercenary hippo wranglers from around the globe. It is the story of Winslow Houndstooth and his crew. It is the story of their fortunes. It is the story of his revenge.

Review:
Awesome cover and really interesting plot, with the hippos and all. I liked the alternative history and the characters. I liked the wildly diverse cast and the speech patterns. I thought the writing was clean and easy to read. But I also thought it was all just a little too vague. There were aspects of the plot skimmed over that left me uncertain how or why some things happened. The book is only 170 pages long. There was plenty of room to fill it out more. I’ll be happy to read the sequel though. Because for all its faults,it was just plain fun.

Book Review of The Dragon’s Legacy, by Deborah A. Wolf

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I borrowed a copy of Deborah A. Wolf’s The Dragon’s Legacy from my local library.

Description from Goodreads:
The last Aturan King is dying, and as his strength fades so does his hold on sa and ka. Control of this power is a deadly lure; the Emperor stirs in his Forbidden City to the East, while deep in the Seared Lands, the whispering voices of Eth bring secret death. Eight men and women take their first steps along the paths to war, barely realizing that their world will soon face a much greater threat; at the heart of the world, the Dragon stirs in her sleep. A warrior would become Queen, a Queen would become a monster, and a young boy plays his bird-skull flute to keep the shadows of death at bay. 

Review:
Are you ready to dive into an epic series in which the first 486 page book is nothing more than the characters getting on the board and doesn’t do anything more than set up future book? Well, this is the book for you!

I was not ready for that. I was ready for a 486 page story. I got a 486 page introduction, maybe a prologue. It was not enough. I ended this book disappointed…and it took me forever and a day to read it. I got sooo tired of having to reference the three(!) dictionaries in the front. Thank god they were there, but did the book need its own freakin’ language?

The writing was pretty, though quite purple on occasion and I liked how some of the gender tropes were subverted. But part of me is side-eyeing that same subversion. Is it really a subversive if it’s just been flipped, not really explored in any depth.

As an aside, I was consistently annoyed that this appeared to be another world, but there were several very earth-like jokes and references. Like a quip about knowing poor Yorick well. Perhaps its meant as a future earth, but there were at least two suns for example, so I thought not. Each such comment felt anachronistic to me.

All in all, not a bad book, but not at all what I was looking for.