Tag Archives: Orbit

the shepherd king duology

Book Review: Shepherd King Duology, by Rachel Gillig

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I was given a paperback copy of Rachel Gillig‘s One Dark Window and then purchased a copy of the sequel Two Twisted Crowns.
the shepherd king covers

Elspeth needs a monster. The monster might be her.

Elspeth Spindle needs more than luck to stay safe in the eerie, mist-locked kingdom of Blunder—she needs a monster. She calls him the Nightmare, an ancient, mercurial spirit trapped in her head. He protects her. He keeps her secrets.

But nothing comes for free, especially magic.

When Elspeth meets a mysterious highwayman on the forest road, her life takes a drastic turn. Thrust into a world of shadow and deception, she joins a dangerous quest to cure Blunder from the dark magic infecting it. And the highwayman? He just so happens to be the King’s nephew, Captain of the most dangerous men in Blunder…and guilty of high treason.

Together they must gather twelve Providence Cards—the keys to the cure. But as the stakes heighten and their undeniable attraction intensifies, Elspeth is forced to face her darkest secret yet: the Nightmare is slowly taking over her mind. And she might not be able to stop him.

my review

I very much enjoyed this series, the second book slightly more than the first. The villains are a bit cliched, and the focus remains closely focused on the main characters, such that there is little sense of the rest of the people in the world. But the main characters are all interesting and engaging in their own way. I adored Nightmare and his genuine affection for Elspeth, but honestly, they all have qualities I appreciated (not least of which was the genuine familial love on display). The magic of the world is really interesting, the writing is easy to read, and the conclusion is satisfying. I’ll pick up another Gillig book, happily.

the shepherd king duology

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Series Review: The Shepherd King

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Book Review: Behind the Throne, by K.B. Wagers

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I purchased an e-copy of K.B. Wagers‘ Behind the Throne from the dreaded ‘Zon.

Meet Hail: Captain. Gunrunner. Fugitive.

Quick, sarcastic, and lethal, Hailimi Bristol doesn’t suffer fools gladly. She has made a name for herself in the galaxy for everything except what she was born to do: rule the Indranan Empire. That is, until two Trackers drag her back to her home planet to take her rightful place as the only remaining heir.

But trading her ship for a palace has more dangers than Hail could have anticipated. Caught in a web of plots and assassination attempts, Hail can’t do the one thing she did twenty years ago: run away. She’ll have to figure out who murdered her sisters if she wants to survive.

my review
I’ll say up front that this book didn’t turn out to be what I expected. The cover led me to expect a woman of action, out effecting change in the world(s). What I got was a woman who spends a lot of time changing from one fancy dress or sari to other fancy suits, drinking a lot of chai, and effecting change by dent of surviving, mostly thanks to the efforts of the men around her (who she allows to make most of her decisions and looks to for plans and instruction almost constantly).

And I’m not saying I didn’t enjoy the book. I actually did. I liked all the characters. I liked that it had both male and female characters of note, but no romance. I loved that Hail was almost 40.  I liked the writing, the humor, and the world. But the book wasn’t what I was hoping for.

What’s more, it kind of failed in some of what it was. It tried really hard to subvert gender norms by giving the reader a matriarchy where men are largely and systematically disenfranchisement (as woman have been in the past). But it was just lip service. As others have pointed out, if you made Hail male and the guards female, this book wouldn’t work. It’s simply too firmly entrenched in expected gender norms, which means it’s not actually as transgressive as it’s clearly trying to be.

But again, none of that would really matter if I hadn’t gone into the book expecting more than I was given. All in all, I’ll likely finish the series. I did like the book. It just wasn’t the book I’d hoped it would be.

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Book Review: Behind the Throne, by K.B. Wagers

Book Review: Behind the Throne, by K.B. Wagers

BEHIND THE THRONE by K.B. Wagers – Review

the time of contempt

Book Review of The Time of Contempt (The Witcher #2), by Andrzej Sapkowski

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I borrowed an e-copy of Andrzej Sapowski‘s The Time of Contempt through my local library. (Links to my reviews for The Last Wish and Blood of Elves are below.)

Description from Goodreads:

Geralt is a witcher: guardian of the innocent; protector of those in need; a defender, in dark times, against some of the most frightening creatures of myth and legend. His task, now, is to protect Ciri. A child of prophecy, she will have the power to change the world for good or for ill — but only if she lives to use it.

A coup threatens the Wizard’s Guild.
War breaks out across the lands.
A serious injury leaves Geralt fighting for his life…
… and Ciri, in whose hands the world’s fate rests, has vanished…

Review:

I have to be honest, if I’d started this series here I wouldn’t be continuing. I liked the short stories (The Last Wish) and enjoyed book one (Blood of Elves), but I struggled to finish this book. I found the writing really stiff. I don’t know if that’s the fault of the author or the translator, but it was no fun to read. I struggled to keep the characters and locations straight and there was too little indication of changing POVs. So, I often didn’t know what was happening, since I didn’t know we’d changed characters. Then to top it all off, the last quarter starts in on all the cliched man-writing-fantasy BS. Suddenly it’s wench this and rape that, etc. And it ends on a cliffhanger. I will give this series one more book because I’m interested in the overarching storyline. But if it doesn’t improve (at least to the quality of book one) I’m calling it done.