Rod Duncan: The Bullet-Catcher’s Daughter

The first book in a fantasy alternate history trilogy the Fall of the Gas-Lit Empire.

Format: Audio

Length: 9 hours 13 minutes

Publication year: 2014

Narrated by: Gemma Whelan

Elizabeth Barnabus lives in a houseboat with her twin brother Edwin who is a private detective. Except that she’s an only child and her father was an illusionist, a bullet-catcher. She had to flee from her home country to the Gas-Lit Empire where women aren’t allowed to do much of anything. So, she disguises herself as a man and pretends to be her brother. She’s the private detective.

A duchess sends her (or rather her brother) a letter asking Elizabeth to find her brother. The duchess is willing to pay a lot of money so Elizabeth agrees. Of course, the case isn’t easy. It will take her back to her roots and her home country and into a lot of danger.

This was a fascinating alternate world. A civil war divided England into two: the empire and a republic. The two countries have different cultures down to the clothing they wear. The steampunk elements are minor, such as the airship where Elizabeth travels. Even her houseboat doesn’t have any steampunk elements. As is approriate for a book about an illusionist’s daughter who is herself living a double life, other people also have their own secrets and not everything is as it seems. Each chapter starts with a quote from the Bullet-Cathcer’s Handbook.

Elizabeth is, of course, a smart and resourceful woman. She’s also the first person narrator. She keeps even people she calls friends at arm’s length so that her secret doesn’t come out. She’s short on money so she takes the case even though it starts to trouble her.

However, some of the side characters were more interesting than Elizabeth. I really liked Elizabeth’s student who doesn’t know about her teacher’s double life. The circus folk were also very interesting.

The pace isn’t fast but it’s full of intriguing details and mysteries. You can almost read it as a stand-alone. Only the last pages of the last chapter give a hint to a sequel. There’s a glossary at the end.

 

Mark A: Garland and Charles G. McGraw: Star Trek: Voyager: Ghost of a Chance

The seventh Star Trek: Voyager book.

Publication year: 1996

Page count: 337

Publisher: Simon Spotlight Entertainment

Format: print

Both Commander Chakotay and Captain Janeway see dreams, or visions, of an unknown alien race that is faced with a catastrophe. The Voyager arrives at a new system that has a dwarf star. The ship is badly damaged. They go on an orbit around a nearby planet but the planet, Drenard Four, is protected by radiation so Voyager’s sensors are diminished. But they can still detect powerful energy readings from the planet, even though the population seems to be pre-industrial. However, the readings fluctuate a lot. Also, powerful planetquakes will probably tear the planet apart.

An alien ship, belonging to a species called the Televek, is orbiting the planet. They claim that they can help rebuild the Voyager and are interested in helping the Drenarians. However, Neelix knows that the Televek are arms merchants known to escalate war so that they can sell arms to all sides. The Televek send three ambassadors to negotiate. The ambassadors appear very charming and convincing.

This was an okay Star Trek book. Janeway is faced with two difficult problems: if she should trust the Televek and how to help the Drenadians.

Chakotay and Janeway are the main POV characters and we get brief POVs from Kim, Paris, and Torres, as well. While we didn’t get much POV from Torres, she had a lot to do and was perhaps best written from the crew. This was written for the first season.

 

Dave Duncan: Ironfoot

The first book in the historical fantasy trilogy Enchanter General. Can be read as a stand-alone.

The first book in the historical fantasy trilogy Enchanter General. Can be read as a stand-alone.

Format: Audio

Length: 9 hours 19 minutes

Publication year: 2017

Narrated by: Tim Campbell

Normans have ruled England for a hundred years and the native Saxons are spit up, sometimes literally. Durwin is Saxon. His foot was injured in a childhood accident so he must wear an iron boot. Still, a Norman sage, Guy, notices Durwin’s skill with horses and that he’s a smart boy. Guy teaches magic at a rural school. He offers Durwin a post as a stable boy and if Durwin does his job well, he can sit in on the classes, too. Durwin leaps at the chance and his parents agree, as well.

Years later, Durwin is twenty. Because he’s a Saxon, he’s still a stable boy and the Norman students despise him. Still, he learns quickly and wants to learn as much magic as he can. His mentor Guy teaches him. Almost accidentally, Durwin prophesies from ancient rune stones that someone will be murdered.

One of the school’s sages is summoned to attend his noble brother and Guy sends Durwin with him. But also Durwin’s arch nemesis William. However, before sending them off, Guy promotes Durwin to the position of adept, almost unheard of for a Saxon. The Norman William is seething with rage and jealousy, yet Durwin and William must work together.

But at the sage’s brother’s castle, strange things are happening. Before he knows it, Durwin must solve a murder.

This was a fun, fast-paced read. The murder mystery takes quite a while to start but when it does, it’s very enjoyable. As far as I know, the historical research is correct. However, the world has working magic. Sages can heal and lock doors magically. The church thinks that using magic comes from the devil but it hasn’t been outlawed. The spells are cast singing or chanting from ancient books, usually with more than one character chanting.

Durwin is an interesting main character. His crippled leg makes him different from usual fantasy heroes. He’s determined and level-headed, usually able to keep his cool even under Norman taunting. He’s very smart because he’s able to spot and correct mistakes in the spells.

The only drawback is that there are very few female characters and they don’t have agency. This is, of course, historically accurate.

 

Wyrd and Wonder starts!

Wyrd and Wonder a month-long celebration of all thing fantasy starts today! I’m looking forward to reading the posts and my TBR will no doubt explode, again.

I’m starting the month with Dave Duncan’s Ironfoot, a historical fantasy. Then I’ll read Ginjer Buchanan’s White Silence which is a book in the Highlander franchise.

After them, I don’t yet know. Maybe a reread of Elfquest comics or some Michael Moorcock. We’ll see.

 

Elizabeth Peters: Die For Love

A stand-alone mystery in the Jacqueline Kirby mystery series.

Format: Audio

Length: 9 hours 13 minutes

Publication year: 1984

Narrated by: Grace Colin

Jacqeline Kirby is a librarian from Nebraska. She’s bored with her life and her lover, so she heads to New York City to the annual Historical Romance Writers of the World convention. She hasn’t read many romances but her lover thoughtfully gives her two best-sellers to read during her flight. In NYC, she meets quirky characters, one old friend, and eventually, someone is murdered. Except that the death looks like natural causes so not everyone is convinced that the person was murdered. Jacqueline is on the case.

Peters clearly had a lot of fun writing this one. She wrote romances and she’s clearly been to romance conventions. She created a lot of quirky characters. Among them is a best-selling writer who is very afraid that someone will recognize her because she’s a literature teacher. She believes her academic career would be over. Another is a journalist who is trying to dig up dirt about the writers because romance books promote rape and oppress women. Another is a rare male romance writer who is young and handsome and the fans won’t leave him alone. Of course, there’s also an agent who takes more than her own share from the writers’ earnings and is blackmailing some of them.

This is a cozy mystery, so not fast-paced. The murder happens around halfway through the book. Still, this was an entertaining read even though not as good as the Amelia Peabody books. Jacqueline is an independent woman and doesn’t rely on anyone else. She carries a handbag that seems to contain half the world.

The narrator pronounces Jacqueline’s name the way that an American would, rather than a French. This is the third book in the series but can be read as a stand-alone.

 

Kristine Kathryn Rusch: The Gallery of His Dreams

A historical fiction novella with a fantasy twist.

Publishing year: 2008

Format: ebook

Publisher: WMG Publishing Inc.

Wordcount from GoodReads: 56

Young Mathew Brady is a bright boy and his teachers say that he could even become a president one day even though his parents are farmers. But Brady wants to be a great man, someone people will remember. He wants to be a painter.

He leaves the farm and goes to New York. To his disappointment, he doesn’t have the talent for painting. Then he meets Samuel Morse who introduces Brady to daguerreotypes, the earliest form of photography. Brady is immediately intrigued. The next night, he has a dream about the Daguerre portraits he has taken. A woman in the dream says that the photographs will make Brady great.

Some years later, he has a successful portrait photography studio in New York. He meets the girl of his dreams and marries her. But he feels that he could do more and greater things. When the American Civil War starts, he wants to photograph the war so that humans will always remember the horrors and not repeat them. He uses his money and influence to get into the front lines.

This was a story about obsession. By all accounts, Brady is wealthy and successful, yet he throws it all away to follow his dream. In his dreams, he sees a gallery of photographs some of which he hasn’t shot (yet) and he is commissioned to take photos of other historical tragedies. Brady is a real historical man who took famous photos of the Civil War. The story follows his real life closely.

The story has some very vivid and horrible images about various wars.

 

Top 5 Wednesday: Favorite Villainess

Top 5 Wednesday is a GoodReads group where people discuss a different bookish topic each week.

Last year we talked about our favorite villains, so let’s give the ladies some love and feature our favorite villainess’ in fiction! The topic was for last week, but better late than never.

1, Dark Phoenix from the X-Men comics

In the original Dark Phoenix saga, one of the X-Men, Jean Grey, is possesed by a cosmic entity which is almost all-powerful. In the end, the power is too much for Jean and it corrupts her. We readers know Jean and (presumably) like her a lot, so it’s heartbreaking to see the team try to take down one of their own. Jean’s personality comes to the surface a couple of time and she begs for the others to kill her before she can hurt anyone.

2, Mystique from the X-Men comics

In the movies, Mystique was made into a hero. But in the comics, she’s ruthless, determined, and selfish. When it suits her own ends, she’s can work with the police or the heroes. She’s determined and ruthless. She’s also Rogue’s loving mother and in a devoted relationship with a woman.

3, Catwoman from the Batman comics

Selina Kyle makes a point of never killing anyone. Yet, she enjoys both the money and the thrills she gets from heists. She’s attracted to Batman but not enough to give up crime. At least in the main timestream. There are a couple of alternate universes where Bruce and Selina are together.

4, Jadis the White Witch from the Lion, the Witch, and Wardrobe by C. S. Lewis

The White Witch was responsible for keeping Narnia is forever winter but without Christmas.

5, Drusilla from Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Drusilla first appared in the second season of the show. She’s a vampire with the gift of foresight. She’s also insane and enjoys tormenting people before killing them.

 

Neve Masklakovic: The Far Time Incident

The first book in the time-travel Incident series. Can be read as a stand-alone.

Format: Audio

Length: 9 hours 45 minutes

Publication year: 2013

Narrated by: Mary Robinette Kowal

Julia Olsen is the assistant to the dean of science at St. Sunniva University. When one of the professors fails to come back from a routine time-travel trip, the science department is in trouble. Campus Security Chief Nate Kirkland investigates and Julia is assigned to help him. At first, everyone assumes that the professor had an accident. But nobody can find the time coordinates where he went. So, Nate starts to suspect that the professor could have been murdered.

Academics and time travel have so far been a winning combination for me and this book didn’t disappoint. Julia is a long-time assistant and knows the university, students, and professors inside out. She’s smart and hard-working but has never aspired to be a professor. She’s also recently separated from her husband and there’s a minor romance in the book.

The first part of the book is set in the academic world which I rather liked but I thoroughly enjoyed the second half which I won’t spoil here. I don’t know if the research is correct, though.

Even though this is the first book in the series, it doesn’t leave plotlines hanging. I thoroughly enjoyed it and will continue with the series.

 

Kristine Kathryn Rusch: G-Men

An alternate history mystery novella.

Publishing year: 2008

Format: ebook

Publisher: WMG Publishing Inc.

Wordcount from GoodReads: 56

The story is set a couple of months after President Kennedy was shot. New York homicide detective Seamus O’Reilly is called early in the morning to a crime scene next to a house where people know that gay people party. So, nobody has been in a hurry to investigate the two men who have been shot. To his shock, the bodies turn out to be J. Edgar Hoover and his closest associate. FBI Agent Frank Bryce is also called to investigate. The inter-office rivalry is forgotten in the face of this crime.

Meanwhile, Robert Kennedy is racing to get his hands on Hoover’s secret files about all the politicians in Washington. Including himself and his later brother.

This is a wonderful, tight story. It’s a great crime story and a great historical fiction story. Despite the short length, we get invested in three distinct POV characters and we understand the scope of the disaster. They’re all very good at their jobs. The story shows the prejudices common in that time without condoning them. The prejudices frustrate the POV characters because they get in the way of proper investigation.

 

Kickstarter project and a Fae book bundle

Kristine Kathryn Rusch has a new Kickstarter: Barkson’s Journey. It’s the newest book in her Fay series.

In Barkson’s Journey, Lucinda Barkson sets out on a trip to save an entire family. She travels across a continent and encounters unrest and magic, evildoers and people with surprising skills.

It’s almost a standalone novel. Rusch explains:

[Y]ou will enjoy it if you read it first, but better to read The Kirilli Matter (which you can get in this Kickstarter). You don’t have to read the entire first Fey saga at all…unless you want to.

12 days left. It’s already funded and reached the first stretch goal so backers will get an additional ebook Flower Fairies. The rewards include two workshops: How to Create and Use Fantasy Maps and How to Create Great Fantasy Main Characters.

Storybundle has a wonderful new bundle: The Fantastic Fae Bundle: Curated by Anthea Sharp: Top fantasy authors bring you a dozen books, each one filled with otherwordly magic. Which portal will you open first? They all lead to adventure, but beware the bargains of the fae…

The bestselling authors in this StoryBundle are known for their deft use of traditional faerie lore. Don’t expect twinkles and sweetness here! Instead, you’ll encounter the treacherous and lovely denizens of the Realm of Faerie, in all their guises. Whether it’s a mortal stolen into the Faerie courts, or a half-blood changeling struggling to live in the human world, fae magic imbues each of these books with perilous magic.

21 days left.

Humblebundle has Shogun the Asian saga bundle.

Lose yourself in the stirring fiction of James Clavell with this audiobook bundle, sure to whisk you away to lands of conflict, power, and transformation. Shogun, the masterpiece of historical fiction from which the hit FX TV drama was adapted, transports you to feudal Japan, where intrigue, strategy, and a clash of cultures unfold through the eyes of an English navigator. King Rat, set in a WWII POW camp, reveals the resilience of the human spirit amidst despair and deprivation. Pay what you want for this collection of rousing audiobooks—8 titles in all—and help support First Book with your purchase.

5 days left.