Mervi's Book reviews

Top 5 Wednesday is GoodReads group where people discuss different bookish topic each week. Today the topic is Top 5 Long Series.

I don’t know about you, but I love a long series, which is anything more than three books. What are your favorites?

I love long series and I read many of them. Choosing just five was very hard, but here goes:

1, Lois McMaster Bujold: The Vorkosigan series.

This is a long-running science fiction series, but it’s very character oriented. No aliens. Instead, the various planets have their own human cultures. The first two books are Shards of Honor and Barrayar (combined in the omnibus Cordelia’s Honor) which follow the parents of Miles Vorkosigan who is the main character for the rest of the series. You can also start with Miles in the book Warrior’s Apprentice.

2, Steven Brust: The Vlad Taltos series.

Another long-running series, this time fantasy. The main character Vlad Taltos is human, a witch, and an assassin. He lives in a world which is ruled by Dragaerans and humans are second-class people, at best. Vlad and his familiar Loiosh banter a lot in sarcastic tones. The first book is Jhereg but the first three books are collected in the omnibus called Jhereg.

3, Genevive Cogman: The Invisible Library series.

Cogman’s series is a newer one. It’s a delightful mix of librarians on secret missions, alternate realities, magic, fairies, and dragons. The first book is the Invisible Library.

4, Kerry Greenwood: Phryne Fisher series

A wonderful cozy mystery series set in the 1920s Australia. Phryne is an independent, stubborn woman who becomes Australia’s first female detective. She has many lovers and lives her life the way she wants to. The TV-show Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries is based on this long series. While I loved the TV-show, too, I adore the Phryne in the books. The first book is Cocaine Blues.

5, Elizabeth Peters: Amelia Peabody series

Another long historical mystery series. This is set in Victorian Egypt. Amelia and her husband are amateur Egyptologists who solve murders while working on the digs. The first book is Crocodile on the Sandbank.

Collects Superwoman issues 1-7 (Rebirth).

Writer: Phil Jimenez

Artists: Phil Jimenez, Emanuela Lupacchino, Jack Herbert, Joe Prado, Matt Santorell, Ray McCarthy

When the original Superman of this timeline died exploding, Lana Lang and Lois Lane were near him. The women got powers from the explosion. Lois got powers similar to Superman and Lana got electricity powers. Lois wants to be Superwoman, to continued Clark’s work but Lana doesn’t.

However, Lois convinces Lana to train her. Then Lois starts her career as Superwoman.

Lex Luthor is Metropolis’ new Superman. He uses an armored suit and he has built a huge battleship called the Gestalt to battle (other) supervillains. But when he unveils it to the people in Metropolis bay, someone takes over it. Both Lois and Lana are needed to try to prevent the mysterious person from taking over Gestalt and perhaps the whole world.

I really liked the dynamic between Lois and Lana. They aren’t friends, they don’t even like each other, but they’ve lost Clark. Lois wants to protect the world to keep up his legacy. Lana doesn’t want to do any superhero stuff but she agrees to train Lois. In the end, Lana does take up the mantle of Superwoman and help Lois. I was really interested in seeing what happens between them. That’s why I was very disappointed with the end of the first issue, hoping it wouldn’t be true.

So instead of the (more interesting?) storyline I was expecting we got a story about how Lana’s powers are killing her and she must overcome her fear to function. After Clark’s death, she started having panic attacks and she’s afraid that everyone she loves will die. She’s an engineer but is now a science reporter. However, that wasn’t really relevant to the story. She’s in a relationship with Steel, John Henry Irons. She clearly loves him but she’s also afraid that he will die and she’s trying to push him to the side to protect him. Or her own feelings.

I really enjoyed Lana’s supporting cast of Steel and his genius inventor niece Natasha. I also rather enjoyed the ghost. Traci 13 seemed interesting but I don’t know her. Maggie Sawyer appears as the Captain of Metropolis’ Special Crimes Unit. Lex’s newfound obsession with becoming a superhero was interesting.

The storyline jumps some days or weeks forward at one point. I think that could have been clearer. Also, at some point, Lana was telling us (in recap boxed) about things she couldn’t know, which was really strange. Also, it ends in a cliffhanger.

Most of the art is done by Jimenez and I love it. The fill-in artists weren’t too different, either.

While I didn’t like everything about the comic, I enjoyed it.

Collects Uncanny X-Men (2018) 17-22.

Writer: Matthew Rosenberg

Artists: Salvador Larroca, Carlos Gomez, Carlos Villa

Publisher: Marvel

This is the culmination of six months of comics for the mutants who aren’t in the Age of X-Man alternate world. Cyclops and his team face increasingly desperate times. Also, one mutant is working without their knowledge and yet using them are puppets. The team is Cyclops, Wolverine, Mirage, Magick, Havoc, Karma, Chamber, Multiple Man, Hope Summers, Banshee, and Juggernaut. However, Karma leaves the team and so does Wolverine. The team has decided to use Dark Beast as their scientist. Not everyone is comfortable with that decision.

This is a very dark comic. All of the characters are struggling with the deaths of their teammates, friends, and lovers. Cyclops suggested that they would take care of their deadliest enemies before the X-Men themselves are killed. The team agrees on that mission but not much else. They fight and bicker amongst themselves while talking about issues such as leadership and trust.

Also, the US government wants to get rid of mutants and so they’re issuing vaccinations for children. The vaccine will stop mutations. The whole next generation of mutants is in dire danger.

This is meant to be the end of the X-Men, with the characters making a fateful decision very near the end. Of course, Hickman’s new run changes, not just the teams, but the mutants’ place in the Marvel universe. If the X-Men had ended here permanently, I probably wouldn’t have been satisfied for the simple reason that there are so many mutants and they all didn’t get their ending. That would have taken several issues, of course. So as it is, this was a fine ending to the series, for now.

A stand-alone urban fantasy book.

Publication year: 2018
Format: Audio
Running time: 9 hours 21 minutes
Narrator: Kevin T. Collins

I’m a huge fan of Brust’s Vlad Taltos books so I guess I was expecting something similar. The Good Guys isn’t a Taltos book.

Donovan Longfellow, Marci, and Susan are a field team for the Foundation. The Foundation is dedicated to keeping the existence of magic a secret from the regular people. They also train magic users and hire them for minimum wage. The trio considers themselves the good guys.

Donovan is told about a new murder possibly done with magic because it was done in bright daylight in a restaurant and nobody saw a thing. When the trio gets to the site, Marci finds out that very powerful magic has been used to murder the victim. A time-stopping spell from an artifact. Donovan and the team must find out who the killer is and where do they get their magical artifacts. However, when the team realizes that the killer is after quite bad men, they start to wonder if they are, indeed, the good guys.

This was an entertaining read. The characters are quite distinct but for some reason, I just didn’t connect with any of them. Donovan has some FBI training so he’s very good at police work. He’s also black. Marci is a new sorceress but unlike the other two, she has a personal life. Susan is an experienced sorceress and quite formidable with both her magical talents and physical skills. I wanted to like them more.

However, I don’t think the format of the book was best for audio. The story has many, many POV characters. One of them is in the first person and the rest in the third person. The scenes are quick and the POV character changes often. It was a bit difficult to follow in the audiobook for me.

The world was interesting and I feel there could be more stories in it. Brust plays around with quite a few tropes. For example, Donovan knows that torture isn’t an effective way to get reliable information, so the team simply talks with people, even those who try to kill them. Also, Susan is the team’s muscle.

A historical murder mystery set in 80 BC in the Roman Republic. Can be read as a stand-alone but it’s the first book in the Roma Sub Rosa mystery series.

Publisher: Minotaur books

Publication year: 1991
Format: print

Page count: 380

Gordianus is called the Finder because he’s an investigator. He’s a Roman citizen but hasn’t inherited wealth, so must work for his living. A young slave comes to him early in the morning, asking him to go and meet with the slave’s master, Marcus Tullius Cicero.

Gordianus has never heard of the young man who is just starting his career as an orator and a lawyer. So after dallying in his house for a while, curing his hangover, Gordianus and the slave, Tiro, head to Cicero’s house. Cicero has just accepted his first law case, involving a suspected patricide. Gordianus isn’t too keen to get mixed in such a case but he needs the money so he takes the case.

He inspects the place where the father was killed, interviews different kinds of people, walks up and down Rome itself, and even makes a short trip to the countryside. The case turns out to be quite a bit more complex than he thought at first.

The book has excellent descriptions of Rome and the culture at the time. Slaves are more numerous than free men. While the wealthy take shelter from the hot sun, the slaves toil away, doing all the real work. Saylor doesn’t sweep away the slavery but has ”good” owners and also the ones who berate and beat their slaves whenever they want. We also get to know that slaves can testify at court, but only under torture. Gordianus himself owns a half-Egyptian female slave, Bethesda, and he sleeps with her several times. She’s depicted as pretty headstrong woman so I guess Saylor implies that the sex is consensual on her part, too. But since she’s a slave, she can’t choose.

The mystery itself is pretty complicated and forces Gordianus to go around and meet all sorts of people, showcasing Rome and its people, both poor and rich. Gordianus lives near the Subura, the slums, and he goes through it several times.

I mostly enjoyed this one and enjoyed the historical detail, although the writing style is pretty dry. Interestingly enough, the mystery is based on Cicero’s first real case.

A Penric and Desdemona fantasy novella.

Publication year: 2020
Format: ebook

Publisher: Spectrum Literary Agency

Pagecount at GoodReads: 102

This is the ninth Pen and Des story in publication order but the third one in the internal chronology.

Ten years had gone by since Pen had contracted Des, a bodyless demon which lives inside Pen. Pen is used to her and she to him. They tease each other but clearly know their bounders.

Pen is in Lodi, a Venice-like city with canals and boats. It’s the Eve of Bastard’s Day and people are starting to celebrate it with heavy drinking and other debaucheries. Pen has plans to spend it translating one of Des’ previous host’s papers. Instead, he’s summoned to the archdivine’s presence and sent to a hospice where an apparent madman has been brought in. The doctor there wants Pen to see that the man isn’t really possessed. But when Pen arrives at the hospice, he confirms the doctor’s fear: the young man is possessed by an insane demon. And then the possessed man manages to run away.

Pen and Desdemona search for him in vain. Only a Saint of the Bastard can draw out a demon from a human or animal. Fortunately, there is one Saint in the city. Perhaps they can even help find the unfortunate man.

If you’ve read the previous Pen and Des novellas, this is quite similar in mood to the others. It’s warm-hearted and charming rather than a thriller with a world at stake. Most of the story takes place with Pen and Des looking at the possessed man. However, there isn’t a much substance to the story, just entertainment.

While Penric is the only third-person POV character, the Saint rather steals the show and I hope we’ll see them again. I also thoroughly enjoyed the banter between Pen and Des, as usual. Also, Des’ terror at meeting and working with a Saint, who devours demons, was understandable and entertaining, too.

This was an entertaining, quick read, exactly the mood I want to read right now. It seems that there are three Pen and Des novellas I haven’t read yet!

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish and is now hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. Today, the topic is Top Ten Books in my summer TBR list.

Of course, I want to read and listen all books in my TBR so it’s a bit difficult to choose among them. But right now I really want to read:

1, Steven Brust: the Good Guys

I just started listening this one. It’s urban fantasy but so far hasn’t the humor that Brust’s Vlad Taltos books have.

2, William Goldman: the Princess Bride

Of course, I love the movie and I’ve wanted to read the book for a while now.

3, Lois McMaster Bujold: Masquerade at Lodi

I’m shamefully behind reading the delightful Penric and Desdemona novellas and I need to correct that.

4, Leigh Brackett ed.: The Best of Planet stories

This short story collection has been in my shelves for years so it’s finally time to tackle it.

5, Scott Lynch: the Lies of Locke Lamora

Another book which I’ve owned for a long time. I’ve heard so much good things about this whole series, but on the other hand, it’s apparently still not finished.

6, Age of X-Man comics

These seem like a fun alternate reality so I really want to more of them.

7, Michael White: Equinox

Another long-time TBR book. It seems like a Dan Brown type of thriller but set in Oxford.

8, Daniel H. Wilson: The Clockwork Dynasty

I bought this a while back from Audible sale and it sounds like a very interesting steampunk book.

9, Mur Lafferty: Six Wakes

The other book from the Audible sale and I really want to listen to this SF book, too.

10, Zara Altair: the Grain Merchant

Her historical mystery stories, the Argolicus series, are set in Middle Ages when the Ostrogoth ruled Rome. The newest book sounds very interesting!

Wendy and Richard Pini have a Kickstarter project to fund ElfQuest the Audio movie!

“This campaign is funding a cinematic ‘audio movie’ experience with an anticipated cast of more than 40 voice actors, original sound design, and a lush orchestral score.

The audio movie covers the first five issues of ElfQuest and is adapted not only from the comics, but directly from long creative sessions with Wendy Pini that add new details, answer old questions, and expand the world of Abode for the audio format.”

I’ve listened only one audio movie made for a comic before. While I wasn’t impressed with that one, I’m sure the Pinis will make this one a wonderful experience.

The bigger pledges have wonderful ElfQuest miniature sets! I so wish I could afford them.

The project is already funded. 12 more days to go.

This is the third book based on the SF TV-show Firefly. It’s set after the show but before the movie Serenity.

Publication year: 2020
Format: Audio
Running time: 8 hours 15 minutes
Narrator: James Anderson Foster

This was a strange story. It begins with Mal, Zoe, and Jayne meeting a small posse of men to pick up a sealed crate for Badger. But Mal gets a really bad feeling. The meeting goes sour and turns into a gunfight. After the fight, Mal doesn’t want to take the cargo, even though the crew desperately needs the money. But Jayne wants to take the cargo. Mal flat out refuses to take it to the Mule. Even though he’s wounded, Jayne walks back, carrying the crate all the way. During the walk, he starts to hallucinate about his mom and younger brother.

Jayne manages to get to the ship. Simon promptly confines him to the sick bay. But in the middle of the night, Jayne slips out and brings the crate inside and hides it. This is, of course, a very bad move.

River flips out but she can’t communicate with the rest of the crew well enough to tell them that the crate is dangerous. Wash lifts Serenity off the planet. But during the flight, every crew member slips to a dream where he or she lives through their fondest dreams… which turns into their most horrible nightmares.

Inara and the Shepard have left the ship so they’re not among the crew. Almost all the other crew members get their own subplot in their dream so they all get their chance to shine. Unfortunately, when the dreams turn to nightmares, most of them are very graphically gory. While some Firefly episodes have torture (War Stories comes to mind…) this was a bit too much.

Also, I’m not sure that Mal would have forced a wounded crew member to walk back to the ship.

I have quite mixed feelings about this story. I enjoyed most of it. I think the dreams were quite appropriate for each character, although I felt sorry for a couple of characters. But they ended up too dark for me.

The first book in a planned YA fantasy series. Can be read as a stand-alone.

Publication year: 2015

Publisher: Creativity Hacker Press

Format: ebook
Page count in GoodReads: 203

Merrick is an apprentice to his da, the smith. However, he’s not a good smith’s apprentice. He thinks too slowly and his skills aren’t advancing. He sleeps in the smithy and when a blue-glowing ghost appears in the smithy, Merrick thinks of only defending his da’s place. When the ghost limps outside, Merrick follows. The ghost lures him to the area where wealthier people live. There, Merrick meets two other young men whom the ghost has also brought to this place. They find a buried box and three strange items from inside. Before they find out what they are, they must run away from the Watchstanders. They don’t know what is going on, but they agree to meet the next night, to find out.

This felt like a boys’ adventure novel with three teen boys who suddenly find themselves in the middle of very important and dangerous events. The adults around them are clueless at best, a threat at worst.

Merrick is the main POV character. The two other boys, Tam and Kern, are quite different from him. Tam is an orphan, living on the streets. He’s an excellent thief, curious and quick-witted. He’s also quick to insult others. Kern grew up on a family ship. But it sank, leaving Kern the only survivor. He’s now a baker’s apprentice but resents it. Aboard the ship, he was taught to fight.

The city of Deneigh is described well. It used to be a mighty fortress city, but has since fallen to disrepair. People are moving out of it. At least some of the Watchstanders are corrupt and take up the job so that they can shake people down for money. The second POV character is a young Watch officer who is also the son of the Reeve, the appointed governor of the city. The officer enjoys tormenting people.

This book is a quick and light read. The ending ties up plot threads but it’s clearly meant to lead to a series.