Mervi's Book reviews

A fantasy novel.

Publication year: 2023

Page count: 302

Format: ebook

Publisher: Oblique Angles Press

Abe and his daughter Adira are lawyers specializing in negotiations between humans and the fae. There are many different kinds of Fair Folk. Some are mischievous while others mean either well or ill toward the humans they deal with. Abe and Adira do their best to make contracts between humans and fae just for both sides. While the fae can’t lie, they aren’t obligated to tell the whole truth, either, so the contracts need to be very carefully worded.

Some rules apply to all fae, such as not thanking them or not eating their food. Mortals should also not reveal their true names. All fae also expect extreme politeness. But some realms have rules of their own. For example, in an icy Fae realm, lighting a fire is a mortal offense.

Adira and Abe are in the middle of a changeling case. A distraught woman thinks that the fae have taken her son and left one of their own in his place. Abe and Adira agree to find out if it’s possible to get the little boy back. However, a fae they know well, Viscount of Bloomingshire, comes by with another case. A young man has unwittingly wandered into an icy fae realm and lit a torch. Now, severe punishment as a warning to other mortals. Despite their misgivings, Abe and Adira agree to represent the terrified young man. However, during the trial, of sorts, Adira may lose a lot more than she thought possible.

This was an enchanting read. The start was a bit slow but introduced us well to the characters and the world. The plot takes us to make fascinating Fae realms. Adira is an independent woman who loves to explore new things and new places. Abe defends humans the best way he knows, as a lawyer. When Adira is in trouble, he will do anything to save her. The third POV character is Clara, Abe’s wife and Adira’s mother. Clara is a folklorist so she travels around the world. But as soon as she hears about Adira’s problem, she drops everything and returns home. The three form a loving family.

The Fae are very interesting and different from each other. The Viscount is a flamboyant character who often skirts the truth, rather than telling it bluntly. The ice fae resent mortals coming to their realm and are very blunt about it. I really enjoyed two others, but I won’t spoil them.

This was an engaging read. It has a lot of adventure and excitement without much violence. I’m hoping she will write more stories set in this world.

Like Father Like Daughter, a superhero origin story by Kat Camalia

A father with superpowers, leaves his wife and daughter to become “Invulnerable” – the world’s only superhero. Ten years later, his daughter discovers that she has inherited the very superpowers that made her father leave their family. 

Invulnerable isn’t the only person keeping secrets! Casey’s mom has been a villain this whole entire time as a lifelong KGB agent. But is being a villain or hero as black and white as we paint them out to be? 

This sounds like a lot of fun.

16 days to go. It’s already funded.

Dean Wesley Smith and Kristine Kathryn Rusch have a new Kickstarter: Hearts Collide: 100 Strange Romance Short Stories.

Now, for the first time, Kris and Dean are collecting 100 of their strange romance short stories together into a five-volume set called HEARTS COLLIDE. Twenty stories per volume. 

And when Kris and Dean call these “Strange Romances,” they mean just that. When they commit romance, it tends to be in just about any genre and on any topic, but always with that underlying feel of a romance.

It’s already funded and reached the first stretch goal. The rewards include previous Collide anthologies, Kristine Grayson’s romance books, and two writing workshops: How to write with emotion in all genres, and A deep look at romance team structure and how to use it in any genre.

7 days to go.

We bought the complete Wonder Woman TV-series boxed set before Christmas. It stars Lynda Carter as Diana Prince/Wonder Woman and Lyle Waggoner as Steve Trevor.

I was a bit sceptical before watch, because it was filmed in 1976-1977 but the episodes turned out to be watchable. There was just one episode I didn’t watch to the end.

The first season is set during World War 2 and the Nazis are the enemies. All the clothing, hair styles, even cars are from the 1940s, which was great. Diana has a job as Steve Trevor’s secretary at the HQ of US Military Intelligence in Washington. They are all independent episodes, except that two were two-part episodes (The Feminum Mystique part 1 and 2 where the Nazis invade Paradise Island and Judgement from Outer Space part 1 and 2 where aliens judge humans).

There are no supervillains, though. I think the closest to a supervillain was a trained gorilla. However, Diana is often brought down with chloroform or poison gas, but she always recovers before the end of the episode.

The TV-Diana has some differences compared to the movie or comic book version:

She can’t fly. Instead she has an invisible plane.

Her strenght is tied to her belt. When it’s removed, she’s no longer superstrong.

She can mimic voices perfectly.

She’s over 2,000 years old.

She changes into her Wonder Woman uniform while twirling.

She has a younger sister, Drusilla, who is sixteen and becomes Wonder Girl.

We’re continuing to season 2.

The Worlds Without End site has this interesting reading challenge and I decided to join in.

TV tie-in reading challenge:

The TV Tie-In Reading Challenge is back for 2024. Read 4 or 8 books that are based on TV series. Star Trek, Babylon 5, Space 1999, Six Million Dollar Man – books can be from any TV series, past or present. Review you favorite and comment in the challenge forum.

Books read:

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

Highlander: White Silence

The second book in the YA Arthurian modern fantasy series Legendborn.

Publication year: 2022

Page count: 561

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Format: print

Bree Matthews wanted to know who killed her mother and why. To do that, she infiltrated a secret society called the Legendborn. The inner circle are descendants of King Arthur and his Knights. They protect humanity against demons. Almost all are white and some of them made it clear that Bree wasn’t welcome. However, Bree found out her own power: she’s a medium, a Rootcrafter, and a Scion of Arthur himself. Only a couple of her closest friends know about her power. She’s tried to train her abilities but the other Legendborn have been training their whole lives.

Now, the three Regents of the Legendborn know that Bree is the direct descendant of King Arthur and therefore their future king. They tell Bree that they must keep it a secret for her protection. Reluctantly she agrees. The Regents take Bree to an underground place where she will draw Excalibur and perform the rite to accept Arthur’s spirit into her body.

However, Bree doesn’t want anyone else to control her body and during the rite, she rebels. Also, the Regents are not going to let anyone, let alone a black girl, take away their power. They drug Bree and imprison her.

Now, she must learn to control her abilities to save herself and her friends.

This was a good second book in the series. Bree makes mistakes and pays for them. She’s stubborn and stubbornly independent. She’s also fiercely loyal and smart.

The story examines, again, grief and living with it, but also the structure of society that it built by white people for white people. Bree is often the only black person in the room.

Most of the cast from the first book returns. I really like Alice, Bree’s best friend. Alice doesn’t have any mystical abilities but she helps any way she can. Bree’s love interest Nick has been kidnapped and is missing most of the book. However, her second love interest Selwyn the half-demon is very much present and they have many sweet moments together as well as moments of disagreement and misunderstandings. I also enjoyed a new group of people we meet.

The Arthurian stories are twisted in an interesting way at first but I didn’t really care for some of my favorite characters turning out to be villains.

The book was mostly enjoyable if a bit too long and the romance felt forced to me. It ends is a cliffhanger.

In this post, I’ll track the books, novellas, and comic books I’ve read and reviewed this year.

Challenges:

Mount TBR (12) 5

Action heroine (7) 3

TV-tie-in reading challenge (4)

January:

1, Tracey Deonn: Bloodmarked (action)

2, Karen A. Wyle: Far From Mortal Realms

February

3, Luke Richardson, Ernest Dempsey: The Paris Heist

4, Crystal Sarakas and Rhondi Salsitz ed.: Shattering the Glass Slipper (tbr)

March

5, Mary Robinette Kowal: Word Puppets

6, Steven Moore and Luke Richardson: Set Him Free

7,Kristine Kathryn Rusch, Dean Wesley Smith: Crimes Collide vol. 1 (tbr)

8, Eluki bes Shahar: X-Men: Smoke and Mirrors

9, Dean Wesley Smith: Ball of Confusion (tbr)

10, Luke Richarson: Koh Tao

April

11, Nancy Holder: Queen of the Slayers (tbr, action)

12, Alex White: The Worst of All Possible Worlds (action)

13, Kristine Kathryn Rusch: G-Men

14, Neve Masklakovic: The Far Time Incident

15, Kristine Kathryn Rusch: The Gallery of His Dreams

16, Elizabeth Peters: Die For Love (tbr)

May

17, Dave Duncan: Ironfoot

18, Mark A: Garland and Charles G. McGraw: Star Trek: Voyager: Ghost of a Chance (tv)

19,

Once again, I’m trying to lower my many TBR piles and I’m joining Mount TBR challenge. My goal is 12 books or Peake’s Peak.

Mount TBR 2024 challenge post.

Books read

1, Crystal Sarakas and Rhondi Salsitz ed.: Shattering the Glass Slipper

2, Kristine Kathryn Rusch, Dean Wesley Smith: Crimes Collide vol. 1

3, Dean Wesley Smith: Ball of Confusion

4, Nancy Holder: Queen of the Slayers

5, Elizabeth Peters: Die For Love

6,

I hope you all have a wonderful years 2024!