Tag: climate fiction

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Witch King

** I received an ARC for an honest review **

Publisher’s Description

Kai-Enna is the Witch King, though he hasn’t always been, and he hasn’t even always been Kai-Enna!

After being murdered, his consciousness dormant and unaware of the passing of time while confined in an elaborate water trap, Kai wakes to find a lesser mage attempting to harness Kai’s magic to his own advantage. That was never going to go well.

But why was Kai imprisoned in the first place? What has changed in the world since his assassination? And why does the Rising World Coalition appear to be growing in influence?

Kai will need to pull his allies close and draw on all his pain magic if he is to answer even the least of these questions.

He’s not going to like the answers.

Summary

I recently read the dark fantasy Witch King by US author Martha Wells.

The protagonist Kai, a demon prince of the Fourth House called the Witch King who uses his touch to drain the life of his victims to fuel his own magic and life force wakes in a disembodied state to find he has been assassinated. Sacrifices are dragged into his tomb and in this disembodied state, Kai takes possession of a recently deceased sacrifice, drains the life of his captors but spares the life of Sanja, a girl prisoner who’d been taken to his tomb along with the dead. Now back in a body, Kai must find and rescue his companion the witch Ziede from a similar imprisonment. Once Ziede is rescued, the two rely on Sanja to explain the world they have woken into and begin their quest to find and rescue Ziede’s lover Tahren who is separated from them both and unreachable by magic.

The events put in motion by Kai’s search for answers and the quest to rescue Tahren in this newly flooded world, begins a chain of events that uncover lies and deceptions, false friendships and true ones.

Review

Witch King was at its core a dark fantasy but Wells has created genuine characters with dark humour and wit woven throughout. In part a dystopian tale with a water-drowned fantasy world, Wells crafted a unique and plot of deception, friendship, love and loss which added the necessary links to humanity in those who survived the ending of their world – albeit a demon who drains life to survive and swaps bodies, a witch bent on revenge and finding her lover and a mortal child saved from the darkness of the Rising World Coalition and Blessed Hierarchs with their expositors and necromancy magic. In this new world, Wells draws on the darkness and deception that surround the Rising World Coalition where truth and lies can be hard to distinguish. Wells has created a masterfully written story with genuine characters and unique world-building.

Conclusion

A wonderful read for fans of dark fantasy with humour, witchcraft, necromancy and fantastic world-building for a water-drowned dystopian unique fantasy world. Highly recommended!

** This is my personal opinion and does not reflect any judging decisions **

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Bitters

** I received an ARC for an honest review **

Publisher’s Description

The giant metal man has stood for hundreds of years, head tilted back, mouth open. All the dead of the town are disposed of this way, carried up the long, staircase that winds around him and tipped in. At his toe emerges the Bitters, the lifeblood of the town, keeping them healthy and prosperous as the sick and needy come to buy and drink.

McNubbin is a happy man with all he wants in life. He’s carried the bodies up since he was 14, a worthwhile, respected job. But when he notices broken girl after broken girl, he can’t stay quiet, and speaking up will change his perfect life.

Summary

I recently read the dark fiction novella Bitters by Australian horror and dark fiction author Kaaron Warren.

The focus of Bitters is the township that both owe their existence and health to the gold statue of the Man.

After a post-apocalyptic plague hundreds of years before, the dead were thrown into the Man and the putrified liquid called Bitters used as tonic. Over time, scientists removed any sick or drug users from those whose bodies ended up in the Man and the resultant Bitters gave health to the township who benefited from the Man. But a darker secret lurks within the township and the control of those who do a duty in carrying bodies to the top of the statue to deliver them into the Man, those who carry salt and bugs for the quickening the process of decay and those who provide the Bitters into bottles.

Review

Bitters was an expertly crafted dystopian and post-apocalyptic novella that leaves no doubt that Warren is a master storyteller as her tale draws the reader deep into the mindset of the town that hosts the famous strong male statue and to whom they consign the bodies of the dead and reap the benefits of an elixir from the putrefied remains. Despite the darkness and horrifying truth of the Man – Warren focuses on the members of the township who owe their livelihoods and health the grim task they carry out daily. Warren writes without judgement but a sense of compassion for the characters who prosper from the deaths of others. A powerful dystopian novella that haunts you long after the last page has been turned.

Conclusion

A great read for fans of dystopian tales, dark fiction and psychological horror. A highly recommended read!

** This is my personal opinion and does not reflect any judging decisions **

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Ferren and the Angel

** I received an ARC for an honest review **

An angel falls from the sky and crashes to the ground!

Miriael, the Fourteenth Angel of Observance, has been shot down in the thousand-year war between Heaven and Earth. Damaged and helpless, she prays for extinction.

The young tribesman Ferren finds her lying in the grass. She ought to be an enemy, since his people are on the side of the Earth. But seeing her there, unable to fly, his curiosity outweighs every rule and every warning.

Ferren knows almost nothing about the terrifying world he’s grown up in. Now he’s going to learn the truth about the war, the Humen army camp and what military service really means. His unique friendship with Miriael is about to change the course of history.

Summary

I recently read YA novel Ferren and the Angel (The Ferren Trilogy, #1) by English-Australian author Richard Harland.

Ferren is the protagonist, a young boy on the cusp of manhood belonging to one of many scattered tribes of the People. These subservient groups are dependent on the larger organisation called the Humen. When the angel Muriel falls from the sky during open warfare with Heaven – it is Ferren who finds and befriends her.

During the ongoing warfare between the militarised Humen forces and the angels of Heaven, Ferren and Muriel discover nothing is as it seems. The machines used by the Humen forces hold a horrific secret and the robotic soldiers are a darker truth that makes the People question their allegiance to the Humen authority.

Review

Ferren and the Angel is well-written and strongly crafted post-apocalyptic novel. Harland writes powerful characters inhabiting a broken world and deceived by the Humen authority using the scattered tribes to fuel their war with Heaven. Harland shows these elements through Ferren’s and the angel Muriel which confront the grey shades of morality by the contrasting darkness.

Conclusion

An unusual and powerful post-apocalyptic YA novel that’s highly recommended for fans of dystopian fiction, angelology, strong characters and a great coming-of-age read.

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Bluebells Book Launch

A very late posting of the offical launch of Bluebells on October 2nd, 2022 at Conflux 16 Convention in Canberra. The book launch which had been delayed due to my health issues and extended hospital stays. So this was time to celebrate!

@Cat Sparks

We kicked off the launch with Zachary Ashford giving a great introduction to my writing career and focus so far: I’m an LGBTQI and disability author of numerous short stories in the horror and dark fantasy genres. Bluebells was my debut novella.

Zachary had a couple of questions on what inspired me to write Bluebells. The answers ranged from climate change, an interest in WWI, vampires and the Black Death and ‘Spanish fever’. Alternate history had always fascinated me and the question in my mind became what if the world had fallen into a post-apocalyptic state during WWI? What if the future we know, never happened?

@Cat Sparks

Zachary invited me to do a quick reading from Bluebells. I chose a passage near the end where the vampire Nicolas confronts and debates his humanity alongside his vampirism.

@Cat Sparks

A book signing and purchase option for copies of Bluebells followed and I had a lovely time meeting new and old friends while I signed copies.

@Cat Sparks
@Cat Sparks
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Conflux 16 2022 Convention

A very late post on the October 2022 Conflux 16 Speculative Fiction Convention held in Canberra. Aside from being an invited panelist for 4 seperate panels, I ran my first Dealers Table for the four days and officially launched Bluebells.

I was also an invited panellist on 4 panels – each exciting to engage with an audience and discuss the theme in question with other likeminded writers.

“Queering Fiction” was a wonderful discussion about how authors create characters with a LGBTQI identity – or how authors like Sam Hawke create an entire world where sexuality is fluid and accepted.

“Re-imagining Horror in a Pandemic” was a great lineup of panelists discussing how the pandemic affected them as writers but also how the wider public changed perceptions and fear became a driver of society. For horror writers, fear is the driver of a story. Many ideas were exchanged on whether horror writing would become more or less popular and certainly Fantasy seemed to be the main genre read during pandemic lockdowns.

“Including Disability in Fiction” was such an important panel that like the queer community, characters with disabilities are often absent, stereotyped or in the background of a storyline. This panel explored what writers living with disabilities experience and want to see more of in fiction and from their own writing.

“Climate Change: Past and Future” was a fascinating panel exploring the emergence and importance of climate fiction in publishing scene. Discussions ranged from the emergence of man-induced climate change to the reality of how climate change is affecting everyday existence and how that has seen the explosion of dystopian fiction. An important comment by Cat Sparks was that perhaps we should be focusing in our writing of turning the current climate crisis around and sending a message of hope in doing so.

The last event was a live 5 minute reading session with Kaaron Warren. I read an excerpt from Bluebells when Peter first meets Nicolas de Laon on the frontlines in Belgium.