Tag: Reviews

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Shanghai Immortal

Publisher’s Description

Half vampire. Half fox-spirit. All trouble.

Pawned by her mother to the King of Hell as a child, Lady Jing is half-vampire, half-hulijing fox-spirit and all sasshole. As the King’s ward, she has spent the past ninety years running errands, dodging the taunts of the spiteful hulijing courtiers, and trying to control her explosive temper – with varying levels of success.

So when Jing overhears the courtiers plotting to steal a priceless dragon pearl from the King, she seizes her chance to expose them, once and for all.

With the help of a gentle mortal tasked with setting up the Central Bank of Hell, Jing embarks on a wild chase for intel, first through Hell and then mortal Shanghai. But when her hijinks put the mortal in danger, she must decide which is more important: avenging her loss of face, or letting go of her half-empty approach to life for a chance to experience tenderness – and maybe even love.

Summary

I read the alternate history and dark fantasy Shanghai Immortal by UK based author A.Y. Chao.

Lady Jing is the protagonist, a half-vampire, half-hulijing fox -spirit and heir to the throne of the Hulijing Court. Disliked for her irreverence, feistiness and half-vampire/ half-hulijing, her place in the immortal realm is secured only by her mother placing her as the ward of the formidable Lord of the Hell in exchange for a rare, precious and powerful Dragon Pearl.

Jing wants more from life than the constrains and proprietary of the Hulijing Court ruled by her grandmother. Attempts by the hulijing to remove Jing from Hell and the protection of the Lord of Hell are a constant threat and annoyance.

After discovering her grandmother sndvtgr Court of the hulijing intend to steal the precious Dragon Pearl her mother traded to the Lord of Hell, Jing takes chance to finally bring down the Court of the Hulijing and expose their treachery.

To solve the mystery of her own fate and the Dragon Pearl, Jing falls in love with a mortal the Lord of Hell has recruited to set up the Central Bank of Hell in keeping with mortal 1930s Shanghai and currencies. Jing’s plans to use the mortal to learn the secrets of her past are threatened when the chance of love forces her to decide between vengeance against her grandmother and the Hulijing Court and the mortal she loves.

Review

A.Y. Chao has written a spell-binding novel. Shanghai Immortal is a witty and irreverent in its exploration of 1930s Shanghai and Chinese mythology. Written in a fresh and engaging style, this is a fascinating adventure through the Chinese Immortal realms and massive social changes in 1930s Shanghai. Utterly magical!

Conclusion

An adventure-packed, dark fantasy with unique 1930s Shanghai alternate history. Great for fans of urban fantasy, myths and legends, paranormal romance. Highly recommend!

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

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Viking Women

Publisher’s Description

Let’s travel in time together, a thousand or so years back, and meet Viking women in their hearth-lit world.

How did these medieval viragoes live, love and die? How can we encounter them as flesh-and-blood beings with fears and feelings – not just as names in sagas or runes carved into stone?

In this groundbreaking work, Lisa Hannett lifts the veil on the untold stories of wives and mothers, girls and slaves, widows and witches who sailed, settled, suffered, survived – and thrived – in a society that largely catered to and memorialised men. Hannett presents the everyday experiences of a compelling cast of women, all of whom are resourceful and petty, hopeful and jealous, and as fabulous and flawed as we are today.

Summary

I recently read creative historical fiction Viking Women: Life & Lore by Australian-Canadian author Lisa Hannnet.

I was surprised by the sense of adventure that began the book. An engaging storytelling style that promised the Viking escapade and grandeur we all imagine.

The first story struck me hard. The tale of “Melkorka: Concubine and Slave” an Irish princess taken as a slave during a Viking raid. The hopelessness and loss of autonomy was immediate and powerful. Interspersed with this fictional tale were the academic facts and knowledge of slavery in the Viking Age.

My next favourite was a complete opposite to the opening tale. One of the most fascinating parts of Icelandic sagas, “Bergthora: A True and Stalwart Wife” which tells the story of a feud between two powerful women of influential households and the escalation of relation for slights that couldn’t be allowed to stand. The men are the ones who bear the brunt of the feud and in the end tragedy can only occur.

My third favourite “Breeches-Aud: Cross-Dressing Women” is the fictionalised tale inspired by a famous archaeological burial of a Viking warrior. Recent investigations have shown the burial is that of a biologically female warrior buried with the Viking warrior customs which showed the possibility that some Viking women were actively involved in warfare.

Throughout Viking Women, Hannett pauses in the stories to explain the historical and cultural context. These tales provide a sense of real characters, lives and empathy to these amazing Viking women.

Review

Hannet has brilliantly navigated the complex tales of Icelandic Sagas to uncover the lives of everyday women in the Viking Age. Some women are extraordinary and wield the power of their household status while others are powerless and stripped of identity as slaves. This remarkable book spans the academic and historical fiction genres with aplomb. Hannet is to be congratulated.

Conclusion

A highly recommended read for anyone interested in Viking Age history and culture. This is an amazing book that binds history and fiction in a skilful, entertaining and exciting way. Looking forward to the next book!

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The Void

Publisher’s Description

A dark tale of self-discovery that will sweep you into a world of swords, secrets, snark, and sapphic love.

Kiera never fit in. Not on her aunt’s farm, not at her boring job, not with her ex-girlfriends. But she hasn’t given up hope of finding that elusive place to belong.

A freak storm leaves her stranded, alone in the office.

When something flashes past the upstairs window, the sarcastic voice in her head, Jiminy, insists it’s a figment of her imagination. But Kiera knows she didn’t imagine the flying pirate ship.

Or the dragon.

If she jumps on board—into a hidden world above the clouds—there’ll be no coming back. Is she ready for the quest of a lifetime, and the dark secrets beginning to unfurl?

Void is the first book in a dark steampunk fantasy series that skillfully blends thrilling adventure, snarky humour, and a sapphic slow-burn romance.

Summary

I recently read The Void (The Fang Ripper Series, #1) a steampunk fantasy novella by Australian author Neen Cohen.

The Void follows protagonist Kiera who lives in present-day Brisbane with allusions made early to her mental instability or repressed memories and self. Kiera lives a ‘normal’ life but the arrival of an otherworldly storm pulls Kiera from what she’d imagined was reality and into a new one of Skyan. Is this the strange connection she’d always felt was wrong with her?

Kiera’s journey into learning her true past begins when Blue crashes his sky ship to earth and the attractive but feminine Zarzy is injured battling an earth-magic dragon. To save Zarzy and prevent the darkly powerful Void from drvouring everything, Kiera must learn quickly as Blue takes the sky ship into Skyran with its floating cities, war and dangerous political machinations that threaten not just Blue and Zarzy who Kiera is undeniably attracted to. Into this complex battles of dragons and opposing invested interests, Kiera begins to learns her own truth.

Review

Cohen introduces a new take on urban fantasy with energetic prose and a mild sapphic romance. There’s a lot to unpack in this first novella and the word-building is fascinating and much more detail to follow. This is a genre-blending series of urban fantasy, steampunk and adventure. Cohen keeps it fast-paced with intriguing characters and innovative concepts.

Conclusion

A recommended new dark fantasy with mild sapphic romance, dragons, airships in a fresh take on urban fantasy!

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Peripheral Visions

Publisher’s Description

Peripheral Visions is a unique, award-winning reference collection that includes all of Robert Hood’s 44 ghost stories to date, three of them especially written for this volume. These memorable tales display Hood’s uncanny ability to make the fantastic real, to embrace weirdness and create human characters whose lives – both inner and outer – haunted by mortality, are laid bare and revealed to be our own worst nightmares. Ranging from melancholy reflection on life and death, through disquieting tales of dark humour and vengeance, to chilling visions of ghostly apocalypse.

Hood’s stories are sure to draw you into a terrifying world that in the end is revealed to be irrefutably our own. Though many of these stories draw on the traditions of the past, they are far from traditional in approach.

As you turn each page remember this: not everything here is as it seems. There’s always something more, barely glimpsed, out there on the periphery.

Summary

I recently read the limited edition three volume collection Peripheral Visions: The Collected Ghost Stories by Australian horror author Robert Hood.

This limited edition collection spans forty years of Robert Hood’s ghost story writing with 44 tales covering six different themes of haunting in the horror genre. There are many brilliant stories within each section that focuses on a variety of themes including Haunted Places, Haunted Families, Haunted Minds, Haunted Youth, Haunted Vengeance and Haunted Realities. Some of my favourites included Haunted Places, Haunted Minds, Haunted Youth and Haunted Vengeance. The scope of aspects that Hood delves into in these stories includes the deeply psychological, historical and, at times, what felt like a deeply personal venture in the haunted mind.

Review

Peripheral Visions is a sweeping three volume collection of divided into themes on the horror genre of Haunting. There are some of the most unique, darkly humorous and chilling ghost stories I’ve ever had the pleasure to read. Hood delivers a masterclass in ghost stories with brilliant prose that keeps the pace of this three volume collection moving with a deft storyteller’s hand.

Conclusion

This was a fabulous, wide-ranging collection of ghost stories and hauntings by one of the best horror authors in the business. Highly recommended!

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Anoka

Publisher’s Description

Welcome to Anoka, Minnesota, a small city just outside of the Twin Cities dubbed “The Halloween Capital of the World” since 1937. Here before you lie several tales involving bone collectors, pagan witches, werewolves, skeletal bison, and cloned children. It is up to you to decipher between fact and fiction as the author has woven historical facts into his narratives. With his debut horror collection, Cheyenne and Arapaho author Shane Hawk explores themes of family, grief, loneliness, and identity through the lens of indigenous life.

Summary

I was recently recommended to read Anoka: A Collection of Indigenous Horror from US author Shane Hawk.

While it is hard to choose favourites from this collection which spans so many real-world themes, societal marginalisation, stigma and indigenous horror themes, there were several stories that really resonated with me.

The opening story ‘Soilborne’ was dark tale that really plunged its claws into me. ‘Wounded’ was a journey into the darkness of a mind and family. ‘Transfigured’ was a striking Halloween story that proved the perfect ending to this collection of the dark, haunting and macabre.

Review

Anoka was a fantastic collection of indigenous horror where Hawk delivered a host of genuine characters, masterful storytelling and a series of dark, weird and haunting horror in a well-written psychological horror collection.

Conclusion

Highly recommended read for fans of horror, dark fiction and psychological horror. A must read!

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

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Don’t Fear the Reaper

Publisher’s Description

Four years after her tumultuous senior year, Jade Daniels is released from prison right before Christmas when her conviction is overturned. But life beyond bars takes a dangerous turn as soon as she returns to Proofrock. Convicted Serial Killer, Dark Mill South, seeking revenge for thirty-eight Dakota men hanged in 1862, escapes from his prison transfer due to a blizzard, just outside of Proofrock, Idaho.

Dark Mill South’s Reunion Tour began on December 12th, 2019, a Thursday.

Thirty-six hours and twenty bodies later, on Friday the 13th, it would be over.

Summary

I’ve recently read Don’t Fear the Reaper (Indian Lake Trilogy, #2) the sequel to My Heart is a Chainsaw by US Horror author Stephen Graham Jones.

Don’t Fear the Reaper returns us to the town of Proofrock and to the protagonist Jade Daniel’s – four years after court trials – she’s changed a lot and finally cleared of the crimes from the Fourth of July Massacre. In the minds of some Proofrock residents, she’s still to blame for the Fourth of July Massacre. Others still, wait for the return of Indian ghost witch, Stacey Graves. But Jade is fairly certain that venegful ghost is finally in her watery grave. She hopes.

Proofrock is gripped in the worst ice storm of a century. The FBI have been busy trying to convict a Native American serial killer by returning to the scenes of his crimes across many states hoping for bodies of the victims still missing. But Dark Mill South has other plans. Once the FBI are inevitably caught in the snowstorm, he makes his escape and heads for…Proofrock. The body count starts piling up quickly and soon Jade and a few former school survivors of the Fourth July Massacre begin to wonder just how many killings are due to Dark Mill South or is someone else taking advantage of his presence?

Review

Graham-Jones writes a compelling and more rigorous sequel as though he’s found his ground, the audience are running with him as we’re led through the icy killing grounds of Proofrock once more. The pace is fast, the killer (or killers) are quick and cunning. Graham-Jones writes a brilliant crime story as well as a horror-infused homage to the slasher form. A steadily building pace is jerked into rapid action with a few gruesome but effective splashes of violence. Graham-Jones is a master of keeping the equilibrium perfectly poised.

Conclusion

A thrilling and suspenseful homage to the slasher genre with genuine characters and masterfully written. Great for fans of dark fiction, horror, slashers, suspense, mystery and thrillers. A highly recommended read!!

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

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The Attic Tragedy

Publisher’s Description

Sylvie never called them ghosts, but that’s what they were—not that George ever saw them herself. The new girl, Sylvie, is like a creature from another time, with her old-fashioned leather satchel, her white cotton gloves and her head in the clouds. George watches her drift around the edge of the school playing fields, guided by inaudible voices.

When George stands up for Sylvie, beating back Tommy Payne and his gang of thugs, it brings her close to the ethereal stranger; though not as close as George would have liked. In the attic of Sylvie’s father’s antique shop, George’s scars will sing and her longing will drive them both toward a tragedy as veiled and inevitable as Sylvie’s whispering ghosts.

Summary

I recently read The Attic Tragedy by British-Australian author J. Ashley Smith.

The Attic Tragedy is short but powerful tale exploring coming-of-age and a gender diverse society that is unwilling to accept George, the protagonist for themselves. Only the strange, waif-like Sylvie who’s father owns an antique store befriends George. The allure of Sylvie is her seeming eternal sadness but acceptance of life and especially her claims to hear the voices of ghosts from the antique objects she touches.

Mesmerised by this different and dreamy girl, George’s requited love slowly turns sour as the years pass and Sylvie tries to be less like her true self while George embraces their own gender diversity. A bond forms between Sylvie’s father and George as they mourn the loss of the Sylvie they loved. In the end, George must confront the path Sylvie had chosen and finds themselves more and more of the periphery of her life while she has remained central to theirs.

Review

Ashley-Smith crafts a beautiful, sad but engrossing tale that resonates strongly with honesty and integrity. The eerie supernatural background to The Attic Tragedy brings a quality of otherness and a sense of belonging in a liminal space- the protagonist is neither one thing or the other. The object of their affection is interwoven into the supernatural fabric until – when pulled free from it – there is a sense of loss and especially identity. Slyvie is not the woman her father or the protagonist remember. Ashley-Smith tells a stunning tale of loss, memory, pain and coming-of-age amid a shifting society and as the protagonist finds the transformed Sylvie is more like a faded, ghost of who she was, the sense of loss is profound and far-reaching.

Conclusion

A short but stunning coming-of-age tale, a gothic delight with supernatural themes woven throughout and a profound and powerful read. Highly recommend!!

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Coyote Songs

Publisher’s Description

In this mosaic horror/crime novel, ghosts and old gods guide the hands of those caught up in a violent struggle to save the soul of the American southwest. A man tasked with shuttling children over the border believes the Virgin Mary is guiding him towards final justice. A woman offers colonizer blood to the Mother of Chaos. A boy joins corpse destroyers to seek vengeance for the death of his father.These stories intertwine with those of a vengeful spirit and a hungry creature to paint a timely, compelling, pulpy portrait of revenge, family, and hope.

Summary

I recently read Coyote Songs by US author Gabino Iglesias after several recommendations and it did not disappoint.

Coyote Songs is a series of independent short stories that feature a family and the introduction of violence into their lives. The shattering of a child’s innocence with unexpected violence drives him to seek revenge. The mother becomes a symbolic portrait of vengeance incarnate and the devastation of a hopeful life. Intertwined is the coyote who assists the desperate to cross borders but becomes increasingly determined to fight back against the abuse of those he has aided to cross into a ‘better life’. The drive for vengeance and violence in both main story arcs intertwine in a compelling resolution.

Review

Coyote Songs was a masterpiece of a novel. The novel consists of a series of stories, often with interlinking characters and an overall story arcs that follows the noir theme of violence and struggle in a horrorscape of a city. Here, hope and revenge are intertwined in a gritty tale of a family’s drive towards increasing violence and revenge. Igleasias is a compelling storyteller and brings these worlds of crime and the supernatural into a thrilling novel.

Conclusion

A thrilling dark fiction combining gothic horror, ghosts, crime, gritty noir, politics and ancient gods. A fantastic and important read. Highly recommended!!

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

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The Bridge

Publisher’s Description

Meera and her twin sister Kai are Mades—part human and part not—bred in the Blood Temple cult, which only the teenage Meera will survive. Racked with grief and guilt, she lives in hiding with her mysterious rescuer, Narn—part witch and part not—who has lost a sister too, a connection that follows them to Meera’s enrollment years later in a college Redress Program. There she is recruited by Regulars for a starring role in a notorious reading series and is soon the darling of the lit set, finally whole, finally free of the idea that she should have died so Kai could have lived. Maybe Meera can be re-made after all, her life redressed. But the Regulars are not all they seem and there is a price to pay for belonging to something that you don’t understand. Time is closing in on all Meera holds dear—she stands afraid, not just for but of herself, on the bridge between worlds—fearful of what waits on the other side and of the cost of knowing what she truly is.

Summary

The Bridge by J.S. Breukelaar is an dystopian alternate future – in a world like Australia and not. Similar to the protagonist Meera – part human and not. She is bereaved after the death of her twin sister Kai and suffers survivors guilt. In meeting the mysterious witch figure Narn, who knows more than she says about Meera but shares the loss of her own sister, a strong connection to forged.

Encouraged by the future offered placement in the Redress Program. Meera finally sees this chance to belong to the Regulars as an opportunity to set aside her past, the grief of losing Kai and finally start living her own life. But be careful what you wish for because all transformations come at a cost and this one might be higher than Meera is willing to pay.

Review

In The Bridge, Breukelaar writes a stunning combination of the fantastic, futuristic and the metaphorical. The division between fate and desire, hope and reality are twisted and spun into an elegant futuristic dystopian fairy tale.

Conclusion

For fans of modern and futuristic fairy tale and folklore retellings and reimagining, contemporary dark fantasy and dystopian settings. A highly recommended read!

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

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The Salt-Black Tree

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

Publisher’s Description

Nat Drozdova has crossed half the continent in search of the stolen Dead God’s Heart, the only thing powerful enough to trade for her beautiful, voracious, dying mother’s life. Yet now she knows the secret of her own birth—and that she’s been lied to all her young life.

The road to the Heart ends at the Salt-Black Tree, but to find it Nat must pay a deadly price. Pursued by mouthless shadows hungry for the blood of new divinity as well as the razor-wielding god of thieves, Nat is on her own. Her journey leads through a wilderness of gods old and new, across a country as restless as its mortal inhabitants, and it’s too late to back out now.

…or accept the consequences of her own.

Summary

Blood may not always prevail. Magic might not always work. And the young Drozdova is faced with an impossible choice: Save her mother’s very existence…

I recently read The Salt-Black Tree(Dead God’s Heart, #2) by US dark fantasy and urban fantasy author Lilith Saintcrow.

The journey of Nat Drozdova continues but she now possesses Spring’s Arcana and is coming into her own Divinity. While she battles internally with the reality her mother has lied to her throughout her entire life, and that she was born simply to allow her mother to assume to divinity on American soil, Nat comes into her own power and makes her own decisions as she travels towards the Salt-Black Tree and whatever ending awaits her there.

She seeks the Dead God’s Heart but what she intends to do with it once she possesses it, she is yet to be sure. One thing she does know-Nat Drozdova is her own Divinity, and if that means battling her mother and Baba Yaga, she will do so.

Review

The Salt-Black Tree is the final instalment in the Dead God’s Heart duology.

Saintcrow’s writing is superb and she provides a thrilling and satisfying ending to her series. The plot is fast-paced while still being insightful to characters development and the detailed world-building. The comparisons to Neil Gaiman‘s American Gods, while relevant on the surface, Saintcrow’s duology blows them away with a darkness and ruthlessness in development and immigration of divinities and human belief which is fresh and bold. This finale is a masterpiece of talented writing while maintaining the integrity of the characters and the world building at the core of in this urban fantasy duology.

Conclusion

A highly recommended read for fans of urban fantasy, Russian folklore and world mythology. A thriller of an urban fantasy and a read!

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