Tagged: dragons
Of Bone and Thunder by Chris Evans
(Cover picture courtesy of Goodreads.)
Channeling the turbulent period of the Vietnam War and its ruthless pitting of ideologies, cultures, generations, and races against each other, military historian and acclaimed fantasy writer Chris Evans takes a daring new approach to the traditional world of sword and sorcery by thrusting it into a maelstrom of racial animus, drug use, rebellion, and a growing war that seems at once unwinnable and with no end in sight. In this thrilling epic, right and wrong, country and honor, freedom and sacrifice are all put to the ultimate test in the heart of a dark, bloody, otherworldly jungle.
In this strange, new world deep among the shadows under a triple-canopy jungle and plagued by dangers real and imagined, soldiers strive to fulfill a mission they don’t understand and are ill-equipped to carry out. And high above them, the heavy rush of wings slashing through the humid air herald a coming wave of death and destruction, and just possibly, salvation.
[Full disclosure: I requested and received a free ebook through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.]
As always, I’m going to be honest with you guys: I had a really, really hard time getting into this book. I’m sure that some of you out there would have a similar problem because of all the new vocabulary, culture, characters, etc. With that said, by about the second half of the novel I really began to appreciate Chris Evans’ writing.
His world-building is frankly amazing. Not only has he created a somewhat unique fantasy world (something that I haven’t seen a lot of lately), he has populated it with very interesting creatures, different races and cultures. My favourite part of the entire book was the dragons, or the ‘rags’ as their drivers call them. They’re so unique and yet at the same time, it makes perfect sense for them to have done all of the things Chris Evans thinks of: they can overheat, there are many different species of dragons, young dragons are more ornery when they’re first being ridden and they have their favourite roosting spots. My favourite seen was when one of the characters rides on a rag for the first time and they have to make a quick landing to cut it open because its core was overheating (because of old age). It was hilarious to read about his reactions to what was his first day in the Lux.
Really, you can’t fault anything with Chris Evans’ world-building the same way you can’t fault his characterization. He has such a diverse cast of characters that are so well fleshed-out that you can’t help but feel for all of them. In particular I liked Vorly because he was a rag driver, but Jawn, Wraith and Listowick were also right up there. Everyone in his book has their different reasons for fighting in the war: glory, honour, nowhere else to go, a chance at a better life, etc. It’s very realistic and I love the depictions of the soldiers who have been in the Lux for a long time compared to the new recruits, particularly the heavily devout ones. It certainly makes for inter-character tension and plenty of conflict.
My only real problem with the book was the pacing. It took me a little over half the novel to really get into it because even though I recognize this is epic fantasy, the plot crawled along at a snail’s pace. Yes, it helps to go slow to get your reader oriented, but that came later in the book so Chris Evans really could have sped up the beginning a little to hook readers better. It’s not a long book, only 496 pages, but in the beginning it did feel like an eternity. Once you get past the beginning, however, things get pretty crazy as the forces of the Kingdom and the slyts get ready to face off in a battle that has not been seen in the thus far guerrilla-style war. So yes, there is some sag in the middle and the beginning but the rest of the book is very, very fast-paced.
In the end, I’m very glad that I didn’t give up on Of Bone and Thunder as I was very tempted to in the beginning. Chris Evans is an excellent writer despite the shaky beginning and I’m definitely adding his Iron Elves trilogy to my ever-expanding to read pile.
I give this book 4/5 stars.
Aranya by Marc Secchia
(Cover picture courtesy of Goodreads.)
Chained to a rock and tossed off a cliff by her boyfriend, Aranya is executed for high treason against the Sylakian Empire. Falling a league into the deadly Cloudlands is not a fate she ever envisaged. But what if she did not die? What if she could spread her wings and fly?
Long ago, Dragons ruled the Island-World above the Cloudlands. But their Human slaves cast off the chains of Dragonish tyranny. Humans spread across the Islands in their flying Dragonships, colonising, building and warring. Now, the all-conquering Sylakians have defeated the last bastion of freedom–the Island-Kingdom of Immadia.
Evil has a new enemy. Aranya, Princess of Immadia. Dragon Shapeshifter.
[Full disclosure: I received a free ebook in conjunction with the blog tour in exchange for an honest review.]
As with a lot of books I seem to read, I was a little skeptical about this one from the blurb. It had the potential to be either a totally awesome book or really suck. Good thing for me it was the former and not the latter, right?
I am just blown away by Aranya. The plot, the world-building, Marc Secchia’s incomparable writing and the vivid characters all come together to make this book one of the best I’ve read in quite literally years. Considering the fact that I read around 200 books per year, that’s no small feat either. Sometimes books take the words quite literally out of my mouth and this is one of those instances (which is why I had to write this review hours after finishing the book, just to process it).
I’ll start off with the world-building, which was fabulous. Here we have a complex geo-political situation within an epic fantasy world! There are various alliances and rivalries and each little island on this world has its own distinct culture and history. Its ruling families are all different, as are their customs and languages. At the same time, for those of you worrying that this just becomes a political thriller, don’t worry. Marc Secchia walks the fine line between political thriller and awesome world that has complicated politics (but ones that are not the main focus of the story). So while his world is excellently built, we never get the backstory dump that sometimes happens in similar works.
And the dragons? Wow. I like that despite the impossibility of somehow having more matter when you shapeshift from human to dragon, the overall concept is very well thought out. There are limitations for people like Aranya in both forms and her dragon form is far from invincible like it is in so many other stories. She actually has to work at developing her powers, with the help of an incurable old letch, Nak. And her limitations as a new dragon do significantly hinder her as she goes about her journey to save Immadia and her friends/family. It’s very well done in my opinion.
As I said, Marc Secchia’s writing is incomparable. He can not only describe action sequences with the ease of a writer with 50+ years of experience, but can also slow down and write heartbreakingly tender moments. At the same time, the plot never really slows down. There’s always something going on, a hint of background tension that forces you to keep reading in order to find out what happens next. I was sucked into the world of Aranya, feeling everything from the humidity in the jungles of the Pygmy and the cool volcanic climate where Aranya gets kidnapped inadvertently.
Last but certainly not least are the characters. Aranya and Zip are certainly some of the more memorable characters I’ve ever read about and they defy gender stereotypes left, right and centre. How many female characters have a serious duel nearly to the death and then become the best of friends? Not as many as male characters, I can tell you that much. Both of them are well-rounded and three dimensional characters, but Aranya will always hold a special place in my heart. She’s willing to leave her family and Immadia behind in order to secure the future of her country, even if it means living in obscure exile for the rest of her natural life. And she does it with minimal whining as well, accepting her duty to her country. Does that mean she’ll go down without a fight? Certainly not! But she also doesn’t spend all her time pining after every attractive guy who crosses her path and whining about how awful her lot in life is. It’s quite a novel concept after the many, many YA novels I’ve read with similar concepts that were far less well carried out.
I just can’t recommend Aranya enough. Even if you’re not big into epic fantasy, I think you can still enjoy this book. Not only are the characters some of the most memorable I’ve ever encountered, the plot was amazing and Marc Secchia’s writing is always superb. I just don’t have anything to say but this: buy the book already!
I give this book 5/5 stars.
Vanish by Sophie Jordan
(Cover picture courtesy of Goodreads.)
An impossible romance.
Bitter rivalries.
Deadly choices.To save the life of the boy she loves, Jacinda did the unthinkable: She betrayed the most closely-guarded secret of her kind. Now she must return to the protection of her pride knowing she might never see Will again—and worse, that because his mind has been shaded, Will’s memories of that fateful night and why she had to flee are gone.
Back home, Jacinda is greeted with hostility and must work to prove her loyalty for both her sake and her family’s. Among the few who will even talk to her are Cassian, the pride’s heir apparent who has always wanted her, and her sister, Tamra, who has been forever changed by a twist of fate. Jacinda knows that she should forget Will and move on—that if he managed to remember and keep his promise to find her, it would only endanger them both. Yet she clings to the hope that someday they will be together again. When the chance arrives to follow her heart, will she risk everything for love?
Unfortunately, Vanish by Sophie Jordan suffers from Book 2 Syndrome: it does nothing but set up the third book. Seriously despite my love of Firelight all that happens in this book could have essentially been told over 100 pages, not nearly three hundred. Of course there’s a lot of pressure on YA writers to write trilogies these days, but in all honesty Sophie Jordan probably could have just cut down on the fluff and made a longer sequel that concludes Jacinda’s story.
You can’t in all honesty call the plot of Vanish fast paced, but I suppose you could call it consistent. Consistently boring, that is. There is a little character development to make up for the complete lack of action, but the disastrous attempts at a bizarre sort of love triangle as well as Jacinda’s general moping around make it a painful 294 pages. All that happens in this is that Miram gets kidnapped and Will shows up again to learn that something mildly terrible has happened to Jacinda because of Cassian. Did I mention that there’s a lot of moping about Will? It’s like one big pity part here: all Jacinda does is pine after Will, give Cassian horrible mixed signals and get jealous about her sister’s new powers.
We do learn a lot more about the draki and their primitive attitudes and tribal structure, but that’s about it. Sure, Jacinda’s life in the pride does genuinely suck at some points (the ostracism, Tamra’s new celebrity, etc.) but the angst does get tiring after a while. Even though Sophie Jordan is awesome at writing highly emotional prose, there can only be so much angst in one book before I feel like throwing it at the wall. At least by the end Jacinda is starting to almost accept her life back in the pride and sees Cassian is maybe not all that bad, Tamra deserves a bit of celebrity and maybe she should stop moping. Of course with such a cliffhanger at the end of the novel I’ll still read Hidden, the last book in the trilogy. I’m just hoping that Sophie Jordan pulls it together for the concluding book.
I give this book 2/5 stars.
Firelight by Sophie Jordan
(Cover picture courtesy of Reading Revels.)
A hidden truth.
Mortal enemies.
Doomed love.
With her rare ability to breathe fire, Jacinda is special even among the draki—the descendants of dragons who can shift between human and dragon forms. But when Jacinda’s rebelliousness forces her family to flee into the human world, she struggles to adapt, even as her draki spirit fades. The one thing that revives it is the gorgeous, elusive Will, whose family hunts her kind. Jacinda can’t resist getting closer to him, even though she knows she’s risking not only her life but the draki’s most closely guarded secret.
Mythical powers and breathtaking romance ignite in this story of a girl who defies all expectations and whose love crosses an ancient divide.
Despite the amazing cover, when I read the blurb I was both full of hope and cringing at the same time. With a concept like forbidden love between predator and prey authors can either write a really awesome story or completely ruin it. So what was Firelight? Well, surprisingly, it was the former.
Sophie Jordan’s world of draki and Hunters is incredible! I love how she incorporated old dragon lore into her story and put her own twist on it, making the draki both human and dragon believably. You see, Jacinda is drawn to her draki heritage and has to control things like her manifestation (transformation into a dragon) when she’s angry or aroused and has to fully manifest regularly or she loses her ability completely. She has the temper of a dragon at times and has to control the fact that she’s a firebreather, a draki that can breathe fire. Did I mention she’s the first one in many generations to be able to do that? Kind of cliché, but minor compared to the fact Sophie Jordan actually used her imagination to create the draki.
Unlike most Insta-Love, you don’t have Jacinda or Will proclaiming it love at first sight, merely an interesting attraction. They’re drawn to each other for some odd reason and the excuse isn’t fate at the end, as we find out. There’s no prophecy hanging over their heads, but a reasonable explanation for why Will is both drawn to Jacinda and one of the best draki trackers out there. They have a stormy relationship as they both try to figure out their feelings, but by the end you get the feeling that it actually is love between them. With the threat from Cassian and Tamra’s dangerously reckless behavior, there’s even more added tension.
I love this new series! It’s unique, well-written and fast paced. What more could you really ask for in YA right now? With such a cliffhanger at the end of the novel, I can’t wait to read Vanish.
I give this book 5/5 stars.
Seraphina by Rachel Hartman
(Cover picture courtesy of Rachel Hartman’s website.)
Four decades of peace have done little to ease the mistrust between humans and dragons in the kingdom of Goredd. Folding themselves into human shape, dragons attend the court as ambassadors and lend their rational, mathematical minds to universities as scholars and teachers. As the treaty’s anniversary draws near, however, tensions are high.
Seraphina Dombegh has reason to fear both sides. An unusually gifted musician, she joins the court just as a member of the royal family is murdered in suspiciously draconian fashion. Seraphina is drawn into the investigation, partnering with the captain of the Queen’s Guard, the dangerously perceptive Prince Lucian Kiggs. While they begin to uncover hints of a sinister plot to destroy the peace, Seraphina struggles to protect her own secret, the secret behind her musical gift—one so terrible that its discovery could mean her very life.
In her exquisitely written fantasy debut, Rachel Hartman creates a rich, complex, and utterly original world. Seraphina’s tortuous journey to self-acceptance is one readers will remember long after they’ve turned the final page.
[Full disclosure: I received a free ebook from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.]
Rachel Hartman’s debut novel has received quite a bit of attention, and rightly so. Which is why for Canada Day (and review #150!), I’m reviewing Seraphina as it is a novel written by a Canadian author that I actually like. I’ve probably just jinxed Ms. Hartman now because excellent mainstream novels rarely win literary awards. Oh well, I’m still predicting that Seraphina will be a bestseller.
The novel starts out rather slowly, but this is a good thing because otherwise readers would be completely overwhelmed by the well built fantasy world it takes place in. Somehow Rachel Hartman is able to convey enough information so readers know what’s going on, but not too much so readers will keep reading to find out more. Seraphina’s incredible backstory is revealed to us gradually and could probably be used as an example of how writers should develop backstory. She is no Mary Sue and will go down as one of my favourite female leads ever, so hopeful writers take note!
And unlike in most fantasy novels, there is diversity. She has obviously put immense effort into her world building because of all the different peoples, religions and countries. Some of the government is based on feudal Europe, but it is not nearly as in-your-face as it is in many fantasy novels. Also, the people of Goredd are not homogenous and we actually see people who worship different gods (or “saints” as they’re called) and speak different languages. As for the coldly rational dragons…they’re incredibly unique and I mean that in a good way.
Technically Seraphina isn’t out yet (I got an early ebook from NetGalley), but I already can’t wait for the second book. Rachel Hartman is a new author with enormous potential, so it will be interesting to see where she takes the series.
I give this book 5/5 stars.