Category: Book Review
Feyland: The Dark Realm by Anthea Sharp
(Cover picture courtesy of Goodreads.)
WHEN A GAME…
Feyland is the most immersive computer game ever designed, and Jennet Carter is the first to play the prototype. But she doesn’t suspect the virtual world is close enough to touch — or that she’ll be battling for her life against the Dark Queen of the faeries.
TURNS REAL…
Tam Linn is the perfect hero — in-game. Too bad the rest of his life is seriously flawed. The last thing he needs is rich-girl Jennet prying into his secrets, insisting he’s the only one who can help her.
WINNING IS EVERYTHING…
Together, Jennet and Tam enter the Dark Realm of Feyland, only to discover that the entire human world is in danger. Pushed to the limit of their abilities, they must defeat the Dark Queen… before it’s too late.
[Full disclosure: I received a free paperback copy from Anthea Sharp in exchange for an honest review.]
After reading Janet McNaughton’s Tam Linn retelling, An Earthly Knight, I didn’t think any other retelling could compare. Still, I gave Feyland: The Dark Realm a try and went in with an open mind. In the end, I’m so glad I did.
At first we’re just introduced to Jennet, who gets a part of her stolen by the Dark Queen inside Feyland the game. Unfortunately this has real world consequences and when she switches schools she’s desperate to find another gamer, a champion, to help her defeat the Dark Queen and get her soul back. So when she finds out that Tam Linn, despite being incredibly poor and with little access to a simulation game despite, is an excellent gamer you can really feel her desperation to get him on her side. When she finally does they both still don’t trust each other’s motives but eventually do become friends.
What struck me the most about Feyland: The Dark Realm was not only the amazing world of Feyland itself, but the plot twists Anthea Sharp gave her story. Just when you think you know what’s going to happen, something else happens instead. She’s definitely not one of those authors that goes easy on her characters and both Tam and Jennet get put through the proverbial wringer. At the same time, these plot twists allow her to develop all of her characters thoroughly. Jennet starts out a little spoiled and naive about the tough side of life and Tam is thoroughly suspicious of this apparent spoiled rich girl and her motivations. Still, they change throughout the story as Jennet feels the Dark Queen draining her life’s essence and as Tam learns to trust and maybe even love Jennet.
The world of Feyland is fantastic. Within the game you have all kinds of creatures you would expect to see in a world with fairies and a few that you wouldn’t. Some creatures will be familiar to people who like fairies (the Wild Hunt) and some will throw you for a loop completely. And of course, being a fairy world, nothing is as it seems. It’s just amazing!
I like how Anthea Sharp chose to end Feyland: The Dark Realm on a gentle sort of cliffhanger. It makes you want to read the next book, but you’re not furious at the author for failing to complete the story. I can’t wait to read the next book, Feyland: The Bright Court.
I give this book 5/5 stars.
My Least Favourite Book Tropes
Just to give you a quick overview, tropes are not necessarily clichés. Rather, they’re devices authors use in the course of writing their novels and every single writer out there uses tropes. But there are some that I absolutely can’t stand so I’m going to list them for you, using the names from TvTropes, one of the most informative and scarily addictive sites out there. Follow the links provided at your own risk; I am not responsible for any browser crashes from opening multiple tabs or the hours you may waste on the site.
This trope annoys me like no other simply because it’s so prevalent in YA. It seems like every female protagonist out there wants the distant jerk, especially when it comes to love triangles. You know what? Not every girl out there wants a bad boy, but YA writers happily ignore this fact and keep writing about girls falling in love with manipulative, controlling jerks. Of course there are exceptions to my hatred of this trope, the most notable being Strafford in Diantha Jones’ Oracle of Delphi series. He definitely has a reason for being distant in the beginning, but the fact that he changes as the series goes on makes the trope short-lived.
2. What Happened to the Mouse?
This trope name is actually quite fitting because the trope itself is about minor details or even characters just disappearing from the narrative for no good reason. Usually it means that the author simply forgot about said detail or character and the editor didn’t catch the mistake.
This trope is especially annoying when you realize that something has never been fully explained in the novel once you’re done. Take, for example, the girl zombie in the red vest that follows Mary around in The Forest of Hands and Teeth. She’s stronger, faster and more intelligent than a normal zombie and Mary speculates that something was done to her to make her that way, but there’s no explanation as to what happens to her or even what the heck was done to her to make her this special zombie. It’s like Carrie Ryan just completely forgot about it or really didn’t care. It’s carelessness like that that annoys me to no end, making What Happened to the Mouse? one of my least favourite tropes.
This one happens so much in YA that it’s almost become as annoying as the love triangle. A Faux Action Girl is a heroine that can supposedly kick butt at will but never actually does any butt-kicking. Usually she turns into a Damsel in Distress as soon as a man shows up. This is annoying because all of the other characters make her out to be this awesome warrior and strong woman but her actions never actually demonstrate this.
Faux Action Girls appear a lot in YA and usually they’re just standing around waiting to be rescued. Or, they’re the prophesized saviour of the people and learn to fight and are proclaimed ‘natural fighters’ but never actually do much fighting. When they do fight, they usually end up needing to be saved by their love interest who is invariably male. Yawn.
4. No, Mr. Bond, I Expect You to Dine
This seems to happen a lot in fiction, not just in YA. But it’s basically when the villain has the hero or heroine in their clutches and instead of torturing or killing them, invites them to a dinner and then a tour of their evil lair. Unsurprisingly, this happens a lot in science fiction and fantasy because there’s usually an unstoppable doomsday weapon involved.
I get it, villains love to gloat. Heroes are supposed to say “You’re crazy!” when they hear said villain’s gloating plan to rule the world. But why for the love of all that is bad, do villains not just shoot the hero? By letting them dine and tour the facilities where they’re carrying out their top secret evil plan, they’re giving them a chance to escape. Sometimes writers try to put a spin on this trope and instead get the villain to dine with the hero/heroine so they can have a big reveal like Luke, I Am Your Father.
I spent 5 hours researching this article. It’s true!
This list doesn’t even begin to cover all the tropes and/or clichés I’m sick of, but these are definitely some of the main ones (aside from love triangles). So now it’s your turn: what tropes annoy you the most? Is it because said tropes are overused or are just based on a dumb premise?
Short Story: Caesar’s Ambassador by Alex Johnston
(Cover picture courtesy of The Masquerade Crew.)
“He was a salesman of Rome. Honor him.”
Apologies to you Gladiator fans. Marcus Mettius may or may not have been a trader in real life. In Julius Caesar’s masterpiece, Caesar’s Commentaries: On The Gallic War and On The Civil War, he only mentions Marcus twice, once to point out that he sent him as ambassador to the German king Ariovistus because Marcus “…had shared the hospitality of Ariovistus.” Sounds like a salesman to me.
Marcus should be honored. He played an important role in one of the greatest historical dramas of all time, Caesar’s conquest of Gaul.
Caesar sent his Gallic interpreter, Gaius Valerius Troucillus, and Marcus to act as ambassadors to Ariovistus. They were both taken captive, and Gaius at least was threatened with being burned at the stake (it’s not clear from reading the Commentaries whether Marcus was also so threatened). Caesar goes on and on about Gaius, writing that he is a “young man of the highest courage and accomplishments.” And when Caesar personally rescues him on the battlefield he writes that this act “afforded Caesar no less pleasure than the victory itself; because he saw a man of the first rank in the province of Gaul, his intimate acquaintance and friend, rescued from the hand of the enemy, and restored to him, and …” Marcus? Oh yeah, “M. Mettius, also, was found and brought back to him [Caesar].
In my opinion, Julius Caesar does not give Marcus his due, so I filled in the gaps. Join him as he outwits a German witch, tells Julius Caesar (and others) stupid salesman jokes, parties with Gauls and slaves, watches Caesar’s troops freak out at a bar, and much, much more. He is a soldier of a different kind – a man who lives by his wits. Honor him.
Caesar’s Ambassador was certainly not what I expected, but that’s definitely in a good way. I expected the usual dry historical retelling of a minor character, not the hilarious escapades of a snarky, sarcastic salesman who played a part in the conquest of Gaul but never really got his due.
I think Alex Johnston intentionally used modern phrases and attitudes to make Marcus a bit easier to understand for modern readers. He does this with great humour as Marcus tells dumb blonde jokes, salesman jokes, drinks and marches along with Caesar’s army around Gaul. Marcus may have found himself a diplomat by accident, but I still love that Alex Johnston made him a salesman at heart. His take on the German situation as he and his friend Gaius are in chains waiting for a soothsayer to determine whether they should live or die is hilarious. There are some serious moments in the story, but overall the tone is humorous.
Alex Johnston brings historical figures like Marcus and Julius Caesar to life in his short story and makes them just a little more human. Marcus is, of course, a salesman at heart. Caesar is a soldier’s best friend but also reveals his ruthless streak to Marcus, who is both chummy with Caesar and wary of him. It’s hard to get much characterization into a short story, but Alex Johnston certainly succeeded in making all of his characters three dimensional.
The plot doesn’t fly along at breakneck speed, but neither does it drag along. With lots of humour along the way as well as fascinating historical details, you can’t go wrong with Caesar’s Ambassador. There are some modern phrases Marcus uses throughout the story, but I suspect that was deliberate on the part of the author. Overall, Caesar’s Ambassador is just a fun historical romp that fills in some of the gaps in the life of a bit player of Roman politics.
I give this short story 5/5 stars.
The Devil’s Concubine by Jill Braden
(Cover picture courtesy of Salacious Reads.)
QuiTai, ruthless concubine of Levapur’s mysterious crime lord, the Devil, receives an unexpected invitation to cocktails with disgraced Thampurian Kyam Zul. She doesn’t trust Kyam enough to drink anything he pours, and won’t help him no matter how hard he begs – or threatens. But when QuiTai’s ex-lover is murdered, Kyam is the only one who knows the name of the killer, and he won’t tell QuiTai unless she helps him first.
The torpid back alleyways of Levapur’s tropical colony hide more than lovers. There are things with claws, beings with venomous fangs, and spies lurking in the jungle.
Most of them want to keep their secrets.
One wants QuiTai dead.
[Full disclosure: I received a free ebook copy through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.]
I am seriously in awe of this book. Not only is it well written with amazing characters and a fast plot, but it also takes place in a fantasy world that’s not based on Medieval Europe! Instead, it’s based upon a tropical island culture with elements taken from both island and Asian cultures as well as some European ones.
QuiTai is now one of my favourite characters—ever. Considering how many books I read a year, that’s saying something. She is amazing! Sensual, manipulative, complex, intelligent, ruthless and at the same time, loyal to her conquered Ponongese people. Words can’t even do her justice. She’s such a strong woman but at the same time is seriously flawed when it comes to her lust for revenge and her distrust of people in general. Seeing her interact with the intelligent, snarky, disgraced Thampurian Kyam is fascinating especially when she becomes attracted to him. Trust me on this one though: she doesn’t fall in typical love and it certainly doesn’t blind her like it does other narrators.
I can’t get over Jill Braden’s fantasy world. It’s a little hard to get used to at first, but when you learn the backstory of Levapur you really appreciate how much detail she put into it. The Ponongese people, which seem to be almost human-snake hybrids have been conquered by the ‘sea dragons’, Thampurians. Thampurians can shape shift into a sort of fish, which I think is really cool. On top of being a colony to the ruthless Thampurians, every full moon the Devil’s werewolves lurk around threatening the populace even though QuiTai does her best to keep the island population safe from the werewolves. The dynamic between the Ponongese people and the Thampurians is ever-changing and full of tension and clearly demonstrates that Jill Braden actually understands politics.
Kyam and the Devil, much like QuiTai, are more complex than they actually seem. Each one has hidden motives that aren’t immediately apparent even to the suspicious QuiTai. The Devil seems to be your stereotypical crime lord who runs the island, but when we learn the real power behind him you can’t help but laugh. This real power also makes sense because of how the first book ends, but I can’t go into any more detail than that.
The plot is fast paced and Jill Braden constantly throws in plot twists to keep you on your toes. Even the characters themselves throw you off sometimes because just when you think you know their motives, their true motives are revealed. Especially when it comes to QuiTai as we slowly learn more of her backstory and how she came to be the Devil’s concubine. These plot twists are mostly unexpected, but they actually make sense within the story and are part of the greater politics of Levapur (especially when it comes to the island’s colony status). I guarantee you won’t see the ending coming; QuiTai has a revelation that will truly shock you.
The Devil’s Concubine was so good that I can’t wait to read The Devil Incarnate, the next book in The Devil of Ponong series. If you haven’t already read it, give The Devil’s Concubine a try. You’re pretty much guaranteed to love it.
I give this book 5/5 stars.
Fun to Be Russian by Theodor Rasputin
(Cover picture courtesy of Goodreads.)
In FUN to be RUSSIAN you may find the answers to all those niggling little questions you never knew you wanted to ask!
• Why do Russians tie fishing boats to their feet while camping?
• What German phrase do all Russian men know and when would they use it?
• How do you catch a bottle of vodka while fishing off your balcony?
• Why is it unwise to relieve yourself out the door of a Russian train at night?
• Find out which is stronger; an Al Qaeda head or a Japanese television?
• And, just why is it essential that your wife always wears white knickers while travelling?
Drink vodka during a consultation at the clinic, experience a fishing weekend with friends, spend a relaxing summer week at the country Dacha and see how a seaside vacation to Egypt can be unusually eventful in the right company. Enjoy reading and Na Zdorovie!
[Full disclosure: I received a free print copy from Theodor Rasputin in exchange for an honest review.]
In all honesty, I had some mixed feelings about Fun to Be Russian. On one hand, there were parts that were so funny I had to literally laugh out loud. On the other hand, this reads more like a joke book rather than an actual story. Once you get past the jokes, there really isn’t much of a plot or that much characterization.
The story obviously takes place in Russia where we meet Vadim and Julia, a husband and wife who are going to a family planning clinic. Once in the doctor’s office hilarity ensues as Vadim and the doctor exchange hilarious tales over some vodka. Essentially, the whole book is like this. No, it doesn’t all take place in a family planning clinic, but it is mainly characters telling each other stories without much action in between. Sure, Vadim has a little adventure with some strong medication and actually does something at the end of the book, but that’s about all that actually happens. The scenery changes a couple of times, but the characters are just essentially telling stories within a story.
My problem with this is that while it’s funny, it’s not necessarily fun to read in a linear manner. Such tales would have been better in a sort of joke book rather than Theodor Rasputin trying to tell them all in one book. It also doesn’t leave much room for characterization. Vadim comes across as a stereotypical Russian man, only really caring about drinking and the other characters are just one dimensional. There are no real motives behind their behavior other than the fact that they just want to drink and tell each other stories.
There are some proofreading errors, but they don’t really affect your ability to read Fun to Be Russian. Some of the humour is a little crude, so I’d definitely recommend it for adults only. However, the one redeeming feature of this is that it is actually hilarious. Theodor Rasputin can tell stories in a humorous manner, it’s just that trying to fit them all into a novella was not necessarily the best choice.
I give this book 2.5/5 stars.