Hopebreaker by Dean F. Wilson

Hopebreaker by Dean F. Wilson(Cover picture courtesy of Goodreads.)

In the world of Altadas, there are no more human births. The Regime is replacing the unborn with demons, while the Resistance is trying to destroy a drug called Hope that the demons need to survive.

Between these two warring factions lies Jacob, a man who profits from smuggling contraceptive amulets into the city of Blackout. He cares little about the Great Iron War, but a chance capture, and an even more accidental rescue, embroils him in a plot to starve the Regime from power.

When Hope is an enemy, Jacob finds it harder than he thought to remain indifferent. When the Resistance opts to field its experimental landship, the Hopebreaker, the world may find that one victory does not win a war.

[Full disclosure: I received a free ebook copy in conjunction with the blog tour in exchange for an honest review.]

Two years ago I really couldn’t have told you what steampunk was but it’s really been growing on me, particularly of late.  So when I had an opportunity to read Hopebreaker, I leaped at the chance.  It sounded like some pretty good steampunk from the blurb and it turns out that I was not wrong in trusting the description.

What is really striking about the world of Wilson’s The Great Iron War series is that it’s a mixture of fantasy and science to create a special blend of steampunk.  On the fantasy end, we have demons controlling the human population by swapping out the souls of human fetuses with the souls of demons.  Magical amulets are worn by rebellious pregnant women to prevent this from happening.  On the science end, we have things like the Hopebreaker and the other machines used by the Resistance and the Regime.  They’re classic steampunk complete with steam-powered engines and a mixture of cold machinery and elegance.  And the world-building itself was quite good because Wilson’s grasp of politics is also good.  Not everything is so black and white in his world and oftentimes there are people caught in the middle of the faction fighting that just really want to live their lives in peace, thank you very much.  There are traitors on both sides of the line and nothing is as it seems.

The main character Jacob was both excellent and hard to relate to.  On the surface he is an excellent character: he’s a thirty year old man who has been smuggling as a way of staying alive and rebelling against the Regime.  In theory he supports the Resistance by getting the demon-preventing amulets into the hands of women throughout the city but he really just wants to survive.  He doesn’t support the Regime because of the whole demon thing but he doesn’t actively support the Resistance because sometimes they can be just as bad as the ‘bad guys’.  But when he’s captured by the Regime and saved by the Resistance in a raid he really has no choice but to fight with them, particularly as he wants to stay alive.  Then he finds out that maybe he’s not as neutral and uncaring as he would have liked, particularly around the smart, brave and morally ambiguous Resistance leader Taberah (she’s not the supreme leader but she does command a fair number of men).  But once he meets Taberah that sort of gets to the crux of my problem with him as a character: I can’t connect with him on an emotional level.  Sure, he displays emotions in theory but I really wasn’t feeling them from him.  Maybe it’s just me but it was sort of disappointing that he seems to go through the novel with minimal emotional reactions to the crazy events unfolding all around him.

Despite my little quibble with Jacob, I did otherwise enjoy the novel because the plot was well paced and although it was sometimes predictable there were enough twists thrown in to keep things interesting.  You can probably guess the end of the novel by about a third of the way through but it’s well written so it’s actually quite an enjoyable journey that will have you eagerly turning the pages to find out what happens next.  Dean F. Wilson is excellent at writing suspense even when the outcome isn’t really in doubt and he sort of keeps a line of tension running through the novel that slowly ratchets up until things seem ready to explode.  So like I said, you’ll probably be able to predict the ending but you’ll enjoy the plot and want to know what happens next all the same.

If you’re looking for a little steampunk in your life or just a great suspenseful novel with generally good characters, Hopebreaker is for you.  It’s a great introduction to a steampunk world that I’m really looking forward to learning more about.

I give this book 4/5 stars.

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Rebel Queen by Michelle Moran

Rebel Queen by Michelle Moran(Cover picture courtesy of Goodreads.)

When the British Empire sets its sights on India in the 1850s, it expects a quick and easy conquest. After all, India is not even a country, but a collection of kingdoms on the subcontinent. But when the British arrive in the Kingdom of Jhansi, expecting its queen to forfeit her crown, they are met with a surprise. Instead of surrendering, Queen Lakshmi raises two armies—one male, one female—and rides into battle like Joan of Arc. Although her soldiers are little match against superior British weaponry and training, Lakshmi fights against an empire determined to take away the land she loves.

Told from the perspective of Sita, one of the guards in Lakshmi’s all-female army and the queen’s most trusted warrior, The Last Queen of India traces the astonishing tale of a fearless ruler making her way in a world dominated by men. In the tradition of her bestselling novel Nefertiti, which Diana Gabaldon, author of the Outlander series, called “a heroic story with a very human heart,” Michelle Moran once again brings a time and place rarely explored in historical fiction to rich, vibrant life.

[Full disclosure: I requested and received a free ebook through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.]

I have to say that I’ve had mixed experiences with Michelle Moran’s books.  The first book I read by her was Cleopatra’s Daughter and I absolutely loved it.  The second book I read by her was Nefertiti and I both hated it and was supremely disappointed by it.  As a result of the second book I never read any of her other works but the blurb on Rebel Queen and my previously good experience with Cleopatra’s Daughter convinced me to give her a second chance.  In the end, I am so glad that I did.

Rebel Queen reveals to Westerners like me a society and culture that we rarely think of.  I’m ashamed to admit that before I read this book I knew essentially nothing about Indian history other than the odd occasion when they came into contact with empires and cultures I did study like the Mongol and Alexandrian Empires.  So imagine my surprise and my delight when I learned that not only was Rebel Queen mostly historically accurate, it taught me so much about Indian culture.  I loved learning in a very organic way about the different gods and goddesses in the Hindu religion that are really just aspects of one god and I loved learning about how various cultures influenced India up until that point.  The concept of purdah brought in by the Muslims (the practice of separating and sequestering women) was definitely interesting to see in Sita’s little village and when she finally travelled to become a bodyguard to Queen Lakshmi it was in stark contrast to the open, more equal expectations of men and women in the capital city.  Of course I don’t know how accurate all of this is but Michelle Moran seems to have done her research and only changed a couple of the place names and the chronology just a tiny bit throughout the whole book so I think it’s safe to say that it’s at least mostly accurate.

Sita was a very interesting character.  When her mother dies giving birth to her little sister, the only hope her family has of providing a dowry for one of them is for Sita to start training as a Durgavasi, the elite all female bodyguard to the rani (or queen in English).  There are only ever ten Durgavasi at any one time so Sita has to become an expert in the bow and arrow, pistols, swords and daggers as well as learn both English and another one of the main languages in India in order to be a valuable member of the court.  When she’s chosen as the newest Durgavasi at only 17 it’s the culmination of a lot of hard work but also the start of a new type of hard work.  There’s of course the physical side of training but Sita also has to become versed in the little intricacies of the court as well as learn how to speak, act and dress like a member of the rani’s court.  Not everyone in the Durga Dal is so kind to her, however, and one in particular seems out to get her constantly.  As she learns to integrate, Sita certainly grows as a person and her main concern is always her little sister back home.  But when the British start to annex Jhansi, Sita is forced to make heart-rending choices as she is forced to choose between her family and her rani, who has become a friend to her.  I think we all know essentially how the story ends but it’s Sita’s journey that makes it worth reading.

For historical fiction, Rebel Queen is very fast-paced but by most standards it’s in a sort of happy middle.  It’s fast-paced enough to stay interesting but at the same time there are times the plot slows down to allow you to get your bearings and learn more about the characters.  Character development is never sacrificed in the name of the plot and I loved seeing not only how Sita grows into her role but also how the rani goes from being childless to being a mother to a figurehead/peacekeeper and finally the full on rebel queen that history knows her as.  It’s an interesting journey and even if the plot had been slower paced it still would have kept my interest.  Michelle Moran is a pretty good writer in general so it’s great to see the proof in this book that the disaster that was Nefertiti was a fluke.

If you like historical fiction I really can’t recommend Rebel Queen enough.  Even if you’re like me and no absolutely nothing about Indian history, it’s very hard not to love this book.  You’ll fall in love with the characters and cheer them on even though you can probably guess how things end and maybe you’ll learn a little bit about Indian culture and history like I did.  So go on and buy this book!  It releases today here in Canada and the US.  (It releases in early April in Britain under the title The Last Queen of India.)

I give this book 5/5 stars.

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The Silver Pear by Michelle Diener

The Silver Pear by Michelle Diener(Cover picture courtesy of Goodreads.)

An unlikely princess . . .

Kayla is determined to master her new-found abilities as a wild magic witch. She’s learning everything she can so she and her betrothed, Rane, can put a stop to the sorcerers who are recklessly gathering their power, building up their magic to take each other on in a war that will destroy the countries of Middleland.

An even more unlikely sorcerer . . .

Mirabelle’s father was one of the greatest sorcerers in Middleland, but when he used the magic in the silver pear to bespell his pregnant wife to give birth to the greatest sorcerer who would ever live, he never thought that child would be a girl. Mirabelle is nothing like a usual sorcerer, confounding every expectation, and when she comes to the rescue of Rane’s brother, Soren, she makes a decision few sorcerers would. She saves him, rather than herself, losing the silver pear in the process.

And using magic always exacts a price . . .

With war not just a possibility but simply a matter of time, there are no neutral parties and no fence-sitters in Kayla and Mirabelle’s new world. Everyone is either an ally or an enemy and there is a price to pay for everything. The question is, how high will it be?

[Full disclosure: Michelle Diener gave me a pre-approval widget for NetGalley so I could receive an ebook in exchange for an honest review.]

I must admit that while I downloaded The Silver Pear in fall 2014, I was so busy that I didn’t have time to re-read the first book, The Golden Apple and so I didn’t actually get to read it until a couple weeks ago in February 2015.  So by the time I finally got to read this book, I was more than ready to slip back into Michelle Diener’s awesome fantasy world to learn Kayla and Rane’s fates.

What makes this book different from the first one is that it’s told from four different perspectives grouped into two main sections: Kayla and Rane get alternating chapters before the viewpoint switches to Soren and Mirabelle for alternating chapters before switching back to the first pair.  In the hands of some authors this would never work but Michelle Diener makes each character’s voice so distinct that it would be very hard to confuse the points of view of the four different main characters.  And the alternating points of view sometimes overlap but they’re never just a recap of what happened in the head of another character just one chapter ago.  That makes the plot move forward constantly at a really unrelenting pace; it’s part of the reason why I stayed up to read this book until way too early in the morning.

As with the first book, the characters are amazing.  Kayla still remains my favourite because I love seeing her grow into her power as a wild magic witch but Mirabelle is an interesting new addition to our unlikely quartet.  She has a fantastic backstory that’s filled with both tragedy and privilege and once she learns to trust Soren she reveals it bit by bit in a natural, very organic way that never slows down the plot.  Both Rane and his wayward brother Soren were excellent characters as well and you can tell that both of them care very much for not only their sibling but for the amazing women they travel with for a large chunk of the novel.  All four main characters are well fleshed-out but Michelle Diener also never neglects her secondary characters, particularly Ylana, the earth witch Kayla froze in The Golden Apple.  Ylana is not all that she appears to be and she definitely plays her cards close to her chest.  At the end of the day, you never really know what side she’s going to choose and that kept me in suspense for a fair bit of the novel.

So here we have a great plot and very believable, realistic characters, but how was the world-building?  Like with the first book, I was blown away by Michelle Diener’s world-building.  Only this time our adventures are not confined to the Great Forest!  We get to see many of the kingdoms that make up the world of The Silver Pear and the toll the feuding sorcerers have taken on those kingdoms.  Battles between sorcerers can get very, very nasty and the politics behind which king backs which sorcerer are complex and often fraught with danger.  Will Kayla and the gang be able to corner the worst sorcerer, Eric the Bold and his companion before they both destroy the kingdoms?  I’ll leave it up to you to figure that part out when you read the book.

Really, if you read and loved The Golden Apple, you’re going to love the second installment in the Dark Forest set.  If you haven’t picked up the first book I would definitely recommend reading it before tackling The Silver Pear but it’s not totally necessary because of the handy summary of events Michelle Diener has at the beginning of the novel.  I can’t recommend both books enough so if you like unique fantasy with three dimensional characters and fascinating worlds, you can’t go wrong with either this book or the first book.

I give this book 5/5 stars.

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The Best and Worst of February 2015

February flew by in the blink of an eye for me.  I don’t know why because I wasn’t particularly busy or anything but it just did.  I suppose that’s a good thing because I’m super-excited about my upcoming trip to New York at the end of May for BEA 2015.  And because I’m also super-excited for season 5 of Game of Thrones on April 12.  So yeah, February was pretty uneventful and yet it flew past.  I can’t really complain about my month this time around.

This month I received 5,169 views in total with 3,407 of those being unique views.  That’s down from January when I received 6,644 views but considering that February only has 28 days this year, that’s not so bad.  I had some pretty bad days stats-wise this February but I also had some good days where I hit the 300 mark compared to my usual 150-200.  Really, like the personal side of my life in February, I can’t complain about the statistics side of things.

So what were the best posts this month?

1.  Why Girls Hate Game of Thrones—A Rebuttal

2.  How to Read 100 Pages in an Hour

3.  The Hunger Games and Ancient Rome

4.  Discussion: One Star Reviews

5.  Why no Writer Wants to Tackle Chronic Pain

We actually have some different articles on the list this month!  My discussion of one star reviews and negative reviews in general was hugely successful both stats-wise and comments-wise.  It was very interesting to see peoples’ takes on the issue, both authors and reviewers.  As for the chronic pain article, that really surprised me because it was never popular, even when it was new.  Since I got more referrals from Facebook than I normally would I’m guessing that someone shared my post on Facebook in either an author’s group or some sort of chronic pain support group.  Whoever it was, thank you and I hope it caused you to think.

Okay, then what were the worst posts in February?

1.  Rotten Romans by Terry Deary

2.  Bullying Under Attack by Various Authors

3.  Have you Finished The Mad Reviewer Reading Challenge? Tell me Here!

4.  Discussion: The Most Underrated Book (For You)

5.  Feyguard: Spark by Anthea Sharp

As far as I remember, these are all new ones here on the worst list.  As with most months, they’re either posts that are extremely dated (#3 being from 2013) or they’re books that are old or really aren’t that popular.  For the first two the latter doesn’t bother me but I was surprised to see Anthea Sharp’s Feyguard: Spark on that list as well because it was an extremely good book.  But oh well.  I can pretty much guarantee that these 5 posts won’t be on next month’s worst list because the ‘worst’ posts always seem to rotate.

Well folks, that was my February.  How was yours?  Did it go by as quickly as mine?  How’s the weather where you are?  Are you as sick of winter as I am of hearing about that stupid #TheDress incident?

Discussion: Goodreads Usage

A lot of bloggers and authors use Goodreads, a platform where you can review books and make lists of books you liked, want to read, etc.  I mostly use it for cross-posting purposes to get reviews on my blog out there to a wider audience (which can be extremely helpful for self-published authors as well as traditionally published authors).  Although I do also keep track of books using my shelves so I know which books I’ve read but have yet to review, what series I haven’t finished and what books I really want to keep an eye out for in bargain shops.  Goodreads is not perfect by any means in part because of the author-reviewer drama that sometimes goes on, but it’s pretty much everything I need it to be: generally user-friendly, simple and practical.

What I want to know now is this: How do you use Goodreads?  Do you use it as a way to keep track of your books, simply cross-post reviews, connect with authors or a combination of all of them?  As an author, is it a good way to reach out to new reviewers or just readers in general?  As a reviewer, do you use it quite a bit or not at all?  Why?