Tagged: demons
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.
The Iron Bells by Jeanette Battista
(Cover picture courtesy of Goodreads.)
The year is 64 A.D. — though now A.D. stands for Anno Daemonii. Demons have crossed a gate into our world, taking the reins of power from humanity. A new Inquisition has begun, determined to root out any who stand against the new world order. The holy sites on earth have been destroyed — Jerasulem first, then the Vatican, then Mecca — and what resistance remains is ruthlessly crushed. Amaranth is a fighter in the resistance cell based in London. Dham is a Ringer, one of the few people left able to ring the remaining sets of blessed hand bells that have power over demons. When Amaranth discovers that her best friend has been possessed by a demon and is going to be used in the Resistance’s final, desperate mission, she asks Dham for his help in saving her friend. With the Inquisition closing in and betrayal threatening from inside the Resistance itself, Amaranth, Dham, and the demon — along with Catriona, a new, highly-skilled, highly-blonde bell-ringer — decide to head to Rome and the ruins of Vatican City, hoping to find a way to stem the tide of demonic possessions and close the gate.
[Full disclosure: I received a free ebook through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.]
I’m not sure what I expected from The Iron Bells. Certainly not a well thought out world where demons rule and the main character knows her mind. Amaranth is pretty confident in who she is but isn’t perfect and that’s such a breath of fresh air after the terrible slew of YA books I’ve read recently.
First off, the characters are fantastic. I like how even though she lives with a death sentence over her head for being part of the Resistance against demons, Amaranth is a pretty calm, cool and collected individual. She’s capable of thinking logically in difficult situations, but at the same time she’s also perfectly capable of screwing up. Although she tries to be above it all, she does get jealous of Cat and Dham and sometimes her anger clouds her judgment. In all honesty, that’s why I like her: she’s human. Dham wasn’t the greatest love interest I’ve ever encountered, but he certainly wasn’t the worst. Personally I liked Trick, who I can’t describe without giving away too much of the plot. You just can’t help but like Trick, believe me.
The plot was fast-paced and there were a few plot twists that I didn’t see coming. I liked how in some places Jeanette Battista slowed down a bit to let the reader catch their breath and to let the characters develop. Overall, it was well-paced and well-plotted and I didn’t want to put it down. The thing about The Iron Bells is that we also get little glimpses of this horrifying new world at a more natural pace. There aren’t any huge backstory dumps that slow down the plot and I’m grateful for that.
What impressed me the most was the world-building. An errant magic-user accidentally bringing demons into the world. How cool is that? And the fact that demons take over the world in a slow, subtle fashion and use our natural paranoia against us is just brilliant. The mythology Jeanette Battista presents us with is fascinating, as is the explanation for what demons may actually be. I didn’t see that particular twist coming, believe me.
Really, if you want to pick up something different in the YA/NA genre I’d definitely recommend The Iron Bells. It’s a breath of fresh air.
I give this book 4/5 stars.
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The Space Between by Brenna Yovanoff
(Cover picture courtesy of Bookyurt.)
Everything is made of steel, even the flowers. How can you love anything in a place like this?
Daphne is the half-demon, half-fallen angel daughter of Lucifer and Lilith. Life for her is an endless expanse of time, until her brother Obie is kidnapped – and Daphne realizes she may be partially responsible. Determined to find him, Daphne travels from her home in Pandemonium to the vast streets of Earth, where everything is colder and more terrifying. With the help of the human boy she believes was the last person to see her brother alive, Daphne glimpses into his dreams, discovering clues to Obie’s whereabouts. As she delves deeper into her demonic powers, she must navigate the jealousies and alliances of the violent archangels who stand in her way. But she also discovers, unexpectedly, what it means to love and be human in a world where human is the hardest thing to be.
This second novel by rising star Brenna Yovanoff is a story of identity, discovery, and a troubled love between two people struggling to find their place both in our world and theirs.
After reading and hating The Replacement I was pretty skeptical about reading another Brenna Yovanoff book. But hey, the cover was awesome and the first chapter had a little more promise than her debut novel.
I liked the main character in The Space Between so much more than I did in her first book. Daphne lacks emotion and this time it’s not because of poor writing but rather that’s how her character should be (and is). She’s the daughter of Lilith and Lucifer and her rather alien perspective on the human world makes sense in that context. When she starts falling in love it’s interesting to see the war she goes through with herself as she tries to discover if she really is capable of love, unlike her half-sisters the Lilim. Overall I felt her love for Obie her brother was stronger than her love for Truman, but that’s really minor. I did enjoy Daphne as a character.
What I liked this time is Brenna Yovanoff’s world-building. She actually tried to explain certain elements and while she didn’t explain everything to my satisfaction, I could actually understand what was going on. I loved meeting Beelzebub, Lilith and Lucifer and thoroughly enjoyed how tired old heaven and hell tropes had new twists put on them. The ambiguous nature of both sides instead of the traditional good vs. evil was refreshing.
What I didn’t like, however, was the plot. It seemed to slow down to a crawl in the most unnecessary places and then was completely rushed where I wanted to know more. Some of the motives for the characters weren’t very believable to me, but I can’t tell you about that without any unnecessary spoilers. Let’s just say that I’m not surprised about Truman’s father but his father’s actions are poorly justified when we learn what they are. The ending was incredibly rushed and I’m still not sure I entirely understand it. Perhaps that’s just me or perhaps Brenna Yovanoff still needs to work on conveying her story more.
Would I recommend The Space Between? Sure, it wouldn’t hurt to give it a try. But should you go out, buy it immediately and read it all without taking a break? No, it’s not one of those books. It’s good, but not great.
I give this book 3.5/5 stars.
Artemis Fowl: The Lost Colony by Eoin Colfer
(Cover picture courtesy of Reader Store.)
Thousands of years ago, fairies and humans fought a great battle for the magical island of Ireland. When it became clear that they could not win, all of the fairies moved belowground—all except for the 8th Family, the demons. Rather than surrender, they used a magical time spell to take their colony out of time and into Limbo. There they have lived for decades, planning their violent revenge on humans.
Now the time spell is unraveling, and demons are beginning to materialize without warning on Earth. If humans were to find out about them, all fairies would be exposed. To protect themselves, the fairies must predict when the next demon will materialize. But in order to do so, they will have to decipher temporal equations so complicated, even a great brain like Foaly can’t understand them. But he knows someone who can: Artemis Fowl.
So when a very confused demon imp appears in a Sicilian theater, Artemis is there to meet him. But he is not alone. Someone else has unlocked the secrets of the fairy world and managed to solve complex mathematical problems that only a genius could. And she is only twelve years old…
The Lost Colony is probably one of my favourite Artemis Fowl books, aside from The Eternity Code. I love how Artemis is finally given a run for his money by a twelve-year-old girl and how his plans turn out far from perfect for once. He makes mistakes and finally, in some respects, actually behaves like a normal teenage boy who’s going through that dreaded time in everyone’s life: puberty.
New characters like N°1 and Doodah Day are very colourful and add a lot of depth to Eoin Colfer’s fantastic world where fairies are real and dangerous. Of course, old favourites like Foaly, Holly, Butler and Juliet return and continue along their character arcs. Artemis himself changes quite a bit and gains sympathy for other people, which has been hinted at in earlier books, but really shows through in The Lost Colony. Of course he’s still manipulative when he needs to be, but the difference is that he feels guilt over it.
There were truly unexpected plot twists and Eoin Colfer used the demon island in Limbo to expand upon the history of the fairies, particularly why they went underground. I was up reading The Lost Colony until early in the morning and I have to say that I didn’t regret it one bit because it was well-written, entertaining and the characters were sympathetic.
I give this book 5/5 stars.