Tagged: war
Along the Watchtower by David Litwack
(Cover picture courtesy of Masquerade Tours via email.)
A Tragic Warrior Lost in Two Worlds…
The war in Iraq ended for Lieutenant Freddie Williams when an IED explosion left his mind and body shattered. Once he was a skilled gamer and expert in virtual warfare. Now he’s a broken warrior, emerging from a medically induced coma to discover he’s inhabiting two separate realities. The first is his waking world of pain, family trials, and remorse—and slow rehabilitation through the tender care of Becky, his physical therapist. The second is a dark fantasy realm of quests, demons, and magic that Freddie enters when he sleeps.
In his dreams he is Frederick, Prince of Stormwind, who must make sense of his horrific visions in order to save his embattled kingdom from the monstrous Horde. His only solace awaits him in the royal gardens, where the gentle words of the beautiful gardener, Rebecca, calm the storms in his soul. While in the conscious world, the severely wounded vet faces a strangely similar and equally perilous mission—a journey along a dark road haunted by demons of guilt and memory—and letting patient, loving Becky into his damaged and shuttered heart may be his only way back from Hell.
[Full disclosure: I received a free paperback from David Litwack so I could review this book in conjunction with the blog tour. As always, this is an honest review.]
Having previously read David Litwack’s work I was expecting a novel that was mostly high fantasy or maybe even a combination of science fiction and fantasy. What I didn’t expect was a high fantasy story running in conjunction with a very real heart-wrenching story.
Freddie has had a crappy life. Both of his parents and his older brother are dead and he was severely injured in Iraq by an IED. Most of his squad died but he lived so in addition to his physical injuries there’s some pretty huge survivor guilt mixed in with PTSD. Add to that the fact that his developmentally disabled brother went missing because of him years ago and you’ve got the makings of a Shakespearean tragedy. You’d think a book with a plot like this would stray into opera level dramatics but it never does. David Litwack’s writing has improved since There Comes a Prophet so he gets just the right amount of emotion without ever becoming too sappy or cheesy.
His characters are very much three dimensional. Both Freddie and his alter ego Frederick are three dimensional characters facing (obviously) similar challenges. In the dreamworld all of Frederick’s challenges are a metaphor for what’s going on with Freddie in real life, from his rehabilitation to his growing feelings for his physiotherapist. Now a book like this could very easily stray into the territory of sexism because it would be easy to portray both Becky and Rebecca merely as background characters who help the hero reach his goal. That’s very much not true. Becky is a complicated woman with her own demons to look out for and she’s a very determined and competent physio. You can’t ask for much more than that where a romantic relationship is concerned: two people with their own problems come together slowly and try to work those problems out while acknowledging that some scars may never fully heal.
The plot isn’t fast-paced by most people’s standards but this is definitely a character driven novel. You’ll cheer for Freddie to succeed after going through so much and you’ll feel his pain as your own. He’s a very vivid character and his world of rehabilitation is brought to life by David Litwack’s amazing writing. Most people have never had physiotherapy but I have so I can tell you that the scenes between Becky and Freddie are pretty darn accurate (especially the attitudes of the medical staff). And to top it all off, this book ends on a satisfying note. Not all loose ends are tied up but enough are so that you’re pretty sure what happens to Freddie after the story.
Basically, this is just a good book. I’m so glad I joined the blog tour for it!
I give this book 5/5 stars.
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The Runaway Highlander by R. L. Syme
(Cover picture courtesy of Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours.)
Anne de Cheyne has a choice. She can play the dutiful daughter and allow her mother to sell her to a greasy English sheriff, or she can take control of her own life and find her own match. After a frightening run-in with her promised husband reveals a dark secret, she makes a desperate choice. Flight.
Aedan Donne needs easy money and no-questions-asked. When Milene de Cheyne offers him enough to pay all debts, requests complete silence, and pays half up front, just for a simple recovery, he can’t believe his luck… until he meets his mark. Anne’s beauty and passion ignite something Aedan can’t ignore, even as she leaves him in the dust. Suddenly, he finds himself wanting to capture the runaway Highland lady for himself.
[Full disclosure: I received a free paper copy of this book in conjunction with the blog tour in exchange for an honest review.]
This is actually the second book in the Highland Renegades series, but they can be read as stand-alone novels, luckily for me.
As I’ve said in the past, I know very little about Scottish history. Still, R. L. Syme managed to suck me into the period and really gave me the feeling that I was there along with the characters. The dark, unstable atmosphere of the time particularly rang true and you could feel this sense of doom throughout the whole novel. Scotland is highly unstable and in the middle of it, the main character Anne is being sold off to the highest bidder so her mother can prove her loyalty to the English overlords.
Anne is a decent enough character but I won’t say that she’s one of the most memorable heroines I’ve ever encountered. She’s feisty, determined and brave but at the same time I just had trouble connecting with her. It’s not that there wasn’t enough background information about her, but I had a hard time connecting with her emotions. I didn’t feel what she was feeling, whether she was sad, angry, happy or in love. But maybe that’s just me. Aedan I could connect with a little more but like Anne he’s not the most memorable character I’ve ever read about.
However, the plot was fast-paced and quite exciting. You can’t call The Runaway Highlander anything but a page-turner simply because of R. L. Syme’s talent with suspense. There are twists and turns everywhere and just when you think you know what’s going to happen everything changes. It definitely keeps the reader on the edge of their proverbial seat.
This was an essentially good novel. It will never be one of my favourites but it was good enough that I’d recommend it to romance lovers as well as Scottish history fans.
I give this book 3.5/5 stars.
Kushiel’s Mercy by Jacqueline Carey
(Cover picture courtesy of Coverbrowser.)
Having learned a lesson about thwarting the will of the gods, Imriel and Sidonie publicly confess their affair, only to see the country boil over in turmoil. Younger generations, infatuated by their heart-twisting, star-cross romance, defend the couple. Many others cannot forget the betrayals of Imriel’s mother, Melisande, who plunged their country into a bloody war that cost the lives of their fathers, brothers, and sons.
To quell the unrest, Ysandre, the queen, sets her decree. She will not divide the lovers, yet neither will she acknowledge them. If they marry, Sidonie will be disinherited, losing her claim on the throne.
There’s only one way they can truly be together. Imriel must perform an act of faith: search the world for his infamous mother and bring her back to Terre d’Ange to be executed for treason.
Facing a terrible choice, Imriel and Sidonie prepare ruefully for another long separation. But when a dark foreign force casts a shadow over Terre d’Ange and all the surrounding countries, their world is turned upside down, alliances of the unlikeliest kind are made, and Imriel and Sidonie learn that the god Elua always puts hearts together apurpose.
As with all books that bring an end to a series or trilogy, I was more than a little skeptical of Kushiel’s Mercy. I mean, other than bringing his mother to justice what could Imriel possibly do next? In all honesty, I need not have worried.
Kushiel’s Mercy isn’t just about Imriel’s heart-breaking hunt for his own mother. It’s about the ruthlessly ambitious Astegal of Carthage and Imriel’s fight to stop him before Astegal destroys everything Imriel holds dear. I suppose Astegal could have became this stereotypical over-ambitious general type we get so often in fantasy fiction, but this was not the case. He was ambitious and at times completely ruthless but he had good reasons for his actions and most of his moves made sense in the wider political context. Readers can certainly draw similarities between Astegal and Hannibal of the Second Punic War, but they’re not so similar that you feel like Jacqueline Carey is rehashing history.
As with all of Jacqueline Carey’s books, I love the characters the most. I loved how Imriel developed and how his personality did nearly a 360 at a certain point in the story. (I can’t explain without giving away too many spoilers.) However, this change made sense and I liked it when it was reversed in a way. Imriel’s other self had developed, but also the real Imriel had changed at the same time. His love for Sidonie is reminiscent of the love his foster parents shared and you get the feeling that he will do anything to save her.
The plot never really dragged because there was constant character development and there were enough twists and turns to keep my on my toes. Truly, I never know what to expect from Jacqueline Carey’s great writing style and I was pleasantly surprised that even in her later books (which can go downhill for some authors) she still has that old spark that made Kushiel’s Dart appeal to me so much.
Of course there is quite a bit of graphical sexual content that may not appeal to everyone which is why I’d recommend it for those at least 16+. Probably more like 18+ to be on the safe side. Still, Jacqueline Carey has created a wonderful fantasy world that’s believable based on her alternate version of history, populated it with wonderful character and brought her Imriel trilogy to a sound conclusion. What more could I ask for?
I give this book 5/5 stars.
The Scarlet Bastards by Sean Mac Úisdin
(Cover picture courtesy of The Island Scrivener.)
The Scarlet Bastards is the first in a series of memoirs from a retired jawan of the United Nations Off World Legion – a man by the name of Alexander Armstrong. He joined as a youth, fleeing the comfort and tedium of his teenage existence in 2098 – or as he characterized it, “in a fit of teenage pique” and was sent to the UN colony of Samsāra in orbit around Delta Pavonis, some twenty light years from Earth. A dumping ground for the downtrodden, the unwanted, and the forgotten, Samsāra with its nearly 100,000 Terrans and 250,000 Gliesiun refugees was a backwater hell – a technological and infrastructural wasteland where the tundra camel reined and a law-abiding and organized society was almost non-existent.
[Full disclosure: Sean Mac Úisdin sent me a free ebook in exchange for an honest review.]
I’m not sure what it was, but The Scarlet Bastards never made the jump from ‘okay book’ to ‘great book’. This could be because it’s not something I would normally read or maybe it really is just good, but not great. There were some things I absolutely loved about Mac Úisdin’s book, but there were some other elements that I didn’t like.
I’ll start with the former. I absolutely loved the idea of a spoiled Canadian boy setting off on an adventure to what turns out to be the United Nations’ most ragtag army ever. The premise was excellent and overall it was executed well. There was plenty of humour, but also some poignant moments, which is actually quite a bit to pack into one novella that’s only 50 pages long. As for the characters, you have your gag characters like MacShaka, but also your somewhat serious characters like Alexander himself. Alexander as a narrator has an interesting enough voice and does mature quite quickly throughout the story, so I appreciate the effort Mac Úisdin has put into character development.
At first I really loved the world of Samsāra, but because of some of the slang words used by MacShaka and other characters who had been there for a while, I don’t feel I got everything that I should have. The descriptions of what the army was wearing and some of the dialogue was so dialect and slang ridden that I really had no idea what was going on sometimes. Yes, adding character quirks and local slang is important, but when it’s overused it gets both confusing and annoying. And while the dialogue in The Scarlet Bastards never reaches the annoying stage, it is rather confusing.
Maybe it was the fact that this book was never meant for someone like me, but I don’t think this is a series I’ll be continuing. However, if the blurb sounds interesting to you, go ahead and read it! It might just be a matter of personal preference on my part.
I give this book 3.5/5 stars.
Gregor and the Code of Claw by Suzanne Collins
(Cover picture courtesy of Whitcoulls.)
Everyone has been trying to keep Gregor from seeing The Prophecy of Time. That is because the final prophecy calls for the warrior’s death. The warrior being Gregor, of course.
With an army of rats quickly approaching and time running out, Gregor must gather up his courage to defend Regalia and get his family back home safely. There is a code that must be cracked, a new princess to contend with, Gregor’s burgeoning dark side, and a war designed to end all wars.
The fates of the Underland and the great warrior, Gregor the Overlander, masterfully unfold in this thrilling and suspenseful final installment in Suzanne Collins’s Underland Chronicles.
Suzanne Collins still hasn’t managed to end a series well, but she did manage to end her first series, the Underland Chronicles, better than The Hunger Games trilogy.
What I like about Gregor and the Code of Claw is the character development. Gregor has come a long way since the first book and is finally accepting the role of warrior, despite the fact that the Prophecy of Time calls for the warrior’s death. His feelings for Luxa have also developed at a very natural rate and are complicated because of all the awkwardness of a first love. We also learn more about other characters’ backstories, especially Ripred’s, since there is more to him than meets the eye.
If you’re not going to read the series for its amazing characters, you should read it for the world-building. The Underworld is populated with gigantic rats, mice, bats and cockroaches; it’s definitely not your stereotypical fantasy world. Humans have adapted to their new environment, but because they still need light, they are at a distinct disadvantage to the other creatures they share their world with.
The tension between the races that has been mounting in the past two books has finally spilled over into full-scale war. One of the good things about Suzanne Collins’ writing is how she doesn’t let characters get through violence unscathed. The war that erupts affects everyone; no one, especially Gregor, is immune. But one of her greatest strengths is also one of her greatest weaknesses because her endings are never satisfying. I don’t like completely happy endings, but I certainly don’t like endings that are completely tragic either. Suzanne Collins must find a balance between the two extremes in her future books, but alas, it’s too late for Gregor and the Code of Claw.
I give this book 3.5/5 stars.