Galadriel Higgins was born to be an evil sorceress. She is trying hard not to be. But her magical boarding school makes it oh so very hard.
In this woGaladriel Higgins was born to be an evil sorceress. She is trying hard not to be. But her magical boarding school makes it oh so very hard.
In this world, there are things that eat magic users, especially during their teen years. To help protect both the children and their communities, the powers that be created the Scholomance, a magical boarding school. Most die, eaten by the magical monsters drawn to the place.
The best way to survive is to have friends with deep ties to established communities. But the school runs on death and pain. Largely, its the death of the unaffiliated.
Galadriel -- El -- is a loner, but an overpowered one. Orion Lake is the son of one of most powerful sorceresses out there. He kills monsters. Great for those he saves; bad for the institution, which runs on pain and death. They end up working together to try to prevent bloodbaths.
A great meditation on Omelas, and on how destructive systems self perpetuate if not stopped by those who benefit from them. ...more
Sort of an HR manual for activist/mutual aid groups. I appreciate the author trying to set forth some good principles to avoid common mistakes. But I'Sort of an HR manual for activist/mutual aid groups. I appreciate the author trying to set forth some good principles to avoid common mistakes. But I've seen plenty of groups try to embody the principles he lays down and none that have lasted very long.
A lot of his advice seems to come down to "be better people and work with better people." Helpful. ...more
Zachary Ying is a 12 year old Chinese American Muslim boy who likes video games. His father was killed in China as a political dissident; his mother fZachary Ying is a 12 year old Chinese American Muslim boy who likes video games. His father was killed in China as a political dissident; his mother fled her and is doing what she can to keep food on their table.
Then one day, the ghosts of three emperor's show up. Two, Tang Taizong and Wu Zetian, have more or less possessed their young descendants. The third, Qin Shi Huang, possesses Zach's gaming equipment -- equipment made by Jason Xuan, a man possessed by The Yellow Emperor.
The Yellow Emperor wants to do something that that the other emperors agree Would Be Bad. Zach is enlisted to fight it.
The story is a delightful mythic adventure. Zach, like me, doesn't know the myths, and the author has come up with a great way to give the reader a cheat sheet -- the gaming equipment pops up helpful explainers.
It's also a fascinating exploration of dealing with our pasts in the middle of trauma, isolation, and need.
After the oceans rise and the gods walk the earth, the United States fragments. This story is set in one fragment, the Navaho nation, which has largelAfter the oceans rise and the gods walk the earth, the United States fragments. This story is set in one fragment, the Navaho nation, which has largely walled itself off from the rest of survivors. There are monsters in the walls.
Our protagonist is Maggie Hoskie. Hoskie's grandmother was brutally killed by monsters. Somewhere in that dark night, her slayer-like powers unlocked and she killed the monsters A god took her in and trained her. Later, the god abandoned her.
Maggie is incredibly young and incredibly damaged. She is trying hard not to be evil, but some of the things she does are pretty awful, in a heads-in-bags sort of way. But in a world where the monsters are rising, she performs a vital function.
She's a vivid character in a vivid fantasy world. The prose is good. Maggie would really annoy me but for the fact she is so young and has been used so awfully.
I liked reading it but the ending left me cold. I hope there's a good payoff in the next book. ...more
Picks up the story of Nadya, who we met many books ago. When we first meet her, Nadya is an adult trapped in a child's body who remembers growing up iPicks up the story of Nadya, who we met many books ago. When we first meet her, Nadya is an adult trapped in a child's body who remembers growing up in a world where she was loved and had great work to do. She chooses to stay in the world of the dead, in part to save a friend, and in part because that world borders the one she loved and lost.
This is the story of where she came from. Her origins are sad. She has a few wonderful years in a drowned world that will, inevitably, spit her out.
The prose is lovely. Nadya is a good person who makes others better. And it's not enough.
Has a lot of promise. But needed at least one more hard edit.
Atlantis falls and the (apparently all white) survivors move to Nantucket. They have buiHas a lot of promise. But needed at least one more hard edit.
Atlantis falls and the (apparently all white) survivors move to Nantucket. They have built a complicated feudal-inflected society where people, or at least their leaders, are apparently organized around the major arcana of the tarot. If there's some deeper mythic meaning, it escaped me.
Our main character, Rune, is the only survivor of a brutal massacre of The Sun Court. The night of the massacre, he was brutally gang raped by masked men and barely survived. Once he comes to his own, he's going to be incredibly powerful. Right now, he's The Tower's odd jobs man. There's lots of hints that he's the Chosen One, but right now he's a pretty, violent, traumatized man who sometimes has to pawn family heirlooms to pay the cable bill.
The Tower hires Rune to find Addam, one of the children of Justice. Wackiness ensues.
There were way too many characters for me to keep straight, almost all of them terribly privileged white boys posturing at each other. There was a lot of world building I didn't understand. I checked several times to see if this was a sequel.
Rune's not a hero, and not a villain. He could be much worse than he is. There's a germ of an interesting story here about a dysfunctional society full of powerful people willing to treat others as things.
But it didn't quite gel for me. No one's motives made sense, and despite the mythological trappings, it didn't seem like it was playing on the deeper levels, which is a waste of a good tarot inspired story. Plus, way too many white boys. ...more
There's a glimmer of a really interesting story here. It gestures at big questions - the individual's quest for meaning and connection in an echoinglyThere's a glimmer of a really interesting story here. It gestures at big questions - the individual's quest for meaning and connection in an echoingly lonely world; what we owe our progenitors; what our progenitors owe us; a father's deep grief at a child's death; being conscripted into other people's designs; betrayal; being made wrong; being made right; being swallowed by something bigger than ourselves; being rejected; dying at the edge of the deep.
While it gestures at much that is profound, it doesn't really seem to wrestle with those angels. (I mean, there is an angel. They do wrestle. I don't think anyone got blessed).
It reads easy and I don't regret the time, but kinda wish the author had gotten some notes from Alan Moore. ...more
At long last, a generations-long plan for conquest and vengeance is unfurled. Fortunately, Xiala figures out how to call the kracken.
There's things aAt long last, a generations-long plan for conquest and vengeance is unfurled. Fortunately, Xiala figures out how to call the kracken.
There's things about this story I liked. The world building is great. The main characters are well drawn and their conflicts seem inevitable. The machinations of the megalomaniacal merchant a wonderfully malevolent.
But the baddies are just so bad that they became caricatures. So many people kill their allies that it stopped being a surprise. And the climax was weirdly dissatisfying. (view spoiler)[The Sun Priest marries the priest of Knives, goes to Naranpa through the dreamlands and burns down much of her own city. We learn that Balan is Serapio's father as Balan goes hella evil. Xiala kills Balan, which I support, and stabs Serapio with the magic knife to sever his connection to the Crow God. He seems to die but after flapping around as a bunch of crows gets better. Naranpa seems to go into a sleeping beauty sleep after doing whatever it was she did in the dreamlands to burn down Tova and is brought back to Tova in a glass coffin. Some asshole kills Okoa. Xiala births the first boy child not to be drowned in Teek in living memory. (hide spoiler)] A whole lot happened but man, things aren't better.
Diverting way to spend a rainy Sunday, but I would have liked it better if it'd been about a third shorter....more
The war between the sun and the carrion crow continues, though those who fight it have their own things going on. The merchant of death and a fine gooThe war between the sun and the carrion crow continues, though those who fight it have their own things going on. The merchant of death and a fine goods who set up a lot of this gets even more evil. There is lots of love and lots of hate.
Central American themed epic fantasy crossed with soap opera. Incredible world building and good action, when there's action. A little too talky. ...more
Hundreds of years ago, an empire was founded. Generally speaking, it is a place of peace and plenty. It's dynastic, but every emperor is bonded to a pHundreds of years ago, an empire was founded. Generally speaking, it is a place of peace and plenty. It's dynastic, but every emperor is bonded to a person from each of the kingdoms via a "ray." Those so bond are in constant psychic communication. The candidates are carefully selected as children and raised to rule.
This empire and its allies fought a savage war with underworld demons. That war ended with a peace treaty that demanded 200 children a year, randomly born throughout the land, would be "redemptors" - essentially, sacrifices. The would walk through the underworld. Some survived. Most never returned. But some previous emperor made a private deal -- all of the sacrifices would come from one kingdom, one that did not join the empire. That injustice and that guilt hangs on the land.
17 year old High Justice Empress Tarisai has made a new deal with these underworld demons. She will be the sacrifice, and the sacrifices will stop. The underworld agrees, but only if she can persuade the kings and queens to love her and do the ray thing with her.
Meanwhile, a pro-democracy masked hero called The Crocodile is fighting institutionalized injustice and Djinn-like creatures are popping up all over.
I liked the book. It wrestles with how to live a good life in a world made good and bad by decisions made long ago. It wrestles with our obligation to those who were hurt by those decisions. It wrestles with the problem of making connections when you have no real privacy.
But it felt rushed and unfinished. There are too many characters for me. I lost track of them regularly. The child emperor and empress who run this land make impetuous decisions that profoundly affect others without consulting them or even talking it over with a random person who might prompt them to see the problems. They do this again and again and never seem to learn from the failures.
In the end, she brings back a gift from a different magical realm than the one she visits, and does something that could be a good thing. But she has lived her life in the dark shadow of bad decisions other folks thought were a good thing. I wish the book had explored that more. ...more
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