What the hell did I just read? Where’s the rest of it? I need the rest of it NOW!
On a more rational note, this is another better novel of the Peter GrWhat the hell did I just read? Where’s the rest of it? I need the rest of it NOW!
On a more rational note, this is another better novel of the Peter Grant series. As ever, the strength of the writing and story lies on Peter’s narration and sarcastic voice, so if that hasn’t won you over by now, don’t expect the scattered plot threads to dazzle you. If you’re invested in the long plot, however, sit back and enjoy the ride.
The story is of the slow sort and reminiscent of Sherlock Holmes in a way that doesn’t make a good mystery novel. Not in the puristic sense. Too much is hidden for the readers to piece together the puzzle for themselves and they have to wait for the genius to guide them through the intuitive steps of logical deduction.
Broken Homes also suffers from the middle book syndrome but because this is the fourth in the series let’s call it the set up syndrome. Everything, and I do mean everything is set up for bigger things to come and even the explosions at the end aren’t enough to release the underlying tension. It feels like things are going to get a lot worse before they get better and Peter needs to improve on his policing as well as his magic lessons. And fast.
I'm rounding up to four stars. This is where the sickly weak bookworm gets his own story. Best of all, he doesn't he already lives in a fantastical woI'm rounding up to four stars. This is where the sickly weak bookworm gets his own story. Best of all, he doesn't he already lives in a fantastical world, which gives this gay version of Tristan & Isolde like meet cute it's own flavour.
I liked it, I really liked it but there were just one too many convenient lessons in Kit's past as well as packing accidents. The vocabulary was off, which I could have ignored had it been revealed that Kit was lying about certain things. And then there was the fact that the author was obviously a keen student in the school of euphemisms. *shudders*...more
After reading the very first line of the blurb, I knew I had to read this book. If you haven’t read it yet, here’s why:
After Vorgell the barbarian fuc
After reading the very first line of the blurb, I knew I had to read this book. If you haven’t read it yet, here’s why:
After Vorgell the barbarian fucks himself with a unicorn horn, he ends up in a cell with Maddog, a pretty young thief.
If that right there isn’t the hook that’s grabbed you, I don’t know what is. It promises a unicorn horn dildo, a barbarian, and a thief. What else could you possibly ask from a fantasy m/m story? Witches and Wizards? It has those too. Creative place names and adventures? Likewise. Witty one-liners and loveable characters? Done and done. You can also add adorable, deadly pets on the list. I’m not even going to complain about the female characters.
It’s true that the world-building has men in somewhat a disadvantage and that most women are hostile towards Madd in the beginning, but as the story progresses the reasons are revealed. Those reasons are real, based on characterisations and the story history, not flimsy deus ex machinas.
Everyone is flawed and no one is simply the best in anything. Even Vorgell has his difficulties. They’re average people by their own standards with individual fears and desires. They have limitations and rules they must follow. There’s death and suffering too. And significantly fewer inappropriate erections than you’d expect from a book with a sex magic inflicted cock. That’s another testament to a strong characterisation.
Don’t misunderstand me, there’s sex. There’s oral and anal, but in the end it’s not the driving force of the story. It’s a convenient set up. One that surprises you again and again with its implications. Or maybe that’s just me. I can be slow at times.
Be careful with this book. It pulls you under, makes you slightly uncomfortable—in the good way—and has you holding in your laughter. If you’re lucky you’re in a place where you don’t have to hold it in and you can make as much noise as you want. And no, I don’t think it’s just me.
I highly recommend you read Thick as Thieves. ...more
Gareth lives alone in a small village in a small valley and he’s alone in the woods when a battered stranger faints at his feet. Softhearted healer thGareth lives alone in a small village in a small valley and he’s alone in the woods when a battered stranger faints at his feet. Softhearted healer that he is, Gareth risks breaking his back bringing the stranger to his cabin and tending to the strangers wounds. It’s not quite love at first sight but it is love after a fashion, so when stranger leaves, Gareth follows.
The title could refer to either of the main characters or a couple of the secondary characters introduced later when the past casts its shadow to the present.
This is a case of I wanted to like it more than I did.
I liked Kit and I liked Gareth, because they reminded me of other characters I’ve given my heart to. That is also the reason why I couldn’t round up the rating in the end. I couldn’t be quite sure if the story would stand on it’s own without the connections drawn to Merlin (BBC 2008) in my mind. There’s a knight, and there’s a physicians apprentice. There’s the tiny foster sister, there’s magic, there are four kingdoms instead of five… and there is my active imagination finding all these little “clues.”
The writing was well enough, maybe slightly too inexact for my tired mind. It’s either that or the editors were sleeping on the job. The disagreement at the end—and the characterisation that lead to it—felt somewhat manufactured and the resolution that followed was too quick. Still nice—nice is definitely a good word here—enough tale, at least for Merlin fans. Then again, why pay for a book when you can read stellar Merlin fanfic online for free....more
I never do this, but lists. You’re getting lists this time:
What I liked: • The subtlety. I’m not a jaded scifi reader, so all the scifi elements introI never do this, but lists. You’re getting lists this time:
What I liked: • The subtlety. I’m not a jaded scifi reader, so all the scifi elements introduced were suitably familiar, but not too incomprehensible to me. • Prejudices. • The exploration of inequality in a relationship. Whether the inequality is constructed by rules parents teach their children or science that removes choice, it is real and there aren’t any easy answers. • The writing. • Akhmim. • The ending.
What I didn’t like: • Multiple first person voice point of views. Four to be exact. Hariba, Akhmim, Hariba’s mother, and her best friend. Their voices were too similar and I think it only really worked for Akhmim. For a comprehensive introspection of the society I would have preferred to read this story in third limited. • The helpless, clingy Hariba. • Hariba. ...more
This time Peter is going underground and the Americans are involved. Can’t be good. Luckily the American element is much more limited than the blurb wThis time Peter is going underground and the Americans are involved. Can’t be good. Luckily the American element is much more limited than the blurb would suggest, and like before the city steals the spotlight. London is a character in itself here.
The long plot continues, the characters evolve, and the incidental murder mystery plays a slightly bigger role this time. There’s less of magical apprentice work and more of good old fashioned legwork for Peter.
Although as a Finn, I had to take the descriptions of extreme weather conditions with a grain of salt. ...more
There’s a longer plot in these books. What happened in the end of the first, is picked right up again in the beginning of the second and the characterThere’s a longer plot in these books. What happened in the end of the first, is picked right up again in the beginning of the second and the characters… well, they stay true to themselves and the changes they’ve had to gone through. Some lessons take longer to learn than the others.
Like in Rivers of London there’s two plot threads advancing simultaneously in this book. There’s the long plot about Peter growing as a magical apprentice and then there’s the short plot and an incidental murder that needs solving. At this point you’re either reading the book for the characters or the mystery, and let’s just say that I can’t remember anything about the short plot.
Like all good show runners know, there needs to be a big bad that the hero has to strive to defeat. Make it impossible and there’s no point for the series, but make it too easy and it’s boring. Aaronovitch went with the limited exposure and only gave the frayed end of a very thin thread for Peter and his master to follow. Unlike the YA authors, the young apprentice hero isn’t expected to save the world all on his own a couple of months after he’s learned his first spell. He has help, which in Peter’s case means the Metropolitan Police and Nightingale. The adults supervise the younglings. ...more
There’s a difference between theory and practice. In science, theories are meaninglesThis review can also be found on Book Girl of Mur-y-Castell-blog.
There’s a difference between theory and practice. In science, theories are meaningless without the empirical evidence to support them. In fiction—no matter how brilliant the idea—the execution of a story is everything. Here, it fails.
In theory, reading about two worlds co-existing in modern Britain and reading about the adventures of the fae in the mundane worlds sounds intriguing. The possibilities of seeing different cultures clash and compete are endless. In practice, every author has to choose a line to walk on. I don’t think Emma Newman has any idea which line she’s straddling let alone how to tread on it.
The problem lies with the characters. It’s not that they’re particularly horrid—I actually liked that they were described either as ugly or dull—and unlikeable. It’s not even the fact that Cathy is the most frustrating, spineless, insipid heroine I’ve stumbled on recently. It’s that their characterisations aren’t properly supported by their actions. Both the fae and the mundane talk and think alike. Even Max, the most interesting character of the bunch, doesn’t quite act like someone whose soul has been disconnected is apparently supposed to act.
It’s like Newman created these rules for herself and then forgot to follow them. That is, if there were any rules to begin with. Never did I get the sense that the author had fully internalised and adopted this alternative world she had created, let alone that she’d fully applied it to the characters she was writing about.
And with that, whatever there may have been unique about the story—about the idea of a few young, rebellious fae touched challenging Nether’s customs and traditions—unravels into an uninteresting mess.
I’m not a fan of fairies, but I never open a book wanting to hate it. Between Two Thorns had its chance to win me over and it failed. I started skimming and speed-reading around 20% mark and only stopped a few times to read scenes with Will in them.
P.S. Every time I wrote the word mundane, I wanted to substitute it with the word muggle.
I received an Advanced Readers Copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley....more
I’m rounding up the rating because while it wasn’t as good as the first in the seriesThis review can also be found on Book Girl of Mur-y-Castell-blog.
I’m rounding up the rating because while it wasn’t as good as the first in the series I really enjoyed reading the book.
As Ia advances through the ranks of the Terran Space Force she continues to walk that very thin line between lie and deceit in the best interest of all humanity. It takes her to the Navy Academy and pilot school… and I lost count on how many things I’m misrepresenting in my review. Military isn’t my forte.
The world of future is still there, only expanded and further explored. The ever changing character gallery introduces new faces and names all the time while rotating a couple of familiar names to focus for a while. There were some I’d missed but didn’t see, and there were some I hadn’t missed but glad to see all the same.
What’s different to the first book is the shifting focus onto Ia’s character growth. Johnson doesn’t switch genres in the middle of a series but she does spend some time on illuminating through the interactions with her family who Ia was before she became hell bent on saving the galaxy, and who she could be if she wasn’t so stubborn to not allow anything for herself.
And that’s where this book’s greatest weakness lies.
Ia does find her Achille’s heel, which was something I’d been waiting to see from the very start. Just as Johnson, Ia doesn’t quite know what to do with it, but she tries. And it would have worked—adequately—hadn’t that revelation discussion been botched. In my opinion Johnson fails to hit that precious balance between avoiding repetition and doing justice to the character—Ia’s blind spot in this case. What I read was rushed and unsatisfactory instead of a poignant scene between two people facing and accepting a personal tragedy. I am glad, though, that the heel wasn’t completely forgotten and I’m hoping that as the series progresses the character gets a chance to pervade Ia’s life just as Bennie has.
I like Bennie and hope to see much of her in the future. August can’t come soon enough....more
After reading Counterpunch I decided to try reading Rachel Haimowitz’s take on the modern world with ingrained slavery.
Short version: I prefer all thAfter reading Counterpunch I decided to try reading Rachel Haimowitz’s take on the modern world with ingrained slavery.
Short version: I prefer all things British.
Long version:
Make no mistake, this is an erotic BDSM novel, and not a romance. For a moment I thought about giving this book an extra star for not romanticising the Master and slave dynamics but then I stopped to think about all the other things I found disturbing and decided not to.
Counterpunch worked, for me, because Brooklyn had been born free. He grew up making his own choices and knowing who he was. He only lost that privilege due to an unfortunate sequence of events. Brooklyn was and is an unyielding character who’s never resigned himself to slavery.
Here, Daniel has presumably been born into slavery. He may not have been groomed to be a sexual companion to anyone willing to pay for his services, but he’s been beaten and schooled to obey his Master. Daniel doesn’t know what freedom is. He doesn’t have any idea what the concept of consent means. He’s not capable of willingly submitting to his master.
What’s worse, Haimowitz writes Daniel as an overgrown child. All the aspects of his life have been carefully controlled and Daniel never experienced the joys of child’s play or eating until he’s too full to eat anymore. The only thing he does know and take pleasure in—supposedly—is his work. The tasks and chores given to him to be performed like any trained monkey. I used the word supposedly because the reader never actually sees Daniel enjoying his job or taking solace in it. The closest he comes to using the news as a crutch is reading his Master’s morning paper. And when he most needs the comfort, Daniel chooses to watch an unnamed anime instead of his precious information broadcasts.
Where Brooklyn would brace himself and face the forced assignations, Daniel seems to have grown up in a cocoon where proper sex didn’t really exist. I could maybe buy Daniel’s virginal inexperience hadn’t the author contradicted herself: We’re supposed to believe a pair of slaves wouldn’t have a five minutes for themselves while trusted slaves are left to roam free in the weekends. Also, I refuse to believe Daniel could be good at his job and have spent years reporting from the field without stumbling on people who actually enjoy sex.
Then there’s the fact that for an erotica this book isn’t very erotic. The first half is spent on explaining how inexperienced Daniel is and highlighting his unease with his uncaring and thoughtless new Master whose name I’ve forgotten. Said Master spends night after night sleeping in the same bed with Daniel without demanding anything from him. We’re supposed to believe he’s caring and kind because he doesn’t force himself on Daniel, that he’s a good Master who just never bothers to make the rules clear to his new slave. If the Master truly were such a good Master, surely he’d know what he wants from a slave and how to make his will known with words and without scaring the new toy.
Finally, when the sex happens (view spoiler)[it’s rape. No, it’s not the Master who leased Daniel, but it’s brutal, detailed, and it’s treated like a kink that offers the reader the sexual gratification they’ve been looking for in this book. It’s the pinnacle of the story (hide spoiler)]. Then there’s the rushed magic cock cure for all and a very unsatisfying end to the whole thing....more
Imagine a modern Britain where at least two or three decades ago the politicians gaveThis review can also be found on Book Girl of Mur-y-Castell-blog.
Imagine a modern Britain where at least two or three decades ago the politicians gave up on trying to keep up with the ever-growing prison population, chucked the fourth article of the Universal Declaration of Human rights, and started to commute life sentences into slavery. Now people are both born and condemned to it. And it’s not just in Britain, it’s all around the world.
Brooklyn Marshall was born free and worked hard to build a good life for himself. Then a simple mistake, an accident, at the job took all that away from him. He was made into an example and his life was no longer his own. Now he boxes because it’s better than getting shot at in a war zone, and he fucks and is fucked because he is told to. He is used. He’s chattel that can talk.
”You haven’t resigned yourself to slavery yet, have you?” “No. And I never will.”
It’s cruel to give hope to a such man, but that’s exactly what Nathaniel Bishop does.
I’m not a fan of romanticising slavery, and I’m not a fan of any relationship that’s based on a severe imbalance of power, but I’m always curious to see if the author can make it work. If those obstacles of differing wealth, social status, and culture can be overcome believably. Realistically. Even in urban fantasy.
It works here because Brooklyn has never accepted his status as anything less than a human being. It works because both Brooklyn and Nathaniel recognise how wrong their situation is, and because both are fighters in their own way.
Much of the story focuses on the boxing—again, something I know nothing about—and how it reflects Brooklyn’s growth as a character. He’ll never see any of the winnings, but the fighting he does is for himself. He’s broken and beaten both in the ring and out, and he is affected by it, but he’s also a survivor. What doesn’t kill him makes him stronger, and the final fights show this vividly.
If I hadn’t struggled with the beginning of the story—it was good but not amazing—the ending would have earned Counterpunch its fifth star. Voinov opted out of the fanciful and kept it realistic.
So this is why serialised fiction sells on Amazon. I'm sorry but it's not working for me.
After the first one, these two novellas (that I got when theSo this is why serialised fiction sells on Amazon. I'm sorry but it's not working for me.
After the first one, these two novellas (that I got when they were free last year) feel like overly long chapters of a longer story. Howey might have done better plotting and writing a full length novel after the first story than keep adding these short stories and later slapping them together into incomplete omnibus packets....more
Usually, I prefer more character driven stories. Although this book is told from Ia’s point of view and partly narrated in her voice—there are short nUsually, I prefer more character driven stories. Although this book is told from Ia’s point of view and partly narrated in her voice—there are short notes from the character at the beginning of each chapter—it’s far from an emotional and introspective journey. Instead, Johnson concentrates on the world building and plotting Ia’s military career from basic training to her first officer’s post.
I don’t read nearly as much scifi as I’d like to, but I do read fantasy and that’s what drew me in here. This is the first book of a much bigger series, an introduction to a future world and the world beyond that place and time. I remember reading Game of Thrones and complaining that it was just an eight hundred page prologue to an even bigger story. Here, the book is four hundred pages and there is a semblance of a personal story there, but only the first step of it.
Because of her precognitive abilities and sense of responsibility, Ia has pushed aside all her personal feelings and aspirations. This doesn’t only show on the back cover blurb but in the book itself. Ia is fully concentrated on optimising her future and the path she must take to save her home galaxy. She occasionally refers to her family and friends, but mostly she’s pushing herself from one fight to another and manipulating the events to her advantage. She doesn’t always succeed perfectly, but she’s also yet to fail miserably.
As the story continues, I wish I’ll learn more about the person Ia hoped to become before that nightmare she saw at fifteen. I wish she’ll stumble and fall, badly, only to pick herself up again and maybe find a new path, a better path for herself and for the galaxy. I wish to see her grow as a character and I wish there’ll be more time for the people around her. I wish she’ll learn that she’s not better off being alone in this.
But I think I’ll be content combing through the battle heavy pages for the subtle hints of her character building as long as I learn more about this rich world Johnson has created.
I never thought I’d like a military books, but I guess there’s a right time for everything. It certainly was the right time for me to read this book. Thanks for Aurian to recommending and gifting this book to me....more
Takakansi lupaa teoksen olevan “täsmäkirja kuntauudistuksen kourissa kiemurtelevaan maahan”. Ja sitähän se onkin: kirjan alkusivuilla. Heikkisen kritiTakakansi lupaa teoksen olevan “täsmäkirja kuntauudistuksen kourissa kiemurtelevaan maahan”. Ja sitähän se onkin: kirjan alkusivuilla. Heikkisen kritiikki on terävimmillään alussa asetelman luonnissa. Lyhyt kuvaus siitä kuinka Suomi päätyi sisällissodan kynnykselle on hupaisa ja tarkka. Valitettavasti siihen se kosto fantasia sitten jääkin.
Jo muutaman kappaleen jälkeen tarina latistuu syrjäytyneiden sotaintoilijoiden – siis keski-ikäisten miesten – elämän kuvaukseksi. Tuntemattoman Koskelaa ihannoiva Jesse Purola ja Helsingin herroihin kyrpiintynyt Oula ovat pullamössö poikia kumpainenkin. Leluilla ja vekottimilla leikitään, mutta todellisesta sodasta tuskin tietää kumpainenkaan. Maahanmuuttaja Abdi ja pohjoisen räppäri lisäävät tarinan miesnäkökulmaan omat ulottuvuutensa.
Ei naisiakaan ole unohdettu: ei ainakaan porontaljoilta. Ainoa jokseenkin ihmisen oloinen naishahmo kirjassa on toimittaja Aino Riski. Työhönsä tympääntynyt kasvisruokavalionsa kanssa poroalueella kamppaileva tyttö sortuu sitten haastateltavaansa ja katoaa irrallisia lehtijuttuja lukuun ottamatta kirjan sivuilta lähes kokonaan.
Ja kun alun huumorikin uupuu yksittäisiksi anekdooteiksi, ei kirjasta minulle paljon iloa irronnut....more
On my Goodreads profile on the “favourite books” line it says: Well written ones, but often I'll settle for entertaining. What it doesn’t say is that On my Goodreads profile on the “favourite books” line it says: Well written ones, but often I'll settle for entertaining. What it doesn’t say is that sometimes I’m just looking for something entertaining (disclaimer: basic grammar rules should always be adhered to).
That’s what I got here.
Probationary Constable Peter Grant dreams of being a detective in London’s Metropolitan Police. Too bad his superior plans to assign him to the Case Progression Unit, where the biggest threat he’ll face is a paper cut.
This is actually a sterilised version of the beginning of the book. Aside from using the first chapters to introduce the integral characters, Aaronovitch spends a lot of time fleshing out the procedural side of the drama. Expect to see lots of names and abbreviations that’ll come and bite you later if you forget them. Though, I must say, I miss the expression “bunny suit.”
But Peter’s prospects change in the aftermath of a puzzling murder, when he gains exclusive information from an eyewitness who happens to be a ghost.
And then there’s the paranormal side of this urban fantasy mystery. Like so many authors before him, Aaronovitch eases Peter into this new world exposing and explaining things as they come. There are ghosts, there’s magic, and there are deities that put a young man’s libido into overdrive.
Peter’s ability to speak with the lingering dead brings him to the attention of Detective Chief Inspector Thomas Nightingale, who investigates crimes involving magic and other manifestations of the uncanny.
This is what I liked. The magical—uncanny—side of the world is embraced but science isn’t thrown aside either. Peter has an inquisitive mind and he reacts like I’d expect any modern person to react: He tries to make the two sides of his new reality fit together. It’s an ongoing struggle but every now and then he figures out something new.
Now, as a wave of brutal and bizarre murders engulfs the city, Peter is plunged into a world where gods and goddesses mingle with mortals and a long-dead evil is making a comeback on a rising tide of magic.
Aaronovitch takes all these familiar elements and somehow fits them together. He doesn’t completely rewrite the legends or invent his own, he just takes what he needs and builds on it. He gives his narrator a snarky and entertaining voice, and a bit of a mystery to stretch your grey cells.
Seeing as this a British book about magic, the inevitable Harry Potter references do come up and are addressed in the same manner as most other popular culture references: They’re acknowledged, joked about, and put aside.
Saying that this is like seeing Harry Potter grow up and become a policeman is doing Peter Grant a disservice, after all, Harry never really fit in with the muggles.
P.S. Trigger warnings: (view spoiler)[ Quite a nasty case of possession with gory aftereffects and a violent incident involving a baby. (hide spoiler)]....more
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