Tag: science fiction

Let’s Talk: Recent Reads

RobinLeave a comment

Basically, all the books I can’t shut up about.

So many good books, so little time to review them all individually so without further ado here’s a wrap on all the books I have read and loved in the past three months. For this chunk of the year I decided to focus on mood and curate a TBR for each month to check off according to what I was wanting to read. As we moved into fall I was in more of an SFF mood but have started reading some more seasonally appropriate books on my TBR. Several of the books here will be reviewed for the first time, but many will be in my blurb review format. This post introduces: a series that has become my new obsession, an upcoming historical romance, a stunning series finale, and a new favorite author. Happy reading!

My Recent Favorites

A Master of Djinn by P. Djèlí Clark

Clark’s alternate 1912 Cairo, where djinn roam the streets and magic is a daily reality is my new favorite world to get lost in. Fatma el-Sha’arawi, an agent of the Ministry of Alchemy, Enchantments, and Supernatural Entities, is tasked with uncovering just who murdered the members of a secret brotherhood but discovers a plot that goes far deeper. This is my first P. Djèlí Clark and boy did it not disappoint. Not only is this a fantastic speculative debut, but it has a deep center of questioning that I really appreciated. The twists in this are so freaking good and Fatma and Siti are the cutest couple and badass team up EVER. Read for an amazing world, historical commentary, and sapphics uncovering a mystery together.

Trigger warnings: blood, violence, racism, slavery

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The Duchess by Sophie Jordan

Sophie Jordan returns to her Scandalous Ladies of London series. Valencia, a recently widowed dowager, teams up with the new heir to usher his unruly sisters into London society but finds her past confronting her newfound connections. Like the previous installment, The Duchess brings a fresh take on historical romance tropes while staying true to the realities of marriage and life for women in this period. It’s deeply satisfying to see Valencia work to secure the life she wants after years of abuse and suffering (and VERY entertaining at certain points). I have been waiting years for a historical series focused on women who didn’t get their happily ever after the first time around and it is here.

Trigger warnings: misogyny, sexual harassment, abuse

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The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennett

An unthinkable murder looms large in an empire beset by leviathans, strange contagions, and corruption blooming at its heart. Assistant to a brilliant investigator, and magically altered to help her solve the crime, Dinios Kol is called in to lend his eyes to solving the murder in question. Undeniably humorous and brilliant in its craft, The Tainted Cup is a bold new murder mystery that reinvigorates the classic investigative pairing with a plot almost serpentine in the way that it constantly twists and turns back upon itself in an act of reinvention. Robert Jackson Bennett has constructed a stellar fantasy world alongside an inventive magic system. This is an unpredictable, but nevertheless brilliant mystery equipped with a duo to rival Watson and Holmes. The kind of story to seep in and take root in the most unexpected places.

Trigger warnings: body horror, blood, murder, violence

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The Will of the Many by James Islington

In The Will of the Many, Islington constructs a flawed world built on the backs of the many to benefit the few, centering on the one person who could expose a crack in the marble and bring down an entire empire. Orphan Vin Telimus is an heir to a kingdom overtaken by the very empire he now serves. Hiding in plain sight, resisting ceding his will to the hierarchy, Vin is taken in by an unlikely ally who will give him a way out if he infiltrates the academy training the next generation of upper citizens to figure out what is going on on the academy grounds. This book juggles so many different elements and executes them all flawlessly. Complete with a mystery, an inventive societal system, and a striking political landscape. I can’t believe I waited so long to read this absolute masterpiece and I cannot wait to continue the series.

Trigger warnings: blood, violence, gore, death, murder, body horror

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Mammoths at the Gates by Nghi Vo

The eternal question: did I finish this book or did it finish me? The Singing Hills Cycle by Nghi Vo is for sure one of my favorite novella series of the past few years, and every addition has become my new obsession. Mammoths at the Gates is no different. After the death of their mentor, Cleric Chih returns to the abbey to mourn the loss and lay them to rest with the rest of their community. Stories past and present merge as Chi and others mourn this loss and collectively grieve. Vo conceptualizes the diverse experiences with grief and memory and pays homage to the power of storytelling. Definitely teared up a little bit while reading this and can’t wait for more from this series.

Trigger warnings: death, grief, physical abuse (mentioned)

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The Fractured Dark by Megan O’Keefe

If you take nothing else from the books I am recommending here it is: read this series. Altered Carbon meets the Expanse in this inventive and action-packed interplanetary adventure. Megan O’Keefe takes her Devoured Worlds series to the next level with a mind-bending addition that tests already fragile alliances and humanity’s uncertain future. Naira and Tarquin confront deep-rooted power structures, enemies old and new, and a biological threat able to evolve in ways they never could have thought possible. Ingeniously layered with a deep sense of humanity at its core, O’Keefe questions identity, future frontiers, and families found. You won’t expect the twists and you will desperately wish you’d read this sooner.

Trigger warnings: suicide, blood, violence, emotional abuse

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The Silent Companions by Laura Purcell

The Silent Companions is an eerie Victorian gothic novel that kept me up into the wee hours of the night, both because of a desire to reach its end, and the unsettling feeling it placed upon me. I stumbled upon Laura Purcell’s books at Waterstones back in March and took a chance on The Silent Companions for its gorgeous cover and intriguing premise. A widow is sent to her late husband’s family estate for the remainder of her pregnancy but is left to uncover the strange secrets of this ancestral home and its horrific legacy. Safe to say that judging books by their covers is good because I just loved this one. It’s gothic, spooky, and perfect. This book will have you looking into dark corners while coming to terms with the most ingenious twist!

Trigger warnings: blood, death, murder, poisoning, forced institutionalization

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Masters Of Death by Olivie Blake

So you’re a vampire real estate agent trying to sell your latest house, but it’s haunted by the ghost of its former occupant. And the only way to help the ghost move on is to contact a medium who just so happens to be the Godson of Death? Yes, this book is as chaotic as its premise, with a slow build and a snarky cast of characters who must team up to master death himself. Masters of Death is the kind of book that feels more rewarding the further you wade into it. I had no idea how so many of these moving pieces would come together, but Olivie Blake makes it all work. I love its patchwork method of narrative and break from linear storytelling. Masters of Death has all the trappings of a morbid and folkloric bedtime story as vamps, reapers, ghosts, and gods must team up for good or for ill. It’s easily the most unexpected and chaotic fantasy book I have read in ages. 

Trigger warnings: murder, death, addiction

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Two Twisted Crowns by Rachel Gillig

Two Twisted Crowns, the expansive and completely life-changing conclusion to the Shepherd King Duology is here and it is quite possibly the best sequel I’ve read all year. Maintaining her sensational gothic atmosphere and gutting prose, Gillig adds several new points of view and expands her focus to those left behind in the aftermath of the events from book one. Characters Elm and Ione pull focus and what emerges is a well-rounded conclusion that tests the bonds of family, magic, and the world that these characters hold dear. We get more lore with the cards and the Shepherd King as Elsbeth is trapped by the Nightmare, which I loved. Two Twisted Crowns is certainly an ambitious sequel, but altogether romantic and action-packed. Rachel Gillig is definitely a new favorite author and I cannot wait to reread this series down the line.

Trigger warnings: blood, death, violence, murder, torture

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Review: The Luminous Dead by Caitlin Starling

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Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

Gyre is part of a one-person expedition mapping a cave system on the mining colony of a distant planet, but after basically lying her way into the job for the substantial paycheck, she soon finds herself in way over her head. The cave is filled with the bodies of past explorers that met an unfortunate end, and the surface team tasked with monitoring her surrounding environment is not a team at all, but a grieving young woman determined to unbury a graveyard. Lured into a false sense of security by the promised payout that will allow her to track down the mother that abandoned her, Gyre continues her descent, but the cave system is not what she expected, and her handler will stop at nothing to push forward. Confused and alone in the dark, Gyre makes one unsettling discovery after the other. Supplies have gone missing, tunnels completely shifted, and as she encroaches deeper into the darkness Gyre begins to suspect that she may not be entirely alone.

The Luminous Dead is the perfect combination of spooky and gay, wound up in a psychological thriller investigating the traumas of two young women and the ties that bind them. Told entirely from the perspective of caver Gyre as she navigates the expansive cave system of her home planet Cassandra-V, Starling’s confined narrative contests with the limitless scope of the underground. The vast network of caves becomes a nightmare, where the emotions and mental state of Gyre and her inconsistent handler Em begin to fray. I’m a big fan of the use of the surrounding environment as an extension of the emotions of these characters, where unique traumas can be realized and overcome. The Luminous Dead took this to an extreme degree. The plot manages to draw out the horror contained within, with the thirty-some dead cavers, cave collapses, and missing gear, alongside Gyre’s slow loss of sanity. This isolation is fully brought home with there being only two characters in the story, while finicky Em enters and exits on her own agenda, leaving Gyre to fend for herself and parse her handler’s inconsistencies. There were so many little moments throughout where I felt aligned with Gyre in not knowing what to believe or trusting anything that was being seen. The general fear of being watched, having her suit tampered with, or being controlled was terrifying to observe. Situating the novel around the exploration of a system of caves was enough to maintain suspense, but the psychological torment of Gyre was even more dreadful. Her hallucinations and the prevailing slow build toward her loss of self became incredibly anxiety-inducing to witness. Until its unexpected ending, I really had no idea if she would leave the cave alive. Secluded and horrifying, The Luminous Dead is the internal journey of two women united by trauma towards healing by exorcising the past. An unsettling atmospheric read that chilled me to the very core.

Trigger warnings: death, parental death, parental abandonment, forced drug use, body horror, vomiting, suicidal thoughts

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Review: The Daughter of Doctor Moreau by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

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Rating: 5 out of 5.

In a secluded estate far removed from the conflict on Yucatán’s peninsula, Carlota Moreau lives an isolated existence. The only daughter of the venerable scientist Doctor Moreau, she spends her days surrounded by the beauty of the Yaxaktun property and the hybrid creatures held captive by their domineering creator. Backed financially by the wealthy Lizaldes, Doctor Moreau is sent a new overseer, the pensive Montgomery Laughton, to assist in his experiments. Six years pass and the fragile atmosphere at Yaxaktun is altogether upended by the arrival of two unexpected gentlemen, one being Eduardo Lizalde, the son of Moreau’s benevolent benefactor. With the sudden arrival of their unforeseen guests, the problems outside the bounds of the jungle loom ever closer, and as Carlota becomes all the more inquisitive, her father’s secrets threaten to expose a truth far more harrowing.

Silvia Moreno-Garcia astounds with a gothic science fiction historical set against the background of late nineteenth-century Mexico. The Daughter of Doctor Moreau is a fascinating reimagining of H.G Wells’s novel “The Island of Doctor Moreau,” that completely extends upon the original with its themes of colonization, class, and subjugation. Stepping into this novel felt akin to wading into a crystalline pool, as main character Carlota slowly draws together a hazy picture of her world, one that is refined and sharpened as she begins to question her reality and gain agency. Similarly to Mexican Gothic, this novel seizes a quiet pace, bringing forth an enthralling expose into the obsessions of a mad doctor, and just who the real monsters are. Dual narrators Carlota Moreau and Montgomery Laughton are altogether delightful, providing the opposing perspectives necessary to relay the unsettling nature of the entire narrative. Where Carlota is the quiet lonesome voice in the darkness, Montgomery is the brooding moody tone in contrast. While it can be said that both characters captivate, Carlota is beyond a doubt the one who dazzles. Her escape from the clutches of her father’s influence, to uncovering the truth about his creations, and unleashing the monster within was absolutely earth-shattering. Moreno-Garcia interlays a gripping examination of possession, prejudice, and the relationship between creator and subject beneath it all. With an added afterword on the history of the Yucatán region and the caste war, the influence of historical events from the text is all the more apparent. It seems as if every time I find myself reaching for a new book by Silvia Moreno-Garcia, I have to prepare for the fact that it will surpass all of my expectations and leave me completely dumbfounded. Silvia Moreno-Garcia is a powerhouse, and The Daughter of Doctor Moreau is a startling addition, wonderfully romantic and intense in its resistance.

Thank you to Edelweiss for providing the arc.

Trigger warnings: abuse, violence, blood, death, gun violence, suicide

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