2021 reread - 4+ stars. Highly recommended if a Regency era fantasy appeals to you. Final review, first posted on Fantasy Literature:
Twenty-one year o2021 reread - 4+ stars. Highly recommended if a Regency era fantasy appeals to you. Final review, first posted on Fantasy Literature:
Twenty-one year old Elinor Pembroke, dreaming of fire burning all around her, awakes to find her room actually ablaze with an intense fire ― a fire she caused in her sleep. Elinor is able to quench the fire with simply a thought. The ability to not only mentally generate but also to extinguish fire makes her an Extraordinary Scorcher, the first British person with this high level of power over fire in over a hundred years. In this alternative Regency world, a few people have magical talents ― telepathy, flying, teleporting, visions, and more ― and those who have especially strong abilities are called Extraordinaries.
Elinor’s dictatorial father is delighted that his nondescript middle daughter is suddenly an extremely valuable commodity in the marriage market: many men are interested in marrying a woman with a strong talent in order to produce gifted children. Elinor’s personal feelings about the man her father chooses for her are of no account to him. As he’s busily making plans to marry her off to a rather unpleasant but wealthy nobleman, Elinor, desperate to find a path that offers her the right to determine her own fate, sneaks off to convince the Admiralty that the Royal Navy needs her help.
The admirals are reluctant to allow a woman to serve in the Navy, but it’s difficult for them to argue with Elinor’s ability, particularly after she gives them a brief demonstration of her Extraordinary talent by calmly lighting the fireplace and every lamp in the First Lord’s office at once, then extinguishing them. It’s clear that Elinor could make a big difference in their battles against pirates and privateers, which are splitting their naval forces in the war against Napoleon. To her embarrassment, they assign her to the ship of Captain Miles Ramsay, with whom Elinor had had a bit of a tiff at a recent ball. Sparks fly, in more ways than one. Elinor has to battle, not only privateers and pirates, but the superstitions and prejudices of the sailors aboard the Athena, as well as the admiral in Bermuda who is in charge of the conflict against the pirates in the Caribbean.
Burning Bright is an engaging story about the adventures of a young woman who finds she has an unexpected talent, and in gaining skill and confidence in her talent, gradually gains confidence in herself as well. Elinor realizes that she may be irrevocably damaging her reputation in society by joining the Navy as a single woman aboard a ship of men, but the chance to make her own decisions is worth the risk. But even after Elinor finds the courage to join the Navy, her determination to face down her tyrannical father and tell him that she’s leaving is short-lived: she ends up leaving him a letter and disappearing in the morning. Her development of mental and emotional strength takes some time.
While Regency era-based fantasies have become fairly popular, this one, refreshingly, focuses more on the nautical experience than the parlors and ballrooms and romance. Melissa McShane has researched the details of shipboard life in this era and incorporated them into her story in a way that doesn’t drag down the pace of the story. In fact, the overall pace, after a bit of a slow build-up, moves along briskly as Elinor has some unexpected adventures and makes some enemies as well as some friends. The secondary characters are well-developed; I enjoyed the various personalities of the sailors on board the Athena. Captain Ramsay is a capable leader but has some human flaws as well. His dialogue with Elinor is often quite amusing:
“I could order you, as your commanding officer, to tell me.”
“You could, Captain, but I would disobey, you would have to order me flogged, the crew would all mutiny, and you would end your days marooned on some tiny Caribbean island eating nothing but raw breadfruit and unripe coconuts.”
“Raw breadfruit is indigestible.”
“Then coconuts it will have to be.”
There are some darker parts to Burning Bright as well, as McShane deals straightforwardly with the nightmarish psychological effects of killing men in war, as well as the seductive power that fire can gain over the person that wields it. These aspects are reminiscent of some of the ideas and themes explored in Shannon Hale’s fantasy Enna Burning, though I didn’t find Burning Bright nearly as dark and disturbing as that fire-based fantasy.
Burning Bright combines shipboard adventures, wars with pirates, and an interesting magical system with just a little romance. I didn’t really mean to spend an entire evening reading this book, but it was one of those books that was extremely difficult to put down once I got into it!
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a review. Thank you!...more
Jim Butcher’s The Aeronaut’s Windlass gets a mixed verdict from me. The naval airships wFull review, first posted at www.fantasyliterature.com:
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Jim Butcher’s The Aeronaut’s Windlass gets a mixed verdict from me. The naval airships with their 3D battles in the mists were the highlight, reminiscent of Disney’s Treasure Planet (an animated film that I consider underrated). If I had read more naval fiction in my life I daresay it wouldn’t have struck me as quite so fresh but, not having yet made the time to read Captain Horatio Hornblower or Master and Commander, I really enjoyed the stubbornly noble and vastly capable Captain Grimm, his loyal crew and their air battles.
Grimm, as well as the other main characters, Gwen, Benedict and Bridget, were appealing characters, and I enjoyed spending time with them, even if they’re rather stereotypical. However, having Benedict be a Warrior ― a human with lion DNA mixed into his genetic heritage ― was an imaginative touch, particularly as it became clear that, despite their strength, the Warriors are forced to deal with subtle discrimination in society. The less conventional characters, particularly master etherealist Ferus and his apprentice Folly, veered close to being overly quirky, but I appreciated them more as I became more familiar with them and understood why they act the way they do.
Rowl and the other intelligent cats were an entertaining addition to the story line, particularly for readers who are fond of cats. It was great fun to see put into words thoughts that I’m fairly certain my cat has thought about me! However, as much as I enjoyed them, I have mixed feelings about how successfully the cat clans were utilized as a key component in this novel. Their dialogue was humorous but too often went for the easy laugh at the expense of being meaningful, and their scenes often felt oddly shallow, more what I’d expect from a middle grade fantasy novel than an adult one.
In fact, while The Aeronaut’s Windlass isn’t being marketed as a YA book, it felt like one to me: two of the three main characters are teenage girls, there’s no R-rated language or content, and the writing lacked the depth and complexity that I’d normally expect in an adult fantasy.
The unusual setting in this book, with all human life limited to cities built on immense spires, had great potential but was underutilized. I also disliked the cliffhanger scenes at the end; they felt like an unnecessary addition to me, and having the novel end on an unpleasant note was not entirely consistent with the overall tone of the story. But I’ll still be there for the next installment....more
Maybe 3.75 stars? This is a tough one for me to rate.
Peter Blood is an Irish physician living in EnglaCaptain Blood, scourge of the high seas! [image]
Maybe 3.75 stars? This is a tough one for me to rate.
Peter Blood is an Irish physician living in England in the late 1600s. When the Duke of Monmouth rebels against King James, Blood wants nothing to do with the rebellion, but when he treats some of the rebels for their injuries and is caught by the king's men, he's sentenced to be hanged by the infamous judge, Judge Jeffries. His death sentence is commuted to a sentence of slavery in the sugar cane plantations of the Caribbean.
Peter Blood is bought at a slave auction by Colonel William Bishop, a truly horrible man whose only good points are that he lets Blood practice medicine rather than slaving in the fields (it makes Bishop more money) ... and that he has a beautiful niece, Arabella.
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Peter Blood and Arabella get to know (and like) each other, but Blood knows that his position as a convict slave makes any relationship hopeless. He and his buddies hatch a plan to escape, but when a Spanish force attacks the town, it might just be Blood's chance for something more exciting and lucrative.
Captain Blood is a fine adventure novel, about a good man turned pirate due to mistreatment by King James, a hanging judge and ruthless slaveholders, but trying to keep his honor as much as possible. Because lurrve (and also because he's simply an honorable man). Lots of sea battles and romantic drama here. It reminded me a lot of The Scarlet Pimpernel, another old adventure/romance novel, but with more oceans and ships, fewer Frenchmen and guillotines, and rather better writing.
My big problem with Captain Blood is that there's just so much unexamined racism here. You have to take into account that this was written in 1922, but clearly Sabatini had a lot more problems with white men being enslaved than "negroes" - he never questions the latter at all (though granted, the novel is set in the 1600s), and the black characters are all completely stereotypical, mindless slaves, just background to the main story. It made parts of the novel tough sledding for me. You have to be able to give those parts a pass to really enjoy this novel.
"The Gold-Bug," written in 1843, was one of Edgar Allen Poe's most popular stories. He actually won a $100 prize for it in a newspaper's writi[image]
"The Gold-Bug," written in 1843, was one of Edgar Allen Poe's most popular stories. He actually won a $100 prize for it in a newspaper's writing contest, probably the most he was ever paid for any of his works. It tells the story of William Legrand, who finds and deciphers an old parchment with a hidden message that leads to a pirate's buried treasure -- thus taking advantage of the 19th century public's enthusiasm for both cryptography and buried treasure.
The cipher on the parchment is a relatively simple substitution cipher, but the story of following the clues and finding the treasure is intriguing and creative, especially for the time it was written.
My big problem with this story is Legrand's servant, a stereotypical black character, Jupiter, a former slave who has insisted on remaining with the family that previously owned him. He's used for comic effect in the story, speaking with a broad dialect that's full of "massa" talk and foolish superstitions. It's seriously wince-inducing reading. But if you can get past that, keeping in mind that this was written about 170 years ago, pre-Civil War, the rest of the story is a fun adventure.
Available to read online many places, including here, or you can download it for free at Gutenberg.org.
This action-packed pirate fantasy adventure for the middle grade set starts out with a bang: Dean Seaborne, a 13 year old self-described "pirate spy,"This action-packed pirate fantasy adventure for the middle grade set starts out with a bang: Dean Seaborne, a 13 year old self-described "pirate spy," is being dunked in a cage in the ocean . . . after the pirates have thrown chum in the water to attract sharks. The pirate captain, One-Eyed Jack, is bent out of shape because Dean tried to run away. After sufficient groveling and promise-making, One-Eyed Jack has Dean hauled back up, suitably chastened, and sends him off on another spy mission.
After a few more adventures, Dean is grabbed by an emissary of the mythical (or so everyone thinks) land of Zenhala and hailed as their long-lost prince, stolen from them as a baby. But is he really? And will he survive the three physical trials that Zenhala royalty must face to prove themselves? Especially when someone is doing their best to make sure he doesn't survive?
The story moves along quickly, with lots of action: shipwrecks, fighting scenes, mythical lost kingdoms with lots of gold, sea monsters, beautiful princesses, etc. Many middle grade books still appeal to me even as an adult, but this one didn't much. I thought the writing was a bit pedestrian, and some of the adventures, like when Dean "invents" a wheeled contraption (read "skateboard") and dodges through all the pirates trying to catch him, using his mad skillz, were real eye-rollers for me. There are lots of far-fetched coincidences and plot developments.
But I could see this book being quite appealing to kids in maybe the age 8-14 range. (I'm going to try to talk my 13 y/o son into reading it; if he does I'll post his comments.) It's not deep, but it's a fun adventure. There's lots of life-threatening action but it's mostly of the cartoonish type, not particularly grim or violent. Extra points for an ending that actually surprised me.
Free eARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thanks!...more
In the year 1800, Jack Aubrey sits next Stephen Maturin at a musical performance in Port Mahon, Minorca, a basThe classic high seas adventure!
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In the year 1800, Jack Aubrey sits next Stephen Maturin at a musical performance in Port Mahon, Minorca, a base of the British Royal Navy in the Mediterranean Sea between Spain and Italy. They immediately rub each other the wrong way. Both are snappish because of other issues in their lives, and they part planning on next meeting for a duel. But when Jack is given his first command of a ship, all is forgiven, and he needs a ship's surgeon: who better than Stephen? Stephen, down on his luck, is happy to accept. And so begins the first Aubrey/Maturin voyage, with Stephen conveniently playing the role of landlubber who needs to be informed of everything naval, so the reader can be informed along with him.
I have to say this book was pretty rough sailing for me in parts. The massive amount of naval and nautical jargon about sank me, and I got a bit lost in some of the battle descriptions. My book club pretty much unanimously felt the same way; we all floundered a little.
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(The funniest part of the book club meeting was when one of the ladies was excitedly telling the rest of us about her favorite scenes in the book, and we didn't remember any of them. I finally asked her to show us the cover of her book: it was The Far Side of the World, the 10th book in this series!)
This 1969 book is the first in a series of 21 books and, though it doesn't end on a cliffhanger, the novel felt a little unfinished to me, more like a set-up for an ongoing story than a self-contained book. It's also very episodic, kind of like you're on a real-life journey with the characters.
But I can't in good conscience rate Master and Commander less than 4 stars: the amount of research that went into this book was incredible, even if O'Brian could have done a better job of making it accessible to the reader. ("Patrick," said one of his friends, "can be a bit of a snob.") The characters were well-rounded, with some very human flaws. Jack Aubrey and Stephen Maturin are very different from each other, but they complement each other well. Jack is brash and bluff, a womanizer in port, and just a little shallow at this point in his life, although he can be a genius at sea. Stephen is intelligent, curious and a gifted natural scientist, with a hidden past. It will be interesting to see how their personalities develop in following books.
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The plot was complex, with the author doing that sometimes frustrating thing (Dorothy Dunnett does the same) where something happens or someone says something and you can tell it's significant, but you can't figure out why because the author isn't spoonfeeding you everything.
There's a lot of humor in the story, some of it so dry that it's "blink and you miss it." At one point Jack and Stephen are at a fancy dinner party held by Captain and Mrs. Harte. Mrs. Harte is sleeping around on her husband. Stephen loses his napkin and dives below the table to get it:
He beheld four and twenty legs ... Colonel Pitt's gleaming military boot lay pressed upon Mrs Harte's right foot, and upon her left — quite a distance from the right — reposed Jack's scarcely less massive buckled shoe.
Course followed course... But in time Mrs Harte rose and walked, limping slightly, into the drawing room.
In a 1991 New York Times book review, Richard Snow called this series the best historical novels ever written. "On every page Mr. O'Brian reminds us with subtle artistry of the most important of all historical lessons: that times change but people don't, that the griefs and follies and victories of the men and women who were here before us are in fact the maps of our own lives."
Highly recommended for readers who want a mentally challenging historical novel.
Bonus content: There's a fantastic interactive map of the journeys of the ship Sophie in Master and Commander at Cannonade.net. Spoilers ahoy!
A romantic, swashbuckling type of tale from the talented Daphne du Maurier that, unfortunately, fell flat for me. Lady Dona St. Columb is a noblewomanA romantic, swashbuckling type of tale from the talented Daphne du Maurier that, unfortunately, fell flat for me. Lady Dona St. Columb is a noblewoman in 17th century England, discontented with her husband, family, the British court, and pretty much everything in her life. She takes out her frustrations on everyone around her and then flounces off to her husband's estate in Cornwall to rusticate and make the people around her miserable there instead.
There are stories of a pirate who's been raiding the Cornish countryside, and Dona could be in trouble when she stumbles across the pirate ship's hiding place in a cove ... right on her estate! But it's romance, not danger, that mostly ensues in this rather dreamily written novel (in fairness, the excitement and adventure ramp up later in the novel, before we get to a rather odd ending).
Du Maurier writes well, but this book was just not for me. My problems with it are mostly tied to my own personal reading likes and dislikes, rather than an objective assessment of the book's qualities. In other words, your mileage may vary.
The main character, Dona, is a spoiled, selfish, headstrong woman, dismissive of her spouse and children. The first scene she's in shows her being unreasonable and rude to her servants. As I got deeper into the book I liked her a little better (or perhaps it would be more accurate to say that I disliked her a little less) as I came to understand her frustrations, but she's not the type of woman I identify with, or want to get to know better, either in real life or in a book. Dislikable protagonists are a tough one for me to swallow.
I also have a really deep aversion to cheating on your spouse, which includes reading romances where one of the main characters is cheating, and I'm not big on justifications (he's a louse, she doesn't understand me, etc.). Dona married a guy who's a drinker and apparently as dumb as a box of rocks, but he loves her, wants to make something better of their marriage and is willing to try to change, and she won't give him the time of day. Instead she takes up with ...
The pirate, who is handsome, well-read and independently wealthy, but justifies his piracy because he's a Robin Hood, stealing from the unworthy rich and giving to the poor. Huh. I'm pretty good at suspending disbelief, but this was all just a little too unrealistic to buy into. He admits that he just needs adventure to bring meaning to his humdrum life. I can respect that, but hey, go explore Africa or something rather than becoming a criminal.
In general, this reads to me like an unhappily married woman's fantasy of how she'd like to ditch her boring and unfulfilling husband and existence and go off on romantic adventures. From what I've read of Daphne du Maurier's life, I think that's likely the case. I just couldn't respect the characters or their choices....more
Pieces of Jade is a YA fantasy whose main character is Jade, a teenage girl protagonist with (of course) special magical powers and (of course) more tPieces of Jade is a YA fantasy whose main character is Jade, a teenage girl protagonist with (of course) special magical powers and (of course) more than one guy who loves her. (The Dreaded Love Triangle hasn't quite appeared in this first volume, but it sure looks like it's coming.)
The setting is a magical fantasy world is an interesting one with some unique aspects that I haven't seen before. Jade, because of the magic that - literally - runs in her blood, has been co-opted by the royal family, and she's regularly required to do some bloodletting to bless the kingdom's otherwise cursed soil into fertility. She's also engaged, not terribly happily, to the royal heir.
But things go off the rails when pirates steal a valuable magical medallion entrusted to her. Jade is imprisoned and sentenced to death (by her fiance!), but she escapes from prison and takes off to try to steal the medallion back from the pirates. To add to the pressure on Jade, she finds out that the royal family will kill her sister instead unless Jade is able to bring back the medallion.
Jade joins the pirate crew, where she begins to hear stories about the royal family's secret cruelties. And there's a hot pirate first officer ...
The world-building was a little confusing: the story begins in medias res, or after some key events had already happened (Wait. What? She's engaged to one prince but in love with his brother? On the first page?). You kind of figure it out as you go along, but personally I found it a little frustrating. I'm big on context in my reading.
Still, it was an enjoyable read if you like this genre. Overall I found it well written, especially for a self-published book, though not perfect; there are occasional misspelling and grammar errors.
Other things you should know if you're considering reading Pieces of Jade:
1. It's the beginning of a series. It doesn't end on a cliff-hanger but the larger conflicts are not resolved. Although this first book was published back in 2012, as of 2017 the sequel(s) still haven't been published.
2. The romance is squeaky clean, there are several disturbing scenes that include blood-letting, detailed whippings, murder and torture. I wouldn't recommend this for younger or more sensitive readers. If you were okay with the The Hunger Games trilogy I think you'll be okay with this book....more
As I said in my review of Once a Princess (read that review first), this is the second half of a two-volume stThe swashbuckling and magic continue....
As I said in my review of Once a Princess (read that review first), this is the second half of a two-volume story. If you like YA high fantasies with a solid dose of both action and romance, and with a side dish of humor, I highly recommend this one-two punch of Once a Princess/Twice a Prince (also the same author's Crown Duel and The Trouble with Kings, but those are different reviews, to come one of these times).
I found this a highly satisfactory conclusion to Sasha's story....more
I first became a fan of Sherwood Smith when I stumbled onto her YA fantasy Crown Duel. After reading that one and loving the world she created, I spenI first became a fan of Sherwood Smith when I stumbled onto her YA fantasy Crown Duel. After reading that one and loving the world she created, I spent quite a bit of time over the next few years prowling through her other works, looking for another book that would replicate all the feelz Crown Duel gave me (not just romantic ones! I am not that shallow! ... okay, sometimes I am, but not this time).
Once a Princess and its sequel/second volume, Twice a Prince, are a fun fantasy adventure romp and one of my favorite Sherwood Smith books in the Crown Duel vein (i.e., YA fantasy world with plucky and determined heroine and a little romantic interest on the side). It's set in the same world as Crown Duel, Sartorias-deles, and the same villainous family, the Merindars, plays a key role. Plus pirates! and a kickass heroine with excellent sword-fighting skills (b/c reasons) alternately kissing and running away from the pirate captain! Also, she loves books. And the heroine's 50-ish mother is equally awesome! What's not to like?
Sasha, our main character, gets involuntarily yanked from our Earth back to Sartorias-deles by some people who want to use her for their own purposes: she was a princess in that world before her Earth-born mother took her back to Earth about 10 years ago to escape political assassination. The political problems are still boiling, and Sasha isn't at all sure she wants to help the group responsible for bringing her back to S-d. But Sasha has her own motives and reasons for staying: her father (the rightful ruler) has been missing all these years, and she thinks she knows how to find him. Meanwhile, back on Earth, Sasha's mom--another excellent female character--figures out that Sasha's been taken back to S-d and promptly takes off after her.
One of the interesting aspects of this book was the connection to Earth that was clarified in this book: there are magical portals between here and Sartorias-deles. Seeing Sasha's and her mother's lives on Earth at the very start of the book really adds to the context and my enjoyment. Also a plus for Inda/A Stranger to Command fans: the equally kickass warrior Marlovens make a brief appearance in the second book.
This is truly one book in two parts: I wouldn't call it a cliffhanger, exactly, but--apparently for the publisher's reasons at the time--Sasha's story is kind of arbitrarily broken into two volumes. So I'm not going to ding this one as a *boo-hiss cliffhanger* because it wasn't the author's fault, but I strongly recommend that you have Twice a Prince on hand so you can start reading it as soon as you finish Once a Princess. The story is definitely incomplete unless you read both volumes. ETA: Sherwood reminded me in the comments that this book has been republished with both parts together, as Sasharia En Garde. Sweet!
Content note: Despite what the covers of this book and the sequel may lead you to believe, this is a clean read. Kisses only....more
One of my all-time favorites! Long before the movie existed, I stumbled across this book in my college bookstore. This cover spoke to my YA fairy-taleOne of my all-time favorites! Long before the movie existed, I stumbled across this book in my college bookstore. This cover spoke to my YA fairy-tale-loving heart:
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So I bought it, without knowing a thing about the story. And the book was NOT what I was expecting.
It was way, WAY better.
If you love the movie, read the book ... and don't let yourself get bogged down in the long, offbeat intro. (Skim it if you need to.) You'll get a lot of background history on the various characters, which can be extremely funny, and a little poignant. The movie is in large part very true to the book, but William Goldman has a dry, satirical sense of humor that doesn't entirely come through in the movie. (The part about the Greatest Kisses Ever cracks me up every time.)
But it's still about "Beasts of all natures and descriptions. Pain. Death. Brave men. Coward men. Strongest men. Chases. Escapes. Lies. Truths. Passions."
Tadiana ✩Night Owl☽
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