Hello!
It’s your friendly neighbourhood cabbage back with some mini-reviews. After a puppy-induced reading slump earlier in the year (she’s lucky she’s cute) (she is very cute), I’m finally finding some reading momentum again! Between work and dog and SPFBO, I feel like I’ve been generating very very little content for the blog over the past few months (sorry), and so it’s probably time to sort that out.
Here’s what I’ve been reading recently!
Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree
No review copy here, I bought this one on a 0.99 sale, and I’m not gonna lie I’m really quite chuffed with that.
[Click for Blurb]
Worn out after decades of packing steel and raising hell, Viv the orc barbarian cashes out of the warrior’s life with one final score. A forgotten legend, a fabled artifact, and an unreasonable amount of hope lead her to the streets of Thune, where she plans to open the first coffee shop the city has ever seen.
However, her dreams of a fresh start pulling shots instead of swinging swords are hardly a sure bet. Old frenemies and Thune’s shady underbelly may just upset her plans. To finally build something that will last, Viv will need some new partners and a different kind of resolve.
A hot cup of fantasy slice-of-life with a dollop of romantic froth.
It feels like this book has kicked up a little bit of a storm in recent times, with a sizeable fanbase falling in love with Travis Baldree’s debut. If you haven’t heard of Legends & Lattes yet, then you should know that it advertises itself as “High Fantasy with Low Stakes”, and I loved that it was exactly that.
Viv, an orc barbarian/warrior/fighter-type-person, has decided to hang up the sword and open… a coffee shop? Which in this world is somewhat of a niche, gnomish custom. There isn’t much of a plot here beyond the construction and expansion of said shop and its staff — it’s slice-of-life to the bone. And y’know what? Sometimes that’s what you need. I loved the slow-paced, chill atmosphere and the feeling of someone building something. Not just the building of a physical thing (though there’s some satisfaction to seeing that come together, too), but the whole idea of building a new life, and getting the support to help you do that.
Legends & Lattes felt like a wonderful “break” from my regular reading. The small character cast means that this is a very intimate story, but it also means that there’s not much of a barrier to entry. You don’t need to remember the names of ten thousand characters, countries, magic spells, and historical figures here. You can just… relax. Which is nice. Here, Baldree keeps things familiar, making use of your pre-existing knowledge of Euro-medieval fantasy tropes to establish a base level of understanding that doesn’t really need to be built upon. There’s some fun intersection between these fantasy elements and real-world technology (like an honest-to-goodness coffee machine), but I liked that this wasn’t explored too much. I think that would have broken the spell.
As much as I loved this foray into “cozy fantasy”, I don’t think I could do too many books like this in succession. But I want more of them nonetheless, even if just to scatter throughout my TBR through the year. One thing this book did get me thinking about (a fair bit, actually) was how much “cozy” correlates with “familiar”. I’d like to see books with the same vibe as this one, but pulling from different cultures and sub-genres.
In any case, Legends & Lattes gets a hearty recommendation from me.
The Living Waters by Dan Fitzgerald
I received a copy of this book from the author in exchange for a fair and honest review, thanks to Dan for the review copy!
[Click for Blurb]
Wonder swirls beneath murky water.
When two painted-faced nobles take a guided raft trip on a muddy river, they expect to rough it for a few weeks before returning to their life of sheltered ease. But when mysterious swirls start appearing in the water, even their seasoned guides get rattled.
The mystery of the swirls lures them on to the mythical wetlands known as the Living Waters. They discover a world beyond their imagining, but stranger still are the worlds they find inside their own minds as they are drawn deep into the troubles of this hidden place.
The Living Waters is a sword-free fantasy novel featuring an ethereal love story, meditation magic, and an ancient book with cryptic marginalia.
Alright, so off the bat I should admit that writing this as a mini-review is a bit of a cop-out on my part, as I really really dislike to be the first one to drop a critical review for a book. Even when the critique-to-praise ratio isn’t all that lopsided. It’s just… it’s never a nice feeling. That being said, a reviewer’s platform is built on trust. So I gotta be honest and say this one didn’t entirely do it for me. Which might just be a “me” thing.
In The Living Waters, young noble characters are sent on a “roughabout” as a right of passage, sort of as a way to see how the other half live before they go on to do… I don’t know. Noble things. Additionally, people in this world are valued based on the colour of their skin — literally being assigned a number based on how pale they are (I’m not sure if this ever strays into the realm of the offensive, but then again I don’t think this aspect of world-building is really explored much beyond the surface-level).
If you know anything about me, you’ll know that I was always gonna be predisposed to hate these privileged little brats (such as I was prepared to think of them) as a result of the above. I’ll hold my hands up and admit that. Class privilege and class tourism are some pet peeves that really, really grind my gears in a book. So the characters and I got off on the wrong foot, and well… while I didn’t dislike them by the time I’d finished, I didn’t particularly like them either.
In terms of the rest of the story, “serene” is the best word I can think of to capture the feel. Contemplative, maybe. It’s easy-reading for sure, and as the cast floated their way down a river for much of the book, living in the moment and appreciating nature and all its wonders, I floated along too.
This isn’t quite as “slice of life”-y as Legends & Lattes, but I guess it’s somewhere near that ballpark. There’s more of a plot here — mysterious natural creatures and mysterious locations that must be discovered for Reasons, some scary river illnesses — but that serene feel is there throughout.
I don’t know. I didn’t dislike it, but it didn’t hit the mark for me.
The Book of Gothel by Mary McMyne
I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review, thanks to Orbit UK for the review copy!
[Click for Blurb]
Haelewise has always lived under the shadow of her mother, Hedda—a woman who will do anything to keep her daughter protected. For with her strange black eyes and even stranger fainting spells, Haelewise is shunned by her village, and her only solace lies in the stories her mother tells of child-stealing witches, of princes in wolf-skins, of an ancient tower cloaked in mist, where women will find shelter if they are brave enough to seek it.
Then, Hedda dies, and Haelewise is left unmoored. With nothing left for her in her village, she sets out to find the legendary tower her mother used to speak of—a place called Gothel, where Haelewise meets a wise woman willing to take her under her wing.
But Haelewise is not the only woman to seek refuge at Gothel. It’s also a haven for a girl named Rika, who carries with her a secret the Church strives to keep hidden. A secret that reveals a dark world of ancient spells and murderous nobles behind the world Haelewise has always known…
I gotta be honest and say that I wasn’t actually the one to request this one. That would be my wife.
See, Mrs Cabbage is a Disney-nut. And, tangential to that, she loves herself a good fairy-tale. So when we were drunk one night when holidaying on the isle of Arran (beautiful place, great whisky), and I’d seen that Orbit were offering books detailing the story of Rapunzel’s tower-mum… I was kinda bullied into requesting it.
The Book of Gothel has a somber tone to it throughout, which really nails the whole dark fairytale retelling vibe. But with that said, I didn’t feel that there was a lot of tonal variation? Which I guess is a really up-my-own-arse, can’t-find-my-words way of saying that it always felt somber. Constantly. And as a result, it felt a little bit flat, and a wee bit dry.
Maybe because of this, I had a hard time trying to build up any momentum with this one. You know those books where you read 50-100 pages at a time, enjoy them well enough, put the book down and then just… don’t feel a lot of pressure to pick it back up? Yeah, that.
In this book, Haelewise is a sickly child whose mother and father have tried everything under the sun — whether christian or heretical — to cure her of her fainting spells. Nothing works, of course, and when her mother eventually dies and her father basically abandons her for a Good Christian Woman, Haelewise is left by herself. Left to chase the ghosts and secrets of her mother’s past, which eventually lead her to the infamous tower of Gothel — which no man can see.
Now, I’m not too familiar with the original story of Rapunzel and/or Mother Gothel, not beyond my wife playing Disney’s Tangled on a loop, at least, so this “retelling” was starting on a blank slate, for me. Maybe that ignorance worked against me, because for much of The Book of Gothel, I was never quite sure where it was going. Haelewise never really felt like she had much agency — which isn’t inherently a bad thing, but I feel like she could have done with some goal to work towards beyond “find out what my mother never told me.” With only that one driving point, she and much of the side character cast felt a little one-note. Even in terms of voice or dialogue, there wasn’t much colour to them.
In the end, I feel like this is potentially a “read it if you like the subgenre” kind of book? It’s a decent enough read, if not particularly ground-breaking, but I’m not sure I was the right reader for this one.
The Justice of Kings by Richard Swan
I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review, thanks to Orbit UK for the review copy!
[Click for Blurb]
The Empire of the Wolf simmers with unrest. Rebels, heretics and powerful patricians all challenge the power of the imperial throne.
Only the Order of Justices stands in the way of chaos. Sir Konrad Vonvalt is the most feared Justice of all, upholding the law by way of his sharp mind, arcane powers and skill as a swordsman. At his side stands Helena Sedanka, his clerk and protégé, orphaned by the wars that forged the empire.
When the pair investigate the murder of a provincial aristocrat, they unearth a conspiracy that stretches to the very top of imperial society. As the stakes rise and become ever more personal, Vonvalt and Helena must make a choice: will they abandon the laws they’ve sworn to uphold in order to protect the empire?
Here’s a book for those who love 90s/00s style epic fantasy.
Justice of Kings is the kind of book where its arguable that the “main” character isn’t the same as the point-of-view character. Think along the lines of Watson and Sherlock, or Joron and Lucky Meas from the Bone Ships (if you want another fantasy example). Here, the story revolves around one Sir Konrad Vonvalt. A travelling Justice of the law, who is effectively judge, jury, and executioner (and sometimes detective) wrapped up in one package.
As if he didn’t have enough power, Sir Konrad also has some magic at his disposal. He is able to use The Emperor’s Voice to command people to speak the truth (with some limitations, obviously, or this would be a short book), and can also speak with the dead, provided their spirit isn’t too far gone.
With such a competent character, of course we need a particularly juicy mystery to keep him in one place. There’s a whole murdery mystery plot here, which I loved, and the fact that Konrad’s apprentice (Helena) is our POV means that we can get closer to this mystery than would otherwise be possible. This whole thing dovetails into a wider conspiracy which seems to span the empire, and which appears symptomatic of a change in attitudes that may leave Justices like Konrad feeling like a relic from an older era.
I’d say that the stabby-ness and the lawyer-y-ness of this book are mostly well-balanced, though personally I’d have liked to have seen a bit more lawyering and a bit less stabbing. If only because the lawyer stuff felt more original and fun. There’s a straight-up trial scene towards the end that I was SO HYPED for, and I’d have liked to have seen more of that.
I have mostly positive things to say about The Justice of Kings, but there are a few things that give me pause. Like I said to begin with, if you’re looking for “traditional” epic fantasy in the vein of books from the 2000s and 2010s, I think you might really, really love this one. It’s very easily readable, and has a self-assured style of voice that lends it personality and gravitas. It’s a little light on the ground in regards to representation, however. Despite being from the POV of a woman, this is a very male-heavy book. And very heteronormative — with only really one throwaway line to suggest that queer folks exist. Sometimes this is just an unfortunate side-effect of having a smaller character cast, but it does mean that readers looking for representation may not find it here.
If that isn’t a deal-breaker for you, then this is a fun epic fantasy with an interesting voice behind it — though it doesn’t do much to reinvent the wheel.
Nectar for The God by Patrick Samphire
I bought this one on the strength of the first book in the series, Shadows of a Dead God, which was a SPFBO book I loved from last year.
[Click for Blurb]
In the city of Agatos, nothing stays buried forever.
Only an idiot would ignore his debt to a high mage, and Mennik Thorn is not an idiot, no matter what anyone might say. He’s just been … distracted. But now he’s left it too late, and if he doesn’t obey the high mage’s commands within the day, his best friends’ lives will be forfeit. So it’s hardly the time to take on an impossible case: proving a woman who murdered a stranger in full view is innocent.
Unfortunately, Mennik can’t resist doing the right thing – and now he’s caught in a deadly rivalry between warring high mages, his witnesses are dying, and something ancient has turned its eyes upon him.
The fate of the city is once again in the hands of a second-rate mage. Mennik Thorn should have stayed in hiding.
Apparently I’m a sucker for a good fantasy mystery tale. Who knew?
With the third book in Patrick Samphire’s Mennik Thorn series coming out shortly, I thought that now was a good time to dive into the second. Mennik is just… well, he’s great. He’s a snarky piece of shit who can’t hold onto a friendship to save himself, and who continually finds himself in the shit. But hey, that just makes for fun reading.
So what do we have this time around?
A woman murders a stranger in the middle of a busy street, a smile on her face. She then turns the knife on herself. Shortly afterwards, Mennik Thorn is hired to prove her innocence. On top of that, one of the city’s high mages is calling in a debt — they want Mennik to spy on another high mage.
Patrick Samphire has that innate ability to structure a plot in a way where it seems like shit is always, continually, hitting the fan. Where every decision has unintended consequences. It’s a riot. And it’s just… fun. A hell of a lot of fun. This is the kind of series that I wish would never end. If you’re a fan of books like The Gutter Prayer, or The Girl Who Could Move Shit with her Mind, then you should absolutely pick this one up.
I love Mennik. His relationships with all of the other characters feel so rich, and I appreciated that those characters got to come into their own a little more here, with a bit more page time.
As I write this, I’ve just been lucky enough to snag an ARC of book 3, so I’m gonna go read that now. Honestly? You should read this series, too.
Nine Goblins by T Kingfisher
I bought this book after what seemed like an INSANE amount of people telling me to read T. Kingfisher. After this one in particular was recommended to me, I thought that the length might make it a good intro.
[Click for Blurb]
When a party of goblin warriors find themselves trapped behind enemy lines, it’ll take more than whining (and a bemused Elven veterinarian) to get them home again.
Nine Goblins is a novella of low…very low…fantasy.
So. Were all those years of people throwing T. Kingfisher in my face leading up to something great?
Eh… I don’t know?
Unfortunately I never really grew to love Nine Goblins. Which I suspect is a case of me not gelling with this particular book, rather than the author. I could appreciate how Kingfisher’s sense of humour was threaded throughout the story, but I couldn’t really bring myself to care about any of the stuff between the jokes. The plot, the characters… I dunno, they were just a vehicle for a couple of sharp nostril exhales. And as such, I don’t really have much to say about them.
I’m not quite sure if this book is supposed to be middle-grade or younger, so I wouldn’t be surprised if Kingfisher’s other books are a lot more complex, with stronger characters and plot. I might give another of her books a go somewhere down the line, but for now, this did enough to satisfy my curiosity.
What Next?
Well, I’m not sure. I’ve got 2 or 3 SPFBO reviews to write up, and we should be able to start dropping content for that soon — we’re just getting our ducks in a row first. Other than that, I’ve finally, FINALLY started reading Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse, which is a book I somehow own in three formats despite never having read it. (Sales and book boxes are dangerous).
I have a number of self-pub review requests that I still need to get to — although there might always be a few DNFs in there, so I don’t know how many will make it to the review stage.
In terms of traditionally published ARCs, I have a small pile that is gradually increasing in size. But in the interests of actually producing reviews rather than anxiety-ing myself into an impromptu hiatus for another few months, I may be a bit more selective from now on with which ones I read & review. And I’m gonna allow myself to be more DNF-happy here too. Sometimes an unexpected book can be a gem, like The Ballad of Perilous Graves, which I reviewed recently, but there’s something to be said about curating your own TBR!
