Backlist Review: Long Lankin by Lindsey Barraclough

Title: Long Lankin

Author: Lindsey Barraclough

Genre: mythic fiction, retellings, young-adult

Series: N/A (thank goodness)

Pages: 464 (Nook ARC edition)
Published: January 2011

Source: publishers via NetGalley

Rating: 4/5

In an exquisitely chilling debut novel, four children unravel the mystery of a family curse - and a ghostly creature known in folklore as Long Lankin.

When Cora and her younger sister, Mimi, are sent to stay with their elderly aunt in the isolated village of Byers Guerdon, they receive a less-than-warm welcome. Auntie Ida is eccentric and rigid, and the girls are desperate to go back to London. But what they don't know is that their aunt's life was devastated the last time two young sisters were at Guerdon Hall, and she is determined to protect her nieces from an evil that has lain hidden for years. 

Along with Roger and Peter, two village boys, Cora must uncover the horrifying truth that has held Bryers Guerdon in its dark grip for centuries - before it's too late for little Mimi. Riveting and intensely atmospheric, this stunning debut will hold readers in its spell long after the last page is turned.

Though the blurb used most for this truly spine-chilling tale is the one above, all the publishers and author really need to do in order to freak their audience out and interest them at the same time is is use the poem in the prologue: 

"Said my lord to my lady, as he mounted his horse,

Beware of Long Lankin that lives in the moss.

Said my lord to my lady, as he rode away

Beware of Long Lankin, that lives in the hay. 

Let the doors be all bolted and the windows all pinned, 

Except one little window,

where Long Lankin crept in..."

Effective, yes? It continues in that same grisly, eerie tone and snared me without hesitation. I was both creeped out by the third stanza and interested before even starting the actual novel. There is a reason that I refused to read this book at night (and am writing the review in daylight) and that is because this book? Is effing creepy as fuck. And yes, expletives are needed because this book got under my skin in a way that few other suspense novels have, especially ones in the YA genre, geared at kids younger and supposedly less mature than me. Long Lankin is a deliciously creepy treat that perhaps persists just a bit long for the thrill to last entirely but one that exceeds at building tension and setting an excellent atmosphere and presence for such an intimidating but rarely-seen-on-the-page creature.

Cora and her sister Mimi are the girl leads of this venture and they are paralleled in their male counterparts, Roger and Pete. In each case, I found the elder to be the more interesting and worth attention. The POV shifts between Cora and Roger were hard to discern, but that can hopefully be laid at the feet of formatting for an ARC copy instead of the final product. So while it was distracting trying to constantly figure out the who's who of a dialogue, it was easy to like both inner monologues of the kids. Cora is what my mom would term "a handful." She's adventurous and interested in the world around her and is smart, if not exactly the most obedient of nieces. It's easy to root for her and her spirited nature when one realizes how alone and abandoned this child and her sister really are; Cora realizes that she is literally all Mimi has and is quite caring. Roger is like Cora in many ways; he's from a house that really can't keep him, he's open to adventures and exploring and he's always followed by his brother. Though this is YA, neither Cora nor Roger talk down to the audience or overact their fear; Long Lankin is largely so effective as a antagonist because of how sparsely and eerily he's presented to the quartet of kids.

Ida, the aunt of Cora and Mimi, and the owner of Guerdon Hall, is also a POV character. While I could understand the necessity of having the children as POV characters and they grew into the roles naturally as the book went on, I got the most from Ida's inner monologue. I have to admit that Lindsey Barraclough establishes herself early as a talented writer and storyteller, one that favors lots of creepy descriptions in very tactile narrations. Ida benefits the most from this as she's not innocent and eager; she knows only too well what happens when the tide goes out in her little haunted English village. 

The first two hundred and thirty pages of this smashed me, absolutely knocked me back a step with its flair. I was in awe of how creeped out I was, how very much I loved how creeped out I was, and how effective the author was at setting such a tense atmosphere and then.. it died. There's a lull midway through the novel where there is too much rushing about and old letters and no one talking things with the other party and all that accomplished was a sharp decline in my overt interest. The incredible amounts of tension built up to that took a while to climb back to their previous heights (my shoulders were literally riiiight under my earlobes), but climb back they did. I may complain  - slightly - about the extended lull midway but the ending was entirely satisfying. It was tension-wracked and emotion-filled and thoroughly engrossing. I am dutifully impressed by this book, even though I won't reread it. My nerves can't take that again.

Backlist Review: Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta

Title: (On the) Jellicoe Road 

Author: Melina Marchetta

Genre: young-adult, contemporary, mystery

Series: N/A

Pages: 419 (hardback edition)

Published: first August 2006

Source: purchased

Rating: All the stars - or 5/5 

Abandoned by her mother on Jellicoe Road when she was eleven, Taylor Markham, now seventeen, is finally being confronted with her past. But as the reluctant leader of her boarding school dorm, there isn't a lot of time for introspection. And while Hannah, the closest adult Taylor has to family, has disappeared, Jonah Griggs is back in town, moody stares and all.

In this absorbing story by Melina Marchetta, nothing is as it seems and every clue leads to more questions as Taylor tries to work out the connection between her mother dumping her, Hannah finding her then and her sudden departure now, a mysterious stranger who once whispered something in her ear, a boy in her dreams, five kids who lived on Jellicoe Road eighteen years ago, and the maddening and magnetic Jonah Griggs, who knows her better than she thinks he does. If Taylor can put together the pieces of her past, she might just be able to change her future

Jellicoe Road was my first Marchetta novel - though this is an author highly touted and often recommended, I was strangely hesitant to read any of her books. Example? I bought Marchetta's acclaimed ya fantasy Finnikin of the Rock for Nook over two months ago, when it was on sale for $2.99, and haven't yet peeked at a page. Hype is often a double-edged sword, as many other anticipated YA novels can attest and I didn't want to feel the sting of disappointment here. I have to say that the first 50 pages of Jellicoe certainly intriiigued me, but they didn't quite convince me as I had hoped. I can certainly see why some readers find the beginning off-putting and hard to comprehend initially, but even after the dual narrative of past and present were cleared up, I just didn't get It, the Big Deal about this book and this author. Then, near about 100 pages later and a "save yourself, Taylor," I got it in a big way.  This book made me Feel Things. All of the feelings really: happiness, amusement, sorrow, anger, fear, love. I'm stuck with the feeling that no matter how much I edit and revise and rethink, I will never be able to do this beautiful novel justice. As soon as I finished this, I knew I didn't want to think about other characters, other stories. I wanted to stay here, in Jellicoe, with these characters. So I did the only thing that made sense and flipped the book over and immediately began rereading all my favorite parts. It still packs a punch the second time around, even knowing explicitly what will happen.

I grabbed this on a whim three days ago, having been close to finishing the excruciatingly emotional Code Name Verity but with 100 pages and hours of work to go, I opted for a longer novel that hopefully wouldn't make me cry at work. How wrong I was; tears were streaming down by my lunch break (aka p. 255) I engulfed this absorbing, heart-breaking tale in just over twelve hours, covering work and family dinner, starting just before I left at 9 am, sneaking in pages whenever - wherever - I could. Melina Marchetta is the real deal: an imitable and simple but striking style, a masterful storyteller with impressive authorial sleight-of-hand, capable of rendering complex, fallible and damaged characters I still wholly and completely loved. This novel is a masterpiece of young-adult fiction (the 'territory war' was obviously the weakest part of the novel, but it brought together the core four [Taylor, Santangelo, Raffaela, Griggs] initially and eventually was revealed to have a larger purpose) and Melina Marchetta deserves all the accolades she's garnered. As the lovely Emily May of GoodReads so aptly put it: "[She] plays my emotions like Jimi Hendrix played guitar." Skillfully, elegantly, and above all subtly, Marchetta takes utmost time and care with crafting both her storylines and her compellingly damaged and so so real characters.

And let me tell you: oh boy, did I ever care about Taylor, Jonah, Jude, Hannah, Tate, Jessa, Webb, etc. While it took a while for these many personalities to manifest, I think this might one of my most beloved ensembles. From Jonah to Jude, these characters are real, vibrant, and dear to me. Jonah Griggs: I officially Get It. I officially Want One of My Own. Everyone take note for in Jellicoe Road, with Melina's hand at the wheel, there is an authentic, believable and touching YA romance with a swoon-worthy broody love-interest. I don't go in for broody asmuch now that I'm not 17 and I certainly don't say "swoon-worthy" as a descriptor for men I like, but Jonah Griggs defies that. He is broody and swoon-worthy, but that's not all he is. Like Taylor and Jude (Oh, Jude <3. I think he broke my heart as much as Griggs did.) this damaged young-man is developed and rounded. The scenes between him and Taylor - fighting, teasing, loving - all have electricity, a palpable tension, and their relationship is one of the few credible romances in YA. Jellicoe Road is moving, powerful and dramatic without being emotionally manipulative - when Taylor lashes out at whoever is convenient (not my Griggs!), I feel for her wild pain instead of rolling my eyes at her melodrama. Most of the characters have significant tragedies in their pasts, especially Taylor and Jonah, but this is an author that appreciates retraint and how to show emotion without overdoing it and making it a Production. I finished this novel nothing if not in awe of the talent shown throughout from the author - from plot development to character reveals, this is one of the best.

Before, I was scared to read Marchetta because I feared she/the novel wouldn't live up to expectations. Now I just don't know where to start - I've ordered hardback copies of Finnikin, its sequel Froi of the Exiles, and Saving Francesca. I just can't do this novel justice - whatever I say feels inadequate. This book moved me, like The Book Thief did - at my core, in a place few novels and characters truly reach. I said before that Melina Marchetta could have been a victim of the hype machine but now all I want to do is force all my family and friends to read her novels. I've decided that the hype around this author and this book isn't big enough yet - everyone should be reading this author. Jellicoe Road is a gripping read, one that inspired a wide, fully-felt spectrum of emotions and reactions - all of them complimentary. I love this book like I love few others.

My reactions by page, because by 250 I couldn't think critically, I could just fangirl absorb the words as fast as my eyes would move and jot down impressions/thoughts:

p. 250: Oh my god. I <3 Jonah
p. 255: WTF! NO! What! Yass!
p. 297: I want a Griggs.
p. 304: This is heart-breaking, gut-wrenching and still so lovely. This book... "Who will be my memory" I can't.... this book...
p. 315: Could he be any more adorable?
p. 343: And THAT, ladies and gents, is how you write a credible, romantic teenage relationship.
p. 371: oh no oh no oh no I think I know where this is headed oh no
p. 394: damn right you better keep Raffy around - the rare female sidekick that is fully developed and awesome
p. 399 and on: tears
p. 407: Griggs.
p. 416: I love the narrative structure, the symmetry. "My father took a hundred and thirty-two minutes to die. I counted." "My mother took seventeen years to die. I counted." "Wonder dies." "I wonder."

Favorite quotes (SPOILERY so be warned):

"I wrote you for a year and you never wrote back. I rang you over and over again and you would never come to the phone. What part of that gives the impression that I didn't care?"

“What do you want from me?" he asks.
What I want from every person in my life, I want to tell him.
More.”  

“If you weren't driving, I'd kiss you senseless," I tell him.
He swerves to the side of the road and stops the car abruptly.
"Not driving any more.” 

“But grief makes a monster out of us sometimes . . . and sometimes you say and do things to the people you love that you can't forgive yourself for.”  

“No," I say, looking up at Griggs. "It's actually because my heart belongs to someone else." And if I could bottle the look on his face, I'd keep it by my bedside for the rest of my life.” 

"We sit there, holding each other, kissing until our mouths are aching, and then we're pulling off the rest of our clothes and I'm under him and I feel as if I'm imprinted onto his body. Everything hurts, every single thing including the weight of him and I'm crying because it hurts and he's telling me he's sorry over and over again, and I figure that somewhere down the track we'll work out the right way of doing this but I don't want to let go, because tonight I'm not looking for anything more than being part of him. Because being part of him isn't just anything. It's kind of everything."

“If I had to wish for something, just one thing, it would be that Hannah would never see Tate the way I did. Never see Tate's beautiful, lush hair turn brittle, her skin sallow, her teeth ruined by anything she could get her hands on that would make her forget. That Hannah would never count how many men there were, or how vile humans can be to one another. That she would never see the moments in my life that were full of neglect, and fear, and revulsion, moments I can never go back to because I know they will slow me down for the rest of my life if I let myself remember them for one moment. Tate, who had kept Hannah alive that night, reading her the story of Jem Finch and Mrs. Dubose. And suddenly I know I have to go. But this time without being chased by the Brigadier, without experiencing the kindness of a postman from Yass, and without taking along a Cadet who will change the way I breath for the rest of my life.”  

Backlist Review: The Rook by Daniel O'Malley

Title: The Rook

Author: Daniel O'Malley

Genre: fantasy, supernatural fiction

Series: N/A as of yet

Pages: 486 (Nook ARC edition)

Published: January 2012

Source: publishers via NetGalley

Rating: 4/5

The body you are wearing used to be mine.

So begins the letter Myfanwy Thomas is holding when she awakes in a London park surrounded by bodies all wearing latex gloves. With no recollection of who she is, Myfanwy must follow the instructions her former self left behind to discover her identity and track down the agents who want to destroy her.

She soon learns that she is a Rook, a high-ranking member of a secret organization called the Chequy that battles the many supernatural forces at work in Britain. She also discovers that she possesses a rare, potentially deadly supernatural ability of her own.

In her quest to uncover which member of the Chequy betrayed her and why, Myfanwy encounters a person with four bodies, an aristocratic woman who can enter her dreams, a secret training facility where children are transformed into deadly fighters, and a conspiracy more vast than she ever could have imagined.  

The Rook is an interesting and innovative novel, combining favorite aspects from various genres into one odd 500 page gem of weirdness. If you were to mix up the most prevalent aspects of some of the most popular books and movies out there today, The Rook is likely what your mixture would spit out as an end result. Take, for instance, the school for only British magically/supernaturally gifted kids - much like Harry Potter's Hogwarts with a dash of UK-only X-MEN thrown in. Add to that potent mix a female Jason Bourne-type with amnesia but the added ability to kick some serious ass when provoked and this novel is the result. 

Sounds a bit mad, doesn't it? And to be quite honest, The Rook is quite mad to read, but in an absurd and absorbing way. The initial chapters will pose the most problems for readers and is the biggest hurdle to climb in the book; The Rook is basically the story about one woman, in two different time periods. Letters from Myfanwy's previous self to her current self comprise a lot of the bulk of the beginning and most of it is exposition and worldbuilding to reinforce the large framework O'Malley has envisioned for his alternate world full of unnatural things and an MI5 for supernaturals. The letters illuminate the complete, detailed secret history and lore of the Checquy more than cast light on the character of Myfanwy herself; the present-day portion of the novel reveals much more about Myfawy the person and less about Myfanwy the Rook of the Checquy Court. Much like there are two Myfanwys contained in the novel, there are two different main plots for each woman. The first Myfanwy is all about preparing and planning for what she knows is coming, and the second Myfanwy is all about kicking ass and taking names.

Myfanwy is a distinct and well-rounded character, with the added bonus of a truly original name (she pronounces it "Mif-un-ee", rhymes with 'Tiffany') to set her out immediately from the crowd. I have to admit that for about 90% of the novel I was completely confused as to who she was in the present-tense. Was Myfanwy II the same person as Myfanwy I, but with no memories? Or was she an entirely new person shuttled into Myfanwy's skin? While that may seem like a loaded question, it's well within the frame of abilities of this book. The original Myfanwy was timid in personn, but strong with her policies - an interesting combination of contrasting behaviors. The newer, betrayed Rook isn't afraid of her powers and is bold both personally and professionally. I liked Myfanwy in both versions, but the latter's sense of dry, very British-esque humor ("Gentlemen, please try not to jostle my interrogational gynecologist.") was what sealed the deal and kept me going past chapter one. And how rewarding that decision was - the book evolves into a humorous, creative and unique vein, as does Myfanwy herself. I don't want to spoil her character arc or development since the mystery at the heart of her problems is hard to guess, but this is one of those characters - the ones you remember long after reading the book. I also really appreciated how romance-free ths book was - the strongest relationships shown here are friendships. Between women. In fact, in a happy surprise for me, outside of main character Myfanwy, my two favorite secondary characters were strong, intelligent and capable women (Shantay the sassy black envoy from America's Checquy, the Croatoan and Ingrid - who "possessed no inhuman powers apart from an abundance of common sense and an ability to keep this organized". Think a female Alfred, but a secretary and AWESOME).

The Checquy is the highly regimented government organization that Myfanwy runs - or the one that ran her, back before the events of The Rook. The Checquy is a large, sprawling and hidden organization that protects the UK from all manner of unnatural threat - like I said, it's an MI5 for the paranormal. While the idea of a secret government paranormal protection agency isn't exactly revolutionary for the UF/PNR genre, how O'Malley utilizes his Court of Pawns, Rooks, Chevaliers and Bishops is.  From the design of the Court on, it's obvious that O'Malley's version of government-sponsored paranormal entity is both unique and mysterious. As is immediately obvious from the sheer amount of detail provided on the Checquy and its modus operandi, O'Malley has certainly planned out intricately how this 'part school, army, prison, research facility and arm of the government' will operate and affect his characters and novel. The beginning suffers the most from the info-dumps used to introduce the hidden agency, but once the reader has a grip on what they are reading about, the info-dumps don't seem as bad and progress to interesting on their own merit. O'Malley's version of an England with the Checquy in power since Cromwell's day is neither beyond the scope of imagination nor reminiscent of any other I've read.

The mystery at the heart of the novel (What exactly happened to Myfanwy? Who is behind it? Why was she targeted? Who knows her secret?) is complex and not easily guessed. Luckily for me, the overall BigBad wasn't obvious from the outset, or telegraphed to the reader long before the end and thus, I had the privilege of being shocked by the reveal and the author's impressive narrative sleight-of-hand.  This book has a healthy dose of the absurd to make the gore more palatable but I wasn't surprised for how.... violent... parts of this was. While it's not true movie-type gore with bodies and parts flying about wildly, there are disquieting scenes with faces ripped off, people being eaten and general deadly, gross mayhem.

While it's been coming up all roses this far into the review, but I did have some slight issues with The Rook. The Big Bad falls victim to what I am calling the Syndrome Syndrome - the inexplicable need that a winning/succeeding villain feels to explain every last action and decision on the road to the final conflict/proselytize their own ideas to their victims for lengthy amounts of time. I also had issues with the family plotline introduced late into the novel; though it gives Myfanwy an additional layer of depth and a reason to accelerate the 'panic' she feels, it feels unneceasy and superfluous. It could be easily excised and the pace that began to flag would bounce back easily. Bronwyn, though likeable if not very defined, doesn't do much or add much to the overall story, besides slowing the speed at which everything happens.

I was both impressed and somewhat surprised at how tidily everything herein was wrapped up. There were so many various threads and plotlines throughout the novel, I had sincerely wondered if O'Malley could possibly pull it off with any degree of satisfaction, or I was going to left holding the bag, so the speak, as a reader. Against my fearful and increasingly worried expectations, since the resolution is left until the very last 25 pages of 500, he did so, and with humor and aplomb. O'Malley is a very gifted storyteller that gets caught up perhaps a bit much in his own creativity but finds a way back to the compelling story at the heart of his monsters and magic run amok in England. 

Review: Illusions of Fate by Kiersten White

Title: Illusions of Fate
Author: Kiersten White
Genre: young adult, fantasy
Series: N/A
Pages: 275
Published: September 2014
Source: publishers via edelweiss
Rating: 3.5/5

“I did my best to keep you from crossing paths with this world. And I shall do my best to protect you now that you have.”

Jessamin has been an outcast since she moved from her island home of Melei to the dreary country of Albion. Everything changes when she meets Finn, a gorgeous, enigmatic young lord who introduces her to the secret world of Albion’s nobility, a world that has everything Jessamin doesn’t—power, money, status…and magic. But Finn has secrets of his own, dangerous secrets that the vicious Lord Downpike will do anything to possess. Unless Jessamin, armed only with her wits and her determination, can stop him.

Kiersten White captured readers’ hearts with her New York Times bestselling Paranormalcy trilogy and its effortless mix of magic and real-world teenage humor. She returns to that winning combination of wit, charm, and enchantment in Illusions of Fate, a sparkling and romantic new novel perfect for fans of Cassandra Clare, The Madman’s Daughter, and Libba Bray.

This was easily a 4-star or higher story for me for most of the novel. It's White's strongest offering to date and thoroughly entertaining from the get-go. However the ending was too rushed and messy to really withstand any kind of scrutiny and ultimately detracted from the overall experience. That said, Illusions of Fate is a creative and diverse YA fantasy with a lot to offer. Its relative shortness makes it easy to breeze through Jessamin and Finn's story in just one sitting.

The strongest part of the novel lies with its main character. Jessamin is a great example of a well-rounded protagonist, especially for YA audiences. She's smart, capable, prideful, angry, and determined. She's also proactive and refuses to let anyone control her life -- even if they have her best interest at heart. I loved her honest drive to learn and to be herself. She's a refreshing character for many ways but her POC heritage in a fantasy is rare and all the more welcome. 

Finn is her love interest and sometimes counterpart and sometimes foil. Their relationship progresses pretty naturally and is enjoyable. White takes her time to craft a real connection between the two teens and it makes for a slow-burn romance. Eleanor is another great character. She's pretty stereotypically feminine but White shows that there's nothing wrong with liking dress and gossip, for Eleanor is also smart, cunning, and more than just a pretty face. However, outside of those three, the characterization, from allies to enemies, remains somewhat shallow and spotty.

I wanted more from the worldbuilding in Illusions of Fate -- regarding both the overall political layout and in how the supernatural element integrated into this world. There is some information about Melei (Jessamin's home) and Albion, but much less about the world abroad unless its mentioned in conjunction with Hallin magic. The magic systems themselves also need more expansion. White does a cursory job of illuminating how they're used and how they're different but it feels flimsy. 

This was a fun, fast read. While it wasn't perfect, it was creative and memorable. I loved Jessamin and the romance was pretty cute and shippable. It also made me willing to give this author another try. If you're a fan of YA fantasy, this would be a good recommendation for an afternoon's entertainment.

Backlist Review: The City's Son by Tom Pollock

Title: The City's Son
Author: Tom Pollock
Genre: young-adult, supernatural
Series: The Skyscraper Throne #1
Pages: 480 (Nook ARC edition)
Published: August 2 2012
Source: publishers via NetGalley
Rating: 5/5

Expelled from school, betrayed by her best friend and virtually ignored by her dad, who’s never recovered from the death of her mum, Beth Bradley retreats to the sanctuary of the streets, looking for a new home. What she finds is Filius Viae, the ragged and cocky crown prince of London, who opens her eyes to the place she’s never truly seen.

But the hidden London is on the brink of destruction. Reach, the King of the Cranes, is a malign god of demolition, and he wants Filius dead. In the absence of the Lady of the Streets, Filius’ goddess mother, Beth rouses Filius to raise an alleyway army, to reclaim London’s skyscraper throne for the mother he’s never known. Beth has almost forgotten her old life – until her best friend and her father come searching for her, and she must choose between the streets and the life she left behind.

Welcome to a London come alive with voice-eating spiders, mirror-dwelling aristocrats, and talking lights that literally dance upon the streets. A London where Gods and Goddesses walk the roads unnoticed by the normal human population, and fight one another for preeminence and control over their decaying world. Welcome to Tom Pollock's The City's Son, a novel that redefines both the 'urban' and 'fantasy' in the urban fantasy genre; a novel that brings a whole new meaning to the idea of place-as-character. Though the beginning can be hard to understand and uneven, the reward is outstanding. A fast-paced and action-packed novel packed to the brim with unique, strange, and thoroughly charismatic characters, the first novel in the Skyscraper Throne series is a whole lot of win.

Beautifully written and extensively detailed, there is no area of London that Pollock has not re-envisioned and changed -- for the stranger. Through the eyes of the two main characters - human Beth and Son of the Streets Filius Viae, Pollock takes the reader on a thoroughly original and weird (the kind of weird I tend to expect from China Mieville) journey to self-realization, personal power, and more. Though I am not usually a fan of POV shifts from third-person limited to first person during narrator changes, it works here for Beth and the Urchin Prince. Beth is outside the city; Fil is literally part of it and how they spin their inner monologues help to illustrate that point. Both characters have their individual strengths and weaknesses, but it is the feisty, charismatic, damaged, and fully concrete character of Beth that is the strength of this novel.

The characters here are on par with the talent and time spent setting the scene and creating the original plot. Beth is a wholly rounded and concrete girl. She's realistically flawed, even in a book that suspends disbelief so well. She is feisty, and smart, and loyal, if not always right in her judgements. I have a lot of respect for Beth and the character evolution she goes through during this long but easily read novel. Filius is likeable if unknowable - he's as unique a character as this version of London. Part street rat, part teenage boy, and all heart - the relationship between the two matures organically and best of all, slowly.  If I have one issue, I had hoped that Parva's storyline with the teacher would've had a more firm resolution, but she stands strong as a secondary character with motivations and aspirations all her own.

There is just so much creativity and imagination at work in The City's Son, and it can be a lot to take in, especially initially. The author drops the reader into his darkly, dirtily magical world without exposition or infodump.The sheer scope of the world that Pollock has created for his characters to operate in is expansive and all encompassing, from the made-of-trash Gutterglass who operates as a seneschal for the missing Lady of the Streets, to the war between the Sodiumite glass girls and the Blankleit clans, to the train battles between Bahngeists. Like I said, this is an author that brings the city of London to life - literally - it's place as character on a whole new level. 

I loved this novel. Though it is one of the longer books I've read lately, it holds up admirably under the weight of all those pages, and plots, and schemes. With an imagination as big as London itself, Tom Pollock renders a finely-tuned and thoroughly evocative novel aimed for readers of all ages. Fans of urban fantasy should take note and give this weirdly awesome and awesomely weird novel a chance. You won't regret giving The City's Son a chance. I eagerly await he second novel, The Glass Republic -- it definitely can't come out soon enough.

Backlist Review: The Traitor's Daughter by Paula Brandon

Title: The Traitor's Daughter

Author: Paula Brandon

Genre: fantasy

Series: The Veiled Isles #1

Pages: 415 (print ARC edition(

Published: October 2011

Source: from publisher via GoodReads FirsReads

Rating: 3.75/5

Here’s the beginning of a lush, epic, wholly original new trilogy that shines with magic, mystery, and captivating drama.
On the Veiled Isles, ominous signs are apparent to those with the talent to read them. The polarity of magic is wavering at its source, heralding a vast upheaval poised to alter the very balance of nature. Blissfully unaware of the cataclysmic events to come, Jianna Belandor, the beautiful, privileged daughter of a powerful Faerlonnish overlord, has only one concern: the journey to meet her prospective husband.  But revolution is stirring as her own conquered people rise up against their oppressors, and Jianna is kidnapped and held captive at a rebel stronghold, insurance against what are perceived as her father’s crimes.

The resistance movement opens Jianna’s eyes―and her heart. Despite her belief in her father’s innocence, she is fascinated by the bold and charming nomadic physician and rebel sympathizer, Falaste Rione—who offers Jianna her only sanctuary in a cold and calculating web of intrigue. As plague and chaos grip the land, Jianna is pushed to the limits of her courage and resourcefulness, while virulent enemies discover that alliance is their only hope to save the human race.

What to do, what to do? First of all, I have to admit I've had this ARC for months - I won it in the First Reads program in 2011 - and just haven't gotten around to reading it. My bad GoodReads, you were right - this is a book for me, even if I'm not quite sure what to do with it. I'm torn about a lot of this fantasy novel - so much so that I couldn't even decide what range of rating I want to assign The Traitor's Daughter for a while after finishing - there's a lot to take in over the 415-page length. 

Pro: excellent, fully original, alien, complex and layered worldbuilding.
Con: very stilted dialogue, constantly weighed down with exposition or repetition
Pro: strong, spirited, conflicted heroine (Jianna)
Con: remote characterization, slightly stereotypical in voice/personality
Pro: a unique and fresh idea as a 'source' (ha) for magic/ the "arcane ability"
Con: the slow-moving first hundred pages before the plot fully kicks in, starting with the three-chapters long introductory infodump
Pro: a greyly moral/complicated character in Aurest Belandor (his "kneeser" ways as opposed to his love and devotion to his daughter)
Con: the overlong and very-articulated abuse of a main, though thoroughly repellant, character
Pro: Overarching themes and unresolved plotlines that lead naturally to the next book (The Ruined City) without overextending the plot of book one
Con: certain aspects of the 'arcane art' can come off as terribly convenient (the "Distant Exchange" and so on)
Pro: it's a fantasy, but the love interest isn't the prince/Magnifico, and nor is the "romance" any sort of focus for the heroine <SPOILER>He's got brains! He's a doctor! </END>

All in all, for a debut novel in a high/dark fantasy series, The Traitor's Daughter is uneven but highly imaginative. Without a doubt I have to credit the author for the scope and breadth of the worldbuilding of this book - it truly is the most impressive aspect of the entire novel. The writing is serviceable, if exposition-heavy but it is the thinly-Italian-influenced history (warring island city-states with languages overly fond of vowels, and the letter "z", the titles of "Magnifico/Magnifica" as form of address to nobility) of the Veiled Isles that intrigued me the most. Author Paula Brandon has a wide an creative vision for her strange land of men and "quasi-men" to inhabit, and once the ball gets rolling, it's fun to join her there. It does take a while, but the payout is rewarding through the twists and turns of Jianna's story,

Don't dismiss this as a mere "romantic fantasy" because that's not at all what this novel is about. This isn't a novel afraid to get dark, gritty and murdery. Though some of the advertising blurbs out there for this advertise "the walking dead" as a selling point, and they do play some (small) part in the events of The Traitor's Daughter, the main horror of the book are the torture scenes. This is a dark fantasy - there's the practical slavery of a "lesser" species, rape is hardly worth mentioning, women are required to be subservient, several characters die or are murdered, others are tortured as a matter of course. Jianna is a serviceable main character and the third person omniscient POV probably does her a substantial bit of favor - she comes of as spoiled and ignorant (the whole city hates her dad and she has no clue? Despite 18 years of living there, and according to Nalio, wandering around town unattended?) - bu it would've been much worse to her impression had it been first person. To her credit, Jianna does gain a tiny shred of perspective through her interactions with Dr. Rione, but there's yards more to go.

I was surprised and impressed by the antagonist of the book - Yvenza. She uses her brain rather than force of arms to maneuver Jianna riiight where she wants her; it's formidable, especially in direct view of how her opponent operates. She's cold, calculating, intelligent and resourceful. I've said it before and it still holds true, a compelling and smart villain is miles better than a obvious and overdone stereotype. If I liked The Traitor's Daughter in spite of its deficiencies and flaws, the same could also be said for my opinion on the Dowager Magnifica. For all her hatred and cunning, she's at least reasoned out in her motivation, understandable at her desire to set right what has been taken from her. If her methods are harsh and cruel, so too is the world that turned on her and the man that did it. Her sons are bit more trope-ish and stereotypical - I didn't feel even a hint of individual presence from Trecchio and Ontartino was pure, unadulterated malevolence without his mother's cool intelligence to balance out his brutishness. Rione, too, for much of the novel is a bit blandly perfect  though he branches out against his patron eventually. Besides the delightfully flawed Aurest and Yvenza, the cast is in much need of individual attention.

I found myself very surprisingly wrapped up in the events of The Traitor's Daughter; several varying theories about the Inhabitants, the sequel and more abound in my head and prove that the good outweighs the bad for this one. I'll be continuing with the Veiled Isles trilogy and can't wait to see what Paula Brandon thinks up next for her sophomore fantasy effort.

Book Tour Review: Helen of Sparta by Amalia Carosella

Title: Helen of Sparta
Author: Amalia Carosella
Genre: mythic fiction, historical fiction
Series: N/A
Pages: 416
Published: April 1 2016
Source: Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours for review
Rating: 4.5/5

Long before she ran away with Paris to Troy, Helen of Sparta was haunted by nightmares of a burning city under siege. These dreams foretold impending war—a war that only Helen has the power to avert. To do so, she must defy her family and betray her betrothed by fleeing the palace in the dead of night. In need of protection, she finds shelter and comfort in the arms of Theseus, son of Poseidon. With Theseus at her side, she believes she can escape her destiny. But at every turn, new dangers—violence, betrayal, extortion, threat of war—thwart Helen’s plans and bar her path. Still, she refuses to bend to the will of the gods.

A new take on an ancient myth, Helen of Sparta is the story of one woman determined to decide her own fate.

The life of (and war for) Helen of Troy, as she is more famously known, makes for excellent, and dramatic story fodder. Numerous authors have given her well-known tale new voices and interpretations in the thousands of years since her name was first heard, but Amalia Carosella's version here of both the person and the legend in Helen of Sparta is both inspired and noteworthy. So many tales use Helen as a plot piece or as a reason for Agamemnon to conveniently use, but Carosella's is a novel entirely about her, the person. It's wonderful to see a version of Helen that gets to be less passive and more active in her own life. Spanning a far-too-short of time period, this historical fiction novel is a fresh and detailed character-driven read.

This author chose to begin the story before Helen's infamous marriage(s), before Paris; it instead focuses on Helen's early adulthood in Sparta and Athens. It's alluded to in the title, but it's inherently Carosella sees Helen as much more than a pretext for war or a possession made for a king (or Prince) and her novel shows it. Though Helen's beauty is always part of the discussion when it comes to this particular historical figure, Carosella develops her character into much more than just a pretty face. She's a smart, giving, and intelligent woman. Her choices are like any others -- made of mistakes and fear. It's easy to care about this strong character because Carosella develops her into a well-rounded and three-dimensional person. Helen carries this novel, and her first person narration chapters are the ones that worked best.

I liked the originality that Helen of Sparta brought to the table throughout the entire four hundred pages. Not many novels about Troy or Helen really concern themselves with her life before marrying Menelaus and running away, willingly or not, with Paris, or even before Tyndareus hosted her suitors in her early/mid teens. But that is happily not the case here. Amalia Carosella has envisioned a fully believable version of what Helen's life could have looked like. Even the setting benefits from the same authentic creativity shown elsewhere; Sparta, and later Athens, are each wonderfully rendered with careful detail and attention.  

For all that Helen is remembered for an epic, decade-long war, this is not a book all that concerned with action or fighting. It's a character-driven and slower-paced novel; a thorough examination and imagination of what could have been for Helen and Theseus. Alternating between her's first person narration and Theseus's third person allows a lot of room to imagine their lives, but can also highlight the fact that it's also a work of fiction. Helen of Sparta had also better have a sequel on the way because the abrupt ending is one of the few unfortunate aspects of this novel. That ending was surprisingly frustrating. However, I hope to see Carosella further deliver on the promise shown here with this novel.

Helen of Sparta Blog Tour Schedule

Wednesday, April 1
Review at Unshelfish
Review at Let Them Read Books

Thursday, April 2
Review at Flashlight Commentary

Friday, April 3
Interview at Flashlight Commentary

Saturday, April 4
Review at History From a Woman’s Perspective

Monday, April 6
Review at Curling Up By the Fire
Spotlight at A Literary Vacation

Tuesday, April 7
Spotlight at leeanna.com

Wednesday, April 8
Review at Historical Reads and Views

Thursday, April 9
Review at Oh, For the Hook of a Book!

Friday, April 10
Review at With Her Nose Stuck in a Book

Monday, April 13
Interview at Book Babe
Spotlight at Historical Fiction Obsession

Tuesday, April 14
Review at Forever Ashley

Wednesday, April 15
Review at Just One More Chapter
Spotlight at CelticLady’s Reviews

Thursday, April 16
Review at 100 Pages a Day

Friday, April 17
Review at Impressions in Ink

Monday, April 20
Review at Book Lovers Paradise
Interview at The Maiden’s Court

Tuesday, April 21
Review at Broken Teepee
Spotlight at Passages to the Past

Wednesday, April 22
Review at Ageless Pages Reviews

Review: The Spindlers by Lauren Oliver

Title: The Spindlers
Author: Lauren Oliver
Genre: middle-grade, supernatural
Series: N/A
Pages: 256 (Nook ARC edition)
Published: expected October 2 2012
Source: publishers via edelweiss
Rating: 5/5

One night when Liza went to bed, Patrick was her chubby, stubby, candy-grubbing and pancake-loving younger brother, who irritated and amused her both, and the next morning, when she woke up, he was not. In fact, he was quite, quite different.

When Liza’s brother, Patrick, changes overnight, Liza knows exactly what has happened: The spindlers have gotten to him and stolen his soul.

She knows, too, that she is the only one who can save him.

To rescue Patrick, Liza must go Below, armed with little more than her wits and a broom. There, she uncovers a vast world populated with talking rats, music-loving moles, greedy troglods, and overexcitable nids . . . as well as terrible dangers. But she will face her greatest challenge at the spindlers’ nests, where she encounters the evil queen and must pass a series of deadly tests—or else her soul, too, will remain Below forever.

From New York Times best-selling author Lauren Oliver comes a bewitching story about the reaches of loyalty, the meaning of love, and the enduring power of hope.

Lauren Oliver is a truly talented writer, be it in the young-adult field, or when writing for a younger audience, like here in The Spindlers. I was impressed with Before I Fall, and I am even more so after reading this richly imaginative, darkly creepy, and thoroughly lovely middle-grade novel.  I'm in my twenties and I loved every page - I can't imagine what this book would have meant to me had I read it when I was at the age of the intended audience. It's wonderful, magical, creepy adventure all about the power of love, family, hope, and believing in yourself. It's a quick read, but the beauty of Oliver's prose and her feisty main character Liza will leave a lasting impression long after the book is finished.

The Spindlers is a highly imaginative novel with echoes of some beloved favorites - Labyrinth (the abduction of a loved/hated younger brother), Alice in Wonderland (a hidden magical world Below filled with anthropomorphic animals), and Coraline (the dark, sinister aspect of a lot of what Liza uncovers.) Despite being vaguely reminiscent of those loved novels, Oliver's The Spindlers is a unique adventure filled with both wonder and magic. This charming tale of a young girl who uses stories and her vivid imagination to escape her tension-filled house (the casual hints of money problems at home - the overdue bills and shout-off notices, the broken plates and furniture, her mother's constant worry and pacing) is filled with creative new spins on monsters, what it means to be a friend, and the fun of seeing what weirdly beautiful creations Oliver can come up with next.

The illustrations are few - at least in the ARC edition that I was granted - but they are both lovely and easily capture the feel of what Oliver creates with her words. I fell in love with how this author writes because of this book. I loved Before I Fall, but The Spindlers is truly engrossing and immersive, and a lot of that is down to how well Oliver can spin a tale. This fable-like story is imaginative, interesting, and above all, entirely fun and over too soon. I highly recommend this to anyone searching out a quick but moving read. My favorite quotes from the novel:

"The spindlers had gotten him: they had dropped down from the ceiling on their glistening webs of shadowed darkness and dropped their silken threads in his ear, and extracted is soul slowly, like a fisherman coaxing a trout from the water on a taut nylon fishing line. In its place they deposited their eggs; then they withdrew to their shadowed, dark corners and their underground lairs with his soul bound closely in silver thread."

"The world is a freak, she should have said. Everything that happens in it is strange and beautiful."

"This was what her parents did not understand - and had never understood - about stories. Liza told herself as though she was weaving and knotting an endless rope. Then, no matter how dark or terrible the pit she found herself in, she could pull herself out, inch by inch and hand over hand, on the long rope of stories."

"Liza stared at her. 'Impossible.'
Mirabella swept her tail around her wrist and gave an imperious sniff. 'That is a human word,' she sad. 'And a very ugly one at that. We have no use for it Below.'"

"Liza felt she now knew many things she had not known yesterday. She knew, for example, that even rats could be beautiful, and hope grew from the smallest seeds, and sometimes there was great truth in made-up stories."

This is an absolutely wonderful middle grade novel, one that holds vast appeal for older readers no matter what their age. Lauren Oliver is a wonderful storyteller and she proves it once again here, with a unique way with words that can evoke pathos as easily as breathing. I was caught up in this story, anxious and excited to see what new ideas and creatures this able author would throw my way. From nids to troglods to the nocturni, this is a world alive with promise and horror, and all the more unique for it. 

Review: The Queen's Secret by Victoria Lamb

Title: The Queen's Secret

Author: Victoria Lamb

Genre: historical fiction

Series: N/A

Pages: 368 (paperback ARC edition)

Published: February 2012 in the UK; March 3 2013 in the US

Source: author for a fair and honest review

Rating: 4.5/5

Elizabeth I, Queen of England, arrives at Kenilworth Castle amid pomp, fanfare and a wealth of lavish festivities laid on by the Earl of Leicester. The hopeful Earl knows this is his very last chance to persuade the Queen to marry him.

Yet despite his attachment to the Queen and his driving ambition to be her King, Leicester is unable to resist the seductive wiles of Lettice, wife of the Earl of Essex. And soon whispers of their relationship start spreading through the court.

Enraged by the adulterous lovers' growing intimacy, Elizabeth employs Lucy Morgan, a young black singer and court entertainer, to spy on the couple. But Lucy, who was raised by a spy in London, uncovers far more than she bargains for.

For someone at Kenilworth that summer is plotting to kill the queen. No longer able to tell friend from foe, it is soon not only the queen who is in mortal danger - but Lucy herself.

Full disclosure: I am GoodReads/Twitter friends with Victoria and she sent me this novel in exchange for a review. However much I like her (and that is very much!), this did not affect my impression of the novel nor my review for it. 

Consider me an official fan! I'm always on the lookout for new talent in the Tudor historical fiction genre, and Victoria Lamb is an author that continues to grow, and impress me more and more with each successive novel of hers that I've read. While I loved the first of her YA supernatural historical fiction novels (Witchstruck), The Queen's Secret has easily superseded it in my list of Tudor-era favorites. With just two novels, Lamb has easily proved herself to be a more than able storyteller, with a keen eye for detail, as well as for establishing an easily-believed, original scenario for the main plot of The Queen's Secret. Incorporating real historical figures -- and even a cameo from the Bard himself! -- as well as partly-imagined ones, this was a book I could not put down once I had started early yesterday morning.

The Queen's Secret has a couple simple but thoroughly engaging plots that keep the momentum moving along nicely at a decent clip: a conspiracy of assassination against the Queen, a young Moorish girl making her way in a unknown Court, the growing personal conflicts between Queen Elizabeth, her favorite Robert, Earl of Leicester, and his ongoing affair with the Queen's cousin, Lettice Knollys, the Countess of Essex. The multiple plots and characters are uniformly well-handled, even despite a love triangle. I usually hate the plot device, but the one here has the advantage of giving the characters involved (QE1, Leicester, Lettice) added depth and motivation, all without choking up the narrative or derailing the main plot. This is how love triangles should be written - there is drama and lies and secrets, but they are true to the characters personal lives, and serve to create tension, atmosphere, and occasionally, empathy for all three people caught in the web of personal desire versus public duties.

The varied cast of characters shown here, from young Lucy Morgan to Robert and the 'Virgin' Queen herself, are almost all fully dimensional and well-rendered. Lucy, based on a mysterious though factual lady of the Court, commands attention, especially as she is the first non-white main character I've come across in Tudor fiction.. Like I said with my review for Witchstruck, I love when authors aren't afraid to try something new, and Ms. Lamb once again illustrates her willingness to stand out. The only characters that I felt were one-sided and unexplored were the overall antagonists of the novel. Lettice could also be seen as an anatagonist, but her characterization and inner monologue help to present her as well-rounded person, with hopes, dreams, hates all her own. She creates a Courtly conflict easily and often for both her cousin and her lover, and the effect of her romantic pull on Robert constitutes a lot of the tension in the novel not otherwise supplied by the conspiracy angle. As the plot thickens and secrets and assassinations are uncovered, it's hard to guess whose side the Countess is really on. The ambiguity adds another layer to an already convoluted plot of lies and deception and I loved every single page of it.

For me, as an avid Tudorphile, The Queen's Secret was a nearly perfect read; very detailed, and full of lies, suspicion, secrets, conspiracies, and intrigue... all of which add up to create my favorite elements of Tudor historical fiction. The Queen Elizabeth of this novel, much like how she was shown in Witchstruck, really stands out from the other characters. Dynamic characters are obviously a talent of this author's and this book is no exception. Her version of Elizabeth is well-handled. She's full of depth, conflicting wants and needs, and is presented as a woman, as an able Queen with a quick mind, and an even quicker temper. Her attempts to balance desire versus power, personal wants against her public duty make for a compelling character in the various situations she is shown in here. As the plots thicken and twist around her, it was nice to see a new version of this oft-written about historical figure. QE1 is and probably always will be one of my favorite people to read about -- fictionalized or fact -- and Victoria Lamb has ample talent and skill to write her sympathetically or otherwise.

I only have a few things that kept this from being a 5-star read, which I am still considering bumping up because I just had so much fun reading it. The ending felt slightly bit anticlimactic after all the buildup and action, and also failed to answer a main question -- <SPOILER>who is the English traitor that is behind the attempt on the Queen?</SPOILER> The slight denouement and the open-ended nature of the final pages and epilogue leave a lot of room for the author to maneuver a sequel with that answer, and I can only hope one is forthcoming. The author's note following the conclusion of the main plot is just as fascinating as the preceding fictionalized tale, and I would encourage readers not to skip it.

Victoria Lamb is on my "to-watch" list. I will be eagerly awaiting her Witchstruck sequels, as well as hoping for more of her adult historical fiction novels. This is an author with a dab hand for characters, atmosphere, detail-filled novels with even pacing. I continue to be impressed with what this author has shown in the two novels I have read, and I highly recommend any Tudorphiles to seek her novels out and enjoy them as I have.

Review: Ice Song by Kirsten Imani Kasai

Title: Ice Song

Author: Kirsten Imani Kasai

Genre:  fantasy, post-apocalyptic, sci-fi

Series: Ice Song #1

Pages: 384 (Nook  ARC edition)

Published: May 2009

Source: publishers via NetGalley

Rating: 3.75/5

There are secrets beneath her skin.

Sorykah Minuit is a scholar, an engineer, and the sole woman aboard an ice-drilling submarine in the frozen land of the Sigue. What no one knows is that she is also a Trader: one who can switch genders suddenly, a rare corporeal deviance universally met with fascination and superstition and all too often punished by harassment or death.

Sorykah’s infant twins, Leander and Ayeda, have inherited their mother’s Trader genes. When a wealthy, reclusive madman known as the Collector abducts the babies to use in his dreadful experiments, Sorykah and her male alter-ego, Soryk, must cross icy wastes and a primeval forest to get them back. Complicating the dangerous journey is the fact that Sorykah and Soryk do not share memories: Each disorienting transformation is like awakening with a jolt from a deep and dreamless sleep.

The world through which the alternating lives of Sorykah and Soryk travel is both familiar and surreal. Environmental degradation and genetic mutation run amok; humans have been distorted into animals and animal bodies cloak a wild humanity. But it is also a world of unexpected beauty and wonder, where kindness and love endure amid the ruins. Alluring, intense, and gorgeously rendered, Ice Song is a remarkable debut by a fiercely original new writer.

This was an engrossing, thrilling, fresh, lovely read... for about 200 hundred pages of the 384 total duration.  Not that I didn't enjoy the last of the novel, or that I wasn't involved in Soryk/ah's unique tale - Ice Song simply and sadly suffers (alliteration is fun!) from a problem that so many other novels of the fantasy genre also suffer: it's just too long. Three hundred eighty-four pages is far from the longest book I've read this year, but it's nothing to sneeze at, certainly. But, truthfully, it's no doorstopper in a genre with works like The Way of Kings (1007 pages), To Green Angel Tower (1104 pages), and The Bonehunters (1231 pages) easy to come by and at more than twice this one's length. The problem with Ice Song is that the length outlasts the actual plot - large sections could have been culled from the narrative (for example: halve the trk across the ice, kill edit the entire House of Pleasure overextended bit) and this would've been a much more streamlined, clear story. Ice Song may be a long-winded but my expectations were exceeded drastically by this gender-bending adventure across the Sigue or 'The Land of the Ice Song'.

I loved a lot about this very creative and individual 'fantasy' novel, including the fact that this was clearly and awesomely not just a straight fantasy.  There's the obvious signs early on that seem to set this darkly captivating novel out as clear-cut, epic fantasy: the long journey against an well-established enemy, the alien world peopled with the chimaera-like "somatics" - a genetic(?) mutation of both human and animal, and last but not least: Sorykah's strange ability as a Trader to change genders and become Soryk. But further and close reading will out many and often references to a very familiar world - which would make this more of a post-apocalyptic novel than a fantasy. References to a very modern society gone: "canned soda", the use of opium,  "DNA", mutterings of a "Great Change" and a mysterious "Split"between humans and the changeling somatics, "video cameras" and most tellingly: "baseball". I also came around to believing the setting for the trek Soryak takes - the harsh and frozen Sigue - could be what we call Antartica. The sly mentions of more populated areas "up North" along with the frozen and inhospitable climate further reinforce my opinion that Sorykah's world is our own, but far in the future.

I loved the creative take the author used to build her world, and the lovely way she wrote only helped make a favorable impression. Before I got tired of the seemingly-endless (and deadly! [SPOILER] RIP sled dog team! Who knew I could harbor such anger towards a seal? And that it was a leopard seal only further reinforces my the Sigue = Antarctica theory. [end SPOILER]. This also reads like a fairytale at times, which I found both charming and odd juxtaposed against the dark nature of the novel. Kasai has an elegant way with words, and her vivid descriptions of both character and setting evoke a very detailed, real world and read.

"He smiled, wickedly, or so it seemed, for the grins of wolves always appear wicked, even when innocently offered."

Doesn't that sound like a line straight from a fairytale? A Little Red Robin Hood with a gender-bending Red Robin Hood. Too bad the rest of the story doesn't fit within the LRR story or I would make a theory on the spot.

I loved the somatics as a species. Described as a human/animal hybrids with "scrambled genetics and bizarre deformities" they are the fringe of society within this (our?) world. While some of the minglings of man and creature strain credulity at times [SPOILER] (Rava - how would you possibly hide those that condition for years? As a drug addict?) [end SPOILER] I loved that the somatics were often shown as the most human, the most humane characters (read: Dunya, Sidra, Carac) in a world where their race are considered sport and open game for freak hunters, and the actual monsters were wholly human. Soryk/ah shares some of same plights as the somatics: isolated, hunted, and misunderstood. However, unlike the species, Sorykah is one of so few like her that many in the world have never seen a Trader. For Soryk's entire existence it was fight or flight, hide or be hunted and used as a sexual circus freak. Though born of and into a harsh life, Soryak isn't a fighter or a rebel: she's a lowkey, trying to be normal, strong, courageous and compassionate woman. Her sole motivation isn't just to kick as much ass is possible but to save her kids and get some revenge in the process. This is a compellingly strange character isolated or afraid until the birth of her similarly-affected twins - which gives credence for her out-of-character actions throughout Ice Song.

My main gripe besides the length is the House of Pleasures stay towards the final fourth of the book. Until this bit, the author took pains never to make Sorykah's 'problem' the entire focus of her characterization. Yes the character switches genders, personalities but there's much more to her than her alternating names. The House of Pleasures put Sorykah on the spot (literally) and it was not fun to read for 20+ pages. Both Sorykah's motivations for being there and her actions once there don't really fit well within the frame of the novel or her previous personality. Not to mention that both the creepy women of the House and Sorykah's display at their hands were just uncomfortable to read. I'm not a prude, I can handle sex in books just fine, but the House of Pleasures displays were too distasteful for me. 

My other three slight gripes with this strangely-weird-but-not-in-a-bad-way novel: 

• Sorykah's trek across the ice is too long and becomes monotonous before it ends. A lot of fantasy novels draw out the traveling portion and this is sadly one of them.
• The solution for Sorykah's confusion/memory loss is too easy and [SPOILER] I'm disappointed it involved sex. Being a Trader shouldn't just be about the sex part of her nature.
• And last but not least, Ice Song suffers from about five too many POV's. The two personalities of Sorykah - fine, perfect even. But Zarina, Meertham, Radhe, Dunya, and Carac certainly didn't need to have their own - usually just one or two instances - POV 

This is a good book, though not the great one I thought I had at the start. Sadly first impressions are not always the right ones, and my problems with the latter part of Ice Song lowered this from a 4 - 4.5 to a 3.75 stars. There is a sequel attached, Tattoo, already out and published - and one I will keep my eye out for in bookstores. Though the execution might wobble a bit, Ms. Kasai's ideas are starkly original and fun, and written in a very readable, pretty prose. Fans of fantasy will enjoy this and I look forward to whatever comes next in this twisted and unique world.