Queendom of the Seven Lakes is an entertaining, if not wholly original, political fantasy; a quick read, which centres around the journey of the firstQueendom of the Seven Lakes is an entertaining, if not wholly original, political fantasy; a quick read, which centres around the journey of the first male ruler of a Queendom, and the assassin that must protect him.
Neither Elen-ai nor Gidyon were particularly well-fleshed out. Gidyon in particular was very difficult to assess, since he flip-flopped between seeming about 13 and 25. Elen-ai was unfortunately a very trite YA character - an assassin with a heart, who we've all seen before. The Queen is aloof, and the various nobles are pretty interchangeable (apart from one rather grim case of fat-shaming).
I very much liked the conceit that the queen's children had indeterminate fathers; how very different political machinations would be in real history if that were the case! A ruler who is guaranteed to be neutral would have a very different political environment than one tied by marriages and kinships to other families.
The magic in this book is minimal, and I hope will be explored further in future volumes. There appear to be healing powers, and also some sort of shadow powers, which are tied to the individual gods that are worshipped, but this is not touched upon particularly deeply.
Merged review:
Queendom of the Seven Lakes is an entertaining, if not wholly original, political fantasy; a quick read, which centres around the journey of the first male ruler of a Queendom, and the assassin that must protect him.
Neither Elen-ai nor Gidyon were particularly well-fleshed out. Gidyon in particular was very difficult to assess, since he flip-flopped between seeming about 13 and 25. Elen-ai was unfortunately a very trite YA character - an assassin with a heart, who we've all seen before. The Queen is aloof, and the various nobles are pretty interchangeable (apart from one rather grim case of fat-shaming).
I very much liked the conceit that the queen's children had indeterminate fathers; how very different political machinations would be in real history if that were the case! A ruler who is guaranteed to be neutral would have a very different political environment than one tied by marriages and kinships to other families.
The magic in this book is minimal, and I hope will be explored further in future volumes. There appear to be healing powers, and also some sort of shadow powers, which are tied to the individual gods that are worshipped, but this is not touched upon particularly deeply....more
Spellslinger is a YA fantasy with a (gasp) male protagonist! Kellen, our main character, is a fairly ordinary teenage boy, whose magic is subpar, and Spellslinger is a YA fantasy with a (gasp) male protagonist! Kellen, our main character, is a fairly ordinary teenage boy, whose magic is subpar, and not a feisty redheaded princess or witch! I have to say, what made me pick up this book was its stellar cover design ( well done to the artists, Dale Halvorsen and Sam Hadley!) and the tag line “Magic is a con game”, because as you know, I definitely prefer my books to have female protagonists. But, I am so so glad I did, because this is one of the cleverest, funniest YA fantasies I’ve ever read.
I instantly warmed to Kellen, who we first encounter prepping for a magical duel with one of his bullies – who doesn’t love an underdog? Kellen’s magic is not good, and in a society that only values those of high magical talent, this is something of a large problem. Then his world view starts to get shaken up by the arrival of the mysterious Ferius Parfax, and it’s absolutely brilliant to watch Kellen learn to make the most of his own abilities, whether magic is one of them or not. I was really surprised that I loved him so much, when I thought he was going to be pretty annoying – he really is pretty annoying to the people around him, like any 16 year old boy, but he’s also very fun to read about and very believable.
I’ve never read a book with such a unique world in before! The Jan’Tep, Kellen’s people, are sort of Ancient Egyptians crossed with every snooty mage society you can think of. Then you have Ferius, who brings a Wild West sort of feeling to the story; she’s a travelling trickster, a playing-card-wielding gunslinger, and a really, really excellent role model for Kellen. I loved this twist on the student-mentor relationship. Ferius is another great character who is somehow extremely infuriating but also very engaging – one of the highlights of the writing in this is how well de Castell captures that ‘I love you, but right now I could quite happily kick you’ feeling of family. It’s funny and realistic and I loved it. There’s also a ring of truth in the horribleness of Kellen’s biological family – what dicks they all are! He’s better off with Ferius and Reichis, for sure. Another tick in the box for me: I love a found family.
Ah yes, Reichis. I’d be remiss if I didn’t give a paragraph to one of the greatest characters in all of fantasy fiction: Reichis the squirrel cat! Now, if you know me, you’ll know I usually very much dislike comic talking animal sidekicks. But Reichis is more than a sidekick; he’s Kellen’s business partner, and he provides approximately 60% of the snark in this book (which is saying something because these characters snark like it’s a basic bodily function). He’s a vicious, terrifying beast who loves eating eyeballs and fighting, but is also a big fan of stealing shiny things and having bubble baths, not to mention sassing everyone he comes across. I love him. I want him to be my patronus. I was lucky enough to hear de Castell read a segment of the fourth book, Soulbinder, recently, and his voice for Reichis was just wonderful!
If you’re tired of grimdark and want your epic fantasy tropes shaken up a little, then you should rush to the bookshop and get a copy of Spellslinger right now. It’s part Western, part classic fantasy; it’s funny, but also very touching; and if you don’t Reichis will probably bite your ears off. Five out of five squirrel cats!...more
The first thing I noticed about this book is that Kate has a very unique writing style. This reads like a diary, almost, with a lot of run-on sentenceThe first thing I noticed about this book is that Kate has a very unique writing style. This reads like a diary, almost, with a lot of run-on sentences and half-formed thoughts. It's beautiful to read, once you get used to it. Her descriptions of the garden are extremely evocative, from the sunless, unloved little concrete box she buys, to the life-filled, colourful garden she creates - it feels as if you can see it at each stage. I wish there had been pictures, but in a way, I can see why there aren't, as the beauty of the garden lies in its heart and its soul, not in any particular photo.
I loved reading about the patience and frustrations of planting the garden from scratch - as a beginner gardener myself, it's very difficult waiting for results when you know you may have to wait years to see things grow! I've been growing a honeysuckle for three years, and this is the first year it's had more than one flower on it, so I particularly warmed to Kate's attempt to cultivate her honeysuckle cuttings.
I also found the description of the bird-life that she saw to be very informative - I had no idea about a lot of the habits she described, so that was lovely. A lot of her reminiscences about her childhood experience of nature are bittersweet, and there's a real sadness in the way she discusses the decline of spaces for wildlife, and the decline of the wildlife itself. You can tell that she feels this passionately (though I couldn't understand why, if city life depresses her so much, she didn't move to the countryside).
Unfortunately, the second half of the book was extraordinarily uncomfortable and disappointing to me. Like in H is for Hawk, I picked up this book to read about nature, not about grief and pain. While I have every sympathy for Kate and her family dealing with her mother's illness, and it is beautifully discussed, this is not something I would ever choose to read about, and quite frankly, it ruined the book for me. There is no warning in the description or blurb about this. So if, like me, you have a low tolerance for peering at other people's misery, be warned that this is not a happy book, and it is not about Kate's garden at all after her mother's aneurysm.
So, three stars from me, purely because it made me want to get out into the garden and appreciate my plants and wildlife more. But overall, I would not recommend this unless people know what they are getting - if that's your cup of tea, you may well love it. But it isn't mine....more
So. I definitely loved the first book in this series. This sequel follows Silke, Aventurine’s best friend, and is written from her perspective. Silke So. I definitely loved the first book in this series. This sequel follows Silke, Aventurine’s best friend, and is written from her perspective. Silke was engaging, funny, witty, and realistic in the first book, but in this book I just utterly fell in love with her. The plot is much less focused on The Chocolate Heart (the chocolate shop where Aventurine works), but instead follows Silke as she is hired to investigate a mysterious delegation of fairies visiting the royal family – and her attempts to find out what happened to her parents so long ago.
It’s hinted at, in the first book, that Silke’s background is less than happy, and she and her brother live parentless in the dodgy end of the city, but it’s not until this book that the extent of this is seen. Silke’s life has made her street-smart, hard, and quick, and has tested her gift for story-telling. She appears at first glance to be your typical kind of smooth-talking, self-sufficient rogue sidekick, but in this book we get to see right to her heart, and it’s the greatest portrayal of a flawed character I’ve seen in children’s literature.
I love Silke so much, okay? She worries; she over-plans; she fantasises about situations and is disappointed by the way things turn out in reality. She’s constantly seeking approval, whether from her brother, or the Princess, or the people at The Chocolate Heart, but she hates that she wants that approval. She finds it hard to believe that people love her as much as they clearly do. I have never seen imposter syndrome written about so vividly and so well. Silke is angry. She’s powerful and smart. She loves fiercely and would do anything to protect her chosen few. She’s so, so clever, and so, so afraid of being found out.
She’s a baby Slytherin, really. She’s a baby me.
I would read The Adventures of Silke Putting The Washing On. I’d read Silke Goes To The Supermarket. I’d read Shh, Silke Is Sleeping. I just love her.
This, of course, is not to say that this plot isn’t wonderful too. Stephanie’s writing shines, as always, with what I’m coming to understand is her trademark charm and masterful control of pacing. The story absolutely rollicks through the fairy visit, and comes together with a glorious set-piece ending that I would love to see animated. There’s plenty of that gorgeous chocolate, too, and found family (in more than one sense). There’s space for a whole series of books in this world, and I hope to see them!
I don’t know how I’m going to wait until August 9th to hold this in my hands for real – I am very excited. If you have a child, buy them these books. If you’re not a child but you still love MG, then read them!
Completely astonishing. You would never be able to tell this wasn't one of the original books. Completely astonishing. You would never be able to tell this wasn't one of the original books. ...more
One of my most anticipated books for this year was The Unbinding of Mary Reade, which is a YA story based on my favourite gang of pirates – Calico JacOne of my most anticipated books for this year was The Unbinding of Mary Reade, which is a YA story based on my favourite gang of pirates – Calico Jack, Anne Bonny and Mary Read. There’s a fair bit of controversial content in this book, but if you’re prepared to weather a few somewhat uncomfortable situations, then this is a very interesting read that brings Anne and Mary’s relationship to the fore.
Let’s get the difficult stuff out of the way first. This is a historical novel, and pirates generally aren’t known for their wonderful treatment of women (part of the reason that Anne and Mary were so notorious is that they were so unusual for their time). This novel does not shy away from the rampant sexism and indeed sexual harassment that the female characters face – I have quite hard limits on gratuitous rape scenes, and will often DNF a book or other media which takes this even a smidgen past too far. But I actually found most of the situations in this book both believable and necessary for the plot, and nothing is described graphically. Mary’s breasts are bound when she dresses in male clothes, and the loss of this binding is what reveals her to the crew – it’s deeply uncomfortable, but I didn’t find it gratuitous. Anne’s backstory is just fact, pure historical fact, and where she is beaten it does not feel sexually derived, just part of the violence of piratical life. Others may find this crosses their personal lines, but I thought it made sense in context.
I cannot in any way speak to the transgender or genderqueer elements of Mary’s journey, so I won’t attempt to. A quick scan on Goodreads will show you lots of reviews which discuss this far better than I can. What I can speak to is Mary’s confusion and inner struggle upon realising she is attracted to women as well as men, and I found that to be well-written and ringing with truth. I’d be interested to know if the author is bi. After finishing the book, I started to think that maybe there was a bit of the old ‘women abused by men become lesbians’ trope, but while reading it didn’t seem like that. Mary and Anne seek comfort in each other, but they are also attracted to each other well before anything bad happens.
Okay, on to the positives. I love that this novel exists. F/F Anne Bonny fanfic being published for real is awesome! I’ve seen some complaints that there isn’t a lot of actual piracy in this book, but I actually found that quite refreshing – it was hardly sea battles all the time in real life. There’s space for the political side of piracy: the downtime, the boredom, the planning, the democracy of the crew, the question of whether to take the law’s pardon or continue as outlaws. There’s a lot of exploration of what it means to be free, and whether piracy actually achieves that. I thought this was very well handled and interesting.
I am so very down for F/F romance becoming more popular. I loved the way that Mary and Anne instantly had a spark, but that their relationship was a deeply emotional and caring one. This isn’t insta-love, it’s a slow realisation that someone else can end up becoming the centre of your world. I wish this slow pace of romance was more of a trend for relationships of any orientation in YA. I also liked that Mary’s relationship with her male friend Nat was shown in flashbacks and the present day – none of this ‘gay now’ business.
Mary is a complex and confused character, but she is instantly likeable for her determination to survive. She’s a true Slytherin – deeply loyal to her chosen few and always pushing for the best. This isn’t my favourite version of Anne that I’ve ever seen – she’s a bit of a contradiction. Sometimes she’s kicking ass and taking names, and sometimes she’s weeping into a blanket. She does a fair bit of weeping. This is not really what I expected – I think she would have had to keep up her image to stand a chance on the ship. But I liked her fierceness being combined with the softness, and even in her weepy moments she still felt like she was ready to pull a knife on someone.
Jack is… not the Calico Jack I love. McNamara makes him something of the villain of the piece – not outright bad, but not a nice guy. I much prefer both Jack and Anne in other works (particularly Black Sails). I think a fair amount of people who read this will have seen Black Sails, if they’re interested in pirates, and so they may, like I did, find these versions a little bit strange and a lot less fun.
To sum up, then, this is a complex, fascinating novel. I found it utterly compelling, and I loved the romance. There are issues, as I think there will often be when trying to tell queer stories in a realistic historical setting, and it’s definitely not a rollicking, sea-shanty-singing, piratical adventure, so if you’re going into it expecting this, you’ll be sorely disappointed. But if you’re interested in a gorgeously written character study of an irrestible and plausible Mary Reade, then definitely check this out.
I’m going to go with three out of five stars, because while there was a lot I enjoyed, I don’t think this was quite perfect (I do like a little bit of rollicking in my piratical stories)....more
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