Cute Dragons and Weird Magic
Review: Liberty’s Daughter by Naomi Kritzer
I may be biased – Kritzer is rapidly becoming one of my favorite YA authors. Her Catnet books are utterly adorable.
Beck, the heroine of Liberty’s Daughter is much like her other lead character, but that’s not a criticism, because she’s utterly entertaining to spend some time with.
Beck is growing up on a libertarian seastead, made out of floating platforms and old ships and stuff. It’s in some vague location off the coast of California and consists of five communities that each experiment with a different level of “Government Bad,” including Lib, which is total anarchy.
A lesser author would have made this a utopia or a dystopia, depending on how they felt about libertarianism. Kritzer takes a more nuanced approach, although it leans strongly dystopic. Slavery, for example, is legal…or rather indentured servitude is.
At the same time, people get on reasonably well with little or no government, and the problem with libertarianism Kritzer explores is not “People can’t be trusted to manage their affairs without a government” Rather, it is “Without government, who stops evil?”
It’s all about entities that take advantage of a weak government to hurt people…to create illegal biotech, etc…and when some of it gets out and infects everyone on the seastead…
Beautifully written!
Copy received for award consideration.
Review: The Inn at the Amethyst Lantern by J. Dionne Dotson
This book is a variant on solarpunk known as lunarpunk…which really wants to be a subgenre when it grows up. This book goes a long way towards at least getting it to adolescence.
In the far future, a few centuries from now, Gen lives in a settlement of surviving humans. Because the sun is harsher now, humanity has become nocturnal, waiting out the day behind shutters or underground. The sea has risen, magic has partially taken over from technology (which results in a fantastic pun “You are coming of age – and of mage.” Groan).
Mira wants to attend the ball, but you have to be 15, and she’s 14. An adult she trusts gives her a spell so she can attend…which somehow wakes up a whole bunch of nanotech (the magic is implied as being and not being technology, it’s intentionally confusing.
Gentian, her cousin and the true protagonist, has to deal with what happens…which involves monsters, really unpleasant people who have been in cryogenic suspension since 2027…honestly, the plot is a fairly typical save the world from the monsters story.
But the worldbuilding is quite interesting.
(Also, the sun hasn’t become more harsh, it appears somebody decided to engineer humans to be nocturnal…not that the characters have quite grasped that yet).
Copy received for award consideration.
Review: To Shape a Dragon’s Breath by Moniquill Blackgoose
This is my first exposure to Moniquill Blackgoose’s work… In fact, I hadn’t even heard of her.
I truly hope that changes.
First of all, this book has two elements I love combined: Dragonriders and magical schools.
But more than that, it’s steeped in the history of her people, the Seaconke Wampanoag. It’s deeply indigenous and delightfully queer.
Oh, and on top of that, it’s steampunk. Because why not!
While technically an alternate history, To Shape a Dragon’s Breath reads more like a secondary world fantasy. She uses Saxon variants on the northern legends that I’m not as familiar with, but her understanding of the culture shows plenty of study.
The story is beautifully written and Anequs is a great protagonist to spend time with. On top of that, Moniquill dangles a love triangle…then turns it straight into, well… my favorite resolution of love triangles. That’s mildly spoilery.
Oh, and she has a major character who is autistic…and not just a little bit quirky. Sander uses a tablet to communicate because speech is difficult for him, and has been dismissed as “simple.” He has an awful Autistic Mother
The dragons are cute.
And no punches are pulled about colonialism.
My one issue is that the only significant Black character is descended from slaves. I would have liked to see more acknowledgment of the wide trade routes the Vikings had by adding in more ethnic variation. Silk Road, too.
But this is a brilliant book, and I hope the sequels come out. Get it for yourself and your older teens (It’s a bit of a hefty tome for the younger ones). Especially if you or they love dragons!
Copy received for award consideration purposes.
Review: The Saint of Bright Doors by Vajra Chandrasekera
First of all, this book says “There’s no reason a secondary world fantasy can’t have cell phones and social media.”
Which is about all the world of The Saint of Bright Doors has in common with ours. Or does it? This is a world where gods walk (or Walk), and where the unchosen…those who almost become prophets or almost become Messiahs hang on to their own little bits of power.
Where powerful entities can simply create entire new timelines, leaving the bright doors…closed and open at the same time.
The magic here is pop culture quantum mechanics rewritten shamelessly as magic, and it’s beautiful.
I won’t say I liked it per se, more fascinated by it the way one might be fascinated by a good hypnotist.
CW: Violence, child abuse (that mother), pandemic.
Copy received for award consideration purposes.
Review: The Water Outlaws by S.L. Huang
Wuxia is a genre I am developing more enjoyment of over time, and this book is shamelessly wuxia and also shamelessly queer.
It’s also dark enough that I think I finally have my tolerance for dark back, although it definitely doesn’t count as grimdark…even though none of the characters are what I would call good, Lin Chong, Lu Da, and the others are fun. It’s a very violent book, though, and yes, there is cannibalism.
But it’s mostly a romp…with dark edges. It’s a retelling of a classic Chinese novel called Water Margin, but with all the main characters being women, and quite a few of them queer too. There are trans and genderfluid characters.
It’s also written in a style that makes me want to watch the donghua of this. I want a donghua of this so bad. A full series.
Definitely recommending this one, but we have a violent set of novels this year!
Copy received for award consideration purposes.
Review: Witch King by Martha Wells
I like Murderbot better. That said, this is a very interesting secondary world fantasy that owes almost nothing to Tolkein and such traditions. It does owe quite a lot to European folklore (demons and witches, for example, can’t cross running water) as well as taking on aspects borrowed from Afrofuturism…but without appropriating anything.
It feels very different, although I do note a missed opportunity…it’s stated that not all of the cultures in the world have only two genders, but there’s not one single non-binary character. Martha, you can do better.
The protagonist’s relationship to gender, though, is as interesting as Murderbot’s…he starts off in an AFAB body but clearly maintains his masculine identity without being trans in the true sense…no gender dysphoria evident.
The magic system is interesting. Expositors use intentions (spells) to change the world. Witches use elemental magic, but with just a touch of science added to it. And demons…well…they aren’t what you might be thinking.
Enjoyable, but I definitely think she’s better at SF. Still…if you’re looking for off beat secondary world fantasy that is neither grimdark nor toolighthearted, this fits the bill.
Copy received for award consideration purposes.
Review: Shigidi and the Brass Head of Obalufon by Wole Talabi
I’ve read a lot of African fantasy, but not so much African urban fantasy, which this definitely is…featuring two very different cities. Lagos, and London. Talabi’s “spirit side” of London invokes Gaiman, but his understanding of the orishas is deep even as he uses them in much the way people use the Norse gods. And mocks the entire thing or, perhaps, blames it on the gods trying to get faith and attention. (I found that part amusing).
Shigidi and Nneoma are larger-than-life, as one would expect of a deity and an ancient demon. Talabi uses the “Gods feed on worship” trope and has some fun with it…the bureaucracy of the “spirit company” is also entertaining.
It’s fun urban fantasy, with an African and, of course, anti-colonialist bent. (Shigidi beating up certain giants was also fun and showed Talabi’s broad knowledge of myth).
Recommended.
Copy received for award consideration purposes.