Literary Fantasy or Non-Fantasy
The Bird Eater by Ania Ahlborn (horror, traditional ghost story) Read 4/4/15. Aaron Holbrook returns to his childhood home where his aunt died mysteriously after twenty years hoping to find some solace in the face of his grief. But something has other plans. I had trouble following who was who in this. I’m not sure why -- maybe I just wasn’t reading closely enough. A nephew is haunted by his childhood enough to try to make amends by coming home.
Demon in the Freezer by Richard Preston (non-fiction, epidemiology, thriller) Read 4/5/15. 2002 non-fiction about biological weapon agents smallpox and anthrax, and the American governmental defensive measures toward them. The book is mostly an account of the Smallpox Eradication Program, a discussion about smallpox’s status as a potential bioterrorism agent, and the controversy about the remaining samples. Demon in the Freezer is very much a product of its time, having been published in 2002, just after the anthrax attacks. I really thought this book was going to be about anthrax. In fact, the first few chapters and last couple chapters were about the post-9/11 anthrax attacks. But what this book was actually about was small pox. Having been born in the eighties, I never knew just how terrifying smallpox really could be -- I mean, it’s one of the most virulent diseases on the planet, so lots of people got it, right? Holy crap, smallpox make ebola look like small potatoes. Consider me educated.
Defenders by Will McIntosh (sci-fi, dystopian, alien invasion). Read 4/7/15. What happens when telepathic aliens invade the Earth and can predict your every move before you make it? You genetically engineer super soldiers resistant to telepathy to fight them. What happens when the war is over? Do you give vocational training to your super soldiers who literally know nothing but war? Neat thought experiment about the levels to which you may not want to go to win.
The Pines by Blake Crouch (horror, thriller, sci-fi) Read 4/20/15. Secret Service Agent Ethan Burke arrives in the bucolic town of Wayward Pines, Idaho in search of two missing federal agents, but is involved in a violent accident within moments of his arrival. He awakes with no memory, no ID, no cell phone, no briefcase. And something’s off. Everyone seems helpful enough, but why doesn’t anyone believe him? And why is there an electric fence around the outside of the town? By pure coincidence, I made the mistake of reading this at the same time as American Elsewhere by Robert Jackson Bennett, so we’ve got two weird but nice town books happening at the same time. This book sort of faded into the background of American Elsewhere, unfortunately. Good book though. Not fantasy, else it would count for (Adapted to the Screen) as the TV show is currently airing.
Stand-Alone Fantasy novel
The City and the City by China Mieville (parallel worlds, crime, urban) Read 5/14/15. How much does perception shape reality? Inspector Tyador Borlu of the Extreme Crime Squad finds a deadly conspiracy beneath a routine murder, and joins Detective Qussim Dhatt of his sister city Ul Quoma in trying to untangle the sordid web of nationalism and unificationism in twin cities that just happen to occupy the same space. This was an incredibly China Mieville novel, if that makes sense -- and its concept, while interesting, was incredibly confusing for a good long while. It was both fascinating and overwhelming, and it absolutely overshadowed the story in a lot of ways. (Also counts for 21. Award-winning (Hugo Best Novel 2010, Locus Best Fantasy Novel 2010, WFA Best Novel 2010))
The Darkest Part of the Forest by Holly Black (modern setting, faeries) Read 5/19/15. Hazel lives with her brother, Ben, in the strange town of Fairfold where humans and fae exist side by side. The faeries’ seemingly harmless magic attracts tourists, but Hazel knows how dangerous they can be, and she knows how to stop them. Or she did, once. At the center of it all, there is a glass coffin in the woods. It rests right on the ground and in it sleeps a boy with horns on his head and ears as pointed as knives. Hazel and Ben were both in love with him as children. The boy has slept there for generations, never waking. Until one day, he does… I’m realizing I’ve now read four Holly Black books in two months. Woo. Totally unintentional, yo. I found myself absolutely riveted to this audiobook after several false starts where I just couldn’t get hooked in, but once I did I really enjoyed myself. It’s an interesting take on the urban fantasy fairy interactions -- complete with female warrior, believable LGBT characters. Whimsical, beautiful, dark, fun. The mechanic that the story depended on was awesome, though I did see the twist coming from a mile away, darnit. (Also counts for 25. Urban Fantasy)
Historical Fantasy
Novel by an Author on r/Fantasy's Women in Fantasy List
Valiant by Holly Black (#2 in series, YA, urban fantasy). Read 4/1/15. I bought this series at a used bookstore, and it sat on my to-read shelf for god-only-knows how many years before I finally picked it up and read it. It was good, but YA; book 2 definitely took a weird spin into unrelated territory before turning back; story elements I expected never appeared. It was satisfying, but the books went back into the back-to-the-used-bookstore bag without much second thought besides pretty covers, which bums me out a bit. (Also counts for 25. Urban Fantasy)
Ironside by Holly Black (#3 in series, YA, urban fantasy). Read 4/3/15. It’s time for Roiben’s coronation -- but when Kaye tries to swear her undying love to him, he sends her on an impossible quest which banishes her from his presence, seemingly forever. In her quest to find belonging, she finds herself a pawn in the games of the fae. Can a pixie outplay a queen? I bought this series at a used bookstore, and it sat on my to-read shelf for god-only-knows how many years before I finally picked it up and read it. It was good, but YA; book 2 definitely took a weird spin into unrelated territory before turning back; story elements I expected never appeared. It was satisfying, but the books went back into the back-to-the-used-bookstore bag without much second thought besides pretty covers, which bums me out a bit. (Also counts for 25. Urban Fantasy)
An Author's Debut Novel
The Emperor’s Blades by Brian Stavely (#1 in series, epic fantasy) Read 5/26/15. The Emperor has been murdered, leaving the Annurian Empire in turmoil. Now his progeny must bury their grief and prepare to unmask a conspiracy. His son Valyn, training for the empire’s deadliest fighting force, hears the news an ocean away. He expected a challenge, but after several ‘accidents’ and a dying soldier’s warning, he realizes his life is also in danger. Meanwhile, the Emperor’s daughter, Minister Adare, hunts her father’s murderer in the capital itself. Court politics can be fatal, but she needs justice. And Kaden, heir to an empire, studies in a remote monastery. Here, the Blank God’s disciples teach their harsh ways – which Kaden must master to unlock their ancient powers. It definitely took me a while to click into this book, but that had more to do with my circumstances than with the book itself. The prologue was fantastic. The rest just didn’t sink in and I had to keep pushing to stay interested. Once it clicked? Awesome. Only drawback -- I somehow fell asleep last night with twenty pages left to go, then had to go to work this morning instead of finishing. Fail.
Wildalone by Krassi Zourkova (#1 in series, debut novel, urban fantasy, fairytale retelling?, writer not a native English speaker but written in English) Read 4/10/15. Okay. This book started off neat. We’ve got a Bulgarian pianist at Princeton (say that three times fast), and it’s interesting to see how she adjusts. Add into that a mystery -- an older sister she never knew existed, whose footsteps she’s unknowingly following in -- and mythology -- both of the Greek and the Bulgarian varieties -- and a romantic triangle. I quit this book at 50% because it was HOLY CRAP CREEPY. Not in a good way creepy. I mean the book had a 3.36 rating when I started reading it, and three days later was down to 3.31. The protagonist had been stalked and nearly raped, but keeps going back to the boy like any screwed up, destructive relationship, to the utter detriment of her friends and herself. I did nothing but swear at the book for the hour up until I quit, which was after she abandoned one of her friends AGAIN after he really went out of his way to help her. I wanted fantasy, I got screwed up relationship drama. (Also counts for 22. Novel published in 2015, 25. Urban Fantasy)