Elder Race

Elder Race by Adrian Tchaikovsky, 201 pages

Lyn is a princess, the fourth daughter of the Queen who rules over a land that has recently come under the attack of a demon. While her mother brushes off the peasants' complaints, Lyn takes it upon herself to call upon the aid of Nyr, an ancient wizard and the last of the Elders who once ruled the world armed with magic. Nyr, for his part, is a spacefaring anthropologist who was sent centuries ago to observe and report back about the colonists of a new planet, and has spent the last 100+ years in stasis, waiting with diminishing hope for some sort of news from those who sent him. He has the ability to use much of the technology that came with the initial colony ship, a skill that has since left the world's civilization as much of that tech broke down and couldn't be fixed. Together this princess and anthropologist/wizard must work together to defeat whatever it is that's killing people and destroying towns.

As the point of view switches between Lyn and Nyr, the story changes from fantasy to science fiction. I was compelled to keep reading, in part to see what happened next, but also to see how Lyn would interpret Nyr's words and actions, and vice versa. This is a fantastic exercise in language and comprehension barriers, and a treatise on how magic is simply science that we don't understand. I very much look forward to discussing with the the Orcs & Aliens on Monday.

The Coward

The Coward by Stephen Aryan, 424 pages

Ten years ago, Kell was a 17-year-old desperate to prove himself on a quest with a dozen tried-and-true heroes. The party accomplished their mission, traversing the frozen north to defeat the Ice Lich, but at a cost: Kell was the only one to survive. Now Kell is a farmer living quietly in a small town, avoiding any place where minstrels might sing the saga of his heroic journey. But when the king summons Kell to once again head north and seek the source of the encroaching winter, Kell is more than a bit reluctant to make the journey again, seeing as how the last one left him scarred mentally and physically.

For the bulk of this book, Kell's story, and that of the people who end up traveling with him, is an excellent fantasy-based examination of the military experience and the PTSD that all-too-often accompanies combat experience. There are a few things that distract from that, however, and I'm hoping that those elements play a big role in future books in this series. Otherwise, I'd highly recommend this book.

The Blacktongue Thief

The Blacktongue Thief by Christopher Buehlman, 416 pages

Kinch is a darn good thief, but unfortunately not a good enough one to pay off the debts he owes to the Takers Guild, which educated him in the many skills of thievery. To work off a bit of that debt, Kinch takes on an assignment to accompany Galva, an intimidating survivor of the goblin wars, on her quest to find her queen, who has gone missing after giants ransacked her home city. Adventure — in the form of kraken, goblins, and the occasional assassin — ensues.

I love books about thieves and odd pairings, and thankfully this book has both. It was a boatload of fun, and I look forward to more stories about Kinch and Galva in the future.

Kings of the Wyld

Kings of the Wyld by Nicholas Eames, 529 pages

Once upon a time, Clay Cooper was part of Saga, the most famous (and infamous) band in the land, fighting back monsters, saving villages, diving deep into the heart of Heartwyld, the perilous forest that covers a huge swath of land between Agria and the city of Castia. For the past couple of decades, however, the members of Saga have gone their own ways, settling down and, well, getting old and out of shape. But when Saga frontman Gabe shows up on Clay's doorstep with plans of getting the band back together to rescue his daughter from a monster horde in Castia, well, the old guys dust off their swords and battleaxes to strike out into the Wyld one more time.

This was a fun book to read, full of references to both fantasy quests and aging rock bands. It's equally full of humor and creative beasts, sometimes at the same time (owlbears! bards that fair as well as Spinal Tap's bassists!). So much fun, and a great reunion tour for Saga.

The Savage Beard of She Dwarf

 

The Savage Beard of She Dwarf by Kyle Latino 158 pp.

She Dwarf thinks she may be the last of her kind and sets off to find the lost Dwarven city of Dammerung which does not exist on any map. At the start of her quest she picks up a sidekick, the war barbarian Hack Battler. Along the way the two of them battle a wide variety of monsters and demons while trying to find the truth about the dwarves. This is a fun and amusing graphic novel which leaves itself open for a sequel, or not. 

The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making

The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making by Catherynne M. Valente  247 pp.

September is a bored twelve year old girl who lives in Omaha. Her father is off fighting a war and her mother works in a factory. One night the Green Wind comes to her window and offers to take her to Fairyland on the back of his leopard. Thus begins the fanciful story of the girl's magical travels in the land of mysterious beings and a young, but evil Marquess. After September befriends a friendly Wyverary (a wyvern whose father was a library) named A-through-L and a Marid named Saturday. the Marquess takes them prisoner and forces September to do her bidding in exchange for their release. Fairyland is full of many magical beings including a golem made of soap (named Lye, of course), the Nasnas who have only the right or left half of a body, sentient antique furniture, and others. The story is convoluted while still maintaining a discernible course and the ending obviously is set up for a sequel. There are now five books in the series.

The Oregon Trail: A New American Journey

The Oregon Trail: A New American Journey by Rinker Buck, 450 pages.

Rinker sets out to cross the U.S. in a covered wagon with a team of mules, his brother Nick, and Nick's dog, Olive Oyl. Rinker needs to reset his life and to rediscover the sense of adventure that he had lost. The 2000 mile journey helps him reconnect with the person he was when he was younger and helps him reconnect with his brother and with the memory of their father. The trip begins in Missouri and crosses the western half of  the country, slowly and methodically.

Well written, interesting, and more mule-focused than most tales, The Oregon Trail drags a bit sometimes, but is well worth the read. Available on Overdrive in downloadable audio, tooo.

The Trials of Apollo

The Trials of Apollo by Rick Riordan, 384 pages.

Riordan starts a new series with the Greek God Apollo cast in the lead. Apollo has been cast out of Olympus and must complete some difficult tasks to get back in Zeus's good graces.

Of Mice and Magic

Of Mice and Magic by Ursula Vernon  277 pp.

This is the second volume in Vernon's new Hamster Princess series. Harriet, the very un-princessy princess is bored since she is no longer invincible (see the first book). She rides off on her faithful battle quail, Mumfrey, in search of a quest. Her mission this time is to break the curse on the twelve dancing (mouse) princesses. Vernon's take-off on the classic fairy tale involves a king who has named his daughters after the months of the year. The witch Molezelda, whose twelve sons are named for the signs of the zodiac has cast a spell to marry her sons to the princesses by forcing them to dance all night, every night. Harriet, with the help of a magical "poncho of invisibility" (easier and cheaper to make than a cloak of invisibility) foils her plot with the help of Prince Wilbur who appeared in the first book. This is a fun series with lots of goofy humor.

Luka and the Fire of Life

Luka and the Fire of Life by Salman Rushdie  240 pp.

After seeing the horrendous treatment of the animals of the "Great Rings of Fire" circus, young Luka Khalifa curses the circus owner. The curse causes the destruction of the circus. A month later Luka's father falls into a coma as a result of a curse placed by the owner of the destroyed circus. Luka heads off on a quest to retrieve the "Fire of Life" which is the only way to save his father's life. Accompanying Luka on his journey are a dog named Bear and a bear named Dog, two of the escaped circus animals. They are led by Nobodaddy, a hologram-ish representation of Luka's father who gains more substance as his father grows closer to death. Along the way they join up with a variety of magical beings who assist him in his quest against sinister rats, old Aztec gods, deities of extinct civilizations, and others. Rushdie includes elements of mythology, video games, and pop culture throughout the story at random moments. At one point there is a brief reference the White Rabbit from Alice in Wonderland, Dr. Who and his Tardis appearing, vanishing, and reappearing, Doc Brown from "Back to the Future," and the dwarves from Time Bandits dropping from the sky all along the River of Time. This was closely followed by the Eddies in the river, specifically known as Nelson, Duane, and Fisher. These and other random bits of humor pop up in the story but you have to be paying close attention to catch them. Somehow this mashup of fantasy, mythology, magical realism, and heroic quest all works to make a fascinating, if sometimes confusing story. It was written as a children's book but I know of few children who would really "get" it.

The Buried Giant / Kazuo Ishiguro 317 pages

From the author of Never Let Me Go and The Remains of the Day, among others.  Axl and Beatrice are an affectionate couple in (I guess) late middle age in post-Arthurian England.  The vicious wars between the Saxons and the Britons have ceased and the land is peaceful, save for the occasional ogre, pixie, and dragon.  But the people of Axl and Beatrice's Briton village are afflicted by a condition they call the mist, which affects their memories such that they collectively forget recent visitors, missing family members, and their own personal histories.  In the occasional periods in which their mental fog lifts, they remember that they have a son, and that they long to see him.  And so they set off on a journey, in which, as in most stories, they will find things they never imagined possible at the beginning.

Everything I've read by Ishiguro is strange, and Buried Giant is certainly that.  Reading this I felt a clammy menace which I recall feeling throughout Never Let Me Go, too.  (That novel has a big 'reveal' at the end which I won't mention.)  It's not pleasant, this feeling, but it is compelling, and I don't know another author who evokes the sensation so well.  While an imperfect work, I appreciate Buried Giant for its strangeness, for its evocative exploration of themes like the burden of memory, and for asking questions like "What are we supposed to do with the fact that we know we're going to die?" and "How are we to get along with one another?"  Holy Grails, indeed!