Patternist #3-4

Clay's Ark by Octavia E. Butler (1984) 241 pages

Patternmaster by Octavia E. Butler (1976) 208 pages

I continued the series with audiobooks on Libby. I did not like this second half of the series as much as the first. Both have a tenuous connection to book 1 and 2 of the series. Clay was a character introduced in Mind of My Mind. I expected Clay's Ark to continue his story. That expectation was totally wrong. Instead we are in a near future dystopia when a father and his two daughters are kidnapped from their car and taken to a strange isolated colony of people living in the desert. The people appear to be diseased and, in fact, are contaminated with an alien organism that gives them telepathic abilities and strength that is vaguely similar to the powers of Doro's ancestors in the earlier part of the series. The organism is clearly extraterrestrial though and the people give birth to children that are physically described like cats or sphinxes. I'm reminded of the shift in zombie movies. There are early movies with zombies based on Haitian voodoo customs. Then Romero's 1968 movie Night of the Living Dead shifts most future zombie movies to giving a possible alien virus explanation. I'm not saying these books are about zombies. It just seems odd that a foundational shift happened in the middle of this series from something ancient to something alien. Butler's Clay's Ark approaches closest to the horror genre, which I don't read often. Patternmaster pushes further into the future with barely any un-powered humans left alive. The Patternist and Clay's Ark groups fight for resources and power. It is mainly about two sons of a distant old Patternmaster competing to rule. Butler, I think, is using speculative fiction to explore concepts connected to slave narratives, which is a noble pursuit. To "flip the script" and make readers consider the impact of slavery is worthwhile. However, again there wasn't enough connecting this book to the first two. In both books 3 and 4, I was not captivated by any characters. I struggled with the lack of intriguing character development too. I'd recommend just reading the first two books of the series unless your goal is to read Octavia E. Butler's complete works.

The Ghostwriter

The Ghostwriter by Julie Clark, 368 pages

Ghostwriter Olivia has long been estranged from her father, Vincent, despite the fact that he's a famous horror writer and they occasionally turn up at the same writing conferences. When he was an awkward loner teen, Vincent's two siblings were found murdered in their family home, and while he was never convicted, most of the residents of their small hometown assume he killed his brother and sister. Growing up in that same small town, Olivia had to deal with more than her share of rumors and bullying based on her dad's notoriety, so it's only natural that she'd try to distance herself from it as much as possible. But when a new work offer comes along — ghostwriting her father's memoir of his siblings' death — Olivia literally can't refuse, and starts to dive into her family history.

Told in chapters that bounce back and forth in time, this thriller is good and twisty. I particularly like the way it handles difficult family relationships that are further complicated by dementia, outsized egos, and unreliable narrators (and that's all one person, at different times of his life). Definitely worth a read.

Voidwalker

Voidwalker by S.A. Maclean, 592 pages

Smuggler Fionamara has the handy ability to easily pop between worlds, helping the wealthy and unscrupulous transfer items without the taxes that usually come along with such shipments. However, her most recent job has gone sideways, unknowingly transporting a cartful of explosives in an attempt to kill the demon Antal, who rules over the territory where she lives. However, when she meets Antal following the assassination attempt, she slowly learns that while yes, physically terrifying, he's also a much more thoughtful and complex creature than she assumed. As the two hash out a plan to assist each other in bringing some lasting peace in the territory, they also discover an undeniable attraction to one another.

Solidly placed in the romantasy realm, this book has all the hallmarks of a good fantasy (well-created world and magic system) as well as a steamy romance (though I don't know if I'd call it enemies-to-lovers when one of them is an obligate carnivore that eats the other's species — maybe predator-prey?). It's the first of a series, and I'm intrigued to see where the rest of this goes. Not sure I'd recommend it to a romance reader, but for the masses of romantasy readers, sure.

Percy Jackson Series

Percy Jackson and the Olympians Series by Rick Riordan

The Lightning Thief (2005), 375 pgs.
Percy Jackson is not your typical twelve-year-old. He sees things other people don't seem to notice--things that seem impossible. He has been kicked out of every school he has attended due to the many strange things that seem to happen when he is around. Things only get stranger for Percy when he finds out that he is a child of one of the Greek gods! He makes his way to Camp Half-Blood, a sanctuary for demigods like him, and embarks on an adventure with his new friends, Grover and Annabeth, like the ones he had only read about in Greek myths. All of a sudden, the fate of Olympus is in Percy's hands, and he must do what he can to defend this world he only just discovered.

The Sea of Monsters (2006), 279 pgs.
A year has passed since Percy realized he was a child of one of the Olympians, and he is excited to return to his newfound home-away-from-home--Camp Half-Blood. After miraculously making it through most of the school year without any strange incidents, Percy's summer starts off with a bang, and he is thrown right back into the chaos of Greek mythology. After finding out that camp is in trouble, Percy and Annabeth embark on another epic quest, this time into the Sea of Monsters, to retrieve the one thing that could save their friends and their home.

The Titan's Curse (2007), 312 pgs.
A blustery snowstorm sets the mood for this darker third book in the series. Grover has found two young demigods at a boarding school, and Percy and his friends have arrived to bring them to camp. When things go horribly wrong, and one of his best friends goes missing, Percy is left feeling helpless. A team leaves from Camp Half-Blood, traveling across the country in search of their missing friend, and one thing is very clear. Something sinister is looming over Camp Half-Blood, like a dark storm rolling in, and they must figure out what is going on before it's too late.

The Battle of the Labyrinth (2008), 361 pgs. 
Camp Half-Blood's enemies grow stronger every day. New demigods join their ranks to fight against the gods of Olympus and everything the camp stands for. As the enemies look for ways to invade Percy's home-away-from-home, they turn to the labyrinth--a humungous maze designed to confuse anyone who dares enter. Percy and his friends must figure out how to navigate the labyrinth before their foes, otherwise they must prepare for battle on their home turf. 

The Last Olympian (2009), 381 pgs. 
Things have changed at Camp Half-Blood since the events of last summer. The date of Percy's sixteenth birthday, the day that a terrible prophecy is set to begin, creeps nearer, and the campers seem to be preparing for war. Percy himself is training harder than ever, but he still isn't sure he is ready for what is coming. Their enemies are strong, and the campers may not be able to count on the gods to come to their rescue this time. The fate of Olympus is once again at stake, and this is the summer when everything will change. Will Percy be the hero everyone expects him to be? Or will Olympus fall once and for all?

Anyone who enjoys Harry Potter and/or Greek mythology will love this middle-grade series. The characters are loveable, and they really grow throughout the series. Rick Riordan does a great job balancing humor and drama, and each book has higher stakes than the last, but it never feels overdone. 

Isola

Isola by Allegra Goodman, 368 pages

When she was born, Marguerite was heir to a huge fortune and large estate in France. However, after her parents both died while she was young, her guardian uses her lands and fortune to buy his way into leading an expedition to the "isle of Canada," a journey that he forces Marguerite to take alongside him. Along the way, Marguerite falls in love with her guardian's secretary, and as punishment for this atrocity, her volatile guardian maroons the lovers (and Marguerite's longtime servant) on a desolate island off the coast of Canada. There, Marguerite must set aside the ways of her pampered lifestyle if she is to survive.

Based on the real life account of a 16th Century French noblewoman, this tale was gripping, harrowing, and compelling, while still remaining historically accurate. I finished this book wanting to know more about Marguerite, and more about the French exploration of Canada. An excellent read, and highly recommended, especially if you loved Island of the Blue Dolphins as a kid.

Katabasis

Katabasis by R.L. Kuang, 560 pages

After Alice Law accidentally causes the death of Professor Grimes, her academic advisor at Cambridge, she figures that the only way she'll get the recommendations and accolades she was hoping for (he's a REALLY BIG NAME in the field) is to retrieve him from Hell. Which is something that isn't beyond the realm of possibility when you're a student of magic like Alice is. Except right as she plans to step through the pentagram into Hell, Peter Murdoch, her biggest competition for Grimes' recommendations, hops in to join in the quest. Soon, the unlikely pair is struggling through the Fields of Asphodel and the eight courts of hell in search for their advisor.

Kuang has an incredible ability to write fantastical academia that really rings true, and Katabasis is no exception — the ever-increasing stress, the nonstop work on hard-to-explain theses, the poor diet that does nothing but keep the stomach from grumbling too much, the self-important and misogynistic behavior of tenured professors — it's all there, only this time with magic. While the travels through Hell are intriguing (especially because it appears to Alice and Peter as a college campus), the story sometimes gets bogged down with discussions of theory, logic, and paradoxes, which made my brain hurt. Still, for fans of Kuang's previous works, it's definitely worth a read.

Agnes Aubert's Mystical Cat Shelter

 Agnes Aubert's Mystical Cat Shelter by Heather Fawcett, 368 pages.

Agnes Aubert's cat rescue has always been in a precarious place, which is pushed to desperate when a street duel between magicians destroys their building and forces her to look for a new home. So she really doesn't have any choice but to accept a shop on a fashionable street for suspiciously cheap rent, and so what if the place feels haunted and strange? Still, having Havelock Renard, the so-called Witch King, for a landlord is a bigger surprise than she had prepared for, and the affairs of magicians have a way of getting out of hand. But Havelock is not what he seems, and soon Agnes finds herself inclined to add a dark lord to her rescue list.

This was a lush and vivid fantasy novel. A magical 1920s Montreal provides a new and novel setting, filled with just enough magic to set the imagination aglow. The atmosphere was all encompassing, and the plot was light and easy to follow. That being said, I do think this book may have been more style than substance. Many topics were touched on but not fully explored, and the characters often felt more like archetypes than people, leaving the romance elements feeling a little lacking. It was still very enjoyable as a light, casual book perfect for winter reading, cat lovers, and fans of Howl's Moving Castle.

This book will be released February 17th, 2026.

(As an aside, I'm obsessed with this cover)

The Bewitching

The Bewitching by Silvia Moreno-Garcia, 368 pages

Grad student Minerva has always loved scary stories, most likely because her great grandmother Alba told her stories of witches all her life, and has made a little-known horror author, Beatrice Tremblay, the subject of her thesis. An international student from Mexico, Minerva has enrolled in the same university where Tremblay studied, and hopes to access the author's journals to include in her thesis. What Minerva discovers, however, is the story of a missing woman that inspired Tremblay's cult classic horror novel, a story that echoes in Minerva's present and in Alba's stories of long-ago Mexico. 

Told in three interweaving stories, this tale of three eras of women dealing with evil witches is spooky, atmospheric, and engaging. I felt a bit skeptical that the same types of witches would exist in New England and in Mexico, as I haven't heard of commonalities between the witchy folklore of both places in the past, though that's a fairly minor quibble with an otherwise excellent book.

What Will People Think?

What Will People Think? by Sara Hamdan, 336 pages

Mia Almas is a quiet Muslim young woman who works as a fact-checker for a media corporation and harbors a longtime crush on her boss. However, when she leaves the office, before heading home to her grandparents' basement apartment, Mia often indulges in her secret hobby — standup comedy. She's been secretly honing her act for five years when a few of her coworkers stumble upon her performance, one of them writes a profile of her, and suddenly Mia is going viral. Afraid of what this will mean to her undocumented grandparents — both in terms of their living situation and their opinion of her — Mia's thrown into a panic, something soothed only by her grandmother's scandalous journal of her youth in Palestine.

Set in 2011 in New York City, this story takes place during an era that wasn't quite as culturally sensitive as we try to be today, and Hamdan shows that well in the book. Really, though, the story of Mia's grandmother is much more compelling than Mia's more modern crisis — I would've happily read a whole book about her history! An entertaining book however, and definitely worth a read.

Rules for Ruin

Rules for Ruin by Mimi Matthews, 400 pages

At the request of her patron, Effie Flite has returned to England following a few years as a lady's companion in Paris. As an orphan trained in the Crinoline Academy, Effie has the ability to blend in seamlessly in London's society while also holding her own in less savory situations (that's where the sharp hairpins and steel-pointed parasol come in handy), both of which will be needed in her next assignment: take down Lord Compton, a seemingly upstanding member of Parliament who holds enough sway to prevent the married women's property act from coming to a vote. Unfortunately, Effie's assignment has her at odds with formidable betting shop owner Gabriel Royce, who needs Compton's influence to help secure funding to rehabilitate the slums of St. Giles. Too bad that Effie and Gabriel can't deny the attraction between them.

This is an intriguing historical romance, with plenty of meaty historical elements and compelling side plots and backstories for the characters, making it an enjoyable read. (It's also somewhat inspired by Miss Havisham's story in Great Expectations, so no, you're not imagining that.) However, something about the way the romantic elements come together in the end feels a bit disingenuous to Effie's character, which keeps this from getting an enthusiastic recommendation from me.