Category: Reviews

Book Review: Revisionary (Libriomancer Series)

On By cherylmahoneyIn Fantasy, ReviewsLeave a comment

If I had to choose one magic system as my absolute favorite ever (I mean, ever), libriomancy would be a very likely winner.  So you can imagine I was delighted to return to it with Jim C. Hines’ fourth Magic Ex Libris book, Revisionary.

See my reviews for book one, Libriomancer, and book three, Unbound, and some spoilers inevitable below!

Book three ended with the reveal of magic to the world at large, and now Isaac and his friends are dealing with the aftermath.  Deep in magical research, Isaac wants to use magic for good but finds himself blocked by new rules and bureaucracy…but the rules go out the window when incidents of magical terrorism start to point towards an even larger threat.

Like I said–I love a magical system built on books, and even more so because our narrator is a sci fi/fantasy geek who totally gets how cool all this is.  Even more, I’m convinced Hines and I have read all the same books.  If you pulled a random sampling of books, even popular ones, even fantasy ones, I still doubt the percent I’d read (and possibly loved) would be as high as it is with the books that appear in Hines’ series.  References to Tamora Pierce, Robin McKinley, Catherynne M. Valente and Terry Pratchett have all appeared, to name just a few of my favorite authors! Continue reading “Book Review: Revisionary (Libriomancer Series)” →

Book Review: Upside Down in the Middle of Nowhere

On By cherylmahoneyIn Historical Fiction, Reviews1 Comment

The premise of Upside Down in the Middle of Nowhere by Julie T. Lamana had me intrigued, mostly as an opportunity to read about events that are now history, but recent enough that I remember them.  I’m still young enough that I haven’t encountered that many books like that!  This one centers around Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans—and since it’s about an African-American family in the Ninth Ward, it also fits my diversity challenge.

When the story begins, Armani’s major concern is that these obviously over-blown storm warnings not disrupt her tenth birthday.  The party comes off, but when Katrina arrives that night, suddenly Armani and her family have life-and-death concerns—and I mean that tragically literally.  Armani becomes a refugee in her own city, with responsibilities no ten year old should be shouldering.

This was an excellent book—and it was terrifying on several levels. Which is part of its excellence.  Armani is a great character, who thinks she’s so much older than she is—as one does, at ten!  Her family is very loving and supportive; she has three younger siblings and a brother close to her in age.  She also has very involved parents, a beloved grandmother and an entire network of extended relations.  All of those connections make it even worse when the world fractures apart—because there’s so much stability to disrupt, and so many people to be in danger.

The book is terrifying on an immediate level, as Armani and her family are in serious danger, first from the storm and then, even more, in the aftermath of the flood as all services and normal functioning of society break down. Continue reading “Book Review: Upside Down in the Middle of Nowhere” →

Book Review: Parallel

On By cherylmahoneyIn Reviews, Science Fiction1 Comment

I slipped one more parallel universe book in just before reporting on my challenges: Parallel by Lauren Miller.  This is another one that does a beautiful job exploring how different decisions can radically change a person’s life…while being totally different than the previous two parallel universe books I read this year!

The story begins just before Abby’s 18th birthday, and her life has gone all off of her careful plans.  Due to a freak combination of circumstances, she’s been cast as a supporting character in a Hollywood action movie, putting college on hold.  But then she wakes up the next day–in an unfamiliar dorm room at Yale, with two sets of memories for her 17th birthday.  In one she took an acting class; in the other she wound up in astronomy–and now she’s living the consequences of the alternate choice.  But she only gets memories of the intervening year as she lives forward a year later–and nothing in set in stone because that other Abby is still making her choices.

In focus this is closer to Pivot Point than to A Thousand Pieces of You, in terms of being about the changes in one person’s life, rather than epically different worlds where entire societies are re-shaped.  Likewise, this focuses on how our choices–sometimes seemingly small ones–can change everything.  And that was awesome. Continue reading “Book Review: Parallel” →

Movie Review: The Walk

On By cherylmahoneyIn Reviews1 Comment

The WalkI’ve been working my way through the movies I didn’t watch last year, and picked up The Walk on impulse from Redbox the other day.  I finally found one I wish I’d seen in theatres!

The Walk recounts the story of Philippe Petit, real-life daredevil and stuntman who in 1974 hung a high-wire and walked between the World Trade Towers.  Philippe is played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt (with a slightly awkward French accent, but I adjusted), telling the tale while standing in the Statue of Liberty’s torch.  He recounts his days performing stunts on the streets of Paris, of falling in love with a photo of the Towers, and of gathering accomplices to help him achieve his dream of walking the wire between them.

Basically, this is a heist movie.  Only instead of a robbery, Philippe is trying to achieve a dream.  They have no permit, no permission to do this, and he has to figure out surveillance of the towers, find an inside man, and orchestrate a complicated plan to make all this happen.  Because it’s his dream.

Philippe goes up to the roof of the Towers earlier on in the movie, and Philippe as narrator describes it, “But somehow I gather the strength to whisper, whisper so the demons won’t hear.  ‘It’s impossible…but I’ll do it.’ ”  And that’s really what the whole movie was about—doing the impossible. Continue reading “Movie Review: The Walk” →

Book Review: The War of Words

On By cherylmahoneyIn Fantasy, ReviewsLeave a comment

I was intrigued primarily by the premise of The War of Words by Amy Neftzger – because how cool is the idea of words used as magical weapons?

Set in a fantasy world mid-way through a war, the story begins with Kelsey, a young soldier fighting in that war.  A sorcerer has cast a spell over the kingdom to spread confusion, while endless shadows attack the king’s army in a series of battles.  Kelsey hears a legend of a hidden book no one can read which holds the secret to winning the war.  With her friends, she sets out to find the book and unlock its mystery.

The words as weapons idea did turn out to be very cool, especially as it grows increasingly literal by the end of the book.  The sorcerer uses words and the distortion of words to fight, creating increased confusion and challenges to communication—and eventually, words as literal weapons with all the power of arrows.  Kelsey and her friends have to find clever ways to fight back, first by preserving the meaning of words and then by magically spreading truth. Continue reading “Book Review: The War of Words” →