(My thanks to NetGalley and/or the respective publishers for these review copies.)
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The Sorceress Transcendent by Casey Blair
★★★
This novella was a light, entertaining read. It had the majority of the themes in current fantasy romances, that is to say: fantasy, romance, enemies-to-lovers, war, empires, and sorcery. The characters of Varius and Theira are well-written, and they are accomplished fighters in their own right; Varius is the greatest general in his empire while Theira is the Sorceress Transcendent herself. I recommend this book for anyone interested in the classic fantasy-romance stories, with convincing characters.
The world-building was persuasive, and the intentions of the characters from the soldiers of the empire to the other sorceresses were clear. The exact details on how to end the war were interesting, and it was enjoyable to read how each character contributed to the downfall of the current leaders in the world.
Personally, though Varius’s and Theira’s feelings were obvious to each other and everyone around them, I couldn’t relate to the romance at all. I was more invested in the fantasy elements and the novella’s fantastic premise of what-happens-when-your-arch-enemy-knocks-on-your-door-helplessly. Do you let them in? This was how the book started on a high note and intrigued me to keep reading (and truthfully, it was the sole reason I requested to review an ARC of the novella).
The Alchemy of Sorrow by Sarah Chorn and others
★★★★
Intisar Khanani is a long-time favourite author of mine, and for this reason I picked up the Alchemy of Sorrow. Though some stories were better than others, in that the characters were more interestingly written, the world-building was more appealing, I was not disappointed. (I believe the stories got better towards the end of the anthology). It was fascinating to read the variety of ways ‘grief’ and ‘sorrow’ could be expressed through thirteen stories, by different authors. Each author added a different flavour to the overarching theme of grief, and overall it was really pleasing to read. From a mother and child’s perspective on what it means to go against the norm in society, to a family game of virtual reality embedded in despair and aching for someone who will never come back.
I will discuss the stories I most liked in this anthology. To start with, A Recurrence of Jasmine is a story of a mother who will do anything to give her child the best possible future. From saving her palace’s god by her wit, to taking risks to secure her child’s wellbeing, this was a very riveting story. Next, Thief is a short, straight-to-the-point story of courage and wit from a young girl who wants at any cost to see her ill mother. Thicker Than Water is a tale of a young boy and how his trust and belief in his own family is shaken and uprooted when a particular incident occurs. Twice Domesticated Dragons centres around a young refugee girl and her family, trying to settle outside the city when the home she knew had been destroyed due to war. This story also features magical, fiendish gnomes, and dragons who feast on these creatures. As for Reliquary of the Damned, this is a story about acceptance and rejection in the society one lives in, and how a sense of belonging might feel if you are in the minority. Coming to the end of the anthology, The Quiet is about a healer called Solana, who, whilst treating others of their pain, had all her pain taken away and now she can feel nothing. Finally, The Paperweight Watch is the raw, unfiltered grief of a reputed watchmaker’s son, who after finding his father murdered in his own office and after burying his mother in their homeland, comes back to his shop and tries to get back to life.
To conclude, this anthology was a great read.
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Modern Conveniences that Would’ve Rewritten History by Riya Aarini
★★★★
A nice dive back into time with this book. Starting from prehistoric times with the cavemen and fast-forwarding to the 20th century, this novel covers the timeline of history with notable figures of fame. Each chapter describes the context of the famous public figure or royal, the issue that they had to tolerate, and a modern convenience that would’ve made their lives a hundred times better at that time.
For example, an interesting part was of Chichen Itza’s Mayan priests climbing the 91 steps of the pyramid daily, to perform sacred rituals. The modern convenience Aarini describes is of implementing the use of escalators on the four sides of the pyramid, to ease the arduous journey of the priests. Unfortunately, escalators would come much, much later.
Another example to illustrate, is that eBooks would have preserved the thousands of valuable literature and works in the burning of the Library of Alexandria- back in the year 48 BC. Alas, if only eBooks were available at that time.
Just like this, it was fascinating to explore the different celebrated historical figures, with their appropriate modern-day solution to their problems. Most of the time these present solutions were a sort of technology. And many of these proposed technologies were based on artificial intelligence and were ‘smart’ products, namely pocket translators, posture correctors, speech writers, sofas, socks etc.
To conclude, this book was a good piece of non-fiction, with elements of creativity that weren’t overstepped. Moreover, the writing style was persuasive.
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Lump by Nathan Whitlock
★★★
A decent read, the comedy was enough, and the storylines running in parallel were appreciative. Alternating from one perspective to another every chapter was entertaining.
The main character, Cat, is diagnosed with cancer in the middle of an unexpected pregnancy. She already has two small children; and with an absent husband and a meagre income, it is getting harder and harder to cope. She can only see one solution through the chaos: run away to her client’s house.
There are some family issues running in the background, her husband has problems in the workplace which involve a lawyer, and cancer is discussed rather strangely as a disease. It seemed like the characters, Cat and her eccentric client, didn’t take the illness as seriously as it should’ve been taken. However, given the novel is a satire with dark comedy maybe that was the point. The book also contained some scenes- like consent and extra-marital affairs- that seemed crass but still conformed to the satirical atmosphere.
Altogether, the book was written well for its genre and was appealing enough to keep reading.
- He wants to get away from me, Cat thinks. He wants to get as far from this sick woman as possible.
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‘Shadow Thief’ by Intisar Khanani
‘Sunbolt’ by Intisar Khanani
‘Sleepless in Dubai’ by Sajni Patel
‘Asylum’ by Sarah Hans
‘Remember Pompeii’ by Kika Emers
Musings of the heart 