Book Description: At the turn of England’s century, as the wind whistles in the lonely halls of Rawblood, young Iris Villarca is the last of her family’s line. They are haunted, through the generations, by “her,” a curse passed down through ancient blood that marks each Villarca for certain heartbreak, and death.
Iris forsakes her promise to her father, to remain alone, safe from the world. She dares to fall in love, and the consequences of her choice are immediate and terrifying. As the world falls apart around her, she must take a final journey back to Rawblood where it all began and where it must all end…
From the sun dappled hills of Italy to the biting chill of Victorian dissection halls, The Girl from Rawblood is a lyrical and haunting historical novel of darkness, love, and the ghosts of the past.
Review: Thank you to Poisoned Pen Press for sending me a print copy of this novel!
Even though I hadn’t heard of Catriona Ward until I read “The Last House on Needless Street”, that was hardly her first literary and horror story rodeo. Her actual debut novel is “The Girl from Rawblood”, an award winning Gothic ghost story that is now being re-released. I was fortunate enough to receive a copy of the new edition just in time for an out of country trip that ended up with me sitting on an unplanned layover in Phoenix, as I needed reading material to get through the injustice of it all. I do love going back and seeing previously overlooked debuts of authors I like, as usually it’s fun to see the growth. Well in this case, there wasn’t much growth to be had, and I mean that in the good way. In many ways this doesn’t read like a debut, it reads like a seasoned Gothic author.
The brightest bit was the slow build up and world building of ‘her’, the curse that has been tormenting and killing the Villarca Family of Rawblood for generations. I love a rage filled ghost, and this one was giving me serious “The Haunting of Bly Manor” Lady in the Lake vibes. Ward really does have a talent for really freaky and tragic imagery in her stories, and I really liked just how creepy this curse was, mostly because we do get some is it real or is it not unreliability due to flashbacks of the frantic and frenzied Alonso, Iris’s father who has sheltered her in hopes of saving her, when his isolation of her seems just as terrible in her mind. In true Gothic fashion we are left to wonder if perhaps it’s Alonso’s madness due to generational trauma, romantic loss (more on that soon!) and grief that is the real culprit. But ah, this is Catriona Ward, so ultimately this is, indeed, a haunted house story. But there can be many hauntings, both of the past and ghostly kinds.
There is a lot of time jumping and historical fiction genre exploration in this as well, and that is ultimately what bogged the story down for me just a bit. Firstly, though, the good: I do love a historical Gothic novel with lots of melodrama and angst, and lord knows this book is frothing with it. This is Ward’s debut novel, and in a lot of ways it is a VERY impressive debut, as she has a lot going on and generally knows how to juggle all of it. But it is also a bit bloated, at least for me, in how much we are finding ourselves exploring. We have Iris’s story as she tries to push back against her father’s pleas to never fall in love, but we also go back to see Alonso and his medical school friend/forbidden love interest Charles try to approach this curse as though it is hereditary and more illness based, and see how their relationship grows and deteriorates and ends in, you guessed it, horrible tragedy. And THEN we also jump back to previous Villarcas and family members who have lived in Rawblood and the terrible fates that befell them, and I think that the out of order and abrupt jumps and shifts were a bit too jarring for me.
But having said that, it’s great that “The Girl from Rawblood” is being rereleased, because Ward was showing literary prowess with this as her debut, and prowess as a horror author at that. It all started here.
Rating 7: An eerie premise and an unsettling ghost story, “The Girl from Rawblood” is a chilling historical Gothic tale, though at times the jumps in time dragged a bit.
Book Description: When Lore was thirteen, she escaped a cult in the catacombs beneath the city of Dellaire. And in the ten years since, she’s lived by one rule: don’t let them find you. Easier said than done, when her death magic ties her to the city.
Mortem, the magic born from death, is a high-priced and illicit commodity in Dellaire, and Lore’s job running poisons keeps her in food, shelter, and relative security. But when a run goes wrong and Lore’s power is revealed, she’s taken by the Presque Mort, a group of warrior-monks sanctioned to use Mortem working for the Sainted King. Lore fully expects a pyre, but King August has a different plan. Entire villages on the outskirts of the country have been dying overnight, seemingly at random. Lore can either use her magic to find out what’s happening and who in the King’s court is responsible, or die.
Lore is thrust into the Sainted King’s glittering court, where no one can be believed and even fewer can be trusted. Guarded by Gabriel, a duke-turned-monk, and continually running up against Bastian, August’s ne’er-do-well heir, Lore tangles in politics, religion, and forbidden romance as she attempts to navigate a debauched and opulent society.
But the life she left behind in the catacombs is catching up with her. And even as Lore makes her way through the Sainted court above, they might be drawing closer than she thinks.
Review: I really enjoyed Hannah Whitten’s “For the Wolf” duology. The first book came out back in the “summer of ‘Red Riding Hood’ retellings,” as I fondly dubbed it, and I think Whitten’s version was my favorite of the three I read over those months. “For the Throne” was also an excellent sequel, taking the characters and the world in directions that I hadn’t expected. All of this to say, I am fully on board Whitten’s train, and I was super excited when I saw that she was releasing a new book this spring that would be the first in a new series. Let’s dive in!
I’m going to forego my usual summary chapter, and instead talk a bit about the fact that I think the official book’s summary is a bit misleading. It’s not truly important, but I think Lore’s connection to the catacombs is much more complex than “she escaped a cult and is in hiding.” I also think there are simply bits of the few sentences about this aspect of the book in the summary that are just factually wrong. I’m always mildly fascinated when there are discrepancies like these in book summaries. Was there some purpose behind this choice? Did the summary writer only skim the book and this was an accident? Who knows? Beyond this, the rest of the summary seems clear enough.
First, let’s talk about worldbuilding, particularly with regards to the magic and gods of this world. I think it’s interesting that this is now the second series that Whitten has written where her magic system involves magical forces directly interacting with the body, often resulting in mildly horrifying temporary changes to one’s physical self. I mean, I guess if you know what you like in a magic system, just go for it? I just found that interesting.
I will say, however, that it took me a bit to truly understand how this magic works, not only Lore’s abilities but also Mortem itself as used by others in the form of consuming poisonous substances. At a certain point early in the book, I had to consciously choose to stop trying to understand this and just go with it. As I continued reading, some of these details did become more clear, but honestly, I’d still struggle to write down a concise explanation of how it all worked. I’m not sure if this was a failing of the system itself or how it was described, but readers should be prepared to devote some thought and reading time into absorbing this aspect. I do think it is worth it, however, since as the book continued and I felt more comfortable with the concepts, this magical conceit opened up a lot of interesting story lines and theories.
As for the gods, I thought this part of the book was a bit familiar. There are a lot of fantasy books that deal with a religion that has been built up around one god after the destruction of a larger pantheon that came before. So, too, the relationship between a god of life/light and a goddess of darkness/death. The book played its cards pretty close to the chest with these themes, however, leaving a lot of questions still to be answered in this area. But I also feel fairly confident that I know where this is going, and it might read familiar to other readers as well. Who knows though? As I said, we don’t get any clear answers here, so Whitten could still surprise me!
Lastly, the characters and, most importantly, the love triangle between them. Yes, a love triangle and if you skip to the end of the review, you’ll see that I gave this book a good rating, so what’s going on here? Well, I’ll say that the success of this particular love triangle comes down to one key thing: all three of these characters are fully realized individuals with their own arcs and struggles within this book. Yes, it’s mostly Lore’s book. But the story does an excellent job of also setting up Gabriel, a young man who has been shaped by a great tragedy in his past, and now must struggle with dueling loyalties to Lore and to the religion and its leader who gave him refuge during that tragic event. Bastian, too, is a fully realized character, and his story explores themes of responsibility, power, and trust. Truly, the “romance,” such that it is, between all three characters is very much in the background to the growth that they experience as individuals, as various pairs, and as a group of three together.
I’ll also say that the romance plays out in a very non-traditional manner, in some ways. Part of my problem with love triangles is that I always feel as if the true love interest is telegraphed so clearly and so early that the second romantic storyline just feels like rather boring subterfuge. Here, I almost had the opposite problem. At various points in the story, both characters feel as if they are being set up as the end game couple. But then at different points in the story, each does something that I would typically say points to them being ruled them out as the end game partner. I found myself not only confused but intrigued, and I’m now half-wondering if Whitten is pulling a fast one on me and neither character will be a true love interest by the end of the series.
Overall, I really enjoyed this book. I think some aspects of the world-building were a bit confusing, on one hand, and overly familiar, on another. But it’s also clearly the start to a series, so both of these questions could be resolved in follow-up books. I do think the story lives and dies on the strength of its central three characters, and I, for one, was completely sold on them all. If you enjoy character-centric stories and want a more complex look at a love triangle, this is the fantasy novel for you!
Rating 8: Like the book’s own magic, Whitten perfectly balances darkness and light to create a new fantasy world and leading lady that feels both dangerous and opulent, ferocious and soft. An intriguing start!
Book Description: London, 1885. Gabriel Utterson, a 17-year-old law clerk, has returned to London for the first time since his life— and that of his dearest friend, Henry Jekyll—was derailed by a scandal that led to his and Henry’s expulsion from the London Medical School. Whispers about the true nature of Gabriel and Henry’s relationship have followed the boys for two years, and now Gabriel has a chance to start again.
But Gabriel doesn’t want to move on, not without Henry. His friend has become distant and cold since the disastrous events of the prior spring, and now his letters have stopped altogether. Desperate to discover what’s become of him, Gabriel takes to watching the Jekyll house.
In doing so, Gabriel meets Hyde, a a strangely familiar young man with white hair and a magnetic charisma. He claims to be friends with Henry, and Gabriel can’t help but begin to grow jealous at their apparent closeness, especially as Henry continues to act like Gabriel means nothing to him.
But the secret behind Henry’s apathy is only the first part of a deeper mystery that has begun to coalesce. Monsters of all kinds prowl within the London fog—and not all of them are out for blood…
Review: Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an eARC of this novel!
I first read “Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” in college in my favorite class of all time: “Monsters, Robots, and Cyborgs”. Thank goodness for an unofficial Cultural Studies and Comparative Literature minor! We looked at horror, fantasy, and science fiction stories of the past and present and what they said about cultural and societal anxieties, so of course “Jekyll and Hyde” is ripe for the picking. Think about it: a somewhat obsessive scientist creates a potion that can change him from mild mannered academic to a brutish, cruel, uninhibited psychopath, talk about a great way to talk about the complexities of humankind while creating a suspenseful mystery to explore that. So when I saw that one of the “Remixed Classics” books was going to take on this story, I was VERY excited to see how it was going to be reimagined with newer themes and a more diverse perspective for modern young adult audiences. Suffice to say, “My Dear Henry” by Kalynn Bayron was an anticipated read. And in a lot of ways it lived up to my anticipation.
Bayron reimagines the classic tale of a personified split identity and the calamities that follow, by making our protagonists Henry Jekyll and narrator Gabriel Utterson young adults, Black, and queer, and setting them in a Victorian London that will hold those identities against them. This was immediately resonant and very incisive, and it works so well for the themes of the source material while expanding upon them to make them even more complex. It’s especially clever because there are, indeed, questions as to Robert Louis Stevenson’s sexuality and whether these themes were also hidden in his original “Jekyll and Hyde” idea. To expand upon that and to make Hyde less of a symbol for the uninhibited ‘evil’ of man and instead to make it a symbol of uninhibited ability to be oneself is poignant as hell. As Gabriel and Henry are drawn to each other and fall for each other, the cultural mores at the time makes it so that they have to hide their feelings from others, and when they ARE found out it leads to the path of Jekyll to Hyde, and leads to lots of poignancy and pathos. It makes the “Jekyll and Hyde” story all the more tragic, as this Hyde isn’t a violent madman, he’s a manifestation of love that was criminalized and feared. And to make it even more complex, our main characters are Black, and having Black characters set in Victorian England is a great choice for a few reasons. The first is that it makes the marginalization of Gabriel and Henry even deeper, as the racism in English society has already made them vulnerable, just as it has made their fathers, especially Jekyll Sr. (as he is the one we see more of), all the more intent on stifling their sons because of their already targeted identities. The other is that it is so common to see Black narratives in this time and place ignored or questioned, as if Black people didn’t exist in England during this time period, so to counteract this erasure within this story was really, really enjoyable.
And since it is a remix of an old tale, I do want to talk about how effective of a retelling it was. And I thought that in a lot of ways it succeeded, and in a couple ways it didn’t quite capture it. In terms of successes, it does have the characters and the plot points of the original story, either tweaked, reimagined, or adapted to suit the newer narrative and thematic ideas, and it does this really well. You are definitely reading the Jekyll and Hyde story at the heart of the book, when I’ve seen adaptations that just slap on the idea of a reimagining without actually doing the work to make the new ideas coexist with the old. But I do think that one thing that did let me down about this book was that while it is definitely Jekyll and Hyde, it does give it a whole new flavor that kind of takes the suspense and thrills of the original out of it. It’s very possible that because this story is SO old hat that maybe there aren’t really ways to be held in suspense by it anymore, but I wonder if there could have been a way to make it feel like a thriller and to mine a new kind of suspense? I’m unsure.
Overall, I did enjoy “My Dear Henry” and I liked the directions that Bayron took this classic horror story of identity and repression. It’s an effective reimagining and brings out new ideas from a timeless tale.
Rating 8: A clever remix of “The Curious Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” that takes on the dualities of identity in a society that doesn’t accept certain people for who they are, though it doesn’t capture the suspense that the original had.
So a lot of people may be able to say that March is a signal towards the beginning of Spring. In like a lion, out like the lamb and all that. Not necessarily so here in Minnesota, as winter really likes to hold on, and on, and on. So while we may have some hope of getting outside at the end of the month and out of our winter hovels, it’s not a guarantee. So we cling to our books, and we both have some anticipated titles this month!
Serena’s Picks
Book: “The Foxglove King” by Hannah Whitten
Publication Date: March 7, 2023
Why I’m Interested: I really enjoyed Whitten’s “For the Wolf” duology, even if the second book, “For the Queen,” was a bit weaker than the first. Either way, Whitten had proven her fantasy chops as far as I am concerned. I also liked the premise of this book as following a young woman named Lore who has some sort of death magic and then, of course, gets caught up into palace schemings and wars between gods. On the other hand, the book description makes no effort to hide the likely love triangle between Lore, the “bad boy” prince, and the “dutiful” monk. I can make some overall predictions, I think, just on those character beats alone. I’m on the record as not enjoying love triangles, but I do think Whitten is a supremely capable author, especially with her characters, so I’m hopeful!
Book: “A Tempest at Sea” by Sherry Thomas
Publication Date: March 14, 2023
Why I’m Interested: Thomas’s “Charlotte Holmes” series is by far my favorite currently running mystery series. While I’ve had favorites, I haven’t had any major problems with any of them. A minor quibble here or there, but nothing to hang your hat on. Instead, her mysteries have been reliable complicated and compelling, and I have enjoyed getting to know the large cast of characters who surround our brilliant detective. What’s more, I’m particularly excited for this book given the dramatic manner in which the last one ended, with Charlotte faking her own death to throw Moriarty off of her trail. How will she handle this going forward? I can’t wait to find out!
Book: “The Fairy Bargains of Prospect Hill” by Rowenna Miller
Publication Date: March 28, 2023
Why I’m Interested: While I have yet to finish “The Unraveled Kingdom” trilogy, I do remember quite enjoying the first book in the series, “Fray.” It was a unique combination of fantasy story and social commentary. So, too, this book sounds like it has a lot to offer, telling the two of a family whose orchard has always shared a boarder with the Fae, with whom they have relied upon for small trades and bargains throughout their tenure. But when two sisters find themselves slamming up against the restraints put upon women of this time, they begin to wonder whether these tried and true bargains can be pushed further. One can imagine where this story will likely go, but I’m also intrigued by this combination of fantasy elements and a historical novel that is focused on some of the issues of the time.
Kate’s Picks
Book: “Piñata” by Leopoldo Gout
Publication Date: March 14, 2023
Why I’m Interested: The cover immediately caught my eye when it showed up on one of my social media feeds. And after looking into it, I realized that “Piñata” by Leopoldo Gout was going to be a searing and uncompromising possession story. Architect Carmen has traveled to Mexico to work on a large project involving a centuries old Church, bringing daughters Izel and Luna with her. But after an accident on site opens a long forgotten room, and Luna is involved in the aftermath, they return home under stress. Once home, Luna starts to act strange, and all of them are plagued with strange and disturbing images and visions. Something in the room is out now, and it is angry. This is the kind of possession story that catches my eye.
Book: “Lone Women” by Victor LaValle
Publication Date: March 28, 2023
Why I’m Interested: While westerns aren’t really a genre I find myself gravitating towards, if Victor LaValle is involved I am going to take a big old chance on a western. I’ve loved his other horror works that not only take on scares, but also contemporary societal issues, and now it’s taking on historical societal issues that undoubtedly have resonance today! In 1914, Adelaide is running from a terrible secret and a terrible background, bringing a locked steamer trunk with her wherever she goes. She decides to try and take advantage of a Government offer of land for anyone who can make a living on it, and heads to Montana in hopes of laying low. But she soon realizes that there are other dangers besides a murky past, and that the secret she’s been keeping may need to come out if she wants to survive. So vague, so of course that just makes me more interested!
Book: “London Séance Society” by Sarah Penner
Publication Date: March 21, 2023
Why I’m Interested: I loved Sarah Penner’s previous novel “The Lost Apothecary” and how she weaved both historical fiction and psychological women’s thriller fiction into one well crafted story. So of course I was interested in her next book, “The London Séance Society”, and what a bonus ghosts and Victorian Spiritualism were! When her younger sister Evie is murdered, Lenna seeks out Vaudeline, a world renowned medium who also happened to be Evie’s former teacher. Lenna becomes a new apprentice, and when Vaudeline gets word that a friend and head of the London Séance Society has been murdered as well, both women seek out the exclusive group to see if they can help solve the crime. Lenna soon realizes that Evie had her own connection to the group, and then the two women wonder just what the London Séance Society may be hiding. Historical intrigue and ghosts, what more could I want?
What books are you looking forward to this month? Let us know in the comments!
Book Description:Twenty-seven years ago, a Duke with a grudge led a ruthless coup against the empire of Semilla, killing thousands. He failed. The Duke was executed, a terrifyingly powerful sorcerer was imprisoned, and an unwilling princess disappeared.
The empire moved on.
Now, when Quill, an apprentice scribe, arrives in the capital city, he believes he’s on a simple errand for another pompous noble: fetch ancient artifacts from the magical Imperial Archives. He’s always found his apprenticeship to a lawman to be dull work. But these aren’t just any artifacts — these are the instruments of revolution, the banners under which the Duke lead his coup.
Just as the artifacts are unearthed, the city is shaken by a brutal murder that seems to have been caused by a weapon not seen since the days of rebellion. With Quill being the main witness to the murder, and no one in power believing his story, he must join the Archivists — a young mage, a seasoned archivist, and a disillusioned detective — to solve the truth of the attack. And what they uncover will be the key to saving the empire – or destroying it again.
Review: I always love some good, old-fashioned political intrigue in my fantasy novels. On top of that, a “seasoned archivist” sounds like a fancy name for a fantasy librarian, so you know I’m going to be all over anything that references librarians. What can I say, we’re easy to please. It’s kind of like how the Oscar nominations always favor movies about Hollywood. Publishers and authors know what us librarians like to read about. Ourselves! But in all seriousness, this sounded like an intriguing book, so I was happy to receive a copy to review from Orbit.
It has been decades since the Duke lead his failed coup, attempting to set up a young princess as the next ruler. He was executed and the world seemed to move on, life going about as usual behind the wall of Salt that surrounds the land to protect those within from the powerful Changelings that linger, ever present beyond. But now, the artifacts of the Duke’s rebellion are being brought out of storage. What possible use could they serve but to reignite that old spark? On top of that, a shocking murder takes place and a group of seemingly disconnected individuals all work to uncover the many secrets that are slowly, slowly creeping back into the light.
This is definitely a book made for true fantasy lovers. By that I mean that it can be intimidating as heck to those who might just pick it up on a whim. You open the book and there you see detailed and complex maps. Then you see a huge cast of characters. And then you start reading and it becomes very apparent that not only do these main characters not understand the full scope of their world, but that the author isn’t about to clue you, the reader, in any time soon either. But this is not a critique! Indeed, all of these things are exactly the kind of meaty aspects that I think many fantasy readers are looking for in a book. We want to be thrown into the deep end and feel as if we’re truly in a new world, one that would in fact be filled with huge casts of characters, need a detailed map to understand, and contain a magic system that goes beyond wand-waving. And this book delivers on all of these things!
Some of it will also be familiar to fantasy fans, which can be a plus and a minus. I didn’t think there was anything truly shocking here, though I may make an exception for the Changelings themselves, as I thought they were a particularly interesting threat. But the magic system, while interesting, will read as familiar to many fantasy readers. Basically, practitioners will have an affinity to certain things (wood, bone, stone) etc. which will influence they way they can perform magic. Hence, the salt wall that surrounds the city gains a certain mystique as it could only be created by a very unique sort of person.
The characters were all good as well, though I can’t say that I was overly attached to any one of them over another. This is probably a good and a bad thing, ultimately. I wasn’t dreading any particular character’s chapter, but I also wasn’t incredibly invested in one of them either. All told, I think the characters themselves served more as aspects of the world and story that were being created than as the driving force of the story itself.
The writing was quite effective right from the start. It felt sure-handed and well-practiced at balancing the myriad of aspects that must go into creating a complicated world and story such as this one. Indeed, on top of setting up an epic-feeling fantasy world, the author adds in a murder mystery. For me, as a fan of mysteries as well, I really enjoyed this combination of genres, and I think it added an extra zest to the overall story.
It did take me a bit to really get into the book. Because we’re thrown in right away, it takes a bit to orient oneself with the players and world at large. This might also be where my lack of immediate attachment to the characters put me at a bit of a disadvantage. Even now, though, I can’t point to exactly why I struggled with this. I have very clear memories of some of the first scenes with certain characters and laughing internally at some of the great dialogue right off the bat. Either way, I think this book will definitely appeal to epic fantasy fans looking for a new world to explore, and I will definitely be keeping an eye out for the next one!
Rating 8: The pinnacle of what one looks for in epic fantasy: a sprawling world, a rich history, a detailed magic system, and an intriguing cast of characters to travel alongside.
Book Description: Persephone was ready to start a new life when she left the mortal realm for Olympus. However, she quickly discovered the dark side of her glamorous new home—from the relatively minor gossip threatening her reputation to a realm-shattering violation of her safety by the conceited Apollo—and she’s struggling to find her footing in the fast-moving realm of the gods. Hades is also off-balance, fighting against his burgeoning feelings for the young goddess of spring while maintaining his lonely rule of the Underworld. As the pair are drawn ever closer, they must untangle the twisted webs of their past and present to build toward a new future.
This full-color edition of Smythe’s original Eisner-nominated webcomic Lore Olympus features a brand-new, exclusive short story, and brings Greek mythology into the modern age in a sharply perceptive and romantic graphic novel.
Review: We are back for more Greek Mythology soapy romantic goodness, everybody! It has been awhile since I have had a full blown content obsession, but “Lore Olympus” has really snagged me but good. Greek myths! Humor! A favorite ship! LOTS OF PATHOS! It all comes together in this series and we are starting to parse out the various complications that are facing Persephone, Hades, and more Greek Gods and Goddesses in “Volume Two”. Our star crossed would be lovers, Persephone and Hades, are trying to find their footing after their chance meeting has set them both a little off kilter, and while that could just be a lot of pining and wallowing in angst, Rachel Smythe takes the opportunity to build up more backstory and more characterization, and it is for the better. “Volume Two” is keeping the series going strong. But yes, there is still some lovely Hades angst, and given that I LOVE to be emotionally wrecked by fiction, I say bring it on.
One of the most rewarding things about “Lore Olympus” is that Smythe is taking her time to set groundwork, characterizations, and background. We start this volume off with Persephone starting her schooling with her scholarship from The Goddesses of Eternal Maidenhood while silently grappling with the sexual assault she endured at the hands of Apollo. She loves being away from her doting mother’s eyes, but given she’s drawn to Hades she is feeling that perhaps joining TGOEM isn’t what she really wants. Meanwhile, Hades is stewing about his feelings for her and trying to keep his distance, and to make matters worse a tabloid has shown innocuous pictures of them and spinning them to seem scandalous, which threatens Persephone’s reputation. Throw in Hera’s suggestion that Persephone take on an internship in the Underworld (as she secretly wants Hades to be happy and thinks that this would help that), and the two would be lovers are being shoved into some fun forced proximity!
But these very common tropes feel fun and new in this story, and it means that we can carefully explore their budding friendship while also exploring them as individuals who are dealing with a lot of baggage on their own. I thought that Smythe is really careful but also powerful when exploring the aftermath of Persephone’s rape, and does a good job of portraying the shame, the fear, and the apprehension, especially since her abuser is inserting himself in her life vis a vis his clueless sister Artemis, whom Persephone is living with. It’s tackled in a way that feels real, but doesn’t feel melodramatic or exploitative. I’m hoping that it stays that way and isn’t used for man pain or anything like that, but I trust Smythe to continue to be mindful. We also have a lot of other facets to Persephone’s growth as she tries to make sense of what she has been told she wants from life, and what she actually wants from life. There have also been hints about some darkness involving her backstory and her nature, which is VERY interesting to say the least…
Okay now we talk about what I loved most in this book. HECATE IS HERE!!! I’ve talked about how Persephone is my favorite Greek deity, and Hades is definitely number two? Well Hecate, the goddess of witchcraft, is third. I love Hecate. So I was very interested to see how Smythe depicted her, and I was NOT disappointed, as she is Hades’s COO and number two in command, who calls him out on all his nonsense and bullshit while trying to support him in other ways. She is THE BEST, and also very competent at keeping things in the Underworld running. In this the Underworld is a very necessary, non-evil place that has to be run efficiently, and having Hades and Hecate as co-runners feels very Eric and Pam from “True Blood” (without any of the clichéd longing on her part). It’s also really cool to see the depiction of the Underworld here, as we’ve seen the Mortal Realm as fields and vastness, and Olympus as an upperclass city scape. The Underworld feels a bit more hardboiled with a corporate undertone, and I love seeing how it is run, and how the various workers fit in, like Thanatos, who escorts souls to the Underworld, and Minthe the nymph (who just so happens to be in an on again off again/toxic relationship with Hades and she’s also kind of the worst but also seems pretty damaged so she isn’t just a girl to get in the way, HOW REFRESHING!).
And I’m still in love with the artwork. The designs of all these characters are perfection. I mean LOOK AT MY GIRL HECATE!
Source: Random House Worlds
I’m still obsessed with “Lore Olympus”. There isn’t much else to say, I’m head over heels.
Rating 9: Still loving this. What a fresh, soapy, emotional and sometimes hilarious take on Greek Mythology!
Animorphs Graphix #2: “The Visitor” by K.A. Applegate & Michael Grant, Adapted by Chris Grine
Publishing Info: Graphix, October 2021
Where Did I Get this Book: own it!
Book Description: Rachel is still reeling from the news that Earth is secretly under attack by parasitic aliens, the Yeerks. Now she and her friends are the planet’s only defense — kids who, purely by chance, stumbled onto a downed spacecraft and were given the power to morph into any animals they touch.
The team’s best lead is their assistant principal, Mr. Chapman, who is the human host to a high-ranking Yeerk official. It’s not much, but Rachel’s always been a daredevil, and she volunteers to infiltrate Chapman’s home.
Rachel is tough. She’s fearless. But what she finds inside may be more than even she can handle.
I’m baaaaaaack! Yes, yes, it’s been forever. So long in fact that not only is the second Animorphs graphic novel out, but the third was released last fall as well! What’s my excuse?
Anyways, I was very excited to jump back into the world of the Animorphs and check out what these graphic novels have in mind for the long run. I remember really liking the first one, but having some concerns about the longevity of the series. I was also curious to see how this particular story was handled. “The Invasion” has tons of material to work with, not only in the chock-full plot but also with a lot of important character work introducing all of the teens. But “The Visitor” is a much slower, simpler story. In fact, I’d say it’s probably the weakest story in the introductory first five books. I mean, I still love it, because I love Rachel and Applegate is at the helm in these early books and that’s clear in the general quality of a more “filler” story as compared to the same sorts of stories that we see later in the series that don’t land as well. All of that to say, I was curious to see what the graphic novel had in store for us.
Best Change: I really liked the way the Chapmans were portrayed in this version of the story. There’s a really cool couple of pages that are drawn when Rachel first enters the house. We see Mrs. Chapman in the kitchen, staring straight ahead and chopping up vegetables. We then shift to the living room and see Mr. Chapman sitting on the couch staring at a television set that’s turned off. Creepy enough on its own. But then when Rachel comes back in the second go around, we see the exact same thing: Mrs. Chapman in the kitchen, chopping; Mr. Chapman in the living room, staring. It really hits home how absolutely off and cold this house is and what a horrible hell Melissa is living through. Beyond that, I liked how the way Chapman’s face is drawn changes from scene to scene as his power dynamic shifts. When he’s driving Rachel home, he’s shadowy and threatening. But when he’s talking with Visser Three, he’s depicted as small and cowering. And then, lastly, we see the human side of him when the real Chapman gets control briefly to plead his case to Visser Three. It was all very effective, and I think it does a good job of setting up just how witnessing this horrible home situation would influence and motivate Rachel.
Worst Change: I’m not sure I really have a worst change for this book. Other than a few things here and there which I’ll get to later, this is a pretty faithful adaptation of the original book. I’ll go on (and on and onnnn) about my feelings about the art throughout the book, but I think that’s probably not going to be a specific-to-this-book thing so not really a “change” at all. Speaking of art…
Pretty, Pretty Pictures: I have to say, I’m not coming around on the art style of these books. It’s not a complete loss, but I think there’s a stark difference in quality between the two styles. On one hand, I think the graphics are excellent when done in the more realistic style used for the animals. I also think the larger spreads across two pages and the horror aspects are well done. The descriptions of morphing in the books were always horrific, but when you see it depicted on the page…man, it really captures how truly disgusting this stuff looks. I mean, look at this!
But, I have to say, I’m really not loving the cartoon images of the kids themselves. I wanted to give it more of chance than just the first book, where I didn’t love the fact that Tobias and Rachel looked so similar or the strange choice with the red noses. But this book just confirmed some of my worst fears. If you look at these characters, they all just look exactly the same in the most generic of senses. You wouldn’t even be able to tell who is a boy or who is a girl based on images of just their faces in some of the panels (a picture of Cassie really highlights this at one point where I honestly had to do a double take to remind myself that there wasn’t a random Black boy in this story). This fact is really highlighted early in the story when we first meet Melissa. Here’s the first panel we see her in:
Without the speech bubble, which of these characters is which?? Ultimately, Melissa is given the silly freckles purely to identify and differentiate her later in the book. And that just seems to me to be a failure of the art itself. I mean, I’m still glad these graphic novels are being made so I have a hard time being this critical, but it honestly feels as if the artist either can’t be bothered to draw interesting and unique characters or simply isn’t capable of it while using this cartoonish style. Given the quality of the realistic stuff, I know he’s talented. So it feels like it must be a choice. But it’s the kind of choice that feels as if it’s talking down to its readers: hey, these are just kids and kids are the target audience, why bother making them look like anything other than bobble head cartoons? I don’t know. I’m not a fan.
Our Fearless Leader: Jake is one of the few characters that I think is drawn with a distinct face. His chin is a bit more pointed than the rest, and that difference stood out more and more as I became increasingly frustrated by the other characters. As for the story, there was a nice section in the middle devoted to a conversation between Rachel and Jake about their experiences (nightmares) after morphing frantic-minded prey animals. I like that this much page time was devoted to what can be seen as a pretty small character moment. There’s also an interesting line where Rachel gets a bit defensive saying that Jake is talking down to her because she’s his younger cousin. I can’t remember whether or not we knew that she was the younger of the two from the books? If so, I had forgotten and found it to be an interesting little tidbit here that she’s only a few weeks younger than Jake.
Xena, Warrior Princess: This book is pretty faithful to the original, so there isn’t a lot of new stuff to discuss with regards to Rachel’s experiences in the story. I will say, I really liked seeing Rachel’s mom and sister portrayed on the page. These were nice little moments to get to see one version of what these characters could look like. We get a lot of descriptions of what the main characters looked like in the original text, but we really have basically nothing to go on for any/all side characters. It was also nice to see these moments between Rachel and her mom and Rachel and Jordon to highlight the difference between her own warm, caring family and the cold, prison-like existence that Melissa is suffering through. I really like these sorts of subtle contrasts that the graphic novel can deploy. The book doesn’t come right out and say it, but it’s there all the same.
One thing I didn’t really like was the way the scene was drawn when Rachel is running away from the thugs to morph an elephant in the alley. Granted, again, it’s now been a few years from when I read this book for the original re-read series, but I guess I had it in my mind that Rachel was more annoyed from the very start and never frightened. Whereas here she’s drawn as being legitimately afraid at first, which I think is totally out of character. Rachel wants to take the fight to Visser Three himself, no way is she going to be wincing away from two jerks on the street.
A Hawk’s Life: Not a lot from Tobias. I did like all of the bird action in the very first scene and the way that was all drawn out. Rachel’s outrage about the guys shooting at a bald eagle “a national symbol!!!” is excellent. There were also some lovely images later on of Tobias flying, especially one when he flies away with shrew!Rachel to help give her time to get control of her morph. The way the sky and the silhouettes were drawn was striking.
Peace, Love, and Animals: Given how horrifying the images of the morphing is, I was glad we got to see a panel of Cassie with her raptor wings and Marco’s comment that they all look like freak show contestants while Cassie gets to look like an angel. It was a really nice juxtaposition and a moment that really worked well with the graphic elements. Other than that, Cassie has a pretty subdued go of it. We get some good animal facts from her about the prey mindset and the abilities of cats (there’s a good joke from Marco when Cassie comments that a cat’s eyesight is 8 times better than a humans), but that’s about it.
The Comic Relief: Marco is pretty much the same here as he is in the book. We get more groundwork laid about his home life and why he’s reluctant to fight. His dialogue is by far the funniest and best, per the book’s standard as well. There was one throwaway bit that I thought was odd, however. At one point, a character, I think it was Cassie, compliments Marco on his haircut. From the books, we know this does happen and is commented on but it doesn’t happen until Marco’s second go around as a narrator, all the way through to book number 10. But then the really strange thing is that Marco was depicted with short hair in the first graphic novel, too. Which, honestly, given my comments already about the cartoon style proving challenging to differentiate between male or female characters, I can see the choice to not have him with long hair from the very start. But looking back at the art from the first book, it’s clear that the styling for his hair is slightly different, but if anything, it’s drawn as longer and more shaggy here in the second book, not cut shorter at all. It’s very strange. I don’t think this small of a change really warranted any dialogue at all, but then to write it in as a notable haircut rather than a style change, which is the most that can be said, is strangely incongruent.
E.T./Ax Phone Home: No Ax yet, but boy am I excited to get to him!
Best (?) Body Horror Moment: Beyond what I said above about the disgustingly graphic images of morphing, there was a full page spread devoted to Rachel’s nightmare about being a shrew. Again, this is where the artist’s talents are really on display. I’ve only included half of the spread, but the other side is also covered in maggots swarming in and over an animal skull. I mean, the depiction of the nightmare is going to cause nightmares itself.
Couples Watch!: Sadly, I feel like we got even less from Tobias and Rachel here than we do in the books. We do get the line from Tobias that he doesn’t want anything to happen to her, so there are hints here and there, but for whatever reason, this relationship in particular just felt off. This probably is just due to the nature of the graphic novel format. Since the story relies only on dialogue and images, it’s pretty hard to depict true feelings between a girl and a hawk!boy when you can’t draw them interacting. On the other hand, to highlight this point, we do get this sweet panel coming fairly early in the book for Cassie and Jake:
If Only Visser Three had Mustache to Twirl: Again, since the horror aspects of the art are what work so well, the depictions of Visser Three and the terror he inspires are truly great. Even his Andalite form, which shouldn’t be terrifying in and of itself, is depicted in such a way as to be clearly intimidating. And then the panels showing him morphing the Vanarx and sucking out the Yeerk from a Controller are incredibly creepy and effective. I mean, Visser Three is essentially a cannibal at this point, and that is made pretty clear. And of course, the final battle with Visser Three morphing yet another big bad and chasing after the Animorphs is very well done. More on that below.
Adult Ugly Crying at a Middle Grade Book: Man, the Melissa stuff isn’t any easier when drawn out on the page rather than just described in a book. Plus, now I’m reading these books as a parent myself and boy, rough stuff. Especially the part where she follows Chapman out when he’s carrying cat!Rachel away in the crate. “Oh, I didn’t see you there.” “But daddy…I was crying.” Oooof! Not to sound like a broken record or anything, but again, AGAIN, I think the cartoon style let some of these heart-breaking moments down a bit. The reason this scene hits hard, and the same with the one where Melissa is crying in her bed, is because the writing and dialogue are so strong. The way the characters are drawn, there’s just so little that can be done to express these deep emotions, so it all falls to the writing. I’m having a hard time picturing some of the truly devastating moments that are coming up landing the way they should as shown on the faces of characters with red bubble noses.
What a Terrible Plan, Guys!: I’d say the terrible plan is still the obvious one: where Rachel decides to morph a shrew to lure a tomcat out of a tree. Like Cassie points out, while cats often play with their food, sometimes they just go straight for the kill, too, and there’s really no way of predicting it one way or another. But also, specific to this version of the story, I’ll say that the use of the machinery in the construction site didn’t quite translate here. I can’t remember exactly how it was described in the books, but I felt like there I had a better sense of just how these machines were disrupting Visser Three’s plans. Here, we only see a few small shots of a solitary bulldozer, and it kind of fails to land as to why this would pose any sort of threat or disruption to what the Yeerks are doing.
Favorite Page/Panel:
I really liked all of the pages that made up the final conflict between the Animorphs and Visser Three in his alien morph. But this one stood out for the sheer joy of the absurdity of it all. I mean, take that picture out of context. Just look at it. The crazy rock monster. The speech bubbles of the cat growling and alien roaring. The cat’s crazy Superman jump featured prominently in the top right corner. It’s all so whacky and fun, and I think it’s a perfect visual representation of the sheer joy that these books are to read, especially to younger audiences. In no other series of books are you going to get anything remotely like what Animophs has to offer.
Final Thoughts: Overall, I’m still continuing to enjoy reading these graphic novels. I won’t repeat myself about the art, but like I said, too, for all my complaining about that, I’d rather have the graphic novels as they are now than nothing at all. I do hope they continue to make them, but I think there’s room to combine some things going forward. These first six or so books are important enough to have their own adaptations independently, but I think this book specifically also highlights how some future stories could be combined or skipped. Mostly, I just want some adaptation, ANY ADAPTATION, to get to the David trilogy.
Note: I’m not going to rate these books since I can’t be objective at all!
Book Description: A house with a terrifying appetite haunts a broken family in this atmospheric horror, perfect for fans of Mexican Gothic.
When Jade Nguyen arrives in Vietnam for a visit with her estranged father, she has one goal: survive five weeks pretending to be a happy family in the French colonial house Ba is restoring. She’s always lied to fit in, so if she’s straight enough, Vietnamese enough, American enough, she can get out with the college money he promised.
But the house has other plans. Night after night, Jade wakes up paralyzed. The walls exude a thrumming sound, while bugs leave their legs and feelers in places they don’t belong. She finds curious traces of her ancestors in the gardens they once tended. And at night Jade can’t ignore the ghost of the beautiful bride who leaves her cryptic warnings: Don’t eat.
Neither Ba nor her sweet sister Lily believe that there is anything strange happening. With help from a delinquent girl, Jade will prove this house—the home her family has always wanted—will not rest until it destroys them. Maybe, this time, she can keep her family together. As she roots out the house’s rot, she must also face the truth of who she is and who she must become to save them all.
Review: Thank you to Bloomsbury YA for sending me a finished copy of this novel!
Gothic horror is a sub genre that I really enjoy, and a lot of the time the haunted house tale can fall into that definition. But I think that a lot of people fall into the trap of expecting a Gothic haunted house tale to be very Western in style and theme, probably thanks to images of tormented white women lost in the moors as they are haunted by ghosts, ennui, and possibly mental instability. Because of that I’m always eager to read non-Western takes on Gothic haunted house stories, and “She Is a Haunting” by Trang Thanh Tran really caught my eye when a promo of it ended up in my inbox. Given that my knowledge of Vietnamese history is pretty limited, the idea of a haunted French Colonial home in Vietnam REALLY clinched it for me. I was really excited to read this book, and it didn’t disappoint.
The horror elements are on point basically right out the gate. As Lily settles in at the isolated, French Colonial house her Ba has taken on for refurbishing in Đà Lạt, Vietnam, it’s almost immediately off. Lily already doesn’t want to be there, as she harbors a resentment for her father for leaving her family in the States when he returned to Vietnam, as well as his coldness to her when he discovered that she is attracted to girls. So she is already in a suffocating mindset, but then Nhà Hoa, or Flower House, is hot and humid, seems to be infested with dying bugs, and just feels unsettled. Tran gets the unease off on the right foot, and as Jade starts experiencing sleep paralysis and having visions of a ghostly woman inside the house, the tension builds and the horror imagery pops. There were a number of moments and bits in this book that just made me shiver, or even gag a little bit because of the nasty descriptions involving bugs, or food, or a little of both. Jade as a character is a little caustic at times, but she’s well explored enough that I worried about her as things get more and more spooky and disgusting during her investigation of the house and its history.
But it’s the themes of colonialism, racism, and generational trauma that really made this one stand out for me. These kinds of themes make metaphors ripe for the picking, and Tran really emphasizes the terrible ways that French colonialism disrupted and destroyed the lives of Vietnamese people. Nhà Hoa has a dark history that is being romanticized to make for a charming historical bed and breakfast, propping up the French style and story of the family that lived there, but left behind is the story of Jade’s Ba’s family, that worked in the house under terrible conditions, and the mysterious ghost bride whose connection to the house is lost to history. The French family that build the home is remembered fondly, so much so that the investors that Ba has on board for the B and B fawn over the history of the couple that lived there, while the couple was using and discarding the Ba’s ancestors, and because of the exploitation that reverberated through the generations he now feels like he has to keep up a connection to this house and to prop up this history, much to Jade’s horror as she finds the dark history and abuses that occurred in the house. It may not be super unique for a horror story about colonialism to have metaphors regarding an unrelenting haunting and a house that seems to have a constant hunger and need to consume, but Tran’s talent is that they can bring these metaphors to life with the aforementioned well executed horror moments, making the supernatural and real life horrors leap off the page in the most disturbing ways. It’s really well done.
“She Is a Haunting” is scary, uncompromising, and deeply unsettling. Fans of haunted house tales, take note. This is one you are going to want to check out.
Rating 8: Disturbing horror and a searing critique of colonialism, “She Is a Haunting” is scary and unrelenting.
While we do love us some books, believe it not, we do have a life outside of reading. So to highlight our other pop culture interests, on the last Monday of each month, we each will highlight three other “happenings” from the last month. Big events on favorite TV shows, new movies we’ve watched, old movies we’ve “discovered,” etc. Pretty much whatever we found of particular interest outside of the book world during the last month. Share your own favorite things in the comments!
Honestly, I wouldn’t have watched this if my husband hadn’t made me. I took one look at the preview on Netflix and knew that tears would be involved. On the other hand, Ben Foster is a massively talented actor and I don’t know if I’ve ever disliked a movie he was in. Well, indeed, this was a fairly sad movie, but not without hope. It follows the story of a war veteran with PTSD who is homeless and living in a park with his daughter. When they are discovered and brought in by social services, the two struggle to adapt to life in the real world. This movie tackles a lot of very complicated issues and why there are no easy answers to homelessness, support for veterans with PTSD, and what constitutes good care for a child. For all of the more grim aspects, the bound between father and daughter is so clearly at the center of the movie, that it’s impossible not to feel drawn in to their challenging situation.
Needing something lighthearted here in the doldrums of winter, I turned to one of my favorite shows, “The Office,” for probably the millionth re-watch of my life. But this time I’ve went even further! About two seasons in to my re-watch, I suddenly remembered someone mentioning at Angela Kinsey and Jenna Fischer (Angela and Pam) had started up a re-watch podcast a bit ago. So now not only am I re-watching the show, but I’m listing to lengthy podcasts episodes about each episode of said show. It may be an unhealthy obsession, but it’s all so homely and nice.
Netflix Show: “Murderville”
I don’t know why we turned this one on when we did. Perhaps just lingering nostalgia for the heyday of “Arrested Developments” early seasons. But either way, we did and we had no idea what we were getting into. Essentially, Will Arnett plays a detective who must solve a mystery with some guest star. The catch is that the guest star is given no scrip. So what follows is a ridiculous series of events where Arnett is making the guest star (football players, comedians, actors, etc.) do increasingly embarrassing and ridiculous things and then at the end, the guest has to announce who committed the murder. There were definitely stronger episodes than others (it lived or died on the abilities of the guests), but there were several times where I was laughing so hard I couldn’t catch my breath. Definitely been quite a while since I’ve had that happen! If you like kind wacky improv comedy, this is probably worth checking out!
I technically watched this back in January, just binged it over the course of a day. But I made my husband watch it with me this month, as we are going to the destination wedding of a childhood friend at an all inclusive resort in Mexico in March, and I know I will be making all the references and he needs to know what I’m talking about. I didn’t really like Season 1, but for whatever reason Season 2 really worked for me. It follows a week at the Sicily location of The White Lotus Resort, as sex, manipulations, scheming, and death befall a number of guests on their vacations. The cast is stuffed with a lot of people that I like, like F. Murray Abraham, Aubrey Plaza, and of COURSE Jennifer freaking Coolidge, and the dark humor and slow building suspense of something being wrong is a great combination. Watching it a second time knowing what is going on was VERY fun. And again, Jennifer FREAKING Coolidge. She’s just so funny. And godDAMN, that theme song is SO CATCHY.
Somehow I got through my childhood and early adult life without ever seeing “Willow”, the 1980s fantasy film about a burgeoning sorcerer who is trying to protect a baby girl who is prophesied to be the downfall of an evil queen. When I told two of my good friends that I hadn’t seen it, it became top of the list for the next movie night. And I really, really loved it. As mentioned, Willow is a young man living with his family in a quiet community, hoping to become a sorcerer some day. One day a baby girl floats in a basket to their town, and it soon becomes clear that this baby is being pursued by evil forces who want to take her. Willow goes on a journey to get the baby, Elora Danan, to safety, and meets up with others who end up joining the quest. Warwick Davis is so sweet and noble as Willow, and I LOVED seeing a very young Val Kilmer as caddish mercenary Madmartigan. Next on the list for me is watching the follow up series on Disney+!
So this has a bit of a connection to “The White Lotus”, as one of the characters (oh I wish I had the same unbotheredness of Daphne!) made mention that she watched ‘a lot of “Dateline”.’ To which I said to myself ‘I should check out the “Dateline” podcast! And I’ve been enjoying it, as it is pretty much audio versions of various “Dateline” shows, which means that they are generally stand alone and have some audio clips outside of the narrator. The true crime podcasts I gravitate to mostly have a bit of a dark humor bent to them, but this one is definitely serious in nature. Though that said, that isn’t to say that it’s devoid of over the top and somewhat dramatic moments. Specifically when Keith Morrison is behind the voice. That said, it’s Dateline, so you know that the research is going to be pretty good. It’s just a nice change from the other podcasts I listen to, and it covers many cases that I’ve never even heard of, or in the moment cases. It’s just a nice one to add to my listening rotation when doing chores, school pick up and drop off, and errands.
“Year of Sanderson” is an on-going, monthly series that will post on the last Friday of each month in which I will cover various Brandon Sanderson-related things. This will largely be comprised of book reviews (some from his back catalog and some from the books being released this year), as well asassorted other topics like reviews of the items in the swag boxes that will be coming out as part of Sanderson’s Kickstarted campaign. Frankly, we’ll just have to see what we get from this series, very much like the Kickstarter itself!
Book Description: Elantris was the capital of Arelon: gigantic, beautiful, literally radiant, filled with benevolent beings who used their powerful magical abilities for the benefit of all. Yet each of these demigods was once an ordinary person until touched by the mysterious transforming power of the Shaod. Ten years ago, without warning, the magic failed. Elantrians became wizened, leper-like, powerless creatures, and Elantris itself dark, filthy, and crumbling.
Arelon’s new capital, Kae, crouches in the shadow of Elantris. Princess Sarene of Teod arrives for a marriage of state with Crown Prince Raoden, hoping—based on their correspondence—to also find love. She finds instead that Raoden has died and she is considered his widow. Both Teod and Arelon are under threat as the last remaining holdouts against the imperial ambitions of the ruthless religious fanatics of Fjordell. So Sarene decides to use her new status to counter the machinations of Hrathen, a Fjordell high priest who has come to Kae to convert Arelon and claim it for his emperor and his god.
But neither Sarene nor Hrathen suspect the truth about Prince Raoden. Stricken by the same curse that ruined Elantris, Raoden was secretly exiled by his father to the dark city. His struggle to help the wretches trapped there begins a series of events that will bring hope to Arelon, and perhaps reveal the secret of Elantris itself.
Review: It is only fitting to start out this year’s series on Brandon Sanderson by reviewing his first book, “Elantris.” Like many people, “Elantris” wasn’t the first book I read by Sanderson. Instead, I got on the Sanderson train after reading his “Mistorborn” trilogy as it was released. Then I finished it and, feeling suddenly bereft, I checked out his writing history and low and behold, there was this little stand-alone novel that had been quietly waiting in the background. After reading it, I knew that Sanderson was going to be a “go-to” author for me going forward: not only did I like it as much as the “Mistborn” trilogy, I might have even liked it more!
Elantris was once the golden light of Arelon, not only a beautiful city in and of itself, but populated by the Elantrians, a powerful group of magical individuals who grace those around them with the benefits of their abilities. But then disaster strikes: the city, and its people, crumbles and in the city’s ruined shadow clings the remnants of this once great people. Into this outskirts city, Princess Sarene arrives to marry a prince, only to find he has died, and she has been left a widow. But as she tries to navigate her new existence, she never suspects the truth: the prince is not dead, but banished having become cursed with the same cruel plague that struck down the Elantrians.
While this wasn’t my first experience with Sanderson, I do think that had I read this one first, I would have been even more on-board with his writing than I was after reading the “Mistborn” trilogy. There, Sanderson had three entire books to lay out a complex world, construct multi-layered characters, and depict all the intricate ins and outs of a very complicated magic system. But in “Elantris,” he shows all of these same skills but contained within one novel. Yes, it’s a very long novel, but it’s still one book as compared to three.
As compared to some of his later works, this one has been dinged by other reviewers for lacking the polish of his more recent books. However, in re-reading it for this series, and looking at it purely on its own merits, I don’t think there’s much I can say to that. To me, this book is a pretty perfect example of a solid, stand-alone epic fantasy. It checks off so many boxes without stumbling in any of the three major areas: world-building, characterization, and magic system. Instead, all three come through with flying colors.
In this book, the world-building and the magic system are very closely intertwined. Much of the story surrounds the mystery behind the sudden downfall of the Elantrians and the remaining curse that still randomly strikes individuals in the present day. The curse itself is quite unique, and we explore the lives of those living with it through the eyes of the Crown Prince, Raoden. We learn alongside him of the strange society that now exists within the crumbling city of Elantris where those who are cursed cannot die, but any injury they sustain will never heal, leaving them fragile and susceptible to a never-ending pain that will, eventually, drive them mad.
Outside Elantris’s walls, readers can begin to piece together more of this world-gone-wrong through the eyes of Sarene, a princess who has just arrived in this land only to find her one source of contact, the prince she had been writing, has “died” and she is now widowed and alone. Sarene is exactly the sort of heroic female character I love reading. She’s set up into a situation that is as disempowering as it can get, but she rises against these limitations and plays an integral role in the ultimate solution.
Readers who picked up this book when it was first released probably didn’t realize that they were getting a sneak peak into a toolkit that Sanderson would go on to perfect over the years. Other than his unworldly writing speed, the author is probably best known for his creative magic systems. And here we get a small peak into the beginnings of his abilities in this regard. Not only is the curse that struck the Elantrians incredibly interesting and unique, but the ultimate explanation and solution are as surprising as they are creative. It’s fantasy at its best: fun, exciting, and pushing the boundaries of our expectations.
Overall, “Elantris” is a magnificent novel. And regardless of how others may compare it to Sanderson’s incredible catalog of works, I believe it stands on its own as a near-perfect epic fantasy.
Rating 10: If an alien species came to earth and wanted an example of what “epic fantasy” is all about, “Elantris” would be the go-to pick.
The Library Ladies 