Category: fantasy

fantasy · General · reading

Reading: Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse

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I have got Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse.

I have barely gotten started but this is a book that grabs hold and doesn’t let go.

The publisher page for this book has this poem:

A god will return
When the earth and sky converge
Under the black sun

This quote – prophecy? – explains the title. I am getting used to it. The excerpt is on the publisher site, too.

The first line is fantastic. It is one of the best of the first lines I have read in a long, long time. Well, no, it is a few lines down because there is another quote to begin Chapter 1.

Today he would become a god. His mother had told him so.

The first chapter is kind of gruesome. Actually, very gruesome. But it sets a stage and makes you want to read and read and read until you are done. Which I have not been able to do until now!

I am already about a quarter done and am enjoying myself immensely. I believe all major characters/settings have been introduced!

It does seem to be inspired by various pre-Columbian American cultures, which is interesting. I love the world so far, the magic, the different kind of magics and people that are here.

There is singing magic and the boy whose mother told he would become a god – yeah, he has some interesting magic too. There are priests and deadly politics.

There are also odd pronouns – I don’t quite have the hang of them yet. Still getting used to that part and it jars me every time I read it because I don’t really understand what the different pronouns mean. I need more explanation for this part. But it will come in time, I am sure.

fantasy · reading

Breaking of a mouse’s heart

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I’ve started reading The Light Fantastic and this is my second Terry Pratchett book.

There was the faintest of pure sounds, high and sharp, like the breaking of a mouse’s heart.

The Light Fantastic by Terry Pratchett

This quote is utterly fantastic. I cannot quite picture what this sound is like – the death cries of a mouse? But it’s sticking in my head.

And I’m only in the beginning of this book. And the beginning of Terry Pratchett novels.

fantasy · reading

Pandemic in Priory of the Orange Tree

Sonia Lal1 Comment

I’ve been reading The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon. It’s a long book, almost a thousand pages, and a bit slow at times.

It has many things I like – dragons, magic, myth, great characters. It has what feels like centuries of history.

But the thing that stands out in my mind right now is that this world remembers a past pandemic. In one city, outsiders or those harboring them can be killed or imprisoned. Because maybe they carry the disease.

Even privateers were not willing to land there; they rowed their charges only close enough that they could wade in, because of the risk of getting the disease.

There is a lot to focus on because there is a lot going on in this story. But the thing that has caught my attention is this ancient pandemic. In the story so far, it feels like it was over a long time ago. I could be wrong, but I am still pretty early in the story.

It is just – centuries later, people still react to some people as though are carrying the disease. It must have been quite terrible while it was happening.

It makes me wonder how this current coronavirus will affect the future. It is quite terrible now and things only promise to get worse in the coming weeks.

Well, we have to survive it first, and I am sure this country will survive it. How much damage will be sustained – that is the question. The very question. A lot of damage – economic, health – and I wish I knew how it would change the world.

It is a bit anxiety-inducing, to not know really how much damage the novel coronavirus will leave behind.

 

fantasy · General · reading

Rereading The Cloud Roads

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I was rereading the Raksura book two days ago: The Cloud Roads.cloudrods

It is even more amazing then I remembered.

I missed things the first time I read it and didn’t remember other things. But it held up very well to a rereading, especially after such a long time.

The things I loved the first time – the world-building, the characters, the description, the action – were just as amazing as the first time. Really.

This time I lingered over a quiet scene when it was the two of them, Moon and his queen. Moon has just killed a Fell and learned something that hit him very hard. More, his queen overhead and he really didn’t want her to. Their interaction afterward really is quite touching.

I think I didn’t spend so much time on it before, because I was entranced by the world.

I still am. But I read this first book a long time, and that leaves space to focus on other aspects of the story. And there is plenty to focus on. It is a lot more then the world building – and the world-building is amazing.

fantasy · General · reading

Last Raksura book

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In a post on John Scalzi’s blog, Martha Wells announced that The Harbors of the Sun will be the last book the Raksura series.

I can’t begin to express how much that disappoints me. I love the Raksura books. They are original, so creative and so mind-blowingly fantastic. I love the descriptions, the story.

I want to be there half the time, be the main character. One of the characters, anyway.

And now there won’t be anymore.

the-cloud-roads-martha-wells-cover-sketches

fantasy · reading · science fiction

List of Favorite Fathers

Sonia Lal2 Comments

Today is Father’s Day. Which got me thinking about the fathers in the books I read.

If I had to pick three fathers from the books I have read, what would I pick?

After some thought I came up with these:

  1. Aral Vorkosigan from the Miles Vor series by Lois McMaster Bujold. He has his own book and is the father to one of most amazing characters I’ve read. Fathering Miles has to be a difficult task – he was born disabled and is wilful and is hardly ever as careful as he should be.
  2. Saetan Daemon SaDiablo. He is the father of three main characters in the Black Jewels series by Anne Bishop – one my favorite series ever.
  3. Moon from the Raksura books by Martha Wells. This is one of the most creative series I’ve ever read and well-written, too. The guy had a few kids when the last book starts and they had been trying for the last couple of books. So that was nice. I would have liked to see more interactions with the kids – but I don’t suppose babies and adventures go together very well.

 

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fantasy · reading

Teaser Tuesday: Dancer’s Lament

Sonia Lal16 Comments

Teaser Tuesday is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Books And A Beat.

 

Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers! 

They began their dance. Each spun like a top, gathering speed. The blades began to flex, arcing round the women like whips indeed. Even as they spun, the dancers curled round each other, seeking openings. Now and then, utterly without hint or warning, their blades lashed out, snapping and whistling.

– Dancer’s Lament by Ian C. Esslemont

 

Really enjoying this so far!!!

fantasy · General · reading · science fiction

Best Reads of 2015

Sonia Lal3 Comments

My favorite (new) reads of 2015 are as follows, in no particular order. I didn’t read that much this year – I didn’t have time. But it was still hard to whittle it down to a manageable least. I read a lot of AMAZING books this year. I usually pick just five, but it is so hard. I read a total of 49 books this year.

Two are non-fiction, which is higher than usual, as I don’t read a lot of non-fiction. And one is a classic. So the following is the top ten list:

  1. Ancillary Sword by Ann Leckie
  2. Fairs’ Point by  Melissa Scott
  3. Undercity by Catherine Asaro
  4. The Emperor’s Blades by Brian Staveley
  5. Stories of the Raksura, Vol 2, by Martha Wells
  6. Uprooted by Naomi Novik
  7. Consider the Fork: A History of How We Cook and Eat, by Bee Wilson
  8. Through the Language Glass: Why the World Looks Different in Other Languages by Guy Deutscher
  9. The Color Purple by  Alice Walker
  10. Skyborn by David Dalgish

I have whittled it down to top 5. Like so:

1) Skyborn by David Dalgish    

Skyborn was pretty amazing. People fly and have powers and living on floating islands. There are rules for making war and the description of training of a soldier is very good. Almost the whole story, in fact. Floating all around all the personal angst/difficulty of that are hints of an explosive political situation. I loved it.

2) The Emperor’s Blades by Brian Staveley 

I thought this book was going to a typical grimdark and violent and bloody, with lots of people dying and betrayal. And it is all that. I am not a fan of grimdark, but this one is really good.

3) Ancillary Sword by Ann Leckie

I was of two minds of putting this in the top 5. It didn’t blow me away like the first one, but it was still good. If I wasn’t comparing it to the first, it wouldn’t have come up wanting and I wouldn’t have thought twice about putting it here. So here it is.

4) Stories of the Raksura, Vol 2, by Martha Wells

Vol 2 wasn’t as good as Vol 1, but still great and still worth many rereads. It is a collection of stories and it explores the world in more depth.

5) Uprooted by Naomi Novik

This was amazing. It is a like a gritty fairy tale and I would love to see a movie made out of this. I think Disney would do good with this one.

 

Best books of 2014: https://storytreasury.wordpress.com/2014/12/29/best-books-of-2014/

Best books of 2013: https://storytreasury.wordpress.com/2013/12/28/best-reads-of-2013/

Best books of 2012: https://storytreasury.wordpress.com/2012/12/26/best-reads-of-2012/

fantasy · reading

Coffin Not Broken When Zombie Rises

Sonia LalLeave a comment

I was reading an Anita Blake book. She’s raised a zombie, put it back and now they are digging up the grave, to see if there are problems with the zombie.

So the characters dug and talked. If this was a modern grave, they would have to open the coffin. Even if something had gone wrong with putting the zombie back, they were perfectly safe because it would be in the coffin. Modern coffins are steel.

I am thinking: The zombie would have broken the coffin, steel or not, to get out in the first place. When you put it back, the coffin would still be broken.

It is so weird. So very, very weird.

fantasy · reading · Teaser Tuesdays

Teaser Tuesday: Ink and Bone

Sonia LalQuote28 Comments

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of A Daily Rhythm. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

I just started Ink and Bone and so far it sounds pretty good!

His divine wisdom can kiss my common arse. We blind and hobble half of the world through such ignorance, and I will not have it. Women shall study at the Serapeum as they might be inclined. Let him execute me if he wishes, but I have seen enough of minds wasted in this world. I have a daughter.

My daughter will learn.

– Ink and Bone by Rachel Caine

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