Review: Hard Spell

Stan Markowski is a Detective Sergeant on the Scranton PD's Supernatural Crimes Investigation Unit. Like the rest of America, Scranton's got an uneasy 'live and let unlive' relationship with the supernatural. But when a vamp puts the bite on an unwilling victim, or some witch casts the wrong kind of spell, that's when they call Markowski. He carries a badge. Also, a crucifix, some wooden stakes, a big vial of holy water, and a 9mm Beretta loaded with silver bullets. 

The story here was interesting, but I just never really got into it.  I didn't care much who the murderer was, or when one of the characters was in danger.  The writing didn't draw me in that way.  I think this is definitely a story that would appeal to men.  If you've ever wondered what's the difference between urban fantasy and paranormal romance, you can look to this book as a fine example of urban fantasy.  There is really no romance whatsoever.  Some books straddle both genres to where you can't tell which is which, but this one is very clear on what it is.

It almost has that style of the old TV detective shows, especially at the beginning of the book, where I wasn't really sure I'd be able to handle that style all the way through. But it's definitely readable, and I think fans of urban fantasy in particular will enjoy this. I give it a C, and may continue if this is a series.

Review: Camera Obscura

CAN’T FIND A RATIONAL EXPLANATION TO A MYSTERY? CALL IN THE QUIET COUNCIL!

The mysterious and glamorous Milady De Winter is one of their most valuable agents. A despicable murder inside a locked and bolted room on the Rue Morgue in Paris is just the start. This whirlwind adventure will take Milady to the highest and lowest parts of that great city, and beyond – and cause her to question the very nature of reality itself.

I keep trying to read steampunk, and I keep finding that it's really not for me. There's something about it that just doesn't click or connect with me, and I have a hard time following the story or even caring. Unfortunately, Camera Obscura didn't change my mind about the genre.

That being said, I found the story quite interesting. Usually steampunk confuses me because I can't picture what the author is talking about and it's all weird, but Lavie Tidhar is very descriptive in his writing, and that really helped. But only for the first half or so of the book. After that I started getting more and more confused about what was going on. Even with a bit less than 100 pages left, if you were to ask me what the book was about I'd be hard pressed to tell you.

Milady was a great strong female character, but while the author was quite descriptive about some things, I felt he was very vague with others. We would get little hints about things here and there, but for the most part the reader is left to speculate about a lot with the characters in the book.

I'm not sure if, when writing steampunk, worldbuilding would be easier or harder. There didn't seem to be any rules about the way the world worked here, and the author could do and include pretty much whatever he wanted. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, because then you get lots of cool and different things, but it can also make things harder to follow when the rules of the world aren't clear.

I would compare my reading of this book to those times when you're half asleep and you can hear a conversation happening, but it's hard to follow, because you only get bits and pieces. There were times when the narrative even interrupted itself. For example:

They used to make garments there--one of the first places to use the Daguerre looms, machines that automated production . . . it had been a natural step for the factory to--
The elevator doors opened. They all filed out. Another white clean corridor. They walked down it and came to a door. The door opened into an antechamber.

This kind of thing was all throughout the book, which made for a writing style that felt like I was hearing a story from someone with attention problems. But for all that, there were some really neat concepts here, and I was drawn to keep reading because I wanted to find out what happened, so it definitely wasn't all bad. I think fans of steampunk may really enjoy this one.

Book Details

Title: Camera Obscura (Angry Robot)

Author: Lavie Tidhar

Genre: Steampunk

Page Count: 416

Publishing Info: Angry Robot, April 2011

Why I Read It: ARC from the publisher

Grade: C

Cover Thoughts: I've always said the cover on a steampunk is usually my favorite thing about the book, and this time is no different. This is a beautiful cover that actually goes along with the story.

Review: Triumff: Her Majesty's Hero

Book Details

Title: Triumff: Her Majesty's Hero (Angry Robot) 
Author: Dan Abnett
Genre: Fantasy
Page Count: 416 
Publishing Info: Angry Robot, September, 2010

My Review
Why I read it: received review copy
The Plot: I really have no idea how to describe the plot to this one, and since I like the synopsis on the publishers website, I'll just post that here: 
Triumff: Her Majesty’s Hero is a ribald historical fantasy set in a warped clockwork-powered version of our present day … a new Elizabethan age, not of Elizabeth II but in the style of the original Virgin Queen. Throughout its rollicking pages, Sir Rupert Triumff drinks, dines and duels his way into a new Brass Age of Exploration and Adventure.  Find more about the book HERE.
The Characters: You know, the characters are so secondary to the plot that they're almost not worth mentioning.  There's quite a variety of characters, but the reader has no idea what motivates them, what they're thinking or anything.  It's all very surface stuff with the characters.
The Setting: This is England in 2010, but it doesn't feel anything like the one we know.  Because of Magick, there is really no technology, at least not where the story takes place.  Again, the plot drives the story, so while there are some (long) passages of place descriptions, like two pages describing a lodge, the world building overall is fairly minimal. 
A sample of the writing:
Some fourteen miles west of the Palace, the timbered Royal Lodge in Windsor Great Park shook with the sound of tramping boots and yapping bow-hounds, those robust, lugubrious, liver-spotted retrievers from Abyssinia, noted for their reliability as hunting dogs, their extensive dewlaps, and their copious spittle.  "Drooling like a fine bow" is a common expression across the Unity.  Almost every physical aspect of a bow-hound seems to loll.
Who Should Read This? I have only read one book by Terry Pratchett, but from what I've seen around, fans of Pratchett should really like Triumff.  If you're into humorous fantasy, this might be for you. 
Final Thoughts: There were parts of this book that made me laugh, a few bits of action that I really enjoyed, but for the most part the style is just not for me.  It felt like the story got sidetracked at least once every page, so that we were given the history of every character, every place, some of the props--in great detail.  I think there's definitely an audience for this kind of story, but I generally wouldn't count myself among them.
Grade: C
Cover Thoughts: I love the cover.  It's quite possibly my favorite thing about the book.  I love that we have Triumff on the front, looking like the swashbuckling hero that he is, and we even have a swordfight.  It fits the story very well.

Walking the Tree

Title: Walking the Tree
Author: Kaaron Warren
Genre: Fantasy
Page Count: 528
Why I read it: e-book from publisher for review
Grade: B
US Publication Date: Jan. 2011 (already out in UK/Australia)

Synopsis:
Botanica is an island, but almost all of the island is taken up by the Tree.

Little knowing how they came to be here, small communities live around the coast line. The Tree provides them shelter, kindling, medicine – and a place of legends, for there are ghosts within the trees who snatch children and the dying.

Lillah has come of age and is now ready to leave her community and walk the tree for five years, learning all Botanica has to teach her. Before setting off, Lillah is asked by the dying mother of a young boy to take him with her. In a country where a plague killed half the population, Morace will otherwise be killed in case he has the same disease. But can Lillah keep the boy’s secret, or will she have to resort to breaking the oldest taboo on Botanica?

My review:
Let me start off by saying the synopsis above is from the publishers website, but I'm not sure it really gives the entire picture of what the book is about, but since I'm too tired to write my own, that's going to have to do. When I first started reading this, I got pretty excited. The writing was spectacular, and I couldn't wait for Lillah to start exploring the other communities around the island. I thought it would be so interesting to read about the different traditions and habits in each community, and to a point it was, but not in the way that I wanted it to be.

It felt at times like the story skipped around a bit, almost to the point where I went back to see if I had skipped a page or something. It was a pretty fast moving, quick read, especially for it's size. By the time I finished, I wasn't quite as excited about the book as when I began, but I still liked it a lot. It was very imaginative and original, and I think it's only fault is that at some point in the story, things began to get a little tedious, and I found myself waiting for something to happen.

I really liked Lillah, but besides her and Morace, I had a hard time keeping any of the characters straight. I found most of the time when reading a name, I would assume the person was of a certain sex, only to find out I was wrong just about every time. The other characters came and went so often that I stopped trying to keep track of who was who and where they were from.

So, while this book did have some minor flaws, I would highly recommend it, and will be looking for more by this author. If you're looking for something completely different, with highly imaginative world-building, this book is for you. For more information, including a sample chapter, visit the publishers website here.