The Bone Witch - Rin Chupeco

   2017; 412 pages.  Book 1 (out of 3) in the “Bone Witch” series.  New Author? : Yes.  Genres : Paranormal Fantasy; Teen & Young Adult, Coming-of-Age.   Overall Rating: 8/10.

 

    It was undoubtedly the saddest day so far in Tea’s brief life.  She and her family had to watch as the casket containing her older brother, Fox, was solemnly lowered into the ground.  He died while serving in the kingdom’s army.  “By creatures unknown” the general said.  Most likely he was attacked by one of those ferocious daeva beasts.

 

    It isn’t fair, Tea thought, he isn’t really dead.  She broke away from the group of mourners and ran toward the grave.  Suddenly a fiery symbol appeared in the air in front of her, and she felt the compulsion to trace it with her finger, again and again.

 

    Then the ground trembled, splintering was heard, and a cold, gray hand pushed up from the grave into the air.  Tea can summon up the dead, which means her magic is that of a bone witch, a perilous and often feared vocation.

 

    So not only is this the saddest day of your life, Tea.  It’ll probably be your worst day as well.

 

What’s To Like...

    Let me be clear, I never intended to raise my brother from his grave, though he may claim otherwise.

 

    Is that a fantastic opening line for a book, or what!  The Bone Witch is the first book in Rin Chupeco’s dark fantasy Bone Witch trilogy.  The series is set in a place called “The Eight Kingdoms” which are situated throughout a group of islands, and whose rulers spend most of their time fighting either the evil “Faceless Ones” or amongst themselves.

 

    I loved the worldbuilding.  The use of magic is common, and wielded mostly, but not solely, in the hands of women, who are called “asha”.  Rulers of the Eight Kingdoms are just as likely to be females as males.  People wear something called “heartglasses” around their necks, glass medallions that change color depending on their wearer's mood, veracity, and/or the type of magic they can command.  Girls who show spellcasting potential enter schools in their teenage years and besides magic, are taught things like history, dancing, singing and fighting.

 

    The tale is written in the first-person POV, Tea’s.  31 chapters cover 412 pages, with short interludes chronicling a second, more recent, storyline in between each chapter.  More on that in a bit.  For the most part, we follow the lives of Tea as she trains to be a full-fledged bone witch.  The Eight Kingdoms are running rather short of them.  Fox's new lease on undeath is also a major plotline, as he takes on the role of Protector of his sister.

 

    Some thrills-and-spills arise along the way, but mainly this is a character-driven, coming-of-age account.  Tea struggles with her studies, Fox struggles with his undeadness, rulers struggle to keep their kingdoms in existence, and asha struggle to not get killed by beasts, swords, or sorcery.

 

    The ending is good, with a couple neat twists, and a tense battle featuring both spells and brawn.  Sometimes might accomplishes what magic fails at doing.  The story stops at a logical place, and sets up, I presume, the next book in the series.

 

Kewlest New Word ...

Bezoar (n.) : a small, stony concretion that may form in the stomachs of certain animals, especially ruminants.

 

Ratings…
    Amazon: 4.4*/5, based on 3,433 ratings and 554 reviews.

    Goodreads: 3.69*/5, based on 44,739 ratings and 7,063 reviews.

 

Excerpts...

    “Parmina?”  It wasn’t a voice; it was a roar that could have rattled glass, though none of the people running around so much as blinked.  The largest and hairiest man I had ever seen in my life stepped into view.  He was so tall that the top of his hair grazed the ceiling, and his arms looked as if a brown bear had mated with the fuzziest carpet in the land and produced twins.  I could barely see his face, for his beard started somewhere near his eyebrows and ended at a carefully trimmed point several inches away from his chin, at the center of his chest.  (pg. 128)

 

    “Are you sure about this?” she asked me in a softer whisper as the other Deathseekers began making their preparations.  “We’re treading in unknown territory, and I’d hate to die on a ‘maybe.’”

    “The runes may not work, but I can still sense it.  And I was able to control it to some extent back in Ankyo.”

    “I hope you know what you’re doing,” Zoya said from behind us.

    “As I recall, you insisted on coming,” Polaire pointed out.

    “It’s never too late to regret things.”  (pg. 367)

 

“You think in the same way men drink, Tea, . . . far too much—under the delusion it is too little.”  (pg. 2)

    I only recall one cussword in the entire book, which fully justifies Amazon labelling it as a YA book.  There are no “adult situations” either, although I suspect there is some Romance headed Tea’s way.

 

    Rin Chupeco incorporates a lot of made-up words (such as asha) into the text, and defines each one the first time it is used.  I thought it really helped make the fantasy setting feel “real”.  There’s a map of the Eight Kingdoms at the start of the book, and brief descriptions of each realm in the back.  But it would’ve been nice to also have a Glossary back there for easy reference as to the invented vocabulary.

 

    One character displays transgender traits.  I felt this was a nice, daring touch by the author.  It was deftly done, and I’m hoping that person will have a recurring role in the saga.  But homophobes should probably avoid this series.

 

    Overall, I enjoyed The Bone Witch.  Character-driven plotlines are usually not my cup of Tea (pun intended, and the protagonist's name is pronounced differently), but here there was enough magic, fighting, and fascinating beasts and characters to keep me turning the pages.  Now that Tea is a fully-accredited asha, (Which isn't a spoiler.  You knew that would happen.) I’m looking for some serious butt-kicking and spellcasting to show up in the sequel, The Heart Forger.  Rin Chupeco has written several other intriguing fantasy series that I'm eager to get acquainted with. 

 

    8 Stars.  One last thing.  Deities play a very small part in this tale.  Three of them, Dancing Wind, Blade That Soars, and Great World Spirit, are mentioned, but have virtually zero impact on the goings-on.  It will be interesting to see how this aspect plays out as the series progresses.

Any Day Now - Terry Bisson

   2018; 344 pages.  New Author? : No.  Genres : Alternate History; Coming of Age Fiction; The 1960s.  Overall Rating : 5½*/10.

 

    It’s the 1950s, and all over the USA, the times they are a-changin’.

 

    You can hear it on the radio.  The “big band” music of the two previous decades is being replaced by a new sound that makes you want to snap your fingers and move your feet.  They call it “jazz” for whatever reason.

 

    Clayton “Clay” Bewley Bauer’s was just in grade school back then, in a small town called Calhoun, Kentucky; just outside the much bigger city of Owensboro.  His future, like all those in the Bewley clan, is already set in place:

    Graduate from high school,

    Graduate from Vanderbilt,

    Get a job in upper management somewhere.

 

    That sounds good.  The trouble is, that’s the “old way”, and Clay yearns to be part of those times that are a-changin’.

 

What’s To Like...

    In Any Day Now we follow Clay through three phases of his life.  Let’s call the first one his “Jazz Phase”, in the late 50s, wherein high-schooler Clay is introduced to new music from his friends and new ideas in the science-fiction books he reads voraciously.

 

    The next one is his college years in the early 60s; and we’ll label this his “Beatnik Phase”.  Clay eschews his family's tradition of attending Vanderbilt and instead opts for a small college in Minnesota.  But he soon drops out of there and moves to New York to be part of the Beat Scene and fulfill his career dream of becoming a poet.  His third phase is his “Commune Phase”, set in the late 60s and early 70s, after he moves out west and embraces the hippie lifestyle, including partaking of lots of recreational substances.

 

    The storyline resonated with me in several ways.  Clay’s approximately the same age as I am; we both spent our childhoods in small towns; and both had our long-haired, “Peace-Love-Dove” counterculture days.  To be honest, though, I never was tempted to go live in a commune.

 

    The first half of the book is Clay's Coming-of-Age saga, and felt like Terry Bisson was incorporating parts of his youth into the story.  One example: both the author and the protagonist were born and raised in Owensboro, Kentucky.  At that point I was disappointed that there wasn’t a bit of the Alternative History that the Amazon blurb promised.  Then abruptly, around 50% Kindle, a timeline anomaly pops up, and leads to a very different world that's going to sorely test Clay’s ideals.

 

    The ending is so-so.  After some exciting events in the “commune community”, Clay gets a much-needed rest.  But nothing is resolved, which makes me wonder if Terry Bisson intended to one day write a sequel to this.  Alas, it won’t happen.  Terry passed away in January 2024, and Wikipedia lists Any Day Now as his final full-length novel.

 

Ratings…
    Amazon:  4.1/5 based on 24 ratings and 11 reviews.

    Goodreads: 3.36/5 based on 189 ratings and 38 reviews.

 

Excerpts...

    "It has to be real jazz,” said Clay.

    “So what’s real jazz?” Ruth Ann asked.  They were sitting on the hood of the Ford with the motor cooling underneath, still warm on their bottoms.

    “Felonious Monk, Charles Mingles, Billy Ladyday,” said Clay.  “Very experimental stuff.  But it has to swing.  White people don’t do it as well.  Coal Train is good.”  (loc. 447)

 

    They were calling themselves Redeemers.  They wore masks on TV and talked about freedom.

    “The freedom to burn things,” Rotella said.

    They burned bridges in Indiana, barns in Idaho, buses in Detroit, cars and crosses in Georgia, and two kidnapped King’s Men in a locked shed in Illinois.  MLK called them misguided pawns; the UN called them terrorists.

    “Terrorism in the defense of liberty is no vice,” said Haig.  “It’s time the silent majority spoke up for America.”

    “Got a light?” muttered Clay.  (loc. 3649)

 

Kindle Details…

    The Kindle version of Any Day Now is presently priced at $9.99 at Amazon, which is rather steep.  Other Terry Bisson e-books are in the $2.99-$9.99 range.  It appears that a number of the author’s best-known works, such as Bears Discover Fire, are not yet available in e-book format.

 

Ernest was a rich kid working at being poor.  (loc. 862)

    There’s a fair amount of profanity in Any Day Now.  I counted 22 instances in the first 20%, but to be fair, half of those were the n-word racial epithet, which was mostly used to show Clay didn’t like the word, even though it was used frequently in the 1950s.

 

    Recreational drug usage is one of Clay’s frequent habits, and is generally presented in a positive and/or humorous way here, such as learning how “hold in” a toke, and how to properly prepare peyote before partaking of it.  I thought Clay’s first acid trip was presented particularly well.  Gay people are a common occurrence in both the Beat Scene and the hippie communes.  So if you’re a homophobe, you probably should skip this book.

 

    My biggest issue with Any Day Now is the storytelling.  Terry Bisson’s writing style is good, but the plotline doesn’t go anywhere or reach any conclusion.  Plus the previously mentioned genre-switch at the halfway point didn’t work at all for me.  Moreover, judging from the extremely low Goodreads ratings and several reviews there, I’m not the only one that felt this way.

 

    Despite that, I enjoyed Any Day Now, presumably because I could relate to so many of Clay’s experiences and have enjoyed so many of his sci-fi novels.  So let’s just call this one an ambitious and noble literary experiment that didn’t work.  RIP, Terry Bisson.  Your devoted fans dearly miss you.

 

    5½ Stars.  One last thing.  At one point during his Beat Phase, Clay goes to hear a 1950s hipster speaker by the name of Lord Buckley.  If you’ve never heard of him, go to YouTube and listen to some of his routines.  You will be amazed.

Hollow City - Ransom Riggs

   2014; 428 pages.  Book 2 (out of 6) in the “Miss Peregrine’s Peculiar Children” series.  New Author? : No.  Genre : YA; Dark Fantasy; Time-Travel; Coming of Age.  Overall Rating : 8*/10.

 

    They are a motley crew.  Ten English children – peculiars, all of them – plus one damaged peregrine falcon are now fleeing for their lives, with deadly wights and hollowgasts in close pursuit.

 

    Oh, and there’s also one American kid with them – Jacob Portman.  He can not only see hollowgasts (something nobody else – both normal and peculiars – can do), he can sense their presence before they come into view.  That makes him very handy to have around.

 

    The falcon is a peculiar as well, a “ymbryne” to be precise, and she's none other than the children’s headmistress herself, Miss Peregrine.  Ymbrynes have the ability to shapeshift into birds and, more importantly, control and manipulate time itself.

 

    Unfortunately, ymbrynes can only do their time tricks while in human form, and at present, Miss Peregrine is stuck in her bird shape due to a broken wing.

 

    Hmm.  It looks like Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children is about to become as dead as a dozen dodo birds.

 

What’s To Like...

    For the most part, Hollow City is set in and around London in 1940, which means during World War 2 when the Germans were bombing the daylights out of England on a daily basis.  It is the second book in Ransom Riggs’ incredibly popular “Miss Peregrine’s Peculiar Children” series, and timewise, immediately follows the events that closed out Book One.  Surprisingly, only three days elapse between the start and finish of Hollow City.

 

    The book chronicles three interrelated plotlines: a.) getting Miss Peregrine’s wing fixed so she can change back into a human; b.) locating another ymbryne, since they’re the only ones who can heal Miss Peregrine; and c.) freeing all the other ymbrynes that are currently held captive by the evil wights.  These are daunting tasks for a bunch of kids, peculiar or not.

 

    As was true in the first book, Ransom Riggs incorporates a whole bunch of bizarre, vintage photographs into the story.  You’d think photoshopping was involved but they were taken long before the computer age, and I trust the author when he swears that they weren’t doctored in any way.  I was happy to see that these pics were included in the e-book version (I read Book One in the paperback format), and can attest that they were easily expandable and in sharp focus.    

 

    There’s a handy “Cast of Characters” in the front of the book, showing most of the peculiar children plus some associates of Jason’s.  Included are photos for each of the peculiars, along with a list of what “gift” each one has.  I frequently consulted this section to look up which peculiar could do what.

 

    There are a couple of time-jumps in Hollow City, and also a coming-of-age aspect.  Jacob experiences his first kiss, his first romance, and his first set of relationship issues.  The “Armageddon chickens” were neat, so were the gypsies, and the character named Addison is a great addition to the series, and hopefully a recurring one.

 

    The book is written in the first-person POV (Jacob’s).  There are 13 chapters covering the 397 pages of the story, which averages out to about 30 pages a chapter, but that includes a lot of space taken up by the photographs.  The cover image ties into the storyline; you can read more details about it in the second excerpt below.  The ending is suitably exciting, has a twist in it that I never saw coming, stops at a logical place and sets up Book 3.

 

Ratings…
    Amazon: 4.7*/5, based on 7,075 ratings and 3,934 reviews.

    Goodreads: 4.05*/5, based on 220,005 ratings and 18,007 reviews.

 

Excerpts...

    “I think we’re being punished.”

    “For what?” said Emma.  “We’ve been perfect angels.  Well, most of us.”

    “The sins of past lives, maybe.  I don’t know.”

    “Peculiars don’t have past lives,” said Millard.  “We live them all at once.”  (loc. 690)

 

    It made no sense that Sam’s body was functioning in any capacity.  Stranger still, her wound wasn’t even bleeding, and there was no gore or bits of entrails hanging out of it, like I knew to expect from horror movies.  Instead, Sam looked like a paper doll that had been attacked with a giant hole-punch.

    (…) “Excuse me,” [Enoch] said, crowding into their personal space, “but could you please explain how it is that you’re alive?”

    “It’s nothing serious,” Sam said.  “Although my dress may not survive.”

    “Nothing serious?!” Enoch said.  “I can see clear through you!”

    “It does smart a little,” she admitted, “but it’ll fill in in a day or so.  Things like this always do."  (loc. 3534)

 

Kindle Details…

    Hollow City presently sells for $9.99 at Amazon.   Books 1, 3, and 4 are also $9.99, while Book 5 is $8.99 and Book 6 is $11.99.  The first two e-books are also available in Graphic Novel format, and there is a “Companion Book” titled Tales of the Peculiar, which is an anthology containing 11 short stories set in the Peculiar world.  These three options are all priced at $9.99 apiece.

 

Kewlest New Word ...

Huskers (n., plural) : persons who perform music or other entertainment in the street or public places for monetary donations.

 

“I love sad stories,” said Enoch.  “Especially ones where princesses get eaten by dragons and everyone dies in the end.”  (loc. 1086)

    There are some things to quibble about in Hollow City, but no show-stoppers.  There is only a smidgen of cussing (I counted a mere nine instances in the whole book, none of which were f-bombs) and don’t recall any R-rated acts.

 

    The pacing felt somewhat slow.  Wights and hollows are constantly hot on our heroes’ trail, yet we spend a fair amount of time hanging out at a menagerie, then with the gypsies, then later at a deep-freeze.

 

    We cross paths with a number of other peculiars, but a lot of them get developed, only to fade away.  The part about Cuthbert’s head seems totally extraneous.  But I think this is inevitable,  and due to Ransom Riggs diligently working as many weird photos into the story as he can.  I’m certainly glad he did so.

 

    The ending, although exciting, doesn’t tie up any of the three main plotlines.  When you compare where our band of adventurers are at the end of Book Two to where they were at the end of Book One, there’s not a lot of progress.  I wouldn’t call Hollow City a standalone story and recommend that you read the books in this series in order.

 

    8 Stars.  There are about 30 pages of “Extras” at the end of the e-book, consisting of: 1.) Photo Credits, 2.) Acknowledgements, 3.) A Conversation with Ransom Riggs, 4.) an excerpt from Book 3.  The “Conversation” is well worth reading, as it gives insight into the approach Ransom Riggs used to write Hollow City.  He also reveals some of the bizarre photographs used in the next book.  For me, they were effective teasers.

The Queen's Gambit - Walter Tevis

   1983; 243 pages.  New Author? : Yes.  Genres : Chess; Contemporary Fiction; Coming of Age.  Laurels: Adapted for the 2020 Netflix series of the same name.  Overall Rating: 8*/10.

 

    It was the worst of times.  Eight-year-old Beth Harmon survived a car crash that killed her mother and landed Beth in an orphanage.  But in retrospect there was a silver lining: it was at the orphanage that Beth was introduced to a fascinating game, and by Mr. Shaibel the janitor, no less.

 

    Chess.

 

    At first, Mr. Shaibel only allowed her to watch him play it by himself, moving both the Black and White pieces on a green-and-white checkerboard he’d set up in the basement.  That was interesting, and little Beth found she could do that in her head at night, by simply imagining the board and randomly moving the pieces.

 

    Then one day Mr. Shaibel taught her how to actually play and shortly thereafter Beth lost her first game of chess, to him, via something Mr. Shaibel called “The Scholar’s Mate”.  But now that she knew how each piece moved, Beth could lay awake at night, making real moves in her mind, until she found a way to parry the Scholar’s Mate.

 

    And never again lose a game to Mr. Shaibel.

 

What’s To Like...

    Why is it that every world chess champion so far has been a male?

 

    To break that streak would be a major undertaking, but based on all the recent world chess champions, it most certainly would start with a young girl being found to be a chess prodigy.  Walter Tevis’s The Queen’s Gambit envisions Beth Harmon being such a wunderkind, and we follow her from an 8-year-old coming to grips with life in an orphanage to a 19-year-old trying to figure out how to outplay the (Russian) reigning world champion.

 

    Along the way, Beth learns how to resign when a chess position is hopelessly lost (which she doesn’t like), how to read and write chess notations, the wonders of a book called Modern Chess Openings, how to use a chess clock, and the thrill of playing, winning, and collecting the prize money in chess tournaments.   Beth beams after each of those advancements, and I thought the author caught the “feel” of playing in chess tournaments particularly well.

 

    But with fame comes frailty and Walter Tevis portrays Beth as a flawed character.  She battles addictions, steals from those who trust her, and (horror of horrors!) steals from bookstores.  Her capers have mixed results: sometimes she gets away with them, sometimes she gets caught, and sometimes the addictions cost her chess games.

 

    It's no surprise that The Queen’s Gambit is a very “chessy” book.  The names of several dozen openings are mentioned (all real), as well a number of famous chess grandmasters of the past, although Walter Tevis abstains (and IMO, rightfully so) from subjecting any presently-active (in 1983) chess greats to the embarrassment of losing to up-and-coming Beth.  I liked that he refrains from implying that misogyny runs rampant in the male-dominated chess world.  Yes, the best chess players hate to lose, but they hate losing to women, men, oldsters, youngsters, computers, and every other category.  Simply put, they hate to lose.  To anyone.  It's part of what makes them great.

 

    The ending – a key game with the current chess champion – is a mixed bag.  There really aren’t any surprises: things go bad for Beth at first, but she pulls herself together, rallies at the chessboard, and achieves the predictable result.  The game is not for the world championship, so there’s room for a sequel, but I doubt it will be ever written, especially since The Queen’s Gambit is now a Netflix series.

 

Ratings…
    Amazon: 4.7*/5, based on 14,730 ratings.

    Goodreads: 4.21*/5, based on 56,191 ratings and 7,367 reviews

 

Kewlest New Word ...

Precocity (n.) : exceptionally early or premature development.

Others: Inchmeal (adv.).

 

Excerpts...

    “It talks about the orphanage.”  Beth had bought her own copy.  “And it gives one of my games.  But it’s mostly about my being a girl.”

    “Well, you are one.”

    “It shouldn’t be that important,” Beth said.  “They didn’t print half the things I told them.  They didn’t tell about Mr. Shaibel.  They didn’t say anything about how I play the Sicilian.”

    “But, Beth,” Mrs. Wheatley said, “it makes you a celebrity!”

    Beth looked at her thoughtfully.  “For being a girl, mostly,” she said.  (pg. 95)

 

    She leaned wearily back in her chair with her eyes still closed and let the screen of her mind go dark for a moment.  Then she brought it back for a final look.  And this time with a start she saw it.  He had used his bishop for taking her rook and now it could not stop her knight.  The knight would force the king aside.  The white pawn would queen, and mate would follow in four moves.  Mate in nineteen.  (pg. 241)

 

“Firm up your pectorals.”  (…)  “I thought that was a kind of fish.”  (pg. 197 )

    There are a couple of quibbles.

 

    First, be aware that there are adult situations and language in The Queen’s Gambit.  It may be a coming-of-age story, but I wouldn’t recommend this for a six-year-old girl, unless you want to answer questions about sex and drugs and self-destructive behavior.

 

    I found the storyline to be rather straightforward and lacking twists.  Beth kicks chess-butt with very few losses (and no draws!  How is that possible?) on her way to the top, and when her addictions catch up to her, the rehab seemed incredibly quick and easy.

 

    But most obvious and most important, this is a book about chess.  Lots of chess games.  Lots of thinking about chess positions.  Lots of talking about chess.  If you don’t happen to play chess, you’re going to be bored to tears, skipping over oodles of paragraphs, just hoping to get to the non-chess parts.

 

    Fortunately, I’ve played chess all my life, so for me The Queen’s Gambit was entertaining from start to finish.  Can I relate to the pressures Beth faces?  Not really.  I’m good at the game, but not to where becoming a grandmaster was ever a realistic goal.  There's no way I could ever envision or calculate a mate-in-nineteen.

 

    8 Stars.  As of 2021, there still has never been a female world chess champion, but one came extremely close.  She was a Hungarian phenom named Judit Polgar born in 1976 and rated #55 in the world at age 12.  She became an international grandmaster three years later, and had a peak ranking of #8 in the world in 2004.   She has two sisters, one of them is also an international grandmaster, the other is “only” an international master.

 

    The Wikipedia article about her is here, which will give you the Polgar family secret for developing and raising a challenger for the world chess title.  The short answer is: “Nurture over Nature”.  Papa Polgar's method may be controversial, but there's no disputing it worked for each of his three daughters.

Furies of Calderon - Jim Butcher

   2004; 502 pages.  Book 1 (out of 6) in the “Codex Alera” series.  New Author? : No, but the series is new to me.  Genres: Epic Fantasy; High Fantasy; Roman Empire Fantasy; Coming of Age.  Overall Rating : 8½*/10.

 

    Poor, poor, pitiful Tavi.  Fifteen years old and not a trace of furycrafting in him.  Such a disability.  Indeed, in the entire realm of Alera, you’ll not find one another adult without a trace of magical ability.

 

    At least Tavi has a good homelife: he lives with his Uncle Bernard on a steadholt, and spends most of his time herding the sheep.  If all goes well, someday Bernard will give him a flock of his own, and Tavi can settle down to a comfortable, if utterly prosaic, life of sheepherding.

 

    Right now, however, he's in a bit of a bind.  While minding the flock yesterday, his attention strayed to a local lass that Tavi’s sweet on.  And while he was focusing on his puppy love, some of the sheep wandered off.  Uncle Bernard won’t fail to notice that.  Perhaps if Tavi slips out of the house early this morning, he can go round them up, bring them home, with nobody the wiser.

 

    The worst-case scenario is if Tavi is unable to find the lost sheep.  His uncle will not be pleased, and Tavi will have to accept whatever punishment is meted out.  I beg to differ, Tavi, that’s not even close to being the worst that can happen.  You have no idea how bad things are going to get.

 

    But you’re about to find out.

 

What’s To Like...

    Furies of Calderon is the first book in a (completed) six-volume high fantasy series called The Codex Alera, published in the 2004-2009, one book each year, by Jim Butcher and alongside his bread-&-butter series, The Dresden Files.  Good grief, that’s a lot of writing.

 

    The magic system is not complex.  Every Aleran, Tavi excepted, can “craft” (invoke and control) “furies” (think “ethereal familiars”) from one of the six elemental realms: Earth, Water, Fire, Air, Metal, and Wood.  Most Alerans have just a single fury, although a few have two.  As with any wizardly system, summoning and controlling a fury takes it out of you: the longer you're wielding an active fury, the longer it will take you to recover.  The only other magical ability, at least thus far, is “truthfinding”, which is sort of a walking, talking human lie detector.

 

    In addition to the magic, there are a bunch of new creatures: (gargants, slives, Knights Aeries, herdbanes, wax spiders, and more), all of which to meet and flee from.  Don’t let that term “wax spider” fool you, they might be the most dangerous in the menagerie.

 

    The writing is superb, which is the norm for Jim Butcher: witty, exciting, and well-paced once the obligatory world-building has been accomplished.  The character development is phenomenally deep and fluid: Tavi, Doroga, Kitai, Isana, Bernard, Fidelias, Odiana, Fade, and quite a few others, both good guys and bad, are all three-dimensional, yet this doesn't bog down the storytelling.

 

    The ending is well-crafted and epically long (100+ pages!), although it's been used a lot before: hordes upon hordes of baddies are besieging our hopelessly outnumbered good guys, with seemingly only one outcome possible.  Shades of Helm’s Deep from Lord of the Rings.

 

    Yet here, despite the reader knowing that our heroes will prevail (elsewise, how could there be five more books in the series?), Jim Butcher somehow convinces you that all is lost.  Still, most of the baddies will live to fight and furycraft another day, and in another book in the series.

 

Ratings…
    Amazon:  4.6/5 based on 1,914 ratings.

    Goodreads: 4.10/5 based on 102,021 ratings and 4,263 reviews

 

Things That Sound Dirty, But Aren’t…

    “Bernard.  Why is there a girl in your bed?”  (pg. 181)

 

Excerpts...

    “How will Aquitaine react?”

    The big man pursed his lips.  “It depends.”

    “On what?”

    “On what he is doing when we interrupt him with bad news.”

    “Is it all that bad?”

    Aldrick smiled.  “Just hope he’s up drinking.  He’s usually in a pretty good mood.  Tends to forget his anger by the time the hangover has worn off.”

    “It was an idiot’s plan to begin with.”

    “Of course.  It was his.”  (pg. 81)

 

    “Trouble, Tavi,” Fade said, his tone serious.  “Trouble.”

    “I know,” Tavi said.  “Don’t worry.  We’ll figure a way out of this.”

    Fade nodded, eyes watching Tavi expectantly.

    “Well not right this minute,” Tavi said, after a flustered moment.  “You could at least try to help me come up with something, Fade.”

    Fade stared vacantly for a moment and then frowned.  “Marat eat Alerans.”

    Tavi swallowed.  “I know, I know.  But if they were going to eat us, they wouldn’t have given us blankets and a place to sleep.  Right?”

    “Maybe they like hot dinner,” Fade said, darkly.  “Raw dinner.”

    Tavi stared at him for a minute.  “That’s enough help, Fade.”  (pg. 257)

 

“She kissed me, and my brains melted and dribbled out my ears.”  (pg. 161)

    The quibbles are minor.  There were a couple of typos, which is a couple too many for a published book (mass market format, by Ace Fantasy): Aldrick/Aldrik; Aldrick/Aquitainus, tread/trod, and the ubiquitous lead/led boo-boo.

 

    Most of the occasions that called for cussing made clever use of the word “crow”.  Examples: “bloody crows” (bloody heck), “crow fodder” (BS), “crows and bloody furies”; yet on two occasions, “b*tch” snuck in.  There’s a lot of blood and gore, which I expected, but also rape, forcible assault (via a slave collar), and even cannibalism, all of which surprised me a bit.  It makes me wonder who the target audience is.  Perhaps it’s for readers like me: adults who still like to read fantasy novels.

 

    Finally, and most nitpicky, there were no maps, at least not here in the first book.  We'll see if that holds true throughout the series.

 

    The quibbles notwithstanding, overall, Furies of Calderon fully met the high expectations I have for anything written by Jim Butcher.  I’ll defer on whether The Dresden Files outshines The Codex Alera, or vice versa until I’ve read more of this series.  But I’m guessing my answer will be “they’re both fantastic”.

 

    8½ Stars.  One last bit of trivia.  According to the Wikipedia article, Jim Butcher penned The Codex Alera based on a bet that he couldn’t write a good story based on a lame idea.  Butcher responded that he could do so based on two of the challenger’s lame ideas.  The ones chosen?  “Lost Roman Legion” and “Pokemon”).  I’m not kidding; you can read about it here.

Boy's Life - Robert McCammon

   1991 (although it was first copyrighted back in 1983); 611 pages.  New Author? : No.  Genres : Horror; Fantasy; Coming-of-Age.  Laurels: World Fantasy Award – Best Novel (winner, 1992); Bram Stoker Award – Best Novel (winner, 1991).  Overall Rating : 10*/10.

 

    Robert R. McCammon’s Boy’s Life.  Wikipedia notes: “It is considered by readers and critics as his best novel”, and I gotta say there’s sufficient evidence to support that claim.

 

    It won the Bram Stoker Award, which is given by the Horror Writers Association, for Best Novel in 1991.  And yes, there are beasts and ghosts and things that go bump in the night, and some that even go bump in the daytime, in Boy’s Life.  But this is not primarily a horror story.

 

    It won the World Fantasy Award for Best Novel in 1992.  And yes, there are some magic moments, some timely spellcasting, and some aerial acrobatics reminiscent of the movie ET.  But this is not primarily a fantasy tale.

 

    Rather, I’d call Boy’s Life a coming-of-age novel.  The main character, Cory Mackenson, is a 12-year-old boy when the book opens, and grows to be a 13-year-old adult by the book's end.  Alas, 600-page coming-of-age books often get tedious along the way.

 

    Which is why the Horror and Fantasy elements make this such a fantastic book.

 

What’s To Like...

    Boy’s Life is set in the fictional small town of Zephyr, Alabama in 1964 and chronicles the strange goings-on there through the first-person POV of our protagonist, 12-year-old Cory, who’s actually writing all this in (his) present-day 1991.  Robert McCammon divides the story into four “seasonal” parts, plus an epilogue:

    a.) The Shades of Spring  (0%-22%)

    b.) A Summer of Devils and Angels  (22%-46%)

    c.) Burning Autumn  (46%-74%)

    d.) Winter’s Cold Truth  (74%-97%)

    e.) Zephyr as It is  (97%-99%)

 

    The primary storyline concerns Cory and his dad witnessing a car plunging into nearby Saxon Lake with a dead man at the wheel.  Cory’s father, Tom, becomes haunted by the brutal image of the corpse, and we tag along with Cory as he tries to solve the macabre mystery murder, all the while experiencing the life of a "tween-ager" hanging out with his friends and enjoying the “magic” that kids can see in life even when adults cannot.

 

    I loved the “feel” of life in America during the early 1960’s.  Cory was born in 1952; I was born two years earlier.  Zephyr is a little bitty place out in the boondocks of Alabama; I spent the first ten years of my life in a zero-traffic-light podunk town in Pennsylvania that had a total population of just over 200.  So, Boy’s Life resonated strongly with me.

 

    It was fun to go sleuthing alongside Cory: we both got fooled by a red herring or two; and when clues did unfold, they were often more mystifying than enlightening and occasionally spawned secondary plotlines.  But it was just as much of a blast to relive the life of a 12-year-old again by activities such as:

    playing sandlot baseball with friends,

    dealing with eccentric family members and boring social occasions,

    meeting a beautiful girl who doesn't flick boogers at you,

    collecting Civil War bubble-gum cards (I had some of those!),

    going to the movie theater to watch The Three Stooges.

 

    The storytelling is superb, and I was in awe of Robert McCammon’s ability to seamlessly blend Fantasy, Horror, Mystery-Solving, and Coming-of-Age genres.  I liked the “worry pebbles”, agreed with Cory’s opinion about wasps, and was saddened by how the evolution of the milk-delivery system impacted his dad.  I enjoyed meeting both “The Lady” and “Lucifer” (who's a monkey, not a demon).  The story of “Carl and Rebel” left a lump in my throat and I could relate to Cory's bicycle dying.

 

    There were also some serious topics touched upon in Boy’s Life.  The preacher’s raving about a demonic Beach Boys’ song (Go ahead, guess which one.  We’ll list it in the comments.) may seem silly at first, but I’ve seen frenzied fundamentalists burning records, and listened to dire warnings of how backward-masking rock-&-roll songs can turn you into a devil-worshipper.  And though the author is born and raised in Alabama, this book makes it clear what he thinks of segregation, the KKK, and burning crosses.

 

    The ending is filled with tension and suitably exciting, even though you know Cory will survive because, well, he’s writing this book.  All the plot threads are tied up, and even the escaped freak-show beast gets its fitting reward.  I guessed the “whydunit” correctly, although I was off as on the “whodunit” angle.  I found that trying to solve the various mysteries before Cory does is an exercise in futility; but keeping your eyes peeled for clues popping up is much more productive.

 

Ratings…
    Amazon:  4.7/5 based on 1,779 ratings.

    Goodreads: 4.36/5 based on 26,619 ratings and 2,964 reviews

 

Excerpts...

    We all start out knowing magic.  We are born with whirlwinds, forest fires, and comets inside us.  We are born able to sing to birds and read the clouds and see our destiny in grains of sand.  But then we get the magic educated right out of our souls.  We get it churched out, spanked out, washed out, and combed out.  We get put on the straight and narrow and told to be responsible.  Told to act our age.  Told to grow up, for God’s sake.  (loc. 59)

 

    I left Rocket to wait there, and I walked up the hill among the moon-splashed tombstones.  (…)  The white dead people lay on one side, the black dead people on the other.  It made sense that people who could not eat in the same café, swim in the same public pool, or shop in the same stores would not be happy being dead and buried within sight of each other.  Which made me want to ask Reverend Lovoy sometime if the Lady and the Moon Man would be going to the same heaven as Davy Ray.  If black people occupied the same heaven as white people, what was the point of eating in different cafes here on earth?  (loc. 7538)

 

Kindle Details…

    At the moment, you can pick up Boy’s Life for $11.99 at Amazon, although the author periodically offers it at a generous discount.  Robert McCammon has several other e-novels available at Amazon, ranging in price from $5.99 to $15.99, plus a couple of short stories for under $2 each.

 

The need to hear stories, or live lives other than our own for even the briefest moment, is the key to the magic that was born in our bones.  (loc. 533)

    It’s difficult to find anything to nitpick about in Boy’s Life.  There’s a fair amount of cussing throughout the book, but that's to be expected for this kind of tale.  There’s a slew of characters to meet and greet.  Some of them are important, others strut briefly across the stage and then are gone, never to return.  It might’ve been nice to have a “Cast of Characters” section at the front for reference, but I keep my own notes anyway, so this didn’t hinder me.  And finally, since Robert McCammon is a recognized top-tier Horror genre author, if you’re wanting the book to scare you poopless or gross you out, you might be disappointed.

 

    But I pick at nits.  For me, Boy’s Life was a fantastic novel, covering multiple genres, without any slow spots (it was an event-filled year for Cory), and with a perfect blend of excitement, drama, eeriness, and mystery-solving.  I’ve yet to any of Robert McCammon’s "genuine" Horror tales, but a couple of them are on my bookshelf, so I have no excuse not to read one of them in the near future.

 

    10 Stars.   A friend recommended Boy’s Life to me, citing it as being Robert McCammon at his best.  I took that as a challenge since I’ve read the first couple books of his Matthew Corbett series and given them all 9*/10 ratings.  It turns out my friend was right.