Spoiler warning! In my explanation of what worked and didn’t for me in this story, I will be going into plot specific details. If you want to approach this story completely unspoiled, you may just want to read the first few paragraphs. Binti is the first of her people, the Himba, to be offered a place at the Oomza University, the finest in the galaxy. She pretty much runs away, knowing that her decision to take her place at the university might mean she is no […]
A firewoman, a horse named Trixie Skillz and the literal embodiment of Pestilence ride across post-apocalyptic North America
The four horsemen of the Apocalypse came to Earth and in their wake, there was destruction. Engines stopped working, planes fell from the sky, technology sputtered and the internet failed. There was chaos, and then people learned to adapt. Five years later, only one horseman is active – Pestilence the Conqueror, who rides the length and breadth of the American continent, with whole cities dying where he’s appeared. In a small settlement in Canada, Sara Burns is a volunteer firefighter who literally drew the short […]
Librarian heroine with latent magical powers. Dark, broody sorcerer prince as the possible love interest. I can work with that.
3.5 stars Vhalla Yarl is a librarian apprentice living in the huge central library in the capital of the Solaris empire. The empire has been at war for ages, trying to conquer the lands in the north and through this conquest uniting the whole continent under one power. One evening, there’s a state of emergency declared, one of the princes has been injured, and all the librarians are needed to help research a possible cure. Remembering how the younger, charming prince, known colloquially as “The […]
Two Failed Romance Novels
I read both the main pick and the alt pick for Vaginal Fantasy this month, I wanted very much to like them both as they both sounded so interesting. I ended up hating both, though for two very different reasons. A Promise of Fire was the main pick this month, and like I said, I wanted to like this novel. I enjoyed the bits and pieces that made up the story around the romance, but ultimately I just couldn’t deal with the romance. Unfortunately the […]
A different sort of fantasy – I wanted to like it more than I did
The former Chinese colony of Malaya (current day Malaysia) is now under British rule, but the Chinese population there still try their best to stick to their ancient customs. Li Lan’s family was once wealthy, but after her mother died from chickenpox, her father tried to cover his grief by taking opium and now they are nearly bankrupt, with very few promising marriage prospects for Li Lan. One day, however, her father claims that the wealthy and influential Lim family have offered her a ghost […]
I’m Haunted By the Lives That Wove the Web
I want to say that I enjoyed this novel more than I did, as it is I waver between two and three stars in rating this. I liked the concept well enough, but that wasn’t quite enough to cover the writing flaws. Ghost Bride is the June pick for the Vaginal Fantasy book club, and honestly I think it’s kind of a weird pick. Although the story contains a romance, it isn’t a love story. I mean, I definitely tend to prefer stories that contain […]