Fantasy Novella Review: Yoke of Stars by R.B. Lemberg

 

Full Disclosure: This book was read as an e-ARC (Advance Reader Copy) obtained via Netgalley from the publisher in advance of the book's release on July 16, 2024 in exchange for a potential review. I give my word that this did not affect my review in any way - if I felt conflicted in any way, I would simply have declined to review the book.

Yoke of Stars is the latest story in R.B. Lemberg's Birdverse world, a world featuring queer characters (sometimes oppressed, sometimes not) and magic based upon "deepnames", whose power depend upon the number of syllables in those names and the number of them possessed by their holder - and whose various permutations can result in different powers and personalities.  It's a setting that has produced some remarkable works such as the novella The Four Profound Weaves - in which a pair of older protagonists try to assert their queerness in an anti-queernnorm world - and the short novel The Unbalancing - featuring a queer-friendly setting that dealt with a neurodivergent protagonist, issues of power, duty, romance and consent.  I'm oversimplifying both of those works in that one sentence description by the way, they're both very deep and really well written for their short lengths.  

Yoke of Stars is largely the stories of two people - Stone Orphan, a siltway (fish-like) woman cast out from her people's collective under the sea under the guidance of the Star of the Shoal and now an assassin under the Orphan Star; and Ulín, a woman with a love of languages who wanted only to learn more about them throughout the world...only to find herself controlled and destroyed by those who supposedly love her.  It's a really interesting story dealing with themes of language, translation, control, and freedom, and I'm still thinking about it as I write this review.  

SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: That Devil, Ambition by Linsey Miller

 

Full Disclosure: This book was read as an e-ARC (Advance Reader Copy) obtained via Netgalley from the publisher in advance of the book's release on June 3, 2025 in exchange for a potential review. I give my word that this did not affect my review in any way - if I felt conflicted in any way, I would simply have declined to review the book.

That Devil, Ambition is the latest dark YA Fantasy novel by author Linsey Miller, author of the Mask of Shadows duology, as well as the stand alone novels Belle Revolte and What We Devour (to name just her YA Fantasy work). The novel is based upon an idea that I feel is becoming rather common/overplayed of late: teens going to a school - usually of magic - that is deadly to its students, whether that be through the acts of the teachers, the students themselves, or the school building and spirits hanging around there (see Naomi Novik's Scholomance among others). Miller's work is generally extremely dark and uses her dark fantasy settings to play with some really interesting themes, so I was very curious to see her take on this setting.

And That Devil, Ambition pays off by really interrogating the reasoning and concepts behind this setting, all through a plot that follows 3 students involved in the deadly honors class: Fabian - an ambitious former noble looking to redeem his family line, Credence - a math genius from a foreign country who is relying upon her to succeed, and Euphemia (Mia) - a seemingly aloof an absent minded genius who struggles with other people. As part of the Honors Class, they will only graduate if they manage to kill their professor, an immensely powerful summoned Devil - but they will be killed if they fail in an attempt or if they fail to kill him by the end of the year. The three of them, and their classmates, are all forced into this honors class by oppressive student debt and impossible circumstances, and the story uses this setup to tell a strong tale about power, corrupt institutions perpetrating that power and trying to maintain it over others, debt (student debt especially) and the way it crushes those who have it, and more. It's some really good stuff and I highly recommend this book as usual for Miller.

More after the Jump:

SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: Proliferation by Erik A. Otto

 

Proliferation is a self-published epic post-apocalypse (Post-Apoc) Scifi novel by author Erik A. Otto. The novel is technically the second in a series (after a book called "Detonation", which I think is meant to explain some of this book's setting) but is meant to be entirely stand-alone, and the book is one of this year's Self-Published Sci-Fi Competition semifinalists (#SPSFC4). It's a book filled with ideas, as we see a series of AI-centered cities wake up with powerful weapons and issues over how they protect their residents, a major political power that seems to be an alliance between anti-technology cultists from the American west coast and a military dictatorship from what remains of Japan, and some technology-based cultists who are extremely antisocial in their ways among other things.

And yet, those ideas somehow more frustrate than anything else, as Proliferation lacks some of the core things such a book would need to actually be interesting. For one, the setting is so unexplained as to be frustrating, and the book's plot arcs seem to just reset and go nowhere repeatedly. For another, the characters are largely uninteresting and every faction we follow is just seemingly made up of assholes: why do we care about any of these people? What do they want in life? I have no idea for large parts. And then there's the fact that the book relies on certain tropes - like a character committing self-harm to mitigate some kind of unspecified disease - without any justification, and uses them really badly. In short, I cannot recommend Proliferation at all.

TRIGGER WARNINGS: Self Harm, Suicide Attempts and Suicidal Ideation, Drinking. These ideas aren't really handled very well either, just to be clear.

SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: On Impulse by Heather Texle

On Impulse is a self published sci fi thriller by author Heather Texle and the first in her "Reliance Sinclair" series of novels (of which the second book comes out this July). The novel is a semifinalist in this year's Self Published Science Fiction Competition (#SPSFC4) of which I am a Judge. It's a sort of classic type of novel - our heroine is a former (space) cop who is searching for answers as to the tragedy that got her essentially forced off the force - her partner turning on her - and who finds herself on the run from other cops when she stumbles onto the murder of her only friend. So in some ways it's the Fugitive, but in a Sci-Fi setting, albeit with some other influences as well.

Unfortunately, On Impulse really doesn't contain much to recommend it. It's not a bad novel, as it remains very readable (and quickly readable) as its protagonist gets into worse and worse situations due to impulsive decision making (see the Title) and eventually discovers the truth. But its characters are largely shallow and forgettable - especially its protagonist who kinda gets less development than some of the very shallow side characters - and it really doesn't say anything interesting. Nor is the setting or plot particularly intriguing, with the plot relying upon a bunch of pretty dumbfounding character choices to make it work.

More after the jump.

SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: Translation State by Ann Leckie

 

Full Disclosure: This book was read as an e-ARC (Advance Reader Copy) obtained via Netgalley from the publisher in advance of the book's release on June 6, 2023 in exchange for a potential review. I give my word that this did not affect my review in any way - if I felt conflicted in any way, I would simply have declined to review the book.

Translation State is the long awaited return by Ann Leckie to the world of her Imperial Radch trilogy, which was most famous for the multi-awarded Ancillary Justice (her 2017 stand alone book Provenance was also set in this universe but was far more distant in its setting).  The Imperial Radch trilogy was well deserving of its awards as it dealt with gender, identity, and power, and was one of my first reintroductions into reading modern SciFi/Fantasy.  So while Translation State was promised to be stand alone, its description - featuring a plot that involved the alien Presger Translators who were a major side character of the Radch trilogy - really intrigued me and had me really excited to read it.  And of course now it's a Hugo and Nebula Finalist among other awards.  

And Translation State delivers as I'd hope.  Its story is a lot more personal than the Radch trilogy, with it featuring three characters struggling with their identity and purpose: Enae, who spent hir entire life taking care of hir emotionally abusive and irritable grandmaman and who is cast out of hir home upon hir grandmaman's death; Reet, an adopted mechanic who has grown up with strange urges to bite and eat people despite his loving family and has genetic abnormalities no one can explain; and Qven, a being growing up to be a Presger translator - the strange human-like beings who interpret for the super dangerous and super alien Presger - who is essentially forced upon by another juvenile and has to deal with no longer fitting in the plans of their superiors.  The result is a story that isn't one of major galactic conflict, but one that is no less interesting as it deals with power, identity, trauma, and one's choices of whom they want to be.  More specifics after the jump:

SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: The Circumference of the World by Lavie Tidhar

Full Disclosure: This book was read as an e-ARC (Advance Reader Copy) obtained via Netgalley from the publisher in advance of the book's release on September 5, 2023 in exchange for a potential review. I give my word that this did not affect my review in any way - if I felt conflicted in any way, I would simply have declined to review the book.

Lavie Tidhar is one of the more interesting prolific writers out there these days as he's known largely for his Central Station short novel (itself sort of a collection of short stories) as well as his short stories and edited collections of international SF/F work. His work has honestly been pretty hit or miss for me, but it has always featured some very different and out there worlds and concepts (for example, a clown-based Western in an imaginary world of a grieving father) and his last short novel, Neom, was one I really really liked. So I always am happy to try his stuff and The Circumference of the World is the latest.

And well, The Circumference of the World is an interesting short novel with a bunch of inspirations....but I don't really think they come together in any coherent fashion. The story revolves around a book - "Lode Stars" - that may not exist but supposedly contains the secrets of the universe as told by a scientology-esque religion founded by a manic golden age sci-fi writer. This book affects the lives of a woman from Vanua Lava, a face blind book dealer, a Russian mobster, and the writer himself, but their stories and the framing device sometimes of strange otherworldly entities telling the story don't really mesh? It's hard to explain or know what to think about this, but I'll try better below:

Note: I read this in part in Audiobook, which uses multiple narrators to put on a very interesting and unique performance.  Very well done, so if you're interested in this book, would recommend in this format.
 

SciFi/Fantasy Book Review: Accidental Intelligence by Bryan Chaffin

 

Accidental Intelligence is another one of the semifinalists in this year's Self Published Science Fiction Competition (#SPSFC4) and is one of the six books in my team's judging panel. The novel is a Sci-Fi Noir, featuring a private investigator Mason Truman as its protagonist as he investigates a case of a missing young man...one whose case clearly has ties to the AIs and Corporate interests who run the world. I wouldn't necessarily call myself a big fan of noir, but the noir atmosphere and writing style does tend to draw me in, so I very quickly read through this book over two days on my commute.

Unfortunately, Accidental Intelligence doesn't quite reward the reader for sticking with it. The story's main characters are paper thin, with its protagonist having seemingly no motivation or life outside of plot itself, and while the book's plot promises a fight against a dangerous conspiracy, that conspiracy turns out to be laughably simple and uninteresting. And it all ends up in a conclusion that is really unsatisfying, as events needed to solve matters just occur out of nowhere and the bad guy is defeated with way too much ease...and then the book throws an epilogue in that I guess (I was confused) attempts to set up a sequel but instead just makes it even more frustrating?

More specifics after the jump. Note that the plot summary of this book on Amazon and Goodreads spoils like 80% of the book - I'll try to be less spoilery below.