Looking for Your Next Book

 I've really been enjoying Jack McDevitt's Alex Benedict series (I just recently read and reviewed book #9 in that series) and it's because of those book that when I saw he had a collection of short stories available, I really wanted to read it.  I love the short story format. Because I'm really only familiar with McDevitt through one series, I wasn't sure how much I'd enjoy his short stories but as it turns out, I didn't need to be too concerned.  The stories are fantastic.  For no particular reason, I have mentally categorized McDevitt as a 'hard' science fiction author (which typically means [to me] an excess of scientific jargon explaining, or justifying, how life works in these worlds, or at the very least, stories where the science matters) and hard science is not my interest. What a surprise, then, to read a story like "Arcturean Nocturne" - a boy-meets-girl story.  George just wants to go to space but on earth, Stephanie wants to co...

Eben Elliot, the associate curator at the Guggenheim Museum, is planning to bring a Hilma af Klint (not Klimt!) show to New York.  Swedish artist Hilma af Klint is recognized as the artist who first produced abstract paintings despite the recognition typically to men by art historians. In his research, Elliot discovers that Hilma was interested in the occult and, along with some friends, would hold séances in order to bring about spirits that might help them become better artists. Hilma referred to the group as "The Five"  - all women artists who had been mostly forgotten. Until now. This book goes back and forth between Hilma, in her time (early 1900's), and Eben Elliot's work today. This transitioning didn't work quite as well as it was intended. We didn't really need to to be told what Eben discovered and then go back in time to relive that discovery. I did, however, really like getting some background on (to me) a little-known artist. How often have we lea...

 It's hard to imagine anyone in today's society who is in any way active on social media or watches science fiction or fantasy television or movies to not be familiar with 'cosplay'. Cosplay is a big deal and it's been around a lot longer than people might imagine.  What we are mostly familiar with are the fans with incredibly elaborate recreations of their favorite Hollywood characters (often - but not always - superheroes) in full costume and gear walking around a comic convention and spotlighted on the evening news for a closing 'isn't that fun' piece. Given the popularity, I'm only surprised it's taken this long to get a book, this complete, out in the world. Today's cosplayers have resources unparalleled to what those of us, who 'showed up in costume' at small regional conventions back in the 1970's.  The internet itself allows fans to find the people who can help design and make all the pieces necessary for that perfect Capt...

 It has been over a century since the war between the humans and the 'Mutes' (the only other known race of intelligent beings in the universe - they don't speak but communicate through telepathy).  Despite vast exploration, due in part to faster-than-light travel, the universe has turned out to be quite empty, with the Mutes the only other known life form. But when an explorer vessel in the Orion Nebula reports of a village on a small planet, interest is high. Interest is replaced by intrigue when a follow-up mission arrives a few months later and there are no signs of the village. How does a town completely vanish - buildings and all? This is a question that Alex Benedict, archeologist/explorer/antiquities dealer wants to know as well.  And of course, if there is any small artefact left behind, it could bring a good price at auction. Alex and his associate Chase Kolpath and Alex's uncle Gabe head out for the long voyage and will get more than they bargained for. I have...

 The problem with being an ancient god, even a Norse one, is that people stop believing in you are your power.   It is a thousand years after Ragnarok and the magic that the gods once wielded is dying out. Reggin is a young woman with some power but she is enslaved to Asger, a powerful fire demon being.  Her life is rough and she fights just to survive.  Eirik Halvorsen hasn't had things much easier. When his parents died, he and his sister were left in the care of their step-father - an angry, abusive man who now wants to take control of the Halvorsen land. But Eirik fights this, even going to court. In the settlement, he now will have one year to set sail and find a lost land. If he fails his stepfather gets the property. Eirik will meet Reggin on his journey and help her to escape her enslavement and she will head to a land that might still have magic left in it.  Is there any magic that will help Eirik maintain control of the family farm? I am definitel...

 1920's New York City. What a great time to be an active, young woman. But Vivian Kelly has been feeling stuck in a rut. She lives in a tenement building with her sister and she works long hours every day sewing in a dress shop. To escape this dull routine, Vivian enjoys the secret nightlife available in the big city. The Nightingale is an underground dance hall. Liquor flows so freely it would hardly seem to be illegal.  She's made friends with the bartender who will slip her a free glass of champagne now and then and she can dance the Charleston to her hearts content. Until one day when she discovers a body behind the club. Then a surprise raid on the club by the police (a surprise because there had been an agreement between the club owners and the police) and Vivian begins to realize that perhaps the body wasn't just a random vagrant, but someone of importance to people of power in the city. Vivian comes to realize that the people with money have more power than she ever...

We like to think that the scandalous behavior we see in the Netflix series, Bridgerton , is the folly of a writer's imagination (specifically that of Julia Quinn, author of the book series). But fiction so often can't hold a candle to the truth. Author Catherine Curzon does a deep dive in Britain's lascivious history and shares a number titillating tidbits that sometimes make Bridgerton seem quite tame by comparison. Nobility in the Georgian era appeared to have a strong libido - for anyone other than their partners. There were lots of rumors and lots of suspicions of adulterous behavior, but Curzon does a fine job with backing up much of this book with historical documentation. This comes primarily from newspaper accounts and legal trials ... husbands and wives would go to court to 'prove' infidelity (which was often the testimony of maids and servants as to seeing or hearing someone visiting rooms late at night) and the more prominent the persons the more the news...

 Ray Hanrahan is a once-famous painter now looking to have an exhibit of new work and hopefully reviving his fame. Ray is not a nice man.  He's a narcissist who loves to make his family miserable. His favorite target is his wife, Lucia.  She's an artist herself and she's been getting more attention and accolades than Ray.  Her art isn't the only way she defies her husband - she's having an affair with a local female politician, Priya. Ray and Lucia's children are not immune to Ray's behavior, though the oldest daughter, Leah, fiercely protects her dad and his interests. Son, Patrick, is perhaps overly sensitive and spends his time looking to get away from the house, and Jess, the younger daughter who did manage to escape the disfunction of home but is in a relationship with Martyn who happens to be obsessed with Ray and his work and would love to live in the Hanrahan home. The action of the book takes place over the course of two days as Ray plans a private...

 I have an amazing knack for picking up a book that is part of a series wherein I haven't read any of the previous books in said series.  I've done precisely that here, with this, The Timematician by Steven Bereznai. I liked the title, I liked the cover art - both drew me to wanting to read on. Doctor BetterThan is a superhero/supervillain who loves to crush his enemies and he hates his friends, always wanting him to work their way. But at the moment, Doctor BetterThan (or Dr BT) is all alone. Heroes and villains alike have all been killed.  This is the future he fought for ... a better future, where he is all that is left. Or ... is he? Dr BT's power is that he can reset his life to any point or any time he chooses.  Should a battle go wrong and he's about to die, he can just dial up a reset and do it all again, making sure to get it right.  Of course he doesn't need to do that when he's all alone - which is just how he likes it. Unfortunately there's a new...

 A collection of stories centered around libraries and those who work in them is a near-perfect concept for a book. What reader hasn't had an experience at some point with a library? What writer hasn't interacted with a librarian? I've come to have greater appreciation for the role of editor for a short story collection. The number of stories that a reader finds appealing or enjoyable definitely correlates with how much the readers' likes and dislikes falls in line with the editor's tastes. I've never read anything edited by Paula Guran before and it looks as though our tastes align by about 40%. I'm not sure what I was expecting as I started this book ... what kinds of stories would these be? ... but I was definitely surprised at how many of them seemed to have a scifi or fantasy feel to them.  Perhaps these are the only ones I remember? The first story in the collection, "In the House of the Seven Librarians" by Ellen Klages, was one of my favori...

 Ethel Muggs was a graduate of Riverdale High, alongside some of its better known students, such as Archie Andrews, Jughead Jones, Veronica Lodge and Betty Cooper. Ethel was the brilliant, quiet, rather frumpy looking girl generally ignored by the cooler kids and she couldn't wait to get out of town after graduation. Now Ethel is a writer, a reporter, living the glamorous life (ha!) in New York City when she's asked to go back to her home town to write a history of the city. She doesn't want to do it and asks for an outrageous fee ... which is met, so she'll have to journey home. Could it be as bad as she remembers it?  Will anyone even remember her? I probably shouldn't have picked this up, but I have a soft-spot for Archie Comics, plus I've enjoyed the dark reimagining Riverdale series, so I thought I might enjoy this as well.  I didn't. On too many levels - I may not list them all here. There is a difference between a graphic novel written as a graphic n...

John Tiffany - the James Bond for the Gen-X readers. Meaning darker, more violent, and the sex is much more in-your-face. He's a bounty hunter for some of the toughest cases on the books and he needs to think like a spy in order to infiltrate criminal organizations to catch his prey. He's cool under pressure and remains calm under the toughest of circumstances - which is a little surprising given how often he relies on luck to get out of a jam. He also has a penchant for the ladies - specifically high-class call-girls. Tiffany's Achille's Heel is his obsession with one particular escort - beautiful, sexy, and an accomplished pianist. He compares every woman to her (asks every escort if they play piano) and tries desperately to find her and wants to buy her out of whatever contract she may be in. But those in Tiffany's sights know about his obsession and will use it against him.  He becomes a Bounty Hunter with a bounty on his own head. The writing here by Stephen De...

 Lackadaisy is a historical fiction graphic novel set during the U.S.'s Prohibition era. Bootleggers, and speakeasies and budding romances. And the story is told with anthropomorphic cats.  Yeah, you read that right.  Walking, talking, shooting, loving, dressed to the nines ... cats. In an introduction to the ARC reader, author/artist Tracy Butler notes that "grown-up stories told with 'funny animal' characters are popular but rarely produced on a professional and commercial level" and that this book "scratches are rarely-scratched itch."  As a very long-time reader of just about every genre I can say that I've never been afflicted with this itch. In fact, I found this book a bit difficult to read because the characters didn't really mean anything to me.  They were cats.  Was this some strange alternate reality?  This made it more fantasy than historical fiction.  I just ... I just didn't understand why. The artwork IS gorgeous.  Every panel...

 I believe I've mentioned in previous reviews how I've become fascinated by the pulp noir fiction that was popular in the 1940's and 1950's and I've been watching, and enjoying, a slow return to this kind of writing.  Hard Case Crime books is a publishing house dedicated to this kind of fiction. Gun Honey: Blood for Blood is a sequel to Gun Honey. Both pulp noir, what makes them slightly unique is that they are graphic novels - not something you typically see in the noir genre. Our 'honey' is Joanna Tan, who gets her nickname because she has the ability to get a gun for you no matter where you are or when you need it. She's a one=person special ops force who's tried to retire but when someone is planting guns and running missions using her MO, she's forced out of retirement to clear her name.  But her foe turns out to be every bit as capable as Joanna herself. I didn't read the first graphic novel in the series and did feel I missed out on a...

 It has been years since I last read and reviewed a 'classic' superhero graphic novel (was it my 2019 review of a Green Lantern graphic novel?!) but I've been noticing an increase in Batman/Catwoman advertising and memes on social media, and it's got me interested in reading some comics or graphic novels again. I see that there's a series of Batman books titled "One Bad Day" featuring different enemies of the Dark Knight.  I'm not entirely sure why this particular book is a Batman story ... he features very little in the book and frankly his appearance was the least interesting part of the story. Selena "Catwoman" Kyle  is on the hunt for an old brooch. The item in question once belonged to her mother - a woman who struggled to live hand-to-mouth with two very young daughters in tow. Selena remembers her mother pawning the brooch - a family heirloom, one of the few items passed down through generations and came from the old country - just to ...

In my review of the last Elric collection, I noted that author Michael Moorcock had found an interesting way to bring the character 'back from the dead' by having Elric's spirit or 'essence' travel through dimensions and use other bodies in other times so that we could get a new variety of Elric stories.  With The Citadel of Forgotten Myths, Moorcock uses a more conventional method to give us more Elric ... stories that take place between the events of some of the previous books. Like all the Elric books, the book is comprised of three stories that tie together. The first two of these, "How Elric Pursued His Weird into the Far World" and "How Elric Discovered an Unpleasant Kinship" read like some of the best of the early Elric.  They're faster paced and have that good sword & sorcery element (fighting and magic).  The third story, "In Which Our Heroes Discover a Lost Past" is much more in the vein of the more recent stories (mo...

 This third volume in the Elric of Melniboné saga takes on a very different tenor than the previous seven books (compiled as collections, Elric of Melniboné: The Saga Vol 1 and Stormbringer: The Saga Vol 2 ). At the end of the previous collection Elric has died, so how do his adventures continue?  This is high fantasy, so that's an easy obstacle to overcome.  Elric is currently tied to a mast of a ship but is 'essence' or 'soul' or whatever you want to call his incorporeal self is able to travel through the Multiverse (different realities or planes of existence) and then even inhabit another body. I found this to be a very uneven collection, containing one of the best Elric books and one of the worst. (Reviews below.) The collection opens with an introduction (an essay) from Alan Moore. It's a combination of history/biography of Moorcock and his work and a bit of expression on how he (Moore) discovered Elric.   The end of the book contains some helpful ref...

 It's another era - closer now to our own time - and we're introduced to Oonagh, the grand-daughter of Oona and Ulric. She's enjoying her holiday in her grandparents' home when she's visited by a number of strangers. First it's Klosterheim and Gaynor von Minct - a pair likely up to no good. Then it's the mysterious Monsieur Zodiac with associates Oswald Bastable, the Chevalier St. Odhran, Lt. Fromental and Prince Lobkowitz who are looking to stop Klosterheim and von Minct. After an unnatural earthquake, Oonagh finds herself using the Multiverse to try to hide from Klosterheim and von Minct, hiding from Zodiac and his associates who are looking to help her.  She is not alone, however - she's aided by a talking fox (Lord Reynard, of course). One one plane of existence, Oonagh meets a blind, albino boy  by the name of Onric (who turns out to be the son of Elric and the Dreamthief Oone. All parties ultimately converge on one plane - where Hawkmoon struggles ...

 Elric in America?  Heck yeah!  This should be good! We learned in the previous book in this trilogy (The Dreamquest Trilogy) that Elric has become a non-corporeal being and can inhabit other planes of the Multiverse (if this sentence is already too strange for you, then this book is definitely not for you).  Let's see if I can possibly sum this up. The book starts with the narrative from Oona's point of view. Oona (Elric's daughter) and her husband Ulric von Bek are vacationing in Canada after saving the world(s) from the Nazis and World War II when Ulric is kidnapped. His captors are First Nation warriors from a different plane in the multiverse. Because Oona has the power to walk on the moonbeam roads between universes, she goes in search of er husband and encounters Ayanawatta - a First Nations women who claims to have been the model/inspiration for Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's 'Hiawatha.' Ayanawatta and Longfellow (who is also a moonbeam traveler) will...

There's no doubt in my mind that I never read this Elric novel prior to this.  I definitely would have remembered Elric and dragons and magic fighting World War II Germans! Given that Elric and all he held dear - his city and its people - were destroyed at the end of his last series of books, it was hard to imagine how we would get new stories.  Prequels? Stories to squeeze in between some of the others?  Oh, no ... Moorcock is too creative for this.  Instead, we get an Elric existing in a 1000 year 'dream state' or 'astral state' (think Doctor Strange from the Marvel Cinematic Universe) where each months-long (maybe years-long?) adventure takes barely a moment in his reality.  This provides a nearly limitless number of opportunities for adventures.  And what adventures! This story begins with Count Ulric von Bek, of Nazi Germany.  Ulric sees the rising threat of Hitler's Germany and does not want to be a part of it. Ulric's cousin, Gaynor, on the othe...

 Move over J.K.! Jonathan Stroud is here, writing incredible dark fantasy for young readers with a pair of strong, identifiable lead characters. Scarlett McCain and Albert Browne are an unlikely pair, often getting on each other's nerves, but the two need each other more than they likely can see or would care to admit. Scarlett has led a rogue life all her few years, and she's more than adept at getting out of a tight jam, whether it's stealing the un-stealable, or facing off against a squad of killers. Albert seems to be the mild-mannered, quiet child, constantly in need of Scarlett's help and approval. But the truth is, Albert is probably the more powerful of the pair. He doesn't use his power often, but wen he does everyone in his path, including Scarlett, is in danger. The two met up in the first book when Albert ran away from a home that was 'helping' him understand and harness his power. Now he's being hunted by an operative from the school - someo...