Convergence Zero Hour: Book 2
Tony Bedard, Cliff Richards and Kieth Giffen
Book
The past and present of every alternate DC Universe collide here in literally the biggest story in...
Gender and Rock
Book
The first book of its kind, Gender & Rock introduces readers to how gender operates in multiple...
Lirahlu (37 KP) rated Dread Nation in Books
Mar 1, 2019
Dread Nation is a fantastic mashup of the alternate history and horror genres. Ireland’s characters are intricate and flawed, and therefore believable. Ireland does not shy away from the horrific history of slavery and racism in the United States and the characters and world she’s built around them are stronger for facing these issues head-on. An absolute must-read for anyone who is not shy about gore and loves a strong female character who can hold her own in a fight.
Phil Leader (619 KP) rated Tongues of Serpents (Temeraire #6) in Books
Nov 27, 2019
Unfortunately the reality for me fell well short fo what I felt could be acheived. This is the first book by Novik I have read and perhaps starting at number 6 means I am missing something, but this just failed to gel.
The concept of the dragons being a reality and influencing history was one that was easy to grasp but so very little was done with it. The dragons themselves are quite dull - far from the spectacular beast of legend they have little interesting to do and virtually no personality. There is also not a great deal of plot strung out very thinly involving a chase across Australia, but it takes so long to get going and the chase is repettitive and didn't capture my imagination.
There are some sparks of good ideas here - the smuggling, the political issues in Sydney (caused by the governer - a certain Captain Bligh) - but they end up undeveloped and drowned by the plodding narrative which doesn't seem to want to examine anything that doesn't involve the dragons.
The central idea may have promise in other books of the series, just not this one. Sorry Naomi
MetaMAUS
Book
'Spiegelman has turned the exuberant fantasy of comics inside out by giving us the most incredible...
The Wes Anderson Collection: The Grand Budapest Hotel
Matt Zoller Seitz and Anne Washburn
Book
Wes Anderson's eighth feature film, a meticulously crafted, visually resplendent matryoshka-doll...
Carbide Tipped Pens
Book
In Carbide Tipped Pens, over a dozen of today's most creative imaginations explore these frontiers,...
Minds of Men (The Psyche of War #1)
Book
2018 Dragon Award Finalist--Best Alternate History Novel Evelyn Adamsen grew up knowing she had...
Goddess in the Stacks (553 KP) rated The Bird King in Books
May 22, 2019
The Bird King is the story of Fatima, concubine, and Hassan, mapmaker, on the run from the Inquisition. They were both members of the house of the last Sultan in Iberia. When the Spanish (and the Inquisition) came to negotiate his surrender, one of their conditions was they wanted Hassan, because of the magic he used in his maps. Hassan has been Fatima's only real friend; he's the only man that wanted nothing from her, because he's gay and unmoved by her beauty. His sexuality has been largely ignored by the court; his maps were too important to the war effort, so it was tolerated and just not spoken of. When Fatima discovers the Sultan intends to turn Hassan over, she runs away with him. She has some unexpected help in her journey, which, along with Hassan's mapmaking, makes this a kind of magical realist historical fantasy novel. It's not really alternate history, because nobody's actions change how history plays out on a large scale.You can find all my reviews at http://goddessinthestacks.com