Empire of the Vampire by Jay Kristoff

Review by Melissa B. (dragoneyes)

I waited patiently for this one to come out. I watched as the publishing date changed a couple of times, pushing it out further, and still I waited. Finally, it released and soon after, I bought it. Then… I put it on my shelf. Oh, how I wanted to read it. The premise sounded so promising. Yet at 700+ pages, I couldn’t bring myself to read this one book when I could read 2-3 smaller ones in its place. Finally, more than a year later, I pulled it down, opened the cover, and fell in fully immersed. The journey was even better as there was beautifully done artwork scattered throughout.

The world in this book has been drowned in darkness. The days are dim with the sun barely showing, the nights are blacker than black. Vampires roam this world in search of humans for food and as slaves. They can come out in the day with its feeble light but are stronger in the nighttime. The vampires have also mated with the humans to create a hybrid. These hybrids have banded together to use the powers given to them by the bloodsuckers to destroy them. They call themselves silversaints and they are mankind’s last chance to take back this dark world.

Gabriel de Leon lives a simple life with a mother he loves, sisters he adores and a father that can’t stand him. Then one day, his sister is attacked by a vampire and his world starts to change forever. Finding out that his father is not his true father and the lies that he has been told, he is taken to the holy order train to be a silversaint. He finds that he does not have the special powers that his other brethren do so he trains twice as hard. Yet, the rules are too much for Gabriel and he finds that he does not agree with everything they teach. He is torn between being the warrior that he has trained for and the truth he feels in his heart. When he crosses the line, the order gives him no choice and banishes him.

The story unfolds as Gabriel, who at present time has been taken prisoner by the enemy, relives his tale to his captor. He tells of battles, of love, of betrayal. He talks of the Holy Grail and his quest to protect it. This tome is his tale and, boy, is it quite a tale. Not once did I get bored or feel the need to skim the pages. It held my attention from the first page to the last.

Now, a bit of a warning. There is a lot of violence in this book. It can be quite brutal with all of the slaying and such. It also has a ton of profanity. While cuss words do not really bother me in the least, I would have to say that this is the one and only problem I had with the book. The profanity was kind of funny in the beginning but then it started to wear on you. It was done so much that it ended up not being funny and caused massive eye rolling on my part. I think if it was toned down, at the moments when it could’ve really used them, it would’ve been more enjoyable. Instead it was just a constant in the book after you delved in a bit. Then, the last warning is that there is some sex scenes. Nothing overly graphic but they are there.

The vampire genre had gotten stale for me but this book renewed my faith that there are still good bloodsucking books out there. Excited to see that the second book should be coming out in 2024. Looking forward to getting my hands on it.

No Strangers Here (County Kerry, Bk 1) By Carlene O’Connor

Review by Melissa B. (dragoneyes)

Dr. Dimpna Wilde, veterinarian, left her hometown, Dingle, ages ago to raise her son and didn’t have plans to return. Then she receives a phone call about a possible murder and that her parents are the suspects. On top of that, she finds out her father has dementia. With her son grown and off on vacation and still mourning her husband’s suicide, Dimpna heads back to Dingle to clear her family’s name. Though that may be harder than she thought.

The story has a vast array of characters and at first it was hard to keep them all separate but it didn’t take long to settle down and become acquainted with each one. This is definitely a strong suit in the book. You come to love or despise them. Also, there are the secrets that are shed throughout the story. In a small town where everyone knew everybody, very little knew of the secrets each one held. It doesn’t take long for it to come to a head and the whole mess boils over.

I enjoyed the tale a lot and was entertained until the end. I was quite excited to see a mystery/thriller surrounded by the veterinary field. This just happens to be the profession I always wanted but never made it in to. I was a bit disappointed that there wasn’t more happening with working with the animals. There was an occasion here and there but it was mostly about the medication in the vet field. Still, here’s hope that the next book will add more of that into it.

NETTLE & BONE by T. Kingfisher

Review by Cyndi J. (cyndij)

This is a lovely standalone fantasy from award-winning author T.Kingfisher, who also writes as Ursula Vernon. It has well-drawn characters, excellent world-building, and moves along at just the right pace to keep you glued to the page.  The fairytale elements are not quite what we expect.  There are fairy godmothers to be sure, and a strong warrior, but also bone-dogs and dust-wives.

Marra is the third-born princess of a very small kingdom, with a deep-water port coveted by two larger kingdoms on either side. Marra’s sister is given in marriage to the prince of one of those, thereby assuring peace.  When Damia dies after only a few months, second sister Kania is sent to take her place. Marra is sent to a convent, conveniently out of the way but also held in reserve, although Marra doesn’t realize this. She’s happy at the convent.

At the birth of Kania’s daughter, Kania tells Marra something disquieting – but she’s in labor and Marra knows women say all sorts of things then. As the years pass Marra keeps getting letters saying Kania is with child, but there’s never a birth, so she knows there must be multiple miscarriages. And when the surviving daughter dies, Marra learns the awful truth at the funeral. She has to save her sister. But how? Every idea ends up with Kania dead or their little kingdom in ruins. Oh, wait… there’s one way…

Thus begins her quest to kill Prince Vorling. But he was given protection at birth by a powerful godmother’s blessing. Marra needs a powerful witch too, so she finds a dust-wife. The dust-wife sets her three impossible tasks, and after Marra accomplishes two of them, throws up her hands in exasperation. “You give someone an impossible task so they won’t be able to do it” she says, and gives Marra the third as a freebie. Then she joins Marra and Bonedog to get what they need for the task. They rescue a man from the goblin market, and find Marra’s fairy godmother. Let’s not forget the demon chicken.

This is such a good book. It really would be a grim fairy tale if not for the gentle humor that Kingfisher infuses all through the story.  The dialogue is spot-on for the characters. I loved how Marra steps up to save her sister, even though they never got along as children. I loved Agnes, Marra’s fairy godmother, who is better at curses than blessings, but won’t use curses.  Fenris, the dust-wife, even Bonedog are all rich characters. We can relate to Marra’s mother who we see only in a few paragraphs. The scenes are vivid – you will be repelled by the goblin market and feel yourself lost in the dark of the tombs. The ending is deeply satisfying.

I highly recommend this to any fantasy fan, adult or YA.

The Librarian of Crooked Lane by C.J. Archer

Review by Melissa B. (dragoneyes)

This was a delightful surprise. Although, I thought I would enjoy this book, I didn’t realize that I would relish it as much as I did. There is a smattering of magic and romance with a heap of mystery. While I am not the romance type, it was nicely done and I actually liked it.

The story centers around Sylvia Ashe, a librarian that loves her job but not necessarily who she works for. Her days are made brighter on the times that her dear friend, Daisy, pops in unannounced.

Sylvia’s past is unknown. Never knowing her father and her mother refusing to talk about it, all she could do is guess. Then she finds that she might be descended from magicians. Although doubtful, she sets off, with help from Daisy, on a quest to find out. She ends up meeting Gabe, a handsome war hero, and hopes that he can help. He ends up not having answers to her questions but in a tangle of events, they both help each other on a mission to find out who stole a painting.

The adventure was fun and the characters were magnificent. I truly had lots of fun reading this story. I would’ve have loved it more if it delved deeper into the magic but hoping to see that happen in book two, The Medici Manuscript.

Mr. Campion and Others by Margery Allingham

Review by Matt B. (BuffaloSavage)

These 13 short stories star Allingham’s series PI, Albert Campion. They were first published in the UK in the late thirties and made their way in the US, through Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine, during WWII.

Allingham was a professional who cared about her craft. Without being fancy about vocabulary and grammar, she created well-turned sentences and phrases with neat twists and turns. This is the start of The Name on the Wrapper:

Mr. Albert Campion was one of those useful if at times exasperating people who remain interested in the world in general at three o’clock on a chilly winter’s morning. When he saw the overturned car, dark and unattended by the grass verge, therefore, he pulled up his own saloon and climbed out on to the road, whose frosty surface was glistening like a thousand diamonds.

In the early novels Campion has Wimsey-esque goofiness, but he evolves – mercifully, to my mind – to become not quirky, but human and plausible. The humor often comes out of Campion’s being mildly scandalized – but never shocked – at what people will get up to. This kind of subtlety, I think, is beyond Lord Peter or Hercule.

Happily, his sidekick Oates pops up in many of the stories. This, from the beginning of The Old Man in the Window:

Newly appointed Superintendent Stanislaus Oates was by no means intoxicated, but he was cheerful, as became a man celebrating an important advance in a distinguished career, and Mr. Campion, who sat opposite him at the small table in the corner of the chop-house, surveyed the change in his usually taciturn friend with interest.

More than a few of these stories are a tad on the thin side, so readers who want more substantial fare should stick with the novels. On the other hand, this is perfect reading for waiting rooms, lobbies, departure lounges and other moderately stressful situations.

The Ice Lion by Kathleen O’Neal Gear

Review by Melissa B. (dragoneyes)

A tale that is set in the far future where the earth is now in ice age. It is cold and growing colder. Humans have survived but they are not like the humans of today. They look different and are more adaptable to the freezing terrain. There are also animals that survived. Some are the prey of man and others, the man is the prey. It is a brutal world and you must keep watch for hungry beasts, severe weather and other savage clans.

In this book we meet the Sealion People. From the very beginning there is a tragic event that sets Lynx, a kind-hearted boy, off on a journey to find himself. Along the way he meets and elderly man that looks very different from any clan member that he has ever seen. He realizes later that the old man is the last of the Jemen. Stories tell of these transcendental beings that existed long ago and created the people that now exist so that mankind would not go extinct. Together, they set off only to get separated trying to help others.

Quiller, who is in love with Lynx and also a good friend, sets off with a group to try to find him. They come upon a massacre of a rival clan and find 3 children who survived. Quiller automatically takes them under her protection. Now burdened with the decision of taking care of the children or finding her friend, she goes on her own journey.

While I really enjoyed the story and found the characters charismatic, I did struggle with the backstory for this one. I didn’t feel that the Jemen, the climate change incident and the odd things they found were well developed. I got more of what happened in the past by reading the synopsis of the book than the book itself. Hoping that book 2 will go into more depth on that topic.

LAST YEAR by Robert Charles Wilson

Review by Cyndi J. (cyndij)

Sometime in the near future, time travel will be discovered. The Mirror, as they call it, has some limitations. It has a range – you can’t go back to the very near or the very far past.  And once you go into the past, you’ve really traveled into an alternate universe. The future of that place is now irretrievably changed from yours. There are no paradoxes – going back to kill the person who was your grandfather has no effect on you, because you’re no longer in the universe you came from. You can, however,  go back to your own future via the Mirror.

And so, to what amazing use has the Mirror been put? Tourism.  August Kemp opened a Mirror in 1870s, built a futuristic City in Ohio, and is selling tour packages to visitors from his time and carefully curated experiences of the City to 19th century customers. Many of the workers in the City are locals, who earn good money but are also not allowed to know everything about future technology.  The City has a limited shelf life though – the more exposure there is to the future, the more diversion there is from recorded history, and it becomes less interesting to the tourists. Five years in operation, and then it closes forever.

Jesse Cullum was once a drifter who got hired by the City. Jesse does low-level security jobs until the day he saves President Ulysses S. Grant from a would-be assassin. A 19th century assassin who is using a Glock-19 pistol, no less. Kemp is impressed by Jesse and teams him up with 21st century employee Elizabeth DePaul to investigate how the local got the forbidden weapon.   As Jesse and Elizabeth uncover a much bigger problem than one stray gun, they also become lovers. A doomed romance to be sure, because neither one of them can nor wants to stay forever in the other’s world.

But this is not a book focused on Jesse and Elizabeth’s relationship. Nor is it focused on the mechanics of time travel, although there’s an interesting bit about where the Mirror comes from.  The smuggling investigation is in the forefront although it is also more of a framework for the big questions.  Can you ethically provide access to technological marvels and then yank them away? Should you attempt to right the wrongs of the past, hoping it will lead to a better outcome?  And the alternate – if you know your present actions lead to future disaster, shouldn’t you change?  Wilson doesn’t beat you over the head with all this either, it’s nicely integrated into the rest of the plot.

Wilson’s characters don’t express reams of emotion, but they have plenty of trauma to be explored.  Jesse is very tolerant and accepting for the time, but there’s a reasonable explanation for it.  Elizabeth has her own issues, with a compelling reason to go back (and not just for indoor plumbing).  Eventually they will end up in lawless San Francisco, with the Mirror about to close, and everything else coming to a pulse-pounding head.

It’s a standalone novel, so the entire story is contained nicely. It has plenty of action to keep the pace moving along, decent characterizations, excellent imagery, and interesting philosophical questions.  It’s also one of the few time-travel novels that didn’t make me want to quibble about how it works. I recommend it.