A Prayer for the Crown-Shy by Becky Chambers | Book Review

“Oh, that’s lovely,” Mosscap said.

“What Is?” said Dex.

Mosscap pointed. “Crown shyness is so striking, don’t you think?”

A Prayer for the Crown-Shy by Becky Chambers

SERIES: Monk & Robot #2

LENGTH: 152 pages

GENRES: Science Fiction, LGBT+, Fiction

PUBLISHER: Tordotcom Publishing

RELEASE DATE: 12 July 2022

BOOK DESCRIPTION:

A Prayer for the Crown-Shy is a story of kindness and love from one of the foremost practitioners of hopeful SF.

After touring the rural areas of Panga, Sibling Dex (a Tea Monk of some renown) and Mosscap (a robot sent on a quest to determine what humanity really needs) turn their attention to the villages and cities of the little moon they call home.

They hope to find the answers they seek, while making new friends, learning new concepts, and experiencing the entropic nature of the universe.

Becky Chambers’s new series continues to ask: in a world where people have what they want, does having more even matter?

My Review

The thing about fucking off to the woods is that unless you are a very particular, very rare sort of person, it does not take long to understand why people left said woods in the first place.

A Prayer for the Crown-Shy, though not quite hitting the same spots for me as A Psalm for the Wild-Built that convinced me to give it a perfect star rating, was still a very fantastic novella to read. I really enjoyed my time with this book, as well as being heck in this world and seeing Dex and Mosscap again. I was a bit worried that it wouldn’t live up to the first one enough, which is why I put off reading it for a bit, but luckily my concerns were unfounded.

This little sequel builds a little bit on the world first introduced in Psalm. But gently – this is still a soft sci-fi series, after all. Not to mention that these little books are primarily character focused. But yeah, I enjoyed reading about Dex and Mosscap going around and interacting with people and places here, it felt like a very natural way to explore (and explain) the world.

It was also such a treat to meet new characters and have Dex have more than a couple lines of dialogue with them. Don’t get me wrong – I love how the first novella pretty much completely focused on Dex’s thought process and his evolving new friendship with Mosscap. But I really, really like character interaction, and a good chunk of book one is just walls of text.

The new characters we met were pretty decent too. At the very least their dialogue was good. It flowed naturally and felt like actual conversations. My favorite interactions were with Dex’s family (finally we get to meet them!) and one that almost entirely happens off-screen interactions with Ms. Amelia. (The one we see is also funny, but the implied interactions between Mosscap and the old lady seem golden.)

“Is this customary?” Mosscap whispered to Dex as Leroy fetched some herbs from the pots on his windowsill. “In some of the books I read last night, people made each other breakfast after having sex, but not universally.”

Dex threw Mosscap a look and lowered their voice as far as it would go. “What kind of books does Ms. Amelia collect?”

“Oh, entirely pornography,” Mosscap said. “It was very educational.”

Of course, the heart of this story is still the growing friendship between Dex and Mosscap, and how it changes them as a person and an object. Dex is also still struggling with the stuff from Psalm as well and, at the moment, Mosscap is currently the only one they feel comfortable sharing with. Mosscap is also going through it a little – as it’s realizing that it is getting older, and may start to break down sooner rather than later. Time keeps moving, after all.

And it wouldn’t be a Monk & Robot book without discussions of philosophy and self, so of course there’s a bunch of that here, once again. Not to the degree of the first book, ’cause of the slight differences in story structure, but A Prayer for the Crown-Shy definitely doesn’t… shy away from the topic either.

“Well, I didn’t know then,” Dex said, “and I still don’t. But what I do know is… you help. You’re helping me figure it out. Just by being here. You help.”

“Then we have the same answer,” Mosscap said. “I don’t know, either. But you are my best help, Sibling Dex.”

All in all, this is an absolutely solid follow-up to A Psalm for the Wild-Built. I love the soft sci-fi system, and how character focused it is. And I definitely recommend A Prayer for the Crown-Shy to those who enjoy these things as well, and who like quieter and more contemplative stories.

As always, thank you to everyone for reading, and I hope you have an amazing day/night!

See ya ~Mar

MY LINKS:

Goodreads

Instagram

Lake of Souls by Ann Leckie | Book Review

There was a lake by the village, but it wasn’t the Lake of Souls.

Lake of Souls: The Collected Short Fiction by Ann Leckie

LENGTH: 416 pages

GENRES: Fantasy, Science Fiction, Short Stories, Fiction

PUBLISHER: Orbit

RELEASE DATE: 2 April 2024

BOOK DESCRIPTION:

Hugo, Nebula, and Arthur C. Clarke award-winner Ann Leckie is a modern master of the SFF genre, forever changing its landscape with her groundbreaking ideas and powerful voice. Now, available for the first time comes the complete collection of Leckie’s short fiction, including a brand new novelette, Lake of Souls.

Journey across the stars of the Imperial Radch universe.

Listen to the words of the Old Gods that ruled The Raven Tower.

Learn the secrets of the mysterious Lake of Souls.

And so much more, in this masterfully wide-ranging and immersive short fiction collection from award-winning author Ann Leckie.

My Review

“The days are longer near the end, are they not?”

The Lake of Souls short fiction collection by Ann Leckie has been on my radar since it came out earlier this year, in April. I’ve been interested in reading it since; I don’t read collections of short stories super often, and I’ve wanted to read more of them. So when I found out about this one, it immediately caught my eye.

And… it was pretty good. I liked most of the stories included here, and some of them I even really enjoyed. I’ve also been interested in picking up something by Leckie for a while, but wasn’t quite sure if I wanted to dive into anything, or which of her works I wanted to. This collection gives a very nice glimpse into her style and the way she writes. And I’m very glad I read this just for that. I wish more authors would do this, it gives a great look into the way people write without committing to something too large or time consuming, and allows a reader to experience a smaller sample of their writing.

A good chunk of these little stories were extra tales from universes that Leckie has already published works for, so I think a few things might have gone over my head, or I otherwise enjoyed some of the stories less than I might’ve because of this. All the stories were very followable, however, and I never got confused with anything that was going on with any of them. So if you’ve never read any of the author’s other stuff, you don’t have to worry about not understanding things. They’re all written in such a way that a newcomer shouldn’t feel overwhelmed.

“There are hard ways to do things, and easy ways,” said Saest. “The hard ways cost more. If a god makes a general statement, it could easily come true the hardest way possible. And it might have other consequences.”

Speaking of the short stories featured in Lake of Souls, these are my favorites:

Footprints
The Justified
The Sad History of the Tearless Onion (Note: This one is my favorite.)
Night’s Slow Poison
The Creation and Destruction of the World
The Nalender
The Unknown God
Saving Bacon

All the others are at least very interesting, though they didn’t grab me as much as these. All of the little tales included here are all very diverse, and I think that anyone will find a story to enjoy here.

I especially loved all of the varied settings and characters included in all of these different stories. Even the ones from universes the author had already created were all very distinct from one another, at least to some degree. Honestly, reading this collection made me interested in someday maybe picking up one of Leckie’s other works. (Which was definitely one of the goals of this short fiction collection, I’m sure.)

Can you speak of a thing without naming it?

I enjoyed my time with Lake of Souls and I’m glad I read it. Genuinely, I kind of recommend this to anybody – as long as you enjoy sci-fi or fantasy, that is – because I feel like everyone might find something to like here (as I mentioned earlier).

Anyway, as always, thanks to everybody so much for reading, and I hope you have an incredible day/night!

See ya ~Mar

“All humans die. The question is only when and how. Would you prefer a death you chose knowing the true circumstances? Or would you prefer to die deluded?”

“I would prefer not to die.”

MY LINKS:

Goodreads

Instagram

First Line Friday: 5/17

It’s been a few weeks, but here I am again, participating in another First Line Friday.

First Line Fridays is a weekly feature for book lovers (formerly) hosted by Wandering Words, but I saw it over at One Book More.

What if instead of judging a book by the cover, author or most everything else, we judged it by its content? Its first lines?

If you want to join in, all you gotta do is:

📚 Take a book off your shelf (it could be your current read or on your TBR) and open it to the first page
📝 Copy the first few lines, but don’t give anything else about the book away just yet – you need to hook the reader first
📙 Finally… reveal the book!

Here’s the first lines:

The thing about fucking off to the woods is that unless you are a very particular, very rare sort of person, it does not take long to understand why people left said woods in the first place.

Any ideas on what the book is? Here’s another hint if you don’t know.

Still don’t know what it is? Here’s some gorgeous photos of books to look at while you think…

Annnd the book is… 🥁🥁 A Prayer for the Crown Shy by Becky Chambers!!

(Were you able to guess it?)

A Prayer for the Crown Shy by Becky Chambers

SERIES: Monk & Robot #2

LENGTH: 152 pages

GENRES: Science Fiction, LGBT+, Fiction

PUBLISHER: Tordotcom Publishing

RELEASE DATE: 12 July 2022

BOOK DESCRIPTION:

A Prayer for the Crown-Shy is a story of kindness and love from one of the foremost practitioners of hopeful SF.

They hope to find the answers they seek, while making new friends, learning new concepts, and experiencing the entropic nature of the universe.

Becky Chambers’s new series continues to ask: in a world where people have what they want, does having more even matter?

What books have you been reading lately? What’s on your TBR that you’re currently the most excited about?

As always, thank you for reading, and I hope you have an great day/night!

See ya ~Mar

A Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers | Book Review

“Remnants are powerful things. Hard to ignore. But you have the sense and the tools to avoid getting sick from that water. And I… I know that the world I’m headed to is not the world the originals walked away from.”

A Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers

SERIES: Monk & Robot #1

LENGTH: 147 pages

GENRES: Science Fiction, LGBT+, Fiction

PUBLISHER: Tordotcom Publishing

RELEASE DATE: 13 July 2021

BOOK DESCRIPTION:

In A Psalm for the Wild-Built, bestselling Becky Chambers’s delightful new Monk and Robot series, gives us hope for the future.

It’s been centuries since the robots of Panga gained self-awareness and laid down their tools; centuries since they wandered, en masse, into the wilderness, never to be seen again; centuries since they faded into myth and urban legend.

One day, the life of a tea monk is upended by the arrival of a robot, there to honor the old promise of checking in. The robot cannot go back until the question of “what do people need?” is answered.

But the answer to that question depends on who you ask, and how.

They’re going to need to ask it a lot.

Becky Chambers’s new series asks: in a world where people have what they want, does having more matter?

My Review

If you ask six different monks the question of which godly domain robot consciousness belongs to, you’ll get seven different answers.

I’ve read very few books in my life that I’ve considered perfect (or near-perfect, honestly), but A Psalm for the Wild-Built was absolutely one of them. Some might not consider it so, but this one really resonated with me, and it was a bit of an eye-opening read for me.

The journey itself and the basic plot was sweet. I really like how this whole thing was driven by Dex’s need to hear crickets – which are uncommon are living quite a distance from human civilization in A Psalm for the Wild-Built’s world. But as the novella goes on, you as the reader, begin to realize that this isn’t exactly what Dex really wants or needs. And it was beautiful and heartbreaking and so, so relatable when everything comes to light.

Also, I really found Dex to be very relatable. Their thoughts and feelings, which slowly came to light through their conversations with Mosscap (the co-protagonist), really felt like stuff I’ve had running through my head at several points in the last couple of years. Particularly the need to feel like you’re fulfilling a purpose or doing something to benefit other people or the world as a whole. That… was something that really resonated for me. I’ve never felt this much on the wavelength of a character I followed in a novel before, or said novel in general. It made me feel a lot better about myself, and also that I’d read this book sooner.

I also really enjoyed Mosscap and it and Dex’s slowly growing friendship. The character moments and growth was fantastic. It all almost felt slice-of-life. This was a very character driven story, which is not something I always like, but if it’s written well (which it was) and it hits just the right spot (which it did), then it’s amazing.

If you haven’t read this novella yet, I recommend you do so. It isn’t very long, and it’s a very sweet and relatable story. It’s a great little soft sci-fi experience, and I think that everyone should at least give it a shot.

Anyway, as always, thank you everyone so much for reading, and I hope that you have a fantastic day/night!

See ya ~Mar

Favorite Quotes

It was an odd feeling. Any other day, the act of going through a door was something Dex gave no more thought to than putting one foot in front of the other. But there was a gravity to leaving a place for good, a deep sense of seismic change.

Sometimes, a person reaches a point in their life when it becomes absolutely essential to get the fuck out of the city.

The robot noted this. “Did you just apologize to the bloodsuck for killing it?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“It didn’t do anything wrong. It was acting in its nature.”

“Is this typical of people, to apologize to things you kill?”

“Yeah.”

“I can go a hundred miles, give or take.”

“So, that’s… sorry, I’m slow at math.”

Dex frowned. “What?” How was the robot slow at math?

“Hush, I can’t multiply and talk at the same time.”

“We don’t have to fall into the same category to be of equal value.”

“I am made of metal and numbers; you are made of water and genes. But we are each something more than that. And we can’t define what that something more is simply by our raw components.”

“But that’s… that’s immortality. How is that less desirable?”

“Because nothing else in the world behaves that way. Everything else breaks down and is made into other things.”

“It’s pretty here,” Dex said. “I wouldn’t have imagined I’d say that about a place like this, but—”

“Yes, it is,” Mosscap said, as if making a decision within itself. “It is. Dying things often are.”

Dex raised an eyebrow. “That’s a little macabre.”

“You keep asking why your work is not enough, and I don’t know how to answer that, because it is enough to exist in the world and marvel at it. You don’t need to justify that, or earn it. You are allowed to just live. That is all most animals do.”

“Then how,” Dex said, “how does the idea of maybe being meaningless sit well with you?”

Mosscap considered. “Because I know that no matter what, I’m wonderful,” it said.

MY LINKS:

Goodreads

Instagram

System Collapse by Martha Wells | Book Review

I gained interesting insights, ART- drone said. You should stop worrying.

Yeah, I’ll just code a patch to stop feeling anxiety, wow, why didn’t I think of that earlier. (That was sarcasm, I have too much organic neural tissue for that to work.) (Of course I’ve already tried it.)

System Collapse by Martha Wells

SERIES: The Murderbot Diaries (Book #7)

LENGTH: 245 pages

GENRES: Science Fiction, Fiction

PUBLISHER: Tor.com

RELEASE DATE: 14 November 2023

BOOK DESCRIPTION:

Am I making it worse? I think I’m making it worse.

Everyone’s favorite lethal SecUnit is back.

Following the events in Network Effect, the Barish-Estranza corporation has sent rescue ships to a newly-colonized planet in peril, as well as additional SecUnits. But if there’s an ethical corporation out there, Murderbot has yet to find it, and if Barish-Estranza can’t have the planet, they’re sure as hell not leaving without something. If that something just happens to be an entire colony of humans, well, a free workforce is a decent runner-up prize.

But there’s something wrong with Murderbot; it isn’t running within normal operational parameters. ART’s crew and the humans from Preservation are doing everything they can to protect the colonists, but with Barish-Estranza’s SecUnit-heavy persuasion teams, they’re going to have to hope Murderbot figures out what’s wrong with itself, and fast!

Yeah, this plan is… not going to work.

My Review

I am not meant to function without multiple simultaneous inputs. If this was what being a human was like, it sucked massively.

Sooo… this review is like, extremely late. I had fully intended to post this review sometime early last week, before Thanksgiving, but I just ended up being too busy and stressed out.

But I’m back at the blog, and finally here with my review of System Collapse by Martha Wells. This was probably my most anticipated book of 2023 and it was… fine. Pretty good even. It just turned out a little differently than I expected. Honestly, I’m still on the fence about my rating for this novel – I’m torn between four stars or four and a half.

Let’s just get into it…

• The characters

ART- drone reached out a limb to Iris. My function is impaired, Iris. So is SecUnit’s.

Will you shut the hell up? I said.

You shut up, it replied.

“Let’s everybody shut up and get in the flyer,” Iris said, and shouldered ART- drone’s limb, taking part of its weight.

I’ve always felt that the characters were the strongest part of the Murderbot Diaries, particularly its titular character, and the same is still true here. But this story focused more on an internal conflict that Murderbot is dealing with. So the other characters I love from this series took a backseat in this book.

SecUnit also didn’t seem to be nearly as sassy as it usually is. There weren’t all that many fantastic and funny quotes and dialogue compared to the rest of the series that I noticed. And that’s one of my favorite things about this series – I love how sassy and fun it is. And yeah, I understand that Murderbot was working through something, but everything seemed to matter a lot less than its thoughts on what it was going through. Constantly.

But when other characters did feature, and SecUnit did interact with them, it was fantastic. These were my favorite moments reading and I wish there were more of them. ART actually had more pagetime than I initially gave it credit for, now that I think about it, and its banter with SecUnit is always a treat.

• The plot

“I’ve fucked everything up,” I’d told ART.

ART had said, That’s nothing new.

I didn’t really care about it. It was about saving the descendents of the colonists that were found on the planet in book five. But I never found myself caring about these people, then or now. They just felt like a motivation or a plot device in order for SecUnit and ART and its crew and Preservation to do stuff.

Honestly, the A plot just felt like it was stalling in order for the B plot to happen. Which was Murderbot’s inner conflict – that its organic neural tissue is starting to exhibit signs of PTSD. Which was far more interesting to me than the thing with the colonists.

• Other favorite quotes

I didn’t say anything. (I know I get pissed off when humans don’t acknowledge my work, but why is too much acknowledgment also upsetting? Sentience sucks.)

and

You’re stalling, ART- drone said. I am not. I can stand here and be useless without any ulterior motives, thanks.

and

So the next time I get optimistic about something, I want one of you to punch me in the face.

and

I was not even going to respond to that. ART had told Mensah it wouldn’t push me. Just because its MedSystem was certified for emotional support and trauma recovery it thought it knew everything.

and finally

Wow, you don’t think it can get any worse, and it always does.

• Final Thoughts

This review is a little shorter than usual, but I’m honestly struggling with stuff to say about it. I think that’s another reason why this review took so long. I just don’t have too many opinions on it.

But System Collapse is still a solid addition to the Murderbot Diaries. It was still fun and sassy, even if it was less so than usual. This is a must read for anyone who enjoys the rest of the series, especially since the ending sets up a new arc for the series.

Thank you so much for reading, and have an awesome day/night!

See ya ~Mar

My Links:

Goodreads

Instagram

My review of the first six books in The Murderbot Diaries

My review of the Murderbot Diaries short story Home

Home: A Murderbot Diaries Short Story by Martha Wells | Book Review

As Ephraim gets up and Ayda can finally walk out of this damn room, she replies to SecUnit’s latest requisition form. It’s for a gunship nearly the size PortFreeCommerce’s transit ring: I think you made this one up.

Home: Habitat, Range, Niche, Territory by Martha Wells

SERIES: The Murderbot Diaries

LENGTH: 20 pages

GENRES: Science Fiction, Fiction

PUBLISHER: Tor Books

RELEASE DATE: 19 April 2021

BOOK DESCRIPTION:

Knowing what would happen, she wouldn’t choose a different planet, a different bond company. Because then SecUnit would still be someone’s property, would be waiting for the contract where the negligence or greed or indifference of its clients got it killed.

This short story directly follows the events in Exit Strategy and is told from the point of view of Dr. Mensah, who is still recovering from the events of that novella.

My Review

SecUnit is looking down at her. “You can hug me if you need to.”

“No. No, that’s all right. I know you don’t care for it.” She wipes her face. There are tears in her eyes, because she’s an idiot.

This review is gonna be pretty short, as Home – being a short story – is naturally short. Like, it’s only like 20 pages or so. So none of my section/heading breaks today.

Seeing as System Collapse’s release is imminent, I finally decided to read and review the only Murderbot Diaries thing I hadn’t yet. I don’t know why I never read it when I read the others – I guess that’s just life?

So yeah, this is a little Murderbot story – but instead of our favorite SecUnit narrating it, it was a 3rd person POV from Dr. Ayda Mensah. The story takes place very soon after the fourth novella, Exit Strategy, and is probably best read then.

I rather liked it – Martha Wells always has good prose, and it’s nice to hear from another character in this universe who isn’t SecUnit for once – as much as I love that construct. Mensah is also one of my favorite characters, and I really enjoyed seeing her relationship with Murderbot from her perspective. It was also interesting to see more of the PTSD that we heard about in Network Effect, but didn’t really see – at least Dr. Mensah’s since she wasn’t present much.

“I’ll see what I can do.”

It’s looking down at her still, and she could meet its gaze to make it look away, but that won’t make it retreat. “Is that a bribe?”

She can’t help a smile. It does sound like a bribe, just a little. “Depends. Will it work?”

“I don’t know. I never had a bribe before.”

So my final verdict is: If you have access to ebooks and stuff, and enjoy the other books in The Murderbot Diaries, then definitely pick this one up. It’s a quick and wholesome little read.

Thank you for reading, and I hope that you have a wonderful day/night!

See ya ~Mar

My Links:

Goodreads

Instagram

Can’t-Wait Wednesday: System Collapse

Good morning/afternoon/any other time of day everyone! It’s been a almost a month since the last time I made it for Can’t-Wait Wednesday. But I’m really excited for a novel coming out next week, so I thought it was more than time to do it again.

Can’t-Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Tressa @ Wishful Endings (and was previously hosted by Jill @ Breaking the Spine where it was known as Waiting on Wednesday) to spotlight and discuss the books we’re excited about that we have yet to read. They’re usually books that have not yet been released.

This week’s book is:

System Collapse by Martha Wells!

This is my most anticipated book of 2023. Ever since I first read All Systems Red, I’ve been a huge fan of The Murderbot Diaries. It’s probably my favorite sci-fi series. And this one’s another full novel to boot, like Network Effect, as opposed to a novella like the rest of the series.

System Collapse by Martha Wells

SERIES: The Murderbot Diaries (Book #7)

LENGTH: 256 pages

GENRES: Science Fiction, Fiction

PUBLISHER: Tor.com

RELEASE DATE: 14 November 2023

BOOK DESCRIPTION:

Am I making it worse? I think I’m making it worse.

Everyone’s favorite lethal SecUnit is back.

Yeah, this plan is… not going to work.

Are you a fan of The Murderbot Diaries? Do you like any of Martha Wells’ other works? What books are coming out that you’re looking forward to?

Thank you so much for reading and have an excellent day/night!

See ya ~Mar

“The Frugal Wizard’s Handbook for Surviving Medieval England” by Brandon Sanderson | Book Review

“There is no only when it comes to goodness and joy. The smallest amount is as large as the universe, and one boy saved from a pit is a precious work beyond that of any king’s treasury.”

The Frugal Wizard’s Handbook for Surviving Medieval England by Brandon Sanderson

ILLUSTRATOR: Steve Argyle

SERIES: Secret Projects #2 / Standalone Book

LENGTH: 400 pages

GENRES: Fantasy, Science Fiction, Fiction

PUBLISHER: Dragonsteel Books

RELEASE DATE: 11 April 2023

BOOK DESCRIPTION:

A man awakens in a clearing in what appears to be medieval England with no memory of who he is, where he came from, or why he is there. Chased by a group from his own time, his sole hope for survival lies in regaining his missing memories, making allies among the locals, and perhaps even trusting in their superstitious boasts. His only help from the “real world” should have been a guidebook entitled The Frugal Wizard’s Handbook for Surviving Medieval England, except his copy exploded during transit. The few fragments he managed to save provide clues to his situation, but can he figure them out in time to survive?

Note from Brandon:

Sometimes an idea just won’t let go of you for years. The initial seed of this novel was the title that eventually turned into The Frugal Wizard’s Handbook for Surviving Medieval England. At first there was no story go to with that title, but I wrote it down and kept coming back to it, wondering what that book could possibly be about. Something else I thought about off and on for years was the classic concept of a man waking up in another time and another place, with no idea how he got there. It was when those two ideas came together, and I placed a book with that title into that man’s hands, that this novel was born. I hope you’ll have as much fun with it as I did!

My Review

“So where did the first god come from?” I asked Ealstan.

“Licked from a rock by a cow,” Ealstan said with a perfectly straight face.

“Uh…”

“It was a very special cow.”

So, real talk – I’ve never actually read a Brando Sando book before. His books combined with his series are just too long. (Except for Steelheart, but I wasn’t able to get into that one at the time I tried to read it.) I just don’t feel comfortable committing to that, especially after my failed attempt to read A Song of Ice and Fire (I gave up a third of the way through A Clash of Kings.)

But then I heard about this book last week, and it was a standalone and it sounded fun. So, I decided to pick it up and give it a shot.

As far as first Sanderson books go, I give this one four stars. (I know I already said that above, but it’s a joke cuz the book has a bunch of star ratings in it.)

Speaking of the novel, let’s get into it.

I patted the tree I’d been hiding behind. “Thanks for the cover,” I whispered. “You’re a good tree. Tall, thick—and most importantly—wooden. Four and a half stars. Would hide behind you again. Half a point off for lack of refreshments.”

Our main character wakes up in a place he doesn’t recognize, and soon discovers that he has amnesia. And so begins his quest to figure out who he is, as well as what’s going on.

The MC, who introduces himself as Runian to the denizens of the medieval world he’s found himself in, is pretty entertaining to follow. I really liked his voice and how he rated different stuff about his adventure an allotment of stars. It’s an amusing little quirk of his. I also enjoyed his dynamic with the cast of characters that he teams up with.

These characters include Sefawynn, a skop – one who can speak the Wyrd. She’s smart and feisty, but she’s not a girlboss or a Mary Sue, which I very much appreciated. Her romance with Runian was also cute, even if I would’ve liked a little more development.

I also really liked Ealston. He’s loyal and brave, and he’s willing to give his life for his friends and loved ones. He also has his entertaining moments as well. Like when it’s revealed that he named his axe.

“Fine then. I’ll tell Ealstan how great bows are,” I said, “and how axes are mundane and lack finesse.”

“Here, now,” he said from the other side of my horse. “Don’t involve me in this. Heresy is one thing, but insulting Rowena is something else.”

“Wait,” Sefawynn said. “You named your axe?”

“Um, yes,” Ealstan said, looking away.

Sefawynn giggled.

Thokk was the best character though, hands down. I just like spicy old women who don’t take crap from anyone, okay? She was hilarious, and I loved how she kept following everyone around. She was a total gem.

“So…” Thokk whispered. “Why are we sneaking about again?”

“Again, elder,” Ealstan said. “This is dangerous. Perhaps you should—”

“Why should I care if it’s dangerous?” Thokk said. “Do you know how old I am? I probably only have a few months left. Not much to risk here! So what are we doing?”

Though the characterization was obviously the star of The Frugal Wizard’s Handbook, the story was pretty good too. A man trying to find his identity in an epic fantasy world? Awesome. Where can I read it?

The chapters from the “Frugal Wizard’s Handbook™” were also hilarious. Probably my favorite part of the book. This one in particular is my personal favorite:

The art was also really good. I loved how cute The Frugal Wizard’s Handbook™ stuff was. The artwork really adds to the novel, and it definitely wouldn’t have been the same without it.

So yeah, I thought that this novel was really fun. It was a change of pace from some of the SFF that I usually read, which I liked. And yes, Sanderson actually technically wrote an isekai/portal fantasy.

I don’t really know who to recommend this book to. I guess Brando Sando fans will probably enjoy it to some degree, but I also think those who like their humorous fantasy books will like it too.

Anyway, thank you so much for reading, and have an excellent day/night!

See ya ~Mar

Goodreads

Instagram

“Arch-Conspirator” by Veronica Roth | Book Review

“Sometimes you stare into the future, and you don’t like anything you see.”

Arch-Conspirator by Veronica Roth

LENGTH: 112 pages

GENRES: Dystopian, Science Fiction, Fiction

PUBLISHER: Tor Books

RELEASE DATE: 21 February 2023

BOOK DESCRIPTION:

“I’m cursed, haven’t you heard?”

Outside the last city on Earth, the planet is a wasteland. Without the Archive, where the genes of the dead are stored, humanity will end.

Antigone’s parents – Oedipus and Jocasta – are dead. Passing into the Archive should be cause for celebration, but with her militant uncle Kreon rising to claim her father’s vacant throne, all Antigone feels is rage.

When he welcomes her and her siblings into his mansion, Antigone sees it for what it really is: a gilded cage, where she is a captive as well as a guest.

But her uncle will soon learn that no cage is unbreakable. And neither is he.

My Review

Everything felt empty and strange, like the world had ended and we had slept through it.

I’m not gonna lie; part of the reason that I read this novella was to see if Veronica Roth grew at all as a writer in the past ten or so years.

It appeared not. I was disappointed.

I also wanted to read this because I wanted to read this. It just sounded so interesting. I’m a sucker for retellings. I’m also a sucker for a well-written, post apocalyptic, science fiction story. And Arch-Conspirator sounded like the best of both worlds. I was genuinely excited to read it.

Alas, it fell short for me in several regards.

I’m very aware that this is inspired by Antigone, a Greek play written by Sophocles around 441 B.C. I’m also somewhat familiar with it, and I brushed up a little on it after reading Roth’s novella. And I will concede that she does… something with her retelling. Just not as much as she could have.

WARNING: This review is not necessarily “spoiler-free.”

First off, I have to talk about the thing that I hated the most about this: the first person perspectives. They weren’t unique enough, and they felt like the same narrator. If every new chapter hadn’t come with a new POV identifier, I’m not sure how long it would’ve taken me to figure out whose point of view said chapter was from. They were that indistinct.

(Except for Polyneikes, but he only has one POV chapter before he dies. And no, that isn’t a spoiler, considering how he’s dead before the play this is based on, Antigone, even starts. And even then, his chapter hardly feels that different from the other characters.)

But not all things are guaranteed for all people. That is the way of things.

Secondly, I also didn’t like how quickly Polyneikes and Eteocles are fridged. Yes, they die in the original, but if you’re choosing to add them to your narrative, you can at least try to make them into actual characters. Eteocles doesn’t even get a POV chapter! We never learn his motives and opinions about his choice to “betray” his siblings first-hand. And this is a book full of different first person perspectives! Why then wouldn’t you even bother to give him one!?! Instead we hear about what he probably thought from his siblings, none of whom seemed to be all that close to him.

Anyway, I have to stop it there before it becomes a bigger rant than it already is. (And it doesn’t even compare to the rant I went on to my partner last night, lol.)

Lastly, the world building. To put it frankly: it kind of sucked. I know what you’re going to say. This is a novella and It’s too short for real world building. So, I say to you: No. No it’s not. You can put at least the barest minimum into it.

I asked my father, once, why he chose to curse us before we were born.

Let me clarify a few things though. The setting is fine. It’s the other aspects of Roth’s world building that my problem resides.

My problem is: I don’t believe what Arch-Conspirator is selling. I don’t believe that Antigone is angry, even though the text tells me that she is, because it never shows it. I don’t believe the reasons put out about why this society believes that Antigone and her siblings don’t have souls, but that stored DNA and genes do, because it’s not shown enough. This is also a huge problem with Roth’s other work, Divergent, and it is very prevalent here as well. Show don’t tell please!

Anyway, that’s it for this review. Arch-Conspirator wasn’t necessarily better written than the Divergent series, but at least it was short. People who like Veronica Roth’s stuff will probably like it though.

As always, thank you so much for reading, and have a great day/night!

See ya ~Mar

Goodreads

Instagram

Weekly Wrap-Up: 4/24 – 4/30

The Weekly Wrap-Up is back on schedule! Yay!

This last week was a bit less busy. Thank goodness. I was able to post quite a bit, and I even started a new post yesterday.

But that’s enough of a preamble. Let’s get into the wrap-up.

Tuesday 4/25: Chance Review

Last Tuesday, I finally posted my review of Chance by Matthew FitzSimmons. It’s a science fiction book that I was really on the fence about. I gave it ★★★☆☆.

My review of Chance

Wednesday 4/26: WWW Wednesday

On Wednesday I participated in another WWW Wednesday. WWW Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Sam @ Taking on a World of Words.

WWW Wednesday 4/26

Thursday 4/27: In the Lives of Puppets Review

Thursday was when I posted my review for the much anticipated, In the Lives of Puppets by TJ Klune. It’s a sci-fi inspired retelling of Pinocchio. I gave it ★★★★★.

My review of In the Lives of Puppets

Friday 4/28: First Line Friday

On Friday, I participated in First Line Fridays. First Line Fridays is a weekly feature (formerly) hosted by Wandering Words.

First Line Friday #12

Sunday 4/30: Popular Books That I’ve Read Never

Yesterday, I tried out a new thing I like to call Popular Books That I’ve Read Never. This is a post where I make a little list of popular books that I’ve never read. That’s it, that’s the post.

Popular Books That I’ve Read Never

Books I Read Last Week

Noragami: Stray God by Adachotoka — *(Rating is for entire manga.)*

Goals for 5/1 – 5/7

For the most part, I want to keep up the momentum of what I’m posting. I also want to do my monthly wrap-up for April, hopefully tomorrow. I’d also, if the day allows, really, really like to post another Majestic Monday, since it’s been so long, and I just like book covers so much.

Concerning my book consumption, I definitely want to read more than last week. I really feel like I could’ve read more, so I want to do so this week.

As always, thank you so much for reading, and have a wonderful day/night!

See ya ~Mar