I don’t know what happened here. How a book about an alternate history steampunk WWI where one side has Clankers, and the other genetically engineered flying beasts that double as airships could be so exceptionally uninteresting and generic, I really don’t know. Also one of the MC’s is the son of the murdered Archduke Franz Ferdinand. And the other is a girl who dresses as a boy! Also, also it was narrated by Alan Cumming! And yet, my mind wandered constantly while listening, and I […]
How to waste an unbelievably cool premise in execution.
I was realllly looking forward to this book. I mean, come on. An alternate history exploring what it would have been like if the Congo Free State (shudder) never existed due to the invention of steampunk-like technologies. Instead, and I’m gonna steal from the blurb here, “Fabian Socialists from Great Britain join forces with African-American missionaries to purchase land from the Belgian Congo’s ‘owner,’ King Leopold II. This land, named Everfair, is set aside as a safe haven, an imaginary Utopia for native populations of […]
What a delightful little book.
This sneaky little book is a sneaking sneakster. It sneaks right up on you, and you love it before you realize what’s happening. I actually read this book way before I meant to. I realized on my drive to Phoenix a couple of weeks ago that I was quickly going to run out of Pride and Prejudice audiobook, and I didn’t have a replacement on deck. Good old public library and OneClickDigital had this puppy featured, and I wanted to read it anyway, so why […]
La Diva Tarabotti returns to her home planet.
This series continues to be witty, fluffy fun. It’s really difficult not to just read one of these books in one sitting. They go down like ice cream on a hot day. With the exception of this one thing that I’ll get to later, there really isn’t much to say about this book. Carriger’s writing continues to be witty and fun, and sly in all the best ways. Her sense of humor is definitely in line with mine. Her characters are flawed and lovable. Her […]
Are you happy, Malin? I finally read this! (Also, thank you for my book.)
This book was soooooo not what I was expecting it to be. For some reason, I had it in my head that this was some sort of paranormal romance? And that it was sort of trashy? I have no idea where I got those ideas from, because they couldn’t be further from the truth. This book is epic fantasy, well-written, has intricate plotting, seriously intense worldbuilding . . . and it’s not your mom and pop’s epic fantasy, either. It’s sexy. Like, SEXY sexy. Sex […]
Let the Wentworthing Begin
I have been wanting to check out Naomi Novik’s Temeraire series for a few years now. It checks my dragons and alternate history boxes of interest. While reading, I shared my enthusiasm for the first book of the series on Facebook. Malin shared that she hadn’t been as enchanted because the book focuses more on the military maneuverings than on the dragons. This is a legitimate complaint, but not one I had. I had immediately pictured our hero, Captain Lawrence, a naval captain reluctantly turned […]