I have been reading a lot this year, and nearly all the books I have read have had me thinking about being used and being of use. Daniel O’Malley’s excellent Stiletto, which revisits the Checquy and it’s collection of supernatural government servants, fits right into this pattern. For those who have not read The Rook, the background here is that Britain has a entire government agency made up of agents with mysterious powers, ranging from people who increase the fertility of those who surround them […]
A Superhero Thriller that Doesn’t Take Itself too Seriously
This book is up there with Ready Player One and Lock In in terms of future and technology themes. It’s also similar to Mission Impossible and X-Men, among others. Basically, Myfanwy (rhymes with Tiffany), wakes up with no memory. Oh, and there’s dead people all around. But she finds clues to her situation in notes left by…herself? Or whoever was in her body before her? Still not clear on that. Myfanwy learns right away she can take the equivalent of the blue pill or the […]
Chess, Blades, and Now I wait
I liked Stiletto. It had a lot of the great elements from The Rook, with a few new ones. There was action, supernatural weirdness, and snark aplenty. The Checquy and The Grafters are in the middle of negotiating their merge and of course things go wrong and get complicated. Much of the story focuses on 2 new characters, one from each side: Pawn Felicity Clements, and Odette Leliefeld, descendent of the founder of the Grafters. The perspective switches back and forth between the two, which […]
I’m not actually sure O’Malley did much chess research
The Rook is an urban fantasy novel and was The Sword and Laser’s pick for December. It’s been on my TBR pile for a while, so this was the kick I needed to get started, and I found it extremely readable. The plot is paced quickly and the characters likeable. I’m looking forward to reading book two and kind of hoping there are more to come in the series. Myfanwy (rhymes with Tiffany) Thomas opens her eyes in the pouring rain with absolutely no memory […]
Am I going to have to wait another four years for the next one?
Welp, this series is catnip for me. I don’t even know where to start a review for Stiletto, because despite any faults (and there were a few,) I loved the crap out of it. It’s imaginative, hilarious, creepy, witty, and thrilling. While I at first shed a tear over the loss of Rook Myfanwy Thomas as the primary protagonist, I was shortly mollified by how quickly I took to loving the two additional stellar women who drive the story. Felicity Clements, Pawn of the Checquy, […]
I Feel Like I’m Not Liking the Things Other People are Liking
I found reading this book frustrating. I enjoyed it, and then I’d slam into a sentence or phrase that reminded me the author is a man. I have no inherent problem with male authors and I know men can write women, but this author seems to have had a hard time letting go of the male gaze. It did impact my enjoyment and lowered my star rating. Also lowering my rating were the endless letter/info dumps. I’ve read some other CBR reviews of The Rook, […]