Category: What I’m Reading

Book Review: Crow Moon

December 14, 2022 / fionagreywrites

It’s been a while since I did a book review, but I had extra, unexpected airport-and-plane reading time this week. So let’s start with Cedar Sanderson‘s recent release, Crow Moon: A Collection of Fantastic Tales.

First off, how cool is that cover? Not only do I want to read about her, I kind of want to be that badass striding through the water. I’ll let you decide which one I mean.

As for the tales themselves, this truly is a collection of fantastic tales. A few I’ve read before, in other collections, and were well worth rereading to revisit old friends.

Cedar Sanderson is an exceptional creative in multiple fields, from art sketches and book covers design and chainmail dragons, to posting photographs of food that makes me drool from several states away, to tearing emotion unwilling out of a reader.

Let’s dig into that, because this is no popcorn read you’ll forget about tomorrow.

These tales present choices – real choices, that come with heartache and aftershocks, but in the fantastic worlds as promised. The endings aren’t always happy, and sometimes aren’t resolved. The characters are real people, who have made decisions with courage and a willingness to brave the consequences in order to do what’s right. They are reluctant heroes answering difficult questions, making the best of unenviable situations, and standing up for justice.

In short, these fantastic tales are about honor – not in a way that is moralistic or preaching, oh, no. This book makes me want to go have adventures, uphold the code of chivalry, defend the helpless, and defeat the bad guy.

What more could you ask for? Go read it for yourself!

Golden Rewards

February 21, 2022 / fionagreywrites

Cowboy Joe sat by the fire and gnawed on the last of the hardtack. Had he saved more than a single swipe of chili, he’d have saved himself a jawing, but he wasn’t the saving type.

No, he was the acquiring type, and he meant to get his due. A slug of coffee washed the unceasing dry crumbs down his scratchy throat, and he hefted it above his mouth several times as if the last drops would get the taste out of his mouth. When it was dry as a bone, he gave up and tied the tin cup to the loop on his pack. Today wasn’t a day for stealth, where the shine would give him away. In fact, the sleeker he looked, the better off he’d be.

If the rumors were anything to go by, that is. Most of the miners had laughed them off, and gone back to sluicing. “But I pay attention, Bonsai, don’t I now?”

The pinto horse whickered. She was resting easy, even if the trail he’d followed spooked her. It’d taken time to get her used to the scent.

But following the bears was the way to find gold, so follow the bears he did.

They’d spent the past week in transit, trekking over rolling hills past scattered groves of cypress as tough as the land it stood upon, and just as hard to kill as the rest of its inhabitants. Clyde used to tell him this way lay mountains, but if these were mountains, they barely deserved the name, almost as small as those wooden blocks his youngest sister had played with. They’d worn down to rounded edges by her turn, with all the love and abuse his seven siblings could give.

The last three days, he and Bonsai had started seeing the bees. She liked them almost as little as the bears, if he had to admit it clear and honest.

Just a few here and there at first, darting between the trees on their busy, buzzing way to find open fields and pollinators. This last day…

This last day had been a veritable line of glowing bees, pointing straight toward the golden horde. All he had to do was get there, take the queen bee hostage, and wait for the rest to fill up his saddlebags with gold.

Poor Bonsai was going to get a workout.

“I’m not a cruel man,” he said aloud. “Won’t hurt ‘er none.”

The pinto snorted in response.

“Let’s go, then.” He stamped out the last of the coals, packed his gear, and ambled his way over to where Bonsai was picketed. She snorted into his face this time, and he patted her head with a fond smile. “You and me, we’re gonna be set for life.”

By midafternoon, Cowboy Joe was gazing down at his goal. Within reach, his plan to capture the queen seemed utterly foolish now.

The rumors hadn’t mentioned a few critical factors.

First off, the golden horde was a honeypot. A literal, enormous valley of honeycomb, dripping with sticky, sweet liquid.

Second – and he’d stared for hours before he’d believed it – underneath that gleaming reflective gold, the queen had shining scales of azure blue and pointed wings broader than his old campsite back at the mine.

A dragon, straight out of the picturebooks he’d scoffed at, knocking them out of his brother’s hands when he could, until the boy had thwarted him by reading the Holy Bible and threatening to sic Pa on him if he’d done it one more time. If only the grown-up bastard could see them now, what would that preacher tell his flock?

The queen – for this must be the queen, there was no denying it – shimmered in the late afternoon sunlight, and blew a gout of flame toward an isolated pool that gleamed darker than the rest.

“Spicy honey,” a tinny voice said, right next to his ear. “Fiery, obviously.”

Cowboy Joe tore his eyes away and spun around. A bee floated by his ear, and he swatted it away.

“Hey!” the same voice buzzed, and an angry growl rippled around the hilltop. “Don’t you think you’re a tad outnumbered for those antics?”

He could barely see Bonsai’s peaceful grazing through the cloud of buzzing, glowing bees.

“Don’t worry. We’ll take care of her for you.” The talking bee spun around and darted forward, back toward the queen, and he couldn’t help but notice just how large and pointed its stinger was. Or how the swarm pressed around him, urging him forward.

“You just keep following the bees, Cowboy Joe, and we’ll take care of you.”

***

Why, inspired by inspiration, of course…

A Brief Interlude of Questionable Reviews and Aggravation

December 26, 2021 / fionagreywrites

This site’s been discovered by hackers, so I’ll be making some changes in the near future. I’m getting tired of dealing with the spam, on top of managing to goof up website renewal (I think it’s fine?) and something going wrong with the latest newsletter. Don’t worry, it’ll still be here. It just might look different.

On the plus side, writing is coming along again. Writing is fun again, and it’s amazing what a vacation from the day job will do.

In the meantime, here are a few very brief reviews that contain spoilers, so please stop reading if you’re not into that.

First up, Amazon’s Wheel of Time series. I didn’t get into the series as books, because even in the early 90s, it was clear the series was essentially never-ending. Who had the money for seventeen-plus books that couldn’t be guaranteed borrowing via the tiny bookmobile? The friend who tried to introduce me to the first book certainly wasn’t nerdy enough to enjoy the entire series. In fact, I think she recommended it because she didn’t particularly like the series, and thought I would.

She wasn’t wrong, either, but it means I’m coming to the books late, and from a “what-does-that-mean-let-me-google-to-see-if-the-WOT-wiki-has-it” perspective. So: I like most of the episodes, while my husband found them slow, and questioned why some of the tropes seemed old-fashioned. Had to explain the worldbuilding aspects of high fantasy and the timeframe the books were written.

Then came the season finale, which was a surprising amount of talking for several climactic events. Husband liked it, I snorted aloud at the women raising their hands to the air dramatically. It was overall fine, and left me wanting more, and happy I had the books to find out what happens next, even as I’m aware the show is deviating from the books.

Speaking of The Eye of the World, whew. I haven’t read high fantasy in a long time, and it shows. I’m impatient with pages of description and limited action, even as I can appreciate the amazing worldbuilding and sheer effort that went into the first book of an epic series. Even though I wanted to know more, after twenty pages of not much happening, I’d toss the book aside and go bake for a while.

I finally hit my stride again in this genre last night, and was really appreciating how the actors brought the characters to life. Even the characters I don’t like or felt a little wooden are well done in the show, with only brief moments to show their personalities compared to the nine hundred pages of written text. The actors brought the characters to life, and I realize that opinion might be controversial.

And then, SEVEN HUNDRED PAGES into the damn book, I about lost my mind. Because after SEVEN HUNDRED PAGES of going to this city, and still not making it, the gang’s all back together again and decides to go to that city instead, not even stopping along the way for help. Even though the city they’re currently in has additional Aes Sedai that could potentially help, they don’t ask.

And then, Moiraine Sedai drops a piece of news in like it’s nothing. Oh, let me tell you about the MAGICAL SHORTCUT WE COULD HAVE TAKEN BUT INSTEAD WE WERE CHASED BY TROLLOCS THE WHOLE WAY. Because no one trusts the Aes Sedai, even though no one ever actually explains why, which makes for a lot of reader confusion over character decisions, let me tell you.

I’m quite sure I don’t fully understand the ramifications and the politics of it all at the moment, but it might take a few days for me to want to finish the last two hundred pages.

Moving on.

The Matrix, Resurrected.

In short, don’t bother. The trailers make it look pretty good, or at least promising. It’s an interesting idea, full of missed opportunities. What you get, instead, is:

Neo is the programmer of the award-winning Matrix game. Ah, that’s fun, I see where they’re going. Only…nope.
Potshots about a remake of the game that the programmer doesn’t want to do. Haha. Cute.
Weird young Morpheus who’s kinda – goofy? – and just plain not as good as the other Morpheus. What happened to the human, and why is he a sentient software program now?
No more landlines. That would have been a fun challenge. The new method of traveling is not well-explained or developed.
Sentient programs that can manifest and some side with the humans. It’s a cool idea, but largely unclear why programs or machines would side with the humans. There is zero tension about any potential traitor robots.
So many flashback scenes with old footage. So. Many.
A bunch of new characters with no development and no reason to care about any of them.
New Mr. Smith is just boring.
Some old characters I barely remember from the terrible second and third movies, acting whiny and mean because they’re afraid.
The zombie apocalypse, apparently. This is called “swarming,” and is terribly ineffective, especially for robots who practice to learn and get better at killing pesky humans, only the humans can kill them with a few hand strikes and kicks when the robots have guns.
Several “poof” moments when the swarming mob zooms away from our main characters. The restless audience has zero fear of anyone dying, including the new people we don’t care about at all.
Neo looks old.
Trinity is a soccer mom who builds motorcycles. This should make her “Tiffany” persona in the matrix more interesting but doesn’t. It’s not believable, and I’m not sure why.
Neo has infallible shield powers now?
Trinity has a girl-power movement, because the movie is really about her, not Neo, because now she is apparently The One, even as the movie tries really hard to beat you over the head that it’s really about both of them together. This results in a bizarre frozen flying scene.

I’ve rarely seen a theater audience so restless. No one waited for restroom breaks, and nothing was missed if you took one. An entire family came in twenty minutes late and left after half an hour. I didn’t blame them, and frankly envied them.

A Plethora of Podcasts

July 9, 2021 / fionagreywrites

There’s been a ridiculous amount of things going on, so I ran off with the bison herd for a while. Ever had a buffalo try to stick her head in your car?

What I’m Writing:

I’m working on several things, including book two of Peter and June’s story, Paladin’s Legacy.

I’m hopping through time with these two, as I’m also writing the story of their wedding. Spoiler: Bridezilla is not the creature to fear.
And, of course, Summer Solstice Shenanigans is live! Obviously I’m biased, but I haven’t found a tale I didn’t enjoy yet. If you haven’t yet, check out my short story in the Professor Porter universe, The Fire Crown.
I did, however, accidentally skip the writing prompt last week, because I forgot what day it was. Will the brain provide a twofer? We’ll find out soon.

What I’m Reading:

I’m reviewing/editing a friend’s very cool story about Alice’s granddaughter…yes, that Alice, with the grinning cat! It’s a highly creative and entertaining take on a familiar world with a number of twists. I can’t wait for her to publish it, and I’ll keep you posted.
Summer Solstice Seduction. This is the paranormal romance sister to the urban fantasy anthology I’m in and linked to above. Can you shiver and steam at the same time? Because you definitely will.

What I’m talking about: It’s a plethora of podcasts!

I swear I’m not drunk – I had to travel for work and was exhausted. I only realized after a lot of sleep just how incoherent I had been…but hey, it’s probably funny, right? So entertain yourself and check this interview out. Thanks to Jamie Davis for the invite. He did a fantastic job keeping my rambling on track and making me sound less like a weirdo. Which I am, obviously.
You can do a comparison with my articulation skills just a day later in another interview here, this time with the military scifi author and veteran JR Handley. Thanks, JR!
Imagine what I’d sound like after even more sleep! …but who needs sleep?

What I’m making:

What the heck do you do with 25 pounds of peaches? Among everything you can think of and a whole lot more, you make peach streusel muffins. A delicious sweet counterpoint to dark, bitter coffee.

East Witch Book Review

March 5, 2021 / fionagreywrites

Book reviews are back! And since this is only number two in the book reviews I’ve been meaning to get posted, let’s jump right in.

Cedar Sanderson’s latest novel, The East Witch, pulls in Slavic tales and new characters connected to the Pixie for Hire world (Pixie Noir, Trickster Noir, and Dragon Noir). Since this is the series where I first discovered Sanderson’s work, there was no chance I was passing it up.

And that cover! It’s perfection for the book, and also done by Sanderson.

The East Witch starts off with girl rescuing boy. Anna is a guide in Alaska, who finds a wood elf trapped and rescues him. For her troubles and sympathy, she is pulled into another world with no way out. To top it off, her poor dog gets left behind.

Caught Underhill, she must rely on her wits and memory of childhood fairy tales to survive. It’s a good thing she’s resourceful and determined, and even better that she has a good memory.

Baba Yaga, as it turns out, holds people to their word even when it’s out of their control to fulfill. And that’s just the first of Anna’s endeavors in a world she barely understands. I like her moxie, because she never gives up and keeps fighting in creative ways.

Ivan has his own struggles, fighting both to maintain his honor and prove he’s an adult. As the two are separated, he comes into his own and shines as a character. Ivan is a delight in the same way as a young man finding his purpose. He knew what his goals were already, but he grows up while struggling through maintaining duty to clan and promises.

The two characters develop as war and politics threaten Underhill, and each grows into their own. This is a tale where the character development leaves you fully satisfied.

I loved this story, and hope it develops into more eventually! For readers new to this universe, I personally was glad I’d read the Pixie series first (which has its own delights and is highly recommended), but The East Witch stands strong on its own.

And don’t forget to check out her blog at Cedar Writes!

Badass Book Review

February 20, 2021 / fionagreywrites

Lately, I’ve been binge-reading neural fluff and mind candy, thanks to Kindle Unlimited’s vast supply of urban fantasy. Most recently, I blitzed through Michael Anderle’s How to be a Badass Witch series, followed by the just-released How to be a Badass Vigilante that kicks off what is presumably the next trilogy.

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The books are promising. Kera discovers a book by the same name as the title, in part to get her mother off her back about wasting her education and life as a bartender. It’s not long before she discovers that the powers described are real. While she’s determining how her new skills can help people, she starts eating quite a bit as there’s an energy cost to her actions. She also brings down the wrath of local gangs.

The gang warfare is a touch that adds unexpected complexity to the series, especially as there are multiple competing gangs with different perspectives and styles. However, Kera’s predominant cost to her actions is a ridiculous appetite. It’s seldom that a reader feels she’s ever really in danger from her vigilante actions, because she’s able to to fend off increasing amounts of bad guys. Although she also takes up martial arts again and combines her fighting skills with magic, the tension is perhaps not quite as strong as it could be.

That said, the knowledge the good guys will win and the main character won’t get seriously hurt makes this a fun popcorn read. Not by physical violence, anyway, not really. Kera increasingly feels the threat of the group who put out the book – a group of mages who are looking for the perfect recruits, and wipe out powers upon signs of individuality or resistance. That’s sufficiently terrifying tension for me! The short-term solution here that gets the mage group to leave Kera alone feels a little convenient, but it’s well done and (more importantly) works.

I do think Kera’s personal choices about mind-wiping others with a forgetfulness spell should make her feel more personable, but don’t. It comes off as power-tripping rather than prone to human judgment. I’m not convinced she’s as regretful or repentant as she should be. Perhaps that’s my own personal abhorrence at the idea coming into play – and that means the author is doing his job by evoking emotion – but her love interest has less repulsion than anticipated as well. The last book also has some humbling of the mage group, which is comes just in time.

Overall, I enjoyed the Badass Witch trilogy, easily titled Books 1, 2, and 3. The Vigilante book felt like a transition, but ended on a sufficiently exciting note that I’m looking forward to the next two books.