Gideon the Ninth

Gideon the Ninth  (The Ninth House #1) by Tamsyn Muir 448 pages  I read a galley - book is due out September 2019

"The Emperor needs necromancers.  The Ninth Necromancer needs a swordswoman. Gideon has a sword, some dirty magazines, and no more time for undead bullshit.

Brought up by unfriendly, ossifying nuns, ancient retainers, and countless skeletons, Gideon is ready to abandon a life of servitude and an afterlife as a reanimated corpse. She packs up her sword, her shoes, and her dirty magazines, and prepares to launch her daring escape. But her childhood nemesis won't set her free without a service.

Harrowhark Nonagesimus, Reverend Daughter of the Ninth House and bone witch extraordinaire, has been summoned into action. The Emperor has invited the heirs to each of his loyal Houses to a deadly trial of wits and skill. If Harrowhark succeeds she will be become an immortal, all-powerful servant of the Resurrection, but no necromancer can ascend without their cavalier. Without Gideon's sword, Harrow will fail, and the Ninth House will die.


Of course, some things are better left dead."  (Summary per Goodreads)

I used the summary from Goodreads because I couldn't think of a better way to summarize this story. I found this was not a quick read, even though I was enjoying the book, simply because there's a lot of detail to keep track of. You aren't given much backstory on either the characters or the world they live in, and while that's ok, I found I was sometimes going back and double-checking the list of characters at the front of the book just to keep track of who was who.  I did like that this is a kind of adventure/mystery/swords and sorcery-necromancy story. I liked that Gideon is a character who doesn't try to be something she isn't; she enjoys her sarcasm and plainly states how she feels about things. I also liked the queer elements in this story, as well as the way that the author plainly puts how characters feel about each other.  I also liked that the necromancy here has yucky elements, which is what you'd completely expect but somehow can get scrubbed out of stories.  I loved the bone necromancy of Harrowhark and the other characters, as well as the other elements of necromancy.  This is a gothic fantasy/science fiction story that not be for every reader, but was something I enjoyed. And I'm already looking forward to the second book, which is annoying considering this book isn't even published yet.

The Boy on the Bridge

The Boy on the Bridge by M. R. Carey    Audio Book:   13 hours, 1 minute        Hardback Book:   400 pages

What is the fascination with zombies?    Or in this book, “Hungries”?     Of all the monsters out there flesh eating dead or a hybrid thereof just never did it for me.    O.k. I do love Michael Jackson’s “Thriller,”  but those animated corpses are just out having a good time, they aren’t eating the living.     Funky, rotting dead things that seek to chow down on human happy meals just aren’t appealing to me, though a blood sucking vampire is certainly a turn-on, blame it on my Romanian roots,  I have my standards.   I surprised myself picking this title given the subject matter, but, all in all, the story is very well-written.   Kind of a knock-off of the “Walking Dead” but this story is told from a completely scientific/military setting rather than civilians dealing with “Walkers.”    Zombiefiles will really like this story and me as a non-Zombiefile thought it is a good story if a little overdone – geez!   Zombies are everywhere from Musicals to toys to t.v. to the Internet and all the many books, comic books and media in between.    And Mr. Carey did a fine job with telling his take on zombies, viral afflictions and the military response in a world gone rabid.       Well done.

Ink and Bone

Ink and Bone (The Great Library #1)
by Rachel Caine
352 Pages

Rachel Caine rewrites history, creating a dangerous world where the Great Library of Alexandria has survived the test of time.…
 
Ruthless and supremely powerful, the Great Library is now a presence in every major city, governing the flow of knowledge to the masses. Alchemy allows the Library to deliver the content of the greatest works of history instantly—but the personal ownership of books is expressly forbidden.
 
Jess Brightwell believes in the value of the Library, but the majority of his knowledge comes from illegal books obtained by his family, who are involved in the thriving black market. Jess has been sent to be his family’s spy, but his loyalties are tested in the final months of his training to enter the Library’s service.
 
When he inadvertently commits heresy by creating a device that could change the world, Jess discovers that those who control the Great Library believe that knowledge is more valuable than any human life—and soon both heretics and books will burn.…

Black market book buyers, alchemy, alternate history, boarding school, rivalries, murder, government secrets... whew. Of course I picked it up because the premise was an alternate history where the Great Library of Alexandria survived. But the Library Controls. All. Information. Nobody is really even allowed to own books or a written word. Citizens receive tablets, and the library sends them a book, but when the citizen is done with the book their tablet is erased. No owning anything. Even newspapers don't stay around, so there's no written history. Our protagonist is sent to Alexandria in a scholarly competition among 30 kids to see who can get the 8 open spots in the library. So there are rivalries as in any competition, a very hard to please teacher, a rather uncaring government entity, and a dangerous assignment that proves which the Great Library of Alexandria values most: lives or words. 

I had high expectations of this book and it almost lived up to them. The beginning was rather slow, and didn't get interesting until we got to school. And didn't get exciting until their first real assignment. And to be honest, I thought some of the minor characters were more interesting than our protagonist. Despite this I still stayed up too late one night desperately reading, and wishing for the sequel as soon as I closed the book. 

Divergent Series

Divergent, Insurgent, and Allegiant by Veronica Roth, 489, 525, and 526

First off Yes I started reading these because of the movies, and even more so because they continued to make the series. In fact most of the young adult fiction I have read is because they made it into a movie. In fact you will see even more of it this month with my later review of City of Bone and City of Ashes.

The Divergent series is about a post apocalyptic city society that has divided itself into factions. But unlike the factions we see today the divisions are based on aptitude. Those that value knowledge go to Erudite, honesty to Candor, peace to Amity, selflessness to Abnegation and courage to Dauntless.
Each faction runs part of the city. Abnegation provides the member for the overseeing council and social work, Erudite provide researchers, teachers and scientist, Dauntless provide security, Candor provides lawyers and finally Amity grows all the food.
People are divided up on their sixteenth year when they choose, by blood, which fraction they will join. Before the choosing they live with their parents fraction but are not members of that fraction. A change of fraction appears pretty rare and can result in that child immediately being disowned by their family. A saying used quite often is "Faction before Blood" meaning loyalty to the faction before your previous family.

The series follows the life of Beatrice Prior as she chooses her new fraction and finds out that the fractions, and in fact the entire city is not what she has been taught. I could go into more detail but by now most everyone has seen the movie or read the book. If you are one of those few that have not done either, then I would suggest reading the book before watching the movie.

Overall this is a decently thought out and enjoyable young adult novel that I truly enjoyed. Being marketed for teens there are some questionable first romances and an ending of innocence but nothing too overdone that detracts from the story. I found that the series itself also goes though a growing up. Where the first book is about exploring who you are and accepting life, the second is certainly about how life is ever changing and at times, difficult. Finally the third book is more about accepting loss and continuing on through hardship. I would recommend this book to teens and up.

Thinner Than Thou

Thinner Than Thou by Kit Reed, 334 pages


 This novel is set in the semi-future where youth and thinness has become the new religion, pushing all other religions underground. Leading this new religion is Reverend Earl who preaches about the Afterfat, where you eat whatever you want and still look like a Greek god. The narrative itself focuses on several characters Annie, an anorexic, and her friend Kelly, who are imprisoned in a religious convent for people with eating disorders, It also follows middle-aged Jeremy who discovers that Sylphania, Reverend Earl's exclusive weight-loss spa is a concentration camp where failure to lose weight and tone up leads to brutal punishment. And hidden under all of this lies a world of teen competitive eating contests, fat porn, and where an underground railroad of rebellious religions.

I originally saw this book on a science fiction display and thought that it sounded like an interesting read. After reading I still think it's an interesting idea, but I feel that it wasn't as good as I would have liked it to be. My first problem with the book was the pacing, some parts of it just seemed unnecessary and really only added onto the overall length. My other complaint with this book was deciding whether or not it actually glorified eating disorders or not which I can't really discuss without spoiling certain parts. Over all it was kind of interesting, but I wouldn't necessarily recommend it. 

Red Rising

Red Rising by Pierce Brown
382 Pages

 The first thing people try to do when talking about this book is to compare it to the Hunger Games.  If it had a vampire in it, they'd be calling it the next Twilight.  Put those books out of your mind.  It isn't the next Hunger Games and the main character isn't like Katniss.  A book has to stand on its own and making such comparisons isn't fair.

In Red Rising it is several hundred years in the future and the solar system is colonized.  The Reds live on Mars and mine a substance which is needed for terraforming.  They are promised that once their hard work is done they will join the rest of society in enjoying the fruits of their labor.  However it isn't true.  When Darrow loses everything he loves and discovers the truth he begins a journey of retribution against the society that destroyed his life by becoming one of them.  His struggle to become the best of the Golds means going to a school where the winner of a year long contest of war will have the best chance of obtaining a position of power upon graduation. 

This was an entertaining book that got bogged down in the contest, especially in the power struggle within the House of Mars.  There will be sequel since the story is far from over.