New Book Review - Preaching to the Choir by Adrian Tchaikovsky

Name - Preaching to the Choir

Written by - Adrian Tchaikovsky

Series - Terrible Worlds: Transformations 

Published by - Rebellion Publishing Ltd. / Solaris Books

First things first, I got this book from NetGalley, so thank you NetGalley and Solaris Books for this opportunity.

It seems Tchaikovsky can write in any genre, as this time he tries his hand in writing horror and provides yet another short yet impactful and enjoyable novella. This one has touches of fantasy, gothic and body horror immersed in a fast paced story with bits of real world tidbits to keep the readers googling stuff.

The story follows our protagonist Elena Mendes as she travels with her boyfriend Ross Enderbough to his family mansion Enderby for a rather very special occasion, where she meets with the suspicious and mysterious family members, soon discovers their creepy traditions and witnesses some horrific family secrets.

Compared to other books by the author this one is quite lacking in humor, much more descriptive and atmospheric and there is also rather a distinct lack of plot twists. But despite being predictable at times, it's the prose and execution that made this one such an enjoyable read.

Like most of Tchaikovsky's work, the pages seem to file away, as I kept thinking of just another chapter before other stuff and found out that I'm almost. In these day and age of everyone being so damn busy, and huge and daunting books flooding the market, short and precise reads like this continue to deliver a short breather.

This one gets a spooky 4 out of 5 stars from me.

New Book Review - Lorgar: Bearer of the Word - Gav Thorpe

Book - Lorgar: Bearer of the Word

Writer - Gav Thorpe 

Series - Horus Heresy: Primarchs #5

Narrator - Jonathan Keeble

Publisher - Games Workshop / Black Library 

There are times when you know beforehand that the book you are picking up is bound to be a bleak and gut-wrenching experience, but you still do read it because you want to observe the execution and the lore. If you are into Horus Heresy you know about the tragic story of Lorgars upbringing from various internet resources, but it will surely be quite difficult to give up experiencing it as a Black Library novel.

Most of the story of 'Bearer of the Word' takes place during Lorgar's younger years, told from the viewpoints of Kor Phaeron and one of his slaves Nairo, as they view the superhuman charisma of Lorgar while trying to manipulate him for their own purposes.

The harsh upbringing of Lorgar is explained through glimpses of his foundation into the religious doctrines of the dry world of Colchis. The geography and broader religion of this world are also explored somewhat during the telling of his story and action takes a backseat as the author focuses more on telling us why and how Lorgar became one of the most important precursors in the design of chaos to bring about the heresy.

None of the characters presented here are likeable, having little redeemable qualities and all vigorously attempting to use Lorgar to promote their own agenda. Kor Phaeron is a despicable father figure and always scheming behind his adoptive sons back for his own vested interests. Even faced with the inevitable coming of the Emperor, he keeps thinking of ways to reestablish his old religion rather than progress into the ways of the empire.

Lorgar himself is a character having multiple layers despite seeming too gullible and innocent at first. I would have really liked it if the author had explored further upon his psyche. I would have loved a chapter detailing the Emperor's arrival and how Kor Phaeron and Lorgar perceived it. And despite everything due to the subject, the audiobook seemed like a hard listen due to mental and physical tortures and other unwholesome aspects of the story.

The narration by Jonathan Keeble was simply sublime and added much to the atmosphere and psyche of the characters and made some of the slog through the harder bits of the prose bearable.

This gets 3.5 out of 5 stars from me, and I would definitely like a sequel of sorts detailing further exploration into the early days of the Word Bearers, as I am a fan of them as a Legion (sure as hell I am a minority here).

New Book Review - Godzilla Minus One by Takashi Yamazaki

Name - Godzilla Minus One (novelization)

Written by - Takashi Yamazaki

Translated by - Evan Ward

Published by - Seven Seas Entertainment 

Godzilla Minus One is a masterwork of how to tell a simplistic yet impactful story in a profound way. It follows quite a predictable formula but due to the strength of the inherent message and brilliant execution, it turns into something to rejoice for ages to come.

I had an interest in revisiting the experience, so I immediately picked up the novelization of the film as soon as I found out about it. And thankfully the book does deliver with some delightful new scenes and a glimpse into the psyche of some of the characters.

Uniquely, Godzilla Minus One is not just a monster movie, but features the struggles of a post-war country who are on the losing side facing yet another disaster and trying to overcome it this time on their own terms. The characters are quite vividly imagined, making the readers sympathetic to them and feeling anguish or joy alongside them in this all too human tale.

Almost everyone who is a genre fan has surely seen the movie or heard about it. This novelization just gives them another chance to re-enter this world.

4 out of 5 stars from me.

New Book Review - Exiles by Mason Coile

Name - Exiles

Written by - Mason Coile (Andrew Pyper)

Narrated by - Ashley Morton 

Published by - G.P. Putnam's Sons / Baskerville 

Audiobook by - Penguin Audio

'Exiles' is a conglomeration of genres mixing a backdrop of sci-fi with bleak and uncompromising horror with a sense of pervading mystery packed in a tight package of fast moving thriller. While this combination seems like a hard thing to do masterfully the audiobook version with its emotionally packed narration does quite a wonderful job of delivering a memorable performance.

The plot follows three humans (one female and two males) going on a mission to Mars where they would live out the rest of their lives and prepare the way for other explorers following their footsteps. Awaiting them are three robots who built and now maintain their habitat. 

The story from the beginning is quite unpredictable, never really informing the reader much about the direction or about the main characters, creating a sense of mystery. The thrill slowly builds and the focus shifts from an exploration story to turn into horror focusing on alien environment and personal struggles.

The thing I liked about the story is the slow reveal for the reader of the fact that despite otherworldly setting, robots and possible alien menace, the horror actually is much more personal relying on the history of personal trauma and psychological instability. 

None of the characters are lovable, but it is quite understandable why they are motivated in acting in specific ways. The cunning and manipulation by the apparent antagonist while his/her identity is revealed give the emotional impact yet another jolt.

Maybe this story was custom built in such ways but the performance by Ashley Morton was simply outstanding, delivering such emotional narration, especially in the final third of the book, is remarkably memorable. The ending hit like a gut punch, which is both an accomplishment by the author and the narrator.

Sometimes after starting the book I came to know that the author is with us no more, which is such a shame, as it seems he was currently at the pique of his craft. At least, he lives us with a backlog of past works to explore in the future.

This gets 4 out of 5 stars from me.

New Book Review - The Hungry Gods by Adrian Tchaikovsky

Name - The Hungry Gods 

Written by - Adrian Tchaikovsky

Narrated by - Emma Newman

Series - Terrible Worlds: Innovations 

Published by - Rebellion Publishing Ltd. / Solaris Books

Audiobook by - Tantor Media 

Another Adrian Tchaikovsky novella, another innovative and interesting work involving a richly imagined world incorporating relatable and charismatically depicted characters. Nowadays, his work means contender for best of the year list.

This time the setting is a post-apocalyptic resource-depleted world, with animal-inspired factions embroiled in struggle for survival suddenly turned upside down by the arrival of four technologically advanced beings claiming to be gods.

The prose by Tchaikovsky is as enjoyable as ever, seeming to glide through the world building and introducing the main players. The obvious ecological rhetoric is done quite artfully making us ponder if this might occur in our future if we keep on polluting our surroundings. 

The characters are quite skillfully fleshed, having their own purposes and motivations to guide them through to the ending which is quite satisfying as is often the case with the author. I liked Beaker and Iffy the most and would have liked to read more about them.

Hoping to get more releases for this series in future as I will remain trying to finish reading all of available Tchaikovsky stuff (a daunting task indeed). This gets 4 out of 5 stars from me.

New Book Review - Horror for Weenies by Emily C. Hughes

Name - Horror for Weenies: Everything You Need to Know About the Films You're Too Scared to Watch

Writer - Emily C. Hughes

Published By - Quirk Books

Maybe I do like non-fiction books about other fictional works or maybe I do great research and pick up the best in these kinds of books, but anyways 'Horror for Weenies' is yet another solid entry of referencing book on movies, focusing on great horror films from various subgenres.

Firstly, a warning, if you don't want to know the whole plot about the movie on offer don't read that chapter, as it discusses the whole plot with nice little snippets by the author, which is a great addition if you saw the movie or if you decide to watch it before reading the specific chapter.

The author's prose was quite enjoyable, the 'why it matters' section was simply outstanding and the book recommendations she offered at the end were like the icing on the cake. I really enjoyed reading about her viewpoints and her insight into the movie makings and tidbits.

Someone who was very afraid of horror stuff in childhood (the sound of the X-files theme song was enough to send me hurriedly to bed), but started to love horror as a genre as I grew up due to its versatility and awesome catalogue to enjoy, this book was a very enjoyable experience indeed.

I will give this full marks based on the purpose it was trying to accomplish, 5 out of 5 stars.

Book Review - Master and Apprentice by Claudia Gray

Name - Master and Apprentice 

Written by - Claudia Gray 

Narrated by - Jonathan Davis

Published by - Del Rey 

Audiobook by - Random House Audio

The prequel trilogy era is definitely one of the richest periods in Star Wars timeline to explore in written fiction; it has quite a large time period, some very interesting characters, a chance to expand with newer planets or species, and also there is quite a lot of room to add intriguing conflicts and adventures.

Claudia Gray is certainly one of the well received names in canon fiction and when I picked this book I had high expectations. Thankfully she did not disappoint, examining an interesting time in the lives of Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan, establishing the changing dynamics of their relationship while hinting at the tragic future that awaits them.

The new characters introduced were very thoughtful additions; I especially liked Rael Averross, the unconventional Jedi who was once Dooku's Padawan (maybe we'll have more from him in future). The jewel thief duo was also a nice addition and added a very enjoyable subplot while introducing an interesting corner of the Star Wars galaxy.

The over arching plot elements featuring Qui-Gon Jinn's complicated fixation with prophecies and the multi-faceted aspect of various forms of slavery throughout the galaxy are also depicted quite intelligently. Without complicating things much, the author strengthened the backstory of Episode I with subtlety here.

My only complaint was the underwhelming ending and the overall lack of action sequences, as it seemed like a missed opportunity when we look at the characters on offer.

The narration by Jonathan Davis was simply brilliant; his rendition of Qui-Gon Jinn often gave me a satisfying chill, and all his other voice acting was also spot on.

Nevertheless, this gets a solid 4 out of 5 stars from me.

Book Review - Dawn of the Jedi: Into the Void by Tim Lebbon

Name - Dawn of the Jedi: Into the Void 

Written by - Tim Lebbon

Narrated by - January LaVoy

Series - Dawn of the Jedi 

Published by - Del Rey 

Audiobook by - Random House Audio

There are times when reading a book, you find that the actual setting is just being held back by the plot and characters on offer. 'Into the Void' has quite an interesting setting to work on and the author does quite a formidable job of world building to introduce us to it. But the plotline he uses to portray this setting and the characters he uses never do enough to engage me as a reader.

This story occurs during the time period of 'Dawn of the Jedi', which occurs more than 25,000 years before the movies. It is set on the Tython system and features the forebears of the Jedi order. The worlds described are quite detailed and certainly made me interested in further exploration.

But the story of Lanoree and his brother never really intrigued me much. The timeline kept jumping often without smooth transition, keeping me from being invested in the characters. The action bits were somewhat entertaining, but the protagonist kept getting knocked unconscious too often to seem formidable and unusually kept alive even being so vulnerable. Then when the ending came, it was just too underwhelming to register any meaningful response.

The narration by January LaVoy was quite palatable, and had no particular issues regarding accents or pacing. It is definitely not her fault; rather, the badly handled time-jumps by the author kept me losing attention at times.

This gets 3 out of 5 stars from me, mostly for the interesting setting and skillful world-building.

New Book Review - Walking to Aldebaran by Adrian Tchaikovsky

Name - Walking to Aldebaran

Written by - Adrian Tchaikovsky

Narrated by - Adrian Tchaikovsky 

Series - Terrible Worlds: Destinations

Published by - Rebellion Publishing Ltd. / Solaris Books

Audiobook by - Tantor Media

Adrian Tchaikovsky is an author who is a pure workforce with the versatility of a computer. And his unique prose style and ability to convey so much enjoyment in a wide range of lengths and his genre versatility make reading any of his fiction a wholesome and unpredictable experience. 

'Walking to Aldebaran' is a novella-length tale of science fiction told in the first person that can also be perceived as a metaphor for dealing with the trauma of isolation or torturous ordeals. The build up is a bit slow at first, but the slow reveal of the twist was quite intriguing. And the ending was very satisfying to say the least.

The prose uses quite a lot of humor and pop-culture references to make the shock have that much more impact and after the reveals towards the end the readers realize there were various hints dispersed throughout the story all along.

As I listened to this as an audiobook, I would also like to mention the brilliant narration by the author which added quite a lot to the experience (although as English is not my first language I had a few problems with some accents).

This gets a well deserved 4 out of 5 stars from me and I'll surely delve deeper into the works by Adrian Tchaikovsky soon.

Retro Book Review - The Rising Force

Book - The Rising Force

Writer - Dave Wolverton

Series - Star Wars: Jedi Apprentice #1

Published By - Scholastic 

'Star Wars Legends' line of fiction has always interested me a lot, so I finally decided to get into the depth within this world and started reading pre-episode-I stuff to compare it with the current canon. The overall verdict about this series featuring everyone's favorite team of Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi on the internet was quite positive and I would in a sense agree with this based on the first book as this one quite enjoyably establishes the setting and opens up interesting momentum for future storytelling.

This one has quite a few interesting tid-bits regarding the life of a youngling in the Jedi temple, the first interactions between the featured duo, introduces us to some interesting aliens and has a rather fast-paced simplistic structure to provide a relaxing experience while reading.

In a negative aspect, the characters do seem to behave a bit unnaturally at times (this is to be expected in a middle-grade book actually), the villains are too one dimensional mostly, and the ending seemed a bit abrupt.

In the end, it creates a nice starting platform for the series and hopefully things will get even better down the line.

3.5 stars from me.

New Book Review - Phoenix Extravagant by Yoon Ha Lee

Name - Phoenix Extravagant 

Written by - Yoon Ha Lee

Published by - Rebellion Publishing Ltd. / Solaris Books

First things first, I got this book from NetGalley, so thank you NetGalley and Rebellion Publishing Ltd. / Solaris Books for this opportunity.

This was not my first exposure of Yoon Ha Lee, I had previously read one short story by the author which made me interested in longer fiction and led me to request this in NetGalley. 

This book had a very interesting setting clearly inspired by the Japanese occupation of Korea, which really was used in a thoughtful and charismatic way. The anti-colonial sentiment was expressed in a rather unorthodox way using fantasy. The magic system was also quite unique and brilliantly depicted and kept me going through the pages to find out how it worked as a whole. 

Another great thing was the beautiful mechanical dragon Arazi on the cover, which was once again detailed with finesse and was the main star of the book despite appearing after one third of the book. The main character Jebi also brought their unique sense of worldview and his quest to do the right thing. Some of the other characters were also quite interesting despite their minor roles. 

But the main problem was the use of pronouns were a bit confusing especially when the author used they/them for only Jebi when the scene included multiple persons. It often distracted from this otherwise engrossing book. 

I will give this 3.5 out of 5 stars. 

New Book Review - And Put Away Childish Things by Adrian Tchaikovsky

Name - And Put Away Childish Things 

Written by - Adrian Tchaikovsky 

Published by - Rebellion Publishing Ltd. / Solaris Books

First things first, I got this book from NetGalley, so thank you NetGalley and Rebellion Publishing Ltd. / Solaris Books for this opportunity.

Portal fantasy is a genre that has been used in a lot of different ways, and as per my experience with this sub-genre I wasn't particularly interested in reading more of this setting. I only decided to check this out in lieu of this being available on NetGalley and my interest in Adrian Tchaikovsky for some time now. 

I definitely should have checked him out a long time ago. The prose is engrossing all throughout with interesting and relatable main character and thoughtful use of real world scenario of Covid to spice up the setting. 

The plot was fast paced with witty dialogue and some very enjoyable homage and poking fun at one of the most well known portal fantasy of all time. The neat little twists and turns of the story kept it from becoming even a bit predictable. 

Harry was a very realistic depiction of a modern day struggling media performer, who is very self centered and obnoxious despite having a well meaning core. Of the bunch of side characters Seitchman was my favourite and despite their minor roles all the other characters were quite expertly fleshed out even the antagonist. 

Although the ending was quite satisfying in tying up everything quite nicely, I really started missing the characters immediately after finishing the book and really wished it was longer (and also hoping for a sequel). 

My rating - 4.5 out of 5 stars. 

New Book Review - All or Nothing: A Zombicide Novel

Book - All or Nothing 

Writer - Josh Reynolds 

Series - A Zombicide Novel

Published By - Aconyte Books

First things first, I got this book from NetGalley, so thank you NetGalley and Aconyte Books for this opportunity.

To be honest, zombie fiction has reached such a point in its history that it is almost impossible to create anything fresh regarding it. Almost every angle has been explored, every stone has been turned to the entertainment the targeted audience. Josh Reynolds didn't focus on trying new dimensions, rather he gave us strong characters and some thrilling action bits to tell us an engrossing tale of survival. 

I was a bit sceptical when requesting this on netgalley, as I had no prior knowledge of the board game 'Zombicide', and also because this novel is a sequel of the writers first book based on the game. But, Reynolds did a brilliant job of making this a smooth read for any newcomer into the world of Zombicide and the story stands on its own quite independently despite being a sequel. 

'All or Nothing' is the tale of former career criminal Westlake, who finds himself semi-zombified in Atlantic City. Where he is kidnapped and becomes part of a savage gladiator-styled show for the amusement of a heartless overlord. But, ex-cop Estela Ramirez and her crew of mishap heroes are already on their stop the horrors being inflicted on the humans. 

The story is told through various viewpoint characters, almost all of whom different agendas and act in ways to ensure their goals in interesting ways. The plot is filled with enough thrills to keep the reader guessing what might happen next and keep hoping that their favorite characters somehow survive the ordeals. The story had enough momentum to keep any reader motivated to keep turning pages and some detailed action sequences as well. 

Among the characters, some were very interesting; including but not limited to the dubious protagonist Westlake, the masked wrestler named Calavera, the curiously academic and articulate Potelmy, the highly capable and stealthy Sayers, the enigmatic and mysterious Duchess and the not so generic mad scientist Brewer. I really loved many of these characters and that is what kept this story so entertaining despite the unoriginal setting of a zombie apocalypse. 

Despite wishing the ending had a bit more punch and more instances of near death experiences overall, I really loved the writing by Josh Reynolds and the characters. 

I will give this, 4 out of 5 stars. 

Book Review - Tome of the Undergates

Book - Tome of the Undergates
Writer - Sam Sykes  
Series - Aeons' Gate #1 
Published By - Gollancz / Pyr
 
Let me begin this review with a fair warning, this one is not something everyone will enjoy. If you are a fan of epic fantasy with a sprawling world and lots of interesting races and characters this book is not for you. If you are fan of grimdark fantasy with tragic heroes and super serious, gritty fight scenes please look elsewhere. If you like the author to hold your hand while he introduces the world and its inhabitants and has a delicate prose style that will relax you, no chance, turn away please.