3.5 stars Vhalla Yarl is a librarian apprentice living in the huge central library in the capital of the Solaris empire. The empire has been at war for ages, trying to conquer the lands in the north and through this conquest uniting the whole continent under one power. One evening, there’s a state of emergency declared, one of the princes has been injured, and all the librarians are needed to help research a possible cure. Remembering how the younger, charming prince, known colloquially as “The […]
Mostly, this book just did not work for me
2.5 stars Henry “Monty” Montague is a young bisexual lord sent off on a grand tour of Europe, accompanied by his best friend, Percy (who Monty has a massive crush on) and Felicity, Monty’s younger sister. For the first part of their journey, they are accompanied by an elderly tutor, but once they leave Paris, hijinks really ensue due to very poor decisions made on Monty’s part and soon the three young people are left to fend for themselves, on a crazy adventure through much […]
Bloody, beautiful Monstress
I adored the first volume of Marjorie Liu’s Monstress. Sana Takeda’s art is one of the most stunning that I’ve come across in a comic. At the same time, it’s also unbelievably violent and brutal. I find this pairing somewhat evocative of the Hannibal TV series, which I also loved. (I don’t know what this says about me – that I am ok with gore, provided it’s beautifully presented?) Monstress is set an alternative, matriarchal, steampunk Asia, which is inhabited by humans, anthropomorphic animal gods […]
A Road Trip from Hell
I’ve been slowly working my way through Kim Harrison’s urban fantasy series, The Hollows. For CBR10, I’m finally reviewing the ninth book in the series, Pale Demon. The book kicks off with the powerful witch, Rachel, and her supernatural business partners and BFFs, Jinx the pixie and Ivy the living vampire, on their way to the national witches convention in San Francisco. Rachel also needs to attend her brother’s wedding. She’s excited to see her mom at least. Of course, supernatural troubles won’t make the 2,300+ mile trek […]