Spoiler warning! This is book 2 in this series, and as such, this review will contain certain spoilers for the plot of book 1, Kiss of Steel. My review for this book also explains quite a lot about the setting and world-building for this series, so you may want to read/re-read that one first, to remind yourself of the world these books take place in . Or just, you know, read the first book. This review will still be here when you’re done. William Carver […]
Why didn’t I read this sooner!?
This is straight up going to be one of those reviews where I don’t do the book justice, in this case it’s mostly because I feel kind of overwhelmed by what I just read. I wish I had time to sit down and re-read it, pen in hand, and then attend a series of lecture classes with likeminded people where we totally dissect it and wallow around in its lovely nuance. Maybe I just miss grad school. (The people and the atmosphere and the stimulating discussion, […]
The silly cover really isn’t representative of the contents of this book
WARNING! There are some spoilers for the plot of this book in the review, so if you prefer to go into a book knowing nothing about it, you may want to skip this. Kestrel is the only daughter of Valorian general Trajan. They live in the province of Herran, formerly a bustling independent nation, invaded, conquered, enslaved and now occupied on orders from the Valorian emperor. The surviving Herrani are slaves, bought and sold at the mercy of the Valorians. As a Valorian woman, Kestrel […]
It’s Drafty in the Trenches, Oh
Jacques Tardi’s World War I opus, Goddamn This War!, is a hard beast to categorize, at least when using English terminology. It’s not a comic book, and for a graphic novel it’s not very novelistic. But call it what you will, it’s hard to deny its power. This is a harrowing masterpiece of one unnamed soldier’s experiences in the Great War that so wholly failed to be the war to end all wars. Things the reader won’t find in Goddamn This War! include plot and dialogue. Does […]