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On Monday's outbound commute I finished the audiobook for Even Though I Knew the End. This is a supernatural/fantasy noir romance and it does pack a lot of all three of those things into its brief 4-hour runtime.
This book relies heavily on stock film noir tropes—the veteran down-and-out private (paranormal) investigator (here a lesbian, Helen, our protagonist) who drinks too much and is haunted by past mistakes, a mysterious and sexy female client with a unique case, and "just one last" job before the PI plans to quit and retire with a beloved romantic partner. I didn't find them overused—and seeing them reworked to queer and female characters was fun—but other readers may find them too worn out even here.
Because the book is so short, it moves along at a very rapid pace. The whole thing takes place over the course of two days—the final two days before Helen's soul debt is called due and she finally has to pay the price of her warlock bargain. In this way, any rush felt appropriate, since it fit both the size of the novel and the context of Helen's urgency to get this last job done before she has to pay up.
The characters weren't super developed, but again—4-hour runtime. They're a little stock character-y, but not total cardboard cut-outs. It was disappointing for me to see Helen make the same mistake at the end of the book that she did prior to the start, as if she hadn't really learned anything, but since the novel ends promptly after that, the story never has to reckon much with it.
I was relieved that Edith, Helen's girlfriend, wasn't just the damsel in distress/goal object for Helen, which I was a bit worried about in the beginning. Edith has secrets and goals of her own.
Overall, the book was fine, and it entertained me well enough for a few days. Nothing extraordinary here, but nothing objectionable either. I will say I think keeping it short worked best for this book—I think drawing it out might have only weakened it. A fun little twist on a typical noir novel.
Book #6 from the "Women in Translation" rec list was Butter: A Novel of Food and Murder by Asako Yuzuki, translated from Japanese by Polly Barton. This novel is about a journalist seeking to score an exclusive interview with convicted 3-time murderer Manako Kajii. Kajii is in prison for killing three of her lovers, all older, well-off, lonely men, and with her retrial coming up soon, journalist Rika Machida thinks it's the perfect time for another focus feature on the famous murderess. However, the more time she spends with Kajii, the more she wonders if maybe Kajii is the only one seeing the situation clearly.
This book has been billed in some places as a crime thriller or murder mystery, but it's not really, so if you go into it expecting that, I fear you'll be disappointed. The core of the book isn't really whether Kajii killed her lovers or not. What this book really was is to interrogate societal attitudes in Japan, which it does through a lot of introspection on the part of Rika.
I don't often go looking for books based on representation, but recently I did do a search for books with explicitly asexual main characters. I turned up a few and this was the first one I've actually read. The book jacket description is:
Hunted by those who want to study his gravity powers, Jes makes his way to the best place for a mixed-species fugitive to blend in: the pleasure moon. Here, everyone just wants to be lost in the party. It doesn’t take long for him to catch the attention of the crime boss who owns the resort-casino where he lands a circus job. When the boss gets wind of the bounty on Jes’ head, he makes an offer: do anything and everything asked of him, or face vivisection. With no other options, Jes fulfills the requests: espionage, torture, demolition. But when the boss sets the circus up to take the fall for his about-to-get-busted narcotics operation, Jes and his friends decide to bring the mobster down together. And if Jes can also avoid going back to being the prize subject of a scientist who can’t wait to dissect him? Even better.
My ultimate verdict is that while it was passably enjoyable and I did like the ace representation, it was a deeply forgettable book.
Recommend if you:
Hunted by those who want to study his gravity powers, Jes makes his way to the best place for a mixed-species fugitive to blend in: the pleasure moon. Here, everyone just wants to be lost in the party. It doesn’t take long for him to catch the attention of the crime boss who owns the resort-casino where he lands a circus job. When the boss gets wind of the bounty on Jes’ head, he makes an offer: do anything and everything asked of him, or face vivisection. With no other options, Jes fulfills the requests: espionage, torture, demolition. But when the boss sets the circus up to take the fall for his about-to-get-busted narcotics operation, Jes and his friends decide to bring the mobster down together. And if Jes can also avoid going back to being the prize subject of a scientist who can’t wait to dissect him? Even better.
My ultimate verdict is that while it was passably enjoyable and I did like the ace representation, it was a deeply forgettable book.
Recommend if you:
- Really want asexual rep
- Like fluffy romances with little conflict
- Enjoy found family tropes
- Are not looking for something very complex
- You want romance to be a main focus of the story
- You want interpersonal relationships with realistic conflict or drama
- You are not a fan of a YA writing style (this book is not YA, but it reads like it is)
Longer review on my main
Deadly Games is the third book in Lindsay Buroker's marvelous steampunk series The Emperor's Edge and quite frankly, I found it very, very difficult to write a review for this book without repeating everything I said about The Emperor's Edge series in my previous review.
It's as fast paced, as character driven with dry wit and humor as the other installments of the series, and - at least for me - even more gripping than the previous Dark Current (though that might be partially due to road stories not being my preferred brand of tea and the fact that the character developments from the previous books come to -partial, mind you!- fruition here (no, I will *not* tell you, how. Read for yourself!).
Forced to also mention the downsides, I can list only two:
First, the book is too short (its 110100+ words were over much too fast), and
Second, it ends on a cliffhanger (no, two cliffhangers actually: there's the emperor's note and the labyrinthine developments!) that makes me itch for what comes next. I truly hope we don't have to wait too long for Empire Edge's continuation.
Deadly Games is available as ebook via Smashwords and Amazon.
It's as fast paced, as character driven with dry wit and humor as the other installments of the series, and - at least for me - even more gripping than the previous Dark Current (though that might be partially due to road stories not being my preferred brand of tea and the fact that the character developments from the previous books come to -partial, mind you!- fruition here (no, I will *not* tell you, how. Read for yourself!).
Forced to also mention the downsides, I can list only two:
First, the book is too short (its 110100+ words were over much too fast), and
Second, it ends on a cliffhanger (no, two cliffhangers actually: there's the emperor's note and the labyrinthine developments!) that makes me itch for what comes next. I truly hope we don't have to wait too long for Empire Edge's continuation.
Deadly Games is available as ebook via Smashwords and Amazon.
- Mood:
enthralled
Lindsay Buroker's series "The Emperor's Edge" currently consists of two novels - The Emperor's Edge and Dark Currents (both slightly above 100.000 words) and a set of short stories (Ice Cracker II and others; ~19.000 words altogether) taking place in between.
I've read Dark Currents together with its direct prequel The Emperor's Edge and a related short story collection Ice Cracker II in one go this weekend. This series is a fast-paced, character-driven page-turner one shouldn't start reading with major deadlines within the next three days, because it will grab you and not let go until you drop off its (hopefully only current) end.
( no spoilers except the identities of the two main characters under the cut )
The setting is a refreshing genre mix with elements of steampunk, cop story, military and fantasy rolled into one to form an utterly compelling, self-carrying world that reminds as much of 19th Century London as of 19th Century Moscow.
Language and the style of the story-telling remind me of Lois McMaster-Bujold's early Barrayar books (most notably Shards of Honor), but the dry wit & humor shown by the well-defined characters are utterly unique and not to be missed.
I hope this series continues soon (though I would love seeing Encrypted, which plays in the same universe but 25 years earlier, continued as well. I recommended it earlier here.
Note: Lindsay Buroker's books are available as ebooks from various sources - including Amazon and Barnes & Noble. The links in the text above all go to the respective pages on Smashwords, my preferred source for indie ebooks. :)
I've read Dark Currents together with its direct prequel The Emperor's Edge and a related short story collection Ice Cracker II in one go this weekend. This series is a fast-paced, character-driven page-turner one shouldn't start reading with major deadlines within the next three days, because it will grab you and not let go until you drop off its (hopefully only current) end.
( no spoilers except the identities of the two main characters under the cut )
The setting is a refreshing genre mix with elements of steampunk, cop story, military and fantasy rolled into one to form an utterly compelling, self-carrying world that reminds as much of 19th Century London as of 19th Century Moscow.
Language and the style of the story-telling remind me of Lois McMaster-Bujold's early Barrayar books (most notably Shards of Honor), but the dry wit & humor shown by the well-defined characters are utterly unique and not to be missed.
I hope this series continues soon (though I would love seeing Encrypted, which plays in the same universe but 25 years earlier, continued as well. I recommended it earlier here.
Note: Lindsay Buroker's books are available as ebooks from various sources - including Amazon and Barnes & Noble. The links in the text above all go to the respective pages on Smashwords, my preferred source for indie ebooks. :)
- Mood: enthralled
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