In general, Karou has managed to keep her two lives in balance.
On the one hand, she's a seventeen-year-old art student in Prague; on the other, errand-girl to a monstrous creature who is the closest thing she has to family.
Raised half in our world, half in 'Elsewhere', she has never understood Brimstone's dark work - buying teeth from hunters and murderers - nor how she came into his keeping. She is a secret even to herself.
Now the doors to Elsewhere are closing, and Karou must choose between the safety of her human life and the dangers of a war-ravaged world that may hold the answers she has always sought.
Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor is the first book in a bestselling trilogy that… I have studiously been avoiding because I don’t usually get along well with bestselling books, except then I learned that it was supposed to have asexual representation in the shape of Liraz and… Yeah. Onto the TBR pile it went!
Rethnali, a newly-minted captain in the long-standing and brutal elvish rebellion, wants to do more than keep her soldiers alive. She wants to turn the tide of the war for her people. When her old captain and mentor, Li, shows up at her camp with orders to go deep into enemy territory, she may have the opportunity to do just that.
But as Rethnali’s mission unfolds, she realizes that she is just a pawn in a larger game. While she tries to protect her soldiers, she forced to decide the course of her future and the future of the elvish rebellion itself. This is a story of lives shaped by hard choices and unforeseen consequences.
Extraction by B R Sanders is the first book in the A Tale of Rebellion series and set in the same world as Rebellion and Ariah. If you’ve read Rebellion, you’ll encounter a few familiar characters, though most of the narrative follows other characters and you don’t have to have read it in order to read Extraction.
B is a fellow Kraken Collective author, but I have done my best to account for any resulting bias. I received a copy for review, though I’m a little late with actually reviewing it compared to when I’d wanted to review it. My apologies.
Trigger warnings: Death, suicidal ideation, racism, war, dubious consent and addiction.
Trouble stirs in the Dragonlands and Elder Khennik kin Blazeborn seems trapped at the very heart of it. After a disastrous stay with the Stormdrake kin, it’s time for the human delegation to visit the Skystorm Clan, yet their welcome is less friendly than anticipated.
Whispers and accusations fly, but something is definitely not right inside the Clan. And with the Dragon Moot fast approaching, can the Rift Riders and dragons sort things out swiftly enough to save the Khennik from another catastrophe?
The Cloud Curse is changing – but is anyone willing to listen to reason? Or will politics and arrogance combine to bring down all the kins and Clans for good?
Storm Rising by Becca Lusher is the second book in the Dragonlands series and it picks up more or less after the first book leaves off. It’s not necessary to read A Courtship of Dragons, though I do recommend it because I remember the romance between Estenarven and Mastekh being very subtle and it may be surprising to dive into book 2 if you skip it.
In Storm Rising we finally make it to the moot that the group was headed to and… well, if you thought things were bad with Ushara, they’re about to get a lot worse as we learn more about how the Cloud Curse works and just how deep the rifts in dragon society have really gone. On top of that, Nera and the other Riders are, of course, bound to get into more trouble because when have they ever managed to stay out of trouble?
It’s taken me a while to pick this up, unfortunately, and for once my memory failed me more than I wanted it to. Becca recaps some of the events of what happened in Blazing Dawn, if only because it’s plot relevant to do so, but the recaps are just that: plot relevant and, as a result, sparse. It works, don’t get me wrong, but I would have enjoyed the book far more had I had the first one more clearly in my mind still. I definitely recommend reading the books close together for maximum impact. It is, after all, technically one long narrative. It just happens to be broken up into several novels.
Still, I loved it, though. Storm Rising doesn’t read as much like a romance narrative as Blazing Dawn does and that was, if I recall, my main issue with that book: it set up expectations that just didn’t happen. Storm Rising doesn’t. It’s set firmly as an epic high fantasy adventure narrative and it shows from the way the banter and games everyone plays work together to tie into the narrative. There is Becca’s trademark banter, yes! And games! So, so many games. Because, clearly, no one’s learned from the last time dragons, Riders and myrhils played together.
There’s a joy and a love of life in this story that just warmed my heart and that can be lacking from other narratives that focus on a journey with a group of people. (I’m looking at you, Lord of the Rings.) The book is pretty much non-stop action, but that doesn’t mean that there aren’t breathers. It’s just… different kinds of action to help balance everything.
I loved this book and I’m eagerly awaiting book 3, where I suspect strands will start to fall together even more strongly than they did here. And the Rift Riders series? Well, the two series are interwoven with one another and I’m really eager to follow Becca’s publication schedule for them because the guessing games about how the two relate are just far too much fun. (Also you get to meet Rhiddyl as both a baby and a young dragon and that’s delightful.)
Definitely highly recommended. I loved this book and this series. I just want to snuggle in them and soar happily over the clouds with Nera and Teka. Or Mhysra and Cumulo for the Wingborn books. But ideally Nera and Teka. They’re just such a delight (and the books and narrative aren’t quite as dark).
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Between bisexuality and albinism, Seraphin always felt like an outsider in his own town. He finally finds companionship in Alex, an agender and aromantic teenager who interns over the summer. With them he learns to trust himself and his instincts. It leads Seraphin to leave his town and join the army invading his country, but when his squad is ordered to raid his hometown, Seraphin finds his new life may come at the price of his old.
The White Renegade by Claudie Arseneault is a prequel novella to Viral Airwaves. It details how Seraphin wound up leading the resistance, his relationship with Alex (which was briefly mentioned in Viral Airwaves), and, perhaps most importantly of all, exactly why he killed Hans Vermen’s brother.
TW: war crimes, violence, ableism and misgendering
So! Let’s get to it! If you enjoyed Seraphin and wanted to know more about him and his motives, this is a must-read. This takes a look at a younger, more idealistic Seraphin and how he sets down the road for who he is in Viral Airwaves. It’s a story that is, at times, a sweet one, as Seraphin and Alex bond together and form a friendship with one another. It’s also a story that is utterly horrifying in places due to the fact that this also covers what is, effectively, a war crime, made all the more personal due to Seraphin’s pov on events.
Personally, I also really enjoyed the little touches of cultural differences between the north and the south of Regaria, discussing some of the reasons for the initial rebellion (which, I want to note, Seraphin is against for reasons and oh it is heartbreaking to watch his idealism take hits like that). Seriously, when this story isn’t sweet and adorable because Seraphin and Alex, it is heartrendingly sad, especially if you’ve already read Viral Airwaves and know how everything is going to fall out.
I do think it’s not quite as strong as Viral Airwaves, largely because while I enjoyed the cultural differences mentioned in this story I would have enjoyed it even more if we’d had a longer chance to meet Seraphin’s culture and family before everything went to hell in a handbasket because we would’ve had a much stronger connection to this time in Seraphin’s life and to the way the narrative impacts his belief system.
Also it would’ve meant more Alex and more Alex can never be a bad thing. Alex is awesome. <3 Have I mentioned yet that Alex is also aromantic? Because they are. And it gets discussed! (Well, a little. It is THE BEST. <3) And just. Seraphin and Alex’s relationship is really lovely to see. It’s not a perfect relationship and I heart that. It’s a little bit clumsy with two queer teens fumbling along and figuring out relationship boundaries together. They make mistakes and work to fix them together. It’s a delightful thing to read.
In any case, The White Renegade stands on its own perfectly well, so whether you want to use it as an introduction into the world of Viral Airwaves or just aren’t yet ready to say goodbye to the world, it’ll serve you well. It’s a quick, mostly fun read. (There are mass graves, okay? That whole sequence isn’t supposed to be fun to read and it succeeds. A little too well. *shudders*) And hey if you’re looking for more queer rep, especially explicit queer rep, give this a try. I don’t think you’ll be disappointed. <3
This post previously appeared on Patreon and is sponsored by generous patrons. Thank you so much for your support! It means the world to me! <3 I love you all!
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Parole is still burning. And now the day everyone has been waiting for is finally here: it’s collapsed. A lucky few managed to escape with their lives. But while their city burned, the world outside suffered its own devastating disaster. The Tartarus Zone is a deadly wasteland a thousand miles wide, filled with toxic storms, ghostly horrors, and just as many Eyes in the Sky as ever. Somehow, this new nightmare is connected to Parole. And it’s spreading. Now Parole’s only hope lies in the hands of three teenagers reunited by their long-lost friend Gabriel - in their dreams. Growing up outside Parole, Shiloh Cole always had to keep xir energetic powers a secret, except from xir parents, Parole’s strategist-hero Garrett, and Tartarus expert Maureen. When Parole collapsed, all contact was lost. Now, connected by Gabriel and their colliding pasts, xie joins collapse survivor Annie and the enigmatic, charismatic Chance on a desperate cross-country race, carrying a disc of xir mother’s vital plans, whose encrypted contents may be Parole’s salvation. First they’ll board the FireRunner, a ship full of familiar faces that now sails through Tartarus’ poison storms. Together, they’ll survive Tartarus’ hazards, send a lifeline to lost Parole - and uncover the mystery connecting every one of them. The world outside Parole isn't the one they remember, and it didn’t want them back. But they'll save it just the same. It's what heroes do.
The Lifeline Signal by RoAnna Sylver is the second book in the Chameleon Moon set. As the book covers a wholly new set of protagonists, you can read it without having read the first book.
I’m half-tempted to recommend it because The Lifeline Signal answers many of my questions about the clarity of the place Parole has in the world at large that I had left at the end of Chameleon Moon (and, while I understand why that book doesn’t provide these answers, I still feel I needed them to fully appreciate what RoAnna is doing with the dystopian aspects of the story).
On the other hand, knowing what happened in Chameleon Moon will help masses in understanding the relationships and dynamics between a lot of the side-characters in this book because, like with Chameleon Moon, our main protagonist is, by and large, working with limited information and in the week or so that this story takes place in there’s precious little time for anyone to catch xem up on literally years worth of relationships between everyone around xie.
Nope. I think I’m just going to leave this at “NaNoWriMo”.
Okay, no. I will probably be working on DemiPrincess2 and just seeing how far along I can get with that in November, which means reading is going to take a bit of a backseat. At the same time, I do also want to keep reading, so I can throw myself into more effective essay revisions and corrections.
But that’s it! My goal for November is to join my friends and just see how far I can get and see if maybe, this time, I can build up far more momentum than I have been able to since graduating from university. We’ll see. Those are the goals anyway. 😀
I reserve the right to toss them out the window to do something else entirely. I also have a novella I’d really, really like to finish sometime soon, after all.
Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor 
Extraction by 
Storm Rising by 
The White Renegade by 
The Lifeline Signal by 