Review: The Bloodprint

The Khorasan Archives: The Bloodprint | Ausma Zehanat Khan

Published by: Harper Voyager, October 3rd 2017

Genre: High Fantasy, Feminism

Pages: 448

Format: Ebook

Source: Harper Voyager, via Edelweiss

A dark power called the Talisman has risen in the land, born of ignorance and persecution. Led by a man known only known as the One-eyed Preacher, it is a cruel and terrifying movement bent on world domination—a superstitious patriarchy that suppresses knowledge and subjugates women. And it is growing.

But there are those who fight the Talisman's spread, including the Companions of Hira, a diverse group of influential women whose power derives from the Claim—the magic inherent in the words of a sacred scripture. Foremost among them is Arian and her apprentice, Sinnia, skilled warriors who are knowledgeable in the Claim. This daring pair have long stalked Talisman slave-chains, searching for clues and weapons to help them battle their enemy’s oppressive ways. Now, they may have discovered a miraculous symbol of hope that can destroy the One-eyed Preacher and his fervid followers: The Bloodprint, a dangerous text the Talisman has tried to erase from the world.

Finding a copy of The Bloodprint promises to be their most dangerous undertaking yet, an arduous journey that will lead them deep into Talisman territory. Though they will be helped by allies—a loyal ex-slave and Arian’s former confidante and sword master—both Arian and Sinnia know that this mission may well be their last. 

I had no idea what to expect of this, but it was about feminists against the patriarchy in a fantasy world so of course I was on board. But this book has so many facets, and I loved every one of them. 

Religion in a positive light! The Claim is written so well - both how it makes the people who use it feel and the wording itself. Such a clever way to fuse religion and magic. The characters didn't let me down either - the main character has dedicated herself to freeing women from slave chains, by using her magic and status as First Oralist, and I loved her so much for that. There's romance as well, which I love (Daniyar is so sweet, honestly, he'd better be okay in book two!) and Sinnia, another female character, is awesome too. I love how the ladies of this book interact.

There's so much to praise and talk about - the world, the writing, the politics, different inclusions of race, tribes, culture, gender, the patriarchy, and especially the treatment of women. It had the right amount of fantasy and magic too - everything was balanced. I want to read the next book!

Characters ★★★★☆

Setting/world ★★★★☆

Writing ★★★★☆

Review: A Closed & Common Orbit

Wayfarers: A Closed & Common Orbit | Becky Chambers

Published by: Harper Voyager, March 14th 2017

Genre: Science Fiction, Space

Pages: 464

Format: Ebook

Source: Harper Voyager, via Edelweiss

Lovelace was once merely a ship's artificial intelligence. When she wakes up in an new body, following a total system shut-down and reboot, she has no memory of what came before. As Lovelace learns to negotiate the universe and discover who she is, she makes friends with Pepper, an excitable engineer, who's determined to help her learn and grow.

Together, Pepper and Lovey will discover that no matter how vast space is, two people can fill it together.

The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet introduced readers to the incredible world of Rosemary Harper, a young woman with a restless soul and secrets to keep. When she joined the crew of the Wayfarer, an intergalactic ship, she got more than she bargained for - and learned to live with, and love, her rag-tag collection of crewmates.

A Closed and Common Orbit is the stand-alone sequel to Becky Chambers' beloved debut novel The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet and is perfect for fans of Firefly, Joss Whedon, Mass Effect and Star Wars.

I didn't love QUITE this as much as The Long Way To A Small, Angry Planet, but until I finished A Closed & Common Orbit, I didn't realise just how much I loved THIS book. It's one of those slow, quiet, full-of-heart books that sneaks up on you. The best thing about these books are the characters. They're so real and compelling and full of so many complexities and emotion and tragedy that it's impossible not to fall hard in love with them. I reaaally like the main characters, Pepper and Sidra, but my favourite has to be Blue, my precious stuttering, compassionate, thoughtful, totally endearing bae. I love him so much. Now here's a list of things this book does SO WELL: -Blue struggles with speech, and it's never once mocked or written as anything other than an accepted part of him. This means a whole lot to me. -Pepper (as Jane) is abused, and a huge part of this book is dedicated to recovering from it. It's not quick, and it's not easy, and it's ugly in parts. -Sidra, an A.I. is seen as a thing by most people, not a person, but her autonomy and her struggles with self-identity and discovery were handled so well. It's also nice to see characters realising they've been prejudiced in their past (about A.I.s) and changing their way of thinking (not without great effort too.) It's not easy to change the way you've always thought of something, and I appreciated this element of the book. -Tak, who changes between female and male genders, and whose pronouns change (and are USED accordingly by EVERYONE and it's not A BIG DEAL to make that little change.) -A gender neutral pronoun. This was just really nice. Really, really nice. Xyr/Xe used by pretty much everyone in the whole of space to refer to both people who don't want to use he or she, and also when someone's not sure of a person's gender. Really nice. Well done, book. Look, I love these books. Some books are forgettable and some stay with you - this is the latter. Perfect world building and alien species, welcome representation of different genders, sexualities, and abilities - and characters that feel less like characters than people who really exist.

Characters ★★★★★

Setting/world ★★★★★

Writing ★★★★☆

Supervision (ARC Review)

Supervision | Alison Stine

Published by: HarperVoyager, April 9th 2015

Genre: YA, Paranormal, Gothic, Ghosts

Pages: 400

Format: Ebook

Source: HarperVoyager, via Netgalley

Something is wrong with Esmé. 

Kicked out of school in New York, she's sent to live with her grandmother in a small Appalachian town. But something is wrong with the grandmother Ez hasn't seen for years; she leaves at midnight, carrying a big black bag. Something is wrong with her grandmother's house, a decrepit mansion full of stray cats, stairs that lead to nowhere, beds that unmake themselves. Something is wrong in the town where a kid disappears every year, where a whistle sounds at night but no train arrives. 

And something is wrong with the friendly neighbor Ez's age with black curls and blue eyes: He's dead.

I ummed and ahhed about Supervision for a few days before I eventually went ahead and requested a galley. Those days, I was being dumb, because this book has found a permanent place on the shelf of my heart (that's a thing now.)

Supervision started off a bit weird. I didn't like Esme, mainly because she acted really stupidly in venturing into a subway train tunnel because she saw a bit of graffiti. This is explained later in the book, so I shouldn't have judged so harshly. Once I got into this book, with the ghosts (who are sweethearts) and the setting (which is so fricking vivid) I adored it. It's just such an absorbing story, and manages to easily combine ghost story, murder mystery, and self-discovery. I loved the journey Supervision took me on, and Esme was such a good character when I finally got to understand her.

I am so glad I read this book. There are books where you can't say everything is perfect, you know there are maybe things wrong with it, but you get rose-tinted vision and fall headfirst into love with it. Supervision was like that for me. If you like adorable ghosts (A la Noah Czerny) and perfectly written settings, I can't recommend this book enough.

A bonus note: The MC is Chinese-American. And Invisible - I can't believe I forgot to mention she's invisible.

Characters ★★★★★

Setting/world building ★★★★☆

Writing ★★★★☆

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