Books Received in August 2024

I know this post is late. It's been a busy few months and the book I received doesn't come out until January, 2025, so I figure it's ok.

My thanks to Tor.com for letting me read an advance copy of the newest Wayward Children novel.

Adrift in Currents Clean and Clear by Seanan McGuire - I really enjoy this series. Every 2nd book is an origin story and easy spot to jump in. This is Nadya's origin. The book is out January 7, 2025.

Nadya had three mothers: the one who bore her, the country that poisoned her, and the one who adopted her.

Nadya never considered herself less than whole, not until her adoptive parents fitted her with a prosthetic arm against her will, seeking to replace the one she'd been missing from birth.

It was cumbersome; it was uncomfortable; it was wrong.

It wasn't her.

Frustrated and unable to express why, Nadya began to wander, until the day she fell through a door into Belyrreka, the Land Beneath the Lake--and found herself in a world of water, filled with child-eating amphibians, majestic giant turtles, and impossible ships that sailed as happily beneath the surface as on top. In Belyrreka, she found herself understood for who she was: a Drowned Girl, who had made her way to her real home, accepted by the river and its people.

But even in Belyrreka, there are dangers, and trials, and Nadya would soon find herself fighting to keep hold of everything she had come to treasure.

VIdeo: The Magic Ring of Hermes Ritual

Dr. Kirsten Dzwirza is an archaeologist studying Egyptian, Greek, and Roman magical writings and artifacts. She's working on a sourcebook with new translations of a lot of magical spells and inscriptions and has been making the occasional youtube video about her work. (Her channel is called The Archaeology of Ancient Magic & Ritual Practice, in case the links stop working.) I wanted to embed a recent video she made about the ritual for making the magic ring of Hermes from the Greek Magical Papyri, but I am unable to. It's worth heading to youtube to see it HERE. She's also made a free online course explaining what the Greek Magical Papyri are.

Book Review: Rule by Rowenna Miller

Pros: more magic development, battles

Cons: limited romance, no HEA

The country is at war, with Royalists fighting Reformists. Sophie Balstrade helps purchase necessary supplies before joining Theodor and her brother at the army camp. Sophie must decide what magic she’s willing to perform to help her side win.

Book 3 of the Unravelled Kingdom series starts a short time after the end of book 2. If you haven’t read the previous volumes you’ll be completely lost.

Magic gets more developed in this book as Sophie’s skills improve and she’s able to do more with her powers. The West Serafans also use magic a few times, in a different way from Sophie, which was interesting. She’s not really doing any sewing anymore, as she has new ways of affixing charms and curses to a wider variety of materials.

There’s a decent amount of warfare, including a few battles, but it’s mostly strategy. There’s a lot about the logistics of maintaining an army, namely about supplying, billeting, clothing, and training an army.

This is a fantasy novel, not a category romance, so the happily ever after ending isn’t promised. I was still a bit disappointed I didn’t get it though. The romance elements are very light, with Sophie and Theodor being an established couple. I loved seeing their interactions, though they don’t spend much time together.

There’s a long denouement that goes over what happens after the war ends. It’s great to see how things develop a bit, though I wasn’t happy with one major decision, it was realistic and fit the story.

It’s a good ending to the trilogy, if not quite the happy ending I was hoping for.

Book Review: Fray by Rowenna Miller

Pros: interesting magic, political intrigue

Cons: pacing is a bit uneven

Several months have passed since the attempted revolt at midwinter and the Council of Nobles are preparing to vote on the new Reform Bill that Prince Theodor has advanced. Sophie Balstrade prepares to give up her seamstress business and accompany the prince to a trade conference in West Serafe. But trouble from home follows them there, as the nobles don’t intend to give up their power. Meanwhile Sophie’s casting ability has been faltering and she needs to figure out why, and if it can be recovered.

This is the second book in the Unravelled Kingdom series, and heavily depends on knowing what’s happened in book one. There’s less sewing and more magic and politicking in this book.

I love Sophie and seeing her relationship with Theo deepen is a real pleasure. They sometimes butt heads, being from different social strata, but work out their difficulties.

The magic is interesting. I love how Sophie sews charms, and seeing her abilities expand is fun. The musical magic gets examined a bit more and Sophie develops a new form of casting.

There is a lot of political intrigue. I love that there are no easy solutions to how to resolve problems of social and economic change. People in power don’t want to give that up. The book shows very realistic responses to the various solutions proposed. The brutality of people fighting for their future comes across.

I did find that some parts of the book were more interesting than others. The pacing got a bit uneven at times.

I enjoyed the book and can’t wait to read the final volume.

Video: How Healthy were Medieval People?

Found this interesting video by History Hit on health care in the middle ages. It goes over what the various forms of health practitioners were and what they would do to diagnose and treat your problem.

Scriptorium: Master of Manuscripts

Saw the trailer for the game Scriptorium: Master of Manuscripts recently and am VERY interested in playing this when it comes out. Alas, there's no release date yet, just 2025. Here's its Steam page, if you want more information about the game.

Book Review: Charming by Jade Linwood

Pros: fun characters with some unique takes on fairy tales

Cons: the story meanders, convoluted plan

Prince Charming has been rescuing women - and paying himself with half their treasuries - for years. Now, a group of his victims has banded together to bring him to justice.

This is an entertaining reworking of several classic fairytales, but with the idea that Prince Charming is a real cad. I enjoyed seeing how the author would rewrite each woman’s history. The characters were fun to watch, even - especially? - Charming.

Once the women got together and started their plot, things began to meander a bit. Their plan, as it’s revealed through the story, is so convoluted when you consider it after the fact, that it’s hard to believe it succeeded. The ending was also a bit lacking of consequence.

I did find it strange that with how many women he’d defrauded and how THEIR part of the stories travelled, that the prince wouldn’t be more easily recognized. He’s using the same name, just translated for new languages after all. Seems with a detailed description and his modus operandi new potential victims could be warned away.

It was a fun, quick read. Don’t think too hard about it. Just go along for the ride - and the reworked fairytales.