#RIPXIII Book 1: European Travel for the Monstrous Gentlewoman

I did it! I finished my first RIP XIII read just in time to return it to the library and not incur any overdue charges. This is a perilous situation that many of us have been in, right?!

European Travel for the Monstrous Gentlewoman is the second in Theodora Goss' series that started with The Strange Case of the Alchemist's Daughter. I read that one in July and it surprised and delighted me and this one was just as good, if not a bit better as it delved more into feelings and morality. I've seen a complaint of the first book that it was sometimes not quite period accurate in the language and I noticed that in this book as well. All I can say is that I had already suspended my disbelief enough to accept that beast women, poisonous girls, patchwork monster ladies, and vampiric dames existed so letting a few conversational anachronisms pass was not so hard. I really got into the story and the 700+ pages flew by. The characters are all interesting and the eastern European settings will certainly trigger a bit of wanderlust!

This book picks up right where the first one left off and it promises a third volume picking up where this one ends (if enough of us buy this one!) so it is definitely for series readers. And, as it ties in to so many classic monster and mystery tales, it is also a perfect perilous read for those who enjoy some humor, romance, and friendship in their adventures.

With blood and pastries,
K

New Release: The Philosopher's Flight

You know that thing where you start reading a book and, almost from word one, it grabs you in that way that lets you know it is absolutely going to be one of your favorite books ever but then you get nervous and you back off of that assessment because you don't want to be disappointed since you aren't certain where the plot is going and what if the author ruins what is essentially a perfect-for-you novel with something ridiculously out of character but then, as you are speeding to the end, you find that everything unfolds in an acceptable way and now you have turned the last page and can certify that you are indeed satisfied and that this was an amazing read? Yeah. That.

The Philosopher's Flight starts with Tom Miller's dedication:

For Abby--
Who once asked why there were so few women in my stories
And For My Mom--
Who read to me every night when I was young

This sets up an amazing alternate history where (mostly) women have discovered a way to harness the powers of the natural world in order to do things like grow crops faster, teleport, fly, and control smoke. These things are not done with magic but simply with elemental powders, hand movements, and natural ability. This is, of course, resented by some and declared to be devilry by others. And yet the women have established themselves as soldiers, problem solvers, and so much more. Now it is the early 1900s and Robert Weekes, son of an empirical philosopher, finds that he has enough talent that is worth exploring that he decides to apply for college -- unorthodoxly to Radcliffe, a women's college in Boston, incredibly far from his Montana home. He is accepted and begins his year of proving his talents in order to land the job he has always felt destined to do--one that a man has never done before.

There was so much to love in this story. My absolute favorite thing was that this was not an alternate history where women just have power and so they rule the world. The men in this story begrudgingly accept the worth of what the women do but, at the same time, resent that they are sometimes dependent and therefore try their hardest to trivialize women by, for example, taking away their right to vote. None of this was actually in the story itself but rather in the quotes at the beginning of each chapter, as historical records from both the past and future. This complexity is felt in the story though in the way that Robert is treated when he begins to enter the very feminine realm of empirical philosophy. He is polite and humble and careful but it doesn't matter because he is an outsider. And yet he still finds connections with staff and students and takes just about everything as a learning experience. He makes mistakes and has successes and learns more than just the techniques of his art. This book was just so thoughtful and complex and yet a bit innocent in that endearing way that a first novel sometimes is. Sigh. Yes, I loved it.

Blissfully,
K

#RIPXII Book 1: Ash and Quill

Third in The Great Library series, Rachel Caine keeps upping the stakes for our young Library initiates and Ash and Quill is a ridiculously stressful, entirely readable entry in the series. For those still unfamiliar with it, the alternate universe premise is that the Great Library at Alexandria was never burned and a global civilization that venerated learning was established. But, of course, eventually the leaders started caring more about power than anything else. The first book starts with a group of young initiates who quickly bond as they start to uncover injustices and irregularities within The Library. I don't know how long this series is going to be but if Caine keeps up the character maturation, the high-stakes action, and the unadulterated bookishness, I'll stay on board for at least a few more books!

( I wrote a bit more about the first two books last year.)

Sharing this book instead of hiding it,
K

A College of Magics

One of the benefits of book shopping online is the little "based on this title, you might like" strip that comes up across the bottom of a page. I had one of these pop up during a recent Powell's visit and was recommended A College of Magics by Caroline Stevermer. She is one of the co-authors of Sorcery and Cecilia or The Enchanted Chocolate Pot and also of a lovely short story that I read in the Queen Victoria's Book of Spells collection (with Ellen Kusher, whose group effort Tremontaine I'm reading right now!). I had never read one of her solo books though but figured I couldn't go wrong, especially by grabbing a used copy of this out-of-print book. Well, you can probably guess how this went ... LOVE.

I was just trying to write up a regular plot summary but it sounded so stupid and flat compared to the actual story. The back of the book makes it sound like a boarding school tale, which it admittedly is at the start. But there are three parts to the story and the second two are full of real life and high stakes adventures. Faris, the main character, is a couple years from coming of age at the beginning of the story and has an "evil" uncle who is ruling her country of Galazon until she is 21. And the school? It seems like a normal finishing school but the girls who excel there are those that are able to use magic. But do they teach magic at the school? Not really. It's just theoretical instruction and then innate ability just kind of takes over by the time the young women are ready to leave. Faris hates it at first but then finds friends and loves it and then, of course, is pulled out early by her evil uncle, but not before things go totally wonky with her nemesis, Menary.

And then once she leaves and heads toward Galazon by way of Paris, the adventures/perils begin, with real consequences for Faris, her companions, and her enemies. Some of the things that happen are actually quite intense. The back of the book says "ages 10 and up" but there are some violent things that happen that seem more appropriate for a slightly older kid. I say this because the intensity did something to me, the adult reader. During the days I was reading this book I was tense and stressed and had to keep getting back to it. The world felt so real and Faris's eventual mission so important that I ended up speeding through the almost 500 pages of story. Then the ending was so unexpected, so outside of normal children's fiction norms, that I ended up in awe of Stevermer and her feminist ideals.

As this book was first published in 1994, did any of you read it as a kid/teen? I'm really curious how a young reader would actually handle some of the things that happen in the story. Also, I would LOVE to see this book made into a film. In the meantime, I'll just search out more of Stevermer's books and collaborations and enjoy her fabulous worlds!

Always looking for more magic,
K

#RIPXI: 3, The Graveyard Game

My third RIP read is the fourth novel in Kage Baker's The Company series. The first three books have fairly standard mishaps and perils as the immortal cyborgs that work throughout time for the company called Dr. Zeus (collecting artwork, literature, historical artifacts, animal, and plant species that would otherwise have been lost in time) interact with humans and each other. This book, though, reveals a couple of major conspiracies and also takes us into our future, a time that is not pleasant in many parts of the world. I found it very hard to read right now, as we too have a very uncertain future. Mention of a second U.S. Civil War never seemed like such a threat as it does right now. And targeted pandemics in a time of such open and unrepentant racism seem just as likely. I truly hope that Baker's bleak visions of the future end up to be nothing more than science fiction after all.

If you're interested in starting this series, there's a great recent post by rocalisa that lists all of the books, novellas, and short stories by publication date (and also includes where to find them, which can be tough these days -- many Kage Baker books are out of print). There's also a big reread going on at tor.com and they're only in the middle of the third book so you could easily start and read the posts that are already up!

Hoping for the best,
K

Do Not Miss: The Great Library Series

I've spent a lot of this summer searching for fun, escapist reads and I stumbled across Rachel Caine's Great Library series. It's an alternate history YA dystopia full of forbidden knowledge and peril and a wee bit of romance.

The first book in the series is Ink and Bone, the story of Jess Brightwell, a book smuggler from London who earns a place in the newest group of Great Library trainees. The Great Library (in Alexandria -- it never burned) is the ruling force of the world, keeping books and knowledge under lock and key, doling out only what they deem safe and in the best interests of the Library. Shortly, Jess and some of his fellow postulants will discover that their best interests might not be those that the Library has always dictated to them.

Picking up right where the first book left off, Paper and Fire follows Jess and friends as they become scholars, soldiers, and captives. However, the more information that they are exposed to, the more they are determined to help the Library become what it should be--a beacon of light and knowledge--rather than a scary, totalitarian regime.

I sped through these books. Seriously. I couldn't read them fast enough. They're chock-full of excitement, but excitement that has secret depth and some important themes about why we should value free-flowing information and ideas. The relationships are complex and no character seems off-bounds for disaster. I've already been shocked a few times, both by current actions and about revelations from the past.

I don't know how long this series is going to be but I'm a bit bummed that this second book JUST came out because I'm dying to know what is going to happen next!

Feeling the burn,
K