Mini-Review: Wake of Vultures by Lila Bowen

I live in the West and I have a soft-spot for the ‘weird west’, at least when it’s done well. So, I was intrigued by Wake of Vultures by Lila Bowen – it sounded like something different … something weird and west in all of the best ways. Not only was I not disappointed, but it far exceeded my expectations.

In my mind I have so many good things to say about this book, but I love this elevator pitch from the author herself:

It’s Lonesome Dove meets Buffy the Vampire Slayer with a biracial, genderqueer heroine.

SOLD!

Honestly, I’d throw in a comparison to Preacher as well, not for anything specific, but these two just feel like they get each other. Note: that Bowen quote is from The Big Idea:Lila Bowen, which absolutely worth a full read if you’re wondering about this book.

It’s the voice of Nettie Lonesome that stands out perhaps most of all. She’s caustically witty, sarcastically ignorant, and delightfully direct. Reminiscent of the strong voice of Karen Memory by Elizabeth Bear, to throw yet another comparison into this review.

Nettie’s journey of self-discovery and struggle with her identity brings the depth to Wake of Vultures, but what I want to emphasize is the wonderful, weird fun of the book. It’s a menagerie of fantastical beasts in the scrub-lands of the West, mixing mythologies with a dark, cynical tinge wrapped in just enough humor. It’s a perfect setting for some monster hunting fun: vampire bordellos, sirens at the bar, chupacabra roaming the range, harpies circling above, werewolves on a warpath, and a band of monster hunting rangers on the prowl.

Wake of Vultures is a fun read full of weird, even horrific, adventures in a re-imagined West. I thoroughly enjoyed it and enthusiastically recommend it. Also…it’s only the beginning of The Shadow series, with a sequel, Conspiracy of Ravens, coming in October, 2016, and more books planned for the future.

The Shadow Series:

Wake of Vultures: Amazon

Conspiracy of Ravens: Amazon

Mini-Review: Karen Memory by Elizabeth Bear

Karen Memory by Elizabeth Bear (Indiebound, Book Depository, Amazon) was released to great fanfare and critical acclaim, which had been preceded by a good bit of buzz that began when the spectacular cover art and intriguing synopsis were released some months earlier. I was one of those who began looking forward to this book way before it was released. Then I heard the early buzz from early readers, though I waited until the book was released to read it, and I only got more excited. And of course I waited until a couple of months after I finished the book to finally write this review.

One result is that I have very little to say that hasn’t been said elsewhere (often much better than I could say it myself). First – the book is awesome, it easily lives up to the early buzz and critical acclaim. Second – this book has a wonderful, wonderful voice to it. The main protagonist, Karen Memery, brings life to this first person narration. It’s pulp fiction. It’s the weird west. And it’s beautifully told through the foul, honest mouth of a ‘seamstress’.

Come for the steampunk, weird west, alternate history, tale set in the low streets of a new city a lot like Seattle, featuring a classy bordello full of exquisitely interesting people as they dive into a murder-mystery and are aided by the real-life origin of the Lone Ranger and his fictional Native American sidekick. Stay for the addictively unique voice of Miss Memery, LGBTQ characters, romance, dirigibles, submarines, bio warfare, mind control gloves, and a sewing machine that doubles as mechanical armor. No worries – that doesn’t even cover it all, but it should give you a taste of just why you should run (not walk) and start reading this book right now.

Hyperbole aside (and the actual description is not hyperbole – it really is that cool), Bear gives voice to voices that are traditionally mute and go no further than ‘yes sir’, ‘no sir’, etc. Subversive is a term that gets bandied about here. And as wonderful all that is – it’s the voice, Karen Memery’s voice that makes this book a great book. Miss Memery charms the reader, refills the bourbon, charms the reader some more, refills the bourbon again, and then she gets animated in her story as you continue to refill the bourbon between moments of laughter and anxious tension.  

Elizabeth Bear really is writing at the top of her game right now and getting long deserved recognition at just the right time. Few authors pull off such a varied bibliography half so well, and Karen Memory just may top it all (at least for the moment). Go ahead, jump on the steamwagon for this one – it’s a wild ride and one hell of a tale to hear told.

And now, I want to read this again. With a bourbon in hand.

Better make it a double.

Review: The Six-Gun Tarot by R.S. Belcher

I love that brief time that happens when I’m between books (I tend to only read one at a time) – when I search my mood, search my bookcase and Nook and try to figure out just what I want to read. I’m never without good options and the decision is often challenging. After the exhaustion of reading the last book of a 14-book series that I have invested nearly 20 years in, I wasn’t sure what I looking for. Then I came by The Six-Gun Tarot by R.S. Belcher (Indiebound, Book Depository, Amazon). It’s fantasy but not epic. It’s historical, but not really. It’s set in an out of the way town bordering a desert in Nevada where the local silver mine has gone bust. I live in the West, spend a lot of time in the desert, and occasionally work at mines in Nevada – so, it just seemed to fit.

 

Golgotha is town where odd things happen – and usually people die as a result. The sheriff is rumored to be immortal, bears the scars of multiple hangings, and keeps a supply of silver bullets handy. His deputy is the son of a coyote trickster, the local tinkerer reads Mary Shelley way too literally, the local land baron has been around a long time, mysterious things happen over in Chinatown and a new kid stumbles into town, hiding from a wanted poster and carrying the eye of his dead father.

 

In The Six-Gun Tarot, Belcher seemingly throws everything he can think of into the mix, and it somehow works. On one hand this is standard western with a mysterious kid coming to an even more mysterious town. One another hand it’s tale of religious fervor and the end of the world with a bit of Lilith mythos thrown in for good measure. On yet another tentacle, it’s the horror of zombies and a Cthulhu-like mythos that includes Mormons, the Chinese and even a Fallen angel or two. It’s the battleground between creation and the void. It’s been likened to steampunk, weird westerns and ‘Buffy meets Deadwood’ – and as cringing as the last one sounds, it sort of fits in a good way.

 

Of course, throwing so much into the book is also one its biggest flaws. Belcher has a lot of points of view in this book, and especially in the beginning, and this can lead to confusion. Some points of view seem to reveal info they shouldn’t know, and the info dumps are often a bit to clumsy. In combination with the pacing issues common in debuts, the story can abruptly grind to a halt and jarringly pick up again.

 

As I often see in first-time writers, their enthusiasm can get ahead of them. Belcher has a tendency to over-write in some areas, seemingly showing off. Occasionally it’s eye-rolling bad. But, overall, the prose is good. There is subtlety that is played well. The town of Golgotha, a character in its own right, has a history. A history that is often mentioned off-handedly, yet the in a few lines deep meaning is portrayed. Those are stories I’d like to hear about, but appropriately, those stories aren’t told in this book.

 

Belcher also creates some endearing characters. If there’s a main character, it’s probably Jim – a young kid on the run. He’s one you can cheer for, even if he’s probably the weakest of the lot. His back story, told in flashbacks, is one tragedy after another – literal punches in the gut. However, it’s Sheriff Highfather that is probably my favorite – his complicated past is only hinted at – a man with a just and open mind, a man who does what needs doing. Whether that’s keeping up the supply of silver bullets or salting an unmarked grave. The others are well done too – Maude and her history, Mutt, Augie and the Widow Gillian, and the mayor – who’s battle with his sexuality and religion, is well done side-plot.

 

By the end of The Six-Gun Tarot, the pacing issues and point of view confusion were forgotten. I was completely immersed in the story and I couldn’t not put the book aside. I loved the crazy, anything can happen in this town vibe. I love the way people banded together, often in spite of very real differences. I love the history of the town that we only see hints of. The fact that I stayed up late to finish is one of the biggest complements I can give a book – I’m nearly always sleep deprived and when I put a book before needed sleep it’s saying something. Belcher’s debut surprised me in just how much I enjoyed it and I’m looking forward to seeing what comes next out of Golgotha – but I’ll be honest, I hope it’s not too wrapped up in the Frankenstein hints that populate the novel.

Review: The Alloy of Law by Brandon Sanderson

Late one night I finished reading The Alloy of Law by Brandon Sanderson (Book Depository, Powell’s Books, Indiebound) and reacted in a way that I rarely do – I was excited, very excited. I immediately got out the computer and wanted to talk about it with people. Which proved to be difficult since I had read it over a month before it was released, but the excitement was real and unusually strong.

Waxillium Ladrian (Wax) is a young aristocrat who left the civilization of the big city behind of Elendel to find his way as a lawman in the wild frontiers. After the tragic death of his lover he is called back to the city to take over as the head of a major noble house and suffer the politics of high-society. It doesn’t take long for a string of crimes to hit close to Wax as his role as patriarch and rugged lawman collide.

In many ways Sanderson has become very well known as something of a ‘cool magic system guy’. He first developed this magic system in the Mistborn trilogy (Book Depository, Powell’s Books, Indiebound, my review) and he takes it to the next level with The Alloy of Law. It’s cool, it’s fun – it’s magic with guns and train robberies. The action keeps coming and coming as genres are mashed together – Fantasy, Western, Mystery, with a dash of a few others.

In The Alloy of Law Sanderson steps things up from previous novels he’s written, speeding up the pace and ratcheting up the action. It’s fun, exciting, utterly addicting and hard to put down. This isn’t supposed to be deep, meaningful fantasy, it isn’t supposed to be gritty and subversive, it’s not even particularly epic – it’s entertainment and it succeeds well within its goals.

The Alloy of Law is enthusiastic and energetic. In comparison to his previous works, think of the best of his fight or battle scenes in Mistborn and The Way of Kings (Book Depository, Powell’s Books, Indiebound, my review). The Alloy of Law carries that high level of energy throughout most of the book.

Archetypes rule in The Alloy of Law. This is the buddy movie of fantasy thrown in with a hefty dose of Western where the wild-wild west meets up with civilization. Wax is a classic hero and Wayne his faithful sidekick. The Lady Marasi is the equally classic potential love interest. The big, bad enemy is also pretty standard – he knew Wax in the past, he’s a former lawman turned bad for his own sort of idealistic reasons that Wax can almost sympathize with. I suppose you could call it all cliché, call the hero a Gary Stu, etc. However that is the point – the cliché is embraced and the rather predictable story is hugely entertaining. The Alloy of Law succeeds because it doesn’t try to be anything it isn’t.

Of course this is where the problem will lie for many. Classic, archetype fantasy is not what is ‘in’ these days – fantasy is supposed to be hard core, gritty and subversive. Characters aren’t just flawed, they are really messed up, dialogue as rough as the slums, etc. Sanderson is both praised and criticized for his more PG to PG-13 portrayal of fantasy and the dreaded YA label is often thrown about (I’ve ranted before about how that’s a pretty short-sighted view). Sanderson has also come under fire for his dialogue – and I think that the overly witty dialogue of The Alloy of Law will be seen by many as a step backward.

But for me, this is all expected and not (necessarily) a bad thing. Sanderson does it all well and he tells the story in his typical style that has become very recognizable. Basically, I find his prose and style to be essentially negligible. To put it another way, it’s so benign that it fades to the background and the story takes over. I find it a perfect balance for getting sucked into the story and just running with it. The flaws and minor annoyance pass by without impact or notice as I simply enjoy the ride.

I started this review with the excitement I felt after finishing the book, so I should really discuss that a bit more. The Alloy of Law is billed as a stand-alone book in Sanderson’s Mistborn world. This is only somewhat true – for the end of the book throws a wrench into things. There are many questions left unanswered, a few exciting reveals that leave ending literally begging for an eventual sequel. And I really want to read that sequel. Unfortunately Sanderson is quite busy with other projects and any sequel is seemingly far off into the future, but I am hopeful – The Alloy of Law came out of nowhere, surprising Sanderson fans, so I hope that in the near future another surprise will emerge bearing the continuation of Wax’s story.

To sum it all up, The Alloy of Law really comes down to how you feel about Sanderson’s books. If you haven’t been a big fan of his previous books, particularly Mistborn, then this probably isn’t the book for you. However, if you like Sanderson’s books, particularly Mistborn, this will probably turn out to be one of the better books you’ll read this year. And fear not, if you haven’t read Mistborn, The Alloy of Law is fine introduction to Sanderson’s writing. The Alloy of Law is a relatively straight-forward book with lots of action and overly witty dialogue. It isn’t trying to be anything overly deep, gritty or subversive. It succeeds very well within its goals and yes, it's a lot of fun with some really clever use of a cool magic system.