Micro-reviews of my 2023 fantasy reads (so far)

Reading what others have enjoyed helps me find stuff to add to my TBR pile, so I thought I should probably contribute!

Disclaimer: you may want to check content warnings, as I recall there being one or two sensitive topics in a couple of these.

The Monsters We Defy, by Leslye Penelope
LIKED (historical) - Enjoyable Jazz Age adventure with bonus points for a flavor of magic (African American folk tradition) that hasn't been done to death. Refreshing perspective with a side of cool history lesson.

Shards of Honor and Barrayar, by Lois McMaster Bujold
LIKED A LOT (space opera, politics, romance) - The Vorkosigan saga gets a lot of praise, so I figured I'd start with the books featuring the main character's parents. This may have been a mistake, because the shift of main character in The Warrior's Apprentice (the first Miles book) has kinda put me off. Anyway, the characters are great, and their relationship takes center stage, even as galactic (and planetary) conflict swirls around them.

The Witness for the Dead and The Grief of Stones by Katherine Addison
LIKED A LOT (comfy, mystery) - I wanted a fantasy mystery, and the recommendations I read suggested I didn't need to read The Goblin Emperor first (which this series spun off from), so I jumped in... and promptly almost quit about 20 pages in. The naming conventions in this world are a lot, and my copies didn't have the glossary I later found in The Goblin Emperor. I did end up enjoying puzzling through them, however. Another warning: these are quiet books, with a quiet protagonist; I was never bored, but if plodding along at a deliberate pace isn't for you, you may want to give these a miss.

The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison
LIKED (comfy, politics) - Having burned through the other two books, I craved more comfy. This has a similar tone and pacing to the the spin-off series, despite the blurb sounding suspenseful and thrilling. I'd read a sequel, but I'm much more interested in the spin-off.

The Mister Trophy and Dead Man's Rain by Frank Tuttle
LIKED (mystery-ish) - The first two short story/novella entries in the Markhat series. Light and witty, which is nice in between heavier novels. Not really whodunits, in case you were hoping for that.

serfraser,
serfraser avatar

I've still got the 2nd Witness book to go and at first I wasn't sure I'd keep going, but something about that world, the pacing, the tone, atmosphere, etc. Really stays with me, growing in fondness the further I am from having read it. I didn't even know if I really enjoyed Goblin Emperor at first, now I think it's one of my favourite modern reads. Never really had a relationship like that before with a series. It's nice, kinda cozy.

RheingoldRiver,

Thanks for the reviews! I've seen Lois McMaster Bujold's name around a lot but never gotten around to her. And I looooooooved all 3 books of Katherine Addison's (under that name), really excited for the 3rd Cemeteries of Amalo book. I actually preferred The Goblin Emperor, but the cozy feel of Witness and Grief are nice too.

misericordiae,

A couple of caveats about the two Bujold books, now that I've slept on it:

  1. The world-building is pretty secondary. For instance, aside from a couple pieces of fancy tech and the ruling structure, you could blink and miss that the second book was even supposed to be scifi. Maybe it becomes more original and fleshed out later in the series?
  2. There's a [spoiler, but involves content warning material] scene in Shards of Honor that involves a villain so cartoonishly evil that I found it kind of tonally jarring.

I wonder if I would have preferred The Goblin Emperor if I'd read it first. Looking forward to the 3rd Cemeteries book also!

RheingoldRiver,

Thanks good to know, thanks! I'm reading Luck in the Shadows atm and there's actually so much worldbuilding I can't deal with it, maybe a change of pace would be welcomed haha

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