I decided to start putting old reviews I’d written some time ago on Goodreads on this site. Here are the ones from 2021.
Mrs Lirriper – Charles Dickens
4 out of 5 stars
“Mrs Lirriper” isn’t completely by Charles Dickens. It’s a book of short stories, four of which are by him,” I said to my mother yesterday afternoon.
“Really?” she said.
“Mm-hmm. It was actually published as two books – ‘Mrs. Lirriper’s Lodgings’ and ‘Mrs. Lirriper’s Legacy’ and then they put them into one book. Each one begins and ends with a short story by Charles Dickens writing as Mrs. Lirriper, who is the landlady. The stories inbetween are written by different writers, like Henry Spicer and Andrew Halliday, pretending to be different lodgers Mrs. Lirriper has had, or pretending to know one of her lodger’s stories. One of her lodgers, the Major, has been with her a long time, and they adopted a baby boy, and the Major is the person who knew all the lodger’s stories, and he wrote them down for the boy to read when he came back from boarding school.”
“Sounds complicated to me.”
“It does the way I explain it, but it really works. Trust me.”
“That’s the most words I’ve had out of you all day.”
“That’s because I’ve been reading it all day!”
The Rituals of Infinity – Michael Moorcock
4 out of 5 stars
It started off in a vaguely confusing way, but then as the book carried on it got really, really weird. In a GOOD way. The book’s other title is (Or the Further Adventures of Dr. Faust) and it touches on the Creation Story and stuff to do with angels in a clever, subtle manner, science fiction to begin with but then in the last few chapters of the story it’s more like horror. Will definitely be reading more stuff by this man.
Grimm & Dread: A Crow’s Twist on Classic Tales – edited by Cassandra L. Thompson & Lucas Mann
4 out of 5 stars
What The Earth Bore – Mary Rajotte (a Sleeping Beauty retelling)
This story is told in the second person and has a highly dramatic tone. There is interesting imagery, though perhaps a few too many adjectives slowing down the narrative pace. My favourite scene is the one in the forest when the two lovers are transfigured into something almost archetypal. I felt as if I was reading the retelling of a myth.
Black As Snow – Zeena Mubarak (Snow White retelling)
This one has a more traditional “fairy-tale” narrative voice, and tackles the subject of racism in a clever way. I enjoyed this story very much and was impressed by the author’s unique turns of phrase.
Where Shadows Fall – Stephen Black (a Rapunzel retelling)
I adored the opening line to this story amongst other things, as well as the author’s use of alliteration. The story changes from present tense to past tense halfway through, which I’m not sure was deliberate or not. Briar Rose is one of my favourite characters and I would like to read more tales with her in it.
The Devil’s Deal – Ryan Brinson (a Bearskin retelling)
Another one of my favourites for its vivid sense of location and history, which added to the convincingness of the tale. There was one unanswered question towards the end, but as it only concerned a little detail, it didn’t detract from the overall story.
Become a Flute, Become a Spy Glass, Become a Knife – Elou Carroll (a retelling of The Singing Bone).
I liked the author’s interesting turns of phrase in this one, and how the story is split into succinct parts with enigmatic subtitles such as “Boar” and “Bone.” That contributed to the ancient feeling of the tale for me. In the opening paragraph, I was a little confused as to how many human characters there were, because it sounded like there were two, but as I read on, I realised it was only Tuomo and his boar in the first section.
Godmother Death – Adam M. Faderewski (a retelling of Grandfather Death).
I enjoyed the subtle historical details in this (for example, the bird-beak mask that doctors wore during the Black Plague, and what herbs they used to prevent breathing in bad smells).
That Which You Have Promised – Sabrina Howard (a Frog Prince retelling).
I enjoyed the bond between the two sisters in this story, and the ending was a brilliant twist. However, there was an unanswered question – how did the prince’s servant know the key he found led to the chest, and how did he know where to find the chest?
The Three Wounds – Beatrice Hadwin (a retelling of the Three Snake Leaves).
I liked the interesting use of vocabulary in this story, and the little details. I also liked how the princess’s character changes completely since being returned to life.
A Tainted Rose – Brad Acevedo (a retelling of The Seven Ravens).
This story had brilliant description, with different sensory details (smells, sounds, etc) and I think this is the first story I have ever read that seems to have its own signature colour palette. It was like reading a painting. I liked the strange being that was Argenta.
What’s In A Name – J. S. Larmore (a Rumpelstiltskin retelling).
I liked how the main character’s name was not revealed to the reader until it was revealed by some of the other characters. I also liked how the roles were reversed between Rumpelstiltskin and the princess, and then how the story expanded and moved off to a more Shakespearean, Midsummer-Night’s-Dreamish direction.
The Wind So Mild – Victoria Audley (a retelling of Hansel & Gretel).
This story is delightfully macabre and almost tongue-in-cheek. You don’t realise who the main character truly is until halfway through the story (I won’t spoil it by saying who it is), and it’s told in such a way that you can’t help having sympathy for the character. Wonderful descriptions of the effects of drought, rain, and fire.
The Crow Princess – Lucas Mann (a Cinderella retelling).
No presence of fairy godmothers and pumpkins being turned into coaches here, thank goodness. I enjoyed this story very much, especially the scene with the crows and the hazel tree. My favourite character was Queen Henriette.
All the tales in this collection have strong characters and a range of fascinating narrative voices. It could benefit from another round of editing / proofreading.
I received a free advance review copy of this book and am leaving this review voluntarily.
Liminality: The Ancient Ones Trilogy – Cassandra L. Thompson
4 out of 5 stars
For those of you who haven’t yet read The Ancient Ones, the first book in The Ancient Ones trilogy, LIMINALITY opens with a useful run-down of what transpired before our story starts. This section is not overly long (approximately ten pages) but gives the previous novel’s general outline. There are also scenes where other characters prompt one of the characters to tell them his or her history in various ways (hypnotism, recovering lost memories, or telling their adventures for Libraean to jot down) which gives the reader a method of catching up on the first book’s events in an organic way. That said, Liminality has deeper meaning if you have read the first book.
Liminality weaves together a multitude of legends and myths, as well as gods and goddesses from the Norse, Egyptian, Greek, Irish, and even African pantheons, the biblical story of Lilith, lycanthropy, Revolutionary French history (including the story of the Marquis de Sade) and vampirism in a heady Gothic adventure. There is even a Sumerian god included in one of the battle scenes in all his macabre finery.
I enjoyed the method of framing the story which Cassandra L. Thompson used, where the tale is told from the points of view of different characters — first from David’s point of view, (who was the main protagonist in the first book) then Dan’s, then Libraean’s, and so on. This was done skilfully, with each character having their own section so there wasn’t any head-hopping, and each character’s history was revealed in a non-linear way, which allows the reader to piece together what is happening in his / her own mind and doesn’t interfere with the main storyline taking place in the “present” (which is actually set in 19th century London).
The plotting was also excellent, with a few surprises in character development and an incredibly emotional twist towards the end, plenty of action, drama, and complex romance.
The writing could have been improved with another round of editing. There were some typos and grammatical errors. The pace of the writing was a little slow in the beginning, but improved quickly after that until I couldn’t switch off my kindle.
Cassandra used all five senses to evoke a sense of place in all her settings, including aromas, and also to evoke her characters, which is a nice touch. (Of course, a god whose powers involve fire would smell of cloves and spices. What else would he smell of?)
I actually liked Liminality even better than the Ancient Ones because of the extra characters’ viewpoints and all the intricate parallels between the gods and goddesses of different cultures. It’s like a theological Theory of Everything. The book also traverses several different countries and time periods, much like the first in the trilogy did, and some of the events in the second book “rhyme” with — and often invert — some of the events in the first book… a kind of unholy mass, if you will, which is ironically fitting for a Gothic horror novel. Like the reincarnated deities within it, the book has many different guises: a dark fantasy novel, a romantic tale, and a historical novel.
Liminality will make a great read for fans of Neil Gaiman’s American Gods and fans of Roger Zelazny.
Disclaimer: I received this book for free as an advanced review copy and I’m leaving this review voluntarily.
Nightwalks 