Book Review: The Guns Above by Robyn Bennis
A pair of intriguing, antagonistic characters, steampunk airships, a dry sense of humor, and feats of derring-do are at the heart of The Guns Above, a debut novel by Robyn Bennis. The novel’s strong focus on the action beats as well as the main characters marry a sense of character along with large helpings of crunchy detail to a finely honed level. Lieutenant Josette Dupre is the first female airship commander in Gandian history. She is determined, ambitious, intelligent, strong-willed, and has a delightfully dry and snarky sense of humor. She’s also keenly aware of the precarious nature of women in the Signal Corps, and her own command an even more tenuous position. At the beginning of the novel, she is convinced that she has lost her command after the destruction of the Osprey, even in service of stopping an enemy advance. Thus when she instead is given the brand new but experimental, cantankerous, and ill-designed airship Mistral, she will not allow a command, even of a potential deathtrap, to be taken from her. In a real sense, the novel is a story of the relationship of a commander to her new airship, with all the pitfalls and joys of that, especially as it turns to be a trial under fire.
Book Review: CONGRESS OF SECRETS by Stephanie Burgis
Known for her Regency-era fantasy series for middle-grade readers that began with A Most Improper Magick (published as Kat, Incorrigible in the US), Stephanie Burgis’ debut novel for adults, Masks and Shadows, similarly combined romanticism with the fantastic. Her sophomore novel, released at the end of 2016 by Pyr, continues this formula. Well paced and passionately infused with historical details and characters, Congress of Secrets will appeal to readers who enjoy a touch of magical darkness balancing Austenesque romance and historical intrigue. The story is set in 1814 at the start of the Congress of Vienna, a conference held by European powers to settle pressing geopolitical issues after the initial defeat of Napoleon. Clandestinely among the throngs arriving into the city are two former citizens who have spent years in exile, separated from Vienna and from one another after a traumatic night that ended in flames and escape from the secret police. Karolina Vogl, daughter of a printer who published pamphlets critical of the Holy Roman Emperor, is now a wealthy English widow named Lady Caroline Wyndham. With the passage of time and her new identity, Caroline plans to take advantage of the Congress to locate and rescue her imprisoned father. But Michael Steinhüller, an opportunistic con man who had been her father’s former apprentice, also uses the Congress as an opportunity to re-enter Vienna, posing as one “Prince Kalishnikoff” and looking for a score of a lifetime. Amid the diplomatic aristocracy Caroline and Michael each maneuver towards their goals, trying to avoid discovery. However, the greatest threat to their plans may be a chance, volatile reunion with one another, and reignited emotions of friendship and betrayal in their shared past.
Book Review: The Empress Game by Rhonda Mason
Space Opera machinations, a Princess and Prince on the run, and vicious combat both in and out of the ring mark the plot of Rhonda Mason’s The Empress Game. I’m a sucker for Traveller-style Space Opera, with multiple star-spanning empires and kingdoms and republics, politics between different worlds, intrigue and adventure on far-flung worlds. The Empress Game provides us with an Empire that seems to dominate a swath of the galaxy, but is not alone in its suzerainty. It is the intersection of those polities, or on the boundaries of them, that rich and interesting characters and story can occur.
Book Review: Cities and Thrones by Carrie Patel
Revolt and revolution are only the beginning of the troubles facing Malone, Jane and the other characters in CITIES AND THRONES, the follow-up to THE BURIED LIFE by Carrie Patel. Taking place on the heels of the prior book, while the first novel is a New Weird murder mystery with a large side of political revolution and unrest, Cities and Thrones explores the consequences, causes and calamities when political revolution happens. Malone has prospered, in a way, in the wake of the political changes occurring in the prior volume, having risen to a position of power and authority over the Inspectors that she didn’t quite want, but is the only person trusted for the job, anyway. Jane Lin and her companion Anders, on the other hand, having gone on the run, give the reader a view into a completely different city — Medina. While Medina is another underground city in the same vein as Recoletta, its culture and setup are very different. Lin’s talents for espionage and getting wrapped up in the councils of power do not fail her in Medina, and Lin soon finds herself caught in them in her new city in short order.
