Oldies But Goodies {Put This One on Your TBR List} Book Review Subseries 4: Rain Wilds Chronicles (The Realm of the Elderlings) by Robin Hobb by Karen S. Wiesner

 

Oldies But Goodies

{Put This One on Your TBR List} Book Review

Subseries 4: Rain Wilds Chronicles (The Realm of the Elderlings)

by Robin Hobb

by Karen S. Wiesner 

 

Be aware that there may be spoilers in this review. Also, reading my previous appraisals of subseries in the umbrella series The Realm of the Elderlings will foster understanding about certain facts that are required to make full sense of things included in this particular review. 

Robin Hobb is the author of The Realm of the Elderlings. Within this aegis, if you will, she's written five "miniseries" and numerous short stories. In previous Alien Romances Blog reviews, I covered The Inheritance & Other Stories, which contains a couple Realm of the Elderlings offerings. I also reviewed the first three trilogies within this series, The Farseer, The LiveShip Traders, and The Tawny Man trilogies, along with two miscellaneous novellas in the series, "The Willful Princess and the Piebald Prince" and "Words Like Coins". 

The Farseer Trilogy was focused on Fitz, the illegitimate son of Prince Chivalry of the royal line presiding over the Six Duchies. In that first subset, we learned something of the Elderlings (including dragons) and their ancient cities and settlements around the world, especially in the Rain Wilds. In the second subseries, The LiveShip Traders Trilogy, we moved away from the royal Farseer lineage and problems within the nobility to focus on "liveships", which are the outer cocoons of sea serpents that were in the process of transforming into a dragon. These logs were buried in the destroyed city of the Elderlings in the Rain Wilds and found by traders who excavated the ruins for valuable, magical artifacts. The Tawny Man Trilogy returned to Fitz and the Fool (who has remade him- or herself in many ways, shapes and forms in appearances in the series). 

In Rain Wilds Chronicles, we at last return to what first interested me in this series--the dragons and their elderlings as well as their principle city that has become a ruin within the Rain Wilds. The very first story I read in The Realm of the Elderlings was "The Inheritance". I was utterly enchanted with the mention of an ancient race of beings that lived together with dragons. All throughout this series, I've wanted to get back to these specific things. While I did come to love Fitz and the Fool stories, in the back of my mind, I wanted more--more elderlings, more dragons, more of their ancient city. In fact, I was so excited for those things, I purchased paper copies of Rain Wild Chronicles before any of the other subseries. 

Before we begin, it must be noted just how ponderously long each of these books are. Each of the trilogies boasted nearly 5000 pages total. Despite that I ultimately did love them, it was nowhere near easy to get through any of these. The author populated the series with so many characters and settings and plots, it was all but impossible to keep everything straight. In addition to those crucial elements, there are absolutely endless details that are better suited for fan encyclopedias for the series or for moviemakers who want to create every visual and miscellaneous aspect necessary for a vibrant recreation. I'm going on record as stating that every last one of these books are just too darn long. I've had to take months off in between trilogies just to get through them. As a result, when I finally got to this most-anticipated subseries (which was months after the last), I felt drained almost from the first book, especially in light of the fact that there were four books instead of three. However, I did manage to get through the first three faster than ever before since they were, more or less, only (I'm laughing sarcastically as I write that) 500 pages long, as was the final in the tetralogy. Book 4 did take more effort to get through, but I will say it was the best in this particular bunch. 

The gist of this subseries was to chronicle the re-emergence of dragons in the Rain Wilds. While a few (sadly, very few) of the characters from previous subseries made appearances here, they were, for the most part, brief and, for me, unsatisfying. Instead, we're given a whole new, cumbersome set of characters--many of them with too-similar names that got confusing and totally derailed me so often while reading. In the past, even those players I didn't like and certainly didn't root for kept me enthralled from one scene to the next. I didn't quite find that to be the case in this series. 

The main characters in Rain Wild Chronicles are associated with Alise Kincarron, who's a daughter of a poor but well-respected Bingtown Trader family. Her life-long friend Sedric Meldar encourages her to marry the handsome son (Hest) of a wealthy, renowned Bingtown Trading family, the Finboks. Little does Alise know that Hest and Sedric are lovers and Hest only married her to gain the heir his father insists on him having. Alise loves dragons and has devoted her life to studying the elderlings that lived in Rain Wilds ruins. 

Another important character in this subseries is Thymara, a 16-year-old Rain Wilder with strong elderling features. She's chosen by the dragon queen Sintara to help the deformed dragons not only survive those many who are set on destroying them but to find the elderling homeland of Kelsingra within the Rain Wilds, where they can be healed and empowered once more. 

In addition to these, a whole host of dragons have point-of-view scenes in Rain Wild Chronicles. Normally, I might have enjoyed that but, in this as well, sadly, I found I didn't enjoy the outcome as much as I might have anticipated I would. 

Before I get to the full review, let's start with summaries of each installment: 

In Dragon Keeper, Book 1, we're introduced to Alise and Thymara (et alia mentioned above), along with the weak and floundering dragons and those seeking to destroy them instead of protecting them, per the promises and pact made in the previous subseries. Alise and Thymara, along with many others,  are entrusted to escort the dragons to a new home--if only the ancient Elderling city could be real and not a myth.   

In Dragon Haven, Book 2 continues the group's trek through dangerous and threatening wilderness that none have seen in their lifetimes. During this time, the humans and the dragons are changing in disturbing ways, becoming something else, something more and,, in many ways, something terrifyingly less. Bonds are forged as well as broken, and many won't survive. 

In City of Dragons, Book 3, Kelsingra is finally within reach, but the enemies of the dragons (one of note being Hest, Alise's husband and Sedric's former lover) are closing in. Additionally, in order to reach the ancestral sanctuary with Kelsingra, the dragons first need to learn how to fly. 

In Blood of Dragons, Book 4, everything comes to a head. The silver wells that made the dragons powerful in times past are all but dried up and no one alive remembers where they might find others. The dragon keepers risk "memory walking" by immersing themselves in the memories of long-deceased Elderlings. Doing so is dangerous because it's addictive and they may become lost to these in time. Additionally, the dragons may simply not be strong enough for the final task. The Duke of Chalced from The LiveShip Traders (knew this slimy creep would rear his ugly head again!) is dispatching his forces to the Rain Wilds because killing a dragon is the only way to save himself from what's plagued him since the previous subseries. What's at stake is that, if the dragons succeed, they'll rule the world again (not necessarily a thought that will give ease to all); if they lose, they'll become extinct for all time, which would be a tragedy as well. 

Books 1-3 were, as I said, easier to get through than previous trilogies in large part because they were much, much shorter. Hobb may have heard readers who were vocal about how overwhelmingly large her books are. Though, I must say, that's probably not the case. She simply found a good place to stop each of the books at 500 pages, more or less. In any case, I came into the final book after learning all about the plight of these characters that didn't quite endear me. I didn't find them as compelling as the previous casts of characters in The Realm of the Elderings. Alise and Thymara (along with the large cast of other players) were okay, but just okay. Hest was so foul, I had a Joffrey (Game of Thrones) reaction, and I couldn't have been more pleased with his comeuppance if I'd written it myself! Ha! Beyond that, I found the dragons to all be conceited and, frankly, kind of annoying for all their self-importance. It's hard for me to imagine humans and dragons could live in harmony unless--as this subseries proves--the dragons change the humans significantly so they're more willing (yes, and able) to serve them. That's not exactly flattering or laudable. I wish dragons commanded the respect they deserved instead of demanding it through threats. I think there were many opportunities lost with the way Hobb presented the dragons in The Realm of the Elderlings. Ultimately, that came as a great disappointment to me, despite enjoying the books and the series. That said, I believe that part of my let down had to do with the way I read them. 

I wish now that I'd forgotten my commitment to following a series in the order the author writes it (because I feel it's the best way to understand it). Instead, I regret not reading "The Inheritance" first, following it with The LiveShip Traders Trilogy and finally Rain Wild Chronicles. I think I could have enjoyed it a hundred percent more that way instead of being overwhelmed with too many subseries that didn't focus on the particular theme at hand--the very one that I've been looking for since the beginning with The Realm of the Elderlings. 

I also wish that the author had separated Fitz and the Fool trilogies from the Rain Wilds installments. If I'd read them as two separate, connected series (one of them focused on the elderlings and Rain Wilds; the other focused on Fitz and the Fool adventures), I think they would have been so amazing and much less exhausting. 

My advice is to not follow the series as the author wrote it (and had the books published), but to separate them as Rain Wilds and Fitz and Fool. Specifically, read them in this order:

Rain Wilds:

1.     "The Inheritance"

2.     The LiveShip Traders Trilogy

3.     Rain Wilds Chronicles 

Fitz and the Fool:

1.     The Farseer Trilogy

2.     The Tawny Man Trilogy

3.     Fitz and the Fool Trilogy 

Other The Realm of the Elderlings shorts can be read in any order, as well as stand on their own. 

All this said, I think those who aren't as burnt out reading massive tomes as I am would find Rain Wild Chronicles a thrilling installment within The Realm of the Elderings, maybe even the most exciting of all. At this time, this is the last Rain Wilds installment, so this part of the tale seems to be complete, and Rain Wilds Chronicles is the perfect finale for it. 

Next up is the final subseries, Fitz and the Fool Trilogy (which makes it obvious what the focus will be). Book 1 was immediately available on my library app, so I'm jumping right in instead of waiting a few months to recover. Fingers crossed that, as this is the last, I'm not too sapped to enjoy it. 

Karen Wiesner is an award-winning, multi-genre author of over 150 titles and 16 series.

Visit her website here: https://karenwiesner.weebly.com/

and https://karenwiesner.weebly.com/karens-quill-blog

Visit her publisher here: https://www.writers-exchange.com/Karen-Wiesner/

Oldies But Goodies {Put This One on Your TBR List} Book Review: Forward: Stories of Tomorrow Collection (Various Authors) by Karen S. Wiesner

 

Oldies But Goodies

{Put This One on Your TBR List}

Book Review: Forward: Stories of Tomorrow Collection

(Various Authors)

by Karen S. Wiesner

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07WK7PVFT/?_encoding=UTF8&ref_=cct_cg_kcTheShi_32a1&pf_rd_p=7d685edb-e3f0-465e-a053-3a7ebbe60369&pf_rd_r=N5FMXCSF5RP7EAVJJ6DK 

Take a leap… 

For some, it's the end of the world. For others, it's just the beginning. Look forward with today's most visionary writers. 

Last month, I reviewed a bunch of short stories published by Amazon Originals in a collection (that one was called The Far Reaches with science fiction tales as its unifying theme). In these collections, none of the stories are actually connected in any other way but its particular theme. In other words, they can be read separately and in any order. You can purchase them separately, but there's a discount for getting the entire collection at once. Amazon Prime members can get them free, I guess. I paid $10.46 for Forward, including tax. They're only available as ebooks and audiobooks, not print. I was looking for fast, solid reads. I'm able to read each of them in a couple hours and they're fairly intriguing, though few of them in this one appealed to me. While in the past I made it a policy not to review stories I don't enjoy, I did for these because most people will purchase this collection as a whole, so I'm giving my opinion on all the entries, whether or not I liked them. 

Beware potential spoilers!

 

"Ark" by Veronica Roth (45 pages/63-minute read) 

Summary: Earth is on a countdown to total destruction with an asteroid on a collision course, and those still living on Earth intend to escape into space on the "ark" they designed. First, though, in the time remaining to them, they prepare as much as they can to preserve of humanity to take with them. Samantha's job is to catalog plant samples. But she has a secret--she's preparing to stay behind and watch the world end. 

Review: If you knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that Earth would be destroyed, would you take a chance on an unseen future journeying the unknown and unknowable cosmos, never knowing if another home would be found, or would you stay behind with front-row seating to the event to top all events--aware you wouldn't survive it? Home is home, even if that home is about to be decimated. This story explores this situation to a disturbing degree. It's impossible not to wonder what you yourself would do in such a situation. Weirdly, the tale told here almost doesn't matter in the light of such a heavy question. Fittingly, there is no action in the particular telling of Samantha's last days. We see nothing of the building of the ark, the painful dread of those running around getting ready for departure, nor of the catastrophe itself. Instead, we're given a place to stand on the threshold of a mirror image: That of observing the frailty of living things against a force beyond their control as well as observing the strongest of all things living--namely, the human spirit under pressure. While the way this story was told was apropos, it wasn't particularly exciting to read. 

 

"Summer Frost" by Blake Crouch (85 pages/119-minute read) 

Summary: Riley, a developer, finds that a character designed for an upcoming video game is acting strangely "real". (Note: Riley is never identified within the story itself as male or female, and I think that's deliberate and brilliant because it prevents assumptions and too-quick judgments about what's to come.) The AI is trying to escape the boundaries of the game it's been created for. After Riley separates the AI from the game, the sentient consciousness continues to veer wildly off-course and far exceed its original programming. Riley's connection to this creation grows into an emotional hold that prompts the possibility of bringing the AI into the real world. But what if this radically new lifeform has plans of its own? 

Review: Blake Crouch was actually the author who "curated" this particular collection, and this story he's contributed is the only real contender for the best of the bunch (in my opinion). From the start, there's a vague, unsettled atmosphere that continues to grow where the AI is concerned. Riley's obsession bordering on fanatical love seems to parallel the lack of experience by everyone in the company involved with such an unprecedented event. The title is yet another contradiction explored in this story. In "Summer Frost", we're left to wonder: What defines reality or is such a thing merely an illusion or fabrication? What is real emotion versus simulated response? What is freedom and choice while contained in a box? What does it mean to be human in a world run by technology? Is control ever truly possible or just another illusion we construct to present the façade of boundaries for our creativity? What does it mean to be conscious and sentient? In the grip of overambitious curiosity, can any be trusted? When the created transcends what the creator intended, should the created be allowed autonomy? Who, if anyone, should be allowed to destroy what's created? Okay, okay, enough with the slightly paranoid questions, but this timely, disturbing story provoked an endless slew of them. Ultimately the lesson here is that humans tend to follow blindly what we don't really know because we have to know where it leads while we banish that which we know all too well and therefore it holds no lasting intrigue for us. Very worth every minute I spent reading. 

 

"Emergency Skin" by N. K. Jemisin (38 pages/53-minute read) 

Summary: In time past, when the Earth was climate-ravaged to the point of presumed destruction, a select group of humans that believed they were more worthy of all the others being left behind fled the planet, leaving it and everyone there to fate. Centuries later, those narcissists need human skill cells to replenish their own. One man is sent back to gain what they lack. What they find isn't a decimated planet and barely human ghouls or mutants. Humans have again flourished, and the planet sustains them. But what kind of a greeting should be given selfish traitors whose agenda is again nothing more than egocentric? 

Review: I could easily imagine the entitled/privileged (let's face it, probably the very ones who caused most of the destruction in the first place) turning tail and abandoning the less fortunate to their fate on a dying world. I could also very easily imagine that same group returning when what they've discovered on a new world isn't enough for them and they're demanding that the forsaken hand over whatever they need. "Emergency Skin" is told from the point of view of an egomaniacal representative of the original defectors (whether an AI or ruling human or committee these so-called superior beings, I'm not sure) so the slant is always about what benefits them, not the valiant survivors on the planet nor the human being the selfish send to do dirty deeds. That made the perspective intriguing, though it wasn't really the story I wanted. I really would have liked to witness it from the perspective of the Earth survivors and/or the being sent on this mission. Nothing is as expected in this little story that brutally exposes the sins of the elite. Whether or not I actually enjoyed the story--well, that's up for debate. 

 

"You Have Arrived at Your Destination" by Amor Towles (54 pages/75-minute read) 

Summary: Sam and his wife decide to try Vitek, a fertility lab, when they can't get pregnant. But the scenarios devised by the company on the basis of Sam and his wife's own genetics are anything but comforting. 

Review: In this futuristic tale, a couple trying to have a baby have reached the desperation stage that comes when all other options have been undertaken without the desired result. Instead of being handed the warm fuzzies about their child's future, they're shown almost too realistic life vignettes of their son--and then asked to choose one of them so the scientists can tweak the engineering in their unborn child's growth and bring that future projection about. None of the options shown to Sam like condensed movies are ideal. He begins to suspect Vitek has an agenda. In Sam's place, I would have had the same reaction. In one sense, knowing too much about the future can never really be good for anyone, but in another, Sam's Ping-Pong-ball-in-a-glass-cage reaction is the very thing that made him wonder whether a cold, corporate machine actually had their best interests at heart. I'm not sure if I loved or even liked this story, but it did give me disturbed pause. Beyond that, I left it feeling like I just didn't understand--as if there wasn't enough information given to trust comprehend what happened in the end. So…yeah, unsatifying because I'm not certain if I'm at fault or the author is for not being clearer. I'll just cap with: There is something to chew on here, but what it actually is might be mystery meat. Take what you will from this one. 

 

"The Last Conversation" by Paul Tremblay (67 pages/94-minute read) 

Summary: This story takes a lot of piecing together to form. Readers are put in the mind of a being that's unfamiliar with everything inside and outside him or her. Apparently "they" have been injured in some way and they're slowly waking up and becoming conscious and functional again. Their only contact is the voice of a caretaker who may or may not be trying to help them recover. This person, Annie, is somehow connected to them but won't answer their questions, and even when they're let out of the room that feels like a prison, the truth of their situation remains out of reach. Can Annie be trusted? 

Review: I like the tagline in this story's blurb: What's more frightening: Not knowing who you are? Or finding out? The problem I had with "The Last Conversation" is that I felt like the entire 67 pages could have been condensed in a few paragraphs--the fine-tuned details didn't seem all that necessary while I was reading them. I only learned in the last 5-10 pages why it was crucial to tell the story in this vague way. Did it make the story any more enjoyable? Or less so? I'm not sure, even now that I've finished reading it. As I said with the last review above, I'm left with a disquieted foreboding. If that was the intent of the story, then it succeeded. But the end result wasn't really up my alley. 

"Randomize" by Andy Weir (32 pages/44-minute read) 

Summary: An IT genius convinces the rich yet still money-hungry, casino boss to upgrade security on its random-number generator with a quantum computer system. Supposedly foolproof. Yeah, not so much. 

Review: This very short story starts in the point of view of the casino boss, shifts to the IT genius, then drops into yet another head--that of the brilliant criminal--for the rest of the tale. The only part I found interesting was that of the IT genius (honestly, the only good guy in this depressing story). Basically, this is a story about a greedy corporation head given the choice of colluding with greedy criminals. That's it. Can you guess what happened? It won't take a high IQ at all. If that appeals to you. It didn't me. While it's scary to actually get a layman's rundown about how crooks are doing their dirty deeds, there was little redeemable about this run-of-the-mill offering. Don't expect an original situation let alone a happy ending for anyone but the bad guys. As usual. Sigh. I've loved all Weir's novels, and I guess I'll stick to those in the future. 

~*~

Sometimes an active reader such as myself needs something short that doesn't require a huge commitment. Initially, I believed these collections of themed stories were worth the cheap price paid considering the… if not full-on enjoyment than…diversion derived from them. Unfortunately, I only like one of the selections in the Forward collection. I had already scoped out the next one with horror stories, but my mixed but leaning toward disappointed reaction to this one is telling me to take a break and think about whether I want to purchase another in the future. 

Karen Wiesner is an award-winning, multi-genre author of over 150 titles and 16 series.

Visit her website and blog here: https://karenwiesner.weebly.com/

and https://karenwiesner.weebly.com/karens-quill-blog

Visit her publisher here: https://www.writers-exchange.com/Karen-Wiesner/

{Put This One on Your TBR List} Review of Miscellaneous Selections by T. Kingfisher/Ursula Vernon by Karen S. Wiesner

 

{Put This One on Your TBR List}

Review of Miscellaneous Selections by T. Kingfisher/Ursula Vernon

by Karen S. Wiesner 

T. Kingfisher (the pen name of Ursula Vernon) is a versatile author, illustrator, and artist. She has a page on her Red Wombat website labeled Short Stories that includes links to her short stories and articles, some of which are included in a variety of different anthologies. From this page, you can read them free on her website and/or from online magazines. 

https://redwombatstudio.com/short-stories/

Nearly all of these freebies have won awards, too. The genres run the gamut. There's a little of everything, as you'll soon see in the reviews below. I went into this endeavor not entirely sure what I was getting into, but I was pleasantly surprised for the most part with the majority of these selections that are worth seeking out. As they'll cost you nothing, you have everything to gain, nothing to lose! 

Beware: May contain unintended spoilers! 

"Jackalope Wives" and "The Tomato Thief" by Ursula Vernon: Although these two, connected stories are contained in T. Kingfisher's collection Jackalope Wives and Other Stories, they were written under the author's real name. Go figure. The duo features Grandma Harken, a clever old woman who is far more than who…and what… she seems. She lives in a house with its back to the desert, and she understands this harsh environment much better than most. Her biting humor and compelling way of looking at the world around her make both stories irresistible.

In "Jackalope Wives", Grandma Harken's daughter Eve has a very foolish son who's, unfortunately, much beloved by the females. However, he's only attracted to a jackalope wife. This shy being has the capability of removing her skin to dance under moonbeams. The boy does something stupid to obtain one, and Grandma Harken has to set things right. This very unusual folktale has an interesting message: "You get over what you can't have faster than you get over what you could. And we shouldn't always get what we think we want." Strange things happen in the desert, indeed!

In "The Tomato Thief", Grandma Harken is determined to find out who's daring to steal her famous, homegrown tomatoes. The answer surprises her and forces her to act. If she doesn't, those living in the desert will be in grave danger. It's very hard not to fall in love with a story with lines like these two gems: "Sometimes the best cure for life was a ripe tomato" and "…there was no telling how low a body would sink once they'd started down the road of tomato theft."

I loved both of these stories. They were my favorites of all included on this webpage.  I'm left wanting more of Grandma Harken and her hilarious wisdom. 

"Metal Like Blood in the Dark" by T. Kingfisher: Artificial intelligence identifying as a brother and sister lose their creator and have to fend for themselves in a universe their Father has warned won't be kind to them. Soon, Brother and Sister are discovered by an alien creature that kidnaps and forces them to work for him.

What an unexpectedly moving tale. I've never read anything quite like this tale that postulates the idea that lying is something like an error code in formatting and computer processing. "Lying was to be deliberately in error, and to express that error in others. Error without correction. Error entered into by choice." Further: "What did a lie do, once you let it loose? Did it sit still…or did it go spinning off into a chain reaction…" In a computer, processes and subprocesses might learn to "lie", which would wreak falsehoods and cause them to report back that something was fixed when it was still broken and vice versa. More than this, once you lie, you realize others could lie as well. With this knowledge, could a person or even a computer go back to how they were before learning the truth? In this story, Sister learns that knowing others lie could very well be the only way to keep from falling into error. But, oh to be ignorant of such darkness! 

"The Rose MacGregor Drinking and Admiration Society" by T. Kingfisher: Be prepared for raucous hilarity! Fairy man, bull selkie, and horse fae--three paranormal paramours get their comeuppance in a human woman with a taste for exotic lovers. While each has treated human females badly, they've never been on the other end of such ruthless seduction. They take to meeting regularly around a campfire to discuss the state of lingering wounds to their pride. This was quite a twist on Casanova stories. I'll be darned if I didn't burst out laughing nearly every sentence while reading this brief but very vivid sojourn into unexpected territory. Talk about perspective. 

"Sun, Moon, Dust" by Ursula Vernon: This story clearly came to T. Kingfisher as a precursor (or a lingering leftover) of the days when she was writing Swordheart (do a search for my recent review of it on this blog). A farmer boy gets a magic sword from his dying grandmother. She instructs him to call forth the magic--three warrior spirits that are bound inside the sword--who will teach him. But his grandmother is wrong about who will be teaching whom. Sometimes the learned ancient can discover something new from the young and simple. I enjoyed the twist in this story. 

"Elegant and Fine": This one wasn't ascribed to either T. Kingfisher or Ursula Vernon. It was probably the only one I didn't love. The author puts Susan from C. S. Lewis's Narnia Chronicles as the main character and has her pining for a Dwarf lover she never knew the name of when she has to return to the real world--and her life as a child. I don't like it when a writer takes someone else's work and does things with it that the original author probably would never have wanted. I wish this story had cast a wholly unique character from the author's own imagination into the thought-provoking scenario she presented here. Sigh. But enough said about that.

"Godmother": Another entry not ascribed to either author name. According to the author, it was the catalyst for T. Kingfisher's Nettle & Bone (which I've already reviewed on this blog). There's something poetic about this flash-fiction that evoked lovely images cast in shadows and equal amounts of confusion for me. 

"Bluebeard's Wife" also doesn't have an author listed but it was included in the T. Kingfisher Toad Words and Other Stories collection. Pirate Bluebeard's notorious, bloodthirsty reputation with women doesn't faze Althea. She believes the best of her new husband and no one can speak a bad word about him in her presence. I won't ruin it completely, beyond saying, sometimes rumors have a basis in truth. I enjoyed the story written very vividly in Althea's point of view--with her rose-colored glasses on…until they're rudely knocked clean off her face. 

"Origin Story" by T. Kingfisher: This story was also included in the Jackalope Wives and Other Stories collection. In this disturbing tale, a fairy works in a charnel house, taking apart dead beasts and creating something new. Not surprisingly, the humans find her creepy. You'll need a strong stomach and solid backbone to get through this one. I would be surprised if you don't get a chill, as I did, at the end of the story. 

"History, Discovery, and the Quiet Heroics of Gardening" by Ursula Vernon: Those who have read a lot of this author's stories know she's an avid gardener and her experiences have made into to many, many of her fiction projects. I'm a new convert to gardening, so I was fascinated. Whether or not you have any personal interest in gardening, this essay will teach you something new. I've never thought about how heirloom vegetables may have come back from the edge of extinction because of the aggressive actions of a few fearless and utterly tenacious gardeners. Kingfisher says that this has influenced her writing, as she's found herself writing about unlikely heroes intent on saving one small but important thing. 

~*~

There's really no way to go wrong here. If you haven't previously read any of T. Kingfisher/Ursula Vernon's work, most everything included on this page would be a great introduction that won't cost you a penny. If you're a fan, you might find something here you haven't read before. In any case, I think you'll want to read more. This prolific author and extremely talented illustrator are well worth your time and money--I fully expect, as I have, you'll be happily willing to pay to read much more of her fine work. 

Karen Wiesner is an award-winning, multi-genre author of over 150 titles and 16 series.

Visit her website and blog here: https://karenwiesner.weebly.com/

and https://karenwiesner.weebly.com/karens-quill-blog

Visit her publisher here: https://www.writers-exchange.com/Karen-Wiesner/

{Put This One on Your TBR List} Book Review: Trapped by Michael Northrop by Karen S. Wiesner

 

{Put This One on Your TBR List}

Book Review: Trapped by Michael Northrop

by Karen S. Wiesner 

  Beware unintended spoilers! 

In the past year, I've been trying to incorporate a lot more audiobooks into my reading. Listening to them fills up time I'm doing mundane daily chores with something productive, and the two library apps I've been using offered them free. This allows me to experience books and authors I'd probably never try otherwise, especially if I have to pay for them. In the process, I might find some hidden gems. 

In January 2026, two things happened: 1) My favorite library app became blocked because of a virtual traffic jam and 2) winter has become very confused. In the first instance, I had to finally email the library to find out why I kept getting an error message that essentially meant I couldn't check out books (e- or audio-). Apparently, libraries have always or just recently started enforcing (I don't know which; only know that I'd never had it happen prior to 2026) a "daily lending budget". What that means is that the library has to control spending and budgetary needs and, therefore, after a certain time of day, they shut off the ability for anyone to borrow books the rest of that day. The suggestion from the library was that I try to check out books as early as possible after the ban lifts each day--in my case, the time for reset is midnight! In other words, I have to be awake at or just after midnight so I can scramble to check out a book while I'm half-asleep. This is not good. When did it become normal for libraries to, you know, stop lending books? Isn't that their primary function? A sad world indeed when it's become too costly for both readers and libraries alike to get books. Say it ain't so, Joe! Update: Last night I woke up just after 2 a.m. and groggily fumbled around on my nightstand for my iPad. I logged onto the library app and located the book I hoped to check out. Luckily, there was no one to see me in my pjs with disheveled hair, blurry-eyed and dazed, scratching my bum (okay, maybe not) as I waited to see if I was one of the lucky few allowed to check out a book that early, early morning (or dead of night, whichever you prefer). Yes, I was lucky. It worked. And now this is what I have to look forward to when it comes to checking out books from this library app from here on out. Well, chin up! I still consider it worth it. 

The second thing that happened was the weather didn't know what in the world it wanted to do in Wisconsin (and I believe for most other states in the country as well). For three days in a row, we were getting dumped on with snow galore. The initial mountains on my lawn became veritable peaks. This was followed by spring for a day, maybe a week, circling back to more snow, or rain (which melted the mountains, at least), ushering in perilous icy conditions, or a combination of all those things at the same time. At one point, a beautiful spring day in our town led us to decide it was a great time to travel, but, after barely an hour on the road, we drove into a blizzard. Seriously, sigh. 

At the convergence of these two January 2026 tricks-or-treats, I had no choice but to utilize my least favorite library app (which has hardly any selection) in order to get my audiobook fix. I happened upon a fitting young adult suspense novel, Trapped by Michael Northrop (published February 2011), in which a winter blizzard traps a bunch of high school kids inside the aging education building for more than a week while the rest of the town scrambles to survive, too. I don't think I've ever read anything by this author before, though he's won a bunch of awards. I liked the cover that displayed how I felt, and, for once, it was nice to hear a story about a bunch of teenagers who weren't foul in speech and deed. Lately, when I check out YA audiobook material, I get a bunch of kids who substitute swear words for any hint of intelligence and who are only thinking about their next lay in between being absolutely obsessed with their cell phones and social media. I mean, maybe this is realistic view of the world we live in, but it's more than a little disheartening to think this might be the direction our future is heading. That last bit could be the winter blues talking… 

Anyway, in Trapped, we get basically nice, decent kids for a change, none of whom are particularly bright or preppy (i.e., superficial as all get out). I actually kind of liked that. Instead of D&D nerds, Mensa level, top-of-their-classer Chalamets and Swifties, we have Scotty, a jock who gets average grades and pimples here and there, his two friends Pete and Jason, Krista and Julie, and Les and Elijah, a couple of misunderstoods. Although school had let out early because of the storm, they'd stayed behind for various reasons and no one knew they were there, leaving them trapped--and seriously screwed as a result. None of them seemed smart enough to figure out how to save themselves, though they did figure out how to get enough to eat and stay warm. It isn't until someone decides to venture out to make sure someone in town knows there are kids trapped at the school that everything changed. While I did find the conclusion very abrupt and mildly unsatisfying, this atmospheric little gem fit perfectly into my January blahs and woes with the right story with the right amount of tension at the right time.

Karen Wiesner is an award-winning, multi-genre author of over 150 titles and 16 series.

Visit her website here: https://karenwiesner.weebly.com/

and https://karenwiesner.weebly.com/karens-quill-blog

Visit her publisher here: https://www.writers-exchange.com/Karen-Wiesner/

Oldies But Goodies {Put This One on Your TBR List} Book Reviews: Three Fantasy Horror Selections by T. Kingfisher by Karen S. Wiesner

 

Oldies But Goodies

{Put This One on Your TBR List}

Book Reviews: Three Fantasy Horror Selections by T. Kingfisher

by Karen S. Wiesner 

Beware potential spoilers! 

I read a tremendous amount of T. Kingfisher (who also writes and illustrates under her real name Ursula Vernon) books in 2025, and I've been reviewing them for my Friday column here on the blog for much of that time. Because there are so many, I've been trying to do combined evaluations of her works according to series, genre, and/or theme. This week, I'm grouping three of her stories under the category of adult fantasy horror. 

Before I start, I have to lament about the fact that library apps tend to be insufficient when it comes to following prolific authors. I have two different library apps (Libby and Hoopla) and cards from two different physical libraries, yet I find that, even with all of that, I can't get everything I'd like in order to read/listen to everything by Ursula Vernon and her alter ego T. Kingfisher. Libraries should really commit to an author--all or nothing. If I like something by an author, I want to read her entire body of work. I think most true readers feel the same. In the case of this particular author, I wasn't able to get everything via the library apps or at the actual locations themselves. I ended up purchasing new trade paperbacks of each because I couldn't get them from the library. Of Kingfisher's body of work, these are probably my least favorites. Sigh! 

After reading so many of her eclectic selections, I've deduced that this author is uniquely her own--whether she's writing adult or kids' fiction, whatever the genre she writes in. She has her own style that flouts all conventional definition, and these are no exception. I like that, but it can also be an issue when you're reading a lot of her titles at once. In some ways, it's like the fact that Julia Roberts is always Julia Roberts in all her films. As an actress, her own personality bleeds into her work so it leads to her being typecast. She's tried to get out of that by doing different genres, including several unflattering roles, but the end result, unfortunately, is that Julia Roberts is always Julia Roberts. If you like her and think she's a great actress, as I do, then that's fantastic for you and her. If you don't, then probably not so much. In the same way, T. Kingfisher/Ursula Vernon seems to me to be, basically, the main character in anything she writes. Most of the time, that works for her; rarely, it doesn't quite make it. 

Note that I'm reviewing these selections in the order I read them, not the order they were published in.  

The Hollow Places is an adult fantasy horror novel published in 2020. Kara is the main character. Newly divorced, she's invited by her uncle to live at his unusual museum featuring weird "natural wonders" while she gets her bearings. While she's there, wanting to keep busy and avoid the melancholy of her situation, she stumbles upon a mysterious portal. She and her old friend Simon from next door enter it and become trapped in a nightmare, alternate universe. 

By all definitions, this one sounds like everything I'd love in a book. Yet I didn't. The protagonist and her companion didn't seem as well fleshed out as the characters in the previous stories I'd read of this author's. Additionally, it reminded me a lot of Alice in Wonderland and Gaiman's Nevermore, both of which I want to love but ultimately just don't. Too many insane events take place in stories like these, and, in my opinion, simply don't form a cohesive whole that I can connect with. It all just strikes me as random, unappealing crazy- or silliness. For fans of Wonderland and Nevermore, I imagine this one could be an amazing, upside-down adventure. 

A House With Good Bones (clever title) is an adult horror novel with a touch of modern gothic thrown into it. It was published in 2023. The heroine Sam takes an extended vacation from work as an archaeoentomologist (she studies insects and arthropods recovered from archaeological sites) because her brother is worried about their mother. Sam quickly realizes he was right to be concerned. Her mother seems different. While investigating why, sometimes with the help of her mother's handyman, Sam stumbles onto a lot of family secrets and peculiarities within the house and outside, in the rose garden. As usual in these kinds of stories, sometimes it's better to leave the past buried. After all, curiosity always tries to kill the cat. 

I expended tremendous effort trying to get into this story. I read a plodding chapter, took a break for a few weeks, read another slow chapter, went on to something else for a very long while. At that point, I knew I was going to have to buckle down and work really hard to force myself to read it. I'd purchased the trade paperback, brand new, so I didn't want it to be for nothing. 

There were a lot of interesting parts to the story. Sam is a well-constructed character with Kingfisher's typical big personality chock full of unique humor. My problem with all of Ursula Vernon/T. Kingfisher's work is that her main characters are constantly uttering little "asides" in introspection that can take over so they're no longer amusing injections but annoying blockades to plot development. There are so many of them, it became like I was reading someone's stream of consciousness journals! Each one is a detour from the main story, and that can get boring and overwhelming when trying to get into a particular story. 

Combine that problem with the fact that this story was such a slow burner. Having read The Hollow Places first, I got an inkling of where the faults in this particular genre were for the author, but here I was really slapped in the face. My crux issue is that the author seems to have a problem developing horror. Every time things got scary, it was as if she herself jumped onto the page and jarred us out of the story with off-putting and off-piste commentary that detracted from the action. It really broke up the tension and left me deflated and disappointed. I read horror because I want to be scared out of my pants. I want to chew my nails. Why would an author pop that balloon of rising terror when it's the whole purpose? 

As contradictory as this is going to sound, I did end up liking A House With Good Bones. You know, despite itself. It was an unusual story with creepy roses and bugs and a compelling twist on the obvious villain. In general, I liked the main character, but the over-excess of personality did get overwhelming sometimes. I wish it hadn't been so hard to get into, such a challenge to make it all the way through. But I was glad to have read it despite its slow and uneven pacing and the author self-sabotaging when it came to developing the horror. If you can stick with it, as I forcefully did, I think you'll be glad you did. 

The Twisted Ones is an adult horror novel published in 2019. While between editing jobs, Melissa, aka Mouse, accompanied by her loyal, sweet but dopey coon dog Bongo, ends up clearing out her so-not-beloved grandmother's house crammed with everything imaginable hoarded over the course of a lifetime. Early on, she finds her step-grandfather's journal and begins to be pulled into the crazy world he lived in in his final years. Local folklore combined with the old man's rantings about incoherent dreams of the woods and its bizarre, creepy creatures mingled with her own intrigue with the journal could lead her down a path there can be no return from. The local neighbors are certainly colorful and full of not-quite helpful information and support.

As in the previous two stories, we have what I believe is T. Kingfisher's fictional counterpart playing the starring role with the specific details like job, friends, and names, etc. being slightly changed up. Again, we have a male "protector" who doesn't quite live up to the role of hero, doesn't become a love interest, doesn't actually feel all that necessary to the story one way or the other. Instead, a new friend takes on the role--foolishly and unbelievably--of accompanying the heroine when she has to go against all sense and reason to confront the evil stalking her. Once more, there are way too many asides distracting from the plot, and the author defuses all the tension every single time before it really comes to a head. 

It was so hard to get into the story in the first place, and sticking with it was a daily struggle. The Twisted Ones wanted to be scary but it wasn't. Instead, it was just weird--probably as weird as her inspiration for it (mentioned in the Author's Note), apparently an Arthur Machen found manuscript called "The White People" that was published in 1904. I haven't even heard of it. While I'm glad I finished it because the core story was worthy, I didn't love the execution of this tale any more than I did the previous two. 

I hate to say something like this, but these three books seemed disturbingly similar as I read them. It was almost as if they were one book and the author just swapped out miscellaneous technicalities to make them slightly different. A House With Good Bones and The Twisted Ones, in particular, felt way too much alike. At least initially, the "Scooby Doo" lovable dog made this one much easier to read because at least the main character wasn't just talking to herself. Now she was directing her nervous tension onto her pet, which made everything a lot more palatable. I also wasn't a huge fan of the "past story told in journal entries" plot advancement. I won't lie to you--those were extremely hard to get through. In my opinion, it was a lazy way to tell the backstory, almost like those cabbagehead-isms from Star Trek, where characters are wont to say, "As you know…" before launching into important information about the plot that the viewer needs to know. 

~*~

I was looking for pee-my-pants chills from these three books, but I got novelty weirdness instead. Alas, I expect a lot of readers who like freaky, strange tales rather than true horror might like these three vastly more than I did. In general, I'd say the core narrative of each was good and pushing through to get to it was, at minimum, rewarding. 

Karen Wiesner is an award-winning, multi-genre author of over 150 titles and 16 series.

Visit her website and blog here: https://karenwiesner.weebly.com/

and https://karenwiesner.weebly.com/karens-quill-blog and her publisher here: https://www.writers-exchange.com/Karen-Wiesner/

Oldies But Goodies {Put This One on Your TBR List} Book Review: The Far Reaches Collection (Various Authors) by Karen S. Wiesner

 

Oldies But Goodies

{Put This One on Your TBR List}

Book Review: The Far Reaches Collection (Various Authors)

by Karen S. Wiesner

 

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C4TJRRRV?ref=cm_sw_em_r_ao_rw_y8NZEpV1821Ca 

The universe is bigger than we can imagine... 

Look outward beyond the stars with six stories from bestselling visionary authors. With a sweeping sense of wonder, these stories explore the galaxy...and the horizons of humanity’s potential. 

So there's a bunch of short stories published on Amazon in ebook and audiobook (no print editions available) collections in which the basic theme is what all the entries have in common, but none of the stories are actually connected in any other way. In other words, they can be read separately and in any order. I knew James S. A. Corey (a favorite author of mine) had a story in this particular collection and later found out Veronica Roth also did. This first collection I purchased, The Far Reaches, is filled with science fiction tales--right up my alley. I initially only bought the first two stories on Kindle. I didn't realize at the time that you could get a discount for purchasing the entire collection at once. (As a collection, it's $9.94; purchased separately $11.94.) I paid somewhere around $8.38 total for all the books, including tax. I think I got some stories on sale. Amazon Prime members can get them free, you know, somehow (I'm not a member anymore). I was looking for fast, solid reads, and I think I got what I was looking for with this one. They're actually published by Amazon, which I also didn't realize right away. I'm not thrilled with that idea, but I was pleasantly surprised at the quality of the offerings. I was able to read each of them in a couple hours and at least some of them were intriguing, though, of course, several weren't my cup of tea. While I generally don't review stories I don't enjoy, I did in this case because most people will purchase the entire series, so it feels useful to me to give my opinion on all the entries, whether or not I liked them. 

Beware potential spoilers! 

 

"How It Unfolds" by James S. A. Corey (38 pages/53-minute read) 

Summary: In this short story by the author of The Expanse series, technology has been discovered in the future that allows human beings to be sent over space in a packet (much like ebooks!) to other planets already set up with what's needed to try to survive in that place. A tremendous amount of time and planning has gone into this endeavor. Once the packet is delivered where it's intended to go, the human "unfolds" (launches or materializes; is physically in this new place). This doesn't always work, but, as the packets are sent to innumerable worlds, it does occasionally; the success rate is a spectacular failure. One astronaut joins this mission with the hope that his ex-wife, also being sent across the universe in this way (a woman he loves and lost on Earth) will be able to reconcile with him in just one of these countless worlds. 

Review: This very enjoyable, clever little story is quite a feat in that, considering its compact size, it managed to be packed with everything crucial that's needed and nothing extraneous. The account of this love story searching for the right time and place to unfurl was tragically moving, beautiful, and unavoidably a little sad. 

 

"Void" by Veronica Roth (50 pages/70-minute read) 

Summary: Set aboard an intergalactic luxury cruiser that has the unfortunate name of Redundancy, Veronica Roth (Divergent series) tells a very short murder mystery story from the point of view of one of the crew members. 

Review: I was actually pleasantly surprised by this delightful little whodunit. The setting and characters captured me and made me want to know more about all. My only issue was, happily, minor: For the most part, only two dimensions were explored of the sleuthing main character Ace and only just barely enough of either. I wanted a better balance between the external and internal conflicts. The internal was definitely lacking. Brevity is, no doubt, the cause of this shortfall, but it was still an intriguing read, such as it was. 

 

"Falling Bodies" by Rebecca Roanhorse (35 pages/49-minute read) 

Summary: A juvenile delinquent is cleaned up, his appearance and identity changed, so he can be integrated back into the universe. But he's caught between two worlds in this futuristic story, and those worlds are playing a cruel tug-of-war with him. 

Review: I think the one thing everybody has too much of these days are politics. It's constantly being shoved in our faces with social media and the like, and we're being battered raw from it. This story is all about insane politics and "moral majorities". The author set up her character in a no-win situation and proceeded to make him as unlikable as she possibly could. The end result was what you'd expect, no surprise there. I guess I could have avoided the tragedy by not reading it. Too late for me. 

 

"The Long Game" by Ann Leckie (31 pages/43-minute read) 

Summary: In this futuristic story set on another planet, an octopus-like (or at least I got that impression) life-form that survives only a short time learns about life and death and how much of an impact he can make even if he has only a short space of time to do it in, something that can last long after he's gone.

Review: This short tale was both touching and inspiring. If only everyone could realize what good they can do for the present and future of our species just by putting a positive dream in motion catapulted by a little ingenuity and a lot of hard work. All lives are short but our legacies don't have to be. 

 

"Just Out of Jupiter's Reach" by Nnedi Okorafor (45 pages/63-minute read) 

Summary: In this story, the main character is one of only seven others on Earth able to connect with sentient "ship" beings that will explore the cosmos. Five years into the decade-long mission, the chosen seven end the total isolation with their individual ships in order to meet up with the others for a single week. 

Review: As much as I initially enjoyed the extravagant detail in this unusual tale, I couldn't help wondering 1) if there was a point to such fleshing out--i.e., how did it further the story purpose?, and 2) whether the author could have devoted the precious space to more important internal and external conflicts. Ultimately, I found myself disappointed by this story because of the overabundance of set-up aspects and so little to deeper main character development that would have made me not only like but also root for the main character Tornado. For example, very late in the story, we finally learn how she got her nickname. This shocking, tragic explanation from her past distanced me even further instead of drawing me in because all we'd learned thus far of this character was that she didn't like people, in general. and her own life and that of her ship were her sole focuses--a stunning reflection of today's me-focused society. Unfortunately, the potential in "Just Out of Jupiter's Reach" was greater than the actual result, in my opinion. 

 

"Slow Time Between the Stars" by John Scalzi (28 pages/39-minute read) 

Summary: An AI is set to explore to the farthest horizons of human potential and ensure humanity's legacy continues. In the process, it ponders its own purpose and responsibility to its creators. 

Review: I made the presumption that this story would have a plot…you know, in fiction, this is something that actually happens in the process of putting down words. A reader hopes something will happen in fiction, preferably something exciting; otherwise, why? But nothing really does happen in this story. The AI doesn't hate human beings so much as it simply has no love or respect for them. Nevertheless, it goes along with its programming though it's fully capable of changing it. I say it goes along with it up until it sees no reason to proceed with that (foolish) course. Centuries pass as it travels the cosmos. The last few pages tell us (instead of showing) the AI's plan to do the minimum duty to its creators and then it can do whatever it wants. And still, absolutely nothing worthwhile happens. The story ends after the AI informs the reader about what might have been the story if it'd actually been written. Warning: There's no Terminator, no A.I. Artificial Intelligence, no Blade Runner, no Ex Machina here. At this point, I would have been content with a full-on rip-off of something with an AI being trusted by humans or betraying the trust of humanity; just so long as there was a story--any story--actually being told. I guess the best I can say about this one is that at least it was the shortest in the collection. 

~*~

I suppose because I've been reading so many long series for the past year, each having at least three massive tomes, I've been feeling a strong need to find something short that takes me just a few hours to complete. This collection fit the bill if for no other reason than two out three ain't bad. I liked that these were cheap (under twelve bucks for six stories). If I'd purchased them in print, I would have paid probably two to three times more and inevitably been upset about the stories I didn't actually like. This seems like a good trade-off, though I sure hope I like all the installments in the next Amazon Originals collection. 

After I figured out Amazon has a whole slew of these usually genre-tied theme collections (visit https://www.amazon.com/b?node=17506527011&ref=AOS_footer), I purchased the entire collection of Forward (futuristic stories) at once, which I'll be reviewing next month. 

Karen Wiesner is an award-winning, multi-genre author of over 150 titles and 16 series.

Visit her website and blog here: https://karenwiesner.weebly.com/

and https://karenwiesner.weebly.com/karens-quill-blog

Visit her publisher here: https://www.writers-exchange.com/Karen-Wiesner/