Ender's Game vs. Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow

 Ender's Game and Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow

by Orson Scott Card and Gabrielle Zevin

Welcome to the human race. Nobody controls his own life. The best you can do is choose to fill the roles given you by good people, by people who love you.

On the surface level, Enders Game and Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow have nothing in common. In fact, the only reason I even thought about these two books being comparable was because I read them one after another, and both had an impact on me, but I wasn't sure what is was. 

Enders Game is a science fiction novel written in 1985, and is about one boy, Ender, being the only hope for the human race to defeat a war against a bee-like alien species. The training for this was was done through strategy games and fake battles, and training began at 6 years old for Ender. 

Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow is realistic fiction and about two people coming together and creating a game that turns into a successful business but also about their lives and how gaming played into that. It was written in 2023 and very real and full of events that affect their relationships and how they each dealt with success and failure. 

After sitting with these books for a while, I realized they do have a common thread; Games. 

All three main characters interacted with games throughout their lives. They all used games as a coping mechanism, Ender when he was feeling alone and hopeless in his training, Sam when he was in the hospital after his mom and he were in a bad car accident, and Sadie after Marx died before they could get married or meet their child. 

After I thought about this, lots of themes started overlapping between novels. 

This quote from Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow, "But it is worth noting that to be good at something is not quite the same as loving it.", describes both Sam and Ender. Sam who was great at mathematics and was going through college for it, and Ender who was considered a genius at war strategy, but neither loved it. Sam had the opportunity to change courses, unlike Ender who would be responsible for the loss of the war if he left or gave up, couldn't. 

Another quote, "Video games don't make people violent, but maybe they falsely give you the idea that you can be a hero.", from Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow, also describes Ender. Ender was chosen, over his just as promising siblings, because he was gentle and compassionate. The games didn't make him violent, in fact, once he found out the games were real, it almost destroyed him because while he knew he was training for war and to kill the millions of aliens, he figured he would have time to mentally adjust from just winning games to winning wars. 

Games and gaming have become a huge industry in our society. Even people like myself, who are not into games beyond the Wii and playing Club Penguin as a kid, hear about the release of new games like Halo and that football one (I think its called Madden?). Online player games where you play against people all over the world like Among Us and campaign games have grown along with the availability of the internet. Streamers making playing games live their careers! With the Oculus, we move closer to having our own Oasis (Ready Player One plug). Games are not going away and are reaching wider audiences every year. 

Games are blamed for a lot, like violent tendencies in teenagers, and the fact that kids don't play outside anymore, online bullying and more. After these ideas were introduced to older generations, they became close to the gospel truth, even after many cases of research were completed and didn't support the argument. They ignore that the problems are coming from the real world, not these fake ones on screens.

All I can say, is that every gamer I know uses games to connect with friends who might live far away, or to release stress, or just to enjoy their free time, just like how Sam, Sadie and Ender used them. I mean, is it really any different than watching tv shows? Maybe it's better because the player is engaged and making decisions instead of mindlessly watching shows that just plays for the watcher. 

Anyways, thanks for exploring these books with me, I enjoyed both of these books and recommend reading both! 

:)

What If's

By Ashley

The Science Fiction and Fantasy genre's of literature can be hard to describe. They can take place anywhere, in space, under water, virtual realities, or nowhere at all, in some made up place like Middle Earth in Lord of the Rings. One author, Veronica Roth, described it as the genre of "What If's". What if these certain worldly limitations vanished, or what if humanity discovered this new technology, what if something or everything was different, what would it do to humanity. Authors make us these scenarios and let it play out, focusing in on one character living in that "What If", and playing out how they would respond. 

Thats what makes this genre so special, there are no rules and authors play gods. For me, the difference between Science Fiction and Fantasy is that in Science Fiction, those "What If's" come from a new discovery, something that someone discovered and explored and it changed the world as we know it. In Fantasy, these "What If's" are nothing new and have always existed. Thats not a perfect and all-encompassing description, but it's one way to look at it. 

I've been reading a lot of Science Fiction recently, and with a new advancement in AI technology being released to the public earlier this year, it's got me thinking about how technology is engrained in our lives, and how there are classic and new novels with evolved technology and human mutations as central parts of their "What If's". As technology progresses at this rapid rate, we grow closer to the reality in Ready Player One, with the Oculus virtual reality gaming system, with Artificial Intelligence created text, images, videos, and even music. Many of us work online and are dependent on its function for income. Computers are in everything, cars, fridges, watches, is it a huge stretch to expect that to continue and soon our homes have AI security systems, machines that cook full dinners for us? I don't think it is.

Here's where the human mutations enter the conversation. It's obvious that the generations that grew up with technology are going to be more versed, comfortable, and trusting of technology, and thats increasing with every new generation. The older populations struggle to embrace and adapt to it, but it's not slowing down for them, and it won't for us in the future. Why not somehow equip the human brain to adapt better, like updates in cell-phones and computers, through genetic methods or just new devices and implants? 

Let's step back, and consider what this does to humanity in these fictional stories. Does it even end well? In Ready Player One, reality is crumbling, in The Diabolic, humans build grand spaceships that repaired themselves that they forgot how to build them, replying on a few who kept that information from them, making the public dependent on very few people (that never goes well), and in Void, humanity depends on the net to do everything for them, but anyone with a HEX gene is hunted by the Government. In the end of most of these stories, the Hero/protagonist usually finds that humanity is suffering and stopped evolving

Advanced in technology is coming, and this isn't to say I am not excited to see what it does in the next 20, 30, and 40 years, and it's only even a disaster in Science Fiction, which is fictional, made up, conjecture.

It's fun thinking about, and if this topic is interesting, I recommend picking up some of the 6 books listed below that have tech and human mutations as part of their "What If's". 

:)

Cline, Ernest, 2011, Ready Player One, Random House Publishing Group.

Kincaid, S.J, 2016, The Diabolic, Simon & Schuster.

Falls, Kat, 2010, Dark Life, Scholastic Press.

Scott Card, Orosn, 1977, Ender's Game, Phoenix Rising.

Lassiter, Rhiannon, 2000, Void, Simon & Schuster.

Lowachee, Karen, "Survival Guide", The Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy, Veronica Roth, 2021 Edition, HarperCollionsPublishers, 2021, pp 14-28.

  A Catcher in the Rye. 

 By J.D Salinger

I loved this book the first time I read it, but I remember being more confused than anything. I didn't understand the complex emotions Holden was going through, and I felt lost most of the time, but I was in high school at the time and didn't have much real world experience.

This time through, it was hard to read but was impossible to put down. Thats the beauty of re-reading books after time has passed, it always hit you a little different. But Holden went through a lot of things I can relate to. The way he thinks, the way he was alone, the way he kept asking the wrong people for company and attention. 

Maybe thats not something I want to admit to though, after looking into more of the history and effect this book has had on pop culture, apparently its been the backbone or justification or murders who probably felt the world was full of "phonies" just like Holden did. It's been banned and unbanned throughout its life because it might inspire some kids to leave school, fail schools, fail society as Holden might have.

Holden and his view of his life during this time gives the misery some company, and then it grows because it feels justified.

How it ended with Holden deciding that he was going to go home and most likely try again at another school and enter into what seems like an unending cycle, but there is some hope still at the end, like maybe one of the random people Holden met in New York made him want to take school more seriously. But who's to say what happened to Holden.  

I would love to read more reviews and other peoples thoughts on this book, and maybe I'll read it again in a few years. 

:)

 The Light of All that Falls

by James Islington

Choice is meaningless without consequences, and a privilege we do not deserve if we will not face them.

Now thissssss is how you DO time travel!!

What the heck, James, that was amazing! 

So obviously 10/10 I loved this book and the ending to the Licanius Trilogy, so much so that while I was reading that last 40 pages of this book and waiting for my pizza to cook, I let my pizza burn instead of putting it down for even a moment! I was shook at the ending, heck I was shook in the middle, James really had fun with the time travel and shape shifting aspect of these characters powers and I am here for it .

I loved these characters the entire story, I loved the plot, who intricate everything was, the amazing world building that Islington did here was amazing! This is just a great example of epic fantasy to me. 

He took the ending-of-the-world-as-we-know-it trope and gave is a fresh spin, I don't want to give too much away here, so please read them. 

:)

 The Echo of Things to Come

by James Islington

The lesser of two evils, or the greater good. Get a good man to utter either of those phrases and there is no one more eager to begin perpetrating evil.

The second installment of the Licanius Trilogy did not disappoint. Davian, Asha, and Wir are back, cleaning up the messes that the wave of the blind and almost collapse of the boundary that separates them and the unknown beyond. Wir is left fighting for his position in the country, Davian finally escapes North to the boundary with a team of augurs under a new amnesty that allows them to use Kan as the gifted uses essence, hopefully to fix the boundary, while Asha is thrown into the middle.

Caeden's sudden disappearance after winning the battle against the soldiers known as the blind that escaped the boundary into the south, took him back to his past. A man, another immortal being who seemed to know Caeden was waiting for him and helped begin to unlock the memories of who Caeden really is. He is the Veranate, 13 immortal beings, each with a unique talent for Kan, like time travel, or forgery. The 13 had all been friends until Caeden switched sides, believing that they were not fighting for El, the God of the old and new religions, but his direct opposite. The being of Evil, who had knocked the trajectory of the world off El's original plan. 

Caeden remembers his plan, that he had set in motion long ago, one that will affect the world as they knew it. 

This series contains epic characters and politics, and Islington took us closer to each character in this book, giving a little backstory into Asha, Davian, and Wir's life before going to Cadadel. It added a lot of depth, and urgency to the whole series. We still don't know who to believe, is Caeden, Tal'kamar, Avard Devad, really on the right side? Can Davian save the Boundary, should he? Lots of questions. 

I highly recommend this story and series so far, and am already halfway through the last book in the Trilogy. 

:)

 One Foot in the Fade

By Luke Arnold

You cannot fight for peace. You must give into it. You must let go. 

 Here we have the third installment of Fetch Phillips adventures, written into existence by Luke Arnold. I have to be honest, for the first two books, in my head, the main characters name was 'Fletch' not 'Fetch', so now that I know the main characters name, I feel like I can give an honest review. 

Again, the cover is really cool and this blue is fantastic, but the story itself, not so much. That's not saying it was bad, but just tired and too similar to the other installments in the series. This felt like book number 2, something that just bridges book 1 and book 3, and thats it. It didn't add huge amounts of substance. I feel that this either is leading to the last book, or Arnold is trying to 'Nancy Drew' it and make as many novels in this vein as possible. 

It was the same fast paced adventure that the other books had, but some things happened that I felt were just to fill the page and add some fluff to the story. Some new elements were brought in, some new characters and motivations, but the whole time felt like I've read this before.

My biggest ick from this book is that the title was used, verbatim, word for word, at least twice in the story by the characters. For some reason, that felt really cheesy and beneath Arnolds usually writing and story telling standard. Doing it once can be fun and add an almost 'easter-eggy' feel, but twice felt like an amateur wrote this and snuck it back in once the editor looked at it. I don't know why that really hung me up, but it did.

Over-all, this is still a really fun series to read, but this was the least strong book so far, in my opinion. 

:)

 Babel

by R. F. Huang

"English did not just borrow words from other languages; it was stuffed to the brim with foreign influences, a Frankenstein vernacular. And Robin found it incredible, how this country, whose citizens prided themselves so much of being better than the rest of the world, could not make it through an afternoon tea without borrowed goods" - Babel.

    Yes that is a long quote to start with, but this book deserves it. I don't joke when I say, that this book helped me understand the world better. I saw myself, people I know, and the world from a zoomed out view. R. F. Huang made me an ant and let me look at the world through a telescope. I loved it. 

   

    Robin Swift was the perfect protagonist for this story, it wouldn't and couldn't have been done as powerfully with any other character. Robin Swift is gentle, smart, and eager to please those who look after him. He was a survivor, and he hie behind that idea of himself for most of the story. After being taken from his homeland, taught languages and eventually was admitted to Oxford, the alma mater of his guardian who was also a professor there, he wanted to be grateful for this opportunity, to avoid working the docs and behind homeless back in Canton, Asia. 

    He tried to ignore the nagging feeling that he had not chosen this, that something wasn't right, and once he saw what his beloved London and Babel pumping Opium into China for profit, to keep the balance of the world that London had built with itself at the center, the fantasy that was his life at Oxford fade away. 

    He knew he had to take a stand, maybe too late, even though he was the last one to do it, he had to stand up for the all inclusive Other. 

    There were so many heart warming scenes in this story, between Robin and his friends and professors, the romanized educational setting that makes up the dark academia genre. This was the first one of that genre I could make it through, or love to pieces. 

    The whole time reading this, I couldn't help but think of a professor I had in college. I took a book binding class and we learned about the history of the book, what is a book, and why. We watched a movie on fonts, I'll never look at Helvetica the same ever again, but he also talked about words, and how they've traveled and changed throughout time and cultures, and this book explored the origin of words and what language is, as its core and in the philosophical sense. What is translation? The conversion of words from one language to another, or should it focus on the transfer of meaning as every culture has different idioms and metaphors. I hope this book finds him.

    Another scene that I think highlights what this book is about is when Robin, who is one of four translators at Oxford, is invited to hangout with the jocks (business majors types) of Oxford. When he does, and they're talking about their studies, and they try and intimidate Robin, by reading terrible poetry none the less, and when Robin wasn't intimidated, they cast him out, called him slurs and insulted his studies, only because they themselves couldn't do it. Robin saw the lack of substance in them that they refused to believe was there. Broaden that out to London England is the cocky business majors, and Robin is the rest of the world. 

    I think we see a lot of that today, and R. F. Huang did an amazing job of of making this book relevant. 

    I am so glad I picked up this book, and I read it slow, I spent about 6 weeks on it, and I think thats how it's meant to be read. It's not slow or written difficultly, but it's deep, and it needs time to sink it, or at least it did for me. 

    There's so much more to be said about this book, but I think it needs to be experienced yourself. 

I hope you pick this one up.

:)

    

 Circe

By Madeline Miller

Bold action and bold manner are not the same.

  

  I read this as a sort of pallet cleanser in-between two more challenging or in depth stories, and it served its purpose for sure! Another greek mythology ready, but more mythology-y than than its other siblings The Song of Achilles.  I have to say I was inspired to read is because I'd been listing to the Epic Musical and this book had some of those characters in this book, so fun cross-over there. 

I enjoyed this read but the whole time thought I felt like I was still waiting for the story to start. When Circe was banished to Aiaia, I thought "oh finally, the story its picking up", but then I still was left wondering what the point was, why Madeline Miller was writing this story like this, but then it dawned on me. Why are any books written? To tell a story, and this is just Circe's story, so I was happy to kinda go with the flow from that point on. 

    Lots of beautiful quotes are in this novel, and a few small stories about family, monsters, and love, as the doom of someone living forever but being surrounded by mortals, and about motherhood. It was a good short read, but I don't think it's something you absolutely have to have on your shelf. 

:)

 The Friend Scheme

by Cale Dietrich

I'm going to give him the power to destroy me. I guess thats what love is.

    The Friend Scheme, the second novel by Cale Dietrich, was a very cute read. Cute is the best word I can use to describe it, in all of its early teens flirting and first dates, mixed in with a sprinkling of and underground crime world, and Romero and Juliet almost, glory. We follow Matthew Miller, whose father is head of one of the biggest crime families in Florida. Matthew never fit in with the crime family, not like his older brother, Luke, who took to it like a match to dry grass. Besides that, Luke and Matt actually have a cute brotherly relationship, Luke knows his brother is more gentle and looks out for him throughout the whole story. 

    Matt has known he likes boys for years, but hadn't acted on it, so never really came out to anyone. That was until, at one of his families meetings, he meets a boy. Someone he's never seen before, but makes it very obvious they both feel the same about the crime world and women. 

Both ain't it. 

Only catch is, Matt is pretty sure this boy is a member of their rival family, the second most powerful crime family in town. Out of respect for their families, the two never talk about their family, or even tell each other their last names. Only it's hard to get to know someone when keeping half of your identity a secret. 

While is nots the deepest story I've ever read, and some moments were really awkward and consisted of the two love interested talking about movies and video games whenever they were hanging out, I still really liked it. I had to choose my favorite quotes from the book, so below is the honorable mention. 

"You're friends with a straight guy? In this economy?" - The Friend 

Scheme

:)

 The Shadow of What Was Lost

by James Islington

    

You can put your trust in something that's obvious, thats measurable, or predictable - that's not faith. Nor is believing in something that gives you no pause for doubt, no reason or desire to question. Faith is something more than that. By definition, is cannot have proof as its foundation. 

    Where to even begin with this story. It's an epic fantasy, with great world building and magic that is similar to the all famous Force in Star Wars. It's packed with characters but everyone of them play unique parts, the first being the main character Davian, who goes from being a not-so-ordinary student into a Kan prodigy.

The two types of 'magic' in this book are the gifted who can channel Essence, which is the life in all living things, such as the water in grass, the warmth from the sun, and soul of a person, used by the Gifted. The second type is called Kan, thats used by Augurs, who can use both, but only Essence when drawn from an external source.

Theres a heavy political presence in this story, but it was done very well and kept things interesting. The base of the politics is that the Augurs and Gifted used to rule with the kings, Augurs could see the future through visions and if multiple Augurs saw the same vision it was guarantied to take place. 

Until, the Augurs stopped getting the future right and pissed off one too many kings. Augurs started going missing, and the gifted were placed under a band, sealed in magic, that they could never use Essence on another person. Then they started making Shadows.

Any Gifted could become a Shadow, after anyone with essence severed their connection with it. The process leaves permeant scarring,  and the person became a shadow, who were even more scrutinized and publicly hated. So much so, that Davian, when he was young and running errands for the school of Gifted, was attacked and given two scars on either side of his face. However, an onlooker came to his rescue, and that was the first known time after the ban that a Gifted used Essence on another person, to break the tenants, thought to be impossible. That guy was known as Taeris. 

A few more characters are Asha, who was a Gifted at Davians school and they were close friends, and maybe more, before the school was attacked, and she was turned into a Shadow. She was thought to be dead, but instead ending up serving at the palace in the capital, as King Elocien's advisor, who doubled as a spy against a group of Rouge Shadow's in the inner city, and then eventually a helper of the three Augurs who were hiding in the palace among the staff. 

Wirr, or Torin, was also at the school and Davians best friend. He kept his true identity a secret while they were in school, but soon he revealed he was the crown prince of a kingdom who hated the Gifted. He left in secret to train, and luckily left with Davian the night before the school was attacked.

They met up with Taeris, and were led to find a boy named Caeden. Unfortunately, that was all the boy seemed to know about himself. But soon the boy showed he was skilled with killing supernatural creatures, showed incredible use of both Kan and Essence, and in the end, learned he was not who he thought he was at all. 

There shapeshifting, time traveling, and great evil creatures being kept at bay by a eroding boundary, that if humans cannot figure out its stance on Essence and Kan, will to caught 'with their pants down' so to speak, with a great evil that the old Augurs foretold. 

So, theres a lot going on in this story, and this was just the beginning. 

:)

 The Song of Achilles

by Madeline Miller

    I bought The Song of Achilles and Circe by Madeline Miller after thinking about them for a few weeks. I had no clue what they were about, and usually I don't like anything that has to do with Greek Mythology. That genre usually just bored me, but I am so glad I picked this novel up! 

It took me a few minutes to get into to it, but about 50 pages in, I was hooked. I thought it was such a charming story about love, fame, and loss. I liked how it was told from Patroclus's point of view.  If it had been told from Achilles point of view, it would have been a very different story, focused on destiny, and never finding an opponent that gave him a good fight, and growing from scared of being fated as the "greatest warrior who ever lived", to being bored of being the best and wanting to prove himself if every reckless way. 

Instead Patroclus gave us a view of Achilles that made him seem more human. 

At first, Patroclus annoyed me because he was whiny and small as a main character, but then considering what he had been through, it made sense for him, and as his character developed, he became my favorite of the two.

I loved the small moments between him and Achilles, and how they existed together. How Patroclus always went after Achilles, and how honest they were with each other. Usually in a love story like this, one character lies to the other about something, creating a fight when the other finds out the truth, but they were honest the entire time, and it was just neat to see a love story like that.

What lead to the test of their relationship was Achilles, the hero, being selfish and cruel, while Patroclus won the war and saved the men. Achilles refused to fight on account of his pride, and allowed Patroclus to take his place, even after Patroclus begged him. 

I loved the last 50 pages of this story. It was the most unique ending, with having Patroclus's stunt be what sets into motion Achilles death, and how we got to see the story continue from Patroclus as a ghost. 

I highly recommend this love story.

:)

Fairy tale

by Stephen King

A brave man helps. A coward just gives presents.

    First and foremost, happy 2023! I hope this first week has treated you well and that any resolutions you may have set are off to strong starts. There have been a few major changes in my life that I am reflecting on as I write this,  but one thing I want to say is that it has officially been a year since I started this blog page and reviewing books and creating this site. It's been a fun challenge and I know I will continue this page for the foreseeable future and beyond.

That said, let's get to this review!

I had seen this book first on Instagram, a few months before I bought it. I was worried it was going to be a horror story, and those are not what I am about. I didn't do my research like I said I would, but one day, in Kroger, it was there, and 25% off. 

Now, I've completed this story and I am so happy I started off the year in this book. So many good things happened, from plot, to writing styles, and small little tokens that really brought magic into this story. I've seen reviews say this is a "raunchy Happy Potter", and I disagree. While I can see what they mean, theres not enough of either elements from those stories in Fairy tale, and I think they were just using those titles as clickbait. 

Its like the first book in the Harry Potter series, where it starts off as a realistic fiction story, nothing seem out of the ordinary until it was, and yes there are some raunchy jokes, but not enough to bring up in a review, after all, the main character is a 17 year-old boy, what can you expect?

Charlie Reade gives us his account of an adventure he took when he was a young man. An adventure to another world. The key was kindness to an old man whole fell off a ladder while cleaning the gutters.

Charlie makes it his mission to care for this old man, Mr. Bowditch, until he's back on his feet, as a way of fulfilling a promise he keeps close to his heart. A promise to God.

Mr. Bowditch turns out to not be such a crochetey old man but a very interesting one. As Charlie learns more and more about him, he soon learns that the shed in the backyard holds nothing but a ditch. A ditch that turns into a staircase that leads to another world. The world where our fairytales hail from.

What he finds there is right out of the Grimm's stories, but as he spends more time there, he feels himself turning into one of those famous characters children will read about for centuries. 

King added a lot of interesting layers to this story, there are a lot of parallel characters between Charles home world and the one he entered, which gives the idea that those worlds are parallel universes, and some have had the fortune to travel between them. That Charlie might be a high school student in one world, but a prince in another.  Georgiana Womack, with the strawberry birthmark on her check could have been a mute princess that had to eat through a red sore in her check because her mouth was gone. It gave it the idea that maybe a that a neighbor or distant cousin has been a one of those famous adventures and returned. As if that magic portal could be anywhere, just covered by a cement slab or has a house built right on top of it. 

One small joke, or I took it as a joke, was a page where Charlie is expecting this dog to talk back and answer a question, but then says "Well, duh. It wasn't that kind of fairy tale," I found this funny because fairy tales usually have a talking animal, so I thought that was a fun poke at genre expectations. 

The tone starts off in Kings 'good-ole-sourthen-boy" kinda way, and transforms into a more magical tone, where characters spoke all different languages, but magic made them all understand each other, using old words and old nursery rhymes. It went from old-southern-boy, to whatever the Grimm's British tone is. 

The pace was great, it was slow where it needed to be, but since its being told from the main character as a flashback, King could use small pacers like "But then it was", or "Little did I know," things like that to keep the reader interested and excited to see what was coming, or what 'it was" or what Charlie "didn't know" at that time. It is a great tool to keep the plot moving forwards while keeping the reader guessing. 

It was a great tale and a fun read, as any good fairy tale should be. The King does fairytales very well indeed. I highly recommend this book to anyone, it was a great adventure

:)

Dead Man in a Ditch

By Luke Arnold

You ever suddenly, shockingly, find yourself in the present moment? Drop right into right now? And all it does is highlight the fact that you spend every other moment somewhere else?

    The second installment of The Man for Hires story proved just as wonderful and non-magical as the first. With more hints that magic might come back, and enough evidence to almost convince the man who destroyed it himself, more and more parlor tricks come into the light.  

Fletch thought he'd really seen it all, but as magical threats and allegations come to light, it becomes clear to him how, despite the facade of a few people trying to crawl forwards, most people were trying to sprint back to how things had been. Doctors stole magic from the remains of those who didn't survive the coda, and surgeons reconstructed the youth that was stolen from hundreds of year old creatures who expected to live for centuries only 6 years before. 

Fletch knew to be spectacle, after all, he had seen the magic with his own eyes. 

Despite being a realist most of his story, in this part of his life, we see how hopeful Fletch really is. Fletch was alone most of the first book, working alone and resting alone. He seems much older than about 34 until his mentor comes back from the dead.

I felt such a crazy change in Fletch's character. He felt like a puppy who finally found his master, like a kid who was lost but then found his mom at the store again. The sense of relief that came through Fletch that Arnold managed to bring into existence for the readers was amazing. His mentor was back to save the day, here with the solution, here to make it all better. Here to give orders and have Fletch carry them out.

Until Fletch discovered his mentors plan was to destroy Sunder City and leave no survivors.

Seeing a character so relieved by his mentors presence, only to have to turn against them, is usually a huge turning point in most stories, and it was here as well. Fletch finally decided that if anyone could save Sunder, it was him. After discovering the fires that ran the city  from below were still lit, Fletch knew what he had to do. 

I am really excited for the next installment by Arnold. This has been one of the most unique stories I've read. I love seeing more and more of Sunder City and getting to know more of the characters.

If there was a music genre for Fletch, it would be the band Poor Man's Poison, any of their songs really captures Fletch's attitude. He sad, stoic, but still flys by the seat of his pants. 

I have no clue what will happen in the next installment, but I am so excited for it!

:)

The Obsession

By Jesse Q. Sutanto

    I picked up this book recently and I am so glad I did! It was a roller coaster and I could never really guess what was going to happen next.

Sutanto created this story around two main characters Delilah and Logan who meet at a private high school, each with a dark past. 

Logan lost the love of his life the year before, sending him spiraling while Deliah dealt with an abusive step-father at home. 

But nothing is what it seems from the outside.

I loved reading from Logan's point of view, Sutanto captured the thoughts of someone in a manic state. His thoughts were fast, and never quite finished before another started. And they were all about Delilah. We saw him try to slow himself down in the beginning of the story, to control himself and to stalk her, but soon he is sneaking into her house and planting himself in her life. 

When Delilah isn’t sure about him, he threatens to expose a certain video that could end her life as she knew it.

Delilah isn’t the innocent victim in this story, her crime just isn’t stalking and manipulating. Hers was murder and drug dealing.

I liked the direction Sutanto took this story in, the characters were real enough and changed as the plot developed I was shocked at the ending. I really enjoyed the suspense and fast pace of everything. 

SPOILERS AFTER THIS POINT.

    I do think that Sutanto missed an opportunity. Once Delilah is revealed to be the school drug dealer, I was excited to see what Logan would do once he found out, because Logans Ex died to her drug addition and caused him a mental breakdown after her death, just the year before. I think it would have been fun to have Logan discover that Delilah was the one responsible for supplying the drugs. I think that would have added another layer to the plot, instead of Delilah just murdering Logan while he was drugged and still saw her as a perfect being. I don't think he would have found her so charming after knowing she is responsible for the death of someone he loved. 

I think he would start to view her as dangerous to her own health, thus he could have planned someway to kill her and reasoned himself into thinking it was the best thing to do for her.

I just think it would have been an interesting way to take the plot and make the story a little bit longer.

It felt like the perfect October read, would highly recommend. 

:)

The Last Smile in Sunder City 

by Luke Arnold

“You want proof, Fetch? Look in the mirror. You hold on to guilt like it’s a life preserver. So angry at yourself, and your mob, that you can’t smell the blood on the hands of the rest of us. But it isn't about you and your kind tonight. It’s just me. Sometimes, the one who looks like the monster turns out to be a monster.” (Arnold 169). 

There are three things you need to know about the main character Fetch Phillips. 

1. Sobriety costs extra.

2. His services are confidential. 

3. He doesn’t work for humans. 

As a man for hire in a world where magic has recently run out, Fetch has seen it all. Vampires no longer drink blood, werewolves are stuck somewhere between human and beasts, necromancers stopped raising the dead, and Satyrs disappear and humans are the only ones who make it out unscathed.

All except Fetch. 

He knows what killed the magic, what caused the death of thousands of people and the love of his life, and all the suffering thereafter. Fetch lives and operates in Sunder City which is still raw from the loss of the magic, and the few souls who are trying to move forwards, end up going missing.

Fetch is brought in to find a vampire who’s gone missing. As he looks around the city for clues and runs into old friends and enemies, we get to see that Fetch is more than the tough, drunken ex-soldier he pretends to be. After some well-paced flashbacks into Fetch’s past, it makes sense why he doesn’t work with humans, or really trust anyone around him. 

Arnold managed to deliver a story with multiple layers. Fetch is a deep character and unique from so many modern day protagonists. The first way he is unique is that he’s old. Well, old compared to most protagonists. At 30 years old, he has a wisdom about him and a more believable case of alcoholism because he’s had the time for that to develop. 

I wanted to add in a few quotes below, just because I liked them, and I want to say/write/type a few things about the first quote at the top of this review. 

“I like books. They’re quiet and dignified and absolute. A man might falter but his words, once written, will hold.” (Arnold 18). 

“Friends serve a purpose, but every man needs a few good enemies to remind him who he is.” (Arnold 226). 

“A good man is made through a lifetime of work. Great men are made by their monsters.” (Arnold 252).

Those are just a few nuggets of Arnolds writing that showcase his skills.

The line “Sometimes, the one who looks like the monster turns out to be a monster.”, formed a full circle for me. I mean, I feel like books nowadays make the “monsters” or villains, or antagonists beautiful. Their beauty adds to their charm and makes it harder to see them for what they are.

Arnold noticed this trend and framed it in the opposite way. Now, we all know to be suspicious of that beauty, but we aren’t looking at the actual beast in the corner of the room with claws and venom, but we’re still surprised when it uses them. 

So, long story-short, I’ve really enjoyed this story. There is a sequel called Dead man in a Ditch, and I’m excited to see where the story goes. 

:)

Emergency Contact 

by Mary H.K. Choi

 

I loved this story.  It was relatable, hard, goofy and sad. 

Penny leaves for college, and she is so ready, like most 18-year-olds are. To leave the town she’d grown up in and the people she’d grown up with. A fresh start, one that she chose. A break from her mother and boyfriend she doesn’t really like. 

Sam gets a fresh start of his own. A baby with an ex-girlfriend isn’t what he expected, nor passing out in public from a panic attack, or the girl that was there for him. And stays there for him, the one who became his only emergency contact.

Both think that the other only exist inside a screen, that a whole person out in the world can’t be in control of the words popping up.

When meeting in person can’t be avoided, it ends their distant friendship and forces them to finally see each other and what they were becoming to each other.

It’s a cute love story that gets heavy with real life shit. Bills, mother drama, work, and how a mental distraction affects every other part of life. How lonely college can get, and how life seems to take control and months pass before you notice.

I really related to Penny, not because I am overly prepared with supplies, or have mother drama, but because she is an introvert, and her train of thought doesn’t make sense to most people, her roommates are the interesting people, if she didn’t live with them, she wouldn’t exist in their universe. 

One passage I really liked was:

“Real life might be dazzling for other people. Those girls on the Instagram Explore page, visiting Disneyland with the love of their lives. Or else making out in cars with their hair whipping wildly in the wind. None of Penny’s memories were tangibly” page 239. 

That quote was so relatable because who hasn’t compared their lives with that explore page or wanted to be as carefree as others. 

        

Sam was relatable too, a down on his luck kind of guy, the grumpy baker who lived above the coffee shop. Relatable in a way that his life is overwhelming sometimes.

     

These two complimented each other so nicely, both were outsiders, had a hard time growing up, had to do it too fast in a way that makes it hard to connect with people their own 

age. 

The ending of this story was well done. Penny opens. Allows people back into her life, and she takes control of it.  She decides to take a trip to the beach even though its 3 hours away, just to be close to the water. The before Penny would say that the trip wouldn’t be worth it, that’s there’s no substantial value in taking that trip, but the new Penny just wants to take the trip for the fun of it. Decides what she wants, is worth it. She got out of her own way.

It’s a great read, I’m really glad picked it up! 

:)

The priory of the Orange Tree

by Samantha Shannon

This story is as interwoven as a wicker basket. There are so many cultures, religions, royals, and bad-ass characters that make this story feel like the epic fantasy that it is. 

There are about six sections of this tale, starting with The Stories of Old, which is all about setting up the exposition, and trust me, there’s a lot. Expositions are a readers nightmare, if you’re anything like me, you just want to already know what’s going on and to get to the ‘meat’ of the story, but you cannot enjoy the meat without understanding the table that it sets on. The exposition for The Priory of the Orange Tree is a testament to Samantha Shannon’s ability as a writer. Not only did she create all this lore from her imagination, but she also presented it in a way that is captivating and that inspires awe of these cultures. 

We are introduced to two main religions/cultures. One worships the Saint, which was founded 1,000 years before the story takes place. The Saint is known for banishing The Nameless One, who is the devil in dragon form. These believers all also take one of The Knights of Six Virtues as a sort of personal virtue. The six virtues are Fellowship, Generosity, Courage, Courtesy, Justice, and Temperance. 

The descendants of the Saint are the royals that rule in Viturdom, which consist of all the countries that worship the Saint. The royal’s family name is Berethenet, and ten queens have ruled since the marriage of the Saint and the first queen, who is called the Damsel. 

The queen during the time in which this story takes place is Sabran Berethenet. 

During the first 6^th of the story, Sabran is wed, which her queendom had long awaited. Though she was young, producing the next princess of the Saints blood was imperative to the security of the queendom’s future and the continuation of the Nameless One’s banishment in the Abyss, as all followers of the Six Virtues believed that the living bloodline of the Saint was the only thing keeping the Nameless One at bay

There are two types of dragons in this world. One is the fire-breathing wyrms of the west, who are considered evil accomplices of the Nameless One, and the water and sky-dwelling dragons of the East, who are seen as holy beings and protectors against the Nameless One.  

We follow a variety of main characters, most who are women. I liked that women were the main ones in power while they also kept a hold of being feminine as well. 

 Ead is a badass fighter, close servant to the queen, secretly has magic and uses it to protect the queen on orders of the Priory to whom she is secretly loyal too. She moved up in the classes’ despite being an outsider. 

Queen Sabran Berethenet who born of the saint and powerful women before her, her bloodline is believed to hod off the nameless one/ devil snake of evil. Refused all male suitors so far but being pushed to produce a female heir to secure the queendom.

Tane is orphan Guardian, part of the sea guard and dragon riders. Good friends with Isher, rival with Toushe. She’s worked her entire life to be a dragon rider, and dragons to her are alike to Gods. 

Loth is best friends with Sabran, perceived as a threat to suitors because of their closeness, friends of Ead, brother of Margret. He was sent away into Draconic countries to try and rescue Sabran’s father on a suicide mission. 

 My first thought after finishing this book was “what happened?”, and I mean that in a neutral way. I felt that it was almost anticlimactic in a way, with the biggest battle lasting less than a chapter, and the whole story felt more dragged out than it needed to be. 

The world building was beautiful, and I loved the culture and religions and how it was a play on Adam and Eve with the Orange trees as the apple tree with the special fruit giving women abilities and turning them into mages. I liked how females played roles that are usually male, like captains of pirates, and guardsmen.

About halfway through, however, I felt like the story has lost is steam and urgency. After the halfway point of the book, I felt like the characters were always traveling back and forth between countries for no reason.

The ending was abrupt I felt like we didn’t get to see the nations heal. I would have liked to see the world ten years later when Sabran and Ead were reunited and hear about how the religions merged.

I just felt unsatisfied with the ending. At page 600, I just wanted to be done with it. It started at a fast pace with a lot of world building that was needed but took a long time, and it kind of felt like that was all Shannon wanted The characters weren’t extremely deep in any way, and only a few faced major choices but most were just along for the ride. 

It didn't become my favorite book of all time, I doubt I’ll read it again honestly, but I liked the imagery. I feel like it would improve it to take out some fluff, make the pace faster and give it a sense of urgency. I liked the direction Shannon took this epic fantasy in, the house names reminded me of game of thrones, but I feel condensing the story would really help it. 

  

:)