Novella Review: The Black God's Drums

The Black God's Drums
P. Djèlí Clark
Release: August 21, 2018
Goodreads Amazon

Creeper, a scrappy young teen, is done living on the streets of New Orleans. Instead, she wants to soar, and her sights are set on securing passage aboard the smuggler airship Midnight Robber. Her ticket: earning Captain Ann-Marie’s trust using a secret about a kidnapped Haitian scientist and a mysterious weapon he calls The Black God’s Drums.

But Creeper keeps another secret close to heart--Oya, the African orisha of the wind and storms, who speaks inside her head and grants her divine powers. And Oya has her own priorities concerning Creeper and Ann-Marie…

Review:
Man, Tor.com has put out some real stellar novellas this year! The Black God's Drums was short but it packed a lot in. The language, world-building and characters grip you and it managed a full story in 110 pages. I do think this would have benefited from being longer but it was good as it was. 

This story features an alternative history America where the events of the American Civil War have been slightly changed and the States are not as United as they once were. Slavery is still present, but there are key differences, and each state operates to its own rules. Also, there's a bunch of steampunk tech. And it’s on an airship that our main character, Creeper, wants to escape on and leave New Orleans behind.

The magic system in this book was intriguing. Creeper has divine powers courtesy of Oya, the African orisha of the wind and storms, who lives inside her and pulls her this way and that to her own purposes. I would love to see this explored more in hopefully future novellas.

I adored the airship captain and would love a series on her life and loves as well as a heck of a lot more of this world and the rest of its characters. I want more about Creeper goes without saying but I'd love to know more about the nuns.

For a novella, this story was executed wonderfully. It has a full world and history along with great characters. It was a very satisfying, short read. I just need more. Hopefully, we'll see more books and novellas by P. Djèlí Clark in the near future.

ARC provided by the publisher via Netgalley.

   

   4 / 5 Stars

Novella Review: Brother's Ruin by Emma Newman

Brother's Ruin
(Industrial Magic #1)
Emma Newman
Release: March 14, 2017
Goodreads Amazon

The year is 1850 and Great Britain is flourishing, thanks to the Royal Society of the Esoteric Arts. When a new mage is discovered, Royal Society elites descend like buzzards to snatch up a new apprentice. Talented mages are bought from their families at a tremendous price, while weak mages are snapped up for a pittance. For a lower middle class family like the Gunns, the loss of a son can be disastrous, so when seemingly magical incidents begin cropping up at home, they fear for their Ben's life and their own livelihoods.

But Benjamin Gunn isn't a talented mage. His sister Charlotte is, and to prevent her brother from being imprisoned for false reporting she combines her powers with his to make him seem a better prospect.

When she discovers a nefarious plot by the sinister Doctor Ledbetter, Charlotte must use all her cunning and guile to protect her family, her secret and her city.

Brother's Ruin is the first in a new gaslamp fantasy series by Emma Newman.

Review:
I'm going to be honest. I'm sad that I didn't enjoy this novella as much as I wanted to. It had the potential to be great (the series still has the potential to become great as this was only the first book), but I was left disappointed by the end. And most of my disappointment revolves around one thing that happens about halfway through. 

Brother’s Ruin started out fantastically! It started with great family dynamics where everyone cares about each other and put each other first. It's not often that you read a book where the heroine is driven to do things in the best interest of herself and her family. I really loved the brother and sister relationship between Charlotte and Benjamin.

I really liked Charlotte at first. She knows what she wants and isn't afraid to work for it. She isn't afraid to go against societal norms. And I adored that she was happily engaged to a guy of her own free will and choice. It’s so rare to read a story where a girl is looking forward to her upcoming nuptials and not trying to get out of them. It was really refreshing that she was in love with a guy already when the story starts.

As I said, I loved her at the first. Then the thing happened about halfway and it drained all of my enjoyment out of the story. What's that thing you ask? Charlotte meets this handsome guy and it's like her personality did a 180. She's suddenly a different person from the one that I liked so much at first. She becomes infatuated with this guy and the story just went down hill from there for me. Can fiction quit it with the freaking love triangles already?!? This story would have worked perfectly with a nice guy she doesn’t have any feelings about whatsoever. There are such things as platonic relationships but instead we have to suffer through a love triangle.

Overall, I liked the story. The world and the magic system was great and the mystery was good. This series has potential to become something amazing. I'm just not sure I want to continue because of the borked romantic plot line. I'll probably wait to make that decision after people I trust have read book two.

ARC provided by the publisher via Netgalley

  

  3 / 5 Stars

Really Short Reviews: Select Tor.Com Novellas

I have a special Really Short Reviews post today! I've been a fan of tor.com's short fiction for a while now and they've recently started publishing novella length stories ranging in length from 75 to 225 pages. I've been enjoying these short books almost as much as the short stories they post on their website! I got a couple of the novellas for review from Netgalley and thought that a Really Short Reviews post would be the best way to review them. What I've loved the most about these novellas so far is how different they are from each other! They've been so much fun to read! Out of the three I'm reviewing today, I really enjoyed two and thought the other one was pretty meh. Let's get on to the reviews, shall we?

The Devil You Know
K. J. Parker
Release: March 1, 2016
Goodreads Amazon

The greatest philosopher of all time is offering to sell his soul to the Devil. All he wants is twenty more years to complete his life’s work. After that, he really doesn’t care.

But the assistant demon assigned to the case has his suspicions, because the philosopher is Saloninus–the greatest philosopher, yes, but also the greatest liar, trickster and cheat the world has yet known; the sort of man even the Father of Lies can’t trust.

He’s almost certainly up to something; but what?

Review by Rose Red:

I've loved reading books with Faustian deals for years now and this novella was a great addition to the genre! Saloninus, a philosopher who sells his soul to the devil via one of the devil's minions for twenty more years to continue his life's work. The demon in charge of the philosopher's deal is a great admirer of his work and has been granting his every wish thinks Saloninus is up to something. Soon the demon gets paranoid and believes that Saloninus is trying to find a loophole out of the contract. How could he be so happy with selling his soul for a bit of gold and his youth back?

The author explores the concept about what is evil and how to identify evil and I found it fascinating and full of great one-liners. I called the ending early on but the philosophical questions about morality kept me reading. The trip to the end was fun, concise, and entertaining with definite layers that will have me thinking about them for a while. I have to admit towards the end I was rooting for the devil. Saloninus is kind of a sneaky guy. This novella was well-written and I enjoyed it quite a bit. It made for a fast and fun read. I'm looking forward to reading more from this author in the future.

ARC provided by the publisher via Netgalley.

  1/2
3.5 / 5 Stars

The Ballad of Black Tom
Victor LaValle
Release: February 16, 2016
Goodreads Amazon

People move to New York looking for magic and nothing will convince them it isn't there.

Charles Thomas Tester hustles to put food on the table, keep the roof over his father's head, from Harlem to Flushing Meadows to Red Hook. He knows what magic a suit can cast, the invisibility a guitar case can provide, and the curse written on his skin that attracts the eye of wealthy white folks and their cops. But when he delivers an occult tome to a reclusive sorceress in the heart of Queens, Tom opens a door to a deeper realm of magic, and earns the attention of things best left sleeping.

A storm that might swallow the world is building in Brooklyn. Will Black Tom live to see it break?

Review by Rose Red:

I've had several friends rave to me about this novella and it convinced me to pick it up. And I'm so glad I did! It was a brilliant piece of storytelling like they said it was! I have a love-hate relationship with Lovecraftian stories. I enjoy the world of eldritch horrors that Lovecraft created but I dislike most of his writings. I definitely prefer to read stories that have been inspired by Lovecraft over the stories he actually wrote himself.

Victor LaValle took The Horror of Red Hook, one of my most disliked Lovecraft stories, and turned it on its head into an essay on racism, murder, and police brutality. I found it compelling how he explored real life horrors in the world of magic and supernatural evil. I couldn't put it down until there were no more pages to read. The 1920s alternate history setting lent itself to the narrative and the end result was a story that deals with the human capacity for evil and how that evil can exist just beneath the thin veneer of "civilized society". It was glorious tension-filled weirdness that scared the pants off of me by the end. I would highly recommend picking it up if you're looking for a compelling horror story to read.

  
4 / 5 Stars

Pieces of Hate
(Assassin #1-2)
Tim Lebbon
Release: March 15, 2016

Goodreads Amazon

During the Dark Ages, a thing named Temple slaughtered Gabriel's family. A man with snake eyes charged him to pursue the assassin wherever he may strike next, and destroy him. Gabriel never believed he’d still be following Temple almost a thousand years later.

Because Temple may be a demon, the man with snake eyes cursed Gabriel with a life long enough to hunt him down. Now he has picked up Temple's scent again. The Caribbean sea is awash with pirate blood, and in such turmoil the outcome of any fight is far from certain.

Free bonus novelette:

Dead Man’s Hand

In the wilderness of the American West, the assassin is set to strike again. Despite his centuries-long curse, Gabriel is still but a man, scarred and bitter. The town of Deadwood has seen many such men... though it’s never seen anything quite like the half-demon known as Temple.

Review by Rose Red:

Pieces of Hate is actually the collection of the first two stories in Tim Lebbon's Assassin series and out of the novellas I've read so far from tor.com, this one is my least favorite. The novelette Dead Man's Hand is a western whereas the second part, Pieces of Hate, is a Caribbean pirate story. The promise of pirates is what drew me to this novella but I couldn’t get into either of the stories. They were rather well written and the worldbuilding was good. It's brutal and dirty and very realistic, but the revenge plot wasn't compelling to me even though I understand why he wants it. I couldn't connect to Gabriel and his fight against Temple. Both stories felt like weirdly paced action scenes and just wasn't my cup of tea. While this didn't work for me, I think this one will appeal more to others. Unfortunately, I'm not interested enough to read the next one.

ARC provided by the publisher via Netgalley.

  2/ 5 Stars