I've read a couple of the Rivers of London books, which gave me enough background to enjoy The Masquerades of Spring, but since it's a novella that falls outside of the regular series, I also didn't feel like I was missing anything plot- or relationship-wise.
We are in the 1920s in Harlem. Augustus Berrycloth-Young is a very British wizard, who has taken refuge in America. His life is pretty decent - he spends his time listening to jazz, enjoying the city, and being in love with his boyfriend, Lucien. It can be difficult, gay men are hassled by the cops and Lucy, being black, is not allowed into some of the nicest restaurants, even in Gussie's company. And then Thomas Nightingale arrives asking for Gussie's help in finding the original owner of a cursed saxophone. What follows is a decent little mystery, with plenty of action and magic.
I loved the characters in this one. Nightingale is his usual self, if...
Babel is a fantasy world of the early 1800s offering an exploration of race, historical imperialism, literature, and language. The Industrial Revolution is powered by silver working, magic involving silver and words and translation. We follow the four characters Robin, our main characters, Ramy, Victoire, and Letty. All have been pulled out of their lives and sent to Oxford's Royal Institute of Translation, known as Babel, to learn translation and silver working. Each is an outsider and they form a kind of family for each other, providing comfort and camaraderie, but also disappointments and arguments.
Babel is engrossing. First, I do love words and meanings, and Kuang goes into details and long-winded interludes about language and etymology that some may rather scan past but that made the book memorable for me. The politics of language is fascinating.
The characters grow and learn and reevaluate their outlooks through the book. It's hard to both love Oxford and hate the British Empire for...
I adore Edinburgh as a setting. I've never been there, but maybe one day. And it does seem a perfect place for the supernatural to bump heads with the rational.
It's the 1770s and Dr. Samuel Johnson has come to Edinburgh to visit his friend, James Boswell, for a tour of the city and holiday in the Highlands. Hearing reports of ghouls haunting the Old Town, and about a series of burglaries in the houses of noblemen, Dr. Johnson can’t resist getting involved. Of course, Dr. Johnson is knowledgeable and experienced in occult and supernatural phenomena.
We get a story of secret societies, conspiracies, and hideously deformed people living in the tunnels below the city. The story moves along at a good pace. The characters are well-drawn. Both Johnson and Boswell are likable in their own ways, but not without faults. Secondary characters are brought to life well, even if they have smaller parts. Edinburgh is described well: the sights, sounds,...
The Automaton's Wife is an amusing, quick read, although I do suggest reading the first in the series before this one.
Bee continues her adventures in Africa with the help and also complications of her friends and family. This time around she meets a large bat, her husband's ghost has seemingly disappeared and her horse is posessed by a snake spirit. In the meantime, a local woman has been found dead in a mysterious manner.
I like the Kenya 1899 setting and the author provides a brief fact or fiction section after the story. Bee and her family don't fit in, but they are doing their best. Bee tries to keep an open mind when dealing with people, but she is a part of her British culture. Bee also learns a few things about her past that puts her prejudices in a different light.
It's a cute series. It's light and enjoyable. And Bee is fun to hang out with....
I am a huge Claire North fan. Regardless of topic, her writing is lyrical and vivid and, at times, graphic. The Pursuit of William Abbey begins in the 1880s and continues into the first World War, while taking us around the world. North brings the era, the people, and the places alive for us, through her characters and descriptions.
William Abbey is cursed. He watched a boy be tortured and burned without doing or saying anything- this scene is devastating. As the mother kills her child to end his suffering, she sends out her curse and it lands on Abbey. As the blurb says, the shadow of the dead boy starts following him and when it catches him, the person he loves most will die. The person he loves most, not the person he should love, not the person he pretends to love, the person he truly loves most. Using modern transportation, he can stay ahead of the relentless, shuffling...
My two favorite demons, Dante Lovelace and Iago Wick, are in trouble again. Definitely go back and read The Last Temptations of Iago Wick, the first in the series, before Binding Dante Lovelace though. It gives some extra background to the characters that I think it's better when reading this one. The first gives more attention to their jobs as demons, while this one's focus is a bit different.
Dante has been bound by a witch, which Hell lets occur. They don't really have their demons' backs when it comes down to it. The witch needs his power to add to hers, but we don't find out why for a few chapters. Turns out the world is actually in danger and Dante has been forced to help save it. Of course, Iago leaves Boston to join him.
Of course, saving the world is never easy, especially not for demons. The costs are high.
I adore Dante and Iago. I love how...
