The Cabinet of Dr. Leng by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child

April 10, 2023

The Cabinet of Dr. Leng by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child

Constance Green, Special Agent Aloysius Pendergast's ward, has traveled back in time to 19th century New York City, to save her siblings Joe and Mary, and also her younger self. Not only has Constance gone back in time, she is in a parallel universe, so she is able to encounter herself as a child. When Pendergast realizes what Constance has done, he has the time machine reassembled (it was destroyed at the end of the previous book) by an eccentric scientist named Gaspard Ferenc. Enlisting the help of his old friend Vincent D'Agosta of the NYPD, Pendy follows Constance back to 19th c. New York, because although he knows Constance is deadly, he also knows that his ancestor Dr. Leng is absolutely a match for her.

Meanwhile, Special Agent Armstrong Coldmoon, Pendy's sometime partner, is tracking down a killer who has been trafficking in Native American artifacts, substituting fakes for the real thing (like Sitting Bull's peace pipe). His investigation takes him to New York, where he learns that his case is tied to a murder case that Vincent is working on. He traces the artifacts to a Colombian drug lord living in Ecuador and sets up a sting operation to draw the man back to the U.S. The sting goes off without a hitch, but there's something not sitting right with Coldmoon. 

And then the book ended.

Damn. So this is only the first half of the story, and the conclusion will be another book (this one was close to 600 pages). I was really irritated when I got to the end, and there's this semi-apology from Douglas saying they're writing the conclusion as fast as they can. Not nice, Douglas and Lincoln. I put that in my Goodreads review so that other readers are aware that they're going to be left hanging, probably for another year. Also, Pendy still hasn't gotten around to telling Constance that he loves her - maybe at the end of the next book. Although considering that Constance has killed several people, it might be prudent to review the situation first.

Blackwell Island, New York, now Roosevelt Island - prison, workhouse, and insane asylum

The Golden Enclaves by Naomi Novik

October 31, 2022

The Golden Enclaves by Naomi Novik

Galadriel Higgins, known as El to her friends, has escaped the Scholomance, the school for magically gifted children. Usually only 10% of the graduating class gets out alive, but El and her friends managed to turn the tables on the maleficaria who dwell at the school, and 90% of the students survived. El cast a spell to send the school off into the void with all the mals, but her friend Orion Lake stayed behind when everyone else left. Now El has to figure out how to get him out, while also saving the enclaves from the mals that are trying to destroy them.

This is the third book in the Scholomance series. It got a little long and winding, but it was good to reconnect with favorite characters. We also learn more about El's family and her own abilities and the consequences of her actions. There are some chilling details about how enclaves are built as well. The conclusion is satisfying and it leaves the way open for another book in the series, should the author choose to continue.

In Eastern European folklore, the Scholomance was a school for black magic in Rumania, in the Transylvania region. It was run by the devil and open to only a select few students. The school was underground and the curriculum lasted seven years (as opposed to the four years that El spends at the school). The Scholomance also appears in some online games such as Worlds of Warcraft and Minecraft. The Scholomance in Novik's novels is in a multiverse, attached to our world but sort of hanging onto the edge. It's like a mirror image of Hogwarts in the Harry Potter novels: at Hogwarts, there are excellent teachers, wonderful meals and accommodations, and the school works to help and protect the students; at the Scholomance, there are no teachers, the food is atrocious, the dorm rooms are dangerously open to the void on one side, and the school is filled with malevolent creatures and tries to kill off as many students as possible. Nice. The only thing the two schools have in common is being located in a multiverse attached to our world.

A depiction of the Scholomance from Worlds of Warcraft

A Mirror Mended by Alix E. Harrow

July 2, 2022

A Mirror Mended by Alix E. Harrow

Zinnia Gray, former Sleeping Beauty and professional fairy tale fixer, is tired of rescuing sleeping princesses. She wishes they'd just solve their own narrative problems. But when she looks in the mirror, a different face looks back at her, and she is pulled into a Snow White story. This time, it's the evil queen  - she found out how her story ends and she wants to find a better ending for herself. She tells Z the story about how she ended up in that particular fairy tale, and Z is shocked to discover that it's not only princesses who are stuck in a story they didn't choose.

A retelling of the Snow White story from the perspective of the Evil Queen. This story turns the traditional fairy tale on its head, and reminds me of the musical Into the Woods (if you haven't seen it, the first act is about traditional fairy tales and ends with "and they lived happily ever after" - the second act tell about what really happens after the princess marries her prince). I enjoy Z's snarkiness. This is the second book in the Fractured Fables series, and it's fun and creative.

A sexier Evil Queen than the usual Disney version

Fairy Tale by Stephen King

October 5, 2022

Fairy Tale by Stephen King

Charlie Reade is a high school student who lives down the hill from the neighborhood "psycho" house (every neighborhood had one when I was growing up). A reclusive old man named Howard lives there with his "vicious" dog. On his way home from school one day, Charlie hears the dog barking frantically, screws up his courage and goes to investigate. He finds Howard on the ground, having fallen from a ladder. He calls 911 and offers to care for Radar, who turns out to be a sweet elderly dog, while Howard is in the hospital. He quickly falls in love with Radar and continues to care for her (yes, Radar is a girl) and also for Howard when he comes home from the hospital. When Howard dies a few months later, he leaves everything to Charlie, including the source of his wealth, and Radar. But before his death, Howard tells Charlie a bizarre story about a parallel world where there is a sundial that can turn back time. With Radar's time rapidly coming to an end, Charlie sets out to find the mysterious world and save Radar.

Spoiler alert: Radar the dog is fine at the end of the book. As a librarian, this is the question I am most often asked when there is a dog in a book: is the dog okay?

The first half of the book is really good, with all the things that we love about Stephen King: great characters with well-imagine backstories, a search for redemption and a promise to fulfill, a worthy quest, and a wonderful dog. Second half, not so much. As long as Charlie is on his quest to save Radar, the story is great. Once SK delves into the darker disturbing side of the fairy tale world, it becomes a much different story. It's like King had ideas for two different books and decided to mash them together. I wish he had ended the book with the end of Charlie's quest - it still would have been over 300 pages long.

King said he wanted to write something during the pandemic that made him happy. If the imagery in the second half of the book made him happy, the pandemic went on a little too long. I shudder to think about what goes on in his mind. Stephen King fanatics won't care, they'll read anything he writes. Still, the first half of the book is worth the price of admission.

Love the cover art of Charlie, Radar, and the well.

A Darker Shade of Magic by V. E. Schwab

September 29, 2022

A Darker Shade of Magic by V. E. Schwab

Kell is an Antari, one of the last magicians who can travel between the four Londons: Grey, White, Red, and once upon a time, Black. His home is in Red London with the royal family, while the most dangerous one is White London, ruled by the Danish Twins and Holland, their Antari. Kell has a side business smuggling magical artefacts for collectors and dilettantes. In Grey London, he encounters a pickpocket named Delilah, who first robs him and then rescues him. Together they must return a mysterious stone to the correct London and find the other half, but which London is the right London?

Colorful, weird characters, invented language, magic in many forms, all mixed with social and political aspirations. Four Londons exist in the same place but on different planes (multiverse), and Kell speculates that there may be more. I have come across the multiple city concept before, in books like The City and The City by China Mieville, where the main character crosses from one version of a city to another by going through a checkpoint. Kell cuts a doorway from one London to another by using his blood. There are two more books in the series.

A Spindle Splintered by Alix E. Harrow

January 17, 2022

A Spindle Splintered by Alix E. Harrow

Zinnia Gray has a rare genetic disorder that makes it unlikely that she will live past her 21st birthday. Her BFF Charm decides that since this may be Zinnia's last birthday, she is going to make it the best birthday ever. Zinnia studied fairy tale literature in college, specifically the Sleeping Beauty myth/legend/tale, so Charm creates a sleeping beauty fantasy in the tower of a nearby abandoned building, complete with spinning wheel, flowers, and fairy lights. But when Zinnia accidentally pricks her finger on a splinter, she finds herself falling through the multiverse into the worlds of other sleeping beauties, all as desperate to escape their fates as she is.

This novella imagines that there are countless variations on the sleeping beauty story through every age, past and future. These sleeping beauties are not weak or powerless, but determined to take control of their own situations. They want more than just some preening prince and "living happily ever after." Great cover art.

(No picture of a sleeping beauty, since I couldn't find any pictures except the princess either asleep or gazing starry-eyed at Prince Perfect.)