Category: Fiction Page 54 of 342

DETAILS:
Series: The Ballad of Bonaduke, #40
Format: Kindle Vella Story
Read Date: November 24, 2023

Alann smiled like a kid who was about to show something they thought was really cool, but ultimately underwhelming. However when he pushed open the door he spoke in a confident tone that would make any potential buyer visualize the open road.

The Story So Far…

A drunken Michael Bonaduke decides to use a grift (with maybe some sort of magic/magic-like “help”) to win on a scratch-off lottery ticket so he has money to buy more to drink. He pulls off whatever he did, gets his money and some booze and stumbles off into the darkness to drink himself into oblivion so he can start again the next day. He’s hit by dark memories (probably what’s driving him to the drinking) of fire, pleading, and screaming. There’s going to be a price to pay for his grift, and he’s trying to be ready.

He’s abducted by some representatives of a mysterious group who subject him to a test—if he passes, everything will be explained to him (and hopefully the reader, too). He passes—and is brought somewhere for answers, or maybe training, or maybe another test. Time will tell (or things are going to get really annoying). Answers aren’t quick to come—but the mysteries and questions keep piling up.

Things get hairy and Bonaduke leaves and finds himself back in the neighborhood he started from. He takes refuge in a homeless encampment shortly before a police raid. He’s apprehended and finds himself an interrogation room and shortly escapes after using his grift (but with results he didn’t quite intend). He finds himself by a group of squatters who seem to have strapped a woman to a chair for reasons that can’t be good. He attempts to rescue her before he even realizes what he’s doing, and seems to have succeeded—well, the two of them got away from the group anyway—breathing but bruised. They make their way to a fast-food taco joint and Bonaduke really needs to refuel to keep going. He tries, but fails to get food because he keeps passing out. Thankfully, the clerk is the same guy from the liquor store and he both recognizes him and gives him first aid. The woman (Zero) wakes up and shows some abilities of her on as she helps them escape from her captors who’ve tracked her down. One thing leads to another—Zero and Bonaduke’s magics don’t mix well (at least until they understand what each other can do?), and they end up in a video-game race against the squatters in a tricked-out version of Eric (the clerk’s) car. Note, I said video-game race, not a video-game-style race. They’re actually in one. When dumped back into reality, he’s surrounded by bruised and broken bodies (of people and cars). And then he gets into a supernatural fight and survives…just.

Or maybe not. But he gets better.

What’s Close/Open About?

Um. On the one hand, not much happens. But it’s the way that not much happens that’s the interesting bit. Alan and Om deal with the lock that Bonaduke had flexed his magic on in the last episode. The results are better read than explained.

Then the injured Bonaduke and his two associates climb the apartment building’s stairs to the roof where they encounter, once again, something better read than explained.

Like I said, not much happens.

So, what did I think about Close/Open?

I’m not really sure what to say here. I think I liked it, but since so much of this episode needs grounding or fuller explanation in a future episode (hopefully 41), it’s hard to really know what I think.

I’m really tempted to spend the rest of the evening catching up to where Slaywood is currently with the story–if only so I have something to say here. I get this way from time to time, but I’m committed to the episodic approach.

But really, I don’t know what to say. It was well-written, worth sticking with, and I’m curious about what comes next.

Up on the Woof Top by Spencer Quinn: I Have No Humbugs to Give

By HCNewton

On December 1, 2023

In Chet and Bernie, Dogs, Fiction, Mystery/Detective Fiction/Crime Fiction/Thriller, Spencer Quinn

Up on the Woof Top

by Spencer Quinn

DETAILS:
Series: Chet and Bernie, #14
Publisher: Forge
Publication Date: October 17, 2023
Format: Hardcover
Length: 307 pg.
Read Date: November 15-17, 2023

What’s Up on the Woof Top About?

Bernie accompanies his elderly neighbors to a book signing for Dame Ariadne Carlisle, the author of a series of Christmas-themed mysteries. This, as one has to assume, is interrupted by some canine-induced chaos. However, it wasn’t Chet that got out of hand this time. Nevertheless, Chet and his human partner do grab the attention of Carlisle.

She ends up offering the duo a job they can’t turn down. She owns quite the little compound up in the mountains. It’s called Kringle Ranch and has buildings with names like Cratchit House. Carlisle knows her brand and has fully embraced it. As part of this brand, she owns a group of nine reindeer—her favorite, Rudy, has gone missing. For a sizeable payday, successful or not, she wants Bernie (or probably his friend with the superior sense of smell) to find Rudy and bring him back home.

Once they get to the Ranch, Bernie learns that Carlisle is suffering a career-risking case of writer’s block—which is ascribed to Rudy’s absence, but it could be the pressure that book 100 is too much for her. Or a combination of things. But it’s this block that Bernie really focuses on.

Or he tries to, anyway. Shortly after they arrive, the duo finds Carlisle’s personal assistant at the bottom of a gorge, barely alive. It turns out that Carlisle’s one, true love was also found at the bottom of that gorge, murdered, before she started writing. Bernie assumes that there’s a link between the two and plunges into the unsolved murder case as a way of finding the attempted murderer.

A Holiday Sampler

Along the way, we get the occasional excerpt from Carlisle’s Trudi Termaine series—which is interesting enough and does help you understand the character. But…I’ve gotta say, I hope Quinn doesn’t go the Seanan McGuire/A. Deborah Baker route and put out books under her name, I don’t know that I could deal with an entire novel’s worth of it.

(of course I would inevitably try it)

The Holiday Content

Unlike the previous holiday-themed installment, It’s a Wonderful Woof, where I said that it “would be very easy to forget that this is a Christmas/Holiday Themed novel,” it is impossible to forget that about this book. I mean, for crying out loud, Bernie is hired to search for a reindeer named Rudolph.

Christmas just flat-out permeates Up on the Woof Top. Thankfully, not in a cheesy way, or one that should offend anyone, or put off Scrooges. It’s part of the setting, it’s part of every plotline*, and the holiday is discussed frequently.

* I should probably qualify that with a “nearly,” but I can’t think of an exception off the top of my head.

None of this makes this one of those novels/stories that you can only read during the holiday season—like The Nutcracker or A Christmas Carol. Whenever you get to it during the year, it’ll be fine—but you won’t forget for a second what time of year it takes place in. (which makes it different from almost every single other book in the series, which could take place anytime)

Continuing Arcs

Sure, it wasn’t the biggest series-changing moment, but Chet getting out to…ahem…become a father was so subtle that you could be forgiven for missing it. And many of the series’ bigger moments (both for individual novels or overall) are underplayed—thanks in part to Chet not understanding them at the time or his unreliable narration.

That is not the case in this book. Not even close. Bernie does some things here that are going to change the books, his work, Chet’s life, and more in ways that readers can only guess at for now. (Quinn might only be guessing at for now, too)—and they make up the B-story, frequently distracting Bernie and the reader from murders, attempted murders, sleigh-pulling mammals, aging friends (new and old), and so on.

Here’s a fairly non-spoilery way to talk about how big and unusual Bernie’s actions in this novel are—he goes to his regular pawn shop not to hock or buy-back the watch. He goes there to just buy something. It threw me almost as much as it did the owners of the pawn shop.

So, what did I think about Up on the Woof Top?

“You did us proud. You’re the brains of the outfit, no doubt about it.”

Me the brains? That had to be one of Bernie’s jokes. He can be very funny at times. If I were the brains how could the Little Detective Agency be so successful, except for the finances part? Still, it was nice to hear. If only I knew exactly what I’d done I could do it again, and then hear Bernie say “You did us proud,” once more. Or even more than once! But you can’t have everything, which kind of makes sense, because who could possibly carry everything? You could have it, but you couldn’t go anywhere. What would be the point of that?”

I had a blast with this—there’s a subplot or scene or two that I wondered about. But they were either eventually justified or were fun enough that I didn’t care. The rest was just a ball of holiday-flavored Chet-goodness.

I never understood Bernie’s approach to the search for Rudy, I will admit. It really felt like he was just taking a vacation and occasionally remembered he had a chore to do. But that job was just an excuse to put him in this setting so he could look into this murder/attempted murder and associated shenanigans—that was clear from the jump (well, not what he was really going to be doing there, but that a case other-than the Rudy-hunt was in the wings)—so I didn’t worry about it too much. Also, the payoff to that particular gig was dealt with well enough by Quinn, that any quibbles just didn’t matter.

The novel is largely Bernie and Chet getting to play in the snow while doing what they do best while encountering a few characters that the reader will want to get to know better (a former Sheriff and a current deputy for starters). There’s a child that will steal your heart as he does Chet’s. And then there’s the setup for the series change that I mentioned above. Up on the Woof Top delivers plenty of fun from page 1 to 307.

Naturally, we get some healthy doses of what a friend calls Chet the Jet wisdom and other real heartwarming moments (see above quotation) that will flip in a moment to welcome silliness. There’s also a conversation about the lifespan of dogs that hit me right in “all the feels” after my dog’s recent death (it would’ve done it anyway, but the hit landed a bit harder). To be clear: I absolutely loved that moment and would’ve given the book 3 stars just because of it had I been annoyed by the rest of it.

Fans of this series will be very happy to unwrap this gift—and it should win a new reader over as well. If either of those two labels applies to you, I heartily recommend this novel to you.

4 Stars

This post contains an affiliate link. If you purchase from it, I will get a small commission at no additional cost to you. As always, the opinions expressed are my own.
Irresponsible Reader Pilcrow Icon

EXCERPT from Nameless Queen by Marie Sinadjan: Who is She?

By HCNewton

On November 30, 2023

In Book Tour, Fiction, Quotations, Urban Fantasy

We continue to celebrate Release Day for Marie Sinadjan’s Nameless Queen here with this excerpt.

from Nameless Queen by Marie Sinadjan

Standing on the bank of the river Gjoll, Hel listened to the names of the Dead in the wind. This was her life now, as difficult and strange as it was to accept.

The Allfather had banished her from Asgard for treason, trapping her in Niflheim and erasing her name. However, she eventually realized that the realm itself was alive and had other plans. Niflheim did not intend for her to merely wallow in her despair and slowly starve herself to death.

The realm wanted her to be its caretaker.

A line of longships stretched toward the horizon and disappeared into the mist. In the ships were bodies, and the first one had come alive at Hel’s accidental touch.

The man lurched like he had been holding his breath underwater for far too long. “Where am I?”

For a moment she stared back at him with an equal measure of fear. What just happened? Was it her appearance that scared him?

But it soon became clear that it was not the case. “Who am I?” he asked her, distraught.

His name came to her in the wind. “Egil Hringson,” she repeated.

Her eyes flew wide as the man clung to her and wept like a child. She hadn’t realized how important it was for the Dead to be remembered, not until then. And while she did not have the details of his life, revealing his name seemed to help him find peace.

She did not sleep for three whole days, traversing the bank of the river to bring the newly deceased out of their stupor. There were surely hundreds of them; she’d stopped bothering to count after she reached twenty. Some ships had elaborate carvings on the prow, while others were simple wooden vessels that appeared to have been put together at the last minute. None of that mattered to her, however. It was not her place to judge or choose who awakened in this realm, unlike Odin the Allfather and his band of Valkyries.

At first, only the old woman helped her. But after three days of tireless work by the river, the inhabitants of Niflheim came to see that she was something more than merely a deranged soul who could not embrace the fact that she was dead. One by one, they joined her, seeing those she’d awakened into settlements and communities. Most of them were patterned and named after actual Midgardian locations, which provided a small comfort to the Dead.

“Who is she?” Egil asked the old woman when he returned to the river the day after his awakening.

“Hel,” the old woman answered.

It was not Hel’s real name, but it was all she had.

The one she had been born with had been taken away from her.

Interested in the rest? Go grab your copy of Nameless Queen by Marie Sinadjan now at https://books2read.com/NamelessQueen!

Irresponsible Reader Pilcrow Icon

RELEASE DAY SPOTLIGHT: Nameless Queen by Marie Sinadjan

By HCNewton

On November 30, 2023

In Fiction, Urban Fantasy

This morning, I’m very pleased to bring you this Release Day Spotlight for Marie Sinadjan’s Nameless Queen, part of the Norse-inspired Urban Fantasy series, The Prophecies of Ragnorak. Like the rest of this series, this really looks like something to check out.

Book Details:

Book Title: Nameless Queen by Marie Sinadjan
Series: The Prophecies of Ragnarok
Genre: Norse Mythology Urban Fantasy
Release date: November 30, 2023
Format: eBook
Length: 70 pages
Release Price: 99c (US) and equivalent / 99p (UK)

About the Book

All things end, and all must die.
But death is not always the end.

When Geiravor Lokisdottir was stripped of her name and cast out of Asgard, torn from her family and the life she had known, she thought she’d lost it all. But in the shadows of Niflheim she discovers the path to her destiny, and what it truly means to be queen.

This is a prequel to THE PROPHECIES OF RAGNAROK trilogy by Meri Benson and Marie Sinadjan, and a retelling of the myths involving Hel, the Norse goddess of death and the queen of the underworld.

Purchase Links

Universal Purchase Link ~ Goodreads

About the Author

Marie Sinadjan is a Filipino fantasy author, singer-songwriter, and musical theatre actress. She is the co-author of The Prophecies of Ragnarok series, and her short stories have appeared in anthologies, magazines, and literary journals. She mainly writes fantasy of the mythology, fairytales, and folklore variety.

When not crunching numbers for her full-time job or spending time with her family, she’s traveling, drinking coffee, reading and reviewing books, dreaming up more worlds, writing more songs, or serenading vegetables. She currently lives in the United Kingdom with her husband.

You can find her online at @marienettist or at linktr.ee/mariesinadjan.

Ostler by Susan Grossey: An Unconventional Sleuth Kicks Off an Equally Unconventional Career

By HCNewton

On November 29, 2023

In Fiction, Mystery/Detective Fiction/Crime Fiction/Thriller

Ostler

by Susan Grossey

DETAILS:
Series: Cambridge Hardiman Mysteries, #1
Publication Date: August 21, 2023
Format: eARC
Length:274 pg.
Read Date: October 8, 2023

A Vocabulary Lesson and The Title

Let’s start with the word “Ostler”—what is that? It’s apparently a variant of hostler (which doesn’t help me at all), someone who tends to horses at an inn. Words like “archaic” show up when you look and various dictionaries.

Now, I have to wonder—why entitle your novel with an archaic term that many people aren’t going to be familiar with? There’s a certain charm to using a term like that with a historical mystery. Also, maybe the term is a bit more familiar to readers in the U.K. Still, it seems risky to me. Who’s going to be drawn to that?

Sure, Grossey knows her audience—so it’s probably a smart move. Also, for Grossey fans, they’re going to be drawn to her name rather than the book’s.

Let’s move along to the more important things:

What’s Ostler About?

Our titular Ostler is Gregory Hardiman, a veteran of the war against Napoleon and other things—he has some sort of obvious facial injury, and more than a few memories he’d rather not have. He didn’t return home when his time was up, but took up residence in Cambridge and started working as an Ostler. He has a way with horses that garners him (and the inn he works for) a great reputation.

He’s also a reader—a big one. He’s constantly trying to educate himself—he carries a notebook of words he’s trying to learn with him and is frequently updating it. This, as much as his injury, seems to mark him as an oddity, and endears him to some characters as much as it will the reader.

Anyway, a coworker is found killed and his widow wants answers. Too many people (particularly the officials) write his death off, but neither his widow or Hardiman are convinced. Haridman finds himself assuring her that he’ll get to the bottom of it. On the one hand, she’s desperate for answers, so she’ll take the help of anyone who takes her seriously. But I’m not sure why either of them think he’s the right man for the job.

Naturally, as this is the first of a series, he clearly is, but Hardiman doesn’t strike me as the best candidate at the beginning. He starts by looking into the brother of the dead man—he’s familiar with the outskirts of the law, and just seems shifty.

This leads Hardiman to some dealings with Clement College and officials there—he uncovers some shady dealings and earns the trust of the faculty. While continuing to look into the murder, he ends up taking on another investigation for the College.

Hardiman—and an interesting hodgepodge of allies—uncovers a lot more than he expected to. Including some dangerous men who aren’t intimidated by an ex-soldier.

As Historical Fiction

So, what I know about this time period in England—particularly about the way colleges functioned, life in Cambridge and its environs, and so on would fit on the back of a postage stamp. With room for a florid signature left over. So Grossey could’ve made everything up out of whole cloth and I’d buy it—worldbuilding worthy of Rothfuss, Martin, or Jemisin.

But I’m certain* that’s not what happened here. Grossey paints a detailed picture of life in the time, a robust set of characters from a variety of socio-economic classes and professions. It reeks of authenticity. I want to read whatever books come next in the series just so I learn more. I jokingly told Grossey that I felt like I should ask her for a reading list to understand the time/setting—and she volunteered to provide such a list, but I think I’m just going to let her spoon-feed me things as I spend more time with Hardiman.

* 98.7% certain, anyway. I feel like I should leave a little room for cynicism.

So, what did I think about Ostler?

This succeeds on multiple fronts—as a mystery, as a piece of historical fiction, as a showcase for a unique (and potentially fascinating, time will tell) protagonist, and as a series start. I don’t know that this book has it all (few do), but it certainly has enough to heartily recommend.

The story is compelling, the pacing isn’t quite what you’d want in a contemporary Crime Novel, but it fits for the time—which isn’t to suggest it lags at all. You really do want to spend more time with most of these characters again (including most of them on the wrong side of the law)—few more so than Hardiman. The circumstances in his life undergo a significant change by the end of this book, and I’m eager to see how he adapts to them (his life seems to be a series of adaptations already, he’ll do fine).

As a slice of early 19th-century life, I found it most intriguing, and I wager most who at least dabble in historical fiction will as well. As with her Sam Plank series, Grossey is able to bring things to life in a way that gets even the uninformed 21st-century reader to see things and to immerse yourself in the period.

Give this one a shot—at least one thing in this book will appeal to you, probably several.

Disclaimer: I was provided with a copy of this book by the author in exchange for this post and my honest opinion.

3.5 Stars

How to Be Eaten (Audiobook) by Maria Adelmann, Lauren Ezzo (Narrator): DNF Due to General Unpleasantness

By HCNewton

On November 27, 2023

In Audiobook, Fiction, General Fiction/Literature

How to Be Eaten

by Maria Adelmann, Lauren Ezzo (Narrator)

DETAILS:
Publisher: Hachette Audio
Publication Date: May 31, 2022
Format: Unabridged Audiobook
Length: 8 hrs., 39 min.
Read Date: November 16-17, 2024

What’s How to Be Eaten About?

According to the Publisher’s site:

…This darkly funny and provocative novel reimagines classic fairy tale characters as modern women in a support group for trauma.

In present-day New York City, five women meet in a basement support group to process their traumas. Bernice grapples with the fallout of dating a psychopathic, blue-bearded billionaire. Ruby, once devoured by a wolf, now wears him as a coat. Gretel questions her memory of being held captive in a house made of candy. Ashlee, the winner of a Bachelor-esque dating show, wonders if she really got her promised fairy tale ending. And Raina’s love story will shock them all.

Though the women start out wary of one another, judging each other’s stories, gradually they begin to realize that they may have more in common than they supposed . . . What really brought them here? What secrets will they reveal? And is it too late for them to rescue each other?

Dark, edgy, and wickedly funny, this debut for readers of Carmen Maria Machado, Kristen Arnett, and Kelly Link takes our coziest, most beloved childhood stories, exposes them as anti-feminist nightmares, and transforms them into a new kind of myth for grown-up women.

So, Why Didn’t I Finish How to Be Eaten?

Let me get this out of the way: it had nothing to do with Ezzo’s narration. The characterizations, the pacing, the performance, and so on were at least perfectly acceptable, perhaps they were really strong, depending on the element you were focused on. Overall, everything fits in between those two extremes.

It wasn’t necessarily even Adelmann’s text–it could be a problem with me. I don’t think so, because I can usually tell when that’s the case and I’ll put the book on a mental “try again” shelf. I won’t be doing that here.

Now, I didn’t go into this with expectations of loving it–I thought it could be a frequently entertaining and even-more-frequently provocative novel. I do appreciate when authors take something as old as one of the tales immortalized by the Grimm Brothers and tweak it to a contemporary meaning, setting, or use (in this case, seemingly all of the above). This had the makings of a book that I’d probably appreciate, and maybe find insightful (and possibly becoming something I truly liked). Alas, it was none of the above. I thought the areas that were provocative (or I think were supposed to be) were tawdry in the attempt to be so. The characters were flat and not likable in uninteresting ways.

I thought Bernice’s story was intriguing enough. I got most of the way (I think) through Ruby’s tale as well before I pulled the plug. There was just something…ugly about the book (best word I could come up with). I couldn’t muster up vague curiosity about the individual characters’ endpoint, just what the point of the trauma therapy was (I have a hunch it was some sort of exploitation on the part of the therapist, that was hopefully going to be thwarted by the participants), or if we were going to find out finally that all of this was wholly naturalistic or if there was some sort of supernatural force at work.

I wasn’t enjoying myself. I was forcing myself to hit “play” after each time I had to hit pause for work. I kept thinking about playing music instead. I really had no idea if or when that might change, and decided that life was too short to keep this particular experiment going.

I think it’s wholly possible that I’m wrong about the book–and post this in the hope that someone will see it and be intrigued enough to try it anyway, or that one of my readers will fill up the comments with some spoilery comments telling me what I missed (including a list of the reasons I was short-sighted to DNF). Oh, also, because I try to point out the times I do actually DNF something because it is rare, and I appreciate the novelty.

0 Stars

The Ballad of Bonaduke—Episode 39: In The Dark by R. T. Slaywood: Moving Day

By HCNewton

On November 24, 2023

In Urban Fantasy

The Ballad of Bonaduke—
Episode 39: In The Dark

by R.T. Slaywood

DETAILS:
Series: The Ballad of Bonaduke, #39
Format: Kindle Vella Story
Read Date: November 24, 2023

“You don’t remember?”

“Haven’t tried to yet. Everything hurts.”

Om came over and picked up a cane from next to the couch that I had failed to notice then handed it to me. “Probably for the best. Death is an experience most would want to forget.”

The Story So Far…

Or maybe not.

What’s In The Dark About?

Bonaduke wakes up, not remembering being in the apartment—actually, he doesn’t remember much (see above). To say that he’s weak is an understatement—think Westley during his final confrontation with Humperdinck. Alan and Om are packing up and leaving the apartment, for reasons alluded to, but not fully explained.

Bonaduke mostly watches things, given his strength, and then gets to use his magic just a touch.

And that’s basically it.

Thank you, Mr. Slaywood!

The whole he/she thing about Zero is addressed briefly in a way that confirms I was right to be confused.

So, what did I think about In The Dark?

Yes, I’ve complained a bit in the past about these transition episodes. This one seems more blatant than usual—Slaywood is moving the saga from one section to another, being coy about the details (as per usual). I’m not going to do that this time.

This is a good point for the transition, particularly when it comes to the whole death thing. Isn’t that what the Death card represents in Tarot readings? (at least the ones I’ve seen in print and on TV say that). So let’s move (literally, for Alan and Om) to something else.

Now, if we’re not given more information about his coming back to life, why they’re moving, and what the ritual, etc. they referenced at the end of the episode are about soon. Then I’ll complain. But for now, let’s let everyone catch their breath and call it a good day.

3.5 Stars

BOOK SPOTLIGHT: Arvia: Wings of the Wild by D.H. Willison

By HCNewton

On November 23, 2023

In Book Tour, Fantasy, Fiction

I’m very pleased today to welcome The Write Reads Blog Tour for fourth volume of D.H. Willison’s Arvira series, Wings of the Wild, as the Tour kicks off! Over the next week and a half, you should check in on https://twitter.com/WriteReadsTours to see a lot of bloggers write interesting things about it.

Book Details:

Genre: Fantasy
Format: Paperback/Ebook
Length: 584 pages
Publication Date: November 22, 2023

About the Book:

It’s easy to stand up for your friends. What about for anonymous creatures nobody else cares about?

With their homes apparently safe from the magical storms, Darin and Rinloh venture to an isolated elven village and another ancient mystery: ruins of an imperial city whose entire population vanished centuries ago.

The duo befriend a host of eccentric new characters, from a chipper ogress and hipster troll to a deadpan griffin. Yet the Forest of Nightmares challenges them as never before. Merciless carnivorous trees, subterranean horrors, ethereal creatures no mortal weapon can slay… and most sinister of all, the greed and ambition lurking within the human heart.

Darin and Rinloh’s empathic connection grows stronger the deeper into the wilderness they go, but will it be enough to stop a dark conspiracy from ravaging the land?

Arvia: Wings of the Wild challenges the harpy-human duo with their grandest adventure yet. They must balance their deepening relationship as they sharpen their skills and work together as never before to unravel a deadly new plot.

Book Links:

Amazon UK ~ Amazon ~ Goodreads

About the Author:

D.H. Willison is a reader, writer, game enthusiast and developer, engineer, and history buff. He’s lived or worked in over a dozen countries, learning different cultures, viewpoints, and attitudes, which have influenced his writing, contributing to one of his major themes: alternate and creative conflict resolution. The same situations can be viewed by different cultures quite differently. Sometimes it leads to conflict, sometimes to hilarity. Both make for a great story.

He’s also never missed a chance to visit historic sites, from castle dungeons, to catacombs, to the holds of tall ships, to the tunnels of the Maginot Line. It might be considered research, except for the minor fact that his tales are all set on the whimsical and terrifying world of Arvia. Where giant mythic monsters are often more easily overcome with empathy than explosions.

Subscribe to his newsletter for art, stories, and humorous articles (some of which are actually intended to be humorous).

Author Links:

Website ~ Instagram ~ Facebook ~ Twitter ~ Goodreads

My thanks to The Write Reads for the invitation to participate in this tour and the materials they provided.

The Mysteries by Bill Watterson and John Kascht: Watterson’s Visually Stunning Return

By HCNewton

On November 22, 2023

In Comics, Fantasy, Fiction

The Mysteries

by Bill Watterson and John Kascht

DETAILS:
Publisher: Andrews McMeel Publishing
Publication Date: October 10, 2023
Format: Hardcover
Length: 72 pgs.
Read Date: October 31, 2024

What’s The Mysteries About?

Here’s the Publisher’s Description, if I try, I’m going to end up telling the whole, brief story:

In a fable for grown-ups by cartoonist Bill Watterson, a long-ago kingdom is afflicted with unexplainable calamities. Hoping to end the torment, the king dispatches his knights to discover the source of the mysterious events. Years later, a single battered knight returns.

I’m not going to say more, even though I think we could use a teensy-weensy expansion to really sell the story. But the story isn’t the important part because…

WOW. The Art!

This is why you pick up this book. Period. You’re curious about what Watterson’s been up to for the last umpteen years, how his art has changed and developed. What’s got his attention? And we won’t really know much given how short this book is and how atypical it is, but still, that curiosity is there.

Maybe you know John Kascht’s work and want to see what he’s been dabbling in.

Either way, this is why you come to this book—and you will be well rewarded for it.

I’m not going to try to explain how these black-and-white images capture so much—and yet, leave so much to the imagination. But I’ve already gone through this book a few times just to see the art without caring about the words (which, yeah, I’ve read twice—but not as often). There are a couple of samples here.

Here’s a video put out by the publisher where the two artists describe how they worked together (and no, you don’t get to see any faces. Just hands and the works in progress).

So, what did I think about The Mysteries?

Honestly, the story doesn’t do much for me. It’s fine—good enough to justify your time, but that’s it. It feels like the first 50-70% of a Neil Gaiman story (but told in far fewer words). Honestly, anyone who described something like that to me would be enough to get me to pick it up—but I wanted a little more from Watterson.

But the more I think about it, I’m always going to want more from Watterson than he seems willing to give. So I should shut up and be happy about it.

I cannot say enough good things about these images, though—the visual look of the book as a whole, either. I’m so glad I got this just for that experience. And it’s an experience I can repeat frequently.

I’m not going to give this a rating, because…I don’t know. I can’t assign a number to this. I’m just happy to see that Watterson is still out there doing creative things and hope he decides to share some more in the years to come.

Long Past Dues by James J. Butcher: This Series has Legs

By HCNewton

On November 20, 2023

In Fiction, Urban Fantasy

Long Past Dues

by James J. Butcher

DETAILS:
Series: The Unorthodox Chronicles, #2
Publisher: Ace Books
Publication Date: October 10, 2023
Format: eARC
Length: 401 pg.
Read Date: November 13-15, 2023

“You make them sound like monsters.” [Grimsby said]

He scoffed. “If only. Monsters are much simpler to deal with than people.” His face grew grim. “Much simpler.”

What’s Long Past Dues About?

Tired of the grunt-work and make-work befitting a rookie and relatively-untested Auditor (despite the heroics that got him his job), Grimsby acts on impulse and hijacks a case assignment from the closest thing he has to a friend in the Department of Unorthodox Affairs. It’s an investigation into the remains of an unidentified ritual. His job is to figure out what the ritual was supposed to do and who was behind it—particularly if the ritual was intended to produce something hazardous to humans. Rayne can’t—or won’t—tell anyone why she was so curious about this particular ritual, but the fact that Grimsby stole the assignment from her is enough to put their already tenuous relationship at risk.

Jumping into something out of his depth and under orders to make sure he’s not working alone, Grimsby tries to shake Mayflower off of his new/renewed attempts at putting the bottle to his head and pulling the trigger. Mayflower eventually emerges to help—not because of anything Grimsby said, or out of a sense of duty. But Grimsby dropped a photo that reminded Mayflower of one of his biggest successes, one of the rare times he shot someone and wasn’t haunted by it. How is anything about it back to rear its head?

Grimbsy and Rayne fluctuate between working together, racing each other, and trying to save each other while on this case.

While Grimsby was waiting for the Huntsman to come around, he spent a little time trying to help Wudge with something. It didn’t go wholly according to plan. Or much according to plan at all, really. Along the way, Grimsby picked up something that twists his magic in a way he’s having trouble adjusting to. And picked up an enemy—or at least adversary—or three. All of which is going to complicate things for him in the immediate future.

Digging Deeper into Mayflower

The first book explored both partners, but we learned more about Grimsby for sure. The accent fell more to Mayflower in this book—at least when it came to backstory and filling out the character—Grimsby was the focus of the plot again, to be sure.

That said, I think most readers would’ve guessed correctly to 95+% of what we learned about Mayflower here. But it’s good to have it spelled out for us—not in a spoon-feeding way, but the kind of confirmation that’s welcome. We also get a better understanding of what Mayflower sees in Grimsby, why he stuck up for him, and did what he had to to get Grimsby recruited by the Department.

Again, we probably could’ve guessed it, too. But I liked actually getting to see it.

I enjoy the way the two partners see themselves and each other—the way those perspectives conflict with each other and the way they roughly match up.

Wudge

It’d be super-easy to consider Wudge as comic relief primarily—with a hint of pathetic. Sure, he’s good for another perspective on the supernatural world and to help Grimsby out in a pinch—but he’s first and foremost someone to laugh at. Like Dobby. (I’m saying that because I’ve slipped into it, and that makes me feel better)

But it’s a mistake to think that—he’s more like Gurgi early on—funny, pitiful, with a hint of malice. Like Hearne’s hobgoblin Buck, but less trustworthy (and less easily amused). He’s dangerous, he’s looking out for himself more than anything—and is perfectly willing to take advantage of Grimsby. You, like Grimsby, can’t help but like him when he’s around. You feel bad for the guy and hope that Grimsby can give him the assistance he needs.

But something tells me that he’s more like the scorpion that stings the frog as they’re crossing the water together—his nature isn’t to pal around with a human. And we’re going to regret chuckling at him in the near future.

Or, I’m way off base and I’m going to have to come along and issue a retraction.

The Anti-Nick Fury?

Without getting into particulars, this book ends in a very similar way to the way its predecessor did. Someone out there is scheming, picking up the pieces from whatever Grimsby, Mayflower, and the rest of the Department left behind (and one has to assume they’re doing this with non-Grimsby cases, too). Exactly what they’re doing with the people and artifacts left behind we’re not told. It’s clearly ominous, but that’s about it.

It’s like the opposite of the post/mid-credit scenes in the early MCU movies where Fury is recruiting people for the Avengers Initiative. It’s more like those scenes in the Garfield Spider-Man movies (although, it’s been a few years so my memory is pretty fuzzy)—everyone, including Spidey, has thought he saved the day, righted the wrongs, and sent the bad guys packing, someone is out there coming along behind him with something clearly nefarious in mind.

Now, if James J. Butcher has really learned much from Jim Butcher, I expect that we’ll see/start to see what this has all been leading up to in Book 5. But I figure he knows that readers might expect that—so maybe it’ll be Book 4 or 6 instead. Whenever he reveals what’s cooking in these last looks, it’s going to be big. And it’s going to be bad news for Grimsby and Mayflower. It’ll be good for the reader, no mistake, but bad for our heroes.

Grimsby climbed out of the jeep and glanced around at the lot of black, mirrorless cars. Mayflower’s rusted-out vehicle stuck out like a mountain crag in the middle of a rolling black sea.

“Didn’t they offer you a car when you came back?” he asked as they entered the building’s concrete facade.

“They tried,” Mayflower said, then scoffed. “Even insisted.”

“And you said no?”

“That jeep has been with me since the start. I’ve rebuilt her from little more than scrap more than once. I know every sound she makes, every grind of every gear. You think I’d trade that for anything?”

“Okay, but have you ever thought about the ship of Theseus?”

“Yes.” The Huntsman scowled. “But Theseus never had a jeep.”

So, what did I think about Long Past Dues?

So, yeah, I picked up on the big twist pretty early on. And then the twist to that twist, too—although I’m not sure I got that earlier than Butcher wanted us to. Being ahead (?) of where we were supposed to be didn’t diminish things at all for me—if anything it amped up the suspense for me because I wondered how long it was going to take for Grimsby and Mayflower to suss it out, and how bad things were going to have to get for them to see it.

I’m rarely that into a twist surprising me—I’m far more interested in how the reveal is executed and Butcher did it just right here—I wouldn’t have minded the heroes putting the pieces together a bit quicker, but I’m not going to complain about how it came about. What I didn’t expect was just how it was going to play out after the reveal—and what the long-term ramifications were going to look at. And…whoa.

So much of what I thought was going to happen to/hoped would happen for Grimsby over the next few books went away in a paragraph or two. I feel so bad for him—and am so filled with anticipation to see what Butcher replaces my expectations with.

I really appreciate the way the partnership between the Huntsman and the rookie Auditor is developing. Whatever their bond in Dead Man’s Hand may have been, they’re not BFF’s by any means at this point. There are growing pains ahead, stops and starts to their partnership, and some pretty big obstacles they need to work through. But at the core—that relationship, respect for, need (?) for each other is a great starting point to see both grow as people and agents. I don’t know that Mayflower will ever get all his issues resolved, all his personal demons exorcised, etc. But he can get closer, he can maybe become really functional again—and that’s enough.

We got a couple of new and potentially recurring characters here that I really enjoyed. The magic—and the magical worlds—are enough to satisfy an Urban Fantasy fan. The monsters—and how they manifest in the real world—are great. The societies—Usual and Unorthodox—are intriguing in all the right ways. The banter is just what a buddy-cop reader wants to read. The moral choices aren’t easy or too clear-cut (which is great). The principal characters are engaging and believable. Basically, this series is really working for me. I can’t list all the things it’s doing right, actually.

I don’t have any major criticisms or complaints—I just want more of this series. Next year and for at least a handful of years to come. Long Past Dues didn’t disappoint and lived up to the promise of Dead Man’s Hand. Can’t ask for much more.

Disclaimer: I received this eARC from Berkley Publishing Group via NetGalley in exchange for this post—thanks to both for this.

4 Stars