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A review by jessielzimmer
The Courier by C.W. Browning
adventurous
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
3.0
The Short of It
Be aware of what you're getting: a 32k (ish) novella, a character that can be too good to be true, wrapped in an entertaining - if flawed - historical thriller.
The Longer of It: Good Start That Needs More Imperfections
I originally found the author, C.W. Browning, after coming across [book:The Oslo Affair|53417105] and being enamored by that striking cover. I had to read the summary, and when I found it was a series, I wanted to start from the top. If the title (Shadows of War #0.5) doesn't make it clear, The Courier is a prequel novella, where we learn about Evelyn Ainworth before she becomes a MI6 Agent.
The book is a solid three stars for me. Though I could have given it three and a half. I didn't, primarily because Evelyn was a little too perfect. Not only is she a well-to-do, born and bred English woman of wealth, she's also a polyglot, a martial arts student, a brilliant mind, as well as a social and gender-roles nonconformist. Plus, I want to say at least two or three suitors are mentioned as carrying torches for her, and pretty much everyone (except for the baddies, of course) just adore her.
Again, with the exception of two Nazi officers, her biggest foes are (mentioned) her mother wanting to marry her off to a suitor of equal or better station, and her father being mildly to moderately concerned about Evelyn being too clever for her own good. Turns out he's right. More on that later.
If this were toned down, I could easily give it four stars. Evelyn is a very likable young lady. The small cast of characters assembled around her feel fleshed out enough for the page length. There are several I like and look forward to hearing more about: her father (though he apparently he dies suddenly in the next one, which is on the back of the book, so I'm not marking it as a spoiler), William and Josephine. I also want to know what becomes of Karl. I think that's plenty to engage me to read the next, full, novel.
Criticisms I have:
1. I hated the chapter that was from Voss' point of view. We already know the Nazis win - at least for a while - and having to be in his head made me angry. I couldn't wait until I was back to someone else, anyone else. I hope there isn't a lot of his POV in the other books. Depending on how it goes, that could make me stop reading further.
2. As mentioned, Evelyn is mostly flawless. To the point that on her very first mission, she directly ignores the advice of a seasoned agent, and still comes out unharmed. Barring a case of the shakes and one sleepless night.
She does exactly what she was told not to do, and escapes with minimal consequences. You'll know the screw up when you get there. It actually made me groan, bury my head in my hands, and step away for a minute. This would be excusable if she was actually portrayed as more incapable.
But she can take down a grown man with martial arts, saunter right up to an SS officer then leave unscathed, and even finds an ally in her time of need. Without more than a "trust me", and no actual proof that this person is on her side, Evelyn follows and escapes to live another day. I would be okay with all this, if she's now a target of the SS, and has to face the consequences in the future.
3. I have a hard time believing two things, a) that Wing Chun is a viable self-defense, and b) a woman would be allowed to learn it prior to the 80s. Maybe the 60s. According to my - albeit, incomplete - research, Wing Chun is built on "forms", or collections of chained maneuvers and attacks. But they're more about looking fancy than saving your own skin. I've read it works better in close combat, but that's usually the last thing a woman wants in a fight. Where she can (typically) be easily overpowered.
Depending on who you ask, Wing Chun is also mocked as complete bullshit. Which is why it made me roll my eyes. I have doubts about how much the author researched martial arts. I suspect she thought it sounded cool, did a little Googling, and put it in there. It reads a little as the mystical Asian trope. Where the wise Asian man teaches the foreigner his exotic skills, and the student masters them, often surpassing the master who has dedicated their life to it.
If this were a movie there'd be a musical montage. If it were a white man, this would likely be considered racist. But Evelyn is a white girl so it's fine. The owner of the school spots her hiding behind a fence, and without considering whether she's a threat or not, sees something in her - all without words - and accepts her as a student. I would find this more believable (and hilarious) if her father begged the guy to take her, because he needed something to keep Evelyn busy. Or because the teacher saw a bored, white girl with money.
It would also help if we actually saw Evelyn sparring with other students beforehand. Especially if she sparred and failed. Because, for example, she's so good at languages, she's not used to being unable to master something quickly. The training forces her to overcome obstacles she's never faced before. Character growth! Challenges! Actual struggle! But the novella isn't about that. It's about making her the Black Widow / Natasha Romanoff of WWII. With more money and less trauma.
We never see Evelyn fight a single time, prior to the big scene in the library. We hear mentions of her continuing to train, but not once do we see her fight someone her size (or larger). I'm giving Browning one "she caught him by surprise" token for this. It's been cashed. If her super-duper martial arts skills aren't tested in the next one, I'm out.
Sidebar related to the library scene: why didn't she just put them in her bra or underwear? Couldn't she have gone to the ladies' room and tucked them away? Surely, she'd be safe long enough, especially if she was able to follow someone inside. It would make the agent extremely suspicious to any other women present. While I think the end reveal is charming and clever, I immediately thought she was going to stash them under her blouse.
Evelyn also has the scent of "new author" syndrome. She's not drenched in it, but it is there. She's too good to be true at points. She has no flaws, except perhaps taking the task too lightly and valuing her own skill too heavily. Neither of which do any lasting harm in this book. Hopefully this will change in the future, and her own frivolity and hubris will land her in some real trouble.
I don't know how long Browning has been writing, but according the Amazon paperback publishing dates, the entire series - all four books - have been published in under a year. Exactly, 11 months and 11 days, if my numbers are correct. They're listed as self-published, if any publisher is listed at all. Now, neither of these are bad, but they do make me suspicious. 80-90% of the books I've read that are self-published have been shit.
This isn't Browning's first story, she published three books <a hef="https://www.goodreads.com/series/111422-exit">[The Exit Series]</a> in under two years. Took a break for over three and half years, and published another <i>four</i> books in just under 14 months. Plus another one in third series, [book:Games of Deceit|55427377]. Maybe she's just that damn fast. Maybe she has planning skills, typing speeds, and discipline that would make Patrick Rothfuss weep. I tip my hat to her. But she could also use an editor that caught her Americanisms, and helped her steer Evelyn away from the strong currents of the Mary Sue Sea.
After all these words three stars probably seems high, right? Ultimately, I think Browning has a good world started here. Evelyn is a fun character - like Peggy Carter, Agent 99, or Sarah Bartowski - and I hope she grows and matures as the series continues. The tension in both the earlier conversation with Voss, and the later confrontation with the SS was top notch. Browning can write excellent scenes of peril and tension. The book was a fun, quick read (clocking in at 2 hours) and has me intrigued enough to continue Evelyn's story with the next book.
[Edit, later in the day] OH! I completely forgot that in the final (or second to, I can't remember) chapter she recaps the entire investigation to Bill! Why, why would you do? The novella is hardly a tome of thousands of words. This is another example of needing a stronger editor, because that screamed "word padding" in bright neon lights.
Be aware of what you're getting: a 32k (ish) novella, a character that can be too good to be true, wrapped in an entertaining - if flawed - historical thriller.
The Longer of It: Good Start That Needs More Imperfections
I originally found the author, C.W. Browning, after coming across [book:The Oslo Affair|53417105] and being enamored by that striking cover. I had to read the summary, and when I found it was a series, I wanted to start from the top. If the title (Shadows of War #0.5) doesn't make it clear, The Courier is a prequel novella, where we learn about Evelyn Ainworth before she becomes a MI6 Agent.
The book is a solid three stars for me. Though I could have given it three and a half. I didn't, primarily because Evelyn was a little too perfect. Not only is she a well-to-do, born and bred English woman of wealth, she's also a polyglot, a martial arts student, a brilliant mind, as well as a social and gender-roles nonconformist. Plus, I want to say at least two or three suitors are mentioned as carrying torches for her, and pretty much everyone (except for the baddies, of course) just adore her.
Again, with the exception of two Nazi officers, her biggest foes are (mentioned) her mother wanting to marry her off to a suitor of equal or better station, and her father being mildly to moderately concerned about Evelyn being too clever for her own good. Turns out he's right. More on that later.
If this were toned down, I could easily give it four stars. Evelyn is a very likable young lady. The small cast of characters assembled around her feel fleshed out enough for the page length. There are several I like and look forward to hearing more about: her father (though he apparently he dies suddenly in the next one, which is on the back of the book, so I'm not marking it as a spoiler), William and Josephine. I also want to know what becomes of Karl. I think that's plenty to engage me to read the next, full, novel.
Criticisms I have:
1. I hated the chapter that was from Voss' point of view. We already know the Nazis win - at least for a while - and having to be in his head made me angry. I couldn't wait until I was back to someone else, anyone else. I hope there isn't a lot of his POV in the other books. Depending on how it goes, that could make me stop reading further.
2. As mentioned, Evelyn is mostly flawless. To the point that on her very first mission, she directly ignores the advice of a seasoned agent, and still comes out unharmed. Barring a case of the shakes and one sleepless night.
She does exactly what she was told not to do, and escapes with minimal consequences. You'll know the screw up when you get there. It actually made me groan, bury my head in my hands, and step away for a minute. This would be excusable if she was actually portrayed as more incapable.
But she can take down a grown man with martial arts, saunter right up to an SS officer then leave unscathed, and even finds an ally in her time of need. Without more than a "trust me", and no actual proof that this person is on her side, Evelyn follows and escapes to live another day. I would be okay with all this, if she's now a target of the SS, and has to face the consequences in the future.
3. I have a hard time believing two things, a) that Wing Chun is a viable self-defense, and b) a woman would be allowed to learn it prior to the 80s. Maybe the 60s. According to my - albeit, incomplete - research, Wing Chun is built on "forms", or collections of chained maneuvers and attacks. But they're more about looking fancy than saving your own skin. I've read it works better in close combat, but that's usually the last thing a woman wants in a fight. Where she can (typically) be easily overpowered.
Depending on who you ask, Wing Chun is also mocked as complete bullshit. Which is why it made me roll my eyes. I have doubts about how much the author researched martial arts. I suspect she thought it sounded cool, did a little Googling, and put it in there. It reads a little as the mystical Asian trope. Where the wise Asian man teaches the foreigner his exotic skills, and the student masters them, often surpassing the master who has dedicated their life to it.
If this were a movie there'd be a musical montage. If it were a white man, this would likely be considered racist. But Evelyn is a white girl so it's fine. The owner of the school spots her hiding behind a fence, and without considering whether she's a threat or not, sees something in her - all without words - and accepts her as a student. I would find this more believable (and hilarious) if her father begged the guy to take her, because he needed something to keep Evelyn busy. Or because the teacher saw a bored, white girl with money.
It would also help if we actually saw Evelyn sparring with other students beforehand. Especially if she sparred and failed. Because, for example, she's so good at languages, she's not used to being unable to master something quickly. The training forces her to overcome obstacles she's never faced before. Character growth! Challenges! Actual struggle! But the novella isn't about that. It's about making her the Black Widow / Natasha Romanoff of WWII. With more money and less trauma.
We never see Evelyn fight a single time, prior to the big scene in the library. We hear mentions of her continuing to train, but not once do we see her fight someone her size (or larger). I'm giving Browning one "she caught him by surprise" token for this. It's been cashed. If her super-duper martial arts skills aren't tested in the next one, I'm out.
Sidebar related to the library scene: why didn't she just put them in her bra or underwear? Couldn't she have gone to the ladies' room and tucked them away? Surely, she'd be safe long enough, especially if she was able to follow someone inside. It would make the agent extremely suspicious to any other women present. While I think the end reveal is charming and clever, I immediately thought she was going to stash them under her blouse.
Evelyn also has the scent of "new author" syndrome. She's not drenched in it, but it is there. She's too good to be true at points. She has no flaws, except perhaps taking the task too lightly and valuing her own skill too heavily. Neither of which do any lasting harm in this book. Hopefully this will change in the future, and her own frivolity and hubris will land her in some real trouble.
I don't know how long Browning has been writing, but according the Amazon paperback publishing dates, the entire series - all four books - have been published in under a year. Exactly, 11 months and 11 days, if my numbers are correct. They're listed as self-published, if any publisher is listed at all. Now, neither of these are bad, but they do make me suspicious. 80-90% of the books I've read that are self-published have been shit.
This isn't Browning's first story, she published three books <a hef="https://www.goodreads.com/series/111422-exit">[The Exit Series]</a> in under two years. Took a break for over three and half years, and published another <i>four</i> books in just under 14 months. Plus another one in third series, [book:Games of Deceit|55427377]. Maybe she's just that damn fast. Maybe she has planning skills, typing speeds, and discipline that would make Patrick Rothfuss weep. I tip my hat to her. But she could also use an editor that caught her Americanisms, and helped her steer Evelyn away from the strong currents of the Mary Sue Sea.
After all these words three stars probably seems high, right? Ultimately, I think Browning has a good world started here. Evelyn is a fun character - like Peggy Carter, Agent 99, or Sarah Bartowski - and I hope she grows and matures as the series continues. The tension in both the earlier conversation with Voss, and the later confrontation with the SS was top notch. Browning can write excellent scenes of peril and tension. The book was a fun, quick read (clocking in at 2 hours) and has me intrigued enough to continue Evelyn's story with the next book.
[Edit, later in the day] OH! I completely forgot that in the final (or second to, I can't remember) chapter she recaps the entire investigation to Bill! Why, why would you do? The novella is hardly a tome of thousands of words. This is another example of needing a stronger editor, because that screamed "word padding" in bright neon lights.