A Sword of Bronze and Ashes, a single POV story, told in third person, opens up as its main character, a middle-aged mother of three daughters named Kanda, comes across a corpse floating down the river running by her cattle pastures. From that point follow a series of harrowing, supernaturally-tainted events, told in a present timeline, as Kanda is forced to flee her home, with her family, to protect it... and is forced to reckon with her progressively revealed past – told, in parallel, in a past timeline – as Ikandera Thygethyn, the greatest warrior there ever was.

Okay, so this one was strange and, unfortunately for me, strange in a way I largely found unsatisfying.

On a positive note, I definitely think this book's prose stood out: its author used very lyrical, evocative prose to convincing effect and, more impressively, a somewhat 'stream of consciousness'-infused narrative style that, on its own, for once, largely worked for me. The story's pacing was also pretty even overall, which I liked.

I really enjoyed just how gynocentric this story was, given the kind of story it was. A Sword of Bronze and Ashes is pretty dark, gritty fantasy with significant supernatural, folklore or mythology-derived horror elements – and yes I'm aware the author is known for writing grimdark fantasy, specifically, though I'm not entirely sure this novel counts as grimdark for me, but of course your mileage will vary with this. But so, given the story's nature, I found the fact its main character was a middle-aged mother of three very pleasantly refreshing. Additionally, the author didn't shy away from showing the less savoury parts of womanhood, of aging womanhood (chin hairs, bodily pains, heavy periods and all) and how this affected her main character with regards to self-image and self-worth – to some extent at least.

Kanda's character work was pretty good overall, though it largely failed when it came to establishing some of her character motivations, specifically, which then impacted the plot's resolution in a way I found frustrating. The book's broader character work also largely fell by the wayside when it came to the story's secondary and tertiary characters. For the most part, those felt more like sketches, archetypes, plot conveniences or rather conveniences drawn for the sake of Kanda's character growth, more than fully fleshed characters in their own right. The amount of plot armour some of the characters received was also very inconsistent and felt, as a result, very convenient in a way I also found frustrating.

As to the book's world-building, and theming... ach, both left me wanting. I didn't get much out of this one with regards to the latter, beyond a couple of threads of exploration on moral redemption and (chiefly) motherly love. Then with regards to the former, well, this book just didn't deliver much that I could really engage with. I believe this book is, partly at least, sold on the fact its world-building is influenced by Celtic folklore and/or mythology. And I could, yes, kind of see it in very subtle ways. But I'm also a mythology nerd and have a very specific interest in, and fondness for Celtic stuff... so I'm not sure this would be at all apparent to more casual mythology enthusiasts, and thus worth promoting.

More than anything though, this novel had a significant problem in terms of tonal, narrative dissonance. It felt, to me, like A Sword of Bronze and Ashes was trying to marry two fairly different, and easily dissonant, narrative tones: one of epic mythicality, and one of more immediate, intimate, psychological and familial tragedy... in a way that just didn't work very well. The book's prose was very lyrical, but also fairly dreamlike, in no small part due, I'd wager, to its 'stream-of-consciousness' inflections. You eventually learn that Kanda is, not only much older than a mortal has any right to be, but a kind of... demigod, is how I understood it. But the narrative doesn't devote enough time to fleshing out the actual nature of her origins, setting- or era-wise. Strange, godlike and demon-like beings are mentioned, but you never really get to understand what their nature truly is. There are also several points in the narrative where you're not entirely sure if what Kanda is experiencing, is actually real. There is a lot of shape-shifting as well, of fluidity between states of life and states of death... which, yes, makes sense in a mythological setting, and which, yes, points to Celtic influences if, like me, you know what to look for. But the problem is I felt like the book ultimately 'wanted' me to focus on the immediate experiences, and emotions, of a middle-aged mother trying to save her family... and none of it meshed together all that well.

Strange, non-intuitive combinations, like salt and caramel, can sometimes lead to wonderful results (salted caramel anythingis the shit). But this novel was made up of a strange combination that didn't, ultimately, taste all that good to me. Its not that it tasted bad, either, exactly. It had, rather... an interesting taste, but I probably wouldn't order that specific flavour combination again, if ya catch mah drift. Which means I don't regret picking this one up, since it was memorable in its own way, but for me, it was only worth reading once.

Content Warnings

Pagans: The Visual Culture of Pagan Myths, Legends and Rituals by Ethan Doyle White

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informative inspiring reflective relaxing fast-paced

4.0

Pagans presents a decently comprehensive, and lavishly illustrated overview of pagan or, alternatively, non-Abrahamic religions, past and present, through its deities, its rituals, its symbols and broader iconography.

I really appreciated the fact this, on the whole, very good reference included contemporary pagan religions derived from European traditions and history – alongside traditional religions from Africa, East Asia and the Americas – and treated them with respect and dignity.

The author also did a good job of pointing out the fact a lot of contemporary pagan practices aren't, actually, directly derived from ancient pagan practices (as pertaining to those traditions rooted in Europe's pre-Christian past, at least), but that this doesn't lessen their validity as legitimate religious or spiritual traditions. Where contemporary paganism does overlap with historical re-constructionism and actual historical tradition, this was pointed out as well – to some extent.

I did, unfortunately, spot an actual mistake in the text (perhaps an oversight on the editors' part), and a couple of points, here and there, lacked some nuance. It's also not the most thorough text you'll encounter on the subject of ancient and contemporary pagan, or Earth-centred, or non-Abrahamic religions – there is apparently controversy surrounding the usage of the term "pagan", when it comes to those religions, so use the one you prefer – but it really is a very nice, visual reference on the topic and I'm glad I not only read it, but have a copy of it to store in my non-fiction library. And I would thus happily recommend it to other readers interested in this subject.

Starter Villain by John Scalzi

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adventurous funny lighthearted mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.25

Read for the 2024 Hugo Awards.

Premise:
Meet Charlie. Charlie used to work as a respected business journalist, and used to be married, but now lives, single, in the home of his late father, with his two cats – remember that, the cats are important! Charlie's finances aren't doing great; his life, on the whole, really, isn't doing great at the minute.

But it takes an unexpected turn when, after learning of his estranged, but loaded uncle's passing, Charlie is asked, by one of his uncle's protégées, to host his relative's funerary service. "Do this", he is told, "and you will become the owner of your father's house, and inherit a sizeable sum of money from your uncle. What could possibly go wrong? Well, quite a bit, as it so happens, because Charlie quickly discovers his uncle made most of his fortune working as... a super villain, complete with volcano lair and super-intelligent cats.

Review:
Starter Villain was a rather light-hearted and silly little... uhm, 'techno-thriller'... adjacent, kind of? Sure, let's go with that. Similar-ish, in spirit and tone, to The Kaiju Preservation Society, though I'd argue the latter went 'more ham' with its sci-fi premise because, well, Kaiju, and attendant parallel universe. I also found it funnier, given it was more committed to 'nerdy references' humour than this one was.

That being said, I liked Starter Villain, for what it was. I enjoyed the super-intelligent cats... and socialist, unionising dolphins! I mean Miéville did a similar thing with familiars in Kraken, and I most definitely preferred his version of the concept, but still, Scalzi got me to chuckle with his dolphins, so point!

In fact I chuckled, or smiled, a decent amount reading Starter Villain, so point once again, though this story is not one I would necessarily revisit either. And I really think it could've been a short story, or novella, rather than a short novel. The narrative took a little too long to get going, the pacing was a little uneven as a result, and I just don't think the way Starter Villain's premise was actually executed (that is, without much depth overall) warranted its length.

So, all in all: it was cute, amusing, and decently entertaining, but not on par with The Kaiju Preservation Society for me.

Content Warnings

The Book of Celtic Symbols: Symbols, Stories, and Blessings for Everyday Living by Joules Taylor

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lighthearted relaxing medium-paced

2.0

I honestly don't have much to say about this book, because it was one of those woo-woo, New Age-y publications that aim to give your life a veneer of spirituality rooted in pagan mythology and (neo-)pagan theology (and not, as I'd hoped, a book about the semiotics of Celtic symbols). But those roots are, invariably, paper thin, and most (not all, but most) of the 'information' in this book was made-up, or misrepresented bullshit, without any kind of proper sourcing.

Fine, whatever. I should've done more research before purchasing this one – and I've already unhauled it – but that's entirely on me. Live and learn.

N.B.: it gets two stars because it wasn't offensively bad, for what it actually was.

Woman's Lore: 4,000 Years of Sirens, Serpents and Succubi by Sarah Clegg

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hopeful informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

3.75

Woman's Lore presents the history of related, demonic (or demonised), fantastical female figures such as Lilith, (the) Lamia and mermaids from (one of) their hypothesised points of origin, in Ancient Mesopotamia – with the (rather scary) goddess Lamashtu – up to the 20th century, when most of these figures were reclaimed, to a certain extent, by feminist activists, artists, etc...

I really enjoyed this one, overall. I appreciated the quality of the author's scholarship (with, thankfully, proper referencing and citation work), the (for the most part) tight focus of her thesis, and even the cheekiness she displayed, at times, in her commentary. I was already pretty familiar with the material, yet learned a few new things nonetheless, so that was a big plus for me.

Given my prior knowledge, there are a couple of elements I found missing from the book which I think could've made its thesis feel more complete. I also would've enjoyed a bit more theological analysis, or extrapolation, in the text as well. That being said, the author's main point concerning the nature of these figures as true elements of women's lore, culture and history was beautifully articulated and supported by the evidence she provided in the book.

Unfortunately, the book started losing some of its tight focus in its penultimate chapter, on the Victorian Era, and I think the author 'overstretched' herself somewhat. The connections and conclusions she drew from previously discussed material didn't feel as solid as they should have, and I just felt there was a glaring gap in her argumentation.

However, that was nothing compared to the absolute train wreck that was the book's last chapter. Mini vent time: why, oh why, do non-fiction writers keep doing this? Why did there need to be an attempt at some sort of grand (but largely unsupported) connection to contemporary social justice stuff in a book already very clearly doing feminist scholarship, by promoting a facet of women's religious and cultural history? If I felt the author overstretched her analysis in her chapter on the 19th century, it was so much worse in her chapter on the 20th and 21st centuries, bloody hell. We left the delightful realm of tight but engaging exposition supported by material evidence and entered the rather unpalatable one of wild, only tangentially related speculation, and outright oversimplification (or misrepresentation) of information (e.g.: a paragraph on Second Wave feminism that was atrociously bad, and a section devoted to Octavia E. Butler's Xenogenesis trilogy that was... actually I don't even know what the fuck that was, quite frankly). Honestly... those last two chapters should've been collapsed into a single one.

It is so incredibly frustrating when books like these just do not stick to landing, especially since Woman's Lore's overarching conclusion, by contrast, was a perfectly fine summary of the book's main thesis. Which means I would, yes, definitely recommend this book to mythology, religious and cultural history nerds interested in female-centric material, but with the major caveat that the book's thesis kind of jumps ship in its last two chapters.

Among Others by Jo Walton

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emotional hopeful lighthearted mysterious reflective relaxing slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

3.5

This one was a bit different.

Genre-wise, Among Others barely qualifies as fantasy, but it didn't feel like magical realism to me either (thank goodness). Still, it does this thing where you're never entirely sure if the fantastical elements are real, or the result of the main character's fanciful perception of reality – well, up to a certain point at least. As such, I would classify this novel as 'lite domestic fantasy'.

Set between 1979 and 1980, Among Others is written as the diary of a girl named Mori (short for Morwenna), a disabled teenager from Wales who lost her twin in a car accident, and fled from her home (or rather her crazy witch of a mother, literally or not, that's up to you to figure out) to eventually land at the feet of her estranged father and his three sisters. From there, she is shipped off to boarding school in Shropshire. And stuff happens, somewhat.

Yeah, this book doesn't have much in the way of plot; it is very much a 'slice of life' story, which is why the diary format worked perfectly for it. This also means Among Others is a character-driven story more than anything else.

It is, additionally, a story that pays homage to what I'll term 'bibliophilia', SFF literature (so many real-life works and authors are name-dropped in the text), and SFF fandom. I wouldn't say the theming is particularly deep in this novel, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't strongly vibe with the genuine love it expresses towards, well, books, reading, stories and, more importantly, speculative stories. And towards the creative communities that book lovers and nerds weave together.

Among Others, to my mind, also features a thematic motif centred on the magic inherent in everyday life. Like I said, the realness of the book's fantasy elements is pretty ambiguous for most of the story; Mori says she sees, and talks to fairies (who speak Welsh, that was a nice touch), and that she and her twin used to play with them as a children. Mori says she can do magic as well, but also that magic is always – conveniently enough, ahem – 'plausibly deniable' (parallels are repeatedly drawn to Le Guin's The Lathe of Heaven with regards to this point, which was another, very nice touch). As such, magic, and fairies, can potentially be seen, and understood, through the lens of grief, and alienation, since Mori has to come to terms with the death of her twin, and struggles to fit in because she's... different. Yes, I'll admit I kind of read her as neurodivergent, to some degree, though I didn't relate all that much to her, ultimately, in terms of deeper personality, which was a little disappointing (and also I'm twice her age so that didn't help in terms of getting annoyed at her immaturity, lol).

I didn't really like the story's fantasy climax and, on the whole, its speculative elements lacked cohesion. Among Others, in essence, had a promising but clumsily executed premise... yet it also held a certain sweetness, warmth and gentle luminescence I found pleasant and relaxing. As such, it was definitely worth reading at least once.

PS: Mori's casual 'hibernophobia' was really grating though. Like bish you're Welsh, and you think English people are strange... why you so xenophobic towards that one Irish girl then?! 😆

Thornhedge by T. Kingfisher

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hopeful lighthearted relaxing fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? N/A
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.25

Read for the 2024 Hugo Awards.

Thornhedge is, essentially (and per the author's own comments), a 'Sleeping Beauty' fairy tale retelling, that also (to my mind) pulls from 'The Frog Prince' (and sex-swaps it), in which the main character is a woman named Toadling, who was "changelinged" as a human child, and grew up to become a water fairy. I won't say more because, well, this is a short novella that reads pretty quickly, honestly.

And I enjoyed it for what it was. I found it very sweet, and really liked the relationship Toadling only really starts to develop with the tale's second main character. I am oh so thankful it didn't devolve into cheap, 'instalovey' romance as well – thank the gods for small mercies there! And the simple fact is I will always appreciate fantasy that pulls from real-world folklore, fairy lore and fantastical creature lore like this one does.

But there wasn't really anything beyond the above to make this anything more than a pleasant little literary escapade. Nothing felt particularly impactful on an emotional level, beyond that brief, candy-sweet note. Nothing felt especially exciting, or that fresh in terms of world-building or folklore-referencing. And I didn't find anything substantial in terms of theming.

What Moves the Dead wasn't especially deep or imaginative either in terms of theming or greater world-building, but its horror, reworking of Poe's original material, and fungal shenanigans (lol) stood out to me a lot more, which is undoubtedly why I enjoyed it more overall – and thus rated it more highly.

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thepurplebookwyrm's reviews 1026 reviews

thepurplebookwyrm's reviews
1026 reviews