The Knight's Daughter

The Knight's Daughter is a 2020 middle grade fantasy novel by S. H. Cooper. The novel is a sword and sorcery fantasy. It's the first book in the Lady Knight trilogy. I was provided with an advanced copy in exchange for a review.

The novel follows a 14-year-old girl named Mary McThomas who has spent her life dreaming of becoming a knight like her father. After an ambush on their village leaves Mary's father in critical condition, Mary's willing to do whatever it takes to save him. Together with her older brothers and a mysterious fae, Mary finds herself entering a world of danger and magic. While Mary searches for a cure, dark forces search for Mary, seeking her for their own gain.

The Knight's Daughter has four major characters: Mary, Drake and Joseph, her brothers, and Torren, the fae who approaches Mary, claiming she knows a way to save her father. Mary begins the novel as being very unsure of herself and she's not entirely sure about who she is and where she fits into the world. Drake and Joseph, both seventeen, are on the cusp of adulthood and the attack leaves them trying to fill the role their father usually holds in terms of protecting their family. I enjoyed reading the dynamic between the siblings and how their relationship grew and changed over the course of the novel. Given that this is a middle-grade novel, there isn't much character development to speak of, and the development that is there is mostly centered around the three McThomas siblings learning more about themselves and their place in the world. Torren is a fae who initially helps Mary because the man behind the attack on the village, Meverick Conan, had previously attacked her people. Conan serves as the story's main antagonist, who has people hunting for Mary for unknown reasons. He's filled with a desire for revenge and believes Mary is the key to achieving it. Along the journey, Mary and her traveling companions meet a plethora of people, both good and bad. My personal favorite was Reena, who belongs to a nomadic group. I thought she was the funniest minor character.

I found the story to be rather amusing. I enjoyed reading about the fae and the magic within the world. Cooper did an excellent job with the world-building, giving the reader plenty of information and exposition without making it feel like a lot. I also liked the theme of family that is present throughout the story. Mary's brothers join her on the journey, not to have a fun adventure, but to make sure nothing happens to her. The plot itself is centered on their family, which was refreshing because a lot of younger fantasy involves separating the main character from their family and having them go on a journey alone. I appreciated the explanation of why Mary was both the only person who could help her father and why Conan was hunting for her. I'm not a big fan of "chosen ones", which Mary is in a way as she finds out late into the story, but the in-universe reason given fits with this story.

Before I go into some criticism I have of The Knight's Daughter, I do want to briefly touch on how this book works as a middle grade novel. I don't do this for young adult works because YA and adult have a lot more overlap than middle grade and adult. From a technical perspective, this is an excellent middle grade book. The story and world aren't too advanced for younger readers. The writing itself is very easy to digest. Other than a few fight scenes, there isn't anything within the story that's too heavy or advanced for middle grade.

While I enjoyed The Knight's Daughter, there were a few aspects to the story that didn't quite work for me. As mentioned above, the writing is very straightforward, which as an adult reader is a negative, but as I said, it's great for the intended audience. As a result of the writing being so easy to digest, I don't really have an opinion on the author's writing style. I was a little confused by the pacing. There were parts where the narrative seemed to slow down more than it should've and then it took a while for things to pick back up. Conversely, there were parts towards the end that felt needlessly rushed. Lastly, there was a particular reveal/plot twist that seemed kind of tacked on. I don't want to give any spoilers, but to me, it felt like the twist had been added to set up the second book, and that wasn't needed since there was enough of the main plot was unresolved for the second book already.

The Knight's Daughter is an entertaining, quick read. It has relatable characters, magic and an overall good story. While I had some issues with pacing and the writing itself, I don't want that to deter others from reading it. I think it's great for middle grade readers who are trying to figure out what genres they like. I'd also recommend it to reader who enjoy Arthurian or medieval fantasy specifically.

Rating: 3.1 Stars

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My Professor Made Me Read It!

Back in November, I posted a discussion post called "My English Teacher Made Me Read It" where I discussed the books I had to read in middle school and high school as part of required reading. This post is a continuation of that one, discussing the books that were required reading when I was in college. As with the first post, I will be giving a brief, overall opinion of each book.

• The Great Gatsby- Yes, this book was also on the high school list. I also had to read it in college. Twice. I didn't like this book the first time. I didn't like it the second or third time. In fact, I'm pretty sure I liked it even less the second and third times. I don't understand why people think this book is so great.
• Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas- I actually really enjoyed this book. It was weird, and insane things happened. The plot was hard to follow at times (when it had a plot) but given what the story is about, that makes perfect sense. It kept me engaged because I wanted to see what else would happen.
• The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks- This book taught me more about the medical field than I ever intended to learn. It tells the story of Henrietta Lacks, as the title says, but it also tells the story of how the cell samples gathered from her body, the HeLa cells, have been used in research since they were first collected in 1951.
• Native Son- This book does a very good job of conveying the message the author is trying to send. While not the first or most well known book to discuss the topic of race and racial division in the early 20th century, it is one of the best that I've read.
• Sister Carrie- I didn't like this one at all. I reread it to see if I might've misjudged it. I didn't.
• Miss Lonelyhearts- The entire tone of this book is depressing and nihilistic, which is what the author was going for. I commend him for achieving that, but since I don't enjoy books that are flat-out depressing, I wouldn't recommend it. 
• The Glass Menagerie- This is a play by Tennessee Williams. Williams is known for plays with dysfunctional families. Reading his work is a bit like watching a trainwreck. While this doesn't have the most dysfunctional family he's ever written, the dynamics certainly are entertaining. 
• Invisible Man- This is not the H.G. Wells novel about a man who is actually invisible. This novel, written by Ralph Ellison, gets it's titled from how its main character is invisible in society. I don't remember much about this book to be honest, so I'd say it was okay.

And that's the list of books I had to read in college. I thought plenty of them were fine. There were a few duds and a few I didn't expect to like, but really enjoyed. 

Have you read any of the books mentioned above? What did you think about them?

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Empress of All Seasons

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Empress of All Seasons is a 2018 young adult fantasy novel by Emiko Jean. It was released in Novemeber 2018 and published by Gollancz. The novel is heavily influenced by Japanese mythology and folklore. The novel can be purchased here from Bookshop.org or here from Amazon.

The novel centers around a once-in-a-generation tournament which is held to find the next empress of Honoku. The participants must conquer the palace’s enchanted rooms, each designed after a season, to win the competition and marry the prince. All women are eligible to enter except yokai, supernatural monsters and spirits who are being oppressed by the emperor. Mari, a yokai girl, has spent her life training for the competition. If her status as a yokai is revealed, her life will be forfeit. While struggling to keep her own secret, her fate becomes entwined with that of Taro, the crown prince, and Akira, a half-human, half-yokai boy she’s known for years. The choices of Mari, Taro and Akira, as they navigate the competition, will decide the fate of Honoku.

First, let’s discuss characters. As mentioned above, this novel has three main characters, Mari, Taro and Akira, who serve as the narrators for the story.  Mari was by far my favorite character of the three. She’s an Animal Wife, a yokai who seduces men into marriage and then runs off with their fortune. When others in her village conclude that she’s not pretty enough to woo men outright, they begin training her for the contest with the goal of her winning, marrying the prince and escaping with the imperial fortune. Mari is by far the most complex and interesting character. She’s a skilled fighter, but has moments where she shows a great deal of humanity. She wants to win the competition, and fulfill the task she’s spent her life training for, but at the same time, she also seeks to find a way to help the oppressed and enslaved yokai in the capital. Taro is the prince who is also Mari’s love interest. I didn’t really know how to feel about his character. He wasn’t very committed to what he wanted, seeming to decide he wants something very impulsively, which contrasted well with Mari. At the same time, he was rather entitled, which was annoying. Lastly, we have Akira, a halfblooded yokai. He was one of the most straightforward characters in the story and by far the most noble. He follows Mari to the capital to watch out for her during the competition, and gets swept up into the yokai resistance. Unlike Mari and Taro, he’s fully committed to his goal, but along his journey comes to realize that saving one person means nothing if the yokai are allowed to remain oppressed and enslaved. The conflict within Akira is the most relatable, as he finds himself torn between his self-assigned mission to help Mari and his mission for the resistance. I also enjoyed the dynamic Asami, another competitor, developed with Mari and her character in general, but I can’t really explain why without spoiling some important moments of the story.

I thoroughly enjoyed the magic and mythological elements in this story. A number of different types of yokai are introduced in the story, from Animal Wives to oni to yuki-onna. I don’t know much about Japanese mythology and folklore, so it was nice to be introduced to characters and creatures I hadn’t encountered before. Fantasy could always benefit from more diversity and authors pulling inspiration from different sources and cultures. Interspersed throughout the story are scenes explaining the world and how the competition for the Empress of All Seasons originated. My favorite aspect, however, was the magic of the four seasonal rooms. Each room contained its own world, based on the season it was named after, but with different elements and threats.  The danger of this competition becomes apparent in the first room, and the magic built into each room only adds to the tension and danger. I enjoyed Emiko Jean’s writing style, especially her depictions of events within the seasonal rooms.

While I liked the characters and the magic in the story, I’m torn about whether I enjoyed the plot or not. The competition itself was a fascinating idea and I liked reading about the events of Mari competing. There were some parts that I felt were very predictable, such as what happened with the emperor after the competition ended and the truth behind it. For a story this unique, I was hoping for a plot twist that was a little more surprising. The beginning of the story was a bit slower than I would’ve liked. It took about 100 pages for the competition to even begin. At the same time, the ending felt a bit rushed. The big, climactic conclusion was over almost as soon as it started. The behavior of certain characters also changed at the drop of a hat to fit the narrative, which didn’t make sense to me. I found the romance in this story to be bland as well. Taro seems to instantly fall in love with Mari the moment he sees her and I’m not a fan of insta-love. I wasn’t sold on Taro’s character and his romance with Mari didn’t interest me in any way.

Empress of All Seasons is a book with one of the most interesting worlds I’ve read so far this year. The premise behind the story felt unique and I liked the overall writing. While I enjoyed aspects of the book, it failed to deliver on others, such as the romantic subplot, and I felt that the pacing needed some improvement. I think this novel is a good book and I’d recommend it to fantasy readers, especially those looking to branch out some and try new authors. I’m excited to read other works by this author.

Rating: 3.4 Stars

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Anthologies That I Love

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I don't know if I've made this obvious on this blog yet, but I love anthologies. I love full-length novels, but there's also a special place in my heart for short story collections. So, I've decided to spread the love and discuss some of my favorite collections.


  
Wastelands and Wastelands 2 Edited by John Joseph Adams

Genre: Post-apocalyptic & Science Fiction

Synopsis (Goodreads): Famine, Death, War, and Pestilence - the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, the harbingers of Armageddon - these are our guides through the Wastelands.

From the Book of Revelation to The Road Warrior, from A Canticle for Leibowitz to The Road, storytellers have long imagined the end of the world, weaving eschatological tales of catastrophe, chaos, and calamity. In doing so, these visionary authors have addressed one of the most challenging and enduring themes of imaginative fiction: The nature of life in the aftermath of total societal collapse.

Gathering together the best post-apocalyptic literature of the last two decades from many of today's most renowned authors of speculative fiction - including George R. R. Martin, Gene Wolfe, Orson Scott Card, Carol Emshwiller, Jonathan Lethem, Octavia E. Butler, and Stephen King - Wastelands explores the scientific, psychological, and philosophical questions of what it means to remain human in the wake of Armageddon. Whether the end of the world comes through nuclear war, ecological disaster, or cosmological cataclysm, these are tales of survivors, in some cases struggling to rebuild the society that was, in others, merely surviving, scrounging for food in depopulated ruins and defending themselves against monsters, mutants, and marauders.

Wastelands delves into this bleak landscape, uncovering the raw human emotion and heart-pounding thrills at the genre's core.



The Year's Best Dark Fantasy & Horror Edited by Paula Guran. This is an annual release which started in 2010 and continues to today.

Genre: Fantasy & Horror

Synopsis (Goodreads):  The supernatural, the surreal, and the all-too real . . . tales of the dark. Such stories have always fascinated us, and modern authors carry on the disquieting traditions of the past while inventing imaginative new ways to unsettle us. Chosen from a wide variety of venues, these stories are as eclectic and varied as shadows. This volume of 2018's best dark fantasy and horror offers more than five hundred pages of tales from some of today's finest writers of the fantastique--sure to delight as well as disturb. 



Am I Blue?: Coming Out of the Silence Edited by Marion Dane Bauer

Genre: LGBT, Young Adult

Synopsis (Goodreads): Each of these stories is original, each is by a noted author for young adults, and each honestly portrays its subject and theme--growing up gay or lesbian, or with gay or lesbian parents or friends.



Places I Never Meant to Be: Original Stories by Censored Writers Edited by Judy Blume

Genre: Fiction

Synopsis (Goodreads): "What effect does [the climate of censorship] have on a writer?....It's chilling.
It's easy to become discouraged, to second-guess everything you write. There seemed to be no one to stand up to the censors....so I began to speak out about my experiences. And once I did, I found that I wasn't as alone as I'd thought."
-- from Judy Blume's introduction to Places I Never Meant to Be

Judy Blume is not alone: Many of today's most distinguished authors of books for young people have found their work censored or challenged. Eleven of them have contributed original stories to this collection. Along with a story written by the late Norma Klein when she was a student at Barnard College, they comprise a stunning literary achievement as well as a battle cry against censorship.



Firebirds: An Anthology of Original Fantasy and Science Fiction Edited by Sharyn November 

Genre: Fantasy & Science Fiction

Synopsis (Goodreads): Firebirds is more than simply an anthology -- it is a celebration of wonderful writing. It gathers together sixteen original stories by some of today's finest writers of fantasy and science fiction. Together, they have won virtually every major prize -- from the National Book Award to the World Fantasy Award to the Newbery Medal -- and have made best-seller lists worldwide. These authors, including Lloyd Alexander (The Chronicles of Prydain), Diana Wynne Jones (The Merlin Conspiracy), Garth Nix (The Abhorsen Trilogy), Patricia A. McKillip (Ombria in Shadow), Meredith Ann Pierce (The Darkangel Trilogy), and Nancy Farmer (The House of the Scorpion), each with his or her own inimitable style, tell stories that will entertain, provoke, startle, amuse, and resonate long after the last page has been turned.The writers featured in Firebirds all share a connection to Firebird Books, an imprint that is dedicated to publishing the best fantasy and science fiction for teenage and adult readers.



Toil and Trouble Edited By Tess Sharpe & Jessica Spotswood

Genre: Fantasy & Paranormal

Synopsis (Goodreads): Are you a good witch or a bad witch?

Glinda the Good Witch. Elphaba the Wicked Witch. Willow. Sabrina. Gemma Doyle. The Mayfair Witches. Ursula the Sea Witch. Morgan le Fey. The three weird sisters from Macbeth.

History tells us women accused of witchcraft were often outsiders: educated, independent, unmarried, unwilling to fall in line with traditional societal expectations.

Bold. Powerful. Rebellious.

A bruja’s traditional love spell has unexpected results. A witch’s healing hands begin to take life instead of giving it when she ignores her attraction to a fellow witch. In a terrifying future, women are captured by a cabal of men crying witchcraft and the one true witch among them must fight to free them all. In a desolate past, three orphaned sisters prophesize for a murderous king. Somewhere in the present, a teen girl just wants to kiss a boy without causing a hurricane.

From good witches to bad witches, to witches who are a bit of both, this is an anthology of diverse witchy tales from a collection of diverse, feminist authors. The collective strength of women working together—magically or mundanely--has long frightened society, to the point that women’s rights are challenged, legislated against, and denied all over the world. Toil & Trouble delves deep into the truly diverse mythology of witchcraft from many cultures and feminist points of view, to create modern and unique tales of witchery that have yet to be explored.



Geektastic: Stories from the Nerd Herd Edited by Holly Black & Cecil Castellucci

Genre: Fiction, Young Adult

Synopsis (Goodreads): Acclaimed authors Holly Black (Ironside) and Cecil Castellucci (Boy Proof) have united in geekdom to edit short stories from some of the best selling and most promising geeks in young adult literature: M.T. Anderson, Libba Bray, Cassandra Clare, John Green, Tracy Lynn, Cynthia and Greg Leitich Smith, David Levithan, Kelly Link, Barry Lyga, Wendy Mass, Garth Nix, Scott Westerfield, Lisa Yee, and Sara Zarr.

With illustrated interstitials from comic book artists Hope Larson and Bryan Lee
O'Malley, Geektastic covers all things geeky, from Klingons and Jedi Knights to fan fiction, theater geeks, and cosplayers. Whether you're a former, current, or future geek, or if you just want to get in touch with your inner geek, Geektastic will help you get your geek on!



Those are just a handful of anthologies that I love. Do you have any favorites? What's your opinion on anthologies?

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The Enixar: The Sorcerer's Conquest

The Enixar: The Sorcerer’s Conquest is a 2018 young adult fantasy novel by Mikkell K. Khan. It was self-published by the author in March of 2018. The novel is the first in its series and is followed by The Enixar: Solitude of Sin.

The novel follows Gudrunn, the mysterious and powerful sorcerer king of Gramadon, as he searches for an ancient dragon egg which will give him ultimate dominion over his country. As his quest continues, one of his generals, Meriaus, begins to question the king’s actions and what his true motives are. The fate of Gramadon and the universe as they know it hangs in the balance of the conflict for the dragon egg.

One of the aspects of this novel that I enjoyed the most was the dual perspectives telling the story. While the novel begins with Gundrunn and Meriaus as allies, as the story progresses, they become adversaries and seeing the events of the story told from two perspectives, one from each “side”, enhances the story-telling. Additionally, being able to read events through the eyes of a tyrant was refreshing, as I haven’t read many books where the “villain” is given much of a point-of-view.

Let’s discuss characters for a moment. While Gundrunn is a main character, and the first POV character the reader encounters, he’s also the main antagonist of the story. I appreciated his character for how determined he was to achieve his goal.  He was going to find the dragon egg and hatch it, regardless who he had to kill or how many people he had to oppress to get it. My favorite type of villain is a villain with focus like that. I also enjoyed how uncompromising he was about his actions. He didn’t try to justify his actions to anyone. He knew what he was doing was evil and oppressive, but just didn’t care. He was not a character the reader was meant to feel sympathy towards. Lord Meriaus is the other main character, as mentioned previously. Initially, he’s sent by the king to convince the Silent Monks, a religious order, to submit to the king’s will and become part of the monarchy. Soon into his mission, Meriaus becomes distrustful of his king’s intentions and when Gundrunn resorts to violence, he becomes determined to stop the sorcerer king, no matter the cost. While his allegiance in the beginning was difficult to comprehend, his growth once he realizes the king needed to be stopped made him a great character.  

This novel was a good start to the series. Khan laid a lot of the groundwork to build off of in future novels. Similarly, he introduced elements in the story, such as the Enixar magic and explained a little bit of how it worked without removing the mystery for future installments. While the reader is given some information about Gundrunn’s past, there are plenty more stories to tell and questions about characters such as Paldek, the Architects and mission that sent him to Gramadon in the first place. The action scenes were fast-paced and there were moments that genuinely surprised me.  

While I did enjoy the novel overall, there are a few issues I had with it. I wasn’t a big fan of the author’s writing style. I didn’t hate it, but it didn’t quite click with me. It felt pretty average. My biggest complaint is how short the novel is. It’s probably more of a novella technically. As a result of the story being so short, the author had to rely on a few tropes I’m not a fan of in order to show how terrible Gundrunn is and how little he cares for his people. Rather than show he’s a monster, we’re told he’s a monster, with a few scenes to back those claims up. In fact, following Meriaus defecting from the king and his decision to stop him, regardless of the cost, a lot of the plot moves forward as a result of the reader being told that certain things have happened. While some of the magic system is introduced, there isn't much explanation and I wish there was a bit more of that. A brewing rebellion is mentioned, but we see very little of the actual rebellion or rebels in the story. If the book were a little bit longer, I’d imagine the author would’ve taken advantage of the chance to show the reader things rather than tell us.

The Enixar: The Sorcerer’s Conquest is a so-so book in my opinion. The author did a good job creating an interesting world and leaving the reader with enough questions to be interested in the second book. At the same time, it’s very short length meant the pacing felt rushed and too much information was told to the reader as opposed to being shown to them. I think this book would be great for middle grade readers or very young YA readers, but older readers might not enjoy it as much.

Rating: 2.7 Stars

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