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Book Review: The Guardian’s Gambit (The Felinity Chronicles Book 1) by JR Konkol

cover art for The Guardian's Gambit (The Felinity Chronicles #1) by JR Konkol

The Guardian’s Gambit (The Felinity Chronicles Book 1) by JR Konkol

Black Rose Publishing, 2024

ISBN: 9781685135058

Available: Paperback, Kindle edition

Buy:  Bookshop.orgAmazon.com

 

 

A superbly enthralling fantasy tale of cats, magic, and alternate dimensions, The Guardian’s Gambit is an absolute must-read.  It’s the best animal-centered story I’ve read since Tad Williams’s Tailchaser’s Song came out all those years ago.  Fantasy fans, you do not want to miss this one.

 

The story is told in third person, with the reader getting the thoughts of four cats: Gaius, Ajax, Loki, and Shaman.  It’s clear from the writing the author knows cats very well: he has all their typical mannerisms and actions down perfectly.  Where the story excels is in how he incorporates these into the fantasy elements of the story. For example, we all know cats sleep a great deal.  In the book, when asleep, they enter the Dreaming, an alternate reality loosely based on the mundane world, where most of the story takes place.  It’s a fascinating place of magic and horrible monsters, where the cats fight to the last claw to preserve their own reality.  The enemies in the Dreaming are legion, from amped-up coyotes to giant mutant spiders.  There’s a good deal of world building involved, complete with many cat-centric terms invented for the story.  The author deserves credit for weaving them into the narrative in a way that avoids reader confusion, dropping little reminders when needed.  It’s a sprawling but tightly-written story that’s impossible to avoid getting pulled into.

 

With a great storyline, you need great characters that the readers will be invested in, and Gaius, Ajax, Loki, and Shaman certainly fit the bill.  They have differing personalities, physical abilities and magic powers that complement each other and strengthen the group as a whole.  Gaius is the leader and thinker, Ajax the muscle, and Loki the clever one, while Shaman’s abilities as a magician develop over the course of the tale (tail?), and are one of the central tenets of the story.  There’s also a strong supporting cast of other cats and ghosts, who help, and sometimes hinder, the four companions.  There’s plenty of excitement, but also genuine emotional heft to some scenes.  Loki’s entrapment is enough to cause reader panic, and his pondering on the merits of being a warrior at the expense of a normal life is genuinely touching.  The protagonists pull you in hard, and reader emotions will ride up and down with them as they face myriad dangers.

 

Bottom line: for fantasy readers, this is a “do NOT miss”, and one of the best of 2024.  Highly recommended.

 

Reviewed by Murray Samuelson

Graphic Novel Review: Wingbearer (Wingbearer Saga #1) by Marjorie Liu, art by Teny Issakhanian

Cover art for Wingbearer (Wingbearer Saga #1) by Marjorie Liu

Wingbearer (Wingbearer Saga #1) by Marjorie Liu, art by Teny Issakhanian

Quill Tree, 2022

ISBN-13: 9780062741165

Available: Hardcover, paperback, Kindle, Comixology

Buy: Bookshop.org | Amazon.com

 

 

Marjorie Liu takes a step away from horror and dark fantasy with her middle grade graphic novel, Wingbearer. Zuli, raised in the Great Tree by mysterious bird spirits, is unique. She doesn’t look at all like the bird spirits, and she has never seen anyone like her. She has never left the safety of the branches of her home. When an evil magic begins to affect the new growth of the tree and bird souls are not returned to its branches for rebirth, Zuli sets out to spread her wings with her guardian owl, Frowly, to discover the problem and return the bird souls home. Zuli is also on a quest to discover who she is and where she comes from. Along the way, she meets new friends and foes, and perhaps comes face-to-face with her biggest threat or salvation, the Witch-Queen.

 

Upon seeing the world beyond the Great Tree, she finds the land ravaged, broken ruins everywhere. Her first encounter with any other living creature is when she is  attacked by giant spiders. She discovers this world is not what she was hoping and dreaming about in the safe branches of her home. Throughout her journey, she also finds that not everything is black and white: there are grey areas that she must grapple with.  A memorable scene is when she becomes distraught after she sees other goblins in her friend Orien’s camp chopping tree branches for building materials and fuel. She does not understand why the destruction of even one branch of a tree is necessary for others to live. Zuli grapples with other philosophical and identity-related themes, as well as having to learn new things.

 

Liu’s creative power is in her world building, and Wingbearer does not disappoint. She creates a complex world without bogging down the story with too much detail, and everything is cohesive and well-constructed. As with her Monstress series, she fills the world with compelling and driven characters, each with their own motivations and personalities shining through. For instance, Zuli’s friendship with the goblin Orien progresses in a very real way, with philosophical and cultural conflict, as well as learning more about each other.

 

Teny Issakhanian, an Armenian-American artist, provides lush and beautiful illustrations. She really brings the characters to life, the emotion in their facial expressions is so powerful. The bird spirits are particularly beautiful. Her previous work includes DreamWorks TV Animation, Disney TV Animation, and the Jim Henson Company.

 

Reading Wingbearer was like revisiting past Dungeons and Dragons games for me. High adventure, magic, good and evil butting heads, interparty conflict…all the great stuff from RPGs. For parents wanting to introduce their kids to the fantasy genre, Liu and Issakhanian would be a great first read. This is the first of the series, and I am very much looking forward to the second volume. Highly recommended.

 

Reviewed by Lizzy Walker

 

Book Review: All Our Hidden Gifts by Caroline O’Donoghue

cover art for All Our Hidden Gifts by Caroline O'Donoghue

All Our Hidden Gifts by Caroline O’Donoghue

Walker Books, 2021

ISBN: 978-1536213942

Available: Hardcover, audiobook, ebook (Bookshop.org)

 

 

O’Donoghue’s foray into YA literature delivers tricks and treats for fans of Gothic, mystic stories dealing with social themes; but magic doesn’t solve everything this character-driven YA paranormal fantasy set in contemporary Ireland.

 

Sentenced to cleanup duty in detention, 16 year old Maeve discovers an old mixtape, a Tarot deck, and an uncanny knack for reading the cards. When her former best friend Lily goes missing after a heated exchange, classmates soon start avoiding Maeve like she’s some kind of creepy occultist. As she finds herself immersed in a world of fantastic possibilities she doesn’t fully comprehend, Maeve discovers a new friend in artsy Fiona. Ultimately, Maeve confronts a dangerous entity summoned by powerful emotions and explores her uncorked inner magic skills, while becoming increasingly regretful about how she dumped and ostracized Lily.

 

There are supernatural elements to the story at every turn, but this subtle gem explores far more than magic. This is also a book about another secret superpower: empathy. Maeve, who is white and from a comfortably middle class family, navigates themes of diversity with detailed, well-developed characters that include non-binary, bisexual love interest Roe; biracial, Filipina friend Fiona; former BFF Lily who has hearing loss; and queer lesbian sister Jo.  Perspectives on racism, homophobia, and classism are explored in context, in unscripted, messy, and uncomfortably realistic ways.  O’Donoghue deftly creates a tone of authentic growth across these topics instead of patching over tough spots. Maeve fumbles, misunderstands, and makes bad choices, but keeps trying. Growth doesn’t happen easily, and Donoghue sidesteps an investment in “likability”,  so readers journey with the protagonist in learning that while intention matters in magic, it doesn’t count in interpersonal relationships or the fight for social justice.

 

The romantic interludes sometimes feel a bit out of place, but packed with mysticism, magic, queer liberation, and the drama of teen friendships, this contemporary tale will likely have strong appeal for readers looking for complex characters and edgy situations in a speculative framework. Readers of DeAngelis’ Bones & All, Older’s Shadowshaper, Okorafor’s Akata Witch, Power’s Wilder Girls, and Adeyemi’s Children of Blood and Bone will find much to enjoy in Gifts. Ages 14+. Highly recommend.

 

Minimal gore, but contains bullying, references to hate crimes and homophobia.

 

Reviewed by E.F. Schraeder