Alchemised

Finished March 23

Alchemised by Sen Lin Yu

This long novel is fantasy set in a country in another world. It has a lot of elements of horror and some romance, but not done in a typical way. The main character is Helena Marina, and she came to Paladia as a teenager on a scholarship to a special alchemy school. Her father accompanied her, and although he is a skilled surgeon in his own country, he wasn't allowed to practice in Paladia. Helena trained as a healer, and the civil war in the country started around the time she finished school, but she decided to stay and help the government that was in place when she came. They have a philosophy and folklore of the leading family, the Holdfasts, being granted their leadership and abilities by the gods. But she has grown to learn that not all of these stories are based in fact. 

The rebellion came from the guild families, some of whom came to the school, but who were always made to feel lesser. They were led by someone who came from elsewhere, a shadowy figure who has the ability to grand everlasting life, including quick self-healing. Only those who have taken up this promise know the true cost.

The story begins after the war, where Helena is now a prisoner-of-war, about whom the authorities are very curious. She has had something done to her mind to reorganize her memories and they wonder what she is hiding. She doesn't know herself what was done to her, and she has no memories of much of the war. She is given to the High Reeve, who is expected to break the barriers created in her mind and find out any hidden information. His house is in the countryside, a gated estate, and the only ones there besides him and his wife, who resents Helena, are dead servants who have been reanimated by the Reeve. She is also watched all the time. The High Reeve is an accomplished alchemist and necromancer with an affinity for several metals. His home has iron embedded in it that he can use when needed. 

Part of this story is what really happened in the war, and we learn all the events and relationships, the loss that Helena can't remember. She has many secrets, and so does the High Reeve, and some of those secrets are shared.

This is a horrific war, where the rebels reanimate the people they kill and use them as soldiers. They are cruel and don't really care about anyone but themselves. During the war, they did experiments on those they captured, and created monstrous animals that lived in pain and because of their pain lashed out at all those they encountered. 

There is also a plan to use the women alchemists and necromancers from the defeated side as breeders with the winning men to create more skilled necromancers. 

This is a disturbing read, and I think it could have used some more editing to shorten it a bit, but it is also a book that draws you in, needing to know what happens to these characters. 

Burn

Finished April 4

Burn by Peter Heller

This novel absolutely gripped me. It is set in a near future time, where political tensions in the United States are high. Maine has talked about secession, as have some other states. 

Every year Jess and his friend Storey have gone away for a few weeks to hunt, going to different areas of the country. Both men grew up in small town Vermont, and Storey still lives there with his wife and two daughters. Jess now lives in Colorado and split up with his long-term partner a few months ago. 

Jess is the narrator of the novel. 

As the story begins, the hunting time is nearing its end, and the two men hike back to their truck and head south, but they find the bridge on the road is out. When Storey looks at it, he says that it was a deliberate act, but he doesn't know why, maybe they need to rebuilt it. So they try a different route, but they discover another destroyed bridge. They also note that they've met no one else on the road. 

As they head towards a small service centre, they run out of fuel and decide to walk up to get some. But the buildings are burned to the ground and there are bombed out vehicles on the road. 

When they find a small town in a similar condition, and no internet service, they know something big has happened, but don't know what. Is there a civil war? Is something bad happening locally? Storey also has his family to worry about. They are in a nearby state, must be worried about him, and he has no way of reaching them. 

They note that while land transportation options seem destroyed, there are still boats at the docks on the lake, and they might have supplies they can use. As they are now on foot, they look for options and hide when they see others, not sure who to trust. They aren't even sure what direction they should go in. Home is south and west, but south seems difficult. The ocean is east, and maybe others who have fled from this area might go there and they might find a way out. There is also Canada to the north, and that might be an option, except the border might be well-guarded.

As they move as quietly as they can, look for clues as to what their new reality is, and then find another complication that makes their situation both more difficult and more risky, they are in nature, camping and moving through the beautiful inland Maine landscape. 

Jess finds himself spending time in memories as well, of his childhood growing up with Storey and spending time with his family. We learn about how they became close and the experiences they've shared, and the occasional secret they've held apart from each other. This really enriches the story and shows the depth of the friendship and gives us a sense of how their characters formed, and what issues they might have. 

Because of the current American political situation, this novel felt so possible and so scary. Being cut of from everything but each other and the skills they have, these two men search for the truth and a way to stay alive and, for Storey, to return to the family he loves. 

A story that moved me, and that will stay with me. 

Her Majesty's Royal Coven

Finished March 8

Her Majesty's Royal Coven by Juno Dawson

This is the first book in a series by the same title, and is set around a group of women that took their adolescent oath to join Her Majesty's Royal Coven (HMRC), a longstanding institution, first started by Queen Elizabeth I, at the same time. All of the girls had some early schooling in the magical arts by Elle's grandmother, Annie, who is an oracle. Since then they have gone their separate ways, but still retain some friendships. 

There was a civil war in recent years that has hit many of them hard, and caused two of them to lose their partners. This is a wound for many that hasn't yet healed. 

Helena, the wealthiest of the girls, is now the High Priestess of the coven. Elle, a healing witch, is living a life as a normal housewife, with her partner unaware of her abilities. Niamh, who has multiple abilities, is working as a country vet, still mourning the loss of her partner. Leonie, the only black one of the group, has started her own more inclusive and intersectional coven called Diaspora in which she welcomes witches from all cultural backgrounds as well as lesbians and transgender witches. 

This book begins with a couple of young people. One of them, Elle's daughter Holly, is showing signs of magical abilities, and Elle asks Niamh for help in introducing the whole idea of witches to her, as well as giving her some training. The other is a young man, Theo, who seems to have extraordinary abilities and caused damage to the school he was attending. Helena has retrieved him and imprisoned him, and he is in great distress. She asks Niamh to come and help, even though Niamh is no longer part of the HMRC.

It is obvious from the beginning that Helena is the most traditional and staid of the group, as well as being the one who likes the power she wields. I enjoyed getting to know the way that this imagined world worked, with witches in general more powerful than warlocks, and them having separate administrative structures while still with the witches as the ultimate decision-makers. 

We also learn the mythology of their creation and the creatures, demons, that they, as representatives of Gaia, are supposed to hold the world against. There are different kinds of witches, with certain attributes and some, with more power, who have combined skills. 

I was quite enjoying this book and seeing how the different women lived, but few of them were complex characters, with none of the younger characters in the book having a real voice, despite their importance to the plot. 

I did get frustrated with some of the characters, and with some of the later plot elements, particularly with the note on which the book ended. I realize that it was likely structured this way to encourage the reader to continue with the following book in the series, but it didn't sit well with me. 

The King's General

Finished September 13
The King's General by Daphne du Maurier

I picked this up as I like Daphne du Maurier's books and hadn't heard of this one. It is set in Cornwall, during the first half of the seventeenth century. Honor Harris is the younger sister of a few older brothers, and she first meets one of the Grenville family when her brother marries one of the women, Gartred. Gartred is haughty and manipulative and Honor sees past her charm to these aspects of her personality, something not many do. A few years later, on her eighteenth birthday, when the family is visiting Devon, she meets the men of the family, including Richard, the man who will be a big part of her life.
Honor's tale is told in retrospect, as she lives in a small house, lent to her and one of her brothers by a local landowner and friend. It is 1653, and Oliver Cromwell is now in charge in England, and Richard Grenville is in exile in France, with the King. He is a man who knows his own mind and doesn't suffer fools, and there is something in Honor's spirit that attracted him from the first he met her. Although they never married, there is a strong bond between them, and for many years, she was the woman he turned to for comfort and who watched his back.
This is a story of a love that could have been, a military leader ahead of his time, and a people who tried to keep their independence against a punishing conqueror. I found it a very enlightening read, especially as it is based on real historical events and people.

The Hotel Tito

Finished January 10
The Hotel Tito by Ivana Bodrožić, translated by Ellen Elias-Bursać

This novel closely follows the author's real life experiences. It follows an unnamed young girl for several years, beginning in 1991 when she is 9 years old and is sent from her home town of Vukovar to the seaside with her older brother. Their mother later joins them there. She doesn't really understand what's going on at first, but gradually realizes that her father has gone missing defending the town. As the two children and their mother go to Zagreb to wait for word of her father, they are housed in a former political school along with many other war refugees. Some have fathers who break through and arrive in Zagreb. Some learn that their fathers have died. But many are in the limbo that faces her family. Her mother and her brother fight for housing, for recognition, and the girl gets older, becomes a bit of a rebel, engaging in riskier behaviour along with other kids her age. The book takes us to her high school years, where she is forced to live in a boarding house as their is no high school near where the political school is located.
This is about how the war affected her, but we see the effect on the society around her as well. The feelings of those Croatians not directly affected by the events of Vukovar.
Interestingly, I visited Vukovar myself in 2010, after the town had begun to be resettled. It was still showing the signs of the war at that time.

The picture about is just one scene showing nature taking over the damaged buildings of the town.

There were many signs of death and of life coming back.

Island of a Thousand Mirrors

Finished October 11
Island of a Thousand Mirrors by Nayomi Munaweera

This mesmerizing novel tells the story of Yasodhara Rajasinghe, a Sinhalese woman from Colombo, from the birth of her parents Nishan and Visaka to her own adulthood. It also tells the story of Saraswathi, a Tamil girl of northern Sri Lanka. Saraswathi is the eldest girl of the family, with three older brothers as well as her younger sister.
Yasodhara grows up with her sister Lanka and their upstairs neighbour, a Tamil boy named Shiva. The three are inseparable, spending all their free time playing together. But their peace is broken when civil war erupts and Shiva's family is forced to flee. Tragedy engulfs Yasodhara's family at this time, and her parents and Lanka and her emigrate to the United States. Lanka is the rebel, while Yasodhara does what is expected of her until her world begins to fall apart and she rejoins her sister in their home country.
Saraswathi's world falls apart much earlier. Her dreams of becoming a teacher fall to ruins as she gets caught up in the war, with events and the reactions of her family and neighbours leading her to a new life as a revolutionary.
This is a story of Sri Lanka, of its people and their struggle for a dream. It is a story of people caught up in this struggle despite themselves, and about the violence that will change their lives forever.
The lush country comes alive through the author's descriptions, and we get a real sense of the beauty of this country. The characters at the heart of this novel are one's you care about. A wonderful read.

Written in Fire

Finished June 17
Written in Fire by Marcus Sakey, performed by Luke Daniels

This is the last book of a trilogy, of which I have not read the first two. I was still able to get up to speed fairly quickly on the situation. Sometime around 1980, people started being born with exceptional abilities. Some could hear or see better. Many were exceptionally smart, especially in the sciences. Some had the ability to predict movement by people around them. Some had abilities that made life immensely difficult, like one man who life moved much more quickly for him, so that the actions and words and sounds around him were all in slow motion.
Many of the people were discriminated against, put in special academies that were more like prisons. So some of them rebelled, tried to form their own societies.
As this book begins, about thirty years have passed. The book follows Nick Cooper, a man who has tried to do the best for his country and the people on both sides. Nick is a brilliant himself. He has worked for the government, trying to work against those that would destroy it. But other brilliants would take revenge on the rest of the world for how they have been treated, and are willing to destroy the rest of humanity to do so. In a world where people are fighting for their lives, trying to keep their families and friends safe, Nick struggles to figure out how to keep his family and country safe as things come to a head at a community in Wyoming.
There is a good storyline here, and lots of interesting characters. The only drawback I found was that it was all U.S. centric. I had no sense of how the rest of the world had reacted or if other countries were facing similar issues.

The Northern Queen

Finished March 3
The Northern Queen by Kelly Evans

This historical novel follows the life of Aelfgifu, a highborn woman of northern England. When Aethelred gained the throne, he took his revenge against Aelfgifu's family, creating in her a strong antipathy for her new ruler. The Danish king, Sweyn, is determined to dethrone Aethelred for his actions on St. Brice's Day in 1002 when Aethelred murdered thousands of Danish immigrants and their families with little warning. As Sweyn looks for allies within England, Aelfgifu is approached. Not only does she ally with Sweyn, but she soon marries his son Canute.
Thus begins the battle for England, that has Aethelred's wife Emma proving a strong force to maintain control of the land, and creating a personal rivalry between these two strong-willed women that will last throughout their lives.
Aelfgifu is a very interesting women, taught to read and write and do figures by her father who saw her potential, and an able ruler in her own right. She understands how to not only run a household, but an estate, a region, and possibly a kingdom. She doesn't abide fools however, and her disdain for those that don't see the logic of her actions can lead to the making of new enemies. She has a real love for Canute that is mutual, but their relationship also has political implications that sometimes forces them apart.
This novel brings Aelfgifu to life, letting the reader inside her experiences, her emotions, and her thoughts. The battle scenes are detailed, and the day-to-day activities drawn in a natural way that shows the real people. A great read.
This is a excellent first novel by a Canadian historian, and more is planned for this time period.

For another view on this time in history try Queen Emma and the Vikings by Harriet O'Brien.

Sitt Marie Rose

Finished February 1
Sitt Marie Rose by Etel Adnan, translated from the French by Georgina Kleege

This novel was first published in 1978, and received the France-Pays Arabes Award. The book is split into three parts. All take place in Beirut.
The first part is told from the point of view of an unnamed female writer who has been asked by a film-maker Mounir to write the script for a film he envisions about Syrian workers in Lebanon. His view of what the film should be and her investigations into Syrian workers don't fit together well, and shortly after their discussions the civil war in Lebanon breaks out. Mounir's friends Tony and Fouad and Pierre have often gone hunting in Syria and think of themselves in a certain way as being superior to the Syrians. As the fighting escalates, Mounir and his friends support the Phalangists, the Lebanese right. The war influences the writer's views further and she finds herself unable to work with Mounir.
The second part introduces us to Sitt Marie Rose. She is a Christian Lebanese middle-class woman, who, following a divorce, finds herself drawn to helping the Palestinians. She works for a social service agency giving the refugees assistance. She also runs a school in the Christian district for deaf mute children. When, during a truce, she makes the trek from her home in the Muslim part of the city to the school, she is captured by the Phalangists, and threatened with death. We see her views as well as the thoughts of the men who have captured her, and the children of the school who watch her interrogation by the men.
The third part is the end to Sitt Marie Rose's kidnapping at the hands of men who refer to themselves as the Chabab.
This is a book that examines the interactions, the fear and distrust between the different groups of Arabs here. It brings a wider look to the situation in the Middle East, and sadly, nothing has improved since this book was written, nearly forty years ago. She also brings the role of women into the story, looking at how women view themselves and how men view them. Sadly, this has not improved either in the Middle East. This story reads as prescient now.