Author Archives: Kait McFadyen

About Kait McFadyen

I am a partially employed Canadian science teacher with visions of grand travel and incredible adventures. When not immersed in work I maintain a small backyard garden, where I try to protect my crops of corn, tomatoes and other vegetables from the neighbourhood wildlife. The all-important library, my source of entertainment and discourse, is a comfortably short walk away.

Free Guy – Movie Review

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In celebration of a loosening of the COVID restrictions, I have been to the movies. The most recent movie I saw was Free Guy. This is the movie with Ryan Reynolds, Jody Comer, Lil Rel Howery and Joe Keery. There were also a number of cameos by other actors, like Alex Trebek, Chris Evans, Channing Tatum and others – some of which I missed.

My spoiler free summary of the movie: I expected it to be either terribly bad or terribly stupid, but was surprised when it was actually a fun and funny movie. I liked it! I think it is my favourite movie this summer!

The following is a slightly more complete reflection, with some spoilers…

Guy and Buddy, best friends and NPCs walking down the street of Free City and enjoying their coffee. A wildly dangerous place to live. (Image from the internet)

Ryan Reynolds plays the titular character Guy. Guy is a NPC (non-playable character) in a video game called Free City. Essentially, Guy is a background character on a fixed loop of actions. He wakes up, talks to his goldfish, gets his coffee and goes to his job as a teller at the bank.

In this open-world video game, players are generally the villains – or heroes in their own minds. They rob banks and stores on a regular basis. They steal cars, knock out people and blow up buildings. They are your typical player in a game where there are zero real world consequences for their in game behaviour.

Of course, things are a bit different from the perspective of the NPCs. They are caught in their usual loops of actions. For example, during a bank robbery, all the NPCs capitulate without question. Buddy, Guy’s best friend and Bank security guard, never fights back. He drops his gun at the first sign of trouble and joins Guy on the floor. This cycle continues for Guy until one day he meets the player Molotov Girl (aka Millie). Seeing her triggers something, a change in his programming that causes Guy to veer off script.

Millie (aka Molotov Girl – in game) and Keys, living in the ‘real world’ and working as computer programmers. (Image from the internet)

But the story is not limited to the actions within the video game. We are introduced to some of the players and the media world they occupy too. I was impressed with the switch between “in game” and “real world” story telling. There was a lot of different aspects of modern life brought into the storytelling of this movie. The visual shift between the two worlds was nicely done. And the connections with the story were well organized. The plot about a corrupt owner of a popular (but bland) video game company wove in well with the idea of successful AI and stolen code. The plot used just enough jargon to sound vaguely real, but explained enough that someone with no gaming background could follow along. And the AI wasn’t evil and out to destroy all humanity. The AI was nice and just wanted to do its own thing – so relatable to our everyday life.

I loved Guy. Really Reynolds did an excellent job making the character so likeable. It was wonderful to see that Guy’s method for leveling up was generally non-violent. He was just trying to do good. And he approached this goal with the idea of minimal violence and nothing permanently damaging (or tried to). It was a nice change from the pirate blimps machine gunning the streets in the background.

Speaking of background. I totally want to watch this movie again just to pay more attention to the crazy work going on in the background. There is always something insane happening – usually because of the game players. Cars are exploding, fighter jets are zooming through the skies, it is an endless flow of weird and generally violent actions that I sometimes failed to notice because I was focused on the primary plot. They did an awesome job making the background and characters interesting!

Movie Poster for Free Guy – image from the internet.

Really, Free Guy was just a great, straightforward, fun story. The actors sold the characters really well. It looked like it would have been a blast of a movie to work on. And it was not part of a franchise, not a sequel and not a remake. All of this has pushed Free Guy to the top of my summer movie list – full five stars (out of five)!

House of Earth and Blood book review

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The House of Earth and Blood is the first book in the new Crescent City series by Sarah J Maas. Bryce Quinlan is a half-human and half-fae living a life of work and partying in Crescent City. Her world crashes when her best friend is murdered by a demon. But as hard as that was, things become more difficult when the demon behind the murder re-emerges two years later. Now Bryce is being roped into the investigation and she is seeking revenge.

Hunt Athalar is an angel of death. A slave and assassin to the Archangels, Hunt has been recruited to track down the murderer stalking the streets of Crescent City. He doesn’t want to work with Bryce, but if they find who is responsible, Hunt can win his freedom. Together, Bryce and Hunt will face a formidable enemy and risk their hearts along the way.

So, that is the jacket-cover overview of the book. Now for my thoughts.

Book cover for Sarah J Maas’s House of Earth and Blood. I find this cover very busy and slightly baffling – and that is after I read the book. Image from the internet.

It was good. And it was long.

Let’s start with the things I liked about the story. I loved the world setting. It was a fun mix of technology and magic. The world was flavoured with ancient Roman/Greek vibes mingling with the modern urban fantasy trend of multiple supernatural races. There were angels and demons, vampires and werewolves. There were temples housing oracles and a goddess called Luna! The environment felt Mediterranean in climate. The city was a mix of ancient stone buildings and modern glass skyscrapers. And it worked. The old-new city was vibrant, the mix of different races was seamless. I loved that Bryce worked for an antiques dealer. The magic played well with the modern technology. It was all integrated and fun.

The story itself was compelling. There was lots of emotion to be had. Life for Bryce really collapsed when Danika was murdered. The struggles she faced felt believable and tragic. Certainly the twists and turns were gut-wrenching as the story progressed.

Hunt’s story paralleled Bryce’s, though older and blunted by time. His decisions and their consequences again seemed realistic. His slow change in attitude and the budding hope made for a power shift in the book.

It was good, but there were things that I didn’t love. I read a lot of Sarah J Maas’s Throne of Glass series, which was young adult. I was expecting something similar in tone and language. House of Earth and Blood was far more adult. There was a great deal of swearing, drugs, alcohol and sex in the book. Between the tone, language and themes, it was a mature story with an adult (over 18 years old) focus. Which was reflected, I suppose, by the age of Bryce also in her early twenties.

Book cover for Sarah J Maas’s House of Earth and Blood. I like this cover better than the other one for its simplicity. Though I don’t know what it is representing. Image from the internet.

I also found the pacing of the book a challenge. Every time I thought we had reached an endpoint there would be a new twist. The betrayals that happened along the way were epic. My first thought was I didn’t like them, but reflecting later I was impressed with how the actions of a person can seem both good and bad when viewed through different lenses. I think each shocking twist worked, but it did make the progression to the conclusion feel like a string of mini-peaks – more awkward than anything.

Finally, this is book one in the Crescent City series. I don’t know how many books are going to be in this series, which I assume will focus on the evil Empire. The Empire is evil and change is never easy. But while I liked this book, I worry that this series will become bloated and melodramatic. Is there really more to be done with Bryce and Hunt? Or will Maas take a different approach and follow other related characters. I think the latter holds more hope for a good sequel, but the last teasing scene in the book left me hesitant about the future of Crescent City.

So, in summary. I loved the world being developed. The story was interesting with strong characters and high emotional impact. This is an adult book that is long. Worth reading. 4.5/5 stars.

Dota 2: Dragon’s Blood Review

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Dota 2: Dragon’s Blood is an animated TV series on Netflix. This review does not spoil the specifics of the plot.

The Netflix series was clearly not done by Valve. Valve makes video games. And they are good at it. One of the things I really enjoy about their video games, at least the ones that I play, is how they can work in story elements into games that are not driven by a plot.

Mirana and Davion sitting in the forest; Dota 2: Dragon’s Blood – image from the internet

Team Fortress 2, TF2, was one of the first games that I really played. It is a team based shooter. You and your team attack the enemy to gain the bases or check point or briefcase. The game play was fun, not too impossible for me to pick up, but with enough of a ceiling that my brother sank tons of hours into the game. There is no plot to the game. Yet, Valve was able to include clever dialogue lines, small hints to a greater story in the small background elements of the levels and later with their comics. Sure the stories from the comics were not deep, but they were well done – fun, amusing and competently written.

This attention to detail was carried into Dota 2. This multiplayer fighting game – MOBA (multiplayer online battle arena) is not plot driven. There is no story that you learn by playing through the game. Yet, there are little clues to the world’s lore scattered through the short background notes for each of the heroes, the heroes voice lines and the fluff tags attached to items. From these cleverly written short bits, you get a feel for the world and the heroes you play. There are comics that I haven’t read, which delve deeper into the world. And they were even going to explain some of the world with their (now dead) digital card game, Artifact. So, while story and plot are not driving forces, the artists at Valve have been able to create a cohesive world filled with multiple races, beings and conflicts.

Davion, Dragon Knight and squire. Based on the characters in Dota 2; from the animated series: Dragon’s Blood by Studio Mir, Netflix Animation & Valve

There is a lot of potential for a story scattered throughout this game. So, I was excited to learn about the animated netflix series – Dota 2: Dragon’s Blood. This TV series was going to set a story in the Dota universe. I watched the sanctioned hype videos, which helped to create some interest. That said, on a scale of 1 – 10 (one being no interest and 10 being super excited), I was sitting at about 7 when I sat down on the couch to watch some TV. The intro raised my excitement to a 9, which then plummeted to a 5 by the end of the first episode.

Dragon’s Blood may be set in Valve’s world. But this outsourced production lacked the Valve touch. The best I can say is the 8 episode season was generic. The dialogue was bland and the animation was washed out. It was very surprising how many shots were still images, no movement. There were crowds cheering in the background while the audience stared at a stationary image. Everything about the series was flat. The key plot points were either entirely too predictable or so obtuse I couldn’t follow the show’s explanations. Honestly, I don’t get the ending. It doesn’t make sense, which must be off putting to those not familiar with the Dota 2 universe.

The video game is full of movement. One of the things I struggle with as a player is how many things are happening at once. Battle scenes are a swirl of chaotic movement and particle effects. It is very action focused, even during the ‘quiet’ moments of the game. So, an animated series that spent one third of the time used stationary images didn’t ring true. The animation was a bit better during fight scenes – during these moments they pulled more directly from the video game animating the skills of the heroes.

Mirana in a fight scene! Based on the characters in Dota 2; from the animated series: Dragon’s Blood by Studio Mir, Netflix Animation & Valve

The character lines in the video game are fun, witty and convey a surprising amount of information considering they have nothing to do with a plot. The dialogue in the animated series used cussing to seem edgy. Something Valve doesn’t need to resort to because they are better writers. As it was a Netflix series it also felt the need to incorporate orgies into some of the visuals, presumably to compensate for the lack of well developed characters and plot. Finally, the visuals were very white-washed. While this may be a common feature of anime, I feel like it is counter to the Dota vision that was trying to be more diverse with its character design.

While I feel like there is potential to pull stories out of the Dota 2 world, I found this first attempt underwhelming. As I am not an expert in the lore of the Dota 2 world, I cannot speak to the accuracy of the story. However, with generic dialogue and bland animation I cannot say I was impressed with this attempt to expand the franchise.

One Crazy Summer – Book Review

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As part of our book club, I got to read One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams-Garcia. It is a children’s book deserving of its many awards.

Set in 1968, Delphine and her sisters travel across the United States to Oakland, California to spend a summer with the mother who abandoned them 7 years earlier. Amid all the family drama, Delphine and her sisters also face a time of racial upheaval in the States.

Book cover for One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams-Garcia; image from the internet.

With well described, believable characters and a clear writing style for a younger audience there is a lot happening in this story. It is emotional and very relevant for today’s audience. The book is solidly written. It moves forward at a good pace, while dealing with a number of personal and societal issues.

While I didn’t love it, I would recommend the story to really everyone. Racism is an issue. It is forefront in the news. And this book deals with how that looks for those living through it. With an eleven year old protagonist, the author doesn’t preach the problems of racism. But she shows it in the way the characters interact with the people around them. The discussion is thoughtful and sensitively done.

As for why I didn’t love the book – there was a lack of dragons, magic and space elves. In short, it is just not a style of story I really enjoy. But I do appreciate the strength of the writing and the message the story brings forward. I also struggled with the mother abandoning her kids – which was more emotional than I need in my life at present (I am working on my stress levels). The young audience is still not my favourite at present. But this is entirely just where I am at in my life and not a reflection on the quality of the book – which was a quick read.

Another book cover for One Crazy Summer; image from the internet.

Overall, well written with a poignant plot 5 out 5 stars.

Magiford Supernatural City – Series Review

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Between pandemic and work, life has been a bit stressful of late. Then Artifact was cancelled by valve, which was very sad. So, when I went looking for something to read, I knew that I was not feeling adventuresome. I wanted something light, positive and … safe. I am not in a position where emotionally draining is what I am looking for. I have had enough of that in life recently.

Hazel’s story – book 1. Image from the internet. Don’t let the cover art be a turn off, they are good books.

So I turned to an author I am familiar with, K.M. Shea. I have read a number of her books, including various fairy tales and urban fantasy. Her new series are set in the Magiford Supernatural City setting and are urban fantasy. They have all the key supernaturals, wizards, vampires, werewolves and fae. Not necessarily my favourite mix, but the characters are compelling. The stories were fun. And everything was cohesive. While you might describe the books as being young adult, I am so grateful the characters are in their early 20’s – post-college age. They are young enough to be optimistic and occasionally make brash decisions. Old enough I am not dealing with teen-aged angst.

Hazel’s story, book 2. Image from the internet.

Currently there are two series the first follows the wizard Hazel as she strives to regain her magic house and family (think coven). Driven by the betrayal of her cousin, Hazel falls in with the powerful vampire, Killian Drake. I liked the series. I loved the secondary characters, which really help to create a rich, believable world – and ground all the fantasy in the real world.

Hazel’s story, book 3. Image from the internet.

While Hazel is an orphan (and that is sad), she has family in the form of distant relations and friends. I like that family is a driving force within this book and especially in the next series. The magic is a mix bag – with so many supernaturals present, it would hard to be anything else. However, for all their powers, they can be killed easily with modern weapons. This helps to ground everything and help to explain why supernaturals are not ruling the world.

My biggest complaint was that reading the preview for the second series set in the same world, kind of spoiled some of the big reveals in Hazel’s trilogy.

Leila’s story, book 1. Image from the internet. Don’t let the cover art be a turn off, they are good books.

The second trilogy stars Leila. Leila was a super minor and unassuming character in the stories about Hazel. However, her adventure in the same city starts directly after the events in which Hazel fights to reclaim her birthright. Leila is not an orphan, and in fact her family is more modern with a biological father that left when Leila was a toddler and was replaced by a step father later on. Family again, plays a huge part in the motivations and design of the characters, which is so true to life. We love and hate our families. We struggle to understand the actions of our parents and to develop different relationships as we, ourselves, become adults. Because I had fewer indications of how the story would turn out, I would say that Leila’s trilogy was my favourite. But then I really liked Hazel and her friends, so…

Leila’s story, book 2. Image from the internet.

The best part of the books was the message of hope. The idea that by working together, by everyone working together and finding common ground, we can all move forward into a brighter future. That our strengths lay more in the relationships we can build than in the personal power and prestige we can achieve as individuals. (I am trying really hard not to spoil the plot lines – hence the vague wording).

Leila’s story, book 3. Image from the internet.

The short version is that I liked these books, all six of them. I liked the world, which surprised me a little. I loved the small, practical details, like Leila having to deal with the debt of her predecessor and so is very budget focused. Most importantly I liked the characters. Yes, this is a series I would recommended, even though I am going to be stingy and only give it 4.5 stars out of 5 – mostly because I am sad I don’t have any more books to read.

Hazel’s story (Hall of Blood and Mercy): Magic Forged (Book 1), Magic Redeemed (Book 2), and Magic Unleashed (Book 3)

Leila’s story (Court of Midnight and Deception): Crown of Shadows (Book 1), Crown of Moonlight (Book 2), and The Queen’s Crown (Book 3).

Cinderella is Dead – Book Review

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I was debating the merits of writing a reflection on the book: Cinderella is Dead. As I neither love nor hate the book, there is not a lot I have to talk about. So, instead I am going to reflect on the reactions of other readers.

But first, Cinderella is Dead by Kalynn Bayron features 16-year old Sophia living in a very restrictive world post-Cinderella. Sophia is not excited to attend the mandatory ball, where matches are made as she is more interested in princesses than princes.

I liked that our lead protagonist was female, coloured and a lesbian. I liked that the book really questioned the arc of fairy tales. Sophia’s world treats the Cinderella story like scripture, which brings forth so many problems. And really, it is always important to question what you read and the common ideas held by society. I also liked that Cinderella was real, 200 years dead, but still a member of this world. I didn’t love that the target audience was young adults. The writing was really geared towards a younger reader, which simply does not interest me at present.

And that pretty much sums up my perspective on this book. I would give Cinderella is Dead 3.5 out of 5 stars. It was solid, but not super amazing.

Then I did some research to see what other people thought. Reviewer A loved the book – 5 out of 5 stars. Reviewer B hated the book – 1 out of 5 stars.

I would agree with Reviewer A, Sophia was candid, straightforward and determined. These were great qualities in pushing the story forward. She knew what she wanted and she sought to change the world around her rather than break under the expectations of others. And yes, the King was a terrifying villain. He was not only evil, but inspired his followers to be just like him. This was striking considering the state of our world at present. A morally corrupt leader will draw out the worst in his people.

While I think Reviewer A gushed overly about the story, they did pull out some good highlights. In contrast Reviewer B seems to have been ridiculously harsh. Reviewer B thought Sophia had no empathy or sense of the world around her, concluding that the main character was entirely selfish. While I will concede Sophia is far from a complex character, I don’t think it was blind-selfishness that had her standing up for herself. The world in this book was harshly patriarchal. It was extreme in the way women had zero control in their lives. And Sophia was a counter to that. She was determined not to give in to the expectations of others. In a longer narrative, you might have been able to look at more shades of grey, but I think the message of standing up for yourself and your neighbors against tyranny is too important to dismiss as selfish. It wasn’t just that Sophia wanted to marry another girl, it was that she wanted to have control in her life. She wanted a world, where married women were not abused and cruelly discarded. Where daughters were treated with respect and given agency in their own futures.

Reviewer B did bring up at least one dumb moment, where the characters act stupidly. The book is not perfect, I will admit that. And there are some questionable actions by the key characters, personally the whole seeing the future moment seemed irrelevant. However, overall, I don’t think it deserved the level of hate.

In the end, I maintain my rating of 3.5 stars. A good book with diversity at the forefront. I am just past the young adult (tween) age group.

The Best We Could Do

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The Best We Could Do is an illustrated memoir by Thi Bui. While this is not a book I would normally have chosen to read, it was picked by my new book club as one of the reads for the summer. The following review will have spoilers – can you have spoilers in a memoir?

The Best We Could Do was well done. There are some interesting and powerful messages in the text. The biggest point in its favour was the illustrated narrative – it was a fast read! Which is something I appreciate in a genre I am not drawn to. The illustrations – yes, think comic book, but for adults – is coloured in black, white and rust. The rust really adds to the historic feel of the story.

One panel from the book The Best We Could Do – image from the internet.

The story is one person’s reflection on their family history with a particularly strong focus on Thi’s relationship with her parents. In fact, a considerable amount of time is spent looking at both her mother and her father – their childhood and early years of marriage.

Thi Bui’s family is from Viet Nam and her memoir touches on some of the turbulent years of the country before her family finally fled to America. I don’t know anything about Viet Nam or its struggles. But I do know something about Cambodia. I could not help but draw a number of comparisons between the stories I have learned of Cambodia and what I was reading about Viet Nam. It reminds me how difficult life is in many parts of the world. How hard change is for the people living through it. But most striking for me, was the hardships faced by refugees fleeing abhorrent conditions, taking nothing with them, and then faced with so much uncertainty and cultural difference when they immigrate to a new country. That reminder was what I took away from the book. And a stronger desire to be more understanding and compassionate when interacting with people coming to Canada as refugees.

We do not know what they have been through and so it is difficult to appreciate how challenging this move is. Particularly for families fleeing for their lives. They bring nothing with them but a sliver of hope. Hope that leaving everything behind will mean more opportunities for their children. Hope that they will be able to rebuild a life in a foreign land where the customs are so different. It is very humbling to reflect on the sacrifices these families make and the numerous challenges they face. I work with a number of newcomers, so I found this aspect of the story very meaningful to me.

Book cover for The Best We Could Do – image from the internet.

The other strong theme running through the book is that of maturing. The challenges we face as we grow from child to adult and how that reshapes our relationship with our parents. Tied to this idea are the traits we pick up and adopt because of our parents’ histories. What we carry forward from their experiences – for good or ill. I was less interested in this personal reflection. I feel I have thought about my own relationships to my parents and as I am not a parent, I cannot look in the other direction.

While the story The Best We Could Do, is not one that I naturally gravitate towards, it is a powerful and well composed book. Except for the non-linear beginning which left me rather confused about Thi’s father and his past. However, the illustrated nature of the book helps to break down the complexity of the narrative. I would give it 4.5 stars out of 5 and recommend that you try the story. It is not a huge time commitment, but it is certainly eye-opening for those who have not gone through such challenging circumstances.

Twelve Dancing Princesses

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Today I am going to talk about K.M. Shea’s Twelve Dancing Princesses. This another of the Timeless Fairy Tales, which are individual fairy tales set in the same world. In fact over time they have developed another world wide arc that is playing out in the background and in the Fairy Tale Enchantress series.

As always, beware of spoilers.

Book cover for Twelve Dancing Princesses. Image from the internet.

The Twelve Dancing Princesses is unlike many other retellings as it focuses very little on the princesses. In fact the main character, Quinn of the Farset military, gets roped into trying to break the princesses’ curse by her fellow forest soldier. Only a little time is spent following the princesses – three nights to be precise.

Since the Twelve Dancing Princesses is the 10th book in the series, it plays more of a role in the world-wide story arc than the books at the beginning of the series. For this reason it is less of a stand-alone. It is also less constrained to the traditional plot line of the twelve dancing princesses. Yes there are nightly dances and yes the king is searching for someone to solve the mystery (and break the curse). But this story is about Quinn, how she meets the young King of the Elves and saves them. In saving the Elves, Quinn also saves the Princesses.

Interestingly enough, the Princesses are not entirely blameless in their curse. Two of the twelve are the reason the others become cursed. I like that there is a greater range of characterization of the twelve princesses, however little time is spent with them.

The story is enjoyable and I like what it does for the bigger plot-line. 4.5 out of 5 stars.

When thinking about my review for this book, however, there were two things that I wanted to discuss. The first was the idea of authenticity – how much should a re-imagined story follow the original plot-line? Clearly, the author has chosen to take the Twelve Dancing Princesses in a different direction. She is barely interacting with the titular characters. Is this good, bad, or just a thing?

For me, I don’t think you need to follow the original tales that closely. In fact some of my concerns for other books in this series is that they tried too hard to follow our general understanding of the fairy tales which made for very clunky endings. These are good places to start, then let creativity run free.

I will make one additional note though, if your story deviates too much from the original source material – call it something else. I watched a movie that was supposedly about King Arthur but was so wildly different from the tales I grew up with it was abrasive. The movie would have been a hundred times better if it were called A Roman Soldier or such. To title your book in a specific way, like the Twelve Dancing Princesses, and then write a story about a forest ranger, can be off putting to some readers. They will expect one thing and get something completely different. Which is not the best example, because the curse and the twelve princesses do follow the traditional plot very well. The reader just follows a different character to get to the same information point.

The other thought I had while preparing this reflection was about favourites. The Twelve Dancing Princesses is the favourite fairy tale of a friend. She loves the different incarnations of this story. This, however, is not my favourite. I much prefer Beauty and the Beast. I really like relationships that start as mistrust and turn to love. But I also really like that Beauty and the Beast takes place over a long period of time. These characters learn to love each other slowly. So, it made me wonder, what fairy tale is your favourite? Which story do you read in all its different incarnations?

The Snow Queen – Book Review

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I just finished reading the Snow Queen: The Complete Saga by K.M. Shea. This fairy tale is written in two parts: Heart of Ice and Sacrifice. The Complete Saga also includes a number of short stories at the end.

As with any review, beware of spoilers.

Snow Queen: Heart of Ice book cover from the internet.

The Snow Queen takes place in the same world as the other Timeless Fairy Tales by K.M. Shea only a hundred (or so) years earlier. I am not positive, but I am pretty sure it was written after the author had written several of the other books in the same world. So, it is a bit of a prequel to the great world events, while at the same time acting as a complete story.

Rakel is the Snow Queen, a princess born with Magic. In this time frame magic users are hated and feared. Rakel is despised by her parents and locked first in a cold, isolated tower then exiled to a distant mountain peak in the northern kingdom of Verglas. While Rakel grows to love her magic, she is frightened of people – as they often want to kill her or call her a monster. All that is about to change when the Chosen decide to invade.

While her first instinct is to let the people of the kingdom suffer, that doesn’t last long. And soon Rakel sets off to save a neighbouring village. She wields her magic to protect her people and over time becomes the hero of her kingdom.

For Rakel, her journey is about making friends, learning to trust other people and to live in a world beyond her ice castle. She finds love in a colonel from the invading army, a best friend in an outgoing thief and loyalty in the Captain of her guards and the attendant who has served her for the past 8 years.

Snow Queen: Sacrifice book cover image from the internet.

It is a sweet story that clearly delineates good versus evil. Yet, it does take time to look at motivation and method. The story draws parallels between the power Rakel has and uses as the Snow Queen and that of her enemy, the leader of the Chosen. While Rakel is reluctant to kill, Lord Tenebris, leader of the Chosen is off to enslave everyone without magic. Both these characters have faced discrimination, yet both have come out of that experience with two different objectives. Rakel would rather hide away from the world. Her goal is not to cause pain to others because she knows what it is like. Rather, her strength lays in her ability to forgive (also in her incredible control over ice, snow and temperature). Tenebris wants to punish those that have hurt him. He will be the strongest and will demonstrate his strength by ensuring no one has the power to hurt him again. He also wants revenge. Death and destruction are his goals.

The death count may be low for Rakel, but just to be clear her army does not hold the same views. They are killing the enemy, occasionally there is imprisonment, but there is still a lot of death. So, yes the good guys try to be better, but in war there no real heroes. And that is something this book does not really touch on. Granted this is a nice, straightforward fairy tale of good versus evil. The message the book spells out is that forgiveness and love are stronger and more important. But I think it tries to portray the battle as too clean. In a war like this, both sides would have lost. However, that would have made for a different and more complex tale to tell.

Snow Queen: Snowflakes book cover image from the internet (this is the collection of short stories).

This was a good story. And with the chaos of the real world, sometimes we need these unrealistic heroes to exist so we have something to strive for. Sure no one is going to be as perfect as Rakel, the Snow Queen (not just because magic on that scale doesn’t exist). But we can all try to be a bit more like her: kinder, more empathetic, and far more forgiving.

Final rating for the Snow Queen: 4.5 out of 5 stars. Another good book my K.M. Shea.

Sinister Magic – Book Review

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It is summer reading! Look at how many books I am getting through. So, this latest book was urban fantasy rather than scifi. This is book 1 in Lindsay Buroker’s new series, Death Before Dragons. The title Sinister Magic. Beware of spoilers.

First, to be upfront and honest, I like Buroker’s writing. I don’t love all her series and I haven’t read all her books – though I have read quite a few. This is still good writing. The characters are engaging. There are a range of personalities and viewpoints. There are also a range of races in this particular novel.

Book cover for Sinister Magic: Death Before Dragons, Book 1. Image from the internet. Please notice how bad-ass Val is with her magical tiger and cleverly named sword. (Note that is sarcasm abut the name of her sword.) Yes, there is also a dragon.

For one of the first times I do not love her female protagonist. I certainly want to love Val (Valmeyjar). She has obvious issues: inflammation of the lungs possibly related to stress that is certainly a problem when slaying evil monsters. She has relationship problems, mostly because everyone she knows has their life in danger by proximity – including an ex-husband and daughter. Though, I do like that she has family. A mother she struggles to relate to along with her own ex and daughter. But few other friends, mostly a tiger from another dimension. She is also a half-elf. And who doesn’t remember being a child and wanting to be a half-elf?

I love Val’s let’s get this done attitude. She is confident, snarky and stubborn. All excellent traits in a storybook heroine. I love that she has a moral outlook, a challenge when she is essentially an assassin against magical beings. What I don’t love about Val is her approach to killing everything. She is off to save her friend, but in doing so causes a great deal of damage. While this is pretty standard fare in action films, it does question how morally sound is Val’s decision to kill things for a living. Especially when the Dragon appears and offers a different system. Granted we don’t know the details about the Dragon Courts Justice system, but mass slaughter is not the primary method.

I do like how there is some effort put into questioning Val’s methods for dealing with rogue magical creatures. I am not suggesting they should be ignored, but is killing them without trial or effort at rehabilitation really the best option? The fact that Val appears to be so narrow minded in her dealings with magical creatures (amusing because she is half magical herself) is my biggest problem with the story.

This is not a reflection on the writing. Rather, Buroker’s portrayal of Val left me thinking poorly of the main character. And while I agree you can have great stories with unlikeable protagonists, these are not usually the stories I read. While on one hand I admire Val for her ability to defend herself and friends while taking down large and scary monsters. I find Val’s use of weapons heavy handed when dealing with problems. I prefer characters that solve problems cleverly with words (and occasionally swords), like Amaranth in the Emperor’s Edge series. Though, Sinister Magic is at least aware of all the collateral damage Val causes.

Conclusion: Sinister Magic is a good book, but I don’t particularly like the main character. Still, I am interested to see where the series goes next. I would give this book 4 out of 5 stars.