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Book Review: Nettle & Bone by T. Kingfisher

 

Nettle & Bone by T. Kingfisher

Tor, 2023

ISBN-13 ‎978-125024404

Available: Hardcover, paperback, Kindle edition, audiobook.

Buy: Bookshop.org  | Amazon.com

 

There is a thin line between fantasy and horror, and between YA and adult fiction. Nettle and Bone dances on that line in this dark fairytale by T. Kingfisher, closer in tone to The Seventh Bride than The Hollow Places.

 

Marra is the youngest of three sisters, princesses of the Harbor Kingdom, which is surrounded on both sides by more powerful kingdoms. Her oldest sister Damia died after a suspiciously short marriage to the cruel Prince Vorling, and now her middle sister, Kania, must marry him and bear him an heir. Vorling’s heir will receive a blessing from the royal family’s fairy godmother that no foreign enemy can harm them with magic, but their lives are bound to the godmother’s just as she is bound to their family.

 

Marra is hidden away at a convent where she stays for ten years, until a visit to her sister convinces her that Kania must be freed from her abusive husband. She goes to the dust-wife, a witch skilled in necromancy, who owns a demon chicken, to ask for help, and accomplishes three impossible tasks the dust-wife sets her, including spinning, weaving, and sewing a cloak of nettle wool and bringing a dog made of bones to life. In completing the tasks. the dust-wife’s promise forces her to help Marra on her quest. They visit a goblin market to find what they need to succeed, which turns out to be a disgraced warrior, Fenris, who was trapped in a fairy fort. They then find Marra’s own fairy godmother, who turns out to be better at cursing than blessing, to her shame. They all must go into the catacombs under Vorling’s castle, where old kings are laid to rest, so the dust-wife can raise the king who bound the royal family’s godmother(essentially a prisoner) and force him to release her, Marra’s fairy godmother can take her place, and Fenris can kill the king.

 

I appreciated the imperfections in the characters and in the relationship between Kania and Marra that made them interesting and unique. Fairytale characters are usually flat and the storylines formulaic, but Kingfisher subverts expectations with fleshed-out characters and  plot elements that bring the unpredictable into play using familiar structures. As it just won the Hugo and Nebula Awards for best novel, I am clearly not the only one to recognize that this book is really something special. Highly recommended.

 

Reviewed by Kirsten Kowalewski

Posted on October 30, 2023 by , Reply

Book Review: The Claw of Craving: The First Book of Lost Carcosa by Joseph Sale

 

The Claw of Craving: The First Book of Lost Carcosa by Joseph Sale

Blood Bound Publishing, 2023

ISBN: 9781940250595

Available: Paperback, Kindle edition 

Buy:  Bookshop.org  |  Amazon.com

 

Some of the best horror novels of the 80s and 90s weren’t really horror at all.  They were, at heart, fantasy books with a dark core, with James Herbert’s Once, Clive Barker’s Weaveworld, and Ronald Kelly’s Fear being standout examples. Joseph’s Sale’s The Claw of Craving is a beautifully crafted tale of darkness and light in the “world beyond our world” realm of Carcosa that could revitalize the genre.  If you like dark fantasy, this is a must-read.

 

Alan Chambers is an ordinary guy convinced there has to be more to existence than his mundane life on earth…it’s there, somewhere, just beyond his grasp.  His search ends when he is granted passage to the fabled land of Carcosa, ruled by the Yellow King (a nice nod/tribute to author Robert W. Chambers in the choice of ruler). Alan and a few companions find themselves on a journey to recover the Claw of Craving, so they can rescue the wife of the Yellow King from her captors.  Magic and mayhem abound, as the companions journey through the bleak land to the fortress where the Claw resides.  

 

It only takes 25 pages or so for Alan to get to Carcosa, afte suffering through a pain-soaked ritual.  Once in Carcosa, the story takes off, pulling the reader along at a quick pace. 

 

Dark fantasy books work best when taking the standard elements of magic and demihumans, then warping them or shading them in gray.  Author Sale does this throughout the book with impeccable skill:  this is outstanding writing.  The magic feels original, .the monsters are new creatures from old elements, and the fights are bloody enough for the gorehounds, but it’s all in service to the story, not the other way around.  One can catch hints of Lovecraft in the narrative, with the whole “describing things that cannot be described” style.  Author Sale does this well, and makes it sound like his own style.

 

The characters and their development are what really elevate the story.  At heart, this is a story about one man’s need for redemption and becoming a better person, even if he didn’t know he was looking for that.  It’s emotionally deep at times, and will give some fearsome yanks on the heart-strings, as Alan tries to put the damage from his past life behind him.  The other characters are also emotionally complex, with Princess Cassilda being especially well done. Her insights on human nature would hold up in any philosophy discussion. It’s Alan who is the star of the book, though, and an outstanding one he is.

 

Bottom line: enough talkie-talkie!  Just read this one: it’s hard to imagine anyone disliking it, and should appeal to non-horror readers as well.  The only problem is waiting for the next one in the series!  

Highly recommended.

 

Reviewed by Murray Samuelson

 

Posted on September 24, 2023 by , Reply

Book Review: The Midnight Girls by Alicia Jasinska

The Midnight Girls by Alicia Jasinska

Sourcebooks Fire, 2022

ISBN-13: 978-1728209753

Available: Hardcover, paperback, audiobook, Kindle edition.

Buy:   Bookshop.org   |  Amazon.com

 

 

The Midnight Girls takes place in a fantasy kingdom based on the Kingdom of Poland at the end of the 18th century, which was torn apart by wars with Russia, Lithuania, and Poland.

 

Three sister witches terrorize the forest, each with a servant girl who desperately wants to please them. Black Jaga’s servant is Zosia, with the power of Midnight. Red Jaga’s servant is Marynka, with the power of Midday. White Jaga’s servant is Beata, with the power of Morning. The girls compete to seize the hearts of princes for their witches. Zosia, hidden away, is most successful. Marynka is desperately in competition with her as she is punished when she fails and receives affection when she succeeds. Beata quietly claims the spoils while Marynka is distracted. The descriptions of the servant girls’ powers and especially of their literally ripping hearts out of people”s bodies were really hard for me to read.

 

All three girls are sent to the city during Karnaval season to claim the pure heart of Prince Josef, a source of powerful magic when eaten. In their competition, Marynka and Zosia inadvertantly keep saving the prince in order to gain the opportunity to claim his heart. It would be funny but it is deadly serious. In spite of their antipathy, they develop a close connection. Zosia plans to run away after taking this last heart and asks Marynka to come with her.

 

Prince Josef wants his kingdom to rebel and fight the tsarina of Rusja in order to preserve Lechija’s national identity and freedom from its oppressors, while the king is tired of fighting and willing to make concessions. His life is complicated by the return to court of Kajetan, his closest friend, who supported his family and turned against him on the battlefield. Both Zosia and Marynka and Josef and Kajetan harbor strong and contradictory feelings for one another. Josef and Kajetan’s story had unexplored potential. Marynka and Zosia feel more like they are characters from a folktale, and as one would expect in a folktale, are relatively one-dimensional. Their rivalry and romance are the primary focus of the story, so the political situation Josef and Kajetan were navigating, while intriguing, didn’t get much attention. The Midnight Girls has a similar feel in places to Katherine Arden’s.The Bear and the Nightingale, but that book balances these elements better.

 

This was a clever premise with great world building, and it wasn’t an easy book to read. Regardless of their home environment or your investment in the story, these girls really are monsters. They don’t try to justify their actions. It is really something that Jasinska has humanized them.

 

Reviewed by Kirsten Kowalewski

Posted on August 12, 2023 by , Reply
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