Here are mini reviews for some of the books I read from June to August 2023. Give them a shot if they sound interesting.

The links lead to the book page on goodreads, from where I've also copied a portion of the blurbs for this post.

Scales and Sensibility by Stephanie Burgis

Blurb

Sensible, practical Elinor Tregarth really did plan to be the model poor relation when she moved into Hathergill Hall. She certainly never meant to kidnap her awful cousin Penelope's pet dragon. She never expected to fall in love with the shameless - but surprisingly sweet - fortune hunter who came to court Penelope. And she never dreamed that she would have to enter into an outrageous magical charade to save her younger sisters' futures.

Review

It has been a long while since I read "Sense and Sensibility" that I don't remember anything at all from the classic novel. The first chapter was interesting, especially as I thought it was going to be an adventure for Elinor with a pet dragon on her shoulders, after escaping from her cousin Penelope. We soon meet an eccentric dragon scholar and his friend Hawkins, who was in a somewhat similar situation like Elinor's and they immediately had a good rapport. Little did I anticipate the surprising twists and turns that followed.

While I enjoyed the overall story, I wish I could've simply skipped the parts with Penelope.

A Star Named Vega by Benjamin J. Roberts

Blurb

Androids, starships, hackers, and spray paint. In the high-tech paradise of the 30th Century, a rebellious young street artist finds herself leading the charge to save a warrior race from extermination.

Review

The first chapter was fun and goofy and gets you excited about space exploration. The next one was all about serious themes — war and never ending fight for freedom. These two storylines were of course on a collision course.

Overall, it was a different kind of sci-fi book and worth checking it out. Writing was easy to follow (except the heavy sci-fi terms, which can be mostly ignored without losing the plot). Pacing was a bit iffy in the middle but picked up well towards the end.

The Naming by Alison Croggon

Blurb

Maerad is a slave in a desperate and unforgiving settlement, taken there as a child after her family is destroyed in war. She is unaware that she possesses a powerful gift, one that marks her as a member of the School of Pellinor. It is only when she is discovered by Cadvan, one of the great Bards of Lirigon, that her true heritage and extraordinary destiny unfold. Now she and her new teacher must survive a journey through a time and place where the forces they battle stem from the deepest recesses of otherworldly terror.

Review

I had this on my TBR for a more classical epic fantasy feel. And it does compare favorably to "The Lord of the Rings", especially the language, journeys, feasts, landscape descriptions, poems, the big bad, etc. And it was well paced too, with interesting events happening almost every chapter.

Chandrakanta - Act 1 by Babu Devkinandan Khatri, Deepti L. Sharma (Translator)

Blurb

Kumar Virendrasingh, the crown prince of Naugadh is desperately in love with the breathtakingly beautiful Chandrakanta - princess of Vijaygadh. But evil ministers and wily ayyars seem bent on strewing rocks in the path of true love. And then even fate turns traitor to Kumar Virendra as Kumari Chandrakanta gets trapped in a tilism - a fanciful maze from which it seems impossible to escape. It is now up to Kumar Virendra and his team of fiercely loyal ayyars - Tejsingh and Devisingh to crack the tilism and set his beloved Chandrakanta free. How will Virendra manage this daunting task? What twists and turns will this compelling tale take? Who are ayyars? What exactly is a tilism?

Review

I read this mostly for nostalgia's sake. I remember enjoying the TV serial (20+ years back, don't remember anything at all other than a scene of an invisible man leaving behind footprints in the rain).

I was pleasantly surprised that this book, written in the late 19th century, takes a scientific approach, features strong women characters and a treasure-filled dungeon with plenty of traps! I'd label the book as magical realism though.

The book was written like a play and the author races through the plot. Events that I thought should've taken multiple chapters were done away in just a few paragraphs, sometimes just a sentence or two. Despite such a fast pace, it took me until quarter of the book to get used to the writing and be interested in the plot. There were plenty of twists and turns, and some humor as well.

Overall, I'd recommend the book for those really interested in historical fantasy and willing to push through the writing style.

The Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells

Blurb

On a distant planet, a team of scientists is conducting surface tests, shadowed by their Company-supplied 'droid--a self-aware SecUnit that has hacked its own governor module and refers to itself (though never out loud) as "Murderbot." Scornful of humans, Murderbot wants is to be left alone long enough to figure out who it is, but when a neighboring mission goes dark, it's up to the scientists and Murderbot to get to the truth.

Review

I've read the first four novellas so far

All Systems Red: This was a short and entertaining read. I've previously read the Raksura series and come across amazing reviews for this series. But with such a messy TBR, it has taken me years to finally read this novella. Murderbot was a fascinating character, plus the humor undertone and frequent action scenes made it a breezy read.

Artificial Condition: I especially loved the new AI character, who was a nice contrast to Murderbot. A backstory point mentioned in the first book became the main plot in this book — at first I wasn't that interested but it made sense as it continued to play a role in Murderbot's character.

Rogue Protocol: The plot this time was more related to the events from the first book. And we got a new bot character, who couldn't have been more different than Murderbot! Wish the ending hadn't been bittersweet though.

Exit Strategy: A nice closure to the main plot from the first novella (it might still continue, but I felt this as a good point to take a break).

Pangea Online by S.L. Rowland

Blurb

Since leaving the orphanage, Esil has spent the past year toiling in the data mines of Pangea while watching the wealthy elite traverse its myriad of game worlds. His luck changes forever when he discovers a legendary Developer's Chest. The Premium Worldpass inside grants him unlimited access to all of Pangea.

Review

This was a light-hearted trilogy with plenty of action and exploration (virtual reality worlds). All three books had their own story arcs, but I'd recommend reading them as a single book.

The characters were the strong point — you'd root for their success and enjoy the various relationships that form (both real and virtual reality characters). Plot was good enough to keep you turning pages, but I'd have welcomed more depth.

The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna

Blurb

As one of the few witches in Britain, Mika Moon knows she has to hide her magic, keep her head down, and stay away from other witches so their powers don't mingle and draw attention. And as an orphan who lost her parents at a young age and was raised by strangers, she's used to being alone and she follows the rules...with one exception: an online account, where she posts videos pretending to be a witch. She thinks no one will take it seriously.

Review

Overall, I liked this book and it was mostly a light-hearted read with some whimsical magic thrown around. I especially liked the way the teaching job was offered and the glimpses of magical lessons (which I wish was more focused on).

The Magicians of Caprona and Witch Week by Diana Wynne Jones

Blurb

Tonino is the only person in the famous Montana household who wasn't born with an instinct for creating spells, but he has other gifts. His ability to communicate with cats just might help defend the city of Caprona against a mysterious enchanter -- but only if Tonino can learn to cooperate with a girl from the hated Petrocchi family of spell-makers.

Review

It's been a while since I read the first book in this series. The recommended reading order is 4th for this book, but the bundle I have put it as 2nd. In any case, I didn't much remember from the first book and this book didn't seem to be heavily connected, except for the appearance of Chrestomanci.

The first half seemed all over the place with too many characters and there didn't seem much to the plot. Things picked up in the second half and a lot of the stuff from the first half made better sense. I enjoyed the ending. Overall, the book had the usual charm of the author's whimsical take on magic but takes a while to get used to the characters.

Witch Week: While I didn't enjoy this as much as the other two Chrestomanci books I've read so far, the second half did have plenty of little twists and events that keep you hooked. I feel like kids would enjoy the characters in this book more than adults.

Voice of War by Zack Argyle

Blurb

While preparing for the birth of his first child, Chrys Valerian is tasked with uncovering the group responsible for a series of missing threadweavers—those able to see and manipulate threadlight. With each failure, the dark voice in his head grows louder, begging to be released. A young girl from a secret city in the center of the Fairenwild veers off course to explore the streets of Alchea, never expecting that her journey would end in chains. Far in the deserts to the south, a young man's life changes after he dies. Together, these three will change the world—whether they intend to or not.

Review

I'd recommend it for those who prefer darker fantasy, but this was too much for me. By the end of the book, I couldn't root for any of the characters and everybody suffers badly. The pacing was good and I liked the magic system and worldbuilding.

Striving for the Stars by Taniko K Williams

Blurb

Aristeia has always dreamed of one day leaving the desolate planet she calls home. The daughter of a recycling centre engineer. She spends her days salvaging in the scrap yards, hoping to save enough credits to fund a move to a more populated planet.

Review

This was paced well and a fun, light read. Something kept happening to get the plot moving and details about the world (and other planets) were sprinkled here and there.

Could've had a little more depth to make things more memorable — for example, scavenging for discarded parts at the start of the book had just one scene. And I'd have loved to see more interactions with Mo (a cute side character).