Review: Phoenix Extravagant, by Yoon Ha Lee

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Dragons. Art. Revolution.

Gyen Jebi isn’t a fighter or a subversive. They just want to paint.

One day they’re jobless and desperate; the next, Jebi finds themself recruited by the Ministry of Armor to paint the mystical sigils that animate the occupying government’s automaton soldiers.

But when Jebi discovers the depths of the Razanei government’s horrifying crimes—and the awful source of the magical pigments they use—they find they can no longer stay out of politics.

What they can do is steal Arazi, the ministry’s mighty dragon automaton, and find a way to fight…

Hardcover, Signed and lettered, 346 pages

Published May 2020 by Solaris Books in association with Goldsboro Books

This was my May Goldsboro Books SFF Fellowship book. It is gorgeous

The Rosie Synopsis

Jebi is an artist. Their sister Bongsunga does whatever she can to keep them both alive. They both have secrets. Jebi has taken the exams for the Ministry of Art but gets co-opted by the Ministry of Armor, Bongsunga is a commander in the Hwagugin resistance to the Razanei invaders who n ow govern Hwagun – or District Fourteen as the Razan call the country.

Jebi discovers something in their time at the Ministry that forces them to make a decision. WIth the help of Vei, their lover and the Duelist Prime of Armor, and the automaton dragon Arazi they must escape, protect art and fight the Razanei. Bit of a tall order for an artist who just wants to paint.

The Good

I love it.

I really enjoyed this book, I took me far too long to realise it was a allegory for the Japanese invasion and occupation of Korea in the late 19th century. But with magic and automata. The Westerners – threat and boogie men held over the Hwagugin bu the Razanei – should have tipped me off.

The writing was really immersive, the story engaging and I am so happy about the Queer representation. A non-binary character is amazing, and so many different relationships. It makes such a change from the heteronormative relationships in a lot of fantasy.

The ending left me wanting to know what happened next (although obviously I have some idea of what happened in the real world) in this magical version of Korea. What did Jebi, Vei and Arazi find on the moon?

The Not-So-Good

I got nothing.

The Verdict

Add this to your fantasy TBR list immediately.

Book promo: Sunrise on the Coast, by Lilac Mills

It’s publication day for the shiny new book from Lilac Mills.  Sunrise on the Coast is out now – download your copy today and transport yourself to a sub-tropical island.

When a holiday becomes something more…

Struggling to come to terms with the loss of her mother, Sophie needs to get away from it all. On a much-needed break to Tenerife, she stumbles across a Help Wanted sign for local pensioner, Hugo, and on a leap of faith she accepts the job.

But life on the island isn’t all sun, sea and siestas…

Hugo’s beautiful villa is under threat and, to complicate matters, his brooding (but handsome) nephew, Alex, has shown up full of suspicion towards Sophie.

Her hands full dealing with difficult men and a clearly unreciprocated attraction towards Alex, Sophie needs to decide if her future lies in Tenerife or if her holiday is officially over.

Escape to a Spanish island with this gorgeously uplifting romance, perfect for fans of Holly Martin, Sue Moorcroft and Mandy Baggot.

Available from Amazon, Apple, Barnes and Noble, Kobo and Google https://books2read.com/SunriseOnTheCoast

Review: Operation Jihadi Bride, by John Carney with Clifford Thurlow

Blurb

Would you turn your back on a teenage Jihadi bride and her innocent children?

‘Jihad isn’t a war. It’s an objective. An aberration. If there are young women with children, lost boys… If they are trapped in that hell and we can get them out, don’t we have a duty to do so? Every person we can bring back is living proof that Islamic State is a failure.’

Ex-British Army Soldier, John Carney, ran a close protection operation in Iraq for oil executives when he was asked by the family of a young Dutch woman to extract her from the collapsing Islamic State in Syria. Hearing first-hand of the shocking living hell of tricked naive young girls, many from the West, trapped, sexually abused and enslaved by ISIS, he knew only one thing – he had to get them out.

Armed with AK-47s and 9mm Glocks, he launched a daring, dangerous and deadly operation to free as many as he could. With a small band of committed Kurdish freedom fighters, backed by humanitarian NGOs, and feeding intel to MI6, Carney and his men went behind enemy lines in the heart of the Syrian lead storm, risking their lives to deliver the women and their children to the authorities, to de-radicalisation programmes and fair trials.

Gripping, shocking and thought-provoking, Operation Jihadi Bride takes the complex issue of the Jihadi brides head-on – a vital read for our troubled times.

Continue reading “Review: Operation Jihadi Bride, by John Carney with Clifford Thurlow”

Extract: Warbringer, by Aaron Hodges

Warbringer

Centuries ago, the world fell.
From the ashes rose a terrible new species—the Tangata.
Now they wage war against the kingdoms of man.
And humanity is losing.

Recruited straight from his academy, twenty-year-old Lukys hopes the frontier will make a soldier out of him. But Tangata are massing in the south, and the allied armies are desperate. They will do anything to halt the enemy advance—including sending untrained men and women into battle. Determined to survive, Lukys seeks aid from the only man who seems to care: Romaine, the last warrior of an extinct kingdom.

Meanwhile, the Queen’s Archivist leads an expedition deep beneath the earth. She seeks to uncover the secrets of the Gods. Their magic has been lost to the ages, yet artifacts remain, objects of power that could turn the tide of the war. But salvation is not all that waits beneath the surface. Something else slumbers in the darkness. Something old. Something evil.

Purchase Links

UK –  https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B08653PM1L/

US – https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08653PM1L/

Continue reading “Extract: Warbringer, by Aaron Hodges”

Audiobook Review: Fresh Eggs and Dog Beds 2, by Nick Albert

Fresh Eggs and Dog Beds 2 – Still living the dream in rural Ireland

Nick and Lesley’s desire for a better life in the countryside was a long-held dream. Unforeseen events and a leap of faith forced that dream into reality, but moving to rural Ireland was only the beginning of their story.
Foreigners in a foreign land, they set about making new friends, learning the culture and expanding their collection of chickens and unruly dogs. But their dream home was in desperate need of renovation, a mammoth task they attacked with the aid of a DIY manual, dwindling funds and incompetent enthusiasm. With defunct diggers, collapsing ladders, and shocking electrics, what could possibly go wrong?
Will their new life live up to expectations, or will the Irish weather, dangerous roads, and a cruel twist of fate turn this dream into a nightmare?

Purchase Links

Amazon UK

Kindle https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07DFNF3K4/

Paperback https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1721005226/

Audible https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0844YCGSS/

Amazon USA

Kindle https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07DFNF3K4/

Paperback https://www.amazon.com/dp/1721005226/

Audible https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0844GYPSQ/

Continue reading “Audiobook Review: Fresh Eggs and Dog Beds 2, by Nick Albert”

Coming later this month: Cover Reveal!

Jane thinks he sees her as shallow and ill-educated.

Theo thinks she sees him as a snob, stuffy and out of touch.

Within the ancient precincts of the university the first encounter between the conference planner and the academic is accidental and unpromising. Just as well there’s no reason for them ever to meet again. But behind the armour they’ve each constructed from old scars, they’ve more in common than divides them. Both have an archaeological puzzle they are driven to solve. As their stories intertwine, their quest to uncover the past unearths more than expected.

Treasure is not always what it seems.

Author Information:

Gilli Allan began to write in childhood – a hobby pursued throughout her teenage. Writing was only abandoned when she left home, and real life supplanted the imaginary kind. 

After a few false starts she worked longest and most happily as an illustrator in advertising and only began writing again when she became a mother. 

Living in Gloucestershire with her husband Geoff, Gilli is still a keen artist. She draws and paints and has now moved into book illustration.

All of her recent books TORN, LIFE CLASS, FLY or FALL and BURIED TREASURE have gained ‘Chill with a Book’ awards.

Following in the family tradition, her son, historian Thomas Williams, is now also a writer.