BookWyrm

Alex Keane commented on Ink Blood Sister Scribe by Emma Törzs

Emma Törzs: Ink Blood Sister Scribe (2023, HarperCollins Publishers)

Joanna Kalotay lives alone in the woods of Vermont, the sole protector of a collection …

Add a third POV character and instantly throw him in mortal peril. Things are getting interesting.

Alex Keane started reading Ink Blood Sister Scribe by Emma Törzs

Joanna Kalotay lives alone in the woods of Vermont, the sole protector of a collection …

Reading this for my local library's SFF book club

Alex Keane finished reading Ensign Flandry by Poul Anderson

Poul Anderson: Ensign Flandry (2003, ibooks)

Ensign Flandry by Poul Anderson

Alex Keane commented on Ensign Flandry by Poul Anderson

"So mostly, as now, she settled for a pair of shorts, and those mostly for the pockets."

Okay, maybe Anderson does get what a lot of women want.

Alex Keane commented on Ensign Flandry by Poul Anderson

An underwater alien whose name translates as "Zoomboy"

For all that language shifts and culture changes, some things are eternal.

Alex Keane commented on Ensign Flandry by Poul Anderson

And there it is, the 1960s "but they're different, we can't treat them equally" from the boss.

Now to see whether the starry eyed neophyte wins out in getting the empire to be less awful.

Alex Keane wants to read A Sorceress Comes to Call by T. Kingfisher

T. Kingfisher: A Sorceress Comes to Call (Hardcover, 2024, Tor Publishing Group)

A Sorceress Comes to Call by T. Kingfisher

Cordelia knows her mother is . . . unusual. Their house doesn’t have any doors between rooms—there are no secrets …

Alex Keane started reading Ensign Flandry by Poul Anderson

Grabbed this one on interlibrary loan because of its inclusion on the recommended reading list on the Traveller RPG wiki

Alex Keane reviewed Floating World by Axie Oh

No cover — Axie Oh: Floating World (2025, Feiwel & Friends)

Really Fun Fantasy

4 stars

The pitch I read for this book was "Final Fantasy meets Shadow and Bone in a Korean Mythology Retelling". Shadow and Bone isn't a familiar one to me, but the other two really came through.

Ren is an orphan running from a tragic past, performing in a troupe with her adopted family. Sunho is a mercenary who awoke two years ago with no memory of his past except for his need to find his lost brother.

When Ren needs to leave home to find a cure for her Uncle after a demon attack and her hidden powers cause Imperial soldiers to hire Sunho to find her, can they both achieve their goals?

I really liked the parallel stories told from Ren's and Sunho's points of view, and the way that reveals about Ren's and Sunho's pasts unfolded in intertwined ways. The side characters of Tag and Yurhee, rebellious scoundrels who …

The pitch I read for this book was "Final Fantasy meets Shadow and Bone in a Korean Mythology Retelling". Shadow and Bone isn't a familiar one to me, but the other two really came through.

Ren is an orphan running from a tragic past, performing in a troupe with her adopted family. Sunho is a mercenary who awoke two years ago with no memory of his past except for his need to find his lost brother.

When Ren needs to leave home to find a cure for her Uncle after a demon attack and her hidden powers cause Imperial soldiers to hire Sunho to find her, can they both achieve their goals?

I really liked the parallel stories told from Ren's and Sunho's points of view, and the way that reveals about Ren's and Sunho's pasts unfolded in intertwined ways. The side characters of Tag and Yurhee, rebellious scoundrels who worked with Sunho before are well fleshed out just as Ren and Sunho are.

As someone who's played through Final Fantasy 7, the titular Floating World and the Under World, the slums beneath, really felt like a great homage to Midgar and there were a couple of scenes with details you could tell were added with love for other fans.

Overall, this was a fun read and I'm looking forward to the next book.

Note: I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley

Alex Keane finished reading Floating World by Axie Oh

Floating World by Axie Oh

Alex Keane commented on Floating World by Axie Oh

Oh, do not like this General

Alex Keane started reading Floating World by Axie Oh

Got a copy of this through Netgalley. Really enjoying the interplay between the characters and the way the POVs cover each not knowing the full story of the others.