Breach by W.L. GoodWater

Title: Breach 
Author: W.L. Goodwater
Genre: Fantasy
Series: Cold War Magic # 1

Paperback, 368 Pages
Publication: November 6, 2018 by Ace

Source: I received a review copy from the publisher in exchange for a honest review.

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AFTER THE WAR, THE WALL BROUGHT AN UNEASY PEACE.

When Soviet magicians conjured an arcane Wall to blockade occupied Berlin, the world was outraged but let it stand for the sake of peace. Now after 10 years of fighting with spies instead of spells, the CIA has discovered the unthinkable:

THE WALL IS FAILING.

While refugees and soldiers mass along the border, operatives from East and West converge on the most dangerous city in the world to stop or take advantage of the crisis.

Karen, a young magician with the American Office of Magical Research and Deployment, is sent to investigate the breach in the Wall and see if it can be reversed. Instead she will discover that the truth is elusive in this divided city, and that even magic itself has its own agenda.

BECAUSE THE REAL PURPOSE OF THE WALL IS ABOUT TO BE REVEALED.

One cannot mention the Cold War without mentioning the Berlin Wall, the two are mutually inclusive. In Breach, Goodwater’s alternate Cold War Era, The Berlin Wall separates East and West Berlin as well; except the wall is made up entirely of magic. The strongest magic anyone has ever seen and is said to be unbreakable and impenetrable. Until a soldier discovers a breach.

Fantasy war novels are usually a hit or miss. And I’ll be honest, I don’t know much about the Cold War except what was taught in junior high and that was a long, long time ago. However, Goodwater does an excellent job using the history of what is known and added his own embellishments for an intricate magic realism espionage mystery. Breach is narrated by different characters from a young magician with rose-colored glasses, an American operative based in Berlin to a boogieman of legends told to frighten and keep people in line known as The Nightingale.

One of the main narrator is Karen, a young magician called in to help evaluate the wall from the US Magic Research and Deployment office. I was immediately immersed in her voice. Unlike many people around her who feared and still saw magic as destructive, Karen believed magic can be used for good. Karen was a very realistic heroine (well the only heroine in the entire novel aside from a brief mention of a prostitute) who is perfectly flawed. She had moments of triumphs and mistakes and faced oppositions and hostility from the majority of her male colleagues and strangers on a daily basis. And despite it all, she never dwelt on the matter too long, rather she focused on doing everything she could to help the people affected by the wall. All of Karen’s actions and reactions throughout the novel felt very real, considering magic is involved. And speaking of magic, the magic system in Breach wasn’t as fleshed out as I hoped. It was never clearly defined but it’s wasn’t overly complex either making it easy for readers to understand. The magic consisted of verbal incantations and occasionally a locus, a source of the magician’s power (something that held personal meaning).

At the core, Breach is a mystery. There’s a spattering of action scenes here and there but what stands out are the characters and their interaction with one another. I enjoyed the mystery surrounding the Berlin Wall and following Karen and the team as they uncover the truth for the wall’s creation. My favorite scene was when their lead led them to an impromptu rescue mission of a high ranking Nazi magician, who turned out to be one of the most interesting character in the entire novel. I highly recommend Breach, it was a solid debut novel and in my opinion, a great Cold War Fantasy introduction.

Bury the Living by Jodi McIsaac

Title: Bury the Living
Author: Jodi McIsaac 
Genre: Historical Fantasy
Series: The Revolutionary #1

Trade Paperback, 302 Pages
Publication: September 6, 2016 by 47North

Source: I received a review copy from Saichek Publicity in exchange for a honest review.

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Rebellion has always been in the O’Reilly family’s blood. So when faced with the tragic death of her brother during Northern Ireland’s infamous Troubles, a teenage Nora joined the IRA to fight for her country’s freedom. Now, more than a decade later, Nora is haunted by both her past and vivid dreams of a man she has never met.

When she is given a relic belonging to Brigid of Kildare, patron saint of Ireland, the mystical artifact transports her back eighty years—to the height of Ireland’s brutal civil war. There she meets the alluring stranger from her dreams, who has his own secrets—and agenda. Taken out of her own time, Nora has the chance to alter the fortunes of Ireland and maybe even save the ones she loves. In this captivating and adventurous novel from Jodi McIsaac, history belongs to those with the courage to change it.

I had some trepidation Going into Bury the Living. It was being compared to one of the most famous and well known Historical Fantasy novel, Outlander. It was a lot to live up to. While Bury the Living shared one aspect with Outlander, that being it’s a time-travel novel; that was where the similarities ended. Bury the Living was a book distinctly its own and I enjoyed it nonetheless.

McIaasc was meticulous and detailed in the account of Ireland’s history. Many reviewers felt that the book was bogged down by the amount of information presented early on in the book. That it was too much. I on the other hand was fascinated by the IRA, Free State and PIRA. I thought McIaasc did a great job balancing the history and fantasy part of the novel. The characters were definitely special. They brought the rebellion to life and made learning about the Irish history all the more interesting. Our main heroine, Nora, was a spitfire. She had a hot temper and jumped head first into danger without any regards to herself when it came to people she cared about or for what she believed in. I admired her tenacity. Nora wasn’t the only strong female in the book. There were plenty of them, mostly from Cumann na mBan, The Irish Women Paramilitary Organization. There was also a potential love interest for Nora but it was still too early to tell and thankfully it wasn’t the main focus of the story.

I thought time-travel was as fantasy as it was going to get in Burying the Living but things took an unexpected turn. A little past half way through the book, the story took on a more fantasy than historical fiction vibe. McIaasc incorporated old forgotten gods, myths and fairytales into the mix. I wasn’t expecting that all. It was different, if not a little farfetched but it didn’t bother me or take away anything from the story. This unexpected turn left a door wide open for more possibilities and sequels and with how Bury the Living ended I am eager to see where this series goes. And most importantly why was Nora chosen of all people and how is she and Thomas supposed to help each other? So many questions! All in all, Bury the Living is a great start to a new series! I can’t wait for the sequel! I highly recommend checking out Burying the Living if you’re looking for something fresh, unique and a quick read!

[Spotlight] Bury the Living by Jodi McIsaac + Giveaway

Are you a fan of  the Outlander Series or time-traveling novels? Then check out McIsaac's new book and first in The Revolutionary Series, Bury the Living! Don't forget to enter the giveaway at the end of the post!

Publication: September 6, 2016 by 47North

The Revolutionary #1

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Rebellion has always been in the O’Reilly family’s blood. So when faced with the tragic death of her brother during Northern Ireland’s infamous Troubles, a teenage Nora joined the IRA to fight for her country’s freedom. Now, more than a decade later, Nora is haunted by both her past and vivid dreams of a man she has never met.

When she is given a relic belonging to Brigid of Kildare, patron saint of Ireland, the mystical artifact transports her back eighty years—to the height of Ireland’s brutal civil war. Here she meets the alluring stranger from her dreams, who has his own secrets—and agenda. Taken out of her own time, Nora has the chance to alter the fortunes of Ireland and maybe even save the ones she loves. In this captivating and adventurous novel from Jodi McIsaac, history belongs to those with the courage to change it.

GIVEAWAY

US ONLY

Thanks to Saichek Publicity, I have one (1) copy of BURY THE LIVING to give away to one lucky reader, to enter please fill out the Rafflecopter below!

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Jodi McIsaac is the author of the Irish contemporary fantasy series The Thin Veil (47North) the thriller A Cure for Madness (Thomas & Mercer) and the forthcoming historical Revolutionary series, starting with Bury the Living (47North).

She grew up in New Brunswick, on Canada's east coast. After abandoning her Olympic speed skating dream, she wrote speeches for a politician, volunteered in a refugee camp, waited tables in Belfast, earned a couple of university degrees, and started a boutique copywriting agency. She loves geek culture, running, and whisk(e)y.

*Author image and bio via Goodreads

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[Blog Tour] Review: Eterna and Omega by Leanna Renee Hieber

Title: Eterna and Omega
Author: Leanna Renee Hieber
Genre: Gaslamp Fantasy
Series: The Eterna Files #2

Hardcover, 336 Pages
Publication: August 9, 2016 by Tor Books

Source: I received a review copy from the publisher in exchange for a honest review.

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In New York City, fearing the dangers of the Eterna Compound--supposedly the key to immortality--Clara Templeton buries information vital to its creation. The ghost of her clandestine lover is desperate to tell her she is wrong, but though she is a clairvoyant, she cannot hear him.

In London, Harold Spire plans to send his team of assassins, magicians, mediums, and other rogue talents to New York City, in an attempt to obtain Eterna for Her Royal Majesty, Queen Victoria. He stays behind to help Scotland Yard track down a network of body snatchers and occultists, but he'll miss his second-in-command, Rose Everhart, whose gentle exterior masks a steel spine.

Rose's skepticism about the supernatural has been shattered since she joined Spire's Omega Branch. Meeting Clara is like looking into a strange mirror: both women are orphans, each is concealing a paranormal ability, and each has a powerful and attractive guardian who has secrets of his own.

The hidden occult power that menaces both England and America continues to grow. Far from being dangerous, Eterna may hold the key to humanity's salvation.

Eterna and Omega picks up exactly within moments of the first book. Clara, a spiritualist wakes up from exhaustion due to the over abundance of spirits surrounding her in the cemetery when she was burying sensitive information from her former deceased lover Louis. At the start of the book, Clara and the American Eterna team are still investigating the death of Louis and his colleagues and what happened that fateful day when their building blew up. And thanks to Clara’s gifts she was able to communicate with Louis and discovered that evil shadowy creatures, The Summoned were the cause of their death and that without some sort of protection/wards, the creatures will wreck havoc across the country.

On the opposite side of the world in England, the Omega team is getting ready to set sail for America by order of the Queen. The Queen has made the Eterna team out to be the villains and that Omega must retrieve all of Eterna’s work to secure her the cure to immortality. But little do they know that the real threat is the Queen herself. The two teams finally collide with one another but instead of working against each another, they join forces together to beat The Summoned that threaten to take over their world and stop the agenda for an old world.

The stakes are higher in this follow-up to The Eterna Files. Hieber subtly paints a countdown clock without the unnecessary bells and whistle. There weren’t crazy action scenes but I felt the urgency of the plot bouncing back and forth between Eterna and Omega nonetheless. Readers finally get a better understanding of what’s going on and why certain things are happening, especially with Moriel. Like with most stories, I love it when people put aside their differences and work together. I found the most enjoyable party of the story was when Eterna and Omega started working together.

Eterna and Omega was an excellent addition to The Eterna Files Series. I enjoyed it way more than I expected. This is a wonderful Gaslamp Fantasy series (fantasy/historical fiction with Victorian/Edwardian Setting) and if you haven’t tried this genre yet, Hieber’s novels would be a great place to start!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

LEANNA RENEE HIEBER'S first novel, The Strangely Beautiful Tale of Miss Percy Parker, is a foundation work of gaslamp fantasy and the winner of two Prism Awards. Hieber has been a finalist for the Daphne Du Maurier Award. Rarely seen out of Victorian garb, Hieber often appears at conventions, bookstores, and library events. Her travel schedule and other news can be found at Leannareneehieber.com.

[Early Review] Ink and Bone by Rachel Caine

Title: Ink and Bone
Author: Rachel Caine
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy
Series: The Great Library #1

Hardcover, 352 pages
Publication: July 7, 2015 by NAL

Source: I received a review copy form the publisher in exchange for a honest review.

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Ruthless and supremely powerful, the Great Library is now a presence in every major city, governing the flow of knowledge to the masses. Alchemy allows the Library to deliver the content of the greatest works of history instantly—but the personal ownership of books is expressly forbidden.

Jess Brightwell believes in the value of the Library, but the majority of his knowledge comes from.

When he inadvertently commits heresy by creating a device that could change the world, Jess discovers that those who control the Great Library believe that knowledge is more valuable than any human life—and soon both heretics and books will burn.…

Have you ever wondered what it’s like if the Library of Alexandria was still around and was a great power today? Imagine a library with so much control, that they determined what information and knowledge was for public consumption. And the unthinkable, that it was illegal to own physical, original printed books. Well, that is exactly what Ink and Bone is…in a nutshell.

The year is 2031 and it is illegal to own books. Instead, the public is all given ‘blanks’ a book with exactly that, blank pages that are filled with texts using alchemy. With the outlawing of original book possession, it has become an expensive commodity thus the upsurge of the black market for it; which brings us to our main character, Jess Brightwell a 16-year-old runner A.K.A book smuggler. Jess has been running books since he was 10, and now at the age of 16 his father think his usefulness to the family has come to an end and the only way he can still be beneficial to the family is if he gets a job…inside the Great Library of Alexandria. After taking a test, Jess wins a spot to be among the 30 candidates to fill 1 of 6 library positions. In order to snag an once-in-a-lifetime job opportunity, Jess and the other contenders are given a series of test and missions till the numbers dwindles down. It is during his teaching and training that Jess finds himself conflicted between his family and his love of books and that the Library of Alexandria isn’t as altruistic and magnanimous as it seems.

This is my first Caine book, and all I can really say is WOW. The book design, the title, the setting, the story, the characters...are all just perfect. When I first read the synopsis, I knew I had to read this book. But I didn’t expect to love it as much as I did. The idea is very unique and nothing like anything I’ve ever read before and it just blew me away at how utterly amazing it was! There were so many things to love about the world building; from the concept of blanks and alchemy, a codex in which all citizen are ‘encouraged’ to write in daily to document their every waking moment so that they’re immortalized when they past and their codex are housed within the library, a resistance group dubbed burners because they make it their mission to burn originals…I can go on and on. Then there’s the location, how cool is it that it’s set in Egypt of all places?! And in a Library! This is a book lover’s dream come true…this book! Caine did an excellent job at describing the hot and humid landscape of Egypt and the lush details of what the Library of Alexandria might have look like with its many rooms and hidden chambers. I was enchanted with it all.

On top of all that awesomeness we have going on, there are the characters. Jess is a great main protagonist; I was instantly drawn to Jess when readers first meet 10-year-old Jess running through the streets of London smuggling the most important book in the world. Jess is pragmatic, clever, honest and a leader sort of veiled as an underdog. That last bit might sounds weird or confusing but that’s the best I can describe Jess. What I mean is, anyone can see early on that Jess comes from the poorer side of London. The test needed to get to the Library of Alexandria is usually only possible for the upper-class rich folks but then again Jess’s father own the territory on book smuggling….so it definitely didn’t come cheap in securing him a test spot. And comparing Jess to his fellow postulates he was seriously lacking in the hierarchy and education department. While he was being groomed in the family business, other kids were getting prepared for a position in the library. But like I said, Jess may be lacking in status but he’s a natural born leader, which will become more evident as he progresses through the library-life challenges. As Jess learns the way of the library, the truth about the library, and the misconception about Burners; he begins to question everything he thought he knew…and readers will see his character develop greatly by the end of the book. Then there’s the supporting cast. Jess is surrounded by very strong and fully fleshed out characters that made lasting impressions from: Khalila, an intelligent poised girl that has a making of a Scholar, Glain whom I’d call G.I. Jane, Dario the obnoxious roommate, Thomas the gentle giant, Morgan the mysterious, and my most favorite character of all, Proctor Wolfe whom is always dour and oh, so misunderstood. I don’t want to say too much about Wolfe but he was constantly surprising me throughout the book and the ending revelation…was like whoa, that's his family!

I’ve mentioned this before; those that follow the blog know how picky I am when it comes to the YA genre. I don’t read many YA for that reason, and if you noticed, only 25% of the books I review are YA. I’m very selective when I choose to read/review a Young Adult book. So, it is with great pleasure to say that my expectations of Ink and Bone were beyond exceeded. Ink and Bone is by far the best Young Adult novel I’ve read all year and the most imaginative YA I’ve read in a very, very long time. I wasn’t a fan of Caine before, but after Ink and Bone…I absolutely am now and will be checking her back-list! I highly recommend this book to everyone…all you book lovers out there; you need to pre-order this book A.S.A.P! I ‘m already dying for the next book…and this book isn’t even out yet! Read it, you won’t regret it!