Ariadnis - Josh Martin

"Back then I thought that if it weren't for that cliff, our cities
would be one and there would be no need for all this fierceness toward each other. But then I learned about pride and tradition and prophecy, and those things are harder than rock.

Joomia and Aula are Chosen. They will never be normal. They can never be free.

On the last island on Erthe, Chosen Ones are destined to enter Ariadnis on the day they turn eighteen. There, they must undertake a mysterious and deadly challenge. For Joomia and Aula, this means competing against each other, to end the war that has seethed between their cities for nine generations.

As the day draws nearer, all thoughts are on the trial ahead. There's no space for friendship. No time for love. However much the girls might crave them.

But how you prepare for a task you know nothing certain about? Nothing, except that you must win, at whatever cost, or lose everything."

This book turned out to be nothing like what I was expecting it to be. 

There is a lack of information at the start of the novel, unfortunately that was frustrating and I nearly stopped reading. I was confused about what exactly was happening, what the Wise One was, why there are Chosen Ones, where the past Chosen Ones are, why they were competing, for longer than I should have been. But soon enough the explanations start to roll in and the bizarre yet beautiful ideas behind Ariadnis come to the fore.

The writing itself is lovely; there is a touch of slang to give it character, the girls both have distinct voices and personalities, and Martin manages to utilise time skips really well. I personally really didn't like the slang at the beginning, I found it distracting. However Martin doesn't over use it and it actually helps demonstrate the difference between the two characters personalities. 

The world building was interesting and incredibly unique. A vine treetop city, sentient owls, metal wrapped trees, prophets with shining tears, singing tree spells. I can truly say I haven't read anything that feels similar. The conflict is centred between a patriarchal, technology based city and a equalist, nature based city. I am interested to see how Martin will further explore this dynamic in his second book, as it is only lightly touched on here. 

I also really enjoyed the diverse cast. There are many POC characters, actually being the norm now in the amalgamated cities where past cultures have ceased to be separate. There are also plenty of bisexual characters, and it is just treated as completely normal, which was so surprising and absolutely wonderful. 

I thought the characters themselves were really nicely realised. The bold, impetuous Aula and the sensitive, unsure Joomia both stood out, and I loved their magical powers. Taurus was a great best friend and a moving character in his own right. Ade, the mad prophet was also one of my favourite characters and I loved her. 

However there are a few minor criticism I'd level at this book. It did get confusing from time to time, especially when other characters' prophesies were revealed. There were a few times I had to dip back a few pages to check I was following what was going on! There are also quite a bit that is left unexplained like where are the past Chosen Ones. Where people really going mad when they left or was that a conspiracy? why was Ade the only Chosen one in her generation for both cities?

Also, I wasn't quite sure all the swearing was necessary as it didn't serve much purpose. The same goes for the amount of talk about sex. These girls are supposed to be 17 and it just felt incongruous. Everyone, even in the middle of an awful and emotional situation is thinking about sex. It just didn't feel realistic and actually brought me out the story a few times. There is one scene where Aula, one of the Chosen One's mother figure has just died, and all Aula can think about is how much she ones to sleep with this dude. I mean, your emotional loss obviously isn't that bad then and I no longer really empathize with you. 

Age Rating 16+ Because of aforesaid sex and swearing. 

This Savage Song (#1) - V E Schwab

"Kate Harker and August Flynn are the heirs to a divided city—a city
where the violence has begun to breed actual monsters. All Kate wants is to be as ruthless as her father, who lets the monsters roam free and makes the humans pay for his protection. All August wants is to be human, as good-hearted as his own father, to play a bigger role in protecting the innocent—but he’s one of the monsters."

It seems like V E Schwab is taking over the YA world. I have read quite a few of her books now, with out especially going out of my way to find them. I would say that out of all of her books, this is probably my favourite so far. 

This book was a solid read that I wouldn't hesitate to recommend to someone as a holiday read. The writing was good, I’ve never had a problem with her writing. It has always felt punchy, shading to lyrical. The worldbuilding was handled well too. The concept that an act of violence could actually spawn real monsters was just fascinating to me, and I thought it could open up some really interesting moral discussions and parallels. It was intricate and woven into the text, neither info dumping nor overly confusing. Which is rare in worlds this elaborate and extensive. Overall, this was creative and pretty well done.

While I loved Schwab's "A Darker Shade of Magic's" world building, I found the characters flat and emotionally disconnected. In this book, I felt more connected to the characters. However while this is true the actual characters occasionally irritated me despite the more connected feeling that I had for them. 

Kate Flynn, while obviously meant to be strong willed and bad ass, occasionally just came across as a bitch. There is a difference between a strong, fierce female character, and one who is a rebellious jerk just for the sake of being one. I disliked her from the first page, as she ruthlessly set fire to part of a school run by nuns for the grand, noble reason of "I don't want to be here." However that being said, she did grow on me, as you start to see her more vulnerable and broken side. 

August was the one that frustrated me the most. He's one of those emo, martyred, tortured souls that seems so lost in his own self hatred and guilt complex that he actually endangers those he cares about. It got really irritating. The current tope of the love interest being a guilt ridden monster only for it to come out they don't really do anything monstrous but are actually a sort of avenging angel with an punk make-over...yeah not overly emotionally moving. 

It sounds great to have a female lead yearning to be a proper villain to appease parental pressures. It sounds excellent to have a male lead who is vulnerable and searching for his humanity. But somewhere in the process of breathing life into these characters, Schwab missed the mark.

Even with Schwab's amazing talent for weaving words together I cannot in all good conscience tell you that this book will blow you away.

Schwab's writing style is undeniably interesting and fluid in a way that only a master of writing can achieve.

However, the story, the characterization, and unfortunately even the world building will leave you feeling like something crucial is missing. Which is disappointing with such a promising and potentially deeply philosophical premise which is never fully actualized. 

Age Rating 15+. A few quite brutal murder scenes. 

Dune - Frank Herbert

"Set on the desert planet Arrakis, Dune is the story of the boy Paul
Atreides, heir to a noble family tasked with ruling an inhospitable world where the only thing of value is the “spice” melange, a drug capable of extending life and enhancing consciousness. Coveted across the known universe, melange is a prize worth killing for...

When House Atreides is betrayed, the destruction of Paul’s family will set the boy on a journey toward a destiny greater than he could ever have imagined. And as he evolves into the mysterious man known as Muad’Dib, he will bring to fruition humankind’s most ancient and unattainable dream."

This book is in no way perfect but boy, is it good. 

The atmosphere of the book is stunning and the world building is top - notch. There is a seriousness that pervades the entire story, it is a deeply esoteric book that is far from the traditionally 60's green women sci-fi. 

The politics and world dynamics are both unique, original and deeply recognisable. We get a new planet, and while it's obvious that Herbert based his desert planet on real sights and cultures, it's still absolutely awesome. The Fremen and their culture, the stillsuits, the worms, the plight for water... It's all explained in such a vivid detail without being boring or repetitive. You feel the sand rubbing, you can feel the sun beating down. The dynamics between the Houses, the Emperor, the CHOAM all felt fleshed out but never bogged the story down. 

This is classic sci-fi that really deserves the label. What Frank Herbert accomplished in one novel is stunning, he built a fascinatingly detailed universe in which the politics, religion, economics, espionage, and military strategy are all equally important. He then blended these more grounded concepts with bigger sci-fi ideas like being able to use spice to see through space-time, and the scope of that encompasses trying to pick the proper path through various potential timelines as well as free will vs. fate.

I think one of the factors that helps this story stay timeless is that so much of it is based on what humanity becomes vs. trying to predict what futuristic technology would be like. This is a society that once had a war with machines and has since rejected any type of computers so people have developed to fill the gap with the help of the spice. The Mentats are trained to use data to predict outcomes. The Navigators of the Guild have use the spice to help them move through space that they’re mutating. The all female Bene Gesserit have developed a variety of skills to place their members alongside positions of power to help advance their breeding scheme that spans generations. Herbert also cleverly came up with an excuse that explains why knives and hand-to-hand combat are so important with the idea of the personal body shields.

I personally loved the more esoteric side of this book. The Bene Gesserits and their abilities, Paul being able to kind of see the future, the turning of the poisonous water of life into something harmless, the terrifying Alia. It was all brilliant and so unique. 

The plot is straightforward and follows a 'Chosen One' pattern.
Paul, is the 'Chosen One', the Lisan al-Gaib, the Kwisatz Haderach. He gets many names. After a betrayal, he finds refuge among the Fremen and seeks revenge from those who wronged his house. While simple, it fit the feel of the book and never got boring. 

But I would be remise in not pointing out the problematic parts of this book. First is the gender politics. It is very problematic with women being shown to be irrevocable different from men. They where either terrifyingly manipulative Bene Gesserits or completely useless cardboard cut-outs eg Chani.

"[Paul] began tightening his still suit. "You told me once the words of Kitab al-Ibar," he said. "You told me: 'Woman is thy field; go then to thy field and till it.'"

"I am the mother of thy firstborn," she agreed."

How romantic. I am sorry but what! Why say that! It's so demeaning and vulgar. 

The Fremen, while wonderful, do have slightly racist butchered Arabic nomad feel to them. I don't know, I might be wrong. I would love to have other's opinions on this. 

The Baron being gay and a paedophile, while being the only gay character well.. using gayness as a short hand to show depravity of a character and then to link gayness with paedophilia ….not great. But hey 1960's, times change. 

Last, but not least. The ending is incredibly abrupt and I did not like it. It felt jarring, incomplete and I kept checking if I had missed a page or a chapter hasn't loaded onto my kindle. 

Age Rating 15+. Adult ideas, murder, mentions of sex, off screen paedophilia.