Sarah Zettel

Mixed feelings about this one. I picked it up before I knew that Anderson is a pen name for Sarah Zettel, whose SF I already like but who has since moved on to romance and mystery. The plot is complex, the world is murky, there's too many POVs that only complicate the story. But I kept turning the pages, trying to figure it all out. The writing was good, and several aspects of the world are intriguing: immortality, the electronic companions implanted in the minds of the characters, the Guardians who maintain the peace using superior technology. In some ways, although the stories are very different, certain aspects of the world reminded me of Zettel's other work, Kingdom of Cages.

I liked the main character (Therese), a mature woman who has been called back to service from retirement and her family. I really liked the ending, but I didn't completely understand it, tbh. In some ways, the book was too long. In others, it wasn't long enough. Therese's back story plays a significant role, yet it isn't fleshed out enough to really grasp all the ways it influences the action. I feel like this story is a sequel to a book that was never written. But it is still worth reading.… (more)

As I admitted when I read the novel before this one, stories about fairies aren't my go-to when it comes to fantasy fiction. But since I've sometimes got personal reasons for checking out books outside of my usual preferences, I dove into this YA historical fantasy series.

Granted, I'll also reiterate my admission that because dust and Dust Bowl themes don't appeal to me when it comes to fiction, I skipped to Books Two and then Three of this trilogy. The two book covers featuring the biracial heroine and the story backdrops of the Golden Age of Hollywood followed by Jazz Age Chicago secured my interest. Key nuggets of Callie's backstory in both books kept me from feeling lost. And because a particular wish/dream of Callie's for the future especially spoke to me in Book Two, I wanted to see what would become of that wish of hers in Book Three.

It turns out that that wish, while a huge part of Callie's future life, is only a tiny part of this story. Plus, although the epilogue ties up the heart of the matter stemming from Callie's teenage years wonderfully, I was also left with a couple of questions at the end—including in regard to a single word that leaves the wonderful ending pretty open-ended after all. That is, it opens the possibility for a book(s) about a future challenge for Callie...

But to my knowledge, there aren't any more books about her after this trilogy. And as of my time of reading, this third book is ten years old.

I mean, hey. I know that some authors do indeed bring back previous characters in new books even after a lot of time has passed. I myself have written (initially unplanned) sequels and such anywhere from a year to more than a decade after I first wrote about the characters involved. Still, knowing that this isn't the case for all authors and their characters, I tend not to hold my breath for potential future books that an author doesn't technically have to write, and that they haven't said they would.

So, yeah. I wish the author hadn't added that open-ended implication to the ending of this novel.

Even so, this was a fairly entertaining jaunt for me overall. While it isn't incredibly likely that I'll be reading any more books about a world of fairies (unless I happen to find a future book about Callie), I believe I'll stay on the lookout for more new-to-me "PG-13-ish" and milder historical fantasy. As historical fiction is my all-time favorite genre, it's no wonder that I've been finding historical mystery and historical fantasy to be appealing subgenres.… (more)

This was a pleasant listen - set in Regency London, it's a mystery related to the vaunted assembly rooms, Almack's. Rosalind Thorne is a penniless former member of the ton who now survives by being useful to society matrons - helping with events, correspondence, etc. There is a lot of detail about society mores and what was allowed and not. I found some of the detail to be a tad much, but overall, this was fine. I don't think I liked it enough to seek out more in the series, though.

3.5 stars… (more)