Heidi Heilig

Nixie has grown up on board the Temptation, a time-travelling pirate ship, with her father and a small crew. Together they can travel to any place, real or mythological, as long as they have a map. But Slate, the ship's captain and Nix's father, desperately wants to find a map of Hawaii in 1868, to go back in time and save his love, Nix's mother, who died at birth. And finally, in present-day New York, he finally finds what he's looking for; but if he succeeds, will he change the past and show more thereby endanger his daughter's life?

Firmly aimed at the female YA readership, I'm sure this novel will find many fans who want to see a departure from the ubiquitous supernatural romance novels. In Nixie readers will find someone to relate to easily: Heidi Heilig has done an excellent job of describing a girl feeling adrift and at sea (pardon the pun) in a situation that's beyond her control, but trying her best to be brave by taking charge of her fate. The fact that she's not terribly close to her father, who at first comes across as a self-absorbed and obsessed individual, puts an interesting spin on the central dynamic.

Written in the first person, Nixie comes across as a typical teenager in an untypical situation, but she is a likeable and feisty heroine who can think on her feet, while also unsure of herself when it comes to romantic feelings. In that respect, the love triangle with Nixie at the centre felt slightly predictable and conforming to the cliché of what YA novels for girls should feature to attract high sales. But the other ingredients also commend the book: exotic locations (even if they're rather centred on one particular island); an intriguing blend of historical fact and fantasy; an engaging set of characters; adventure, danger and intrigue. Oh, and I could read a whole book just about Kashmir.

The novel ends in a satisfying way and could well be viewed as a stand-alone book, though I've read that the author is planning to write a sequel for a duology. I'm certainly hooked enough to want to know how the story continues, and will board the Temptation again when the second volume becomes available.

(This review was originally written for Amazon's Vine programme.) show less

I'm really into the narrative techniques, setting, and characterizations Heidi Heilig uses in For a Muse of Fire, but the plot didn't really do much for me. I think I would have liked it a lot more in a different place or time, but in October 2018, I was only a mostly-right reader for this book.

To talk about the authorial choices - I admire Heilig a lot for what she does here, and find the style of the book to be fun and compelling. It's a mixed POV narrative that takes cues from epistolary show more novels where each POV uses a different technique. The main narrative is a direct first-person story, a secondary narrative to provide contrast to the first uses stage directions and dialogue, and an explicative narrative to clarify things happening beyong the first-person POV uses letters and telegrams. There's even a repeating element of sheet music and song that felt like yet another narrative or pov, though we only see the sheet music two or three times.

Since the main character is a shadow puppetteer and her adventuring partner is the owner/operator of a burlesque theatre, these narrative choices are highly suitable. The contrast of four narrative styles, each with its own role to play in the story, also plays against the colonial themes. The styles with the most depth and force of detail (the sheet music and first-person pov) both stem from the colonized people. Therefore, the person whose parents are both colonized and colonizer is a little more removed - the stage drama - and the coldest and least personable letters come from the colonizers themselves, the ones who are inciting war and riots. It sounds a little trite to describe it this way, but I did appreciate the nuances. The colonizers, the military men, don't really care about the people in the land they wish to own, after all.

This is not a nice story. It is about colonization, oppression, and the way a subjugated people react. It's also a story about living with mental illness and what that means in a fantasy world where necromantic magic is a thing that exists - and what happens when someone has the magic to see and manipulate ghosts, and also suffers mental illness, and also lands right in the middle of the guerrilla dispute of her people against the oppressive regime. There are references to death, rape, suicide, murder, depictions of some of the same, and generally anger and ugliness suffuse many of the characters' motivations. It's not for nothing that Heilig insisted on a Content Note in the forematter, which I greatly appreciated. I was able to prepare myself to expect far more graphic and intense scenes than were presented - though they were still unsettling. Some of the descriptions of the main character's manic or depressive moods were uncomfortable in their familiarity.

(I have to confess...I don't actually remember any of the character's names, about 2 months after reading. I barely knew the main character's name while I was reading, because of the first-person POV and little need to use names in the dialogue.)

The environment in the book is rich and vivid. It's inspired by 19th century southeast Asia, particularly the French colonies, and uses French-inspired or actual French words just as other fantasy stories use their own made-up languages. The history of the colony and magic is complex and felt like it could have been a real thing, or people thought it was real in 1865. I wish I could have been reading a story more suited to my own mood at the time, one with more justice and coziness. There is much violence, but it's a realism sort of thing, the first skirmish in a long war, and the bad guys don't get their comeuppance here.

And as a final paragraph, to discuss the plot itself - it is the Girl Knows Injustice, Joins a Rebellion general idea. She meets up with a boy along the way and falls in love (or at least develops a crush), there's a ragged band of rebels, and evildoer ruler and minions. This one is livened by the addition of ghost spirits that the girl puts into her puppets to make them move (a dire secret) and side characters from the burlesque (plus, of course, the gorgeously detailed setting).

I like the book okay, really enjoy the authorial choices outside of the plot, and think it's a great addition to bookshelves. But I wasn't the right reader at the time, and I'm not sure if I'll take a chance on the next in the series. (But I might, if only to see how Heilig continues the narrative styles, and if she adds to them.) show less

[Insert Fangirling Gif Here]

(Full disclosure: I received a free electronic copy of this book for review through Edelweiss.)

Nix’s life began in Honolulu in 1868. Since then she has traveled to mythic Scandinavia, a land from the tales of One Thousand and One Nights, modern-day New York City, and many more places both real and imagined. As long as he has a map, Nix’s father can sail his ship, The Temptation, to any place, any time. But now he’s uncovered the one map he’s always show more sought—1868 Honolulu, before Nix’s mother died in childbirth. Nix’s life—her entire existence—is at stake. No one knows what will happen if her father changes the past. It could erase Nix’s future, her dreams, her adventures . . . her connection with the charming Persian thief, Kash, who’s been part of their crew for two years. If Nix helps her father reunite with the love of his life, it will cost her her own.

(Synopsis via Goodreads.)

###

Heidi Heilig's debut novel (dear gods, can this really be her first novel? it's so damn shiny!) The Girl from Everywhere is the sort of book that makes me wish I was a more eloquent writer - if only so I could craft a review that does it justice. As it is, I'm fighting the urge to post a whole slew of my favorite Firefly gifs and call it a day.

Instead of the usual review, allow me to bullet point this bad girl. (The bullet points keep me on point and spoiler-free.) Here are twelve reasons why you should read The Girl from Everywhere, like, yesterday.

1. The seamless blend of reality and fantasy.

The Girl from Everywhere is nothing if not an epic mashup of genres - and some of my favorites, to boot. Time travel screams SF to me, and yet Slate's ability to Navigate is also wonderfully fantastical. We have historical fiction and even some travel writing in the Hawaiian backdrop, and along with more mundane settings, like contemporary New York City, The Temptation also visits places that only exist in myth.

Though Slate is the one able to break through the Margins of a map, to reach a different time and place, it's Nix's knowledge of history and mythology that truly steers the ship. Many of The Temptation's voyages are in pursuit of the 1868 Honolulu map - or rather, in search of items that might make their quest more fruitful and convenient: a never-ending pitcher of wine from Greece, a bottomless bag from 1600s Wales, an army of terra cotta warriors from the Qin dynasty.

So very much to savor and explore after the story's over and the wait for the sequel is driving you bonkers!

2. Nix + Kash.

Kashmir is an acrobatic Persian thief who sought refuge on The Temptation two years ago. Smooth, debonair, and oh-so-worldly, Kash is highly crushable. He's also clearly in love with his BFF Nix, which is problematic for a number of reasons. Most notably: a) He is dependent on her father the Captain's largess as long as he's a member of the crew; b) Slate is volatile and apt to threaten that which Nix holds dear to get his way; and c) Kash hails from a mythical place, one which is at risk of disappearing should belief in it cease to exist. So their relationship is complicated, to say the least.

3. The mythic animals.

The ship's motley crew isn't just human, but non-human as well. Among the wonders you'll find on The Temptation: sky herring, taken straight from a Nordic myth about the Northern Lights, used to light the way (they're partial to bee pollen from Whole Foods); fire salamanders from 1800s French folklore, handy for heating the cookstove; and of course Nix's pet sea dragon (see #7 below).

4. Spacetime pirates!

Firefly meets Back to the Future - at sea!

5. A bank heist so epic it might just change the course of history.

In exchange for the elusive 1868 Honolulu map, a shadowy group of American expats demands that Slate and his crew rob the Hawaiian Royal Treasury of $2 million - or all its gold and valuables - in 1884. Their end game? Destabilize the monarchy, thus laying the groundwork for the annexation of Hawaii. Like much of the story, this outlandish, Oceans Eleven-type heist is firmly rooted in history.

6. The breathtaking Hawaiian setting.

Heidi Heilig grew up in Hawaii ("riding horses and raising peacocks"), and her love of the island's natural beauty permeates every word and phrase - from the glassy shores of Princess Pauahi's estate to the wild mountains, haunted by the Hu'akai Po, The Night Marchers. Also impressive (and infectious) is her knowledge of Hawaii's history, which imbues the story with a necessary sense of compassion and social justice.

7. It's got Swag with a capital "S."

Swag is the name of the sea dragon who once belonged to Nix's mother, Lin; Nix bought him off of Joss during one of their many fortuitous meetings. Though he costs a small fortune to maintain - his diet consisting mostly of pearls - Swag earns his keep, and then some: during their trip to ancient China to amass an army, he saves Nix from certain death at the hands of a clay artisan brought to life.

Better still: HE LIVES TO FIGHT ANOTHER DAY! (Thank you, Heidi, for not sending Swag to a farm upstate, where all literary dogs and dog-like creatures seem to end up.)

8. Joss is kind of a badass.

An opium den-turned-apothecary owner, Joss is highly adaptable and has an uncanny knack for rolling with the punches - including ones you can't even begin to imagine. Joss is responsible for introducing Nix's parents back in the day, when Lin packed pipes for a living and Slate was a frequent customer. Initially positioned as one of the story's villains, the truth is that Nix might not exist if it wasn't for Joss and her cunning machinations.

9. Time travel and its pesky paradoxes.

One of the things I love the most about this story are the uncertainties, which boggle the mind and provide a wellspring of tension. While Nix wants to see Slate happy (and drug-free - a state only achieved in the company of his beloved Lin), she doesn't know if, in helping to change his past, she might unwittingly erase her future. Map after map threatens to unravel the life Nix has built upon The Temptation; yet, wracked with grief over her mother's passing (Lin died in childbirth), Nix feels compelled to help just the same. This constant push and pull propels the story forward, leaving the reader rooting for Nix as a seemingly inevitable fate barrels down on her. Talk about yer roller coaster rides.

Likewise - and thanks to Kash's mythical birthplace - Nix's relationship with Kash is imbued with the same mixture of hope and anxiety. You can't help but ship them - they are so clearly perfect together - and yet you fear for Nix's heart, should Kash ever disappear into the ether. (Or is Nix's belief in him enough to keep Kash in the here and now? THE POSSIBILITIES!)

10. An unexpected history lesson on American imperialism.

See #5 above. This is a story steeped in history - and not the pre-packaged, whitewashed version meant for popular consumption, either.

11. Heilig's masterful writing.

To wit:

"We were sailing toward the edge of the map of Calcutta under a sky so starry it looked sugared; the night would never be as beautiful after the Industrial Revolution."

"Hapai Hale. The very first hint of my existence was marked on the page. I was written into that map as a landmark."

"It scandalized the foreigners, who only saw what they were looking for. The hula tells a story, but they weren't listening."

"I was a closed book, a rolled map, a dark territory, uncharted; I was surprised by my urgency, but after all, to be known was to exist."

12. Diversity like whoah.

The crew of The Temptation was hand-plucked by Slate from different places in space (and time!), resulting in a crew that's as diverse as it is talented:

Nix Song is half Chinese on her mother Lin's side. Mom worked packing pipes in an opium den, which is where she met Slate. Slate is (presumably) white with blonde hair, a mess of tattoos, an addiction to opium, and a propensity to bouts of depression and blackouts. While Lin is native to 1800s Hawaii, Slate was born in New York City in 1965. Nix was born in Honolulu in 1868 in Auntie Joss's opium den, but Slate whisked her away to The Temptation when she was just a baby.

First mate Bee is Na'ath, an ex-cattle herder from Sudan. Her wife Ayen died years before Bee joined the crew, but Ayen never truly left her; in accordance with Bee's beliefs, Ayen continues to travel with Bee as her "ghost wife." Bee often blames Ayen for trivial things: improper thoughts blurted aloud, or a chore gone wrong. When she was younger, a man - jealous of her marriage - attacked Bee, leaving her with a noose-like scar around her throat and a raspy voice.

Cook and lookout Rotgut is an ex-monk from China.

Kashmir came to the ship as a stowaway from the Vaadi Al-Maas ("Diamond Valley"), "a reference to the story of Sinbad and the Rocs." At the time, The Temptation was using a French map of Persia circa 1740. Kashmir has "golden skin" and dark curls and is fluent in Farsi, Arabic, English and French. While in Honolulu circa 1884, he and Nix are subjected to a slew of racial slurs by a drunken boxer. And this is hardly the first time Kash has been treated unfairly because of his skin color; as Nix/Heilig keenly notes, "No matter the era, cops never liked Kashmir."

Additionally, Auntie Joss is Chinese, and we meet several indigenous Hawaiians, such as Kalakaua, the last King of Hawaii, who Nix and Kash encounter at a bar while out drinking. Nix ruefully observes that the King, like so many of his kinsmen, will succumb to alcohol addiction.

Overall, I give this one a very strong 4.5 stars, rounded up to 5 where necessary. I must admit that, about 60% of the way in, the breadth of maps floating around, coupled with the many shady agendas, started to confuse me a bit. But all was revealed in the end!

Also, as much as I adore Blake, I'm a little nervous about the potential love triangle that Heilig set up at the end. I don't eschew love triangles en masse, but I will get stabby if Blake comes between Nix and Kash. WHO ARE CLEARLY MEANT TO BE, OKAY. Does Blake know what it feels like to have his very existence dependent on a crumbling piece of paper? Didn't think so. (Caution: This book will give you FEELINGS.)

http://www.easyvegan.info/2016/02/15/the-girl-from-everywhere-by-heidi-heilig/ show less

Adventure, Romance, and Plenty of Wibbly Wobbly Timey Wimey Stuff

(Full disclosure: I received a free electronic ARC for review through Edelweiss.)

“Our lives are before us, not behind.”
“That depends on where you’re standing on the timeline.”
“What of free will?”
“Some people don’t believe free will exists.”
“Some people don’t believe in demon octopus, either.”

###

“You might wish many things, but that doesn’t mean they’ll come true. This doesn’t seem like show more that sort of fairy tale.”

###

Fresh off their escape from 1884 Hawaii, Nix, Kashmir, and the crew of the Temptation arrive in Slate's timeline - present-day New York City. Here they hope to catch their collective breaths, but it's not long before Nix is pulled into yet another mystery/adventure.

After discovering that her grandmother Joss left a prophecy about Nix on Slate's back ("She said you’ll end up just like me ... You’ll lose the one you love! ... To the sea."), Nix is approached by a mysterious stranger. Dahut promises Nix that her father, the sailor Donald Crowhurst, will show Nix that it's possible to change the past - and future - but only if she meets him in the mythical city of Ker-Ys. Desperate to save Kashmir - for surely Kashmir is the loved one referenced in the prophecy, yes? - Nix reluctantly agrees. But in rescuing Kash from his destiny, will Nix erase her own past?

But what good was a warning if she had already seen it happen? Did she expect me to simply brace myself for the inevitable? Or did she want me to try to change it? The thought surfaced like a bloated body; bile burned on the back of my tongue. For years, I had watched my father try to do that very thing, dragging me in his wake, unsure whether each journey would be my last.

The Ship Beyond Time has so many of the elements that made me fall in love with The Girl from Everywhere: a cast that's as diverse as it is interesting; a harmonious blend of fantasy and reality, mythology and history; and a really great romance. It was lovely watching the relationship between Nix and Kash develop, especially considering the many wrenches thrown at them via the inevitable wibbly wobbly timey wimey stuff. For example: if mythic worlds are willed into being by their Navigators, what does that make Kashmir? Nix's literal dream guy? That's got to muck with a guy's sense of self, I tell you what.

Chock full of adventure, The Ship Beyond Time is a fast and satisfying read. "Swashbuckling" comes to mind, even though The Ship Beyond Time lacks the pirate vibe of the original (aside from Kash's pockets full of gold - more evocative of The Goonies than Pirates of the Caribbean - the story is sadly absent any epic heists). The ending sets the stage for what promises to be a pretty amazing sequel. Here I am picturing a long-haired Christopher Lloyd doing one of those flash card, "Where is Ofelia?"-type messages for Slate.

That said, the story line involving James Cook made me vaguely uneasy. Though my knowledge in this area is lacking, you don't need to be Cook's biographer to know that the mapping of Hawaii was detrimental to the Indigenous people who already lived there. Nix's hand is forced; she has to rescue Cook because without him, she and her mother Lin might not exist. Yet as, reviewer Native25 on Goodreads points out, very little consideration is afforded to those whose Cook's voyages do/did hurt. It felt like this element deserved more of a pointed analysis than it received.

Also, though perhaps less importantly, I would've loved to have seen more of Bee and Ayen; their romance seems at least as epic as Nix and Kash's, or Slate and Lin's. Ditto Rotgut and the menagerie of mythic animals that have joined The Temptation over the years. Part of what made The Girl from Everywhere so great was the eclectic supporting cast, but here it rather feels like they're eclipsed by the budding-yet-maybe-doomed relationship between Nix and Kash.

http://www.easyvegan.info/2017/08/01/the-ship-beyond-time-by-heidi-heilig/ show less