Anna Kashina

Originally posted on Tales to Tide You Over

Shadowblade is a wonderful story about loyalty, honor, and doing the right thing in an environment ripe with treachery and scheming. While having some similarities to high fantasy, this world has a distinct Arabian Nights feel in both the scenery and the approach to certain problems.

The various cultures are elaborate, and grounded in history and circumstance, making them solid even in their mythology. The blend of science and what appears to be show more magic is steeped in cultural roots both those forgotten by all and those kept alive through the efforts of a class of historian healers.

Yes, I’m biased toward Middle Eastern cultures, but the world setup is intriguing and complex enough to draw any reader.

There are many layers running beneath the main tale, and each informs or twists the known events beautifully. On the surface, it’s a heroic story of overthrowing a brutal, corrupt regime. But the more you learn, the more a mystery unfolds from within the plot.

To make this come about, the historians construct a plausible background using law and tradition to create firm grounding beneath their actions. The mystery comes into play as this background seems to follow close to what little remains known and raises questions about who the main players really are. There are several plausible links with significant consequences even though circumstance and history deny both reader and characters the facts necessary to prove construct or truth.

The balance of myth, deliberate influence of the characters’ understanding, and truths known only to a limited group makes every moment rife with fascinating possibility. The neat thing about this is how I had my suspicions, many of which proved true, but with so much shifting and deliberate manipulation, I couldn’t fix on an answer. I remained open to various possibilities until the big reveal. Even better, when I got the answer, I knew enough about the main characters to choose a side no matter how my sympathies had been triggered by the various positions.

There is a large cast with Naia and then Karrim at the center of it all while the healer Gassan and historian Mehtab run a close second. I don’t remember who had a POV scene and whose positions became evident through observation (beyond these four), but the cast members play distinct enough roles in the unfolding story that I never got confused.

Naia is a complicated person unwilling to keep her head down at the cost of others while Karrim is her perfect match in more than just blade skills. The machinations surrounding them are not their own, but don’t think they are in any way passive participants. While staying true to the intent behind their orders, they both choose the path of honor even when it goes against their wishes. They’re good people with rare skills and set into play at a tumultuous time when flexibility and intent are key to defending the empire they swore to protect from both external and internal attacks.

This is not a sweet novel. There is violence, sensual scenes, and moral struggles. Each forms a critical piece of the story where politics, personality, history, and emotions ranging from revenge to passion impact the complex plotting. The characters are dynamic. You come to love, hate, respect, and/or revile them. Whether you burn with their struggles or cheer their defeats, I doubt you can stand separate from these events. I certainly couldn’t.

I fell head first into this story and resented any distractions that pulled me from it. The plot raises questions without laying out a clear path so there’s much opportunity to speculate, and the end proved satisfying even where it didn’t follow my expectations. It’s a worthy visit to a vibrant, fascinating world.

P.S. I received this ARC from the publisher through NetGalley in return for an honest review. show less

Short story collections, especially those by many authors, tend to be a very mixed bag of the good, the bad and the meh. Once Upon a Curse (a collection of reworked folk/fairy tales linked by the notion of a curse) has all three, but why talk about the bad and the meh? I'd rather focus on some of the standout tales.

I requested this ARC because Iknew it contained a Peter Beagle story,and I was not disappointed with his contribution. Titled "Come Lady Death," it has that quality that many show more Peter Beagle pieces have, a sort of bright and vivid, sharp edged, pictorial quality, rather like viewing a tapesty that tells a story. The characters are somewhat two-dimensional because it is not a character-story; it's a concept-story of a jaded elderly woman who decides to make her next party a real showstopper - by inviting Death to be a guest. It's got a lovely ending.

A new writer to me was Cindy Lynn Speer, who contributed several tales to the collection; by far the strongest was the final story, "But Can You Let Him Go." Speer combines Cinderella stories from many cultures to form her own version, narrated by the "fairy godmother," herself under a curse until she can repair a fatal error committed in her youth. As rich as cheesecake.

Anna Kashina's story, "Mistress of the Solstice," is (I assume) a retelling of a Russian folk tale, and it is delightful because it is both novel and strangely familiar - a bit like meeting a distant relative and hearing a family phrase on her lips. I understand that she is bringing out a novel, also called Mistress of the Solstice, and I am assuming that the novel fleshes out this story - in which case, I will certainly be buying it.

And finally, I have to mention a story I did not like - but which I think has some powerful potential. "Frayed Tapestry" by Imogen Howson is a retelling of the Persephone myth, and it has some delicious ideas (Persephone remembers herself when she tastes her own blood, the only fluid untainted by Lethe), but it comes apart rather tragically at the end. I really, really want Howson to try again with Persephone - perhaps make a novel out of this story and give its characters more flesh and more to do. I will totally read that book. show less

I would like to thank NetGalley & Angry Robot for granting me a copy of this e-ARC to read in exchange for an honest review. Though I received this e-book for free that in no way impacts my review. Normally I'd give this book 3.5 stars, but since I'm required to give full number rankings, I'm rounding it up to 4 stars, based upon the first book and potential of the story line.

Kara has achieved something that no Majat has ever managed – freedom from the Guild!

But the Black Diamond assassin

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Mai has been called back to face his punishment for sparing her life. Determined to join his fight or share his punishment, Kara finds herself falling for Mai.

But is their relationship – and the force that makes their union all-powerful – a tool to defeat the overpowering forces of the Kaddim armies, or a distraction sure to cause the downfall of the Majat?

Picking up essentially where the first book left off, the story seamlessly moves forward. Mai is struggling to retain his poker face after receiving a letter from the Guildmaster himself. A letter ordering him to return to the Majat stronghold, most likely to face his punishment for disobeying his previous set of orders. At least that is what everyone is speculating about, including the lovely, and lethal, Kara.

However Kara is determined to share Mai's fate, as he put his life on the line to save hers. Since Mai won't share the contents of his letter she assumes the worst - that he is heading back to face his death. But it's in the journey back that things become more complicated for Kara, as she struggles with feelings for Mai that she didn't know she possessed - or at least had never acknowledged before.

Meanwhile Crown Prince Kythar is struggling with his own feelings, or feeling. He is suffering from raging jealousy, for he's seen how Mai looks at Kara. And Mai is older than Kyth, more cosmopolitan, and seems to have a glamor about him that draws women to him like a Christian Louboutin sample sale.

At the heart of the story is the larger picture of a power struggle between good and evil, and on a more personal level there is a love triangle. Though the ages of those involved are relatively similar their responses are not. One is dealing with their first serious infatuation/love, as well as the first person they've been sexually involved with. Another has sexual experience but previously no emotional experiences to go with the physical. And the third is the most mature about this, having the most experience with those of the opposite gender. They are also simply more accustomed to not exposing any emotion, and they want the person they love to be as free to choose as possible - even if that choice has the power to shatter them.

Yet as the arc of the story peaks, so too does the love triangle and emotions of those involved. They have all made strides in maturing, and to some extent or another they are all ready for the situation to be resolved. Of the three I found the response of one to be particularly surprising, but in a positive way, giving me hope for their life's choices in the future. Each will have the power to shape countries, if not the known world, so it is crucial that they put this tangle of emotions behind them and look forward to the time when they can mutually work together for the benefit of all.

I found the end of the story to be rather surprising. It almost seemed to be the end of the series, yet the major conflict has yet to be resolved. Maybe it is simply because so much of the time in this book was expended on the love triangle. But then again maybe not. It almost felt as if Ms. Kashina had run out of steam for this story line, though she ended talking about the unresolved issue, so hopefully she'll put pen to paper (not literally!) and write the conclusion to this entertaining story. show less

This could have been a short story. Sure, I like detail and a look into the heads of the characters, but dedicating an entire chapter to overcoming the fear to cross a river is a bit much. Beyond that we have a rehashing of old worn-out fantasy cliches, forbidden magic, forbidden love, and the like. Maybe someone reading this as their first exposure to fantasy may enjoy it, but this would be a sad introduction indeed. Though, through all this, there is a hint at Kashina's true literary show more prowess, I do suspect that the future may hold promise for a more successful book by this young author.

I received this ARC through a Goodreads-Giveaway. show less