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Day: February 7, 2018

WWWednesday: February 7, 2018

Conventions:

Those of you who might be attending WorldCon 76, consider taking a tour of the Winchester House. New concessionaires have bought the place and they are taking a new tack. I hope it includes more about the real Sarah “Sallie” Winchester; successful businesswoman and inventor and less of the completely fictionalized “Ghosts! A Curse!” narrative. (H/T to Terry for this link.)

Awards:

The Hugo nominating period is open. More details are here.

File 770 reported the finalists for this year’s Bran Stoker Awards.

February 7th, 2018. Marion Deeds | World Wide Wednesday | 2 comments |

Tarnished City: Powerful social commentary and engaging characters

Tarnished City by Vic James

As much as I enjoyed Vic James’ 2017 debut novel, Gilded Cage, I thought there were a few missteps and odd choices, and I wasn’t sure what that meant for the second book in her DARK GIFTS trilogy, Tarnished City (2018). I am pleased to report that Tarnished City blew all of my expectations out of the water, improving on the first novel in every possible way and preparing readers for world-shaking consequences with a true nail-biter of a cliffhanger ending.

Gilded Cage: The abuse of power by the super-powered

Gilded Cage by Vic James

In the world of Gilded Cage (2017), there are those who are called Equals ― but there’s a deep divide between Equals, who have magical Skills, and the commoners, the Skilless, and they are decisively not equal. In England the Equals are both the aristocrats and the sole parliament, and they hold all the power, with the magical ability to enforce it.

One of the ways the Equals use their power is to require all commoners to spend ten years of their lives as slaves,

City of Blades: Inspiring and heartbreaking

City of Blades by Robert Jackson Bennett

Marion: City of Blades is the second book in Robert Jackson Bennett’s THE DIVINE CITIES series, which tells several sides of the story of a major international cultural conflict. Saypur, a civilization that has been oppressed by the Continent for centuries, rose up and subdued its oppressors by killing their gods. In the wake of the Saypuri revolution and its conquest of the Continent, all of the Continental Divinities have vanished,

February 7th, 2018. Marion Deeds, Kate Lechler, Bill Capossere and Stuart Starosta´s rating: 5 | Robert Jackson Bennett | SFF Reviews | 4 comments |