Book Review - Heaven to Wudang by Kylie Chan

It is with some embarrassment that I admit that while I had seen Kylie Chan’s books many times before I had always assumed that she was American for some reason and that her books were YA.
Kudos goes to Rowena Cory Daniells and her series of interviews of female fantasy writers (here) for correcting of the first of those misunderstandings and Kylie Chan for the second.

Heaven to Wudang was a review copy sent to me by the publisher.  Unfortunately it’s the third book in a trilogy (or sixth if you count her Dark Heaves Series).  But as regular readers will know I’ve never let chronological order get in the way of reviewing.

So the beginning of Heaven to Wudang was a little rough.  Book series sometimes develop their own nomenclature, or conventions, shorthand for oft repeated actions, situations etc., and I found this with Heaven to Wudang initially.  Fortunately I have  background in martial arts, and watching Honk Kong cinema. My reading-fu is strong.
The Synopsis

“Human and demon, heaven and hell battle for the fate of the world in this fabulous bestselling series ... The demons that could control stones and elementals have been defeated, but the most powerful of Simon Wong′s associates still remains to create almost undetectable copies of humans and Shen. This demon allies with Kitty Kwok to prepare a torturous trap for Emma and Simone from which they may never return. Wudang Mountain is enveloped by dark foreboding as Xuan Wu begins to reappear -- sometimes human, sometimes turtle, but always without memory. Emma and Simone are in a race against time as they try to rescue Xuan Wu ... before the demons capture him.”
HarperCollins Australia

Relationships and Issues
The strength of Chan’s writing I found to be in her character development, that even though this book was tying up lose ends and rounding of story arcs it was the characters and my emotional connection to them that pulled me through. 

Chan’s also to be commended for being willing to include the topics of gay marriage, gender swapping and HIV all in one tale, without making the book a vehicle for author voice.
If there was one thing that did drop me from the story it  was the cultural cringe I experienced when Emma used the ubiquitous ‘mate’, but I got over it.

Splendid Vistas both Beautiful and Gruesome
One thing you get when you mix ancient and expansive culture with the paranormal/mystical is the chance to play with some truly magnificent scenes.  There is one depiction of the Dragon’s realm that features a giant sentient tree that the inhabitants live in, that struck me as particularly imaginative and well described. 

There’s also a point at which the characters discover a demonic meat market where the meat turns out to be human, that I think hit the tone spot on.  Gruesome without making me want to lose my lunch.

Verdict
Chan delivers a happy mix of mysticism, romance, and action. Not to mention some nice pop culture references. I’ll happily go back and read the start of the series.

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eBook Review - The Space Between by Scott J. Robinson

The Space Between is a self published title by Queensland author Scott J. Robinson.  It’s Scott’s first novel, though he has been writing for some time. 

The cover quote from Jack Dann holds true there is some serious talent displayed in The Space Between, some very smooth writing. 

It’s an ambitious type of story for a first timer, here’s the synopsis to give you an idea:

 

Synopsis:

The story is set in the multiverse of Ananake and draws on myths and legends of ancient Earth, weaving a tale that moves from Sherwood Forest to distant worlds and outer space. It involves, amongst other things, magical gateways, Area 51, sentient spacecraft, a 50 thousand year old intergalactic war, elves and dwarves, wonder bras, Machu Picchu and strong coffee.

Kim thinks her day is going badly when her friend fails to meet her at Sherwood Forest. Then an annoying knight hits on her and she is stalked by an elf and a dwarf. But then the aliens attack and things really start to go down hill. Collecting strange companions along the way she finds herself in a race to stop the war with the aliens before things really get out of control.

Why is it ambitious?

I think it’s an ambitious task, because the author is playing with lots of genres, in this case fantasy and sci-fi with a little thriller and adventure/mystery thrown in.  There’s lots of good ideas in the story and I found it a little difficult to suspend my disbelief when it came to some elements of the story line.  Some of the plot I found a little convenient, as if Robinson wanted to get all his great ideas in. It was, not surprising then, that the original ideas that Scott came up with were what really drew me into the story.

What I liked

I absolutely loved the character Keeble and Scott’s take on Dwarven Culture. I could read an entire fantasy series with the ideas that he developed around the idea of Dwarven singing and rock working alone.  Most fantasy dwarves are riffs off Tolkien, bearded, live underground and mine too deep.  But Robinson gives us snippets in The Space Between, of a culture that has far more depth.  The same can be said for the development of the character Tuki, a Moai.  We get a fully developed original culture that I find refreshing.  The most enjoyable parts of the novel for me were the ones that focussed on these two characters.

What I didn’t

I couldn’t invest myself in Kim, the main character and the one from contemporary Earth. As a reader I just didn’t connect. Mel the Elf was a bit the same, though she was an “aloof” elf, these characters had nowhere near the “meat” or interest of Tuki or Keeble.

Some of the humour seemed misplaced to me.  There was some good one liners and pop culture references but I felt that this detracted from the story rather than added to it.  If we are going to suspend our disbelief and accept the premise of this story I think it’s better to go a more serious action adventure route.

Summing Up

I read a fair bit of self published stuff, enough to come across the dregs and to find some real gems too. 

Scott displays solid writing, very smooth in parts, indeed it reminded me of Dr Who or Torchwood novelizations – you accept the premise (which might be a stretch i.e. Torchwood defending humanity from alien incursions sans all help from other nations) whole heartedly and then take the events and characters seriously.

I think this one is worth a look, if you are interested in something a little different than straight fantasy or Sci-Fi - a solid start.

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Galactic Chat 07- Featuring an Interview with Kelley Armstrong

As promised here is my interview with international best selling author Kelley Armstrong, courtesy of the Galactic Chat Podcast. You play directly from the player below or checkout the Galactic Chat series of podcasts here.

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