Nanoreviews: The Queen of Raiders, Across the Green Grass Fields, Remote Control

Kozloff, Sarah. The Queen of Raiders [Tor]

When I wrote about A Queen in Hiding almost a year ago, I wrote about how expectations set by publicity can be markedly different than the actual novel between the covers. I was wrong about my initial impressions of the novel (and thus the series), though O should have let that first novel take me more fully on the ride the author intended rather than allowing my expectations be set by the novel's promotion. In some ways that was unfair, but it's difficult to overcome incorrectly set expectations.

Now, with expectations set a bit more in line with what this series is (and is shaping up to be) I returned to the Nine Realms with The Queen of Raiders. This is a very different book, much more accomplished and confident, and possibly more thoughtful. It expands the scope of the world and while Cerulia does not get much closer to regaining her crown the threat to Weirandale and other nations is so much more fully realized.

The Queen of Raiders remains a bit of a throwback fantasy novel to Kate Elliott's A Crown of Stars and Melanie Rawn's Dragon Prince, but it absolutely works and succeeds in what it is trying to do and in the story Sarah Kozloff is trying to tell. Just wonderful.
Score: 7/10

McGuire, Seanan. Across the Green Grass Fields [Tor.com Publishing]

Despite very little in her novels being actually “comfortable”, Seanan McGuire has been something of a comfort read for me the past few years as I have practically devoured nearly everything she has written. I’m still catching up on a few things (Boneyards, Indexing, her short stories), but I have straight up mainlined her longer fiction. It’s just that I feel better having read one of McGuire’s novels, which is something that I can say about any number of writers, but reading most of those other writers does not often create in me the desire to read ten more of their books in a row - but that's exactly how I feel about Seanan McGuire.

There is a certain expectation of style and - if we’re talking October Daye or Incryptid - blood, mysteries, and the expansion of her worldbuilding. McGuire's books are damned delights. Heartbreak is not uncommon (often mine), especially in her Wayward Children series, of which Across the Green Grass Fields is the sixth.

Across the Green Grass Fields is a story of found family, which is not unusual for Seanan McGuire. Despite having loving and accepting parents, which is somewhat unusual for this series, Regan still finds herself estranged from her life. Regan is intersex, and disclosing that to someone she thought of as a friend caused everything to fall apart. When Regan goes through the door she is sure, and that brings her to the hooflands, a world of equines and destiny. There Regan finds abiding friendship and, naturally, threats to her wellbeing. Across the Green Grass Fields is not a softer story, but it is an often quieter one. Beautiful and haunting and heartbreaking as always.
Score: 7/10

Okorafor, Nnedi. Remote Control [Tor.com Publishing]

The presumed conceit of Remote Control was that Fatima was the adopted daughter of death, which is a pretty kick ass idea. That's not quite the story Okorafor is telling here, which caused a small amount of adjustment because while Fatima (later known as Sankofa) becomes a walking avatar of death - it's just not as formal as the novella's description might lead readers to believe.

Sankofa wields great accidental powers, but being Death is isolating. She is a creature to be feared and as much of Remote Control is sad as it is adventurous (though this is a bit of a road novella). Remote Control reads as a folk tale - not in the sense that the narrative doesn't feel quite real, but more in that it feels larger than life and unmoored from a particular time - it's set in a future with a robotic city, but Remote Control could almost be anywhen.
Score: 7/10



POSTED BY: Joe Sherry - Co-editor of Nerds of a Feather, 4x Hugo Award Finalist for Best Fanzine. Minnesotan. He / Him.

New Books Spotlight

Welcome to another edition of the New Books Spotlight, where each month or so we curate a selection of 6 new and forthcoming books we find notable, interesting, and intriguing. It gives us the opportunity to shine a brief spotlight on some stuff we're itching to get our hands on.

What are you looking forward to? Anything you want to argue with us about? Is there something we should consider spotlighting in the future? Let us know in the comments!

Bennett, Robert Jackson. Shorefall [Del Rey]
Publisher's Description

As a magical revolution remakes a city, an ancient evil is awakened in a brilliant new novel from the Hugo-nominated author of Foundryside and the Divine Cities trilogy. 

A few years ago, Sancia Grado would’ve happily watched Tevanne burn. Now, she’s hoping to transform her city into something new. Something better. Together with allies Orso, Gregor, and Berenice, she’s about to strike a deadly blow against Tevanne’s cruel robber-baron rulers and wrest power from their hands for the first time in decades.

But then comes a terrifying warning: Crasedes Magnus himself, the first of the legendary hierophants, is about to be reborn. And if he returns, Tevanne will be just the first place to feel his wrath.

Thousands of years ago, Crasedes was an ordinary man who did the impossible: Using the magic of scriving—the art of imbuing objects with sentience—he convinced reality that he was something more than human. Wielding powers beyond comprehension, he strode the world like a god for centuries, meting out justice and razing empires single-handedly, cleansing the world through fire and destruction—and even defeating death itself.

Like it or not, it’s up to Sancia to stop him. But to have a chance in the battle to come, she’ll have to call upon a god of her own—and unlock the door to a scriving technology that could change what it means to be human. And no matter who wins, nothing will ever be the same. 

Why We Want It: With the follow up to 2018's excellent Foundryside, Robert Jackson Bennett is a favorite of the Nerds of a Feather flock. We'll read whatever he writes.

Jingfang, Hao. Vagabonds [Saga]
Publisher's Description

A century after the Martian war of independence, a group of kids are sent to Earth as delegates from Mars, but when they return home, they are caught between the two worlds, unable to reconcile the beauty and culture of Mars with their experiences on Earth in this spellbinding novel from Hugo Award–winning author Hao Jingfang. 

This genre-bending novel is set on Earth in the wake of a second civil war…not between two factions in one nation, but two factions in one solar system: Mars and Earth. In an attempt to repair increasing tensions, the colonies of Mars send a group of young people to live on Earth to help reconcile humanity. But the group finds itself with no real home, no friends, and fractured allegiances as they struggle to find a sense of community and identity, trapped between two worlds.

Fans of Kazuo Ishiguro’s Never Let Me Go and Naomi Alderman’s The Power will fall in love with this novel about lost innocence, an uncertain future, and never feeling at home, no matter where you are in the universe. Translated by Ken Liu, bestselling author of The Paper Menagerie and translator of Cixin Liu’s The Three-Body Problem, Vagabonds is the first novel from Hao Jingfang, the first Chinese woman to ever win the esteemed Hugo Award. 

Why We Want It: We've been looking for Vagabonds for a few years now. After Jingfang's Hugo Award winning story "Folding Beijing", we've been looking to see what she would write next (only one of her subsequent stories have been translated into English). Vagabonds her Jingang's debut novel.

Kozloff, Sarah. The Cerulean Queen [Tor]
Publisher's Description

Sarah Kozloff's breathtaking and cinematic epic fantasy series The Nine Realms, which began with A Queen in Hiding, comes to a thrilling conclusion in The Cerulean Queen. 

The true queen of Weirandale has returned.

Cerulia has done the impossible and regained the throne. However, she's inherited a council of traitors, a realm in chaos, and a war with Oromondo.

Now a master of her Gift, to return order to her kingdom she will use all she has learned—humility, leadership, compassion, selflessness, and the necessity of ruthlessness. 

Why We Want It: We've been following Kozloff's debut series with four novels in four months and we want to see how it all ends. The first book, A Queen in Hiding, wasn't quite the novel we expected it to be but it also hooked us on reading more.

Roth, Veronica. Chosen Ones [John Joseph Adams Books]
Publisher's Description

SAVING THE WORLD ONCE MADE THEM HEROES. SAVING IT AGAIN MAY DESTROY THEM. 

Fifteen years ago, five ordinary teenagers were singled out by a prophecy to take down an impossibly powerful entity wreaking havoc across North America. He was known as the Dark One, and his weapon of choice—catastrophic events known as Drains—leveled cities and claimed thousands of lives. Chosen Ones, as the teens were known, gave everything they had to defeat him.

After the Dark One fell, the world went back to normal . . . for everyone but them. After all, what do you do when you’re the most famous people on Earth, your only education was in magical destruction, and your purpose in life is now fulfilled?

Of the five, Sloane has had the hardest time adjusting. Everyone else blames the PTSD—and her huge attitude problem—but really, she’s hiding secrets from them . . . secrets that keep her tied to the past and alienate her from the only four people in the world who understand her.

On the tenth anniversary of the Dark One’s defeat, something unthinkable happens: one of the Chosen Ones dies. When the others gather for the funeral, they discover the Dark One’s ultimate goal was much bigger than they, the government, or even prophecy could have foretold—bigger than the world itself.

And this time, fighting back might take more than Sloane has to give. 

Why We Want It: Veronica Roth's Divergent trilogy was compelling enough that we want to see what else she might have for us. The first novel in her Carve the Mark didn't quite, well, hit the mark - but it's time to give Roth another go with Chosen Ones. Prophecy and a Dark One in North America is different enough.

Scalzi, John. The Last Emperox [Tor]
Publisher's Description

The Last Emperox is the thrilling conclusion to the award-winning, New York Times and USA Today bestselling Interdependency series, an epic space opera adventure from Hugo Award-winning author John Scalzi. 

The collapse of The Flow, the interstellar pathway between the planets of the Interdependency, has accelerated. Entire star systems—and billions of people—are becoming cut off from the rest of human civilization. This collapse was foretold through scientific prediction . . . and yet, even as the evidence is obvious and insurmountable, many still try to rationalize, delay and profit from, these final days of one of the greatest empires humanity has ever known.

Emperox Grayland II has finally wrested control of her empire from those who oppose her and who deny the reality of this collapse. But “control” is a slippery thing, and even as Grayland strives to save as many of her people form impoverished isolation, the forces opposing her rule will make a final, desperate push to topple her from her throne and power, by any means necessary. Grayland and her thinning list of allies must use every tool at their disposal to save themselves, and all of humanity. And yet it may not be enough.

Will Grayland become the savior of her civilization . . . or the last emperox to wear the crown? 

Why We Want It: The first two volumes of The Interdependency have been straight up excellent and we're excited to see how Scalzi closes out the trilogy. Interestingly enough, this is the first time Scalzi has committed trilogy. New Scalzi is always a cause for celebration.

Vo, Nghi. The Empress of Salt and Fortune [Tor.com Publishing]
Publisher's Description

With the heart of an Atwood tale and the visuals of a classic Asian period drama, Nghi Vo's The Empress of Salt and Fortune is a tightly and lushly written narrative about empire, storytelling, and the anger of women.

A young royal from the far north, is sent south for a political marriage in an empire reminiscent of imperial China. Her brothers are dead, her armies and their war mammoths long defeated and caged behind their borders. Alone and sometimes reviled, she must choose her allies carefully.

Rabbit, a handmaiden, sold by her parents to the palace for the lack of five baskets of dye, befriends the emperor's lonely new wife and gets more than she bargained for.

At once feminist high fantasy and an indictment of monarchy, this evocative debut follows the rise of the empress In-yo, who has few resources and fewer friends. She's a northern daughter in a mage-made summer exile, but she will bend history to her will and bring down her enemies, piece by piece.  

Why We Want It: We're always interested in the novellas from Tor.com Publishing, but in a year filled with highly anticipated novellas Empress of Salt and Fortune is right up near the top that list. We're here for everything about this novella.


Joe Sherry - Co-editor of Nerds of a Feather, 3x Hugo Award Finalist for Best Fanzine. Minnesotan. He / Him.

A Queen in Hiding, Book Promotion, and Setting Expectations

A Queen in Hiding is Sarah Kozloff’s debut novel, an epic fantasy that “[imagines] a world awaiting the return of the queen” which is a nice riff off of Tolkein, though the novel shares little other DNA with Lord of the Rings beyond the author’s frustration that Lord of the Rings would not pass the relatively low bar of the Bechdel test.

That’s not what piqued my interest in A Queen in Hiding, though. I can be a sucker for a good piece

of marketing and Tor’s decision to publish all four books in consecutive months told me that the publisher, at least, thinks they have something special on their hands. It puts me in mind of the launch of Naomi Novik’s Temeraire series and Jeff VanderMeer’s Area X novels, to reference two series which could not be any more different except in their excellence. Naomi Novik is an interesting point of comparison because the back cover compares the series favorably to Novik’s Uprooted, which is another point in its favor.

Epic fantasy has not been a singular thing over the decades, but there has been a general and evolving shape to the genre over time. There are certain names that frequently come up during conversations about the epic fantasies of the late 80’s and early 90’s- names like Raymond E. Feist, David Eddings, Tad Williams, Terry Brooks, and Robert Jordan. There is a well earned stereotype of “farmboy fantasy” where a young man comes up from being a kitchen servant or farmhand only to discover their destiny as a man of power, whether that power comes from a magical heritage or their lineage as a long hidden prince destined to save the world or restore the throne of their land to prominence and heal the wounds of a broken nation. It’s a thing.

This is incredibly high level and doesn’t get into the nuance of the totality of what epic fantasy has been over the years, but those stereotypes were part of a definite trend and marketing push for what epic fantasy looked like. That trend gradually shifted to more complex and much darker and violent work. You would recognize names like George R. R. Martin, Joe Abercrombie, Mark Lawrence, Steven Erikson, David Anthony Durham. There was a tonal shift in the genre.

The “general shape of the genre” was never truly representative of the whole even as writers like Elizabeth A. Lynn, Jennifer Roberson, Janny Wurts, Tanith Lee, Tamora Pierce, Ellen Kushner, Kate Elliott, Melanie Rawn, Elizabeth Moon, Jacqueline Carey, Katherine Kurtz, and Katharine Kerr are so often left out of the larger genre conversation and history. Many of these women were writing fantasy with a greater depth and complexity than the novels that received the widest popularity. Fantasy is never just one thing, even when particular popular conversations may make the genre seem narrow.

A Queen in Hiding owes a lot to the traditions of epic fantasy, more than just Kozloff’s inspiration by frustration over Tolkien. Despite the promotional comparison to Uprooted, Kozloff has written a novel which is a bit of a throwback to the feel of epic fantasies of the 1990’s. Kozloff does something different in the set up. Rather than set up a farm girl fantasy where there is a lost princess who doesn’t know that she was a member of the royal family, Kozloff lets that young princess know everything that she lost and grow up isolated from everything that she knew without understanding how she could find that path to regain the throne her mother was chased from.

Past that set up, though, A Queen in Hiding is very much that traditional fantasy novel with a hidden young royal growing up in a rural farm community, though with a look at what is going on in the wider world. It’s that look at the wider world that breaks with , with the ill-fated adventure of Queen Cressa and the scheming of Matwyck and glimpses into other nations with viewpoint characters introduced late in the novel.

I would generally consider it unfair, or at least unnecessary, to discuss a books promotional copy when talking about a novel but what the publisher has chosen to advertise in regards to A Queen in Hiding is vastly different than the novel Sarah Kozloff has written and I think *that* is something worth thinking about.

Here’s the copy in question:

Orphaned, exiled and hunted, Cérulia, Princess of Weirandale, must master the magic that is her birthright, become a ruthless guerilla fighter, and transform into the queen she is destined to be.

But to do it she must win the favor of the spirits who play in mortal affairs, assemble an unlikely group of rebels, and wrest the throne from a corrupt aristocracy whose rot has spread throughout her kingdom.

Tor’s marketing push suggests the novel is far more modern than it actually is. It also presents this idea that A Queen in Hiding is a more action packed novel focusing on the quest and active fight to regain the throne.

Reading A Queen in Hiding is an exercise in setting expectations because while the threat to Weirandale’s throne is evident from the start, the escape from the castle and the country doesn’t begin until even a quarter of the way through the novel and other major events come far later in the novel than the promotion would have you expect.

A Queen in Hiding is this uneasy blend of being a throwback epic fantasy that feels several decades older than it is while also being a somewhat more modern fantasy novel than many of the epic fantasies of thirty years ago - though writers like Tamora Pierce, Kate Elliott, Janny Wurts, Melanie Rawn, and many others would certainly have words with anyone suggesting the shape of epic fantasy in the 1990’s was even remotely monolithic.

That’s the tradition Sarah Kozloff seems to be working from. This may be a weird reference, but when I wrote about James Barclay’s Raven novels quite a while back, I wrote about how *those* books seemed to be in conversation with the novels published more than ten to fifteen years prior to Dawnthief (1999) rather than more contemporaneous novels. That’s where A Queen in Hiding fits into a larger genre conversation.

I get that comparing A Queen in Hiding to Uprooted makes sense from a modern popularity sense, but it’s just that I seldom see references to Elliott and Rawn and other writers who came up in that era as points of comparison and A Queen in Hiding would be a very good opportunity for that comparison. It’s just probably not as salable as comparing the novel to the more recent success of Naomi Novik’s Uprooted.

The problem, such as it is, is that however you set the expectation A Queen in Hiding doesn’t quite live up to it. This isn’t a modern fantasy novel despite its recent publication. It doesn’t stand up with the best of modern fantasy, but it also doesn’t reach the heights of those novels from thirty years ago either. A Queen in Hiding is good and solid novel, but it isn't well served by the uneven and inaccurate marketing and promotion.

What I’m most curious about is how the next three novels build on A Queen in Hiding and if they justify the publisher’s comparisons to Uprooted or if they at all justify my comparisons to Elliott and Rawn.

POSTED BY:  Joe Sherry - Co-editor of Nerds of a Feather, 3x Hugo Award Finalist for Best Fanzine. Minnesotan. He / Him.