ARC Review: Skyward Inn by Aliya Whiteley

Title: Skyward Inn

Series: n/a

Author: Aliya Whiteley
Source/Format: Publisher; eARC
More Details: Science Fiction
Publisher/Publication Date: Solaris; March 16, 2021

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Synopsis from Goodreads...

Skyward Inn, within the high walls of the Western Protectorate, is a place of safety, where people come together to tell stories of the time before the war with Qita. But safety from what? Qita surrendered without complaint when Earth invaded; Innkeepers Jem and Isley, veterans from either side, have regrets but few scars. Their peace is disturbed when a visitor known to Isley comes to the Inn asking for help, bringing reminders of an unnerving past and triggering an uncertain future. Did humanity really win the war? A thoughtful, literary novel about conflict, identity and community; a fresh new perspective in speculative fiction from critically-acclaimed writer Aliya Whiteley. Jamaica Inn by way of Jeff Vandermeer, Ursula Le Guin, Angela Carter and Michel Faber, Skyward Inn is a beautiful story of belonging, identity and regret.

Skyward Inn is a story that’s brimming with potential, and it is a technically good story with one exception—though that came down to personal taste in the end. There were a number of aspects that were notable about the story, which I thought deserved praise.

Skyward Inn is the type of speculative fiction that has those big science fiction concepts woven into a story that explores the human element as well as colonialism—though it uses a fictional alien race as the vehicle to do this. At times, it reminded me of The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet, because much of the story was about the characters. The line on the book cover, “This is a place we can be alone, together,” is often repeated throughout the book. Whiteley does do a good job hammering this point home, and the overall execution of it was good.

Another notable aspect of Skyward Inn was the speculative elements, which ties in to the ending of the book. The twist was fantastic, and my overall impression of the story was on the higher end because of it. The imagery it invoked was eerie and surreal at some points.

Where I ran into a problem was with one particular character's perspective. Fosse, the son of one of the main characters, ended up having a role that was integral. However, while the later instances in his POV were fine, his introduction wasn’t my thing, and some of his internal monologue got to be unsettling. At one point I considered skipping over his sections, but I didn’t end up doing that because as I mentioned his side of the story was integral. It just wasn’t my favorite part.

Skyward Inn was good, and I would consider reading more books by Whiteley.

About the author....

Aliya Whiteley writes across many different genres and lengths. Her first published full-length novels, Three Things About Me and Light Reading, were comic crime adventures. Her 2014 SF-horror novella The Beauty was shortlisted for the James Tiptree and Shirley Jackson awards. The following historical-SF novella, The Arrival of Missives, was a finalist for the Campbell Memorial Award, and her noir novel The Loosening Skin was shortlisted for the Arthur C Clarke Award. She has written over one hundred published short stories that have appeared in Interzone, Beneath Ceaseless Skies, Black Static, Strange Horizons, The Dark, McSweeney’s Internet Tendency and The Guardian, as well as in anthologies such as Unsung Stories’ 2084 and Lonely Planet’s Better than Fiction. She also writes a regular non-fiction column for Interzone.

Website 

Disclaimer: this copy of the book was provided by the publisher (Solaris) via Netgalley for this review, thank you!

Favorite Recipe: Blueberry Pie

Hello readers! Today I’m going to talk about a new favorite recipe: blueberry pie. Today is also the anniversary of when we sat down and created Our Thoughts Precisely in the blog creation part of Blogger. That was in 2013. I really cannot believe it has been eight years already. Time sure does fly! Any way onto Our Favorite Recipes!

Around Thanksgiving 2020, Breana and I made the Butter Flakey Pie Crust by Melissa Stadler again (and our previous thoughts are here). This time we used milk and vinegar instead of water like we usually do. It came out great. However, by the time we finished pouring our sweet potato pie in, we discovered that we had no need for two crusts. For some reason, I started thinking about blueberry pie. I immediately went to find a recipe. I eventually found one with a crumb topping –my favorite! It is Blueberry Crumb Pie by Bethany Webber.

I made it according to the instructions. But, at the suggestions of the comments I decided to add cornstarch. A lot of commenters used between 1 and 3TBS, but I used about 3 ½. Additionally, I did not thaw my blue berries. Instead, I poured the filling in (it was kind of sandy), and shook the crumble over by the spoonful. 

Ironically, what started with finding a way to use the last crust, ended with me having extra pie filling. Andrea mentioned cheesecake. And then I got an idea which ended up being the most recipe mixing I have ever done. In the mean time I put the pie in the oven. Later I had to add 10 minutes to my time because the center was still cold (maybe thawing would have helped it cooked faster?) 

Of course I was out of a pie shell. So I had to make another one. This time, I made the crust from the Tasty 5 Minute Microwave Cheesecake recipe. (Off topic this recipe is pretty good, I’m pretty sure I modified it a tiny bit. I don’t remember what I did though; it’s been a long time since I made it.) I quadrupled the crust measurements to 8 graham crackers and 4 TBS of melted butter –which then became 5 because it still seemed dry. I added about ½ tsp of cinnamon too. I packed that into a parchment lined pie pan (honestly I just wanted a quick clean up). For the cheesecake, I made half of Philadelphia’s 3-step Cheesecake. I messed up and added the full ½ cup of sugar. I ended up adding sour cream and it balanced it out just fine. 

I added the cheesecake, and then the pie filling on top. By this time, the blueberries had started thawing and made the mixture thick like sludge. So, it ended up really heavy and swirled on top of the cheese cake. Finally I added the crumble. Since I was randomly doing this, I decided to change the temperature to 350°F. I figured this would be in between for the pie (375°F) and cheesecake (325°F).

And then everything was done. Except, in another twist, I still had extra crumb topping… Breana and I thought of making a plain cheese cake so we could be done. And eventually we did.

The blueberry pie was amazing. I think, in past post, I’ve mentioned desserts not being too sweet. Well, those are my favorite desserts, and that’s where this falls. The same thing for the cheesecake, the flavors melded nicely. Adding as much cornstarch as I did seems to make it thicken well. The only time it was slightly runny was when I cut it warm. After being in the refrigerator, it became stiff and no longer runny, at all.

Anyway that’s all. Whew, this one was a little longer than I’d usually write, but I wanted to be in-depth. Thanks for reading. What’s your favorite pie flavor?

The Friday 56 (195) & Book Beginnings: Heroine Complex by Sarah Kuhn

   

The Friday 56 is a weekly meme hosted by Freda's Voice where every Friday you pick a book and turn to page 56 or 56%, and select a sentence or a few, as long as it's not a spoiler. For the full rules, visit the the page HERE

Book Beginnings is a weekly meme hosted by Rose City Reader that asks you to share the first sentence (or so) of the book you're reading.

Synopsis from Goodreads...

Being a superheroine is hard. Working for one is even harder.

Evie Tanaka is the put-upon personal assistant to Aveda Jupiter, her childhood best friend and San Francisco's most beloved superheroine. She's great at her job—blending into the background, handling her boss's epic diva tantrums, and getting demon blood out of leather pants. Unfortunately, she's not nearly as together when it comes to running her own life, standing up for herself, or raising her tempestuous teenage sister, Bea. But everything changes when Evie's forced to pose as her glamorous boss for one night, and her darkest secret comes out: she has powers, too. Now it's up to her to contend with murderous cupcakes, nosy gossip bloggers, and supernatural karaoke battles—all while juggling unexpected romance and Aveda's increasingly outrageous demands. And when a larger threat emerges, Evie must finally take charge and become a superheroine in her own right... or see her city fall to a full-on demonic invasion

Beginning: "I peeked over the countertop, tightening my grip on my phone. Its plastic case was slippery with palm sweat. It was a cold sweat, though. No warmth. Never any warmth if I could help it."

56: "Despite the restaurant's name, there didn't seem to be an actual whistle theme to speak of. No collection dotting the walls, no wacky whistle-themed foo items, no "Mr.Whistle" managing the place."

Comments: I recently reread Sarah Kuhn's Heroine Complex. It's such a fun story, and I highly recommend it. What are you reading this week?

I Listened to III by Banks

 

Back in 2019, I never did get around to writing about III by Banks. It was one of the albums I was looking forward to that year, and I listened to it off and on through 2020. Recently, I finally sat down and gave it a proper listen. III is the kind of album that grew on me the more I listened to it, and by February 2021 I had a whole new appreciation for it.

III is a good album. Banks’s vocals are always fantastic, and I can say that the same quality can be found here too. Banks delivers a wide range of sound that incorporates all the hallmarks of pop with a somewhat sharper edge, which often treaded into electronic and synth as well. There weren’t dance tracks here, as the album seemed to favor a heavier sound. It worked well, given the emotionally charged and brooding atmosphere that seemed to be a signature of III—even more so than Banks’s previous album, The Altar.

A song like Stroke comes to mind as a good example of what I mean along with: Godless, Sawzall, Look What You’re Doing To Me, and The Fall among others. All you have to do is pay attention to the lyrics.

Music Monday (150): Laura Mvula, Jocelyn Brown

 Rules:

• Music Monday is a weekly meme hosted by Lauren Stoolfire at Always Me that asks you to share one or two songs that you've recently enjoyed. For the rules, visit the page HERE 

Breana: Laura Mvula is going to have new music later this year, and I'm excited about it. She also recently released an EP with new version of some of her songs and a cover of I'm Still Waiting by Diana Ross. I like all of  the songs on 1/f. Check out the original and the new version of Sing To The Moon.

Andrea: This week I'm listening to Somebody Else's Guy by Jocelyn Brown.

Have an amazing week!

What are you listening to this week?