A Thousand Steps Into Night by Traci Chee

Title: A Thousand Steps Into Night

Series: n/a
Author: Traci Chee
Source/Format: NetGalley (Publisher); eARC
More Details: Fantasy; Young Adult
Publisher/Publication Date: Clarion Books; March 1, 2022

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Synopsis from Goodreads...

In the realm of Awara, where gods, monsters, and humans exist side by side, Miuko is an ordinary girl resigned to a safe, if uneventful, existence as an innkeeper’s daughter. But when Miuko is cursed and begins to transform into a demon with a deadly touch, she embarks on a quest to reverse the curse and return to her normal life. Aided by a thieving magpie spirit and continuously thwarted by a demon prince, Miuko must outfox tricksters, escape demon hunters, and negotiate with feral gods if she wants to make it home again. But with her transformation comes power and freedom she never even dreamed of, and she’ll have to decide if saving her soul is worth trying to cram herself back into an ordinary life that no longer fits her… and perhaps never did.

It’s been a while since I last read anything by Traci Chee, but I was eager to check out her latest young adult novel: A Thousand Steps Into Night. Books that deal with curses are sometimes my favorite thing. There are many ways to interpret what constitutes as a curse. In one of Traci Chee’s newsletters, she talked about some of the work that went into A Thousand Steps Into Night, and I was interested in seeing how that would come in to play.

As a standalone, I liked this story. There were a lot of strong aspects about it including the endearing characters—Miuko as well as some surprising allies—to the world building and the major turning points that culminated in an excellent and satisfying conclusion.

The opening chapters got the ball rolling at a fast pace, but it was an effective opener for a story that barely had time to slow down and breath. There was a lot of ground to cover though, and so traveling made up a good chunk of the story. However, those bits were good, as it showed the setting through Miuko’s eyes as she experienced it. At times, the outward factors seemed to work against the characters, and there was literally danger around every corner from the ordinary and the supernatural. There were a few comical moments, but the tension (from the race against time and the ensuing chase) was the defining tone of A Thousand Steps Into Night.

So the characters: I liked them. The secondary cast, as well as the villain, were detailed and complex. The villain in particular had a clear motive, and his actions were a foil to Miuko’s ultimate quest.

All the hallmarks of a coming of age tale were present with Miuko (the sole POV) having to figure out who she wanted to be after being cursed. Awara was a society that was restrictive to women, and that was one of the big themes of the story. Add in a curse, and you’re pretty much everything they don’t want. So with her banishment from the only places and family she’s ever known, she was left in a difficult situation. Her endurance was admirable, but I also liked when she finally got some support and built those friendships she’d craved for. In the end, I appreciated Miuko’s characterization, and her story was so satisfying to watch playout.

A Thousand Steps Into Night was an interesting and enjoyable read.

About the author....

Traci Chee is a New York Times best-selling author and National Book Award Finalist. An all-around word geek, she loves book arts and art books, poetry and paper crafts, though she also dabbles at bonsai gardening, egg painting, and hosting potluck game nights for family and friends. She studied literature and creative writing at UC Santa Cruz and earned a master of arts degree from San Francisco State University. Traci grew up in a small town with more cows than people, and now feels most at home in the mountains, scaling switchbacks and happening upon hidden highland lakes. She lives in California with her fast-fast dog.

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Disclaimer: this copy of the book was provided by the publisher (Clarion Books) via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review, thank you! 

Music Monday (190): MØ, Ralf GUM, Mike Avery, Diamondancer, & Madonna

 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: I'm listening to MØ's new album, Motordrome. I'll have a full post about it later this month, but I wanted to mention one of my favorite songs: New Moon. I love the music video for it. 

 

Adri: This week I'm listening to Ralf Gum. It's Searching (Full Mix) featuring Mike Avery and All This Love For You (Original Mix) featuring Diamondancer.

Andrea: Hi all! I hope everyone is having a great week. I've always loved Frozen by Madonna, and now there's a remix... You can listen to both versions below. Which one do you like the best?

What are you listening to this week?

The Friday 56 (213) & Book Beginnings: Inferno by Dante Alighieri

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...

Belonging in the company of the works of Homer and Virgil, The Inferno is a moving human drama, a journey through the torment of Hell, an expression of the Middle Ages, and a protest against the ways in which men have thwarted the divine plan.

Beginning: "Midway in our life's journey, I went astray

from the straight road and woke to find myself 

alone in a dark wood."

56: "And he to me: "Your own city, so rife

with hatred that the bitter cup flowers over

was mine to in that other, clearer life."

Comments: One of my blogging goals of 2022 is to read The Divine Comedy. I started at the beginning with Inferno, and I liked it. I'm really looking forward to The Purgatorio. What are you reading this week?

All the Horses of Iceland by Sarah Tolmie

Title: All the Horses of Iceland

Series: n/a
Author: Sarah Tolmie
Source/Format: Netgalley; eARC
More Details: Historical-Fiction; Fantasy
Publisher/Publication Date: TorDotcom; March 1, 2022

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Synopsis from Goodreads...

A hypnotic historical fantasy with gorgeous and unusual literary prose, from the captivating author of The Fourth Island.

Everyone knows of the horses of Iceland, wild, and small, and free, but few have heard their story. Sarah Tolmie’s All the Horses of Iceland weaves their mystical origin into a saga for the modern age. Filled with the magic and darkened whispers of a people on the cusp of major cultural change, All the Horses of Iceland tells the tale of a Norse trader, his travels through Central Asia, and the ghostly magic that followed him home to the land of fire, stone, and ice. His search for riches will take him from Helmgard, through Khazaria, to the steppes of Mongolia, where he will barter for horses and return with much, much more.

All the Horses of Iceland is a delve into the secret, imagined history of Iceland's unusual horses, brought to life by an expert storyteller.

One of my most anticipated books of 2022 was All the Horses of Iceland by Sarah Tolmie. When I first heard about it last year, I was instantly intrigued by it.

The narrative style of All the Horses of Iceland reminded me of a nonfiction book I read earlier this year called Daughters of Chivalry by Kelcey Wilson-Lee. That book followed the lives of Edward I’s five daughters. In this book, there was a clear narrator, and it was basically written as an autobiography of a fictional historical figure. The story followed a man during his travels and chronicled the people he met, the places he went, the magic he encountered, and ultimately the horses that would give context to the title of the story.

I’m not very familiar with the sources Tolmie used for some aspects of the story. So, I found the author’s note in the back helpful for clarifying a few details I was unsure about after I finished reading.

All that to say:  All the Horses of Iceland was a slow and contemplative story, but I enjoyed reading it.

 

About the author....

Sarah Tolmie is the author of the 120-sonnet sequence Trio, published by McGill-Queen’s University Press (release date 1 April 2015) and the chapbook Sonnet in a Blue Dress and Other Poems (Baseline Press, 2014). She has also published a novel, The Stone Boatmen, and a short fiction collection, NoFood, with Aqueduct Press (both 2014). She is a medievalist trained at the University of Toronto and Cambridge and is an Associate Professor of English at the University of Waterloo.

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Disclaimer: this copy of the book was provided by the publisher (TorDotCom) via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review, thank you! 

Short Stories I Read in January

It’s the twenty-eighth of February. So it’s time to talk about the short stories, miscellaneous posts, and podcast episodes I read or listened to in January.

The Tinder Box by Kate Elliott (Tor.com, December 1, 2021)

One of my all-time favorite fantasy novels is Cold Magic. I read it some years ago, and it might be time for a reread. So, of course, I had to read The Tinder Box. Kate Elliott has a way with words, and that was abundantly clear with this retelling of Hans Christian Andersen’s tale. It adequately captured the substance of the story while also turning it on its head by reframing the narrative from the perspective of the witch instead of the soldier. What a way to start the year!

An Address to the Newest Disciples of the Lost Words by Vanessa Fogg (Lightspeed Magazine; Jan. 2022, Issue 140)

From Kate Elliott’s Tender Box, my next short fiction read was An Address to the Newest Disciples of the Lost Words by Vanessa Fogg. I adored this story. I appreciated the way Fogg put the titular “Lost Words” (and a play on language) to use in a story that was essentially a graduation speech. The narrator details the way the words shaped his course in life to others. Fogg’s lyrical prose detailed the wonder, ambition, joy, disappointment, and everything else in between. It was fantastic.

From around the web…

• Finding Comfort in the (Fictional) Apocalypse (Rachel Ayers; Tor.com, January 4, 2022)
• The Nature of Imagination in Michael Ende’s The Neverending Story (Margaret Fortune; Tor.com, January 6, 2022)
• Author Spotlight: Vanessa Fogg (Laurel Amberdine, Jan. 2022 (Issue 140); Lightspeed Magazine)
• Solving the Mystery of Turkish Delight (and Other Fantasy Anomalies) (James Davis Nicoll; Tor.com, January 6, 2022)
• Reading Is Time Travel (Molly Templeton; Tor.com, January 6, 2022)
• Writing Horses: Sketching “The Mind Horse” (Judith Tarr; Tor.com, January 10, 2022)