Book 76: The King of Attolia by Megan Whelan Turner

 Boy!!! The third book in the Queen's Thief series, this one has the most DELIGHTFUL point of view character, Costis. He is a guard for the palace in Attolia, and his unreliable narrator is great in a totally different way to the first two books: because we know more about Gen and his relationship with Irene than he does, and so the dramatic irony of his interpretation of what's going on versus our suspicions makes the entire story fascinating. This is especially true because Costis is just so darn likeable, which means that even when he's completely wrong you still sympathize with him, and understand why he feels the way he does about what's happening. 

The plot of this story centers on how Gen can be accepted as the King of Attolia, without destroying the Queen's authority and allowing the barons to ferment dissent against her reign. And of course he goes about it in the most Thief-esque way possible, and makes sure that no one actually sees him for all that he is until it's too late (for them). It is an excellent third book of what I think of as being the first trilogy of two in this series. 

Grade: A

Book 75: A Taste of Honey by Kai Ashante Wilson

 I bought this book basically knowing one and a half things about it: that it's gay and set in a vaguely historical setting. And both of those are true! The setting feels roughly like a Mediterranean/North African culture, and the main character is Aqib, the youngest son of a man who manages a menagerie for the court, and who lost a lot of status when he married Aqib's mother. For complicated reasons, the whole family depends on Aqib, who is beautiful and effeminate, to marry a high born woman and allow the entire family to rise in society again. But this becomes very complicated for Aqib when he meets Lucrio, a captain who is stationed in their city, and who Aqib falls deeply in love with the first night they meet. 

The structure of this book is really interesting, as is the way that language is used to distinguish the characters and their worlds, and the overall narrative thrust. I began to get quite worried about how the story would end, because you want Aqib and Lucrio to choose each other so much, but there is a lot that leads you to believe one or both of them may not. I really liked where it took us, although I could have done with even more focus on the love story, in some ways. A really lovely read, and an interesting follow up to Haunting in a lot of ways. 

Grade: B 

Book 74: The Haunting of Tram Car 015 by P. Djeli Clark

This novella was a free download from Tor this fall, which tend to be extremely hit or miss for me--sometimes I discover a new author I really love, and other times it's more of an exercise for my speculative fiction reading brain. This definitely falls into the first category for me! 

It's set in Cairo at the turn of the 20th century, but it's a Cairo that exists in a world where magic was released about forty years prior, and obviously everything changed. We follow two spiritual investigators, basically, who are a crime solving team mired in bureaucracy. The writing is delightful and the set up is extremely interesting, and all of this is done to the backdrop of women fighting for their right to vote, and revolution occurring all around. The team of Hamed and Onsi are a classic pair of the older, more established investigator being paired with the young, enthusiastic, fresh out of university recruit, and the way they navigate the mystery and the city and everything in between is extremely enjoyable. A very fun read. 

Grade: B