I wasn’t sure what else to call this, but today I wanted to review City of Bones and Be Sure. I received both of these over the summer and wanted to give them some attention. Keep reading if you’re also a fan of Tor and Tor.com publishing!
Be Sure by Seanan McGuire
Children have always disappeared under the right conditions; slipping through the shadows under a bed or at the back of a wardrobe, tumbling down rabbit holes and into old wells, and emerging somewhere… else.
But magical lands have little need for used-up miracle children.
Meet Nancy, cast out of her world by the Lord of the Dead; Jack and Jill, each adopted by a monster of the Moors; Sumi and her impossible daughter, Rini.
Three worlds, three adventures, three sets of lives destined to intersect.
Eleanor West’s Home for Wayward Children
No Solicitations / No Visitors / No Quests
But quests are what these children do best…
Review
(Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher. This has not impacted my review which is unbiased and honest.)
I am so happy that Tor bundled the first three of the Wayward Children novellas together. You can find my reviews for each of them: Every Heart a Doorway, Down Among the Sticks and Bones, Beneath the Sugar Sky. The Wayward Children novella series is my favorite novella series still going. I love that Be Sure gives it another way for readers to discover the series and to read all three of them at once. You all didn’t have to wait for each installment and this conveniently packages the first three together. I hope this means that this is happening for the rest because this would make a perfect gift!
Plus look at the cover with all the doors! Also if you’ve read or heard the phrase “be sure” it just perfectly sums up the series! Seanan McGuire has the perfect whimsical voice that resonates with readers of all ages. This kind of fairy tale-esque logic which hides wisdom beneath words. If you’re an adult and have been looking for a book that brings you back to the wonders and whimsy of fairy tales, this is for you. Find Be Sure on Goodreads, Storygraph, Amazon, Bookshop.org, & Blackwells.
City of Bones by Martha Wells
The city of Charisat, a tiered monolith of the Ancients’ design, sits on the edge of the vast desert known as the Waste. Khat, a member of a humanoid race created by the Ancients to survive in the Waste, and Sagai, his human partner, are relic dealers working in the bottom tiers of society, trying to stay one step ahead of the Trade Inspectors.
When Khat is hired by the all-powerful Warders to find relics believed to be part of one of the Ancients’ arcane engines, he, and his party, begin unravelling the mysteries of an age-old technology.
This they expected.
They soon find themselves as the last line of defense between the suffering masses of Charisat and a fanatical cult, bent on unleashing an evil upon the city with an undying thirst for bone.
That, they did not expect.
Review
(Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher. This has not impacted my review which is unbiased and honest.)
City of Bones is an updated and revised version of an earlier release from Martha Wells. I’m a big fan of Wells’s Murderbot series so I was intrigued to be able to re-visit an earlier release. I love the idea of a revised version, to change things that have always bugged us, to improve, to use more skills we’ve learned as a writer. I haven’t read the “non” revised version, but this is the author’s preferred text so definitely read the new one with the stunning cover!
My favorite element of City of Bones was the world. You can tell from the cover that this world is one of detail and richness. From the beginning, even from the first few sentences, I was fascinated by this world of artifacts, ancient relics, and divided society. It’s one of the things I associate with Wells: these unique world building concepts. As City of Bones progresses, we become more immersed in this world, the lengths some will go to for their ambitions. A huge element I enjoyed in City of Bones is the way Khat and Elen are so different, her privilege, his treatment by others and her own people.
Khat was 100% my favorite of the book, not only because I could deeply feel for his treatment, dehumanization, and the prejudices against him, but for his own ambitions. How he’s walked away from his people who have hurt him, how he’s healed – with scars – from his past, and his own ambitions. I do wish we saw more of Khat – since he was my favorite – but also because I felt his story was the most ‘whole’ and compelling. We do see from Elen’s perspective, but I kept waiting to get back to Khat.
As a whole, I think there were some complicated and interesting conversations to delve into Khat, his identity as Kris, and the history which were a bit sidelined. But I enjoyed diving into this world and reading more of Wells world ideas. If you’ve also come into City of Bones from Murderbot, it’s definitely different think more desert wasteland meets archaeological relic seeking, but it has a fantastic world to glimpse. Find City of Bones on Goodreads, Storygraph, Amazon, Bookshop.org, & Blackwells.