soupçon/ˈsuːpsɒn,ˈsuːpsɒ̃/ noun
1. a very small quantity of something; a slight trace, as of a particular taste or flavorSunday Soupçons is where I scribble mini-reviews for books I don’t have the brainspace/eloquence/smarts to write about in depth – or if I just don’t have anything interesting to say beyond I LIKED IT AND YOU SHOULD READ IT TOO!
Two books I loved, which I have nothing smart to say about beyond GO READ THEM!
Genres: Adult, Fantasy, Secondary World Fantasy
Representation: Minor trans characters
PoV: Third-person, past-tense
Published on: 1st October 2024
ISBN: 1250348285
Goodreads
In this new standalone, Hugo Award-winning author Nghi Vo introduces a beguiling fantasy city in the tradition of Calvino, Mieville, and Le Guin.
A demon. An angel. A city that burns at the heart of the world.The demon Vitrine—immortal, powerful, and capricious—loves the dazzling city of Azril. She has mothered, married, and maddened the city and its people for generations, and built it into a place of joy and desire, revelry and riot.
And then the angels come, and the city falls.
Vitrine is left with nothing but memories and a book containing the names of those she has lost—and an angel, now bound by her mad, grief-stricken curse to haunt the city he burned.
She mourns her dead and rages against the angel she longs to destroy. Made to be each other’s devastation, angel and demon are destined for eternal battle. Instead, they find themselves locked in a devouring fascination that will change them both forever.
Together, they unearth the past of the lost city and begin to shape its future. But when war threatens Azril and everything they have built, Vitrine and her angel must decide whether they will let the city fall again.
The City in Glass is both a brilliantly constructed history and an epic love story, of death and resurrection, memory and transformation, redemption and desire strong enough to burn a world to ashes and build it anew.
I received this book for free from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Vo’s prose and imagination are always breathtaking, but what struck me about City in Glass was the delicate precision of every detail. More than anything else I’ve read of Vo’s, this book felt like a deliberate work of art, something that has been created so carefully, so exactingly, over a long period of time. The picture it conjures in my head is of a watchmaker using tweezers and a loupe to put every minuscule gear exactly where it needs to be.
(I don’t, at ALL, mean that City in Glass feels manufactured – there’s no sense that this is synthetic, false. Only that it’s the work of a master craftsperson, and you can almost glimpse, or understand, how much craft and skill went into making it.)
From the topmost tower of the observatory to the floating docks on the beach, the city of Azril lit up with paper lanterns, with candles, with girls throwing flaming knives and boys in firefly crowns, with passion, with desire, with hatred, and with delight.
Beyond that, I don’t have much to say about it. It’s beautiful, of course. My breath caught in my throat on the very first page, as we see the angels coming to the city. I enjoyed reading it immensely. But I don’t feel like I got it – maybe my head’s too foggy to analyse what I read, or maybe Vo was saying things I didn’t hear. I was kind of disappointed that for most of the book, the city is in ruins – somehow I didn’t realise that would be the case – because I was most enchanted with the descriptions of the city while it was alive, and then the glimpses we got of its flourishing past. But I loved the casual queerness, I want to wrap the prose around me like a velvet blanket, and the ending surprised me enormously – which delighted me. (Love it when I can’t see the end coming!)
Strongly recommended, but you should look elsewhere if you want some smart analysis of this one!
Genres: Adult, Fantasy, Secondary World Fantasy, Queer Protagonists
Representation: M/M
PoV: First-person, past-tense
Published on: 15th October 2024
ISBN: 031657676X
Goodreads
Desperate to undo the curse binding them to each other, an impulsive sorcerer and his curmudgeonly rival venture deep into a magical forest in search of a counterspell—only to discover that magic might not be the only thing pulling them together.
Leovander Loveage is a master of small magics.
He can summon butterflies with a song, or turn someone’s hair pink by snapping his fingers. Such minor charms don’t earn him much admiration from other sorcerers (or his father), but anything more elaborate always blows up in his face. Which is why Leo vowed years ago to never again write powerful magic.
That is, until a mix-up involving a forbidden spell binds Leo to obey the commands of his longtime nemesis, Sebastian Grimm. Grimm is Leo’s complete opposite—respected, exceptionally talented, and an absolutely insufferable curmudgeon. The only thing they agree on is that getting caught using forbidden magic would mean the end of their careers. They need a counterspell, and fast. But Grimm casts spells, he doesn’t undo them, and Leo doesn’t mess with powerful magic.
Chasing rumors of a powerful sorcerer with a knack for undoing curses, Leo and Grimm enter the Unquiet Wood, a forest infested with murderous monsters and dangerous outlaws alike. To dissolve the curse, they’ll have to uncover the true depths of Leo’s magic, set aside their long-standing rivalry, and—much to their horror—work together.
Even as an odd spark of attraction flares between them.
I received this book for free from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Despite the horrifically ugly cover (I have no idea what Orbit was thinking, my sympathies to poor Doocy) this was a lot of fun! Leo is a snarky character who is well aware of his own flaws, which is a combination I enjoy very much, and although the worldbuilding is a bit simple for my taste, a) there’s more than enough story to compensate, and b) there are hints that things (such as the way magic really works) are a lot more complicated than Leo thinks.
The magic system…is also pretty simple, but it fit the story really well: there are sorcerers who can cast spells, and sorcerers who can write spells, and no one can do both. Spells are (usually) written, and once cast, you need a spell-writer to write it for you again if you want to cast it again. Somehow this has not resulted in the veneration of spell-writers, which I found quite odd.
But that really didn’t matter, because I had so much FUN reading this! It’s immersive, super readable, and just the right blend of escapist+serious. The stakes are high for the characters – the spell that forces Leo to obey any order of Sebastian’s is seriously screwed-up, and also gets worse the longer it’s in effect, and that keeps both the characters and the story moving along at a great pace. And everything that goes down in the Unquiet Wood? *chef’s kiss*
When I first got my arc, there was no mention of this being the start of a series, which made the ending (not a cliffhanger, but leaving some important things unresolved!) a surprise. I am MUCH relieved that the story’s not over, although I have no idea where the rest of the series (trilogy?) is going – we weren’t presented with any kind of Big Bad, so Sorcery ends without clearly aiming the characters at the Next Thing. We’ll just have to find out with the next book! (Which I am ABSOLUTELY going to be reading!)
I listened to the audiobook of The City in Glass twice in a row because I found it so compelling. I don’t know if I can tell you what it’s about but to me it seems to be about how destruction and mourning are a part of the act of living and carrying on. I listened to the latest episode of Our Opinions Are Correct which had a great interview with Nghi Vo where she describes the fundamental question behind The City in Glass as “Can you **** a library?” Spoilers: yes. I think that might be the ultimate insight into the text.
Clearly I need to check out Our Opinions Are Correct! (And now I want to take a peek at the audiobook too…)