I’ve decided that, at least for the foreseeable future, I’m going to be participating in WWW Wednesdays, which is a meme hosted over at Taking On a World of Words. To take part, you just answer the three questions below, and link back to TOaWoW!

State of the Sia update: Today was doctors and blood tests and I am Tired. I’ve spent a lot more time watching Schitt’s Creek with the hubby (we only just discovered the show) than I have reading lately, and I feel vaguely guilty but also Tired. (Also, the show is awesome and not Tired in the least.) My fibro is slowly starting to behave itself again though, which I’m deeply grateful for.

So now let’s talk about the reading I have been doing!

WHAT ARE YOU CURRENTLY READING?

A Ferry of Bones & Gold (Soulbound #1) by Hailey Turner
Genres: Queer Protagonists
Representation: Gay MC, secondary characters of colour, M/M or mlm
Goodreads

When the gods come calling, you don’t get to say no.

Patrick Collins is three years into a career as a special agent for the Supernatural Operations Agency when the gods come calling to collect a soul debt he owes them. An immortal has gone missing in New York City and bodies are showing up in the wake of demon-led ritual killings that Patrick recognizes all too easily from his nightmares.

Unable to walk away, Patrick finds himself once again facing off against mercenary magic users belonging to the Dominion Sect. Standing his ground alone has never been a winning option in Patrick’s experience, but it’s been years since he’s had a partner he could trust.

Looking for allies in all the wrong places, Patrick discovers the Dominion Sect’s next target is the same werewolf the Fates themselves have thrown into his path. Patrick has been inexplicably attracted to the man from their first meeting, but desire has no place in war. That doesn’t stop Patrick from wanting what he shouldn’t have. Jonothon de Vere is gorgeous, dangerous, and nothing but trouble—to the case, to the fight against every hell, and ultimately, to Patrick’s heart and soul.

In the end, all debts must be paid, and Patrick can only do what he does best—cheat death.

This has been recced to me dozens of times on the basis that I love KD Edwards’ Tarot Sequence, but I’d picked it up and put it down at least thrice. But today I listened to a sample of the audiobook while waiting at the doctor’s office…and just kept going. I definitely see where the comparisons to the Tarot books come from, but Turner does a lot more telling than showing and Patrick is no Rune. (And is distinctly lacking a Brand.) That said, it’s very readable fun and I’m not sorry I finally got into it. I suspect once all the telling-not-showing is done and the stage is set, the worldbuilding is going to be a lot more interesting than most urban fantasies. So yay!

WHAT DID YOU RECENTLY FINISH READING?

The Goose Girl (The Books of Bayern, #1) by Shannon Hale
Genres: Fantasy
Goodreads

Mythopoeic Fantasy Award nominee for Children's Literature 2010 (The Books of Bayern series).

She was born with her eyes closed and a word on her tongue, a word she could not taste. Her name was Anidori-Kiladra Talianna Isilee, Crown Princess of Kildenree, and she spent the first years of her life listening to her aunt’s stories and learning the language of the birds, especially the swans. And when she was older, she watched as a colt was born, and she heard the first word on his tongue, his name, Falada.

From the Grimm's fairy tale of the princess who became a goose girl before she could become queen, Shannon Hale has woven an incredible, original, and magical tale of a girl who must find her own unusual talents before she can lead the people she has made her own.

I picked this up on a whim…and inhaled the entire thing in less than 12 hours. I still remember when I first discovered Goose Girl, way back when in Picadilly’s Waterstones, and how magical the rich paper of the book was. Turns out it’s every bit as beautiful as I remembered, even as an ebook. Hale manages to stick very close to the original fairytale – I think all of the elements are there, from the golden cup to the horse’s head – while massively expanding upon it in gorgeous and original ways, like the magics of the three kinds of Speaking. It’s deft and graceful without being simplistic, intricate without being complicated, and I know that makes no sense, but you’ll just have to read it for yourself to see what I mean.

WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU’LL READ NEXT?

First, Become Ashes by K.M. Szpara
Genres: Queer Protagonists
Representation: Gay MC, Nonbinary MC, M/M or mlm
Goodreads

The Fellowship raised Lark to kill monsters.
His partner betrayed them to the Feds.
But Lark knows his magic is real, and he'll do anything to complete his quest.

K. M. Szpara follows Docile, one of the most anticipated science fiction novels of 2020, with First, Become Ashes, a fantastic standalone adventure that blends pain and pleasure and will make readers question what is real, and what is magical.

Lark spent the first twenty-four years, nine months, and three days of his life training for a righteous quest: to rid the world of monsters. Alongside his partner Kane, he wore the cage and endured the scourge in order to develop his innate magic. He never thought that when Kane left, he'd next see him in the company of FBI agents and a SWAT team. He never dreamed that the leader of the Fellowship of the Anointed would be brought up on charges of abuse and assault.

He never expected the government would tell him that the monsters aren't real--that there is no magic, and all the pain was for nothing.

Lark isn't ready to give up. He is determined to fulfill his quest, to defeat the monsters he was promised. Along the way he will grapple with the past, confront love, and discover his long-buried truth.

I should really be diving hard into Alina Boyden’s Gifting Fire, but – First, Become Ashes!!! I am so excited for this book and can’t believe it’s FINALLY waiting for me on my ereader!!! LOOK AT ALL THESE EXCLAMATION MARKS, THAT IS HOW EXCITED I AM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thus endeth the weekly check-in! How’s everyone else doing?