Review: The Flying Sorcerers

The Flying Sorcerers by David Gerrold
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

Narrated by Patrick Lawlor
Presented by Brilliance Audio

DNF @ 67%

This one was straight up infuriating.

The plot revolves around a scientist strange magician being stranded amongst a primitive culture, where he must teach them his science strange magic so that he can build a craft to get him back to his homeland, 'up there in the sky beyond the dust cloud'.

The 'jokes' end up all being the same, where essentially some basic scientific principle of our world is described from the perspective of morons simple folk who believe magic is the source of all. And funny old Shoogar the Magician taking everything literally and getting offended about everything.

So as if that's not enough stupidity, this is such a primitive culture that, not only are women treated like slaves, they're constantly referred to as useless, stupid, pointless and only good for what they do for men. I get that the misogyny is supposed to be a 'funny' reflection of society but, jeez, give it a freaking REST now and then. I found zero humour in any of this 'ho ho ho, what a primitive sort these folks are.'

So I made it over halfway but then switched to 2.5x speed to try and get through the rest and it STILL wasn't enough. I think this is the first time I've ever DNF'd an audiobook because they're always so easy to just kinda half-listen to if they get dull, but I found this one was just too insulting to put up with. Life's too short.

The narrator did a decent job with what he had but the screeching voices just made this story all the more unbearable. Not his fault, though, so I'd easily give this narrator another go.

I guess this is for the dudes who enjoy low-brow humour and generally hate women but it was very much not for me.

With thanks to NetGalley for an audio ARC

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Review: The Rhino Keeper

The Rhino Keeper by Jillian Forsberg
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Narrated by: Caroline Hewitt
Presented by: History Through Fiction

A sweet story. A little too soft for my tastes but an interesting account of a strange morsel of history.

Once upon a time, a baby Rhino crossed the sea to travel around Europe.

This is a fictional account of that very true story - Clara the Rhinoceros lived til 1758, and in her 20-odd years toured Europe in the care of a man named Douwe Mout van der Meer (had to Google that spelling lol). They visited kings and queens, and Clara's likeness was captured by painters, sculptors and other artists.

If you're yearning for more details, this book will deliver. It gives a fictionalised account of each visit Clara made while adding heart and humour to the story through the characters. You can tell Clara's story was researched meticulously by the author because a Google search of Clara will essentially provide a synopsis for this story. I like that; I enjoy reading historical fiction and, through it, learning more about true figures of history.

The narrator does a great job in differentiating the characters, and she had quite a job pulling off so many accents. I found it easy to listen to, and easy to follow the action. Some of the names are quite unusual (to this modern-day Australian, anyway) so I had to look up the spelling of some to round out my comprehension a little.

I did find it a little slow at times - Clara makes many visits, so after a while they do tend to get a little same-same. But I am an impatient reader who loves action, so the pace grated on me a little. I think those with more patience will really enjoy the rich details of this novel, and be absorbed by Clara's story.

I do recommend this one because it's such an unusual, uplifting kind of story. Despite a rather short life, Clara seems to have made quite an impact on many and I think many readers will get a lot out of learning her story.

With thanks to NetGalley for an audio ARC

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Review: The Rhino Keeper

The Rhino Keeper by Jillian Forsberg
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Narrated by: Caroline Hewitt
Presented by: History Through Fiction

A sweet story. A little too soft for my tastes but an interesting account of a strange morsel of history.

Once upon a time, a baby Rhino crossed the sea to travel around Europe.

This is a fictional account of that very true story - Clara the Rhinoceros lived til 1758, and in her 20-odd years toured Europe in the care of a man named Douwe Mout van der Meer (had to Google that spelling lol). They visited kings and queens, and Clara's likeness was captured by painters, sculptors and other artists.

If you're yearning for more details, this book will deliver. It gives a fictionalised account of each visit Clara made while adding heart and humour to the story through the characters. You can tell Clara's story was researched meticulously by the author because a Google search of Clara will essentially provide a synopsis for this story. I like that; I enjoy reading historical fiction and, through it, learning more about true figures of history.

The narrator does a great job in differentiating the characters, and she had quite a job pulling off so many accents. I found it easy to listen to, and easy to follow the action. Some of the names are quite unusual (to this modern-day Australian, anyway) so I had to look up the spelling of some to round out my comprehension a little.

I did find it a little slow at times - Clara makes many visits, so after a while they do tend to get a little same-same. But I am an impatient reader who loves action, so the pace grated on me a little. I think those with more patience will really enjoy the rich details of this novel, and be absorbed by Clara's story.

I do recommend this one because it's such an unusual, uplifting kind of story. Despite a rather short life, Clara seems to have made quite an impact on many and I think many readers will get a lot out of learning her story.

With thanks to NetGalley for an audio ARC

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Review: The Core

The Core by Peter V. Brett
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I AM NOT OKAY.

I put this book off for a year because of the size of it, but as soon as I picked it up I was lost again in this incredible, epic world.

Everything about this series has been fantastic. The world building has been incredible, and the questions around religion and worship in particular have had me fascinated. I loved reading about the Krasians, despite them being a rather backwards, brutal people, because the nuances of their faith were so absorbing. I'm going to miss that. I'm going to miss these characters, and this world.

Beware ahead: This review will likely contain spoilers for previous books.

This book throws our heroes straight into the deep end. Arlen and Jardir - working together in an uneasy truce - have decided it's time to venture down into the Core to take care of this demon problem once and for all.

So straight up, I'm a happy girl because I LOVE Arlen and Jardir together. They're so different, but both honourable in their own ways (we'll just ignore that whole betrayal thing). They believe rather opposite things, but through the course of this book we see them start to finally understand one another a bit more. They've got a couple others along for the ride, and the group works well together.

Meanwhile, Leesha's making things happen as always in Hollow County, Abban's in a world of trouble, Inevera is plotting more plots, Ragen and Elissa are getting some decent air time, and a handful of other characters are stepping more into the spotlight here.

I do feel maybe it was a few too many perspectives - it does tend to slow the book a little and I can see how this might frustrate other readers. I think because I love the world so much, I was happy to hear a bit more about people and places and what was going down. But I did miss some characters and I wish we'd been able to spend more time with people like Abban, who has been such a crucial player in the previous books. I do think a few things were included mostly so that they could be tied up at the end. It all worked okay for me and I still blitzed through this book, but some may be frustrated by the diversion from Arlen's journey.

There's also a few things that I feel like we didn't get any kind of resolution for, but since I know there's a sequel series I'm not mad about it yet. I'm hoping a lot of my questions will be answered there while introducing a new generation. Otherwise, there's a few things that were included in this book that maybe weren't entirely necessary.

I did enjoy the array of demons we had in this book, but there were also some really badass ones that I wish we'd met before this book! The author was holding out on us, man! But the fight scenes and the creativity of the battles was just epic; the scale is always massive and there's a particular moment where a character makes an observation that really hammered that home for me.

There are just so many things about this series that I've loved. The pace has always been perfect for me, with plenty of action and horrific scenes of slaughter (both demon and human) that keep the stakes high. This is one of those series where you know no one is safe, and I loved that. The character building across the series has been brilliant, so by the end of this book (or their part in the story) you do feel like you really knew them and why they made the choices they did.

Honestly, I just can't gush about this series enough. It's been such a brilliant read and I'm so glad I started off my 2025 reading with this epic conclusion.

Really looking forward to reading The Desert Prince because I'm desperate for more of this world.

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Review: Don't Let the Forest In

Don't Let the Forest In by C.G. Drews
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Holy heck this was wild. WILD.

The author has such a unique way of writing that allows for full immersion in the scenes. The similes are crafted in such a way that you can easily feel what's happening and it enhances the reading experience so much. I know not everyone will love her style, but I personally can't get enough of it!

'He was so tired of suffering because he moved through the world differently from everyone else. This wasn't only about goddamn monsters. It was about how he never seemed able to cope, how the world didn't fit against his skin, how he felt too much and hurt too often and couldn't pack his emotions into neat, palatable boxes.' - page 288

I noted this quote because it sums up the book better than I could with my own words. The plot is about two boys fighting monsters, but it's also about Andrew and his personal struggles.

More than anything, I appreciate how well the different plot points were woven together. There are monsters, there are two boys and their complicated relationship, and there is Andrew with anxiety that never lets up. Everything is connected in such a clever, seamless way that at no time did I feel like the story was slowing down or going off track. Everything moves forward towards a worthy ending.

The characters are disasters, but that's kind of why we love them. The horror is real, with terrifying monsters coming to life and committing horrific acts. The forest seeps into every page.

Like her previous books, I really loved this story for it's uniqueness and strange-yet-perfect storytelling. This one is dark, but not without its wholesome moments.

Ultimately, it was a little too depressing to get the full five stars from me, but it was brilliantly done and I highly recommend it.

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Review: Paying for It

Paying for It by Chester Brown
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This was actually way more fascinating than I expected.

This makes a big deal about being an autobiographical account of a man who regularly visits prostitutes, and it is. What I didn't expect was how considerate it was, how thoughtful an account this was of a man and the women he meets through this particular activity.

There's nothing sexy about this book. Sure, there are plenty of depictions of sex, but this is very much about the impact of the interactions, and the conversations that happen either side.

It highlights issues of shame, embarrassment, and the treatment of prostitutes as less than women. I enjoyed the way it challenged my ideas of the profession, and some pre-conceived notions about people who use prostitutes.

Chester Brown is an advocate for the women behind the profession, and the last third of my edition included copious notes on the legality of prostitution in Canada among other useful information. Comic-less pages that I found equally valuable.

Honestly, I flicked through it initially out of curiosity but it ended up captivating me and I found it to be a fantastic read. It's compassionate and will really challenge societal views.

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Review: Toxic Striving: Why Hustle and Wellness Culture Are Leaving Us Anxious, Stressed, and Burned Out—and How to Break Free

Toxic Striving: Why Hustle and Wellness Culture Are Leaving Us Anxious, Stressed, and Burned Out—and How to Break Free by Paula Freedman-Diamond
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Narrated by Stefanie Kay
Presented by Tantor Audio

This was BRILLIANT.

Loved it and would happily listen again. Plan to get a physical copy.

Everything in this book just made so much sense. It was easy to digest and logical, without forcing the reader to do an abundance of long activities and set impossible goals.

There's science behind the claims, and there are anecdotes (both personal and otherwise) to help reinforce points.

In particular, I really enjoyed the way the author wasn't claiming to have all this sorted and down pat. She emphasises that she's human like the rest of us, and sometimes that means messing up. I really liked that.

The audio was fantastic, delivering the information in a bright, easy manner. It was easy to take in and understand with this delivery, and her voice was soothing and comforting to listen to.

This just really worked for me. 2024 was a rather disappointing reading year for me so getting this one towards the end of year was a blast of fresh air to clear out all the stale reading energy. Very happy with it.

Highly recommend to those who love a good self-help book, and particularly this time of year where we all want to improve ourselves without having to set unrealistic expectations.

With thanks to NetGalley for an audio ARC

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