Review: The Secret Chapter by Genevieve Cogman

The Secret Chapter by Genevieve Cogman
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Publication Date: January 7, 2020


The latest book in the Invisible Library series is definitely better than some of the previous installments, but alas, still fails to achieve the sublime perfection of the first book. (I blame the plot's stubborn refusal to stay in Mad Victorian World, as I have dubbed Irene and Kai's current home base; none of the other worlds we see come close to matching the glorious batshittery of that one, so part of me just keeps wondering why we keep leaving the awesome world to go see so many less awesome worlds. I'd thought the events of the most recent book set up plausible ways for Kai and Irene to stay put in a plausible way, but if this book is anything to go by, that's not to be.)

The good news: It's time for a heist! It's hard to go wrong with heists. Irene, with Kai tagging along, gets roped into joining a crew of Fae (and one interesting dragon) who are stealing a mysterious painting in a version of Vienna under constant lockdown by a special government agency hunting magical creatures. (With an added twist I saw coming much sooner than I wanted to.) Along the way we learn some very interesting info about Kai's family, and then some very interesting and very dangerous info about different members of Kai's family, which seems like it'll be very relevant in future books.

The less good news: the plot meanders a bit, the heist could have been a bit better, and I had trouble differentiating between several members of the heist crew.

Overall: a good installment, but not a great one. I was entertained, which is the most important thing, and some tantalizing tidbits of dragon lore tied everything in with the overarching series plot in a reasonably interesting way. This was better than some recent installments, but again: still not quite up to the level of the first book.

Review: Frozen Orbit by Patrick Chiles

Frozen Orbit by Patrick Chiles
My rating: 2.5 of 5 stars
Publication Date: January 7, 2020


Four astronauts blast off in a nuclear-powered ship en route to Pluto, chasing after a secret decades-old Soviet mission that went awry. (I'd recommend readers avoid this book's Amazon/Goodreads description, as it basically spoils the big reveal. And not subtly, either.)

This was . . . not to my taste. Hard science fiction soars when it explores new realms of the possible, but it's also infamous for flat characters, tedious science descriptions, and emotionless prose. Frozen Orbit, alas, falls prey to two of those three mighty sins: the characters are pretty lifeless and the prose tends to plod. Moments that should feel emotional instead feel hollow, clunky. (I actually found the scientific descriptions to be somewhat interesting, which is unusual for me in this subgenre. )

The political machinations at home seemed unrealistic, and I didn't find any of the subplots (the 'mystery' of the Soviet commander's journal, the A.I., the relations between the crew) very engaging. It takes about two-thirds of the book to actually get to Pluto, which surprised me, and not in a good way; the early sections felt almost like filler.

Overall, I thought the description made the book sound a lot more interesting than it turned out to be---in part, I suspect, because the description basically spoils the 'mystery' of what was waiting at Pluto.

I received a free copy from Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.