Reseña: The Yorkshire Mammoth (relato corto)

"The Yorkshire Mammoth" 

by 

Harry Turtledove

3 stars

Lo curioso del caso es que escuche Yorkshire y me saltó inmediatamente a la cabeza el autor de unos cuantos de mis libros favoritos acerca de un veterinario en Escocia en los años anteriores y posteriores a la segunda guerra mundial. Si no has escuchado de James Herriot y te gustan los animales, te esta faltando tiempo para leerte sus libros que son muy divertidos. 

Este relato corto es una historia alternativa de Escocia donde aun existen glaciares y las granjas al borde del mismo pues usan ...mamuts lanudos. El resto esta en la tónica de uno de los libros de Herriot, parece un homenaje, donde se ve la via dura, el veterinario honesto y esforzado y una anecdota que te deja nostalgico.

Reseña: Trail of Lightning (The Sixth World #1)

Trail of Lightning (The Sixth World #1)

by  

Rebecca Roanhorse

287 pages

Published June 26th 2018 by Saga Press

Edition Language:English

Series: The Sixth World #1

 

BLURB: While most of the world has drowned beneath the sudden rising waters of a climate apocalypse, Dinétah (formerly the Navajo reservation) has been reborn. The gods and heroes of legend walk the land, but so do monsters.
Maggie Hoskie is a Dinétah monster hunter, a supernaturally gifted killer. When a small town needs help finding a missing girl, Maggie is their last—and best—hope. But what Maggie uncovers about the monster is much larger and more terrifying than anything she could imagine. Maggie reluctantly enlists the aid of Kai Arviso, an unconventional medicine man, and together they travel to the rez to unravel clues from ancient legends, trade favors with tricksters, and battle dark witchcraft in a patchwork world of deteriorating technology.

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

My bookshelves: here-be-monsters, bloody-and-gory, post-apocalyptic, myth-and-legends, dinetah-navajo, hugo-nebula-nominee, locus-award, multiple-awards-nominee, deidades-y-dioses, 2019-readings, coyote-spirit, kick-butt-heroine

I remember the first time I saw the Wall. I had expected something dull and featureless. A fifty-foot-high mountain of gray concrete, barbed wire lining the top like in some apocalyptic movie. But I had forgotten that the Diné had already suffered their apocalypse over a century before. This wasn’t our end. This was our rebirth.
[--]
They say the hataalii worked hand in hand with the construction crews, and for every brick that was laid, a song was sung. Every lath, a blessing given. And the Wall took on a life of its own. When the workmen came back the next morning, it was already fifty feet high. In the east it grew as white shell. In the south, turquoise. The west, pearlescent curves of abalone, and the north, the blackest jet. It was beautiful. It was ours. And we were safe. Safe from the outside world, at least. But sometimes the worst monsters are the ones within.

En el mundo postapocaliptico de Magdalena Hoskie las aguas subieron y un muro se alza con ayuda de hombres sagrados para mantener a raya las aguas en la reservación Diné (Navajo), mientras que adentro hay una sequía y se desdibuja el tiempo de leyendas con el cotidiano. Magia y dioses conviven y despiertan dones de clanes entre la gente.

Reseña de ARC: Sparrowhawk (1-5)

+Digital ARC gently provided via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review+

 

Sparrowhawk (Sparrowhawk #1-5)

by 

Delilah S. Dawson

Matias Basla (Illustrations)

 128 pages

Published August 20th 2019 by BOOM! Studios

ISBN: 1684153956 (ISBN13: 9781684153954)

Edition Language: English

Series: Sparrowhawk #1-5

 BLURB: After a young woman is kidnapped by an evil Faerie Queen and trapped in a far off realm, she must survive teen Victorian fairy fight club in order to get back home.
As the illegitimate daughter of a Naval Captain, Artemisia has never fit in with her father’s family, nor the high class world to which they belong. However, when she is targeted by the Faerie Queen and pulled into another realm, she has no choice but to fight her way back home, amongst evil fairies who want her head, and untrustworthy allies that claim solidarity but have ulterior motives. New York Times bestselling author Delilah S. Dawson (Ladycastle, Star Wars: Phasma) and illustrator Matias Basla (The Claw and Fang) present a gripping dark fantasy tale of a young woman claiming her time and her agency.

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Artemisia Gray es la hija de un comandante naval y de una mujer nativa quien fue traida por su progenitor hasta Inglaerra en en el siglo XIX. La madrastra nunca la aceptó más que como una sirvienta, de sus dos media hermanas, la menoer aprece serla única que la acepta como familia. Sin embargo tras la muerte de una de sus hermanas, la madrastra revela que estan a punto de caer en bancarrota y es imperativo un matrimonio conveniente como sea. Sin embargo, la reina de las hadas tiene otros planes...

Asi inicia esta aventura a lo Alicia en el Pais de las Maravillas, espejo y conejo malvado incluidos deone Artemisia abrirse paso de forma sangrienta por las tierras de las hadas con la idea de regresar a su tierra.

Reseña : El mundo sumergido

 +Reto Popsugar #41. Un libro de cli-fi (Ciencia ficción climática)+

El mundo sumergido 

by  

J.G. Ballard

 224 pages

Published September 1st 2002 by Minotauro (1a publicación: 1962)

Original Title: The Drowned World

ISBN: 8445074016 (ISBN13: 9788445074015)

Edition Language: Spanish

Sinopsis: Mares, pantanos y lagunas cubren la mayor parte de la Tierra. El aumento de la temperatura ha propiciado un clima tropical, de manera que la flora y la fauna proliferan de forma extraordinaria y el mundo parece volver al Triásico. Los pocos humanos deben desplazarse en embarcaciones y sobrevivir con los escasos restos de la civilización que pueden encontrar en los pisos más altos de los rascacielos ahora sumergidos. Viven continuamente amenazados por animales, insectos y enfermedades, que ahora son difíciles de combatir. En este mundo, Kerans intenta sobrevivir, aunque en muchas veces parece más el aliado que el enemigo de una naturaleza que intenta eliminar al hombre. Sin embargo, más allá de la aventura, el desarrollo psicológico de los personajes encuentra su reflejo en imágenes maravillosas y sorprendentes, pues la lucha se plantea también dentro de cada persona y entre ellas porque el infortunio común no es obstáculo para seguir con envidias, rivalidades y egoísmos.

2.5 cenagosas estrellas

«Meciéndose entre las islas avanzaba siguiendo al sol que le golpeaba la mente.»

Explosiones solares provocan que la Tierra hierva , hay cataclismos naturales, el agua sube y aparentemente que la mente de los humanos termine involucionando hacia tiempos si no mejores digamos que reptilicos y triasicos.


Robert Kerans es un biólogo en un Londres sumergido, junto a un par de investigadores, unos militares y una socialite que esta sumergida en la apatia . La Humanidad ha escapado a los polos huyendo de las radiaciones solares intensas y el agua que sigue subiendo. Los personajes se mueven entre la indolencia y una suerte de decadencia estertorica occidental.

«Se había instalado en el Ritz al día siguiente de la llegada, cambiando complacido la estrecha cabina entre los bancos del laboratorio por las amplias habitaciones del hotel abandonado. Había aceptado en seguida el lujoso mobiliario tapizado de seda y las estatuas de bronce art nouveau de los nichos de los pasillos como escenario natural de su existencia, saboreando la sutil atmósfera de melancolía que envolvía estos últimos vestigios de una civilización prácticamente perdida para siempre.»

Reseña de ARC: The Hockey Saint (Forever Friends 2)

 +Digital ARC gently privded by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review+

The Hockey Saint 

by  

Howard Shapiro

Marica Inoue (Illustrator)

133 pages

Published September 10th 2014 by Animal Media Group

ISBN: 0991255011 (ISBN13: 9780991255016)

Edition Language: English

Series: Forever Friends Trilogy #2

BLURB: Twenty-one year old Jeremiah Jacobson is the world's best hockey player, but he wasn't prepared for the frenzy and scrutiny that came with that title. Tom Leonard is an average college sophomore... just a guy trying to find his place in the world as he sorts through issues that are both very real and seemingly insurmountable.
Through a chance meeting, these two strike up an unlikely friendship. Their bond is tested when Tom discovers that his idol isn't as perfect up close as he seems from afar. With Jeremiah living a little too much in the moment and with his past catching up to him, will Tom be able to help him before it's too late?

My rating: 3.5 stars

Friendship. Sports and media. Nice story, a tiny bit preachy.

Tom Leonard is a 19 y.o. sophomore living with his grandmother after the death of his parents. He is a bit lost and still suffering nighmares. As a hockey player his idol is the famous Jeremiah Jacobson. A random decision causes an encounter between them.

Although it is about hockey players, in reality we see very little of the game itself in these pages, of course there are mentions of games, practices and things like that, but this is rather 'the other side of the coin' of the life of these athletes. Like saying: they are also human.

Reseña de ARC: Mooncakes

+Digital ARC gently provided by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review+

Mooncakes

by

Suzanne Walker 

Wendy Xu

  

259 pages

Expected publication: October 15th 2019 by Lion Forge

ISBN13: 9781549307768

Edition Language: English

BLURB: Nova Huang knows more about magic than your average teen witch. She works at her grandmothers' bookshop, where she helps them loan out spell books and investigate any supernatural occurrences in their New England town.
One fateful night, she follows reports of a white wolf into the woods, and she comes across the unexpected: her childhood crush, Tam Lang, battling a horse demon in the woods. As a werewolf, Tam has been wandering from place to place for years, unable to call any town home. Pursued by dark forces eager to claim the magic of wolves and out of options, Tam turns to Nova for help. 

 My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Nova Huang lives and works with her grandmothers in their bookstore; all are witches. When she goes to check a disturbance in the forest , meets her old childhood friend, Tam, a werewolf with a couple of secrets.

Reseña de ARC; Hammerfall 1 - While the Serpent Sleeps

 +Digital ARC gently provided by Netgalley and publishers in exchange for an honest review+

Hammerfall - While the Serpent Sleeps (Hammerfall, #1)

by 

Sylvain Runberg

Boris Talijanjic (Art)

 56 pages

Published July 17th 2019 by Europe Comics (first published 2007)

Original Title: La peine du serpent

ASIN: B07T8BQ8Q4

Edition Language: English

Series: Hammerfall #1 

BLURB: In 8th-century Europe, a clash of cultures and religions inevitably leads to a clash of swords. This harsh, changing world suits Björn the Beautiful, who has a single passion: violence. His bloodlust led to his exile from his native land, and it's his bloodlust that brings him back. For Harald, it's the season of Jul and he's about to marry the gorgeous Lina. The festivities are interrupted by the arrival of Björn and his troops. With his people either slaughtered or enslaved, Harald begins a forced march with the other survivors.

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The theft of a Christian relic begins a struggle between different factions of Scandinavian warriors in the 8th century, where personal ambitions and revenge set a period of time where violence was a daily affair.

It reminds me of those old Viking movies that were once seen on TV. Raids, violence, some mentions of religion clash.

Reseña de ARC: The Outside

 +e-ARC gently provided by Netgalley and Angry Robot in exchange for an honest review+

The Outside 

by 

Ada Hoffmann

400 pages

Published June 11th 2019 by Angry Robot

ISBN: 0857668137 (ISBN13: 9780857668134)

Edition Language: English

BLURB:  Humanity's super-intelligent AI Gods brutally punish breaches in reality, as one young scientist discovers, in this intense and brilliant space opera.
Autistic scientist Yasira Shien has developed a radical new energy drive that could change the future of humanity. But when she activates it, reality warps, destroying the space station and everyone aboard. The AI Gods who rule the galaxy declare her work heretical, and Yasira is abducted by their agents. Instead of simply executing her, they offer mercy - if she'll help them hunt down a bigger target: her own mysterious, vanished mentor. With her homeworld's fate in the balance, Yasira must choose who to trust: the gods and their ruthless post-human angels, or the rebel scientist whose unorthodox mathematics could turn her world inside out.

3.5 the truth is not always there stars

 

En "The Outside" la autora explora el espacio y más allá bajo la mirada de una cientifica autista lesbiana, con elementos lovecraftianos aunados a una sociedad futurista donde unas Inteligencias Artificiales han ascendido al estatus de dioses encargados de dirigir el destino de la humanidad y les han llevado a las estrellas.

Esto conlleva a un planteamiento del pensamiento y como es la realidad del universo.