Reseña: The Haunting of Tram Car 015 (Fatma el-Sha’arawi #2)

The Haunting of Tram Car 015 (Fatma el-Sha’arawi #2)

by 

P. Djèlí Clark

 

130 pages

Published February 19th 2019 by Tor.com

Original Title

The Haunting of Tram Car 015

ISBN: 1250294800 (ISBN13: 9781250294807)

Edition Language: English

Series: Fatma el-Sha’arawi #2 

 

Literary Awards:

Hugo Award Nominee for Best Novella (2020), Nebula Award Nominee for Best Novella (2019), Locus Award Nominee for Best Novella (2020), IGNYTE Award Nominee for Best Novella (2020)

Sinopsis: Senior Agent Hamed al-Nasr shows his new partner Agent Onsi the ropes of investigation when they are called to subdue a dangerous, possessed tram car. What starts off as a simple matter of exorcism, however, becomes more complicated as the origins of the demon inside are revealed.

My rating: 3.8 stars

La aventura continúa en el Steampunk Cairo de Djèlí de 1912, presentándonos a dos investigadores del Ministerio de Alquimia, Encantamientos y Entidades Sobrenaturales que son llamados para investigar una aparición que ha atacado a un pasajero en el tranvía 015.

Al agente Hamed al-Nasr (28 años) se le ha asignado un novato, Onsi, que muestra todo su entusiasmo en esta misión contrastando lo del policia con más años de cancha que es Hamed que ve todo desde la perspectiva de más papeleo.

Mientras tanto, El Cairo está sacudido por el movimiento sufragista.

Reseña de Comic: The Adventures of Luther Arkwright (Luther Arkwright #1)

{Reseña en Castellano| Review in English}

The Adventures of Luther Arkwright (Luther Arkwright #1)

by

Bryan Talbot

216 pages

Published 2008 by Dark Horse Books (first published 1989)

ISBN: 1593077254 (ISBN13: 9781593077259)

Edition Language: English

Series: Luther Arkwright #1  

SINOPSIS: A través de una multitud de universos paralelos, oscuras fuerzas operan en la sombra, manipulando las historias de la humanidad en incontables líneas temporales. Los agentes de estos disruptivos trabajan con un único propósito: la recuperación y activación de Fuegohielo, un artefacto del juicio final largo tiempo escondido y con poderes inenarrables, capaz de consumir la galaxia en todas sus encarnaciones. El único que puede contrarrestar las intenciones de los disruptivos es Luther Arkwright, una anomalía humana que sólo existe en un universo y con unos poderes psíquicos capaces de enfrentarse a los planes de aquéllos.

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Comic que es un hijo de los 60s y 70s, sexo tÁntrico y drogas para liberar la conciencia y viajar por mundos paralelos. Luther Arkwright es un agente de zero-zero, la realidad más estable que lucha por evitar que los Disruptores acaben con todas las realidades. El Firefrost, El Opal, es el centro de la búsqueda.

Reseña de ARC: The Fantastical Exploits of Gwendolyn Gray (Gwendolyn Gray, #2)

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

{English| Spanish}

The Fantastical Exploits of Gwendolyn Gray (Gwendolyn Gray, #2)

by 

B.A. Williamson

384 pages

Published April 28th 2020 by North Star Editions/Jolly Fish Press

ISBN13: 9781631634352

Edition Language: English

Series: The Chronicles of Gwendolyn Gray #2

BLURB: Heroes never return from adventure unchanged, and Gwendolyn Gray knows this better than anyone. She faces a new darkness within herselfwith no help or comfort from her friends Sparrow and Starling. On top of that, the City is only getting worse. When the Faceless Gentlemen return to menace her again, Gwendolyn escapes to the lands of the Fae. But even the dreamlike Faeoria holds dangers that even she could never have imagined. Gwendolyn must learn to master her magic and manage her internal struggles if she ever hopes to defeat the villainous forces that control the City, find Sparrow and Starling, and save the people she loves.

3.3 spread-your-imagination stars

“Everyone is born different. None of us are born to fit in.”

When the heroine of a story defeats the bad guys, derailing their evil plans, the story ends with a happy ending, right? Well, Gwendolyne hoped it would be like this, not even caring that anyone knew what she had been through or done, or was she? However, she feels depressed and misses her friends and fellow adventurers. Her world continues to be mostly gray and it continues to follow the same operating laws, not like the world of pirates and adventure. Like all the kids, maybe she expected a radical change and not a small change here and there, like her friends from school who want to hear stories now. And I think Gwendolyn fails to acknowledge her parents' love for her.

But the gray men have not yet given up on reordering the world as it should be.

Gwendolyn is once again haunted by enormous powers and must jump to another world to escape and seek help.

Reseña: Theo Paxstone and the Dragon of Adyron

Theo Paxstone and the Dragon of Adyron 

by 

James Turner

 412 pages

Published October 8th 2017

ASIN: B076B6MCPB

Edition Language: English 

BLURb: Young Theo Paxstone aspires to a better life. A mechanic at a steam mech repair shop, he slaves away under the sharp eye of the ruthless Master Grimes, along with dozens of other orphan boys. The biggest and meanest of them, Grant, has in it for Theo and his best friend, Ollie, the shop’s parts-spotter cockatoo.

When the largest dragon ever seen descends out of the night sky and sets the royal tournament aflame, Theo escapes to help. He saves a crippled steam knight, Sir Bentham, from the blaze, assisted by Bentham’s pugnacious squire, Riley.
Together, they decide to hunt the monstrous dragon down — before it can kill again.
But nothing is as it seems, and Theo soon finds himself caught up in an adventure that will turn his entire world upside down...

My rating: 3.5

 Situado en una suerte de mundo post-apocaliptico fantástico , con máquinas a vapor, caballeros y reinos, dragones y toda suerte de criaturas peligrosas, y con mecha (esto un robot que funciona a vapor piloteado por un caballero que es un noble).

Theo Paxstone es un huérfano que con 13 años de edad trabaja como aprendiz en un taller de chatarra bajo las órdenes de un abusivo maese Grimes. No recuerda padres ni vivir en la calle, sólo el taller y todos los otros chicos que viven como él, arreglando y puliendo maquinaria para venderla. 

Pero los sueños de Theo son de caballeros, de su héroe Sir Drake, y de manejar un robot inventado por él mismo, y vivir aventuras según el código de honor.

Reseña: The Marvelous Adventures of Gwendolyn Gray

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

The Marvelous Adventures of Gwendolyn Gray 

by 

B.A. Williamson

 300 pages

Expected publication: May 15th 2018 by North Star Editions/Jolly Fish Press

ISBN13: 9781631631726

Edition Language: English

BLURB: Gwendolyn Gray faces an overwhelming battle every day: keeping her imagination under control. It’s a struggle for a dreamer like Gwendolyn, in a city of identical gray skyscrapers, clouds that never clear, and grown-ups who never understand.

But when her daydreams come alive and run amok in The City, the struggle to control them becomes as real as the furry creatures infesting her bedroom. Worse yet, she’s drawn the attention of the Faceless Gentlemen, who want to preserve order in The City by erasing Gwendolyn and her troublesome creations.

With the help of two explorers from another world, Gwendolyn escapes and finds herself in a land of clockwork inventions and colorful creations. Now Gwendolyn must harness her powers and, with a gang of airship pirates, stop the Faceless Gentlemen from destroying the new world she loves and the home that never wanted her—before every world becomes gray and dull.

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

My bookshelves: netgalley, children-protagonist, fantasy, adventure, steam-punk, dystopia, alternate-reality

Gwendolyn Gray is a twelve-year-old girl living in a gray city, under gray skies, with gray clothes and gray buildings. She doesn't want to grow up, after all the adults look all the same and didn't do anything different ... ever. But Gwendolyn has something that they don't - she has imagination.

This is a middle grade fantasy-adventure story. At the start it reminds me a bit of Momo de Ende. But later some characters invoke different imagenery like the scifi-noir-film Dark City. There are chase, and ships, and pirates, and strange and beautiful cities.

Reseña: Extracted (The Lost Imperials #1)

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

Extracted (The Lost Imperials #1)

by  

Sherry D. Ficklin & Tyler Jolley

323 pages

Published August 15th 2016 by Clean Teen Publishing (first published November 12th 2013)

Edition Language:English

Series: The Lost Imperials

Sinopsis:

The Tesla Institute is a premier academy that trains young time travelers called Rifters. Created by Nicola Tesla, the Institute seeks special individuals who can help preserve the time stream against those who try to alter it.

The Hollows is a rogue band of Rifters who tear through time with little care for the consequences. Armed with their own group of lost teens--their only desire to find Tesla and put an end to his corruption of the time stream.

Torn between them are Lex and Ember, two Rifters with no memories of their life before joining the time war.

My rating: 2 of 5 stars
My bookshelves: adventure, netgalley, steam-punk, teen-protagonist, time-jumpers, time-travel, time-war

Even though I love the steampunk-art style, to tell the truth, I am not a big fan of steampunk novels. But, the 'time-travel' thing get my attention in this case.

“The time stream is a very unique organism. Every time that exists in the past, present, and future, and every event in it, has a unique frequency.”

This book contain many action scenes, between two groups. The goal? Ah, that's the problem: I have no clue. Basically, is a war between the Tesla Institute and the Hollows. A time war.

Through the eyes of two protagonist from either side: Ember (from Tesla), and Lex (from the Hollows), and their POVs, we follow this strange race between the groups.