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Two Historical Fiction Picks Set in the 1920’s for the 2020’s: Comeuppance Served Cold and Murder in Williamstown

6 Sep

Comeuppance Served Cold
by Marion Deeds
Comeuppance Served Cold is a fantasy heist set in 1929 Seattle. This Jazz Age novella is a quick, under 200 pages read, but still manages to tell a satisfying story that involves a lot of mysteries and as the title suggests some well earned revenge. Magic is slowly being regulated by the city leaders in order to line their own pockets and shifters hide their identities due to growing prejudice. Not following the rules proves to have deadly consequences. The novel starts with a woman magically changing her appearance as she escapes a crime scene and throughout the novel, characters are not whom they at first seem. In addition to the main protagonist Dolly, two who particularly intrigued me are Gabe, a blind tattooist, whose sigils can protect those whom he inks; and Fiona the daughter of an elite mage who is forced into a engagement and has become addicted to shimmer-shim, a magical intoxicant. The story jumps around through time leading to the event in the prologue, which slowly brings what is truly going on into focus; this will be a book you will not want to put down. Comeuppance Served Cold will also appeal to fans of CL Polk’s fantastic Even Though I Knew the End, which I had written about previously.

Murder in Williamstown
by Kerry Greenwood
We’ve had several blogs about Greenwood’s novels as well as the adaptations of them. Greenwood’s clever, fashionable Australian flapper detective Phryne Fisher definitely deserves a place in the pantheon of fictional sleuths. Although the print edition of Kerry Greenwood’s most recent in her Phryne Fisher Series is not available till November in the US, you can get an early listen to the audiobook read by Wendy Bos in a charming Aussie accent which brings Phryne’s story to life. This story explores more of the lives of the Chinese immigrant community in Australia in the late 1920’s, whom Phryne’s connected to through her lover Lin Chung. Like the previous novel, there is also a mystery for Phryne’s wards, Ruth and Jane, this time at the Blind Institute and Dot, Phryne’s long time maid/companion must suss out why her fiancé is slow to set a wedding date. I wasn’t as fond of the plot line involving the younger members of the Fisher household in the previous novel in the series, Death in Daylesford, but this time I enjoyed it the most. There is a lot to keep track of and I found myself going back a time or two since at times I’d be distracted while listening and lose a plot point, but it was an overall enjoyable experience. I highly recommend checking out both the books as well as the TV and Movie Series.

Written by:
Aimee Harris
Information and Digital Services Manager

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Stellar Space Stories: Demigod 12 and Binti

30 Aug

Demigod 12
by Gail Carriger
I enjoyed the first in Gail Carriger’s Tinkered Starsong series, Divinity 36 so was curious to see the next chapter in Phex and his friend’s adventures. The series plays with the idea that the godsong (music, movement, and imagery) that they create is not just metaphorically, but actually the equivalent of a religious experience thanks to the special domes it is performed in. Demigod 12 takes inspiration for what it would like to be an up and coming act on tour including integrating with an older already established group of “gods” and finding their own sound and identity.

There is also a spark of romance between Phex and a member of the older established act. Carriger provides Phex’s love interest with a gentle and whimsical persona which give a sweetness to the romance which could have been more predatory with the power imbalance handled differently. While the last book felt like a meditation on family, this book feels more focused on the idea of love both romantic and platonic. The idea that fans might become so overcome, that the “fixed” will try and harm the members shows the darker side of celebrity and the way obsession can become toxic.

Second books in trilogies can be tricky often feeling like simply a bridge between the other two, but the novel manages to feel satisfying on its own while still peaking my interest for the third and last book in the series which will be available at the beginning of October. If you are looking for more rock gods as music metaphors in speculative fiction before then check out Kings of the Wyld by Nicholas Eames, which I had previously blogged about.

Binti
by Nnedi Okorafor
I had previously read Nnedi Okorafor’s fantasy novel, Akata Witch with the Science Fiction and Fantasy Book Discussion Group which was inspired by African cultures so I was curious to see how a similar inspiration would play out in her Sci-Fi Novella, Binti.

Binti is a member of the Himba, a group who are tech savy and master mathematicians, but rarely leave their homeland. When she is offered a chance to study at the Oomza University, the best institution for learning in all the Galaxy she will be the first of her people to do so and one of the few to experience space travel. As she makes the trip, she is confronted with other students who find her customs, such as adorning herself with the dried mud of her homeland, strange and off-putting, but it will take all of Binti’s heritage and diplomatic training to stay alive when the tentacled Meduse take over the ship.

Robin Miles gives a powerful performance with the first person narration for the 2 1/2 hour audiobook version. The story continues in Home and The Night Masquerade.

Written by:
Aimee Harris
Information and Digital Services Manager

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