Tag Archives: Grace Curtis

Sensational Speculative Fiction: Heaven’s Graveyard and Wildflower

16 Jun

Heaven’s Graveyard
by Grace Curtis
Heaven’s Graveyard is an intriguing historic fantasy mystery. In the story Coda or Cod as she prefers to go by is an archeologist working far from the place of her birth, which she left behind along with her childhood love, Lark, after a family scandal. When she receives a message from an old friend promising revelations about a mythic heroine, that she always believed may have been a real person, Cod rushes home despite war brewing in the surrounding lands, only to discover that he has passed away under what she believes are mysterious circumstances. Now she must discover what happened to him as well as the truth of what he unearthed. I loved Heaven’s Graveyard even more than Curtis’s novel The Floating Hotel, which I had previously enjoyed. Like her previous work, this one is filled with quirky characters and unique worlds. Curtis is becoming an author to follow for me.

Wildflower
by Becky Jenkinson
Wildflower is the new debut fantasy novel by Becky Jenkinson set in a world plagued by a dark magical blight. The main character in the story, Felicity has been cursed since birth that she can only speak the truth. Her best friend Card is about to marry Prince Bastion, the son of the Queen who often requires Felicity to help ferret out the veracity of gossip in her kingdom. Felicity knows that the last person she should be drawn to is Will, Prince Bastions ex-best friend and possible source of the blight plaguing the land, but when he helps her find some rare flowers, she can’t help but feel something blossoming. This story will appeal to those who enjoy romantasies filled with diverse characters including strong LGBTQ representation and political intrigue. Fans of this story might also want to check out Violet Thistlewaite is Not a Villain Anymore and A Witch’s Guide to Fake Dating a Demon for more floral magic filled romantasies. Hoboken residents can borrow the ebook from eLibraryNJ.

Written by:
Aimee Harris
Information and Digital Services Manager

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Cozy Science Fiction: Floating Hotel and Prime Deception

20 Mar

Floating Hotel
by Grace Curtis
The Grand Abeona Hotel isn’t your average hotel. This is a hotel on a spaceship traveling across the galaxy. At one point only the richest of the rich could board, though it isn’t quite as exclusive as it once was and things especially below deck aren’t as pristine, it is still a magical place of relaxation and discovery. The Floating Hotel is made of interlocking stories focusing on different quirky, diverse crew members or passengers on the ship. This gives enjoyable insights into different aspects of the Abeona and the varied connections the staff has made within their found family in the stars. The hotel with its combination of travel and destinations reminds me in a lot of ways of being on a cruise ship. There is a definite cozy vibe, but there is also suspense of an underlying story about a corrupt emperor and a secret journalist that may be traveling with the ship, and who is giving away the emperor’s secrets. With a master thief and trained spies on board not everything is a relaxing day at the spa. The ending took me a bit by surprise, but felt overall satisfying. Fans of Erin Morgenstern’s The Night Circus and Tao Wong’s The Nameless Restaurant should enjoy this story.

Prime Deceptions
Valerie Valdes
I had greatly enjoyed, Chilling Effect, the first in Valerie Valdes, charming, humorous, space opera series about the Crew of La Sirena Negra (the Black Mermaid) so was interested to sample the sequel, Prime Deceptions. Despite her sister’s deception, in the previous novel, Eva again agrees to help her, this time to try and find a missing scientist related to a member of Eva’s crew. It will require her to reconnect with her estranged mother and go to the site of one of the most disastrous moments of Eva’s past. The found family and well as blood family drama and a sweet romance all combine to make an enjoyable story. As with the previous novel there are some fun pop culture in jokes such as when the crew visit a Sci-Fi Convention that spans a space station and much of the drama in the novels second half revolves around “ball buddies,” possible nefarious robotic replicas (Digimon, perhaps?) of actual psychic companion creatures (very clearly Pokémon inspired since the book’s dedication is a reference to Team Rocket). The trilogy is wrapped up in Fault Tolerance, which I’m hoping to also checkout soon since Prime Deceptions ends by setting up an epic alien battle the series has been building towards.

Written by:
Aimee Harris
Information and Digital Services Manager

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