Ananna of the Tanarau abandons ship when her parents try to marry her off to an allying pirate clan: she wants to captain her own boat, not serve as second-in-command to her handsome yet clueless fiance. But her escape has dire consequences when she learns the scorned clan has sent an assassin after her.
And when the assassin, Naji, finally catches up with her, things get even worse. Ananna inadvertently triggers a nasty curse — with a life-altering result. Now Ananna and Naji are forced to become uneasy allies as they work together to break the curse and return their lives back to normal. Or at least as normal as the lives of a pirate and an assassin can be.
The Assassin's Curse has all the makings of a really fantastic fantasy adventure. There are pirates and assassins, a spunky heroine, a tortured but handsome young man, a curse and a bit of romance. All the pieces were there but unfortunately they didn't come together in the right way and so the story ended up falling flat.
My main problem with The Assassin's Curse is that the characters don't behave like they should, or at least, as I would expect them to based on their roles in the story.
Ananna has been raised as a pirate and has lived her life among ruthless, law-breaking murderers and thieves and yet when she gets attacked by an assassin she responds by saving his life because “it seemed like the right thing to do.” When she discovers that her actions have triggered a curse that binds the assassin to her Ananna responds with concern for the man who had been hired to kill her, and sets out to help him break the curse. This did not make sense to me at all. I didn't understand why Ananna was so solicitous of Naji's health and well-being and why she so easily gave herself into his care. I was also irritated by her constant apologies to him each time he showed signs of irritation. While I didn't need Ananna to behave like a hardened criminal I think she comes across as too sensitive to be believable. We aren't given any reason to think she's different than a typical pirate kid and I would have expected her to behave a bit more like one.
Then there was Naji, a member of a fearsome group of deadly assassins. It's said that when one of them has been hired to kill you, you are as good as dead. And yet, this supposedly terrifying assassin spends most of the book weak and incapacitated- which didn't impress me very much. While I like my stories to have strong female characters I also like to read about strong male characters, heroes who are able to save the day if needed, even if the female doesn't actually need them. So I was pretty disappointed by Naji who has his legs kicked out from under him pretty early on in the story. And there really wasn't much else about him that won me over. Naji keeps to himself for the most part and his expressions are limited to the quirking of his eyebrow and the occasional suggestion of a smile. I really didn't see what there was about him that attracted Ananna.
In addition to my issues with the characters I also felt that the story really should have provided more explanations on several crucial points. For example, why exactly was Ananna being forced to marry a guy from another pirate clan and why was Ananna's refusal taken so badly that an expensive assassin was hired to kill her? It seemed like a rather excessive reaction to me, unless there was some secret pirate code involved that we weren't told about.
There was also very little explanation given about the curse itself. Sometimes we are told that Naji gets a headache when Ananna leaves his side, other times he is in severe pain. Or Naji feels pain when he perceives that Ananna is danger. But it was all kind of murky and I was surprised that Naji and Ananna don't make any effort to find out more about how the curse operates.
The story still might have been saved if I felt like it was actually going somewhere but after the initial excitement the momentum fades and the story kind of just seemed to be going in circles, especially towards the end. The end was a particular bummer because nothing really happens and the story just fades out. I would have even preferred a cliff-hanger to the uneventful ending that we do get.
But I feel that I should mention that even though The Assassin's Curse was not to my taste there are apparently a lot of reviewers on Goodreads who really loved it. I was interested to note that one of them compares it to Brightly Woven, which was a comparison I had frequently made myself while reading the book. I thought the writing style and characters of the two books were very similar. But I wasn't impressed with that book either (the other reviewer was). So there you go. If you liked Brightly
Woven you'll probably like The Assassin's Curse as well. Or, if you are
like me, you won't particularly like either one that much.
Science Fiction
Iron Winter
Stephen Baxter
Publisher: Gollancz
Release Date: August 16
It is 1315. And darkness is falling . . .
Many
generations ago the Wall was first built to hold back the sea.
Northland, a country of fertile plains and ancient forests rescued from
the ocean, has become a thriving civilisation based on trade,
technology and tradition, centred on the ancient home of the first
builders, Etxelur. The whole of Europe, spanned by the Northlanders'
steam caravan lines, has been changed in ways that could never have
been predicted.
But nothing can last forever, not
even the Wall. The weather is changing, growing colder, and in the wake
of the long winters come famine, destruction and terror. And as whole
nations are forced out of their lands and head for warmer climes, it
seems that even Northland may not be able to endure.
But there is one man, an elderly scholar, who believes he can calculate
why the world is cooling, and perhaps even salvage some scraps of the
great civilisation of Etxelur. As he embarks on his grand quest across
the world, as nations struggle for survival and the fires of war burn
in the gloom, only one thing is certain.
The Ice is coming.
Fantasy
Bullettime
Nick Mamatas
Publisher: ChiZine Publications
Release Date: August 14
David Holbrook is a
scrawny kid, the victim of bullies, and the neglected son of insane
parents. David Holbrook is the Kallis Episkipos, a vicious murderer
turned imprisoned leader of a death cult dedicated to Eris, the Hellenic
goddess of discord. David Holbrook never killed anyone, and lives a
lonely and luckless existence with his aging mother in a tumbledown New
Jersey town. Caught between finger and trigger, David is given three
chances to decide his fate as he is compelled to live and relive all his
potential existences, guided only by the dark wisdom found in a bottle
of cough syrup. From the author of the instant cult classic Move Under
Ground comes a fantasy of blood, lust, destiny, school shootings, and
the chance to change your future.
The Traitor Queen
Trudi Canavan
Publisher: Orbit
Release Date: August 14
Discover the magic of Trudi Canavan with her brand new novel in the Traitor Spy trilogy...
Events
are building to a climax in Sachaka as Lorkin returns from his exile
with the Traitor rebels. The Traitor Queen has given Lorkin the huge
task of brokering an alliance between his people and the Traitors.
Lorkin has also had to become a feared black magician in order to
harness the power of an entirely new kind of gemstone magic. This
knowledge could transform the Guild of Magicians - or make Lorkin an
outcast forever.
The Traitor Spy trilogy, which began with The Ambassador's Mission and The Rogue, is the new series set in the world of the international bestselling Black Magician trilogy.
The Black Mausoleum (The Memory of Flame, Bk 4)
Stephen Deas
Publisher: Gollancz
Release Date: August 16
Two years have passed since the events of the Order of the Scales.
Across the realms, dragons are still hatching. Hatching, and hatching
free. Skorl is an Ember, a soldier trained from birth to fight dragons.
He is a living weapon, one-shot only, saturated with enough
dragon-poison to bring down a monster all on his own. Misanthrope,
violent and a drunk, to fulfil his purpose and slay a dragon, means to
be eaten. Now Skorl has a choice: he can hang for his crimes, or he can
go with the last of the Adamantine Men, fighting against an enemy he was
born to face.
Rat is an Outsider. He's on the run and he's stumbled
onto something that's going to make him rich beyond all his dreams. It's
just a shame that the end of the world has started without him. Kataros
is an alchemist, one of the order responsible for keeping the dragons
in check. One of the order that has just failed, and disastrously so.
Two men, one woman. One chance to save the world from a storm of dragons
...
Urban fantasy
Yesterday’s Hero
Jonathan Wood
Publisher: Night Shade Books
Release Date: August 14
Another day. Another zombie T-Rex to put down. All part of the routine
for Arthur Wallace and MI37—the government department devoted to
defending Britain from threats magical, supernatural, extraterrestrial,
and generally odd. Except a zombie T-Rex is only the first of the
problems about to trample, slavering and roaring, through Arthur's life.
Before he can say, “but didn't I save the world yesterday?” a new
co-director at MI37 is threatening his job, middle-aged Russian cyborg
wizards are threatening his life, and his coworkers are threatening his
sanity.
As Arthur struggles to unravel a plot to re-enact the
Chernobyl disaster in England's capital, he must not only battle foreign
occult science but also struggle to keep the trust of his team. Events
spiral out of control, friendships fray, and loyalties are tested to
their breaking point.
Young Adult
The Kill Order
James Dashner
Publisher: Delacorte Books for Young Readers
Release Date: August 14
The prequel to the New York Times bestselling Maze Runner series.
Before
WICKED was formed, before the Glade was built, before Thomas entered
the Maze, sun flares hit the earth and mankind fell to disease.
Mark
and Trina were there when it happened, and they survived. But surviving
the sun flares was easy compared to what came next. Now a disease of
rage and lunacy races across the eastern United States, and there’s
something suspicious about its origin. Worse yet, it’s mutating, and all
evidence suggests that it will bring humanity to its knees.
Mark
and Trina are convinced there’s a way to save those left living from
descending into madness. And they’re determined to find it—if they can
stay alive. Because in this new, devastated world, every life has a
price. And to some, you’re worth more dead than alive.
Forsaken (The Fallen 4)
Thomas E. Sniegoski
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Release Date: August 14
The war between Heaven
and Hell rages on. The devil has possessed Lucifer’s body and is intent
on unleashing unfathomable chaos in the world. But no matter the cost,
Aaron and the other Nephilim are determined to protect humanity.
As the casualties mount around them, Aaron and his beloved Vilma’s
loyalty and faith will be tested. And in this next installment of the
The Fallen series, they’re out to prove that what doesn’t kill you makes
you stronger...
Michael Vey: Rise of the Elgen
Richard Paul Evans
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Release Date: August 14
Michael must save his
mother—and protect his powers—in the electric sequel to the #1 New York
Times bestselling Michael Vey, from Richard Paul Evans.
Michael was
born with special electrical powers—and he’s not the only one. His
friend Taylor has them too, and so do other kids around the world. With
Michael’s friend Ostin, a tecno-genius, they form the Electroclan, an
alliance meant to protect them from a powerful group, the growing Order
of Elgen, who are out to destroy them. The leader of the Elgen, Dr.
Hatch, has kidnapped Michael’s mother, and time is running out.
After narrowly escaping an Elgen trap, Ostin’s discovery of bizarre
“rat fires” in South America leads the gang to the jungles of Peru,
where the Electroclan meets new, powerful foes and faces their greatest
challenge yet as Michael learns the extent of the Elgen’s rise in
power—and the truth of their plan to “restructure” the world.
The Unnaturalists
Tiffany Trent
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books For Young Readers
Release Date: August 14
Vespa Nyx wants nothing
more than to spend the rest of her life cataloging Unnatural creatures
in her father’s museum, but as she gets older, the requirement to become
a lady and find a husband is looming large. Syrus Reed’s Tinker family
has always served and revered the Unnaturals from afar, but when his
family is captured to be refinery slaves, he finds that his fate may be
bound up with Vespa’s—and with the Unnaturals.
As the danger
grows, Vespa and Syrus find themselves in a tightening web of deception
and intrigue. At stake may be the fate of New London—and the world.
The Rising
Will Hill
Publisher: Razorbill
Release Date: August 16
James Bond meets Dracula
in this epic saga of one boy and a ton of weapons versus the world's
oldest evil--vampires as you've never seen them before!
Sixteen-year-old Jamie Carpenter's life was violently upended when he
was brought into Department 19, a classified government agency of
vampire hunters that was formed to deal with a little problem . . .
known as Dracula.
But being the new recruit at the Department
isn't all weapons training and covert missions. Jamie's own mother has
been turned into a vampire--and now Jamie will stop at nothing to wreak
revenge on her captors. Even if that means facing down Dracula himself.
The Rising
is a fast, furious, can't-turn-away thrill ride that will suck readers
in just like a video game. This riveting second book in the Department
Nineteen series is packed with cutting-edge gadgets, international
locales, and daredevil action that tumbles ferociously across the
page--perfect for fans of Darren Shan and Anthony Horowitz.
Earth Girl
Janet Edwards
Publisher: Harper Voyager
Release Date: August 16 (UK)
2788. Only the
handicapped live on Earth. While everyone else portals between worlds,
18-year-old Jarra is among the one in a thousand people born with an
immune system that cannot survive on other planets. Sent to Earth at
birth to save her life, she has been abandoned by her parents. She can’t
travel to other worlds, but she can watch their vids, and she knows all
the jokes they make. She’s an ‘ape’, a ‘throwback’, but this is one ape
girl who won’t give in.
Jarra invents a fake background for
herself – as a normal child of Military parents – and joins a class of
norms that is on Earth to excavate the ruins of the old cities. When an
ancient skyscraper collapses, burying another research team, Jarra’s
role in their rescue puts her in the spotlight. No hiding at back of
class now. To make life more complicated, she finds herself falling in
love with one of her classmates – a norm from another planet. Somehow,
she has to keep the deception going.
A freak solar storm strikes
the atmosphere, and the class is ordered to portal off-world for safety –
no problem for a real child of military parents, but fatal for Jarra.
The storm is so bad that the crews of the orbiting solar arrays have to
escape to planet below: the first landing from space in 600 years. And
one is on collision course with their shelter.
Onyx (Lux, Bk 2)
Jennifer L. Armentrout
Publisher: Entangled Teen
Release Date: August 14
Being connected to Daemon Black sucks…
Thanks
to his alien mojo, Daemon’s determined to prove what he feels for me is
more than a product of our bizarro connection. So I’ve sworn him off,
even though he’s running more hot than cold these days. But we’ve got
bigger problems.
Something worse than the Arum has come to town…
The
Department of Defense are here. If they ever find out what Daemon can
do and that we're linked, I’m a goner. So is he. And there's this new
boy in school who’s got a secret of his own. He knows what’s happened to
me and he can help, but to do so, I have to lie to Daemon and stay away
from him. Like that's possible. Against all common sense, I'm falling
for Daemon. Hard.
But then everything changes…
I’ve seen
someone who shouldn’t be alive. And I have to tell Daemon, even though I
know he’s never going to stop searching until he gets the truth. What
happened to his brother? Who betrayed him? And what does the DOD want
from them—from me?
No one is who they seem. And not everyone will survive the lies…
Touched
Cyn Balog
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Release Date: August 14
Nick Cross always
listens to the voice in his head. Because if he doesn't? Things can go
really, really wrong. Like the day he decided to go off script and saved
a girl from being run over . . . and let another one drown. Trying to
change the future doesn't work.
But this summer at the Jersey
Shore, something's about to happen that Nick never could have predicted.
He meets a girl named Taryn and finds out about the Book of Touch. Now
the path that he thought he was on begins to shift . . . and there's no
way to stop things from happening. Or is there?
In a life where
there are no surprises, nothing has prepared Nick for what he's about to
discover--or the choice he will be forced to make. . .
Spookygirl
Jill Baguchinsky
Publisher: Dutton Juvenile
Release Date: August 16
Winner of the Breakthrough Novel Award Contest--Jill Baguchinsky's quirky, creepy debut
Violet
doesn't remember much about her late mother, but she is certain of one
thing: she too can see ghosts and communicate with the dead. But when
Violet discovers paranormal activity in the girls' locker room, she
finds herself ill-equipped for handling the school's ghostly echoes.
Through Violet's own investigation and with the help of some unlikely
allies, Violet discovers there is a lot she doesn't know about her
special skill--and more still that can stand in the way of its power.
With sharp wit and determination, Violet sets out to uncover the truth
behind her school's haunting, to finish the investigation that led to
her mother's sudden death, and to learn why the only ghost she has ever
wanted to see is the one that has eluded her forever.
Collection
Crackpot Palace
Jeffrey Ford
Publisher: William Morrow
Release Date: August 14
From the unparalleled
imagination of award-winning author Jeffrey Ford come twenty short
stories (one, "The Wish Head," written expressly for this collection)
that boldly redefine the world. "Crackpot Palace" is a sumptuous feast
of the unexpected--an unforgettable journey that will carry readers to
amazing places, though at times the locales may seem strangely familiar,
almost like home. Whether he's tracking ghostly events on the border of
New Jersey's mysterious Pine Barrens or following a well-equipped
automaton general into battle, giving a welcome infusion of new blood to
the hoary vampire trope or exposing the truth about what "really" went
down on Dr. Moreau's Island of Lost Souls, Jeffrey Ford has opened a
door into a dark and fantastic realm where dream and memory become one
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