The Order of the Pure Moon Reflected in Water by Zen Cho

Order of the Full Moon Reflected in Water by Zen Cho (author of The Sorcerer to the Crown).  A novella, and a strange one at that. 

From Description:  A bandit walks into a coffeehouse, and it all goes downhill from there. Guet Imm, a young votary of the Order of the Pure Moon, joins up with an eclectic group of thieves (whether they like it or not) in order to protect a sacred object, and finds herself in a far more complicated situation than she could have ever imagined.

The description captured my imagination.  I was not familiar with the term wuxia novel, so in case you aren't yet familiar with the term either:  

Wuxia (武俠 [ù. ɕjǎ]), which literally means "martial heroes", is a genre of Chinese fiction concerning the adventures of martial artists in ancient China. ... They often originate from the lower social classes of ancient Chinese society.

There is a handsome bandit, a homely bandit, a quixotic young nun on a mission, humor, and an unexpected twist.  In fact, most of this novella is unexpected.  And fun.  And maybe should have been longer?

Read in March.  Review scheduled for June 7.

NetGalley/Macmillan Tor/Forge
Wuxia novella.  June 23, 2020.  Print length:  176 pages.

Night of the Dragon by Julie Kagawa, The Last Sister by Kendra Elliot, and Out of Body by Jeffrey Ford

 Night of the Dragon, the final installment of Julie Kagawa's Shadow of the Fox trilogy, follows the little band of heroes to the final conflict with evil.  Hoping against hope to stop the Master of Demon's plan, Yumeko, Tatsumi, Reika, Okame, Daisuke, and the little ghost maiden Suki  embrace the challenges and put their lives on the line for the chance of saving the world.

I love the characters.  I loved the first two books.  This final book, however, deals more with the battles and monsters than with the characters.  I'd be interested in the percentage of time spent on battles vs time spent with characters who have made the trilogy so much fun for me.   The purpose was, perhaps, to increase suspense, but for me, it became simply frustrating.  I quit caring about how many heads and limbs were lost and just wanted to get on with the plot.  Even the appearance of the silent game player that gave a late twist to the plot...didn't quite feel right.

So, if you've been following Shadow of the Fox, you will want to read this to discover a number of secrets revealed and how our charming band of hopefuls end up.  You may not agree with my opinion of too many lengthy battles.

NetGalley/Inkyard Press
YA/Fantasy.  March 31, 2020.  Print length:  384 pages.  

 The Last Sister by Kendra Elliot is the first in her new Columbia River series.  I really enjoyed Elliot's Mercy Kilpatrick series and was pleased to find another series that might keep my interest.

I don't usually listen to audio books, but I did listen to this one while doing mundane chores.  It kept me entertained, and I did a lot more  mindless tasks than I intended.  It was certainly a different experience from reading.

Small town in Oregon, a young black man hanged and his white wife savagely stabbed to death, a weird connection (or two or three) to a murder 20 years previously.

The main character Zander Wells is from a previous series that I haven't read.  A second book is scheduled for this year, and I will probably listen to it as well.  And dust, mop floors, do laundry, do baseboards and ceiling fans, etc.  :)

Kindle Unlimited
Mystery.  January 2020.  Print length:  328 pages.

I rarely read novellas, but I've recently read two, The Order of the Pure Moon Reflecting Water by Zen Cho (which I've scheduled closer to publication) and Jeffrey Ford's Out of Body.

From description: "Jeffrey Ford returns with Out of Body, a new horror story about a small-town librarian whose sleep paralysis becomes something much more."  

OK.  A rather dull librarian experiences out of body episodes that introduce him to the mysteries of the night world.  Murders, vampires, a serial killer, and other strange experiences.  

I was slowly drawn in to this one, mostly because I had no idea what to expect and still don't know what to say about it.

Strange, but not really my thing.

NetGalley/Macmillan, Tor/Forge.
Horror? Fantasy?  May 26, 2020.  Print length:  175 pages.

I'm slowly making my way through two nonfiction books:  The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson and Growing Old by Elizabeth Marshall Thomas.  

Anthropomorphzed Books by Johnathan Wolstenholme found here