Q-Squared

[cornerofmadness]

Q-Squared by Peter David

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


I have lost track of how many years this one on my shelves and then I started and DNFed a few years back. I am not entirely sure why but the beginning was rather slow. However, once I got past that, it is an interesting idea and David did an excellent job in roping in all the Q-like episodes into this. Obviously from the cover art alone you know it's going to have Q and Trelane. It also works on the whole multiverse idea as well and we have for the bulk of the book two tracks (delineated by track A or B in the chapter headers)

One is the main ST:TNG storyline where Q is 'godfather' more or less to Trelane and he's trying to help the boy's parents to rein him in. Now this makes a lot of sense to me that Trelane is a young Q. He had much the same powers when facing Kirk and his crew. The other track is one where Jack Crusher didn't die and he's the captain with Picard as second in command (and an equally alternate history for ALL the main characters even Data)

The problem Q faces is Trelane is not progressing well. He's stuck in a narcissistic, child-like mind set where he's the greatest and Q (and his parents) are trying to deny him what is rightfully his. To that end, you can imagine what harm a mentally unstable Q could do.

So while we bounce back and forth between the two tracks (and later more) as Q fights to stop his young charge before he does irreparable harm to the universe, the story lines progress. There are some really interesting ideas explored in the Jack Crusher storyline. Other major plots from both original Trek and next gen are woven into this so again, David did his homework and made it feasible.

It was, however, a tad overly long. At the end of the day, it was a decent read and glad I finally read it.



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Cinderwich

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Cinderwich by Cherie Priest

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Kate Thrush lost her Aunt Ellen before she was even born. When Ellen's one time lover, Dr. Judith Kane (also Kate's mentor) calls her up to meet in Cinderwich, TN to investigate a local legend, she reluctantly goes. Someone has been writing Who Put Ellen in the Black Gum tree on the sides of buildings.

There was, some forty years before, a body found in the tree but this Ellen and much of the official records have been lost. Was she their missing Ellen?

I think Priest captured small town Appalachia quite well (as I live in small town Appalachia) and the generalized depression of a town whose original purpose is long gone (railroad in this case, port town in mine) Kate is quite a bit like me so I was predisposed to like her. Judith I could take or leave.

I did like the Appalachian culture like herbal healing and clootie wells (I have been to several of these and my area of research is in the herbs) so again I have a connection that most wouldn't so YMMV on how you perceive the story.

Something or someone starts haunting Kate almost immediately. That said I would have liked more menace throughout the novella. I didn't think it was as scary as it could have been. However I did very much enjoy it, especially the sisters that show up and the reveal at the end. It's one I'll think about for awhile especially the treatment of mental illness in the past (and even today) where women are concerned.



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Castle of the Cursed

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Castle of the Cursed by Romina Garber

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Thanks to Netgalley for the arc.

Estela and her parents (her father especially) like to play Sherlock and Watson until one day, Estela's entire life changes. Facing intense survivor's guilt and PTSD, Estela is rescued from the mental hospital by an aunt she didn't even know about and is whisked away to the titular castle, La Sombra in Spain.

Her aunt is strange, the town is strange and the castle is stranger yet. Her aunt, the town doctor, is cold and distant and seems less than thrilled to be saddled with a teenager. She leaves Estela with one rule : no one is allowed inside the castle. She also wants her to take Spanish language classes with a young man in town. However, it doesn't take long for the supernatural to begin to happen especially with the appearance of Sebastian.

The love triangle potential ends rather quickly (by someone being a creep) and honestly if there was something that didn't work for me it was the romance. I hate insta-love and this whole thing takes I think two weeks and the almost sex scenes seemed forced and in weird places plot wise, like why would anyone stop for sex at this juncture outside of a schlocky slasher fic plot?

I will give it that it has a creative take on the whole vampire prince trope. There were twists and turns I didn't expect and I did like Estela for the most part. She has a lot of flaws but someone that young having so much life changing crap happening, you can forgive her those issues. At about the 50% mark the big twists start happening and that's about all I want to say about those.

I enjoyed this and would look for more by this author.



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A Rival Most Vial: Potioneering for Love and Profit

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A Rival Most Vial: Potioneering for Love and Profit by R.K. Ashwick

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This resurgence of cozy fantasy is taking me back to the early 80s when we had quite a bit of it running around. I love it. There is something satisfying about the lower but personal stakes vs the big sweeping epics (not that I dislike them by any means).

Ambrose is a young half elf who is the premiere potioneer in town, the one all the adventuring parties come to see. He is stoic and has a found family in the other storekeepers in town (much more so than even he knows). Into this comes Eli a young new hotshot potioneer setting up right across the street from Ambrose. And there you have the titular rivalry and it launches right into the enemies to lovers trope, one of my least favorite romance tropes. For that matter I'm not a fan of romances but this came recced to me for a Popsugar challenge which is the only reason I picked this up.

And I'm glad I did. I loved this in spite of it relying heavily on things I traditionally do not care for.

After a huge blow out, Ambrose and Eli are selected by the mayor to work on a special potion for his spoiled daughter's birthday. Forced to work together, which they do not do easily, they learn that they made bad assumptions about each other and they make more sense together than they could have imagined.

We learn of Ambrose's tragic past and his jealousy over Eli's easy marketing/salesperson personality and his big, happy family. For Eli's side of things, we learn that this is a man who can't seem to find his path in life and he's super easily bored.

The do or die (career wise) situation gives them the opportunity for friendship and more. Ambrose and Eli are both interesting characters as are all the side characters. Ashwick has created a town I'd love to settle down in. This is what you hope all self pubbed works would be like. I will need to find more from her.



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Unstable

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Unstable by Alexandra Ivy

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I picked this up for a U for my yearly alphabet challenge not knowing it was #3 (though looking GR over it sounds more like they're loosely related). Regardless, this is billed as romantic suspense and I would argue it is far more a police procedural mystery. It was also quite good.

CW - serial killers who target/torture women (unsurprising as women make up over 50% of serial killer targets), off page rape of the victims.

Zac Evans is the interim sheriff of rural Pike, WI (after something that I suspected happened in the first 2 books). He is horrified to find a dead old man on top of a grave in town, one reading Jude Henley. Only it's Jude now dead and there's a missing woman actually buried there, one with a connection to his friend, Kir.

Rachel Fisher, Zac's ex-wife is back in town now a cold-case detective which has led her to the woman in the grave plus a few others. But Jude is only the first of the killings. With each killing to come, Zac is sent an old VHS tape of a previous serial killer killing his victims and the new serial killer is copy catting him while baiting the police.

Naturally this means that Zac and Rachel have to work together and realize they never should have divorced. The romance didn't seem too forced though. I would have liked a bit more to honestly call it romantic suspense and I would have liked more rural WI flavor (as someone who lived there for a few years)

Without spoilers let me say that I'm giving all the kudos to Ivy for not doing the usual 'make the detective do something stupid to get in trouble with the villain' thing we see SO. Many. Times. Rachel and Zac do things intelligently like simple stuff such as telling each other where they're going to investigate and calling for back up. Also there's none of that dropping phone/gun/whatever other advantage you care to name just because the villain says so and has a hostage. That drives me insane.

I wouldn't mind finding more of this series.




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