#139 Echoes Of Gravity

 Echoes of Gravity (Tapache's Promise Trilogy) by James Murdo

• Page count: 337
• Genre: Sci-fi
• Publisher: Cranthorpe Millner 
• Release Date: 29th June 2021(UK) 

Blurb: Ancient machine intelligences. Resurrected species with no memories of the past. Creatures composed of gravity strings. What is hidden in the void between galaxies? Tapache, a machine intelligence with great power, has revived the Roranian people from their derelict remains. It has gifted them the Great Ship to voyage through space, and given them a purpose: to discover the truth about a weapon capable of unthinkable devastation. An unexpected attack, followed by hundreds of years in stasis, scuppers those plans. Hope seems lost for a small group of Roranian survivors, until something far greater draws them in: a megastructure beyond comprehension. The megastructure is far from safe. There are incumbent species that already lay their claim, all with secrets of their own, and a strangely smart information network that exists where it has no right. Was Tapache lying?

The lovely author James reached out to me over on instagram asking if i would like a copy of his upcoming sci-fi novel in exchange for an honest review and promotion over on instagram. I get a lot of these requests over on my bookstagram (@rach_the_reader) but this one was different as James had actually taken the time to look through some of my posts and had noticed that i had recently reviewed an arc of 'Shards of Earth' by the amazing Adrian Tchaikovsky (@aptshadow) and loved it, it meant a lot to me that James had taken the time to look through my posts and check out one of my recent reviews to see if i would be the right kind of reader for his new book and let me tell you i devoured this book in 2 days! I dont want to go into too much of what the book is about or the plot as i think its one of those books where its best to go in blind. All i will say is that we follow Diyun who is a member of the humanoid alien race, he wakes up from a period of stasis and finds himself in an unfamiliar place. This sets into motion Diyun trying to save his friends whilst questioning everything he thought to be true with some political conflicts thrown in. 

Echoes of Gravity is phenomenal, i wasnt sure what to expect going into it but my mind was blown with every chapter i read it was a tiny bit of a slow start and it does feel like a lot of information all at once but once you get over that bit its all smooth sailing. James does a wonderful job with the world building, its so expansive and vast. The descriptions used allow you to paint an amazing picture of this universe, i would put it up there with some of the best world building ive ever read! Im still in awe everytime i think about it. It also has a glossery which was so so helpful! Not every fantasy or sci-fi book includes that and it can sometimes be the downfall of the book if the reader cant follow what you are saying, i didnt have this problem with this book but did enjoy referring back to it sort of like bonus material. 

This book reminded me of so many other sci-fi books i love and deserves a worthy space amongst them. I must say it had a different feel to it than a typical sci-fi novel, there were so many twists and turns in the story that i honestly couldnt put it down! Im hoping and praying that James does a bit of a Sanderson/Tolkien/Martin/Hobb (take your pick) and writes multiple books in his Wanderer Universe. I loved this book and its 4 main characters but kept thinking throughout just how much potential the world has to follow so many different characters in different settings. 

*edited to add* So silly me, James has already become a Sanderson/Tolkien/Martin/Hobb as this book is one of many set in the same universe (facepalm) haha

Thank you to both the author and the publisher for yet another great blog tour and for reaching out to me! This book is currently also £1.99 on kindle, a total bargain that you should snap up quick!

Thanks for reading :)

#138 Mirrorland

 Mirrorland by Carole Johnstone

Yet another great blog tour for @TheWriteReads gang! Thank you as ever to Dave, the publishers and the author for an e-arc of this book in exchange for an honest review. Boy oh boy was i sucked in by this one! The book follows El and Cat who are identical twins, at the beginning of the story we learn that El has gone missing whilst on a boating trip and that Cat is travelling back to Scotland from California. Cat is returning back to the home that she grew up in with her sister that El and her husband Ross later bought at auction. Cat had not been back for 12 years and the twins have been estranged in that time. We learn that Cat and El are mirror twins and Cat is convinced if something bad had happened to El that she would be able to sense it, she returned to find out what game El is playing and why she has dragged Cat back to where they grew up after all these years. 

We as readers are slowly fed drips and drabs of a place the twins invented called Mirrorland. When Cat arrives back in Scotland she is immediatley flooded with memories from the past and everything she ran away from. 

This is definitely a book to annotate and take notes for, it reads like a mystery novel as there is so many layers and things we need to discover. There are a lot of hidden details and meanings that you really need to take your time and pay attention to, the writing is so intricate and i really must applaud the author for how well thought out things were. I would find myself reading a part and thinking 'hmm thats odd not sure how that will be relevant later' on only for a few chapters later to say 'ahhh that all makes sense now!'

I really enjoyed the magical realism elements to the story and when it veered down a more fantasy route with the twins childhood imaginings. I dont tend to read a lot of contemporary so i was really glad that this book was so multi layered with its genres, it felt like there was something for everyone. I really enjoyed the world building and immediately wanted to read more from this author. 

My only critique is that the book had a very slow start, i would say it took me over 2 hours to get to 10% of the way through. It didnt begin to feel more fast paced until around 30% for me but i fully put this down to getting used to the writing style and the story itself, once i was in i was fully in and it began flowing much better. 

#137 Not That Bad

 Not That Bad: Dispatches from Rape Culture by Roxanne Gay

Not That Bad is such a deeply important read, its so underrated and something i rarely see on bookstagram or booktube which is such a shame. The book is an anthology of essays written by a different author and covers an array of topics surrounding rape culture. Rape culture can be such a triggering and difficult topic for so many but i feel like so much can be learned from this book and that although parts of it can be triggering and upsetting it is such an important read. This book does not shy away from the hardest parts of rape culture to be delved into, it is very emotional and heavy in certain parts. 

I really admire Roxanne Gay for putting these stories together, they arent a fun read or even pleasant to read in certain circumstances but each and every story deserves our attention and deserves to be heard regardless of the subject matter surrounding it. These things happen every single day and it shouldnt be taboo to speak about it. The statistics are correct that 4/5's of young men and women in the UK have been sexually harrassed never mind assaulted so we shouldnt be turning a blind eye in order to live in blissful ignorance in my opinion. 

I listened to these essays on audiobook and it was even more powerful than reading it physically. It was told wonderfuuly by 3 different narrators and it really gave life to each story. It really gave each story a spotlight as these arent stories we hear everyday and we certainly dont get the point of view from the victim and how it affected them. I found it to be uplifting and empowering overall. The diversity, subject matter and scope within these essays is what makes it so unique, every other non fiction book ive read that covers topics such as feminism or rape culture is usually written by and for white women but this covered so many different people with different circumstances and what i loved was that it included the male voice and this isnt just something that affects women and that is so often forgotten about. It also included voices from the LGBTQ+ community which was so good to see and read as some of those groups are already so oppressed and it was nice to hear a different point of view from that of the white, middle class woman. 

The topics covered within this anthology range from cat calling to sexual assault even covering topics such as sexual abuse against children. We get to see so many different points of view but it all summarises how much of a problem rape culture still is within society and how we need to do better and educate. Educate our daughters, our sons, our family and our friends. 

The over arching topic of things being .not that bad' was so poignant throughout. No one has the right to judge some one elses story, what happened to them or how it made them feel and they certainly dont have the right to make it out like it was less than it was. It actually gave me myself a lot to think about when im having banter with friends not specifically about rape culture but more general things such as a disappointment, illness or even something like a fall and how that might actually make them feel deep down and how its not my place to judge the situation. It also made me think about how i will teach my young daughter to behave and how to better educate herself against rape culture. All in all one of the most important non fiction books ive ever read.