Reviews – Page 6 – Marked for Plot

Novella Readathon #1: Penric’s Demon

I knew that I wanted to start my 31 Novellas in 31 Days Readathon with something that I was almost certain I’d love. Penric’s Demon was a great choice for that. I’ve liked Bujold’s work in the past, the novella has a sterling reputation, and possession is shaping up to be a running theme for some of my 2026 reads (I highly recommend Asunder and Striker V, was less enamored with Ninefox Gambit, and am probably going to read If Found, Return to Hell for this project). This novella is going to be a good fit for anyone interested in something relatively low key and character-focused. My only regret of reviewing this first is that I need to wait until the end of the month to read any more in the series, because I am chomping at the bit to follow these characters.

The Premise:
Penric is a minor lordling on the way to his own betrothal when he stumbles upon a dying woman. It turns out she was host to one of The Bastard’s demons, who jumped ship to Penric as her new host. Now he’s got the voices of the previous 10 hosts (12 if you count the lion and the sheep) in his head, magic powers he didn’t ask for, and a host of people jealous and scared of him. He really just wanted a quiet life, but at least the Demon (whom he names Desdemona) is nice. For her part, she’s just surprised that Penric is treating her with kindness and humanity, and quickly decides that she rather likes this poor oblivious young man.

Read If Looking for: friendly and oblivious doofuses stumbling into trouble, negotiating with ancient entities who are surprised at how chill you are, the goodness of humanity

Avoid If Looking for: satisfying plot arcs, malevolent spirits, energetic combat sequences

Comparable Media: The Goblin Emperor/Cemeteries of Amalo, Murderbot Diaries, The Dragon’s Banker

Japanese Gothic – Time Travel Behind the Sword Ferns

I knew very quickly that this was a new release I wanted to carve out time for. As much as I don’t love derivative naming conventions, I loved Mexican Gothic and had high hopes for Japanese Gothic. Ironically, they are very different types of Gothic fiction, and I don’t think this book references the style of Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s at all. Considering this one is getting a good amount of buzz, I think you can expect to see more [Country] Gothic titles in the future. It’s a shame, because I think Japanese Gothic stands on its own two feet as a really delightful horror story, even if not every element worked for me.

The Premise:
Lee is a college student who fled to Japan after murdering his roommate. His father lives in an old Samurai house with a rotating cast of short-term Japanese girlfriends. Meanwhile, Sen is the son of a disgraced Samurai in the late 1800s, and she desperately wants to live the path of the warrior and live up to her father’s hopes. The world has moved past Samurai, however, and she knows her father’s living breath is a testament to his cowardice, which he takes out on Sen. These two protagonists discover that they can communicate through time. Lee hopes that Sen – obviously a ghost – can give him insight into how he can find the mother who was kidnapped when he was a child. Sen hopes to find details of her family’s fate, for she would do anything to protect them.

Read If You Like: paranormal time travel, historical settings, turtle myths, a creeping sense of unmooring from reality, psychological horror

Avoid If You Dislike: abusive families, unreliable narrators, dead animals, descriptions that feel claustrophobic

Monkey Meat: The Summer Batch

Back in April, I read the first collection of Monkey Meat stories and fell in love. Juni Ba’s art, humor, and themes were catnip for me. The vibes are Sunday Morning cartoons focusing on the dystopian nature of late stage capitalism, with heaping of weirdness thrown into the mix. Overall, I think The Summer Batch is (mostly) a direct upgrade, but the two can really be read in any order. Each story is self-contained, with only a few characters appearing in multiple stories – and never requiring you to have read earlier tales to understand what’s going on. All that’s important is that you’ve returned to Monkey Meat Island! Don’t worry, all we ask for access to the theme park is your immortal soul.

The Premise:
Welcome back to Monkey Meat island! Like last time, there’s a wide variety of stories within this volume. This time however, the book itself is a magazine created by the Monkey Meat corporation, meaning you also get complementary ads. Isn’t that great?

Read if Looking for: the corporation always wins, irreverent humor, in-book recommendations for real-world art, meta-commentary

Avoid if Looking for: optimism or escapism, realistic characters or situations, subtlety

Comparable Media: The Triangle Agency, Dungeon Crawler Carl, Rick and Morty

East of West – Star Wars meets Silverado

I’ve run into a lot of disappointing Weird West novels this year (followed by a really fantastic Fantasy Western in The God Eaters). East of West is a comic famous for being the Weird West of the comic world, though it mixes in more Sci Fi than true weirdness. Considering I read a trade, I only got about a tenth of the entire story to be told, which may not be enough to make a real judgement with. A lot of pieces got put on the gameboard, but none were developed enough to be anything other than introductory archetypes. There was enough interest here to make me want to read more, and the art style is just captivating

The Premise
Death is one of the Four Horseman of the Apocalypse, but he has broken away from his fellows. He now stands in opposition to them as he seeks revenge on those who killed his wife. Meanwhile, the other Horseman are trying to bring about the End of Times. Death will assassinate world leaders, wage war, and bring his inevitability to bear. Meanwhile, War, Famine, and Pestilence work behind the scenes to chase Death down and destroy the world as they know it. Threaded through all of this is a vast Science Western world, giant fights, and political maneuvering from human leaders.

Read If You Like: genre blending, tropes on tropes on tropes, epic stakes from page 1, the feeling of being small

Avoid If You Dislike: archetypical (stereotypical?) characters, multi-pov comics, plentiful violence

Comparable Media: Descenders, Mistborn Era 2

The Gales of November: Great Lakes History

I’ve done more nonfiction reading than I can remember in a long time. I probably wouldn’t have picked up The Gales of November if it weren’t for my in-person book club. Naval history isn’t really my thing, and the sinking of a single ship on Lake Superior isn’t a terribly interesting subject.

However, my partner informed me that it is impossible to truly be a Minnesotan without knowing the story (and song) of the Edmund Fitzgerald. After 14 years, I can finally call myself a true lake country boy, I suppose. While I have very little nonfiction experience to compare this to, my gut is that it’ll be an enjoyable read for the layperson interested in boats or the Great Lakes.

The Disco at the End of the World – Too Much Boogie!

Nathan Tavares has more or less cemented himself as an instabuy author for me, and Disco at the End of the World continues placing him near the top of my favorite author’s list. The early reviews for Disco had me hesitant: several readers I trust DNFd, and a 3.5 rating on Goodreads typically indicates that a book has some fairly major flaws. Like with most of Tavares work, I think my love for it is going to be higher than most people’s. He speaks to my soul in a way that few authors do. This book has some significant rough patches, but it also filled a void that I’ve been searching for: speculative fiction that seriously engages with historical underground queer spaces in America. If that isn’t something that immediately gets you excited though, there probably isn’t enough here for me to recommend it to the average reader.

The Premise:
Mitch is a member of the Spaceguard, which has replaced Nasa in this version of the Cold War with more of a military emphasis than exploratory. He works on the moon base, where he’s known as a queer who doesn’t get a hard time only because he also smuggles contraband in for everybody else. He gets reported for morality breaches and is sent back to Earth, where he and his fellow servicewoman Gloria (not that most soldiers used that name for her) helped open an underground Disco outside Hollywood. Strange things are happening to Mitch however, and he ends up being a contact point for Aliens who are threatening to destroy Earth, unless he, Gloria, and his new family can bougie hard enough to change history.

Read If You Like: portrayals of underground gay culture, alternate space-race history, queer acid trips, disco ball spaceships

Avoid If You Dislike: characters facing homophobia, long stretches without speculative elements, the power of LOVE, intense tonal shifts

Comparable Media: Welcome to Forever, Exit Stage Left: Snagglepuss Chronicles, Disco Witches of Fire Island

Divinity 36 – Intergalactic Idol Boot Camp

I am a sucker for watching competition TV shows. Survivor was a family staple growing up, and Top Chef has gotten me through many marathon grading sessions. Divinity 36 felt a lot like that, both in content and style; it isn’t going to satisfy anyone looking for deep commentary on the human condition or societal power structures. However, it was a fun ‘idol training program’ story with a Sci Fi veneer and some interesting takes on what alien music might look like. It isn’t the fastest-paced story in the world, closer to something slice of life, and it was a phenomenal book to listen to over an 8 hour drive.

The Premise:
Phex grew up in The Wheel; a violent and xenophobic space station who genetically and cybernetically modifies their babies. Phex’s body rejects cybernetic implants, forcing him into non-human societal status. When he escapes, he gets a job as a child refugee at a coffee shop that hosts Dome shows, where Pantheons perform Godsong. He gets recruited by a scout and finds himself on Divinity 36, training to become a god himself. For most, this is a path to fame and glory. For Phex, he’s just happy he got a pay raise. However, the grumpy singer grows more and more enamored with the music he can create, and finds himself with friends for the first time in his life.

Read If You Like: slowwwww burn romances, idol training camps, barista tips, grumpy/sunshine friendships

Avoid If You Dislike: ‘special’ protagonists, vague alien worldbuilding, extended rehearsal/performance descriptions

Karmen – Deadly Bad Decisions

After loving my time with The Many Deaths of Laila Starr, I decided to chase down some comics that people have shared are comparable. I can see why Karmen was mentioned: it asks a character to confront death as they grow and change. Despite being published in 2020, the book felt dated. It’s an enjoyable enough read if you don’t think about things at all. Plus, its a short and quick read. However, it definitely irked me in ways that modern media rarely does. This story triggered thematic red flag after thematic red flag despite being a great book to read on a long car ride.

The Premise
This comic follows Cata, who commits suicide after learning that her longtime best friend (since elementary school) Xisco is cheating on his girlfriend with Cata’s roommate. Turns out Cata’s been in love with him the whole time and this was the last straw. At this point, she turns into a ghost and meets Karmen, an immortal responsible for helping souls pass from one life to the next, determined by how they have cultivated their virtues in their life. Cata is destined to reincarnate as a lower life form. Karmen asks Cata to confront various parts of her personality, eavesdrop on others to learn lessons from them, all in an effort to help Cata’s soul improve in her next incarnation.

Read If You Like: meddling immortals, confronting your character flaws, cat ladies, emotional conclusions

Avoid If You Dislike: men and women unable to have a close platonic relationship, lots of female nudity (all non-sexual, but it’s nonstop), committing suicide because a man didn’t love you

Comparable Media: The Many Deaths of Laila Starr, It’s a Wonderful Life

The School for Invisible Boys

This book has been sitting in my classroom library for a little over a year, and it hasn’t gotten a ton of movement. This is fine: most books don’t. However, as I’m revamping my curriculum, I began to realize that my favorite 6th grade unit, Fantasy book clubs, has no queer options. Fixing that got added to my summer to-do list. I don’t think The School for Invisible Boys is the right pick for my curriculum, but I had a great time with it, even if I can see the areas where I’d like it to shift. Certainly it took me back to my own childhood, even though I wasn’t a Catholic school kid.

Also, shout out to Julian Callos for some ridiculously fun cover art!

The Premise:
Hector is a 6th grader at a Catholic middle school. Life is pretty hard for him right now. His new stepdad and stepbrothers are far more rough and tumble than him, and he feels consistently judged and bullied by them. He feels like his mother has left him by the wayside, and his decision to ask his best friend Blake to be his boyfriend had disastrous results. Now he’s on the run to avoid getting beaten up, only to find himself turning invisible. Turns out he’s not the only lost boy that St. Lawrence’s Catholic School for Boys has running around its hidden halls. Oh, and there’s also a giant tentacle monster too.

Read If You Like: the power of friendship, paranormal investigations, too many tentacles, Fantasy as allegory for the real world

Avoid If You Dislike: middle grade stories, tidy endings, muddled portrayal of healthy family dynamics, censoring slurs in kids books

Comparable Media: The Misfits, Lunar Boys, Spy School

The God Eaters – Soul Crushingly Good

Sometimes, a book hits you like a ton of bricks. They help you redefine your taste, shift the types of stories you pick moving forward, and relentlessly find their way into your recommendations to other readers. Over time, I’ve noticed that my version of these books tend to have rigorous character development, a strong narrative voice, and something to say that goes beyond ‘kill the villain’. The God Eaters is one of those books. Like most of the stories that rip my heart out of my chest, I don’t think it will be for everyone: This novel has too much romance for the typical Fantasy fan, and it trades the tropey goodness Romance enthusiasts crave for a more serious examination of trauma, colonialism, and survival, and most Western fans don’t want to read about two dudes kissing. For me, those elements add up to lightning in a bottle.

Will it be my book of the year? I hope not, only because I would love to read other books that hypnotize me like this one does. It’s definitely a frontrunner though

The Premise:
In a religious theocracy, a pair of remarkable men end up as cellmates in a prison for the magically talented. Kieran is a bandit fighting back against the country who killed his people, forced him into sexual slavery, and addicted him to opium. Ash and his Aunt published rebellious propaganda. The bandit can kill those he hates with a thought, and the writer has a minor empathic gift he uses to avoid trouble. Their journey involves ancient gods, prison breaks, treks across vast deserts, and a lot of agonizingly slow negotiation of their feelings towards each other. They mostly just want to live their lives free from the shadow of religious tyranny. However, the White Watch is relentless and the god who rules them even more so.

Read If You Like: Fantasy Westerns, introspection, anti-colonialist Fantasy from decades ago, awe-inspiring storms, thematically rigorous Romance

Avoid If You Dislike: yearning and pining, underexplained magic, tonal shifts in the third act, ‘he could never like me’

Comparable Media: Heart of Stone, Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe, The Fall of Kings