Booklog 35/2023: Karen Traviss: Hard Contact – Star Wars Republic Commando #1

This is the first of Karen Traviss Star Wars books dealing with the chaps in white armour. They are all clones of the same person, grown to maturity in 12 years and trained by a Mandalorian drill sergeant, so you might expect them to be very similar to each other, but withing the first page Ms Traviss has four very individual characters on the page, Niner, Fi, Atin and Darman. This particular squad of commandos is comprised of surviving leftovers of other squads following a devastating battle (in the Clone Wars timeline), so rather than being trusted teammates, they are still getting used to each other. They have been tasked with destroying a separatist bioweapon. Darman is separated from the rest and meets a very inexperienced Jedi Padawan, Etain Tur-Mukan. A bond begins to develop (definitely a no-no as far as their bosses are concerned) and they are separated at the end. I don't usually read tie-in fiction, but I've loved Karen Traviss' other books so so reading this was a no-brainer and I was not disappointed. She gets under the skin of the squaddies and presents fully rounded characters as well a breakneck action. Highly recommended.

Booklog 36/2023: Trip Galey: A Market of Dreams and Destinies

Deri is an indentured apprentice to the merchant Maurlocke in the Untermarkt – the vast Goblin market somewhere beneath Covent garden in an alternate  Victorian era London where magic is recognised (but there are treaties with the fae in place to limit its use. When Deri cuts a deal with a runaway princess he acquires her royal destiny, and extremely hot commodity that could get him into a lot of trouble if he’s not very very careful. It’s price could buy him his freedom from his master. He meets the man of his dreams, Owain, also indentured, but ‘topside’ to an unscrupulous factory owner, and becomes involved with labour politics, merchant deals and indenture issues. Previously only thinking of himself, Deri now has a wider ‘family’ to help. Read about twisty contracts, deals and more deals, m/m romance, dastardly workhouse owners and an unexpected resolution.

Booklog 37/2023: V.E. Schwab: Gallant

Audiobook read by Julian Rhind-Tutt
Sixteen year old Olivia, bereft of speech, grows up in Merilance School for Girls, a dismal place where she is an outsider. She has only her mother's journal as a reminder of what her life should have been. There's one warning in it. Don't go near Gallant. Then a letter arrives from her (unknown) uncle, inviting her to come home to family she didn't know she had. Home is a house called Gallant, a strange place with a secret. When she gets there, her uncle is already dead and her cousin, Matthew, doesn't want her there, though the housekeeper, Hannah, and Edgar, general factotum, are welcoming. There's a wall in the garden with a gate which leads to a dangerous shadow version of Gallant. This is a fantasy which owes a lot to the horror genre. I found it fascinating. The audiobook is read very well by Julian Rhind-Tutt - though why on earth does he pronounce drawing as drawring.