Death by Silver by Melissa Scott and Amy Griswold

4 Stars

Lynes & Mathey - Book One

I had been wanting to read this for a very long time and I'm happy to say that it did not disappoint!  It's a murder mystery set in an alternate steampunk magic London, seasoned with enough magic to make things very interesting.  Frankly, I loved the world-building.   

The two main characters, Ned Mathey and Julian Lynes have known each other since they were boys at school.  Their 'romance' is the secondary plot that twines a bit with the main mystery plot seeing as it's the father of one of their schoolboy 'enemies' who is the first murder victim.  I liked Ned and Julian a lot and I also liked the secondary characters that surround them, especially Ned's assistant, Miss Frost.  She is a surprising lady, that's for sure!  So, as I said, I liked them and was quite willing to follow them about as they solved the mystery and put some of their own ghosts of the past to rest.

I have the second book in my TBR and I will be reading it sooner than later and I hope that Melissa and Amy write more in this universe!

Lost Things by Melissa Scott and Jo Graham

3.5 Stars

The Order of the Air - Book One

I thought this was a cool read.  Set in the early 1930s, a period that I'm quite fond of, it's the tale of a small aviation company run by veterans of the Great War and how they get involved in a dangerous, thrilling occult adventure with its roots back in ancient times. 

We have the three aviators, Lewis, Alma and Mitch, and the Jerry, the archaeologist.  The First World War, the Great War, left its scars on everyone that fought and these four are no different.  There are the obvious wounds, such as Jerry's missing lower leg, Mitch's abdominal scars, and there are also the mental and emotional wounds that all four suffer from.  I liked all of them and I thought the authors did a good job of introducing and portraying them.  It's the first in a series of books, so I expect to be learning more about them - especially my favourite, Mitch.  I think he was the least fleshed out, but maybe that's because he doesn't seem, right now, to be as complicated as the other three? 

So, the adventure includes an ancient evil from the time of the Emperors Claudius and Nero and possibly even before. We have a demon run amok and our quartet are on the chase.  The only real problem I had with the whole thing was the time we spent reading about the intricacies of the aircraft involved.  I didn't feel I needed to know things in such detail, either about the Terrier plane or the dirigible. The one part where I felt it worked was the big chase scene.

Now, I have to say, the book reminded me of a favourite book of one of my favourite authors - Katherine Kurtz and her Lammas Night. It also reminded me of her Templar series of books, but mostly Lammas Night.  I wonder if the authors were inspired by her? 

Anyway, I enjoyed my read and as it's the first volume of an omnibus, I have the next 2 books in the series to look forward to!  If I was one to binge read, I'd be reading them right away, but I like to space my series out for the most part. 

Point of Sighs by Melissa Scott

4 Stars

Novels of Astreiant #5

I love this series and I love the two main characters, Philip Eslingen and Nico Rathe.  I love that in this book they're getting a little more settled into their relationship.  And they've not forgotten Sunflower, the dog!  I love that Nico is a born pointsman (policeman), smart, logical, observant and so upright sometimes that it hurts!  And I love that Philip, one of the leaders of the new City Guard (a type of militia unit), is more of a running on instinct fellow, more liable to jump to the right conclusions and just sly enough to get by.  And I love that the author doesn't forget to remind us of his soldiering/cavalry roots.

The mystery this time around focusses on the water.  The weather, the river, the tunnels beneath the city. Philip is quite unlucky with water, his stars being very bad for it.  There are abductions, murders, thugs and bribery.  There are river monsters and a river spirit who is absolutely evil.  And there are some pointespeople at the Point of Sighs office that we start to get to know, mostly don't trust at the beginning but then see Rathe be Rathe and grudgingly they begin to be won over.

One thing that bugged me however, and I don't remember it being the case in previous books.  The society of Nico and Philip's world is matriarchal. No problem, I'm good with that.  But in many instances, the narrative would read something like...  oh... he was looking for a place where a woman might hide - it was every woman for herself - which is all well and good, but when the story is being told from a man's POV, it's kind of jarring for me.  Because I find myself wondering if why they're looking for a woman, if they're ONLY looking for a woman, did I miss why it's a woman.  It felt almost obnoxious to my reading ear, but maybe that's because I'm 61 years old with 55 years of reading under my belt and habits are hard to break. 

But I loved this visit to Astreiant and I truly hope there are more, 'cause I'll be there to buy them!

Fairs' Point by Melissa Scott

4 STARS

Astreiant - Book 4

From one police procedural to the next, it seems. This one, Fairs' Point is set in the fantasy city of Astreiant and is the fourth in the series starring Nicco Rathe, the cop and Phillip Eslingen, the soldier as they solve the latest mystery to come their way.

The story takes place around the yearly dog races and Phillip actually acquires a young pup. I must say, the scenes between him, the dog and the young dog trainer, Naimi, that he hires to take care of the young racing dog are some of my favourites in the book.

We meet a few of the characters from the three previous books and it is lovely to see them again. I'm especially fond of Sohier, Rathe's co-worker and wished to see more of her.

The politics of Astreiant are twined around the mystery as they have been in previous books, and once again, they leave me confused, but I think all that means is that I can't extrapolate some of the clues that are laid in the mystery, so when the climax comes, I'm more surprised than maybe the average reader. *LOL*

Phillip is still my fave of faves and I'm very glad he and Nicco are settling into their relationship, and are able to solve the bumps that come along the way. They make for a good partnership all around! :)

Hopefully Melissa Scott is working on the next in the series, Point of Sighs, because I need more of this whole cast of characters. I hear hints that it might be about Rathe's friend, Istre b’Estorr, who I quite adore too.

In short, I just need more Astreiant!

Point of Dreams by Melissa Scott & Lisa A. Barnett

3.5 STARS

Astreiant Book 3

The third installment of the Astreiant followed in the footsteps of the first two (Point of Knives and Point of Hopes) and was very, very good. We continue to follow our heroes, Nico Rathe, the pointsman and Philip Eslingen, the one-time solder on the latest of their mysteries. This one concerns flowers, the theatre, and the nobility.

Philip is now working as a member of the Masters of the Guild of Defense, who provide all military and/or fighting performances in Astreiant's theatres. There are murders in the theatre and environs where he's working and since the theatre district is in the point (district) served by the Point of Dreams, Nico takes it on. Thereby hangs the tale.

In this book, we get to meet Nico's mother, which I really liked. Nico and Philip's relationship grows and I guess you could say expands to the point where they're openly acknowledging each other as their leman.

My only problem - and the reason I didn't give it 4 stars - was that there was so much stuff about the play being rehearsed and the previous play that I got a tad befuddled at times. And, there were a few big-time secondary characters whose names were similar, all starting with the letter A for some reason.

The Astreiant series has become one of my favourites and I really love both Nico and Philip. :)

Point of Knives by Melissa Scott

4 STARS

Astreiant Series - Book 2

I love this series!

This novella continues the adventures with Nico and Philip from Point of Hopes. A few months have passed since the events of that first novel.

I would have liked Point of Knives to be longer, it's only a novella, but I'm greedy that way. *LOL*

I still love both Nico and Philip and enjoyed the glimpses we got of their extended entourage of friends and co-workers.

So this was a nice snack that I totally enjoyed in a series that I'm pretty sure will become one of my favourites. :)

Point of Hopes by Melissa Scott & Lisa A. Barnett

4.5 STARS

Astreiant Series - Book 1

I managed to catch a tweet by one of my favourite authors, KJ Charles, wherein she mentioned having a book hangover after finishing the last book of the Points series by Melissa Scott. So, I went a hunting. I always check out what my fave authors are reading and have found it a pretty good barometer for finding new reads.

Point of Hopes is the first in the Astreiant series and introduces us to a fascinating world and a bunch of fascinating characters, the main ones being Nicolas (Nico) Rathe, a pointsman (police detective) in the Point of Hopes, and Philip Eslingen, a recently discharged soldier. Children are going missing throughout the city of Astreiant and Rathe is on the case. He enlists the help of Philip and a long-time friend who also happens to be a necromancer, Istre b'Estorr to figure out what's going on and find the children. It's really a fantasy/mystery/police procedural story and I love that!

The world-building is amazing! We're talking about a world where what makes it go 'round is astrology - complicated and real astrology. The city of Astreiant where the majority of the action takes place is a walled city divided into districts called Points - 12 of them of course. We follow Rico and Philip as they try and solve the mystery of the missing children and as we do, we are introduced to this marvelous and original world and society.

The characters are great too. I liked all of them - the main and the secondary and even the characters who arrived for just one scene.

I'm so glad that I was able to pick up the existing 4 books of the series (On sale, I might add - from Lethe Press until March 31st.) because I am HOOKED!

Thanks to KJ Charles for talking about the books she loves! :)