As I tend to find myself behind schedule on my self-imposed book reviews I’m going to start posting book updates where I note all the books that I’ve read in a month or in a particular time span. This first reading log is going to cover all the books that I have read between the beginning of January 2025 up until the end of February 2025. Please note that I will be discussing comics graphic novel and manga in a separate update. I may end up doing this film reviews as well and that will be its own separate update.

The Wasp Factory – Iain Banks.

This is a very interesting and unusual novel. It’s a horror novel, written by an author who’s probably more well known for writing science fiction. I really enjoyed this for the most part. A good friend of mine recommended me this book and I had a wonderful time texting him all my theories and my half-baked analysis of the text. The story is extremely messed up, with a whole bunch of murder, animal torture, and other delightful things to read about. I have to admit that I felt let down by the ending. The twist at the very end did nothing for me. I will note that this was his debut novel when the author was failing to get published as a science fiction writer. This has the same problem as other debut novels where the author is able to write with a really interesting and distinct voice, make use of interesting language and prose, but unfortunately whiff the ending. As time goes on, I have more appreciation for authors who can actually write, rather than authors who have a well designed story arc planned out, but failed to deliver on actual good writing. My pet theory is that planning out a story arc is something that an editor can help you with, but bad prose is something they can’t. All this being said, I look forward to checking out more work from this author and I really appreciated the interesting recommendation.

Lud-in-the-Mist – Hope Mirrlees

A very interesting fantasy novel that was originally put on my radar by the disgraced author Neil Gaiman. It is notably one of the 1st novels that features a Second World fantasy setting. This is very much an abstract story about Victorian themes and concerns about art. There are a number of incredibly beautiful passages of writing which were really quite stunning and beautiful. The fantasy world is not as well developed as future fantasy novels will come to be. The allegory is quite overt, but the story is unusual enough and the language exquisite enough that this is an ignorable flaw. I would say that this was something that I found interesting rather than truly loved. However this was definitely worth checking out and it’s also quite short and succinct. Anyone who is interested in doing a deep dive of the fantasy genre and in particular is looking at early examples, this is worth your time.

City of Bohane – Kevin Barry

I discovered City of Bohane as it is recommended quite heartily by the author Daniel Polansky on his blog. Polanski happens to be one of my favorite writers, and I love epic gangster crime sagas, so this checked off enough of my boxes that I was eager to give this a try. City of Bohane is set in a fictional city on the West Coast of Ireland, where you have a classic story of a top gangsters old nemesis comes back to town and shakes things up. There is a tragic love story at the heart of this, and it feels very much like gangs of New York in an imagined city that never existed, with some of the strangest most unusual and marvelously beautiful dialogue that I have ever read. Kevin Barry’s characters speak in a unique and remarkable brogue that is very unusual yet eminently understandable. This is so far one of my favourites and at this point even having not yet read any of his other works I’m already willing to consider Barry as a new favorite author. I could not recommend this book hardly enough. What’s also interesting is that City of Bohane has a massive amount of influence on Daniel polanski’s tomorrow’s children which I read in the summer of 2024. That was one of my favorite reads of the summer and it’s really interesting to see the influence that City of Bohane has had on Polansky’s writing.

Night Boat to Tangier – Kevin Barry

Naturally, the next thing that I had to do was read another Kevin Barry book, so of course I ended up reading Night Boat to Tangier. This is a marvel of a novel about two nasty middle-aged Irish gangsters filled with despair and regret. These two interesting characters are waiting at this ferry terminal in Spain. They are waiting there because one of them is trying to meet up with his daughter who he is estranged with. It’s bitterly sad, very nasty in certain parts, and extremely well written. My admiration for Barry’s writing has only grown because there are very few people who can continuously astound me page to page with just beautiful little pearls of writing. That sounds like a very pretentious thing to say and it probably is given that I’m not nearly well read enough to be saying such a thing but I do genuinely believe that Kevin Berry is just a remarkable writer. So far I would still say that city of bohane is my favorite of the works that I have read, but wait till I tell you what I have read next.

Mythago Wood – Robert Holdstock

OK so it’s not a Kevin Berry book, but I’m getting to that in a minute. So I’ve been trying to read a number of world fantasy award winners and Mythago Wood by Robert holdstock has been on my list for awhile. This feels very much akin to American gods by Neil Gaiman, which is kind of a good thing, but it’s more of a precursor and less of something that actually holds its own against American gods. The novel is about this young man who comes home from the war and discovers to his chagrin that his older brother has taken up the same obsession with their local would as their remote and neglectful father. However he discovers that the wood is in fact magical and that figures and creatures out of humanities collective imagination and nightmares are starting to wander out of the wood. His brother goes off on this quest into the wood and comes back a deeply changed man. I thought that this was OK because there were parts that I liked, but what’s annoying was that the character would encounter things that to me that could be the entire story. However, the author would just skip over things like they were mild curiosities. I found this mildly infuriating because there were so many interesting opportunities that the author casually discarded. The prose was good but it didn’t really do much for me and maybe reading this right after two books by an author who I’m clearly obsessing with how good his prose is, well… Not a favorable comparison. This might be worth checking out if you’re interested in some of the world fantasy award winners because these always managed to be somewhat obscure unusual but often very interesting pieces of genre fiction.

Heart of the Ronin – Travis Heermann

I read this trilogy in short succession partly because I was stressed about a job thing that I was afraid was going to get me fired and only later realized that I was being insanely neurotic and paranoid and of course hyper fixated on this relatively unknown Japanese inspired fantasy trilogy. Basically this is right up my alley. This is a story about a young man who is trained in swordsmanship by a Japanese tengu (a creature of of Japanese folklore). His best friend is a talking dog, and there are lots of swordfights as well as Heartfelt longing and romance. He’s also got a magic sword. It’s set at a really interesting period in Japanese history, which is even farther up my alley. I inhaled this in a couple of hours. It’s a really good time and I advise you to check it out.

Sword of the Ronin – Travis Heermann

Yes, I went right to the sequel. I really enjoyed the first book, it’s a really good time. This one is also extremely good. Something I failed to mention about these books is that each chapter is opened by a quotation from either Hagakure, the love poems of Marichiko, poetry by various Japanese Zen masters, or other fascinating historical texts. In particular, the eggs erps of love poems are particularly moving. This one is very tragic, and it doesn’t become project in quite typical ways. The forced parting of the lovers is painful partly because of how this effects their current relationships with other people, and doesn’t demonize their partners in a way which would make the behaviour of our lead characters’ more palatable. This one also features the invasion of Japan by the armies of kublai Khan which features some excellent action scenes. It’s a really good time and this is not a sophomore slump.

The Ronin and the Green Maiden – Travis Heermann

There’s even a short story that occurs between books two and three in the trilogy. This is a riff on gawain and the green knight. Overall I liked it.

Spirit of the Ronin – Travis Heermann

I basically mainlined this trilogy right into my veins. Is it really that good or was I just trying to distract myself from my personal problems? Maybe the answer is both? In the second book he does pick up a tanuki friend who helps him out who is a great character. All throughout this series there are a bunch of dramatic sword fights and battles, I forgot to mention that there’s a particularly loathsome and deceitful villain, and there is a great deal of satisfying character growth on the part of our protagonist. Much of his mysterious background is revealed, and more demons (both literal and metaphorical) are fought. It’s an excellent series and this is an excellent conclusion to the series. This is rather obscured as fantasy trilogy’s go but I do think that this is worth your time. This seems to be only available on ebook, which has probably limited its audience. Also a Japanese inspired fantasy trilogy written by a white guy doesn’t necessarily inspire confidence. Honestly maybe I was just being really insane about work, but I genuinely did really like this an I’m hoping anyone who reads this and foolishly decides to take up my recommendation enjoys this trilogy as well.

Conjure Wife – Fritz Leiber

This is a story about a man whose wife is practicing witchcraft on his behalf in order to further his academic career. When he finds out that his wife is practicing witchcraft he convinces her to stop which actually has disastrous results. This is a classic inversion of a lot of stories where a woman dissatisfied with her life takes up witchcraft in order to address the patriarchy, misogyny, various bitter life disappointments. The immediate example that comes to mind is George a romero’s hungry wives, also known as season of the witch. This is genuinely quite creepy, definitely a little dated, you might even say regressive, but in general this is a quick read that is entertaining pulp. Another old school fantasy horror novel that might be of interest if that’s your thing.

The Forgotten Beasts of Eld – Patricia A. McKillip

This is the first world fantasy award winner and it’s also my first Patricia a. McKillip novel. A young woman who is the daughter of a powerful wizard inherits this beast cherry of remarkable creatures and also ends up becoming the foster mother to this princeling. When outside forces come to drag the young princeling back into our life of politics an intrigue, she is forced to descend from her mountain and become entangled in the world of men. You could argue that this is an early work of feminist fantasy, which I would say that it is. What I find interesting about some old school fantasy is that the tropes that they are operating under are classic tropes which we would find as a modern audience very predictable. That being said this is not a predictable novel an I didn’t necessarily anticipate where it was going. I’m getting the sense that this might be the type of novel that I generally enjoyed on the 1st read, and come to appreciate in a much greater way on a reread. Overall this was something I enjoyed, but wouldn’t say that I loved. That being said I can see why McKillip has staying power as an author and I’m definitely curious about checking out more of her work.

Wiseguy – Nicholas Pileggi

I’m a huge fan of the movie Goodfellas by Martin Scorsese. I remember reading this book years ago but I think I may never have finished it. After recently re watching Goodfellas, I knew that I had to give this book another chance and I’m glad I did. This is a very interesting self-portrait, almost, about the life of one of America’s most notorious gangsters. Henry hill is a very interesting character in that he is able to provide such an articulate insight into how the American Cosa Nostra actually functions. It’s also remarkable to me just how much of Ray Liotta’s voice over dialogue from the film is lifted straight from the pages of this book. I had an absolute blast with this, and I recommend this to anybody who is remotely interested in the history of organized crime, the movie Goodfellas, or just an interesting and light nonfiction book.

The Heart in Winter – Kevin Barry

Here comes the aforementioned third Kevin Berry book. The Heart In Winter is a remarkable western romance literary fiction novel about an alcoholic and opium fueled rogue who falls in love with, and ultimately runs off with, the wife of the captain of the local mine company. After running off together. Villainous men are sent after them, end tragedy and adventure go hand in hand. This is a remarkable novel that has otherworldly writing and absolutely remarkable and memorable characters. This is a incredible book, it’s so short but it’s packed with so much punch, but be warned it’s not for the faint of heart. I think I might be drawn to bleak stories about characters who are fighting against currents of terrible misfortune. The beauty of Kevin Barry’s writing is that he doesn’t sugarcoat all the awfulness that we go through every day as human beings, but he also manages to highlight all the beauty and wonder that is inherent to being alive, to being in love, and to having a working imagination. The ending will shatter you, but we have to hope that it’s worth it.

Stolen Tongues – Felix Blackwell

This story has an interesting origin where it originally started as a Reddit-submitted horror short story. The author then adapted it into a full length horror novel. Weirdly enough, the protagonist Is also named Felix Blackwell. This is a rather weird detail that I don’t know what to make of. This is extremely creepy and the horror elements work really well. The problem is the ending is rather trite: it smacks of a smug go to therapy ending, and on top of that the native characters are treated rather poorly by the story. It should be noted that the creature, which is admittedly very scary, is something that purportedly comes out of native folklore, but it actually might just be something out of the author’s imagination. In the afterword, the author notes that he is not an expert on indigenous cultures or representation, and comments that he is trying to avoid the worst pitfalls of native representation, but again falls into I’ve nasty hole with how the Native characters are treated. I would say that the author is almost certainly well-intentioned, but the ending did not work for me at all. That being said, the horror elements were rather good and I think there is some promise in this area.

This brings us up to date with what I have read so far, not including comics graphic novels and manga, in the year of 2025. I’ll be happy to bring you up to date on my next reading updates which will happen at the end of March/beginning of April. Thanks for reading!