Review: Treason by Althea Claire Duffy

Publication Date: 25^th March 2015
Publisher: Less Than Three Press

Huge thanks to Netgalley for sending me a copy in exchange for an honest review

In the port city of Auragos, seven merchant Houses vie for control of the trade that has made the city wealthy. Raised as a spy for House Corellis, Elunet has played so many roles that she's sometimes unsure of who she really is. 
Sent to uncover proof of possible treason by their greatest rival, House Mellas, Elunet will be more than happy to see such a despicable family brought down. But then she meets Tavia—heir to House Mellas, student mage, and nothing that Elunet expected. And the treason she hoped to unmask instead proves to be an entirely different, but equally dangerous secret…

‘Treason’ is one of three novellas featuring strong LGBTQIA women being published by Less Than Three Press and I was so excited to get stuck into it. Unfortunately ‘Treason’ falls into the trap of many novellas where the idea is so intriguing that there simply isn’t enough space to cover everything and you end up with a very cropper view of the story as only one real element is brought to the fore. I could have quite happily read a full novel set in this world.

The world itself is intriguing and there is so much set up, so many names and places and intrigues and not enough time devoted to them. I wanted more, I wanted detail, but instead the sheer volume of information being thrown into these pages made me feel overwhelmed and I found it really hard to keep up with all the different houses and plots.

I also found the start of the relationship a little bit too rushed. There was a big surge of attraction and then everything simmered down to almost non-existent before another surge out of nowhere at the end of the story. It felt too random and the relationship itself too forced. It suffered from the same problem as the world – it needed more time to develop.

All in all this is a short, quick read that offers an interesting insight into Auragos, but skims over most of the exciting stuff and doesn’t really give the reader enough depth to invest in the story. Elunet is a fascinating protagonist though and I did really enjoy the story, I just wish there could have been more!

Musings on 'Teaser' Short Stories

Eleven Minutes by Megan Miranda
Fracture is told from Delaney's perspective, and if you've read the first two chapters, you know that she falls through the ice in chapter one, and she wakes up 6 days later. And what happens in between—well, that's Decker's story. 
This is the story of those eleven minutes, and the six days that follow, from his perspective. Because while it must be terrifying to be trapped under the ice, it's a different kind of terror seeing your best friend trapped... 
Especially if it's your fault.

‘Tomorrow is Today by Julie Cross
The year is 2009. Nineteen-year-old Jackson Meyer is a normal guy… he’s in college, throws lots of parties, is interested in a girl he can’t have, and oh yeah, he can travel back through time. But it’s not like the movies – nothing changes in the present after his jumps, there’s no space-time continuum issues or broken flux capacitors – it’s just harmless fun.

There seems to have been a sudden influx of short stories to go with new releases. You know the sort, prologues and short tasters to get people excited about the books before they come out, and after reading a few of them I think it’s time we talked about it.

Because I am all for promotion of a new book, and short stories to give people a taste for the characters, the world, the plot, the romances, these are usually good things but I think there is a fine line which some of them walk, and some of them fall straight off.

Two examples that spring to mind are ‘Eleven Minutes’ by Megan Miranda and ‘Tomorrow is Today’ by Julie Cross. Both of these fabulous authors had début novels out at the start of January, and both of them released short ‘teaser’ stories prior to the release to wet peoples appetites.

Now I read these after reading the novels, and had really strong, and completely opposite reactions to them. I had some problems with ‘Fracture’ as anyone who has read my review will see. I didn’t connect to Delaney as I was supposed to, and was put off the whole thing by Troy, who made my skin crawl and was enough to make me want to stop reading the book altogether. Round of applause for Ms Miranda for creating such a believable character that produced such a strong reaction.

I then read ‘Eleven Minutes’ which is essentially the first couple of chapters of ‘Fracture’ told from Decker’s point of view instead. And I loved it. This shows just how awesome Miranda’s writing is and how much my reaction to ‘Fracture’ was just a personal reaction, not a reflection on the writing. I found it engaging, it made complete sense both after reading ‘Fracture’ providing me with new insights that I wouldn’t have had from Delaney’s coma state, but also giving me enough information that even if I hadn’t read the novel first I would have understood what was happening and cared about the character’s. I loved it, and it was a brilliant example of how teaser stories can peak interest in a book before it’s even been released.

Then we have ‘Tomorrow is Today’ by Julie Cross. This was to create a buzz for her new novel ‘Tempest’ which I absolutely adored, but something about it just didn’t work.
As someone who came to the short story after reading the novel, I knew the characters and the premise quiet well, but I think that if I hadn’t read the novel first I would have been completely lost. The thing that struck me was that it didn’t seem to have a purpose. It didn’t add very much to the characters or the story, in fact it seemed more like a bonus deleted scene than a story. There were a few nice moments between Jackson and Holly, but it didn’t really tell me more about them. I didn’t learn anything about Jackson’s abilities, and without the information about it that I understood from Tempest, I would have been confused by that as well.

If it had added another point of view or a bit of relevant backstory then I would have felt differently, but I was left feeling a bit stumped as to why it had been used as a teaser for the novel.

It left me feeling really strange, because as I said, I loved Tempest, it was one my favourite début books this year, but the short story really didn’t do it for me. And I wonder whether people who had read the short story first would have been put off reading the novel after reading it – which is tragic, because the novel is awesome.

So as someone who isn’t fussed on short stories on the whole, I’m a bit torn about them being used to promote a new book. Sometimes they work, sometimes they don’t, but I think that if they add a new perspective, a new bit of backstory, and they work as clear concise stories in their own right instead of leaning on the novel entirely for context, then they’re a great idea.

But what do you think? Are you a fan of teaser stories? Or do you steer clear of them and go straight for the book itself?

Two Short Story Reviews: Cat Calls & Haunted Love by Cynthia Leitich Smith

Two brief reviews on two short stories by Cynthia Leitich Smith.

Cat Calls

Tiffany's grandma sees something wild in her future -- but is Tiffany prepared for the powerful shape it will take? CAT CALLS is a short story by New York Times Bestseller Cynthia Leitich Smith -- set in the same dark universe as her novels Tantalize, Eternal, and Blessed.

I’m curious about this author because I’m really excited about her other novels, so I wanted to get a taster of her writing style with her short stories first.
I think it could just be that I’m not a huge fan of short stories, but it really didn’t do it for me. I like the premise, I liked the characters, and it sure was enough to get me intrigued enough to read her books, but it still fell a bit flat.
I think because of the length there isn’t enough plot or character development which leave me feeling a little grumpy, and like events sometimes happen for no reason at all, or without enough explanation for them to draw me in.
It was still enough to intrigue me because I like her writing style and the premise, but it wasn’t enough to make me like this particular story.

Haunted Love

Spirit, Texas, is a town of secrets, and as the new owner of the local haunted movie theater, Cody Stryker is juggling more than his fair share. When a mysterious new girl comes to town and runs afoul of the ghost that lives in his theater, Cody’s caught in the middle and needs to figure out exactly who he can trust. HAUNTED LOVE is a short story by New York Times Bestseller Cynthia Leitich Smith -- set in the same dark universe as her novels TANTALIZE, ETERNAL, and BLESSED.

The same goes for ‘Haunted Love’ – not enough development for the events to make sense. Maybe after reading her books I’ll come back and enjoy them more, because the world and characters will mean more to me, but based on their own it wasn’t enough.
I loved the start of this story, it really drew me in, in a way that I didn’t find with the first one. However, then things get weird, we get an ax and a crazy lady and I just kind of stared blankly at the page going ‘really?’
So yeah, the writing makes me want to go and read her full length novels, but hasn’t done anything to convince me to like short stories any more than I already do.