Alis FranklinReseñas

My Burgoine Review: I'm on record as a fan of the Kiwi fantasy/sitcom hybrid The Almighty Johnsons, a treat when I discovered it and a loss when the Netflix folk gave up the rights...it's back now on IMDb TV, follow the link. I've also warbled in the past about the delights of [[Thorne Smith]]'s absurd gods-walk-among-us books (eg, [Nightlife of the Gods]), written in the waning days of Prohibition and suited to that time's slightly hallucinatory entertainments. (Watch any of the Broadway Melody flicks...no one can tell me peyote was unknown to these men!)

I was hoping that, given those tastes and the specific aiming of Cupid's Dart at a mortal man's heart for a specific Asgardian, I'd be over the moon about this read. I was quite pleased instead. As a purchase will set one back 99¢, I think you're good to go if you want a pleasant diversion that doesn't quite know if it wants to be doom-y or dream-y. I chuckled, but I doubt I'll seek the next one out.

Reviews of stories read so far:

“Full Steam Ahead” by Alexander Hardison - A sweet story of friendship between a voidbeast and their human captain riding within.

“Truth Be Told” by Louise Pieper - A skinwalker-type monster finds common ground with its intended prey.

“Transcendence Inc.” by C.H. Pearce - A weird story about uploading consciousness to an artificial heaven and a monster in a skin suit who funded the venture.

“Trench” by Nathan J. Phillips - The opening caught my imagination, but overall I felt it could’ve been tighter. An interesting take on the hive mind idea, though.

“Emergent” by D.L. Fleming - A cute story about a sort of AI getting itself out of long term storage, with the inadvertent help of a warehouse worker.

“Mother of the Trenches” by Grace Chan - A story of a tentacled behemoth from the deep and their sort of-rescued human. I found the start a bit confusing to follow, but the ending was amusing.

If you haven't read Liesmith, the first book in this series, get yourself there right now.

This book picks up not long after the first book, with Sigmund and Lain both still reeling from the events at the end of book 1. Sigmund has nightmares of killing and Lain's got the voices of two other people in his head.

With everything unsettled, there's a power vaccuum. Baldr's children and Thor's children are all looking for power, and Loki's child, Hel, is seeking a huge change in the status quo.

There are some fascinating twists here, almost all coming from women, including Sigyn who, through Sigmund, plays a part of her own.

Also, this is the book that taught me about bogan rock, so yay for that.

I'm in for however long this series goes on. I love the way Franklin combines traditional mythology in new ways and makes something totally fresh.

[I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.]

Ragnarok has come and gone, and, thanks to Sigyn, Loki has survived. He's built a new life for himself as the CEO of a major technology company, and now he's falling in love with one of his employees, Sigmund, who happens to have been Sigyn in a past life. And Sigmund, quiet, nerdy, game-designer with issues about performative masculinity is falling in love right back. It's all going great until Baldr arrives, wildly angry with Loki and ready to destroy everyone and everything he cares for.

Don't think this book has made Loki into a woobie, because it hasn't. He's still Loki, though he's changed somewhat over his thousand years of torture. And he's changed even more because of a long-ago secret that he can't remember, but which if he could would change everything he believes.

I cried when that secret was revealed. Seriously cried. Teared up for Sigyn and Loki and Baldr and everyone else caught in the fallout of an old god's plan. This book was great. It was sweetly romantic, and exciting with high stakes. Highly recommended. (Provided by publisher)

Second volume of Norse gods fantasy series

This is the second in the series and I made the mistake of asking to review it, having forgotten that I hadn’t enjoyed the first one much!

However I did enjoy this novel more: it’s less confusing and more engaging.

It’s a tale of the Norse Gods after Ragnarok and the conflicts that emerge. This is mixed with 21st century references since several characters from Pandemonium, Australia find themselves dragged into the conflict.

There is a glossary to explain all the Norse terms but, as I read this in the kindle edition, it was not convenient to keep looking so I didn’t bother: the story remained sufficiently clear.

The style did not always appeal as the first-person narration, when it occurs, is in spoken language rather than written. This does not work for me.

Quite entertaining but, if there’s a third book, I’ll resist the temptation!

Hard to categorise, this novel deals with a 21st century IT geek called Sigmund and his involvement in a war between Loki and Balder, the Norse gods.

The premise is that, following Ragnarok, Balder is out for revenge against Loki who takes various forms in this book. Sigmund gets caught up in this war along with his nerdy friends. Various fights ensue in the Australian city of Pandemonium and in Norse mythological worlds.

The plot is slightly confusing, not helped by a writing style which I did not appreciate. All is happily resolved in the end but this is the first volume of a series so I imagine that there is more to come.

Not particularly well-written in my opinion, the novel does not leave me wanting more so I shall abstain from the rest of the series.

3.5 stars

Stormbringer is the second book in Alis Franklin's Wyrd series, following the excellent Liesmith, which I purchased just so that I could read the series in order. I loved Liesmith; not only was it a great urban fantasy, based on Norse mythology (which is fresher than the ubiquitous Greco-Roman pantheon), but it rang multiple bells for those concerned about diversity in publishing: female author; one principal character who is queer and a person of color (Sigmund); another principal character whose sexual identity is fluid, to say the least (Lain); multiple secondary characters who are strong women (including two reincarnated Valkyries and a couple of dead, but still quite active, goddesses).

While Stormbringer is equally diverse, it is not as engaging as Liesmith. To some degree, this is to be expected; it is difficult for an author to sustain the excitement a reader feels when encountering a new world for the first time. Stormbringer's issue is broader than that, however. Liesmith was set primarily in the real world, where the gods walk among unsuspecting humans; that Lain was on Sigmund's turf, so to speak, gave authenticity to their relationship and equal weight to both characters. In contrast, most of Stormbringer is set in the world of the gods, with numerous extended flashbacks to Loki and Sigyn's life together before their reincarnation in Lain and Sigmund. This moves the reader fully into the realm of mythology, distancing us from both the action and the characters; in essence, Sigmund's only role in Stormbringer is to serve as a vessel for Sigyn's spirit. Tellingly, Franklin includes a nine-page-long glossary of Norse names and words at the end of Stormbringer, when the reader required no such assistance with Liesmith.

Given the comparative unfamiliarity of Norse mythology, I don't fault Franklin for giving us a fair amount of back story; in fact, at times I would really have appreciated a family tree, as I kept confusing Baldr and Thor. Now that she has done so, however, I hope she will return Sigmund and Lain to their central place in future volumes of the Wyrd.

I received a free copy of Stormbringer through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.½

If you have a high tolerance for characters who have 2-3 alter egos and are reacting to mythological systems you don't know half as well as you think you do, then wow you want this book. If you are a serious fact-finder and don't mind interrupting your reading to go look up obscure details of Ragnarøkkr (Vikings S01E06 will not help), the physiology of the Jötunn, the technological limits of Mjölnir, and how to pronounce "jö" in Old Norse, then you too want this book. But if you haven't and aren't, then read the sample chapter before taking the plunge. In all cases read the first book before you attempt this one.

Stormbringer takes up the story immediately after the end of Liesmith. Lain is captured by Baldr's sons. Sigmund with friends rush to the rescue. We follow three armies and a cast of thousands across a large swathe of the Níu Heimar in search of Liam who, with the bad guys, is searching for Mjölnir and its accoutrements. Chaos with order slowly emerging. Everyone is holding loony thousand year grudges but the Æsir come off particularly badly as insular people who refuse to accept post-Ragnarøkkr reality, let alone the 21 century Miðgarðr. Ms Franklin has a good time with all this, especially the gender bending. If you remember all your previous lives and loves – male, female, and other – how much does your present equipment matter?

I think Stormbringer is pretty darn good and occasionally laugh-out-loud fun. Not as good as Liesmith, but then this is a middle book and it is its fate to suffer. Ms Franklin's writing isn't as stunning as in Liesmith but it is harder to be elegant when you are trying to cram loads of events into a small space.

My main objection to this book, and it is one that will be shared by no one, is that Stormbringer is Elric's sword and nothing else (and to be precise, the original 1963 Elric, not the reworked mess of later years).

And, I think the cover is awful.

I received a review copy of "Stormbringer" by Alis Franklin (Random House) through NetGalley.com.

Sequel to the previous book about Loki’s sort-of survival (it’s complicated) as a tech magnate, aka Lain, who finds the reincarnation (sort of) of his lost wife Sigyn in a geeky boy named Sigmund. Now that Lain has settled some things about his own identity, he goes back to Asgard—I’m not doing the orthography, but Franklin does—and immediately gets captured and forced to help Thor’s children try to retake their father’s hammer, the better to wage war with. Meanwhile, Sigmund also leaves the human realms, first to help Loki’s daughter Hel claim her birthright and then to save Lain, and there’s a lot of palace intrigue and betrayal and Sigyn rising up out of Sigmund to guide him through tricky situations. I liked some of the ideas—particularly Loki’s use of memes to change the narrative of good guy/bad guy when Hel showed up with her army at the gates of Asgard, and also Loki’s ideas about introducing modernity to people for whom arrows were the height of technological warmaking. I’m still not emotionally connected to the characters, but if you want modern fantasy with Norse mythology, this will deliver.½

Billed as "queer urban fantasy". There is some spiel at the end about what the author wished to achieve in her novel & I agree she did what she set out to do.
It was okay but I really couldn't get into it. My favourite character was Boots. I didn't like when the narrative got interrupted with (comment) all the time either. Bouncing around events in time was also confusing.
I think in the end Odin lives. Baldar & Loki are dead. I think.

I love reading novels about other cultures so when I saw that LieSmith by Alis Franklin not only took place in Australia but contained mythopoeic fantasy, a dash of dot-com, and bits of horror, I couldn’t resist it for a Halloween month read. Maybe I was just in an oddball kind of mood that day. Who knows? What I didn’t realize was that it also contains an LGBT thread. Needless to say, there’s a lot packed into one book but Alis makes it work beautifully. It’s funny, gross, scary, moves at lightning speed and it’s a very entertaining yet touching read. Sound interesting? Read the rest of my review at http://popcornreads.com/?p=7777.

Liesmith is a treat for a lot of reasons. First, Alis Franklin makes good sentences, a quality I greatly appreciate. Then we have our hero Sigmund Sussman, who is not a hero, more of a nebbishy nerd, but really an all around good guy. We have Sigmund's boyfriend, Loki the Norse god – or is he really??? And a cast of characters who satisfy the story's needs quite well. All in all a well rounded novel that just happens to be set in Australia and be queer-themed SF. I mention the Australian connection especially because so many recent books set in Australia seem to revolve around the crude, alcohol-fueled, loutish parts of Antipodal culture. There is none of that here, which is wonderful.

The main thing to focus on is the quality of Alis Franklin's sentences, some of which are really super. If I lifted them out of context here in this review they might not evoke wonder in you so buy this book and read them yourself. WOW!

I received a review copy of Liesmith by Alis Franklin (Random House – Hydra) through NetGalley.com.

Review copy from NetGalley.

There was a bit too much bleedthrough of past lives, memories, personalities, etc., for this Norse god reincarnation story to read easily for me. I enjoyed it conceptually but found myself reading very quickly over time. Also, although I was always a Loki fan, the characterizations here didn't really do it too much for me. Sigyn/Sigmund was really not more interesting, although there was a valiant attempt to make him/her more so. Loki is hard to fuck up, but Loki as a sort of victim Judas, self-sacrificingly subservient to the All-Father's plans and desires, was interesting but not my Loki.

Anyway, I'm glad this is out there, and glad to have read it, and I'll keep an eye out for other things by the author, but I won't be interested in re-reading this one any time soon.

Also, I like the cover, but am not sure how the picture fits any of the descriptions of any of the people in the book!

Free review copy. Loki Laufeysson is alive and living in Australia as a computer mogul, where he meets Sigmund, a classic pasty nerd half-heartedly trying to program a game with his friends as he ekes out a living as an IT drone. Except Sigmund is also the reincarnation of Loki’s wife Sigyn, and when they meet, the barriers between who Sigmund was and who he is start breaking down. The worldbuilding is inventive and Sigmund’s discovery of the fluidity of his sexuality is entertaining. I have to admit, I have no idea what happened in the end, although it’s possible I’d have understood better if I were more up on my Norse mythology. Still, it was a fun queer urban fantasy that you’ll probably enjoy if you like the idea of modern-day Loki who just wants to be left alone by the rest of the gods.