I won this book in a Facebook contest, and had no idea what it would be like. I knew that it was queer-friendly, and contained mushrooms, and was either fantasy or science fiction. It ended up being quite different from what I'd imagined, and something I enjoyed a lot.
The story was pretty solid, and I enjoyed getting to know the main character, Yat. The magic/science used in the book was different to most systems I'd read before. Stronach uses plants and mushrooms in an unexpected yet delightful way, imbuing them with powers that made sense according to those plants functions in our own world. But in this fantasy world, the plants' powers are fun without being frivolous or implausible. A particular favourite is the symbiotic nature of the mushrooms and their occupants (I will say no more - spoilers!).
Although there were heavy uses of tropes and cliche at points of the book, I didn't find it too jarring. There didn't seem to be anything as overused as the emerald-eyed, raven-haired, heaving-breasts fantasy woman, which was a pleasant change.
The weaving of sex into the book was done with a light touch, and I didn't get the uncomfortable "creep voyeur" vibes that I've had from other books in the past. Thank you for that, Stronach. I don't like feeling as though I've been peeking through someone's bedroom window.
My main critiques were that the book felt like it needed another round or two of editing, and that I feel the blurb on the back gives far too much away. As with other reviewers I've read, the ending wasn't as satisfying as the rest of the book, but, I personally enjoyed it as a nice rounding-off of the story.
It's definitely a book I'll go back to and read again at some future date. There's a lot of it that I don't feel I put enough attention to on first read. Overall, it was an awesome addition to this year's reading list, and I plan to keep an eye on the author's next novel to add to my collection.
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