The Grimmir is Freaking Fantastic - A. M. Robin's "Fallen Thief"

Title: Fallen Thief

Series: Merrows (Book 2)

Author: A.M. Robin

Genre: MG Fantasy

Pages: 272

Published: July 2021

Preorder: Fallen Thief

Buy: Hidden Scales (Merrows Book 1)

What Goodreads has to say:
Mira, Kay, and Peter have finally returned home, but not everyone is happy to see them. Despite the town bullies who never fail to remind the young merrows just how different they are from the rest of the townsfolk, the adventurers try to enjoy the remainder of their summer break from school...until a devastating fire reminds them of the evil that is still lurking in the shadows. After discovering the true identity of the malicious leader of the Shadowveils-the hooded merrows who hunt and imprison anyone who gets in the way of their mysterious missions-it seems their troubles have only just begun.

With their eyes opened to a secret world of sorcery, Mira, Kay, and Peter turn to the only place where they can learn more about what they're up against: fairy stories. They soon find out that the tales they had heard growing up might hold the key that will help them save their friends from a terrible curse. As they journey into abandoned cities, treacherous hideaways, and deep into the sea, they must stay vigilant to distinguish friend from foe and work together if they hope to stay one step ahead of the Shadowveils and keep their loved ones safe. 

My Thoughts:

Another wonderful installment in the adventures of Mira, Kay and Peter. I love this world that A M Robin has created. As an avid reader of folktales and fairy stories, I especially loved the emphasis on finding the truth in fairytales and connecting them with actual history. 

The story starts fairly soon after the last one left off. But this time instead of finding new adventures afar and visiting exotic places, Mira, Kay and Peter are stuck in their own village of Crispin. They have to go to school, deal with bullies, and do chores. It's not easy to spy on secret meetings when everyone knows who you are. And while there is some fame (especially with the younger children) for being Merrows, Mira and Kay are shunned and rejected by many of their elders and even some of their peers. Besides Appoline and a few others, the villagers don't view the Merrows as something to celebrate. They want nothing to do with the supposed war between the land and the sea, and absolutely no contact with the Shadowveils. The twins get bullied at school by their peers and even harrassed and unduly punished by their teacher! 

Somehow amidst all this "mundane" chaos, Mira, Kay and Peter manage to slip away and discover an abandoned Merrow city. I loved the description of Nesston. It sounded like a truly lovely town where merrows and humans lived mixed together. I loved how it was centered around a lake, allowing fully merrow families to live underwater, and mixed to live on the shore. The imagery Robin uses to paint Nesston is astounding. 

Now let's talk about the Grimmir. As before mentioned, I adore folklore and fairy stories. The Grimmir is AMAZING. Robin is comfortable enough in this world she's created to add in fairy tales and folklore, AND IT WORKS. Not only is she telling a current tale, but she weaves in a "long forgotten" tale and the two merge together beautifully. One of my favorite things about the Grimmir is that it's a story of change. A normal merrow gains power through sorcery and becomes obsessed with gaining more and more power even at the cost of those around him. Eventually it becomes too much and the people of Nesston retaliate, stealing his hair and even blood to bring life back to the land. Finally his mentor finds out, and instead of being proud of his prodigy's power, curses him to assume the form of a giant serpent that prowls the ocean depths. Not only is he forever changed, and his memory altered, but he is given healing horns that all being seek after. Always to be hunted. 

And that seems to be where the story ends, until Kay and Mira discover a shell that tells them a way to end the curse. They must reunite a vial of the sorcerer's blood with the Grimmir. This will allow him to regain his merrow shape, and finally be at peace. Because the children have no hope of waking their friends from the dreaded everlock sleep without the healing horns, they travel into the depths in search of the fabled Grimmir. 

A shark encounter and many miles later, the twins find him. Impossibly huge and frightening. In fact, the Grimmir has no visual sight, but instead "sees" by feeling fear in others. Once Mira realizes this, she is able to expand her protective field to Kay, and then have something of a conversation with the serpent. She tries to barter the blood for the last horn, but when the Grimmir lashes out, she loses her courage and drops the vial, allowing the serpent to crush it and disappear into the deep. 

Heartbroken and desperate the twins have only seconds to breathe before the Empress of the Sea herself and entourage surround them. In this tense dialogue, Mira and Kay learn that the empress will never stop until she has control of the whole earth. Escape seems impossible, until Mira sends her thoughts to the Grimmir yet again, pleading for his help. When death seems moments away, the Grimmir suddenly appears tossing merrows like bowling pins. He is an arrow in the dark, too fast and enormous for the empress to subdue. In the chaos Kay creates a portal and manages to steer both the Grimmir and Mira through. And this is where the change really happens.

The Grimmir expresses to the twins how tired he is of being a monster, and how lost his true self was, sunken in the deep. He tells them that their call for help was a redemption point for him, which will allow him to finally rest in peace. As a parting gift for giving him his soul back, the Grimmir gifts the last healing horn, the cure for everlock sleep.

As soon as they leave the Grimmir, Mira and Kay portal to the Ripple where they rush to the infirmary where their friend Alexandra and her mentor Aristide lie in everlock sleep. The Grimmir is as good as his word, and the horn works, awakening the sleepers. 

With the whole team back in action (Tonttu is also at the castle, and Peter is on his way with Eola) the Empress of the Sea had better watch out!

This book is fantastic, I honestly can't praise it enough. A great middle grade read, that promises to be a wonderful series. I look forward to book 3!

Rating:

In 'Apocalypse Cancelled,' the world is ending...or is it?

Title: Apocalypse Cancelled

Author: Luke Melia and others

Pages: 201

Published: April 1, 2021

Buy Apocalypse Cancelled

What Goodreads has to say:

They said it was the end. We acted accordingly. They were wrong. Now what?

Every science organisation, every government and every news agency were in agreement... It was the end. In three weeks an asteroid would hit the Earth. An asteroid bigger than anything our technology could divert or destroy. An asteroid that would fracture the Earth and wipe out all life as we knew it.

They were wrong: it missed us completely. Now we must go back to our lives, back to our families, back to our jobs – changed by the knowledge of what we all did during that time. These are our stories...

Apocalypse Cancelled is an eclectic anthology of short stories, comics, poems, illustrations and more – telling humanity’s collective story after the apocalypse that never was.

What I have to say:

What would you do if you knew for sure the world was ending in three weeks?

Would you quit your job? Finish your favorite TV series? Prank your boss? Have sex? Go on a killing spree?

Believe it or not, these are all apparently valid responses. At least, the characters in Apocalypse Cancelled seem to think so.

Here's the premise: the government announces that an asteroid is going to hit earth in a few weeks, ending all life as we know it. This is definitely going to happen. It's the end for sure.

So everyone acts accordingly. At first, some people try to go on as normal. Then, just about everyone stops working. Soon, it's mass chaos. Looting, stealing, murdering, and a whole lot of orgies. Some people just take a vacation, spend time with their family, or pour all their energy into beating a video game before the world ends. Others go absolutely nuts.

Then, the asteroid misses the earth.

Turns out the experts were wrong; civilization is saved, and everything's great. Except some people did things they would never have done if they hadn't been sure the world was ending--and now they can't go back.

Created by Luke Melia (author of Give Up the White Room and the delightful short story "Stripes Recruitment"), Apocalypse Cancelled is an anthology featuring stories, comics, and flash fiction from a number of authors and artists. It's an intriguing idea and includes some real storytelling gems.

One of my favorites was the story about a gamer named Ben who keeps playing while the world burns, determined to beat Hex World Online before the asteroid hits. He hasn't left his apartment in five years and he leads a lonely, pathetic existence, but when he connects with a girl who's also still playing, he finally finds a true friend, and when the asteroid misses, he sets out to find her.

The story about a lawyer who only adopts 40 cats because she wants them to have a safe place to live for the last few weeks before the world ends, then gets stuck with them forever, was also pretty fun. And I liked "Business as Usual" about a guy who just wants to keep working up until the apocalypse because believe it or not, he really enjoys his data entry job.

My actual favorite might have been the one page comic about Samson the cat, which for some reason I found absolutely hilarious.

This book is full of interesting stories and shorts, and obviously I can't go into all of them here. But so many contributors came up with unique spins on the premise. It's fun to see different voices come together to create something like this.

Now, a heads up. Things get wild during the apocalypse. This book is heavy on violence, sex, and profanity. If I hadn't been reviewing it, I probably would have stopped reading pretty early on--not because the writing is bad, but because I don't generally read stuff with this much graphic violence and sex in it. If you don't have a problem with that, this is a thought-provoking apocalyptic tale. And the takeaway is something I can get behind:

"If you ever feel like it's the end of the world, please just wait one more day. You never know what's around the corner."

At the end of the day, I'm giving this book two trees, and here's why. In our rating system, two trees means "fun, but just ok." Apocalypse Cancelled was definitely fun and some of the pieces went way beyond a two-tree rating, but overall it didn't blow me away, and I would have enjoyed it a lot more without all the graphic violence and sex.

Rating:

Until tomorrow.

The Goodbye Family: The Animated Series

ANNOUCEMENT:

A book I previously reviewed - The Goodbye Family and the Great Mountain is now an animated series! You can find the trailer HERE. You can find out more about The Goodbye Family at the author's website: www.lorinrichards.com

The Goodbye Family: The Animated Series stars undertakers Pyridine Goodbye, matriarch and mortician, Otis, father and hearse driver, their daughter Orphie, both a gravedigger and Sheriff, along with their pets: Ouiji the cat, Dorian the tarantula, and horse Midnight. 

Heathen Apostles provides a monster western soundtrack with Chopper Franklin (The Cramps) and singer Mather Louth (Radio Noir) also collaborating with Richards on the theme song Sew it Up.