Riverkeep by Martin Stewart

The Danek is a wild, treacherous river, and the Fobisher family has tended it for generations--clearing it of ice and week, making sure boats can get through, and fishing corpses from its bleak depths. Wulliam's father, the current Riverkeep, is proud of this work. Wull dreads it. And in one week, when he comes of age, he will have to take it over.

Then, the unthinkable happens While recovering a drowned man, Wull's father is pulled under--and when he emerges, he is no longer himself. A dark spirit possess him, devouring him from the inside. In an instant, Wull is Riverkeep. And he must care for his father, too. 

When he hears that a cure for his father lurks in the belly of a great sea-dwelling beast known as the mormorach, he embarks on an epic journey down the river that his family has so long protected--but never explored. Along the way, he faces death in any number of ways, meets people and creatures touched by magic and madness and alchemy, and finds courage he never knew he possessed.

So, my first impression of this book, not far at all into it, is this book is definitely weird, but I wasn't yet sure if it was going to be a good kind of weird or creepy weird or just...weird, weird. But it also starts off a bit slow, and a bit sad, and I just wasn't sure how much I was going to like it...

About 50 pages in, the humor picks up, and the rest of the book ends up have some pretty funny stuff sprinkled among the strangeness. This is when my impression of the book started getting a lot better, and it kept getting better from there. It's definitely a good kind of weird.

This book was really quite good! The author did a great job at telling the story in a way that things don't quite make sense all the time as you read, but by the end, everything is brought together in an awesome way.

I really enjoyed this easy read, and if you like things a little weird, you will too!

I received a copy of this book from the publishers, via First to Read, in exchange for an honest review.

Library at Mount Char by Scott Hawkins

A missing God.
A library with the secrets to the universe.
A woman too busy to notice her heart slipping away.

Carolyn's not so different from the other people around her. She likes guacamole and cigarettes and steak. She knows how to use a phone. Clothes are a bit tricky, but everyone says nice things about her outfit with the Christmas sweater over the gold bicycle shorts.
After all, she was a normal American herself once.

That was a long time ago, of course. Before her parents died. Before she and the others were taken in by the man they called Father.

In the years since then, Carolyn hasn't had a chance to get out that much. Instead, she and her adopted siblings have been raised according to Father's ancient customs. They've studied the books in his Library and learned some of the secrets of his power. And sometimes, they've wondered if their cruel tutor might secretly be God.

Now, Father is missing--perhaps even dead--and the Library that holds his secrets stands unguarded. And with it, control over all of creation.

As Carolyn gathers the tools she needs for the battle to come, fierce competitors for this prize align against her, all of them with powers that far exceed her own.

But Carolyn has accounted for this.

And Carolyn has a plan.

The only trouble is that in the war to make a new God, she's forgotten to protect the things that make her human.

Populated by an unforgettable cast of characters and propelled by a plot that will shock you again and again, The Library at Mount Char is at once horrifying and hilarious, mind-blowingly alien and heartbreakingly human, sweepingly visionary and nail-bitingly thrilling--and signals the arrival of a major new voice in fantasy.

THIS IS ONE OF MY NEW FAVORITE BOOKS!

Imagine if Chuck Palahnuik started writing YA Fantasy....

Yeah, I know! How AMAZING would that be?!?!?!

This book has a little bit of everything... It's funny, it's got bits of fantasy, a little sci-fi, some historical fiction, a YA feel...

"That's the risk on working to be a dangerous person," she said. There's always the chance you'll run into someone who's better at it than you."

"Steve didn't like the stairs, It bothered him that they hung in midair, unsupported. Steve said this 'weirded him out.'

This wasn't surprising. The list of things that Steve found objectionable was long and growing. It included the Library itself ('How can the furniture hang on the ceiling like that? It's creepy.'); the jade floor ('Jade isn't supposed to glow.'); the apothecary ('What the hell is this thins? I' m out of here.'); the armory (David's trophies made him throw up); the Pelapi language (It sounds like cats fighting); her robes ('Did you borrow those from Death?' She hadn't.); and, of course, Carolyn herself."

Yes, it can get a bit graphic in places, and if you have a weak stomach, you might want to skip a few bits here and there (and everywhere).

I had never heard of Scott Hawkins before, but I am super happy that I came across this gem on Blogging for Books! I will certainly be on the lookout for future work from Scott Hawkins, and I can only pray that he will write a sequel.

DISCLAIMER: If you do not like weird, you will not like this. This book has some serious weirdness, and I loved it!

I received this book from the publishers via Blogging for Books, in exchange for an honest review.