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In this spirited sequel to the acclaimed The Rook, Myfanwy Thomas returns to clinch an alliance between deadly rivals and avert epic -- and slimy -- supernatural war.
When secret organizations are forced to merge after years of enmity and bloodshed, only one person has the fearsome powers---and the bureaucratic finesse---to get the job done. Facing her greatest challenge yet, Rook Myfanwy Thomas must broker a deal between two bitter adversaries:
The Checquy---the centuries-old covert British organization that protects society from supernatural threats, and...
The Grafters---a centuries-old supernatural threat.
But as bizarre attacks sweep London, threatening to sabotage negotiations, old hatreds flare. Surrounded by spies, only the Rook and two women who absolutely hate each other, can seek out the culprits before they trigger a devastating otherworldly war.
Stiletto is a novel of preternatural diplomacy, paranoia, and snide remarks, from an author who "adroitly straddles the thin line between fantasy, thriller, and spoof " (Booklist).
- Sales Rank: #45219 in Books
- Published on: 2016-06-14
- Released on: 2016-06-14
- Original language: English
- Number of items: 1
- Dimensions: 9.50" h x 1.88" w x 6.50" l, .0 pounds
- Binding: Hardcover
- 592 pages
Review
An Amazon pick for "Best Books of June 2016" and "Best Books of 2016 So Far: Science Fiction & Fantasy"
"I just loved this book. If you think Daniel O'Malley couldn't top The Rook, you were wrong. STILETTO is as satisfying and spellbinding as his first book, with a new cast of magic-wielding humans called the Grafters. Myfanwy Thomas, the Rook, is trying to broker a truce between the Grafters and her own Checquy, but a third party is trying to prevent this truce by any means possible...including Myfanwy's assassination."
―Charlaine Harris
"Daniel O'Malley raises the action, monsters and witticisms to new levels in this sequel to The Rook....a devilishly funny follow-up....This ambitious romp reads like X-Men meets Supernatural as narrated by Jasper Fforde, only funnier....O'Malley reaches new heights of grotesquery in the best possible way."―Jaclyn Fulwood, Shelf Awareness
"O'Malley strikes a skillful balance between irreverent humor and adventure. His narratives move back and forth, providing detail but without becoming cumbersome. This X-Men meets X-Files-style adventure will appeal to fans of superhero comics and adventure novels."
―Vicki Briner, Library Journal
"There are writers who craft intricate plots, writers who breathe life into incredible characters, and writers who pen lines you want to quote all day long. O'Malley is one of the rare finds who regularly manages all three....It took Daniel O'Malley four long years to write this sequel. That time paid off."
―Jeff Somers, B&N Sci-Fi & Fantasy Blog
"Much-anticipated....Stiletto is less office politics and Cthulhu and more X-Men and Dungeons & Dragons."―Andrew Liptak, i09, "All The Books You Desperately Need to Add to Your 'To Read' Pile This Summer"
"An excellent sequel.... O'Malley works his magic in adroit new ways, recalling all the legerdemain that delighted us the first time around [in The Rook]. STILETTO is laugh-out-loud funny, occasionally bawdy and paced like a spy thriller replete with chases, betrayals and tragedies...Fear not, dear reader: Daniel O'Malley is in charge."―Joyce Saenz Harris, Dallas Morning News
"My favorite book of 2016....STILETTO is a light-hearted romp through a world that's both familiar and strange."
―Ellen Zielinski, Louisiana Advocate
"Thank goodness I didn't find out about O'Malley's first book, 2012's The Rook, until this year; there's no way I could have waited four years for the sequel."
―Alex Lent, Millis Public Library, Literary Hub
About the Author
Daniel O'Malley graduated from Michigan State University and earned a Master's Degree in medieval history from Ohio State University. He then returned to his childhood home, Australia, where he works for the Transport Safety Bureau, writing press releases for government investigations of plane crashes and runaway boats.
Most helpful customer reviews
28 of 29 people found the following review helpful.
Because there's no way I can do the awesome of the book justice
By Celeste Pewter
Intro:
Every year, there will be at least a few books where I'll finish the book and think: "Damn it. Can I just write a GIF-filled review and call it a day? Because there's no way I can do the awesome of the book justice, with my review."
Picture
Because an Emma Watson GIF should be enough to convince anyone, right?
Unfortunately for me, and fortunately (?) for all of you: I don't have good GIF game. So I'm going to hunker down and do my damnedest to explain:
* Just why Stiletto was worth the four-year wait,
* How Daniel O'Malley is clearly a badass feminist, who writes excellent female characters, and
* Why I will be highly suspicious of anything citrus-scented from here on out.
Ready? Then read on for more!
Things that worked:
Characterizations:
If there's one thing readers likely learned from The Rook, it's that Dan O'Malley writes damned good female characters. Myfanwy Thomas was a super powered everywoman, with the humor, snark and organizational capabilities that made her unforgettable to every reader.
So it's probably unsurprising to say that the two female leads of Stiletto: Pawn Felicity Jane Clements and Grafter Odette Leliefeld, are every bit as compelling as Myfanwy. Though Felicity and Odette are clearly from two very different worlds, O'Malley does an exceptional job of showing how they both fit seamlessly into the greater Checquy/Grafter merger puzzle.
Felicity and Odette's relationship naturally evolves as the book progresses, beginning with them meeting as adversaries, and eventually moving into hesitant friendship. Along the way, O'Malley does a nice job of using their personalities and backgrounds to flesh out the institutionalized hatred between the two groups, and also helps to emphasize the challenges of being young and female, in changing, complex environments.
Through trial and error, both girls individually come to learn that the other has strengths and gifts that are not dissimilar to their own, and their eventual friendship is a great reminder of just what it means to have an ally in challenging situations.
Writing/World-Building:
So let me get this out of the way: yes, Stiletto is a very long book. It's actually about 100 pages longer than The Rook, which was already a very long book.
(Fun fact: the Stiletto audio book is about twenty three hours to Rook's sixteen.)
But it's evident from the first few chapters, that the added length is exactly what O'Malley needed to flesh out this new and slightly more complex world. He uses those pages to great effect; not only building on the quirky, super powered world of the Checquy, but also crafting - pun intended! - a convincing, heartbreaking foundation for the Grafters
There's an inherent logic for how the Grafters came to be, and just how the hatred between the Checquy and the Grafters initially developed. Though the history was a tad more than I needed a times, it's an absolutely convincing look at just how everything has been building to this moment, and for Odette's delegation to pave the way.
As for the actual writing? Dan is as funny, detailed and necessarily succinct as ever. Both of his female voices are strong in third person, and have quirks, tics and thoughts that soundly differentiate them from one another. Just like The Rook, there were bits of dialogue and description that I just wanted to reread over and over, which made the reading process probably longer than it had to be.
The supernatural elements/the surgical elements
Outside of outdoing himself by coming up with more inventive powers - a conversation with a group of Pawns about white people and wasps had me chuckling out loud - O'Malley also uses the Checquy powers and the Grafter surgical skills to ask some pointed questions about talent, power and how one can chose to use and/or misunderstand those gifts.
Both the Grafters and the Checquy are initially equally fascinated/repulsed by each other's abilities, and O'Malley shows what it takes to get the two sides to bridge their differences. It's a process that takes repeated effort and diplomacy, and the hurdles scaled are often painful moments that come with trial and error.
The distrust on both sides serves as a reminder of just how easy it is to judge because of institutionalized behavior, and how often it might take extraordinary circumstances to bridge that gap. O'Malley gives repeated nods to the fact that it's not, and will never be easy to find a steady peace between the two groups, but also shows how easy it can be - v�s-a-v�s Myfany, of all people - to not hate, if it's not part of the culture - something that readers will likely ruminate over.
Interpersonal power politics aside, O'Malley also asks readers to consider just how easily it is to abuse an extraordinary gift like a Checquy power or Grafter skills. It's an acknowledgement of the idea that with great power comes even greater responsibility, and will likely encourage many a reader to consider just how they'd handle such gifts.
(On a slightly less serious note: Thanks for ruining my love of citrus forever, O'Malley.
Just kidding. I kid.)
On relationships, and how it relates to the greater good:
While The Rook was more or less centered on the idea of Myfanwy learning how to come to terms with her new self, Stiletto is very much a book about relationships.
There's the core relationship between Felicity and Odette, which has its ups and downs, and super-powered learning curve. But there are also the relationships that the two women have within their own lives, which impact their development and contribute to the overall story.
Without giving spoilers away, O'Malley meticulously uses these relationships to ask time and time again, what individuals like Felicity and Odette value in a world where one wrong move in the merger can result in a supernatural war.
There are repeated challenges to just what both women hold to be true, including some fairly specific instances that question their agency, and whether the two women are willing to surrender their own beliefs to the merger - both voluntarily and involuntarily. It's tricky territory to navigate, but O'Malley hits the right note on how he chooses those relationships to ask those larger-scale questions, including some brutal moments where both women are forced to question what they know to be true.
Outside of our two female leads, the book is sprinkled with family relationships, friendships - including some familiar faces (!) - and even adversarial relationships that really help emphasize the point that as intriguing as their supernatural or surgical powers may be, the Checquy and Grafters are still at their core, made up of interpersonal relationships which help drive the narrative (and drama!) forward.
And finally...
The ending:
Though he shines when it comes to writing action scenes, O'Malley also has a gift for writing quieter, introspective moments.
As the book winds down, O'Malley does a nice job of not only tying together loose ends, but setting up a firm foundation for the potential future of his cast of characters. We see how Felicity, Odette and the secondary characters have reached and evolved to this point, and it sets up a nice, optimistic foundation for the future of the merger.
Though it seems clich�d the call the ending cinematic, it really is. And this is a good thing.
Things that didn't work/Things to consider:
While I'm tempted to say absolutely nothing, I will acknowledge that the synopsis of the book is a tad misleading.
It definitely gives readers the impression that Myfanwy is the protagonist of Stiletto, when the focus of the book is solidly on Felicity and Odette. Though I personally didn't mind this shift, I do think that some of the readers who were especially attached to Myfanwy may initially feel a bit let down.
However, let me just reassure all prospective readers right now: Felicity and Odette more than make up for any lack of Myfanwy. They're collectively badass in their own right, and Myfanwy's brief appearances just round out an already solid novel.
Final verdict:
After four years of waiting for a return to the world of the Chequy, I can absolutely say that Stiletto was worth it.
Outside of being a fun, well-written romp in a world where every minute spent is a worthwhile one, Daniel O'Malley has also written a great tale on what it means to be young, female and living in a supernatural world on the brink of change.
Felicity and Odette begin Stiletto with seemingly nothing in common, but conclude the novel recognizing that there is a universality in their goals, aims and even their very understanding of the world around them. O'Malley's essentially written a parable on learning how to walk a mile in another's shoes, and readers will likely come away having learned a little bit from that journey.
Highly recommend for all readers, full stop.
(In fact, why are you still reading this review? Go buy the book already!)
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful.
Worth the wait!!
By Amber
I loved The Rook and have been waiting anxiously for another book in the world of the Checquey, and it is very much worth the wait! Completely addictive, to the point that I took a day off work to read it because I knew I'd be good for nothing until I had finished it.
Think of what would happen if the X-Files and the X-Men were blended up together and cut by Terry Pratchett, and you're only starting to get the idea. Tremendous fun and plenty of wry witty humor and delicious sarcasm to make you laugh out loud. And wait until you read some of the descriptions of sounds and smells!
Please, Dan, can we have some more?
13 of 14 people found the following review helpful.
A shift in focus
By JZS
“The Rook” is my favorite fantasy of the past ten years. I won’t embarrass myself by telling you how many times I’ve re-read it :) So I approached “Stiletto” with a combination of extreme excitement and a little trepidation. I didn’t expect to love it like “Rook” (of the thousands of books I’ve read there are probably only 10 that I’ve re-read multiple times) but what if it was a major disappointment? Given O’Malley’s talent I should have known not to worry.
First of all, if you haven’t already read it, go forth & read “The Rook”. “Stiletto” can be an enjoyable standalone but you will appreciate it more if you read the first in series. Beginning a few months after the conclusion of “The Rook”, “Stiletto” continues the story the Checquy but the focus is shifted. The primary protagonists are younger members of the Checquy and Grafters. And although the story takes place in London, it is more focused on the backstory of the Grafters than that of the Checquy which was covered extensively in the first book.
“Stiletto” is also much more linear than its predecessor. While “The Rook” constantly shifted from letters detailing various characters’ backstories, to Thomas’s trials & tribulations, to Myfanwy’s current dilemmas, “Stiletto” has a more traditional mystery pattern although there are some “history” insertions.
“Stiletto” was VERY enjoyable and engrossing. Although yesterday was extremely hectic, I found myself reading every spare minute (including while pushing the vacuum?) But did I love it as much as “Rook”? No- but I didn’t expect to (lightning in a bottle). Myfanwy Thomas returns but only a few parts of the book are told from her perspective. I’m sure that I won’t be alone in finding this to be the one disappointing thing about the book. The characters of both “Myfanwy” and “Thomas” (you’ll understand that if you’ve read “Rook”) were a big part of my love of “The Rook” and while I knew it was too much to expect a return of “Thomas” I missed Myfanwy’s unique “voice”. The new characters were very likeable but just didn’t capture my imagination in the same way. But even with that disappointment, “Stiletto” stands on its own as a top notch fantasy.
O’Malley has set up such a diverse and interesting universe that there is potential for many more books with very interesting characters- and I plan to read every one of them :)
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