Junk Magic
starts a new spin-off series, Lia de Croissets, set in the world of Chance’s Cassie Palmer and
Dorina Basarab series. While it can be read separately, it also presumes that
the reader is familiar with what’s going on in the other two series, namely the
war with gods, and how the world works, i.e. the Magic Corps, vamps, weres, and
fay. None of it is explained in any way, so a new reader to Chance may find it
difficult to understand everything that’s happening.
Accalia—Lia—de Croissets is a daughter of a war
mage and a werewolf. She hasn’t taken the bite to Change to a werewolf though,
ostensibly so that she could become a war mage, but in truth because she
carries a disease that prevents it. Because of it, she’s at odds with the were
world. And that was before she shacked up with an outcast were.
Her
boyfriend, Cyrus, has begun to rescue other outcasts, mostly teenage boys. When
one of them suddenly transform to a monster of nightmares, Lia sets out to
investigate. It leads her to a doctored drug that triggers old supernatural
genes. And then she is dosed with it herself.
This was a
familiar affair of Chance’s, with political machinations—werewolves this time instead of
vampires—sinister
villains, chapters-long, confusing battle scenes, and a powerful underdog
heroine who must face them if not alone, then vastly outnumbered. Lia was a
good MC, intelligent, resourceful, and goodhearted, and unlike Cassie, knew
what was going on the whole time. And like all Chance’s heroines, played it so
close to her heart that the villain came completely out of the blue. Moreover, missed
its mark badly this time.
Of the
supporting cast, Caleb, Lia’s war mage partner, was the only one that we’ve met
before, and I liked that he was finally given a bigger role. Cyrus, her
boyfriend, was a great character, but following a
relationship that’s been going on for a while wasn’t as satisfying as watching
a new one grow. Lia’s students and the rescued boys were a good addition, but
there were so many of them that most of them were left in the background.
All in all,
this was a good, coherent book and a great start to the series. I’ll be reading
more.
There was a bit of a wait (again) for Ignite the Fire, book 11 in Cassandra Palmer UF series, and when it finally arrived, it
had been divided into two parts for its size. The first is called Incendiary.
The book starts with the exact scene the
previous book ended, with Cassie, Pritkin and Mircea on their way to a fey
party in 16th century Romania to locate someone who might know where Mircea’s
long-lost wife is. There’s a lot of mayhem—and a dragon—which made me fear
that the book would be yet another chaotic addition to the series.
Fortunately things slow down a little—for
a moment. Enough to give Cassie and the reader time to reflect what’s going on
and what’s happened so far in the series, which is a lot. And while it’s a
short respite, the action and rest are better balanced here than has been the
case in previous books.
The action scenes are easier to follow this time, with fewer things going on simultaneously and with better descriptions. The timeline is still messy though, as according to Cassie only six months has gone and the reader has witnessed it all, yet Cassie has an entire life happening between the books too.
There’s a new god giving Cassie trouble and
this time it’s Zeus, who isn’t exactly easy to win. But he’s occupying the body
of a fae king, so she sets out to defeat him instead. It doesn’t go easily, but
instead of endless detours like usually where she ends up in a totally
unrelated situation, she actually manages to locate him, if not like she
imagined or planned.
Since this is the first part of a two-parter,
there isn’t a final battle at the end of the book. The book ends in a middle of
a fight-scene, with the worst kind of cliff-hanger. But hopefully the second
part has already been written and we don’t have long to wait for the
conclusion.
On the personal front, Cassie seems to have
gotten the hang of her life as Pythia. Her court is in order, her successor,
Rhea, is becoming truly formidable, and her self-confidence issues were at
minimum. She again went through most of the book without taking care of her physical
needs like eating, so if the gods don’t kill her, malnutrition will.
The love spell that ties her to Mircea and
Pritkin, which Mircea promised was lifted, is back in effect—with some
interesting consequences. But since Cassie really needs the strength and skills
she can borrow from her companions, she doesn’t complain. But it may put her relationship
with Pritkin in jeopardy. My only complaint is that Pritkin spent most of the
book absent or unconscious, which is never good.
With a book this well balanced and
interesting once again—and without Mircea’s obsession with his wife—I’m
hopeful for the rest of the series. And I hope the second part comes out soon.
I took a few weeks off from this blog for a summer vacation and
so haven’t updated anything since June. I didn’t stop reading though. On the
contrary. Here’s a quick recap.
False Security by Lindsay Buroker
False Security by Lindsay Buroker continues her exciting UF
series Death Before Dragons. In this fifth book, vampires are going missing,
including Val’s vampire friend; Val accepts a job as a bodyguard to a tech
billionaire, Zav takes her to the realm of elves to see her father, and Val
ends up with roommates—and a new house too. For a woman who’s kept people at
arm’s length, she’s building a nice new family for herself. Zav talks a lot
about vigorous mating, now that he’s officially claimed her, but nothing really
happens. There’s a lot of action, like always, and the final battle has bears
and naked vampires in it. You don’t want to miss it. (4/5 stars on Goodreads)
Twisted Twenty-six by Janet Evanovich
Twisted Twenty-six is the latest in Janet Evanovich’s
long-running Stephanie Plum mystery series. The series has felt tired for quite
long now, but here it returns to its old form—to an extent. The stakes are
genuinely high, violence has consequences, and humorous incidents don’t
dominate everything else. Stephanie takes stock of her life, giving an
impression of continuity between the books, which is usually lacking. Lesser
side characters, Connie and Stephanie’s parents included, have actual roles.
And the ending hints at the same story continuing in the next book. I’m really
looking forward to it. (4/5 stars on Goodreads)
False Value by Ben Aaronovitch
False Value is the eight book in Rivers of London series by
Ben Aaronovitch, and it doesn’t let down. I had a brief scare at the beginning
that Peter wouldn’t be his usual copper self, but luckily that didn’t turn out
to be the case, as he’s undercover. The first part of the book was slightly
different than usually, as it was told in alternating chapters in the present
and the past to set up the reason for Peter’s latest assignment. Once that was
over, the story advanced in the usual meandering manner where the reader isn’t
entirely sure what’s going on until it’s all over. There was a bit more Beverly
in this book than before—she is pregnant after all—and she is becoming a real
person, but the other side characters remain a bit two dimensional. This
includes the staples like Nightingale and Sergeant Guleed. There was some
mayhem at the end, but Peter managed not to destroy half of London this time
round. I’m not sure if I’m disappointed or not about that. (4/5 stars on
Goodreads)
Engagement and Espionage by Penny Reid
Engagement and Espionage is a spinoff of Winston Brothers
series by Penny Reid and starts a new Solving for Pie series. It features Cletus, the devious mastermind in hillbilly’s
body, and his betrothed Jennifer the pie queen, and it’s a mystery, not romance—most
of the time. The mystery of strangled chickens wasn’t terribly difficult to
solve, but Jenn’s strained relationship with her parents took some work. And
the two of them just couldn’t catch a break, mostly because Cletus couldn’t see
past his romantic machinations. It was fun and emotional, like Ms Reid’s books
usually are. I’ll definitely read the next book. (4/5 stars on Goodreads)
Queen’s Gambit by Karen Chance
Queen’s Gambit continues Karen Chance’s Dorina Basarab UF
series. It’s the fifth book, but as the series is parallel with Chance’s other,
longer series, it feels like Dory’s been around forever. The book has a
promising start: a sneak attack separates Dory and Dorina, giving the latter a
body of her own. From there, we follow two separate adventures, as they both
try to figure out what has happened, why and by whom, and how to get back
together again.
Unfortunately, instead of a proper plot, we have endless
battles in both storylines, some of which don’t really have anything to do with
the actual aim of the book. And then the book ends without any conclusion to
either story. Dory ends up where she began, practically none the wiser, and
Dorina’s story ends with a kind of a cliff-hanger.
Of the two stories, I liked Dorina’s better, as she has for
the first time a chance to reflect her weird existence within Dory. Dory’s
storyline evolved into endless discussion about her marriage with Louis-Césare,
which got old after a while. The only good thing I can say about it is that they
managed to talk things through and reach some sort of understanding.
This was not my favourite in the series by any means. But
these books have had greatly uneven quality before, so I’m not giving up yet.
And the way Dorina’s story ended, it gives me hope that the two series will
connect properly for the first time in the next book. We’ll see. (3/5 stars on
Goodreads)
The Enforcer Enigma by G. L. Carriger
The Enforcer Enigma is the third book in San Andreas Shifters
M/M paranormal romance series by Gail Carriger, writing as G.L. Carriger. It’s
been a while since I read the previous book, but it felt like coming home, warm
and cosy. The characters and the entire pack are coming together nicely and
they’re not constantly on defensive anymore, which changes the dynamic of the
story.
Perhaps that’s why it felt like the love story of Colin and
Judd took a backseat to the main plot. It was a nice mystery plot that was
solved really fast, but I really would’ve liked to read more of the lovely
pair. That said, the two stories went hand in hand, there were really good
moments between the pair and it felt believable all the way. Colin opened up
nicely and Judd finally found his home in Colin. On top of that, Trick was a
great new addition to the group and I’ll definitely read how it’ll turn out
with his bear in the next book. (4/5 stars on Goodreads)
On top of these books, I read a few I’d received free from
NetGalley. I’ll write separate reviews of those later.
I’m over a month behind posting book reviews here on my
reading blog. I spent a better part of February without finishing a single
book I began to read. Partly it was because the books were disappointing and I had
to give them up. Partly it was because I had other commitments that ate into my
reading time. Because of that, the previous post here is from January 21st, and
the first book I finished since that was on February 19th. The gap in posting
is just laziness. I’ve managed to read five books, so here’s a recap.
This is book ten in Chance’s Cassandra Palmer series.
Despite the length of the series, apparently only three months have passed,
which is difficult to believe, considering everything that’s happened. In the
past couple of books there has been a major war brewing, and this one ended
with a big battle, though not the war-ending one. All the books do. Other than
that, it was slightly mismatched. It began with one plot that was made out to
be a big deal, but ended up as something completely different, with the
original plot brought up as an afterthought in the epilogue. Still, it was
better than some of the books in the series—which I love, by the way. It
was evenly paced with slower chapters here and there where the reader can catch
their breath, and there was an exciting development considering the main trio, Cassie, Pritkin and Mircea. And now that Chance is publishing the books herself, we don’t have to wait years until the next one.
Becky Chambers’ books are always
lovely. Nothing dramatic ever happens, there’s no drama between characters and
everyone is always nice. Small frowns are dealt with hugs. There’s very little
plot in them too, but since I know to except that, it doesn’t usually
matter. But this book is basically a report of what four people sent on a
scientific mission to exoplanets did and saw. Nothing else. There’s a small build-up
for drama when the earth stops communicating with them, but it’s soon brushed
over. What disappointed me with this one, however, was the ending. It tries to
be ambivalent, to leave the fate of the characters to the reader’s imagination,
but it comes across as a copout, as if the author hasn’t bothered to take
responsibility for her creation. Other than that, it’s an imaginative,
well-written book like all her books, and kept me entertained up until the
disappointing end.
This was the first book in Jones’s new series toted as women’s
paranormal romance, a crossover between women’s fiction and paranormal romance
where the heroines are over forty. It was a fast-paced and easy to read. The
main characters, Defiance and Annette feel familiar from Jones’s excellent Charlie
Davidson series, with a similar friendship dynamics than Charlie and Cookie and
a habit of drinking all the coffee, so I loved them instantly. And if Defiance
isn’t an ADD personality like Charlie, she isn’t exactly fully focused either.
This isn’t a laugh-out-loud kind of book like the other series, but it has its
funny moments.
However, the book feels incomplete. It’s like I was reading
the first third of a longer book, with the characters being introduced and the
basis of the plot set. And then it ended. There are two more books coming and
I’m guessing the main action happens in those, but I can’t judge this book
based on what I don’t have.
I also have a small issue with Defiance’s age. She's
supposed to be forty-four, which is fine (I like reading characters my age). But
she has no past and she behaved like a twenty-something, with no wisdom or
experience gained. If the point of this series is to have middle-aged heroines,
I’d like them to show the life they have lived. They should
feel and act differently from the twenty-year-olds. But I liked Defiance and if
I imagine her to be twenty-something, I can forget all the rest. And since the
book ended with a whopper of a cliff-hanger, I’m definitely going to read the
next book.
It’s refreshing to read about a culture
that I know nothing about, Diné/Navajo in this case, even when it comes added
with apocalyptic and fantasy elements (or especially then). Maggie was a great main character,
damaged and angry, and she didn’t miraculously heal during the first book—at
least not without a heavy price. Kai started as a one-dimensional hunk and
turned out to be much more. The mystery plot was a bit light and somewhat
confusing, but it got solved in the end too. And luckily there was the first
chapter of the second book added to the edition I read, so that I didn’t have
to wait in agony to know what happens next. I will definitely continue with
this series.
This was invigorating like dragon’s
blood. I really like a tough heroine who
goes through a book kicking arse, and getting hers kicked in return. Val is as
tough as they come, but she pays for it too: her stress-levels are so high she
has developed asthma and needs therapy, both of which are well integrated into
the story. She has some other issues as well, mainly that she has had to
abandon everyone she loves, a daughter included, so that they won’t be killed
because of her job as a monster slayer.
The story itself is fairly straightforward. Val needs to
find a cure for her boss who has been poisoned with magic, and clear both of
their names in the process. Her path to it is littered with creatures from other
realms who are bent on killing her. Making matters worse is a dragon who wants
to use her as bait to lure in more creatures who want to kill her. It is action
from the beginning to the end.
As this is the first book in the series, there is some world-building
and character introductions, but everything is done organically along the
story. No backstory is given for why the world is populated with creatures from
other realms; it’s a fact of life for the characters. As a first person
narrative, we get only Val’s thoughts on things, and other characters remain
slightly distant. But they are all interesting. My favourite is Zav, the
arrogant dragon law-enforcer. The book hints that some sort of romantic bond
will form between him and Val, but there was no romance yet. All in all, a
great start for a series and I’ll definitely read the next book too.
Books 4-8 of 60 (I’ve had to lower my reading challenge target from the original 65.)
It’s been a while since a book captured my attention so
completely that I just kept reading through the night without the need to check
social media or other distractions even once. Written in Red by Anne Bishop
managed that rare feat. It’s the first book in The Others series, published in
2013. I’ve long meant to read the series, but I only now had a chance to. All I
can say is, I should’ve read it sooner.
Written in Red by Anne Bishop
One of the reasons I’ve postponed reading it is because I
believed it to be fantasy, as the other books by Bishop that I’ve read have
been. The cover of the book strengthened the notion too. But it’s actually
urban fantasy set in modern world with a unique origin story. The world is
ruled by the Others, beings who can assume the look of humans, but who are all
either apex predators or elementals with huge powers. Humans are meat to them,
in minority, and fairly thoroughly subservient to Others. Humans are tolerated
because of their innovative nature, but—should the need arise—they are easily
disposed of too.
However, the story isn’t really about the conflict between
humans and the Others. It’s about a woman who isn’t completely either. Meg is a
blood prophet who seeks shelter among the Others and begins to carve a life for
herself there. Having grown up in an institution with no outside contacts, both
the human world and the world of the Others is alien to her.
The book has a great cast of characters, many of whom get
their own point of view chapters. Meg is a bit of a Mary Sue, in a sense that
everyone instantly likes her. That is explained with her special nature, but it’s
still a bit too convenient how predators who don’t really understand humans at
all fall for her kindness so easily. But it’s also amusing and charming to
watch those interactions.
The Others are violent and convincingly alien. Unlike in
urban fantasy in general, there are no mitigating characteristics that would
make them more acceptable to readers. Simon, the leading male character, is a
wolf, and although he has to spend a lot of time looking like human and
interacting with them, his reaction to most things is that of an animal. There
is rapport being built between him and Meg, but to describe it as a romance
would be making it too human.
Despite the non-human nature of the Others, they are the
good guys of the story. The bad guys are all human. The divide is fairly black
and white too, which makes the inevitable conflict fairly straight-forward. Bad
people want Meg back, even if they have to risk an attack against the Others. In
the end, the conflict isn’t as interesting as everything else that is happening
in the book.
Meg’s story continues in subsequent books, so this is
only the beginning. And since I’m a latecomer to the series, I don’t have to
wait to read them all.
***
Siren's Song by Karen Chance
3/5 stars on Goodreads
Siren’s Song by Karen Chance is an in-between book in
her Cassandra Palmer series. It’s a companion book to Dragon’s Claw, an earlier
in-between book. Both take place in magical Hong Kong during an attack against
it, but in the first the star is Dorina Basarab, and in this one it’s John
Pritkin, the war mage. Both books have a couple of scenes where they interact,
and it’s fun to witness the characters of different series meeting.
For an additional book—a novella like the cover says—this is a long-one; a hundred
thousand words, according to the author, so a full-length book. Half of it would’ve sufficed. The
book starts well, but it evolves into an endless, endlessly repetitive battle
that is so confusing that it’s hard to keep up with what’s going on. And in the
end, it doesn’t even matter. All the fighting has no impact on the outcome of
the story.
I like Pritkin. He is by far my favourite character in
Cassandra Palmer series, and more of him is always better than less. But
despite the length of the book, I felt like I didn’t know him any better in the
end than I did before. Instead of the endless mayhem, there should’ve been more
internalising, something that would’ve strengthened the character. The author
has struggled with this, but has become better in the past couple of books. It’s
therefore upsetting that she’s reverted to her earlier bad habits.
There aren’t all that many books left in the series in
general. The author has told that her publisher has dropped her, but that she’ll
self-publish the rest. If Siren’s Song is an example of how those books will
turn out, they might be disappointing.
I’ve somehow managed to avoid updating my book blog this
summer. But I haven’t stopped reading. I’ve read ten books since my last post,
but since I don’t have the energy to write a post for each, you’re getting one
big post. The books fall neatly in three categories, contemporary romances, historical
romances, and urban fantasy, so I’ll lump them together that way.
Beard science by Penny Reid
First up, the contemporary romances. They’re from one
author, and belong to one series: Winston Brothers by Penny Reid. I introduced
the series in the previous blog post where I reviewed Truth or Beard, which I
loved. I skipped the second book—and didn’t miss anything—to the third book,
Beard Science. It was every bit as wonderful as the first, as was the third in
the series, Beard in Mind, though I had some issues with that one, namely that
there weren’t enough chapters in the heroine’s point of view. We only had her point of view when she visited her therapist. It defined her through her mental illness, which was the opposite of what the book tried to achieve.
Beard in Mind by Penny Reid
What made these three books so charming where characters
who, after finding someone to love, strived to become better persons because of
that. Each book had secondary plots too, to add some spice into the
love-stories, but nothing to distract from the main story.
Dr. Strange Beard by Penny Reid
However, the fourth book in the series, Dr. Strange Beard,
was a great disappointment. I would’ve given it two stars, but refrained from
giving any. It had nothing of the charm of the previous books. The characters
were selfish and didn’t strive to become better, and their love-story suffered
greatly for it. I didn’t root for either of them individually or as a pair. But the
worst part was that there was a totally unnecessary five year jump to the
future. During that time, interesting things had happened to the characters of the previous books,
and I felt left out—a feeling which didn’t disappear the whole time. And the
secondary plot that had been building in the previous books was abandoned
completely. The book was so bad that I gave up on the series altogether.
It's Getting Scot in Here by Suzanne Enoch
Next up, the historical romances. It’s Getting Scot in Here
by Suzanne Enoch was a solid but unexciting Regency romance that I gave three
stars to. She’s digressed far from the books of her early career where plot
twists made my stomach ache in anticipation. But it wasn’t a bad book. Three
brothers are pawns in their parents’ bad marriage, and try to organise their
lives despite. I’ll keep my eye on the next books, but I’m not sure I’ll read
them.
The Governess Game by Tessa Dare
The Governess Game by Tessa Dare is a second book in her
Girl Meets Duke series. The first book was great, but this one was barely ok. I
gave it three stars anyway, as it had some humour, and the characters weren’t
your everyday aristocrats. But there were too many plot-fillers and
out-of-the-hat events that weren’t foreshadowed and which ended up meaning
nothing. But the sample chapter to the next book in the series seemed
promising, so I guess I’ll read that one when it comes out this month.
Lucifer's Daughter by Eve Langlais
And finally, the urban fantasy, which is a more eclectic
bunch. I started with a steamy paranormal romance, Lucifer’s Daughter by Eve
Langlais, the most prolific indie author that I know. There’s a new book every
month. In her customary style, the book was funny, steamy and over the top. And
while it was a first in a series, the ending was satisfying enough, and I don’t
feel the need to continue with it.
Brave the Tempest by Karen Chance
Brave the Tempest by Karen Chance is book nine and the
latest in her Cassandra Palmer series. I think the books keep getting better in
the sense that the author has gotten better at writing them. They used to be
mad dashes from one plot to another, which often left the poor reader behind.
But in the past couple of books, there has been slower sections too that allow
for reflecting the plot and, in case of this one, all the previous books too,
which was much needed. In this book, Cassie finally turns into an active
operator in her life, instead of being pushed this way and that, and that made
the story more enjoyable too.
The October Man by Ben Aaronovitch
The October Man by Ben Aaronovitch is a shorter book in his
Rivers of London series, which I love. This one I almost skipped though,
because it’s set in Germany and doesn’t have Peter Grant or any other familiar characters.
But it was a good, solid detective story in the style of the other books. Tobi
was much like Peter, and the plot was familiar in its oddity. There were even
some rivers involved. I’m not sure if the author will continue with these
characters, but perhaps there will be a cross-over book later.
Reticence by Gail Carriger
Reticence by Gail Carriger ends The Custard Protocol, her third Parasolverse
series. It’s been very uneven four books, with the first
being good, and third a horrid disappointment in all respects. But this fourth
book was a charming ending to it all. Percy, the hero, has been my favourite
throughout the series, and Arsenic, the new addition, was a good match to him.
The plot was fairly simple—as opposed to some of the earlier books—and the
love-story was satisfying, although it developed so slowly that I was sure
there wouldn’t even be a kiss before the book ends. As it was a series ender,
most favourite characters from throughout the books made an appearance, which
was nice.
Angelfall by Susan Ee
Angelfall by Susan Ee was a new book to me, but it was
published already in 2012. It’s marketed as a young adult book, and the age of
the protagonist, Penryn, matches. But the hardships she faced and survived made
me often think that she must be twice the age she was.
It’s set in a post-apocalyptic world. Angels have come to
earth and destroyed it completely. The few survivors have soon learned that nothing
is off-limits when it comes to survival. Penryn has to look after her paralysed
little sister Paige, and her mother who is schizophrenic and violent. Having learned to survive with her mother,
Penryn has an advantage when it comes to coping with this new world. And then
the angels steal Paige, and in order to get her back, Penryn teams up with a
wounded angel Raffe.
Though the plot is fairly straightforward, the things Penryn
has to go through to achieve her goal aren’t your everyday YA. The book is fairly
violent, and the imagery, especially towards the end of the book, is somewhat
disgusting even. The romance, which has become a hallmark of YA, is almost
absent. But the gritty style works, and carries to the end. I instantly picked
the second book too.
So this was what I’ve read this summer. I try to return to
regular service from here on. Stay tuned.
Prisoner of Night is a shorter paranormal romance set in Black Dagger
Brotherhood universe, with no familiar characters, though short is relative. It was about 180 pages instead of the usual 600. The story has a
fairly straightforward premise: Ahmare tries to save her brother from a torture
chamber of a sadistic vampire crime lord, and for that she needs to infiltrate
the bunker of another sadistic vampire to fetch something. In this, she is
helped by Duran. He’s the son of the latter sadistic vampire, and has spent the
past twenty years being tortured by the first. And he has a revenge of his own
to deliver.
Had the story been as simple as that, rescue and revenge, it
would’ve been fairly good. It was action-filled; brutal in parts and heart-breaking
at times. The stakes were constantly high, not least because Ahmare knows that
she won’t get her brother free unless she returns Duran to his torturer.
However, this was first and foremost a love-story, and that didn’t work for me
at all.
The shorter form of the story required instant love between
the characters, which is in part explained by the biological tendency of vampire
males in BDB universe to bond with their chosen mate. But Duran has grown up in
a cult, watching his father rape and abuse his mother, so what does he know
about love? Yet he doesn’t seem to have any problems with emotions. Then,
barely past adolescence, he’s spent twenty years in captivity, being tortured
constantly. He should be a PTSD mess that takes centuries to heal. But apart
from a freak-out in the beginning, and another at the end, he functions fairly
rationally throughout. Ms Ward has written tortured characters before in her
BDB books, guiding them through their healing processes in fairly believable
manner, with more needed than a good woman’s love to make things right. Zadist especially is such a character and after several books, he’s still healing.
Here, however, there is no room for healing before the
couple is already having sex. The scene was troublesome in many respects, but
mostly because everything was forced on Duran by Ahmare, who acts as if his
reluctance to seduce her is because he’s being gentlemanly, not because there
might be an underlying cause for it—which then comes apparent at the
climax of the scene. I’m not saying she abused him as such—though it came close—but the whole scene
could’ve waited until Duran had recovered. That both of them expected to die on
the mission didn’t really make the scene feel right.
For her part, Ahmare is depicted as a nurturing person
forced into violence by circumstances, but she doesn’t really seem to suffer
from the consequences of her actions, like beheading a person. She’s decisive
when needs to be, and most of the time pushes the action on in her need to
save her brother. And her nurturing nature doesn’t extend to Duran. All in all,
the two made an odd pairing.
There were a couple of side characters who were also given
their happy endings in the story. The most notable of these was Nexi, a Shadow
who’s also fled the cult. A review mentioned how the scenes between her and
Ahmare worked better emotionally than those with Duran, and suggested that they
should’ve been made a pair in the end. At the very least, Ahmare should’ve
shared the inner thoughts with him that she did with Nexi to make the
connection between them more believable.
Duran gets to avenge his deaths in the end, and the epilogue
paints a happily-ever-after he and Ahmare deserve. Nevertheless, the creepy
parts of the story made me give only three stars of five to this story,
probably to first ever that I’ve given to BDB series.
***
To recover, I read a twenty-page short story by Karen Chance
that was free on her website with many other stories. If you’re a fan of her
Cassandra Palmer and Dorina Basarab urban fantasy books, check them out.
Updating Pritkin was a funny little story about trying to make everyone’s
favourite war mage less scruffy, with pictures. The ending was a lesson to all
and a win for Pritkin. However, as the story had barely any Pritkin in it—the
scenes where he should’ve appeared were omitted, like so annoyingly in the
books too—I
only gave it three stars out of five. But it made me happy. And I’m definitely looking
forward to Siren’s Song, which should be in his point of view completely.
It’s been five years since I’ve posted on this blog, and I
think it’s time to revive it. I haven’t stopped reading, or reviewing books; I just
published the reviews on my other blog, Susanna Writes. I’m not entirely sure
writing two blogs is sensible, but I’m about to give it a go—again—anyway. It’s one of those things that make sense at the beginning of a new
year. So here goes.
It’s been my habit for the past couple of years to write a
list of books that I hope to read at the beginning of the year. There are so
many books being published, that it’s hard to keep track of them all. With a
list, I’ll at least remember the most interesting ones. So far, I haven’t once
read everything on the list, as I keep reading outside it, but it’s worked well
otherwise. If you want to know what I read last year, here’s a post I wrote on
my other blog (although, in hindsight, I should probably have published it on
this one).
This year, I pledged to read sixty books in Goodreads Reading Challenge, meaning that I should read five books a month. For the past
two years, I’ve read fifty-five books a year, so I’m not entirely hopeful that
I’ll be able to do it, but it won’t be for the lack of reading if I don’t.
The list for 2019 has sixty-nine books. Fifteen are
transfers from the previous list, eight of which were already on the list
before that one. Only the books that I really think I want to read, even if I
didn’t find time for them before, made it to this year’s list too. Thirteen books
are published this year, and they mostly belong to ongoing series by my
favourite authors. The rest are mostly books that I already own, but haven’t
got around reading, or belong to series that I haven’t managed to catch up with
yet. I even went through my Kindle to see what gems I had hidden there, and
added them on the list.
My list is heavy on urban fantasy and fantasy: thirty UF
books and nineteen fantasy books. That pretty much reflects my reading habits
in general. Everything else is genre fiction too; it’s seldom that I read
literary fiction these days. There are ten sci-fi books that I want to read,
but only one contemporary romance, which is odd, considering that I write them
myself, but those tend to be the books that I add on my list as I come across
them. Here are some of the books that I’m especially eager to read this year, in
no particular order.
Summoned to the Thirteenth Grave by Darynda Jones. This is
the last book in her Charley Davidson UF series of a grim reaper that I absolutely love, so it’s with part
eagerness and part dread that I wait for it to come out. The publication date
is January 15, so not long to wait anymore. And then it will be over. Forever.
Vicious and Vengeful by V.E. Schwab. I love everything she
writes, and I expect to find these two books exciting too. I got the first as a
birthday present last year, but then waited to read it until I had the second
book too, which I got for a Christmas present. So those go to the top of my
reading pile.
Wolf Rain by Nalini Singh is the latest in her long Psy-Changeling
paranormal romance series. There hasn’t been a weak book yet, so when it comes
out in June, I’ll be reading it instantly. And she’ll probably publish other
books this year too that aren’t on my list, and I’ll be reading all of them
too. This one doesn’t have a cover yet.
The Savior by J.R. Ward is another auto-buy. It’s the book
seventeen in her Black Dagger Brotherhood UF series of vampire warriors, and each book has been excellent.
She’s publishing other books this year too, and all will go on my list. The
first of those is Prisoner of Night, which is set in the same BDB world,
and is published next week.
The Wicked King by Holly Black is the second book in her
Folk of the Air series of fairies and humans living among them, and it’s
published January 8. The first book was exciting, and I expect the follow up to
live up to its predecessor.
Empress of Forever by Max Gladstone is a space opera
published in June. I’d hoped there would be a new Craft Sequence book, because
the next one can’t come fast enough, but I’m sure this will be great too.
Another book by him that I’m waiting for, written with Amal El-Mohtar, is This is How You Lose the Time War that comes out in July. I’m
not exactly sure what genre that one belongs to, but it has everything, spies, time-travel,
and love.
Brave the Tempest by Karen Chance is
the latest in Cassandra Palmer UF series. It’s been too long since the previous
book and this one can’t come fast enough. Until then, I can return to her UF
world with Siren’s Song, a shorter story, which doesn’t have a publication date
yet, but should come out soon.
That’s just a small sample of what’s
to come. I also look forward to reading Atlas Alone by Emma Newman, fourth book
in her Planetfall series, Exit Strategy and Rogue Protocol by Martha Wells, which
belong to her Murderbot Diaries series, and Raven Tower, the new Ann Leckie
book. And, truly, all books on my list are those that I want to read. It’s just
that occasionally I have to prioritise.
The first book of the year has been
selected already too. That’s The Mortal Word by Genevieve Cogman. It’s the
fifth book in her Invisible Library series, and so far it’s very good. I’ll write
a review once I’m finished. Until then, let me know what you’ll be reading this
year.
