Tag Archives: books

Mar 24 2015
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Mini Book Review: Abaddon’s Gate by James S. A. Corey

Abaddon's Gate by James S. A. Corey

Title: Abaddon’s Gate

Author: James S. A. Corey

Series: The Expanse #3

Genre: Science Fiction

Rating: 4.5/5 stars

The Overview: For generations, the solar system — Mars, the Moon, the Asteroid Belt — was humanity’s great frontier. Until now. The alien artifact working through its program under the clouds of Venus has appeared in Uranus’s orbit, where it has built a massive gate that leads to a starless dark. Jim Holden and the crew of the Rocinante are part of a vast flotilla of scientific and military ships going out to examine the artifact. But behind the scenes, a complex plot is unfolding, with the destruction of Holden at its core. As the emissaries of the human race try to find whether the gate is an opportunity or a threat, the greatest danger is the one they brought with them.  

The Mini Review:

Whenever I pick up an Expanse novel, I know I’m in for a guaranteed good read. The authors just know how to create a high-stakes, fast-paced, thrill ride that usually has me devouring pages long after I should’ve gone to sleep (seriously – don’t read this book before you go to bed, you’ll never get any rest!). And aside from excellent pacing, part of what makes these novels so great are the characters. Each novel follows the story progression of the crew of the Rocinante, but also includes a few other POVs who add extra flair to story. As much as I love Holden and his crew, it’s these extra characters that I’ve come to look forward to most. They’re all written so well it’s like reading about real people – I’m definitely using this series as Exhibit A for characterization in my own writing. Combine that with compelling conflicts that get more complex and interesting with each novel, and you have yourself a killer series. Overall, if you love science fiction (especially space operas) this is currently my top recommend of the genre. I’ve heard it’s even in the final stages of becoming a television series, which will hopefully be just as epic!

Other books you might like:

by Niki Hawkes

Mar 19 2015
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Book Review: Skinwalker by Faith Hunter

Skinwalker by Faith Hunter

Title: Skinwalker

Author: Faith Hunter

Series: Jane Yellowrock #1

Genre: Urban Fantasy

Rating: 3.5/5 stars

The Overview: Jane Yellowrock is the last of her kind-a skinwalker of Cherokee descent who can turn into any creature she desires and hunts vampires for a living. But now she’s been hired by Katherine Fontaneau, one of the oldest vampires in New Orleans and the madam of Katie’s Ladies, to hunt a powerful rogue vampire who’s killing other vamps…
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The Review:

I have been experimenting with different urban fantasies over the last couple of years by reading the first book of each of the series. Granted, I haven’t been doing it on purpose, I just have reading ADD. Nonetheless, I’ve read quite a few, and have to say Skinwalker was one of the better ones. It wasn’t a particularly original story, but it was definitely entertaining.

I don’t know what it is about New Orleans, but they seem to have the lion’s share of paranormal activity. I can’t tell you how many urban fantasy and paranormal novels I’ve read in the last ten years that took place in New Orleans. I don’t really focus on clichés, but I do notice them enough to recognize when someone offers something a little different… and that’s what I feel Skinwalker did. I can’t really even lay my finger on what exactly made the atmosphere of this one so much more interesting than the usual hodgepodge, but it was. Maybe because the focus was more on the modern, urban side of things whereas most novels fixate solely on Bourbon Street and the Bayou. Now, don’t get me wrong – if those settings don’t make an appearance at some point I will be disappointed, but it’s nice to see someone start out with a slightly different flair.

I liked the main character, but felt like I really didn’t get to know her very well. I’m hoping for more depth going forward with her, and for all the other characters too, for that matter. I also spotted what I think may have been a potential love interest, but as of yet am not certain (which probably bothers me more than anything else). I’m not saying the love story had to smack me over the face – if I wanted that I’d pick up a romance – but I can thrive quite happily for a whole series on mere potential… something which this novel failed to deliver. This is not a dealbreaker though – I’m still clamoring for the next one.

I really enjoyed the whole concept of the skinwalker, including the beast “entity” that the main character is kind of sharing a body with. It gives her the advantage of heightened senses, even when she’s in human form, which added a nice dynamic the story. I do, however, have a couple of reservations. The first one is that anytime she refers to this entity, she calls it her beast, “My beast was hungry.” and “My beast could smell it.” and so on. I don’t know about you, but when I read something phrased like that, I can’t help but laugh at the unintended euphemism. If you need me, I’ll be over here giggling… Seriously though, it took away the gravity of several scenes when it definitely wasn’t supposed to.

The second reservation was how the author handled the beast’s POV (if you’re anything like me, your laughing at what I just wrote…). She tried to convey a more primal personality, not through behaviors and thought processes, but through shortened, clipped sentences. It’s like she systematically went through and cut out every word until the passage was just shy of being unintelligible. I have to say, those sections were difficult to get through, and almost boring. I feel like I understand what she was trying to do, but don’t feel like she succeeded. I’d like to point out that, other than those passages, I quite enjoyed the writing style. I’m willing to chalk it up to a writing experiment gone wrong.

Overall, I’m looking forward to what the series offers next. It seems to have all of the components I enjoy in urban fantasies, but just didn’t quite reach its potential in the first book. That’s okay though – there seems to be a consensus that the series gets better as it goes. I can’t wait. :)

Other books you might like:

by Niki Hawkes

Mar 17 2015
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Top Ten Books on my Spring 2015 TBR!

top ten tuesday

Hosted by The Broke and the Bookish

Most TTTs focus on the best of what you’ve read before. I love these seasonal TBR’s because they allow me to take a moment to get excited about what’s to come! Incidentally, these are the lists that made me realize I spent too much time focused on all of the obligation books and not enough focused on all of the titles I was just dying to read. Well no more!

Top Ten Books on my Spring 2015 TBR!

Although I am excited for all of them, and most eager to read the new Selection book. :)

Have you read any of the titles from my list?

by Niki Hawkes

Mar 6 2015
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Mini Book Review: The Assassin King by Elizabeth Haydon

Assassin KingTitle: The Assassin King

Author: Elizabeth Haydon

Series: Symphony of Ages #6

Genre: Fantasy

Rating: 4/5 stars

The Overview: The Assassin King opens at winter’s end with the arrival by sea of a mysterious hunter, a man of ancient race and purpose, who endlessly chants the names of the pantheon of demons that are his intended victims, as well as one other: Ysk, the original name of the Brother, now known as Achmed, the Assassin King of Ylorc. At the same moment of this portentous arrival, two gatherings of great import are taking place. The first is a convocation of dragons, who gather in a primeval forest glade–the site of the horrific ending of Llauron, one of the last of their kind. They mourn not only his irrevocable death, but the loss of the lore and control over the Earth itself that it represents. The ancient wyrms are terrified for what will come as a result of this loss. The second gathering is a council of war held in the depths of the keep of Haguefort: Ashe and Rhapsody, rulers of the alliance that protects the Middle Continent; Gwydion, the new Duke of Navarne; Anborn, the Lord Marshall; Achmed, the King of Ylorc, and Grunthor, his Sergeant-Major. Each brings news that form the pieces of a great puzzle. And as each piece is added it becomes quite clear: War is coming, the likes of which the world has never known.

The Mini Book Review:

Even though The Assassin King came out several years ago, I stalled on reading it until book #7 was announced. There are so many bits of brilliance within this series that the fact that it can be rather repetitive and long-winded doesn’t feel like that big of a deal. I really love where the story has developed, especially regarding the dragons. They play an integral role in the framework of this world (and always have, even when it wasn’t obvious to the reader), and I’m excited to see what impact they will have going forward. Along with dragons, these novels offer several original races that are quite possibly my favorite elements – especially since two of the main characters (Grunthor and Achmed) are of those alternate races, making them especially memorable. Overall, I enjoyed this novel as much as the ones before it. This series is not easy to recommend because the first hundred pages of book #1 are bit of a struggle to get through. However, if you have patience and are willing to wade through a lot of words for a big payoff, I think it is definitely worth your time. Especially if you’re looking for something a little different.

Other books you might like:

by Niki Hawkes

Mar 3 2015
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Coming Soon: Walk on Earth a Stranger by Rae Carson

Walk on earth a strangerTitle: Walk on Earth a Stranger

Author: Rae Carson

Series: The Gold Seer Trilogy #1

Genre: Teen Fantasy

Release Date: September 22, 2015

The Overview: The first book in a new trilogy from acclaimed New York Times bestselling author Rae Carson. A young woman with the magical ability to sense the presence of gold must flee her home, taking her on a sweeping and dangerous journey across Gold Rush–era America. Lee Westfall has a secret. She can sense the presence of gold in the world around her. Veins deep beneath the earth, pebbles in the river, nuggets dug up from the forest floor. The buzz of gold means warmth and life and home—until everything is ripped away by a man who wants to control her. Left with nothing, Lee disguises herself as a boy and takes to the trail across the country. Gold was discovered in California, and where else could such a magical girl find herself, find safety? Rae Carson, author of the acclaimed Girl of Fire and Thorns trilogy, dazzles with this new fantasy that subverts both our own history and familiar fantasy tropes. Walk on Earth a Stranger, the first book in this new trilogy, introduces—as only Rae Carson can—a strong heroine, a perilous road, a fantastical twist, and a slow-burning romance. Includes a map and author’s note on historical research.

Waiting on Wednesday
Hosted by Breaking the Spine

Considering how much I loved The Girl of Fire and Thorns, I am eager to read anything Carson decides to write. She has a wonderful way with characters, romance, and conflict, and I have no doubt Walk on Earth a Stranger book is going to be every bit as entertaining as I’m hoping it will be. Is it September yet?! Seriously!

What book are you waiting on?

by Niki Hawkes

Mar 3 2015
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Book Review: The Glass Arrow by Kristen Simmons

The Glass ArrowTitle: The Glass Arrow

Author: Kristen Simmons

Series: N/A

Genre: Teen Dystopian

Rating 1.5/5 stars

The Overview: The Handmaid’s Tale meets Blood Red Road in Glass Arrow, the story of Aya, who lives with a small group of women on the run from the men who hunt them, men who want to auction off breeding rights to the highest bidder.

In a world where females are scarce and are hunted, then bought and sold at market for their breeding rights, 15-year old Aya has learned how to hide. With a ragtag bunch of other women and girls, she has successfully avoided capture and eked out a nomadic but free existence in the mountains. But when Aya’s luck runs out and she’s caught by a group of businessmen on a hunting expedition, fighting to survive takes on a whole new meaning.

The Review:

I was warned about this one. One of my favorite book bloggers posted a review explaining why she did not enjoy this novel… and I read it anyway. To be fair, I’d already been approved for a digital arc, so I was kind of already committed to reading it, underwhelming review or not. It turns out, my fellow book blogger was totally right… this was not a very strong book.

I really love the idea for it – women living in the wilds, on the run from hunters who’s goal is to capture them and sell them to the city as breeding stock. You see, evidently the women who live in the city are incredibly infertile, so the wilds women are high commodities. I thought it sounded fascinating, and reminded me of some of the other similar books I’ve read and loved recently (Wither by DeStefano, The Jewel by Ewing), but it just did not deliver. All of the books in that specific sub-genre require a bit of the “just go with it” attitude, but the plot structure and world building for this one just had so many things wrong with it that it was hard to read. For every rule she gave on how the society functioned, I could think of a couple of reasons why it wouldn’t work. And the thing is, I wasn’t actively looking for inconsistencies, they were just so blatant that my brain couldn’t help but point them out.

It wasn’t just the illogical nature of the plot that took away my enjoyment of the book (although that was the main thing). I also thought the book suffered from poor pacing and a bit of repetition. I don’t think there were enough plot points to sustain an entire novel and probably would have liked it a lot better had it been a short story. The plot points that were there still have me a bit perplexed – very little of the story had anything to do with the overall arc and climax of the book. It almost felt like I was reading three different books in one (or short stories –  bam!) and none of them related to each other very well… It was weird.

Eventually I got fed up and just started skimming during the last fifty pages of the book. But I did finish it, which I thought ironic considering how many issues I had with it. It made me go back and really think about what compelled me to keep going. It wasn’t what the author was writing, but rather how she was writing it that kept me reading. I enjoyed the style and thought Simmons had a lovely voice. She made me care about the main character and I had no trouble immersing myself into her perspective. I would love to see this author tackle something that requires a lot less world building and concept so she could focus on the element that, in my opinion, she does very well.

Overall, I was really underwhelmed by this title and it was a bit of a struggle to get through it. I was really excited about the concept and the writing style, but don’t think it ever lived up to its potential. I don’t see myself hand-selling this one anytime soon. Maybe it’s just me though – go check out the “this is her best book yet” five-star reviews on goodreads before making any rash decisions. ;)

Other books you might like (better):

by Niki Hawkes