Tag Archives: books

Dec 13 2012
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Book Review: Iron Crowned by Richelle Mead

3Title: Iron Crowned

Author: Richelle Mead

Series: Dark Swan #3

Rating: (4.5/5 stars)

The Overview:

The Review:

I’m sure at this point you’re all tired of hearing me gush about Richelle Mead, but I just can’t help it. Everything she does winds up on my favorites list, and the “Dark Swan” series is no exception. Although book #3 was a tad slow to start, it soon launched into an event-filled story with plenty of action, love, and humor. The momentum it gained near the end had me cancelling plans simply so I could sit down and finish it (sad, but true).

As mentioned before in my review of “Bloodlines” (book 1 in a different series), Mead’s writing style is always incredibly character-driven. What I love about this series is that it also has a great deal of action and world-building to go along with the first-person style. I would actually say the world-building is my favorite element. We get to spend a lot of time exploring the lands, customs, and people of the Otherworld (the land of the gentry, or fey) while simultaneously learning more about the paranormal qualities of our own world.

Overall, this is a series I consider well-worth reading, especially if you’re already a fan of the urban fantasy genre. Fair warning: proceed with caution if you are adverse to language and sexuality.

Other books you might like:

  • “Dead Witch Walking” by Kim Harrison
  • “Stray” by Rachel Vincent
  • “Moon Called” by Patricia Briggs
  • “Dead Until Dark” by Charlaine Harris
  • “Magic to the Bone” by Devon Monk
  • “Ill Wind” by Rachel Caine

by Niki Hawkes

Dec 12 2012

Coming Soon: Sever

Feb. 12Title: Sever

Series: Chemical Garden #3

Author: Lauren DeStefano

Release Date: February 12, 2013 Now Available!

For a teen series that’s a little below the mainstream radar, I’ve actually gotten quite a bit of good feedback on it. The consensus is that it’s not the best book in the teen genre, but it’s a good book in its own right if you’re in the mood for something different. If you liked Ally Condie’s “Matched” trilogy and Scott Westerfeld’s “Uglies” series, this might be a good match for you!

Here’s some information about other books in this series:

1111Title: Withered (Chemical Garden #1)

Overview: What if you knew exactly when you’d die? By age sixteen, Rhine Ellery has four years left to live. A botched effort to create a perfect race has left all males born with a lifespan of 25 years, and females a lifespan of 20 years—leaving the world in a state of panic. Geneticists seek a miracle antidote to restore the human race, desperate orphans crowd the population, crime and poverty have skyrocketed, and young girls are being kidnapped and sold as polygamous brides to bear more children.

112Title: Fever (Chemical Garden #2)

Overview: Rhine and Gabriel have escaped the mansion, but they’re still in danger. Outside, they find a world even more disquieting than the one they ran away from. Determined to get to Manhattan and find Rhine’s twin brother, Rowan, the two press forward, amid threats of being captured again…or worse. The road they are on is long and perilous—and in a world where young women only live to age twenty and men die at age twenty-five, time is precious. In this sequel to Lauren DeStefano’s harrowing Wither, Rhine must decide if freedom is worth the price—now that she has more to lose than ever.

*Overviews taken from bn.com

Dec 12 2012

Coming Soon: Unravel Me

Feb 5Title: Unravel Me

Series: Shatter Me #2

Author: Tahereh Mafi

Release Date: February 5, 2013 Now Available!

Doing these “Coming Soon” posts really illustrates to me just how many good titles I’m behind on reading. I swear I shall never want for a good book again.

“Unravel Me” is the sequel to the popular “Shatter Me,” and it’s one that I’ve had stashed away in my TBR pile for months now. It’s about a girl who’s mere touch is lethal, and no one knows why… I’m intrigued, how about you?

The following links are to blogs that convinced me this is well-worth reading:

Other books in this series:

111Title: Shatter Me (Book #1)

Overview: I have a curse. I have a gift. I’m a monster. I’m more than human. My touch is lethal. My touch is power. I am their weapon. I will fight back.

No one knows why Juliette’s touch is fatal, but The Reestablishment has plans for her. Plans to use her as a weapon. But Juliette has plans of her own. After a lifetime without freedom, she’s finally discovering a strength to fight back for the very first time—and to find a future with the one boy she thought she’d lost forever.

In this electrifying debut, Tahereh Mafi presents a riveting dystopian world, a thrilling superhero story, and an unforgettable heroine.

112Title: Destroy Me (Novella)

Overview: Set after Tahereh Mafi’s Shatter Me and before Unravel Me, the spellbinding sequel, Destroy Me is a novella told from the perspective of Warner, the ruthless leader of Sector 45.

Dec 10 2012

Coming Soon: Boundless

jan 22Title: Boundless

Series: Unearthly Trilogy #3

Author: Cynthia Hand

Release Date: January 22, 2013 Now Available!

Of all the teen books about angels currently on the market, the Unearthly Trilogy is the one that I find the most appealing. I have heard from several people over the last couple of months that it’s a worthwhile read and now that the conclusion is near I’m finally ready to pick them up. Have any of you read these yet?

Dec 9 2012
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Book Review: The Eye of the World by Robert Jordan

Title: The Eye the World

Author: Robert Jordan

Series: Wheel of Time #1

Genre: Fantasy

Rating: 3.5/5 stars

The Overview: The Wheel of Time turns and Ages come and go, leaving memories that become legend. Legend fades to myth, and even myth is long forgotten when the Age that gave it birth returns again. In the Third Age, an Age of Prophecy, the World and Time themselves hang in the balance. What was, what will be, and what is, may yet fall under the Shadow.

The Review:

I would like to start out by saying: don’t let my conservative rating scare you off from this series. At least 75% of customers I talk to about fantasy rank this series in their top 3, if not their #1. I am definitely the minority here, as the book didn’t even make my top 20.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s still a classic that deserves its place as one of the all-time fantasy greats, it just happened to have some elements that I personally didn’t care for. As the beginning of an epic quest not unlike that of Tolkien, I found it a bit long-winded. Not boring, mind you, as there were several highly developed and exciting characters (who were frankly the biggest reasons why I’m tempted to read the second book). The magic system and overall measure of time were also highly original and interesting, even though we didn’t get to learn much about them.

No, what the book lacked is that sense of excitement I usually feel while reading a great fantasy novel. I believe this is due to poor pacing decisions rather than any issues with the plot. It was just too slow-moving with too many senseless encounters. There also wasn’t much of an arc, lacking the sort of emotional highs and lows that usually go along with good storytelling. I definitely would’ve appreciated more time spent on the climax of the book rather than endless chapters of the characters meeting one fat innkeeper after another. I guess I just missed that emotional payoff – I suppose I’ll have to evaluate the series as a whole for that kind of reaction.

Overall, I respect this author a great deal, as I believe he has done wonders for the fantasy genre by inspiring new authors every day. There are just too many out there that I enjoyed more.

Other books I liked better (in a particular order):

by Niki Hawkes

Dec 6 2012

Coming Soon: A Turn of Light

Mar 5..Title: A Turn of Light

Author: Julie E. Czerneda

Release Date: March 5, 2013

Czerneda is by far my favorite science fiction writer and I can’t tell you how thrilled I am that she’s finally got a fantasy novel in the works. Here’s the cool part: she’s making it available to read early on her website!!! Everything written by this woman is golden, so if you haven’t picked her up yet, you are seriously missing out!

Here are some other excellent works from this author:

1.1Web Shifters

They are the last survivors of their race, beings who live on and communicate through energy, who are capable of assuming the shape of any other species. When their youngest member is assigned to a world considered safe to explore, she is captured by the natives. To escape, she must violate the most important rule of her kind, and reveal the existence of her species to a fellow prisoner–a human being. Now her race is in danger of extinction, for even if the human does not betray her, the Enemy who has long searched for her people may finally discover their location….

1.2Species Imperative

Brymn was an archaeologist, and much of his research had focused on a region of space known as the Chasm, a part of the universe that was literally dead, all of its worlds empty of any life-forms, though traces existed of the civilizations that must once have flourished in the region. Brymn had sought out Mac because she was a biologist — a discipline strictly forbidden among his own people — and he felt that through her expertise she might be able to help him discover what had created the Chasm. But Mac had little interest in alien races and in studies that ranged beyond Earth, and as politely as she was capable of, she tried to make it clear that she was unwilling to abandon her own work.

However, the decision was soon taken out of her hands when a mysterious and devastating attack on the Base resulted in the abduction of Emily, and forced Mac to flee for her life with Brymn and the Earth special agents who were escorting him. Suddenly, it appeared that Earth itself might be under attack by the legendary race the Ohryn called the Ro, the beings they thought might be the destructive force behind the Chasm. Cut off from everything and everyone she knew, Mac found herself in grave danger and charged with the responsibility of learning everything she could that might possibly aid Earth in protecting the human race from extinction…
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1.4Trade Pact Universe
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The tenth anniversary edition of Julie Czerneda’s debut science fiction novel, the story of a woman on the run, from the law, her own people, and an unknown pursuer. Her memory taken from her by a stasis block, Sira must stay free long enough to regain her identity and the full use of her telepathic powers-for failure may cost not only her own future but that of her entire race.
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This prequel to The Trade Pact Universe series begins in a time before the Clan had learned how to manipulate the M’hir to travel between worlds. Aliens have begun to explore the world of Cersi, upsetting the delicate balance between the Clan and the two other powerful races who coexist by set rules. And one young woman is on the verge of finding the forbidden secret of the M’hir? a discovery that could prove the salvation or ruin of her entire species.