Tag Archives: fantasy books

Jun 12 2013
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Dragon Obsession – The Literary Files

Up to this point, I mostly use this feature to highlight awesome dragon paintings (and the fact that I have spent way too much money on dust-collectors). Today, however, Dragon Obsession gets a new angle. What can I say? I was inspired.

Today’s post is a feature on an author who has dazzled me so much with her dragons that I can’t remain quiet about it anymore! I give you:

Robin Hobb

a43She  has written about dragons before, but takes it to the next level of brilliance in her latest series (The Rain Wild Chronicles). It follows the life cycle of dragons, makes them just as important as the humanoid protagonists, and celebrates just how beautiful and shall we say unhuman they really are. 

If you are a dragon-lover like me and haven’t yet picked this up you’ll kick yourself for waiting so long when you finally do (I know I did).

While this series can be read as a standalone, the characters within are ones we’ve seen before. In fact, this book is the culmination of everything we’ve been working towards in a previous series. Even though dragons don’t play a huge role in the earlier novels they are still well worth your time to read. The last book in the Tawny Man series was so profound that it  was one of the main reasons why I started this blog. I’d read a phenomenal book and had no one to tell… that had to change. :-)

So, if you’d like to start from the beginning (the recommended path) consider following the order below from left to right:

by Niki Hawkes

Jun 4 2013
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Top Ten Tuesday – Top Ten Epic Adventures (6/4/2013)

a6 2This week’s feature, hosted by The Broke and the Bookish, is supposed to feature travel in some way. Because travel is just not that exciting to me unless it’s in the form of some grand adventure, so I have tweaked to the category a bit:

Top Ten Epic Adventures!

All of these contain epic adventures in one form or another, whether it be by the high seas or through dangerous ogre-infested mountains. They are guaranteed to make you feel like you are on the journey with them without ever leaving your armchair.

I have reviews for some of them, if you’d like to read them you can click on the covers below:

Magician: Apprentice (5/5 stars!)

Magician Apprentice by Raymond E. Feist

Magician Apprentice by Raymond E. Feist

 Sword Dancer/Sword Singer (4/5 stars)

Sword – Dancer/Sword – Singer by Jennifer Roberson

Sword – Dancer/Sword – Singer by Jennifer Roberson

 Pawn of Prophecy (4.5/5 stars)

Pawn of Prophecy by David Eddings

Pawn of Prophecy by David Eddings

 Redwall (5/5 stars)

Redwall by Brian Jacques

Redwall by Brian Jacques

These are all fantastic books and ones that I recommend constantly because who doesn’t love a good adventure? If you have a top ten list, I’d love to see it – leave a comment so I can come check it out! :-)

Jun 3 2013
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Out This Month – Noteworthy Releases June 2013!

cccc2These are, in my opinion, the best of the best book releases in June. There aren’t very many teen books this month, which is a contrasts to the last few months where it seems like I was struggling to include a good fantasy. My favorite release is Gameboard of the Gods by Richelle Mead, but as I’ve already read it, I am most excited to pick up The Human by Keary Taylor. Are any of them on your list?

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May 31 2013
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May 2013 – Review Recap!

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This is the second month in a row that I’ve posted this feature, and I have to say it’s probably one of my favorites. Not only does it give you guys a chance to catch the reviews you missed, but it also allows me to reflect on all the stellar books I’ve been reading lately. I am now three months then to my commitment to only read the books at the top of my “must – read” list, leaving all of those “obligation” series for when there’s truly nothing exciting on my radar. I used to force myself through books that I wasn’t enjoying, but no more! Because of this, I haven’t enjoyed reading this much since I was a kid. Long story short, I’m not picking a favorite this month – there were too many good ones!

As a side note, I’ve also created a review archive with links to all the books I’ve reviewed since I started the blog (separated by genre, of course) which I will be updating periodically.

May’s Reviews:

(clicking on the covers will direct you to the full reviews)

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 Frost Burned: 5/5 stars!

Fablehaven by Brandon Mull

Fablehaven by Brandon Mull

Fablehaven: 5/5 stars!

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 The Indigo Spell: 5/5 stars!

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Walking Disaster: 4.5/5 stars

The Selection by Kiera Cass

The Selection by Kiera Cass

The Selection: 5/5 stars!

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The Spirits War: 4.5/5 stars!

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 Chill Factor: 2.5/5 stars

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A Shadow in Summer: 5/5 stars!

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The Darkest Minds: 3.5/5 stars

Dancing with the Devil by Keri Arthur

Dancing with the Devil by Keri Arthur

Dancing with the Devil: 2/5 stars

IMG_2113q1 This also happened to be the month that all my blogging dreams came true: one of my reviews was shared by my all-time favorite author, Richelle Mead. My first instinct was to play it off as if this sort of thing happens to me all the time; but who am I kidding? It is seriously the coolest thing that’s ever happened to me and made all of the blood sweat and tears I pour into this blog worth every moment!

There you have it – my adventures in May! There were couple of books that didn’t quite work for me for various reasons, but on the whole, this was a stellar month of reading! I cannot remember the last time I read so many five-star books in a month. What books were at the top of your list?

May 25 2013
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Book Review: A Shadow in Summer by Daniel Abraham

a1Title: A Shadow in Summer

Author: Daniel Abraham

Series: The Long Price Quartet #1

Genre: Fantasy

Rating: 5/5 stars!

The Overview: The powerful city-state of Saraykeht is a bastion of peace and culture, a major center of commerce and trade. Its economy depends on the power of the captive spirit, Seedless, an andat bound to the poet-sorcerer Heshai for life. Enter the Galts, a juggernaut of an empire committed to laying waste to all lands with their ferocious army. Saraykeht, though, has always been too strong for the Galts to attack, but now they see an opportunity. If they can dispose of Heshai, Seedless’s bonded poet-sorcerer, Seedless will perish and the entire city will fall. With secret forces inside the city, the Galts prepare to enact their terrible plan.

In the middle is Otah, a simple laborer with a complex past. Recruited to act as a bodyguard for his girlfriend’s boss at a secret meeting, he inadvertently learns of the Galtish plot. Otah finds himself as the sole hope of Saraykeht, either he stops the Galts, or the whole city and everyone in it perishes forever.

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The Review:

I will be the first one to admit that the overview sounds a little boring and convoluted. The first time I picked it up in a bookstore, I almost disregarded it right away and put it back on the shelf. The reading gods must have been looking out for me that day because for one reason or another I cracked it open to read the first page… And didn’t stop for thirty minutes. It was fascinating and engaging – starting out by introducing a complex communication system that involves intricate hand gestures that conveys everything from emotion to social status. And you know what? It only got better! Abraham then went on to developed a mind – blowing magic system that was as dangerous as it was beautiful. These elements combined with an unforgettable writing style made for one of the most original stories I have ever read!

Both the communication and magic systems went a long way to build this world, but Abraham expanded on it anyway and created a stunning city that I can still remember vividly years later. Top that off with an incredible cast of characters (who will have you laughing and crying with them by the time the series ends) and you have one of the most memorable stories on the market. All of the characters were amazing and they only got better with each book.

I loved every minute, and I’ll say it again: this was easily one of the best series I’ve ever read. I will definitely be reading it again and will DEFINITELY be buying anything else this author publishes (be on the lookout for my review of The Dragon’s Path – the first book in Abraham’s latest series – hitting the blog sometime next month). Outstanding!

Recommendations: If you have read all the classics, from Robert Jordan to Brandon Sanderson, and are looking for your next great series, this is definitely the author for you! I recommend him as often as I can because of how profoundly his work affected me. Fantasy fans out there – this is a must-read!

by Niki Hawkes

Other books you might like:

May 21 2013
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Top Ten Tuesday – Top Ten Frameable Book Covers!

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 Top Ten Tuesday is a feature hosted by The Broke and The Bookish once a week where book bloggers can network and find out what everybody else is reading. It is super fun, so if you haven’t participated yet you might be missing out! Of all the TTTs, this is probably one of my absolute favorites because I LOVE beautiful book covers. Most on my list are adult novels, but I could easily do a YA list with nothing but girls in pretty dresses. Incidentally, the insides of these choices were, for the most part, just as awesome as the outsides! :)

Top Ten Framable Book Covers!

A one

I read the entire series based off of this cover alone, and you know what – I loved it! Luis Royo is by far my favorite artist and I will read anything he does the cover art for!

A two

This is the cover for the fourth book of one of my all time favorite series. Not a lot of people know that Dawn Cook is an alias of Kim Harrison- I didn’t catch on myself until after about five years of wondering “Is Dawn Cook ever going to come out with something new?” Each book got better and better, and so did the covers (the originals, anyway. The new ones they are marketing this series with are painfully ugly).

A three

Yup, I totally picked this up based solely on the beautiful cover. I am glad I did, too, because it was a breath of fresh air in the urban fantasy genre.

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Speaking of urban fantasies, Patricia Briggs is one of the best out there and this happens to be (after some serious deliberation) my favorite cover art of the series – although they are each beautiful in their own way – I could have easily included her more than once.

A five

 The moment I saw this cover I went “Ooh! I definitely want to read this!” To this day it is still one of my favorite love stories. I consider it a must-read for fans of the teen genre.

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This is yet another cover done by Luis Royo and is simultaneously my favorite series by Julie E. Czerneda. Gorgeous! And intriguing…

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I’ve come to realize that everybody pictures dragons in a slightly different manner. Whoever did the artwork for this series captured perfectly the way I envision them – this one’s the best.

A seven to

I wasn’t a huge fan of the original covers, but when they started re-releasing them with new artwork I kick myself for not buying them in hardcover. Beautiful art that captures scenes in the books with excellent motion and perspective – Loves!

A nine

Michael Whelan did the artwork for this series and, as I mentioned in my “Dragon Obsession – The Visual Files” post it is still one of my favorite Dragon artwork. I have tried to re-create it through several mediums but it never turns out quite right. Although it’s only been within the last few years that I’ve noticed the Dragon kind of looks like the giant cockroach alien on Men in Black…

A 10

It’s funny, when I first was considering this topic I figured more than half of the books on my list would be from the teen genre. It surprised me how many fantasy books made the list. In any case, of all the teen books out there this is my favorite cover. It saddens me because it was later replaced by one I don’t like near as well.

 Honorable mentions:

Seeing these three covers in my school library when I was 10 years old inspired me to get good enough at readings so that I could one day pick them up. I couldn’t possibly have a favorite cover list without including them!

What books made your list?