Call of the Bone Ships by RJ Barker (The Tide Child #2)
23 November 2020
Filed under Book Reviews
Tags: Call of the Bone Ships, RJ Barker, The Tide Child #2
Five Word TL:DR Review: I’m not crying, you’re crying.
Dear Hag what is going on? This book has left me an emotional wreck. I just don’t understand what is going on in the tiny spaces of my brain because I’m all over the place. I want to cry and this just doesn’t happen, I’m a tough cookie, I taught hard nails a thing or two, I didn’t cry for Lassie. I don’t cry. But I so want to do so right now and it’s brilliant and unexpected and inexplicable. Frankly, any book that gives me all the feelings is a winner.
I would mention at this point two things. Firstly this is a second book in series and I do not think you can jump in at this point – and why would you anyway, the first is not only essential to understanding this world but is also damn fine so ‘how very dare you’ think of bypassing it. Secondly, beware of spoilers – I don’t believe I’ve included any but who knows – you have been warned.
To be honest, and sorry for this, but this second instalment blows the first book totally out of the water (I know – but I couldn’t resist). To be clear, I thoroughly enjoyed the first book, I really did, and I wondered if this would suffer maybe from second book syndrome, and, whilst there may be a slight set up for the final instalment going on here, this book is definitely not a suffering from any type of middle book sickness. It works well, the characters grow, the author is bloody ruthless, there are skirmishes on land and on the high seas, it seems like the dragons have not perished or declined after all and there are prophecies afoot, oh my.
I am going to write nothing of the plot other than to say that Meas and her crew make a terrible discovery and are forced to throw everything they know into a heroic rescue type of mission that will leave many dead. That is all I’m going for here so pick up the book and discover everything with fresh eyes for yourself.
This second instalment really takes us around the Hundred Isles. The fights take place on land and on the sea. There are huge kraken style monsters, so enormous that they cause Tsunami size waves and chaos in their wake. There are islands where foul deeds take place and there be rescues.
In terms of the characters. Well, Joren has come a long way by the time this book concludes. I could say it’s exhausting watching his struggles, and it is to be honest, but it’s also satisfying. Not everything goes according to plan, and Joren definitely goes through the wringer here but I loved all the gut wrenching emotion and the dramatic quests. Meas, well, she is an enigma. There’s something comforting about her presence whenever she appears on the page. I was just like ‘please tell everyone what to do and save the day’, but of course, every now and again there are little cracks in the facade and she clearly fears her mother – so, Contrary Mary that I am – I cannot wait to meet her.
Why the emotion. I can’t really pin it down to be honest. I just fell for the characters. There’s such a depth to them all and Joron experiences one of the most incredible story arcs. There’s this whole feeling of acceptance,. He’s not perfect, he may have disliked people for all the wrong reasons, but this books shows him prepared to learn, to find out about differences and to overcome things he never thought he would have to. This is an author that can write all these little light bulb moments into a book but they’re so subtle that you feel like you’re turning on the switch yourself. On top of this I feel like this is an author who has grown in style and confidence.
In terms of criticisms. Stop killing people I like. Please. I will send cake. Okay, not really a criticism but seriously I have nothing. I would mention that this is not a quick read. You need to sit down and pay it the respect it deserves but that’s not really asking too much is it? Although, I would just mention, cliffhanger – but, oh what a cliffhanger. Give me the next book soon for the love of the Hag.
I received a copy through Netgalley, courtesy of the publisher, for which my thanks. The above is my own opinion.
My rating 5 of 5 stars.
Friday Face Off : Covers that use mostly ‘words’
20 November 2020
Filed under Book Reviews
Tags: Books by Proxy, Covers that use mostly words, Dispel Illusion, Friday Face off, Limited Wish, Mark Lawrence, One Word Kill
Here we are again with the Friday Face Off meme created by Books by Proxy . This is a great opportunity to feature some of your favourite book covers. The rules are fairly simple each week, following a predetermined theme (list below) choose a book (this doesn’t have to be a book that you’ve read), compare a couple of the different covers available for that particular book and choose your favourite. Future week’s themes are listed below – if you have a cover in mind that you’re really wanting to share then feel free to leave a comment about a future suggested theme. I’ve also listed events that take place during the year, that I’m aware of, so you can link up your covers – if you’re aware of any events that you think I should include then give me a shout. This week’s theme:
“Words are pale shadows of forgotten names. As names have power, words have power. Words can light fires in the minds of men. Words can wring tears from the hardest hearts.”
This is another one of the themes I came up with to coincide with the sci fi event taking place during November so hope you’ve all come up with something good. I’ve gone for a series rather than a face off. This definitely falls into sci-fi and all three books are just excellent – I highly recommend them. The Impossible Times series by Mark Lawrence. And, here are the covers:
My favourite this week is a close draw. I wanted to choose Limited Wish but instead I’ve gone for :
Do you have a favourite?
I’ll be updating the list in order to include forthcoming events that I’m aware of so that you can perhaps link your themes up where possible (if you know of an event you’d like to share then let me know in the comments). As always, if you wish to submit an idea then leave me a comment – or if you’d like to host a week then simply let me know.
Next week – Modern sci fi
Future themes: (if you’re struggling with any of these themes then use a ‘freebie’ or one of your favourite covers) (I’ve added some new themes – some of these are slightly different, in order to avoid too much repetition I’m trying to make the themes more of a suggestion that everyone can interpret how they like.
2020
27th November – Modern sci fi
4th December – Fae – or fairy??
11th December – Lake – the mysterious lake
18th December – Highly Stylised
25th December- Freebie – or day off.
The Girl Beneath the Sea by Andrew Mayne (Underwater Investigation Unit #1)
19 November 2020
Filed under Book Reviews
Tags: (Underwater Investigation Unit #1), Andrew Mayne, The Girl Beneath the Sea
My Five Word TL:DR Review : Gripping, tense, unique, thrilling ride
Okay, I already know that I like this author. I mean I’m loving the Naturalist series, it’s literally like a blast of fresh air, and so to be honest wanting to read The Girl Beneath the Sea was something of a no-brainer for me and one that worked out really well because, again, Mayne seems to have pulled another rabbit out of the hat (or fish out of the water) with this unique murder mystery.
The Girl Beneath the Sea really hits the ground running. We immediately meet Sloan McPherson who is on a dive, this isn’t exactly business, nor is it pleasure. For her day job Sloan is a diver for Lauderdale Shores PD, Florida, however, she’s also a student and is out trying to uncover something interesting for one of her tutors. Of course, this is an off schedule dive and so when she recovers a dead body things become a little tricky. The thing is, Sloan’s family have something of a history. Her uncle is serving time and her father is something of a pirate (or a treasure hunter as he prefers) so, of course Sloan’s reputation is sometimes called into repute and this murder victim, who it turns out she knows, doesn’t make her tarnished rep look any better.
In some respects this holds traits of The Naturalist. Sloan is something of a wild card, she doesn’t exactly play by the rules and once she has a notion she pretty much acts on it which leads to some crazy, and scary, situations. However, it differs in that Sloan is not as much of a loner, she has an ex partner and a daughter and is in regular contact with her father. It also has a lot of tension, the story line ratchets the tension up at an impressive rate, there’s never a dull moment and this is further heightened by the short snappy chapters and gripping plotting.
The difference with The Girl Beneath the Sea is the style. Sloan feels like she has a team or support network and although she can be a bit reckless she loves her job and doesn’t antagonise people in quite the way that Theo from the Naturalist does. This also has more of a police procedural style story although, this is with Mayne’s own very special kind of twist that does involve a little natural suspension of disbelief.
The setting is great. Based out of Florida there are natural dangers to diving – alligators and snakes to name but a few. Not to mention other divers who work for the drug cartels! There are canals and underwater tunnels, scenes out at sea where deep sea diving brings it’s very own set of problems and plenty of time spent aboard boats of one description or another.
The other characters. Well, there are others on the periphery, such as Sloan’s ex and her daughter but the other main character is a guy called Solar. He’s not popular with Sloan’s family, as you may imagine after you discover his evidence put Sloan’s uncle away for years for drug smuggling, but there’s more to him than initially meets the eye, and I liked him and thought the two worked well together. There’s certainly plenty of potential for further instalments with their newly established UIU – that’s right, a new agency to add to the list of secret units (the Underwater Investigation Unit).
In terms of criticisms. I can’t really think of anything to be honest, Like I said above, Mayne has a very over the top style of writing that skirts on the edges of disbelief so if that doesn’t appeal to you be aware.
One thing that I’m beginning to think when picking up anything that Andrew Mayne writes is to expect the unexpected and I hope for more from Sloan in the not so distant future.
I received a copy through Netgalley, courtesy of the publisher, for which my thanks. The above opinion is my own.
Mr rating 4 out of 5 stars
Can’t Wait Wednesday : The Witness for the dead, (The Goblin Emperor #2) by Katherine Addison
18 November 2020
Filed under Book Reviews
Tags: Can't wait Wednesday, Katherine Addison, The Goblin Emperor #2, the Witness for the Dead, Wishful Endings
“Waiting On Wednesday” is a weekly meme that was originally created by Breaking the Spine. Unfortunately Breaking the Spine are no longer hosting so I’m now linking my posts up to Wishful Endings Can’t Wait Wednesday. Don’t forget to stop over, link up and check out what books everyone else is waiting for. If you want to take part, basically, every Wednesday, we highlight a book that we’re really looking forward to. This week my book is : The Witness for the dead, (The Goblin Emperor #2) by Katherine Addison.
A standalone novel in the fantastic world of Katherine Addison’s award-winning The Goblin Emperor.
When young half-goblin emperor Maia sought to learn who had killed his father and half-brothers in The Goblin Emperor, he turned to an obscure resident of his court, a Witness for The Dead named Thara Celehar.
Now, far from the court, Thara Celehar lives in quasi-exile, neither courtier nor prelate, serving the common people of the city. He lives modestly, communicating with the dead as is his duty.
But his decency and fundamental honesty will not permit him to live quietly. Celehar will follow the truth wherever it leads him no matter who may be implicated in murder, fraud, or ancient injustices.
Expected publication : June 2021
Top Ten Tuesday : (Wo)Man’s Best Friend
17 November 2020
Filed under Book Reviews
Tags: Fictional Dogs, That Artsy Reader Girl, Top Ten Tuesday
Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme where every Tuesday we look at a particular topic for discussion and use various (or more to the point ten) bookish examples to demonstrate that particular topic. Top Ten Tuesday (created and hosted by The Broke and Bookish) is now being hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl and future week’s topics can be found here. This week’s topic :
Characters I’d Name a Pet After
I’ve gone for a similar or related theme – dogs in books – and of course you could use their names for your own pets.
Bulls Eye – from Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens. Bulls Eye is a great name for a dog isn’t it? I couldn’t resist the cover below with all the little snapshots – if you take a good look you can find Bulls Eye:
A very recent read – the Diabolical Bones by Bella Ellis. I really enjoyed this charming murder mystery where the Bronte sisters solve local crimes. Emily is often accompanied by her huge Bull Mastiff – Keeper. I loved Keeper, he’s so full of energy and sticks to Emily faithfully. He’s a keeper.
Toto from L Frank Baum’s Wizard of Oz – the list simply wouldn’t be complete without Toto, he has to be one of the most famous fictional dogs.
Oberon – an Irish Wolf Hound from Kevin Hearne’s Iron Druid Chronicles. This is a really great, fun series that I need to catch up with and Oberon is just brilliant, even more so because he can communicate with Atticus which makes for some very fun dialogue between the two – usually relating to sausages.
Jess and Jip – the two terriers from the excellent A Boy and His Dog At the End of the World. I highly recommend this book – it’s just excellent.
My next is a little out of left field. Sam Merlotte from Charlaine Harris’s Sookie Stackhouse. Sam is a shape shifter but he prefers to take the shape of a mild mannered Collie – which is obviously Sam.
The Dogs of War by Adrian Tchaikovsky. Rex is a bioengineered bioform – in fact to give you the full idea here’s the description from GRs:
‘Rex is a genetically engineered Bioform, a deadly weapon in a dirty war. He has the intelligence to carry out his orders and feedback implants to reward him when he does. All he wants to be is a Good Dog. And to do that he must do exactly what Master says and Master says he’s got to kill a lot of enemies.’:
White Fang is part wolf part dog and plays the titular role in Jack London’s story of a wild dog and it’s transition to a domestic animal.
My final entry is three dogs from the Harry Potter series. Padfoot is Sirius Black’s shifted form. Fluffy, is the ill-named three headed dog that can be lulled to sleep by music and finally Fang is Hagrid’s huge dopey bloodhound
The final slot I’ll leave blank for you to tell me your own favourite fictional dog.
