#SPFBO Spotlight : the fourth set of books..
This is my fourth batch of books for the SPFBO. My update from the third selection of five will follow shortly. For details of the SPFBO check here. I chose my first five books to look at during the course of May and my update post for the first five is here. The book that I took forward at that stage was Rebel’s Honor by Gwynn White review here. My update for the second set of five is here. My post for the third batch is here.
The book choices are being randomly chosen. I’m aiming to read about 20% of each book or five chapters (which I think should be enough to give me a fair idea of whether or not the book could be my potential final choice). Basically, if one of the books is standing out above the other four then that will be the clear choice from that section.
My next set of five are below. I’ve added underneath each a synopsis (taken from Goodreads) and also linked up the titles so they’re easy to check out.
1. Melody of Demons by Ros Jackson
In her home village, Aivee is worse than nobody. If her secret identity as a half-demon leaks out, she’s dead. But in the capital city she will reinvent herself as a dancer. She’ll be wealthy, and adored by thousands. Nobody will be able to hurt her.
Will they?
Nori knows how cruel the city can be. She’s lost her mother to its plagues, and lately her younger sister has joined the ranks of its disappeared. But she’s not giving up. The ruling classes think they can treat people worse than beasts and strip them of their human rights. Powerful factions want to keep the epidemic of missing people a secret. Well, they can eat her blades.
Nori joins a group of vigilantes fighting for answers, and voices in her head urge her to recruit Aivee to the cause. These vigilantes are bumbling amateurs, as likely to get themselves killed as to save anyone. But Nori is changing, going mad, lusting for battle and remembering centuries-old conflicts. She will whip them into shape, or die trying.
Bloodthirsty gangs, inhuman mages, and dragon gods have it in for the people of Kaddon city.
Yes, Nori is mad. But she’s not nearly even.
2. Rescuing Pavra by Terra Lorin
On the planet of Avadonya, handsome yet brutal shapeshifters called the Beasts raid a small Bormian village, kidnapping young females. A young Beast named Romi wins the youngest captive Pavra in a challenge and takes her as his prize to save her from the hands of the other Beasts. As the years pass and Pavra transitions into womanhood, she and Romi fall in love and thus ensues their romance.
Meanwhile, twins Gael and Gion head a group of young Bormians to rescue their younger sister Pavra and the other females taken on that fatal night two years ago. Will the eleven young Bormians be able to battle these shapeshifting Beasts, who outnumber them, and are just as deadly in their beastly incarnation? Not to mention the other dangers they must face along the way, even before they reach the Beasts’ lair.
Action, adventure, romance, and surprises are in store for this band of brave heroes as they encounter fairies, ogres, gigantic creatures, more shapeshifters and other friends and foe on their courageous rescue mission.
3. Pathfinders by Aidan J Reid
– In the darkest corners of your mind, they hunt –
Norman Adams’ life changes in an instant when he experiences his first lucid dream. The watershed moment reveals an alternate world of consciousness which compels the young man to explore the boundaries of reality.
He meets an eccentric librarian, Stephen Breagal, whose interest in the topic seems to know no limits and they strike up an unlikely friendship.
Soon however, the dream turns into a nightmare when Norman is involved in an accident sending him into a coma. Under the apprenticeship of Breagal, loyal but sceptical friend Victor James volunteers to use the librarian’s pioneering techniques to enter Norman’s dream state and finds the horror trapping him there.
The race is on to rescue their friend as together they search the deepest, darkest recesses of the mind – a place where nightmares are born.
4. Bronze Magic by Jennifer Ealey
Bronze Magic, a fantasy novel of 484 pages, is the first in a series that track the woodfolk legend of Tarkyn, Guardian of the Forest. It is written in an easy flowing style that makes it accessible to both teenagers and adults. The major protagonist, although powerful, spends much of his time trying not to intimidate people, while memorable characters battle with issues of trust, cultural differences and respect against a background of magic and action:
In Eskuzor, land of sorcerers, Prince Tarkyn, tempestuous and strong in magic, is forced to flee from his brother the king, leaving a trail of death and destruction behind him.
After days on the run, he wanders into the woodlands in the company of an old wizard, only to find himself unable to leave. Even worse, Tarkyn is horrified to discover that he is the unwelcome, bitterly resented liege lord of an elusive people whose oath to him has been spellbound to the welfare of their forest. The prince, moved by his unwilling liegefolk’s plight, modifies his expectations. On the other hand, one woodman, Waterstone, puts aside his own prejudices to offer Tarkyn his friendship, persevering in the face of the prince’s mistrust.
Bounty hunters are tracking Tarkyn. Wolves and sorcerers are hunting the woodfolk.
Battling the woodfolk’s resentment, Tarkyn holds true to his duty as their liege lord to fight with them against wizard-driven storm, captivity and exposure of their existence to the world beyond the forest. As Tarkyn works side by side with his liegefolk, he not only develops friendships and acceptance but also gains new powers which transform him, in the eyes of the woodfolk, into a figure of their legends, the guardian of the forest.
Despite this, their mutual trust is fragile and when Tarkyn discovers that his liegefolk have been concealing the existence of woodfolk not sworn to him, he is driven to extreme lengths to repair the schism in woodfolk society that his presence has caused, so that they can stand united against the greatest threat in their history.
The Amber Isle by Ashley Capes
Roguish Never is on a quest to lift a curse on his blood and to learn his true name; but upon joining a group of treasure-hunters he soon finds himself unearthing world-altering secrets that have long lain dormant within the mysterious Amber Isle.
Harry Potter Month (5)
Today is day five of my challenge to post each day about Harry Potter. Quotes, books, films and silliness.
Yesterday’s mystery character – as if you didn’t know – was Luna Lovegood.
As part of my challenge I found out about this fun discussion event called Hype or Like over on Rant and Rave About Books – check it out here if you’re interested in taking part.
The Discussion this week is:
If you could choose 3 magical items from any Harry Potter book, which would you choose and why? Explain what you would do with them and how you would use them to your advantage.
- A Pensieve – imagine if you could see your memories in this way! More to the point – as the memory is stored in the pensieve others can also view it – I wonder if you took two people, with what they thought was the same memory, and viewed both, would they differ? That would be interesting
- An enchained car like Arthur Weasley’s Ford Anglia – just think about going to work in this and missing all the congestion and rush hour traffic! Oh hell yes! Plus – no need to find a parking space – just pull up in a whomping willow.
- A Time Turner – I think everyone must surely want one of these! Sit in all day and read a book, then turn back time and go to work – in your enchanted car!
“That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind…”
Here we are again with the Friday Face Off meme being hosted by Books by Proxy . This is a great opportunity to feature some of your favourite book covers. The rules are fairly simple and can be found here. Each week, following a predetermined theme choose a book, compare a couple of the different covers available for that particular book and choose your favourite. Simples. This week the theme is:
Moonlight drowns out all but the brightest stars – a cover which features the moon.
This week I’ve gone for a book by Tom Lloyd. I’ve read the first in this series and really enjoyed it so I need to catch up. You may also recall this author’s name as he recently brought to us the rather wonderful Stranger of Tempest:
A difficult choice this week. I really like the first cover because it’s from the book that i read – plus the moon really is the star of the show and I like the red font being pictured in its centre. That being said, I love the character on the other character and the covers are really lovely. For me, the character and the greens and purples win out:
Come join us next week’s when the theme is:
May flights of angels lead you on your way. A cover featuring an angel/angels.
Harry Potter month (4)
Today is day four of my monthly challenge to post something on a particular theme. This month being Harry Potter. So, for the next month, sketches, quotes, discussions, maybe a review and perhaps a giveaway! Who knows (basically I haven’t got a clue because I’m making it up as I go along…)
Yesterday’s quote was of course Hermione.
For my next trick I will give you a number of clues to guess another particular character:
Today’s character:
- First appeared in the Order of the Phoenix
- House Ravenclaw
- Patronus = Hare
- Wears radish earrings
Hope and Red (Empire of Storms Trilogy #1) by Jon Skovron
4 August 2016
Filed under Book Reviews
Tags: Empire of Storms Trilogy #1, Hope and Red, Jon Skovron
Hope and Red is one of my July reads that I’m catching up with reviews for – and I will say from the outset that it’s a book that I thoroughly enjoyed. I have to confess that I’m probably a bit of a pushover for the sort of story that brings you a protagonist thrown into a dire situation and then made to survive, watching their development, maybe they’re nurtured, taken under somebody’s wing, trained or just taught the harsh facts of life from the environment in which they live. With Hope and Red you get double the enjoyment. Two characters orphaned from a tender age and each raised in the most unusual (and absolutely opposite and yet at the same time incredibly similar) set of circumstances. To top it off, and most unusual really, I loved both characters and the way they were written.
The two main protagonists are Hope and Red. To take them in turn. Hope witnessed her entire village murdered at a young age. Fortunately she was taken in by an ancient order, the Vinchen warriors, and eventually taken under the wing of the master teacher who named her Bleak Hope (after the village from which she came) and saw something in her that he deemed worthy of training – even though it went against the code of the order. Hope’s entire purpose becomes one of revenge and with the Vinchen training she has the ability to maybe achieve that goal.
Red also became an orphan at a young age, and whilst his origins might speak of a privileged start in life, once he finds himself alone in the world he quickly sinks much lower and finds himself dwelling in the slums of New Laven. Named for his red eyes (a side effect of the drug his mother took during pregnancy) Red’s survival, similar to Hope’s, lay in the most unusual circumstances. He’s taken under the wing of one of the roughest scallywags walking the streets of New Laven known as Sadie the Goat. Thrown together into a life of piracy the two form a close bond that pretty much keeps Red alive and makes him street savvy – although, being from the more upmarket side of town (where the people are known as Lacy) he’ll never truly be considered part of the Circle.
What did I love about Hope and Red. Well, let me count the ways. This story is a paragon of characterisation! And, I love well formed characters. The story of their formative years is totally fascinating and in fact I could have read more on that score. On top of that the two main characters are like polar opposites. Hope has a firm code of conduct and sense of honour. She’s like a whirlwind with a sword and is so straight forward that she almost suffers from a deplorable lack of fun. For Red, everything is a lark or a jape. He has light fingers and considers himself to be a cheeky chappie and something of a ladies man. Unlike his fellow chums (or wags as they’re called here), Red is intelligent in a different way. His early start in life has given him an appreciation for the beauty which can be found in something as simple but breathtaking as a sunset seen from a rooftop, he talks slightly differently, he can look at the bigger picture, read and write and, well, his background is something that not only lends itself to those differences but also lends itself to further investigation as we will discover as the story progresses. Now, I’m already happy with both characters, not to mention very entertained by some of the surrounding cast when the two of them meet – and that’s when the fun really starts. This is not a love story. There isn’t instantaneous love – although there is probably an initial burst of lust from Red – but the chemistry, the camaraderie and the eventually stronger feelings that develop between the two is wonderfully entertaining. Within a fairly short period of time they form a bond of trust that enables them to survive some tense situations where the odds were stacked against them and that make for great reading.
Underlying all of this we have the big baddy of the piece. The Emperor and his evil biomancers. This provides the underlying thread for the story and the plot that will eventually tie the two main characters together in ways that are totally unsuspected. the biomancers – I can’t profess to have a handle yet on what they are or what they’re capable of but some of their abilities displayed so far are absolutely batshit crazy – and of course jaw droppingly entertaining.
In case I didn’t make it clear I really enjoyed Hope and Red. I loved the characters, the story is gripping, tense and entertaining, I actually cared about the protagonists, and more than that their friends. I really enjoyed the Gangs of New York type feel of New Laven with the accompanying slang and creative cursing and I love the direction that the story has taken at the conclusion.
In terms of criticisms, well, I think in a certain way Hope and Red are maybe a bit too perfect at what they do – but the conundrum of that is that it’s their outstanding ability that makes them so enjoyable to read so, strictly speaking, I can’t really say it bothered me. Yes, underneath it all I could maybe be a bit incredulous about some of the things they achieved but in actual fact it was just such fun to read that I can’t find myself being irritated in that respect. Also, the language, lets just say that it’s a bit colourful – is it more than you’d expect on the streets of a slum? Probably not. But, will that maybe be a bit much or perhaps offensive to some people? Probably so. Just a warning that the creative cursing is definitely creative.
Criticisms notwithstanding I thoroughly enjoyed this and would certainly recommend it. Fast paced and incredibly entertaining.
I received a copy through Netgalley courtesy of the publisher for which my thanks. The above is my own opinion.
