Kushiel’s Scion by Jacqueline Carey, Readalong week No.7
14 February 2016
Filed under Book Reviews
Tags: Jacqueline Carey, Kushiel's Scion, Readalong
Today is week seven of our readalong for Kushiel’s Scion.
Feel free to join in with the comments and obviously, if you haven’t read this series but are intending to do so please be aware of spoilers – because they’re running amok below
This week Allie at Tethyan Books is our lovely host. The schedule and other participants are listed below. Go check them out. To the Q&A:
1) We begin this section with a slightly happier topic, Eamonn and Brigitta’s wedding. Do you think this was a good idea, for Eamonn and Brigitta as well as for the people of Lucca? Assuming they both survive, how do you think it will go for them when they break the news to their families?
This reminded me of so many books that I’ve read during war time where people, well, rush into marriage. To be honest, I can see this working out for Eamonn and Brigitta because they seem well matched – but, it was very quickly realised and time will tell. On top of that, they’re both from very different backgrounds and I wonder whether they’ve forgotten about their family expectations (not that I would judge them for doing so). I like Eamonn though, i don’t feel like I know Brigitta enough yet, but I hope it works out. As to whether this will be good for the people of Lucca – it will be in terms of Eamonn fighting hard to return to his wife!
2) Firestorm! Do you think this action was worth the sacrifices? In the words of Deccus Fulvius, do you think it is worth destroying something to save it?
Well, it seems like a contradiction in terms doesn’t it – destroying something to save it. But I can see the thinking behind it. At the end of the day if an enemy is outside your gates and you’re under siege you have to lessen their chances somehow and that’s going to be less easy with them being unable to eat the spoils of your labour.
3) The d’Angeline delegation makes a deal for Imriel’s friends. Do you agree with the characters’ decisions on who would go and who would stay?
Well, I could see it coming and the deal was no surprise. If I was Imriel I would have chosen the same. It was sort of obvious who would stay behind to a certain extent – and what I mean by that is the opportunity for Eamonn and Imriel to fight side by side.
4) Do you think that Gallus Tadius knew that his plan to funnel the water to the underworld would require him to also depart? Was that an act of self-sacrifice, or was it unintentional?
I’m not sure what to make of this yet – maybe only Gallus has departed – by which I mean that Lucius will return. That does seem a bit fantastical but it’s kind of what I’m hoping for.
5) Any new thoughts on Canis? Do you think he was involved in informing the d’Angeline delegation, and do you think he’s a part of (or in opposition to) the Unseen Guild?
I’ve thought all along that Canis was looking out for Imriel. At first I wondered if Phedre and Joscelin had sought somebody out for this purpose but now having thought about it I think that’s more Melisande’s style. I don’t think he is a part of the Guild – but, now I’ve said that I’m probably going to be wrong! If he is working for Melisande it would still make sense for him to inform the D’Angelines – because his mission would be to protect.
Here is the current schedule:
And here is the current list of participators:
Allie at Tethyan Books
Lisa at Over the Effing Rainbow
Lynn at Lynn’s Book Blog
Emily at Emma Wolf
Susan at Dab of Darkness
Read all about it…
13 February 2016
Filed under Book Reviews
Tags: A Local Habitation, Readalongs, Rosemary and Rue, Seanan McGuire, Toby Daye
Hi everyone
Just a quick post to notify you of a readalong of A Local Habitation (October Daye #2) by Seanan McGuire). Organised by the lovely Lisa at Over the Effing Rainbow. The details are over here on goodreads – the schedule is below. This series got off to a great start with our readalong of Rosemary and Rue (review here) There are quite a few in this series so no doubt the readalongs will continue if everyone is enjoying them and all are welcome to join. If you want to jump on board then leave a comment, visit Lisa or check out the Goodreads page. Come join in the fun.
Week 1: Saturday 5th March, Chapters 1-8 hosted by Over The Effing Rainbow
Week 2: Saturday 12th March, Chapters 9-16 – hosted by Lynn’s Book Blog
Week 3: Saturday 19th March, Chapters 17-25 – hosted by Books By Proxy
Week 4: Saturday 26th March, Chapters 26-end – hosted by The Bibliosanctum
And now for a little bit about the book:
October “Toby” Daye is a changeling, the daughter of Amandine of the fae and a mortal man. Like her mother, she is gifted in blood magic, able to read what has happened to a person through a mere taste of blood. Toby is the only changeling who has earned knighthood, and she re-earns that position every day, undertaking assignments for her liege, Sylvester, the Duke of the Shadowed Hills.
Now Sylvester has asked her to go to the County of Tamed Lightning—otherwise known as Fremont, CA—to make sure that all is well with his niece, Countess January O’Leary, whom he has not been able to contact. It seems like a simple enough assignment—but when dealing with the realm of Faerie nothing is ever as simple as it seems. Toby soon discovers that someone has begun murdering people close to January, whose domain is a buffer between Sylvester’s realm and a scheming rival duchy. If Toby can’t find the killer soon, she may well become the next victim.
Wish I was still there!
13 February 2016
Filed under Book Reviews
Tags: Ortigia, Short Breaks, Sicily, Siracusa
We’re back from our travels. We took a few days in Sicily – we’ve already seen a lot of this island and love it. Loads of history, you can’t chuck an olive without hitting an ancient monument or doric temple, great food and drink, friendly people and good weather. Don’t know what more you could ask for really!
We stayed in Ortigia which is within Siracusa. Origia is a beautiful island. It has a wonderful array of twisty streets all lined with houses from the baroque period. The main piazza is just gorgeous and the Duomo is a wonderful building that manages to display the many different ages of this town. The Duomo was originally the Greek Temple of Athena and the doric columns still make up part of the building.
No more words – the pictures can speak for themselves:
The Fountain of Diana
The Fountain of Diana
Piazza del Duomo
Palazzo Beneventano Del Bosco
Palazzo Beneventano Del Bosco
We visited the Archaeological Museum – this is a Medusa mask
Fantastic Food
Did I mention the wine?
Twisty turny streets
Relaxing in the sunset!
Couldn’t resist these trees -Fangorn!!
Waiting on Wednesday: Spells of Blood and Kin by Claire Humphrey
10 February 2016
Filed under Book Reviews
Tags: Breaking the Spine, Claire Humphrey, Spells of Blood and Kin, Waiting on Wednesday
“Waiting On Wednesday” is a weekly meme hosted by Breaking the Spine. Every Wednesday we get to highlight a book that we’re really looking forward to. This week I’m taking a look at Spells of Blood and Kin, a dark fantasy and debut novel by Claire Humphrey due out in June 2016:
In her extraordinary debut, Spells of Blood and Kin, Claire Humphrey deftly weaves her paranormal world with vivid emotional depth and gritty violence. Bringing together themes of death, addiction, and grief, Claire takes readers on a human journey that goes beyond fantasy.
When her beloved grandmother dies suddenly, 22-year-old Lissa Nevsky is left with no choice but to take over her grandmother’s magical position in their small folk community. That includes honoring a debt owed to the dangerous stranger who appears at Lissa’s door.
Maksim Volkov needs magic to keep his brutal nature leashed, but he’s already lost control once: his blood-borne lust for violence infects Nick Kaisaris, a charming slacker out celebrating the end of finals. Now Nick is somewhere else in Toronto, going slowly mad, and Maksim must find him before he hurts more people.
Lissa must uncover forbidden secrets and mend family rifts in order to prevent Maksim from hurting more people, including himself. If she fails, Maksim will have no choice but to destroy both himself and Nick.
Love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind
Every Tuesday over at the The Broke and Bookish we all get to look at a particular topic for discussion and use various (or more to the point ten) examples to demonstrate that particular topic. The topic this week is a special theme for:
‘Valentine’s Day’
So, this week I’m looking at great pairings in books – not necessarily romantic pairings although some may be, but pairings that you couldn’t do without – more to the point they couldn’t do without the other half!:
- Jean Tannen and Locke Lamora – these two immediately sprang to mind. A pair of characters that I love. This is from the Gentleman Bastard series written by Scott Lynch. An absolutely great series.
- Wydrin of Crosshaven and Sir Sebastian Caverson – I love these two. I love them. Did I mention that I love them. Wydrin, or the Copper Cat, is a feisty, sexy, tough woman, Sebastian is an old school type of knight, he’s a giant of a man, a raging softie and a maniac on the battlefield. The Copper Promise is the first book in this highly addictive series by Jen Williams. I strongly recommend this series.
- Scott and Suzume from Generation V. Scott is a vampire, Suzume is a Kitsume. They first appeared together in M L Brennan’s Generation V and the pair of them make compelling reading with their on page chemistry.
- Blackthorn and Grim from Juliet Marillier’s Dreamer’s Pool. This book is so good that I would practically beg people to read it! Literally! I loved this and Blackthorn and Grim are fantastic, amazing people to read about!
- Phedre and Joscelin. Jacqueline Carey’s Kushiel’s series. Wow, what can you say about these two. Phedre is an amazing character, she’s the sort of person who you would love to have as her friend. Josceline – woah, plenty eye candy and a menace with his swords and vambraces.
- Toby and Tybalt – these are two characters that I’ve only just made the acquaintance of in Rosemary and Rue, the first of the Toby Daye books by Seanan McGuire. So far so good methinks. I’m not sure if these two will become an item or whether their relationship will be more of a getting in each other’s face and annoying the socks off each other type of affair but I do know that they’re both fun to read and they have definite chemistry.
- Adele and the Greyfriar. Wow. Now these two are a great couple. Talk about star crossed lovers though! Greyfriar is a vampire – who dresses as a human. Adele is a princess whose magic is capable of causing great harm to vampire. In a world war torn between humans and vampires theirs is a very dangerous relationship. Vampire Empire by Clay Griffith and Susan Griffith.
- Shara and Sigrud from Robert J Bennett’s Divine Cities series. We met these two in City of Stairs. Shara is the brains and Sigrud is the brawn. Shara has this amazing, dry intelligence, she thinks on the spot and in a totally cool bookish way pulls all sorts of solutions out of the bag. Sigrud is a bear of a man, capable of taking on monsters in a most dramatic way. The two make a great pair to read.
- Valek and Yelena from the Poison Study books by Maria V Snyder. These two are a wonderful pair and have a great relationship. A great combination of fascinating magic and a world split in two.
- Kaladin and Syl from Way of Kings and Words of Radiance, The Stormlight Archives by Brandon Sanderson. These two characters are brilliant. Kaladin – I love this guy, he’s amazing – in fact the characterisation in this series is ace! Syl, she’s a bit like Kaladin’s own personal will of the wisp!
