Brightfall by Jaime Lee Moyer #Brightfall
Today I’m joining the blog tour for Jaime Lee Moyer’s Brightfall. This is a story that picks up a few years after Robin and his Merry Men and Maid Marian had their ‘happily ever after’.
Take a look at the other bloggers taking part on the banner below and try and pay them a visit too.
Brightfall returns us to the land of Sherwood Forest, to Marian, the Merry Men and Robin Hood. But this is a Sherwood and a Marian that is different than the one we are familiar with. Sherwood is home to the fae, Marian has magic of her own and Robin is not the man we once knew.
Brightfall is a story about Marian and the life she leads after all the events and goings on of Robin and his Merry Men. Robin has left Marian and his family – for reasons that will unfold as the story progresses and Marian lives a quiet life in the shelter of Sherwood with her two children. Unfortunately Marian’s tentative happiness is about to be broken when she receives a visit from Friar Tuck. It seems that the Merry Men are dying, one by one, in unusual circumstances and the latest victim is a cruel blow for Marian. Tuck suspects some sort of curse, the victims are all linked with Robin potentially the key. Marian is asked to use her magic to try and uncover the start of the curse and so embarks on a journey of self discovery with Robin as her reluctant companion.
This is an unusual story and was different than what I originally expected. I knew that this would be a mystery but I hadn’t quite expected to find an enchanted land of the fae. I don’t make any secret of the fact that I love stories of the fae and so I was downright pleased when they made an appearance here. That being said I do have slightly mixed feelings and it’s taken me a while to compose my thoughts.
On the one hand I love the story telling. Jaime Lee Moyer has a lovely style of writing that I just found so easy to absorb. Her descriptions are magical and she simply has a way of spinning a tale that is quite captivating. I really enjoyed Marian, reading about her magic and her life since Robin left. She’s found happiness unexpectedly and she is fiercely protective of her children. When it comes to Robin – well, he’s a puzzle. He abandoned Marian and the children a number of years ago taking refuge in a monastery to atone for his sins. I think Robin is one of a couple of areas of this story that I struggled a little with at first and that kept me from becoming fully engaged. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not his change in character – which has become sullen and almost sulky – but I think I would have liked a bit more background about what led to the change. There is an explanation but it felt a little glossed over and was too quickly discovered and then tucked away. The other thing that I had a slight issue with was the meandering feel that the story has. Marian goes from place to place, usually following a trail of breadcrumbs between victims until setting out on a different path. I loved the journey but at the same time it started to feel a little like going round in circles, always one step behind.
Okay, so slight criticisms out of the way and, as mentioned above, having had time to ruminate I think the journey here was more one of self discovery. For both Marian and Robin. A coming to terms with past events and past mistakes. Of course there’s the riddle of the murders to be solved and alongside that a feeling of not all being well in the fae court which explains their involvement in trying to solve the mystery but for me this felt like a book of exploration and discovery and the circuitous journey in between was an essential part of that.
This is a story that picks up after the ‘and they all lived happily ever after’ and it’s a really interesting idea – because don’t you ever wonder if they truly did live happily ever after? Here we get to see that sometimes things don’t always go to plan and people change along the way, not always in the best ways. That sounds quite serious in some ways doesn’t it and yet at the same time I think the author manages to turn Marian’s story into much more of a fairytale than I ever expected even with this sober slice of reality.
Overall this was an incredibly easy book to read, made so by the beautiful writing. I had a couple of issues as mentioned above but they didn’t spoil the read for me at all in fact they gave me a few things to think about after I put the book down. Even now, I’m not totally sure about the inclusion of the fae – and yet at the same time I loved their presence, I just wanted to see more of their slippery self-centred trickiness. But, all things being equal this is primarily Marian’s story and in that respect this story is a great success. Marian is the lovely character that I expected, she’s compassionate and warm, loving and at the same time tough and able. I loved that she had magic and I loved the slight back stories to some of the other characters such as Little John. This is a story that looks at the lore of the past, when people were much more superstitious and when the ‘others’ were something to be avoided at all costs and I love the way that those old tales are woven into this old favourite filling it with new possibility.
This isn’t really a tale of the Merry Men, it’s not all fun and japes, but it does take the legend into a new direction that was unexpectedly good to read.
I received a copy through Netgalley, courtesy of the publisher, for which my thanks. The above is my own opinion.
Can’t Wait Wednesday : The Empire of Gold (The Daevabad Trilogy #3) by S.A. Chakraborty
4 September 2019
Filed under Book Reviews
Tags: SA Chakraborty, The Daevabad Trilogy #3, The Empire of Gold
“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 Empire of Gold (The Daevabad Trilogy #3) by S.A. Chakraborty.
The final chapter in the bestselling, critically acclaimed Daevabad Trilogy, in which a con-woman and an idealistic djinn prince join forces to save a magical kingdom from a devastating civil war.
Daevabad has fallen.
After a brutal conquest stripped the city of its magic, Nahid leader Banu Manizheh and her resurrected commander, Dara, must try to repair their fraying alliance and stabilize a fractious, warring people.
But the bloodletting and loss of his beloved Nahri have unleashed the worst demons of Dara’s dark past. To vanquish them, he must face some ugly truths about his history and put himself at the mercy of those he once considered enemies.
Having narrowly escaped their murderous families and Daevabad’s deadly politics, Nahri and Ali, now safe in Cairo, face difficult choices of their own. While Nahri finds peace in the old rhythms and familiar comforts of her human home, she is haunted by the knowledge that the loved ones she left behind and the people who considered her a savior are at the mercy of a new tyrant. Ali, too, cannot help but look back, and is determined to return to rescue his city and the family that remains. Seeking support in his mother’s homeland, he discovers that his connection to the marid goes far deeper than expected and threatens not only his relationship with Nahri, but his very faith.
As peace grows more elusive and old players return, Nahri, Ali, and Dara come to understand that in order to remake the world, they may need to fight those they once loved . . . and take a stand for those they once hurt.
Expected publication: February 2020
Missing Person by Sarah Lotz
Missing Person was my third book by Sarah Lotz and I can’t deny that it was a book that I couldn’t wait to pick up. This is an author who can really break out the goosebumps with her creepy horror. That being said, this is a slight step away from that style. I would suggest if you’re picking this one up having read the previous books maybe just adjust your expectations a little. This is a much more subtle form of horror, the type that leaves you thinking – it could just happen.
This is a story of, no surprise, missing people. The sort of story that is scary simply by the fact that these are people who have gone off, moved somewhere else, away from family or friends, for whatever reason and have been murdered – but nobody is aware of their disappearance, They’ve simply gone, lying abandoned somewhere whilst life ticks on without their presence and if their bodies are found it’s unlikely that they will be ever be identified. Just another John or Jane Doe.
Strangely enough Shaun Ryan has lived his life believing his uncle Teddy died in a car accident until he finds out that this was not true. Families and secrets – Shaun’s family, following one of those arguments that feels difficult to come back from, sent Teddy away. He went to America to make a fresh start and everyone was led to believe he’d passed away. So Shaun goes in search of clues, dreaming of maybe visiting his uncle and even thinking it could be the start of something new for himself. He posts the only picture he has of his uncle and starts asking questions that lead in an unexpected direction.
Meanwhile, back at the ranch, or back over the pond in the US, Christina Guzman runs a site called Missinglinc – this started as a hobby after her own mother went missing and she was desperate for information, any information, as to her whereabouts. Her mom’s details are still posted on the site but to date no new information has been found. The site however has gained support with new people joining in in the amaterur sleuthing and one of them has spotted Teddy’s picture and connected the dots to one of the cases on the Missinglinc forum. Not good news for Shaun if this suspicion turns out to be correct, Teddy’s only just come back from the dead but it seems it was only a temporary respite.
Now, as the story goes along we meet a few more people, primarily Chris who runs the site and a couple of others who make active contributions. Ellie who has a bit of a history with Chris already and stopped taking part on the site when things went wrong, and a couple of other users – of most note – the murderer! People are always claiming that the murderer returns to the scene of the crime but here he actively takes part in the chats about missing people to keep his finger on the pulse, see if he’s in any danger of being found out.
I love the way Sarah Lotz writes, she has a very appealing style and makes great characterisation and scene setting appear to be all too easy. Add to that the epistolary format this is used quite a bit for parts of the story with text messages, newspaper articles and group chats – well, I make no mistake that this is a format that I really enjoy, sifting through the different bits and pieces to find out the underlying messages, and it’s used to excellent effect here.
The characters are what really make this story though, Shaun, Chris and Ellie are all given really good back stories and feel like every day, regular characters who make mistakes but keep on plugging away. The inclusion of chapters from the murderer’s pov adds a sinister element to the story, particularly because you’re not 100% certain which online character he might be.
In terms of criticisms. Well, this takes quite a while to lay the groundwork necessary, which isn’t to say it’s a slow read at all because it succeeded in hooking me in almost immediately, but it does take it’s time to get to know everybody – which, when all is said and done is something that I appreciate. However, given the time that is taken in setting the scene and luring us into this spidery web of deceit the ending felt a little anti climatic and over all too soon. The other thing that I would say, and this is more about personal taste than actual criticism, is that this doesn’t quite work as well for me as The White Road. It’s a good read, it’s compelling, gripping in some parts and it certainly succeeds as a lifelike mystery story – but it didn’t give me the heebie jeebies or have that slight supernatural element that I was hoping for – which again is my bad really because I made my own assumptions going into the read.
However, if you want to read a compelling, character driven mystery that does kind of make you view the internet with a bit of trepidation and is a story that feels very ‘real’ then I would recommend this. It’s not quite the horror that I was expecting but nonetheless it’s a very good read.
I received a copy through Netgalley, courtesy of the publisher, for which my thanks. the above is my own opinion.
Rating 3.5 of 5 stars
Kingdom of Souls (Kingdom of Souls #1) by Rena Barron
Kingdom of Souls has left me with very mixed feelings. I loved elements of this book, the magic, the world building and the truly unique fantasy setting, but, on the other hand it’s very dark indeed, it suffers a little by being overly ambitious and in some respects it felt like I was reading two different stories. I liked this but it didn’t quite bowl me over in the way I expected. In fact, this review has been really difficult to write because of how jumbled up I feel, hopefully my thoughts will come together as I write on.
Firstly, the start. I loved it. The introduction to this world and Arrah. Arrah is the daughter of two powerful witch doctors but as the story sets out we learn that the magic that flows strongly through her family refuses to visit her and she feels hurt and humiliated by her lack of ability. Arrah’s parents are from two different tribes and Arrah feels like she isn’t truly accepted by either, fortunately the family moved to the City where Arrah’s mother is a powerful priestess. Arrah’s parents – her mother is a cold woman, feared by many. She seems to have very little love for Arrah and is clearly disappointed in her daughter’s lack of magic. Her father is completely different. Warm and loving, he dotes on his daughter and idolises his wife – I did have a moment of wondering how he could overlook some of his wife’s coldness, not see her true nature, was he truly so enamoured with her looks that he couldn’t see beyond that to the way she treated Arrah? But, anyway, he has a great relationship with Arrah which was lovely to read about. We also meet up with Arrah’s love interest Rudjek. The two share secret meetings in the marketplace. Rudjek’s father and Arrah’s mother are bitter rivals and so the love developing between them will never be acceptable to either family.
I really enjoyed the start of the book, learning about the place, the traditions and Arrah and her family. At this point we start to learn of a mystery, children are going missing in the City and Arrah seems to be the only one who is truly concerned. Arrah doesn’t have any magic of her own but she has learnt that she can bargain for some by trading away years of her life and in desperation, when one of her friends goes missing she takes this step – what she finds is shocking, both in terms of the missing children and who is taking them but why they are being taken. Arrah uncovers a plot that threatens her entire world.
The thing with this review is it’s going to be truly difficult to outline those aspects of the book that held me back without giving away spoilers so the rest of this review will probably come across as something of a tease.
I had issues with the pacing. I loved the start, as already mentioned, I felt like the middle dragged a little and then the end was fast and furious. Then there’s the scope – this is undoubtedly epic, a story that spans the ages really but at the same time it feels like there’s such a lot going on, so many different aspects introduced over such a relatively short period that I felt like it was difficult to absorb everything, I don’t think I ever had that feeling of settling into the place and becoming comfortable before things were moving on again. And, there were so many different ideas and planes – like the place that Arrah and her family moved to – it was just so unusual that I couldn’t get to grips with it really. Then there’s the plot, it starts out as a sort of mystery, it develops into a conspiracy and then it goes into new territory completely that even now I’m not sure I’ve got a grip on.
Okay, I’m probably not painting a very positive picture here which is a little bit unfair and I certainly don’t want to discourage others from reading it. This is a story that has such a lot going for it. I can’t praise highly enough the imagination, the creativity or the uniqueness of this book. I was stopped in my tracks when Arrah first used her ill gotten magic to find out who in the City was stealing the children – I mean literally gobsmacked – and then the following chapters had my eyes nearly popping out of my head. I was stunned – in a good way. I mean I just didn’t see any of it coming and it took my breath away. But then, it got a little bit more unusual, a bit weird even, sort of a strange combination of Rosemary’s Baby meets the Omen meets Clash of the Titans. Actually, that does sound like a pretty cool mash now I come to think of it.
I think my real issue with this boils down to perhaps it being a little over ambitious and maybe a bit too dark – you think GRRM is brutal – hah. All I can say is be very afraid to form too many attachments. Very. Afraid.
Overall, I think it’s fair to say that I still have mixed feelings. I liked this, it has such a lot of exciting ideas, twists and turns and fantastic and unique world building and characters. But at the same time I can’t deny that I had issues that left me feeling a little frustrated and confused. To be fair I think this is a book that would be great to reread – I just need to carve out some spare time now in order to do so.
Apologies if this review is an incoherent babble – I did try to form my thoughts but I think I failed so I’m going to step away now. I’d love to know if you’ve read this and what your thoughts are – hopefully they’re more understandable than mine.
I received a copy through Netgalley, courtesy of the publisher, for which my thanks. The above is my own opinion.
Rating 7 out of 10 or 3.5 of 5 stars.
#SPFBO5 My third batch of books
Today is the third month of the Self Published Fantasy Blog Off. As with last year I have divided my 30 books into five batches of six books (selected using a random sequence generator). Each month I will highlight that month’s selection at the start of the month, providing details about the books and the authors. As the month progresses I hope to have a clear favourite out of each batch – although things don’t always go to plan of course – I will provide mini reviews for each book and hopefully a full review for each book that I read fully or choose to be a semi finalist – which I’m thinking should be five books in total although it could be less. The aim being to then choose a finalist from those semi finalists.
This month, all going well, I’m hoping to write a post in the middle of the month and select any semi finalists up to that point (midway through the competition). So, I will hopefully read the first 30% of the first three books below and include them in that midway feedback.
I’d like to wish everyone the best of luck and I hope you all enjoy the competition.
Without further ado here are my six books for September:
From the Shadows of the Owl Queen’s Court by Benedict Patrick
If you value your life, stay out of the forest.
As a captive of the Owl Queen’s Court, Nascha’s life has always been one knife’s edge away from disaster. But when she is threatened for nothing more than the colour of her hair, Nascha attempts the unthinkable: escape through the dreaded Magpie King’s forest.
Hunted by sharp toothed and sharper witted foxfolk, and hated by all for being a witch, Nascha fears herself doomed until she joins forces with a mysterious young man. With him she finds a glimmer of hope, even as her own unpredictable powers flicker into existence.
But hope is fleeting.
The forces arrayed against her are insurmountable, and Nascha soon comes to realise that pursuit of her own freedom will come at a greater cost to the forest. As the darkness closes in around them, Nascha is forced to ask:
At what price is she willing to purchase her life?
How dearly is she willing to sell it?
From the Shadows of the Owl Queen’s Court is the fourth standalone book in Benedict Patrick’s Yarnsworld series, returning for the first time to the setting of the #1 bestseller They Mostly Come Out At Night.
Living in Times of Dragons by John A Pretorius
“…as with everything in my life all this began with dreams…”
American ex-pat, father and widower, Roger Rommel, did not believe in dragons. Unfortunately they did not return the sentiment.
After returning from a self-imposed exile to his adopted country of South Africa, Roger is confronted by these legendary fire-breathing reptiles who risked exposing their hidden world simply to hunt him. Gifted with the ability to create and enter dreams, as well as to see the future, he tries to survive and protect his son from enemies he does not understand.
But the past is alive, and he finds himself linked to a conflict thousands of years old. The world he knew is now stranger, more fantastic and terrifying than he truly knew, especially when everyone is out to get you.
The Shadow Watch by S.A Klopfenstein
For centuries, the Oshan Empire has ruled the New World with terror and blood. The Watchers have been eradicated, and their sorcery is but a whispered myth. But the heart of magic beats on, and as it surges back to life, three young people will determine the fate of the world…
Tori Burodai, a strong-willed slave girl. Her magic could ignite a revolution, but only if she resists the ruler who wants to use her powers to restore the empire to its former glory.
Darien Redvar, the idealistic soldier she loves. His rage leads him down a dark path to power that could turn him against the one person he cares for.
Kale Andovier, a lordling rebel with a torturous past. His quest for a weapon of dark sorcery will thrust him into a twisted game of power that could change the world forever.
Will the return of magic transform the New World, or bring it to ruin?
Earthcore by Grace Bridges
Superpowers from hot springs? Who knew?
Anira thinks her family’s trip to Rotorua, New Zealand, will be a week of grudging participation as she fights off a latent phobia of volcanoes.
But this place has ancient secrets she could never have imagined. For its natural geology and untamed thermal forces hold a hidden power–one that transforms those gifted by the spirits of the land.
Now Anira finds herself possessing abilities she has never known. There are others like her–young and old, both good and evil…And the legendary guardians have a job for them to do. Together they are caught up in a race against the developer intent on destroying the natural springs that are the home of the ancients and the source of their powers.
Sir Thomas the Hesitant and the Table of the Less Valued Knights by Liam Perrin
Whimsical and poignant, Sir Thomas the Hesitant and the Table of Less Valued Knights tells the story of Thomas Farmer who dreams of becoming a knight, sets out to save his brother from the hands of an evil Baron, and uncovers a plot that threatens Camelot itself. Along the way, he befriends a series of misfits including an allegedly reformed evil wizard, a shrinking giantess with a latent gift, a veteran knight with a dark secret, and his best friend Philip the Exceptionally Unlucky.
In the end, his friends must all join forces and Thomas must come to grips with what it means to be a true hero if they are to outwit the evil Baron. At its heart, Sir Thomas’s tale is the story of a young man growing up and learning what it means to be a hero in a world that doesn’t always make sense.
Strings of Chance by Jeff Pryor
Life is a song, sing it well!
Edson Pye is the greatest bard in all of Elraon. Unfortunately, nobody else has figured this out yet. An annual competition in the city of Vonst provides an opportunity to validate his claims, while a chance encounter springs him toward the fame he so desperately covets…though at what cost?
Wanting only wine, women, and an audience for his music, Edson instead finds himself drawn into an increasingly tangled web of schemes centered around a mysterious murder. His growing fame, coupled with an aggressive manager, puts him in front of crowds larger than he ever imagined…can he live up to his own hype?
Edson’s trio of desires continuously spark misadventures, compelling him to confront his own flaws and decide what kind of person he wants to be, all while moving on an unavoidable path toward a confrontation with his greatest rival.
Books and travelling with Lynn 