“Yeah, but, John, if The Pirates of the Caribbean breaks down, the pirates don’t eat the tourists.”
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, compare a couple of the different covers available for that particular book and choose your favourite. Future week’s themes are listed below – the list has been updated to help out those of you who like to plan ahead – 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. This week’s theme:
‘Dinosaurs eat man. Woman inherits the earth’ – a cover featuring a dinosaur/s
I expected this to be more difficult than it turned out. I had another couple of books in mind but I decided to go for a classic (funnily enough, now I think about it my other books were classics two so I’m intrigued to see if there are more modern books with dinosaurs now I’ve thought about it. My choice: Jules Verne’s Journey to the Centre of the Earth. There are lots of covers for this so I’ve tried to stick with a selection that reflect the theme. Feast your eyes on these:
This is a tough choice. I like a few of these for different reasons. I think my favourites are:
But my winner, which just feels over-the-top-outrageous is:
Next week – a cover that is a ‘freebie’ – simply choose a book you love and compare covers – it should be an interesting week 😀
Future themes: (if you’re struggling with any of these themes then use a ‘freebie’ of one of your favourite covers)
18th May – ‘Let’s talk of graves, of worms, and epitaphs;’ – a cover featuring a gravestone
25th May – Trip trap, trip trap, trip trap – a cover featuring footsteps
1st June – clinging and invasive – a cover featuring creeping vines
8th June – Raining Cats and Dogs – a cover featuring a stormy sky
15th June – Live in the saddle. Die on the hog – a cover featuring riders
22nd June -‘Murder most foul, as in the best it is’ – a cover featuring a murder scene
29th June – ‘Lips as red as the rose’ – a cover that is predominantly red
6th July – ‘The north wind doth blow, and we shall have snow, ‘ – a cover that is windswept
13th July –‘There’s more of gravy than of grave about you’ – a cover featuring a ghost or spectre
20th July -‘In winter with warm tears I’ll melt the snow’ – A cover featuring icicles or snow
27th July – “I saw huge buildings rise up faint and fair, and pass like dreams.” – a cover that is steampunk
3rd August – “Moonlight drowns out all but the brightest stars.” – a cover featuring a starry sky
10th August – ‘…Christine, who have torn off my mask and who therefore can never leave me again! – A cover with a mask
17th August – ‘Knock, knock… ‘who’s there?’ – A cover featuring a door ajar or closed
24th August – ‘To be a legend, you’ve either got to be dead, or excessively old!’ – A cover with a title featuring the word ‘legend’
31st August – ‘“Come buy our orchard fruits, Come buy, come buy’ – A cover featuring a goblin or dwarves
7th September – ‘Mirror, Mirror on the wall – A cover featuring a queen
14th September – “He had killed man, the noblest game of all, and he had killed in the face of the law of club and fang.” – A cover featuring a wolf or wolves
21st September – ‘I wandered lonely as a cloud’ – a cover featuring clouds
28th September – Eyes wide shut – a cover featuring eyes
5th October – “He sounded like a man who had slept well and didn’t owe too much money.” – A cover that is ‘noir’
12th October – “The impossible could not have happened, therefore the impossible must be possible in spite of appearances.” – A cover for a mystery novel
19th October -“If I cannot inspire love, I will cause fear!” – A horror cover
26th October – Trick or treat – A halloween inspired cover
2nd November – ‘Remember, remember the fifth of November,’ – A cover inspired by Bonfire Night
9th November – ‘All right! They’re spiders from Mars! You happy?’ – A cover feturing a critter of the eight legged variety
16th November – There is no terror in the bang, only in the anticipation of it.’ – A scary cover
23rd November – ‘The child is in love with a human. And not just any human. A prince!’ – A cover featuring a mermaid/man
30th November – “..the children of the night. What music they make!” – a cover with a vampire
7th December – ‘I am Aragorn son of Arathorn; and if by life or death I can save you, I will.’ – A cover featuring a hero
14th December -“Heavy is the head that wears the crown” – A cover featuring a crown
21st December – ‘ho, ho, ho’ – A seasonal cover
28th December – A freebie – choose one of your favourite titles and compare the covers
2019
4th January – A cover that is fresh – New beginnings for a New Year
11th January – ‘I know I have the body of a weak and feeble woman, but I have the heart and stomach of a king’ – A cover that depicts a novel set in the Tudor period
18th January – A cover featuring an Amulet – either in the cover or title
25th January – ‘Be kind whenever possible. It is always possible.’ – A cover featuring a monk/priest/person of the cloth
1st February – A comedy cover
8th February – ‘Hi little cub. Oh no, don’t be ssscared.’ – A cover with snakes
15th February – A heart – for Valentine’s day past
22nd February – “Woe, destruction, ruin, and decay; the worst is death and death will have his day.” – A cover with abandoned building/s
1st March – ‘who will buy this wonderful morning’ – A cover featuring a shop or market
8th March – ‘Two little fishes and a momma fishy too’ – A cover featuring a fish/fishes or other sea creatures
15th March – ‘Beware the moon, lads.’ – A cover with a shapeshifter
22nd March – ‘A horse, a horse, my kingdom for a horse’ – A cover featuring a king
29th March – “I thought unicorns were more . . . Fluffy.” – A cover featuring a unicorn
5th April – ‘nomad is an island’ – A cover featuring a desert landscape
12th April – ‘Odin, Odin, send the wind to turn the tide – A cover featuring a longboat
19th april – ‘It was the best of times, it was the worst of times – A cover featuring a school
Can’t Wait Wednesday : Priest of Bones (War for the Rose Throne #1) by Peter McLean
9 May 2018
Filed under Book Reviews
Tags: Can't wait Wednesday, Peter McLean, Priest of Bones, 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 : Priest of Bones (War for the Rose Throne #1) by Peter McLean:
The first in a brand new dark and gritty epic fantasy series, where a crime boss comes home from the war only to find that his businesses have been stolen from him.
It’s a dangerous thing, to choose the lesser of two evils.
The war is over, and army priest Tomas Piety finally heads home with Lieutenant Bloody Anne at his side. When he arrives in the Stink, Tomas finds that his empire of crime has been stolen from him while at war. With his gang of Pious Men, Tomas will do whatever it takes to reclaim his businesses. But when he finds himself dragged into a web of political intrigue once again, and is forced to work in secret for the sinister Queen’s Men, everything gets more complicated.
When loyalties stretch to the breaking point and violence only leads to violence, when people have run out of food, and hope, and places to hide, do not be surprised if they have also run out of mercy. As the Pious Men fight shadowy foreign infiltrators in the backstreet taverns and gambling dens of Tomas’s old life it becomes clear; the war is not over.
It is only just beginning.
Due for publication October 2018
“Come freely, go safely and leave something of the happiness you bring.”
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 is :
Books With My Favourite Colour On the Cover (or In the Title)
Feast your eyes on these lovelies.
Weekly Wrap Up : 06/05/17
Lovey weather – hope you’re all having fun. This week I’ve read two books and I’m partly through my third book. Here’s what I’ve read:
- The Poppy War by R F Kuang – OMG I loved this book
- Cross Her Heart by Sarah Pinborough – Another great, gripping read by the lovely Sarah Pinborough
Next Week’s Reads:
- Devil’s Night Dawning by Damien Black
- The Burning Chambers by Kate Mosse
Upcoming reviews:
- Starborn by Lucy Hounsom
- Envy of Angels by Matt Wallace
- School for Psychics by K C Archer
- The Beast’s Heart by Leife Shallcross
- Devil’s Night Dawning by Damien Black
- Noir by Christopher Moore
- Behind Her Eyes by Sarah Pinborough
- Cross Her Heart by Sarah Pinborough
I’d love to know what you’re reading this week.
Feeder by Patrick Weekes
Having read the first two books in Weeke’s Rogues of the Republic series I was intrigued when I saw Feeder with it’s ‘sci fi’ feel. I’m enjoying the fantasy series by this author (although I need to read No.3 and complete the series – I have completion issues!) and similarly to his fantasy works this book has a fun feel. I enjoyed this. I would say it’s probably aimed at a YA audience although to be honest it has a comic book type adventure feel that I’m sure will appeal to many. It’s not a serious read but definitely something that I could see being adapted to screen really successfully. A bunch of young adults with mutant powers plus a very diverse and inclusive cast of characters. On top of that it’s virtually non-stop action with monsters of the tentacle-kind.
As the story starts we meet Lori Fisher. She’s received a message with details of her latest job and is sorting out real life issues in order to dash out the door – this gives you an immediate glimpse into Lori’s life. You meet her brother Ben, who she adores, and get a feel for their close knit unit – it also kind of surprised me because Lori is only young, especially to be responsible for her brother, but don’t worry, all things will eventually be revealed. Unfortunately, at her latest job, things go a little pear shaped and to cut a long story short Lori winds up rescuing a bunch of teenagers who all seem to have special powers. Lori looks after her younger brother and being only 16 herself she keeps a low profile so as not to draw attention to the situation, the last thing she wants is her brother being taken from her. Her latest job and the whole rescue situation has drawn the unwanted attention of The Lake Foundation. A huge and powerful corporation who will now be looking for Lori. If they find Lori they find Ben and then Lori’s family life will unravel. The only thing to do is to strike first.
Lori is a monster hunter. She seems to have special powers and yet on close examination that might not really be the case. Lori is the tip of the iceberg, her Handler, who actually alerts her to ‘jobs’ is in fact a monster. A huge creature who feeds on aliens. In a fashion Lori is the bait that draws ‘feeders’ into the open. The group of teenagers that Lori helps to escape are known as the Nix. The Lake Foundation have been making enquiries and have lured them from their homes with the promise of scholarships – of course it’s all a ruse. The Lake Foundation intend to study these teenagers and they don’t intend to go gently.
This is definitely a book that you simply have to go with the flow. It doesn’t really provide a great deal of background but runs with the expectation that you’ll jump on board and keep hanging on. It’s a whirling dervish of action and a speeding train of fun and finding out what everyone can do and who the baddies of the piece are is all part of the enjoyment.
The world building, well, it’s kind of brief as I mentioned. The water levels have risen and there seems to be a collective brain washing of the majority of the population that prevents them from really examining why that might be. It could be global warming or it could be something that prefers to remain in the dark undiscovered. In Matrix style most of the people live their lives in blissful ignorance of what’s really going on with the planet. Some of them are used by the LF and once they’ve been taken over can’t revert back to their former selves, they become like hollowed out versions of themselves, puppets who crave the lack of feeling that they experience whilst under control of the dark creature and it’s minions.
There’s a great cast of characters and I really do have to applaud Weekes for being so inclusive and managing to write a bunch of young adults, all different, who come across in such a kickass way. I really enjoyed seeing the way they start to gel as a group playing to their strong points and looking out for each other. Lori is actually an easy enough character to like. I felt sorry for her at times as she seems to have such a lot of responsibility to carry, she comes across almost as the unspoken leader of the group and yet underneath it all she suffers from a lot of self doubt – not least because she holds close the secret that she works for one of the monsters that they’re all hunting. She’s not even sure if she’s human or not. There seems to be holes in her memory and for Lori they all lead to a path known as ‘fear of discovery’.
In terms of criticisms. Well, this isn’t a book that you really need to overthink. It’s a blast of entertainment – and when I say a ‘blast’ I literally mean it. The story bolts out from the starting blocks, gains momentum and doesn’t lose pace until it crosses the finish line. Not really a downside but the pacing and constant action don’t leave room for much else and in some ways it leaves you feeling that the characters and world building could be strengthened a little. The only thing I would mention is that along with the fast pace the story literally takes place over a few short days and for me there’s a rushed element to some of the coupling up that takes place. I don’t think that it’s really a problem but in a way I would have liked to get to know the characters a little more before the majority of them became so neatly tied up into romantic pairings – it just felt too fast which ultimately makes the relationships feel shallow.
Overall, this is an entertaining, easy to read book that I had fun with. If you fancy a fairly light, almost comic style adventure with x-men type protagonists and a lot of action then give this a shot. Very entertaining.
A received a copy courtesy of the publisher for which my thanks. The above is my own opinion.
Books and travelling with Lynn 