The Bloodsworn (Bloodbound #3) by Erin Lindsey
5 October 2016
Filed under Book Reviews
Tags: Bloodbound #3, Erin Lindsey, The Bloodsworn
The Bloodsworn brings to a conclusion the Bloodbound series by Erin Lindsey and is a tense and action packed ride to the final gate post. Reading the last book in a series you’ve enjoyed is always sort of bittersweet. Part of you desperately wants to rush headlong into the story to see how it all ends but part of you just wants the series to go on a little longer. Then of course you have that problem, when reviewing the last book in series, of not giving anything away!
So, all that being said here goes…with, of course, a quick customary warning that this review may contain spoilers for the previous two books.
The Bloodsworn gets off to an immediate start picking up where Bloodforged left off with a rather jaw dropping revelation about The King of Alden, Erik White. His closest family and friends are forced to come up with a desperate plan that involves secreting Eric away to prevent news of his ‘condition’ from leaking out. Why is this plan desperate?? Well, Erik hasn’t helped to form the plan and the main thrust of the plan involves abducting and locking him away in his own kingdom, against his will, which is basically treason. On top of this Liam is placed in the dubious position of taking up the reins and making excuses for Erik’s absence during a period of time when, with war looming, he is needed more than ever. We have a suspicious court and a proxy king living on his nerves over a plan with little chance of success, execution hanging over his head and on top of that he’s frantic with worry about his wife Alix. Alix meanwhile is about to sneak behind enemy lines looking for a remedy to the situation. The clock is ticking, she has to find a needle in a haystack and all the while she knows that if anything unravels back at home Liam could be facing execution. To make the tension even worse the two of them parted on bad terms.
The three main characters, Alix, Liam and Erik are split up for most of the book and this leads to some very intriguing storylines. As usual Alix is rushing headlong into the fray and facing impossible danger. Along the way she visits her brother, General Rig for advice and as a result winds up taking his lover Vel along for the ride, which of course adds another dimension of danger as Vel is a Priestess not a warrior! Liam is forced into a position where he really must overcome his own self doubt and step out from the shadow of his big brother. This is a time of war and the people need somebody to make sound decisions and to act with confidence and belief. Liam has his work cut out of course because half the court already dislike him which leads to a lonely position – in fairness he finally gets a real taste of life in Erik’s shoes. Erik meanwhile is far from absent from the plot. Locked away he feels betrayed and thoughts of revenge dominate his waking moments. His story takes a very dramatic change of course that was quite fascinating.
On top of all of this, lets not forget we have the enemy on the doorstop preparing for war, we have an underground movement of renegades who have their own agenda. We have General Rig holding the frontline, undermanned and weary and we have a traitor in his midst. There really is plenty going on in this final story – and to be honest I’m keeping a couple of things back to maintain the mystery.
What I particularly enjoyed about this whole series is the characters and their development. It’s been wonderful and emotional reading about their exploits. Yes, of course, there’s a great plot, a wonderful historical setting and no end of action but the characters really pulled on my emotional strings – I think even more so in this book than the previous two. Strangely, and in spite of the fact that at the back of my mind I expected the author to give us a feel good ending, I became oddly emotional during the final stage of the book, probably because of the overwhelming odds that everyone faced and also because a couple of the characters really do get put through the wringer! As it is I think that the author has given us a perfect ending. The characters grow and all have moments of revelation but on top of that they remain true to themselves which I really like. And, I think the conclusion still leaves a couple of very tantalising threads for further stories from both Erik and Rig – and I for one would certainly welcome more from both of them.
A winning series with a very satisfying conclusion.
Waiting on Wednesday: Hunted by Meagan Spooner
5 October 2016
Filed under Book Reviews
Tags: Breaking the Spine, Hunted, Meagan Spooner, 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. My book this week is : Hunted by Meagan Spooner.
Beauty knows the Beast’s forest in her bones—and in her blood. Though she grew up with the city’s highest aristocrats, far from her father’s old lodge, she knows that the forest holds secrets and that her father is the only hunter who’s ever come close to discovering them.
So when her father loses his fortune and moves Yeva and her sisters back to the outskirts of town, Yeva is secretly relieved. Out in the wilderness, there’s no pressure to make idle chatter with vapid baronessas…or to submit to marrying a wealthy gentleman. But Yeva’s father’s misfortune may have cost him his mind, and when he goes missing in the woods, Yeva sets her sights on one prey: the creature he’d been obsessively tracking just before his disappearance.
Deaf to her sisters’ protests, Yeva hunts this strange Beast back into his own territory—a cursed valley, a ruined castle, and a world of creatures that Yeva’s only heard about in fairy tales. A world that can bring her ruin or salvation. Who will survive: the Beauty, or the Beast?
Due March 2017
How can you resist a retelling of Beauty and the Beast?
Update roundup
4 October 2016
Filed under Book Reviews
Tags: Ashes of Honor, Events roundup, Kushiel's Mercy, Lost and Found, Readalongs, RIP event, Stainless Steel Droppings
I have a few events and readalongs and decided to round them all up into one place for your edification (because I’m just thoughtful like that):
Firstly, two readalongs – just in case you want to jump in:
Readalong of Ashes of Honor (October Daye #6) by Seanan McGuire. There’s a schedule set up over on Goodreads (link here). Feel free to jump in – if you’ve already read the first five books and want to jump in with No.6 then wait no longer.
Readalong of Kushiel’s Mercy by Jacqueline Carey. This series is just so awesome – again, if you’re looking for a little incentive to pick up Kushiel’s Mercy then look no further. Here’s the Goodreads link
Both of these readalongs get started this weekend so apologies for the short notice but it’s not too late to join in and there’s lots of great bloggers involved with both so no doubt the discussions will be awesome. Feel free to come and join us.
Stainless Steel Droppings Readers.Imbibing.Peril (RIP) has a month left so plenty of time for you to read some dark material and submit your link for us all to see! I’ve read The Family Plot by Cherie Priest (which I thought was excellent, wonderfully creepy and gothic). I also posted a review for a series called Stranger Things which I loved and I’ve just watched a very scary film called The Visit which I might also review. In terms of books. I have The Apartment coming up, The Apothecary’s Curse, The Motion of Puppets, Certain Dark Things and The Witches of New York which I think will all fit in with the themes. What you reading? If you have anything scary, dark, grim, a bit of horror maybe or some good old thriller story then check out the site here. It’s good to share people.
Finally, over at Lipsyy Lost & Found there is an event that ties in very nicely with the RIP event above. A celebration of Horror for the month of October. As part of this event four writers have agreed to take part in a flash fiction event – the title of which will be decided by us. This is not my event – I’m simply helping to spread the word So, if you want to vote for your favourite story title then check out the detail here. I’ve added the poll below so be sure to add your voice.
I hope you’ve seen something you like. 😀
Wait till they get a load of me…
4 October 2016
Filed under Book Reviews
Tags: The Broke and the Bookish, Top 10 Villains, Top Ten Tuesday
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 :
‘All About The Villains’
- Voldemort – needs no explanation! But, just in case. Seriously bad wizard with dreams of taking over the world of wizarding! Harry Potter series by J K Rowling.
- Game of Thrones – evil siblings – what on earth could be worse. GRRMartin’s Cersei and Jaime.
- Sauron – this guy only has a disembodied eye – an eye – okay it’s a huge eye, but still! and he’s still making a play for world domination with orcs and the like running amok.
- Seanan McGuire’s October Daye series: Rayseline – fae. In fairness she was kidnapped as a youngster and this has left it’s mark on her but even so – she plots!
- The Seven Forges series by James Moore – Sa’ba Taalor – God touched and basically war machines. They live to fight and seem to feel no fear. A great creation by James Moore.
- Hex by Thomas Olde Heuvelt – Katherine van Wyler – a witch, eyes and mouth sewn shut, she stalks the residents of Black Springs (where she was killed over 300 years earlier). Nobody leaves Black Springs and lives to tell the tale.
- The Kushiel books by Jacqueline Carey: Melisande a scheming woman who always has the long game in mind. A magnificent baddie!
- Mrs Danvers from Daphne Du Maurier’s Rebecca. You have to love Mrs Danvers – a woman obsessed.
- The White Witch from C S Lewis’s The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe – how can you like a person who froze Mr Tumnus!?! It’s just wrong!
- Wesley Chu’s Tao series: The Genjix – a nation of aliens divided (The Genjix and the Prophus) and at war with each other here on earth – where they have to inhabit the bodies of people!
#SPFBO Spotlight : the fifth set of books: update
3 October 2016
Filed under Book Reviews
Tags: #SPFBO 2016, The fifth set of books: update
This is an update of my fifth batch of books for the SPFBO. I’ve listed below my links to updates and reviews for the first/second/third and fourth batch of books.
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 a short synopsis of my thoughts on the content that I’ve read so far. Unless I read the book fully I’m only giving brief comments on each book so apologies if these seem a little abrupt but basically I’m just trying to give a very brief view of why I’ve not taken that book forward.
In a war-torn realm occupied by a race of unseen immortal warlords called the Fylking, trouble comes with a price. Using the realm as a backwater outpost from which to fight an ancient war, the Fylking taught human seers to build and ward over an interdimensional portal called the Gate. The Fylking’s enemies, who think nothing of annihilating a world to gain even a small advantage, are bent on destroying it.
After two centuries of peace, the realm is at war. Seers are disappearing and their immortal guardians are blind, deceived by their own kind. A Gate warden with a tormented past discovers a warlock using Fylking magic to gather an army of warriors that cannot die. A King’s ranger who defends the wilds of the realm is snared in a political trap that forces him to choose between love and honor. And a knitter touched by the gods catches the eye of a dark immortal with the power to summon storms.
Forced to find allies in unlikely places, these three mortals are caught in a maelstrom of murder, treachery, sorcery and war. When they uncover the source of the rising darkness, they must rally to protect the Gate against a plot that will violate the balance of cosmos, destroy the Fylking and leave the world in ruins.
I enjoyed Outpost and in fact it is the book I’ve chosen as my favourite from this fifth batch of books. My review will follow soon.
2. Beyond the Fortuneteller’s Tent by Kristy Tate
When Petra Baron goes into the fortuneteller’s tent at a Renaissance fair, she expects to leave with a date to prom. Instead, she walks out into Elizabethan England, where she meets gypsies, a demon dog and a kindred spirit in Emory Ravenswood.
Emory must thwart the plans of religious zealots. His mission is dangerous, his enemies are fanatical, and Petra Baron is a complication that Heaven only knows he does not need. Or does he? Although Emory is on Heaven’s errand, he learned long ago that Heaven does not always play fair.
As Petra slowly falls for Emory, she wonders if he really is who he seems, or if he is just as lost as she is. How can they have a future while trapped in the past? Or is anything possible Beyond the Fortuneteller’s Tent?
I fully read Beyond The Fortune Teller’s Tent whilst I was on holiday and in that respect I think it made a quick and pleasant read. This is definitely a YA read, it has elements of time travel and romance and to be honest it wouldn’t be the book that I would eventually put forward but I think this would appeal to it’s target audience. I will write a brief review shortly.
3. Mechanical Dragons: Fire & Water by Bobbi Schemerhorn
Khaly has only attended Pifianka Academy of Polytechnics School for a short time since moving to Vlarlee, but already she knows that she doesn’t fit in. She is relieved when the new kid, Bancroft, proves to be competent, even pleasant, when they begin work on a mechanical dragon for their school project. He even stands up to her nemesis, Jahallah. But when she discovers that she is capable of magic, a whole new world opens up to her and she sees that she is not alone. Her world is torn apart, however, when she is thrust into a battle that she was not even aware existed around her. Suddenly, she and Bancroft are forced to flee for their lives and must now learn how to control and develop their magic. The Guild is fighting to create a new world order … one without magic. Khaly and her group cannot let this happen, but are they ready for the war to come.
I admit that I like the idea of Mechanical Dragons! I read the first 20% of this one which covers a brief introduction to Khaly who seems to be very gifted when it comes to mechanical objects. She’s enrolled in the Academy of Polytechnics but she’s something of an outcast with no friends, that is until she’s assigned a project partner, Bancroft, and they begin to work on their ideas for a mechanical dragon. In terms of criticisms – I think the story was a little bit slow to really move forward and so it’s difficult to say more about how the plot pans out. With the chapters I read so far I felt a little adrift in terms of knowledge about the place as I couldn’t really get a feel for it but this could develop more as the story progresses. I do think a little more editing could polish the story up particularly with the dialogue.
As a wizard’s apprentice, Mithris always seemed to feel like a duck out of water. Clumsy, awkward, naive, and frequently a nuisance to his mentor wizard, it was hard for Mithris to believe he’d ever become a great and powerful wielder of magic…
But everything changed for the young apprentice one day when vicious and foul creatures attacked his master’s tower, killing his mentor, and driving Mithris into exile in the wild world outside.
Alone and left to care for himself for the first time in his life, Mithris must find the strength and courage to become the very thing he never expected he could be…A powerful wizard…
And he must do it in time to stop the monsters, avenge his master’s death, and save the world from the clutches of a power-hungry wizard.
Evermage is something of a coming of age/YA novel with a wizard’s apprentice, Mithris, finding himself alone in the world after his mentor is attacked. I quite enjoyed the chapters that I read of Evermage and found it entertaining. I thought it had a little bit of a disjointed feel to it which is probably a reflection of the story being written in instalments (I think). The chapters feel almost episodic in that respect. There’s an element of Mithris getting into bother and then, by the skin of his teeth, avoiding danger but for me I think there was a slight lack of tension in that I didn’t really feel that Mithras was in danger – that could of course increase as the book progresses. But, again, given the target audience, and, of course, going off the chapters read so far, this could be a good YA read.
5. A Darker Shade of Sorcery by Will Collins
The lonely and grieving Evan Umbra is the newest Venator to enter Veneseron, the school for demon hunters.
A Venator is a wizard, a spy and a demon hunter rolled into one. They’re taught how to wield their sorcery and enchanted weaponry by orcs, elfpires and aliens alike.
Their missions range from battling monsters and saving countless lives in the multiple worlds, to the more peculiar, like wrangling killer unicorns and calming down drunken yetis.
In their free time Venators enjoy goblin soap-opera’s and underwater bubble travel, but they also understand that every new mission they’re given could be their last.
Whilst learning how to manipulate the elements, summon magical creatures and shoot Spellzookas, Evan meets a girl who makes him feel nauseous; but in a good way.
He makes the first friends he’s ever had in the carefree Jed and the reckless Brooke. Whilst Jed gets on the wrong side of a rival Venator, Brooke finds herself falling for the enigmatic demon hunter who brought her to Veneseron, not knowing he isn’t quite human. But it soon becomes apparent that Evan is more than just a Venator. Everyone wants to kill or capture him, from demons to Dark-Venators and even people he’s supposed to be able to trust.
Evan reckons he probably won’t survive his first year at Veneseron.
This one got off to a good start. We have a world of multiple possibilities where Venators are responsible for keeping demons at bay. They also have to recruit those people who have the potential to become future Venators and the start of the story introduces you to two new potential recruits who are brought on board just in the nick of time before they can be found by those who are evil. Evan and Brooke are the latest recruits and have just been introduced to the possibility of their abilities. They’ve been brought to a school and given the option to stay. I think this is a promising story for the chapters I’ve read so far. It has a YA feel and the chapters I’ve already read are easy to understand with an urban fantasy type feel. I can imagine that the characters will get into some interesting scrapes.
The book I’m taking forward from batch 5 is Outpost by F T McKinstry
SPFBO Posts:
Books and travelling with Lynn 