As the Crow Flies by Robin Lythgoe #SPFBO
23 October 2016
Filed under Book Reviews
Tags: #SPFBO 2016, As the Crow Flies, Robin Lythgoe
Today I’m reviewing my chosen book from the third batch of books. For the SPFBO I split my books into 6 batches of 5 books with the aim of choosing one favourite book from each and then to pick an overall winner from those final 6 and today’s post is my review of my book from the third batch.
As the Crow Flies is a swords and sorcery style story, old school I would call it, plenty of description, with a rogue protagonist with a heart of gold at his centre.
The story starts off with Crow setting out on one last job. He’s giving up the world of thieving, he’s going to settle down with the love of his life and this one last job will set him up for life. Well, apart from the fact that this would be a very short read if Crow’s best laid plans succeeded, so, as you might imagine things pretty quickly go to hell in a handcart. Basically Crow is caught and trapped by a wizard who requires him to steal something precious – something that is difficult, nay almost impossible to take – of course the wizard has a few incentives to motivate Crow to succeed. Firstly, Crow has been poisoned with a slow acting concoction and needs to set out on his mission and return to retrieve the antidote before the poison kicks in and he pops his clogs. Secondly, the wizard has abducted the woman that Crow loves. On top of this, Crow will be accompanied by the bane of his life – Tanris – the lawman who has doggedly pursued him over the years. Tanris is also keen to help Crow succeed as the Wizard has also snatched his wife and his holding her captive.
I thought this was a good read. I don’t think it’s breaking any new ground or smashing tropes down but I thought it was well written, maybe a bit over descriptive in parts but still entertaining.
The two characters, Crow and Tanris, are the main focus of the story. We accompany them as they pursue their goal, both desperate to succeed. I quite enjoyed the verbal sparring between these two and it was interesting to watch their animosity and prejudice develop into an almost begrudging friendship as the days and weeks rolled by. Along the way they encounter a number of situations including haunted underground passages, they also pick up another member to add to their group. A young woman who appears unable to speak and who for the remainder of the story is known as Girl.
The world building is fairly brief to be honest, which is a bit surprising given the descriptive feel to the writing. I wouldn’t say that I picked up a real understanding of the places as such or the culture but I wouldn’t say this was an issue for me in particular as it felt like the story was more focused on our main pair and their travels – in that respect I really must say that I couldn’t help feeling that certain parts of the story had a distinctive nod to Tolkien.
To the characters. Well, we have Crow. He’s a bit of an ego maniac in some ways and he’s not above a little whining but, in spite of himself, he’s not quite the hard hearted pro that he thinks. I actually really liked Tanris – he’s a bit taciturn to say the least – well, to be honest the two of them bounce off each other in a way which makes quite good reading and I found myself having a few laugh out loud moments. Girl, we find out very little about unfortunately so I can’t really elaborate. What I can add in is the dragon that ends up accompanying our gang – I did love the dragon. It changed the feel of the book for me somehow.
In terms of criticisms. I thought that there were parts of the story that were a little meandering. The descriptions at certain points definitely slow the pace a little although in fairness that’s probably more towards the middle of the book. The last third definitely picks up the pace. In that respect, if you’re more inclined to enjoy a fast paced punchy read this might not be the one for you. I found Girl a little puzzling and it was a bit of a shame that she didn’t play more of a role. As it is she felt a little bit like a token gesture in the story. In fact the females of the story don’t really come across in that good a light if I’m going to be totally frank.
Overall, maybe a little bit predictable in some ways and on occasion a tad slow, but I thought the writing was good and I enjoyed returning to an old style fantasy read.
As the Crow Flies is my choice of books from my third batch of books.
My books so far:
- Batch 1: Rebel’s Honor by Gwynn White
- Batch 2: Unwilling Souls by Gregory D Little
- Batch 3: As the Crow Flies by Robin Lythgoe
- Batch 4: The Amber Isles by Ashley Capes
- Batch 5: Outpost by F T McKinstry – review to follow
- My book from batch 6 to be forthcoming soon!
My aim is to review Outpost next and then my book from batch 6 at which point I will also be in a position to choose the book I will be taking forward.
Ashes of Honor (October Daye #6) by Seanan McGuire readalong week #3
22 October 2016
Filed under Book Reviews
Tags: Ashes of Honor, October Daye, Readalong week 3, Seanan McGuire
Today is week three of our readalong of Ashes of Honour (October Daye #6) by Seanan McGuire The schedule is over on Goodreads and this week I am hosting the questions. With the customary warning about potential spoilers lets get straight to the Q&A.
So Duchess Riordan is indeed involved in Chelsea’s disappearing acts – a plot which coincides with Samson’s efforts to remove Tybalt from power and “remove” Toby with him … Do you think Samson and Riordan are in cahoots somehow?
Oh my – I never even considered that but now the question has been asked it makes sense! Riordan was speaking to a man on the phone when Toby was earwigging the conversation so that could have been Samson. I’ve become so used to the Queen of the Mists being oddly involved with things or acting strange that I tend to always look in her direction when things go wrong and this has probably blinkered me a little and stopped me considering other people’s involvement.
Speaking of Toby and Tybalt … Not so much a question, but let’s discuss THAT confession from Tybalt!
Well – that little confession clears up so much. For example, why Tybalt originally disliked Toby due to her changeling nature. And, more than being revealing it just helps to build up more of a picture of Tybalt – not to mention just how long he’s actually been around. Plus it feels like the air has been cleared – there’s really nothing standing between Toby and Tybalt now! These two do make a great couple. I liked the remarks in the book – that Connor was in love with ‘Toby the girl’ but Tybalt is in love with ‘Toby the woman’ – I’m not quoting there but there was definitely something along those lines and I thought it was spot on. Toby and Connor were together in a strange hankering after ‘what was’. It never felt right for either of them really – more like they were clutching at straws. I certainly didn’t want Connor to die mind you – but there it is!
Meanwhile, Officer Thornton’s last appearance was not so random. Do you think he might know more than Toby realises about what’s going on, or does he just suspect something more?
The feeling I’m getting from Officer Thornton is that he doesn’t believe Toby. He knows that something is wrong but just not what or why? That’s the way he comes across to me at least. Like turning up at Toby’s house for example – he’s obviously looking into her because otherwise how would he know where she lived? That being said – I don’t like that he’s looking into her!! I don’t really know what his role is going to be in all this – I’m not getting a bad vibe but I can’t help feeling a little bit suspicious. I’m hoping though that maybe Officer Thornton might be a future ally for Toby – he could certainly be very helpful in future cases – in the same way, he could, of course, be very unhelpful.
Lastly, I need to mention that last encounter between Toby and Luna, in which things seem far less cosy at Shadowed Hills than they once were. What do you make of Luna’s reactions, and Toby’s responses to them? Is Toby in the right, or do you think Luna’s not being entirely unreasonable?
At first I was thinking this was strange but now I’m not so sure. It’s always felt as though something strained the relationship between Luna and Toby. At the back of her mind maybe Luna blames Toby for not actually succeeding in rescuing her and more to the point Rayseline? I also sometimes get the impression that Luna maybe dislikes the close relationship that Toby and Sylvester enjoy. Plus, at the end of the day, Luna did send Toby into a situation that would more than likely end up with her death. That must cross Toby’s mind as well – it just feels like the two of them really need to clear the air and speak their minds. As it is it feels as though Toby has hardened a little towards Luna and it feels very much as though Luna has withdrawn into herself. I hope the two of them figure it out – they do have a lot of history between them and not all of it is good but I think they could work it out if the desire to do so was there.
Unwilling Souls by Gregory D Little #SPFBO
21 October 2016
Filed under Book Reviews
Tags: #SPFBO 2016, Batch 2, Gregory D Little, Unwilling Souls
Today I’m reviewing my chosen book from the second batch of books. For the SPFBO I split my books into 6 batches of 5 with the aim of choosing one favourite book from each and then to pick an overall winner from those final 6. When I wrote my original update for the second set of books I had two potential books that I wanted to continue to read: Unwilling Souls by Gregory D Little and Vergence by John March. I’ve revisited both these books now and read further and having done so my book choice from batch No.2 is Unwilling Souls and today’s post is my review of that book.
I originally had a bit of a slow start to Unwilling Souls and in fact in my original post I mentioned that I had a few niggles but as I read on the author managed to iron most of those out and did a good job of keeping my attention in what turned into a very enjoyable read with a complex and unique world.
At the start of the story we make the acquaintance of Ses Lucani. Ses is being trained to forge wrightings, tools that help to keep imprisoned the Gods that were banished many years earlier. She lives at the core of the planet, a strange hollowed out cavernous place where the gravitational pull seems to be more akin to what you would expect in outer space. As the story commences Ses is forced to flee the prison after a terrorist attack throws suspicion on her. Ses is the daughter of two powerful people. Put in very simple terms her father is the iconic leader of a terrorist network and her mother is one of the top officials of the centrality which basically means they are on opposing sides and when her parentage comes to light obviously Ses falls under suspicion.
On the run Ses returns to the home of her grandfather but finding that this is unsafe she is forced to move on and seek out the parents who have, for most of her life, denied her existence. Ses has a dangerous road to travel, pursued by the government and a host of their operatives, attacked by cultists and befriended by a boy from a shady network her adventure is going to go a little wild and she will encounter revelations, home truths and treachery along the way.
This is an intriguing world and one that I would definitely like to revisit. I don’t think I fully have a grip of everything, even now at the conclusion of the story, but I think that’s because there is quite a lot going on and the author has had to make a decision about not slowing things down by trying to cram in too much information. I would like to have a bit of a trip down memory lane, as it were, and find out some more about the strange cities and the way that they have grown out of the bones of mammoth beasts – I was especially intrigued by Arach Arbor – which is the realm of spiders – and spiders there are aplenty! I’d also like to know more about the war and subsequent imprisonment of the Gods.
In terms of the characters I found myself liking Ses. She’s a very believable protagonist, she isn’t perfect, she’s not totally kick ass and she certainly isn’t capable of getting out of every situation without help but she’s resourceful and determined and it makes a great combination. We also meet Ses’s parents and a young man called Murien who befriends Ses in her hour of need. I can’t say too much about those at the moment as they’re not quite as well developed as Ses but nonetheless they’re a good supporting cast.
Overall I found this a well written and enjoyable story, I found Ses easy to like, there’s intrigue and deception and lets not forget walking skeletons, soul driven magic and huge spiders – really, what more could you possibly want.
My books so far:
- Batch 1: Rebel’s Honor by Gwynn White
- Unwilling Souls by Gregory D Little
- As the Crow Flies by Robin Lythgoe – review to follow
- The Amber Isles by Ashley Capes
- Outpost by F T McKinstry – review to follow
- My book from batch 6 to be forthcoming soon!
My aim is to review As The Crow Flies/Outpost and my final book from batch 6 over the next 3 days so that I can then announce my final book.
Small towns have long memories…
21 October 2016
Filed under Book Reviews
Tags: Books by Proxy, Friday Face off, Salem's Lot, Stephen King
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. This week’s theme:
‘There’s no place like home, there’s no place like home, there’s no place like home: a cover with a house/abandoned house’
Of course, Halloween is fast approaching, the nights are drawing in and so what better book to go than with Stephen King’s Salem’s Lot.
There are some good covers here and different things that I like about all of them (oh and by the way – there are a heck of a lot more covers – but I decided to restrain myself). I actually really like the bottom row first cover, the simplicity and sensuality but I really don’t feel it quite suits the book somehow.
My winner is, because it really does fit for me, I love the psychedelic colour, the house with the roots growing down and the huge ass name – this really does scream King doesn’t it:
Which is your favourite??
If you fancy joining in with the FFO the themes for the next few weeks are below.
28th October – ‘And I, Jack, The Pumpkin King’! – a cover for Halloween
4th November – Nomad is an island – a cover with a wanderer
11th November -Falling off the rails – a cover with train tracks
18th November – The sun did not shine. It was too wet to play. So we sat in the house. All that cold, cold, wet day – a cover with stormy weather
25th November – As old as the hills?? – A cover with mountains
2nd December – Oranges and lemons say the bells of St Clements – A cover with fruit
9th December – Soul Meets Soul on Lovers’ Lips – a cover with lips
16 December – Give a Girl the Right Shoes and she can conquor the world – a cover with shoes
23rd December – The first noel… – a cover with angels
30th December – Ho ho ho! To the bottle I go… – a cover with drink
Friday Firsts: The Apothecary’s Curse by Barbara Barnett
21 October 2016
Filed under Book Reviews
Tags: Barbara Barnett, Friday Firsts, The Apothecary's Curse, The Tenacious Reader
Friday Firsts is a new meme that runs every Friday over on Tenacious Reader. The idea is to feature the first few sentences/paragraph of your current book and try and outline your first impressions as a result. This is a quick and easy way to share a snippet of information about your current read and to perhaps tempt others. Stop on by and link up with Tenacious Reader.
‘”My dear friend, hold fast the doctrine: when all impossibilities are eliminated, what remains, however improbable, must be the truth. Nothing could be so improbable that I must now and forever address you as Sir Arthur!”
Dr Joseph Bell stood at the head of the dining table before twenty assembled guests offering a robust toast to the guest of honor, his student and friend, the newly knighted Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, in London for the first time since the honor had been bestowed, his confidante Jean Elizabeth Leckie at his side.’
My First Impressions
Well, I certainly find that opening intriguing. The style of writing and the name dropping worked a treat – I’m on board now!
What are you reading right now? Did it start out strong? Feel free to join in.
