‘The road goes ever on and on….’
1 October 2015
Filed under Book Reviews
Tags: Fantasy Review Barn, The Well Travelled Road, Tough Travels
Out from the door where it began:
This week over at the Fantasy Review Barn Nathan is taking us Tough Travelling looking at the tropes of fantasy. This week the topic up for discussion is:
The Well Travelled Road:
(This is a scheduled post so I may not be linked up over at the FRB – also, I don’t have the blurb so I’m taking this title to mean exactly what it says and not be all cryptic!)
- I have to go there – Lord of the Rings by JRR Tolkien. It would be frankly unforgivable to not include this book in this post!
- The Road by Cormac McCarthy – yes, this is a bit dark and rather gloomy to be frank. But… Apocalyptic fantasy and definitely worth a read.
- The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams – not fantasy but who cares – this really is a road trip, of sorts, kind of …well, there is plenty of travelling so I think it counts.
- A Game of Thrones GRR Martin – I’m thinking of Daenerys Targaryen when she leads her people (or what’s left of them) to try and reclaim her crown.
And, finally – I still had to go there – a clue ‘lions and tigers and bears, oh my’
Warm September brings the fruit
My monthly round up – what I’ve read/plan to read, any events, etc:
Books read:
- The Dragon Engine by Andy Remic
- Bitterblue
- Kushiel’s Chosen – readalong
- Sorcerer to the Crown by Zen Cho
- The Traitor (Baru Cormorant) by Seth Dickinson
- Deadlands by Jonathan Maberry
- The Kingmakers by Clay and Susan Griffiths
- Bloodforged by Erin Lindsey
- Flux by Ferrett Steinmetz – review to follow
- Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo – review to follow
Backlist:
Bloodbound by Erin Lindsey
Unfinished series completed:
- The Kingmakers by Clay and Susan Griffiths
Books Bought:
- The Crimson Corset by Alistair Cross
- Without Light or Guide (Los Nefilim part two) by T Frohock
- Under My Skin by Zoe Markham
Review Books:
- Made to Kill by Adam Christopher
- The Machinery by Gerrard Cowan
- Speak by Louisa Hall
- City of Wonders by James A Moore
- The Palace Job by Patrick Weekes
- The Prophecy Con by Patrick Weekes
- The Paladin Caper by Patrick Weekes
- The Grace of Kings by Ken Liu
- Malus Domestica by S A Hunt
Cover Spotlight: (I love both of these)
UK or US cover:?? (UK for me with this one – not fond of the US cover tbh)
Events:
Backlist Backburn is an end of month event organised by Lisa at Tenacious Reader. If you’ve caught up on any of your backlist then call over and link up. I find this a good incentive to dust off some of my books! Last Month I read the Erin Lindsey book but didn’t review it in time so included it for September’s backburn.
Top Ten Tuesday at The Broke and Bookish (every Tuesday).
Tough Travel by Nathan at the Fantasy Review Barn
Completed the readalong for Kushiel’s Chosen by Jacqueline Carey
‘Wait’ll they get aload of me’
29 September 2015
Filed under Book Reviews
Tags: The Broke and the Bookish, Top Ten books if you like Urban Fantasy, Top Ten Tuesday
This week over at the Broke and the Bookish the Top Ten Tuesday topic for discussion is:
Ten Books To Read If You Like urban fantasy:
- The Mercy Thompson series by Patrician Briggs – all sorts of things going on in this series.
- The Dresden Files by Jim Butcher – a Chicago based private investigator who just so happens to be a wizard
- The Trueblood (Sookie Stackhouse) books by Charlaine Harris – lots of vampires
- The Generation V Series by M L Brennan – more vampires
- The Parasol Protectorate by Gail Carriger – a bit of everything, a book of manners, some steampunk
- The Druid Chronicles by Kevin Hearne – a druid and his trusty sidekick – or dog – Oberon
- Rivers of London by Ben Aaronovitch – I have a LOT of catching up with this series – but even so…
- The Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead – okay, there’s a pattern developing here!
- The Miriam Black series by Chuck Wendig – no vampires! Excellent series
- The fey series by Holly Black – Tithe, Valiant and Ironside
I did have a few more but thought I’d stop!
Wish I was there..(and, read all about it!)
26 September 2015
Filed under Book Reviews
Tags: A little break, The Speculative Herald
Yep, (and yay) I’m going on a little jaunt. I’ve packed my spotted hanky, and like Bilbo I’m going on an adventure. I’m hoping to cram in loads of books and do a lot of lolloping about (which is conducive to reading of course). I’m going to be a human sloth. Perhaps my blog should be called sloth books! i’ve managed to schedule a few posts and I’ll try and read everybody’s goodies – because, let’s be honest, I don’t want to miss any super shiny books that I must get my hands on – a lot can happen in two weeks after all. These stacks don’t just build themselves you know.
Meanwhile, in other news. I’m going to be participating in a new blog with a number of other great bloggers called The Speculative Herald. I’ll still be continuing with my blog but The Speculative Herald will concentrate primarily on up and coming books which is really exciting. This is the brainchild of Lisa of Tenacious Reader the other bloggers are:
Tammy of Books Bones & Buffy, Bob of Beauty in Ruins, Mogsy of The Bibliosanctum and Nathan of Fantasy Review Barn will also be contributing occasionally. Here are the details If you want to check out the Twitter account or subscribe to the blog.
‘I am no man’…
A great quote from Lady Eowyn – who is rather a dab hand with a sword:
This week we are once again Tough Travelling with our able guide Nathan of the Fantasy Review Barn. This week we will be taking a look at:
A LADY AND HER SWORD
Fantasyland is full of threats. A lady and her sword can keep those threats at bay.
So, my choices this week:
Alix from the Bloodbound by Erin Lindsey – not only is she from the Noble House of Black, but she fights in the war and using her bloodforged sword manages to rescue a person of great prestige.
Ceda from the Twelve Kings by Bradley Beaulieu. Ceda is a fantastic character and a dab hand with a blade. She fights in gladiator style games and is a favourite of the people. Truly – read this book, it’s very, very good.
Adele from the Vampire Empire by Clay and Susan Griffiths. Adele is a princess with special abilities. In her fight against vampires she will eventually be gifted in the ways of geomancy however, she is also has her own sword which is imbibed with some form of magical abilities that make it more effective on vampires.
The Duchess Tain Hu from The Traitor (Baru Cormorant) by Seth Dickinson. Tain Hu is not the main character but she certainly deserves a mention here. She is a fierce warrior and there is one particular scene in particular where she bests another character in a duel using blades and she is so cool in that scene! She gets a mention just for that scene alone although she does so much more in the book.
Wydrn or the Copper Cat from Jen William’s Copper Promise. This is a fantastic book and I love this character. She’s a beer swigging, foul mouthed, sassy, kick ass woman who fights using two swords.
And that is all for me this week folks. (Oh, except for the Bride and her Hattori Hanzo blade):
