Tempest Rising by Nicole Peeler
26 March 2013
Filed under Book Reviews
Tags: Jane True Series, Nicole Peeler, Tempest Rising
Just finished reading Tempest Rising by Nicole Peeler, book number one of the Jane True novels.
Yes, the main character is called Jane True and she’s not fully human, a fact which, at the start of the novel, she is quite unaware. Jane has always been a bit of an outcast. She likes to swim in the ocean in winter even though it’s freezing cold and as if that wasn’t enough fodder for the curtain twitchers her boyfriend died under suspicious circumstances. Something that the majority of residents of Rockabille have ever been able to forget or forgive. During one of Jane’s most recent swims she finds a body in the water which upon rescuing and dragging to shore appears to have been murdered. This is not good news for Jane (I mean, obviously it’s not good news for the person who was murdered) but being found with a dead body is not going to do her any real favours, in fact, she’ll probably be chased out of town by a baying mob – so she leaves the body to be found by somebody else.
Of course, the next day the body is discovered and from this point forward Jane is going to be introduced to a whole new world as a strange investigation gets under way. One populated with all sorts of weird and wonderful creatures. Jane is a halfling, her mother was a selkie and as such she is a water elemental and drawn to the ocean and the power it provides her with. However, whilst some of these new creatures appear to be beautiful and entrancing all is not as it seems and Jane is treading a dangerous path. Particularly as a number of halflings seem to be turning up dead.
This novel has got plenty of action going on not to mention an abundance of characters ranging from a Barghest to a genie! I wouldn’t particularly say it brings anything new to the world of the paranormal and also a number of the story lines feel familiar – for example the halflings put me in mind of the mudblood plot in the Harry Potter Series, yet, in spite of the fact that this book doesn’t break any new ground, I did enjoy the read. There’s a romance going on, there’s a mystery killer and there’s the whole introduction to Jane, her friends and her past story. It’s a very easy book to read. A sort of chill out book or almost a guilty indulgence.
I would recommend this book, I’m not saying I thought it was perfect, for starters, Jane’s constant inner dialogue annoyed me a bit to be honest – probably because it reminded me of 50 Shades of Grey and the way that the female is always having a chat with her inner Goddess! Also, I thought it was a bit questionable the way Jane just dove head first into the whole romance as considering her inhibited background you would have expected her to be a bit more careful. But, again, I didn’t find these criticisms enough to put me off.
I will definitely read the next in the series to see how it develops or more to the point how or whether Jane develops. Also, I quite liked the character of Anyan it will be interesting to see whether any more feeling develops between him and Jane.
Finally, don’t be distracted by the cover or misled into thinking this is YA – just for clarity – I have nothing against YA and have read quite a few books classed as such but this book definitely isn’t YA!
I’m including this in my Once Upon a Time event – I had a bit of a struggle with exactly which category this falls into but I think it’s myth? Just because some of the creatures – such as Selkies and genies?? But I’m quite happy to be persuaded otherwise.
Seven Kinds of Hell by Dana Cameron
24 March 2013
Filed under Book Reviews
Tags: Dana Cameron, Pandora's box, Seven Kinds of Hell
Just finished reading Seven Kinds of Hell a story about a shapeshifter called Zoe. Zoe’s daytime profession is archeologist and at the start of the story she steals an artefact that leads to a lot more trouble than she ever suspected.
Zoe and her mother have spent the majority of their time moving from place to place in an attempt to keep out of the reaches of Zoe’s relatives. Her father’s family appear to be something sinister and to be avoided at all costs. Slowly we discover a little of Zoe and the life she has led to this point. Zoe has a secret, one that she hasn’t shared with any one else, not that she has a lot of friends to cosy up to anyway. She turns into a werewolf. She doesn’t know why or how this happens and she seems to have little control over the change. It scares her, she thinks she’s going crazy and so doesn’t tell anybody. But, after her mother finally passes away it seems that Zoe’s relatives are finally going to catch up to her and it also seems that they share the same secret.
Basically, the story brings to us a fairly unique set of characters. The Fangborn. Oracles, werewolves and vampires. Except contrary to popular belief they fight evil and help to protect humankind. It seems that the Government and a number of criminal elements have an interest in discovering certain artefacts relating to Pandora’s box which is believed to carry extraordinary power and to be the true origin of the Fangborn. Of course, the artefact that Zoe stole is a decoration from the box and is being sought by a number of parties. In the race for power Zoe’s cousin is taken by a Russian gangster as an incentive for her to collect the other artefacts and hand them over in exchange. And, so the race is on and Zoe is finally going to need to trust others of her kind who may be able to help her rescue her cousin.
I must admit that I’ve struggled reviewing this book for reasons that I’m not quite sure. It’s not a badly written book and it has a fairly original concept but I didn’t like it as much as I thought. There’s no lack of action not to mention multiple destinations that take Zoe around the world. But somehow I didn’t really connect with any of the characters or really buy into the whole plot. I think possibly this is because there’s too much going on, too many characters who don’t always seem plausible and just the constant jet setting around the globe which seems a bit gimmicky. Plus, given that Zoe isn’t in control of her beast nature and knows nothing about the Fangborn I struggled with the idea that she suddenly seemed to be so centric in this major hunt for ancient relics and power, not to mention that they all seemed to be doing quite well in finding these before Zoe unwittingly took one and came to their attention.
Now, I didn’t dislike this book and I don’t doubt that other readers, who like a fast moving story with lots of action, not to mention a little romance, will probably really enjoy this. It could also be just suffering a little bit from first book syndrome where the set up detracts a little from the story but I’m not sure at this point however whether I will continue with the series. That being said I certainly wouldn’t dissuade others from giving this a try.
Given the links to Greek mythology I’m entering this book as one of my Once Upon a Time reads.
I received this copy from Net Galley in return for a fair and honest review.
Once Upon a Time…
23 March 2013
Filed under Book Reviews
Tags: Once Upon a Time, Stainless Steel Droppings
Once Upon a Time…there was a wonderful event, hosted by a very generous, kind and thoughtful blogger over at Stainless Steel Droppings. Every year at the commencement of spring this blogger conspired to bring together hundreds of bloggers to share their reading experiences (I kid you not). This event was all based on fun, and fun only, and don’t even think about making this into a challenge, in fact woebetide those who fall into the trap of challengry as the wicked fairy of blogland will turn your site into white noise (or not). However, if you read along, take part, post your reviews and join in with all the drunken revelry (sorry, ahem, wrong event!) fun then you shall be greatly rewarded! You will be granted three wishes. Actually that was a total fabrication, unless of course your three wishes happen to be:
- To read books of your own choice and as many as you want
- To make a cartload (aka a shit ton) of new blogger buddies who always have recommendations and are more than happy, nay excited, to increase your own personal Mount TBR
- To be granted perfect health, wealth and happiness, immortality, one of those bottles of wine that just automatically refills (like the story with the boy and the bowl of porridge) a body to die for and the ability to eat chocolate without ever gaining a pound (I just went too far now didn’t I)
- Okay, the real No.3 – (if you enjoy blogging, reading books, reading other people’s experience of reading books, then frankly) to have so much fun that it should be illegal.
so, how can you possibly refuse. Take a look over at this site *waves magic wand* here and sign up today (or tomorrow if you want), but sign up, we need intelligent people on this sort of mission… quest… thing..
And they all lived happily ever after.
**THE END**
The Ghosts of Sleath by James Herbert
22 March 2013
Filed under Book Reviews
Tags: Horror, James Herbert, Supernatural, The Ghosts of Sleath
As part of my Classics Club challenge I recently undertook to join the Classic Spin (see here). For this a book was picked from random from a list of your own chosen classics book list. The number 14 was picked and my No.14 was The Ghosts of Sleath.
I haven’t read any James Herbert for many years so was keen to see how I felt about this particular novel or more to the point how this experienced would compare to my younger self.
The story’s main protagonist is a psychic investigator – or ghost hunter if you will – called David Ash. I hadn’t realised in picking this book up that David Ash appeared in Herbert’s earlier novel Haunted where he investigated a haunted house – I’m pretty sure I’ve seen a film or screen adaptation of the Haunted. Anyway, at the start of the novel David is asked to go check out a possible haunting in the small village of Sleath. However, this is much more than just a haunted house. This is a whole haunted village. Of course, even in spite of David’s previous ghostly experience he still remains sceptical of the whole ghostly phenomenon and so strides boldly into Sleath with every intention of setting up his paraphernalia and exposing a fraud.
As soon as he reaches Sleath, which isn’s easy as it seems to be nestled away, he immediately encounters a small boy on the road into the village who he nearly hits with his car. Upon further inspection of course there is no boy to be found. Sleath sounds like a chocolate box type of village. Picturesque cottages nestled around a village green, a pond, small school and a church. Why then is the place so unknown. Visitors stay away and the welcome at the local inn is less than cheerful. David then takes himself off to meet the local vicar – whose daughter is responsible for calling for the investigation in the first place following a number of suspected ghostly visitations and apparitions. And the two seem to share a strange psychic connection which develops into more as the story progresses.
Immediately there is a very strong sense of paranoia. The villagers are all unfriendly, which you could mistake for simple suspicion of outsiders, but comes across as something more. A lot of them seem nervous and look sleep deprived and within very short shrift of David arriving two people have been murdered, one in a particuarly grisly fashion.
On top of this we have the remains of the local country manor which was burnt down. A place which seems to ooze ominious darkness and the local school where school children can be heard singing ‘The Lord of the Dance’ – even though the school is no longer open!
I must admit that I’m glad I read this. I guess it’s a combination of ghost and horror story mixed in. It’s not all particularly unique and I wouldn’t say there were any major ‘wow’ moments but I really enjoyed the writing style. It comes across almost as an old fashioned tale and puts me in mind a little of Susan Hill. I would also say this isn’t character driven, in fact there’s such an abundance of characters that we jump between that there’s very little time to get to know anybody particularly well or form any real attachment but again, I think because there’s such a lot happening and all told in a way that is really quite intriguing there is literally never a dull moment! And you can’t help but be totally intrigued about what will eventually happen – not to mention it would be a little pointless getting too attached to some of these characters as Herbert is pretty ruthless to say the least.
What I did think was interesting is that although Herbert is writing about a haunted village here rather than a haunted house – it’s almost as though he treats it in the same style in terms of being a self contained haunting. The ghosts never leave the boundaries of the village in much the same way as ghosts don’t leave the house they’re haunting. Even when a pea soup fog descends it stays masking the village and doesn’t spread further afield.
In terms of criticisms I don’t really have a lot. I enjoyed the writing style but the only thing I would say, and perhaps this will be a bonus for some people, is apart from a particular instance based inside the church, I never experienced that chill that you have sometimes when reading something a bit creepy where the hairs on the back of your neck seem to literally rise and you have a horrible feeling of somebody watching you! But, I wouldn’t necessarily say this was a bad thing. Like I said, the story very much crosses over into horror and the last hundred pages kept me hooked waiting to see what was really going on and how it would pan out.
So, how did this compare. Well, I think if I’d read this when I was younger and going through my horror/slasher/thriller stage I probably would not have enjoyed this, even though it’s fairly fast pace – I think I was probably looking more for the creeped out factor then. As it is now and with a little more patience this wasn’t the case and I liked the style of writing.
So, I’m pleased to complete my Classic Spin challenge and also this counts as my first read from my Classics Club list – one down – 49 to go!
A Hatful of Sky by Terry Pratchett, week 2 readalong
Today marks the second week of the Hatful of Sky readalong being hosted by Little Red Reviewer and Dab of Darkness. This week’s questions are from Dab of Darkness. Beware of spoilers if you haven’t already read these stories (and if you haven’t, seriously, you should get onto them – they’re such good fun).
1) Awf’ly Wee Billy, the gonnagle, comes up with a plan, the PLN. First, do you like the basic idea? Second, what was your favorite part of the execution of the PLN?
The Plan was mental really – I’m trying to remember why they came up with the idea of dressing up as a man-come-scarecrow but it did make for some strange and funny reading – it just seemed to me that they travel so much faster just as themselves. Obviously the part in the coach was very amusing – gradually all the other travellers removing themselves to sit atop – except for a few who couldn’t fit up there and those remaining few being privvy to a tantalising glimpse of the wee trouser occupant! Thank goodness they had such a lot of gold coins! I loved where the horse and cart is going faster than the carriage they’re trying to catch up to and actually takes over – there’s a lovely sort of irony.
2) Miss Level has a philosophy of ‘storing it in other people’. How do you like this philosophy and do you know any witchy people in life who might be secretly following it? Miss Level has certainly got a lovely philosophy and a very caring attitude – not sure I’d be quite so generous spirited – don’t get me wrong I’m not a meanie but she is just totally devoted to the people of the village and it’s really very time consuming. It’s a whole new way of looking at how a witch gets on – here I was thinking they’d spend all their time cackling and cooking eye of newt and in actual fact she feels more like a cross between a district nurse with a hint of Lady Bountiful thrown in for good measure. I don’t know if I know any witchy people but I certainly do know a couple of very thoughtful and kind people.
3) We finally get to meet some other witchlings, such as Petulia and Annagramma. What do you make of Tiffany’s first meeting with them? I really have to hand it to Pratchett writing that whole scene of the original meeting, he does a terrific job of creating the type of bitchy high school mean girls. Annagramma and her Earwig witch are both basically a big pair of bullies! I must admit though that I was surprised when Tiffany met these girls – at first anyway. She seemed so subdued and just immediately fit in with the group and acted in the same way as the rest of the girls. At first I thought she was going to stand her ground and stick up for herself but then I figured she’s never been in a group like this before and she doesn’t really know how to act so she’s trying to act in line with the others.
4) The Hiver has finally found Tiffany and Miss Level has finally met the Feegle. How do you think Tiffany will fair against the Hiver and how much damage do you think will be done (either by the Hiver or the Feegle)?
I think Tiffany will fair okay with the Hiver but to be honest that’s only because I’m being a smarty pants and I figure she must get out of this situation in order to be present in book No.3 – yes, I realise that’s called cheating and not using my own brain/imagination but…. needs must when the devil vomits into your kettle! I think the Hiver and the Feegles are equally capable of inflicting damage although the Feegle’s is not done maliciously.
I really enjoyed this week’s reading and must admit that this book feels a much stronger addition than the first – which I also really enjoyed but just think this one is definitely superior.
