Shadows by Ilsa Bick
Read Shadows recently whilst on holiday. Shadows takes over where Ashes left off (and believe me that really was a cliffhanger ending with what felt like a very long year’s wait!). Anyway, my review for Ashes is here. If you’re interested in reading this post apocalyptic zombie style book then read no further as this will certainly contain spoilers for book No.1
With this being the second in the series it’s difficult to give too much away about the plot without spoiling it even for people who haven’t picked No.2 up yet – basically we left the first book on such a note that pretty much anything could be considered a spoiler at this point. So, I’m going to steer away from the plot. Other than to say Alex is desperately trying to stay alive in a world where the boundaries are constantly changing, there are no rules and she seems to be fighting against inner demons of her own.
Well, I was looking for a gory zombie book a few weeks ago and here it is. This book and the last are action packed for sure and with plenty of twists and turns. Literally there is no let up. We seem to roll from one ‘oh my giddy aunt I cannot believe it’ moment directly to the next. Neither of these books are for the feint hearted and I will say that if you’re squeamish then just forget about picking these up. Really, just step away. I thought the same thing anyway after reading the first book but the second instalment is even more grisly. The thing with this author is she has no fear about killing people off, in quite vicious ways, which makes you feel afraid for everyone in the story – and really with good reason because it seems like anything can, and will, happen. Once again I think the level of detail manages to convey the world really well without being overly descriptive and I also like that way that events are constantly moving forward with numerous threads overlapping and eventually coming together and new characters being added along the way.
In terms of criticisms. Well, firstly, we have another cliffhanger – give me a break with the cliffhangers please!!! Secondly, it’s been a year since the first book. Frankly, I think I would have greatly benefited by having a reread of Ashes before I delved into this one – but no, I couldn’t wait. Consequently it did take me a bit to remember who everyone was and how they all relate to the story. The author isn’t treating us with kid gloves in this follow up – there is no recapping. If you’re a bit sketchy on any of the detail you really will probably need to have a bit of a refresh otherwise you might be floundering about a bit at first. Particularly as there is a lot going on and more than one POV.
That being said I have a lot of respect for the fact that we don’t have a book with loads of backstory constantly being dredged over. It didn’t take me long to get back into the flow of things and once I did I could barely put the book down. It’s fast, it’s scary it’s gory, it has story lines cleverly interwoven and it takes us to a place that is really terrifying to contemplate living in. Bleak and a bit desolate – in the way of The Road but instead of humans driven to the brink of madness and despair we have a new monster – one that is developing and learning a sort of sneaky intelligence – not to mention these zombies are not the slow shambling along zombies we’ve seen before – they’re fast. They work together and they have a sort of pack system that they obey. Pretty freaky really.
I enjoyed this dark and grisly book and even though I can’t abide waiting – I suppose I’ll have to – for book No.3
I will be including this in my R.I.P. event – I think it qualifies being full of blood and gore!!!
Envy by Elizabeth Miles
30 September 2012
Filed under Book Reviews
Tags: Elizabeth Miles, Envy, Greek Mythology, The Furies
Just finished reading Envy by Elizabeth Miles which is the second in the series the first book being Fury. Set in Ascension we again follow the story through Em with the alternating voice being taken up by a new girl to the school and neighbourhood – Skylar. If you haven’t read the first book and intend on doing so then you should probably avoid the rest of this review for fear of spoilers.
Skylar has secrets in her past. Secrets that she doesn’t want to reveal. She’s been taken under the wing of the most popular girl at school – Gabby (Em’s best friend) and she has her mind set on becoming very popular. Nothing is going to stand in her way – but her past mustn’t come out!
Em meanwhile has a number of things going on in her life – she’s changing, although she can’t quite pinpoint how. JD – her next door neighbour and the boy that she discovered she has strong feelings for – is not speaking to her and she is desperate to restore their friendship although this is made difficult by the pact of secrecy she made with the Furies at the end of book No.1 – a pact which means she must not talk of or reveal anything about them. She’s still best friends with Gaby but now also hangs with a different crowd, mainly Drea who helped her figure things out about the Fury’s in the first instalment and provides the same sort of role in this book, and Crow – a drop out from school who plays and writes his own music and is strangely attracted to Em. I must admit I liked Crow and thought he was a good addition.
As with the first book, I enjoyed Envy – but this doesn’t mean that I don’t have niggles!
I like the writing style of the author. She does a good job of conjuring up the place and of course being the second in the series we’re already familiar with some of the people and their motivations. I like the way she manages to build the suspense. You know that something simply awful is going to take place and you’re cringing with anticipation. I also think, as with the first book there are a number of points where the author manages to make you feel a bit ‘creeped out’. She has a way of making you feel that somebody is watching you, out of sight. It’s a bit of a freaky feeling really.
In terms of criticisms. Well, fairly similar to book number one. Again, it’s difficult to like the characters. Skylar is quite frankly a horrible and deceitful person with no redeeming features. I just really didn’t like her – and again, I don’t think you’re supposed to otherwise it would be difficult to accept any kind of punishment that the Furies will eventually mete out. Em also is difficult to like. She’s not a particularly good friend to either of the two girls who she claims to be friends with. She only really bothers with Drea because she needs her help and Gaby she barely sees. She seems to spend a lot of time thinking about JD or running around looking for the Furies but never really properly engaging with anyone. I think I also found it difficult to believe that Gaby would be so forgiving of her and still claim to be her best friend. At the end of the day I would be very hard pressed to still think of someone as my best friend if they slept with my boyfriend – and perhaps that makes me a bad person but I just don’t see how you would still have the same level of trust?
Criticisms aside – and it does look as though I have a few. I did enjoy the book. This series is very readable due to the writing style. The content is also fairly original – well, being set in high school and having all sorts of love triangles going on is not necessarily original. But, if you’re reading YA you have to expect that. What is original is the tale of the Furies. I like the use of Greek Mythology in the story and the Furies really don’t come across as the type of avenging goddesses who will be easily appeased. To be frank I think that the presence of the Furies in these books is underplayed and they should have more exposure. They definitely bring the horror element out a little more and manage to conjure a ‘Carrie-esque’ style ending to Envy.
I will definitely read No.3 – I need to know how this all ends now.
Greek myth/goddesses, horror and creepiness – I’m submitting this for my R.I.P. event. Check out the details here.
Grave Peril by Jim Butcher, No.3 of the Dresden Files
28 September 2012
Filed under Book Reviews
Tags: Grave Peril, Jim Butcher, The Dresden Files
Just finished reading Grave Peril by Jim Butcher. This is Butcher’s third in the series of the Dresden Files and for me was a definite improvement. The first two books are Storm Front and Fool Moon. I liked the first two but wasn’t as ‘wowed’ as I would like to or thought I would be. Well, that feeling was more so probably with No.2. But, I figured this is a series I could get in too so I continued. If you’re planning on reading this series then be warned that the rest of the review may contain spoilers.
Grave Peril gets off to an immediate and spooky start. Ghosts are running riot and terrorising the Town and Dresden his battling against the odds to discover what’s going on and why the world of ghosts is in such an uproar. (I must confess that reading the start of this I couldn’t help picturing the Ghostbusters and the scene with the ghost librarian). On top of this the vampires again enter the scene. The Queen of the Vampires has not forgotten her grudge at Dresden and is eager to see him pay for the insult he gave her previously and perhaps an invitation to the annual vampire ball would be the perfect occasion. On top of that there is a much more sinister entity at work, one that is stalking it’s prey carefully. And, as if that wasn’t enough for Dresden to deal with he has to enter the world of the Nevernever where the veil between the realms is stretched thin, demons roam and his fey godmother and her hounds are baying for Dresden’s blood (or soul).
This was definitely a packed instalment. Dresden wasn’t so much investigating anything this time round as just trying to find out why things were becoming so heated and at the same time simply trying to stay alive. We have the usual cast. Bob puts in an appearance as does Murphy and Susan’s relationship with Dresden seems to be going fairly strongly. On top of that we are introduced to a number of characters from the White Court of Vampires and to top it all off a dragon makes an appearance at the Ball. And, Dresden is lent a helping hand by Michael, a knight templar who helps Harry to defeat the baddies using his blazing sword.
Lots of the characters come under threat in this episode. And nobody is going to escape completely unscathed.
What I like about this series is Harry. He’s a readable character. He likes to pretend he’s tough but really he’s a raging softie. He’s developing much more as each book goes by as we find out more about his character and his history and in the same way his magic seems to be growing. In fact the whole world that Harry inhabits is developing. It’s almost like that the author was giving us a slow introduction to this strange and fantastical world – like if you had to read about all these strange creatures from the get go you just wouldn’t accept it. It’s the frog soup recipe. Basically we’re being slowly brought to the boil so we don’t have the sense to jump out of the pot. I’m quite nice and cosy now so I’m staying where I am – just waiting for the carrots and herbs to be added!
I also like the dark and sinister world that is created here. We’ve been for a visit round Nevernever now and it’s not particularly friendly. You certainly wouldn’t want to stick around or start asking for directions. Fey and demons and probably more sinister creatures inhabit this world beyond the veil and for me it was good reading. The sort of make believe fantasy world where anything can happen and I like that I can’t always predict it.
In terms of criticisms. I wouldn’t say everything was quite rosy with me with this series just yet! I’ve already made reference to the way that a formula is being followed and to be honest I would say that is still the case here, although as mentioned above this installment isn’t your typical investigative story so that’s something of a step change. But, as in previous novels, Harry does get terribly beaten up, then beaten up some more and, yes, then beaten up again before finally having his lightbulb moment. I know that these style of books usually do operate to a formula but I would prefer it to be mixed up a bit more. I also wasn’t really that keen on the character of Michael – again, given the number of adversaries in this novel I think Harry needed all the help he could get – and yet somehow I couldn’t quite get along with him for some reason and it felt as though the whole ‘tone’ of Harry was diluted in some way due to the addition. Also, that brings me to the final point which is that I did have a couple of ‘uugh’ moments. For example, with the character Michael – he just appeared in the novel as though we knew who he was – I almost thought I was reading the wrong book in the series or had skipped ahead at first, and I actually have done that before! I mean the book just started and it was all ‘Michael this, that and the other’ and I was thinking who is this Michael – same with the evil fey godmother – where did she suddenly pop up from without any explanation. I don’t mind not having an explanation and I’m fairly sure even with my limited grey cells I can pick up what’s going on however it jars a little bit with the continuous repetitious explanations that you get in each novel about other aspects. I expect there to be repeat explanations because the author wants people to be able to read the novel as a strand alone but I just don’t get why these new characters came so unintroduced. Although, now I’ve made that point I’m starting to disagree with myself so I’ll just move on…
Now in spite of the above. I enjoyed this. There’s plenty of action and the author doesn’t shirk away from getting a bit dark and gritty. I feel like there’s going to be plenty more to this series and I like the fact that I’ve got so much yet to look forward to.
If you want a dark urban fantasy with all sorts of paranormal activity and a slightly unconventional won’t stick to the book magician then you’ve got plenty here to look forward.
This novel is one of my R.I.P reads for the book event taking place at Stainless Steel Droppings. Drop in here and take a look. There’s plenty of activity and loads of bloggers taking part so it’s never too late to join.
Return to reality…
Just returned home after two lovely weeks away. Back to earth with a bump quite literally! The weather here is awful, we had no wi-fi virtually for the full time – which was a ‘blessing’ and ‘not a blessing’ and tomorrow (dum, dum, dum) back to work!! The first day back is always a bit surreal for me – part of my brain doesn’t feel like it’s back in the country and the other part is catching up with all the unread emails and I can’t help torturing myself by thinking pointless things like ‘this time last week I was…..’ Oh well, needs must and all that.
The good thing is I managed to fit in a few holiday reads, not as many as I like to do normally but we were trekking about so time was tight. I don’t think most people I know would consider the books I was reading as typical holiday reads as I was reading books to include in Stainless Steel’s RIP event which are not exactly light and fluffy reads (but who wants light and fluffy?). It’s a dirty job but someone has to do it. So, my books were:
Grave Peril by Jim Butcher – this is the third in the Dresden series and it was seriously good! Not to mention – the name is almost too perfect for this none-challenge so it had to go on the list.
Envy by Elizabeth Miles which is the second in her series about three women who serve their own form of revenge on wrong doers – based on the Greek myth of the Furies.
Shadows by Ilsa Bick which delves into the realm of zombie type post apocalypse storytelling – quite horrifying in this case not to mention scary!
Interview with the Vampire by Anne Rice – probably doesn’t really need an introduction.
The Duplicate by Helen Fitzgerald – which for me is a horror with a bit of a take on the Frankenstein theme.
There they are. Just need to write my reviews now. I will say that I enjoyed them all so that’s definitely the good news.
Check out the RIP event here and sign yourself up now – this is a really great (not to mention massive) book event and Carl is a really cool host.
VIII by HM Castor
Just finished reading VIII by HM Castor and will start by saying I loved this book. It’s a different take on Henry showing us a glimpse into his early years and giving us an alternative view where young Hal is tormented by ghosts and demons. Don’t be put off by thinking this is some sort of parallel paranormal universe – it isn’t. It just shows us a different aspect to Henry that we’ve never looked at before not to mention this was a very superstitious era so to a certain extent I think you can get away with writing a bit of ghostliness into the story.
This is a really good historical read. Clearly the author knows this period well and has researched it extensively. That’s not to say that the book is overloaded with rich detail about clothes and food, etc, just enough I felt. The story and writing flow easily and the author has a compelling way with words.
The story is told by Hal and it’s great being inside his head and knowing what he’s thinking. We start with a young Hal being taken under cover of night to the safety of the Tower with his mother, due to the threat of assassination. The Tower is dark and foreboding and to Hal’s young eyes appears to carry things in the shadows and eyes that watch him. I loved this part of the story. The book was practically unputdownable at this point with hair raising moments combined with true historical fact. We get a little bit of insight into Henry’s relationship with his mother and father – both completely different affairs. His father is cruel and distant. Henry is not the important son after all and not destined for greatness – at least not in anyone else’s eyes. His mother’s approach is more loving and kind – although this approach is scorned by her husband who thinks she mollycoddles young Hal. He has a precarious position – he’s desperate to please but at the same time, as his father succinctly warns him, he needs to stay out of the limelight. After all it’s not unknown for one brother to kill another – either in pursuit of a crown or in order to keep it!
In terms of criticisms. I don’t personally have any. I really enjoyed this book. It was thoughtful, well written, well thought out, creepy and a bit horrible – that is in terms of watching this young boisterous boy turn into something of an ogre. The style of writing is fairly modern and I suppose some people may object to that although I wouldn’t, I also think that if you’re looking for a story that goes into great depth about Henry’s wives and their untimely ends you may also be disappointed because the latter half of Henry’s life is moved through fairly swiftly. We probably only have a couple of paragraphs about Anne of Cleves or Kitty Howard for example. But, again, I had no problem with this. I’ve read plenty of historical novels that already focus strongly on those elements and this was a lovely and refreshing change that primarily looks at the early years before the tyranny.
I would not hesitate to recommend this book. I really enjoyed it and it gave me the opportunity to have another read about a period in history that I find fascinating, intriguing and horrifying. Henry is just such an interesting character. You can’t help but want to know what drove him and this gives us a different perspective. I could pick up another novel like this right away. In fact I understand the author is now moving on to Mary and Elizabeth and frankly I can’t wait to get my hands on that!
I’m submitting this for one of my R.I.P. reads, check out Stainless Steel Droppings autumn event details here and come and join in.
VIII
