This week I finished The Gem Trilogy by Kerstin Gier, which I absolutely adored.  I will say though that it is one long book divided into three parts rather than three separate books with an overarching storyline – the first two novels don’t really have a strong ending.  For this reason you may wish to wait before starting the trilogy as the final book, Emerald Green, is not due out in English until October – unless you read German, that is.

There were several twists in the final volume, some of which were clearly signposted along the way, others more surprising – I found that Gier had a nice balance there. I continued to enjoy the character of Gwen and her adventures.  The fact that the subtitle of “love throughout the ages” can be applied to more than one couple was very appealing to me.  I would certainly recommend this trilogy, although I recommend waiting a few months until the English translation is available!  Check out the Gem Trilogy on Kindle, Kobo, iBook and Audible formats.

The next book I read/listened to was Brandon Sanderson’s new YA novel The Rithmatist.  As an aside, I would not recommend listening to this book on Audible.  This is nothing to do with Michael Kramer’s narration; as usual he is very good.  Rather, the novel depends on “rithmatic diagrams” which are illustrated in the book.  Although Kramer does describe them, if you only listen you will miss a lot, perhaps key story points.

This isn’t one of Sanderson’s best works.  The magic system, usually one of Sanderson’s key strengths, didn’t grab me the way some of his others have.  I also didn’t feel very engaged with the main characters who are after all only sixteen.  If you’re new to Sanderson I’d recommend starting with Mistborn or Elantris rather than this.  Brandon is one of my favourite authors, so it’s worth checking him out on Kindle, Kobo, iBooks and Audible.

Through Netgalley I was offered a free copy of Finding Colin Firth, a new chicklit novel by Mia March.  Well with a title like that how could I say no?  I hadn’t intended to start it yet, but I started flicking through it and was immediately hooked.  I will write more once I’ve finished it.

While browsing my Twitter feed I came across an interesting blog post by author Mark Lawrence on heroes, anti-heroes and villains.  His Prince of Thorns has been on my TBR list for some while, and because I liked what he had to say in his blog post I have started listening to it.  I’m only a couple of chapters in, but so far so good.

This week I also revisited Divergent by Veronica Roth.  Roth’s Divergent series is tipped by some to be the next Hunger Games, and it is easy to see why.  The post apocalyptic world Roth creates feels real – and scary – and her characters are engaging and multi dimensional.  I found it an excellent read.  You can find Divergent on Amazon, Kobo, iBooks and Audible.

Added to my Library this week

The Lord of the Rings, BBC Radio production – Audible format
The Hangman’s Daughter – Audible format
Austenland – Audible format
Unfettered anthology – Kindle format
The Companions – free to review
The Godborn – free to review

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