The Woken Gods by Gwenda Bond tells the story of Kyra Locke, a young woman living in a world where the mythological gods of legend have woken and are living in our society. Rick Riordan this is not; you will not find Bond’s Set in biker’s leathers happily munching on a hamburger in a diner. Bond’s gods are inhuman, deadly and barely kept in check. They do not even pretend to a veil of humanity. Kyra must work to prevent that fragile balance – and the world – from being destroyed. What I liked Strong narrative. Bond takes us through the story at a brisk pace, keeping the narrative tension high. The writing style is smart and efficient and kept me hooked on the story. Great characters. Everyone should have a best friend like Bree! I particularly appreciated that the kids were smart enough to realise there was no way they could defeat the bad guy on their own – it’s a bugbear of mine when young teenagers save the world on their own! I also thought the relationships between the characters were nicely written. The world. I did enjoy the world Bond has created – the gods were far…
The Woken Gods by Gwenda Bond tells the story of Kyra Locke, a young woman living in a world where the mythological gods of legend have woken and are living in our society. Rick Riordan this is not; you will not find Bond’s Set in biker’s leathers happily munching on a hamburger in a diner. Bond’s gods are inhuman, deadly and barely kept in check. They do not even pretend to a veil of humanity. Kyra must work to prevent that fragile balance – and the world – from being destroyed. What I liked Strong narrative. Bond takes us through the story at a brisk pace, keeping the narrative tension high. The writing style is smart and efficient and kept me hooked on the story. Great characters. Everyone should have a best friend like Bree! I particularly appreciated that the kids were smart enough to realise there was no way they could defeat the bad guy on their own – it’s a bugbear of mine when young teenagers save the world on their own! I also thought the relationships between the characters were nicely written. The world. I did enjoy the world Bond has created – the gods were far…
I received a free copy of Dream of Time by Nancy J. Price from Netgalley to review. It tells the story of modern day wife and mother Robin from San Francisco who, when she sleeps, inhabits the body and life of turn of the century Jennie diMedici. It relates her attempts to prevent tragedies and crimes using knowledge gleaned from her present day life. What I liked The basic concept. I loved the main idea and felt it was very well thought out and executed. Price wove Robin’s two lives together very well and I enjoyed her attempts to correct the past. I liked the way limitations were built into the time travel scenario so that Robin couldn’t just fix everything straight away. The fact that there were consequences in Robin’s present for the actions she took in the past also helped to up the stakes. The relationship with Travis. “Jennie’s” relationship with Travis was beautifully written and very touching. It felt very real, and I enjoyed watching them build up trust and love. The techniques they used for communicating across the years was particularly inventive. The Victorian setting. The Victorian setting for Robin’s alternate life was wonderfully described. It is…
I received a free copy of Dream of Time by Nancy J. Price from Netgalley to review. It tells the story of modern day wife and mother Robin from San Francisco who, when she sleeps, inhabits the body and life of turn of the century Jennie diMedici. It relates her attempts to prevent tragedies and crimes using knowledge gleaned from her present day life. What I liked The basic concept. I loved the main idea and felt it was very well thought out and executed. Price wove Robin’s two lives together very well and I enjoyed her attempts to correct the past. I liked the way limitations were built into the time travel scenario so that Robin couldn’t just fix everything straight away. The fact that there were consequences in Robin’s present for the actions she took in the past also helped to up the stakes. The relationship with Travis. “Jennie’s” relationship with Travis was beautifully written and very touching. It felt very real, and I enjoyed watching them build up trust and love. The techniques they used for communicating across the years was particularly inventive. The Victorian setting. The Victorian setting for Robin’s alternate life was wonderfully described. It is…
As I mentioned in my Clockwork Angel review, I had problems getting into City of Bones. I have now read it all, or rather listened on Audible, and I have to say my initial reactions have not really altered much. What I liked The worldbuilding. This, for me, is the highlight of the book, and probably what will keep my coming back for more. Clare has done an excellent job in defining her world and the history and beings in it. I loved hearing about the Nephalim, the Moon’s Children and Night’s Children and look forward to hearing more about them. The pacing. This was something I thought worked better than in Clockwork Angel. The plot setup was done efficiently and well, and the narrative tension was well maintained. It’s amazing how well the old trusted and true “good guys need to prevent the bad guys from getting their hands on the McGuffin” works! However, it does depend on the execution though, and I felt Clare did this excellently. The importance of this particular McGuffin, the Mortal Cup, was clearly defined as were the consequences of its falling into the wrong hands. What I didn’t like The main characters….
As I mentioned in my Clockwork Angel review, I had problems getting into City of Bones. I have now read it all, or rather listened on Audible, and I have to say my initial reactions have not really altered much. What I liked The worldbuilding. This, for me, is the highlight of the book, and probably what will keep my coming back for more. Clare has done an excellent job in defining her world and the history and beings in it. I loved hearing about the Nephalim, the Moon’s Children and Night’s Children and look forward to hearing more about them. The pacing. This was something I thought worked better than in Clockwork Angel. The plot setup was done efficiently and well, and the narrative tension was well maintained. It’s amazing how well the old trusted and true “good guys need to prevent the bad guys from getting their hands on the McGuffin” works! However, it does depend on the execution though, and I felt Clare did this excellently. The importance of this particular McGuffin, the Mortal Cup, was clearly defined as were the consequences of its falling into the wrong hands. What I didn’t like The main characters….
Some months ago a friend recommended Cassandra Clare’s Mortal Instruments series to me. I picked up City of Bones, the first book, from Audible, and found it hard to get past the first few chapters. In all fairness, that might have been due to the fact that it was the book I selected to listen to at the gym, and for various reasons (my lack of willpower mainly) I didn’t go as often as I should have. It’s also true that City of Bones didn’t grab my attention immediately. I will probably try again before the movie comes out. Clockwork Angel is the first in Clare’s Infernal Devices series, which is a prequel to the Mortal Instruments set many years earlier in Victorian London. Unlike Mortal Instruments, Clockwork Angel hooked me immediately from the Audible preview, so much so that I immediately invested in the entire trilogy in Kindle and Audible formats – Whispersync for Voice is available on these titles. This is partly due to Jennifer Ehle’s excellent narration, and also that I found it easier to connect with Tessa than Mortal Instruments’ Clary. What I liked The setting/worldbuilding. Clare evokes Victorian London with a twist beautifully. I also really…
Some months ago a friend recommended Cassandra Clare’s Mortal Instruments series to me. I picked up City of Bones, the first book, from Audible, and found it hard to get past the first few chapters. In all fairness, that might have been due to the fact that it was the book I selected to listen to at the gym, and for various reasons (my lack of willpower mainly) I didn’t go as often as I should have. It’s also true that City of Bones didn’t grab my attention immediately. I will probably try again before the movie comes out. Clockwork Angel is the first in Clare’s Infernal Devices series, which is a prequel to the Mortal Instruments set many years earlier in Victorian London. Unlike Mortal Instruments, Clockwork Angel hooked me immediately from the Audible preview, so much so that I immediately invested in the entire trilogy in Kindle and Audible formats – Whispersync for Voice is available on these titles. This is partly due to Jennifer Ehle’s excellent narration, and also that I found it easier to connect with Tessa than Mortal Instruments’ Clary. What I liked The setting/worldbuilding. Clare evokes Victorian London with a twist beautifully. I also really…
Codex Born by Jim C Hines is the sequel to Libriomancer which tells of Isaac Vainio, a libriomancer with the power to access magic from within books. If you have not read Libriomancer, I would strongly suggest you start there. While it is not impossible to enjoy the story without having read the first book, it builds upon concepts, characters and events detailed in Libriomancer. Codex Born continues Isaac’s story and develops what we know of libriomancy. Feel free to check out my thoughts on Libriomancer. What I liked Lena’s backstory. We learn much, much more about Lena Greenwood through brief snippets before each chapter. For me, this was one of the most beautifully written and touching parts of the books as she learns to come to terms with her nature and the accommodations she has to make to achieve a little freedom. The visual imagery. Hines has a real talent for describing scenes that had me flat out giggling like a schoolgirl with the picture it evoked in my mind. An example was “She appeared to be holding off a small swarm of bugs with a drinking straw and a yo-yo.” I’m snickering even now at that mental image….
Codex Born by Jim C Hines is the sequel to Libriomancer which tells of Isaac Vainio, a libriomancer with the power to access magic from within books. If you have not read Libriomancer, I would strongly suggest you start there. While it is not impossible to enjoy the story without having read the first book, it builds upon concepts, characters and events detailed in Libriomancer. Codex Born continues Isaac’s story and develops what we know of libriomancy. Feel free to check out my thoughts on Libriomancer. What I liked Lena’s backstory. We learn much, much more about Lena Greenwood through brief snippets before each chapter. For me, this was one of the most beautifully written and touching parts of the books as she learns to come to terms with her nature and the accommodations she has to make to achieve a little freedom. The visual imagery. Hines has a real talent for describing scenes that had me flat out giggling like a schoolgirl with the picture it evoked in my mind. An example was “She appeared to be holding off a small swarm of bugs with a drinking straw and a yo-yo.” I’m snickering even now at that mental image….