Reading roundup – 4th April 2014
Reading Roundup / April 4, 2014

Altered by Gennifer Albin is the second in the Crewel World series of YA novels which tells the story of Adelice, a young woman of Arras with the skill to manipulate the weave of life itself.  At the end of Crewel we were left with a real cliffhanger – Adelice had just broken out of the control of the Guild and escaped to Earth where a whole new set of challenges await her. While there was a lot I liked about Altered I didn’t find it as gripping a read as Crewel.  I didn’t feel it lived up to the promise of that punch of a climax to book one.  I found I really missed Arras and Earth wasn’t as interesting a setting.  This is the second book in a trilogy and like many, it suffers from middle book syndrome.  A lot of time is devoted to setup for the finale of the series with the discussion of the skill of altering, the flip side of the coin to what Adelice can do, and yet for me it was still not exactly clear what the difference is between altering and weaving.  The end goal for the series is setup and…

Reading roundup – 4th April 2014
Reading Roundup / April 4, 2014

Altered by Gennifer Albin is the second in the Crewel World series of YA novels which tells the story of Adelice, a young woman of Arras with the skill to manipulate the weave of life itself.  At the end of Crewel we were left with a real cliffhanger – Adelice had just broken out of the control of the Guild and escaped to Earth where a whole new set of challenges await her. While there was a lot I liked about Altered I didn’t find it as gripping a read as Crewel.  I didn’t feel it lived up to the promise of that punch of a climax to book one.  I found I really missed Arras and Earth wasn’t as interesting a setting.  This is the second book in a trilogy and like many, it suffers from middle book syndrome.  A lot of time is devoted to setup for the finale of the series with the discussion of the skill of altering, the flip side of the coin to what Adelice can do, and yet for me it was still not exactly clear what the difference is between altering and weaving.  The end goal for the series is setup and…

Reading roundup – 21st March 2014
Reading Roundup / March 21, 2014

One of the upcoming books that has been on my radar is Danielle Paige’s debut novel Dorothy Must Die.  This is set in the world of L Frank Baum’s Oz in which a modern day Kansas teen is taken to Oz and tasked with bringing down the current despotic tyrant, our old friend Dorothy Gale.  The concept sounded intriguing and I have heard some excited buzz around this. So you can imagine I was excited when I discovered that there is a prequel out called No Place Like Oz which tells the story of how plucky Kansas girl Dorothy became a tyrant.  At 132 pages it’s a pretty decent length for a novella.  The electronic copy also includes a snippet from Dorothy Must Die. I loved No Place Like Oz and it’s really whetted my appetite for Dorothy Must Die.  It is based on the L Frank Baum stories rather than the 1939 Judy Garland movie – it mentions the Silver Slippers rather than the movie’s ruby ones (apparently it was felt red made a stronger visual punch than silver) and references characters such as the China Girl and Saw-horse who only appear in the books.  Some reviewers have been…

Reading roundup – 21st March 2014
Reading Roundup / March 21, 2014

One of the upcoming books that has been on my radar is Danielle Paige’s debut novel Dorothy Must Die.  This is set in the world of L Frank Baum’s Oz in which a modern day Kansas teen is taken to Oz and tasked with bringing down the current despotic tyrant, our old friend Dorothy Gale.  The concept sounded intriguing and I have heard some excited buzz around this. So you can imagine I was excited when I discovered that there is a prequel out called No Place Like Oz which tells the story of how plucky Kansas girl Dorothy became a tyrant.  At 132 pages it’s a pretty decent length for a novella.  The electronic copy also includes a snippet from Dorothy Must Die. I loved No Place Like Oz and it’s really whetted my appetite for Dorothy Must Die.  It is based on the L Frank Baum stories rather than the 1939 Judy Garland movie – it mentions the Silver Slippers rather than the movie’s ruby ones (apparently it was felt red made a stronger visual punch than silver) and references characters such as the China Girl and Saw-horse who only appear in the books.  Some reviewers have been…

Reading Roundup – 14th March 2014
Reading Roundup / March 14, 2014

This is going to be a short roundup as I’m still working my way through the behemoth that is Words of Radiance.  I won’t say too much more as I will be doing a full review shortly.  One thing I will say is, I’m REALLY noticing the lack of Whispersync for Voice on this book.  I have been experiencing it as a mixture of ebook and Audible audiobook and it is a real pain in the posterior to have to find my place each time I switch devices.  I know that’s very much a first world problem, but once you’ve grown used to the convenience of Whispersync for Voice, it’s hard to do without. Added to my library this week This week saw the release of Night Broken, the eighth book in Patricia Briggs’ Mercy Thompson series.  While I love Briggs’ world and characters, personally I felt Mercy’s story had come to a natural end two or three books ago, but I will read it anyway.  It’s certainly getting good reviews on GoodReads.  I picked it up in both Kindle and Audible formats. I only discovered very recently that Robin Hobb is releasing a new book in her Farseer universe….

Reading Roundup – 14th March 2014
Reading Roundup / March 14, 2014

This is going to be a short roundup as I’m still working my way through the behemoth that is Words of Radiance.  I won’t say too much more as I will be doing a full review shortly.  One thing I will say is, I’m REALLY noticing the lack of Whispersync for Voice on this book.  I have been experiencing it as a mixture of ebook and Audible audiobook and it is a real pain in the posterior to have to find my place each time I switch devices.  I know that’s very much a first world problem, but once you’ve grown used to the convenience of Whispersync for Voice, it’s hard to do without. Added to my library this week This week saw the release of Night Broken, the eighth book in Patricia Briggs’ Mercy Thompson series.  While I love Briggs’ world and characters, personally I felt Mercy’s story had come to a natural end two or three books ago, but I will read it anyway.  It’s certainly getting good reviews on GoodReads.  I picked it up in both Kindle and Audible formats. I only discovered very recently that Robin Hobb is releasing a new book in her Farseer universe….

Reading Roundup – 7th March 2014
Book Reviews , Reading Roundup / March 7, 2014

The biggest release for me this week is Brandon Sanderson’s Words of Radiance.  This is the second in the Stormlight Archive, Sanderson’s proposed 10 book epic fantasy series.  That was my biggest issue with The Way of Kings – Sanderson has planned it to be an epic tale right from the beginning so the large scope is readily apparent.  I’ve much preferred tales which have “grown in the telling” as the saying goes.  The Wheel of Time, for example, starts off focussed on our heroes from the Two Rivers and it’s not until later on in the series that we have epic battles and world changing consequences.   That’s not to say I didn’t enjoy The Way of Kings, although in all fairness I used Tor.com’s excellent Way of Kings Reread and Where We Left Our Heroes article to catch up with it.  I am enjoying Words of Radiance which I am listening to in audiobook format rather than reading.  I do enjoy Kate Reading’s and Michael Kramer’s narration.  However, this audiobook weighs in at a hefty 48 hours and 15 minutes.  I don’t expect to read much else in the next couple of weeks, so please don’t expect many other…

Reading Roundup – 7th March 2014
Book Reviews , Reading Roundup / March 7, 2014

The biggest release for me this week is Brandon Sanderson’s Words of Radiance.  This is the second in the Stormlight Archive, Sanderson’s proposed 10 book epic fantasy series.  That was my biggest issue with The Way of Kings – Sanderson has planned it to be an epic tale right from the beginning so the large scope is readily apparent.  I’ve much preferred tales which have “grown in the telling” as the saying goes.  The Wheel of Time, for example, starts off focussed on our heroes from the Two Rivers and it’s not until later on in the series that we have epic battles and world changing consequences.   That’s not to say I didn’t enjoy The Way of Kings, although in all fairness I used Tor.com’s excellent Way of Kings Reread and Where We Left Our Heroes article to catch up with it.  I am enjoying Words of Radiance which I am listening to in audiobook format rather than reading.  I do enjoy Kate Reading’s and Michael Kramer’s narration.  However, this audiobook weighs in at a hefty 48 hours and 15 minutes.  I don’t expect to read much else in the next couple of weeks, so please don’t expect many other…

Reading Roundup – 28th February 2014
Reading Roundup / February 28, 2014

With the movie coming out soon, I decided it was time to pick up James Dashner’s The Maze Runner.  I wasn’t too sure if I would enjoy it so I picked it up in eBook from the library.   [book-info] I’m glad I didn’t purchase it because I found it was not really my cup of tea.  It reminded me in some ways of Lost – more questions being asked than answered.  It was particularly frustrating when characters refused to share information when it would have been in the interest of the larger group to have done so.  The worldbuilding was otherwise excellent and there is no fault I could point to in the writing.  It just didn’t appeal to me personally, and I am unlikely to be continuing with the rest of the series. I gave The Maze Runner three stars out of five. One of the TV series I’m looking forward to most this year is Starz adaptation of Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander.  For those of you unfamiliar with this book, it’s about a WWII nurse, Claire Beauchamp, who finds herself transported back in time to 18th century Scotland and falls in love with a handsome red-haired Scot, Jamie…

Reading Roundup – 28th February 2014
Reading Roundup / February 28, 2014

With the movie coming out soon, I decided it was time to pick up James Dashner’s The Maze Runner.  I wasn’t too sure if I would enjoy it so I picked it up in eBook from the library.   [book-info] I’m glad I didn’t purchase it because I found it was not really my cup of tea.  It reminded me in some ways of Lost – more questions being asked than answered.  It was particularly frustrating when characters refused to share information when it would have been in the interest of the larger group to have done so.  The worldbuilding was otherwise excellent and there is no fault I could point to in the writing.  It just didn’t appeal to me personally, and I am unlikely to be continuing with the rest of the series. I gave The Maze Runner three stars out of five. One of the TV series I’m looking forward to most this year is Starz adaptation of Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander.  For those of you unfamiliar with this book, it’s about a WWII nurse, Claire Beauchamp, who finds herself transported back in time to 18th century Scotland and falls in love with a handsome red-haired Scot, Jamie…