Oh my poor wallet. September seems to be one of the busiest months for new book releases and there are seven upcoming books about which I am super excited. Without further ado, here’s the list. Queen of Shadows by Sarah J. Maas Having just finished Heir of Fire, I am impatient for Queen of Shadows, the next volume in the Throne of Glass series. Heir of Fire was for me the strongest so far in the series and left some very interesting storylines to be followed in the next book. I look forward to the confrontation between Celaena and Arobynn and to see how Dorian is affected by the events of Heir of Fire. Queen of Shadows is released on September 1st and I have preordered it on both Kindle and Audible formats. The Copper Gauntlet by Holly Black and Cassandra Clare Also released on September 1st is Holly Black’s and Cassandra Clare’s The Copper Gauntlet. This is the second in the Magisterium series, which, like Harry Potter, is set in a school for magic. Despite the comparison with Harry Potter, it’s the contrasts with that series that make the Magisterium so interesting. I did enjoy the Iron Trial, the…
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In the three weeks since I blogged, I have read several great – and some not so great – books. Check out my full (spoilery) review of Fool’s Quest by Robin Hobb. Other books I’ve read are as follows. [book-info] One of the YA books generating the most buzz this autumn is Eleanor Herman’s Legacy of Kings. Herman is a respected historical author and Legacy of Kings is her first foray into YA historical fantasy. The blurb makes it sound along the lines of Alexander the Great meets Game of Thrones. I’m assuming minus the graphic sex and violence as it’s YA. Early reviews have been positive. I have not yet read/listened to Legacy of Kings (it’s on my TBR list) but I have read the prequel Voice of the Gods, which is currently free on major ebook sites. It tells the story of the prophecy, which, I assume, is at the basis of the series. it was… fine. The worldbuilding was great, as you’d expect from a historian. The characters were engaging, but in the space of a novella, it was more difficult to become overly attached to them. I liked the story, but it’d didn’t grab me as…
Hello, I’m back! Once again, sorry for the delay in writing, but I was away on vacation and otherwise busy. However, I did get through a a few books during our trip: The Heir was one of the books I was most looking forward to this month. It is the first in a follow up series to Keira Cass’s dystopian Selection trilogy, which I loved. The protagonist of The Heir is Maxon and America’s daughter, Eadlyn. It deals with the aftermath of the Selection series and shows how the world has changed as a result of Maxon and America’s work. I enjoyed reading from Eadlyn’s point of view. She is well-meaning but ultimately rather young and spoiled – which means there’s great scope for character development, something Cass does particularly well. My biggest issue with the book is the premise. Apparently, the caste system of The Selection has been abolished, with not complete success, yet the Royal Family remains and lives in luxury? For me that did not make sense and seemed to be contrived simply to allow the new Selection plotline. I could never quite get my head around that so gave the book four stars out of…
There are three books being released in May about which I am very excited. Some good books to have ready for my vacation in a couple of weeks! The one about which I am most excited is A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas of Throne of Glass fame. This is a retelling of the classic fairytale Beauty and the Beast and tells the story of Feyre, a young woman who becomes entangled with the mysterious fey in order to save her loved ones. I understand this will be the start of a series of books as well. I’ve loved the Throne of Glass series and the five chapter sample which has been released has only served to whet my appetite. A Court of Thorns and Roses is released on May 5th 2015. I can’t wait! The next upcoming release I’m looking forward to is Keira Cass’s The Heir. This is a new story set 20 years after the events of The Selection and deals with the attempts of America and Maxon’s daughter to find her partner in a Selection of her own. I’m also really looking forward to this one. The One, the final book in…
This week has been pretty quiet in terms of reading. I’ve pretty much spent all my time this week finishing my reread of Brent Weeks’ The Blinding Knife and following up with the new release The Broken Eye. These books are HUGE. The Broken Eye comes in at 816 pages or 29 hrs and 33 mins in audiobook format. I won’t say too much more – my full review will come out next week, so keep an eye out for it if you want to know my thoughts on it. Coming so close on my reread of Robin Hobb’s Realm of the Elderlings reading challenge I’m rather epic fantasied out. I definitely need to take a break with some cutesy contemporary romance – Rainbow Rowell, Stephanie Perkins, I’m looking at you – or some cozy cat mysteries or some contemporary urban fantasy such as The Dresden Files. I suspect I’ll just flick through my Kindle’s library and see what takes my eye. Next week sees the release of the first in a collaborative contemporary fantasy series by Cassandra Clare and Holly Black, The Iron Magisterium, so that my hit the spot. Added to my library this week The Heir of Fire by…
So, I’m back from my vacation at last! I didn’t read a whole lot – I spent time with family – but I did get through a few things. My review of Robin Hobb’s Fool’s Assassin was published yesterday – go check it out if you like slow burning character driven epic fantasy. I also finished the Secret Diary of Lizzie Bennet. It had been on my TBR list for a while, but I found it slow going because I had been watching the YouTube video series in sync with the book. I gave up on that and breezed through the book. I thought it was an excellent companion to the web series, and enjoyed reading it very much. The trouble is, it’s spoiled me now for The Austen Project series of modernisations of Austen’s works. The Lizzie Bennet Diaries and Emma Approved are just so cleverly written and adapted, nothing else can come close. [book-info] One book I picked up this week and breezed though was Rick Riordan’s Percy Jackson’s Greek Gods. This is written from Percy Jackson’s point of view and in it he tells the stories of the Greek gods in his own inimitable style. It was…
Since we’re now into July – halfway through the year! – and I’m 50 books through my 100 book challenge for this year I thought it was time to stop and review my top picks from the first half of 2014. So without further ado, here they are. [book-info title=”The Empire Striketh Back” author=”ian-doescher”] My first pick for my top books of 2014 so far is Ian Doescher’s William Shakespeare’s Star Wars. This includes Star Wars: Verily a New Hope and The Empire Striketh Back. For those of you who have not read my reviews, Doescher has taken George Lucas’s epic space opera and rewritten it in the style of William Shakespeare, compete with iambic pentameter and nods to Shakespeare plays. It’s incredible how well the Lucas’s epic saga works in Shakespearean language. The audiobook by Random House Audio is a full cast radio play complete with John Williams music and sound effects and is a must-listen. It narrowly missed out on the Audie audiobook award. The Jedi Doth Return is released on July 1st and I’m fairly confident it will make my top audiobooks list, too. Check out Doescher’s Educator’s Guide for more background info. I wish these had been…
First of all, my apologies on the delay of the Throne of Glass review – it’s coming, I promise! Also my apologies for the confusion on the Ruin and Rising release date. This will be released on June 17th. This week Amazon announced a product launch for later this month. The introductory video is deceptively vague, but most analysts seem to agree a 3D smartphone is likely. For the first time Amazon is also inviting customers to attend this launch in Seattle. You can sign up for an invite. I have put my name down, so we’ll see if I’m lucky. [book-info] One of the books i did read this week was Attachments by Rainbow Rowell. I loved her Eleanor & Park and enjoyed Attachments very much, too. This novel is split between two interwoven strands. We have the traditional third person narrative of Lincoln’s story and the other strand follows Jennifer and Beth through email exchange. The two are connected in that Lincoln’s job is to monitor his company’s email and so he gets to know the two women through their email exchange. What I liked Fun, realistic characters. As in Eleanor & Park, Rowell has a talent for writing…
Although it’s not a book, this week I have been enjoying Peter Jackson’s extended edition Blu Ray of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. The Hobbit An Unexpected Journey Extended Edition directed by Peter JacksonGenres: Epic FantasyFormat: Blu Ray DVD Starring: Martin Freeman, Richard Armitage, Ian McKellanLength: 3 hours 2 minutes Buy from Amazon • Now, The Lord of the Rings is the first book that I can remember being truly gripped by back when I was a teenager. I just couldn’t put that book down. I took it with me on a family holiday and couldn’t keep my nose out of it. When Peter Jackson made The Lord of the Rings trilogy a decade ago I was initially anxious until I saw the initial trailer. I knew then that my beloved tale was in good hands with Peter Jackson and crew. For the trilogy, Jackson tended to release an extended edition several months after the theatrical version release on DVD/Blu Ray. This extended edition contained additional/extended scenes as well as commentary and hours and hours of background material and he has done the same for The Hobbit. While I don’t necessarily agree with all of the creative storylining decisions made on The…
Although it’s not a book, this week I have been enjoying Peter Jackson’s extended edition Blu Ray of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. The Hobbit An Unexpected Journey Extended Edition directed by Peter JacksonGenres: Epic FantasyFormat: Blu Ray DVD Starring: Martin Freeman, Richard Armitage, Ian McKellanLength: 3 hours 2 minutes Buy from Amazon • Now, The Lord of the Rings is the first book that I can remember being truly gripped by back when I was a teenager. I just couldn’t put that book down. I took it with me on a family holiday and couldn’t keep my nose out of it. When Peter Jackson made The Lord of the Rings trilogy a decade ago I was initially anxious until I saw the initial trailer. I knew then that my beloved tale was in good hands with Peter Jackson and crew. For the trilogy, Jackson tended to release an extended edition several months after the theatrical version release on DVD/Blu Ray. This extended edition contained additional/extended scenes as well as commentary and hours and hours of background material and he has done the same for The Hobbit. While I don’t necessarily agree with all of the creative storylining decisions made on The…