Hello and welcome to another reading roundup.  Since my last roundup I have read two pretty good books which I’d like to share with you. [book-info]I received an Advance Reader Copy of The Poisoned Blade by Kate Elliott at BEA.  It’s been on my TBR for a while, but it’s only recently I read it.  The Poisoned Blade is the second book in a planned trilogy (I believe) and continues the story of Jessamy, a young woman caught between two cult...

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The Blood Mirror by Brent Weeks is the fourth in a planned series of five epic fantasy books.  The series has a wonderfully imaginative magic system in which magic users can turn light into a physical substance. luxin.  Each spectrum of light (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet) produces luxin with different properties and uses.  If you’ve not yet started this series, I heartily recommend it.  Go start with The Black Prism.  ...

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Empire of Storms is the fifth and penultimate book in Sarah J. Maas’s Throne of Glass in which a former assassin uses her skills and her magic to save her kingdom.  Being the second to last book in the series, it focusses very much on getting our protagonists into the right place for the finale. What I liked The pacing.  Despite the fact that Empire of Storms is primarily focussed on getting the team into place for the final confrontation...

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Court of Fives by Kate Elliott is a YA fantasy book and one that I found myself being sucked into even in the middle of a reading slump. I found the protagonists engaging and loved the world. I found it had a bit more substance than some YA fantasy novels. What I liked Cultural tensions. This is very much a tale of being caught between two cultures.  Our protagonist, Jessamy, is the child of a Saroese father and Efean mother and struggles to fit...

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Paper and Fire by Rachel Caine is the second in The Great Library series and is the sequel to Ink and Bone, which was one of my favourite reads from last year.  I realised I never did a full review of it.  Bad Evelynne.  Paper and Fire was also one of my most anticipated reads for 2016 and it did not disappoint.  For those of you not familiar with this series, it is a contemporary alternate reality/fantasy in which the Great Library of Alexan...

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Julian Fellowes’s Belgravia is a new book/audiobook/app series from the creator of Downton Abbey.  It is set in the Belgravia quarter of London in 1841 with a prequel set in Brussels in 1815.  The lives of two families, the rich, titled Bellasis family and the nouveau riche Trenchards are brought together at the Duchess of Richmond’s ball and the effects are felt down the years.  It is available in ebook format, as an audiobook and as an a...

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The Wheel of Osheim by Mark Lawrence is the third and final book in his Red Queen’s War trilogy.  It continues the story of Jalan Kendeth as he continues to follow the path upon which fate has set him. The Red Queen’s War trilogy is set in the same world as, and dovetails with, Lawrence’s earlier Broken Empire trilogy.  In some ways that is both a blessing and a curse.  It’s a blessing because the world in which the trilogies are set i...

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A Thousand Pieces of You by Claudia Gray is a YA sci-fi mystery in which teenager Marguerite Caine must use technology developed by her parents, the Firebird, to chase her father’s murderer across multiple dimensions.  She finds out that things aren’t as they first seemed. I picked this book up partly because of this concept and partly because I’ve enjoyed books (Star Wars) by Claudia Gray.  Thanks to Amazon’s Whispersync for Voice I pi...

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Eligible by Curtis Sittenfeld is the fourth in the Austen Project of modern retellings of Jane Austen’s novels and attempts to bring her classic Pride and Prejudice into the 21st century.  Having read the other three Austen adaptations, I was intrigued to see how Sittenfeld would update the story of Elizabeth, Darcy, Jane and Bingley.  From experience I know that Austen adaptations, when done well, can be wonderful. (check out The Lizzie Benn...

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Now, pretty much anyone who has an interest in popular culture is aware that the first Star Wars movie since 2005, The Force Awakens, was released on December 18th 2015.  Full disclosure: while I consider myself a fan of Star Wars, I have only dabbled in the Extended Universe/Legends supplementary material.  Like many, though, I was anxious to see what J.J. Abrams would make of Lucas’ legacy and booked my ticket to a showing on release day. Â...

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Blog Publicity Tour – Cephrael’s Hand – Excerpt
Miscellaneous / December 31, 2012

Once again I’m taking part in a Blog Publicity Tour – this time for Cephrael’s Hand by Melissa McPhail. I have read this book and thoroughly enjoyed it. A review will be coming later on in the week. Here’s a short extract. Please enjoy this excerpt from Cephrael’s Hand, a spellbinding epic fantasy by Melissa McPhail. Then read on to learn how you can win huge prizes as part of this blog tour, including a Ki...

Review – Crewel by Gennifer Albin
Book Reviews / December 30, 2012

It’s always fun when you pick up a great read unexpectedly. I first saw this book on the Tor website, where they were offering the first five chapters for free. The concept seemed very fresh (although reminiscent of the Three Fates from Greek/Roman mythology – can’t go wrong with an age-old story) and intriguing so I picked up the free five chapter sample. Before long I’d finished the first five chapters, and hap...

Kindle Paperwhite Review
e-Reader Reviews / December 23, 2012

So on my day off work this week I took a trip to Plattsburgh NY to purchase a Kindle Paperwhite. I’ve wanted one ever since Jeff Bezos presented the project launch back in early September, but they are not available to ship to Canada. I’ve been keeping an eye on Bestbuy.com for stock information and when they came in stock last week I decided to go ahead and purchase one. The bad When I first got it home, my initial reaction...

Kindle Paperwhite Review
e-Reader Reviews / December 23, 2012

So on my day off work this week I took a trip to Plattsburgh NY to purchase a Kindle Paperwhite. I’ve wanted one ever since Jeff Bezos presented the project launch back in early September, but they are not available to ship to Canada. I’ve been keeping an eye on Bestbuy.com for stock information and when they came in stock last week I decided to go ahead and purchase one. The bad When I first got it home, my initial reaction...

The Hobbit – I think I get it.
Miscellaneous / December 16, 2012

This afternoon I saw The Hobbit and it’s really been bugging the heck out of me why Peter Jackson is padding out The Hobbit so much with the additional material. The whole Hobbit narrative – Bilbo’s adventure There and Back Again, which is a sweet adventure tale in which the threats Bilbo faces are mainly physical (goblins, orcs, spiders all try to kill and/or eat him) and how his character develops – really jarr...

The Hobbit – I think I get it.
Miscellaneous / December 16, 2012

This afternoon I saw The Hobbit and it’s really been bugging the heck out of me why Peter Jackson is padding out The Hobbit so much with the additional material. The whole Hobbit narrative – Bilbo’s adventure There and Back Again, which is a sweet adventure tale in which the threats Bilbo faces are mainly physical (goblins, orcs, spiders all try to kill and/or eat him) and how his character develops – really jarr...

A Memory of Light – My Thoughts, Hopes and Predictions (minor spoilers)
Book Reviews / December 11, 2012

On the 8th of January, the fourteenth and final book in the Wheel of Time, A Memory of Light, will be released. It has been completed by Brandon Sanderson who was tasked with the commission after Robert Jordan's untimely passing. This is the third such book written by Sanderson. I should preface this entry by noting that, while I am a big fan of the series, I am not a superfan who has analysed each and every word. I should also not...

A Memory of Light – My Thoughts, Hopes and Predictions (minor spoilers)
Book Reviews / December 11, 2012

On the 8th of January, the fourteenth and final book in the Wheel of Time, A Memory of Light, will be released. It has been completed by Brandon Sanderson who was tasked with the commission after Robert Jordan’s untimely passing. This is the third such book written by Sanderson. I should preface this entry by noting that, while I am a big fan of the series, I am not a superfan who has analysed each and every word. I should also no...

A Tale of Three Comparisons
Miscellaneous / December 2, 2012

First of all, apologies for the delay in posting. It's been a busy few weeks on both a personal and work level, so I have not been able to post much. Anyway, here I am! Some of the books I've read recently have led to some natural comparisons. Two of these are Mr Penumbra's 24 Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan and Libriomancer by Jim C. Hines. These both have in common a theme of magic and mystery being hidden within books, a...

A Tale of Three Comparisons
Miscellaneous / December 2, 2012

First of all, apologies for the delay in posting. It’s been a busy few weeks on both a personal and work level, so I have not been able to post much. Anyway, here I am! Some of the books I’ve read recently have led to some natural comparisons. Two of these are Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan and Libriomancer: (Magic Ex Libris Book 1) by Jim C. Hines. These both have in common a theme of magic and myster...