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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Short Story – The Protector
Miscellaneous / September 9, 2011

It hardly seemed less than a week since I was last in our comfortable, if tiny, flat in London, unaware of the existence of Amalisia, nor that my husband was its rightful king.  Yet here I was, staring across the field at my brother-in-law’s army and his dragons.  Let me just repeat that. DRAGONS!  I mean big, scary, fire-breathing lizards – three of them, and not too happy, to judge from the snarls and clouds...

Review of Spellwright by Blake Charleton
Book Reviews , eBook reviews / September 3, 2011

Spellwright is the debut novel from Blake Charleton and is set in a world where words are magic in a literal as well as metaphorical sense.  It deals with the protagonist's cacography (think dyslexia for the magical language) and his struggles to overcome it and take his place in prophecy.  Nico must learn whether he is the Storm Petrel, destined to change and corrupt language and lead to the demon invasion or the Halcyon...

Review of Spellwright by Blake Charleton
Book Reviews , eBook reviews / September 3, 2011

Spellwright is the debut novel from Blake Charleton and is set in a world where words are magic in a literal as well as metaphorical sense.  It deals with the protagonist’s cacography (think dyslexia for the magical language) and his struggles to overcome it and take his place in prophecy.  Nico must learn whether he is the Storm Petrel, destined to change and corrupt language and lead to the demon invasion or the Halcyon, the p...

Let’s Kill Hitler – Doctor Who Review (Spoilers, Sweetie)
Miscellaneous / September 2, 2011

The second half of Matt Smith's second season as the Eleventh Doctor kicked off last Saturday with an episode entitled Let's Kill Hitler. It was written by show runner Steven Moffat. Following on from my previous entry regarding spoilers I saw this episode completely unspoiled, especially the reveal that Amy and Rory's friend "Mels" was actually one of River Song's regenerations.  In this case I believ...

Let’s Kill Hitler – Doctor Who Review (Spoilers, Sweetie)
Miscellaneous / September 2, 2011

The second half of Matt Smith's second season as the Eleventh Doctor kicked off last Saturday with an episode entitled Let's Kill Hitler. It was written by show runner Steven Moffat. Following on from my previous entry regarding spoilers I saw this episode completely unspoiled, especially the reveal that Amy and Rory's friend "Mels" was actually one of River Song's regenerations.  In this case I believ...

A Dance with Dragons – to be spoilered or not to be spoilered, that is the question
Book Reviews / August 24, 2011

To start I must disclose that this blog entry contains spoilers for all five of George R.R. Martin's currently published A Song of Ice and Fire books. I am also obliged to preface it by the full and frank admission that I am a spoiler junkie. Anywhere I can hunt them down, I will. For those of you who do not know, a slip up by Amazon meant that a handful of copies of A Dance with Dragons (hereafter ADwD) were shipped a week or so e...

A Dance with Dragons – to be spoilered or not to be spoilered, that is the question
Book Reviews / August 24, 2011

To start I must disclose that this blog entry contains spoilers for all five of George R.R. Martin’s currently published A Song of Ice and Fire books. I am also obliged to preface it by the full and frank admission that I am a spoiler junkie. Anywhere I can hunt them down, I will. For those of you who do not know, a slip up by Amazon meant that a handful of copies of A Dance with Dragons (hereafter ADwD) were shipped a week or so ...

Spirit Gate by Kate Elliott
Book Reviews , eBook reviews / August 20, 2011

Spirit Gate is the first in Kate Elliott's Crossroads trilogy.  I have to admit I struggled to finish reading this one.  To give the book its due, I read it just after George R R Martin's A Dance With Dragons and any book would have suffered in comparison.  (That reminds me; I probably should do a review of ADwD, too) As the first book in a trilogy, I had expected a lot of introductory backstory.  Howe...

Spirit Gate by Kate Elliott
Book Reviews , eBook reviews / August 20, 2011

Spirit Gate is the first in Kate Elliott’s Crossroads trilogy.  I have to admit I struggled to finish reading this one.  To give the book its due, I read it just after George R R Martin’s A Dance With Dragons and any book would have suffered in comparison.  (That reminds me; I probably should do a review of ADwD, too) As the first book in a trilogy, I had expected a lot of introductory backstory.  However, I felt this b...

Battlestar Galactica Seasons 1 and 2 (Possible spoilers)
Miscellaneous / August 17, 2011

During a recent girls’ night out with some friends, the topic of discussion turned to the reimagined Battlestar Galactica series.  Not having watched it when it was first broadcast, I decided it might be worth a look. I downloaded the initial mini series from iTunes and was immediately hooked.  I watched the entire miniseries over two evenings and straight away begged my friend to lend me the rest.  As of now, ...