The Leaning Pile of Books
Apr
04
2010

Another week with not enough reviews written (Changeless draft is done though!), but I wouldn’t be surprised if that were the case until this summer. Recently I found out we have to move at the end of May, but now we may have to by the end of this month. And then we’ll only be moving out for two months and then moving back. With all the chaos, I’ve been mostly reading books that are somewhat short because I just don’t have the time for anything too complex, but that means I read faster than I can write since I haven’t had much spare time on the weekends lately (and I’m usually far too wiped out to write anything coherent in the evenings after work).

This week brings three new additions to the TBR pile. One I bought myself and the other two are review copies.

Hell Fire by Ann Aguirre

The second book in the Corine Solomon series is officially out on April 6, but I couldn’t resist checking the bookstore to see if I could find it on the shelves a little early on Friday – and it was there! Also, I had a coupon and it was my birthday so I had some good excuses for buying something. 😉 All of Aguirre’s books I’ve read are a lot of fun – I’m addicted to the Jax series and I enjoyed Blue Diablo, the first book in this urban fantasy series. There is an excerpt from Hell Fire on the author’s website (scroll down a bit to read it).

As a handler, Corine Solomon can touch any object and know its history. It’s too bad she can’t seem to forget her own. With her ex-boyfriend Chance in tow-lending his own supernatural brand of luck-Corine journeys back home to Kilmer, Georgia, in order to discover the truth behind her mother’s death and the origins of “gift”.

But while trying to uncover the secrets in her past, Corine and Chance find that something is rotten in the state of Georgia. Inside Kilmer’s borders there are signs of a dark curse affecting the town and all its residents-and it can only be satisfied with death…

Divine by Mistake by P.C. Cast

This is the first book in the Goddess of Parthalon series, which is being released in the UK for the first time this year. This novel just came out in February, Divine by Choice came out in March and Divine by Blood will be out this month. I’ve heard some good things about the author so I am curious about this one.

Waking up in another world Shannon Parker discovers she has swapped places with Partholon’s high-priestess and is revered as a Goddess by all. While she can’t believe her luck – who doesn’t like to have wall to wall wardrobes of made-to-measure silk dresses and wine on tap, not to mention the personal Spa and handmaidens – being Partholon’s high-priestess is far from easy. On her first day in Partholon Shannon is expected to be married to High Shaman, ClanFintan, a centaur who has no idea of her real identity. Then there is the threat of Fomorian war on the horizon, and as the high-priestess of a warrior Goddess, Shannon must lead the people of Partholon into battle. Nothing a feisty high-school teacher can’t handle-right?

Death Most Definite by Trent Jamieson

This is the first book in the Death Works series. I seem to like books/TV shows featuring death so I am rather intrigued by this one. It will be on sale on July 27.

Steven de Selby has a hangover. Bright lights, loud noise, and lots of exercise are the last thing he wants. But that’s exactly what he gets when someone starts shooting at him.

Steven is no stranger to death-Mr. D’s his boss after all-but when a dead girl saves him from sharing her fate, he finds himself on the wrong end of the barrel. His job is to guide the restless dead to the underworld but now his clients are his own colleagues, friends, and family.

Mr. D’s gone missing and with no one in charge, the dead start to rise, the living are hunted, and the whole city teeters on the brink of a regional apocalypse-unless Steven can shake his hangover, not fall for the dead girl, and find out what happened to his boss- that is, Death himself.

March Reading
Mar
31
2010

Since I don’t think I’ll be finishing any books in the next hour (especially considering I only just started a new one and have only read the 3 page long prologue), I may as well put up the monthly summary. Some day I hope to actually have links to reviews of at least most of the books by the end of the month, but with the way this year has been going so far, that may be a while… But at least about half of the Changeless review is done so I should be able to put that up soon! And sometime after that, I’ll get the other three that do not have links to reviews written up.

Read in March:

11. The Thief by Megan Whalen Turner
12. Magic Bites by Ilona Andrews
13. The Gaslight Dogs by Karin Lowachee
14. Changeless by Gail Carriger
15. World’s End by Joan D. Vinge
16. Tsunami Blue by Gayle Ann Williams

That’s four new to me authors and one book I set a goal of reading in 2010 (Magic Bites). Only one science fiction book but I just started a space opera.

Favorite of the month: Changeless. I thought it was better than the first book in the series, and it left me with that feeling of series addiction – just can’t wait to read more. The runner-up would be World’s End. It’s not as excellent as The Snow Queen, but I did really enjoy it and love Joan Vinge’s writing.

What did everyone read in March? What were your favorites?

All About Library Organization
Mar
29
2010

A new edition of Inside the Blogosphere went up today at Grasping for the Wind, in which several of us discussed our methods of library organization. It’s complete with pictures so there’s also plenty of opportunity for library envy.

Review of Magic Bites
Mar
28
2010

Magic Bites
by Ilona Andrews
272pp (Paperback)
My Rating: 7/10
Amazon Rating: 4/5
LibraryThing Rating: 3.81/5
Goodreads Rating: 3.94/5

 

Magic Bites is the first book in the Kate Daniels series by husband and wife writing team Ilona Andrews. The second and third books in this urban fantasy series are Magic Burns and Magic Strikes. Magic Bleeds, the next novel, will be released on May 25 of this year.

Kate Daniels is a sword-and-magic wielding mercenary living near Atlanta, Georgia. When a magic fluctuation hits and her careful warding spells are down, she finds a vampire in her house. The vampire is controlled by Ghastek, who has a brief conversation with Kate in which he asks her if she has seen her guardian lately. Then the vampire rather abruptly leaves, as Kate wonders why they were watching her for long enough to get in as soon as her wards were no longer functioning.

Kate immediately calls the Order of the Knights of Merciful Aid and asks for Greg, only to discover he was recently killed on the job. Since there are not many creatures powerful enough to kill the knight-diviner, Kate is quite shocked by this. Even though she normally avoids the Order, Kate goes there and obtains permission to investigate what happened to Greg personally – landing her right in the middle of a conflict between the People, who control the vampires, and the Pack, the shapechangers.


Magic Bites throws you right into the story and world, and it can be a bit confusing at first since it is not an urban fantasy setting with paranormal creatures in a modern world that otherwise closely mirrors our own. There are fluctuations in which magic works and technology no longer works and vice versa. Right in the first paragraph, one of these changes occurs – Kate’s magical defenses go down and her TV immediately starts up. Since it just happened without explanation, though, it wasn’t until later that I got an idea of what that really meant. While I definitely prefer being shown what is happening like this to long infodumps, there are times I would have liked a little more detail and a better idea of what was going on. (Although it’s also completely possible that I missed a lot of the obvious due to being sick when reading this.)

Even though it does have some of the usual urban fantasy creatures, they are a bit different from the norm. While there are vampires, they are creepy, quite ugly and not some sort of sexy, charming almost-human being that draw women to them like magnets. They roam the streets controlled by necromancers, who use them to do their bidding. Also, instead of being limited to a werewolf pack, the Pack consists of many different types of shapeshifters – werewolves, were-rats, and assorted were-cats including a were-lion at the head of the Pack.

There’s definitely a lot of interesting world-building here, but there’s also a lot left unexplained that I hope is explored more in future books. It would be nice to know how the world got this way and more about how magic works as well as the magic/tech waves. That’s part of the fun of reading a series, though – all the unanswered questions and the anticipation of which ones will be answered in the next book.

The first half of this book was a little hard to get into. The world was an interesting place, but it took a while for the plot to pick up as Kate went from place to place talking to various people trying to solve the mystery of who murdered her guardian. Once the story was set up some and the main characters were introduced, it started getting a lot easier to get into and I found myself really enjoying the second half, especially as I found myself caring more about Kate and what happened to her. Curran’s increasing role didn’t hurt, either, as I liked the Beast Lord from the moment he showed up and told Kate to call him “Lord” when she said she needed something shorter to call him than ‘The Leader of the Southern Shapechanger Faction.’ (And Kate completely deserved that after she decided to try to get the most powerful shapechanger in the region – who turns into a gigantic lion – to come out by calling ‘Here kitty, kitty, kitty.’)

In spite of being the first person narrator, Kate has a lot of secrets she’s holding back. For some reason, she is afraid of leaving any of her blood around (which is a bit tough being a mercenary who ends up wounded and bleeding a fair amount of the time), but never reveals why she’s so afraid to do so. She’s obviously powerful, but Kate just may be even more so than she’s letting on. Personality-wise, I wouldn’t say she’s that out-of-the-ordinary – she’s tough and a bit of a smart ass. It does seem as though we’re told she’s competent but not really shown it since she does say things that should get her into trouble with those one might not want to mess with. Often she acts like that to cover up how scared she really is, but it does seem like someone would have taught her better than that by now. Toward the end I did find myself sympathizing with her far more as she seemed to develop more as a character and I felt I better understood where she was coming from, though.

Other than some slowness, my main complaint was some continuity issues. There was one part where someone made an accusation and then Kate was blamed as the one who made it instead. That confused me and I had to go back and reread that part to make sure I remembered it correctly, and sure enough, it was not a suggestion made by Kate. Overall, I also felt the plot was much weaker than the world and some of the characters. It seemed rather contrived at times and not like it was naturally progressing toward a conclusion.

Magic Bites is strongest for its unique setting, which is an alternate world but more original than “the modern world with vampires and werewolves.” It had a somewhat rocky beginning, but the second half was a big improvement over the first one and left me eager to find out more – especially since the next two books are supposed to be much better than the first one.

My Rating: 7/10

Where I got my reading copy: I bought it.

Read Chapter One

Other Reviews:

 

Review of The Thief
Mar
23
2010

The Thief
by Megan Whalen Turner
304pp (Paperback)
My Rating: 7.5/10
Amazon Rating: 4.5/5
LibraryThing Rating: 4.17/5
Goodreads Rating: 4.10/5

The Thief is the first book in The Queen’s Thief series by Megan Whalen Turner. The other books in this YA fantasy series are The Queen of Attolia, The King of Attolia and A Conspiracy of Kings (which was released today). The Thief won the Newbery Honor Book Award and is an ALA Notable Book and ALA Best Book for Young Adults.

According to Gen, he can steal anything. This proves not to be an idle boast when he successfully swipes the king’s seal; however, bragging about this accomplishment lands him in prison. Each day seems the same as the one before in the king’s dungeon, so Gen does not know how much time has passed when the magus has him brought to a room in the palace. Although the magus believes Gen to be rather stupid for blatantly advertising his thievery, he can’t deny that Gen had to be quite skillful in order to avoid being caught in the act. So the magus informs Gen that he has a choice: he can either steal an unnamed item he desires or he can become one of the disappearing prisoners who is never seen nor heard from again. This is a rather easy decision for Gen and the next day he leaves on a journey with the magus, his two apprentices and a soldier in order to retrieve the mysterious object.


This review will probably be a bit shorter than normal since giving away too much about this novel would be doing a great disservice to future readers. The whole story is told from the first person perspective of Gen, who leaves out a lot of important details and is a rather misleading narrator. He doesn’t outright lie and he drops a lot of hints by what he does choose to share for information, but he doesn’t fill us in on the totality of what is happening until the very end. The conclusion is fantastic and reaching the end does make one want to go back and reread the book to catch all the little allusions to parts of it.

There are times before the wonderful final pages that the plot does meander a bit and there is more description about the journey and the land than necessary at times. The writing style is very engaging, though, and the scenes in which the characters are interacting come alive. When he’s not being overly descriptive, Gen is a very fun protagonist – he’s arrogant yet perfectly likable and charismatic.

Although it has some differences (such as the existence of guns), the fantasy world is based on Greek mythology and contains different gods reminiscent of their pantheon. During the group’s travels, they tell a few stories about the world’s mythology, many of which are fueled by the conflict between the Earth and the Sky. The Sky was created by the Earth as one of its companions, but the Earth made the mistake of creating the lakes so the Sky could see its reflection in them. Once it caught a glimpse of itself, the Sky thought itself far superior to the round, boring Earth and so the dissension between the two began. All these stories are fairly short and interesting, and they were a nice touch for providing further information on the setting.

Although there were some slower parts, The Thief was an enjoyable book, especially after discovering what had really been going on. I’m looking forward to reading the rest of the series.

My Rating: 7.5/10

Where I got my reading copy: I bought it.

Other reviews:

The Leaning Pile of Books
Mar
21
2010

What a crazy week. I haven’t had much spare time so I still need to finish up that review of The Thief and write one for both Magic Bites and The Gaslight Dogs.

This week I used up the rest of my bookstore gift card on three books and also received three review copies.

Magic Burns by Ilona Andrews

I had told myself I couldn’t get this one until I reviewed the first book in the Kate Daniels series, but I had to kill some time waiting around one day this week so I decided to go ahead and use up my gift card to the bookstore. The first book was good enough to make me want to read the rest, but I probably wouldn’t be in such a hurry to do so if I didn’t keep hearing that each book in this series is better than the last. Hopefully I’ll read both this and the third book before Magic Bleeds comes out in May but with so many different books to read, who knows.

As a mercenary who cleans up after magic gone wrong, Kate Daniels knows how waves of paranormal energy ebb and flow across Atlanta like a tide. But once every seven years, a flare comes, a time when magic runs rampant. When Kate sets out to retrieve a set of stolen maps for the Pack, Atlanta’s paramilitary clan of shape shifters, she quickly realizes much more is at stake. The stolen maps are only the opening gambit in an epic tug of war between two gods hoping for rebirth, and if Kate can’t stop the cataclysmic showdown, the city may not survive.

Magic Strikes by Ilona Andrews

From what I’ve heard about this series, I figured I’d better have the third book nearby for after I finish the second one. These are what I’ve been saving my gift card for anyway and I’ve read the first one now so it seemed like a good time to get them. Plus I did really like Curran, and I’m really curious about what Kate is hiding from us as readers about herself so I can see this series becoming very addictive if it does indeed get better and better…

Drafted into working for the Order of Merciful Aid, mercenary Kate Daniels has more paranormal problems than she knows what to do with. And in Atlanta, where magic comes and goes like the tide, that’s saying a lot.

But when Kate’s werewolf friend Derek is discovered nearly dead, she must confront her greatest challenge yet.

Wings of Wrath by C. S. Friedman

I really enjoyed the first book in the Magister trilogy so I have been waiting for this one to come to paperback for a little while. Of course while I was at the bookstore I had to look for it and then pick it up once I found it… In this world, a sacrifice is required in order to use magic and it was a very compelling concept.

A masterwork of fantasy from the author of Feast of Souls…

Kamala, a peasant woman, has claimed the powerful sorcery of the Magisters as her own-the ability to draw on the power of the human soul without dying for it. But in her rise to power she finds herself hunted by the brotherhood, and flees to a land where spells are warped by a fatal curse. A land that even Magisters fear…

The Poison Throne by Celine Kiernan

This is the first book in the Moorehawke trilogy. It is coming out on April 7 and the second book (The Crowded Shadows) is coming out in July 2010. According to the author’s website, the third book (The Rebel Prince) is coming out in Fall 2010. The tagline one the front cover really intrigued me – “Friend. Father. Kingdom. Which one would you sacrifice?” There’s just something about difficult choices that grabs me so I’m looking forward to reading this one. An excerpt is available on the author’s website.

Young Wynter Moorehawke returns to court with her dying father – but she finds her old home shadowed with fear. The king has become a violent despot, terrorizing those he once loved. His son and heir Alberon has fled into exile and now there are whispers everywhere of rebellion. Meanwhile, Alberon’s half-brother Razi has been elevated to his throne. He struggles to meet his King’s demands while remaining loyal to his beloved brother and to his friend-Wynter.

And at the heart of matters is a secret that no one dares speak of. A secret so large it could tear the kingdom in two and Wynter is at the heart of it all. Her father lies dying. Her king is mad. Her friends are divided.

She must choose- her father or her dreams, her friend or her king, her duty… or her love.

Tsunami Blue by Gayle Ann Williams

Tsunami Blue is coming out on March 30. I can’t find much other information on this book other than the blurb so I’m not sure if it’s the start of a series or not. All I know is it’s paranormal romance about a woman who can predict tsunamis and every time I flip it open, I see something about coffee. Maybe that’s a sign I should read it…

With her badass rain boots, her faithful dog, and the ability to predict the monster tsunamis that have reduced the US to a series of islands, Kathryn O’Malley isn’t afraid of much. Cut off from all society, she takes to the airwaves as Tsunami Blue, hoping to save something of humanity as the world around her crumbles. But Blue should be afraid—because her message reaches the wrong ears.

Now she’s the target of ruthless pirates known as Runners who want to use her special talents for their own profiteering—as soon as they can find her. Blue’s only shot at survival lies with the naked stranger who washes up on her rocky beach. A man who might just be working for Runners himself. Torn between suspicion and attraction, the two will have to navigate a surging tide of danger and deceit if they hope to stay alive.

Secret of the Dragon by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman

This is the second book in the Dragonships of Vindras series, which is supposed to be six books long. I must admit, I’ve never read any of the Dragonlance books. It was just released in hardcover on March 16.

New gods are challenging the old high god, Torval, for rulership of the world. The only way to stop these brash interlopers lies with the five Bones of the Vektia Dragons—the five primal dragons hidden away by the dragon goddess, Vindrash, during the creation of the world. Without these dragons, one of the new gods, Aelon, cannot seize power. The only hope of the Vindrasi lies in finding the dragon bones before the followers of Aelon can use them to destroy the old gods. But the Vindrasi gods have a traitor in their midst…

In the land of mortals, Raegar, a Vindraisi turned Aelon warrior-priest, searches for the spirit bones. The gods have a champion of their own—Skylan Ivorson, sea-raider and high chief of the Vindrasi clans, and sworn enemy to Raegar. But Skylan is a prisoner on his own ship. The ship’s dragon, Kahg, has vanished and some believe he is dead. Skylan and his people are taken as captives to Sinaria, where they must fight in a game known as the Para Dix. The fates of men and gods and are dragons are rushing headlong to destruction. Skylan can stop the calamity, but only if he discovers the secret of the dragon.