The Stone of Arveqtuit

Title: The Stone of Arveqtuit
Author: Thomas Albert

Ratings

Score: 7/10
Chart Entry Point: 12

Review


The Stone of Arveqtuit (pronounced Ar-vek-too-it) does not feel like your standard fantasy book. Indeed, when I first began reading the book I compared it in my mind as being somewhere between Indiana Jones and the Da Vinci Code. Although I could use those comparisons for almost the whole story, when I finished reading the book I couldn't compare it to anything I've read before...

Life Descending (Cry of Havoc Book One)

Title: Life Descending
Author: John Hennessey
Series: Cry of Havoc (Book 1)


Ratings

Score: 4/10
Chart Entry Point: 43
How likely I am to read the next in the Series: Unlikely

Review

    I was looking forwards to reading this book when it was first given to me. The things that the blurb mentioned were all very interesting: the familiar idea of war in a different world, a man reborn into a new one, and a search for the unique sounding artifact known as the "Impermeable Suit". The blend of common and new aspects of the genre looked like the perfect read for a fantasy reader. I did however, have some problems with it. Beginning with the fact that all the interesting things I was looking forwards to finding out about were barely hinted at in the first half of the book...

King's Wrath (Valisar Trilogy Book Three)

Title: King's Wrath
Author: Fiona McIntosh
Score: 8/10
Chart Entry Position: 19/45


Review

In my experience of reading McIntosh's previous books, the endings have been fairly weak and anticlimactic. If it wasn't for the fact that the first two and a half books of her trilogies are generally extremely good then she wouldn't be one of my favourite authors. This series however, and particularly this book, was the exception. The majority of the series was, while still well-written, loose and unfocused. But the ending was possibly the most exciting one that McIntosh has written.

Tyrant's Blood (Valisar Trilogy Book Two)

Title: Tyrant's Blood
Author: Fiona McIntosh
Series: Valisar Trilogy
Preceded by: Royal Exile
Succeeded by: King's Wrath

Ratings:

Rating: 8/10
How likely I am to read the next book: Very Likely

Review

Regular readers of this blog will realise that some stuff I normally put around this review is missing (such as a picture of the cover). This will be corrected later today. They may also notice that there was no posts last week.The reason for both is that I have been summoned to sit on a jury - while in the house moving process and don't have the time to read as much. But I expect to review regularly from now on, but it'll generally be on the bus - so less info for a week or two. Anyway - the book:

I was worried when I started reading this to be honest. It had been over a year since I read the fieat in the trilogy, and there was a curious message at the beginning almost apologising for the story, and that it was written without prior planning. But McIntosh is one of my favourite authors so I read one.

And if I'm honest, that directionless style is quite clear in the plot - but surpised me by being interesting. At the end of book one, the position was clear. King Leo wanted his throne back from the invader. But by the end of this one I'm losing track of who the bad guys are, and I have no idea what's going to happen in book three. However, there are a couple of downfalls of the aimlessness I think. One character from the previous book doesn't appear until near the end of the book, and happens to chance upon an event, taking something which makes half the planning in the book seem a bit pointless. But for the most part I enjoyed the story.

Transformation (Rai-Kirah Trilogy Book One)

Title: Transformation
Author: Carol Berg
Series: Rai-Kirah Trilogy
Succeeded By: Revelation

Ratings

Score: 10/10
Chart Entry Point: 3
How likely I am to read the next in the Series: Definite!

Review

Transformation is a fairly old book by now, written at the turn of the millenium, but it's been amongst my favourites since I first read it shortly after it came out. This first book is an incredible story by itself, and the subsequent two books serve to add depth and an extra layer of complexity to the world that Berg creates.

There are two main characters in this book. Seyonne - the main character, and Aleksander, the initial antagonist. Seyonne is a highly secretive character, and so everything that we learn about him is an exciting moment. And since we learn a lot about him through his actions, we come to feel like we know him - a lot more than some books allow you to know their characters. By contrast, Aleksander seems like a less private person - yet his actions are often surprising. He can change moods almost instantly, and so while we find out more and more about him, it's often very difficult to predict his next move. The relationship between the two characters is perhaps the most interesting aspect of the two characters. It's constantly changing - one of the most dynamic relationships I've seen in a fantasy novel.

Nightwatch (Discworld Book Twenty Eight)

Title: Nightwatch
Author: Terry Pratchett
Superseries: Discworld
Series: The Watch Books
Preceded By: Thief of Tme
Succeeded By: Monstrous Regiment

Ratings

Score: 10/10
Chart Entry Point: 1
How likely I am to read the next in the Series: Bought them on Pre-Order

Review

A friend of mine was looking at my blog for the first time this week, and the first thing she said about it was "How come there's nothing by Terry Pratchett?". My first response was along the lines of "Surely everyone knows how good a writer he is..." but then I remembered a conversation a month or two ago with several people who hadn't heard of him. Hence this review. Nightwatch is not necessary my favourite of his books, but it's the one I know best. And it is a fantastic book...

Soul Born (Soul Born - Book One)

Title: Soul Born
Author: Kevin James Breaux
Series: Soul Born Saga

Succeeded By: Blood Divided

Ratings

Score: 3/10
Chart Entry Point: 37
How likely I am to read the next in the Series: I won't be.

Review

I was drawn into this book by the cover art. I found it to be quite stunning. In fact, it's one of the few books that have made me go to the artist's online Gallery. Or even glance at the name of the artist on the copyright page. I know there are some people who do this with every book, but I'm not one of them, so it means quite a lot. After half an hour looking at Dan Dos Santos' Gallery, I remembered I had a book to read.

And I was disappointed. Especially for the first hundred and fifty pages or so. There are three major problems, which I will discuss separately below, but had I not being reviewing the book, I don't expect I would have finished it. I just couldn't see it going anywhere interesting. Which is where the first problem comes in...

The Last of the Sky Pirates (Edge Chronicles: Rook Trilogy - Book One)

Title: The Last of the Sky Pirates
Author: Paul Stewart & Chris Riddell
Superseries: Edge Chronicles (Book Seven)
Series: Rook Trilogy (Book One)

Succeeded By: Vox

Ratings

Score: 10/10
Chart Entry Point: 5
How likely I am to read the next in the Series: Definite

Review

I've been a little busy this weekend, so rather than rush through a book and not give it a fair chance I decided to write a review of a book I'd already read. This is one that I particularly like, so I thought I'd share it. It's not the first in the Edge Chronicles, but is the first of the books following Rook Barkwater, and the first one I read.

One of the main reasons that I like it so much is the complexity of the world it's set in - particularly with the breadth of life forms. Many fantasy books have two or three species other than humans, but this series has many more than that. From Waifs, little psychic elves, to Shyrkes and Banderbears. There are tens of different sentient species, and all of them are quite distinct. There are few other fantasy series that boast a culture as varied as this one. Not to mention the unique technology that they use - much of it based on flight. It's imaginitive and exciting...

Sleeping Beauty, Indeed

Title: Sleeping Beauty, Indeed (& Other Lesbian Fairytales)
Editor: JoSelle Vanderhooft


Note: This is a collection of short stories - the individual authors are listed in the review itself.


Ratings

Score: 6/10
Chart Entry Point: N/A

Review

This is the first time that a collection of short stories has appeared on my blog, and so It's a new kind of review for me here. What I've decided to do is a quick review of each story, enclosed in an introduction and overall impression. I expect to follow this pattern in the future, although I have no plans to review short stories particularly often. So, the introduction:

"Sleeping Beauty, Indeed" is a book of fairy tales, with the exception that the "Damsels in Distress" are into women rather than men. Some of them are original stories, and others are lesbian versions of traditional fairytales. The idea intrigued me, which is why I decided to read/review it, and I'm glad I did, as two of the stories really left an impression on me. Also, it had the rather pleasant mild scent of apples...

Trapped on Draconica

Title: Trapped on Draconica
Author: Dan Wright
Illustrator: Alexis M. Centeno

Ratings

Score: 7/10
Chart Entry Point: 24
Similar To: Prophecy of Zephyrus

Review

If you're looking for an easy to read story - you've found it. It's light-hearted, not too complex, yet still manages to stir emotion in the reader. There's not a lot I can say about it, because I enjoyed it - there's not a lot to complain about.

The characters reflect the spirit of the story, and while they aren't incredibly complex, they are quite enjoyable to read about. Except that I don't understand why Kalak wasn't just left behind as soon as the other characters met him. He stands for pretty much everything the other main characters are against. But he does become a more likeable character in time.

Nights of Villjamur (Legends of the Red Sun Book One)

Title: Nights of Villjamur
Author: Mark Charan Newton
Series: Legends of the Setting Sun
Succeeded By: City of Ruin

Ratings

Score: 6/10
Chart Entry Point: 8
How likely I am to read the next in the Series: I look forwards to it.

Review

I wasn't sure what I was expecting when I began this book, but it' the first book I've read in a while that's ended in a truly satisfactory way. Considering that it's the first in a series, and plenty of plot-lines are left to explore in the next book, I'd say that's quite impressive. And it's not the only good thing that I can say about this book either. I found it to be a very nice read.

The Rebel Prince (Moorehawke Trilogy - Book 3)

Title: The Rebel Prince
Author: Celiene Kiernan

Series: Moorehawke Trilogy (Book Three)
Preceeded By: The Crowded Shadows

Ratings

Score: 7/10

Review

I enjoyed reading this final entry in the Moorehawke trilogy much more than I did the first two. The pace was a lot faster, the objectives of the characters more clear, and we finally get to find out a lot of the answers that the first two books made us ask.

However there are a couple of things I didn't really like. For example there are a considerable amount of storylines that are concluded "Off-Page". They results of these storylines are all pretty much mentioned in the epilogue, but not with the prominence that they needed concluding. One of them was quite major to this book, and the other is one that has been increasingly important throughout the trilogy, until in this book it becomes Christopher's 0nly real story...

The Gift (Chiveis Trilogy Book 2)

Title: The Gift
Author: Bryan M. Litfin

Series: The Chiveis Trilogy
Preceeded By: The Sword
Succeeded By: ???

Ratings

Score: 7/10
How likely I am to read the next in the Series: I look forwards to it.

Review

Normally I start with a review with a short introduction to what I thought about the book. This time I'm going to do it differently, and start with a review of the introduction of the book itself. Firstly there's the prologue. Now it's the second in a trilogy - and normally I don't like prologues in the second of a trilogy. But this was short, and in essence was the same as the prologue of the first novel - extended a bit to briefly (barely) cover what happened to the main characters in book one. I felt it didn't really didn't need to be there, but it doesn't harm the story. But what I really want to talk about of the introduction is the first chapter. The start of the novel finds the main characters (Ana and Teo) with a small group of scouts. The author uses this as a way to help remind the reader of what happened in the first book (The Sword). It's not a unique way to recap the readers, but the way Litfin utilises this tool is possibly the thing I admire most about the beginning of the book. It's easy to read - not just a long monologue about the previous book - it even misses out the majority of the story. But it shows the character of the characters, and from the first chapter we are once more identifying with and sympathetic to the characters, Ana in particular.

The Rogue (Traitor Spy Trilogy - Book Two)

Title: The Rogue
Author: Trudi Canavan
Series: Traitor Spy Trilogy
Preceeded By: The Ambassador's Mission
Succeeded By: The Traitor Queen (Due 2012)

NOTE: NOT SURE WHY, BUT THE AUTOMATIC SCHEDULING DIDN'T WORK - APOLOGIES FOR THE LATE POST.

Ratings

Score: 7/10
How likely I am to read the next in the Series: I'd like to...

Review

Trudi Canavan is an exceptional author. I expect that even if the publisher did no marketing for the book at all, it would still become a bestseller.

But like all authors, only one of her books can be the very best, and unfortunately this isn't it. It must be difficult for an author to hear that her latest book wasn't as good as the last, but when previous books include "High Lord", "The Magician's Apprentice" and "Last of the Wilds" it really is an extremely high standard to set.

Marked (Soul Guardians - Book One)

Title: Marked
Author: Kim Richardson
Series: Soul Guardians Trilogy

Succeeded By: Tricked (Not Yet Published)

Ratings

Score: 9/10
How likely I am to read the next in the Series: I'm looking forwards to it.

Review

This is possibly the hardest review I've had to write. Not because the book was bad, in fact I was rather impressed by it. No, the reason that it's been hard to review is that it's closest book I've come to on this blog that could be classed as "chick-lit". It's unfamiliar territory for me.

But don't let this stop you from reading it! The majority of my blog's readers are male, but I would still say that they should consider this book. Especially if they are looking for a light, easy read.

Stormlord Rising (Watergivers Book Two)

Title: Stormlord Rising
Author: Glenda Larke
Series: Watergivers
Preceeded By: The Last Stormlord
Succeeded By: Stormlord's Exile

Ratings

Score: 9/10
How likely I am to read the next in the Series: Definite

Review

According to my blog stats, the prequel to this book - "The Last Stormlord" - is the most viewed review on my blog. Apparently people are quite interested in the series. And I can see why, that first book was really good. This second one though, is even better.

As before it has a striking cover, apparently of a woman this time, which really does it's job of attracting readers. And they should be attracted. But ideally to the Last Storlord first, as that really needs to be read before a lot of this one can be understood.But it's worth doing. In this one we see shale undergoing a lot of character development, and Terenelle as well to a lesser degree. But character development means nothing without a good plot, and this one is almost irresistibly good.

Starchild and Witchfire

Title: Starchild and Witchfire
Author: David Henshall

Ratings

Score: 10/10


Review

Starchild and Witchfire is one of the earliest books I remember reading, except perhaps the gingerbread man, and I still enjoy it today. It's a kid's book, and so naturally the main characters are children, a boy and his sister, who get caught up in a quest to save a world that is apart from their, and our, own.

Dark Lord (Falconfar Book One)

Title: Dark Lord
Author: Ed Greenwood
Series: Falconfar

Succeeded By: Arch Wizard

Ratings

Score: 8/10
How likely I am to read the next in the Series: I'd really like to.

Review

I've read quite a few books this year, and as a student the year for me begins in September, so that's quite some time to be reading.  But this is very likely to be the most unique of all of them.

I decided to review it almost entirely on the strength of the title, "Dark Lord", with the incredible artwork on the cover enticing me further. It embarrasses me somewhat to say that I actually had no idea of what it was about... But it paid off. If I had read the blurb, I would have chosen a different book. It's about a man who travels to his own fantasy world, and I generally avoid these books, for reasons which will be explained below...

Returner's Wealth (Wyrmeweald Trilogy)

Title: Returner's Wealth
Author: Paul Stewart, Chris Riddell
Series: Wyrmeweald Trilogy

Succeeded By: ????

Ratings

Score: 5/10
How likely I am to read the next in the Series: If I find the time - it won't be a priority...

Review

If you've read anything by these authors in the past, chances are that it's the Edge Chronicles. That was an incredible series, beautifully illustrated, which is still one of my favourite sequences. Wyrmeweald however, is completely different.

The first, and most striking point is that there is a considerably smaller number of illustrations than I was expecting. There is still at least one per chapter, but they are Narrow Borders to the page, and there ARE some full page drawings of the dragons, but I would have liked to see more.

The reason for this reduced number of drawings is that the book is clearly aimed at an older audience, it's a little more violent, and quite a bit more sexual. And I thought that the more sexual parts were done quite well, not actually describing anything in detail, but hints of adult activities are found across the book.

The Reluctant Mage (Fisherman's Children - Book Two)

Title: The Reluctant Mage
Author: Karen Miller
Series: Fisherman's Children
Preceeded By: The Prodigal Mage


Ratings

Score: 4/10
How likely I am to read the next Book: Not Likely
      (Note - In this case, the next book is a prequel)

Review

I'd heard good things of Karen Miller, and her Kingmaker, Kingbreaker series. In fact, I don't remember anyone ever saying something negative about it. I hadn't read the previous books in the sequence, but I asked my Brother to summarise it, before starting on this book. It sounded captivating, and I launched myself into the book with interest.

Ten minutes later I decided I should make tea, maybe tidy up a bit. Do some studying. Unfortunately, after the three weeks it took me to struggle through the last book I reviewed, I found myself stuck again. That was a dissapointment.