This part one of two is the foundation of the series. It is an epic novel about the formation of the world through the use of the Seven Shapers. Each one gifted the world and those living in it with aspects of themselves. Unfortunately, like all siblings, disagreements occurred. The youngest shaper, a god named Satoris, was deemed by his siblings to have been too generous with his gifts and was ordered to take some of them back. Anyone who has ever had a sibling can guess how well that was taken, and a god war was begun. It is Satoris against his six siblings in a clash with no forgiveness in sight. To fight these wars, Satoris raises three men and gives them the brand of his sword, the God Slayer. This brand marks the men as the three and bestows immortality onto them. It also makes them the most trusted servants of Satoris, willing to do anything that he might ask of them. When a new prophecy announces that a wedding of between a Ellylon woman and the last high king of man would bring about the death of Satoris, it is his trusted Three that he sends out to stop the wedding and capture the woman. Little did Satoris know how this would affect his generals and how this might just lead to the end of everything. The book was good. The beginning was a little heavy on the creation of the world and the many races in it. There were all kinds of details that were rather difficult to keep track of, but it still made sense. What doesn't make sense is the keeping of this Cerelinde woman alive. If the prophecy hinges on her, kill her. End story, no more prophecy, but that doesn't happen. Instead everyone starts questioning everything that they know and believe. I'll definitely read the second in the series just to see what happens, but I most likely won't be back to visit the world a second time after this not so brief visit. Happy Readings!!!
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This Young Adult book tells the dark side of the various fairy tales that we're all familiar with. The dark story of Red Riding Hood and how her hood got so red. The story of Thumbeana, and the story of Thread Bear also come into play. So, the Asylum for Fairy Tale Creatures is just that and Red Riding Hood is on her way to it after being accused of killing her grandmother. Trust me, there is none of this happily ever after stuff for this short book. While on the way, she meets the other characters and befriends them after learning their stories. It is a great premise, but oh the execution.I downloaded this book on my Kindle and it was luckily free. There were incomplete sentences, incorrect spellings, and oh the grammar issues. The story simply did not flow well. Were the characters telling their stories, or were we reading Dr. Grimm's notes? Did the characters meet on their way to the Asylum, or did they meet once they got there? If I just ignore these issues, which was pretty easy to do for a total of 58 pages, then it is quite an enjoyable little story. There really is no growth, no hidden meaning, nothing that requires thought. This book is really just a quick little story that you can read in a few minutes and enjoy for what it is, a quick little story. Looking for a quick read between errands? Take a look at this book, it is rather fun. What do Romans, Angels, an alternate history, and Seminaries have in common? If you said this book, then you would be right. This book ties a lot of things together, including an interesting plot. I wasn't so sold on the execution of the book, but the plot and theme were definitely interesting enough to keep me engaged. So, Angels walk the Earth. They can take various forms, including one that mimics humans. Generally. they are in the form of a ball of energy. They have drastically interfered with history and directed human development in the direction that they want it to go. There are some people who are rebelling against these angels, but not that many people and those people are being prosecuted with great prejudice. Even being accused of breaking the "holy" laws could result in death or being exiled. There are all kinds of other details in this book, including the slavery of those known as the Pot Made, and a type of food that is also pot made. None of it is supposed to be particularly high quality and whole. Even the technology is a bit further behind than what it should be in our times, held back by the angels themselves. The Seminaries are actually a para-military organization that helped to control the population and do the will of the angels. So, where do the Romans come in, you're asking? Well, apparently the angels and the Romans went to war against each other with no clear winner. Since then, everything Roman has been banned. This includes their technology, which is very advanced, their language, and the studies in their tactics. Turns out that the Romans are just on another planet, and not dead or gone and they are ready to come home. Can they now beat the angels and save the rest of humanity?? Personally, this book was so weird that I had to continue reading it. I just needed to know how it was going to end and what the heck was going on. Every time I thought I had it figured out, a new plot twist was thrown in. There were so many times that I uttered, "What the..." and in the end, I was almost more confused than when I started. Want a mind F'er, read this book. Two years ago, the creator of my book club asked me if I'm a gamer. Short story, I am and I love it. She mentioned that I'd probably like Ready Player One since it had so many game references. I smiled, I nodded, and promptly forgot about it since I have so many other books that I'm reading all the time. Fast forward to present day. I'm looking for something to listen to while I work and I see Ready Player One and my friend's suggestion rings in my ears again. I download it. I listen to it at work, loving every moment and every reference. I laugh aloud and smile throughout the entire book. My co-workers question my sanity. Hell, I find more work to do just so I can keep listening to it, since listening and staring into space is frowned upon. I listen to it while I do dishes, and hell, I turned off the radio and listened to it while I drove. I called my best friend and told him to get in on the action. So, what was so great about this book? There is no one thing, except for maybe the extremely smooth writing style. Ernest Cline has some serious skills in that. I enjoy Virtual Reality books, they are enough to ensure that I never get myself a VR rig. VR has taken over the world in Ready Player One, much like it has in so many other books. Hell, even the students go to school in the VR world, known as OASIS. In this world, OASIS controls everything, education, finances, commerce, it's essentially a world in of itself, one that directly affects the actual world. What you buy in the OASIS, you can buy in the real world. Hungry? Order a pizza in OASIS and have it delivered to your door. The book opens up with a scene regarding an email and a video announcing a new contest in OASIS. James Halliday has passed away, and right before his death he placed an Easter Egg in the game. Anyone who finds this Easter Egg is heir to his fortune, in the tune of $250 BILLION dollars AND ownership of OASIS. The game is on. It goes on, and on, and on for years and no one finds it. Until, our hero, a high school student, Wade Watts finds it. You see, the Easter Egg is hidden based upon the fandoms and life of James Halliday. If you know him, you can know where he put the Easter Egg. Wade, also known as Parzival, is a Gunter, an Easter Egg hunter who studies the life of Halliday. Every game he ever mentioned, every show, ever piece of music, Wade knows and has mastered. He, along with Aech, pronounced H, and several of their various friends work to find all of the keys and gates that lead to the egg before the corporate monsters, the "Sixers" get it and turn OASIS from a free community to a paid community, from one for everyone to one just for the rich. Throughout this entire book, there are tons of '80's references and some earlier and later decades thrown in there for spice. You could almost pick a soundtrack for the book with the various bands mentioned. Not to mention all of the games and shows. You don't need to be a gamer to appreciate the book, although it does make it more interesting. You don't even have to have watched the shows or listened to '80's music, but it certainly did do a lot to remind me of some of the awesome shows and songs that were out during that time. Ernest Cline did a great job describing and explaining that you learn something new if you were familiar with the work, and understood it if you had never experienced the song/movie/game mentioned. The Wordsmith was a book that I picked up from my bookclub. Gotta love the book club. They get me to read things that I normally wouldn't. That is the purpose of a book club, right? Anyway, The Wordsmith. This is a horror genre book, which is appropriate that because now we're getting in to the Halloween season. Yes, I know it is September, but it is rainy out and the leaves are falling. It is the Halloween season. This book features Walt Erickson, a storage unit buyer, who, with his his brother, finds an old Wordsmith typewriter. It is an old fashioned typewriter with the heavy keys and manual paper feeds. While everything else in the storage unit looks old and battered, the typewriter, though an antique, appears to be showroom new. The sides shine and the keys are clean. It even feels warm to the touch, even when the rest of the room is cold. Walt's brother decides that rather than selling the Wordsmith, he is going to keep it and write his first book. Little did he know the secret behind that typewriter. Walt ends up with the typewriter after his brother's mental collapse, and begins writing books that engross millions of readers. Desperate to keep up the followers and eager for the fame and fortune, Walt does the unthinkable. This book had a lot of promise. After all, anyone who has ever written anything can tell you of the pull of the keyboard, the demand of ink. There were a few problems with this book though. Even though the premise was grand, the execution was just weak. There was no character development. None. The book had the feel of someone telling you a story, not you actually being there or living the story line. The details were glossed over. The romance was weird, and the ending, oh the ending was something else all together. Personally, if I was going to recommend this book, it'd be to someone looking for a fast read. There were some basic sex scenes and some violence, but nothing heavy. I killed in a day since you don't really get lost in the details. It was worth the story, but I wish there was just more detail to it. I think if the author were to go back through and polish it up, add more detail, engage all of the senses, rather than just the eyes, this book could be a best seller. As it stands, it was interesting, but nothing above average. Ah, the Fury-less Tavi takes on a new role, this one as a student at the Academy. Here, his being fury-less is a higher detriment than it was when he was an apprentice sheep herder. As he studies hard and takes challenging courses, he is consistently relegated to the realm of theory for the various powers that all of his peers control. This leads to some pretty intense rivalries and bullying, all of which is made worse by his patron being the one and only First Lord of Alera, Gaius Sextus. Having made strong allies and excelling in not only his course work, but also in his cursor training, Tavi finds himself on the front lines of saving the life of his patron and liege, as well as the whole of Alera from a powerful and new enemy. Tipped off by an ancient enemy, the Canim Ambassador, Tavi sneaks around underground and meets a vicious foe, the Vord. At the same time that this enemy is working to take over the capital, they are also mounting an attack in the furthest steadhold, the Cauldron. This new enemy has some serious bad vibes. They are basically insects with extreme strength and that can take over a living or dead individual, making them essentially a thrall. They are lead by a queen with the capabilities of making new queens and new vord at will. Yes, a never ending number of enemy troops. Including the taken Canim, a large wolf like species, which certainly does not bode well for Tavi's life expectancy. To top all of this off, Gaius Sextus falls gravely ill from excessive Spirit Fire, a stimulant laced drink, and from working too hard to protect the realm from every danger. It is up to Tavi and Antillar Maximus, his dear friend and powerful fury crafter, to keep people from realizing that Gaius is in a coma and protect Alera. What could possibly go wrong. Oh, and you don't want to forget about Kitai. I wasn't sure if I was going to like Kitai in the first book. She seemed quite stand-offish. In the second book, she shone. Tavi is her totum, or Chala, and she teaches him a lot about himself and others through her pragmatic view on life. Not to mention that the idea of a lie is completely beyond her. Her sense of humor tends to be a bit drier than some, but it fits her like a glove. I love Kitai. The book itself was a fast read, much faster than the first book, despite being huge. The actions were clear and concise, and I actually felt like I knew what was going on in the battles. Seriously, I'm very certain I'm going to love the entire series if it keeps up at this rate. I read, a lot. And I do mean a lot. I'm friends with quite a few authors and I love talking to them about their books. One of the most frequent questions I hear is when am I going to write a book. Well, I can honestly say that I'm starting on a book. Just for the record, it's not a book about reviewing other people's book. That'd be just too boring, although I do have some really cool stories about surprise galleys and chatting with authors in taco bell. I digress. So, without actually telling you anything about my story, I'm going to talk about my writing process and how I feel as I start to write my own book. Right now, to be honest, I only have a few pages done and I'm looking at it like, "Yeah, no one is ever going to like this." I know it's just because it's my own story and I'm definitely my worst critic. As they say, I'm just shoveling sand into the pit right now before building my castle. They do say that, right? What genre am I thinking? Well, definitely urban fantasy. Urban high fantasy to be a bit more specific. That genre is one of my favorites to read, so it makes sense that the idea I have would be based in that one. Although, since the book hasn't been written yet, who knows, it might end up being a science fiction. I do know that it will definitely be a fiction, although I have already promised a couple of my friends their own cameos. I did not promise survival of those cameos. So, why am I telling you about a book that is in the absolute infancy of its life? Well, I figure that if I tell some people about it, I am a little bit more accountable for actually writing it. Don't worry, as I write I'll post snippets. You can tell me how much it sucks or doesn't suck, I won't take it personal. If I'm really lucky, maybe some of my favorite authors will see these posts and share their thoughts. Yes, my fingers are crossed. So, my favorite fan fiction author has posted again! Yep, Michael Spenik just posted his latest book, Dread Hands and Dread Feet. After a year long wait, I am finally able to find out what happened since Tony was left in a mountain, in Asia after his sudden teleportation. Is he going to get home? A lot can happen while he tries to get home, will his relationship with Maddie survive? What about my least favorite character in the book, Tasha. Will her mind come back to her? Will she finally be worthy of Richard? So, in case you're looking at these questions and you have no idea what I'm talking about, here is the gist. This series takes place alongside the Kate Daniels series. Magic is on and off and various magical creatures are being created as magic keeps coming back to this world. Shapeshifters are fairly common and Richard Michaels is one such shapeshifter. He controls the a good part of Texas and Louisiana, along with his family. Tony happens to be his son, and Maddie is Tony's girlfriend and ward of Richard. The whole series is posted on www.FanFiction.net This book focuses primarily on Maddie and Tony, but everyone else gets into some pretty heavy action here as well. There is a lot going on in this book. Autumn, my favorite character, realizes that she's gotta step up to the plate and take on more responsibility in the pagan community. Plus her past comes back to haunt her. You can move across the country, but you can't run from your past. As if she doesn't have enough problems, her brother is forever giving her a headache with insane plans. Yeah, they GENERALLY work, but are really Richard, are you crazy? What's Richard's idea? Oh, maybe to go to after and defy the single oldest, and possibly the craziest, wizard in the world. Houston has been claimed by Richard, and all but an open declaration of war against one of the most powerful individuals in the world has been sent. Meanwhile he's still having to deal with Tasha's illness/ magical injuries and how that is affecting his shifting community. PLUS he has to still help coordinate Tony's return to the United States. I'm not going to tell you anything about Tony's trip. Do your self a favor and look up all 10 of Michael Spenik's books. Even if you've never touched the Kate Daniels series, this is not one to miss. Money back guarantee. (It's free, so...) I was searching around for something to listen to at work and I decided I'd look up one of my favorite funny authors, Douglas Adams. I have listened and read all of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy so many times that I was pretty sure I could repeat it in time with the reader. So, finding this book was a happy moment for me. I've never read this book and I was rather interested in how in the heck you have a holistic detective agency. I was not disappointed. In this book, Dirk Gently is basically a con-artist who has finally found his nitch by being a "holistic detective." This means that he solves not only the mystery that he's been hired for, but rather the entire mystery. Yeah, I was confused but I was eager, none the less. His mystery comes along with Richard MacDuff in the form of a horse in a bathroom, a couch stuck on his stairs, and his mysterious professor. Did I mention the robotic monk? No? Well, this philosophic monk is programmed to believe everything. It is his horse that is stuck in a bathroom. He managed to open a door to another time thanks to the crazy professor and the secret he keeps from everyone. Oh, and don't forget Richard MacDuff's employer, Gordon Way. I don't want to give too much away, but Gordon Way quickly finds himself as a ghost, and is stuck that way, unable to figure out what to do next. I swear, all of this is tied together. Keeping to Douglas Adams' previous books, this book is hilarious, but slightly darker than the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. The book is short and is definitely worth a couple re-reads just to get the entire story. There is a lot going on, and it is easy to miss some of the details that help it to make a lot of sense. It was definitely a favorite for me that I will enjoy again and again. I listen to a lot of audiobooks. I listen to them at work, I listen to them at the gym. I listen to them while I'm cooking and while I'm sewing. I love audiobooks. They make it so much easier for me to fill my every waking moment with books, opposed to television, movies, or music. Yeah, I know, I have a literary problem, but as I tell my mother, "Think positive, at least my addiction is books and not meth." I do have a little complaint about audiobooks though. Sometimes the reader is just not right for the book. Let's take for example, the Hobbit. I have read this book so many times that I have had to re-buy it 3 or 4 different times, and I am careful with my books. This book was not designed for children. Sure, it's been adapted for children before, but really, this is a pretty serious, adult book. Why was the narrator in the audiobook reading it to me like I was a child. He even had the sing-song voice going! I hit stop on that pretty darn fast. Then there is the female voice in some of the audiobooks. Ugg, like seriously, do the narrators even listen to how women talk? We do not speak in the breathy voice all the time, but you wouldn't know that by the audiobooks out there. The funniest part is that it is often the female narrators who do the breathy thing the most. Can't women just talk in a book? Mispronunciations are also an issue in audiobooks. Well, I'm not really sure if they are mispronounced, or if I just think that they are. Especially names, and places, and special items in the books that do not have conventional names. This doesn't bother me if I've never seen the text, but it does bother me if I'm picking the book up in audio format after reading it, or have read the previous book and I'm listening to the next one in the series. I also have a lot of positives about the audiobook, beyond it's convenience. Some of the narrators can do multiple voices. Or some times the books are narrated by multiple people, and that can really help with the understanding and keeping track of all the characters. It's almost like listening to the book in my own head, where everyone has their own voice and inflection. I love that. Then there are the best books, where the narrator is actually the author. These are my FAVORITES! I always wonder if I am getting the inflection of the story right as I am reading it. I wonder if the narrators are getting the inflections and tone right in the story as they read it. When the author narrates, I know that the story is being told as it was meant to be told. The story just seems so much deeper that way. Do you listen to audiobooks? What are your joys and frustrations about this media? |