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Tag: Nicholas Eames

Review: The Black Hawks (Articles of Faith #1) by David Wragg

October 23, 2019October 23, 2019 by David W, posted in Reviews

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Tagged Articles of Faith, David Wragg, Fantasy, Harper Voyager, HarperCollins, Kings of the Wyld, Mercenaries, Nicholas Eames, The Black Hawks2 Comments

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Ooooooooh Helloooooo Thanks to @caroperny and @torbooks for this lovely ARC of @ryanvanloan’s debut fantasy novel. This hits in July for those wondering. Synopsis below. ⚔️ Ryan Van Loan's The Sin in the Steel is a sparkling debut fantasy set in a diverse world, featuring dead gods, a pirate queen, shapeshifting mages, and a Sherlockian teenager determined to upend her society. Heroes for hire. If you can pay. Buc: Brilliant street-rat Her mind leaps from clues to conclusions in the blink of an eye. Eld: Ex-soldier Buc’s partner-in-crime. No. Not in crime—in crime-solving. They’ve been hired for their biggest job yet—one that will set them up for a life of ease. If they survive. Buc and Eld are the first private detectives in a world where pirates roam the seas, mages speak to each other across oceans, mechanical devices change the tide of battle, and earthly wealth is concentrated in the hands of a powerful few. It’s been weeks since ships last returned to the magnificent city of Servenza with bounty from the Shattered Coast. Disaster threatens not just the city’s trading companies but the empire itself. When Buc and Eld are hired to investigate, Buc swiftly discovers that the trade routes have become the domain of a sharp-eyed pirate queen who sinks all who defy her. Now all Buc and Eld have to do is sink the Widowmaker's ship…. Unfortunately for Buc, the gods have other plans. Unfortunately for the gods, so does Buc.

Papa Horror chilling out with his collection of 1st editions. If only there was a Molly aka The Thing of Evil sidekick, then my life would be complete. 🎈🤡 #stephenking #stephenkingbooks #horror #it #funko #funkopop #pennywise #bookstagram #bookish #bookaddict #bookstagrammer #bookshelves #bookshelf #bookobsessed #book #books

Whelp, there’s my morning sorted. Oh, and also chatting with @timlebbon on the podcast at 11:00am. Can’t wait! #bookstagram #books #bookworm #booklover #booksarelove #booknerd #bookstagrammer #bookalicious #booksaremylife #booksbooksandmorebooks #bookstagramcommunity #bookstagrammademedoit #booknerdigan

ARCs on ARCs on ARCs on ARCs Huge thanks to @acerocbooks, @tordotcompub, @harpervoyagerus, and @sagasff for these beauts! 2020 has some MASSIVE releases coming up, so go ahead and start setting some monies aside for these puppies.

One of my upcoming reads and the newest addition to the ever-growing fantasy HC shelf. Thanks to @torbooks for this GORGEOUS book and opportunity. 📚 A. K. Larkwood's The Unspoken Name is a stunning debut fantasy about an orc priestess turned wizard's assassin. What if you knew how and when you will die? Csorwe does―she will climb the mountain, enter the Shrine of the Unspoken, and gain the most honored title: sacrifice. But on the day of her foretold death, a powerful mage offers her a new fate. Leave with him, and live. Turn away from her destiny and her god to become a thief, a spy, an assassin―the wizard's loyal sword. Topple an empire, and help him reclaim his seat of power. But Csorwe will soon learn―gods remember, and if you live long enough, all debts come due. . “In the vein of Le Guin's magnificent Tombs of Atuan―if Arha the Eaten One got to grow up to be a swordswoman mercenary in thrall to her dubious wizard mentor. I love this book so much."―Arkady Martine, author of A Memory Called Empire . “Hooked me in from the first page and never let go. Fabulous, in every meaning of the word."―Jenn Lyons, author of Ruin of Kings

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It seems like everyone is talking about The Sword of Kaigen in 2019 and it was so highly praised. After knowing that it is one of the finalists for the SPFBO competition, I immediately picked it up and fell in love with it! The Sword of Kaigen is a Japanese inspired military fantasy standalone. Its supposed to be the prequel to @mlwangauthor Theonite series but you can totally follow the story of this book without being exposed to her Theonite series. I would say that this book reminds me a lot of Avatar: The Last Airbender whereby the magic system focuses on the control of elements such as water, fire and air. Nevertheless, I still feel that the magic system is rather authentic as ML Wang added her own personal twist to it by allocating a unique technique to each Family. For example, the technique unique to the Matsuda Family is the Whispering Blade (a weapon formed by ice and can cut through anything), and the technique unique to the Tusano Family is Blood manipulation. As for the characters, I enjoyed Misaki's character the most. Her development throughout the book is so engaging and to some extent inspiring. I can sense some feminism concepts being introduced through her characterization (especially her relationship between Misaki and Takeru, her husband) and I personally favoured her Blood manipulation technique. The fighting scenes are so well written in this story. One problem to me is that the climax of the story came too early and ended maybe after the first half of the story. I think this is a personal taste whereby I enjoy reading stories which climaxed at the end rather than the midway of the story. But this does not change the fact that the climax of the story (consists mainly if fighting scenes) were handled so brilliantly. The Sword of Kaigen to me deserves a 4.5/5 star read. Please grab a copy of this and you will not regret it! #bookstagram #bookreview #mlwang #theswordofkaigen #bookoholic #beautifulbooks #fantasy #kjreadsfantasy #goodread #bookcollector #booknerd #booklover #bookaddict #bookgeek #booksofinstagram #igread #bookshelf #bookworm #bookish #reading #bookreviews #bookrecommendations #spfbo5

Re-read The Blood Mirror via @librofm (thanks to @librofm and @hachetteaudio for the audio listening copy) and I still stand by my previous review . This is still the least favorite installment to me in the Lightbringer series. I just can't stand Kip's relationship with Tisis and all the sexual innuendos in this book. Their relationship to me is basically like a newly-wed couple trying very hard to have sex, that's all. The author apparently intends to introduce us to a sexual dysfunction condition called vaginismus via Tisis characterization (as reflected in the Author's Note for this book). But I think spending almost half of the plot-lines of the book to introduce this condition is way too much. Nevertheless, we were also introduced to a whole lot of new developments/concepts in this book: will-casting, soul-casting, the Pygmies, drafting black, the truth behind the events of Sundered Rock and the major revelation on Kip's real father. Teia is still hands down my favorite character in this series. Her struggle as a double agent (working for the new White, Karris White Oak as well as the Order of the Broken Eye) is so well done in this installment. Another character that I enjoyed reading is Andross Guile. He is such a morally grey character and at times I wonder whether his scheming is for the benefit of the Satrapy or for his own personal gain. Overall, it's a 4/5 star read to me and I really can't connect with some parts of the book. Now, I'm going to pick up Book 5 ASAP! #bookreview #orbitbooks #hachettebooks #librofm #igread #bookgeek #booksofinstagram #bookoholic #beautifulbooks #bookcollector #booknerd #booklover #bookaddict #bookoholic #bookish #reading #bookreviews #bookrecommendations #brentweeks #lightbringerseries #bloodmirror #lightbringer

Heard a lot about this book and wow what a great read! While this is a coming-of-age story of Kya (who is abandoned by her family and lives alone in the marsh) which begins in 1952, it started off with a murder mystery of Chase Andrews which happened in 1969 (an ex-star quarterback of the town). The story was told in two different timeframes and Delia Owens managed to link the events of both timeframes together at the end of the story. Essentially, Delia Ownes introduced the atmosphere and life in the marsh to us via this story. I can see how this relates to her background as a wildlife scientist in Africa. At times there are some scientific terms on the wildlife being thrown at us, it does not feel dry at all as the introduction of the wildlife in the marsh was told through the perspective of Kya. Delia Ownes further successfully crafted a perfect characterization of Kya. We can feel a sense of abandonment, isolation, the crave of love and acceptance, disappointment towards society and prejudice through the character of Kya. It's so heartbreaking. It's safe to say that this is one of the best character work that I have read to date. Delia Owens writes so beautifully and I love the poems that were included in this story. It enhances the emotion of readers when we follow the story of Kya in this book. As stated in the book: “I wasn't aware that words could hold so much. I didn't know a sentence could be so full”. Delia Owens' debut novel definitely deserves a strong 4.5/5 star read from me! #bookstagram #bookreview #bookstagrammer #igread #bookgeek #booksofinstagram #bookoholic #beautifulbooks #bookcollector #booknerd #booklover #bookish #reading #bookreviews #bookrecommendations #deliaowens #wherethecrawdadssing #putnambooks #penguinrandomhouse #bookshelf #bookworm #bookcovers

To be honest, I can't really connect with this book. At times I feel like giving up and DNF it. Luckily its only a short book and I just forced myself to finish it. Only a 2.5/5 star rating from me. Maybe I am not smart enough to appreciate this book. Celestial Bodies won the Man Booker International Prize 2019. I think this is mainly because the author managed to bring out the culture, history and society of the people via the story of 3 women in Oman (an Arab country on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in Western Asia). Flowing therefrom, we can see the impact of a strong patriarchal system towards the women in Oman. We also see the conflict between tradition and modernity as well as the conflict between the perspective of those in the lower social class and those in the higher social class. All these issues were embedded strongly in the plot of the story. Coming to the plot of the story, it is rather confusing as the story was told in a "past-present" style. The relationship between the characters confuses me as well and I had to resort to the family tree provided in the first 2 pages of the book (which is also not helpful at all). The only character that is engaging to me is Abdallah (who was haunted by a childhood incident whereby his father punished him very severely). That's all. While this book introduced me to the history and culture of Oman, it is not a pleasant reading experience. But this book may be your cup of tea if you can appreciate the literary elements of it. #sandstonepress #celestialbodies #manbookerprize #literaryfiction #literature #bookstagrammer #igread #bookgeek #booksofinstagram #bookoholic #beautifulbooks #bookcollector #booknerd #booklover #bookaddict #bookoholic #bookish #reading #bookreviews #bookrecommendations

I loved Scythe and adored Thunderhead. But The Toll is just okay for me. Its not too bad but not great. Its only a 4.5/5 star rating for me. In this book, we follow the aftermath of the sinking of Endura (the home to the World Scythe Council of Grandslayers and the Supreme Blade) which causes the silence of Thunderhead. Essentially, Thunderhead marks everyone as "unsavory" (people who have broken the law) and refuses to communicate with everyone in the world except for Greyson Tolliver. Everyone is so lost without Thunderhead as they over-relied on this super AI previously. Things get chaotic when Goddard took control of the scythedom and started imposing his own rules of gleaning (or killing) people by breaking the 10 Commandments of Scythes. This causes an uproar among the honorable Scythes from other jurisdictions as well as the Tonists (a cult who believes in a particular religion), who inherently hated Scythes. The Toll focuses a lot on non Scythe characters, especially Greyson Tolliver who is elevated to the god-like status of The Toll by the Tonists. A lot of side characters were introduced in this book which I think may be the cause of losing focus on the dynamics and interaction between the main characters (especially Rowan and Citra). There's also a lack of emotional connection between the characters in this book. Its more plot driven as compared to the other 2 books. The pros in this book is that Neal Shusterman is able to link all separate events together and ultimately lead them to the final ending of this story. All in all, Neal Shusterman explored so many values and issues in this series: humanity, the value of death and life, power, compassion, conscience, religion, and artificial intelligence. This series deserves an adaptation. With a great cast, I think has the potential to be better than the adaptation of The Hunger Games! #bookstagram #bookreview #sunrise #nealshusterman #scythe #thetoll #bookoholic #beautifulbooks #bookcollector #booknerd #booklover #bookaddict #bookgeek #booksofinstagram #igread #bookworm #bookish #reading #bookrecommendations #dystopian #postapocalyptic #simonandshuster

I generally dislike the second books in those popular YA series (i.e. Insurgent, The Scorch Trials and etc.). They do not live up the hype that was created by the first book. Thunderhead however is an exception. And I would say that it may be better than the first installment (Scythe)! The lives and social structure of a Scythe is the main focus of the first book. In this book, the concept of separation between Thunderhead and the Scythedom is highlighted. Essentially, Thunderhead is a super advanced AI (as it has emotions and a conscience) which controls everything in the world, except death. Death falls under the purview of the Scythedom. There is a clear separation between the state and scythes whereby it will be a violation if Thunderhead interferes with matters which fall within the jurisdiction of scythes. In other words, while Thunderhead is super powerful and is aware of the evil acts of the new order of Scythes (who enjoy killing without conscience and act beyond their 10 commandments), it cant do anything to stop them as it is a violation of the law. We follow a lot of Thunderhead's POV in this book. It is interesting as it is not a typical story of AI suddenly turn evil and humans are trying to stop it. In fact its the other way round. We see how humans can be super reliant on technology, not only in the petty matters in their daily life but to the extent of authorizing Thunderhead to take care of their own child. It is clear from this book that sometimes, human nature can be scarier than AI. We also follow the journey of our 2 main characters, Citra (who became a Scythe) and Rowan (who went rogue and became a vigilante who kills corrupt Scythes). Some new social classes were also introduced/explained further in this book: the Unsavories (people who have broken the law) as well as the Tonists (a cult who believes in a particular religion). Again there are so many plot twists and the huge cliffhanger at the end of this book just breaks my heart. All I can say is: @nealshusterman , you have changed my perspective towards YA series! A clear 5/5 star read for Thunderhead! #bookstagram #bookreview #sunset #thunderhead #nealshusterman #scythe

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*****BOOK TOUR***** Title: The Goblets Immortal Author: Beth Overmyer Publisher: Flame Tree Press @flametreepress Publication Date: February 20, 2020 Rating: 7.5/10 Synopsis: In a land where magic is feared, a rare magical kind exists: the Blest, products of the Goblet's Immortal. Aiden is one of the blest, and he is on the run. Whispers of a new fear take shape in Meraude, a mage who hates all magic-kind. When she appears in Aiden's dreams offering a bargain for the return his family, he needs to make the most difficult decision: find the Goblets and turn them over to Meraude, potentially dooming anyone who possesses magic to have his family back; or fight the evil mage and potentially never see his family again. Review: The Goblets Immortal is a very interesting and unique fantasy story. Aiden and Slaine are very characters that are worth following, there is cool magic, an evil Mage, and almost no knows what is going on! It is fun and chaotic, and I really enjoyed the read. My full review can be found at FanFiAddict.com. #TheGobletsImmortal #BethOvermyer #FlameTreePress #Book #Books #BookReview #BookReviews #BookReviewer #BookReviewers #BookBlog #BookBlogs #BookBlogger #BookBloggers #BookReviewersOfInstgram #BookReviewersofInsta #BookReviewersOfIG #Bookstagram #IWouldRatherBeReading

*****BOOK REVIEW***** Title: No Bad Deed Author: Heather Chavez @iamhrchavez Publisher: William Morrow - Penguin Random House @williammorrowbooks @penguinrandomhouse Publication Date: February 18th, 2020 Rating: 9/10 Synopsis: Cassie Larkin has a problem: she was on her way home from work when Cassie helped a woman whom she saw on the side of the road being attacked by a man. As the three of them struggled for control, the man made an offer: Let her die, and I’ll let you live. When Cassie refused the man ran off with her van. And her purse. Cassie calls the police and is able to identify the man right away. The police then inform her the man is a violent criminal they for whom they had already been looking. And now this same man had access to all of her information: her name, address, kids’ names, husband, where she works. He now also had a motive to come after her. Cassie tries to put it all out of her mind until her husband goes missing the next day while trick-or-treating with their daughter, which happens to be Halloween. Cassie does not know what to think, though, as she begins to get eerie text messages from him. I need time. Cassie had felt her husband slipping away of late, but was she imagining things? The police are not helping, so she decides to do some detective work herself. But, the deeper Cassie digs, the more dirty the secrets become. It turns out her good deed could cost her everything. Can she look beyond the shroud surrounding her family and rescue them? Or is it too late for heroics? There can be no doubt about it: Cassie is in for the fight of her life and must save her family – in more ways than one. Review: No Bad Deed is Heather Chavez’ first published novel, and what a debut it is! This book grabbed hold of me from the first sentence and took me for a wild ride, not letting go until the very last line. It tells a story so thrilling and twisted I could not put it down, no matter how hard I tried. (Not that I wanted to, but the body cannot sustain on book alone). Highly recommended for fans of the mystery/thriller genre. Full review up at FanFiAddict.com.

*****BOOK REVIEW***** Title: Sword of Fire Series: The Justice War #1, Deverry #16 Author: Katharine Kerr Publisher: Daw @dawbooks; Penguin Random House @penguinrandomhouse Publication Date: February 18, 2020 Synopsis: In the Kingdom of Deverry, bards are highly regarded as the voice of the commoner. When one of the most well-regarded bards is allowed to starve himself in an attempt to force change, the people are on the verge of revolt. Alyssa and Dovina are two ladies of the court who side with the commoners. They have come up with a plan to retrieve an ancient text that highlights traditional law that would turn current political theory on its head. As each traverses the Kindgom to fulfill their end of the pact in hopes of enacting new (old) laws that favor a more just judicial system, they find the journey is more than they bargained for. The road is dangerous, and the courts are fraught with corruption. Despite the perilous nature of the voyage, Alyssa and Dovina will do whatever it takes to bring a sense of fairness to Deverry. REVIEW: Sword of Fire is my first Deverry novel, and I find this world really intriguing. This book in particular did not hit the mark completely for me, but I can see value in reading more if the series. The setting is interesting and there is a lot of scheming and politics, the characters are very unique, and based in some of the plot points in this book I am interesting in more Deverry stories. Sword of Fire itself, though, felt more like a prologue to a longer story than anything else. I felt myself waiting for the story to climax, but it never did; basically, it was the same note the whole time without any ebbs or flows. In the end, the story was good, not great, but definitely left me wanting to read more of this series. I recommend Sword of Fire for those who we just political or military fantasy. Full review can be found at FanFiAddict.com.

Happy Sunday, Book Friends! I hope you are all having a relaxing weekend. I am reading a lot, which is about as good as it gets. Wanted to keep you all in the loop, so here are my next five reads (swipe for full frontals). *No Bad Deed by Heather Chavez: I am excited to start and hopefully finish this book tomorrow. *The Goblets Immortal by Beth Overmyer. This is another Flame Tree Product, as I am participating in the Random Things Tours. My stop is on February 24th, so keep an eye out for it. Black Leviathan by Bernd Perplies. Tor sent this book to me a couple months ago. I have been dying to read it, but my schedule had not allowed it until now. Harrow the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir. After squee’ing about Gideon so much, I have been enamored with the thought of reading the sequel. Not sure how I waited until now to get to it, but IT IS TIME. A Hero Born by Jin Yong. Michelle (@nurse_bookie) sent this book to me, oh, I don’t know, six months ago now, maybe 😬. I have been staring at it, drooling for the day I fit it into my review schedule. Very happy to be finally getting there. That is my next 5, Book Friends. What do you think? Have you read or will you be reading any of these? Drop me a line!

*****BOOK REVIEW***** Title: The Wolf of Oren-Yaro Series: Chronicles of the Bitch Queen, Book 1 Author. K.S. Villoso Publisher: Orbit Publication Date: February 18, 2020 Rating: 5/10 😕 Synopsis: Queen Talyien has been ruling alone for years. Her estranged husband, Rayyal, left 5 years ago under mysterious circumstances, leaving Queen Tal and her son to fend for themselves. Just as greedy warlords are threatening her rule, Tal receives a letter from her husband stating that he wants to see her. Even though the place Rai proposes to meet is in a strange land, Tal jumps at the chance to reconcile. Their marriage was meant to unite the Kingdom, and it has been falling apart ever since. Tal takes a small retinue with her to the meeting, and it does not take long before assassins descend on the gathering. Tal narrowly escapes, but now she is alone in a strange land where she has no friends or allies and no one knows she is a queen. Tal must do whatever it takes to find her husband and bring him home. But, first she must navigate dangerous waters. Alone. Review: I am sorry to say this is the first book in a long time that I have not really enjoyed. I had trouble connecting with the MC, TAL, mostly because it seems every decision made in the book was the wrong one. And he internal monologue would say so, but she would do it, anyway. This kept taking me out of the story because I was frustrated. It was also a really dark adventure-type fantasy. I live dark, and I love adventure, but the two did not mesh well with me in this book. Have you read it? Please leave a comment and let me know, as I am looking for other perspectives. If you read it and liked it, please let me know why. My full review can be found at FanFiAddict.com. #TheWolfOfOrenYaro #ChroniclesOfTheBitchQueen #Book #Books #BookReview #BookReviews #BookReviewer #BookReviewers #BookReviewersOfInstagram #BookReviewersOfInsta #BookBlog #BookBlogger #BookBloggers #Bookstagram #IWouldRatherBeReading

*****BOOK REVIEW***** Title: The Queen of Raiders Author: Sarah Kozloff @sarah.kozloff Series: Nine Realms Book 2 Publisher: Tor @torbooks Publication Date: February 18, 2020 Rating: 10/10 😍 Synopsis: The Nine Realms epic continues in Book 2 of the Series, The Queen of Raiders, as the Oromondo continue to occupy the Free States. Cerulia persists in her search for a path back to Weriandale (and its throne) after fleeing her enemies and landing on the island of Slagos. The would-be Queen must learn how to master her Talent as she learns more about herself and her ability to lead. Meanwhile, supported by an underground resistance group, Thalen and his raiders continue to pester the Oros and have come up with a grand plan - one they hope will force the occupiers to leave their home forever. In the background, the political games continue. Regent Matwyck, ruling as Lord Regent of Weirandale, works to keep a grip on Weirandale. And the Oros have mobilized their powerful Magi to deal with the raider problem. As the story of the Nine Realms develops further, some characters will find that their goals align, while others will clash. The Series continues to evolve as The Queen of Raiders brings many of these storylines together in an epic fashion. Review: Sarah Kozloff has done it, again, as this series continues to be ABSOLUTELY FABULOUS. As with the first book, I was enamored from beginning to end. The writing is wonderfully immersive, the story is intriguing, and the characters keep me on my toes. I love this series, and if you are a fan of high fantasy, I recommend it to you. And for anyone else looking for a book they cannot put down, as well. I am so happy Book 3 is only a month away. This is my favorite series of the year, so far, and it is going to be hard to beat. My full review is up on a FanFiAddict.com.

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